Equestria's chain of conflicts

by Dranz_89

The true loyalty

Soaring through the skies, three pegasi reached the mountains surrounded by a thick forest, which Rainbow Dash decided to avoid. Smokey Mountains was well known as a Dragons nest, extremely dangerous for ponies to hang around. However, the faint smell of sugar emanated from the caves where the sulfur breath of the dragons was supposed to emanate, and pink clouds took shape over Smokey Mountain's peaks.

Near the top of the mountain, Rainbow Dash turned her sight back at her companions and made a signal to descend. She proceeded from fluttering her wings to spread them wide open and slowly began to drop altitude, her friends did the same right after her. The captain landed smoothly on the mountain where the grassy mountain trail, whited little by little to become snowy. Scootaloo made a harsh landing right ahead of Rainbow Dash. As for Ditzy Doo, she landed rolling around far ahead on the snow, her head poked out of the snowball she built with her own body, she smiled awkwardly.

"Can't you even land properly?" Scootaloo commented.

"Sorry, my depth perception is not too good", Ditzy responded, "You can blame this one", she pointed at her loose eye.

"Come on, Derpy! It's the most basic skill every pegasus must have!", Scootaloo turned a bit more aggressive.

"Of course! You are the expert at landing. You know, since you spent WAAAAAY much time on land", Ditzy said, quite annoyed.

Scootaloo gasped, offended, "watch your words... very... carefully", she warned.

"Enough!" Rainbow Dash put an end to their little argument, she kept walking forward, as the other two pegasi followed, glaring at each other, very tensely.

They followed the trail to the south hemisphere of the mountain, according to Rainbow Dash. "Twilight said that they found the Loyalty Jewel around here. Probably inside one of those caves. Dragons used to lurk around here before the war, so I suppose it was taken from a dragon's treasure", she said.

During the short walk, the pegasi found a trail. Scootaloo found nothing strange about it, it was just a trail on the snow, a path, like any other mountain, but to Rainbow Dash and Ditzy Doo it was a weird sign. Smokey Mountain was famous because there was a dragon taking a nap in the caves most of the time, two in the worst circumstances. "Who do you think made this trail?" Ditzy Doo asked, but none of her partners knew the answer. They decided to follow the trail up the mountain.

Sooner than later, a small wooden cabin stood before the ponies, the chimney exhaled smoke, a clear signal that it was inhabited. Rainbow Dash approached and knocked the door, but there was no response. Rainbow Dash knocked much louder, and after a few seconds, the sound of several things falling against the floor came from inside the house. The door opened quickly and a tall pegasus showed herself. Her coat was grey, and her silver mane was messy, her eyes showed sleepiness, she greeted Rainbow Dash and her friends.

"WWWWWHOOOOAAAAAAAAUUUUU?", she said, during a big yawn. The three pegasi behind her lifted an eyebrow and tilted their heads to the right in confusion.

The pegasus yawned again, and while blinking, she spoke again, "I said, who are you?"

"I'm Rainbow Dash, Captain of the Royal Elite of Equestria", said the sky blue pegasus, "and that one is Ditzy Doo, and shrimp over here is Scootaloo." I'm not a shrimp, Scootaloo murmured to herself.

"RAINBOW DASH?!" the pegasus widened her eyes, as if she had just woken up, "W-WAS THAT TODAY? Oh no! I totally forgot!", she slammed the door, and another scandal sounded from inside the cabin, the mixed sounds of a vacuum, a washer and several dishes breaking. "Come in", she opened the door again, wearing a blue cape, her silver mane was combed ressembling a tornado. The inside of the cabin was clean and inviting, even if it was a last time cleaning, the pegasus smiled as if the first impression she made never happened.

"My name is err... White Wind! Yes, that's my name! Definitely!" She smiled and close her eyes, very proud of herself. However she opened her eyes again to see three doubtful pegasi before her. "What? you don't believe me? Want me to prove it? Look, my mane is white! So that's irrefutable proof!"

"Yyyyyes..." said Rainbow Dash, "so... do you know something about an Element of Harmony being found around here or something like that?"

"I made this trail, it was made by years of visiting the cave", White Wind responded immediately with a serious tone, "the Element of Loyalty was found here by Star Swirl's second disciple. It was guarded by a mighty dragon during the Draconequus' tyranny over Equestria. Star Swirl's second disciple had a tremendous battle with such dragon. But the young unicorn was no match for the dragon, as a last resort, she used a cheap trick to just steal the jewel of Loyalty and escape. That way Star Swirl could complete the spell of the Elements of Harmony."

"Who was Star Swirl's second disciple?" Scootaloo wondered, touching her chin with her hoof.

"Only the sisters princesses are old enough to remember", said White Wind.

"So the Element must be inside the cave!" Ditzy Doo grinned at Rainbow Dash, "thank you so much", she said. The pegasi said goodbye to White Wind and headed outside again.

"Just one more thing, Rainbow Dash", White Wind stopped them, "Do you think loyalty is a good thing?"

"Of course!" Rainbow answered pretty secure, "I'd never leave my friends hanging"

"The dragon was loyal to Discord, and the disciple was loyal to Star Swirl. Loyalty looks like a good thing on the outside, but it's also the cause of many conflicts. If there would be no loyalty, there would be no armies to fight their leaders' wars. There would be peace."

Rainbow Dash quietly turned around and smiled, "If there would be no loyalty, there would be no friends that stick together. There would be loneliness and hate. That's why loyalty is an Element of Harmony", she then, walked away with her two friends.

Good answer, White Wind thought to herself as she watched them leave.

They walked following the trail that revolved around the mountain until they reached one of the caves, a huge one. Rainbow Dash led the way inside the cave without hesitation, as Scootaloo stopped and gulped, inspecting the darkness of the cave before her. Ditzy Doo passed her by, she looked distracted by the pink cloud emanating from the cave, fascinated by the smell of sugar which was getting stronger as she walked inside the cave. The youngest pegasus took a deep breath and stepped inside the cave too. She wasn't going to fall behind Derpy.

The cave wound through the mountain, descending between walls of candy, sweets and sugar. Soon, the pegasi reached to a huge chamber full of jewels and diamonds, a pile of treasures stocked before the ponies. However, Ditzy Doo sensed an uneasy feeling pass through the back of her mind. Big cave, with treasure inside, but where is the dragon? she thought. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were gazing at the treasure walking slowly towards it, as if they were being hypnotized.

"Girls! Wake up!" Ditzy warned, she shook Rainbow Dash, then she shook Scootaloo.

The two pegasi snapped out of it, and Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head, she picked a jewel from the treasure and approached it to her mouth to lick it. It was a fake treasure, a candy, and the smell of sugar was stronger in the chamber. "This shiny treasure and that sugar essence, somepony is trying to play mindgames on us", deduced Rainbow Dash, "I hate those kinds of games."

"Because she's bad at them", Ditzy Doo whispered to Scootaloo, who giggled covering her mouth with her hoof,

Before anything else could happen, the three pegasi decided to ignore the treasure and continue their quest deeper into the cave. As the sweet scent grew stronger, the road of the cave was leading upward in the mountain, they finally saw the light in the distance after a long hallway.

They appeared beside the peak of the mountain, a few stpes around the peak was the very top of Smokey Mountain. Their target was right there, lying on a rock covered by snow, the lightning shaped jewel stood out from the whiteness of the snow, the Element of Loyalty was there right at the hooves of the pegasi.

Scootaloo rushed to pick the Element, but Rainbow Dash chased after her trying to stop her. Immediately after Scootaloo put a hoof on the element, two cages appeared out of nowhere and trapped Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash. A young feminine laugh making fun of the victims approached Ditzy Doo from behind, it belonged to Discord's daughter.

"I can't believe you were dumb enough to fall for that", she laid on her back, rubbing her stomach, laughing merciless as if it tickled.

"Let them go!" Ditzy commanded.

"Ummm... I'll let go one of them", Screwball whiped a tear from her previous laughter, then her eyes glared at the pegasi with menacing hate, even if her smile was still on her face, "you decide."

"Pick Scoot! She has the element!" Rainbow claimed.

"No! Only Rainbow Dash can use it!" Scootaloo replied, Rainbow Dash stared at her as if telling her to shut up.

"Let me make this decision easier for you", Screwball talked to Ditzy's ear. "Who has been disrespected you since always? Ever since she met you, she has never shown a little bit of tolerance toward you. She calls you names, and laughs at you, always looking down on you, as if you were some kind of clown. It's an easy choice if you ask me."

Scootaloo looked down speechless, everything Screwball said was true, Why would she ever pick me? she thought, if she was on Ditzy Doo's hooves she wouldn't save herself either. She was scared, but she knew that saving Rainbow Dash was the right thing to do.

"Release Scootaloo."

The orange pegasus perked up her ears at the same time as Screwball

"Say what again?" Screwball questioned, and Rainbow Dash smiled.

"I choose Scootaloo", Ditzy Doo smiled at Screwball.

"Why!? Why would you save the one who torments you!?"

"Yes, she sometimes gets on my nerves. But that's not reason to abandon her. Rainbow Dash is perfectly able to save herself. On the other hoof, Scoot lacks experience. Besides, the fact that you don't want me to save her is reason enough to choose her over Rainbow Dash."

Screwball growled, she tapped her right hoof on the snow twice, and the cage around Scootaloo disappeared. The youngest pegasus slowly fluttered her wings to land.

"Okay, deal done", Screwball smiled again, "you can leave now."

"No! I want Rainbow Dash too!" Derpy insisted.

"I'm sorry, but a deal's a deal. And just so you know, I'm not really sorry at all. Ha ha ha! Now leave before I change my mind, go on, fly away... I mean... if you two sad excuses of pegasi can really fly."

"Sad excuse?! What do you know about flying? your not even a pegasus!" Scootaloo exclaimed completely angered.

"I fly all the time, with my chaos magic. And after I saw what you call landing, I can safely say I do it better than you." Screwball calmly answered, "Not even the two of you together could keep up with me."

"Oh yeah! Well I challenge you to a race, right here, right now!"

"Let's make it a baton race, then", Screwball opened her front hooves wide open, and the clouds and pink smoke began to give shape to a racing track, A wide circle around the mountain. "And to make it interesting... if you win, you'll get Rainbow Dash back, but if I win, I'll get the Element of Loyalty AND keep Rainbow Dash to be my personal pet."

Scootaloo backed down, her ears perked down, and her confidence disappeared.

"Alright, then!" Rainbow Dash accepted the terms for her two friends, "don't worry girls, you got this, no sweat!"

With Rainbow Dash's encouragement, Scootaloo's confidence came back. Thus, Scootaloo flew to the start line. Screwball magically grew a pair of feathered wings and followed Scootaloo. Ditzy Doo wasn't cofident at all, but she had been dragged into all this mess, she also flew to the start line, looking nervous.

"Why don't you start, Scootaloo? Since you're so anxious to race me!" Screwball suggested.

"Will do!" Scootaloo spreaded her wings, she extended her front hooves forward and pulled the rest of her body backward, to take impulse. Suddenly, a strange creature wearing glasses came out riding a cloud, he had a semaphore hanging from a fishing rod, and a weird jingle sounded out of nowhere.

The semaphore's lights turned on each second with a red light. First was the left one, then was the middle one, and lastly was the right light. The next second all three lights turned on with a blue light, indicating the start of the race, and Scootaloo and Screwball now as a pegasus, blasted off from their positions at a high speed.

Quickly, Scootaloo gained the advantage, with Screwball a couple of yards behind, trying to catch up. As the track was constantly turning slightly to the right, Scootaloo tried to stay on the inner side of the track, but suddenly, Screwball tackled Scootaloo by the side, knocking her out of the track. Now Screwball was leading the race.

Scootaloo tried as hard as she could to get back on the competition, even though Screwball was far ahead, she flapped her wings as quickly as a hummingbird, she could shorten the distance between her and Discord's daughter, but Screwball passed the finish line first, and she had one more lap to go.

About three seconds after Screwball, Scootaloo reached the finish line and tagged Ditzy Doo. Out of panic, the grey pegasus just blasted off as quickly as she could. Ditzy Doo was never a racing pony, the closest to a race she has been was when she almost supplanted Rainbow Dash at the Equestria Games. Screwball looked back, and saw a Ditzy Doo shrinking little by little in the distance behind her. Ditzy Doo was already panting after the first curve.

Rainbow Dash was calmly watching the race from the cage, then White Wind appeared next to her, "What are they doing?" she asked.

"They're having a race to save me," Rainbow Dash replied "even though they already have the Element of Loyalty, they risked everything just for me."

"Well... your chances don't look very good... Want me to release you?"

"No thanks," Rainbow smiled at White Wind, "Just sit and watch, they'll pull this off."

Derpy tried as hard as she could, a futile try to catch up with Screwball. The speed of her wings decreased, her sight was becoming blurry, she was giving up.

"I thought I heard Rainbow Dash say: No sweat!" Screwball taunted the grey exhausted pegasus, "But look at your forehead, with all that sweat I'm not surprised pegasi can make it rain. No wonder they call you Derpy, I'm surprised you can put on your own horseshoes!"

There was that word again, and at that moment, time stopped for Ditzy Doo. She turned to see Scootaloo, the orange pegasus was gulping, looking worried, the fear of losing Rainbow Dash invaded Scootaloo's face. Then, she turned to see Rainbow Dash, she saw a calm pegasus, as if Rainbow Dash knew she could defeat Screwball. The last curve was approaching, and after that the final sprint. Rainbow Dash believed in her, and Scootaloo set her hopes on her, and to top it off, Screwball spoke that single word, the one that only her friends are allowed to use. The rest was easy.

Screwball was on the final sprint. Scootaloo widened her eyes and her mouth was left wide open. White Wind watched and some words escaped from her mouth due to the shock, "Holy moustached dragons!". Rainbow Dash also widened her eyes and her lips formed a big whoa!.

A grey stripe passed right next to Screwball, and the chaos pony was left spinning out of control as Ditzy Doo passed the finish line, and winning the race.

"YAY!" Scootaloo let go of her excitement, "That was awesome!" She celebrated around Ditzy Doo. The cage around Rainbow Dash magically opened, she gave a confident smile to White Wind and flew to congratulate the grey pegasus.

After a few seconds, Screwball stopped spinning, gaining control of herself again. She gazed at the celebrating ponies, she just looked down and teleported away from the place.

"Why were you so sure they could win?" asked White Wind to Rainbow Dash.

"Loyalty is not a single player game," Rainbow replied, looking at her friends with relief, "just as I never leave my friends hanging, I know they wouldn't leave ME hanging either."

Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo and Ditzy Doo said goodbye to White Wind, and headed back to Canterlot with the Element of Loyalty around Rainbow Dash's neck. White Wind just turned away and headed back to her cabin with a big grin.

"Why don't you fly like that every time?" asked Scootaloo to Ditzy Doo, she was so excited. "It was like when you caught the Crystal Heart in mid air! And King Sombra attacked you! And you were like WOOOSSHHH and King Sombra was like CURSE YOU! and you were like NEVER! and..."

"That's not how it actually happened" Rainbow Dash corrected, but Scootaloo wasn't listening to her.

"I don't know, ok?" Ditzy Doo got tired of Scootaloo's babbling, "I just do! I mean, I try,.. I really try... I just can't do it when I want it. It only comes out when I really, really need it... it's kind of a funny thing, you know?."

"Hey, you know what else is funny?", said Rainbow Dash, "that pegasus' name was totally ridiculous!"

"Yeah! That was SO not her name!" Scootaloo added.

"Dumbest name ever! I bet she made it up at that very moment", Ditzy Doo laughed, "At least Derpy is more creative than that."