Becoming Rainbow Dash: A Tale of Two Worlds

by Freescript the Bard

A Loyal Pain in the Flank

<> Day 3 <>

I woke to the sensation of someone prodding me in the side, which in all honesty doesn't exactly fit the bill for the best way to wake up. In protest, I groan and swat away the offending poker. "Mm… lemme sleep," I moaned at the intruder.

"You've been asleep for over half a day, now," chided the voice. "Come on, up and at 'em. Time for breakfast."

Well, when you put it like that… I sat up, looking toward the owner of the voice, but was over taken by a yawn. It felt really good to stretch my wings, even though they felt a little itchy. The first thing that greeted my pegasus eyes was a tray of vegetarian breakfast, with oats, an apple, and two eggs. I grinned when I smelled freshly brewed coffee. "Thanks Mrs–" Turning to the helpful figure, I nearly jumped out of my skin as I was met with the face of Princess Luna. "Uh… hello, Mrs. Strong…"

"Please, call me Tara. 'Mrs' makes me sound old," she replied, motioning to the tray on my bed. "From what Lauren tells me, the last time you ate was in Canada. Also, you missed a wonderful veggie pizza dinner."

As if to confirm Tara's words, a loud rumble rang out from my midsection. Heh, I guess I was flying on empty yesterday. With gusto, I tore into the oats, attempting to eat as politely as I could without utensils. Once the bowl was gone, I took notice that Tara was still looking at me. "Is there something I can help you with?" I asked politely.

She looked from my face to the base of my neck. "You slept with the Element of Loyalty on," she said. Sure enough, the glowing ruby was still around my neck, weightless as ever. "We tried to remove it with magic, but it keeps repelling it. Even Lauren's magic was no match. When we tried levitating your body and taking it off physically, but it's like its grafted to your body."

"Wait a minute, how in the heck did I sleep through that?"

"You were out cold. Wisconsin is a long flight for someone with wings of flesh and bone, and you had fallen asleep instantly."

Returning my mind to the issue at hand– er, hoof, I glanced at the supposedly irremovable Element. Experimentally, I slid my hoof under the pendant and lifted the golden jewelry off my head as if it were as light as one of my feathers. "Uh… ta-da?"

Tara's jaw made a very valid attempt to hop a flight to China. "Uh… I'm gonna go get Lauren," she finally managed to say, avoiding the question of how I got the necklace off so easy. "She wanted to talk with you when you woke up. In the meantime, enjoy breakfast."

"Wait!" I stop her before she exits. "Uh, this is gonna sound weird, but can I, um, give you a hug?"

Tara looks uncomfortable for a minute, then nods. "I guess I don't mind… Oof!"

As fast as Rainbow Dash, I sped over and wrapped my forelegs around her neck in a pony-style hug. Then, still hanging in midair, I curled up with a squee of delight. "I just hugged Luna and Tara Strong… at the same time! Eeeee!"

Tara rolls her eyes with a giggle and leaves the room, abandoning me to my breakfast. The eggs are a little over-cooked, but I was too hungry to care. Of everything, the apple had made my day. I'll have to ask for another one later. Apples are second only to cheesecake, after all.

With a full meal resting in my belly, I took account of my quarters. The whole room was the size of a small office, and by the appearance, had once been one. In this small space, the only furnishings were the bed, which was pushed to the back-left corner, a small love seat to the right, and a desk at the back of the room. On the desk were the contents of my bag, the laptop open at the center and plugged into an outlet. Cozy, but needs a little more cloud.

Hoofsteps alerted me to a visitor at the door. Lauren Faust, in Princess Celestia's form, looked in. "Are you decent?" she joked.

Giggling, I hovered over to the bed and flipped onto it, reclining against the headrest. "Nah, don't mind me. Just chilling in my room flank-naked." Heh, ponyisms for the win. "You wanted to talk to me?"

She nodded, then levitated my phone over to me. Taking it in hoof, I looked at her. "I'm sorry, but this is the easiest way to explain things." Lauren looked a little anxious, which was odd expression for Celestia. "Check your calendar, and if at all possible, don't panic."

I shrugged, tapping the home button and unlocking my smartphone. Locating the calendar app, I carefully aimed the tip of my hoof to open it. As soon as it loaded, my mouth became a cavern. In an entire four-week month, there was one-thousand, four-hundred-sixty days. "H-how…?"

The white alicorn's face grew dark. "Discord." The name chilled me to the bone, as if the very mention was made to be feared. "Everything that's happened is his doing. Apparently, there was a big ancient Egyptian prophecy about him being defeated in a fortnight, so he made a week the length of a year." She pauses to take a breath. I notice that Celestia looks… rather beautiful without her regalia, as if the regality spoils it. "Markus, I need you to be honest with me. Did you receive any strange messages since you became Rainbow Dash? Particularly, one mentioning a 'chronicler'?"

Nodding slowly, I gave her a look. "Yeah. That was Discord?" She nods. "He… he said he made me a pony to experience what he would do to the rest of us. Also, about the whole 'chronicler' thing, he just wants me to record his rise to power for the generations, or some schist."

Lauren looked surprised at this. "Seriously? That's it?!" She began to laugh, as if she just realized the punch line to a joke. "Oh thank god… he made you sound like some big disciple of chaos or something!"

Wow, Discord having a flare for the dramatic? As if we all didn't know that… "Yeesh, Discord sounds like a real prick. I'm glad he isn't hell bent on destroying us."

She immediately stopped chuckling, looking at me with a dead stare. "Actually… he did make an attempt on the life of Twilight's counterpart. It was something called an 'SCP-173'."

For the record, I hated that bucking game. "Oh…" I say, shocked. So instead of hanging out as a pony for the next two years– er, weeks –I'm going to be fighting for my life against the god of chaos. It's official, my life is bucked up the wazoo. "Um, yeah, if its alright with you, I'm going to deposit myself in a bank vault for the duration."

Lauren shook her head. "Markus, like it or not, you are the Element of Loyalty, and we both know– Um, is there something wrong?"

As soon as I told her that I was going to lock myself away, my head felt like it was plowed into by a Green Bay Packers linebacker. I gripped my temples with my hooves, desperately trying to make the pain stop. Even through the agony, I was vaguely aware that the Element of Loyalty, which I had set on the desk, was once again around my neck and shining a brilliant magenta N-no…! I can't abandon them for my own safety. They're counting on me to beat Discord. I can't leave them hanging! I… AM… LOYALTY!

Everything stopped. The glow of the ruby in my necklace had dimmed down to it's normal hue, and a comfortable silence filled the room. Yet, I was shivering from the pure terror of the thought of letting everyone down. In a medical standpoint, I had just experienced what could be described as a mental breakdown of my thoughts.

Lauren looked at me with an expression of horror. "W-what happened?l

"I… all I did was, just for a second, consider actually abandoning you for my sake," I gasped, looking down at the Element. "It won't let me be disloyal… which explains why it gave me pegasus instincts when I was restricted by circumstance. And if I try to willingly turn tail…"

"It punishes you," finished Lauren. "A little harsh for something that supposedly is a force of friendship and harmony." She looked a little surprised when I removed the Element, but didn't say anything of it. "There is another topic I want to talk about. Tell me, do you notice anything different about your personality lately?"

I shook my head, confused. "No, not really. Why?"

Lauren gave a dismissive wave of her hoof. "Nothing you need to be burdened with. If you'll excuse me, I have other things to attend to." She rose and trotted to the door. "If you need anything, just call."

Comments

[Ditz]

Your story keeps appearing on my favorites, which leads me to believe that you have unpublished chapters in.

Unless I am getting my over analyzing Phoenix Wright senses in a bunch, I believe that is the reason why it keeps showing up.

Don't mind me, just the ramblings of a crazy being.

[SunsetyDays]

This chapter meshes perfectly with my unwritten chapter!

[SunsetyDays]

However, next chapter will have to be a crossover between stories.

[LunarRai]

'SCP-137', eh....
http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-173

Gonna drop this here for everyone who hasn't seen it.

[An A10 Warthog]

1534936
How could you not have? I knew about SCPs long before Containment Breach.

[starshine_dash]

Oh dear. SCPs unleashed by Discord is NOT good. Though, he might become one himself after all this. I want more!

[LunarRai]

1535263
Oh, I know of them.
I'm worried for the people who haven't.
They really need to know these things.

[XrosOver]

hmm would the punishment happen if the element was off? yeah...it most likely would...

[M3Xkillers]

SCP-173

my nightmares were reestablished

[SunsetyDays]

Anyway, he's mistaken that his personality hasn't changed

[Doctor Geagle]

1534936
So it's like the Weeping Angels but without the Doctor?

[SunsetyDays]

1543362 Yeah, but he was made first.

[Luna Ravenwolf]

i woke up as my OC once then woke up agin and was pissed

[Red Bomber]

Okay so that's when the other stories have to catch up for now.

Seriously Rainbow has some serious issues, it's more or less like it's her last words or something, when hurts him like that.

[frostnova]

I still don't know what SCP-137 is can someone help? i looked at the link

[Cellin]

1603148 A freaky a Weeping angel clone that stalks the halls of the game SCP contanment breach. Scariest fking thing you will ever see in your entire life.

[Craterfist]

As fast as Rainbow Dash, I sped over and wrapped my forelegs around her neck in a pony-style hug. Then, still hanging in midair, I curled up with a squee of delight. "I just hugged Luna and Tara Strong… at the same time! Eeeee!"

You lucky bastard........

But.... He has to square off with SCP-173. Good thing I'm a Doctor Who fan. Weeping Angels are good practice.

[nemryn]

Gaaah calendars don't work like that

[MindWeb]

Just don't blink one eye at a time with 173, or he'll get pissed and torture you.

[Dealer]

1543362 also 173 can't send you back in time and feed of the energy that your original life created... weeping angels can do that.... also there are multiple angels.

[Dealer]

1673526 practice? damn scp is child's play compared to angels. you can't look an angel in the eyes, you can't watch it on tv, and the worst part is there is always more than one.

[DerpysLittleHelper]

I AM AMAZED! This is working out amazingly. HOW DO YOU DO IT?I love this!When I finish I must read more of your work!

[Pinklestia]

Well, weird. When Discord corrupted the element bearers, the elements didn't hurt the mane six.

[Oat Cakes]

Hmmm change in personality?
Has been found

[Autum Breeze]

Woe. Who'da thought the element of loyalty itself could be an ass to the bearer?

[ThatBastard]

The elements don't work with those who don't naturally have the right traits. Is that not obvious enough?