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Mare of Steel

by iowaforever

Chapter 6: Part 1, Chapter 6

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Chapter 6

The biggest complaint from those visiting Seaddle, asides from the numerous weird ponies that flocked to the city, was that due to the numerous national parks that surrounded it, and its proximity to Equestria’s northern border, it rained. A lot. Sometimes for weeks on end. The locals were used to it, which is why other ponies in Equestria thought they were crazy.

Rainbow Dash stepped out from the shelter of the train station and into the rain. She was no stranger to being rained on, being a weather pony and all, but it was a change from the idyllic setting of Ponyville. She sighed and started walking, pausing only to make sure she was headed in the right direction.

The crystal her mother had given her was tucked away in a small pack, hidden behind some camping supplies. During the train ride to Seaddle, Rainbow had pulled it out every now and then in an attempt to figure out what exactly it was, but other than glowing and occasionally spinning it did nothing. Being a mare of action, this frustrated Rainbow Dash to no end, and she began to feel like the crystal was silently mocking her. When she looked back to check on her pack, she thought she could see the green glow of the crystal through the fabric, as if the crystal was reacting to the attention she gave it.

By now a wind had come in from the east, making the rain harder to traverse. Rainbow Dash shook out her mane and continued walking, and she used her right wing to shield herself from the worst of the rain. She would have flown, using her newfound strength to combat the wind, but Pegasi never flew well in the rain, special powers or not. When I get inside, I’ll need to do an overhaul on my feathers before they start to smell... Sweet Celestia, I’m starting to sound like Rarity! Rainbow Dash shook from the thought; she liked Rarity, but the unicorn’s obsession with appearance and style got annoying after awhile. She checked her bearings again and continued walking.

After a few minutes, she came to a row of houses not unlike those in Ponyville save the roofing was slate and not thatch. Most of the houses were dark, but one or two still had lights on, allowing Rainbow Dash more visibility (night-vision, it seemed, was not something Kryptonians had). She kept walking until she saw her destination, a house near the end of the block with a large sign hanging over the door. Once she reached the house, Rainbow Dash shook as much water off of herself as possible and knocked.

There was the sound of shuffling behind the door before a Pegasus mare opened the door. She blinked a few times, as if she was still adjusting to the light. “Hello there. May I help you?”

“Yeah, I was wondering if I could say here for a few days?”

“Oh of course. Please come in.” Rainbow nodded her thanks and stepped inside, setting her wet saddlebags down. The other mare had disappeared, only to reappear with a book and pen balanced on her back. “I must say, I wasn’t really expecting anypony this time of year; most just wait until the rain goes away.”

“Really? Do the weather teams not schedule sunny days or something?”

“They do, but some ponies like to play in the rain more often than not.” the mare chuckled. “Oh, where are my manners? I’m Honeydew, and I want to welcome you to-”

“Seaddle Heights Bed & Breakfast.” Rainbow Dash finished.

“Oh... so you’ve visited before?”

“Once, when I was really little. I’m not sure if you remember me.”

“Oh, I’m very good at remembering ponies.” Honeydew took a moment to size up Rainbow Dash. “Oh yes, you were with that couple that was working with the Wonderbolts, right?”

“Yeah, that was them.” the other mare beamed.

“My mother was so worried she’d mess something up... well, I’d love to keep chatting about the past, but you’re probably beat from the trip.”

“Yeah...” And other things, but she doesn’t need to know that. Honeydew nodded and grabbed the book and pen from her back.

“Now, I usually charge ten bits a night, but since you are a repeat customer I’m willing to charge eight. Breakfast is at eight every morning, and if you have any questions just ask either me, my husband or Honeysuckle.”

“Who’s Honeysuckle?”

“My daughter.” Rainbow Dash blinked before taking the pen and signing her name in the book. Satisfied, Honeydew walked over to a nearby cabinet and produced a small room key. “You’ll be staying in the second room to your left, up the stairs. We mostly use it for storage nowadays, but I can move things out if you’d like.”

“Nah, I think I’ll be fine.”

“Just holler if you need anything.” Rainbow nodded and made her way up the stairs. The stairs squeaked with each step and the water on her hooves soaked the rug, but after being stuck on a train for several hours the sensation was welcomed by Rainbow.

The room itself was small, only about half the size of Fluttershy’s cottage, and smelled of pine. There was a bed set against the farthest wall, right beneath a window, and next to that sat a small nightstand with a clock. A few boxes were tucked away in one corner, and Rainbow Dash saw that they were filled with books, toys and small magazines. Rainbow set her saddlebags against the nearest box and walked over to the bed.

A nice nap should be good...

................

There were two ponies: a mare and a stallion. They stood at a distance, staring at Rainbow Dash. Confused, and a bit scared, Rainbow stared back at them, trying to get a response.

“Um, hi.” she said. No response “So, are you going to keep staring at me like that? Because it’s starting to get creepy... Seriously, can you guys even talk?” The other ponies did not respond. Rainbow Dash tried to get closer, but every time she did the others would move away from her. Trying to move farther away had the same result, with the ponies merely drifting after her.

“Stop following me around like that.” Rainbow Dash said “Did I do something wrong?” The ponies did not respond to her, the stallion merely looking at the mare.

“She is ready.” he said.

“Ready for what? Wait, does this have to do with me being an alien? I’m not going to go crazy, right?” the ponies looked back at her and she began to rise up in the air, lifted by some unseen force. Flapping her wings to counteract the rising had no effect, and Rainbow Dash saw that she was now the size of a small filly. Seeing that her wings were effectively useless, she tried flailing her legs in an attempt to break free of whatever was pulling her up, but this only made her ascend faster.

As she flew higher, the two other ponies faded out of sight, replaced by a column of rock and fire.

Rainbow Dash woke to the sound of knocking. A quick glance at her clock showed that an hour and a half had past since she had fallen asleep, and she guessed it was probably Honeydew coming to make sure Rainbow was okay. She pushed thoughts on her recent dream out of her head, rolled out of bed, and crossed to open the door.

Honeydew was not at the door. Instead, Rainbow nearly tripped over a filly about the same age as Scootaloo. “Oh, you must be Honeysuckle.”

“Yes.” The filly said “I need something in here.”

“Oh, sure. Take whatever you need.” the filly nodded and brushed past Rainbow Dash “So, what’s it like living here?”

“It’s nice.” the filly reached one of the boxes and began nosing through it.

“Is there anything cool around here?”

“Not really.”

“... Then what do you do?”

“Nothing much.”

“So, you just sit in your room and do nothing all day?”

“Yes, except when I have school.”

“What’s that like?”

“Nice.” the filly grabbed one of the magazines and exited the room.

“Are you trying to avoid talking with me?”

“Yes.” and with that the filly left, leaving behind a confused and slightly angry Rainbow Dash. Deciding that complaining about it was probably not in her best interests, she went back into the guest room and closed the door.

“Okay. That was weird... Guess she’s kind of like Twilight.” She sat down with her back propped up against the door and looked at the box “Still, even Twilight wouldn’t be that focused on a book.” She stood up and walked over the the box, pushing her saddlebags aside for the moment. She selected one of the magazines and pulled it out of the box, dropping it on the ground when she was sure she had enough room.

Calling it a magazine was probably excessive; it was small, had more bright colors, and was printed on cheap paper. The cover showed the picture of a beige stallion, dressed in a light blue suit, punching a grey pony with an ugly haircut and funny mustache in the face beneath the banner “Captain Equestria”.

“This must be one of those comic books Spike told me about.” Rainbow flipped the comic over “Well, it looks cool... kind of crummy, though.” She flipped it over once more and began leafing through the pages.

“I guess I have some time to kill.” two hours later, she was asleep again.

...............

“Miss Dash... Miss Dash?”

“Hmn?... No, Captain, we’ve gotta stop Red Skull...” Rainbow rolled over, dragging a nearby blanket with her.

“Miss Dash?” Rainbow felt somepony poking her in the back, right between her wings. She flared them briefly and rolled over, coming face to face with two very large green eyes.

“Gah!” Rainbow Dash reeled back, tangling her forelegs in the blanket and startling Honeysuckle. “Why did you do that?”

“Sorry, I didn’t know you’d roll over like that.” the filly said, looking towards the floor.

“Well, don’t stand so close to me next time.” an image of Rainbow accidentally smacking the filly through a wall drifted into her mind, but she quickly shifted her attention and proceeded to untangle herself from her sheets “Where’s your mom?”

“She’s doing something with Dad downtown. They said I should be able to help you if you need anything.”

“Oh...” Either she’ll just ignore me, or whatever freaky alien powers I have will come out and I’ll kill somepony... this should be fun. “So, uh, is there anything you wanted?”

“No. I already ate; I just came to wake you up and tell you you’re watching me.”

“Couldn’t you have waited until I’d woken up?”

“Well... I was going to... I’ve never really woken somepony up before.”

“You sound like one of my friends. She makes everything from spells to getting drunk sound like some kind of school assignment.”

“I... I don’t know anything about that... getting drunk, that is...”

“Good.” Rainbow Dash finished untangling herself and climbed out of bed “So, you’re sure you don’t need me to do anything?”

“Not yet.” Honeysuckle turned and left. Rainbow Dash exited her room and headed downstairs, the carpet still a bit wet from where she had walked the night before. When she reached the bottom floor, she glanced around and was able to spot a small pot of something sitting on a stovetop. It took Rainbow a minute to realize she was looking through the wall before everything returned to normal.

“I’ve got to find a way to turn that off.” Rainbow said as she walked towards the kitchen “Well... there’s always poker night with Applejack... that should be fun.” Rainbow chuckled and continued on. Upon entering the kitchen, she looked and spotted the pot once more, and an idea came to mind. Planting her hooves, she looked at the pot, trying to call up her special vision to see what exactly had been prepared.

What happened next was nothing anypony would have expected; as she started focusing, two red beams shot from her eyes and struck the pot in the center. Unable to withstand the amount of energy being poured into it, the pot exploded, scattering bits of food and shrapnel across the room. Rainbow Dash yelped in surprise and ducked, small pieces of metal bouncing off her with little lasting effect. When she was sure it was over, she stood back up and surveyed the room, noting the number of gouges in the wall caused by wayward shards.

“... I really need to find a way to turn that off.” there was the sound of hooves coming down the stairs before Honeysuckle burst into the kitchen, a small fire extinguisher balanced on her back.

“What happened?” she asked.

“I, uh, accidentally blew up a pot.” the filly placed the fire extinguisher on the ground and looked at Rainbow Dash.

“How’d you do that?”

“Laser vision?” Honeysuckle merely raised an eyebrow “I’m not really sure what happened; I was just looking at the pot and it exploded.” there was a long pause before Honeysuckle picked up her fire extinguisher and made to leave.

“You’re weird... I like that.” she smiled and trotted out of the room. Rainbow Dash smiled slightly and turned her attention back to the mess in front of her.

All in all, it was a rough start for a pony trying to clear their mind.

..................

Another day had passed. In an attempt to be useful, and to make up for destroying part of the kitchen, Rainbow Dash had taken up a few smaller chores around the house. Most could be done without Rainbow overexerting herself and breaking something, and for that she was grateful.

However, after the incident of the other day Honeysuckle had taken great interest in Rainbow Dash. While Rainbow was tolerant of foals following her around, the little filly was almost as persistent as Scootaloo. When she was not peeking around corners or hiding in her room, she was always standing next to the older mare as she went about her different tasks.

“My mom said you loved flying.” Honeysuckle said “Why aren’t you flying?”

“I’d love to, but there’s no room.” Rainbow Dash flapped her wings for emphasis “I’d knock something over if I was careless. Wait until the weather clears, and I’ll show you some of my moves.”

“Moves? Like stunt flying?”

“Yeah, something like that. You ever see any stunt flying?”

“Not really. I haven’t thought a lot about flying since my wings aren’t strong enough.”

“Hey, maybe I could give you some pointers. My mom’s a flight trainer, so I’ve picked up a few things from her.”

“Such as?”

“Well... When I was five, she took me out to a lake with a small cliff to teach me how to fly. She proceeded to throw me off the cliff until my wings got strong enough for hovering.”

“Isn’t that a little dangerous?”

“It’s better than the alternative; I've heard of foals being pushed off of Cloudsdale. Besides, it wasn’t that big of a cliff, and she was waiting to catch me if anything went wrong.”

“You’re not going to do anything like that, are you?”

“Of course not. I’d probably get a lot of ponies angry if I started throwing foals off of cliffs. I could probably show you a few exercises to get you started.”

“Okay.” There was a pause before Rainbow Dash spoke again.

“So, I noticed that you read comics.” Honeysuckle frowned and looked away.

“You think that’s weird...”

“No, of course not. I’m not one of those prissy Canterlot ponies who thinks everything anypony does is ‘weird’. Besides, it’s kind of like me and the Daring Do series... Have you ever read any of those?”

“No.”

“Oh. Well, you should, I think you’d like them. But that doesn’t matter now. I just wanted to know why you read them.” Another pause, punctuated only by Honeysuckle’s shuffling.

“Well... when I was really little, some mean ponies came and... they hurt my dad. I mean really hurt him. He couldn’t fly for days... Mom cried a lot, and I didn’t really know what was wrong, so I got sad and cried too... The guards tried to be helpful, but nothing really happened. But if there was a superhero, then nopony would have gotten hurt. Everypony would have been fine...”

“So...?”

“It makes me feel better, that there’s still some ponies who don’t want the bad guys to get away... You remind me of them, somehow.”

“Me? I’m not much of a hero.”

“Why?”

“... To be honest, I’m not the nicest of ponies; I play pranks, I show off, and my friends say I talk about myself too much.”

“Maybe that’s why you could be a hero. Maybe you need to work those things out.”

“Yeah, maybe...” there was more silence.

“Mom’s still wondering how that pot exploded.”

“Maybe when the weather clears I’ll show you what happened.”

“You said something about laser vision... that’s not possible, is it?”

“I’m not an egghead so I couldn’t tell you if ponies could have laser vision... it’d be pretty cool if they did.” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Fluttershy wouldn’t have any trouble with her animals if she had laser vision. Maybe Angel would actually be nice to her for once.”

“Who’s Fluttershy?”

“One of my friends from Ponyville. I suppose I should tell you a little more about them someday.”

“I’d like that.” Honeysuckle smiled and wandered off.

...................

The rain stopped the next day. Even if she had learned just to bear with it, Rainbow Dash was glad to see the sun again. She stepped outside and took a deep breath; there was enough moisture in the air to give it a sweet smell, and Rainbow Dash felt a small shiver run down the length of her spine as she inhaled. Seeing as the weather was clear enough for flying, she spread her wings and prepared to take off.

At least she would have, had there not been extra weight tugging at her tail.

“Miss Dash?” Rainbow turned and saw Honeysuckle standing behind her.

“You can just call me Rainbow Dash. Keep calling me ‘Miss’ and I’ll probably start acting like my mom.”

“Okay... where are you going?”

“I was just going to fly around for a little, maybe do some sightseeing... Wanna come with me?”

“I can’t fly, remember?”

“Well, no you can’t, but I can.” she turned, grabbed Honeysuckle by the scruff of her neck, and placed her on her back.

“Wait, are you sure this is safe?”

“Relax, I’ve done this a million times. Just hang on tight.” Rainbow felt the filly’s hooves wrap around her neck just before she took off. Before the incident with the rock, flying sessions like these usually got off to a slow start, but with her new powers taking off was no problem at all. If anything, her greatest problem was keeping a reasonable speed.

“So,” Rainbow asked once they leveled off. “Enjoying the view?”

“Yes,” the filly said “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“Ask your parents about it sometime; I’m sure they’d love to take you out flying like this... Well, ask your dad; I don’t think your mom is in any condition to fly right now.”

“Why, is she sick?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” they circled around and began to head south. As they did, Rainbow Dash spotted a group of ponies gathering around a cart in a large green area “Wonder what’s going on down there.”

“Ponies don’t really get into groups around here...” Honeysuckle said.

“Well, I always liked a good crowd.” Rainbow Dash changed direction again and glided down to the rear of the group. She landed and allowed Honeysuckle to climb off her back before proceeding. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Not sure.” one of the nearby ponies said. “Some mare came in after the storm; said she was some kind of powerful wizard and wanted to show off her powers.”

“Powerful wizard... Wait, what does she look like?”

“Just wait, I think it’s starting.” Rainbow Dash looked towards the cart, where a small stage had been set up. there was a puff of smoke and a blue mare with a white and blue mane and wizard costume stepped out.

“Trixie...” Rainbow said, her gaze shifting to a scowl.

“You know her?” the other pony asked.

“Yeah. She showed up in the town I lived in and started bragging about defeating an Ursa Major. A couple of colts believed her and woke up an Ursa for her to defeat, and it would have destroyed the whole town if my friend hadn’t driven it away.”

“... She’s not going to do anything like that, will she?”

“I hope not. Just don’t try to prove her wrong. I’m going to get out of here before she-” Rainbow looked down and saw that Honeysuckle was missing “Great. She ran off.”

“You really should keep an eye on your daughter when you go out in public.”

“My what? She’s not my daughter.”

“Sister?”

“No.” Rainbow Dash scanned the group once before attempting to use her new vision. She saw nothing at first, but after a second sweep she spotted the filly shoving her way towards the front. Frowning, Rainbow began to follow her, trying her best to not shove the other ponies in her path. She was so focused on finding the filly that she was not paying attention to what Trixie was saying.

“Citizens of Seaddle! Gaze upon the force of magical might that is the Great and Powerful Trixie! I have traversed the world many times over! I have studied many spells and magical arts that most ponies wouldn’t dare to attempt! Now, watch as the Great and Powerful Trixie dazzles you with her immense power!” There was a flash of pyrotechnics as Trixie reared up on her hind legs. Rainbow Dash ignored this and continued towards Honeysuckle.

“Why did you run away from me?” she asked in a whisper once she found the filly.

“I couldn’t see the stage.” she replied.

“Yeah, well, you don’t know the kinds of ponies that hang around these places.”

“Do those kinds of ponies watch magic shows?”

“I, well... I don’t know.” Rainbow Dash turned her attention back to the stage, where Trixie was busy setting up her next act... and stroking her ego quite a bit. Rainbow Dash was not really listening to what she was saying until somepony asked what exactly Trixie had done to qualify her as “Great and Powerful”.

“Trixie is glad you asked. When she was starting her journey of discovery, Trixie stumbled across a village being menaced by an Ursa Major.” a quick spell created an illusion of a massive blue bear made of stars and magic “Drawing from my mass of power, I, The Great and Powerful Trixie, vanquished the Ursa and allowed the town to rest in peace for-”

“That’s not an Ursa Major.” Trixie visibly panicked as Honeysuckle stepped forward.

“Wha- Who dares to challenge the integrity of the Great and Powerful Trixie?”

“Um, me?” Trixie glared at the filly.

“And what would you know about Ursas? Have you ever seen one?”

“Um, no... But Red Skull hypnotized one to attack Manehattan in a comic I read, it looked exactly like that one and he said it was an Ursa Minor.”

“You mean...?” Trixie failed to suppress a snort “You mean you base your accusations off of... comics?”

“Um, yes?”

“Well, how do you know what they say is true? After all, they just tell fantastic stories that have no chance of actually happening. Who are you going to trust, a mare who has spent more time out in the world than you ever will, or some poorly colored pieces of paper?” the filly backed up and hung her head, pawing nervously at the ground as she did so.

“... They’re not poorly colored...”

“Keep telling yourself that, maybe you’ll actually convince yourself it’s true.” Trixie turned back and was about to continue her act when she saw a second pony step forward.

“You know she’s right, Trixie,” Rainbow Dash said, glaring at the showmare “And I’ve actually seen an Ursa, so I know the truth.”

“You...” Trixie merely returned the glare “Have you come to attempt some pitiful show of force to prove yourself to the Great and Powerful-”

“Don’t give me that! You couldn’t even scare the Ursa away; you only made it angrier. What kind of power is that?”

“Oh, and where were you during that incident? I didn’t see you trying to stop the thing from destroying your town.”

“Unlike some ponies, I know not to go attacking giant rampaging animals... okay, there was this one time with a dragon, but that doesn’t matter.”

“Bah! I know the real reason; you just stood aside and let that little witch of a friend humiliate me in front of all those ponies.”

“Twilight is not a witch!”

“Sure, and you are not a Pegasus.” Rainbow Dash approached the stage.

“It’s your own fault that you got ‘humiliated’. If you hadn’t been bragging every second you were in Ponyville, those colts wouldn’t have led the Ursa to you.”

“You are calling me a braggart? What about you? You constantly spoke of yourself as the greatest pony to come out of Cloudsdale, and I have it on good account that you are a massive glory hound. If I actually considered myself a braggart, I would say you are no different than Trixie.”

“You want to know what’s really different about us Trixie?” Rainbow Dash leapt up and landed in front of Trixie “I’ve learned to back down when I’ve gone too far, and I know when I’m starting to hurt ponies. You, on the other hoof, you just keep bragging and insulting and humiliating ponies until everypony is against you, and you don’t seem to have a real problem with this. I am nothing like you, and I never will be anything like you.” Trixie stared at Rainbow Dash, unsure of what to do. After a pause, she chuckled and regained her composure.

“So, now what? If you think that you are somehow superior to me, do you hope to prove that in a show of skill? Because I’m sure you would love to pit yourself against my arcane powers.”

“No.”

“... What?”

“No. I don’t think you’re worth it.” Rainbow Dash turned around “I’m going home.” This, more than anything Rainbow Dash had said, seemed to hit Trixie the hardest.

“Not worth it? Not Worth It!?” Trixie stamped her hooves “Trixie is the most powerful unicorn to have ever lived, and you say I’m not worth it?!”

“Yeah. Besides, I’d probably end up breaking you or something.”

“‘Breaking me’? How’s this for ‘breaking’?” Rainbow Dash turned to the sound of wood splintering and saw a large chunk of the stage flying towards her at high speed. She threw her right foreleg up in defense as the chunk of wood slammed against her. There was a second crack and Rainbow Dash saw the stage chunk splinter into pieces while her foreleg and head remained unharmed. She lowered her leg and saw Trixie staring at her in shock.

“What was that for?”

“I-I... Wha-... How did you... That’s impossible!”

“Well, I’m still standing and I’m not dead. I’d say it is possible.” Trixie could only stare and babble in incoherent sentences. Finally, she recovered and glared at Rainbow.

“I just didn’t use enough power, then.” Trixie’s horn began to glow and another section of the stage began to tear off. In desperation, Rainbow Dash reared up and slammed her hooves against the stage, shattering it and sending both mares tumbling into the dirt.

“Trixie! Calm down before you kill somepony!”

“You upstage my show, destroy my stage, and you want me to calm down?!”

“You’re the one who threw the stage at my head!”

“Oh, I’ll do more than that!” Trixie lowered her head, her horn glowing with magical energy. She would have cast her spell, had not another aura of magic enveloped the two mares and yanked them off the ground.

“Sweet Celestia, you’re both out of control.” a unicorn stallion said, stepping out of the crowd “I don’t really care what you two have against each other, but stop fighting like a couple of angry foals or we’ll have to take more drastic measures.” Rainbow Dash turned to the best of her abilities and looked at Trixie.

“I’m up for it. Are you?”

“Just put Trixie down.” the aura ceased and the two mares dropped to the ground “So, you have turned yet another town against me.”

“Hey, I thought he said-”

“Silence. You have made a cham of me now, but this will not be the end. This is not the last you will see of the Great and Powerful Trixie!” there was a puff of smoke and Trixie was off, running towards the town as fast as her legs could carry.

“Still hasn’t learned how to Teleport.” Rainbow Dash turned to the other ponies “You all should go home now; I’m sure the town guard will show up and take care of this mess.” Most of the ponies nodded and began to wander off, while some decided to stick around and help with the cleanup effort. Rainbow Dash stepped back to allow the others room, while Honeysuckle trotted over to her.

“How did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Smashing the stage like that. It was bad, but it was also kind of cool...”

“I panicked, I didn’t mean to let loose like that.”

“You mean you’ve done something like this before?”

“... I made a tree explode by kicking it once, if that’s what you want to know.”

“Wow... Is that why you’re here?”

“What?”

“You never told me why you came here, so are you hiding from somepony because you broke their tree?”

“No, it’s not that... Come on, I’ll show you.”

................

They were back in Rainbow Dash’s room, with the crystal in front of them.

“I know I shouldn’t get worked up over this, but I feel like there’s something with this crystal that I need to find out. Everything I’ve done has only made it glow.”

“Have you tried talking to it?” Rainbow Dash looked at the filly.

“It’s a crystal, it’s not going to do anything if I talk to it.”

“How would you know? You haven’t tried that yet.”

“Yeah, because I don’t talk to rocks. One of my friends might if she ever got lonely, but me? Not so much.”

“Maybe I should try.” Honeysuckle stood to approach the rock, only to be blocked by a blue hoof.

“No. I don’t want you to get hurt if something goes wrong... I can take a lot of hits, you can’t. I’ll do it.” Rainbow Dash approached the crystal and leaned in. It continued to glow, the brightness increasing as she got closer.

“Um... Hey there, rock. So, I think there’s something important that I need to find out, so if there’s any way you could help me that would be very much appreciated.” the rock did nothing, its glow never dimming for a second. This is stupid. How is Pinkie able to do something like this. In frustration she swatted the rock with her hoof, and she saw it.

She saw a field of white, with snow blotting out the sky. The ice beneath her hooves was firm, but slippery, and ahead she saw a green glow from beneath. The glow flickered for a moment before a massive spire broke from the ice. Rainbow Dash blinked and she was back in the room, the crystal sitting next to her.

“Hey, it worked... I know what I have to do.” She grabbed the crystal and made for her saddlebags. After rummaging around for a minute, she produced a sack of bits and tossed them to Honeysuckle. “Here; best give this to your mom when she comes home.”

“Are you leaving?”

“I have to. The crystal wants me to go somewhere, and If I’m going to find out anything then that’s where I have to go.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m really an alien and that crystal is the only thing I have that can tell me where I’m from.” there was silence as Honeysuckle made sense of what Rainbow Dash said.

“You mean... all this time...”

“You were spending time with an alien. Yeah, I know it’s kind of hard to believe, but it’s the truth.” The filly blinked a few times before smiling.

“Well, I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

“Me too.” Rainbow Dash strapped on her saddlebags and exited the room. “Your parents should be home in a minute... tell them that I’m really happy that they let me stay here for a bit... Oh, and tell your mom to go see a doctor some time soon.” the two reached the front door, Rainbow Dash prodding it open with her nose.


“Why? Is she sick?”

“No, she’s having twins.” with that, Rainbow Dash spread her wings and began to fly north.

................

It was night, and Trixie found herself roaming the streets of Seaddle. In her mind she was scolding herself for destroying her wagon, as now she had little money and no real place to stay. Again.

“It’s that stupid Pegasus’ fault.” she growled “If she hadn’t shown up I could have actually made something on this tour. But no, she just has to go and ruin my life one city at a time... Well I’ll show her. I’ll show her, that witch Twilight, Ponyville, Seaddle; I’ll show them all why no one shames the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

“But do you have the means to do so?” a voice said from the shadows. Trixie whirled around, trying to find the source of the voice.

“Show yourself! Be warned, I am well versed in many combat spells!”

“Don’t panic, I am not here to kill you.” the voice said again “I just couldn’t help but overhear that you have been wronged several times.” Trixie relaxed her magic and slumped to the curb.

“Yes... it’s as if the universe is content on making Trixie suffer.”

“I doubt it is geared specifically for that purpose. But again, how do you plan to go about your revenge?”

“... I don’t know. Someday, I hope to have enough power that I can flatten that miserable town with ease.”

“Someday? Why not now?” Trixie looked to where the voice was coming from.

“You have a way?”

“I have many ways, and I share your cause. Many years ago, I was wronged by ponies who did not share my ideals, who wished to take credit only for themselves. I want to redeem myself and do away with that lot, but I need help.”

“What’s in it for me?”

“I know several powerful spells that will aid you greatly. No longer will you be on your own; you will have servants, ponies who will do anything for you, even die for you. You will be able to slay the most powerful beasts on the planet, even challenge Princess Celestia herself.”

“And you will teach Trixie these spells?”

“Of course. You help me regain my honor, I help you get your revenge. What is your answer?” Trixie thought about it for a moment before replying.

“Yes, I want this. Give Trixie the power to challenge the gods. Let my name be feared and respected by every stallion, mare and foal in Equestria. Let me squash that little witch and her posse! Give me this power!” there was a pause before Trixie heard chuckling.

“I admire your enthusiasm. I will do so. I just ask for one more thing.”

“What?” there was the sound of movement before a stallion stepped out of the shadows.

“Kneel.”

Author's Notes:

When I first wrote this chapter, I was in a creative rut; nothing I wrote sounded all that great, and when I managed to get something good rolling (right around when I got to Trixie) one of the stories I was tracking fed Rainbow Dash's sister to a hydra.
As of April 28, this chapter has been edited. I still don't like it, but I think it's better than what it was before.
Next chapter, Rainbow Dash goes and visits the Fortress of Solitude

Next Chapter: Part 1, Chapter 7 Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 57 Minutes
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