A Pony and a Plummet

"Ah don't like lyin', Twilight. You know Ah don't."

"But did you get it?"

Applejack tossed her head. The necklace slipped over her head and around her neck. "You bet yer bushels Ah got it. But Ah swear, Twi, if you ever try ta get me t'do somethin' like that again, Ah'm gonna applebuck ya straight back ta Canterlot. She kissed me! On the snout!" Applejack rubbed her nose disdainfully.

Twilight chuckled. She had counted on Applejack's particular use of vernacular, hoping her friend's unusual drawl would make Megan think Applejack was, well, a few apples short of a barrel. She hadn't counted on it working so well. "Sorry about that. We couldn't have done it without you, AJ. Now, just keep that thing safe until we've got everything under control."

A loud, angry scream erupted from the Estate.

Twilight jumped. "Everyone! Get ready!"

Outlined by the dusky sky, the group of rebels gathered. Among them were Wind Whistler, Gusty, and North Star. Twilight also noticed Paradise had arrived, but the white pegasus had stuck firmly in the back line. After a moment, Twilight realized that she was speaking to a group of rather shy ponies. Posey was among them, as was Sweet Stuff. Perking up her ears, Twilight caught glimpses of "Try your best. If you don't want to fight, at least stand your ground. Aid the injured, even if they're not on our side."

At her flank, Twilight felt a shiver. It was Applejack. Twilight pressed gently against her friend, steadying her. It took a moment, but Applejack finally gained her resolve, giving a snort of annoyance at her own fear.

"Ah still think this's a bad idea, Twi. But Ah'm behind ya all the way."

"I know. And I appreciate it. I know everything will turn out okay as long as we stick together."

From the sky, Rainbow Dash and a few other pegasuses watched as a small group of ponies started out from the Estate. Megan was in their midst, like a general shielding himself with his army. Dash waved a signal to Twilight.

"Okay, everypony," Twilight said. "These ponies are your friends. Even though they're not eye-to-eye with you right now, they are still your friends. Subdue them, capture them, but please try not to hurt them."

The rebels nodded collectively. Most of them were nervous, frightened, but still stood their ground, held together by their beliefs. The pounding of hooves was coming closer, down the hill around the Estate. Twilight hoped with all of her heart that everything would end up all right.

Those loyal to Megan clashed with the rebels. Almost immediately, Twilight noticed that neither side was suited for battle. Megan's allies were nearly exhausted from the run down the hill, and the rebels were too nervous to fight properly. Neither side was trained; there had been no time. Hooves clumsily knocked together; heads were cast downwards for charging, only to pull up and stop at the last minute. Pegasuses swarmed the sky like confused bees, diving toward each other and pulling away. Thankfully, it seemed that these ponies actually were friends, and even in battle they did not wish to harm one another.

Only a select few were actually attacking. One of these was Gusty. Enraged by the baby dragon's disappearance, her lone goal was to reach Megan. She charged, her head down, nostrils flaring, shoving ponies out of her path. She stopped only once, challenged by another unicorn. The other was magenta, with the same strange eyes as Sweet Stuff. Gusty reared and let out a horrible noise. Anger, terror, panic, and desperation rolled into a single high-pitched whinny, and the other unicorn immediately cowered in fear and let her pass.

Seeing the white unicorn's approach, Megan grabbed a white earth pony with magenta hair. "Truly," she said, "I need your help. You have to protect me!"

"Wh-what? How?"

"Get the little ones from the nursery and bring them here. They won't attack the babies."

Truly's green eyes widened. She stepped back, shocked. "You're gonna use the babies as a shield? Megan, how dare you?"

Truly's drawl, though more eloquent and sophisticated than Applejack's, still reminded Megan of the coup d'etat. She grabbed Truly by the jaw, roughly jerking her. "How dare I? How dare you question my orders! Get those brats over here to protect me!"

The white pony pulled away with an angry grunt. Several ponies around heard the conversation and had halted their assault to listen. Gusty, who had still been charging toward the human, skidded to a halt.

"What's Megan doing?"

"Did...did she just ask for the babies?"

"As a shield?"

Ponies' voices rose up all around Megan and Truly. As the impact of Megan's orders began to dawn on them, their voices turned to anger. Many ponies on Megan's side dropped their attack, much to the relief of their rebelling friends. Led by Gusty, the ponies formed a circle around their human 'friend,' shoving Molly and Danny in with their sister. A few ponies still on Megan's side replied with angry bucks, but by now they were far outnumbered.

Firefly, attacking on Megan's side, was ignorant of the events below. Her aggressive swipes at Rainbow Dash were merely annoyances to the winner of Equestria's Young Flyer's Competition.

"Why!" Firefly cried, swooping again at Dash, who simply fluttered out of the way. "I thought you were my friend! Why are you doing this to us?"

"Where's your pride?" Dash called back. "You're a pegasus. You can do so much more than bow down to some stupid human."

Firefly hovered, wiping at her eyes. "She saved us! Megan and the Rainbow of Light saved us many times! We're grateful to her, that's all!"

Rainbow Dash scoffed. "That rainbow's not in a stupid locket. And I'll prove it to you!"

She zoomed away from Firefly, who made no attempt to give chase. The chubby pink pegasus could only watch as Dash climbed higher and higher into the sky.

Twilight also saw this, noticing against the evening gloom the transparent stripe of rainbow that followed her friend's polychromatic hair. She suddenly understood what Dash was doing, and without thinking, she ran into the midst of battle. Her horn glowed as she ran, and she muttered a voice amplification spell under her breath.

"Everypony, look!" she said, her voice echoing across the clumsy battlefield. To her surprise, everypony stopped and stared at her. She gulped, remembered that these ponies were somewhat accustomed to being commanded, and raised a hoof to the sky.

"You think that human is the only one that can make a rainbow. And you're convinced that a rainbow is the only thing that can help you. But my friend up there is about to show you – you don't need Megan and her rainbow. You all have your own rainbow. The power of the Rainbow of Light? That power is in all ponies! Watch!"

At that last word, although she was much too high up to hear Twilight, Rainbow Dash looped around. She took a deep breath, surprised at how thin the air was, and started downward, preparing her body for the Sonic Rainboom. Putting both hooves in front of her, she lowered her head, no longer fearing the sight of the ground coming at her at high speed. She felt the air warble and flux around her, as though she had dived underwater. After what seemed like forever, a pressure started to push against the tips of her hooves. Tucking her wings in, she fell faster, feeling the Sonic Rainboom forming in her hooves, feeling the rush of air stop against her fetlocks and forearms. Her hair stopped rustling with wind. Her feathers felt as still as a winter morning.

In an instant, the air snapped around her, and the Rainboom formed, splitting the clouds with a large circular rainbow. The rainbow chased after Dash, who hooked around, looped, corkscrewed in circles in an effort to slow herself down. She became aware of a sound, and, after looping the chasing rainbow into a pretzel-like knot, she was able to identify the satisfying and familiar sound of cheering ponies.

When Twilight had first seen the Sonic Rainboom, it had been during daylight. It was impressive even then, but now, as though fighting back the darkness in the land, the Rainboom lit up the night in every color of the rainbow. It was difficult for Twilight to bring herself away from its awe and majesty, but she remembered what had to be done.

"Applejack, now!" she cried.

"On it, Twi!" Applejack said, galloping towards Megan and her siblings, snatching a lasso from her saddlebag.

"Huh?" called the other Applejack, confused. She had been on Megan's side and was standing in the circle surrounding the humans.

The smaller Applejack threw her lasso, catching Megan dead-on. She pulled tightly and ran towards the fatter Applejack with the rope.

"Hol' onna this, sugarcube!" she said through a mouthful of rope.

"But my name's not mmph!" gasped the fatter Applejack, the rope suddenly shoved into her teeth.

"Pull!" the farmpony demanded, whipping out another lasso and catching Megan from the opposite side. The human was now caught between two Applejacks and unable to move.

"You stupid ponies!" Megan cried, her rage boiling. "What are you waiting for? Get them!"

Nopony moved.

"I'm your master," she screamed. "I am the only one who can protect you! I am the keeper of the Rainbow of Light! You will obey me, or you will face the consequences!"

"Not anymore, Megan!" Twilight cried triumphantly. She, Wind Whistler, and North Star broke through the crowd. "Your reign over these ponies is over!"

Danny and Molly instantly fell to their knees, begging and whimpering.

"It's not our fault," Molly whined.

"Megan forced us to do it!" Danny pleaded.

"Quiet!" Wind Whistler stomped. "You will be-"

She was interrupted by a low-flying Rainbow Dash, still trying to slow down after the Rainboom. In the distraction, Danny sprinted over to the smaller Applejack, yanking the locket from her neck.

"Hey!" the farmpony shouted, almost letting go of the rope.

Danny tossed the locket to Megan, and she opened it. The ribbon of rainbow danced in the sky.

"Rainbow of Light!" Megan called, "free me and destroy these wretched ponies!"

Instead, the rainbow bounced almost merrily along in the sky, as though it hadn't heard her.

"You useless piece of junk! Get me out of here!" She writhed in her bonds, making both Applejacks momentarily loose footing. They held tight, and Megan gave a small yelp. The rainbow flowed casually along the breeze. Then, it flew off into the Estate and all but disappeared.

There was a pause. Megan spouted out some strange words that Twilight had never heard. Judging from the other ponies' reactions, they weren't nice words.

"Well, what shall we do with them?" Wind Whistler said while the Applejacks tied up Molly and Danny.

Various suggestions arose, from burying her to her neck in the swamp to simply exiling her to the Shadow Forest, and somepony even suggested ending her life. But Wind Whistler was looking to Twilight for advice.

"We should send them back to wherever they came," Twilight said after some deliberation. "Only a pegasus can bring them here, right? If you take them back home, they can't come back."

"A good idea," said Wind Whistler. "Who wants to take them back?"

Every pegasus suddenly found the grass very interesting.

"Firefly?" Wind Whistler offered. "You were the one to first bring her here."

"I'm sorry I ever did," said Firefly, looking up at the remaining lights of the Rainboom. "I can't bring myself to even touch them."

"I'll do it," North Star spoke up. There were tears welling in her eyes, remembrance of how her human friend used to be. "I'll take them. I'm strong enough, and I'll be quick."

Wind Whistler nodded. The three humans were tied to North Star's back, cursing and begging all the while. North Star rose into the air, dashing off into the night, breaking a line into several of Dash's rainbow-marks in the sky.

"We were blinded," said Firefly to Wind Whistler and Twilight. "We really thought she was the only one that could protect us."

Dash finally slowed down enough to land. Panting, out of breath, but now full of adrenaline, she plopped down beside Firefly. "That was awesome! Best Rainboom I ever did! Aw, but she had ta go and mess it up!" She frowned at the lines North Star had destroyed. Everypony laughed, releasing their tension.

Apologies were passed around by both sides, and everything was forgiven. Promises were made to not let any creature dominate ponies, especially untrustworthy humans. As the ponies started back toward the Estate, the Rainbow of Light appeared from its doors. Under it limped a small pink-and-green creature. Several ponies, especially Gusty, immediately bolted forward.

"Spike!" called Gusty, nearly tackling the baby dragon. He was covered in scrapes and bruises, and one of his eyes was swollen. But he was not badly hurt, and most importantly he was alive. He latched on to Gusty, who was nearly sobbing with joy.

"Spike!" echoed Wind Whistler, trotting up, "what happened to you?"

"I dunno," the baby dragon said, wiping tears from his eyes. "I was talkin' to Gusty, a-and the next thing I know, I was locked up somewhere under the Estate. Megan and Molly were yellin' at me, and Danny was hittin' me. I-I didn't even know they could be so mean! But then I saw the Rainbow, and it got me out and led me up here."

Twilight watched as the Rainbow of Light danced through the sky. She noticed that Paradise had stepped up beside her.

"The Rainbow looks happy," the white pegasus said.

Twilight nodded. "I wonder what will happen to it."

She didn't have to wait to find out. The Rainbow dashed towards her at such an alarming speed that Applejack and Rainbow Dash were instantly at her side. The Rainbow circled the trio at a dizzying speed then shot off towards a clump of trees. After a moment, it came back, circled them again, and sped off.

"I think you should follow it," Paradise said as the Rainbow returned a third time. Twilight picked up the empty locket in her teeth and ran after it.

Followed by their new friends, the trio chased the Rainbow to a small brook. The Rainbow spun around in a circle, faster and faster until all of its colors started to blend together. It spun and spun until it took on a familiar shape.

A portal.

"This is the way home," Twilight gasped. "It must be!"

"Then you should go," urged Wind Whistler, stepping forward. "It isn't civil of us to detain you from your home. But we will always remember you three: Twilight Twinkle, who gave us courage to stand up to our enemies, brave Apple Bloom, who dared so bravely to trick the human, and we will especially remember Rainbow Flash, the pegasus who taught us that rainbows come from within."

Posey, quietly sobbing, burst from the crowd, nuzzling Twilight in an awkward hug. Her tears made her larger body seem small and humbled. "Please don't leave, Twilight! I want you to stay!"

Twilight smiled and nuzzled the fat pony in return. "I'm sorry, Posey. I wish I could say 'see you soon,' but instead, I'll have to say 'good-bye'."

The fat Applejack faced her doppelganger. "Wow! That was some fancy trick you pulled with that rope! I wanna learn how to do that!"

The farmpony tipped her hat proudly. "Hard work an' practice, sugar. That's th' only way anypony'll go places in the world. Maybe ya'll should try plantin' yer own seeds, too. That way, ya'll will have food all winter long."

The orange pony gave a loud gasp, as if this was the most brilliant idea ever devised. "Whoa, that would be so awesome! How do you come up with this stuff?"

The farmpony, bewildered, simply blushed.

"Guess no more tag," said Firefly, kicking at the ground.

Rainbow Dash grinned at her. "Tag? That's foal stuff. I wanna see you do a Sonic Rainboom."

Firefly thought for a moment, then jumped, arching her body in a playful pose. "Nuh-uh! I'm gonna do better than that! I'm gonna do a-a Thundering Firebolt! It's gonna be, like, ten times more awesome than a silly Sonic Rainboom! You'll see!"

"Keep tryin', kid. You'll be juuust as cool as me...someday."

Laughter echoed against the trees, delaying goodbyes. The portal gave a glowing spark, urging the foreign ponies homeward.

Twilight offered the locket to Wind Whistler. "This should belong to the ponies. I trust you'll keep it safe?"

"Rather," replied the pegasus, pushing the locket back, "we shall let the Rainbow of Light run free. We have no right to capture it, just as Megan had no right to dominate us. Take the locket with you, so that the Rainbow can never be contained."

Twilight levitated the locket around the smaller Applejack's neck, a reminder of the dangerous risk she took in deceiving Megan. Applejack looked derisively at it, the honest pony not truly wanting a reminder of lying, but forced a grin when she saw the expression of pride in Twilight's face.

With that, the three waved their goodbyes and stepped into the portal, eager to return home.