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Act II:

"All Equal in the End"

Chapter Nine:

"Encumbered Forever by Desire and Ambition"

Daring let out a happy sigh as she poured herself a steaming cup of coffee. At the breakfast table sat Scootaloo, still in her Wonderbolt pajamas, and Comet Tail, whose mane looked as if it were trying to eat his head, and groggily inspecting the morning paper. Suddenly, he frowned and drew the paper closer to his face.

"Um...hey Daring," he said. "Have you seen this?"

"Seen what?" Scootaloo and Daring asked simultaneously, with Daring sitting down next to Comet and taking a sip of her coffee.

Comet Tail tilted the newspaper towards Daring and pointed a hoof towards a passage on the front page. Daring squinted, then rolling her eyes reached for the pocket of the tattered old shirt she always wore and pulled out her reading glasses.

"Okay then...'Mysterious Object Found in Crater on outskirts of town'?" She read aloud. "'Witnesses say the object, which has been described to have the shape of a large hammer jutting out of the rock on the outskirts of town.'"

"Cool!" Scootaloo said, leaning over awkwardly across the table to try and get a better look at the newspaper. "Maybe it's that hammer Rainbow Dash mentioned when we found her!"

Daring raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about Scootaloo?"

"You remember Auntie, when we found her, she was asking for her hammer. Maybe this is what she was talking about," Scootaloo said but Daring was already shaking her head.

"Scootaloo, you know that's impossible. Let me show you..." Daring stood up from the table and trotted over towards one of the half-dozen bookshelves that were scattered about the house. She leaned down, squinting at the embossed titles on the spines.

"Here it is," she said, pulling out a rather ancient looking encyclopedic book entitled ' A Complete and Thorough Encyclopedia of Equestrian Mythology' by I.M. Wordy. "I spent half of last night looking for this book. I knew I heard her name before somewhere."

She hefted it over to the breakfast table and set it down, making quite a bit of noise as the hardcover book slammed into the tabletop, and paged until she reached the 'R' section of the encyclopedia.

"Look: 'Rainbow Dash Celestiamaden, Ancient Equestrian goddess of thunder and storms. Wielded her hammer Mjolnir, which could open passages to the other realms that were connected through Yggdrasil, the World's Tree. She was often believed to be the eldest daughter of Celestia, goddess of the sun and ruler of the Sky Realm, Asgard.'"

"That's what she told me!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "Except her mother--Celestia--isn't a goddess, just the All-Mother which is like their queen and she does rule over Asgard, but she was going to step down and give it to Rainbow Dash but they got into a fight and Celestia banished her here!"

Daring sighed deeply. "Scootaloo, those stories are more than five hundred years old. There's absolutely no way for that pony..." she motioned towards the staircase that lead upstairs. "...Could be the one in the book."

"But Auntie, think! Think about how we found her and all the stuff she's said and now the hammer's here! And look--that pony in the drawing looks exactly like Rainbow! Don't deny it!" Scootaloo insisted, pointing back at the picture in the book.

The drawing showed a mare dressed in a armor with a flowing red cape and hefting an oversized hammer skyward as she flew through the air, a brash and self-assured grin on her face as bolts of lightning sprouted from the hammer and spreading through the cloud covered sky.

"Yes it does look quite a bit like Rainbow Dash but that could be the very reason she clung to this psychosis..." Daring began but was interrupted by a voice:

"Did somepony call for me?"

The three ponies turned in the direction of the voice to see Rainbow Dash standing in the hallway, her eyebrow raised. Having another chance to look at Rainbow, Daring had to admit that similarities were uncanny. Asides from the fact that the pony in the book had a pair of wings the drawing did look exactly like Rainbow; their coat was even the exact same shade of blue and her mane cut matched the drawing's perfectly.

Rainbow must have noticed the way Daring was staring at her, for her eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion.

"Why do you look at me in such a manner?" she asked.

"Oh, sorry, you just really reminded me of somepony," She said, subconsciously moving in front of the book in an attempt to block it from Rainbow's line of sight. Something inside of her told her that only trouble could come from this delusional pony seeing the illustration.

"Hey Rainbow!" Scootaloo piped up, grabbing the book off the table top before Daring could stop her and running over to Rainbow Dash. "Isn't this you?" She did her best to hold the oversized book open in front of the pony's face. Rainbow's eyes instantly latched onto the faded illustration on the page.

"What is this? Why is my likeness in this book?" she demanded. She took the book from the filly and began to flip through the pages. Her eyes grew wider with each page and Daring could have sworn that she saw a light bulb appear over the rainbow-maned pony's head.

"By the All-Fathers..." Rainbow said, her voice a reverent whisper. "It's as if whoever wrote this tome knew me personally." She paused over a section, smiling knowingly. "Indeed, he even knew of the time me and my companions..." she unexpectedly trailed off, her eyes narrowing as she read the text in the book under her breath. "Calumny!" she spat, dropping the book to the ground as if it were suddenly filthy.

"What?" Scootaloo, Daring and Comet Tail all said at once.

"This...slanderous tome somehow insinuates that I never slew Fafnir! It says it is nothing more than a mere legend! A filly's fairy story!" she stomped over to the table and sat down, eyeing the book on the floor with disdain. "May Faust visit much suffering upon whomever wrote that vile tract for profaning a name of such stature as mine!"

Daring eyed Rainbow for a moment, her own eyebrow raised before picking the book up and setting it back on the bookshelf. Without a word, she walked back to the table, sitting down and studying Rainbow as subtly as she could.

A part of Daring kept reminding herself that this pony sitting across from her was just some random nutcase who read too much Equestrian mythology, played Wands and Wizards too much and listened to obscure metal bands. However, there was no denying that the grumpy earth pony looked as if she were the drawing in the book made real (minus the wings). The other mare's expression looked as if she were genuinely offended by the book and she continually muttered under her breath, her fore hooves crossed tightly, looking like a petulant seven year old who had been called a silly name. Scootaloo reached a hoof towards Rainbow.

"Hey, I'm sorry about the book, I really didn't mean to make you mad," She said apologetically. Rainbow simply grunted in response. Scootaloo looked over to the newspaper, which was still unattended on the table, and pulled it over.

"But if it makes you feel any better, there was this in the local paper." She handed it over to Rainbow, who looked at the newspaper with a mildly annoyed expression. Still muttering under her breath, she grabbed the newspaper from Scootaloo brusquely, and looked back at Scootaloo.

"And what, pray tell, should I do with this?" she asked, obviously still miffed about the book. "Is this another jest in order to offend me?"

"Oh no! Read this," Scootaloo said, pointing to the article they had been reading earlier.

Daring tensed up slightly. Having already seen her somewhat adverse reaction to the book, the idea of this pony seeing news of a giant hammer out in the desert would most certainly mean something bad. However, she still didn't do anything to stop Rainbow from reading the paper, as her own, inner archaeologist was practically begging for an excuse to scamper out into the desert herself and take a look at the hammer...if it really was a hammer.

Rainbow's eyes widened again. "Do my eyes deceive me?" she said, pulling the paper close to her face, her expression morphing from vague confusion to absolute joy. "Mjolnir, I have found you at last!"

She bolted from her chair and started for the door before Daring leapt after her.

"Hold on there!" she shouted, grabbing the rampaging pony by the tail and dragging her to a halt. "Where are you going?!"

"To retrieve Mjolnir!" Rainbow protested, turning and tugging at her tail.

"What do you mean Mjolnir?" Daring asked, stepping in front of Rainbow so that she blocked the doorway. "You're still injured, I can't let you go traipsing through the desert after some hammer stuck in the mud."

"You do not understand mortal! I need Mjolnir so that I may regain my full power!" Rainbow insisted, stamping a foot on the ground. "Without it I shall be forced to live out my days on the ground, never to soar through the skies as I did in my youth."

"Still, you're not fit enough to go out," Daring insisted. "Besides it might be some random archeological find. Since it's from myth that would mean ancient civilizations would have made objects symbolizing of their gods. Which is why..." She stepped away from the door and grabbing her saddlebags off the hat rack. "I'm going to go check it out first." Rainbow and Scootaloo opened their mouths to protest but she glared until they seemed to deflate and sulk back to the table. Daring simply rolled her eyes.

"Look, it's probably not much to look at anyways and I probably won't be able to see it, a bunch of employed scientists will probably already be stake around it. I'll probably be back within an hour okay?"

The two dejected ponies nodded glumly and Daring took this as a cue to leave. She stepped outside, closing the door behind her.

After a moment of silence, Rainbow and Scootaloo shared a knowing smirk. Comet Tail took notice of this and lifted a hoof in protest.

"Um, whatever it is you're thinking, I've got a gut feeling it can't be good."

Without saying a word, Rainbow and Scootaloo started upstairs, leaving Comet Tail alone at the breakfast table.

"And once more, I find myself totally useless...nice," Comet Tail sighed, stirring his oatmeal lazily.

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Daring landed smoothly a little ways from the crater just out of town. The short time it had taken to fly there was enough time for her to get excited about whatever it was that lay in the center of the crater. It had been almost three years since her last time in the field and though retirement had been relaxing she often found herself daydreaming about the old days and reading through her old diaries she kept for each journey.

Yes, it would be a treat to get her hooves dirty again--that is if the situation turned out the way she hoped. She had tried to discourage Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo to avoid any disappointment but honestly she was as eager as they were for a chance to inspect the object--for different reasons of course.

As Daring continued in the reported direction of the carter on hoof, the first thing she noticed was an unexpected number of ponies all wandering about, all dressed in matching pristine black suits and wearing sunglasses.

Well that's odd, she thought. The news had only been reported this morning; she had expected onlookers and town ponies coming to see the "UFO" and maybe bring it home if they could and then eventually a scientist or two come to collect what was left for research. But a small army of distinctly suspicious yet official looking personnel, all concentrated around dirt mound in hole in the ground? That was more bizarre than the unidentified object.

She paused some paces away from the crowd and ducked behind a rather scrub bush, reaching into her saddle bags and pulling out her weathered binoculars. She peered through them and smiled when she spotted exactly what she hoped: an abnormally large hammer jutted out a rock in the exact center of the crater.

The hammer looked...strange. Well not just the hammer; it was very polished or perhaps it was the very substance it was made out of that caused it to glimmer, it certainly didn't look like any metal she had ever seen before, and seemed to have some something carved on it that she couldn't quite make out.

But then there was the rock it was...well, imbedded in it was the only word for it. It looked as if the hammer had been molded into this single protruding piece of rock and so the hammer itself was halfway immersed in it with its handle jutting out at a slight angle towards the sky. If it had simply fallen out of the sky--as it's suddenly appearance and the crater suggested--why did it seemed to have come out from the earth?

And why was the crater so big? The hammer wasn't large enough to make that big an impact, and if it did why was it coming out of a piece of rock It should have just flattened the ground under it like the rest of the crater.

This all had a magical air to it but if that was the case what unicorn would do this and why? The hammer was from myth, was this part of some pagan ceremony or rite? She knew a thing or two about those and this didn't really fit the picture either.

Her observation was interrupted, however, by a pony in a white lab coat stepping in her line of sight directly at the edge of the crater blocking her view of the hammer.

"Dang it," she muttered and started to rise to move towards another vantage point. But a sudden, sharp whizzing sound diverted her attention and she jumped back as an arrow unexpectedly shot into the ground just inches from her left hoof.

"Excuse me," a megaphone amplified voice said. She looked in the direction of the voice to see a rather tall looking green and purple dragon in a business suit looking towards her, said megaphone held up to his mouth. Next to him, balanced on her hind legs, was a bright pink earth pony wielding a bow and arrow pointed towards her.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but will you please vacate the premises? Or else we'll have to fire more than just a warning shot." His tone was completely relaxed and almost friendly but very firm, and somehow she didn't doubt he wouldn't hesitate to initiate his threat. And years of rather similar experiences enforced her idea that messing with appeared to be a shady government organization was most likely going to get her into an incredible amount of trouble.

She nodded, she always found speaking as little as possible was the best move in these situations, and made to fly off but the dragon stopped her.

"Ma'am, could you please walk until you clear the perimeter? Just to be safe." He gave a toothy smile but his eyes stared directly into hers.

Daring nodded again and was about to turn towards town when the distant sound of thunder caught her ears and she glanced to the east to see a large bank of thunderclouds rolling in.

Huh...that's odd. She raised an eyebrow. Didn't know they scheduled a thunderstorm for tonight...better get back home before I get caught in it.

For some reasons the clouds made her think of Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo and suddenly she was terribly disappointed that she would have no real news to tell them. She had told them not to expect anything but...

She had to admit, she had certainly expected something.

Sighing, Daring started back towards town at a quick trot, another plea of thunder echoing in her ears.

////////////////////

Daring landed outside of her house, letting her wings lay limply at her sides as she trotted up inside.

I'm getting old...just a short flight and I'm already sore...

The thunder clouds continued to roll across the eastern sky, growing more ominous. A low growl of thunder rumbled across the sky as Daring fiddled with the door and unlocked it.

"Scootaloo? Comet? I'm back!" she called out, walking into the living room. Her jaw dropped and she nearly shrieked at the sight of Comet Tail, strapped to a recliner with duct tape with the television pulled up in front of him and playing a rather cheesy movie.

"Um...hi, Daring. This is rather awkward isn't it?" he said, obviously beside himself with embarrassment.

"Comet. What the hay are you doing?" Daring demanded. She wondered if this was some new fascination with Scootaloo, maybe she had moved on from old music and myth to being an escape artist. She trotted over and started to try and undo the duct tape.

"Well, funny story," Comet chuckled, wincing as Daring tugged at some of the tape that was stuck to his coat. "Would you believe that Scootaloo and that Rainbow pony did this?"

Daring's head shot up and she looked straight into Comet Tail's eyes. "Comet...where did that pony go?" she asked, willing her voice to stay steady.

"Well, she and Scootaloo went to go get the hamm-"

Daring bolted back out the door with a word, leaving Comet Tail only half-freed from his bounds. Comet Tail simply sighed dejectedly, then suddenly blushed.

"Oh right...I'm a unicorn," he said with a sigh as his horn flared and his magic slowly undid the rest of the tape. "Today is just not your day Comet...today is just not your day."

////////////////////

Scootaloo and Rainbow crouched at the crest of the hill, peering down at the wide array of tents and covered pathways below. It looked as if someone had assembled a large maze centered around the crater, with the offices and corridors covered by opaque plastic. At various points along the maze outside of the covered walkways and rooms there were what looked like small mobile homes from which could be heard the hum of generators. They could see several of ponies setting up spotlights for the oncoming dark of night and the looming storm, levitating pieces of the skeletal towers into place.

"Alright, so what do you we do?" Scootaloo asked. Tying Comet Tail up and sneaking out of the house was excitement enough but this, busting into a top secret laboratory for Rainbow's all-powerful weapon was like something out of her comic books--no, it was just like Aunt Daring's stories about her adventures from years ago. Scootaloo was now carrying on a tradition, a legacy of coolness and exploration, she would be a hero just like Daring had been. Maybe she would even--

"What do you mean 'we'?" Rainbow asked, glancing at her. Scootaloo snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her.

"Well, I figured since we went all this way, we can both break in and I can help you get your hammer back!" she said excitedly but she already felt her heart sinking into her stomach as Rainbow shook her head.

"No. You shall stay behind while I go alone to retrieve Mjolnir."

"But why?"

"Because, you are much too young to partake in such a dangerous mission as this," Rainbow stated.

"I'm not too young!" Scootaloo cried, stamping a hoof on the ground in protest. "I'm thirteen! I can handle myself!"

But Rainbow Dash was now giving her a hard look that made Scootaloo want to cringe with embarrassment. "No. You shall stay behind and keep watch."

Scootaloo hung her head, trying to hide her tears. "I don't wanna keep watch," she mumbled. She felt a hoof on her shoulder and she glanced up to see Rainbow looking down at her sympathetically.

"Take heart Scootaloo. I promise something beyond belief to show you once I reacquire Mjolnir. But you must stay behind and I must go alone. Understand?"

Scootaloo let out a dejected sigh. "Alright. Promise you'll come back?"

Rainbow nodded. "I promise." She then glanced up at the sky and smiled. "You'd better find some cover too, before the rain starts."

"Rain? I thought the Weather Team scheduled the storm for tomorrow morning," Scootaloo said. She knew the clouds were dark but still she had never heard of the Weather Team causing any kind of climate change without informing the public.

"Oh trust me," Rainbow said, her smiling widening. "It's going to rain." With that, she started downhill, leaving Scootaloo hunkered on the hill watching her.

////////////////////

Rainbow strode downhill, being care not to attract any attention. She slinked under the temporary fence that had been set up around the crater and ducked behind one of the vehicles as a spotlight swung in her direction. Waiting a moment for the spotlight to move on, she snuck around the vehicle and grabbed a raincoat that had been left in the open, mentally thanking the forces of fate for being in her favor as the rain started to fall from the sky.

The rain fell unexpectedly hard, quickly turning the dirt beneath Rainbow's feet into mud. She smiled. This meant that none of the more than two dozen ponies scampering about could hear her hoofsteps.

"Hey! You! What are you doing here?" A voice behind her said.

She turned to see a burly earth pony galloping towards her. Her cover blown, she shed the raincoat and darted towards the entrance to the enclosed passageways she hoped would lead to Mjolnir. She leapt right through the thin material separating the pathways from the elements and ran as fast as her hooves could carry her towards where she assumed was the center of the facility.

As soon as she entered the passageway however, she was greeted by the sight of two more ponies stepping in her way. They swung their hooves towards her and she dodged, their blows missing her head by inches. She rolled to the floor and swung a hoof outwards, knocking the larger ponies' hooves out from under them. They sprawled to the floor and Rainbow could hear a loud voice shouting over the speakers. She smiled. The thrill of combat rushed through her. This was going to be quite the enjoyable little romp.

////////////////////

Spike meanwhile watched in shock and surprise as the mysterious pony somehow managed to trip up the two security guards. He watched as she galloped out of the range of one camera and into the range of the next set of cameras. He whipped out his walkie-talkie and spoke into it.

"Can somepony please take out that mare!" he ordered, his voice remaining calm in spite of his own frustration. How was it possible that one mare just up and knocked out two of his guards with one swipe of her foreleg? A gaggle of activity behind him confirmed that they were heeding his orders and he watched as sets of security ponies headed in the direction where the mare was last spotted.

"I got it Spiky Wikey, tell everyone else to set up a perimeter," Pinkie Pie's voice said over radio.

"Make it quick," Spike replied, ignoring the rather annoying pet name, instead focusing on the strange mare in the cameras, bewildered.

Who in Celestia's name are you?

A crackling came over his walkie-talkie and he reflexively answered it. "Yes, this is Agent Spike, what is it?" he asked, his eyes still focused on the security screen.

"Agent Spike, we've managed to find a young filly just outside the base."

"Small filly, what are you talking about?" he asked, the strange news distracting him from the security screen.

"A small orange pegasus sir. We found her by the west fence. What do you want us to do with her?" the voice on the other end asked, as Spike could hear the young voice of a filly protesting in the background.

"Bring her here. I want to talk to her," Spike said, a feeling in his gut telling him that the mysterious earth pony and the pegasus filly were connected.

"Roger that sir," the voice on the other end said, before cutting off communications.

////////////////////

Scootaloo was begrudgingly lead inside the base, carried over the shoulder of a much larger stallion as if she were a three year old. The stallion took inside a rather unadorned white room with a simple chair and table. Sitting at the table was a rather tall and lanky looking dragon in a business suit.

The large stallion plopped her rather unceremoniously on the chair in front of the dragon.

"Hello there little filly," the dragon said in a vaguely condescending tone.

"I'm not a little filly, I'm thirteen years old" Scootaloo said, crossing her forehooves. She knew deep down that she probably shouldn't be mouthing off to what looked like a secret agent, but ignored it, more focused on her bruised ego.

"Alright then, I won't call you a little filly. But I do need to know what you were doing here in the first place. It's awfully late for somepony your age to be scampering about, let alone camping almost two miles outside of town," the dragon said, crossing his arms, looking down at Scootaloo with an expression that reminded her of her father when he was disappointed in her.

"I'm not going to tell you anything," Scootaloo said defiantly, though a little voice in her was saying this was a very bad idea. But she had a feeling she was acting like Rainbow Dash would in the situation.

The dragon simply sighed, rubbing his forehead slightly. "Alright then. Since you haven't done anything wrong, at least not technically, we can't do anything more then just hold you until we call your mother." He started to the door, reaching into his suit to pull out a walkie-talkie that had crackled again.

"Yes what is it?" he asked, stepping outside the room.

"We've got Agent Pie and that crazy pony duking it out right now. Do you want us to do anything?" the voice on the other end asked. The dragon's eyes narrowed slightly while Scootaloo's widened. Rainbow Dash was fighting somepony? And she was missing it?

"Where are Agent Pie and the pony exactly?"

"About five or six meters from the object sir," The voice replied.

"Get me on Agent Pie's channel, I've got a feeling that that crazy pony has something to do with the hammer."

"Roger that sir, patching you through." There was a blast of static before the sound of breathing could be heard.

"Agent Pie I want you to pull back," the dragon said. "Go to the nest and await further order. I want to see what that pony does with the hammer."

"Okie dokie loki, Spikey Wikey!" a high-pitched voice replied, Agent Pie Scootaloo presumed.

I've heard weirder names I guess, she thought.

The dragon rolled his eyes and exited the room, leaving Scootaloo alone. As soon as she knew she was alone, she rushed over to the door and tried to turn the knob. But it was locked. She then tried to bust through the wall like Rainbow Dash had done but they were surprisingly sturdy, she couldn't even look through these ones. She even pressed her ear to the wall but could hear nothing but hurrying hooves and somepony barking orders she didn't understand. So finally she trudged over to the chair and sat down, head hanging.

So much for being a hero.

////////////////////

Rainbow Dash continued through the maze, quickly losing her bearings.

Damnation where am I?! She thought, her head whipping around and around, looking for some sign of Mjolnir. From behind her she could hear the sound of galloping hooves and she knew that the ponies chasing her were closing in. Biting her lip slightly, she darted to the left, entering another passageway only to be greeted by another security guard who stepped out of nowhere, swinging a hoof out and managing to thwack her in the face. Rainbow stumbled to the floor.

"Thought ya could just wander in didja?" the big pony scoffed as Rainbow rubbed her chin slightly. A throbbing pain confirmed that the pony had, in fact, managed to injure her. She looked up at him, maintaining her brash aura of confidence.

"You're big," she said, standing back up on her feet. "Too bad...I've fought bigger." With that, she bucked the larger stallion in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards. As he stumbled, he grabbed onto her tail with his forehooves, dragging her down with him off the pathway, through the tarp and into the mud, where they rolled down the small rise in the ground that the pathway was constructed over.

The two rolled and tumbled, Rainbow managing to squeeze out of the large stallion's death grip. Staggering to her feet, she landed him another good buck to the chest. As he fell back into the mud this time he managed to grab onto her rear leg and drag her down with him, pinning her to the ground with her rear leg pinned under her awkwardly. He lifted a hoof and landed a punch on her face, causing her to roar in pain. She swung a forehoof upwards, landing her hoof with a satisfying crunch on his muzzle, sending him stumbling backwards. Seizing the advantage, she dragged herself to her feet again, and launched herself towards the large stallion, this time bucking him in the face and sending him sprawling to the ground unconscious.

"Victory is mine!" she cheered, letting out a satisfied huff and clambering back onto the passageway, shaking off the excess mud from her body. Her ears caught the sound of more hooves coming towards her again, along with more orders being shouted. She started galloping again, wincing as the leg that had been pinned cried out in protest.

She shrugged off the pain. Don't worry Rainbow...this'll all be solved in a moment. Just need to reacquire Mjolnir and I shall be restored to my full power and all shall be well.

"SURPRISE!" Came a shrill shriek.

An explosion of pink flew across Rainbow's vision as she was greeted by another hoof to her face. She cried out in pain and rubbed her muzzle. Her vision swam for a moment before clearing to reveal a bizarre sight.

Standing upright on her rear hooves was a bright pink earth pony mare in a black jacket. Clipped to her fetlocks and ready to fire was a bow and arrow. Rainbow ducked as the mare fired off a shot, which whizzed by and shot straight through the tarp. Rainbow, not one to let an arrow just be fired at her face, swung around, intent to buck the other pony off her feet. The other pony however, must have seen the buck coming, as she leapt off the ground like a spring and sailed through the air over Rainbow's head, landing perfectly on her four hooves. Before Rainbow even had a chance to fully spin around and ready herself for another attack, she was greeted by a pair of hooves to the face and was sent sprawling.

"Gotcha!" the other mare giggled.

Rainbow simply growled in fury and swung a hoof towards the pink mare, who simply dodged again and somehow managed to fire off another shot with her bow and arrow. It missed Rainbow's head by about an eighth of an inch, managing to clip her ear.

"Oopsy! Clumsy me!" The pink pony giggled with what sounded like joy, only managing to make Rainbow even angrier. Rainbow lunged towards the annoying pink tormentor, and this time, managed to tackle the lighter pony to the ground. She pinned the pink pony to the floor and tried to punch her in the face, but the mare somehow managed to dodge every hit. The earth pony then returned the favor and landed a good, hard punch on Rainbow's lower jaw, using the precious few seconds of Rainbow crying in pain to slip out from underneath her.

"Over here silly!" she chirped, tapping Rainbow on the shoulder. Rainbow spun around, her hooves flung wide in an attempt to score a hit. She heard a sharp knock sound and the other pony yelped.

"Ouch!" the other pony shouted, rubbing her own jaw in pain. Rainbow pressed the advantage and tackled her again, this time pinning her from behind so that the other pony was lying on her stomach.

"Oooh boy this is awkward!" the other pony said, glancing back at Rainbow, who was now crouched over her.

"Silence! I have won victory! Now allow me to retrieve Mjolnir and I shall let you go!" Rainbow shouted back.

"CROTCH SHOT!" the other mare shouted in response, as she bucked backwards violently. Rainbow suddenly felt an explosion of pain shoot through her as she felt something hard and metallic impact a very sensitive spot down beneath her stomach. The pony then scampered out from under her as Rainbow fell over, gasping in agony.

"AH! INFERNAL NAG!" she shrieked, her voice hoarse from the pain. The other pony simply shrugged, adjusting the quiver on her back, which was somewhat off kilter.

"Oh don't be such a grumpy meany McMeanPants," she chirped, readying another arrow and aiming it towards Rainbow. Rainbow simply rolled on the ground, doubled over in pain, unable to do more than simply stare daggers at the obnoxious mare. The mare simply giggled in response, all of a sudden putting a hoof to her ear and nodding rapidly. "Okie dokie loki, Spikey Wikey!" she said, looking back at Rainbow who simply glared at her.

"Sorry to spoil the party, but this party pony is gotta go now! Bye!" she snickered, waving a hoof goodbye, then bouncing away in a pink streak, leaving the incredibly angry Rainbow Dash to scream and shout after the other mare.

"COME AND FIGHT HONESTLY YOU WRETCHED IMP!" Rainbow shouted, struggling back to her feet and looking to see where the sadistic pony went. Her eyes shot around, looking for any sign of the mare. Finding nothing, she staggered forward, her lower regions still throbbing in pain.

Ignore it Rainbow! She chided herself. You have attainted injuries of a worst nature in combat. Mjolnir is more important than some mean-spirited mortal. Retrieve Mjolnir and then you can deal with that nag.

She smiled grimly as she caught sight of her prize. It seems that Fate hadn't totally abandoned her as it turned out that she was now mere feet away from her precious Mjolnir. She staggered towards the hammer, ignoring the rain that still poured down from above.

There it was, just like the paper had said. It jutted out of the rock, its handle pointed to the sky. Embossed in it was the triquetra Rainbow recognized with a flood of nostalgia, her personal seal.

And now Mother, she thought, smiling in satisfaction as she reached for it slowly. I shall prove my worthiness.

Her hooves wrapped around the handle slowly, relishing the wonderful feeling of the rough and weathered grip in her hooves. Taking a deep breath, she paused, taking in the full scope of what she had achieved.

No longer would she have to suffer with the humiliation of being mocked or called mad. She could finally show those foolish mortals the truth: she was Rainbow Dash Celestiamaden, First Princess of Storms and Thunder, ready to wield her power and humble them before her. It would be just like before, with her clothed in glory and seated beside her mother, ready to claim what was rightfully hers. It was all just one gentle tug away.

She took one more deep breath and pulled.

The hammer didn't move. Blinking in confusion, Rainbow pulled again, this time a little harder.

No. Panic began to throb through her body like a war drum. Why can't I lift it? She started to tug violently at the hammer, desperately hoping it was just stuck and would pop loose at any second.

Please come loose... she thought, her heartbeat ringing in her ears and she pulled with all her might, until her muscles burned and screamed in protest. Then, despite her best effort to impede it, like a dam bursting the realization washed over her.

She was not worthy.

She released the hammer as if it had burnt her and looked up at the sky, now so black it seemed to be made out of coal.

"Mother?" she choked out. The sky made no reply, not even a rumble of thunder answered her. She felt tears spilling down her cheek with the rain from above, except unlike the rain the tears burned.

"DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping against all mad hope that maybe her mother would suddenly appear in an almighty fiery explosion of power and might and somehow rescue her from this fate. But there was no explosion, no power or might, and definitely no rescue. The sky remained stony and shut, simply pouring water down upon her in an endless torrent.

The full weight of her actions fell on her like a stone, crushing all that was within her beneath it. She now began to weep, wrenching and heaving sobs, as her entire body was seized in a surge of bereavement and desolation. From under her rain soaked mane, Rainbow could make out the faint glimmer of the triquetra briefly flicker along the surface of Mjolnir before seemingly being washed away by the rain. She barely noticed the presence of other ponies walking up to her, and unceremoniously slapping a pair of hoofcuffs around her forelegs before dragging her back through the mud towards the facility.