Chapters Rainbow Blitz Dash was trotting down his Hurricane Boulevard in the great city of Cloudsdale. He breathed in the foggy morning air and sighed. When he got to the end of his street, he turned and headed back up toward his house. Or rather, his mansion. He lived alone in a three story mansion he inherited from his parents. Seventeen bedrooms, two storage rooms, five bathroom, a very large kitchen, a den, a sitting room, and a living room all to himself. And yet, this 26 year old college student was bored with his life, and longed for the day he graduated so he could get himself a better job than working at a night club as a doorman. He longed for that day, and the day he could have a family. But so far, it seemed that only one of those dreams would come true.
"Hey, Blitz, we need some help over here," called one of the security officers. It was about ten o'clock, and some of the crowd members were begging to get a little wild.
" You son of a bitch!" shouted a brown, western-looking colt. He took his beer bottle and smashed it over another pony's head. Blitz walked up and immediately stepped in between them, putting a hoof in each of their faces to keep them apart and keep himself safe, while they tried to reach around him. Eventually, he got sick of holding them, and finally summoned an even greater amount of strength and threw them three feet in opposite directions. Two other doormen caught them and began dragging the drunk stallions outside.
" Yeesh, what a night, eh, Blitz?" said his colleague, Rain Twister. Blitz sighed and looked down at the ground.
"Yeah," he mumbled. He looked up with a tearful eye.
"Some night."
" Blitz, are you alright?" Blitz chuckled sarcastically.
" What's the date?"
" April third, why?" He looked at his friend.
" Today is the day my parents were murdered... by... some pony... I don't even know. Shot them both... then threw me his gun and said, 'Your parents owed me something, now I owe you something.' To this day, I don't even know what he meant." Rain Twister looked at him with an empathetic expression.
" I'm...I'm sorry man. I-I didn't- I didn't realize... you know..."
" I know... I just... I just feel so alone!"
His friend said confidently, " Don't worry, I got this." He walked off to go talk to the manager. When he came back a few minutes later, he said," Come on, buddy, let's go have a drink."
" Hurry, hurry hurry! Get your tickets to the annual Cloudsdale Flight Championship! Only five bits per person!" shouted the crier. Pegasi of all ages were lining up to buy tickets to go see the show up close.
But Blitz wouldn't have to. " Number three, your up!" Another pony went out to show her stuff. Rainbow Blitz was lucky enough to be selected to go last.
" Got to save the best for last!" He said. About an hour had past. The last contestant was out performing.
" Number 22?"
"Yeah?" he called back.
" Your on in five." He nodded back, then slipped in to his black skintight suit. When the director came back to get him, he fit his goggles over his face and strutted out confidently.
" And now, last but not least, Rainbow Blitz!" Blitz jumped off of his cloud and sky rocketed upward for about a half of a mile. He flipped over and accelerate to the earth below him. Down and down he zipped, faster and faster! The wind tore at his face and howled in his ears. A cone of turbulence formed at the tips of his hooves. He pushed on and gained higher velocity. The cone of wind began to spark, then glow like hot steel, and finally began to burn, flames licking his suit. Suddenly, a great wave of rainbow energy and light erupted behind him for every pony to see. Every pony in the arena heard a loud bang and saw a stream of multicolored light flow behind Blitz as he shot down to the earth faster than the speed of sound.
" N-n-n-aaaaaaaaaaa-ha, haaaaaa! Gaaaaaaaa!" He cried, as the pain began to grow stronger. Everything was a blur. He couldn't take it anymore and pulled up at last.
Blitz came tearing out of the sky, unable to control his direction. He flipped over twice and landed back first onto one of Ponyville's cobbled roads, causing a crater to form around him. Some ponies jumped back, while others peered into the smoldering hole now occupying their street.
"Who is that?"
"Where in the hay did he come from?"
" Is he alright?"
"Goodness, he's covered in blood!"
"Dear Celestia, look at his wing!"
Voices of the townsfolk poured into Blitz's mind, but he couldn't understand what they said, as everything around blurry and muffled, and he was in a state of aftershock. Finally, he fell unconscious.
"Out of the way! I'm a doctor!" cried a pink mare. She slid down into the crater with her medical bag in her mouth.
" Let's get you out of here." She said.
Beep!
Beep!
Beep!
Blitz felt a familiar feeling. A sort of numbness in his leg, like it wasn't there, yet, at the same time, it is. He felt drowsy, sleepy, but could tell it was an induced sleepiness. He realized where he was.
Blitz jerked up and snapped open his eyelids. He looked around in the glossy white room. He saw a desk with a computer, a board on the wall with several troops lined up and saluting pictured on it, and saw he was lying on a somewhat soft bed and was wearing an olive green hospital gown.
"Aaaww!" He groaned. He didn't see the mare sitting next to him.
"Ah, the beast wakes!" she said playfully.
He tried to sit up a little more to get a look at her, but then felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his left wing. He winced and fell back on to the bed.
"Careful," she said to him.
"You broke it in three places." She moved the chair so he could see her. He instantly recognized her. The same mare that got him out of that crater back in Ponyville. As he examined her, he photographically memorized her details. A pink coat, a royal blue mane swept just slightly over her left eye. When he examined her uniform, he saw her name tag.
"Doctor Winter Song, Ponyville Military Hospital" he said in his head.
"Wait a minute," he thought.
"SHIT!" he said out loud.
"What?"
"I'm still in Ponyville!" he responded.
"I've got classes back in Cloudsdale University that I can't afford to miss! My education and career are on the line!"
"Relax, Mr. Dash, it's Saturday." He sank back into the bed.
"Oh. O-okay...I could use some rest." The doctor took down a few notes on her clipboard.
"Strange, the Morphine doesn't appear to have any affect on you."
"No, but this Luna-damned needle does!" When he looked up at the IV bag, he noticed it contained blood, not the usual fluid.
" You lost a lot of blood. It's necessary."
He sighed.
" The Morph's not going to have an effect on me. I'm known for my heavy tolerance, so it's gonna take a lethal dose to put me under. It's like with drinking. While most colts would be drunk as a skunk after three shots, I can take quadruple that amount and still walk in a straight line!"
The doctor took down more notes. "Fascinating," she said enthusiastically.
"In that case, your done for when it comes to the operation."
His eyes went wide. "Operation?!"
"Yes, you see, you have quite a bit of debris stuck in your wing from the crash, plus there were two bones out of place that we couldn't relocate without surgical intervention; your radius and your carpometacarpus. We have to go in and remove the debris, then relocate those bones, along with applying staples to the humerus. It'll hurt like hell, and from what your telling me, the anesthesia won't do shit."
"No, the fuck, it won't! Now is there any way you could give me more of the stuff than the usual dosage, or would that be to risky. Ooh, what about barbiturate?"
The doctor stared at him as if he had an IQ level of 200 and had just put his brilliant brain to use. She subsided that bit of imagination, knowing it was improbable, and came back to reality. She brushed a little dust off her wing and looked back at him.
"No, I don't think we considered barbiturate. Now if we couple those two, it might work. I hope your willing to give up a good chunk of your prize money, though!"
He just remembered the competition. Did he win?
"Prize money?! You mean I won?!"
" In a way, yes--"
" I've been wondering, how the hell did you know I was military?"
Putting aside that her pet peeve had just been provoked, she cleared her throat and said, " Your Forty-seventh Brigade, the Aces o' Spades tattoo gave it away."
Blitz frowned.
" Back to our original topic, this operation, plus the drugs it will require to put you down is gonna cost a lot."
" Well, now what do I do?"
" Pay up three percent of your prize money, that's all!" He did a quick calculation.
"Your saying that I won a hundred thousand bits, and you guys want three grand for this operation." he said blatantly.
She smiled and said, "Pretty much!" She walked out of the room, and looking back at him, winked and said he needed his rest.
Blitz was finishing up his early morning jog. He was already back in Cloudsdale, having fully recovered over two weeks ago. However, something was nagging at him to go back down to Ponyville. He couldn't stop thinking about that doctor, the mare who had saved his life. Why didn't he ask her out for coffee? Why didn't he try to get to know her better? And one question still tugged at him more than the others. It had nothing to do with the cute mare he had been saved by. It was about the Cloudsdale Flying Competitions. How exactly did he win?
Blitz remembered a stretching feeling, like he was being made into spaghetti. He remembered a rush of wind, and a surge forward that propelled him to the ground so fast he couldn't control himself. He also remembered that huge crater in the road that showed he had been there and left the hard way. But what would he call that spectacular move he had performed?
Questions continued to pound his head over and over. He walked into his mansion, all alone, and decided to grab a quick cup of coffee. As he sipped the hot, bitter liquid, he pondered over all these memories and questions. Then, he made his final decision.
He donned his military uniform, strapped on his wrist watch, and tucked away his tactical knife. " You can never be too safe," he mused. Looking in the mirror, he realized that instead of wearing his typical uniform, he somehow had slipped on his dress uniform without even realizing it. Still, he took a moment to admire his handsome features. " Damn, Blitz, you look great in a uniform!" he said to himself. He trotted down stairs and strutted out the door calmly and confidentially.
" So, this is the rest of Ponyville." he told himself. " I like the western feel!" He continued on down the marketplace road, browsing vendor's stands as any pony else would. Then, something caught his eye. He looked down at a military saber, its steel polished to shine and it scabbard of pure dark oak. Gold tassels hung from the hoof-guard. But none of these stuck him oddly. What caught his interest was the name inscribed on the blade: Rainbow Q. Dash. " S-sir?"
The vendor looked up.
"Yes, how can I help you?"
"Where did you get this saber?"
The vendor replied, " At an auction! Why?" Blitz swallowed hard.
" Because this is my father's sword."
The vendor thought for a second. " Then what does 'Q' stand for?" he asked. He thought only he knew.
Blitz instantly blurted out, "Quake!"
The vendor than asked the rank of the officer before retirement. " He didn't retire. He died at the rank of a lieutenant, killed by some nut-case, along with his wife, my mother. I remember that terrible night like it was yesterday."
A hot tear ran down the stallion's cheek. He hated that blasted colt, whoever the hell he was.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. Wh- why don't go on ahead and take it. It belongs to you now." said the street vendor. Suddenly, Blitz caught a familiar scent. He's still got those military senses. He jerked his head up and craned it to the left, then to the right. There, standing in front of him, was the mare he came for.
" D- doctor Song? W- wh- what are you doing here?" he stammered. She looked in to his eyes and cocked an eyebrow.
" I might ask you the same thing," she chuckled. " Your a long way from Cloudsdale. And if you must ask, I'm just out shopping for some more personal medical supplies for my medical bag. The pharmacy doesn't have everything." Blitz cleared his throat.
" Yeah, well, I'm just here looking to get a new trench coat. Cloudsdale's selection of stores are horrible! Besides, judging by the western look and feel of this place, I'm sure some pony's gonna be selling some dusters, am I right?"
" Yeah, but in dress uniform, seriously?" she eyed him suspiciously. He swallowed hard.
" Well, to tell the truth, I didn't even realize I had it on 'til it was to late!" He smiled. Doctor Song stepped closer.
" Doesn't explain the sword," she said, looking down at his hip. Then, she said, " Oh, well, what goes in the family stays in the family, so I guess it's none o' mine to care for." Blitz finally worked up his nerve enough.
" Say, you wanna... uh... go grab some coffee?" he asked nervously. Winter was taken aback. After swallowing hard, she finally said, " Sure, what time?"
" Uh, how's one thirty?" Her eyes brightened up.
" That's great, so I'll see you in half an hour at Sugarcube Corner, is that alright?" she asked.
" Sure, I think I know where that is."
"Great, see ya then!" Blitz just suddenly realized how easy that was. He sighed, then walked over to the vendor's booth and firmly placed two bits on the counter. He turned around and started walking around town. It was time to figure this place out and memorize it.
\
Seven months. Seven months had passed since Blitz and Winter started dating. " And, boy, haven't they been fine?" asked Blitz as he walked in to the kitchen, humming all the while. He began to pour himself some coffee from the French press. Taking the bittersweet drink to his muzzle, he sniffed the soothing aroma of the most powerful coffee money could get you. He then brought it to his lips and took a generous sip. Wealth was sometimes a bother, but really handy for stuff like this. He sat down at the head of the table, a seat in which his own father had sat in some seventeen years ago. Luckily, unlike his bull-headed father, he didn't take this mansion, his wealth, or his position in society for granted. That was a road he would not be treading down.
"Doctor Song to room 409, stat! I repeat, Doctor Song to room 409!" The blissful sentence was heard over the intercom system all over the hospital. Winter began galloping through the hallway on the fourth floor, readily making her way to what could be some pony's deathbed in mere moments.Bursting through the double doors, she took a sharp left turn down anther corridor. He stopped two doors down and turned to the right. She proceeded in, not knowing what to expect. Upon entering an oddly dark room, she flicked on the lights and immediately had confetti in her face.
" Surprise!" shouted every one in the room. She immediately began recognizing faces she realized she didn't even know what was going on. It's not her birthday, so...
" You've been awarded Celestia's Medal of Honor for your actions!" announced Mayor Mare.
It all came back to her. Her, saving the life of Prince Shining Armor when she was at the Gala. He had been poisoned with Cyanide that night by some evil-doer, and Winter was the only one carrying her medical bag. She never left home without it, ever. " I- I don't know what to say!" she chuckled. Just then, Prince Shining Armor himself stepped forward.
In his deep, husky voice, he said, " Well I have a few things to say instead: You see, that night, at the Gala, someone had poisoned my wine and Doctor Song here was the only one with the antidote! And Celestia be my witness, she is the most reliable pony I may have ever laid eyes upon, I swear it to you all."
Blitz stepped next to the good doctor. " And you damn-well better all know it. My girl-friend is one who helps any pony in need, and will see to it that you're taken care of, no doubt about it! I have known her for seven months, the seven most terrific moths of my life," He turned toward Winter and got on his knees. " And so wish to ask this beautiful mare one question: Winter Song," Blitz held up a golden bracelet, studded with a gorgeous diamond, perfect for its size. " Will you marry me?" A hot tear streamed down each of their cheeks. Winter flung her hooves around him and said, " Yes! Yes, of course!" And so, the two betrothed, kissed.
" Out of the way, we got a mare in labor!" cried one of the doctors as Winter was being carted through to the third floor. Rainbow Blitz was right by her side, running beside the bed on wheels all the while.
" Honey, we're not gonna make it to the room!" she cried out. She screamed out in pain as her contractions grew stronger. She let out another squeal and then began regulating her breath.
" Now, Darlin', you don't know that!" he reassured her.
" Yes, I do, Blitz, you have to trust me! This foal's comin' and I just know I'm not gonna get to the room in time. I swear, I'm gonna wind up having the baby on this very bed, I'm serious!" She cried out again. Both Blitz and the doctors were beginning to get worried.
The intercom buzzed to life. " Nurse Red-Heart, please prepare room 319 for delivery. Repeat, Nurse Red-Heart, please prepare room 319 for delivery."
They were already on the elevator, whilst Winter could no longer control her wails of agony. The lift's doors opened, and the doctors began running her down the corridor. They took a left into room 319 and saw Nurse Red-Heart waiting patiently.
" Gaah!" screamed Winter. She knew it. This was it. It was almost over now, just a few more-- " Ghaa! Blitz, help, I can't take it!"
Blitz rushed to her side. " Honey, sweetheart, hold my hoof! Just hold my hoof and squeeze as tight as must!" He continued trying to comfort her. " Just act like there's no pain. Just breathe... that's it, breathe... good..." He had succeeded at stabilizing his wife. " Good, now here's what I need you to do, baby: I need you to use your diaphragm and push--"
Winter screamed out as she did so.
" Baby, come on, this is the only way! Hey, look at me!" He turned her head so that they saw each other's eyes. " Baby doll, you are tough! I know you are! And your gonna have to tough it out and push this baby out. Every second he stays in there is one more out of that million chance that he's gonna die, so I need you to push! That's it, put your back into it, push! Push like there's no tomorrow, because if you don't, there won't be one for you!"
One of the doctors announced, " I see the top of his head! He's comin' out, momma!"
Winter suddenly felt a huge relief. The pain was almost completely gone almost instantly. The doctors quickly cut the foal's umbilical cord while Blitz was comforting his wife.
" Hey, now, it's over, see? I told you so, didn't I?"
Winter nodded.
" So, there, isn't that much better?" he asked sweetly.
Nurse Red-Heart carried over the new born foal. He looked like his father, mostly. Cyan fur, sturdy skeletal structure, and oddly large wings for his age and size. But there were a few things that were quite interesting. Instead of having magenta eyes, his eyes were blue. His mane, instead of being a straight up rainbow, was stormy grey with rainbow tips. Such a mane like this was rare, and this one was just the short version of what was to come.
" So, babes, what do you want to name him?" Blitz asked. Winter thought it over for a bit and then, she finally decided.
"Rainbow Storm Dash. Stormy for short!" she said cheerfully.
" Winter Song, you are genius! I love it!" he shouted. He took the young foal into his hooves. " It's funny, I was thinking more along the lines of L'il Flank-kicker!" They both chuckled. " So, Stormy, let's see what you've been brewing. I wanna know what you've been planning, what you've got in store..."
Blitz set the baby back into its mother's cradling hooves quickly and said confidently: " I believe this fine colt is destined for greatness. I can see it! He's destined for greatness and will wind up losing some pony on the way, but will push on with what ever family he's left! I swear it to you!" His wife giggled.
" Blitz... I love you..."
" I love you too, baby..."
Blitz awoke early, as usual. He paced into his now seven-year-old son's bedroom. He looked at the little colt, curled up in a ball on the bedroom floor, holding a pencil in his hoof. Blitz analyzed the scene: A large drawing board laid out, with a piece of paper lying on it, a beautifully made sketch spanning the entire page. He looked closer at the young colt's work. It was a sketch of their family, even including his pet falcon resting on Stormy's shoulder. It was amazing. He knew Stormy was a great artist, but he had no idea he was this good.
He looked back down at the young colt and saw he was beginning to stir. He'll be waking up soon, he thought. He decided to leave the room and go into the kitchen to start some coffee and begin making pancakes, as usual, for their Sunday morning breakfast.
Right after the kettle began to boil, Stormy walked into the kitchen, his eyes clearly being opened for a while now. He looked a bit sweaty, so Blitz concluded that the "young stallion" had just finished his routine exercises. " Mornin'!" Stormy said cheerfully.
" Do you realize what time it is?" he asked his son with a cocked eyebrow. " You're never up this early on a Sunday!"
His son smirked at him. " You bet I do, Dad. And yes, actually, I am, I just don't come out this early on a Sunday."
Stormy took initiative and began pouring hot water into the press-pot while his father prepared the pancake batter. Why it was that he decided to come out early today, he didn't know for sure. It just felt right. " So, dad, you up for a little bit o' flying around the neighborhood, or are you busy?" he asked.
" Sorry, kiddo, but if your mom wakes up and doesn't get her pancakes right away, you know she'll get ornery. You can go on ahead though, I don't mind."
His son sighed. Oh, well, he thought.
" Besides, you could use some muscle build up in those wings!" he said. " You want them to stay as big as they are and still be useful, don't you?" he asked him.
Stormy sighed and than began walking out the door, out into the warm spring morning. He gave a simple " Yes, sir,"
and trotted out. He took into account how huge and powerful his wings really were. He had become known very well at school because of them, as they were very hard not to notice. He wondered if he was capable of things most pegasi his age weren't.
He shot up from the cloudy ground and up to freedom. He took a left turn and gained a bit more altitude. He began accelerating, going faster and faster as made his way to the edge of the city. His father was okay with going to the edge of the city, since he knew the little colt was very capable of defending himself. Plus, occasionally, Stormy would fly faster than his father!
He pushed on, and upon reaching the end of the clouds, shot upwards at a thirty-five degree angle. He gained more and more speed, but also felt himself being dragged down by the turbulence. Finally, after going up about a mile, a distance he had never achieved before, he turned over and faced the ground below him. He flapped his wings as hard as possible to go as fast as the sky would let him. This is going to be awesome, he thought.
Blitz began to go get his son where they usually went: the edge of town. He then spotted his son a few miles off. What was he doing so far out? He began to get closer, but then decided to watch whatever it was his son was about to do. He saw Stormy turn over and hurdle himself toward the ground. He saw a cone of turbulence form at the tips of his son's hooves.
Stormy felt the wind scratching at his face and eyes but kept on. He had heard what it was his father had done before, and how he did it, so he decided he would give it a shot. The cone of turbulence at his hoof-tips began to spark. It then started to glow. Finally, it burst into flames, the tongues of the fire licking his body gently. He mustn't let this slow him down. He kept on, his trail of rainbow streams growing brighter and brighter. He began to feel as though he were being torn apart. Finally, he felt relieved, as though everything around him had stopped moving. Am I dead, he asked himself.
Crack!
Blitz was taken aback as a brilliant, rainbow shock wave tore across the sky in all directions. He then knew what his son had done. He took off after his son, fast as he dared. " Last time I ever tell him a cool story like that!" he declared.
He screamed out, " Stormy!", but it was no use. He went just a little faster. He then saw his son regain control and pull up, and so decided to do so himself. The bright rainbow stream trailing behind Stormy just simply wouldn't fade, giving him the clue that, no matter what, Stormy would beat him to the breakfast table. " That colt!" he shouted out as he hurried to the house after his son. " I will never understand him now!"