The Trials of Rainbow Dash

Tears blinded Rainbow Dash as she landed on the front steps of her cloud home. Cloudsdale could be ripped apart. The thought brought fresh tears to her eyes. She didn't bother trying to stop them. This is all my fault. If it wasn't for me, nothing in Cloudsdale would have needed fixing. If it wasn't for me, nothing would have had a chance to malfunction. Her tears didn't matter. Nothing mattered but saving Cloudsdale. I have to get there.

The pegasus raced into the house. She galloped up a flight of stairs and burst into her bedroom. She pulled out her Wonderbolt Academy Uniform and slipped it on. This'll have to do in terms of warmth. I have to travel light. With this in mind, Rainbow Dash grabbed her flight goggles and started heading out of her room, but something stopped her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rainbow had caught a glimpse of a flash of light. She turned to see Spitfire's pin. It was fastened to an Equestria Games medal hanging on her wall. She looked at it for one, small moment before gritting her teeth and walking off. I don't deserve to wear that pin. That pin is supposed be a sign that I understand what it means to be loyal. Obviously, I don't. She stepped outside and wiped away the last remnants of tears from her face. But today I'll learn. Rainbow Dash took to the air and positioned herself so that she had a straight shot to Canterlot. And I won't come back until I deserve to wear that pin.

"Hurry, girls!" Twilight called from above the group. The girls were making a mad dash for Rainbow's house.

Fluttershy flew in next to Twilight, saying, "I don't think we can catch her, Twilight. She had a head start. She's too fast!"

"Doesn't *huff* matter!" Twilight huffed. She strained her wings as she struggled to gain more speed without losing control. "We have to try!"

BOOM!

The explosion came suddenly and shook all of Ponyville. The force sent Twilight and Fluttershy spiraling backwards. The others didn't fair much better on the ground. They were rattled right off of their hooves. Spike, who had been riding on Twilight's back, fell off and landed on top of Rarity.

Twilight, who had managed to stay airborne using her magic, landed shakily on her hooves and asked, "Is everypony okay?"

"I'm good." Pinkie replied.

"I'm so sorry, Rarity!" Spike exclaimed as he hopped off of the unicorn and helped her to her hooves.

"Oh, no, it's fine, Spike. I'm glad I could break your fall," Rarity muttered.

"What'n tar'nation was that?" Applejack exclaimed.

"I think it was a sonic rainboom," Fluttershy spoke up as she dusted herself off from her crash landing.

"I don't see no rainbow, Shy," Applejack said.

"That's because it's night time," Twilight explained, "No light, no rainbow."

"And now there's no Rainbow Dash, either," Pinkie Pie said sadly.

The freezing air whipped past Rainbow Dash as she hurtled forward. Canterlot was coming up fast, and she was coming in hot; too hot. She angled her wings expertly and aimed for an empty street on the outskirts of the city; or at least, she hoped it was a street. It was hard to distinguish at this speed when everything was covered in a layer of snow. She hit the ground hard and skidded for a second before performing her signature rolling crash into the side of a building.

After blacking out for several seconds, Rainbow awoke in a pile of snow. Whew! It was a street. With a snow bank too, thankfully. Rainbow got up and shook herself off. She could see the skidding trail she'd left in the snow and ice coating the street. She stretched her wings and legs. Good, no injuries other than the normal cuts and bruises. She had quite a few cuts and bruises, and as a result, her suit was ripped in many places.

No time to worry about a suit, Rainbow. You have to get going. Rainbow took off galloping over the icy streets of Canterlot. The street conditions got better as she approached the castle, but the the streets also became more populated. Rainbow was forced to slow her gallop to a brisk trot to avoid attracting attention. Luckily for her, the number of ponies out enjoying the Canterlot night life made it easy for to blend in as she approached the castle.

Rainbow Dash trotted along the roads closest to the perimeter of the castle. Can't just waltz in. I don't want to risk being questioned by any guards. Besides, I don't have time to waste as it is. The Pegasus slowed as she spotted her destination; The Canterlot Gardens. Finally! Got to move fast. The chances of anyone standing guard in the gardens is unlikely, but definitely possible. Rainbow took to the air and cautiously propelled herself forward. The garden, which was protected by a large glass dome, wasn't too far, but Canterlot civilians and castle guards certainly weren't either. Unlike her normal flying, Rainbow was careful to make sure that the sound of her flapping wings was minimal. She noted two guards passing underneath her on their patrol. Without any shadow to give her away, Rainbow was easily missed as she glided over to the only outer door of the glass dome.

The pegasus grunted with frustration as she tried the door only to realize that it was locked. I can't kick it in. It'll be way too much noise and... Her ears perked up as she lost her train of thought. She could hear the synchronized footsteps of the guards marching back around. Rainbow quickly flew to the top of the dome, landing on one of the upper glass panels making it up. She held her breath as the guards passed by below her. Rainbow let out a sigh of relief and took a step forward on the glass panel. She froze as she felt it move underneath her. The pegasus looked down and inspected the panel to find that it was a swiveling panel that could have it's angle adjusted. With a sly grin, Rainbow Dash hovered over the panel and adjusted it so that it would leave enough room for her to slip inside. She slipped through the hole in the dome, fixed the panel back, and dropped down into the garden.

Rainbow crept through the garden slowly, careful to make sure that there were no other ponies around. Rainbow found the entrance into the castle that Fluttershy had burst through during the gala. The room it lead into was dark, but Rainbow could see light coming from the other room as she entered. As she got closer, she could see the shadows of ponies moving around on the other side of the door. Rainbow leaned in and put her ear to the crack in the door.

"I want all the reserves ready to deploy and take up the castle watch by twenty-three hundred. All available night guards need to be assembled and combat ready by twelve hundred hours tomorrow. All the day guards need to be woken now and be ready for deployment by o'three hundred hours; effective immediately. Do you understand me, Sergeant?" Rainbow heard Twilight's older brother, Shining Armor, order.

"Sir! Yes, sir!"

Rainbow listened to the Sergeant march off. She listened hard for the sounds of any other ponies in the room, but it sounded as if Shining Armor was alone. Rainbow heard the stallion's sigh and the clopping of his hooves. It was in that moment that Rainbow Dash decided to take a risk.

"Hey Shining Armor!" Rainbow called out as she opened the door and trotted into the room.

Shining Armor turned in surprise, responding, "Rainbow Dash, how did you get in here?" Shining Armor cocked his head to the side, "And why are you wearing that Wonderbolt reserve uniform?"

"Not important," Rainbow dismissed the questions, "but if you must know about the suit, I had a crash landing when I got here. I just wore the suit because it's cool."

Shining Armor rolled his eyes at Rainbow's last comment, asking, "Well, what are you doing here alone? Where are the others?"

"The girls sent me ahead to tell the princesses that they are on their way here, but there are some difficulties with the train. The conductor told us that the crew are trying their best to make sure that the train will arrive by sunrise."

"Well, if you need to talk to the princesses, come with me. They're in the throne room."

"Wait," Rainbow stopped him, "how are they sure that there are no other kingdoms caught up in the blizzard? Just because there aren't any pony cities caught up in it doesn't mean other kingdoms couldn't be." Not that I need more endangered lives on my head.

"I don't know how they know Rainbow Dash. The storm is too far north to have caught another pony city in it. Any other information on the situation I'm sure the princesses will want to brief you on themselves; along with your friends, of course."

Shining Armor turned and started walking toward the door leading into the castle corridor. Rainbow Dash raced in front of Shining Armor, forcing him to stop.

"Wait! If it's to the north, wouldn't that mean the Crystal Empire is caught up in it?"

"No, the storm isn't large enough for that," Shining Armor said, annoyance starting to leak into his tone. "I'm sure the princesses will brief you on everything else you need to know once your friends arrive."

Shining Armor tried to move around Rainbow Dash, but she stopped him again, saying, "If the storm isn't large, then why can't it just be contained? Why are my friends and I needed?"

"That's the point, Rainbow Dash. The storm is enlarging, so it needs to be contained! Luckily, the problems with the weather machinery were detected before Cloudsdale made it to the Crystal Empire, but the storm is expanding dangerously fast. The princesses will want to see you to explain other details, but if you excuse me, I need to go perform my duties!"

The stallion walked off with an annoyed huff, donning his helmet as he left the room. As soon as he was gone, Rainbow allowed a sly grin to show on her face. That's all I needed to hear. Rainbow turned tail and bolted back out of the room the way she'd come in. She didn't even bother to wait for the guards to march by when she flew back out of the garden dome. She could barely hear them yell after her as she rocketed into the sky. Rainbow Dash searched for the train tracks below her and aligned herself with them in order to ensure that she continued north as she left Canterlot behind her. She unleashed another sonic boom as she flew off into the cold night once again.

Twilight paced back and forth on the train platform in Ponyville. Spike and Applejack were loading food (almost all of which was made from apples) and other provisions into the private train car they were riding to Canterlot in. Rarity stood next to Pinkie Pie on the train platform and packed scarves and hats into each person's saddle bags, just in case the princesses did need their help dealing with the storm. Twilight's eyes were fixed on the night sky above her.

"We have to leave soon," Twilight said aloud as she paused to scan the sky for the tenth time in the last twenty-five minutes. "Where is Fluttershy?"

"Why, I'm sure she's on her way back right now," Rarity assured the impatient alicorn. "It can't be easy for the darling to fly the distance from Rainbow's house with two sets of saddlebags in tow."

"You're right," Twilight sighed. "I'm sure she's going as fast she can."

Sure enough, after five more minutes of pacing, Fluttershy landed on the platform. She was carrying both her own saddle bag and Rainbow Dash's. Rarity and Twilight immediately moved to help Fluttershy. They used their magic to lift the saddlebags off of the obviously tired pegasus' back.

"Sorry I took so long, girls." Fluttershy said softly.

Pinkie Pie cocked her head, " Are you alright, Fluttershy? That was pretty quiet, even for you."

"Oh, I'm fine Pinkie Pie."

Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie exchanged looks. It was pretty clear Fluttershy was not fine. None of them had noticed it right away, but it was plain to see that Fluttershy's eyes were tinted slightly red. It was so light, that it was hard to spot in the darkness. Upon realizing Fluttershy had been crying, Pinkie Pie walked over and gave Fluttershy a hug. The pink pony helped the pegasus to her feet and walked with her onto the train. Rarity and Twilight followed close behind, with Twilight only pausing quickly to check the estimated time of their arrival with the conductor. By the time the alicorn entered the private train car, Fluttershy was surrounded by the others. She was fighting back small tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"I"m just so worried about her," Fluttershy whimpered. "The storm is so dangerous."

"Don't you worry none about Rainbow, sugar cube," Applejack assured Fluttershy. "She can take care of herself."

"Yeah, don't worry, Fluttershy." Pinkie added in. "We'll find Rainbow Dash and everything will be okie-dokie-lokie!"

"You're right," Fluttershy said, perking up a bit. "We'll find her safe and sound, I'm sure."

"Besides Fluttershy, Princess Celestia didn't tell me anything about the location in the letter other than that the city is over a mountain range," Twilight chimed in. "The princesses would never tell Rainbow Dash everything without waiting for us. She doesn't even know where to go to find Cloudsdale."

Rainbow Dash had been flying for over two hours. The fatigue was beginning to wear down the determined pegasus, as well as the frigid air surrounding her. The temperature was dropping rapidly around her as she advanced further north, and the wind chill Rainbow was experiencing due to her flight speed caused the temperature to feel much colder. On top of this, snow was falling down around Rainbow, making visibility a challenge. It only got heavier as she continued to fly.

Rainbow began wavering in mid-air. She couldn't hold herself steady with her cold, numbing limbs and wings. She slowed down to avoid the brutal wind chill, but she still found that her body was reaching its limit. Rainbow Dash flew down closer to the ground in order to see what was below her through the snow. After circling a small area a couple of times, she spotted a small cave that appeared to be made of ice. The pegasus touched down in front of the cave. She hobbled inside on her numbing legs, before practically collapsing against the side of the cave.

Shivering, she leaned back against the cave walls for support and looked outside. I'm off course. The pegasus' wavering flight path had caused her to stray from the train tracks, as well as her search for a place to take shelter. I wonder how far off I am from the tracks. The snow makes it hard to judge. A cold wind blew into the cave and chilled Rainbow Dash. She started shivering badly. I have to keep moving, or I'll go numb in the wings. I won't be able to get to the storm without flying. If I can't make it there, I'll never make it to Cloudsdale. Rainbow forced herself to stand and stretch out her cold limbs. Another cold wind blew in, causing Rainbow to fall back into a sitting position and look outside. Something caught her eye. Through the snow, Rainbow Dash saw what looked to be a large gray mass of swirling clouds. Better go check it out. The pegasus stood shakily and forced herself to lift off into the cold snowstorm outside.

Spike pushed open the doors of the castle as he, Twilight, and the other ponies strode in. Royal guards immediately escorted the group into the throne room. Inside, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadence looked up from what seemed to be a deep and troubling debate between the three taking place over a map suspended in mid air.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight cried, running up to greet her former mentor.

"Hello, Twilight," Celestia smiled before turning to the guards and directing them in a much more serious tone. "Close the doors and make sure that all reserves are ready. Once that has happened, I want Shining Armor to report here immediately. He will deliver all further orders. Is that clear, Privates?"

"Yes, Princess," the guards responded in unison as the bowed in respect for the princess.

As the door closed behind the two guards, Princess Luna walked toward the group and began to speak, "I do believe that we requested all of your friends to come to this royal meeting, did we not?"

"You did, Princess Luna, but my friend Rainbow Dash, well, you see, she sort of.." Twilight nervously started trying to explain.

After a huge breath, Pinkie Pie cut off Twilight and broke into a long, high pitched monologue, "Rainbow Dash had her trial and she was really, really, sad so she started avoiding us and coming up with all these excuses and kept working on her apology speech ALL DAY LONG which sounds like no fun at at all, but that's not the point because Rainbow went missing after her public apology and we got the note and couldn't find her, and we were all like 'Oh no, does she know?' and she went all super spy and eavesdropped on us and found out and flew off to Twilight's castle to read Princess Celestia's letter and, *huff*," Pinkie paused for a breath, giving Applejack just enough time to cover her mouth.

"Our apologies Princess," Applejack said sheepishly as Pinkie continued trying to speak despite the hoof placed across her mouth.

"You're pardoned, Applejack," Princess Celestia said, "but allow me to see if I understand Pinkie Pie correctly. Do you mean to tell me that Rainbow has blamed herself for this situation due to her prior machinery damage?"

"Unfortunately so, Princess," Twilight spoke up. "Your letter didn't include the actual location of the storm, so we were hoping she would have been held up here trying to get that information."

"Except she did get the information," Shining Armor said as he walked toward the group. "I'm sorry Twilly, but I had no idea."

"Shining Armor? What do you know about this?" Twilight asked worriedly as her older brother began to explain what had unfolded earlier that night.

Rainbow fought against high speed winds as she approached the large black mass of clouds. This is definitely it. The dark mass was producing a brutal storm which was affecting the area around it just as much as the area within it. Extremely heavy snow forced Rainbow to land. The pegasus squinted, attempting to see through the heavy snow and cloud mass. You can't even see Cloudsdale in there! An amazingly strong wind sent Rainbow Dash flying backwards into the thick snow behind her. She struggled to use her numbing legs to stand and dig herself out as she lost more and more feeling in them.

Falling to her knees, Rainbow Dash tucked her wings in tightly to try prevent further numbness. I can not give up. This is my fault. This is my doing. Rainbow Dash forced herself to her feet, her legs shaking underneath her. The pegasus unfurled her wings to their widest span. I'm giving it everything I've got left. Despite the overall lack of feeling plaguing almost her entire body, Rainbow gave a mighty flap and lifted off into the air. Snow and ice whipped past her as she fought against the wind. As she entered an area only five yards from the black cloud mass, all visibility was lost in a blinding amount of ice and snow. Rainbow closed her eyes as her body was engulfed in the black clouds.

Rainbow could feel the difference as she pierced the black wall. The sudden temperature drop off was enough to cause shudders that made it momentarily impossible for her to flap her wings. In that moment, the wind swirling inside the storm vortex overtook her. Rainbow Dash found herself being thrown around by the high winds. Can't give up! Rainbow managed to force her wings to open in a desperate attempt to stabilize her haphazard flight. The pegasus flailed helplessly as her body was thrown in every direction. She felt her wing muscles over extending. Please don't let that tendon snap. I've got to land. I'll be ripped apart up here!

Rainbow suddenly felt her body being pelted by something. Ow! What the heck is... Oh no! Hail! The wind suddenly dropped off as Rainbow miraculously emerged from the wall of storm clouds, though alarmingly close to the mountains. The wind around her was just enough to catch her outstretched wings and keep her airborne, but the pegasus was still mercilessly pounded by hail. Rainbow Dash was too numb and fatigued to dodge the incoming chunks of ice. She fought to try to angle her wings so that she would land on a nearby mountain peak. Just then, a large piece of hail hit Rainbow squarely on the head. The weakened pegasus' vision blurred as she fought to shake off the hard hit. When Rainbow's vision came back into focus, she was met with the sight of the rocky mountain side only feet away. Flew to close in! Can't pull... Rainbow Dash slammed into the mountain side and blacked out.