Sound of Silence
Prologue
The feel of the wind rushing through her feathers. The surge of adrenaline as she flew at speeds greater than sound. The euphoric bliss she felt after each successful Sonic Rainboom.
This was what Rainbow Dash lived for.
Banking hard right to bleed off her residual speed, she twirled to admire the ring of expanding colour in the night sky, spreading out across the whole of Equestria. Fireworks exploded in the sky, almost insignificant compared to the awesome phenomenon caused by the small pegasus.
“Best. Wedding. Ever!” She performed a quick backflip, then began her gradual descent out of the sky, staying well clear of the firework display. She glanced in awe at the bustling streets of Canterlot, watching the swarms of ponies dancing and partying in celebration of the newly wed royal couple, and possibly also in celebration of the defeat of Queen Chrysalis and her buglike army. The ponies scurried across the streets like tiny ants.
Strangely though, everything sounded distant to the mare, as if she had her ears covered whilst she was submerged in a pool of water. The pops of exploding fireworks seemed like faint crackles and the music was a dull thump banging against her temple. She halted in the air and begin to rub her ear with her hoof, a sudden annoying ringing sensation beginning to grate on her nerves. Her flight wobbled as she became disoriented, forcing her to make a landing.
“Ugh, what the hay?” She dropped onto a random rooftop, her hooves covering her ears as the ringing continued to assault her. Eventually the ringing began to subside and her hearing gradually returned to a degree. Whilst she could now hear again, everything still felt as though it was slightly muted. She glanced around, as if trying to look for a secret assailant or prankster, finding absolutely no one in sight.
“Eh, it’s probably nothin’?” Dash shrugged her shoulders and returned the the air, staying below the rooftops as she made her way back to the castle, eager to join in with the reception party and if she was lucky she could chat to some of her idols.
- - - _ A Few Months Later _ - - -
An explosion of colour erupted throughout the sky as Rainbow Dash performed another Sonic Rainboom, performing magnificent twists and turns as she slowly bled off speed, leaving a solid rainbow in her wake. She twirled around, admiring the artistic pattern that she painted across the sky, watching it slowly fade in the mid-afternoon sun. Smiling with glee, she flew the short distance back to her cloud house, with its signature rainbow waterfalls and elegant columns.
She alighted gently onto her front porch, quickly making her way inside as the sun slowly edged over the horizon, being gradually replaced by Luna’s moon. A gradual, faint ringing began to gain intensity within her ear canal.
“Ugh, this again? Why the heck does this keep happening?” She rubbed her ear with her hoof, grumbling in annoyance. She made a beeline towards her bathroom, specifically towards her medicine cabinet, the ringing growing excessively worse with each passing second. Soon enough it was joined by an intense pain, burning its way into her skull like a hot knife, causing her to stumble slightly as she ascended her stairs.
Her movements began to slow to a crawl, her vision blurred and distorted by the unimaginable pain ripping through her brain, the migraine having a negative effect on her sense of direction and balance. She wobbled and stumbled through the short corridor, leaning against the wall to keep herself upright. Finally she gripped the bathroom door handle and forced it open, tripping onto the cold cloud-tiled floor as the ringing intensified.
“F-Fu..” She slurred, her hooves gripping her head as her body curled up into a fetal position. Tears began to pool from her eyes as she sobbed, the pain becoming increasingly unbearable. The medicine cabinet above her seemed to grow distant as she looked up at it, completely unable to move, unable to reach the precious painkillers within it. Her vision went almost completely white, broken only by small flashes of random colours.
“A-Ah, w-wha-at’s happening!?” She cried, her body shaking with sobs and adrenaline.
Eventually, the pain began to subside, along with the ringing in her ears, leaving only a slight headache behind to remind her that what happened was no dream. Rainbow laid there alone for what must have felt like hours, the darkness of her bathroom enveloping her like a blanket. Her breathing was quick and shallow, her body continuing to quake and shiver. She attempted to wipe away the tears from her face with a shaking hoof, her body and mind feeling sluggish and stiff, but the effort seemed wasted. The tears continued to fall, dripping to the tiles below.
“H-Help…somepony...please.”