Rainbow Dash was soaring through the sky above the Everfree Forest in a multi-coloured blur. She'd been rehearsing her routine for the Wonderbolts for ages now, but she wanted to get it just right. "When they see this," Dash had boasted all week. "They'll have no choice but to let me in!"
As she was flying, she caught sight of Zecora's hut out of the corner of her eye. She paused for thought and then swooped down towards the hut.
Dash knocked on the door. No answer. She knocked again. no answer. She knocked a third time. Still no answer. She moved around to the window. No one was home. Just as she turned to leave, a voice called her name.
"Ah, Miss Dash, it's you, I see, and what might your reason for being here be?" The zebra said in a mysterious tone.
"Hi, Zecora, I was here to see if you had anything to help me fly better?" dash asked.
"I have the potion for you, come inside and I'll give you the brew," Was the response.
As Rainbow walked inside, she was greeted by all sorts of things. The hut smelled of plants, and the sound of something was boiling in the cauldron in the centre of the room. Masks hung from the ceiling, and bottles of all colours, shapes and sizes hung from the ceiling and stood on top of shelves along with the candles that lit the room.
"Here is the potion you seek," Zecora said, indicating a blue, pyramid shaped bottle in the corner of the room. "But before you drink it let me speak," She added hurriedly as Rainbow Dash raised the bottle to her face. "This will help you fly, but the chances of side effects are high. Only consume one drop and no more, and now you may walk out the door." Rainbow Dash turned and left, only half listening to what the zebra had told her.
It was the day she'd been training for. It was the day that could make her lifelong dream come true. She could hardly wait. She was as excited as a foal on Hearth's Warming Eve. There were ponies sitting on clouds all around, cheering on friends and enjoying the show. She caught sight of Spitfire, Soarin and the other Wonderbolts on a cloud at the front. Scootaloo was beaming at her, clapping her hooves together. She could feel her heart racing even more now, her stomach suddenly feeling empty, despite having a big breakfast mere minutes before.
She then remembered the potion she had received a few days ago. She raised it to her mouth but then paused. What did Zecora say about the amount? She couldn't remember what it was if her life depended on it. She drank the whole bottle and threw it into a nearby cloud, and let out a burp.
"Are you okay, Rainbow Dash?" Asked Twilight, sounding worried.
"Huh, oh, err, yeah, I'm f-fine, just a, err, bit n-nervous, that's all," Dash replied.
Twilight stared at her for a second, but then smiled. "Good luck, Rainbow. We'll all be cheering for you."
"Thanks," Dash answered, forcing a smile. She was feeling a cold burn in her stomach.
"Well done, Derpy. That was, err," Spitfire looked at Soarin for support, but he just shrugged. "That was, certainly...something," She awkwardly smiled as the wonky-eyed pegasus returned to her cloud, smiling. She cleared her throat. "Next up, Rainbow Dash!" She declared, then whispered to her fellow Wonderbolts. "This should be interesting."
Dash gulped, out of both nerves and the uneasy feeling sweeping over her. She shook her head, attempting to ignore it, and took off.
She was doing great, just as she had rehearsed. But things started to go downhill, very, very quickly afterwards. She suddenly had a headache and found thing didn't look right. She felt confused, and things seemed to get farther away. She lifted a hoof to her head. She felt sick and cold. She blinked. Everything went blurry. She blinked rapidly. She felt dizzy and appeared to be falling. She didn't hear the crowd let out a mortified gasp. Someone needed to do something, but everypony was frozen in surprise and fear. Spitfire removed her glasses, open-mouthed. But she couldn't move, just like the rest. Fluttershy moved her hooves over her eyes, and Derpy's eyes were both uncrossed, focused on the multi-coloured blur. Pinkie tried to shout, but let out a tiny squeak instead. Twilight was showing a mixture of emotions; sad, shocked, horrified, confused and angry.
Dash fell through a cloud, heading directly down, Ponyville rushing up to meet her. Dash couldn't feel her wings, or any of her body, for that matter. Every sound faded away, leaving a horrid silence ringing in her ears. The town below seemed to fade white, the green grass, small river, buildings and ponies watching in horror slowly fading out of existence. The feel of the air brushing past her slowly stopped, until she felt nothing. She couldn't think, but she then heard Zecora's words telling her to only take one drop ringing in her head.
Zecora was one of the few on the ground. She looked up from the market stall she was buying herbs from to see a multi-coloured ball heading straight down. It took her a minute, but she realised that that rainbow cluster falling towards the town hall was the mare she had given the flight potion to. There was nothing she could do; it was way too late for that. She looked on with the others, with no help to give, a mixture of horror, anger and a little guilt running through her.
Meanwhile, Dash was slowly leaving Equestria. Everything was silent and turning white. Suddenlt she felt a jolt go trough her. The white turned to black and everything vanished. Ponies on the ground screamed in terror as the cyan pegasus hit the town hall with a splat. The bulding was dripping with red liquid.
Dash was dead. She was dead the second she'd felt dizzy.
Up in the clouds, Fluttershy and Soarin fainted. Rarity collapsed into her conveniently placed dramatic sofa. Twilight sat there with a blank expression, wings stiff, unable to move.
The Wonderbolts looked down. Spitfire looked shell-shocked. Nopony spoke or moved. Derpy's eyes resumed their original cross-eyed position. Scootaloo looked like she'd been stabbed in the chest, eyes unfocused and watering. There was silence all around. Rainbow Dash, the Rainbow Dash, was gone.
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