The Time of Storms

Rainbow Dash's impish yet alert cerise eyes tracked the arc of the sun as it began its slow descent just below the horizon – taking half a second to appreciate the way the effulgent amber light kissed the glittering, snow-capped peak of Mount Cayuse, the mountain standing over Ponyville like a monolithic guardian – but even though the expansive skies around her were beginning to shade from blue to grey, it was still more than bright enough for her to see clearly. The rising wafts of air pressing on her cyan coat were just warm enough to be bracing, not smothering.

If you were to ask Rainbow Dash what her favourite time of day to fly was, she'd probably respond with something along the lines of, “Any time is a good time to fly,” but ever since she'd been a filly she'd always held in her heart a particular fondness for early evening sojourns. Perhaps it was because the setting sun picked the landscape ahead of her out in such richly vibrant shades of orange, maybe it was because she was so thoroughly able to take her mind off the hook and simply enjoy flying for the sake of it without having to worry about being the best at something or impressing somepony, or more simply it could just be because nopony else was around to get in her way and it gave her the feeling that, for a few hours at least, she had the whole world all to herself.

As she banked into a turn, Rainbow Dash became aware of the heady, spicy scent of cinnamon and sugar tickling her nostrils; she inhaled a bit more deeply, and her rumbling stomach, if not her internal compass, informed her that she was passing close enough to Sweet Apple Acres to know that Granny Smith had just baked one of her delectable apple crumbles. The verdant orchard, as it always was in the spring, was in full bloom, and a glorious vision of green and red fields greeted Rainbow Dash as she made her approach toward the fruit-filled grove.

“Maybe if I'm lucky,” she said, a mischievous smile playing across her muzzle, “I'll be able to get a prank in on Applejack before heading back.” A little light exercise, messing with her best friend, and then home to Tank, Daring Do and a good sleep. Could life get any better?

As if in answer to her unvoiced question, Rainbow Dash's laser-like focus on the fast-coming farm was diverted rather harshly when a pronged flash of lightning sizzled across the sky in front of her, bringing a brief false dawn to this side of Ponyville; she stopped at once, hovering in place to take in the enormity of what she was seeing. This was no pegasi-induced storm – none had been scheduled for this area, anyway, she knew – and that meant only one thing: it was one of those weird, unnatural ones created in the Everfree Forest and was therefore beyond pony control.

Usually, they were nothing much to worry about; they had the fortunate tendency to burn themselves out just as quickly as they were formed, expiring before they could do any real damage, but this one unsettled Rainbow Dash for reasons that had very little to do with rationality: deep in her bones, she got the sense that it was wrong somehow. That, at its core, it was pure evil. Maybe it was because she was a pegasus, and her weather magic gave her an affinity with different atmospheric conditions? Even if it hadn't been created by her or her compatriots' hooves, Rainbow Dash still wanted to understand the storm. She had an instinctive need to bring it to heel. Whatever it was, she could sense the danger radiating off of it in great waves.

And danger is my middle name!

The central mass consisted of a constantly churning sable-coloured cloud – to Rainbow Dash, it looked more like the bilious fumes that were said to pour out of Tartarus itself than any cloud that she was used to dealing with – which roiled across the sky, spitting bolts of amethyst-tinted lightning in every direction. The dying embers of the sun shed none of their radiance upon in; instead, whatever light did strike it seemed to be sucked inside its turbulent core. Rainbow Dash had to duck and weave several times to avoid being singed by the wildly firing bolts, and she quickly came to the conclusion that making any sort of an approach to the heart of the cloud would likely end up with her becoming a crispy-fried entrée. A little unwillingly, she backed off out of its vicinity, hoping to give herself some time to come up with a new plan. If this thing gets to Ponyville ...

Apparently growing weary of fooling around with the now-elusive pegasus, the storm continued on its chosen path. Rainbow Dash felt her eyes widening in alarm when she realised that it was going to be passing directly over Sweet Apple Acres. Heedless of her own safety, concern for her own well-being replaced now with an adamant determination to warn Applejack and her family of the impending danger, she flapped her wings furiously and immediately put on a burst of speed that allowed her to keep pace with the twirling black mass. It continued to spit bifurcated projectiles at her, but Rainbow Dash's finely-honed reflexes coupled with her adrenaline-enhanced senses worked in concert to keep her out of harm's way. In fact, once or twice she could've sworn that she'd begun moving out of the path of a bolt before the cloud had even fired it off. Doubtless, she conceded, it was just the stress of the moment playing tricks with her perceptions.

It didn't take long for them to reach the outer edge of the farm; evading lightning bolts and worrying about her friend, however, had made the journey seem like hours to Rainbow Dash. With her superior eyesight, it was possible for her to see Applejack even though they were still a fair distance away from where she was calmly bucking trees. Rainbow Dash uttered a cross tut as she watched her at work. It's just so typical of Applejack to be out on a night like this, completely unaware of the approaching danger and the fact that I'm about to save her apricot butt once again. Over the roaring storm that continued to vent its fury beside her, shouting was an exercise in pointlessness, but Rainbow Dash bellowed at the top of her voice, anyway, desperate to alert Applejack.

When she was in the zone, Rainbow Dash suspected that Applejack would remain blithely oblivious to everything going on around her, so she decided to save her voice. If she can't hear this storm, my voice is going to be like the buzzing of flies to her.

Rainbow Dash knew that she was beginning to tire; even before her pursuit of the cloud had further depleted her reserves, she'd been about ready to call it a night and head home, but now she demanded more from her body than she'd ever asked of it before. I have to get to AJ before this storm does! Her wings felt heavy, her muscles were cramping, sweat poured copiously from her brow, but still she strained, urging herself onward through her growing fatigue. Miraculously, she reached the farm just ahead of the cloud and charged toward her friend, calling out to her once more now that she was closer.

A hideous crackling noise from somewhere behind her made Rainbow Dash turn her head, a look of dread etched into her muzzle.

A particularly fierce bolt of lightning was let loose from the cloud.

Rainbow Dash's eyes followed its path.

It was sizzling its way through the sky toward Applejack.

All of a sudden, everything seemed to be happening to her in slow-motion, as if someone had just poured a filmy layer of treacle across her brain; crying out in a blind panic – the sound stretched out to infinity – she charged, forelegs outstretched, into the path of the bolt, determined to protect Applejack from the maelstrom even at the cost of her own life. Seconds before it would've struck her friend's body, Rainbow Dash's extended hoof made contact with her sturdy ribcage and nudged her out of the way, knocking Applejack's hat loose from her head in the process.

The searing bolt collided with Rainbow Dash instead and she let out an agonised bawl of pain as every nerve-ending lit up in agony at once. The last thing that she was consciously aware of was Applejack's shocked jade eyes meeting her own, disorientation and confusion writ large across her face at the sight of what was taking place before her.

And then, in the blink of an eye, she was gone.

Smoke and ash drifted on the wind.

The absurdity of what Applejack had just witnessed was almost enough to make her laugh. There's just no way in Tartarus that somepony like Rainbow Dash would let themselves get killed by something as pathetic as a measly lightning storm. The storm itself – now that it had finally claimed a victim – seemed to be abating, the cloud continuously folding in on itself until it reduced itself to a nothingness. Applejack's anxious eyes scanned the skies over and over, desperate for some sign of her friend. “This had better not be one of your pranks, Rainbow Dash, or Celestia help me-” she trailed off, something dull and heavy in her heart telling her that this was no prank.

It took a few moments for the full horror of what had just happened to dawn on Applejack and she felt her knees turning to jelly as it sank in; she fought to stay on all four hooves, wobbling slightly as her eyelids shut involuntarily, desperate to stem the flow of salt water building up behind them. She failed. Falling heavily to the ground, Applejack let out a despondent sob. “No!”

Through her grief, a word instantaneously popped into Applejack's addled mind. Twilight. Twilight, not Celestia, she'll know how to fix this. She always knows how to fix things. Fuelled by the most tenuous glimmer of hope, she fled toward the Castle of Friendship as quickly as her hooves would allow.