Chapter 1: "Pranks For The Memories"
"Cookies!"
Rainbow Dash watched in shock as the zombified citizens of Ponyville begin to break into the barn she was hiding out in.
"Cookies!"
Rainbow Dash looked on in horror as the intruders began to slowly advance on her.
"Cookies!"
Rainbow Dash had a decision to make...and the way she made it was as fast as her subsequent escape out of the barn and into the skies was. Unfortunately, she was so caught up in her adrenaline rush (the result of her desire to break out) that she could barely regain her vision fast enough to realize...
She was going to ram that tree in front of her.
In a rather futile attempt to skid to a stop, Rainbow Dash crashed into the tree anyway. She then fell 20 feet towards the ground, a sickening crunch following soon after. Remaining on the ground for several minutes, gentle groans were made audible just as the Pegasus struggled to stand. This proved to be difficult as some of the tree bits had fallen on top of her. She managed to do so before brushing the pain off and stretching her muscles...before shouting at a surprise sting. From her back...
Oh, no...
Rainbow Dash glanced behind her, fearing the worst. Indeed...
Her wings were torn.
"NOOOOOO!!!"
"YESSSSSSSS!!!"
Everybody in the barn winced at Pinkie's victory cry, but they really couldn't blame her. They were in the midst of celebrating their success of their large-scale prank. You see, if you saw the episode, then you know what's happening. If you don't, then I'm gonna summarize for you: Rainbow Dash, known for pulling one major prank after another on the citizens of Ponyville, gets a taste of her own medicine when the townspeople pull a prank of their own. Amazingly enough, for the most part, it worked...
For the most part...
"We got her! We got her good!" Pinkie began to hop around, giggling madly with glee.
"Oh, boy! You should've seen her face!" Applejack chuckled, removing her Stetson from atop her head to rub it (her head).
"Why, of course, darling!" Rarity declaimed before singling out Pinkie Pie for specific praise, "Pinkie truly outdid Rainbow Dash and herself this time!"
"Oh, stop it, Rarity! The effort's the real star here, not me!"
"Um, girls?"
The four ponies who weren't Fluttershy turned to face the shy Pegasus, who rubbed her frontal leg in nervousness as a light blush rose up in her cheeks. "Should we...go check up on Rainbow Dash? You know, just to make sure she's okay?"
Twilight was the first to agree, "Fluttershy's right. We need to find Rainbow Dash and explain this. All of this."
"Yes, Twilight." Rarity nodded in reciprocation before gasping in realization. "I...I don't think Rainbow was even aware this was all a prank!"
"Well, that's just the general idea of a prank." An unknown pony in the crowd pointed out as everybody murmured in agreement, "What's the point of a prank being a prank if you tell the victim beforehand?"
"Even so, we must find her and explain the reason why the prank occurred before she does something...drastic." Twilight refuted, "Regardless of what she did...she's our friend."
"... Yeah...I guess that kinda makes sense."
"Wait, do you even know where she went from here?" Mrs. Cake approached with doubt just as her husband followed.
"She's right. She could be anywhere!" Mr. Cake clearly shared his wife's sentiments.
"We'll just have to try and find her, then. Stay here and watch the others." Twilight turned to her friends, "Come on!"
The five mares ran out of the barn and split up in different directions. As they did so, a mysterious shadow watched from far above. A facial expression resembling a mix between a grin and a frown crossed its face before disappearing into the night.
After pulling herself together in the midst of silent sobbing, Rainbow Dash barely managed to arrive at Canterlot with nothing but a stroke of sheer dumb luck. Her wings beyond repair at this point, the former Pegasus retrieved a jet-black cloak and some medical supplies from a nearby convenience store before making a right in an alleyway. Taking the first aid kit and opening it up, she applied rubbing alcohol and pried the medium-sized piece of wood protruding from her side before applying the bandages. It was considering worst aid in her right mind, but in her left? It was the least she could do for the time being before she could find an actual doctor to treat her much properly.
Donning the cloak and wrapping it tightly around her body so her identity would not be exposed, Rainbow Dash traveled deeper into the city. She watched as these innocent little ponies lived their innocent little lives. It both saddened and angered her, but it was mostly the former with a hint of the latter. They had no idea what their lives would be like after the apocalypse braced for impact. Sadly, she still believed that Ponyville had fallen victim to a zombie attack and basically Ground Zero for the ineluctable doomsday.
She had to do something about it.
Rainbow Dash eyed a waiter, specifically his order pad, which she grabbed and wrote a quick note for Princess Celestia to read. Spotting a couple of Royal Guards nearby, she quietly snuck up and smacked the note right on her right's armored flank...which understandably earned quite the quizzical look from said guard and prompting her to fabricate an excuse...which she left hanging as she left. The guard shrugged this off as one kinky pony before turning tail and heading to the castle, not noticing the signed, sealed, and delivered note of urgency attached to his flank.
Upon arriving at the edge of Canterlot, Rainbow Dash took notice of A pirate ship?! No, it can't be. Glancing back and forth for some time now, her mental debate concerning whether or not she should get on the ship was growing and growing. Well, she had already written the note specifically for Princess Celestia to take notice of and come to the conclusion that Ponyville was already a lost cause. Making her decision, she leaped onto the ship just as it was about to take off, spraining her ankles in the process. Taking a hit and shaking it off, she hid in the hangar behind a bundle of barrels. Once in a fetal position, Rainbow Dash could only reminisce about the good times she had with her friends and hope for the future.
"Thanks for the memories, guys..."
THWACK!
Rainbow Dash shouted in surprise and collapsed forward, losing all consciousness.
Just as Rainbow Dash was subdued by a crew member, the guard had finally took notice of the still-attached note, as pointed by his fellow Royal Guards. Reading the note word for word, he understood why now.
Now I know why that mare smacked me on my flank...
The guard burst in the room just as Celestia was talking to Luna about an important matter. Shocked and confused by this action of his, the Princess began to question him, but was immediately silenced by the appearance of the note he levitated up to her line of sight.
A zombie apocalypse...? Something is not right...
Just as Celestia was reading the letter, Twilight and the girls had met back at the barn, no success of locating their second Pegasus friend trailing behind them. The townspeople were worried sick for her, despite previous assumptions that she was nothing short of a persistent prankster. At that moment, Spike burped out a letter for Twilight to read.
Oh, no... This is not good...
Princess Celestia stood before the entire town of Ponyville, a livid and confused frown upon her face. A few minutes ago, she had just received a letter ‒ through a Royal Guard ‒ from Rainbow Dash, who claimed that the entire town of Ponyville was overrun by zombies. Of course, being the Princess, she decided to investigate this claim of hers herself after Twilight Sparkle had failed to answer her letters. Now, here she was: three emotional choices, two guards, and one question that needed one answer.
"So...who would like to start?"
"It depends. Start explaining or start running?"
Twilight's stomach did somersaults now, unsure of whether or not the voice talking was the same voice from before. The same voice who basically deconstructed the meaning of a prank. Before she could turn her head to discover the identity of it, a Royal Guard stepped forward and brandished his spear.
"You run from the Princess, and I'll run after you."
"... My bad, then."
In the end, it was Applejack who braved the ancient Princess's proverbial belt. "Forgive us, Princess Celestia, but the town saw that Rainbow Dash's pranks were getting out of hand, so we devised a prank centered around a zombie apocalypse to teach her a lesson."
For several minutes, Celestia remained in surefire silence. Taking the story Applejack had told and deconstructing it just as that innocent bystander did with the concept of a prank a few hours ago, she had found fault with this intentional prank of theirs. Specifically, how this would dear Rainbow Dash on a highly emotional level. Either they were fully aware of the effect it would have on her and just didn't care...
...or they just didn't know at all.
"And where is Rainbow Dash now?"
The townspeople could only exchange nervous and uncertain glances amongst themselves.
Wha...where am I?
The Pegasus blinked her eyes open and groaned as she rubbed her head in pain. She couldn't remember what had happened in the past few days, but ‒ for some reason ‒ the colors of a rainbow seemed to play over and over in her head. She couldn't remember the reason why she was here on this ship. She couldn't remember her name.
My...my name...is...something...
SHING!
"Well, isn't this quite a surprise?"
The Pegasus tensed up at the sound of a sword being unsheathed and not dared to turn around to identify her captor...or captors. She wasn't sure how many of them there were or it was just only her. Whatever the case, she knew that fighting back would prove to be ultimately unwise. She also knew the voice of the single one so far to the left of her belonged to a female, a plump female who (no offense) didn't seem to fit to be the captain. If it was, however, she would've been amazed beyond words and words only.
"I gotta hand it to you, Dusk. You really pulled through."
"I can only sure-as-hell hope that was sarcasm, Miss Spittle," This "Dusk" himself appeared exactly behind her, his own voice dripping with said tone, "because I can only sure-as-hell tell that wasn't flattery."
"How could you possibly differentiate sarcasm from flattery?" A heavyset voice appeared to the right of her.
"I just do, Boyle."
"Sure. Reveal our identities for our prisoner to hear."
"She's not our prisoner...not for long."
The crew member called "Dusk" appeared front and center in front of the Pegasus, who was immediately stunned ever further in silence by his appearance. He was a winged unicorn of some sort (an "Alicorn", if you will) with a pair of lavender eyes, a moderate sapphire blue mane with lilac/magenta streaks, an amethyst coat, and no visible cutie mark in sight. The magic aura that engulfed his horn was a blend of light brilliant raspberry and grayish cobalt blue...
...while the expression that crossed his face was a mixture of a grin and a frown.
Whoa. Like, literally...whoa.
"Hey! Don't get all starry-eyed on me now, miss!" Circling around the Pegasus, "Dusk" began to delve deep into interrogation/exposition mode:
"You are fully aware of the sticky situation you've found in, yes? After all, you have been found guilty of sneaking aboard a government mode of transportation with no apparent reason whatsoever. Whether or not your apparent reason was intentional or unintentional / malicious or not malicious is still being decided by my Captain. The Captain in question is not one to be trifled with, fondled with, or even screwed with, especially in regards to us ‒ her crew. Otherwise, you would have to contend with her fiery wrath. Do I make myself crystal clear?"
The Pegasus could barely comprehend the words that were coming out of this mouth of his. "Dusk" had the sound of a sophisticated colt and the size of a built stallion. She was now fully aware of not only the sticky situation she had found herself in, but the ability of what this winged unicorn was capable of.
He was able to stun her dead with his fiery hot looks...
"Ma'am, I thought my threat was not quite explicit as it should be. Do I make myself crystal clear?"
...and his stone cold persona as well.
The Pegasus snapped out of her lovey-dovey trance and shook her head, muttering a halfhearted "Yes, sir..." as her response. "Dusk" nodded in reciprocation before turning tail and leaving the self-proclaimed brig.
"Dusk, was it?"
The winged unicorn stopped in his tracks and briefly glanced behind him.
"Do you mind if I ask you ‒ ?"
"As a matter of fact, I do. I literally just summarized the Captain's personality for you in seconds flat. Should you honestly be asking that question?"
"She has a right."
Oh, speaking of the devilish angel that is my Captain herself...
The crew members and the prisoner gasped in wonder (and shock in the Pegasus's case) as the Captain of the ship descended downstairs before them. She was something of a harpy, if you will, with a pair of moderate raspberry eyes, a bundle of pale light grayish harlequin feathers with lighter tips and a grayish emerald green/sap green tail, and a coat of light gambogeish gray. Her uniform consisted of a black jacket, a pair of black pants, a black scarf atop her head that shielded her ears, a sheathed sword, and a stiff, wooden leg that perfectly complimented her pirate appearance.
"My name is Captain Cateleya Celaeno. Welcome aboard...sailor."
Author's Note
This prologue is only slightly shorter than what I had in mind before, and therefore will be revised/expanded upon later on.
Chapter 1 Summary: Rainbow Dash runs away for Ponyville's own good, believing she has doomed them to a virus outbreak. Upon doing so, she loses her memory (albeit unintentionally) and meets a crew of swashbuckling treasure hunters. Meanwhile, Princess Celestia learns of the prank through Dash's written note of urgency, prompting her to head to Ponyville to learn more about this.
Note: The Red Butcher, I don't know why you insist that, in my story Dark Phoenix, I'm writing the ensuing incident was all Sunset's fault and simply a bad thing. The truth is this: That's the point. Sunset has been so shaken up by the Anon-A-Miss occurrences lately that she soon begins to doubt herself. She will go through some character development later on as well.
If you doubt me, that's fine with me. I couldn't care less.
