Chapter 7: Soaring High Above

Rainbow Dash was flying around in Cloudsdale, practicing being the very best in the summer flight camp, she was already topping her class but more practice couldn’t hurt. The wind was cool to her wings as she soared throughout the rings of the camp, practicing her turns as she felt she was lacking skill in them, that was until she heard Fluttershy sobs. Her eyes quickly strained on to the source of the sound, her ears perking to the noise following it as she flew with speed, towards the ground where Fluttershy was with Hoops and Dumb-Bell. Fluttershy had her wings splayed across the ground, her ears folded against her head, she looked at Hoops and Dumb-Bell with tears in her eyes as the hurt was evident. This angered Rainbow Dash, as she flew close towards Fluttershy.

“Leave her alone!” Rainbow Dash said, swooping down spreading her wings at the last second, her pink magenta eyes glaring into the eyes of Dumb-Bell and Hoops’, as she heard every word that was said before, “Klutzershy!” and “ground you permanently.”

“Ooh, what are you gonna do, Rainbow Crash?” Hoops said, taunting her.

“Keep making fun of her and find out!” Rainbow Dash retorted, ready to smash Hoops in the face.

“You think you're such a big shot? Why don't you prove it?” Dumb-Bell countered, backing up Hoops.

“What do you have in mind?” Rainbow Dash asked, Hoops thought about it in a moment and then conversed with Dumb-Bell, it was pretty obvious what was being said even though they turned around, but Rainbow Dash ignored it knowing that whatever the competition, she was going to beat them brutally. Rainbow Dash trotted towards Fluttershy and hugged her best friend, Fluttershy smiled lightly towards her loving friend embrace and whispered a “Thank you”. It was then that Hoops and Dumb-Bell had finally made up their mind with big grins on their face.

“A RACE!” they shouted in unison.

*"I Loved You" by Lucas Brodan*

I opened my eyes to darkness, the recent nightmare of the death of my brother and father haunting me as a swirl of light illuminated the shadow realm I was in. Laughter filled the room, the bitter female voice wasn't Discord though, it was Nightmare Moon, the echo of the laughter rung in my ear as I tried to pinpoint where it was coming from. My head twisted and turned but then the swirls of light transformed blinding me as Nightmare Moon materialised in front of me.

She looked exactly the same as I first saw, her cold blue eyes, a black coat with her starry mane twinkling in the dark and her majestic wings of darkness. She then smiled which enraged me as she was acting like we were old time friends. I was about to leap at her and kill her on the spot for trying to kill me when I felt the clanking of chains grasp on to my arms and legs holding me in position, the shadowy texture of the chains biting into my ankles and wrist as she laughed at my struggles. I didn’t even know where I was as she looked at me curiously almost studying me before she returned to her state of composure.

“Why hello there Silver, I have waited so long to see you after your trip to your old home, how are you feeling about the death of your brother and father?” Nightmare Moon asked maliciously.

“How do you know about that, were you there during my nightmare just then?” I said trying to break free and strangle her. She laughed and disappeared before whispering into my right ear and slowly moved to my left.

“And so what if I was there, I feed on all nightmares not just yours but your one was especially hurtful, it was so tasty!” Nightmare Moon relished, “And you shouldn’t care anyway, I know that you love her deep inside, I am her other and better half, I know deep inside that very broken heart of yours, you wish for someone to mend it, to nurture it and to be loved.” Nightmare Moon said, trotting in front of me, encircling me as if she was the predator and I was injured prey.

“What do you want?” I asked, still struggling, “You wouldn’t want to visit me just to taunt me,”

“Maybe I do, you see being stuck on the moon for some hundred years so far has made me, what would you call it, lonely, no one to talk to, only feeding on the nightmares of Equestria but never appearing in form. You know the pent up frustration that Luna has for freedom and the fun I had with her is starting to get boring.” Nightmare said melancholically.

“What did you do to her?” I asked before being interrupted.

“Breaking you is so much fun, but you see I’m not just here to make fun of you this is more like a warning,” Nightmare said, as she spun and disappearing leaving me in utter darkness, before Luna appeared. I was stunned at this, as Luna struggled in her chains, her space blue eyes were red from crying so much, her wings chained down to the floor from the base of her body. Her body was filled with streaks almost like lashes which angered me deep inside at the abuse that Nightmare Moon had done.

“Luna!” I yelled as I struggled within my own chains. She looked up as if she heard me but then became terrified, her eyes shone with absolute terror, the fear evident as she thrashed in her chains as if to get away. I cried out seeing Luna in pain, as I yelled for Nightmare Moon to stop, my voice becoming hoarse with every stop. Then Luna’s voice cut through me making my eyes look directly at Luna.

“Why Silver? You would never do this to me, I don’t understand, all this time I thought you loved me that you would do anything for me,” Luna cried out, tears falling down her face, as she strained against the chains until a shadow swept over her.

“Stop Nightmare Moon, I’ll do whatever you say, just leave Luna in peace, she doesn’t deserve any of this,” I yelled, as the shadow form swept over Luna and became solid turning into Nightmare Moon. She laughed at me touching Luna’s bruised face, and made Luna collapse to the floor. Luna’s body slowly rose up and down as she breathed, making me feel relieved. The chains clanking together as Luna disappeared into nothing. The emotions that I felt inside of me could not be described as Nightmare Moon smiled. She sensed the bitter anger towards her and loved every bit of it.

“Why are you doing this? What did I do to deserve this, you stabbed me right through the back, all for what, a game, for fun?” I raged, hoping Luna was ok.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, you see Silver, this was a test of your morals, of what you fear most, I see you squirm to kill me but you can’t, knowing that if you try to she dies, you see if you haven’t noticed, your greatest fear is losing the ones closest to you when you have the chance to protect them and save them. You carry many burdens and guilt, and are pathetic at times it makes you so cute, so don’t make a move against me, and you will be my favourite pet, when I come back!” Nightmare said, poking a hoof at my chest, and stared deep into my eyes testing me. My body froze in fear realising that she was becoming the embodiment of fear. I felt myself falling as I tried to grasp onto something but I blanked out as Nightmare’s devilish laugh reverberated.
*End Song*

“Pft, a race, you honestly think you can beat me, suit yourself” Rainbow Dash said smugly flying towards the tracks, but then realised that Fluttershy was still on the ground trying to flap her wings and hover but getting nowhere.

“It’s ok Fluttershy, with more practice you will be able to fly as good as me,” Rainbow Dash said, placing her head underneath Fluttershy’s wing and both flew towards the starting line. As they neared the stadium Rainbow Dash thought of a better idea. “You know what you can be the flag bearer, and watch me beat those losers to the ground.”

“Now don’t say that, that makes you seem like the bully now.” Fluttershy shyly said, as she was placed in the position of Flag bearer, while Rainbow Dash thought about what Fluttershy said as she was flying towards the race line.

“You're going down!” Hoop said confidently.

*Start Fly Again-James Paget*

“In history, maybe, see you boys at the finish line!” Rainbow Dash said, prepping her wings, the feeling of wind drafting through her feathers. Rainbow Dash looked forward getting her head in the game zone, concentrating on the route ahead of her. Everypony who was watching her anxiously was zoned out of Rainbow Dash’s vision as she waited at the right moment for Fluttershy who was holding up the flag. She flexed her wings up high and the crowd cheered on wondering who would win the race, tension was thick in the air as everyone became suddenly silent looking towards Fluttershy.

Fluttershy looked at the racers and saw they were eyeing her to start, their face full of determination and the slow gust of winds blew through Fluttershy’s mane scaring her a bit. She dropped the flag causing the three Pegasi to dash off, the wind rushing behind them. The extreme gust of wind blew Fluttershy off her cloud, making her spin off towards the ground. The crowd didn’t even notice as they watched the flyers zoom through the air.

Fluttershy screamed as she closed her eyes waiting for the ground to hit her while she flapped her wings with all her might but without much help. Only slowing herself down that she would get broken hooves and ankles but what surprised her was that she didn’t reach the ground. She didn’t feel the cold hard impact of the ground and she thought about if she was dead or not. She took a peek and found that a swarm of butterflies had caught her, she was bedazzled by the beauty and wonder of the tiny butterflies holding her and taking her to safety. She was so entranced by the butterfly as they kept on flying with her towards a patch of forest that didn’t look daunting to her and as she glanced up she could see the sun bright as ever and blurs of blue, brown and yellow flying through cloudy rings.

Meanwhile Rainbow Dash was concentrating hard not even realising that her best friend just fell to the ground without anypony to help her, as she swerved left and right at the tracks. The wind was buffeting the rainbow mane as she saw the first major turn coming and banked to the right angling her wings just like she had practiced. To the left of her was Hoops and to the right was Dumb-Bell, as she concentrated forwards, she heard the crashing of Dumb-Bell into a cloud pillar. POOF! She laughed in her mind, but it was no time to laugh as she realised that Hoops was still neck-and-neck with her.

She tried her hardest to fly faster and was then slowly beating Hoops, the wind in better favour of her but what she didn’t realise was the draft she created was allowing Hoops to gain speed. She had never flown like this before, it was so intense for her. The freedom was unlike anything she had ever felt! The speed, the adrenaline, the wind in her mane, it was a much different experience and she loved it so much that even death couldn’t scare her. What Rainbow didn’t realise was the draft speed allowed Hoops to gain on her to the point of catching up. Hoops smashed right into Rainbow Dash knocking her out of the path.

“Ow!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she was slowed momentarily before she flapped rapidly with her wings forwards trying to regain the lost momentum right behind. She saw Hoops right in front of her and was angered by him smashing into her.

“Ha! Later, Rainbow Crash!” Hoops yelled back, as he kicked her in the face causing Rainbow to be briefly stunned. This got Rainbow Dash even more worked up as she lost her rhythm in her wings and slowly fell behind and tried her best to gain on Hoops. Hoops on the other hoof was having the time of his life thinking he had already beat Rainbow Dash as he neared the last ring. But just in case he angled downwards like a hawk and rushed towards it at maximum velocity. Rainbow saw this and realised she would lose.

“No, I can’t give up!” Rainbow thought as she realised she had to keep going for Fluttershy’s honour and she knew she had to win. She vowed she would win for Fluttershy in her mind when they decided on the race and she planned on keeping it as she dove down like an eagle. She started gaining her maximum velocity but something inside of her felt different as she wanted to win with all her heart. “For Fluttershy” Rainbow Dash thought as she felt the sound barrier slowly breaking, she zipped past Hoops and stuck out her tongue, but she appeared as a blur to him.

With every second passing, the barrier was fracturing as she then felt her whole body lurch forward with extreme velocity towards the ring. She had to close her eyes, as the wind stung it and she realised that she was moving faster than any filly should be moving, worried for a second before she felt something inside of her snap. Hoops on the other hoof was astonished and shocked at the speed of Rainbow as he spun out of control before stabilising himself, frozen in place with his jaw literally left open as he saw no point to fight anymore, then he saw something magical.

The moment that Rainbow touched the last ring, a bright beautiful rainbow appeared behind her, she did not realise that she had just performed the sonic rainboom. All this time she thought it was an old mare’s tale to bring a pegasus’ spirits up that you can accomplish anything type story but she just proved the legend to be true. Her face widened with the biggest smile of all as she smashed right through the finish line continuing on creating an actual rainbow fascinating everyone as it changed the lives of five other ponies drastically.

Her cutie mark appearing on her flank, the lightning symbol of a rainbow with a cloud which felt like a warm burning sensation and she looked at her flank to find her cutie mark. She was quite surprised by it but realised that now her talent was to move fast as lightning and she loved it. Except for the fact she had been staring at her flank too long and wasn’t looking where she was flying as she passed through thick ominous clouds towards the Everfree forest.

*End Song*

Fluttershy was singing with her new animal friends, her beautiful voice making the forest more lively, as the animals started swaying to the music dancing with her when all of a sudden a loud explosion shook her and caused all the animals to scatter hiding making her fall flat on the ground. Her ears rung intensely as she tried to understand what had happened, shaking her head to clear her mind as she got back up. She had just felt the intense shockwave of Rainbow Dash’s sonic rainboom but didn’t know it was her that performed it. Fluttershy looked up to the sky seeing the rainbow spread throughout the sky and causing her to follow the path of it but then she realised that all her new animal friends were gone, they had all gone into hiding scared of the giant loud noise. The rabbits were particularly slow as they hid in the nearest bush. Fluttershy saw that and decided to approach them slowly. She crept forward and lifted up the bushes to find the scared animals

“Shhh, it's okay you can come out, everything's okay. There's nothing to be afraid of.” Fluttershy said softly to all the animals. The animals looked cautiously towards Fluttershy and realised that she wasn’t a threat anymore and crowded all around her. Fluttershy felt her flank feel warm and looked to find her cutie mark, “I can speak to animals” Fluttershy thought happily as she laid down, staying with all her new friends, closing her eyes and relaxing wondering what happened to Rainbow Dash.

As Rainbow sped through the air she neared a clearing on the side of the castle of the two sisters, a mysterious broken site where Princess Celestia and Luna once lived. To her it wasn’t of much importance because she lived in Cloudsdale and it wasn’t necessary to learn of the castle, unless she had been sleeping in class. Rainbow Dash was still flying faster and didn’t know how to stop as she neared dangerously close to the ground. All of a sudden she felt cold, usually the wind and flying at high altitudes did not affect her but upon the entering the boundaries of the castle it felt different. The air was dryer, dry like the desert and the wind was sharp piercing through her fur as if sand was in the air and then she realised that she was nearing a statue. It was a weird minotaur type creature, wearing clothes and held strange items which she could not comprehend. She tried to swerve and turn but it was like it was destiny for her to collide in to the statue, no matter what Rainbow did it was inevitable. Instead she braced for impact, and as she collided an explosion shook her making her black out.

Silver woke up with a terrible back pain as he realised he was lying on a piece of rock, breathing heavily looking for Nightmare Moon but to find he was back in the castle courtyard. Turning his head he saw a blue pegasus with a rainbow lightning tattoo, “No not tattoo, what did Luna say it was, a cutie mark, that’s right…” Silver thought, but then realised what he said, feeling something inside of him empty. Silver feeling guilty moved to a sitting position to find the Sword of Eden on his back, slung on the right side of him while the air rifle was on the left side.

He took out the sword feeling the power within, something different about it, Silver was about to stand up when his head started spinning rapidly. “What did Nightmare Moon do to me?” Silver groaned trying to think properly. And then something clicked in his mind as he was looking at the sword he was holding, before placing it back into its sheath. “Discord, I can’t hear him in my head, that’s a relief, he was so noisy, can I really trust him and free him, why was he set in stone the first place,” and he thought about whether to call out to Discord both in his mind and out loud but nothing happened.

“I wonder how much Discord knows about what happen at my old home?” Silver thought, “No wonder he laughed hysterically at me when I asked if I could stay, when I find him I’m going to kill him,” Silver stood up, and looked at the castle, the destruction evident, rubble scattered across the floor of what use to be the courtyard and the vines growing wildly. Looking towards Luna’s room, its features crumbled and the insides torn apart. Silver started remembering what happened on that day, when Nightmare arose and possessed Luna, he sighed, trying to remember the prophecy.

“The moon will rise once again in a millennium, on the day of the rising sun, six shall restore the moon to its most clear state, but downfall in the end to those that intercede” Silver thought, “Who are these 6, are they ponies, I need more info on this, I…” A whimper from the blue pegasus caught his attention.He looked at the young blue pegasus, her flowing rainbow mane caught his eye, its breathing slow, like it was just winded.

“Was she the one that set me free, it looks like she collided into me, no wonder she is breathing heavily,” Silver thought, kneeling down, her face clenched as if in agony, but her breathing steadied and Silver knew it wasn’t good to leave her be as she could be attacked. But before he could do anything he heard a voice,

“RAINBOW DASH!” a shy voice said, barely audible if it weren’t for Silver eagle vision and hearing.

“I better move, don’t want Celestia to catch me in this state, I wonder where she lives now?” Silver thought and headed towards the castle and watched. A creamed colour pegasus and forest dwelling animals came out of the forest, the pegasus’ face distraught at the sight of Rainbow dash.

“Oh no, are you alright Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy said nudging Rainbow Dash, she groaned in pain and opened her eyes to find Fluttershy.

“What happened?” Rainbow asked, as she lifted up her head to find the statue she smashed into was ruined, “Well I hope that wasn’t important” Rainbow Dash thought, looking back at Fluttershy, with the biggest grin on her face.

“DID YOU SEE WHAT I DID?!” Rainbow Dash blurted out, not really thinking about her injury that she had just endured, or Fluttershy’s concerned face.

“No, because I fell off the podium,” Fluttershy stated, as she kicked up the dirt a bit with her back hoof, while the animals were now watching from afar who was hurt a bit that her only friend didn’t notice her, that she could have been injured and Rainbow wouldn’t have noticed.

“Sorry what was that?” Rainbow asked, sometimes she wished that Fluttershy spoke louder,

“I said, that I FELL OF THE PODIUM!” Fluttershy said a bit louder, and walked off hurt that Rainbow wasn’t there for her, “Oh, no wonder she looked upset and she was so concerned about my wellbeing” Rainbow thought,

“Hey Fluttershy, look I’m so sorry, it was just I was in the heat of the moment that I didn’t realise that you fell off, I know that you always look out for me, especially when I’m injured” Rainbow said solemnly and hugged her best friend. Fluttershy responded well and hugged back the smell of sweat permeated the air as Fluttershy felt the overworked pegasus struggling not to collapse.

“It’s alright Rainbow, just pay attention a bit more, oh look at the new friends I made” Fluttershy said pointing towards the bushes as the two pegasi walked away from the castle leaving Silver to wander about the castle like a ghost.

Author's Note

Yay I'm not going to die BTW this paragraph is now edited, but anyway what happens now with Silver, what will he do, find out next time and I will see you in the next chapter