Draco Dash Begins(Prologue)
“Okay victim number forty-two, please step onto the testing area, and we’ll begin,” came the voice. It was cold, emotionless, and sterile. That was part of the point of course. They were testing for something, something special, and that meant that they couldn’t favor anyone, as it might spoil the test results. So thinking, Draco moved forward, looking around at the place he was in, curiosity piqued by what he had already scene, and more by what he had heard of this strange group he’d fallen in with. Just being here, in a place where they held power, his hair stood up on end, and he could sense all around him that power of this place, both the technology, far advanced of what he was used to, and a deeper power, something that defied everything he knew.
“He’s not a victim, he’s a test subject, now get on with the test,” said the same voice…or maybe a different one. The first voice was smaller, not quieter, just smaller, like the speaker wasn’t very big. The second was…not so small. Every word the second voice spot was powerful, like the speaker was a giant or something. Still, the dragon moved forward, his claws clicking on the floor, made of some kind of tile, with walls of the same. This place was pure white, with nary a flaw on any surface that he could see. Such perfection was beyond unnatural, but seemed to fit with the overall theme he’d seen. The unnatural was second nature to those he’d come in contact with, it seemed.
“Subject, are you aware of why you’ve been selected for this?” asked the second voice of Draco, and he stuttered a bit. The voice was intimidating, but then, he’d faced things of great power before without flinching. No, it was simply that he didn’t know how to answer. How do you respond to someone in a place like this. Not a week ago he’d been sitting inside his cave, just outside the city limits, enjoying an afternoon sunning himself on his hoard, a small hole in the wall letting in the light, which bounced and reflected off the gold, jewels, and one small statue, to fill the cave with luminescence.
He’d been enjoying himself, toying with the idea of what suit to wear tonight when he went into town, when he felt….something. It wasn’t normal, but, where the unnaturalness of his present company was just different, this was somehow wrong. He’d instantly bolted out of his cave, and seen a fight like no other. It wasn’t energy blasts, fists, guns, blades, or anything else the two above the city were fighting with, sending people screaming in all directions. They were fighting with destruction itself, a huge black sphere formed between the pair, as they bantered. One claimed he was going to give the people of the city freedom, while the other claimed that freedom was a lie.
Draco wasn’t a hero, not like some dragons. He enjoyed himself, sat on his hoard, and had fun. He never saw himself as anything important, or thought he could have any effect on anything, but as he watched the two float there, their sphere of destruction sucking things into it, and those things just ceasing to be, he knew he had to do something. Scared out of his wits, trembling a little inside, and knowing his efforts would likely just get him killed, Draco had shot into the sky, and took a deep breath, studying the two, had picked his target. Both were glowing, quite brightly in fact, but one’s light was reassuring, like the warmth of a summer’s day, or a fire on a cold night. The other was glowing like death, like a moonbeam twisted and distorted by a thousand mirrors. He couldn’t even tell which one was talking, which one was saying things about freedom or the one about lies, but he made his decision, and struck, cold shooting from his mouth, and striking the back of the evil glowing guy.
This was almost his undoing, the cold struck, but it seemed to do not a thing to the glowing person, other than a single shaft of his unholy light shining at Draco. Before it could touch him though, he swerved out of the way, his serpentine body wrapping around it as he shot forward. He wasn’t sure what had motivated him then, but it was enough to get him to go forward, and with a mighty twack of his tail, he’d struck the evil glowy guy on the back of the head, this distracting him long enough for the sphere between the pair to touch him, and he was instantly consumed.
The following day was a swirl of events, the good glowy guy helping the people to rebuild, simply willing things to happen, and they did. He said it was a great power, but that the other guy’s master had powers that far exceeded it, and he asked for Draco’s help. Draco tried to say no, tried to simply leave it alone and go back to his hoard, but the guy had said a phrase that he couldn’t resist. Suiting up. That had called to the dragon’s passion, and so here he stood, inside a citadel of the glowy guy and his compatriots, waiting to be tested, gauged, numbered, and then sent out on a mission.
Stepping forward, he merely nodded, figuring if he needed any more details, they would be provided later, and soon he stood in the center of a pure white room, wondering just what he had gotten himself into. That question, at least, soon had an answer, as one of the walls slid away, and a few robotic arms came into the room, slipping around Draco, and placing objects and items on the floor in front of him. It took him a while to recognize them, mostly because he saw them from behind, and was forced to pick a few of them up and turn them over, before he determined they were pieces of a suit. And not just any suit, a pony suit, specifically Rainbow Dash.
“So, you want me to cosplay?” asked the dragon, not sure about this as he was before. He’d helped in a fight, but it didn’t seem like dressing up as a cartoon character would help in that fight.
“Not precisely. This is more….a fitting. Put on the pieces, and I’ll explain,” said the voice, the bigger one, but the order came out as less overt command, and more an asking for patience, and Draco, being a dragon that lived for many eons, had a lot of that, and so began to walk forward, picking up one of the pieces, and examining it more thoroughly, before trying to put it on.
The first piece was a hoof. Not even a whole leg, just the hard end of one, and he tested out its density by tapping it on the floor, then placing his foot inside it. The hoof felt…tingly, which was odd as the inside of it looked like it was just leather of something, though the material outside felt more like a regular horse’s hoof. Still, it came with a few straps, and putting him together, Draco tugged on them, sealing the hoof against his own foot, and instantly was floored by the sensation coming up from it.
It wasn’t painful, mind, the sensation didn’t hurt at all. In fact, it felt kind of good, like his foot was distorting, expanding, and growing harder inside the hoof bit, and he had to admit, it was like putting on one of his suits, just more intense. His suits were overlays, becoming something different, but remaining himself inside it. This, meanwhile, was turning him into something else, and he could feel it happening, his flesh becoming like putty inside the thing, which now seamlessly connected with the rest of his leg, making him stroke at the point where the flesh joined, before looking towards the rest of the suit, and smirking a bit.
He went for the leg that attached to the hoof next. He wasn’t sure how he knew just which one of the four it was, but it seemed right to his mind, as he picked it up, poking it, feeling the fur outside, and rough textured inside. It was interesting, that dichotomy, soft and smooth, and rough and rugged, with an opening that he placed in the back, putting it over his own leg, and then pressing together behind his leg, before grabbing the leather tie off, and twisting it around, creating a nice bunny ears knot, before the sensation returned, his leg warping and twisting beneath the cover, before the cover felt like it was his leg, his finger touching it, and moving through his hair. He even, as an experiment, plucked a hair from the leg, and winced in pain. Even his own suits didn’t feel that natural, making him wonder at what technology level these guys he’d gotten involved with were at.
“Please don’t damage the test objects, otherwise we’ll stick you in the Apature Science division,” came the first, small voice, followed by the sounds of what Draco could only call a ‘sissy fight’. The sound of two sets of hands slapping at each other, before a loud smack ended it.
“Ignore the bug, and please put on the rest of the suit,” said the bigger voice, and Draco looked down, willingly complying. He set the other hoof on the floor, and slid it on, easily tying the straps together, before he was floored again, the sensation of his foot warping traveling up his spin as a shiver. He tried to resist, but he giggled a little as he stood up, some small part of his own foot feeling like it was being tickled, before the sensation of his own flesh was submerged beneath the hoof. The leg was easier this time, knowing what to expect, and the dragon stayed on his fee-er hooves, his leg merely wobbling a bit, before the sensation died down, and he was a proud dragon satyr, with light blue fur over his horse legs, and dark blue scales with white hair over the rest of him.
He stood there for several seconds, just admiring himself, and enjoying the feeling of his hands on his hips, before he moved forward again, this time noticing that the suit’s chest was something designed to cover his entire torso, with not just straps, but metal bars inside, though not like any metal he knew. It was warm to the touch, and seemed to pulse beneath his claws. He shrugged, however, and slipped it onto his back, pulling his arms through the holes, like the thing was a vest, though it brought his arms to his front in an odd, but not entirely uncomfortable position. Still, he had to be a bit more dexterous to pull at the leather strings this time, and when he pulled them taut, he was left breathless for a moment.
The inside of the suit wasn’t tight, but rather, felt like it was pulling at him, forcing his lungs to expand and fill with air. At the same time, it felt like they weren’t getting any though, and a moment, he would have said heartbeat, but he couldn’t feel that either, he thought he might have done something wrong. Then he felt the warm metal press against his flesh, and the tingle came back, but different. It went inside him now, not just stopping at his skin, but actually going into his chest, running everywhere at once. He could feel it altering and warping him, and falling onto his side heavily, he knew he should be panicking, but the thought of the glowy guy he’d helped bolstered him, knowing he wouldn’t come to harm, and what’s more, the sensation of it all, of becoming someone new inside and out, wasn’t bad.
A moment passed as the suit warped a bit itself, and Draco lay there, barely noticing the changes now, just reveling in his senses, as the bars and suit vanished, and now he felt only the floor beneath him, the cold, pure white making him feel at home, while his lungs started to breathe again, and his heart resumed beating, actually a bit stronger than before, like it was bigger, and he wondered if he was blushing a bit, as he was forced to roll over, unable to stand thanks to the way the suit hung on him, and soon, on all fours, stood before the remaining pieces of the suit.
Deciding quickly to place the legs next, he sauntered over to them, giggling a little at the clopping sound his hooves made on the tile, before he came up to them. Using his naturally dexterous hands, he was able to set the hooves in front of him, and then flip the legs up so that they stood in front of their ends. Moving forward, he slipped one leg, and then the other, into them, the rough texture rubbing at him a bit harshly, making him grunt as he leaned forward, and opened his mouth, grabbing the straps on the back of them with his teeth, and then tugging them, pulling his head back, and causing the sensation of them changing him in both at once.
He was expecting it this time though, and managed to stay standing on all fours, his eyes rolling back a little, as the rough inside just seemed to melt into him, like he was absorbing the suit into his skin, until it was his skin again, and he felt only the soft, silky hair of the pony’s legs, which then moved forward, the hands slipping into the hooves, and with the same mouth tug, he got them on, the hooves sealing up around his fingers, making it hard to keep on his hooves as they took over. The digits inside felt like they were melting for a second, the bones inside growing larger, merging, but then it all passed, and Draco stood with his head and long neck on Rainbow Dash’s body.
The final piece of the suit lay on the ground in front of him, and Draco looked at it with a sigh. It was her head, her beautiful face, and that cute rainbow colored mane. Looking it up and down just gave him a warm feeling inside, such a warm feeling that it took him a few moments to realize he was flying, and looking onto his back, he noticed for the first time his wings, which were flapping lazily in the rooms dead air, able to hold his body aloft without much effort, though he felt like he was a little top heavy, like his head was weighing him down, and smirking at the image of someone calling Dash an air head(And promptly getting the hay kicked out of them), he leaned forward, letting his wings gently bring him down, before he stuck his head into the hole at the neck of the suit’s head, and slipped his own inside.
Once inside the suit, he saw darkness only. The rough, leather texture rubbing against his nose, making him wonder how he was fitting inside it, since his snout was bigger than hers, making him, idly, realize that his body was longer too, and wonder how he’d fit the chest over his own. Then he felt something different. It was…odd. The strings, hanging limp off the suit, he could suddenly feel them, and they were moving, like serpents they twined over his body, moving and crisscrossing into his fur, burrowing in at places, and then coming back out again, like he was some giant shoe they were tying up, and then, they reached his neck.
It was incredible. He felt…powerful. He felt like he was made of speed, his whole body vibrating, demanding to be let go, and allowed to fly free. And he wanted to let it too. All his thoughts were on flying, and as his face tingled, his horns disappearing, he nearly bolted, but suddenly, a light blinded him, and he was forced to blink against it, any thoughts of flight leaving him, as he needed to know where he was. It was the eyes, his eyes were inside the suit, he could feel them see out of both for a moment, before the suit’s eyes became his, and filled with his own life.
“Huh, what the…my voice?” he said, or rather, she said. Draco’s voice was nonexistent. He felt the wind travel up his air pipe and out of his lungs, but when it came out of his mouth, it wasn’t his voice, it was that of Rainbow Dash. This nearly floored him, as he started to whip his head around, suddenly thinking that the last thing he remembered was being in Ponyville, but then thinking of how absurd that was. Ponyville wasn’t real. He hadn’t been on his way to Twilight when he’d seen the glowy guy in the sky, he’d been coming out of his cave. But…he remembered both. It was the same Glowy guy too, he could see the one over his city, and the one over Ponyville, both locked in battle, both shining like stars. Yet, they were both different too.
The one Draco remembered was younger, not quite as worn looking, not quite as battle hardened. The one over his town had looked like he was losing his fight too, before Draco had intervened. This one, the one over Ponyville, was different. He was a soldier, a warrior, and he looked confident, his enemy, a different one than Draco remembered, straining against him. But Draco remembered attacking in both memories. Dash striking the evil looking glow with first lightning, and then a Sonic Rainboom. He remembered…nothing after that, and started to look around, wondering how Twilight was…what he was doing here…what was happening to him.
“Alright, that’s enough, code 3 shutdown, activate the failsafe,” said the powerful voice, and Draco came back to himself. It was a sudden thing, his body, Dash’s body, slipped off like a snake shedding its skin. An opening appeared in the back, and Draco shot free of it, letting it drop to the floor. It didn’t drop though, instead, landing in a standing position, the suit just being there, the eyes, filled with life now, but unmoving, like someone had pushed the pause button, and making Draco wonder what was going on here, what had he just experienced.
He didn’t have to wait long for the answer, as the wall opposite of where the suit had come from opened up with a hiss, and two people stepped into the room. Or rather, one person, but two of him, as they looked the exact same, save one was a normal sized human, about seven feet tall, while the other version of him was about two inches, and hovering. The normal sized one was smiling, and Draco instantly recognized him as the one whom he’d helped before. For a moment, he saw his city again in his mind, but then was over Ponyville again, and had to shake his head to clear the image away.
“I think that mind copy thing you did is having an adverse effect,” said the tiny one, the smaller voice he’d heard before, while the bigger one nodded.
“We anticipated this, and I’m sorry we couldn’t warn you beforehand Draco, but we had to know you could take on her memories before we allowed this to go farther. After all, this is a choice we don’t make lightly,” said the larger, and he put his hand on Draco’s shoulder. The fog in his mind cleared almost instantly, and strength, like the suit, but different too, surged through him. He felt like the light shined on his soul, and he could fly around the world in the blink of an eye, before the hand was removed, and he returned to normal, his head still unfogged though.
“What do you mean? What choice? And what mind copy thing?” asked the dragon of the two humans. He didn’t sound mad, although that was more motivated by the knowledge that he couldn’t have fought the pair even if he wanted to.
“We had to pick, the sword or the lance, for our war. You know only a little of what is going on, but it’s enough. We’re fighting someone who will, if allowed, destroy all worlds, end all dreams. We need a new ally, and it was either you, or Dash. Dash is more of a fighter than you, no offense, so we want you to take her place. Not forever, mind, just until that area of the conflict dies down. If you like your job though, we have need of someone like you, with your skills at becoming someone else. We can craft more suits, but for now, we could really use your help,” he said simply, and then turned, to walk away.
Draco watched him go, and then began to follow, the little version of him moving behind Draco, picking up the Rainbow Dash suit, his tiny form somehow able to pick the suit up, and then shoot up towards the ceiling with it, vanishing behind another panel. Draco knew that the glowy guy was asking him. This wasn’t an order, or a command, though remembering his touch, he thought it could have been made one, one he couldn’t say no to. That helped him decide, and as Draco followed, he couldn’t help but smile. More suits that that would be right up his alley.
Suiting Up and Sweet Apple Showers
This was weird. Well, maybe not weird, considering where the dragon was right now, but it was odd. There were clouds under his feet, his scales were touching them, and they felt plush, like a thick, wooly carpet. He’d never stood on one before, and probably wouldn’t again, so he tried to enjoy it, at least for the moment. That moment was of course, very short, considering the speed of his hostess, who was flitting back and forth across the home that was hers, speaking so quickly that the dragon couldn’t follow her half the time, but since he knew what she was saying, as she’d said it a dozen times before, it didn’t matter too much.
“And then you’ve got to give Sweet Apple Acres a good shower, otherwise those trees are just gonna rot, and then Pinkie Pie’s place needs to be kept clear, I think Ditzy is gonna move some clouds over her house again, when they should be pushed out towards Everfree Forest, and then…” the list of things to do just kept getting longer, as the rainbow colored pegasus just kept moving, grabbing things, and stuffing them into her saddle bag. Oddly, she seemed to be laying them right back down again as she kept moving, showing how nervous she was.
“Dash, I’ve got this, I really do. You don’t have to worry about anything,” said the dragon, his long, lithe body, so different from the more western dragons Rainbow Dash was used to dealing with, moving like a serpent over the cloudy floor, grabbing her to stop her mad rush, and forcing her to settle down, at least for a moment.
“You’re sure? I mean, I know that glowy guy said you could handle this, but he also said I could be gone awhile, like weeks, are you sure you can play me to my friends and everyone while I’m gone?” she asked, her breath coming out in ragged gasps, even her stamina, quite high for a winged horse, drained, as she’d been dashing too and fro all night long, and this morning seemed to kick it into overdrive.
“That ‘glowy guy’ is quite good at picking replacements so the original can join his little band of merry….whatevers, and help stop the end of dreams, nightmares, and all that other good stuff. I can handle this. Heck, you should see some of the things I’ve played over the years. I was once a lord of the seas, a big white bird thing. I even went on a date in that form, and I looked darn good in that dress,” said the obviously male dragon, striking a pose that implied femininity, and then fluttering his eyes a bit, making Rainbow Dash chuckle a bit, an obviously needed bit of tension relief, as she now gently went around, and loaded the rest of her pack.
“Well, if you’re sure,” she said, the tone of her voice showing she still wasn’t positive about all this. Leaving Ponyville was a big thing, but then, she’d seen something that the others had apparently all forgotten about, a monster thing, something that looked like the Glowy Guy, two legs and everything, but worse. He glowed too, but where the Glowy Guy glowed warmly, like the sun, or a smile, the other glowy guy…he glowed like the light of a furnace, or a forge, like he would burn you, take everything you are into himself, and then make you into what he wanted. Discord, he was bad, so was Nightmare Moon, and all the monsters her and her friends had faced, but this guy, he was different. He was power given form, and she had to help stop him, if she could.
“I’m sure, and look, the Little God even gave me a new suit to wear,” he said, holding up something that might have been creepy in another context. It was a skin, or at least, it looked like a skin, but it wasn’t. It was a suit, like the ones he himself crafted from time to time, but more than the suits he’d ever made. This one looked like Rainbow Dash, down to the smallest detail. Every hair, follicle, and eyelash was designed to be Dash. Heck, it would even change his voice to sound like hers, as the pair had found out last night, when, as a gag, he’d taken out her mirror, and then stood where it was, until she’d walked past. Mind, he’d only kept the gag going for a moment, but it had been one heck of a funny moment.
The Pegasus nodded, looking through her saddle bag one last time, before walking to the door, and then opening it with her mouth. She stopped just as she got to the edge of her cloud home though. She looked down at everyone. All her friends, Fluttershy, Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and heck, even Rarity and the precocious Spike. She was going this to protect them all. She knew that could end badly, that she might not return, the Glowy Guy had admitted as much, but he’d also said her speed and dexterity would be an asset in stopping the other guy, and she needed him stopped. His kind of Order was worse than Chaos, and she would fight him.
“Well, take care of everyone, and remember, don’t give Pinkie Pie any ideas. She had some kind of bad dream the other day, and she’s scared I’m going to leave her forever, and I don’t want her to think I really did,” she told him, before taking off, launching off the cloud in a rainbow streak, and then vanishing just after she left. No portal or beam or anything, one minute she was there, and the next, not. Such was the power of the beings she was going to help, Gods, Authors, and others, but hopefully, she could help them. Smiling, the dragon made his way back into the house.
It was, like Dash, a place of speed. Everything was organized, in a way, shoved against the walls, and it would take the dragon a while to learn which wall held which stuff against it, but then, that was part of the fun of being what he was, a replacement. His job, he’d been told, was important too. His Author wasn’t one of the warriors, wasn’t a fighter, and so the dreams he dreamt, like Draco, weren’t fighters either. Draco did have a talent though, given by his Dreamer, and he intended to make the best use of it that he could, and so he walked over to where the Rainbow Dash suit lay, and began to climb inside.
It was here that he found his first difference between suits he made himself, and those others made for him. His suits felt warm to the touch, like they were part of him, and in a way, they were, but this one, it felt…alive. Not warm per say, just like it was made of real skin, and as he touched it, it seemed to latch onto him, hugging tight against him, like a small child, looking for a parent’s embrace. It was different, but in a good way, and without a second though, Draco found the hole in the suit’s spine, and began to put it on.
Even that felt odd though. His skin, once it touched the suit, had a numb quality to it, like he wasn’t in his own body anymore, and it almost made him panic, before he realized why it felt like that. The instant he touched the suit’s interior, he felt himself no longer, and instead, he felt the suit’s skin, it’s fur standing on end in excitement as it covered him, and it’s fur flowing gently in the small breeze that was passing through Rainbow Dash’s house. Smiling, he dove into the suit at that point, thinking that it was like a pool, and it would feel great, after he was all the way in.
He was right too, his head and body, slithering in like a serpent, found the suit, though seemingly small, the perfect fit for him, as every part of his skin made contact with the pony’s body, and replaced his own. It wasn’t like the second skins he wore. He could still feel himself when he was inside one of them. No, this was less that, and more becoming someone different. He didn’t feel that sensation of something between him and the world, as soon as he was fully inside the suit, the suit was him, his whole being, and it was awesome.
Energy coursed through him, his feathery wings flapping a bit to test their muscles, and his hooves, flat, but powerful, clopping on the cloud floor, which felt stable now, like a solid floor, though one that seemed to shift a bit if he put too much weight on it. Then there were the eyes. For a moment, after his head dived inside, he saw nothing. It wasn’t just darkness, he knew darkness, this was blindness, like his eyes had been plucked out, but with a startling clarity, he was suddenly seeing what the eyes of the Rainbow Dash suit saw, everything tinged slightly with brighter colors than before, showing him a world that seemed to be constantly moving, as the bright colors shifted a bit, showing him just why Rainbow was as speedy as she was, she had to keep up with the world she saw.
“Neat,” said a voice, and as the night before, Draco was surprised. His suits, while neat, were still just suits, and he was still him beneath them, but this suit…wasn’t a suit. He was Rainbow Dash, from the way she saw the world, to her voice, which sounded awesome coming out of his…her own mouth, making him giggle like a little filly, before taking into the air, flapping her wings a few times to get airborne, and then just fluttering a bit about her room. Before he could get used to flying though, he felt his wings lose their power of flight, and he fell towards the floor, landing heavily, and making an impression in the clouds.
Turning her head….Draco Dash looked between the wings to see that hold into which a dragon had climbed to become a pony. It was weird. She could see the skin beneath, and the fur of the dragon’s back, but it was like it was someone else, and with a shrug, she started to bring the two parts of the whole together, the skin between her wings linking up, and the seam just vanishing. There wasn’t a single gap now. This body was hers, though deep in her mind, she knew she had another within. That didn’t matter though, as she flapped her wings again, and with a shout of joy, rocketed out of the cloud house, and made her way into the sky.
“Are you sure about this Twi? I mean, Rainbow Dash is supposed to be here any minute,” said the cowgirl pony, looking to the purple unicorn, who had a book floating in front of her.
“Well, you said you just needed water right, and I found this spell that draws water out of the ground and then-“ The unicorn was cut off as the Earth Pony with a the cowgirl hat smiled at her, seeing the flaw in Twilight Sparkle’s plan without needing much effort. Sometimes, Twilight, probably the most book smart of all her friends, could be rather silly.
“And Twi, just where do I need the water to help my apple trees grow?” said the orange, apple farmer pony.
“Well, it needs to be in the gro…oh, well, that just stinks. I spent all day researching this one,” she said, putting her face in her book and then sighing. When she’d first gotten to Ponyville, such a set back, her magic not being able to fix everyone’s problem, would have upset Twilight to no end, but now, after the Parasprites, the whole thing with Zecora, and the incident during Winter Wrap Up. After all that, she’d learned to put up with disappointment, and Applejack, with a smirk, walked over and put her hoof on the other girl’s shoulder in a sign of support, making the two of them smile.
“Let’s just wait for Rainbow Dash…which, speak of the pony, I think that’s her,” she said, pointing to a streak in the sky, that was quickly moving among the clouds, bouncing off them like they were trampolines, and laughing loudly enough to be heard down on the farm.
“Well, she seems to be having a good time up there. Hey Dash!” shouted up Applejack, waving her hoof, above, Draco Dash saw her, and still laughing, shot down, enjoying her mobility, as she moved at nearly the speed of sound, and then, with only the slightest effort, stopped right in front of Applejack.
“Rainbow Dash, reporting for-OW!” she said, giving a salute, only to whack herself in the head with her hoof pretty hard, making the others look at her a bit weird. It had looked to them like she’d forgotten how hard her own hoof was, with the way she’d moved, and Twilight got closer, looking at a fairly good bump already forming on the pegasus’ head.
“Are you okay Rainbow?” she asked, searching her memory for healing spells, but remembering only ones for the more serious maladies, like disease, or burns.
“I’m fine, I just have to remember that I don’t have ha….er, I mean, I have to move the clouds over Sweet Apple Acres so that Applejacks trees get a good soaking. I’m on it!” she shouted the last, and took off into the sky again, leaving the other two to stare after her.
“You think she hit herself on the head or sumpthan?” asked Applejack, as the Pegasus, never enthusiastic about her job, was hooping and hollarin like a pig in a fresh mud patch. Twilight, for her part, found the behavior odd, but nothing too different from what Rainbow Dash normally did. At least this time she’d hadn’t pulled out that homemade Wonder Bolt Costume she had hidden away, and started flying with it on.
“Maybe she just finally woke up on the right side of the bed. Or maybe Spitfire is coming into town again,” she said, remembering when Spitfire had visited earlier that month, one of the Wonder Bolts that Rainbow respected, and the Pegasus had run herself ragged keeping the skies clear, or rainy, or whatever was needed the whole time she was in town, so much so that she’d only spent a few minutes with her before she’d gone back to Canterlot to do something for Celestia.
“I don’t know, she just doesn’t seem like herself today,” said Applejack. In the meantime, Draco Dash had been gathering the clouds over the farm, forming a pretty large bank of them over the apple orchard. Then she started to hop up and down on them, giggling like Pinkie Pie at a party, and causing a downpour to start, making Twilight shout out, and cover her book with her body, as she dashed towards the farm house, quickly followed by Applejack, who noticed that Rainbow, who was rather lax at her jobs at most times, had seemingly been a bit too eager this time, the clouds looking like they would pour all afternoon, and maybe even into the morning.
“See, this is what I’m talking about,” she said.
“Well, she does seem to be into her work today. Is that such a bad thing though? Weren’t you saying yesterday how she’d missed a drizzle or two last week?” responded Twilight.
“Yeah, and this’ll certainly make up for that bit o’ laziness, but I don’t think flooding the farm’s gonna do much better than letting it turn into a desert,” said Applejack as the two reached the farm, and then stood beneath an overhang, looking out at the orchard. Despite what she’d said, the trees seemed to be enjoying the rain, their branches really looking like they were greener, and the apples looking even juicer that usual.
“So, what do you think? Not bad for my first day on the job?” asked Draco Dash, as she descended from the heavens in a pillar of light, a hold in the clouds allowing her to do so without being drenched.
“What in tarnation are you blabbin’ about? You’ve been the Weather Warden for Ponyville since you were a filly,” asked the cowgirl, looking at her ‘friend’ with an upraised eyebrow, and Draco inwardly cursed. She was usually better about playing the Role she was given than she was being today, but Rainbow Dash was such a fun role, with the flying, and weather control, and all her friends to look forward to getting to know.
“Well, I uh, I mean, this is the first day of the rest of my career. Maybe I want to start being better at it than I was before,” she said, smiling a bit nervously.
“Hmm….I’ll buy it, for now, but you better make sure this storm stops before you erode the ground under my trees. Won’t do them no good if the whole orchard gets washed away,” said Applejack, rubbing her chin with her hoof, and Draco Dash, saluting again, this time a bit more carefully, zoomed back up into the clouds.
“Nothin about that seemed weird to ya’ll?” asked Applejack again, as the hole overhead closed up, and the rains began to slack off a little, showing that above, Draco Dash was moving a few clouds away from the storm.
“Well, you’re right, Rainbow isn’t normally that good about doing her job, but I’m not gonna say no, when she starts doing everything she’s supposed to do,” commented Twilight, smiling as the storm moved away from the farm, and allowed her to march down the road towards Ponyville, and home. Applejack, looking up at the Pegasus, as she streaked across the sky, could do nothing but shy, shake her head, and wonder, not for the first time, if maybe she thought a little too hard about things, before she went off to check on another field, the daisy crop being neglected again because of the apples, and needing her attention to keep the flowers from withering.
