The Rainboom

“Alright. You can do this,” Dash, now a young stallion, muttered to himself. “You know you can.” Dash glanced at the bleachers behind him. It was here, nearly 20 years ago, that his grandmother had performed her last rainboom - her best rainboom, as some (okay, many) would argue.

Dash looked up. He knew he’d placed a cloud up there, and nopony in their right mind would fly that high, but he still wanted a place to prepare for... it.

Dash walked over to the bleachers, one section of the stadium filled. Filled with his friends, family, and family’s friends and friends’ family. “Okay... everypony,” the pegasus said, addressing the ponies there. Scootaloo, now an old mare, his parents, beginning to age, friends he’d made over the few short years he’d lived. And the Princess, mane flowing regally. “I... I’ve been preparing for this for a while, and, well... I hope you like it.” Sweet Celestia, he was bad at that. Thankfully he had something else to keep his mind on now.

Rocketing up into the sky, Dash glanced down for a moment. All eyes were on him, and he was about to achieve his dream.

Unless, you know, something went horribly wrong.

Reaching the cloud he had prepared, Dash set down and paused for a moment. Everything that could go wrong, everything that had gone wrong during his practices, his body a broken and bloodied heap on the ground far bellow -

No. There’s no time for that. Only time for flying.

Dash jumped off the cloud.

Don’t beat your wings too fast, you won’t catch any air.

He angled downward and started flapping.

The ground is gone. The ponies below you are gone. The sky is gone.

Dash began to flap faster.

You are the only thing here.

The signature cone began to form around his outstretched legs.

Soon you’ll become

The cone stretched out farther.

One with

The cone began to strain.

The

Just a little more...

Air.

And the sound barrier broke.

An explosion of color rang out from the sky.

Something that hadn’t been seen in 20 years.

Only this one was dotted with lines of white, crackling like lightning.

Dash cried out in joy. All that practice had paid off. Second pony in history - but that didn’t matter. Thank you, Grandmother Rainbow, he thought.

Somewhere far below, a lavender alicorn smiled.