The Flying Dutchmare
A tumultuous storm was making its way towards Ponyville. This was nothing new, seeing how many such storms would be seen in a given year. In fact, anypony on the weather team would tell you that these kinds of storms would normally come from the Everfree Forest, that its uncontrollable nature was enough to account for such occurrences. But this was not the case; in fact, this one was coming from the opposite side of town.
Rolling black clouds slowly approached the town, spewing forth violent, unpredictable gusts of wind in every direction. Powerful bursts of thunder boomed so loud and strong it rattled every window within a one mile radius. Lightning erupted in frightening patterns every which way as if to rend the night sky asunder. An alert had been in effect for some time, warning Ponyville's residents to drop everything they were doing and take shelter.
The weather teams, joined by the Wonderbolts, struggled in their attempt to shear off some of the storm's severity and magnitude. Their hopes had been to minimize, or at least reduce, how much damage would be sustained by the winds, but it was all for naught. The storm's intensity and unpredictability made it all but impossible to combat without risking serious casualties. Spitfire, commanding the joint effort, sent out the word; all pegasi were to disengage immediately and seek shelter.
Rainbow Dash flew about this way and that above Ponyville moments before the storm would reach town, insuring that everypony had indeed taken shelter. She had served as the team's field commander and had stayed behind to make sure that the team had dispersed. The more she looked around town, the more abandoned it looked, which pleased the cyan pegasus.
'Good', Dash thought to herself. 'Everpony must be safe by now. Better seek shelter myself.'
She was about to turn and beat a hasty retreat towards home when something caught her eye. She looked towards the oncoming storm and saw something being tossed about in the winds. At first, she thought the swirling patterns in the clouds were playing tricks on her, but a second glance confirmed her suspicions. It wasn't a something, but a someone. It was a pony; a pegasus, to be precise. He, or she (Dash couldn't tell), was being thrashed violently about in the storm's currents, wildly flapping his/her wings in a vain attempt to achieve flight.
'What?!' Dash wondered incredulously. 'I thought everypony had taken shelter!' She shook the thought from her mind and focused her attention. 'Never mind that. Whoever that is needs help.' And with that said, she sped off towards the storm, hoping to rescue the poor pony.
Being the fastest flier in all of Equestria meant that Dash was also the strongest in terms of wing power, but this storm was pushing even her strength and stamina to the limit; it was also making it difficult for her to keep an eye on her target. Dash pumped her wings with furious intensity as she struggled to maintain flight.
The ever-approaching storm made her efforts all the more difficult as it blew against her from nearly every direction. She felt herself being tossed this way one moment, that way another, as if in an attempt to keep her from reaching the other pegasus. More than once did she feel grateful for her training as a Wonderbolt, for she knew that without it she would be in just as bad a position as the one she was trying to save.
Debris that had been caught up in the winds served only to make things worse for her. She had lost count of how many times a leaf, a branch, or something from town had crashed into her slender frame. She nearly had the wind knocked out of her when a wooden plank, caught in an updraft, was driven into her abdomen. She sputtered and coughed as she struggled to catch her breath. In half a second, the plank turned over one end and hit her left wing before being carried away. Dash, already stunned by the first blow, found herself being blown about in the tumult.
She was tossed this way and that for what felt like minutes as she instinctively tried to regain control of herself. Her attempts to resume flight were hampered by the shortness of breath caused by the plank's blow. She brought her front hooves to her muzzle and covered her nostrils so she wouldn't inhale anything that wasn't air, taking in deep breaths as best as she could. When she had collected enough oxygen into her lungs, and had gotten over the pain in her stomach, she looked about in search of the other pegasus. She was unable to locate him/her for some time, and the winds blowing her about were doing nothing to help. Once she had fully recovered, she unfurled her wings and was able to regain some semblance of stability.
After several seconds of searching, Dash caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye. Turning to look, she spotted her target. The pegasus was nearly a hundred hoof-lengths away from her, and now she could see a few details. It was a mare; that much was certain. She had a white coat, a white mane and tail and, to Dash's curiosity, white eyes. A few of her primary and secondary feathers were missing, most likely due to the storm. Her cutie mark was indiscernible. It appeared to have an orange hue to it, but it looked smudged, as if somepony had brushed an eraser over writing on a chalkboard.
Dash propelled herself towards the pegasus, but a sudden gust hampered most of her effort. The other pony, who was still attempting to achieve flight, was blown well past her. Dash turned about, intending to use the current to her advantage, and pushed forward. Success! She was now being pushed along the winds this time, and soon she was closing the distance with the other pony.
“Hey!” she shouted over the din. “Over here!” The pegasus didn't seem to hear her, so she shouted again. “You there! Hey!!!” This caused a reaction. The pegasus, still being turned over this way and that, had managed to make eye contact with her a couple of times. Dash could also see the look of realization in her eyes. But before Dash could shout again, the pegasus was suddenly blown off to the side.
'What the...?' she wondered. 'How did that happen?' The mare had indeed been taken a different direction, but Dash had felt no crosswind blowing that way. A crosswind that she did feel, pushing her in a similar direction, shook her from her thoughts. Pulling herself together, she pushed herself again towards her target. She struggled against the strong, ever-changing currents as she closed the distance to the mare.
Another gust sent both of them head over hooves at a jarring angle. A second later, a boom of thunder erupted near the two, the pulse strong to disturb the dark clouds around them and violently hurling Dash back. To Dash's surprise, however, not only was the other mare not affected by the boom, but she seemed to have been blown towards, and above, her. Dash barely had time to see the pegasus extend a hoof out to her in desperation and with fear in her eyes.
She was once again confounded. How was this pony moving around like that? How was she being blown about by currents that Dash herself couldn't feel? What kind of storm was this that could defy even her vast knowledge of weather? A sudden current, threatening to send her crashing to the ground, broke her train of thought.
She looked around as best as she could, trying to find where the other mare was. It didn't take long before she spotted a white blob in the direction the other pony had been blown and, judging by the flailing, was able to confirm it was her. Struggling against the winds, Dash launched herself once again.
The ever-changing wind currents made it exceedingly difficult for Dash to make any progress, and her strength and stamina were depleting fast. Her breathing was becoming labored from not only the amount of energy she was putting out, but also from her efforts to maintain stability. She knew that if she couldn't rescue the other mare soon, she would have to break it off and get out of the storm herself. That thought caused her to re-double her efforts, not wanting to confess that a life was lost because she didn't try hard enough. Nopony was going to die, not on her watch.
Dash found herself slowly, but surely, getting close to the other pegasus. The mare seemed to have noticed as well, as her movements slowly became less frantic and more reaching out to her rescuer. The going was made difficult by the constant surges of wind blowing the two of them this way or that, not to mention the other mare being blown about in impossible directions. Dash had to force herself to focus on her objective every time the latter occurred.
Closer, closer now she was getting. She could now make out the look of fear, mixed with hope, in the mare's tear filled eyes. The mare was still thrashed about violently, but Dash could see that she was also trying to reach out with her front hooves. Dash drew deep from her reserves and, with a burst of strength, was able to get within shouting distance and reached out with her own.
“Grab my hooves!” she called out. The mare seemed to hear and understand, for Dash could see her double her own efforts to make contact. The mare's wings seemed to beat less frantically as a look of determination began to show on her face.
Suddenly, a strong gust sent the two tumbling across the sky, causing them to lose sight of each other. Regaining her balance, Dash looked around, fearing she had lost her chance to rescue the other mare. But, to her relief, not only was her target still in sight, she was now almost in reach.
“Over here!” she called out, getting the mare's attention. Dash called upon as much wing power as she could muster to close the gap. The other mare's eyes were filled with determination and desperation as she too struggled to reach the cyan pegasus. Almost, almost there. Another gust struck them, but fortunately it didn't separate them or break their concentration. Dash could feel herself reaching her breaking point when their hooves touched.
※ ※ ※
As Rainbow Dash slowly regained consciousness, she became aware of two things: she felt like she was still being tossed about in the storm, and that everything around her was eerily silent. She was about to open her eyes when she felt something else. Something, or somepony, was holding tightly onto her. She opened her eyes and was taken aback by what she saw.
Yes, she was still in the storm, and yes, she was still being tossed about, but something was very wrong. All about her were swirling silver patterns, loosely resembling storm clouds, blowing every which way against a backdrop of pure gleaming white. She looked down, but she couldn't see anything below her; no ground, no roads, no buildings, nothing but more silver patterns.
The grip around her tightened, turning her attention to who, or what, had a hold of her. It was the mare she had been trying to save. She too was trapped here (wherever here was) and was holding onto Dash for fear of losing her rescuer. Dash tried to ask the mare if she was alright but, to her surprise, not a word came out of her mouth. She couldn't hear her own breath as she tried to force her words out. What is this place, she wondered. Where was she? How did she get here? How is this place even possible? And why couldn't she hear anything?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the mare gripping her more tightly. Without hesitation, Dash wrapped her forelegs around the pony to comfort her. The mare brought her head back and looked Dash in the eyes with a look of both sadness and relief. Dash could see her trying to say, or at least mouth out, “Thank you”, but neither her voice nor her breath could be heard.
Before Dash could respond, the mare in her hooves began to slowly change colors. Her coat became tan, her mane and tail were blonde with a pronounced streak of yellow, and her eyes a bright emerald. Dash looked down to the mare's flank and saw her cutie mark, and was confounded by what she saw. It was orange like she remembered, but now it presented a clear image. It was a sailing ship with three masts, but its features were roughly defined. The sails it bore were unfurled and tattered.
Dash looked back up to see that the mare was now in full color. Her green eyes, moistened with tears, were locked onto Dash's with the same look of sadness and relief as she nodded her head in some form of acknowledgment.
Before Dash could wonder what that meant, a sudden force separated the two, sending them rapidly away from each other. In that instant, Dash's ears were overwhelmed by the sounds of the silver-patterned storm. She could hear, as well as feel, every gust of wind that blew around her. She watched as the mare was blown further away until she disappeared completely. Dash was so confounded by what had happened that she didn't notice the white spots beginning to form on her fore-hooves.
※ ※ ※
Rarity had been looking out of her bay window as the storm finally began to dissipate. In all her life, she had never seen a storm as erratic and tumultuous as this one. And yet, to her surprise, she could discern very little damage to the town; at least, nothing that a day's work wouldn't fix. Fortunately for her, the only damage her boutique seemed to suffer was when the storm forcefully deposited a blue body against her front door, cracking it.
Her thoughts were interrupted when a familiar voice moaned lightly. She turned around and saw Rainbow Dash stirring on her fainting couch. Thanking Celestia for small miracles, she trotted over to where her friend was now rubbing her forehead.
“Are you alright, Rainbow?” she asked. “I was starting to worry about you.” The pegasus' only response was a light coughing spurt. Concerned over her friend's health, Rarity hurried over to the kitchen to brew some tea. “Just lie still, darling. I'll be right back.”
Having put the kettle on, and selecting a brew she knew would help, Rarity poked her head into the sitting room and saw a tuft of rainbow mane poking out over the top of her couch. Stepping in to check on her friend, she stepped around the couch and saw Rainbow sitting somewhat upright, eyes closed and still rubbing her forehead.
“Unnh,” the pegasus moaned. “What happened?”
“You took a nasty bump, dear.” Rarity said. “It seems the storm had thrown you down and sent you crashing into my front door. Honestly, darling, what in the world was so important that you had to be out in it? You could've been seriously hurt.” The rising tone of concern in her voice was not lost on the pegasus, yet she could only offer a slight murmur in response.
“Well, never mind that,” Rarity huffed. “I'm just glad you're alive and well. Now, please darling, lie down and relax while I fix you some tea.” With that, Rarity headed towards the kitchen to prepare the tea and fetch the first aid kit, while Rainbow simply slumped down onto the couch. Rarity was so caught up with helping her friend that she barely registered a small white form tossed about in the dissipating storm outside. When she had found Rainbow unconscious at her front door, she hadn't noticed the green color of the pegasus' eyes, or the image of a three-mast sailing ship on her flank.
※ ※ ※
“A mare who recklessly dared to, with danger, court.
Tossed about through eternal storms, never finding port.
Consigned forever to her fate, with but one saving grace.
The sacrifice of another, doomed to take her place.”
(from “Equestrian Myths & Legends, Fourth Edition”)
