Author's Note

Statement of Rainbow Dash, regarding an encounter with an ex-girlfriend.

CWs: Mentions of past relationship abuse, reckless endangerment.

Also, I did some character design! It's a bit spoilers, though, especially if you read the description, so fair warning there.

0210813: Falling Out

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Click.

“Pft-” Rainbow Dash tried and failed to stifle a snicker. “Seriously? That’s the best you could come up with? What, couldn’t you find any vinyl records?”

“Hey, as long as it works,” Sunset replied. “And try to keep your voice down, we’re still in the library, you know?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Dash said. “Hey, you sure you’re alright? I know you said there wasn’t any, like, permanent damage after that thing at Camp Everfree, but I saw the pictures Fluttershy texted me…”

“I’m fine,” Sunset said. “So, you said you thought you found an Equestrian artifact?”

“...Maybe,” Dash said.

Sunset leaned forward. “Define ‘maybe’?”

“I didn’t actually, y’know. See it,” Dash admitted. “But there was definitely something magical going on, y’know?”

“Hm,” Sunset said, crossing her arms. “Well, alright. It’s unfortunate you couldn’t see it, whatever it was, but its effects should still give us a starting point on determining its origins.”

“Cool. So it happened when I was on vacation --”

“Hold it!” Sunset interrupted.

Rainbow stopped, affronted.

“I have to mark the start of the account,” Sunset explained. She cleared her throat. “Statement of Rainbow Dash, regarding an encounter with an ex-girlfriend. Statement taken direct from subject, August 13th, 2021. Statement begins.”

Lightning Dust was never any good for me. She was fun to be around, don’t get me wrong, and she was a hell of a kisser. But she brought out the worst in me. I kinda think I brought out the worst in her, too.

When we broke up it was messy as hell. It sure didn’t help that she was getting expelled from CHS for doing stunts in the parking lot, and totalling her car against a school bus. Didn’t help that the only reason I wasn’t out there stunting with her was that I had detention, either. It was a miracle that nobody got hurt but Dusty.

Maybe it was cold of me to break it off with her while she was still in the hospital, but I just couldn’t do it anymore. Also, I think if I’d waited until the bandages came off, it might have gotten a lot more physical. Like I said, we brought out the worst in each other. All of this took place in sophomore year, and I’ve just… mostly tried not to think about her too much ever since. Pretend like she was nothing, move on, don’t be so stupid next time. And, y’know, it worked. Kinda, anyway. Dusty was out of my life, and I was perfectly happy to keep it that way…

Right up until I saw her on the beach.

I didn’t realize it was her, not at first. I was just watching people surf while I had a little lunch, and there was this one figure that kept catching my eye. She always went after the biggest waves, and she never seemed to fall. The way she moved… it looked like she was flying.

It was only when she came up on shore that I realized who it was. I… look, I was a little panicked. Dusty was always good at holding a grudge, and I really didn’t want to get in a fight with her on vacation, so when I saw her start to walk up to the juice bar where I was sitting, I decided to take a walk in the other direction. I think she noticed me, though. I don’t want to say she was following me or anything, but I definitely saw her around. It was like she was doing her best to look anywhere but at me every time I saw her. It couldn’t be a coincidence.

So, after a couple hours, I decided, fuck it, if she wants to screw with me, I want it to be on my terms. So I walked up to her and said, “Oh, Dusty! Hey, dude, it’s been awhile.”

She blinked in surprise and apparent confusion for a moment, before breaking into an easy grin. “Dash! Man! How’s it hanging?” she asked.

I shrugged and started telling her about my vacation. She seemed kinda… I don’t know how to say this, exactly. Blissed out, maybe, all happy and smiley. Well, smiley for Dusty, anyway. But there was something in her eyes. They were, like, deeper than they used to be? And then, well…

“So, you got some new scars,” I said after we’d been talking for about half an hour.

Her eyes flashed, and her grin got sharper as she traced one of the jagged pale lines across her arm. “Yeah,” she said with mock regret. “Hang gliding accident. You know how it is, right?”

“Not… really,” I admitted. “What happened?”

She shrugged. “Got caught in a wind shear. Real wild ride, and I got kinda cut up by some hail. And some glider parts. Barely made it to the ground alive.”

“Gosh,” I said. “Guess you’re being real careful after an accident like that.”

We traded equally sharp, knowing grins. “Yeah, I’m taking a break from gliding,” Dust said. “Now it’s all about parasailing.”

“Nice,” I said. “I always wanted to try that.”

She shrugged. “Come out with me tomorrow. Me and my gang will show you the ropes.”

I was gonna ask her more, but she turned toward the sea all of a sudden. “Oh, gotta go, they’re calling for me.”

I couldn’t see anyone, but Dusty was still talking. “Meet me at ten tomorrow, at that juice bar you were at. Later, loser!”

And then she was gone, running through the crowded beach, people parting before her and drifting in her wake. For just a moment, I saw her embrace this tall girl, dark purple with pale hair, and then the crowd swarmed together again.

When I went back to the hotel, I could hardly sleep. There was a storm that sprang up around dinner, and I almost couldn’t tell the roar of thunder from the crash of the waves. Around midnight, I tried shutting the curtain, see if that would at least block out the brilliant lightning that lit the sky. When I did, I saw something below, on the street. Lights; three motorcycles zipping through the storm. I swear, I could hear the roar and rev of their engines even from my room.

Then I blinked, and they were gone.

I must’ve gone to sleep at some point that night, because waking up the next morning was hell. It took me three cups of coffee and a plate of eggs and bacon before I really felt human again.

Around nine-thirty, I made my way to the beach to meet up with Dusty and her new friends. When I got there, I was really confused. It looked like someone had been trying to sculpt sand into some kind of abstract art, big lumpy arches stretching out of the earth. When I touched one, it was hard and solid, like a rock. I broke off a chunk -- it was brittle, like glass -- and the inside was all hollow and smooth. I put it in my gym bag for safekeeping and headed to where Lightning said she would meet me.

Even though she had been insistent on ten sharp, she was fifteen minutes late, walking in all swagger and smirk. “Hey, Dash,” she said, plonking down next to me at the counter. “Glad to see you didn’t chicken out.”

I scoffed. “Yeah, as if. You said you had friends, dipshit. They imaginary or something?”

“Nah, they’re just getting the boat set up,” she said. “C’mon, I’ll introduce you.”

She led me down to a dock I hadn’t noticed yesterday. Maybe it had been because of all the people. The storm seemed to have scared off a lot of yesterday’s crowd, but the sky was clear and bright. There was only one boat that was actually being worked on, and that’s the one Lightning led me to. A short red dude with hair like fire was muttering angrily as he tied ropes to the parasail and the boat. The purple lady from yesterday was there, too, leaning lazily in the driver’s seat, a visor holding up her cloudy white curls. She turned to look up at us as we approached, and I blinked in surprise. Scars ran up almost her entire left half, from her waist to her forehead as far as I could see. Or, not scars. Scar. One single, branching lightning-shaped thing that put Harry Trotter to shame. Well, y’know, more shame than his author already brought to him.

Dusty gestured to the pair. “Dash, meet Short Fuse and Rolling Thunder. My new crew. Guys, meet Rainbow Dash. My ex.”

I waved, a little awkwardly. “Yo.”

Short Fuse muttered something and waved me off as he continued to fiddle with the cords. Rolling Thunder grinned at me. “G’day,” she said. “So, you’re the famous Rainbow, eh?”

“I -- uh, famous?”

“Oh, yeh. Lightnin’ talks about you all the time. Almost enough to make me jealous, t’be honest.”

“Oh, you’re dating?” I asked, watching Dusty go a little pink around the ears.

“Yeah, one big happy polycule,” she said brightly.

I glanced at Short Fuse. “Thought you weren’t into guys, Dust?”

She shrugged. “Eh, it’s a big world, y’know? He’s alright, anyway. Our token manlet.”

Short Fuse stopped fiddling with the ropes and turned slowly to face Dust. She just smirked down at him. “You fucking know how I feel about that word, Dust,” he growled.

“Aw, c’mon, you’re four-foot-five! It’s accurate!”

“Fuck you! Fuck you. I’m four-seven and if your head weren’t permanently up your own rear, you could see that!”

“Even if my head was up my own ass, you’d still be shorter than me!” Dust yelled gleefully.

Rolling Thunder put up her hands. “Alright, alright, enough with the foreplay, both of you. Did you forget we had company?” She glanced at me. “Sorry, mate. It’s my day with the braincell, apparently.”

Both of the others backed down, though they kept shooting each other challenging glares. I recognized that look. I’d shared it often enough. I felt a pang of loss shoot through me. How replaceable had I been to Dust, anyway?

“Right, let’s get you harnessed in,” Rolling Thunder said, stepping out of the boat.

“Woah, wait,” I said as she picked through the mess of ropes. “Do I get like, instructions or anything first? What do I do up there?”

Lightning grinned at me. “Hold on,” she said. “Tight.”

Before I could object further, I was snapped in. “Right,” said Thunder, with a gesture to the boat. “Welcome aboard the S.S. Washout. Watch your footing.”

We all climbed aboard and Thunder piloted us a good distance from the shore before coming to a halt. “Righto, off you get,” she said. “Swim out until the rope’s stretched out. Not taut, but near enough.”

I hopped into the water and started paddling out. It was chilly after the storm, and more than a little choppy. It took me a few minutes to get to where I needed to be. I glanced back at the boat and shot them a thumbs up. They all returned it, and I heard Thunder gun the engine.

I shot into the air like a rocket. The air on the seawater was freezing, and it woke me up like no coffee ever could’ve. My hair blew back in the wind. So did my face. I let out a wild whoop of joy, looking up to the clouds.

From below, I heard a distant yell, and looked down to see Fuse and Dust waving up at me. Dust waved her hand around in a circle over her head, enunciating as she yelled, “Higher?”

I nodded enthusiastically, my hands still clinging tight to the ropes. She gave a big grin and Fuse started winching out the rope. She yelled something else, too. The words were lost on the wind, but it looked like she was saying something about ‘Enjoy’ and ‘Blue’.

I looked up to the sky as they kept lengthening the rope. I legitimately can't think of a time I felt more alive. I was flying. The wind was in my face, the salt in my hair, and I laughed.

Then I looked down and suddenly I wasn’t laughing anymore. The sea had… there’s no good way to say this. The sea was gone, swallowed by some kind of mist that had rolled in. I couldn’t see the boat anymore. Slowly, slowly, I looked down. The rope dangled loose below me.

I looked up again. The clouds suddenly seemed a lot closer than they had been. A lot darker, too. The first drop of rain hit me squarely on the nose. Then the wind picked up, and after that… well, it was all just kind of a blur. I was buffeted around by gale force winds, wheeling me around the sky in all directions. The rain poured down on me, washing away the salt of the sea and stinging my skin with the chill. It should have weighed my sail down enough for me to crash into the ocean, but there was no release from the battering. I think I was screaming. It might have been the wind. Through it all, the crash and the flash. Thunder. Lightning.

I clung for dear life to the cords of the sail. If I fell, I knew it would mean some kind of release. An end, maybe, but an end I chose. It felt like the storm had been raging for days, with no sign of stopping, and if I could just let go -- if I could just fall --

But I couldn’t. The sail ripped first, some gust of wind finally shredding it and leaving me at long last to the embrace of gravity. If I flew for days, I fell for weeks. I don’t even remember landing. Just, waking up in a hospital bed, much the worse for wear. The doctors asked me a lot about what had happened. So did the police. Apparently, they informed me, the people who had towed me along had used some very shoddy knots. I was lucky to be alive.

I told them all I could, my brain still on autopilot. Then, at the very end, I asked for the date. It was only three hours later, and a nurse explained to me several times that it had been a clear, almost cloudless morning.

They kept me in the hospital for observation. There was another storm that night, bigger and angrier than the night before. It should’ve terrified me. It lulled me to sleep, instead.

When they discharged me the next morning, I made for the beach. At least, I made for what was left of it. The trees had been stripped and the rocks laid bare. The juice bar where I had met with Dust was gone, only the foundations sticking out from the sand. Ditto the pier and all the boats that had been there.

When I got back to my room, though, I found my bag lying on the bed and the window hanging open. There was a note inside. “Catch you later,” it said. It was signed with a lightning bolt. It goes without saying, I cancelled my flight home and took a train instead.

But the worst part is… I liked it. Even when I was terrified, clinging on for dear life, let me tell you, I’ve never felt so… so right. Like I was where I was supposed to be. Like I might want to go back there.

I know I shouldn’t, that the storm will kill me if it gets a chance. But I also know that I might not have a choice.”

“Statement ends,” Sunset said, after a tense moment. Rainbow Dash let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

“So, you think it was an Equestrian artifact, then?” Dash asked, leaning forward over the desk. “I mean, those weird things in the sand had to be something, right?”

“I’ll admit, it sounds odd,” Sunset replied. “That part, though… may I see the piece you took?”

“Oh. Sure.” Rainbow rummaged in her bag and pulled out a rocky-looking tube, plonking it on the table.

Sunset rubbed her chin, scrutinizing the piece. “It looks familiar,” she mused. “Let me just…” She pulled out her phone and started tapping away. After a moment, she tilted her head. “Did the larger tubes look anything like this?” Sunset asked, holding up her phone.

Peering at the screen, Rainbow nodded. “Yeah! Why, what is it?”

“It’s called a fulgurite,” Sunset said, taking the phone back. “They’re pretty rare, formed when extremely hot lightning strikes high-silicate sand.”

“Isn’t all lightning really hot?” Dash asked.

“Well, yes,” Sunset admitted, pocketing her phone again. “For context, though, it would be approximately five times hotter than the surface of the sun.”

Dash’s eyebrows shot up. “Yowza.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Sunset said. “From what you’ve described, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if whatever artifact Lightning Dust found was of pegasus origin, though again, I can’t guess at what it might have actually been.”

“Mm.” Dash looked down at the floor, her brow furrowed.

“What’s the matter?” Sunset asked.

“I… well, how much does it even matter what it was if we don’t know where it is?” Dash asked. “The cops couldn’t find Dust, or any of the others. I don’t know where she could’ve gone, and I don’t think she’s about to stop screwing with forces she doesn’t understand.”

Sunset said nothing for a long moment, before sighing. “I… yes, that’s certainly a larger concern. Unfortunately, it’s also one I can’t solve right now. Maybe if we get a better idea of what the artifact actually does, we’ll have a better chance of tracking it?”

“You don’t sound too sure about that.”

“I’m not,” Sunset admitted. “But that’s all we can do at the moment.”

Rainbow let out a long breath. “... Yeah,” she admitted. “You got me there.”

Sunset pondered for a moment. “Maybe… if it makes you feel better, you could start looking at national weather maps?” she suggested. “Check for, I don’t know, weird storms around the area you were staying at.”

“Huh.” Rainbow folded her arms. “Sounds kinda like egghead stuff… but you might be onto something.”

“Alright. Oh, and Rainbow?”

“Hm?”

Sunset looked her friend in the eye. “Be safe, alright?”

Rainbow snorted. “What, looking at weather maps? What’s gonna happen to me, I’m gonna get a computer virus from looking at the temperature?”

“I--” Sunset shook her head. “No, never mind. It was just a feeling I had. I should go, it’s almost time for class.”

Rainbow watched her pack up and leave. She ran a thumb across the surface of the fulgurite and shivered. “Just a feeling,” she echoed. “Yeah. I know what you mean.”

There was a pause. “Aw, shit, she forgot her tape thingy!”

click