Rainbow’s Dash
By Scriblets Talo
It was the longest stretch of open desert in all of Equestria. Orange sands stretched on, as far as the eye could see, merging with the blue of sky, along the clear shimmer of mirage.
It was unequivocally certain. Nothing like this had ever been attempted before.
Many thought it impossible but if any pony could, she was the one.
Rainbow Dash stretched. Down on front hooves, extending rear, down on back legs extending front. Stretching one side and then the other.From the pastern above the hoof, all the way to the wing tip, the tip of the nose, and the tail. Every muscle and joint was gently worked, moved to their limit and back.
The limberness and strength of the wing were nothing if not for that of the rest of the body.
As she stretched, she breathed.
Deep in, slowly out, exploring the full capacity of her lungs.
Oxygen was vital. Many other pegasi failed to consider this in their training, after all, it was provided through magic, they would have enough even at impossibly high altitudes, but magic was for nothing if not backed up by the body.
Oxygen made all the difference. Provided one had a healthy diet, oxygen infused with magic would feed the blood, and with it blood would feed the cells, energizing them and providing them with all they could be.
Rainbow Smiled, all those fly-by anatomy lessons her friends had helped her with had really paid off,
" If I knew any more about my body, I'd be a nerd".
She had been training for weeks, preparing both her mind and her body, seeking out every opportunity to improve speed. The best diet, the best exercise, months and months of practice and study all coming down to this moment.
She took one final sip of water and slipped her goggles down.
Wings up. She waited.
Her friends were watching, the world was watching.
Breath in.
Her friends were with her, even left in the dust they would support her.
Breath out.
Their faces crossed her mind.
Breath in...
Fluttershy, one of her oldest friends, a kindness only surpassed by her heart of gold.
Rarity, while having an odd taste…in the froofy and unnecessary, whose generosity left nopony in need.
Breathe out…
PinkiePie with her unbridled optimism, who so often made the impossible seem possible.
Twilight, who while being an absolute one hundred twenty percent egghead, who had a knack for bringing ponies together.
Breath in...
Breath out…
And AppleJack
The most beautiful, and strong mare Rainbow Dash had ever known.
Loyalty was nothing without the clarity of truth.
Breath in...
Breath out…
Her mind cleared, focused only on the road ahead, and on breathing...
Breath in…
Breath out…
The wind shifted.
The time was now.
Fluttershy waved the checkered flag, and Dash was off, a blue blur against the orange sand, leaving only dust in her wake.
KA-Boomsh!!!
A sonic-rain-boom only two seconds and ten meters from the starting line, a land speed record. Two more explosions went off well behind her, unimaginable barrier breaks, magic, and perhaps time, each happening within the next second, each nearly indistinguishable from the other ...
" Mark”
Telekinetically Twilight hit her stopwatch, while nearby sensors caught the event more accurately.
Rainbow-dash kept pushing, this was a sprint, not a marathon, and she intended to give it everything she could.
Events happened within such brevity that they were impossible to notate. The second explosion within a hundred meters of the starting line and the next 500 miles further into the desert but long before any of that registered to the onlookers, Rainbow had vanished from view.
All watched in silent aww.
It was as if the sheer speed of the pegasus had sucked the very breath from the crowd.
Apple Jack pulled her borrowed coat tighter around herself.
Just like that, causality was broken, and Rainbow Dash was in space, or it seemed as such, all was dark, and stars littered about in every direction.
The silence was oppressive.
“Hello?” - She called out into the void.
Silence.
How had she come to be here?
She considered her trip.
The wind shifted, the flag waved and Rainbow pushed at the earth with her hind legs, at the air with her wings, every muscle tense and wry in their time.
A full gallop.
Ten Meters out she sensed a change in pressure as the rainboom went off behind her. She kept running, angling her wings keeping each of her hooves glued to the ground in their turn.
She kept running, every fiber of her being willing speed from her body.
Then, just as she reached the edge of the desert, and just as she thought she could push for no more speed. Everything went dark.
Then, steadily as she regained her vision…
She became aware of the void, and the field of stars.
“Hello?”
Her mind ran desperately looking for an explanation.
Had her wings given out? Failed to keep her on the ground?
She stretched them. They were still there.
But it was odd… nothing hurt.
She didn't like to admit it, but the few… ok, many crashes over the years, had begun to pile up… Her body was aching so much, and in so many places that she barely thought about it anymore… To the point where she barely noticed its absence.
But it was there. No ache, no pain, nothing, even after the heavy exercise, and probably being flung from the atmosphere… Nothing… in fact, Rainbow Dash found that she felt excellent... She felt awesome, and more than just in the broader sense…
She felt this…
Power, radiating throughout her entire body, a gentle buzz, a hum… like listening to extremely loud music, only, without the discomfort of upset ears.
She felt alive… more so than ever… it was like the exhilaration of a million rainbooms at once… it was like having her friends at her side.
No this was different.
This was new.
But they weren't here... It was just her and the void.
“Hello?”
Silence.
She again thought of her friends.
Her friends who would have her back no matter what.
Her friends who loved her no matter what, who would stick with her through thick and thin.
-And the loneliness she felt now.
The silence was deafening.
“I'm going home now… It was nice meeting you, it's uh… been cool.” She called out pointlessly into the void.
“But how, how am I going to get home?”
She flapped her wings. No air caught beneath them, she kicked her legs, no solid ground to speak of, only void.
“How am I going to get home!”
Panic began to set in, and she struggled against the darkness to no avail…
Though the space was empty she felt as if walls were beginning to set in.
“Help!” she squeaked
Her heart throbbed in her thought rapidly growing in tempo...
Bum, thabum thabum tha bum th bum!
But then, she thought of her friends.
She closed her eyes.
There was a flash of rainbow-sparkled light, and suddenly Rainbow Dash felt sand beneath her hooves again.
The crowd gasped
Apple Jack pulled her borrowed Wonderbolt jacket closer around herself, sometimes Rainbow's antics really worried her.
Suddenly there was a flash of rainbow-colored light, and there on the track was a sky blue alicorn, with powerful wings and flank barring a thunder cloud, a rainbow mane, and a gleaming rainbow horn… there in the dust stood Rainbow Dash reborn.
Apple Jack ran to embrace her lover, the newest princess.
