Harmony and curse

Somewhere Else

On the outskirts of Cloudsdale, there’s a house made of clouds—something impossible for any creature to build except for pegasi. The natural magic in their bodies lets them interact with clouds as if they were solid structures. They’re so familiar with this ability that they’ve literally built their entire city in the clouds.

Despite the darkness of the night, surprisingly, a rainbow was fully visible, arching right above the house. The rainbow poured onto the clouds and flowed over the surface like liquid, spilling off the edge of the floating building, defying all conventional physics.

Inside the house, as you might expect on a peaceful night, a mare slept soundly, her presence easy to notice thanks to her loud snores, which were so intense they even made the cloud walls quiver slightly each time she exhaled. Her multicolored mane was a mess. She lay in a position so uncomfortable it would have impressed a contortionist; any other pony would wake up sore, but this mare wasn’t just any pony. She looked disturbingly relaxed.

The mare laughed dreamily. “What are you talking about?” she mumbled in her sleep, a big smile spreading across her face.

She must have been dreaming about something interesting.

“Of course I can do it. I’m Rainbow Dash.”

This mare was none other than Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty, the fastest pony anyone had ever met, the boldest, the most incredible, the strongest!… or so she claimed, at least.

The pegasus’s expression shifted to a determined frown as she flapped her wings, as if she were trying to fly.

In the dream, we see the setting she’s in—a training ground for pegasi, specifically the Wonderbolts’.

In the center of the field, a massive tornado shook the surroundings as it grew larger. Facing this tornado was Rainbow Dash, struggling slightly but managing to hold her position in the air.

She whistled, impressed. “Wow, that one’s big. Not bad, Lightning.”

From the center of the tornado emerged a pegasus with a yellow mane and the standard Wonderbolt recruit uniform.

The other mare wiped a bead of sweat from her brow and flew quickly up next to the Element of Loyalty.

“‘Not bad’?” she huffed, slightly offended. “This is the biggest tornado a pegasus has ever created, Rainbow!” She spread her hooves wide, emphasizing the enormity of the tornado.

Rainbow Dash shrugged indifferently. “Meh.” She crossed her hooves and smirked at Lightning Dust. “I’ve seen bigger.”

Lightning raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really? Well, if you think it’s no big deal, how about a little challenge?” She leaned in close, her expression taunting. “Fly into that tornado and stop it by flying the opposite way.”

Rainbow held back a laugh. “Seriously? Can’t you think of a tougher challenge?”

Ignoring the taunt, Lightning squinted at her with a sly grin. “Or… could it be you’re scared?”

Rainbow uncrossed her hooves, pressing her nose up against Lightning’s. “Ha! Good one. Of course I can do it; I’m Rainbow Dash!”

Lightning rolled her eyes and pointed a hoof at the tornado with a smirk, signaling Rainbow to back up her words.

With confidence, Rainbow looked at the tornado, stretched her muscles, cracked her neck, and got into position. “This’ll only take me ten seconds.”

With that last statement, she shot off, leaving a rainbow trail behind her as she flew straight toward the tornado. The second she got close, she began flying in the opposite direction of its rotation.

At first, she could only make a few feet of headway due to the force of the wind trying to pull her in the same direction.

But this pegasus wasn’t about to let a little wind slow her down.

“Grrrr,” Rainbow gritted her teeth, pushing her wings harder until she managed to pick up speed and start making loops around the tornado. With each loop, her velocity increased until a rainbow ring formed around the tornado.

What had once been an ordinary tornado was now a multi-colored whirlwind spinning in the opposite direction. Just as she’d promised, ten seconds later, the tornado dissipated as if it had never been there.

Rainbow shot back toward Lightning but didn’t slow down, crashing dramatically into the training ground, complete with a panicked scream.

Lightning looked at her in amusement, flying down slowly to stand beside the sprawled-out pegasus who looked as limp as a bird that had just flown into a window. Rainbow shakily got back on her hooves, breathing heavily and covered in sweat.

“Well… what’d… what’d you think of that?” she managed to say between breaths.

“I’m impressed. I would’ve given you a ten out of ten, but you still need to work on your stopping skills,” Lightning laughed, eyeing Rainbow up and down. “You look like a real warrior—or like a soaked rag.”

Rainbow shook herself off, trying to get the sweat out of her coat. “Phew, thanks. Piece of cake.” Her ears perked up. “Wait, did you say—”

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rainbow suddenly felt a strange tingling that shot through her whole body. At that exact moment, the bright, sunny sky turned into a stormy, ominous one.

“Huh?” The wind picked up, tossing the pegasus’s mane around wildly, and as she tried to push it out of her face, she heard voices.

“Rainbow, help!”

When the mare looked behind her, she saw the tornado had reappeared, and now it was pulling in a hot air balloon. Narrowing her eyes, she could make out her five friends inside.

Rainbow’s pupils shrank in fear, but she quickly recovered and shouted, “Hang on, girls! I’m on my way!”

Before she could move, Lightning flew in and blocked her path. Her mane hung over her eyes, hiding her expression.

“Hey, what’s your problem? Let me through!” Rainbow yelled.

No response.

Confused, Rainbow tried to sidestep Lightning, but every time, Lightning moved to block her again, which only irritated her more.

Finally, Rainbow lost her patience and grabbed her old partner by the neck. “What the hay are you playing at?! Get out of my way! My friends need me!”

Lightning replied in a calm, whispering voice. “Why? We’re having such a good time here, aren’t we? I seriously can’t believe you’d abandon all your dreams and ambitions for something as pointless as friendship. How pathetic,” she sneered.

Rainbow’s face hardened. “I don’t care what your deal is. I don’t need to hear it.” She tightened her grip on Lightning and lifted her to make eye contact. When she did, her eyes went wide, and she quickly let go.

Rainbow took a moment to focus on her surroundings. As she looked around, she noticed the edges of everything seemed to blur. After a few seconds of glancing around, she relaxed in relief.

With a deep sigh, she chuckled. “I get it. This is just a dream. I remember now—this all happened back during the Wonderbolt trials. So that means this is just a dumb nightmare.” She smacked her head with her hoof, feeling silly.

As soon as she realized this, the tornado vanished, as did the hot air balloon, both dissolving into wisps of smoke.

“You’re a really annoying pony.”

Lightning’s face revealed itself—or rather, the lack of it. Her face was a blank slate, but her voice echoed hauntingly all around.

“You’re the reason I got kicked out of the Wonderbolts. We could’ve been an unstoppable team, but no. You chose your friends.” Her voice dripped with bitterness. “All you had to do was follow me.”

Rainbow looked at her with a bored expression. “Look, I don’t need to argue with some unreal dream. I’ve said everything I needed to say to you in real life.” She waved her hoof dismissively. “Let’s get this over with and let me wake up—”

Rainbow’s words were cut short when Lightning slammed into her, grabbing her by the shoulders and pushing her back several meters across the training ground, until they were off the edge of the cloud.

Rainbow gritted her teeth, glaring. “That wasn’t cool, Nightmare Lightning.”

“Listen closely: you’re not invincible, Rainbow Dash. That loyalty of yours will be your downfall. Sooner or later, it’ll be your curse,” Lightning said, finishing with a dark, restrained laugh.

Rainbow grumbled through clenched teeth, “Oooh, spooky. Sounds like a great Daring Do chapter—aaah!”

Lightning spun her around and hurled her off the training grounds, sending her plummeting towards the ground.

Rainbow shouted, flailing as she spiraled downward. She extended her legs, using the wind to steady herself. She turned her head back toward Nightmare Lightning and laughed. “Did you forget I’m a pegasus?!”

Relaxed, she closed her eyes, waiting for her wings to catch her… only they didn’t. She raised an eyebrow and opened one eye, looking to her sides, and to her horror, her wings were missing.

Rainbow’s ears pinned back against her head. “Uh-oh.” Her scream resumed, louder than ever, as she continued her rapid fall.

Just before she was about to hit the ground face-first, she threw her hooves in front of her face. The moment she made contact, everything went black.