Rainbow Dash Discovers DragonForce
Rainbow Dash Discovers DragonForce
Rainbow Dash was flying towards the small town of Ponyville, her mane even more disheveled than usual and insomnia staining her eyes like soot. Due to Winter Wrap-Up having been finished quite some time ago, not to mention an incident involving a certain grey-colored pegasus, Dash and her team of weather pegasi had to work double time to make enough rain clouds for the first storms of Spring. Unfortunately, Derpy’s first day on the job had ‘decommissioned’ Dash’s best pegasi workers.
First, there was the accidental set-off of lightning that struck Roid Rage in the back. Next, she went straight for the liquid rainbow and took a huge swig of it. Derpy didn’t expect it to be so spicy and acidic, so her knee-jerk reaction was to spit it out... right into the eyes of Thunderlane. While he was blinded by the burning substance, he rammed head-first into Green Gem and both were given concussions. Afterwards, the four of them were sent to the hospital; Derpy’s visit was for getting second-degree burns on her tongue and throat.
Dash was only left with a one-year apprentice and some more newbies. Putting it simply, she was exhausted, but now she was done and didn’t have anywhere to be. She could finally relax and take part in one of her favorite pastimes: napping. Dash spotted a nice, fluffy cloud nearby and landed with the skill of a pro, as was to be expected. As she settled in, her thoughts returned to her friends in Ponyville. She wondered how they were doing due to the fact that she hadn’t seen them since the Wrap-Up.
“I gotta get some sleep. I can't look like I've been to Tartarus and back or they'll start getting all sappy on me,” she thought as she closed her eyes and drifted off.
She dreamed of her future life as a Wonderbolt, of doing spectacular stunts with the ponies that she had looked up to since foalhood. She thought especially of the blue pegasus that she had met at the Grand Galloping Gala: Captain Spitfire's second-in-command, Soarin'. She thought about the way he talked, the way he looked in his skin-tight uniform, even the way he devoured that apple pie that Dash had ‘saved.’ There was even that time during the reception of the Royal Wedding that Dash met Soarin’ again and he asked her to dance. That was when Dash realized that maybe she was in-
"Hey Dashie!" Her dream was interrupted by a high-pitched voice.
“Right on time, Pinkie Pie,” she shouted as she descended begrudged from the cloud. Standing right below her was her pink Earth pony friend. Strangely enough, Pinkie was carrying a record player on her back and had some sort of object on her head that looked like a pair of earmuffs.
“Forget about it, Dash. She’s just being Pinkie Pie.”
"Ohmygosh! How have you been?! I haven't seen you in a long time, and if I haven't seen you in a long time that means that you've been really busy, and if you've been really busy that means that you haven't talked to your friends, and-”
"That also means that I'm exhausted, Pinkie,” the pegasus interrupted. "Don’t get me wrong. I like it when we have our little chats and all, but whatever it is this time should be pretty important."
"Well, of course it's important silly-filly! Guess what it is!"
Dash thought as hard as her tired mind could. She suddenly had a devious thought: "Do I get to help you with another prank?"
"Nope."
"Uh... Taste-testing some more stuff from Sugar Cube Corner?"
"Uh-uh."
Suddenly, Dash's eyes went wide as dinner plates as she exclaimed, "You've got some extra cider that you need to get rid of?!"
"I wish,” Pinkie chuckled.
"Then what the hay could possibly be so important?!"
Pinkie set the record-player down on the ground as she explained, “Well, I found about a band from a far off place that you would absolutely love, and that’s why I brought the record player in case you were wondering. Also, these things on my head aren’t earmuffs; they’re called ‘head-phones.’ You just plug them into a record player and it makes the music sound even better!”
“Huh. Well, that answers those questions. Anyway, you seriously came all the way out here just so you could show me a band?” Dash said confused.
“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t have taken the time to find you if Dragonforce was a bad band! Oh, and that’s their name by the way; Dragonforce.”
Dash was definitely interested, even if they had a weird name for a band. "So, what makes you think that I would like them?"
"Well, I know you're a fan of heavy metal." Dash nodded in agreement. "Well, get this. Where these guys come from, they're the fastest metal players ever! Kinda like you being the fastest flyer!"
Rainbow's curiosity piqued, she finally relented. “Alright, fine. Let's hear it.”
“Okey-dokey-lokey!” Pinkie said with a huge smile. She set the ‘head-phones’ on Rainbow’s head and plugged them into the record player. It took a few seconds for the music to play, but it was worth it.
At the first note, Dash was blown away. It felt as if each one of her senses was being pounded by pure, unadulterated awesomeness. It was the same feeling that she had when she performed her legendary Sonic Rainboom for the first time. Then, it got fast, heavy, and even more awesome.
Soldiers of fire
Rage of the universe
Cold steel and bloodshed
In the lost barren wasteland
Fear rising higher,
Rage of the winter war
Death calls and nightfall,
Our hatred still burns us
We march through endless skies
Mankind will fall, death will arise
For our lifetime we fight without reason,
Still we wait for the warrior's return
Though we're cast out and broken, we still carry on
Alone in a lost fallen world
“Stop the music.”
Pinkie Pie immediately complied and turned it off. At this point, Rainbow Dash had a blank expression on her face. Pinkie feared the worst, but she had to know, “So... what do ya think Dashie?”
It took a few moments of silence before Dash turned to face Pinkie and said, “Excuse me for one second.”
With that, she took off into the air. She began to fly harder, higher than she ever had in her life. In only a few seconds, she pulled off a Sonic Rainboom. Then, she flew faster and performed a second Rainboom. Then, defying all logic, she flew even faster and performed a third Rainboom. She then zigzagged all across the sky, making sharp twists and turns every which way. Pinkie’s jaw dropped to the floor at what she saw. Plastered across the sky was a giant rainbow heart, something that nopony had ever seen before. Rainbow Dash landed next to Pinkie looking proud of her newest achievement.
"In case you can't take a hint, I'll give you three words. Best. Music. Ever!"
Usually, that would make Pinkie squee with happiness, but the only sounds that escaped the party pony were excited gibberish. She couldn’t even believe what her best friend had just accomplished. In fact, everypony in all of Equestria could see the giant heart in the sky so she definitely wasn’t alone in her thoughts. You could have seen the spectacle in Canterlot, Manehattan, Baltimare, even as far away as Cloudsdale and Appleloosa! Dash just couldn’t wait to the looks on her friends’ faces.
“Ah’ve seen some pretty amazin’ stuff in mah life, but this takes the cake Dash!”
Dash immediately recognized Applejack’s voice and looked to see her coming over a hill. Not far behind her were the rest of their friends; Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity.
“Speak of Discord,” Dash thought.
“I can’t even begin to explain that, but it’s just so amazing!” Twilight exclaimed.
“I’ve never something so beautiful in all my life!” Fluttershy whispered as loud as she could.
“How in Equestria did you do that, Rainbow Dash?” Rarity asked.
“I don’t even know,” she chuckled. “Pinkie just showed me some music and I thought it was awesome! Then, I just don’t know! It was like after listening to that music, something just built up inside of me and I had to release it. I didn’t know what would happen, but it looks totally bad-flank!”
“You betcha!” Pinkie retorted. “I swear that if you don’t get into the Wonderbolts for this, then I’m gonna go crazy again!”
“Again? Pinkie what’re you... Oh. The day of your surprise birthday party.” That sent chills up and down everypony’s spines. “Maybe that’s taking it a little too far, but I’m flattered that you think that way Pinkie. I’m flattered that all of you think that!”
Suddenly, there were tears that hit the ground. However, they didn’t come from just anypony. They came from Rainbow Dash. Her friends saw this and almost immediately began to tear up themselves.
“Group hug!” Pinkie shouted.
Rainbow suddenly found herself surrounded by her friends in an embrace of sisterly love. This made Dash happier for a while, but it eventually made her resolution break and she started to cry heavily. They weren’t tears of joy this time, however. There was but a single thought that saddened her, “What about my friends?"
If the Wonderbolts did come asking for her, then would all that new fame keep her from seeing her friends? If that was the case, then this would be one of the last moments that she would share with them. Pinkie Pie must have had the same thought since she looked a little somber herself.
“Just one thing, Dashie,” Pinkie said. Dash turned to face her who was surprised at a somber Pinkie Pie. “No matter what happens or where we all end up, let’s promise that we’ll never forget about each other; that we’ll always be friends no matter what.”
Everypony nodded at this and went through the gestures saying, “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” After one last squeeze, the group hug parted. Everypony was worried as well, but they were also very proud of their friend. However, none of them were aware of what would happen next.
“If you were trying to make us jealous, then it definitely worked,” a voice said.
Dash recognized the voice, but it didn’t belong to any of her friends. She turned around to see something that she didn’t expect at all. Flying right above them all was her idol, Spitfire, and her secret crush, Soarin’.
“I gotta know, Dash,” Soarin’ began. “How in Equestria did you pull off something like that?”
Even though Dash was starstruck at the sight of her idol, she managed to utter, “I don’t even know!”
Spitfire replied, “Well we all know that it wasn’t an accident, Rainbow Dash-” Dash’s inner child screamed at Spitfire saying her full name- “but whatever made it happen happened for a good reason. So, maybe the way to find out what caused it is by training with the pros.”
Dash’s mind went blank. She checked to see if anything was stuck in her ears and asked Spitfire to explain.
This time Soarin’ spoke up saying, “We’re saying that we want you to join up with us! A pony with your abilities could be Captain one day if you put enough work into it!”
Finally realizing what they had just said, Dash flew up and did a dozen aerial cartwheels all while shouting, “Yes!”
When she was done, she landed looking like a foal in a candy store. She turned to face her friends again, but that same thought suddenly popped back into her head. Dash then remembered that Pinkie Promise that she just made to never forget her friends, got an idea, and regained her composure.
“Only on one condition though.”
The two Wonderbolts listened intently. Dash put a foreleg around Pinkie Pie and said, “I’ll join you guys, but only if my coach and the rest of my friends are allowed to come with me!”
