Prologue - Canterlot Society

SPEED! Rainbow Dash had lived her entire life for speed, and never once had she needed it more than she did right now. The frenzied cry of thousands of ponies beneath her was blurred out by the roar of the wind as Dash raced through the clouds at breakneck speed. Her injured wing screamed in agony with every stroke, threatening to rip apart from her body if she flew any farther, but she had no choice except to ignore the pain; she had to fly, EVERYTHING depended on it.

Out of the corners of her eyes, Dash could see dozens of pegasi hot on her tail, desperate to catch her. One brown pegasi, nearly twice her size, foaming at the mouth from exertion, lunged and grabbed one of her hind legs with both of his front hooves, trying to pull her back into the swelling mass of bodies behind her. Before he knew what was happening, Dash twisted through a peculiar flip that sent him spinning into a nearby cloud.

Dash regained her balance before she was knocked off course, but lost precious deciseconds doing so. A frightful glance over her shoulder, revealed the whites of the eyes of her closest pursuers; members from the Royal Guard, police, weather patrols, flight crews, delivery teams and other pegasi from across Equestria, all united in one purpose; to catch her.

Sweat poured down her neck as she swerved wildly through a dense mesh of clouds. If she hit a cloud, it would slow her down, if she slowed down they might catch her, if they caught her, her life wouldn't be worth living. Widening her lead over her pursuers, Dash had just spotted her goal when a proximity mine, hidden in a cloud, exploded right above her head; drenching her wings with water, slowing her to what felt like a crawl. Dash watched in horror as a great white pegasus from the royal guard caught and then passed her on his way to the package which rested serenely on a pedestal of cloud, just beyond her reach. Despite the desperation of the situation Dash couldn't help but wonder at the beauty of the small package; a Wonderbolt uniform.

The Royal Guard reached the uniform a moment before Dash, clutching it between his massive white hooves, but his ecstasy was short lived. Seizing her life's dream with her front hooves; Dash spun a hundred and eighty degrees in a heartbeat and kicked the guard with both her hind hooves; convincing him to let go, as she used his ribs to push off and begin her sprint back to the starting line. Taking the uniform had been the easy part, keeping it would be much harder. Dash steeled her eyes on the dozens pegasi heading towards her and prepared to plunge through the middle of them. All of them were strong fliers, all of them wanted the uniform, but only one of them could have it, and Dash wanted it more than any of them. The pegasus who presented the uniform to Spitfire would have earned the right to wear it; there was no second place, there were no second chances. If Dash hadn't strained her wing training last week, she could have won by now. Her recent injury was making this the hardest trial of her life, but that was the way Dash wanted it. If fulfilling her dream didn't take every ounce of her skill and courage, she would be disappointed.

With no time to think, Dash shot through the center of the cloud of jealous rivals. Hooves reached out and grabbed at empty air as she slid through them as if she were dancing the quarry eels at Ghastly Gorge. Shooting out the back of the herd unscathed, Dash opened her final reserves of energy and pushed towards the finish. Gazing ahead of her, Dash could see the finish line, and beyond that, the Wonderbolts: her fillyhood heroes, her dream, her idols; but between her and them hovered one last obstacle. A night black pegasus mare who had waited right in front of the starting/finish line since the race began, saving her energy to steal the uniform from whoever got it this far. Each wing beat sent waves of agony through Dash's spine, her breath came in gasps and sweat poured off her back like rain. She looked up at the black mare ahead of her; calm, fresh, ready to pillage the prize the moment Dash got within reach.

The black mare raced towards her, hooves outstretched and Dash panicked as the realized that she wouldn't be able to out maneuver her. The black mare closed in to tackle. Dash's mind raced through every feint she knew but none of them could save her, unless... 'Daring Do and the Griffins Goblet'! It had worked for Daring Do to outsmart Ahuitzotl, but could it work in real life?

Probably not.

Dash rolled the uniform into a ball and threw it as hard as she could into the hooves of the black mare, who fell backwards from the force of the impact, facing the sky as her hooves fondled the precious uniform. The black mare stared for a moment, confused as to why Dash would give her the uniform without a fight; but before she came to her senses, Dash raced past her and snatched the uniform back from her startled, now empty hooves. By the time the black mare realized she no longer had the uniform, Dash was already across the finish line holding the uniform in her mouth.

It took Dash several moments to realize why the crowd was suddenly cheering so loud. They were cheering for her! SHE'D WON!!! She was a Wonderbolt! The Wonderbolts were the most magnificent, swiftest, bravest, awesomest pegasi in the world, Dash had dreamed of joining them since before she could talk and now, her dream was coming true! Rainbow's eyes filled with tears of joy when she saw her five friends from Ponyville were there; cheering for her, sharing her joy. It was the happiest moment of her life.

12 months later

For Rainbow Dash, it had been another long morning working out with the Wonderbolts, and now, after weeks of practice, they were at last ready for their next performance. GOOD! She finally had a few hours away from those airborne idiots, and wouldn't have to deal with then again until sundown. If she had to put up with any more of their complaining, she felt like she was going to scream.

Rainbow’s radiant dream of being a Wonderbolt had faded to ash, as she slowly realized what the Wonderbolts were really like. They were stupid, lazy, selfish, cowards. Merchandising and gallivanting for the crowds were the only things they cared about, and they were the ONLY things were good at. When Rainbow first arrived at the Wonderbolt stables, she could hardly believe she had finally made it; she had to keep pinching herself just to make sure it was real. Now she was certain it was real, and kept wishing she could wake up.

Rainbow still remembered the shock and excitement when, after basic initiation, it became almost instantly clear that she was already the best flier there. The highest wing power any other Wonderbolt could boast was Spitfire’s sixteen point one; point four of a point less then Rainbow Dash. That should have been her first tip off, but Rainbow had ignored her creeping doubts and instead, focused on striving to match a standard of Wonderbolt perfection which existed only in her own mind. She broke record after record, won derby after derby, increased her wing power to an incredible seventeen point eight and finally, six months ago, she challenged Spitfire to a flight duel for leadership of the Wonderbolts.

It wasn't much of a challenge.

Now that she was leader of the Wonderbolts, her life was over. Every goal had been fulfilled, every obstacle overcome; now there was nothing left to do and nowhere left to go; nothing except performing repetitive routines for ponies rich enough to see her perform and stupid enough to dream of one day joining the Wonderbolts.

Rainbow had never considered herself to be a smart pony and, half the time, had wagged school as a kid so she could practice her flying, but compared to the rest of the team, she was a genius. Spitfire aside; the rest of the team were sharing two brains between them. One of the brains was used to obsess over every minute detail of their public appearances; the other was dedicated to devising shortcuts, excuses, and any other scheme they could use to get by with expending the least amount of effort. Occasionally a third brain would pop up; bringing with it that month’s gossip and get-rich-quick schemes but this one never stayed long, and Rainbow could only conclude that keeping track of three brains was simply too much effort for the team of eleven pegasi. (Dash was working on a theory that the high altitude flying exercises Spitfire use to give the team had slowly killed their brain cells due to lack of oxygen getting to their brains. She had no way to safely test this theory but had canceled any high altitude flights in the meantime, just to be safe.)

The only other Wonderbolt with even an ounce of sense was Spitfire, and that made her the worst of the lot. Spitfire could see what the others were like, but accepted their mindless apathy like it was normal. When she and Rainbow were alone, Spitfire acted halfway intelligent, but when they were with the others Spitfire acted just like the rest and would refuse any effort on Rainbow's part to get the team out of their comfort zones.

The fame was hollow, the money was meaningless, the flying was so repetitive it had become boring and the stallions were jerks. In the first month as a Wonderbolt, Dash had let four of the stallions use her, before finally realizing that that wasn’t what she wanted; (or maybe she’d used them, she wasn’t sure). Since then she had managed to keep away from the other stallions before losing whatever scraps remained of her self-respect, though the speed of her one-eighty had caused someone to begin the rumor that the only reason she’d hopped out of bed with the stallions so fast was because mares gave her a better high. Dash had denied the rumors vehemently, but the more she did, the more everyone was sure she had something to hide and so eventually Dash finally just gave up.

Diamond Tiara was graduating junior school that day and had whined and begged her father to rent the palace ballroom and gardens for her graduation party. He complied, but then compensated himself by getting her to invite some Canterlot foals, who happened to be the daughters of rich nobles and business ponies whose parents he wanted to do business with. Extravagant entertainment was being brought in from all over Equestria and the Wonderbolts had been hired to perform, with a huge bonus if the routine was an original, and the Wonderbolts stayed for the party afterwards.

This by itself was irritating. What made it infuriating was that Scootaloo just happened to be graduating the same class, at the same time, with higher grades then Diamond Tiara; and Rainbow Dash wouldn’t be able to see it because she was too busy preparing the Wonderbolts to prepare for the little brats party!

Well rehearsals were finally over and Rainbow finally had a few hours for herself before the sunset performance. She needed somepony to talk to, she needed a friend. Last year, Rainbow Dash had had five awesome friends, who she could drop in on at anytime of the day or night. Now she had one friend, who she needed to book an appointment to see, but Rarity was still the best choice she had.

About two years ago, Rarity had gone to Canterlot to pick up some supplies for her boutique, and was meant to be back that weekend for Twilight’s birthday but stayed after her cat got sick. Though originally an inconvenience; Rarity had been on her way to get some medicine for Opal when she somehow crossed paths with some celebrity hot shot who invited her to a Wonderbolt Derby which led to her being invited to a fashion show, which led to her hosting a fashion show which led to her opening a new boutique in Canterlot.

It was almost a month before Rarity actually came back to Ponyville, but that didn’t last for long; it was obvious she couldn’t maintain two boutiques full time, and it was even more obvious that her Canterlot boutique was raking in ten the bits as her one in Ponyville. After a few months, she called her friends together and apologized, saying she would miss them all terribly but she needed to ‘be true to herself’ and she had always been ‘a Canterlot pony at heart’.

She’d promised to visit regularly, and for the first few months she actually kept that promise coming down for Spike’s birthday and The Great Dragon Migration, but as business in Canterlot kept picking up, her fame spread like wildfire which devoured Rarity’s free time and perhaps her along with it.

That was about the only good things about becoming Wonderbolt Captain; since Rarity now made the suits for the team, visiting Rarity was part of the job description, and it was time for Rainbow’s fortnightly visit.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Rainbow flew to the head of a main street and into the gaping mouth, on the ground floor, of an enormous tower. The first floor was a store, filled with every sort of dress, hat, scarf and horseshoe imaginable. Colorful ponies roamed through endless racks of even more colorful clothes. The high arched ceilings were painted with beautiful ponies enjoying themselves at a variety of indoor and outdoor parties, each wearing the clothes that were sold directly beneath them. The paintings had two purposes: so visiting ponies could see what clothes were in an aisle without having to be there, and to make customers feel self-conscious about not buying the clothes of the illustrious party-goers above them. As a result, business was brisk, no matter how high prices shot up.

Passing the fox-walk, (where the newest dresses were displayed every night by young filly models, which would be kept for a few months at the time before being replaced,) Rainbow came to the stairs. Down she knew would bring her into a subterranean world of manicures, massages, mud baths and hot swim spas, heated by an incinerator fed by the dresses that either weren’t made properly, hadn't sold or gotten negative reviews by the Canterlot fashion magazines.

Instead Rainbow went up the stairs to find herself in a lower roofed, densely packed room, filled with rows of dozens of ponies, racing sewing machines to finish their day's quota. One small unicorn walked around the room, continually casting a cold spell, nevertheless the room was uncomfortably hot. Rainbow Dash hadn’t realized how crowded things had gotten here recently; sure she was happy that Rarity’s business was succeeding; but somehow felt that things were moving a little too fast for Rarity’s own good, and a lot too fast for the people who worked here.

Rainbow hurried through the second and third floors, where she was immediately recognized by the watch pony and admitted to the fourth floor which began Rarity's mansion which occupied the top five floors of the tower. (Well technically Rarity only occupied the top three floors, one floor was for servants and another was specially dedicated to Rarity's cat, Opal, whose domain was now larger than the entire house that she and Rarity used to share and included two servants).

By the time Rainbow had reached Rarity's personal workshop on the sixth floor, the sound of sewing machines had faded and had been replaced by harmonious water fountains. Rainbow weaved her way between about twenty pony manikins in various stages of being dressed, which orbited a small but luxurious lounge in the center of the room. Gentle light flowed freely through silver paneled windows and open double doors leading to the balcony encompassing the tower with a three hundred and sixty degree view of Canterlot and the surrounding countryside.

“Rarity,” she called, “It’s me, Rainbow Dash.” There was no immediate response so Rainbow decided to take a look around. She helped herself to a cup of apple cider and was thinking of walking onto the balcony when something caught her eye. Half buried in a bin full of fabric scraps, was a medal for bravery from the Canterlot Royal Guard. Rainbow was about to pull it out and get a better look, when she heard Rarity's voice descending down the stairs.

“Hellooo, Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow stepped away from the bin as Rarity came into view; that last few times she had visited, Rarity had been wearing one of her dresses that went beyond extravagance; with more feathers and tassels then should have been on ten dresses. But today, Rarity came down simply looking like plain old Rarity from Ponyville, “Rainbow Dash! Darling! How are you?”

“I'm OK Rarity, it's good to see you.”

“You too Rainbow Dash. Have you come to see the new suits I'm making for the Wonderbolts? They won't be ready for a few more weeks, but when they are, they will be simply magnificent!”

“Sound's good for later, but right now I just came to talk.”

“Is this about the shield disappearing?” Rarity said anxiously, “I've been asking all the Canterlot Guards I know, but none of them have given me a straight answer.” Last year a big energy shield had appeared around all Canterlot; supposedly Luna’s idea for increased security, though most ponies didn’t mind slightly restricted travel for added security. Four days ago it disappeared; something about the machine that generates the shield needing repairs. Rainbow was glad to have the full freedom of the open skies again, the Wonderbolts had concluded that the sky was falling, and the city gossips had been hard at work speculating Canterlot was under some kind of attack and where there was gossip, there was always Rarity.

Rarity knew a lot of stallions in the Royal Guard, but Rainbow would understand if most of them didn't want to talk to her or tell the full truth. Since coming to Canterlot, Rarity had become obsessed with finding 'the perfect stallion to suit the perfect mare', and half of them seemed to be military in some way, but most of her ‘true loves’ didn't last for more than a few weeks.

“To be honest I'm not too worried about it. The Wonderbolts and I fly a patrol all around Canterlot each morning as a warm up and I haven't seen any invading army. Really; I just came to talk to an old friend.”

“Oh course, it’s been so long since we've simply chatted like we use to back in Ponyville. Oh how those days seem so long ago now, before we both his to jackpot. Now we’re both living the dream; queens of Canterlot so to speak! Could life get any better?”

“I dunno,” Rainbow mumbled, already regretting her visit, “Sometimes I miss the way things were back in Ponyville; when we knew fewer ponies, but the ponies we did know were our friends.”

“Of course those times were good, but ponies like us can't just go on being noponies forever. Sooner or later we had to move on, move up in the world, and after we've made it this far there's no going back down, only upwards, forever!”

Rainbow tried to change the topic before it got any more depressing. “Soooo, it looks like business is still picking up for you; I’m guessing you’re going to open up another factory sometime soon to keep pace with things.”

Rarity sighed, “You know, I’ve been thinking that same thing myself, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. My franchise had always been in one location and I love just being able to inspect any part of it at a moment’s notice; to have to go to some dingy factory on the other side of Canterlot if there was a problem… no, I just couldn’t do it.”

“Yea well, your workshop is pretty packed as it is; I had a hard time getting up here it was so crowded.”

“You did? Well that's no good, we can't have them obstructing my guests from visiting now can we? Don't worry; I'll have them move the tables to make the alley way a bit wider.”

“...Maybe you could think of giving them another floor.”

“But, the tower is already full? Where else could I put them?”

“Well, you've given your cat an entire floor to herself, maybe if you moved Opal up to-”

“Oh no, no, no, no! You know how hard Opal finds it to accept change. I mean, she just got settled in to her new bedroom. To yank her out and make her start over again, why, that would border on cruelty, and you know how I feel about animal cruelty! But I'll tell you what I will do, lately I've been wanting to expand a bit anyways, so if business keeps improving, I was going to add four new floors to the top of my tower, maybe five. Construction wouldn't take more than a year and when I move up my servants shall move with me leaving the sewers a free floor. That should make them happy don't you think? Oh and you simply must come and visit me when my new floors are complete. We'll have the biggest housewarming party EVER!”

Rainbow Dash backed off, ‘accidentally’ bumping her leg against the waste bin and remembered the medal. “Hey what's this?” she asked, sounding a surprised voice as she scooped the medal out from on top of the cloth.

“Oh, THAT!” cried Rarity in revulsion, “That was left by a stallion who used to come by here until a few days ago, and whom I don't care to ever see again.”

Well that was another suitor rejected. Three dozen down, every eligible stallion in Canterlot to go until she found her 'perfect match', “That's too bad Rarity, I'm sure you'll find somepony someday who will be everything you want in a stallion.”

Rarity's voice rang with indifference, “Well whoever he is, he had better know better the last heart breaker. I thought I'd finally found the one. He was everything: charming, rich, handsome and then I found he'd spent the day with another mare.”

So she had a legitimate reason for dumping this guy. The last few times, Rainbow was thinking Rarity was holding her stallions to too high of standards, like breaking up with them for not holding a fork 'properly'. “I'm so sorry Rarity” she meant it.

“To think that he would spend his day wading around in sewer filth!”

“...You mean he cheated with one of your sewing mares?”

“What? Oh no, no, dear, I mean he was in the sewers; where they send all of the…well… you know. I know that the plumber was sick and that his daughter, while knowing how to fix the blockage, couldn't manage the big machines by herself, and I know that she had been his friend since foalhood. But how any stallion who called himself a gentlecolt could spend his day off bridal deep in that icky, icky sewage, and then think he could come to my fashion show, after spending barely ten minutes washing, is beyond me! After all the work I put into that show, the least he could have done would have been to take a mud bath at the spa to make sure the smell was truly off!”

“I... don't know what to say.”

“Oh why is it so hard to find a decent stallion?” Rarity whined as she collapsed onto a couch striking a dramatic hoof to her forehead. “Is there a stallion for me out there, or am I doomed to walk alone as the most regal pony in Canterlot?”

Probably, “Don't give up Rarity. Maybe you just need to look harder.”

“You’re right” Rarity said rising firmly from her couch, “After all it really is their loss; I doubt any of those ruffians know what it is they're missing!”

Obviously; if they did know, they wouldn't keep trying to court her. “I'm sure there's a stallion out there for you somewhere.” It was the only thing Rainbow could think of, not that she really thought or hoped that it was true.

“Yes there is!” agreed Rarity, rising from the couch and rubbing her forehooves together menacingly, “And when I find him I'll grab him and never let him go! We'll be together forever!”

God help him.

“Our wedding will be the wedding of the century! Then we'll have lots and lots of little babies and name them after all my favorite gems. There will be Ruby and Turquoise and Sapphire and Jasper and Chrysolite and …

Maybe this perfect guy had a cabin out in the Everfree Forest where he can hide.

“-Topaz and little Pearl …”

If there were going to be all these little Rarity gems running around Canterlot, maybe Rainbow Dash could go join him there.

“… and they'll all take after their mother, and have perfect table manners, and we'll show Canterlot society all they're lacking in family graces, and I'll make them all fabulous little dresses and they will be the models in this new fashion show I'm planning, starring me, their mother, with a dress and matching jewelry that encompasses all of theirs, and we'll win first place, and the Princesses will-”

Rainbow Dash was gone. Leaping out the window and off the balcony, she watched the inviting pavement come within five yards before finally deciding to spread her wings and angle her dive into a swoop. After regaining some altitude, Rainbow accelerated and few aimlessly around Canterlot, trying to shake the stench off of her, but her efforts were in vain as all of Canterlot stunk with it.

She had to get away; she didn’t care what people thought about her anymore, she just wanted to get out! If this guy that Rarity had dropped had spent one day bridle deep in sewer filth, Rainbow felt like she had spent the last six months swimming in it, almost drowning in it. Rainbow Dash use to wonder why, if Canterlot was so great, Princess Celestia spent so much of her time visiting small simple towns like Ponyville. Now she knew.

Chapter one >>> Save Derpy Hooves!!!