Morrow

Chapters

Chapter 1: Cold open
Chapter 2: Gonna Fly Now
Chapter 3: Suit Up Of Destiny
Chapter 4: Chekhov's Filly
Chapter 5: Epic Hail
Chapter 6: In Medias Res
Chapter 7: You Can't Go Home Again
Chapter 8: Downfall

Chapter 1: Cold open

On a lofty peak, silhouetted against the veiled light of the rising sun, a weary pegasus pony stood alone. Scrapes and bruises marred her athletic, slender body. She was panting, her chest heaving and her breath visible in the slight chill of the early morning air. The wisps of fine mist escaping her muzzle were quickly carried off by the selfsame breeze that toyed with her windswept, multicolored mane. The mare's glistening blue coat steamed slightly with the heat of great exertion, but on the inside she was fuming even more.

“Why can't I DO IT?!” Rainbow Dash demanded of the skies, accentuating each bitter word with a frustrated clop of her hoof.

By the grace of Celestia, dawn broke over Ponyville once more. Nudged by her primordial magic, the sun set out on its daily voyage. It's ascent was heralded by the shrill crowing of roosters, from the farmlands of Sweet Apple Acres to the Cottage on the outskirts of the charming little Equestrian village.

Other sounds soon followed: all over, early-to-rise ponies began stirring. Pegasi fluttered about, painstakingly arranging and stacking the fluffiest white clouds they could find, trying to catch the radiant light and paint the sky in breathtaking hues of orange and pink. Other clouds, laden with moisture, were diligently pushed along the surface, leaving leaf and branch refreshed and delicate spiderwebs sequined with shimmering droplets of dew.

Small teams of unicorns, meanwhile, traversed the pathways, bridges and squares of the town; their horns were aglow as they willed stray leaves and random clutter into large saddle-bags borne by sturdy earth ponies.

The Apple family had been up from the first cock-a-doodle-doo, of course. Applejack was already hard at work inspecting the orchards, in preparation for the fall. Being in high spirits on such a gorgeous day, she whistled as she sauntered from tree to tree. Elongated shadows, belonging both to her and her beloved apple trees, stretched out far across the fields, and everywhere there was the sound of leaves rustling merrily in the wind.

Pausing just long enough to adjust the visor of her hat, Applejack shaded her green eyes from the shifting angle of the sun's rays. Enamored by the breathtaking spectacle unfolding on the horizon, the blonde mare squinted at the orb of dazzling light, trying to take it all in without being blinded. She thought she saw a small, blue dot circling around a distant mountain top, but when she looked again it had vanished. The farm-mare dismissed the sighting with a shrug - she had work to do. Yet she couldn't help but wonder.. Nopony she knew had seen much of Rainbow Dash of late.

While Applejack stood and wondered, however, some ponies still slept soundly. From the loft above the bakeries of Sugarcube Corner only high-pitched snoring could be heard, although the wholesome smell of freshly baked cakes had titillated the noses of passersby since long before sunrise. In the Carousel Boutique, an exhausted Rarity enjoyed a few more belated hours of beauty-sleep after slaving away at yet another tall order. And in the arboreal library that had become Twilight Sparkle's make-shift dwelling, Spike was still curled up in his cozy basket, while his surrogate mother, having burned the midnight oil, slept with a thick tome as a far less comfortable pillow.

Fluttershy couldn't afford to be sleeping in. The dedicated animal specialist had taken upon herself the tedious task of waking up birds that, like the above-mentioned ponies, were reluctant to leave their nests; all so that the customary chorus of songbirds could liven up the start of everypony's day. At the eaves of the Everfree forest, the patient pegasus flitted from tree to tree, rousing her charges with a gentle nose-nudge here and a quiet murmur there. “Come on out, sleepy-heads!” she called into a hollow tree, only to be startled by the resulting echoes. “Rise and shine, Mr. Sparrow,” she urged, gently prodding a particularly old and unwilling bird with a hoof-tip.

In the warm radiance of the sun, Fluttershy's pale yellow coat shone saffron-gold. Her long, flowing pink tail danced as she fluttered about and frolicked with her feathery friends. She was delighted to see every one of them and seemed to know the location of each of their nests, often stopping to meticulously check upon the eggs therein. Fledglings alighted on her head and back, clinging to her hair when their wings wearied. She carried them gladly, making sure not to bank abruptly and toss them off. And ever as she went the choir of bird-voices grew, until they chirped and sang all around her.

Rainbow Dash was resting on a cloud overhead. She watched the delightful scene surreptitiously, wincing quietly while she flexed her aching wings. Her presence wasn't coincidental. Visiting this place at dawn had become something of a habit, though she preferred that nopony knew about it; Fluttershy least of all. Her foalhood friend would probably crawl back into her shell if she found out she wasn't alone. Rainbow Dash frequently felt exasperated by the other pegasus's timidity, but when Fluttershy was alone with her beloved animals like this, completely in her element, she was like a different pony. She laughed and chatted happily, and even sang; making up cheerful little songs that never failed to give Rainbow Dash goosebumps. Away from watchful eyes, furthermore, the usually clumsy pegasus moved with surprising grace. Seeing the mollifying mare like this, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but admire her. She didn't want to butt in and ruin it.

With a smile Rainbow Dash realized that, really, she'd been watching over Fluttershy ever since they were just two little fillies in Flight School. They had both stood out in their own way, and they had both suffered for it. 'Rainbow Crash' and 'Klutzershy'.. What a marvelous pair of misfits they'd been.

Rainbow Dash still remembered the first time she had witnessed some colts cruelly teasing the hapless young pony. She'd been such an easy target: unable to simply fly away from her tormentors and incapable of standing up for herself. Instead the vulnerable filly had just sat there, taking the abuse with helpless tears welling up in her eyes. Oh, the knot of anger Dash had felt twisting and coiling deep within her insides at that gross injustice. Insults to herself she could shrug off casually, or repay with violence and humiliation. But that scene had kindled some fierce, protective instinct in the rainbow-filly. And she had defended her newfound friend ever since.

Rainbow Dash found herself berating the fragile little pony constantly, too, though. She tended to quickly grow impatient with Fluttershy's almost preposterous levels of insecurity, and kept alternating between feelings of affection and irritation towards her. It just didn't make any sense to the cocky mare: how could somepony be so breathtakingly beautiful and multi-talented yet think so little of herself? It was infuriating!

Rainbow Dash would challenge anyone who'd hurt her friend without hesitation. But how could she hope to defend the introverted pony from her greatest detractor: herself? She wanted to do more; wanted to make Fluttershy see; yearned to show the bashful butterfly-bearer that she was cool, and funny, and awesome..

Even loved.

But how she was going to accomplish that, Rainbow Dash was sure she didn't know. Despite her so-called self-confidence, she seldom dared to express her feelings. It made her feel vulnerable when she talked about awkward stuff like that, failing to be coolness incarnate for the duration. It was too risky, since any move on her part could mess up their friendship forever.

But maybe tomorrow, she would fly down and join Fluttershy instead of hiding like a scaredy-pony. She could just hang out with Fluttershy, couldn't she? No pressure. And maybe, if she stopped rattling on about her own hopes and dreams for a minute and just listened, she could get the inscrutable pony to open up to her a little more. Perhaps then she could figure things out.

Yeah.. tomorrow sounded good.

Right now Rainbow Dash wanted to focus on more pressing problems. For starters, she could barely keep her eyes open and her head felt so heavy that she kept nodding off. After all the failed attempts to recreate the physics-defying feat she'd pulled off at the Best Young Flier competition, she was reluctantly willing to grant gravity this one, minor victory.

Chapter 2: Gonna Fly Now

“Tell me honestly, is there something wrong with me?”

Applejack, who had just been on her way back to the farm when she'd been ambushed by Rainbow Dash, raised a brow. The uncharacteristic question took her off guard. “What was that?” the bemused mare said, cupping her ear with a hoof in an exaggerated manner. She leaned in a bit closer and pretended to be as hard of hearing as her dear old Granny Smith.

“You heard me,” Rainbow Dash replied defensively. She sat down with a sigh and suddenly seemed to take a keen interest in her hooves, already regretting that she posed such a question to her long-time friend and rival. After waking from a brief and fitful nap on a cloud near the Everfree Forest, feeling restless and a bit lonely, it had seemed like a good idea to turn to the most trustworthy and athletic pony she knew for advice. But actually asking for it turned out to be trickier than she thought. Rainbow Dash knew she was being maddeningly vague and indirect, but she didn't really know where to begin. The two of them were always competing or arguing as equals, but right now Rainbow Dash felt like she was showing weakness. Applejack's teasing didn't help.

“I thought I did,” Applejack drawled. “Never reckoned I'd be hearin' it from you though, question like that.” She usually enjoyed teasing the proud pegasus, but when her playful taunting was met with silence the sympathetic mare realized that Dash was genuinely struggling with something. She quickly abandoned her little jest and frowned.

“Alright, no more tomfoolery,” Applejack said. She sat down on her haunches next to a dejected-looking Rainbow Dash and put a foreleg around the mare's winged shoulders in a gesture of camaraderie. ”You gotta speak plainer though, Rainbow. Can't just make your blue hide scarce for over a week only to come swoopin' in outta nowhere and go 'round askin' me queer questions like that. How d'you expect a mare to answer sensible-like?”

Applejack paused a moment, allowing the other mare to have a say. But when Rainbow Dash just continued fidgeting and averting her eyes, she lost her patience. “Spit it out, pony-girl!" she said, "What's eatin' you?” Her stern eyes studied the other mare's face.

Rainbow Dash inhaled deeply, struggling for words. She really wasn't very good at this whole asking-for-help business; usually she was the one coming to the aid of others. But Applejack's emphatic approach seemed to be working. The pegasus decided to swallow her pride. “I think there's something wrong with me," she said, "Because after weeks of trying I still haven't been able to pull off the Sonic Rainboom again. Not even once!”

“That all?” Applejack laughed. She looked rather relieved. "For a minute there I was 'fraid something serious was ahoof!” In truth, she had feared this was going to be about the other mare's lovelife, which would have been uncomfortable.

“It is serious, Applejack!” Rainbow Dash insisted. The severity of her tone wiped the goofy grin off the other equine's face. “Winning that tiara was great and all, but the Pegalympics are coming up soon and now everypony totally thinks the Rainboom is a part of my routine. They'll be expecting it! And the Wonderbolts'll be expecting it, too..” At the thought of losing the hard-won favor of her childhood idols, the usually composed blue mare buried her face in her hooves. “What am I going to do, Applejack?” Rainbow Dash said. There was a shrill note of desperation in her voice. ”Ponies will be coming to see the legendary Rainboom, I just know it. I can't screw it up in front of them! I'd be a laughing-stock!”

“Hadn't thought of it like that,” Applejack admitted apologetically, taking pity on the pegasus's plight. She eyed the miserable mare carefully, noting - not without concern - that she looked positively worn out. Her feathers were in disarray, her eyes looked sunken and dark-ringed, and she had slight but noticeable injuries. That settled it for Applejack. These were all symptoms of a problem she had first-hoof experience with, being an incurably stubborn pony herself. “Only thing wrong with you is you're pushin' yourself too dang hard,” she told the sleep-deprived pony. Her tone was maternal; reminiscent of a mare-mother addressing a recalcitrant filly. “Y'all're the fanciest flier I ever did see, Rainbow, but--”

“You're just saying that to cheer me up,” Rainbow Dash interrupted her. Her cheeks flushed purple at the compliment despite her objection, however, and she seemed to perk up a little.

“Uh, hello? Applejack here, the most honestest pony around?” Applejack said. She seemed upset at the mere suggestion that she would ever resort to empty flattery. Her blonde, pony-tailed mane swayed as she shook her head in disbelief. “I ain't never told no lies, and I ain't about to start when my best friend is runnin' herself ragged and needs some sense knocked into her!” The orange earth pony thwapped the back of Dash's head as though she meant the latter statement literally. “I'm speakin' from experience here, so y'all'd best listen up."

“I'm fine, Applejack..” Rainbow Dash feebly attempted to reassure her friend. "Really!" Though she had to stifle a tell-tale yawn before that final word had even left her muzzle.

Applejack narrowed her eyes. "Y'know, one of the perks to being such an honest mare is I've gotten awful good at tellin' somepony's lying to me..”

Rainbow Dash gulped.

“Y'ain't 'fine,' and you know it.”

Not for the first time, Rainbow Dash had the disquieting feeling that those shrewd, green eyes could read her like an open book. At the very least, she suspected that being the Element of Honesty involved more than merely being an abysmal liar. Whatever the case, it was hard to argue with the facts. And who could continue to be obstinate after someone went and called you their best friend like that?

“Ow. Okay, alright. Sheesh.." Rainbow Dash said, rubbing her head, "What do you think I should do?”

Applejack's expression softened. “I'd say y'need some shut-eye,” she suggested. ”After that, maybe we can see 'bout gettin' some training done. C'mon, y'all can crash in the guest-room up in the attic. Once you've recharged the ol' batteries, the Apple family'll treat you to a proper home-cooked meal, fresh off the farm. Do you good.”

Rainbow Dash did not protest. It was clear that Applejack would not be gainsaid, and her offer actually sounded really good at the moment. She felt awfully tired, having skipped at least a dozen of her customary naps. She'd be able to sleep for quite a while. Though she had to admit: she was pretty curious to see what Applejack had in mind.

When she awoke, who knows how many hours later, Rainbow Dash found that her cuts had been tended to. It was a testament to the extent of her exhaustion - or maybe her ability to sleep like a sedated rock - that she hadn't woken up during the treatment. She got up shakily and stretched her limbs. The much-needed rest had worked wonders; she felt a lot more like her old self again. Totally ready to take on the world!

Until a low, rumbling growl from her stomach reminded her that she had skipped far too many meals.

“Y'all called?” Applejack joked, poking her head in. The freckled farm-mare wasn't wearing her hat, which surprised Rainbow Dash since she had always figured the two were pretty much inseparable.

“Hey, any chance of a quick snack?” Rainbow Dash tried hopefully. “I don't think I'll last 'till dinner..”

“No can do,” Applejack said. But just as her famished guest despaired, she let the cat out of the bag. “Dinner's already served, y'lazy bum. Just comin' to drag you out of bed - by the tail if need be.”

No tail-dragging turned out to be neccesary, however.

Being used to a rather Spartan diet, since she hated cooking, the laden table of the Apple family would have seemed like a feast to Rainbow Dash on any given day. But on an empty stomach it was enough to make her drool. Apples were incorporated in nearly every dish, of course, but it seemed like granny Smith and Applejack could work miracles with this single ingredient. From the fresh salad starter to the delectable apple-pie desert, the pegasus pony savored every last bite.

“Woo, I.. am.. stuffed!” Rainbow Dash sighed after the table had been cleared. She was floating a few feet above the ground, her wings beating steadily as she gingerly rubbed her distended stomach with a hoof.

“Y'all sure can eat, being such a scrawny lil' filly,” her gracious host noted. “I ain't even sure how you're still able to float 'round like that. But y'know Rainbow, down here on the farm we've gotta work for our food. Come morning, you and me are gonna get our hooves dirty.”

“What d'ya mean?” Rainbow Dash said, a little warily. “I thought you were gonna help me pull off the Rainboom?”

“I mean to! Can't exactly flap my forelegs and show you how it's done though," Applejack laughed. "'Stead I figured we'd focus on something all you colts and fillies with your heads up in the clouds are clearly lacking."

"And what would that be?"

"Stamina, 'course! Y'all've got nothing on us earth ponies, it comes down to it.”

“I don't think I like where this is going,” Rainbow Dash said with a gulp.

“I definitely don't like where this is going!” Rainbow Dash echoed; her strong aversion to hard work kicked in now that she finally saw what Applejack had in mind.

It was just after dawn the next day. The pegasus still felt half-asleep, though a hearty breakfast helped to keep her on her hooves. But her heart sank at the sight of the large, rickety, wooden contraption before her, situated in an equally shabby building near the well. It looked every bit like an antique, with a thick layer of dust and countless cobwebs hinting at a very long period of disuse.

“One of those old, pony-powered machines?” Rainbow Dash said, eying two spots on opposite ends of the largest beam which were obviously intended for ponies to be harnessed there. It looked like they had to pull and rotate the large central axle, driving a system of belt and gears. This prospect did not amuse her.

“Ee-yup," Applejack said, "This here's how the Apple family pumped water to the trees 'fore we had Weather Patrol make it rain for us.”

“Yeah, so, about that," Rainbow Dash said hopefully, "If it's water you need, couldn't I just fly up and fetch us a nice, big cloud?”

“That ain't gonna do, Dash,” Applejack interrupted. ”T'ain't 'bout the water, we're tryin' to get you toughened up! We could do pointless push-ups and gallop some laps, but I reckon it's easier to do a work-out if there's a purpose to it.”

Rainbow Dash looked unconvinced. “It still sounds really lame..”

Applejack had anticipated this reaction however. She slyly employed her greatest gambit against the fiercely competitive pony. “Well, if y'think y'all can't handle it, that's fine," she said, trying to sound casual. "I s'pose we could do somethin' easier. My brother was probably right, sayin' there was no way two little mares could pump up enough water for all of our trees and crops.”

She didn't even have to lie.

“He said that, did he?” came the predictable reply.

And so, over the next few weeks two very sweaty and sore ponies went around in circles, struggling bitterly for every hoofstep as they made sure the sprawling orchards of Ponyville could bear fruit in the (very) old-fashioned way. They paused only to eat or sleep. Whenever the pegasus faltered, the stalwart workhorse would push harder. Before long, the winged mare would grit her teeth and persevere, unwilling to be outdone. And whenever Applejack wearied and hung her head, Rainbow Dash would pick up the slack without a word.

Then, one morning, just when the pair of them began to despair of their seemingly Sisyphean task ever being finished, Big Macintosh came over and told them they could stop now. There was wonder in the crimson stallion's usually disinterested eyes.

“Ha! In your FACE!” Rainbow Dash bellowed triumphantly. She pointed a hoof at the flabbergasted male, moments before collapsing to the floor.

“She okay?” Applejack's laconic brother asked. He blinked at the prone blue mare.

“She'll be alright,” his sister replied calmly, though she sounded like she was at the end of her rope herself. “Mind carrying her a ways?”

A few days later, after both mares had recuperated from the ordeal, Rainbow Dash told Applejack she'd be on her way again. While still far more aerodynamic than the sturdy farm-mare, it was clear that the long days of powering the pumping mechanism had paid off. Beneath her flashy blue coat clearly defined muscles flexed and shifted, and after going through all of that, the pegasus felt like she could fly around the world without stopping for a breather.

Applejack saw her off, mostly for a chance to get a few additional words of wisdom in. “Y'got friends you can count on, sugarcube,” she said earnestly, smiling as the boisterous blue mare impatiently flexed her wings. ”I don't wanna go all Twilight on you and bore you with a big speech on the Magic of Friendship. Gist of it is: y'all don't have to deal with your problems on your lonesome, no matter how awesome y'think y'are.”

Applejack put a hoof on the winged mare's shoulder. ”Why don'tcha go talk to some of the others gals, too, huh? They might surprise you.”

Rainbow Dash looked doubtful but nodded, if only to please her friend. “Alright. I suppose it couldn't hurt to ask.”

“Speakin' of which: you want I should put in a good word for you with Fluttershy?” Applejack suggested coyly.

“Buh.. Wha.. You can see into my mind?!” the pegasus sputtered aghast. As a precaution she feverishly tried not to think of all the apples she'd 'borrowed' from the orchards, or the adorable way Fluttershy would wiggle when she trotted along the meadows and hummed to herself. This proved to be incredibly hard.

“Sure can,” Applejack responded ominously, confirming the poor pony's worst fears. “Y'all ought to be 'shamed of yourself!" But she laughed when a profusely sweating Rainbow Dash winced and backed away a few steps. “Well, either that or y'all talk in your sleep a lot. What's the matter, guilty conscience?”

“Remind me again why I hang out with you?” a not-at-all-amused Rainbow Dash said, shooting Applejack an icy glare.

“Why, 'cause of my good humor and folksy wisdom 'course!”

“Good humor my flank,” Rainbow Dash muttered, “And would you quit smirking?!”

“Can't help it!” Applejack replied, switching to an I'm-not-smiling smile. “You two'd make a darn cute couple, y'ask me, and don't you be lettin' anypony tell you different.”

“Heh. You.. won't tell her will you?” Rainbow Dash sounded anxious.

“Cross my heart.”

“And hope to fly?”

“I ain't sticking a hoof in my eye, if that's what you're aimin' for..”

“Worth a shot.”

Instead of more banter, Applejack just smiled and moseyed on over to give the flustered blue skypony a hug. As embarrassing as it was to her, the winged mare clumsily reciprocated, until it became apparent that Applejack wasn't planning on letting go anytime soon and just kept squeezing fondly.

“Can't.. breathe..” Dash gasped theatrically.

“Y'all are gettin' a mite blue in the face,” the orange equine laughed, loosening her grip. “Take care of yourself now, y'hear?” she called after Rainbow Dash as the pegasus galloped off and spread her wings.

“Y'all can count on it!” Dash drawled with a grin, before quickly taking to the safety of the skies.

“I'll let that one slide, just this once,” the grounded pony mused. She stared after the departing pegasus a while, before heading back to her beloved farm.

“Thanks, A.J.” Rainbow Dash whispered gratefully as she steered towards the center of Ponyville. She vowed to herself that she would find some way to repay the mare for all her help, someday soon.

Soaring through the skies and feeling stronger than ever before, Rainbow Dash was sure she could handle whatever the world decided to throw at her. But little did she know of the unspeakable horrors that awaited her at her destination.

Chapter 3: Suit Up Of Destiny

This was going to be a complete waste of time; Rainbow Dash just knew it. She promised Applejack she would ask her other friends for help, too, though. She had to at least make a token effort so she could say that she tried. Having made up her mind, the blue mare quietly nudged open the door to Rarity's boutique and peered inside. “Rarity? You around?” she called halfheartedly, hoping beyond hope that she'd either find the place deserted or so busy that the resident dressmaker wouldn't have time to talk.

She had no such luck.

“Why, Rainbow Dash!” Rarity gushed. She turned out to be both present and suffering through a particularly slow business day. "And coming in through the front door for a change," the unicorn noted, "Usually your entrances tend to be a tad more, shall we say, dynamic?” Although Rarity's flawless, ingratiating smile never faltered, there was no mistaking the slight accusatory tone in that remark. ”But never mind that. Welcome, welcome! To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Rainbow Dash - who realized with a pang of guilt that this probably was the first time she had entered Rarity's shop through conventional means - tried to think of a suitable answer to that question, but drew a complete blank. Why was she here? What was she hoping to accomplish? Her question concerned supersonic flight, not super-fabulous fashion.

Before she even got a chance to throw out a strategically placed 'um' to stall for time, however, Rarity answered for her.

“You must have heard about it, I suppose,” the unicorn concluded cryptically. She let out a deep sigh and her luxurious, well-coiffed mane bounced as she nodded sagely. “Well, I cannot say I did not see this coming. It's hard to keep a monumental accomplishment such as this a secret, of course. I cannot blame you, Rainbow dear; I completely understand you rushing over here right away. You must be ever so thrilled!”

“Yes..” Rainbow Dash bluffed, her curiosity piqued and her quick-witted mind racing. She swiftly called upon her considerable experience in the field of pretending-to-know-what-ponies-were-talking-about. It was a skill she had honed to near-perfection in her Basics of Flight classes, given the fact that she was more interested in the actual flying than the total snoozefest of the underlying theories. “Yes, I'm dying to see the.. thingie?”

Okay, so maybe she was a little rusty.

But Rarity hardly seemed to notice her cerulean customer's confusion; she appeared to be beside herself with pride and anticipation. If she was truly upset by Rainbow Dash's unexpected visit, she didn't show it.

“Come along now, follow me,” Rarity called enthusiastically, leading a bewildered Rainbow Dash to a small room in the back of the shop where she tended to work on her most top-secret projects. “Well, here we are,” she simpered, inclining her horn towards an object hidden beneath a cloth. “Ready for the Pièce de résistance?”

“Sure, ready when you are!” Rainbow Dash said, feigning confidence and trying to conceal the fact that she still had no idea where this was going. It didn't help that she wasn't quite sure what Rarity had just said, having never been to Prance. The unicorn's enthusiasm was proving infectious, however, and Rainbow Dash found herself growing excited despite her ignorance.

“Voila!” Rarity said dramatically as she raised the dark cloth that had been draped over the fruit of her labors with her natural telekinetic powers. She looked at Rainbow Dash expectantly; she always adored the stunned reactions of customers whenever she exceeded their expectations and was all the more eager to please now that the recipient was a close friend.

She was not disappointed.

It took a moment for Rainbow Dash to pick her jaw up off the floor. Even then she was rendered nearly speechless. “Rarity, this is.. this is..” the blue mare stammered, wide-eyed and lost for words.

“Yes, yes?” Rarity demanded happily, “Magnificent? Unparalleled?”

“Soooo AWESOME!” Dash cried instead. But if Rarity was unsatisfied with the other mare's limited vocabulary, the squeal that followed more than made up for it. Before now she had only heard Rainbow Dash produce that noise when the Wonderbolts were present.

But this reaction was inevitable. The equinnequin Rarity had unveiled displayed a flight-suit very similar to those the Wonderbolts wore during their spectacular shows. The talented seamstress' perfectionism showed in the way she had created it to fit Rainbow like a second skin, which would reduce wind resistance to a minimum. And making it far more feminine and shapely, in addition to fine-tuning the colors to be a perfect match to Dash's blue coat? Well, that was just a standard procedure.

The suit was unadorned and practical, befitting of its intended wearer. But on the flank, where Rainbow Dash's cutie mark would be, a rainbow design made of tiny, brightly colored gemstones sparkled.

Finally, the ensemble came with a stylish, streamlined pair of goggles that would protect its wearer's eyes when they were traveling at insane velocities.

Rainbow Dash took in all these little details as she circled Rarity's creation. The grin on her face was so persistent that she feared it would never come off again. “For me? You made this for me? Seriously?” she kept repeating until she finally voiced the question that was burning on her mind: ”What the hay did I do to deserve something like this?”

“What did you do?” Rarity repeated incredulously. She looked solemnly at the other pony. “Why, darling, you saved my life! And after I acted so shamefully.. This really was the least I could do to repay you.”

“Oh, that,” her savior mumbled. Recalling the incident that occurred at the Best Young Flier Competition reminded Rainbow Dash of her actual reason for coming here. “Well, not that I don't totally appreciate it, Rarity, but you really didn't need go out of your way like this. You would've done the same for me,” she said resolutely.

At first, Rarity looked like she wanted to argue, to justify her desire to give something back and explain why she felt indebted to Rainbow Dash. But in the end she acquiesced and smiled gratefully. The blue mare's words, however cliched, had taken a load off her shoulders.

“Well, the suit is yours regardless. I shall not accept 'no' for an answer," Rarity said with an air of finality. "But I still have to put on some finishing touches, so perhaps you can come and pick it up later?”

“Oh, I definitely want the suit!” Rainbow Dash hastily assured her. She felt giddy at the prospect of going flying in it; it would be just another step closer to her greatest ambition.

“Splendid! I would get on it right this instant, but I'm actually expecting Fluttershy to drop by any minute,” Rarity told her. ”We scheduled today for our weekly visit to the spa, you see. Come to think of it.. Well, it is probably pointless to ask, but perhaps you would like to join us, Rainbow Dash? My treat, naturally. We seldom get to talk, you and I, and I would rather like to amend that.”

“I wouldn't mind chatting sometime, Rare. But spas – not really my thing,” Rainbow Dash replied almost immediately.

Neither of them heard the door being gingerly opened.

“I thought you might say that,” Rarity said, and she sounded genuinely disappointed. ”But really, it is not all that bad dear. You can relax and allow yourself to be pampered a little. Maybe even get your mane done!”

Inadvertently, the unicorn glanced at the other mare's shock of unkempt but uniquely prismatic mane. Both barely veiled disapproval and manic eagerness shone in her azure eyes at the sight of so much makeover potential. She couldn't imagine anypony not wanting to fully capitalize on the physical traits that set them apart.

"Naw, I do my own mane."

"Really. How.. quaint," Rarity said with a forced smile, glancing at Rainbow Dash's unevenly cut bangs. "But perhaps a professional might come up with something which would look, erm, cooler?"

“I like it the way it--” Rainbow Dash began.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash is getting her mane done?” a soft voice behind the pegasus said nearly simultaneously.

“I am NOT,” Rainbow Dash said brusquely, growing tired of the subject.

“Eep..”

Rainbow Dash froze. Too late had she realized to whom that other voice belonged. She instantly regretted raising her voice; it couldn't have been aimed at a worse pony. She spun around and, sure enough, there stood Fluttershy looking like she wanted to bolt for the door.

“I was just coming to see Rarity,” Fluttershy said quickly, as though she needed to justify her presence even though she had been expected. “I heard the two of you talking. I'm sorry for eavesdropping. It was impolite of me to do that, and I..”

“Fluttershy, stop. Just stop, okay?” Rainbow Dash interrupted the skittish pony's superfluous apology, while sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof. “I didn't mean.. You have nothing to apologize for.”

“Quite right,” Rarity added reassuringly, just barely stopping Fluttershy from apologizing for being so apologetic. “Lovely of you to drop by, dear! I was just telling Rainbow Dash here about our weekly get-togethers and invited her to come with sometime.”

“That would be fun, I think,” Fluttershy beamed. But when she remembered the blue mare's outburst from earlier her smile faltered. “But I suppose she'd rather not..” Her large, blue eyes darted over to Rainbow Dash; she seemed to be waiting politely to see if her guess hadn't been too presumptuous.

“Well, I--” Rainbow Dash said hesitantly. She frantically tried to come up with a plausible excuse.

Rarity sensed weakness. “Oh please-please-puh-lease?” she whined, beseeching the demurring mare with her hooves clasped together. She kind of ruined her overacting with a conspiratory wink towards Fluttershy though.

“Pretty please.. with a sugar cube on top?” Fluttershy tried, emboldened by her friend's hilariously over-the-top plea. “If you aren't too busy,” she couldn't help but add.

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth, ready to decline again. But when she looked from one mare to the other, both of them looking at her hopefully, she found she could not do it. Rarity was up to something of course, but snubbing someone who had just given her the coolest gift ever seemed extremely ungrateful. And then there was Fluttershy. If Rainbow Dash hadn't known any better she could have sworn she was at the receiving end of one of her infamous Stares, except this one would put every puppy-dog in Equestria to shame. It was obvious that it would make her happy if Rainbow Dash tagged along.

With a sigh, Rainbow realized that resistance was futile.

Hey, how bad could it be?

“This is horrible..” Rainbow Dash gasped. She stared at the disfigured blue mare in the mirror, unable to fathom how she'd ever let anypony do this to her. Each separate strand of color in her mane had been individually braided and the effect was an almost medusian head of short, uneven braids that stood on end. To add insult to injury, each serpentine pig-tail was fitted with a matching bow near the end.

The unlikely trio of of mares were currently in the beauty salon of the spa Rarity and Fluttershy frequented. They'd already enjoyed most of what Rarity would consider 'the usual,' and up to this point even Rainbow Dash hadn't had too much to gripe about. She hadn't seen the point of most of the luxurious treatments lavished on them and they'd gotten a little tedious at times, but they hadn't been unpleasant per se. So most of the day had gone quite smoothly. (Apart from a minor, familiar incident involving cucumber slices.)

When they'd arrived at the salon for a little preening however, Rarity had told the beautician present that her services would not be required today. Since she was one of their best customers the spa staff readily agreed with Rarity's every whim, even when she requested that they be allowed to use the facilities present to give each other makeovers.

And by 'each other,' she had of course meant 'Rainbow Dash.'

“Not to worry, not to worry,” Rarity consoled the distraught pony, although she sounded a little frantic herself. “Just an experiment gone a teensy bit wrong. I can fix this..” She'd never encountered a pony whose mane and tail she couldn't make at least 20% more fabulous with a few simple modifications. But Rainbow Dash's mane wasn't merely unruly, it seemed to actively resist the unicorn's fevered attempts to tame it.

“Just have to put this.. there, and.. oh, it is hopeless!” Rarity cried. She looked about ready to tear out her own mane. ”Fluttershy, a little assistance if you please?”

“Oh, anything I can do to help Rarity,” Fluttershy said. She beamed encouragingly at Rainbow Dash, who shot her a pleading look in return.

“Scalpel,” Rarity demanded. She did not look away from her 'patient,' intently focused on the disastrous 'do before her.

“S-scalpel,” Fluttershy repeated haltingly as she took the sharp instrument in question very carefully into her mouth and passed it to Rarity. She looked a bit concerned about what the unicorn was planning to do with it, and she was not the only one.

Rainbow Dash, who had been secured to a hairdresser's chair, was frantically shaking her head. (This whole scene was disturbingly reminiscent of a nightmare she once had, albeit one featuring another pony wielding the knife.)

“Hold still, dear,” Rarity said intently. Droplets of sweat ran down her forehead as she carefully manipulated the floating scalpel with her magic, but they were dutifully wiped off by Fluttershy.

With a few expert incisions Rarity managed to cut all the bows and ribbons she'd tied into Rainbow's mane, all of which had gotten hopelessly tangled. “Blowdryer, stat!” she urged immediately afterwards. Fluttershy hastened to oblige. Requests for combs, brushes, and several kinds of extremely fixating hair gel followed in rapid succession, which Fluttershy all obediently provided. After nearly an hour an exhausted-looking Rarity stepped back and admired her hoof-work. “There. An avant-garde variation on the classic pixie-mane, with a certain wild nonchalance,” she explained. ”A style perfectly suited for you, darling. If I do say so myself..”

“Lemme see, lemme see!” Rainbow Dash said, scrambling out of the chair for a chance at seeing herself in one of the salon's many mirrors. She dreaded the sight of whatever posh manestyle Rarity had foisted upon her. When she glanced at her reflection, however, Rainbow Dash did a double take. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were wide. “This.. This looks..” she stammered, while Rarity looked on with confident pride. “This looks exactly the same!” she finally blurted out, sounding both relieved and incredulous. And indeed one would be hard-pressed to point out any significant difference between the before and the after.

“No no no,” Rarity said with a frown. “It's clearly more elegant, more refined now,” she insisted. ”I spent minutes painstakingly arranging each individual lock, to make it look appropriately chaotic and I-don't-care-ish!”

“Well I think it looks great on you,” Fluttershy told Rainbow Dash with a smile.

“You're.. not really having a good time, are you?” Fluttershy asked sympathetically. The glum expression on Rainbow Dash's face made her question extremely rhetorical.

After the debacle with Rainbow Dash's makeover, Rarity, who was still upset that her 'brilliant re-imagining' of Rainbow Dash's manestyle had garnered only lukewarm praise, had briefly excused herself to visit the Little Fillies' Room.

The two remaining ponies had moved into the hot tub and it had taken every ounce of restraint from Rainbow Dash's side not to do a cannonball into it. She was beginning to feel rather restless after all this fussing and fawning. Instead she settled for a few languid laps around the large tub, paddling her hind legs whilst floating on her back. Fluttershy was content to occupy a small spot near the edge, where she relaxed while balancing the heavy towel wrapped around her mane.

She wasn't much of a swimmer, after all.

“Naw, it's alright - I'm having fun!” Rainbow Dash replied, making sure to contort her face into a depressingly unconvincing grin.

But Fluttershy just smiled and looked at her serenely, until Rainbow Dash caved and dropped the act. “Oh alright, so it's not really my idea of a great afternoon,” the blue mare admitted with a sigh. She stopped swimming around and settled on the opposite end of the tub, spreading her wings to let them drip-dry.

“It was very nice of you to give it a try though,” Fluttershy said soothingly. “Rarity might be a little, um, overzealous sometimes, but she means well.”

“You two are really good friends, aren't you?” Rainbow Dash responded, trying to keep her tone conversational and only vaguely interested. She was looking intently at Fluttershy however.

Fluttershy was taken slightly off guard by this abrupt change of subject, but nodded and smiled happily. “Oh yes, we spend lots of time together! And she's always there for me. She really is a great friend.”

“That's nice,” Rainbow Dash said tersely. She wondered at her own tone. What the hay was wrong with her? Surely she wasn't jealous of the closeness between Rarity and Fluttershy; envious of the fact that they spent more time together than she and the other pegasus ever did? That was ridiculous. Her own choices were to blame for that.

Quickly, Rainbow Dash dunked her head underwater to cool off a little and clear her obviously muddled brain. When she resurfaced Fluttershy was looking at her with a mixture of puzzlement and.. something else.

Amusement? No.
Pity? Naw.
Affection? Now that was just wishful thinking.

Rainbow Dash gave up. She couldn't figure it out; she sucked at this. Why did it have to be so complicated? Once again she found herself wishing everypony came with a manual containing detailed instructions on how to interpret the subtle signals and all the hints between the lines. She'd been pining for this sadly nonexistent reference guide ever since her teens, when hormones had started raging and she'd found that being a filly herself gave her absolutely no priviliged insight into the wiles and intricacies of her female peers. They'd all been too busy inexplicably swooning over colts, anyway. Always asking her if so-and-so had said anything about them; information they'd imagined Rainbow Dash was privy to since she'd spent so much time hanging out with the boys that she was practically considered one of them.

“Snap out of it,” she told herself.

“Um.. excuse me?” Fluttershy said, politely pretending like she hadn't just heard Rainbow Dash talking to herself aloud.

“N-nothing,” the flustered blue mare responded. “Just got a little woozy from all this steam is all. Had to, you know, snap out of it.”

Egads, why was she so lame?

“Yes, it can make you a little.. light-headed, can't it?” Fluttershy said, considerately going along with Rainbow Dash's rather flimsy fabrication. She was biting her lower lip for some reason, and tilted her head cutely as their eyes met. Usually, in keeping with her name, Fluttershy couldn't abide more than a few seconds of eye contact with others and would quickly look away. But this time she endured it and their eyes remained locked. Somehow, between those overlarge orbs of sparkling pink and blue, more was being communicated than their clumsy words could ever hope to convey.

It was hard to tell in this moistness and heat, but were Fluttershy's pale cheeks flushed a bit more than before? Or was Rainbow Dash just imagining things? She gulped and blinked her eyes a few times, clearing them of the water that dripped from her soggy mane. Which clung rather unattractively to her head, she realized, in a surprising moment of self-consciousness.

“H-hey Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash began, trying to sound casual but failing from the get-go. To make matters worse, she had no clue where she was going to take the vacuous, off-hoofed question. What was going on here? Why was she suddenly the shy, stuttering, awkward one?

“Yes?”

“You know.. Um..”

“... Yes?”

“Ah, here you are girls!” Rarity said, bursting into the bathroom with a flourish. She was wearing a gorgeous, homemade bathrobe with her cutie mark stitched into the back. A matching white towel was wrapped around her head so as to protect her precious mane from the humid atmosphere. “Terribly sorry to have kept you two waiting, but there was a line like you would not believe.”

“Oh, that must've been annoying..” Fluttershy sympathized graciously.

“Extremely annoying..” Rainbow Dash concurred through gritted teeth.

Chapter 4: Chekhov's Filly

Cumulopolis: the cloud capital of Equestria. Its spectacular skyline of fluffy spacescrapers, towering high into the stratosphere, was said to rival even that of Manehattan. Thousands of pegasus ponies lived their lives there, barely concerning themselves with the goings-on on terra firma. Those numbers only swelled now that the day of the Pegalympics had finally arrived; pegasi from every corner of Equestria were pouring into the great sky-city, all of them eager to see the greatest pony athletes test their mettle.

It was all a bit overwhelming for Rainbow Dash. The scale and grandeur of the city and the sheer size of the crowd were intimidating, and she constantly had to keep reminding herself that she was The Great Rainbow Dash, the Fastest Pegasus Ever Born, lest she accidentally started feeling small and insignificant in the midst of it all. For all her bravado, she never imagined she'd make it here this soon. No one had told her that being Best Young Flier automatically qualified her for the Pegalympics.

But here she was, in the Icarus Stadium; a fitting venue for the most prestigious athletic competition known to pegasuskind. The ancient, roofless and circular cloud-structure was reminiscent of the stadium in Cloudsdale, only much, much more massive. A huge pit of blue sky gaped in the very center, around which ran the racing track. Rows upon rows of towering cloud-bleachers rose above the central arena, and flat, stationary cloud-platforms, hovering directly above, served as cushy VIP seats.

There were many events Rainbow Dash could have chosen to compete in: ball lightning-ball, hailstone put, skydiving, cloudboarding, synchronous flying – the list seemed endless. But the event she had signed up for was the most infamous of all: the Mareathon. A historic, mares-only endurance race notorious for its grueling, nearly inequine length. Usually only about half the ponies that showed up at the starting line ever made it to the finish. The fact that the first half of the race was on hoof - a sore trial for skydwellers who relied overmuch on their wings - was usually blamed for this.

Normally, she wouldn't even have considered such a trial and would have preferred something involving her usual aerial acrobatics. But she had been invited to participate in this event in particular by none other than Spitfire of the Wonderbolts, during the single day she'd gotten to spend with them.

The famous stuntpony had casually mentioned winning several editions of the Mareathon in a row, and had hinted that she was looking forward to - as she had put it - some actual competition. Rainbow Dash doubted this was the whole story, though. No one knew, after all, how the Wonderbolts selected those worthy of joining their ranks. Was she being put to the test?

But whatever the flame-maned mare's true motivations were, Rainbow Dash had been officially challenged. By one of her idols, no less. How could she have possibly refused?

Rainbow Dash was, of course, wearing the gear Rarity made for her. It turned out to be supremely comfortable and made her feel like a million bits. The goggles sat on her forehead, ready for when she'd need them, and the rainbow of gems on her flank shone brilliantly in the bright sun.

Despite having the proper attire, Rainbow Dash still felt antsy as she stood in the long line of proud pegasi who would be competing in the first event. She tried to stand still and face the cheering masses like the rest of them, but couldn't keep from constantly shifting her weight from one hoof to the other. She could have sworn she could actually feel the obscene amount of gazes resting on her, like pin-pricks on her skin. It made her coat stand on end. The thought of screwing anything up in front of a crowd this large was almost paralyzing.

The restless blue pony shot a glance at Spitfire, curious to see how she was coping. But of course, being used to such an audience, the older mare looked completely calm and focused. When she caught Rainbow Dash looking, she even gave her young rival a playful wink.

Rainbow Dash hoped that, one day, she could be as nonchalant under this amount of scrutiny.

Together with the audience the two mares watched the spectacular opening ceremony, which culminated in Celestia herself setting ablaze a great cauldron, which would burn until the end of the Pegalympics. With the ceremony concluded and the long-winded speech of the city's mayor drawn to an end, the torturous wait was finally over. Only those who would participate in the first event remained. There were still some preparations underway, but the ponies participating in the Mareathon, including Rainbow Dash, made their way over to the starting line regardless.

Rainbow Dash used what time was left before the start of the race to stretch her legs and gallop in place, trying to warm up. Thanks to Applejack's unorthodox training methods, she was confident she could survive the exhausting first leg of the race, at least. Well, that and the combined cooking of Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Twilight Sparkle. Together these three had stuffed so many carbohydrates into the blue mare that she feared she'd never want to see another plate of pasta ever again.

Thinking of her friends, Rainbow Dash scanned the crowd. Even though she had a vague idea where they were seated, finding a small band of ponies in such a bewildering sea of colors was no easy task. As she skimmed over the throngs of ponies, the blue mare suddenly thought of something Pinkie Pie had told her and laughed. The laughter itself proved to have a curious, relaxing effect: it made her feel a lot less daunted by the presence of so many other ponies.

Still smiling, Rainbow Dash tried to remember exactly what Pinkie said. If she recalled correctly, she had just survived that impromptu visit to the spa. Which, as was to be expected, hadn't gone all that well..

“Well, that was unproductive,” Rainbow Dash muttered. She very much doubted that her neat, pedicured hooves and carefully brushed blue coat would help her master supersonic flight any time soon.

The pegasus found herself alone again, still loitering outside of the spa after parting with both Rarity and Fluttershy. The former had wanted to get back to her boutique in hopes of some last-minute sales, whereas the latter had been in a hurry to get back to her cottage. A number of animals in her care would get really cranky if they didn't get something to eat soon, according to Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash could relate to that.

She had been sad to see Fluttershy go. So much was still left unsaid. But Rainbow Dash knew they wouldn't be able to drag the words out, now, anyway. The delicate little moment between them had burst like a bubble the instant Rarity had interrupted them, and regrettably it could not be recreated on demand. You can't force these things, after all. Especially not with a pony like Fluttershy. Or herself, for that matter.

Ah well, there would be other moments alone together.

First things first, though. She still had two ponies left on her to-visit list: Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie. An egghead and a cloudcuckoolander. Great.

While Rainbow Dash debated with herself, trying to decide which of these two unlikely advisers to look up first, however, her train of thought was interrupted by a strange buzzing noise that swiftly grew louder. At first, it had been almost imperceptible; there was a fountain in the small square in front of the spa, and the white noise of its falling water drowned out most other sounds. But now it was unmistakable.

Suddenly, a young, helmeted pegasus sailed around the corner. She rode a scooter which she was powering with her small wings, whose rapid oscillations turned out to be the source of the motor-like buzzing noise. When she spotted the older pony, the filly screeched to a halt.

“Ohmigosh!” Scootaloo said breathlessly, “Rainbow Dash! Hi!”

“Oh, hey kiddo,” Rainbow Dash said distractedly. She rather liked the amber filly; the blank-flank reminded Rainbow Dash a lot of herself. But at the moment, she had other things on her mind and quietly hoped the young pony wouldn't stick around too long.

“Whatcha doing?” Scootaloo asked inquisitively. She hopped off her scooter and beamed at Rainbow Dash; it wasn't often that she ran into her idol on the streets. Rainbow Dash tended to spend most of her time in the skies above Ponyville, a domain still frustratingly out of the filly's reach.

“Nothing much,” Rainbow Dash replied candidly. She regretted this almost immediately.

“Cool!” Scootaloo said eagerly. “Can I help?”

“Help with.. nothing?” Rainbow Dash blinked.

“Uh.. right,” Scootaloo said sheepishly, though she still looked hopeful that she could find some way to be of assistance. Or anything else that would let her spend time with Rainbow Dash.

“And what are you doing? Shouldn't you be, like, in school or something?”

Now it was Scootaloo's turn to blink. “It's Saturday.”

“Uh.. right,” Rainbow Dash said sheepishly, getting a sense of deja vu. “Well anyway, whatever it is you were doing, you'd best be, you know, getting back to it. 'Cause I've got stuff to do..”

“Oh me? I'm looking for Pinkie Pie!” Scootaloo explained, apparently misinterpreting the mare's dismissal as a question. “'Cause me and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are planning on being Cutie Mark Crusaders Ice-Skaters today and we heard that Pinkie is really good at skating. So Apple Bloom told me: 'Y'all go look for her, Scootaloo! You're the fastest.' And so I did, 'cause I totally am. But then I ran into you and I kinda forgot, but now I remembered!”

Rainbow Dash hesitated. She really should know better, but she had to ask: “Ice-skating?”

“Uh-huh,” Scootaloo confirmed. She didn't appear to see a problem with their choice of activity.

“But it's.. not even fall yet. And not freezing. At all.”

“Well yeah,” Scootaloo said with a slight duh-I-knew-that tone. “That's why Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are looking for about a million ice cubes,” she explained calmly. ”Wait, did I mention that? 'Cause that's their mission. We figured we'd need about that many to freeze the lake.”

Rainbow Dash, realizing the futility of this discussion, simply nodded. “Of course! Ice cubes!” she said smoothly. ”Yeah, a million ought to be.. enough.” She idly wondered how the others ever mustered the patience needed to deal with all three of these hyperactive fillies at the same time. It occured to her that maybe Scootaloo's presence wasn't entirely inconvenient, however. Maybe the filly could save her a little time. “I'm actually looking for Pinkie, too," she told her. "Did you happen to swing by Sugar Cube Corner, yet?”

“I did, but Mr. and Mrs. Cake said she had the day off and that they didn't know where she went.”

“Figures,” Rainbow Dash sighed. “Pinkie is so random; she really only shows up whenever you least--”

“Hiiiiii guys!” Pinkie Pie said, right on cue. She was, of course, standing directly behind the pair of pegasi, giving them both quite a start. “Whatcha doing?”

“Looking for you,” Rainbow Dash snapped, glaring at the unpredictable pony after she'd regained her composure.

“Whelp, looks like you found me then!” Pinkie Pie beamed, giving no indication that she had actually intended to startle the two other ponies.

“Pinkie Pie! The Cutie Mark Crusaders need your help!” Scootaloo said, immediately hijacking the conversation. “We want you to teach us how to ice-skate. It might be our special talent! And it sounds kinda cool, anyway.”

“Oh, it's super duper cool!” Pinkie exclaimed, spreading her forelegs wide to indicate the exact extent of its coolness. “Except there's a small problem,” she added, dropping her limbs back to her sides and furrowing her brow.

Here it comes, Rainbow Dash thought to herself. She wondered how Pinkie was going to break the news. The trio's plan contained a rather fatal flaw, after all.

“Where are we going to get a million ice cubes?” Pinkie Pie said seriously.

“We've totally got that covered,” Scootaloo assured her.

Rainbow Dash felt like she had to lie down for a bit.

“Alrighty then! Meet me at Horseshoe Lake tomorrow and I'll show you guys the ropes! And after that, maybe I can teach you how to skate, too! And what about you Dashie? Did you want skating lessons, too?"

“No! No.. I just wanted.. Well, I wanted to ask you..” Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. Here went nothing. “I was thinking that maybe you could help me, Pinkie. I'm having trouble pulling off the Rainboom, and I really need to be able to do it at the Pegalympics. If there's anything you know that could help, well, I'd love to hear it..”

“Oh is that all?” Pinkie Pie laughed. “Well, I've seen you do it once; well, okay, twice maybe; but the first time I didn't really know what it was; but anyway, where was I? Oh yeah! Rainboom, duh. It was still the most awesomest thing EVER, by the way. But it looked like you were having trouble with your flying before. Prolly 'cause you were all trembly and fetal-position-y! You should work on getting rid of those nerves before a big event with lotsa ponies or you'll never be able to fly your best. I know how you feel Dashie; I mean, I give a lot of speeches at parties and that used to scare the pants off of me! Even when I wasn't wearing any!”

Rainbow Dash blinked. The fact that Pinkie Pie had managed to answer such an out-of-the-blue question with casual ease surprised her. It took her brain a moment to decipher the reply, with all of its tangents and heavy doses of Pinkie-speak. When it had finished, Rainbow Dash realized that Pinkie had hit the nail right on the head. Stage-fright had been the cause of her lackluster performance.

“Uh.. That's.. Thank you, Pinkie! That's actually a pretty good place to start,” she said, “Any idea on how to fix that, though?”

“Hmmm..” Pinkie Pie pondered, scratching her poofy mane. “Oh! I know! You could imagine that the entire crowd is naked,” she suggested with a fillyish giggle. “Then you can laugh at them, and a laugh is the easiest way to get rid of those mean ol' party-pooping nerves!”

“.. Pinkie?”

“Hm?”

“They're gonna be naked. We're naked.”

Pinkie Pie looked down at herself, then carefully studied Rainbow Dash. “Oh! Right. Silly me, haha!”

“Adults are weird,” Scootaloo observed, looking from one mare to the other and wondering if they even still realized she was there.

“You could also imagine they're all wearing, I dunno, funny hats or something,” Pinkie amended her advice, completely unfazed by the doubtful looks the other mare and the filly were giving her. “But the most important thing is that you believe in yourself.”

Too late, Rainbow Dash recognized the meaningful tone in which Pinkie had said these last few words. By the time the penny had dropped, the pink pony had already sucked up a lungful of air and jumped atop the edge of the fountain. It served as a makeshift stage as Pinkie began to sing:

“The tale she was most fond of -
my dear old granny Pie -
was of the humble bumblebee
and how it could not fly!

'Cause, you see, still fly it did!
The skeptics it ignored.
It spread its tiny, clumsy wings;
ma-jes-ti-cal-ly soared!”

“Does she do this a lot?” Scootaloo said, looking rather dismayed. She wasn't used to ponies randomly bursting into song like this. The bemused filly watched as the roseate mare hopped down from her perch, frantically flapping her forelegs like wings.

“Only every other day or so,” Rainbow Dash said drily, as Pinkie continued undeterred:

“So just believe in yourself
and let them all say nay!
Just take ol' Pinkie's words to heart:
each pony has its day!

For on the gray old rock farm
in days of yesteryear,
they said: “A party cannot last
forever, Pinkie dear!”

But I believed in myself
and let the whiners wail.
'Cause brimming full of confidence,
well, you will never fail!

When you believe in yourself,
then pony, what the hay!
You'll beat the odds, and show them all.
No matter what they say!”

Panting, and with her forelegs splayed wide above her head, Pinkie finished her song. She looked expectantly at Rainbow Dash.

“Thanks, Pinkie. I'll be sure to keep that in mind,” Rainbow Dash said.

"You're welcome!" Pinkie Pie said, oblivious to the sarcasm.

Scootaloo, eager to escape the assault on her poor ears, had hastily said goodbye somewhere around the third couplet. Probably to report the success of her mission back to her fellow crusaders and aid in the “borrowing” of Celestia-knows-how-many ice cubes, Rainbow Dash thought.

“But you know who we should really go talk to?” Pinkie said.

“Applejack, yeah. I've already been to see her though, and..”

“No, silly-filly! Twilight of course!”

“Yeah, 'cause she's totally my go-to pony for all matters athletic..”

“But she's sooo smart!”

“She's a dork, yes. What's your point?”

“A dork whooped your flank during the Running of the Leaves?”

“That wasn't--” Dash began angrily, until she realized that she should have learned not to underestimate Twilight despite her lacking physical prowess. “Alright, alright. Well played,” she sighed.”Let's go.”

“Yay!”

Rainbow Dash had finally found her friends amidst the countless other ponies gathered to watch the race. It had actually been easier to spot them than she'd expected; they were drawing quite a bit of attention to themselves. The pegasi here didn't see a lot of unicorns and earth ponies, to begin with. Usually there was no way for them to get around, without plummeting straight through the city's vaporous surface. But Twilight's handy little cloud-walking spell took care of that, and her air balloon had safely carried them all here, even to these elevations.

The blue mare's little group of supporters didn't stop standing out there, though: all of them were sporting rainbow-colored face-paint (or make-up, in Rarity's case). Applejack, who got plenty of practice at rodeos, was cheering louder than anypony else in the entire stadium, with plenty of yee-haws thrown in for good measure. Pinkie Pie had somehow acquired a complete Cloudsdale High cheerleader get-up, including pom-poms. These she waved enthusiastically while she came up with one embarrassing cheer after another. Fluttershy was being overshadowed by her peers as always, but looked quite cheerful and waved a little rainbow flag. Spike looked mostly preoccupied with the diverse pile of snacks he had brought along. Twilight Sparkle, lastly, had clearly only read about the Pegalympics and seemed to be having trouble taking it all in.

Rainbow Dash waved and felt a surge of affection for her friends as they jumped up and down for her and called her name. It was impossible to hear, but she was sure she saw Fluttershy break out a little 'yay!' It wasn't much, but hey, she'd settle for it.

Focusing on Twilight - who was still looking around with foallike wonder - the blue mare wondered how a pony could be both so knowledgeable and yet so naive at the same time. She tried to remember all the advice the purple pony had given her. She'd certainly given Rainbow Dash quite a few things to chew on when she had dropped by a few weeks ago - both literally and figuratively.

“Okay, so let me get this straight, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said. She was sitting at the table in the Ponyville Library along with Pinkie Pie. The pegasus had trouble concentrating since Pinkie was sitting right next to her, noisily wolfing down various deserts. In the background, Spike's jaws crunched away happily at a smorgasbord of sapphires. “What you're saying is that all ponies have magical powers?” Rainbow Dash managed to finish her sentence. She cocked her head quizzically.

Despite her initial misgivings, Rainbow Dash had been convinced, by Pinkie's irrefutable arguments, to drop by Twilight's home and ask her for advice. To their surprise, the purple unicorn had immediately invited them in for dinner.

As it turned out, the magical mare, ever eager to learn, had picked up cooking and baking as potential new hobbies to pursue. A constellation of pots, ingredients, and utensils was floating around the room, lazily revolving around the wannabe-chef. There was a huge, precarious stack of recipe-books teetering on the floor and, in typical Twilight-fashion, she seemed to be going through them alphabetically rather than attempting to create any kind of logical procession of courses. The upside to this was, of course, that there was plenty for a famished pony to choose from.

Twilight, for her part, seemed delighted to have someone other than Spike around to sample her culinary creations; after all, he was omnivorous and considered virtually everything edible. (Except for her pound cake. According to him, he'd eaten diamonds less dense.) The arrival of two additional dinner-guests-slash-test-subjects really couldn't have been more timely, even if one of them constantly peppered her with questions.

“That's correct, Rainbow Dash,” she said patiently, as she poured her guinea pigs some fresh water and had a floating quill tick off a step of the current recipe at the same time. The spike of mystical ivory on her head lit up even more as she made a spherical bubble of water boil in mid-air, before directing it into a pot. “At least, that's what my recent research on the nature of pony magic shows.”

“So, if I wanted, I could chop celery and totally overcook it with the power of my mind, too?”

“That was an accident. And I'm sorry but I'm afraid it doesn't work like that..”

“These carrots are really good, by the way.”

“Gee, thanks! I wasn't sure if I got the right amount of caramelization, but--”

“I don't get it though.”

“The carrots?”

“No, the magic thing.”

Twilight Sparkle ran a hoof over her face and took a deep breath. The objects orbiting her slowly settled back down onto the floor as her concentration waned. “It's like this, Rainbow Dash: all of us ponies are descendants of alicorns such as Princess Celestia. As you know, these are immensely magical and immortal equines--”

“Uh, yeah, I knew that..” Rainbow Dash lied.

”But each of us are born with only a part of that ancient magic,” Twilight pressed on. ”Unicorns like myself, because we have a horn to use as a focal point, can use our magic directly and specifically.”

“Like I said: you guys got all the cool powers,” Rainbow said sulkily. She was repeating a statement she had made earlier, which had sparked this entire discussion.

“Sort of,” Twilight admitted a bit apprehensively. “But what earth ponies can do is pretty neat, too! Though their form of magic is still poorly understood. I don't quite get how it works myself, but all the books I've read suggest that wherever earth ponies dwell they affect the world around them. As though they form a bond with the land.”

“Applejack does get really buddy-buddy with her trees,” Rainbow Dash said, remembering Bloomberg.

“Sort of like that, yeah. They are very attuned to their environment. Sometimes, apparently, to the point where they can somehow feel things coming within it.” Twilight paused to shoot a glance at Pinkie Pie, who, at the moment, seemed much more attuned to a stack of pancakes. ”But anyway,” she continued, ”If it weren't for the earth ponies, Ponyville would just be another part of the Everfree Forest.”

“How can you say that, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash said, disturbed by the suggestion. “Ponyville could never be like that freaky place. You've been there!”

“Obviously. But bizarre as it may sound, Rainbow Dash, I think the Everfree Forest is how the world actually is. How it's supposed to be. Without ponies around, I mean. Plants pollinating plentifully wherever they please, animals all fiercely feral and ferocious, and the climate completely chaotic; occasionally cataclysmic!”

“Do you have to do that?” Rainbow Dash had to ask. She wondered if Twilight was at all aware of her apparent addiction to alliteration.

“Do what?”

“Huh. Never mind.”

Twilight Sparkle looked confused. “Uh, anyway.. My point is: it is a wild, savage place. But when earth ponies settle somewhere things gradually change. The land becomes more fertile, animals increasingly domesticated and docile, and the climate temperate and calm.”

"Hang on," Rainbow Dash objected, "Me and the rest of the Weather Patrol are the ones who control the climate."

"No, you manufacture the weather," Twilight corrected her, "Since you can manipulate the clouds. But without earth ponies around the weather would be creating itself autonomously, and you'd probably find it very hard to keep in check."

“I don't know, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said. The blue mare was beginning to feel a bit out of her depth, and all the big words and subtle nuances the bookish unicorn was throwing at her weren't helping. “How can you know all of this? Things have been like this in Ponyville for as long as anypony can remember.”

“Well, remember Appleloosa?” Twilight replied, ”That was a frontier town, a recent settlement, and yet Applejack's relatives already had a huge, fruitful orchard growing there. In the middle of a desert. If agriculture was naturally possible in that environment, how come the bison were still living as grazing nomads after all these centuries?”

“Wow, that's super interesting, Twilight!” Pinkie contributed. The pink mare had seemed insatiable and focused solely on the food, before now. She'd stopped stuffing her face however, listening to Twilight with a rapturous look on her face and her chin propped up on her hooves.

“Yeah, totally riveting. It even woke me up once or twice,” Rainbow said flatly.

“You know, I don't know why you're bothering to ask me questions if you're just going to disparage me for trying to answer thoroughly,” Twilight huffed.

“Sorry Twilight. You're right,” Rainbow Dash sighed. “It's just, this is all really fascinating and all – and I mean that, honest - but I just don't see how it helps me at all.”

“I was getting to that! We haven't even talked about pegasi yet.”

“Alright. Don't let me stop you.”

“Thank you,” Twilight Sparkle nodded. ”Where was I? Right, pegasus ponies. Well, that one's really obvious. You guys can fly!”

Rainbow Dash waited silently for a few moments, but when no additional exposition seemed to be forthcoming she threw up her hooves in frustration and disbelief. “But that's not magic!”

“Of course it is,” Twilight said. She had that confused look again.

“You ever notice these?” Rainbow Dash said. She spread her wings to illustrate her point.

“I have,” Twilight said simply, glossing over the sarcasm. ”But did you ever stop to think that it should be physically impossible for you to generate enough lift for flight, with wings as puny as those?”

“Did you.. did you just call my wings puny?” Rainbow Dash said. She sounded deeply offended and glared at Twilight with smoldering eyes.

“N-no, they're.. great!” the unicorn hastily backtrotted; she clearly hadn't intended to be insulting. “What I meant to say was: if you look at the birds indigenous to this area, you'll notice that they're - literally - featherweights. And their wingspans are proportionally much larger than yours.”

“So?”

“Well, you weigh about as much as Pinkie, don't you?”

“Not at the moment, I think..”

The gluttonous party-pony had, indeed, devoured so much pudding, ice-cream and other treats, at this point, that one wondered how she was still able to move. She was following the back-and-forth discussion between the two other ponies as though she were watching a tennis match, and grinned at them when they looked at her dubiously.

“Riiight," Twilight said, "Probably not. But, erm, under normal circumstances?”

“Yeah, sure. I guess," Rainbow Dash said dismissively. She couldn't really argue there. "Why?”

“The point is that you aren't any lighter or smaller than us unicorns or earth ponies. Birds are relatively small, and even have hollow bones to keep their weight down. Yet pegasus ponies can fly around at higher speeds than any bird, without going through all that trouble. In fact, they can have their fall broken by a swarm of butterflies, apparently, or casually stroll about on clouds like they're nearly weightless!”

Rainbow Dash needed a moment or two to digest all this. She felt like Twilight was on to something, but the preceding slight about her wings made her reluctant to concede too quickly. “So.. wait, you're saying my wings are just there for decoration? Then what the hay have I been training my flank off for?”

“No Rainbow Dash, I'm saying your wings are like my horn: they allow you to instinctively use some form of magic that allows you to fly with them. It's obvious there's physical activity involved, otherwise you wouldn't have to move them at all. But all the flapping in Equestria wouldn't help if you weren't able to affect gravity or disregard a few fundamental laws of nature somehow. At least, that's what I think.”

"If that's true," Rainbow Dash said doubtfully, "I should be able to do the Rainboom every time, no sweat. In fact, every pegasus should be able to do it. What gives?"

“Hmm, well," Twilight said, "Unicorns clearly don't all have the same magical potential, so I'm guessing the same goes for other types of ponies. You are probably the fastest pegasus I've ever seen--”

“Probably?” Rainbow Dash protested.

“-you are the fastest pegasus I've ever seen, but-”

“There are no buts about it!”

“Would you let me finish?” Twilight snapped.

“Sorry. Go ahead.”

“But.. you can't expect to be able to do something as extreme as the Rainboom consistently without a better understanding of your abilities."

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "How can I understand something when nopony even knows how it works?"

Twilight smiled sympathetically and touched Rainbow Dash's shoulder. "Look, believe it or not, I understand your frustration. When I took my entrance exam for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, my magic was still very flaky. I couldn't even do the simple, stupid magic tricks I'd done a million times before. I felt like I was under so much pressure; my whole future was riding on the outcome and those examinators were constantly frowning and scribbling away at their notepads.."

"But you pulled it off, right? Turned them all into potted plants, if I remember right," Rainbow Dash said approvingly. She'd have given anything for the ability to turn her teachers into houseplants, back when she attended Flight School.

"Not all of them," Twilight said, looking a bit embarrassed. "And it was the wave of magical energy from your first Rainboom, washing over me, that awoke my latent abilities. It was exactly the little push I needed."

"So, you think that--"

"Maybe all you need is a little push, too," Twilight interrupted. She smirked, enjoying Rainbow Dash's expression now that she experienced first-hoof how annoying that could be. "Though I have to add: I've been studying magic for years now and I still can't fully control it."

"I don't have years, Twilight," Rainbow Dash said. She tried not to sound too impatient.

"Well, we can try to figure out the first step," Twilight said soothingly. "Both occasions where you pulled off the Rainboom were pretty extraordinary, right? We should probably take a closer look at those--”

“--and figure out what made it work then!” Rainbow Dash realized. “That's brilliant, Twilight!”

“Thanks,” Twilight sighed. “But will I ever be able to complete a sentence, I wonder?”

“Oh! Oh! I know this one!” Pinkie said, sticking up a hoof as if she were in class. “The last time she went all rainboomy was 'cause if Dashie hadn't gone that fast, Rarity and those other guys would've been pony pancakes!” The pink mare made a rather graphic 'splat' noise while she pantomimed something falling and flattening on the ground. ”So I guess we should go get your balloon, Twilight, and then I can jump out of it, and then..”

“Let's.. let's not do that,” Twilight gulped.

Rainbow Dash hastily agreed.

“Aww.. but I like pancakes,” Pinkie pouted.

“Pinkie has a point though,” Rainbow Dash considered. “When I saw that they were in danger I didn't even think about whether or not I'd make it. I had to make it.”

“But the circumstances weren't quite that extreme the very first time, right?” Twilight asked, trying to recall all the details of the blue mare's cutie-mark origin story.

Rainbow shook her head. “Naw, I just wanted to win really bad.”

“Strange,” Twilight said. “Almost as if it was easier for you when you were younger.”

“Um, Dashie, didn't you also mention something about having to “defend Fluttershy's honor,” or something adorkable like that?” Pinkie Pie teased.

“Yeah..” the blue mare said reluctantly. She'd intentionally left out that embarrassing little detail. “Yeah, there was that, too.”

“So essentially you were still trying to protect a friend,” Twilight said with a smile.

“Yeah. A friend..” Rainbow Dash said evasively. ”That's pretty useless though, if that's the secret behind it.”

“I don't think it's that specific,” Twilight reassured her. “This is just a hypothesis, mind you, but I think what you have in spades is confidence. And in life-or-death situations you generally don't even think about what needs to be done, you just do it. What it seems to all boil down to is that, in order to pull off something as blatantly impossible as the Rainboom, you need to actually believe you can do it first. That seems to be the key!”

Rainbow Dash considered this advice. It sounded awfully familiar somehow..

“Just believe in yourself, Rainbow Dash!” the unicorn repeated firmly.

“Hey!” Pinkie Pie said indignantly. “That's what I said!”

Every fiber of Rainbow's body was tense, like a drawn bow, waiting for an electrical signal to pulse from her brain as soon as her eyes registered the wave of the checkered flag. In this moment that flag was all that existed; the rest of the world was being filtered out by her faculties.

"Ready?" the attractive, white pegasus model who carried the flag began. She got only intense stares for an answer. Even the crowd was completely hushed.

"Seeeeet..." she continued, annoyingly stretching out the word. Wings were being revved in anticipation, ready to give their owners a little starting boost. Hooves scraped and stamped impatiently on the surface of the track.

"GO!"

Chapter 5: Epic Hail

Rainbow Dash felt like she was in a trance.

The Mareathon was by far the most punishing thing she had ever subjected her body to. To make matters worse, the air was much thinner at this altitude. Under these conditions her body struggled to maintain even the most basic functions of life, although the pain that had been building in her overexerted muscles and lungs had faded as sweet endorphins began to course through her veins.

All she saw was the flank of the pony in front of her; the rest of the world was blurry and vague. Her heart, pounding steadily but rapidly, was the only thing she could hear clearly. Even her desperate breathing, which had settled into a continuous sequence of gasps, matched the thumping beat laid down by the straining muscle in her chest. She galloped on in time with this natural rhythm, her lean muscles flexing beneath her bright blue coat.

The pegasus mare felt detached from the world. She still inhabited her own body, but with her senses dulled and her entire being consumed by the monumental task of putting one hoof in front of the other it was as if her conscious mind was just tagging along for the ride; jostling around within the blue automaton that carried it to its destination. Her thoughts began drifting, trying to escape the monotony by conjuring up pleasant daydreams wherein she won the gold medal, became captain of the Wonderbolts, and received a lengthy, celebratory hug from a certain pink-maned pony.

Without warning, the mare in front of Rainbow Dash stumbled and fell. It took precious seconds for her sluggish brain, which was running on auto-pilot, to register the fact and react accordingly. Just barely the weary pegasus managed to avoid tripping over the fallen pony, who hadn't the energy left to struggle back onto her feet. Looking over her shoulder - concerned despite her overriding desire to win - Rainbow Dash saw that medical ponies had already rushed to her competitor's side.

The official Pegalympics medical team was having a busy day; the Mareathon was definitely living up to its reputation. Many a pony had already collapsed or just plain given up. Rainbow Dash had seen several of these incidents, all of them stark reminders of the fact that pacing one's self was a necessity here. That was one lesson the blue mare had taken to heart: she had held back, letting those who were desperate to take the lead sprint right past her. None of these foolhardy ponies had lasted very long.

For a while she'd even been side-by-side with Spitfire, who was using the same tactic. But the Wonderbolt had pressed on after a few laps, confident about the limits of her endurance. It had taken all of Rainbow Dash's willpower not to overdo it and attempt to keep up with her. Her real strength was going to be the aerial portion of the race, she knew; she just needed to make it through this arduous section in one piece so that she could show them all what she was really made of.

The prospect of flying again after all this tedious running made Rainbow Dash yearn for the finish even more. This whole time, she had held her wings tucked tightly against her sides, taking care not to unfold them since that would be considered a foul. This had taken far more self-discipline than she had expected; she'd never realized just how often she tended to thoughtlessly flare out her wings. But soon she would be allowed to give in to that impulse again. It couldn't be long now..

"Woooo! Just one more lap to go, Dashie!" a bubbly, heavily amplified voice blared, startling Rainbow Dash. Spike, in hopes of providing commentary during the event, had smuggled in a megaphone. The device had been appropriated by Pinkie Pie, however, much to the chagrin of everypony in the adjacent rows.

"Atta girl, Rainbow!" another voice called, "Y'all show 'em what for!"
That was Applejack butting in, no doubt.

"--so put that thing away, you two!" a third pony lectured them, "The stadium rules clearly state that--Pinkie, what are you--hey, don't point it at me!"
The hiss of static followed. Poor Twilight.

Rainbow Dash could see them all now, goofing around and arguing over the megaphone. Grinning in spite of her utter exhaustion and encouraged by their unconditional support, she pushed her protesting body into a final sprint towards the finish line. When she finally staggered over it she was treated to some polite applause. Getting this far was considered an accomplishment in and of itself.

Rainbow Dash, tired as she was, posed for some photographers with a single foreleg lifted and a proud look in her eyes; droplets of crystalline perspiration sparkling in her exotic, colorful mane. They lapped it up. A young upstart from a small town, making it this far? That made for a great story! To the blue mare, this moment in the limelight was just as refreshing as several minutes worth of rest. Rainbow Dash was beginning to feel like her old, boisterous self again, but forced herself to take a break. She needed some time to catch her breath. There were bowls of water for the parched runners to rehydrate themselves, and Rainbow Dash dunked her face into hers in an attempt to cool off and shock her brain into full gear.

While she drank her fill, Rainbow Dash felt the bundles of muscle near her shoulders cramping and instinctively unfolded her wings. Almost immediately she started feeling better. Her legs were still shaking a little, but at least it no longer felt like she had lead weights attached to her torso. There was little time to wonder about this miraculous respite, though; a small group of veteran Mareathon runners, who had made it to the halfway point before her, were getting ready to get going again. And here she was, still in the middle of her pit stop!

Tossing her head to remove the drooping bangs of mane from her eyes, Rainbow Dash just caught a glimpse of Spitfire as she dove headfirst into the gap of perfect azure that opened in the center of the stadium. The mare's wings were flat against her streamlined body, helping her get as much speed out of free fall as possible.

This was it.

Twilight and Applejack had helped her plan it all out in advance. They had agreed that this was the most strategic moment to attempt to take the lead with a Rainboom. It was psychological warfare, since all of them were exhausted and the ponies in front of her had fought tooth and hoof for their small lead. They had probably expended a bit more energy than Rainbow Dash, who had held back to conserve her strength. If she could overtake them with a dramatic burst of speed it would be immensely demoralizing. After that, she could take it down a notch and just focus on staying in the lead.

A solid plan. There was just one catch: she had to actually pull it off, first. Rainbow Dash felt confident that she could do it though. At least, more confident than she had felt on that fateful morning, weeks ago, when she'd stood on a mountain top and screamed in frustration at the rising sun. She'd gotten so much help and advice from her friends. She'd spent agonizing hours with Twilight Sparkle, listening to the dorky mare drone on and on about magic, and had even attempted to go against her very nature by meditating together with her self-proclaimed tutor; sitting perfectly still for periods longer than she'd ever imagined bearable (ie. a few minutes).

She'd done it before. She'd do it again. This was going to be a piece of cake.

..Right?

Rainbow Dash spread her wings and slowly ascended, spiraling upwards to a point much higher above the aperture than any of the other fliers. Looking out in the distance, she could just make out a few small dots on the horizon - the opponents she was hoping to overtake. Donning her goggles, the nervous pegasus was soon fixated on the small patch of brilliant blue below her. She filtered out the confused but expectant murmur of the crowd.

She dove down and accelerated, her forelegs stretched out in front of her and her wings a blur of motion. In her wake her colorful tail danced and whipped around wildly. In front of her the atmospheric pressure wave was already building, like a sheet of dense air that resisted her progress. She pushed harder, stretching the resilient obstacle and gritting her teeth. Little arcs of static electricity crackled around her hooves. For the first time, now that her eyes weren't tearing up from the wind, Rainbow Dash could see all these fascinating phenomena happening clearly.

"C'mon.. C'mon!" she urged herself, trying to will her wings into doing their enigmatic magicy thing and tell the laws of physics to go suck on a salt lick. She tried every trick she knew to reduce wind resistance at the same time. It was going to happen, Rainbow Dash could feel it. Any second now she would burst through and--

An entire stadium of wide-eyed, exhilarated ponies let out a collective gasp.

Before she knew what was happening, Rainbow Dash found herself being flung backwards. The invisible barrier she'd attempted to tear through sprang back soundlessly. It took all of her strength just to stop herself from spinning and rocketing upwards. She was left disoriented and badly out of breath. Her wings, which she had stressed to the breaking point in order to halt her momentum, ached in every joint.

Her usually indomitable spirit wavered. “It's hopeless..” Rainbow Dash whispered, looking down at the last of the remaining pegasi taking off before her. She'd never catch up to them now. “I couldn't do it after all..” She closed her eyes in tacit acceptance and felt drained and empty; too worn out to even feel anger at her ignominious failure.

“RAINBOW DAAASH!”

A high, clear voice rose above the din of the crowd, carrying even to the heights at which the blue mare in question hovered. Rainbow Dash's eyes snapped open. She looked down in shocked surprise to see that Fluttershy, of all ponies, had snagged the megaphone from Pinkie Pie. The plucky pegasus had spread her wings and fluttered up a few feet above the rest, looking up at the blue speck in the vast skies and shouting into the electronic contraption at the top of her lungs.

“DON'T YOU DARE GIVE UP!” Fluttershy's amplified voice echoed throughout the stadium. “YOU CAN DO IT. I--WE BELIEVE IN YOU! NOW GO.. KICK.. their.. um..”

A screeching note of audio feedback rang out in the stunned silence following that outburst. It was cut short because, at that exact moment, Fluttershy realized what she was doing. The usually mousy mare quickly let go of the 'on' button, her face turning beet red. “Eep!” she squeaked, before quickly flitting back down to her seat and hiding behind Rarity.

For a moment, Rainbow Dash was left completely dumbfounded. Fluttershy, whose cheering rarely exceeded a few meager decibels, yelling into a megaphone in front of thousands of other ponies? It was terribly unlike her. Rainbow Dash hadn't seen this side of the shy pony since she gave a ferocious dragon a stern talking to. But in this situation there didn't seem to be anything to warrant such a scene. Unless..

Unless..

She felt her own face flushing, but her grimace relaxed into an elated grin. Her heart leapt, and as it pumped with renewed vigor Rainbow Dash felt her exhaustion evaporate. She whinnied loudly, feeling a tingling warmth flow through her sinews all the way up to her proudly flaring wings. In her mind's eye she imagined a pinprick of light - brilliant yet remote, like a distant star - growing brighter and brighter on a black firmament of inner despair. It fueled her with boundless energy and hope.

“This one's for you..” Rainbow Dash murmured. She dove down abruptly.

"What in tarna--" Applejack gasped, before her precious hat was blown clean off her straw-colored mane and her cry was overpowered by the deafening sonic boom. The shock wave was incredible. Disastrous as it may have seemed to Rarity, her disheveled mane was nothing compared to what ponies in the first few rows experienced. Few of them were still standing; the ripple of dispersing pressure had expanded outwards and left naught but toppled ponies in its wake.

Pinkie was shrieking, beside herself with glee as an entire fireworks display worth of colors went off all at once. She flailed her forelegs, then wildly hugged an equally jubilant Fluttershy. The two of them bounced up and down, holding each other and loudly chanting Rainbow Dash's name. It wasn't long before every pony assembled in the stadium followed suit. The brief, shocked spell of silence erupted into a roar of cheering and hoof-stomping. Few of the ponies present had ever seen anything quite this spectacular, and those who had come hoping to catch a glimpse of the fabled Rainboom were not disappointed.

The same could be said for Spitfire, who was a few miles out already, flying towards the finish at top speed. She had originally only heard about the Rainboom second-hoof, despite the fact that she probably owed her life to the legendary aerial maneuver. But this time she was conscious to witness it, although she probably still would have missed the silent streak of cyan that overtook her - leaving only a sparkling rainbow trail to mark its passing - if she had happened to blink her eyes right that instant. Even the famous Wonderbolt could not help but be impressed by this incredible burst of speed. Even moreso when, a few second later, she heard the thunderous boom; it didn't take her long to realize that Rainbow Dash hadn't just outraced her, but sound itself. The older mare shook her head and let out a laugh, silently accepting her now seemingly inevitable second place prize. She had to hand it to this heretofore unknown rookie from Ponyville: the filly had style.

While the unexpected Rainboom bathed a few thousand flabbergasted fillies and colts in a vibrant mixture of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, however, there was one mare who did not share in the enthusiasm. A twinge of sudden doubt and fear plagued Twilight Sparkle. She had closed her eyes when the ripple of intermingled colors washed over her, and her horn still resonated with the magical energies that it comprised, much as it had when she was taking her entrance exam all those years ago. But this time she felt it even stronger; Twilight was left breathless, even trembling a little after the wave of energy had passed. It was so intense, so abundant, so.. raw; much like her own outpouring of uncontrolled magic before Celestia had intervened.

"She did it.. Almost from a standstill," Twilight stammered, still feeling a bit shaky. The magical mare sat down heavily on her haunches and bit her lower lip. She was worried for her friend. Had anyone else caught a glimpse of Rainbow Dash's eyes, when the pegasus had gazed down at Fluttershy? Twilight could have sworn that, just for an instant, they had been devoid of both pupil and iris, a vague, creepy white glow kindled within them.

Was that what she looked like when she let herself go?

Twilight shook her head. She needed to stay focused. It seemed like Rainbow Dash had received the little push she'd needed. But now that the pegasus speedster had been unleashed, would she be able to control her unique sway over reality? Twilight herself had been unable to, but perhaps it was different for pegasus ponies. Then again, the words 'Rainbow Dash' and 'restraint' shouldn't even be used in the same sentence together. Would her friend's old Flight School nickname come back to haunt her? Twilight didn't even want to think of the kind of crater a crash at supersonic speed would leave..

The purple unicorn looked up at the bottom of the isolated, royal cloud-platform where the solar Princess was seated, but couldn't see her mentor from here. How she would have liked to have Celestia around to answer her questions and allay her fears. There was another, flakier alternative, but Twilight Sparkle doubted it would be of much help.

"Pinkie!" Twilight yelled, trying to get through to the ecstatic, sparkly-eyed pony next to her, "Pinkie, you wouldn't happen to be picking anything up with your Pinkie Sense right now, would you?" It was a long shot, but it might help to lower her anxiety levels. After all, she could attest to the fact that Pinkie was an expert at detecting impending accidents.

Pinkie Pie blinked, calming down a little. She stopped shaking her pom-poms long enough to determine whether any part of her was twitching or doing anything else weird. "Nope!" she eventually concluded.

"Well that's a relief," Twilight exhaled, "For a minute there, I--"

"Oh, hey, wait a minute.." Pinkie frowned.

"What? You felt something?" Twilight gasped, bombarding the pink mare with rapid-fire questions, "Just now? Is it Rainbow Dash? She isn't in trouble is she? Oh, I'll never forgive myself if she ends up getting hurt!"

"Hmmmm.. You're standing on my tail; yes; yes; no; no; it's not your fault," Pinkie replied serenely. Her eyes turned skyward briefly, and she rubbed her chin with a hoof while she carefully considered whether she'd provided answers to everything. "Wait, that last one wasn't really a question, was it? Silly me."

"Huh? Oh! I--I'm sorry.." Twilight said, quickly lifting her hoof. At least, once her brain - which clearly didn't work quite the same way as Pinkie's - had caught on.

"It's alright. No nerve endings back there anyway," Pinkie told her, "If there were, it be really hard to--" The pink mare paused in mid-sentence and shuddered, a tremor traveling from the back of her neck all the way down to the very tip of her poofy tail. Her default smile faltered and a single hoof shot up to clutch at her heart. She looked shaken, and swallowed hard before she spoke. "T-this is bad.."

"Define 'bad'," Twilight said grimly, leaning closer to the distraught mare.

"The last time I felt something like this was.." Pinkie began. She shut her eyes, displaying an eerily un-Pinkie-like facial expression. "A while before.. before Grandma Pie passed away suddenly.."

"So.. that means.." Twilight said with a growing sense of dread. She didn't want to complete that sentence.

"Somepony we know is gonna die, probably," Pinkie finished it for her, brutally drawing the conclusion Twilight had been unable to face. The matter-of-fact way in which she spoke gave Twilight a few shudders of her own. Seeing this, Pinkie's grave expression softened. "Well, maybe they won't actually die this time, Twilight. Maybe they'll just be, I dunno.. horribly maimed?" Pinkie proffered with a wholly unconvincing smile.

"Oh, well that's a relief.." Twilight groaned, taking no comfort whatsoever in that terrible attempt at reassurance. Her violet eyes turned heavenward and traced the colorful trail that Rainbow Dash had left behind, all the way to the distant horizon. She recalled what Applejack had once told her about Pinkie's eponymous Sense.

It had never been wrong.

Chapter 6: In Medias Res

"Applejack!" Twilight strained her vocal cords, shouting to be heard over the howling winds and torrential rain. "We need more sandbags! This isn't going to cut it!" The unicorn mare was in full-on leadership mode, but couldn't quite suppress the panicky note in her voice.

"We're haulin'em in as fast we can, Twi," Applejack hollered back, audibly short of breath as she struggled to find her footing in the slippery mud. The mare came trudging over to Twilight, bearing several of the crucial but heavy sandbags on her back. The heightened center of gravity made it harder for her to keep her balance and she could barely see for the rain and gloom, yet she soldiered on until she had reached her destination. After pulling the brim of her soaked hat bit further down to shield her eyes, she explained, "The goll-darned wagons we brought're all stuck in the mud. Big Mac and some the other stallions're tryin' to get them movin' again, but they ain't going nowhere in a hurry."

Twilight nodded grimly. She'd feared as much. The ragtag group of earth ponies that came staggering in with Applejack were all carrying as much as they could, but it was slow going this way. The purple mare's violet eyes slid past the woefully inadequate line of defense they had constructed so far, then darted to the threat at hoof: the largest river in the Everfree Forest, Styx, seething and overflowing in its banks as the endless downpour fed it into a monstrous state.

This kind of extreme weather tended to be limited to the forest, where nature had free reign. But that did not guarantee that Ponyville would come out unscathed, its magical protection notwithstanding. Along its meandering course the river came dangerously close to the outskirts of the village; because of that, a flash flood could still cause significant damage.

"Ain't lookin' too good for ol' Ponyville, huh?" Applejack said wryly, correctly guessing what was going through Twilight's head. "Don't you worry, Twi. Nopony here'll let their home get flooded, they have anything to say 'bout it." As she spoke, her green eyes looked fiercely at the river, as if it was a foe she could stare down.

Twilight nodded. She knew Applejack had a personal stake in this: Sweet Apple Acres was only a few minutes' gallop away. "I know," she replied, but she worried anyway. "Do you happen to know how the others are doing?"

"Saw Fluttershy helpin' to evacuate a bunch of critters over yonder," Applejack said, vaguely gesturing to the other side of the river. "And Pinkie? She was with me." The orange mare looked over her shoulder with a bemused frown. "Don't rightly know where she got off to though."

"That sounds like the Pinkie I know," Twilight responded with a shrug. "But never mind that, let me get those for you." She lowered her head a little and focused, relieving Applejack of her burden. Directing the floating, glowing sandbags to where she wanted them took only a casual flick of her horn. Behind her, along the bend of the river, the dark of night was dotted with the intermittent glow of dozens of other shimmering horns. The diversely colored lights looked almost festive, but the general mood among the wet and miserable ponies was anything but.

"Thank you kindly," Applejack said gratefully. She winced when she straightened up and stretched her aching back, making several vertebrae pop. The unsettling noise elicited a disapproving click of the tongue from somewhere. Glancing past Twilight, the orange mare grinned jovially at the source of the annoyed sound. "Hangin' in there, Rarity?"

The white unicorn was aiding in the construction of the makeshift dam with her telekinesis like every other able-horned unicorn in town. "I am managing just fine, Applejack," she replied, although she had clearly seen better days. The taxing weight of the sandbags and unwieldy rocks was taking its toll on the mare, who rarely levitated anything heavier than rolls of fabric and the occasional hairbrush. "And if you think I am going to be daunted by a little bit of disgusting blubber, you shall have another thing coming!" she added resolutely, apropos of nothing the other pony had actually said.

Applejack and Rarity. Twilight looked from one mare to the other and noticed something surprising. The two were usually polar opposites, but at the moment, in the dark of night, they were actually pretty indistinguishable. Their long manes were hanging from their heads in lank, dirty strands, bereft of their unique color and style; their distinctive coats and markings were caked and spattered with mud. Rarity was recognizable only because she had bothered to put on an elaborate designer raincoat, which currently hung from her sides in tatters, having utterly failed to shield her from the elements.

"Thought y'all weren't too fond of gettin' your hooves muddy," Applejack quipped, recalling the prima donna-ish way Rarity had acted during a past thunderstorm they'd weathered together.

"Ahem. I prefer not to muddy my hooves if it serves no purpose," Rarity corrected her. "Given the circumstances I shall endure it. Besides, this is nothing a nice, long, hot bath cannot remedy. You might wish to remember that, Applejack, lest you mistakenly assume that brown was your natural color."

An understandably irritable Twilight was just about to tell the two of them to cut it out and try to cooperate for once, but she stopped herself when she noticed the playful little smiles on the two mares' muzzles. Twilight shook her head and laughed, making a mental note to have Spike take a letter to Princess Celestia when this was all over. She could highlight the curious fact that friendships could apparently manifest in the form of endless bickering.

The unicorn's revisions to the to-do list in her brain were rudely interrupted, however, when what was best described as a pink flurry of motion performed a spectacular belly slide right next to the trio of already quite soggy mares, deluging them in a tidal wave of watery muck. This move was, of course, accompanied by the obligatory "Wheeeee!"

A sputtering and gasping Rarity gave Pinkie Pie a look which should, by rights, have caused her to spontaneously combust. Applejack, who was blowing profanity-laced bubbles in the mask of mud that now plastered her face, looked none too pleased either. As such Twilight decided to make a quick, strategic decision before all hell broke loose. "Um, Pinkie Pie?" she said with a strained smile, after parting the curtain of dripping mane that had hidden away her face, "Why don't you.. help out.. somewhere else?"

"Noooo problemo!" came the enthusiastic response, "Whatcha have in mind, Twilight?"

Twilight considered the alternatives, essentially trying to decide where the pink mare would be the least disruptive. "Go see if Fluttershy needs any help. I'm sure she can manage the animals just fine, but I imagine she isn't enjoying the lightning too much. She would probably appreciate the company."

"Aye aye, Capt'n!" Pinkie acknowledged, saluting Twilight before cheerfully skipping off a little ways upstream and making her way across the river. She used the only way across that was left for miles: a battered but sturdy wooden bridge which still somehow managed to withstand the relentless onslaught of the river.

Twilight sighed as she watched Pinkie go; sometimes she really didn't know what to do with the eccentric earth mare, especially in situations like this.

After getting rid of her impromptu facial mask, Applejack took off again, too. She crossed the same bridge to get back to her brother and the stranded wagons, albeit it with a lot more caution than the fearless pink pony that preceded her. Twilight really couldn't blame her for being wary. She took one look at the foaming, raging waters and felt an immediate twinge of dread. The thought of somepony getting swept up by that deadly rush of tumbling water, rocks and uprooted trees was one she really didn't want to dwell on.

"We'd better get back to work, too," she told Rarity, who nodded and promptly abandoned a fruitless attempt at fixing her mane. But while the muddy unicorn beside her set her jaw and struggled to lift another one of the sandbags, Twilight dawdled, looking up at the faithless sky. Rain ran down her muzzle and dripped from her horn, and she had to squint to protect her eyes, but it was hard to miss the massive supercell that loomed overhead. It looked disturbingly like a vast, amorphous creature. The dark formation of swirling cloud flashed angrily and in the churning bowels of the storms she saw the shadowy shapes of pegasi flitting about. She knew they were desperately trying to tame the storm from within, thus far to no avail.

As the booming sound of the thunder reached her and a gust of gale-force wind swept through her mane, Twilight found herself involuntarily thinking a thought she had often told herself to stop dredging up. It was still painful after all this time, and irrational to boot. After all, what possible difference could a single pegasus make in a situation like this?

She still wished Rainbow Dash were here.

Rarity gingerly closed the door of the Carousel Boutique behind her, careful not to wake her little sister, who was all tucked in and sound asleep. As a lady ought to be at this hour, the reluctant unicorn told herself. But her beauty-sleep would have to wait. Before she set off the meticulous mare checked off the list of commodities she had packed into her saddlebags; it was going to be a long night after all.

It was nearly midnight when, a few minutes later, Rarity arrived at Rainbow Dash's home. It was fortunate that the Princesses had arranged for another full moon tonight. Without its pale light she would have missed the solitary silhouette of the pony she'd promised to meet, huddled up on the top of a small, grassy hill situated right next to the gravity-defying abode. Rarity paused for a moment, looking up at the extravagant castle and noting the lack of burning lights or any other sign of habitation, before climbing up the winding path to the crest of the hill.

Fluttershy was sitting on her haunches, gazing at the stars. She wasn't actually seeing any of the twinkling lights woven into Luna's grand tapestry, however. Instead she was straining her eyes, hoping to spot one of those distant suns being blotted out briefly, preferably by a certain blue pegasus rather than yet another dark wisp of cloud. The intensely focused pony's ears perked up when she heard the sound of hooves rustling in the grass behind her. "Oh, hello Rarity," she greeted the approaching unicorn, making a valiant (but not entirely successful) effort to mask the disappointment in her voice.

Rarity picked up on the tone but instantly forgave her friend. It had been two whole days since the Pegalympics, without a single sign of Rainbow Dash. She knew the poor pony was worried sick. "You really ought to get some sleep, darling," she told Fluttershy while she shrugged out of her saddlebags, "I can keep watch for you while you rest?"

But Fluttershy merely smiled and shook her head. "Thank you so much for the offer, Rarity, but I don't think I'd be able to sleep.."

"I heard a lot of ponies are out looking for her. Including the Wonderbolts themselves!" Rarity said, trying to sound cheerful and comforting. She opened her bags and magically sifted through their contents, eventually finding a blanket to keep her warm.

Fluttershy had heard the same thing, but knew the search was a lot like looking for a needle in a haystack. A supersonic needle. In a haystack the size of Equestria. "I wish I was out there, helping them look.." she said softly, knowing full well that she wouldn't be of much use. A fact that had never bothered her as much as it did now.

Unsure on how to respond to that without hurting the weak-winged pegasus's feelings, Rarity opted for a short spell of silence instead, joining Fluttershy's nightly vigil and scanning the star strewn skies. She wrapped the blanket more closely around herself and offered a spare to Fluttershy, who politely refused, seemingly unbothered by the cold.

Rarity studied her friend for a while. "You really care about her, don't you?" she said eventually. It wasn't even really a question.

"I do," Fluttershy whispered without a hint of hesitation, before flushing, a bit surprised by her own candidness. "I mean.. she's a really good friend."

"Come now, my dear," Rarity said sternly, "Do you think me completely blind?"

"W-what do you.." Fluttershy sputtered, but she didn't get to finish the feeble protest.

"I have seen the way you look at her, Fluttershy," Rarity interrupted. "I even set up that little rendezvous in the spa, hoping some quality time together would suffice to get the two of you talking."

"You.. you were trying to get us together?" Fluttershy looked confused. "But you butted in at the worst possible moment!" she blurted out, momentarily forgetting herself. She quickly pressed her hooves to her muzzle. "Um, I mean, you couldn't have known of course."

"No no, you are quite right," Rarity admitted graciously. "After coming up with that rather transparent excuse to get you two alone together, I stood waiting outside the door, lis--" The unicorn paused and hastily corrected herself: "Completely respecting your privacy. Ahem. But other ponies wished to enter the hot tub area. They were getting rather impatient; I could only stall them for so long. So I decided to enter first, just in case there were any.. shenanigans.. going on. Better me walking in on anything like that rather than any random old pony, n'est-ce pas?"

"I see. Yes. Perish the thought," Fluttershy said with a nervous giggle, the rosy glow on her cheeks turning beet red. "Sorry.."

"Sorry for what?"

"That there was nothing to walk in on?"

Rarity chuckled. "Well, I need not have worried of course," she teased, "You two were being as frustratingly slow and clueless as always."

Fluttershy smiled wanly, realizing that her friend's observation, however blunt, was completely accurate. "Thank you anyway, Rarity. For trying to help."

"Do not mention it, my dear," Rarity said modestly, although she actually seemed very pleased that her romantic machinations were finally getting the appreciation they so richly deserved. "I have to say that I was surprised when I first learned that you fancied Rainbow Dash, of all ponies, though. I suppose opposites really do attract."

"Opposites?" Fluttershy repeated with a hint of surprise. "I guess you could say that.." She was fidgeting as she spoke.

Rarity, unsatisfied with the half-hearted agreement with something she had considered so blatantly obvious, pried a little further. "Are you perhaps suggesting that you and Rainbow Dash are actually very similar to one and other?" The notion seemed absurd, but she'd known Fluttershy long enough to recognize when the timid pegasus was holding back her own opinion for fear of being too confrontational.

"Not in terms of behavior, no," Fluttershy readily admitted. "She's a little more.. outgoing? If you know what I mean. But I've known her for a long time. Although she always tried to get me to be more assertive, I always knew.." Fluttershy lowered her head as she reminisced, her face soon eclipsed by a lock of the bright pink mane which so often obscured her eyes. "I always knew that she was hiding. Just like me."

"Hiding?" Rarity said, cocking her head. "Not literally I presume?"

"Oh no, not like that. I mean, um.." the shy pony said, pausing to collect her thoughts and brush back her mane. "I mean that she is always trying to keep up a certain image. Always pretending to be confident - even when she's, you know.. not?"

Rarity was beginning to understand what the other mare was getting at. "Ah yes. Her vaunted coolness."

"I remember the day her mother passed away," Fluttershy recalled sadly. "It was years ago; we were still just fillies in Flight School. Rainbow Dash didn't come to class that day. But the next day she was back in her seat as if nothing had happened. I felt so bad for her.. I wanted to talk to her about it. Maybe cheer her up a little, if I could. But.."

"She did not let you?" Rarity guessed.

Fluttershy nodded slowly. "Yes. Her mother meant the world to her, but I never saw Rainbow cry about her death or even acknowledge that it happened. Come to think of it," the pegasus said, her eyes widening, "I've never seen her cry at all."

"Nor have I," Rarity said with a frown. "I imagine she keeps such emotional displays private."

"Yes.." Fluttershy said softly. "There are parts of herself she doesn't share, even with her closest friends. And now.. now I might never get to really know her." She gazed out into the quiet night and despaired, trying to hold back the helpless tears.

"There there, I am certain it will all be alright," Rarity said quickly, attempting to console the exhausted pony, who was clearly an emotional wreck at this point. She reached over to awkwardly pat the pegasus's back, realizing that mere platitudes probably wouldn't be enough. "She will be back tomorrow, you'll see. Why, she probably decided to take a nap somewhere along the way. You know, one of those two-day naps she likes to take.."

Fluttershy gave her friend a watery smile, appreciating the attempt to cheer her back up, unconvincing though it was. Now that she wasn't so preoccupied with keeping watch, however, the yellow pony began to shiver, her chattering teeth extremely audible in the dead of night. That was soon remedied, however, when Rarity triumphantly pulled out the extra blanket she had proffered up before. This time, it was gratefully accepted.

"Rarity? Do you think we could, um.. work? Rainbow Dash and me?" Fluttershy wondered aloud, bundled up in her borrowed blanket.

"Yes," the white unicorn said immediately, eager to encourage the more optimistic direction the conversation had taken. Quite honestly she had her doubts, but she guessed that the pink-maned pony wasn't looking for advice or detailed answers at the moment. "In spite of your different temperaments, I can see that you two complement each other very well. She needs someone like you to take care of her, I believe."

"Me? Take care of her?" Fluttershy mumbled, "Shouldn't that be the other way around?"

"She is very protective of you, it is true. But that is not what I meant," Rarity explained. "She seems to avoid responsibilities, whereas you take on more of them all the time without a word of complaint. You constantly care for others, whereas she can hardly take care of herself. I mean, honestly my dear, have you ever tried any of her "cooking?""

The worn-out pegasus giggled. "Hmm.. So.. she needs me?"

"I daresay. Why, I remember having an argument with her the other day, concerning her apparent aversion to bathing. She'd just get dirty again anyway, she argued. Obviously I could not abide anypony advocating such poor personal hygiene, so I--" Rarity continued with the rest of the amusing anecdote, and it was a while before she realized that Fluttershy had nodded off. The long, insomniac nights and constant worrying had finally caught up with her.

"Poor dear," Rarity sighed, before gently easing the sleeping pony down onto the grass and throwing her own blanket over her for some additional warmth. She watched her best friend for a while, seeing the lines of care in Fluttershy's face and the way she would twitch or nervously mouth words in her sleep. Even now, in her dreams, her mind was reaching out for Rainbow Dash.

"You had better get back here soon," Rarity whispered angrily to the (frustratingly empty) skies. "And have an extremely good excuse for putting her through all this."

Beyond Equestria, beyond the landmass where ponies, gryphons, dragons, and all manner of other creatures dwelt, lay the Hippocampic Ocean. This seemingly endless stretch of saltwater encircled the known world from all sides and, as far as most of ponykind was concerned, covered the entire planet. During the reign of Discord it had been a churning mass of foaming maelstroms and towering waves (and occasionally lemonade), but in these days of harmony the gales had abated and the waters were mostly calm, lapping contentedly at the coastlines while Luna's tides rocked them gently to and fro.

As the great sea slumbered, its deep blue waters glittered like glass in the light of the blazing sun. Everything seemed tranquil, with the only sign of life being the graceful movements of a lonely seagull drifting stationarily in the wind.

Until something dropped down abruptly from the steel blue sky.

Diving at breakneck speed and at a very steep angle, the object just barely managed to pull level with the surface of the water before crashing into it headfirst. As it soared mere inches above the swell of the waves sheer velocity left a violent spray of whitewater in its wake. It wasn't long before it began to skim the surface, the resulting friction causing rapid deceleration. After skipping like a pebble a few times - the water being about as yielding as bedrock at these speeds - it finally came to a violent halt.

The unnatural rainbow bridging the sky and the sea sparkled beautifully for a while, before gradually fading away.

Rainbow Dash lay floating on her back, her body motionless but for the gentle rising and falling of the water in which she was now adrift. Her submerged mane lifted and swirled around her head, making it look as though it was bleeding colored ink, although the color red seemed to be predominant. The fallen pony's eyelids trembled as she forced them open, her pink eyes staring blankly and groggily at the skies, until a splash of salty water washed over her face. It stung horribly. Emotionless, irritated tears welled up, adding a few superfluous saline drops to the vast, uncaring sea.

Her concussed brain couldn't even formulate a coherent, final thought. It did dutifully register the fact that her hind leg throbbed with a sharp pain, but that seemed inconsequential given that the pegasus pony was already rapidly losing consciousness. The last thing she heard was the mocking cry of the seagull, already distorted by the water that was slowly swallowing her whole. In the end, only a stream of bubbles betrayed the location of the crashed mare. It mattered little: nopony was out looking for her.

She was utterly alone.

Beneath her, only unfathomable miles of lightless, crushing depths.

"Stoppit, all of you! Stop acting like she's dead!" Scootaloo cried angrily, stamping her small hooves.

She was addressing a small gathering of ponies on a hill situated between Ponyville and Cloudsdale, where an informal memorial service was being held. The site was marked by a tall, solitary tree, already clad in its yellowed fall regalia, which could be seen for miles around. Scootaloo's narrowed eyes, however, were fixed on a slender stone erected beneath that tree. It bore a familiar symbol, which was the cause of her ire. The young pegasus could not bear to see it there, etched into the dull, gray stone: the cloud with the bolt of multicolored lightning shooting out of it. It wasn't right.

The silent, somber crowd looked at the filly with a mixture of shock and pity, but she ignored their attempts to shush or placate her. "Rainbow Dash.. Rainbow Dash can't be dead!" the little pony protested, "She's the coolest.. fastest.. bestest pegasus of them all. Like she'd die in some stupid crash!" Despite the petite pegasus's insistence, her confidence was already beginning to waver. "It's.. it's probably just a prank! She'll be here any second. T-that's right. And she'll be laughing! Laughing at us 'cause we all fell for it.."

The young pony looked eagerly at the horizon, and the glimmer of misguided hope kindled in her eyes broke Twilight Sparkle's heart. In lieu of Scootaloo's conspicuously absent parents, she reached out to the desperate little pony, but the feisty filly wasn't having any of it. "Lemme go! I don't want a stupid hug!" she said sullenly, while trying to avoid the unicorn mare.

"Scootaloo," Twilight said gently but firmly, "Listen to me. I know it's very hard to believe, but it's been months since Rainbow Dash disappeared. If she was okay, no matter where on earth she was, she would have made it back by now."

Avoiding the mare's eyes, the blank-flank stood staring at the ground, still wearing a rebellious expression. In truth, though, she was feeling a little surprised that Twilight wasn't talking down to her like most adults would. It made her feel a little guilty for acting like such a foal. The amber filly swallowed hard, but made no response to Twilight's argument otherwise.

"I also don't believe she'd ever pull a cruel prank like that," Twilight continued. "The Rainbow I knew wouldn't do that to us. She cared about us. About you, too."

That did it. The filly made a small choking noise. "I.. I wanted to fly with her someday.." She looked up at Twilight, her eyes shining. "She'd show me one of her awesome moves, and then we'd practice together until I finally got it. And then she.. she'd tell me I did a good job.. that she was proud of me.." Scootaloo's lower lip was trembling, her voice fragile and small. "Twilight..?"

"Yes?"

"I don't want her to be d-dead."

Twilight closed her eyes when she felt Scootaloo press into her side and bury her tear-stained face into the soft, purple fur. She could feel the little pony trembling, her small frame softly convulsing as it was wracked with sobs. "None of us do, sweetie," she whispered, blinking back a few tears of her own. It was odd: she thought that she'd spent these last few weeks coming to grips with the fact that Rainbow Dash was gone. But somehow unraveling the last, flimsy shreds of false hope that Scootaloo had clung to affected her as well. As if somewhere, deep inside, an irrational part of her had been hoping for much the same thing.

"Thanks, Twilight," Scootaloo muttered when her sobbing had subsided a little. The grief-stricken filly backed away and wiped furiously at her eyes and runny nose. She seemed embarrassed by her outburst; even though she was still shaking the young mare fought hard to keep her erratic breathing in check. Twilight felt for her. She looked into the tough little pony's expressive eyes and hated what she saw. Some of the foallike naivety and wide-eyed innocence that had shone within them had been snuffed out, replaced with something both wiser and more cynical. These were eyes that would no longer register surprise whenever the world demonstrated how terrifically unfair it could be, only resignation.

"We're all here for you," the purple mare assured her. "Now why don't you go and find your friends?" All the glares and hushed conversations around them were clearly making the filly feel worse, and from Twilight's own experience she knew the best salve for a wounded soul was the presence of friends. She watched the pint-sized pony hobble off, ducking through the crowd in search of Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, and decided she should probably heed her own advice. She most desired to speak with Celestia, whose wisdom and warmth could always calm her down. But to the best of her faithful student's knowledge, the Princess had not yet arrived to pay her respects. Spotting a familiar cowboy hat nearby, the unicorn mare settled for less elusive company.

Twilight found Applejack standing over the empty grave, holding her hat to her chest and softly speaking to the silent stone. The approaching pony slowed her pace and stopped just out of earshot, maintaining a respectful distance.

When Applejack became aware of the other mare's presence she turned and smiled heartily, but she was blinking an awful lot and complained unconvincingly of something getting in her eyes. "Been meanin' to ask you, Twilight," the earth mare whispered, redonning her hat, "Ain't there something we can do? Y'all're so good with magic - gotta be somekinda spell that'll--"

"Bring Rainbow Dash back?" Twilight said wearily, tired of having to dash one hope after another. "I'm sorry, Applejack. I know it may seem like there's nothing that cannot be achieved through some impressive spellwork, but a pony's life force is a magic more ancient and formidable than you can imagine. No magic we unicorns possess is sufficient to even get a Cutie Mark to appear, and that's just most trivial manifestation of the endless potential embodied by--"

"Whoa there, Twilight. Got me all wrong," Applejack stopped her. Despite all the fancy words, the orange mare had quickly realized her half-uttered question had been misinterpreted. "I know y'all can't work miracles. Was just wondering.. Can't we at least find her.. y'know.." Applejack seemed to have trouble spitting it out. She gritted her teeth, annoyed with her emotions. "Her body. Don't feel right leaving her out there somewhere. All alone.." The mare's voice cracked a little when she spoke those last few words. She sniffed audibly. "Darn it. Gimme a second."

Twilight shifted uncomfortably but understood the sentiment. It was incredibly hard to get any kind of closure without tangible proof of their friend's death. Being forever in doubt about Rainbow Dash's ultimate fate was an unimaginably painful prospect. "I.. I tried, Applejack, " the unicorn replied haltingly, still upset by her failure to find any trace of the pegasus, "Believe me I did. But I couldn't--"

"I believe you, Twi," Applejack said firmly. "Known you long enough to know y'all tried everything you could. Just checking, y'know.." The earth pony trailed off and stared at the lonely gravestone standing amidst the gathering leaves. "Would've liked to say goodbye.."

Twilight nodded sympathetically, but she could already felt her eyes beginning to prickle again and quickly dropped the subject. "How's Fluttershy holding up?" she asked. Hard as it was for her to deal with Rainbow's passing, she couldn't even begin to imagine how the other pegasus in their little group was coping. She had to admit it came as a surprise when she'd learned that the two winged ponies had had feelings for each other - a fact virtually everypony but herself had been aware of, apparently - but now that she knew her heart went out to poor Fluttershy.

"She's tore up plenty," Applejack said, never one to sugarcoat the truth, "And well.. see for yourself." She shot a stealthy glance somewhere to their right.

Twilight followed her gaze and quickly spotted Fluttershy amidst all the other mourning ponies. Her heart sank at the sight. Leaning heavily on a miserable-looking Rarity, the pink-maned pegasus seemed to be staggering around in a daze, the weight of a thousand crushed dreams resting on her frail shoulders. She wasn't crying, but this seemed to be due more to exhaustion than her emotional state. Her dull eyes were red and puffy and blinked at the harsh light of the sun, unable to comprehend a world which already seemed intent on moving on without Rainbow Dash.

Rarity fared a little better, but not by much. She'd bravely volunteered to look after the countless critters under the pegasus pony's care, but dealing with animals clearly wasn't her forte. She looked dead-tired, with traces of filth best left undescribed sullying her perfect hooves and stray chicken feathers flecking her usually well-coiffed mane. And.. were those bunny bite-marks?

Tearing her eyes away from that sorry sight, Twilight realized that only one pony from their circle of friends was still absent. "Applejack," she said doubtfully, "Where's Pinkie Pie?"

Applejack made no reply. Twilight blinked and asked again, pressing the orange mare for an answer. "She ain't comin'," the blond mare eventually admitted. "Said we were all being silly. That Rainbow ain't dead. I tried to reason with her, but you know how she gets.."

"But.. But I don't understand!" Twilight exclaimed, bewildered by the pink pony's behavior. "She's the one who predicted.."

"Settle down, sugar cube," Applejack broke her off, her ears twitching from the sudden increase in volume, "No need to holler at me, I was there."

"Sorry, sorry," Twilight hastily excused herself, "But it just doesn't make any sense."

"Pinkie not makin' sense?" Applejack said with a sarcastic snort, "What's the world comin' to?"

"Oh, haha, Applejack. This is serious! It isn't healthy for her to refuse to deal with the situation like this. She's clearly in denial."

"I'd say," the earth pony sighed, "Though I think Pinkie just don't deal well with death. Maybe even feels responsible, being the one saw it coming and all that.."

"I.. hadn't thought of it like that," Twilight admitted, trying to imagine how that kind of prescience could affect a pony. "We should keep an eye on her, Applejack."

"I hear you," the other mare said earnestly. "Gotta look out for each other, times like these."

"Oh, by the way," Twilight suddenly remembered, "Have you seen--" But like so many of her sentences, the poor unicorn never got a chance to finish her question.

A murmur traveled through the previously quiet crowd. Heads turned and eyes were directed heavenward. Overhead, a group of pegasus ponies in blue, lightning-streaked uniforms approached, literally from out of the blue. Flying in a tight V-formation at low altitude, they dove into a spectacular flyover which drew gasps from all the ponies who'd come to pay their respects. Abruptly, a single orange-maned skypony near the front peeled off from her companions, soaring up to dizzying heights before disappearing from sight altogether. Her companions carried on on the same course, still together, but with a noticeable gap left in their ranks.

A void that could never be filled.

"Heard they made her an honorary Wonderbolt," Applejack said when she could bear the long stretch of silence that followed the impressive display of aerial acrobatics no longer.

"She would have been proud.." Twilight responded absentmindedly. She was lost thought, dwelling on the memories of her brief time with Rainbow Dash. Every so often she'd look around, her searching eyes scanning the spectators for something. But the only thing they seemed to find was more disappointment.

Also watching the aerial salute were two familiar blank-flanks who had briefly escaped the watchful eyes of their big sisters and the stifling presence of so many long-faced ponies. They might have been unaware of the exact history of the Missing Mare Formation, but the heavy symbolism was not lost on them. Still, to them the whole scene seemed downright surreal. The dreadful finality of death had yet to sink in.

"Where d'you think ponies go when they die?" Sweetie Belle asked Apple Bloom after staring after the Wonderbolts until they were little more than dots on the horizon. It was a poignant question, and one the young unicorn clearly hadn't given much thought up until this point.

"Nopony rightly knows," Apple Bloom answered gravely, adopting an air of authority she felt was appropriate given the fact that she alone of the Crusaders had some experience with death. "I asked my sis when grandpa Smith died, but that's all I could get outta her. Told me I should mosey on along and go play." The young pony rolled her eyes. "So I asked grandma. She 'splained that when a pony dies they get put in the ground so that the trees and flowers can grow big 'n' strong."

"Oh," Sweetie Belle said doubtfully, furrowing her brow. "But.. we didn't put Rainbow Dash in the ground, did we?"

"Uh.. right, yeah. Knew that," Apple Bloom said sheepishly.

"I asked Rarity just now and she said something about her going to heaven," Sweetie Belle offered.

"Heaven? Like, the sky?" This time it was Apple Bloom who looked skeptical.

"Guess so. She wasn't very clear about it." There was a small frown, and then: "Also, she didn't really sound like she believed it herself very much... I could tell."

"Well, it's kinda dumb anyway," Apple Bloom scoffed. "Pegasuses already live in the clouds!"

"Oh yeah..." the young unicorn said, scratching her head. "I guess adults really don't know either then?"

"When a pegasus dies, their spirit becomes a star in the sky," a third voice said resolutely, causing the two philosophizing fillies to wheel around.

"Scootaloo?" they exclaimed in surprised stereo. And indeed it was. Their friend wasn't crying anymore - though she still showed signs of it, with the light fur around her eyes and on her cheeks left damp and darkened - but something in her expression still startled them a little bit. She wasn't even looking at them; her eyes were focused on the sky. Though it would soon start getting dark, it was still too early to see the stars of which she spoke. But the young pegasus knew they were there, just beyond the blue veil. She longed to see them more than ever.

"W-who told you that?" Apple Bloom inquired carefully, not sure what to make of the apathetic manner that their usually boisterous and energetic fillyfriend had suddenly adopted. She didn't know why, but she thought Scootaloo suddenly seemed.. older.

"They watch over us from high above. Serve as beacons to help us find the way when we are lost," Scootaloo continued, completely ignoring the question. She spoke as though she was merely repeating something she had memorized, in words that were not her own. "And sometimes.. sometimes, when you see a shooting star, a pegasus is coming down from the great skies beyond to help guide those left behind." The filly finally turned to face her friends, and though she hated herself for it she could not stop the tears from running down her cheeks. "Rainbow Dash told me that." It was clear that this simple fact made it gospel to the young pegasus. "I found her this one time, way after bedtime, when I'd run away from home again. She was looking at the stars and was acting really strange. And she started to tell me that story. Said her mom was up there."

"Wow.." Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom exclaimed in unison, their mouths hanging open. Their awed expressions actually managed to make Scootaloo laugh, making for a confusing mix of emotions. It wasn't long before a Cutie Mark Crusaders Group Hug was loudly called for, and although she made a token effort to express how much she hated mushy stuff like that, it was just what Scootaloo needed.

Twilight was falling. The sun had all but disappeared, with only diffuse dregs of its brilliance remaining. An aptly named purple unicorn stood on the outskirts of Ponyville and gazed gently at the dying of the light. She had been heading home unhurriedly from the memorial on the hill, alone and lost in thought, but paused to watch the day's passing, realizing that she'd never really taken the time to do so.

The scenery left a bitter taste in her mouth, however. Seeing the sun move reminded her of the one responsible for its journey across the sky and how disillusioned she currently felt. Twilight had always idolized her mentor, but even she could not excuse the alicorn's absence on this day. Sure, she knew Equestria's ruler was kept very busy with her royal duties, political issues and crises big and small. But when one of the Elements of Harmony - one of her favorite student's friends - passed away, surely she could deign to appear for a little while? Or at the very least send her condolences.

The purple pony sighed. She felt too drained to muster any real anger at this shocking betrayal of her faith in her teacher. Sometimes, she felt that Celestia was as distant and unapproachable as the heavenly bodies after which the alicorn was named. It was a fact she was just going to have to live with.

Like she was going to have to live with other things..

When she turned to her way back to the library, however, she spotted something that had been left on her doorstep: a rolled-up piece of parchment bearing a official-looking wax seal. She immediately recognized its sun-shaped design, but was too puzzled by its presence there to peruse it right away. The Princess never had letters delivered like this, they always used Spike as a conduit for their correspondence. It was far more efficient. The baby dragon had seemed pretty inconsolable, though, so maybe Celestia wanted to spare him the discomfort of having to regurgitate her message?

How considerate, Twilight thought, a bit disturbed by her own bitterness.

When she took a step closer, however, the magical mare became aware of the little hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. Closing her eyes, she felt her horn resonate with the powerful spells that had been woven around the innocuous-looking piece of paper. That explained a lot - this message was intended to be for her eyes only, it seemed. However convenient Spike's ability to convey letters was, the little dragon did have a habit of reading Twilight's mail..

It took mere seconds for the impatient unicorn to levitate and tear open the letter, nearly impaling the parchment on her horn as she leaned in close to read it, her eyes darting from left to right at an astonishing pace.

My dearest Twilight Sparkle,

First and foremost, my sincerest apologies for my absence during the memorial service held in honor
of your dear friend Rainbow Dash. I ask you to forgive me, and to trust that I abstained from coming
for good reason.

Please come and see me in my private chambers at Canterlot at your earliest convenience.
I have an urgent and sensitive matter I wish to discuss with you in private. It concerns the above.

Yours most sincerely,

Princess Celestia.

Chapter 7: You Can't Go Home Again

Commissioned artwork & mini-comic by FruitbloodMilkaShake

An alien world lay hidden beneath the deceptively tranquil surface of the ocean, harsh and unwelcoming towards anything from the surface foolish enough to plunge into its depths. In that hostile environment not even the pure light of Celestia's sun remained unaffected, the higher wavelengths filtered and mutilated so that everything took on the same hazy, bluish tint. It was easy, therefore, to miss the tiny, insignificant blue pegasus descending deeper and deeper into the vast abyss.

Even though she was almost ludicrously out of her element she blended right in, with even her garish mane losing its luster. The uneven strands floated weightlessly around her still, serene face, waving and rippling in an eerie fashion, like a colorful shroud. Warmer shades did not exist in her cold, underwater tomb, so from the gaping wound on Rainbow Dash's head there seemed to bleed only a thin trail of dark ink, swirling in her wake like the smoking contrails of her beloved Wonderbolts.

Gravity—which Rainbow Dash had so often and so blatantly defied—was finally conquering her in the end. As natural buoyancy and pegasus magic both failed, it patiently pulled its helpless, unconscious prey down into the murky bowels of the great sea, where the blue gradually faded into black. The darkness there grew thick and ancient, until at last even the faintest memory of warmth and light was snuffed out for good.

The drowning pony at least seemed to be at peace, her body acquiescing in its fate as essential processes shut down. The stream of tiny bubbles from her mouth and nose had ceased, her limbs were all relaxed, her limp body gently rotating on every axis as it sank. Her mouth was open slightly, the water filling her muzzle and slowly, inexorably forcing itself into her airways, still blocked off by laryngospasm. Everything was dead silent. Her eyes were closed, and it was almost as if she were sleeping—

They snapped open.

In an instant, they were wide with primal fear, her pupils dilating in a futile attempt to compensate for the everlasting, hostile darkness in which she was afloat. She might still have been dreaming, caught up in some horrible nightmare, were it not for the unmistakably real, searing pain tearing through her oxygen-deprived lungs.

Rainbow Dash began to move frantically, struggling against her fate without plan or purpose, her limbs flailing and kicking, her body contorting in a macabre, weightless dance. The frantic urge to breathe took hold of her, but the disoriented pegasus fought it, knowing that she was faced with a question as simplistic and binary as it was dreadful.

Up, or down?

Life, or death?

It seemed impossible to tell the two apart, with no next to no light left to guide her. But there wasn't time for even a moment's hesitation; what little presence of mind she still possessed was slipping, fast. The same impenetrable column of water that prevented the sun's rays from coming to her aid was slowly crushing her, every last drop of it bearing down on her unfairly frail body. Her chest ached, threatening to collapse from the sheer pressure, and even her sonic-boom-proof eardrums felt like they were on the verge of rupturing.

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes, calming herself even as every cell in her body ached for her to breathe, and so seal her fate. Her brain was close to insensibility, but she didn't really need to think. She did what she always did: she listened to what her gut told her and went with it. Pure instinct. No looking back. Shooting up like a cyan torpedo, it took mere seconds for her to break the surface. She had guessed correctly. The half-drowned pony inhaled with a desperate gasp, appreciating the reinvigorating air flooding into her lungs more than she ever had before. Then the coughing started, all the briny water she had swallowed pouring forth from her mouth and nostrils in painful heaves; for a few horrendous moments the struggling mare felt like she might choke to death, just after finally breathing the free air again.

When it was finally over, an exhausted Rainbow Dash allowed herself to simply float on her back for while, keeping her battered wings splayed out, with only the stinging of the saltwater in her wounds reminding her that she was indeed still alive. She wearily pulled the shattered goggles from her head and watched a very surprised seagull circling above her, while she groggily tried to piece together what, exactly, had happened.

Her Sonic Rainboom had been successful, for only the third time in her life, hurtling her past all of the competition in the Mareathon with ease. The poor pegasus officials posted at the finishing cloud were probably still spinning; she had just kept on going, not bothering to stop for their pointless trophy or empty accolades. The only thing that mattered was that she had bested Spitfire—possibly securing herself a spot in the Wonderbolts—and that she was flying faster than she ever had before. Why would she want to stop? There really was no reason to, no freshly fallen Fluttershy or Rarity to check up on. And the rush, the euphoria, the adrenaline pulsing in her veins... it felt too good, too awesome. It had been so long since she had experienced the true sense of speed, that panicky little wobble in her underbelly, the twinge of fear she seldom managed to recall during her usual stunts nowadays...

But gradually, as she pushed the envelope and found that she could go faster still, that addicting thrill had been replaced with something else: a sense of disconnection, of Zen-like peace. She was in the zone, achieving through sheer velocity what she could not accomplish during all the wasted, precious minutes of sitting still and trying to meditate with Twilight.

Although Rainbow had never really noticed it before, she became aware of the fact that there was something insulating her from the world that rushed past her, some involuntary magic nullifying even the friction of the air, so that it no longer made her eyes tear up and her face contort the way it did when she was still at subsonic speeds. It seemed to expand as she pushed herself harder until it felt like an invisible bubble, growing to envelop her like the magical shields she'd seen powerful unicorns like Twilight project around themselves.

All sense of velocity and distance faded into obscurity. Everything was tranquil and silent, since no sound reached her ears; she far out-raced those sluggish oscillations. The mountains and forests and clouds that whizzed past, repeating over and over in ever-more-rapid, psychedelic patterns, grew blurry, blending into a surreal tunnel of colorful streaks, the reflections of which flashed and flickered in the mare's flight goggles. It was as if the pegasus was no longer a part of the physical world she was rapidly circling; she merely passed through, ghost-like, unseen by naked eyes, almost completely unaffected by the forces that shackled and held back all living things.

She was free.

From the day a foal named Rainbow Dash first dove from the clouds and soared like a bird through the boundless skies, ignoring the cries of shock and terror from her parents and instructors both, this had been what she had yearned for. This had been her dream. Her desire for fame and recognition and derring-do, her lifelong ambition to join the Wonderbolts, even her hopeless love for a certain yellow pegasus... everything came second to this one drive, this one, simple need.

She had felt an inkling of it the moment she first stretched her tiny wings, and confirmed it when, as a young filly, she tore through the sound barrier with casual ease: somewhere, deep within her, lay the potential to one day transcend it all, to break free of this world entirely...

Maybe even reach the stars.

But it was not this day. The universe had caught on to her, almost literally it seemed; as if it were a living, conscious entity that could not long abide anypony so flagrantly violating its rules. Rainbow Dash began to feel like she was pushing up against something again, similar to the now-familiar sound barrier but without the flashy, visible effects; some fundamental threshold she could approach but not surmount, not even with the magical, gravity-defying potential of the pegasus race. Reality itself felt like it had become thick and viscous, wrapping around her and holding her back. It was like trying to fly underwater. Worse. Where before she had been like a nearly immaterial wraith, now it felt like her body was being magically transmuted into lead, one agonizing atom at a time.

Rainbow Dash tried to slow down, but the more she managed to do this the quicker she inevitably lost control. The world abruptly became a thing of distinct shapes and objects again, hurtling past at beyond-breakneck speeds. But then the sheer friction of her deceleration set the mysterious field enwrapping her ablaze, and her world was made of all-consuming flame. To make matters worse, her protective cocoon began to shrink as panic and fear took hold of her heart, diminishing further and further until, at last, one of her wings became exposed. There was a sickening snap as the fragile extremity was instantly forced back at an unnatural angle, though not fast enough to prevent the outermost primaries from lighting up like a torch. The nauseating smell of smoke and smoldering feathers tingled in Dash's flaring nostrils, but this horrifying sensation barely registered, since the trauma had her going into shock. The insane g-forces the now-unprotected pegasus was pulling tinged her vision with red as the blood rushed to her head.

Her forward momentum was finally failing, but with only one wing she knew a crash-landing would be pretty much inevitable. When her consciousness had faded to only the dimmest shred of survival instinct the field collapsed entirely. If she hadn't already been slowed down considerably, that would have been the end—but even at this reduced speed it still felt she like was being torn apart. With the last coherent thought that bubbled up in her brain, she steered towards a vast swath of glittering blue.

The ocean had been Dash's savior, dousing the fire and lessening what would've been a fatal impact had she slammed into the ground, but it had also very nearly been her undoing. And now she was adrift, trying to catch her breath after surviving the entire ordeal. But in between the deep, rasping breaths, Rainbow Dash was smiling. She was alive. She hurt in more places than she cared to list, had probably broken her wing, definitely singed a whole bunch of her feathers, and clearly lost a lot of blood from the nasty gash in her head. But she was still kicking.

"A-Any landing you can trot away from... Right, pops?"

Something stirred inside of the pegasus, urging her to get going, to move. She tried swimming a little, padding clumsily with all four of her limbs, but it was frustratingly slow and tiring. She hated the water. The more she moved her legs, though, the more it felt like she was gaining a hoofhold. It had never occurred to Rainbow Dash to try, but if she could walk on water vapor, then it stood to reason that she could walk on water, if she put her mind to it? That thought alone—the firm, unwavering conviction offered by what seemed like sound logic to her befuddled brain, coupled with a healthy dose of desperation—appeared to actually make it possible. Climbing up onto the tranquil surface, the dripping, injured pegasus took a few shaky, staggering steps.

It wasn't as easy as she thought; despite being technically more solid than the fluffy, static clouds of her birthplace, the fluid beneath her hooves kept shifting and changing, causing her to lose her balance or slowly sink. As long as she kept moving, though, Rainbow Dash found that she could manage. If only the ocean would stop spinning madly around her, and that stupid flock of noisy, identical birds would shut up for a minute...

Now that it was easier to move, however, the first order of business was patching up her damaged body a bit. As much as she had always loathed the nickname, ‘Rainbow Crash’ had never been an entirely undeserved epithet, but over the course of her crash-prone career the resilient stuntpony had at least picked up plenty of basic first aid techniques. Tearing her flight-suit to shreds with her teeth, and squeezing herself out of the tatters that remained, Rainbow Dash made herself some makeshift bandages. It felt pretty awful, ripping up a precious gift like that, but hey, she had to be practical here! She had never been one to cling to material possessions very much anyway.

Even her own body she tended to treat with callous disregard; driven by her dreams, she always trained harder than was advisable (or even sane), straining her muscles and wings to the breaking point. And whenever a daring feat of aerial acrobatics backfired, she often ended up covered in scrapes and bruises. Her friends always cautioned her about this, worried about her self-destructive tendencies. Their concern was touching, but Dash always just shrugged it off. An added bonus was that it gave her a convenient excuse to drop by Fluttershy's cottage for frequent pit stops. Although, of course, she had stopped doing that after her caring friend grew concerned, and shyly suggested that Rainbow Dash swung by so suspiciously often it almost seemed like she was getting hurt on purpose...

Rainbow Dash considered wrapping a bandage around her head to stem the bleeding, but the seawater-soaked rag stung horribly. The last thing she needed right now was more salt in her wounds, so she decided to just skip this luxury. It wasn't really that bad, anyway. Just a flesh wound; she'd had worse. But the injured mare did prepare a few strips of fabric with which she intended to secure her poor wing. She knew this was necessary—judging from the way it was pathetically flopping around, it was probably dislocated. Further jostling could permanently damage the ligaments at the base of her wing, and would hurt. Quite a lot. Unfortunately, so would the treatment.

After cobbling together a rough, clumsy sort of sling from the blue shreds, Rainbow Dash gingerly looped it around her damaged wing. She could barely even bear to look at it without feeling nauseous, knowing full well what she had to do next. There was nothing for it—she pulled, hard, and for a fraction of an eon her world exploded into the flashing, epileptic colors of excruciating pain. The intense, electrifying sensation bloomed from the stretched tendons of the joint, raced to the very tips of her wing at the speed of pure agony, and dug deep, sinewy roots into her shoulder and back. The staggering, convulsing pony nearly lost consciousness again, but remained standing by planting the hooves of her hind legs wide apart. The tears that welled up in her eyes she fought back, but the bile still burned in her throat, and there could be no withholding the shrill, unearthly whinny-scream that escaped her lips.

For a long while Rainbow Dash stood there, slightly bobbing up and down on the gentle swell of the sea, trembling, hyperventilating, and trying to hold on to her lunch. Slowly, the throbbing subsided and the pain ebbed away. When she felt ready to open her eyes again, she noted with relief that she had successfully secured her injured wing.

"Piece of cake," she told herself, straightening up while still trying to keep her panting breath from catching in a pathetic sob. Even here, isolated and alone, where there was nopony around to see her being a weak little crybaby, she didn't like giving in to a pointless display of emotion.

Crying never solved anything. It didn't heal your wounds; nor did it make the source of the pain go away. No amount of tears had ever persuaded the inexorable universe to start being fair... or to bring anypony back.

Banishing that unpleasant memory and inhaling deeply, Rainbow Dash cleared her sinuses and wiped at her eyes, her jaw once again firmly set. Everything was fine, she told herself. She was fine... a little banged up, maybe, but otherwise her cool, confident self. But she wasn’t fine—she felt very lonely, all of a sudden; a tiny blue dot on that enormous body of water, with no land in sight. Only now did the lost little pegasus realize how far out she really was, and how long and arduous the journey back home was going to be. Her ordeal was far from over. The fact that she was hurt and unable to fly made her feel even more stranded, and navigating was going to be difficult with no landmarks around to guide her and the stars obscured by the light of day.

If only Twilight were here. She’d come up with some brilliant spell to teleport them all safely back in no time at all, and hopefully in one piece. Or triangulate their position based on... something or other. Applejack would be a sight for sore eyes, too—the sturdy farmfilly would probably tell her she looked terrible, and to move her sorry butt already. Just the kind of encouragement Rainbow Dash needed right now. And Pinkie would find some way to make her laugh, even in a situation like this. It would probably hurt to do so, but what the hay. Rarity would probably want to kill her for ruining her painstakingly hoof-sewn creation, but even that seemed like a welcome diversion right about now.

Fluttershy... would have done a better job of fixing up her wing, for one thing. Rainbow Dash had no trouble imagining her doing so, her skillful hooves gently prodding to determine where it hurt, her hasty, heartfelt apologies when she happened to poke exactly at the most painful spot. Her eyes filling with concern...

The mental image startled Rainbow Dash out of her reverie. How long had she been gone already, flying around for her own amusement? How many more days would it take her to get back home? Fluttershy would be worried sick about her pretty soon, if she wasn’t already—all of her friends would be. She didn’t have time to be standing around here, she needed to get back home as soon as possible.

With this renewed sense of urgency, Rainbow Dash studied the declination of the sun, squinting and trying to remember what direction she’d been going in. It was hard to think. Trusting to luck, she started limping towards what she thought was the west, trying not to be discouraged by the sight of the enormous stretch of ocean in front of her unsteady, faltering hooves, easily spanning the distance to the horizon like a vast, lifeless blue desert with ever-shifting dunes.

The novelty of soft splashes rather than clops accompanying the fall of her hooves wore off almost as quickly as her gratefulness towards the blazing sun that swiftly dried her dripping mane and coat. The bowl of cool, refreshing water she had dunked her head into before the second leg of the Mareathon haunted her thoughts; her throat and lips were dry and ached at the tantalizing sight of the cruelly undrinkable water all around her. Compared to that torment, the feeble protests of her stomach barely even registered.

Dash didn’t know how long she had been trudging along when she noticed that it was getting darker, and that the repetitive sine wave of water beneath her hooves was increasing in amplitude—the rises resembling hills now more than subtle little bumps. Wearily lifting her head, Rainbow Dash’s tired eyes widened at the sight of the ominous clouds that were gathering in the distance.

Beneath the dreary, grey roof blotting out the sky an orange sun was beginning to set. It seemed to plunge into the ocean, but failed to fizzle and throw up steam as it sank beneath the waves. In the gathering gloom, the brewing storm looked even more threatening. Even after seeing it happen over the Everfree Forest a number of times, it was still unsettling to a pegasus to see clouds behaving so unnaturally, conglomerating into a dark mass by themselves.

But there was another, less concrete reason why the spontaneous shift in the weather disturbed Rainbow Dash. She wasn’t sure why; far away from the sphere of influence of earth ponies and alicorns alike, weather like this was probably a common occurrence. However, the thunderstorm seemed like an ill omen to her, filling her with an irrational but unshakable sense of foreboding. She felt her pace quickening when the first, deep roar of the thunder rolled past her, though she was unsure where she was even dredging up the energy from at this point.

Before long, the roiling clouds were directly overhead. That’s when the floodgates opened and the downpour began, as suddenly as if a thousand pegasi had started jumping up and down atop the moisture-laden thunderclouds. The surrounding water looked like it was boiling, the texture of the surface changing as it was bombarded with innumerable droplets. The torrential rain pounded down heavily on Rainbow Dash as well, but she didn’t even care about getting completely soaked again. The rain was nice and cool, and the parched pony threw her head back and opened her muzzle wide, drinking all she could of the reinvigorating shower of freshwater.

Having escaped from the blue void, Rainbow Dash now found herself an out-of-place splash of vibrant color in a drab, depressing world, with grey skies and churning black water as far as the eye could see.

Just as she mounted the foamy-white crest of a towering wave that pushed up from beneath her, and a heavy gust of wind blew back the lank strands of wet mane that clung to her cheeks, a haggard-looking Rainbow Dash caught sight of an anomaly in the otherwise-unchanging view. The rain was easing up a little, making it easier for her to raise her head and gaze up at the small hole that had appeared in the otherwise ubiquitous cloud cover. It was like a window had opened, offering a brief glimpse of the peaceful night sky that was hidden behind the turbulent storm. The little patch of stars was an unexpected but welcome sight, since it could help her ensure that she was still heading the right way.

After she had spent several moments studying the distant, twinkling lights above, there was the sudden, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it flicker of a falling star. The sight, reflected in her awestruck eyes, both moved and further disquieted Dash. She paused for a moment, trying to figure out where this dreadful, sinking feeling was coming from, but then began to walk faster, almost gallop, ignoring the throbbing pain in her hind leg and the protests from her overtaxed body.

If there was a limit to how far loyalty alone could take a dehydrated, starving, wounded pony who was running on fumes, Rainbow Dash would discover it soon enough.

Somewhere along the Equestrian coastline, at the pristine beach of a tiny lagoon, a large wave broke as it rolled in towards the shore. Atop it, riding on the overturning crest, was Rainbow Dash, trying to keep her balance but eventually getting wiped out anyway. She washed up on the beach a few moments later, like so much colorful flotsam, simply too worn out to even move at first. As fond of flying as she was, Dash couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so intensely grateful for the feeling of actual sand supporting her. It did so automatically, requiring no effort on her part, something Rainbow Dash had always taken for granted and only now fully appreciated. She could finally give her mind a reprieve from the constant concentration required to traipse around on water.

Subsequent waves, advancing and retreating in their continuous assault upon the shore, kept shifting the exhausted pegasus around, seemingly toying with her as they carried her further ashore only to suck her back in again. Finally, when a particularly large wave came crashing in, Rainbow Dash was swept away, only to roll onto her stomach. With some effort she managed to seize this opportunity to get up on her hooves once again, shivering from the cold wind that cut straight through her soaked fur and chilled her to the bone.

“Just... Just a little further. Then you can rest,” she told herself for roughly the gazillionth time.

By the time Rainbow staggered into Ponyville, she had at least managed to get some food and water in her. During her trek through the woods she had often stopped to hunt for even remotely edible plants and patches of grass, or to drink her fill from the streams she stumbled across, which had kept her from collapsing. If she hadn’t been staggering around in a daze or quite as hungry, she might have wondered why there were no berries or any fresh grass to be found.

The bedraggled pegasus with dried blood clinging to her mane drew stares of concern from passersby, few of whom Rainbow Dash thought she was familiar with, although the scarves some of them had wrapped around their necks didn’t help with recognition. She ignored the unfamiliar faces and the whispered conversations behind her back, not noticing the doubtful or even disturbed looks some of these ponies were giving her. She was suffering from tunnel vision, single-mindedly dragging herself to her first destination, and shrugged off any time-wasting and unnecessary questions like ‘Are you okay?’ or ‘Do you need help?’.

Dash merely shook her head and stubbornly pushed past everypony who tried to hinder her, doggedly keeping her head down and mumbling something about an emergency. Her breathing was growing increasingly shallow. The light-headed mare knew she had to keep going; if she allowed herself a moment of rest now, there was no telling whether she would be able to drag herself up onto her hooves again.

When she limped up to the Carousel Boutique, Rainbow Dash was frustrated by a large ‘CLOSED’ sign hanging haphazardly from the front door. The noticeable film of dust that covered both the sign as well as most of the exterior of Rarity’s home and workplace didn’t bode well, but she banged on the door anyway, and tried to peer through the darkened windows even though all the curtains were drawn.

Immediately, Rainbow Dash worried that her prolonged absence had something to do with this. Rarity and she had never particularly gotten along... for which she was largely to blame, she supposed. But then the unicorn had made such a big deal out of the fact that Rainbow had "saved her life." Which was pretty awesome, she guessed, but she would have done that for anypony. Still, it had put a serious dent in the thick layer of ice that had separated the two vastly different mares.

For some reason, while she turned and walked away, Rainbow Dash found herself hoping for a chance to talk to Rarity again. She needed to apologize for wrecking the suit, first off, and then maybe ask to hang out with her some time—preferably at some place that didn’t have any makeover-related facilities. Rare could be a pretty cool pony when she wanted to be. And she was Fluttershy’s best friend, making her the most qualified pony to consult on that sensitive matter.

There was no answer to her insistent knocks on the door of the Golden Oaks Library either, although this building at least still seemed to be inhabited. Still, the lack of response left Rainbow Dash feeling increasingly restless and worried, a frown of concern clouding her already-pained expression. She shivered again, feeling an inexplicable coldness seeping into her skin and gripping her heart in its icy claws. She had so been looking forward to telling Twilight that her theories on pegasus flight had proven correct, and that her additional advice had ended up helping immensely. And, although it would probably end up with her getting a bunch of magical sensors taped to her body again, Dash was dying to discuss the weird stuff that had she had observed when really pushing herself.

Upon reaching the outskirts of Ponyville to visit Sweet Apple Acres, Rainbow didn’t fare much better. At first the place seemed unchanged, but when Rainbow looked more carefully she noticed that sections of the orchards had gone missing, and that the farm itself had also seen better days. Her gut feelings were looking more and more sound by the second; something bad had clearly happened here. But there was nopony in sight to ask about what had transpired, and Rainbow Dash didn’t feel up to a visit to the farmhouse, where the entire Apple family’s well-meaning concern and barrage of questions would only lead to lengthy delays.

Dash pressed onward despite her disappointment; she had really been hoping to catch Applejack outside. There had to be an explanation for all of this. She had only been gone for a few days, her muddled brain estimated, and it seemed hard to believe that so much could have changed in Ponyville during such a brief absence. But if she could rely on anypony to explain it all succinctly and simply—even for a slow-on-the-uptake pony with a concussion—without demanding that trivialities like her injuries were addressed first, it was Applejack. She would understand.

While she continued to reminisce on years of rivalry and friendship, and involuntarily began salivating when her mutinous brain cruelly recalled all the the scrumptious meals she had enjoyed here, Rainbow Dash wandered aimlessly towards the Everfree Forest. On the one hoof, she desperately needed to know what fate had befallen Fluttershy; on the other, what she had seen so far made her dread every step that brought her closer to the cottage.

Then she spotted something in a clearing ahead and let out a cry of relief, laughing as she forced her unwilling legs into something resembling a trot. A large wooden table had been set up there, and there were some wooden bowls and plates and such, but what had really caught Rainbow Dash’s eye had been the banner stretched between two trees, reading, in multi-colored letters, ‘Welcome home Dashie!’ She immediately recognized the flowery, scribbly penmareship as belonging to Pinkie Pie.

But the hopeful blue pegasus’s pace slackened as she got closer to the scene that had filled her with such elation, and began to think things through a little more. There was nopony there waiting for her, of course; she had been lost at sea for several days, and there was no way for her friends to know she had made it back yet. She tried to push away the unreasonable sense of disappointment. At the very least, the fact that a surprise victory celebration had clearly been in the works made her feel a little better.

That is, until Dash started noticing disturbing little details she couldn’t have made out from afar. Things like the fact that the table, while clean, looked to be in a state of slight disrepair, or that the writing on the banner looked rather weathered and faded. The whole place had a decaying and eerily quiet feeling to it, like a graveyard or old monument that was being carefully maintained by some caretaker, but was still being gradually worn down by the relentless, eroding influence of time.

If this was a prank, it was a frighteningly elaborate one, and in very, very poor taste.

Slowly, Rainbow Dash backed away from the clearing with that strange, cold shiver running up and down her spine again. Then she hastily turned and quickened her steps, eager to put as much distance between herself and that uncanny scene as equinely possible.

After closing her eyes to cut through some tangly brush, Rainbow Dash had to blink heavily when she opened them again. She froze completely, mouth hanging open at the sight that greeted her. It was like all mental processes shut down temporarily whilst her brain feverishly tried to make sense of the surreally impossible.

“No way,” Rainbow said, directly quoting her stumped brain’s eventual conclusion.

Right before her lay Horseshoe Lake, a crescent-shaped body of water that was, at the moment, completely and totally... frozen solid. Which meant that either reality had decided to look the other way while Pinkie and the Crusaders had pulled off their completely asinine plan with the ice cubes, or she was hallucinating. And she had hit her head pretty hard...

But wait, no, of course! Twilight had probably helped them out with some awesome instant-freezing spell, Rainbow Dash told herself, attempting to keep her sanity from slipping. That had to be it!

At that exact moment, the snow began to fall.

Looking up in bewilderment, Dash saw entire formations of winged ponies busying themselves with the relocation of several large clouds, all of them carefully prepared in Cloudsdale and heavily laden with moisture. The hard-working pegasi of the Weather Patrol were lifting them up to the correct altitude to allow for the water vapor to crystallize. It was all part of the annual routine, the first step of the artificial push towards seasonal change when ambient temperatures began to drop. Sort of the opposite to Winter Wrap Up.

The simple truth was finally beginning to sink in. The constant shivers she had been experiencing... they weren’t due to blood loss, fatigue or lingering uneasiness. It was, quite simply, cold outside. Ponyville was preparing for winter. But the Pegalympics had been held when autumn was only just around the corner...

Moving slowly and with difficulty, like an ancient, decrepit pony on her last legs, Rainbow Dash climbed a nearby hill. There was a bleak, barren tree that stood on top of it, like a lone sentinel. Only when she got to the top and leaned up against that dark trunk, heaving for breath, did she notice that her exhalations were coming out of her muzzle as a fine mist.

Shading her eyes from the pale winter sun and the gently falling flakes of snow with her one good wing Dash surveyed the land below, which the ever-airborne pegasus had once known like the inside of her saddlebag. Instantly, her sunken but unfailingly keen eyes spotted the differences—shifts in the foliage, patches of forest where the trees had been felled, a barn she could have sworn hadn’t been there when she left—subtle changes, but none of them the kind of thing that could happen overnight.

The forlorn pony atop the hill sat there for a long while, looking out at what should have been her home, but wasn’t. The ways it had been altered were minor and not particularly sinister, but felt enormous, in that they took away any sense of security and familiarity. Rainbow Dash was afraid—as any pony would be when faced with the blatantly impossible—but the horror she felt was so weird and atypical that she didn’t know what to make of it. She was faced with a reality that her mind utterly rejected, but which steadfastly refused to go away no matter how often she closed and reopened her eyes.

Rainbow Dash would have given anything just for the comforting sight of a familiar face. Somepony to tell her this was all just a horrible, messed-up dream; that she had crashed into the sea and lost consciousness, but had miraculously been rescued. She only had wake up and open her eyes to find all of her friends crowded around her, crying and laughing and wildly hugging her, welcoming her back to the land of the living.

She held out a foreleg and caught a snowflake on her hoof. Holding it close to her face, she could see something of the unique, complex structure of the frozen snow crystal, although it rapidly began to melt from the exposure to her body heat. It was a level of detail she didn’t think her brain could ever conjure up, especially after rattling around inside her skull for a bit.

As a final test, she moved away from the tree to the curious rock below its outstretched, skeletal branches, and touched it, feeling the soft, squishy moss and the coolness of the stone. Idly, using the edges of her hoof, the lost-in-thought pony scraped off little bits of plant matter, which would probably not survive the coming winter anyway.

Then she frowned. There were markings on the surface, carved with the magical precision of a unicorn horn, which she was accidentally bringing to light. Removing some more of the growth she could slowly begin to make out the design...

Rainbow Dash suddenly shrunk back as though the rock had burned her. It wasn’t a rock at all, of course; the smooth rectangular shape was clearly pony-made. Adorning the marker and staring her in the face, she realized aghast, was her own, beloved cutie mark.

She stumbled, her trembling legs finally faltering and giving way when she tried to take a few hasty steps back from this grisly, unnatural sight.

“W-What,” Rainbow Dash stammered, incapable of finishing even that simple thought. Her mind momentarily lost all coherency, teetering dangerously on the edge of utter despair while she stared, blankly, at this final straw.

“What... am I looking at exactly, Princess?”

Normally speaking, Twilight Sparkle would have treated the mysterious painting Princess Celestia was showing her as yet another important assignment—a mystery to unravel. But it was the day after Rainbow’s memorial service, and her heart just wasn’t in it today. It didn’t help that she had barely slept, having spent the majority of the night tossing and turning while she mulled over the frustratingly vague contents of her mentor’s letter, until the quiet sniffling coming from Spike’s basket distracted her.

He’d taken Dash’s death so hard... Twilight had tried to console him, but what could she possibly say to make it better when her own heart was filled with the same doubt and sadness, and was terrified by the same, stark reminder of her own mortality and that of her dearest friends?

She had had a rough night, in other words; one that had ended with her finally falling asleep in the wee hours of the morning, cuddling a still-depressed and equally exhausted little dragon to her chest. She wasn’t in the mood for riddles or enigmatic answers. Certainly not from Celestia, with whom she was still quite upset for failing to show up yesterday.

In fact, she’d practically stormed into the tower her mentor had summoned her to, and had been purposefully late, by at least two-and-a-half minutes, which the usually extremely punctual unicorn imagined was sufficient to make her point. She had been quite ready to give Celestia a piece of her mind; the entire carriage ride over had been spent rehearsing her pressing, poignant questions and mentally steeling herself for the fallout. She’d just... needed a moment to catch her breath; there had been a lot of stairs to climb in order to reach the observation tower.

But she had choked on her carefully prepared cross-examination, of course, when the tall, regal alicorn politely invited her in, standing there in all her stupid, ancient, magical, intimidating splendour. Twilight’s ire had been further mollified by the apologetic smile Celestia had been wearing. There had been something a little off about her expression that Twilight couldn’t quite put her hoof on. The Goddess of the Sun had looked almost... fragile. Old. Even though that ageless face was as immutable as ever, Celestia’s most faithful student—who knew her better than probably anypony alive today—had detected subtle signs of weariness and pain in the alicorn’s normally unfathomable eyes. It had been the first time Twilight had ever caught such glimpses of weakness and frailty in her venerable teacher, and it had taken her completely off guard.

“Hello, Twilight Sparkle. Thank you for coming,” Celestia had said, managing a smile. “I realize you must be angry with me, and for good reason. I truly apologize for my inexcusable absence yesterday, and I hope you will allow me to explain myself.”

Twilight had remained silent, her indignation evaporating rapidly as Celestia took the words right out of her muzzle. But then the Princess had pointed a golden sabaton at the painting she was looking at right now, asking her to tell her what she saw, and some remnant of the unicorn’s irritation had decided to linger. She failed to see how this ancient piece of artwork, depicting what looked like two newborn foals, was at all relevant.

“I assure you this is not a frivolous question,” Celestia remarked, startling Twilight a little. Her mentor had an uncanny knack for correctly guessing what was going through her mind at any given moment.

“I see two foals,” Twilight droned, still feeling slightly mutinous, particularly now that she felt compelled to state the obvious. “One dark blue, the other white and— wait.” She looked from the picture to the white alicorn beside her. “Is that you, Princess? You and your sister? I mean, Princess Luna?”

Celestia merely nodded encouragingly. “Please, continue.”

Turning back to the painting, Twilight leaned in a little closer, studying the scene again now that she was equipped with this crucial bit of knowledge. Something was bothering her about what was depicted—something was incorrect. She had the distinct feeling that it was one of those situations where, were somepony to give her the answer, the answer would be blatantly obvious in retrospect.

The two sisters had been painted together in a manner that was rife with symbolism, their tiny, curled up, winged bodies forming a circle, with the two foals arranged in such a way that they were facing each other, but were flipped vertically. Light and dark. Sun and Moon...

Suddenly it hit Twilight. “Wait. Princess, Luna is your younger sister, right? I can't really guess how many years—or, erm, centuries—separate the two of you, but surely this painting is employing artistic license by showing you as young foals together?”

“Well spotted,” Celestia said proudly. “You are right, of course. Luna is my younger sister, and I am a few hundred years her senior at the moment. But it was not always so. This painting, carefully preserved by magic throughout the ages but kept locked away from the public eye, was actually created on the very day Luna and I were born. Paradoxical as it may sound, we are, in fact, twin sisters.

“Twin... sisters... ?” Twilight repeated, frowning and looking completely baffled by this unexpected revelation. “But... but we were always told— Even Luna herself called you her ‘big sister’!”

“And so I am,” Celestia said softly, “albeit, originally, only by a few minutes or so.”

“I don’t understand,” Twilight said, making her old teacher smile by inadvertently adopting the familiar expression that had always accompanied that statement. The inquisitive look in those violet eyes, the insatiable eagerness to learn—coupled with a sigh of frustration because, at the moment, the answer seemed to be just beyond the intelligent young mare’s knowledge or comprehension.

“Then let me explain,” Celestia said, sitting down on her haunches. ”I will try to keep the ancient history brief, since I know you have more pressing questions on your mind. But I am afraid a little background information is needed.

“Millennia ago, during dark times, Luna and I were born. Though little more than fillies at the time, we eventually wielded the Elements of Harmony to restore some measure of order to our world. Despite both being heralded as the saviors of Equestria, as the elder sister it remained my destiny to rule in our mother’s stead, once she finally tired of the long years of immortality and decided to pass on the crown.

“Luna always begrudged me my privileged position, I fear, though I never foresaw the depths to which her inferiority complex would drive her until it was too late. She was always grumbling about how it had been mere chance that I had crawled out of the womb a little sooner, and that this feat in no way made me more suitable to ascend the throne. She was right of course, but I was an ignorant young fool and tended to tease her about it, failing to realize the psychological repercussions this would have in the long term.” Celestia hung her head, experiencing a pang of shame over her past transgressions.

“The two of us were rather fiercely competitive, you see. Luna, particularly, was always quite eager to show me up in any activity, to beat me in every game, no matter how trivial. One fateful night, she challenged me to a race. Or I challenged her - I cannot quite remember what set the entire chain of events into motion. I suppose it no longer matters. She pointed to a dim star in the night sky, which she said was the closest star to our own, and declared that the last one there was ‘an egg most rotten.’”

Twilight blinked in disbelief. “P-Proxima Humani? I am familiar with that system, but... Princess, despite being relatively nearby, in terms of stellar distances, isn’t it still over four light-years out?” The astronomy-loving mare could have quoted the exact figure, but the distances involved were already making her head spin. It wasn’t so bad when they were just abstract numbers on a page, but to actually consider an equine trying to travel acrossa gulf of space that wide... “So even if you were - theoretically speaking, of course—flying at the speed of light...”

“It would indeed take more than four years to get there,” Celestia said with a faint smile, “That does not seem very long to an alicorn, even at the tender age of a century-and-a-half, however. And to be completely accurate: Luna merely reached an appreciable fraction of the speed of light. But it was enough...”

“I see. Merely a fraction. Naturally. Silly me,” Twilight said weakly. Then she frowned. “But wait, you only mentioned Luna going. Wasn’t it supposed to be a race between the two of you?”

A brief, meaningful silence fell, wherein Twilight realized she had asked a delicate question.

“I only pretended to start,” Celestia admitted, and for the first time ever the alicorn, plagued by guilt, failed to meet her student’s eyes while she spoke. “I didn’t think she was actually going to go through with it,” she added, and the nearly pleading tone to her voice made Twilight shift uncomfortably. It was almost like the Princess was asking her for forgiveness.

"I wanted to at least humor Lulu and her challenge,” Celestia said, shaking her head sadly, ”but leaving our ailing mother to tend to the sun and moon for the duration would have been incredibly irresponsible. The whole thing was really quite mad and foalish to begin with...” She sighed, and looked at the dark pony on the painting, who would later be corrupted and reborn as Nightmare Moon. ”I could feel Luna’s malcontent and jealousy beginning to grow, even then. I thought that if I just pretended to have given up somewhere along the way and declared her the victor, it might cheer her up a little. A startlingly naive and ill-advised plan, as it turned out.”

Twilight felt like pointing out the obvious, that despite these mitigating circumstances Celestia needn’t have led her sister on, but she held her tongue. It wasn’t fear that motivated her to remain silent, even though she had just been duly reminded of just how vastly ancient and unimaginably powerful Celestia and Luna really were. Instead, it was pity. To have a single, seemingly innocent, juvenile prank produce such unexpected consequences...

“I’m guessing something weird happens to a pony when they go that fast? Is it like time travel?” Twilight tried to imagine the effects, but didn’t quite see how sheer speed could account for what seemed like the results of an aging spell gone horribly wrong. Although astrophysics had always been a hobby of hers, her focus on magical studies had prevented her from delving into the thick tomes of alicorn and unicorn lore that detailed more advanced stellar theories.

“It is more like time dilation,” Celestia explained, briefly sounding like the teacher Twilight was familiar with again, now that she had something other than her own mistakes to lecture about. “It would appear, Twilight—counterintuitive though it may seem—that time is neither constant nor absolute. It is dependant on the reference frame it is measured in, and is affected by relative velocity.”

“So... time flows differently for everypony, depending on how fast they’re moving?” Twilight thought the entire concept hard to believe, and even harder to visualize. But the twin sisters’ disparate ages and firsthoof experience were pretty solid and dramatic empirical data, so she tried to accept it for now and work out the equations later.

“Yes,” Celestia said, visibly impressed at how quickly her star pupil grasped the basic gist of what she was trying to explain. ”Normally speaking nopony notices this; the effect is negligible with day-to-day modes of travel, even for the swiftest Wonderbolt. But Luna, accelerating away from the rest of us at such immense speed, appeared to be gone for hundreds of years here on earth—even though she only experienced a few hours of travel before, thankfully, seeing through my ruse and turning back.”

Approximately one point four million questions popped up in Twilight’s head. The science was fascinating, even though she didn’t fully understand it yet, but her curiosity would have to wait. Instead, she tried to guess where this was going, how it all related to her deceased friend and to Celestia’s absence at the funeral. It didn’t take her long to put the pieces together. Her eyes went wide with dawning comprehension and horror. “P-Princess... are you implying that... that Rainbow...?”

“Yes. I fear that the same fate may have befallen your friend Rainbow Dash.”

“She... she’s alive?” Twilight could barely speak, barely breathe; her heart felt like it had stopped entirely.

“I believe she is,” Celestia confirmed, looking sympathetically at her understandably shocked student. She seemed glad to have finally gotten to the crux of the matter. “I have been trying everything in my power to locate her, but...” The lengthy horn upon her forehead pointed floorward a little more.

“But we... we buried her.” Twilight was speaking symbolically, of course. There had been nothing left to bury but their dwindling hope of ever seeing their friend again. ”I was—I mean, we were all trying to.. to move on... and now...” Twilight was struggling to form even these fragmented sentences; the uncontrollable sobbing was quite a nuisance. She didn’t even know if she was crying because she was happy to finally have hope again, or because it hurt, because it robbed her of closure and the modicum of peace she had gleaned from weeks of gradual acceptance. It felt like a healing wound being cruelly torn open again. “Are you sure?”

“I can only confirm that the Element of Loyalty still resides with her,” Celestia said gently, extending a wing to pull her protege into a comforting hug. ”I only became aware of it the day before the funeral; even though my connection with the Elements was severed, I can still faintly sense their presence. But she’s moving so fast, Twilight... I attempted to augment my senses until I felt the level of stimulus would surely drive me mad, but still I couldn’t intercept her...“

“I was so angry with you!” Twilight confessed, much more upset with herself now. “And all the while you were trying to save her...” She sniffed, looking up at the tall, regal mare. ”Why didn’t you say anything, though, Princess? Why all this secrecy?”

“I am not going to lie to you, Twilight,” Celestia said, though it clearly pained her to be so brutally honest. For what it was worth, she placed a comforting hoof on the crying mare’s shoulder, patting and rubbing lightly. “I fear we have a difficult decision to make. I originally did not want to burden you with this knowledge at all, but Luna insisted that it would be presumptuous of me to withhold this information and demanded that I confided in you, at the least. She seemed to think that I was being overprotective of you, and that you were much tougher than I gave you credit for.”

“Totally living up to her expectations at the moment, aren’t I?” Twilight said hoarsely and with a stuffy nose.

“You’re doing fine.” Celestia smiled, glad to hear that her student hadn’t lost her sarcasm, at least. But the expression vanished as quickly as it had appeared. “But here are the facts, Twilight: Rainbow Dash may still manage to eventually slow down and rejoin us in our reference frame—providing her fragile, mortal body endures the severe stress of deceleration. But even if she does, it might take her a while, from our perspective. She may show up in a few weeks, or a year later...”

“Or...?” Twilight asked, already knowing the answer (and dreading it), but needing to hear it spoken aloud.

“Or she may return hundreds of years from now, only to find her home irrevocably changed and all of her friends and family long gone...”

Chapter 8: Downfall

Not since the return of Nightmare Moon had the sky been this dark and foreboding.

The last line of defense against the incoming flood was rapidly dwindling—a single glance along the bank of the rapidly-swelling and raging river was enough to confirm this. One by one the little multicolored pinpricks of lights, generated by the glowing horns of a long string of unicorns, went out, smothered by the ever-encroaching dark of this seemingly endless night.

Rarity could feel it, too: that curious, all-pervasive feeling of fatigue that wasn’t entirely corporeal. A sense of being drained of some fundamental essence. An unpleasant sensation of emptiness, like a gaping void growing within, hollowing her out from the inside. Overuse of magic was the cause of this growing discomfort, as nearly every unicorn in Equestria discovered sooner or later over the course of their life.

Like normal, physical pain, these sensations were intended as a warning: Her body was telling her to stop before something was irrevocably damaged.

But she couldn’t stop. Not now. She had to persevere. At first, it was just because she didn’t want to be shown up by that insufferably tenacious Applejack (even if it meant biting her tongue to keep from complaining even a teensy, entirely reasonable little bit in the earth mare’s presence).

At this point, however, far less petty reasons motivated Rarity.

Through tremendous willpower, she was still able to summon forth the energies needed to cast her simple-but-crucial spell. She had to keep searching for usable rocks beneath the soil, she simply had to... It helped that it was her signature spell—one her horn had been especially attuned to casting, even at a tender age. But even then Rarity knew that she, too, was scraping the bottom of the mystic barrel, leaving her mind feeling like a muscle stretched and strained beyond endurance—a muscle that felt like it might rip and tear itself apart at any given minute.

And still the cruel, unrelenting rain kept beating down.

Rarity couldn’t recall ever feeling quite this utterly drenched, and that was saying something—the showers she tended to take were considered legendary. Her vaunted, elaborate coiffure was now but a straight, waterlogged mop, constantly getting in her eyes and muzzle and weighing down her already-heavy head. To make matter worse, the viscous muck beneath her hooves felt like it was trying to actively devour her legs, rendering every step a struggle to pull free. Her designer rain-boots, of course, had been among the first victims it had claimed.

And she was so very, very dirty, so utterly encrusted with mud from the bottom up... She couldn’t even bear to think about it, preferring to focus on the task at hoof, lest her near-pathological need for cleanliness ended up getting the better of her.

She could get cleaned up later, she kept telling herself. Her fabulosity could be restored given time, her ruined raincoat replaced. And so she set her jaw and soldiered on, grim and stone-faced, impervious to dreck and downpour, steadfastly ignoring countless little whine-worthy aches and woes, turning despair into strength through sheer, bull-headed stubbornness.

And all because she couldn’t forget… Because she had seen the look in Applejack’s eyes. Eyes that were normally so stern and so full of determination; eyes she had expected to remain clear and undaunted, and which she had looked to for strength, when her own reserves were running thin.

Little could have prepared her for the barely-restrained look of panic she had found instead.

Whenever they tried to pierce through yonder trees to catch a glimpse of her imperiled home, they had been filled with doubt—even fear. The genuine pleading note in the proud mare’s joking request to ‘hold down the fort while she was gone’ hadn’t been lost on Rarity; in fact, it had very nearly broken her heart. She had been expecting their usual banter, laced with playful jabs… And only now realized how much she relied on it, how much she missed it...

And that’s why she had to keep going. Because, if their pillar of strength was failing, somepony else had to shoulder the load. Because she couldn’t bear to see her friend in such a bad way. Because she wanted, more than anything, to see hope and strength rekindled in those green eyes.

Most of her Ponyvillean peers had already reached their limit, though. Their magic utterly spent, they had fallen by the riverside one after another, panting and desperately trying to recuperate, even if only to relieve their equally-struggling friends for a few minutes at a time.

Looking askance, Rarity spotted two vaguely-familiar-looking mares who seemed to have given up entirely. Bedraggled and miserable, they were sitting on their haunches in the midst of it all—a catastrophe on a scale they could scarcely even have imagined—their forelegs wrapped around each other in an intimate but desperate embrace. One of them was crying; she could tell by the way her small frame was convulsing, softly but pathetically.

Rarity paused, feeling pity for their plight. She probably ought to be yelling at them, trying to snap them out of it... They needed all hooves on deck to have any hope of sufficiently strengthening their hastily-constructed dam, after all. Especially now that they were fast running out of sandbags and were being forced to improvise... But she just couldn’t bring herself to do it.

In her (hopelessly romantic) mind, they were young lovers; just two ordinary fillies who had felt obligated to participate in this seemingly-forlorn attempt at saving their little village. Like most of the ponies here they had probably enjoyed a sheltered existence—just like Rarity herself, up until a few years ago. The sight of an errant fluff of cloud, moving of its own accord, or of an innocent little plant growing where it wasn’t wanted, would probably already be enough to disturb them.

And yet, they had volunteered for this, and had probably given it their all. But they had been ill-prepared to face the full extent of nature’s wrath, when it was unfettered by the artificial order imposed upon it by ponykind—something they had probably taken for granted all their lives. And to make matters worse, they had run out of the one thing they might use to hold the chaos surrounding them at bay: their magic.

If she could have given them some of her own, she would have. In a heartbeat. But alas, she was running on sparks herself, so the struggling pair would have to settle for a bracing smile.

The young mare who was comforting the other nervously reciprocated. Even from a distance, Rarity could see that she was trembling, and not just from the cold. There was genuine terror in her eyes, an unmistakable expression of fear and awe on her pretty, grimy face.

And who could blame her? After all, the poor thing had only just finally managed to tear her eyes away from the malevolent clouds above, only to be met with the equally-intimidating sight of another force of nature right next to her.

Rarity, for one, certainly wouldn’t hold it against her. Following the other mare’s gaze, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of fear herself, despite the fact that was looking at one of her closest friends, whom she trusted completely.

Because whenever she got like this, Twilight Sparkle really was quite a sight to behold.

Shading her dark-adjusted eyes with a hoof, she looked over at the other, infinitely more powerful mare, who was floating several hooves above the ground in a violet bubble of raw, swirling magic. This rippling, transparent shell painted the bleak night all in shades of purple and white, as little arcs of magical discharge danced across its surface, crackling in the rain-soaked air to vie with the distant thunder. The pools of ethereal light that had once been violet eyes were aimed heavenwards, gazing up at their shapeless foe with cold and calculated defiance.

“RARITY,” an inequine voice boomed suddenly, startling the downtrodden fashionista, who had stood idly staring.

“Please, I beg of you darling,” she said breathlessly, clutching at her pounding heart, “don’t ever do that again.”

“SOR—” The two ghostly lamps blinked out briefly—”Ehehe, s-sorry. But I really need you to keep looking. I don’t think Applejack is going to ever get those wagons moving again; not in these conditions.”

Rarity nodded. “There,” she said curtly, putting on her business-face and pointing out the spot she had been surveying earlier. “There are a few boulders buried below a number of thin layers of sediment. Be forewarned though, they’re pretty hug—”

“I’ve got it,” Twilight cut her off. Narrowing her eyes and gritting her teeth, she pointed her at the spot Rarity had indicated. There was a deep rumble, and then the earth beneath her hooves began to crack, prompting Rarity to quickly hop aside.

“Nnng...” The droplets of sweat that formed on Twilight’s forehead glistened with the vibrant colors of her intense magical aura, and her whole body shook, as though her fragile mortal shell could barely contain the immense magical forces she was channeling whilst she tore out the very bones of the earth.

Gulping, Rarity watched as a massive rock—easily twice the size of the one she had once mistaken for her destiny—burst from the already-pockmarked ground with a wet, squelching sound. The gaping hole so created quickly began to fill up with water, but she was more concerned with the faint, looming circular shadow the weightless stone cast as it levitated past, wanting to keep it was far away from herself as equinely possible.

With visible effort, Twilight directed the boulder over to the barricades and piled it atop the rest. Breathing heavily, even the Element of Magic needed a moment to gather her strength after so many nonstop telekinetic feats. She hardly even noticed that she was descending; only when her hooves touches the mud did she realize the aura enwrapping her was slowly collapsing in on itself.

“Just—Just need a moment to—”

“Twilight, you...” Rarity said softly, shock clearly legible in her expression.

The note of alarm in her voice startled the winded unicorn. “What, what?”

Instead of replying with words, a clearly disturbed and speechless Rarity reached up and touched her own nose.

It took a while for Twilight to understand the intention behind this gesture and do the same. When she did, she was shocked to find traces of blood on her hoof when she drew it back. Her blood. She stared at the smear of dark-red fluid for a while, watching as it was washed away by the rain, drop by diluting drop. A revolting, metallic taste soon touched her lips, as the thin stream of blood from her nose managed to trickle all the way down her muzzle.

The light in her eyes died there and then. She felt very weak all of a sudden, and was forced to drop to her all four knees in the mud, feverishly trying to stem the bleeding.

“Twilight!” Rarity said sharply, rushing over to the collapsed pony’s side.

“I’m fine,” Twilight assured her, holding up a shaky and bloodied hoof. “Just… just a small nosebleed.” She laughed nervously. “Must’ve overdone it a little bit...”

Rarity quickly tore off a little of what remained of her shredded raincoat and offered the piece of fabric to the bleeding mare, who accepted it gratefully.

“A little?” Rarity was fuming now. ”Darling, I told you you should take the occasional break, just like the rest of us...”

“I know,” came the sheepish reply. Twilight managed a weak smile. “I’m… sorry...”

Rarity wasn’t satisfied with such feeble apologies, however; she felt like telling Twilight off, not just for her blatant disregard for her own well-being, but also because she was such probably their most valuable asset, not to mention the de facto leader of this entire doomed operation.

But she never got the chance... Twilight had already fainted.

Upon realizing this, even Rarity’s indomitable spirit gave in to despair. Twilight had been by far the most powerful of them, and even she had been defeated by the elements.

She slumped down next to the fallen mare, propping Twilight up against her side to keep her from falling face-first in the mud. Huddled up with her limp and unconscious friend like this, Rarity felt terribly alone all of a sudden, extremely small and insignificant in the midst of all this unstemmable turmoil.

After all the storms—both literal and figurative—they had weathered together, after all the fearsome foes they had faced, it seemed to Rarity the epitome of laughable irony that a few angry clouds would eventually be the thing to do them in.

But this was no ordinary Everfree storm—of that, she was certain.

The dark clouds overhorn moved through the sky with startling, predatory speed, writhing and seething in a way that was strangely unsettling—like they were living things, vast, bloated, vaporous titans crowned with lightning and roaring with thunder, rather than unassuming masses of airborne water-droplets.

As the roiling innards of the monstrous cloud directly above flickered with white-hot lightning, Rarity was reminded somehow of an enormous, shapeless, bioluminescent creature from the ocean’s uttermost lightless depths, signalling its agitation, its intent to kill... She wasn’t quite sure where this association had come from—perhaps one of those documentaries Twilight used to make them watch whenever it had been her turn to arrange for movie-night?

She didn’t get much chance to ponder this further, however, as, mere moments later, while a fierce clap of thunder still rang in her already-deadened eardrums, her eyes were treated to an even more horrifying sight: a small speck of color burst out of the bottom of the flashing cloud, trailing smoke as it plummeted straight towards them.

Narrowing her eyes to be able to spot a bright tail that had been set ablaze, and a tiny set of uselessly-flapping, burning wings, it wasn’t long before Rarity realized the obvious.

She wasn’t the only one, either; several other ponies were looking up, too. There was a flurry of frantic pointing, milling about and screaming.

“Twilight!” she hissed in desperation, shaking the mare next to her. “You have to wake up! Please wake up...”

Even in this wretched rain, she could tell that tears were running down her cheeks. They burned her skin through her pelt, hot with impotent fury.

Despite knowing that it was utterly pointless, she pointed her horn at the crashing pegasus. If she could just slow them down the tiniest bit… It might mean the difference between a broken leg or a broken spine. But she couldn’t find it in herself to hope for this, or any other outcome...

She had none left.

Author's Note

Sorry for the smallish chapter after all this time... I'm trying to pick this up again, and I'm going to try sticking to small, manageable updates for now. Mere snippets compared to the grandiose chapters I'd originally envisioned... But at least ones I can write out in a few hours whenever I find the time, and then edit and publish at my leisure the next day.