The Chronicles of Rainbow Flameborn Dash

“I know you’ll be strong…”

Sure enough, Flameborn’s words proved true. Rainbow was now six and already seemed to display many of her mother’s naturally warrior-esque traits. She had turned out very physically-oriented – in her flight school, she was one of the best fliers, regularly proving herself to be far more durable and far quicker than most. She may well’ve been the best flier in her class if she was less erratic, but it could easily be worked on. She was physically very strong for her age, especially in her hind legs. Her front legs weren’t as strong (but still fairly strong), because when airborn, a Pegasus would use their front legs for stopping, as well as steering. Rainbow Dash often used her front hooves at the latest possible moment, and being that she was only a filly, they were not well developed enough for her to pull off such a move without her landing going wrong.

Being that Pegasi were traditionally the warriors of Equestria, the curriculum was very P.E oriented. Karate, rodeo and hoof wrestling were frequently practiced to keep one physically strong, as well as extensive flight training. In general, Rainbow Dash excelled in all of these fields.

There was also the more academic side. The closest thing to anything academic that Rainbow Dash enjoyed were her father’s tales of brave Pegasus warriors. Being that it was a flight school, Physics was regarded as especially important (although the subject wasn’t taught until a Pegasus reached their third year.) Nonetheless, when it came to numeracy or literacy, Rainbow Dash was distinctly average in her abilities, and more significantly, showed very little interest. One got the impression that if she were a little older (and a little braver), she’d end up using these lessons as naptimes.

And the thought of Rainbow Dash getting any braver than she’d already become, was a thought that was better off not being dwelled on for too long. She loved adventure, and routinely enjoyed heading out to new places that she’d never been to before with her father. Being that she fortunately still wasn’t that durable, she couldn’t travel that far, so she wouldn’t take up too much of Emerald’s time each day (it also meant that she’d be tired by the end, thus providing a peaceful evening). She was always the first to try anything unfamiliar, and fillies and colts alike of her age saw Rainbow as a protector, one whom they believed would keep them in safe hooves. If Emerald were to give his opinion, he’d say they were right on the former, but spectacularly wrong on the latter. Rainbow Dash loved mischief, and Emerald learned that the hard way. Emerald had hidden the cupcakes in a box atop a cupboard twenty feet above the floor, where Rainbow shouldn’t have been a strong enough flier to reach. Unfortunately, just because there were twenty metres (that a six year old filly shouldn't be able to fly) between her and the cupcakes was no reason for Rainbow not to claim them. In retaliation, Emerald hid them in the depths of his cellar, convinced that Rainbow's fear of confined spaces would take over.

Rainbow Dash braced herself as she blindly flew downwards into the dungeon. She may've been afraid of confined spaces, but she wouldn't let that stop her. She was far too awesome for that kind of stuff. Daddy had placed the cupcakes in the dark dungeon of fear, thinking that Rainbow would be too frightened to be able to claim her prize. But Rainbow did not succumb to that fear, instead braving all the evils around her, as house spiders tried to trap her in their webs of doom. Soon, she had made it to the far end, and in doing so, she smelled around for the sweet aroma of cupcakes. Soon enough, her nose had detected them and she delightfully kicked the cupcake box open, with a proud and mischievous grin. She used her front hooves to feel for the holy grail and cup it, in order to finally allow herself a taste of the dungeon's treasure.

At this point, the dungeon door opened and Rainbow would have to act fast to beat this powerful adversary that stood between her and the way out.

"Welcome to the lair of Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow made her best attempt to pull an evil sounding voice, but unfortunately her attempt was undermined by the cupcake that she had in her mouth.

"Nice try, Dashie. I believe, however, that this dungeon is mine." It was very clearly Emerald, whom through his deep voice he was able to give out a booming evil laugh that echoed all through the cellar.

By this time Rainbow had wolfed down the cupcake. "Oh yeah? I'm not scared of you!" Rainbow barked, in her best attempt to sound tough. She backed this up by unleashing a loud fart to establish her territory and show her defiance. After braving the cellar's "perils" successfully, what was there to be afraid of?

Unfortunately, though Rainbow usually succeeded at sounding tough, she also usually ended up seeming more cute than she did intimidating. Emerald verbally pounced on his daughter with: "You are unusually cute for a dungeon master, one must say." He'd deliberately emphasised the word "cute," in his best attempt to catch Rainbow Dash off guard and in the process, prove that he was the master.

"I'm not cute!" Rainbow protested.

Emerald gave a snarky and smug looking grin, rather akin to that of a lawyer who was winning a court battle and knew that he still bore an ample supply of evidence. "The evidence states otherwise, RD. If you weren't cute, I'd have chosen a gravecloud by now. Your cuteness merely serves as a ticket to mischief."

"Mischief? What mischief?" Rainbow asked, trying to look as innocent as possible by exposing her cheeks.

"Where do I begin?" Emerald snarked, in an entirely rhetorical question. He really didn't want to say all the acts she'd committed, because he knew that Rainbow was proud of every single one. Rainbow didn't reply, and at this stage, Emerald flew towards Rainbow, who was standing next to a cupcake box with only two cupcakes in it, unlike the three that should've been there. Examining the contents, Emerald said: "Rainbow, why are there only two cupcakes in the box?” Emerald asked. The worst part for Emerald was that deep down, he was proud of his daughter for doing this. After all, how could you not be proud if your daughter had the guts to fly through that cellar?

“I don’t know, Daddy. Did you take one?” Rainbow asked, with a mischievous grin that gave everything away. Despite the fact that she could not tell lies, she could use her grin to negate any feelings of annoyance. Irritatingly enough, it worked. Everytime.

Trying to raise Rainbow Dash brought once dangerously close to a paradox – on one hoof, she was good at doing exactly what you didn’t want her to do (such as flying to the house’s ceiling twenty metres up to steal a cupcake, a height that fillies of her age should never reach in flight. Emerald Dash had consequently hidden the cupcakes in a confined cellar filled with spiders, because Rainbow Dash really hated confined spaces. She managed to steal a cupcake anyway.) On the other hoof, that meant resorting to an environment of extreme safety – and with Rainbow Dash’s love of getting into a few dangers more than she could handle, this was highly tempting. It also meant not being a good father, so Emerald was forced to indulge her anyway.

“No I didn’t, Dashie. Did you take one?” Emerald said, deliberately mirroring his daughter.

“Me? I don’t steal! I’m a good filly!”

“Listen, RD, if you steal anymore cupcakes, I’ll have to terminate an adventure or two. You don’t want that to happen, do you?” Emerald Dash asked, bringing down the hoof of justice upon the rebellious filly.

“Alright. Where do you get the cupcakes from, anyway?” Rainbow Dash asked, her bright rose eyes looking deep into Emerald’s strong green eyes. One could tell from her deep look that she was interested. Emerald wanted to tell a lie, but unfortunately, whilst Rainbow was no good at telling lies, she had an impressively good ability to tell a lie from the truth.

“Do you remember when I took you to the town of Ponyville, some time back?” Emerald Dash asked.

“That place beneath us?”

“None other. Within the town of Ponyville, there’s a shop named Sugarcube Corner."

"Sounds like a place full of sugarcubes." Rainbow replied. She hadn't yet mastered her father's acts of snark.

“The amount of sugar in the cakes they make there is the equivalent of more than a few sugarcubes. And that’s where I got the cupcakes from.”

“What does “equivalent mean?” Despite Rainbow Dash’s lack of interest in literacy, she rather enjoyed being taught by her father. He made lessons fun, and not boring, much unlike the teachers at flight school.

Emerald quietly contemplated (he did this a lot), putting a hoof on his chin. “How should I explain this? Equivalent… it’s basically equal. But it means more than equal. It’s mathematical. But I can’t say that – I like teaching her new words, but some concepts are far too tricky at her age.” It was quiet enough so that Rainbow couldn’t hear him, but it definitely wasn’t silent. Emerald believed that he’d found the way, so he removed his hoof and began speaking, with all ears on him before he’d even started. “Equivalent is similar to equal. It’s a very numerical word. For example, you would say that eight is the equivalent of two fours, rather than eight is the equal of two fours. But unlike with equal, you couldn’t say “My front legs are equivalently as strong as my rear legs.”

“Seems complicated to me.” Rainbow Dash replied. Emerald Dash was quietly satisfied – she was as correct as one could possibly be without understanding what the word actually meant. And Emerald Dash didn’t expect her to understand it – yet.

“It gets easier. Or more accurately, one gets better at understanding words. It’s like flying really – the more you do it, the better you become. You see, at your age, you don’t yet have the vocabulary, or the experience to understand the true beauty of language. But as you grow up, you’ll understand it more and more. You don’t grow up naturally though, Rainbow. You grow up through your experiences, and all that you learn in this world. Do not wait to grow up. Make yourself grow up. You don’t grow up with age. It’s a mistake that many ponies make. But this is your world to learn. Allow your experiences to guide you, not my words. You may take my words as advice, but treat them as no more than advice. You will make mistakes, but the fact that you’ve made a mistake is important. What’s important is that you know you’ve made a mistake when you make one.” Emerald said.

Emerald enjoyed taxing Rainbow to her limits. He was a rather cynical pony, and not entirely sure how good the teaching was in flight schools. Regardless, Emerald firmly believed that his teaching was correct, and that although Rainbow did not understand some of the vocabulary he used, she could, through the words that she knew, put two and two together.

Rainbow was silent. Whether or not she was especially wise, she was clever enough to realize when there was nothing to say. But she was thinking about it. Why would she take this advice on? It didn’t make sense to her. She was sure it was good advice, but why should she take it? The facts didn’t add up! Surely mistakes were best avoided in the first place! Surely age was how one grew up! The older fillies and colts in flight school, with several years more of age, were clearly more grown up!

Emerald knew his daughter inside out. Even when she wasn't speaking, he knew how she felt. Emerald Dash was sure that Rainbow felt unsettled. “What’s wrong, RD?” He asked, studying the filly’s face.

“You give me advice! But I don’t understand it! It doesn’t make any sense to me! And it should do, because everything you tell me makes sense, Daddy!” Rainbow was angry now, not with her father, nor with herself, but with the words that were between them both. And Rainbow Dash did not like things that were abstract. She loved the wonders of her five senses, but the abstract was something quite different. It was weird. It was far too powerful. It was a confined dungeon, one where the air was shared with so much else that it was impossible to breathe. It wasn't anything like Emerald's cellar either. This was a real dungeon. It made Rainbow feel powerless, which in turn made her feel restless, endangered and weak.

Rainbow was relieved when her father replied. She loved him, and his words were warming, even when they weren’t what she wanted to hear. “You aren’t meant to understand them, Rainbow. You’re only six. I’m thirty-five years of age. I’m far more mature than you, and it shouldn’t be any other way. Yet, when the time comes, you’ll understand what I’m telling you. And I don’t believe you’ll listen to me when my advice is needed most. But I have no doubt you’ll learn everything I’ve said at one stage of your life or another.” Emerald hugged his daughter, reminding her of his deep colours, warming flare and that she was safe.

Rainbow yawned, her focus weakening. But her face was too forward, and her eyes too open for there to be any doubt that she was listening. Rainbow was tired now of mental exertion. But she did have something else on her mind...

“Can you take me somewhere I’ve never been before?” Rainbow asked. She gave a wide and toothy grin at even the thought of a flight, knowing that she was far too cute for Emerald to refuse such a request. Rainbow used it as a get out of jail free card all the time, as well as using it as a bartering technique to get her way. She knew all too well that it worked, as Emerald did not want to restrain Rainbow, unless she was being a troublemaker. She'd been a troublemaker earlier, but that was all in the past.

Emerald hesitated. He was entirely sure that he wished to take Rainbow on a short flight, but couldn’t think where he hadn’t taken Rainbow before. Then a thought hatched inside his head – “We could make for that cloud. Flameborn’s cloud. She may be strong enough to manage it now.” Clouds were cleared all the time, but that one was high enough to be kept intact. Emerald knew its exact location.

“Rainbow, I shall take you to a cloud. It’s a cloud that Mummy once liked to rest upon.” Emerald said, somewhat solemnly. He couldn’t help but wish that Flameborn was with him. Rainbow was far closer to Flameborn in personality than she was to Emerald. Emerald understood Rainbow very well, but he ultimately felt as though he was missing a few pieces in the jigsaw.

“Aw yeah!” Rainbow said, using none other than her trademark
words of happiness. Sometimes it meant pride, sometimes it meant success, sometimes it meant joy, but it always meant something good, in this case excitement.

Emerald and Rainbow soared off, initially at a slow pace. “Remember to warm up your wings first, Rainbow. Your wings are likely stiff, as you haven’t stretched them. Flexing your wings will enable you to fly faster.”

“Fly faster…” The moment Emerald said these words was the moment that Rainbow realized that Emerald was telling her exactly what she needed to do. Rainbow flexed her wings, flapping them slowly and stretching the muscles within them. She used her rear legs to maintain speed, until it was time to make the flight.

“I’m ready, Daddy.” Rainbow said, brimming with confidence.

“Oh, are you now? How’s this?” Emerald said, trying his best to sound like his daughter, and giving the same mischievous and cocky grin. Less than a second later, he was zooming through the sky. He wasn’t making it easy for Rainbow. But Rainbow loved competition. She was not going to let him zoom off without her. Rainbow fiercely flapped her wings, with numerous strong kicks in her rear hooves, refusing to cease the kicks until her speed was enough to match Emerald’s pace. She followed every line Emerald took, trusting that he was taking the least turbulent lines. She grinned as she saw herself catching Emerald. There were about two seconds between them. Then it became less than two. Soon it reached one. A few moments later, they were side by side.

“Think you’ve got a little more, Rainbow?”

“Absolutely!”

“Then how about this?” Emerald disappeared. Rainbow was flying the fastest she’d ever flown, but he was quicker by a long shot. Rainbow grimaced. She would not let Emerald get away with this. Emerald believed that Rainbow was capable of it and she wasn't going to prove him wrong. She flapped her wings just as strongly as before, but twice as fast. She continued a fierce kicking rhythm in her rear legs. She wasn’t catching Emerald. But he wasn’t pulling away from her. And this was exactly what Emerald wanted. This was her limit. It wasn’t the fastest speed a Pegasus had ever travelled (far from it, in fact), but not many fillies of six years had ever achieved this speed. Rainbow could see Emerald ceasing the kicks in his rear legs, and using his front legs to slow down. Rainbow did the same. It was quite unlike flight school, where she was always the fastest, and thus had to choose her own braking points, where there never seemed to be any pattern, and consequently, it was incredibly difficult to judge when to slow down.

Emerald stopped to rest on the cloud. A few seconds later, Rainbow was there as well. Both had looks of intense joy on their faces.

“Mightily done, Rainbow. Your flying skills have improved.”

“I know, right? I’m the best flier in my class, and tomorrow I’ll amaze them beyond belief with how much the best flier has improved!”

Emerald raised his hoof, and Rainbow did the same, as they bumped hooves together. Emerald’s words echoed through the silent sky. It was silent here, being far above any kind of sound. It was around seven pm, so the sky was dark, but nonetheless the cloud’s position brought a strong feeling of power, and freedom. It made one feel safe, and unharmable, because sounds were heard far too easily. Even in the deepest of sleeps, one would be woken by even the quietest of trespassers. It was wonderful to Rainbow. The feeling of the winds against her body, bringing life within her, as well as strength. Rainbow felt like a warrior here. And what Rainbow wanted, more than anything, was freedom. The feeling of knowing that one can do anything, unrestrained. It was magnificent - dreamlike, even. This cloud felt like it was straight out of her dream.

"I like it here." Rainbow said.

It was at this point when Emerald delved into his explanation. "So did Mummy. Very often, she would sleep on this cloud. She said it made her feel free, and safe. She could see much beneath her, but none would think to look for her here. Feel the air around you, Rainbow. Surely you feel... refreshed."

"Oh, I do. I feel stronger than ever, and even more powerful than I should be. (her eyes at this point moved forward) I feel like I could take on you!" The young Pegasus, who should've been exhausted by the flight, was finding new energy through this cloud.

Emerald had to laugh. Rainbow was being deadly serious in her words. And yet, Rainbow, with the physical strength she already had displayed may well have the strength to take on, or at least give Emerald a run for his money in a few years time. Which was humiliating, as he was far from physically weak, but despite this, he had never come close to Flameborn's strength (and stallions were meant to be stronger than mares). Then again, Emerald Dash couldn't actually remember living with a mare ever since he'd been in a relationship with Flameborn. Both she and her daughter seemed to shun just about any typically feminine practices. Rainbow despised fashion, declaring it as "cumbersome" and "restraining on the wings."

Emerald's laughter ended. "Think you got what it takes? Then prove it!" Emerald said, his own eyes moving forward, which made his usually passive self lurch into a sudden explosion of ferocity and intimidation.

"Gladly!" Rainbow replied, her eyes filled to the brim with a warrior's flare. Without a second thought, she dived straight over to Emerald and pushed her front hooves upon the front of his body to knock him onto his flank. Of course, Emerald was going easy - the filly didn't act as though she were weak, but at her age she would still take injury very easily. Nonetheless, Rainbow's hooves gave a fierce tug, which refused to stammer from Emerald's resistance. After seven seconds, Emerald was on his flank. And this was an exceptionally vulnerable position for anypony to be in. If one successfully drove an enemy onto their flank, there was no hesitation in bringing them the killing blow.

Emerald's face, upon examination revealed a smile. A smile of the knowledge that he had a fine daughter. Emerald shouted out "All hail the mighty Rainbow Dash!" In the silence, Emerald's shout boomed out, echoing all around, as though one stood too close to a loudspeaker. Yet it didn't sound deafening in any way, rather it sounded oddly soothing, and yet this soothingness did nothing to harness the power of his voice.

Rainbow Dash smiled. She was proud of her feat.

"I have a truly great daughter." Emerald said, his eyes staring deep and piercing Rainbow's gaze.

"Yeah, well, I knew that already!" Rainbow replied, in her trademark cockiness.

"I know that you'll go far. Aim for the heavens, and never look away. The only way is onwards, after all. There is no turning back."

Rainbow was silent.

"Rainbow, I would like to sing you a song that Mummy once sang. This was her favourite."

Emerald raised his left hoof, and his singing voice unleashed itself, deep but strong.

May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay,
Forever young.

"And I don't doubt you. You're a truly special filly." Emerald said, placing a hoof upon Rainbow's shoulder.

"You're a truly special daddy. The best I could have!" Rainbow was loud, and sincere. Emerald couldn't help but shed a slight tear at his daughter's compliments.

A proud father, and an even prouder daughter looked to the stars above. "See that bright star, RD? That's Mummy. She'll always be watching over you, a strong and fiery presence to aid you on. And she's not the only one to help you in your darkest hour. I'll always be there for you. Always."