Mind and Soul

Rainbow Dash trotted happily through the town of Ponyville. Laughter echoed from young fillies and colts playing in the grass, and the many voices of Ponyville’s inhabitants conversed excitedly. Pleasant warmth covered Rainbow Dash as the sun made its way back from its hiding place behind a cloud. Birds chirped happily as they flew across the sky. Her hooves stepped rhythmically as she trotted down the center road of Ponyville. It felt as if today was going to be a really good day.

Rainbow was heading for Ghastly Gorge to practice her flying techniques. Rainbow Dash was enjoying the beautiful scenery on the way, in no rush to get there. It seemed the entire town wanted to enjoy the beautiful weather. A cool sensation flowed through Rainbow Dash as she inhaled the crisp, clean air. An even more delightful feeling spread throughout her body as that same air was slowly exhaled. Rainbow Dash felt like a new pony.

The walk to the gorge was blissfully long, and there was plenty to look at on the walk there. Fluttershy must be really happy today, Rainbow Dash thought. She wouldn’t miss a day like this!

After an hour of walking and sightseeing had passed, Rainbow Dash could finally see the gorge ahead. Her wings opened up as she prepared for takeoff. Her body lowered to the ground, bracing for a high-speed flight through the gorge. Just as she was about to lift off, a strange nasally voice entered her ears from behind.

“I...um, I- I need to talk,” said a peculiar lime green pegasus, standing in a small patch of dying grass. His mane was a tangled mess of purple, tied in knots and covered in grime. Dried mud covered his skinny body, and his tail looked like it had been sheared off at the base.

“NO!” he yelled to the sky. “I want to talk...yes, want. Want...” Rainbow Dash grew uncomfortable standing near this creepy pony, finding it difficult to make eye contact.

“I need a question,” he said as his left eye twitched. “NO, NO!” he yelled again, grinding his teeth and shaking. “ASK a question! I need ask a...no! I need to ask you question!” His ears fell to the sides of his distorted face. A deep scar ran from the corner of his lip to just beside his right eye, it looked infected.

Rainbow Dash started to feel extremely insecure in this situation. “What do you want?” she asked, growing impatient and uncomfortable.

The green pony abruptly stopped moving, and looked Rainbow Dash directly in the eyes. His body became completely still. “I remember...” he said quietly, trailing off. His eyes diverted to point at the sky behind Rainbow Dash.

“Remember what?” Rainbow Dash asked, trying to figure out what he was looking at. “Do you want to race or what?”

The bizarre pony suddenly let out an ear-piercing, blood-curdling screech which echoed throughout the gorge. “RACE!” he screamed, shuffling frantically as if he were looking for something in the grass. His hooves seemed to stomp on random patches of the grass, sending many withered blades flying into the air. “Gotta find...gotta find...here!” he said as he pulled up a dying flower in his hooves. He took the flower and smeared the roots across his cheeks, leaving odd streaks of dirt. One of them overlapped his scar, his right eye twitching.

Without any warning, he took off at full speed into the gorge. Rainbow Dash watched for a few seconds, coming to the realization that the race had apparently started. She took off herself, sending a prismatic glow trailing behind her. She dipped down into the gorge, narrowly avoiding crashing into a rocky ledge. Gotta be more careful! The green pegasus flew a distance ahead, moving at a speed equal to that of Rainbow Dash’s.

He’s fast! she thought. Her body slowly picked up speed as she flapped her wings, increasing the speed by the second. The pegasus looked over his shoulder, seeing Rainbow Dash steadily approaching. The expression on his face turned to fear, and he sped up himself.

How is he so fast? Rainbow Dash asked herself. And where exactly is the finish line? The pegasus turned straight to the left, heading for an unstable-looking, cracked section of the gorge’s walls.

Oh Celestia, not this again, Rainbow Dash prayed. She knew where this was going. The green pegasus hurled his entire body into the lowest section of the cracked rock, sending some boulders tumbling down into the gorge below. He returned to his forward direction, flying at a more normal speed. He acted a little less concerned now that he’d done that. Rainbow Dash knew what was coming. She charged ahead at full speed, pushing her limits. She wouldn’t let the same thing happen to her a second time.

The cliff face began to rumble. Rocks and pebbles began breaking from the wall and falling into the gorge. Rainbow Dash had to speed up, and fast. She slowly became exhausted as her wings flapped frantically, struggling to keep up a speed significant enough to avoid the horrible fate. The crumbling cliff-face still loomed ahead of her, taunting her as a single boulder fell. The danger zone was approaching, coming closer by the second. Two more boulders tumbled into the depths below. Rainbow Dash just had to keep going.

Rainbow Dash finally reached the danger zone. The wall began to collapse, sending many boulders tumbling directly at Rainbow Dash. A cone of wind began to form around her as she flew as fast as she could possibly push herself, doing anything she could to avoid being struck by a falling boulder. The cone narrowed, and the boulders fell even closer. Time seemed to stand still, the boulders hovering over Rainbow Dash as she tried to evade them. The cone surrounding Rainbow Dash narrowed even further. Her body slowly became a glowing white figure, and Rainbow Dash felt that familiar, awesome sensation she loved so much.

The magical energy of a rainbow exploded out from Rainbow Dash’s body, sending her speeding straight ahead after the mysterious green pony. Wind blew fiercely through the gorge as an enormous, prismatic disc exploded outwards from Rainbow Dash. Small pebbles and dust flew everywhere as the boulders were vaporized by the rainbow explosion. The green pony was sent spiraling out of control as Rainbow Dash passed him, falling to the wall of the gorge and slamming into it. Rainbow Dash flew at record speed until she reached the end of the gorge, turning upward at a right angle.

The sonic rainboom began to fade as she turned upward. Rainbow Dash steadily slowed down as the enormous rainbow trail behind her dissipated. She looked downward at the gorge as she came to a stop. Immense joy filled Rainbow Dash thanks to her wondrous feat. Air pumped in and out of her lungs, she was exhausted from the effort. As soon as she had enough oxygen, she began to laugh triumphantly. Her hooves finally landed at the edge of the gorge after a short descent from the skies. The green pegasus eventually crawled his way to the same place Rainbow Dash was standing, causing her to laugh even more.

His body was even more of a mess than before, covered in scrapes, scratches and dust. His face was scrunched into a hostile glare, looking directly at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash forced herself to stop laughing.

“Oh. My. Gosh. Wasn’t that AWESOME?” she asked the pony, grinning from ear to ear. “I’m sure everypony in Ponyville saw that!” The green pony merely snorted in disapproval.

“What’s wrong with you?” Rainbow Dash asked, the joy from her accomplishment slowly calming down. “Got your feathers in a knot?” The pony began slowly approaching Rainbow Dash, gritting his teeth. Rainbow Dash began growing worried. She felt herself slowly backing up as the pony approached, but he only picked up speed. Rainbow Dash realized that something was off, and spun around backwards to try and take off.

Just as she was lifting from the ground, something grabbed onto her rear hooves and yanked her back down. Dust and grass flew into the air as the two ponies rolled and tumbled across the ground, ending with Rainbow Dash pinned down by the green stallion.

“Get...OFF!” Rainbow Dash yelled, trying to pull herself free of his weight. He remained on top of her, holding her still.

“WHY DID YOU DO THIS?!” he yelled directly into her ear, a headache beginning inside Rainbow’s head thanks to the volume.

“I WILL FUCKING END YOU!” His hoof raised, swiping across Rainbow’s face in an excruciatingly painful slap.

“YOU. WILL. PAY!” He shoved his weight onto Rainbow’s body with each word.

“I WILL GET REVENGE! YOU ARE GOING. TO. BREAK!” he screamed, the horrible sound piercing Rainbow Dash’s ears like nothing ever before. A terrified scream broke from Rainbow Dash’s own throat as the stallion attacked her.

“YOU HEAR ME? YOUR LIFE IS OVER!” With the final word, he shoved Rainbow Dash to the side and took off flying, heading in the direction of the Everfree Forest.

Rainbow Dash breathed heavily, her body now covered in scrapes and scratches much like those covering the strange pony. She could only lay there and breathe, thinking about what just happened. Her body was in terrible pain after being abused by this unknown pegasus. She simply lay there, dumbfounded by the recent events.

“Insane,” Rainbow Dash muttered simply. Her body slowly lifted off the ground as she pulled herself onto her hooves. “Mentally insane.”

Rainbow Dash set out to return to her home in Cloudsdale to clean up and rest for a while. I hope I have enough bandages, she thought.