//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Rainbow Dash // Story: Fluorescence of a Tide // by Johnjohns //------------------------------// Fluorescence of a Tide By: Johnjohns2 Chapter 2: Rainbow Dash Rainbow Dash was the greatest flyer in all of Equestria, and she knew it. Every second she spent flying through the sky, and weaving in and out between the clouds, brought a special joy to the cyan flyer. Whenever she felt stressed, angry, or upset, soaring through the air always seemed to have a soothing effect on the rainbow-maned pegasus. She always found herself, pushing forwards to new limits. As her wings grew stronger, and her technique improving. She began accomplishing feats, that before had seemed almost impossible. Whenever she successfully completed one of her goals, a new task would take the latter’s place, giving Rainbow Dash a seemingly unlimited supply of challenges and rewards. The ultimate reward, being invited to join the Wonder Bolts. Being able to soar through the sky with the proclaimed best flyers in Equestria was her goal ever since she had earned her cutie mark. In order to reach that ultimate goal, she had to train daily. Today was no different. Rainbow Dash weaved in and out, between the clouds she had set up in a line. Rocketing at an incredible speed, she moved back and forth between the clouds, which were spaced about ten feet apart. Not that much space, going at a speed of twelve wing power. Her muscles strained to their maximum output, as she barely managed to pass through each gap. Occasionally her wing would clip the edge of a cloud. Rainbow Dash would acknowledge this error, accept it, and do everything she possibly could to improve her performance. Failure was not an option, it never was, and it never will be. The cyan pegasus would always come out on top, and if she didn’t, she would practice nonstop until she overpassed the competition. She had promised herself this when she was a filly, and was not about to break that promise. Rainbow Dash passed through the last gap in the cloud line, and began to rapidly ascend into the sky. She climbed higher and higher, far above the clouds, until she got to the point where it was difficult to breathe, due to the lack of oxygen. When the pegasus reached this point, she stopped flapping her wings, and rolled over so that her back faced the ground. She stretched her hooves out towards the sun, brought her wings in close to her sides, and let herself fall. The cyan-colored mare plummeted towards the earth. She straightened herself out, so that she faced the ground. After that, she stretched her forelegs forwards, and her rear legs behind her, super-colt style. By doing this, her speed increased exponentially. The ground drew closer and closer, and she fell faster and faster, until a ripple began to form in front of her. As the pegasus's speed increased the ripple increased in size and strength, until all of that energy would be released in a magical blast of multi-colored sound and light. However, the sonic-rainboom never came. Something was wrong, the ground was getting dangerously close, and Rainbow Dash had not broken the sound barrier. The ripple in front of the cyan pegasus diminished, and disappeared as she flapped her wings furiously to stop her descend only twenty feet above the ground. She hovered in place, lost in thought. “Am I losing my stuff?” she asked out loud. Rainbow Dash had performed a vertical sonic rainboom at the royal wedding, and she had performed it with ease. Why was a normal, gravity-assisted sonic rainboom suddenly so difficult? The pegasus wondered about this for a moment, before deciding to attempt it once more. “Well,” she said aloud. “Let’s try this again.” The flyer turned back to face the sky, and began to climb once again. As she increased her attitude, she saw a figure moving away from her in the distance. It was too far to tell, but Rainbow Dash judged that it was most likely another pegasus. Curiosity took over, and the sky-blue pegasus sped off in pursuit. As she grew nearer to the figure, she realized it was too big to be a single pegasus, and she could now see the colors of both ponies. There was a violet pony lying on the back of a yellow pegasus. Rainbow Dash then realized who she approaching. “Fluttershy!” yelled Rainbow Dash. “Where are you taking Twilight?” Fluttershy was quick with her response. “No time to talk Rainbow, I’m taking her to the hospital, I need you to gather up the others and meet me there,” said the yellow flyer firmly. “But, what’s wrong with...” “No time!” ordered Fluttershy. “Go now!” Rainbow Dash had never heard Fluttershy take charge like this before, and it caught her off guard. However, she could tell that something was very wrong with Twilight, in order to cause Fluttershy to be this commanding. Rainbow Dash spent no time questioning the order, and immediately reversed in mid-air and rocketed away from Fluttershy. Her friend needed her, and she was not going to let Fluttershy down. The pegasus immediately decided to stop by Sweet Apple Acres first and round-up Applejack. It was the closest stop; she was practically right above the farm. Rainbow Dash swooped down from the sky, and headed towards the Apple Family’s farmhouse, expecting to find Applejack inside, when she saw a familiar orange earth-pony staring at a lone apple-bearing tree in a field of apple-barren trees out in the northern-side of the orchard. The cyan-pegasus redirected herself, made her approach, and landed right next to the orange-mare, causing her to jump. The force of her landing sent a vibration throughout the ground. “Whoa!” said Applejack. “Careful there Rainbow Dash, y’all gonna give somepony a heart-attack one er’ these days if y’all keep...” “No time to talk, Applejack,” Rainbow Dash shut the earth pony up. “Twilight is in trouble, and Fluttershy is taking her to the hospital. I need you to go there, and meet up with her, while I go and get the others. Understood?” “Uh ya,” began Applejack. “But what’s wrong with Twi...” Suddenly a loud, barking noise interrupted her from the left. Rainbow Dash only had enough time to turn around, and see a brown and white blur, before she was knocked to the ground. The thing began to lick the pegasus’s face. She then realized who this was. It was Applejack’s dog, Winona. “Winona, no!” commanded the earth-pony. “Get off of her, bad dog, bad!” Winona obeyed, and instantly climbed off of Rainbow Dash’s chest. She was no longer wagging, instead her tail was between her legs, and her head faced the ground. “You do not jump on ponies, understood?” she scolded. Winona continued to look away. “Sorry about that, Rainbow,” Applejack apologized. “I don’t know what’s gotten into her.” “It’s fine,” replied the cyan pony. “I probably just started her, with the rough landing and all.” “Still, that’s no excuse on her part,” Applejack gave the dog another stare. “Anyway, what did you say was wrong with Twilight?” “Fluttershy didn’t tell me anything,” said Rainbow, feeling rushed once again. “Just go to the hospital, and she will explain everything to you. I need to go round up the others. See you there!” Rainbow Dash didn’t wait for a reply; instead she turned around, and took off back into the sky, and away from Sweet Apple Acres. She turned her head behind herself to see Applejack set down her apple basket, and gallop away in the opposite direction, with Winona following close behind. The rainbow-maned pegasus’s next stop was Sugarcube Corner, where Pinkie-Pie worked. The bakery was right in the center of town, and town was about a minute’s flight from the farm, going at Rainbow Dash’s normal speed. Rainbow Dash felt lucky, that Ponyville was such a small town, and that everypony lived so close to one another. She didn’t even have enough time to contemplate on Twilight’s situation, before she was outside the door to the bakery. Rainbow Dash opened the door, and found Pinkamena Diane Pie behind the counter, right where Dash had expected her to be. “Dashie!” exclaimed the pink pony. “How are you today. I’m very well today. But what about you? It’s nice outside right? How is...” “Pinkie!” yelled Rainbow Dash. “I’m sorry. I really wish I could talk right now, but I still have to go get Rarity, so I need...” “Why?” asked the Pinkie Pie. “What’s wrong?” “It’s about Twilight,” explained Rainbow. “Something has happened to her, and she’s in the hospital. I don’t know all of the details. I need you to go there, and meet up with Fluttershy, and Applejack. They will tell you what’s going on, but right now I gotta fetch Rarity.” Without another word, Rainbow Dash turned around, and flew out the door. Upon exiting the building, she turned down the street, and flew to the Carousel Boutique. Rarity’s shop was only a block away, and Rainbow Dash got there rather quickly. Upon arriving, she slammed the door open, and began calling out. “Rarity!” shouted Dash. “Are you in here?” “Hi Rainbow Dash!” said a voice to Dash’s right. Rainbow Dash was surprised to see Spike sitting in a chair, at a table. He was busy sorting different colored gems into bins, based on color. “Oh hello Spike,” said a startled Rainbow Dash. “Is Rarity here?” “Yes,” said the purple dragon. “She’s in her office with a client, but she should be done in a few minutes if you...” “No, it’s okay,” said the pegasus. She didn’t know how to explain the situation to Spike. How would the young dragon react to such news? She tried to say it as best as she could. “Spike, um, well... Twilight is in the hospital,” Rainbow said nervously. “What... What?” asked Spike. He looked as though he would fall off the chair. “What do you mean she’s in the hospital?” “Well, I’m not sure on the details...” “Is she going to be alright?” Rainbow Dash hesitated. “Yes,” she lied. Dash hoped the best for her friend, but she honestly didn’t know anything. She figured that saying yes or no, were both lies, and that ‘yes’ was the best option. At least it would calm Spike down... “How do you know she’ll be alright?” questioned the purple dragon. You just said that you were not sure on the details.” Well that didn’t work, she thought. “Well, I just thought that by telling you that...” Dash tried to explain. “You know what, never mind. Just tell Rarity what I told you, and then head on over to the hospital.” Rainbow turned around to leave, but Spike stopped her. “Wait!” commanded Spike. “Where are you going?” “I’ll meet up with you and the others at the hospital,” Dash walked to the door. “There’s just something I have to do first.” Without another word, she ran out the door, and down the street. It was almost noon, and ponies all over the main street were busy shopping. They were all minding their own business, however all turned to watch the cyan pegasus bullet down the grassy road. Her destination was a moderately-sized two-story building on the corner of the next street. The store was of the same design as most of the buildings in Ponyville. Beige walls, mahogany trim, pink door, and a thatched roof. In addition, this store also had a display window next to the front door, and a sign above it that had the appearance of a large, brown book. Behind the glass, were many newly-published books on display , however only one of them interested Rainbow Dash. Before reaching the door, she stopped running and collected herself. Have to stay cool. She brushed herself off, and walked into the store with confidence. Inside, the store appeared to be empty. There were no other customers looking at the books, and there wasn’t anypony behind the counter. Being in a hurry, Rainbow stepped up to the counter and rung the bell. There was a side door behind the counter, which Dash assumed led to an office, but nopony came out of the door. She rang the bell once more. After waiting another minute, she was about to leave, when a sudden bright flash of light occurred behind the counter. Startled, Rainbow backed up instinctively, but quickly regained her composure when she looked upon the colt that had appeared behind the register. He was a tall, grey coated stallion with a light-brown mane. For a few seconds after the flash, Dash thought he looked slightly disoriented, but he shook himself out of it. Exiting through the office door, came another stallion. He had a dark blue coat, a grey mane, and was a little heavy. He looked at the grey pony, and began to speak. “Hey!” he said to the grey earth-pony. “Are you helping this young mare?” “What... oh, yes I was about to...” the grey stallion began. “Why were you not assisting her?” “I just came out from the back room, I was busy...uh... taking inventory.” “Humph... well may I remind you, that our customers are our number one priority. The needs of the customers come before everything else. Am I clear?” “Yes sir,” he looked down at the floor, clearly embarrassed. “Alright then, get to it!” the boss walked back into the office. “Sorry about that ma'am,” he apologized. “Don’t worry about it,” said the pegasus. She was still wondering how the earth-pony had teleported behind the counter. She was going to ask him, but thought better of it. “Is today your first day on the job?” “Yeah, it’s my first day,” he said. “I apologize if I am a bit slow, I’m still getting used to things.” “Not a problem. My name is Rainbow Dash, by the way.” She extended her hoof over the counter to the colt, and waited for his name, but he never said it. “Pleasure to meet you, Miss Dash.” He shook her hoof. “So, what can I do for you?” “I’m here to um, you know, to pick up the newest Daring Doo book that I pre-ordered,” she said this quietly, and looked around to make sure nopony had overheard. She had to maintain that only her close-circle of friends knew she read books. She must remain the super-tough, super-cool, super-fast pegasus that everypony knew here to be. Not an egghead. “Did you order it under your name?” he asked. “Yes.” “Ok, now give me a minute while I search... Rainbow Dash, rainbow dash, rainbow da... aha!” The pony seemed very proud of himself. “Now you ordered one copy of Daring Doo: And the Quest for the Silver Scroll correct?” “Yes.” Rainbow Dash was very eager to leave the store as soon as possible. Although she displayed no sign of it, she was in fact, very worried about Twilight. “It says here that you purchased it completely when you ordered it, so here you go,” He handed her the book. “Would you like a bag for that?” “No no, I can carry it. Have a nice day!” She bolted out the door. “You too.”