//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: Rainbow Dash // Story: Trinity // by ManeWriter //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash was floating in the dark nighttime air. The wind ruffled her long mane and the moonlight shone down on her. Through the darkness she could see Ponyville. Without really knowing why, she began to zoom towards it. Ponies stopped to look at her with certain unease in their eyes. Dash suddenly felt something drop from her waist. There was a mighty boom and everyone began to run and shriek. "Wait, no that wasn't me you guys," Rainbow Dash cam to a slow halt. Another bomb burst right below her. Who was throwing these bombs? Rainbow Dash looked up. There was no one there. Another bomb landed in the same exact spot twice. And that was when Dash realized it. SHE was the one dropping the bombs. She zoomed away from Ponyville, but as she did ten bombs at a time blew up in the same direction she was going. Sugarcube Corner exploded as she past it. But all Dash could see were the sorrow filled faces of Mr. and Mrs. Cake. She had to get away from here. As soon as she got to the edge of Ponville she stopped. The only reason she stopped, however, was because of a giant glass dome. She had hit it head on. There was no escape. • • • Rainbow Dash awoke with a start. It was quiet. Light was beginning to rise from the windowsill. Dash let out a deep breath before turning over to her side. That had been one of the scariest dreams Rainbow Dash had had that week. Her heart began to come to a slower pace than the five hundred beats per minute it had been going when she woke up. Today was the day she was going to Fillydelphia, she realized. It was still early though. Fluttershy was still snoring softly in her bed with Angel curled up in a soft, cottony ball beside her. His ears twitched slightly as Rainbow Dash got up from her bed and moved out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. Ten minutes later Fluttershy awoke to the sweet smell of tea and the sound of a kettle. She was only slightly ticked off about her wake up call, but at least it smelled good. There were worse ways to wake up anyway. She moved swiftly without even waking Angel up. Fluttershy draped her long hair over her shoulder and walked toward the sound. Rainbow Dash already had two cups of tea set out at the coffee table, awaiting Fluttershy. Fluttershy glanced at the cups disdainfully. Her eyes narrowed for a second or two, "What this?" "Just some tea," Rainbow Dash explained as she sipped her own cup, "I just wanted to say that...you're right. There are some big things out there that I probably shouldn't get myself tangled up in. The only problem is that, well, I'm still going to do it anyway. I just wanted to make it up to you before you started hating me." Fluttershy's eyes returned to their natural state, "Oh...I never hated you, Dash. I was just annoyed...more with myself than with you, really. I wanted to help, but I knew I couldn't. I'm not that brave. And I'm still not going to do it. Just not yet. I'm working towards it though, so at least that's some progress." Rainbow Dash chuckled softly, "That's the spirit." Fluttershy bowed her head bashfully as she slowly began to sip at her tea. After a few more minutes, Rainbow got up to put away her empty coffee cup. Fluttershy stayed behind on the couch meanwhile. Dash's armband was strung on her wing by the time Fluttershy joined her. "Well, I should get going to the library," Fluttershy spoke softly as she lay her cup down in the sink, "Flitter wouldn't be too happy if I was late again." "If she's there that is." "Rainbow Dash, I don't know if she went missing, okay," Fluttershy's brow arched up, "So, please drop it. I don't mean to be rude, it's just been a rough morning." "I understand," Dash answered sympathetically, blowing air toward her chopped bangs, "I need to get going too. I'll see you at dinner." "Bye," Fluttershy called out to Rainbow Dash as she exited the house. Rainbow Dash took off to the sky as soon as the door swung shut behind her. She took the familiar route to headquarters that she had remembered from the day before. The abandoned house stood silent and vacant, but only Rainbow Dash knew that this wasn't the truth. She landed softly on the ground next to the fragile, wooden door. She stared into the crack before whispering, "Alpha Minor," to it. She braced herself for the fall, but it didn't come. At least not right away. There was a second's pause as Dash stood ready with her knees locked. "Is there anyone there? HellOOOOOOOOAAAAHHH!" She accelerated through the silver slides, landing in a havoc next to a few startled pegasi. "You have got to be kidding me," Rainbow Dash moaned as she gingerly massaged her bruised backside, "Why don't you people warn me before dropping me a dozen feet into the air?" She grabbed the nearest hoof as she got up to her feet. Sandalwood sheepishly grinned at her as he let go of her hoof. "Yeah, sometimes the lever gets stuck. It's an old building, you see. Anyhow, are you ready to go to Fillydelphia?" "Uh, hay yeah I wanna go to Fillydelphia. When are we leaving?" "Right now." • • • The time it took to Fillydelphia was surprisingly quick. Rainbow Dash had also been surprisingly calm during the whole entire flight. Sandalwood had asked her if she were ill halfway through their small journey. "I'm not sure," Rainbow Dash had answered from behind him, "I hope not." "Just making sure," Sandalwood grinned, "This is the first time I'm not seeing you do barrel roles in the sky. Something the matter?" In truth, something had been dwelling on Dash's mind for quite a while now, but she didn't know what. She just had the oddest sense that something strange was going on in Cloudsdale. "Hey Sandalwood," Rainbow Dash asked after a short moment of silence, "Have you noticed any disappearances lately?" "Well, there were the missing pegasi from the Rainbow Factory. They still haven't shown up. In fact, no one even knows how they've gone missing. There's guards patrolling the area at all times and even they didn't see any intruders. It baffles the mind." Rainbow Dash fell silent. So it was true about the disappearances after all. Her thoughts had been confirmed, and it only made her worry about Fluttershy even more. After a few more minutes of silence they descended upon a fair sized town. There was a loud whistle from one of the buildings. Sandalwood replied with a long whistle, waving his hoof at the ponies in the building. A scuffle could be seen at the top of the building as ponies briskly fell into line, letting a path for the two pegasi to land. Sandalwood was the first to land. He successfully dodged Rainbow Dash's misjudged landing. She skidded to a halt near the edge of the building, nearly crashing into it. "I can see why they used to call you Rainbow Crash," replied a pony. Rainbow's eyes widened. She knew that country drawl from anywhere. She glanced over her shoulder to see a wiry, yellow-maned earth pony walking slowly toward her. Rainbow Dash smiled as the pony's green eyes focused on her. "I didn't know you were in Fillydelphia, Braeburn," Rainbow Dash smirked at the colt. He tipped his cowboy hat at her, "And I didn't know that you were in Fillydelphia, Dash." "Well, I decided that anti-scouting was more of my speed than anything else. Why are you here?" Braeburn's mouth curved downwards, "They needed help here in Fillydelphia. So of course as a loyal pony from Aaaaaappleloosa, I volunteered. Wouldn't have you?" Rainbow Dash laughed, "Well, being an loyal pegasus from Clooouuuuudssdale, I would have to say of course I would." "Ahem," Sandalwood replied. He was standing alone, waiting on Dash. She blushed faintly as she trotted off towards Sandalwood. Braeburn followed close behind them. "So, what are we dropping off or helping with," Rainbow asked. "Our supplies have been dwindling for a while now,"" Braeburn answered for Sandalwood, "At least military supplies. The pegasi have been trying to flood our city for months on end now." Sure enough, the clouds surrounding Fillydelphia were all grey and stormy. Rainbow Dash hadn't noticed it before until now. "We need more ammo for the fireball cannons and a few more yards of electric fence," Braeburn told Sandalwood. "Well, that's something we can manage to get you guys the day after tomorrow. Do you need any luxuries, like cupcake mix and steel armour?" Sandalwood asked him. Braeburn thought for a moment of two before responding, "I'm not sure. I think we could use some more medicine. But we have enough to last ten years. Fillydelphia was stocked up on everything for the Princess's visit, but since that never happened, we've just been rationing everything out." Sandalwood nodded at this bit of info as they walked down a flight of stairs. The sandy-haired pony turned back to Rainbow Dash, "Speaking of which, I should give you a grand tour of this place. Also that reminds me, there's someone here that I think you'd like to meet." "Oh really?" Rainbow Dash cocked an eyebrow at her friend, "Do I know them?" "I think the name may ring a bell…"