//------------------------------// // Ponyville's Savior // Story: Rainboom Gone Wrong // by Serrarch //------------------------------// Rainboom Gone Wrong Chapter 1 Derpy Hooves, who had been called to the weather team for today, had put a little too much thunder into a storm, causing it to go out of control, and leaving Ponyville’s Weather Captain Rainbow Dash with the responsibility of cleaning up her mess. Seeing that the storm cloud was headed towards Ponyville, she knew she couldn’t just let this one go. The runaway storm was already gaining speed with every cloud it barreled through, and Dash knew this was going to be a challenge, even for her. Rainbow Dash maneuvered around the abnormally large and dark culmus, using her speed and at one point her bare hooves to try to aim it away from the town, but she couldn’t change its trajectory, and she soon figured out it was heading directly for the town hall. As the dreadful cloud, now more closely resembling the color and thickness of smoke, approached the town, Rainbow Dash glided daringly just above it, dodging minor outbursts of electricity every couple of seconds. The citizens of Ponyville panicked immediately at the sight of the largest storm cloud they had ever seen moving towards the town’s center. Hearing the mass terror starting to break out, Rainbow Dash barrel-rolled over the side of the storm cloud and was directly underneath it one fluid motion. Unsurprisingly to Rainbow Dash, the citizens’ screams below began to change to a loud and hopeful cheering. Even Fluttershy, who was hiding underneath a lettuce stall in the market gave her loudest “yay” that she could muster, before the violent crack of a bolt of lightning caused to her squeal and retreat under the wooden stall next to a light green coated earth pony who was just as frightened. Rainbow Dash looked below to her onlookers, and shouted what was probably some generous boasting, but it couldn’t be heard over the growl of the cloud above her. Realizing this, she decided to focus on the task at hand. As soon as she looked forward however, she found herself in a terrible daze and her body was unable to react to the sudden stop in movement as she made a Rainbow Dash shaped impression in the roof of Sugarcube Corner, causing her to yell out in both pain and surprise, “What the hay? Who put that wall there!?” The storm cloud was surging through and around every two-story or taller building in town, but it seemed nothing could slow its progress towards town hall. Panic befell the ponies of Ponyville once again and even Dash was now scared herself, knowing the situation just got much more dangerous. With no time to spare to survey the damage already done to her wings and body, Dash took off from the roof of the sweet shop and accelerated as fast as her wings would let her. The pain in her wings was so intense that Dash was audibly screaming in the moments she took to stop biting her lip, for fear of putting holes in it. Her eyes began to burn as well and she wanted desperately to close them, but her focus was too set on the looming disaster still over a few hundred feet ahead of her. The air began to form a sharp cone around her, and the pull on her blowing mane was powerful enough to lift her head slightly and force her eyes shut due to the agonizing pain. She was gaining on the storm quickly however, and barely caught up to it not a moment too soon, as the threatening storm cloud was nearing its destination. She finally bolted through the electrical storm as it nearly collided with the clocktower of the town hall, the now very thin cone of air around her aching body protecting her from the surely lethal currents of electricity inside. It dissipated in a burst of black and yellow, the force from the near-explosion shaking the foundations of the building and finally putting Dash over her threshold of pain, causing her to fall unconscious while still in the air. As she decelerated, though only slightly, she careened towards the ground. The dive-bombing momentum would surely be enough to end the brave pony’s life. Having witnessed the bursting of a freak storm cloud, and realizing the single pegasus falling from the sky was unconscious, Twilight knew she had to act to fast. She dropped the books and alchemical ingredients she had levitated from the market and focused a burst of magic to try and slow the pony’s descent. She screamed something unintelligible that had to be the word “no” as she felt her magic miss the sky blue pegasus. She focused even more magic in the tensity of the situation and this time blasted the ground below Rainbow, turning it to an extremely deep, but soft basin of mud, somewhat large in diameter. After hearing the impact, which sounded more like a thud than a splash, Twilight ran to the crater she had made as fast as her hooves would carry her, dug Rainbow Dash out with her magic, and lay her softly on the solid ground beside her as she hollered out. “Oh my gosh! Are you alright Rainbow Dash!?” yelled Twilight desperately. A crowd had formed rather quickly as many ponies were already on their way to the scene at town hall. “Rainbow, please say something! Anything!” Instead of listening for a heartbeat or checking for a pulse, Twilight grabbed Rainbow by the shoulders and started to violently shake her. Luckily Nurse Redheart, who had appeared quite suddenly from the mud hole and was absolutely covered in it, ordered a few nearby colts to restrain Twilight as she began to work, hastened by the almost inaudible breathing of the new patient. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Wh-Where am I?” Rainbow Dash muttered softly. Before she even opened her eyes, she could tell by the uncomfortably firm bed, and unnecessarily clean smell, that she was nowhere near her home in Cloudsdale. Realizing the last thing she remembered was chasing a freak thunderstorm, she bolted upright. “The storm! Ponyville! What happened!?” “Whoa there, settle down Dash. Everythin’s alright,” Applejack spoke warmly from across the room. “Glad ta see you’re okay.” “Dashie! You’re awake, you’re awake!” Pinkie Pie, along with the rest of Rainbow’s closest friends, was there as well, and as excited as ever. “Oh my gosh, that was so amazing how you chased down that freak storm cloud!” Yeah, Rainbow thought. I was pretty amazing. “But then you started and falling and I was all like, ‘Oh no! Rainbow’s falling!’ but then I saw Twilight there and she was so magically magical that she used her magic in a flash to save you, and I was all like, ‘Yay! Twilight is saving Rainbow Dash!’ but then I saw her freaking out when she pulled you out of all the mud and I was like, ‘Oh no! Dashie’s hurt!’ so I grabbed Nurse Redheart who just happened to be running by and I threw her over for Twilight to catch! I don’t think Twilight knows how to play catch, but it’s okay because Nurse Redheart landed in some big mud puddle and went to help you and bring you here! So I went and got Twilight and everypony else and we all stayed here until you got better!” As Pinkie finished her recount of the events, she beamed a huge smile at Rainbow Dash, who was more confused as to how Pinkie Pie told that story without once stopping to breathe, than how Pinkie Pie threw another pony across town square. “You really gave us all a good scare. But the doctor says you’ll make a full recovery,” spoke Twilight. Fluttershy remained silent as she smiled towards Rainbow Dash, and Rarity began her own rant. “Oh Rainbow what were you thinking chasing after that terrible storm all by yourself? You could have died! And not to mention the condition you were in we finally got you here! You were all covered in mud, darling, and it was simply dreadful!” “Well ah’m mighty glad she did get rid a’ that storm. Town hall might have been in pieces after a doozy like that,” Applejack interjected. “Well of course I’m grateful dear. What you did was truly superb,” responded Rarity. “You were very brave,” Fluttershy quietly added with a nod. “Wow, thanks everypony,” Rainbow Dash finally spoke, enjoying the amount of attention she was getting. “Especially to you Twilight, who knows what would have happened to me if you weren’t there to save my flank!” “Oh, it was no problem at all, Rainbow. I’m just happy you’re okay,” said Twilight, blushing slightly. The six friends exchanged smiles for a few moments before the doctor came in and ordered the others to let Rainbow rest for a while. What a day, Rainbow thought to herself blatantly. I gotta remember to never let Derpy on the weather team again. Ever. Although it did feel good to go that fast again, and saving Ponyville all by myself just goes to show how awesome I am. I wonder if I can finally pull off a Sonic Rainboom on command? Yeah, of course I can pull it off. I can do anything after a stunt like that! I think I’ll even do one tomorrow! Though Rainbow Dash knew full well that there was a quite windy downpour scheduled for the next day.