//------------------------------// // Nonsense after noon // Story: Birth of the Draconequus // by HareTrinity //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash was speeding along, kitten held tight, flanked on both sides and above by the three heads of a huge fire-spitting dragon! They were out of the forest now and without the trees to hold the dragon back it had caught up. She could go back, she could hide, but Rainbow Dash was no coward and someone needed to get this feline back to Fluttershy before the clock struck one! The dragon's heads let out deafening roars and as one they moved to snap up Rainbow Dash! Luckily, due to the pegasus expertly dodging the attacks, the heads ended up smashing into each other, dazing the beast and causing it to lose speed. Perfect, time to leave this reptile in the dust! Narrowing her eyes and giving the cat a reassuring squeeze Rainbow Dash sped up, bursting through the air barrier into a brilliant sonic rainboom, leaving a multi-coloured stream behind her as she sped to Ponyville! Soon she was crowned the saviour of the day and awarded trophies, the Wonderbolts were praising her and excited crowds were chanting her name over and over... "RAINBOW DASH! RAINBOW DASH! RAINBOW DASH! RAINBOW DASH! RAINBOW DASH!" Funny, one of those voices was a lot clearer than the others... "RAINBOW DASH! RAINBOW DASH!" "...Pinkie Pie?" "HI THERE RAINBOW DASH!" The pegasus groggily opened her eyes to see her pink friend in front of her. "Oh, hey... I was just having an awesome dream..." yawned the blue pony. "Hey, Rainbow Dash, look!" "...I was being chased by dragons but then-" "Hey, look! Look!" "-And just to get a cat back to-" "Look at this, Rainbow Dash!" "Woah! Pinkie, where'd you get those?" The party pony was flying about on a pair of three-pronged webbed fins, resembling frog feet more than any wings Rainbow Dash had ever seen. "Twilight's looking into it!" Pinkie called down as she looped upwards. At the height of one loop she sudden fell into a nosedive, catching herself directly in front of the branch the pegasus was laying on. Pinkie gave a fierce grin, "Hey, Dashie, wanna race?" Rainbow Dash smiled back. It. Was. On. "Town Hall, ONETWOTHREEGO!" The pegasus leapt off the branch and zoomed into the lead, or so she thought, looking behind her she realised every cloud she sped through had two holes in it; Pinkie was keeping up! She looked to her other side and, sure enough, there was the newly air-born pony, right beside her! It. Was. STILL ON! Narrowing her eyes Rainbow Dash started to take on speed, gritting her teeth and focusing only on going faster. Victory awaited her at the the other side of a mere air barrier and she wasn't about to lose to physics. Pinkie Pie was looping around her laughing but was soon pushed back by shock waves as Rainbow Dash, as in her dream, burst forward, leaving her rival in an explosion of colour! Arching over her victory rainbow to land on the town hall, the colourful pegasus looked back to see her friend, a small pink dot next to the distant and fading sonic rainboom. It'd take her a while to catch up now, Rainbow Dash thought smugly to herself. Yep, none of Twilight's magic, or whatever she said those "wings" were, could compare to pure natural talent... There was a pop. "YEAH RAINBOW DASH, that was AWESOME! Your sonic rainbooms look SO much better from up close with their-" "Pinkie???" Rainbow Dash gave her friend, now sitting next to her on the roof of the town hall, a shocked look, "How'd you get here so fast!" "-And it's like being in a kaleidoscope made of-hm? Oh! It's a new thing I do! Hey, wanna see something else awesome?" Pop. "WOAHHH! Pinkie..." Pinkie's face popped back to normal and she leaned forward, "Yes?" "That face... It's so..." "Yes... Yes?!?" "...SO COOL!" "YEAH!" the party pony started to bounce around her friend, "FINALLY! Nopony else seemed to like it but I KNEW I could count on you Rainbow Dash!" "Well, not everypony can be as smooth as me when it comes to things like that." "Rarity said it was "outlandish"..." "Ehh, Rarity's just picky." "...And I think Fluttershy found it scary..." "Fluttershy finds everything scary." "But it is funny, right? I'm trying to perfect it so that... OH! What about this?" Pop-BANG. "Woah..." Confetti was raining down. The blue pegasus gulped, pupils small as she stared at her friend who, face returning to normal, stared back hopefully. Shaking herself out of it Rainbow Dash gingerly patted Pinkie on the shoulder, "Maybe a little more work needed to perfect the funny, but no worries, your buddy Rainbow Dash will help sort that out!" "More fire?" "No, no more fire! Um... How about some streamers?" Five minutes later Rainbow Dash was several shades paler and shivering slightly. "-Ooh, and... Um..." Pinkie eyed her friend, "...Maybe we should take a break?" "Are... Are you sure...?" "Yep! I think you've helped a lot, thanks Dashie!" Pop. "Want a muffin?" "Ha... Thanks..." Rainbow Dash took a bite. It was actually pretty good and by the third one she was starting to get her colour back, "These are great, Pinkie! Hey, know what we should do now?" "What?" "PRANKS!" "IT WAS JUST HERE! I KNOW IT WAS JUST HERE! IT MUST BE NEAR BY!!!" The cream pony of the pair glanced around nervously, seeing that the other ponies had started to stare, "Maybe it had to go finish its shopping, like we were meant to?" The green unicorn shook her head angrily, uprooting another bush near the hand-print, "It can't have gone far, help me look!" Sniggering up on a cloud, Rainbow Dash brohoofed Pinkie's fist-bump. "MAYBE IT'S IN THIS HOLE???" "Lyra, can we just go home? This is embarrassing! And I thought your part-centaur things were bigger than mice?" "Pinkie, this is so awe- wait, when did she get here?" whispered Rainbow Dash, looking at the derp-eyed grey pegasus who had appeared between her and Pinkie. The blonde pegasus started waving to Bon-Bon. Pop, giant muffin distraction! Quietly the two pranksters flew away from the scene, stifling giggles. To be fair outbursts like this were a common occurrence around Lyra, and Bon-Bon was by far the best at dealing with it. "Hey look, there's Spike and Twilight! And Zecora!" Ponyville's librarian, her saddlebags stuffed with books, was outside the restaurant talking to the zebra. Behind the unicorn was her dragon scribe, mostly hidden by the high pile of books that he was doing his best to carry. "...And I'm really worried there's something actually wrong with her!" "So you're thinking I might take a look, and recommend another book? I can do so, yes, but I do think, you worry too much about your friend of pink!" "Thanks Zecora!" Spike put down the books and wiped his brow, "I've been trying ALL day to get it through to her but she's obsessed with the idea that there's some explosion-causing illness as an explanation!" "HI EVERYPON- Uh, I mean..." glancing to Rainbow Dash as the pair landed, Pinkie Pie cleared her throat and continued with a more relaxed and casual tone, "Hey ponies. 'Sup." The blue pegasus, most certainly the one who came up with this act, added, "We just thought we'd bring the cool to the scene." With a pop all five of those present were wearing shades. Rainbow Dash lowered hers slightly, smiling, "Get what I mean?" "NICE!" responded Spike excitedly, quickly catching himself, "I mean, um... Groovy." Pinkie couldn't keep the act up any longer and started excitedly talking at Spike, "Isn't it??? And I have wings and I can FLY and make stuff and mimic animals and have an AWESOME party face-" Rainbow Dash glared at her, "-That still needs work but it's all so super-duper AWESOME!" Pinkie looked overjoyed. Spike was awe-struck. Twilight looked stunned. Rainbow Dash was still busy looking cool. Zecora, however, looked terrified, her sunglasses falling to the ground. "These symptoms, they do ring a bell! I fear, Pinkie, you are not well! Twilight, watch her, I must make haste, to look this up, no time to waste!" These words given the zebra turned and broke into a gallop. Twilight lowered her ears, giving a worried glance to Spike before looking over to Pinkie and realising that the newly-winged pony was already flying off. "Hey! Rainbow Dash, where are you two going? Didn't you hear what Zecora said???" The blue pegasus, who'd started to fly after Pinkie Pie, stopped and looked back to Twilight, "Well, yeah, but Zecora's always been a little melodramatic, and Pinkie wants to go show Applejack before it gets dark..." "But what if this IS something really bad??? Rainbow Dash, we need to look after her!" "Okay, okay..." the pegasus rolled her eyes, "You just wait here and I'll go get her back, okay?" Suddenly it was just Twilight and Spike by the restaurant. "It'll be all right, Twi..." comforted the little dragon, but the unicorn just sighed. "Why is it always like this when I think there's a problem..." "You worry too much? Hey, how about you do some more reading and get a bite to eat, and I'll go fetch some of the books on earth pony flight spells, see if they help?" The purple pony smiled, her stomach growling at the thought, "Good idea Spike!" The little dragon perked up and hurried back to the library as Twilight, with her books, went to order some food, feeling more optimistic with every step. Yes, once she had something good to eat she was sure to get to the bottom of things! Besides, if worse came to worst there were always the Elements of Harmony, and there was nothing her friendship couldn't handle!