//------------------------------// // Day 1 // Story: Prototype: Black Rain // by Fuberrari //------------------------------// "No... no... no... no... no..." Twilight Sparkle muttered to herself as books after books flew in front of her, their pages turning over rapidly before being discarded just as quickly. Her mane frizzled from stress as her eyes darted back and forth. Around her stacks of books covered every inch of the library floor, with some piling up almost to the ceiling. "Spike! Did you find anymore books?" The basement door slammed open. Revealing a purple dragon carrying a stack of tomes of varying size. "These are the last books in storage!" He plopped the books down in one of the few empty spaces left in the library. Almost immediately they floated their way to the unicorn. "Now! Can somepony tell me what's going on here? What happened to Rainbow Dash? And why are the rest of your friends in the basement? " "Trying to find that out. And they're worried about Rainbow Dash." came Twilight's rapid fired answer as the books continued to make their way in front of her. "ARGH! There's NOTHING in these books!" Twilight Sparkle growled in frustration as she tossed the last book of the stack away. "Can you at least tell me what you're looking for?" "I don't know!" panic started to fill her voice. "I looked everywhere! Garnet's Guide to Gemology, Moonbeam on Minerals, Dictionaries of Deadly Diseases, Transforming Through Time, Myths on Magic with Malice, Codex on Creepy Creatures... NOTHING came close to describing what happened to Rainbow!" "Um... can you at least describe what happened to..." Loud yells and crashing noise rumbled from the basement, followed by a rapid series of hoof-fall before Applejack slammed open the door. "Twilight! She's awake!" Without another word, Twilight Sparkle ran after Applejack into the library basement with Spike trailing behind them. "What the..." said Spike upon seeing the pegasus mare. "... Twilight! What is she?" She didn't reply, her mind was asking exactly the same question. Rainbow Dash had finally woke up after sleeping away most of the day, and was trashing her basement laboratory trying to get away from something. The reason quickly became obvious. Her sky-blue wings had turned black and bony in appearance. More distinctly, the feathers on her wings had disappeared, replaced by four blade-like claws on each wings connected to the carpal joints, giving them a fan like appearance. "What's happening to me?! What is THIS?! Where am I?! GET IT AWAY FROM ME! SOME PONY HELP ME!" Rainbow Dash shouted in panic, ignoring the pleas and screams of her friends as she tried to get away from the foreign appendage. Her wings bending and twisting in ways Twilight Sparkle never thought possible for a pegasus as she ran. One of the claw caught a metal support beam of one of her equipment, and to her disbelief, sliced cleanly through it. That's not good! Twilight Sparkle quickly made her way down, hoping she would make it in time before Rainbow accidentally got one of her claws caught in one of her friends. However, her worries became moot when Fluttershy stopped running and face the panicking Rainbow Dash. "RAIN... BOW... DASH! LOOK AT ME!" Twilight Sparkle stopped and watched as the blue pegasus froze suddenly, her eyes meeting the unblinking gaze from Fluttershy. She couldn't believe it, but the effect was unmistakable. Fluttershy just used the Stare on her own friend. "Now, I know you're scared. But you need to listen to us when we're trying to help you! You could have hurt your friend, or worse! And look what you did to Twilight's place! So listen here! Take a deep breath! And calm down! Do you understand?" Rainbow Dash nodded meekly before sitting down and started taking in deep breaths quickly. Her "wings" dipped to the floor with a clatter. And as the pegasus' breathing slowed, Twilight Sparkle watched in interest as the black wings turned back to blue and the claws split apart and turned back to feathers. In less than a second, Rainbow Dash's wings had returned to normal. "Good... now... I... I..." Fluttershy started to tremble as she backed away from Rainbow Dash. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I don't know what came over me! I didn't mean to do it! I didn't mean to use the..." "Shush now Fluttershy." said Applejack, putting her hoof on the retreating pegasus. "Ya probably saved all our hides." Fluttershy blinked at Applejack and nodded. "Yeah... I..." Rainbow Dash got up and folded her wings before making her way toward them. "I don't know what I would do if I hurt any of you... or..." Rainbow Dash shook her head, as if trying to clear away some unpleasant thought. "So um... Fluttershy, thank you." Fluttershy mumbled something that sounded like "You're welcome." "I'm sorry to ask you this so soon..." said Twilight Sparkle. "... but... do you remember anything?" "I... remember seeing that... thing coming for Fluttershy. I think I managed to push her out-of-the-way... and then..." Rainbow Dash gulped. "I remember being... impaled by that thing and thrown into a building... I could hear you girls trying to get to me... and... AH!" Rainbow Dash suddenly yelled out in pain as black threads crisscrossed her form and she started to change. Her body grew in size as her fur changed from sky-blue to gray. And in the time it took for them to blink, a large diamond dog was in the place that Rainbow Dash occupied moments ago. "... he's in so much pain! He was so scared. He didn't know what was happening." the diamond dog started to cry. "And he saw me... he saw me... killing him! Oh Celestia I killed him! I killed him! And... what... " the canine's eyes went wide as he noticed his own paw. "Calm down Rainbow... just... calm down..." pleaded Twilight Sparkle. She wasn't sure whether it was her word that helped, but the diamond dog in front them shrunk and reverted back to the sky-blue pegasus they knew. "Okay... that would've been way cool if it wasn't so... freakish." commented Spike. "What's happening to me?" Tears started to drop from her eyes. Twilight Sparkle looked around her friends, and almost as one, they walked up to the crying pegasus. Fluttershy started stroking Rainbow's back while Pinkie Pie wrapped her hooves around her neck. Rarity levitated a hoofkerchief to dab away tears as they rolled down the pegasus' cheek. "Twilight... please tell me ya found something..." asked Applejack, her voice choking a bit from seeing her friend in pain. Twilight shook her head. "I'll keep trying... but I already went through all the book here... I'm going to have to ask for access to the Royal library..." She bit her lip and glanced at her friend. "... we will have to tell Princess Celestia what happened." "What? NO! You can't!" Pinkie Pie peeled herself away from Rainbow Dash and came face to face with Twilight Sparkle. "Do you know what Princess Celestia will do! She will take Rainbow away! Stick her in a laboratory deep underground and carve her up! And then she's going to brainwash her and turn her into her little super guard pony!" Twilight blinked at the pink pony in front of her before what she said sank in. "Princess Celestia is not going to do that! At worst she's just going to... um..." "Banish her?" said Rarity, her voice sharp and unforgiving. "Or worse, kill her? Twilight Sparkle! I can't believe you would do something like that! How could you turn your back on your friend like that just because she's... different..." "I'm not turning my back to any pony!" Twilight Sparkle stomped her hoof on the ground in frustration. "Think about it! There are ponies in Ponyville who saw what Rainbow did! Words will reach the Princess sooner or later. If I write to her, I can at least try to convince her to help Rainbow instead of banishing her, or worse. And I'm going to need help finding out what happened to her." Silence descended on the room as each pony mulled over the situation. Twilight Sparkle still felt conflicted. She knew that the decision to tell the Princess was sound. Yet a part of her still worried what the Princess would do. "That's... fine." Rainbow Dash broke the silence. "If Princess Celestia decided that I should be banished... or... I'm fine with that." "Dashie..." Pinkie Pie looked imploringly at the pegasus. "... don't say that." "You don't understand. I can hear him. I know what went through his mind when he... turned. I know he was thinking when I... killed him." she sniffed and wiped her nose with her hoof. "And I couldn't control myself. I don't know if I can control myself. I don't know if I might hurt one of you someday. I couldn't live with myself if I ever do." Twilight noted the look of resignation on Rainbow's face. "I'll go send the letter then." Rainbow Dash looked up at her and nodded. "Spike, come on." Twilight Sparkle felt the dragon's weight on her back and proceeded upstairs. She arrived at the main floor of the library, her eyes caught the sky outside as Spike jumped off to find paper and quill. It was late in the evening already, with a clear blue sky dotted by a scattering of golden orange clouds. A perfect day that contradicted the dark and gloomy feeling she felt. Well, the weather schedule don't revolve around me. Twilight Sparkle saw her dragon assistant had returned with the writing instruments and were watching her expectantly. This may be the most important letter she would write in her life. The letter that may decide the fate of her friend. There was a fleeting moment when she considered just asking Spike to put the paper and quill away. Just so that if Princess Celestia decided on something... bad, she won't feel responsible. But Rainbow Dash needed her, and as Princess Celestia's personal protege, she had the best chance of convincing her to help Rainbow. She had to try. "Dear Princess Celestia..." Something happened to Rainbow Dash, something weird AND awesome. Of that, Scootaloo was certain, a hundred and twenty percent certain. Called it gut instinct, a sense of precognition, or... "... or yah heard every town pony talking about it." Apple Bloom rolled her eyes at the pegasus filly. "Ah'm pretty shure dat ain't gut instinct." "Are you sure about this?" Sweetie Bell poked her head out of the tree branch outside the library balcony, watching Spike inside scribbling on a scroll while Twilight dictated. A small pile of crumbled up parchment beside the dragon. "Rarity and Applejack told us to stay at home and lock the door. What with that... scary looking monster that showed up in town." "Well, if it wasn't for you two. I could have seen Rainbow Dash kick that monster's behind!" Scootaloo gave the air a few quick jabs. Apple Bloom cast a weary glance at the excited filly. "You ran the fastest." said Apple Bloom in a flat tone. "I was just... trying to get my camera!" "Admit, you're a chicken." Apple Bloom bend her front hooves under her front legs and waved them in the air like a chicken. "Scootaloo! Scootaloo!" "I'm not a chicken! And that's not a chicken! A chicken goes BAWK! BAWK! BWWAK!" Apple Bloom pointed her hoof at Scootaloo. "See! You even sounded like one!" "Hey!" cried Scootaloo in indignation. "Girls! Quiet! Spike's coming!" hissed Sweetie Bell, pushing her two friends back behind the clump of leaves. The three watched the purple dragon walked out to the balcony, carrying a particularly thick scroll in his hand. "Twilight!" Spike called back to the library. "Are you sure about this one? You sure you're not going to ask me to rewrite it again?" "Yes I'm sure!" came the reply. "Just send it." "Alright." Spike took a deep breathe and incinerated the thick scroll with a jet of green fire. "All done." "Come on then, let's go check on Rainbow." The three fillies watched as the dragon went back in. "I wonder what's wrong with Rainbow." asked Sweetie Belle. "I heard she ate the monster." said Apple Bloom. "Pretty shure eating dat... thing will give yah  a bad tummy ache." "I think its one of those figure of speech thingy." said Sweetie Belle. "Like um... break a leg or something." "Yeah, Rainbow Dash, eating monsters for breakfast! So awesome!" said Scootaloo excitedly before jumping onto the balcony. "But it sounded like Rainbow Dash got really hurt." Sweetie Belle followed with Apple Bloom trailing behind. "That's silly! Nothing will keep Rainbow down" said Scootaloo, part of her attention focused on the inside of Twilight's bedroom. "Alright, coast's clear." The balcony window opened with a faint creak, followed by three fillies tip-toeing their way across Twilight's bedroom to the door leading to the main floor of the library. Scootaloo pushed it open a crack and peeked out. "Okay, no ones' down stairs." The Cutie Mark Crusaders slowly made their way down to the library floor. "Don't knock over any books." said Scootlaoo, eying the towering stacks of book around them. They carefully picked their way across. As they approach the door leading into the basement, they heard Twilight's voice coming out of it. "... the range of motion is impressive... Spike, could you get me more parchments and quills?" "Sure thing!" came the reply followed by the clicking sound of talons on wooden floor. "Quick! Hide!" the three of them quickly find a stack of book to hide behind as the basement door opened. Spike gingerly made his way to the desk and dug through the drawers. Twilight's voice continued to drift upstairs. "... double-edged at the tip, with the edge longer at the bottom side then the top... that would make it more effective at the downward flap..." "I got it!" yelled Spike as he hauled a stack of parchment back downstairs. Scootaloo waited until the clicking of talon faded before leaving her hiding place. "What do you think they're doing down there?" asked Sweetie Belle in a whisper as she joined Scootaloo. "Guess we're about to find out..." said Apple Bloom as the three carefully made their way through the basement door. "Time to revert... one point three seconds..." came Twilight voice as the three of them peeked over the side of the landing over the basement. "Rainbow, can you do that again?" The three filly stared at the pegasus with the rainbow mane, who sat a good distance away from the other ponies below. Except for Twilight Sparkle, who stood nearby, her eyes fixed on the pegasus' wings. "See!" whispered Scootaloo. "Told ya she's..." Her voice trailed off. Their eyes grew as large as saucer as Rainbow Dash' wings started to morph. The wings turning black and the tips elongated into a talon like protrusion. Some feathers retreated, while others merged into claw like appendages, four on each side. "Ooh! Again!" Pinkie Pie pulled out an apple and threw it at Rainbow Dash. Almost by reflex, she flapped her wing at the apple, cutting it cleaning in half. "Cool!" exclaimed Scootaloo, who had completely forgotten that they're supposed to be sneaking around. Her two fellow crusaders, however, opted for a different response. "Ah!" Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle screamed before dashing out of the basement. "Apple Bloom!" "Sweetie Belle!" Applejack and Rarity called out at the same time before both of them galloped up the stairs. Scootaloo, on the other hooves, jumped down, using her wings to slow her descent somewhat. Rainbow Dash quickly scrambled back, a look of surprise on her face as her wings reverted to normal. "Scootaloo, what are you..." "That was so cool! Can I see it again?" asked Scootaloo, cutting off the older pegasus' question. "Please?" Rainbow Dash didn't know what to do. She was expecting her long-time admirer to run away upon seeing her wing changing like that. But here she was, begging to see it again. She looked to Twilight, who was just as stunned and speechless as she was. Not getting a response from the unicorn, she turned back to see two large, purple eyes staring at her. "Um... okay..." As if responding to her word, her wings quickly turned to claws. "Cool!" Scootaloo reached her hoof out toward the transformed wings, prompting Rainbow Dash to quickly raised them out of her reach. "Careful, they're... sharp." "How did you get them?" asked Scootaloo, her eyes still staring at the black, bony appendages. "I... don't know..." said Rainbow Dash, looking at the strange limbs that had replaced her wings. "You're just like a superpony!" Scootaloo gasped. "Just like Wolverwing!" "Who?" asked Twilight with a perplexed look on her face. "Ooh! I remember her!" Pinkie Pie jumped in front of Twilight and started bouncing up and down. "She's from Marevel comic! A pegasus with an unknown past who can make steel claws go SHINK from her wing. She's part of a team of super-duper-ponies led by Princess Celestia who fights evil things!" "But yours is cooler! It's all... and... ooh..." the pegasus filly stared as Rainbow turned her wings at odd angles. "That's so weird!" For the first time today, Rainbow let out a small smile. "I guess it's kinda weird... and cool." "Ooh! Can you fly with that?" asked Scootaloo. "Of course not, it doesn't have any feather." With that she reverted back to her feathered wings. "Come to think about it... haven't tried flying yet." "Maybe you can do a short hover?" asked Twilight Sparkle. "I'm very interested to see if all those changes affected your flying." "Alright then!" Rainbow Dash got up to all four, her wings fully flared out above her. "... Three... Two... One..." "Wait! I don't have my equipments..." Scootaloo waited with bated breath for something awesome to happen. She got her wish, in the form of a blast of wind sending her crashing into a table, followed by an avalanche of paper burying her. "AH!" came the scream of Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Rarity from the floor above. "Rainbow! You okay?" Applejack's urgent voice traveled down stairs. "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness... Scootaloo?" Scootaloo felt herself being dragged out from under the pile of paper by her tail. "Scootaloo! Are you alright?" asked Fluttershy, her eyes wide with worry. "Yeah... I'm fine... I think." "Oh good. Twilight! Where are you Twilight?" Fluttershy walked off, digging through the debris for her friends. Pieces of debris fell from the ceiling, prompting the young filly to look up. "Whoa..." Right there on the ceiling was Rainbow Dash, if only identifiable by her cutie-mark, her sky-blue fur, and her rainbow-colored tail. Everything else in front of her wings, however, had embedded themselves in the ceiling. "IS EVERY PONY DOWN THERE OKAY?" And judging by her voice, her head was sticking out of the library's floor. "Ooh... that was fun!" yelled Pinkie Pie while standing on wobbly hooves, looking as if she's going to tip over any second now. Over on the other side of the basement, Fluttershy had managed to dig out a dazed looking Twilight Sparkle from under a pile of timber. "Rainbow... Rainbow!" Twilight shook her head to clear away the stars in her eyes. "Rainbow! Are you okay?" "Yeah!" came the reply. "I'm fine! Just... stuck... hang on..." with more sound of splintering wood, Rainbow Dash freed herself from the ceiling and dropped to the basement floor. Scootaloo found herself being thrown about a foot into the air before crashing down on the thankfully soft pile of paper. Beside her, Pinkie Pie laid on the floor with her legs sticking out every which way. "Dashie... did you gain weight..." slurred Pinkie Pie, her eyes spinning around lazily. "Um... sorry..." said Rainbow Dash. She lifted her hoof and noted the inch deep indentation she made in the ground. One the other side of the room, Fluttershy was helping Twilight up once again. "I guess those mass had gotta go somewhere..." said Twilight as she shook of the dust that covered her. She looked around her laboratory, somewhat dismayed at the destruction Rainbow's landing managed to do. Almost all her glass-wares had shattered. Most of her shelves had tipped over, dumping their content in a mostly broken pile in front of them. Twilight sighed. "Has anyone seen Spike?" "*BURP*" green light shone out from the pile of paper Scootaloo landed on. A clawed hand wielding a scroll reached out as its owner pulled himself out from the pile. Spike dusted himself off before making his way to Twilight. "Mail call!" said Pinkie Pie, who bounced on all four hooves as if nothing had happened. "So, how did you beat up that monstrous diamond dog?" asked Scootaloo, prompting a grimace on Rainbow's face. "Pinkie Pie." said Twilight Sparkle. "Can you take Scootaloo home? It's getting late." "Okie Dokie Loki!" said Pinkie Pie as she bounced up to Scootaloo. "Aw... but I want to know how Rainbow beat up that monster!" whined Scootaloo. "Now now Scootaloo." said Fluttershy. "Your parents must have been very worried about you. And I think Rainbow Dash is getting a bit tired, right?" Rainbow Dash nodded in response. "And I was there! So I can tell you ALL about how Dashie gave that monster a good smacking around!" Pinkie Pie gave Scootaloo a wide grin. "Really! Awesome." said Scootaloo as she was nudged along by Pinkie Pie. The filly didn't notice the pink pony winking knowingly at Rainbow before closing the basement door. "Hey Applejack! Hey Rarity! Why are you guys in a book cave?" came Pinkie Pie's voice, muffled by the basement door. Sound of book tumbling to the floor were accompanied by Applejack making some comments on Apple Bloom being "grounded" and Rarity complaining about the mess in the library. Soon, the opening and closing of the library door marked their departure. "So... what's in the letter?" asked Rainbow Dash. Twilight Sparkle looked at the scroll bearing Celestia's royal seal in Spike's hand. She looked up, and saw the expectant look on the two pegasi's faces. With a deep breath, she levitated the scroll out of Spike's hand and unrolled it. To My Faithful Student, I am greatly relieved that you and your friends are well after such an incidence. As for your friend Rainbow Dash, I am sorry to say that I have no answers as to what afflicted her. Although I do suspect that her affliction may be related to the strange happenings surrounding the meteors landed all over the world. As for your worries about your friend's fate, I cannot make any promises in that regard for the safety of Equestria is of the greatest importance. Your letter do lead me to believe that no drastic actions is required for your friend, but I will have to see for myself before making any decisions. I do promise that if actions are needed, all other possible arrangements will be considered first before banishment and death. This warning may come a bit late due to recent event. But I strongly urge you not to approach any more of these meteors. My recent investigations with Princess Luna had turned up some... troubling results. I am currently investigating another fallen meteor near Manehatten with Princess Luna. But I should arrive at Ponyville about two hours past sunrise tomorrow. Stay safe. Your Mentor, Princess Celestia "I guess that's about as good a reply as we can hope." said Twilight Sparkle while rolling up the scroll. "Well... no use worrying about it any more." "I'm not worried." said Rainbow Dash, the look on Twilight's and Fluttershy's face told her that they don't believe her, "... okay, maybe just a little..." a yawn escaped her mouth. "... and I feel tired..." "It is getting a bit late." said Twilight Sparkle, looking at the wall-clock which told her that the sun had just went down. "A lot did happen today." Twilight eyed the four hoof-shaped imprint in the floor below Rainbow Dash. "Maybe you should stay here for the night." "Yeah..." she looked around the demolished basement. "... that's probably a good idea. In a basement..." her ears drooped. "... away from any pony that I might hurt..." "I can stay with you." said Fluttershy in a low voice. "If you want..." Rainbow Dash gave the timid pegasus an incredulous look. "No! You can't stay! What if I lost control and hurt you! Or..." "You don't... want me around?" asked Fluttershy, her lips quivering. "No! I mean... yes! I want you around!" said Rainbow Dash, her voice strained. "I'm scared that those... memories will return when I sleep. But I also don't want to risk hurting you!" Twilight Sparkle looked at her two friends. On one hoof, according to her book on psychology, Rainbow did need some pony around so she could feel safe. On the other hoof, Rainbow won't feel safe unless she's sure that she won't hurt Fluttershy... "Rainbow, if you don't mind, I think I have a plan." said Twilight Sparkle. "Are these... really necessary?" asked Fluttershy, poking at what she could be best described as a steel corset around Rainbow Dash's barrel, binding her wings. In addition to that, a collar wrapped around her neck with a chain leading to the floor of the steel cage they're in. A single mattress placed against the steel barred wall opposite of the cage door. "Yep. This way, Rainbow don't have to worry about losing control in her sleep. If she does, everything should buy you..." Twilight Sparkle pointed to Fluttershy, "... about a minute to run before Rainbow Dash could break out." "Promise me you'll run if I go nuts." said Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy nodded in response. "Okay. Now, you remember how to lock and unlock your collar and door?" asked Twilight Sparkle. "Yeah." said Rainbow Dash, her hoof fiddling around with her collar. "Good, now you two get some rest." Twilight yawned as she said that. "I'm going to go get some shut-eyes myself." Twilight Sparkle trotted out of the basement with Spike, leaving behind the two pegasi. "Thanks for staying..." said Rainbow Dash. "It's... what friends are for." said Fluttershy, her voice barely above a whisper. "You don't have to wear that collar if you want... it looks... uncomfortable." "Nah, it's not that bad." said Rainbow, her hoof kicking at the chain on the ground. "Beside, it makes me feel better knowing that I can't hurt you." "I don't think you'll hurt me." said Fluttershy, her voice raising just a bit. "I wish I'm as sure about that as you." Rainbow Dash watched her wings change into claws and back again. Fluttershy stood in silence, not knowing what to say. It took her a few seconds to notice that Rainbow Dash was pushing her out of the cage. "Let's just get some rest." Rainbow Dash retreated back in, closing and latching the cage door. Fluttershy nodded and walked to a nearby bed Twilight had setup for her, turning off the lights on the way. She climbed into the soft mattress, feeling herself sinking into it. In the dark, she could see nothing else but a silhouette of a pegasus in the cage. "Rainbow?" "Mmhm?" came the muffled response in the dark. "Everything well be okay... I'm sure of it." said Fluttershy. She waited for a response, but none came. The events of the day started to caught up with her as she felt her eye-lids grew heavy. As she lay her head down and close her eyes, Rainbow's voice reached her through the darkness. "Thanks..."