Cloudsdale Dash and The Revenge of Dr. Negative

by Lapis-Lazuli and Stitch

Chapter 1 - Carousel Catastrophe

~~~~~The Golden Oaks Library~~~~~

The distant sound of thunder and lightning lent the words on the page a strange sense of urgency. The patter of rain against the windows were like soft footsteps rushing across a stone floor as the tale within the book wove through her imagination.

“We’ve got to hurry!” Shouted Daring Do, eyes wide and anxious. The walls of the ancient temple around her were painted blood red with the sickly light of dark, sorcerous powers. “Come on, Silver! Move that flank!” she snarled, the scruffy older pony grunting as he tried to keep up.

“I’m comin’ Derry! Quit yer moanin!” he barked, putting on an extra burst of speed. “We’re gonna make it!” he snapped at her, but she barely heard him. There was no way in Tartarus she was going to let Rosie get hurt because she’d been too stupid to figure out what the Doctor was up to.

“This is so awesome,” Rainbow Dash whispered happily, quickly sipping from her root beer soda before turning the page with a deft flight of her primaries. A few steps away, Twilight Sparkle sat with forehooves folded as she carefully turned the page of her own book. Two copies were kind of necessary, since Twilight could read almost as fast as Dash could fly.

She didn’t much mind. She prefered to talk her way through the story, even if she did it in a really quiet voice. Which reminded her...

“You can’t stop me now, Daring Do!” The malicious cackle of Doctor Negative rang in Daring’s ears. His red eyes were wild with a madness that couldn’t be contained, his hooves holding the sinister length of his injection gun to Rosetta’s neck. “We’re going to change the world, my dear little Rosie and I.” His voice turned from madness to an almost sickeningly saccharine tone…

“Twilight, what does Sac… Sac…” Dash bit at her lip and glared at the offending word, trying to figure out how to pronounce it for a few moments before just going for it. “Sac-car-ine mean?”

“Saccharine, Dash.” Twilight replied absentmindedly, emphasizing the ch sound and turning ANOTHER page. “It means overly sweet. In that case, it means he sounds really syrupy and lovey dovey.” Twilight sing-songed the last two words, which were Dash’s preferred choice of vocabulary for lovebirds. She liked teasing Dash about her simple language sometimes, but it was never in anything but good fun.

“Thank you.” Dash replied as politely as she could, and turned back to her book. Sheesh, why couldn’t Daring just use normal language like a regular pony? Maybe it was some kinda way to keep her cover. She always talked way simpler in person.

”Daring, help me!” Rosetta cried out, tears trailing heavily down her cheeks and setting a fire of anger in her chest. Her closest friend in the whole world was in danger, and the last thing she was going to do was let that monster get his way.

“I’m not going to let you down, Rosie.” Daring Do whispered menacingly, and gathered up all the strength she could into her haunches. Doctor Negative laughed maniacally at her, as lightning began to strike at the uppermost rods of his sinister invention, pumping massive amounts of magical power into it.

“It’s too late for you, Daring Dumb!” The Doctor sneered as she spread her wings wide, remembering the takeoff trick her sometimes assistant Cloudsdale Dash had taught her…

At that, Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but giggle. But only a little. She had to maintain some dignity in front of Twilight, who was smiling just faintly. Another suck of the root beer, and back to the action!

And off she went, at a speed few pegasi in the world could match. Doctor Negative’s eyes had just enough time to go as wide as dinnerplates before she crashed hooves first into him, sending his injection gun clattering to the ground and hurling him over the safety rail of the raised platform. Daring herself ran headlong into the rail, nearly crashing through it. “ARGH!” She half-screamed, scrambling to hold on and unable to find a place to grab.

Fear surged through her as she tried to throw open her wings only to find them trapped by a mass of metal bars from the railing. Daring Do scrabbled her hooves against the metal as the weight began to drag her down, flailing desperately for something to hold on to. Her hooves slipped free and she began to plummet to her doom when a blur of color came out of nowhere and grabbed her by the collar of her jacket. “I gotcha!” mumbled Manehatten Silver around a mouthful of cloth and fabric, his sturdy earth pony frame keeping her from falling into the pit below.

Several seconds later, Doctor Negative’s body impacted on the ground inside of his own containment cells, surrounded by the poor ponies whose minds he’d warped.They moaned in unison, and began shuffling mindlessly towards him, hooves outstretched and a dull madness in their blank eyes. “What?” Doctor Negative said blearily, rising to his hooves slowly only to realize his peril. “W-... NO!” He screeched, flattening himself against the wall of the pit as the shambling hordes began to descend upon him.

“Ohmygosh!” Twilight squealed, her hooves coming together in what had to be the cutest pose Dash had ever seen her make. That got her attention instantly, as Twilight never reacted like that unless something of astronomical importance happened. She stared at Twilight, hoping for a moment that she might shed some light on the situation, but the alicorn just giggled and waved her hooves at the book.

Dash blinked and turned back to the page, wondering just what could possibly get Twi so worked up.

Daring’s chest heaved over and over again as she stared up into the dim light of the underground lair. The hard steel of the platform dug into her back as somepony pulled the railing off of her wings and threw it to the side. “You okay, Derry?” Manehatten Silver glared into her eyes, his hoof thumping into her chest. “You don’t look so good.”

“I’m fine.” She croaked, and rolled herself over while trying to ignore the ache in her wings. “Check on Rosie, willya?” Silver glared at her for just one second less than her patience before rumbling off. Daring rolled herself over on the catwalk and glared down at the Doctor, who was staring up at her with fearful eyes. He had nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide from his own monstrous works.

“Save me.” He mouthed up at her, his hooves trying to find purchase even as his horn lit up to project a feeble shield behind him. It would not keep his attackers away from him for long, and for a long hard moment, Daring glared down at him before turning her head away. “Do? DOOOOOOOO!” The Doctor’s voice screamed behind her, then went suddenly silent.

“Whoa… Um… Twilight?” Dash felt her voice go a bit quavery at that one, turning to her closest friend for a little comfort. “Did uh… did Daring say if this book was real this time or not?” It was kinda hard to tell sometimes when Daring was actually writing about her adventures, and when she was just having a good time.

Twilight chuckled softly. “She said this one was just her having some fun.” Her eyes sparkled a little as she smiled at Dash, which caused her heart to flutter just a little stronger. “Worried about Rosetta, are we?”

Dash felt her cheeks heat up instantly at the insinuation. “W-well maybe a little…” She muttered, turning away to hide her embarrassment. “I was more worried about the thought that Daring might actually choose not to help somepony in danger.” A cold lump settled in Dash’s throat. That just wasn’t right, no matter how you sliced it, no matter how much of a scumbag Doctor Negative was…

Twilight’s voice cut through her thoughts, “Keep reading Dash,” she said before returning to her book. That was really odd behavior for Twilight, but Rainbow Dash turned back to her book anyway with her feelings of unease still lingering. Sometimes, it was awesome to have Twilight so far ahead of her, while at others it was just plain annoying.

Rosetta and Manehatten Silver were standing there looking at her as she slowly limped her way across the platform, head hung low. It had been a hard choice, but it wasn’t one she’d made easily. “He was a madpony, Derry.” Manehatten growled quietly, without so much as a moment of prompting. “He’d just have gotten out again, and you know it.”

Daring Do brought up her head and nodded once. “Let’s go home.” She said quietly, falling into place next to Rosetta as they all began the long trip down to the ground. Her thoughts roiled over what she’d done, setting a whole new light on the life and choices of the stallion mere inches away from her.

By the time her hooves touched dirt again Rosetta was back to her old self - prim, proper and totally in control of things. “I’m going to get Scooter, you two should probably make sure nothing dangerous is left behind.” Her voice was remarkably calm, and she showed no signs of the fear that had engulfed her features mere minutes before. Daring nodded once, knowing that Rosie probably just needed a few minutes alone to let some of the shakes out.

Besides, she had something she had to settle with Manehatten Silver. Alone.

Rainbow Dash felt her chest tighten. Daring Do really wasn’t gonna give any credit to that no-good graverobber, was she? Her hoof quickly turned the page, wondering if Daring was really gonna pull something cheesy like that, when a massive bolt of lightning made her jump all the way to the roof of the library as the sound and light crashed through the room. ”Holy Celestia!” Dash squeaked just before her head impacted on the roof of the library and she crashed to the ground in a tumble of feathers and limbs. She stared into the ceiling, and croaked out, “What ‘n the hay was that?”

Twilight’s voice drifted over from one side, sharp and clear. “That was not normal lightning, I can tell you that much.” The sound of clattering hooves spurred Dash to action, and she rolled herself back to her hooves just in time to see Twilight grabbing her saddlebags and pulling out a pair of rain-ponchos. “We’d better go check up on the town and the weather team,” Twilight began just as the door to the library burst open and a little purple dragon ran through it at top speed.

Spike tumbled to his knees, huffing and puffing as he tried to catch his breath, his claw gripping at his chest dramatically. "Twi... light... trouble… help..." He wheezed out, the sight of the storm lashing outside framing him in an all too dramatic fashion.

“Spike!” Twilight’s eyes went wide, and she rushed over to him. Spike slowly recovered his breath as Dash shut the door firmly in the face of the wind and rain, knowing that Twilight would freak out if too much got into the library. “What happened?” How Twilight managed to stay calm even through all the ridiculousness she got put through on a regular basis, Dash would never ever know.

“Twilight!” Spike gasped as he finally seemed to realize his ‘big sister’ was standing next to him in abject worry. His claw came up to grab at her mane firmly, his eyes wide with panic. “She... they... help! It’s horrible!” His voice came out in fast pants. "Rarity... Sweetie Belle... magical accident at... boutique! You gotta... Gotta go help her!" He kept wheezing, slowly getting his breath back.

Dash’s stomach twisted at that. Sweetie Belle was only supposed to be practicing her magic with Twilight, and everypony in town knew it. “What happened Spike?” Twilight insisted, but the baby dragon seemed to have taken just too much to give her a straight answer. Twilight snarled in annoyance, then grabbed her bags from where they laid beside the door with one grip of magic while tucking spike into a little bed with another.. “Come on Dash!” She yelled, already throwing open the door and running at top speed. Dash had no choice but to follow, folding her wings against the stiff wind and trying to keep up as best as she could.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The storm raged around Twilight Sparkle with a strength and ferocity that worried her greatly. This was NOT the gentle lightning storm that had been planned for today. There were only about a dozen things which could cause the weather to spiral out of control like this, and all of them had to do with magic that was of a magnitude greater than anything Rarity or Sweetie was capable of.

Thousands of feet up, Twilight could see the pegasi working their flanks off trying to corral the storm back into sanity. “I should be up there!” Rainbow Dash yelled, dancing in place and looking torn. Twilight honestly didn’t blame her for that, but…

“I might need you to get to the Princess if something is really wrong, Dash!” Twilight had to yell to be heard over the whipping winds. That was all it took to break Dash’s hesitation and soon enough they were both running across town again. Fortunately, it wasn’t that far to Rarity’s place, but Twilight spent the entire few minutes it took going over every conceivable thing that could have happened. Of course, she really didn’t expect to see a pitch black whirlwind of clouds hovering over the Carousel Boutique.

Wait… those aren’t clouds. Her mind instantly replied to the stray thought, immediately beginning to try to analyze what they were. They were giving off prodigious amounts of magical energy in the form of lightning and whorling in place right above Rarity’s shop. There was no telling what could possibly be fueling the thing, but it was clear that whatever was doing it had to be an incredible force. “Sweet Luna.” Dash whispered, staring up at the column of clouds with her mane hanging wetly over her face. “W… what should we do, Twilight?”

Twilight knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to immediately turn tail and fly as fast as she could for Canterlot, get Princess Celestia, and bring her back here. But that would take time, time that neither Rarity or Sweetie Belle might have if something really serious was going on in there. That meant she had to make a decision, and it was blessedly one she knew was right. “We need to get in there and find out what’s happened. Come on, Rainbow!”

Twilight lowered her head stubbornly and charged for the otherwise innocuous door, Rainbow Dash joining her mere moments later. Magic threw the door open, and the pair of them dove into the chaos of the shop. Twilight came to a screeching halt mere seconds later, more because of the flying white unicorn which intercepted her than any other reason. “Oh Twilight! Thank Celestia you’re here!” Rarity sobbed into her shoulder, clutching Twilight close. “It’s S-S-S-Sweetie Belle!”

Twilight Sparkle had seen no few incredible things since she’d come to Ponyville all those years ago. She’d seen gods of chaos, semi-sentient forests, shadow demons, an ancient and evil alicorn, and Pinkie Pie doing the dance of the eight veils. But she’d honestly never seen anything like the raw and crackling portal that hung in the center of the room, whirling and seething like some kind of living thing. “What in the world…?” She whispered, unable to take her eyes off the thing. It was a living impossibility right before her eyes, and if she wasn’t so worried about Rarity she’d probably have already panicked.

Dash grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her out of her reverie, before turning to Rarity. “Whoa Rares, what happened in here?!” Dash’s harsh words and faintly panicked tone steadied Twilight. Her friends needed her, and that made all other considerations moot until the danger had passed.

Rarity’s cheeks went beet red, and she turned her head away. “I… I was doing a little… p-personal magic.” She blurted out, in a tone that made it clear she wasn’t going to explain any further as to what that meant. “Then there was this massive, dreadful bolt of lightning seemingly out of nowhere.” She waved her hooves in the air, eyes wide. “It blinded me! Stunned me completely, and when I came to I saw some strange looking unicorn madpony standing in the middle of my shop and that thing behind him!” She pointed at the portal as dramatically as she ever did anything. “We stared at each other for a few moments and then Sweetie Belle walked into the room….”

Rarity slowly fell silent, her hoof coming down limply and her chest heaving in slow sobs. “I… I yelled at her to run, but the madpony grabbed her and looked like he was running for the door.” Rarity’s tone turned stubborn and angry. “I hit him as hard as I could with my magic, and he dropped Sweetie Belle, the uncouth ruffian. Then…” She took in a deep breath and exhaled heavily. “Then there was another big flash of light, and that… that… thing sucked my poor little sister and the madpony back through it.”

Twilight felt a huge lump settle into her throat, and she had to work to swallow it. Everything Twilight knew told her to expect the absolute worst possible scenario, and in this case that meant… Sweetie Belle could quite literally be… anywhere. It was a terrifying thought, but with no real time to spend examining the portal and none of the appropriate tools to try and trace the portal’s ultimate destination, Twilight was in a quandary of the absolute worst kind. I need to get a message to Celestia. She’ll know how we can save Sweetie Belle. She thought, with as firm a conviction as she’d ever thought before.

An instant later, there was another massive flash of light and the howl of hurricane force winds springing up out of nowhere and throwing the entire shop into anarchy. Rainbow Dash wrapped her hooves around Twilight’s middle, and Rarity grabbed onto Rainbow Dash in a moment of reflexive fear. All three of them screamed together as Twilight beat her wings with all the might she could possibly muster as Rainbow Dash did the same.

Twilight knew it was useless though. Whatever force had taken in Sweetie Belle was still hungry, and as the winds twisted in tighter and tighter, sucking in tables, chairs, and bolts of fabric, Twilight knew there was only one thing they could do. “Hang on everypony!” She yelled and held on as tight as she could to her two friends and folded her wings in tight. Moments later, they crossed the event horizon of the portal and the world swirled into an inky blackness all around them.

~~~~~????~~~~~

Twilight’s eyes cracked open and slowly adjusted to the dim but clear light all around her as she tried to stand up on slightly sore hooves. Twilight winced silently but held her position on the stone-cold floor, gently checking with her hoof for blood or other serious injuries and... miraculously, finding none. Still, she felt very odd for some reason as she pushed herself up to her hooves and looked around, her eyes adjusting to the dark gloom of the... warehouse?

“Ungh…. My head.” Rainbow Dash’s voice echoed towards her, and a few moments later Twilight summoned her magic into her horn to shine a little light. For just a moment, her magic seemed to… to flicker, before settling into its normal hue. How strange, It seems to be coming from higher up than its supposed to... She found Dash pretty easily, sprawled out over the busted remains of a packing crate and covered in packing hay so deep she could just barely see her shock of rainbow mane. “I’m good, Twi… Where’s Rarity?” Dash’s voice was slurred, but more in the stunned way than the brain damaged way.

Twilight didn’t see Rarity though. She cast her light about from left to right, but could only find stacks and stacks of crates all around them. “I don’t know…” Twilight whispered, fear striking into her heart. What if Rarity had somehow gotten lost in the portal jump? What if there’d been a horrible accident? What if- Knock knock came a faint sound from inside the crate next to her, sending her leaping away from it in surprise and nearly crashing into the pile of crates directly behind her.

“Um… If somepony could let me out, that would be ever so helpful.” Rarity’s voice squeaked out from inside of the box, and Twilight exhaled in relief. Examining the side of the crate, she easily found the simple nails which kept it shut and worked them out with a little burst of magic. As if on cue, the whole side of the crate fell open to reveal… “Well, now that’s certainly better.” Rarity huffed, and tossed her elegantly coiffed mane.

Rarity was wearing one of the most stunning dresses Twilight had never seen on her. It was tightly tailored to her every curve and sparkled with tiny diamonds and sapphires across an expanse of pure white silk that flared out into a fetching skirt across her flank. She looked every inch the high society lady, and was even perfectly made up in lipstick and eyeshadow. “Rarity, you look…” Twilight began, tripping over her tongue for a moment before rallying her thoughts. “Absolutely beautiful. But where in Equestria did those clothes come from…?”

Twilight trailed off as she turned her head to look at Rainbow Dash, who wore a battered but respectable dark beige vest and baseball cap, a large adventuring satchel slung over her neck. She looked, with perhaps a bit of improvement, exactly the same way she’d looked on the cover of Daring Do and the Ring of Destiny. She was also staring at Twilight with a dumbfounded look on her face, her jaw already halfway to the floor. “T-Twilight? I think that clothes are the least of our worries…” Rarity’s voice dragged her attention back to her.

Twilight turned her head to look at Rarity, who had produced a large vanity mirror from… somewhere. A vanity mirror which showed a reflection that absolutely could not possibly be her. Her mane wafted ethereally in an unfelt breeze in the same way that Celestia’s did, and was filled with breathtaking stripes of color similar to that of her mane that wove and pulsed and mixed together all at the same time, to the background of six twinkling little stars in six very familiar colors that zoomed around one another in constant motion.

More incredible still, her horn was long and slender and her body had stretched to similar dimensions as that of Princess Luna. Long limbed forelegs and hindlegs attached to a graceful and slender torso that was the very image of pony beauty. Her wings long and elegant. All that remained the same were her eyes, which had not changed one whit of color, size or temperament. She looked like nothing less than a complete alicorn Princess, fully come into her power. She was even wearing bright platinum hoof boots and a torque with a beautifully inset topaz, both shamelessly copying the same style of such worn by Princess Celestia. All that was missing was her crown.

Twilight licked her lips, which felt slightly dry and cracked all of a sudden. “I… I …” She could not find words. Her breathing came in sharp intakes and fast exhales, the speed of both increasing by the second. She was hyperventilating and she knew it, but she couldn’t seem to stop it. “I don’t. I. don’t.” She was babbling too, a clear sign that her mind was overwhelmed with information. She simply couldn’t handle the data overload.

Which is exactly the moment that a massive crash interrupted her thoughts with all the subtlety of Ditzy Doo. Twilight whipped her head around, the new data instantly interrupting her flow of thought. The crash was followed by a grunt of pain, and the sounds of physical confrontation. “Bring her over here!” A nasty sounding male voice yelled, followed by the sounds of more physical fighting. “Ya’ll are a buncha’ sissycorns! Git that filly tied up and in the chair! We’re on a schedule, ya gits!”

Dash was next to her in a heartbeat. “Twilight, freak out later.” She whispered intensely. “Somepony’s in trouble!” Her voice hissed as low as she could make it without losing the intensity, her body now leaning forward and seething with a desire to spring into action. Wait. That’s an odd way to think of her like that…

“She’s right, Darling.” Rarity joined in a second later, looking both utterly out of place amidst the blue collar surroundings and yet utterly assured of her right to be there. Her tone was haughty and cautious, and she had those narrowed eyes Twilight knew only too well. “We’d better go see what all the fuss is about.”

Twilight took a deep breath, trying to steady herself in the way Cadence had taught her to all those months ago. She lifted her hoof to her chest and slowly exhaled the strain, and then nodded. “Right. Let’s go.”

Author's Note:

Are you ready for a Rip-roaring adventure?

I hope so! To those of you who are returning for the reboot, please note that these chapters have been almost entirely re-written from the ground up. So pay attention, because the ride is just getting started!

Comments

[Commander Rainstorm]

I'm not going to even say anything. I'm going to the next chapter and I have a message: OMG!!!!!

[JustAnotherTimeLord]

You know, this story reminds me of something . . .

[Stormgnome]

"[...]Pinkie Pie doing the dance of the eight veils."

[Xelos]

and Pinkie Pie doing the dance of the eight veils.

What's The Dance of The Eight Veils? I know that there's a Dance of The Seven Veils (I swear I'm not making that up) but I never heard of a Dance of The Eight Veils.