Double Rainboom all the way [Rewritten - 06/05/14]
The Stadium was packed to bursting in anticipation for the finals of the try-outs for the Wonderbolts, everypony waited with anticipation as the competitors prepared their final trick to show to the audience. For five mares watching in the audience however, only one of the ponies truly mattered to them.
Rainbow Dash stood at the end of the line, nervously awaiting her turn as the roar of the crowd became deafening, momentarily drowning out the voice of the commentators. She was number ten, so she would go last, and while that may have been good due to the fact she’d be able to closely watch her competition, it also meant that her nerves might once again manage to get the best of her just like back at the Best Young Fliers competition years ago.
Rainbow shook her head, forcing the old memories out as she focused on the here and now. If she performed at her peak today, the Wonderbolts would have to accept her into their ranks, and she would finally be accepted as part of the greatest flight team the world had ever known. If she didn’t, her lifelong dream might as well be over and done with, and she doubted she’d ever get another opportunity like this. This was a do or die situation, and Rainbow was determined to make her run count.
The first Pegasus took off from his position at the far end of the line-up, diving straight into the complex routine that he had developed, and drawing gasps of admiration from the crowd. Rainbow watched him with a soft, cocky smile, taking in his routine and telling herself over and over that she could top that. It wasn’t even a lie, she had something that nopony else had, and that would secure her the place in the team.
Her smile was instantly wiped from her face as another pony galloped onto the field, a number nine covering her cutie marks, but Rainbow didn’t need to see the mark to know who the pony beside her was.
“Hey Dash, come up with any new tricks for this contest? Or are you just a one trick pony?” Lightning Dust snickered, preening her wings as if Dash was beneath her.
“Oh I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve Lightning, don’t worry,” Rainbow glared back. “What about you? Do you actually have some tricks to pull off, or are you just going to make a tornado and launch it at civilians? You’re good at that if I remember correctly.”
The pony currently on the field landed shakily, walking off the field as number six took off to continue the show. Lightning however was still glaring at Rainbow, not paying attention to her competition.
“Well maybe if you hadn’t been such a spineless doormat you would have been the leader and I would have been the wing-pony, but I guess not all of us are cut out to be leaders like me Rainbow,” she sneered, before putting her nose up at Rainbow.
“Would that be the same way you got demoted by Spitfire and put on latrine duty for the rest of the time at the academy? Rainbow shot back. “I always remembered you hating curry night so much Lightning.”
“That was unfair and you know it,” Lightning gnashed her teeth. “Just because I was a better flier than you, you thought it was a good idea to run to Spitfire and get me on punishment detail.”
“Or maybe it’s because you were reckless, stupid and a danger to yourself and others,” Rainbow shot back. “Being a good or bad flier had nothing to do with it.”
“Sure it didn’t,” Lightning sneered, her voice dripping with venom as she turned to watch number seven take off. “He’s not bad Rainbow, I think he’s already better than you.”
“Yeah right,” Rainbow smirked, puffing her chest out. “Nopony’s better than me, and I’ve got something special planned for this time."
“Well, it had better be good, because I’ve been working on something that will blow your teeny-weeny little mind Dash,” Lightning Dust bragged, adopting a similar position to Rainbow, “Pretty soon, nopony’s going to think you're anything special after all, and I’ll be in the Wonderbolts. You know, that team that you’ve wanted to join for your whole life?”
“Of course you are,” Rainbow smirked. “So, what weather are you going to create and then lose control of today? A cyclone? A hurricane? Maybe even another tornado, you know what they say about and old dog and new tricks.”
“Sure, whatever Rainbow,” Lightning shrugged dismissively. “Just stay right there, just like that. It will make my victory even better when I wipe that cocky grin off your face.”
Rainbow let out a snort of annoyance, before watching number eight take off, paying careful attention to his routine. It was good, and even included a version of Rainbows own buccaneer blaze which invited a cheer from the crowd, and the stallion clearly had quite a bit of skill to his name, but overall the performance was average at best. Rainbow smiled to herself, knowing that she could top that. These weren’t tryouts for any old team, and ‘just average’ or ‘okay’ weren’t going to cut it.
The pony landed, softly cursing as he strode off the field, allowing the commentator to once again announce the lineup.
“Once again, that was Pinpoint fillies and Gentlecolts. Next up, we have one of the favorites to win the competition, please welcome, Ms. Lightning Dust!”
The crowd roared in appreciation as Lightning stepped forward, their hoof stamps turning into a thunderous roar as it seemed the entire ground was shaking beneath their hooves.
“You ready to fail Rainbow?” Lightning asked, looking back at Rainbow and grinning wickedly.
“Just get on with it,” Rainbow scowled, before being buffeted by a heavy gust of wind as Lightning took to the skies.
Lightning instantly launched into her routine, spinning, flipping, diving, and all together showing why she was indeed one of the favorites to win, but it was nothing to blow your mind and instantly secure victory. Rainbow grinned, knowing that no matter how good a routine was, you always needed some sort of wow-factor to make sure that the judges and the audience remembered you more than anypony else. Rainbow knew just the thing to catch pony’s eyes, and she was the only one to be able to do it.
Then, Lightning began to climb, beating her wings furiously as she rose higher and higher into the sky, before finally stopping and surveying the crowd beneath her. Rainbow could just make out her mouth moving at this distance, but she was far too far away to actually hear what Lightning said, before the turquoise pony began to dive.
She continued to accelerate, picking up speed until a Mach cone formed around her outstretched hooves, and Rainbows jaw dropped as she realised what Lightning was about to do. Seconds later a huge boom was heard throughout the Stadium, rattling the teeth in Rainbows head as Lightning sped past, trailing a single bolt of lightning behind her as she completed a lap of the stadium, coming to an abrupt halt in front of the judges.
For what felt like an eternity, nopony made a sound, not even to breath as they all watched in awe as lightning crackled around Lightning Dust after her display. Then, a single cheer was heard, followed by another, and another, until the entire stadium was screaming at the top of their lungs, stamping their hooves and roaring in amazement at the stunt.
Rainbow on the other hoof was still silent, staring at Lightning in disbelief as the cocky Pegasus turned towards her and sneered, before making her way towards the other ponies who had tried out, all of whom looked crestfallen as they realised that they had just be royally outshined.
To Rainbow though, it wasn’t even the fact that it would be a hard act to follow that had shocked her, it was the fact that somepony else could pull off the Sonic Rainboom, her trademark move. Nopony had been able to do it in generations until she had come along, the stunt being relegated to the status of myth, and yet here was Lightning, pulling the trick off first.
Slowly, the crowd’s roars began to die down, before the commentators voice once again echoed around the stadium.
“That was incredible! Fillies and Gentlecolts I don’t know about you but I am shocked. Rainbow Dash has got her work cut out for her matching the pony who stole her signature move, but let’s not wait any longer to find out what she has planned. Introducing number ten, the Element of Loyalty, Rainbow Dash!”
Rainbow gulped, before taking off and launching into the preliminary parts of her routine, weaving in and out of the stadiums towers as she pulled off every trick she could, from the Buccaneer Blaze to the Super-Speed Strut, and even Fantastic Filly Flash, but nothing she did could get the same amount of attention as Lightning had got. Taking a deep breath, Rainbow forced herself to go higher, preparing for her final trick. It would all come down to this one last stunt, the Double Rainboom.
Just as Lightning had done moments before, Rainbow began her dive, the explosion of colours heralding her Sonic Rainboom as she whizzed around the stadium. However, unlike Lightning, this wasn’t the end of her trick, and she quickly made a sharp ninety degree turn, speeding upwards, before flipping over and heading back towards the ground.
Rainbow began to move faster than she had ever gone before, her frantically beating wings combined with the effects of gravity and the speed boost from the first Rainboom propelling her through the air. Once again, a Mach cone began to form ahead of her, and she could feel an odd tingling sensation working its ways up her body, starting at her rear hooves, but slowly spreading out until only her head was free of the feeling.
Letting out a roar, Rainbow pushed herself harder, the tingling covering her face and momentarily blinding her in a spectrum of colourful light, before she heard an almighty boom echoing all around her.
To Rainbow, it was impressive, but to the crowd, it was something else entirely. A huge explosion of colours washed out over the stadium, billowing up into the air as they spread around the globe, parting clouds as it pushed past them. Even the Griffon Kingdoms were affected, as the light washed over their skyline, before fading away, leaving a bright blue sky behind. A split second later, the sound wave hit the world, louder than any stunt had the right to be.
Slowly, the lights and sounds faded as the crowd erupted into cheers once more, stomping their hooves as they scanned the skies for Rainbow Dash, but finding no sign of her. It was not difficult to work out where she was supposed to be, the rainbow trail she had left was still shining brightly, before abruptly ending at the point where Rainbow had completed the double Rainboom.
There was nothing, no clues as to where she had gone, no trail to follow, and the unicorns who had been closely monitoring the competition for signs of cheating could find no trace of her in the arcane Ley-lines of the planet.
Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty and the first pony in history to pull off a Double Rainboom, had vanished.
***
Two Years.
***
The mood in the Wonderbolts stadium was as dark as the weather, the black clouds mimicking the feelings of that day. Today was the second anniversary of that fateful day where Rainbow Dash had attempted the impossible and pulled it off. The disappearance of Loyalty was a hard felt blow around the world, even reaching the hearts of Griffons and Minotaur’s who had known her.
But for five ponies, the loss was especially great, one that had left a gaping hole in their heart that nothing except for their lost friend could ever hope to fill properly. They were all sitting in one of the central boxes at the stadium, the best seats in the house to watch the second memorial service. Last years had been impressive, but after the search had ended, they had barely had time to plan something on the scale that Rainbow deserved. This year however, things were different, and the Wonderbolts had been training hard for just this moment.
With a silent signal, the Wonderbolts began their show, each of their kits bearing a single multi-coloured stripe down the middle to mark the occasion. The show was predictably amazing, but it was the finale sequence that was the real memorial.
Lining up, the team shot downwards, their Mach cones forming in perfect unison, before each one erupted into a Rainboom, trailing lightning, smoke and fire behind the ponies who caused them as they split off from their line, beginning to paint a picture in the sky.
The forming picture was not the only thing of note however, as a bright blue light suddenly burst into life on the field, causing some of the ponies in the audience to cover their eyes as they looked away from it. Then, as abruptly as it had appeared, the light vanished, leaving a lone figure in its place.
The pony, a mare by her build, was garbed in some sort of full body armour, covering her from head to hoof, the armour looking far advanced and sleeker than anything the royal guard used. Just as the Wonderbolts completed their picture, the Pegasus reached up to the helmet she wore on her head, ripping it off and dropping it to the floor to reveal a Cyan coat, a pair of beautiful Magenta eyes, a short Rainbow coloured mane, and the biggest smile anypony had ever seen.
As the Wonderbolts split off to form Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark in the air, Rainbow Dash herself stared into the sky, tears filling her eyes as she laughed, before she fell to the ground and lay still.
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wouldn't the comma go after the and?
otherwise, dark gods approve!
does anyone find this ironic?
looking good so far...
Have you ever flown so fast that you broke into the webway?
This is awesome! Really well written and I really like where this is going!
I love this its amazing can't wait to read more
Hmm... a bit quick and lacking in some detail, but overall a fair start for a prologue.
Good start, just a little detail towards the end...
MAN DOWN! Get a damn medic, sure as hell something crazy as shit happened.
4610729 Medics on the way! eta: 30 seconds!
Nice on dude
The amusing thing is that the Eldar hold aliens in greater contempt than the Imperium's hatred of xenos. They would rather kill Rainbow Dash and laugh about how such a lesser being dared hope they'd help her. Seriously, at least the Imperium canonically spares species that repent for attacking them and for their crimes during the Long Night and makes them into protectorates and makes peaceful species into protectorates. The Eldar, the Craftworld Eldar, just kill everything. It is sometimes funny that the Craftworld Eldar complain that the humans don't differentiate between Craftworld Eldar and Dark Eldar. Really, if you look at their canon actions, you'll see that the only difference between them is that the Dark Eldar take prisoners.
For five mare watching in the audience however
“Nopony’s better than me, and I’ve got something special planned for this time.
nopony’s going to think your anything special
too far away to actually here what Lightning said
in the arcane Leigh lines of the planet
that had left a gaping hole n their heart
1. Mares
2. Forgot your closing quotation mark.
3. You're
4. Hear.
5. Huh... I've seen different spelling for Ley/Lay lines but this is different. Intended?
6. In.
You've gotten my attention!
HOLY SHIT LIKE THIS STAY UP ALL NIGHT READING IF I MUST. WILL SKIP SCHOOL
You had my curiosity.
But now you have my attention.
What is this a crossover with?
8903091
Warhammer 40,000
Damn it Tzeentch.
Please don't tell me Tzeentch has actual influence in Equestria, that would be terrifying.
I'm just saying this because the way she's acting reminds me of someone who is involved in a T-scheme.
Goddamn it Lightning! All you are is a pawn now!
Hopefully she finds and kills Lightning. Since she has been in the home universe of the Changer of Ways, she should know a few things. And if she was paying any attention at all to Lightnings behavior, the nine, and the sudden increase in skill, she should realise what happened.
And Tzeentch's influence does not belong anywhere near Equestria.
What are y'all on about that Lighting is affected by Tzeench? He's just a common braggart with some skills to show for it. If we would have Dark gods in Equestria, things would be fucked up so fast, one tseench cultist would be a small problem compared.