Concepts & Creations – TvE: On Sunburned Wings · 1:31am Feb 17th, 2020
Time once more for the TvE continuation series that likely won't see the light of day. As a reminder, these blogs are going to contain spoilers for the not-yet-written end of Order of Shadows, and I won't be spoilertexting or providing any warnings beyond this, so read at your own peril.
As I'm sure you've gathered by the art, this one is centered around Rainbow Dash. Of course, some background is required. In the TvE timeline, Rainbow was in a close relationship with Lightning Dust. Indeed, this was a pivotal element of the story of Lightning's young cousin, Gulfstream Dust. Rainbow and Lightning would eventually have a falling out that was entirely Rainbow's fault. Later, the two pegasi become competitors in a tournament arranged by Celestia in which the winner gets immediately named a Wonderbolt, skipping all the application and training process. They both got to the final round, a one-on-one duel, which was supposed to be non-lethal. Instead, Rainbow Dash was severely wounded and Lightning killed. Rainbow has spent her life since then in a state of guilt, devoting her every waking moment to making amends for the death of her former romantic partner and being the most loyal being possible.
In the final conflict of TvE, Rainbow was surprised to find herself in another one-on-one duel, this time against Lightning's vengeance-fueled cousin Gulfstream. Despite Gulfstream being merely a teenager, Rainbow lost the fight. Gulfstream spared her life, disappearing shortly afterwards.
Our story begins a year after that battle. Rainbow, still overburdened with guilt and a deep desire to redeem herself, concludes that the only way to recover is to find Gulfstream and try to make amends. Problem is, Gulfstream is still an Archon, and his location is wholly unknown. How is she to find him? For this, she goes to visit Vinyl Scratch, retired Archon, famous DJ, and sister-figure of the newly crowned Princess Lulamoon. Vinyl, sympathetic to the scenario, in turn arranges for Rainbow to meet Gulfstream's own adopted mother-figure Fleur de Lis, the current leader of the Archons.
Fleur is wary of Rainbow's plans, not sure that Gulfstream will appreciate seeing the pony he hates more than anything in the world. But Rainbow is insistent and Fleur feels this might be good for Gulfie too, so she gives Rainbow a list. It contains the names of a dozen creatures from all across the world who were fiercely loyal to the corrupt version of Celestia and who are actively working to maintain the world order she set up. Gulfstream is off on a mission to find and assassinate these creatures so as to facilitate the ongoing healing of the world. With the list in hoof and a special gem array that lets Rainbow communicate with Fleur when she needs assistance, Rainbow embarks on a journey beyond Equestria to find and, hopefully, earn the forgiveness of Lightning's cousin.
Like The Many Lives of Pinkie Pie, this story's primary objective was worldbuilding, allowing us to view different regions and seeing how they've developed under the shadow of an evil Celestia's Equestria. I intended for Rainbow to visit all sorts of foreign locations, including the Badlands of the changelings and the islands of the caribou, both extinct, Grypha, the Crystal Empire, and so on. With each place visited Rainbow would learn both about local culture and, more important to her personal quest, the aftermath of Gulfstream's mission. All along she would struggle to catch up with the pegasus, with constant evidence of her gaining ground. Along the way, she'd begin to develop her own reputation and legend as she helps those she encounters and acts as an unintentional envoy for the new Equestria under a benevolent Celestia, Luna, and Trixie. Rainbow would meet Gulfstream once or twice during this journey, but each time he would reject her attempts at making peace with him. With every encounter, he would grow gradually more upset with her, her very presence reminding him of all he lost thanks to her actions.
Although certain details are unclear, a few things are absolutes regarding the ending. Gulfstream has always walked a tightrope of rage and potential madness even before Lightning was killed, a symptom of the unstable mental state he's possessed from birth. His natural anger – the keystone of his entire personality – coupled with his hatred for Rainbow and her obsessive efforts to earn his forgiveness will drive him to a renewed, revenge-fueled madness. With this in mind, he will ultimately lure Rainbow to the former Qilin airship the Perilous, now the Wonderbolts headquarters. There he finally succumbs to his madness and tries to kill Rainbow, resulting in a final battle between them so epic it downs the battleship. Despite Rainbow's best efforts to salvage the situation, the duel will end with Gulfstream killed.
Yet the story concludes with Rainbow Dash having grown from her journey, going from a wreck of guilt and self-loathing to a proud mare aware of her failures and ready to rise above them. She comes to realize that, while she may debatably be responsible for what happened to Lightning all those years ago, Gulfstream's fate is not and never was her responsibility. She returns to Ponyville a new mare, with a new lease on life and far greater maturity than when she left.
There are a lot of details missing from this idea, things I never fleshed out. The primary goal was to have this story be Rainbow's development into a proper bearer of the Element of Loyalty. Her story would have been one of the biggest, as of all the Mane 6 none were as far away from her proper place as an Element Bearer as she. Lots of development would have been required.
So that's the second story in TvE's continuation series, which would have been concurrent with Pinkie's story. Tune in next week for whoever is next. Honestly, I'm not sure who that will be.
Okay, this one sounds like it would have been great. But as authors, we all have to pick our ideas carefully, as each can wind up a big commitment.
Oh, this sounds awesome