LOYALTY

by Crowne Prince


1 - Which is, more or less, a lie

The world was dark.

Rainbow Dash savored the cool air through her feathers as she slowly opened her wings. Her hooves lifted off the ground. As she folded her legs underneath her, she raised her head and opened her eyes to see the light of the clear day. Unlike the haste she usually felt, this moment was different.

The ground dropped away as Rainbow Dash ascended into the sky. Soon she passed the treetops and could see the vast orchards of Sweet Apple Acres stretching out beneath her. There were the rooftops of Ponyville and farther along, the Everfree Forest.

Rainbow Dash shifted her concentration to the sky and the large cloud before her. Yes. Pick up speed now. She leaned forward and accelerated, wings beating, tail and mane starting to fan out behind her. The cloud engulfed the blue pegasus. For a moment the sky seemed empty.

Rainbow Dash exploded out of the weightless white cloud, tail streaming, wings a blur, Wonderbolt uniform gleaming. The cloud was but a speck on the horizon now, pierced by the bright rainbow the fastest Wonderbolt left in her wake.

She was just getting started.

Rainbow Dash sped straight upward into the sky. The wind cut into her coat and burned. Still she increased her speed, thrusting both forelegs forward. The burning became a raging fire. She tore at the sky until the muscles felt like they would rip apart. Blackness crowded around the edges of her vision. Only then did she let go, snapping her wings flush with the sleek suit.

An immense force crashed around the tips of her hooves as she rocketed through the sound barrier. The freed energy collided with the rainbow trailing behind her and created a massive ringed burst of prismatic fire. Red, yellow, orange, green, blue and purple showered across the sky.

Plummeting at an insane speed now, Rainbow Dash spun and drilled downward, creating lightning flashes of various colors. As soon as the spinning was almost intolerable, the pony straightened out and lanced toward the ground. Hitting it now would mean instant death. At the last treacherous second, Rainbow Dash braked hard with her wings and angled upward back into the sky. Behind her, a living rainbow extended along her flight path.

It was almost impossible to tell who the ponies along the ground were as she rushed past them. She raced through Ponyville and along the road to the mountains. Just ahead… yes, it was another Wonderbolt. Having lost a significant amount of speed, Rainbow Dash picked up the pace now that her muscles were so numb there was no pain. She would be fine for a few more minutes, but that was the limit. She didn’t catch which Wonderbolt it was as she sped past, but there was at least a 50% chance it was some pony who would rise to the challenge.

Sure enough, the tumultuous signature thunderbolt cloud was suddenly sweeping past her. Perfect. Rainbow Dash grinned and pushed herself back to a competitive speed, overtaking her comrade. Unfortunately, that was all she had left. She whooshed through a cloud and landed, just in time for Celestia’s sunset. Her Wonderbolt companion emerged from below a split second later and landed next to her.

It was simply amazing to finally be here, to have friends and flying partners in the Wonderbolts. The secret fear that something would change when she achieved her dreams – the fear that after that, there would be nothing left to strive for, no competitions to win, that ponies would treat her differently – that fear was gone. Gone like the sun as it gave way in brilliant orange to Luna’s moon.

Gone like the Wonderbolt uniform as it faded into nothing. She was alone on the cloud.