Chapter 1
A/N: I’d like to thank Sebastian, Neko, and Thyrai for their help in editing and proofreading. Id also like to give a special thanks to Sebastian, without his help this fic would have never made it out of my notebook. I don’t own My Little Pony, or any Characters. Please enjoy.
She was happier then she remembered being in a long time. Flying through the cool night air, doing flips and barrel rolls as she went, she glanced behind her to see her friend following her. As they continued on their way, they noticed a storm blowing in over the Everfree Forest. Next thing she knew, she was fighting her hardest to keep herself afloat in the driving rain and near hurricane force winds. She glanced behind her and realizes the other pony that had been following her was no longer there. She began to frantically search for any trace of her when….
Rainbow awoke with a start. Drenched in sweat, tears running down her cheeks.
“Come on Rainbow, pull yourself together.” She said wiping the tears from her eyes. “What would Soarin’ and Spitfire think if they saw you crying like this.”
Rainbow had been having the same dream almost every night for the past few months. She would almost always wake up at the same part, searching for her friend in the storm, not knowing what had happened to her.
“Why am I even crying, I don’t know that other pony.”
The truth was that she had never seen the other ponies face. Whenever she would turn to look at her, there was always a shadow over her face, and when they talked she could never hear her voice.
Pushing the thoughts from her head she rolled over in annoyance. “Why did I have to have this… this nightmare tonight of all nights.” She said to herself. “I should be getting all the sleep I can before our big show tomorrow in Canterlot.”
Realizing that she wouldn’t be getting back to sleep anytime soon, Rainbow decided to take a late night flight through the moonlight.
Quietly slipping out of her room and creeping past the rooms of her sleeping team mates, Rainbow slipped outside and flew off into the chilly night sky of Canterlot.
When Rainbow was flying, it felt like all of her worries and fears melted away, to be replaced by the adrenaline rush she loved so much. For as long as she could remember, Rainbow always loved flying. It was the only time lately she was truly happy.
She had it all, thousands of adoring fans, all the bits she could ever need, and she was a Wonderbolt! But in the past few months she’d being feeling… off.
Around the time she started having the nightmares, she began to notice the same mysterious lavender unicorn mare at every single show she flew in. Now recognizing fans wasn’t a strange thing for Rainbow, but this pony was different. When Rainbow wasn’t performing she wasn’t watching the show, the lavender mare was watching her. After realizing this Rainbow had tried to catch her after the show was over, but she seemed to vanish as soon as the crowd started to pour out of the stadium.
Snapping back to reality, Rainbow realized she had been out flying for a while now and decided it best to try and get some sleep before the show.
Landing back at the hotel the Wonderbolts were staying at, Rainbow crept back up the hall and into her own room, lying in bed to try and get a few mores hours sleep before the show. Had she not been so wrapped up in thought, Rainbow may have noticed a worried looking Soarin’ poke his head out of is room as she went by.
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“Fillies and Gentlecolts! I give you…. THE WONDERBOLTS!!!”
The stadium filled with cheers as Rainbow and the rest of the Wonderbolts flew around the stadium, going about their dare-devil stunts with ease.
“Ok, so far so good Dash” Rainbow encouraged herself. “Now it’s your turn to shine, it’s time for the Rainboom!”
Rainbow Dash flew higher and higher, making sure she had enough room to perform the move that had made her famous.
As she flew to the height she needed to safely pull off the Rainboom, Rainbow noticed she was moving a bit slower than usual.
“Come on Rainbow Dash, you’ve done this move plenty of times before.” She said nervously to herself.
“Besides, if I don’t do it, how else will these ponies get there daily dose of Dash” She chuckled to herself.
Gaining her self-confidence, she started the rapid decent. Gaining more and more speed, she rocketed down towards the crowd, who were eagerly awaiting the trick they knew was coming next.
As she picked up speed and felt the Mach-cone forming around her, Rainbow looked with pleasure towards the crowd she knew was focused completely on her. But as she was about to break the sound barrier, her eyes fell upon that same lavender unicorn she had seen so many times before. The distraction, coupled with the fatigue, were enough to through Rainbow Dash slightly off course. As she broke the barrier, giving off the loud BOOM, along with the wave of rainbows and extreme burst of speed that made the Rainboom so incredible, she was launched wildly off into the rest of the Wonderbolts.
The last thing Rainbow saw was the piercing gaze of those purple eyes, and then with a loud and painful crunch, everything went dark.
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When Rainbow Dash awoke, the first thing she was aware of was the constant nagging Beep Beep Beep of her alarm clock. As she reached over to shut it off she felt herself tangled in something. Rainbow opened her eyes to see she was in a room with plain, white walls. After a few moments of looking around, wondering where she was, Rainbow noticed a nurse pony walk into the room.
“Finally awake I see, Miss Dash.” The nurse pony said. “You gave us quiet a scare.”
”Wha... What happened? Last thing I remember... I was in Canterlot… And the Sonic Rainboom, then…”
“You lost control and flew into us.” came a voice from behind the nurse.
The nurse stepped aside to reveal Spitfire. “You crashed right into Soarin’ at full speed, you nearly killed him. HECK! You almost killed yourself.” continued Spitfire
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“I could tell you were tired going into that trick, you didn’t seem to have the same spunk going into it you normally did” She continued.
“When you were going into your decent we could tell something was off, like you were distracted. And then when you finally boomed, it launched you out of control, right into Soarin’.”
“I... I’m sorry…” Rainbow started.
“I’m not the pony you should be apologizing to. Soarin’ is the one who is going to be grounded for a month because of you.”
‘I can’t believe it’ Rainbow thought. ‘Not only did I mess up the Rainboom, but I hurt one of my friends too.’ She looked up at Spitfire and opened her mouth to talk “I…”
“Although it might be for the better,” Spitfire cut her off “with the speed you were going if you didn’t crash into Soarin’ and slow down you would have definitely died”
Spitfire waited a moment for her words to sink in before continuing “Well it looks like I’m going to need to find two more fliers to replace Soarin’ and you.”
“What do you mean two? I’ll be better and ready to perform before our next show” Rainbow attempted to strike one of her usual cocky poses, wincing as her sore muscles protested.
“That’s another thing I wanted to talk to you about. I heard you last night, crying in your sleep.”
Rainbow’s face instantly went red as she looked down at the floor.
“I’ve heard you almost every night for a while now, but I never brought it up. I figured as long as it wasn’t affecting your performance it wasn’t really anything to worry about.” Spitfire looked down, shaking her head.
“I guess this is partially my fault, I knew you were upset about something, but never thought to talk to you about it.”
“It’s fine Spit,” Rainbow grinned smugly, “It would take more than a few bad dreams to shake me.”
“But that’s obviously not the case,” Spitfire sighed “which is why it pains me to say this.”
Spitfire paused for a moment before continuing. “Rainbow Dash, as of now, you are off of the Wonderbolts, until a time as you are able to take care of whatever has been bothering you.”
Rainbow just stared at Spitfire, mouth agape. “WHAT?! You’re kicking me off the team?” Rainbow could feel tears running down her cheeks now.
“Not indefinitely, think of it more as time off, to clear you’re head. You got lucky today, next time you could break a wing, or worse.” With that, Spitfire turned and left the room.
Rainbow wasn’t sure how long she sat there, but it seemed like hours passed by before the full force of everything that happened hit her.
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After a quick check-up the following morning the doctor released Rainbow Dash. “Now remember Rainbow, we may have healed all of your major injuries with magic, but you’re still pretty beat up. You should take it easy for a few weeks still, and get plenty of rest.”
“Yeah… thanks.” Dash mumbled as she walked out of the hospital. The events of the previous night still weighing heavily on her mind.
Once she was out of sight of the hospital Rainbow took to the skies. She knew the doctor told her to take it easy, but she had plenty of thinking to do, and she always did her best thinking while flying.
After what seemed like hours had passed by, Rainbow snapped out of her daze. She took in her surroundings trying to figure out where she was. She couldn’t figure out why, but everything seemed so…. familiar.
Upon noticing the sign sticking out of the ground below her, Rainbow flew down to get a closer look. As soon as she was close enough to read the sign, she realized with dread where she was, Ponyville.
Rainbow Dash hovered there for a moment, ‘Have I really been flying that long, to end up all the way out here?’
Rainbow felt feelings of fear and anxiety creep into her mind, but why did she feel this way? She knew something bad had happened here, but she couldn’t quite put her hoof on it.
Her feelings finally getting the better of her, Rainbow turned to leave Ponyville behind as fast as possible.
But as she turned to leave, Rainbow heard someone call her name. Now normally she would have kept going, but the voice sounded strangely familiar.
She slowly turned, to see an orange Pegasus mare flying straight towards her.