//------------------------------// // Race 9 // Story: My name is Barry Allen and I'm the fastest pegasus alive // by Kaliann25 //------------------------------// Race 9: The little mishaps with being a speedster 0400, Wonderbolts HQ: A distinct funeral pall filled the ready room as Spit Fire looked around.  Bleary-eyed Wonderbolts in duty uniforms filled every seat, except for one in the center of the front row.  A neatly-folded uniform lay on that seat. Standing behind the podium, she shouted, "Attention!"  The background chatter evaporated.  She continued.  "I know why you're all here.  I know how you all feel.  One of our own is in the hospital, fighting for her life, and there's nothing we can do to help."  She rubbed the bridge of her muzzle before continuing.  "Regardless, we are professionals, and professionals have to get the job done, no matter what.  We have a show in Whinneypeg in two days, and we need to be ready.  Are you with me?" Silence. "I said, 'Are you with me?'" A half-hearted, "boo-rah" came in response. "Come on!  I know Dash would want us to . . ." A muffled explosion interrupted the captain.  She froze for a split-second.  She then yelled, "Wonderbolts!  Scramble!"  The room emptied with due haste. 0400, Wonderbolts Practice Field: Rainbow Dash waited by the starting blocks on the runway as the Flash drank in the surroundings.  The scarlet speedster said, "Back home, we can barely touch clouds, let alone stand on them." Rainbow Dash replied, "Well, I gave you the quick tour of the outside.  Do you think this will work?" The Flash smiled.  "The real question is, 'Are you ready?'" "I was born ready!" replied Dash as she enthusiastically stretched her wings before settling into a starting position.  "Show me what you got, Flash!" The Flash grinned before streaking to a small harpoon cannon.  This was a training aid for fast starts.  Normally, the challenge was to chase the projectile and catch it before it returned to ground level; the higher the recovery point, the better the speed.  This time, however, the Flash loaded it with its maximum charge. The sound of the explosion was Rainbow Dash's cue.  She rocketed in the air, flying parallel to the expected trajectory.  Multi-colored lightning bolts coursed around her body before she even left the ground.  The Flash smiled as his red streak joined her blue. They flew beyond the 500 meters of the tether's range before turning back.  The harpoon had barely left the barrel when they returned to the cannon and relaunched.  Fifteen laps later, the harpoon reached the end of its rope.  Gleefully, Rainbow Dash flew up and caught it before it started to fall. A sea of blue-uniformed bodies looked up in amazement.  "Rainbow Dash?  For real?" gasped Soarin. Fleet Foot exclaimed, "Yipe!" as she spat out one of her feathers.  "Well, I'm not dreaming." “No, no, no, no!” said Spit Fire.  “This isn’t happening!  She can’t be Rainbow Dash!” The Wonderbolts stood in amazement as the watched their formerly missing comrade touch down.  Spit Fire snarled when she saw the red-clad pegasus with golden hooves.  This was the cause of all of Rainbow Dash's problems! Unaware of the arrival of the others, the two reviewed their lesson.  “I can see you’re used to great speeds,” laughed Flash.  “You know?  Before I was hit by the lighting, I was always late.” “Well, I was a top athlete!  Still, I can’t believe I was proud of what I used to think was fast flying.  Now I feel like I have no limits.”  Rainbow smiled proudly, but suddenly, she had an idea.  “Say Barry, what do you think that would happen if I try to make a Sonic Rainboom at this new speed?” “I wouldn’t do it if I were you,” said Flash frowning.  “The Speed Force protects us from a lot of thing.  You'd have to turn off its shielding to do that, and we have no idea what would happen to you then.  It’s extremely dangerous, Rainbow Dash; as you could see in my memories, you have to learn your limits; respect them before trying to surpass them.” “I agree!” said Spit Fire, joining to the conversation.  “Now, care to explain what in Tartarus is going on?  First, Cadet Dash is in a coma, and now she’s here completely fine, and moving like this!”  The captain then turned to the Flash.  “And you!  All this started because of you!” Rainbow Dash then stood between Flash and Spit Fire.  “Take it easy Spit Fire!  It was all a misunderstanding!” explained the new speedster.  “I didn't know it then, but he's a really cool guy!  He came all the way out here just to teach me.” “Yeah, I never intended to hurt Rainbow or something, I promise. And when I finish training her, I can go back where I came from, and become the fastest man alive again.” He offered a hoof to Spit Fire, “I’m the Flash by the way” Spit Fire gave a small nod and accepted the hoof. “Spit Fire” The Flash smiled and turned to his student. “That’s all for today Rainbow, if you excuse me, I’ll have to go back to my day job.  See you tomorrow!” Before Rainbow Dash could say anything, he disappeared in a red and golden streak. “So, it wasn’t a trick after all,” mumbled Spit Fire.  She looked up at Rainbow Dash and asked, “But, how did you get that power as well, Dash?” The pegasus smiled proudly.  “Oh, you wouldn’t believe it, but instead of killing me, the lighting I received actually connected me with a cosmic power known as the Speed Force.  Now, I can move faster than ever!” “I can see that, but this is not normal! You can hurt yourself or worse!” Dash sighed with patience, but she didn’t want to have this conversation all over again.  “I’m fine, Spit Fire!  Princess Luna and Princess Celestia even took the time to evaluate me, and they say I’m okay.  If anything, I'm now twenty percent cooler!” “I see . . .” Once the other Wonderbolts crowded around, Rainbow Dash recapped her story.  Her mentor, the Flash, had gained his powers in an accident similar to hers.  He volunteered to mentor her after learning of her plight. When she finished, the other Wonderbolts looked at her in astonishment.  Spit Fire nodded.  "It looks like you're okay now.  Tell me, Dash, are you ready to fly with us again?” “But, wasn’t I suspended?” “Yeah, but I’m relieved that you survived, so . . .” Before Spit Fire could finish, Rainbow Dash disappeared in a multi-colored streak, only to return half a minute after, dressed in her Wonderbolts flight suit. “Ready!” Everypony gasped at this, but at the captain’s sign, they muttered and prepared for practice. “Wonderbolts!  Take your positions!” commanded Spit Fire. The Wonderbolts lined up for a synchronized takeoff.  Spit Fire called out, "Arrowhead Loop to Delta Burst!  Go!" The Wonderbolts were like a well-oiled machine, moving as one . . . except for a cyan blur that moved too fast for anyone to perceive her moves. “DASH!” shouted Fleet Foot. Rainbow stopped.  “What happened?” she asked, but then realized that she was three kilometers away from her team, who were now looking at her. As Rainbow Dash rejoined the group, Spit Fire shouted, “Concentrate, Dash!” “Sorry, sorry,” said Rainbow Dash as she returned to her position within the team.  “But at least the maneuver was perfectly executed.” “It doesn’t count if no one can see what you’re doing,” protested Soarin. “Whatever, let’s start over again.” With an exasperated groan, the Wonderbolts returned to the initial position. Spit Fire called, “Ready?  Go!” Rainbow was being as careful as she could, trying to slow down and execute the moves perfectly, something really easy for her now that she had enhanced senses.  But when she landed, the speedster noticed that the rest of the Wonderbolts were still halfway through the first move. “This is going to be a problem, right?” asked Soarin. “Think so?” asked Fleet Foot.  “Dash!  What do you think you’re doing?” “I swear I tried to slow down as much as possible!” apologized Dash. “We know; we saw you,” sighed Spit Fire.  “Okay guys, let’s do it all over again.  Hopefully, the third will be the charm!” One more time, they groaned in annoyance, but returned to their positions.  This time, everypony was looking at Dash carefully as she prepared.  She had a small grin on her face, and her body generated multi-colored lightning bolts.  They all prepared to go.  Spit Fire took her position downfield.  On her signal, the cannon fired. Dash launched herself through the field.  The others were about to follow her, but at Spit Fire’s indication, they stopped and watched the cyan pegasus to fly all over.  It was like the first time; all they could see was a cyan blur moving at great speed, and landing at the other side. Then Dash turned.  “Hey?” she asked, joining the rest of the team. “What happened?  Where were you guys?” “The good news is you set a new record.  The chronometer couldn’t even mark your time,” said Soarin as he showed her the little stopwatch. “But the bad news is that, Dash, you are a speed demon, now more than ever.  Not even we can keep up with you,” explained Fleet Foot. Rainbow Dash screamed in frustration.  "We're a team!  I have to do this!" “Dash, I said you’re not suspended anymore,” said Spit Fire placing a hoof on Dash’s withers.  “And I'll make sure there's a place for you on the team -- after you get your powers under control.  Until then, we can't practice with you; no normal pegasus can.” Dash sighed. “I guess I should have seen that coming.  That’s fine, I guess.  I promise I’ll get things under control; I won't leave you hanging.” Spit Fire nodded, and Dash sighed again.  She remembered that, back when she was looking into Barry’s memories, she saw how much he struggled to rein in his abilities on the daily basis, and how long it took before he could consistently move at normal speed. “But, hey, you can still practice here with your new teacher when nopony’s using the field.” “I guess that would help,” said Dash, shrugging.  “I am sorry for worrying you . . . and don’t worry, soon enough I’ll be ready to work with the team.  I’ll ask my teacher first thing!” Then, she disappeared into another demonstration of pure speed. “Seriously, what in Equestria?” asked Soarin when she left. “Do I look like I know?” answered the captain.  “Let’s just go to practice, and hope that Dash can take her place again.” Floating above Ponyville, Dash entered her home.  After setting aside a portion for her tortoise, Tank, she proceeded to empty her refrigerator.  She frowned.  She had eaten what was supposed to be a week's worth of food, but she was still hungry.  Barry had warned her that her metabolism was now so fast that she'd have to eat at least ten times as much as normal just to keep up. She groaned.  "It'll be hours before the market opens.  Come on, Dash, it's only time; you can handle it." Patiently, she lounged on a cloud sofa.  She played with her paddle ball.  She went through all of her junk mail.  She read all the back issues of the "Foal Free Press".  Looking up at the clock, she saw that all of five seconds had elapsed.  "I really wish I could make time go faster.  I wonder why Barry insists on keeping his day job." Since sharing his memories, Barry had received offers from everyone present to stay with them.  All three of the princesses had offered room in their castles.  He insisted on staying with Blue Blood.  Rainbow Dash still couldn't understand why Barry had refused her offer.  She said, "I really wish he were here so we could talk." Looking again at the clock, Rainbow Dash sighed.  "I guess it's just me and Daring Do until the market opens." Rainbow Dash took her time reliving the first adventure of her heroine.  Greedily, she drank in every detail and savored every nuance.  With each page, her mood improved.  She laughed aloud at the comedy, and she gasped at the suspense.  She smiled broadly when she finally closed the back cover.  Looking again at the clock, she saw that only five minutes had elapsed. “Oh, come on!” Rainbow Dash took the next volume.  This time, she deliberately slowed her pace, reading aloud, and acting out all the parts.  She even took time to make poses and change her voice to match the character.  As she said the last word, she closed the book and again consulted the clock.  The second volume had been twice as long as the first, but only one minute had elapsed. “Super-fast reading!  This is just what I need!” groaned the cyan mare. After finishing the third book, this time in a minute and a half, she decided to go to raid Twilight's library.  With a little luck, the egghead would be awake already. Rainbow stretched her wings, and she flew to her friend’s home in half of a heartbeat. “Twilight!  Spike!  Starlight!  Are you awake?” asked Rainbow Dash as she banged at the door to the residence area. Spike opened the door happily.  “Hi, Rainbow Dash, we were about have breakfast.  Wanna join us?” Rainbow’s stomach growled.  “Sure! I’m starving!” Twilight was making coffee while Starlight was setting the table, and both of them smiled at their friend. “Good morning Rainbow Dash!  What are you doing here so early?” Dash sighed.  “Let’s just say I this super-speed thing takes a lot of getting used to.  I want to speak with Barry about it, but, you know, he’s currently working for Blue Blood.  So, I decided to kill a bit of time by reading my Daring Do collection, and, well, I finished the first trilogy in less than ten minutes.” “You what?” asked Twilight. “Are you telling us, that you don't just fly fast, but you read fast as well?” asked Starlight. “It's not just fast; it's super-fast.  I can’t help it; I start doing things normally, and before I know it, I’m doing everything at super speed.  Just watch!” Rainbow disappeared in a blur, going into the library, and returned with a series of mystery novels.  Then, she began to read. And if the three residents of the Palace hadn't witnessed Rainbow’s eyes moving left to right at insane speed, and felt the wind caused by the movement of the pages, they would have sworn that she wasn’t actually reading. “The butler did it,” announced Rainbow Dash, finishing the first one.  Then she took another one, and read it as well.  “The phantom was just a cover-up for an opium operation.”  Then she took a third one, and read it at great speed, too. “This one, the victim’s step-brother poisoned him!” And she was about to take a fourth book, but Twilight stopped her. “We get it, you can read fast.  Unbelievable.  I never thought that the power of going fast could be this fascinating!” said Twilight excitedly.  “Do you think you can help me with some experiments, Dash?” “Do not bore her already, Twilight,” complained Spike.  “Still, I guess you can wait for Barry here with us.  Twilight invited him for lunch, right?” Rainbow nodded.  “I know.  It's not like I have a choice.  Still, I guess I can go to the market, and then hang out with Rarity” “Why Rarity?” asked Starlight” Rainbow Dash smiled, remembering the night she met the Speed Force in her dreams, the day before her accident. “Because I want her to make me my own superhero suit.  If she could make the Mare-Do-Well uniforms, then she surely can make me a suit for me.” They all nodded, but Starlight seemed still somehow skeptical.  “Well, that’s kind of pointless, Rainbow. We usually don’t wear any clothes, and the entire town knows you can move at super speed.  Why do you need a costume?” Rainbow Dash blushed. “Come on, Rainbow, you can tell us” smiled Twilight. Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I don’t know; it's just that I want to show Flash, I mean Barry, that I really appreciate him.  Especially since I was so awful to him, when all he wanted was to regain his faith in others.” “Aw,” cooed Starlight and Twilight. “Yeah, whatever” sighed Dash. “Can we eat? I’m starving!” They broke their fast without another word.  As they ate, Rainbow Dash considered what to do to kill time until her teacher came.  She could fly wherever she wanted, but that would entertain her for how long?  A few minutes? “You know?  I’m wondering how fast a human has to run to switch dimensions,” observed Starlight.  “It doesn’t make any sense; there has to more to it than just speed.” “Nothing about Flash makes sense,” said Twilight.  “But, also, the most interesting part of his story was that thing about Earths Two and Three.  All that multiverse stuff has always been really interesting to me.” Spike nodded. “Like that time when Starlight . . .” The pink unicorn groaned. “Can you stop reminding me about that?” Spike apologized.  “I’m sorry.  What I meant was that during that time, we learned that with a minor change in the past, the future could become completely different.  Remember?  Each time Starlight altered the past, an alternate Equestria cropped up.” Twilight nodded.  “Yeah, you’re right Spike!  That experience allowed us to visit what we could call Equestrias Two, Three, Four . . .” Rainbow interrupted Twilight's count.  “Hey, do you think I could turn into a true speedster in any of those Equestrias?” “Who knows?  Between infinite probabilities, anything could happen.”  Twilight smiled. “Yeah, that would be interesting,” admitted Starlight. Equestria 4, Nightmare’s Moon Realm: Nightmare Moon, the absolute Queen of the Night, was sitting in her throne room, contemplating her moon with malice.  She could feel her sister’s feeble attempts to escape, as she did so many years ago.  She laughed; the tables had turned and she had enjoyed every second of it.  Gone was every trace of the sun; torchlight played on the obsidian walls of the room; all the furnishings were in shades of black. “There’s nothing better than being the Queen!” laughed the dark alicorn.  “Now, where are my midnight snacks?” Nightmare’s butler, Rarity, approached holding with a tray with her magic. “Your cucumber sandwiches, your Highness, just as you like them.” “Perfect.” Nightmare Moon smiled, with fangs glinting in the moonlight.  “You are dismissed now” Rarity bowed and was about to leave when both mares heard a strange sound coming from the hallways.  A small chill on her spine made Nightmare to stand, her instincts warned of impending danger.  “What?” The doors of the throne room burst open, and the corpse of one of her most loyal guards was thrown to the Queen’s hooves.  Rarity shrieked and went into hiding as Nightmare screamed in anger, “WHO DARES?” Then, she looked into the hallway, where the corpses of her honor guard lay, with the same serious expressions on their faces, as though they hadn't realized that they were dead. “SHOW YOURSELF!” shouted Nightmare Moon. Nopony answered, but she did feel cold wind coming from her back.  She then turned, to see who did this.  It was nothing but a blur, a cyan blur, surrounded by multi-colored lightning bolts. “What?” asked Nightmare. The blur then took the form of a pegasus mare, a muscular mare with cyan fur, rainbow-colored mane, mohawk style. “Hi there my queen!  We haven’t see each other since you, I don’t know, tried to kill me?” Nightmare Moon gasped; it was true.  Not so long ago, this mare was one of her soldiers, a rebellious soldier who always talked back to her, who continuously complained of how awful her reign was, and how wonderful were things back when Celestia ruled.  In the end Nightmare had enough of the soldier, and decided to dismiss her from her duties.  So, she simply terminated her by shooting a powerful lightning bolt that sent her crashing into a chemical storeroom deep in the dungeon.  Strangely enough, the soldier was still alive when Nightmare left her, but she just left her to die in that room. “How is this possible?  How is that you’re still alive?” asked Nightmare Moon. Rainbow Dash, the soldier, laughed hysterically, generating some sort of multi-colored lightning bolts from her body.  “To be honest, I have no idea.  But, hey, I came to thank you for throwing that lighting at me.  It changed my life, my queen.” A new regiment of guards charged at Rainbow Dash, surrounding her.  The pegasus just took a look around, and continued with her hysterical laughing.  The soldiers frowned at this, they didn’t want to hurt one of their own, but they had to obey their queen.  So, a dozen of unicorns shot magic beams at Rainbow, who simply yawned and disappeared in a streak. Then she reappeared right in front of the regiment leader, and placed her forehooves on his withers. Less than a heartbeat later, while her supporters looked on, aghast, Nightmare Moon laughed.  The queen said, "Finally!  Somepony who appreciates the finer things.  A pity this night is your last." “Anypony else?” asked the pegasus with a sadistic smile, taking a step toward the crowd. The soldiers moved backwards in fear, making Rainbow grin.  Rainbow said, "It looks like it's just you and me, queen." Nightmare Moon shrugged and fired a magic blast faster than the eye could see.  Rainbow Dash barely ducked out the way.  The guard behind her crumpled to the ground in charcoal chunks.  Rainbow Dash casually moved to another position.  "Think you can do better than . . ."  The queen interrupted with an even more powerful blast.  Again, it came tantalizingly close; again, another ally fell.  Rainbow Dash quipped, "With a friend like this, who needs enemies?" This time, Nightmare Moon launched a spell that was as bright as a small sun.  Rainbow Dash again dodged, but this time, after striking another soldier, the spell doubled back and homed in on the pegasus, gaining speed.  The queen launched another copy of the spell.  Now, there were two in hot pursuit of the pegasus.  Nightmare Moon launched copy after copy, watching as each spell grew faster.  Finally, they all joined in one huge ball and screamed at nearly the speed of light as the pegasus stood in the middle of the room, transfixed, and panting. Nightmare Moon smiled.  There was no escape.  Suddenly, the Rainbow Dash vanished in a rainbow-hued blur.  The combined spell was going too fast to change direction in the confined space.  There was rather little left after it met its maker. Rainbow Dash contemptuously kicked at the remains of the former queen.  She then addressed the survivors.  “Attention everypony!” shouted Dash.  “This Kingdom is under new administration.  Those in favor, bow to your Speed Queen.  Those against it, well, let’s just say speak now, and then forever hold your peace!”  She glanced at the fallen queen.  "Or, maybe that should be 'pieces'." Everypony in the room, including the terrified Rarity, bowed to her.  Everypony except half a dozen soldiers, who stood defiantly. “As you wish” said Dash shrugging. She streaked toward them, and a few moments later, they were all lying on the floor with their necks broken. “Anypony else who feels brave?” asked Dash.  This time, nopony dared to defy the new Queen. “Good!” Then, the speedster noticed Rarity cowering behind the throne.  “Oh, my childhood friend!  Why are you so afraid?  As far as I remember, you were as much against this Nightmare’s rule as me!” “Please don’t hurt me Rainbow Dash!” was all that the unicorn mare was able to say. “That was never my intention.  I know you well, Rarity; since we were little, you liked to make your own designs for dresses and such, right?” Rarity nodded. “Good!” approved Rainbow.  “Then go and design me a new uniform!  Something that fits my newfound powers and tells everypony, that I am the fastest in the world!  That I am the new Queen of Speed!” Rarity nodded again, but still shaking, she asked, “What happened to you, Rainbow Dash?” The pegasus smiled.  “As I told the former Queen, I have no idea.  She threw me a lightning bolt, and left me for dead.  That gave me these powers . . . and I am forever thankful for that.  However, the old Dash was weak and pathetic, with her stupid head full of dreams.  No, I don’t have anything to do with the Dash I used to be anymore.  From now on, I’m the Reverse!”