Sunlight crept over the horizon, resting itself on the tired eyelids of Rainbow Dash. They fluttered open without protest, meeting a new day with bitter remorse. Well, more than usual.
“Okay... I’m up.” she groaned to herself, her voice echoing through the empty drainage pipe she had hid in. It was cramped, damp, and smelled only slightly better than the city. But it made for a nice way to escape the lingering light from that... atrocity.
She was half in and half out of the pipe, leaving her head and front hooves hanging in the air. Sleeping like that for hours had put a crick in her back, but she didn’t care. As long as she was away from the lights, everything was good.
As she clambered out of the pipe, her hooves struck tall grass. The feeling was only slightly comforting, and only for a moment. For a few fleeting seconds Rainbow could imagine the grass in Ponyville beneath her feet. But in a flash, it was gone, replaced with the stinging realization that she was far, far from home.
“Now just to find out just how far I am.” she sighed. Flapping her wings, she took to the sky with a lot less vigor than usual.
*****
Even though Rainbow was miles from the city, it was clearly visible. Towering up out of the horizon, taunting Rainbow Dash with its complexity and its alien nature. The only thing Rainbow could relate it to were the stories of Manehattan that Applejack had told her about. Except that Applejack had never mentioned homicidal bipedal monsters, or a sea of migraine-inducing lights that never ceased. Or if she had, Rainbow hadn’t paid attention.
The only light shone directly from the sun, casting reflections off of the glass towers in the distance. They were horrific, yes, but something about them transfixed Rainbow. Behind their horror they possessed an underlying tone of greatness. They were certainly the most impressive buildings Dash had seen in a very long time.
“No!” the pegasus exclaimed, hovering in the air, “You’re not going back!”
Her stomach argued against her, rumbling loudly.
“Oh no, no! Not even for...” Dash licked her lips at the thought, “Food.”
She shifted her eyes around the ground below her. Grass covered the ground everywhere she looked, but it was crunchy and dying. Sure, she could eat it if she was really hungry; she had eaten worse before. But something in the back of her mind -or in the bottom of her stomach- told her that there was greater food to be found in the city.
“Well...” she started, rubbing her tummy gingerly, “It couldn’t hurt. I guess. And I’ll only be there for a few minutes. Just get food and get out; easy.”
With her foolproof justification set, she started flying to the city, eyes darting around everywhere, scanning for a threat. So far she saw nothing, but she never let her guard down. Aliens, zombies, robots, dragons, ANYTHING could jump out at any second, and Dash would be prepared for it.
She took her flight time to think. She had only done her Sonic Rainboom... six hours ago? Seven? Rainbow shrugged. Keeping track of time was never something that came easily to Dash. All she knew was that she woke up at nighttime, spent about an hour in the city before flying out and finding a place to hide and sleep until morning, which couldn’t have been more than seven hours.
Rainbow casually wadded up the idea and threw it away to the unwanted, dusty part of her brain where she shoved other useless things, as she did with half of Pinkie’s rants. It didn’t matter how much time she had spent here; what mattered more was, well, everything else.
First, the freefall. The impact should have killed her. A thought crossed her mind, suggesting that she was actually dead, but living in the ‘Space Between Spaces’. Another rumbling from her stomach dismissed this as ‘Disappointing Hogwash’. Dead ponies aren’t hungry; that was a well known fact throughout all of Equestria.
It still left questions unanswered. Straining, she recalled the events that led up to the crater. She had done a Sonic Rainboom, then went faster and almost did a second one before hitting the ground. Was there anything else? Rainbow violently tapped her head, hoping the bombardment of her cranial cavity would recall more memories. Coincidentally, it did, and Rainbow Dash remembered another peculiar happening. As she fell into the second Rainboom, a tingling sensation had come over her. She wasn’t an egghead, but she was almost sure that that had something to do with her crazy teleportation.
Buff Bantam can fly so fast that he can travel through time!
The sudden memory of Scootaloo’s words brought Dash to a dead stop.
“Travel through time...”
Her heart raced as a giant grin spread across her face. Dash flew harder towards the city, scolding herself for being so blind. Of course she had traveled through time! It all made sense now! The only question left was how far in the future she had gone.
“Easy.” she said as she dove towards the ground, skimming the water of the bay surrounding the city, “All I gotta do is ask some... thing.”
Your logic is flawless, Rainbow.
“But first, food!” she exclaimed, preparing to barrel through the cramped streets and alleys of the city. While the city did overpower her, it wasn’t nearly as threatening now that she knew what it was. Clearly, the only logical explanation was that it used to be a pony town, but after an impossibly long amount of time, it had evolved into a more complex system, complete with a new form of intelligence. Or something like that. Dash didn’t really care; she was hungry and that was all that mattered.
As she wove through canals of asphalt and metal, several different aromas wafted into her nostrils. From the smell of rotisserie hotdogs to the scent of body odor and uncleanliness; there wasn’t a smell in the city to be unsmelled. On the wind she caught the faintest smell of fresh bread and moved in its direction, unconsciously drooling. Everywhere below her, humans walked along, oblivious to the rainbow pegasus flying hundreds of feet above their heads.
She was nearing the center of the city, where giant metal buildings gave way to a large expanse of lush green grass and trees. It was fitting there. A tranquil glade in the terrifying jungle of noise and concrete. The park reeled Dash in with a sense of security and strange familiarity. Plus, the sweet smell of food didn’t hurt either.
She came in for a landing, grazing the treeline with her wings. Humans were everywhere, but ever since Dash cracked the code of their existence in the future world, she was much more comfortable approaching them. No one seemed to notice her as she landed, which seemed a trifle bit odd to Rainbow. Back in Ponyville she would be surrounded by ponies the second her hooves touched the ground. Albeit most of those ponies only came up to her chest and had yet to earn their cutie marks, but it still counts!
She cantered down an empty path, eyeing the scenery with a mixture of wonder and caution. Everything was much clearer in the future, as if something had come through and clarified every detail on every little object. From the tiny veins on the tree’s leaves to the minute cracks in the bricks, it almost overwhelmed her how much attention to detail the future had. Even the light of the fires in the street were clearer!
Dash continued on towards a vendor, who was flaunting-
Wait... Fires?
Whipping her head around, Dash spotted tall towers of smoke and orange flame rising into the sky. At its base was the abandoned, splintered wreckage of one of the metal machines. Its hull was warped, shattered and bent out of recognition, spouting gouts of flame in every direction. Rainbow galloped towards the flames, transfixed as to what could have caused them. Humans screamed as they ran around, not even attempting to help.
The crowds were growing thick around the wreckage, and Rainbow took to the skies to get in closer. As she flew, the attention of the humans shifted from the burning fires to the technicolor pegasus who was flying directly towards them. Some humans screamed louder, as if Rainbow was some intergalactic mutant monster, intent on feasting on their very souls. Other humans simply glanced at her, shook their heads, and continued walking. Nothing impresses New Yorkers after all.
She hovered above the wreckage, letting everyone take a good look at her. Underneath their gasps and screams, one particular voice stood out. It came from directly below Rainbow, in the wreckage of the machine. She barreled down, slamming into the asphalt. Sure enough, inside one of the machines was a tiny creature, much smaller than the ones around her.
Rainbow shoved her hooves against the pane of glass, trying to reach the tiny creature inside. The flames had almost completely engulfed the machine, creating an intense heat hot enough to begin to singe Rainbow’s rainbow mane. Rainbow turned around to face the crowd. Their attention had turned completely to Rainbow, almost ignoring the inferno behind her. All eyes were wide, filled with confusion and puzzlement. Their disgusting lack of concern sickened Rainbow, filling her to the brim with-
Another scream behind Rainbow Dash. Without thinking she bucked her legs back, connecting with the glass window. It shattered, creating a gaping hole in the machine. Turning swiftly, she reached into the blazing hunk of metal and stared at the tiny creature. It was tugging at some sort of restraint around its chest and waist. Rainbow took it in her vise-like jaw and pulled harshly, ripping the nylon harness out of its depository.
Wrapping the child in her hooves, she quickly threw her out of the machine, seconds before it exploded in a shower of debris and flame. Rainbow and the child fell to the ground together, still clutching to each other, eyes closed. The cries of the crowd had gone silent as they stared at the child and her rescuer, the strange cyan pony. Without warning, ecstatic cheers exploded from the crowd. Laughter, squeals of joy, and even the occasional ‘I love you’ could all be heard, followed by a loud ‘Kerchunk’ noise behind her.
Slowly, Rainbow opened her magenta eyes, expecting the crowd to be congratulating her on her daring, selfless rescue. Instead their eyes rested on something behind her. Turning around, Dash came face to face with yet another strange future-thing.
It was tall, glimmering proudly in the sunlight. Covered in red and gold metal, the figure looked more like a robot, but moved with such fluidity that it had to be sentient. It was covered in blue lights, the most prominent of which was a bright blue triangle, which rest in the middle of its chest. Its soulless, square eyes glared down at Rainbow Dash, and seemed ready to incinerate her with deadly laser beams.
“Nice job.”
Rainbow’s spine quaked. It sounded like the creature was talking through a metal can. After the utterance of the metallic voice, the crowd cheered louder. Rainbow got to her feet in a flash, staring down the metal-man. She bravely stood her ground, despite only coming up to the man’s hip.
“Th-thanks...?” Rainbow croaked before covering her mouth with a hoof. Her voice was sore, and thick with mucous after breathing through the smoke. “I-it was pretty cool, wasn’t it?” she asked rhetorically.
“I’m going to need you to come with me.” he replied emotionlessly. Dash was impressed; this creature reacted no differently to her than he would have to a human. It was like he dealt with ponies on a regular basis.
*****
Tony Stark’s mind was flooded with insane thoughts, all smashing together in a headache.
Oh my God it talks! Jesus, it talked to me! What did it say? I wasn’t even paying attention. Oh man, it’s talking again! How can it- Shutup! It’s still going!
“-on fire, and I didn’t know what to do. Am I in trouble?” The thing asked, staring at him with giant round eyes.
Stark stood there, contemplating what to do next. All he could focus on were those two giant balls of magenta and white staring at him.
“God that’s cute.” he uttered behind his mask. Tony relished the next few seconds of peace as he watched the pony fume in front of him, rage ascending in her eyes. The last thing he saw before hitting the ground was a cyan marshmallow hoof heading straight for his helmeted head.
“Listen here, buster, nopony calls me cute unless I say they can!” she shouted, growing red in the cheeks. She extended her wings and shot off down the street, leaving a bright rainbow trail behind her. Tony groaned as he got to his feet.
“At least she’s not hard to follow.” he said to the crowd. They cheered him on as his repulsors engaged, rocketing him into the sky. He took pursuit on the pegasus with a feeling of ‘what the Hell am I doing with my life?’ stuck in his head.
It didn’t take long to catch up to her; it seemed like she was flying leisurely. He placed himself next to her as they flew down Madison Avenue.
“So. You’re made of metal?” Rainbow asked past the sheer of the wind.
“And you’re a pony.” Tony retorted. “If you don’t mind, I just wanna ask some questions. Maybe when we’re done you can get an apple or... What do ponies eat anyway?”
“Look, if you want to ask questions,” Dash started, a sly grin spreading across her face, “You’ll have to catch me!”
Dash turned on a dime and sped down 57th street, leaving Tony Stark in the dust. She cackled as she watched the buildings speed by past her, looking over her shoulder every now and then to see how the golden metal-man was faring.
*****
Tony’s communicator buzzed in his ear harshly as he tore through New York’s streets.
“Tony?” the voice asked on the other side. It was stern, serious, and Tony could detect the faintest hint of eyepatch in it. “Where are you? I’ve got three-”
“You know what Fury, I’m gonna stop you there. I’m a bit busy chasing a flying rainbow pony down the street.”
The line was silent for a moment.
“Stark, what did I say about hitting the sauce?”
“Trust me, a drink would help at the moment.”
He turned sharply, attempting to keep up with Rainbow’s impossible speed.
“Tony, I don’t have the slightest clue what you’re talking about, but you need help! I need you to get your ass here as fast as-”
Stark clicked off the communicator, setting his gaze straight on Rainbow Dash. Nothing would stop him. This pony was a visitor to Earth, possibly violent, and was speeding through New York at dangerous speeds, threatening herself, property, and everyone around her. He had to catch her.
That, and she challenged him to a race.