//------------------------------//
// Mare-Vel Adventures #1: Take Off 
// Story: Rainbow Dash: Aerial Avenger 
// by The Bricklayer 
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Funny how life works out, right? You’re born, they tell you what you’re going to do with your life, and they pop that little pink or blue tag on you, and bam. Life starts before you can even crawl.

You’re shoved off into that little niche of life, and expected to just conform. Women aren’t allowed in the military, they say. You’ll never make it out of boot camp, they say.

Rainbow Dash begged to differ. All of her life she’d looked to the skies, saying: “Yeah, that’s where I want to be.”

High, further, faster, baby. Like Maverick from Top Gun. ‘I feel the need for speed,’ yeah, that one. She probably wasn’t anywhere as good looking as Tom Cruise, but she wanted to be up there.

Her parents, loving as they were, bore no real illusions as to how far Rainbow would realistically make it. They tried to sway her off into different paths. Something a bit more down to earth. 

There were the jokes of course, about why they called it a cockpit. Haha, very funny. Real witty.

In any event, despite all odds and expectations and against a hell of a lot of sexism… Bam, she was up there within several years. Okay, her call sign could be a bit better. Like Crash, really? That did wonders for her confidence. 

But she was up there, free as a bird in the skies. Nobody to answer to but her commanding officer. 

Right now though, Rainbow’s mind was on issues there were decidedly more down to Earth. The Mandarin: showed up about a year and a half ago. Real screwball, nobody was sure who he was or where he came from.

All they did know was that he threatened America’s way of life. 

“Some people call me a terrorist, I consider myself a teacher. So America, ready for another lesson? In 1864, in the little town of Sand Creek, Colorado the U.S. military waited. They waited until the friendly Cheyenne braves had all gone out hunting. They waited to attack and slaughter their families left behind, and claim their land,” the Mandarin said as he came on screen, with his signature robe and long black beard. His hair was done up in a top knot, and a pipe was in his mouth. He looked like someone’s demented grandfather, I suppose you could say. But with none of the charm. “Thirty-nine hours ago the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait was attacked. I did that. A quaint military church filled with wives and children, of course. The soldiers were out on maneuvers, the braves were away. “

The screen flickered, and gasps echoed throughout the room as the remains of an air-force base were shown. Smoking ruins with bodies scorched by the explosion lay about the area.

“President Madison Mare, you continue to resist my attempts to educate you, ma’am. And now, you've missed me again. You don’t know who I am, you don't know where I am, and you'll never see me coming.”

The Mandarin’s image disappeared, and his logo once again appeared: ten rings of varying colors with crossed swords in the middle of them.

“...welp,” Rainbow said as she sucked in a breath, still in that state of veritable shock. “...Just…”

A fist slammed into the wall, and Rainbow turned to see Fleetfoot with a look of rage on her face. “Damn it,” she muttered. “The Mandarin’s out there, and here we are just sitting on our asses doing nothing! We’re part of the United States Air Force, for God’s sake! And what are we doing? Nothing! We should be out there finding this guy and firing a missile up his ass!”

“Easier said than done, Fleets,” Soarin’ said, rubbing her shoulders. Rainbow had to resist grumbling something under her breath, trying to not let the jealousy show. “Finding the Mandarin? Easier said than done.”

“Yeah yeah, I know. It’s like Fox says. “All attempts to find the Mandarin have so far proved unsuccessful” and all that rot. God, can’t they get Stark to build something to find this asshole?”

Rainbow knew the name, of course. Tony Stark, son of Howard Stark. He’d been on pretty much every magazine cover you could think of. GQ, Wired, Popular Mechanics, Time, Playboy, Vanity Fare. (Ugh to that last one.) The lot. He’d been called many things. Visionary. Genius. American patriot. Graduated summa cum laude from MIT at age 17. Rainbow had been just barely passing high school at 17! If there was a weapon you needed, Tony Stark had it in his brain and was most likely designing and developing it. 

Shame this American patriot couldn’t find out who the Mandarin was, eh? 

Where were the heroes when you needed them? 

Passing by Captain Spitfire’s office, she overheard a conversation from within. Rainbow knew she shouldn’t eavesdrop, but she just couldn’t help herself. “So what's really going on? With Mandarin. Seriously, can we talk about this guy? Cap… Half of the squad is ready to go up there and bomb the hell out of Kuwait in just hopes of finding him!”

“A lot of it’s classified, Soar,” Spitfire said. “You know that.”

“But-” Soarin’ started. Spitfire let out a sigh.

“Alright, there’s been nine bombings thus far, the public only knows about three. Here's the thing, nobody can ID a device. There's no bomb casings. We’re at a loss.”

“So we’re just supposed to sit on our asses then?”

Spitfire sighed again. “HammerTech is coming up with something, word says. Not sure what exactly, but there you go. It's something. It’s a something.”

HammerTech, Rainbow knew, was another company vying for the weapons manufacturer pie. Stark was his own thing, a lone wolf. He did what he wanted, didn’t always mesh well with authority. So others stepped into to grab what contracts he didn’t. They didn’t always live up to their expectations, -as who could replace Stark?- but they generally delivered. Rainbow -along with everyone else- hated to think of the day Stark wanted to get out of the weapons-making business. Yeah, that'd be a day.

“Well, a something’s better than a nothing I suppose…” Soarin’ murmured.





Rainbow returned to her housing later that night, her mind still a blur from the day’s events. The Mandarin. The Mandarin. Nine attacks, nine bombings. Every day seemed to come up with something new relating to the bastard, and yet none of it was information anyone could actually act on. 

It was just absolutely disgusting. 

The US had some of the best intelligence in the world, and yet nobody could find out a damned thing about this guy. Someone should be fired.

The way Rainbow figured it, it’d take a bombing at the NSA Headquarters -god forbid- before anyone actually got up off their asses to do something. 

“Rainbow, you alright?” Soarin’ asked as he walked up, presumably on his late night run. He did this every odd day, went out at night just to jog in the cool evening air. Rainbow didn’t judge, hell, sometimes when she felt up to it she joined him. “Saw you left the building in a bit of a rush back there. Did that Mandarin broadcast get to you?”

Soarin’ was a nice enough guy, Rainbow supposed. A bit of a dork, sorta dense at times with a bit of an obsession with pie, but… he was nice. Probably one of the only pilots who didn’t crack jokes at her expense. Yeah, not all males were women haters, Rainbow knew, but pilots had a certain amount of pride. It was really a dick measuring contest with them, who could fly the highest, the furthest, the fastest. You get the general idea. 

Rainbow really loved to outfly all of them. Seeing those smirks fall off their faces was totally worth it.

“Yeah, suppose you could say that,” Rainbow admitted before turning to Soarin’. “HammerTech, really?”

Soarin’ winced, his shirt stained with sweat. “...you weren’t supposed to hear that.”

“Yes, well, you’re hard to ignore,” Rainbow said with a soft smile. “Nine bombings? And you get HammerTech of all companies? Hammer’s an idiot, you know that right?”

“He’s provided before,” Soarin’ said. “Half of the armaments on our jets are from HammerTech.”

“Okay, missiles and guns are one thing, but building something to find the Mandarin?” Rainbow asked. “That’s another. Why not get Stark to make something? Pretty sure he’d be happy to take down a terrorist. It’d really feed his ego.”

“HammerTech was the first to offer, from what I heard, and command’s getting desperate,” Soarin’ shrugged. “They’ll take anything by this point. If HammerTech fails…”

“If?” Rainbow snorted. “More like when.”

Soarin’ wanted to look like he wanted to reprimand Rainbow, but was utterly failing to hide his amusement. All the same… “If HammerTech fails, it goes to Stark to find the Mandarin.”

“Stark’s going to love this, cleaning up after Hammer’s messes. You’ve seen the Twitter wars right? The two can’t stop firing shots at each other,” Rainbow said with a small little snort.

“They’re hard to miss,” Soarin’ said with a small smile. “But yeah, Hammer should be showing up here tomorrow with his little demonstration.”

“God, that’ll be something to look forward to. Want to place bets on whatever he’s got will blow up on the start up,” Rainbow remarked.

“RAINBOW!” Soarin’ shouted again, though it was obvious he was trying to hide his mirth.

“What, just sayin’,” Rainbow shrugged. “Fine fine.”

“50 bucks,” Soarin’ said. Rainbow looked honestly surprised.

“Wheelin’ and dealin’ on base grounds? Cap would bust your ass if she ever caught wind of it…” Rainbow said.

“...well then, let’s make sure she never finds out okay?” Soarin’ chuckled. That light little smile, that playful demeanor? It reminded Rainbow of what she could never have, and it hurt. 

Soarin’ was Fleetfoot’s man. She was a lucky woman, really. Soarin’ was possibly the most charming man she’d ever met in her life, and god she missed a chance to snatch him up. Fleetfoot beat her to the punch. The worst part of it all was, well, it’d taken Rainbow a bit to realize what she wanted from Soarin’. Was it a crush? Yeah, definitely. At least 20% was a crush. Awesome.

Bidding Soarin’ a good night, Rainbow walked into her house, and was almost immediately blindsided by a little blur. 

“...hey squirt, I’ll get dinner on in a mo’, I promise. Let me just take a shower okay?” Rainbow whispered to her kid. Her kid. Scootaloo was Rainbow’s world. She was the second reason why she got up there in the wild blue yonder. Not just to prove the boys wrong, but to protect house and home. This was America, the greatest country in the world and Rainbow aimed to keep it that way.

Some fought for Mom’s homemade apple pie and a bald eagle, Rainbow fought for her family. 

“Did you…” Scootaloo said in a soft whisper. 

“Did I what?” Rainbow asked gently, noticing her daughter’s scared tone. She had a sneaking suspicion as to what happened. Damnit, she’d told Scootaloo to stay away from the news. 

“Did you see him? Did you see the Mandarin, mom?” Scootaloo asked.

“I did sweetie, but squirt? What have I told you about staying away from the news?” Rainbow chided gently. “It always gets you all worried these days. Didn’t I put on some cartoons for you? Justice League, right?”

“Yeah, but the Mandarin. He high-jacked the TV. Took control of it or something.” Scootaloo mumbled, Rainbow running a hand through her hair in a calming fashion. “I… I couldn’t help myself. It was like a trainwreck, I couldn't tear my eyes away.”

“I understand…” Rainbow said. “Now go wash up, okay?”

Scootaloo nodded before darting off. Rainbow let out a deep sigh. She tried, she really did. Gods, she hoped Justin Hammer actually had something good to show tomorrow. She really needed to feel as if this creep could be stopped. Rainbow slammed a fist into her palm. “Careful Mandarin, better hope I don’t get to come after you…”





Justin Hammer, Rainbow felt, just had to be talking out of his ass. He just had to be. She, early in the afternoon, needed to get up and get into a dress uniform and go out into the hot sun for this guy?

Mind you, she did have to admit she was fairly impressed by the big mech suit he’d brought with him. Overloaded with enough weapons to make you question who was overcompensating for something. Wait, was that a freakin’ chainsaw on one arm? Wow, talk about showing off. Then again, a Mandarin sliced in half with a single swing seemed pretty appetizing. And there was enough firepower to bust the ruins of the bunker you just busted. Seemed to take a few cues from Captain America, though. Like dear god, was it covered in patriotism. She honestly half expected it to -at the push of a button- start blaring the Star Spangled Man With a Plan bit. Or Jimi Hendrix’s take on the Star Spangled Banner. One of the two.

“... If it were any smarter, it'd write a book, a book that would make Ulysses look like it was written in crayon. It would read it to you. This is my Eiffel Tower. This is my Rachmaninoff's Third. My Pieta. It's completely elegant, it's bafflingly beautiful, and it's capable of reducing the population of any standing structure to zero. I call it Detroit Steel,” Hammer rambled as he gestured to the massive mecha behind him. “Four and a half tons of USA! Four and a half tons of peace and security made in the grand old U. S. of A! Say hello to The Mandarin’s worst nightmare!”

A loud round of applause greeted the man, and Justin adjusted his glasses before flashing two peace signs. 

“...well, you can’t say he doesn’t know how to present something,” Soarin’ mumbled over the cheering crowd. “That’s a hell of a sales pitch.”

“Yeah, it’s a sales pitch. They’re supposed to sound good,” Rainbow said before she deadpanned: “Now watch it fall over and blow up. Hammer never makes anything good. He’s the poor man’s Stark.”

“Oh, hush,” Fleetfoot said, swatting at her arm. “Who'll rise or fall, give his all for America? Who's here to prove that we can? Hammer, clearly!”

Rainbow gave her a look. “...he’s not Captain America, Fleets. May I remind you that…”

Hammer chose that moment to walk over. “Oh ho, does someone have doubts about me?” he asked, wrapping an arm around Rainbow’s shoulder.

A cuban cigar was currently in his mouth, Rainbow coughing from just being near it. “Well, yeah. I mean, you make weapons. Not mechs. This is a bit of a step up, right?” Rainbow asked. “...you trying to outdo Stark? I mean, props for thinking of the giant mecha first but still, this is all new to you.”

Hammer laughed. “It’d be all new to Stark as well if he got in the game,” he remarked. “I’d personally love to challenge him to a duel. Whatever suit he comes up with, and mine! Then when he loses, I’d invite him to suck it! Please, Stark’s a blowhard!”

“A blowhard who’s been on the cover of Popular Mechanics practically every other week,” Rainbow remarked. “Just sayin’. Call me crazy, but if he made a suit, I’m sure it’d blow yours out of the water!”

“Rainbow, just be nice! Hammer’s a guest,” Fleetfoot hissed out. “Besides, with that thing? The Mandarin will be toast in no time!” 

“Burnt toast, actually,” Hammer said with a small wink in Fleetfoot’s direction, making her giggle. Rainbow nearly barfed. “Because yes, that is a flamethrower!”

“Wow, flamethrowers, missile pods, and even chainsaws,” Rainbow said in the most spectacularly deadpan tone she could muster. No small feat, I assure you. “One might think you’re overcompensating for something!”

A low ‘ooooohhhh’ echoed out from the crowd. Justin looked unimpressed. “Oh, so you do doubt me?”

“Very much so, actually,” Rainbow nodded. “Heard the rumors of your first mecha suits, actually. Didn’t one end up twisting a pilot’s spine 180 degrees?”

“I’d like to point out he survived,” Justin said with a little dismissive wave that did wonders for both Rainbow’s confidence and already low opinion of the man. “But in light of that little failure, I’ll be happy to tell you that won’t ever happen again. In fact, I can assure you that this is unmanned. Got the best programmers in the world. Nothing will go wrong. In fact, I can prove it to you Lieutenant Dash. Got a whole little demonstration lined up. Got it all squared away with the base commander!”

This, Rainbow decided, she just simply had to see. Hammer had to be confident if he was risking what Rainbow presumed was his only suit. If it got blown up, buh-bye big bucks military contract.

So, there was this guy, Philip Lawson okay? Friendly enough sort, through really Rainbow only knew him in passing. But he was in charge of… well, Rainbow wasn’t sure what he was in charge of. But yeah, he was directing tanks to box in and kill Detroit Steel.

The air thundered with the sound of cannonfire, the tanks slowly closing in on Detroit Steel. Their treads rattled the ground, kicking up dust and dirt while Detroit Steel stood its ground.

“...hey, you think this is how Mobile Suit Gundam starts for us?” Soarin’ had to ask as he and his squad watched from a very safe distance. “Like, unmanned suits being put to military application. You gotta admit there are some similarities!” 

“You’re such a weeb, Soar,” Rainbow teased. “I just want to see Hammer finally put his money where his mouth is.”

“Not to worry everyone!” Hammer announced. “I’ve already promised to pay for damages!”

“Whose damages? Ours or his?” Rainbow had to wonder aloud. Her jaw soundly dropped when Detroit Steel blew a hole through one of the tanks. Good god, if they weren’t unmanned… A chorus of gasps followed her own. Huh, okay then. Maybe this suit had potential.

Rainbow bore witness to the chainsaw rev up with an almighty whine, thirsty for grease and engine oil. It slashed, and all was silent. Next, Detroit Steel turned its flamethrowers on the final tank, making it back away before another slash rendered it into scrap.

Okay then. Maybe Hammer was onto something. Maybe.





Fleetfoot was in a mood, Rainbow discovered as the days wore on. Not her business to pry. At least… not until Fleetfoot was all up in her face about things. 

It’d been a week since Detroit Steel’s first spectacular showing and HammerTech had been awarded a one billion dollar contract to stop the Mandarin. Stark must have been furious. Privately, Rainbow wondered just how Hammer had suddenly got the know-how to build a functional mecha suit. He was a bit of a joke honestly, everyone knew that. He couldn’t program to save his life.

There had been rumors of course, there always were. That Hammer had some help building Detroit Steel. There’d been a guy in a suit, classic government type lurking around the base that day. Nobody bothered to catch his name; there’d been several men in suits. All of them from different government organizations. What was one more? Mind you, he’d apparently had good taste in rides. A classic Corvette, whoo! Rainbow couldn’t even land herself a nice bike. That was a Suit’s paycheck for you, she supposed.

“So what’s eating you?” Rainbow asked Fleetfoot, having finally had enough of her ansty demeanor. It had rapidly been getting on her nerves. “You’ve been pacing around the commons all afternoon. Somebody die? If you want, I can talk to the Captain. Probably get you some paid leave.”

“It’s not that,” Fleetfoot said quickly. “That guy, Lawson? He’s been scouting around the base looking for a test pilot for some fancy new jet of his.”

“And let me guess, you drew the short straw,” Rainbow teased. “Need an airsick bag, a little plushie to go with you Flatfoot? It’s just a jet, nothing new you haven’t seen before!”

“You’re a jerk,” Fleetfoot grumbled. “Sadly, it’s not me they want up there. Really pisses me off, I’m the best pilot on base!”

“Evidently not, considering they passed you up,” Rainbow said, Fleetfoot glowering at her.

“Yeah, haha, real rich coming from you…” Fleetfoot grumbled practically stomping off. Soarin’ watched her leave.

“Geez, what crawled up her ass and died?” Rainbow had to wonder. 

“You mean you don’t know?” Soarin’ said. “They want you Crash.”

“M-Me?” Rainbow sputtered, sure she’d misheard. “You’ve got to be joshing me. Like, seriously. Go on, pull the other one why don’t you?”

“No, Lawson’s apparently asking for you specifically,” Soarin’ said before laying a supportive hand on her shoulder. “This is what you want, right? You, up there in the wild blue yonder? Isn’t that what you said to me? You’ve got to say yes!”

“Surely there’s got to be a catch,” Rainbow muttered to herself. “I’m nowhere near that lucky around here. So who do I have to screw to get in that cockpit?” she asked bitterly.

“No catches,” Lawson said as he walked in. “So, you in?”

Soarin’ was flashing her a thumbs up. It would have been a fool’s idea to say no. Most people would have practically jumped at the chance to prove themselves when offered to get in the air test flying this new aircraft. Rainbow was no different. Straight shot to respect, hello!

“Uh, yeah?” Rainbow asked. “Bring it on!”

It was only an hour later that she was inside Lawson’s new bird.

“Can you fly this thing?” Lawson asked as he strapped himself in, Rainbow in the cockpit seat. The controls revealed themselves, part of the cockpit shifting aside as two joysticks came into view. Rainbow raised an eyebrow. That was definitely new. Certainly not standard issue. 

“It’s a jet,” Rainbow said, running through her primary system checks. “It’s like second nature to me by this point.”

“Fair warning, Dash, this jet is probably unlike anything you’ve ever seen in your life,” Lawson said as Rainbow flicked another switch. 

“A jet’s a jet, what more do I need to know. It’s got controls, instruments, two wings and an engine. This thing could be a biplane for all I care and I’d still be able to fly it,” Rainbow said as the two massive hanger doors began to open. “So watch me, flyboy.”

“You’re confident,” Lawson said as the engines began to whir to life with an almost unearthly hum. They sounded absolutely like nothing Rainbow had ever heard before, the cockpit’s controls glowing with an almost luminous light. Rainbow paid it no mind. There could be all the fancy toys a pilot could want and it still wouldn’t distract her.

MInd you, she couldn’t say the same about most pilots. She’d make a mental note to tell Lawson not to have so many gimmicks in his little plane when it reached mass production. 

“...shouldn’t I be?” Rainbow said. “It’s just a simple test flight. One loop around the mountains and back again. Higher, further, faster baby.”

“It’s just…” Lawson said, inwardly wondering how much he should divulge. If Rainbow knew why he was here, why he’d truly come to the base… well, she’d probably be scared out of her mind. She seemed confident, but was she really ready? “You know what our work here is for right?”

The tarmac was beginning to fly by in a blur, and slowly but surely the wheels retracted as the Asis hit take off speeds. The ground below slowly began to get smaller and smaller, till the buildings became like scale models. The unearthly hum began to increase in both tone and pitch, leaving Rainbow to wonder just what exactly this bird ran on. Some new type of top-secret super fuel? Some of Stark’s tech maybe? Probably wasn’t even worth asking about, given it was labeled top-secret for a reason.

“That’s a stupid question isn’t it?” Rainbow asked. “It’s to help end all wars, right? Isn’t that what we’re here for?”

Lawson sighed. “Yes, but sometimes the wars are bigger than you know…” he murmured to himself.

“What was that?” Rainbow asked as she sent the craft into a spin. “Didn’t quite catch that last bit!”

“Nothing! Hey, careful!” Lawson shouted as Rainbow pulled the jet into a steep climb.

“You want to see what this baby can really do, right?” Rainbow said, the jet on a sharp bank as it rocketed around mountain passes. “So shut up and stop being a backseat driver!”

Some people got their adrenaline junkie fix by storm chasing or going out into the jungle with leopards or mountain climbing. Not Rainbow. Up here? She could go full throttle to her heart's content and she even got paid to do it. 

From 0 to Mach 2 in just under a few minutes, now that beat them all. Porsches, Bugattis, Ferraris? Pah, they had nothing on this shit, thank you very much. Sonic booms over the American heartland and then gone in a split second? Yeah, this was how she rolled.

The miles flew by like nothing, the base just a distant memory. Now she was over a series of lakes and forests, and making her final run back to base. Going into a barrel roll, Rainbow let out a whoop of joy.

“God, this thing kicks ass!” Rainbow shouted over the engine, stripping through the sky like it was nothing leaving nothing but a streak in her wake. 

“Don’t overdo it, Lieutenant,” Lawson warned as Rainbow rocketed over a lake leaving a massive wake in her trail. As Rainbow climbed again, the trees started to look like toothpicks. “Just get us back to base, that’s all you need to do.”

He was beginning to wonder if he’d really made the right choice for his pilot. 

“Right, right,” Rainbow muttered. “You had to kill the fun. First mission in weeks, and I’m not even allowed to enjoy myself just a bit. Murderer of fun, that’s what you are. You’re like a murderer of fun in way too tight pants.”

Lawson looked out the window, nothing but clear blue skies all around them. Not even a cloud.

“Wonderful view, isn't it?” he said in awe.

“Yeah, it is…” Rainbow whispered. “Wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”

Then, warning alarms began to flash all over.

“I… didn’t do that,” Rainbow said slowly. “I swear, I didn’t touch anything!”

“It’s not you,” Lawson shouted. “It’s me, I forgot to check to see if the Asis had been fueled properly!”

“How do you forget to fill up a jet with fuel?” Rainbow shouted back. “Do you forget to load your gun as well? Sit tight, we’re going in for a landing and it’s not going to be pretty!”

The ground was coming up fast, a veritable sea of green before her. Rainbow smashed the Asis through trees, snapping them like twigs before slashing through the ground. Earth and sand were tossed up, the Asis carving a path through the dirt like a massive knife blade. 

“Lawson? Philip?” Rainbow asked as the cockpit window went flying of its own accord, jettisoned to the side. “You alright?”

“Yeah, been better. But there's nothing I can’t walk off. Any landing you can walk away from...” Philip said as he climbed out of his seat. Rainbow swore he was bleeding blue, but passed it off as her imagination. Right now she had bigger concerns, like where the hell were they? “Phone still works, I’ll call in our location.”

Small mercies, really.

“...doubt they’ll ever let me fly anything again,” Rainbow muttered seeing all of her hopes and dreams come crashing down all around her. She choked back a sob. “...yeah, it’ll be weeks of cleaning the dishes and then I’ll be lucky to even get near a jet after this.”

As they walked away from the wreckage, Lawson turned as he heard something. The low hum was starting to turn into a whine.

“RUN!” Philip shouted, and Rainbow broke into a sprint. The world went white, and then it went blue. A glow filled Rainbow’s vision before all went silent as pain rushed up to greet her.





Rainbow faded in and out, voices ringing out in her ear. Vague notions of fear and concern, and the whole world was one of white. She let out a moan of pain, before fading back into darkness again.

She awoke to the sound of beeping machines, and a light shone in her face before fading back again.

A third waking moment came, and she looked to her hand. It glowed gold. Then darkness consumed her for the final time.





“She’s going to be alright?” one Rarity Belle nervously fretted over her friend’s fate. She’d been the first to hear, and was the first to arrive at Canterlot General Hospital. “Surely you can tell me something. I… I’ve been asking the doctors and nurses and nobody will tell me anything!”

Philip tried to soothe the concerned woman, who was close to hyperventilating. “She’s… she’s going to be fine,” he said, lying through his teeth. Truth be told, he wasn’t sure what Rainbow was going to be. “She’s been through a lot, but your friend’s a tough woman. It’s just right now she needs her rest.”

“If… if you say so,” Rarity said. “I’m going to see Soarin’. He’s been pacing up a storm in the lobby and… poor dear. Rainbow doesn’t really know how lucky she is…”

Philip nodded before as Rarity walked off, he passed two men in suits and entered Rainbow’s room. His eyes widened. Floating several feet above the bed, bathed in a golden almost holy glow was Rainbow Dash.

“Oh boy, you’ve really gone and done it this time,” Philip thought to himself. “So, how are you going to explain this one to your superiors, Mar-Vehl?”