//------------------------------//
// Prologue 
// Story: Rainbow Dash: Rise of the Valkyrie 
// by PegaVincent 
//------------------------------//


Rise of the Valkyrie



Prologue




It was a peaceful night on Equestria. The moon had risen thanks to Luna, Princess of the Moon, but not before the sun came down thanks to Celestia, Princess of the Sun. Atop the tallest tower stood Twilight, Element of Magic and Princess of Friendship, as she looked through her magically enhanced telescope to try to see anything beyond the skies of their planet. Unfortunately, she did: a meteorite on a direct collision course for Equus, and its arrival was estimated to be in seven days. The lavender alicorn told the Royal Sisters, who ordered her to gather the Element bearers and try to come up with a plan to save Equus from destruction.

All six ponies came together the next morning to discuss options for a potential plan for destroying the meteor. Applejack suggested using the power of all four alicorns to blast the meteorite to bits, but Twilight countered saying that even the combined magical energies of all four alicorns wouldn’t be able to reach the outer atmosphere of the planet, much less the meteorite. Rainbow Dash suggested somepony fly up to the space rock and smash it up, but that was also denied, due to the logic of the lack of air in space as well as the escape velocity required to do so exceeded anything that even the rainbow-maned Pegasus had ever achieved. Rainbow told Twilight that with some practice and some extra spells from her friends, she believed that she could pull it off. With no other ideas on the table, everypony agreed to send Rainbow Dash out to space to smash the meteorite.

Over the course of the next few days, the Mane Six, as well as Spike and Starlight, went over the finer details of how to send Rainbow Dash up to destroy the giant rock and save the world. The Pegasus herself was almost always flying at top speeds to keep herself in tip-top shape for when the day came to execute the plan. Twilight, Starlight, and Spike ran through the books in the library to find spells that could help boost their friend’s speeds to exceed escape velocity in order to reach the meteorite. Starlight discovered a way to use a barrier to help the mare breath in space if applied on the ground to catch some air before flying out into space. Twilight found a speed-boosting spell, as well as a mind-link spell, so that they can keep in contact while Rainbow was off-planet. Starlight had the idea that both would cast the speed booster at the same time, with the mind-link spell cast by herself and Twilight would cast the barrier. The plan was to have Rainbow Dash build up to her top speed, then race towards the magical duo as they cast the spells in a connecting beam for a double speed boost as well as giving Rainbow the air barrier and the mind link to her friends and the princesses. She would immediately shoot up at an angle into the sky, the speed boosters helping her in her ascent towards space. She would then fly past the meteorite and slingshot around the moon, positioned by Luna for maximum effectiveness, for the final burst of speed needed for a massive Sonic Rainboom that would shatter the meteorite. There was a great risk that Rainbow Dash would not make it out alive, but the mare was confident that she’d be okay.

The day that the meteorite was due to crash into the planet, Rainbow Dash and her friends got themselves into position to begin their plan to save the world. The alicorn and unicorn duo began charging their spells as the Pegasus took off, quickly approaching her top speed. The spells were ready, and both magic users shot beams at each other, the spells connecting in the middle and combining as planned. In mere moments, the speedy flier reached top speed and crossed the spell line, getting a massive boost in speed while also gaining a shimmering blue-purple spherical barrier as well as the ability to hear her friends as she angled herself up towards the sky and in the meteorite’s direction.

Rainbow Dash managed to escape the atmosphere of Equus, flying towards the meteorite, and dodged to the side of the giant rock as planned. She continued on towards the moon, taking care to get into its orbit and not slam into its surface. She boomeranged around the dark side of the moon, and began to rocket towards the meteorite. The Pegasus had the familiar mach cone forming by her hooves during the entire journey, but it wasn’t until now that it began to fold around her body, ready to unleash the magical power of the Sonic Rainboom. She held firm, waiting for the right moment to obliterate every atom of the offending space rock. Once she neared the meteorite, Rainbow let everything loose, bursting forward with a speed she had only dreamed of achieving, a Sonic Rainboom more powerful and with richer colors exploding from the area right next to the meteorite, effectively atomizing the giant rock and accomplishing the task.

However, not all was well, as Rainbow realized that she was approaching Equus at speeds far too high to be anywhere near safe for landing purposes, but steeled herself for her friends. The barrier around her began to heat up from re-entry as her velocity increased form the planet’s gravity once again taking her in its grip. The mare rocketed right past Ponyville and went right into the Everfree, causing a massive cloud of dirt to fly into the air upon her impact. All of her friends ran straight to the forest, and it didn’t take long to discover the crash site. There was a massive crater in the ground, while a bolt-shaped burn mark sat at the very bottom with no sign of their rainbow-maned friend. Fluttershy immediately burst into tears and clung to Pinkie Pie, whose mane and tail deflated completely. Rarity turned her head away, and her eyes squeezed shut as tears threatened to stream down her cheeks. Applejack removed her hat and placed it on her chest, closing her eyes in silent prayer for the mare. Twilight was at a loss for words, and Spike covered his mouth with his claws. They all returned to town, and announced that there would be a funeral service for Rainbow Dash in two days time to honor her for her great sacrifice for the safety of the planet and its inhabitants.