//------------------------------// // Overstorm XII // Story: Rainbow Dash's Unstoppable Ego // by MagicS //------------------------------// After the propeller had been switched back on things looked like they returned completely to normal in the lab. It stopped tilting and the alarm stopped, the red light had gone off too so everything wasn’t just bathed in that foreboding color. All of the scientists were very relieved about this, if there was another issue… well they might have been lost on what to do. Rainbow Dash for her part was happy and feeling proud of herself for taking care of it so easily. Just another typical day in the life of an awesome adventuring pony right? And there was way more stuff just waiting for her to accomplish today. “Sorry about that little problem, it rather put a damper on things,” Lightning Rod said. “Hey, it’s cool. I mean—considering your guys’s situation it’s not like you can really do anything about that,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I wish it didn’t eat at the time we had planned for you to go out into the storm though,” Autumn Breeze said. “I think it’s quite obvious but every minute up here counts and that test flight we want you to go on is a big deal. It’s an information gathering mission of unparalleled importance compared to our earlier endeavors.” “I might finally be able to make the perfect anti-weather spell for this storm when you come back with the information recorded in that flightsuit,” Cosmic Sight nodded in agreement with Autumn. Rainbow Dash smiled at the eager ponies. “Well then what are we waiting for? I don’t need to take an extra break just after going out there to fix that thing, let’s put the suit on and I can help you guys stop this dumb hurricane once and for all!” “Heh, hopefully,” Lightning Rod smirked. Putting the suit on was a little more difficult than just sliding on her Wonderbolt uniform. With all the equipment on it and wires she had to be careful to not accidentally step on or break anything and it tugged at her body in a few places and got caught. Probably a result of the recent adjustments made to it so it would fit a mare in the first place. The last thing she had to put on was a pair of goggles, something she had been missing from the very beginning of her adventure, and doubly so now that she had to deal with this crazy storm. They’d go a long way to helping her deal with the wind. “Does everything fit alright?” Lightning Rod asked her. “Uh, as far as I can tell yeah,” Rainbow Dash said while looking over herself. The material was a pretty ugly gray and not as comfortable as a Wonderbolt uniform (or pretty much anything else really) but it still allowed for fairly easy movement and was snug on her form. Rarity would take issue with anyone wearing something like this but Dash didn’t mind so much. Rainbow Dash turned around in place to make sure walking and moving didn’t mess with the suit, then swished her tail around and flapped her wings a few times. It all seemed good to go. “Can I just go out that same door I just went out to fix the propeller?” Rainbow asked. “Why not? I think there’s some other stuff that needs to be done first though,” Whistler said and looked over at Cosmic Sight. “Oh yeah, the weather spell right? You’ll put one on me?” Rainbow Dash tilted her head at the unicorn. Cosmic Sight nodded. “That’s right. Imperfect though it may be it will still make your trip through the storm much easier. However it will probably fail or fizzle out well before you get to the center.” “The flightsuit will make things easier for you in general too,” Autumn Breeze said. “And it’ll tell us how well my magic worked and how long it lasted with you. So it all pieces together quite nicely,” Cosmic Sight said. “Yes, this should be the flight test that all of us need,” Lightning Rod clapped Rainbow Dash on the back. “Whether you can make it to the eye of the storm or not now I know we’ll be able to improve on things enough that you’ll be able to break through the storm entirely the next time around. And that’ll give us the know how on how to either make a safe place in this storm, weaken it, or perhaps disperse it entirely.” “Alright, well just put the spell on me and let’s do this!” Rainbow Dash said, striking a tough pose with her chest stuck out and her head held high. “Hold your horses girl, I’m getting ready,” Cosmic Sight said as he started charging up his horn. The others and Rainbow Dash stood around and watched him as a silver magic glowed over his horn. Cosmic Sight must be a fairly powerful unicorn if he could do this kind of stuff but to be honest Rainbow Dash didn’t really have any idea on how to measure that kind of thing. Your perception on unicorn power kind of gets warped when you spend so much time around Twilight and Starlight, even before Twilight became an Alicorn she was special. Cosmic Sight still had his eyes closed and was intensely focusing on his own spell for a minute longer until he opened them and cast a beam of magic at Rainbow Dash. It spread over and enveloped her entire body, the suit too seemed to react to it, getting warmer while a few of the crystals sewn into it gained a brighter sheen. In a second the silver aura disappeared, leaving but an invisible trace and power on her. Rainbow Dash flexed her wings and hopped up and down, it felt a little different but otherwise she couldn’t tell. “That it?” She raised an eyebrow at Cosmic Sight. “That’s it,” he nodded. “The suit is still working perfectly too. No change from when others wore it so far,” Lightning Rod said as he inspected Rainbow Dash. “And since we already lost enough time today we better get her out there right now,” Autumn Breeze said. Lightning Rod agreed. “Right.” The five of them traveled back into the vestibule they had only recently returned from. No tools or harnesses or winches were needed this time. It was just Dash and her flightsuit that were heading out into that powerful and unforgiving hurricane. She wasn’t worried one bit. “Now be careful,” Whistler warned her. “Once you fly just a few feet away from the laboratory you’ll be out of the anti-weather bubble and immediately set upon by the full strength of the storm. The winds out there are strong and it will take a second for the suit and spell to fully adjust, so brace yourself. It would be bad if you just got carried away by the wind on accident.” “Got it. I know how tough this storm is so I’m not gonna hold back or anything,” Dash said as she looked intently at the door. “Then good luck out there,” Lightning Rod said and pulled open the door. The wind came into the small chamber just like before and whipped around the manes and tails of the stallions but it only barely made hers wave like a slight breeze. The suit and spell were already at work. Rainbow Dash stepped outside for the second time today and looked back over her shoulder with a grin. “I’ll be back soon you guys. And then we figure out how to stop this storm or my name isn’t Rainbow Dash!” Without waiting to hear their reply she launched herself into the air and shot deep into the rolling clouds and wind around the lab. It was a breeze compared to before. Not just when she was trying to make it up the chain or anything but even compared to when she had been flying on the outskirts of the storm it was so much easier for her. The combined power of the suit and Cosmic’s spell almost made it feel like she was flying through normal sky or a much weaker Equestrian storm. This stuff really worked. And the goggles too, she couldn’t even begin to say how awesome it was to have a pair of them. Her vision might have still been dark and nothing but thick clouds but she didn’t have to worry about the wind or her mane getting in her eyes now. “This is easy!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she flapped her wings harder and flew deeper into the storm. She hadn’t gotten to the crazy weather yet like the rain or hail she had experienced, or the wind blowing directly against her, but thanks to the suit and spell she’d be full of energy when she did. There was no way this storm was going to wear her out now. Already she was almost strong enough to handle it on her own (or so she would tell herself) and with the work of the scientists backing her up she might as well have been invincible to weather. Rainbow Dash flipped over and did a barrel roll through some of the storm to liven things up. She was almost kind of bored now at how easy flying was with this stuff, might as well have some fun until she really needed to push herself. She said she wouldn’t hold back anything but she didn’t even need to take it seriously yet. Even the sudden jolt she had gotten when she initially left the lab only took an instant of adjusting herself and then she was fine. She bit her lip as she thought about things though, really she should be trying to get through this storm as fast as possible and not mess around. She had been overtaken by how fun it was to just be able to fly out and do whatever. But she really probably should try to get to the depths of the storm without lollygagging for the sake of everyone. Rainbow Dash stopped her barrel roll and came out with her hooves extended before her, getting in her most aerodynamic position. “Okay, time to fly.” With a burst of speed she shot like a missile towards the center of the storm. Not at her full power since she wanted to save energy for when it got really tough, but enough where she would’ve looked like a blazing rainbow comet flying over a clear sky. With her speed and how far she already was into the storm it didn’t take long before she reached the area where the wind speed really picked up and the hurricane started acting like it wanted to flat out get rid of her. Now even despite the spell and the suit she could feel the wind really pushing hard against her side, really blowing her mane and tail wildly. She had to put some effort into flying straight and not letting the wind carry her away. Actually for all she knew the spell had already failed. It was difficult to tell. But Rainbow Dash kept chugging along through the harsh wind even as the thunder grew louder around her and flashes of lightning became more frequent. The storm was angry and she knew it would only be a minute before the real battle started. The thick clouds of dark gray and black complexion shot past faster and faster, the winds going even stronger here than the rest of the storm. Rainbow Dash had to grit her teeth as the wind pummeled her more, her wings were starting to struggle to flap normally, occasionally being pulled open for too long by the wind. Every now and then an unusual air pocket or stream would hit her, shaking her up and making her have to change her altitude. The turbulence was starting to become a real problem. She still stayed relatively high up in the storm, not quite on the level of the laboratory but above where she had first tried to enter the deeper parts. She figured it would only be a matter of time now before the other stuff came at her. Like the sideways hail and the gusts blowing into her face. “And this time I’m not gonna let that stuff get the better of me,” Rainbow Dash glared hard at the depths of the storm before her. Once again though it seems the storm heard her challenge. With a powerful rumble of thunder the wind grabbing and tearing at her increased tenfold, trying to pull her from the skies and throw her around like a ragdoll. “Oh so you’re doing this again? Well just try it!” Rainbow Dash yelled and pushed herself deeper. Now she was using that saved up energy, banking on the extra help of the suit and the spell if that was still working too. A torrent of rain came into her face, drenching her and weighing her down in an instant. The suit must be completely water proof, which made sense, and the goggles kept it out of her eyes so things were a lot better for her this time. But she was still water logged and it made her feel pretty heavy and uncomfortable. The one downside she could think of when it came to this suit so far. Still, she was able to power through the wind and rain, it was only a minor annoyance to her. The proper gear and the power of magic and technology went a long way. Of course the hail came in shortly after. Hammering into her left side in a constant rain and making her grit her teeth in pain. The hail felt sharp thanks to the speed at which the wind carried it, almost like needles being thrown into her. She saw tiny bits bouncing off the glass of her goggles and was worried for a second that it might damage some of the unprotected wires and other stuff on her suit. But she still needed to make it further, this was only about where she had been blown away on her first attempt, she had to go even deeper, right into the eye if possible. The scientists made the suit for this kind of work and Rainbow Dash trusted them that it could handle these hard knocks and then some. The pegasus from Equestria kept on her way to the eye of the storm. The very center where everything was emanating from. Perhaps thanks to her own pegasus magic or the familiarity she had after flying out here for so long she was beginning to feel like she could really feel right where it was. Like she could actually feel that insane power that was the cause of this storm, nestled in the eye. But it was still slightly far away from her and now the wind from the storm was blowing directly against her to try and keep her out. No matter where she flew, if she dipped up and down or went side to side, the wind kept coming hard right into her. This is where she failed last time. Where she was beaten by the hurricane. “Not this time!” Rainbow Dash thrummed her wings and shot through the power trying to block her way. With one blast of wind she instinctively knew she had reached deeper into the storm than ever before. And she was still going strong, used to the wind trying to take her away she could fly through it now with ease. It took a lot of her strength and she couldn’t let up on her wings at all but she could do it. Rainbow Dash could get through this storm, she knew it. In less than a minute of flying like this, beating the worst the storm was throwing at her, she made it right outside the eye of the storm. She had to pause in midair and beat her wings to keep from being carried away. Beyond the wind and moving storm clouds in front of her was a solid wall of unmoving clouds blocking off the eye from the rest of the storm. An enclave, a keep, a stronghold. Whatever was inside that mass of clouds was responsible for this unbelievable hurricane. And Rainbow Dash realized that she couldn’t go in there just yet. She had already proven to herself that she could make it, and it would take just a slight budge forward for her to go into the eye, but what then? If she actually stopped the storm right now it could have an averse affect on the lab and the tunnel city if they aren’t prepared and she’d have to fly back to the lab to return the suit and everything in the first place. The truth is she had to make sure the lab was going to be alright, and tell them that she could end things the next time she flew out after giving them the information recorded in the suit. The tunnel ponies would probably be okay with their reserve power and resourcefulness and once they noticed the storm had ended they could reel the lab back in. But for now she had to return to the lab so Cosmic Sight could make his perfect weather spell and then without the flightstuit on she’d come back to the eye and finish things for real.