Rainbow Dash appeared an inch or so off the ground. She didn't realise how fatigued and exhausted she was from her battle, her legs could barely hold her up once she touched the ground! She remained standing for a few seconds, then fell onto her back as she dropped out of Super Pony back into her base form. She vaguely recognised the ceiling she was staring up at, the eccentric murals on them. Her ears were still ringing significantly, so she didn't hear the voices calling for her. She laughed slightly, despite the pain, and closed her eyes to rest. She won, she did it; she was alive as were the rest of her friends, and that was good enough for her. She felt a hand on her shoulder, shaking her rapidly. Rainbow Dash didn't want to open her eyes again, she was tired, and everything was hurting. Still the shaking persisted, increased even. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes. She winced at first, but Rainbow Dash's eyes adjusted after a few seconds. The pony shaking her was Applejack. Fluttershy and Rarity were crowded around her too, as well as some medical staff who had begun working on Rainbow Dash almost immediately. The princesses were there too, observing from slightly further. Rainbow Dash was happy to see all her remaining friends were ok, especially Rarity. She sat up and hugged Applejack and Fluttershy, working through the pain.
"Rainbow Dash, darling, don't scare us like that again. I thought we were going to lose you too." Rarity said with a big grin across her face. Fluttershy was holding back tears, and Applejack let a few out too. Rainbow Dash managed to reply between taking laborious breaths; her throat was dry and raspy due to the volcanic fumes.
"You were pretty close too you know."
"The princesses told us y-you probably weren't gonna... make it." Fluttershy managed to stammer through her sentence before bursting into tears and hugging Rainbow Dash again. She yelped from the sharp pain in her shoulder.
"Hey, don't break me yet, I just got back." She jested. Fluttershy let go and apologised profusely, wiping her eyes. Rainbow Dash held out a hand, and the others helped her to her feet; Applejack and Fluttershy took her on their shoulders. They were directed to the Castle's medical suite, which Rainbow had seen before with Twilight. She was admitted immediately into an empty ward, and the medical staff were able to begin working properly once they got Rainbow Dash's friends to leave. They cut parts of her gi away and some started using healing magic. She was asked where she felt the most pain, which was around her torso. Her wounds were disinfected and bandaged, pain relief spells were applied to her injured areas, and she was left to heal naturally, while under round the clock care of course.
Over the next few months she had regular visits from her friends, the princesses, and at one point, even a unicorn who survived Omega's attack on Canterlot had come to leave her a gift, and properly thank her. However, after the first few months, the medical staff decided to restrict her visitation hours, and eventually stop them entirely, as all her excitement and energy would often end up being counterproductive for her recovery. Rainbow Dash spent about ten hours of the day asleep on average, as some of the healing spells required it. She still retained her massive appetite though. After two or so months she was able to get up and walk around normally, and even do a few exercises. Rainbow Dash had obtained many broken ribs, a fractured shoulder blade and a fractured collarbone during her battle with Omega; all the adrenaline going through her body must have stopped her from feeling any of it. Her ribs all took about twelve weeks to fully heal, her collarbone and shoulder blade required roughly four weeks altogether, and it took two weeks for her body to recover from the complete exhaustion. Rainbow Dash accidentally injured her leg whilst training and needed an extra three weeks to recover from that. The medical staff at Canterlot forced her to stay bedbound for another ten weeks as a precaution. Altogether, including her strength, it took Rainbow Dash's body just over a year to heal completely.
The sounds of nature filled her ears. Bushes rustled as small rodents ran through them, birds chirped their fanfare, and the wind blew quietly, calmly. She stepped out into the Royal Gardens, barefoot. Her toes felt the soft, almost carpet like grass settle around them, and the soft soil beneath. She walked slowly into the garden, paying equal attention to every aspect of her surroundings. A squirrel with a nut scurried away from her as she approached it, which bought a smile to her face with a light chuckle. The natural world never ceased to delight Rainbow Dash with its consistent randomness, and convoluted simplicity. It was always balanced, provided no external force was overbearing, and it was always at peace. She was happy she had returned to the peace and tranquillity she had known before, when she was just an ambitious and tenacious pegasus with a truly great circle of friends. When she thought about it, that's who she still was. Only differences between now and then being the immense increase in power, and the change in ambition. No longer was Rainbow Dash's dream to be a Wonderbolt, for it had become something more, something abstract, and technically unreachable; Rainbow Dash's only desire now was to be better than she was before, in any way possible. Improvement had no limit as far as she was concerned, and if there was even the tiniest bit of room for it, she'd give it a go. She took a deep breath and sighed. It was good to be home.
After a half hour or so, Rainbow Dash went back inside to her temporary accommodation. Today was her last day before she was checked out of the medical staff's care & supervision. Although she knew she'd needed to rest, she didn't enjoy being confined to a few rooms and a garden for the past year, and wanted more than anything to leave and see her friends properly again. She knew the dragon balls had been used a couple weeks ago, and that Rheagal had been able to grant all three wishes. Rainbow Dash suspected what they had been used for, but wanted to be sure. There was a knock on the door. She knew there was only one pony it could've been.
"Come in." She said. The doctor who had been checking up on her for the past year, Dr Lulla Bye came in through the door with a smile on her face.
"Morning Rainbow Dash. You're up early, well for you at least." Lulla Bye had a calming voice and piercing purple eyes. She had a platinum silver mane and tail, and ultramarine fur. She always examined her patients beyond their words. She had apparently left Canterlot's top University five years ago with a doctorate in medical sciences and a degree in clinical psychology. During the last year, Rainbow Dash and Lulla Bye had become something like... no, they truly were friends. They both trusted each other, confided in each other, and genuinely cared about one another.
"How are you feeling today? Anything out of place, or not feeling right?" She flipped through the pages on her clipboard, and levitated her quill at the ready. Rainbow Dash stretched briefly, throwing a few hits, then ignited her aura before dispersing it quickly. She smiled briefly and looked at Lulla Bye.
"I'm doing pretty good honestly, nothing feels too odd, all that sleep and few bits of exercise have paid off. Oh, and I've been eating pretty well too."
"No surprise there, knowing your appetite." She wrote quickly on her sheet of paper. "Your body has fully recovered, and you've reported that you've regained all your strength, including the supernatural portion." Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement. She was distracted from her self-inspection by a sheet of paper being offered to her along with a quill. Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow.
"Wait, what's this for?" She asked before properly reading the paper. Her heart jumped as she read the words in large, bold writing: 'Conformation of Discharge'.
"It's a form assessing the risk of discharging you from our care. In my personal and professional opinion, I believe you to be physically and psychologically ready to leave; I've already approved it, along with two nurses. However, the final decision on this has to be yours. I mean, we can't just kick you out. That'd be wrong." Rainbow Dash scoffed at that last sentence. All she had to do was sign her name and she'd be able to go out into the world again, feel truly at home again... see her friends again. Her eyes teared up slightly as she smiled.
'They must have so much to tell me...' She was about to sign the form, but something was eating at the back of her mind.
"Will I be able to see you again? I really did enjoy my time here with you. Hopefully we can catch up later?" Dr Lulla Bye was surprised at this statement, she even blushed a bit.
"I'd love to keep in touch with you down the line but I'm a very busy mare, and my work comes first. If you wanna meet up in a couple weeks, there's a new cafe in Canterlot that I've wanted to try out. You’re ... welcome to join me. If you want to, of course." Rainbow Dash contemplated the idea briefly, then signed her name swiftly. She handed the clipboard and quill back, then hugged Lulla Bye tightly.
"Just let me know when you're available, there's no way I'll be late. Promise." Lulla Bye returned the embrace, accepting the proposal and the form, before Rainbow Dash went to quickly exit her old room.
"Goodbye Rainbow Dash, let's hope you don't end up back here too soon." Lulla Bye smiled and waved her friend farewell, but quickly became disheartened.
"Aren't you gonna say goodbye too?" Rainbow Dash suddenly stopped and turned around at the doorway.
"Nah, I don't really like 'goodbye', feels too final; that’s only for ponies I don't like, and you're definitely not in that bunch. See ya soon Lulla Bye, don't miss me too much." With that, the pair parted ways.
Rainbow Dash was quick on her toes, obviously excited. She could sense that all her friends were in one place, and had been for a while. They seemed to be at the Sugarcube Corner Bakery, not much of a surprise for the eager pegasus. She exited Canterot Castle and appreciated her surroundings for a bit. The sun was high in the sky, illuminating all that was in sight with its warmth. The summer breeze blew lightly, rustling the grass and trees nearby and birds sung cheerfully, creating a beautiful cacophony of life. The pollen in the air made Rainbow Dash's nose tingle. She was about to take off in the direction of Ponyville, before an idea struck her. She closed her eyes and focused, blocking out all the sounds and sensations around her. She concentrated on her breathing, her ki, and her friends' ki as well. She put two fingers to her forehead. She wanted to test if the teleportation she had been gifted would work with ki alone, or if it was just a one time thing. She stood silently in deep concentration for almost half a minute, then heard the same distorted sounds she did back when she escaped the exploding planet, and heard her surroundings change considerably. Rainbow Dash opened her eyes to a small town, with a bustling weekend market selling fresh produce, a jewellery shop closed for lunch and the exterior of a cafe. Ponyville. At one of the tables she caught the gaze of five very familiar faces. She wasn't really surprised to see Fluttershy, Rarity or AJ, but she was no less delighted. She was knocked off balance by somepony tackling her. She looked down to see... Pinkie Pie hugging her tightly, refusing to let go. Rainbow Dash was paralysed momentarily by a plethora of emotions, she was almost too shocked to return Pinkie's embrace. She hugged the pink party animal properly, burying her face in her mane. Tears threatened to flow from Rainbow Dash's eyes. Pinkie broke the embrace with a huge smile on her face. Rainbow Dash smiled lightly after composing herself
"Hey Pinkie," She said between sniffles.
"You have no idea how much I've missed you. Hard to believe it's be- oh crap, it’s been a year since we last spoke! How's the living world been treating you?"
"Oh, it's great being back. Turns out you get a new body when you're resurrected, so the training I did in Otherworld carried over. Oh yeah, there's no food, none at all, you don't need to eat - I didn't get to eat any sort of food the whole time! So of course the first thing I did when I got back was eat until I couldn't move. Wasn't the best idea, but it was so worth it."
'Wow, I missed listening to you ramble like this...' Rainbow Dash felt her smile widen as Pinkie continued to talk to herself. She sat at the only vacant seat at the table; the five of them had been saving a seat anywhere they went for the past few weeks, just in case Rainbow Dash showed up. Her sheepish smile hadn't once left her face. She still fought back tears.
"Hey, it's alright, let it out if you need to." Rainbow Dash looked up at Twilight Sparkle, who sat almost opposite from her. A few tears finally rolled down her face. This was all 100% real, there were no tricks here - Twilight and Pinkie really were back.
"Believe me, I'm just as happy as you are." Twilight gave a loving smile along with a small, nearly unnoticeable giggle.
"It's been a while huh, everypony? So, come on what did I miss in the last few months? And don’t you even think about leaving anything out." Rainbow Dash wiped her eyes once more, before listening intently to her friends. More than anything, she was just happy to be around them like normal. The damage done to Canterlot after Omega's creation during her and Rainbow Dash's subsequent battle had almost been completely repaired. Fluttershy told her they had even started to rebuild Manehattan as well.
"How long did it take? They started rebuilding while we were training up on the gravity moon, right?" Rainbow Dash inquired.
"About 7, 8 months, right Rarity?" Applejack asked.
"That's right, but there's so much more left before everypony can live there again." Twilight mentioned that the Princesses gave a speech in Canterlot about the terror Omega had wrought, as well as informing the rest of Equestria about what had occurred the previous year.
Rainbow Dash sat at that table for hours catching up, reminiscing, joking, and laughing with all of her friends. She didn’t realise how welcoming normality could be.
'We did it. We won. Everypony's ok, Omega's dead... I almost can't believe it. I missed you guys. As long as I’m here with you all, nothing'll ruin my day. You mean the world to me, all of you.
'Wow, that was... a lot of sentimental stuff. Good thing I’m not talking aloud, that'd be kinda embarrassing. Anyways I’m starving, what should I eat?'
Celestia's sun shone radiantly high in the sky, casting its warm light onto all that it could. Although it was nearly midday, morning dew still clung to the grass and trees. Fluttershy floated about a foot off the ground, deep in meditation. The cool breeze tickled her fur, and made the grass sway quietly. Squirrels, birds and other creatures called to one another from the trees in which they lived. She was careful not to make any sudden movements as a squirrel had taken shade in her shadow, sleeping peacefully. It all helped to keep her focused and calm, the sounds of the forest animals and her own breath, the feeling of the sun on her fur, the— BOOM!! And then there was... that. Fluttershy sighed with mild annoyance, and opened her eyes. She rose in the air a bit and let her feet touch the ground, stretching a bit. The squirrel that was sleeping under her had been shocked awake and was shaking, clearly thinking about running. Fluttershy turned around and knelt in front of it.
"Hey little guy... it’s ok, it’s alright, you can go back to sleep," she offered it her finger, and stroked its head gently.
"I should probably check on them, right? You can stay or go if you like, I shouldn’t be too long." She walked slowly and quietly to not disturb the little rodent any further. She went in the direction which the loud crash came from
'I swear, I came here for peace and quiet, and a change of scenery. Why did I expect to get both when I let Rainbow Dash tag along? Oh well, at least they're having fun it sounds like.' Sweet Apple Acres was a lot greener this year; the trees bore more fruit than normal, and they were projected to lose their leaves a lot later in the year too. Fluttershy saw Apple Bloom up ahead, who had been collecting apples for most of the morning.
"Apple Bloom, sweetie, you look tired. You should probably rest a little, you've been doing this for hours now." The young filly looked up from her baskets and wiped her forehead.
"Trust me I'd love to but there's just too many; we've gotta use as many as we can or they'll just go to waste." Fluttershy commended her tenacity, briefly reminding her of her sister. Apple Bloom seemed to be a lot more motivated since she and the other crusaders earned their Cutie Marks. She always conducted herself with purpose, and tried her best to persevere regardless of setbacks. Fluttershy smiled compassionately, letting out a chuckle.
"Alright then, but please don't overwork yourself. And make sure you eat." She continued walking to the barn, the booming and crashing growing louder with each step. As she approached the large red barn, she saw Rainbow Dash hit the ground hard, digging up the soil around her. She quickly began brushing herself off and was ready to go in just a few seconds. But then something caught the corner of her eye. She turned quickly to look, and saw Fluttershy coming slowly towards her.
'Huh. I thought I saw something... else. Hmm, guess not.' Rainbow Dash ignored the confusion and greeted her friend.
"Hey Fluttershy, how come you've come over here? I thought you were meditating." Fluttershy laughed at that for some reason.
"Well I was, but I wanted to check you two were alright. You're pretty loud after all," She offered a hand to Rainbow Dash, and helped her up from the ground.
"Besides, I was doing that for a while already. I think I'll sit and watch you two now."
"Hey, feel free to join in after I mop the floor with her!" Fluttershy looked up, and saw Applejack hovering about five metres above the ground, breathing heavier than normal. Both of them were wearing their training gi. Rainbow Dash's was pretty much the same, except the orange gi was a slightly darker shade than the original. Applejack's new training clothes looked more similar to everypony else's now. She wore a dark turquoise gi with an orange belt and brown boots.
"Oh so you’re getting cocky now, huh? Don’t get comfortable yet AJ."
"Well then get back up here, you're taking your own sweet time." A smile spread across Rainbow Dash's face and she flew back up towards Applejack. They immediately continued their sparring, trading many blows with each other. Fluttershy went to sit by a tree, and leaned against it. Unfortunately, Twilight had been preoccupied with the Princesses, something about a Discordant cult causing trouble in Canterlot and the Everfree Forest. Why anypony would willingly spend their time there was beyond Fluttershy especially on a regular basis. Rarity had a deadline for a client's order to worry about as well, so she was next to impossible to convince. She wasn't able to find Pinkie for some reason, no matter where she looked, not even in the Sugarcube Corner Bakery. She would've asked them to come along too, but it would have to wait until another time. Fluttershy decided to focus on the sparring match she had ended up watching. Rainbow Dash seemed to have limited her power so it was a more even fight, and was not using the Super Pony form. She had tried to access the transformation again before, but it would still be a while until she could use it at will.
'They look like they're having fun, and if they're still up for it I might have a go after. For now though... I'm good here.' Fluttershy let out a deep sigh, relaxing her body. She felt a small weight on her lap, and looked down to see the squirrel preparing itself to sleep on her. She smiled, and stroked its fluffy tail.
'Aww, you followed me. Sorry I left you there earlier little guy, I got a little distracted. I'm not going anywhere, don't worry. Sleep well.'
The display faded to darkness as Ivory Rose got up from her seat. The tinted window panes did their best to shield her eyes from the brightness of the suns, but still allowed some through. She walked towards them and leaned on the ledge. She had been up since early morning, eager to continue her work from the day before. As she looked out over the industrial zone she saw there were others already flying about, some going to work, some leaving.
'Heh. Imagine having to leave home at this time. Almost feel sorry for you lot, flying around...' Ivory Rose slowly reached over her shoulder and touched her back lightly. She could almost feel them still.
Preparing expeditions and colonisations was always something she found exciting, but especially this one. There were a small number of highly anomalous power readings detected on the planet that appeared seemingly out of nowhere. On top of that, some of those readings were detected on Marinus Beta less than an hour before it was destroyed half a cycle ago. The target planet, apparently called Equis, had a dominant species that was practically identical to Shivoans, and had a similar population size to Shival Prime. The planet itself had a gravitational pull about ten percent that of Shival Prime, and had an orbital period matching two Shivoan cycles. Although Ivory Rose would normally just put together and supervise the colonisations, she felt it was necessary to go to this planet herself.
'I know it’s not customary, but we’re warriors first, expansionists second. There’s no way I’m gonna miss the chance to fight somepony strong enough to destroy a planet.'
Ivory Rose heard a ringtone coming from her display. She pulled herself from her imagination and made sure she was presentable. She sat back down and accepted the call. The voice of her superior greeted her.
"Good morning Ivory. I’m rather busy today so let’s get straight to the point; how far has your planning of the Equis colonisation come along?"
"Hello Moonshadow, sir. You’ll be happy to hear that I’ve essentially completed the plan. There’s just a few loose ends left to cover."
"Hmm. Good, very good," Moonshadow began.
"Given the nature of this planet and the problems you may encounter, your request to participate in this colonisation personally has been considered and approved." A smile of delight came to Ivory Rose's face. She cleared her throat and responded.
"I- wow... thank you sir. Honestly, it-"
"I’m not the one you should be thanking, it wasn’t up to me this time." Ivory Rose was taken aback at that notion. She did have an idea of who had granted her request, but didn’t want to jump to conclusions.
"Oh, ok then. May I ask... who did give me permission to go?" Moonshadow took a long pause, possibly thinking of a false response. He sighed heavily before answering.
"Prince Midnight Haze superseded my decision. We both know he’s always stuck his nose in this profession more than he should. At least in my opinion." Ivory laughed quietly and let Moonshadow talk. She couldn’t believe it. She had worked under the prince before, and considered herself to be quite close with him. And Moonshadow wasn’t wrong either, Midnight Haze had taken an interest in the expansion of the Shivoan Empire, specifically how it went on the ground, for easily a few years.
"And if you think that’s all he wants to do with this expedition you’d be mistaken. He wants to participate in it himself. You really can’t make this shit up. I mean, can you believe that? The Prince himself wants to attend a colonisation. If you ask me, his father gives him too much freedom." Ivory Rose remembered something she intended to ask her supervisor before.
"It’s not necessarily a bad thing, he’s probably the strongest pony on the planet," Ivory hesitated before continuing. "Umm... Moonshadow, I have one more small request regarding the Equis Colonisation..." She bounced her leg while she waited for a response, unable to stop it. Moonshadow sighed once more from exasperation.
"Go on..."
"Due to the high risk this planet poses to us, I would like to add somepony else to the group of elite soldiers we will be taking. A good friend of mine, who I met during my own time as an elite soldier. His name is Madcap. I thin-" Ivory Rose was cut off suddenly.
"Are you crazy? Assuming we’re talking about the same stallion, I heard he levelled an entire continent on one expedition because he was in a bad mood that day, and one of the locals dared to insulted him."
'Yeah, that sounds about right for him. Actually I think I was there on that one.'
"Now I know he sounds like a bit of a wildcard, but I assure you sir, he’ll coordinate himself with me just fine. We know each other, he’ll listen to me. Besides, whatever you’ve heard about Madcap is either the truth or an understatement." Ivory Rose knew it would take more to persuade Moonshadow.
"I was thinking we send him ahead on the colonisation by maybe one Equine cycle or so, so we leave when he gets there. He can scout it out for us, and if he encounters resistance or those anomalous power levels, he can deal with it before we get there. It’ll make the overall process a lot more... streamlined. It’s a win-win." Moonshadow was a stickler for efficiency, and liked things to be as simple as possible.
"Alright then. But since this is your suggestion, he will be your responsibility. You keep him in check, otherwise it’s your ass, not mine. The planet has a population similar to ours; if they’re willing to cooperate, then keep damage and loss of life to a minimum please."
"And what if they don’t sir?"
"Well then, thin down the population, make an example for the rest of them." Ivory Rose hoped the answer would be different, but such were the ways of the Shivoan Empire.
"Thank you sir. You won’t regret this, believe me."
"You better hope I don’t. Anyway, don’t let me stop you, get back to work. Have a good day." With that, Moonshadow ended the communication.
Ivory Rose sat back in her seat, dumbfounded. She smiled, and laughed from disbelief.
'Incredible. Not only do I get to join in again, but Madcap gets to go too. I should let him know now actually. And with the prince coming along as well there’s no doubt I’m gonna enjoy this. A yawn escaped Ivory Rose's mouth. She had hardly slept the night before, and didn’t realise how tired she was. She closed her eyes, and finally let herself sleep.