To Rainbow Dash, the scene in front of her was picturesque. Very few clouds dotted the sky, and the hills below were as lush and green as they had ever been. Birds chirped in the trees and the wind carried their song, on and on until it reached her ears.
She let out a whoop as she dived downwards, letting the ground spin upwards towards her. It wasn’t long before she slipped from the winds’ grasp and flared out her wings, coming to a full stop in front of Twilight.
“So, how was that?” she asked, wiping at her brow and panting.
The sprawling hillside around Twilight was rich and green, vibrant with a specific shade of colour. The skies were as blue as her coat, and the sun was warm and light against her fur. A stray gust of wind whipped through her mane, forcing her to bat at it to keep it down.
She turned around to see Twilight smiling. A strange look crossed her face, but it passed in a second. Twilight scribbled a note down in her notebook and nodded. “Great! That’s, uh, really good, Rainbow.”
“Well, it was a bit slower than normal,” Rainbow replied, glancing down at her chest. The burn wounds had mostly healed by now, the scars hidden beneath a thick layer of bandages “Eh, could have been worse, right? That stupid monster should have known that nothing can keep me down!”
Twilight’s smile flickered. Her quill kept moving, scratching against the paper’s surface. “Yeah, uh… yeah.” When Rainbow glanced into Twilight’s violet eyes, she swore she could see hints of fear and pain.
“Twilight? What’s wrong?”
Twilight shook her head and the look was gone. “It’s nothing, Rainbow. In fact, it looks like you’re perfectly healthy.” She flipped through her clipboard, and Rainbow noticed that it was trembling slightly in her magic. “Let me just… check your wings. Make sure everything’s alright.”
Rainbow shrugged and complied. She spread her wings out, watching as they dropped a shadow against the grass.
She felt a tingling sensation as Twilight ran her hooves through her wings, considering each feather cautiously. Rainbow shrugged and reached into the picnic basket that sat nearby. Applejack had filled it with bottles of cider and a wagonload of foodstuffs, likely the product of a long night with Pinkie.
“This week’s been a blast, Twi,” Rainbow said as she shoved an apple fritter into her mouth. “Seriously. You girls are the best.”
“At least you’re having fun,” Twilight replied.
Rainbow turned to face her. For a fleeting second she caught a glint of sorrow in Twilight’s eyes. “...Twilight? Are you mad at me or something?”
Twilight quickly shot up and shook her head. “No, no! I’m fine, Rainbow. Today is about you. Don’t worry about me anyways.”
She cleared her throat, rubbing her foreleg and letting her eyes drift to the sky. In a few seconds she spoke again. “Here… why don’t you try doing a Sonic Rainboom?”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow at that. Twilight was never the type to ask for that, in fact the last time Rainbow had done one, she received a long lecture on the cost of repairing broken windows. “Are… are you sure, Twilight?”
Twilight nodded again, her violet mane bobbing up and down. “Yeah! This is the perfect place! Come on, Rainbow! Just to make sure you’re fine!”
Rainbow shrugged and pulled her goggles back over her head. “Alright. If you say so.” With a leap, she took to the air and began to climb.
With each pump of her wings, she climbed higher and higher. Seconds flew by her, and the wind roared in her ears. Rainbow drowned it out with her adrenaline, letting the world melt away into brilliant shades of colour, determined to master the secret of the sky and make it cheer her name.
It was hard for Rainbow to explain why she loved flying. To her, it was an intimate relation between herself and the air, one that was held in regard by others and something that only Rainbow could truly understand. Each flight was different in its own unique way, making each wingbeat like a star in the sky. And Rainbow loved every second of it.
She felt the air push her goggles deeper into her face and grinned. Now was the time. With a final burst of speed, the blurs around her took colours: brilliant, iridescent shades that shimmered and reflected in her wake. A beautiful rainbow streaked across the sky, cutting through the clouds and nipping at her rear hooves.
And then came the explosion. Rainbow was going so fast that she couldn’t hear it, but looking down she knew it was there. The leaves shook and the trees trembled, as the discharge of wind wreaked havoc on the ground below her.
Rainbow Dash laughed. She pulled herself upwards and began spiraling, letting herself burn off the excess speed. As she slowed, the colors began to fade away and the world took shape again.
And as she headed back to where Twilight sat in the grass, she felt very tired.
Rainbow stumbled to a halt in front of her, the ground spinning slightly below her hooves.
“Are you alright, Rainbow?” Twilight asked, rushing to her side.
“Y-yeah, just fine,” Rainbow said, rubbing her eyes. “Kinda winded.”
Twilight guided her over to the base of a tree, propping her back up against it and stroking her mane. “Here, rest,” she said soothingly.
Rainbow nodded, accepting an offered bottle of water. She raised a hoof to her forehead only to find that it was matted with sweat. And even though the sun beat down upon her fiercely, she was suddenly feeling very cold.
The world was still beautiful, though.
Rainbow turned to Twilight, offering a smile. “Guess that… stupid monster took… more out of me than I thought,” she muttered.
Twilight nodded absently, her eyes faraway.
“Don’t you… want to know how I’m feeling or something?”
“Oh. Right, sure,” Twilight answered. She seized her quill in her magic again and it seemed to dance of its own accord. “So? How are you… feeling?”
Rainbow’s grin wavered slightly. “Kinda… numb. Doesn’t really hurt. I’m… really tired though.”
“Tired,” echoed Twilight. The wind shifted her paper slightly, and Rainbow caught a hint of her notes.
Mysterious entity… leave them stunned… powerful… rapidly deteriorate…
A shudder ran down Rainbow’s spine and she felt very cold.
“Just rest, Rainbow,” Twilight said.
Rainbow reached for her hoof. “Twilight… what…”
Twilight didn’t look her in the eye but squeezed her hoof. “Shhh. It’s okay, Rainbow. It’s okay. I’m here. Just rest for a little. Sleep.”
Rainbow felt her eyelids droop. “I… I’m going to be okay. Right, Twi?”
“Yes, Rainbow. You’re going to be great.”
Rainbow shut her eyes and sighed. She didn’t notice as teardrops caressed Twilight’s cheeks, before they fell to the grass and mixed with the morning dew.
XXX
“The Voyager is a mysterious entity with an unbelievable amount of power.”
The wind blew gently through Twilight’s mane, carrying her voice deeper into the valley. She blinked, the phrases from the Ancient Book of Mythical Creatures now burned into her mind.
“While at first its hits may daze a victim and leave them stunned, the true effects occur far below the surface.”
A leaf fell from the branch above her, gently cascading towards the ground. Twilight watched it with her eyes but made no move to stop it.
“Any creature hit by a blast from the Voyager’s horn will appear normal and healthy for about the span of a week. From there, their health will rapidly deteriorate until the radiation involved in the Voyager’s magic strikes at their heart. This radiation is comparable to a slow-acting venom, and there is no cure once a victim has been hit.”
The tears stained the ground in front of her as she sat there, wind blowing by her face.
“In ancient Equestrian culture, ponies struck by a Voyager blast were often given a ceremony that translates roughly to “The Best Day Ever,” in which they enjoy their favorite foods and activities surrounded by their friends and families before they succumb to the radiation…”
She paused, looking to her right. Twilight reached out and ran a hoof through her friend’s multicolored mane, wavering in the wind. “... and die,” she whispered.
Twilight shakily stood to her hooves, shivering slightly. The sun was shining bright above Ponyville today, and the last traces of the early morning dew were evaporating into the air. The birds were chirping from the trees and the world seemed drenched in colour.
It was the best day ever, or the worst day ever, depending on how one framed it.
Twilight walked down the hill alone.