//------------------------------// // The Fastest Mare Alive Vol. 1: Rogues: Issue #1: The Scarlet Speedster // Story: MLDC: The Justice League of Equestria - Omnibus 1 // by littleman001 //------------------------------// "Windy! Slow down a little!" Bow Hothoof called out to his wife who was flying several meters ahead of him. Windy Whistles merely chuckled in response. "Slow down? Honey, we don't know the meaning of that word." She replied, increasing her speed. They have often done this. At the end of a tiring day, they loved to go flying together. Just going with the wind. And sometimes it got a little competitive between them. But something had changed in the past few months. The past nine months to be precise. "Honey! You're pregnant and the foal could arrive anytime! You shouldn't be pushing yourself!" Bow yelled, but once again his words fell on deaf ears. "Nonsense, darling! I feel great and at least this way, our filly will be born with a winner's mentality! Ow!" Windy suddenly stopped mid-air as she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. "Windy!" Bow yelled in panic, finally conjuring up the energy to catch up with his wife. "Are you alright?" He asked, gently placing his hooves on her belly. Windy just chuckled in response. "I'm fine, Bow." She replied reassuringly. "It was just a kick. She's so fiesty already." She said, rubbing her swollen belly affectionately, but then she winced in pain again. Bow was not reassured in the slightest. "That's it! We are going back down and that's final!" He didn't like to use such firm tone with his wife, but it wasn't just about her anymore. She had a daughter to think about too. But Windy still wasn't concerned. "Oh, come on, Bow!" The mare pleaded. "I'll be fine! And she will be too! Honestly, you worry too much!" She waved off his concerns and kept flying. "And you don't worry enough, dear!" Her husband replied as he caught up with her. At least Windy finally slowed down and the the two of them were back to just leisurely flying through the air, but Bow still had a very bad feeling in his stomach. The weather teams had very clear instructions not to leave any clouds on the sky for the evening, but in the distance, he couldp still see a rather ominous looking dark one that seemed to be growing in size and even more alarmingly, heading towards the pair of soon to be parents. "Windy, I really think we should start heading back. I don't like the look of that cloud." Windy rolled her eyes. "Honey, what did I just say about worrying too much? It's gonna take more than just one ugly storm cloud to ruin our romantic evening flight." Bow tried to calm his mind but all he could think about was that cloud. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that it was following them. His thoughts were interrupted by a booming sound coming from inside the cloud and he turned back to see bright yellow lights flickering inside it, as well as yellow sparks of electricity all around it. The stallion raised an eyebrow. 'Yellow lightning? How is that...' "Bow, look out!" His wife's warning drew Bow's attention back to where he was flying just in time to avoid crashing into a tree. "Are you okay?" She asked as she went to check on him. Bow smiled gently. "Now who's worrying too much, dear?" He asked teasingly, causing his wife's to roll her eyes. "Well if you're too distracted to watch where you're going, I'm clearly worrying enough." She quipped before sighing. "I think we've really had enough flight for today. Let's go home!" Bow nodded in agreement and the two pegasi began to descend towards the ground. Just before they landed, Bow heard the storm cloud over them roar again with thunder, even louder this time. The stallion grew increasingly worried and just wanted to get his pregnant wife home before they were caught in an unscheduled storm. One thing was for certain, he will make a huge complaint to the leader of the weather patrol tomorrow. Little did he know at the time, but by tomorrow morning, the weather will be the least of his worries. CRACK-BOOM! A yellow lightning bolt hit the ground between the couple, forcing both of them on the ground. Bow was relatively unharmed. Apart from the shock, he didn't feel affected by the phenomenon at all. But the painful cries and moans of a female voice near him let him know that his wife was not doing so well. "WINDY!" Bow immediately sprung up from the ground and flew to the mare's side. She was badly burned, her mane was standing up and she was grabbing her pregnant belly in pain. "No." Bow muttered in terror as he checked Windy's body for lifesigns, his worry growing tenfold when he barely found any. "No, no, NO! Windy, speak to me!" "B... Bow..." Windy groaned slowly in agony. "I'm... sorry. You were... right. You were right... the whole time." She stuttered as tears began to flow from her eyes. "Shh, it's alright!" Bow hushed his wife as he took her hooves in his. "Don't worry about any of that now. Save your strength, we'll have to get you to a hospital!" "Our foal!" Windy cried out suddenly, leaning up into her husband's face. "Forget about me! Make sure to save our baby!" "Don't talk like that!" Bow replied, caressing her muzzle. "I won't lose either of you! Now, hang on!" He got his wife onto his back and flew off into the direction of the hospital, faster than he ever flew in his entire life. He didn't even notice two yellow orbs of electricity in the storm cloud that eerily resembled a pair of eyes watching them go. Bow Hothoof sat in the hospital waiting room, feeling more agitated than ever before. It had been hours since they have taken Windy to the operating room. Not only was the mare struggling for her own life, but also for the life of their little filly. And from what he heard, the trauma Windy suffered had induced the birth and within such dire consequences, there was an increased chance of a stillbirth. Bow pressed his eyes shut as he buried his face into his hooves. But he couldn't bring himself to cry anymore. He had ran out of tears. If he lost both his wife and his foal, he wouldn't be able to survive that. He was snapped out of his despair by a cough and he looked up to see a nurse, a blue unicorn mare with black mane standing in front of him. And from the look on her face, he could already tell that she had bad news. "Mr. Hothoof?" The nurse asked on a sad voice. "Yes. That's me." The stallion replied, standing up. "I am nurse First Aid. Your wife's operation and the delivery are finished." Dread took hold of Bow's heart as he prepared himself for the nurse's next words. "How are they? Please, tell me they're not..." His voice cracked as the worst thought occurred to him. "Please... tell me they're not..." The nurse sighed. "Your foal had been born with stable life signs and surprisingly good health, given the... unusual labor." Bow let out a sigh of in relief as a huge weight has been taken off his chest. But one more still remained. "Your wife on the other hoof..." Bow's eyes snapped back open in fright. "What about her?" The nurse's head dropped. "I'm afraid her body just couldn't handle the labor combined with the damage she suffered." She told the stallion, unable to look him in the eye. "She is still in the ICU but in her current condition, she has no chance to make a recovery. I offer you my sincerest condolences, sir." The whole world stopped around Bow. She praised Celestia for her daughter's survival but the realisation that his wife was on her deathbed caused him unbearable pain. He completely broke down and returned to his seat, somehow finding more tears to shed for the love of his life. The nurse's heart shattered along with the stallion's. Sharing devastating news with relatives was an occupational hazard in her line of work and she had done more than she cared to remember, but it never got any easier. "She... She would like to see you, sir." The nurse added, causing Bow to look back at her. "She may... not have much time left. I suggest you go to her right now." Those words the only words Bow needed to hear. He left his seat so fast that the nurse didn't even see him move. Bow easily found his way to the ICU. He has been in this hospital several times due to many unfortunate accidents of his own. Some of them have been pretty bad but none of them could have prepared him for what he was about to see. The usually happy mare so full of life was reduced to a broken and burned body lying in a bed and wired to a heart monitor. If it was possible, it broke Bow's heart even further. Even if the heart monitor indicated otherwise, Windy already looked like she was dead, but she still head enough strength to look up at her husband. "Bow..." She moaned weakly. The stallion immediately ran to her side and grabbed her hooves. "Shh..." He soothed her, putting a hoof to her mouth. "Save your strength! You have to make it through this! For our baby!" But the mare merely shook her head. "No. It's too late for that." Windy said before letting out a fit of coughs. "I'm so sorry, honey. You were right. I wasn't careful enough. And our baby nearly died because of it." "But she didn't." Bow told her, squeezing her hooves more tightly. "She's alright. And you will be too." "No, Bow." Windy replied. "We both know that won't be the case. I'm sorry I have to leave you like this and I'm sorry I won't be able to be there for our filly." Tears welled up in Bow's eyes once more. "Don't talk like that!" He said, unable to hold them back any longer. Even though he knew his wife was right, he wasn't ready to accept it. "Bow, please promise me that you'll take good care of her! Love her like the last living part of me! I know it will be hard, but if anypony can do it, it's you." She pleaded, finding the strength to put on a small smile. "After all, our family are winners." Bow actually managed to smile back, even with the tears still flowing. "That we are, darling. I promise you that I will be the best father I can possibly be." "Thank you." Windy replied with her last strength, nuzzling into her husband's muzzle. Bow returned the gesture as sobs wrecked his body. "We... We didn't even get to name her." He cried. "Rainbow Dash." She replied so weakly that her husband barely heard her. Bow pulled away and looked down at her in surprise. "What was it?" Windy looked back up at him with the same weak but gentle smile. "Her name is Rainbow Dash. The moment I saw her, I just knew it. When you'll see her for the first time, you will too." Bow pondered on that name for a few seconds before smiling himself. "Rainbow Dash. I like that." He said softly, but his momentary joy over the name of his daughter was broken by another pained moan from his wife. "Windy!" The mare lost the grip on his hoof and fell back on the bed. In that moment, Bow knew that she only had moments left. "Please, take good care of her." She pleaded with her last breath. "And let her know her mother loves her. More than anything." Bow managed to fight his tears back and steel his face. "I will. I promise." He vowed, kissing Windy one last time. With that promise, the mare smiled in content. "Thank you... I... I love..." She never finished. Her body didn't allow her to. The beeps of the heart monitor stopped and Windy went limp before she stopped breathing altogether. Bow gently carassed his wife's lifeless face. He was full of sorrow and pain, but he didn't want to cry anymore. There was something more important than his own pain. More important than anything. He stood up and saw the unicorn nurse standing in the door and watching them with tears streaking down her own cheeks as well. Bow managed to summon enough strength to over to her. "Please..." He spoke, struggling to to find his voice. "Take me to my daughter." The nurse wiped away her tears and turned around. "Follow me!" In a minute, the two ponies arrived to the nursery room. Bow looked inside and it didn't take him long until he spotted the little blue filly with the rainbow colored mane lying inside the incubator. His face lit up with pride as he took in her appearance. "You were right, Windy." He spoke softly. "She really is Rainbow Dash. She really is her father's daughter." He then turned to the nurse. "When can I take her home?" "Given her..." She struggled to find the right words. "...troubled birth, we would like to keep her in for a few more days for observation. Just to make sure the lightning strike didn't cause any damage to her." Bow wasn't happy to hear that but he understood, so he reluctantly nodded. "Of course." It didn't feel right to say those last two words. When will he be able to look into her baby girl's eyes? To hold her in his hooves? It took tremondous restrain not to break through this window and pick up the now half-orphan filly, squeeze her to his chest and tell her that everything will be alright. Bow found himself an empty seat across the corridor and sat down. With the recent passing of his wife, his little filly remained his only solace and his only ray of hope. He will remain here by her side as long as he had to. "Sir, I think you should go home. She will remain in isolation for days." The nurse insisted, but the stallion was having none of it. "I'm not leaving her." He told her firmly. "Are you sure?" The nurse asked in concern but Bow remained undeterred. "I'm NOT leaving her." He reapated more forcefully. The nurse saw that she won't be able to change his mind and was forced to give in. "Fine. I will bring you a pillow and a blanket." Bow quitely thanked her as she left before turning to look back at her daughter through the window. "Don't worry, my little rainbow." He whispered. "Everything will be alright. Daddy will never leave you." Bow was so focused on the filly resting in the incubator that he didn't even notice when the nurse came back with the blanket and wrapped it around him. Nothing else existed for him but his baby. "I will never leave you" He repeated before he finally allowed his exhaustion to take him. When Bow woke up the next morning, he could almost make himself believe that what happened the previous day was just a nightmare. If it wasn't for the pain still stinging so strongly. His heart still aching was a terrible reminder that everything he remembered was real. Windy was gone and now he only had his daughter. His daughter in the nursery. He got up to see her just as the nurse from yesterday arrived, pushing a cart full of baby supplies. "Ah, good morning, Mr Hothoof." She greeted, grabbing a few bottles full of milk and placing nipples on top of them. "Please, just call me Bow." The stallion responded before looking back at his daughter. "How is she doing?" "She had slept through the whole night thankfully." She replied reassuringly. "There have been no complications so far. It's time for her first breakfast." Bow's fatherly instincts kicked in upon hearing that. "Don't you think I should be the one feeding her? I'm her father and I will be doing it regularly in the future." The nurse smiled in understanding. "I see your point, Bow, but this is hospital regulation. But I promise if she goes until the afternoon without any problems, I will arrange for you to spend some time with her." Bow returned the smile gratefully as he watched her push the cart inside the nursery. Rainbow Dash was the first foal she approached. She was still asleep so she knew she had to be gentle. "Hello there, sweetie!" She called out to her. Rainbow Dash yawned before opening her eyes and looking up at the unicorn. She observed her for a few moments before noticing the bottle in her hoof and reaching out towards it while whimpering. First Aid chuckled. "Hungry, aren't you? Well, we can easily fix that." She picked the little filly up and placing the bottle in her mouth. Bow watched through the window as the nurse fed his baby girl. His face reflected pure bliss as he watched her feed with content, but it was soon replaced with stunned surprise when he saw the milk inside the bottle disappear into her mouth in less than a second. First Aid was similarly shocked by this, but shrugged it off as the bottle being half empty. "What the... I thought I had this bottle full!" She cried out in disbelief. "I'm sorry, sweetie. I'll give you another one." She did just that but she made sure the next bottle was full before giving it to her. But the result was the same. The content of the bottle disappeared into the foal's mouth in less than a second before the baby released a healthy burp to signal she was full. She took no notice of the nurse's dumbstruck expression and just gurgled happily in her leg before her gaze fell on the stallion peeking in through the window. She instantly felt a connection with him and reached out towards him with her forelegs, much to Bow's joy. "I know, honey." First Aid sighed. "You want daddy, but I'm afraid we can't let you out of the incubator just yet. I'm sorry." She then placed Rainbow Dash back into the incubator before attending to the other babies. The rainbow maned filly looked very disappointed about the denial and kept reaching out towards her father longingly. The sight broke Bow's heart. Rainbow then attempted to crawl out of the incubator, much to her father's alarm as it was pretty high up for a newborn, but thankfully, Nurse First Aid noticed what she was doing in time to stop her. "Oh, no you won't, young filly!" She said as she went to pick Dash up and put her back into the incubator. "Like it or not, you are staying here for the next few days!" Rainbow Dash frowned in frustration. It was becoming clear that even at such a young age, she didn't like being told no. After First Aid attended to all the foals, she headed towards the exit. As she was about to close the door, she felt a sudden gust of air brushing past her. Dismissing it as the wind, she closed the door and turned to leave but found herself stunned when she saw little Rainbow Dash standing in front of her and looking up at her cheekily before giving her her best impression of a raspberry and running to her father. Bow was just as surprised as the nurse. He didn't even see his daughter move and now she was standing in front of him, looking up at him with adoring eyes. Despite his earlier eagerness to see his daughter, Bow was unsure what to do now. Driven by fatherly instinct, he reached down and picked her up. The filly immediately relaxed in her father's embrace and nuzzled into his chest before going back to sleep. "How did she..." First Aid asked once she got over her shock enough to find her words. "Even the finest Wonderbolts can't move this fast and she is just an infant!" "Well, the winner mentality runs in our family." Bow chuckled as he rocked his daughter. "But I don't think she needs the incubator anymore." First Aid wanted to argue but as she saw how happy the family looked, she didn't have the heart to. Bow sat back down in his chair and held his daughter close and Rainbow Dash snored happily in his hooves. Bow gently caressed her mane with a warm smile. He could already tell that his girl was destined for great things. A few days later, Bow and Rainbow were finally allowed to leave the hospital. Bow felt simultaneously relieved and bitter about it. On the one hoof, he was eager to finally take his daughter home, on the other, this meant that he now had to start arranging his wife's funeral. Not a task many stallions looked forward to. As Bow was flying towards his home in Cloudsdale, Rainbow was sitting in a foal pouch hanging from his father's chest. She was already in awe of everything around her. The clouds, the birds, the wind ruffling her tiny mane, she soaked in every new sight and experience with glee. For Bow, it was a pleasant distraction from the depressing reality he was dealing with. His daughter was a real bundle of joy and ray of sunshine in these dark times. During their flight home, he found himself being sidetracked by the inquisitive filly demanding him to go check something out up close on more than one occasion. They were almost at home when he once again heard Rainbow Dash squeal in excitement in her pouch. He rolled his eyes in amusement, knowing exactly what this meant. "What are you seeing now, my little rainbow?" He looked down at his daughter to see her pointing with all of her hooves towards something while looking so enthusiastic Bow was afraid she might burst. He looked towards the place she was pointing at and smiled. "Yeah, I had a feeling that might catch your eye." He chuckled. Rainbow Dash was pointing at a Wonderbolts training camp where a large group of ponies were gathered to witness the latest flight practice of the fastest pegasi in Equestria. Bow felt Rainbow's impatient tugs getting stronger and chuckled. "OK, OK, we'll go see them!" Bow flew down and landed next to the crowd watching the performance. Rainbow Dash was in awe at the fast soaring pegasi and their breathtaking maneuvers. Nothing she saw so far even came close to comparing to this. Once the ponies finished performing, they landed in front of the crowd to thunderous applause. But the show wasn't yet over. Bow felt his daughter squirm in her pouch as the Wonderbolts lined up on the ground for another friendly race. It was almost as if she wanted to join them. She started to whine and and tug at her father's mane while pointing at the racers. "Yes, I see them, honey." Bow replied, but he thought Rainbow just wanted to know more about them. "They are the Wonderbolts. The fastest fliers in Equestria. Maybe one day, you can become one of them." He chuckled. Petting her daughter's head. But Rainbow didn't want to wait. She wanted to become one of them now. She wanted to go to them and show them just what she was made of more than anything. And her body obeyed her will. She felt the things inside her body speed up so much that they were almost producing electricity. She wiggled inside her pouch and with the acceleration of her cells, she managed to phase through the fabric. When she landed on the ground, she immediately bolted off into the direction of the racers just as the start signal was given. The pegasi took off at breakneck speed befitting their reputation. But unbeknownst to them, there was one more contestant among them. One who made all of them look like snails in comparison. And she wasn't even a week old yet. Rainbow ran so fast that the whole world seemed to be moving in slow motion around her. So fast that nopony saw her moving. By the time the racers reached the finish line, the filly ran dozens of laps around the track without anyone noticing. Rainbow tried to expand her wings a few times, mimicking the older pegasi, but since she was just a filly, she couldn't take flight just yet. But even without them, she was much faster. She only came to a stop when she saw the other ponies do the same. The crowd erupted into deafening cheers as they celebrated the winner. Rainbow Dash didn't see who that was but she didn't care either. In her mind, these ponies were all cheering for her. She ran back to her father in excitement and proudly jumped up to pull on his mane and gain his attention. Much like the other ponies in the crowd, Bow also didn't see his daughter flying around the track at the speed of light and merely assumed she somehow fell out of the pouch. "Rainbow, are you OK?!" He yelled as he picked up his daughter and checked her for any injuries. When he didn't see any, he put the filly down and checked the pouch. "How did you fall out of it? I don't see any holes! But just to be safe, I'll better take you home in my hooves." He said before picking Dash up and taking off once the show was over. Rainbow Dash didn't hear her father's complaints. In her mind, he was also cheering for her and held her up both as a sign of his pride and to show off the real winner. Today, Rainbow Dash got her first taste of speed and victory. And it was only the beginning. Two weeks have passed since Rainbow's invisible triumph at the Wonderbolts training ground. Bow hated himself for it, but couldn't spend as much time with her as she needed. Since she was just a newborn, she required constant attention and since a funeral was a costly thing, he had no money to hire a foalsitter. So as he had to fly left and right to arrange the funeral, he had no choice but to take Rainbow with him wherever he went. One day while Bow was trying to find the perfect coffin for his beloved Windy at a funeral home in Ponyville, little Rainbow was sitting in her foal carriage and playing with a Wonderbolt plushie. She had been fascinated by the stunt fliers ever since she first saw them on her way home form the hospital. She was currently waving the plush pony around her head, imitating flight, until it accidentally slipped through her hooves and fell on the ground. The filly whined and groaned for her father to retrieve the toy, but he was too busy talking to the mortitian, so Rainbow had to get her toy back herself. Eventually, she managed to wiggle her way out of the safety belt and crawled over to the plushie, but before she could grab it, a bird suddenly dropped down from above and snatched it from her before taking off towards the forest. An ordinary foal would have just sat there and cried her heart out about losing her favourite toy, but Rainbow Dash was far from an ordinary filly. She narrowed her eyes at the thieving bird and gave chase. With her super speed, she easily caught up with the bird, but it was very high up and she couldn't reach it. She had to slow down enough to allow the bird to move with enough speed to stay ahead of her. She frowned. Even the thought of slowing down and allowing someone to stay ahead of her felt unbearable to her. Finally, the bird stopped and landed on a tree branch over her where it's nest was located. It didn't seem to be aware of the filly's presence and Rainbow planned to take full advantage of that. She gathered all of her strength into her hind legs and sped up once again before pushing herself away from the ground. The bird didn't even realise what was happening. All it saw was that the plushie was no longer in it's beak, nor in it's nest. Rainbow Dash was still in the air with the plushie in her hooves and sped off to make sure the bird won't be able to find her again. Unfortunately, she was so eager to get away from the bird that she didn't notice she was heading deeper into the woods. And she was so pleased with getting her toy back that she also forgot to watch where she was going. Despite her super speed, she ended up tripping in one of the branches which broke her pace and sent her rolling on the ground and crashing into something. Said something was rather soft so she was glad at first, until she heard an angry growl from behind her. She looked up with a gasp and saw that she was lying under and grown adult bear that didn't look very happy about the uninvited guest. Rainbow's survival instincts instantly kicked in and she attempted to flee, but her hooves and her wings were both injured in the tumble she took and she collapsed from the pain. As the bear prepared to strike, all Rainbow could do was shut her eyes, hold the plushie close to her face and cry as she prepared herself to the inevitable end to her short life. But instead of the bear's claws or fangs, all she felt was a gust of wind brush past her that was so hard it almost completely lifted the filly off the ground. But even more strange was the feeling of electricity that accompanied it. The very same electricity that she felt within herself whenever she ran really fast. She then heard a loud thud coming from in front of herself where the bear was earlier and for a brief moment she believed she had been saved, so she dared hersef to open her eyes. Only to wish she didn't. The bear lying in front of her was not only dead but it's demise came from an injury that would have made a veteran, battle hardened royal guard throw up. For a two week old filly, it was a nightmare come true. A huge hole was blown into the bear's chest, looking like a pony sized cannon bull burst through him. Blood and internal organs were lying all around the carcass and the bear's eyes, while devoid of life were still wide open from the shock. Rainbow's attention was only drawn away from the bloodshed when she noticed a cloud of dark yellow energy flashing and vibrating over the bear's body with small electric sparks surging around it. But the most astounding thing was the figure moving around inside the cloud. A yellow clad body was moving inside with incredible speed, generating all of that energy. Rainbow Dash was fascinated by the phenomenon, until she saw something that replaced her awe with terror: two yellow orbs filled with electricity that resembled eyes looked down at her and Rainbow could immediately feel the malice and animosity in them. Her fear was only increased when she saw a set of teeth appearing beneath the orbs and gave the filly a demented grin. This was too much for the filly. She finally lost all of her remaining composure and passed out. The next time she came to, she was back in a place she knew all too well, for she spent the first half of her life so far, the hospital she was born in. As she came to, the last terrifying image she saw came back to her and scared the sleep out of her eyes. She turned to look left and right until she found her plush toy lying next to her. With a whimper, she reached for the toy and pulled it close in a vain attempt to calm herself down. Her small cries got the attention of another pony in the room. "Rainbow Dash!” Bow Hothoof cried before scooping his daughter up into an embrace. "Thank Celestia you are alright! What were you thinking wondering off like that?! You should be grateful that whatever got that bear didn't kill you too!" He scolded before breaking out in tears. "I already lost your mother! I can't lose you too!" Rainbow, being a young filly didn't understand the scolds. She was just happy to be inside her father's embrace where she felt safe. Even though she was wide awake, she still felt haunted by the pony inside the lightning. She knew she wasn't going to forgot that image anytime soon and it will return to haunt her in her dreams. She wished she could tell her father about it. Maybe he would understand. Maybe he could offer some consolation. Maybe he could put her mind at ease. But all she could do right now was bury her face into Bow's neck and allow his familiar warmth to course through her. It was small comfort at best, but for the moment, it was all she had. And it was working. She sighed in contentment and was about about to fall back asleep... ...that was until she felt the familiar gust of wind coupled with electricity hit her again. Rainbow's eyes widened in fright as she looked around for the source. Bow noticed the filly's terror and became intensely concerned. "Raibow?! What's wrong, sweetie?" Rainbow couldn't answer of course, but the terrified look on Rainbow's face aimed towards the corner of the room behind him was all the answer he needed. He turned around and his eyes widened when he saw something resembling a stormcloud growing out of nowhere in the corner. But the most shocking thing about it was the yellow lightning surging around it. It looked exactly the same as the one he saw the night Windy died. It's sight alone was enough to make Bow completely block down as the unpleasant memories returned and so he could not react when a yellow lightning bolt struck out of the cloud, straight at the stallion. The resulting shockwave was big enough to knock Bow off his hooves and drop Rainbow Dash. The filly reached out toward her father and cried screamed. Bow looked back at her with sorrow and regret in his eyes as his body began to turn black and was eventually reduced to ashes in front of her eyes. Rainbow backed away in horror before she rached the wall. All she could do now was stare helplessly at the cloud as the same predatory grin it did in the forest before launching itself at the filly with incredible speed as everything went black. "AAAGGGH!" Rainbow Dash screamed as she woke up in cold sweat. She looked around and saw that she was safe in her room. Sighing in relief, she fell back on her pillow and wept. It happened again. She had that very same nightmare that has been haunting her ever since that fateful night in the forest. No matter how hard she was trying to forget it, when a young filly sees something as disturbing as she did back then, it's going to traumatize her for life. Her father has been trying his best to help her cope. Needless to say, he wasn't quite accepting of the idea about a “pony in the lightning” as his daughter constantly described the event and the nightmares it inspired once she learned to talk. It took quite a lot of time for Rainbow to sleep through a whole night without waking up screaming like she did just now. And she already knew what was gonna happen next. She heard her bedroom door opening and looked up to see her father standing there with worry in his eyes. One look at Rainbow immediately told him everything he needed to know. It wasn't the first time he saw her like this. "Again, Rainbow?" He sighed. Rainbow looked donw in shame and nodded. Bow walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. "Hey, don't be embarrassed. It's been your longest streak without one of these nightmares. I think this calls for another trophy." He smiled down at her happily. Rainbow wiped away a tear and chuckled. "No, thanks. I think the trophy I'll get today for making it to my first day of school is enough." Bow smiled and ruffled the filly's mane. "That's my little winner!" He cheered. "Now get ready for breakfast! You don't want to be late on you first day of school, do you?" Rainbow stuck out her chest and put on a brave face. "A winner is never late!" She shouted full of enthusiasm. Bow nodded. "You know it!" He replied before flying out the door. As soon as the door closed, she dropped her bravado. She didn't want to worry her father too much, but as she grew older and more mature, this recurring nightmare began to worry her more and more. She still remembered that day like it was only yesterday. And no matter how much Bow tried to convince her otherwise, she knew what she saw that day was real. And an ominous feeling in her stomach told her she hadn't seen the last of it. Eventually, she managed to forgot about her dream and headed downstairs to have breakfast. Bow was already preparing pencakes for her. The breakfast of champions as they both called it. The pancakes were quickly devoured before the two ponies got to putting on the filly's school uniform. "I hate these stupid uniforms!" Why do we even have to wear them? We don't even wear clothes most of the time!" "I wish I could answer that, sweetie." Bow shrugged. "I guess it is just one of life's big mysteries." The uniform was fairly basic in design. A red vest with the school's logo on it over a white shirt and a red tie with a black skirt over her flank. "It itches." Rainbow complained as she wiggled around to ease the irritating feeling. "Rainbow, please behave yourself!" Bow reprimanded. "And don't tear your uniform! Nopony will see you as a winner in torn clothes." "In these clothes, nopony will see me as a winner at all." Rainbow growled. When they stepped out the door, Bow didn't know that his daughter's uniform would suffer more than just a tear that day in the most fantastic way. Bow was still very much unaware of her daughter's abilities. The past five years have passed without any significant incidents. But today that was all going to change. As they passed a nearby cloud house, they saw a pegasus mare encouraging a small orange filly with pink mane to take flight. She was flapping her wings rather clumsily and didn't look like she was having much luck taking off. "Come on, Scootaloo! You can do it!" The mare cheered at the struggling youngster. Next to her, an earth pony mare was watching them from a small, two person air balloon. She didn't look so confident. The worry in her eyes was clear. "I don't know, Lofty. Maybe this is a little high for her to take her first flight." The mane named Lofty just waved off her concerns. "Nonsense, Holiday! Have a little more faith in our little niece!" But Lofty's faith ended up being misplaced. As the two mares argued about whether or not it was a good idea to let the filly fly so young, Scootaloo's tiny wing flaps managed to carry her over the edge of the cloud, but that was as far as her wings could carry her. When Lofty and Holiday turned back to the filly, their piercing screams flew through the air as they saw Scootaloo's wings give out and she began to fall towards the ground several hundred hooves below. Bow and Rainbow also heard the screams and turned to see what was happening. The stallion's eyes widened at the sight, but the filly was falling too fast for him or anypony to catch. Except for one. For Rainbow Dash, once she caught sight of the falling filly, the whole world slowed down around her. She felt an instinct take over her mind as her body began to vibrate at incredible speed. And then she moved, blasting off from where she was standing like a rocket. The fabric of her uniform shattered as she burst through it, spread her wings and dove after the filly. She caught up with her with no effort and what she saw astonished her. There was no fear or panic on her face, only pure determination. Even though she knew she was falling to her death, she refused to give up. She was still flapping her wings in a vain attempt to break her fall. If she was gonna go out, she was gonna go out fighting. In a way, Rainbow saw a little bit of herself in this filly. And she wouldn't have been happy if somepony helped her when she was determined to succeed at something on her own. But no matter how impressed she was by her bravery, she knew she won't be able to fly on her own at this age. Especially with those slightly deformed looking wings of hers. And she couldn't allow her to fall down. She reached out and took the filly into her hooves before flying up, back towards the clouds. She felt the filly squirm in her hold and looked down to see her looking up at her. Her lips slowly curled upwards into a smile as their eyes connected. And she smiled back. Apparently, this little filly liked her too. She looked up at her admiringly like she was her hero or cool big sister. Rainbow really liked it. But it was cut short when she saw that she reached the cloud where the two mares who watched over the filly were still standing with the exact same horrified screams on their faces. For them, not even a single second had passed since Rainbow entered her super speed mode. She dropped the filly by Holiday's hooves in the air balloon's basket and returned to her father's side before resetting her body to normal speed. Holiday saw her niece sitting in front of her and gurgling happily. Naturally she was confused about how she managed to get back up so fast by herself, but it was quickly washed away by the immense relief she felt over her safety. "SCOOTALOO!" Holiday screamed before picking her up and squeezing her against her chest. "Thank Celestia you're alright! Oh, it's a miracle!" She cried as she peppered the filly's face with kisses. "But... how?" Lofty wondered, but before she could ponder on it any further, Holiday snapped at her. "I don't care! All I care about is that she's back in my hooves safe and sound!" She yelled at the pegasus with a glare. "This was the last time I let you take her out flying up here! From now on, you'll move to Ponyville with me where I can keep my eyes on her!" Bow didn't hear anything from the two mare's argument. He was looking down at Rainbow Dash who was standing over her torn school uniform with the speed energy still vibrating around her with complete and utter shock. He had seen everything. Or more precisely, he didn't because it happened so fast, but he could piece it together. All Rainbow Dash could do was smile up at him nervously. She knew had a lot of explaining to do. In the following years that passed since Rainbow Dash saved Scootaloo from falling to her death and her father found out about her super speed, they spent all of their free time training her. It didn't take him long to connect the dots and realise that the same lightning that killed his wife was responsible for this uncanny ability. And since Bow had always felt responsible for the accident, he felt like it was his responsibility to help his daughter learn to control it. Thankfully, it wasn't too difficult. Building obstacle courses out of clouds and creating weather phenomena to slow her down have been standard practice for a pegasus. Other than keeping Rainbow in shape, it also proved quite insightful about the limits of her powers. Extreme cold and heat both proved effective against them. Cold slowed down her molecules, preventing them to reach their maximum speed while heat interfered with their movement, throwing them off course and taking away Rainbow's control over them. The same could be said for lightning and electricity. While she also generated it when she was speeding, if it hit her from another source, it had the same effect as heat and messed up the flow of her molecules. It was especially dangerous while Rainbow was in super speed mode. But perhaps the most dangerous obstacle of them all was the filly's ever growing ego. Bow always wanted her daughter to feel like a winner, but she was taking it to the extreme. Her speed may have been unparalleled but she still had a lot to learnt about humility. On more than one occasion he heard Rainbow boast about how she was ready to be given the Wonderbolts uniform and the Captain's office as it has been her dream to join Equestria's fastest fliers since she first saw them that day. She still remembered that clearly despite being only a week old at the time. Her speed meant that her mind and brain were also developing at an increased rate. It took her only a month to learn a whole school years curriculum and it probably would have taken her even shorter if she was actually interested in it, but mastering her ability was all on her mind. At least Bow didn't have to worry about her education. What he did worry about was her arrogance. Rainbow considered herself invincible. As she put it, you can't kill what you can't catch. But she was getting in over her head. She was ignoring the fact that with all kinds of magic existing in Equestria, somepony would have most certainly found a way to slow her down and they already proved to themselves that she had weaknesses to exploit. Perhaps understandably, Bow didn't want her daughter's super speed to become public knowledge. At first, he was considering outright banning her from using it entirely. But he knew that was impossible. Not only was Rainbow Dash born with the natural instinct to help others, but she was raised to be a winner, always the best she can be. And she something to elevate her from the crowd. To lift her above other ponies. She would surely flaunt it all she could. But Rainbow reached a compromise with her father. She would make sure nopony would know it was her. And she already had an idea how. She remembered the day she saved that orange filly and how her uniform was shredded when she switched to super speed. Ordinary clothes were not able to handle her speed energy, but there was something that might. She spent a lot of her time studying everything there was to know about the Wonderbolts, including their uniform. They could reach speed that could turn them into flaming bolts in the sky so obviously they needed clothes made of special material that could prevent a pony's body from heating up. Rainbow figured that it would be the closets thing on this planet to handle it. She was able to get her hooves on one during a show her father took her to on her eighteenth birthday. One retiring member gave her her old uniform which she even signed for her. A signed Wonderbolts outfit was a treasured prize for many, so it was with a heavy heart that Rainbow and Bow began to make alterations to it to make it fitting for Rainbow's body. Rainbow's body was considerably narrower than the mare's body who previously owned it, so they had to remove a lot of material from it. Once it was just her size, they had enough material to make a mask that covered Rainbow's entire head and mane. Once her specialised suit was finished, all that was visible were Rainbow's eyes. And finally, the day had come to field test it. "Are you ready?" Bow asked his daughter while standing next to an oval race track made of cloud. Rainbow Dash places a pair of goggles over her eyes and spread her wings, ready for takeoff. "Let's do this!" The blue mare replied before launching herself forward. She started off slower than usual to see if the suit holds up. Once she was sure it did, she became brave enough to speed up more. Soon, her father lost track of her. All he saw was a blue streak of blurred lightning spiraling around the track. "How's the suit holding up?" Bow asked through a headset communicator after a minute of silence. He received no answer and he knew exactly what that meant. Rainbow was getting carried away again. And if she wasn't careful, that could have disastrous consequences. "Rainbow, slow down a little!" He screamed into the communicator. His words had no effect. The spiral on the track was getting faster and faster and it was beginning to affect the wind. Bow felt himself and the clouds around him being sucked into the vortex. He had to stop this and quickly. With all of his strength, he managed to gather all the clouds around him together and used his weather manipulation skills to summon snow. With so many clouds, it didn't take long until the snowfall turned into a blizzard that eventually covered the entire track and Rainbow Dash's body as well. The air eventually became cold enough to slow down the speed demon pegasus, who didn't seem particularly pleased about her father's interference. "Hey, what gives?!" She demanded as she flew up in Bow's face. "I almost broke my course record!" Bow glared down at his daughter before pointing in the direction of the mayhem she caused. Rainbow's glare eventually weakened into a sheepish smile. "Right..." She said, rubbing her head. "Well, at least we know the suit holds up!" She cheered, presenting her modified Wonderbolts outfit that didn't even have a scratch on it. Bow however wasn't amused. "Rainbow, this can't go on like that! You are far too reckless! You might the fastest mare alive, but you have to learn when to stop!" Rainbow Dash groaned. "Ugh! I hate that word so much!" She complained as she looked away. "When you have so much energy inside you, the last thing you want to do is stop!" Bow rubbed his forehead in an effort calm himself before trying a different approach. "You said your brain is also working at super speed. Did you ever stop to think about what you could cause with all your energy? I will not have my daughter be responsible for the destruction of Cloudsdale because she doesn't know the limits of her powers!" "Well if I don't push them, I'll never know them!" Rainbow countered before her features softened. "I know what you're feeling, dad. I know you think you are responsible for what happened to mom because you didn't stop her from going up so fast that night. But that doesn't mean the same will happen to me." Bow looked down in sorrow and fought back some tears that were trying to escape. "This isn't about that, sweetheart. Look around! Look at all this mess you caused! I know you can control your powers but you also need to control yourself!" Despite her frustration, Rainbow knew her father was right and eventually conceded with a sigh. "I know." She said before grabbing one of his hooves with hers. "But with you by my side, I know I will be able to. We're in this together, dad. Until the end." Bow finally smiled back at her as he squeezed her hoof. "Until the end." He repeated. "Speaking of ends, I believe we should call it a day for now and grab some lunch. You must be starving after all that running." The growling of Rainbow's stomach was all the answer he needed. "You know it! But first, there's one more adjustment to this suit I'd like to make." Bow raised an eyebrow. "And that is?" "Well... I would like to make it look less like a Wonderbolts uniform. I'm not one of them yet, though we both know it's only a matter of time. And if I wanna stay incognito, we're gonna have to make sure i look unrecognisable and unaffiliated with anypony." Bow nodded. "I see. Any specific ideas?" Rainbow smirked. "I'm glad you asked." A few minutes later, Rainbow Dash was standing in front of a mirror with her father spraying the content of a can of red paint onto her suit. By the time he was done, the former dark blue uniform was scarlet red with thin yellow streaks on it's legs. Rainbow admired herself in the mirror, quite satisfied with her new look. "Well, is it to your liking?" Bow asked. Rainbow put a hoof to her chin in thought. "One more thing." She pulled out a can of yellow paint before spraying a yellow circle across her chest and crossing it out with a yellow lightning bolt. She then raised the can to her head and drew the same lightning symbol on both sides. She smirked. "Perfect! Or should I say, flashing!"