A beach. She was standing on a sweeping expanse of sand sloping gently down to the sea.
As she gazed out at the ocean, she saw waves breaking over a coral reef. Beyond that, there was nothing but water stretching to an unbroken horizon.
'Where am I?' she thought, her mind a haze of memories and dreams. 'WHO am I?'
. . . Rainbow Dash . . .
The words - a name? They seemed to fit, to make sense somehow. But little else did.
Rainbow Dash shook her head in frustration. Why couldn't she remember more? How had she gotten here - and why?
She glanced toward the polished canister that had brought her here. Near it she saw several cyan components lying on the sand. Two turned out to be wings, shaped in a fine feathery form. They fitted together onto her back, and melded comfortably right into her skin and tissue. But when she flapped the wings, they felt heavy and awkward.
She scowled. "Well what the hay is the point of these?" she muttered frustratedly, removing the wings and jabbing them into the sand.
Then she noticed the mark. It stared up at her with a swirling cloud and multi-colored lightning bolt, it's surface catching the moonlight so that it appeared to come alive in her hoofs. The moment she touched it, she didn't know how or why, but she suddenly knew what to do next. Taking a deep breath, Rainbow Dash lifted the mark to her flank.
A surge of power coursed through her. Yes! This was more like it!
The pegasus reattached her wings and flapped them. This time, to her surprise, the wings felt very fluid and easy to control. When she flapped them harder, she took off into the air, trailing a rainbow in her wake.
"HAY YEAH!" exclaimed the mare with great satisfaction. "Now we're getting somewhere!"
But was she? She let her wings fold to her side once more as she landed, those annoying questions poking and nudging their way back to the front of her mind. Why was she here? What was she supposed to do?
"Why - can't - I - REMEMBER?" she howled, unfurling her wings to they're full length. She shot forth again, erupting into the sky like a volcano. She was so high in the sky in such a short amount of time, that when she looked back, her canister was smaller than a grain of sand; surprising even herself.
'Woah ... I done got some hops', she mused with wonder, feeling the power from her beating wings. The power of speed, to control her body with precision and agility. 'But where does it come from? What is it for?'
Burning questions all - and still she had no answers. Not knowing made her shake with frustration and rage. It made her want to fly away from the earth, the sea, the beach - the very world itself. It was tempting - so tempting. To lose herself in chaos, to strike out with no thought for past, future, or anything else.
The mare took a deep breath. No. She couldn't allow herself to give in. Somehow she knew that, just as she'd known her name.
'Okay, okay,' she told herself. 'Time to get me some answers.' She looked towards a nearby volcano. What appeared to be a structure was formed from the billowing puffy white smoke. 'That looks like a good place to start' she thought as she sped off towards it. 'At least . . . I hope it will.'