You may have heard the story of the first sonic rainboom, but what you heard was probably wrong.
It started off as a normal day, but Celestia knows it didn’t end as one. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had just finished lunch, and were heading outside for their afternoon flying lesson. Rainbow, as usual, wore her Wonderbolts goggles around her neck, now worn a bit from months of use. Fluttershy was laughing at a joke she had just told her, when a chestnut blur appeared, and a strapping colt was standing directly in their path.
“Dumbbell” Rainbow said, a tinge of anger in her voice. “What, are you still mad ‘cuz I beat you in the last flying exam?” It was true. That only seemed to make him angrier. Fluttershy let out a silent whimper.
“If you’re so great, why do you always hang around with Klutzershy? Everypony knows she can’t fly to save her–” He was stopped by the sudden contact of one powder blue wing to his face. His face changed from its usual tint to an enraged maroon. He raised his hoof, but she laughed.
“You wouldn’t hit a girl, would you?” It took a while for it to take full effect in his mind. And then, the tiny gears within moved with a rusty squeal. He quickly launched an uppercut, and she dodged. But he wasn’t aiming for her.
The amber glasses were lifted from her neck, and soared into the air. The clouds were soft, but nonetheless they landed with a mighty CRACK. Now Rainbow Dash’s face became red. Fluttershy was now curled up like an armadillo.
“You….. you…….” Staring at the broken goggles, she couldn’t find a single word, her mouth twisted into a crooked frown, her eyes focusing upon them as if she could magically repair them simply with a stare. She held back a single tear. She slammed her hoof to the ground, and looked him straight in the eye. “You. Me. Cloud Circuit. Tomorrow morning. Come alone.” He smiled at the corner of his mouth. She did a quick 180, and began to walk away. She gestured with her wing, and Fluttershy joined her, sobbing quite audibly.
Cloud circuit was located in the more desolate part of Cloudsdale, an old Wonderbolts training ground, now trodden upon only by the bravest pegasi. The princess had just begun to raise the sun, setting beams of orange and gold across the sky. Rainbow Dash stood under a faded START sign. The morning light brightened the spectrum of her mane. She smiled. Maybe he wouldn’t show up. Maybe he was too chicken. Except he wasn’t.
“You should have brought your mommy and daddy, in case you hurt yourself.” This made Rainbow Dash furious, but he didn’t know. None of them knew. To them she was just a freak with a wild manecut.
“Just shut up and let’s settle this,” she said, clenching her teeth. “I’d hate for you to miss your nap time.” Dumbbell let out a sadistic smile.They lined up at the decrepit starting post. The new sun shone brightly in their eyes.
“One…. two…..” she began, but before Rainbow Dash could get to three, he was off. Cheater. She rocketed after him, a light spectrum in her wake. The wind almost forced her eyes closed. If only she still had her goggles. She could only see a small brown dot a ways in front of her. She made a sharp left turn to follow it. She began to get closer, and closer, until she finally passed him. There was a shocked look on his face. She smiled, and surged forward. Her multicoloured hair was swept straight back. The drag was beginning to build up, pushing her back, but she pressed forward. A cone of solid air formed in front of her. She just wanted to break it, like everything else that was holding her back. She went faster, and faster….
Boom.
The shockwave shattered windows as far as Baltimare. Ponies in the surrounding area ran into the streets, wondering what happened. Rumors spread like wildfire, some said it was a great dragon that had taken residence in the Matterhoof, others believed that the Griffons were attacking again, yet some thought that it was the beginning of some alien invasion. They all saw the shockwave, a circle of multiple colours that spread across the sky, blocking out the sun. A little pegasus in the forest had to calm down the animals. A unicorn passed her exam. There were earthquakes in the desert of New Mulexico. A little filly in Manehattan found her way home. Only about five ponies knew what it really was, and one of them was on the moon.
The supersonic speck drove right through a cloud, and started to spin out of control. She landed in a patch of deserted cloud, the ends of her mane charred, drawing slow, deep breaths.
Luckily for her, somepony found her before she passed out. She woke up for the second time in her life in a hospital room. She didn’t panic. Panicking had so far only done bad things for her. The door was opening. Probably some doctor, or nurse, or a teacher coming to expel her, or her foster parents coming to disown her. She was surprised, then, when a great alicorn wearing a crown entered the room.
“P….pr….princess‽” She couldn’t believe her eyes. She was hallucinating. The princess had come to banish her from the kingdom, or something much worse. “Hello, Rainbow Dash” she said. She was sort of shocked to hear her name spoken by the divine monarch.
“We need to talk.”