//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Fear Itself // by GTPGuy //------------------------------// The first thing Rainbow Dash noticed when she woke up was the howling wind. She rolled out of her bed and looked out the window, but immediately wished she hadn't. A massive storm was rolling over her cloud house-and with it what seemed to be the entirety of Cloudsdale's weather team. Pegasi floated in and out of Rainbow’s vision as they fought the gigantic storm-but even to the untrained eye of the young filly, it was obvious that the storm was winning. Waves of rain and hail lashed out at the cloud house that the Dash family currently occupied. An intensely bright flash nearly blinded the pegasus, and with a massive rumble the house shook under the intense storm. "Mom? Dad? Anypony here?" Even to herself, Rainbow's small voice sounded pathetic. Sweat began to bead on her forehead, and Rainbow felt her legs shaking. She galloped around the house as fast as her admittedly small legs could carry her. However, despite all her hopes to the contrary, both of Rainbow’s parents were out fighting the storm. Pull it together Dash. They'll be fine. It's just a little storm, nothing they can’t handle... I hope. Trotting towards the door of her house, a massive boom shook the cloud house, and a flash of lightning wreaked havoc with Rainbow's vision. Rainbow’s heart was racing, and almost hyperventilating, Dash opened the door to see one of the worst sights for anypony to see. Three of the pegasi that were fighting the storm had been incapacitated by the fearsome weather and were dropping like rocks toward the earth. Oh Celestia oh no this is not good come back come back dear Celestia please let them be okay. Rainbow Dash, shakily standing on the edge of the porch, craned her neck to try and find her parents. They're going to be fine. They are going to be fine, right? They wouldn’t leave me here all alone if they weren’t going to come back, of course they’ll be fine! As Rainbow Dash would soon find out, standing out on the edge of a cloud during a massive storm has its own hazards-rogue wind for instance. Just a few seconds after Rainbow Dash opened the door, a mighty gust caught one of her undeveloped wings and snapped it open. Rainbow quickly lost her balance, and the wind pushed her off the cloud-home's porch. The bright blue pegasus began to drop like a rock, her undeveloped wings unable to keep her from falling. Icy needles ripped into the cyan coat of the young filly, while a roaring and tumultuous wind snapped at her wings. What Rainbow didn't see was that one of the pegasi in the storm had started diving after her-this one with a brilliant green coat and a dark red mane. Gemini Dash, Rainbow's mother, the second-best flier in all of Equestria (just behind Spectrum Dash, of course), was coming to rescue her little filly. As Gemini chased her daughter, a cone began to form around the desperate pegasus. Of course, not even the sound barrier could keep a panicking mother from her little filly, and in mere seconds Rainbow's mother had reached her target. When Gemini slammed into Rainbow, she immediately began to soothe her daughter. Rolling so that her back was to the ground, Rainbow's mother looked at her daughter with pure love in her eyes and tried to calm the little filly. "Rainbow just look at my eyes my dear. No need to be afraid. Just look at me dear. We’re going to be juuust fi-“ And then they hit the ground. When Rainbow Dash awoke, she was being nuzzled by somepony that most definitely was not her mother, seeing as how this pony had a horn. A unicorn was standing next to her, drenched in sweat and rain, with a frazzled black coat and an ice-blue mane that managed to just barely stay away from the brilliant green eyes, while curling wildly around the rest of the pony’s head. "Hey there little filly. Nice to see that you’re awake, you took a pretty nasty fall… My name's Starlight Treasure, from the Pony Rescue Unit. Did you get caught out in that nasty storm?" Dash nodded. "Can you fly?" Dash shook her head solemnly, a few tears dripping from her rose eyes "Then it might be a few minutes, let me just inform one of my friends." The unicorn's horn shone with a brilliant cobalt light as she sent out a magical message. "Are you feeling all right?" Her head shook violently. "No? What’s wrong?" at Rainbow’s response, a hint of nervousness entered Starlight Treasure’s voice. “I’m pretty new to the whole medical thing, but I’m fairly sure I covered everything I was supposed to. You had a couple cuts and bruises, but I fixed those up from what I could see… What’s the problem?” Dash swallowed nervously. She looked around for a moment, and then, in a quiet whisper "My mom." "Was she here with you?" A short nod. "When did you last see her?" Shrug. "Did she have a bright a red mane and green fur?" Nod. "Well we've got some people helping her right now. Don't you worry little filly." Starlight Treasure reached out to stroke the terrified Rainbow Dash's shoulder, but in a surprisingly quick burst of speed the scrawny pony launched herself backwards. “Hey I’m not here to hurt you. I just wanted to help you.” A surprising amount of venom entered Rainbow’s next statement. “You’re not my mom. I want my mom. Gi-“ Rainbow started to shout. “GIVE ME BACK MY MOM WHERE DID SHE GO I JUST WANT HER BACK!” The young filly was wracked with sobs, tears streaming down her already soaked muzzle. Starlight, who had initially backed away from the angry pegasus, started to nuzzle Rainbow Dash gently. "Shh… Calm down… Oh I wish I just knew how to make you feel better little one…" With a soft thump, a vibrant yellow pegasus landed next to Starlight Treasure. "Hey Star, want me to take it from here? You look like you might be having a little trouble with her. Might be better to let another pegasus take care of this” Starlight Treasure blushed in embarrassment and started to back away. "Yeah that would be great Spitfire. If you could get her back to Cloudsdale it would be fantastic." Spitfire nodded and walked towards Rainbow. "Don’t worry about it Starlight-sorry to say this, but it's rather ingrained in pegasi to trust flesh and blood over magic." “Ah, don't worry about it. Thanks Spitfire. I owe you one.” “Hey, don’t worry about it, just part of the job right? Anyways, time to get this little mare back to Cloudsdale.” The bright little pegasus just shook in fear. Seeing this, Spitfire settled on her hind legs and put her head down on her forehooves. "Hey now… Don't worry about anything; I'm one of the best fliers in Equestria! You'll be completely fine!" A single hoof reached out and brushed Dash's brilliant mane. Rainbow tried to back away from this strange new pegasus, but her retreat ended when her flank slammed into a very stout tree. "C'mon sweetie… Nothing gets better by staying at a disaster." The yellow pegasus started to plead with the cyan filly. “You’ve got to leave here eventually honey… Please don’t make this more difficult than it has to be. There’s nothing left for you here, and I promise that I’ll help you find your parents once we get back up to the city. Deal?” Spitfire held out her leg, and the young Rainbow climbed up onto the pegasi's back, clutching tightly to Spitfire's matted fur. "Well, we’re off now little one! Don’t worry, we’ll be back to Cloudsdale in a jiffy and we can find your parents right quick!”