//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Foal // by Rated Ponystar //------------------------------// Foal By The Rated Ponystar Edited by Starfall and Apple Cinnamon Artwork done by RatofDrawn *** Rainbow Dash had to admit, for a bunch of country ponies they sure knew how to throw an awesome party. Gale Storm and her friends had taken her to their Weather Patrol headquarters near the edge of town and Dash couldn’t believe the size of their cloud base; it was twice as big as her own house. Once they got inside, the party quickly started with some epic-sounding music from a new artist named DJ Pon-3 and a breaking-out of drinks. Although most of her new friends were drinking harder stuff, Dash found herself really craving the apple cider that she learned was made at the apple farm she’d passed by on her way into town. Her new friends were pretty cool, especially Gale Storm, who reminded Dash of her old high school buddy Gilda, with the only difference being their race. When asked to dance, Rainbow Dash kicked it into high gear and began showing off her moves, earning praise and cheering from the Weather Patrol team. After half an hour of non-stop dancing, Rainbow Dash took a seat down on the couch and started to recover her lost breath. Gale Storm sat down beside her with a smirk and raised her hoof. “Those were some sweet moves you got there. I wasn’t sure if you were A-class awesome, but you really know how to show off, Dash,” she said. Rainbow Dash blushed a bit from the praise, but quickly hid it and bumped her hoof with Gale’s. “Eh, it’s nothing. What can I say? I was born awesome.” She looked around and waved her arm at the others. “So is this everypony on the team? Any others I should know about?” Gale snorted. “Our boss, but she’s busy with the mayor. There are a few others, but they’re just a bunch of losers.” “Well, what about your job?” asked Dash, interested in what the workload was like. “Is it hard?” “It’s a dang bore,” growled Gale. “The only reason any of us have this this job is because of the dang economy. If I had my way I would be in Manehatten trying out for a singing career. Fortunately, no major storms hit us so we never really have to do much work. We got a lot of free time and that’s fine by us.” “Aw come on, it’s not that bad I’m sure,” said Rainbow Dash, but Gale just huffed and turned away. Her eyebrows then rose up a bit before she started grinning. “Hey, I think Side Wind has his eye on you.” Tilting her head, Rainbow Dash looked back at the group of dancers and noticed that one of the males was looking at her with a lusty grin. Chuckling, she answered, “Well, he’s gonna have his hopes crushed. I fly on the other side of the track, if you know what I mean.” She turned around to see Gale Storm licking her lips, and leaning forward close to her face. “Oh, really? Well why didn’t you say so in the first place?” Before Dash could respond, Gale Storm had placed her lips across her own and pushed forward. Dash was shocked at first, but soon calmed down and found herself liking it, slowly pushing back. She put her hooves around around Gale’s neck as Gale pushed Rainbow Dash to the edge of the couch and started start covering her face and neck with kisses and small bites. Groaning in bliss, Rainbow let Gale work her magic as she slowly lowered her hooves, first down her back and then stopping on her backside. Gale gasped as Dash gave them a tight squeeze. Seeing an opportunity, Dash flipped their position, leaving her on top as she slid her tongue into Gale’s mouth. The two felt their muscles vie for dominance and each others taste, never caring about oxygen or their surroundings. Rainbow Dash was on cloud nine; the party, the lights, the smell of desire coming from Gale. It was like her senses were about to go overboard. Gale soon broke up the kiss and gasped. With a grin that threatened to rip her muzzle open, she said, “Dash. My mind is telling me to grab your hot plot and buck it ‘till I’ve sucked you dry.” Although she felt a similar feeling, Dash saw a clock out of the corner of her eye and realized she had been here for over two and half hours. Slowly getting up, Dash said, “I-I can’t, I need to pick up my brother and...” “Forget the brat,” said Gale, reaching up and licking her chest. Dash shivered as she felt the tongue rise up and soon felt Gale’s teeth clutch at her neck like a vampire sucking for blood. “He’s with that weird pony that lives outside of town. He’ll be fine. Come on, make love to me.” “I...” Dash hesitated, but looked around and sighed. “I guess a little longer won’t hurt.” “Excellent,” growled Gale playfully.  She then then leaned forward and whispered, “Hey, you ever had sex on your boss’ desk before?” “N-no,” said Dash nervously. Gale slowly got up and whipped her tail around Dash’s neck, slowly dragging her towards the hallway. Turning towards her new lover, Gale said, “Well... let’s find out.” Dash’s wings went up in an instant as she followed Gale like a dog and its master. *** Rainbow Dash was no stranger to rough sex. She had experimented with a lot of things, some of which would have her mother hanging her by the tips of her wings if she ever found out. But this... woah....  Holding the barely conscious Gale Storm in her hooves, she rested her head on the wood of the Weather Patrol head’s desk. She had to admit, oak was quite comfortable. Stroking the mane of her new friend-slash-lover, Rainbow Dash sighed and looked at the clock, noticing that it was getting closer and closer to the evening. She winced upon thinking of the scolding her parents were gonna give her for being out later than she expected. This was soon forgotten as she felt a familiar pair of lips nipping her neck and slowly reaching her left cheek. Blushing, Rainbow Dash looked at a smiling Gale who asked, “Ready for round two?” “Well, I gotta...” Rainbow tried to explain, but Gale’s kiss on the lips interrupted her. She continued on until the door was opened by one of the party ponies, who looked ready to kill something. Gale groaned and got up to see what the big deal was. “What is it Rigid? Can’t you see we're busy?” “There’s some brat underneath the clouds. He’s screaming at us for his ‘big sister’ to come down and take him home,” snorted the pegasus. A foreboding chill swept through Rainbow Dash as she and Gale got off the desk, with the latter asking, “What’s he look like?” Dash’s fears were soon doubled as Rigid looked at her. “He looks a lot like your buck buddy over here.” *** Not good. Not good. Oh, why did he have to come here! thought Rainbow Dash as she flew down towards the ground, Gale and her posse right behind her. She had hoped to talk to him on her own, without any further embarrassment, but it seems her luck was turning in the wrong direction. Landing on the ground she saw, much to her disappointment, that it was indeed Spectrum that was yelling for her. Upon seeing his big sister, he smiled and quickly flew towards her, wrapping his forelegs around her neck. A few snorts and giggles erupted from the older pegasi and Dash found herself blushing even redder. “There you are, Dash!” shouted Spectrum, breaking up the hug and looking at her with his usual hero-worshiping face. “It’s been hours and I was looking all over for you!” “W-why are you here? I thought I told you to stay with Fluttershy,” said Dash, trying to look calm and cool. She could feel Gale and the others watching her every move, as if judging her. “Well, hanging around with Fluttershy was okay...” said Spectrum, blushing. “But I can only stand playing around with animals for so long! Besides, Mom and Dad told us we had to be home soon before that big storm came! And you know I can’t go home without you!” Rainbow Dash tried to say something, but one of the pegasi from the weather team snorted. “Oh this is rich, she’s gotta go play babysitter for this little twerp or else she’ll get in trouble with mommy and daddy.” “So lame,” said somepony else. “Totally.” Unfortunately, Spectrum heard this and glared at the bigger ponies. “Hey! I’m not a baby or a twerp! And my sister isn’t lame! She’s the coolest pegasus in the world!” “Spectrum, enough!” shouted Rainbow Dash, but the damage was already done. Gale Storm walked over and gave an amused smile at both siblings. “So, Rainbow Dash, this is your kid brother, huh? Looks a bit of a pipsqueak for a flyer.” “Hey! I may be small, but I can fly better than anypony at my age! Plus, I’d rather be a pipsqueak then a medusa like you!” growled Spectrum. “Ooooooooohhhhh!” said the crowd, which made Gale’s smile quickly turn into a snarl. Rainbow Dash was sweating as her newest friend gave her the evil eye. “Hey, Dash,” muttered Gale, stepping forward with a glare as sharp as a dagger. “Your little punk of a brother had better shut his trap. Now take him out of here so he can go pretend he’s a Wonderbolt in his happy little fantasy land back home instead of wearing that stupid scarf of his.” Rainbow Dash gulped as she tried to find some way out of her dilemma. On one hoof, her brother was being picked on and was looking to her for some kind of defense. On the other hoof, she didn’t want to look uncool in front of Gale Storm and the other pegasi. At least things can’t get any worse. Just as she thought that, Spectrum rushed between both Gale and Rainbow and looked up defiantly at the older pony. “I’m gonna be a real Wonderbolt, along with my sister! We’ll be so amazing that both of us will be doing sonic rainbooms!” This got the entire pegasi posse to laugh as they looked at each other before pointing at Spectrum like he was a bad comedy act. Spectrum squirmed a bit, but still stood strong as Rainbow Dash facehoofed. Gale, chuckling so much she could barely stand, took a deep breath and relaxed. “A sonic rainboom?! Brat, that move is only a myth and nopony can even do something so impossible. Quit dreaming while you're ahead.” Spectrum only smirked, “It’s not a myth!” She then pointed at Rainbow Dash, who froze in terror. “My big sister did it when she was just a filly!” Oh, buck me... thought Rainbow Dash as every eye in the area soon focused on her. Gulping, she tried to respond, but Gale cut her off. “Is that so? Rainbow Dash, have you ever done a sonic rainboom before? Can you even do one?!” “O-of course I did a sonic rainboom!” stated Rainbow Dash, puffing out her chest, but still feeling weak in the legs. Gale only sat down on her haunches and smiled. “Well, why don’t you show us then?” The bravado she had soon faded as sweat beaded on Rainbow Dash’s forehead. “Unless of course ya think ya can’t do it, chicken?” That had done it. There was no way she could back out and be called a chicken. It was one of the worst insults you could give a pegasus. With no other choice, Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and stretched her wings a bit before asking the others to stand back. In a split second, she was back up in the air, flying as high as she could go and doing her return from earlier. The crowd gasped and cheered at her flips which she reveled in, but ignored the sensation. She couldn't afford to lose concentration. Not now. Excitement began to swell up within Rainbow Dash as she felt success nearly within her grasp.  Maybe today would be the day she would perform the sonic rainboom once again. The image of a shocked yet impressed set of pegasi only increased Dash’s motivation as she flew back upwards, adding a few loop-de-loops for show. If I do this right, I’ll be the coolest pegasus in Equestria! No, in history! With her speed tested out and her wings warmed up, she focused on her second task: attaining enough speed necessary for the final dive and, hopefully, be fast enough to break the sound barrier. Flying higher than before, Dash found a nearby cloud and started to circle it.  The nebulous white mass moved slowly at first, but the powerful winds dragged in by the cyan pegasus’ wake pulled irresistibly at the cloud.  Its cotton-like surface began to swirl, slowly at first but soon catching up to the speed of the pegasus orbiting it.  As the flier circled around it even faster, the billowing cloud became a spinning top. Her nerves thrummed with a growing sense of confidence as Dash accelerated again. By this point a rainbow-colored blur was all the crowd could see from their vantage point far below. Rainbow Dash could feel the energy pulsing inside her as she broke away from the cloud. After performing one more flip, Dash let it all loose by diving downwards with her wings completely flat against her sides and her body poised like an arrow. A mach cone began to form in front of her, signaling the start of the stunt. All she had to do now was resist its attempts to stop her and break through. A determined smile slowly began to spread on the face of the diving pegasus, who could feel in her heart that success was finally in her grasp. Pressing herself against the funnel, Dash started to push down with all her might. The cone started to get wider, all the while exerting a strong front against her as sweat dripped from her brow. As she approached the ground, the cyan pegasus could feel the barrier slowly breaking, the stored energy ready to be unleashed. “Almost there... almost there...” Dash muttered as she struggled to keep herself in motion against the ever-growing air resistance. Dash felt like she was the ninth wonder of the world… … and then everything went wrong. Dash suddenly felt the barrier gaining strength and tried to stop it, but it was too late. The funnel uncoiled like a spring and flung Dash away with ease. The tumbling pegasus gasped and tried to force her wings to respond, but the constant gyration of her uncoordinated flight left her confused and nauseated, hindering her efforts to straighten up. The shock of the backlash began to subside, but it was too late. Dash could feel herself plummeting towards the ground, wind screaming past her face, pulling almost painfully at her mane. The wide green expanse of the ground was rushing up to meet Rainbow Dash, and the flyer could see her upcoming demise in its rock-strewn surface.  Crashing at this speed would break every bone in her body. “Rainbow!” cried out Spectrum in horror. Hearing her name, Dash managed to shake off her stupor. Struggling against gravity and air resistance, Rainbow quickly twirled her body around into a corkscrew dive. With her wings flaring, she pulled up before she could smack into the dirt. Dash glided a bit, flying in a wide arc as she slowed herself down. Once Rainbow Dash had bled off enough speed, she tried to land. With her racing pulse still thundering in her ears and nausea clutching her stomach, the shaken pegasus swooped in for a gentle landing but ended up hitting a rock which messed up her technique.  Her shaky landing quickly turned into a sudden painful crash.  She grunted as she hit the ground, sliding several yards as a cloud of dust formed around her till she came to a sudden stop.  Too dizzy to even rise, the dirt-and-grass-stained pegasus stared numbly at the long gouge she’d cut in the field. Her little brother was at her side at once, checking for serious injuries.  After a tense moment, the little pegasus helped the crashed flier to her hooves, steadying the mare as Dash spat out some dirt and struggled to remain upright. “Are you okay?!” Before she could answer, a series of roaring laughter made her freeze up as she slowly turned around and saw the other pegasi laughing at her. Their hooves pounded on the grass while some had their legs kicking in the air. “Oh, wow! That was great!” “Did you see her face?! I thought she was gonna pee herself!” “That’s not a sonic rainboom, but a sonic raincrash!” Tears threatened to fall from Dash’s eyes, as she tried to look away, but their laughter continued to ring in her ears. Gale Storm, snickering, walked up to Rainbow Dash and said, “Wow, Dash. I’ve seen a lot of crashes in my life, but that was really, really bad.” “Gale I...” started Rainbow Dash, but a hoof in the face silenced her. “Sorry, Rainbow Crash,” Dash winced upon hearing that name, “but I don’t talk to losers. I think you and your little brother here should head back to Flight School before coming around these parts, thinking you're hot stuff. And as for you entry into the Weather Patrol? You can watch that crash and burn like you did.” The laughing pegasi flew away, leaving the siblings alone. A long silence stood between them as Spectrum nervously pawed the ground while Rainbow Dash stood there, hiding her eyes in her mane. Gulping, Spectrum said, “Dash... I...” “You idiot!” shouted Rainbow Dash, sending her younger brother to his haunches. “Don’t you know what you’ve done?! You just embarrassed me in front of those guys and made me look like a foal by messing up like that! Now I’ll never get that job and I can’t show my face here again or else I’ll be the laughing stock of the whole town! I hope you're happy you twerp!” Spectrum just stared at his sister with a pained look on his face before gritting his teeth. Standing up, he went straight into his sister’s face and screamed, “Hey! I am not the jerk here, you are! You were supposed to hang out with me, but you ditched me like I was yesterday’s trash! We were supposed to hang out together, but you abandoned me! You promised you wouldn’t!” “Yeah, well... well.... maybe I’m getting tired of you holding me back! I’m a much better flyer than you’ll ever be!” shouted Rainbow Dash. “At least I don’t lie about what I can or can’t do! Liar liar wings on fire!” shouted Spectrum, sticking his tongue out. “Oh grow up! Oh wait, you can’t because you’re so foalish you should still be in diapers!” cried Rainbow Dash. “I hate you! I’ll go back home on my own since I can’t depend on my so-called sister!” shouted Spectrum, tears in his eyes as he ran away. Rainbow Dash got up in the air and screamed, “Good! I hate you too! I hope you get lost and they never find you! In fact, never come home again and save us all the trouble you annoying featherbrain!” Filled with rage from arguing with her brother, Rainbow Dash flew in a random direction, kicking clouds in her frustration until she felt exhaustion creeping up on her. Closing her eyes, she landed on a nearby cloud she hadn’t pummelled and went off into a deep sleep... *** Rainbow Dash felt the first drops of water on her face, which woke her out of her stupor. When she heard the first crackling of thunder and flash of lightning from the sky, Rainbow Dash jumped up in fright; only to nearly fall off her cloud from the sheer intensity of the winds that were whipping her in the face. Struggling against the rising storm, she opened up her wings and let the gale take her away a bit before pushing herself forward. Rainbow Dash looked around, surprised to see such a powerful storm in the area. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. The winds were so powerful she could feel the fur on her face threatening to rip off. The rain was heavy to the point where she could barely see in front of her and that wasn’t a good factor to have when lightning was striking everywhere. It was like a battlefield of the gods and Rainbow Dash was stuck in the middle of it. It only finally dawned on her that her father had warned of such a storm yesterday, but she’d completely ignored it. Struggling to maintain her course, Rainbow Dash was then alerted to an even bigger concern: Spectrum was nowhere to be found. “Oh no... Oh no no no no no no!” cried Rainbow Dash, with realization. She flew towards Ponyville faster than she ever had before. “Spectrum! Spectrum!” she yelled, but the thunder drowned out her voice. Her heart was beating just as fast as she was flying, threatening to pop right out of her chest. Her little brother was all alone, in this destructive storm, without his big sister for protection. It then dawned on her that Spectrum wouldn’t have been lost if she hadn’t driven him away. A small part of her tried to reason that she was just angry, but it was no excuse nonetheless. She said she hated him, she broke her promise. And for what? To get laid and look cool in front of a bunch of lazy jerks? I have to find him! I have to apologize! Oh please be okay, Spectrum! I’m so sorry! I don’t care if you hate me forever. I just want to see you safe! she thought as she landed in the middle of the town. The storm was even worse than she thought. Ponies everywhere were running into their houses or nearby shelters. Houses and streets were being torn apart; if anything it seemed more like a hurricane than a lightning storm. That didn’t lessen Rainbow Dash’s fears any, though, as she continued to fly around, calling for her brother. A few stray objects such as mailboxes and trashcans flew at her through the ever-increasing wind, but she dodged or smacked them out of the way, her concern empowering her. “Spectrum!” cried out Rainbow Dash, landing near a group of running ponies. She stopped one, an earth pony with candy for a cutie mark, and asked, “Hey! Have you seen a colt with a mane like mine?!” “No! Now let go of me! I need to get to the shelter and so should you!” screamed the earth pony, tugging her tail out of Dash’s mouth. Rainbow Dash could feel herself getting colder, and it wasn’t just from the rain. She had no clue where Spectrum was or if he was safe or not. She looked around, trying in vain to spot him among the retreating ponies who looked to be heading towards the town hall. A small glimmer of hope burned in heart as she prayed that Spectrum had done the smart thing and headed for the shelter. Following the crowd, she flew towards the entrance only to hear a frightened cry. Looking up, she saw a little unicorn filly, grey coat and blond mane, being carried by the wind, screaming in terror as she was taken high above. A similar looking pony, but a pegasus, was trying to fly after her, but a nearby window broke from the intensity of the wind and its shards flew outward, some of them hitting the pegasus’ wings and causing her to fall in a crash landing. “Dinky!” screamed the pegasus, vainly reaching for her daughter, who was heading straight for a building. Wasting no time, Rainbow Dash was a blur, grabbing the filly and holding her as closely as she could before turning her back towards the wall. She slammed into it, making sure she took the full brunt of the attack. Her back and wings felt like they had been pounded by a boulder as she held her tongue to prevent herself from crying out in pain. She looked at the shivering little filly, who stared at her rescuer with wide eyes, and gave her a smile to reassure her that everything was fine. Pushing off the wall, Dash fought against the wind until she managed to reach the bleeding pegasus. Ignoring her wounds, she took the filly, who cried into her shoulder. “Mommy!” said the filly, clinging as tightly as she could around her mother’s neck. The mother looked up, Rainbow Dash noticing her strangely crooked eyes for the first time, and said, “Thank you for saving my daughter! I don’t... if I lost her...” A nearby tree exploded into flames from a lightning strike as all three jumped back to avoid any damage. They stared at the destroyed plant for a long time before Rainbow Dash got her head back together and pointed to the town hall. “It’s not safe here! Let’s get to the shelter! I’ll help you get in!” Rainbow Dash assisted the pair into the hall just in time, as the doors closed shortly afterwards. The entire hall was packed, filled with ponies shouting out either in fear or the names of loved ones and friends. A small emergency tent was in a nearby corner and Rainbow Dash helped the injured mother get there. A few other injured ponies were there, some with cuts and bruises while one unfortunate pegasus looked like his entire wing had been scorched by a bolt of electricity. Even worse off were the bodies covered in white sheets, their loved ones crying and holding each other in sorrow. Rainbow Dash let out a sigh of relief upon not seeing one colt-sized. One of the nurses took notice of them and quickly helped the crossed-eyed mother onto a cot. The nurse’s horn lit up as she began to levitate the glass shards out of her wings, Dinky watching from the sidelines with teary eyes. Glancing at her savior, the wounded pegasus said, “I’m Derpy Hooves. Thanks for saving us...” “N-no problem,” said Rainbow Dash, rubbing the back of her neck. “Rainbow Dash!” Turning around, Dash was instantly tackled by a crying Fluttershy, who nearly made her fall over. “I was so worried! When the storm came I feared the worst! I’m so glad you're alright!” Rainbow Dash returned the hug, thanking whoever was above that Fluttershy was safe. With one concern over with, she quickly grabbed Fluttershy by the shoulders and stared at her eye to eye. “Fluttershy! Have you seen Spectrum anywhere?! Is he here?!” Fluttershy gasped, her hooves covering her mouth. “H-h-he’s not with you! But he ran out to find you! He was very upset that you didn’t come for him and I-I-I tried to stop him, but he was... oh my gosh! He’s still out there! This is all my fault!” Tears began to rain down from Fluttershy’s eyes as she covered her face with her forelegs in shame. Rainbow Dash, fighting her own tears, shook her head and pushed her best friend’s hooves away. “No, Shy. It’s... it’s my fault... I shouted at him and got angry... I hurt him... Oh, Celestia, what have I done?! I’m his sister and now I’ve lost him! I’m so stupid!” Now Dash was crying. She never liked crying for fear of her image, but damn it to Tartarus, she didn’t care if she looked pathetic. Her little brother was stuck in this storm, alone and scared, all because of her. She chose total strangers over own flesh and blood and because of her negligence her brother was paying the price. I don’t care what it takes! I won’t even join the Wonderbolts if it means he’s alright! “Um, excuse me?” said a small voice behind them. The teary-eyed filly broke away from her mother and faced them. Sniffing, she asked, “Does... does your brother look like you but is a colt with a scarf around his neck?” Rainbow Dash quickly nodded and lowered her face to the filly’s level. “Yes! Have you seen him?!” The filly nodded. “I saw him heading towards the Everfree Forest, just before the storm. He was crying and I asked him what was wrong, but he pushed me away and kept going. I tried to warn him not to go there, but he ignored me. Did you two have a fight?” The question put an uncomfortable lurch in Dash’s stomach. She could remember the betrayed, broken face of her brother as he accused her of leaving him behind and choosing a bunch of jerks over him. She had gotten in fights with him before, but never had she told him, with such fury, that he should just leave and never come back. Her parents would kill her they ever found out what she’d done, but she would gladly take it a hundred times if it meant that Spectrum was okay. The way I yelled at him - I said I never wanted to see him again... oh please don’t let it come true! I take it back! I take it all back! Focusing on the task at hand, Dash turned to Fluttershy and demanded, “Where is this Everfree Forest?!” “I-It’s just outside of town, but Rainbow Dash, you can’t go!” begged Fluttershy. “The forest is unnatural and dangerous! You could be killed!” “And so could Spectrum, which is why I need to go now!” shouted Rainbow Dash, flying towards the doors. A pegasus pony with raindrops for a cutie mark suddenly got in front of Dash and cut her off in midair. “Where do you think you’re going?! Are you trying to get killed?!” cried out the pegasus. “Out of my way, bub! I need to get out of here right now!” shouted Rainbow Dash, nostrils flaring. “First off, it’s Raindrops. Second, no way! This storm is not normal! It’s one of ours that managed to get mixed up with one from the Everfree Forest! We already have casualties and we don’t need any more piling up!” Rainbow Dash growled, but couldn’t help but shiver at the thought that a storm from the same forest she was charging into had caused all this destruction. Just what kind of town lives next to something so dangerous?! “Well, why doesn’t the Weather Patrol do something about this?!” shouted Rainbow Dash. Raindrops rolled her eyes. “Well it was supposed to be prevented, but Gale Storm and her little posse decided to get drunk and ignore their duties. Now she and the rest of them are too drunk to even stand straight, let alone fly. I got whatever we have left trying to minimize the damage but the best thing for you to do now is just stay put!” Rainbow Dash looked out of the window, watching the storm continue its rampage across the town like an elephant trampling against an ant colony. Debris and garbage banged against the windows, making ponies huddle in terror, praying they would be safe. Rainbow Dash didn’t care about whatever danger was out there; her brother could be flying around like the garbage outside, broken and wounded. “Yeah, that’s not happening! Hiya!”  yelled Rainbow Dash, delivering a powerful headbutt to the surprised Raindrops. She went down in an instant and Rainbow Dash bolted out of the door, ignoring the cries and yells from the other ponies inside. The moment she re-entered the storm, she could tell it had gotten worse as she was blown completely off-course and barely managed to avoid crashing into a house. Gritting her teeth, she flapped her wings to her limit and tried to press on in the direction of the nearby forest. She struggled with every fiber in her body, pushing herself so hard that she was sure her wings were about to fall off. Nevertheless, she pressed on with only one goal in her mind: find her little brother. *** It had taken what seemed like forever to reach the border of the forest, but she had made it. The wind was now pushing her so fast she felt like she was going up against a tornado. The rain was on full soakage mode, cascading down like a waterfall. She even narrowly missed being turned into a fried pegasus from a few strikes of lightning along the way. But Rainbow Dash wasn’t going to let a stupid storm keep her from finding her brother. I’ll find him if it’s the last thing I do! You hear me you bucking storm?! “Spectrum!” called out Rainbow Dash, flying around while holding her breath and praying that she would hear a voice... “Rainbow!” Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened. That was... “Spectrum!”  cried Dash again; this time she definitely heard her name, only louder. He was close, very close. If Dash hadn’t been under attack from the worst storm of the century she would have done a backflip. Narrowing her eyes against the rain, she nearly closed them as a flash of lightning in the air almost blinded her. To her fortune, the flash revealed something shivering in the darkness; under the cover of a few trees on the forest border, was a lone colt with a bright multi-colored mane. “Spectrum!” shouted Rainbow Dash with joy as she dived down and landed near her brother. Spectrum rushed out of his hiding place and nearly tackled Rainbow Dash. Teary-eyed, he looked up and smiled, “You came! You really came!” Grinning, Rainbow Dash hugged her brother and felt a sense of relief wash over her. “Of course you silly! I’ll never leave you!” Another round of thunder and lightning reawakened Dash’s senses as she grabbed her brother and jumped left, avoiding the falling tree by inches. Spectrum, crying into his sister’s chest, screamed, “I wanna go home, Dash! I wanna get out of here!” “Listen to me!” shouted Rainbow Dash, getting his attention. “I’m gonna fly us out of here, but you have to hang on as tight as you can around my neck! Don’t! Let! Go! We’re gonna be okay, little brother!” Spectrum stared at his older sister, before giving his usual cocky grin. “Okay! Let’s get the hay out of here!” “That’s the spirit!” shouted Rainbow Dash, turning towards the storm and resisting the urge to gulp. Truth was, she wanted to just hunker down and let the storm pass by, but she knew that they couldn’t stay here too long.The trees could fall any second. I have to get him to safety! I just have to! Lowering herself so her brother could get on her back, Rainbow Dash waited until she could feel her brother’s legs around her neck as tight as they could be without choking her. “Ready?” she asked him, and he nodded in reply. Taking a deep breath, Rainbow Dash galloped out of their hiding spot and kicked off the ground. It took some time for her to adjust to the intense wind, but she gritted her teeth and pressed on. Spectrum’s grip grew tighter, but Dash ignored it for now, focusing on the path ahead of them. The rain was making it harder to see, and it was only thanks to the occasional flash of lightning that Dash made sure they were still on course. That’s when she felt it. Her brother’s hooves slowly slipping from her neck. Gasping, she glanced behind her to see her brother's wings, fully out, were caught in the wind and were threatening to drag him away. “Spectrum! Put your wings down! Now!” “I can’t! I’m... I’m too scared!” shouted Spectrum, tears in his eyes. “You need to be brave, Spectrum! We’re almost there! Just hold on!” ordered Rainbow Dash, before hissing in pain as a small rock hit her head. She looked around and noticed more debris from the ground was flying everywhere. Upon barely avoiding a loose tree branch, Rainbow Dash flapped her wings even faster, but this proved to be a mistake as she felt Spectrum’s hooves slip away; each of her coat hairs tingling at the sensation. “Hold on!” “I can’t!” “Spectrum!” cried Rainbow Dash, before a lightning bolt struck down in front of her. She whined and halted just in time to avoid it, but it was too much for Spectrum. His grip broke and he went sailing into the air, screaming in terror as he was tossed around like a ragdoll. “Rainbow Dash!” screamed the terrified colt, who was now the storm’s plaything. “Nooooooooo!” screamed Rainbow Dash, changing directions to go get her brother, but she turned around and saw a large log heading straight for her. Unable to dodge, she felt it smack into her chest and head before blacking out. *** The taste of iron was the first thing Rainbow Dash felt when she came to, followed by pain the likes of which she’d never felt before. It was even a struggle to open up her eyes. To her surprise, it was sunshine that decorated the sky and not the clouds of a raging storm. Realizing that it was finally over, Rainbow Dash tried to get up but quickly stopped herself due to the pain. If Dash wasn’t dead, she might as well have been. With slow movements, she struggled to get a good look at herself. She had multiple open cuts, her once-bright blue coat was now mixed with a dark red. Her legs and side were punctured with splinters and small rocks, too small for her to get out with her teeth as well as too numerous to even bother. She could feel a few cracked teeth in her mouth as well as one broken tooth. Finally, she got up on her haunches, which were bruised all over, and looked at her wings only to wince at the damage. They were very much broken from the way they were misshapen and malformed. It was going to take weeks, maybe even months before she could fly again. Slowly forcing herself to her hooves, Rainbow Dash tried to walk forward, but nearly collapsed again. “Spectrum...” muttered Rainbow, “... gotta... find... Spectrum...” Wincing with each step, Rainbow Dash struggled to find her little brother in the ruins of the field she was in. Rocks were turned over, holes in the dirt were everywhere, debris from the houses and trees of Ponyville made the entire area look like a bomb had gone off and torn up the place. Pushing herself, Rainbow continued to press on until she saw something in the distance. A six-colored mane. This reenergized Rainbow Dash as she pressed on with even larger strides, despite the fact that her wounds were only reopening.  But when she reached where her brother was, she stopped and stared in horror. Her face paled as everything around her seemed to become silent. Her own knees threatened to fail and make her collapse, but the sheer shock of what she was seeing had all but paralyzed her. She wondered if this was a nightmare, or if she was dead and in Tartarus. Either of those would have been preferable to being in that moment right there. Her brother, her wonderful brother lay there on the grass, eyes closed and facing the sky, with a large, pointy branch sticking out of his chest like a spike. “SPECTRUM!” Rainbow Dash dived at her brother, shaking him over and over while screaming his name. She looked at the large stick and grabbed it with teeth, slowly tearing it out of her brother’s body with sicking crunches and splutters as blood began to pour out. This made Spectrum wake up and scream bloody murder. Rainbow Dash stopped and held her hooves close her dying brother’s cheeks as his misty eyes looked into her own. “Rainbow... it... hurts.... it hurts so much...” muttered Spectrum, coughing out blood. “I know... just stay with me, alright? We’re gonna get you fixed up! I promise!” said Rainbow Dash, tears cascading down her cheeks. She closed them and tried to think of something, anything, to help her brother. But she was useless, barely able to move and nopony else was in the area. Nevertheless, she raised her head and screamed, “Help! Somepony! My brother’s hurt! Help! HELP!” “Rainbow... I’m sorry...” muttered Spectrum, crying. “I didn’t... mean... to make you... m-mad...” “No, d-d-don’t say that!” screamed Rainbow Dash, pressing her forehead against his. The two siblings cried together, holding each other as hard as their weak bodies could. “I was stupid... and I’m so sorry, Spectrum! I don’t hate you! I love you! I love you little brother!” “I love... I love... gah!” cried out Spectrum, passing out for a second. Rainbow Dash held him tighter, promising never to let her brother go ever again if he could just live long enough for help to arrive. It’s all my fault! All my fault! I never should have left him! I never should have yelled at him! It’ s all my fault! “Rainbow... I'm... tired." Dash’s eyes widened as she looked directly at Spectrum, whose eyelids were slowly closing. “So... tired...” "Spectrum! No! Keep your eyes open! You hear me! No matter what, don't fall asleep! Look at me, little bro!" "I just... want to close... my eyes for... five... minutes..." “Spectrum! Oh Celestia. HELP! SOMEPONY! ANYPONY PLEASE!" Slowly, Spectrum turned his head to his sister and gave a weak smile. "Rainbow... we're gonna be Wonderbolts together...right?" Rainbow Dash, holding her brother’s hoof as tightly as she could, could only cry as the last threads of life in her little brother’s body began to slowly fade away. She forced a smile to appear on her muzzle and nodded. “Y-yeah... you and me...we're gonna be together forever!” said Rainbow Dash. “The A-a-a-mazing and... A-a-a-awesome Rainbow Duo! F-f-future stars of the Wonderbolts....” She leaned forward even more. “A-and I’ll teach you the sonic rainboom! Hay, by the time we’re done, we’ll be doing them all over Equestria!” "Will.... Fluttershy be there?" "She's gonna be there, and Mom and Dad and everypony! Cheering our name!" "That... sounds... cool...." "Spectrum?” She shook his shoulder. No answer. She looked into his eyes. They were closed. She tried to hear him breathing. He wasn’t. “Spectrum! SPECTRUM! NO! NO! NO! OH CELESTIA! NOOOOOO! SPECTRUM!" Holding onto her brother's unmoving body, Rainbow Dash unleashed a despairing scream “SPECTRUM!”