"GOOOOOOOOOOD MORRRRRRNING!" Rainbow Dash rolled onto her side, now realizing that the light was shining through her bedroom window. Her mind was covered with a morning haze, her thoughts from last nights dreams foggy in the labyrinth that was her mind. A slight ringing in her ears caused her eyes - crusted over from the long hours of the night - to open.
Who could possibly want me this early in the morning? Rainbow Dash pondered. As she cracked her back and stretched out the rest of her body, the voice came soothingly weaving its way into her head before splitting with the high pitched frequency of the scream. How long had it been since she fell asleep? The morning summer sun warmed her back as she trudged to the other side of her room.
As she passed the stainless glass mirror in her room, she did a double take before gawking at herself. Her bags hung lower than her snout, and her hair had probably been in a tornado last night. I hope it's only Pinkie Pie at the door, Rainbow Dash thought desperately. If anyone saw her like this, they would obviously think she wasn't the best flyer in Equestria.
As she sheepishly made her way down the stairs, she could make out two voices, both of them familiar. She strained her cloudy senses trying to decipher what they said. "...can't happen like that, it just can't"
Lightning Dust, Rainbow Dash remembered. Wait... how could she get up that early? I guess she must have gotten a little sleep on the boat here, but that shouldn't have given her enough energy to wake up.
"Lightning Dust," said the other. "You know better than to just throw something like that out the window. Isn't this what you've always dreamed of? They were your heroes growing up." Rainbow Dash was almost in sight of the two mares at this point, softly making her way down the curved flight of stairs.
Could it be... no, she swore only to visit when there was no money left to fund me. The account couldn't have drained that quickly. Have I been spending too much? Was it because I went to the Wonderbolts Academy, and now it caught up with us? Rainbow Dash had to know, but this was a conversation that she needed to hear: it could describe Lightning Dust's history.
"For the last time I said NO! Lightning Dust was hollering now. "I don't care if I don't won't ever see her again, EVER. I don't want any part in a war or some secret mission to save Equestria, especially if it jeopardizes me and my sister. Even though I know she can be a little headstrong at times and always wanting to be the hero, even she would say no to this."
Rainbow Dash was buzzing with questions at this point. Control yourself, she chided. If I don't hear this next sentence it could never come up again unless I bring it up, which is something Lightning Dust would obviously be sensitive about, and I don't want to hurt her again.
"How about we ask her ourselves," the other mare said, her voice persuasively cunning, but with a slight edge. "Rainbow Dash, show yourself."
Rainbow Dash's blood stopped dead in its tracks. Her hair that wasn't already frizzed out from bedhead was now on end. How did she kn-
"Rainbow Dash, NOW!" Rainbow Dash knew better than to keep her mother waiting.
I might never be able to let myself come to this, but Lightning Dust was right. Rainbow Dash was significantly distraught at what she just heard. It does explain a lot, but I still can't believe it. "Alright, in a nutshell, tell me the story. But this time, try to leave out all those gory parts." For the the sake of both her sanity and the whole of Equestria's, she needed to hear this "100% true" story.
"If you insist. But remember; time is of the essence! You need to decide swiftly, death approaches." The two sisters cringed at the thought of everypony scavenging for them, the unexplainable amount of zeros going through their heads.
"About 23 years ago, me - the most gorgeous and swiftest of the pegasi, Crystal Clear - was simply strolling through the marketplace, when out of nowhere, VWHOOOOSH. Through the condensed cloud walls in the vicinity parted for two mightily sized stallions grappling for a position on top of the other. The trail of crimson blood left behind showed this was no laughing matter. The couple of them came halting to a stop, blotches of blood splattered amongst each other, holding the most delicate of flowers. One was holding a rose with the most beauteous shades of flaring pink petals and a mellow light green center. The other held a tulip of glistening purple majesty petals with a crisp orange center.
"I was absolutely flattered at both of their offers; but just as powerfully shocked! Where did these people come from? How did they know who I was? Neither of them were even vaguely familiar, but I felt a deep connection to both of them.
"That was when I realized they were talking to me. They were telling me how beautiful they were, blah blah blah. After I had my two bits of fun, I gave them a true challenge. I invited them both back to my home at sunset. The stallion that presented me the purple flower showed up earlier, however. That was all I needed to draw a consensus in my mind. The other horse arrived right at sunset - like he was supposed to - and we sat down and talked for an hour or so. His name was Dusty "Boom" Dash, and that was your father.
"After four years of jubilant life together, Dusty proposed to me. Time flew by and next thing you know I was in CMC (Cloudsdale Medical Center) going through labor, knowing little about the twin that came out soon after you, Rainbow Dash.
Yes, you are older, but by barely 5 minutes. Settle down you two, the story isn't finished. We decided to name you both after your father in some way, which is where your last names come from. Lightning, you practically zapped yourself out of the womb, so we named you Lightning. And Rainbow, your hair was like nothing we had seen before, so we named you for that.
"We were so excited and ready to have you around. But not even a week after you were born, we were payed with a visit by Celestia herself. She said that Luna foresaw something... dark, and that it had to do with, and I quote, 'those creatures and their overwhelming power and speed. You must separate them, for the good of themselves and all of Equestria.' And with that she left.
"We knew we had to make this as convincing as possible to you both, so we decided to have Rainbow Dash placed in the most luxurious of Palaces made from the daintiest of clouds, and have Lightning Dust live in a Manehattan apartment. All of the rents and such were prepayed, and there was food to go around, but we left Lightning Dust in the hoofs of your father, and Rainbow Dash in mine. For ten years, all was well; except our broken hearts.
"So on both of your 15 birthdays, we were going to bring you two together. But then, a catastrophe happened. On the train ride here, as you might reminisce Lightning Dust, The train hit a bump in the track, and he went flying out the window. He was later found with a shard of glass right through what they think was his lung. I was devastated, and Lightning Dust never knew what her father was going to show her. After that, we lost all contact with you, and you weren't in your apartment.
"I fell into a state of mental breakdown. Who knew what would happen to you? If you were in the Everfree Forest, you could have been gone forever. From what I heard of your father's letters, you were most likely going to presume your quest to become a Wonderbolt. I was hospitalized after that, and Rainbow Dash was going to plausibly to reach for the same goal. It was a disaster waiting to happen.
"I still don't understand why we have to be segregated from each other." Rainbow Dash went through a mental checklist in her head, making sure everything was covered that she wanted to know.
"I was getting to that now," replied Crystal, keeping her composure as best she could. "You two both know that you can break the sound barrier, spreading your cutie mark across the sky. This takes up extreme amounts of energy; but do you know where you get that energy from? It comes from the same energy field as unicorn energy does. But since you two are pegasi, you should not have access to this. That fact that you do is astonishing in its entirety, but using it causes a slight drop every time in the unicorns' abilities.
"Most of the time, it is unnoticable and it fills the gap in a rapid two minutes. But last night, you two were in the same area when it happened, therefore outputting much more than the average amount. Celestia must have sensed this, and you should be wary. She will be on the lookout for you, as well most of the other ponies around Equestria."
Rainbow Dash effervesced with excitement, anxiety, and most of all, awesomeness, but all she could do was leave her jaw hanging down to the cloud made table. Is it true? Can I use the same powers as Twilight? Does this mean I am secretly an alicorn? This is so AWESOME! Her mind was absolutely electrified with this newfound knowledge.
She finally regained feeling in her jaw. The pins-and-needles feel ravaged her whole body as she pushed herself into a sitting position. Her mouth finally learned how to work again and spattered out a few slurred words. "Does this... mean what I think it does?"
"Well," uttered their mother, "if what you mean is that you now are wanted fugitives with no idea what to do now that you have finally discovered your true meaning in life, then yes." It was like Rainbow Dash was just cut into about twenty different pieces. She shattered at the thought that people were going to be trying to capture her at any moment possible. All her glory and reputation, it had no meaning to anyone now.
"If you truly wish to survive, you must confront Celestia herself. She is the most powerful pony in all of Equestria, so you must prepare well. But remember, hiding will get you nowhere in battle." Crystal Clear then proceeded to leap over the table and stayed hovering outside the kitchen window. "Good luck girls. I will see you after your victory with the answers to all your other questions." And off she flew.
Rainbow Dash had so many questions she wanted answered now, but neither she nor Lightning Dust had the nerve to ask her. In her seat was a wanted sign with their names on it. The amount of money they were worth was officially nothing compared to what they had experienced that morning. The saying 'I feel like a million bits' has never been so true.