//------------------------------// // Rainbow Dash // Story: Utopia // by SilentWanderer //------------------------------// The world was spinning. Rainbow Dash felt the cloud she had been resting on give way, and darkness enveloped her. She fell within a void, losing notion of which way was up or down. She felt something hard hit her back. The darkness gave way, replaced by blinding light. Still dizzy, she closed her eyes and used her flying practice to recover her bearings. She could now feel that she was on her back, on a hard floor, wings spread by her side. Not dizzy anymore, she opened her eyes, and rolled into a standing position. She flexed her wings, first one, then the other, checking for damage. They did not seem to be hurt. Satisfied that she would not be bound to a hospital bed again, she finally looked around. “What is this place?” She was near the middle of a very large plaza. In the distance, she could see some kind of buildings around the plaza. It sort of reminded her of the Crystal Empire, with its shiny buildings and hard floor. But the buildings here were larger and more spaced. Rainbow Dash took off vertically, to look around from a better vantage point. “Okay, there is large, there is huge, and there is excessively, ridiculously huge.” The few ponies walking or flying around were like small dots in the distance. Each of the buildings looked so big, that they could fit a mountain within each one, with space to spare. Other than the buildings, and a few smaller constructions, there seemed to be nothing else. No uncovered ground. No trees. No clouds. And not even the sun—everything was covered by a single immense dome, which radiated a bright light. One of the flying ponies attracted Rainbow Dash's attention. Instead of flying normally, that pegasus was performing aerial tricks. Rainbow Dash flew closer, to take a better look. The yellow pegasus had as her cutie mark a rainbow over a cloud. She was in the middle of a complicated sequence of spins and loops, which she executed flawlessly. “Nice moves, kid.” “Thanks! I am trying to become as awesome as my idol!” She stopped upside down at the top of a tight loop, flipped back to normal orientation, and looked at Rainbow Dash with a large smile. “Your idol?” “Yes, my idol, Rainbow Dash! She flew with the Wonderbolts hundreds of years ago, when they were at their top, and saved all of Equestria several times! You must be a huge fan of her too, you look just like her! My name is Rainbow Wing, what is yours?” “Er... I am also called Rainbow Dash, nice to meet you.” “Wow, your family must really love Rainbow Dash too! My parents gave me my name as a homage to her, but they gave you her full name!” “Er... Yeah...” “Want to fly with me for a while?” -*-*-*- Both mares flew high and fast above the strange city, at times switching to aerial tricks before resuming normal flight. Rainbow Wing showed herself to be a really good flyer, effortlessly doing complex maneuvers without warning, but Rainbow Dash did not have any difficulty following her. Neither pegasus talked, both focused on their flight. No matter how long they flew, the scenery never changed. There were only the gigantic buildings, separated by vast expanses of hard floor, with a few smaller constructions. A few ponies walking or flying around. And nothing else. The only variations were small differences on the shape of the big buildings. Rainbow Dash took care to not show off. She could do maneuvers harder than these, if she wanted to. But it was clear something was going on, and it would be better to not call too much attention to herself. Rainbow Wing slowed down. “Hey Rainbow Dash, I am getting thirsty! Want to get a drink?” “Sure.” Rainbow Wing entered into a downwards glide, followed closely by Rainbow Dash. They landed on a large plaza, next to a small construction. Rainbow Wing touched something on the side of the construction, and it dispensed two cans of cold beverage. “You are a really good flyer, Rainbow Dash! Not every pony can keep up with me easily, and you did it without any effort!” “Yeah, thanks.” “Want to see my Rainbow Dash memorabilia? My home is not far from here, and I think my collection is the best one that there is! I have things you could not find even in the best Rainbow Dash museum!” “Yeah, sure.” “Follow me!” Rainbow Wing took off, followed by Rainbow Dash. They flew high, towards a small opening on the side of one of the buildings. As they came closer to it, what looked like a small opening revealed itself as a large semicircular tunnel, wide enough to be able to give passage even to an adult dragon. At the end of the tunnel, Rainbow Dash found herself flying within an immense atrium, which ran the whole height of the building. The walls were dotted with platforms, windows and balconies, of many different shapes. Natural-looking light flooded from the high ceiling, and the building itself also glowed softly. Thousands of ponies could be seen, either flying in the large open space, or standing on the balconies. And hundreds of floors below, the ground was covered by a large forest. Rainbow Wing led Rainbow Dash towards one of the balconies, where they landed. Behind the balcony, there was a single room, large enough to fly comfortably around, and covered with all sorts of decorations, most of them Wonderbolts posters or pictures of Rainbow Dash. A small cloud was tied to a corner. Rainbow Wing went towards an old wooden cabinet, and started digging into its drawers. “Look! A commemorative coin of 100 years since Rainbow Dash saved Equestria! Only twenty were made, and I have one of them!” “A signed ticket to her first show with the Wonderbolts!” Rainbow Dash, however, was more interested on a small picture frame which was on top of the cabinet. “You like that picture? It is my ancestor together with Rainbow Dash, signed by the hero herself!” The picture showed Rainbow Dash, together with Scootaloo. -*-*-*- After seeing one too many commemorative items about Rainbow Dash saving Equestria, she decided to risk asking a question. “You know a lot about Rainbow Dash. Could you tell me the story of her saving Equestria? I am sure you will tell it better than any history book!” “Sure! It all started on a sunny day at Ponyville...” The stories went on for a while. There were some Rainbow Dash already knew, like their defeat of Nightmare Moon, Discord, and many other villains. There were some Rainbow Dash did not know, about their defeat of villains Rainbow Dash had never met. But the last one was different. From what Rainbow Wing told, she was already one of the Wonderbolts at that time. Scootaloo was her pupil. During one of their presentations, some sort of generic villain came out of nowhere, similar to several she and her friends had fought many times before. Equestria was on the brink of disaster, as usual, and they used the Elements of Harmony again to save the day. The Elements of Harmony did not work. Reality was cracking everywhere, and time was running out. Equestria was about to be destroyed, if it were not for Rainbow Dash. Asking her friends to use the Elements one last time, she dove into the dark portal the villain was holding open, doing a Sonic Rainboom at the last moment. The combination of the Sonic Rainboom and the Elements of Harmony was able to break the portal, killing the villain and saving Equestria. Rainbow Dash did not survive. -*-*-*- Rainbow Dash was not feeling well. This was not like the dizzyness she felt when arriving at this strange place. This was worse. Rainbow Dash liked to hear about her moments of glory. But she was not prepared to learn about her own death. She had to find Twilight. The brainy unicorn would be the only one who could find a way to prevent her death. And her other friends—she was sure they were here too. She had to find them. “Sorry kid, I have to go. I have to look for my friends.”