//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Fluttershy's Pet Breezie // by Skylight77 //------------------------------// *Creak* A window on the first floor of the library creaked open, silently. Rainbow Dash glanced around quickly, making sure the coast was clear. Being sure she was alone, Rainbow Dash immediately slipped through the open window, silently closing it afterwards. It was currently midnight around the town of Ponyville. Rainbow Dash wore a black sneaking suit along with a small pack while she was sneaking through the Golden Oaks Library. She kept her body low as she crawled through the library floors, the path to the basement being her destination. Rainbow Dash was sweating bullets while traversing the library. She had never been more desperate and nervous at the same time before. Thankfully practically everypony was asleep during this time, yet Rainbow Dash did not want any risks of waking them up. She carefully put each hoof before the other as she crawled towards the basement, reaching the stairs. Upon reaching the stairs, Rainbow Dash glanced around quickly before spreading her wings. She then hurriedly dashed straight down the stairs, coming to an immediate stop once she reached the door at the bottom. Rainbow Dash carefully opened the basement door, being careful that no pony was around. “Phew…” Rainbow Dash wiped the sweat off her forehead after seeing the coast was clear. It was difficult to see due to the fact that there wasn't much light during midnight. But thankfully there was just enough to see where she was going. She hovered around the basement, searching for something. “Surely she must have put it around here somewhere.” Rainbow Dash searched the basement, struggling a bit to rummage through a pile of all sorts of weird junk that she couldn't recognize. Her muscles were already aching due to past events, and moving these items didn't help. “*Cough, cough…*” A sudden dust mist hit Rainbow Dash's face after moving some boxes around. There must've been all sorts of things that were forgotten around here. Just then, Rainbow Dash caught something in the corner of her eye. It gleamed a bright sparkle in her point of view. Rainbow Dash's mood brightened upon the sight. She reached for it with her hoof, picking it up. “Jackpot!” she celebrated silently. “I knew she'd try hiding it around here.” Rainbow Dash was so happy now that she had found the book she was looking for. But this was only the first step to her self-proclaimed mission. Now it was time for her to get out. Placing the book inside the small pack she had carried with her, Rainbow Dash made her way back up the basement stairs, carefully closing the basement door behind her. Rainbow Dash flew to the ground level of the library, peaking her head left and right to make sure no pony was there. She carefully put each hoof before the other, sneaking her way through the library, making her way towards the window she used to get in. Using her hoof to open up the window when she got into range, she took one last glance behind her, scanning the library. Making sure no pony was awake; she slipped outside of the library. “Yes!...” Rainbow Dash gestured her hoof up then brought it downward in silent victory. It was time for part two of her mission. Rainbow Dash spread her wings and took to the skies, heading towards her next destination. ______________________________________________________________________________ The flight path had taken Rainbow Dash towards Town Hall. While she was flying there, Rainbow Dash’s eyes increasingly became drowsy. Her flying had wavered slightly, but she still managed to land next to one of the Town Hall's underground passage ways. Rainbow Dash rested her eyes. She instinctively snored slightly while standing up. Being awake past midnight was not something anypony would recommend doing, but it was the only time Rainbow Dash could do this. Rainbow Dash snapped open her eyes after realizing she’d nearly fallen asleep. She shook her head rapidly in an attempt to break away the drowsiness. “Come on, Rainbow Dash, pull yourself together…” she spoke under her breath so that no pony could hear. She conked herself in the head with her hoof before taking a look at the book she grabbed earlier about transformation magic. Using what little light there was around Town Hall, she flipped through the pages and skimmed through the articles to find a specific spell page. Thanks to the fact that most of the pages had pictures of the spell in them, it wasn't as difficult to find as one would think. It took a while, but when she found the page she was looking for, she marked it with a ruler she brought with her using that package. Rainbow Dash placed the book back inside her package before proceeding to undo the latch on the door near Town Hall that lead underground. Instead of taking the stairs after opening the door however, she slipped through and kept herself embraced on the ceiling. It looked like she was using her hooves to stick to the ceiling as she was crawling along it, but she was actually using her wings to maintain her altitude. As Rainbow Dash crawled across the ceiling of the underground basement of Town Hall, she kept her eyes out for the contraptions that wrote the newspapers for Ponyville. She didn't necessarily have to tread Town Hall like this, but mixing up her activities was something she did regardless. Thanks to the sneaking suit, it would be difficult to spot Rainbow Dash in this night even if a pony was looking straight at her. No pony was around however to test that theory though. Rainbow Dash’s eyes met with one of the contraptions, so she crawled towards it until she was directly above it. Removing her hooves off of the ceiling, she descended towards the writer upside down with her still beating yet aching wings. Rainbow Dash came within reach of the writer, opening up the slides that allowed copying pages. Opening up her package, she took out the transformation book, opening up to the page she book marked, and slid it inside the receiver. She descended lower to reach the lever used to start the copying. By hitting the lever, the machine started its job. *Whiirrrr* Rainbow Dash cringed at the sound the writer was making. If it was too noisy, there was no doubt it would attract attention. She carefully pressed the lever again, causing the machine to make noises again. Each press of the lever caused more noises, making Rainbow Dash more and more nervous with each passing second. The pressure was building up to her head as she continued to allow the machine to copy the pages of that book. The writer eventually stopped its writing sounds and all Rainbow Dash could hear was the lever clicking from her hoof. The machine was done copying. Rainbow Dash adjusted her altitude to claim the papers she copied, along with the book. After placing both items back into her package, she quickly brought herself back to the ceiling, taking a few glances around the area to make sure no pony had come looking. Seeing that the coast was clear, Rainbow Dash gave a silent relieved sigh before proceeding towards the exit from where she came in. After getting back outside, Rainbow Dash allowed herself a moment of rest. All that pressure building inside of her head vanished. She wrapped her hooves around her aching body, grunting from the strain she was putting herself in. “This vacation cannot come soon enough…” Rainbow Dash popped open her package again to make sure the papers she copied were formed correctly. Looking back and forth towards the book and the papers, she confirmed that they indeed were. She placed the items back into her package, making sure that the book was separated from the pages and ruler. Rainbow Dash stood up, closed her eyes, and took a few deep breaths, trying carefully to not fall asleep. Part two of her mission was complete, so now it was time to initiate part three. The problem is, it was just a repeat of part one. Rainbow Dash spread her wings and took off to her next destination, again. ______________________________________________________________________________ Rainbow Dash made her way back to the Golden Oaks library, landing next to the same window she used to sneak in before. She proceeded sneaking in the same manner that she did the last time, making sure the coast was clear before proceeding towards the basement. She was still nervous, but thankful that no pony had awoken yet. But the longer she was here, the more risk there would be for that to happen. Now that Rainbow Dash was back in the basement of the Golden Oaks Library, it was time to return an overdue book. And this book had to be returned from exactly where she found it. Rainbow Dash reached into her package and brought out the transformation book. Now that she had the pages copied, she no longer needed it, and needed to make sure she wasn't seen with it. Rainbow Dash made her way towards the back of the basement, where a lot of the items were located that she couldn't recognize. The book was located somewhere among those piles, so that's where she was putting it. After setting the book down, she moved the boxes and other items around to conceal it. With the book back in its place, she turned around to leave the scene. “Hoo.” “Aahhh!” Rainbow Dash nearly shouted at the top of her lungs upon the sight of an owl appearing in front of her. “Oh, it’s only you Owlicious. Phew…” Owlicious was perched on top of the railing that led to the basement doors, eying the cyan pegasus creepily. Rainbow Dash couldn't tell how much more her nerves could take. Between the strain that her body was in and how nervous this mission was making her, she really wanted to rest now. But she couldn't, she had to keep going. “Hoo.” The noises that were coming from Owlicious were making Rainbow Dash cringe. She feared that any sort of noise now would give away her position. She proceeded towards the basement doors. “Hoo.” The owl’s noises were making Rainbow Dash increasingly more nervous as she passed by. It wasn't just the noises but also the way those eyes were stalking her. She tried to take her mind off of Owlicious and focus on getting outside. “Hoo.” Okay, now this owl was just taunting her. Rainbow Dash reached the basement doors, opening them and slipping right through. She closed the doors behind her, now out of sight of that creepy owl. Rainbow Dash let out a sigh of relief. Her sanity was being pushed too far for her liking. Rainbow Dash flew slowly up the stairs, trying to keep herself sane. Once she was outside, she could have a moment to relax. Suddenly, the door from the basement opened. Rainbow Dash gasped in panic, instinctively thinking somepony would catch her. She dashed straight for the window, closing it immediately on her way out, and jumped straight for the nearby bushes to hide. “*pant, pant, pant.*” Rainbow Dash checked outside of the bushes for a second to make sure no pony had noticed her presence. It was clear, so Rainbow Dash re-concealed herself and plopped herself with her back to the floor. She panted heavily with her limbs spread. She could feel her whole body pulsing with stress and pain. She wanted nothing more than to just lay there and rest. But if she were to fall asleep now, she'd run the risk of losing the night in her sleep. Rainbow Dash couldn't allow sunrise to come before her mission was complete. If sunrise came, no doubt she would be caught, and her whole operation would be meaningless. She had to endure her pain just a little longer. Now that Rainbow Dash had returned the book, part three of her mission was complete. Her possession of that book would have otherwise been the biggest give away to her plan. Rainbow Dash grunted as she picked herself off the ground. Her body was determined to fall asleep, but she would not stop her plan. She convinced herself that she would do this, and she was not gonna quit now. Rainbow Dash took to the skies once again. It was time to start part four of her mission. ______________________________________________________________________________ Rainbow Dash’s destination took her high in the skies above Ponyville. She came across a few clouds in her path, flying over, under, and around them as she passed by them. She gave them each a look over as she searched. “Hmm…” Rainbow Dash put a hoof to her chin as she examined these clouds. It may have been past midnight in the time of Ponyville, but as long as the moon shined brightly across Equestria, these clouds still stood out in the night sky. Rainbow Dash's eyes went into focus on a specific cloud hiding behind two others. She grinned at the sight. “You’ll do just fine,” Rainbow Dash announced as she slipped past the two clouds and placed her hooves on the one behind them, grabbing it and pushing it. The cloud’s size was a perfect size for use as a bed for a single pegasus. All she needed now was a quiet… Rainbow Dash shook her head rapidly to get those thoughts out of her head. This cloud wasn't to be used as a bed. There was a different purpose for this cloud, and that's what she was telling herself. The rest could come later. With this, Rainbow Dash’s fourth task was complete. This was a very simple task. If only all of her tasks had been this easy. Sadly, this was as easy as it got. Fortunately, there was only one task left to do in her mission. Unfortunately, it was most likely the most dangerous task out of all of her tasks. Rainbow Dash’s nerves grew more anxious with this in mind. She feared that if her body didn’t shut down on her, her mind would instead. Gulping down her stress, she proceeded to her final destination, bringing the cloud with her. ______________________________________________________________________________ Here she was. Rainbow Dash hovered just outside of one of the most dangerous places in all of Equestria. She rested on top of the cloud she was transporting as she looked over the Everfree Forest. It was one thing to enter this forest during the day, but Rainbow Dash had to traverse this area past midnight. Not only did she have to travel it alone, but she also had to protect precious cargo, and her mind and body were certainly not in any condition to be traveling somewhere so dangerous. Rainbow Dash sat there for a few minutes to collect her thoughts. She placed both hooves on her head, fighting back the drowsy feeling. She took deep breaths to relax her sore body. She was having many second thoughts about this mission. Once she finished this last task, there was no turning back. “No, I've come too far to turn back now. If I'm going down, I'm going down trying!” Rainbow Dash repositioned her package to the less sore side of her body. She engaged her wings and positioned herself behind the cloud she was sitting on. She started pushing it forwards. Rainbow Dash was now entering the Everfree Forest. Her nerves attacked her full force. She wasn't sure what she was more nervous about, the dangers of the forest, or the dangers of her task. As Rainbow Dash continued to push her cargo, she kept her eyes searching the air and ground for any signs of danger. It was easier to see any dangers in the air, but the trees below were too thick and huge to catch any sights of dangerous creatures below them very easily. She had to resort to using her ears to listen in on them. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes to get a better listen in on the ground below, but she didn't stop flying. Not much could be heard. The most Rainbow Dash could hear were the brief sounds of rustling, possibly predators hunting their prey from below. She couldn't hear anything that could possibly be dangerous to her. She had to keep herself aware of any possible dangers; least she'd not even have a split second to react. Rainbow Dash opened her eyes. *BAM!!!* “WHOA!!!” A bolt of lightning struck. Rainbow Dash narrowly dodged out of the way before it hit her. The bolt went between her and the cloud cargo she was taking. Rainbow Dash took a look at her surroundings to see what had attacked her. Three storm clouds were surrounding her. These were the clouds from the Everfree Forest that moved on their own, and their target was the cyan pegasus before them. Even the skies of the Everfree Forest were unsafe. Each storm cloud shot another bolt of lightning at Rainbow Dash. “AHH!” Rainbow Dash yelped and moved herself along with her cloud cargo higher into the skies to avoid that strike. The three lightning bolts collided with each other, creating a burst of light. After moving her cloud cargo to a safer position in higher altitude, Rainbow Dash descended back to the storm clouds level. “Hey! Leave Me Alone!” Rainbow Dash charged forth towards one of the storm clouds. Dealing with clouds was the last thing Rainbow Dash wanted in mind with how strained her body already was. The storm cloud she was charging for struck again, but Rainbow Dash avoided the strike. Rainbow Dash came within range. She struck the storm cloud upwards with her fore-hoof, causing half of the cloud to dissipate and then struck with her hind-hoof to dissipate the rest. Rainbow Dash charged towards the next storm cloud in her sight. The storm cloud generated an electric current around itself. Safe striking points around the cloud were circling it randomly. Rainbow Dash aimed at it carefully as she charged for it. Despite its randomness, there was enough room in that pattern for error, and Rainbow Dash had dealt with something like this many times before. Rainbow Dash struck the cloud with both hind-hooves just as she reached it. She managed to strike the spots that weren't electrified at the time of contact, causing the whole storm cloud to dissipate without getting herself shocked. Rainbow Dash panted heavily, putting a hoof to her chest. She looked over her surroundings for the last cloud. She found the last storm cloud ascending to a higher altitude. It seemed to be heading for her cloud cargo. “Oh no you don't!” Rainbow Dash charged for the last storm cloud. The storm cloud attempted to shoot a lightning strike at Rainbow Dash, but she dodged it. Rainbow Dash reached just above the storm cloud, bringing out both fore-hooves in the air, and struck downwards with them together right at the final storm cloud. The storm cloud dissipated, leaving an exhausted Rainbow Dash in its wake. Rainbow Dash flew towards her cloud cargo to rest on it. The strain she was putting on her body was too much for her. She prompted herself on her stomach, placing pressure on the sore parts of her body with her hooves, attempting to ease the pain while she breathed heavily. This should have been easy work, but the pain she was suffering wasn't making it so. “…I can't take it anymore…” Rainbow Dash struggled standing back up on her hooves. “…Somepony, just end it now… take me away…” she started agonizing. Another bolt of lightning struck. “AHH!” Rainbow Dash narrowly avoided it by ducking. “I-I Mean No!” Another bolt of lightning struck, to which she dodged by flying upwards. There were many more storm clouds that came before Rainbow Dash's presence. “Don’t End It Now!” She flew downwards to avoid another strike. She was in full panic. “Forget I Said That!” The lightning bolts just kept coming. “Ahh!” Rainbow Dash high-tailed it out of there, pushing her cloud cargo and flying away from the storm clouds that ambushed her. She proceeded deeper into the forest flying as fast as her wings were allowing her to. The hut that she was looking for within this forest came into view. Rainbow Dash adjusted her flight path to charge straight for it, not stopping for anything. When Rainbow Dash reached the door, she immediately opened it, flew right in, and closed it without hesitation. Her cloud cargo was inside and she was bracing herself on the door with her back, panting heavily. On the other side of the room, there was a familiar zebra standing there as if she was awaiting Rainbow Dash's entrance. “I trust that you have brought-“ “Yeah yeah Zecora, I got everything you asked for! Let's just hurry up and do this!” Rainbow Dash interrupted Zecora, shoving the package she was carrying to the zebra’s face. She wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. ______________________________________________________________________________ The preparations were complete. Zecora had reviewed the pages of the book Rainbow Dash had copied. Most of the area around the hut was cleared for the ceremony. A single cauldron was placed in the middle of the room, with a single stand near it placing a few items. Rainbow Dash was standing on the other side of the cauldron, awaiting the signal from Zecora. The cloud that she brought with her was hovering above the cauldron. Zecora stood before the caldron, spreading a few ingredients inside, causing the liquid inside to start boiling. Zecora signaled Rainbow Dash with her hoof. Rainbow Dash started hovering in the air using her wings. She created a wind power with her wings that blew towards the cauldron. There were magical properties with this wind that created a reaction with the potion inside the cauldron. “Jfahakj ev Olohvhoo, xouh eih succ.” Zecora started speaking in a language Rainbow Dash couldn't understand, probably a language from her land. But that wasn't important to her, she had her part of the job to do, which she already understood. Zecora held a blue flower on a string with her tail, positioning it above the cauldron. “No rhadw kxo hogiojk ev khudjvehmukaed. Xoot eih najx, veh ak aj dek mado.” Zecora used one of her tools to scrape the blue flower, dropping some of its seasonings inside the cauldron. The potion was boiling much larger. Even from the winds coming from Rainbow Dash's wings, it did not spill, but Rainbow Dash was growing weary keeping the pace up. “Walo Ij Xoh Hogiojk, Kxaj Muho Tojahoj Hojk, Udt Kxaj Toot Jxucc Walo Nxuk Jxo Nudkj!” Zecora signaled Rainbow Dash with her hoof again. Rainbow Dash was panting and sweating from her activities, and now it was time to finish it. Once she did this final task, there was no going back. Her body strained, her wings ached, her mind was tired, and her nerves were at their limits. She would not turn back; she came too far to make second thoughts. She would do this now, no backing out. Rainbow Dash forced both of her front hooves forward. She struck the cloud that was positioned above the cauldron. The cloud created a lightning strike that shot straight inside the cauldron. The boiling potion flashed an electric current that surrounded the cauldron. The cauldron shot back towards the flying pegasus. The burst of energy impacted Rainbow Dash's body. “NNGH!!!” The flashing magical aura surrounded Rainbow Dash, causing her to glow brightly. “WALO XOH RUSB NXUK JXO XUJ CEJK! WALO XOH RUSB XOH RHOOQAO VEHM!” Rainbow Dash’s body was disappearing in this light. Her body was changing. She could feel her limbs being pushed in. “AAHHH!!!” The entire hut flashed an explosion of light.