1000 AD
Rainbow Dash’s House
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“Dash...”
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“Rainbow Dash!”
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“Good morning, Rainbow Dash!”
Rainbow Dash groaned as light flooded her room. She rolled over in her bed and used her wing to push her comforter up over her face, shielding herself from the unmerciful daylight. “Mmgph,” she proclaimed.
“Ahh, Diane’s Bell sounds so beautiful in the morning!” Aurora Glow walked over from the window to her daughter’s bed, smiling patiently. “Come on, Dash. Rise and shine!”
“Yeah, yeah,” escaped a muffled voice from underneath the comforter. “Just give me ten more minutes.”
Aurora Glow smirked as she walked to the staircase leading out of the bedroom. While she loved her daughter with all her heart, the daily routine of rousing her from bed was an exercise in perseverance. Most days, it could easily take an hour or more. But not today, she thought. Today, I have a once-in-a-lifetime, super ultimate weapon. “Oh,” she said matter-of-factly, starting to head downstairs. “I thought you’d been looking forward to the Millennial Summer Sun Celebration.” Behind her, a frantic rustling noise came from the bed. “I guess I’ll let Twilight know that you won’t be able to make it. I’m sure she can find somepony else to give your ticket to.” With a muffled thump, a tangled-up pegasus and her bedsheets fell onto the hardwood floor.
Aurora Glow grinned widely as she reached the bottom of the staircase. Thirty nine seconds! I haven’t gotten her out of bed that fast since she was a filly! She headed over to the kitchen to finish preparing breakfast as she listened to the beautiful melody of her daughter getting ready on time: hooves stomping noisily on the wood floor, drawers scraping opened and slamming shut, an occasional muffled curse. She sighed. If only we celebrated the thousandth anniversary of the founding of Sugardia more often. Maybe Dash would be awake in time for lunch more often than not!
From upstairs came the shrill creak of a opening window, followed by a slam that lightly shook the wooden house. Aurora Glow’s head jolted; a confused look on her face quickly turned into a scowl. “Rainbow Dash!” she yelled at the ceiling. “What have I told you about coming and going through the windows?! You use the front door like a civilized pony, young lady.” Her shout trailed off, giving way to a light chuckle. She shook her head. “Oh, let her have her fun. Today’s going to be an exciting day, after all.”
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1000 AD
Equus
Over the town of Equus, a teenage cyan pegasus with a lightning bolt cutie mark flew at breakneck speed. In her wake, she left a rainbow streak and a high-pitched fangirl squeal. “Eee! Omigosh-omigosh-omigosh! The Wonderbolts—the actual Wonderbolts—are going to be right here in Equus for the Millennial Summer Sun Celebration. This is it! Today’s the day! Living the dream! Yeah!” She flipped and rolled across the sky, giddy from the prospect of years of training finally paying off.
She firmly smacked her face with her hooves. “Focus, Rainbow. This thing isn’t a done deal. Yet.” She sped through the air above her hometown. In the distance, Rainbow Dash could see Diane’s Square rapidly approaching. “The Wonderbolts’ show doesn’t start for another hour. I need to track down Twi and get my ticket, but that’ll be a snap. Me and her can kill some time at the lame filly carnival crap until the show begins.”
Over the rushing wind, she could hear firecrackers popping as dozens of balloons rose into the air. Equus’s fairgrounds were fully decorated for the Celebration. A number of festively colored tents had been set up on the grounds, decorated with ornate banners bearing Sugardia’s royal crest. She could make out dozens—no, hundreds—of ponies roaming the fair, no doubt visiting from all across the kingdom. They wandered about the many booths of Diane’s Square, sampling freshly-baked treats, dancing to live music, and playing carnival games.
“The show will be awesome and all, but after the show is when the real excitement begins,” Rainbow Dash said, smirking confidently. “That’s when I’ll take to the skies, introduce myself to the Wonderbolts, and prove to them that I am Wonderbolt material. My unmatchable speed. My insane acrobatic maneuvers. And of course,” she said, glancing behind herself, looking at the worn katana strapped snugly to her back, “my unstoppable sword techniques. They’ll have to let me join. They’ll just have to!”
Rainbow Dash reached the airspace above Diane’s Square. About a hundred meters below her, she could see the pedestal where Diane’s Bell hung—a relic from centuries ago. “Right! Twilight said she’d meet up with me just north of Diane’s Bell. Better start looking!” She dove down sharply, racing to the ground. She zipped underneath the bell, flying toward the courtyard to—
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1000 AD
Diane’s Square
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“Owww ow-ow-ow...”
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“Ouch...”
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“Ow.”
Rainbow Dash winced sharply. She reached a hoof up, brushing it through her spiky, rainbow-striped mane, and applied pressure over her white bandana, trying to make her head stop throbbing. She was lying flat on her back, but could feel something uncomfortable poking into her back. It doesn’t really hurt though, so I don’t think anything’s broken, she thought. Please let nothing be broken. She could hear a growing number of onlookers coming closer, murmuring questions in a concerned tone. Great. Just great. I just had to crash, today of all days. I swear, if one of the Wonderbolts saw that, my life is as good as—
“Ouchie doodles...”
Rainbow Dash’s blood froze. No-no-no. It’s fine if I crashed by myself, but if somepony else got hurt because of me... She struggled to open her eyes, but all she could see was a fuzzy pink blur. She rubbed her foreleg across her eyes, trying to clear her vision. When she reopened her eyes, the pink blur snapped into focus. It was the upside down head of a pink earth pony, looking down at her with a worried expression.
“Are you okay? You took a really nasty tumble,” said the pink pony. Rainbow Dash tried to utter a reply, but was still too woozy from the crash and couldn’t get her voice to work. It wouldn’t have mattered; the pink pony’s expression quickly turned to a tooth-filled grin as she continued. “I sure did, too! I was walking along like ‘la la la’ and then you flew down here like ‘nyyyyeeeeh’ and then I was like ‘wh-wh-WHOA!’ and then we were like ‘ker-PLOWIE!’ and then I was like ‘ouchie doodles...’ and then I was like ‘are you okay?’ and then you were like—” she inhaled, “and then I was like ‘I sure did, too!’ and then—” She gasped sharply, pupils dilating. She ran out of Rainbow Dash’s field of vision. “No, no-no, no-no-no-no-no!”
Rainbow Dash struggled back onto her hooves. Her legs were a bit wobbly, but at least her pain was starting to subside. Looking across the courtyard, she saw the pink pony was frantically bouncing around, digging through bushes and looking under tables. Her tightly curled pink mane and tail, both bound into ponytails with metallic clasps, were swaying back and forth in reaction to her erratic movements. Rainbow Dash caught a glance at her cutie mark: a set of three balloons. She also noticed what appeared to be a strange, elaborate metal leg-guard on her front right leg, but at this distance she couldn’t tell what exactly it was.
The crowd of onlookers, after seeing that both mares were back on their hooves, began to disperse. Rainbow Dash stretched and flexed her wings, double-checking that she hadn’t injured anything during the crash. A little sore, but I’ve had way worse. Turning her head, she bit down on the hilt of her katana, pulled it out of its sheath, and rested it on the ground. While the practice katana was somewhat flimsy and not intended for serious combat, it appeared undamaged from the fall. She let out a sigh of relief. Thank the Sun. Looks like it’s still ‘game on’ for the Wonderbolts show.
Something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Turning her head, she saw a of necklace lying on the ground where she had fallen after the crash. Its wide golden band was embroidered with swooping arcs that resembled puffy clouds. Hanging from the center of the necklace was a large blue sapphire, cut in the shape of a balloon. It looked quite ornate and valuable. Rainbow Dash scooped it up with her hoof, looking quizzically at it. Focusing her eyes beyond the necklace, she saw that the pink pony was still panicking in the background. Rainbow Dash picked up and sheathed her katana, draped the necklace over her hoof, and flew over to the pink pony.
“Hey.”
The pink pony let out another gasp, leaping a meter into the air, reaching eye-to-eye with the hovering Rainbow Dash. “My necklace! Oh, thank goodness! I must’ve lost it when we crashed! I was starting to worry that it was gone forever.”
“Yeah, looks like I landed on top of it. Sorry. I noticed that the stone looked like your cutie mark, so I kinda figured—”
Her face fell. “Oh, yeah. I guess you could say that I was destined to have it.”
“Here.” Rainbow Dash hovered down to her, hung the necklace around her neck, and fastened the clasp. The blue balloon gleamed in the morning sun.
“Thanks.” The pony’s eyes were fixated on the ground in front of Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof. She glanced toward the north, where Twilight Sparkle was supposed to be waiting for her. “Yeah, so anyway, I gotta get going. Sorry again. See ya!” She started to fly off in the direction of her friend.
“Hey!” The pink pony’s tone snapped back to the perky demeanor that Rainbow Dash had heard shortly after the crash. She bounced merrily after the pegasus. “Do you live around here? This is my first Millennial Summer Sun Celebration. Well, duh, of course it’s my first millennial celebration, hahaha! What I meant was that this is my first celebration like this in Equus! And I don’t have any friends in this town.” She gasped, “But we could be friends! Bestest of best friends! Could you show me around? I’d love to see what kind of parties you Equustian girls have!”
Rainbow Dash winced. Not only did she not have time to be a tour guide, but the chatty, hyperactive pony was starting to grind on her nerves. “Look, I...” she said, looking over her shoulder.
The pink pony’s face was frozen in a wide-mouthed, excited grin. She was looking up at Rainbow Dash with expectant, glistening eyes.
“I...” Rainbow Dash slowly felt her resolve melt. Ugh. I guess I DO owe her for crashing into her. She sighed. “Okay okay, fine! You can tag along, but I’ve got important plans today. So when I say I gotta jet, then that’s it. Alright?”
Her mouth pursed into a catlike grin. “Allll right! Let’s go!” She joyfully pranced several meters ahead of Rainbow Dash. She stopped abruptly, hopping in place. Without dropping a beat, she pranced backwards, stopping next to Rainbow Dash. “Say, bestest of best friends? I forgot to ask what your name is.”
Rainbow Dash paused, dumbstruck. Recovering with a shake of her head, she puffed out her chest and flashed a smug grin. “I’m Rainbow Dash! Fastest pegasus in Sugardia and, by tonight, newest member of the Wonderbolts!”
She smiled. “Allll right, Dashie! Let’s go!” She began moving forward again.
“And you are?”
She froze in midair, turning to look back at Rainbow Dash. “Oh, uh, you can call me Pinkie Pie! That’s what all my friends call me, anyway!” Dropping to the ground, she resumed her bouncing, heading toward the festivities in the south.
Rainbow Dash rubbed her temple with a hoof. “Ugh, of all possible days—H-Hey, Pinkie Pie! Stop! Twilight is... the other way.” She looked apprehensively to the north before flying after Pinkie Pie.