“WAHOOOOOOO!!”
A jubilant shout ripped through the morning sky, followed by a streak of color and a blast of wind. Rainbow Dash was at it again, once again proving herself to be the fastest pegasus in Equestria. Rainbow lived for speed. The sensation of blazing through the air at speeds just shy of the speed of sound was the most wonderful adrenaline-pumping experience ever; or as she would put it: “Flat-out awesome!”
Her wings beat as fast as a hummingbird’s as she zoomed back and forth, dodging, whirling, and zigzagging with ease. Yep, this was the life. Rainbow slowed down for a moment to catch her breath, landing on the nearest cloud to rest a bit. She flexed her small but powerful wings and rolled onto her back, basking in the sunlight.
Suddenly she heard a smirking voice from above her. “That was some pretty fast flying there, darlin’. Bet I can go faster, though.”
Rainbow Dash popped up from her cloud and glared up towards the voice. “Oh yeah? And just who are you?”
A bolt of lightning hit the cloud that she hovered over, causing her to cover her eyes from the flash of light. She looked down and saw a young male unicorn standing on the cloud, a cocky expression on his face. His body was black with small streaks of yellow, and his slicked-back mane was a crackling yellow and bright blue. His sleek, sharp tail was of the same color. His eyes sparked with a monochromatic yellow glow.
“Name’s Voltspark, the fastest air-born creature in the world, nice to meet ya!”
Rainbow Dash dropped down a bit and continued to glare at him. “Fastest air-born creature, huh? Have you ever done a Sonic Rainboom?”
Voltspark grinned. “Speed of sound? Ha, I can go the speed of lightning, I don’t need any pathetic sonic-boom to prove my speed.”
Rainbow Dash was suddenly right next to him, glaring right into his eyes. “Pathetic sonic-boom?! You are one seriously damaged foal to think that a Sonic Rainboom is pathetic! I’ve seen three Rainbooms in my life…. And I did all of them! If you think that your little lightning is gonna be faster than me then you-“
She suddenly broke off and hovered back a bit, looking at the still-grinning Voltspark in sudden confusion. “Wait a minute…” She pointed to his head. “You’re a unicorn! How the heck did you get up here?”
Voltspark laughed and a pair of wings sprouted from his back. But they weren’t just any wings; they were made of pure electricity. Rainbow Dash was taken aback for a moment, and Voltspark shot up into the air in a burst of lightning, splitting through layers of clouds as he went. Rainbow growled in frustration and followed him up, blasting through the trail of cloud-holes.
Voltspark was suddenly right next to her, sneering, “It’s called magic, sweetie. I was born with this power infused in my horn.” He briefly motioned to the mark on his flank, which was the symbol of two crisscrossed lightning bolts. He then broke away from her and zipped downward, this time dodging the clouds. As he went by them, arcs of lightning sparked from his body to each cloud, electrifying them. Rainbow Dash had to dodge the clouds as fast as she could to avoid getting zapped, yelling at him as she flew, “Why you big jerk! I didn’t even know that was possible!”
He was suddenly right next to her. “Well, you learn somethin’ new every day, darlin’.”
“Stop calling me that!”
He shrugged. “Whatever you say. So, whattya think about a race? First one to the big sharp mountain over there wins?”
Rainbow Dash frowned. This loser was just asking for trouble. She snorted and turned away. “Uh, no thanks, I’ll pass. I don’t like wasting my energy on jerks like you!”
Voltspark smirked. “Heh, you’re just scared to lose….”
That was the last straw. Rainbow Dash flew right up to him and glared directly into his eyes. “That’s it, Coltsmark or whatever your name is! I don’t know where you came from and I don’t care what freaky powers or talent you have, but we’re ending this now!” She whirled around. “Onyourmarkgetsetgo!”
The wind behind her wings blasted in Voltspark’s face as she sped off like a comet. The unicorn grinned wickedly and took off after her, a trail of lightning following behind him.
Rainbow Dash smiled triumphantly as she zoomed through the sky. Clouds and birds zipped past in a blur. Her wings beat faster than ever, driven on by her rage at Voltspark and the desire to prove herself. She glanced behind her and laughed when she saw no sign of him. Of course the mighty Rainbow Dash would put that jerkface in his place!
Soon enough Rainbow Dash could see the tall spire of the dragon mountain up ahead. She grit her teeth and sped onward, unaware of the arcs of lightning that followed above her, leaping from cloud to cloud and beaming across the larger gaps.
The mountain’s edge grew closer and closer, and just as she was about to ram into it, Rainbow broke off and shot straight up, bursting through the clouds and into the sunlight, which shimmered off of her rainbow mane, casting the multi-colored light onto the clouds below.
Dash grinned and cheered, “Woohoo! Yeah, baby! Now that is how the real fastest air-born creature in the world wins a race!” She stopped and peered back along the open-air racetrack, then shrugged and smirked. “Heh, guess I left him in the cloud dust. Arrogant jerk.”
Directly below her, Voltspark chuckled quietly to himself and zipped back and up through the cloud cover where he had been hiding long before Rainbow Dash had arrived. But she would never know that.
Voltspark leaped up through the clouds, panting as though he had just completed a strenuous task. Dash turned to him and smirked. “Finally got here, eh? Only took you like, a whole lot longer than me!”
The high-voltage unicorn frowned and took in a deep breath as he landed on a cloud beside her. “Whew, yeah I guess I did. You’re fast, darling. Really fast.”
Rainbow Dash glared at him. “Don’t call me darling.”
Voltspark threw his front hooves up defensively, “Fair enough. What’s your real name though?”
The pegasus narrowed her eyes suspiciously for a moment. Strange that his attitude should change so quickly, especially since he lost the race.... But maybe he wasn’t as much of a jerk as she thought he was. She smiled cockily. “Name’s Rainbow Dash, the fastest air-born creature in the world, nice to meet ya!”
Voltspark grinned and folded in his electric wings. “Hah, nice one, Dashie. You’re a real tough filly, I can see that.” He muttered under his breath, “Good officer material, too…”
Rainbow hadn’t heard his last remark, as she was too busy flexing her wings and enjoying the compliments to pay attention. “Yeah, I get that a lot.” She paused and looked at him. “So where are you from, Voltspark?”
Voltspark shrugged. “Eh, I get around. Never really stay in one place. Always on the go, that’s me.” He suddenly unfurled his lightning wings and flew up a bit. “We should really hang out again sometime, Dashie. Maybe have another race or ten.”
Rainbow Dash snorted and laughed. “And you’ll lose every one of ‘em!”
Voltspark winked and started to fly off, but suddenly stopped and half-turned back. His voice was low and casual. “By the way, you haven’t happened to see a strange-looking black unicorn around here, have you? Dark coat, purplish mane, black eyes, might seem a bit skittish.”
Rainbow Dash thought for a moment, then shook her head. “Nah, never seen anypony like that around here before. Why do you wanna know?”
Voltspark shrugged. “Oh, not really a big reason. Except that she’s dangerous and has the potential to destroy all of Equestria.”
Rainbow’s eyes widened. “Woah…. Really?”
He nodded. “Yep. She’s very dangerous to be around, and I need to bring her in for safe keeping. So just let me know if you ever see her, kay?”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow pensively. “Yeah, okay. But uh, where can I find you?”
Voltspark smiled slightly. “Oh, I’ll be around, don’t worry about that.” He winked. “Later, Dashie.” Suddenly he was gone in a streak of blue and yellow lightning, piercing his way through the sky in the direction of the Everfree Forest.
Rainbow Dash blinked and stared after him. Now what did he mean by that? This Voltspark was a strange one for sure. Pretty cool, but strange.