March 2016 Mad-Lib
Submitter: Ultra-the-HedgeToaster
Submission: This Comment
Pre-read & Editing: Illustrious Q, Kirk Heller, Kevinltk
The cloud she hid in was perhaps the most magically advanced ever developed in Equestria. Dozens upon dozens of enchantments placed on a single, small, fluffy bit of cumulus that now floated lazily over the Everfree Forest. Charms of propulsion to let it drift with the wind yet always head towards its destination. Spells of sustainment, letting the cargo within remain in an ideal state for its delivery. Hexes of diversion, so no one would ever think what they saw was more than a lonely cloud.
Rainbow of Iron Wing gently cracked open a hole in the cloud, peeking down below to confirm her position. She had been taking such a look every hour, on the hour, for three days straight. The gentle course of the cloud had started at Rainbow’s old house. Heck, this cloud was part of Rainbow’s old house, formed from the last vestiges of its impressive design. One more little hunk that had broken off as time and battle wore the house down to nothing.
Battle… it had all started so innocently. A failed trick. Rainbow had failed at tricks dozens of times before but never to such unexpected consequences. She stumbled into the Mirror Pool, finding a new opening that had not been sealed by Twilight back when the Pinkie Pie Parade proved problematic for Ponyville. Rainbow didn’t even know a clone had been made, returning to her trick practice before the doppelganger could even emerge from the pool. But the first doppelganger wasn’t lonely for long. As if driven by some unknown instinct, the clone began making additional copies from the pool.
By the afternoon of that same day, the clones had formed their own stunt flying team called the Rainbooms and were trying to book a show. Perhaps if they had been just left to their own devices, the Rainbow clones wouldn’t have proven as destructive as the Pinkie copies. Rainbow liked to take naps, buck clouds, and fly fast. The clones were simplifications of that with flatter personalities, like the reflection in a mirror.
But Twilight wanted to head off disaster, so she zapped the first clone.
The trouble was, Rainbow was loyal. The clones were a reflection of that, fiercely loyal, especially to themselves. Where the Pinkies had been distracted by a simple game when they were being dispatched, the Rainbows witnessed the whole thing, and they were angry. They attacked, and Twilight fought back. It was assumed, at the time, that Twilight was able to dispel all the copies that afternoon. Yet some clones escaped, and after the genocide of their fellows, the reflections weren’t going to stand by and wait to be blasted back into the pool.
The first attack came without warning, announced only by ninety-eight Rainbow Dash’s creating sonic rainbooms at the exact same time. The unified cascade rocked Equestria like an earthquake and threatened to send Canterlot falling from its mountainside perch. It was a declaration of war, open war against Equestria by an enemy that could reinforce their lines by simply reaching out to their reflection in a pool of water.
Armies clashed. Equestria had the benefit of diversity. Earth ponies and unicorns to aid in the fight against an entirely pegasus foe. The tide of battle seemed to be in their favor, but variances began to appear among the Rainbows. They were experimenting with the pool, trying to create clones that were different. Using props, makeup, or costumes, the Rainbows began diversifying their numbers. They managed to spawn earth pony and unicorn Rainbows. They began creating super strong brutes as well as brilliant strategists and researchers.
The battles reached a stalemate for a time, but then once more Equestria began to gain the upper hoof. The original clone of Rainbow Dash had been lost that very first day, and with each passing battle, more of the oldest generations were lost. The Rainbows were making copies of copies of copies of copies of copies, and the integrity was being lost. Equestrian researches hit on this theory as well, and soon, tactical missions were being undertaken to eliminate the oldest of the Rainbows, to reduce the enemy's ability to make more viable clones.
The Rainbows could have admitted defeat at that point, but Rainbow Dash was stubborn, and her clones more so. They figured out the perfect solution to their troubles and undertook their desperate mission in the cold, dark night of Hearth’s Warming. The Rainbows kidnapped the original, who had been trying to fight back and save Equestria from her mistake. She was captured, imprisoned, and used to make more second generation clones, which began to refill and strengthen the ranks of The Rainbows.
Celestia and Luna were captured not long after that. The Rainbows didn’t use them for cloning material, but found use of the princesses all the same. Controlling the sun and moon gave them the ability to dictate the lighting conditions of every battle. Equestria’s forces were always fighting into the sun. Night raids could happen whenever The Rainbows wanted them to. The businesses and ponies of Equestria, the backbone of the war effort, began to crumble because of the unpredictable movement of the moon and sun.
That was all several months ago. Now, The Rainbows were basically in control. The Equestrian army had fallen back to defend key cities and positions. Yet it was pointless. All knew that, unless something changed, the war would soon be over. The Rainbows were holding the nation’s head under water, and now, it was just a matter of time until the bubbles stopped coming up.
Yet resistance remained in small militias, and it was because of the efforts of one such militia that Rainbow of Iron Wing had been floating in a cloud for several days straight. One militia, led by the former Princess Twilight Sparkle, who had taken the most heat.
Twilight’s attack, in its aggression and her failure to defeat all the clones, had started the war. It had been a dark day when it seemed all of Equestria was demanding that Twilight turn in her crown.
And she did, but giving up her claim to ruling to let her focus on solving the problem. The linchpin to The Rainbows’ entire war efforts was the mirror pool. If it could be disenchanted or destroyed, then Equestria would have the upper hoof. Some missions had been attempted, but no one could out fly or out maneuver one Rainbow Dash, let alone hundreds.
Except for perhaps another Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow of Iron Wing peeked her head out of the cloud, passing some saliva as she saw her target in sight. She was a Rainbow Dash, but neither the original of this timeline nor a clone from the mirror pool. Twilight Sparkle, with the aid of Starlight Glimmer, managed to reach across time, space, and probability to a timeline she had seen once before. A timeline where a war against the King Sombra raged. A timeline where there was a Rainbow Dash who was highly trained in combat and hardened by war.
Cracking her neck, Rainbow of Iron Wing stood up inside her cloud. She stretched and flexed, her normal wing and metal prosthetic going through preflight motions as her hoof touched a magical medallion that had been sewn into her combat uniform. All she had to do was plunge into the mirror pool like a living bomb. The amulet would disenchant the pool. If Twilight was correct, that would disable most of the clones for at least a few minutes. That would give Rainbow of Iron Wing time to rescue this world’s original Rainbow as well as the princesses before making an escape. If not, well, she had lived through a few suicide missions, what was one more?
“Alright, game time.” She managed a smile as her hooves opened up a larger hole in the cloud. “Hold on, Rainbow Dash, your super awesome timeline sister is coming to save you.” With that, Rainbow of Iron Wing dropped out of the cloud, plummeting down and breaking the sound barrier within seconds. Her target lay below, the mirror pool excavated from its underground cave and exposed to the open air as the center of The Rainbows’ operation.
It was the moment a Rainbow Dash would decide the fate of an Equestria besieged by Rainbow Dashes, and a moment marked by a single sonic rainboom.
For better or worse, that last great act would decide the war for a world.