//------------------------------// // Part 5-2: Rift in the Clouds // Story: Shim Sham's Bizarre Adventure // by Joey JoJo Shabadoo //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash was in the changing room, putting on her gym clothes. She was focused, more focused than she'd ever been, so focused in fact that she didn’t even realise that she was already ten minutes late to class. She hurried outside only to find the field completely empty. “Wait, where is everyone?” “They’re gone, Rainbow Trash.” Declared a familiar voice. “Lightning Dust! Where are my classmates?” “I just told you, they’re gone.” “What did you do to them!?” “Nothing, everyone’s at Crystal Prep again, or did you not notice the construction equipment spread all over the field?” Dash examined the area. A handful of workers, a road roller, and tools were scattered across the field, all needed to rebuild the back wall of the Principle’s office. “Oh... well, why are you here?” “When I realised you didn’t turn up to gym class, I had an inkling that you’d be back here, alone and confused.” Dash was angered by her insulting attitude, but she wasn’t backing down, in fact, she had an ace up her sleeve. “Y’know, I’m actually glad you came all the way down here, just to see me, because now I can prove you cheated yesterday!” “Are you still mad about that? You can’t prove anything, Trash. Just get over it.” “Never! I know exactly how you did it!” Lightning grew tired of Dash’s constant badgering, but she humoured her, allowing Dash to spout whatever dumb conclusions she came to, so she could dismiss them and move on. “Fine, what’s this proof, then?” “Simple. The fact that you’re even here right now.” “What?” “It took me thirty minutes to run from the cafe down the road to Crystal Prep yesterday, and it wasn’t easy, and yet, you somehow managed to cover that same distance in about ten minutes and you don’t even look tired.” Lightning suddenly looked agitated. “Th-that proves nothing, I just left Crystal Prep an hour before coming here.” “But you just said, the only reason you’re here was because you didn’t see me at gym class. Which means class must have already started before you even left, which was around ten minutes ago.” Lightning was shocked at Dash’s deductive skills, she could be surprisingly vigilant when she wanted to be, but Lightning still had one more counter argument to play, however right before she could present it, Dash retorted. “Next you’re going to say: 'You still can't prove how I cheated, Rainbow Trash!'” “You still can't prove how I cheated, Rainbow Trash!” Without even realising, Lightning parroted back exactly what Rainbow Dash predicted she would say. “What!? How did you do that!?” “Because, I’m already one step ahead of you! The tool you used to cheat on our race, was your Stand!” Lightning was completely caught off guard by Dash’s accusation. “Stand!? What the-!? How did-!? That’s impossible! Why do you even know what a Stand is!?” “Because, I have one myself.” Dash summoned Ride on Time by her side. “To be fair, you weren’t very discrete with your powers, not that you had to be when no one else could see them.” “You must be one of the users Suri told us about, would it have killed her to at least give us some names or a description before sending us out on our mission.” “It’s your own fault. If you hadn't ignored me yesterday you could have figured this out way sooner. Now, show me your Stand, so I can beat some sense into it!” Lightning was cornered. She had severely underestimated Dash’s abilities, but she also felt relieved. Not only did she not have to keep her powers a secret any more, but the enemy she was tasked with destroying was none other than Rainbow Dash herself. “Guess I don’t have a choice. I’ll show you, Rift in the Clouds!” Lightning summoned a whirling cyclone next to her head that slowly formed into a human-like, wind body. Her Stand was around the same size as Ride on Time. “I figured your Stand would have power over wind.” Dash surmised. “That's how you out-sped me in our race.” “Oh, but I can do more than that, Rift can control the clouds themselves. If you want to challenge me to a fight then you better be prepared to battle nature itself.“ “What? I’m not challenging you to a fight. I want a rematch.” “Excuse me?” “From the race yesterday. If you’re gonna cheat using your Stand, then I’ll race you with mine.” “A race with our Stands? Sounds interesting, but I’d rather just destroy you.” “What’s wrong, afraid I’ll leave you in the dust?” Lightning Dust was once again angered by the idea of Rainbow Dash using her own name as an insult, but even worse were Dash’s implications. Lightning wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t prove she could beat Dash on her own terms. “Fine, I accept your stupid race.” Lightning gave the field a once over, looking for a suitable track to race on. “One lap. From here, to the construction site at the Principal's office and back. We can both use our Stand powers during the race. Is that fair?” “Fine with me, just give me sec.” Dash directed Ride one Time to latch onto her back, it’s legs wrapped around her waist as it outstretched it’s wings, resting on her like a backpack. Ride flapped it’s wings and just as Dash hoped, it lifted her into the air. She felt no strain on herself or her Stand, flying felt perfectly natural. “How the-!?” Lightning gasped in amazement. “You’re flying with your Stand!?” “Well, duh. You said we could use our Stands, you didn’t think I was going to race you on foot, did you?” Lightning gave a bitter sigh. Using Rift in the Cloud’s wind powers, she levitated herself into the air and the girls prepared themselves for the race. “Ready?” They announced. “Go!” Using the powers of their Stands the girls shot off in a burst of speed, Dash soaring with Ride on Time and Lightning riding the wind. Just as before, the girls were neck and neck, but Dash was slowly pulling ahead. As she realised, even with her Stand she was still losing, Lightning got desperate. She thought about using Rift to slow Dash down, but that could break her focus, causing Lightning to fall out of the air with her. As they got closer to the construction site, Lightning got an idea. Normally, athletes paced themselves during a race, only going at full speed toward the finish, to secure the win. However, if she went full speed now, the resulting gust of wind would cause havoc at the construction site. A whirlwind of tools and debris should be enough to distract Rainbow Dash long enough to keep her out of the race. Lightning put everything she had into a sudden torrential burst of turbulent wind and shot past Dash. As Lightning made her 180 degree turn at the construction sight, she whipped up a gust of wind that sent equipment, debris and even some of the workers flying into the air. As she shot back, Dash was shocked by the chaos she had left in her wake. Rainbow Dash detached herself from Ride on Time and used it to slice away at the falling debris, destroying it. With it’s incredible speed, Dash still had time to catch the falling workers with her Stand, one at a time to help them safely to the ground. Before the workers could question what even happened, Rainbow Dash reattached her Stand and flew off, leaving them with further questions. Dash flew as fast as she could to catch up to Lightning, but it was too late, Lightning had already beat her to the opposite end of the field. “I can’t believe you did that!” Dash yelled furiously. “What? We did agree we could use our Stand powers, right?” “Forget about the rules! You could have seriously hurt those guys!” “But you saved them, right?” “No thanks to you!” “So, everything’s fine. You saved the workers and I won the race.” Rainbow Dash detached from her Stand, to confront Lightning face-to-face. “What the heck is your problem? No normal person would think like that, putting innocent people in danger to win some dumb race. Is winning really that important to you?” “Of course it is! You wouldn’t understand, Rainbow Trash!” “I may be trash, but at least I’m not willing to hurt innocent people for something as petty as a race! You jerk!” Lightning tried to hide it, but Dash’s harsh criticisms were getting to her. She wondered if her actions really did go too far. “So, I guess that means you’ll want to fight me then. That’s fine, I was planning on destroying you anyway.” “Oh, please. You could never beat me in a fight, Lightning.” Dash boasted with utmost confidence. Lightning had enough of Dash’s cocky attitude and gathered gales of wind to lift her into the sky. “We’re done talking.” Storm clouds rolled in from over the horizon, covering the sky in darkness. Strong winds quickly formed into a large, spiraling tornado and heavy rain pelted the surrounding area. The ensuing storm overwhelmed and consumed Rainbow Dash, leaving her completely helpless, as Lightning kept her pinned down in a display of overwhelming power. Despite her resistance, Dash couldn’t prevent the cyclone from lifting her off the ground and engulfing her. She panicked at first, as debris picked up by the tornado came flying towards her, but Ride on Time used it’s sharp wings to slice up anything that came near her. The cyclone was powerful, even with Ride on Time attached to her back, Dash found it difficult to fly against the wind and lost control frequently. However, despite the power of the gale force winds, Lightning wasn't attacking Dash directly, which made her wonder if Lightning Dust actually could attack her, or if she even had any control over the storm she conjured. Instead of trying to fight against it, Dash flew with the wind, confident that Lightning wouldn’t attack her. That confidence soon crumbled when a large machine came rolling, uncontrollably towards her. “No! Not the road roller!” Dash quickly detached Ride on Time to slice the machine in half. The road roller split apart and flew around Dash, but she wasn’t in the clear yet as the damaged electronics from the large vehicle caused the pieces to explode. The force of the explosion sent Dash flying into the eye of the tornado. The eye was calm and serene, compared to the storm spiraling around her. Dash panicked, as she was no longer being held in the air by the force of the wind and was falling fast, but was relieved when her Stand caught up to her and reattached itself before she slammed into the ground, she landed safely. She figured the eye of the storm would be the perfect place for Lightning to hide and as she looked up, she found her floating high above. Dash flew straight for Lightning. “Surprise!” She yelled. Lightning appeared distracted, she didn’t seem to notice Dash fly out of the tornado earlier, but she certainly noticed her surprise. “What!? How did you escape!?” “Did really think some wind and rain was enough to beat me?” “I don’t know...” “Well, I already know you can’t fight me while I’m in the eye of your storm, hope you’re ready for a beating.” Lightning clutched her head in pain. “No, I mean, I don’t know how to stop.” “Wait, what?” “The storm is too much, it’s like a raging headache, I can’t focus.” Dash grew concerned, she remembered the story Twilight told them. Specifically the part about Stand users losing control of their power. Lightning’s storm may not be as large as a typical tornado, but if she’s lost control of it, then it could grow into a devastating hurricane. “Alright, I’ll help.” Dash explained. “Just... brace yourself, okay?” She could only think of one way to put an end to this storm. She readied herself and bolted towards Lightning at an incredible speed. Lightning’s heart skipped a beat as she tried to defend herself, but Dash was too fast. She darted straight past Lightning, with the sound of a slash, something was cut. There was a pause. Lightning thought for sure she was dead, but after finally opening her eyes, she found that the only thing that had been cut was a strand of her hair. Her manic heartbeat calmed down and as she looked around and so did the storm. The sky was clear once more. “What...? How did you know that would work?” Lightning asked in awe. “Would what work?” “I couldn’t focus my powers at all, but the moment you went to attack me, it was like my brain turned off all unnecessary activity and focused solely on you. With my mind fixated on that one moment, I wasn’t thinking about the storm any more. You saved me by scaring me half to death.” “That’s what happened? Honestly, I was just going to knock you unconscious, but I swerved and missed at the last second. For some reason I just couldn’t bring myself to hurt you like that.” “WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON UP THERE!?” Cried a desperately worried Sunset Shimmer. The two girls slowly drifted back to the ground. Sunset seemed very upset with them. “Rainbow Dash, what happened!? I thought you were at gym class!?” “Yeah, I kinda forgot they were holding it at Crystal Prep today.” She chuckled. “That isn’t funny. I was just in the middle of class when out of nowhere this giant storm appeared outside our window. I tried to warn everyone, but none of them could see it and then they all laughed at me...” “Sounds pretty funny to me.” Sunset glared in disapproval, but Dash took it in stride and wrapped her arm around her mopey friend. “Aw come on, I believe you!” “That’s because you're the one who caused it.” Dash laughed off Sunset’s comment again, but suddenly realised something. “Hey, wait a minute! An invisible storm? Like the one from earlier this morning? Lightning that was you too, wasn’t it!” “The storm this morning?” “Yeah! It was like a rain cloud was following me wherever I went! What was up with that!?” “I don’t remember doing that. I don’t even know where you live.” “Hold on a minute.” Sunset intervened. “Are you absolutely sure that wasn’t you? Because no one else at school noticed any strange weather, so it had to have been caused by a Stand, and you're the only Stand user that can do something like that, right?” “I don't know. I wanted to get back at Rainbow Dash, but going out of my way to make it rain on her? That just seems like a pointless waste of time.” "But, then, who did it?" “Why did you want to beat me so badly?” Dash interrupted. “I-I... was jealous. It sounds stupid, but, I was tired of being a nobody. Being made fun of. Tired of receiving participation ribbons and A’s for effort. When I received these powers I thought I could finally win for once and I did win, a lot. But then I found out about you. The fastest racer in Canterlot High. Your records were even more impressive than any of Crystal Prep’s. If I could beat you then I could beat anybody, but I guess I got a little carried away, especially once I found out you were a Stand user.” “A little?” Rainbow Dash sighed. “I feel you, I feel you deeply. You’re not the first person to call me, Rainbow Trash or Crash or Last. But I turned those insults into motivation. “You won’t be laughing at me when you’re eating my dust!” That’s how I always dealt with it. Less like revenge and more like rising to the challenge!” The girls laughed at Dash’s amusing pep talk before Sunset got back to business. “Lightning. I don’t suppose you could tell us anything about who’s behind these sudden Stand appearances could you?” “I can’t...” “Please!” Sunset begged. “I can't stand not knowing, just give me anything, even the slightest hint would be helpful.” “I really can’t. Who knows what he’ll do if he found out.” “So, it’s a he?” Sunset noticed, as Lightning covered her mouth in shock. “Why are you so afraid of this guy?" Rainbow Dash questioned. "What does he want?" “I don’t know who he is, I haven’t even seen him. I’ve only ever heard his voice and his Stand...” “You know what his Stand is!? Please tell us!” Sunset urged. “My memory's kinda vague, all I remember was a never-ending darkness. An endless void. It felt like something was stalking me, that it would pounce at any moment. I couldn’t see anything beyond that abyss. I couldn’t escape it, no matter how much I ran. His voice was the only thing I could hear and I can't even remember what he said. All I know is that we can't betray him, I never want to go back to that dark place again.” Lightning was genuinely terrified recalling the memories of her interactions with whoever their boss was. “Hey, Sunset.” Dash proposed. “Do you think the other Stand users working for this guy are just as scared as Lightning is?” “Definitely. It's pretty likely he's using fear to control the other Stand users. Which means instead of fighting them, we should be helping them. If we can befriend the people he's controlling, get them on our side, it'll increase our odds of defeating him. I don't care how terrifying his Stand is, if we all work together, we can stop him... whoever he is..."