Chapter 6
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Chapter 6
Rainbow Dash stepped up to her place in the formation.
“LED BY THE BLAZING WONDER, SPITFIRE!”
The Wonderbolts walked down the tunnel in their trademark delta-formation. Dash’s legs became weaker with each step. Her flight suit squeezed her chest and tightened around her neck. Ahead stood the exit: a bright, white light from which the screams of thousands of expectant fans rang out like the trumpets of the apocalypse.
As they neared the overhang, Dash’s jaw slowly dropped. Night had arrived, and the stadium lights lit up the field in a bright green fluorescence under the black sky. Ponies leaned over the railing above, jumping and pushing one another to get a glimpse at the Wonderbolts. Dash tilted back her head to look at the opposite side of the stadium as it towered above everything, a sea of color blanketing its surface. She whimpered.
“You know the pre-show verse, right Dash?” Fleetfoot yelled over the crowd.
“The what?” Dash yelled back.
“Thirty seconds!” yelled the escort.
“We do this chant before we fly out!” Fleetfoot yelled again. “It’s really fun, you should try it!
Of course she knew the pre-show verse. She recited it practically every night before she went to bed.
“Alright guys!” yelled Spitfire. “This is the opener, first impressions are everything! Keep it close, keep it tight! GOGGLES!”
Each of the Wonderbolts snapped their goggles to their eyes.
“IT’S TIME TO FLY!” Soarin’ suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs. “FLY OVER DREAMS! FLY WITH ANGELS! BEAUTY WILL SCORCH THE SKY! FOR WE ARE THE SKY KEEPERS, OUR WINGS WILL SPREAD FOR THE HONOR, THE GLORY, OF EQUESTRIA!”
“Twenty seconds!”
The rest of the Wonderbolts joined in: “IT’S TIME TO FLY! FLY OVER DREAMS! FLY WITH ANGELS! BEAUTY WILL SCORCH THE SKY!” Dash mumbled along with them. The crowd began to drown them out.
RAINBOW DASH! RAINBOW DASH! RAINBOW DASH!
“FOR WE ARE THE SKY KEEPERS, OUR WINGS WILL SPREAD FOR THE HONOR, THE GLORY, OF EQUESTRIA!”
Dash couldn’t handle it any longer.
“I CAN’T DO IT!”
Everypony stopped and looked at her.
“I CAN’T-”
Spitfire rushed up to her. “Dash, look at me. Now is definitely not the time for a nervous breakdown. You’ll do fine.”
“No, I mean I can’t do it! Th- the rainboom.”
Spitfire’s expression faded. “W- what do you mean you can’t do it?”
“I can’t do it horizontally! I’ve never done it before. I’ve never tried it before.”
“W- what?”
“Ten seconds!” yelled the escort.
“ALL THE WAY FROM CLOUDSDALE...”
Spitfire’s face froze. “Please tell me you’re kidding. Please.”
Dash looked at the ground and shook her head. Spitfire retreated a few steps. Everypony looked at her.
now!”
She spun around and bounded back to her place in the formation.
“SET!” screamed Soarin’, and the Wonderbolts flared their wings in perfect synchronization.
“MARK!”
With an earsplitting CRACK they shot into the sky. The crowd exploded. A maelstrom of camera flashes sparkled across the stadium like a heavily sequined sheet of fabric. They reached the peak of their ascent, then dove hard at the ground. Dash kept as close as she could to the Bolts around her, matching their speed and every move. They pulled up sharply, producing a chest-rattling rumble that echoed through the stadium. The air twisted and contorted into several effervescent rings that rose into the sky.
“FILLIES AND GENTLECOLTS, INTRODUCING THE LIGHTNING FAST RAAAAAINBOOOW DAAASH!”
Dash broke off from the group, flew towards the rising rings, and accelerated. Aiming at the dead center, she punched a hole straight through the middle. An arc of lightning appeared and connected to several points around them for a split second before climbing into the sky and expanding. The crowd roared as the rings exploded into a shower of water and mist. From the bright stadium lights, a vivid rainbow appeared. She dove toward the stands and flew a low pass around the arena, trailing behind her a thunderstorm that soaked the audience.
Dash’s introductory solo went by like a blur. Before any thought entered her mind, she found herself flying over the top edge of the stands and out of sight where she caught her first break. Landing on a flat area of concrete, she heard the high pitched screams from thousands of fillies as Soarin’ and Rapidfire began their duet.
Out of nowhere, Spitfire landed in front of her. Chunks of cracked concrete went flying.
“WHAT THE HAY. WHAT IN THE HAY!!”
Her demented expression perfectly matched the furious way she walked as she grabbed her goggles and threw them off. Dash retreated several steps.
“You SAID you could do it! This whole time I believed you! YOU LIED TO ME!”
“I- I-”
“What do we do now, Dash? WHAT THE HAY DO WE DO NOW? Maybe we should just let YOU decide everything from now on!” She began pacing, biting her lip, and ruffling her wings all at the same time. Her tail flicked around like it was trying to escape. Her breathing became heavy and erratic. “It HAS to happen, there’s no way it CAN’T happen! Why Dash? Why would you do this? To THINK I even let you JOIN!”
“SORRY DOESN’T MEAN ANYTHING!” Tears began to fall from her eyes. “I wanted this for you! And you just threw it away!” She turned away.
Dash stared at the back of Spitfire’s stuck-up mane as the wind began to blow it back into place. Spitfire’s flight suit turned a deep shade of blue against the night sky. She occasionally brought up a hoof to wipe her face.
Dash thought of nothing to say. But she had to try something.
“Spitfire,” she began. Spitfire responded with a sniffle. “I never knew my rainboom would make ponies feel like this. Like you do, I mean.”
Spitfire scoffed.
“When you asked me to do it sideways, I panicked. I didn’t want to let you down.”
Spitfire’s voice dropped several dynamic levels. “Well you sure didn’t, did you?”
Dash gulped. It felt like Spitfire had just shoved a sword through her stomach. “I mean,” Dash continued. “There’s always next time! Can’t I just not do it? Couldn’t I do it vertically at another show?”
Spitfire turned around. She walked up to Dash and put both forehooves on her shoulders.
“Please.”
Her expression became unbearable. Tears streamed down her face as if she pleaded for her own life, amplifying the unidentifiable pain inside Dash’s stomach.
“Please do it. There won’t be another chance like this.” Her wet, fiery eyes pierced Dash’s soul. “You don’t know how much-”
Her mouth hung on the end of the sentence. Slowly, she began to back away. Dash suppressed the urge to question her.
Suddenly, she shot back into the sky and over the stadium wall. The crowd met her return with a thunderous roar. Dash stared at the concrete crater she left behind.
_________________________
“What the hay is wrong with you, Spitfire? WHAT THE HAY IS WRONG WITH YOU!?”
Her rage coming from nowhere and her mind slowly turning into scrambled eggs, Spitfire took her anger out on her duet with her brother.
“Hey!” Rapidfire yelled over the wind and ecstatic crowd. “You think you could tone it down a bit? You’re scorching the field!”
Spitfire turned her head, and her fire trail had grown nearly ten times larger than her brother’s. Hot magma waterfalls fell to the ground as the pegasi fire crew rushed back and forth to extinguish the blaze. She rolled her eyes and continued on. Twisting and twirling around each other, Rapidfire dodged the huge chunks of hot lava flowing from his sister’s trail.
“Spit- WOAH- Spitfire! Hey! Knock it off!”
“Shut up!” she yelled.
“What! Did you just tell me to shut up? You never tell me to shut up!”
“SHUT UP!”
They reached the finale of their duet, a move called the “Heat Wave.” They went to opposite ends of the arena and flew straight toward each other at extreme speed. Just before colliding, they turned sideways and banked in opposite directions, missing each other by inches and causing a fiery shockwave. The crowd roared as they rejoined each other in the air and flew out of sight.
Suddenly, something grabbed Spitfire’s back leg and yanked her to the ground.
“What is with you?” said Rapidfire in a scolding tone as Spitfire got back to her hooves. “I know you’re upset about the rainboom, but you nearly cooked me alive back there!” His eyes narrowed. “Wait, where are your goggles?”
Forget about it? No! We need to fly this show! You’ve got to slow down before you kill somepony!”
“I said forget it.”
“Spitfire, you have to focus while you’re performing, you can’t just fly off the handle like that.”
“Who’s the captain of the Wonderbolts, you or me?”
“Who’s bigger and older, you or me?”
Spitfire stamped the ground with a grunt. “Can’t you just come off it?”
“What is the matter with you? You’re never like this. And come to think of it, you’ve been acting like you’ve gone insane for the past two weeks.”
Spitfire began pacing. Her tail flicked around as her ears gave nervous twitches. Rapidfire studied her intently.
“I keep thinking about her,” she said finally. “I keep thinking about her, and the rainboom. And I can’t stop. I wanna stop, but I can’t. It’s so stupid! I mean, how hard can it be to stop thinking about somepony? Obviously pretty hard.”
“Wait. Rainbow Dash?”
“Yes Rainbow Dash, who the hay else? And she’s not going to do it. She has to do it! If she doesn’t do it, then no pony will see it. And if no pony sees it, then that’s going to be bad. Very. Bad. Everypony needs to see it. They’ve got-”
“Hey. Calm down. It’s fine.”
“‘It’s fine?’ How? How in Equestria is this fine?”
Rapidfire had no answer.
Spitfire sighed. “Something’s happening to me.” She continued pacing with worry. “Something’s happening to me, and I don’t know why.” She turned to her brother. “You don’t understand. I need this to happen tonight. I’ve got to see it again.”
Rapidfire looked at her sister’s imploring expression. He shrugged. “If she doesn’t do it,” he resisted the urge to laugh at the ridiculous situation, “She doesn’t do it.”
At that moment, a loud CRACK echoed overhead as Dash’s rainbow trail rocketed out of the stadium and into the night horizon.
“That’s our cue,” said Rapidfire. “Finale time. Ready?”
“No,” Spitfire muttered as she took off.
Rapidfire looked out towards the dark, moonlit ocean as Dash’s trail grew fainter.
“C’mon Dash,” he said to himself. “You got this.”
_____________________
The bright moon over the soft waves of the ocean below her offered no condolence as Rainbow Dash turned to face the luminous city lights of Manehatten. Her heart pounded against her chest. Her legs trembled. A large lump had formed in her throat, causing her to breathe heavily and erratically. Trying to snap out of her panicked stupor, she hit herself on the forehead a few times.
“C’mon, C’mon, C’MON!” She hovered back and forth, as if the air running through her head could clear her mind. “Just you and the sky Dash, you and the sky. No pony else, just you.”
She stared at the massive concrete structure on the distant shore, waiting for the signal. Thoughts flying through her brain, she quickly devised an exit strategy for when she would humiliate herself in front of Equestria.
“The mountains aren’t too far away,” she said to herself. “I could camp out in the clouds there for a while until everypony stops looking for me, then make the trip across the ocean to Canterburry... but what would I eat? I could swipe some stuff from a convenience store or something on my way out, half of Manehatten is deserted right now anyway... Ah, who am I kidding? I’m doomed! RUINED!”
Then, a flash of bright red light on the coast.
Dash giggled maniacally to herself. “You know what? I don’t even care what happens. I don’t even care!”
She accelerated. Leveling herself horizontally to the ground, she bit her lip as she pushed herself forward with all her might. “I DON’T EVEN CARE!”
The wind began to claw at her face. Her exposed snout numbed as the insides of her cheeks flared out like parachutes. Less-than-pleasant noises escaped her mouth through her gritted teeth.
Suddenly, Dash burst into song, screaming at the top of her lungs.
“I DON’T EVEN CARE, I DON’T EVEN CARE!
LA LA DA BE DAH DO BA LAAAAA!”
Her mind had gone. She went faster and faster, unaware of thought and feeling. Again, she let out a maniacal laugh. “SPITFIRE! I CAN’T LET YOU DOWN! BUT I’M GOING TO!”
“It’s beautiful here...”
A faint cone faded into existence around her. She scoffed. “DOESN’T EVEN MATTER!” In an attempt to imitate Soarin’, she began yelling out of an imaginary adrenaline rush.
Dash struggled to stay conscious. Little by little, the dark night rushing past her began to fade to black.
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be...”
“IT’S TIME TO FLYYYYYYY! FLY OVER DREEEEAMS! RAINBOWS WILL SCORCH THE SKY!”
Before she could continue the next verse, the world left her. Everything turned to black...
“Nowhere else...”
Rainbow Dash opened her eyes to a blue-filled sky. Spring dominated the day and the Cloudsdale weather factory ran at full speed, streaming rainbows in several directions and exhausting the puffiest clouds Equestria had ever seen. A light shimmer hung around the air as drizzles blew in the wind.
Suddenly, something heavy landed on her shoulder. Startled, Dash jumped up to her hooves. It wasn’t something, but somepony. It was Spitfire’s head.
Spitfire immediately blushed and jumped up as well. “Ah- I- I’m- I’m sorry-”
Not used to having her mane brushed, Spitfire struggled to keep its neatness out of her face.
“Are you-” Dash began.
Her mind blanking, Spitfire tried to come up with something to say as her mouth froze with the rest of her body.
“Am- am I-” Spitfire stuttered.
A silence fell over the space between them as it seemed to contort.
“Am I what?” Spitfire finally said.
Without reason and without a thought, Dash took a step towards her. “I- I think-”
A chill ran from Spitfire’s head to her hooves. “...What?”
A thought entered Spitfire’s head. A thought that had just become completely outlandish and ridiculous. However, something about this thought made it peculiar. And it seemed very reminiscent of the mare standing in front of her.
Without reason and with this thought, Spitfire took a step towards Dash.
“I think I think, too,” said Spitfire, her voice resolving into trembles. Dash shivered as if Spitfire had just dove into her mind and read it.
The bright blue scenery around them began to fade as they neared each other. Bright colors began to swell and surge like a raging ocean. A low, rumbling noise rattled Dash’s chest, growing louder and louder. Their faces right in front of each other, Spitfire closed her eyes, but she began to fade away behind the swirling rainbows.
The colors seemed to drain like water from a bathtub. The noise had become unbearable...
Dash opened her eyes, the Manehatten skyline suddenly right in front of her. The skyscrapers reflected the blinding rainbow inferno behind her, and Dash shielded her eyes.
She slowed to a stop and turned around. The shockwave hurdled towards her at the speed of sound. It blasted her back against the glass, accompanied by the same impossibly low rumble. The roar subsided and gave way to the erupting crowd.
Dash’s head swam. She felt light. Her eyes drooped as if she hadn’t slept in days. As she slowly made her way back to the field to join the Wonderbolts in the bows, the magnitude of what she had just done became increasingly apparent.
She crossed over the wall into the field, and the crowd erupted. The screams of five hundred thousand ponies hit her in the chest like a ton of bricks. A rainbow haze filled the arena in wake of the explosion.
Dash couldn’t tell what was going on. Things started to run together. She needed a nap. A nice, long nap on a big, puffy cumulonimbus. Right under the sun where she could bask in its yellow glory.
She continued to the center where the Wonderbolts waited. Taking her place on the left end next to Tyco, they locked forearms. Dash could feel him shaking.
She glanced up at him. Tears were pouring down his face, his expression forward and unchanging.
“Heh,” she said groggily. “Was it really that good?”
“Dear Rainbow Dash,” said Tyco. “You have no idea.”
Each Wonderbolt took their turn bowing to the stadium, Soarin’ and Rapidfire receiving higher pitched cheers.
Dash’s turn came. She hovered forward, and the crowd exploded once again. At first she took her time, soaking up every bit of it she could. Then, she began to slowly raise her forearms out from her side, conducting the crowd into a deafening crescendo. Chills and shivers ran up and down her body. Her arms stretched into the air, she closed her eyes. The sound went on forever. Endless admiration. It was all for her. Everypony screamed just for her.
The Wonderbolts took one last bow together before gathering in a circle. Soarin’ had to yell louder than Dash had ever heard him. “ONE PONY PER TUNNEL! READY? THREE... TWO... ONE... MARK!”
The Bolts shot off in different directions, leaving fire and smoke explosions behind them. Dash entered her dark, empty tunnel. She took off her goggles, fell against the wall, and slid to the floor. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. That nap seemed like a very good idea. She wondered if she could nod off for a second right here.
“DASH!”
A voice she thought she would never hear so hysterically. She snapped up to her hooves. Spitfire flew into the tunnel like a madmare, coming to a stop right in front of Dash. Goggle imprints looped around her eyes, her face soaked from crying, and a beaming smile stretching from ear to ear.
Time stopped. Spitfire looked at Dash as if she had seen her for the first time.
“I think I’m...” Spitfire breathed.
Suddenly, she threw her forelegs around Rainbow Dash’s neck and pulled her into a deep kiss. Dash’s body froze. Her eyes shot open. Surges of feeling swam up through her limbs and met in the center of her chest. She tried to push away, but she remained paralyzed. Tears began to run down Spitfire’s face and roll off Dash’s cheeks. Her brain shut down as her thoughts once again stopped processing themselves.
Finally, she gathered the strength to push Spitfire off. Spitfire began to back away as if Dash had turned into a horrific monster. A shocked expression slowly glossed over her face.
“I’m sorry,” she said. She backed further away, and her rump hit the opposite wall. “I’m sorry...”
“Sp- Spitfire-”
“I’m sorry...”
She took off down the tunnel and rounded the corner out of sight.
_____________________________
<Chapter 5|Chapter 7 Coming Soon!
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First?
YES another update! It's been a month and a half! Thankfully i haven't taken this down from my favorites list!
Now to read the story...
What the hay?
Why did spitfire....
Huh?
So did rainbow dash made the sonic rain-boom or not?
503259
Everyone crying and grinning hugely at Dash and the epic ovation she gets from the crowd says Yes, she pulled it off.
wow, I love how you explain RD during the rainboom. Must feel painful...
503259
Wow dude. critical reading much? XD
504358
Now i'm just wondering why spitfire did that to rainbow dash...
Looks like the rain-boom did do something to her personality!
And where are the rest of the main six cheering on rainbow?
504511
They were there. It's just they're a bit hard to pick out in a crowd of 500,000.
Alright! keep this awesome story going!
Awww yeahhh. I'd forgotten about this one entirely and had to go back to read the last couple of chapters before getting started on this one. Glad I did though - this is a great story, and I like the direction things are going. A bit of DashFire at last is ok by me, and if Dash pulled off the horizontal Sonic Rainboom, well, I think it's deserved. Good work, looking forward to your next chapter already
~Caffeinated Brony~
I think I should probably post a comment on here, seeing as this fic has rocketed to my top favorites very easily.
First off, My God, you have an amazing story right here. The suspense was spectacular and the drama is very well put together. You balance it with pillow fights too, that's just awesome. Then when you had Rainbow trying to do the Rainboom? I had adrenaline coursing through my veins. That entire scene was brilliant, mind blowing even. Your chapter six has got to be one of the most emotionally pulling things I've read, not through sadness or depression or sluffy romance, but from masterfully built suspense.
It's all just wonderful.
Then you have that subtle effect of the Rainboom, the wave of apparent nostalgia? That's just s seed waiting to grow and sprout. I mean, the entire reason Spitfire wanted, or craved, Rainbow to do the trick was -- from what I could tell -- because she yearned for that experience again; the memory of flying for the first time, with her now deceased parents. That's a hard hitter, and it just makes you think of how the rest of the team is going to react.
And Spitfire is now going through and mixing her actual feelings with the Rainboom... Just a lot of really subtle and insignificant details that are nagging at you, telling you that this means more than it's letting on, or that this is all going to get really bad, really soon. You haven't even touched on her friends yet either.
Man, suffice to say, I am looking forward to the rest of these chapters. Wonderful story here, you have talent sir and/or madam, talent all over the place
A wonderful story so far with excellent characterizations, excellent prose, and (so far) perfect pacing. I sincerly look forward to seeing how this continues when you get around to it. Until then, thanks for sharing it with us!
I really can't wait for more! Love this fic!
Really awesome can't wait for 7
i guess there is no chance if this getting finished now is there?
"sigh". *adds to list of amazing stories that will never be finished*.
1150988
*Updates chapter 7*
trollface.jpg
1153425
wait, so are you still working on this?
1153980
Yes, 7 is almost done. I was away for a few months.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3YMRp36Ad8
*ahem* good to see you back
She wants to take a nap on a giant thunderhead?
Something tells me that won't end well.
How the hay did my iTunes decide to play the Alex S. remix of 20 Percent Cooler just before I got to the rainboom part?
Granted, it fit the scene pretty well, but then Pony Rock Anthem was next, and that was just creepy-weird. My computer is stalking me as I read fanfics!