The Trials of Rainbow Dash

by An0rak

Sonic Slingshot

“Ready, aim, fire!”

A huge discharge of magical energy burst forth from the horns of legions of guardsmen. The sheer force of the concentrated magic sent the stallions sliding whole yards backward on the snow and ice directly outside the wall of the vortex. A blinding white light engulfed the entire military unit as the energy and the wall met, but despite the momentary lack of visibility, a large number of armored stallions charged at the impact point following the firing of the blast. Their horns were engulfed by a magical aura that turned them into miniature spears. For an instant, the storm wall weakened at the impact point, and the spear-headed guardsmen charging in pushed into the barrier surrounding the deadly storm, but suddenly, as if reinforced by its own invisible forcefield, the wall repaired itself and pushed against the intrusion. The entire military company was blown off of their feet and flung backward several yards by a sudden burst of wind.

Celestia and Luna, who had been flying above the firing squad of guardsmen and contributing to the burst of magical energy, were brought down to the ground by the heavy winds. Celestia managed a shaky landing on three hooves, the fourth slipping on the ice. Luna fell with a thud about a yard behind her older sister. Celestia turned her back to the fierce vortex and offered Luna a hoof.

“Are you alright, sister?”

“Barely,” Luna muttered, taking Celestia’s hoof and standing. “This is not working, Celestia.”

“But what other strategy is there?”

“I do not know, but piercing the wall from the outside is proving nearly impossible.”

“We aren’t sure how many guardsmen managed to make it through the wall. If even two of them manage to weaken the vortex from the inside, we could still have a chance.”

“We aren’t sure if any guardsmen have made it through, and further-”

The conversation was interrupted by another fierce wind that whipped past the two princesses and through ranks of soldiers struggling to stand and get back into formation. Celestia, though firmly planted in her place, bended to the wind with a shudder. Luna, who was still younger, and therefore lighter, than her older sister was pushed back almost a foot, despite her sister blocking her from the worst of the wind.

“We can not continue this failing strategy!” Luna practically screamed over the wind, fighting her way back to her sister’s side.

“I have no other ideas,” Celestia replied. “Have you?”

The only sound between the two for a moment was a second fierce gust. Finally, Luna relented with a sigh. The two sisters rose and helped Shining Armor rally the troops.
The proud, blue-maned stallion gritted his teeth and stamped his hoof on the ground in frustration. Celestia sent blue sparks of magic flying from her horn, the signal for another barrage.

“Company ready!” Shining Armor yelled. “Ready, aim, fire!”
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Spike held his stomach to muffle it’s growling as he and Twilight made their way to the mess hall. She and Cadence had spoken for hours about the various strategies and plans for containing-and ultimately stopping-the storm. Spike had dutifully recorded the entire session in writing, which was a tedious but necessary job, and sent everything to the temporary base that Shining Armor had established about fifty miles from the vortex. Researchers appointed by the crown were currently rushing around the complex trying to figure out how to penetrate the wall of the storm, and while the information from the session would yield no direct help, the hope was that the notes would at least give them some ideas.

The rest of the main six was moping around in the dining hall again, anxiously waiting for Twilight and Princess Cadence to return, hopefully with news that they were being deployed to the front lines. An awkward silence rested over the group, broken only by the galloping of guards preparing for departure as they sprinted past the closed doors. Pinkie Pie had treated herself to a cake from the castle’s kitchen, but had barely managed to eat the equivalent of a slice in over thirty minutes.

Releasing a sigh, the pink earth pony relented and asked, with her eyes still directed down at the cake, “Do you guys want any?”

“Oh, no. I- I’m not really hungry,” Fluttershy responded.

“Really, it’s all yours, darling,” Rarity concurred.

“I reckon I could use a slice, Pinkie Pie,” Applejack accepted, trotting over to the dejected looking mare’s side.

With a sigh Pinkie Pie pushed the cake toward Applejack, who was seconds from taking a bite when Twilight walked into the mess. All eyes looked up at her, but Twilight’s eyes remained cemented on the floor.

“Eh-hem!” Rarity tried to discreetly clear her throat.

Twilight did not respond.

“Twilight, dear, did you-”

“We’re still waiting on orders,” the alicorn replied curtly.

Spike hopped off of Twilight’s back and pulled out a chair for her. Managing a small smile of thanks, the exhausted alicorn took a seat with the rest of the group.

Applejack sighed. “Nevermind, Pinkie.”

The earth pony returned to her chair, and Spike took his own. Dead silence descended on the group, a morose feeling taking hold of everypony present. The quiet hung over the room for almost a half hour, before suddenly being interrupted by a pop and a puff of smoke that startled everypony back to attention. A scroll had materialized in mid-air at a height slightly above the table. No pony moved. Eventually, Spike gained the nerve to hop onto the table and roll open the parchment.

“Ahem! To the Princess of Friendship and Her Trusted Advisors…”
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“Ouch,” Rainbow moaned.

A dull pain that she had failed to notice previously was coursing through her entire skull. Her mind was fogged, but the realization of anything at all- pain, fogginess, even cold- was a miracle in itself after the pegasus’ crash-landing. Wait. How am I awake after that crash-landing? And why am I not freezing and covered in snow? Without opening her eyes, Rainbow could feel the absence of the biting wind and the chilling snow bank.

Not understanding the severity of her condition, without thinking twice, Rainbow attempted to move her limbs and wings. Sharp pains from all of her frostbitten muscle hit her simultaneously, the excruciating pain making her dizzy and nauseous.

A gruff grunt came from beside her, followed by an impatient order, “Hold still!”

“Wh-who is that?” Rainbow stammered, her mind still processing slowly.

“Private Cobalt Shield at your service, miss. Now please, hold still. You aren’t in very good shape.”

“Who are you?” Rainbow asked, her brain snapping into awareness. “Did someone send you?”

“I’m a royal guardsmen for Princess Luna, assigned a mission to weaken the storm system wall from the inside. Now stop talking while I defrost you.”

“Where are we?”

“Some sort of ice cavern. Not sure if the storm caused it or if it’s always been here, but in either case, you are one lucky mare, miss.”

“Bu-”

“Hup! No more questions, miss. It’s hard enough producing any sort of heat at this temperature as is. I need to concentrate. You’ll just have to trust me for now.”

Rainbow weighed her options. So he’s in the royal guard. Ok, that could work to my advantage. He may know a bit more about this storm than I do. I could get some useful info out of him. Then again, he’ll probably want to detain me here. I know I’m not in good shape. Certainly not good enough to fight him off. I’ll just let him help me until I have enough strength to get away.

If there was one thing Rainbow hated, it was being still. Even with the knowledge of the painful frostbite overtaking her limbs, she itched to flex her muscles and at least attempt movement. Still, she didn’t want to interrupt the guardsman, so she patiently waited for what felt like hours until he spoke again.

“I think you should be alright to move now. May want to take it slow and gentle.”

Rainbow cautiously rose to a sitting position. Every part of her hurt, no longer from cold, but from soreness. You’ve finally done it, Rainbow. You’ve sprained or strained just about every muscle at this point. She focused her blurry vision on the strong gusts of snow-carrying wind. The world outside the cavern appeared more like a shifting white wall than a landscape in the fierce blizzard. Carefully flexing her wings, Rainbow forced herself not to wince at the pain from her frost-damaged wings.

“You’re wings are in bad shape. Not quite too bad to fly, but in these winds, it’d be a miracle.”

Rainbow gave a pained chuckle, “You must not know who I am, do you?”

“Pardon me, miss?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Thank you for the defrosting, Private Shield, but trust me, these wings will fly.”

“With all do respect, I disagree. The amount of ice that was on those wings will have them too weak for a regular take off for about a week. You’d need quite the powerful updraft.”

“Speaking of updrafts, what about the vortex?” Rainbow interjected. “I’m surprised you were even able to get in here on your own. This storm’s got a pretty thick wall.”

“It wasn’t just me ma’am. An entire company of guardsmen and the Princesses themselves had to combine their magic to get even a single soldier through that wall.”

“Oh really?” Rainbow answered as she rotated her weakened wings and stretched her forehooves.

“I assume you must be a citizen of Cloudsdale, miss?”

Rainbow grimaced, “You could say that.”

“This is no time to be cryptic. A simple yes or no would suffice.”

“There’s no time to talk. Thank you for your help, Private Shield, but as you know, someone has to penetrate the eye of the storm to get into Cloudsdale. There isn’t enough time to explain.”

“You can’t possibly be suggesting going back out into the storm in your condition! You are a civilian, miss! I suggest that you leave this to the trained guardsmen and Equestria’s Princesses.”

“I’m a bit more than your average civilian, and I’ve really got to fly.”

Rainbow unfurled her wings and began to trot forward, but was tugged backward by a magical force gripping the end of her tail.

“I’m afraid that for your own safety, I can’t let you do that.”

Rainbow sighed, “I’m warning you. Let me go.”

The stallion began pulling Rainbow Dash backwards on the frozen cavern floor. Rainbow allowed him to pull her back until he was within reach of her hooves. Without warning, she bucked the guardsmen in the jaw.

“Oof!” the guardsmen grunted as he was forced to release her from his spell.

Rainbow sprinted forward, only to be grabbed by her hind legs and flipped upside down. She flapped her wings and propelled herself forward another foot before the guardsman got a good grip on her with his magic.

“Stand down, miss!” the private ordered sternly, straining to keep her held in place.

The strength in Rainbow’s wings was fleeting. She could feel herself being dragged backwards and downwards. She was just about to abandon her attempt at flight and fight the guard hoof to hoof, but then a statement Private Shield had made earlier echoed in her mind. The amount of ice that was on those wings will have them too weak for a regular take off for about a week. You’d need quite the powerful updraft. The pegasus pushed herself to gain even one more millimeter of distance before suddenly cementing her wings to her side and allowing herself to be flung backward toward the private. She tucked herself into a ball and performed a backwards roll midflight, twisting her body so that she was facing towards Private Shield in under a second. While she still had the momentum from him yanking her backwards, she fired up her wings and shot forward, tackling the unsuspecting private to the ground. The two landed with a thud, cracking the icy floor beneath them.

“Sorry!” Rainbow called as she pushed off the fallen soldier’s armor and continued moving at a gallop.

Adrenaline kicked in, warding off the worst of her pain. She kept her pace, turning and sprinting to the open cave mouths. The pegasus unfurled her wings and kept her running speed to force a take off despite the fleeting resilience of her wings’ muscle fibers. She shot out from the mouth of the cave and into the storm.

The howling winds swept her up and tossed her around as if she were limp. Rainbow gritted her teeth. Not this time. She angled her wings, allowing them to work with the winds, letting herself be swept up into the storm’s swirling motion. If the Princesses need to get in and I need to get through to Cloudsdale, I can solve two problems with one flight. Rainbow felt herself being pulled to the outside of the storm as she gained more altitude. Spotting the black wall of clouds coming closer in her peripheral vision, she braced herself for the frigid shock of entering the outer wall. As soon as she was engulfed, Rainbow pumped her wings fiercely, flying along the path of the vortex’s winds. She picked up speed, ice coating her muzzle as she was whipped by sub-zero temperatures and a deadly amount of wind chill. She pushed herself to increase her speed until she was moving faster than the storm winds themselves, using the force of the wind gave her the ability to accelerate forward at an alarming speed. Cloudsdale is at the center. Rainbow reminded herself as she hurtled forward at a seemingly uncontrollable velocity. I’ve got one shot at this. Focus, Rainbow. At the critical moment she squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for what would be her hardest impact yet. For Cloudsdale.
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“What is that?” Shining Armor gasped aloud.

Streaks of colored light licked the wall of the vortex, growing brighter and harsher in hue by the second. An entire company of soldiers stood gaping in awe at the rainbow wrapping its way around the entirety of the storm.

“Could it be?” Celestia questioned, thunderstruck.

“All company brace yourselves!” Luna cried, coming to her sister’s realization.

Just three seconds after the order, a sonic rainboom exploded outwards from the storm. As if someone had broken the seal on a glass bottle, a pocket of air burst and expanded rapidly outwards. The explosion of air sent everypony within a ten mile radius flying backwards and continued spreading to the point that it shook the temporary base miles away. The storm wall was broken, fragmented in a way that made it impossible for it to quickly repair itself as it had previously.

Shining Armor stood shakily, shocked at the collateral damage that the sonic rainboom had caused to the vortex. Refocusing, the Captain of the Royal Guard helped up the troops nearest him and began shouting at the top of his lungs.

“Company! On your feet! All injured stay down! All able bodied men into formation and prepare to penetrate the storm! On the double!”
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The fearful citizens of Cloudsdale cautiously peered out from their homes. A sound resembling a bomb going off had echoed throughout the entire city. Despite being trapped inside the storm, the city had been relatively quiet inside the peaceful eye. Now every citizen was cowering in fear, wondering if the awful storm was collapsing in on them, ready to rip the entirety of Cloudsdale apart.

After several tense minutes of waiting, the bravest citizens ventured out from their homes to investigate. Most were unrewarded for their boldness, but in the city’s western region, pegasi peaking out of their front doors were met with the sight of skid marks so large that they suggested the crash landing of something as large as a building. The marks ran deep, penetrating into the city’s cloud base by several feet. It was as if a knife had made a deep gash into one side of the airborne city, and most disturbingly of all, were the streaks of red snaking down the already striking crevice.

Comments

[Tiger1810]

Amazing

[An0rak]

8009992
Glad you enjoyed it!

[BrushPrism]

I need next part!