• Published 4th Jun 2012
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Rainbooms and Royalty - Trinary



Alternate Universe: Filly Rainbow Dash has just performed her Sonic Rainboom when she gets a visitor

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The Moment

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Rainbow Dash was doing what she was taught pegasi should NEVER do: fly directly at the ground. She wasn’t diving, not flying in at angle, but flying straight down as fast as she could go. There was every chance she could end up a pancake splattered on the ground below but that thought was pushed to the far back of her mind. Of course, this wasn’t the first time she’d done this, but usually it was the result of a juvenile dare and had started from much higher up. This time the stakes were much, MUCH higher.

Below, just out of reach, her friends were falling to their deaths. Fluttershy screamed as she tried to open her wings, but they were held tight by Nightmare Moon’s bonds. Even Twilight Sparkle’s impressive magic was contained. There was nothing to stop or even slow their descent except for the rocky ground below that was rapidly approaching.

The wind whipped at Rainbow Dash’s face as it blew her mane and tail back. There were tears trickling down her cheeks that had nothing to do with the rushing wind tugging at her eyes. Five ponies, five friends, and not enough time to save them all. Who gets saved? Who’s left to die?

Fluttershy. No, never! Memories twisted in her gut of Fluttershy falling to the earth below while she raced to defend her honor, oblivious of her plight…and this time there was no cloud of butterflies to break her fall. She swore she’d never let Fluttershy down again. She was her oldest friend…the thought of somepony as soft and gentle and kind as her lying broken on the ground squeezed at her heart so hard Rainbow found herself fighting for breath.

Pinkie Pie. How could she even think of letting Pinkie fall? As strange and weird as the pink earth pony was, Rainbow doubted that even she would just bounce up and be fine after a fall like this. She wasn’t full of life…it was like she WAS life. Always laughing, always bouncing, partying, bringing a smile to somepony’s face…how could the world continue on without her laughter making it better?

Applejack. A pony who offered to take her in without even knowing who she was, just because she could tell Rainbow needed a hoof. Always tough but remarkably gentle in her feelings. Honest and trustworthy…ponies like her were the backbone of Equestria. How could Rainbow Dash leave her behind, especially having met her large family, all of whom loved and cared for AJ?

Rarity. It had taken her a while to warm up to the fussy unicorn, but seeing how much she loved her little sister…everything she’d sacrificed to get them this far…Rainbow Dash couldn’t imagine a Ponyville without her.

Twilight Sparkle. The funny, dorky, initially withdrawn, and insanely powerful Twilight. Shining Armor had tossed the two of them together because he knew they complimented each other and countered each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Twilight had just started to finally come out of her shell and start making friends. She had a bright future ahead of her if it didn’t end at the ground…

Rainbow Dash grit her teeth. No, No, NO! She couldn’t do it! She couldn’t choose between them! Each and everypony was precious to her, in their own unique and different way. Picturing the world without any one of them was like trying to make a rainbow with a missing color, it just wouldn’t work!

“Wait a minute.” Her eyes narrowed at that. “Rainbows, rainbows…c’mon Dash, THINK!” She scrunched her eyes as she tried to probe the flicker that passing thought had provoked. On those occasions when Rainbow Dash needed to clear her thoughts or, conversely, think things through (a much rarer occurance) flying always provided her the best inspiration.

Rainbows…her friends…the Elements of Harmony…what did it all mean?

The voices of her friends floated through her mind.
“…it wasn’t until I found some gemstones after an explosion of light…”
“There was this—I don’t know—this big explosion and this light and then my magic just went crazy!”
“But then I saw the most amazing rainbow that made me smile and smile until I never wanted to stop!”
“Ah got my cutie mark after I followed a rainbow home…”
“But when they were startled away by this loud noise…”

An explosion…a rainbow…a loud noise…her friends’ cutie marks. Her eyes widened.

It was her Sonic Rainboom! That was the connection! You know if you weren’t such a lunkhead you would’ve figured this out days ago, rued some small portion of her mind but Dash was too excited to take heed of it. They were all connected by her Sonic Rainboom! And there were six of them, just like there were six Elements of Harmony! This was MEANT to be! But why didn’t it work back there? Rainbow thought furiously. What was missing?

That’s when she thought back to her rainbow analogy. Each one of them part of a rainbow…it didn’t matter how bright each individual color was, it was the unity of them all that made them a rainbow! It wasn’t enough that Applejack was honest or Fluttershy kind or whatnot, it was that they were all friends—Together! In harmony!

Rainbow Dash felt a fierce grin tug at the corner of her lips…along with the g’s she was currently pulling. That was the secret! The six of them, together, were what was going to stop Nightmare Moon. Zecora had been trying to give Dash the hint the entire time. If she had just flown on ahead without them, she might’ve been able to avoid some of the obstacles they’d encountered and arrive sooner…but she wouldn’t have been able to defeat the Nightmare.

She needed her friends for that. She still did. And that’s when Rainbow Dash knew that they would win…because she could never let any of them drop. “We’re in this together. And I don’t leave my friends hanging! Or falling!” Her wings beat twice as hard as she hurled herself toward the ground. Her muscles ached, sweat beaded on her brow only to be swept away by the wind. She grunted as she felt the familiar push of a barrier in her way as she struggled and strained to fly through it.

Her old foe, how many times had she pushed and strained at the barried only to have it snap her back and send her flying like a sack of potatoes? Too many times to count. The barrier sharpened as Rainbow ploughed ahead. Each inch forward was marked with a dramatic increase of the pressure on her, threatening to shove her back. “N-no…not this time!” Dash flapped her wings harder, moving forward inch by inch. “Y-you’re not gonna keep me from them…you hear me? You’re NOT!”

She felt her tail and wings being tugged as if something behind her was trying to haul her away. But she couldn’t, *wouldn’t* be. Not when her friends were still in front of her, and so close to the ground too.

Twilight, screaming as she fell, spun, her eyes catching Rainbow’s for a moment. Her pleading purple eyes met Dash’s determined magenta ones. Then Rainbow Dash redoubled her efforts. “C’mon…c’mon…hnnng!!” She pushed and pushed, her wings sore and aching but she didn’t stop until….

KRA-BOOM!

The final barrier splintered and shattered like a pane of glass as Rainbow Dash did the impossible, for the second time in her life: a Sonic Rainboom.

Accompanying the breaking of the sound barrier was a bright rainbow-colored shockwave. Even the five ponies falling to their doom took a second to marvel at it, their eyes widening in amazement…and recognition.

“It was her…” Applejack mumbled softly. “Oh mah star apples…”

“That’s the rainbow!” Pinkie exclaimed.

It was if for one instant, all six ponies became one. They all recognized the importance of the Sonic Rainboom, both for what it meant to them personally and to each other. They became aware of their connection to one another, forged years ago before they had ever even met.

Soon the rainbow filled the length and width of their vision, their eyes awash with color. Colored hues started surrounding each pony, like the colored magic aura cast by a unicorn’s horn, only much larger and encompassing their entire bodies. Rainbow Dash was giving off a red pulse of light, even as she trailed the brightest rainbow ever seen behind her. Applejack looked down to see herself surrounded in an orange light. Fluttershy gasped at the yellow surrounding her. Rarity pulsed with a green light while Pinkie Pie’s was blue and Twilight’s a distinct purple.

Rainbow Dash, moving faster than she ever had before, flew underneath her friends. She proceeded to dart from pony to pony; tossing them on her back or clutching them in her hooves. One by one she did the impossible and grabbed them all: Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight Sparkle. Nopony was left behind. Rainbow Dash pulled out of her sheer drop and dove upwards.

Standing shock still at the top of the castle, Nightmare Moon’s jaw dropped in horror. “NOO!!!!” She bellowed right before the event horizon of the Rainboom struck her full on, tossing her back into the throne room.

As the Sonic Rainboom spread up and out, it passed through the battling armies, dissipating the conjured Shadowbolts into the mist they had been forged from and leaving the gargoyles, Diamond Dogs, and seaponies watching in amazement. The enchantments holding Rainbow’s friends and keeping Fluttershy’s wings and the horns of Twilight and Rarity in check faded away. Zecora, Ditzy and the others were released from their magic chains and fell to the floor. They got to their hooves just in time to see Rainbow Dash letting her friends off as they stood in a circle.

“Rainbow Dash!” Zecora called. “Use the Elements’ power! Use them to light our darkest hour!”

She didn’t need to ask twice. The six colors enveloping the six ponies merged together like several small streams becoming a mighty river as it surged upwards and then plummeted down onto the helpless Nightmare Moon.

The dark mare whinnied in fear and reared on her hindlegs, trying to bat it away from her, but the rainbow of light surrounded and engulfed her completely.

The colors soon faded from Rainbow Dash and her friends as they felt themselves returning to the here and now, their consciousness having felt like it had gone someplace far beyond where anypony had ever gone before. But now they were back and aware, and fully cognizant of what happened.

“Oh my…” Fluttershy whispered, looking around. “Is…is it over?”

“I…think it is. I did it!” A smile started stretching across Rainbow Dash’s face. “I-it happened! I did it!”

“’You’ did it?” AJ looked at her questioningly. Rainbow Dash, despite how tired and aching her wings were, couldn’t help leap into the air and perform a neat loop de loop.

“Yeah!! I did a Sonic Rainboom!!” She hugged herself with glee. “I did it!”

“Oh shucks, congrats.” Applejack rolled her eyes. “Here we were thinkin’ about saving the world and stopping Nightmare Moon an’ all, but don’t let that get in yer way.” Rainbow flushed, but even that gentle chide couldn't keep her spirits down.

Twilight gave Applejack a nudge. “Let her have her moment, she worked hard to do that again…and she DID save all our lives.” She smiled, shaking her head. “I just can’t believe…that’s what made my magic go off? A Sonic Rainboom? If it weren’t for that rainboom, for Dash, I would never have gotten my cutie mark!”

“I believe that goes for all of us darling.” Rarity nodded, looking around. “Everypony all right?”

Ditzy Doo felt her eyes rolling in opposite directions before she got them back under control. “A-all good!” She giggled, swaying slightly before sitting down. The two pegasi guards, Steelwing and Silver Lining, leaned against one another to keep themselves propped up.

Zecora, normally poised and collected, ran over and threw her hooves around Rainbow Dash. “Gyah! ZECORA!” The cyan pegasus squirmed.

“Ha ha! I knew you could do it, I did! You were all so amazing I think I may just flip my lid!”

“Hey Twiley…” A weak voice called. Twilight snapped her head up and ran over.

“Shining Armor!” She cried out, hugging her big brother so tightly that the big brawny stallion winced.

He ran a hoof through her mane. “Aw sis…you were beyond amazing. I always knew you had it in you.”

“S-shining….I’m so sorry.” Twilight sobbed softly. “F-for…for…”

He shushed her gently. “It’s okay Twi…you did what you have to do. I’m proud of you.”

Rainbow Dash smiled, but it was tinged with sadness. Shining Armor was apparently aware of everything that happened while he was under Nightmare Moon’s control. She sighed, remembering everything Darkened Armor had told her.

Ditzy gasped. “Rainbow Dash!”

Dash waved a hoof dismissively. “Ditzy, you don’t have to apologize for anything. It wasn’t your—”

“Not that!” She blurted, pointing at a darkened corner of the room. “Nightmare Moon!”

At that cry, everypony and zebra immediately stopped and turned to look. Rainbow Dash zoomed out ahead of the others, her wings outstretched as if to protect everypony behind her. “Show yourself!” She barked.

A hesitant hoof shook as it emerged from the shadows. The pony attached to it slowly stumbled out. It was a light bluish alicorn about halfway between Nightmare Moon and Celestia and a regular pony in terms of size. But her cutie mark was the same. There was no question.

“Nightmare Moon!” Rainbow Dash barked. The alicorn flinched and shied her head away.

“N-no! No I’m not!” She fell to her knees, shaking like a leaf. “I swear! I’m not her anymore!”

Rainbow Dash would have none of it. “YOU!” She flew over, tackling her against the wall. “You tried to kill everypony I knew! You’re the reason Celestia…” her voice broke, choked up with emotion. Her eyes were moist with tears of rage. “I HATE YOU!!”

The alicorn whimpered. “Please, no! It wasn’t me…it wasn’t me…” she sobbed pathetically.

Dash raised a hoof angrily. “Wait…” Fluttershy said softly as she fluttered over. She gently put her hoof on top of Rainbow’s. “We beat her…I-I don’t think she can hurt anypony anymore.”

“But she…Flutters she tried to kill you. She tried to kill us all.” Rainbow said, shaking with repressed rage. “She deserves it.”

“Is that what Celestia would want?” Fluttershy asked gently. Rainbow Dash looked back between her and the cringing alicorn at her hooves. Her hoof twitched…then dropped. She sighed.

“No. I just…I just wish…” Rainbow Dash looked up and away.

Fluttershy laid her head against Rainbow’s…then her eyes widened. “Rainbow Dash…look.” She tilted her head towards the window. Dash and the others followed her gaze. A golden light came in through the window…the sun was rising.

Rainbow Dash walked over to stand in the dawn’s rays. “Never thought I’d miss this so much.” She mumbled, closing her eyes and drinking it in. Dust motes danced in the sun light as a gentle breeze blew in. Opening her wings out, she felt something soothing moving between her feathers. Her eye cracked open a sliver as she saw tiny shimmering particles twinkling in the light, wafting in through the window.

They seemed…oddly familiar. Comforting even. A thought crossed her mind as she slowly backed out of the light. The golden particles swirled and shifted around, pulling together and coalescing into a familiar tall pony-shape, complete with resplendent wings and a large majestic horn.

“P-Princess Celestia?!”

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