Flash and Crash Rainbow Dash

by forbritisheyesonly

Chapter 4

*Please excuse the rather obvious and shameless references in this chapter. Couldn't resist could I?*

Pinkie Pie was gone. Rainbow Dash could not even begin to understand what had happened. One second she was professing her deepest secret, the innermost desires of her heart, a thing that a pony like Rainbow Dash rarely (if ever) did. The next moment the mare she loved was running from the room crying. When she first read the note her mind went into overdrive, considering the where, when, how and why. It only took a few seconds of this for it to crash and she sat in the bed staring blankly at the ceiling. Rainbow was barely emotional as her body and mind were still in a state of shock. She was lying there unmoving and unmoved. Her eyes unblinking and her mouth hanging open in a way that gave her a slack jawed appearance. She looked as if she were an invalid. It was too much for her to process. After almost forty-five minutes of a complete lack of any activity her brain began again to ask questions. This time it came much slower so as not to overload. The most important one came first, where was Pinkie Pie? She could be anywhere for all Dash knew. Maybe one of her friends could help. But she knew Pinkie better than anyone excepting the cakes, and Mr. Cake said he had no idea where she was going. Rainbow had seen her running out of town though and there are parts of Equestria that are very dangerous for a young pony to be traveling alone in. Pinkie Pie could be in trouble and it could be Rainbow Dash’s fault somehow. She had to find out where Pinkie was. It was imperative that she do it and fast. But how could she possibly find Pinkie? How could she find the world champion of hide and seek for twelve years in a row back when she was a filly (it was true, Dash had seen the trophies). In fact Pinkie Pie still held the world record for longest time taken to be found. She had hidden in somepony’s hat! She hadn’t even known it was a competition the first year she entered. She thought she was just playing a game. Rainbow Dash remembered Pinkie Pie’s account of the game with a smile. Then shook her head to clear the distractions, come on focus Dash. She didn’t see a way short of magic that she could ever find a Pinkie Pie that didn’t want to be found. As she racked her brain for answers the previous thought kept looming in her mind as if there were something important about it. She tried to push it off and get fresh thoughts, to churn her mind around until a new idea surfaced. It kept coming back up. No way short of magic.

”That’s it!”

“Magic!”

“Twilight Sparkle!”

Rainbow Dash’s shouted words punctured the silence that had been dominating the room for the last hour. If anyone can help me find her it will be Twilight. Rainbow Dash had never heard of Twilight talking about a tracking spell or anything like that, but she could do a lot of great magic so there was always the chance that she could. Ill just go and…oh wait I have a broken leg. I can’t walk there. I can’t fly there. I don’t know any way to get a message to her. Rainbow Dash sank her head, distraught, dejected, and defeated. Rainbow Dash was finally in tears now. As terrible as everything seemed, Rainbow was never a pony to give up. She had once finished a 400-meter relay on a broken ankle. Even after every other pony had crossed the finish line Rainbow Dash kept limping along, because only losers gave up. Impossible odds, a hide and seek world champion to find, a broken leg and sprained wings. One of the biggest challenges of her life. Dash knew that she was the only pony in the world who could do it. The first order of business was finding a way to get to Twilight. She knew some of her friends would be by later, but she couldn’t wait the long. For all she knew Pinkie Pie had already fallen into the hands of some murderous monsters or vile villains! She had no time to sit and wait.

“Rainbow Dash! I just ran into Mr. Cake at the market!” Scootaloo had burst through the door scaring Rainbow Dash nearly out of the bed and was quickly followed by her friends Sweetie Bell and Applebloom. “He said that you needed someone to take care of you because Pinkie Pie left, I can do whatever you need me to!”

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS….NURSES!!” The three shouted in unison.

“Scootaloo! Your scooter! Can I borrow it?!” Rainbow Snapped at Scootaloo

Scootaloo looked slightly crestfallen. Dash was not nearly as excited as she wanted her to be. And Sweetie bell and Applebloom dropped their thermometers with a skeptical look.

“You shouldn’t be getting out of bed Dash!”

“Hey! This is an emergency!” Rainbow shouted.

“Sounds like an adventure! Where are we going?” Scootaloo replied with an excited jump, completely forgetting her disappointment from earlier.

“I am going to the library” Dash said with grim Determination. Scootaloo's mouth dropped open in an expression of shock

“Okay Rainbow Dash, if it is important I will help you, but you can’t drive there alone. You will have to ride in the wagon in the back, and I don’t know how to get you out of here onto it.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS…ENGINEERS!” The three shouted and bolted into different directions. Sweetie Bell ran back up the stairs a little while later with several towels from the bakery and several long strands of licorice. She then rummaged through the drawers and pulled out all the extra sheets and blankets. Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell had somehow managed to push the scooter up the stairs. Sweetie Bell pulled out a sewing kit and started sewing all of the items she assembled into a long rope.

“I learned this from Rarity.” She smiled proudly.

After she finished the rope Applebloom tied it into a lasso and threw it out of the window and lassoed the mailbox outside. They then put a board they had pulled from the headboard up against the windowsill. Sweetie Bell made an extra piece of rope and tied one end of it to the scooter.

Rainbow Dash eased out of the bed into the wagon with Sweetie Bell and Applebloom.

Scootaloo was about to do a stunt and impress the one and only Rainbow Dash! Could life get any better than this? She revved up the scooter and shot out of the window. For a moment they soared through the air with nothing supporting them. Applebloom screamed as they began the twenty foot drop from the upstairs window. For a moment Dash felt like she was flying again, but this only reminded her of Pinkie and she could not enjoy it. She had more pressing matters at hand. Sweetie Bell hooked the zipline leading from the window to the mailbox with the other short piece of rope as they came level with it and they zip lined all the way down until the scooter hit the ground with a powerful thud. Rainbow cringed as a jolt ripped through her body. Scooters are definitely not designed for tricks and stunts, Rainbow Dash thought.
Scootaloo put the breaks on and slowed down the scooter.

“Everybody okay? Everybody ready?” She asked.

“LETS DO IT!” The two fillies in the back shouted. Rainbow was still reeling from the shockwave of pain going through her wings and leg.

Scootaloo zipped off towards the library. They arrived in only a few seconds with Scootaloo pulling out everything the engine had.

“TWIIIIIILIGHT!! I need you NOW!” Rainbow shouted as Scootaloo crashed the scooter directly through the front door much to Twilight’s chagrin.

“Rainbow you are supposed to be in bed not out dare deviling! And look at this mess you have made!” Twilight walked around picking up books and chastising Dash for a few more minutes. Well I guess some dreams do come true Dash thought with a rye smile.

“Twilight! I need your help! Pinkie Pie ran away and she left this note! Do you have a spell that can help me find her?”

Twilight Sparkle read the note and a deep frown formed across her face. Her brow furrowed as she struggled to make out some of the more streaked words.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders. Thank you for all of your help, but I think you better leave this to us now.”

“But Twilight! We are big ponies we want to get our cutie marks in recon missions!” Sweetie Bell squeaked.

"Yeah Twilight! I reckon we oughta help!" Applebloom piped up.

Twilight paid no head to their pleadings as she shooed them out of the door.

“Well, this does seem serious. I guess I can use this note in a location spell. I just take an item that the pony you want to find has recently touched-“

“Yeah, yeah that is great Twilight just do it!” “Find her”

Okay but it will take me at least until nightfall to finish. It is a very complicated spell.

“Fine! Just please, Twilight hurry. Please.”

“I will do my best, but it is very complicated and it may take all night, one can never know how long it will take.”
Twilight’s horn lit up and she closed her eyes. Rainbow saw her poke the note with her horn and then do a series of complicated sweeping motions in the air with it.

Twilight was sweeping the whole of Equestria with her magic. There was a huge topographical map in her mind that she magically picked over with a fine toothcomb. Whenever the note lined up with Pinkie Pie’s coordinates they should link due to her connection with the piece of paper. If this didn’t work Twilight knew of only one other solution, one other very complicated solution.

After hours of searching Twilight was making no progress. She had started with a 4-mile radius around Ponyville, thinking Pinkie could not have gone much further than that yet. She eventually broadened her search to eight and then sixteen miles. Apparently the connection between Pinkie and the note was not strong enough for a lock to be made over this distance. Twilight frowned and did one last sweep over Ponyville to be sure she didn’t miss anything. Pinkie Pie should be a lot easier to find. She should be giving off a boisterous energy. Twilight knew of one other way to find her, but it was very complicated and she would have to go to Sugarcube Corner in order to perform it. Rainbow Dash was asleep, curled up on the couch, clutching a pillow to her chest in an effort to gain some security. Deciding to let her sleep, Twilight ran as fast as she could to the bakery. She tore apart Pinkie’s bedroom searching for one small thing. Twilight spent the better part of a half hour looking for just one of Pinkie’s bright pink hairs. At one point she thought she found one in the bed, but it was a red one from Rainbow’s mane. Twilight finally went to Pinkie’s bathroom and looked in the one surefire place to find one. The shower drain. She cringed as she pulled a long Pink hair from the drain cover.

“Ew! Ew! Ew!” Something about hair in the shower is just way grosser than regular hair, Twilight thought. Strangely enough there was no hairbrush around to get one off of. But then again, Twilight thought, it isn’t as if Pinkie Pie ever brushes her hair. Twilight picked up the hair. She also took a bar of soap from Pinkie’s bathroom. She would have liked to have a fresher hair, but this was the best she could do. She hurried back to her library home so she could mix the potion.
Twilight had been learning about the art of potion making from Zecora ever since the incident with the Poison Joke plants she and her friends had gotten into. Twilight had been watching Zecora mix a special tracking potion before her second lesson. Zecora was using the husk of her remaining Amethyst to mix the potion and look for more

“Can that potion work for finding ponies? Can I learn it?” Twilight had asked

“To find little pony folk this potion can be used.
But it is quite advanced, and has a very short fuse.”

“Zecora, what does that even mean?” Twilight had asked with a huff.

“It is a hard potion to make and if you spoil the brew.
It will be a mistake you will not live to rue.”

Desperately tricky to make, disastrous should you get it wrong, Twilight had thought. She had still watched the potion making and taken careful notes. She knew it was risky, but two of her friends needed her help. After Zecora had finished her potion it had turned a pale pink color and Twilight could look into it and see the location of the Amethyst that Zecora was seeking.
Twilight breathed in deeply as she began mixing the ingredients together in a large silver cauldron: bark from a tree in the Everfree Forest, a wisp of cloud (she had asked Dash to procure this for her not a fortnight ago), a few different types of mushrooms, Hawk feathers, Nimroot, and Juniper Berries. The last ingredient was pinkie’s Hair and a few of the soap shavings. These things served as the personal identifier for Pinkie. The ingredients had to be cut and diced just so and added in exactly that order. They then had to be stirred and on the fire for exactly 43.78 minutes. She was supposed to be stirring clockwise at the rate of 50 stirs per minute for the first 20 minutes. Then a break. Then 30 stirs per minute for the final 13.78 minutes. Twilight got out her stopwatch. All told it took her 4 hours just to get all of the ingredients cut properly and added to the brew. She watched in awe as it began first to turn a delicate shade of pink and then gave way to a crystal clear to a shimmery silver, it changed yet again into a crystal clear image and began giving off the scent of an overcooked cake.

Twilight shook Dash awake.

“There is something you need to see Rianbow.”

“Okay, Twilight, I am ready.” Rainbow was struggling just to talk.

Twilight led her over to the cauldron and gestured for Dash to look down inside it. They both looked down and were met with a vision.

Pinkie Pie was sitting in a room with her head beneath the pillows. The room had gray walls and a gray ceiling. Suddenly a white pony with a gray mane pulled up into a tight bun walked in. “Pinkamena do you want anything to eat for dinner?” Pinkie pulled her head up. Her mane hung around her face like a sheet of ice and her eyes were puffy and red from crying. The image became hazy and began to break up. Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash and saw that her eyes were filling with tears.
Twilight waited to see if Rainbow Dash would say anything. After a few minutes she cleared her throat.

“I guess she went to her parent’s rock farm. It is only a few miles outside of Ponyville, but we will have to go through the Everfree forest. If we leave in the morning it will be a lot safer.”

“NO! Pinkie needs me and we are leaving right now! If you don't want to come just heal my leg so I can go.”

“But Rainbow you know that my healing magic isn’t very powerful. You will heal a lot better if you wait and let it heal on its own.” Twilight begged with her eyes for Dash to see reason.

“I don’t care. I don’t care if after this I can never walk again. I am going to get Pinkie Pie right now.” She had spoken the words calmly but with force. She was clearly not in the mood to debate.

Twilight opened her mouth to refuse, but she saw that it was no use as Rainbow’s face was filled with purpose and grim determination.

“Okay Rainbow, but I want you to know that it might not work. And that leg may never be the same when I am done.”

“Yeah but at least I will still have my wings” Dash said in an effort to console both herself and Twilight.

“Alright then get ready and hold still.”

Twilight’s horn once again began to glow. This time it wasn’t a faint purple but a blinding flash that lit the whole room. Rainbow felt a very sharp pain in her leg and a strange compressing sensation. Twilight was using her magic like a welder to re-fuse the bone at the break. She carefully brought the two bones together, acutely aware of Dash’s sharp inhalations and gasps of pain. She carefully bonded the broken fragments together, trying not to ruin the leg or cause any damage. She worked her magic with the precision of a skilled surgeon. Twilight usually wasn’t great under pressure, but something within her took over and she knew that she was Rainbow Dash’s only hope. After fusing most of the bones together she went to take on the biggest part. That was when she realized that the growth plate in the leg was completely smashed and beyond her skill to heal and put into working order. She fused the bones together in a very fragile way, noting that that leg would probably never grow again for Rainbow Dash. She once again did a once over, correcting small chips and adding magic to the places that looked weak. Her healing magic left a lot to be desired and the bond looked like it would only hold for a month or two. Probably less with Rainbow Dash’s intense lifestyle. What seemed like a lifetime went by (it was actually more like two hours) and Dash’s leg went numb and the room was once again washed with pale moonlight. Rainbow opened her eyes and then gingerly flexed her leg. It had very little strength and was stiff with disuse. She tried a walk around the room but had a considerable limp.

“Rainbow Dash, that leg is going to need significant rehabilitation before you will be able to do anything on it, I am afraid.”

“Twilight. Pack some food and a few blankets. I am leaving now, with or without you.” Twilight knew from the look on Rainbow’s face that she shouldn’t argue. That arguing would be an exercise in futility. She packed a few apples and some muffins into her saddlebags along with a few first aid supplies and some other essential items.

“Okay Rainbow Dash, let’s go. I can't let you go alone.”

As the two ponies stepped outside of the library, they were met with a perfect summer night. The air was crisp and warm and the smell of dew forming on grass was very pleasant. It could be just a normal night for the ponies if it weren't for what they were about to do. Twilight, taking note of the moon's position and the dew forming estimated that they were only a few hours away from sunrise. It was still powerfully dark though, as the moon was barely a sliver of light high in the sky.

The two ponies stood on the edge of town gazing into the forest. The path leading in was like a path into perfect, complete darkness. Ghostly tendrils of blue fog rose from the ground and the trees seemed to glare ominously. Two bats circled above and then hung themselves upside down from a low hanging tree branch. The two ponies looked at each other as if to ask, are we really going in there? In answer to the silent question Rainbow Dash stepped forward.

“Well, here goes nothing.” She said as she limped onto the path.

Comments

[FreezingShock]

"..it isn’t as if Pinkie Pie ever brushes her hair."

A bit of a random part of the fic to quote, I know, but I'd never actually thought about this before. But now that you mention it, Pinkie's hair is still styled in the exact same manner as it was when it was first tousled by the Sonic Rainboom, so it does indeed seem likely she just ignores the matter completely. Another thing she and Dashie may have in common. Anyway, on to the constructive criticism.

First of all, it'd probably be a good idea to use more paragraphs. The first thing I noticed when I opened the new chapter was this massive wall of text, which isn't all that appealing.

Second, you should probably either seperate Rainbow's thoughts from your exposition or fully integrate them into it. As it is, we often get little bits of direct thoughts from Dash just randomly placed within the narrative, without any kind of indication we're switching from the author to Rainbow.

Also, Twilight seems a bit too willing to go along with Rainbow's insanity. While it isn't out of character for Rainbow to be so completely retarded, I don't think Twilight would let her go if she could in any way prevent it. She's a bit too accepting of it all..

Finally, the dialogue just seems a bit off at times. As I'm not skilled at all in writing dialogue myself, I can't really say anything about how you may improve in this field. Again, I suspect practice will do the trick.

Some parts of the story seem somewhat rushed, such as the CMC intervention, but overall your pacing is roughly on the same level as it was in the previous chapter, which is good.

Keep it up!

[forbritisheyesonly]

738488
Yeah I have it all formatted really nicely in my word document but this site makes it a nightmare, because I have to completely re-edit it when i upload it.

aaaand you will be happy to know that I do not think any subsequent chapters have any Rainbow Dash thoughts in them (I can't be positive, but so far they don't)

And I think your point about Twilight is the first place I would disagree with you, but that is a tough call to debate really.

I would say that my problem is that I have written for school for so long where it was jammed into my head that "nobody wants to read a long text so write it concisely or you get an F" so it is just a matter of coming out of that really. I originally wrote the entire store with 6 chapters each about 1000 words but after uploading the first chapter people were raising this concern so I have been going back and adding all the details i originally left out. It makes me really happy to be able to write free! I think the first chapter that I write fresh from scratch now will be way better!

[TimbukTurnip]

I would agree that I don't believe Twilight would be willing to risk irreparable damage to Dash, but oh well. Also, when putting a characters thoughts into a story written in this style, the common thing to do is to put it in italics, i.e 'Then shook her head to clear the distractions,come on focus Dash.

[forbritisheyesonly]

I cou>>739307
I could have sworn I italicized those thoughts. Oh well sorry guys. I am slightly drunk and I'm sorry my story sucks. Once again I'm drunk so disregard this later. I guess. Well. Sorry

[forbritisheyesonly]

740708
Do not worry my friend. I will not lead you astray :)

[Solar Nova]

Can't wait to read more!

[IAmScootaloo]

Awesome! :D