Speed of a Different Dash

by entiegon

Chapter 1

“ And then this marker goes there and you get what, Dash?”

“ Um… a rainbow?” the young girl looked at the smaller pile of markers.

“ Other than that.” A deep sigh escaped the man’s lips as he tried to return his daughter’s attention to her homework. “ Come on, Rainbow Dash. You know this. If I have one hundred soccer balls and twelve go flat, how many soccer balls do I have left?”

“ Um…”

“ Let’s try this. What’s one hundred take away ten?”

“ Isn’t that ninetee?”

“ Not nineteen.”

“ I said ninetee, not nineteen! The bigger one with the nine and the zero.”

“ You mean ninety.”

“ That’s what I said!”

Another sigh. “ Okay, so now you have ninety soccer balls. How many would be left if I took two away?”

“ Um…”

“ Come on, Dash. I know you can do it. It’s an easy number.”

“ Um… eight?”

“ Yes, almost.”

“ Eight… eight?”

“ Eighty eight, yes that’s right. And that was the last question. Well done, Rainbow Dash.”

The little girl was ecstatic, jumping up and down in her seat. A few seconds later, they heard the sirens growing louder and louder. Living on a quiet backroad, it surprised Rainbow Blaze that the police were coming this far away from the main streets. He only managed to look up in time to see the silver minivan skid into his front yard and come hurtling towards the dining room table which both he and his daughter sat at. Before he could react, the car slammed into the side of his house, crushing his ten-year-old daughter’s back into the table with a sickening crunch.

“ Rainbow Dash!”

---

“… Dash.”

The words were faint at first but got stronger with each second. Then – with a strong southern accent – the world returned.

“ Rainbow Dash!”

Magenta eyes blinked in shock and looked up into fierce green eyes that looked upon her in worry. Instantly, the harshness in those green orbs softened and soft pink lips tweaked at the corners, producing a small smile that only Rainbow Dash could see. The shadow created by the girl’s Stetson allowed just enough light to fall upon the tanned face to accentuate the hidden emotions that somehow still managed to shine through her green eyes.

“ Ya’ll okay, RD? Ya blanked out there a few seconds.” The southern drawl of her girlfriend asked, causing an equally soft smile to appear on Rainbow’s face.

“ Yeah, just…” Rainbow Dash turned to the two science geeks that stood before their little group of friends. “ Mind repeating that in English?”

The two science lovers turned to each other, the red-head giving her partner a smug grin whilst the darker haired girl adjusted her glasses with a heavy sigh. It was almost like the two had made a bet with each other before their friends had arrived at their makeshift laboratory (Principal Sombra wouldn’t allow the girls to use one of the science labs in the school, so they had to make do with the old caravan that had once belonged to Vice Principal Discord. And even now the girls wondered how he managed to get the thing to school grounds when it didn’t even have wheels. He did, however, provide an accessibility ramp for it). Then again, knowing how those two were, Rainbow Dash had a sneaky suspicion that Sunset may have ‘forced’ the bet onto Twilight.

But before a word could be muttered from anyone, the room suddenly dropped in temperature and the sound of rattling glass entered the ears of those within. Confusion was clear on everyone’s faces – except Fluttershy. She was going that step further and already starting to hide from possible danger. But whether it was the faint squeak that forced its way out of the girl or the sound of the hissing snake coming from somewhere in the room that alerted all seven girls to the probing feeling was unclear. All they knew was that something bad was happening. And it obviously worried the two lab coated girls enough for them to turn back to their experimentations rather than focusing on their friends.

It was Sunset Shimmer who spoke up a few seconds later, having remembered Rainbow’s recent question. “ Long story short; Twilight here was following some strange readings on her machines and they led to some crazy vortex thing out near the wondercolt statue. With my help, we were able to make this device that could contain whatever it is so we could do some research, maybe even see if we could use it as some sort of power source. But, obviously, it doesn’t like being contained. It’s been doing weird stuff like this since we trapped it yesterday afternoon.”

“ I wouldn’t like being contained either if it were me.” The soft voice of Fluttershy reached the ears of her friends despite the din that was currently being created by the unknown power.

“ Don’t worry, Fluttershy. As soon as we figure out what it is, then we’ll figure out what to do with it… even if it is either letting it go or destroying it.” Twilight reassured her.

A memory of similar words spoken flashed into Rainbow’s mind. A memory that still gave her nightmares, especially concerning the crazed look in Twilight Sparkle’s eyes as she tried to understand the uniqueness that was Pinkie Pie. That look constantly creeped her out. And the strange science stuff that littered the old caravan (some of which were used on Pinkie) was an all too clear reminder of what happened in those early weeks after meeting the purple haired science geek. To be honest, and she hated to admit it, but for that reason alone, Rainbow Dash feared her friend.

“ This isn’t going to turn into something like that Pinkie incident, is it?” she found herself asking even as the aforementioned girl gave off a grin so large how it managed to stay on her face was a mystery.

“ I surely hope not.” Rarity muttered, the farthest away from where Rainbow Dash sat.

Another unbidden memory entered Rainbow’s mind at the very sound of the fashionista’s voice, one that made her insides cringe. Out of the corner of her eye, Applejack noticed the tenseness enter her girlfriend’s body and stealthily placed her hand over the light blue hand that gripped the armrest of the wheelchair. Having only been together a few months, Applejack knew just how much it was hurting Rainbow Dash to be near Rarity just now… especially after what had happened between the two of them. Alas, no matter what the farm girl did, she was still unable to stop Rainbow from turning away from her and backing away from the group.

“ Well, as fascinating as this is, watching you girls fight with a glass jug,” She started before being interrupted by a mutter from Twilight.

“ It’s called a beaker.”

“ Whatever. I have to be somewhere else. Time crunch and all. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“ Be safe.” Applejack muttered as she leaned down and pecked her girl on the lips.

“ Always am.”

With that, Rainbow Dash turned her wheelchair around and wheeled herself out of the caravan. But it didn’t take long at all for the sense of dread to follow and take a hold of her. And the fact that she heard a massive explosion rattle the converted vehicle and the screams of shock raced through her like electricity told her that not everything was fine. To be honest, the dark blue haze that was making its escape from the caravan was enough to settle the matter.

In a matter of seconds, Rainbow had her hands on the edges of her wheels and was pushing with all her might to get back to her friends in the fastest time possible to make sure they were all okay. What she planned to do when she got there… well, she was still trying to figure that out for herself. Once she got there, it would probably come to her. That is if she got there. For some reason, despite doing everything she could to move forward, she was being forced back instead.

Then something hit her. She wasn’t sure what, but it felt like something similar to a really tall, really heavy building of some description. The closest one being the school. Half of her thought it was the school that had slammed into her, the other half was more logical in thinking and figured that whatever was happening to her had nothing to do with the school. Either way, the next few moments were all a blur to her.

Somewhere in all the blurriness that was her current state of mind, Rainbow Dash felt the tingling sensation of travelling through fog. Now there hadn’t been a cloud in the sky for three days, so she was fairly certain that the fog was actually the blue haze that had been pouring from the caravan. She also managed to forget and then remember again that she had been pushing her wheelchair along with all the speed it was capable of. Finally, the darkness settled and the only thing she could feel was something that wasn’t solid lifting her up and carrying her somewhere.

That’s when she lost all thought trails.

---

As the final cord rang out through the halls of Canterlot High School, disappointment followed like a wave crashing against the beach. The reason, or so was later discovered, was that the lead guitarist of the Sonic Rainbooms was having a bad day. Bad grades, broken guitar strings, you name it, she missed it. Not even her brain was working for her, refusing access to things she knew were there. And everyone in the school seemed to know it. Tentatively – as the rainbow haired girl bashed her head into her hands out of her own failure – the door to the music room opened.

“ Everything okay, Rainbow Dash?” someone asked, breaking through the girl’s self-abuse.

In shock, Rainbow Dash looked up only to notice the bright, fire-coloured mane of hair that encased the worried look the newcomer wore.

“ Oh, it’s you Sunset.” She grumbled, returning her gaze back to the guitar that lay in its open case on the floor by her feet.

“ Expecting someone else?”

“ Wasn’t expecting anyone.”

Confused, Sunset Shimmer walked into the room and placed her school bag down by the grand piano that was there. As she got closer to the instrument, however, it became clear just what Rainbow Dash was doing in the music room. Littered across the top of the piano were pages upon pages of score sheets and lyrics. In fact, some of the pages had giant scribbles all over them, crossing out obvious failures in the girl’s eyes while others still had been transformed into paper balls and thrown across the room where a nice little pile was beginning to form.

“ New song?” she asked, trying to understand what it was that her friend was doing.

“ More like trying to figure out how to turn old songs into new ones.” Rainbow Dash replied “ I mean, what was Twilight thinking when she wrote that song?”

“ I heard my name.” Another voice popped up seconds before a purple skinned head wearing glasses showed itself around the frame of the door.

“ Not you. The other Twilight.”

“ Oh.”

Twilight entered the room, shortly followed by a bouncing Pinkie Pie and a worried looking Fluttershy. Without a care in the world, Pinkie bounced her way over to her drum kit and did a little drum solo as soon as her butt was on the seat. Fluttershy and Twilight opted to stand next to the grand piano as Sunset went to collect her guitar from the storeroom (for some strange reason, she refused to take it home in order to practise). Rainbow looked on in confusion, trying to figure out why her friends were suddenly showing themselves when practice wasn’t due to start until after school had finished.

“ What are you all doing here?” she found herself asking.

From her drum kit, Pinkie giggled, easily getting on Rainbow’s nerve. “ We’re here for band practice, silly!”

“ But… practice isn’t until after school.”

“ Rainbow, darling, school finished ten minutes ago.” Rarity’s voice came from the door.

Turning, Rainbow Dash found not only her fashionista friend but also a concerned looking Applejack who was resting her back against the nearby wall and had her arms crossed over her chest.

“ When did you two get here?” the rainbow haired girl asked, clearly confused and now worrying everyone around her.

“ I just got here. Is everything okay?” Rarity questioned.

“ It’s fine. And you?” Rainbow turned to the cowgirl.

“ Been ‘ere the whole time.” Applejack admitted.

“ You have?”

“ Eeyup.” Applejack peeled herself off the wall and made her way over to her friend. “ And Ah’ve been watchin’ you freak out like Winona at bath time. What’s gotten into ya today, Dash?”

Rainbow’s eyes suddenly met her shoes. Six pairs of eyes felt like they were burning holes into her. A chill ran down her spine. But she forced any memory of the day into the back of her mind so that she didn’t have to say anything. She didn’t want to admit that even compared to before the group had gotten back together again, this had been one of the worst days ever. Yeah, teachers yelling at her was a common in her life, but not to this extent.

What was worse was that dream that she had had the night before. It was more like a nightmare, actually. One that she hadn’t had in a long time. The only difference was that instead of her old man getting crushed by the car, it was her that was crushed. Even the colour and type of the car were the same. And it seemed that nightmare had followed her all the way from the bed in order to torment her throughout her school day. How she managed to keep it from her friends earlier, she couldn’t say.

“ Dash?” Applejack’s voice cut through her thoughts, bringing her back to the room.

“ You know what? I think I’ll skip practice for today. You guys go on without me.”

With that, Rainbow Dash closed her guitar case and walked out of the music room with it in hand. The others could only watch on in confusion. After a few seconds, they turned to each other in an attempt to figure out what had just happened. But before anyone could question anything, Pinkie had zipped off her drum seat, grabbed something that had been lying on the floor near the drums and rushed over to the doors.

“ Wait, Dashie! You forgot your… bag?”

Beyond the music room, the hallway was deserted save for Pinkie’s head and arm hanging out of the doorway. A few steps away, a black guitar case lay open to reveal the well-known blue electric guitar that her friend played. Of Rainbow Dash, however, there was no sign.

Comments

[rcmero]

This looks interesting. I like your idea of an alternate Equestria Girls, which is connected to the main one the same way the pony world is.

Also, I noticed the "For Want of a Nail" you set up. So I assume the two Rainbow Dashes are in each others' worlds then?

[entiegon]

7458067
I'm sorry. i have no idea what you mean by 'for want of a nail'. But you are going ot have to wait until the next chapter is up to find out where both Rainbow Dashs are.

[rcmero]

7458697 For Want of a Nail is basically how when the change of one small detail results in massive changes in the future. If I am getting this correctly, in the main EqG verse, the van hit Rainbow Dash's father, resulting in his demise, but in the alt verse, the van hit her, strapping her into a wheelchair.

[entiegon]

7458714
Ah. I see now. Thanks for clearing that up. I'm kind f into the whole multi-verse thing but I had no idea there was a name or phrase for it. I just figured that there were multiple worlds out there that were much the same as each other just with minor differences.

Little tidbit:
EqG Dash's dad isn't dead.

[rcmero]

7458800 That is actually called a trope. (It is not a cliché, mind you, it's a totally different thing.)

Also, I wasn't quite sure about whether Dash's dad was dead or not, the story doesn't make that clear.

[entiegon]

7458808
oh.yeah, I get confused on technical terms.

I wrote the dads in a bit later. I'd rather not bombard everything on everyone (learnt that lesson the hard way somewhere else).