Speed of a Different Dash

by entiegon

Chapter 5

(WW)

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The awkward silence between Rainbow Dash and the others was only broken by the sound of insects chirping. Whether they were Fluttershy’s friends or just really confused insects was unknown because it was only mid-afternoon. Regardless, their calls were well timed.

Rainbow’s arms dropped slowly to her sides, the strain from all the strange positions that the girl had put them through finally making them heavy with weariness. Apparently, Rarity took that as her cue to close her eyes for a second or two to try and understand what had happened herself. Applejack – for some strange reason – was drooling slightly with wide eyes staring in Rainbow Dash’s direction and adding to the athlete’s unease.

Similar to Rarity, Fluttershy was covering her eyes out of pure embarrassment and possibly to help Rainbow regain some of her dignity, while Twilight and Sunset were turned back to each other, concern clear on their features. Pinkie Pie, on the other hand, remained unsmiling. Not even her eyes smiled and that was usually a clear indication to the kind of mood she was in.

A burning sensation grew within Rainbow Dash at the sight before her. She wasn’t sure exactly what was fuelling it, but she had a sneaky suspicion that humiliation had a play in it. It was that strong that it made her eyes sting slightly and her ears burn, but she had built her dam walls strong and was able to hold back the floodwaters that lay beyond. Just to be sure, though, she built up a bit more of a defence by setting her jaw.

And yet, the most important thing that seemed to plague her was the way that this burning sensation seemed to make her question what she had just done and how humiliating herself was a good way to make others smile. Yeah, Pinkie did it practically every day. But doing a song and dance routine as crazy as the one that she had just done? Rainbow Dash blamed the blue haze for making her act as strange as she had been. That was her story and she was sticking with it.

Unfortunately, it also made her want to go disappear under a rock or something due to the obvious failure. Not to mention it was probably school-wide by now. She knew that Scootaloo and her two friends had learnt their lesson from last Christmas, but she couldn’t be sure that someone else had picked up on where they had left off… even if the girls had done everything they could to fix the problem.

Eventually, her body turned of its own accord while her ears picked up on the sound of someone calling out her name. A few seconds later, the words penetrated her brain.

“ Dashie, wait!” Pinkie’s voice echoed within Rainbow’s head. “ You did great! Only, you really needed the chicken suit and you needed to get the nutbush in there somewhere. But it was still a good try for a beginner.”

The rainbow haired athlete turned to face the group once more. The first thing she noticed was that Pinkie Pie was right behind her, easily forcing her to jump back so that there was some space between them. It was only once Rainbow had taken a calming breath that she noticed the bouncy hair and the small but growing smile. Finally, Pinkie’s final sentence was absorbed into her brain. How it escaped her ears earlier was a question that would end up going unsolved, but hearing it sent a chill rushing down Rainbow’s spine.

“ But what’s better is seeing you out of your wheelchair!”

“ Wait, what? What wheelchair?” The words came out of Rainbow before she even knew she was saying them.

“ Uh, the wheelchair that you usually sit in.”

“ If you’re talking about the one that’s down the path a bit, then that’s not mine. I only moved it out of the way so no one would trip on it. That can’t be mine. If you haven’t noticed, I clearly don’t need a wheelchair. That’s like some really old, really lame joke that’s no longer funny.”

Without realising it, Rainbow Dash had started to back away from the group of girls before her. Unless it was to sit in her father’s lap as a kid when he would drive her around in his wheelchair, she had never been in one for herself. They were too much of a bad reminder to what had happened and what could have happened the day of the accident. So to imagine herself in one and not be able to leave its confinements like Pinkie was suggesting… it was then that reality struck and she found herself realising that this world was not her world.

Memories of that day returned with a vengeance after having been locked in a titanium cage that was cemented to the bottom of an electric eel filled tank that was surrounded by a shark infested moat and numerous land based defences such as mines, spikes and barbed wire and finally buried under the deepest mountain within Rainbow’s mind. The sound of bones cracking and a young scream of terror were the first to appear, shortly followed by the surprise at having been pushed out of the way by her father. Sirens blaring just outside the house was also prominent in the memories.

But then there was the fear. The fear of the accident itself, the fear of having your only link to a respectable family and upbringing being hit by a car, and the fear of possibly losing her father – the greatest man ever to live in her young eyes – to whatever lay beyond were always there to accompany each memory whenever freedom was gained.

Having all that raw fear bearing over you, especially at a young age, it was enough to break someone. Even the memories had the same strength in them like the day it happened… no matter how many years had passed since then. As soon as those memories and emotions are free, they encase the body within a chilling grasp that inhibits all movement, even making it so that you can’t breathe properly. Being lost to trauma like that can change even the best of the best. And Rainbow Dash was no exception.

Finally, natural response kicked in and urged Rainbow’s legs to escape. And her mind allowed it, forcing her mouth to say something not even her own ears could pick up before she finally sprinted off towards the front of the school. To her eyes, everything was a blur, and not because of liquid welling within them. For some reason, she couldn’t focus on anything clearly. But she could tell one thing thanks to the numerous times she had travelled the path. Her legs weren’t leading her to the front of the school; they were leading her to the soccer field.

She sensed rather than saw that she was passing the wheelchair that she now suspected was the one that Pinkie Pie had been talking about. And the wondercolt statue felt like it was watching her despite it looking away from the school building and thus in the opposite direction. But those two things only seemed to add to her inner fear and make her sprint faster down the path.

Other obstacles like fences weren’t a bother in her hazed mind as she flew over them as easily as jumping hurdles. In fact, she felt her body doing moves that would otherwise require thought and calculation to execute perfectly. Only later would she realise that her continuous use and practice of those very moves had subconsciously ingrained them into her mind.

Before she knew it, Rainbow Dash found herself in the school soccer field. The goal posts were up and ready and someone had conveniently left a soccer ball lying in the middle of the field. A little suspicious, especially since the ball looked too brand new and shiny for it to belong to the school (usually after one day of use, the new school soccer balls stopped looking brand new). This one looked like it had barely been touched. But in a time like this, she took what she could get without question. So, without even pausing in her sprint, she charged at the ball and placed her foot in a perfect position to score a goal from where she had started.

Just like with her sprint, Rainbow’s mind shut down on all thought processes as her body sought for a natural - and more practical – way to unleash what had been forced awake inside of her. With each goal she scored, she imagined the pent up feelings sailing through the air much like the ball itself. It honestly made her feel better to have something to take her emotions out on. Alas, there was still a lot of memories crowding her mind and that made her wonder if she would ever find a place to sleep that night, after she had finally calmed down.

The thought stalled her. Over everything that had happened with the smoking caravan, the humiliating dance routine and the wheelchair talk, she had completely forgotten about the fact that she was in a completely different world. Thinking about it now, as the soccer ball flew over the field, she realised that to go home would be something that she found herself fearing. If this world had her in a wheelchair, then that could only mean one thing; her father from this world was not in one… and meeting him like that, she realised, scared her.

Of course, while her mind was trying to sort things out for itself, Rainbow Dash failed to notice the small crowd that was gathering to watch her solo game. The first to arrive were a trio of girls all around the same age and clearly best friends. At the sight, however, all three girls felt their jaws hit the ground in front of them. Especially the orange skinned girl with the purple hair who really couldn’t believe the skills that were being performed as well as the fact that her adopted sister was no longer in her wheelchair.

Confusion tore through the young girls as the game continued, but - unlike Scootaloo who was currently unable to move let alone question her sister – Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had witnessed the arrival of their sisters and their friends and had gone to get themselves some answers. It was just their luck (or so the girls thought) that neither Applejack nor Rarity could provide what they were looking for. And yet, despite the fact that all they were doing was looking at each other, the younger girls could tell that Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer had some sort of idea about what was going on. Unfortunately, no one got the chance to say anything thanks to their Vice Principal showing up from seemingly nowhere.

An old man with pure white hair which you could somehow tell used to be black and the wonkiest looking red eyes any person could have, Vice Principal Discord was a man known for his… uniqueness. When he was around, you really couldn’t tell if he was being serious or just joking around. And his unique sense of fashion was always making Rarity cringe whenever she saw him, no matter which direction he was going in.

Yet he was somehow a favourite of the entire school. Some of the students even believed him to be some sort of ex-magician who, for some strange reason, retired into the teaching career. Even one of his own granddaughters believed it… though she was also the kind of person to believe anything that was said and only think on it much later, bringing it back into the light a long time after it had ceased to be so popular.

“ My, my. It seems that little project of yours isn’t quite so little anymore, is it miss Sparkle.” The vice principal said, scaring all nine girls in front of him. “ I wonder how you are going to get her back to where she belongs.”

“ Mr Discord?” Sunset questioned, trying to work out his puzzling words.

“ Miss Shimmer, how many times have I said that ‘VP’ is quite fine with me? Mr Discord, after all, is my father.”

“ Right.”

“ But I am quite serious about this predicament you girls have gotten yourselves into. I may no longer be as youthful as I once was, but even I can tell that you have been playing with some dangerous things lately. One of you may want to ‘bring her up to speed’ as you young ones say.”

“ Excuse me for asking, VP, but… what do you mean?” young Sweetie Belle asked as she looked from her sister to her Vice Principal in confusion.

“ Yeah! Why is Rainbow Dash, well, walkin’?” Apple Bloom added.

“ To be honest, I don’t know why. But I just have this feeling inside that this Rainbow Dash is not who you think she is. Her… rather impressive skills in soccer prove that much.” Vice Principal Discord then turned to leave when he suddenly sprouted a rather mischievous look on his face. “ It looks like your father is here to pick you up, Scootaloo.”

At that, the Vice Principal walked back into the school building, leaving a horrified Scootaloo to look out towards the adjacent carpark.

Walking towards the soccer field with an increasingly confused scowl creasing his face was a blue skinned man similar to Rainbow Dash. In fact, the only differences between father and daughter were the darker tone of his skin, the short yet stylishly messy hair style and the golden colour of his eyes. It seemed Rainbow Dash had gained her mother’s eyes. Even just looking at him, one could tell that Rainbow Blaze was a kind man who loved both his girls equally, no matter where they came from. But all knew that if one or both of those girls did anything to anger him, you can bet your life he’d do nothing short of skin them alive.

And that was what Scootaloo feared; angering her father over something that she hadn’t taken any part of. Thankfully Sunset Shimmer was there to save her, starting her rather slow and cautious walk towards the businessman. Of course, luck would not be on their side that day.

“ Rainbow Dash?” The rainbow haired man called out across the field.

Upon hearing her name being uttered, Rainbow Dash skidded past the soccer ball in surprise and abruptly ended her one-sided game. For a few seconds, she lay on the grass, looking up at the sky and wishing with everything that she had that her father was not there, that it was all a figment of her imagination. But, of course, that would be impossible. Her father was in a wheelchair, at home, in another world. He couldn’t be here… could he?

Eventually, when the young athlete decided that she was not a chicken like her thoughts were calling her, Rainbow Dash sat up and turned her eyes to the man who had called her name.

There stood Rainbow Blaze, almost exactly as she had left him that morning; dressed well for a day out to the social services offices with her uncle, and his hair as tidy as could be considering it was untameable. The only difference to this image and the image from this morning was that Rainbow Blaze was not in his wheelchair. Well, that and Uncle Prism Break was nowhere to be seen.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. This was all too confusing and not even soccer was proving a good relief method from it all. But she knew someone had to give her answers, so she finally got up and made her way towards the group of teens who looked and acted almost exactly like her friends. She didn’t get very far, though, when her father from this world called out to her again.

“ Rainbow Dash, how are you walking? Where is your wheelchair?” He asked, taking a step towards the athlete.

“ I can ask you the same question. Hell, I’m just as confused as you are. I don’t even know if I should call you Dad or Other Dad because my dad should be in a wheelchair.” Rainbow Dash replied, her confusion coming across as anger.

“ I know your confused, but you don’t need to take that tone with me!”

“ Sorry.”

“ If I may, Mr Blaze.” Sunset Shimmer butted in, gaining the attention of both Rainbows easily. “ I think the girls and I would best be able to explain what is going on. I admit, we are a little confused about it ourselves, but we were kind of there when it happened.”

“ Please, Sunset. Tell me what happened to my daughter.” Rainbow Blaze pleaded.

“ I’m not exactly sure, but I think our Rainbow Dash – the one in the wheelchair – may have somehow been switched with this walking Rainbow Dash.”

“ And you can fix this?”

“ We can try, but I think, personally, that it would be best if we get to know each other first – you know, girl to girl… like a sleepover. Then we can all help each other figure out what’s going on.”

“ I don’t know. But if it can help Rainbow Dash, walking or not, then I guess I’m going to have to trust things to play out on their own. But don’t hesitate to tell me anything. This is my daughter we’re talking about here.”

“ Of course not.”

“ Then you have my permission.” Rainbow Blaze then looked over to his other daughter. “ Scootaloo, come on. It’s time to go home. Rainbow Dash will be spending the night with her… friends.”

“ Okay. But can Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom come over?” the purple haired girl replied, hurrying to pick up the soccer ball before Rainbow Dash kicked it again.

“ We can drop them off at their places but they can’t come over.”

“ Aw, man.”

The discovery that Scootaloo was her sister – or adopted sister – confused Rainbow Dash even more. But she was too stunned to say anything. Instead, she found herself surrounded by the very girls that she had saved from the smoking caravan nearly half an hour earlier maybe even less. Once more silence filled the area that surrounded the girls as Rainbow Blaze, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were ushered into the car and taken home. Then Sunset Shimmer placed her hand on Rainbow’s shoulder.

“ Rainbow Dash. We need to talk.”

Comments

[Szalhi]

more.

[rcmero]

Seems like Vice-Principal Discord knows a lot more that what he's letting out. My guess is that he knows how this happened.