Order by Destruction

by All Art Is Quite Useless

Recollection

The lonely wisps drifted apart; they had nothing left to anchor them to this world.

With the next cloud came another prismatic burst, redoubled energy allowed Rainbow Dash to push through the nimbostratus with little resistance, lightly dousing herself as she went, a welcome reprieve against the rising heat of an early summer's morning.

Each cloud bore a strange resemblance to a vague memory, one which Rainbow felt at the cusp of her consciousness, but couldn't reach out and grab. What was it? Why did the clouds seem so eerily familiar today? Her thoughts were interrupted by the call of her shift manager, Hail Diver.

"Rainbow Dash!" he called, the annoyance in his tone was obvious.

"Coming," she replied, absentmindedly. What the hell does he want? I'm working fine.

When she arrived, Hail's face appeared to be contorted in anger. "Rainbow, can I ask you exactly what think you're doing up there?"

This stumped Rainbow. "Uhh, busting clouds, sir."

"I can see that!" Hail barked, "You do realise the weather corporation pays us by the hour, right?"

Rainbow didn't follow his meaning. "Yeah, I'm aware of that, what about it?"

"You're clearing these clouds way too fast. The administration allots us four hours pay for a Friday morning, if you carry on at this pace we'll be done in less than two. I'm not taking a pay cut because you want to outshine us all."

"Wait, what?" Rainbow leaned into him, sceptical, "You're telling me that I'm actually doing too good of a job?"

Hail nodded impatiently.

"And you're pissed at that?"

Hail sighed. "Cloudchaser has already had to slow down significantly so we don't complete the schedule too quickly, carry on at this rate and I'll have to send someone home."

"Then I'm just picking up the slack for Cloudchaser, right?" Rainbow stated as if it were obvious.

Hail gritted his teeth. "You don't understand this very well, do you, Rainbow? This isn't a race, this is real, laborious work, and I can't have you showboating us all out of almost three hours pay. Maybe you don't care about the money, but I'm pretty sure the rest of us do."

Hail's words clicked in Rainbow's mind, she knew he was right. "Sorry, boss, I've just been a little floaty today, you know what I mean?"

"Not really, what do you mean? We're all floating," Hail deadpanned.

"Uhh, preoccupied. My head, I mean," Rainbow scratched at her mane, hanging limply as she spoke.

"You in a rush to be somewhere? I can always give you the day off if you're happy to forgo your pay."

"More like in a rush to not be somewhere," Rainbow muttered, eyes unfocused.

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing, just thinking about stuff."

Hail's face softened somewhat. "Well, if you're nervous about something, getting your job done faster isn't going to help. If anything, you should be grateful for the distraction, it gives you a chance to kill time."

"Yeah, I know, I'm just a little confused right now," Rainbow admitted, her tone reluctant.

Hail caught her eyes, then shot her a grin. "Just because us snails can't keep pace with you doesn't mean you have to go nuts with the cloudbusting. It's not like it'll even get you a promotion, they're solely experience based. You're a talented flier, Rainbow Dash, and I'm sure you'll do great with the Wonderbolts one day, but for now, we're only looking for mediocrity, the weather in Ponyville rarely calls for more than that."

Don't I know it, Rainbow stifled a groan and nodded, returning to her shift with lacklustre movement.

Rainbow attacked clouds with subdued kicks, and sat to watch as they became vapour, instead of speeding off to the next one. Her midair stroll to the next target, wing-beats slow and rhythmic, was languorous and sleepy.

Inside, Rainbow was alert. While she had not been paying attention to her work all morning, her body worked on instinct without her needing to command it, leaving her brain free to think, rethink, and overthink.

Only now that she had been forced to slow her movement did she realise just how much she was thinking. Every aspect of the night before was coming back to her. The strange dream that she still wasn't completely convinced was real, the vague warning of a threat to Equestria, the possibility of her having to leave Ponyville.

As she stared at her newest victim, a large fluffy rabbit-tail looking thing, she wondered just how much she would be leaving behind. Her job was pretty boring at the best of times, and her friends all had busy lives anyway, would they even notice if she was gone some of the time?

Rainbow grit her teeth, drawing closer to the bed she'd been ordered to destroy. She was sure they'd tell. Would they think she had abandoned them? Would she be given an alibi? Would she only be gone for days at a time, or weeks?

Part of Rainbow knew that her purpose as an element bearer was to protect Equestria, so by helping Luna, she would be fulfilling that role. But behind Celestia's back? My friends too? That doesn't feel very loyal.

The cloud was slowly drifting away as she stalked it, it wasn't going to get away that easily. But then, Luna said that it was better this way. And also, if I'm really going to help her save everything, isn't this the best thing I can do? Honesty is Applejack's thing, really.

When she reached the cloud, she found herself stroking it idly with a hoof. To Rainbow, cloud walking was second nature, but she still couldn't help but find it strange how something so light could be so impossibly palpable. Again, she felt a strange sensation, as if she had touched this cloud before, had these thoughts somewhere else, in another time. It brought her comfort.

After a long period of consideration, it came back to her. The dream that she fell into, the dream that Luna put her in, the reality she had confined her to until she awoke. Of course, Rainbow had woken with a start that morning, memories of the night previous pouring from her mind, threatening to overwhelm her with worry. If only she had had time to process it, rather than having the memories cast away for the rest of the night, she might be in better form today.

Growling low, she punched the cloud out of existence, her sympathy for it had expired.

From that moment on, she was sure to have some excitement in her life. Regardless of the consequences, Rainbow knew this for certain. Caught between an anxious thought and a yearning hope, Rainbow fought on, slowly dominating the clouds, purging them from her skies.

Each cloud was another question, another attack. Will I have to fight some ancient monster? Excitement and nervous trepidation filled Rainbow with this idea, but was quickly replaced with eagerness as she considered the possibility of the elements of harmony. Maybe Luna hasn't thought of that! Maybe, we can get the gang together and blast whatever this thing is right back into tartarus!

A dark, low cloud represented doubt. Probably not. Let's be honest here, the princess probably knows a lot more about this stuff than me. Determined to bring it up anyway, Rainbow found herself asking a variety of questions, some aloud.

She wondered about cool armour and mythical creatures, she wondered about awesome fights and heroic feats. She thought about showstopping abilities and amazing sights. Rainbow thought of many things, but each consideration seemed to link back to the same, ever-present dread.

Am I really cut out for this? Can I even help?

Behind her, the lonely wisps drifted apart in her wake; banished from existence.

Comments

[Crack-Fic Casey]

I like the pacing and characterisation quite a bit. I can't wait to see how this turns out!

[All Art Is Quite Useless]

8255985
Thanks a bunch! Getting the characterisation and unique perspectives right means a lot to me, so I'm glad you're enjoying that.

I'm making an effort to keep updates frequent, so hopefully you won't have to wait long to find out!

AAIQU

[EverfreePony]

8257512
You're welcome
Though honestly, I don't consider myself a "master" in writing her. The show has never really focused on her thoroughly, so it's up to everyone to find a character they like in her.