Chapter 2
The morning sun found Rainbow Dash in the middle of the palace labyrinth. It wasn’t the first time she’d snuck out to spend the night by herself, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. She shivered as she stirred, wishing she’d had the presence of mind to grab a cloud to sleep on last night. Her dreams had been full of failed sonic rainbooms, the mockery of Canterlot ponies and the disappointed face of Celestia. In fact, those were pretty much all her dreams were nowadays.
She took a moment to stretch, working out the little kinks and aches, then let out her remaining tiredness in one massive yawn. Her rumbling stomach alerted her to her first priority. Time to sneak into the kitchen and grab something to eat.
However, as soon as she flew out of the garden she encountered a patrol of royal pegasus guards, no doubt with orders to keep an eye out for her. “Hey Steelwing!” She waved to the leader. “What’s up?”
“Rainbow Dash!” Steelwing said in his best ‘I am serious and you will obey’ Royal Guard voice. She heard that one a lot. “You need to return to Canterlot Castle immediately!”
“Sure!” She grinned after she pretended to think about it. “But you know the rules: you have to catch me first!”
“Get back here!” The familiar cry was music to her ears. Apparently she’d be getting in her morning exercise in before breakfast. She flew between the towers of Canterlot Castle as the squad of guards pursued.
“Sorry guys, you gotta earn it!” Rainbow performed a aileron roll and ended doing a slow backstroke in the sky, taunting the guards. She let them get so close that the tip of her tail tickled their snouts, only to then put on a sudden burst of speed that left them all blinded by her rainbow trail. By the time they finished blinking and rubbing their eyes, Rainbow was out of sight.
She leaned against a tall, twisty-looking statue in the garden and watched them disperse in confusion. She headed back into the sky, considering how to continue their little game but then she spotted a familiar lone figure in the castle courtyard. He had been there for sometime apparently, just watching the scene. She grinned and sped over to her personal trainer and gently rapped the back of his helmet. To her disappointment, he wasn’t even startled.
“Hello, Rainbow Dash.”
“Hey Shiny!” She gave a wave and a grin. “What’s up, other than the most amazing flyer the world has ever known?”
“Rainbow.” Shining Armor's voice trailed off as he groaned. The corners of his mouth peaked, unable to completely hide his knowing smile. “What is this, the third time this month? Give the poor guards a break. I’m sure they have better things to do than to chase you around Canterlot.”
“Eh, not much of a chase. Chase implies that they had a chance of catching me, which they didn’t.” She buffed her hoof on her chest.
Shining Armor chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, I know. You’re awesome.”
“Darn right!” Rainbow flexed. “So what’s going on?”
“Just doing my job and checking up on my favorite flyer.” He put his hoof on her shoulder, easing her to the ground. “What’s going on with you?”
Rainbow Dash colored a bit as Shining Armor guided her down. “Who said anything was going on?” She gave him the widest, most confident looking smile that utterly failed to convince anypony.
“Are you sure?” Shining tilted his head. “As much as you like leading the guards on a chase around the city, you usually don’t do it more than twice a month. So what’s up? Another fight with Queen Celestia?”
Rainbow looked down, scuffing at the pavement. “Yeah…”
Shining Armor sighed. “You know, Dashie...” Rainbow blushed at the childish nickname, “...being her personal protégé is a huge honor. My little sister Twiley would give her right hoof for that sort of opportunity.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah, the sister you’re always talking about but isn’t ever around to actually meet me. I’m starting to wonder if she even exists.”
“I haven’t invented any imaginary fillies since my junior prom,” Shining deadpanned. He shook his head, getting back on track. “Look, I know you’re frustrated at the social obligations that come with being her student, but Celestia’s actually sheltered you from the worst of it for a good while now. And she’s pretty reasonable about the rest, so I’m thinking there’s got to be more to what’s bothering you than some pampered snobs, right?”
“I guess,” Rainbow sighed. “It wouldn’t be so bad if I was able to show everypony what I was really capable of—why Celestia chose me in the first place—but instead I’m dragged to stuff like last night.” She looked up at him, almost begging him to understand. “What’s the point in having wings if you never get to stretch them?”
It didn’t take Shining long to realize what lay at the heart of matter. “This is about the sonic rainboom, isn’t it?” Rainbow lowered her head and looked away. He sighed. “I’m sorry. I know how hard you’ve been trying to do it again. But these things take time—”
“Time?” Rainbow Dash’s head snapped up, frustration bleeding into her tone. “It’s been ages! I haven’t been able to even come close to pulling of a sonic rainboom since the first time! How is it that I’m a worse flyer now than I was when I was a filly?!”
Shining Armor snorted. “Oh that’s just nonsense!” He pointed to her swiftly disappearing pursuers. “All the guards in Canterlot know you’re something special, even when you drive us up the wall chasing you.”
“You guys might, but the Wonderbolts don’t. Especially since I still can’t perform the rainboom again.” She crossed her legs across her chest in a pout. “Last time I went back to Cloudsdale, none of the other pegasi believed that I ever did it. They called it an old mare’s tale I didn’t have the skill to do, writing the whole thing off as some freak accident at the weather factory.”
He gently draped a hoof over her back. “That’s why you’re Queen Celestia’s student and they’re not. You never do anything small. Just like the old pegasus saying: aim for the heavens…”
“Because even if you miss you'll land among the stars,” Rainbow finished. “I know.” She looked up, any stars in the sky being blocked out by the sun. “They just seem so far away, and I’m not getting any closer. And if I can’t even do the rainboom...”
Shining quirked an eyebrow at her. “Hm. I never took you for a quitter, Rainbow.”
She flinched as if stung. “I’m no quitter! I’m Rainbow Dash, and I can do anything!”
“Well all this moping about and complaining makes you seem kinda…” Shining gave a small cherubic grin calculated to drive anypony nuts. The fact that she was glaring at him spoke volumes about its effectiveness.
“Don’t. You. Dare,” she ground out, her eyes narrowing.
“…lame.” Shining Armor smirked then quickly moved to the side as Rainbow Dash came within an inch of tackling him to the ground.
“I’ll show you lame!” she snarled, turning around. “I’m gonna kick your flank so hard you’ll have to change your name to Dented Armor!”
Shining chuckled. “Like you said before: you’ll have to catch me first!” With a burst of light and a low ‘pop!’ he vanished in a magical teleport.
Dash fumed and took off, searching all over the castle grounds for the Captain of the Royal Guard.
Outside of Celestia, he was probably the coolest pony she knew in Canterlot. Well, besides the Wonderbolts. And Vinyl Scratch. She had just met Fancy Pants but he seemed pretty cool too … okay, so maybe Shining Armor wasn’t the most “traditionally” cool pony Rainbow knew.
On the one hoof, he was captain of the royal guard: a soldier, a solid spell-slinger and pretty athletic, naturally. He was also a doof, but in an endearing kinda way. He would constantly put his hoof in his mouth, get all excited about the newest edition of Ogres and Oubliettes and become every kind of awkward when a pretty mare so much as looked his way. It was funny to watch. So he was cool in a lame kind of way. Or maybe lame in a cool kind of way. She hadn’t made up her mind about that yet. But the one thing she was sure of? He was a blast to be around.
Rainbow relished the chase, with Shining Armor teleporting away just as she drew close. The feeling of wind rushing through her mane always helped her relax and think. She passed by Celestia’s balcony, noticing a covered tray left on the bannister. She knew from experience that it would be full of croissants or bagels or some other pastry, left out specially for her.
She sighed. Celestia was always doing nice little things like that while she was training. Sometimes Celestia herself would come out and fly with her. Sometimes that would be the lead in to a pranking spree, or maybe a visit to the next Wonderbolt performance. Those were some of the best memories Rainbow had of her time in Canterlot. But those moments were becoming fewer and farther between, replaced by socials and soirées.
The more Rainbow flew after Shining, who kept teleporting away, the more she thought it was a perfect symbol of her time spent in Canterlot. Even after all the time training and studying, she still couldn’t perform the sonic rainboom again. It was what had first attracted Celestia’s attention to her, and now she couldn’t do it at all? There was only one word to describe it, and it was the worst f-word Rainbow knew:
Failure.
A sudden flash of purple shook Rainbow out of her reverie, spotting Shining Armor atop one of the spires of Canterlot Castle. “Gotcha!” she crowed as she bore down on him, confident that since he was facing away he wouldn’t have time to react and teleport away again.
Her assessment left Dash with a face full of tower. “Ow.”
Rubbing her snout ruefully, she cast around to catch a glimpse of her quarry. Wherever Shining Armor was hiding, the tall spires provided a good vantage. In fact, from here, she could almost see the entirety of Equestria stretch out in all directions, beckoning her with its infinite vastness. No walls. No palace. Just endless plains beyond the valley beneath Canterlot. Even the nearest town seemed to breathe the fresh air. Nothing to obscure her vision or get in her way.
Exactly what she’d been looking for.
“Rainbow?” She started suddenly, not noticing when Shining Armor reappeared on a ledge below her. “You okay?”
“I’m … yeah. I—think I know what I have to do.” She landed next to him.
“You do?”
She nodded. “I need to leave.”
“You need to what?” Shining’s eyes bulged. “Dashie, come on—”
“I don’t mean forever!” Rainbow quickly waved him off. “You remember my old flight camp buddies?”
“Yes, I’ve met them when they visited Canterlot,” he reminded her slowly, sounding as though he didn't like where this was going.
Rainbow nodded eagerly. “Right! Only I kept saying I would go visit them in Ponyville, but I kept getting busy or something would come up, so I figure why not now? Plus one of them settled there a little while ago, so I’ve got the perfect housewarming present: a Rainbow Dash visit!” She gave him her biggest, brightest, and most awesomely patented Rainbow smile.
Shining Armor somehow wasn’t swayed. “That’s nice and all, but you can’t just up and leave without talking to Queen Celestia.”
Rainbow felt a twinge of guilt, but shook her head. “Look, me and Celestia could probably both use a little space right now. Hay, with the Summer Sun Celebration coming up, she’ll be so swamped that she won’t even miss me. We’ll patch things up in a few days when she’s in town for the Celebration. I'll show her my new routine when she raises the sun and everything'll be good. Pegasi’s honor.” She clasped her hooves together imploringly. “You were telling me how awesome I am, but it feels like this place is sucking all the awesome out of me. I need to stretch my wings and be with ponies like me, just for a bit! Pleeeeease?”
Shining winced. “Maybe you should hold off for a little bit. You’re the one who begged for Celestia to have the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville this year so you could show off your routine to your old friends, remember? Why not wait until then?”
She shook her head, turning away to look back at the horizon. “I’ve been holding off on this for long enough. Tell Celestia I told her not to be mad at you since you did everything you could, and say hi to Cadance for me!”
She threw herself off the tower, basking in the rush of wind as gravity pulled her down. The ground drew nearer and nearer, and her lips curved in a daredevil’s smile. With a flare of her wings, she caught air and pulled up right at the fringes of the forest in a spectacular twirl.
She looked back at Shining Armor, a small pale figure standing on the outermost battlements. Rainbow waved at him, trying to let him know that it would all be okay. Everypony needed some time to herself, after all. “It’s alright Shiny! The next time you see me, everything will be even more awesome—”
Her voice grew bolder as her flight carried her farther and farther from Canterlot. “—and nothing’s gonna bring me down!”
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And the plot is afoot!
Yeah, pretty sure Celestia doesn't have the same feelings there, Rainbow. Makes sense that she just needs to get away for a while. Have different surroundings, cool her head a little. Not that Nightmare Moon is really going to help with that at first, but we'll see what happens.
... You know, something is off here... Maybe I'm just to used to the world biggest destiny obsessed white idiot putting sociopathic hornheads and loveable grumps tag along coat tail riders into either actual or defacto positions of arbitrary power, but its weird to see a Celestia whose competent... sister obsessed, mayhaps, but competent.
Darn that tv show, putting these silly ideas out there for me to be all disgruntled over
Thats another weird thing! Its like some blind mad trickster god or gods arbitrarily shoe horning in ponies from beyond the pale for, say, selling box set toys to children and weirdo's.
Paging Cloud Kicker, Cloud Kicker to the skies, we need you for a history lesson on what may be the physical embodiment of angst Lady Mcedgington!
Interesting changes thus far, or maybe its been so long since I read the original. Either way, it's nice to read more of this!
Liking this a lot. Great interactions between Shining and Rainbow, here.
10166622
It's understandable to want to preserve the fidelity of Rainbow Dash’s character, but at the same time, there are problems with portraying Dashverse Rainbow in an identical manner as canon Rainbow. It sounds like you've come around to the same opinion.
I don’t think we’re ever given Rainbow’s exact age when she performed the sonic rainboom in canon, but she’d have to be, what? Maybe seven, eight years old? Whereas “adult” Rainbow in season one, episode one is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of seventeen to twenty.
Seventeen minus eight — that’s a lot of formative years to spend in Canterlot, being tutored in math, science, history, politics, art, music, literature, and formal etiquette. Contrast that with canon Rainbow, who’s alluded to have either been kicked out or dropped out of school, and who has a chip on her shoulder against eggheads and learning in general. They’re universes apart insofar as their knowledge and ability sets, so of course, Dashverse Rainbow ought to be a shrewder and savvier version of her canon counterpart; she would be an idiot if she weren’t. I love that the remaster isn’t afraid to examine the logical outcomes such a profound difference in upbringing would have, and I especially like that those outcomes don’t come at the expense of Rainbow’s core character. As Chapter Two makes clear, she’s every bit the prankster and the rambunctious speedster that she is in the show.
I get where you’re coming from, and I think it’s a wise choice you’ve gone with in the remaster. Moreover, I think your logic is pretty convincing. It makes sense for Celestia to tailor her designs against Nightmare Moon based on her champion’s predilections. Reading the answer in a book might be enough for Twilight, whereas someone like Rainbow would understandably require a more direct approach. I look forward to seeing how these plot elements pan out in future chapters.
My impression of Chapter Two: it’s a close retread of its analogue in the original fic, with some marked improvements to the writing. Notably, a lot of the “tellyness” has been cut out. In the original story, there were paragraphs and paragraphs devoted to explaining the headspace of Shining Armor vis-à-vis Rainbow Dash, how she had a crush on him, how he knew she had a crush on him but liked to play dumb, how she liked to tease him endlessly with pranks. And even more paragraphs from Celestia’s point of view, about how she had seen fit to give Rainbow an education, how Rainbow liked to toe the line, how Canterlot was more fun than it ever had been with her around. All of this has been trimmed back, and the story is much better for it.
One change I’m not sold on. The original version of this chapter included a very deliberate line:
Some might argue this is melodrama, but I disagree. I think this line shines a light on an important aspect of Rainbow’s character: her inner lack of self-confidence, and her desperate need to prove herself. This was a central plank of Rainbow’s character in the early seasons of the show before the Flanderization set in, and it was especially important in S1E16, Sonic Rainboom.
With this sentence in the original story, Rainbow’s character struggle begins to come into focus: she can’t replicate her old athletic feat; she’s been trained in a lot of subjects that don’t resonate with her; she’s surrounded by ponies who don’t respect her for who she is, who overtly question why Celestia chose her to be her protégé; inwardly, she’s begun to wonder if those other ponies are correct, and she’s second-guessing what Celestia sees in her. This is a totally understandable and relatable character struggle, and the starting point for a strong arc.
Without the line, I wonder if the story has lost something. Rainbow’s hang-ups aren’t as clear-cut in the remaster as they were before. The chapter still dances around the idea with the “worst f-word Rainbow knew” bit, but it’s not as genuine a moment as Rainbow confessing her insecurities to Shining Armor, and it doesn’t pack the same revelation. In fact, I worry that Rainbow Dash in the remaster is rather a more unsympathetic character because of it. To this point, she’s thrown one tantrum because she’s “always stuck in Celestia’s shadow”, and now she’s pouting to Shining Armor because she can’t do a sonic rainboom and she’s “still not good enough for the Wonderbolts.” The dilemmas are more hollow and superficial, and I worry if she comes across as a bit of a spoiled diva.
(Actually, in retrospect, I’m questioning the “I’m always stuck in your shadow” conflict from Chapter One. Being stuck in Celestia’s shadow seems unrelated to the real source of Rainbow’s dissatisfaction, which is that she’s tired of the parties and galas, because she’s tired of being judged by the Tiffanys at the parties and galas, because she can’t replicate the sonic rainboom and she’s secretly afraid the Tiffanys have a point about her. That’s my take on the character struggle in the original fic, anyway. It could be the remaster is going for something entirely different, and I just haven’t read far enough yet.)
One small catch on grammar:
Castle ought to be capitalized. I'll continue to point these out as I go, because I have a feeling you want this to be the ultimate version of the story. If you'd rather I weren't a spelling/grammar nazi, just say the word.