Suited for a Challenge

by Mocha Star

Color Me Understood

Rainbow stood up and blinked several times, clearing her vision until she realized she was lying in a cloud. She swam up and when she broke the surface she snorted excess cumulus from her nose, “Cloudsdale?” she asked herself while climbing to the surface of the cloud. The city was just as she remembered it last she’d seen it. “So, I’m home? No more jokes or tricks,” she looked at her body, wearing a new bodysuit

She couldn’t see much besides the color brown behind her and her forelegs made her blink; one yellow and the other tan. She shook her head and looked back at the floating city in the sky she’d called home for the first few years of her life and took off in a wobbly flight towards the market area.

She got too many odd looks along the way, shrugging them off as another of Discord’s illusions that wouldn’t matter anyway as she flew through city streets and down unnamed but well known avenues, finally stopping by her favorite ice cream place. “Illusion or not, I deserve a treat for all this,” she said pushing open the cloud door and floating into the establishment.

The room fell silent as she flew to the counter, pegasi moving quickly to make space for her. A very nervous mare gulped when she saw Rainbow and started trembling while giving her welcome. “H-hi, what c-c-can I g-et you, Miss, uh, Ma’am?”

“Name’s Rainbow Dash, just wearing a disguise for the day,” she winked and watched other ponies back away from the edge of her vision. “I’ll take a double scoop of double mint in a cone, but with another cone on top, like it was a coney ice cream sandwich,” she motioned her hooves while talking and the sound of wings flapping got her attention enough to see most pegasi had fled through the floors and walls. “Rude,” she scoffed and looked back at the mare.

“Th… That’ll be, um,” she looked at Rainbow and made to sneeze, when she released a fake sneeze Rainbow rolled her eyes, and in that split second the mare slipped into the flooring and left Rainbow alone in the restaurant. She giggled and rubbed her forehooves together.

“All alone in an ice cream shop? Why yes, I would like to make my own cone,” she chuckled darkly as she flew to the display case and started scooping herself scoop after scoop of all her favorite flavors. She grabbed a large bowl and stuffed the multicolored glob into it, then made it a crown of cones, took some wall and fluffed it into a bag and hid the bowl inside it, and then took her leave. “I’ll send them ten bits when I get home, even if this isn’t real; they make the best ice cream!”

She laughed, pegasi scrambled out of her way, and Rainbow made her way to one of her favorite places to perch, the feeling of wind against her face was brisk and reminded her of why she loved to fly. She wasn’t very acurate or aerodynamic because of the suit, but she didn’t let that bother her.

Alighting onto a small nimbus cloud, Rainbow took it with her as she flew higher into the sky. When the air was cold to inhale and she felt the tips of her ears tingle from the frigid winds, she stopped the cloud and laid back, whimpering when she almost fell over the edge because the suit’s bulk.

She grumbled while moulding part of the cloud into a backrest so she could recline and watch the world move slowly beneath her, then she sighed in relaxation. The memories of simpler times washed through her mind while she made habitual motions brining ice cream to her mouth and chewing slowly, savoring the mariade of flavors as they swam and danced around her mouth and finally chilled her throat when she swallowed.

She snerked when she remembered meeting Applejack, then Rarity, then she remembered learning Fluttershy was living in Ponyville and how it still surprised her because she never really thought about the yellow filly between the race she met her and the moment she reheard the name two years later.

Pinkie had shown up out of the Everfree Forest one day and just never left… That led to that eventful Summer Sun Celebration and Twilight; joined destinies; she moved the ice cream to her side and leaned back more, just enjoying a short silence her mind gave her as images flashed through and little sound clips mixed themselves into snippets of time she’d already passed.

She was asleep shortly after and snorted awake suddenly when the sun was starting to set, beautiful oranges, reds, yellows, purples, a strip of blue; all danced across the clouds, most still white, in the distance as she watched. Time had no meaning, all the troubles she’d felt over the past day were in the past, and even though she was dressed in a goofy outfit, she didn’t care as a tear streaked down her cheek in this, the moment she had so rarely but loved so often.

A short period of time when she could be one with the sky in an intimate way; a way that she wouldn’t trade ten minutes with the Wonderbolts for. Well, maybe for the Wonderbolts, but they weren’t there, so she was free to enjoy her moment with the sky on her own. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, let it out slowly, and rolled off the cloud in a dive.

She glanced back at the cloud that still held her ice cream with a longing second, then when she reached terminal velocity she opened her wings and spun in a barrel roll, partly from experience, partly from the suit ruining her flight, but she still grinned and turned it into a large corkscrew that she inverted every four loops until she reached the ground, walking across the grass flawlessly from the end of her time in the air.

She trotted quickly towards a stream she liked to sip from and cocked her head, looking oddly at the place the stream should have been. That was the moment she remembered she was still in a game of Discord’s design. She moved to where the stream was and poked at the ground with a hoof, digging slightly then she moved her snout to the ground and snuffed loudly sending rich soil out of the tiny hole.

She lifted her head and moved to a nearby bush, twitching her ears while she went about pulling leaves from the branches and then moving down to nibble grass lightly.

Nearly an hour passed where she acted as a merely sentient horse might act when a rustling got her to stand tall and look pointedly at the noise. She tensed and when a young colt ran out towards her she turned and galloped away while he was asking for help. The colt slowed and watched her vanish into the trees faster than his legs could move, then sat with a harumph.

Rainbow watched ahead of her as she ran through or over bushes, around trees, and under low branches for nearly ten minutes before she slowed to a stop and stood still, listening. She snorted in the silence broken only by nature itself, then carefully walked to a bush and bit a slender stem, pulled back, and too leaves and berries into her mouth while leaving the stem dangling. She chewed loudly and some nomming noises left her while she ate, until she heard hoofsteps approaching, fast.

"Help," a filly called and just as she broke into the small area Rainbow was in, the mare turned and bolted away with the intention of eating alone, appearantly. The filly scowled and its form changed, elongating until Discord popped out of a stuffed toy looking displeased at Rainbow. "Why won't she just stay and play?" he asked himself.

The Discord to his right shrugged while the one to his left blew pink smoke from a small television he was smoking. "I think she's gone crazy, and we can't have two crazy creatures in this story, can we?"

They looked between one another and traded faces, all wearing one of a frustrated white rabbit. They hopped after Rainbow and Discord was intent on catching her. He chased her, easily catching up, only to lose her again and again. She hovered in the air and was pressed to a tree, her hooves still moving in a frantic pace to get her away. All she could do was whinney over and over, working a nicker in while staring around fearfully for her captor.

Discord emerged from the tree that was holding her, now rocking her in his arms while struggled to get to her hooves and run away. "Okay, that's enough," he said loudly and snapped his fingers returning Rainbow to her original form and letting her fall to the floor. "Now we're taking a break and you tell me," he started and his muzzle went flacid when she turned and galloped away again.

He teleported in front of her in a flash and reached down to catch her, only managing to get a multicolored tail slapped in his open mouth. He spat his teeth out and pointed after her, they gave chase with urgency, picking up dirt and debris, leaves and branches until Discord quickly reformed himself and shouted after her to slow down. When she whinnied in response he tripped over an exposed root and landed muzzle first into the ground.

He stood with a donut encircling his muzzle that he took off and dipped into nothing, then he took a bite of the soggy treat and burped potato chips. "What is going on with that mare," he asked, but this time before he could answer himself he took to the air, found Rainbow, and watched her.

Discord followed her from above for nearly two hours, during which time he nearly fell asleep from boredom. She wasn’t doing anything, just grazing and she leaned against a tree to take a nap, certainly a short one before she was spooked and ran away again. He dragged his hands over his face and pulled it several inches down while groaning and when he let his face go it stayed sagged. “So, boring. What’s going on with her, she’s not being fun at all!” He dove with urgency and landed in front of her, trees moved instantly and wrapped her in place preventing nearly all movement while she struggled. He looked into her eyes and saw an almost primal fear of him and he balked at her. “What’s happened to you?! You’ve gone feral!” he snapped his fingers and nothing happened.

He looked at his talons and glared, then snapped them again. And again, looking at Rainbow he growled. “Who’s done this?! Who’s taken my game and… and… taken the fun out of it?!” Silence. He sneered and slithered away, leaving Rainbow stuck in place making scared horse noises while struggling every chance she could.

He returned shortly after and the trees released her, but before she could flee he picked her up and turned her to face him. “There’s nothing near by, no spells, no hexes, no magic and this vexes me. What are you playing at?”

Rainbow switched and gave him a cocky smirk. “I played your game, now I’m playing mine; dumb horse that doesn’t know she’s in a game,” she laughed and nickered, dulling her gaze, “ready for round two?”

Discord dropped her and roared into the sky, lightning flashed, and thunder boomed… then it started raining rubber duckies and he bowed to her. “Well played, I concede this round to you. The final round is yours,” he snapped his fingers and they were on the stage, every pony Rainbow knew and felt close to was in the audience while Discord was by her side, she stood by at the lecturn with spotlights on her in the silence. “Now, all you have to do is speak the truth.”

Discord winked at her and slipped between the floorboards, leaving her alone. She cleared her throat and the sound reverberated and echoed around the room, the few ponies she could see winced at the sound and she smiled awkwardly. Just, get it over with, Rainbow Dash. This’ just another illusion, anyway.

“Well, I guess if I look back at everything,” she moved her foreleg and saw it was yellow again and chose to ignore the warmth being trapped inside the suit from the heat of the bulbs, “I guess I have to say that I’ve been through a lot of crap today. I’ve been left alone on an island during a storm, I had to play through candy to find Pinkie. I had to go through school again to get Twilight. I had to push myself through a race with myself against… my past,” she looked at the silhouette of Discord and slowly realized what she was saying. “I… let me start over.

“I was in a chaotic storm, then I had to fight through sweetness to find somepony I care about,” Discord nodded to her and Rainbow went on, “then I had to push myself and go through hoops to find Fluttershy. I had to learn to deal with problems, even one that scared me to death; only to turn around and realize that I… didn’t like myself,” she sighed and looked at the floor, scuffing it with her hooves. I hated the different me that I saw and I tried everything to not be her, even though, deep down I kind of liked what she represented and what I could be if I just gave in to my softer side.

“I also really don’t like slimy stuff,” she smiled weakly and tried to find Rarity, “so that’s something that’s true. Then,” she sighed and looked into the crowd, “I had to find AJ, and to be honest I felt like I was the odd one out, being hated by food and things that weren’t normal to me. I mean, I eat most of the stuff that was chasing me and it was like… wrong, because food is, like, below us ponies and that kinda makes sense when Discord had to change the way he did stuff, if that makes sense.

“And then the last one,” she hovered and looked at her talons and paw, now knowing she was in the shape and body of Discord, “I did to myself… I felt like the only way to beat the game was to be a dumb animal that couldn’t be what I really was,” she looked up and Discord’s silhouette moved and stayed shadowed as it seemed to look her in the eye. “Discord, I’m sorry, I didn’t really realize how much you have to change to be our friend, but I think I understand you now.”

The shadow flew into Rainbow’s eyes and in a blink Rainbow was lying on a tree in Sweet Apple Acres, the feeling of sleep and grogginess pulling at her mind. She wiped drool from her chin and looked around the apple trees, smelled the sweet fruit, and felt a warm breeze as it rustled the leaves and her mane. She flexed her wings, looked herself over, then smiled.

“It was all a dream?”

She looked ahead again and her snout bumped Discord’s, sending her falling from the tree with a yelp. “Ah-ha! That was classic, truly a prank worth its weight in gold,” he rolled in the air and held his chest laughing. Pinkie hopped into Rainbow’s vision giggling and Discord flew down to bump her hoof.

“Classic! You should’ve seen your face, Rainbow, it was all,” Pinkie pulled her cheeks and make a far more goofy face than Rainbow could have done naturally.

Rainbow rolled to her hooves and flexed her wings, then looked between the two. “Yeah,” she smiled, “that was pretty good, but you wanna see something really funny?” she asked the other two pranksters. When they eagerly nodded she told them to wait and flew off, returning a minute later and landing, kicking soil into their faces.

Pinkie and Discord were wearing face shields when the dust cleared and they laughed loudly at Rainbow’s outfit. “Rainbow Dash,” Discord laughed, “where in Equestria did you find that thing?”

Rainbow shrugged her wings and looked away casually. “I dunno what you’re talking about, I’ve had this costume for years,” she joined them in laughing while Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity smiled facing away. Twilight ran to them, a camera held in her magic snapped a picture of all of them enjoying the moment, Rainbow Dash standing out the most dressed up as Spike the Dragon wearing a wedding dress grinning and bumping hoof to paw with Discord in the background.

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[Starlight Nova]

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