The End of the Rainbow

by JTH

Chapter 10

For the first time in what seemed like far too long, Rainbow Dash woke up from actually getting a decent sleep. Dash shot up from the bed treated to her in the castle, and zipped to the door where Princess Luna met her again like several hours before to escort her. To Rainbow's surprise though, Luna did not bring her to the royal chamber, but instead to the banquet room. Dash gazed upon a wide variety of foods were displayed and seemed ready to be feasted upon.

Shortly after seeing the edible assortments, a violent growl came from Rainbow's tummy which made her realize. She had become so short sighted yesterday from trying to train and train, that she never managed to eat even a morsel of food. It was no wonder Rainbow had never improved during the day of multiple attempts to control the Princesses' magic; she had no energy and the stress was too much to manage. The fact that The Princess of the Night brought the mare straight here made it clear to Dash that the Princesses' were quite aware of this as well.

So it was agreed, training would only ensue provided Rainbow Dash treated herself to a hardy meal first. Dash gave a quiet nod with a smile and flew over to a waiting cushioned seat. Slowly but surely, Dash fed herself well. Almost instantly, Rainbow felt herself have so much more strength and energy than the day before. The first plate turned into seconds, and seconds turned into thirds. It was amazing how much missing a full day of meals had impacted so much. During her breakfast, Princess Celestia and Twilight both arrived, happy to see Dash obliging to having breakfast first before any practice.

After thirty minutes, Dash pushed away a third helping, with a belly full of food and ready to go. And the Royals were ready to begin the new day of training as well.

The practice and tests were tough, but productive. It was amazing how much a full amount of energy did for Rainbow Dash, with each attempt she went longer and sustained the magic of the Princesses' greater. It wasn't perfect by any means, still a jolt of magic here, and surge of magic there. It left Dash reeling for brief moments, but she managed to stay on her hooves throughout. Only now, the moment Rainbow could feel herself begin to flatten on her progress, then it was time for another meal to refuel. All of them were feeling very positive in how the transfers were proceeding, and in a way that helped even more, for Rainbow Dash would feel more confident, and less stressed, which only improved her ability to focus and contain the abundance of magic she was trying to endure.

Throughout most the day, they continued on. Nearly a dozen attempts by this point were tested, allowing Rainbow to hold the magic a bit longer each test too, then the magic would be drawn back to the respective Princesses'. But the time had come. They prepared for a full on trial, the royals would not draw their magic back on this attempt; it was time to see if Rainbow Dash was ready to handle the power they all possessed.

Unlike previous transfers, a different strategy would be tried as well. Rather than a Princess dropping all their magic at once, one at a time, Princess Twilight suggested that all the Princesses slowly give their magic over to the rainbow mare together. This would accomplish two things: Rainbow would still take in the same amount of magic during the transfer stage, but would take a third of the time, to prevent additional strain on Dash's body.

The Princesses all took their positions on one side of the Royal Chamber, with Rainbow to the opposite, set to begin attempt number...more than she could count.

"Are you ready to go again Rainbow?"

"Ready!" She called out from a distance, spreading her wings out with confidence.

"Then let us proceed." Celestia stated, looking to their current prodigy giving one last nod of confidence. "Good luck young one."

The three Princesses then proceeded with the plan. They all connected horns together and sent a steady beam of all their combined magic hovering toward Rainbow Dash. Rainbow closed her eyes and took a defensive stance, to prepare for impact. Then her blackened vision turned a bright white even through her closed eyes. The positives for so many trial runs was Dash had learned of what to do when she began feeling the surge of magic begin; it was all about remaining calm. The others would give suggestions of how to do so throughout the day, which Dash used to a great deal of success. Rainbow went to a point of pain tolerance where in previous attempts, was when they would see if any more progress was made. But strangely, the moment she expected it, the pain stopped. Confused, Rainbow Dash openly her eyes to look to the Princesses to see what the issue was, but to her surprise, they all just look towards her, with looks of surprise and delight.

The realization hit her like of a ton of pegasi feathers, as she looked down to her fore hooves. She looked to gleam in a slightly shining glow of light, looking to her side of her face, she noticed her mane was flowing slightly as well. No where to the degree of the royals, but clearly enough to observe from a distance that it wasn't marely just the breeze flowing through it. What she noticed the most however was from within herself. She could feel the essence of the Alicorn Magic inside her to a great degree, she felt so much powerful. Rainbow looked to the Princesses, still not able to grasp what was transpiring.

"Rainbow Dash..." Princess Twilight called out her friend. "I can't believe it. You did it!" Running towards her and embracing tightly. The hug caused a slight crack of lightning atop them, but disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

"Ah, piece of cake. It's not..." Dash's speech was stopped by another jolt of electricity, clearly realizing this would be the next step to learn of control. "... not that hard once you've...gotten used to it."

Although the issue was Rainbow hadn't gotten use to it, it was frankly the first time they had reached this level of the training. So the abundance of magic was far more a hoof-full than she ever anticipated. She took each hoof step as if she looked like a newborn foal, slightly putting weight of her hoof to the floor to hope to not trigger an outlandish burst of magic and power. Twilight stayed by her side to help ease and guide her over to the Princesses, to prepare for a next objective from here.

"Your ableness to control of our magic is quite impressive. I must say for only two days, I am very amazed at your progress." Princess Celestia said with glowing praise, it was everything for Dash to not blush at the complement, though it was important to not lose focus.

"Rainbow Dash is the strongest pony I've ever met. So I can't say I'm surprised she managed." Princess Twilight replied with the utmost praise. But all of them knew that it would take far more than just mere strength to use Alicorn Magic, multiple Alicorns on top of it. To Rainbow Dash, the only good thing about Twilight talking to Princesses, was her friend would not notice any additional spark or surge that would soar over her to nearly singe her mane.

After all of this, all the tests and trials, it was finally time for a new step in the training. Actually attempting to do what Dash needed to do. Rainbow had put so much focus on just trying to withstand all the intaking magic, the thought of making the first magic run, or flight rather was a tab bit chilling.

"I think it may be best to test your enhanced power outside the castle." Princess Luna suggested, with the others agreeing. Rainbow definitely was in unison on the opinion. The time had come, Rainbow Dash began to slowly track to the opening to the outer horizon of the castle, the Princesses close behind, giving Dash some sense of nervousness.

"Uhh, I'm not quite sure how this may go." Rainbow admitted to the present company. "You might want to take a few steps back." The Princesses complied and took several hoofsteps backwards. Dash just shook her head though. "A few more might help..." They then repeated, but Dash decided to just say it. "Okay, a lot more steps back...like the other side of the chamber!" The Princesses' couldn't help but chuckle at the request given to them.

"You may have most of our magic young one..." Luna reminded her. "But that doesn't mean we can't protect ourselves." A brash remark, in a way of saying that whatever Dash could do, they all had been there and done that.

So, perhaps there was no more time for stalling, unless Rainbow was only doing it to stall for herself. Once the Princesses moved to a space Dash felt comfortable with, she turned to look up into the cloudless sky above. And then, one more deep breath to calm the nerves.

"Okay, just like any takeoff. Spread the old wings..." As she slowly extended her wings to prepare for a launch. "...and then jump..." Dash began to take a slow leap into the breeze...but...

*KABOOM*

"AHHHHHH!!!!" Dash screamed aloud.

Rainbow Dash's energy she was harnessing unleashed into a massive explosion of speed on takeoff, creating a sonic rift from where she placed. By the time The Princesses could realize that the rainbow mare began her flight, Dash was already thousands of feet in the air.

Meanwhile, in the air Rainbow Dash's fear of the shock of takeoff began to turn into excitement and pure awesomeness. She was doing it, almost effortless. Trying to look down the horizon below, nothing looked noticeable. Could it have been she was going too high? Dash decided to alter course and try to get into a horizontal trajectory. After a bit of strain, she succeeded to do so with a huge grin on her face.

"Alright!" She called out. "Time to put these wings to good use."

She focused hard and very quickly, began to increase speed, and in an instant.

*BOOM BOOM BOOM*

Rainbow Dash took off to a velocity so extreme, it resulted in not just a Sonic Rainboom, but one after another, after another. The sky began to almost fill in the colors of the Rainbow by the repeated barrier breaks. As Rainbow continued to soar through the sky, she was unaware of the speed she was gaining. Becoming faster and faster by the second, down below from the castle the three Princesses looked on in what could be described as shocked horror. One rainbow streak cut across the sky as Dash began to fly so fast, she began to fly the entirety of the land in a matter of seconds, the single rainbow floating in the air soon turned into multiple, blending into one another.

And it wasn't just Canterlot that could observe the visual in the sky, all of the land ponies far and wide were gazing to the sky above seeing what was transpiring. Even in Ponyville, where all of Rainbow's friends were beginning to realize what was going on. Meanwhile back in at the castle, even to the Princesses' eyes, they could tell Rainbow Dash was still getting faster. Before they knew, Dash was flying the land in a second, then twice in a second, three, four, five times in a second; with no signs of slowing down.

"I can't believe...what I'm seeing..." Twilight said aloud to her fellow onlooking Princesses.

"She's circled the land more times than I can count..." Celestia in amazement observed the ungodly feat she was witnessing.

"...and only getting faster!" Luna's voice began to show a sign of worry. This was becoming dangerous. No mare or stallion could forego speeds like that, even with the power of an Alicorn. "Rainbow Dash! Slow down!!!" Twilight yelled out rather unproductive.

The other royalty soon also called out, even to using their Canterlot voices to try and hope that any of the rumbling echo could find a way to be heard from the rainbow mare traveling the profound speed.

The words though couldn't be heard, Dash just wasn't able to hear them. It only sounded like a muffled tone that sounded broken, from only being able to hear it in parts from being below them at quick intervals. Dash suddenly realized her speed; how fast she was going. It was so fast...too fast in fact. Looking down below, the land moved at such a speed that it looked a blurred white. Flying through the heart of Raindoom would be pointless if the speed she went would careen her into space or worse.

She tried to talk, but couldn't. It literally hurt her lips to even open them. It was very clear, this was a success, but even so she now had to do the difficult part. Crazy that a moon ago, the thought of creating a Sonic Rainboom at mere will would be considered a piece of cake, but now trying to control herself to stop making them repeatedly to come to a slow and eventual stop.

...But how? Even flapping her wings as slow as she possibly could jolted Dash into the sky at blistering speeds. There really was only one option; to close her wings and stop. It wasn't safe by any means though. At the uncelestial speeds Rainbow was travelling, stopping would cause her speed to reduce so fast that the force may send her careening in any direction, and if she were to land in a heavily pony populated area, the result could be very bad to say the least. The second problem would be even if she could stay air right, once slowing down below barrier breaking speed, the recoil of the barrier would be very powerful. Granted, Rainbow had endured the barrier recoil in the past, but not having dealt with the impact of the force of rapidly slowing down to allow the recoil to occur. It would be like flying smack into a brick wall, and following it up by flying into a tree. Either way, this was going to hurt...a lot!

Dash had to act fast though, the speed she was so extreme she could almost feel her feathers beginning to singe with heat. And without any further hesitance, Rainbow Dash closed her eyes, held her breath...and closed her wings.

The decrease in speed was indeed as rapid as Dash feared. The massive force that smashed her sent the mare in an endless aerial tumble in the air. On the surface it was completely unnoticed, for the endless amount of rainbows in the sky made it impossible to find Rainbow Dash from ground level. All they could tell was the continuous Sonic Rainbooms had halted, and now was a eerie silence; and the Princesses weren't sure honestly if this was good or bad.

Meanwhile in the air, Dash despite still not able to regain control of her flight, used her training in Wonderbolts' practice to marenuever her wings to allow the air to keep her afloat in the sky than crash to the ground below. But she wasn't out of the woods yet, her body was beginning to feel the push back of the bubble barrier beginning to recoil.

Massive Impact Number Two Coming Up...

*EUUUERRRRR*
*SPROING*

The rubber band effect of the barrier sprung Rainbow Dash back in the complete opposite direction. She was in a tough position, usually Rainbow could just start flying and regain her control and reestablish her equilibrium, but fearing she may respark the magic within her and be forced to repeat the series of events all over again, Rainbow had to take the fall. It wasn't like Dash hadn't had her fair share of crash landings after all. She waited and waited, until she felt an impact. Fortunately, she careened through a big tree that soften the smash to the dirt trail below, leaving an indented path of about twenty feet. Getting to all hooves made all the pain go away for a split second, realizing that the plan worked. Rainbow Dash pulled off a Super Rainboom that could defeat ten Raindooms.

"YES!!!" She screamed aloud, almost wishing somepony would hear her, mainly so she could figure out where in Equestria she was. The canopy of trees was thick and dense, but underneath the tree line, Dash could see a vauge view of the Canterlot Castle. She looked to be only a couple miles away from said location; her normal would allow her to get there in a couple minutes. Now the tricky part: finding a way to fly normally without sparking more magic. At least it wasn't sparking and cracking like before, so Rainbow believed that maybe she found a way to contain it for a moment. All she could do is hope the journey back to the castle would go smoothly...

***

At the castle, there was a growing concern among the Princesses. The rainbow illuminating sky began to slowly dim away and return to it's original shade of color, the problem was the mare responsible for what occurred was no where to be seen. There was no sign that Rainbow Dash had slowed down during the flight, so much worry began to mount she may have gone down and crashed. And if that were the case, at the speed she was travelling, Dash could be anywhere in the land. The three Princesses continued to look and scan in all directions and all levels of the horizon above.

"Anything sister?" Luna asked, hoping that Celestia had better luck spotting the mare in question.

"I'm afraid not..." A troubled Celestia replied back.

The third Princess present, The Princess of Friendship also looked around franticly, hoping her friend was okay. When suddenly out of the corner of her eye, Twilight noticed a small figure coming from the North side of Canterlot, coming in a very slow rate of speed. It almost looked a feather floating around in the wind. Looking closer though, Twilight noticed it was a Pegasus. She wanted to convince herself it was Dash, but at that slow pace of speed? Rainbow would never want any pony to see her flying at any speed but full, so Twilight knew she had to dismiss that belief...

But then she could see...

That flowing rainbow mane was still as vibrant as ever.

"Look! There she is!!!" Twilight called out to the royals. They all looked up in unison as the figure above continued to slowly approach. Rainbow Dash had finally closed to a distance where she could glide her way in, but doing so would cause her to gain more speed so she had to focus and not trigger anymore magic upon landing.

The Princesses also noticed the acceleration of the mare coming in for landing, and the three used what magic they all still possessed to slow down Rainbow's reentry. It thankfully worked, Dash's landing wasn't the crispest, as upon her hooves hitting the crystal flooring, she began to slip and spin slightly until...she came to a full, and more importantly a safe stop.

Finally, it was over. And as Rainbow Dash looked back to the Princesses, the gleaming look in Twilight's eyes told the whole story. The Princess galloped over and embraced in a full on spinning hug.

"Rainbow Dash, that was unbelievable!" Twilight screamed in glee, the spinning made Dash's eyes loop in circles from dizziness. "Shucks, it was nothing..." The discombobulated Rainbow Dash bragged.

"Never...in all my years as Ruler of Equestria have I seen any feat of speed like what you accomplished." Celestia praised in high regard.

"Yes, that truly was phenomenal." Luna added on. The present company couldn't have imagined that everything turned out so successful, just as Rainbow Dash thought it would. Granted, she often had over-the-top expectations of what she could do, but this...this superseded all the Princesses.

All the mares believed after this event, that a proper rest was needed to allow Rainbow to recover fully. Dash was so proud of herself and started talking herself up while the others proceeded on ahead.

"Ha! With that kind of speed, taking down that pesky storm cloud will be a piece of..." Suddenly, Rainbow's body jolted awkwardly, almost like she felt zapped by a lightning bolt. It was strong enough that it made her stop in her hoof tracks. "W-What was that?" She called aloud.

It perked the ears of Twilight, who by this point was about twenty paces ahead of her friend, slowly turning her head. "What was what Rainbow?" Asking Twilight, only saw Dash staring at her hoof in confusion. This also garnered the royal's attention as well.

"I-I don't know..." Dash responded to Twilight, still staring at her right fore hoof. It was starting to tremble and shake, but Rainbow wasn't moving it. And the more she tried to hold it still, the more sudden it's movement. She looked up to Twilight, starting to become a bit concerned. " I'm starting to feel strange, it's like..."

*BZZZZRR*

Suddenly, Dash was hit with a much stronger jolt, so much it jumped her in the air. And her tremble and shaking increased even more. "Twilight, please tell me you or the Princesses are doing something?"

"No, we're just..."

Twilight's sentence was halted by another much more visible jolt of power.

*BZZZRR* *BZZZRR* *BZZZRR*

They grew in shock and size each time. The jolts began to turn Dash a bright glowing white with each zap. Twilight quickly ran to Dash to help, putting a hoof over her mane. "Rainbow, what's happening?!"

*BZZZRR*

The zap increased in power once more, shocking both of them, and blasting Twilight backwards. Whatever this was, it was continuing to worsen and the other Princesses knew they needed to act fast.

"Quickly we must remove the magic from her." Celestia said in a haste. The task proved much more difficult than before. The outburst of energy continued to zap and shock during the extraction, all of them felt the blasts until they finally managed to draw their own powers back. Even back in their own bodies the Princesses could feel a slight twinge from the drawback. Luna was able to recoup first of the three and rushed to Rainbow's side, still trembling and shivering in shock. "Rainbow Dash, you're alright my dear. Try to remain calm."

"Wh-what...happened?" Twilight asked in befuddlement. That was something completely unexpected, Twilight herself never dealt with any of those magical jolts her friend had just dealt with. Celestia had herself never witnessed this herself, but she did believe she had an answer.

"It seems that her magically enhanced Sonic Rainbooms intensified the power inside her, and once she seized using it, the building magic created some form of surging aftershock."

"But how can we be sure that it won't happen again should we continue sister?" Luna queried to her elder, but Celestia could only shake her head with uncertainty.

"I'm afraid we can't. I feared a magical transfer may cause an issue, but even I never expected this."

During Celestia's response, Rainbow Dash began to stir and come to.

"We have to try again..." Dash responded, Princess Luna and Twilight attempted to help her up, but she refused it and struggled to her own hooves. "We've gotten this far, we can't give up now." When Dash finished, she crumbled back to her forehooves. It was becoming too much for the Princesses to bare.

"I'm afraid this training must end..." Celestia announced with a stern voice.

"Wait...what!?" Rainbow Dash questioned. Twilight even though she understood, was also a bit shocked by the Princesses' statement. "Princess Celestia, are you certain about this?"

"I'm afraid so Twilight..." Princess Celestia explained. "For if this effect happened to her now with disastrous effects, what if this were to transpire during a battle with Raindoom whilst in a weakened state; I'm afraid there is little that could be done to help her. This is a risk we simply can no longer afford to take."

Rainbow Dash couldn't believe what she was hearing. Even though she was wide awake, she felt like she was in a nightmare. How could this be happening? How could everything change so quickly? She stomped her hoof in frustration...

"This is wrong!" Rainbow yelled in protest. "We all understood the risks when we started this training. Why would you turn tail and quit the first sign of things going wrong!?"

"ENOUGH!"

Came the bellow of a "Canterlot Voice" from the Princess of the Night, stopping all the ponies in their tracks. "My friend, I understand your frustration with this decision, but I believe it is wise you do not use that tone of voice to my sister or myself."

Dash restrained herself, closing her eyes as tightly as possible. But while doing so, she could being to hear the faint echo of all the ponies she heard the night before.

"You're a failure! You're a failure!"

Rainbow could be seen gritting her teeth, trying to internally keep away the voices. Twilight Sparkle tried to help her friend, but Dash kept her away with her wings. "He was right..." She said before galloping away to head to the outside balcony. Twilight was confused by the statement.

"What are you saying Rainbow Dash? Who was right?" Twilight's question stopped Rainbow, right before she attempted to leave. The rainbow mare turned around, a face filled with hurt and disappointment.

"He found me in my dreams last night..." Rainbow declared, it brought a sense of shock to the Princesses for they feared who Rainbow Dash referred to, Luna however more lowered her head in regret, knowing there was more she wished she could have done. "He told me that none of you really believed in me. That you would turn your flank the first sign of trouble. Well fine! I don't need your help, and I don't WANT your help!" And Dash flew in a flash of color, but the color of her rainbow streak appeared fizzled and quickly faded to nothing. The Princesses could hear one final sentence before Rainbow was beyond their range of hearing.

"I'll do it myself!"

As quickly the mare disappeared into the sky, the trail of her rainbow was gone as well. Making it clear as hurt mentally as Rainbow was, she still was just as much physically.

"Rainbow, come back!" Twilight called out to her friend, and was about fly after her, but she was stopped by Princess Celestia.

"No Twilight, this must be very difficult for her...it's best to let her be." Celestia's voice was now more saddened than stern. Twilight could only look up to the sky above. Even in a weakened state, Dash was still much faster than Twilight was and trying to follow would be a futile attempt. All three Princesses could only wonder if the mare was right, or more importantly...if Raindoom was right?

Did any of them really believe Rainbow Dash was up for the task? The feat seemed improbable, impossible even. But now as Dash was shattered emotionally and physically, they all now believed they may have caused a even bigger problem than before...