Rainbow Dash Around the World

by MagicS

At the Precipice

Dazzling lights shone in the sky of the south pole, Rainbow Dash had no idea what they were, some sort of beautiful natural event if she had to guess. They lit up the night, dancing around, predominantly green in color. Behind them the stars twinkled even brighter and Rainbow found herself staring at them the whole time she flew. Normally she’d be asleep by now but she didn’t want to waste seeing something so magnificent.

“Wow...” she quietly whispered, in awe of them. A Sonic Rainboom might have been cooler but there was still something majestic about these lights covering the entire arctic sky too.

How long had she been crossing the south pole? She had lost track of the days thanks to all the chaos with the penguins. Taking a quick pat of the one saddlebag that still had food in it, Rainbow realized she would only have a few more days worth of food till she had to resort to eating snow. Or scrounging up something else edible here, but she hadn’t seen anything like that yet. And if she hadn’t by now she likely wasn’t going to ever. But she knew she had gone far, made a lot of progress, there couldn’t be that much left. Not when she had a general idea of how big the south pole was.

Any day now.

Any day now.

---

Rainbow Dash woke up buried in snow, her torn up tarp not providing her much protection from it anymore. Her coat, her boots, her goggles, all brand-new and top quality, were worn out, scuffed, and full of holes and tears. She had won the battle of attrition against those penguins but it had definitely taken its toll on her gear and food supplies. Growling under her breath, she angrily fought her way out of the cold snow and emerged onto the more solidly packed snow on top of the ground, shaking herself off and breaking any frost that had gathered on her body.

She sighed. “I don’t regret anything I did to those penguins.”

Good news was—as she looked up at the sky—was that the sun was out and shining bright. It was as warm as any day could be down here. Rainbow Dash cracked her neck and took a big stretch before rising up to the sky and beginning her flight for the day. Her flight north as she had realized some time ago. For a while she had been too preoccupied with the penguins to notice that she was back on her side of the world. She knew now that she had been here for some time, it made her feel pretty good. It made her really feel like she was close to finishing this journey—finishing and accomplishing something so awesome.

Her scuffed gear and dwindling food supply didn’t even really compare to knowing that. It was always easier to push herself on when the goal was in sight. And the south pole really was the last “unknown” spot to her. North of here and she actually knew what was coming.

Rainbow Dash could push her body as hard as she could knowing that.

So she just really hoped that indeed she was getting close to the end of the south pole. She wanted to see that icy shoreline soon, she wanted to see the ocean north of it. As soon as she did she might cry out in relief and thank Celestia.

“I know this is the day. I know it,” Rainbow Dash said and sped on.

Below her the snow was so white and perfect it reflected the sunlight brightly back up at her. It went on and on like that for miles in every direction, to the west she saw some mountains but aside from them it was an endless plain of snow. She could see pretty far ahead to the horizon but so far there wasn’t yet anything for her to really see. She wondered if she would actually see something new first or feel the breeze from the ocean instead.

Either way Rainbow Dash swiftly flew for miles and miles. The day was young and she truly wanted to finish her time at the south pole today.

Hours passed by like that and Rainbow spent the time humming contentedly to herself—the sun still just barely in its noon position. The mountains to the west became mountains to the southwest. And clouds started to appear in the sky ahead.

She stopped for a second to toss a few wheat crackers into her mouth.

She turned over and flew on her back to look at and admire the perfect blue sky.

She stopped again because her head was itchy.

She sung a song or two.

She thought about how long it would take to get to Equestria from the ocean.

And looking ahead once more, Rainbow Dash squinted her eyes and peered as far as she could. The sheer whiteness of the snow and ice was giving away to something. It was turning into a broken and jagged edge of a glacier that was reaching out over something… something…

A grin appeared on Rainbow Dash’s face. “The ocean...”

She could only barely see it but she knew an ocean when she saw it. Closing her eyes she sniffed the air to see if she could smell the saltwater—too far just yet. And the air was calm and without any sort of breeze blowing in from the ocean either. But it was still there. Some of the ice at the shoreline of the south pole was sticking up like spikes right before the edge of the glacier met the water. At some point there must’ve been some kind of event where a large portion of the glacier broke away or an iceberg smashed into it.

She didn’t really care. That was the end of the south pole.

That was the next big step back home.

Rainbow Dash was still high in the sky the closer she got to the coast, her eyes looking down at the water and the small icebergs and floes she could see in it. She took a glance back at the spikes jutting up from the edge of the glacier and tilted her head to the side. A small frown appeared on her face. Stretching her lips thin.

She saw something.

There was something standing on the icy spikes. A pony.

And even at this distance she could tell they were looking right at her.

Rainbow Dash slowed down, her wings beating much more leisurely. She let out a great exhale and started to slowly descend down to the edge of the south pole instead of just flying over it like she planned. A blank, slightly bored, expression had taken over her face. “I see...”

She landed before the spikes. And took off her boots, took off her saddlebags, pulled back her hood to remove her goggles and drop them in the snow, and finally took off the heavy winter coat as well.

“Decide to show up for real this time?” Rainbow asked Harlequin Grey.

“Unfortunately you’ve left me no choice,” he spoke down to her from his position up on the ice spikes.

Rainbow Dash snorted and rolled her eyes. “Yeah you’ve made that clear enough. All the scurrying away, refusing to fight me yourself, all that weird stuff you go on about. I guess you really ran out of ponies to sic on me.” She narrowed her eyes and glared up at him. “I haven’t forgotten what I said to you the last time we met for real south of Hoofica.”

“Neither have I. And like I said, I felt the same way.”

A mocking grin now stretched Rainbow Dash’s lips. “Oh? So the big coward is finally going to fight me himself?”

“That is indeed the case,” he stared her down, not rising to her provocation. “And you are going to die here, Rainbow Dash. I truly can’t allow you to continue on.”

Rainbow kicked a pile of snow and growled. “You keep saying stuff like that! But why? All this time I still don’t even get you! I don’t get why you tried to convince me to turn back in the first place, I don’t get why you were willing to do so many horrible things to stop me when I didn’t, I don’t get why you would do all those other things you mentioned! I know you’re not even a pony but I don’t know what you really are! This whole time you’ve been a thorn in my side and I don’t even know why. So what is it? What’s the big deal with me flying around the world? What’s the big deal with you? What do you want?!”

She was huffing loudly and angrily by the time she finished shouting at him.

Harlequin Grey peered down at her, slowly blinking.

“I want Nothing.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes again. “Oh don’t give me-”

“You misunderstand-” he cut her off. “I mean Nothing with a capital N. I want a world of Nothingness. A world without harmony, without chaos, without happiness, sadness, love, or hate. A world without change or growth. A world without emotion or will. I want a cold, neutral, stagnant, world of gray.”

Rainbow Dash blinked, her brow furrowed as she reached up to rub her head with a hoof. “I-I don’t understand...”

“Of course you don’t. You’re not particularly bright,” Harlequin Grey huffed. “Even though as an Element of Harmony and a witness to so many incredible things you should be in a better position to understand than most.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow frowned.

“This world we live in is not a simple world of logic and the physical. Thoughts and emotions are far more than just concepts and ideas here. Harmony and chaos are real, living, things that affect the world. The hearts of ponies and other creatures can change and affect the world around them. Surely you know this at least?” He asked.

“Well yeah—duh. Everyone would,” Rainbow Dash shrugged, thoroughly confused by the obvious and wondering what he was getting at. “You can see it in the Crystal Empire, and how Twilight and all of us saved Princess Luna and stopped Tirek. And like, a million other things. Friendship is magic, I’ve heard Twilight say that how many times now?”

“And I hate that,” Harlequin Grey announced, a bit of anger seeping into his voice and surprising Rainbow Dash. “I hate how this world works. I hate how the whims of any silly creatures can bring forth a cavalcade of change—whether it be good, bad, constructive or destructive—in the world. That’s why I wanted you to turn back mainly. Because no matter if it was good or bad, you were changing things. You are a disruptor, a bringer of harmony and chaos. The exact opposite of what I want for this world. You, just by your mere existence and your visits, would destroy what I’ve been working to do.”

Rainbow Dash’s hooves shook in anger. “Like what you did in Hoofica. That’s what that was about. You said you wanted emotions drained or deadened right? You wanted the entire country to be some empty, emotionless, void, didn’t you?”

“Correct. The best laid plans of mice and ponies however...” Harlequin Grey shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. It’s all ruined. Everything has been ruined, like I told you. My entire life’s work—I’ve been working tirelessly since I was created to stagnate this world and deaden the powers of chaos and harmony.”

“What—how could you even do that?” Rainbow asked.

“Like we both know, thoughts and feelings are just as real as the ice and snow around you now. Though I hate how this world works, that is also the way I will get my wish and kill how the world works forever. The more stagnation there is, the more places and creatures stay the same, the less emotions are felt through the world—the more harmony and chaos will naturally weaken. Slowly. Ever so slowly would it work. I started small, finding many ways to spread Nothingness, always taking the long view of things.” Harlequin Grey sighed. “And in just a short amount of time, you, your friends, and other random annoying ponies have ruined everything. I’ll have to restart all over again once I’ve killed you.”

“But then why does killing me even matter at this point? Everything’s already been ruined for you. I know you’re afraid of fighting me directly. You’re not a risk taker, you could lose it all here. You’re going to try fighting me now when everything is already over?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow at him.

“It’s not over. And I can still stop things from getting worse,” he glared at her. “If you complete your trip around the world you will have done something no one else ever has. And you will have done it as a symbol of harmony and friendship. The world itself will change. The powers of harmony and friendship will grow stronger. And I can not have that. You will die here.”

Rainbow Dash planted her hooves firmly in the snow and opened her wings, ready to move. “If you really want to fight, I’m not going to stop you. In fact—this is something I’ve wanted for a long, long, time. So come on then, try me.”

“You’re going to regret your arrogance. Every taunt, every insult, every ignored warning, I’ll make you regret everything,” Harlequin Grey narrowed his eyes at her. “You’ve wanted to fight me for so long? Here is why that has always been a terrible idea.”

For a moment, Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure if he was a pegasus, unicorn, or earth pony. His form seemed to shift faster than she could blink.

But just as suddenly a dark energy came from his body, spreading out like an aura and enveloping him completely in a black and white cloud of magic and electricity. It covered the icy spikes and swirled around Harlequin Grey—centered on him, the energy so dense she couldn’t see him anymore. There was a great raging fluctuation from the dark energy and a beam of pure magical power shot into the sky, blasting through the clouds overhead and sending a shockwave out across the icy shoreline.

Rainbow Dash ducked her head low as the shockwave buffeted her, holding a hoof up and blocking the wind from getting into her eyes. As soon as it dissipated she stood up straight and looked at what was going on.

Black and white smoke billowed off the spikes where Harlequin Grey had been standing—and through the smoke Rainbow Dash could make out a familiar shape.

A hoof stepped out from it and all the smoke was suddenly blown away.

Atop the ice spikes she saw a long horn, a pair of wings, a strong body, black mane and tail shiny and swept back, and a series of three question marks on a flank.

The Alicorn Harlequin Grey peered down at her from his perch. “Your journey is at an end, Rainbow Dash. I will not allow you to connect the world in harmony.”

Rainbow Dash grimaced and sighed in annoyance. “Aw crud.”

Comments

[RoboRed]

I guess in retrospect it should have been a bit more obvious, given his earlier noted obsession with balance in the world vs Rainbow Dash's presence but well, there it is. Nothing. A great harmonic heat-death of the world. A big static unchanging existence that he's been working towards since perhaps time immemorial.

What of Black and White, then? I'd think good and evil, maybe. Black's been playing as a seemingly detached force of good, but White's been very tricksterlike in his appearances with no clear goal and he pretty much made himself scarce shortly after Grey did what he needed back in the desert. Perhaps maybe not necessarily good and evil but agents of harmony and chaos?

Anyways, looks like Grey's work ends here.

[redmar]

I wonder how Rainbow Dash is going to kill Grey although given Grey's fear of Discord maybe the spirit of chaos will show up at some point to finish him. Of course he could also show up to simply watch the fight and not help Rainbow at all.

[Mini-Joe]

Aw yis

[Cosmic Potato]

The ultimate battle!