Rainbow Dash Around the World

by MagicS

Rainbow Dash and Heartless I

Rainbow Dash shot up into the sky.

Heartless shot up right after her.

There was no true thought in Rainbow Dash’s head at the moment—she acted on instinct. Thinking had never been a huge help to her anyways, and Heartless defied all logic, common sense, and expectation. There was nothing to really think about when it came to her, Rainbow Dash thought.

Er…

Rainbow Dash frowned and shook her head. Maybe I do still need to figure out how to beat her, since nothing else I’ve seen happen to her has worked.

The past experiences and encounters with Heartless played back in her mind. She had seen the mare crawl out of a vent she should’ve never been able to get through—survive being jettisoned off the side of a mountain in a metal container that she should’ve bounced around helplessly in and been broken to pieces. Then she somehow came back after having a weight tied to her tail and being dropped into a massive, impossible, and probably magical whirlpool. A huge stalactite had crushed her and didn’t stop her for a minute. A bomb had gone off in her face and a mine tunnel collapsed on her head. She had been sucked into the Avatar of Despair and then crushed once more under a falling castle. A spear had been thrown through her throat. And finally whatever had been done to delay her back in Merlantis. But here she was again. Looking no worse for wear and speeding after Rainbow Dash. As fast and cheerful as ever.

Gaining on her with a big smile on her face.

“Good thing I wasn’t tired before this,” Rainbow Dash muttered as she looked down at Heartless trailing right behind her.

She couldn’t touch her directly for more than a second.

She couldn’t let Heartless’s hooves touch her.

She didn’t have any magical powers or weapons to work with.

She didn’t have a volcano or anything to drop her in.

That all didn’t matter, because she still needed to make sure that Heartless never hurt anyone again.

“I just wish I had something to work with here...” Rainbow Dash bit her lip. “I stopped that jerk, whatever he was, and I know I can stop you too Heartless. I’m just going to have to do my best.”

She quickly turned around in flight and shot towards Heartless. The pink pony’s eyes shot open in surprise right before Rainbow Dash punched her in the face and sent her spinning around backwards.

“And like always, I think I’m going to start with punching,” Rainbow Dash grinned.

Heartless came to a stop and hovered in midair despite her lack of wings or even any sort of magical aura. She rubbed her chin for a second before pulling her hoof away and tilting her head at Rainbow Dash. “I don’t get it. Why do you keep doing these things that you know won’t do anything? You know it doesn’t hurt me—you know it won’t stop me. I like how you keep showing me how full of life you are, but I just don’t get it. You’ve seen me survive so many things at this point, you know what touching me can do to you, I really don’t understand. I’m going to get you and there’s nothing you can do about it. There’s nothing around us to stop us or interfere this time.” She smiled. “But if you just want to have some fun before you die then okay. You’ll be still soon, still and cold, so move all you want.”

Rainbow Dash frowned at her. “There’s something seriously wrong with you, did I ever tell you that?”

“Yep!” Heartless nodded. “Lots of ponies and other creatures have told me that! I don’t really get it either but oh well.” She shrugged. “I’m just going to keep being me and getting what I want—the life and warmth that calls out to me.”

“And I’m going to keep trying to stop you. I will stop you,” Rainbow declared.

She flew at Heartless once more and zoomed to the side when Heartless reached out and tried to touch her with her hooves. Coming in at the pink pony’s right, Rainbow Dash kicked her as hard as she could. Heartless was pushed away slightly but otherwise was completely unhurt, as expected. It was frustrating though—Rainbow Dash had gotten physically much stronger since the last time she had actually fought Heartless directly. And yet hitting her just felt like punching the ground, like it was pointless. It might give a little bit but you were never going to get anywhere. Any bruises disappeared in seconds and she knew that her wounds would close up, her broken bones would knit back together, and it would be like she was good as new again. Heartless wasn’t even that strong or robust herself, but nothing stuck. Nothing lasted. And she never got tired.

Heartless smiled and lunged through the air at Rainbow Dash, who quickly flew up to avoid her. She led the life-sucking pony on a chase through the air as she tried to figure out her next move. The two of them wove around through the sky with Rainbow Dash purposefully making as erratic and difficult of a path to follow as possible to shake Heartless up. It was second nature to her to fly like this so she was able to do it without thinking at all. Unfortunately it wasn’t really that difficult for Heartless, who acted pretty much completely on instinct and followed her tightly. Even Godfrey and Blizzard didn’t fly like that. But there was nothing to distract Heartless. No other thoughts in her head. She apparently didn’t have to follow or move like something with wings either.

Her eyes couldn’t be torn away from Rainbow Dash’s colorful form and no matter how Rainbow banked and turned she was always right there behind her.

“Maybe I shouldn’t just be flying around in the sky?” Rainbow asked herself. Though it was her home, where she felt most alive, most natural and most at ease, the place she would want to fight anybody else in, against Heartless there wasn’t anything to help her.

Of course there wasn’t anything she could think of at all that would really work to stop Heartless for good. If she could trap her or tie her up somehow that might be the best she could do…

Rainbow Dash looked down at the mountains and jungle. If anything, she could at least make it harder for Heartless to get to her if she started flying through the thick trees down there. She might be able to fight back better too or find a weapon or tool. Repeatedly touching Heartless with her bare hooves was probably a bad idea. But she needed to do it at least one more time to get a little distance.

Quickly glancing over her shoulder, she saw Heartless right on her trail.

Rainbow Dash suddenly halted. Scrunched herself up. And bucked Heartless as hard as she could square in the chest when the pink pony failed to stop or move out of the way in time. There was a resounding crack and the feeling of her legs breaking something in Heartless’s body—for all that mattered—before the pony was launched away.

At the tail end of it, Rainbow Dash gasped for breath, suddenly feeling something slip away from her. A sweat broke out on her brow and her body trembled, lungs burning with imaginary exertion. It had been for just a second and Heartless hadn’t even touched her with her hooves, but some of Rainbow’s lifeforce had been drained away all the same in the brief contact. Heartless was being quicker with how she worked.

“Can’t let her… can’t let her touch me for real,” Rainbow Dash panted and swiftly started flying down to the jungle. “If it’s that bad just from that...”

Behind her, she could hear Heartless already coming for her again.

Comments

[Cosmic Potato]

Now I'm really wonder what's gonna happen, because I have no idea how to win in this situation.

[redmar]

From Amethyst's story I know there will be a Sonic Rainboom involved at some point but that might just be Rainbow's joy about getting rid of Heartless.