Becoming Rainbow Dash: A Tale of Two Worlds

by Freescript the Bard

Watching the Sun as it Starts to Go Down

<> Day 4 <>

"MARKUS!!!"

"Aaugh!" The over-loud shout bolted me into the waking world, causing me to nearly fall off the bit of cloud I was napping on. I had brought the puff of cumulus I brought to the factory for other potential pegasi who might have found their way here. "Tara, what gives?! That was the best sleep I had all week!"

"Heh, sorry. It's hard to control the Royal Canterlot Voice," the dark alicorn said abashedly. "You slept through dinner… again."

Jeeze, I never slept this much during the day. Must be my pegasus metabolism. "Heh, yeah, sorry. I'll be down in a minute."

Tara shrugged her wings and began moving away. "I left the tray in your room. Have a good night, Markus"

I raised my brows, confused. "You're leaving?"

She paused at the double-door entrance, sighing. "However much we would like to stay and do what we can to help you, Lauren and I still have our respective loved ones. Right now, I would say that their company is the best thing for us, currently."

I smile at her. Having had a significant other before, I could relate. "I suppose. G'night!" As Tara exited the factory, I flipped over the edge of the cloud, keeping my wings open as I landed perfectly on all four hooves. Best flier in Equestria and Earth. No competition. The thought made me take a moment's pause. For a second, I thought I sounded a little out of character.

Probably just being paranoid… Shrugging off my quirk, I took wing and flew up to the second story, where the hall windows were left open. So precise was my maneuvering that I was able to glide through without pause, silently thanking my implanted instincts and small frame.

When I landed in my room, I stopped to think. Small frame… I hadn't really taken the time to examine my own body since this whole thing started; the only time I had truly glanced in the mirror was back in Wisconsin, and I was in a bit of a panic mode then.

Remembering there was a mirror on the backside of the door, I closed it, waving to Twilight in the hall before it shut. From there, I backed up a few paces and stared at the glass.

Whoa. The pony that looked back at me was definitely not what I had expected. Surprisingly, I didn't look drawn or animated at all, as if I was a living organism. My cyan coat was smooth, naturally matted down over my skin and, at first glance, appeared to be entirely whole. My wings looked, well, like wings. There isn't much to say about that, dispite my compulsive preening.

The first time I preened happened by accident. I had been telling Saw Blade about my hometown the day before, when suddenly I took true notice of the itch in my wings. In reality, I had been trying to ignore it since I woke up that morning, but it was getting harder and harder. Finally, when the mare was commenting on something I said, I gave in to my impulse and began to nose the grit and oils out of my feathers with the tip of my muzzle, simultaneously realigning skewed primaries. Yet when I became aware that my sanitary activity was being watched, I immediately excused myself to continue in solitude.

Continuing my once-over of Rainbow Dash's body, I paused over my flank. The cutie mark of the cloud and rainbow-bolt seemed to be composed of the same hair that made up my cyan coat. However, there was no evidence to suggest dyes or coloring were involved. I wonder if anypony knows how that works.

Yet the most intriguing feature of my host form was the mane and tail. Unlike the show, the colors were blended together, each fading into the next without a break in the hues. I took notice that Rainbow Dash's mane was styled so that, while flying at high speeds, the red-through-yellow bangs would merge with the green-through-purple part, creating an entire spectrum.

All-in-all, I was indeed Rainbow Dash. It's like looking at a stranger… but why do I feel like this is how I'm supposed to appear? Is the thought of being human again that alien to me?

Turing away from the mirror, I stared at the ruby necklace in my desk. Next to it, was my dinner of a tossed salad and a few assorted berries. As if on cue, a voracious growl emitted from my stomach. Yikes, I completely forgot about that. I hopped up to the chair, sliding the tray closer with my hoof.

However, just as I'm about to take my first bite, I glimpsed the view outside the window. Actually, this is as warm as it's going to get for a while. Nice weather for a cloud-meal. Carpe Diem.

Standing on the desk, I push open the window. On a whim, I flipped the Element of Loyalty into the air and caught it on my neck. Even though it has a magical homing device, I'd rather be safe than sorry on the off chance Discord decides to pull something. With the tray of food in my teeth, I flew out the window, careful not to let anything spill into the foaming waters below.

Really, if there's one thing they don't specify about pegasus magic, it's that we can transfer cloud-solidity to inanimate objects in an immediate vicinity. And given that our world has a massive untapped pool of magical energy, I could probably do that with a large house. There was probably a way to make it permanent, but I didn't have the attention span to figure out how.

Plucking a small chunk of cloud from a cumulus, I brought it lower to the ground and set my tray on it, imagining my energy wrapping around the dinner. With a ravenous hunger, I buried my muzzle in the edible stuff, scarfing it down, not caring about the taste.

When everything had been masticated, I sat back on the cloudstuff and looked out over the water, the sun casting a warm glow over the Atlantic. The wind off the sea blew through my mane, giving the feeling of accelerating flight even though I was at rest. I felt like I belonged there, in the sky, laying against a pillow of pure white, the sounds of New York muffled by the breeze and distance.

Maybe… turning into a pony isn't all bad… With that thought, my contentment lulled me into a sense of security and comfort, and I passed out into a deep slumber.

~+~+~+~

Discord, the master of chaos and disharmony, was now snoozing on the sofa, occasionally stirring. John de Lancie accredited this to an extraneous use of power to fuel both the calendar spell, as well as the incantation that was effectively changing ordinary Bronies into pony counterparts. Why else would an all-powerful god need rest? Or perhaps he is just doing so because it doesn't make any sense to, pondered de Lancie.

John looked from his counterpart back to the screens. There was worldwide panic about the change in the number of days in a week, as per the plan. Most were blaming it on divine wrath, as punishment for humanity's crimes along with the ponyfications. Some, like a newly-formed terror organization, blamed the ponies directly for it, especially those suspicious of magic and such. So far, the most accurate theory, unsurprisingly, had come from the Brony fan-base itself. The theory that Discord had come to Earth.

John chuckled as he read through the threads. "How predictable, that the collective being targeted knows better." He sipped a small bit of Merlot from a tornado-shaped glass. A run crossed his face. "Perhaps… I can make a little chaos myself, humanity-style."

With that, John de Lancie punched a number in a keypad, putting a headset on. The sound of a phone ringing came through, and was soon cut off by a heavy Eurasian accent. "Speak," the foreign voice said.

"Silas, how good to hear your Ukrainian voice once again," greeted de Lancie. "Do you prefer being called 'Silas'? Or would you rather I call you… Mr. Silence?"

There was no reply for a while. "It shall be done, Mr. De Lancie. Now, if you will pardon me, I have an organization to run."

Comments

[SunsetyDays]

Okay, so are you able to do the collab chapter in a few minutes?

[XrosOver]

preening sounds really difficult....though I don't see how somepony could get dirt in their wings...eh I just haven't seen it before but all in all looking forward to the next chapter.

[Masterweaver]

That last bit makes no sense to me, what are you referencing?

[SunsetyDays]

1554684 I'm pretty sure by the name, he's a hitman.

[YosherStar]

1553838 If I had to guess about the grime, I'd say it's probably like sweat, or dust. Not everything floating around is air, mostly.

[The Thoughtful]

Wow. Believe it or not, human-turned-pony-but-still-on-Earth is my absolute favourite genre. And now, there's an entire group all about them! How wonderful.

Now, your story! There are two things which I absolutely must see in a great story.

- Top-notch grammar, punctuation and spelling
- Realism

You have managed to portray both of those traits excellently. It actually makes me somewhat envious. This is the sort of story that is so immersive that I want to experience it myself! Remind me to practice a little metamorphosis the next time I have a lucid dream…

Great fiction, great chapter; looking forward to more!

[XrosOver]

wow...it took me days to realize the chapter titles are the lyrics of "Loyalty".

[blazikenking]

I know I've heard of the name Silas before, but I can't remember from where.

[Red Bomber]

Darn I was really hoping he could help, but it looks like it's not the case. Also Markus should've at least talked to the Twilight that was there and actually spend some time with the others.

[metallusionsismagic]

There isn't much to say about that, dispute my compulsive preening.

Except for? Despite? Besides?
The connections and intentions of de Lancie continue to surprise me.

[Pinklestia]

Oh, Q wants to have some fun?

[Rainbowdash4]

did you know john de lancie was in saving private ryan, not a bad movie

[ShadeBlitz]

Those last two paragraphs... HOW THE HELL!? damn psychics...

[Autum Breeze]

Okay. I'm starting to think rainbow and Markus' minds are starting to merge.

As what what happened at the end there.... Huh?

[ShadyCanopy]

So, I go back in order to reread this... And I realize this is where Mr. Silence came from... This is some really early foreshadowing, ya know?