Swooping Pegasus

by FenrisianBrony

The Pegasus rides again

***

Equestria

***

“What was that all about?” Twilight asked. “I mean, I thought you said the war mask helped you fight better, not made you go crazy.”

“It does.” Rainbow nodded. “Makes us faster, lessens the restraints of morality to the point where victory comes first, makes us able to fight on through pain. That’s when it works perfectly. Mine doesn’t, it varies now as to whether or not I can control it, and I can’t keep it off if I do a Rainboom. They’ve even taken that from me, but I’ll get it back. I’ll train, and I will get better at controlling my mind.”

“So what happened next?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well…” Rainbow began, before the gauntlet on her right foreleg began to beep insistently, a small light flashing on it.

“What is that?” Luna asked curiously.

“An alarm.” Rainbow said, standing up and looking at the door. “I’ve got something to do, I’ll see you around.”

“But what about the story Sugarcube?” Applejack asked, getting up and walking beside Rainbow, the rest of the room’s occupants following her lead and walking beside Rainbow.

“I will, don’t worry.” Rainbow reassured them, reaching one of the palaces balconies. “Where did I come out again? It was the Wonderbolts stadium wasn’t it?”

“Yes it was. Why?” Celestia asked.

“Just got to be there in ooh…forty two seconds. Time is kind of a factor here, so I’ll have to cut this short. I’ll see you around.”

With that, Rainbow dived off of the balcony, spreading her wings as she soared across the city. It didn’t take her long, and soon she touched down in the stadium, taking a deep breathe in, smelling the history that had been made here, the records that had been set and broken on and above these hallowed grounds.

“Hey! You!” A voice called, and Rainbow glanced round to see a Pegasus stallion approaching her, his tank top doing little to hide the rippling muscles beneath. “What do you think you’re doing here?”

“I’ve got an asset coming, give me five minutes and I’ll be out of your mane.” Rainbow explained.

“Oh no, you’re coming with me.” The stallion said firmly. “You just broke into restricted area, you can answer to Captain Spitfire.”

“I already spoke to her when she offered me a place on the team.” Rainbow chuckled, before her face went hard. “But I’m not leaving, not until this happens.”

She gestured behind her as a small wind began to blow past her, her mane flowing in the new breeze. Slowly, a blue ball of energy began to materialise, growing until it covered Rainbow, before erupting in a flash of light that would be seen all over Canterlot. Grinning, Rainbow turned around to look at the thing that had just arrived.

“Rainbow?!” Twilight called, a small pop heralding her along with that of the rest of her friends and the princesses.

“Yeah, I’m right here.” Rainbow said in slight confusion. “Did you just teleport from the castle?”

“We saw the flash of light, we thought you had disappeared again.” Celestia explained. “Both Luna and I can teleport a lot further distances, it was not hard to bring the rest with us on a shorter jump.”

“So is that it?” Twilight asked eagerly, bouncing towards the object that had just appeared in the same way she did whenever she spoke about getting her cutie mark.

“Yep.” Rainbow nodded, laughing at the Unicorns antics. “One heavily modified Reaver Jetbike, twice the power of a normal one, armour stripped off to reduce weight allowing it to reach roughly double the speeds of other bikes, making it one of the fastest ground based vehicles on Saim-Hann, but it’s also weaker and less well armed.”

“How is it here?” Rarity asked, looking over the vehicle with a disapproving gaze.

“The Guardians and Solitaires convinced me to wait to send it through. They handled it for me.” Rainbow replied. “Now Rarity, what’s the problem with the bike?”

“Whatever do you mean darling?” Rarity asked, taken aback by the question.

“I know that look, you don’t like it do you?” Rainbow pressed. “I’ll admit that it’s not the most beautiful thing, but any non-essential plating had to go to get weight down.”

“I know, it’s just…” Rarity trailed off.

“Tell you what, when I’m done with this, the two of us will look it over, see if we can’t find a way to make it look nicer and keep the weight down.” Rainbow smiled, before throwing her leg over the bike.

“Where are you going?” Fluttershy asked softly.

“She needed time to calm down, but now I need to find her.” Rainbow replied, before slipping her helmet over her head, the eyes lighting up once more as it activated and synched with the rest of the armour. “I’ll meet you in Ponyville when I’m done. I don’t know how long it will take me to find her, or what will happen then, so don’t wait up.”

“Who is ‘she’?” Applejack shouted over the sound of the sound of the engines as they roared into life, but it was too late, and Rainbow had already sped off, quickly leaving the bounds of the city as she circled overhead, moving at speeds unlike anything any of the others had seen.

“Who is she?” Applejack repeated, looking at the others.

“I have no idea.” Twilight replied, shaking her head. “And who are these Guardians and Solitaires she’s talking about? Are they Eldar?”

“I guess we will just have to wait and ask her when she returns.” Celestia sighed. “You girls might as well return to Ponyville, I believe Rainbow may be gone for some time.”

***

Rainbow grinned as she flew through the sky, drawing looks of awe from ponies far below in the city, and scattering the few Pegasi who were flying around at this altitude. Activating her helmets ocular sensors, Rainbows vision split, giving her the odd feeling that always accompanied doing this. She had only done it a few times before, always in training, and certainly never going at these speeds, but if she wanted to find her quarry, she would need to become the hunters that the Swooping Hawks could be.

While the vision from her left eye remained the same, allowing her to keep the Jetbike moving properly, her right eyes vision zoomed in exponentially, the helmet allowing her to see farther than even her Pegasus eyesight allowed her to, to the point where she could pick out the faces of the ponies walking along the streets in Canterlot.

Grimacing, Rainbow began to flit from face to face, scanning the streets for similar colour patterns to the pony she was looking for, before checking closer on any of the ponies who matched her target. Every time though she found nothing, the ponies she picked out not being anything like her target, most of them weren’t even Pegasi.

Groaning, Rainbow hauled herself backwards, forcing her bike to come around to a new heading as she angled herself towards Cloudsdale. The Wonderbolts academy was near there, so it was possible that she was still in that city, failing that, Rainbow thought she had mentioned living near Los Pegasus when they had been at the academy together, so maybe she would be there.

It didn’t take long for her to reach Cloudsdale, the ancient city of the Pegasi filling her vision as she rushed towards it. Reaching the outskirts of the city, Rainbow touched down, startling ponies as she suddenly appeared from nowhere. She was about to get off, when the bike began to sink, and Rainbow quickly revved the engines bringing it back up. She realised that she couldn’t just leave the bike, but that didn’t matter to her that much.

Pressing a few buttons, Rainbow activated the engines on their lowest setting, giving it just enough power to stay above the cloud layer, before activating the security system and stepping off, her own ambient magic extending around her armour, and making sure that it didn’t sink through as well.

“Don’t touch.” Rainbow warned as a pair of ponies began looking at the bike with interest.

“What is it?” One of them asked, looking at Rainbow.

“Spooky alien technology.” Rainbow laughed, raising her forelegs above her head, before removing her helmet, attaching it to her waist. “Seriously though, don’t touch. Now,” she said, flapping her wings so she was above the majority of the crowd, “does anypony know of a pony called Lightning Dust, or know of anypony who would know her?”

“Is she the mare that was found fighting in Canterlot?” One pony asked.

“That’s the one.” Rainbow nodded.

“I saw her talking to Dumbbell a few days ago.” The pony continued.

“I need to see him then.” Rainbow replied, touching down in front of the Pegasus stallion.

“He lives on Mane Street. What…what do you want with him and this Lightning Dust?”

“Just talk, nothing more.” Rainbow smiled. “So…same place as always then. Thank you.”

With a nod, Rainbow took to the skies once more, turning towards Mane Street and touching down in front of her old school time bully’s home. She hadn’t been here much in the past, not having any reason to go there when she was a filly, but she had been there once or twice.

Walking towards the door, Rainbow knocked on its surface three times, the sound resonating around the building, and quickly saw results as she heard hoof steps from within. Eventually, the door was opened a crack, and Rainbow could see Dumbbell peering through the gap at her.

“What do you want?” He asked, his voice dripping with malice.

“I just want to talk to you.” Rainbow said calmly.

“Oh yeah, why should I talk to you?” He spat.

“Well for one thing, you shouldn’t really be holding anything against me due to the fact you attacked me, not the other way round. I warned you, but you didn’t stop.” Rainbow reasoned. “For another, I’ve heard you know where Lightning Dust is, and I need to speak to her.”

“What, so you can get her kicked out of something else?”

“You know about that then?” Dash asked glumly.

“Of course, she told me after she cleared out her locker. Said she was sorry for what had happened and getting me tied up in it.”

“Let me in, please. We can talk this out like adults, not foals, but we can’t do that through a door.

Relenting, Dumbbell pushed the door slightly closed, before removing the chain holding it shut and allowing the door to swing open. Rainbow sighed as she got a good look at Dumbbell, the pony wincing slightly as he made his way back towards what Rainbow assumed to be his living room. His entire chest area was surrounded by bandages, but Rainbow reassured herself that it could have been worse, and at least he had escaped without getting in a body cast.

Letting the door swing closed behind her, Rainbow followed her fillyhood bully into the living room, looking at one of the couches, but staying standing.

“Have a seat if you want.” He said simply, lowering himself onto another one.

“I’m fine.” Rainbow replied. “Just tell me where Lightning Dust is please.”

“Fine.” He relented. “Lightning said she wanted to go home, see her folks and talk things out with them.”

“How was she?” Rainbow asked.

“She seemed upset, but then what can you do, somepony got her kicked out of the Wonderbolts.”

“I didn’t mean to.” Rainbow enunciated slowly. “Just tell me where abouts she lives and I’ll get out of your mane.”

“She said it was north of Los Pegasus, somewhere near the Mount Turg in the Cawstone Mountain range.” Dumbbell explained. “That’s all I know. She didn’t exactly draw me a map.”

“Thank you Dumbbell.” Rainbow nodded, turning to leave.

“Hey, Rainbow?” He asked, getting to his hooves with another wince of pain.

“I’m sorry about that.” Rainbow grimaced, looking down at his chest.

“I deserved it.” He said softly, before sliding a hoof around her neck. “No, what I wanted to say was…I'm sorry.”

“What was that?” Rainbow asked, not sure she heard properly.

“I said…I'm sorry.” He mumbled once more.

“One more time?” Rainbow asked.

“I SAID I’M SORRY!” He snapped.

“Whoa whoa whoa, calm down, I didn’t mean to push you.” Rainbow said softly. “Now, what are you sorry about? Attacking me? I think you’ve paid for that.” She pointed to his chest.

“No, I mean for everything we did as kids back at flight camp, both me and Hoops.” He said glumly. “We were real arses back then.”

“Honestly, if you can put it out there like that and say you’re sorry, that’s good enough for me.” Rainbow smiled.

“You mean it? I mean, we didn’t exactly let up much.” Dumbbell pressed.

“Listen Dumbbell, spend a few years getting shot at and having your arse handed to you literally, seriously, if I wanted the probably would have given me back my arse. It puts everything into perspective. If I can forgive a soldier who tried to kill me because he surrendered, I think I can forgive you.” She chuckled.

“You mean it?” He asked with a smile of his own.

“Sure thing.” Rainbow nodded. “So all’s well between us?”

“It’s a lot off my chest.” He chuckled.

“Yeah, in your condition I’d want stuff off my chest as well.” Rainbow laughed, before walking towards the door. “Thanks for the help. If you see Lightning before me, tell her I want to talk to her.”

With that, Rainbow turned and quickly left the house, taking to the sky as she turned towards where she had left her Jetbike. By now, a large crowd had gathered around the bike, a few getting close to it as Rainbow pushed her way to the front.

“Excuse me! Coming through!” She shouted, before finally getting to the front of the crowd.

“Is that the Element of Loyalty?” One mare asked.

“No stupid, she disappeared ages ago.” Another called out.

“Don’t you read the news? She came back. Saved Ponyville from a load of Manticores.” The first one replied.

“Ponies, stop fighting.” Rainbow order, throwing a leg over her bike and attaching her helmet once more. “I am Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty. Does that stop the argument?”

Without waiting to hear their reply, Rainbow throttled up, making sure to take off slowly so as to not catch any bystanders with her blades, before reaching the open sky and opening the throttle close to the max, shooting forward. She was still careful to keep some back though, not wanting to reach Rainboom speeds just before what was already going to be a fairly delicate conversation. Doing it with the war mask on would make it impossible, not to mention the damage it would do to her mind if she put it on again.

Once more, Rainbow sped across the landscape of Equestria, dropping until she was only just above the ground. It was odd, but when she was moments from a possible fiery death and moving at speeds beyond what she once thought possible, she felt more alive than ever.

Quickly reaching the Cawstone Mountain range, Rainbow shot into a valley, her engine roaring as the sound reverberated off of the rock walls all around her. She cheered to herself, only to have the sound snatched away as the wind took a hold of it. This was flying, split second decisions between life and death, throttle up half a percent or down one percent? That would be all it took to make or break a turn, and if she got it wrong, she would no longer be a Swooping Pegasi, but Rainbow Jam.

Shaking her head and letting out a sigh, Rainbow decide to pull up, slowing down as she did so. No matter how much she liked going fast, she wasn’t here for personal kicks. Maybe she could attempt Ghastly Gorge on the bike at some later stage, but right now, she was searching for something, and up here.

“Ah well. At least it won’t be hard to find a pony up here.” Rainbow muttered to herself.

***

Two Hours Later

***

“Stupid stupid stupid.” Rainbow cursed as she scanned Mount Turg for what felt like the hundredth time. “I just had to say it didn’t I? That’s just asking the universe to bitch slap me. Stupid idiot.”

Leaning back in her saddle, Rainbow brought the Jetbike to a halt, removing her helmet and allowing the bracing mountain winds to blow through her mane. She sighed to herself as she lazily looked down, suddenly catching sight of a snatch of turquoise and orange. Double checking, Rainbow smiled to herself. Slowing down may have had its uses after all.

Quickly, she pushed the engines forward, pointing the nose towards the ground, quickly pulling up beside the pony and getting off her bike, coming face to face with Lightning Dust once more.

“Rainbow Dash.” She nodded, not betraying any emotion in her voice.

“We need to talk.”

Comments

[FenrisianBrony]

4073341
Thanks, it wasn't my idea though. Someone else actually gave me the push I needed to metaphorically get off my arse and make the make the group.
Glad you're still enjoying it though

[ShadowHunter241]

Also...
pinkie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/rsz/mlfw10781_small.jpg

[Maxxarcade]

Rainbow's gonna get so many diseases from all that blood

But in all seriousness, this story has been epic. I don't normally read anything with gore, but this has been worth it. Though I hope that she can live a happy life once everything settles down.

[FenrisianBrony]

4073701
...there's a sequel.

[dashybrony2012]

Good story really enjoyed it hope there's more

[Shameless]

4073739
A.... bucking... sequel?
You sir..... are a God among bronies...

[Icy_Breeze]

One question:
Which is faster; Dash or her bike? Also, would she still be getting the 3+ armour save?

[FenrisianBrony]

4076104
The bike is easily faster than Dash, and yes she still gets the save because she's still wearing aspect armour while on the bike.

[Icy_Breeze]

k. Just that for windrider squadrons the armour save comes from the bike itself, and I'm not sure if reaver jetbikes count as 3+ seeing as how I can't find my delfdar codex atm.

[FenrisianBrony]

4076115
Reaver's have a 5+ armour save because their pilots only wear thing body suits like the Wyches, due to the fact they are affiliated with Wych cults most of the time. I know the codex says that it's the bike that gives them the save, but I've never really seen that, as if you get shot in the head, it will be your armour that saves you, not the bike.

[the other sans]

taking a deep breathe in
Rainbow nodded, laughing at the Unicorns antics
Activating her helmets ocular sensors
Rainbows vision split
her right eyes vision zoomed in exponentially
The Wonderbolts academy was near there

1. Breath.
2. Unicorn's.
3. Helmet's.
4. Rainbow's.
5. Eye's.
6. Wonderbolt's.

[SyberSqueegy]

“Listen Dumbbell, spend a few years getting shot at and having your arse handed to you literally, seriously, if I wanted the probably would have given me back my arse. It puts everything into perspective. If I can forgive a soldier who tried to kill me because he surrendered, I think I can forgive you.” She chuckled.

Something be wrong with this paragraph.