When It All Falls Apart

by KErlend

Streaks of Color

*Rainbow Dash Chapter*

---

The wind blew through my mane, my tail flapping in the wind, my wings creating a slow beating. A small weight pulled at my middle area. A basket hung below me, swaying in the wind. In it, Opal, Winona, and Angel all lay in it, in various states of consciousness. Gummy had his jaw clamped firmly on the end of my tail. Tank and Owloysius were flying on either side of me, Philomeena behind me. They were kind of slowing me down. But I shouldn't complain. I had it easiest out of anyone of our group, easily. The Infected couldn't really fly, considering their wings were torn up. So I didn't have to deal with them. I hadn't made it to the tunnels yet because I got a little side tracked, thanks to Owloysius.

He had flown off yesterday. Unfortunately I hadn't realized until about maybe an hour later. Then Tank had done his best to explain it to me. So I had to backtrack. But I won't complain. It may have been for the better that Owloysius had flown off. Where she had flown off to might prove useful in the future.

I flew back to find her, grumbling, mostly to myself, about all the lost time. I surveyed the ground below, half for signs of Owloysius and half just to see the damage. Infected littered the ground. As far as I could see there weren't any survivors, at least not here. I tried to think of where I was. It seemed to be a path. After I thought about it for a minute, I realized it must've been between Ponyville and Manehatten. How'd I get so blown off course? Yesterday I was following the path from Ponyville to Canterlot. That's where the only tunnel hatch I know of is. Great, I'm really gonna have to backtrack. That's at least an extra day's flying. My mind was snapped back into focus by a loud shriek from below. A handful of infected were wandering around the area. I ignored them and kept flying.

Eventually I spotted Owloysius. He was circling a building. "Owloysius, why the buck did you fly off? You're lucky Tank was watching out for you, or we'd all be in the tunnels without you."

"Who" was the response I got. He then flew lower towards the building. About halfway through his descent he turned around, like I was supposed to be following. So I did a quick dive to the entrance to the building. When I got there Owloysuis looked towards the door. I gave a sigh and opened the door. It gave a loud creak, like it hadn't been used in a while. I looked in to see pure darkness. I reached my hoof into the darkness and off to the side looking for a light switch. When I finally found one, I flipped it up. What I saw astounded me.

A series of conveyor belts and machinery filled a wide open room. Moving down the conveyor belts were metal boxes. What were in them is anypony's guess. But what really got me startled was that Philomeena was trapped in a sort of glass dome. Every 30 seconds or so, she would flare up. The edges of the dome would absorb the energy from her. I guess it was for the machines. I didn't care. I immediately ran up to the dome. I blindly bucked it with my rear legs. The glass shattered slightly, cracks spreading on it. As I reared up for another shot, Philomeena flared up again. I broke the glass with a second buck, shards flying everywhere. The energy shot out of the dome in small bolts in every direction. Philomeena was somehow unharmed. She spread her wings out and shot up into the air. She flew out the open door. I followed, flanked by Tank and Owloysius. As I flew out, the machines stopped. Guess I was right about her powering the machines.

I shook the memory from my head and focused on the skies ahead. A few clouds were floating lazily in the breeze. Other than that, nothing. I began to whistle a random tune. I observed the landscape below and the sky around me. I figured I was about halfway between Ponyville and Canterlot. The hatch I was looking for was near the city limits of Canterlot. I calculated it was about an hour of flight time, two hours tops. So I continued my flight lazily along, making sure my companions could keep up. I looked down to make sure all three of the pets were still in the basket. Thankfully, they were. Opal and Winona were asleep, Angel just kind of sitting there. I looked back to see Gummy still firmly clamped onto my tail, the same blank look in his eyes as always. I gave a small sigh of relief.

After about an hour of flight, I was within half an hour of the city limits. I decided to pick out a random cloud and cherish some relaxation. It could be the last time I get to nap on a cloud... I flew over to one of the larger clouds and laid down on my back. I just stared into the blue sky, the basket still hanging from me. Tank, Owloysius, and Philomeena had taken a nearby cloud and were stretching out, obviously grateful for a break. I just closed my eyes until the blissful embrace of sleep overcame me.

***

I dreamed of the old times.

First was the Best Young Fliers Competition. It was just like last time. Me breaking down from fear of losing. Rarity's wings were even more extravagant than last time, like real pegasus wings. Only more like the Princesses' wings. Everything else was the same. Rarity's wings disintegrating, the Wonderbolts failed attempt at saving her, and my successful Sonic Rainboom. Celestia declaring me winner, and flying off to spend the day with the Wonderbolts

Then it was the Running of the Leaves. Me and AJ's simple competition. Then how it became a huge deal. Finally the Running of the Leaves. Me and AJ cheating back and forth. Twilight winning (or coming in fifth technically). The Princess coming, then me and AJ figuring it out and going back through the forest.

The Gala came next. But this is where things got a little weird. Instead of all the guests that should have been there, there weren't any. Only me, Twi, Pinkie, Fluttershy, AJ, Rarity and Princess Celestia. And instead of the Wonderbolts, it was the Shadowbolts.

That whole ordeal with finding a pet. They were all bloody, except for Tank. They almost looked Infected. But they flew the same.

Then Discord and NIghtmare Moon. Same as when it happened. It was still blank between the hedge maze and Ponyville during the whole Discord incident. These two flashback-dreams were in more detail than the rest.

And the final- and strangest- of them: my time in the hospital. Instead of other hospital patients, they were Infected. And when I read the book that was supposed to be Daring Do, it recollected the past few days for me.

***

I woke with a start. A loud scream echoed through the valley-type area I was in. I shook my head to clear my mind. Was that scream just my imagination? I listened for a couple minutes and heard nothing. I checked on my fellow travelers. They were all sleeping quietly. I laid my head back down on the soft cushioning of the cloud. I stared back up at the sky. We should leave soon. I sat up and gave my arms and wings a stretch. Then I jumped off the cloud and flew towards Tank, Owloysius, and Philomeena's cloud at a slightly lethargic pace. I shook them awake. "C'mon guys." I yawned. "Let's get moving. We're really close. Half an hour, hour tops." I flew away slowly. I soon heard three more wingbeats join the sound of mine.

We moved through the quiet landscape. There were strangely no Infected below us. I thought I saw some once, but there were only a few and they weren't moving. Dead, I guess. A few feet after that there was a small crater in the ground, colored black. But I just shrugged and flew on.

Flying was nice. A slight breeze had picked up. It gave this place a sense of serenity. Sure, this place was no where close to it. But this moment made me feel safe. It took all my worries away. I had no care in the world. If I could freeze any moment in time and stay there, that'd be it. I did a small spin. Then a loop. I laughed. I hadn't felt this good in days. I felt like I could do anything. I did a few tricks, not worrying about my destination. Only this point right here. Feeling good as long as possible was my current goal. Tank, Owloysius, and Philomeena flapped in a stationary position mid-air. They watched me with a curious look. And then I heard another scream. This one was more high-pitched, more unearthly. I stopped my tricks and looked at my airborne companions. They obviously had heard it as well, I could tell by their worried glances. I looked around for the source of the scream.

There! I saw a speck of blue on the otherwise green landscape. I did a quick dip and moved in to get a better look at what was down there. As I approached, I realized it was two ponies. I couldn't tell who they were or whether or not they were infected yet. I moved in at a quickening speed. I soon saw a torn Wonderbolts uniform on one of the figures. I doubled my speed. Soon I saw that the other figure was an Infected, a new breed, at least to me. It had one long tentacle protruding from where a unicorn's horn would normally be. It had the Wonderbolt lashed to the ground. I did a quick run through in my head of what I was gonna do. Then I put it into action.

"Gummy, into the basket now!" I swung my tail towards it. He let go and landed in the middle of it. Then I grabbed the rope attached to the basket. I lifted it over my head and threw it in one quick motion. "Tank, Owloysius, catch!" Tank grabbed the rope with his mouth, Owloysius with his talons. "Philomeena, follow me!" The phoenix quickly sped next to me. "When I say, slice through the tentacle that's holding down the Wonderbolt." She gave a small nod. I sped ahead of her purposely. I flew straight in front of the Infected, blocking its view of the Wonderbolt. Once I knew it had seen me, I flew off. As expected, it turned its head to follow my movements. "Now!"

A blinding light burst through the tentacle. The Infected screamed in pain, the same scream from before. I quickly flew at it. I grabbed it and ascended with it. It was still screaming in pain, trying its best to kick me. I braved through until I was about 200 feet up. I made sure nothing was in my vicinity on the ground. Just as it opened its mouth to bite me, I released it. It quickly plummeted. After watching it fall about halfway towards the ground, I began my descent. I put both hooves forward. My mouth flapped in the wind. The cone formed around me, and I broke it just before hitting the ground. At the same time the Infected hit the ground. When I made contact with earth, a bright flash of the six colors of rainbows blinded me. Red smoke was all around me when my vision cleared. I waited for it to clear.

I stood in a small crater. Nothing was left of the Infected except an indent in the ground. A little overkill, I suppose. But whatever. I looked over to where the assault had started. The Wonderbolt had stood up and was walking over towards me slowly. I could tell by the way he walked that he was in pain. I got my bearings, making sure my legs worked right. Last time I had performed a Sonic Rainnuke on Applejack's barn, it took me a few minutes to be able to move correctly. I tested a leg, then the others. I seemed alright. I walked towards the Wonderbolt. I could now tell it was none other than Soarin, one of the only two Wonderbolts who actually talked to me and the Gala a few years back. His uniform was torn in various places, worst of all were his wings. One of them was bent at an unnatural angle. Both were bleeding.

"Well I've never seen anything like that before." He cringed and stopped walking. He looked at me and looked me over. "I know you! You're that mare that not only won the Best Young Fliers Competition, but saved me there as well. Now I guess you've saved me twice. Never did catch your name."

"Rainbow Dash. What happened to your wing?"

"Eh, I got attacked two days ago. Haven't been able to fly ever since. I escaped that attack. Didn't have any But then got attacked again, as you saw. I have no idea where to go."

I perked up at this opportunity. "You can come with me. I know the location of one of the hatches into the underground tunnels, the safe zone."

He looked me over, mulling my offer over in his head. "Okay. How long till we're there?"

I began walking towards where I was flying. Philomeena was flying above us, Tank and Owloysius carrying the basket above us. "Depends. You know how far off Canterlot is from here?"

"About five minutes or so. Why?"

"Because that's how far off we are from the hatch." I smiled at him, and continued walking.

It actually took us ten minutes, on account of Soarin's injuries. But I found the hatch. I opened it, and let Soarin in first. I helped lower him down, then lowered the pets in. I jumped down, pulling the lid closed behind me. The corridor below was lit by lights along the walls.

We made our way down some twists, me leading with Soarin behind me. Eventually we found a door guarded by two royal guards. Ironically the same ones that had accompanied the Princess on her last trip that I made laugh. But they let us in without any problems.

Soon I was telling the Princess what I knew. Another pony listened as well. He wrote down something on a notepad when I recounted the part about the factory. After the Princess dismissed me, I thought of going to meet Pinkie. According to the Princess, she was the only one down here besides myself. But I decided to investigate that pony who had been listening in.

I found him tacking a piece if note paper to a board. He looked at me as I walked in. "What do you want?"

"Answers." I responded. "Why were you taking notes on what I was saying?"

"I've been hired by the Princess to go out and track down the group that caused this, The End. I would already be gone if it wasn't for your friend. She's a little hyper isn't she? Anyways, I'm compiling everything we have so far. All I've got is a radio broadcast your friend overheard and your factory. Hopefully I'll be able to narrow my search."

"Ah. Ask me if you need help." He nodded, so I left.

I went and checked on Soarin. He was getting patched up. The doctor said he'd be able to fly in a few days if he stayed off of it. I told him to come see me so we could talk later. He gave me a smile. I returned it, then left him to rest.

Next was Pinkie. I grabbed Gummy, and went off to where she was at. When I found her, she was talking to a royal guard in the usual Pinkie manner. When I said something, she immediately ran up and hugged me. The guard looked relieved to have some silence. I grinned, and then me and Pinkie caught up.