Chapter 1
A flash of prismatic color streaked the clear blue sky, high above Equestria. It was dotted subtly with some large puffy white clouds that accented nicely with the fresh blanket of snow that fell overnight and covered the land below. The wind brushed wisps of tiny diamond dust snow puffs that shimmered in the morning sun until it came to rest on a soft bed of plush ice.
The rainbow line cut through the cold air like a hot white knife leaving a multicolored gash through the blue and white. Rainbow Dash flew in a straight line; without dips, dives or rolls high over Equestria, level with the mountain tops. The normal banks and loops that accompanied her regular flights, missing from the picture. A very depressed Dash flew forward. Just... forward.
There was no destination. She was on her way home, but her mind began to wander and she flew right on past. It would be too painful to go home right now and her trip became an homage to nowhere. Her flight kept her thoughts clear and her face expressionless, as if deviating from the current path would bring back the sadness.
For hours she flew away from her pain and soared past her sorrows. She didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to think about how there was no one home to greet her. Her eyes grew blurry with moisture and she blinked it away, refusing to think about it.
She flew on refusing to think about how when she finally did get back, she wouldn't hear the whir of a tiny helicopter from behind the door as she landed on the stoop. She wouldn't open the door to receive a smile and lick across the face from her favorite airborne reptile.
Tears welled up in her eyes and a few dripped down one cheek and were whisked into the air and her jetstream.
Rainbow would have no one to tackle and give a playful noogie before he slipped into the safety of his shell. She'd have no one to take out for a walk, like she did every day after she got home from leading the weather team.
Rainbow Dash started to pick up speed as she sniffled back the tears.
There wouldn't be anyone home tonight for her to enjoy a meal with, nor a nice warm coco by her little fireplace. There wouldn't even be a stupid green boulder of a pet waiting outside the door for her to trip over every time she walked out of the shower.
Rainbow clenched her eyes tightly, her wings beating frustratingly faster as if she could outrun her pain. She barely realized that she had begun to dive.
She missed Tank. She missed how much time they spent together. She missed how much trouble they'd get into. She missed how they always had each other, no matter what, but now he was asleep and he would be for a long time.
The thought pained Rainbow immensely and she fought against the pain, flying faster and faster. The wind whipped her winter coat and a cone of light began to wrap itself around her as she pushed to escape her reality. Rainbow was lonely.
Steeped in sadness Rainbow Dash broke through the barrier that held her back. Her unintentional sonic rainboom exploded high above Equestria. The shockwave of blended light cascaded out in a ring with wild winds that shot outward and down kicking up snow all the way on the ground. Dash whizzed past mountain peeks and stripped them of their white peaks, leaving them barren and it snowed down over the earth for the second time that day.
In a half panic, she threw on her breaks. Dash opened her wings to create as much drag as she could. She strained to hold her wings steady as her body lost control over her flight path. The pegasus grit her teeth trying to right herself and correct her bearings but her body was in a downward spiral she couldn’t overcome. The earth loomed and she had slowed only just enough that she could barely back pedal her wings, but it was not enough and Rainbow impacted the earth, sliding face first over the snow. She carved a trough into the freshly fallen powder that whipped up into a flurry around her crashed form.
With a face full of frozen powder, she laid there under the snow feeling out her body mentally and was glad to not find anything too immediately painful, so she tried to move. Rainbow popped her aching head out of the pile of snow and shook it loose from her mane. The dizziness subsided and the world became clearer, but she still heard a noise in the back of her mind. Her mental acuity returned to her and she quickly recognized the sound.
Rainbow tapped the side of her head once and then turned to see what it was. Off in the distance, way back from where she came, the remnants of the sonic rainboom still glowed in the sky. Within the center of the circular gradients of spectacular prismatic color, a small dot of a form fell. Dash with the eagle eyes of a pegasus focused on the falling object that was, screaming?
It was. It was the thing making the loud horrified noise that echoed through the mountain range and across the valley. It was brightly colored and falling, flailing and twirling very quickly towards the ground.
She didn’t hesitate. Rainbow Dash sprung into action. She spun in place and was off like a shot through the air in a heartbeat. Her powerful wings thrust her forwards as her hooves just barely graced the frozen ground, propelling her forwards. Rainbow was kicking up tufts of loose snow, but the thing was still falling. There was too much distance to overcome. The fastest mare in Equestria hadn’t gained any ground as she strode as fast as she could to intercept the falling mass of limbs and colorful fabric that whipped in the wind.
She wasn't going to make it. The distance was too great, the fall too fast, but there was still time. She’d be damned if she didn’t give it her all to try and catch whatever fell from such a height. Was it her fault to begin with? Dash shook the question off. Her athlete’s focus returned to her and focused out everything unnecessary to the task at hoof. She had to get there. She just had too and that’s all there was to it.
With her resolve renewed, she poured on the speed. She sprinted along the ground, throwing her body forward with all the force her hooves could muster. Her powerful wings, honed for their speed thrust her ever faster. Her entire body was a machine built for speed. Each hoof step dug in past the snow and left indents in the frozen earth as she hurtled at full gallop at the falling creature. She still wasn’t going to make it. She knew it, but wasn’t about to let it beat her.
Rainbow looked back up at it. Was it headed towards her? The orange and black thing was soaring at her? Still she ran to where it might land, fearing for its safety. She wasn’t sure but it seemed to be gliding in her direction, it wasn’t falling straight down anymore. It was gliding and slowly changed the fall in her direction. She was gaining now. She could get to it. Or it could get to her, she wasn’t sure anymore but her momentum never ceased.
She got ready now, She judged its trajectory and reached near where she was sure it would fall, Rainbow launched upwards at her target, ready to catch it. It was the only thing on her mind. She was going to do it. She was going to make it. Her heart soared as fast as she did. Closer and closer she came now, and she could see it. It was mostly orange and seems to have black wings, but they weren’t like a bird or pegasus wing. It was more like a flying squirrel that Fluttershy kept at her cottage. Its wings were attached at its sides and to its outstretched limbs.
Rainbow nearly caught up to it now, darting straight for it in an intercept path. It was still falling too far for some giant squirrel to land safely, but then it stopped. The big orangey black squirrel thing halted mid air. She looked above it and there was this big umbrella thing tied to the creature. It had stopped mid air and Rainbow was moving too quickly to stop.
“WHOA! Watch out,” She cried out to it, but she was sure that even she couldn’t evade herself flying at such a speed. She tackled the being with an “Ooof” that sent them both reeling. Rainbow Dash somehow managed to tangle herself against the thing, caught in some rope that she couldn’t break free of and as she tried to dislodge herself she realised they were falling and tumbling and that she was soon wrapped up like a spider’s web of coils and ropes and soon became a cocoon of bright orange canvas plummeting downward.