Chapter One
The Curse of Rainbow Dash
by Damocles23
Sometimes in her little world that nopony else could see, a little, bugging part of the fastest flier of Equestria would make itself be heard and put the pegasus in front of a question, the question: Is this all worth it?
It was no mystery that realizing a dream, especially that dream of hers, would be paid in blood, sweat and tears (and Dash always hoped the blood part would remain metaphorical...) and since that, blue and golden became a recurring element in her life, the symbol of everything she was worth and aspired, she knew in her heart to be fully prepared to pay it. But that little part of her brain didn’t always agree, always asking that question whether her efforts were enough or would be repaid, often flashing before her eyes and paired with the aching wing muscles after a long day of training.
Is this all worth it, Rainbow Dash? What if you’re just not good enough for them? asked her inner voice. It always had a long speech prepared, each word masterfully crafted to hit her weak spots.You’re always showing offSonic Rainbooms and guts left and right, but do you think the Wonderbolts would even care? They’re the best stuntpony team for a reason, right?
The thought of Spitfire and Soarin shadowing her deeds with tales of monster slaying and time traveling deeply unsettled her and, at the same time, gave her a push into the dangerous terrain of overdoing things. A trait of hers that she knew deep down was unhealthy and unpleasant, but still something she could cling to in those times she was truly desperate, as one last, dirty ace in her sleeve. If she ever wore sleeves, of course. Never wear anything that’s not aerodynamic enough; one simple way of life to follow, if there ever was one.
Then came that fateful day. Or the days at the Wonderbolt Academy, and her little world turned and everything was beautiful.
The golden pin on her chest and the trainees of the Wonderbolt Academy, fawning over her and following in her polychromatic trail in the magnificent sky of Equestria begged to differ to the little bummer worm that lived inside her, dissipating the dark shadows of doubts and finally answering the question with a vibrant, glorious:
YES, IT WAS! NOW SHUT UP!!!
And that little, nagging voice complied, crouching itself in a little corner of her mind, together with Rainbow’s sense of modesty and her former obsession for tacky lamps. That was one weird year, for sure, one that she wasn’t proud of and nopony else should know...
After the twentieth exhausting lap, Rainbow Dash took a glance at five, little ponies waving at her that she almost had lost, and smiled in relief and the day looked even more fantastic than it was. Somehow, though, absentmindedly soaring through the cloud circles and showered by the vicious air currents of the training ground, she couldn’t hold contempt for Lightning Dust.
Of all the clouds she kicked, not once her face showed up on one of them so she could plant a pair of strong hooves on that smug, reckless face of hers. Just a puff of white dissipating into the cerulean sky ad infinitum. A deep...sadness was etched in her eyes at the thought of that daredevil kicked out of the academy, mostly because that, somehow, when the chips were down she could have been in her place.
I thought we were friends...
Every time Dash thought to have found a kindred spirit, to her absolute dismay, it ended up badly, even though it looked so promising. A remorseful thought went to a certain feathered friend that answered to the name of Gilda. She wondered what happened to that mean bird since her party and she could’ve sworn to have seen in Lightning’s eyes the same mean, unhinged streak that the two of them possessed and spurred them to...
They both hurt my friends one way or the other.
Whether her skills were Wonderbolt material or not, (and they were, she noted with a smug grin under the wind) she still had the most important of them all: Being there for your friends.
With that, she could be sure whenever somepony went mad, those five would never have anything to fear. She would pat her back after the finishing line, of course.
The training course became just background and her flying muscles went to autopilot, as she could see in the corner of her eyes Thunderlane and Snowflake almost reaching her, dangerously leaning toward the tip of her wings from both sides. The powerful muscles propelled themselves, leaving her two teammates to eat her dust, as she started musing on the symmetry of her life. The symmetry that a pony and a griffon she thought to be kindred spirits, were almost possessed by that mean streak, almost like they fell to some kind of dark magic the Daring Do villains always fell victim to and drove them to evil.
Those two, sadly, didn’t snap out of it by the end of the book. No dark magic was involved; sometimes ponies or griffons just listened to their own dark voices.
A new nagging part of her showed up in her messed rainbow maned head and started telling Dash that it may have been somehow her fault.
Something like, a curse, a bad influence that struck whenever she saw somepony as competitive and determined as her.
A curse that distorted their free spirit, turning them into...She couldn’t find the words to define them, but none of them were nice or adequate. She knew of evil, she faced evil, but what she witnessed that day couldn’t be seen in terms of black or white. She only knew that it hurt. It hurt because as she saw much of herself in them, the opposite was true.
Somehow, she thought of having failed them both. Not living up to their expectations of supposed awesomeness, this drove them to those infamous acts...She lost speed inch by inch, before cutting the finishing line with mere seconds of advantage over Thunderlane.
“Ok guys, take a few minutes off and we start again,” she said absentmindedly, eliciting exasperated groans from the exhausted group of pegasi.
She exhaled a little sigh to let out the tension, hoping that Spitfire was still in her office to manage documents or something, lest she could invent something else for them to do. Dash took a glance at Twilight and Rarity chatting in the distance and decided to join her friends, rushing at their side with a swoosh. Celestia knows that she missed it.
“Hey, girls! Is everything alright?” The question escaped her mouth without a warning. The thought of having almost lost them that way would not go away easily.
“Well, of course, darling!” Rarity chirped with a wave of her hoof. “Thank you for your concern.”
“We are alright, Rainbow,” Twilight added. “That was one great stunt you and the team pulled off!” The purple unicorn smiled. “Aren’t you still training?”
“Just a little break until Spitfire shows up again. Wanna grab a bite to eat together?”
“Sure,” Twilight said taking the first steps toward the lunchroom. “Hope I don’t get you into any trouble though.”
“Indeed...” Rarity groaned following the other unicorn. “I barely saw her at the gala, true. But, I always thought of her as more refined.”
“It was a shock to everyone!” Rainbow added, floating between the two and patting their backs in an affectionate way. “But you know how professionals can be, right?”
“Hope you’ll never become that way!” Rarity smiled, even though Rainbow’s mirroring of it lasted just a fleeting moment before turning into another pensive frown. She could still see herself head down and in Lightning’s place, humiliated and kicked out for being reckless. Rainbow Dash caused recklessness? she kept repeating herself.
So fragmented felt the pony in that moment, that another part of her couldn’t help but feel responsible.
The lunchroom was already livened up by the laughing and chatting of the relaxed trainees and, confined in a little cloud table, the raucous laugh of a certain blue pegasus lighted up the atmosphere far more than it should.
“She came out of the mailbox? Really?!” Rainbow Dash slumped down on the table with her hooves covering her guffawing face, turning into a darker shade of blue.
“You shouldn’t be surprised anymore at this point, right?” Twilight giggled, sipping from a cup of coffee. She grimaced from the insipid taste of instant drinks.
“Guess I shouldn’t, but I can’t help it. I may not say it often, but that pink pony can be a riot when she wants to!”
“Yes, indeed,” Rarity remarked. “The poor dear, though, was so concerned about you. She even stayed in front of that mailbox for three days straight! Her mane was such a mess, well messier than usual, and you should have seen those bags under her eyes...”
“Wow...” Rainbow felt both flattered and scared by such devotion. “Guess I have a fan then,” she added with a nervous chuckle that did nothing but accentuate the concerned looks of the unicorns. She never thought that Pinkie Pie would be so concerned for her. A strange fondness grew in her heart for the little pink pony, with just a little teaspoon of guilt, quite a standard for that day to the pegasus’ dismay.
She really meant all of that stuff...
“Well, the moment she saw you, or merely thinking about a visit did wonders for her.” Rarity lighted up the moment. Rainbow blinked, almost catching her by surprise. “It must be the charm of a future Wonderbolt, right?” The white unicorn giggled with mirth, causing the future Wonderbolt in question to drown her blushing in tortured laughter.
“Well, yeah...I mean, totally... What are you implying?” The pegasus stiffened her entire body while a weak pomf could be barely heard from her back, which forced her to squeeze herself against the cloudy wall as hard as she could to hide the very inappropriate reaction. Inappropriate and totally out of nowhere...
“You just seemed very close, that’s it. I mean, Pinkie Pie hugged you 43 times since you left...and I’m talking about just this week.” Twilight, in fact, whipped out with a purple hue a note on which was scribbled a sea of letters and the names of the girls, almost like a list.
“You...keep count of every time Pinkie hugs somepony?”asked Dash, pointing a hoof in disbelief.
“Yes. Purely scientific research and just started today. It seemed so often with you that I had to compare with the other girls and that’s the result, for this week, at least.” Twilight turned the paper toward Dash allowing her to read it.
It was indeed a ranking with Dash proudly standing on top with a 43 marked in red beside her name. Twilight followed with a 12, Rarity with a 9, Fluttershy with a 7 and Applejack with a mere 4.
She kind of felt dismayed toward the farm pony, until she remembered that they were only that week’s result, so maybe she could have other changes. Of course! Dash shook her head, surprised at having entered the same train of thought of her egghead friend. “This doesn’t mean anything!” Rainbow chomped, with anger,on a hoof full of hay fries, loudly chewing with her mouth half opened. “I mean, she can hug me every time she wants, right?”
“Well, I see you’re comfortable with the idea,” remarked Rarity with a hint of a sly smile.
Rainbow Dash just melted for the heat radiating from her cheeks. “I-I didn’t mean that...I...” She gave an exasperated, nervous sigh. “Is there any way I can win this conversation?”
“Only if you fly out of the window now, but that would be technically forfeiting...” Twilight reflected upon the issue, staring at nowhere while putting a hoof under her chin, while Rarity just shook her head with the same, complacent grin as before. “Or you could always try a smoke bomb, those always work.”
“The thing is, Rainbow Dash, it’s just that our Pinkie cares about you, um, in a special way we could say as Twilight statistics prove...which is cute, really.” Rarity sipped some more coffee and winked.”There must be a reason for that, right? Think about it, Rainbow! More nervous than you for the letter, so affectionate and concerned, almost went mad for this concern of hers and, never forget about it, she immediately lighted up by the sole perspective of seeing you again.”
“And your point is?”
“The point is that you should go to her and plant a sloppy, wet ki-”The white unicorn’s mouth was silenced with haste by a purple hue, this time in the vague form of a rope around her muzzle. Twilight’s horn was glowing and just below it, an awkward grin flashed.
“The point is, yours is a good friendship and she cares very much for you. That’s it. By the way, do you know that she brought you a gift that you didn’t even open?”
“Oh, right!” Dash slapped a hoof against her forehead, leaving a red mark. “It was something like a package, but I was too far away for that. Maybe I should check on her.”
Still with her mouth blocked by the magical force, Rarity whipped a small piece of paper out from under the table, which stated: ‘About time’ in a very refined writing, which suggested to Dash that it was already prepared before.
Rainbow Dash sighed and pointed her hoof behind her two friends.“Isn’t that Princess Celestia?” she said in a tone of voice that nopony could understand if it was enthusiastic or resigned. The two turned her back on her and after realizing that no princess was there, noticed that their common friend disappeared in thin air from the lunchroom.
Twilight, giving a sigh of relief, removed the magical rope from the white unicorn and chided,“You don’t know what subtlety is, do you?”
“Subtlety? Moi?”She put a hoof on her chest in a mocking tone. “I’m the Queen of Subtlety, but look inside yourself. Do the words subtlety and Rainbow Dash work in the same sentence?”
“Actually ‘Rainbow Dash’ is two words.And you kind of have a point...”
“Just kind of...?”
“You know, this really isn’t our business...”
“Says the one who brought the hug paper with her...” Rarity rolled her eyes very inelegantly.
“Well, I thought I should bring that to her attention and-”
“Everypony does!” The white unicorn grinned.
“You know, Rainbow is right. You’re impossible.”
“I know!” She literally flashed a broad grin, so wide that Twilight didn’t know if she should be offended or join in. She decided to do a little mix of both and muttered a simple ‘Good luck’ to her pink and blue friends.
***
“Careful, sugarcube! Maybe next time there wouldn’t be somepony to save ya!” a lively orange mare started shouting to her friend for dangerously hopping too close to an edge of a cloud. The pink pony, on the other hoof, wasn’t listening, but merely shouting her enthusiasm from up above.
“But it’ssooo funny!” she chirped and snorted a giggle. “I mean, clouds are so soft and snuggly. No wonder pegasi live up there! Whee!” She bounced with strength and jumped several fleets in the air, finding also the time to twirl like a consummate ballerina. “Look! I’m Dashie!”
The farmpony merely groaned and opened her mouth to say something, which got stuck in her throat the moment the pink pony started to flap her forelegs together, as to mimic pegasi’s wings. Applejack closed her eyes, worried about the pink pony and her antics, before realizing that Pinkie jumped for the umpteenth time in a row, but without any loud tumf.
Instead, her pupils welcomed again the light of the day to find a very peculiar image, or at least it would be if the girls lived ordinary lives: an annoyed, but still visibly relieved blue pegasus in a Wonderbolt trainee uniform, holding an exuberant pink pony in her forelegs bridal style, frozen in the act of diving face down in a cloud, with her forelegs comically extended in front of her, but in that position they almost looked like they were raised in surrender. The wide grin on her face completed the hilarious scene, which didn’t do anything but accentuate the pegasus’ frown.
“Pinkie!” Rainbow shouted, trying with all of her forces to keep her frown and not being swept away by the pink pony’s shenanigans. “What the hay are you doing here?”
“Ah tried to tell her...” Applejack mumbled.
“You never listen, huh?” Dash snapped out of her slowly forming grin to be invigorated by a profound desire to scold the pink pony. “I mean, seriously! How can you be so irresponsible? You need an inch, a mere inch to fall and after all that you and the girls have been though today, you just had to-”
Pinkie’s eyes grew wider and scintillated, the sound of her beating heart muting the angry words of Rainbow Dash. She launched herself toward her blue chest and gripped the future Wonderbolt in a tight hug. Not an eye popping one like those of few days ago, but a gentler, almost adoring kind of hug. “Oh my gosh, Dashie! You saved me! Again!”
“Well, yeah. But the point is that maybe one day I will not be here in ti-” The words died in her throat and were squeezed out by another hug that made the pegasus squeak.
“Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!” Pinkie snuggled her muzzle against Dash’s coat, basking in the pegasus’ protective warmth. “You’re so right and I made you worry. Thank you!” she sniffled.
The gesture of affection completely evaporated every reason to be somewhat angry with the erratic baker, but the shadow of concern lingered over her and spurred to clarify it. “AJ...Could you leave us alone for a few minutes?”
“Well, now that there is somepony who can fly, Ah’m much more relieved, so go ahead, sugarcube.” The mare tipped her hat at them and winked in the exact same way as Rarity did a few minutes earlier. Maybe it was just a coincidence...Even so, Applejack took a few hoofsteps and merrily trotted away, leaving Rainbow Dash to gently put her friend back on the cloudy surface. She hopped a few times with a happy smile until she saw the pegasus frowning again and looking sadly at her hooves.
“Is everything alright, Dashie? You seem weird. Still awesome, but weird. Did something happen on-”
“Do you think I’m a bad influence?” Dash cut loose and unleashed the full, awful truth that lingered over her heart, exposing this shadow to the pure light of the day.
“Uh? What do you mean by that?”
“Just...Just answer me, Pinkie.”
“You’re not, Dashie. Like, at all.” Pinkie reached for the pegasus and caressed her cheek, causing a little tear to escape from her eye. She turned away with a sharp movement and faced the horizon. “You’re my best friend!” Pinkie ignored the rude gesture and smiled, radiating such a peaceful aura that Dash could feel it even with her eyes half closed.
“I made you worry,” Dash whispered in monotone, her voice cracking. “You almost didn’t sleep...”
“Well, yeah. You know how much I care for you...” She leaned closer to Rainbow and put a hoof on her shoulder. “I would’ve hated to not see you succeed. I always thought that you, more than anypony else, deserved it. I wanted to be at your side, at least in spirit, you know?”
Rainbow just cocked her eyebrow, slightly confused but so willing to listen to this poetic side of the pink pony.
“I don’t know how to say it, but a part of me wanted to struggle right beside you, I wanted to make just a tiny bit of the effort you put into this. Sometimes, I just want to make you laugh, let me be the one that gets tired and all worried, so you can be nice and cozy for, I don’t know, being a Wonderbolt!” She giggled again, circling her friend’s shoulders with a foreleg and pulling her close, relaxing her curly pink head in the nook of Dash’s neck. “So, no, you’re not a bad influence. You make everything better, actually.” She deepened the hug with tender care. “You make me better.”
“Do you remember Gilda?” Dash’s throat went dry as she remembered her former friend, too distressed to relax in the embrace of Pinkie, which was growing fonder to her heart than before.
“Yeah, of course. But why are you thinking about her now? Did she want to be a Wonderbolt, too?”
“Who doesn’t? But...She thought I was cool...and ended up being mean to you and Fluttershy...Just like Lightning.”
Pinkie leaned closer, so close that the breath of her nose almost started to tickle Dash, and listened in silence with the utmost respect.
“She thought I was the same as her, cool as her and her recklessness almost hurt you girls, almost hurt you...Just when I thought we could be friends...just like with Gilda. I can’t help but think that I make ponies or griffons that way. They want to be like me or I give them the wrong impression and...those things happen.” Dash sighed in a resigned tone, feeling her forelegs go limp, impotent in front of this truth that was taking a much clearer, and dangerous, shape.
“Oh, Dashie...” Pinkie gave the pegasus another tender caress on her cheek and started to stroke her polychromatic mane.
“I really thought we could have been friends, but after what happened with you girls...it was so disappointing that it hurt. It’s almost like I can’t have any other friends besides the five of you.”
“Why, Dashie? Are you, oh my gosh, tired of us? I knew it was going to happen I-” Dash placed a reassuring hoof around Pinkie’s own shoulders and hugged her as well, cutting out her rant before it started and turning it into a soft hearted chuckle.
“You girls are awesome,” Dash continued. “But sometimes I’d like to hang out with somepony that is a bit more like me, competitive and stuff. AJ doesn’t compete as much as before and you, well, you’re not a pegasus...”
“If you want a race I can build a super-duper flying thing, just tell me the day!” Pinkie added a challenging grin.
“Heh, I know you would. Hope you don’t go crazy because of me, too.” Dash bit her lip.
“You’re not irresponsible, Dashie!” Pinkie sternly held the pegasus’ face between her hooves. Her eyes glinted with a stoic, steel-like determination, unlike anything Dash ever saw in the pink pony’s gentle eyes. “If somepony or a griffon goes all mean, it’s because they are mean! Not because of you. In fact, if somepony is still mean after meeting you, it’s their fault for being mean meany-pants!”
“But, what if you’re wrong?” Dash yelled. “What if I just bringout the worst in somepony, just because I’m there?”
“You bring out the best out of ponies! You’re like, a hero! You saved us, Dashie! You did the right thing. In fact, if you give your hoof to somepony in friendship and they refuse it...” Pinkie stopped, gazing in the expectant violet eyes of the young trainee, before removing a lock of her mane from Dash’s forehead, so she could plant a gentle kiss on it. “It doesn’t mean it’s your fault. You may have just missed a chance.” Pinkie Pie hugged her friend once again and the pegasus let herself go in the soothing comfort of Pinkie’s warmth, thriving with life.
“You have lots of friend, beside us...” the pegasus remarked with a longing look.
“I may just be lucky, who knows?” she giggled and her smile was returned by Rainbow, although still with a bare hint of melancholy in it. “But, Dashie, even if you have a few friends that you care so much for, then it’s like having a million of them, right? And even if I’m friends with everypony...there’s a good friend I have in the highest regard.”
Rainbow’s heart stopped and an almost goofy grin appeared on her face. Rarity’s teasing hammered in her head, but felt pleasant at the same time, like yet another part of her...wanted it to be true. All parts of her wanted it to be true, even the one concerned only about tacky lamps, who saw a new light more splendid and dazzling than it ever saw in the smile of the chaotic baker.
“A friend that has a big heart. A friend who’s the most brave and reliable pony Equestria has seen. A friend that deserves to succeed in everything she does, because...” She stopped to sniffle, tears of joy absorbed in the joyful pegasus chest.”She deserves to be happy more than anypony else, because she struggles so much. The coolest future Wonderbolt the world will see...that will never feel alone, because there’s a little pink pony here that’ll do everything in her power to stay at your side. Dashie?” she asked, leaning closer and closer to Rainbow’s forehead until she touched it with her own.
“Y-Yes?” Rainbow’s smile mirrored Pinkie’s own, unwilling to hide it from the rest of the world...and from that little pink pony, of course.
“I was so worried about your dream, but now...I want you to see where your journey leads! I want to see the crowds cheering for you as you deserve. I want you to see all of your dreams fulfilled and seeing you smile...” She raised the face of the already smiling blue mare further with her hooves. “Just like that, forever! How can you be a bad influence, if you’ve made me so happy for staying with you?”
Rainbow Dash felt complete that day. Her dreams fulfilled and all of her being agreeing that her long road was worth it. No doubts, no fears and no remorse; just peace and happiness that promised to last until the end of the world. Her curse was broken and she found that simple truth in the heart of her best friend. A best friend who held such a sentiment in her heart...and was inspired by her.
She knew that she brought something new and wonderful to this world...and to Pinkie. In those blue eyes, Rainbow knew that her tender heart wasn’t weighed down by her, but soared in the sky higher than Rainbow herself ever did. She brought that wonderful smile into the world and the future Wonderbolt felt truly proud.
“So, don’t ever think like that again, Dashie!” Pinkie continued. “I’m happy if you’re happy, after all. Your smile makes the world brighter.”
“I-It’s nothing compared to yours...” Rainbow stuttered, but steeled herself to continue, to grasp this chance with her hooves as hard as she could.“Dammit, Pinkie! You got a little sappy and now you got me sappy, too.”She wiped a little tear away with a foreleg. “How do you do that? How can you be so awesome? How can you make me so happy?”
“Because I’m with you, that’s how...” Pinkie Pie closed her eyes and met Rainbow’s lips with her own. The pegasus’ pupils comically widened before her heart was soothed by her warm breath and gentle touch, fully relaxing herself into the kiss so brief and yet so perfect. The pink pony’s longing look after the kiss felt so perfect, so calm, that the pegasus wanted to just kiss that random pony again and again.
“You’re a blessing.” Pinkie whispered. “You’re the best thing that happened to me.”
“And you’re mine...” The two kissed once again and the world disappeared in the sweet taste of each other’s mouths. Their kiss was broken by Rainbow for just a fleeting moment, only the time for a last question and some closure.
“If I’m not mistaken, you brought me a gift...” she asked with a cocky grin between a pant and the other.
“I could be your new gift, if you want me to,” Pinkie whispered into her ear, making all of Dash’s fur stand up with mad glee, while her wings slowly rose beside her to embrace the pink pony with their softness.
“I can’t wait to unwrap you tonight, then.” Rainbow’s lips found Pinkie’s again and never wished to let them go. She knew that the joke was a bit risquè, but what was between the two of them could survive it. Dash was willing to make this work, to make herself worthy of those words of innocent love. To realize her dreams, knowing that the pink pony would be the first to support them and root for her, forever. They didn’t know what was ahead of them, but that sweetness and passion radiating from their embrace swept away all of those fears, and the two of them knew they were ready to face everything life would throw at them...
Together.
Rainbow felt like a blessing, just like Pinkie said, and with her newfound love at her side, was ready to take on the world.
The End.