My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic FanFiction by SoulAce2425
Dismal Future Saga / Episode 1 – Fastest Pony Alive (PART 1)
…
Flashback Begins
"Tell us a bedtime story, Mom!" a filly Fluttershy spoke, more lively than usual.
"Yes, please!" a filly Zephyr Breeze agreed.
A younger Mrs. Shy chuckled. "Oh alright, dear. But promise me you'll go to sleep after that."
"Once upon a time… in a time before Equestria had formed… before our righteous princesses Celestia and Luna appeared… there existed a relic. An artifact. As you know, the Earth Ponies, the Pegasi, and the Unicorns all butted heads with each other. No one could agree with each other, and we spent our days in separation…"
"And the relic?" interrupted the curious Fluttershy.
"Haha, I'm getting there, dear. Well, among the Pegasi race there was that secret weapon. The 'GOLDEN WINGS'!" Mrs. Shy made "whoosh" sounds and moved her hooves about. The young Fluttershy and Zephyr Breeze both chuckled, and they started getting drowsier.
Mrs. Shy continued, "The wearer of the Golden Wings would be granted newfound SPEED and POWER! Obviously this was appealing to the power hungry ones, wasn't it? After all, it could turn the tide of the interracial feud. The Earth Ponies had strength and hearts of gold. The Unicorns could bend magic at their will. What did we pegasi have? We had wings, flight, control of the weather… and speed! 'We were built for combat!' some pegasi said. Commander Hurricane though, of course, said no-no."
"But why…?" Fluttershy asked with a yawn, half-asleep.
"Because, the Golden Wings was a legendary power that no one really understood. Hurricane didn't want any of his ponies in harm's way, and so he locked it away in a golden-plated chest in an unknown location in the skies. Well that is, unknown until one night. A foul-hearted pegasus recovered that chest, STOLE the artifact, and PUT IT UPON HIMSELF! He started screaming in pain which alerted the Commander, to which he rushed over in shock. But it was too late. The pegasus had been consumed with dark magic, wings became crystal and black as night. He laughed evilly at his new transformation and said, "What is this speed… this power…?! I'm the strongest, the fastest in all the lands now!"
Zephyr was snoring away, but Fluttershy kept a shred of attention and asked, "How did they stop him then? He's a bad guy right…? Commander must have stopped him…"
"Haha, you innocent girl. But for this story, yes, he did. He and some loyal soldiers made a whirlwind around him so strong, it stripped him of his power and the artifact came flying off his corrupted body. Commander Hurricane then hid the artifact away again, and made it written down the following scroll: 'The Pegasi shall never without reason touch the artifact known by the name of the 'Golden Wings' again. But if the time comes, let it be known that to be granted such power, the user must be pure of heart, pure of evil, and filled with Harmony.'"
The two filly pegasi were snoozing away. Mrs. Shy chuckled, "Good night, my dears."
Flashback Ceases
…
The sun rose above the horizon, and the moon set below it. The land of Equestria lit up to welcome another sunny day, including the humble town of Ponyville, home of the Elements of Harmony and their Princess Twilight Sparkle.
"Rise and shine, Spike!" Twilight said to her favorite dragon, "… No, seriously, get up. We're all meeting at Fluttershy's place to have tea, remember?"
"Oornngggggggg" the baby dragon groaned. "Why does everypony hate sleep?" He lifted his head up, then let it collapse back down into his pillow. Twilight rolled her eyes and her horn lit up. A snoring Spike levitated out of his bed and onto Twilight's back. Raising her wings, she took flight and flew down the castle hallway, using her magic to open all doors that came in her flight path. She blasted out the front doors and bee-lined straight to Fluttershy's cottage.
"Hey girls – and Discord," greeted the princess upon arrival, "We're not late, are we?"
"Don't worry about it," replied Fluttershy, "oh wait, where's Starlight?"
"Ohhhhh," Twilight replied with an unnecessarily long "oh". "Right, I forgot to tell you all. She's in Canterlot right now. Apparently Princess Celestia had some things for her to do. At this rate, she's probably her new protégée," she continued with a chuckle.
"Well glad you two can make it… is Spike still sleeping?" Fluttershy asked, looking over. Twilight rolled her eyes.
"Wakey wakey, Spikey Wikey!" Rarity teased.
"Rarity?" Spike's eyes forced open and he lifted his head. Everypony laughed.
Discord knocked his teaspoon on his teacup, calling for attention. "Well now that everypony is up and about, I just want to give a huge thanks to our dear Fluttershy here for providing us with, well, such kindness, and such *tea*," he said while poof'ing here and there, teleporting randomly around the room.
"Here, here!" called out Rainbow Dash.
"Aw, you guys…" said a blushing Fluttershy, "Don't mention it…" She then suddenly lit up and said, "Ooh! Rainbow Dash, I forgot to tell you something. I know you'll love it." Dash gave her a confused look and continued sipping her tea. "Apparently there's been a new group in Cloudsdale. They call themselves… "The Pegasupers."
"That's a... creative portmanteau," remarked a sarcastic Twilight, getting glances from everypony for using such an "advanced" word.
Fluttershy continued, "Anyway, I heard that their speed contests even the mighty Wonder Bolts!"
Rainbow Dash spit her tea out in shock. "What?! How?! When?! How did I not hear of this before you did…?"
"I don't know, Zephyr just stopped by earlier to give me the scoop," replied Fluttershy. "But that's not the best part. They tell ponies that they're after the ancient pegasi artifact called the 'Golden Wings'."
Everyone in the room gave an impressed "Ooooooooh". "Oh come on, that name's even lamer," remarked Twilight once again.
"The 'Golden Wings', huh…" said Dash, "I think I've heard that name before. Yeah, preeetty sure that's just an old mare's tale."
"What is this 'Golden Wings' you ponies speak of?" asked a curious Applejack.
"Well, according to legend, the 'Golden Wings' is some kind of artifact that, when equipped, gives the lucky pony a huge boost in flying SPEED and POWER!" Dash replied, exciting herself at the end. "They aren't literally wings, they're probably some kind of gemstone. I dunno, no one could agree what it looked like."
"Ooh ooh, I have an idea!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, jumping up and down. "How about we find this treasure for ourselves? C'mon it'll be fun! Like a treasure hunt!"
Twilight laughed and replied, "Haha, you're not a pegasus though, Pinkie. Why would you seek the 'Golden Wings'?
"… But I am…" said Rainbow Dash with sudden realization, her face lighting up once more. "That's it! I'm going to get that artifact and I'll be the fastest pony alive!"
"Now hold on one second, Dash," Twilight intervened. "Just a minute ago, you were doubting its existence. Now you're planning on stealing this thing for yourself?"
"Woah woah woah, no one said anything about 'stealing', sister," Rainbow Dash defended, "I'm just going to – you know – stroll into the Pegasupers and – you know – take that thing after they find it for me…? She paused after realizing how blatant she just was.
Applejack raised one eyebrow in doubt. Discord hopped in and said, "Well, I don't know about you girls, but I, for one, like this plan of little Dashy here," rubbing her cheeks.
Rainbow Dash gave Discord a dirty look and continued, "Plus, who gave the 'Pegasupers'," she said making air-quotes, "the right to claim this artifact in the first place?"
"Well, she's got a point…" Rarity said, "Just not with the whole 'taking it after they find it' part."
"Ehh… I don't know Dash," said a concerned Twilight, "this isn't like you. Is this desire for speed about something else…?"
"What? Pfft!" Dash retorted. "I'm fast, alright. I just want to get faster. Is there something wrong with that? I deserve this. I've been training hard and I just think this little artifact thing can really make my days easier."
"Easier for what? Besides, you can paint the sky with Sonic Rainbooms whenever you want already. Don't you think you're being a bit… greedy?" Twilight asked, wincing a little delivering the last word.
To that, Rainbow Dash had no answer. She was still set on having that artifact, though. Fortunately for her, Pinkie Pie diverted everypony's attention back to the tea party, where she started juggling teacups, much to Fluttershy's dismay.
…
The next day, Rainbow Dash set out on her mission to find the Golden Wings. "Alright, let's see what these 'Pegasupers' look like," Rainbow Dash said to herself, sneaking around the corners of houses in Cloudsdale. She peeked from the side of a wall and saw the group. It was a pretty large group, with seven or so pegasi. Their lead flyer, a significantly more built pegasus, turned around holding a wooden treasure chest braced with gold linings. With a grin, he opened up the chest to reveal to the others a dazzling golden gemstone.
"Oooooooh," Dash said in astonishment with sparkling eyes. "Aha! Guessed right!"
The radiance of the golden gemstone was so bright, it literally wiped the wings straight off all the Pegasupers-
"Wait what?!" Dash exclaimed to herself, retreating back behind the house wall. She began breathing faster, "What the hay? Did their wings just… disappear?"
"Yo, our wings just turned off," laughed the lead flyer. "Get them back on before we start falling through the clouds." With a few grunts, the whole group regenerated their wings, starting from shards of light, then compressing into seemingly organic wings.
Dash caught a glimpse of this and gasped. "They're fakes!" she yelled in her mind. "I gotta get outta here." She prepared to lift off but accidentally spilled a large flower pot next to the wall. Rainbow gasped and stumbled and fell onto the cloud floor. The Pegasupers, alerted by the sound, closed the treasure chest and headed over around the corner and noticed the light blue pegasus.
"Oh my gosh, it's Rainbow Dash!" exclaimed one of the backup flyers. "We were just about to look for you!"
Thoughts were rushing through Dash's mind. "Looking for me…? For what…?" "Should I pretend I didn't see what I see…?" "Whatever, roll with it."
"Oh heyyy… um, you guys!" Dash replied nervously. "The Pegasupers, was it?"
"Yup," chimed in the lead flyer. "Not surprised you heard of us, we're a pretty big deal here," he laughed.
"Sure, but h-how do you know who I am?" Dash asked.
"Are you kidding? Sonic Rainbooms…the Wonder Bolts…?" he said with a wink. "You're one of a kind, pal."
Rainbow Dash's ego raised a tiny bit. She laughed, "Haha, yeah… I guess. Stupid question."
"Anyway, since you're here with us already, I guess we can do this right here."
"Do what?"
"Well, as you may have heard, we have been questing for the ancient pegasi artifact, the 'Golden Wings'."
Rainbow Dash nodded, upon hearing 'Golden Wings' now curious as to where this was going.
"Well, we found it without much difficulty, really. Found it in a garage sale of some pegasus dressed like a pirate. Probably explains the treasure chest getup."
Dash felt disappointment in how anticlimactic that was. "Wait… then how are you certain this is the real deal?"
"We have our ways," he quickly passed off. "Now… Rainbow Dash. Will you do us the honor to bestow upon you this mighty artifact of the Pegasi race?" He reopened the chest to reveal the dazzling gemstone while the rest of the group started bowing down.
"Wait what? What's happening here? Why me?" asked a very confused Rainbow Dash.
"Forgive me. I should've explained before." The lead flyer turned off his "fake wings", then regenerated it right after. Dash's eyes widened. "He's revealing this to me? Does he know I already saw it?" she thought in her mind.
The lead flyer explained, "Did you see that? You see, us Pegasupers aren't really pegasi…" He whispered the last part with a wink. "We gained access to a magic that allowed us to gain… synthetic – that means imitation – pegasi wings. What I mean by all this is that, as a pure-blooded pegasus, we want YOU to do the honor of equipping the 'Golden Wings'."
"...Hold on. Why do all this? For me?" She was about to continue with "And how did you get this magic you speak of?" but was cut off by his response.
"Well, you see… uh… Equestria needs a powerful hero. We have Celestia and Luna, sure. We have the amazing air force of the Wonder Bolts too, sure. But – and you should know this better than anyone else – the Wonder Bolts kept getting defeated time and time again." He winked again. "So that's why, we chose you to represent Equestria as the… fastest pony alive," he said with a smirk.
The phrases "we chose you…" and "fastest pony alive" echoed in Rainbow Dash's mind. Her ego fueled up just a bit again, but just enough. "Aw, heck! I'll do it!" she exclaimed loud and proud. She imagined herself flying with golden-colored wings, faster than anypony and everypony. She stood in perfect posture, awaiting the bestowment of the mighty artifact.
"That's more like it!" The lead flyer picked up the gemstone with his hoof and pushed it onto Rainbow Dash's chest. He let go, and the gemstone started levitating and glowing. It transformed itself into a golden necklace that wrapped around Rainbow's neck, with the centerpiece at the front hosting a smaller gem similar to the original piece. Dash's eyes forced wide open with a white glow, and her body began levitating slowly off of the cloud's surface. She became enveloped in a thin golden aura.
"AHHHH – (woah there) – AHHHHHH-!" Dash yelled as she felt the newfound power surging through her. But then, suddenly, the golden aura disintegrated into tiny energy pellets that vanished into the air. Dash slammed back down into the cloud floor and her wings began undergoing a transformation… an evil transformation.
"Oh right… I probably should've told you this before…" the lead flyer said with a suddenly different voice, a sarcastic and sadistic tone. "But then again, you knew the mare's tale didn't you? What was that last part about again? Oh right… you need to be pure of heart to utilize the Golden Wings." He began laughing louder and louder. The group stood up from their bowing position and began laughing as well. "You were so hungry for this power-up weren't you? All we had to do was fuel your little greed, didn't we? I tell you some 'hero' job this had in store for you and you just buy it!"
Rainbow Dash began spacing out. A crude, black, evil outline started creeping onto the edges of her wings. It solidified into a crystalline coat around her light blue wings. Her eyes still glowed white but she was frozen with magical shock.
"Yeah, no. The Golden Wings don't deem you worthy, just as the boss had planned. Enjoy your *power-up*, pal!" The Pegasupers took flight with their synthetic wings and formed an arrowhead flying formation with the leader at the tip. They set course for Ponyville and blasted through the air.
"You sure it's okay to just leave her there, Silzore?" asked a backup flyer from behind.
"Trust in the plan," the lead flyer, now revealed to be named Silzore, said. "She won't be in our way now. It's time for part two." He snickered.
Shortly after their departure, Rainbow Dash woke up with a gasp. The white glow receded from her eyes. She looked at her left wing, then her right. The good in her grasped her mind. "This is alright, this is fine, I can recover from this…." her mind reassured herself repeatedly, trying not to panic but with increasing breathing rates nonetheless.
She took flight, but in doing so, the black outline of her wings glowed an evil glow and sent her flying much faster than she had planned. "What is this new… speed…" and with that the good began losing its grasp on her mind, "…this power…" the effects of the necklace forcefully consumed Dash back into a magically shocked state. The words "speed" and "power" echoed through her clouded mind. She reawakened once again, floating in the air, and an evil smile crept on her face…
The corrupted Rainbow Dash lift off with her newfound speed and set course for Ponyville also, blasting through the air like never before, leaving behind her signature rainbow trail…
…
"Wh-what do you want from me?" stuttered a frightened Fluttershy, cornered in her own cottage. The Pegasupers had stormed into her cottage and tied up all the woodland critters that tried to stop them. The pink-maned pegasus was left shivering with fear in the corner. Angel Bunny hopped in front of Fluttershy with a war face, determined to protect her kind owner.
"Don't make me laugh, rabbit," Silzore said repulsively. He picked Angel up with his mouth and tossed him over his back to the backup flyers who proceeded to restrain him as well.
"Now that the vermin are out of the way…" Silzore started.
"Hey! DON'T call my pets vermin!" Fluttershy stood up angrily, but her face was still struck with fear.
"Oh? Whatever. You're coming with us, Shy."
"DON'T call me Shy!"
"Jeez, you're a whiny one aren't you? Whatever, we don't have time for this." The Pegasupers moved towards her and tossed her into a metal cage. "Don't think you're getting out of this," Silzore said to her in a sadistic voice. With that, he flicked a switch on one of the metal beams. Magical electricity started whirring and aura began filling in the spaces between the bars. Fluttershy rammed herself against the wall but the aura just zapped her back inwards. The feeling of resignation washed over her as she sat down in her cage whimpering.
The Pegasupers laughed and flew out the door, carrying the cage with Fluttershy in it. They reformed the arrowhead formation, positioning the cage in the middle, with each backup flyer hanging onto one of the metal beams. They flew off and were about to leave Ponyville before being stopped by the one and only purple alicorn princess.
"Just what do you think you guys are up to? I have never seen you guys around this town before," Twilight Sparkle remarked. She looked over and saw the cage with Fluttershy in it. Twilight's eyes widened and gasped. "Fluttershy! Hey! What are you guys doing with her?!"
Silzore smiled calmly. "Don't worry about that. I'd be more worried about what's behind you…" He snickered and winked.
"Yeah, like I'm falling for that. Hand over Fluttershy this instance!"
"No, seriously. It's getting pretty close," Silzore said teasingly.
Twilight gave in to his little game and looked behind her. Her eyes widened as she saw a rainbow spark in the sky become a pony, a pegasus headed straight for her. She screamed and out of reflex, raised a light, raspberry-colored force field around herself. The light blue comet rammed without hesitation into the force field, shattering the magical aura and sending both ponies hurling to the ground.
"Now!" Silzore commanded. The Pegasupers group shot off onwards, out of Ponyville. Their arrowhead formation ripped across the sky and released a sonic boom that echoed throughout the town.
"Uuuugh," Twilight got herself off the ground, wiping off dust on her body with her wings. She looked over at the groaning pegasus next to her and gasped.
"Rainbow Dash! Where were you?" She asked with concern, then switching over to irritation, she said, "And why the hay were you zooming across the sky straight at me? Out of all directions!"
The corrupted Dash slowly got up with her back facing Twilight and let out an evil chuckle. She opened her wings wide and turned around. Twilight's face was paralyzed with fear and shock when she saw one of her best friends with an undoubtedly evil grin spread across her face.
"Wh-what's the meaning of this?" Twilight asked nervously, "and what is that black crystal substance around your wings…? Hello? Rainbow Dash, answer me!"
"The meaning…" Rainbow Dash finally spoke, "… is that I am… now… the most powerful, the fastest pony in all the lands!"
Twilight's eyes widened. "You-you didn't! Tell me you didn't!"
…
~~~ TO BE CONTINUED… ~~~