If Ponyville was a coastal town, Rainbow Dash would've called the behemoth before them a hurricane. The deep angry storm spewed forth at them was relentless. Every muscle burned as she and her team barrelled through clouds and created diversion wind tunnels in an attempt to push the torrential rain and sleet around Ponyville.
The biting sleet was the worst of it, the shards of ice beating against Rainbow's wings and hide only worsened the aching of her muscles, the rain splattering and fogging up her aviator goggles.
She began twirling around, building up a wind-front to try and build up the wind break, when a powerful gust picked up the pegasus and sent her tumbling out of control, the continuous torrents of wind constantly pushing Dash's wild spin further and further into disarray.
Her wings and hooves flailed wildly, a brief memory of when she broke her wing flashing in her mind only fueled Rainbow's wild and futile flailing.
A set of hooves gripped her shoulders firmly, pulling her out of the uncontrolled spin. When she looked up at the pony who caught her, Dash's eyes widened. A mixed feeling of confusion and relief swept through her, her aching muscles relaxing for a moment.
A turquoise pegasus with a dull gray mane wearing similar goggles to Rainbow's was in the air beside her.
They shared a nod. They both knew what had to be done.
Working in tandem, the pair became their own team. Denith predicted air-currents before they even happened, shouting out and helping Dash control the storm in a way she could only dream of working alone. Inherently
The sleet and hail was battering any and all in its path, however the two pegasi continued strongly through the storm. Rainbow's assigned weather team could only watch in awe as, like a delicate and powerful dance, the two created windbreaks, redirecting clouds and rain alike past Ponyville. It took them a few moments before realising that they also had a job to do, and resumed assisting them in breaking the front of the storm.
In almost no time at all, Rainbow Dash's team had managed to divert the stormfront assaulting Ponyville, the town proper now no longer in danger.
Rainbow was about to congratulate the pegasi involved when a ragged pegasus flew up to the team. His feathers were at odd angles, visible bruises from hail starting to show. "R - Rainbow...Apple Acres...need help…" he panted, barely able to keep aloft.
"We're on it," Denith said, before Rainbow could even get a word in. She looked at Denith, eyebrows raising slightly. Denith looked back at Rainbow, before nodding again.
They arrived to Sweet Apple Acres being utterly demolished by the greatest ball of thunder, hail and lightning throwing every possible form of destruction at the orchard.
Rainbow's and Denith's teams immediately sprung into action. Pegasi surrounded the mass, bringing the massive hailstones under control. Rainbow was about to shout commands to begin dispersing the storm when a loud crack followed by muted screams echoed in the howling winds.
A weight dropped out the bottom of Rainbow's chest as a sinking feeling followed with it, half a dozen pegasi free-falling towards the ground. She managed to catch two of them, Denith picked up a third while other ponies caught the remaining three before they plummeted to the ground.
Before they could even hope to gain the winds under control again, another clap of lightning shot out and struck another three pegasi, this time unicorns on the ground catching them, several earth-ponies and unicorns carrying them away.
No, this wasn't right. Already Rainbow had lost half her team. Even in the icy rain, she could feel the cold sweat beading on her forehead, eyes darting and searching for a solution.
'Dammit, Rainbow!' she thought to herself, 'You can't let them down! Think - there has to be a way through this!'
"Denith!" she yelled over the storm, a plan forming in her head, "We're gonna split this thing in half! Just follow my lead and make sure it stays split!"
Denith wasn't nearly as fast or strong as Rainbow, and they both knew that. Rainbow was counting on Denith making sure the storm didn't close up behind them.
A look of determination in her eyes, Rainbow Dash lined up with the front of the mass, wings flaring out as she prepared to give it her all.
Then the impossible happened.
The swirling mass of primal fury slowed and stopped, the dark thunder clouds hanging motionless in the air before Sweet Apple Acres. Flashes of thunder arced around and through the mass.
"What the hay…?" Rainbow asked herself, shooting a quizzical look at Denith, who gave one back.
A powerful rumble shook up her train of thought. A desolate, howling screech echoing through the storm piercing through the air and straight into Rainbow's mind. Screaming in agony, she clapped her hooves over her ears in a vain hope to drown out the soul-numbing pain eating away at them.
From the clouds arose a being of primal fury, an ice-white hide adorned with icicles and malice. The giant creature had a frosty blue mane, midnight black eyes boring relentlessly at the ponies before it.
The shrill screaming stopped, allowing Rainbow a moment to look up at the creature.
"Oh sweet Celestia no…" she whimpered, ears drooping. It was a Windigo - one larger than any encountered yet. Her heart raced, body tensing.
The greater Windigo cast her gaze towards Rainbow, eyes locking.
And Rainbow Dash saw the Abyss.
She was standing in the Wonderbolts Academy training yard, lined up with the rest of the would-be candidates. It took the greatest effort than she had ever spent in her entire life to stand as still as she did now - she was in the Wonderbolts!
Spitfire marched and examined each one closely, stopping and eyeballing the recruits. She stopped by Rainbow, causing her to gulp nervously. No - she was taking too long, why was she eyeballing her for so long?
Spitfire's comment, though under her breath, was caught by Rainbow. "Heh, pushover…" A part of her ached.
Two weeks into training - Rainbow is doing drills vigorously with the other cadets. Dodging obstacles while flying through a maze of rings and tunnels. Something catches her wings, sending the pegasus spinning wildly out of control and crashing into the maze walls.
Another week later - her wing is still healing. The doctors suspect nerve damage. Spitfire comes to visit Rainbow to check on her progress.
Rainbow can hear Spitfire having a conversation with the doctor outside, their words muffled. Spitfire walks in, an unreadable look on her face.
"Sorry, kiddo. I guess you just weren't cut out to be a part of the Wonderbolts."
A needle of terror shoots through Rainbow's heart as the Wonderbolts captain picked up the cadet badge from the side table, taking it with her. Rainbow begged, pleaded to have one more chance but the doctor interjected.
"I'm..sorry, miss Dash," his voice is calm, sending Rainbow into an even deeper panic. Doctors were only this calm when they had bad news. "You may never be able to fly properly again."
Her world is collapsing. Despair crept into every corner of Rainbow Dash's waking memories - all her training, all her daily drills and stunts. For nothing.
The ground was coming closer. It didn't matter - life had no meaning anymore. She flattened her wings and closed her eyes, savouring the wind rushing in her ears one last time before it would all fade to a blissful black.
A loud, terrified cry shot through the silence of Rainbow's personal hell. "RAINBOW DASH!"
Eyes snapped open as wings flared out moments too late; the ground was too close and there was nothing she could do to stop the inevitable crunch.
Rainbow Dash tensed up, eyes closing instinctually as she waited for an impact that never came. Opening one eye, she found a magical aura keeping her aloft.
"Twilight!" she breathed in relief. "I - I saw…" She shuddered.
Twilight levitated and set Rainbow on her hooves. "It's a Windigo - but something is off about it…"
Rainbow shivered as the memory resurfaced. No - it wasn't a memory...she hadexperienced the nightmare. "I...I saw my worst nightmare, Twilight…That...that thing attacked me."
Twilight nodded. "I know, Rainbow," she breathed. "I saw it too. It was similar to when King Sombra made my worst fears come true."
Rainbow looked up at the Windigo. The clouds formed a ring around its base, swirling and sending out arcs of lightning. Her eyes widened, wings flaring out as she saw a single pegasus mare still aloft before the being.
"Horseapples! Denith is still there!"
"Rainbow, wait!" Twilight yelled, running up to the spot where Rainbow was standing, too late to stop her.
Denith Skies was the only pegasus left of the entire team. No fierce determination burned in her eyes, no will to finish the fight. There was no bravery to be had here.
Her body was frozen under the immeasurable gaze of the Windigo rising out of the eye of the storm, cold tendrils of energy snaking around the god-like being.
The Windigo's gaze intensified, and Denith stared into Abyss.
She was losing everything. Every piece of hope, love and life she had scraped together, Denith found it all falling away. She was not seeing a vision of the future, or an alternate timeline.
No, this was real. Hope was being drained into an utter pit of despair. Denith's family was torn away, her home burnt to ashes. Alatea - her wife, her loving wife. Where others would have left her shivering in the cold snows, Alatea supported the mare. Understood her pain - shared it.
And she, too, disappeared. Gone - wrenched away by the utter despair gripping at Denith. Tears flowed from her eyes.
Her scream of utter hopelessness couldn't soften or distract from any of the it.
Finally, her two foals sat before her. Her two, beautiful foals - the only things Denith could bring herself to ever love properly. A colt and a filly. A brief moment of respite, her tears slowing as Denith held the two giggling ponies in her forelegs, hushing and playing with them.
And they, too, began to fade.
"No…" Denith whimpered softly…"No...this can't be real…"
The illusion stopped, and Denith no longer felt fear.
A low growl escaped her lips. "How dare you…" She flew higher, matching the Windigo eye-to-eye. "How dare you try to take away my foals from me."
Abyss, the Goddess of Despair looked down at Denith. If any thoughts crossed its mind, the monstrosity didn't show it.
Denith spread her wings briefly, before nose-diving. This...thing was a lie. All it did was spread lies and hopelessness.
She pulled up from the nose dive, wings flapping furiously to pick up speed. The wind resisted, pushing back against her physics-defying speed. On the ground, ponies could only stare in shock and awe, the pegasus mare rocketing towards the colossal Windigo.
"I swear to you - by Celestia's tanned flank - not even Discord could take my foals away from me!" she screamed at the Windigo.
Denith impacted into the creature and disappeared into the icy depths.
Seconds passed. Everyone looked on in terror, in fear of Denith's life.
The swirling mass of clouds began to slow, the Windigo doubling down as an unholy shriek of agony emanated from it. Cracks webbed out from the impact point as Denith shot out the other side, swinging around and making another beeline for the Windigo. The creature reached out and swatted Denith like a fly, sending her into a wild spin.
Denith folded her wings and allowed herself to free-fall for a moment before spreading them and pulling up, correcting her spin. Rocketting towards the Windigo, she swung out her right hind leg at the last moment and gave an earth-shattering back right between the eyes of the giant.
A hollow wail of agony sounded, more cracks forming around the impact point as the Windigo's endless pits of eyes flashed briefly. Its jaws expanded, several times too large to look natural, before biting down on the pegasus, engulfing her in its maw.
A few, tense moments passed before a series of cracks suddenly spread around the Windigo's head, it giving one last whimpering cry before shattering into a thousand pieces.
Denith's body was limp, wings flapping uselessly in the wind as she plummeted towards the ground.
A multi-coloured streak bulleted through the air, catching the falling pegasus and setting her battered and bleeding body gently on the ground, her right wing twisted and mangled at odd angles. Taking a nervous gulp, Rainbow removed Denith's goggles only to find her eyes brimming with tears.
Denith sobbed, head falling limply onto the dirt. Uneasy, Rainbow took a step back.
For the first time since meeting the mare, she noticed the odd, gnarly scaring on Denith's left hind leg, the muscle withered away.
"I miss them, Rainbow…" the prone pegasus sobbed softly. "I miss my sister and my mom."
Rainbow looked around, hoping for somepony to help - but they were too far away.
"I would come home - and Deanna would want to play. My mom would make us supper and we sat around the table." Denith sobbed loudly, her body trembling each time, her eyes bloodshot. "We were happy. We had a family. I miss my mom and my sister - and I miss my dad for the pony he used to be, Rainbow Dash."
Denith weakly stood up, gripping Rainbow tightly in a sudden hug, crying into her shoulder.
"Every day I'm terrified of coming home and finding my new family taken away from me," Denith continued, as Rainbow extended an awkward foreleg around her. "I have nothing left but my family…"
Rainbow embraced the mare back, trying to sooth her. "I'm sorry I ever tried finding out, Denith," she said. "It was never my place and I should have respected your privacy."
Denith didn't respond, just continuing to cry and sob into Rainbow's shoulder. Rainbow could wait - some causes needed a different kind of loyalty.
Tornado duty was cancelled. More than half of the able-bodied pegasi had been injured, and Cloudsdale had to rely on their reserve supply until Van Hoover could scramble an emergency team together. Rainbow Dash was disappointed that they couldn't achieve a record - but above all else she was thankful everypony was still alive and alright.
She visited the Ponyville Hospital - there was a patient she needed to see. The doctors all had their hooves full with the sudden influx, but their caring touch and strong diligence made sure that nopony was left unattended.
The halls were filled with the coughs and groans of injured ponies, doctors and nurses shuffling past each other to tend to other patients.
She came to the end of the hallway on the second floor, the last door on the left. Rainbow Dash entered in the door tentatively only to have a thin, white cane come whooshing down and smacking around her withers.
"Ow - hey! What was that for?" Rainbow cried out, facing the blind mare. Even Alatea's normally passive face had a stern frown to it.
"That is for needlessly endangering Denith." The cane smacked Rainbow on the other side causing another yelp from the pony. "And that is for prying into somepony's life when you shouldn't have."
A tired voice called out from one of the beds. "Hey! Leave her alone, she didn't mean any harm." Denith smiled apologetically at Rainbow. "I'm sorry about Aly, she can be...protective sometimes."
Rainbow shook her head, smiling. "It's okay, Den. I just wanted to check up how you were doing."
Denith chuckled sadly, her eyes lowering. "Well, I broke my wing. Again. Apparently being chomped on by a primal force of misery isn't conductive to good wing-care," she deadpanned. "The doctor says I'll be out of it for a while."
Dash cringed, her own wings tingling at the mere mention of it. "Yikes - I'm sorry to hear that." She took a few steps towards Denith, Alatea joining her wife's side as well. "Look - I need to check up on everypony else. I just wanted to say - you did good out there. If you ever want a job on the weather-team we could use a spotter like you."
Alatea, even though she were blind, glared needles at Rainbow.
Denith shook her head. "Sorry, Rainbow. I'm done with weather - properly this time. I have a family, and I'm not putting them through something like this again."
Rainbow Dash nodded, turning back to the door. "I understand, Denith. Oh, and Alatea, I'm sorry for...well, for risking Denith's life."
The blind unicorn's face softened into a smile. "It's okay, Rainbow Dash. I understand it had to be done." The cane swished forward slightly, making Rainbow jump back. "But don't let me catch you doing it again."
They all chuckled for a moment, before going their separate ways.
On the way back into town, she took a detour past Twilight's library. Knocking, she entered without waiting for a response. "Twilight? You there?" she called out, looking and searching around.
"I'm over here!" a voice called out from behind a deep pile of books. Twilight pulled herself out of the booky mess, the smile on her face suddenly vanishing as she saw who it was.
The two stood awkwardly for a moment, before Rainbow finally spoke up. "Hey, Twilight, do you remember when Princess Celestia said that we all need to write friendship-reports?"
Twilight nodded impassively.
"I have a report I need to send her."
The friendly smile returned to Twilight's face as she magicked a quill and parchment.
Clearing her through, Rainbow dictated;
Dear Princess Celestia
These past few weeks have been a rough few. With the Tornado-duty and Windigo attack and all. But I learned that, when a pony is hurting, sometimes they need space. Prying into their private life isn't always a good idea, as you could probably hurt them even more.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, let sleeping dogs lie.
Your faithful subject,
Rainbow Dash.