3

Rift

"Hey, Rainbow Dash."

Spitfire trotted over to a group of chattering recruits. A rainbow mane popped up in the middle, and the group hushed. Rainbow smiled and flew over their heads, landing in front of Spitfire. "Yeah, Spit?" The captain raised an eyebrow. Rainbow straightened up, clearing her throat. "Yes ma'am?"

Spitfire smirked. "Well, you seem to be popular."

"Yeah, I'm just breaking them in, showing them around."

"With you, I doubt that's all you're doing."

Rainbow scoffed. "What? What's that supposed to mean?"

"You haven't mentioned anything at all about yourself?"

"Well... maybe a little."

"How about—" she blew her whistle "—instead of telling the recruits about yourself—" the group gathered around "—you prove it." She looked to the group. "Who wants to see Dash here race me?"

"Wait," Rainbow said, "what?" The recruits oohed, looking between the two. Rainbow's ears flattened somewhat. "Heh... uh, sure. When?"

"How about... now!"

Spitfire suddenly vanished into the cloud below her, sending tufts of it flying into the air. Fanning them away, Rainbow saw the hole left behind and dove into it. Clouds obscured her vision, but she didn't slow to brush them aside; then, all at once, Rainbow's vision was completely overtaken by green. The ground seemed much closer than she remembered.

She saw a tiny golden fleck shrink smaller and smaller, and Rainbow gunned it downwards. Suddenly, the fleck grew to a size of a pony, and Spitfire buzzed by Rainbow. Rainbow barely touched the grass before rocketing as fast as she could to catch up.

She attempted to follow the path Spitfire cleared for her. They soon passed the top of the mountain, and Rainbow noticed a crowd gathered where they took off. She finally caught up to her commander Rainbow sped around a cloud, trying to gain a lead over Spitfire. They weaved through cloud rings and around pillars and other obstacles left over from training, Spitfire leading some, then Rainbow overtaking her, before Spitfire took the lead once more.

"What's the matter, Rainbow? Too fast for you?"

"I'm just taking it easy on you!"

"Oh really? C'mon, then! Let's go!"

Rainbow started to pump her wings harder, urging herself to go faster and faster. She felt her ears slowly begin to press against the sides of her head. The wind felt more and more like a wall she was trying to push. She looked to get right and left and saw white streaks trail off of her wingtips. Rainbow turned the last corner and sped towards the finish line and, with a brilliant flash, jolted forward, leaving behind a sparkling rainboom in her wake.

She sped past dozens of clouds and felt a rush of adrenaline. She then remembered why she didn't often use rainbooms for races. Nearing the end, she flipped her wings forward, trying to find the familiar wall of air to slow herself down with. She then began to spin out of control, tumbling past the finish and hitting a few of the clouds above it. Dazed, she looked down and realized she won. She flew downwards, her head still spinning.

"Ha! Whoo!" She stumbled a bit, laughing. "Take that, Spitfi—"

But as she looked around, she saw nopony. Even her wondrous rainboom was absent. She waited for Spitfire to finish, but she never came. Thinking she might have hit her head a bit too hard, she shook it. She then realized the crowd was gone, as was the rest of the base—runways, barracks, flagpoles, the very mountain they were based upon—everything, save for clouds. The sky grew dark within a matter of moments. Rainbow looked for the sun but couldn't find so much as a dim glow in the nonexistent clouds above.

"Hello?" Her voiced echoed in the empty sky. Puzzled by this, she called out again. A third time. Worried now, she started frantically flying around. There weren't any clouds in the sky above her, so why was it getting so dark?

"Come on, guys, this isn't funny anymore. Is it because I won? Because if it is, you aren't acting like—" her words caught in her mouth. She couldn't breathe. She was suffocating in something. It was more than night now. Rainbow struggled for air, but couldn't get anything. She didn't know whether she blacked out or the sky itself was snuffed out.

Rainbow woke up, gasping for air. She felt something wrapping itself around her leg and furiously kicked it off. She escaped its grasp, sending it to the opposite side of the room. She realized it was just her blanket. Shaking, she rubbed her eyes. "H-heh. It's was just a blanket. A blanket. That's..." She shook her head.

Shaking, she sat on the edge of her bed. "Heh. I wonder what— Ah!" She held up a hoof, a light shining in her eyes. Looking behind her, she saw her cutie mark glowing brightly, easily beating the tiny specks of starlight outside.

"Oh, shoot!" Rainbow jumped out of bed. "How long was that going off for?" She reached for her clock but found its spot on her nightstand vacant. Picking it up off the ground and holding it to the light of her mark, she saw it was midnight. Annoyed, she put it back in its proper spot. What was going on at this hour? Was it something on the other side of the world?

Yawning, stretching, she walked out of her room and down the stairs. She went to her kitchen, grabbed some granola bars, and ate them hastily. She wondered who she would be paired with this time. She hadn't been with Applejack or Fluttershy yet, so maybe it'd be one of those two.

"Ugh. Twilight's gonna have a fit. I hope I'm not that late." She finished her scanty breakfast, throwing the wrappers away, and flew outside.

Rainbow shivered in the nippy night air. She looked and barely made out the new moon, high above the clouds. She turned to Twilight's to go to the Map, but something caught her eye. There was a bright orange-yellow splotch on an otherwise peaceful mountain backdrop. She squinted at it, not sure what she was looking at. With a jolt, she realized that was where Canterlot was supposed to be.

Her mind stumbled for a moment, grasping unsuccessfully for words to convey thoughts. "Wait, what the—? Who—? How—? Canterlot?!"

She glanced back at her cutie mark. Putting two and two together, she raced for the burning city. After a moment's flight, she had a thought, a nagging feeling, that she had to go to Twilight's first. She stopped midair and debated for a moment, then, deciding it'd be better to have backup anyway, headed quickly to her friend's castle.

"Ugh! Where is she?!"

Twilight angrily paced the map room. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy had all arrived a few minutes before, still out of breath yet still trying to wake up. Starlight Glimmer and Spike had ran to the map room at Twilight's screams, both now thoroughly terrified.

"Has this happened before?" Starlight asked timidly. "I mean, why are all of your cutie marks glowing? Is it Canterlot?"

"Well," Rarity said, "yes, it has happened. With... er... you and your town."

Starlight frowned. "Ah."

"As for Canterlot," Rarity continued, "it's entirely possible. We don't know what it is. Usually, it already has out marks on the Map."

Starlight looked at Twilight. "So why aren't they?"

Twilight gave a weak shrug and looked at the Map. "Maybe all of us have to be here this time."

"But how do you know you've all been called?"

"We ain't sure," Applejack said, "but it's shaping up to be that way. We're five for six, so that means Rainbow must be holdin' us up. I hope she ain't getting herself into something stupid, or's just sleeping through all this."

Starlight balked. "Are you saying, even with an obvious problem, you aren't going to act?"

Twilight started to reply, but Rainbow flew through an open window, panting. "Canterlot..."

"Yeah," said Twilight angrily, "we've been here since midnight."

"But that's when I... ugh." Rainbow edged slowly towards the window she entered. "Let's... let's go..."

"Now wait, darling," Rarity said, "we need to see what the Map wants us to do."

"But... Canterlot..." Rainbow took a deep breath to steady herself and groaned. "Isn't it obvious? I mean, what else can it be?" The others, already at the Map and looking at it expectantly, ignored her. Rainbow hung her head and quickly joined them.

Their cutie marks, one by one, appeared on the Map. They circled around Twilight's castle, and circled, and circled... Nothing. The six marks continued to orbit where their owners currently were.

Starlight broke the awkward silence. "Is... Is it broken again?"

"No, no," Twilight said. "It should work. Maybe we should just give it some time."

Applejack shook her head. "I think it's telling us exactly where we should be. It's always right on cue as to telling us what to do. Why shouldn't this be the same?"

"What?!" Rainbow took to the air. "Stay here?! While Canterlot is on fire?! No way! We need to go!"

"But Rainbow," Twilight said, "the Map is telling us to stay."

"We need to go," Rainbow insisted. "I don't care what it says." She hovered over the Map and gestured towards Canterlot. "It's burning, and we can help. Why are we even listening to a Map when we obviously have something more important we should do?"

"It knows better."

Rainbow frowned. "And how do you know that?"

"Well," Twilight looked downwards, "I don't, but—"

Rainbow crossed her hooves. "Then why are we just sitting here?"

"Rainbow," Rarity offered, "darling, we don't know what lies ahead of us. The Map always seems to know what to do."

"Yep!" Pinkie piped up. "It hasn't let us down!"

"So it's settled," Twilight said decisively. "We'll wait here until we're told what to do."

Rainbow threw her hooves up. "'Until we're told what to do'? Are you kidding me? That Map is telling us to just sit here, and you're okay with that?"

"I never said I was okay with—"

"It doesn't matter what you said! What you're doing right now says plenty! You're just sitting there, waiting to be hoof-fed instructions! You're always waiting! We know what to do, so why the hell aren't we doing it?!"

Twilight growled and let out a slow exhale. "Everything always works out in the end precisely because I have instruction. Unlike you. When you do stuff 'by yourself' and 'on your own', it ends in disaster. That Daring-Do book? Rainbow Falls? Mare-Do-Well? Those Rainbow Cookies? Any of them ring a bell?"

Rainbow grit her teeth and huffed. "Ugh! We can't just—" she flew in a quick circle, gathering her thoughts. "We need to do something! Canterlot is burning, Twilight! Do you need me to spell it out for you? Canterlot is on fire! We can't sit here!"

"Now Rainbow," Applejack said calmly, "we've been told to stay here. Our job is to listen to the Map right now, not our gut feelings. Now, I know that you're one to jump in and get stuff done, and I know the feeling, but that ain't necessarily the best course of action all the time."

"But why shouldn't we?" Rainbow asked, her voice a bit quieter. "If the Map's gonna send us there anyway, why wait? And if it isn't gonna send us there, what good is it to stay here?" Applejack looked at the ground, pawing it. Rainbow nodded.

"But, Rainbow," Twilight said, "the Map told us to—"

Rainbow's voice raised again. "You're not getting it, Twilight! We have to make our own decisions! We can't go living our lives being told to do everything! Take initiative for once!"

"I am taking initiative by staying here! The Map knows bigger things are in play now. It has a purpose for all of this."

"Why would the Map have us play bystander, huh? What 'purpose' is there in that? We can help those ponies, and I know it's our responsibility to help them! We don't have to listen to that Map! We can make our own choices! We aren't little fillies!"

Twilight scoffed. "Well you sure are acting like one! We've been told to stay, and I plan on staying."

"Come on, Twilight! The Map isn't in charge of us!" She paused for a moment. "Why is the Map's say more important than our own, huh? Why are its choices higher than ours?"

"No, it's not. No, wait, I mean..." Twilight stomped a hoof. "No, it's not higher than us, but it knows what's best for—"

"How do you know?"

"I don't, but—"

"You've gotta be..." Rainbow started exasperatedly. "Well, maybe now it's wrong! Have you ever thought of that? Maybe it underestimates what we can do! Are you saying that the Map knows us better than we do?"

"I'm not saying that. Like I've been saying, I'm worried there are bigger things happening right now we don't know about. We don't know what caused it or—"

"And we don't need to! All we need to know is that there are ponies dying over there, and we have to help them!"

"It's not our place or job to—"

"Are you kidding me?!" Rainbow's voice cracked. "Are you serious right now?! You're just gonna sit and let ponies die because a glowing map told you to?!"

"Look, Rainbow, would you just listen—"

"No! No, I'm done with you! I'm done with all of you! I'm going to go help Canterlot whether you guys are with me or not!" Rainbow turned and flew towards the open window.

"No, Rainbow Dash, stay!" Twilight seized Rainbow's tail with her magic and refused to let go. Rainbow was seething, kicking futilely at her friend's magic.

"Come on!" Rainbow yelled. "We have to go, damn it! Ponies are dying!"

"We might die if we go!" Twilight slowly raised her voice. "We—"

"Better that than stay here like cowards!"

Nearly everypony in the room winced at that. Twilight lit into her. "We aren't cowards! That's not the point! We—"

"Then what is the point, Twilight?!" Rainbow yelled. "Huh?! What's the point in staying here?! Why do you insist we sit and do nothing?! What gets done?! Nothing! The Map doesn't know what's important here! You don't know what's important here! We are in charge of ourselves, damn it! Not the Map, us! We have a job to do, and Celestia help me, if you won't do it, I will do it all for you!" And, punctuating each word with a kick in the air, "Let! Me! Go!"

"Fine!" Twilight said, tears in her eyes. "Leave! Die then! See what good that does you!" She relinquished her hold of Rainbow's tail.

"Finally!" Rainbow exclaimed. She sped out the window and headed for the distant fiery city, her cutie mark no longer glowing. Twilight ran off to another room, hiding her face with her wings. The remaining five ponies stood in silence.

Rainbow sped towards Canterlot once more, but once more the thought of backup interrupted her. She glanced back at Twilight's castle with distain. Looking around, she spied the bell tower next to the schoolhouse. She flew to it and, without hesitation, kicked it repeatedly.

She found a pattern with the first few ponies who left their homes. They would step outside, annoyed, look about themselves, spot Canterlot, and run to the clock tower yelling. It soon became a cascade of worried and nervous townsponies pouring into the streets and making their way to the tower.

After everypony had congregated, she kicked the bell again. "Weather ponies!" she called to the crowd. "I need the weather ponies!" A few dozen gaunt and groggy pegasi flew to her. She nodded to them. "You know what we're gonna do, right?" They assented and hovered next to her.

"This isn't gonna be enough..." she muttered to herself. Turning to the crowd again, she cleared her throat. "We need any pegasi who're willing and able to help Canterlot! Any volunteers? We have to hustle!" In quick succession, a nearly equal number of additional pegasi joined her and the weather ponies. Rainbow guessed their numbers to be around a hundred. "That'll have to do," she said again to herself.

"As for the rest of you," Rainbow said to the crowd, "be ready first thing in the morning for the trains. We're gonna need as many hooves as we can get for cleanup." She turned to her group of volunteers. "Alright, let's go, let's go!" She sped once again for Canterlot, allowing herself to fret again.

The room Rainbow had left minutes before remained relatively silent. The five ponies heard the bell ring, the crowd gather, Rainbow bark off orders, the crowd scattering, and saw the herd of pegasi fly towards the glowing mountain without a word passing between themselves.

Fluttershy softly cried, comforted by Rarity. Spike had seemingly left the room at the first signs of contention. Applejack stared out the window, looking at the fire and now the rapidly departing volunteers. Pinkie sat in her chair and fiddled with her deflated hair. Starlight milled around the room, checking the Map once in a while. The cutie marks still remained, and their real-life counterparts still glowed. Only Rainbow's cutie mark had stopped.

Rainbow strained her eyes against the wind, trying to see to what extent the fire had gone. The other pegasi were busying themselves with various theories as to what started the fire and how long they'd end up being there. Rainbow attempted to join in, or think of anything else, but couldn't quite manage to get her mind off of Twilight.

She grit her teeth. It wasn't dangerous, she thought to herself, nothing the weather team hadn't handled before. Whenever a fire was reported in Ponyville, all it took was two or three pegasi with a cloud to take care of it. Canterlot was just a big fire. A really, really big fire. Given enough clouds and ponies, the fire could be out in minutes. Rainbow just couldn't fathom Twilight's worry.

She also felt a bit betrayed. Her friends wanted to trust some stupid magic rock more than her. She thought they'd back her up, or at least qualify her assertions, but instead, she felt she was being treated as though she had a blatant folly, like some idiot who didn't know what something was until it kicked them in the teeth.

She didn't blame them too much, though—the Map had been guiding them for a while now—but she couldn't understand why they'd be so resolute in their trust in it. Rainbow was determined to show them the Map was wrong, that they should've came along to help with the fire. She just hoped she wasn't too late.

The cold night air nipped at her ears. Rainbow wanted to bolt on ahead and fix it all herself, but she was the captain of the group and had a duty to stay. As she realized how cold the middle of the night was, she tried to guess who made the group so slow. She was going to berate them once it was all over with. Maybe it was Thunderlane, he was enough of a slacker, or—

She heard a faint wailing. It fazed in and out of her head, piercing her brain. Her mind tried to place the sound but couldn't put a name to it. She thought she had heard it once in Ponyville, but couldn't remember when or why. To Rainbow's relief and then terror, somepony behind her heard it too and had a guess.

"Is... Is that an air raid siren?"

Rainbow saw something, now wide-eyed in fear. Tiny specks flew to and fro in front of the fire, but she had a feeling they weren't ponies. Others in her group noticed too, and the whole mass of them seemed to slow down. Before she could even think of what they could be, she heard a screech, followed by some yelling. All at once, the dark specks moved swiftly behind the mountain, vanishing into the darkness.

Rainbow wanted so badly to order her group to make chase but knew Canterlot needed their help, first and foremost. The figures, whoever or whatever they were, weren't causing any more trouble now Rainbow and her volunteers had arrived. Rainbow ordered everyone to speed up and start dowsing the flames, and they all flowed out, grabbing clouds and speeding towards their burning capital.