Rainbow Dash sighed, rolling in her soft bed of clouds. Her bedroom, usually a bright white this time of day, was currently a dark gray. "Why did they have to schedule a thunderstorm on my day off.." Dash sighed at the thought of all the wasted time that could be spent practicing. She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep, but she couldn't help her restlessness.
Normally she didn't mind flying through the rain, even during thunderstorms. While the lightning was dangerous, she could normally feel the ionization of the air and would move out of the area. This storm was different, there was a large increase in the amount of electricity. Somepony in Cloudsdale must have overcharged this group of clouds. Dash was sure she would be zapped from the sky if she left the safety of her home.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl, and it was going slower with every passing minute. Dash sighed for the hundredth time as she pushed herself off of the bed. She circled her room slowly for several minutes, trying to conquer her boredom. Suddenly lightning flashed across the sky, filling the room with light. The only bookshelf in her room drew her attention. She walked towards the shelf eying her small collection of books.
There were three books on the shelf, filling only a small portion. While Dash constantly told herself that she would fill up the shelf over the years, she never found any books that caught her interest. The first book had a blue cover, the spine worn from years of use. It's cover reads; 'Goldwings flying tips: Advanced tricks for the everyday flier.' Although the book covered only basic flight topics that Dash mastered years ago, it was given to her by somepony close to her. It had a very special place in her heart. The next book also had a blue cover, titled 'Behind the Mask: Wonderbolts.' It's spine was still stiff from disuse. Dash picked up the book for stories and advice, but only found gossip and steamy rumors. The last book was much older than the other two. It's leather cover was tarnished from use and age. This book contained no words, only pictures taped into the dull white pages.
Dash pulled the photo-book away from the other two with her hoof, grabbed it in her mouth and walked back to her bed. She threw herself the last couple feet and landed with a soft plop. She dropped the book and opened it. The dull light was barely adequate enough to view the photos. Not that it mattered, she had already committed them to memory.
She glanced past photos of her parents and childhood home, pushing the anger that was bubbling up back into the darkness of her mind. She flipped through several more pages before stopping at a photo of a dark blue foal with a blond mane. She smiled at the first couple pages of photos; the first steps, first walk and first flight. In the following pages, there was a new pony in the photos, a young cyan colored pegasus with a rainbow colored mane and tail. Dash's smile faded as the memories flooded her mind.
Rainbow Dash was born into an average Cloudsdale family. She had a healthy and happy mother and father. At the time Dash was born her family had one other child, a dark blue pegasus with a blonde main and tail and golden eyes. Sunray, named for his mane and eyes, was six years old at the time. Everypony called this young colt Ray, a habit that has stuck with Dash even now.
It was hard for her to remember the early years, the only vivid memories left were of Ray. How he would zoom around the house, with her struggling to keep up. How he was always calm and cool in any company or circumstances. But most of all she remembered his teasing and goading. It was never too mean or serious, but it always motivated her. Ray was the first to notice her natural talent for flying, and he drove her to reach farther and fly faster. Dash always looked up to and idolized him. She even tried her best to imitate him; his personality, his coolness, his tricks and even his looks.
It was Ray that gave Dash her dream, that faithful day etched into her mind. He woke her up early, even before Celestia raised the sun. Ray filled up a couple saddle bags with enough oats for the two and placed one on the drowsy eyed Dash. He explained nothing to the sleepy pony as they left their home and then Cloudsdale. They flew for hours, or if you would have asked her at the time, forever. Around midday they stopped flying, settling down near an open field. It didn't take her long to recover from the trip. She began to pester Ray about why they were there. He would only smile and tell her to be patient. Boredom quickly set in after a short flying session and several failed attempts into goading ray into a chase. So she did the next best thing to having fun: take a nap.
