Undaunted (cancelled)

 The massive thunderhead loomed in front of Rainbow. The sky slowly dissapeared around her, the massive clump of clouds absorbing any ray of Sunshine that might be left. A cocky smile crossed her face. *This is going to be fun,* she thought.

    Lightning cracked across the sky, illuminating the hair whipping across her face as the last rays of sunshine left the sky. Ponyville had never seen a storm of this size, and if Rainbow had any say in the matter, it never would.

    She cracked her neck and tensed the muscles across her back, sending blood around her body as she mentally prepared for the battle ahead. The thought of charging headfirst into the abyss made her smile grow even wider. She turned the slight nervousness knawing at the back of her mind into excitement. Excitement about the thrill of the intense winds blowing against her, the water clinging to her coat and making it harder to fly, the thought of soaring beside bolts of lightning as they cracked trees in half in the forest below.

    She could die today, and that only made her smile wider. The thought of overcoming the impossible sent adrenaline through her veins. She could envision the crowd in Ponyville square already; hundreds of ponies cheering her name, endlessly thanking her for saving their homes and business from the damage of the storm. Hell, she might even save a few lives while she's at it.

    But as she looked into the black, swirling menace that was the clouds in front of her, that's not what she wanted. She wanted the thrill.

    She cocked her shoulders back, ready to fly as fast as she could directly into the storm.

    "Rainbow Dash!" cried Thunderlane from behind her. "What are you doing?" He said, trying to raise his voice over the roar of the rain and wind.

    Rainbow turned around and flashed him a cocky grin. "I'm about to get rid of this storm, duh," she said with a roll of her eyes, as if her actions were obvious.

    "Aren't you going to wait until the other weather ponies get here?" Thunderlane put a hoof up in front of his face to block the wind from his eyes. A slight grimace overcame his face as he flew closer to Rainbow. The wind even this far from the storm was so strong it was getting difficult to fly. "Nopony can handle a storm that size on their own. The others should be here in a few minutes."

    Rainbow let out an annoyed grunt at the thought at having to wait for the others. She was ready now.  By the time the other weatherponies got here, the storm would be halfway to Ponyville, and of course they'd want to take it slow and methodically; sucking any amount of fun that Rainbow could've had on her own.

    "The others will never be here in time. Besides, you're right..." she looks back at Thunderlane, a cocky smile on her face, "...nopony could handle this alone."

    Rainbow looks back to the storm in front of her, smiling as little bits of rain slammed into her face, already soaking her coat. "Nopony but me."

    With that, Rainbow rushed off into the storm as fast as her wings would take her, leaving Thunderlane behind struggling in the force of her own wings moving through the air.

    Her heartbeat skyrocketed. The exertion of going so fast was felt through her entire body. The sudden jolt against her organs brought even more adrenaline into her veins, and her eyes widened as she came closer to her opponent.

    She pushed her wings into overdrive as she neared the clouds. She could feel her muscles burning against the effort all across her wings and back. She loved that feeling: pushing herself to and beyond her limits. She fought against the wind, gravity, and the sudden torrent of rain that, at that speed, felt like pebbles being thrown at her in a hurricane. The pain of her exertion against the elements and the impacts of the rain on her coat brought her to life. She felt more in tune with the world than ever before, with every single one of her senses being hieghtened by the rush of the moment.

    As she approached her top speed, Rainbow closed her eyes right before hitting the clouds. The roar of the thunder and the wind were muffled as she hit. Her hooves bursted straight through the thin layer of water like it was nothing. Her world went black and a thousand tiny water droplets gave in to her push, closing in on her body from the sudden pressure, and then expanding out to create a massive gouge in the stormcloud behind her.

    Her coat quickly became completely soaked through. Brushing through all that water vapor quickly clung to her skin, matting her fur down completely. The water was freezing and she could feel cold start to affect her performance. Even the little differences in weight her drenched fur caused she could feel as her wings pushed even harder.

    She could feel she was reaching her limit. This was as fast as she could go given the circumstances, but she only wanted to go faster. She forced her body to push harder, fly quicker; the rush of pushing through this tuft of cloud more desirable now than stopping to take a break.

    The jet-black clouds surrounding her lightened in color, until finally she broke through the surface with an audible poof and tiny swirl of cloud forming behind her. The sun felt warm on her matted coat, and she curled her wings to her sides, letting her momentum carry her through the warm air above.

    She looked behind her, marveling at the massive wound she created in the storm, the clouds collapsing and trying to recover from the blow. She smiled as her opponent trembled before her, driving that desire to take it down completely into her even harder.

    She felt the pull of gravity yet again as she reached the apex of her momentum, the warmth of the sun against her slowly fading as she drew closer to the clouds. She felt her stomach drop and the fear of the sudden fall overcome her, but as she had a million times before, she outstretched her wings and hooves and took the dive, ready to tear the next hole in this monster of a storm.

    Hooves outstretched and wings working with gravity, Rainbow punched a massive hole into the thick storm. Just as she passed through the bottom she saw the sunlight peering through to the ground below, just before the storm collapsed on itself.

    Satisfied with herself, Rainbow darted back up towards the clouds. She was ready to take this monster down all by herself.

    That is until the monster fought back. With the new spiral of clouds around her, lightning sparked from the clouds off the trees below, sending a shower of sparks up towards her. The massive boom left her ears ringing for a few moments, and the sudden gust caught her in her disorientation, sending her flying backwards.

    She tried to reorient herself, but the wind had already taken her. She was just a toy to the forces of nature until she could figure out which direction she had to flap. Panic gripped at her as her world spun violently, a blur of dark gray and green all she could make out. She could feel herself falling towards the ground, but could do nothing to stop it as the wind pushed against her from unpredictable angles.

    /I could actually die out here/, her mind told her. Rainbow's eyes went wide with the sudden realization, the confidence that fueled her a few seconds ago quickly draining. She desperately flapped her wings against the wind to try and regain control, but the storm had other ideas for her.

    Rainbow remembered every bit of training she had gone through for moments like this, and tried to act accordingly. Nothing had ever thrown her around this hard. Finally, Rainbow leveled out as the wind let up, a sense of relief washing over her for a moment until her senses came back. She'd corrected way too late; there was no way she could avoid the tree branches racing at her.

    Rainbow tried to flap in the opposite direction to kill her momentum, but it was too late. She slammed into a branch face first, making her whole world turn white for a few moments. Her body felt like a distant memory as she fell to the ground. Each dull thud her torso made as it ran into another branch sounded like it was happening far away from her. Every sound was drowned out in her ringing ears. Finally Rainbow hit the forest floor, sending dirt and dust into the air around her. Rainbow tried to turn herself over to get up, but her body wouldn't listen to her.

    The dark greens and browns of the Everfree blurred in her vision until Rainbow Dash lost consciousness completely.

[hr]Unfinished