Year 989 CE (Celestial Empire). Cloudsdale. Rainbow Dash, age 10, was once again forced to stay after class due to bad behavior. She was already used to it, but flying home without a friend to talk to - or, in multiple cases, show off to - was always a bore. It was usually a quiet and quick fly home but, this time, something caught her attention. A large shadow flew past her. She quickly looked up, but whatever cast the shadow was already too far away for her to recognize.

"What... What just happened? Whoever that was, it was so much faster than me!" young Rainbow Dash frowned. "Nopony is faster than me. Nopony!"

Rainbow Dash turned around and flew in the same direction the shadow had gone. After a few minutes flying at top speed, the pegasus reached a mountain.

"Wow..." she said. "It's in the same level as Cloudsdale. This mountain must be huge!" her ear twitched when she heard a very faint noise coming from somewhere within the mountain. "Maybe he or she went in there." she said before striking a pose. "Detective Rainbow Dash is now on the case!"

She flew around the mountain until she found a large cave on it. It was pitch black in there and apparently quite deep. The cold air coming from it made her shiver a little, but she wasn't about to turn around and flee.

"I should have brought a lighter." she mumbled as she entered the cave. To guide herself, Rainbow Dash pressed a hoof against a wall and proceeded while dragging it. A very faint smell reached her nostrils, but it didn't bothered her, so she proceeded. But the smell was slowly getting stronger. Soon it was so strong that she had to cover her muzzle with a wing.

"Ugh, is this some kind of dumpster?" she thought. "This place smells just like one of Fluttershy's birdhouses. Only, like, ten times worse! I wonder if there's any treasure in here, though. That would be awesome!"

Her vision started to slowly get brighter. It didn't took long for her to see why: the walls were staring to have holes; not very big ones, only enough for her hoof to go through, but it was enough to make it possible to see. She gasped when she saw the last thing she expected to see in a mountain: a very large bird's nest. Inside the nest she saw three chicks. Or, at least, she assumed were chicks, because each one was as big as her.

They didn't reacted when they first saw her, only watched her carefully, ocasinally tilting their heads.

"Hey there, little guys." she said. "Wow, aren't you big? I bet Fluttershy would love to see animals like you!" she looked around a bit. "Where's your mom? Huh, maybe it was that thing I saw earlier? Wow, your mom sure is a great flier, eh?" Rainbow Dash extended her hoof to pet one, but pulled it back as soon as one of the chicks tried to peck it. "Hey, what's the big idea? I'm not food!"

"G-Ge... Get... Out..." she heard somepony whisper.

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and flew up a little; inside the big nest was a sight that almost made her lose her lunch, breakfast and dinner from last night: several pony bones scattered around, most of them broken or with flesh still attached to it. Then, she saw him: a light blue pegasus stallion with dark blue mane. His body was covered covered in bruises, scratches, peck marks. Large chunks of flesh and one of his wings were missing. Rainbow Dash's wings clamped in fear and she fell on her rump. Even trembling in fear she found the strenght to tackle the chicks to the side and go to where the stallion was.

"Are you ok, mister?! Don't worry, I'll go get help!!" she nearly yelled.

"The... The parent..." he said with his raspy voice. "She'll... Be b-back... S-Soon..."

"What?" she asked. "So-Sorry, I-I can't understand what you're saying!"

They heard a loud screech and Rainbow Dash quickly turned her head. Behind her was a very large, black hawk-like bird. The pegasus almost emptied her bladder then and there.

"Fly..." the stallion said. "FLY, YOU FOOL!"

The giant black hawk tried to peck her, but she jumped up on the last second. The monster didn't gave up, though, and still tried to catch her. She tried to help the fallen stallion, but she was too late and the chicks were feeding off his now lifeless corpse. She turned around and flew as fast as she could.

"It's no use!" she thought. "That thing is very fast, you saw it earlier. It's gonna get you and you will be those baby monsters' dinner!"

But, to her surprise, nothing happened. She looked back and noticed that nothing was following her. Relieved that she had survived, she did the only thing she could think of: fly back home and tell her parents.

Rainbow Dash's parents gave her the scolding of her life. She got grounded for a whole month, but her parents were also glad that she got out of there unharmed. Soon after that, they warned the authorities. Not even 24 hours after that traumatic event, ponies knocked on their door. They were three pegasi, all of them wearing dark magenta suits, brown pants and black shoes. The three ponies also had a blue and yellow shield badge each.

They asked the filly many questions, and she answered all of them the best she could. After the "interview", they asked if she could take them where she saw the black bird, but her parents were against it, so she just pointed at the general direction of the mountain. Hours later, the trio reported that the bird and its spawns had been slain.

That very day, Rainbow Dash made a silent vow: she would spend every waking training to be the best flier Equestria has ever seen cross its skies, then join the Wonderbolts to use those flying skills to help every pony in danger anywhere they were needed. She would never leave a single pony hanging ever again!