It would have been a lovely day in Ponyville, if it weren't for the tornado.

The dark funnel weaved drunkenly down Ponyville's main street, flinging anything that wasn't secured down properly in every direction. It was the kind of naked, natural weather that Ponyville's residents simply were not ready for- the sort of thing that would send any pony with a bit of sense scurrying for cover.

Naturally, Rainbow Dash was on the scene.

"Don't worry!" she yelled over the wind's howl. "I got this!"

The blue pegasus pulled a pair of goggles down over her eyes, and took off in a multihued streak towards the chaos. The tornado picked up a fruit cart and flung it right at Rainbow Dash, but she effortlessly rolled out of the way. She winced a little as she heard the cart smash to splinters somewhere behind her. "Applejack's not gonna be too happy about that." she said to herself, quieter.

Rainbow Dash beat her wings for extra power, and flew directly into the wind. Her fur and feathers rippled against the force of the tornado. She was pushed backwards on several occasions. But each time, Rainbow Dash worked her wings even harder, forcing her way through brute force and stubborn willpower alone.

Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth and pushed her way onward- she knew the quickest way to disrupt a wild tornado was to stop its twisting motion by flying in the opposite direction of the air current. She'd never heard of anypony doing it alone- but there wasn't enough time to get more weather pegasi on the scene. But if anyone could do it, she told herself, it would be her!

And slowly, but surely, the tornado began to lose force as Rainbow Dash circled around and around it, forcing the air currents to all flow in the same direction. She allowed herself a half mad, victorious laugh. It was working!

That's when a board hit Rainbow Dash in the head.

The blow would've put any other pony in the hospital, but Rainbow Dash was made of sterner stuff. Even still, the sudden shock of the blow sent her veering far off course- until a streak of red and silver swooped in beside her. and shoved her back on course.

"Still flying?" The other pegasus yelled over the din of the tornado. Rainbow dash squinted at the other flyer, but between the dust kicked up by the twister and the stars still circling her head, she couldn't make out who he was.

"Of course!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Good, because we've got to make another run on that tornado before it hurts anypony else!"

"Sounds good to me- just try to keep up!" Rainbow Dash reared up and soared back against the wind- fast enough that the colt behind her could only say "Hey!" in response and vainly try to keep up. Once again, Rainbow Dash fought her way into place circling the tornado- but this time, she was helped with the strength of another pair of wings. Flying together in a loose formation, the two pegasi twisted the tornado in the opposite direction, finally forcing its wind currents all into the same direction, allowing them to dissipate harmlessly. Or at least with far less damage they would've done otherwise.

Rainbow Dash's heart pounded in her chest as she got down to the ground, wincing a bit as she relaxed her overworked wings. "Hah." she laughed, weakly. "Piece of...cake." Having said this, she allowed herself to collapse to the ground for a well-needed rest.

"Rainbow Dash, right?" said someone. "Are you alright?"

"I'm okay!" Rainbow Dash said, mostly by reflex. She blinked her eyes open and pushed her goggles off to look at the pony standing above her. He was a young colt- at least, he sounded young. Rainbow Dash couldn't quite make out his exact age, due to the mask he was wearing. She saw a bit of off-white fur around his nose and eyes, while his mane was a simple black.

The rest of him was covered in a red jumpsuit, which buttoned up his chest in an inverted 'L' shape. (Rainbow Dash reminded herself to ask Rarity just what that was called later). A short gold cape hung off of one of the pony's shoulders. "...you come from the circus or something?"

"Sorry, I should've introduced myself earlier." The masked pony said, and scratched at the back of his neck. "I'm Captain Cloudsdale."

"Captain Cloudsdale, huh? Why's that sound familliar?" Rainbow Dash said. She shook her head and got to her hooves. As she did so, she got a better look at the red-suited colt- and her eyes fell to white wings sticking up out of his back.

"You...might have heard of me." he said, "I'm, well...I guess the best term would be superhero."

"Okay, I got it. I got hit on the head and now I'm just having weird dreams, right? Twilight says that kinda stuff happens sometimes-"

Captain Cloudsdale sighed. "I'm real." he said, and poked Rainbow Dash in the side.

"Hey, watch it!" Rainbow Dash said, wincing just a little.

"Well, that prove I'm real enough for you?"

"I guess so." Rainbow Dash said, "So...a superhero, huh? I didn't know Equestria had any of those."

"Well, not many. Which is kind of why I'm here. I'm recruiting."

"Recruiting? In Ponyville? Whoa!" She smiled, and beat her wings to take to the air, posing, "I guess that makes sense, as there's just one pony in all of Ponyville who's awesome enough to be a superhero-"

"I know." Captain Cloudsdale said. "That's why I need you to introduce me to Mare-Do-Well. You know her, right?"

Somewhere, a pane of glass broke.