My friends all tell me I have this habit where I lick my lips right before I try one of my new stunts. So I guess that’s what I’m doing right now. My muscles are coiled, my wings are tense, and all I need is for egghead to tell me which way to turn on the last summersault.
Nopony has ever successfully done the Fireflash. Well, no pony alive anyway. That’s why I’m going to be the first. Of course once the hype wears off I'll have to think of another new trick. But I’ll worry about that later. The double Rainboom is still too far off anyway.
“If you have a nice updraft, you only need about five degrees in the final loop, Dash.”
Bah. I don't need Twilight's calculations. I'm a natural! I can’t help but cringe. That’s how I used to think. Still do sometimes. Of course, after that last crash knocked some sense into me, I took it slow.
It’s remarkably helpful to have the smartest unicorn in like... ever, doing calculations for you when trying to pull of impossible stunts. Unless she gets a number wrong or something. Yes, that happened. It was only once but it happened.
I mean, reading is one thing, but why would you use letters in math? Was I supposed to be the X or the F?
Unlike the Rainboom this trick requires more finesse than speed, which is a bit tricky every now and again. Part of me wonders if I’ll see all those letters and numbers once I’m tumbling to the ground. Twilight even said one of them is a pie. It looked nothing like a pie or Pinkie, that’s for sure.
Speaking of Pinkie, I wonder what she's doing right now. Usually the girls all come and watch when I’m about to attempt a new trick. Hearing them cheer for me is always a great feeling. Except for Fluttershy’s, but she’s learning. Doesn’t hurt to have somepony who’s good with a first aid kit either.
But today, Pinkie isn’t here. It feels odd, and too quiet. Say what you will about my friends, she's the loudest of the bunch, and without her everything feels like it has less of a meaning. I’m performing for the unimpressed. Sure, Twilight and Rarity cheer for me, and Applejack will give me a slap on the back for a job well done... But Pinkie is always genuinely happy to see me perform, or do anything really.
“Ready or not girls, here I go!” And with that I kick off, flapping my wings with all my might trying to reach the high thermals I’ll need for the trick.
Behind me I can hear Rarity going crazy over her ruined ‘coifeur’ or whatever she calls it. I think Pinkie baked one if those once and told me that stomping around would deflate it.
Serves her right for standing too close. I even caught a glimpse of Applejack's worn out hat drift by. Too bad I can't see the look on her face.
Minutes roll by as I climb higher and the cheers become softer and harder to make out without Pinkie. She’s the only one pony I know that lugs a megaphone around.
Three more downstrokes and I can feel the wind in my feathers heat up. It always hurts a bit and leaves my wings sensitive afterwards, but for now I’ll need it for the Fireflash. Twilight was obviously wrong about it using an actual firetrail, nopony would’ve attempted the trick otherwise. But this heat makes me realize why ponies might think so. Then again, a spell to make my tail look like it’s on fire would be awesome. Maybe Zecora has a potion.
Unlike the Filly Flash, which I could do by the time I was like... six, they say that the Fireflash feels like falling through the atmosphere. Most Pegasi can’t handle the heat buildup which is why the trick is so unique. If done at night, they say it looks like a meteor.
That was probably the only reason Twilight was interested. I finally find something that sounds like it involves space rocks and she’s all over it. Unlike space rocks, however, I know she wouldn't want to keep me on display if I crashed through her bedroom. Which I've done plenty of times.
All this thinking helps pass the time, and before I know it I’m hovering on the edge of the atmosphere. Twilight likes to boast that she knows the best spots to stargaze, but I’m sure that she’s never been up here before. Space and Luna’s sky are bright enough that you can see thousands more than down there. It’s a shame I can’t stay up here longer, it would be one hell of a place for a nap. Unfortunately it’s very hard to breathe up high like this, not to mention the cold.
Okay, Dash, deep breath, fold legs in and... stop. By that I mean I stop flying, and let myself go into a free fall. It’s impossible to describe what it feels like when gravity takes over, Rarity probably could... though I doubt she’d appreciate it if I brought it up. I’ll say this though, it feels totally awesome, so I still don’t get why she was screaming.
I bet not even Daring Do could pull this off. I mean, of course she couldn’t, she’s not real. But I guess I just like being better than my idols. If only Spitfire could see me now. She’s been trying to do the Fire Flash her entire career if that article I read awhile ago was true. Then again, squirt and her friends taught me not to believe everything you read. Even if it was true.
I can already make out the clouds which means that it’s time to really get started. First a triple corkscrew, or was it four times? Quar... Qua... Quadra— something four. Whatever, I’ll just go with five to be sure. What’s the worst that can happen?
Turns out there’s somepony out there who likes proving me wrong. On the fifth spin one of my joints pops and I miss the first cloud ring that was supposed to lead me to the landing spot. Gotta hurry up and get back into position before I’m chewing on trees. Originally, I was gonna land on the top of the hill where I always sit down after a routine. That was before Twilight convinced me that the lake could break my fall if something went wrong. She’s always worrying... I was gonna make the best of it; dive in elegantly and put out any potential fires, but I needed to stay on target for that to be an option.
As it stands, I'm on the fast track to being a woodchipper. Not quite the career choice I had in mind when I started planning— well, when Twilight started planning this trick. This wouldn't have happened if she didn’t talk with those big fancy words all the time. I can never understand half her babbling.
Pointless. Focus, Dash. If I twist my left wing like so then... Aha!
Creating drag while falling is a tricky thing to do, if you overdo it, it’s easy to injure yourself. If you don’t do it enough...well, nothing happens. I manage just exactly enough to get me back on course and heading straight for a dip in the water. Of course I still have to be careful. Hitting the water in the wrong angle at this speed would break more than my wings. It would turn me into a pancake, which is another job offer I’m not particularly looking for.
Heh... Dashiecakes, rainbow sprinkles not included. I crack myself up sometimes. Or maybe Rainbow Tarts?
“Daaassshhhh! Roll! ROLL!” I Must be getting close to the ground if I can hear Twilight this clearly. I force my eyes open and see the rapidly approaching water. Which way she say I should go at the last cloud ring again?
Thinking about things during the clutch few seconds of a trick is always a bad thing to do, so obviously I trust my gut feeling and twist myself to the right.
Bad move. That’s the thing with stunts like these. When everything goes right you’re untouchable, but one mistake and you're in a death spiral. And they don't call it that for nothing. Once you start spinning it’s almost impossible to stabilize yourself. Any ordinary Pegasus would crash and burn. Probably brain themselves against the ground. Then again, I’m no normal Pegasus.
Flight School 101: Panicking makes it worse and flapping your wings wildly only makes you fall faster.
I tuck my wings in tight and begin to steer my body horizontal again. Once I feel the change in wind speed I open them again, and jerk from my fall like a parachute. Feeling several muscles in your wings rip as if they were made of cloud vapor hurts like all hay, and it always comes with the fear that you’ll never fly again.
Now don’t get me wrong, being grounded sucks. But I’d rather have a few ripped tendons than be a blue splat on some hill, which might still happen if I wasn’t fast enough. Better to go in a blaze of glory I guess. If only it wasn’t in front of my friends.
They used to call Pegasi that couldn’t fly ‘bricks’, a term from the old days where the military would toss young recruits off a cloud and if they couldn't fly, they were left to the predators on the ground.
Nowadays it’s used for stunt fliers that crash. Apparently it produces a very distinctive thud. One I’ve probably heard when Twilight falls down some stairs or Pinkie's sense makes something fall. From my own perspective though, it’s more of a feeling.
A feeling that’s something like this: Ever drop a cake and watch the mess it makes? Imagine that only now with a flesh and bones pony and a whole lot more screaming. No wonder horror movies use it to great effect.
Waking up with three broken ribs, several dozen ripped tendons in your wings and a headache that’s worse than cider season is far from awesome. But at least the pain lets me know I’m still alive. I vaguely recall hitting a few trees on the way down, before being caught in some kind of purple net. Twilight’s gonna give me hell for this.
Blearily opening my eyes, I’m curious enough not seeing the whitewashed sanitary boring walls of the hospital, but rather wooden rafters that house a ton of flying creatures. If only that white kitten would get off me so I could scratch my wing. It’s driving me nuts.
“Dashie?”
Pinkie’s standing at the hoof end of what feels like Fluttershy's sofa. Her eyes sparkling with tears while she flashes me a tentative smile through the pink waterfall that is her mane, like she thought I was dead or something. I see something in her hooves, probably a cup of water. What I wouldn’t give for a mug of cider right now.
"Uh... hey..." Is that my voice? Man I sound like a wreck. And Pinkie looks like she hasn't slept in days.
"How long was I out?"
"Eight days, three hours, five minutes and..." She drags her foreleg across her eyes, wiping away the tears. "Sorry, I was never good with secs."
"Oh..." I can't even laugh at that innuendo. Was it innuendo? My brain hurts too much to think about it.
Moving feels like somepony's pouring molten lava onto every muscle. My wings feel like they've been sawed off, and my mouth is as dry as the Appleoosian desert.
“Why... W-why am I here?” Not that I wanted to be in the hospital, but still. Fluttershy is a vet not a doctor.
Pinkie bites her lip, new tears springing up in her eyes as she very carefully comes closer. “Because it’s your birthday, silly.”
To think I almost slept through it. Hell, I'm lucky I lived to see it. "Some present to myself, huh?"
She giggles softly in that adorable way of hers. "I got a present for you. But I can’t give it to you while you’re all ouchies like this."
"Awhhh, so no present?"
She puts her hoof up to her chin, some bounce returning to her curls. “Welllll...Maybe a little one.”
She darts forward and mashes her lips to mine. It takes my breath away, which would’ve been quite a feat if I didn’t have these broken ribs.. "Better?"
My face flushes which makes my headache worse, but at least it’s a good pain. Her hoof touches my wing and it burns up my spine, which is very much a bad pain. "Ah!"
"Promise me you’ll never ever get hurt like that again!"
Pinkie’s intense when she’s scared. Most of her deflated mane obscures her eyes, but it’s easy to see the desperation.
“You know I can’t promise that, Pinks. Flying’s risky, but it’s who I am.”
"But... how can we be marefriends if you're hurt or... you know..." She trails off. I’ve never heard Pinkie trail off before. Usually she’s impossible to shut up. “Promise me you’ll be careful? I want you to come back to me after you’re done flying.”
I never thought about it like that. I never really had a pony to worry about me like that. Am I crying? Pinkie smiles and calls me silly. Always knew that being hurt could make you emotional, but I never thought it would be quite like this.
The headache is making it hard to think. I'm still trying to process what just happened. In the back of my mind, I guess I always wanted to confess to Pinkie. Just another thing she beat me to, like everything else we do together. That’s one of the things I love about her though. Keeps me on my hooves.
And all it took was nearly killing myself to get her to admit it. I wonder if she’d believe me if I said it was an elaborate prank...
Nah, she'd probably kill me.
“I promise, Pinks. Anything for you.”
She gives me another kiss and turns around. “I’ll go wake the others.”
I call after her, “No, don’t, just stay with me for a while.” Sounds weak, I know. But I’d much rather spend a little time with her for now. Now I have four amazing friends, and one amazing marefriend.
That smile I love returns, free of hurt and worry. "Okidoki!"
When I started practicing the Fireflash, I never would have thought that I’d end up with Pinkie rather than something to boast about. Looking back, though? I’d call it awesome. Wait... I do have something to boast about. I got the most awesome mare in Equestria.
She crawls up next to me on the couch. It hurts a little but I’m not about to complain. She needs her rest. Don’t think I’ll be able to sleep anytime soon though.
So I let my marefriend get some sleep. She's earned it. She watched over me while I was under, and now it’s my turn.
Happy birthday to me...
