Polar Opposites

Chapter 3: Training

Fluttershy's tears fell to the floor, as she mourned the death of Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash was gone... and she would never return into Fluttershy's embrace. The door re-opened, and Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity re-entered. They all knew what had happened; Rainbow Dash had passed. Applejack took off her hat in respect to her friend. Fluttershy turned to face Twilight Sparkle.

“Is there anything you can do?” she asked, suppressing her sobs.
“I can't bring the dead back to life... I'm sorry Fluttershy.” said Twilight mournfully.
Fluttershy turned back to the lifeless form of Rainbow Dash. She brushed Rainbow's rainbow coloured hair out of her face, and stared at the cyan coloured face for a long time. Then, Fluttershy broke into unrelenting sobs. Twilight Sparkle trotted forward, and placed a hoof on her shoulder. The rest of her friends crowded around them.

“I loved her... I loved her, and now she's gone...” replied Fluttershy, trying to repress the flow of tears.
“We all did Fluttershy, we all loved her. You... more than the rest of us...” said Twilight Sparkle.
Minutes passed. Nothing else was said. The only sound that was heard, was Fluttershy's sadness. After a while, Fluttershy rose to her hooves, and slowly started to walk towards the door. The rest of her friends followed.

Beep

They all heard it. All of them turned around and stared at Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy slowly trotted through the crowd of her friends, inching nearer to Rainbow Dash.

Beep

Fluttershy couldn't believe it. She trotted straight up to Rainbow and grabbed her hoof.
“Come on Rainbow Dash. Come back to us.” she said quietly to the still figure.

Beep

“Come back to me Rainbow...” she continued, looking at the pegasus.

Beep...beep

Behind her, her friends looked at each other, sharing similar expressions; surprise and awe.

Beep, beep... beep, beep...

The EKG machine showed Rainbow's heart rate rising, back to the normal level. Rainbow Dash slowly opened her eyes, and looked at the yellow face above her coming into focus. Fluttershy slowly took off Rainbow's oxygen mask. Rainbow Dash coughed for a bit, and shook her head.
“Fluttershy?”
“Yes... it's me Rainbow.”
“Am I dead?”
“Far from it.”
And then Fluttershy kissed her. Rainbow Dash kissed back, and the two wrapped the other in a tight embrace. Fluttershy pulled away and rested her head on Rainbow Dash's shoulder.

“Don't leave me again...” Fluttershy whispered.
“Never...” replied Rainbow Dash.

Twilight Sparkle was astonished. How the hell could Rainbow Dash still be alive? The Dagger Of Unrelenting Darkness sapped the life force of anything that it scratched. But then... Twilight trotted forward and pulled off the bandage that had covered the stab wound. It was completely healed over. The blue coat had reappeared and any darkness around the wound had disappeared.

“How? Not to sound rude Rainbow, but you should of died... How did you survive?”
“I don't know. But one things for certain.” Rainbow Dash hugged Fluttershy tightly. “I'm never leaving Fluttershy again.”
Fluttershy smiled and the two embraced, losing themselves in the other's arms.

Nurse Redheart came back in. She was smiling.

“I heard everything. So, the knife wound has healed. Extraordinary!”
She went over to Rainbow Dash.
“However, your wing and leg are still broken. You will need to stay here for another couple of weeks.”
“Not again!” sighed Rainbow Dash.
Fluttershy giggled. “Maybe I should bring you your Daring Do books.”
“Sure Fluttershy.”

Rainbow Dash was in the hospital for another 2 weeks. Fluttershy visited her daily. After 2 weeks, Rainbow Dash was out, completely healed. She celebrated with some super-fast loop the loops.

“Oh! It feels great to fly once more!” she yelled, as she flew around happily.
“I bet it would! I mean, anypony would be so annoyed that they missed out on flying for 2 weeks. Especially a world-class athlete like you Rainbow.”
Rainbow Dash suddenly got an idea. A completely crazy, but utterly brilliant idea.
“Fluttershy, would you mind if I took you for some flying lessons?”
“Flying lessons?”
“Yeah, well... you can fly already, but I have seen how fast you can fly.”
Fluttershy remembered the tornado that she helped get to a minimum of 800 wing power.
“Well, um, that only happens at certain times.”
“But if you could control when it happens... You could be as good as me.”
“You really think so?”
“Of course! C'mon! We'll start now if you want.”
“Sure.”

“So Fluttershy, I've always wondered... why are you afraid of heights?”
“Oh no... I'm not afraid of heights Rainbow... I'm afraid of...”
Fluttershy trailed away.
“What are you afraid of?”
Fluttershy once again tried to speak, but no sound came out. She took a deep breath, and then said. “I'm afraid of falling.”
“Falling... Fluttershy...” Rainbow flew over to her, and placed a hoof around her shoulder. “There is nothing to be afraid of. The sky, the air; they are wonderful places to be. The freedom, the excitement of being up in the air, soaring over them all. You won't fall Fluttershy. Just keep your wings flapping.”

And so, training began. Fluttershy worked hard, trying her best at everything Rainbow Dash set out for her. After a while, Fluttershy grew confident in her abilities, completing tasks just as fast as Rainbow Dash could give them out.

Meanwhile, in a dark library, Twilight Sparkle was going a little crazy. Books lay scattered everywhere. Twilight was in shock. She babbled incoherently. “No, no, no, no, no way...”. She started twitching. “I'll find out how sooner or later... maybe in this book?”. She levitated a book over to her, one she had read only 10 minutes ago. “In here... In here! It's got to be here! SOMEWHERE! AHAHAHAHA!”. Twilight started rubbing her hooves together, grinning like a maniac.

After a few weeks, Rainbow Dash woke Fluttershy up early one morning, and they flew out, high up into the clouds.

“Okay Fluttershy, you have exceeded all of my expectations. This is your next to final test. A race, against me.”
Fluttershy would have been speechless at the idea. But that was before she became an ace flyer.
“Right.”
“The track is relatively simple. Fly from here to Ghastly Gorge. Go though it. Once you reach the marker at the end, fly up to the perfect spot. First one there wins. Use everything about flying that I have taught you to be victorious. Are you ready?”
Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash, and placed goggles on her eyes.
“Ready!”
“On 3. 1... 2...”
Suddenly, Pinkie Pie appeared in a hot air balloon.
“3!” she shouted and giggled happily.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash took off, racing towards Ghastly Gorge. Fluttershy instantly knew that Dash wasn't fooling around. Dash wasn't slowing down any more, like she had done before. Fluttershy raced after the rainbow tail in front of her, desperate to catch up. They were nearly at Ghastly Gorge when Fluttershy barged into Rainbow Dash, sending her sideways.

“Hey!” yelled Rainbow Dash.
Fluttershy turned and giggled at Rainbow, before taking the lead, speeding into Ghastly Gorge.
“Dear Sweet Celestia I love her...” Dash said to herself, before racing after Fluttershy. She caught up to her part way through. She flew alongside Fluttershy laughing. Fluttershy joined in, and the pegasi weaved their way through the thick brambles. Reaching the other side, they continued, past the quarry eels, moving well away from the pile of rocks that had once trapped Rainbow Dash.

For once, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy both didn't want to win the race. They were both just happy to be with each other. They reached the marker that Rainbow Dash had placed at the end of Ghastly Gorge.

“Hey Dash!”
“Yeah?”
“Race ya!”

And Fluttershy flew off as fast she could to the perfect spot. Dash was in hot pursuit, laughing behind her. Then her laughter abruptly stopped, to be re-placed by a scream of pain. Fluttershy turned round. Rainbow Dash was falling through the air, writhing in agony, clutching her head.

“Rainbow!” Fluttershy shouted, and without any hesitation, she dove after Rainbow Dash, catching her flailing form before she hit the ground.
“Rainbow?”
Rainbow Dash writhed in Fluttershy's arms. Fluttershy flew up to the perfect spot and gently laid her down on the grassy surface. Rainbow Dash stopped writhing after a few more minutes. She started gasping for air.
“Rainbow?” asked Fluttershy again. Rainbow didn't answer immediately; she was still in shock from what had happened. Finally, she responded.
“Fluttershy” said Rainbow Dash, moving towards Fluttershy and hugging her. Fluttershy held her comfortingly. Fluttershy felt tears running down her back as Rainbow wept. “It's fine Rainbow. You're safe. I've got you.” Fluttershy patted Rainbow Dash's back comfortingly.

“I'm scared Fluttershy.”
“Of what?”
“This.” Rainbow tapped her head lightly. “If the mental arrow over-powers us...”
“Rainbow...”
Rainbow started to cry, but stopped abruptly after a few seconds.
“No time to worry about that now. Fluttershy, you have passed my test. You are now ready for the final thing I am about to teach you.”
Fluttershy was nervicited. She was tensing with apprehension. She leaned in, closer to Rainbow Dash.
“Yes.”
“The Sonic Rainboom.”
For the first time since Fluttershy became confident in her flying abilities, she wasn't sure she was up to the task.
“Ummm... what?”
“I think you can do it Fluttershy. You are fast enough, agile enough... and you have heart and spirit. Yes, Fluttershy, I think you can do it.”
Fluttershy nervously backed away. “I- I don’t think I can do it...”
“Fluttershy, just try.”

Fluttershy took a deep breath in, and let it out slow. “Okay, I'll try.”
“That's the spirit! Okay, what you need to do is...”
For the next few hours, Rainbow Dash explained the Sonic Rainboom to Fluttershy. Everything from speed, to position was covered. Fluttershy thought humorously that Rainbow had been getting lecture lessons from Twilight.
“You got it?”
“Yeah... I think I do.”
“Well, give it a shot.”

Fluttershy flew up higher, looked down, took a deep breath and dived. She streamlined her body as Rainbow had showed her. She fell, gathering speed. She saw the faint air trail forming in front of her. She pushed herself, gathering even more speed. But then, she was catapulted back. She spiralled through the air. After a few dizzying seconds, she levelled out, her eyes spinning. Rainbow Dash flew up to her.

“Are you okay?”
“I'm fine.”
Fluttershy shook her head and dove back down. Once again, she failed the Sonic Rainboom. Rainbow flew after the spiralling figure, catching it.
“Rainbow... I just can't do it. I'm not fast enough. I can't break the sound barrier. I can't perform the Sonic Rainboom. I'm a failure to you...” said Fluttershy tearing up a little.
“No Fluttershy, you haven't failed me. Look.”
Rainbow Dash let go of Fluttershy, who immediately started to fly herself. Rainbow looked her straight in the eye.
“It's not the barrier out there, but the barrier in here.” She lightly tapped Fluttershy's head. “I had the same problem once. To perform the Sonic Rainboom, your mind must be fixed on your goal, with absolutely no negative thoughts. You must control your mind, as much as your body Fluttershy. Do you understand?”
Fluttershy nodded.
“Good. Now, it is getting dark. I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow Fluttershy.”

Rainbow Dash planted a quick kiss on Fluttershy's cheek. Then she grinned at her and sped off. Fluttershy flew back to her cottage, and got into bed, thinking it all through. It was only a few more minutes before sleep overpowered her; her dropping eyelids sliding closed, the world turning black.

Meanwhile

“Hehehehe! It's somewhere! The answer is somewhere!” Twilight threw books aside, giggling uncontrollably. Spike walked down the stairs, looking at Twilight sleepily.
“Twilight... It's late. Just forget it and go to bed!” he droned. Twilight looked around at Spike.
“I don't need sleep! I'm perfectly fine! Who needs sleep! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!” With that, Twilight turned back around, continuing to throw books aside. “It's here somewhere. The answer! Rainbow Dash couldn't of returned to the land of the living! It's impossible! Thatn must mean she's a... zombie pony! HAHAHAHAHA!” She laughed, stumbling around. “RAINBOW!” she trilled. “I KNOW WHAT YOU AR-”

WHUMP!

Twilight fell over, knocked out. Spike was standing behind her, holding a heavy book.

“Listen to yourself Twi.” Spike spoke down the unconscious pony. “Zombie pony? Come on! You need rest.” With those words, Spike headed upstairs into his own bed, glad that he can, finally, get some sleep.