Where the Land Meets the Sky
The morning was cold. The grass was still covered in dew and the sun could just be seen entering the sky, turning the sky a pink hue that faded into the familiar, cloudy blue. Outside of Ponyville, two mares sat in an empty field while a whir of gears and the sound of steam could be heard over the chirping birds.
“Are you sure about this Twi?” Rainbow Dash was worried that this mix between mechanical wing and steam-powered motor would not be able to support her amount of weight. She was heavy for a pegasus and her muscular wings were strong enough to support her but with one wing missing, she was not sure the thin brass would be up to the task.
“If my calculations are correct, the force of the wing will be strong enough to lift an object of your mass and escape the grasp of gravity.” If it hadn’t been for Magic Study, Twilight would have majored in Physics. “Unfortunately, with the added mass of the wing and motor, you will no longer be able to walk on clouds. I’m sorry Rainbow. I know that your favorite thing to do was walk and sleep on them.” Twilight looked down in shame that she hadn’t been able to fix this problem.
Rainbow Dash became aware of the sudden change in mood in the unicorn and quickly sought out to comfort her.
“I don’t mind,” she said, smiling reassuringly, “I’m just glad I was able to help Fluttershy before she got hurt.”
“We all are,” Twilight said back, giving a sheepish grin. “Anyway, where were we?” With the confidence back, she was ready to see if her contraption worked.
Rainbow Dash began to flap her right wing to match the speed of the already beating mechanical wing. The brass wing was flapping gracefully as it beat at the air, making the grass underneath her form a crater around her body. She started to lift from the ground.
Amidst the squeal of delight from Dash and the rhythmical sound of steam being expelled from the protruding pipes came an almost inaudible cracking noise. Before Dash could successfully take off, the metal wing bent under the pressure and snapped in half, sending shards of brass and leather bindings everywhere. The shrapnel were hot under the amount of friction it endured and burned both pegasus and unicorn making them yelp in pain.
After a few minutes of panicking and readjusting to the situation, they found that the burns were not that serious and had concluded that the first attempt was a complete failure. Twilight sighed and began to help her friend take the rest of the mangled wreck off of her back before something else decided to malfunction. Rainbow Dash looked up at her friend with a look of thanks and they walked together in silence back to Ponyville.
----+----
As Twilight entered the library, she immediately went back to her blueprints to see what went wrong. She had spent months on her research to help Dash but what was the missing element? She dwelled on this question as she levitated her research papers in front her face, illuminating the room with her purple, magic aura. That’s when it hit her.
If physical properties of the wing were not going to lift her friend, her magic would. Not only would this be light enough to allow Dash to walk on clouds, but it also wouldn’t make her feel unnatural. When this wing would beat, it would be under Dash’s control and not have a mind of it’s own.
While the day was still young, Twilight went out to look for more materials to start her new contraption. The old parts could not be salvaged save for a few pipes that had managed to stay intact. She first set out to see Rusty to find if he had any extra metal for sale and then it was off to Rarity’s for a mechanism that only she could provide. Twilight had to start now if she wanted to surprise Rainbow the next day. She would not let her down a second time!
----+----
Rainbow stepped up to Fluttershy’s door and knocked. She had been keeping Fluttershy informed of how Twilight’s research had been coming along. The failure today was sure to be met with many a gasp and questions of if she was hurt was to be expected.
With the sight of her cyan friend, Fluttershy could not help but stare in shock in how horrible she looked. Her rainbow mane was full of split ends that were usually tended to and red splotches were barely visible under her coat from where the heated metal contacted her skin.
“Rainbow, are you ok?” asked Fluttershy with a tone of concern.
‘I’m fine! Besides, this visit was to see if you were ok!” Rainbow Dash chuckled at how concerned Fluttershy could be for her, even though she’s been through much worse.
“Oh…I see. Please come in!” Fluttershy could see her friend was annoyed by her paranoia and quickly wanted to change the subject back to her flight progress.
“So… how’s the whole…flying thing?” Fluttershy still felt it rude to mention flying to Rainbow. The “Fastest Flyer in Equestria” gave up her ability to fly for a pegasus that is afraid of heights. Oh the irony!
“It was goin’ great up until the wing snapped in half!” Rainbow was still mad at the fact that the frail wing was not able to lift her from the ground for more than a second.
With a humph, Dash said, “I knew that stupid thing was still too weak, even after the reassurance Twilight gave me.”
“Oh my! I’m so sorry Rainbow. I can’t help but feel that this is all my fault,” Fluttershy said, hanging her head low, remembering the days she spent in the hospital next to a broken Rainbow Dash.
“No ‘Shy. I brought this upon myself. It was my decision to try and save you and I stand by my decision.”
With this statement came a flood of tears from Fluttershy. She quickly got up from where she was sitting and hugged her flightless friend, just like how they hugged in the hospital all those months ago.
As they pulled away, they smiled to each other. They were the tightest of any friends in all of Equestria. Their friendship was undeniable and inseparable. Nothing could ruin their friendship.
----+----
Rainbow prepared to leave the small cottage. She said bye and thank you to her canary friend and briskly left the cottage with a new found happiness. It was always a sort of pick-me-up for Dash to visit her friend. She never left her house with any other feeling than joy.
As Rainbow made her way to Sugarcube Corner, she spotted Twilight just leaving Carousel Boutique with a bunch of material in her saddlebags.
“Hey Twilight!” Rainbow shouted at her friend. She was happy to see the unicorn but the same could not be said for Twilight.
“Oh. Hi D-D-Dash,” she stuttered, “What are you doing out?” Twilight tried hard to hide her newest project from the pegasus.
“Uh Twi’, it’s only noon.” Rainbow couldn’t help but be suspicious of the librarian.
“Oh yeah! I almost lost track of the time! Oops! I forgot! I have to help Spike reorganize the books today! I wish I could stay but I can’t. Sorry! Bye!” And with that, she galloped full-speed, past Rainbow and in the direction of the library.
Rainbow just stood still in shock, but then proceeded to laugh in the middle of the road, grabbing the attention of many civilians.
“What an egghead!” said Dash in between gasps. She had been laughing so hard that she could not breath and was currently on her back, kicking up dirt as she rolled in the street.
“Oh Dashie! You’re so funny!”
Dash’s eyes snapped open to see a fluff of pink. Pinkie lifted her head so that her mane wasn’t in Dash’s face. Pinkie was wearing her wide smile like she always did and seemed as though she had been looking everywhere for Rainbow.
“I got really worried when you didn’t show up at home. You know Mrs. Cake wants us home so that she doesn’t have to worry. She sent me out here to go look for you! Good thing you were laughing really loudly and I was able to hear you from Sugarcube Corner!” Dash became very red at this because she had not realized how loud she had gotten.
“Was I really that loud?” asked rainbow. That’s when she looked up to see a small crowd had gathered around her to see if she was all right. This made Dash turn even redder in embarrassment.
“Yeah! But don’t worry about it! Let’s go home and bake some cupcakes. That’ll cheer you up!” Pinkie bounced in a circle around Dash as the crowd parted their separate ways. Dash looked up at her friend with a grin.
“I would like that,” Dash said, totally forgetting about Twilight.
----+----
Twilight sat down in the darkness, tinkering with the scraps of metal that she had gained from Rusty’s Junkyard. She furiously worked into the night welding, weaving and testing the contraption in the confines of the basement. A baby dragon could faintly hear the sound of banging metal. He tossed and turned and yet couldn’t find sleep.
“Um…Twilight?” Spike said as he inched his way through the darkness.
“Eureka! I’ve done it!” Twilights voice emanated behind the basement door in which Spike reluctantly opened. When he opened the door, the most beautiful sight he had ever seen met him. The soft hue bounced off of the walls and basked the room with its glow. Rainbow was in for one heck of a surprise.
----+----
Rainbow awoke to the sound of chatter downstairs. Sugarcube Corner is well known for the acoustics and nothing really seemed private in there. She slowly got out of bed to make herself presentable. She brushed her teeth and combed her mane to the way she liked it.
As she made her way downstairs the voices grew louder and became more recognizable. As soon as she set foot in the main shop she was greeted by all of her friends.
“Surprise!” they all yelled. Rainbow was confused. She was well aware that it wasn’t her birthday and she didn’t accomplish anything worth celebrating lately.
“What is all this for?” Rainbow asked, trying to clarify what was going on.
“Twilight made you a new flyin’ doohickey!” Applejack was intrigued by current technological advancements and she was interested to see how it worked. The very sight of the contraption made her want to buck it out of speculation that it was a form of alien weaponry.
“I figured out a way to make it light enough to allow you to walk on clouds, as well as you will be in control of the wing itself. It took sometime to get it just right but I am certain it will work perfectly.” Twilight smiled a warm smile. This was her apology for the major failure they had had the previous day. “Would you like to try it out now?” she wondered.
“Can you explain to me how this works first?” Rainbow said, sounding a little skeptical.
“Sure! First, here is the contraption itself.” She pulled out a round, ladybug shaped dome that seemed to fit on just her upper back.
“Uhh… Twilight? Where is the wing?” Rainbow looked at the small backpack with serious doubt.
“I was getting to that. I figured if a real wing couldn’t lift you, a magical wing would. I put an unlimited supply of my magic into the backpack. All you have to do is press the button.” She then pressed the button on the shoulder strap. Suddenly, out of a small hole on the left side of the backpack came a wing similar to Dash’s but transparent. The cyan hue was still evident in the misty glow. All Rainbow Dash could do was stare, mouth agape.
“H-h-how did you…” She trailed of at the marvelous sight. It was like having a ghostly image of what once was.
“When you saw me coming out of Rarity’s, I had just grabbed a crystal from her and as my aura hit the crystal, it would reflect a beam of color similar to your coat. This needed to be special for you. You wouldn’t look right with a purple wing.”
Rainbow Dash could barley contain her excitement. She wanted nothing more than to rip the invention from the unicorn and try it on. However, as Dash reached for it, Twilight pulled the machine away.
“There is something you need to know before I give you this Rainbow. In order for these to work, it will need to be permanently placed on you and you will never take it off. Do you still want to try on the wings?”
Rainbow thought for a moment. Here was the perfect opportunity to kiss the sky once more. This was the time to reclaim her previous life. Yet something stopped her from yanking the machine away from the purple unicorn. Over the past few months, Dash grew closer to all of the girls. Without being able to sleep in a cloud all day, she was pushed to hang out with her friends more. She helped AJ buck apples, Fluttershy with the animals, reorganize books at the library with Twilight, bake cupcakes with Pinkie and pose for Rarity. Would gaining her flying ability weaken the bonds she had tried so hard to strengthen?
“Will you guys miss me?” Rainbow looked serious and everyone fell silent.
“What ever do you mean dear?” Rarity had grown closer to Dash in the past months the she felt she understood her more. She could now read Dash like a book but was getting no readings from the pegasus before her.
“I’ve spent more time with you now than I ever did. I was a terrible friend when I had my wings and it took me losing one to learn that.” Dash was on the verge of tears at the confession.
“Don’t you dare say that!” Everyone turned in surprise to see an almost fuming Fluttershy.
“You saved me from an almost certain death and you want to say you’re a terrible friend!?”
“But ‘Shy I-“
“You put your life on the line for me and you want to say you’ve been a terrible friend!? You’re the Element of Loyalty for Pete’s sake! You are one of the most best friend anypony could ask for!” Fluttershy stared daggers at Dash. “Don’t you dare give yourself any less credit.”
Dash looked to the ground in shame. She realized what Fluttershy was saying. What she did was heroic and she did it without boasting about it just because Fluttershy’s happiness was reward enough.
“I’m sorry everypony. It’s just that this is a spectacular gift and I don’t quite feel that I deserve it.”
“O’ course you deserve it! It’s payment enough for helpin’ my with the crop!”
“And anypony patient enough to model dresses all day with me definitely deserves it.”
“You are the first pony to not freak out when I asked to help me bake cupcakes. My first cupcake assistant deserves something special.”
“Giving Spike a day off to help both him and me in the library was good enough by my standards.”
“And you saving my life is all the argument I need.”
Dash began to cry. She walked toward her friends and they shared a group hug, a pool of their tears between them. They all pulled away to look at Rainbow Dash with reassuring smiles. As Twilight held out the backpack, Rainbow took it with the utmost care.
“Hold still Rainbow,” said Twilight as she took out a small gun-looking tool. She picked up the hose that protruded from the top of the machine and put it over Dash’s spinal cord. With the gun she connected the hose to the spinal cord, allowing her to have full control of the new wing.
Dash pushed the button and to everybody’s amazement, the now cyan aura wrapped around the nub of her lost wing and connected itself to the bone inside. Dash flexed the wing and could feel the air pass through every misty feather in the new limb. This wasn’t just a fake wing; this was her wing. Soon she began to flap both wings and hover above the small audience.
As fast as she possibly could, she flew out of the door to Sugarcube Corner and into the crisp, clean air. Her haven was once more hers and it invited her like an old friend. The breeze wrapped around her like a blanket and she hovered in pure ecstasy. She was once again “Queen of the Sky.”
Her friends watched on at the raw beauty of the sight. Their friend had not only regained her happiness but she also was able to see where she belongs. She bolted through the sky, rainbow trail behind her, and blasted towards the horizon. The rising sun glowing upon the pegasus as she disappeared into its rays, just where the land meets the sky.
The End
