Going Out with a Bang
by Prak
“Back up. Let me make sure I understand this correctly,” Hard Sell said. “You want to jump over Ghastly Gorge?”
Long Jump smirked and nodded. “Yep.”
“On roller skates.” The white stallion's mouth was a straight line and his eyes narrowed slightly behind his spectacles.
“Yep.”
Hard Sell closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then carefully removed his glasses and laid them on the desk. “I just have one question for you, Long.”
And here it comes.
The thought finished just as Hard Sell rose up, slammed his hooves on the desk, and yelled, “Are you out of your mind?” As the force of the impact reverberated through the wood, the glasses were knocked into the air.
Three inches. That’s a new record, Jump noted as he rubbed his ears. When the ringing started to fade, he answered, suppressing a grin and speaking in a deliberately flat voice. “You’ve been asking me that for over ten years. The answer is still ‘yes,’ same as always.”
“Well, maybe you didn’t notice,” Hard Sell said, smoothing his light orange mane as he sat back down, “but I’m always right. Remember that stunt with the burning carriage?”
Long Jump fell silent as the gears in his head turned, rifling through the most awesome events of his career, and when he recalled that particular stunt, his face melted into a dreamy grin. “Oh yeah. Good times.”
Hard Sell’s feathers bristled as he said through grinding teeth, “You didn’t seem to think so when you were waiting for half of your coat to grow back.”
“Sure, because I look better in blue,” Long said, running a hoof down his vividly colored fur. “I didn't really mind because being hairless showed off the tone in my flanks pretty well. It wouldn’t work as well for you as it does for us earth ponies, though. You’d look like a plucked chicken without those feathers.”
Instead of laughing at the joke, Hard Sell became even more serious. “Long, that fire was one thing, but this is something else. Nothing about you is going to look good if you wind up as a smear on a canyon wall. And think about what that’ll do to me if you get killed at my event. My rep will wind up in the outhouse!”
Long Jump’s smirk finally faded as his face flushed. “Your reputation?” he yelled as he leapt to his hooves. “You think your—” Jump clenched his jaw tightly, closed his eyes, and took several deep breaths. When he opened them again, he breathed his anger out in a long sigh. “I understand. You have to watch out for your own interests. I get that, but this is something I need to do. I’ve gotta make this stunt the craziest I’ve ever tried.”
“But why? I need to know this, Long!”
Jump sighed again, and after a long moment of silence, he finally said, “Because I think it’s gonna be my last one.”
Hard Sell’s eyes opened wide. “Is something wrong? You’re not sick or something, are you?”
“Nah, it’s nothing like that," Long jump answered, waving a hoof dismissively. "To be honest, the old fire just isn’t there anymore. I still love doing the stunts, I guess, but everything else…”
“Like what?”
“The fame. The fans. The lifestyle. I can’t keep doing it any more.”
“Long, I’m sorry, but I just don’t get it. You always wanted to be rich and famous. Why would you change your mind?”
“Because I’m running out of time.” Long Jump stood up and walked over to one of the walls, upon which hung various pictures, certificates, and awards. “I want what you have, Hard. I want to settle down. Find a nice mare. Have a couple foals. Make sure my line continues. I’m passing my prime, you know.”
Hard Sell stood up and joined him in staring at a recent family portrait. “I can understand that, but why do you have to quit to do that?”
“Because every mare I meet either doesn’t want to bother with me because she thinks I’ll get myself killed soon, or she’s a vapid idiot running around wearing a copy of my jumpsuit and a wig, screaming my name and being a pest. I’d like to be with somepony who’d rather show off her own mane than run around with my red and white mop on her head.”
“So...why don’t you just quit? You could retire quietly and just move on with your life. Everypony would just move on and forget about you.”
Long Jump’s smirk returned in full force as he turned his head to stare into Hard Sell’s eyes. “Hey, I still love the thrill of a good stunt. If I’m gonna quit, I wanna go out with a bang. Something I’ll remember forever. Something I could never top. If I do that, I can walk away with no regrets. So, what do you say, buddy? You in?”
Hard Sell smiled back at him. “Let’s talk details.”
The sound of the train’s whistle pulled Long Jump out of his slumber. Before he even opened his eyes, he could feel the deceleration, which meant it had arrived at his destination: Ponyville. “Square Root?”
“Right here, boss,” his assistant answered from somewhere behind. He turned around to face the back of the car and spotted her by the door. A clipboard floated by her side as a quill jotted notes on it, but she hardly ever spared a glance at it.
“Is everypony else up already?”
“Yeah. They’re in the next car.”
“Okay. You’re in charge of getting the gear loaded. I can see fans on the platform, so I’m stuck doing the old meet ‘n greet.”
“Got it. Good luck,” she said as she turned and headed for the door to the other car. Long Jump smirked as he stared at her sashaying backside, tearing his eyes away only when the door closed behind her.
Oh well. Time to get to work. As the train came to a stop and the doors opened, he put on a skin-deep smile and stepped out onto the platform. Just as expected, there were dozens of ponies and they split along the usual lines.
He was immediately surrounded by the first group: the fanfillies. Their shrill squeals assaulted his ears even as his eyes were attacked the mass of red and white wigs, as well as the various paraphernalia plastered with the image of a flaming silver star—his cutie mark.
“Hello, ladies,” he said smoothly. “Thank you all for coming out to greet me. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.” As a couple of the fans swooned, he caught sight of the second group through the momentary gap, looking helplessly at the crowd of larger ponies.
Figures they’d all crowd around and not let the kids get close. And isn’t that just great? Some of them are looking at the flatcar.
The final car on the train carried the construction equipment they would need. At that moment, while he kept the crowd distracted and out of their way, his crew were busily unstacking lumber and getting it onto carts. Something was missing though. Or rather, somepony.
Where in Tartarus did Square go? She should be overseeing the unloading. If she’s goofing off, so help me, I’ll—
A tap on his back derailed his thoughts. When he turned around, he found Square Root standing behind him, levitating a pile of photographs, a quill, and a bottle of ink. “Thought you could use these, boss,” she said as she set them down. “I’d better get back to the crew now, before they manage to mess something up.”
“Thanks, Square,” he said just before she slipped back into the train car and out the back.
“Now, who wants an autograph?” he asked, barely managing to maintain his smile as the wave of cheers hit him. “Okay, here’s how we’re gonna do this. Let’s give the little fillies and colts their turns first. I want them to line up at the front. Everypony else, line up behind them.”
“One more thing,” he added as the ponies started to scramble for the best spots. Pointing to a blue pegasus unloading an orange filly from her back, he said, “You there, you get the first spot behind the foals.” Her beaming smile might have been nice to see if she hadn’t been wearing that wig.
Soon, the line had fully formed. The foals were in front, followed by the fans, then followed by several of the last remaining group: the rubberneckers, ponies who had no real interest in what was going on, but joined in because they had nothing better to do. The organized line had brought everything under control and was keeping everypony out of the way of his crew, who had finished unloading the wooden slats and were starting on the lumber, steadily working their way down to the sheet metal at the bottom.
Signing pictures for the foals went quickly, as most of them were nervous and didn’t have anything to say, but then he reached the adults. First up, of course, was that blue mare. “I am such a huge fan,” she squealed.
No, seriously? I’d never have guessed.
“Well then, I’ll have to do something special for you, won’t I? Who should I make this out to?”
“Rainbow Dash,” she said, still using that ear-piercing that reminded him of a squealing pig. As he was writing, she cleared her throat and kept rambling, albeit in a much more tolerable voice that was more like a squealing pig gargling gravel.
“I’ve been a fan for years, ever since I saw that show you did with the Wonderbolts where you fired yourself out of a cannon and flew right up into their formation, then parachuted into that shower of fireworks. It was so awesome!”
As she finished, he was signing the note on the photo.
To my most awesome fan, Rainbow Dash.
Long Jump
“There we go.” He handed the photo to her, but instead of moving aside and letting the next pony approach, she stood there gawking at it. “Ms. Dash?”
“...most...awesome…”
Urgh… This is going to be a long morning.
With a loud whump, Long Jump hit the padded surface for the tenth time.
“How’d that one look, Square?” he asked as he climbed down.
“It was perfect. Five in a row. You’ve definitely got that down. If you duplicate it tomorrow, your trajectory will be right on target.”
“Good, but let’s make sure you have the right data. Somepony go take another set of measurements on the landing!”
“Are you sure we need to do that, boss? We’ve already checked it three times,” a young pegasus asked.
The other ponies went completely silent and all the work halted as Long Jump stomped up to him. “You know what? I’m not sure! How about we all take orders from you instead, since you’re the expert?”
“Hey, that’s not what I meant. I was just saying—”
“I know what you were saying, and I don’t want to hear it,” Long Jump shouted. “If you think we can afford to take shortcuts on the setup, how about you just take a shortcut home?”
“Boss, I just meant that—”
“Don’t call me that anymore. You’re fired! Get your sorry feathers out of here before you get somepony killed.”
After Long Jump drove the pegasus away from the site, Square Root approached him. “Boss, I don’t know if that was such a good idea. He’s supposed to be holding one of the rings.”
“Don’t worry about it. You said we only need three of them, right?” Square nodded and opened her mouth to reply, but Long Jump cut her off. “Great. Then we don’t need him.”
“If you say so, but I still think—”
Long Jump put a hoof up to her mouth to silence her. “Square, I get it. The extra ring is a good safety measure, and if I can find another pegasus to hold it, I will. There’s no need to go chasing after him, though. No matter how things go tomorrow, we’re still closing up shop after this stunt. Now, I want those numbers checked again, so get to it before we lose the light.”
As she trotted off, he stared at her retreating backside again.
Yeah, I’m definitely gonna miss that.
Another hour passed by too quickly, and with only minutes to spare before sunset, the ramps were finally completed and Square’s math had been triple-checked. They would still need to be checked again before showtime, but for the moment, everything was as ready as they could make it.
“All right, everypony, we’re calling it a night. Head back to the motel when you’re ready and be back here tomorrow by ten. If you’re gonna be late, don’t bother showing up.”
The trek back to Ponyville took the better part of an hour, and by the time he reached the town proper, Long Jump had slowed considerably, partly due to fatigue, but also because he was taking his time to stare at the stars. The path was slightly winding, so he veered off from it and crossed an empty field, which was the straightest path to the motel. Along the way, he suddenly found himself walking in relative darkness. He glanced up and found his view of Luna’s night sky obscured by clouds.
“Huh. I thought it was supposed to be clear tonight,” he said aloud.
“It is,” a familiar voice answered. “That’s my house up there.”
Up ahead, he saw the enthusiastic fan from that morning standing just outside the shadow of the cloud home, bathed in the moon’s silver glow. Thankfully, she wasn’t wearing that wig anymore.
“Just great,” he muttered. As he continued on his way and stepped out of the shadow, she gasped loudly as she recognized him.
“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh,” she said, repeating the same thing over and over as she fell in behind him, hovering just a few paces back. At long last, she mercifully ran out of breath and stopped to breathe. Unfortunately, as soon as her lungs were full, she started chanting her ridiculous mantra agin.
Long Jump stopped and turned around. “Will you just shut up already?” he yelled.
As ordered, she shut up, leaving only the sound of his own breathing and her softly flapping wings between them. “Sorry,” he said softly. “I shouldn’t yell at a fan, no matter how bad my day has been.”
“Oh. Uh..." She coughed and straightened her posture. "It’s no big deal. I wasn’t being my usual awesome self either. Anything you wanna talk about?”
“Not really.”
“Is it about the big jump?”
“I said I didn’t want to talk about it,” he answered, snorting.
“Well, I do, and we’ve already broken the ice, so how about you spill it already?”
Despite himself, Long Jump couldn’t help but smile a little. “Whatever. You win. Not here, though.”
The pair walked toward a hilltop, where they sat down and laid back on the soft grass. A few minutes passed before the silence was broken.
“I’m Rainbow Dash, by the way.”
“Long Jump.”
“Duh. Did you forget I knew that already?”
“Pardon my manners,” he quipped. “Want me to yell some more?”
Rainbow rolled over to face him. “Nah. I just want to know what’s up with you. Are you always this grumpy before a show?”
Long Jump sighed and hesitated for several seconds before answering. “The truth is, this is my last show.”
“You’re quitting?” she said in a raised voice that didn’t quite qualify as a yell. “Why?”
“It’s just time for me to give it up. That’s all. There’s other things I want to do with my life, and I can’t do them with my career in the way. This show is going to be my last hurrah.”
“So you want it to be perfect?”
“Exactly.”
“You know, I’ve been wondering about something all day. Why did you let me go to the front of that line?”
Sheesh. Can't this filly stick to one topic for more than ten seconds?
“It’s nothing much, really. You were the only one there who helped a filly get closer instead of pushing past all the kids. I thought that should be rewarded.”
An easy silence fell over the hilltop as they gazed up at the stars. As they lay there, the moon slowly moved along its orbit and its light soon became obscured by the limbs of a nearby tree.
“Are you ever scared of getting hurt?” Dash asked.
“Sure. I’m scared every time. It’s only natural, but you gotta push through the fear if you wanna put on a good show.”
“When I saw a couple of your shows, I could never tell you were scared at all. Like that time with the cannon and the fireworks. I mean, I have wings and all, so I wouldn’t have been scared, but you could have been hurt pretty bad.”
Long Jump chuckled softly. “I’ll never forget that stunt. Nopony in the crowd noticed, but I actually did get injured.”
“No way!” Rainbow bolted upright and stared at him. “I was there. You looked totally fine!”
“It’s true,” he said with a grin. “I timed the chute release wrong and got hit by some of the fireworks. Got burned pretty bad.”
Dash’s posture relaxed and her expression melted from shocked stiffness into pensiveness. “So getting out there and putting on a good show even when you get hurt is what it means to be a daredevil?”
“No, that’s what it means to be a professional.”
A few more minutes passed in silence as the tree's shadow started to stretch again under the shifting moonlight.
“I’m gonna call it a night now, Ms. Dash. Can’t do an awesome stunt if I don’t get any sleep, right?”
The two ponies rolled over and stood up. Rainbow immediately took off and hovered a few inches off the ground.
“Okay, Jump. Good luck tomorrow. I’ll be watching.”
“I’ll be sure to put on a good show for you.” As Rainbow was starting to fly off, he called out to her again. “Hey, wait!”
“Now that I think about it, I fired one of my guys earlier and I could use a replacement. You have a nice, steady hover. Up for helping out in the show?”
She didn’t even have to answer. The grin on her face said it all.
“How’s the crowd, Hard?” Long Jump asked as the promoter walked into the tent.
“Bigger than we expected. It looks like word about this being your last show got out.”
“I’m not surprised. Hard to keep something like that secret.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re so relaxed and all, but it’s almost time. You better suit up now, ‘cause the show starts in ten minutes.”
Long Jump nodded and walked over to this gear. He slipped into his padded blue jumpsuit with practiced ease, fastened his white cape around his neck, and checked the helmet to make sure it was in proper working condition. Satisfied with the status of his equipment, he stood by the flaps and waited for Hard Sell to stoke the crowd.
“And now, fillies and gentlecolts,” he finally said, “I present to you the stallion of the hour: the brave, the daring, the indomitable Long Jump!”
Long Jump stepped outside to raucous applause. Despite the fading light, he could see the entire crowd clearly in the soft orange glow of the evening sun. They had overfilled the grandstands on both sides of the canyon and sprawled out across the field. Some had even resorted to climbing trees. Pegasi littered the sky, spreading out in every direction except for a small no-fly zone right over the jump area, which was patrolled by the four ponies who would be involved in the show.
He climbed the stairs on the side of a high tower and joined Hard Sell at the top. The promoter moved aside and allowed him access to the megaphone.
“Who’s ready for some action?” Long Jump shouted. The crowd cheered and stomped in response.
“Are you sure?” he asked, and the crowd answered with more cheers. “It’s a beautiful day. Maybe you have somewhere else to be?”
A chorus of “No” echoed across the field and down into the gorge.
“Then let’s get started!” Tumultuous applause filled the air as the countdown timer started ticking. Almost immediately, the crowd started counting down the numbers, saving Long Jump the trouble of watching the clock.
Instead, his gaze focused on the jump itself. Ghastly Gorge loomed ominously in front of him. From his perch, he could see every jagged rock sticking out from the opposite wall, waiting to tear his flesh apart and smash his bones if he made even the slightest mistake.
Four metal hoops were lined up in the air over the chasm, held in exactly the right spots by his team of pegasi. If he struck one, the impact alone might have been enough to end him, to say nothing of the fall that would follow. Their purpose, however, wasn’t to increase the challenge. In spite of their daunting appearance, the only safe trajectory was through the center of those rings, so their true purpose was to alert him to danger and allow him time to make minor corrections in mid-air.
The real key was in the ramps. If even one of them was misaligned, even by a fraction of an inch, it would spell disaster. The first one started at the top of the tower. When the countdown ended, he would release the brakes on his skates and roll down it at such a steep angle that he would basically be in free-fall. Then there was a short segment of flat terrain, giving him time to make last-instant adjustments before hitting the second ramp, which would hurl him back into the air.
Assuming the launch was successful and the hoops were navigated properly, he would then need to hit the third ramp. It was elevated to match his projected descent angle, so if he overshot it, instead of rolling gently down the slope, he would be in for a rough impact. At least he could probably survive that. If he came up short, he wouldn’t be so lucky.
As the crowd reached ten, he pulled his goggles down over his face. Time slowed to a crawl as the remaining numbers were counted off, one by one. The familiar surge of adrenaline coursed through him, bringing alertness and the euphoric thrill he felt every time he put his life on the line.
I’m definitely going to miss this feeling.
“Three! Two! One!” the crowd shouted, and then the horn was blown. With no hesitation, he threw his body over the edge and began to pick up speed as he plummeted face-first toward the unforgiving earth. The rushing wind parted his lips and his cape flapped noisily against his back. The skates themselves were only barely connected to the ramp due to the steep descent.
Near the bottom, he tucked his body aerodynamically and shifted his weight to steady his hooves against the ramp as its surface curved. His stomach knotted as the g-force changed direction and he was rocketed forward along the flat surface, crossing the point of no return.
The moment the skates hit the launch ramp, something felt wrong. He couldn’t put his hoof on it exactly, and it could have been nothing, but a single centimeter of misalignment in his skates would spell the difference between success and failure—between life and death.
His mind raced as he took to the air, but he kept his posture rigid, legs slightly tucked, but still mostly in position to stick the landing. The first hoop approached fast and he glided through it exactly as planned. When he made it through the second without any problem, his confidence was restored.
However, when he reached the third hoop, he could tell he was slightly low. It could still have been an error on the part of the newbie holding it though. Her hovering was good, but without the benefit of training, her altitude could have been slightly off. The fourth ring dispelled that hope as his hooves nearly brushed against it.
“I'm too low!” he screamed.
He was past all the pegasi, so even though his cry would prompt them to give chase—and hopefully alert the crowd and give them time to look away—none of them would be able to catch up and intercept him. No pegasus was that fast.
There was only one option left. He tucked his legs in to make his profile as aerodynamic as possible. His skates wouldn’t be in position to make the landing, and would send him into a brutal tumble if he succeeded, but it was better than hitting the ramp’s underside, or worse, the cliff face. At least there was a chance of surviving it.
It quickly became obvious that even with his attempts to minimize drag, it still wasn’t enough. Long Jump closed his eyes as he realized he wasn’t going to make it.
Looks like Hard was right again. At least I won’t have to hear another ‘I told you so.’ So long, buddy.
Suddenly, another warm body crashed into him and he felt a pair of hooves wrap around his barrel. As he was wrenched upward, his eyes snapped open just in time to see the top of the ramp approaching fast. They were still coming up short.
One of his legs hit the edge and caused his savior to falter. Through the blur of rapid motion, he could make out a pair of cyan hooves grasping desperately at him as he fell away from their grip, but he was out of reach. He barely had time to notice the pain in his leg before it was forgotten as his side impacted on the metal ramp and he went into a wild roll, tearing muscle and cracking bones with every collision until he finally fell into the merciful grip of unconsciousness.
Long jump awoke to the familiar beeping of a heart monitor. His eyes fluttered open slowly as they gradually adjusted to the light in room, dim though it was. Waking up in a hospital was nothing new for the daredevil. Nor were the casts on his limbs. Nor were the flowers from Hard Sell and his crew at the bedside.
The part that was new was the extra pony in the room. Rainbow Dash was curled up in the corner, partially concealed by the curtain over a window that was slightly ajar, sleeping soundly. A cool breeze wafted in from the night outside and ruffled her mane as he watched. It reached him and tickled his nostrils with the scent of grass, which was a welcome reprieve from the dry hospital air.
“Psst,” he said. When she didn’t stir, he did it again, slightly louder. Her ears flicked a bit, so he did it again, slightly louder. This time, she gave a low moan and turned her head.
“If you’re gonna sneak in here to keep me company,” he rasped, “you might want to hide behind something you won’t roll away from in your sleep.” His throat was dry and his voice was rough, but at least he didn’t have a breathing tube in his throat. Or rather, as he quickly noticed, didn’t still have one. There was a telltale soreness in his lips that he had previously felt after having tubes removed following other wipeouts.
She yawned and stood up, arching her back and flexing her wings as she did so. After stretching, she folded her wings back to her sides and walked slowly over to him, trying to avoid making noise. “Hey, I must be doing something right if they haven’t caught me yet.”
“How long was I out?”
“About a week or so, I guess.”
“Just great… It’s gonna take months to get my muscles back in shape after this,” he said, frowning at the plaster and bandages covering more than half of his body.
“Well, it’s not like you’re gonna be rushing back to work, right?”
“I guess not,” he said with a chuckle. “Thanks for saving me, by the way. With moves like that, you ought to be a Wonderbolt.”
Rainbow smirked. “It’s just a matter of time ‘til they notice how awesome I am.” Her smile fell as she leaned in close to him, carefully avoiding contact with the bed. “So what will you do now? After you get out of here, that is.”
He thought in silence for a minute. “I can’t go back to my apartment in Manehattan while I’m like this. Stairs, you know. I guess I need to find someplace more open while I’m recovering.”
“I know of a place that might fit the bill. Lots of space. Green grass. Nice ponies. And I’m pretty sure you already have a friend there.”
“You know, that sounds like a nice place,” he said before a yawn escaped his lips. “Definitely something to think about. Maybe I’ll even find what I’m looking for there.” His eyes closed and his mind swam.
The last thing he heard before falling asleep was a warm voice saying, “Whatever it is, I bet you will.”
