Height

by PoweredByTea

Rating: teen
Tags: Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Adventure, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 10009

At the top of the sky where the air is thin, a pegasus can find peace. It’s a place every pegasus should visit, but a place Rainbow knows Fluttershy has never been. A tale of adventure down a path paved with the very best of intentions...

Up at the top of the sky, where the air is thin and the mares' tails clouds drift, a pegasus can find peace. It’s a place every pegasus should visit, but a place Rainbow knows the earthbound Fluttershy has never been. A tale of adventure down a path paved with the very best of intentions...

May thanks to GhostOfHeraclitus, Bradel, Bad Horse, and "Nettle" for prereading.

Credits for the cover art vectors go to Erockertorres, Quanno3, and Sakatagintoki117 of the Deviant Art MLP Vector Club

Published 2014-01-16 01:20:05 UTC
Last updated 2014-01-16 01:20:05 UTC

Saudade

Height

It’s early afternoon. The air is warm, the sun is up, and me? I’m flying high.

Usually this time, I’m napping. I mean, when it’s a hot, sunny afternoon like today, and your muscles are aching just a little bit from some hard performance flying, lying back, feeling that little ache as they unknot, it’s the best feeling in the world.

But today I’m not napping. Today I am flying high.

I come up here sometimes. I think every pegasus does. I guess non-winged ponies don’t think about just how much empty sky there is up here. And right now, it’s all mine.

Equestria is spread out beneath me, peeking though little gaps in the blanket of cloud that goes on forever and ever, out to the horizon. That’s all there is, the white below, the blue around, and the sun.

There’s a few wisps of mare’s tail cloud up above too. I caught one of those things once, you know. It was a dare, a long time ago. The first year of flight school, I think. You heard me right. This pony did that in her first year.

It was hard. Got really breathless on the way, and pony, those things sure are high up. Practically nailed to the top of the sky. It got me in a world of hot water with the instructor too.

Everypony should grab a mare’s tail before they get their cutie mark.

Shaking off the memory, I spy a thermal and bank towards it. I’m soaring, you see. That’s where you fly without flapping. They teach you all about it in flight school, not that I paid attention. Who needs to be taught how to soar? You just feel it.

Some pegasi get really good at soaring. They have races spanning hundreds of miles. Not really my thing, usually. Too slow. I could never go that far without flapping—I’d explode. But I’ve burned off a lot of energy training, so some nice, easy soaring is just the thing.

I reach the thermal. It’s… I don’t know. Ever been in a jacuzzi? The thing with the hot water and bubbles. I guess it’s like that. You have the warm air rising up, buffeting you. You just extend your wings, close your eyes… bank in just the right way—like this—and up you go.

I take back what I said about napping. This. This is the best feeling in the world.

This one is going to be a mile high. Maybe two. A little more humidity and it would be a thunderstorm. You don’t need to know anything to know that.

Can’t you feel the energy in the air? The sparks on your wings? This thing wants to thunder.

That’s something else groundbound ponies don’t think about. I bet they think they sky is empty. It’s not. There’s terrain up here, even if you can’t see most of it. Updrafts, thermals like this one. Oh, and the clouds too. They get really big up here. Like castles waiting to be explored. You could get lost in just one big cloud for hours. And nothing is ever the same twice.

It’s quiet up here too. There’s nothing but the constant rush of air over your own wings. Ponies don’t think about how noisy their world is, most of the time, but it is. Even if all you can hear is the birdsong and the rustle of leaves, that’s still a din next to up here.

I think that’s why pegasi come here, up high. The silence. How big everything is. Makes you think, I guess. Maybe… maybe it even makes you feel a little small.

I drift above everything, and for a moment it doesn’t matter if I feel small or not. Nothing below is worth worrying about. Nothing matters.

I hang, finally content, in the silent blue, feeling only the rhythm of the wind flicking my mane against my forehead...

And quickly as it came, the moment passes leaving me bored and restless. The silence is getting old.

Right. I’m at the top of the thermal and not really feeling like a slow glide to another. I told you that soaring wasn’t my thing. My wings are itching for more use. Let’s use them.

But I decide not to give up on the soaring thing just yet, I just have to take it to the extreme. I arch my wings back behind me, and roll into a steep dive. I’ve decided I’m going to try and get home without flapping. Should be interesting. I can’t even see Ponyville from here.

Flying like this isn’t really flying. It’s controlled falling. You gotta be a little bit careful pulling out of a dive like this one. You screw up, you could break a wing, seriously. You have to screw up big time though. Pegasus wings are pretty tough things.

The air is rushing by, and it doesn’t feel like regular air. At this speed it presses against you, like, I dunno, jelly? And I’ve got to press though it.

Ah, there’s Ponyville. I just spotted it though a gap, but the cloud layer is rising up too quickly. Too late to make it to a gap, not without pulling out of the dive, so I guess I’m punching through. Should be fun.

Hitting the bank is like getting hit in the face by a pillow. Jarring, but nothing I can’t handle. I emerge spitting out a wad of fluffy cumulus just in time to see the ground looking awfully close. Yup, definitely should be pulling up now.

I adjust my wings and take the strain as I beging to pitch up, slowly. This would be so much easier if I were letting myself flap.

And there’s Ponyville, spread out in front of me. I always find it strange how slowly it seems to move towards me. I know it’s actually big and far away, it just feels slow.

I’m going to make it, easily, so I decide to do this with style. I aim for the air above the Everfree, and when I get there, about ten seconds later, I bank hard towards Ponyville. I’ve lined it up perfectly. My house floats on the far side, with Mane Street like a corridor down the middle. The ponies are still just little specks of colour.

I’m diving with about a forty five degree pitch right now. Adjust wings, take the strain. I pass the edge of the Everfree Forest, now entire fields and farm buildings, now I’m entering Ponyville proper. I see what looks to be a stall attended by an orange pony. Heh. I’ll be aiming for that.

Still too steep. Adjust wings, take the strain. I’m gritting my teeth now, I can really feel it along my spine.

I hit Mane Street still with most of the speed of the dive, bottoming out at pony head-height. Not a lot of clearance, but I said I wouldn’t flap, right? I scream past the apple stall just as I start regaining height, and Applejack shouts all about how I’m a “good-for-nothin’ menace”. Didn’t catch any of it, you understand, I just know her.

The buildings fall away as they whiz past, and there’s air between me and the ground again. My house is still above me; it’s going to be close after I lost all that speed showing off.

Wings straight out. Maximum lift. I even press my ears back out of the way of the air. This last bit is going to be all about efficiency. At last, I get above the height of my house, and I know I’m going to make it. I pitch up, nearly vertically; it’s a more fun way to kill your speed than flaring.

I drop onto my porch. I’d take a bow at this point, but nopony is around. Still, I grin. There’s nothing like dropping like a javelin from three miles up to get the blood pumping. The rush of the air, the adrenaline, the speed, it’s the best feeling in the world.

My grin fades. So that’s that. I hop inside and check the clock. There’s still lots of afternoon left.

I look for a magazine or something in my room, but nothing takes my fancy. I head to my kitchen and make myself a snack, but that doesn’t kill much time. Back to my room and check my mane. It’s a bit off, probably all that wind.

What, you think this carefree disheveled look comes easily? Nah, it takes a lot of work to look as good as I do.

I fix it with some gel, but that doesn’t take long, so I try sweeping it in a few other ways. I end up putting it back.

There’s nothing for it. With a snort, I leap out the window into the air again.

I stay low this time, circling around Ponyville, searching for something to do. Applejack’s a non starter. By tomorrow, she’ll have forgotten about that high speed flyby, but right now I’m better staying away. Really, I’m on the look out for Pinkie. Say what you like about that crazy mare, she’s never dull. Annoyingly, there’s no sign of her.

Grimacing, I bank around again. My eyes fall on a little butter coloured pony trotting along a dirt path half hidden by trees. Fluttershy. From my vantage point up in the air, she seems so small and that path so short.

She’s probably busy... having tea parties with butterflies or something. What the hey, that’s better than a long, angry tirade full of apple themed sayings. Besides… it’s been a while since I spoke to Flutters. We go back a long way, you know. Ponies are always surprised about that. Yeah, I should go see Fluttershy.

I cross the distance from Ponyville airspace in two, maybe even three heartbeats. A part of me wonders how long it took her to hoof it. I make my final approach obvious so as not to startle her. She doesn't like that.

“Hey there, ‘Shy,” I call down as she notices me. I drop down from my hover. “What’cha up to?”

“Oh nothing much.” She half-disappears into her mane. “I’ve just been shopping, that’s all.”

I eye the selection of vegetables nearly spilling out of the tops of her saddlebags.

“Ponyville’s kind of dull today,” I explain. “Can I tag along and hang out?”

* * *

Of course we end up having a tea party. Hey, you try saying “no” to Flutters. It’s harder than you think. Things are pretty awkward for a while because we don’t have much in common to talk about these days. I ask about her ‘animal friends’ and I try to be interested in her answers. Actually, some of her animals are kind of cool so it’s not all bad. I try and keep the conversation on the cool creatures and away from all the bunnies.

By Celestia’s mane, that pony knows a lot of bunnies.

Next, she has some chores to do. Milking the chickens, that sort of thing. I watch and stay out of the way. Try to.

“Rainbow, could you…?”

I realise I’ve hopped up onto the back of a chair and am in danger of tipping it over. Quickly, I jump back down.

More to stave off boredom than anything else, I ask for something to do and get a cage to clean. I approach gingerly with a broom.

Five minutes later I’m standing back, sheepishly watching Fluttershy fix the chaos in a businesslike manner. I don’t think I should ever be allowed to do that again. I go back to standing around and feeling out of place.

As the afternoon progresses, Flutters is in and out, cleaning cages, feeding her animals, all on her hooves. She uses her wings a bit, maybe to extend a hop into a bound, maybe to get up to the cottage’s top floor, but if you can believe it, she uses them to carry stuff more than she uses them to fly.

Flutters has always been like that, never taking to the air unless she has to. I know she likes it down here on the ground, it’s part of her cutie mark story. You gotta believe a cutie mark story. There’s plenty down here on the ground I like too. But come on Flutters, you’re still a pegasus. There’s more for you.

My mind wanders back a few hours and up into the sky, to the tops of the thermals where clouds lay carpeted beneath me. I don’t think Fluttershy has ever been up there, where the mare’s tail clouds drift. Ever. It makes me feel kind of sad.

“Um, Flutters?” My voice is strangely hesitant.

“Yes, Rainbow Dash?”

“Wanna go flying?”

* * *

We flit along just above the treetops, doing a wide, lazy loop around Ponyville that’s put us over the Whitetail Woods. It’s slow. Really slow. With a good tailwind, I could have probably made it to Canterlot by now, but I’m on my best behavior. I don’t complain, not even once.

Fluttershy seems to be enjoying herself. I guess the ground isn’t too far away, and we keep stopping because she’s seen some interesting piece of nature. She was really excited by lichen at one point. I am not making this up.

The afternoon is giving way to evening, but the sun’s still out when I see what I’m looking for.

“Hey Fluttershy?” We’re both perched on a tree branch, so I gesture with a wing and put on a winning grin. “Let’s ride that thermal to the top!” It’s not a big one, really. At this time of day, the air is cooling so the thermals are much weaker.

Fluttershy gives me that look she always makes when she’s trying to find a way to say no. “Um, Dash, you know how I feel about thermals.”

“C’mon, it’s just a little one.”

“I—” For a moment, it looks like she’s going to cave, but her wings clamp to her sides, and she vanishes under her mane. “Um, no Dash.”

I open my mouth to protest but close it again. Yeah, I know Fluttershy well and that look means the argument is over. That’s a Rainbow Dash is going to have to drag her friend in the direction of the scary thing if she wants anything to happen look.

“Fine,” I say, and immediately regret my tone. “I mean, it’s fine. Really. It was just an idea.”

I’m not the best liar, but Fluttershy doesn’t call me out. “Oh, well, this has been fun, but perhaps I should get back to my animal friends.”

She hops down from the tree, and starts walking back. Walking. I watch her with a sigh.

I suppose thermals are scary things. Well on your first time anyway, when you’re just starting out and haven’t learned to trust your wings more than you trust yourself. The ground is falling away but you feel like you’re the one falling because of the air pushing up on your belly. Even I was terrified that first time I went to catch that mare's tail. I had to flap my wings more than I should and the air made me dizzy.

You cannot tell my friends I said any of that. Okay?

The point was I did it and it was worth it. Pony, the view from up there was… was… I don’t know. I’m not good enough with words. I must have seen half of Equestria all at once. Even Cloudsdale was a toy town.

It’s about now I decide to do something monumentally stupid.

* * *

Not stopping to think for one second further about what I’m doing, I kick off the tree branch and swoop after Fluttershy. She’s not gotten far down the path. I flip over backwards in the air, like I’m in a hurry to catch her attention, so my upside down face ends level with hers.

“Fluttershy! You gotta come quickly, it’s—” there’s a slight pause as my brain struggles to catch up with my big mouth “—a flying squirrel. It’s caught in that thermal. I saw it right after you left.”

It’s a really dumb lie. Thermals don’t work like that. I wait for Flutters to see right through it.

“Oh no oh no oh no...”

My face is grabbed by two yellow forelegs and pulled towards two widening eyes. It upsets my balance and I crash down onto my back.

“It’s Ace Pinecone isn’t it? Tell me it’s not Ace Pinecone! I’m always telling him not to do all those risky and dangerous things.” Fluttershy lets go of me, and I pick myself up.

“I don’t know. I don’t know all the creatures like—” I don’t get to finish. She’s already taken to the wing, pink mane flapping behind her.

I blink a few times in surprise, then pull myself together and speed after her. She’s pretty quick. She’ll never be a strong flyer, but she’s nowhere near as bad as she thinks she is.

I find her in a clearing under the thermal, looking straight up. Her teeth are gritted in fear and determination. “I don’t see him.”

She trots on the spot for a moment, head compressing into her neck.

“Fluttershy!” I’m not exactly certain what I’m going to say after that, but she never gives me a chance to finish.

Fluttershy kicks off, flapping up above the tree tops and towards the thermal. Her wings open fully, becoming silhouetted against the sun… and catch the warm rising air. She begins to gain altitude.

It should make me happy, seeing her free herself from the ground, but there’s a feeling in the pit of my stomach. A feeling that I’ve done something very wrong. I kick off myself, trying to leave the feeling behind.

I catch up in moments and am glad I did. Fluttershy’s eyes are squeezed shut and her aim is all wrong.

“Bank right, Fluttershy, nose up just a little!” I bark from a side-sliding hover that keeps me a few spans from ‘Shy. I feel relief as I see her make the adjustments and her flight stabilizes.

A moment passes, and she hesitantly opens her eyes. We’re well above the treetops now and Ponyville is just peeking up over the canopy. For a second I get the feeling she’s going to close them again, but her face assumes this determined set.

“That’s good, Fluttershy, just keep banking towards the centre and you’ll spiral up nice and gently.” I must sound like an instructor. I hope I’m at least closer to a Windy Days type instructor than a Thunderhead type instructor. Too many times Thunderhead’s lessons had Fluttershy in tears afterwards.

“I can’t go up gently.” There’s an edge to her words. “I’ve got to catch Ace.” She looks at me for instruction.

Right. A pegasus pony with wing power of two and a high drag class manestyle rides a thermal with upward airflow rate of two spans per second. Weather conditions are clear with no significant crosswinds. She wishes to increase her vertical ascent rate. Calculate her maximum safe pitching angle and new vertical speed assuming she uses Cloudsdale Standard Ascent as her flapping method. Show your working.

Ugh. I never paid attention to these problems in flight school. The answer is always the same, for me. A perfect vertical climb no matter the conditions. That’s what a wingpower just short of twenty means. I don’t have to think about these things.

“Just, um, flap lightly first, then push yourself a little at a time,” I answer lamely.

Suddenly, she’s is giving me an odd look. It’s weirdly intense for Fluttershy. “Thirty degrees. I know that much, Rainbow. I should be able to do thirty degree climbs.”

I realise I’ve rarely seen Flutters do anything that steep on a long, hard climb. She usually just borrows Twilight’s balloon for trips up to Cloudsdale.

“Come on Fluttershy,” she mutters, “thirty degrees.”

With that, she starts flapping, scooping the air and throwing it downwards. She’s working herself hard, but she’s doing it. Part of me wants to be proud of her, but it’s a poisoned pride. I tell myself It’ll be worth it in the long run. I’m helping Fluttershy. She’s pulling off a thirty degree sustained ascent, do you really want to spoil it now, Rainbow? I keep my mouth shut.

Together, we climb.

The thermal really isn’t that powerful. It’s practically evening and the warm air is running out. We’re not going to make it up as high as I’d hoped, but the view might still be a little bit awesome.

It takes time, but we reach the top as the sun is setting. Have you ever seen a really amazing sunset? This was one of them. I don’t know if what they say is true; that Celestia literally paints the sunset onto the sky with her unicorn magic. If it is, then today is a day that the princess has really outdone herself.

But let me tell you, a ground level sunset is nothing next to seeing it at cloud level. The ground beneath you is already dimming, but here the sun still holds out in its kingdom of oranges and purples and the clouds glow like fireflies against the dark land.

For a moment, I just let myself hang in the air.

“Fluttershy,” I call out, a little more softly than usual.

“Oh, we’re here?” she says, bringing herself to a hover. She’s sweaty, panting, and out of breath, focused inwards on keeping herself in the air.

“Fluttershy? Check out that sunset!” It’ll all be fine. Sure I deceived her a little bit, but when she sees that, she’ll agree it was all worth it.

“Rainbow, we don’t have time for that now,” there’s a little bit of admonishment in Fluttershy’s tone, which would probably surprise anypony who didn’t know her well. “We have to find Ace.”

She flips around in the air a few times, absorbed in looking for the squirrel that isn’t there. “Come on Fluttershy, think,” she mutters to herself.

“Fluttershy, I—”

‘Shy’s eyes widen suddenly, and a moment later I have a panicked pegasus in my face. “Oh no! Rainbow, there’s a crosswind up here!” Flutters licks a fetlock and holds it up to demonstrate. “Ace must have been caught in it when the thermal ran out! Ace is such a brave little creature, but flying squirrels can only manage glides.”

Fluttershy pulls back, her lips moving. I catch a few words like “glide ratio” and “lift to drag”. Fluttershy’s not a good flyer, but she’s a better flyer than she thinks. She’s not a brave pony either, but she is a far, far braver one than she thinks too. Here she is, thousands of spans up, holding herself together enough to do the mental arithmetic for the flight mechanics we learned years ago. Yeah, guess which pony I cribbed notes from more often than not.

“I think…” she looks at me, like I know any better. “I think Ace must have come down over there.”

My heart sinks as I realise the crosswind is blowing to the east. Why couldn’t it have been west?

A moment later I follow the direction of Fluttershy’s outstretched hoof down, down into the Everfree Forest. I should call this off now but my big mouth gets in the way.

“Alright, but just a quick look, okay?” I say. “No touching anything, and we fly out once it gets dark.”

We begin our descent. We’re hardly going at the crazy break-wing pace of my earlier dive, but it’s clear Fluttershy doesn’t want to hang around. My throat knots a bit as we cross above the divide between Ponyville and the forest.

The Everfree Forest is a really creepy place. Even the air above it is just wrong. It’s humid when it should be dry and dry when it should be humid. Makes your feathers itch.

“Just a quick look, no touching anything,” I say to myself. “We’ve both been in the Everfree lots of times, we’ll be fine. Then we go home and it will turn out her squirrel friend is fine. No harm done.”

I dive in through the canopy behind Fluttershy into the otherworld of unnatural darkness, spooky trees, and sickly grass that’s just not green enough. It all seems quiet though. No killer creatures. Everything’s going to be—

“No!” I call out, darting over to Fluttershy as hard as I can.

“Rainbow? What’s wrong?” Shy asks. I realise I’m hovering right in her face.

“I said don’t touch anything!”

Fluttershy looks down at her legs, which tufts of the dark green grass are pressed against. “Rainbow, it’s just grass.”

“Yes, but—but what if your mane ends up green or it turns you into a frog! This is the Everfree Forest, Fluttershy. You can’t trust anything.” I grab her shoulders for emphasis. “Anything!”

She gives me a funny look, that seems to say Rainbow, aren’t I supposed to be the scaredy-pony and you the brave one? but a moment later her wings twitch and she’s hovering.

“Actually it might be fun to be a frog for a bit,” she says with a dreamy smile. “With a nice, big pond to take a bath in.”

“Well—!” My brain catches up with what she just said. Flutters can be the strangest pony sometimes. “Maybe you can talk to Twilight about that later. Let’s just take a quick look around.”

We start the search. I dart about, looking under rocks and calling out for Ace in tree canopies, trying to make it seem I’m searching hard.

“Ace.” Fluttershy’s voice waves, caught between wanting more volume and being afraid of it. “Ace.”

“Yeah, Ace!” I call out, realising I have been ‘slacking’. “Ace Pinecone was it? If you’re here, you can come out now. That is, if you’re here at all. I mean, you sound like the sort of squirrel who can look after himself. I bet you’re back in your, um, hole all toasty and warm and we’re out here… just worrying about nothing and… um…” I glance in the direction of a couple of bushes. “and… Fluttershy, do you hear that…?”

I edge over at Fluttershy, who has her head inside a hollow tree. She pulls it out and pricks her ears.

The rustling sound I’m sure I just heard returns and a great big something bursts out of the undergrowth.

“Yuck. What is that?” I grimace and my tongue hangs out in disgust.

It could be a mole, if moles were ten spans long with huge, sharp teeth and no fur. It pauses to sniff the air and I know what my nightmares are going to be like for the next few weeks.

The... thing fixes us with one of its tiny, beady eyes and begins to lope towards us almost lazily, but the ground between us is disappearing fast.

“Fluttershy, we’ve—” I notice she’s on the ground again, frozen with wings pressed against her side and letting out a tiny whine. “Oh no.”

“Fluttershy!” I cry out, “You’ve gotta—” I shoulder barge into her rump, knocking her onward a few steps “—get out of here!”

It’s enough. It gets her going.

Fluttershy breaks into a panicked gallop, her wings pressed uselessly against her side. I curse as I follow, flying low to the ground right beside her. Trees and undergrowth rush past. I’m unable to avoid a bramble branch. Just a few scratches. I hope nothing unnatural happens later.

The mole monster is fast. You wouldn’t think something like that could be. Its limbs are too long and gangly, and I don’t understand how it doesn't trip over them. In any other circumstance I’d laugh. It seemed so hopelessly confused by everything when it was sniffing the air a moment ago. But no, it’s not funny now. If it’s only got room for one thought in its head, then that thought is eating us.

“I suppose it’s too much to hope that it just wants a thorn removed?”

For an answer, Fluttershy squeaks and shakes her head.

I don’t know exactly how much ground we cover. There isn’t time for thinking, let alone planning where to go. I’m vaguely aware we’re going deeper into the forest. Fluttershy is tiring, I realise, and the monster isn’t. It’s like a train. Once moving, completely unstoppable.

“Fluttershy!” I shout at her. “Keep running! I’ll distract it.”

I do a half loop in the air, turning myself round to face the monster in challenge. It continues its charge unaltered, and I swear that even from the air I can feel its heavy footfalls shake the ground.

A mouth full of teeth snaps up at me, but I skip up through the air and right over them to slam two hooves down onto its head. It lets out an ear piercing roar. Maybe it’s worked out I’m not interested in being an easy snack anymore.

There’s a second roar and two claws swipe at me. I dodge above, then left. I feel the second one in my mane.

I check on Fluttershy. She’s about twenty spans away, not running anymore, watching while biting a hoof. She reaches down and picks something up, then, hesitating like she can’t quite believe what she’s doing, she throws a rock.

“Leave my friend alone!”

You don’t hear ‘Shy’s raised voice very often, and it’s always surprising. Unfortunately, the mole monster doesn’t even notice it’s been struck. It notices Fluttershy though.

As fast as I can, I circle round a tree for another pass.

“Hey—” the monster has leveled its dumb, dumb eyes at Fluttershy, looking at her like it’s trying to remember what to do next “—Hey you! Pay attention—” Having gained the height and distance I need, I flip round in the air “—to me!”

Here’s a problem for you. A pegasus pony with seventeen wing power and a low drag class manestyle is accelerating towards an Everfree monster along a thirty degree downward slope. Assume the air is still and she uses Wonderbolt transonic number five as her flapping method. Calculate how much of a world of hurt the monster is about to be in.

I flare to slow myself at the very last instant and slam into the monster, a back leg outstretched in a flying kick. If this doesn’t work, I won’t flare next time. I can make it back with a broken leg.

Even so, the force of the impact radiates up and I feel bones grind together. Then, the pain hits. My leg is on fire.

But the beast howls too. I’ve left a nasty mark on its side.

“Yeah, take that!”

My whoop of celebration is cut short by more teeth and claws. I’m forced back and briefly down onto the ground. The landing is awkward on three legs, but I backflip back into the air again.

“Dash! Dash!” somepony is calling out.

Fluttershy has taken cover behind a downed tree. Somehow, she’s got her wings to half open and she’s edging towards the fight. I realise she’s been trying to get my attention.

“Fluttershy!” I land beside her.

She doesn’t waste any time. “The snout,” she hisses. “Get the snout.”

Suddenly, she dives away; I soon find out why. A claw smashes into the rotten log, narrowly missing my head.

“Whoa.” I poke my head up again. I can see the snout. It’s made of wrinkly, pink skin like the rest of the beast, but it somehow looks softer.

I take to wing again, getting a little height over it. It can’t quite reach me and the claw swipes are easy to dodge up here. I see my opening and accelerate downwards, my one good back leg outstretched. I don’t flare, like I told myself I wouldn’t. I hit it with all the speed I can build up over the short approach. I feel the impact all the way up my spine.

Immediately the beast screeches its pain. Pressing claws over the injury, it curls over into a tight ball. Its fight is gone.

“Yeah! You don’t mess with the Iron Pony!” And the pain finally catches up, making me wince. “I think you’ve got the idea. I’ll just be going now,” I add in a croaking voice.

I find Fluttershy picking her way through an overgrown patch of forest floor. As she makes it back to clear ground, she pauses for just a moment.

“We’re very sorry we had to do that!”

I stare. That’s Fluttershy, through and through.

“Come on Dash,” she hisses, beckoning me to move.

Together, we put some distance between ourselves and the still howling creature.

* * *

“What was that big dumb thing?”

We’re in a clearing formed by a tiny hole up to the sky left by a fallen tree. I look longingly up at it for a moment, then I let myself collapse to the ground.

We’ve put some distance between us and that thing. Flutters is looking beat... and I guess I am too, so it’s definitely time to rest. Plus, Fluttershy also explained on the way that big monsters like that usually have fixed territories, so by running too far, we might put ourselves in more danger by going into something else’s turf. That never would have occurred to me.

“I don’t know,” Fluttershy says in answer to my question.

“Well, we showed it!” My wings open into a half flap as I recall kicking it in the nose. I lift my head off the ground. “How did you know where to hit that monster then?”

“I didn’t,” Fluttershy admits. “But it looked like a mole, and many moles are very sensitive about their little noses. You must never touch them there, no matter how cute they look.” She shrinks behind her mane a bit, blushing. I suspect there might be a story. “And it wasn’t a monster. It was probably just really, really hungry.”

“Fluttershy, it wanted to eat us,” I point out flatly.

“Oh, I know.” She blushes. “That’s why I ran.”

We lapse into silence as the forest seems to suck away our voices. The sun has well and truly set, and the Everfree Forest is becoming even darker. Fluttershy is losing her pinks and yellows and the colours of my tail are getting hard to make out.

I’m famished too, I realise. The sight of some browning grass is enough to make me wonder just how hungry I am. I realise the last time I ate was a tiny snack at Fluttershy’s cottage. I’m a pony who needs to eat a lot. Of everypony I know, only Pinkie Pie eats more.

Spider webs hang between many of the branches, I notice. Okay, normally that would be fine. I’m a grown mare who can handle spiders, except these are huge with big, white strands as thick as a feather. Its too easy to picture myself caught in one, wings trapped uselessly splayed out in the cords. Thankfully, they look old like whatever made them has moved on.

“Giggle at the ghostie…” My voice doesn’t really carry the tune, and words come out disjointed.

“Crack up at the creepy…” Fluttershy’s voice joins mine, somehow with even less volume than usual.

“Um, what was the next line?”

“Giggle at the ghostie, crack up at the creepy...” Fluttershy repeats. “Crack up at the creepy and…” she holds her mouth, trying to summon the rest of the words.

We give up. It’s clear that neither of us is Pinkie Pie.

I get to my hooves, but stumble a bit. Fluttershy gasps and rushes over. “Rainbow! You’re limping!”

It’s true. My left back leg is still aching, not sure if it was from the first or the second kick. I’m looking at a bad sprain. If I were back in Cloudsdale, I’d be getting an ear-full from my Xiăo Mǎ Wǔshù instructor about now.

“I’ll be fine. Preen your wings,” I add to change the subject. “Then we fly out of here.”

I follow my suggestion, giving my own pair a once over. The undergrowth has done a number on the plumage. I quickly straighten up the flight feathers. I’m sure I could still make it into the air just fine on ruffled wings, but there’s no reason not to be ready.

I’m done long before Fluttershy even finishes one wing. Itching to get back into the air, I fly up to the opening in the canopy.

“Whoa!”

The tree tops stretch out as far as I can see in every direction. I have no idea which way is home. This cannot be good.

It doesn’t make any sense. We ran for a while, but we couldn’t have gone this far. I rejoin Fluttershy on the ground and give her the bad news.

“Um, really?” I don’t think she believes me. I gesture for her to fly up. “Oh my,” she says, raising a hoof to her chin.

I get some altitude, but all there is is more trees! What gives? I drop back down to Fluttershy.

“Well, I suppose we could just pick a direction?” Fluttershy suggests. “When the moon rises, we could use that. And moss and lichen can tell you where to go if you know how to look.”

“Seriously, lichen again?”

Fluttershy smiles. “Just leave it to me, Dash.”

We set off, with Fluttershy stopping regularly to inspect treetrunks. I really have no idea what she’s looking for. Apparently moss grows on the north side of trees, except sometimes it doesn’t and not every patch is trustworthy. I feel like we’re making good time, except there’s always more Everfree Forest.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” I call out. I’ve spotted something. “Is it just me, or does that—” I thrust out a hoof “—look familiar. Please tell me we’ve not been flying in circles.”

It’s the clearing again. Or at least I think it is. Same fallen tree, same spider webs.

“I… I don’t understand,” Fluttershy says, looking bewildered. “I was sure we were going straight.”

I shake my head in frustration. “Let’s just try again.”

Again, we set off. This time I know we’re going straight because the moon starts to rise and we follow that. And yet…

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” It’s the same little clearing again. The same one. There’s the downed tree. “This is impossible!” My eyes fall on a rock and I kick it out of frustration. “Stop playing unfair!”

Somewhere in the distance something howls and then, elsewhere, another something answers. Fluttershy squeaks, and in a heartbeat she’s hiding in the hollow inside of the fallen tree.

Carefully, I poke my head inside.

“Are you okay, Flutters?” The question sounds lame, even to me.

“Could you, um, possibly, try not to make so much noise,” Fluttershy replies, blushing. “Maybe.”

“Sorry.” I offer her a hoof to help her out. A moment later we’re both standing in the middle of the clearing again.

“But seriously, what’s going on?” The Everfree Forest is a pretty strange place at the best of times and the deeper in you go, the odder it gets.

“Maybe we could try always walking downhill,” Fluttershy suggests. “That way we have to end up somewhere different. What do you think?”

I figure that it’s as good an idea as any, so I agree and hover after Fluttershy. In part, to keep weight off my bad leg but also because being in the air makes me less twitchy. With both of us looking in every direction for danger, we find a slope and follow it down. Even though our caution is slowing us, it only takes a few minutes before I see what I feared I would.

The fallen tree. The patch of sky. The spider webs. It doesn’t make any sense!

“Wait here, Fluttershy.” I say, powering up my wings. “I’ll find us a way.”

Picking a direction at random, I fly.

* * *

Exhausted, I collapse next to Fluttershy.

“We’re doomed!” I cry, remembering to hush myself only half way through. “I must have tried speeding off in ten directions or more. Nothing. They all just end up back here.”

A hoof touches my side.

“Don’t give up, Rainbow, you’ll find a way out. I’m sure of it.”

I turn to Flutters. She’s giving me this tiny, encouraging smile but I just feel sick.

How? How do you do it, Fluttershy? How do you say something like that?

I growl in frustration, eyeing the patch of spider webs again. At least whatever made them hasn’t showed up. Yet. Another unpleasant thought comes to me. Nopony knows where we are. Neither of us will be missed until tomorrow morning when I don’t turn up to do the weather.

My gaze is drawn back over to ‘Shy. She looks awful, just awful. Her feathers are a mess, her coat is covered in scratches, and her mane has twigs in it. And this is all my fault. I don’t think I could feel lower if I tried.

“Fluttershy, you okay?” What a dumb thing to say.

“I’m fine.” She puts on a smile that’s so obviously forced it hurts to look at. Then it fades. “I’m just really worried about Ace. I’m sure he’s fine, but I keep thinking of him all cold and lost and alone somewhere.”

I was wrong. Turns out I can feel lower. Much lower. Disgusted at myself, I bang my forehead against the soft, rotting wood repeatedly causing little bits to come loose and stick to my skin and hair. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“Rainbow—”

I quit the banging and slump. “Ace... Ace is fine.”

“I know I’m being a silly pony and Ace is a brave squirrel,” Fluttershy says, not understanding. “I just can’t help but worry.”

“No, no, it’s not like that, I… I made the thing with the squirrel up.” Suddenly I can’t meet her gaze. “I never meant... I just… there was never any squirrel caught in an updraft. So just stop worrying, okay.”

I collapse into a little heap. Right now, I doubt I could lift a feather if I were on fire.

“Rainbow?”

And now she’s angry with me too, and prodding me with a hoof for some reason.

“Rainbow?” Fluttershy says again. Actually, her tone doesn’t sound angry. I uncurl and look up to see Fluttershy looking past me. “Rainbow, look at that.”

Confused, I look behind me. I have to blink owlishly in the dark a few times before I see.

There are… flowers. Lots and lots of white flowers. I’m pretty certain they weren’t there before.

“Um…”

That’s the best I can manage. I’d been expecting Fluttershy to be angry, or maybe, just maybe, she’d understand and forgive me. Random flowers appearing next to every tree and in every tuft of grass? Yeah, not so much.

We wander over to one of the strange flowers. From what little I can tell, it’s lush and healthy. In fact, some of the petals are still moving.

Moving as one pony, we glance at each other and back at the plant. My stomach growls. If we were anywhere other than the Everfree Forest, I’d gobble them all up.

I sense Fluttershy stiffen.

“What is it?” I whisperer.

“I thought I saw something move.” She points towards the undergrowth. Getting flashbacks from earlier, I tense.

Thankfully, another hungry Everfree monster does not appear. Instead, all I spot is a pair of eyes low to the ground. Whatever they belong to, it’s probably small enough to sit in my upturned hoof. I relax a bit.

Weirdly, the eyes seem to glow with their own faint, golden light, like the eyes of a cat in the dark.

“Hello friend,” Fluttershy says softly, smacking her lips together in a few clicks. “You can come out. We won’t hurt you.”

Instantly, the creature, whatever it is, hops out and bounces up to Flutters. It takes me a moment to notice this, but it moves completely silently, not disturbing any of the leaves or grass it brushes against. I get my first half-decent look as it hops over to Fluttershy. It’s, well, it’s just a small grey mouse. If it weren’t for the eyes…

Looking closer, it seems very… not there… somehow. I almost think I can see through it.

“I’m afraid we’re lost,” Fluttershy says in the gentle tones of her talking-to-animals voice. “I don’t suppose you know to get out of this forest, do you?”

If the mouse answers, I don’t see or hear it.

“Could you repeat that?” Fluttershy says, then she glances up at me. “He’s, um, got a really strange accent,” she explains. “Kind of old-timey.”

“Right…” I say.

Fluttershy goes back to the creature. “We’re lost.” The mouse’s whiskers twitch. “Lost,” ‘Shy repeats, enunciating the word carefully.

I lay down and leave her to it. It’s weird, only being able to hear half the conversation—

“This is my friend Rainbow Dash. We’re pegasus ponies from Ponyville…”

“…Oh, you can?”

“That’s a very interesting name…”

—and more than a little annoying. I try to keep my twitching to myself, though.

“Oh thank you. That would be just wonderful!”

Fluttershy turns back to me and she’s smiling a bit.

I cross my wings behind my back for luck. “Good news?”

“Apparently Mister… um… well his name is the name for the space between blades of grass,” Fluttershy explains. “There isn’t really a word for—”

“Gappy,” I fill in for the absent Pinkie Pie. “Mister Gappy.”

“Well, Mister… um… Gaps is here to eat the flowers that just bloomed. He’s a forest spirit and needs magical food, and these are magical flowers—” she brushes one with a hoof “—and they don’t bloom very often. He needs to go tell his friends that they can eat, then he can lead us back out of this grove.”

While Fluttershy speaks, the spirit-mouse… Gaps, I suppose, hops over to one of the flowers and takes a tiny bite out of a petal.

Instantly, it begins to glow brightly. At first, I have to shield my eyes against the harsh golden light. After I blink away the brightness, I finally get a good look at “Gappy”. He looks an awful lot like a mouse, only now made of golden light. I can also see right through bits of him, like if I reached out with a hoof, it would go straight through him.

* * *

Over the next half hour, more of the… forest spirits, I guess, arrive. They each take a little bite of the white flowers, no more than a petal, and start glowing. It’s actually kind of pretty, like a silent fireworks show.

Eventually “Gappy” hops back to Flutters and we begin the return journey. About a dozen of the things decide to tag along, some hopping in front, some behind. Gappy sits on top of Fluttershy’s head, so I guess he is touchable after all, and she continues her one-sided conversation with him. I worry a little about how visible we are, but that can’t be helped and thankfully, nothing bothers us.

It feels surreal. Dreamlike.

The route we take makes no sense. We go in one direction, only to double back on ourselves. We zig, we zag. At one point we circle round a tree three times.

“I don’t like this!” I whisper to Fluttershy. “What if they’re leading us into a trap?”

“I don’t think they are,” Fluttershy replies. “Besides, I don’t think we have any choice.”

Then she just continues on, so I limp along after. What else am I going to do?

* * *

We make it. We actually make it. I can see the edge of the forest, and, beyond, the low thatched roofs of Ponyville. Fluttershy says goodbye to Gappy and his friends. Apparently they all have weird names like “the first leaves sprouted by a spring sapling” and “the sound of rain on canopy leaves.” Seemed from the half-conversation I heard, they were really out of touch. The founding of Equestria was news.

Whatever. We’re finally home. It’s actually Rarity who spots us first from a window in Carousel Boutique.

“By all my stars!” she exclaims, bursting out the door in a fluffy pink dressing gown. “What in Equestria happened to you two?”

We’re tired, bedraggled, and dirty. My tail is full of knots that are going to be painful to work loose, I can feel it now. Fluttershy is scuffed and bruised. There are probably haystacks that are better groomed than us.

I look Rares in the eye.

“Bad day,” I reply. “Reallllly bad day.”

We’re hustled in and it’s not long before we’re huddled down in a corner of the boutique being fussed over. We’re covered in blankets and given bowls of hot water to dip our hooves into. Our other friends are fetched in short order, arriving one by one.

They want details, I don’t explain much, past that we were lost in the Everfree Forest.

Pinkie Pie provides sweets and cakes, summoned at short notice and after dark like only Pinkie Pie can. Rarity adds a few more wholesome foods from her kitchen. I scarf it all down as quickly as I can, and soon I’m feeling better. The aches in my joints are lessening, the constant adrenaline is fading, and the hot water is really starting to sooth the throbbing pain in my leg.

Then, all of a sudden, there’s a moment where it’s just us, isolated like an island among our friends. Rarity is off in the kitchen making us some warm drinks, Twilight and Applejack are fetching a first aid kit for my leg, and Pinkie has vanished off to get yet more for cakes because I, um, kind of ate all the first batch. I think. It’s hard to tell with her.

Fluttershy leans over. “Rainbow…”

I know what’s coming. I examine my hooves.

“I…” I pause, wondering how I could possibly make this apology sound as regretful as I feel. “I’m really, really sorry. None of this was supposed to happen.”

“So you when you said you saw what you did, you were…?”

I nod.

“Why?” is all she says, hunching back and putting distance between us.

“I wanted to see you fly. I mean, really fly. And I thought, well, maybe if you thought we were rescuing a squirrel then you’d come up the thermal and you’d see you don’t have to be scared of them.” I look up, my voice growing stronger. “And you did! Fluttershy, you did a thirty degree sustained climb today, in a thermal! You did it Fluttershy.”

She’s silent for a good few moments. I can’t read her expression at all. I deflate again.

“It was a stupid idea. I’m sorry. I’m an idiot.”

A hoof touches my shoulder.

“You were just trying to help?” Fluttershy asks.

“Yeah. I guess I was.” My voice sounds flat to me.

Flutters glances away, and I spot her bite her lip. Maybe there was a flash of anger there too, it’s hard to tell. But a moment later she turns back and her face is set with determination. “Well, since I suppose your heart was in the right place, I forgive you, Dash.”

I breathe a sigh of relief. It feels like I’ve been dragging a parachute the entire day, and suddenly it’s gone.

“Thanks Fluttershy.” I hesitate, wondering how to put the next bit. “Yeah, and I also wanted you to see something…”

It’s early afternoon. The air is warm, the sun is up, and me? I am flying high.

Equestria is spread out beneath me, peeking though little gaps in the blanket of cloud that goes on forever and ever, out to the horizon. The only noise is the soft rush of air over my wings. It billows up from below, lifting me up effortlessly. There’s energy in it, in the air, can’t you feel it? A little more humidity and it would become a thunderstorm.

The world below is a din. I drift above it, above everything. Here, it doesn’t matter if I feel small or not. Nothing below is worth worrying about.

This. A place for pegasi. A place only we could understand.

How…?

How could I possibly describe the feeling of being up there?

It’s very late evening. I’m aching all over and crumpled up inside a blanket. Fluttershy’s big, teal eyes are a quarter span from my own.

I know I’ve lost. I’m not a smart pony. I’m not good with words. Right now, I wish I was. I really, really wish I was.

“Rainbow?”

“Yeah, I just wanted to show you what it’s like up high. Really high. It’s… it pretty awesome up there.”

I look into her eyes, but there’s no reaction, no spark. I’ve lost. I hate losing.

The evening presses on, and the others return. We get our drinks and take our hooves out of the water bowls before they go soft. Too late I realise Rarity must have slipped something in them because now I smell all perfumy.

We tell our story in full, while Twilight and Applejack do what they can with my sprain. Twilight even has an explanation for the white flowers. Honestly, I only half listen.

“Seeds of truth! I’d bet my last quill on it! I learned about them from Zecora and I did a little reading of my own on the subject. They’re magical plants that feed off the confession of a guilty truth that has been weighing on the heart. Without it, they can’t flower. Apparently, it’s really dangerous for a pony to wander near a patch if they have any secrets. The magic of the flowers will draw the victim in and keep them there until they confess.”

“Wait, flowers!” I say. “You’re telling me those little flowers were doing everything?”

Applejack steps forward with an insufferable grin. “Well, in mah experience, Rainbow, I’ve always found the truth to be a mighty powerful thing indeed.”

I glare at her, but she just chuckles.

More time passes, and the tension fades. The emergency is over, and we all have homes to get back to. Twilight pesters us with questions about the Forest Spirits for a while, apparently thinking they’re news that would greatly interest the princess.

Something makes me feel like I should walk to Fluttershy’s cottage with her, and she doesn’t object. We don’t really say much on the way back, but we stop at the door.

“I’m really sorry about today,” I say again.

Fluttershy smiles. “Letter to the princess?” she suggests.

It’s funny how that’s become almost a little private ritual around here. Whenever any of us screws up, really screws up, all it takes is an apology and a letter to the princess. It’s like our own special way of saying to each other that yes, this time I was seriously out of line, but I really am sorry.

“Letter to the princess,” I agree with a nod. Guess I’ll get that drafted tomorrow, after Spike wakes up.

To my surprise, she invites me in for a cup of hot cocoa. It’s getting late, but I guess my mind is still flying circles around itself so I probably wouldn’t be sleeping anytime soon. Maybe Fluttershy feels the same way.

Someday. Someday, Fluttershy, I’ll find the words to tell you all about what it’s like up there, on top of the sky. What could be yours. There are hundreds of books in Twilight’s library, thousands, and thousands of libraries all across Equestria. Somewhere in there must be the right words. If only I knew them.

The memory is fading now. It always does, until the next time I think to go up there. The touch of the thin air on my wings is gone, and my ears have forgotten what true silence sounds like. I’ll still find them, the true words, just not today.

It’s nearly midnight. I’m in Fluttershy’s tiny living room, hunched over her kitchen table by the remains of a mug of chocolate. We’ve talked about the crazy day we’ve both had, and then about the old days back in cloudsdale and the flight school we both escaped from. Now she talks about bunnies again, but that’s fine. The windows are blackened and covered by curtains, and even if they weren’t trees would block any line of sight. The ceiling is low, and I could cross the room in a single bound.

And yet, as I sit here, listening to my oldest friend, it’s funny, you know, because in its own way, this is the best feeling in the world.

Epilogue

Epilogue

Ace Pinecone looked up at the moon as it slowly rose above the horizon. Tonight would be a momentous night for squirrels and all of squirrelkind. It would be talked about for generations to come all over the world. Ace hoped this gesture would unify squirrels everywhere and remind them that whether they came from a nest near Sweet Apple Acres or a nest near the cottage of Fluttershy or even from a nest in the faraway and exotic land of Ponyville train station, they were all, ultimately, squirrels together. Brothers and sisters alike.

Ace looked up at the thing he was about to ride, the result of months of work, and then to his friend Sciuridae. Ace reckoned there was none more well versed in squirrel-science and squirrel-magic than Sciuridae. Some said she was the personal student of the Queen of the Forest come from lands afar to learn about the plight of the common squirrel. Whatever the truth, she had proven a loyal friend and Ace trusted her to know what she was doing.

Nodding, he turned to the crowd of well wishers and waved. To his eyes, four squirrels stood out in particular. There was Bushy, with her large and well groomed tail. Prissy sometimes, but with a heart of gold. Then there was Oak, a common, hardworking squirrel that was anything but common. Next was Sugarcane, always shy, but always kind and gentle. And last but not least was Nuts, always good for a laugh. His eyes met each of them in turn. Good friends. The finest friends a squirrel could ask for.

Turning away from them, Ace walked towards the unexploded firework. It would be wrong to say he did not feel fear. Only a foolish squirrel would think that nothing could go wrong. No, Ace felt fear but he embraced it, letting the surge of adrenaline motivate him as it pulled him into the present moment.

He stretched out his limbs to let Sciuridae attach the straps. Once again, he looked up at the silver disk as it fully rose above the horizon. Tonight was the night that a squirrel would visit the moon, not because it was easy, but because it was hard. Squirrelkind would finally learn the answers to so many questions that had plagued it for generations. What was it like up there on the moon? Was there other squirrel-like life? Most importantly, were there any good places to stash nuts?

Ace took one last look at his friends as Sciuridae prepared to light the firework. Sugarcane was mostly hidden behind her tail, but she was still peeking out. In the last moments, Ace caught Sciuridae’s eyes, and they shared a look that said more than squirrel-words ever could. Then, reluctantly, Sciuridae turned towards the fuse—

“Git out of here you damn thievin' varmints!”

An orange pony in a Stetson leapt from behind the nearby cowshed armed with a broom in her mouth.

With a chattering sound, dozens of squirrels scampered from the scene.

Author's Note

Credit where credit is due, I got the idea for the forest spirits from this picture. And hands up who thought the epilogue was going to be a letter to the princess.