"Need to fly! Have to get back in the sky!"
"Hold still for one second, Rainbow!" Rarity said, holding the frustrated Pegasus to the ground.
Rainbow Dash was wearing Rarity's latest breakthrough: a lilac coloured frock that trailed to the ground, and the restless pegasus was clearly not happy about it.
"Any thoughts, Twilight?" Rarity asked.
Twilight Sparkle looked at Rainbow Dash in the frock. Rarity's tone of voice was slightly impatient, but she didn't look as impatient and annoyed as Rainbow Dash did.
"Rarity, you have nothing to worry about," Twilight said. "This is perfect. A work of art."
"You think so?"
"Sure. It'll be an amazing entry. And Rainbow Dash has been a great model for the day. You should let her go now." She sent Rainbow Dash a wink.
"Of course," Rarity said with a smile.
As the frock was unclipped from her, Rainbow sped out of the front door, sighing with relief once she could feel the cool air brushing over her again.
"Feel better now?" asked Twilight, coming up behind her.
"Phew…much! Thanks, Twilight. I could have been there for hours! I hate how itchy that dress is. And it's so..." She tried to search for a polite word. "...Frou-frou! I hate wearing that kind of stuff!"
Twilight couldn't help but snigger. "I know that dressing up isn't your thing, Rainbow. But still, I think you should take this as a compliment. Rarity's been working really hard on these outfits for the competition she's entering in Canterlot, and she almost immediately decided that you should be the model. That's quite an important role, and she must really like the way you model her dresses if she chose you so quickly."
"Well, I guess so, but Rarity had better remember that I'm not the kind of pony that likes to stand around looking pretty all the time!" Rainbow Dash said with a grumble. She breathed in some fresh air and stretched her legs contently. "It sure is good to be back outside. To be honest, I feel like taking a nap or just chilling out somewhere."
"Well, actually, Rainbow," Twilight said, "I was going to ask you something. You see, I'm still deciding on what to write for Princess Celestia this week and the library is such a mess, on top of the fact that..."
Twilight kept on talking, but Rainbow Dash was not really paying attention, for she had seen a dark shape move across the clouds up in the sky. She couldn't help feeling confused, since she knew that no-one was scheduled to sort out the weather at this time. Who was up there?
"…if you would like to, you can have a rest at my house and give me some ideas and help with tidying up."
Her mind suddenly switched back to Twilight's words. "Erm...maybe later, Twilight. I need to go and check the skies and get some morning exercise." She flexed her strong blue wings proudly.
"Okay, understood," Twilight said with a smile. "See you later, Rainbow."
When Twilight trotted away, Rainbow turned her attention back to the sky. Feeling the desperation to fly, she surged into the air and began to weave her way through the clouds. It was wonderful to feel the air across her body again, since keeping her feet planted to the floor for a long time had made her very restless. Her eyes scanned the area around her, wondering if she would see a member of the weather team that had got their schedule wrong, but she she couldn't see anyone at all. Perhaps she had just been seeing things.
After giving herself some gentle exercise, Rainbow lowered herself onto a cloud, stretching herself out and burying her hooves into the soft, white wool that felt comfortable against her fur. She let out a careless yawn, making a note to herself that she would take care of her weather duties later on. She would just have a quick rest first...
"Hi there, are you all right?"
Rainbow Dash let out a squeaky yelp and fell off her cloud, before her wings held her upright. She immediately recognized the pegasus looking at her. The grey pegasus stallion was hovering before her, giving her a friendly smile.
"Sorry," he said with a chuckle. "Didn't mean to scare you."
"I wasn't scared!" Rainbow Dash snapped, shooting up to him so her eyes were staring sharply into his, "I just..." she hesitated, feeling embarrassed. She let out a growl of annoyance. "What is your problem? First you come crashing into me, and then you sneak up on me when I'm trying to relax!"
"Well, I can assure you I wasn't trying to sneak up on you. Besides, I expected you to hear me pretty easily since you seem like an attentive flyer, despite the fact we ran into each other earlier."
Rainbow Dash was becoming increasingly irritated by this stranger's remarks.
"I don't have time for this!" She propped herself on the white fluff underneath her, her hooves folded. "Don't you have some other place to be?"
The colt looked amused at Rainbow Dash's irritated eyes. "Actually, right here is where I have to be. I'm a weather pony - I just arrived here in Ponyville to do some extra work."
"Oh, really?" Rainbow Dash said sarcastically. "Well, just for your information, I'm the top weather pony around here so you'll be answering to me if you mess anything up!" Her frown then changed to a proud smile. "You should also know that you are talking to the Best Young Flyer in Equestria." She fluttered a little off the cloud, folding her forelegs with a smug look on her face.
"You serious?" the stallion replied.
Another tinge of anger stung in Dash's stomach. "Of course I'm serious!"
"So what can you do with those blue wings of yours?" he asked, showing off his own pewter wings.
"Tons of things," she said in her smug tone. "Including a sonic rainboom."
"Wait... what?" The stallion's eyes were suddenly wide and intrigued. "You can do that? I thought it was impossible!" His expression suddenly changed to a more mischievous and challenging one. "But maybe I shouldn't just believe you. Why don't you prove it to me?"
Rainbow hesitated. Usually, she would be more than willing to show off her flying to anypony who doubted her, but doing a sonic rainboom right above the small town of Ponyville was not a very good idea. She shrugged her shoulders carelessly.
"I would show you, but I'm pretty tired right now, and a sonic rainboom around here would practically destroy the place."
"Ahuh... sure," the colt said, still grinning. "Well, you could show me if we had more space, right?"
"Sure! Besides, who are you to question me? We've never met before, and you probably aren't anywhere near as good a flyer as me!"
He continued to look at her with those proud grey eyes. "Do you want to bet?"
Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. She was always in for a little competition. "Yeah. I do."
"Then I'm more than willing to show you what I can do. Why don't you just sit back and watch a good show?"
Before Dash could give him a snide retort, he had already bolted high into the sky and begun a series of backflips and loops through a row of ten clouds. He weaved through every one of them with fearless speed and he looked like a ball of fire as he sped gracefully around the sun. Rainbow Dash forgot how to blink. She just stared with round eyes. She didn't know whether to be annoyed or fascinated. After a while, he landed in front of her, showing off his spiral Cutie Mark. It was clear that his talent had something to do with his flying.
"Clearly you're too tired to show me your own stuff," he said slyly, brushing himself off and keeping his eyes away from Rainbow Dash's. His voice was so offhand and irritating that Rainbow couldn't take it anymore.
"You think you can get the better of me that easy?" she said with fiery eyes, "No one flies better than me! Ever!"
And Rainbow Dash was set to prove that. As she felt the colt's eyes follow her into the sky, she thought of every move she could remember. She twisted in and out of every treetop nearby, she darted straight through a row of fluffy little clouds and performed an incredibly fast loop the loop just above the wide eyed Pegasus. As she landed, she left a long trail of rainbow behind her.
"You gonna admit it?" Rainbow said smugly to the colt, sitting in front of him, "You have met the best young flier in Equestria. And I totally outdid you. Admit it!"
She expected another witty reply, but instead, the grey stallion was staring at her with a look of intense admiration. A huge smile came to his face. "Yeah, I... I admit that," he said breathlessly. "You were... amazing! You're so fast, I could hardly keep track of you!"
Rainbow Dash smiled. She was used to getting praise and she knew that she definitely was amazing, but it felt particularly good to receive compliments from a pony she had never met before.
"I'd love to see that sonic rainboom some time though," the stallion added.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Well, I can't promise anything. But you could see it one day.. if you're lucky."
The stallion chuckled. He said nothing for a few seconds, smiling at her warmly and taking in every detail of her with his admiring eyes. Rainbow Dash wanted to smile, but she kept it in. She hardly knew this stallion, and she wasn't fully sure that she liked him yet.
"Sorry if I came across as irritating," he finally said, shooting her a pleasant grin. "I've got a bit of a competitive spirit and I feel like I should let it out sometimes. Annoying, right?"
Rainbow Dash paused. "N-no, that's not annoying, I... I'm competitive too. I totally get that."
He smiled at her again. There was something in his eyes that made Rainbow Dash feel strange: they weren't threatening, in fact quite the opposite, but the way he was looking at her sent a shiver down Rainbow Dash's body that she didn't quite understand.
"I'm glad you understand. You seem to be the competitive type too." He stepped a little closer to her. "What's your name?"
"Rainbow Dash, if you must know. Yours?"
"I'm Blazedart. It's really good to meet you, Rainbow Dash."
He looked up to scan the clouds that hovered all around them. "If it's okay, I'm going to practice tidying up the Ponyville clouds. Good to get used to them, right?"
"Yeah, but like I said, don't mess anything up," Rainbow Dash said sternly, lifting herself into the air and jabbing a hoof at him. "Captain of the Ponyville weather team right here. Don't be a slacker."
Blazedart gave her a friendly wink. "You've got it, m'am. I'll get straight to it." He began to fly off, then turned back to address her again. "Do you think you and I could hang out again sometime?"
Rainbow Dash felt uncertain again. She crossed her hooves and shrugged. "Maybe."
He laughed at her sarcasm. "Well, we'll see, shall we? Catch you later, Rainbow Dash."
Blazedart whizzed off into the clouds, leaving a slight orange blue in his wake, as Rainbow Dash sat on her cloud in thought, suddenly feeling lonely.
Later that afternoon, Rainbow Dash decided that she would visit Twilight, just for a little while. It was regrettably boring having to help the unicorn with her tidying up, but it was better than nothing.
Rainbow Dash didn't mention her encounter with Blazedart to Twilight. In fact, she hardly said anything at all, since Twilight was the pony doing all the talking.
"Rarity's being ever so sweet and everything but all her chatter to me about dress designs does my head in. I can't seem to think straight or concentrate on my studies. Not to mention I'm panicky about my letter to Princess Celestia. I'm having trouble thinking of lessons I've learned."
"Well, I wouldn't know, Twilight," Rainbow said. "I've been too caught up in my flying to learn any friendship lessons."
"Let's not worry, we'll figure something out. We always do."
Twilight lifted up one last book with the magic of her horn and it settled itself onto the top shelf. "Phew. That's all of the books away," she said with a relieved smile. She turned to Rainbow Dash. "I appreciate you keeping me company, Rainbow. What made you decide to come here anyway? I thought you were busy in the sky?"
"Uh, well…" Rainbow hesitated for a second, "I was. But it turns out the weather doesn't need much help today. And I'm happy to help a friend if it gives me something to do."
"That's nice of you. And thanks. I suppose it gives me something to do too."
Before the two could continue their conversation, the front door suddenly burst open. A pink pony stood in the doorway, a big beam on her face.
"Twilight, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly, bouncing up to Twilight.
Pinkie Pie's little hooves were jiggling with over-excitement and the unicorn stared at her with stunned eyes.
"Calm it, Pinkie." she said sternly, "What is it? And couldn't you have knocked before barging in?"
"I couldn't knock!" Pinkie Pie squeaked, "I was way too excited! You and Rainbow Dash have to come round to my house later because there are so many new ponies in Ponyville! I just have to throw them a welcoming party because they all seem so nice and they could be our friends and I love making friends and-"
"All right, all right!" Twilight said, stopping Pinkie Pie in her words. "I think we get the idea. You want us to come to your welcoming party to meet new Ponyville residents, right?"
"Right!" Pinkie Pie squealed. "You're going to come, aren't you? Please come, Twilight! You've got to come too, Dashie! It'll be totally fun! It's at mine at 5 o'clock!"
"Well, we do love a good party, I guess," Rainbow Dash said with a grin.
"Great! You'll be there! I know you guys will because you're my best friends! Can't wait! See you there!"
As quickly as she had come in, Pinkie Pie was out of the door again. Twilight blinked and was silent for several moments. Rainbow just smiled and rolled her eyes.
"Well, a welcoming party. That should be interesting," Rainbow said with a smirk.
"Trust Pinkie Pie to let us know about a party in that way," Twilight said, still drowned in Pinkie Pie's mass of words.
"She's just being Pinkie Pie," Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle, walking up to Twilight's side. "And anyway, a party like this will help take your mind off things. You don't have to worry about the letter. Just chillax and have a good time!"
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Twilight agreed, a smile back on her face. "And it'll give us all a chance to make new friends. That's definitely something I could write about."
With no other chores to take care of, Rainbow and Twilight left the house to wander around Ponyville. Along the way, they talked about the upcoming party, wondering if it would be fun. Of course, a party thrown by Pinkie Pie hardly ever disappointed, but the girls contemplated on whether the new ponies they would be meet would be friendly. Whatever happened, it was great that Pinkie had been generous enough to welcome them to the town. It was obvious that she had told all their other friends too, since Twilight and Rainbow stumbled upon their cowgirl friend Applejack who burst into conversation at once.
"Hi, girls!" she said to them cheerfully, "Heard about Pinkie's new welcomin' party?"
"Sure have," said Twilight. "You know how Pinkie gets news around quickly," she added, rolling her eyes.
"I think it's a mighty nice idea!" said Applejack merrily, "It's good to make everypony feel welcome here. I reckon more and more are choosing Ponyville as their new home, which is nice news for us."
"Sure is," Rainbow Dash agreed, lifting herself cheerfully into the air. "Maybe everypony heard that the best young flier in Equestria lives here and they just had to move here to check me out!"
Applejack and Twilight exchanged surly glances. "Yeah, and then they'll be movin' straight back to where they came from when they see you showin' off," Applejack retorted with a raised eyebrow.
"Hey!" Rainbow Dash snapped, before Applejack broke into a laugh.
"Just messin' with ya, Rainbow. Anyway, I'd better get goin'. Ah promised Pinkie I'd help her out with the refreshments. See ya later, girls!"
As Applejack canted off, Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash. "I'm sure lots of ponies will like you, Rainbow Dash. But it's important for all of us to make a good impression."
"I know that, Twilight," Rainbow Dash said dismissively. "All I'm going to do is show everypony the best flying tricks ever so they'll want to stay in Ponyville for longer. Makes sense, right?"
Rainbow Dash expected a lecture as Twilight sent her a frown, but the unicorn simply shook her head and changed the subject. "Rainbow, I need to go into the store to look for new writing equipment. Do you want to come with me?"
The pegasus shrugged. "Why not? Got nothing better to do."
So Rainbow Dash followed Twilight into the small corner shop. She never usually roamed around the shops, but she thought she might find the odd thing that would interest her in here. When inside the shop, the two ponies split up and looked at different shelves. Rainbow went straight to the posters section, searching for Wonderbolts merchandise.
Twilight browsed the shelves that held all the essentials for writing. She examined quills, parchment, ink and lots of other things that peaked her interest. Being an organized pony, it was crucial that she had all the equipment she needed for making lists, writing letters to the princess, or even to plan a story that she might get round to one day. Her eyes latched onto a block of papers, which were perfect for creating letters. She used her horn to levitate the papers, but underestimated the weight. The pile was, in fact, very heavy. Just as she lost her grip, the head of another pony lifted the papers up before they reached the ground. It was a stallion that Twilight had never seen before. She noticed his pegasus wings and his spiral Cutie Mark.
"Sorry," he said sheepishly,"I just noticed that those were heavy for you and I thought I'd help you out."
"No, don't apologize! Thank you, that was really nice of you," Twilight said in relief, "That really would have been an embarrassment." Her voice was rather shaky around this stranger.
"Looks like you do a lot of writing if you're buying a set of parchment that huge," the stallion said with a laugh, placing the papers delicately back on the shelf. Twilight scanned him with her eyes. He didn't look familiar at all, definitely not a pony she had seen in the town before.
"If you don't mind me asking," she said politely, "are you new here? I don't think I've seen you around."
"Yes I am, as a matter of fact," the stallion replied with a pleasant smile. "My name's Blazedart."
"I'm Twilight Sparkle," the unicorn said in return. She noticed that Blazedart's eyebrows furrowed at the mention of her name.
"Twilight Sparkle..." he said under his breath, as if he were trying to conjure up a memory. "Aren't you... Princess Celestia's student? The bearer of the Element of Magic?"
Twilight's cheeks reddened as she suddenly became aware of all the ponies nearby. She didn't exactly want attention in such a public place, but she nodded at Blazedart with a smile. "Yes, I am."
"Wow, it's great to meet you, Miss Sparkle," he remarked, bowing his head slightly. "I'd love to learn about the Elements of Harmony. They seem so powerful and incredible."
Twilight wasn't quite sure what to say to this, but when she was about to utter a reply, a familiar voice called to her.
"Did you find what you're looking for, Twilight?" asked Rainbow Dash, trotting into view from behind the nearby shelves. It was then that the blue pegasus noticed Blazedart, and her mouth dropped open in surprise. He smiled, looking quite pleased to see her.
"Hello again," he said calmly, "Rainbow Dash, wasn't it?"
"Err, yeah..." Rainbow Dash said awkwardly. "Wh-what are you doing here? I thought you were sorting out the clouds!"
"You two know each other?" Twilight said, switching her gaze between Blazedart and Rainbow Dash.
"We only just met, Twilight," Rainbow Dash muttered. "Blazedart's just come here to start some work for the Ponyville weather team."
"Sorry I didn't stay up there for as long as you wanted me to," he said with an awkward smile. "I guess I'm just not too familiar with Ponyville's weather system yet and I might need you to help me with it some time."
Rainbow was just about to reply when Twilight spoke up. "Well, we'd both love you to join us at our friend's welcoming party later on," she said to Blazedart. "Her name's Pinkie Pie and she's inviting every new pony in town to her house at 5 o'clock." She lowered her voice. "Pinkie has to be friends with everypony there is to know."
"I understand that." Blazedart said with a chuckle, "I'd be happy to tag along if that's all right with you."
"Of course it is! Right, Rainbow Dash?"
"Uh... yeah. Sure it is..." Rainbow said, shooting Blazedart a less than happy glance. Blazedart couldn't help but smirk.
"Pinkie Pie lives at Sugarcube Corner right?" he asked. "I know," he added when Twilight looked at him dumbfounded. "I've only been here since this morning but I've already heard that pony being talked about a lot. I'm sure her party will be great fun and I'll gladly see you all there."
He began to trot back to the shop entrance while turning back to the mares with a smile. "Lovely to meet you, Twilight Sparkle. See you later, Rainbow Dash." He exited the shop with a flap of his wings.
"He seems nice, Rainbow!" Twilight commented enthusiastically, walking to Rainbow Dash's side. "I can't believe you already met him! Why didn't you say?"
Rainbow tore her gaze from where Blazedart had flown off to Twilight, looking careless. "It was only this morning, Twilight," she said, rolling her eyes, turning her gaze "And I didn't think it mattered."
"Of course it matters if you're making new friends!" Twilight said happily.
To this, Rainbow Dash scoffed and pointed a hoof at the unicorn. "Twilight, let's get one thing straight: he is not my friend! We've only just met, and he's a little too cocky for me to want to be friends with him right now."
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Really? And that doesn't remind you of someone else you know?"
"Very funny," Rainbow Dash muttered as Twilight started giggling.
"Don't worry about it, Rainbow. Whoever comes to the party, we'll have a great time. You don't have to be friends with everyone. Anyway, speaking of the party, I think we'd better head home and get ourselves ready. It's just under an hour until it starts."
Rainbow hung her head sulkily and followed Twilight out of the shop. As they walked together, Rainbow Dash had thoughts spinning around in her head. The way Blazedart kept appearing in random situations and starting conversations with her was making her feel quite confused about him. How would he act at the party? Would he talk to her even more? Would he talk to her friends? Would he embarrass her in front of her friends?
He thinks he's so much better than me, she thought irritably, and if he shows me up in front of everypony, I'll seriously give him a taste of his own medicine.
Twilight lay a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder, snapping her out of thoughts. "Head in the clouds again," she said with a smile. "Stop over-thinking things. We'll have a great time, and Blazedart seems like a nice pony. Besides, it gives you someone else to boss around when you're organizing your weather team," she added with a wink, to which Rainbow Dash grinned slightly. She quite liked the sound of that. "I'll see you at Sugarcube Corner, Rainbow Dash!"
As Twilight trotted off towards her house, Rainbow heaved a little sigh and fluttered up into
