Dashed Hopes and Reformed Dreams

Chapters

Shattering Rainbows
Broken Wings and Dreams
Memories and Pie
Wounded Wonderbolt
Rookie in the Ranks
House Call
Parties Are Supposed to be Fun Right?
Team Spirit
Stones and Ointment
Suited for the Job
Don't Chicken Out
Sick Days
Pain Hurts
Seconds Into Ages
Butting Feather-heads
Alone Time... or not: Pt. 1
Alone Time... or not: Pt. 2
A Mug of Cider and Some Extreme Sports on the Side
Lightning Strikes
A Question, if you will (Author)

Shattering Rainbows

Chapter 1: Shattering Rainbows

I am finally doing it! This will get their attention for sure, Rainbow Dash thought to herself with a smirk on her face. She was diving at a near ninety degree angle, the wind sliced through her cyan coat, stinging her eyes and dragging her wings backward behind her. The pain of flying at such angle made Rainbow Dash grit her teeth, and she nearly blacked out from the agony gripping her body.

She loved every second of it. Flying was cool and all, and she loved doing a drag race, but NOTHING could compare to the feel of diving. Instead of having to fight through the wind like she did with normal flying, when she dived, it just flowed around her body, almost like it was water. Sounds distorted and were lost on her ears. When she dived, she was encased in her own world of silence and adrenaline.

As the ground rapidly approached her, she pulled out of the dive, or at least tried to. When pulling up, a sharp pain stabbed her right wing. Fighting to stay in the air, Rainbow Dash managed to pull out of the dive just in time, hooves galloping with her speed. Planting her hooves in the ground, Rainbow Dash ground to a halt, spraying dirt everywhere in front of her. The ponies all around her stared at her. No, they stared at her wings. Shivering with pain, Rainbow Dash looked back at her wings.

She nearly fainted. Her right wing was snapped in two, and the bone jutted from the skin. Blood dripped onto the grass as Dash fought to maintain her balance, woozy at seeing her wing’s state. Groaning to herself, Rainbow saw Spitfire and Soarin walking up to her, concern lighting their eyes.

Gritting her teeth, Rainbow felt her vision misting up. She knew that she had blown it. Not only did she break her wing, she did it with the Wonderbolts watching her. Another liquid, clear this time, dripped onto the ground, and Rainbow looked up. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky; it was as blue as the blue on her rainbow colored mane. Her tears began to flow freely as Spitfire and Soarin walked up to her, concern still plain on their faces. Feeling her throat choke up, she turned around and ran as fast as she could away from her would-be teammates, tears glinting like rainbows in the sun behind her, mocking her failure.

She didn't hear them calling her back over the wind in her ears. She didn't see the blue suit streaked with yellow bolts in the grass behind them through her tears.

000

Wind Cutter sat on a cloud above Sugarcube Corner, a cupcake in his hoof. Humming to himself, he prepared to chow down. Suddenly, he heard Rainbow Dash, a pony that every pegasi knew, shout out one of her many catch phrases.

“All right, time to dash!” Her voice made Wind lean over the edge of his cloud to see what she was planning to do next. He nearly fell out of his cloud when he saw the two ponies she was with. Rainbow Dash was with the Wonderbolts! She must be finally trying out for them. Wind smiled to himself, because now he got to eat a nice treat, and he got to see one too. Everypony knew that Rainbow was one of the coolest, most beautiful flyers in Ponyville. How she wasn’t taken, Wind didn’t know, nor did he particularly care, because he didn't want to buck anypony who broke her heart.

He leaned back in the cloud, watching as Rainbow took off up into the clouds. She started off with her usual loops and spins, rainbow trail drawing patterns in the sky. He felt his heart soar as he watched her fly, wanting to join her in her dance. However, he was sure that she wouldn’t appreciate it, and would probably give him a kick on the snout for his trouble. After all, she was showing off for the Wonderbolts. So instead of flying, he contented himself to taking a bite of his cupcake, watching as Rainbow flew even higher than before. He shivered with sympathy, knowing how cold it got at those kinds of altitudes. Wondering what she was planning, Wind’s cupcake supply ran out, he had only bought one for a snack, but now he regretted not getting more.

Ice began tinkling down from the heavens, flashing rainbow in the sun. Wow, that’s a new one, thought Wind as he searched in the sky for Rainbow. Hearing a boom resound from the heavens, he smiled as he waited for the rainbow to explode out from where Dash had started the Sonic Rainboom. Not disappointed, he saw Rainbow Dash appear, shooting down from the heavens in a dive that had the sky itself bending around her.

Wind Cutter stood up in alarm, something was wrong. Her angle of descent was WAY too steep for a pegasus, even for one so cool as Rainbow Dash. There was no way she could pull out of that dive without serious damage. Unable to act, he watched as she quickly approached the ground, mane wet from being coated in ice. Time seemed to slow for him, as he watched her attempt to pull out of the dive, and he winced as he saw the wing bend and snap suddenly. Wind watched on as she somehow managed to level out, galloping on the ground. How she did it with a wing that was broken in two, he didn’t know. He admired her constitution, and so, apparently, did the Wonderbolts.

Soarin had pulled a blue and yellow suit from his saddlebags, and placed it on the ground next to him. Wind saw Rainbow’s look of horror as she stumbled to a stop, and looked back at her wings. He watched, unmoving, as she cried in the clearing, blood dripping from her wing where the bone had punched through the skin. The two Wonderbolts walked up to her. For some reason, Rainbow took off into the town, not hearing Soarin call her back. Rainbow didn’t know about her success in her failure. She probably thought that they were going to tell her that she was out of luck, thought Wing with a shake of his head.

Taking off into the air, Wind flew after Rainbow, the newest Wonderbolt.

Broken Wings and Dreams

Chapter 2: Broken Wings and Dreams

She was perched on a cloud over the Everfree forest, not caring where she drifted as she let her anguished screams out in time with her sobs. The tall tree had been a pain to climb up, and even then she had to glide awkwardly using her good wing to reach the cloud she now cried on. I really blew it this time. There’s no way they would let a mare on the team who broke her wing doing a simple dive. Rainbow Dash sat in the cloud, which was slowly turning red from all her blood, tears pouring down her face as she berated herself. Now I can barely fly at all! I am so stupid, doing a dive that steep! Now I won’t ever get into the Wonderbolts! Another anguished scream ripped from her throat as her wing throbbed painfully, though her scream was noticeably quieter.

Ever since she was a filly, Rainbow Dash had loved diving and going faster than anypony else. Speed was her addiction, just like Pinkie’s addiction to sweets, and Twilight’s to books. The few days she once spent in the hospital were almost unbearable, being unable to fly. She had a lot longer to wait to fly again this time. The pain was just adding salt to the wounds of losing her chance, her dream of being a Wonderbolt. There's no way I can possibly go back to Ponyville now, but she knew she had to. Broken wings don’t fix themselves after all.

She shot up when she heard the flapping of wings near her, wiping away her tears and putting on a tough face. There was a pegasus flying towards her, yelling out her name as he sped to her cloud. Dash hid her pain from the pegasus as he landed, but then unleashed it all in a torrent of tears as she tackled him in a hug.

“Woah woah woah, I come to save you, and you tackle me Dash?” The stallion chuckled to himself awkwardly, returning Rainbow’s hug hesitantly.

“I’m…s…..sorry….Cuts, but….I…c….can’t be a W…..Wonderbolt anymore!” She admitted with a wail. “I broke my wing during a tryout! There’s no way they would accept a pony that did something as stupid as that!” Words out, she began to sob uncontrollably into his mane. Normally, she would be mortified to do something like this in front of another pony, but Wind Cutter had been her friend since her filly years, even longer than Flutter Shy.

000

She was sitting in the empty classroom, crying to herself. Those ponies are just jerks , she thought fiercely, So… why does what they say hurt me so much? Flight school was out for the day, Rainbow was the only pony there now. This day had been the worst she has ever had in Flight school. Worse than her first day, when she bucked a teacher in the face after she tried to stretch out Dash’s wings.

It started off with her being late to school, as usual. As she darted between the pegasi on the cloudwalks, she accidentally bumped into a businesspony. Muttering an apology, she tried to move around him, but he stuck out a hoof and grabbed her. “Whoa there little filly, I want a word with you!” The anger in his voice had scared her, reminding her of her father’s when he was angry. Cowering against the cloudwalk, she endured 10 minutes of his yelling at her. Getting yelled at in public was more embarrassing than crashing; at least crashing could still manage to look cool. With tears in her eyes, she galloped away from the still-yelling businesspony, fluttering her small wings to give her extra speed.

Rainbow stopped right outside her classroom, making sure the tears were gone before she opened the door. Opening the door slowly, she walked into the room. And promptly had a bucket of water dumped on her. The class burst out with cruel laughter, 3 colts louder than the rest. It was obvious that they had planned it, and put the bucket there when the teacher’s back was turned. Rainbow shivered, drenched in the ice-cold water. The droplets on her face hid her small tears as she clopped slowly to her desk. Sitting down, she heard a loud pffffffffffffft noise. The class roared up again in laughter as Rainbow pulled a whoopee cloud from under her. The teacher locked her eyes on her, and pointed a hoof outside.

Out in the hallway, the teacher was red-faced in anger. “Not only do you come into my class and pour water on yourself to make a scene, you then make rude noises during my lecture.” The teacher was practically shouting now, “You are the worst schoolfilly I have ever seen! Every single day, you come in late, or without your supplies, or who knows what else happens. I am fed up with it young filly.” The teacher stamped a hoof. “You have detention for a week! And no flight practice for a week too!” The teacher looked at her sternly, daring her to say something back. “Now go to detention!”

Rainbow Dash, knowing that the teacher wouldn’t take her reasons, turned away sniffling and headed towards the detention room.

She found herself inside the door with its cracked window. Pushing the door open, she resigned herself to a few hours of boredom. She saw another stallion sitting in the corner, a hat pulled over his face. Laying her head on her desk, she made sure the stallion was asleep before letting the tears flow silently. She stopped crying when she felt a hoof on her shoulder. “You too huh?” The stallion that was in the corner drew her into a hug. "I'm Wind Cutter." She cried out her sorrows into his mane.

000

As she sobbed into his mane, Wind Cutter felt the sting of being friend zoned. He knew that he could never be for Rainbow what she was for him. He knew her feelings for him were nothing more than friendship, border lining being siblings. However, he knew that if he really loved her, he would make sure that she stayed happy. He would never hurt her, or allow anypony else to hurt her, lest they meet his rear hoof kick at the speed of sound.

Ever since that one day in flight school, the two of them became fast friends. However, Wind had always wanted it to be more. He always admired Rainbow’s ability to keep going after others would have stopped long ago. Her personality was another obvious point to liking her. She was always unafraid to tell people how she felt. It got her into many fights that Wind had to help her out of, lest she get attacked by more angry ponies than she could handle. He had no doubt that she could fight, but he knew everypony had their limits. More than once he saw her limping home with cuts on her face. The ponies that did it weren’t seen outside of the hospital for weeks after it happened.

Right now, he knew she needed this. Her stress had a terrible habit of building up and then being released all at once. That was just how Rainbow was, holding in her emotions until they exploded outward, kind of like his feelings for her had come out. At least she took him seriously when he told her, though the rejection still stung him. He still had that day fresh in his mind.

Four months ago, Wind had approached her after she finished a race. Rainbow’s mane, beautiful as always, was slicked back with the speed that she had flown. The competitors didn’t stand a chance against Rainbow. She trotted over to him, giving him the usual hug. Wind felt his heart swell, both from her winning and her hugging him. He pulled her away from her usual crowd of fans, shushing her when she tried to speak. When they were alone, he looked into her eyes, and saw confusion mingled with curiosity. His mind blanked and he did the only thing that came to his mind, he kissed her. Rainbow’s eyes widened in surprise before she pushed him away, saying that she didn’t feel for him the same way. After a few weeks, they managed to get over the awkwardness though it still remained in Wind’s mind.

That memory still haunts him, coming up whenever he hugged her or watched her race. He knew that she wouldn’t be with him, but he could be there for her. He never tried to pretend, or even imagine a life with them together. That would just ruin the life he had with her now, as a friend. So he sat there, hugging her until her sobs died. Feeling relieved, he moved her slowly off his body.

She fell limp towards the edge of the cloud, eyes closed. Catching her with a hoof, Wind shook his head. That silly filly must have passed out from blood loss. Growing concerned, he placed her on his back, and leapt from the cloud and into a tree. He crashed into the branches, barely keeping her on his back. Just like her, over exhausting herself and then leaving me to carry her home, Wind thought with a sigh, jumping off the tree branch he landed on. He set off at a trot towards Ponyville.

Memories and Pie

Chapter 3: Memories and Pie

Spitfire sat in the secluded part of a café with a small coffee next to her, untouched. She just couldn’t get Rainbow Dash out of her mind. She was still thinking about how Rainbow managed her stunt. That pony doesn’t realize how much skill it took to pull from a near-ninety degree dive like that! Spitfire shook her head. With a broken wing no less!

She was pulled out of her thoughts by the munching noises coming from across the table. Her long-time friend and right-wing Thunderbolt Soarin sat there, his face buried in his pie. A smile touched her face as she watched him groan into the pie, mumbling about how good it was. He had always been a messy eater, even back in their days of Flight School. Spitfire then sank into her memories, waiting for Soarin to finish his pie.

She had just finished Flight Practice. She wiped the sweat away from her brow. The fact that she was sweating showed just how hard she had been working. A pegasus sweating was sure to freeze up in the high altitudes, so they didn’t sweat as much, and only did so after an extreme workout. As she was toweling her forehead, she heard the poof of the clouds under her as a pegasus walked up to her. Probably just some fanpony wanting another signature. Irritated, she pulled down the towel to see a colt her age standing in front of her. He looked scared as he perked up and took a breath to speak.

“Um, hi. My name is Soari-“He was cut off by a trio of loud guffaws and a wing smacked him in the face. She was faced with 3 buff sports ponies. They all laughed harder as the hesitant pegasus rubbed his face sullenly.

“Oh please Soarin, there’s no way a good-looking mare like her would want you.” The largest one barked out a laugh as he shoved the pegasus called Soarin with a wing. “Do this mare a favor and get lost chump!” The entire group chuckled as Soarin tripped in the clouds and fell through them. He flew back up to them, red in the face. Spitfire watched as he prepared to say something, but then turned to go.

“Wait!” She flew up to the pegasus and put a hoof around his shoulder. “Looks like I DO want to be with a nice colt like this. So why don’t YOU get lost punks?” She chuckled darkly at their dumbstruck expressions as she led the slightly protesting Soarin into a building.

“Just what was that all about,” demanded the red-faced Soarin.

“Look, those guys are jerks. I know them from some of my races. They always try to mess with me if I lose.” She patted Soarin’s back. “I couldn’t just let them do it to another pony.”

Looking satisfied, Soarin looked out of the window. “Looks like they left.” He moved to leave the building. “Uuuuh, thanks….”

“Spitfire.

“Well thanks for your help Spitfire!” He pushed open the door. “I might catch you later!”

“Hey Spitfire, you know when you stare at me like that, it’s pretty creepy.”

Jarred out of her recollections, she shook her head. Soarin grabbed her head and felt it with the back of his hoof. Concern was burning in his eyes as he checked her for fever. Satisfied with his inspection, he leaned back in his chair, hooves over his stomach. They both laughed at his obvious dramatics to her. “Man that was some goooooood pie!” Soarin burped loudly. “I have to come here more often!”

“Soarin, you always say that about places that have pies within 20 miles of our performance.” Spitfire said with a jabbing tone. She laughed as Soarin visibly searched for a taunt to come back with. A loud collective gasp, like a wave, was heard from the outside. Spitfire nudged Soarin with a hoof. “Hey Soarin, let’s go out and see what all the commotion is about hmm?”

She trotted out the door with Soarin following and still trying to think of a taunting remark.

000

Soarin still stung from that remark. Spitfire was always jabbing at him loving pies. It’s not like I can help it…, Soarin mentally pouted, It’s just like Spitfire’s love of flying, except mine is much more fun to do. He didn’t dislike flying, but he didn’t get the rush that he knew the other pegasi did, so he tended to keep his hooves on the ground when he moved around a town.

Spitfire stopped, and he bumped into her back. Looking over her shoulder, he saw a grey pegasus carrying something cyan on his back and galloping through town. Soarin’s jaw dropped as he recognized the red and cyan mess on his back as their newest member. The grey pegasus continued galloping all the way to the hospital.

With a look and a nod to Spitfire, the two Wonderbolts took off into the air, following the pegasi to the hospital to check on their rookie.

When they entered the sanitary place, it was practically abandoned. The only thing they saw was a trail of blood-spattered cyan feathers heading off down a corridor. Ignoring the front-desk nurse, they walked down the hallway. They heard a high-pitched screaming coming from the first room on the right. The curtains were drawn closed to allow privacy, but they could see the outline of the unicorn doctors as they casted the healing magic on Rainbow. Sitting on the seats across from the door, they looked at each other with worried glances.

Soarin spoke up to distract them from the sobs coming from the room. “What that one grey pegasus did was kind of like me huh?” When Spitfire didn’t respond, he shut up. After all, why force the talk. She must be worried about Rainbow Dash. After all, we wouldn’t want our newbie being out of condition too long. Soarin smiled in his mind as he recalled how beautiful Rainbow looked when she was diving. He hadn’t seen that much beauty since he first saw Spitfire. He recalled the day he carried her to the hospital much like that grey colt had taken Rainbow.

He had been flying home for the night after he left his job at the cloud factory. Little tufts of white puffs stuck in his feathers, and he groaned to himself. That would definitively need a shower to get out. He angled himself to his home, and then he saw her.

Blood was dripping onto the clouds from her wounds. She was limping along, one of her hooves held up at an angle. Both of her wings were bent at an awkward angle, and dragged on the ground as she limped. She was making slow progress down the road, and it was going slower every second.

He swept down to the street she was walking on. She barely noticed him as she limped along. Suddenly, she pitched forward into his hooves, unmoving. Alarmed, Soarin put her on his back gingerly, and flew to the Cloudsdale Hospital. After the doctors took her from him, he was forced away with magic and was told to stay out while they cared for her. After the screams died down from her room, he was practically tearing at his feathers. The second they told him he could go see her, he flew down the halls, something heavily discouraged by the staff, and into her room. He was greeted with the sight of a heavily bandaged pony who appeared to be fighting to stay conscious.

When he walked over to her bed, she flashed him a smile. “Heya there Soarin.” She patted the bed space next to her, indicating he should sit. When he sat down, she smiled again. “Thanks so much for saving me there Soarin.”

“It was nothing Spitfire.” He waved a hoof to dismiss her worries. “I wouldn’t just leave you out there with all those injuries.” He leaned in closer to her, “Who did it Spitfire?”

She looked away from him, “I…I can’t say.”

He pulled her face to him, startled at just how weak her resistance had become. “It was them wasn’t it.” Silence. Having his answer, Soarin walked slowly out of the room, looking over his shoulder as he did. “I’ll be back soon Spitfire. Keep a spot open for me would you?”

The looks that those 3 ponies had given him before he snapped their wings were forever burned in his memory. It wasn’t a sad one, but it wasn’t happy either. It was an angry one. He was angry with himself at how he couldn’t do to them what they did to Spitfire. It made him angry that he wasn’t able to inflict every pain that they had inflicted on her.

The look that Spitfire had given him was also burned in his memory. It wasn’t a look of gratitude, but of understanding. She knew that he had to do it, and she didn’t hold it against him.

He was jolted out of his recollections by the sound of an opening door.

“You can come and see her now.”

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Wounded Wonderbolt

Chapter 4: Wounded Wonderbolt

The sounds of her screaming tore at Wind Cutter’s heart. When he first brought her in, he was screaming out her name, trying to get her help. And now she was screaming his, wanting his help. When they put her in the room, they tried to force him away, saying that Rainbow needed immediate treatment. He looked the doctor in the eye as he said that, and his protest withered away. Wind knew that he should stay away and let the doctor’s do their work, but he couldn’t leave Rainbow alone with them.

After the doctor’s finished their work, they turned to him. They looked tired, but satisfied with their spells. The head doctor that tried to force him away placed a hoof on his shoulder. “You did good getting her here son. Another few minutes, and we wouldn’t have been able to do anything.” Wind shuddered at that thought as the doctor went on to explain about the different kinds of spells that they used on her.

Disinterested, Wind only half-listened as he looked at Rainbow lying on the bed. She was lying on her stomach with her broken wing in a support brace. Her mane was specked with her blood, the red mixing in with the other colors. Her cyan coat was still coated with red on her right side where her wing had bled. Following his gaze, the doctor tapped him firmly on the shoulder. “You’ve got to wait for her to wake up Wind. She needs her rest this time.” The doctor said it in the tone that he expected his orders followed.

Wind sighed as the doctor walked away, sticking his tongue out at the doctor’s back. The doctor looked out the door, and mumbled something to somepony or another. Dismissing the doctor, Wind looked back at Rainbow. She looked so adorable when she slept. She would have slapped him or bopped him with a wing if he said it out loud, but it was true. He heard a few ponies enter the room behind him, but he had eyes only for Rainbow.

“Hey, that was pretty cool what you did there.”

000

Chuckling to herself, Spitfire watched as the grey pegasus spun around to face her, mouth gaping. She looked past him at Rainbow Dash lying on her bed. She was pretty gruesome with all those red splatters on her. Her wing was slung up in a brace, apparently fixed. The doctors here really knew their stuff. Spitfire thought admirably, Back in Cloudsdale, Rainbow would have had to eat some rainbows and clouds to recover like this. Shuddering at the recalled taste of rainbows, she looked up from Rainbow to the grey pegasus who took her here.

Her face grew to a smile again as she noticed that he hadn’t moved from where he had stood. Closing his mouth, the pegasus looked around desperately for something to say. She laughed and put a hoof on his shoulder. “I know, it’s not every day you get to meet a Wonderbolt huh?” He seemed to almost faint as he shook his head.

“I…I am just wondering why you are here!” He shook with excitement. “I thought Rainbow would have blown it for sure after running off like that!” She glanced at Soarin, who was still staring at Rainbow Dash. Nudging him, she cleared her throat and nodded toward his saddlebag, where the Wonderbolt suit was still at. After Soarin pulled it out, she placed it on the table next to the bed. She wondered what Rainbow’s reaction would be when she woke up. The pegasus who was obviously Rainbow’s friend walked up to admire the suit and mouthed a “wow”.

Curiosity getting the better of her Spitfire spoke up, startling him. “Who exactly are you?” The pegasus practically jumped to the ceiling at the sound of her voice pulling him from his admiration of the suit. She smiled to herself again. So he’s a jumpy pegasus… That will be fun later on, She thought mischievously.

“Well…Well… I’m Rainbow’s…friend. I’m Wind Cutter.” The way he said the last word made Spitfire perk her ears up a little. Maybe there had been some romance between these two, she thought to herself. “We met back in Flight School. We don’t hang out as much since then, but we do get together sometimes to race and stuff, although it’s no real contest who will win.” He went on, talking about his past. He had a really nice sounding voice, almost like thunder rolling before a storm. “We have always looked out for each other, ever since we had met in Flight School.” He looked embarrassed at the attention that he was being given by the two famous pegasi. “We still do.”

Soarin walked up to him and clapped him on the shoulder. “Well, now you just saved our newest member’s life!” Hoof around the pegasus, Soarin led them to the window, “You’ll be getting a reward, maybe I’ll get some pies to celebrate!” Shaking her head, she walked up to the pegasi.

“Wait just a second! I… I don’t want any reward!” The sudden refusal shocked Soarin into choking off his laugh. The grey pegasus slipped from under Soarin’s hoof. “I don’t want to get paid for rescuing somepony else, especially a friend!”

Placing a hoof on the alarmed pegasus’ wing, Spitfire pulled him down to the floor. “All right then, relax Wind.” She couldn’t help but admire how strongly he struggled against her hoof, most other pegasi had a tough time of trying to outmatch her in strength. “We won’t do anything like that. However, you will get something for this.” When he opened his mouth to protest, she promptly stuck her hoof against it. “Let me finish. You have been given our respect. It takes a lot to earn that Wind, so don’t lose it.”

Wind looked as if he could faint any minute, so Spitfire backed away from him and looked back at Rainbow snoozing gently on the bed, oblivious to the world around her. “I’m sure you’ve gained more standing with her.” She smiled as she turned back to Wind. “You’ll find being friends with a Wonderbolt to be a nice thing. You’ll get tickets to our shows, and pretty much be invited wherever we go.” Looking back down at Rainbow Dash, she continued, “I’m sure this one would be sad if her savior didn’t show up to cheer her on.” Almost as if she heard her, Rainbow Dash muttered out something unintelligible.

Noticing the time with a gasp, Soarin poked her in the side with a hoof. “Spit, we gotta get going! The team’s gonna be mad if we miss another practice for this!” Shaking her head, she flashed another smile at Wind.

“Looks like we have to go now. Keep an eye on our rookie for us?” Spitfire smiled wider at the eager nod that Wind gave her as she walked out of the room with Soarin.

They took off into the evening, bumping into each other playfully as they headed back to their team.

000

Rainbow felt like she had been beaten by a stampede of hooves. Every throb of her heart sent a dull pain flaring through her body. The last thing she remembered was crying into Wind’s mane. Well, I WAS bleeding a lot… Maybe I passed out or something. The thought came to her head slowly, as if held down by weights. She groaned. Thinking was painful. She heard the noise of a pony’s hooves walking on tiles accompanied the by brush of feathers on her face. Feathers? Tiles? Where the hay am I?

Cracking open an eye, she was almost blinded by the bright lights overhead. Cloudsdale? It’s always sunny this time of year there. She tried to turn over in her bed, but the most her bonds allowed her to do was turn her head to the side. She saw the familiar and smiling face of Wind Cutter inches from her own. “Gah! Don’t DO that to me Cuts!” Catching her breath, Rainbow looked around to see if anypony else is in the room, but there was nopony there but him.

After she gained her breath back, she turned angrily on Cuts. “What are you smiling at huh? I break my wing, my dreams are ruined, and I’m in the hospital!” Her voice began cracking like it always did when she got angry. “What’s so funny!?”

Wind shook his head, silent to her anger. He pointed with a hoof to the other side of her bed. Just what could be so important that he doesn-, the thought cut off as she saw what was on her bedside table; a suit of sky-blue with yellow streaks running through it. Emotions ran through her head, all mixing together. Confusion at what it was doing there, hurt at the possibility of a cruel joke, anger at Wind for not telling her sooner, but above all was the sheer joy of having the suit and what it meant.

She felt Wind’s hoof on her shoulder, jolting her out of her emotional tidal wave. “Spitfire gave me a message for you Dash.” He leaned to her ear and his voice fell to a whisper, “Welcome to the Wonderbolts.”

Rookie in the Ranks

Chapter 5: Rookie in the Ranks

Not being able to fly around sucked. Being stuck in a room that smelled like bleach sucked just as much. I can’t believe the doctors are making me stay here! Rainbow mentally pouted, I just want to go out and try out the aerodynamics of my suit! Rainbow could hardly stop staring at the suit, spread over a spare chair. It was mocking her with its limpness, almost as if was daring her to throw it on and leap out of the window.

Sighing to herself, she looked over at her keeper. Wind napped on the chair that was next to her bed, drool dripping out of his mouth. Rainbow smiled at Cuts' expression. He looked so stupid when he slept, he had no idea how many other pegasi made fun of him. Of course, it’s MY job to mess with him, not theirs. Those feather-brains didn’t know what hit them after they got rained on! Rainbow smiled even more at that thought. It had been so much fun to pour a raincloud onto those stupid fillies.

Sighing again, Rainbow looked back over at the suit. Oh how much it hurt to not be able to fly with it on her. Of course, Wind had done her the kindness of at least letting her try it on. Of course he did, he knows I’d smack him one if he didn’t! Rainbow shifted in her bed, and winced as her recently-fixed wing twitched painfully. Cmon Rainbow Dash! Just one more day, then you’ll be out and flying again! Even with the mental cheering, Rainbow still felt depressed. The Wonderbolts would want her in top condition, and the doctors had given her orders not to do stunt-flights for another two weeks. Rainbow Dash groaned internally. Ugh, two weeks is WAY too long for somepony as cool as me to not show everypony else how cool I am!

As if he could hear her thoughts, Wind snorted loudly. She softly poked him with a hoof, smiling at his strange way of sleeping. When he started shifting in his chair, she rolled over, pretending to be asleep. She tried to keep in her laughter as he shifted in his chair, mumbling out “Just five more minutes mommy.” Rainbow could barely contain her laughter as he started snoring again, his five minutes granted by “mommy”. She shook her head at her friend’s laziness. A bomb could drop and he wouldn’t wake up. That guy is a hard snoozer, almost as good as me. Smiling to herself, Rainbow shifted position again and watched the moon’s effect on her new suit, the yellow bolts reflecting in the silvery light.

000

Spitfire walked back into the locker room, drenched in sweat. They had just finished their practice and she was eager to end it. Being the captain, she was the one in charge of ending and beginning practice, but she would never end a practice early, it was too much like giving up for the day. So she and the rest of the team gritted their teeth and plowed on with their routine. She had already changed out of her sweaty flight suit into a clean one by the time the rest of the team had flown in with drooping tails.

They all dressed in silence, not wanting to talk after the practice they had. Spitfire was grateful for it; she didn’t want to tell them what was on her mind. She caught the rest of the team glancing at her occasionally, as if they wanted to say something, but were too scared to ask her. As she began to make her way out of the stadium, she heard the flapping of wings behind her. When she turned around, nopony was behind her. When she turned to leave, Soarin was suddenly right in front of her with a concerned expression on his face.

“Hey...uh….Spit?” He asked the question as if he was afraid she might slap him. Do I really look that mad? When she didn’t answer, he went on, “What happened out there today? You almost never fly that badly unless something is really bugging you.” He nudged her with a wing. “Everything ok?”

She batted him with a wing playfully, smiling a little at how he cringed away from her. “Of course I’m allright. I’m just wondering how our newest recruit is gonna do.” The lie in her voice was almost tangible to her, but the rest of the team bought it. Well, most of them did anyway. She groaned internally as Soarin narrowed his eyes at her, showing that he wasn’t fooled by her lie, and pointed at her with a hoof to show that he would get the truth out of her later. She wasn’t looking forward to that conversation.

The team began to file out, the two of them saying they had something they had to check on first. After the last of the blue-suited ponies left, Soarin turned towards her. She returned his stare without batting an eyelash, waiting for him to make the first move. He took in a deep breath.

“What’s really got you upset Spits?”

She shook her head and shrugged, “It’s nothing Soarin, just a bit of worry is all.” She left out exactly which pony that worry was directed to.

Soarin wasn’t fooled, and he poked her chest as she made to exit the locker room. “Oh no, I’ve known you for years Spits. I know when you’re lying.” He looked her in the eye. “What is the matter?” He accented each syllable by stamping a hoof into the concrete.

Mind racing, Spitfire looked around for an escape, but saw none. Sighing in defeat, she prepared to tell him. Just as she began to say her feelings, a janitor walked in the room to see the two of them close together. He backed out, afraid he had interrupted something. Stupid janitor, why couldn’t you have stayed here? She felt defeated, bullied by her own friend. “It’s about…. It’s about that one pegasus who was with Rainbow Dash.”

Soarin glared at her with a ferocity she had seen only a few times before. “What did he do to you?” The danger in his quiet voice was frightening. When she didn’t answer, he repeated the question. “What did he do?”

Spitfire kicked at the ground, biding for time. “It’s… nothing. He didn’t do anything. I’m just… I’m just thinking at how strong he was at the hospital yesterday. We could use a strong flyer like that on the team. I just feel bad because…” She petered off, thinking of how to say the words.

“Because we only had one spot, and Rainbow is in it now?” Soarin supplied.

“Yeah…”

Soarin laughed and hugged her with a hoof. “You silly filly! How could you just make me get all worried about you over nothing like that?”

She put on a weak smile. “Yeah, sorry about that.” She slipped out from his hoof, walking out of the locker room. “Won’t happen again. You coming?” She didn’t even turn around as she flew off, knowing Soarin would follow her out.

000

Rainbow’s enthusiasm was infectious. Wind Cutter couldn’t help but grin as she waited to get discharged from the hospital, with orders to keep it slow flying for a few days. If I know Rainbow, those orders will be ignored, and nopony will tell her otherwise. He shook his head as she nearly leaned off her bed, waiting for the doctor to come in. She’s like a school-filly before summer vacation.

When the shadow of the unicorn she was expecting crossed the closed blinds, she began to flutter her good wing in excitement. Wind placed a hoof on her shoulder, dropping his voice to a whisper. “Rainbow, listen, if you look all excited to fly, he will put a brace on you that won’t let you flap those wings.” When she folded her wing back for fear of a bandage, he spoke up again in a normal tone. “Don’t worry Rainbow; you’ll be able to fly soon.” He winked at her, and she smiled back.

As if that was his queue line, the doctor barged into the room, throwing the door open with magic. “Allright Rainbow Dash, you’re all clear to leave now.” He leaned down to look her in the eyes. “And I want you to listen to my orders. No stunt-flights for two weeks. Any pressure on those wings and they could snap.” Wind hated seeing other ponies try to intimidate Rainbow, but he knew already that the doctor’s words fell on deaf ears.

After the doctor did one last check-up, he walked them out of the hospital. He tugged a bit on Rainbow’s wing teasingly with magic. “Remember Rainbow…. You can’t be flying around much on that wing now. Try to take it easy.” Rainbow rolled her eyes, and the doctor sighed, finally admitting defeat.

They reached the doors, held open with the doctor’s magic. Wind felt a rush of wind as Rainbow took off into the air. The doctor turned to Wind with pained eyes. “Keep an eye on her will you?”

Laughing, Wind took off, following her rainbow trail.

House Call

Chapter 6: House Call

Rainbow paced in her cloud mansion, back and forth over the same spot. She had walked around on the floor so much that the clouds had started to thin enough to pull apart and fall slowly downward. Rainbow didn’t even notice, flapping her wings to fly through the same place she had paced. She barely enjoyed being able to fly normally again being so focused on waiting.

”Now Dash,” Wind had said to her, smiling a little at her objection, “You know that you got blood all over this thing when we tried it on in the hospital. I'm just gonna get it cleaned.” Even though he had been right, Rainbow still didn’t like having another pony take her brand new suit out to get cleaned. However, Rainbow didn’t normally wear clothes, so she didn’t know who to go to get her suit cleaned herself. So, she resigned herself to allowing Wind to go. He can faster than I can anyway. At least, right now he can. Rainbow amended her thought will a small, irritated growl. The fact that anypony else could go faster than her was irritating.

There was a banging on her door, and she halted her frantic pacing. She dashed to the door, crashing into it in her excitement. Of course, her door was made of clouds, so she went straight through it and straight into the group of ponies outside her door. As she lay disoriented, she could hear about 5 other ponies groaning about being tackled when they came to visit a friend.

Rainbow looked around on the cloud lawn, taking in Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy all pulling their heads out of the clouds. She hadn’t expected her friends to come visit her instead of waiting for her to visit them. Oh that’s right! They didn’t know I was in the hospital. I bet they are pretty worried! Rainbow Dash flew over and began to help each pony get free of the cloud.

“Ugh, these clouds taste TERRIBLE! They are worse than RAINBOWS! Imagine having to live in something that looked like cotton candy but tasted really really really bad!” Pinkie didn’t seem to take a breath during those three sentences, and when she began to speak again, she was cut of quickly by Applejack’s hoof.

“Now Sugercube, Ahm sure that you’d hate it, but we came here to talk to Rainbow, remember?” Applejack said in a tone that everypony used with Pinkie, hoping that she would shut up. “Ah know that’d you love to tell Rainbow about the party we are throwin’ for he- Awww shoot! Ah just tol’ ya didn’t I? Sorry Sugarcube.”

The pink earth pony looked at her, bouncing up and down in front of her. “Ooooh that’s right! Wind is throwing a party for you Dashie! We all helped him of course, he would never be able to do it all by himself!” She looked about ready to start the party right there on the clouds, but Rainbow Dash put a hoof in her mouth much like Applejack had done.

Rainbow looked off into the horizon and saw that the sun had nearly gone down. “Woah, what the hay! Cuts has been gone with my suit for nearly the entire day!” Rainbow’s voice cracked towards the end of the sentence as she darted to the edge of the cloud to leap into the orange sky. As she did so, she didn’t listen to the sound of her friends calling her back.

000

Wind Cutter was flying up to the top of the barn with Ditzy, holding the recently-painted banner between them carefully with their teeth. Holding it in place, Wind had to try hard not to jump away as a hoof slammed in front of his face onto the nail that was to hold up the banner. The hoof came down again, and he shuddered violently as the air from the blow washed over his face. The hoof pushed in the nail the rest of the way, stomping in front of his face and then lifting away. Wind flew back into the wall, and let out a large sigh. The pegasus who was doing the hammering, Cloud Dancer, smiled at his reaction and winked at him. He had always thought that she had a thing for him, but he was never quite sure. He was relieved from her smiling after Ditzy called her over, her voice muffled with the rope in her mouth. Wind was hesitant about letting Ditzy be the one to help him with the banner, but if she didn’t, she would be the one doing the hammering, and everypony knew how that would turn out. Even with a simple job like putting up a small banner, Ditzy somehow managed to sprain a hoof and knock a hole it the roof. At least the banner is finally up, Wind thought as he surveyed the damage.

Wind flew down to the hay-dusted floor of the barn, looking at the banner that Painter Breeze and Ink Lines had painted. There was a very realistic painting of Rainbow, flying through a cloud and looking as if she were going to win a race, a large smile was painted on her face. They even got the chip in her front tooth right, Wind thought amazedly, Of course Dash has been here for ages, so why wouldn’t everypony know our town’s weather team captain?

Looking around the rest of the barn, Wind saw that the party cannon was lying in the corner, freshly loaded by Pinkie Pie. That pony had a taste for parties like he had never seen before. I mean, is there anypony else in Equestria that has a party cannon? That pony loves parties so much that it’s nearly a medical issue. Shaking his head, Wind continued his survey of the rest of the barn.

The tables, loaded down with food, were set by the Apple family’s famous Apple Catering Crew. Apple Bite and Apple Munch were famous for their abilities to wait on tables, working at Canterlot’s more famous restaurants. Of course, they would come at the bequest of their sister, Applejack. She would probably buck them if they didn’t come. I would have come too if it meant having a pony like her off my back. Shivering with a small bolt of fear at being on Applejack’s bad side, he turned around again, observing the rest of the party.

The decorations and the like had been handled by Rarity of course. She had been the first one to volunteer to help for the party, wanting to make it “absolutely dashing”. Wind was nervous at first, knowing Rarity’s love for proper fashions and parties, but has he took them in, he saw that nothing had any frilly stuff on it. There wasn’t a thing out of place, and there was even the slogan “20% cooler” painted on the cake that had been provided by the Cakes, though it was in Rarity’s elegant script instead of something that Rainbow would write. Wind couldn’t help but groan as he looked at the cake, finding it very hard to not taste it. They used Zap Apples to create the special rainbow frosting, giving the cake a delicious taste of apples, yet giving Rainbow a cake in her favorite color, rainbow of course.

“Well, did we do good?” Cloud Dancer walked up to him, brushing her tail accidentally against his side. He shivered a little at her soft tail’s touch, and he looked around once more at the party. Everything was perfect, and he knew Rainbow Dash would love it. Of course, he had sent an invitation to the Wonderbolts to attend, but they had respectfully declined. He knew that they had way too much to do in terms of shows that they couldn’t really spare any time for parties. Cloud Dancer nudged him with a hoof and he snapped out of his thoughts. He nodded once, and everypony cheered. Cloud Dancer, a little too close, cheered as well, flying up into the air and brushing against his back again with a wing this time.

He shuddered again, and looked out the window, searching the sky for Rainbow Dash. He had her suit stored away in a saddlebag that was in the loft of the barn, but he knew she would have normally been looking for him by now. His heart fell a little as he looked for her with no avail. Then it soared when he saw the familiar trail of rainbow lights heading straight towards the barn.

Author's Note time: Sorry everypony! I've been writing a lot for my other stories, and what with camping and all, I haven't been able to really update this one. I'm falling back into the rhythm though, so expect more updates.... Sadly, my computer is getting taken today to be checked up on. So I won't have a chapter tomorrow more than likely. Sorry everypony!

Parties Are Supposed to be Fun Right?

Chapter 7: Parties Are Supposed to be Fun Right?

Rainbow Dash shot through the sky, punching holes in the clouds if they got in her way. She imagined each cloud was of Wind Cutter’s face. She flew straight as an arrow towards the barn, almost going fast enough to unleash a Sonic Rainboom. Of course, she checked her speed, not wanting to blow up the barn with the shockwave. I don’t think AJ would like me breaking down her barn, even if it’s to smack some sense into somepony else. Rainbow burned with a rage at Wind. He takes my suit, then goes and throws a party without bringing it back? That pegasus is going to get a hoof-slap when I get a hold of him!

She landed just outside the barn doors, calming her anger a little. She took deep breaths as she searched the outside of the barn. Nopony was there, and the barn was dark on the inside. They must be trying to hide or something. Rainbow smiled to herself as she made her way back to the barn entrance. She pushed open the door slowly, preparing herself for what was inside. Everypony there yelled out at her, and they flicked on the lights. Rainbow had trouble not laughing at how they looked when she didn’t jump or look “surprised” at all.

Wind walked up to her, smiling a smug smile. Of course, that smile disappeared when Rainbow slapped him with a hoof, hard. He fell into one of the support beams in the barn, and dust fell from the ceiling. Rainbow stood over him; hoof poised to stomp on him. He looked up at her, pain and confusion in his eyes.

“What was that for Dash?” The confusion in his voice sparked a bit more anger from her.

“What was that for? Oh, I don’t know, maybe the fact that you made off with MY suit and used it to get me over here.” She lowered her hoof, a smile on her face as her anger melted away. “Of course, I DO love a party, and this,” she looked around, “is a nice party!” She pulled Wind to his feet, and walked over to get herself some of Pinkie’s punch.

She smiled a little as she heard Wind mutter to himself, “Thinks that I took her suit to lure her here… I’d never do that.” She smiled wider as she flicked her tail at him, catching him on the side. He yelped and turned around, trying to find the pony who hit him, but she was already across the room and talking to Ditzy. Of course, this was a bad idea, and Rainbow came away from the conversation with a bit of punch spilled on her cyan coat, staining it with purple. She also came away with a muffin in her hoof, which she still had no idea where it had come from. She munched idly as she stared around at all the ponies that threw a party in her honor. Her other friends all sat in the corner dancing with each other, and Rainbow made her way over to them.

000

Wind rubbed at his flank and winced as he felt the tender spot. He glared at a certain rainbow-maned pony that had probably been the one that had flicked her tail into his flank. Wind shook his head as he watched her talk to Ditzy, getting a glass of punch spilled on her somehow. Smiling and near-bursting with laughter, Wind turned away to talk to more of the party goers.

Aloe and Lotus walked up to him, fluttering their long eyelashes at him. The circled him slowly, as if they were sharks, which, in a way, they were. Wing smiled and took them in each wing, bringing them closer to his face as he whispered to them, “Sorry ladies, I’m not interested.” He let them out from under his wing, and walked away from their disappointed faces. He chuckled at how persistent the two had been, wanting to take him into their shop and give him a complete makeover. The day I go to the spa will be the day Dash goes too.

Two more ponies walked up to him, smiling shyly as they approached. He watched them with wary eyes. Don’t let em fool you Wind! You know how the shy ones are, just think about how Fluttershy is when she gets angry. He shuddered a little at that particular memory, and turned to face the two shy pegasi who were a lot closer now.

“Hi... um… We were just wondering if you… um…. Wanted to dance with us?” The pegasus mare looked surprised at her own confidence, and she looked towards her friend for help. Her friend was staring blankly at Wind, but snapped out of her daze after a nudge from the other pegasus.

“Huh? Oh yeah, we were wanting… uh… a dance. Yeah! Well, you know, if you want to that is...” Her switching between confidence and shyness was strange, but Wind took it in stride. He had danced with many a stranger mare in his days, and he still had no idea why everypony wanted to dance with him. He looked again at the hopeful but scared eyes, and his resolve crumbled. Just as he was about to say yes, his vision was blocked by a purple mare.

“Cloud Chaser! What are you doing?” He tried to look around her at the two pegasi, but they were already back in the crowd, with sad expressions on their faces as they looked around for other dance partners. “Why would yo-, “His words were cut off as she pulled him towards the dance floor with a wing.

“Cmon Wind! Let’s dance!” She pulled his hooves to wrap around her, and they danced to the quick tempo of the music. Wind found himself dancing along, surprised at being able to actually dance along. Of course, Cloud Chaser was doing all the leading, pulling him this way and that. She was laughing as she spun him around in a circle, and Wind Cutter found himself laughing along as well. As the song ended, she spun him around one last time, and then pulled him in close to her. He never expected the soft feel of her lips on his, and he went limp with the shock of the kiss.

000

Rainbow chatted with her friends who were all still dancing. Twilight as terribly as usual, Fluttershy in a graceful dance with Rarity, AJ doing a two step with Pinkie. She could help but smile as her friends broke apart after the song had ended, laughing hysterically. She was somewhat shocked at seeing Fluttershy nuzzle Rarity, but she thought nothing more of it. If there’s something there, let it come out when they wanted it to. I just hope that they are happy together. Rainbow found herself wanting to sigh a little, watching the exchange of affection with envy. Wait just a second! Am I really sighing over another pony’s love? She shook herself violently, ridding herself of the emotion. That’s better. Now to go find Wind and give him another piece of my mind!

She bid farewell to her friends, and set off into the crowd to find the target of her still-smoldering anger. She went straight for the group of stallions and a few mares that stood off to the side of the dance floor, knowing that Wind wasn’t one to dance unless he was asked. Rainbow smiled with glee as she planned out how to annoy Wind some more. I know what I’ll do! I’ll take him out to the dance floor, and then I’ll buck him up into the hay-loft. It’s perfect! Snickering to herself, she searched through the crowd of none-dancers. That’s weird, Cuts isn’t here…

She heard the ponies around her mutter and they looked at the dancing couples. She ignored them and kept looking around, until a certain pink pony bounced in front of her. “Hey Dashie! Do you see Wind over there? He is kissing Cloud Chaser! I didn’t know that th-“Pinkie cut off as Dash spun around to look at the dance floor. In the middle of all the dancing ponies, Wind stood kissing Cloud Chaser. Rage blanked her mind, laced with small threads of pain and betrayal.

“Rainbow Dash! STOP!” AJ’s voice shouted in her ear, and with a start, Rainbow realized that she was on top of Wind, who was sprawled on the floor, with her hooves pounding at his chest. She stayed where she was, but ceased her pounding. Tears stung her eyes, and she glared at Wind, who was crumpled in a ball of pain. Rainbow looked at Wind’s crumpled body, and she felt instant regret rushing into her. With a small sob, she flew out of the open door and out into the night.

000

He ached all over, and all the ponies at the party stared at him on the ground. Coughing up a small spatter of blood, Wind stood up and stumbled to the door. His chest ached, and he knew that Rainbow had probably broken a few ribs with her sudden attack. Cloud was right beside him, trying to help him limp along. He shrugged her off, glaring at her. She backed away from him, and he continued to the door. I am SO going to get her back for this, right after I see what the buck this was all about. With his body throbbing in pain, he took off after the rainbow-maned pegasus.

Team Spirit

Allright, before you read this chapter I wish to apologize. I got waaaaay off track in my updating, and I forgot about this one. The updates will be coming more regurarily now.... Though it is hard to write on an iPad...

Chapter 8: Team Spirit

The wind brushed through her mane and cut through her coat. The speed at which she flew made sounds fall to mere echoes and her eyes brim with tears. She sould never admit it, but some of the tears were from the sting of betrayal. Pain and confusion gripped at her heart, wrestling with each other for dominance. The normal feeling of euphoria that she achieved with flight was missing, as if it wasn't there anymore. She flapped her wings even harder, determined to gain back that small tingle of happiness that the rush of adrenaline brought to her. She felt nothing except the cold wind streaming over her body.

She flew to where she belonged, where she knew that she needed to be; with the Wonderbolts. If anypony could make her feel better, it would be her idols. She turned in midflight, banking hard to the right as she aimed herself at Cloudsdale. Any clouds that were in her way were decimated by her hooves punching through them. The water from the clouds slicked her mane down with wetness, and made the coldness of the wind even more cutting. She gritted her teeth and pushed herself to go even faster. The air began to thicken and solidify as she pushed against it. Punching through it with the familiar ear-splitting boom that was followed with a lack of sound, Rainbow Dash shot towards Cloudsdale and further away from that traitor Wind Cutter.

There wasn't that many pegasi out and about, as it was the dead of night. The few pegasi who were out dodged out of the way of the supersonic, rainbow-maned pegasus. They shouted at her as she shot past them, but their voices were lost on her ears. She didn't care what they had to say, she didn't care what anypony said anymore. She came up on the Wonderbolt's stadium, and she flew straight through the compressed-cloud doors. Shooting straight forward, she followed the main hallway that lead directly into the stadium. She shot over the bars that usually held back the spectators and she shot up into the air above the stadium. She flew onto the cloud where the announcer usually sat, her speed decreasing and thoughts returning to her. She sat on the cloud and felt her tears finally fall from her eyes. This time she did nothing to stop it, preferring to let them fall out instead of looking like a baby and wiping them away. A few trickled into her panting mouth. They had a bitter taste, just how she felt.

A hoof was lain on her shoulder, and she smacked it away, spinning to see who put it there. She berated herself as recognition shot across her mind. Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh I just hit a Wonderbolt, was the only thing that she could think as she stared at the sky-blue pegasus in front of her, who was rubbing his foot and gazing at her with concern in his eyes. "Ouch! That was a good smack!" He shook his hoof for emphasis. "You know, instead of wallowing in whatever it is you're wallowing in, you could do something more productive." Soarin grabbed her hoof with two of his own and dragged her over to the edge of the cloud. Without warning, he shoved her off of the edge and into the vast sky below. Instinct kicked in, and she flapped her wings to slow and cancel out her descent. She hovered there for a few moments, her mind still rolling in circles at what was happening. She felt a gust of wind pass by her accompanied with a brush of feathers. Soarin spun in midair to look at her, a wide grin on his face. "Why don't you forget the feelings and just fly? Live in the moment a bit." With that, Soarin was streaking towards the other end of the stadium. A smile grew on Rainbow's face as she watched him fly for a moment, and then flew after him.

000

She sat up in her bunk and nearly smacked her head into the railing above her. The dream had seemd all too real. She touched her trembling lips and tried to banish the embarrasing dream from her mind. She jumped up as a breeze whistled through the night and really did bang her head on the rails. That was a major downside to sleeping in bunkbeds, but it was one she lived with. After all, it was her who ordered the entire team to live together. She figured that living together would increase the bonds of family that should be between a team, which it did. She remembered the groans of the team as she said that they would all live in the same barracks. That had been one of the first tests to her leadership, and Soarin had helped her assert authority. She knew that they were the talk of the entire team, the childhood friends bunking together. Spitfire had tried multiple times to dissuade the rumors but she knew that they were still muttered behind their backs, not that it really mattered. Soarin is just a friend, that's all.

The entire bunkhouse was eerily quiet and moonlight streamed into the room via the windows. The other Wonderbolts were all tucked away in their respective bunks and breathing deeply with sleep. She sighed and leaned back into her own bed, snuggling into the still-warm blankets. With a sudden gasp, she leapt from the bed, falling to the floor in a tangle of covers. She struggled momentarily with the blankets that seemed to want to drag her back to sleep and then climbed up the ladder to peer into the bunk above her own. The blankets were messily made in the usual way that Soarin usually kept them, but with the addition of a sky-blue feather atop his pillow. She recognized the sign, and she made her way back down the ladder and walked over to the closet where all the wonderbolt suits were. She took hers off of the hanger and walked into the bathroom so she wouldn't wake anypony putting it on.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, she was the captain of the wonderbolts ready for a performance. She walked silently over to the window and opened it. She winced at the tiny squeak it made, and looked anxiously back at the room. Nopony stirred at the noise and she gave a small mental sigh of relief. Alighting herself on the window's ledge, she looked out into the night sky, enraptured by it's beauty. Shaking herself and spreading her wings, she leapt from the window and into the cold night air. She relished at the feel of the night air as she plummeted to the ground below. Pulling out of her dive, show flew back up to the window where she exited the house from and closed it silently. Placing her hooves on the wall and crouching, she jumped away from the building and corkscrewed gracefully to shoot higher into the sky.

When she reached higher air, she stopped her ascension and flapped her wings in place for a few moments as she observed the normaly-bustling city in its time of peace. She flew in a graceful arc to aim her body at the Wonderbolt arena and she shot off towards it, flapping her wings quickly to gain speed. She smiled to herself again at the feeling of the air running through her mane and around her entire body as if she was just a gust of wind that displaced the rest of the air, like a drop of water does to a puddle. She shot over the tall walls that surrounded the stadium and dropped into the stands below. She grinned evily as she looked around for Soarin, planning to frighten him. Shock shot through her as she watched two pegasi dance gracefully around each other in midair, their movements syncronized and perfect at every turn. She caught herself smiling a bit at the large smile that was plastered on Soarin's face, she had never seen him so happy to be flying, except when they went out and flew in a duet. A frown of jealousy began to form on her face as she prepared to fly up and scold Soarin for bringing some fanmare into their private arena.

She jumped into the air and streaked towards the pair, who had stopped dancing after Soarin saw her. He waved a hoof at her casually, as if he didn't know what she was planning. I can't beleive him. He would be the LAST pony I would have thought to bring a silly fanmare into-, the thought stopped short of completion as another wave of surprise shot through her. Rainbow Dash had been the other pegasus. She slowed her rapid approach and tried to morph it into something more casual. Her attempt didn't go unnoticed, as she saw the big smile that was on Soarin's face grow a little larger and change into something resembling a smirk.

"Hey Spitfi- uh... I mean, Good evening Captain!" Rainbow blushed at her stumble and saluted Spitfire. She groaned internally as she reached over to pull down Rainbow's hoof.

She shook her head at Rainbow Dash. "None of that formal stuff Rookie. We are a family, and it's gonna stay that way."

Rainbow Dash's smile grew a bit more at that, and Spitfire wanted to groan at the rainbow-maned mare's enthusiasm. "Allright! Heya Spitfire!" She held out a hoof and Spitfire bumped hers to it.

"Welcome to the team Dash. One thing though, where's your suit?"

Stones and Ointment

Chapter 9: Stones and Ointment

The cold night air brushed against his body as he flew after Rainbow Dash. His mane flapped behind him as he flapped his powerful wings, trying to catch the distraught pegasus. Pain gripped at his chest, but he gritted his teeth and flew on after the speeding cyan pegasus. He watched as the air itself seemed to bend around her, warping and distorting how he saw her. A loud booming noise, followed by a splash if color and a rush of wind, signlaed her going supersonic. Wind tried to follow her, but her rainbow trail soon dissapated without the light to maintain it. Without a guide, he flew blindly on for a few minutes, trying in vain to find the rainbow-maned pony that was his friend.

Pain flashed red-hot in the muscles of his wings, and he began to plummit to the ground, his futile efforts at stabilizing doing nothing to slow the fall. Branches slapped at him, sending stabbing pain through his body when he landed on one of the thicker branches. If those ribs weren't broken, they sure are now. The branches began to slow him more and more and he watched the ground approach. He positioned himself to land, and fell onto all four hooves. Looking back on this descision later, he cursed his stupidity for trying to look cool landing. For now, he contented himself to screaming in pain as his legs were pushed close to their breaking point. He stumbled backward into a tree, disoriented by the signals of pain that were being sent to his brain from all parts of his body. He walked forward, but he ended up moving towards the side drunkenly and smacked face first into a bush.

A growl was emitted from the depths of the bush, and Wind moved part of the leaves aside. Yellow eyes, cold and intelligent, started back at him from inside the bush. He backpedaled away from the bush, fear gripping his mind and making his movements erratic. His eyes kept trying to look at the advancing figure, but what was left of his rationality forced his head to look at the ground. He collided with a wall of bark and jumped away from the rough touch of the trees. His hoof found a stone in the earth, and he tumbled to the ground, getting a mouthful of tasteless dirt. He coughed as the fine particles made their way into his throat, and a pair of chicken legs walked up to him. He noticed with shock that there was a lizard tail in-between the legs where the feathers should be.

The creature's strange legs and body enticed him to look upward, but he fought against the pull. A claw reached under his chin, pulling his face upward, the beast the claw belonged to crooning at him. As hard as he tried, he made contact with the yellow eyes. They seemed to grow, two orbs of glistening gold that gazed into his soul. Numbness gripped his legs, the pain seeming to seep out of them. He gazed into the orbs, content to let them take away his pain that he felt. The numbness crept up his chest, scouring away the pain and leaving nothing in it's place. It was only after the numbness reached his face that he realized something was wrong, and his rational thought returned. Oh no oh no not good not good! He tried to draw away from the petrifying gaze, but he was stuck in place. He started shouting, but after the first shout the stone closed over his nose and started on its way to his eyes. He looked skyward as he thought his last thought. I.....never........even....got to.....take her....on a date....... His vision was filled with grey, and he thought no more.

000

Oh! I hope I'm not too late! Fluttershy flew over the forest, urging her wings to take her faster over the trees. Nopony told them that there is a cockatrice out in the forest tonight! In fact, nopony knew but her. She remembered seeing small stone animals on the way to Sweet Apple Acres, but she told herself that she would get the mean ol' cockatrice to fix them later. Oh and now Rainbow and Wind out out there in the dark and scary woods. All alone!

Suddenly, a resounding boom and a flash of color cut through the night and quickly faded away in the darkness. She found herself watching the sky wrapped around a tree branch.Oh! Goodness that must have been Rainbow! But....what about Wind? She scanned the sky for any sign of him, and she spotted a small dark speck falling out of the sky. She winced as she watched him crash into the trees. A small shock coursed through er body. Oh no! That's where all those stone animals were! She took off from the tree, willing her wings to flap faster as she shot towards the place where Wind had landed.

When she passed over the clearing, she sighed with relief. Wind was looking up at her from the center of the clearing, watching her fly past. She dropped down to land and trotted over to him. "Oh Wind, you have no idea how worried I was about you two!" He didn't reply to her, and she stepped a little closer. "I mean, Rainbow or you could have run into the cockatrice! It's a good thing I found you before he did." Something was strange with Wind. He was still staring at the night sky, unmoving. Almost as if he's a stone.... She giggled nerviously and walked over to nudged Wind. His body was ice cold. A shadow loomed over her. Almost as if....he's a.....stone....

Steeling herself, she took a deep breath and turned to confront her attacker.

000

Small webs of dim-white spiderwebbed across the grey mask over his eyes. Small peices began to fall away from his face, allowing the moonlight to shine inside his stone prison. Feeling returned slowly as larger flakes of his stone skin broke away, slowly at first, but then increasing in intensity. After a few moments that seemed to drag on for ages, he was free of his cage. He took a deep breath and looked over to see a yellow pony glaring off into the bushes. Is that..... Fluttershy?. He took a step forward and promptly fell onto the ground. Yum, dirt. He spit out another mouthful of the brown clods of earth. Second bucking time today.... I wonder if I can get a third in before sunrise.

Suddenly the pink-maned pegasus was atanding over him, looking him over as he struggled to stand. She placed a hoof on him, whispering in a soft voice. "Stay still, the petrifying spell will fade in a moment." She began prodding gently at him with her hooves, feeling his body for other injuries. "I didn't get a chance to look at your injuries at the farm." He gritted his teeth as she poked at each of his wounds and murmered to herself. "Most of these are shallow, and that's good, but some of them are pretty deep. We need to get some healing balm on these cuts." When he started to complain, she stuck her hoof over his mouth. "None of that. I brought it with me. Besides," she giggled softly as he tried and failed to stand up again. "it isn't like you can go anywhere right now anyways."

She pulled a small glass vial of paste out of her saddlebags and walked back over to where he lay. He watched her approach warily. If I could only fly away... Oh well, I know what Fluttershy is like when you don't listen to her. He shuddered a little at the memory of "the stare". She set down the vial in the grass and left to rummage in her bag again. When she returned, she was carrying a wad of bandages in her mouth. She spit out the bandages and picked up the vial again to pull out the stopper. He watched as she poured a bit of the balm on her hoof and walked over to him with a reassuring smile on her face. He tried to move away, but the spell's lingering effect stopped his efforts cold. She lay down in the grass beside him, rubbing her two front hooves together to spread the balm on them both. She reached towards a particurarily painful cut on his side and he pressed his eyes shut, fearing the worst of pains to slash across his side, adding to the pain that the cut already burned with.

Her hooves touched him, and he felt himself instantly relax as the hooves worked the medicine in small circles. Coolness spread and smothered the fire that burned from the cut. He sighed in dissapointment as she pulled her hooves away, only to feel his spirits lift when her hooves came back onto another inflamed cut, snuffing out the fire and leaving the same soothing coolness. She smiled and she worked, rubbing away all of his pains. Well, she is the Element of Kindness after all. I can see why that is. He lifted his head a little to look at her better. "Mmmmm Fluttershy?" His voice sounded groggy, even to his ears.

She didn't look up from her work. "Yes?"

He lay his head back down on the grass. "Thanks for helping me." She only spared enough time to look at him and smile before returning to her task, an intent look on her face as she slowly probed around one of the cuts on his side. She kept murming to herself as she poked and prodded at his coat. Pain flashed red in his vision, and he shot up into a standing position. She looked concerned as she reached out a hoof to force him gently back down. He yielded to her gentle pressure, settling his body gently back onto the grass. "I think...uh...a few ribs are broken, nothing serious though."

She looked at him as if he were crazy. "Nothing serious? You have at least 6 broken ribs!". She fluttered over to her bag and searched franticallu through it. She pulled out a sprig of bright purple berries. She shoved them in his face, looking intensely into his eyes. "Eat these!" When he started to protest again, she turned up her stare from commanding to dominating. Her bright eyes seemed to dominate his vision as she stared into his very soul. He leaned forward and nipped every berry from the branch, chewing slowly and swallowing the bitter paste. She leaned back, smiling reassuringly at him. "Now let's fix those ribs."

He could feel nothing as a numb haze gripped his mind. He watched as the clearing grew further away as she carried him away from it, struggling with his weight. I was....supposed....to....find.....Dash.... Oh well.....Buck it....... He drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Suited for the Job

Chapter 10: Suited for the Job

Soarin flapped idly as he watched Rainbow fumble around for an answer, a blush showing through the cyan color of her coat. He looked over to Spitfire, and saw a grin on her face that mirrored his own. He looked back at the mare in front of him, who was looking around for something to save her. Wow... She's pretty cute when she's embarrased and trying to hide it.

"Well...you see...um..."

"Spit it out Rainbow, it's all right." Spitfire moved closer to her and Rainbow flew backwards into a sky pillar. Soarin chuckled at Rainbow's embarrasment, earning him a double glare from the mares in front of him. He backed away from them, lowering his altitude a little in case they decided to attack him. Mares can be crazy like that sometimes. I remember that crazy yellow pegasus that was at the Gala with all those animals. Boy, that was a fun night...at least I got some pie there.. He had to surpress another smile at the memory lest the two pegasi think it was directed at them.

Rainbow went back to glancing around rapidly as Spitfire approached her again, reaching out with a hoof. Spitfire placed her hoof on Rainbow's shoulder and then jumped away at the explosion that sounded through the quiet night air. "IJUSTGAVEITTOMYFRIENDBUTHELOSTITANDIDONTKNOWWHEREITISNOW!" She practically blasted through the sky pillar, sending peices of condensed cloud flying everywhere. She shot towards the other end of the stadium, landing in the stands and laying on the bench shivering. Soarin watched as Spitfire rubbed at her ears with her hooves, groaning at the pain of her ruptured eardrums. She muttered to herself as she flew in a disoriented flight path towards the now-frantic cyan pegasus.

Even at this distance, Rainbow's shout had sent pain flashing through his ears. I do NOT envy Spits right now. She was right there. He winced in sympathy and trailed after his long-time friend. It seemed to take forever to reach the spot where Rainbow had landed, but when they did Rainbow dug a small hole into the clouds and stuck her head in. Soarin chuckled lightly to himself, which would have earned him a kick in the face if Spitfire had been able to hear it.

Spitfire rubbed her ears one last time before she tapped Rainbow on the flank. Soarin nearly burst out laughing at the look on Rainbow's face as she lifted her head from the cloud. Spitfire let her breath in and out before speaking. "Dash, I don't think you shouted loud enough. I didn't catch all of it."

Rainbow's face flushed and she lowered her head sadly. "I gave my suit to my friend to get cleaned...but I took off from my party because of...well, I took off before I got it and now I don't know where it is." She visibly wilted in front of them and Soarin walked up to her, nudging her playfully on the side.

"You left your own party? Why would ya do that?" The rainbow-maned pegasus turned away from him, but not before he saw tears well up in her eyes. Way to go Soarin. Bucking IDIOT! He reached over and patted Rainbow on the back. "Hey, it's cool if ya don't wanna talk about it." He already knew the problem anyway, seeing it all of the time with the colts who threw themselves at Spitfire. Jealousy is never a good thing among friends. Problably has to do with her "friend."

Rainbow pulled away from him, wiping a hoof across her face and looked back at them defiantly. "So I don't have my suit, what does it matter? I'm still one of the coolest pegasi in Equestria!" She struck a heroic pose after she said that last part, smiling confidently.

Soarin glanced at Spitfire, who looked back at him with a slightly worried expression. She nodded to him, and he sighed. Of course I have to break the bad news.. "Well, yes Dash, you'd still be...well...you. But, we don't have any spare suits.". He covered his ears as she processed this information, but instead of shouting she drooped towards the ground. "Wait now, you said your friend had it right? We can just go out and get it you know." He dragged Rainbow over to the edge of the cloud, grunting and groaning overdramatically. It obtained the effect he desired; to hear her laughing again. He smiled to himself as he reared back. "Off we go!"

He and Spitfire leapt after her and together they soared towards Ponyville.

You know, I think this is Life's wierd way of showing us not to tease people. Having nopony else to talk to makes it so much worse too. The sound of a door opening and closing made him crack open his eyes. The room was dark except for a single ray of light shining in through the hallway. He huffed a sigh. Problably just another nurse coming to check my bandages or something. When the door didn't open further, he slapped a hoof on the railing. "Well, the door's open. Come in already!"

The voice that answered him made him nearly jump up out of the bed. As it was, his different appendages twitched and spasmed, sending sharp jabs of pain stabbing into his nerves. "All right then, if you think you can handle the most awesome pegasus in Equestria." He heard hooves clopping on the tiles, steadily getting closer to his bedside. "Hey Spitfire, think ya can turn on the light?". In reply, the lights flashed on and blinded him. He clamped his eyes shut and placed his hooves over his eyes in an attempt to shield himself from the bright light, but another pair of hooves grabbed them and pulled them down. "I know, it's hard not to be blinded by excellence."

He snorted and opened his eyes. When his vision had adjusted, he took in the image of a confident Rainbow Dash posing in her skin-tight jumpsuit. She had a pair of goggles strapped on her head and a smile spread across her face as she waited for his opinion. "Looks fine." He grunted and rolled over, a bad descision. Pain racked his body, but he ignored it. Thinks she can put me in the hospital and them everything be okay? Not how it works Dash. The anger in his thoughts surprised him, but he did nothing to stop it.

"What...what's wrong Cuts?" He felt a small touch at his shoulder, but he ignored it. It came again, harder this time. "Hey! I asked what's up! You gonna give me an answer Cuts? Is this how you'd treat a fri-". She cut off as he sat up and glared at her angrily.

"Oh yeah? Would tackling them at a party and breaking 8 ribs be how you treat your friends Dash? Cuz I don't see any of those girls you hang with here wrapped in bandages."

She was taken aback by his outburst, backing a small distance away before steeling herself. "Look...I just sorta...lost control at the party. If it means anything to you, I'm sorry." He saw small tears well up in her eyes as he glared at her, and regret filled his heart to the brim. He felt his face soften a bit and he held out his hooves to her, the universal sign for a hug. Her warm body pressed against him and she wrapped her hooves around him. He breathed deeply as she nuzzzled into his mane. She smelled just like she always had, like sweat and dirt.

"You know, I followed you after the party. Falling out of the sky isn't fun with broken ribs. Also, getting turned into stone is prety sucky too, I wouldn't recommend it." She pulled out of the hug and looked at him worridly. "Oh, I'm fine now, thanks to your friend Fluttershy." He chuckled and her eyes narrowed. He held up his hooves innocently. "Nothing happened! She just chased away the cockatrice and brought me here. Pegasus Swear!"

Rainbow laughed and elbowed his side gently. "I was only pulling your wing. Besides, Fluttershy is already dating Rarity. Wait," her mouth dropped open, "you got turned into stone? I guess you were 'stoned' right?" All of the other pegasi in the room groaned at her lame joke. "Okay bad jokes aside now, I have to make it up to you somehow! How about free tickets to a Wonderbolt show?"

"Um, I'd love that, except that...well...you know..." He gestured to his wrapped up wings, and her face fell.

Spitfire walked up to the bedside, patting Rainbow on the side and whispering into her ear. Rainbow's face lit up with a large smile, one of the largest he had ever seen on her. She walked closer to him to whisper in his ear. "Hey, Spitfire has a cool plan. She said that, pause for dramatic effect, you can still come."

"Oh? How's that gonna happen? Got a spare set of balloons?"

His sarcasm had no effect on them as Spitfire walked up. "Nah, she is just gonna take my place for now. I'll give ya a ride up to Cloudsdale to see the show."

Don't Chicken Out

Chapter 10: Don't Chicken Out

That look on his face, absolutely priceless. Spitfire had to work to keep from laughing as the grey pegasus' mouth dropped open. Wind looked at Rainbow Dash for confirmation and when she nodded he dropped to the floor. Laughter issued from behind her, and she looked over her shoulder to see the two other Wonderbolts holding on to each other to stay standing. She rolled her eyes and leaned down to haul Wind Cutter to his feet. When she let go, he looked at his hoof and back to her. He reached out will a hoof and felt at her face gently, as if he was blind. She stepped around his extended hoof and slapped his face with her tail.

He brought his hoof back to feel at where the tail had connected, touching it gently. "I'm not dreaming, right?" His voice sounded small and childish, as if he was scared at what the answer would be. She brushed against his side, smiling at the blush that came to his cheeks. He tried to fly up into the air, flapping his arms in a wild attempt to get away. Spitfire lost her composure at his reaction and clutched at the bedpost so as not to roll on the ground laughing at the distraught pegasus. He crashed into her and they both tumbled to the ground.

Wind Cutter’s weight was pressing on her back for mere moments, suddenly being lifted away. A crashing noise, followed by a grunt of pain, filled the room and the laughter was instantly cut off as Spitfire slowly stood up. She looked to her right and saw Soarin crouched low to the ground, glaring at something on the other side of her. She turned her head and gasped, rushing over to help up the stunned grey pegasus. Her extended hooves were batted away lightly by hooves of grey. Wind Cutter shook his head at her, sparing only a glance for her as he glared at the pegasus who had tossed him across the room.

The stormy-eyed Wonderbolt stomped his hoof, snorting angrily at Wind Cutter. “Watch yourself punk.” Soarin’s usually cheery tone was dangerously soft, a whisper that seemed to fill the room. Spitfire glanced at Rainbow, who was standing next to Soarin with a bewildered and frightened expression. Rainbow Dash returned the glance and then snapped back to watching the two stallions that were glaring daggers at each other. “Now, if you’re done messing around, I suggest you apologize to her.”

She stepped forward, opening her mouth to protest. “Soarin, it’s fi-,” he angrily flung up a hoof and switched his glare to her. She shuddered as she looked into his eyes, stepping back a few steps involuntarily. The normal cheery Soarin she knew was gone for now, it was happening again.

“No Spitfire, I want an apology.” His voice made her flinch back, her heart hurting as much as it would have been if he had slapped her. “And I want it now. Let’s hear it you feather-brain.” Spitfire looked back at Wind Cutter, pleading with her eyes for him to just say it. She saw a stubborn light fill his eyes as he glared at Soarin. “Didn’t you hear me?” Soarin’s voice was filled with anger, tinged slightly with disbelief and he stomped another hoof closer to Wind. “What, you were perfectly chatty the other day when Dash was in the hospital. Let’s hear that apology, now.” His voice was dripping with barely contained rage.

The stubborn light that was blazing in Wind Cutter’s eyes seemed to illuminate the room as he sat down on his haunches and turned away from Soarin. “You’ll get nothing from me. It was an accident. If anything, you should apologize to me.” He stretched his back as he nonchalantly looked through the shelves, shifting aside different vials. A low growl vibrated through the room, emanating from Soarin as he crouched low and spread his wings. “I mean, you are the one who attacked me. Falling on somepony hardly cou-“ The rest of his words were drowned out by an enraged shout that was followed by a crashing noise as Soarin leapt across the room.

The blue pegasus slammed his hoof into the other’s back, his punch powered by his brief flight across the space. Soarin grabbed Wind around the middle and threw him across the room, absolutely roaring in rage. Spitfire watched as the grey pegasus soared through the air to collide with the wall. For the love of Celestia, just stay down! Wind slowly stood up and brushed himself off, shaking slightly with pain. Spitfire stood against the wall as she watched the grey pegasus smile at the other. It wasn’t a smile of happiness, but one of eagerness. Wind lifted his hoof and waved it side to side tauntingly. “Looks like I’m going to need two apologies from you now.”

Spitfire watched in horror as Soarin leapt again at the pegasus, already picturing in her mind the sickening snap of bone and the grey pegasus writhing on the ground in pain. When their bodies were mere inches apart, she clenched her eyes shut, waiting with bated breath for the scream of agony.

When it didn’t come, she opened her eyes and felt shock course through her body. Wind was holding Soarin from behind, dodging the occasional hoof and wrapping around the blue pegasus’ body with his own hooves. “Let. Me. Go!” Soarin’s bellowing shout hurt her ears, and Wind was tossed backwards as Soarin spread his powerful wings. “You’re in for it now.” Soarin flew straight towards the dazed pegasus, his hoof pointed to smash into Wind’s skull.

She heard a scream, but through her fear she couldn’t tell if it was Rainbow or herself that was screaming. Twin thuds were heard, followed by pained panting and grunts of pain. Spitfire cracked open her eyes that she hadn’t known she had closed, looking hesitantly towards where the two pegasi where. Her eyes snapped open and she sat down hard with shock. Between the two pegasi was Rainbow Dash, holding out a hoof that pressed into each of the pegasi’s chests. With a yell, Rainbow pushed outwards, throwing the two stallions into opposite walls. She stood back on her four hooves and looked back and forth between the stunned pegasi.

Spitfire could only stare as the cyan pegasi glared at the grey pegasus and walked over to slap his face with a hoof. She turned angrily and stomped over to Soarin, picking up his still-limp body and throwing it out of the window onto the ground outside. With a glance back at Spitfire, she leapt out of the window, slamming it shut behind her.

Soarin groaned as he hit the ground, flames of pain licking up his body as the hard surface rushed up to meet him. The mare who had tossed him out of the window jumped out after him and glared at him from the sky, flapping her wings and tossing her head angrily. Her accusing look made him look away and roll over, pushing his hooves into the dirt as he attempted to stand. He winced as pain ached on his chest, shifting aside the blue suit and looking at his chest. He sighed as he took in the small, hoof-shaped bruise already forming. She’s got quite a kick. That’s gonna stay there for a while.

He heard hooves land lightly on the ground behind him and he sighed again, preparing to face the cyan-colored monster that was breathing heavily behind him. He turned slowly, trying to play for time. He met her eyes, which were full of anger and confusion. “Look, I’m sorry about-,“ He cut off as her hoof smacked into his face, leaving a painful stinging on it accompanied by ringing ears. What, did you expect a kiss? He asked himself the question sarcastically, rubbing at his cheek sullenly as he pulled his head around to look back at the enraged rainbow-maned pegasus. “If you slap me, how can I apologize?” She huffed angrily and turned around, spreading her wings and flying into the sky. With the third dejected sigh of the day, Soarin took off after her.

He sat deep in thought, trying to work out ways of apologizing to Dash in his mind. Buy her a pie? Nah, she isn’t like me. I know, I’ll get her flowers! Wait, that wouldn’t work either, she’s no girly girl. He tapped his chin thoughtfully. I could…um…take her to a shop? Maybe she’ll go for a trip to Sugercube Corner? Pinkie Pie always hooks me up with free pies. He felt his stomach growl, and he groaned internally. Come to think of it, I haven’t eaten all day. Oh man, what I would give for a good pie right now. He was snapped out of his daydream of food by a sudden rush of wind. He watched as Rainbow Dash pulled into a dive, heading for a small building surrounded by apple trees. What is she doing here? He dived after her, his hunger lost in his curiosity.

He landed with a thud behind Rainbow as she called out loudly. “Scootaloo! Applebloom! Sweetie! Anypony here? It’s me, Rainbow Dash!”

An orange head poked out of the window, the filly’s purple eyes growing wide as she looked with her mouth agape at the two suited ponies outside. The head shot back into the building and a small excited voice could be heard inside. “Applebloom! Sweetie! Put down those baseball bats and follow me! Rainbow Dash is outside! She’s got a blue suit and she’s with Soarin!” The door slammed open and a orange-and-purple blur tackled into Rainbow Dash, knocking her to the ground as the same voice squealed with delight. “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Rainbow Dash got into the Wonderbolts!”

Soarin smiled as he recalled the exact same phrase being said by Dash herself at the Best Young Fliers Competition. Another two fillies stepped out of the building and slowly walked up to the three of them, limping and wincing at every step. What were they doing with baseball bats? Y’know what? I don’t wanna know.

“How did you do it Rainbow? What happened?” Scootaloo literally fluttered with excitement, her wings making a soft buzzing noise as they flapped. The other two fillies lay down on the grass, looking eagerly up at Rainbow and waiting for the story to begin.

“Well, you know me. It was my charm, skill, and total awesomeness that got me in, isn’t that right Soarin?” She nudged him a little harder than was called for, obviously still mad at him. Not wanting to get on her nerves any further, he nodded eagerly. She flashed a smile at him, sending his body into a small shudder. Yeah, she’s still mad. “Scootaloo, go ahead and lay down with your friends, this is gonna be a long story of my totally radical tryout.” Rainbow Dash struck a pose and began telling her tale.

Soarin bemusedly smiled at her telling of events, nodding every once and a while as the fillies looked to him for confirmation. She certainly has a…flair…for story-telling. He nearly shook his head at her exaggeration. After her tale was finished, the orange filly leapt up and galloped to Rainbow, pulling the mare into a hug. “I’ll be right back!” Soarin watched the filly run into the treehouse, and winced as he heard things crashing from inside. What were they doing in there? He traded a smile with Rainbow and looked back at the door as the filly came out, dragging a scooter behind her. “W-w-will you sign this for me Dash? And, can you get Soarin to sign it too?”

Rainbow took the pen Scootaloo held out and scrawled her initials into the board. “Ish no problem kid!” She spit the pen back into her hoof and wiped it on her suit nonchalantly. Soarin winced as she did that, but didn’t say anything. Let’s hope she never does that in front of Spitfire. He shuddered as he remembered the Wonderbolt Captain’s reaction to mistreatment of the sacred suits. The filly walked over to him, holding out the pen and scooter with a hopeful look in her eyes. He grabbed the pen and signed his entire name into the board, smiling a little as Rainbow huffed at being outdone in a signature.

Scootaloo had leapt onto her scooter and fluttered her wings, propelling herself towards Dash with a confident look in her eye. “I bet now I can beat you Dash, wanna race?” Soarin found himself being surprised at the filly’s spunkiness, but Dash took it in stride.

“Bring it on you little chicken!” Laughing, she took off after the racing scooter. Soarin found himself running after them, laughing along with the other two fillies who galloped beside them. Their entire group thundered through the apple orchard, causing the trees that were nearest to drop their harvest onto the ground.

This would be a nice way to make it up to her. Note to self: she likes to race. Oh Celestia, she reminds me of Spits more and more everyday.

Allright folks, author's note time! Don't expect any updates for this weekend, because I'll be taking it off to work on my newest sadfic! I'll resume normal updates after the weekend passes!

Sick Days

Chapter 12: Sick Days

He strained against the straps, pushing against the bonds with all of his strength, and sighed as once again they held. He looked over to where Spitfire lay sleeping, a lock of her hair bobbing as she breathed deeply. His mouth turned up into a smile of its own accord, and he shook his head sharply. What are you doing smiling at her? She’s famous, a wonderbolt! He shifted a little in his bed, trying to become slightly more comfortable but with no success. Still, she offered to fly you to the show. That’s something. A small voice in his head broke the semi-silence of the room. But what about Rainbow Dash? Would you give up on her?

He shivered as the angry face of Dash loomed up in his mind, her eyes filled with the sting of betrayal. The spot where her hoof had connected with his face throbbed slightly, as if reminding him further of her anger. That mare. Ugh. That totally wasn’t my fault! What did she expect? For me to sit down and let Soarin beat me up? He felt heat wash over his face in his rage. Oh yeah, that’s right… she looooves Soarin just cuz he’s a Wonderbolt. He felt the anger spread, working its way through his entire body. He felt shock splash over him as if somepony dumped a bucket of water on his face. Why am I thinking these things about her? I love her! Get a hold of yourself Wind! He wished he could have raised a hoof to slap himself out of it completely, but the bonds were still in place.

The nurse who had slammed open the door after Rainbow had made her escape wasn’t too happy with the scene. A wounded pegasus who should be in bed lying amongst the wreckage was just one of the things that she had been worked up about. She had cared for neither his nor Spitfire’s explanations, saying that “He shouldn’t be out of bed in the first place.” Of course, he might have escaped the straps if he hadn’t told her to go eat a cloud. But no, he was now strapped to a bed, one of the greatest fears that pegasi have and the nurse was cruel enough to make the fear a reality.

The yellow pegasus on the couch mumbled in her sleep and his thoughts drifted back to her. Heat rose to his face as the sounds of her giggles drifted to his ears. “Oh Wind, you can’t eat the food if it gets on your chest.” He shifted a little on his bed, the memory from earlier that day still fresh on his mind. Being strapped into his bed made things like eating difficult, and the nurse wasn’t about to spend her time feeding a rude pegasus. Therefore, the flame-maned Wonderbolt was given the task to feed the grey patient. She had been reluctant at first, complaining about how uncool it would be to have to feed a grown stallion like a baby, but the trusty foal-eyes had worked on her and she acquiesced.

He almost wished that she hadn’t. It turned out that Spitfire quite enjoyed her task, taunting and teasing him all the while. His face burned as he remembered the part that she was apparently dreaming about. He was eating the hospital food, enduring the taunts and the bad taste, when suddenly a spoonful of the stuff fell onto his chest. He and Spitfire had both stared at it for a few seconds, waiting for the other to do something. Of course, he couldn’t have done anything to fix the situation, being bound in the bed, so Spitfire had leaned down and licked the food from his chest. She had looked up at his shocked face and giggled, saying that line that she said in her sleep.

She giggled again in her sleep, as if she could feel his uncomfortable thoughts. This is gonna be a long wait to go flying again. Then he recalled another thing that Rainbow and Spitfire had said to him. He whimpered aloud, unable to contain his fear. “Oh Celestia…”

“Hmm? What’s up, Wind?”

000

“All right team! Let’s give them the best buckin’ show they’ve ever seen!” Her cheer was only half-heartedly returned by the rest of the blue-suited pegasus before they turned and flew out into the stadium. Defeat seemed to poison her thoughts, images of failure flashing before her eyes. “Was it something I said?”

“Nah Rainbow, it’s just that...well...there’s nopony out there, and this isn’t a real show.” The second-in-command Wonderbolt sighed beside her, his hoof arcing gracefully to connect with his forehead. “They just have a hard time believing that Spits would put you in charge instead of me. And, well, it’s a little hard to take you seriously. A-a-at least for them.” He amended as she directed a glare towards him.

“Whatever then, let’s get flyin!” She spread her wings and galloped out of the locker room. The wind flowed over her wings and lifted her into the sky, her hair blowing back behind her as she flapped higher and higher to hover with the rest of the Wonderbolts. Part of her couldn’t believe the whole situation, but the other part knew that she had to focus. She looked back behind her and waited for Soarin to catch up before speaking. “Okay team, we all know the routine right?” A round of nods. “All right then! Let’s do this as if the princess’s themselves are watching!” Their gazes were skeptical as the looked around at the completely deserted stadium. One of them raised a hoof hesitantly. “Yes Shockwave, I know that there’s nopony here. That doesn’t mean tha-“

The electric-blue hair waved as the pegasus shook her head. “No, not that. It’s just that…well…we are only three days into the practice. You can’t expect that we’d have it perfe-“

“I’m not looking for perfection Shockwave.” Rainbow interjected, “But that doesn’t mean we can’t practice it as if we DID have it perfect. If you’re gonna practice it, practice doing it right.” With that, she waved away the rest of them and flew into her place at the head of the formation. “Start routine, Feather Flight, go.” In an instant, the rest of the team peeled away from her, leaving the cyan pegasus to fly higher into the sky. The blue-clad ponies spun around the stadium in a perfectly synchronized star shape, dragging behind them clouds that were puffy and white.

She turned around in midair, looking down at the now-compacted clouds that were directly below. The team spiraled upwards, causing lightning to shoot upwards from the surface of the white clouds after them. They didn’t pause as they began to create a cyclone that pulled at her body. Wasting no time, she turned downwards in a dive, the wind pulling at her wings and hooves. Tears fell from her eyes as she gritted her teeth against the speed, pushing herself to move even faster against the howling wind. For a moment, there was a resistance, one that she was all too familiar with, and in that same instant, it was gone.

Sound escaped her as she rocketed towards the compacted mass of white, punching through it easily and doing a large arc over the stadium that painted the sky with her rainbow trail. She looked back at the gathered clouds, smiling when she saw their rainbow puffs. A flash of light from the group blinded her, her eyes shutting down as they attempted to recover. Numbness passed through her body, starting at her leg but spreading alarmingly fast. She flailed wildly as she began to lose control of her flight, heading straight for one of the walls of the stadium. A thud filled her ears, coupled with a grunt of pain. She couldn’t even tell if it had come for her or not. She groaned and looked up into the darkening face of Soarin before all feeling was pulled from her body.

Author's note: I sincerely apologize for the time it had taken for me to write this chapter. I just got distracted with all of my sadfictions that I kind of forgot about this one! I'm sorry, please forgive me everypony! I promise that I'll give out more frequent (and hopefully more lengthy) updates to this story!

Pain Hurts

Chapter 14: Pain Hurts

Her mind slowly recognized the large jumble of feelings that were mixed inside her skull, merging together and parting just as quickly in a pool of unconsciousness. As she resurfaced from that pool, the feelings slowly returned to her. She groaned as the pain was finally brought forth, somewhat muted by… something. She should be worrying about what was dulling the pain, but at this point she could only be thankful for its interference; the pain that licked along her body in time with her beating heart was bad enough. It was an odd sort of pain, hurting but not hurting at the same time, her numbness mixing with the burning ache. She groaned again as a particularly painful flare sent her hoof into a spasm, bringing more painful twinges in different parts of her body as it shifted on the mattress.

She kicked out her legs uncontrollably, panic gripping her mind as she couldn’t move as far as she wanted, much less get up from where she lay. Her throat screamed out wordlessly, her mouth useless in forming the words of fear that she wanted to express. A muted pressure rested on her ears, vibrating slightly off-and-on as if her room had filled with shouting ponies. A sharp pain stood out from the rest, a cool feeling spreading from where it had come from. She felt her hooves slow in their maddening attempts to move along with her mind. Soon the darkness that filled her vision grew cold and somehow darker, consuming her thoughts and mind as she fell into the world of unconsciousness once more.

After what seemed like days, she resurfaced from the world of uneasy dreams and feelings. She felt cold, trapped in a world of darkness no matter how wide she tried to open her eyes. Fear and confusion warred inside her skull as she attempted to stand up. In an instant, panic overpowered and replaced both emotions as she found that her efforts were in vain, her hooves being held down by some kind of strap. Her muscles ached more and more as she pushed and pulled against her bonds, but she merely continued her pointless struggle.

The pressure on her ears returned, though much softer and more panicky than before. Her mind worked to make out the words, their sounds all mashing together as if her brain was a few seconds behind. A hoof stroked her mane softly, running through each of the colors individually. She felt the wordless scream build up in her throat, a few whimpers escaping her pressed-together lips as she threw all of her strength at the cloth that held her down. Suddenly the words snapped into clarity, hitting her like a hammer.

“Dash, stop! They’ll put you under again. Shhhh, Dash. Calm down… Shhhh.” When she became stiff, the hoof hesitated before resuming its calm brushing. “That’s better; I thought I was going to have to get them again.”

She felt her mouth flutter around as she worked to speak, her throat making small grunts that were supposed to be words. Frustration came, filling her as she tried again and again to speak out to her second-favorite Wonderbolt. “S-s-ssss-Soarin?” Happiness and relief flooded through her as she forced the name that had been pressing against her mind with painful force. The hoof patted her head before resuming its comforting strokes. “Soarin.” She repeated simply, content to just murmur his name and be in his presence for the time being.

“I’m here Dash.”

000

She pulled him along the streets of Cloudsdale, if lumps of super-compacted cumulous clouds could be called that, ignoring his protests and efforts to flee. “Please, Spitfire, I don’t want to do anything else!” She looked over her shoulder at the terrified, grey pegasus, and smiled in a I’m-going-to-torture-you-all-day kind of way. As they rounded the corner, an expression of shock crossed his face and passed through his body, making his muscles stiffen and allowing her to drag him a little closer to her goal.

Looming up at the end of the street, the bungee-jump building towered further into the sky, the small chords that hung from the side occasionally snapping taut, flinging the small shapes of pegasi into the air and back down again. She watched Wind’s eyes trace up the sides of the building, fear building faster as they followed another diver back down until they were obscured by the cloud-ground. The nervous gulp that came from the stallion could be heard even in the semi-crowded street. “What’s wrong, Wind?” She asked it innocently, her eyes shining with anything but innocence. “Haven’t you gone cloud-diving before?”

“No, and I don’t plan to!” He added nervously as her smile grew wider. “We aren’t going there, right?” He looked up to the top of the building and then back to her, only to return his gaze fearfully to the towering cloud-structure.

She turned around and drew him close, smiling at the quickening of his heartbeat as she put her muzzle to his ear. “Oh yes, Wind Cutter, we are.” Shock, wet and frigid, shot through his body once more as she began to lead him further and further from safety. She laughed as he tried to pull away again, using his momentum to spin around and grasp him with her hooves. She flapped her wings and pulled the two of them into the air, doing some loops and corkscrews that would have otherwise been unnecessary. Her laugh fell onto the pegasi below, who all looked up to see something akin to kidnapping, complete with the screaming victim that was held in the kidnapper’s hooves. Unfortunately for Wind, the ponies of Cloudsdale would always recognize and trust Spitfire, even if what she did sometimes was a little off. She was a famous pony, and famous ponies always act on the weird side.

Of course, Wind, being unable to fly still, was forced to sit between the orange hooves with a pouting frown on his face. Instead of taking the “normal” way of entry and ascension, Spitfire opted for a more direct route to the top of the building: dodging the plummeting pegasi attached to the cords and shooting upward in a fierce fight with gravity. Being a senior Wonderbolt had its perks, giving Spitfire a sleek-yet-muscular body that easily zipped side to side in mid-flight. After what seemed like an eternity to Wind, they reached the top of the building, Spitfire laughing as she deposited the shaking pegasus onto the floor.

“That… was… fun… right… Wind?” Spitfire panted as she gasped for air, beads of sweat sliding down her coat as she recovered. Carrying yourself up to such a height is taxing enough, but when you add another pegasus into the mix it adds a level of impossibility. It was a testament to Spitfire’s strength and integrity that she was able to achieve the impossible. A few moments of silence passed and she assumed that Wind was purposefully ignoring her.

A grey hoof was held out to her, which she took a firm hold of and was pulled to her hooves, right in the face of Wind Cutter. “All right, Spitfire.” Wind flashed her daring smile. “Let’s get this over with.”

000

Author's Note: All right, I know that this chapter is like... WAY shorter than normal... but I think that this is a good place to end off to pick up for the next chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it!

Seconds Into Ages

Chapter 15: Seconds Into Ages

A hollow, airy noise filled the room every few seconds, creating a complex, irregular rhythm as it made tempo with the heartbeat monitor that sat a few feet away. Ping, beep, beep, ping, beep, ping. The ball was merely a red blur as she punched it with a hoof to send it back to the white wall, only to punch it again as the laws of physics and the properties of the toy sent it flying back at her. The pony next to her cleared his throat as her hoof connected yet-again with the object of her abuse. “Um, Dash?” She didn’t turn her head as she continued her method of boredom alleviation. “Dash?” Her eye twitched slightly as her hoof whisked past the ball and allowed the red plastic to connect with her chest.

“What is it, Soarin?” Her voice was only slightly irritated as she grabbed the ball and held it in her hooves. “I nearly broke my record.”

“Well, you look so… erm… bored, Dash. I was thinking… well, that we could go out and watch some crazy pegasi do some cloud diving?” His upward quirk of the mouth nearly made her smile as he awkwardly nudged a pillow around on the couch. A few more seconds passed, seeming to stretch into ages before she chuckled. “What’s so funny?” Soarin’s question was full of hurt as he stood from the couch.

“Aw nothin’, just how you look when you’re not sure of yourself. Reminds me of Fluttershy or Wind Cutter. Don’t be all upset about it!” She added as his expression turned into a frown at being compared to a mare. “I’m only joking. Of course I wanna go see some ponies cloud dive!” Suddenly the prismatic pegasus drooped, as if she was a balloon that had been deflated. “But, how will we get out there? If you couldn’t tell, I was struck by lightning a few days ago. Don’t think these doctors will let me go.” Rainbow gestured helplessly at the many different leads that were connected to various machines around the room.

Soarin merely chuckled and waved a hoof dramatically in the air. “Just leave that to me.” Poking his head out of the doorway, Soarin waited for his target to emerge from around one of the corners. Of course, the only view Rainbow could get was of his back as he turned back into the room and stepped away from the door. “Target inbound, just play along, Dash. Oh, and try not to get jealous.”

“Jealous? Why wou—“ Soarin’s waving hoof cut off her objection as he stared intently at the doorway, through which a lilac mare stepped into the room.

“Good morning, Rainbow Dash!” The girlish mare announced as she stepped into the room and set a tray full of less-than-edible hospital food down on the table next to her bed. “Time to ea-eep!“ She squeaked as the sky-blue face of Soarin appeared right next to her.

“Hey there, pretty little mare.” Soarin’s voice was laced with confidence and romantic tones. Rainbow felt laughter bubbling up in her stomach as the confused mare blinked a few times in the silence. “Did you fly in from Canterlot? Because I think the Princess’s might be missing a cousin of theirs.” The unfortunate object of Soarin’s attack blushed furiously and backed away a few steps, mumbling incoherently. Rainbow had to stuff a hoof against her mouth to stop her laughter from escaping. “What’s that? You’re not a cousin of theirs? Well, you must be very graced then.” Soarin grabbed one of her hooves and added an unnecessary-but-ultimately-more-hilarious kiss to seal the act.

“Oh, my, you are much too kind.” The nurse let out a giggle as she hid her face partially from view with her clipboard. Soarin merely flew over the mare and landed softly on the other side. “Eep!”

“Tell me, would it be okay if me and my friend here went out to get some fresh air?” Soarin’s voice was on full-blast now, effectively melting the pony before him with ease. It was no contest to see which will would win in this battle.

“Y-y-yes, of c-c-course! Let me j-just sign you o-out.” The trembling pony scribbled something on Rainbow’s clipboard and then pulled the paper off to hand it to Soarin. Rainbow watched, rocking with silent laughter, as the unsteady mare stumbled out of the room and into the hallway.

Soarin proudly presented the slip of medical information to her, sitting with his nose in the air. “Done, and done.” Rainbow couldn’t hold in the laugher any longer, the image of a snooty Soarin tipping her over the threshold.

“Bahahahahahaha! That… was PRICELESS!” She kicked her hooves out with glee as her sounds of entertainment filled the room. Soarin smiled as he exited the overdramatic pose and walked over to her. “All right, Soarin, how do we get out of here?" She managed to get out around her laughter, still kicking her hooves in glee. Soarin merely danced around her bed and amongst the wires, disconnecting them as he went. “How… how did you know how to do that Soarin?” The Wonderbolt held up the wires with another smug expression on his face.

“I’m a professional flier, Rainbow Dash, come on. I’ve broken out of hospitals before.” With that, the stallion turned to a window and pushed it open, gesturing for her to get up and follow. “Let’s get out of here already.” Soarin leapt out of the window without another word, spreading his wings and letting the wind currents flow under his wings. Rainbow Dash put her hooves up on the windowsill as she watched the pegasus fly around without a care in the world before she looked down at the expanse of empty air below. “Don’t be a chicken, Dash.”

“Nopony calls me a chicken!” Rainbow Dash jumped into the sky and flapped her wings quickly, chasing after the now-roaring-with-laughter Wonderbolt. “You’re goi—“ Her words were choked off by a gasp as she fell out of the sky. Her shout of terror hardly had time to form in her lungs as Soarin caught her, grunting slightly as her weight settled on his back.

“Ouch, you’re heavy, Dash.” Soarin merely chuckled as she snorted and punched him with a hoof. “Don’t punch the flier, who knows what could happen.” For emphasis, the performer performed a barrel roll, depositing Rainbow once more into the air for a few seconds before he caught her once again, this time in his outstretched hooves. “Why, hello pretty mare.” Soarin coughed as Dash’s hoof punched playfully into his chest. “Oh, a feisty one.”

“Stop it, Soarin. I’m not some silly filly you can fool into doing whatever you want.” Rainbow pushed herself out of his grasp, trying and spectacularly failing in hiding her, and landed on the clouds below. She set off at a brisk pace into the city she was born and raised in. “Let’s go, Soarin.”

Soarin watched as the cyan-colored mare stormed off, her hooves punching against the clouds so hard that they nearly exploded in that poofy-fashion of theirs. His mane waved as he shook his head. “Becoming more like Spits every day. Man, gonna be tough with two of them around.”

000

“Hey, Spitfire?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you sure that this is such a good idea?” The harness’s many rings clicked against each other as Wind Cutter shifted slightly. “I mean, it seemed like it would be fun and all from up here… but now…” His voice trailed off as a gust of wind blew over them, threatening to take them both over the side. “Yeah,” He finished lamely, barely able to choke out the simple word through the fear that clung in his throat.

The bright orange pegasus brushed against him and extended her wing, pushing him further towards the edge. “What’s the matter? I thought you wanted to do this.” She looked at him with an utterly calm and level expression.

“Well, yeah, I did… but then I got this harness on me and… well…” He gestured with a hoof to the expanse of empty air that filled the space besides the building.

“Well, I suppose we won’t do it then, if you’re uncomfortable with it.” Spitfire deadpanned, looking the now-relieved Wind Cutter in the eye before allowing a small smile to show. “Or not.” The wing that had been extended to bump into him found its way behind him once more, shoving him over the precipice and into the current-filled air below.

His scream was shoved back into his lungs as a wall of air resistance slammed into him. The wind howled in his ears as he was buffeted every direction by the currents that he was flung helplessly into. He managed to look towards Spitfire, who was smiling over at him as she dove gracefully, her mouth moving around words that were lost to his ears. Please make it stop! His mind screamed the words that he couldn’t say as some force suddenly jerked him back up into the air, only to fall again to his apparent doom. Adrenaline pounded in his ears as he fell and flew repeatedly, every instinct telling him to use his wings, which were restrained by the harness that now covered his body. Black teased around the edges of his vision as another jerk began pulling him steadily upward.

In a few moments that seemed to be ages, Wind Cutter found his hooves situated once more on the rooftop, where Spitfire was already waiting. She walked over and good-naturedly clapped him on the back with a hoof. “Good job, Wind! Didn’t even screa—“ She cut off as Wind let loose a bellowing shout of pure emotion, half excitement and half sheer terror. “Scratch that, did scream.”

Wind rolled his eyes as she descended into small chuckles, bending his knees slightly as if testing their ability to still carry him after his ordeal. “Yeah yeah, Spitfire, very funny. Can we go now?”

She flew over to him and followed him as he led the way out on unsteady hooves. “Awww, cmon, Wind, you totally enjoyed it.” He shook his head violently, a universal (and childish) way of saying that he did not, in any way, enjoy that experience. She nudged him in the back of the head with a hoof. “Not even a little?”

He groaned. “Ugh, all right. Maybe just a little bit.” He winced as his response brought an immediate brightening from the Wonderbolt.

“Oh, does that mean you’ll want to do it again?” She nudged him repeatedly before he nodded slightly. “Awesome! Can’t wait to get you up here next time. We’ll add some weights to the harnesses!”

“Weights?” He couldn’t completely hide the alarm in his voice, bringing a small, mischievous smile from the orange pegasus.

“Oh, yeah, the weights are really cool. See, what they do is…” She let her voice fade into nothingness as the doors to the cloud jumping building opened to reveal two pegasi who looked less-than-happy. “Oh, hey Soarin, hey Dash.”

Author's Note: Once again, I apologize for such a long delay in this update. I'll work on the next chatper and get it out as soon as I possibly can!

Butting Feather-heads

Chapter 16: Butting Feather-heads

“Oh, hey Soarin, hey Dash.” Spitfire’s words died in the silence that hung between the four ponies, cut only by the background chatter of the resident pegasi. “What’s up?”

Soarin silently stared at her as she stepped over to the two pegasi and stopped a few feet away. She smiled at him in her usual manner, a friendly smile that vanished in an instant as Soarin exploded. “What’s up? What’s up!?” His mane waved in the air as he tossed his head with rage. “I’ll tell you what’s up. Dash has been in the hospital because of a stunt that we bucked up in practice!” His sky-blue hoof pointed at her accusingly. “A stunt that we wouldn’t have even done if it wasn’t for you abandoning us for this…” Soarin fumbled for words in his anger, trying and failing to find a term derogatory enough for the grey pegasus who stood before him.

“Hey, chill out, Soarin. I didn’t know that Dash would go off on her own and make a new routine, it’s not my fault.” Spitfire held up her hooves as if she could deflect the anger aimed at her. “It isn’t yours either, Dash, I’m not upset with you.” She quickly added as Dash visibly drooped.

“Well, the thing is, Spitfire… it kinda is.” Rainbow shook her head as Soarin’s mouth opened, effectively shutting it with her small movement. “No, Soarin, it is.” The cyan pegasus walked up to Spitfire with her head down, looking up guiltily into the orange mare’s eyes. “See, I found some trick sheets in your office at the arena, and I wanted to make my own version of it.” The rookie Wonderbolt put on a nervous smile after the senior remained silent for a few moments, which soon faded as she frowned.

“Dash, I had a trick sheet in my office that used—“

Soarin broke in heatedly. “Yeah, used her as the centerpiece, and that means she was in the most danger! A rookie, the centerpiece!” He held up a hoof as Spitfire opened her mouth to protest, cutting her off. “I know she was made the captain, but that means that you gave her access to the stunt pages. We both know what paper Dash looked at Spitfire.” His glare intensified as he kicked a hoof into the clouds angrily. “We both know that you’re the one made that created that routine.” Rainbow winced as Soarin pointed out her lie.

“Well, it was in my office wasn’t it? How is it my fault?” She was matching his shouts now, putting her forehead against his and glaring into his eyes up close. “It’s bad that I put the best-bucking flyer in Equestria on the team? Isn’t it your job to tell the captain when she’s doing something wrong? Why didn’t you tell her not to do it?” Spitfire jabbed at the now-speechless, sky-blue stallion with a hoof, pushing him back a few inches before he could recover.

“I wouldn’t have to tell her to do it if you didn’t make her captain!” Soarin pointed again at Wind Cutter. “And you wouldn’t have made her captain if you didn’t want to take care of this guy. You could have just as easily called up a pegasi taxi service to take him up there to watch if you wanted him up here so badly.”

“Yeah? So what if I wanted to help out the friend of a rookie? What’s wrong with a bit of fan service?” Spitfire’s indignant tone was followed with an enraged roar of a phrase.

“FAN SERVICE?! Spitfire, you ABANDONED us for him! You made a pony that was just starting out as a Wonderbolt the captain without a thought and decided it would be a good idea?” Soarin tossed his head angrily again and looked contemptuously at one of his oldest friends. “I thought my captain was smarter than this.” Soarin turned away and spread his wings, looking back over his shoulder to leave a parting note. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you,” He glanced at Wind Cutter and then back to Spitfire before facing the sky before him. “But come back when you figure it out whatever, or whoever, it is, Spitfire.”

The clouds shivered as the sky-blue Wonderbolt’s wings flapped, taking the pegasus into the air and eventually out of sight. The three other pegasi watched as his form, silluhouted against the bright sky, soon disappeared as it dove back into the city where the Wonderbolt performance stadium no-doubt was located. Silence seemed to press down on them as hard as their feelings did, oppressing any attempt at a conversation. Seconds seemed to extend beyond their normal realm of meaning into ages as they all stood still-watching where Soarin had been just moments ago.

Rainbow was the first to break the deafening silence, walking up to Wind Cutter and pulling the reserved pegasus into an embrace. “Heya there, Cuts.” As Wind Cutter remained silent, Rainbow Dash pulled away and looked at him with concern. “You okay?”

Without a word, he turned away from his friend with a shaking head. He stepped over to the edge of the cloud and looked over his shoulder at her. “Sorry, Dash, I need to be alone right now.” With that, he leapt over the edge onto a lower part of the city, galloping through the streets and weaving through the crowd as he strove to get as far away as possible.

That left the two mares standing awkwardly together, kicking at clouds under their respective bodies and waiting for the other to speak. “So, Dash, how was practice?” At Rainbow’s incredulous expression, she shook her head. “Well, before… y’know.” She chuckled embarrassedly and gestured to Rainbow’s still-wrapped-up limbs and wings.

“Yeah, it was fine. Listen, I gotta go.” The rainbow-maned pegasus turned and walked away slowly, showing all signs of wanting to run instead. She half-turned before she went around a corner, as if she wanted to say something to Spitfire, but when she peeked from the corner of her eye, she was no longer there.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: All right, this is important. Please check THIS out. It contains important info with what is going on with me at the moment. If you don't want to, know that this will be seeing very sparse updates for the next few months due to RL situations allowing me to only write during the weekends. Also, I know this chapter is shorter than usual, but this is a good place for me to end it, in my opinion.

Alone Time... or not: Pt. 1

Chapter 17: Alone Time... or not: Pt. 1

Her hooves landed on the cloud with a soft poof, sending up a tuft of cloud that was instantly obliterated by the frustrated Rainbow Dash. “Soarin!” Her mane fluttered through the air as she whipped her head back and forth, searching for the Wonderbolt who was more than likely about to do something stupid. “Soarin, where are you?” Her shouts merely brought her the confused stares of the few pegasus that occupied the streets, which she simply ignored as she leapt into the air again to go to another part of the city.

She had flown to the stadium after casting off her banages and after she made sure that Wind Cutter and Spitfire wouldn’t follow her, concerned most for the pony that had saved her life. When she arrived at the ring of clouds, she found them deserted without a pony in sight. Apparently the word had gotten out as to what had sent Rainbow into the hospital, for nopony even flew above the arena. After spending a few minutes there shouting out for the stallion that she was chasing, something she thought she never thought she’d be doing, she took to the skies above the city to continue her search.

Now, a good thirty minutes later, she was the object of many eyes as she darted between the small spaces between the clouds and sometimes making her own spaces, not to mention her shouting his name over. She landed on rooftops, streets, and sometimes other ponies as she frantically searched the many streets of Cloudsdale. The white clouds whipped past her as she flapped her wings furiously, the densely-packed puffs of white rushing up to greet her when she pulled into a dive.

“Soarin? Buck it all! Where are you?” After being granted a brief glimpse around the small market square she had landed in, she tensed her legs and leapt into the air once more, or at least she tried to.

“Woah there, Rainbow Crash.” A voice, gruff and muffled by her tail, stopped the employment of her methods to escape. “That’a girl.”

“Speedy?” Her voice cracked with both excitement and fear. “No way it could be you.”

The stallion she was looking towards straightened himself and posed dramatically, a large smile plastered on his face. “Yup, sure is, my little Crashy.” He reached over and ruffled her mane, which she simply flicked back with a hoof to give it its normal shape. “How’s my favorite campee doing?”

“I’m doing fine Speedy and” she jabbed a hoof into his side good naturedly, “I hate that nickname.”

“Ow, fine then. I’ll stop saying it… in a million years!” Flapping his wings once, he leapt into the air and landed on the other side of her with a grace that didn’t suit his size. “Because we both know who’ll catch who.” She returned his smirk before swiping at him, which prompted him to dart out of her reaching distance. “Come and get me, Rainbow Crash”

“Oh, you are so going to get it.” Flaring up her wings, she chased him into the sky.

After a few minutes’ flight, which ended when she plowed into him midair, they were both situated back on the clouds and breathing heavily. “That was… good… Looks like… I haven’t lost… my edge.” He smiled proudly at her. “Nor have you… Rainbow. I’m… proud.” They walked over to a water-cloud and drank from the pool of water that it held, wiping away the excess when they finally pulled away. “Now,” Speed Wing sat down on the cloud and arranged his face into a serious expression, “since you’re not all crazy anymore, what’s got you riled up, Dash?”

After a few moments, the impact of what he just said smacked her across the head. “Soarin!” Her frantic flight was cut short by another jerk of her tail. “Let me go, I have to find him!” She kicked back wildly but in her panic she couldn’t hit the broad side of Applejack’s barn.

“Not until you tell me what’s wrong!” Her old camp counselor pulled her back down to the ground and pinned once of her wings there with a hoof. “Now tell me!” She glared daggers into him as well as she could from where she lay before telling her tale. When she was done, he pulled his hoof away and nodded grimly. “Soarin, eh? I remember when he was just a colt in my flight class.” Now that Rainbow had a few moments to look at the pegasus, she did indeed notice that he had a lot more grey in his hair than all those years ago. “Well, if he hasn’t changed, then you’ll find him in a small cloud underneath the old Fireball stadium on the other side of the city.” He nudged her with a hoof. “Go get him and make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

She nodded. “I will, don’t worry. See ya around, Speedy.” Her rainbow trail followed her into the sky above the city of clouds, leaving the old pegasus to watch her go.

“Yeah, kiddo. See ya around.”

000

Soarin, the second-in-command of the best flying team of Equestria and personal friend of Spitfire, the most sought-after mare in the land, was sitting in a dark patch of cloud underneath a defunct part of Cloudsdale. More specifically, he was underneath the Fireballs’ stadium. He remembered how much he had held them in awe when he was a colt, only to be crushed when they disbanded. He remembered the flames that had appeared in Spitfire’s eyes when she read the news from the paper and how she had thrown it into the fire.

“I’m gonna form my own team!” She had always told him. “I didn’t want to join them anyway!”

“And you sure did, Spitfire.” He let out yet another sigh as he flicked a puff of cloud over the edge, sending the unfortunate moisture to slowly plummet to the ground far below. “And I was that foolish stallion who couldn’t let go of a crush that would follow you anywhere.” Shaking his head sadly, he sent yet another ball of dirty-white into the air. “And that she has somepony else, it’s biting me in the flank. Ugh, why did I get so angry?” Standing up, he prepared to do another circuit around the broken clouds in an attempt to cheer himself up. He flapped his wings hard, working himself to greater and greater speeds, working to get that high that other pegasi got from flying, but it just wouldn’t come. He landed on the cloud feeling just as bad as before. Sitting back on the gritty cumulous, he allowed himself to fall into the past, revisiting the memory that had often plagued his dreams.

”Hey you, pretty little mare. What’s a pony like you doin’ out here all alone?” The greasy voice, followed by raucous laughter, drifted up to him from one of the alleyways that were in the city below him.

“I-I-I’m going home, that’s what.” Spitfire’s voice held a hint of fear bordering on the edge of outright terror. “An-and you three are going t-to let me d-do that.” The sound of a hoof colliding with a face, followed by a blood-curdling scream, urged him to go faster.

“I don’t think so, little mare. See, me and my friends here haven’t had any flank for a long time.” Twin sounds of acquiescence came from his right, their voices leading him to his friend. “And you, little pony, have some ni—“ Whatever vulgar words that were going to be said by the greasy-voiced pony were instantly cut off as Soarin’s hoof smashed into his face with a bone-shattering impact.

“Soarin!”

“Stay back, Spits.” He flared out his wings in an intimidating manner, advancing slowly towards the two remaining thugs. “Let’s go.” He released the tension in his muscles, which had been like tightly coiled springs ready to explode, and leapt at the two escaping ponies. Again and again his hooves collided into their bodies, bringing at first grunts of pain that escalated into shouts of agony. “You. Deserve. To. Rot. In. Tartarus!” He accented each of his words with another blow.

“Soarin, stop!”

He ignored the frantic tugging on his tail as he continued his assault, his mind strangely blanked except for the white-hot anger that coursed through his entire body. Something warm began to pepper his face as he punched out again and again. He didn’t care what it was, only focused on hurting the two below him as much as possible.

“Soarin, stop it! Please stop! You’re killing them! Help! Somepony help!”

His blank mind suddenly vanished, awareness rushing back into his body like water into a hole. His entire face was peppered in warm and he realized with a shock that he was crying, as was Spitfire, who held onto his tail with her teeth and jerked with the sobs that wracked her body.

“Soarin…” She said his name weakly.

“Soarin.” Somehow, her voice grew coarser and stronger.

“Soarin!” She was shouting at him now, her voice filling his entire world as she yelled it.

“Soarin, where are you?” His eyes snapped open and he leapt into the sky, a rather bad idea considering he was hidden underneath the clouds. “Soarin?” He mentally cursed himself for not being able to stop his yelp of pain and surprise. “There you are!” He noted the flood of relief in the cyan pegasus’ voice when she poked her head under the layer of white and saw him.

He turned away from her, looking out into the empty sky . “Rainbow Dash.” He stated, keeping his voice sullen despite the strange, warm sensation that filled his heart. “What do you want?” Silence greeted his question, prompting him to turn around and receive a face full of cyan hoof. He rubbed at where she had hit him, returning her glare in kind. “What was that for?”

Upon seeing her flare up, he instantly regretted his words. “I fly all over Cloudsdale looking for you, and that’s how you greet me?” She looked ready to punch him again but instead stomped a hoof into the cloud.

He turned away again. “I never asked you to come look for me. Why aren’t you with your coltfriend?” His voice turned to acid as he directed a stabbing glare at her from the corner of his eye. Suddenly his vision was filled with stars as another hoof smashed into the back of his head. He reared up and whipped around, ready to attack the pony behind him regardless if she was a mare or not. He was met with a pair of cyan lips that were as soft as the newest cloud from the Cloudsdale factory. Seconds turned into eternity as he looked into her smoldering eyes. When she pulled away from him, he felt as if half of his world was suddenly gone and the other half was left in shambles.

“Because he’s not my coltfriend.”

The two ponies met together once more atop the small cloud, outlined in the red-orange of the setting sun with the vast expanse of sky below.

Alone Time... or not: Pt. 2

Chapter 18: Alone Time… or not: Pt. 2

“What’s he running for?”

“Is something wrong?”

“I hope that he’s okay.”

These were a few of the words that made their way to him as he shoved through the crowded streets of the market district, but he heard nothing over the sound of his throbbing heart. After turning the corner, he had stopped with the pain of the stabbing emotions in his heart. Tears welled up only to be blinked away. Something was pulling at him, urging him to turn around and, for a moment, he nearly did. A soft voice spoke inside his head, a taunting and higher-pitched version of his own. Back to Rainbow Dash.

He shook his head violently. “No, she doesn’t love me.”

Spitfire?.

“She… doesn’t love me either.”

You don’t seem to believe that. Or… The disembodied voice seemed to draw closer to him. You love her so much that it hurts to say that she d—

“No! Don’t say it!” It was then he noticed that he was standing in a street full of befuddled ponies with varying degrees of concern on their faces. He finally pulled his hoof from the cloud and stepped forward. With an effort, the string that connected him to whatever was behind him snapped and he found himself falling forward onto his face. The crowd around him chuckled uncertainly, their laughter dying out as he glared up at them. The anger and pain that roiled inside of him pushed to be released, alternating between begging and seducing his mind into letting go. He roused himself and stood, walking towards the circle of pegasi. The fearful ponies all backed away to allow him space to pass in silence, for which he offered a silent thank-you to the royal sisters.

He continued in a slow canter along the paths between the ever-bustling activities, eventually finding his way to where he had been heading. Looking down at another section of Cloudsdale, he couldn’t see anypony around. It was the closed section of the city, the part that the inhabitants wish would simply disappear and fade into nothingness. Just the place I wanted. Tensing his legs, he jumped into the empty air, seemingly to his death in the eyes of the ponies that watched him. A collective gasp ran through the crowd, the breathy noise mixed into the howling of the wind as it rushed past him.

He pulled off a landing that seemed impossible for his build, barely stumbling as he hit the clouds. Waving up to the crowd that looked down at him, he turned away and smirked to himself. “That’s better.” His voice echoed back to him from the sagging walls of the buildings that somberly looked at him from the either side of the road. He regarded the silent watchers with an air of silent respect before sitting down on a broken bench made of leaves, which had been quite the thing in Cloudsdale a few years back but died down due to the fixtures blowing away if one too many pegasi flew past them.

He sat in the silence, bathing it the cool feeling of isolation. It had always helped to calm him when he just sat and stared into the sky to watch the clouds. He smiled as he watched the far-off puffs of white gently blow across the canvas of blue above, their clumsy bulges swirling gracefully into different bulges that were just as awkward as their predecessors. “There’s a bit of popcorn.” He smiled contentedly as he returned to the childish game of the past. “And there’s a pony on a bench, sitting… er… weirdly.”

And there’s Rainbow Dash, flying through the sky. The snide voice cut through his happiness like a hot knife through warm butter. Don’t you want to go join her?

“No, I don’t want to.”

Why not?

“Because…” He tried and failed to find the words to explain his reasons. “Because I…” He smacked a hoof against the bench.

Because she doesn’t love you… isn’t that right, Wind? The cruel voice inside his head seemed to put on a smile when he didn’t respond. Or is it because you don’t love her anymore?

“I could never stop loving her.” His voice was husky with emotion as he lifted a hoof to his face to rub at his eye. “Never. Even if she doesn’t love me.”

Oh? I wouldn’t be so sure about that…

“Oh yeah? What do you know? You’re just that side of me that I hate.” He punched the bench again. “I hate you.”

You only hate me because I’m right…

“No! You’re not!” His shout made the clouds vibrate as he stood up and stomped over to one of the buildings. Kicking out with a hoof, he obliterated an entire section of the sagging wall in his anger. “I. Will. Never. Stop. Loving. Her!” Each of his words was accented with another punch as he effectively did the work of an entire construction crew to the unfortunate building. “Ever!” With one final kick, the broken walls began to fall from the sky. A shifting underneath his feet pulled him from his trance and placed him roughly back into reality. “Oh buck.” With that, the floor of white dissipated and deposited the grey pegasus into the unforgiving air that held no haven of cloud below it.

“Wind Cutter!” A streak of orange crossed his vision for the briefest of moments. “Don’t worry, I got ya!” With a jolt, he was stopped in midair. “Gah, why are you so fat?”

“Spitfire?”

“Yeah… that’s me. Now get back up there!” After a few moments, they were both standing on a more-stable part of the district; Spitfire panting with Wind Cutter looking at her confusedly.

“Spitfire, what are yo—“ He was silenced by an orange hoof that crossed his face and left his vision swimming with black dots. “What was that fo—“ This time, his words were ended by a pair of orange lips smashing against his own. Emotions galloped alongside his heart as they fought for the lead in some imagined race. Confusion. Happiness. Anger. Guilt. Sometime between the start and end of the kiss, he just let go and bathed in a strange kind of bliss. After the orange pegasus pulled away, she slapped him again.

“That wasn’t cool, running off like that.”

“I’m sorr—“ He didn’t get to finish his sentence due to another assault on his mouth. This time, he didn’t even wait to let go.

Outside of his consciousness, the voice that had been speaking to him spoke once more. I told you so.

Author's note: Well, I know this chapter is a little shorter than usual. Don't gripe at me, please. Also, what the hay is with getting 6 dislikes? Seriously... I hint at who the couples will be like 4 chapters in advance and suddenly when I DO make them be together it's suddenly bad. If you don't like it due to the pairing, don't DISLIKE it... Just stop reading it. If this was badly written (these recent updates that is, I know the previous chapters aren't as good), then I would understand.... Rant over. Hope you enjoyed it guys.

A Mug of Cider and Some Extreme Sports on the Side

Chapter 19: A Mug of Cider and Some Extreme Sports on the Side

“C’mon, Soarin! You promised that you would come.”

“I don’t want to talk to them! You told me that they wouldn’t be here!”

“Well, I lied. Get in there now!”

“I’m not going, Dash!”

“Oh yes, you are!”

The passing pegasi in the street stopped doing whatever it was they were out to do and turned to watch as the cyan mare pushed against a sky-blue stallion, attempting to force him into a cheerful-looking building. Angry shouts of “No” and “Yes” came from the two shoving ponies, not to mention the few words of insult that drifted between them, the kindest of which being “Stupid Stallion” or “Controlling Mare”. A few of the older observers looked to each other and shared knowing smiles before the mare finally succeeded in shoving the stallion through the door.

“You don’t have to do this, Dash. I don’t want to talk to those two.” Soarin glared at his marefriend, who returned the look with ease. “I told Spits that if she figured it out, she could come to me. Not the other way around.” A hoof punched lightly, but firmly into his shoulder, pushing him further into the bar’s common room. “Would you stop hitting me?”

Rainbow Dash smirked and punched him again. “Not until you realize how stupid you sound.” She lashed out with another hoof, this one hooking him behind his neck and pulling him forward into her lips. When she pulled away, he had lost his retaliation for her comment. “You two need to make up. All this is doing to you is making you stay down. It shows, Soarin. You might not think so, but everypony else on the team does.”

He heaved a resigned sigh. “Fine. I’ll go and talk to them.” Suddenly reaching up and pulled her into another kiss, he chuckled at the dumbfounded expression on her face. “That’s what you do to me all the time. Only fair I get you back for it.”

The cyan face became tinged with red as Rainbow Dash uncharacteristically blushed before she could push the sky-blue pegasus toward an empty table. “Shut up and go in already.” He chuckled as he sat down, watching his marefriend walk over to the bar and wait for the barkeep’s attention. His gaze drifted as he waited for her to return, passing over the patrons momentarily before returning to the prismatic mane that kept drawing his eyes over.

“They’re late.” Rainbow Dash looked over to the clock that hung lopsided on the wall. “I wonder what’s taking them so long. Hopefully nothing’s wrong.”

“Yeah, hopefully.” Soarin barely heard her words as he attacked the slice of apple pie that Dash had procured for him, as well as taking big gulps of cider from the tankard next to him. His marefriend shook her head and sighed, looking out of the window into the street, her eyes searching for her friend and her idol.

“I wonder what they’re doing that is making them late.”

000

“Hey, c’mon, Wind Cutter. Nopony is watching.” The orange pegasus leaned over and brushed a wing against his side. “It’ll be fun, I promise.” He looked over into her eyes, which smoldered gently as she stepped closer to him. “What’s so bad about doing it?”

“Well, it’s my… er… my first time doing it… I don’t know…” Another bunch of feathers tickled his ribs again. “Would you stop doing that? I’m trying to think.”

“Why think? Just let yourself flow free. Do what feels natural.” Spitfire’s lips brushed up against his ear and nipped it gently. “Come on, it’ll be fun.” He didn’t have a chance to object as her hooves forcefully wrapped around him and pulled him down.

His scream of surprise was shoved back into his mouth by the sheer force of the air blowing past him. His wings, strapped to his sides by a length of rope, strained to flap by instinct. He looked over to the mare that had sentenced him to this oblivion, who returned his look with excited eyes. Her mouth moved around words that were ripped apart by the wind, but he could understand what she had meant to say.

“No, this isn’t fun! I’m terrified!” He threw the words into the rushing wind before looking down at the rapidly-approaching cloud below. “We’re going to punch through that thing!” His hooves flailed wildly as panic overtook him, his wings still futilely straining against the ropes that held them in place. He spiraled out of control, his world spinning in a thousand different directions. “Help me! I’m gonna die!”

A warm body pressed up against his back, orange hooves wrapping around his and stilling them. “Calm down, Wind. Geez, you’d think you were scared or something.” His panic slowly ebbed away as they fell faster than ever, the comforting embrace of his marefriend being there the entire time. With a surprisingly soft impact, they came to a stop in the folds of white, puffy cloud.

His eyes, which had been clenched shut, slowly opened to see a pair of orange ones looking back at him. “Well? How was it?”

He smiled slightly as he tried to stand up on his wobbly legs, earning himself a mouthful of cloud for it. Spitfire chuckled as he removed the small bits of cumulus from his teeth. “It- blah- it was fun. Scary, but fun.” A hoof hitting his shoulder nearly pushed him over the edge and into the sky below. “What was that for?!” He glared at the Wonderbolt, who had the most-mischievous face he had ever seen plastered over it.

“I told you it was fun. Don’t worry, nopony saw you screaming like a filly.” She dodged the playful wing he swatted at her with. “Except me of course.” She stepped around his wing again and nipped his ear again. “C’mon, filly boy. I think it’s time to go meet Soarin and Rainbow.”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s go already.” He grumbled under his breath, prompting another light-hearted laugh from the pegasus next to him. They continued on like that for a while before he looked over to her. “So, why in Equestria did you want to take me ‘wingless flying’?”

“Hm? Oh, that. Well, I remember doing it with Soarin one time. By the way, he screamed louder than you did, so you don’t have to feel all that bad about it.” She smirked at the glare he directed at her. “Well, I figured I should take my special somepony along to do it if I did it with my best friend.”

He walked on for a few more moments before speaking again. “Ah, so Soarin is just a friend?”

The Wonderbolt sighed and shook her head before kissing him suddenly. When she freed her lips to speak, her voice was filled with confusion. “I don’t know anymore. I knew he always felt something for me, but I always put it off as a stupid big-brother feeling. And now that you and I are together, I don’t know what to think.”

He nodded slowly. “I think I get what you mean.” He pulled her over to him with a wing, reveling in the warmth of her body. The front of the inn loomed up in front of them, its cheery windows shining with a welcoming light. “We’re here, ready?” He shook her slightly with his wing when she didn’t immediately answer, and when she did it was with a shaky voice.

“Y-yeah. Let’s go talk to them.” They stepped inside the warm room and walked over to the table where the pie-loving pegasus was attacking the slice in front of him and the cyan pony was looking upon the spectacle with wondering eyes. “H-hey guys, what’s up?”

Author's Note: Don't worry guys, this next chapter should be a longer-length one. I hope this is enough to at least sate your thirsty eyes for a week until I get a chance to write the next chapter update! Also, troll Spitfire is best troll.

Lightning Strikes

Chapter 13: Lightning Strikes

The entire world seemed to slow down, coming into focus as it did. The wind still howled in his ears and tugged at his wings, but he pushed just as hard to stay in formation as he flew in a circle. The cyan figure was flying, straight as an arrow and twice as fast, punching through the compacted clouds with ease. The flash of rainbows was spectacular, a prismatic glow of light that emanated from a single pony. He watched as the pegasus spun around to observe her handiwork, a wide smile painting her face. A deep rumbling came from within the slate-grey cyclone, a heavy shake that he could feel in his core.

Without further warning, a harsh blue light came from within, arching out to touch the prismatic pony. The smile on her face turned to pain, and then to fear as she started falling. He didn’t realize he was speeding towards her until he was already halfway there, his front hooves out to catch her. Pain flashed hot across his wings as he pushed them harder. Gritting his teeth, he approached the falling Rainbow Dash with speed that would be matchable only by a few pegasi in Equestria. She was rapidly approaching a wall, its cold and unforgiving surface seeming to move to meet her halfway. His eyes shut with the force of the wind, but still he flew.

Something soft, though going the speed of a missile, smashed into his side. He grunted with the pain, spinning slightly so he could stop the object from falling further with his hooves. Rainbow’s head looked over to him, her eyes slightly closed as she gazed into his face before falling to the side. Cold filled him, an icy pain that washed over him in waves. It carved out every inch of warmth in his body and left behind a feeling of nothingness. His hooves touched cloud as he descended, the soft puffs accepting his weight with ease. The sun beat onto his back and the wind brushed through his mane, but he felt nothing as he stared into the face of Rainbow Dash, nothing except a frigid chill that pulled at his body.

Five other ponies touched down behind him, similar whispers of noise announcing their arrival. Shockwave stepped up beside him, laying a hoof on his shoulder. “Is she…?” The electric-blue pegasus left the question unsaid, letting the implications hang in the air.

“No Shockwave, she’s…” Cloud Walker left his statement unfinished as well, walking up to the cyan pegasus lying on the cloud, unmoving. He bent down, his hoof reaching for the space of neck underneath the rainbow hair. A pony screamed in fright, and Cloud looked calmly up into his face. “Soarin, I’m only checking. If she’s still alive, we need to get her to a hospital.” Shock penetrated the chill long enough for him to notice his hoof was laid atop the older pegasus’s with more force than was needed. He pulled away, letting the grey pegasus feel softly along Rainbow’s neck. He looked up to Soarin, a hopeful light in his eyes. “She’s still here.” It was all the confirmation he needed.

Soarin grabbed Rainbow in his front hooves, pumping his strong wings to get into the air. Even two ponies couldn’t have matched his speed as he shot through the air to the hospital. The wind tore at him, threatening to toss the pony from his hooves, but he gritted his teeth and pressed on, ignoring the pain that flashed across his body. The walls of the hospital loomed ahead, their white surfaces looking as slick as ever. He bent protectively over Rainbow as they smashed into the walls, punching straight through them into the hospital within.

Something tug at his hooves, trying to take Rainbow away from him. He held on tighter, intent to stay with her as long as he could. He opened his eyes to the sight of doctors and nurses looking down at him, shouting something he couldn’t hear. A sharp pain jabbed into his side, soon followed by a feeling of nothingness. Blackness teased around the edges of his vision, soon consuming his mind and pulling him under the sea of unconsciousness.

000

The shouts of fear from the pony on her back were lost on the wind as she dived towards the ground. The wind pulled at her, rushing past her ears and pulling her skin taut. Let’s do this. Her eager smile was reflected by the lake as she flew parallel to its smooth surface, which was soon broken by the air that followed her. With another flap of her wings, she went higher and higher, pulling higher into the sky. When she leveled out, a hoof tapped angrily on her shoulder. That one touch drew her out of the bliss that came from flying and replaced it with irritation. “What do you want?”

His voice, normally so deep and calm, screamed out fearfully in her ear. “CAN YOU PLEASE NOT DO THAT AGAIN!?” She looked back at the pegasus perched on her back, holding onto the makeshift saddle for dear life. His eyes were filled with fear as he flapped his one good wing worriedly.

Oh? Big bad pegasus wants me to stop? A mischievous smile lit up her face, her eyes glinting with joy. “Okay then big stallion, I’ll stop doing that…” She trailed of suggestively, smiling wider at the growing fear in Wind’s eyes. She banked sharply to the right, spiraling downward. “And I’ll start doing THIS.” Without further warning, she bucked Wind from her back, watching him flail around in the sky as he fell. She spiraled around him, circling and turning away at the last moment around his falling body. His mouth was open in a scream that was lost in the wind. The air burned hotter as she cut through it, the friction from her mane causing sparks to fly from her hair. “Spitfire.” She said the word as if it were a command, flames springing to life along her body as she circled downward. Any cloud that she punched through instantly turned into vapor, the water heating with her passing.

She looked over to see the falling pegasus flip over to stare at her, his eyes widening as she literally blazed through the air. Turning her gaze downward, she saw that the ground was a lot closer than she had expected. With a sigh, she slowed her passage through the sky, the warmth that had spread through her body slowly disappearing. A thud on her back signaled the return of the disoriented Wind Cutter, and she flew back up into the sky. She turned back to look at his bewildered face, his mouth open with awe. “So? What did you think?”

The grey pony shook himself, holding onto the saddle with a hoof as he rubbed his eyes with another. “That was…” His voice was faint, as was to be expected from a pony that had been supposedly tumbling to their deaths a moment before. “Amazing…ly terrifying!” He amended when her smirk grew larger. “For the love of Celestia, can we just FLY like normal pegasi!?” He poked her with a hoof angrily.

She raised an eyebrow at his attitude, annoyance slightly filtering into her good mood. “Oh? What’s the fun in that?” She laughed aloud as she dropped into another dive. “THIS is the fun part of going anywhere!” Her shout of joy was torn from her mouth as the ground flew up to meet her.

Several hours later…on a trip that should have only taken one…

Spitfire flopped down onto the soft cloud, relishing in the relief that it brought her sore limbs. “Oh Celestia, you know you’re pretty heavy for a pegasus.” She threw a ball of the soft gas towards the grey pony and smiled at the soft poof sound that came from the contact. Ha, didn’t even have to look. “You should lay off of the cupcakes or something.” No response. She flipped herself over to look at the now-kissing-the-clouds-and-shivering pegasus, having to suppress a giggle at his uneasiness. He looked over to her, his eyes glaring straight into her own.

“M-m-maybe you sh-should h-hold off on the t-t-tricks!” The anger in his voice was lost in the shaky stutter, his legs trembling as he stepped closer to her. She couldn’t suppress the new round of giggles that bubbled up from her throat. He sighed and turned away, walking down the familiar streets of Cloudsdale. “W-whatever, lets j-just go.”

She couldn’t help but roll her eyes as she stood up to follow him. “So uptight. I’ll have to fix that, one way or another.” She muttered as she walked over the clouds, plotting her next move. That’s when the idea hit her like a splash of water. An evil grin spread across her face as the plan formed itself in her mind, growing clearer and clearer with every step.

Author's Note: Once again, sorry for the slow-coming chapter updates. I just.... can't seem to find much motivation sometimes. Hopefully this chapter was decent enough to sate you all until the next one. If it wasn't, I DO have other stories that you can read.

A Question, if you will (Author)

Hello those of you who like reading this story for some reason... I have a question for all of you...

How mad would you be if I went ahead and cancelled this story?

Now, before all of you leap to the comments to scream out "no", listen to what I have to say, please.

I started this fic in the hopes of it being done in a few days, a small thing. Somehow it grew to be something HUGE and with a plotline that I never really thought through. Now... The thing is that today I tried to restart myself on writing this fic. Needless to say I had to read over the past few chapters to remember exactly where I was at in the story... and as I did so I felt this dark feeling inside of me...

It finally came to me that I have screwed up royally with this thing. I mean, yeah, it might be good according to you guys... but I know that I have no idea how to end it. Or even where to take it next. I screwed up the characters, the relationships, and basically everything else with this story, and I can't help but feel that it would be kinder to these words and to you readers if I just cancelled it, rather than force myself to beat a dead horse.

Please, with this in mind, tell me what you think.