What's It Like?

Recklessness

"Are ya sure 'bout all this, Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow Dash didn't even bother sparing Big Mac a glance as she continued to strapping on some rather weird looking clothing to the stallion, looking almost baggy on him, something he wasn't quite used to. "I'm positive about this. Ponies into extreme sports and stuff use this equipment all the time. It's been tested for quality, so you don't have to worry about it." Rainbow Dash assured him, giving a sharp tug on one of the straps, making Big Mac grunt as it dug into his waist a bit. Looking down, he could see it was some sort of jumpsuit with flaps on the sides, running from his ankles up to his wrists, making him look almost like one of them flying squirrels Fluttershy's spoken about.

"Why am Ah in this get up? Ah heard ya can only glide in somethin' like this, not fly." Big Mac questioned, flapping his arms a bit, only succeeding in making the flaps billow from the motion.

Standing back up, Rainbow Dash sighed as she averted her gaze from the earth pony even further. "I know, I tried asking Twilight, but she said that even with magic, it wouldn't work out. So even though it may not be the exact same thing, I figured if we did some free fall gliding, you'd get some of the experience at least." Rainbow Dash admitted. Looking at Big Mac finally, she offered a grin as she set her hands on her hips. She had switched over to the uniform she had received from the Wonderbolts Academy, prepped for the most intense flight maneuvers she could pull off. She'd need it today for sure.

Unable to deny the pegasus after putting so much effort into this just for his sake, Big Mac returned the smile. "So, how do Ah get from down here to up there?" he asked, pointing to the sky, finding it a bit difficult to imagine him getting up there without a full out pegasus chariot.

Chuckling, Rainbow Dash pointed to the farmer's barn. "I need you to climb up there. Get to the loft and by the opening. Getting on the very roof itself would be best if you can. I'm going to need every bit of assistance if I'm going to get you in the sky." she started to explain, starting to slowly lift up into the sky herself and began moving away from him.

"An' why are ya headin' away from me?" the farm pony asked, feeling a little less confident as she did so.

"Just trust me already, will ya?" she grunted, crossing her arms in disappointment at the lack of faith in her directions. She had totally thought this all out, it was foolproof. She kept her eye on the colt for a little longer, waiting until she was sure he was going to follow her instructions. And of course, as she expected, he turned his back on her and made his way to the barn. Her grin returning, she spread her wings out as wide as possible and shouted "Once you're up there, keep your hands up and ready to grab on!" With that said, she flew away from the barn as quickly as possible. She needed distance, room to build up momentum. She may not have been a scientist, but when it came to flying mechanics, she had learned everything she needed to in order to be an expert flyer.

By the time Rainbow Dash had stopped, she was at the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres. Focusing back on her target, she was just barely able to see that Big Mac was climbing onto the roof of the barn at that moment, thankful that being a pegasus meant she not only had the wings of a bird, but the eyes of one as well. It'd make it a lot easier for her to make flight decisions ahead of time instead of being a split second decider... not that she couldn't handle under duress either. She was just that good.

Pulling her goggles over her eyes, Rainbow Dash licked her lips as she started to rise higher into the sky, going above the clouds. This was a new test for her, a new extreme for her to pull off. It was going to be intense, but if she could go ahead and fulfill a friend's wish, it'd be well worth it... plus, it'd be a crazy story she could share with others later.

Beating her wings faster, Rainbow Dash built up some heat in them before dropping. Her descent started off slowly, but as gravity carried her down, her wings helped accelerate her. She could feel the wind rushing past her, her rainbow mane forced back by the sheer force of the drop. Thankful for the goggles, she felt no excess pressure on her eyes, giving an unobstructed view of the ground that she was quickly approaching. To any other pony, pegasus or otherwise, pulling up would be the first thing on one's mind at this moment, but it wasn't enough, not yet. She needed a bit more speed, a bit more momentum. She just needed a little more.

Fifty feet left.

Forty feet.

Thirty feet.

Twenty feet.

Just as she was approaching ten feet, she altered the angle of her wings, pulling her head back so she was facing the barn. The force pushing down on her body could have hurt. She could have dropped too far down to get away from it safely.

But this was Rainbow Dash. In those short ten feet, she was able to pull her body so that she was flying, just barely above the ground itself, almost swearing she could feel blades of grass brushing against her stomach. She wanted to scream out in excitement, taken by how amazing that stunt was, but it wasn't the point. She had to keep going, because even through the occasional obstructions of apple trees between her and the barn, she knew Big Mac was waiting for her.

That wasn't to say she wasn't enjoying the feeling of flying so fast. Her wings beating hard as she worked to build up even more speed, she felt a barrier pressing down on her, which only made her grin grow wider. She was challenging the speed barrier, fighting it to go beyond what other ponies could only dream of. Narrowing her eyes, she metaphorically told the sound barrier to go eat a daisy sandwich and enjoy the show.

There was a deafening boom as all sound disappeared from Rainbow Dash's world, a plethora of colors following in her wake and the trees shook seconds after she passed by. Sonic Rainboom! All that practice had proven just how great she was at creating them on command now! But this only meant she was going faster, much faster than she had initially intended for. So a little earlier than she had planned for, she started rising up, angling herself to make contact with Big Mac.

What had once been a red dot from a distance away as growing to the impressive sized pony that she knew. Almost missing her cue, Rainbow Dash lifted herself up just enough to rise above the earth pony, but let her hands dangle below her. As she was passing over him, she just barely wrapped her fingers around his large hands, a bit worried she was going to have too weak a grip. Thankfully though, Big Mac seemed to anticipate her coming in so hot and had begun curling his fingers, his large hands enveloping hers.

With a strain that nearly forced either pony's arms to pop out of their sockets, Rainbow Dash was able to pull Big Mac up with her. At this point, all she had to do was struggle on keeping a hold of him, the momentum carrying her up with ease, assisted just a little by her furiously flapping wings. For a full minute, Rainbow Dash was able to carry Big Mac up, feeling as though she wasn't going to slow down in the slightest. The Sonic Rainboom had made things so much easier! But of course, it wasn't able to stop the large pony from weighing Rainbow Dash down, with her finding that not only could she go no higher, but she couldn't bare to hold onto the earth pony any longer... so she didn't.

Letting go, Big Mac began to slowly descend, his weight causing him to build speed quickly. But before he could go too far, Rainbow Dash motioned for him to spread his limbs out, something he took to doing quickly. Still dropping fairly well, he found he wasn't falling quite as fast. Moving up beside him, Rainbow Dash gave him another smile, then angled her wings to swing to the left, then to the right, then pointed at him. Despite being a farm pony of few words, Big Mac caught on quickly, pushing his body to one side, finding he moved off to that. Slowly, but surely, a wide grin grew over his face.

He felt so... free. So liberated. Sure, he couldn't move back up or do complex maneuvers like Rainbow Dash, or even some of the simpler things like Fluttershy, he still felt like he was flying. Getting a bit more adventurous in the new terrain, he started to swing side-to-side, enjoying the rush of wind.

Rainbow Dash laughed, having to stifle herself with a hand to her mouth as she watched him awkwardly try to do a flip in the air, succeeding only after ten or so tries. Giving a smirk, Rainbow Dash began circling around the earth pony, unable to resist how maneuverable she was in comparison, something Big Mac was thankfully not offended by. In fact, he seemed rather enraptured with how she was moving, as thought it was some sort of aerial dance. It was truly a stupendous display that, while reminding him he was nowhere near as capable as she was in the air, left him incapable of feeling some admiration for her skill.

Seeing the respect she was getting from the farmer, Rainbow Dash decided to be kind and offered him a hand, as inviting him to dance with her as the lead. He blinked, considering how a stallion was supposed to be the lead, but while he was a gentlecolt, he was hardly sexist. Taking her hand, she started to lead him into a spin, their hands the center of the rotation. She bent her elbows, indicating for him to do the same, finding they were rather close to one another, but the two merely exchanged a grin as they pushed off again. Another circle around Big Mac and Rainbow Dash took his hands again. Then another rotation followed and Rainbow Dash spiced it up by spinning them so she was above him and he was below her, hands still connected.

... that's when it went wrong.

Not thinking about the minimized surface area of Big Mac's suit as she altered their position, he didn't get enough resistance, his heavy weight making him drop hard, ripping him out of Rainbow Dash's grip. Worse, from all the movement of their dance, he was sent spiraling down, his sense of direction changing every second. The ground was below him, then above him, then to his right, then above again. Without any experience or knowledge of how it worked, he had no way of adjusting himself to fix his descent, his speed increasing at an alarming rate.

Shaken at first from the sudden disconnect, Rainbow Dash's eyes widened and she darted down. Big Mac's weight may have made his descent naturally faster, Dash's experience had her catching up to earth pony in no time. But with Big Mac's wild flips and spins, one spare limb easily pushed Rainbow Dash back. It took only a moment for her to readjust her course in comparison to him, but one unfortunately low flying cloud engulfed the red pony. Not doing anything to slow his descent, it did cause Rainbow Dash to lose sight of him until she shot through it. By the time she had emerged from the white puff, she was surprised to find that Big Mac's wild drop had sent him careening to the side, further out of her immediate range than she would have liked, especially as he was fast approaching the ground.

Pushing herself even harder than she had for her initial take off, Rainbow Dash fought not to build momentum or produce a Sonic Rainboom, but to save a friend in dire need. Her will almost served to accelerate her faster than even she was used to, quickly getting to Big Mac once more. Careful in her attempt to get him now, she avoided an arm, then a leg, before wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling up... or trying to anyways.

Between either of their velocity, pulling up now would have been a near impossible task from the start. But with Rainbow Dash struggling to move the heavy bulk that was Big Mac in the complete opposite direction was like asking an ant to lift an elephant. She wouldn't give up though. She was the one who had put her best friend's brother in this situation, and she'd be damned to Tartarus before she just gave up on the idea of saving him.

Big Mac knew this very well. She wasn't the Element of Loyalty for nothing after all. Unfortunately, that blind loyalty would be the death of them both at this rate. Glancing once at the ground, knowing they would be hitting it in mere seconds, he steeled his resolve. Grasping her shoulders, he applied a surprising amount of pressure, making Rainbow Dash cry from the pain. The sudden shock had weakened her grip around Big Mac. Immediately after that, he used all his strength to fling her away from him, back into the air. The effect of it had her tumbling through it for a moment before she was able to correct herself.

But by the time she had corrected herself, she had turned back to Big Mac to both help him and question why he had done that, only to see the impact. With all the uncoordinated movement, he had ended up careening off into one of the apple trees on the property, hitting the top branches dead on. As she lost sight of him in the leaves, all she could make out was the entirety of the tree shaking from the farm pony striking it, along with the creaking and cracking of branches as he smashed through them.

Darting down, Rainbow Dash spotted Big Mac lying at the tree's trunks, more than a couple of tree branches lying about, including on top of him. "Oh no, oh Celestia no." Rainbow Dash muttered just above a whisper, quickly flying over to him. Pushing off the branches that had ended up on top of him, she looked down to get a better look of the pony. He wasn't moving. He didn't look like he was breathing. He was just... lying there.

"Oh Celestia, what have I done?"