Free Fallin'
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Free Fallin'

“Dad, dad!” A young Rainbow Dash shouted as she burst through her home’s front door. There’s a young flier’s competition coming!” she exclaimed, rushing to him. “Do you think I should enter it?”

Surprisingly to her, his first response wasn’t a direct ‘no’, but “Isn’t there an age restriction on something like that?”

In response, she hoofed him the flyer she’d been carrying. Rainbow Blitz took a moment to read it before telling her “Hmm, it says here you have to be at least ten to compete, dear.” Even as he said it, Blitz had already figured his daughter had an answer for that. Of course she would.

“But not to register!”

She’d managed to catch him off guard and he paused for a second. “Huh?”

“Look when it is.” Placing a hoof on the flyer she noted the exact date the contest was to be on.

“Well, that is some impeccable timing on their part.” he said, realizing that Dash would, in fact, be ten by the time the contest was to be held. Because he didn’t want to get her hopes up too much, he told he. ”I think you should ask your mother first though, just to be safe.”

Almost before he finished talking, Dash had taken the flyer back and run off to find her mother. I remember the first contest I went to. . . . I hope hers goes a little better than that, but she should have fun either way.

With Dash out of the room for the moment, Blitz picked the newspaper he’d been reading back up, and flipped to the weather section. Hmm, low wind for the next few days. That’s good, she could probably use some practice and it’d be easier if she’s not fighting wind the whole time. He looked up from the paper at the sound of four hooves making their way across the floor, slowly. Turning to the side, he saw that Dash was headed up to her room, and she didn’t look too happy. “What’s the matter lil’ Dash?”

“Mom said I can’t. I’m apparently ‘not experienced enough’ or something.” she mumbled.

“Hmm, well I might talk with her about it then.”

As soon as he said it, she turned to look at him, hopeful.

Again, wanting to keep her from getting her hopes up too soon, he said. “I won’t lie, I’m not sure you could win outright, but I’d be willing to wager at least third.” he added, smiling. He knew the look she had on her face quite well. Flying, mane and attitude from me, the rest? All her mother.

A few minutes later, after he was sure Dash had gone upstairs, Rainbow Blitz stood up from the couch he’d been laying on and walking into the kitchen.

“Blitz, dear, I love you deeply,” his wife called out, before he’d even entered the room.”But have you lost your mind?”

Love you too, hun. “I don’t see what the issue is, Spectrum, she’s probably a better flier than either of us were at that age. I’m sure he can handle herself.”

“And what if she can’t?” the mare asked, looking over her shoulder. “What if she tries something too advanced and sprains a wing?“

Blitz didn’t say anything at first, he walked over to her and draped a wing over her back. “Hun, I’ve been to a few of these before. There’s always a large crew of expert fliers ready to dive in if anything happens.”

“I’m just not sure it’s a good idea. Besides, she’s too young to enter.”

The same reaction I had. . . “Well, from the paper she gave me it says the event’s on the 29th of September. That’s a full two weeks after her birthday.”

Unsure whether he was lying or not, she turned to him. “Let me see that flyer.” Blitz moved away for a moment to grab it off the table. Once he gave it to her, Spectrum read it again, carefully ”Huh.” she started, realizing she’d all but lost this argument. Phew, they’re both taking this seriously, aren’t they? “Well . . . I still think it’s a bad idea, but I suppose it’ll be alright if she does.”

Turning to leave the kitchen, Blitz started to say “I’ll make sure to let her kn-” before Spectrum cut him off one final time.

“On one condition.”

Stopping where he was, Blitz turned back to her “Hmm?”

“I want you and her to go spend some time flying every week from now until then. Make sure our daughter doesn’t hurt herself, Blitz.”

He walked back into the kitchen and kissed her before replying. “Don’t worry, hun. I won’t let her.” Now that he’d talked to his wife, whom he was convinced was just wanting to make sure they were serious, he went upstairs to Dash’s room. “Heya, kiddo. I have a question for you.”

Still upset about not being able to compete, she took a moment to answer. “What is it?” She didn’t bother turning to look at him, since she already knew what he was going to say. Or, she thought she did anyways.

“You still have that set of flight goggles we got you?”

Dash sat up and looked at her father. “Yeah, they’re in my dresser. Why?” she asked hopefulness growing in her voice.

“Well, it’s kinda dangerous to fly too high without ‘em, now, isn’t it?” Stepping further into her room, he added “Your mother and I talked about it, and we’ve agreed that you’ll be old enough by then to go ahead and compete,”

Dash had only just started to say something before he added. “But there’s one catch.”

“What is it, dad?” Already, she was starting to worry what it might be.

“Don’t worry, I think you’re gonna like this one, actually. Me and you are gonna go flying once a week from now until then. It’ll give you a chance to practice and,” leaning in close, he whispered “Maybe I can teach you a maneuver or two.”

The next day being a Saturday, they both packed lunches and flight gear into Blitz’s saddle bags before leaving for the ground.

Landing on a grassy plain beneath the city of Cloudsdale, Rainbow Blitz took a good look around the area. Just the way I remember it. Looking over his shoulder, he nodded to his daughter. “Okay Rainbow Dash, I want you to sit down here and watch me, okay?”

Sitting down and crossing her forehooves, Rainbow replied. “Okay dad,-” Irritated that she didn’t get to join him despite her young age. “-but you promised I’d get to fly today too.”

Blitz kneeled down to look at his daughter. “Of course dear, I just wanted to stretch a little from the trip down. You know, incase something happens.” Tussling her mane, he continued. “Besides, I wouldn’t take my daughter to one of my favorite workout spots and not let her try some of the basic tricks I learned at her age.”

Staring into his eyes, Rainbow asked. “Are you sure mom was okay with this? she seemed kind of mad yesterday.”

“Dashie, you don’t need to worry about that right now. I want you to just have fun today, okay? And besides, I’m only doing the same thing my dad did when I turned ten.”

Content with his answer, she got up and hugged his neck. “Be careful dad, I don’t need you getting hurt before I beat you in a race home.” She took a few steps back as he uncurled his wings.

“Give me five minutes to warm up, then you can join me.” Blitz, of course, knew that she’d wait a maximum of three before leaping into the air to try and chase him down. After all, that’s exactly how the he was with his dad.

“Okay dad, five minutes.”

Going over his mental checklist Blitz got prepared to fly. Feathers good? Check. Wind speed? Balancing on his hind legs, Blitz stretched a hoof out to his right and felt for wind resistance. About five miles an hour or so, calm enough for Rainbow. Goggles? Stopping himself for a moment, Blitz reached into the saddlebags on his back and produced a set of flight goggles normally used by weather pegasi. setting the saddlebags on the ground, he turned to Rainbow. “Don’t forget Dash, you need to get the other set of these out before joining me. I know your eyes dried out a bit on the way down.”

With the memory put back in the forefront of her mind, Dash started rummaging through her father’s saddlebags for her pair of goggles. Once she found them, she rapidly pulled them onto her head where they snapped back onto her face. “Ow . . . “

Blitz turned back into the wind, chuckling to himself. She’s just like her mother . . . A few seconds later and he’d picked right back up on his mental list. Goggles? Check. Cloud ceiling? Stealing a quick glance straight up, he commented. “No real clouds up until Cloudsdale, perfect.” Slowly, he began walking into the wind, unfurling his wings again as he went. “One for the money, ”- stopping himself, he stood for a second. -” Two for the show,”- Stretching his wings to the fullest, he continued. “Three to get ready and aawwaaayy wee gooo!” Shouting as he took off, Blitz rocketed into the air at what seemed to Rainbow at that time, a breakneck pace.

Dash did exactly as Blitz expected and, within four minutes time, was flying up with him. “Okay Dash, now that you’re up here, how’d you like to learn some of the easier moves I know?”

“Aw, we have to start with the easy stuff?”

Sometimes I think I’m looking at a younger, female, me . . . “Yes, ‘easier’ As in ‘something the average pegasus might find difficult, but we won’t’.” He decided to start off with a move that he recalled as being ‘easy’ even if, as he said, they may not have been to the average pegasus.

“This first move doesn’t really have a name that I know of . . . I never bothered to check, but you’re starting with an inside loop, rolling halfway through and exiting it as an outside loop.” he said before going through the maneuver at his normal pace, which he knew Dash would have a hard time following. That’s about the only way to get her to listen to an explanation, or agree to do a slower version.

Circling back around, Blitz said to her “Now, as you’re about halfway through the loop, you need to be able to roll over onto your stomach. The hard part, of course, is doing so and staying in the loop. Here, I’ll slow it down a notch for you.” he said before performing a slow speed version of the maneuver.

Only somewhat over confident, Dash told her father. “That looks easy enough”

“Go ahead then,” he said, ready to intervene if she was messing up too badly. “Try it yourself.”

She did, and failed.

Doing the loop was easy enough, she’d done those dozens of times by now. The part she was having trouble with, however, was roll midway through. She made several attempts to complete it, with most of them being variations on the speed at which she started the roll.

“Would you like to know a secret?” Blitz asked her after her tenth try.

In response, she flew over to him, looking rather annoyed. “There’s a secret to doing this, and you weren’t going to tell me?”

As much as he knew that he shouldn’t Blitz couldn’t help but chuckle at his daughter’s expression.“Well, it wouldn’t be a secret if I did, now, would it?” Knowing he shouldn’t prolong his daughter’s suffering, he explained. “It’s not about how fast you’re going when you do the roll. It’s about how quickly you roll and how much room you have to do it.”

To better help her visualize this, Blitz performed the move in stages, hovering for a moment after each part to explain what he was doing. “The beginning of this is extremely simple, it’s just a standard loop. This is the part where most pegasi get thrown off. As I said, it’s not how fast you’re going when you do the roll, it’s how fast you can roll. After that, it’s an outside loop. Flying upside down can be a bit tricky, but I’m here for you incase you need help.”

Now that he’d shown her exactly how this move was supposed to work, Blitz watched as she prepared to give it another shot. This ought to be easy for you now, Dash.

Dash flew into a, somewhat small, loop and quickly reached the halfway mark. Following her dad’s instructions, she altered how she rolled for this try and was able to level herself in time to complete the move. Coming out of a loop upside down was something new for her, but she was able to right herself quickly.

Blitz hovered as he watched her perform the move several more times.Alright, now we’re getting somewhere. “Okay Dash, it’s about time to go. How ‘bout you head on down and grab a snack before we leave? I’ll follow you down in a minute.”

Nodding in agreement, Dash flew down and landed with the pair’s belongings. She swiftly dug threw Blitz’s saddle bags in search of a bag of chips she knew he’d paced for her.

It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to so stunt flying. It’s nice to be up here again. Looking down at his daughter, Blitz thought back to the days of his youth, when he and his friends pulled off stunts that, to some, shouldn’t have been physically possible. Like the ‘Dead Pony’s Dive. A move so difficult it was banned from air shows.

Almost without thinking about it, Blitz had gained a fair amount of altitude. The stallion started doing various loops and rolls. He needed to stretch his wings, especially if he wanted to pull off this last trick he had planned. Oh boy, if Spectrum finds out what I’m about to do with only Dash around? I might find myself a single stallion again. “Hey Dash, up here!” he shouted, instantly getting her attention. “Want to see a trick some of my old flight buddies and I did some Twenty years ago?”

It was difficult to see her nod of agreement, but Blitz was able to tell. So, he flew almost straight vertical until he reach a much greater altitude. He then leveled out and started flying lazily in a wide circle. Here goes nothing. Without warning, he rolled onto his back and folded both wings. Hope I don’t scare her too bad.

Letting himself fall, Blitz was careful to keep a feel for just how fast he was falling, he knew what the point of no return was for this and was sure to keep himself from reaching it. As he neared the ground, he suddenly threw open his wings and kicked hard, sending himself out on a horizontal line. Deciding to add a bit of flair, he started spinning as he did so.

As Blitz rushed towards the Ground, Rainbow had already started running towards where she perceived he would land. She quickly realized, however, that this was part of a stunt when he, seemingly miraculously, pulled out of said dive and went flying past. Spinning like a drill as he passed overhead.

Flying back around, he landed next his saddle bags and nonchalantly started looking for something to eat. When she saw that he’d landed, Dash sprinted over to him.

“Dad, what the hay was that?” she yelled upon reaching him.

Without looking up, he replied. “Watch your language, dear.” You’re exactly like I was at that age.

“I’m sorry dad, but what was that? I thought you were gonna die!”

“The last one? That’s something you are not allowed to do. Ever.” he answered looking down at his daughter sternly. “I mean it Rainbow Dash. Even some of the best flyers out there will tell you that it’s too dangerous to perform.”

“I won’t dad.” After a moment, Rainbow realized something “Wait, how do you know it?”

There’s the question you should be asking. “Well, anymore it’s just referred to as “that one banned stunt’, but when I was just a few years older than you, we all knew it as ‘The Dead Pony’s Dive’.”

“Oh, okay. . . .”As she started to pack up her things, she asked. “Um, does mom know you were going to do that?”

“No. Honestly, I didn’t really think about it until we got here.” I can be a bit of an idiot like that, at times. “I’d rather she not find out for now.”

“Okay dad.” I have GOT to learn how to do that someday.

As they prepared to make the return flight, Blitz mused. I know she’s gonna try that one of these days, I just hope she knows what she’s doing by then.

Rainbow Dash sat in her room late that afternoon, looking through some of her dad’s old flight training manuals that he let her read. After they returned home, he told her to go upstairs and read them if she wanted to, he was going to help her mother cook dinner.

Sometime later, Dash heard her mother, even before she registered what was said she knew it must be bad if she could hear her all the way in her room. “Blitz, dear, I love you to no end. You know that, but have you lost your sun-damned mind!? What were you thinking pulling something like that?? You know why that damnable move is never used in a professional airshow.”

Whatever was going on downstairs, it was clearly something she didn’t think she should be near. Especially if she could hear her dad as well. “Hun, it’s something I’ve done thousands of times. I know what could’ve gone wrong, and nothing did.”

“What if it had?”she asked, voice rising even further again. “What if you couldn’t pull up in time and actually hit the ground? You should know better than to pull something like that. Especially if it’s just you and Dash.”

“Dear, it’s alright. Nopony’s hurt.”

“Yes, but what if-”she stopped suddenly and neither spoke for a second.

Blitz was the next one to say anything. “Shhh, come on Spec, you know what they say about ‘what if’. Besides, Dash did learn a few of the simpler moves I know before we left.”

“Just don’t do that again, okay? I really don’t want Dash to not have a father, and I don’t want to lose you to some stupid stunt.”

Much later that night as they prepared to go to sleep, the couple returned to their earlier conversation. This time, however, they were speaking much quieter, so Dash didn’t hear them. “You think she bought it?” Blitz asked his wife.

“Most likely, yeah. I wasn’t lying though, Blitz. I think you’re a bucking lunatic for doing something like that without another adult pony there incase you crashed.” she replied, kissing him for a moment. But that insanity’s why I love you.

“Dear, I know I shouldn’t of done that, but I know our daughter, and if she didn’t see me do that and hear your reaction, she’d be tempted to try it if somepony dared her.”Rolling onto his side, he faced her. ”I can’t be there to stop her if somepony does. The best I can do is to help her get good enough that, if for some unholy reason, she decides to try it, she won’t be doing herself in.” And make sure she knows how bucking mad I’ll be if I ever hear that she tried to dare anypony else to do that.

Though she did not win that first flight contest, in fact, she got 4th place overall, the competition itself, and all the ponies she met while there, was enough for her to keep entering them. Eventually, she found herself consistently in the top three.

During her final year at the academy, however, she stopped attending any flight contests. What time she had free from her classes was spent on her internship at the weather factory’s planning center, and practicing her flight skills. She may not have entered any competitions, but Dash would be damned if she didn’t keep herself sharp.

Towards the end of summer, she entered the last flight contest of the year, and Rainbow’s last as a student at the academy. Had it been any other day, Rainbow would have passed and worked at her job, but this year’s show was special. It was six years to the day that she originally flew in one. And, on top of that, it was at the same flight grounds.

“Hey mom, dad, do you have any plans for the 29th of September?” she asked late one Friday afternoon.

Her parents turned to look at each other, giving simultaneous looks of ‘Do you know what this is about?’ before the answered. “None that I know of, you dear?” her mother said first.

“Hmm, the 29th? No, I don’t think so. Why, what’s going on?”

Rainbow Dash didn’t give a verbal response, instead she mimicked the same action she’d done six years prior and hoofed her father the flyer she’d been carrying.

Blitz took a moment to read over it. “A flier’s contest? Don’t get me wrong, sweetie, I’ll go if you want, but the way you came in here I thought it’d be something a little . . . different”

Dash didn’t get a chance to respond as he mother realized why this one was so important. “What are the odds of that!?” she asked, hoofing the flyer back to her daughter.

“Sorry to be ‘that stallion’, but can one of you tell me what’s going on?”

It was never easy for Rainbow to tell whether her dad was joking or not, though here it seemed pretty genuine. “Hang on a minute.” she said, quickly going up to her room and rummaging around for a few moments. When she came back down, she had another, faded and worn, flyer to give him.

After reading it for a moment, it came to him. “Wow, you’re right. What are the odds of that?”

“I don’t know dad, I don’t know. One thing's for sure, I’m entering. It’s the last one the academy’s holding that I can still enter, and I fully intend to win this one.” she said looking her father in the eyes.

When Blitz looked into his daughter's eyes he could plainly see how much of a mix she was of him and his wife. You’ve got her eyes and coat color, my mane. Her carefree attitude and my competitiveness, plus my flying ability and general athleticism. “You’ll do great, hun, I know it.”

Where are they? . . . They said they’d be here. The day of the contest had come, and Rainbow was looking all around the crowd, desperately trying to find her parents in the sea of ponies. There they are! A large smile crossing her face as she saw the big “Go get ‘em Dash!” sign her father was holding up. I wonder how long it took him to find that again.

Before she could wave at them, however, the P.A. system crackled to life. “Welcome, welcome, welcome to all. We here at The Cloudsdale Academy would like to introduce the contestants for today’s best flyer competition.” The voice went over her fellow contestants and Dash made a point to look around and put a face to the name. She was announced towards the end of the roster, second to last even. “We’ve got two more competitors today, everypony. Making a return from her year long absence, for the final event, Miss. Rainbow Dash.” To her credit, she had the humility to look embarrassed, though she also partially was. The last flyer announced, a Stallion named Cloudburst was given a similar treatment. The only difference being that this was his first event.

With the roster announced, the contestants all went back inside their waiting area and were called out one at a time. Knowing they were the last two on the list, Rainbow Dash went and found the stallion who would go after her. I really feel bad for him, ‘cause I don’t think anything will really top my routine, but I do ope he gets second. “Hey there, you’re Cloudburst, right?”

“I am, indeed, and I would assume you’re Rainbow Dash.” It wasn’t even a question, and they both knew it. She didn’t really care either way.

“Well, I just thought I’d say hi. I know just about everypony else here from previous competitions but this is your first, and it’s my last.”

Cloudburst broke the awkward silence that followed by asking. ”I did happen to notice that we’re both towards the end of the list, do you think they did that intentionally?”

“No, probably not. Well, I don’t know . . . It may have literally been because they wanted to make special announcements for us both.”

“That’s a reasonable possibility, yeah.” he conceded/

The two talked for some time, up until they called the pony two in front of Dash. “Well, I should probably go get ready. If you want to chat, I’m at the weather factory most days.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” he said she walked towards the staging area.

The time finally came for Rainbow Dash to take the spotlight in the arena. Mere seconds after the announcer called for her to begin her routine she came rocketing out of the staging area’s exterior section. Fast enough to stun the officials there as she flew past.

Her momentum from entering the arena never truly slowed as she circled about, rolling and doing loops. On at least one occasion she seemed to stop moving altogether and flip, seemingly in place. Timing, Dash, timing.

Though she couldn’t know it, her father was thinking the exact same thing as he watched. Rainbow didn’t know it, but she’d seemingly managed to create a routine almost eerily similar to on her father would put on at airshows with his company of flyers.

After flipping for several seconds, she raced forward, building speed, and started flying a fast circly along the outside of the arena, progressively getting smaller as she went on. Pulling herself out of such a close quarters turn was no easy feat, but Rainbow Dash did so easily. That got their interest, this’ll get their attention.

She maneuvered herself to perform a tailslide above the arena, and well above the ground below. As she started to fall backwards, she stunned all in the audience as she folded her wings and fell, head first, towards the earth below.

As she reached the area just below the arena proper, but still fair in the contest, she followed in her father’s footsteps by unfurling her wings and kicking back hard. She almost instantly leveled out and was moving at a speed most ponies could only dream of going. Rolling back onto her stomach, she kicked down again, this time sending herself straight skyward. She finished off her routine by slowing her ascent just enough to keep airborne as she performed several backflips while still moving upwards. Just as she started to level herself out again, she rolled onto her stomach and shot forward. Once again, at a pace most ponies could only dream of.

Making one more lap around the arena, she slowed to a suitable pace and landed back on the staging area’s runway. “What’s the matter, you stallions look like you’be seen a ghost.” she said, calmly walking past the officials.

Cloudburst went out and performed an, admittedly impressive, routine but most of the crowd were still in shock over the sheer speed Rainbow Dash had managed to reach and keep. Dash herself took first, with no one contesting it, Cloudburst actually managed to take second. After the awards were given out, the staff invited everyone into a large warehouse-like building to hold a party for the graduating class.

As soon as she was able, Rainbow Dash set off to find her parents in the crowd. Since the only ponies there with a main even remotely like her’s were, in fact, her and Blitz, Rainbow was able to locate them rather easily.

As Rainbow Dash approached, Blitz quickly worked his way towards, and stepped up next to, her. “Luna dammit, Dash, what did I tell you!?” he practically growled, startling those in close proximity before hugging his daughter. “You were off your game, fillie, that could’ve been much faster.”

“Aw, come on dad, I wanted to give the last guy a chance.”