The Stallion and the Mare

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash lays in her bush on the side of the race track, nursing her broken wing. Dusk had settled, and the forest is soon cloaked in darkness. A shiver passes through the blue pegasus as the temperature drops, signaling the beginning of nighttime.

“H-Heellllppp,” Rainbow Dash croaks in another futile attempt to get somepony’s attention. Eventually, however, she sees a dark shape fly by above her; it circles around her spot and finally lands right beside her. The figure clicks on a flashlight, and Rainbow Dash blinks her eyes through the light and sees John wearing a strange pair of goggles.

“John!” she cries out, momentarily forgetting about their feud, “Boy, am I glad to see you! How did you find me?”
John taps his headset, “Night-vision goggles; my own design,” he says proudly, “Still experimental, but clearly effective. What happened?”

Rainbow Dash motions to get up, but remembers her injuries, “I ran into a tree branch and broke my wing; I think my hoof’s sprained, too. Why did you come back for me?” she asks, trying yet failing to add some scorn to her voice, “I imagine you beat me in the race, so why bother finding me?”

“Because winning isn’t always everything,” John says as Rainbow Dash snorts, “Now, before you go and try anything else stupid, let me help you,” he adds as he pulls some bandages out of his saddle bag and begins wrapping Rainbow’s wing. Once he finishes, he trots further into the forest.

“Where are you going?” Rainbow Dash asks.

“Find some sticks to make a splint for your leg,” John replies as he searches around the forest floor. When he returns, he stabilizes Rainbow Dash’s leg with the branches and some vines.

“How do you know how to fix all this?” Rainbow Dash asks curiously, cautiously twitching her wrapped wing, “I thought you were just a farm pony.”

“Yeah, well,” John begins to say, “Being around a lot of dangerous farming equipment – I’ve picked up a thing or two from my own injuries!” he says, chuckling.

Rainbow Dash continues to sit next to him sullenly, seemingly hesitating over something, “I’m sorry about the way I treated you these past few days,” she I’ve never met anypony who was as polite as you – other than Fluttershy, of course – so thought you might have been trying to hide something. I mean, I thought it was a little strange, seeing an Earth pony so eager to fly that he went out and made his own set of wings.”

Now, it is John’s turn to hesitate, “Well, to be honest, I do have a little secret, but probably not what you’re thinking,” he says and begins to take his wing pack off. When he removes it and turns around, Rainbow Dash gasps; on John’s back are a pair of tiny wings only slightly bigger than Scootaloo’s.

“Woah woah, wait a minute!” Rainbow Dash exclaims, “That means. .you. .you’re a-”

“Yup, I was really born a pegasus,” John explains, “but something went wrong with their development, and never got any bigger than this,” he flaps his true wings, which make a little fluttering noise, “I’m sure you can imagine, growing up with wings like these earned me a lot of teasing in school, which led to me being homeschooled early in my life.

“I never let my disability get me down, though. It’s actually the reason I turned to mechanical engineering in the first place. My mother was completely supportive, but my father believed I should focus my skills on the farm first. So I built a tractor to plow the fields to show him my dedication to the lives of both a farmer and inventor.”

“So, what about your wings?” Rainbow Dash asks, thoroughly intrigued.

“Well, I’d always envied the pegasi at my school for all the freedom they had, being able to fly above the clouds,” John begins, “so once I’d earned enough bits, I bought what I needed to make my own set of wings, which I control by moving these little fellas,” he continues as he flutters his wings again. “I’ve never told anypony outside of my family about this,” he adds as he slips his wing pack back on, “and I’d kinda like to keep it that way, if you don’t mind.”

“Then why did you tell me?” Rainbow Dash asks.

“Think of it as my way of telling you that I forgive you,” John says, smiling and winking at the blue mare.

Rainbow Dash blushes, flattered, “Thank you. And I’m truly sorry about these last few days, so maybe can we, um. .start a new slate?” she asks, holding out her healthy wing.

“Absolutely,” John says, extending his own mechanical wing and giving Rainbow a wing-five, “Now, let’s get you home!”

“But, how?” Rainbow Dash asks, “I can’t walk or fly.”

“I didn’t say you would,” John says, reaching around and pressing a button on his wing pack. In an instant, his mechanical wings extend and lay flat out straight, rigid as a shelf.

“My wings can also act like a stretcher,” John says, helping Rainbow Dash onto his back, “I added this little feature when my friend Jacob and I went mountain-climbing.”

“This is awesome!” Rainbow dash exclaims, admiring his ingenuity.

“Thanks!” John says, and together the duo exits the forest and make their way back to Ponyville.

When they arrive back at the Golden Oaks Library, they find the Mane 5 sitting around, worried sick about their lost friends. As soon as they see Rainbow Dash on John’s wing-stretcher, they immediately help her down and call for a nurse to check on Rainbow’s injuries. Rainbow Dash remains speechless throughout this ordeal, grateful for her friends’ forgiveness, and she eventually works up the courage to formally apologize to the group of ponies who care so much for her.

Rainbow Dash and John have since made up for the tension that used to exist between the two of them. She even occasionally stops by John’s shop to see his latest projects – especially ones she hopes will help her fly even faster! John, meanwhile, has started up his metalworking business under the new name “A Dash of Imagination,” where he creates devices to fulfill ponies’ dreams of making their lives better.