Chapters The Stallion and the Mare
"Ah, finally made it!" John Darkblaze says to himself as he passes by a sign marking the border of Ponyville. He had been traveling for months on end since he left his home in Vanhoover to make a name for himself, eventually settling for a small property in the outskirts of Ponyville to call home. It had been a struggle, but coming from a farming family, he was accustomed to the hard work required to cross Equestria.
"Can't wait to rest my legs for a little while; how about you, Shiloh?" John asks his small tabby cat, who is currently sleeping on top of his loaded cart. John found Shiloh in an alleyway in Las Pegasus, cold and lonely; being a cat-lover at heart, John couldn't leave him there, so he decided to adopt him and name him after one of his favorite foalhood stories. The pair has been inseparable ever since that fateful day.
John trots along the path until he spots the shack where he plans to set up shop. He barely makes it over the crest of the hill, however, when he is suddenly bombarded from behind by an unseen force. His cart and belongings fly everywhere, and John finds himself entangled with a blue mare with a rainbow mane.
"Oh my goodness, sorry!" The mare says, getting up quicker than he and gasping, "I didn't mean for this to happen, I didn't see you there!"
"Urgh, that's alright," John groans as he stands up, "No harm done." He suddenly hears shouting and sees five more ponies galloping towards them.
"Rainbow Dash! Look at what you've done!" an orange mare with a brown cowboy hat exclaims.
"Knocking this poor stallion over," a pure white unicorn chimes in, "He probably never even saw it coming!"
"I'm sorry about our friend," a lavender alicorn apologizes, "One of her flying tricks went a little awry."
"Ladies, it's alright. I'm fine, really," John says, "I'm sure your friend couldn't help it. My name's John, by the way. john Darkblaze," he adds, introducing himself.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you," the lavender alicorn says, "My name's Twilight Sparkle, and this is Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, as you already know, and - wait, where's Pinkie?"
"Wow Rainbow Dash!" a pink mare with frizzy hair jumps out from behind the others, "That was an incredible failure, but you almost had it!" She suddenly pulls a large cannon out of seemingly nowhere and fires it off, spraying confetti everywhere and scaring Shiloh straight up a tree.
"Pinkie!" Rarity scolds, "Can't you contain yourself for two seconds?"
"Sorry," Pinkie Pie says innocently.
"Oh dear! The poor thing," Fluttershy exclaims, looking up at Shiloh, "I'll get him for you."
"No, it's okay, I can get him," John says, reaching around to press a button on his backpack, which reveals a pair of homemade mechanical wings. The other ponies stare in awe as John gently flies up and grabs his pet out of the tree. When he returns his wings to the pack, he realizes everypony is staring at him.
"Where in Equestria did those come from?!" Rarity asks, bewildered.
"What? Oh, my wings?" John asks nonchalantly, "I made them."
"Why would an Earth pony like you want to fly like a pegasus?" Rainbow Dash asks.
"I don't know," John responds, "I've always liked flying, and I'm pretty good with mechanics, so one day I decided I wanted to be able to fly."
The other ponies continue to stare, unsure of what to say. Twilight, however, was eying John's backpack with earnest, "Well, I think it's a brilliant notion. I'm a rather habitual science aficionado, myself," she adds, blushing at herself.
"Ain't that the understatement of the century," Applejack whispers to Rarity, who reciprocates a few giggles.
"Well, we'd hate to leave you without helping to clean up Rainbow's mess," Twilight continues, oblivious to Applejacks' comment.
"No, you girls get on your way," john says politely, "I'll be fine, my house is right over there."
"Your. . .house?" Rarity asks, looking over at the shack.
"Well, it's going to be part house, part workshop," John says proudly, "Hey, would you ladies like to come by and check it out tomorrow? I should have everything set up by then."
"I don't see why not," Twilight says, as the others agree, "We'd love to stop by tomorrow!"
"Okay, see you then!" John says farewell to the mares as he gathers up his belongings and Shiloh and makes his way inside his home.
"They seem rather nice, don't you think, Shiloh?" John asks his cat, who meows in reply. "Although, that Rainbow Dash was giving me a rather strange look the whole time. . ." John ponders before getting to work arranging his things.
* * * *
The next day, John tidies his house/workshop up, anticipating a visit from the mares he met the other day. Sure enough, he soon hears a knock at his door, and standing on the other side are the six mares; he welcomes them inside, "Hello everypony. Welcome to Darkblaze Metal-Workings! I know, it's a working title."
The ponies return the greeting and begin looking around the shop, admiring the craft of John's machines and devices.
"What are all of these things?" Applejack asks curiously.
"They're my own inventions," John explains, "I made all of these to help ponies with seemingly mundane yet challenging tasks. For example," he picks up a device that gives the appearance of a high-tech saddle, "this is my patented design to support ponies with bad backs; the curve here conforms to the spine and gently eases the tension created by common back problems."
"Neat!" Applejack says, impressed, "Lord knows ol' Granny could use somethin' like that."
"Although I'm more of a fabric fashionista at heart," Rarity begins to say, "The craft and work put into these devices is truly magnificent in their own way. Wherever did you find your inspiration?" she adds.
"Well, I grew up on a farm in Vanhoover," John tells his backstory, "and my father's farming techniques were - outdated, to say the least. One day, he broke his plow, so rather than going all the way into town for a new one, I decided to make my own, automated plow for him that could harvest wheat in half the time!"
"Wow, that's incredible," Fluttershy squeaks.
"Thank you," John says, "Since then, I've been inventing on the side of my metal-working business for years."
"Let me ask you something," Rainbow Dash suddenly says, giving John a quizzical look, "If you're this great inventor, then why are you wasting your time taking care of a blacksmith shop?"
"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity exclaims, "There's no need for such rudeness."
"It's alright, it's a fair question," John says humbly, "Truth be told, my designs haven't been picked up by any major firm, mostly because there aren't a lot of ponies that will accept technology in their lives, which I think is wrong. My technology doesn't harm anypony, it helps improve their day-to-day lives. Also," he looks around his shop, "my designs aren't really corporate material."
"Oh, don't be so modest, I think they're amazing," Twilight says, and everypony crowds around John asking more questions about his inventions. No pony notices Rainbow Dash, who slinks out of the shop, her head down and feeling very forlorn.
The Stallion and the Mare
What's so special about him, anyways? Rainbow Dash thinks to herself as she and her friends trot back to town. I mean, what makes him any different than any other inventor, he's just -
"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack shouts, breaking her train of thoughts.
"What?" Rainbow Dash replies annoyed.
"Are you alrigh'?" she asks her multi-colored friend, "I tried to get yer attention, like five times, and you didn't say anythin'."
"I'm fine," Rainbow Dash says unconvincingly, "There's nothing wrong with me."
"All the same, darling," Rarity says, "You can't deny the fact that you've changed a bit since we met John. You barely spoke a word at his humble abode, and when you did, it was to utter that rather rude question of yours."
"I didn't think it was rude," Rainbow Dash says defensively, "Like he said, it was a fair question."
"Oh, please, Rainbow," Rarity says, "You said it like you were - wait a minute. . ." she suddenly stops in her tracks and searches her mane for something. "OH DEAR!" she exclaims, a little more dramatically than necessary, "I'VE LOST MY. . ." before Rarity can finish her statement, a blue streak appears from above them and soars towards them, crashing into Rainbow Dash. when the dust clears, the ponies realize that it was John who fell from the sky, sporting a pair of strange-looking goggles.
"Hey! What gives?" Rainbow Dash shouts from beneath John.
"Oh, sorry Rainbow Dash," John says apologetically, then chuckles a little, "I guess you could call this payback!" He cuts his laughter short, however, as the blue pegasus shoots him a glare that would make the devil cringe, "Well, um, I-I saw this on one of my work benches and thought it belonged to one of you, since I don't wear them myself," he says and holds his hoof out to reveal a crystal brooch with a diamond at its center.
"Ooh! Thank you sooo much, darling!" Rarity squeals with delight, "I simply don't know what I would do without it."
"You're welcome," John replies, "I would have come in smoother, but I'm still getting used to these wings, considering I just finished them a few weeks ago."
The ponies thank John for his efforts as he flies back to his home. "He is such a sweet, caring stallion," Rarity says dreamily, "How can you question somepony based on that, Rainbow Dash?" she asks, but receives no reply, "Rainbow Dash? Where did she go?"
Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, is already a mile away from the group, thinking about her place in all of this. He won't take my friends away, she keeps telling herself, he won't take my friends away. . .
* * * *
The day after they visited his shop, Rainbow Dash sits in a cloud just outside John's house, waiting for signs of movement. Sure enough, she spots John exit the shop with Shiloh and his cart in tow; using her cloud as cover, Rainbow Dash stealthily follows him into town. No sooner had he entered town, however, when three little fillies wearing red capes plow right into him.
"Oh, sorry sir!" the orange filly apologizes, "We didn't see you there."
"That's alright, young ones," John says, "You should be more careful in the future, though."
"We will," the red-maned filly responds, "Say, aren't you John Darkblaze, the inventor? My sister's told me all about you!"
John chuckles, "Why, yes I am! And you are . . ?"
"Oh, sorry, um," the filly says, "I'm Apple Bloom, and this here's Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo," she points towards her friends.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all," John says politely.
"Oooh, is that your cat?" Sweetie Belle asks, spotting Shiloh in John's cart.
"Yes, this is Shiloh," John says as Shiloh jumps down from the cart to greet the fillies.
"Aw, he's so sweet," Scootaloo coos as she pets Shiloh gently on the head.
"So, what are you three ding running about with those capes?" John asks.
"Well, we're . . . the CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!" Apple Bloom begins, followed by her friends at the chorus, "We're trying to find our purpose in life by getting our cutie marks!" she continues.
Rainbow Dash listens intently as the conversation continues, sneering to herself at John's politeness. She watches the ponies so closely that she does not realize when Fluttershy lands softly on her cloud.
"Hello Rainbow Dash!" she greets warmly.
"Gah!" the blue pegasus exclaims, startled, "Oh, hey Fluttershy."
"What are you doing?" Fluttershy asks curiously, "I thought you'd be helping out with preparations for the Running of the Leaves tomorrow."
"Huh? Oh, um," Rainbow Dash stammers, "Um, n-nothing, I'm not doing anything." The yellow pegasus peers over her friend's shoulder and sees John talking to the CMC.
"Why are you watching-" Fluttershy begins but suddenly stops, a disappointed look slowly spreading across her face, "Rainbow Dash! You're not spying on John because of what happened yesterday, are you?! Because he apologized to you!"
"What? No, i-it isn't," Rainbow Dash hesitates, looking away from an unconvincing Fluttershy.
"Come on, Rainbow, what is it that you have against John?" the yellow pegasus asks, "We've known each other since flight school, so I know when something's bothering you."
Rainbow Dash sighs, "It's just, well," she begins, "I've never seen anypony act that nicely and politely all for no reason. I think he's hiding something from everypony."
Fluttershy gasps, "How can you say such a thing? He doesn't seem like he has anything to hide."
"That's what he wants us to think," Rainbow Dash says quietly so nopony can eavesdrop, "Trust me, I've known ponies who wear two faces, where on the outside, it's all happy joy-joy, but on the inside is something dark that takes advantage of those around. Also, an Earth pony who wants to fly - there's something suspicious about that."
Fluttershy just stares, not sure what to make of her friend's accusation, "Well, I don't know about that, but I think you might be over-reacting about all this," she says, which earns her a snort from the blue pegasus. "Just, hear me out - if you'd just spend some time getting to know him, I'm sure you'll see that his intentions are genuine."
Rainbow Dash considers this for a minute, then a sly grin creeps across her face, "You know what, you're right Fluttershy," she says.
"R-Really?" Fluttershy asks.
"Of course! I'll spend some time talking to him; see what I can find out," she says, the grin still plastered on her face, "Thanks, Fluttershy!" she says as she zooms away, leaving her yellow friend very confused.
The Stallion and the Mare
Later that day, Rainbow Dash hides in a bush just outside John's shop, waiting for him to return home from Ponyville. She had been waiting for hours, and as the sun drops lower and lower, she becomes more impatient.
"Ugh, where the hay is he?" she says to herself, "It can't take him this long to get home, can it?" Her question is soon answered, however, as she spies John coming over the hill to his house, his cart loaded with various bits of metal and machinery. "Perfect," Rainbow Dash says as she waits until John goes inside, then goes up and knocks on the door.
"Oh, hello Rainbow Dash," John says once he opens the door, "What are you doing out this late?"
"Oh, I was, you know, in the neighborhood and, thought," Rainbow Dash begins to say, "why don't I come see my good friend John?" she finishes as she playfully wraps her foreleg around his neck.
"Um, okay," John says, his voice muffled by having his face smooshed, "Why don't you come in?" he asks warily.
"Thanks, bud!" she says as she releases him and trots inside, slapping him on the back with her wing as she passes. Confused, John hesitantly closes the door behind them and turns to address the blue pegasus.
"Alright, let's get down to business," Rainbow Dash says more seriously, her posture and speech suddenly becoming more stern and cold.
"Um, what can I do for you?" John asks, surprised by the mare's sudden change of behavior.
"This town's not big enough for more than one blue pegasus - or should I say, a pegasi imposter!" Rainbow Dash says, walking closer to John.
"What do you mean?" John asks, backing up slightly.
"Either you leave my friends alone, or leave Ponyville all together! I hope you know that the rest of my friends are just as suspicious as I am of your actions and behavior," Rainbow Dash continues.
"Oh really? Listen, Rainbow," John says, standing his ground, "I don't know what this grudge you have against me is exactly about, but I can assure you I'm not going anywhere."
Rainbow Dash sighs, "Then I guess we're going to have to settle this the hard way; I challenge you to a race!"
"A race?" john repeats.
"The Running of the Leaves takes place tomorrow afternoon, and I propose we race each other," Rainbow Dash explains, “The winner gets to stay in Ponyville; the loser has to leave.”
“Why exactly are you doing this?” John asks, “What did I ever do to you?”
“No pony tries to take my friends away from me,” Rainbow Dash fumes, “especially not some goody-two-shoes character like you.”
John narrows his eyes at Rainbow, who follows suit; finally, he says, “Alright, Rainbow Dash – you’re on!”
“Very well. And one more thing to remember,” Rainbow Dash sneers, “nice guys finish last.”
“Ha, we’ll see about that!” John retorts as Rainbow storms out of the shop.
The next day, John meets the Mane 6 before the race; while they chat, however, he tries to avoid eye contact with Rainbow Dash in fear of revealing their intentions. He had his doubts about racing against the rainbow-maned pegasus, but he hates backing down from a challenge. Also, if there is the chance he can prove himself to his new friends, he was certainly going to take it!
As John and Rainbow Dash make their way to the starting line, the Mane 5 take seats on the sidelines, talking about their friends’ strange behavior. “Is it just me, or did John seem a little – off, today?” Rarity asks the group.
“He wouldn’t even look at Dash for the entire conversation,” Applejack chips in, “I wonder what she said to him the other day,” she adds, looking over at Fluttershy accusingly.
“I only told her to get to know him better,” Fluttershy says innocently.
“Well, whatever happened between them,” Twilight answers, “I hope they sort it out before one of them gets hurt . . .”
Meanwhile, at the starting line, John and Rainbow Dash line up with the other members of the Running of the Leaves, knelt down in the starting positions. “Get ready to eat my dust,” Rainbow Dash teases.
“Not before you do,” John shoots back, just as Spike and Pinkie Pie signal for the race to begin. The competitors jump off the line at once, fighting for first place; Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, thrusts her wings out and zooms off the ground, giving her an explosive start. She soars past the other racers, and John looks up in just enough time to see a rainbow bur scream past him. When she returns to the ground one hundred yards away from him, John realizes even if he uses his own wings, he wouldn’t catch up, so he does his best sticking to the ground like the other competitors.
Far ahead of the pack, Rainbow Dash stops in a clearing in the forest, resting after her initial start to the race. “Ha, what a chump!" she jokes to herself, “I thought for sure he’d try using his wings like me, but I guess he’s thicker than I thought!” As the blue pegasus continues to gloat to herself, she does not realize how much time passes until she feels the ground rumbling underneath her hooves.
“Oops, lost track of time,” Rainbow Dash says as she prepares to fly away again; as she lifts off, however, she does not see a low-hanging tree branch in time to swerve away, and hits the branch full-force. She spins out of control into the brush on the side of the path, hearing a crunch as she lands on her side.
“Uh oh,” Rainbow Dash says as she tries to get back up, but an excruciating pain shoots through her left side, and she realizes she broke her wing and sprained her fore hoof. She falls back down into a bush just as the rest of the competitors roar past her hiding spot, which prevents anypony from spotting her. She tries calling out for help, but the thundering hooves drown her voice out; instead, she lays in the bush, wondering if anypony will come to her aid.
As the sun drops and the event draws to a close, the Mane 5 wait for the competitors at the finish line. They see almost everypony cross the finish line, except Rainbow Dash; finally, they see John collapse just after crossing the finish line, clearly exhausted.
“I may. .be a . .farm pony,” John says, panting, “but running. . .is not my strong-suit.”
“Well, at least you tried,” Applejack tells him, helping him up, “unlike Rainbow Dash there.”
“Yeah,” John agrees, “I imagine she was the first to finish, then?” he asks, looking around for their colorful friend.
“Actually, we haven’t seen her since the start,” Rarity says, “She certainly hasn’t finished yet.”
“Really?” John asks, a little concerned; considering the lead she had at the beginning of the race, Rainbow Dash should have crossed a long time ago. “Maybe she’s stuck out on the track somewhere,” he suggests.
“Ha, serves her right, after the way she treated you and us,” Applejack responds.
“Applejack!” Twilight reprimands, “That’s no way to talk about your friend!”
“Well, it’s true,” Applejack says, “Aw, come on, Twi, you can’t seriously side with her on this one.”
“None of us should side with her,” John says determinedly, “but she’s still our friend who needs help, regardless of her actions. I’m going to find her!” he adds as she whips his wings out of his pack and zooms away.
“Be careful!” Fluttershy calls after him as he races back towards his shop.
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?”
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.
