Blitz

1

The midday sun poked shimmering rays through an overhead canvas of red and gold as three pegasi landed in the soft soil. A fourth, smaller and still flightless, winged pony slid off the back of his prismatic-maned carrier.

"Welcome to Whitetail Wood, squirt."

Blitz had never seen such a vibrant display of blending hues. Each individual leaf seemed to breathe with its own life, swaying in the gentle waves of a warm breeze. The area itself was bright, open; inviting. A polar opposite to the woods he had noticed earlier near Fluttershy's cottage. He could only gape at the forest which lay ahead with but a single wide path running through it.

"This is where Ponyville holds its annual Running of the Leaves," Dash explained, amused by the colt's reaction. "It's obviously not happened yet, but I'm sure they won't mind just a couple of ponies having a race." The cyan mare drug a line through the dirt between two trees, signaling the 'official' starting line.

Blitz's heart was beating against his chest, ready to burst forth from his excitement. The restrictions of Cloudsdale were lifted; the firm ground gave him more push. The violet colt had gotten a small taste of faster speed during the short gallop to the bridge, and he was eager for more. The path stretched before his eyes, growing longer as he followed it as far as sight would allow.

A plaid quilt floated to the dirt, followed by a hoof-weaved basket harboring all sorts of delicacies. Each pony chose whichever item looked appetizing and picked a spot to consume their lunch. The silence was broken as the chatter rose; the ever-blissful Flash talking to his wife about his escapades while being away; Rainbow Dash enamoring her new friend with every manner of tale; from her struggles of getting into the Wonderbolts to the adventures she and her friends in Ponyville have had (and still embark upon occasionally).

Fluttershy often spoke up in these regales, especially whenever the excitable mare would over-exaggerate her own role ("Then I waved my hoof in the air menacingly, yelling 'and stay out of Ponyville you overgrown lizard!'" "You did nothing of the sort, Rainbow Dash. You were more frightened of the dragon than I was.") or inflating the story with more dramatic flair than necessary.

Her current tale was particularly riveting to the young colt. He sat, wide-eyed and absentmindedly eating a pastry, letting the cyan storyteller think he fell for her every word. The tale itself was true, as he would later find out, but she seemed to have a different recollection of the events.

"The Ursa Major then proceeded to ravage the entire town! It was chaos, it was horrible, it was pandemonium!" She fell over backwards and curled her legs in to add emphasis.

Fluttershy sighed at this particular piece. "It was an Ursa Minor. And Twilight handled that situation very well. Not a single building was harmed."

"Psh, whatever," Rainbow Dash waved off the soft-spoken mare with a flick of her hoof as she sat up. "I'm just trying to give the squirt an entertaining story! Anyway..." She stood up, stretching each leg individually as she turned full attention to Blitz.

"You're going to want to limber up. I have a feeling this is going to be a fast race." He nodded, jumping up and mimicking his hero's every stretch.

Soon enough, both took their positions at the starting line. Flash stood before the competitors, facing them with his wings standing up

"Okay you guys," the silvery blue pegasus-turned-referee put on his best, rather unimpressive, authoritative tone. "This is a friendly race only," he squinted at Dash, who chuckled sheepishly in response. "It doesn't matter who wins or loses, right?"

"Forget that! I'm going to win!"

Rainbow Dash flashed a sly grin at her opponent. "Little cocky there, aren't we squirt?"

"Nope, just telling the truth! Dad says I should never lie."

"Oh ho ho! Well then, I hope you're ready," she set back into her ready position, back legs poised to push off, "to eat some dust."

Flash sighed in defeat; he knew all too well that when a pegasus' competitive blood starts pumping, nothing can stop it. Especially when it came to a certain rainbow-maned mare. He glanced in turn at each racer.

"Ready?" Two nods.

"Set!" They positioned themselves. Flash brought his wings down as though they were flags.

"GO!"

A cloud of dust billowed up as the competitors sprung off their back legs, each running full-bore, neck-and-neck down the dirt path.

2

Whoa, he's quick, Rainbow Dash mused to herself, testing the speed of her opponent and being tested in return. At this rate, we'll either cross the finish line in record time, or tire ourselves out before half-way! Her breathing kept steady; years of practice and conditioning had taught her proper breath control.

The mare snuck a glance at the violet pegasus running beside her. His wings were set back, vertically slicing through the air. That same, four-step lope which served as his special talent kept him up to pace with his opponent. It could almost be called a proper gallop, if his limbs didn't move in seemingly slow-motion.

By gosh... if he picks up the pace, I'll be seeing the thin end of his tail.

3

The two runners barreled down the Earthly path, specks of dirt and rock kicking up in their wakes. A break in the woods opened up into a rocky canyon; Rainbow Dash fondly remembered trying to misguide her last opponent by 'fixing' a sign. A foalish grin crept across her face at the thought. Soon enough they were back into wooded territory.

4

This is amazing! Blitz's outward appearance was a stark contrast to the way he felt on the inside. Externally, he was ice; the only indication of his feelings was the grin that had plastered itself onto his face. The focus he afforded the task-at-hoof left nothing to spare; not only was he racing against one of his heroes, but he promised to beat her.

Internally, however, he was as giddy as a schoolcolt, ready to burst at the seams from the elation coursing through his small body. The warm Autumn air blew against his face; several times he had to whip his head around to keep his mane from covering his eyes. The rushing air filled the colt's young, but powerful, lungs quickly, causing him to figure out an effective rhythmatic breathing pace.

The familiar pocket of air under the youthful pegasus' belly carried him further after each stride. He shot a boastful sneer to his right...

5

...Only to see the tip of a prismatic tail. Rainbow Dash had decided to live up to her name, putting every ounce of power into her legs. Her breath quickened, sweat building up under her sky-blue coat.

Sorry squirt. You're fast, but I'm still fa- The overconfident mare's thoughts were cut off as a violet streak shot past her peripheral vision. She skidded to a halt, chest rising and falling rapidly, slack jaw nearly touching the ground.

Now I see where he gets his name. Applejack would eat her own hat if she saw this! Wait a second... he's winning! That last thought was enough to bring the pegasus back to reality. Galloping for all she was worth, the mare unfurled her wings and took to the air.

It was no longer a friendly run in the park between two buddies. It had become a full-fledged competitive race, and she was going to win it.

6

Seeing the cyan speedster run ahead of him was all the motivation Blitz needed to spur himself harder onward. He switched gears, going from a floating elope to digging into the ground with all the might that his legs would give. What was once an example of slow-motion fluidity now changed into a violet flurry of limbs.

Every sharp inhale pierced his lungs, aggravating a building stitch in his side like white-hot dagger that was crudely jammed into his ribcage. Every expulsion of breath was audible as he pushed himself to his very limits, never imagining such speeds could exist. An arrogant exuberance washed over his foalish body as he shot past his cyan opponent.

He had reached the same conclusion as the rainbow mare whom he had left behind: This wasn't a game anymore. It was a real race, and he had promised to win.

7

A constant blast of warm air slammed into Rainbow Dash's face, causing her eyes to both sting and water. Her wings cried out in agonizing protest to the demands their owner made of them as she flew faster still, wanting every ounce of speed they could afford.

Finally, a plum-hued tail made its way into her blurring vision. She could see the colt running no-holds-barred down the final stretch of the woods; the edge of the forest marked their finish line.

"Just... gotta give... a little more." She murmured breathlessly to herself, being her own motivation. It seemed to work; she had picked up a hint of more speed, closing in on her challenger.

8

The edge of the wood loomed ahead. Blitz was confident that he had won - until he felt a tap on his shoulder. Looking up, the playful face of Rainbow Dash grinned down at him. With a salute, she gave one final burst of speed, pulling ahead and breaching through the woods and into unfiltered daylight.

Pushing his body to its limits, he dug as hard as he could into the ground. She had won, but he was determined to keep up just to prove he could.

As he broke through the barrier, a sharp pain shot suddenly up his right foreleg as his hoof slammed against a jutting rock. Only on three legs now, the colt lost his balance and was thrown forward, somersaulting across the ground in a flurry of dust. He tucked his head down, closing his eyes and letting gravity do all the work. The tumbling came to an end with the violet colt sprawled on his back. He opened his eyes, giving his head a stiff shake to stop all of Equestria from spinning. He held his right foreleg close to his chest, the fetlock throbbing with an intense heat.

A small laugh escaped; then another, followed by more, until eventually he was rolling across the dirt, giggling in a fit of pure joy.

9

A terrifying image beheld the race winner as pulled up to bleed off the rest of her speed. As she slowed to a hover, heaving shallow breaths of exhaustion, her pupils shrunk in horror. Before her, a cloud of dust shrouded a purple colt as he tumbled head-over-tail across the finish line, finally coming to rest on his back and holding his right foreleg close to his chest.

"Omigosh omigosh omigosh omigosh!" This utterance never ceased as she dove to the ground, hoping to Celestia that the squirt was okay. As she neared, a strange sound struck her ears even as she watched the boy roll around. She became dumbfounded as she identified the noise for what it was, and not what she had originally believed.

He's... he's not crying at all. He's laughing! He's giggling like a schoolcolt! The cyan mare let out a relieved breath she hadn't realized was being held in as she landed, smiling weakly down at the giggling pegasus.

"Hey there squirt," she sat down, rubbery legs no longer able to support the rest of her trembling body, "you okay?"

Blitz forced the rest of his laughs down, laying on his back and beaming up at his hero. "Yeah! That was fun!" He rolled over, standing up. His smile became hollow as his fetlock inflamed, but he refused to show any sign of weakness in front of Rainbow Dash.

She gave him a sly grin in return. "So you're sure you're okay?"

A nod.

"Really?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"Well... um... maybe my leg sort of hurts," he finally admitted, letting only the tip of his hoof rest against the ground.

"Well then." She motioned for him to get on her back. He did so easily enough, wrapping his front legs tenderly around her neck. "Let's go get the others, and then take you to nurse Redheart. She'll fix you up in no time."

10

"That should do it."

A pure white earth pony, with a red cross on her flank, announced her success to the room as she finished wrapping the colored bandage referred to as 'Vetrap'. The nurse had a full spectrum for the injured colt to choose from; he had chosen a blue that matched the coat of his idol.

"You're lucky the fetlock wasn't broken," Nurse Redheart kindly regarded the boy with a warm smile and a soft voice. "See if you can walk now."

Blitz carefully took a step, testing the device on his hoof. It was a rubber boot with a foam sole. It felt like a cloud against his foot. His hoof had been spared any damage, but Nurse Redheart was not about to take any chances. The offending fetlock had been splinted and wrapped; the leg beneath the knee would have to stay straight for an entire week.

"Now then, don't go playing too rough." She mock-scolded him, never losing an ounce of her warmth. "Especially when you're around this one," she nodded in Rainbow Dash's direction. "This energetic filly alone funded an entirely new hospital wing with as many times as she's been in here." Dash could only blush at this.

"I promise I'll take it easy, ma'am!"

"I hope so. And please stop by again! Though... not under such circumstances." A chuckle was shared across the room.

11

"Hey, Dash?"

"Yeah, squirt?" A sense of deja-vu washed over the cyan mare.

"Will you teach me to fly?"

They were returning to Cloudsdale, their day finally coming to an end. The bottom of Celestia's sun was barely touching the horizon; they'd make it back just as night fell. The question swirled in her mind as she tried to formulate an answer, eventually coming up with simply...

"No." She winced, almost able to physically feel his heart sink at the denial.

"It's not that I don't want to, believe me. You are something else, squirt. It's just... I'm not the right pony for the job. There's only one who deserves the honor of giving your lessons, of seeing you fly for the first time."

"Who would that be?"

"Your dad."

Blitz was ashamed to admit that he had never considered the option. His dad was always so busy at the weather factory that it never occurred to the colt to ask, which he quickly pointed out to his carrier.

"Oh, I don't know about that. Something tells me he's going to get a week's vacation."

"Really!? Do you think so?"

"I know so, squirt." He tried in vain to stifle a yawn; Dash merely smiled.

"Go to sleep. Then we'll be home before you know it."

Another yawn. "Okay."

She felt him nuzzle up, warm breath blowing on the nape of her neck. She held his front legs to keep them locked. A small stream of drool tickled her skin; he had fallen asleep within seconds. The thousandth smile today stretched across her face as she flew both of them into the sunset and back home.