LOYALTY

by Crowne Prince

Rating: teen
Tags: Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Soarin, Rainbow Dash, Comedy, Romance, Adventure, Wonderbolts
Length: 94598

Rainbow Dash and Soarin's friendship turns out to be one heck of a wild ride and a whole lot more.

After discovering reading is pretty cool during a hospital stay, Rainbow Dash has a third random encounter with one of the Wonderbolts she doesn't know everything about: Soarin'. A series of comedic adventures leaves him owing her big time yet again, leading to a friendship that turns out to be one heck of a wild ride and a whole lot more.

Done reading? See Storm from Afar.

Published 2012-06-24 05:24:02 UTC
Last updated 2020-08-28 17:24:54 UTC

2 - We meet again

Rainbow Dash’s eyes snapped open to the pillar at the side of her bedroom. Oh no. I’m going to miss the Wonder Trial! In a flash, she was out from under the covers and staring at a plain white calendar pinned to her living room wall. She flipped the page to reveal the large red circled date and a hastily hooved “invite only” next to it. The Wonderbolt emblem was planted firmly on the day.

“Whew,” the pegasus sighed, tension flowing off her rigid posture. All of the – what did Rarity call it? – stage fright, the stress, the vivid dreams, and Rainbow Dash hadn’t even received the invitation for the tryout yet. On some level she was aware part of her worries were due to the fear there would not be an invitation this time, given she hadn’t shown up for the last two over the years.

Rainbow Dash shook herself. “No time for that now!” With a dash, she was out the front door.

Normally on this day of the week she would survey the weather and meet up with her team to plan the forecast for the week. She decided the sky looked clean enough, though, and there wouldn't be much to see if she spent the next few hours flying around and wasting time. There were way more productive things to do, like take a cloud nap or annoy Twilight Sparkle.

Rainbow Dash landed in front of the door to the library and knocked. She waited patiently for approximately one second before nudging the door open and peering inside the great tree. Twilight Sparkle was scribbling furiously on a long sheet of parchment suspended from the ceiling in a purple magical aura. The parchment draped all the way down to the floor.

“Ink,” Twilight said to Spike, who rushed from place to place with an armful of different colored quill inks. “Blue this time.”

“Aw, come on Twilight. Can we take a break yet? I’m getting hungry.”

“Not yet Spike. I’m almost done. This spell has to be absolutely, 100% perfect or something disastrous could happen.”

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to say something to interrupt Twilight's workflow and cause one of the unicorn's infamous freakouts, but Spike saw it coming. He shook his head with wide green eyes.

She cut her comment short for Spike's sake. Well, Twilight is obviously busy. Maybe Rarity?

Rainbow Dash trotted over to her other friend’s luxurious home and soon found herself in a mess of fabrics and ribbons. For an instant the cyan pegasus thought the tornado-like effect going on in the room was her doing, but she was pretty sure she remembered helping clean up after crashing through the window last week.

Much like Twilight, Rarity seemed absorbed in her work. “Too red. Too much lace. Too frilly.”

“Hey Rarity,” Rainbow Dash said from underneath the discarded ribbons. She picked them out of her mane.

“Oh hello dear! Is there something I can do for you?” Rarity said without looking up from what she was doing. “Oh my, certainly not.” Another mismatched ribbon flew across the room, landing in a growing heap of rejects.

“I was–”

“Ah! This may just be it!”

“–wondering if–”

“Rainbow Dash, could you do a favor and hold these for me? Thank you.” Rainbow Dash had just enough time to close her mouth before a mass of flying fabric landed squarely on top of her. Oh, great. She stuck her head out from under the pile and looked swiftly from Rarity to the exit.

Now! She zipped out from the pile and escaped. Thirty minutes later, Rarity would wonder why Rainbow Dash had been so uncharacteristically quiet, gasp with fear that her friend had been smothered, and sigh with relief upon discovering nothing inside the pile.

Okay okay okay. Maybe Pinkie Pie? Why was everypony so busy today anyway?

But the story was the same with all of her friends. Pinkie was delivering treats to the school, Fluttershy was nursing a sick songbird back to good health, and AJ…

Rainbow Dash hovered next to the farmer and her brother. “You guys don’t need any rain for your crops or anything, do you?”

“Nope,” said Big Macintosh.

“We’ve got it covered. The rain last week really helped out.” Applejack finished her statement by pulling a weed out of the ground with her teeth.

“Okay, just checkin’.”

Rainbow Dash flew about halfway back to Ponyville before landing flat on her rump in the middle of the path. “Well now I am bored,” she said aloud to no pony in particular, although of course there wasn’t anyone in earshot. She pawed the ground aimlessly with her forehooves.

Without warning she snapped up to stand proudly on all four hooves. “I can always practice my routine!” The pegasus crouched down to the ground and then launched herself into the sky.

~~~

Soarin’ glided along the warm air current he had randomly chosen a while ago near Canterlot. In all honesty, he didn’t have a talent for lightning fast observation, and while normally he would have at least had some idea of where he was going, today he decided not to pay attention at all. He knew the skies well enough around this part of the world to find his way back. So on he floated.

The weather today was pristine and excellent for spring flying, but Soarin’s heart just wasn’t in it. This was unusual for him, a pegasus normally filled with wild bravado spirit and camaraderie. There were still rare days like these when he’d rather be alone and quiet instead of inventing new routines with his friends or parading around after a show looking for the best pastries. Today was a quiet day.

He wasn’t wearing his uniform, so hardly any pony would notice his pale blue coat up in the sky, which suited him just fine. He was bored. Nah, that probably wasn’t it. Soarin’ sighed and allowed himself to plop in a depressed manner on a cloud, head hanging and tail drooping. Heh. I’m even sure I feel those rings under my eyes from being tired. Soarin’ breathed deep for another melodramatic sigh, and then exhaled loudly and let his head droop another few inches. Hey, whatever helped.

The unobserved performance was interrupted by a strong breeze behind Soarin’ that pulled him toward the other end of the cloud. Only another flyer could make that kind of disturbance in the wind pattern. Surprised out of his melancholy mood, Soarin’ turned his gaze to the side. Sure enough, a cyan pegasus was blazing a trail in neat circles a ways away, without having noticed him. It would have been impossible to miss the other flier, not with that rainbow mane and tail.

Hey... Wait a minute! This was exactly the pony the Wonderbolts had been looking for the past few weeks, the one he had seen perform at the Best Young Flyer Competition. Soarin’ tapped his chin, remembering. Rainbow Dash was also the one who had rescued his apple pie from a horrible fate at the Grand Galloping Gala. He searched through the countless memories of ponies he’d met, but that seemed like all he could remember about this particular pegasus.

Every time Fleetfoot or Spitfire went out searching for her, no pony in Cloudsdale knew where she was. She hadn’t been spotted in the sky for days, they said. Ponies would nod and fret if a bystander mentioned how odd it was not to see her; maybe she went on a trip?

Soarin’ himself hadn’t been privy to any of these conversations. He’d been talent spotting another pegasus in Fillydelphia at the time. Watching Rainbow Dash now, he was not surprised Fleetfoot had no concerns about getting to spend much (or any) time assessing the colorful flying mare. She was a fine flyer. Soarin’ settled into his cloud and put any criticism out of his thoughts, ousting the talent spotting mindset and simply enjoying the solo performance.

Rainbow Dash zoomed past a large cloud, brushing the edges of it with her wing tips before resuming the steady beat necessary to gain altitude. Rising into the air, she arced down to the level of the cloud again at a flying trot. She used the speed from the maneuver to kick back into the sky and flare her wings just enough to catch the rays of the sun and generate a brief flash of light.

Nicely done, but Soarin’ suspected she was holding back. She careened straight up into the sky and pumped her wings, though it wasn’t fast enough to pull off the advanced move he had seen her do out of desperation once before. Sure enough, pressure waves bunched up in front of the flyer and recoiled, sending her packing through several clouds before she regained control and landed clumsily on a wisp of cirrus clouds far below.

Her concentration was broken. Time to go. If Rainbow Dash spotted him now, it’d be difficult to get away. Soarin’ grinned to himself, recalling the onslaught of excited questions the second the rainbowed winner of the Best Young Flyer competition had broken away from her friends. “Have you ever flown past lighting? What’s it like to fly on a team? Don’t you want to fly faster than everypony? Have you tried licking a tornado? What’s the biggest, coolest thing you ever fought?” She didn’t just fly fast. Her mind raced, too.

Rainbow Dash. What a fitting name.

But, Soarin’ wondered, if she wanted to be a Wonderbolt so badly, why didn’t she answer any of the invitations?

4 - Geeze Soarin'

“Come on Soarin’, focus. You threw the formation off again. One or two times is understandable, but this isn’t like you!” Rapidfire landed next to Soarin’ after the umpteenth Wonderworks failure that evening. The move was supposed to create six points of shining, sparkling light that drizzled down in the sky, but Soarin’ kept reaching the focal point either late or early. A sole light sparkler rained down a noticeable five seconds after the other five.

Spitfire joined them. “Lay off him Rapids,” Spitfire teased. “He’s just brooding because he doesn’t get to go eat fritters and watch pretty fillies fluttering around all day.” Soarin’ opened his mouth to protest, but Spitfire beat him to it. “Even if it is Rainbow Dash.” Now he cursed the guilty expression on his face. “Anyway, we’re all gonna call it a night, since some pony needs to work on performing with others.”

Rapidfire sidled up to Soarin’. “You already know we’ll probably invite her again this year, but she’ll have to show up, and even then it’ll take a while for her to fly with a team.” Rapidfire scratched his curly, silver-gray mane. “She’s got a horrible ego.”

Spitfire grinned. “Reminds me of somepony.”

Soarin’ grinned back. “Yeah. You.”

“Oh brother,” muttered Rapidfire.

Spitfire laughed. “Okay, you got me this time. I can afford to take a hit. Score?” In the background, Soarin’ celebrated with a Yesssss!

“Twenty-one to thirty-seven,” said Rapidfire. “If you two quit hurling insults at each other and started using your brains, I wouldn’t have to keep track.”

“There wouldn’t be a score if we didn’t throw insults,” Soarin’ pointed out. “Besides, I’m going to win for sure this time!”

Rapidfire cracked a hopeless smile. “You said that the last seventeen times.”

“Oh, but I mean it this time.”

Spitfire chuckled and turned away. “You’ll have to take lessons if you want to beat me. I’ll see you two later. There’s a pie somewhere with my name on it, and I’ve gotta eat it before Soarin’ does.”

At that moment, Fleetfoot rushed into view and extended the life of Spitfire’s pie. “A message from the Equestrian Guard. Meet me in Strategy Hall at 1900 hours.” Fleetfoot took off to relay the announcement to the other senior Wonderbolts. Soarin’ looked at Rapidfire.

“That’s in five minutes,” Rapidfire clarified.

“Barely enough time for you penguins!” Spitfire launched off towards Canterlot.

“Twenty-one to thirty-eight now. You better come up with some good defensive lines or you’re gonna get torched again Soarin’!”

“Aww man,” Soarin’ grumbled behind Rapidfire on the way to Strategy Hall.

Strategy Hall (or, as it was more jovially referred to, “Cluster Mess Hall,” after an incident involving a confused pair of cake makers and their staff) was exactly that: a lengthy room populated by a long table, maps of Equestria and beyond, and those fun little figures used to represent different important ponies and tactical units. Except for the table, there were doubles of everything now. Surprise had thrown a fit when all the Wonderbolt figures mysteriously disappeared one evening and the Equestrian Guard had to cope with a couple of bits and a spare piece of candy corn to represent the team.

Yes, this hall had lots of fun history. The topics of discussion weren’t always fun, though. Soarin’ wondered what late-night trouble they had on their hooves this time.

I only see two guards, so it can’t be anything too serious. Weather control maybe?

One of the guards nodded to the Wonderbolts. “Let’s get to business. It is spring, so we have had plenty of tornado reports this season. However, yesterday we received word of a large tornado of likely magical origin heading towards Ponyville.”

Soarin’ choked down an exclamation. That was where Rainbow Dash was. Friends.

“It is not a normal tornado. The storm has already wreaked havoc in Fillydelphia and is headed this way.”

Spitfire stepped up, serious. “We’ll stop it.” The six senior ‘Bolts looked at each other.

“Now,” said Fleetfoot.

Friends. It could have ended at that. It could have ended at the Best Young Flyer competition award ceremony. It could have ended with the pie slip at the Grand Galloping Gala. But, it seemed, Rainbow Dash and Soarin’ were behooved to meet again, and again, and again.

Not that he minded.

~~~

Dirt and grit stung Rainbow Dash’s entire body. She flapped frantically against the twisting winds of the chaotic maelstrom. It seemed like a tornado from the reports of the battered weather ponies who had returned from the fray earlier. A request for backup went out, but there wasn’t any time for that! What if the storm ripped up Sweet Apple Acres? More was on the line than Ponyville if it couldn’t be stopped now. I can handle this myself, she mocked. What was I thinking?

Stupid! Stupid! Something cut Rainbow Dash’s flank. It moved too fast to even tell what it was. She was sure she was bleeding, but if she looked back now she really would be bucked.

“Jus’ hold in there Rainbow!” Applejack’s voice didn’t reach the struggling pegasus. The howling of the tornado, or whatever it was, pervaded over all else. “Fluttershy, you’re gonna hafta rope her. I can’t reach her from the ground!” Fluttershy caught the rope from her spot in the air.

“I… I don’t think I can.” Tears welled in the gentle pegasus’ eyes as she watched her friend be battered by the storm. Even if there hadn’t been a 150 mph whirling mass of wind next door, it was doubtful any pony would have heard Fluttershy. She winced and tried to copy Applejack. The rope didn’t even come close.

“This isn’ gonna work…”

Nearby, Twilight’s magic fizzled out in a shower of sparks. “My magic isn’t working! I can’t stop the storm!” she yelled over the wind. Rairty looked up from where she was aiding Pinkie Pie, who could barely stand from the Pinkie Sense twitching.

“Oh, honestly. I shall settle this nonsense before this dreadful wind tangles my mane any further.” Rarity’s magic surrounded the hopeless form of Rainbow Dash as she circled back into view. Slowly the rainbowed pegasus began to move away from the strongest winds. Rarity’s eyes narrowed in concentration. Small beads of sweat formed and slid down her pearly white coat. Moving a pony with magic was, for reasons probably only Twilight knew, incredibly difficult.

Rarity’s eyes snapped open and she gasped for air as the spell shattered.

Water streamed from Rainbow Dash’s eyes. She’d have to close them soon and risk not being able to see the debris flying at her. It was too much. The air space she’d gained from Rarity ebbed away. This is… by far… the worst decision I’ve made… this week…

~~~

This was bad. Some pegasus was trapped in the storm. Fleetfoot looked over to him from her spot in the formation. “Soarin!”

“Got it.” He saluted and tilted out of position to land amongst the bystanders. An orange earth pony confronted him immediately. Applejack, he remembered.

“Thank goodness,” she said. “RD’s trapped up in that there cyclone… You gotta help her!”

Soarin’ was already scouting for the next step. Unicorn, unicorn, unicorn. Soarin’ spotted two of them. They both looked worn out, but the purple one seemed a little sturdier. He galloped over. “I can get Dash out, but I need an impact reduction spell stat.”

The unicorn’s purple gaze searched his. Evidently, she decided to trust him. The moment he felt lightness in his hooves he took off in the opposite direction of the storm. When there was enough distance between him and the gale, he angled back at an alarming speed.

There was just enough time to think, this will still hurt, before he exploded into Rainbow Dash’s side.

The sheer force of the blow cut clear through the directional pulls of the winds and pushed both of them through the tornado. They shot off into the distance. There was nothing Soarin’ could do to stop the inevitable end, except brace himself. A split second after Rainbow Dash plowed into the ground, Soarin’ followed suit a few feet away. Two distorted crash-landing trails split the grass into furrows of earth behind them.

Soarin’ didn’t try to move.

When his mind felt less fuzzy, he called out through a mouthful of dirt. “Hey Rainbow Dash, how ya feeling?”

“Unngh,” came the response from the disaster area over. A few seconds later, “I’ve felt better.”

Another pause. Didn’t look like either of them was getting up any time soon.

Rainbow Dash’s muted voice reached his ears. “How are we even still alive?”

Soarin’ smiled into his earthy resting place. “Magic.”

~~~

It took a full fifteen minutes for the Elements of Harmony to gallop over to where Twilight calculated the trajectory path. Rarity had stayed behind with Pinkie Pie. “Well?” asked Twilight anxiously upon seeing Fluttershy and Applejack start to examine the fallen pegasi. After a moment, Fluttershy looked relieved. Twilight relaxed.

“Well I’ll be,” Applejack mused. “They’re both fast asleep!”

~~~

Rainbow Dash’s eyes opened to the light color of a hospital curtain. Not this place again. At this rate, she was going to get a little too familiar with the scenery.

She felt stiff. No surprise. I don’t think I’ve ever flown so hard for so long, and then practically get hit by a comet afterwards. The next feeling after the stiffness was alarm. What happened to Soarin’? Panic rose in Rainbow Dash’s heart. What if he was grounded because of her? What if she'd ruined his career?

The panic was mercifully cut short by Soarin’s voice on the other side of the curtain. Naturally, she also recognized the sounds of other Wonderbolts.

“You’re okay staying here Soarin’?” Fleetfoot was saying. “Do you even know if they’ll accept your horsecare card? We can arrange to have you transported to the HQ like Rapidfire after the last rescue mission.”

“Don’t remind me,” Rapidfire snorted. He hated being out of commission as much as any Wonderbolt.

Soarin’ insisted. “It’d be a waste to get moved when I’ll only be here a day. I feel fine. I can wait it out.”

“Suit yourself,” Fleetfoot responded. “Speaking of which, you’ll need a new one. Unless you were planning on masquerading as a dirt-covered zombie?”

“Not likely. Now get outta here so I can get some rest. You guys are noisy.”

Spitfire’s voice pitched in at that. “Oh, now we’re the noisy ones? Sure sure, we’ll get out of your mane.” Goodbyes were exchanged and the sound of many hooves receded down the hallway.

A few moments of silence. Then, from Soarin’s side of the curtain, “I can tell you’re awake now.”

“Huh?” Rainbow Dash uttered, confused. “How?”

Soarin’ laughed. “Actually, I’ve just been saying that every hour or so. Lying here is extremely boring.”

“Tell me about it,” Rainbow Dash huffed. Recent accidents that resulted in a visit to the medical ward flashed through her mind. Soarin’s completely crazy stunt was last. “I guess this means we’re even for the pie now.”

“All part of my plan,” Soarin’ stated brazenly. Clearly he’d not planned any of this. “And anyway, what were you doing in that spell-mishap of a storm? Fleetfoot told me it was probably the result of a crazy lab accident. Either that, or a monster. Luna knows I don’t wanna meet up with whatever it was if that’s the case.”

“That was a spell? I had no idea. I should’ve been able to handle it. It seemed like a normal tornado… at first. When it wasn’t huge.”

“It took five of my teammates to wind the thing down. You’d have to be some kind of super pony to do it alone.”

Rainbow Dash fell silent. Despite the publicity of Luna’s return and Discord’s defeat, not every pony knew about the Elements of Harmony, and she preferred to keep it that way. She wanted to get into the Wonderbolts because of her skill, not because of her friends. She grinned wryly. Selfish as it sounds. Besides, their powers lay in their ability to work together… and the physical presence of the Elements.

Still, it was surprising Soarin’ didn’t know she was an Element. You’d think celebrities would know these things. Then again, she looked like a normal pegasus. No fancy attire, no freakish special powers, no commanding voice… It was easy to pass her over if you were standing in a herd looking for legendary heroes! More than once she’d been at the market or around Cloudsdale and heard others talking about the six mares as if she weren’t there.

The whole thing made her head hurt. “Soarin’, what’s it like to be famous?”

“Aha. That was sudden. Hmm… It’s fun because you get to meet lots of ponies and they all admire you.” The covers on the other side of the screen rustled as Soarin’ switched positions. “But it’s challenging too. Depending on where you go, you might get no privacy at all. The media ponies’ll get on your tail about everything you’re doing and ask questions about the most ridiculous rumors involving you. Heh. I remember once reading an article about all the things I had eaten one week, pictures included.

At least I know I can get away more without the Wonderbolt outfit on. It’s always interesting the number of ponies who won’t recognize you without your signature style. I guess most ponies only ever see us with our gear on.” Soarin’ paused. “The fans will always find you, though. We’re lucky hospitals have confidentiality rules, otherwise I’m sure we’d be getting flowers and tokens of affection and visitors in no time. Especially with me unable to fly away!”

Rainbow Dash laughed. “You’re still stuck with me, so looks like you couldn’t escape after all!”

The separating curtain swept aside to reveal Pinkie Pie standing between the two beds as if it had never been there at all. “What’re you two silly pegasusesses talking about? We could hear you all the way down the hallway!”

“Not quite,” came Twilight’s ‘Pinkie is exaggerating’ voice as she entered the room. “I hope we’re not interrupting, though.”

“Nope!” Soarin’ said.

It doesn’t sound anything like when Big Macintosh says it, thought Rainbow Dash.

Twilight continued, “Rainbow, since you’re stuck here for the rest of the day, we thought you might want to play Battlecloud.”

“It was my idea!” Pinkie Pie pitched in. “I got Twilight to come even though at the end she was like – Pinkie put on her serious face – “Fine! But only because some pony won’t let me study in peace!”

Rainbow Dash ignored her soreness and scooched up to a sitting position. She could probably leave right now, but why leave when your company was a Wonderbolt? And the doctor would say no, but that wasn’t important. “Alright. And this time I’m gonna make up for that last game. Prepare to be destroyed!” As an afterthought she added, “Do you want to play too Soarin’?”

“Yeah! I have to warn you though, I’m the grand champion of Battlecloud.”

“Not after today,” Rainbow Dash said with 100% confidence.

Ten minutes later, Twilight and Pinkie Pie found themselves frantically moving pieces around on behalf of Soarin’ and Rainbow Dash as they duked it out. Rainbow Dash’s friends had been crushed within the first few minutes merely by being caught in the crossfire.

“Sky three!”
“Cloud four!”
“Cloud six!”
“Sky six!”
“Cloud nine!”

“Haha, come on Rainbow Dash. No pony puts things on cloud nine,” Soarin’ taunted.

“Better safe than sorry if you want to win,” she retorted.

“Speaking of winning, sky two.”

“Gah! My bumble bee!” Rainbow Dash yelped. Pinkie Pie tossed the piece aside. The cyan pegasus peered at her board. Soarin’s last cloud had to be one of three places. He wouldn’t put it in a corner, unless he was trying to be tricky. “Cloud… seven.”

Soarin’s head dropped. “I can’t believe I lost… I never lose to any pony but Rapidfire.” He perked up quickly. “You win this round, but next time we’re playing with Wonderbolt house rules. I’ll get my title back!”

Rainbow Dash celebrated with forelegs outstretched to the sky. “I declare myself… the new Battlecloud champion!”

Pinkie Pie joined in. “This calls for a party!”

Nurse Redheart peered into the room. “Shh! This may not be the emergency wing, but it’s still a hospital,” she scolded.

“Oh. Sorry,” whispered Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash and Soarin’ wore large, innocent smiles, clearly indicating their culpability. Nurse Redheart pointed her hoof at her eye and then pointed at Soarin’ and next Rainbow Dash. She trailed backwards out of the room smoothly, somehow still keeping her hoof pointing. Pinkie Pie was impressed.

Twilight Sparkle shook her head and groaned. “I’m going to see if you two can be discharged before the nurses aren’t able to see through the confetti.”

A few minutes later, the group was quickly ushered out the hospital front doors, along with party streamers and a cake. “Now remember,” the doctor said, “no heavy flying for three days and you’ll both be good as new.” Then the front doors were closed and all the medical staff were gone.

“Hmm,” Pinkie pie pondered, staring at the cake. She brightened up. “I guess it’s a ‘you’re better now party!’”

Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight. “Do they always put ponies out so… abruptly?”

“Only you, Rainbow,” she replied.

5 - The name didn't just make itself up

“You’re in a good mood.”

Soarin’ snapped out of his daydream and a retort leapt to his mind. “It’s easy to look that way when you’re next to the bad-tempered Wonderbolt.”

“Point for Soarin’,” Rapidfire called from his spot in the practice room. Today’s rotation had the three of them in light combat training. The Wonderbolts’ specialty was not combat, but all branches of the Equestrian Guard (no matter how tangentially related) had at least some proficiency in fighting or defense. Rapidfire demonstrated by pummeling a dummy with his forehooves. Soarin’ stood between the stallion and Spitfire, who had opted to work on flying in one spot. With 90 pounds strapped to her back.

Evidently this did nothing to inhibit her speech, though the weight was making her cringe. How long has she been up there?

Soarin’ realized he must’ve quit practicing and been standing there for a while, making him an easy target for commentary. I was… uh… He noticed the barbed wire and other obstacles around him. Oh. Right.

When they were finished, the three regrouped. “I notice you are back to doing the thing where you space out, Soarin’,” Rapidfire said.

“You know, you could always go visit her.” Spitfire nudged Soarin’. “She’ll never make the team if she doesn’t know how to fly in one.”

Rapidfire snorted. “Good luck teaching that one humility enough to do it.”

“Pfff,” Soarin’ waved Rapidfire away. “You’re just upset I told you she’d beat you at Battlecloud. And anyway,” Sorain’ rubbed the spot where Spitfire had nudged him, “it’s not what you think.”

Rapidfire raised an eyebrow. “Then what is it?”

“Something doesn’t add up. Rainbow Dash wants to be a Wonderbolt, but she doesn’t come to the Trials. We never took the time to ask why. It shouldn’t bother me, but-“

“So go ask her,” Spitfire interjected.

“H-huh?” Soarin’ stammered, as if it were a possibility he’d never considered.

“Soarin’ you silly foal,” Spitfire smiled, “you’re telling us you’ve been wondering about it the whole time and you never thought to just go and ask? She doesn’t bite, you know. Besides, you’ve got me wondering now, too.”

Rapidfire added, “You said yourself she’s your friend. Visiting shouldn’t be a problem.”

Soarin’ took a breath. “Okay then. I know what I’m doing over lunch.” Spitfire tapped her timer watch. “Which is… now, I guess.”

As Soarin’ headed for Ponyville, he heard Spitfire’s voice receding into the distance. “Don’t forget this time to make it back here for that ribbon cutting ceremony, or else Surprise will kick your”

Hmm. This is a problem. Soarin’ flapped slowly through Cloudsdale. Visiting a friend was a fine idea. Visiting a friend when you didn’t know where they lived was kinda dumb.

He wanted to get this over with so he could stop wondering, eat lunch, and rest his aching wings. I really should listen when doctors say "no heavy flying."

Soarin’ scoured the first few cloud buildings for signs of Rainbow Dash’s home. A blue and gold color scheme… lightning bolts… a cloud statue in the shape of a Wonderbolt… Nope, nothing. Maybe one of the locals knew.

“Hey there!” The gray pegasus he’d called turned. “You wouldn’t happen to know Rainbow Dash, would you?”

“Of course I do! Hehe. You must not be from around here.”

“Could you show me where she lives?”

“You won’t find her here. Her home is waaaaay over there.” The mare pointed towards Fillydelphia, but the sky was clear as far as he could see. “Oh no wait. I meant over there.” She flipped her hoof in the opposite direction. “I get East and West backwards sometimes.”

Soarin’ could see a cloud on the route to Ponyville. That must be it. “Thanks!”

“Hey, wait a minute. You sure look familiar.” The pegasus crossed her eyes.

That’s because I’ve been here so many times before.

“I’ve never been here before,” he said jovially. Sorry. I can’t afford to be held up right now or I won’t make it back in time. “You must be mistaking me for somepony else.”

“Oh! My bad. I do that a lot, too.” The bubbly mare giggled lightheartedly at her mistake.

Soarin’ nodded his appreciation for the help. What a strange pegasus.

It’s rude, but I have to know… As the gray pegasus turned away, Soarin’ glanced at her flank.

Bubbles! He suppressed a gasp. The number of ponies with such a mark, well, there were not many.

Flustered, Soarin’ misjudged the distance to Rainbow Dash’s house. At first he’d thought it was closer because of its size, but as he approached he realized it was just plain big. Holy thunder. The place was a tower. She must be living here with some pegasus else. Sculpted cloud pillars held up three tiers of rooms. Rainbows poured out of ceilings and into reflection ponds.

Soarin’ blinked. How in the hay does that work?

“Rainbow Dash,” he called. “Are you here?” No response. He flew closer to the top of the tower, avoiding the rainbow streaming from its pinnacle.

“I’m over here,” her voice came from a bed of clouds. Soarin’ followed the general direction and found her shaping some stray puffs along the edges of a rainbow pool. He hovered at the edge of the area she was working, concerned if he landed he might disturb whatever was controlling the rainbows.

“Soarin! I knew it was your voice.” The mare’s eyes excitedly darted over and around him as she stepped toward the edge of the cloud platform. He was confused until he realized she was looking for some sign of a letter. She looked a little disappointed. “Oh. You’re not here about the Wonderbolts…”

A twinge of guilt pricked his conscience. I didn’t mean to get her hopes up.

“Yes and no,” he said. Now his friend looked optimistically perplexed. He flapped in place as he explained: “I want to talk about the Wonder Trial. Why-“

Sudden, extreme pain. His right wing would not move. He flailed, wide-eyed as he tumbled down. As fast as lightning (or faster; he couldn’t tell) Rainbow Dash reached over the edge and grabbed his hoof.

He really wished it had been a forehoof. Past the tips of his pinions he could see his front legs stretching toward the roiling green edge of the Everfree Forest.

He didn’t want to think about Rainbow Dash’s view at the moment.

She hauled him backwards onto the cloud. “You didn’t listen to the doctor’s orders, did ya?” Rainbow Dash was stifling a laugh, but as soon as he turned and their eyes met, she let it out. “Can you imagine? A Wonderbolt dangling from a cloud by his hind legs? Oh man, you’re so lucky no pony saw, but they sure missed out! And your wing will be stuck like that for a few hours, too.” Her voice cracked with amusement.

Soarin’s right wing jutted straight out; the left was neatly furled. The muscles in the stressed wing were taught. It took too much pain and strength to pull it back in.

He grinned apologetically. “Looks like I’ll be stuck here for a little while.”

“Hey, no prob. You sure are lucky I was home, though! Normally I’d be out practicing, but there was that whole thing about no heavy flying for three days.”

Soarin’s blood ran cold. Oh no. It would take a few hours for the muscle tension to go away. The ribbon cutting was at five o’clock. There was no way he’d make it in time. Oh noooo. Surprise is going to kill me.

“Rainbow Dash, I have to go back. There’s a ribbon cutting for the Galloping Gallery in Canterlot. Surprise will destroy me if I don’t go. I keep missing all of the events she books me for. I mean, seriously missing. I haven’t been to one since the Gala!”

“Soarin’, you can’t be serious! You can’t fly now, remember?”

“You don’t understand! It’s my duty to go. You must know that. And if I don’t go to this event… Ooooh, I messed up so bad continuing with normal practice. I thought I could hold out a little longer than this.” Soarin’ groaned and sank to the cloud, wrapping his hooves over his head. “I’m supposed to help Surprise, not make things difficult for her.”

“Hey now, it can’t be that bad,” Rainbow Dash said, her voice inflecting the tiniest bit of uncertainty.

It can! “If I don’t’ show up, I’ll be suspended.”

Silence. There wasn’t anything she could do to help; he knew that. It was his own fault. He would remember not to skip out on so many social activities after he was reinstated.

After a moment Rainbow Dash said, “Soarin’, I have an idea, but if it works you are going to owe me BIG time.”

Soarin’ uncovered his head. “I can live with that. But… what’s your plan?” She’s crazier than Spitfire if she thinks she can carry me all the way there!

“…”

“WHAT?” he shouted in disbelief.

“Whoa! Clam down, geez. You act like you didn’t even hear what I just said.”

“I heard you wrong. You just said you’ll go in my place," he hesitated before adding in a small voice, "as me.”

“That is what I said,” Rainbow Dash asserted. “There is just the teensy little detail of convincing Twilight to do a spell like that.”

Soarin’ was shaking his head at the sheer absurdity of the whole thing. All he could manage to say was, “She can do that?” This was far beyond the magic he knew of.

“Soarin’, there’s nothing this unicorn doesn’t know. So, what do you think?”

“I think that’s craziest, weirdest, most horse-faced thing I’ve heard of in a long time.” He stood. “Let’s do it.”

After some arranging of wings and tails, Soarin’ found himself in the familiar situation of being carried by Rainbow Dash.

“You’re cool with me carrying you?” she asked.

“It wouldn’t be the first time.”

“You’re much heavier when I’m not going mach speed.”

“Oh is that how that works?”

“I have no idea. Prepare for take off!” Soarin’ was glad he was prepared, because she didn’t give him any time to make adjustments. He held on uselessly to Rainbow Dash as she picked her way towards wherever Twilight lived. Judging from the flight path, this was… a giant tree? You’re not in Canterlot anymore.

Rainbow Dash huffed under the extra weight. “There is one minor flaw in my plan. I mean, besides Twilight. How am I supposed to act so the other Wonderbolts don’t get suspicious?”

“As dumb as possible,” he said. He felt Rainbow Dash laughing.

“Nice one, Soarin’.”

She paused. “Wait, are you being serious?”

“No way!” he laughed, nudging her with a hoof for teasing him. They were getting closer to the ground. How did you teach a pony to impersonate you in a few minutes?

“I’ll skip the usual stuff; you probably already know it,” he began. “Spitfire won’t be there, but stay away from Rapidfire. He knows me best, I think, and he’s the most likely to notice if something is off. Don’t be too friendly with Lightning Streak; he and I got in a fight last week and we haven’t sorted it out yet. Surprise will be too busy to talk much. Just do whatever she says and you’ll be good. Act friendly with everypony else. Keep it high-energy, and be polite to the guests. Oh, and brag about how awesome you are to anypony outside the Wonderbolts.” Rainbow Dash snickered at that as they landed in front of the big tree.

Numerous ponies watched them curiously. Rainbow Dash waved them off. “Nothing to see here. I’m just helping this pegasus. Keep moving.” The onlookers lost interest and went back to their daily tasks. Soarin’ and Rainbow Dash entered the tree, which turned out to be a library.

Soarin’ recalled the purple unicorn was Twilight Sparkle. If he doubted Rainbow Dash at all when she said Twilight could do anything, he didn’t now. The unicorn was tending to a fearfully long parchment that hung from the second floor balcony. Almost as soon as they were through the door she started talking.

“Rainbow, what was all the commotion outside? I thought – oh!” She took Soarin’ in and a bemused smile crossed her face. He became conscious of the fact his one wing stuck straight out while the other was closed.

“I’m used to seeing a one-winged Rainbow Dash running around, so this is a bit different.” The unicorn’s focus switched back to her friend. “I’ll take it the two of you aren’t here for books. Or maybe…”

Rainbow Dash put on an air of firm urgency. “Twilight, I need a spell to make me look like Soarin’. Only for a few hours. Please?”

Twilight didn’t even begin to take Rainbow Dash seriously. “Rainbow, if this is another one of your pranks-“

“No! This isn’t about me, it’s about him.” Rainbow Dash jabbed a hoof in his direction. “And it’s for a letter to the Princess.”

The Princess!

“Rainbow Dash, I can hardly believe you’re asking me about this. It must be illegal! Let me think.”

She didn’t get the chance, because Rainbow’s response was too quick. “No, Twilight, don’t think, just do it.”

Twilight growled in exasperation.

Rainbow Dash cut her off again. “I knew it. There isn’t a spell for that after all. You couldn’t do it even if it is for a lesson in friendship!”

“Well, you’re wrong about that. I know exactly where the spell is.” A green book slid from one of the shelves and floated next to Twilight. “It’s in a book by the author of Supernaturals: Natural remedies and cure-alls that are simply super. I had them delivered here after I realized my mistake. Isn’t that neat?” she said happily.

“So cast the spell. We’re running out of time!” And they were.

“No.”

Soarin’ mustered the most kind, endearing expression he could. He took a single step forward and said, “Please.”

“Both of you? Now this is getting ridiculous.”

Soarin’ pushed his silent plea. Rainbow Dash pouted with heartbreaking eyes.

Twilight’s ears flopped down. “Fine,” she grudgingly conceded. “You’re helping me reshelf books next time, Rainbow.” The green book left Twilight’s side and slapped itself unceremoniously onto a podium. Pages flipped as the unicorn sidled around Rainbow Dash, who had driven her into a corner.

“This spell is significantly more difficult than when Rarity asked to find a flight spell for ponies without wings. At this rate, Applejack better not storm in here and ask for magic.” The pages stopped turning when Twilight stamped her hoof firmly on a page. “Well, here goes nothing.”

Twilight’s horn glowed pink, then tart green. Soarin’ couldn’t remember ever seeing a unicorn’s aura change color like that before. Suddenly, he felt a weird tug along his coat. A thin line scanned across him from the tip of his nose to his tail. The sensation of the form-fitting magic band was rather unpleasant.

While he watched, the line started at Rainbow Dash’s tail and slowly passed over her, leaving an exact replica of Soarin’s appearance in its wake. This would’ve been fine, except it made the sound of a rusty horseshoe scraping against steel as it did so. Soarin’ clopped his hooves over his ears. Rainbow Dash wasn’t so lucky as to be able to move her legs. Her ears strained forward and she made a horrible face at the high-pitched screeching.

Pinkie Pie barged into the library with a platter of sugary cupcakes just as the spell ended. “Twilight! I suddenly felt like you really needed these, so I hurry-hurried and made them for you. Quick, eat one!” She trotted past Soarin’ with the platter. “Hi Soarin!” She trotted past Soarin’ again. “Hi Soarin!”

Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but Pinkie Pie used the opportunity to push a cupcake into the unicorn’s maw. “Hmm, that’s funny,” the earth pony said, still with one hoof against Twilight’s mouth. She counted with her other hoof. “One, two Soarin’s. That’s a whole extra Soarin’! Oh, Soarin’, I didn’t know you had a twin brother!”

“He doesn’t,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow Dash, is that you?” Pinkie Pie said excitedly. Rainbow Dash was holding her hooves over her (his…?) pale blue muzzle. Her voice had not changed.

Soarin’ couldn’t help but laugh at the baffled expression Rainbow Dash managed to make with his features. That, on top of the sound of her voice coming from himself… it was too much.

“Your voice will catch up in a few minutes,” Twilight stated between cupcakes.

Magic like that must take up a lot of energy. How did Pinkie Pie know to bring those cupcakes? Weird.

“Guys, I reeeeally want to find out what’s going on here, but I promised Mr. and Mrs. Cake I’d finish up a pastry order. Promise to tell me about it later, okie-dokie?” After swiping the tray out from underneath the remaining cupcake, the plucky pink party pony pranced past the two stallions. “Bye Soarin’! Bye Soarin’ Dash!”

The proclaimed Soarin’ Dash stared in bewilderment at his hooves and tested his wings. “This feels way different, but I think I can manage. Don’t I need a uniform or something?”

Soarin’ hadn’t thought of that. And I’m not wearing one. “Yeah. We’re supposed to wear the Wonderbolt uniform to the event. You’re going to have to get one from my suite at Headquarters. I can draw a map for you.” On cue, a scroll tipped out of one of the shelves. It unfurled and Twilight’s magic tore a piece off the end. She directed the paper and a pencil to Soarin’.

“Thanks,” he said, taking the pencil in his mouth and pinning the paper down. “HQ is in the mountains by Canterlot today, about 15 minutes east if you’re flying at a good clip. You’ll spot it from the sky. When you get there, go through the north entrance.” Soarin’ hashed some lines out on the paper.

“Here’s the entrance. Go down this hall, turn left and walk along the outer circle. Then turn right at the second doorway. Enter the double doors,” Soarin’ drew two squares for the doors, “and skip the first cross-hallway.” He drew a line intersecting the main path. “Turn right when you get to the second hallway. You’ll know my door when you see it. It’s got an S on it. The suits are in the closet.”

Soarin’ hooved his diagram over to his counterpart. “After that, go to the Galloping Gallery. Do you know your way around Canterlot?”

Soarin’ Dash shook his head. “Not really.”

“Me neither. At least, not on the ground. The Gallery is on Mane Street, fairly close to the Gardens where the Grand Galloping Gala is held. You’re going to be a little late to the opening ceremony, so a crowd of ponies standing outside is a good indication you’re at the right place.” Soarin’ guided his friend out the door as he spoke. There wasn’t any time to think about what had just happened. “Remember to be nice to the guests, try to avoid gossip because it’s usually a trap, and remember to brag. And don’t get caught!”

“Yeah, I think I learned my lesson about getting caught a while ago,” Rainbow Dash’s voice put flatly.

“Don’t,” they both said in unison.

The mirrored images looked at each other across the library door threshold. Twilight called, “You have five hours Rainbow!”

Soarin’ Dash glanced over his shoulder as he prepared to leave. “You know Soarin’, this is not how I imagined I’d become a Wonderbolt.”

His doppelganger grinned at him, and then raced off toward Canterlot.

Soarin’ turned back to the library. “What did she mean about a letter to the Princess?”

Twilight yawned. “Princess Celestia sent me here to study friendship magic. I report my findings to her by letter, and sometimes my friends do, too. I actually learn faster when I talk to them about my ideas and find out what they’ve learned.” More to herself than to him, she continued, “Hmm. That might be a lesson there.” A quill flew from the inkwell on the podium and up to the second story. Soft scratching accented the air.

Twilight yawned largely again. “I’m sorry Soarin’, but that spell really took a lot out of me. Can I leave you in charge of the library without you destroying anything? Spike should be back soon, and he can help you.”

“You want to leave me in charge of this place?” Soarin’ looked at his injured wing and then back to Twilight. “I guess I can give it a shot.” His friendly smile and drooped ears said he wasn’t particularly good at this sort of thing, but he was willing to try. “Wait! What should I do if someone wants to borrow a book?”

Twilight waved a hoof drowsily in the air as she made her way up the stairs. “Oh, just… write their name and the book down… somewhere…”

He was on his own now. I really hope this Spike pony shows up soon.

Soarin’ killed time by figuring out which types of books were where. Nothing was labeled, so he started reading titles.

Anthology of Neoclassical and Liberal Thought
Comprehending the Shelf Life of Tetrahydridoboron(1+)
Floccinaucinihilipilification
Practical Pre-Development Finance
Technical Applications of Supplementary Component Magic

First shelf is "complicated stuff". What’s next? He turned to something hopefully more understandable.

The Fourth Wall

Give me a break. What good is a building with only three walls? He snorted and went to the next line of books.

The Beginnings of Equestria Daily
Celestia’s Reign, 1000 Year Edition
Ponyville’s Founding Families
Predictions and Prophesies
Tartarus
True Gargoyles
Wonder Wing and Thunder Bolt

Okay, so we’ve got history. Soarin’ noticed a number of books he thought would be better placed in a mythology or fiction category. Twilight doesn’t seem like the type to mix things up. Everything else is arranged by genre and author. Well, either she’s crazy or some of this stuff is actually true!

He didn’t care to think about option B. Gargoyles? No thanks.

Let’s see… what is this? Weather? No, that can’t be right…

Altitudes of Fire
Hay Is Better
Ship It or Shut Up
Warm June Nights

He pulled out a book from the group titled Luna: Princess of the Night and skimmed a few lines.

Oh. Romance.

I wonder if Luna knows ponies write about her like this?

His ears swiveled to pick up the sound of voices coming towards the library. “But we already tried readin’,” one of them whined.

A second, more brash voice asserted, “We’re not going to read, we’re going to study.”

“Study? That doesn’t sound like you Scootaloo,” the third speaker said.

“I’m going to study flying, duh.”

“Oh.”

Three young fillies paraded into the library. Soarin’ nosed his book back into place. “Hello! Can I help you find something?” I think that’s what I’m supposed to say.

“No thanks, we’re just lookin,” the pale yellow filly said. “But if you don mind me askin, who are you? Ah’ve never seen you in Ponyville before.”

“Name’s Soarin’,” he said enthusiastically.

“What happened to your wing?” A spunky filly popped up behind the first before he could say anything else.

“Oh this? I strained it from flying too hard. Twilight is letting me stay here for a few hours until it’s better.”

The yellow filly looked slightly confused. “Can’t she just heal it for ya?”

“Healing doesn’t work that way, Applebloom! Rarity told me that when I pricked myself with a needle one time.”

The orange pegasus edged in to try and get the last word. “Yeah, otherwise why would we have doctors and hospitals and stuff?”

“Ah guess I had’n thought of that,” said the filly called Applebloom. “Maybe I’ll get a doctor cutie mark!” She twisted her head around and stared at the her unmarked flank. Nothing happened. “Shoot.”

“Let’s start reading,” the unicorn chimed in impatiently. “Maybe if we read about our special talents, we’ll get our cutie marks!”

Two of the little ponies immediately started pulling books from the shelves. Soarin’ knew he wasn’t going to be able to reshelf fast enough to keep up. I hope Twilight likes organizing things.

Scootaloo hadn’t moved. “I want to read about something really cool so I get an awesome cutie mark. Like… fire!” She pointed at a red book titled FIRE in the romance section.

Soarin’ thought fast. “Ugh, that book is so boring. The books on flying are way cooler.”

“Sweet! I’ll try those then.” She trotted to the shelf and joined her friends in disemboweling the library.

Soarin’ was surprised at how insightful Twilight was. The books about flying were where colts and fillies who couldn’t fly yet could reach them. He barely had time to think about this though, because he was trying to keep up with the destructive force of the girls. How did young ponies always manage to outdo adults?

That was when the dragon showed up. Soarin’ froze. It was a baby dragon, but still! It had its claws held to its head in surprise. “Oh no. I can’t let Twilight see this!”

“Hi Spike!” Applebloom waved from a heap of books. That’s Spike? You’d think Twilight would have mentioned he was a dragon, sheesh. Scare me half to flight like that.

Spike waved back before he spotted Soarin’. “Hey, who are you? What happened to Twilight?”

“That’s Soarin,’” Scootaloo said absentmindedly, tossing a book over her shoulder without looking up from her reading material. “He’s helping Twilight until his wing gets better.”

Spike turned to Soarin’. “It looks more like you’re the one who needs help.” It was entertaining to watch the little dragon thump over to him on short hind legs. “I dunno why Twilight didn’t warn you about these three. We have to get rid of them before they do any more damage.” He rubbed his chin and then snapped his claws. “I’ve got it.”

“Hey Sweetie Belle,” Spike called. “I just thought of something. What if your special talent is helping other ponies find theirs? That could be why none of you have your marks yet.”

The commotion amongst the book piles stopped and three colorful heads popped out.

“Whoa. I never thought of that,” said Scootaloo.

Applebloom urged, “We better hurry. What if some pony doesn’t have their cutie mark yet because of us?”

“And that’s why we don’t have our cutie marks!” Scootaloo finished. “Let’s go!”

The three scrambled out of the library. “Bye! Sorry about the mess!”

Spike wiped his brow. “Whew. That should keep them busy for a long time. We better fix this mess before Twilight shows up or she’ll make us take all the books out and reorganize them. Believe me, I know.”

Soarin’ did the best he could to put the books back in categorical, alphabetical order. His mind wandered back to the disastrous end of the last Galloping Gala. Soarin' the librarian casually shelves books while one of the most terrifying ponies Canterlot has ever known roams free.

6 - Dashing Do and the Outrageous Boredom

1700 hours. Dashing Do reaches Canterlot and prepares to infiltrate the enemy base. Reports say the main entrance is fifteen minutes from the city, but Dashing is much quicker than the average pegasus. She calculates she'll make it in five minutes. The skies are clear. No pony in sight. She prepares to storm the enemy territory, right through the front gate. The target comes into view and

Whoa.

Rainbow Dash, who looked exactly like Soarin' at the moment, stared in awe at the Wonderbolt headquarters nestled among the towering mountain peaks. The compound was not so impressive in terms of size as it was in terms of masterful craftsmanship. It was at once stylish and practical. Even from the air it was clear each pillar, each arch, each cloud was placed with the same sense of purpose Rarity had in her work. The fashionista would swoon.

Sturdy, simple cloud pillars ringed the outside of the circular structure, leaving a wraparound hallway and a series of doors open to the air, yet protected by an overhang. The polished floors were made of the same cloud marble that graced the Princess’ throne room, except this design broke up the solid white with alternated tiles of slightly darker marble. Lush green private gardens brought color and life to the clouds running around the outside of the building. The bottom of the complex was almost level with the ground. Outer clouds faded into mist and then nothing, blending in with the mountain pasture.

The sky pegasus flew over the headquarters to reach the North entrance. An overhead view revealed that the center of the compound was cut out. The site was a practice field that looked as if it could be fitted for most occasions: derbies, obstacle courses, performances. It was empty now.

Dashing Do checks to make sure her mouth is closed and her disguise is secure so she doesn’t blow her cover. Yep. Same pale hooves. Descending, she could somewhat see Soarin’s reflection on the polished marble leading to the main entrance. Her unwieldy hooves clattered clumsily and noisily on the landing.

Clack, clack, clack. Left, right, straight, left. Left, right, straight, left. She trotted brusquely through the main archway and turned left along the open hallway. An earth pony, probably a staff member, trimmed a hedge in the adjacent garden. A staff member… or a spy! Danger lurks around every corner.

Dash made a right around the incoming corner and flung open the large engraved double doors to find herself standing face-to-face with danger in the flesh.

“Whoa!” Soarin’s voice shouted, doubly startled.

“Geez Soarin! Watch where you’re flinging that door. What’s up, you look like you just heard your own voice for the first time.” One of Spitfire’s eyebrows arched up questioningly.

Dash broke into a sweat, semi-panicked. I’m alone here with Spitfire. Alone. Spitfire. But it’s not me, it’s Soarin’. W-What if the two of them are – what if she tries to–! Her brain overloaded with the possibility she was about to get way too familiar with Soarin’s personal life. Soarin’ Dash took a step back.

“What’s gotten into you?”

Me, thought Rainbow Dash.

Spitfire’s temper flipped before Soarin’ could escape. “You seriously better be here to get your rump in uniform, or I swear, I’ll not only drag you through the process, but you’ll be going to the ribbon cutting without a tail.”

“Uniform! Got it!” Soarin’ Dash squeaked and zipped down the hall, scampering around a corner and into a corridor of rooms on the right before the fiery mare could make good on her promise.

“Your other right,” Spitfire’s voice called flatly.

The sky blue stallion scrambled across Spitfire’s field of vision.

Dashing Do barely escapes the clutches of the enemy and finds safety in a hidden cavern. She slammed Soarin’s door behind her, barring it with her forelegs and panting. Spitfire was scary when she was keeping her friends on the right track.

The room was spacious and appeared to have a separate private bath attached. Twilight could live here and never leave if Spike brought her new books and food from time to time. But I guess that’s true for any room.

Early evening spring sunshine filtered through an open hole in the cloud roof. The light illuminated a large circular blue throw rug covering most of the space. At one side of the room, an expansive but simple bed sat on a slightly raised dais. Dash went over and tested the mattress with a hoof. I could really go for a nap right about now.

No! I’ve got a mission to complete first. Can’t let Soarin’ down.

There were a number of interesting things in the room. Pictures, posters, and trinkets lay about some select pieces of furniture. Dash felt the impulse to explore every nook and cranny and inspect every item. This wasn’t the time to be slacking off, though.

There sure was a lot of cool stuff.

One look won’t hurt. The pegasus slid over to the first thing that caught her eye: a golden object mounted on the wall. She gaped openly at the Ω. Even a foal would recognize a horseshoe of honor.

Ssshtck! The idling pony started at the strange noise. It came from the hour hoof on a clock with the Wonderbolt emblem. The hour hoof was the only hoof the clock possessed, which was kind of awesome in a weird way. The time prompted Dash to get moving. She only had a little over two hours before she turned back into a pumpkin. Oh wait, heh. Wrong story.

Dashing Do escapes the enemy camp, using their own foolishly designed ceiling window. But even with the special item to complete her disguise, the danger ahead is nothing to neigh about. The next part of her mission brings her directly into the heart of enemy activity, which happens to be so incredibly boring it’s a wonder any pony lives to tell the tale. Will our hero’s disguise hold? Will she stay awake long enough to find out?

Herds of ponies in high attire filled the area below. Somehow they managed to be a crowd and yet maintain respectable personal space between one another. It was bizarre. They were listening to a mare giving some sort of dedication speech or something. The mare’s hair shifted precariously when she moved her head.

After landing at one end of the herd, Dash used Soarin’s extra bulk to move through the elites. “Comin through! ‘Scuse me! Watch out!” It wasn’t necessary to say anything because most of the frou-frou folk moved out of the way when they noticed the shock of gold on blue approaching. Man, where’s the fun in that?

Soarin’ Dash joined Surprise in the much more familiar group of Wonderbolts. His arrival did not go unnoticed. Surprise’s yellow mane flounced as she whipped her head around, clipboard in mouth. The bottom edge of the wooden item pressed against Dash’s nose. Surprise hissed through the clipboard and under the drone of the orator, “Ssshoarin’! Fou’re leht! A full shishteen mimuts leht! Fi crownted!” A series of ticker watches adorned her foreleg. “Ahm flad shou mahde it. Feh party’sh afout foo fart.” Surprise wrinkled her brow. “Ssshtart.”

Clapping and cheering that rivaled Fluttershy lilted – barely – through the air. Polite pony voices said phrases like, “good show”, “superb”, and “simply divine”. Ugh. Soarin’ Dash managed to maintain an amicable expression (no eyerolling!) while holding the clipboard.

Heeeey.

A pony cut the ribbon in front of the gallery doorway and Surprise beamed and waved while the press snapped pictures. Flashes of light continued with Surprise and towering-hair mare, Surprise and the gallery coordinator, Surprise and the crowd.

Dash set the clipboard down and checked off Soarin’s name. She noticed the time slot next to it and sighed. Another two hours. The cartwheels in Rainbow Dash’s mind started to turn. This opportunity was too good to pass up. Heh-heh-heh.

“Hello? Equestria to Soarin’,” Surprise waved a hoof in his face. “You better get to mingling! The artist didn’t ask us to come here and scheme up our next greatest move, you know. Chop chop clop clop!”

“Oh! Sure thing, Surprise.” Soarin’ Dash quickly followed the other ‘Bolts into the building.

The gallery could fit a selection from two or three artists at once, though Dash knew they would only be among the finest artists in Equestria. Finest cultured artists, that is. No place like this would ever accept street art or anything cool, not unless a popular pony did it first.

Arrangement of the pieces on display was simple, yet effective. Plenty of space between every image gave room to contemplate individual pictures at various angles and with a crowd. Despite the spacing, the theme of the art tonight was obvious. Dash quickly changed her mind about the gallery not displaying anything cool. Pegasi flew among tremendous, towering cumulonimbus. Spectacular wings spread across night-dappled skies. Wonderbolts tore through cloud derbies.

Before Rainbow Dash could bounce with glee, Fluttershy’s voice popped into her head. “No, Rainbow Dash,” her friend insisted, “acting isn’t about strength or speed, it’s about pretending to really be that pony. I – I know because I could never get on stage, but maybe another pony could, s-so.” Fluttershy was right. Soarin’ wouldn’t jump up and down like a hyper fan in front of pictures of himself.

He would jump up and down like this! She lifted Soarin’s head and giddily pranced in place near one of the paintings. Some of the royals merely shook their heads and smiled primly at the hopeless Wonderbolt. In the image nearby, a lone flyer raced through an immense thunderhead with no sign of escape. Lightning arched at his wings.

Curious about the next painting, Soarin’ Dash headed in that direction, noticing that his earlier happy clip-clopping had attracted the attention of a small retinue of followers. They waited for the socially appropriate time to strike up a conversation. This happened when Dash stopped in shock at the scene before him.

It was her.

Her face was swept clean of any features, driving all attention to the streaming rainbow mane and tail. They moved with an unearthly wind in the closed room. The mare stood valiantly, effortlessly, with a heavy alicorn statue bearing down on her. It was the very moment she’d caught it; the moment before she’d lost her footing.

“A stunning piece, yes? Of course she collapsed right after that, destroying no small amount of fine architecture.” A pure white stallion with a constellation on his flank addressed Soarin’ Dash. His companion added, “Quite a disaster.” The refined mare smiled. “It was the most exciting gala I ever attended.”

Two fillies stood together nearby, nibbling on tiny, fancy foods they had pulled magically from a silver platter carried by a posh pony. A lace kerchief dabbed at the corners of one of the fillies' mouths before she spoke up. “If I recall correctly, you were there that evening as well, Soarin’?”

“O-Of course!” Rainbow Dash tore her eyes from the memory. “Yes, I was there.”

“And does it not bother you that you were upstaged by a common mare?” the young aristocrat asked.

These ponies are trying to egg me on!
Common mare…!

She threw Soarin’s head up boastfully. “Bother me? No way! I’m one of the fastest, strongest flyers in Equestria. I would’ve caught the statue myself if my back hadn’t been turned.” Soarin’ Dash lowered his voice, looking them in the eyes and building anticipation. “A split second can make the difference in the race, you know.” The fillies eyes glittered. She totally had them.

A bright lavender pegasus in a sultry, fine linen gown joined them. “I do so enjoy seeing you race. Tell us again what it is like to fly in the derby, Soarin’.” Sensing something interesting was going on, other ponies gathered.

Rainbow Dash tried as best she could to explain the pure energy of racing. Her audience was hooked, whether by her amazing description or the fact she was Soarin’, she couldn’t tell. She related tales of heroism and awesomeness, making some, uh, minor adjustments.

“Fleetfoot marched right up the dragon’s snout and,” Rainbow Dash noticed Rapidfire headed her way, “and whew! I really need some of that punch.” The purple tinged beverage glistened in a crystalline bowl far from the crowd.

A unicorn in the middle of the small gathering raised her dainty hoof into the air. “I shall fetch some.”

A pony nearby curtsied. “That’s quite alright, darling. I can bring our charming fellow a glass.”

Charming?

“Oh my, Sparkling Whine, you got the seat closest to Fancypants last week. Do let the rest of us have a chance.”

Rainbow Dash was oblivious to the impending social disaster, but she ended it. “That’s okay, I can get my own.” She managed to weave out of the fans in their temporary paralysis. Social etiquette, however, requires one to be able to react quickly to even the most outrageous surprise. Dash took a step toward the hors d'oeuvres table.

The mares followed.

Soarin’ Dash took some more steps and looked back.

The mares stood closer, looking expectantly at him.

Oh no. Ohhh no.

Dash took off. The herd of mares stampeded after the streaming tail of their prize.

Soarin’ you are so going to owe me for this!

~~~

Spike rolled on the floor in a fit of laughter. “You forgot to tell her about the fillies?”

“I didn’t think of it until just now,” Soarin’ protested. Spike continued laughing.

“This is rich. I can just imagine it. Rainbow Dash trying to deal with a pack of lovestruck mares! Ahahaha-heh. The look on her face! She wouldn’t even know what was going on until it was too late!”

Soarin’ smiled helplessly at his fatal mistake.

“Yeah buddy, you better smile while you’re still alive,” Spike joked, wiping a tear from his eye. “Between her and Pinkie Pie, those two could out-prank Celestia. And that’s saying something.”

~~~

That’s the last one. The visibly downtrodden – and literally trodden-upon – Soarin’ Dash mouthed one final signature. A peppy yellow pegasi clutched it adoringly in her mouth and flounced off. Dash let her thoughts turn inward. Now, where was I? Oh yeah, planning my revenge. I could order a bunch of pizzas delivered to Soarin’s flat. That’s not very original, though. How about I do something crazy in public? Nah, too brutal. Or maybe I should invite one of those fans to visit his room tomorrow? She shuddered. No way.

Who do I know around Canterlot that I could-

“Hoy! Mate!” A truly captivating stallion smoothed his way through the orderly herd. His mane and tail shone like the natural element he was named for. The pony’s sleek, perfectly balanced form was made even more gratifying by the glass of punch he held. “Oi thought ya might need this.”

Soarin’ Dash took the offer and savored every life-giving drop. Lightning Streak continued, “Look, oi wanted to say sorry about the other day. Ah didn mean to steal the show from yeh. After ya fearlessly took on those fans back there, the least oi can do is apologize. Whadya think?” He held out his hoof.

Soarin’ Dash knocked hooves with Lightning Streak and said, “No hard feelings. Glad to have you back.” It was basically what Dash told Applejack every time they settled a fight. She’d just been through hell, so she tried to push in Soarin’s favor. “You owe me the next delicious pastry you come up against, though.”

Lightning Streak’s laughter glistened. “Sure thing. See yeh back at HQ.” His shining hair flashed when he turned and trotted away, wings stretched for flight.

The longer part of two hours had been eaten up by the fan ponies. A new wave of Wonderbolts showed up to relieve the first shift.

Finally! I’m so outta here.

Soarin’ Dash crept around the fringes of the hors d'oeuvres table, noticing Rapidfire’s head turning to and fro as if he were looking for something (or somepony). The gray stallion exchanged words with the fresh Wonderbolts, who were snatching snacks and drinks before heading out to socialize. Soarin’ Dash used the opportunity to sneak past Rapidfire and get safely to the gallery entry. Soarin’ could explain later why he kept avoiding his friend.

It looked like Surprise was going to stay the whole time. She saluted Soarin’ Dash as he left. He bobbed his head in farewell and stepped into the early night air.

I should have just enough time.

~~~

Across the city, a tiny bell announced the new customer into the small shop. The ponies seated around tables looked in mild surprise at the fine blue stallion and in more surprise at his well-equipped entourage.

The pegasus took a seat at the counter.

“Hey, Pony Joe!”

7 - Doughnuts don't have any filler, just holes. Too bad this isn't a doughnut.

Soarin' was going to pace a groove in the floor.

Up and about again, Twilight Sparkle placed a small candle holder on a desk with blank paper, quill, and ink. "Soarin', if you're going to pace like that, go outside. It's like trying to watch Winona when Applejack goes out of town. I don't know how well you know Rainbow Dash, but even though she's a troublemaker, you can definitely trust her. Now go outside before you drive somepony crazy!"

He went and sat on his haunches outside the doorway for the sake of everypony's sanity. His gaze turned to the darkening sky. Shouldn't she be back by now? He didn't have his watch with him: no watch, no uniform, no nothing. Spike had been kind enough to make lunch for the two of them earlier, so at least he wasn't starving.

A multicolored pegasus grew from a speck on the horizon. He stood, brimming with energy and questions. The main one on his mind, though, was the whole reason he flew over here in the first place.

The wonderful, life-saving pony landed in front of him with gusto. She let her head hang slightly, breathing for air. He threw the words out as fast as he could while he still had the chance. "Wait Rainbow Dash before you say anything I have to know"

Wait? Rainbow Dash waited for no pony!

She raised her head and looked at him with cool triumph. "I did it!" She polished a hoof on her coat and blew it off. "I make a pretty good Soarin' if I do say so myself. Oh. Lighting Streak says he's sorry."

"Rainbow Dash, what did you do?" he asked hesitantly.

"Survived a mob of fan girls."

She really is a life saver.

"I think one of them kissed your hoof." She held out the leg in question and shook it, sticking her tongue out. "Bleeeh."

Soarin's expression was sympathetic. "Now that you know what the fans are like, do you still wanna join the team? I'm warning you, the colts are worse. Ask Spitfire."

Her stance snapped to the offensive. "No way am I giving up my dream!"

Soarin's ears tucked back in apology. Oh Thunder, did he admire her loyalty. "Then let me ask you what I've been trying to this whole time. Why didn't you come to the last Wonder Trials? Surprise even wrote you personally. Didn't you get our letters, or is your mail service that unreliable?"

"First of all, yes," said Rainbow Dash, "and secondly, if you wanted to know about why I didn’t come, why didn't you ask earlier?"

He didn't dignify irony with a response.

The fight went out of her. She turned to the side with uncharacteristic uncertainty. Beneath the ripple of hesitation, Soarin' thought he saw something more: fear.

"Dash..."

She shook it off. "You knew about the letters?" An exasperated kind of growl rumbled in her throat. She rubbed her forehead. "Sorry Soarin'. I'm too tired to talk about it now, and not near my other friends. Tell you what," a grin quirked the corner of her mouth. "You treat me to lunch in about a week, and I'll fess up. I know just the place.

I'm also going to wipe the dandy smile off Lightning Streak's face, because I know what you owe me for saving your tail from Spitfire and fan ponies and Luna knows what else. I think some personal flying lessons will do just fine. None of that lecture-y stuff, either!" The pegasus flipped open her wings. "I mean real flying."

"Deal." Soarin' took the chance to get back at Rapidfire for being so starchy about Rainbow Dash. Not a team flyer, huh? We'll see about that. "But I get to call the shots." They shook on it, each looking the other squarely in the eyes.

The sound of hooves coming across the plaza interrupted them. "Oh my Rainbow Dash, are you alright?" Something about the newcomer's Canteresque voice and refined figure were familiar, but he didn't recognize her. "Is this stallion bothering you?"

Rainbow Dash blinked at the white unicorn, her hoof still linked with Soarin’s. “What? Why would you think that?"

"It is just that you were staring at each other with such ferocity, I thought perhaps..." she trailed off into her thoughts. Soarin' surmised these were not nearly as pure as her coat, given the title of the book in the saddlebag closest to him. "Well then," the unicorn said, "it is a pleasure to meet you, Mister...?" She took a small, elegant bow and waited for the name.

"Soarin'," he finished. He placed her when he saw the subtle blue powder decorating her eyelids. The difference between her appearance and normal voice versus costumed, high-pitched screaming was so great he barely recognized her.

Miraculously, Rainbow Dash remembered to introduce her friend. "This is Rarity. You might remember her from the Best Young Flyer Competition. If you remember much about that after getting kicked in the head," she added with a nervous chuckle.

Rarity swished her styled purple mane. "So you are the Soarin' I injured in that unfortunate incident. I really must apologize. Falling to one's doom has a tendency to put a pony out of sorts. I hope I did not cause too much trouble."

Rainbow Dash butted in. "I got to see exactly how a black eye works. I always wondered about that. Soarin' had to leave to get it checked pretty quickly after the competition." Being kicked in the face by a pony was bad news.

The alabaster unicorn was all the more flustered by her friend’s comment. "I truly am sorry. If there is any way I can make it up to you, do not hesitate to ask."

Soarin' rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed by the lavish apologies. "It was a long time ago. I'm fine now."

"If you insist.” Rarity adjusted her saddle bags. “I shall leave you two to your staring contest. I absolutely must get the next book in the series I'm reading before Twilight closes for the night. Au revoir!" The white mare waited, poised, for her magic to open the library door. She entered and it closed behind her.

Soarin' spoke. "I think that's our cue to get some rest."

"Yeah, I'm beat," Rainbow Dash let out with a tired sigh. "Can we keep today between us? If any pony else knew, they'd ask questions I don't want to answer." She placed emphasis on the word "don't".

"As long as you don't tell Spitfire I'm an awesome librarian, it's between us.” Soarin’ raised an eyebrow and grinned cheekily. “By the way, what did it feel like-" he ducked the swipe and felt it breeze over his ears. The corners of Rainbow Dash's mouth were twitched up mischievously.

"Lucky." She put her hoof down. Craning her head, she lifted a travel bag from around her neck and passed it to him. It had his Wonderbolt suit inside. The earth scratched when she spun around to head home. "One more thing, Soarin'. You should turn your horseshoe of honor so the ends face up. Applejack told me a long time ago a horseshoe can't collect luck if it's facing down." The playful sidelong look she gave him made his hooves burn.

The first thing he did when he got home was fix his shoe.

~~~

"Dear Princess Celestia," Rainbow Dash recited to Spike. She tacked a party banner into place. "I found out friends sometimes. No wait, let me start over!" The frantic pegasus waved her forelegs in the air.

Spike sighed. "Okay." His red quill scratched off the words on the parchment again. "So far we've got 'Dear Princess Celestia'. Maybe you should just add 'Still Awesome, Rainbow Dash' and call it quits."

Pinkie Pie stopped tying up balloons and looked over with big, googly eyes. Her whole head was inside a red balloon. "I don't know Spike," she said, voice faint and echoey. "That doesn't sound like a very good letter."

"It was a joke," Spike said flatly.

"Oh. I get it! Heeheehee," Pinkie's balloon head giggled.

Rainbow Dash flew the streamer across the room and stamped a tack into that end. She laughed awkwardly. "It's a work in progress."

Fluttershy was gently arranging some colorful paper origami flowers on the library table. "Gee Rainbow Dash, it sounds like you're having a hard time concentrating. You know what always helps me concentrate? Looking at a nice tree." The sweet taffy pony smiled.

"Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash reminded her, "we're in a tree."

"Oh, yes," the other pegasus said bashfully. A squeaky pink blush tinged her cheeks.

"Ah guess that aint' the same as lookin at a tree - specially not an Apple family tree - but I don't think that'll help RD. I reckon she just hasn' learned her lesson yet." Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out at Applejack, who received the gesture with a cowgirl grin. The orange pony nosed one last board game into a stack at the opposite end of the room. Rainbow Dash had considered bringing Battle Cloud, but now the game made her think about the Wonderbolts. She left it at home.

Pinkie Pie expertly extracted her head from the red balloon, wrapped a string around the end, and let it float freely. Twilight's birthday party was ready.

~~~

Soarin' bucked the contents of his mind and let the adrenaline take over. Tunnel vision narrowed his focus to the cloudy track ahead. There was nothing else. No jokes or final words passed between his friends. Were they next to him? He didn't know. The preliminary cheers from the lower stands were nothing more than noise. In fact, the loudest thing he could hear was the silence of his breath. His wings were loaded for the flag like a compressed spring.

Black and white checkers came down. The world exploded into a fast track of white, blue, and lightning gold. He was a deadly pegasus bullet. There were no thoughts, only the animal feeling of powerful muscles beating wings so fast they appeared still. The world zoomed by in a ceaseless wave of color.

Time didn't exist. He was flying forever, just him and the blurs. His breath pounded out the strokes of his wings; his hooves touched nothing.

It was over.

His awareness snapped back to him as if he'd left it behind on the racetrack and it had just now caught up. Spitfire's flaming tail waved a length ahead of him, Fleetfoot's two. The flyers glided around the track to cool off and the rest of the Wonderbolts joined them for warm-up laps. Lightning Streak and Surprise's golden manes floated down to the outer ring and the two speedsters jostled for the spot closest to the crowd. Round and round they went.

Soarin's breath came in measured, satisfying puffs. Fleetfoot and Spitfire came down to speed and the three matched paces. "Hey Soarin'," said Spitfire, "just slow today, or are your wings full of all those sweets you eat?"

"I dunno Spitfire," he retorted, "It's hard to see the finish line around you, not with all the pies you've been scarfing down."

Rapidfire caught up to the trio. "I'll call that a tie."

A snowy white, flowing mane shook when Fleetfoot begged to differ. "There's no tie," she said. "They're both slower than me."

Rapidfire grinned. "She's got you there." Fleetfoot didn't win every race, but she was tough to beat. What did you expect from a pegasus with a winged hoof for a cutie mark? The featherweight pony didn't lack in muscle, and to top it off she had a special speed trick where she galloped in the air in tiny, perfectly timed bursts. Soarin' could never figure it out, even after she tried to show him how it worked.

Every Wonderbolt had their tricks. Some you could teach, and some, well, you either had it or you didn't.

Fleetfoot and Spitfire left to get place recognition and prep for the final race. Soarin' was about to follow them when Surprise interrupted. "Soarin', remind me," she chopped off the sentence and lapped him, "when we," another lap, "get back - I have - something - for you." She sped around again. "It's a," the blue-clad comet travelled the far end of the track in a split second and came close again.

Let me guess. "surprise?"

Surprise stopped dead in her tracks. "Hey, how did you know?"

~~~

"What do ya mean Rarity can't make it to the party?" Applejack demanded.

Fluttershy fussed with one end of her pink mane. "Poor Opal. I'm so worried.”

Twilight looked from one friend to the next. "It's as I said, right here." A single sheet of paper floated in purple magic next to her. It bore a faint, distinct fragrance. "I hope she's okay. She’s been in Canterlot for a few days now."

Pinkie Pie looked in dismay at all the decorations. "After all we did to get set up a day early, too. Fun isn't as fun unless everypony is smiling."

A thought smacked Rainbow Dash in the head. "Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't we take the party to Canterlot?" All eyes turned to the rainbow pegasus in bewilderment. She flapped in place in front of the party banner. "What?"

"But Rainbow Dash, you hate Canterlot," said Fluttershy emphatically. Hate was a strong word.

"Eh, it's not so bad. There are some cool things to see." She shrugged. Surrounded by party decorations in Twilight’s library home, all of Rainbow Dash’s friends continued to stare at her. Pinkie Pie reached over and closed Applejack's mouth.

Twilight was the first to break the stalemate. She held a purple hoof to her chin in thought. "Pinkie, would it be hard to move all this to Canterlot? I'm sure Celestia wouldn't mind if we ask to borrow the castle grounds for a party."

Still with an eye on Rainbow Dash in case she sprouted another tail, Pinkie gleefully commented, "No way! Moving this party is easy-peasy. Haven't you ever heard of a party cannon, silly?"

"Well, that settles it then." Twilight happily went into recitation mode. "Spike, take a letter."

"Aww, I just put that stuff away."

"Spike," Twilight complained.

"Alright, alright." The little dragon clambered up the stairs. A drawer slid open and papers shuffled as he retrieved a quill and parchment.

~~~

“Surprise!” Surprise shouted, unable to contain a fit of laughter after she slid the front page of the Equestrian Examiner over to Soarin’. He wanted to die of embarrassment, or maybe turn completely red, stay that way, change his name, and move to the other side of Equestria.

The front cover was a photo of him dangling unceremoniously from a cloud, wings hanging awkwardly, while Rainbow Dash clung to one of his hind legs. He read aloud, “Fast and Furious Ponyville Cloudchaser Gets Speedy with Soarin’.” Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark had been blurred out, which was hilarious because who wouldn’t recognize that mane and tail? Soarin’ could practically see the colors, even though the print was black and white.

Surprise rolled hysterically on the floor. “Your face Soarin’! I couldn’t wait to show you this. Did that actually happen? Oh, hahaha! I can’t breathe.” Tears welled along her purple eyes. “It’s so ridiculous, no paper except the tabloid would publish it!” The white ‘Bolt lay on her back and wheeled her legs in the air helplessly.

Soarin’ folded it up.

“No wait, that’s my copy!” Surprise couldn’t get up off the floor. She reached a forehoof out while still giggling. “It’ll take forever to find another one.”

“It’s mine now!” Soarin’ shot out of the room, turned the corner, and busted into his own room. He stashed the article in a drawer. After that he couldn’t contain his laughter anymore.

~~~

“LET’S PARTY!”

“Five!” Twilight bounced up into the air. “Six!” Who says unicorns can’t enjoy the freedom of flight? “Seven!” Between springs, Rainbow Dash managed to say, “I wonder if Luna does this for Celestia’s birthday? I bet it would take forever!”

Pinkie Pie’s parties were absolutely the best. Between the balloons and the birthday trampoline and the music, Rainbow Dash completely lost track of time. The friends stuffed slices of cake into their mouths like nopony’s business. Mmm. The athletic pegasus was about to lick a gob of cake off her hoof when she realized it would make great ammunition.

Slop! It slung right off her leg and plastered Fluttershy in the face. Rainbow Dash reloaded with deadly speed and nailed Applejack’s euphoric expression with an especially chocolatey piece of cake. Pink icing blended with Fluttershy’s mane; Applejack looked like a pig fresh out of the slop bucket.

“Wahahaha!” The only pegasus left flying burst with laughter. Her two friends down below looked so ridiculous. She peered over again to see their shell-shocked cake faces. Instead, she noticed Pinkie Pie. A half-eaten slice of cake sat firmly in one pink hoof. Why was she looking at her like that?

Applejack’s voice sounded ominously from somewhere behind Rainbow Dash. “Yeh thought we were gonna let you get away with that?”

Rainbow Dash smiled guiltily. “Eheheh. Oops?”

“As a friend of mine once said,” a pair of yellow hooves pulled her out of the safety of the air. Fluttershy’s eyes sparkled and she declared in her hushed voice, “afraid to get dirty?”

Cake pelted the grounded pegasus from all sides. The large confection dissolved into ponies on the floor laughing. Amidst the mirth, the music in the background shifted slightly to a chakka chakka chakka rhythm.

Fluttershy pushed a mass of cake off her head. “Ooh, I know this song.”

“Who doesn’t know this song?” the pink party master squealed. “Pony train!” Every pony except one shook off the remaining cake, much to Rarity’s dismay. The unicorn took a bit longer delicately removing the offending pastry with a kerchief. She ended up as the caboose.

Heh, Rarity’s touch is so light it’s like she’s not even here at all. “Chugga chugga woo-woo!” Rainbow Dash sang along without a care in Equestria.

When the song ended, Pinkie Pie led all of the friends to a set of suspended piñatas. “I saw these at a party once, and they’re really fun! Normally one of the ponies wears a blindfold while they try to hit it, but I figured we can have more fun if we all wear blindfolds!”

“Isn’ that a bit dangerous?” Applejack asked.

Pinkie Pie shrugged.

Game on! Rainbow Dash dug her teeth into the stick and took to the air to be sure she didn’t smack anything that was not a piñata. She slashed at the open space. After a few tries, she felt something just barely hook the edge of her swing. There! You don’t stand a chance against me now. She wound her neck and powered into a blow to the papery object. It cracked satisfyingly and a shower of small hard items rained on the floor below. The winner peeped under her blindfold to see a spray of candy on the floor. There were some random Pinkie Pie things in there: a bouncy ball, some plastic toys, a yellow bath duck. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Fluttershy surprised Rainbow Dash when a piñata baffed the yellow pegasus in the head and she swung at it in retaliation. The confetti fish burst open and pieces of fruit dropped out. Quick on her wings, Rainbow Dash caught a bunch of it in her arms before it hit the floor. “Hey, strawberries! These would go great in that chocolate fondue over there.” She piled the fruit onto a table and selected a juicy looking red berry.

Twilight took off her blindfold. “You’re right. I think I’ll try an apple slice.” A piece of Red Delicious (the apple, not the pony) levitated off the table and followed Twilight to the bowl of dipping chocolate. Pinkie Pie brought an entire peppermint lollipop.

Rainbow Dash quirked her mouth. “Ew, peppermint and chococolate?”

“What, you haven’t had peppermint and chocolate before? It’s the best!” Pinkie plunged the entire candy into the bowl, and then some. After the pink pony had reached a satisfactory level of chocolateyness, Rarity added something to the mix. Rainbow Dash didn’t recognize the piece of food at all. Her friend promptly spit it out. It was so unladylike, and so totally not Rarity.

She’s been acting like she’s got fire ants in her coat all day. Something’s definitely up with her.

There wasn’t much time to think about it because Rarity made a face and pointed at Applejack and Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash didn’t notice anything interesting. They were just having a lively discussion about apple blooms or something. Aw shoot. I can’t believe I just fell for the oldest trick in the book. Rarity was gone.

Actually, between her awesome dance moves and her regular awesomeness, Rainbow Dash noticed Rarity kept disappearing. The white unicorn suddenly showed up in the middle of a game of don’t let it touch the ground, this time with a small mallet in her mouth. Doesn’t she know how to play this game? You don’t need anything to hit the balloon with, just your hooves.

Rainbow Dash caught the pink balloon. “Uh, what’s with the croquet mallet?”

“Wfhat croquet mawwet?”

“Duh, the one in your mouth.”

It clattered on the ground. “Oh, that croquet mallet! I, well I, you know the truth is, the truth is.”

Is what? You really like croquet?

Twilight asked curiously, “Were you at that other party in the garden?”

Rainbow Dash looked out the window. The all too familiar scene of dressed up, carefully tailored ponies with tiny morsels of food on platters lived itself out on the other side of the pane. That explains where she kept running off to. Rarity loves that kind of stuff. I don’t see any Wonderbolts at that party, though. Bo-ring!

Twilight said something about Rarity going to the other party, and the fashionista trotted off happily towards the exit.

Rainbow Dash clacked her hooves together with determination. I think they need us to show them how to party, Ponyville style! She caught Rarity before she made it out the door. “Hey, wait up! We’re your friends. I’m sure they won’t mind if we check out the party too.”

~~~

One of the inner cloud hallways at headquarters was lined, single-file, with portraits of all of the active Wonderbolts. A portrait of every past Wonderbolt dotted the opposite wall in the same hallway. There were a lot of them. A pony had to be careful not to look too long, or else they’d start feeling nostalgic.

Fleetfoot unhooked Rapidfire’s portrait and waited for Spitfire to flap over with a picture of a certain blue-maned pegasus in tow. Soarin' pumped a foreleg triumphantly. “Aaalright, movin’ on up.” Rapidfire’s image ended up in the seventh slot. If you didn’t make it into the final round of the derby for long enough, your picture could drift down to the very last spot on the wall. It was tough to be constantly reminded you were in last place, but it didn’t matter much. No ‘Bolt ever stayed there for long.

High Winds massaged her tousled, double blue-shaded mane and looked forlornly at her picture on the very end. Her high-pitched but pleasant sing-song voice sighed, “Oh well. It’s the end of the line for me.”

Rapidfire snorted when his ranking dropped. “Battlecloud for third, Soarin’.”

“No way! It’s about time I got ahead of Spitfire.” He’d just barely managed to nose ahead of the flame at the end.

Spitfire’s sunset coat rippled when she turned after setting the final picture order. “Better luck next time, Rapids. He’s not going to give up this small victory.” She landed with a clack on the floor and her brown eyes slid to the side. “I might be willing to give up fourth for a few bales of hay.”

Rapidfire was stunned. “A few bales of hay?” He grumbled and ran the calculations in his head. “Gah, I’ll just win my place back in the next derby.”

Soarin’ said, “That’s better for Spitfire. Every time she eats hay it all goes up into her brain.” He swirled his hooves around his head. The fiery mare chuckled.

Rapidfire looked at the line of portraits, obviously trying to plot which of the other leaders might give in and compete with him for a better spot on the wall. “Thirty-seven to fourty-two. That’s the first time Soarin’s ever been within five points this late in the game.”

Lightning Streak paffed into the hallway in cloud slippers. “Aw man, looks like it’ll be a close un. Maybe oi shoulda wagered on Soarin’.”

Soarin’s head drew back in surprise. “What, you guys are betting on us now?” Rapidfire and Lightning Streak’s eyes flicked to each other and then away.

“Anyway,” Lightning Streak tried to derail the topic, “I brought this for yeh mate, jus loik oi said oi would.” The distraction worked because the stallion procured a beautiful doughnut. Soarin’s green eyes dilated in wonder. If it tasted anything like it looked…

It’s a trap. “For me? Why?”

Lightning Streak looked at him quizzically. “Remember, yeh said oi owed ya a confection-loik thing back at the gallery, so here it is. A fan gave it to me, but really oi think she wanted you to have it. She was a bit shy.”

Soarin’ swallowed. “I think I only know one guy who could make a doughnut like that.”

“C’mon mate, where else would oi get it from?”

High Winds nickered. “I dou nut know.”

Soarin’ had to eat the doughnut while it was still fresh.

The doughnut. It was the most perfect, simple glazed doughnut he had ever seen. Light and fluffy dough formed a squareish ring cooked to golden perfection. A softer white seam circled the pastry. The sheen of tasty clear sugar glaze covered every inch of the smooth dough with perfect evenness. It was puffy to the touch, like a cloud.

He bit into it.

The bite of doughnut seemed to both melt in his mouth and stay solid, dissolving into deliciousness when he chewed. Soft dough was balanced flawlessly with the subtle texture of the sugar glaze. He was filled with joy. It was the purest, most honest kind of joy: the kind you get from a very simple thing. The kind of joy that made you spread your wings and lift into the sky because your heart became so light you could barely contain it.

Dash, I’m going to get you into the Wonderbolts, I swear.

~~~

That didn’t go as well as she’d hoped. Also, croquet was a dumb game.

“You… know these ponies?” A very classy stallion had singled out Twilight because of the dress she was wearing. His question was directed at Rarity. Some of the elites murmured in disdain.

Rarity turned her back on Twilight and walked away. Two of the upper crust ponies allowed themselves smug smiles, as if they’d just won a prize.

Oh no you don’t! This isn’t over yet.

“Yes. Yes, I do know them,” Rarity said before Rainbow Dash could start to pull punches. The herd gasped. Dash rolled her eyes. So melodramatic. She recognized the white stallion with a shock of blue mane standing a little further back in the crowd. He stared at her from a distance, wide-eyed through the entire conversation. Never thought you’d see me in anything other than a painting after ruining the castle ballroom, huh?

“How about you introduce me to your friends,” suggested Fancypants.

“With pleasure,” Rarity responded. “Fancypants, this is Twilight. She is studying under the Princess’ guidance.”

“It’s very nice to meet you,” Twilight said kindly.

Rarity introduced the others. “And this is Rainbow Dash.”

“Ah, yes, the Wonderbolts’ trainer.”

Rainbow Dash’s legs locked up. Rarity stopped the cordial stallion before he could say more. “That’s, well I mean, she’s not really the Wonderbolts’ trainer.”

Fancypants laughed good-naturedly. “Now look what you’ve done to your poor friend, Rarity. She is at a loss for words it seems.”

8 - Do Not

“Is there any pegasus better than Soarin’?”

“I do not think so.”

Soarin’ ignored the commentators and selected a fresh bunch of asparagus from the market stand. He added the green stalks to his Wonderbolt saddlebags and took them back with him to headquarters. The kitchen had a bigger refrigerator than the one in his suite and space where he could store the new snacks.

Three other ‘Bolts were having drinks at the kitchen island when he got there. Soarin’ dumped the contents of his bags onto the counter across from the trio.

“Aww sick. Are you gonna eat that?” Spitfire looked incredulously at the long, thin vegetables.

“Heck yes! I’ve got a taste for asparagus now. Hated it as a colt, though. If you cook it too long it’ll turn into a gooey, stringy, mushy mess of sweet green glop.” He drew out the last part in detail, sticking Spitfire with every word. She shuddered and made a bleh face. Rapidfire and High Winds were immune to the grossness of the asparagus.

High Winds’ mug ground on the countertop as she pushed it away. “Soarin’, did you know we got a new trainer? I hear she’s very dashing.”

Soarin’ loaded a few things into the fridge. “I said I was going to train her, not trainer.”

“No, this was a rumor I heard. Of course, I took the knife out of it before it could spread.”

Great. Another piece of gossip running amok. Ah, well, it happened every few weeks or so. That was the problem with being located so close to Canterlot. Every place in Equestria had its own crazy thing. “You don’t think any pony else will get confused?” he asked High Winds.

“I do not think so.” High Winds and Spitfire exchanged snarky grins, like they had an inside joke. Soarin’ didn’t get it.

Rapidfire’s deep gray muzzle tipped towards the clock on the kitchen wall. “Say, Soarin’, aren’t you going to be late to your date with Dash?”

Soarin’ cuffed his own ears in frustration. “Argh! It’s not a date! Neither of us even realized Hearts and Hooves day was exactly a week away when we set up a time to have lunch. Who even goes around thinking about that stuff anyway?”

High Winds made a face that showed she agreed. “Hearts and Hooves Day is the bane of every single pony’s existence.”

“Nice double entendre High Winds,” said Rapidfire.

“Thank you.”

Soarin’ saw Rainbow Dash coming long before she caught up to him. He hovered in the air space above the tiled roof of Pony Joe’s shop. Every so often a passerby would recognize him and wave, despite the lack of his Wonderbolt outfit. He could pick up fragments of conversations, like “Is that Soarin’?” and “I do not know,” followed by a fit of giggles. He tried to smooth down the part of his mane that always stuck up. It sprang back into place.

“Hey Rainbow Dash,” he shouted over the distance, “think you can move any faster?”

Suddenly she was in front of him. “Like this?” She beamed arrogantly.

He was impressed, but he kept playing his game. He pawed the air. “You’re late! You were supposed to be at the practice field an hour ago to put us through our paces. What kind of a trainer misses their first day?” The reaction he hoped for was comic shock of some sort, but instead Rainbow Dash radiated embarrassment.

“You heard about that? None of the Wonderbolts are upset, are they?”

Soarin’ chuckled. “You mean about some silly Canterlot gossip, or in general? 'Cuz Rapidfire is pretty grumpy all the time." He mentally recorded that one for future use on Spitfire. It had to be good for a point or two. "Ready to get lunch?”

“I do not think so,” Dash said cheekily.

Even though he was flying, he managed to throw his hooves up in the air. “Not you too. Why does everypony keep saying that? You all sound funny when you do it.”

Rainbow Dash floated down to the storefront and landed neatly on the cobblestones. He followed suit. She faced him and jabbed a back hoof at a decal on Pony Joe’s glass double doors. “I got you a new catchphrase.” She started laughing at his dumbfounded expression, or the gag she’d pulled off, or both. “Isn’t it lame? It’s gonna take you forever to shake this one. Ponies will be quoting it back to you for months!”

It was impossible to miss. The large, colorful image of Soarin' in his Wonderbolt outfit emblazoned the doughnut shop door. In one hoof he held a scrumptious looking doughnut. As his head and neck filled the greater part of the corner of the poster, it was easy to see the look on his face. How would he describe it? With one eyebrow cocked, his expression was equally daring as it was sultry. Big block letters stamped out the words “Is there anything better? I do-nut think so” in the upper corner of the whole prank.

Soarin’ groaned and put his head in his hooves. “That is the worst pun ever. High Winds will never let me live this one down.” He peered through the crack between his self-made blindfold. “I don’t even think I can make that face.”

“Nonononono, you have to try. It’ll be a riot.” Rainbow Dash pushed Soarin’ up to the doors. She lined herself in front of him like she was going to coach flight school. “Great! Now give me your second best daredevil grin. Come on, don’t look so shocked. We’re having some fun for all of the bored ponies in Canterlot.”

Now that certainly was a challenge. He narrowed his gaze and grinned.

“Okay, now bring that left eyebrow down a little more. Whoops, I mean your left. Come on, put some fire into it Soarin’! You gotta be absolutely confident. Think of how it feels to win a race. Like that, except fold your wings down. You have to be the cool guy without using your wings. See? Ha, I didn’t think you could do it. Now tip your head a little more – awesome!”

He felt like a superstar posed there with the spring wind blowing through his mane. Rainbow Dash gave him a hooves up. She had been snickering though much of the process to get him to his current position, but at that moment she was quiet. “Hey, you actually look kinda cool, you know? Let’s get some doughnuts and sandwiches now. Uh, Soarin’?” He hadn’t moved.

“I think my face is stuck.”

Her magenta eyes went wide. “What?”

“Psych!” He let himself relax. “Got ya.”

The shop bell chimed when Rainbow Dash pushed the door open and let them into the room. The place was packed with ponies enjoying sandwiches and doughnut snacks – more so than usual. They didn’t even take notice of the two new customers.

Pony Joe greeted them at the counter. “Hey Soarin’! I’m surprised you didn’t come back sooner after you brought that herd of camera ponies in here last time.”

“Oh,” Soarin’ said with a sly side look at Rainbow Dash, “I didn’t want to get overrun by fans, so I thought I’d wait it out.”

Joe turned his attention to Soarin’s multicolored companion. “Rainbow Dash! I haven’t seen you since the last Grand Galloping Gala. How ya been? What’re you doing with this guy? He’s nothing but trouble.” It only took the doughnut maker one more good look at the rebellious rainbow mare to reconsider. “Come to think of it, maybe somepony oughta keep you two apart.”

While Rainbow Dash rapidly caught Pony Joe up on the latest Ponyville disasters, a completely average earth pony behind the counter came over to their end of the bar. Soarin’ recognized him, but he couldn’t remember the stallion’s name at all, just that his cutie mark was a sandwich speared with a green olive. The plain brown pony worked here in the afternoons so there would be more to eat for lunch besides dessert. There was really nothing remarkable about him, except for the fact he was so amazingly average he stuck out like a loose horseshoe. “C’mon now Joe, let these two order a’fore the next wave of ponies gets here,” sandwich guy said in an everyday friendly way.

They ordered their sandwiches and doughnuts. Rainbow Dash collected their food into two separate paper bags while Soarin’ piled some bits on the counter. Neither of them planned to eat in the crowded shop, so with a parting wave they pushed out the glass doors and took to the sky. Rainbow Dash passed him the sandwiches and pulled up a cloud for them. They sat and ate, watching the ponies on the ground below and talking about whatever.

He said, “I hear no pegasus has seen Luna in a few weeks. Wonder where she got off to?”

“The moon still comes up every night, though, doesn’t it?”

“Well yeah, but how do we know Celestia isn’t the one bringing it up?”

The brighter blue pegasus thought about it. “Yeah, what if Celestia is covering for Luna while she goes on some super secret mission?”

“Nah,” they both said at the same time. Secretly, in the back of his mind he thought it might still be true. The dark princess had been quiet and secretive ever since her return. She had to be doing something besides raising the moon. On the rare night flights when he spotted her standing on the highest balcony of Canterlot Castle, she always looked healthier than the last time he saw her. She had been so small and scrawny and dull the evening she returned with Celestia all those moons ago.

Soarin’ was out of sandwich. “Alright Rainbow Dash, now you owe me an answer.” He dug his hoof into the other paper bag and pulled out a doughnut with pink frosting on top. It was a little squished from the paper wrapping separating it from the other pastries, but he didn’t mind. He removed the wrapper and some of the frosting peeled off onto it. Man, that always happens.

His friend kicked some bread crumbs off the cloud and watched them fall to the ground. She looked around to see if other pegasi were nearby. “Fine. But first you gotta Pinkie Promise me you won’t tell my friends about this.”

“Pinkie Promise? What’s that?”

“Oh you know, cross your heart, hope to die, stick a cupcake in your eye. I don’t have a cupcake right now, so I just do this.” She covered one eye with her blue hoof.

“I think we need a cupcake.”

Her tail swished spiritedly. “Shut up and eat your doughnut!”

Rainbow Dash began, “This might be surprising, but ever since I was a filly I wanted to be a Wonderbolt.”

x x x

I liked it. A lot.

The tiny, stubby filly’s mane spilled out into a rainbow behind her. She pierced the sky and beat the feathers off those two losers who’d been ganging up on that long-legged yellow pegasus. Rainbow Dash was fine with them picking on her. She could take it. It was when they teased other pegasi that she felt a spark to step in.

She sure had outdone herself this time. She’d never flown like this before. Cheering caught her ears as she raced into the distance. The speed, the adrenaline, it was incredible!

"Whoa," said Soarin'.

"Soarin', what're you doing in my flashback? You don't belong in here. Shoo, shoo!"

Over the next few days at summer flight camp she started to realize something. The flight instructors were always saying sappy stuff like, “You can do anything if you put your mind to it,” which was totally dumb because an earth pony couldn’t turn into a unicorn just because they tried really hard. Duh. I mean, come on.

She had always felt like she really could do anything if she wanted to, though there was one thing she hadn’t even considered until now: being a Wonderbolt. The Wonderbolts were the single most amazing flying team in all of Equestria. They were so exciting to watch that she’d never even thought about joining the team. Now that she knew she could fly like that too, that possibility was suddenly in her mind. She wanted to be the best. She wanted to be a Wonderbolt.

x x x

“After that day, I started to take my flying seriously. Summer camp got really boring because I was so far ahead of my classmates. Sometimes the cool teachers gave me more challenging tricks to do on the side. I was so excited to show off in class, but at the same time it made some of the students really jealous. I tried to hide how good I was so the others wouldn’t feel bad, but I still got picked on a lot. You know how foals are.

I didn’t know exactly how to get an invitation to the Wonderbolts, so I just kept flying. I took a job in Cloudsdale on the weather team because I knew I’d get the chance to deal with tornadoes and stuff, things where I had to fly fast. I became the team leader for the area around Ponyville, but I wasn’t a very good leader. It seemed like I was always sending the wrong pegasus to do the wrong job.”

Rainbow Dash puffed up her cheeks. “Okay, I’m still not a very good leader. It’s hard to organize so many ponies when I know I could get it done faster by myself.

Anyway,” she continued where she’d left off, “that’s when I got the invitation.”

x x x

Rainbow Dash’s heart stopped.

“Derpy, are you sure you didn’t get my mail mixed up again?”

“Nope! This one’s for you Rainbow Dash.”

She grabbed the envelope and rushed inside, breaking the winged seal and tearing the envelope open. Her eyes raced across the single page.

Her heart started beating again and she took an impossibly deep breath. “A Wonderbolt! I’m going to be a Wonderbolt!” Before her mind could catch up with her, she was dancing and bucking the air and rolling on the floor and doing backflips in the sky. The letter was a little worse for wear after that, but the words were still on it.

I have to tell Fluttershy! No wait I have to tell Applejack! What about Gilda? Ohmygosh which way do I go? Her chest felt like it was going to burst with elation as she zipped haltingly back and forth in the sky, undecided. The letter was clutched in her hoof.

Understanding hit her like an adult dragon’s fist. I’m not a Wonderbolt yet. I still have to pass the Wonder Trial.

What if I fail?

What if I… succeed?

x x x

“And that’s just it. If I succeed, Soarin’, then what do I have left? What happens at the end of a dream? There’s not anything more to strive for. It will all be over.

I don’t want it to be over.”

She spread her wings and looked away.

How many of us have the chance to reach the end of the road we’ve followed for so long?

“Dash, let me tell you something someone told me a long time ago.” He too looked away. “There’s always more.”

"Come on Soarin, nopony really believes that."

He'd have to show her. "Follow me." He nabbed the paper bags in his mouth and took off.

"Huh? Hey, wait up!" Rainbow Dash trailed behind him.

Soarin' landed at the base of the mountain range by Canterlot Castle. His friend looked around, confused as to what they were doing here. The stark gray rocks loomed above them, blotting out the sky. He pointed way up to a towering mountain nearby that speared the sky. "I'll race you to the top of that mountain peak to prove I'm right," he challenged. Setting the doughnuts down, he faced the monstrous rock and got ready to fly.

Rainbow Dash's eyes focused on the top of the mountain with utter determination. "Oh yeah? You're not gonna beat me that easily." Blue wings flashed open and she settled into a starting position, gaze never wavering from the imaginary finishing line.

"When I say three. One, two, THREE!"

They both erupted into the sky. He wasn't dead set on winning the race, but even so he had to flap hard just to keep up with her. The two pegasi crested the mountain in a matter of seconds. A rainbow circled into a loop as Rainbow Dash did a victory flip. "Yes! I win!"

He folded his legs smugly. "I didn't say the winner was right; I said I'd race you to prove I was. Look." He turned his head to the land on the other side of Equestria spreading out before them. It was impossible to see from the ground with the mountains in the way. “When you fly to the top of a mountain, the only thing you notice is the peak. It’s not until you get there that you see the other side."

The mare's gaze swept the scenery as those words sunk in. She'd been so focused on getting to the top of the mountain, it hadn't occurred to her there was an entire landscape on the other side she couldn't see before.

"Regular ponies let their fears keep them from doing what they truly want. You’re not a regular pony, Dash.”

The light reflected on the violet flecks in her eyes, and she smiled. “Thanks Soarin’.”

They went back to their cloud above Pony Joe's and ate doughnuts, watching the pony folk come and go. You could invent stories for different ponies about what they were doing or where they were headed. Another fun version of this was to explain how they got their cutie marks. It was like cloud gazing for pegasi.

Soarin' munched on the last bit of a glazed doughnut. “Say, what happens if you break a Pinkie Promise?”

Rainbow Dash crouched low on the cloud and looked around. She whispered, “Don’t say that! If you break a Pinkie Promise, Pinkie Pie will ‘get’ you.”

He didn’t know what that meant, but it sounded ominous. “’Get’ me?”

“Seriously Soarin’. Don’t break a Pinkie Promise.” Rainbow Dash was casting around like the pink earth pony might pop out of nowhere, despite the fact they were on a cloud in the middle of the air. The otherwise unshakable pegasus’ antics made him believe it might actually happen.

Soarin’ was on the way back to the Wonderbolts’ camp after spending the rest of the evening flying solo around Equestria when he bumped into a familiar face. The fit flyer was outfitted in a posh black tuxedo. A dazzling pegasus mare flew at his wing.

“Soarin’! How was your date, mate?” Lightning Streak asked.

“It wasn’t a date!”

“I do-nut believe that.”

Soarin' groaned and smacked a forehoof to his head.

9 - Fleetfoot steals a pun

Rainbow Dash's wings flared out. She’d had enough of this. “That's it, Soarin! I'm gonna take you down.“ She snorted furiously, something she’d learned from the buffalo, and scraped a hoof deliberately across the cloud. It cut an angry furrow.

"Downtown for apple pie, maybe." Soarin' looked so sure of himself. He didn't even bother to keep his eyes open for her attack.

"Not a chance." She raised her hoof with menace. It slammed down on the table, jittering the pieces. "Cloud nine, again."

Still with his eyes closed, Soarin' dipped his head to the board and removed his weatherpony. He picked up a red peg and stuck it on the same square with smoothness and nonchalance.

Now she just had to get all his other pieces, except the bumble bee. She'd been lucky and stung that earlier. She decided to shift her seagull one space to the right.

Soarin’ looked thoughtful. “Sky six.”

"Sea Ponies!" Rainbow Dash cursed, flicking her seagull back into the box.

"Woo!" Soarin' threw his hooves in the air. Gradually he tipped backwards, farther and farther until he fell over the edge of the cloud and disappeared. A second later he came flying back up. "Now that we both know who the true Battlecloud king is, how about some flying?"

She hadn't won a single game that day, not with the Wonderbolt house rules. Flying sounded like a good change of pace. "I'm warning you Soarin’, you better keep a close eye on your crown. I don't plan to lose next time."

Even though her house was off the beaten path, Soarin’ evidently had plans to practice elsewhere. She followed his blue tail out over the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres, now peppered with apple blooms. Based on their flight path, ‘elsewhere’ was an even more remote flight zone than her home. Dark treetops blanketed the distance. Even in the warm, sunny weather with chirping birds and a basket of Fluttershy bunnies, the trees looked ominous. Rainbow Dash gulped.

“Soarin’, you know that’s the Everfree Forest, right?”

He looked back over his shoulder at her. His face went in and out of view between the fan of his wings. “Yeah. We won’t have to worry about hitting any innocent byflyers out here. Plus, there’s tons of cloud material to work with.” Disobedient cloud material, but Soarin’s carefree tone said he knew what he was doing. He could also be crazy. Rainbow Dash contemplated this possibility.

The shadowy woods swallowed the last stretch of safe ground. Everything below was unfamiliar territory, and the skies looked strange, full of blotted puffs. It wasn’t her favorite flying area, to say the least in as sarcastic a way as possible. The clouds here were sticky. It took exacting control of pegasus magic to deal with them: too much and they stuck to you like gum; too little and you’d slip right through them.

Rainbow Dash scoured the ground below, but it was hard to see anything through the thick canopy. “What if we run into banished ponies out here?”

“Banished ponies?” Soarin’ pulled up beside her for a moment. “Heh, RD, ya know the Princess doesn’t banish ponies.” He snapped his teeth together. “She chops their tails off.” He flew ahead with a burst of speed.

“And then she banishes them! Wait, which Princess are you talking about?”

Even off-color jokes did nothing to lessen the disturbing presence of the forest. She snorted down at it disrespectfully.

They stopped far above a creepy clearing near one of the river tributaries that ran through the woods. The only thing in the clearing was grass. Mist floated across the strangely empty meadow, obscuring the ground from view where it passed.

Soarin’ looked down. “I was wondering if I could find this place. The fog can get so thick down there you’d never know it was a clearing at all.” He reached into one of the soupy clouds and drew out a gob of pinkish fluff bigger than a pony. “I’d tell you to show me everything you got, but I already know. Fleetfoot told me all of your moves.” He slashed his tail at the cloud gob, cleaving it cleanly in two. A passable gap separated each half.

Rainbow Dash knocked one forehoof against the other decisively. “So somepony has been spying on me! I knew it! I can’t wait to tell Twilight I’m not some paranoid spy fanatic.” I can't believe I thought it was her at first. Twilight would make a terrible spy.

Soarin’ crafted more of the weird empty sandwich clouds and then plopped down on a flat cloud further off. She joined him. Her Wonderbolt friend said, “We’re going to start with the basics. You fly through those clouds over there while I eat this cherry fritter.” He held out a rectangular, crispy golden baked good to show he was serious.

“The basics,” Rainbow Dash whined, “I want to learn the hard stuff!” Her friend held the pastry to his nose. Fritter-moustache Soarin’ gazed patiently at her with large green eyes, combating her complaining with silence. “Fine! Let’s get this over with.”

When she took a second to look at the task, she realized it wasn’t easy at all. The cloud balls were spaced apart in a straight line. It was a tight pass through every cloud, and the gaps between each gradually mimicked a 360° rotation; a single, perfect barrel roll. It would’ve been challenging just to fly through the tiny gaps without turning. Soarin’ wasn’t taking her lightly.

Hmph! Watch this.

She leapt up to give it a shot and fell flat on her face. The gummy cloud surface was sticking to her feet. It had snapped her right back onto the cloud, and now it was on her face, too. She peeled herself off the treacherous thing and spit out pieces of cloud puff.

Okay, now watch this.

Rainbow Dash rushed up to the sun and plummeted down to Soarin’s hoofmade clouds. She needed enough momentum to not have to flap. Slightly pink-tinged clouds rapidly grew in size, filling her vision. Her wings splayed flat open and she whisked neatly through the goal, willing her body to rotate for the next one. She was through it already. Voom voom voom – the closeness of the clouds echoed in her ears as she rushed through them. The world tilted on its side.

Her wingtip snagged on something. Everything around her went out of control. No, she was the one out of control. Through the spinning she could see rainbow wisps of her tail, or was that her mane? She managed to grapple one of the many passing clouds and bring herself to a stop.

Soarin’ yelled down at her with added emphasis, “MMM, This cherry fritter is SO good!”

Rainbow Dash growled and pulled herself off the safety net. If I can’t make it the first time, I better make sure my technique is perfect before I try that again. She glared at the traitorous feather, which was now but a blue speck on the checkpoint she’d hit. Unless I want my wings to be bald.

On the next few passes, rather than attempt the cloud rigging again, she flew beside it and did the slow barrel roll until she thought she had it right. Now to try arrowing through the course again.

Bam! Whoosh! She’d messed up again. At least this time she’d let her cloud magic set properly, so she didn’t lose any feathers. She was tempted to concentrate and turn the magic off, but if she did, Soarin’ would notice her floundering failures for sure when she touched the cloud and it was whipped away by her wings passing through it. Grr.

“Hey Dash, that’s enough for now!”

“But I haven’t even done it yet!” He waved her over anyway.

Soarin’ nodded when she got there. “That’s why you should come here and practice every other day until next week. I want you to set different courses, too. What I put together today will be gone, and it’s going to be too easy anyway.” Soarin’ stood and cracked his wings. “Alright! I’m tired of sitting here. You see that cloud over there?” He pointed to a cumulus darkening a swath of the forest. “Let’s fight it.”

“Pfff, that?” The cloud was massive. It would take a pegasus hours to clear it on their own, if it were a normal cloud outside the Everfree forest. “I can handle that myself.”

Soarin’s mane swayed to and fro. “That’s not the point. You think I couldn’t handle it myself?” She hadn’t thought of that. “So tell me what to do.”

Rainbow Dash shrank. “You want me to tell you, a Wonderbolt, what to do?”

“Well yeah, sure,” Soarin’s eyes betrayed a flicker of surprise. Had he forgotten what he was? “Don’t think of me as a Wonderbolt; think of me as a teammate. You can start by considering what I’m good at, and then tell me to do it. Admit it: there are some things I’m more specialized at than you are.”

The turquoise mare shoved him lightly. “As if,” she said noncommittally, or rather muttered because she wasn’t thinking about the jest. Instead, her thoughts were trained on what she knew about Soarin’. He seems to be unusually good at cloud shaping, even though I didn’t know that about him before. What else? She traced hours of joyful – and perhaps not pointless after all – magazine reading and fan-based research and observation. Twilight must be rubbing off on me. Cloud manipulation, cloud tricks, lightning, competitive speed, and the entire arsenal of Wonderbolt maneuvers. Oh, and teamwork. He doesn’t do many solo performances. But all of the Wonderbolts must have sharp team sense, or how else would they fly together so perfectly?

Her eyes shifted to Soarin’. She was starting to see what he was getting at. “Do a grid pattern and slice that thing into pieces that big,” she pointed at a nearby cloud she knew she’d be able to clear with a little extra effort. “I’ll follow behind and start kicking the pieces to mist. After you’re done you can join me.”

Soarin’s focus clicked, and she knew she’d done the right thing. He nestled into a competitive takeoff position. “I’ll bet we can’t get it done very fast.”

She lined up and spread her wings. With a grin, she knowingly took the baited comment. “Oh yeah? I bet we get it done in an hour. Go!”

Soarin’ flashed ahead of her and scored lines in the cloud from top to bottom, side to side, breaking it into chunks. Rainbow Dash broke a sweat bucking the heavy, resistant clouds. Sometimes it took two or three kicks. Mist plastered her mane to her neck, colors flowing off her like runny paints. The water vapor slowly descended to the ground below.

They finished in just over an hour. “Bad luck,” said Soarin’. His waterlogged mane flopped over his eyes, making his goofy smile even more absurd. Actually, they probably both looked equally silly. “Anything you would do different?”

Rainbow Dash peered through clumped strands of redorangeyellow, ignoring the slight ache in her tendons. “Yeah, make you do all the work.” She looked down at the Everfree Forest clearing, which was now completely obscured by a blanket of fog rising to the treetops. “Congratulations Soarin’, we officially made this place creepier than it was when we got here.”

Soarin’ stretched. “Good work today. Now all you’ve got to do is clear the rest of this sky.”

She didn’t flinch. It went without saying that this was an insane task. “Why?”

“Because it’s dirty.” He paused. “No really, it will get your strength up. Every day after you run the cloud mazes, clear the whole sky here. It’s a lot to ask, so if you can’t handle it…”

“I can handle it!” she interrupted quickly, banishing her inner mind before it could protest over the loss of sleep and soreness that would come as a result of the self-confident remark.

Soarin’ checked the position of the sun. “Don’t stay out here after dark.”

“No need to tell me that. This place freaks me out.” They waved goodbye, and Soarin’ headed for Canterlot, leaving Rainbow Dash with a bunch of lumpy clouds. She kicked one.

“Dumb cloud.”

Rainbow Dash ground her teeth at the slow, purposeful wing strokes it took to get over Ponyville. Everything aches, but if I keep thinking about it, it’ll only ache more. I have to focus on something else, come on, anything. I wonder what Fluttershy’s been up to? She feeds Angel a lot, so maybe she did that all week. Even my cutie mark is sore. No – now I’m thinking about it again!

As she approached the restaurant, Rainbow Dash saw five distinct ponies seated around one of the umbrella-shaded tables. It looked like this was the first time in a while everypony was able to make it at the same time. She swooped right over the fence and landed directly on an open, short-legged stool at the table. It rocked forward a little with the sudden occupant.

Rarity was the first to notice her smooth entrance. "Rainbow Dash, it's so good to see you. I'm glad you could make it."

"Yeah," said Pinkie Pie, peering over a menu. "We were all about to share our Hearts and Hooves day stories, and I'm super duper curious about where you were all day last week." Her eyes narrowed with detective mischief. "So where were you last Tuesday, at about half-past sunhigh and two shakes of a ponytail?"

"It was nothing special. I just ate lunch and did some flying and stuff," she evaded.

Pinkie Pie snapped to cheerfulness and was about to let Dash off the hook when a certain gossip guru pushed the earth pony's menu in front of her nose, effectively muffling the "okay." "Oh come now, surely you did not eat lunch by yourself?" Rarity inquired. There was no escaping her keen eye when it came to pony relations.

"No," Rainbow Dash begrudged. "I didn't want to tell you because you'd think it was a date, and it totally wasn't. I went with Soarin' so he could train me for this year's Wonder Trial. I did the first training exercises yesterday." The whole table ooo'ed. "Guys!"

Rarity’s long, dark eyelashes fluttered. "If you ask me, I think he likes you. Why else would he be assisting you?"

Rainbow Dash rolled the bottom of her empty water glass on the table. "Probably some weird bet with Spitfire." Rarity ignored the snide remark and smiled like she knew something Rainbow Dash didn’t.

Their server took Pinkie Pie's order for pink lemonade and went around the circle, taking other requests. Twilight asked for a daisy sandwich before turning the conversation. "What about you, Rarity?"

"Me? Why, naturally I turned down all the invitations I received. I had an order straight from Canterlot that I simply could not ignore."

Twilight nodded. "I completely understand. I had a book I couldn't put down! Literally!" Nopony seemed to pay particular attention to the last bit. “No, seriously girls, it was stuck to my hooves.” Her tone turned sour. “Ssspike,” she managed to hiss and growl at the same time, “put some kind of glue on it. It took me a whole day of research to figure out how to get it off.”

Rainbow Dash imagined Twilight clomping around the library with her forehooves pasted to a book.

Applejack's attention had been caught by a stiff menu sitting at the seat next to her. "Hey sugar cube, ya know we can still see yeh’re here even if you keep holdin that fancy bit o paper in front of you like that, right?”

Even the waiter pony knew better than to try to take the menu from the yellow mare's grasp after she'd ordered an iced tea. Not with the way her hooves clenched it.

"Okay," Fluttershy said, lowering her barricade. "I didn't want to interrupt, so please go on."

The five put pressure on her by not saying anything.

"Well, um, my Hearts and Hooves day was very nice." A practically imperceptible pink tinged her cheeks. "The pony I spent it with was... nice." She avoided making eye contact with anyone.

After a prolonged silence, Pinkie Pie asked, "Arent' you gonna tell us who it was?"

"Uhm." Fluttershy sank in her chair. "No."

Laughing, Applejack gave the startled pegasus a hardy smack on the back. "Well good fer you Fluttershy. Ah might be a mite jealous of you. The pony I wanted to spend time with is already taken, so I ain't giving you no block of salt when I say don let the good ones slip away."

Rarity raised her elaborate drink. "I’ll toast to that."

Spike's head popped up at the table as he snuck into an open seat by Twilight. He slid a glass of juice onto the table. "I'll say. We're all adults here."

Rainbow Dash elbowed the purple dragon and said sarcastically, "Well, most of us are. To friends!"

"To friends!"

~~~

The first thing that muffled into Soarin’s mind after he woke was the way Rainbow Dash had pulled away when he’d tried to get her to take lead during yesterday’s training. I forgot that she still sees me as a Wonderbolt.

Soarin’ rolled out of bed and fiddled semi-lucidly with the covers while he waited for the blackout from the sudden morning movement to go away. He was impatient, but after flopping head over heels in the hallway months ago, he decided to live with waiting five seconds for the black vision and fuzzy-mindedness to go away. In the winter, this made a great window of opportunity to make the bed, a task he thought was pointless and stupid but did anyway. This morning he made the bed to take his mind off the next round of Rainbow Dash’s training, which was running through his thoughts like the Equestrian Express – or rather, the ponies that pulled it.

Soarin’ slowly made his way to the common area to start planning the upcoming air show. Though not in uniform, the Wonderbolts were waiting for him when he got there. His teammates suddenly got quieter and the conversation died down. They looked at him purposefully. “What’s this all about?” he asked.

A frosty white mane travelled through the herd and Fleetfoot stepped forward. “Soarin,” she began seriously. Was he in trouble? “We wanted to give you these.” Fleetfoot pulled out five tickets to the air show in two weeks.

“But guys, these are your extra tickets.” Each Wonderbolt got one ticket they could give away. If they ever wanted to let a couple or group come as a gift, they had to combine their extra tickets.

Spitfire said, “We thought you might want the chance to let Rainbow Dash invite her friends. It’s definitely better than anything we could do with the tickets ourselves.”

Surprise bounced in. “Not with the next show being in Ponyville.”

Ponyville? When did we make that decision?

“That’s not all,” continued Fleetfoot. “We want you to take the lead role on this one. I think it’s time somepony saw a real light show.”

“Hey,” High Winds complained, “that was my pun."

The realization of what was going on hit Soarin’ like a pie, and he shot an exasperated look at Spitfire. It was too early in the morning for this. “Spitfire, I can’t believe you suggested that move. It’s too dangerous! You know that!”

“It wasn’t her idea,” a low voice came from the edges of the crowd. A gray pegasus materialized from the shadows of the other Wonderbolts and locked eyes with Soarin’. “It was mine,” Rapidfire said boldly.

Fleetfoot turned her head from Rapidfire to Soarin’. She paid no attention the blue pegasus’ mix of surprise and utter confusion. “Rapidfire’s already figured out how to place the audience so they won’t be at risk of getting hit. We’ll be able to bring clouds from the Everfree Forest over for the performance, as long as we’re careful to remove all of them after.”

So that’s why they changed the show to be in Ponyville. Soarin’ shook his head. “Even so, I don’t think it’s worth it. All of you are candidates for fried ponies if you’re in the arena with me. Do you even know how to fly in a lightning storm?”

“Show us.”

10 - The contest before the storm

Snatches of conversation and exclamations floated to Soarin’s ears as he sailed leisurely over Ponyville. ‘You!’ he heard somepony clamor in the afternoon herd below. Markets were always lively this time of day. ‘Sorry, I’m all out of spatulas. Try the stand near the flower vendor.’ ‘That’ll be one bit for those tomatoes.’

Soarin’ scanned the area for the building he was looking for, but it didn’t seem to be anywhere nearby. All the instructing and practicing was burning away energy like crazy, so he figured he better pick up something sugary or he’d be on his legs soon. The rumors were true about one thing: a Wonderbolt could eat like a horse.

“You!” the mare shouted again, this time flapping directly in front of him and barring his path. He screeched to a halt. The mare’s legs stuck straight to the ground in stiff, unconcealed rage. He didn’t recognize the vengeful pony at all, which could mean she was a very angry or very jealous fan. Ice choked Soarin’s heart; he had to focus just to keep his wings moving with the way she looked at him. Those eyes.

Angry conviction rumbled in the mare’s words. “Somepony steals your friends, show them how it ends!”

He was caught completely off-guard. This was, after all, his first time being assaulted in such a way. The insane merry-go-round of sky filled his vision as the smaller pegasus swung him by the tail round and round.

She let go.

The force of the swing propelled him across town. With a few expert rolls he was able to straighten himself and come to a stop midair. The first thing he noticed was the gingerbread tiled shop. Hey, there’s the bakery. What lucky unluck. He cast around for signs of the furious fuschia-maned pony. It was probably best to get out of the air before that angry beast showed up again. She scared the feathers off him.

I swear, it’s something new every day. He ducked for cover into the elaborate store, leaving a trail of tiny, tattered blue plumes behind.

“Hi, welcome to Sugarcube Corner – oh, hey Soarin’! I betcha I do-nut know what you’re here for!”

It wasn’t the first time Ponyville heard the sound of doom spill from the confectionary house.

“nnnnNNNNNOOOOOooooooo”

~~~

Rainbow Dash tapped an impatient hole into the gummy cloud. A week ago this would have been impossible, like trying to touch marshmallow taffy without it sticking to you.

She could feel the days of stress finally starting to resolve into hard muscle. At first the pain had been far beyond anything she’d experienced from a routine exercise. The soreness on the second day of racing and cloud-bucking morphed into a stiffness she couldn’t shake on her day off. She’d spent most of that afternoon reading Daring Do and the Sapphire Star at the library; anything that kept her off her wings and legs. She couldn’t see how Applejack could stand it.

It got worse before it got better. Soarin’s outrageous training had her clearing the sky every day of the week (once at Everfree Forest and again in Ponyville). The upside? Before she would show off by bursting through clouds, but really that was any pegasus’ game. Now she could fly through the most narrow gaps without so much as a wisp of cloud out of place. Well, most of the time. It had only been a week, after all. “Patience breeds perfection,” her dad recited happily in her head.

Patience had never been her strong suit.

Her hoof broke through the cloud. She started a new hole. Where is he?

Soarin’ appeared out of a large cloud blocking the view to Ponyville. He landed somewhat unsteadily beside her, saddle bags and all. Rainbow Dash could smell Sugarcube Corner.

“Nah-ah-ah, hooves off,” Soarin’ shielded the bags with his carefully-preened, dull colored wings. The odd shade piqued Rainbow Dash’s curiosity. Huh. Never noticed that before. “These are for during practice.”

Something Twilight had said jumped to the element of loyalty’s mind. It couldn’t be. She paced around Soarin’, looking him up and down. “Are you okay Soarin’? Not feeling particularly… uncool? Boring?” She stopped behind him where he couldn’t follow her with his gaze and took another look at his wings. They seemed to be the only part of him losing color.

“Geeze Dash. Those are two words I’d like to think least describe me.” Soarin’ turned so he could see her again. His eyes were shot with the same tart apple green as always, and more than a pinch of confusion.

Phew. I think I’m letting my tail get ahead of me. Better focus on what’s important. “Great!” she shouted. “Awesome. Okay, I’m ready for flying.”

Soarin’ simply shook his head and smiled, pressing his hoof to his forehead and ignoring her weirdness. He sat down abruptly and met her eyes. “Alright then. Now I’ll say it: show me what you got.”

The fastest flyer in Ponyville didn’t need any more prompting than that. Up and up she flew. She’d come early just to set up for this. There was an instant at the top of the rise where she could see it all below her: a cloud-guided dive straight down into a mess of loops and turns. In the center was a long rectangular cloud she’d shaped herself. That came last.

Rainbow Dash took the dive. Sunlight cut in and out over her turquoise coat as she passed through the gaps in the clouds, wings perfectly still. The fall turned into two rapid barrel rolls and a rollercoaster of twisty maneuvers. She kicked out, exiting the maze and flying parallel to the forest, pumping her wings to gain altitude. Slowly her belly turned to the sky as she ran a large backwards loop. The cloud goals were just ahead. It was hard to pinpoint them upside down, so she had to have an instinct for where they were. The speedster’s wings slid to the precise flat position again, and she zoomed through the clouds on the way down, accelerating.

Rainbow Dash’s open wings swept her to the sun once again. Paff! The cloud was right where she’d put it. She broke through it, spinning upwards, pinkish trails twisting behind her into a spiraled cone. She let momentum carry her as far up as it could. Everything slowed to a stop. Color-streamed mane and tail started to float up as gravity tried to reclaim what it had lost a long time ago.

She didn’t let it. Right when she started to fall, she flexed into a graceful swoop. The swoop became a frenzied race carrying her far from the course. Like a slingshot, she bounded back at it full speed. The rectangular cloud rushed at her. Baff-baff-baff-baff- she weaved four holes in and out of it, turning and whisking right back through them without touching anything. Puffs of pink were still spewing forward from her first pass as she did so.

Her shout echoed in the empty expanse of the Everfree Forest. “AWwww yeah!”

Soarin’ was looking at the rectangular cloud when she landed. Cloud mist spilled from the four slits like steam. Pinkish Everfree Forest steam, but steam nonetheless. One of Soarin’s pinions brushed his chin thoughtfully. “Is that a cherry strudel?”

“You bet.”

“Nice.” He held out a hoof and she bumped it with her own. “You weren’t horsing around when you said you learn fast,” Soarin’ said, noting the one skid of cloud where the Wonderbolt-to-be’s wing had missed the mark. “Hrm,” he muttered, “I need to talk to you about being part of a team.”

She tried to whine, “I said no lectu-“ but Soarin’s wingtip pressed her mouth for quiet. With a raised eyebrow, he waited for her to remember the rest of their pact. He let his wing down. She sighed. “You call the shots. I’ll listen. Give me one of those cupcakes.” She swiped one of the pastries he’d laid out on the cloud and sat down haughtily.

“You better eat that super slow, because this is going to be the longest lecture of your life. I’m the all time champ at Wonderbolt lecturing. Bet ya didn’t know that.” Soarin’s outstretched wingspan as he said this was menacing. The two plumed towers seemed to loom over her, frayed with years of tough trials and yet never, ever defeated.

He backed off, but didn’t let his defenses down. “It takes more than just knowing what a pony can do to work well with them. You also have to trust them. This doesn’t mean you should give out trust like a hoofshake. It means that when you do trust someone, you have to be willing to let go." Soarin’s gray-etched wings folded closed. He nabbed a cupcake and took a swift bite out of it before he went on. “You have to give them control and responsibility.”

Forgetting the cupcake for a moment, Soarin’ stood still and searched her eyes. His next question was simple. “Do you trust me?"

Something inside the rainbow pegasus unhinged. I… yeah, I do. "Yeah."

"Then I'm going to show you how to fly in formation. It's just the two of us, so it won't be much, but you gotta begin somewhere." Soarin' ate the last bite of cupcake. "To start out, I need you to fly in a straight line towards Ponyville and break into a glide. When you get to that point, don't flap your wings and imagine you're travelling through gaps in clouds, just like training. I'm going to fly in closer than you're used to, so fight your danger sense and hold steady. Have faith in me, okay?"

Rainbow Dash gave a tight nod. Pegasi developed a keen sense of how close they could fly to each other almost as soon as they were able to lift off for the first time. It was dangerous to crash into another flyer, especially when travelling or working together in large groups. So much as a wingtip out of place could throw a pegasi hurdling and endanger everypony in a chain reaction.

With a glance back, Rainbow Dash took to the sky. The sound of unfurling feathers soon followed. She let her wings plane out and lulled into a sense of calm freedom.

Suddenly, it shattered. Something was wrong. The wing beats below were approaching too close, too quickly. Alarm flared hot in her chest, like the moment right before you lost balance. The difference was that the feeling didn’t go away. It gnawed at her mind, threatening to become an animal instinct to change course. She managed to look down through the mental haze and get a good look at the pegasus dumb enough to get so close.

What she saw was Soarin’s cautious smile not more than a tail away. The stallion was flying upside down, legs tucked in. He unfolded one of his forehooves and waved. “Whoa there Dash, it’s just me. Calm down.”

She shook her head, hard. The fear of becoming a broken ball of blue feathers at the end of somepony’s tragic tale still pulsed in her mind. Steeling herself, she clenched her teeth and pushed back at it. No way was Soarin’ going to bump into her.
No.
Way.

The stallion didn’t have to raise his voice for her to hear him. “We’re still not close enough yet.”

“What?” she shouted in shock. Her wings tilted ever so much. Soarin’ skipped a wing beat and fell away, concentrating hard on staying a safe distance if she was going to get unsteady. Rainbow Dash's emotions broiled with conflict between the drive to flee and her will to stay in place. She growled, “If you get any closer, we’ll practically be touching.”

“That’s the idea.”

Disbelief choked Rainbow Dash. She said nothing and focused on flying straight.

Soarin’ blinked at her from his odd, upside-down flying position. “I’ll wait. Just… can you let me know when we’re getting too close to the treetops? It’s, uh, kinda hard to see them from here.”

It was quiet for a while as the two pegasi kept on, one gliding and the other flapping. They were starting to lose altitude. Beaded sweat formed on Rainbow Dash’s brow and dried away in the breeze. Not once did Soarin’ waver in keeping an exact tail-length from her.

Eventually the invasion of personal flying space became bearable. She didn’t look down at Soarin’ when she spoke. If she did, her instincts would kick in again upon seeing how close the other flyer was. “Okay. What now?” The sound of feathers punching the air stopped, but she could still feel the stallion’s presence.

“Now we kick off each other’s hooves. Put out your legs. I’ve got you covered.”

The four cursed things trembled. Okay, I’m gonna do this. Do it and get it over with. Then I can go home and sleep forever until I turn into a statue. They can put me in the plaza. Or maybe in Canterlot Gardens by Discord, so I can keep an eye on him.

She slowly let her legs straighten out. Seconds after that, she briefly felt four points of contact. The hooves against her own pushed her away into a slightly upward angle.

That was it. Relief washed through her. After that came the tang of bravery. They hadn’t crashed, nopony had lost a wing, and everything was fine. Pff, that wasn’t bad. Ugh. I must look like a coward.

They regrouped on a nearby cloud. The anticlimactic nature of the new maneuver was pretty disappointing. “Hey Soarin', was that all there is to that move?”

“No way. We’re just getting started. You know Wonderworks, right? This is how it’s done, only with a lot more speed. Sparks should fly when we touch.”

Rainbow Dash stifled an amused snort. The last part sounded like something right out of one of Rarity’s fantasies. “Sure, whatever you say, Soarin’. Oh, and before I forget,” she knocked him on the shoulder, “you are so not the champion of lecturing! What was that back there, four sentences?”

“Heh. You found me out.” He crouched into a takeoff position. “Ready for round two?”

“Does a pegasus have wings?”

They spent the rest of the session working on that one move. With every pass, Rainbow Dash felt more confident they weren’t going to crash and burn. It would be a while before she could better control her lifelong instinct to fly away, though.

Finally, she was able to hit Soarin’s hooves with her own midflight. A few dazzling sparks greeted the impact. The effect was small, but the thrill wasn’t. She couldn’t think of a time she’d ever done a stunt that wasn’t a solo performance.

Rainbow Dash landed on a small puff next to Soarin’s slightly larger cloud. She punched the air. “Did you see that? You were like BAM! And then I was like BAM!” She threw another strike. “And then the sparks were all CRSSHHH. Hahaha! This is so awesome.” Rainbow Dash stamped the tiny puff. “What other moves can you teach me?”

Her enthusiasm was contagious. Soarin’s stance was loaded with daredevil energy. He looked wild: wings slightly open, battered feathers sticking every which way, eyes alight.

“Dash, I’m not just teaching you moves.” Rainbow Dash felt before she heard the rumbling emanating from Soarin’s cloud. His wings flowed out and up, stretching to the sun, wingtips quavering to keep going further, wingspan fanned out to the fullest. “I’m showing you,” the rumbling beneath Soarin’s hooves became a quake and his voice escalated louder and louder with it, “how to REALLY-” In the sudden, dead silence, his single word turned to a whisper. “-Fly.”

His cloud exploded. All that was left of where he’d been was a beam of yellow energy shooting straight from the ground to the stratosphere. No, not energy. Pure lightning.

The light seared with heat and Rainbow Dash wanted to look away, but she couldn’t draw her eyes from the terrifying spirals of black clouds bleeding from the top of it. They kept growing, massing over the sky in a flat sheet until the dark storm started draping down, creating a dome. It cast a shadow over everything below it.

She didn’t know how long she stood there, or where Soarin’ was. The lightning disappeared as suddenly as it had started. Hissing blots of black cloud dripped from the edges of the dome, snuffing out with a sizzling noise on anything they hit. Soon the Everfree Forest was alive with the sound. Not even the mist dared go near the ground where the lightning had struck.

Soarin’ dropped down to a cloud, panting, his wings splayed on either side. His once vibrant plumage stuck out at odd angles. Rainbow Dash’s fur stood on end, but whether it was from the static crackling in the air or awe she couldn’t tell. Not sure what to say after what she’d just witnessed, the first thing that came to her mind slipped out.

“Hey Soarin’, are you… are you moulting?”

“What?" The stallions breath came in broken gasps. "Oh, yeah. I tried to clean up before I got here so I wouldn’t be spraying feathers all over the place like a pillow.” He nosed through one of his tattered wings and pulled out a colorless feather. It had a chunk missing out of it. “Want one?”

“Eewww, no,” she laughed. Not too long ago she would've punched Nightmare Moon for the feather. Well, she would've punched Nightmare Moon anyway, but still.

The ragged state of Soarin’s wings made sense now. Every pegasus shed their feathers and grew new ones for about a week when enough of them got damaged. The healing process wasn’t painful, but it was pretty tiring, she knew. He must’ve been doing something intense since she last saw him to ruin so many feathers.

This was one loco-in-the-coco pegasus to be flying around under that kind of stress. “Aren’t you tired?”

Soarin’ righted himself and looked strong as ever with his signature grin. “Exhausted.” He faltered and she zipped over to make sure he didn’t tip off the cloud. He looked even worse up close. All of the movement from training had exposed the rough plumage his careful preening had hidden before. His speech was choppy. “Wonderbolts, extra training, couldn’t let you down. It’s no big deal.”

“Soarin’, you foals-for-brains, you’re worse than me. Look, you better sit down before I have to clean you up off the forest floor.” She pushed him flat onto the cloud and started pedaling it towards Sweet Apple Acres. "I hate to admit it, but you’re kinda my best bet on making it into the team. I’m not like some of those Los Pegasus ponies who have top trainers at their neighsay.”

“I know,” he said resolutely like he'd known all along. Then he fell asleep.

Obviously this made it difficult to get the strong stallion onto a normal cloud when they reached the edge of the Everfree Forest, but she figured it out. She put a springy white cloud underneath the gross one. Then, she kicked the water vapor right out of the topmost cloud. Soarin’ plopped unceremoniously down without so much as a twitch. How did he hold himself together that whole time? Crazy pony.

She put the exhausted pegasus by her house, penned a sloppy note, and went out to visit her friends.

~~~

Soarin’ didn’t remember falling asleep, and yet there he was. He recognized Rainbow Dash’s house, but there wasn’t anypony around. Celestia's setting sun basked the sky in orange. Something crumpled when he moved. He found a note tucked into his wing.

If you’re up for an interesting dinner after you wake up, come find me around the library.

But if you don’t want to, that’s cool too.

He found out what she meant by interesting when he met up with her in front of Twilight's tree house.

They sat at a secluded table facing Ponyville’s rolling green meadows, now draped in blue at dusk. Luna’s stars were just barely visible in the darkening sky. A frustrated set of glowing candles tried to set a mood that didn’t exist. Pity the pony who thought this was a romantic dinner.

Soarin’ had quickly learned that Rainbow Dash’s friend Rarity never seemed to be out of sorts. She always looked like she’d come fresh out of the spa; it was no different now, at the end of the day, as she situated herself at the opposite end of the table. Next to Rarity was a hefty red earth pony by the name of Big Macintosh, and then finally Applejack. Rainbow Dash had rounded the two of them up off the street as they were going by the restaurant, much like the unfortunate unicorn. Soarin’ wondered if Rainbow Dash had picked her on purpose.

Innocently Rarity asked, “Rainbow Dash, could you explain what it is you would like me to help with?”

Rainbow Dash tilted towards Soarin’ and whispered without moving her lips, “Shhh. Don’t tell her.” In her normal voice, “Yeah. I want you to judge which of us has better etiquette. You know, like with forks and stuff. Soarin’ insists he knows more than I do.”

The earth ponies said nothing, but Applejack’s mouth twitched. Rarity focused her full attention on the two salads on the table. “Oh, this will be easy.”

Rainbow Dash looked back at Soarin’. “Alright. You know the rules.”

“What rules?”

“Exactly.”

He took a moment to plan how to eat the caprese salad. Slices of tomato and fresh mozzarella graced the plate, drizzled in a light olive oil dressing and topped with large leaves of green basil. A simple but delicious salad. This was going to be tricky.

Applejack raised her foreleg. “On your mark. Get set.” Orange flashed down. “Go!”

Soarin’ smashed his face straight down into the plate, making sure to get the oil-coated basil leaves pressed into his fur in the process. Rarity gasped and didn’t stop; the single intake of air kept growing along with the horrors that unfolded. Soarin’ flipped his head to the side and dragged it to the other end of the plate, smearing tomato seeds everywhere. He used a hoof to shovel an impossible amount of the food into his mouth. Of course it didn’t all fit, so smashed tomatoes dribbled onto the table.

Applejack was laughing hysterically. Soarin’ caught a glimpse of Rainbow Dash viciously wiping her face back and forth across her own plate as he rolled over and rested the back of his neck on the table. Nose to the sky, he took big, open-mouthed sloshing chews. He flipped over again and swallowed. Deliberately, he raised a forehoof and crushed one of the pieces of cheese and tomato flat, then licked the gruesome details off his hoof. He voraciously devoured the pulpy remains of the meal directly off the plate in dragon-sized chomps.

Soarin' didn’t bother to wipe off the mess. Rainbow Dash slapped her wing across her mouth and smeared a mixture of cheese and basil across her face in a mock attempt to clean up. A mangled tomato covered her right eye.

Rarity was still gasping, her eyes widening and chest puffing out more and more in indignation. Surely she would burst if she kept it up any longer. Her jaw snapped shut. She maintained an offended, head-drawn-back position while the air whooshed from her nostrils.

The defeated tomato slid slowly down Rainbow Dash’s eye as she talked. Bits of cheese flecked her mane. “Okay Rarity, you’re our first judge. What’s your verdict?”

Rarity didn’t budge. “I refuse! Your manners are both equally incorrigible! And if I must say Rainbow Dash, that was even more awful than that display in the Ponyville hospital, and I did not think it possible! Soarin’, as a Wonderbolt I, well I, I expected at least some degree of civility. I – I may have trouble sleeping tonight.” Her purple mane whipped around in a huff and she trotted away. “Good-night!”

Rainbow Dash turned now to Big Macintosh. “Big Mac, you next.”

The stallion shook his head. “Eeeyuck.”

Applejack tearfully collected herself off the ground. “See, what’d I tell yeh. I ain’t got nothin’ on RD when it comes to sloppy eatin'. The way she was packing in those tomatoes, and then that poor leaf of basil – hoo boy!” The apple farmer wiped the corner of her eye and put her hat back on. “I think the two of yeh should settle whatever differences you have an’ call it a draw. That’s probably the messiest eating Ah’ve seen in ages, an’ we got pigs on the farm. RD, ya oughta apologize to Rarity later. You nearly scared the cutie mark right off her flank!” Applejack stomped her hoof to hold back a tide of laughter.

“Well, my brother an I got an early day tomorrow. I spect Ah’ll be seeing the two of you around later.” With a wink, Applejack turned and headed back to the cart she’d left waiting. Big Macintosh tipped his head to the two pegasi and followed.

They were alone again when Soarin’ remembered the Wonderbolts tickets. “Dash, the team got you something.” Tomato juice trickled down his face while he pulled out the envelope and held it in his clean hoof. Rainbow Dash excitedly used the napkin for the first time that evening to scrub her hooves off. Her red eye patch flopped onto the table in the process.

She grasped the packet and opened it. Her joy was palpable. “There's six tickets here.”

“What kind of pony would give you two tickets and expect you to pick who to come?”

“Oh man, I get to bring all of my friends. This is gonna be the best. I don’t think Twilight’s ever been to an air show! Where is it? Can ground ponies get there?” Her excitement hadn’t made it to the line on the ticket that had the location printed out.

“Ponyville.”

11 - The storm. Also, socks.

“Featherweight.”

“Featherless.”

“That’s still one more feather than you have.”

“Hmpf.” Spitfire fished for a retort. “I do-nut think your vision is right. Better get that checked.”

“Ha! That’s not going to work on me anymore.” Soarin’s arrogant tone clashed with his expression of intense concentration. Whoever scored the last point was the winner. “C’mon Spitfire, or should I call you Spitty because you’ve lost your edge?”

“It’s for your own safety. If I’m not careful, I’ll set all that hay up in your head on fire.”

“Hey, that’s my emergency supply for when you eat everything out of the kitchen.”

“Can’t have you going hungry now, can we?” Spitfire’s leg flexed out and she tapped him in the stomach.

“No. Who else is going to run this place?”

“Would you like a list? It’s a bit long.”

“I’ll listen just as soon as I’m done breathing.”

Spitfire’s gilded eyelids accentuated her sly expression. “Which would you prefer? A race with me will leave you breathless, or I can send for a certain somepony to come take your breath away.” Her eyebrows arched suggestively.

Soarin’ wasn’t about to fall for the Rainbow Dash trap. “I’ll take the race. At least I’ll be breathless knowing I’ve won.”

“Ha! The only race you’ll be winning is a race to the bottom. The thought that you can best me – I can’t tell you how ridiculous that is.”

“A bigger vocabulary might help.”

Spitfire didn’t have anything to say to that. Rapidfire looked from one contestant to the other and waited. Soarin’ went on, “Looks like all of Spitfire’s foals went out to play. Now she’s got no brains. We’d better come back later.”

The fiery pegasus laughed, knowing she’d lost. “Are you calling me a foals-for-brains? I haven’t heard that one before.” She narrowed her eyes. “How did you get good enough at this to beat me at my own game? You had help, didn’t you? Who was it? High Winds?” Her gaze turned to the referee. “Rapids?”

Soarin’ rubbed an ear. “Help? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Spitfire gave him a long, thoughtful look before she let it go. Rapidfire sighed hopelessly at his adversarial friends. The stormy pegasus didn’t even bother to try to get away before the other two started talking again. He knew Soarin’ and Spitfire would just come after him later to keep track of whatever game was next.

Soarin’ bet he secretly enjoyed it.

Spitfire rubbed her chin. “Alright Soarin’, since I lost this time, I finally get to decide what we play next.”

Fleetfoot trotted over. “Would you three hurry up and put your goggles on? We’re going to be late.”

~~~

“Fluttershy, I can’t see.” Rainbow Dash moved her friend’s head with a hoof.

“Oh, sorry, it’s just that I got so excited.” The young mare had stretched her neck all the way into Rainbow Dash’s space in anticipation.

All six friends were seated in one of the towering temporary stands on the outskirts of Ponyville. Normally this place was where the rodeo was held, as evidenced by the trampled dirt in the center of the makeshift arena. Unicorns had moved all the wooden fencing and bleachers and a special team of pegasi had brought in unwilling clouds from the Everfree Forest. Today the sticky puffs were a lovely, sickly orange color. They hung angrily around the outside of the stadium. Every so often a laughing parent would have to go pull a stuck foal from one.

The arena itself was a very wide circle ringed by seating, all decorated with checkered material to hide the wood underneath. Fifteen or so tall towers pointed to the sky, each topped with a box of prime seating. The towers were spaced at even intervals and a wall much lower to the ground connected all of them together. The whole thing looked like a castle decked in colorful checkerboard canvas.

“This reminds me of something,” said Twilight hesitantly.

“Must’ve been a book you read,” Applejack responded.

The only thing their box lacked was covered awning, much to Rarity’s dismay. Rainbow Dash had to explain to her that it would make it hard to see anything overhead with a roof in the way. It wasn’t the same as a derby.

The crowds were nothing like the Best Young Flyer Competition. There were tons of ponies here, not to mention a dragon or two, griffons, cows, mules, donkeys, and even the occasional as-

“Man, I hate crowds!” Pinkie Pie said with a swipe of her hoof. Her five friends looked at her in stunned silence. How could a pony love enormous parties and hate crowds?

“Hee hee. Gosh you guys, I can’t believe you fell for that. It doesn’t even make sense!” Pinkie didn’t make sense, but nopony was about to point that out.

Rainbow Dash turned her attention back to the ring. The announcer stood on a cloud at the center of the arena, where he seemed to be listening to something in his headset. He gave a swift nod, and then his cloud elevated slightly upward.

“Take your seats, because the pegasi you’ve all gathered here for are on their way this very moment. I don’t know about you, but I’ve heard an awful lot of rumors about what we’re going to see today, and I’m just as curious as you. As for special advice about today’s event, try to refrain from any use of magic until after the show. I hope you ponies brought your umbrellas.”

Applejack fidgeted. “Aw shoot, we were supposed ta bring umbrellas?”

Twilight opened her bag. “It’s okay Applejack, I’ve got you covered.” She passed an extra umbrella to her unprepared friend.

The announcer knew exactly when to go on without turning around to see the dot rapidly growing on the horizon. “Now, to introduce the most daring flyers in all of Equestria: the Wonderboooolts!”

Rainbow Dash felt like she could watch the Wonderbolts jet into a flight show over and over again and never get bored. In a single file line, the team whisked over the announcer’s head and broke into separate flight paths headed straight for the ground. They all landed at once, kicking up dust on impact in a broad circle with one pegasus at the center: Spitfire. Seven of her teammates were spaced out around her.

While the announcer entertainingly introduced each member of the team on the field today, the ring of Wonderbolts allowed themselves the brief moment to do whatever they wanted without leaving their spot. Lightning Streak, who was closest to their box, flashed his wings open and closed, taking bows for his hopelessly enamored fans. It was hard to make out from this distance, but Surprise was playing a trick with a bit, snatching it out of the air from apparently nowhere and spinning it on her nose. Spitfire’s hooves rapped the ground in precise beats as she trotted purposefully in place: one, two, one, two. That could only mean one thing.

Without warning, all eight Wonderbolts shot into to the sky. The seven from the outer ring smashed together right were Spitfire was about to be, kicking off each other’s hooves and sending silver sparks everywhere. Spitfire pierced the sky and a satellite of fire split the sparkling Wonderworks with a BANG. Rainbow Dash felt Fluttershy and Twilight jump in surprise. Contrails of gray smoke chased the Wonderbolts as all eight rose above the stadium, still in the dotted circle formation.

Heat from Spitfire’s move washed over the audience. Rainbow Dash noticed that the change in temperature was causing the Everfree Forest clouds to expand outside the arena. Was this part of their plan?

“Psst, hey RD,” Applejack whispered from the row in front of the rainbow mare. The Wonderbolts were in the middle of a slower maneuver where they came together in one point and split apart, flying downward to create a weeping willow effect. “Where’s Soarin’? Is that him?” She pointed to a stallion with a dark blue mane and tail.

Rainbow Dash snapped out of her Wonderbolt-awe and realized one of the names the announcer hadn’t said today was that one. “No, that’s Wave Chill. Soarin’…” she squinted at the details of each flyer to be sure. “It doesn’t look like he’s here today.”

She puffed out her cheeks. He had some nerve to invite all of them to an air show and then not even show up.

Aw hay, who was she kidding? Watching the Wonderbolts was awesome.

Applejack adjusted her hat like she usually did when she was confused. “That’s a mite odd. Maybe he’s in the audience like us.” The sturdy mare turned back to the show, drawn in by the Wonderbolts branching off into separate paths. They slowly streamed down, drawing eight tassels of gray smoke out from the center smoke pillar. Fluttershy would definitely say it looked like a weeping willow. Pinkie Pie would probably call it a pom-pom.

“Ooh, look, a sea anemone!” the party pony cooed.

Or that.

The signature gray cloud trails switched off when the team moved to a new formation. In two groups of four, the Wonderbolts traversed the sky in coordinated loops before they broke apart and weaved an insane, living rollercoaster. It got faster once they’d set the pattern. All eight pegasi zipped through the sky in figure eights and waves and scribbles without hitting each other, even though at some intersections they could reach out and touch if they wanted. The whole move was a chaotic mess of knots, but somehow it made sense when you watched it.

The most famous flyers in all of Equestria pushed the tactic to its limit. At the points where they could touch if they wanted, they did. The sky above the arena became an out-of-control firecracker. Blue-gold blurs and colored Wonderworks shattered the air. Whipped by the strange wind patterns of the disturbance in the center of the stadium, the Everfree Forest clouds fought back by bulking up and entering the first stage that signaled a storm. Rainbow Dash wasn’t the only pegasus whose ears perked up at this; Fluttershy was similarly tense. Only crazy ponies who thought they could take on magical hurricanes alone would even consider going near an Everfree Forest storm.

Rainbow Dash was ready.

So, apparently, was the lone pony galloping across the field. With broad, measured strides, the ninth Wonderbolt approached the center of the arena. His eternally windswept mane and tail streamed behind him. He was a magnificent sight.

How magnificent?

An “Oh…” escaped Rarity’s lips.

Wonderbolt blue and a lightning flash of gold gleamed against Soarin’s pearly coat. He slowed to a stop in middle of the stadium and fully extended his wings. The perfectly defined plumage shone like steel, each feather a brilliant blade. His stance practically screamed how dangerous he was. There was nothing about him that indicated he had so much as a speck of compassion, or anything other than raw power, at that moment. He’d completely let himself go. Soarin’ reared, ridden with unfettered wildness.

He owned the sky, and he wasn’t even in it yet.

The uncontrollable stallion brought with him a feeling of foreboding. Rainbow Dash’s coat prickled. A storm was coming.

The other Wonderbolts were now whirring in a circle overhead, as if they could draw water from a reservoir with only the eight of them. The darkening orange clouds started to move, funneled in and towards the ground. They massed in the center of the stadium until it was impossible to see the other side. Turning a blood red color, clouds pooled out and draped the sky above in all directions, casting a shadow over the land. Jolts of static electricity jumped around the rolling mass.

With slow, powerful wing strokes, Soarin’ took to the sky, leaving fans of dust in his wake. He disappeared into the cumulonimbus and darkness overtook the cloud from the bottom up, spreading like poison. The other Wonderbolts stopped spinning just in time to be absorbed by it. Eight paths of obsidian night shot in all directions, tearing the red with dark gashes. A warning rumble growled across the sky and the wind picked up, whistling in Rainbow Dash’s ears and trying to take her colors with it. Soon the only thing left in sight was a billowing storm blacker than Nightmare Moon’s soul.

“This… this can’t be possible,” Twilight distantly whispered to herself.

It was hard to hear her, because the only thing that existed was the Storm.

A thunderclap briefly illuminated the dark form of a pegasus with wings outstretched. Jagged bolts of chain lightning raced along the obsidian ceiling, leaping gaps in electric arcs. They channeled around the power-crazed pony at the center. Between flashes and thunder, glimpses of his outline dodged around the dangerous bolts like Luna at a Canterlot rave. The lethal energy was his to command, but it fought against him at every turn.

Soarin’ shot the lightning intermittently at the ground. Gaps between lightning strikes grew smaller and smaller until several constant rippling bolts touched the earth, fed from streams of electricity all the way at the distant reaches of the cumulonimbus. The earth turned black, a mirrored reflection of the destructive force above.

After a few moments the electric storm went silent. The air chilled, the wind died down, and the obsidian cloud let loose a downpour of rain. At some point Rarity had already prepared for this. Anypony who didn’t have their umbrella on scrambled to get it out now.

The rain was a wakeup call back to reality. Rainbow Dash let it plaster her mane to her coat. The arena was completely silent but for the shower of water droplets. Every creature there was Wonder struck.

The eight original Wonderbolts returned from the far reaches of the sky and clustered around Soarin’ as he descended from the storm, which was now fading to a complacent gray raincloud color. They landed together in a circle.

stamp – stamp – stamp – stamp – The sound of somepony’s slow clop echoed in the empty space. Others joined in. The applause grew in size and speed until the stands rocked with the sound of a stampede, drowning out the rain.

~~~

“Yo Soarin’. Hey buddy, snap out of it.”

They were standing in the middle of a blackened dirt arena, surrounded by checkered walls on all sides. The pony named Soarin’ fought to reign in its conscience. Him, that pony was him.

“Hate to do this to you bro, but I’ll be giving you a hoof sandwich in front of all these fans if you don’t come back to us, like, right now,” Wave Chill said.

Spitfire didn’t bother to wait and stomped on Soarin’s foot. Hard.

“OW!” he yelped, wings flipping open. “Geez, what was that for?” He massaged the injured foot against his good leg.

“He’s fine,” Spitfire told Wave Chill. “Let’s get out of the rain. The support team will take care of the clouds.”

Of all things, the Wonderbolts walked through the black mud out of the stadium. Soarin’ was fine with this. He wasn’t in any shape to fly again just yet. A covered pavilion outside waited for them, soon to be inundated by ponies wanting autographs and photos. Hopefully the downpour would keep some at bay today. They had a few moments to scuff the glop off their uniforms and shake the water from their drenched fur.

“Hey Spitfire,” Soarin’ said tiredly, “Next time, you do the incredible stunt.”

“And burn down an entire village?” She laughed. “No thanks.”

Surprise whapped her wet gold tail across Soarin’s face as she walked by. “All that extra training sure paid off. The day we stop impressing ourselves, that’ll be the day I hang up my thunderbolt.”

“Aw come now Surprise,” Spitfire teased, “don’t you think you should give up your spot so somepony else can have a chance? I know plenty of young, inexperienced, rough-and-tumble colts that’d love to have it.”

“Hay no! They’ll have to beat me first.” She looked outside at the pouring rain. “But I do feel like this rain is missing something.”

The instant an opportunity for wordplay popped up, so did High Winds. “A bow.”

Yeah.

~~~

Her five best friends burst into excited conversation once they’d made it out of the stadium. Pinkie Pie tried to reenact the whole thing, much to everypony’s amusement. Even Rarity was okay with getting a little bit dirty from the mud the brightly colored pony kicked up.

“Oh my gosh Rainbow,” Twilight raved, “that was one of the most amazing things I’ve seen. I read about flying tactics like that in old mythical accounts of wars, but I didn’t think pegasi could actually do it. It looks like I need to reconsider which books are in the mythology section again.” Twilight bounced happily at the prospect of this new task.

Applejack noticed the uniquely colored pegasus wasn’t particularly talkative. “Hey RD, ya okay? Yeh been awful quiet since the show ended. And isn’ the Wonderbolt tent that'a way? We’re goin in the wrong direction.”

Fluttershy cut in, “She already has all of their autographs.” It was true. That wasn’t the reason she couldn’t face Soarin’ and the others right now, though.

She groaned. “It’s just… how am I ever gonna top that?”

Nopony had an answer to that. After all, they’d believed the Sonic Rainboom was the height of flying prowess, being earth ponies and unicorns and, well, Fluttershy.

Twilight surprised her, though. “I know you, Rainbow. It might take a while, but I’m certain you will come up with something. Remember when we undid Nightmare Moon? Or when we defeated Discord?”

How could she forget? First they’d blasted the mane off of Nightmare Moon, and after that they’d fixed everything Discord had done with a reversal spell that encapsulated all of Ponyville.

“Then there was the time Apple Bloom got into Zecora’s potions. Er, and the time I lent her that book about Hearts and Hooves day, though I guess you weren't here for that.”

Applejack secured her hat. “Ah’d prefer if we don’t remember that.”

“And then of course there’s Pinkie Pie.”

“Who? Me?”

Twilight continued, “My point is – there are all kinds of magic in this world. I think you’d be surprised if you would just pay a little more attention to detail.” She chuckled to herself, knowing that was Rainbow Dash’s weakness. “Besides, Soarin’ is the one teaching you, isn’t he? I’m sure he’s doing his best to help you out.”

“Mmmhm,” Rarity agreed. “I must say though, this drab weather and rain is definitely missing something.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash didn’t see how the performance could have been any better.

“A rainbow, of course.”

She laughed at that. Today had definitely been a lot of fun, even if it seemed like she was farther from her goal than ever before. Just you wait Soarin’. I don’t care how long it takes, but I’m going to knock your little pony socks off.

Tomorrow would be just the chance to get in some extra flying practice. Yep, another normal day in Ponyville.

Or not.

12 - The real star of the show

Dear Princess Celestia,
Never wish for a normal day in Ponyville.

Since yesterday, she’d sent her team to check on every unstable thing in Equestria, a giant three-headed dog rampaged through town, she and Spike managed to ruin Twilight’s mane (par for the course), and the purple unicorn was still going on about an impending disaster.

If today was the last day of Equestria, then where was the ominous music, the dramatic lighting; the evil, echoing laughter? Rainbow Dash wasn’t buying it.

She had a flight lesson to get to.

It was midday, but of course that meant nothing to the stupid forest, which was extremely foggy. Ghostly haze haunted the treetops and gray clouds moved slowly above. She flew right in without so much as a second thought. Ten minutes later she realized she was not at the clearing. She did a short circuit and realized she had no idea where she was.

Well this is just pony fluffing great. Everything looked the same. Mist, trees, mist, trees, nothing but a monotonous landscape of green and gray. To make matters more awesome, she’d turned around a couple times and now couldn’t remember which way she’d come from. Something big moved the trees below (or the trees moved themselves – entirely possible).

There were reasons ponies did not go to the Everfree Forest alone. Rainbow Dash did not want to become one of them.

At times like these, you just had to fly straight, so she did – straight smack into a pink magical barrier. “What the?” Backing up, she felt something flat press against her hindquarters. It wasn’t a barrier after all; it was a bubble. A test kick caused the surface to ripple in white waves before returning to translucent pink. She looked out through the magical screen. You know, I didn’t think this place could get any worse, but it looks really awful in pink.

The bubble lowered her below the treetops and brought her face to face with a unicorn she wasn’t pleased to see. How much energy would she waste breaking a barrier spell? It was probably worth it.

“A pony was not what Trixie was trying to catch. She demands to know why you are here!”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “What happened to the Great and Powerful Trixie?” she mocked.

Her captor barked out a confident laugh. “It is no longer necessary for Trixie to waste her breath, as her greatness is self-evident. Now reveal your reason for being here.” The magical force field went down.

“Me?” Rainbow Dash snorted indignantly. “What about you? I’d say you’re the suspicious one!”

“Insolence! You carelessly fall into Trixie’s spell and then accuse her?” Trixie scoffed, insulted. She lacked the starry cloak Dash remembered. Instead, an unusual necklace embedded with a large, crescent moon-shaped gem gleamed at her neck.

A pony could change their clothes, but they couldn’t change their coat. Trixie still reminded her of toothpaste, or maybe a breath mint – something the arrogant pony could definitely use.

Rainbow Dash was about to say as much, but Trixie wasn’t about to let the opportunity to talk about herself go by. “If you must know, Trixie is in the midst of a self-imposed banishment, no doubt something the likes of you would never understand.”

“Uh-huh. And how’s that working out for you?”

Trixie ignored the comment. “The only reason Trixie even bothers with this pointless discussion is because it has been so long since she’s had company.” With her head turned and one eye narrowed in revulsion, she looked Rainbow Dash up and down. “Even if it is the likes of you.”

The only reason Rainbow Dash hadn’t left was because she had no idea where she was. It dawned on her. “No way – you’re lost!”

“Trixie is not lost!”

Yep, definitely lost.

Toothpaste-mane flipped her hair haughtily. “She knows, for example, that just down this path is a makeshift bridge.” The unicorn indicated the path behind her, no doubt in the direction she’d just come from. With any luck, the bridge would be the same one Rainbow Dash remembered.

“Well Trixie,” Rainbow Dash said bitterly, “this has been… interesting. Unfortunately for you, I really have somewhere I need to be.”

She flew past the irritating mare, who shouted back at her, “Next time stay out of Trixie’s trap!”

Ugh. The Everfree Forest was now officially the most annoying place in Equestria.

Fog engulfed everything behind her and revealed a rope bridge ahead. Gray planks lined an unsteady path across the abyss. It was the same place the Shadowbolts had tried to seduce her into abandoning the others. Whispering in a pony’s ear definitely counted as seduction. She spat, warding off the memories of how naïve she’d been back then. What if she’d said yes? She’d be leading a team of illusions through eternal night, no better than one of Discord’s puppets.

Even without Nightmare Moon’s magic, the place looked just like it had that night, only now there was no one nearby who depended on her.

“Dash –dash-ash-ash,” her name echoed through the canyon at her feet. Every hair on her pelt prickled.

“Dash,” the sound came again, somewhat closer, still rebounding in the empty space before her.

“Soarin’?” She recognized his voice, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“Dash, where are you?”

“Over here! By the bridge.”

The unclad Wonderbolt emerged from the mist on the other side of the gorge. As always, he’d brought his saddlebags, weighted down heavily with goodies from the looks of it.

Shadowbolts, meet Wonderbolt.

Soarin’ took in the surroundings as he landed next to her. “I’m glad I found you. I was starting to think maybe I went a little overboard earlier and you weren’t going to come to practice any-“

This time, Rainbow Dash was the one who pressed her wingtip over his muzzle. She was glad to see him. “Doubting Equestria’s best flyer, huh? That doesn’t sound like the Soarin’ I know. It was pretty convenient you showed up just now. How do I know you’re not a Mimic or something?” She released her hold.

“That’s easy.” Soarin’ swished his tail. “Ask a question only the real me would know.”

“How did you get your cutie mark?”

“It was – hey, wait, you don’t even know that!”

She chuckled. She’d almost gotten it out of him. “Fine. What’s your least favorite food?” It was a trick question.

“I don’t know what the magazines say it is, but I don’t really have one. Sure, there are some things I don’t like that much, but I’m not a picky eater.” He poked her in the chest. “Now how do I know you’re actually Rainbow Dash and not an illusion? How many times did I beat you at Battlecloud after I taught you house rules?”

“Five,” she said flatly. He’d just won their little verbal spar, too.

“Good. I’m not in the mood for doppelgangers right now. Maybe we should have a code word in case we ever run into any. Asking questions is too obvious; they always put that in stories.”

“I’m game. How about ‘Rainbow Dash is the best pony.’”

“That might work, except ‘Soarin’ is superior.’”

“Okay, let’s settle with thunderbow. Lightning Rainbow is more radical, but it’s too long,” she said.

“Deal.”

Neither of them moved. At length, Rainbow Dash said, “You’re lost, aren’t you?”

“I took a wrong turn on the way to our training clearing. I was hoping when I found you, you’d be there.” He looked at one of the cracked stone pillars supporting the bridge. “We could train here, but I don’t know how safe it is.”

“Let’s not. I don’t want to stay in this place.” Her flight partner’s ears pricked at her icy tone, but he didn’t pry. “I think I can find the way out. We can give a shot at getting to the clearing if we start again in Ponyville.”

“Lead the way.”

After a fresh start, they’d rediscovered their usual practice area. Luna willing, they’d be able to find their way back to town before nightfall.

Soarin’ settled on an expansive gray cloud and struggled out from underneath his two loads of pastries. The strap brushed his mane the wrong way as he dipped his head and wriggled backwards. It was like watching a pony try to take a sweater off.

Too bad for her she was standing within range.

“Here, put these on.” Before she could react, Soarin’ heaved the set of saddlebacks onto her back.

“Oof!” She collapsed, legs splayed on all sides, not expecting the heavy burden. She felt her magic swell to hold the extra weight; it was odd to notice the change. The stuff inside the bags clacked together as it settled.

“The good news is you don’t have to clear the sky here anymore. The other good news is you get to wear Spitfire’s saddlebags!”

“The bad news is they’re full of rocks,” she finished dryly.

“No, that doesn’t really qualify as news because it’s obvious.” He held out a hoof and helped her up. “My challenge for you is to keep those on all week, except to sleep. Wear them to work, wear them to parties, wear them to your best friend’s wedding if you have to.” Soarin’ brushed the official emblem clasp. “You’ll find out quickly that everypony and their uncle is going to ask where you got these.” He gave a sly grin. “You can tell them whatever you want.”

At least something fun would come of this. “Fine, how about I tell them I got these out of a certain somepony’s bedroom?”

“Mmm. I thought Lightning Streak seemed extra boastful this morning.”

Rainbow Dash snorted. I just can’t pull one over on him today.

They started the session with Wonderworks. The rocks had the added benefit of distracting her from her survival instinct, but they weren’t making it easy to fly true. Regardless, she was fairly confident with the maneuver now. If it weren’t for the pack of stones weighing her down, they would probably be able to work it at different angles besides straight.

After a while they quit, thankfully, because she was getting bored and the concentration was starting to make her head pound.

Soarin’ stretched. “I’m bored of that. Let’s try something new. Know any cloud tricks?”

“A few,” she said.

“Like… this?” Soarin’ swung a foreleg out, scuffing off a bit of cloud. The tiny puff scudded away, leaving a trail of gray in its wake.

“Pfff, I learned that in flight kindergarten.” She quickly swung her leg along the cloud. A gray stream spat out from her platform, just like Soarin’s. The line she’d made was just a big longer than his. “Top that.”

Soarin’ stood next to her and scuffed at the cloud again, beating her record. She switched legs on her next turn. The resulting line of mist outdid Soarin’s again. He tried two more kicks but couldn’t beat it.

“Horses!” he said under his breath. “Do you know this one?” Still standing, the pearly blue pegasus suddenly fell through the cloud like an earthbound pony. He landed on the nimbus below without moving so much as a feather.

She concentrated and broke her magic for an instant, landing stiff-legged right beside him. The heavy impact sent a jolt through her. The rock pack was going to make everything more difficult, wasn’t it?

“How about,” Soarin’ opened his wings and crouched, letting them mingle in the cloud, “this?” Suddenly, he straightened his legs and threw his pinions up. Cloud flung off his feathers in upward streamers that hung in the air. Rainbow Dash mirrored his movement, familiar with this trick as well.

Soarin’ unzipped a hole in a cloud; Rainbow Dash unzipped another hole. The lighter pegasus did a corkscrew through a nimbus, and the other one followed with the same. Soon it escalated into a cloud trick tango. Had there been dramatic music that started slow and accelerated faster and faster, the whole thing would’ve appeared choreographed. Rainbow Dash met Soarin’ move for move. Cloud arcs drew themselves in the air, showers of mist spattered the sky, muffled hoofbeats stamped clouds. Dozens of tricks spilled themselves over an unwritten canvas.

Exhilaration tugged at her flyer’s heart. The weight at her sides melted into the wave of thrill she was riding. It was a competitive high that felt so good she didn’t even care who won.

“So you know all of those tricks, do you Dash?” Soarin’ slowly walked the length of a gray nimbus just above her. “But I’ll bet,” he said as he sauntered along, “there are some things you haven’t thought of.” He ignored the edge of the surface and kept walking right around the end. Deep navy tail and mane streamed towards the forest. He looked down at her as he travelled along the bottom of the cloud.

No, she’d never thought of that. How was he doing that? But as long as he was looking…

“I could say the same for you.” Rainbow Dash reached for one of the few tricks left. She crouched low on the cloud, holding her wings closed tight. Rocks and all, she did a forward flip and landed on her rear hooves. Her forehooves came down full force an instant after. The impact made the cloud explode upward where she’d struck.

While Soarin’ was distracted, she scooped up another trick they hadn’t covered and lobbed it at his head. Being from the Everfree Forest, of course the cloud snowball stuck to him and glopped off lazily instead of blowing up into harmless mist. The Wonderbolt was so surprised he lost his grip and fell off the bottom of the cloud. He threw his wings open to catch and right himself midair.

Finally got him. Heh heh.

Soarin’ landed, shaking off the remaining cloudball droplets. “Forgot that one.” Concentration clouded his gaze. He slammed his forehooves into the cloud. Nothing. He reared and tried again, bringing them down hard. Only a small wave of cloud rose up as a result. The stallion stood there, puzzled.

Dash snickered. “It’s all in the flip. I guess technically you could fly at a cloud really fast. It’ll work, but you’ll crack your legs. Not one of my brighter ideas.”

“How did you do that flip, though? You didn’t use your wings.”

“They slow you down. This is kind of an earth pony trick, anyway. Pinkie Pie showed me.” Rainbow Dash settled into a crouch to demonstrate without taking her feet off the cloud. “First you have to get ready to spring. Then,” she raised her back legs “you throw your back legs over your head, using your forehooves to push off. You’re trying to flip in a circle, so after that your forehooves come off the ground. Then you’ll land, and you whip the momentum into everything you got to bring your front feet down.”

She straightened herself and rubbed the back of her neck uselessly. “It’s, uh, kinda hard to describe.”

Soarin’ looked thoughtful. “I’ll have to try it when I get home.”

“Afraid to totally blow it in front of me, huh?”

“Naw,” Soarin’ said. “See? Look.” He crouched like Opalescence about to pounce. Launching his hindquarters over his head, he clumsily made it halfway around before he totally blew it for her and fell flat on his back. Rainbow Dash crammed her hoof into her mouth to keep from laughing.

“I’ll let you work on that,” she managed to say. “Besides, I’m not about to walk off the edge of a cloud expecting to get to the other side.”

Soarin’ rolled onto his side and stood. “I can’t show you how to until next week anyway.”

If there was even going to be a next week, what with Twilight’s horrible disaster and all. Not like they’d already averted two disasters already. Nope.

It was starting to get darker out. They’d wasted all that time wandering around the forest earlier. Soarin’ seemed to notice this as well and prepared to leave. “Come on, let’s fly before it gets too dark to see.” They headed toward what she hoped was Ponyville.

“How’s your weather team?” Soarin’ asked as the two of them glided lazily along.

She honestly hadn’t thought about it. “Not bad, actually. We had an… interesting day yesterday.” An image of slobbery fruits capping one of the buildings in town came to mind. “But get this – we managed to scour every edge of Equestria between us, with my help of course, in a little over a day” she said proudly. “But I couldn’t have done it if I had to go all the way to Baltimare. Seems like I finally managed to put the right pegasus to the task. Funny how it works better when you actually think about who to send instead of picking random ponies,” Rainbow Dash finished with her usual sporty laugh.

Soarin’ had a face like he was going to win a bet or something. “You should try giving them a pep talk sometime. I bet you’d be could at it.”

She stuck her tongue out. “Cheerleading? Totally not my thing.”

“Oh, no, cheerleading, no,” Soarin’ said. “Something more like this.” He zipped around her. “Flap those wings Rainbow Dash! Come on, you want to win, right? You gonna let a pile of rocks beat you?” The Wonderbolt barrel rolled to her other side. “NO! That’s what I thought.” She moved her wings faster, gaining speed. “Alright, that’s what I’m talkin’ about. Now we’re going to break some records with style, and most importantly – speed!” Soarin’ zoomed off into the distance. She chased after him.

They slowed up and Soarin said, “that’s what I meant by a pep talk.”

“If you put it that way, maybe I’ll try it, just for you.”

The two exited the gloomy forest into Luna’s clear night air. The waxing moon was just beginning to rise over the horizon. It would be Tuesday morning soon. Yeah, Twilight was definitely just having one of her overblown freakouts and Equestria was not going to end tomorrow. But, you know, just in case.

“Hey Soarin’, ever seen a moonbow?” This was one move Fleetfoot wouldn’t have picked up on, unless she’d been talent spotting in the middle of the night.

“No.”

“Come with me.”

She brought them to roof of her cloud home, quiet and blank now that the sun was down.

“You sure we’re not going to wake anyone up?” he whispered. It was still early for that, but that wasn’t the point.

“Uhm,” she faltered. “I kind of live here by myself.”

He drew his head back in slight surprise. “Oh.” This was the reaction most ponies had. “It’s so huge I thought,” the end of the statement trailed off into silence.

“I built it myself,” she caught herself saying. Corn husks, I wasn’t supposed to say that. “With some help! A lot of help!” she tried to recover, but Soarin’ was already peering down the tower in fascination.

“You made this? Thunder, Dash, that’s amazing.” He looked at the carefully maintained, sweeping cirrus curls adoring the doorways, the cloud garden, and the tunnels where rainbow waterfalls lived during the day. “And I thought I was good.”

Landscaping and architecture had to be the least cool hobby that ever existed. Looking uncool in front of the Wonderbolts was at the top of her list of things never to do. Hayhayhayhayhay.

It’s Soarin’, she tried to convince herself, so maybe it doesn’t count. He certainly didn’t seem bored. Quickdosomethingelse. “Oh, the moonbow,” she said a little loudly, bringing his attention back. “Ever since Princess Luna came back, I’ve been able to do this.” Suddenly she felt self-conscious. The moonbow wouldn’t work if she felt that way. “It’s nothing like the Sonic Rainboom or anything you can do, but, agh,” she cut off her own rambling, “just wait there and don’t go anywhere. Sometimes this takes a while."

No, this wasn’t like the Sonic Rainboom at all. It was a completely different class of move.

Rainbow Dash slid down the solid domed roof of the topmost part of the tower to get away from Soarin’. It wasn’t far enough. She flew down to the curved runway leading out of the ground level of the tower and trotted its length until she stood at the precipice. She could see everything from here under the moon’s glow.

Deep breaths.

Her friends, her family, the Elements of Harmony, ponies jeering Rainbow Crash, that one bad experience with the instant cheese, the most important dream she ever had, the Wonderbolts, Soarin’, the stones pulling her down: everything left her mind. She was just Rainbow Dash. She was a pegasus. A pony. Loyalty.

Her wings relaxed open while she let it all go, closing her eyes. She waited like that until she was only another part of the night. Calm, the flyer took to the sky and painted an arc. Motes of invisible energy brushed past the turquoise equine’s hooves and imbued the stroke with magic.

She returned to the rooftop when she was done. Her footing brought her a bit too close to Soarin’, so when she sat their closed wings touched lightly. The stones in the Wonderbolt saddlebags pressed into Soarin’s flank. Neither of them made an effort to move away. The two pegasi quietly watched the moonbow, the night rainbow.

It was said if you flew far enough North, colored lights danced at the edge of the world. The moonbow made her think of that legend. Bands of soft, translucent color sparkled in an arc against a dark backdrop dotted with stars. Occasionally slow waves of brightness rippled across the rainbow’s length. The seven colors were joined by one more band of white lunar light.

Rainbow Dash named all of her moves. She called this the Moonbow, but its real name was Luna’s Joy.

It was so sappy that she would never admit this to anyone, ever.

“Well that’s an interestin bit o’ gear ya got there RD. Say, that’s a Wonderbolt mark there, isn’t it? Where’d you get that?”

“Aw it was nothing. I just beat Fleetfoot in a race is all,” she boasted.

Ever observant, Twilight noticed the clasp on the rock filled bags as soon as Rainbow Dash entered the library. “When did you get those?”

“Oh, I swiped them that day you helped me and Soarin’ with that one thing.”

Twilight Sparkle stood, mortified that she had unwittingly aided and abetted in Rainbow Dash’s criminal behavior. The pegasus could almost read Twilight's thoughts: Could Dash plead insanity on account of loving the Wonderbolts so much? Yes, yes, that might work. There was convincing evidence. Spike looked back and forth between the two ponies, confused.

Pinkie Pie had been more interested in what was inside the hefty bags. Rainbow Dash described in detail the jumbo-sized cupcakes until Pinkie started to drool.

Just to mix things up, she told Fluttershy the truth. The gentle pony instantly hid behind her hair. “Oh no, Soarin’. Is he mad at me?”

Huh? “Uh, why would he be? I don’t think you two have even met while he’s been conscious.”

“About that,” Fluttershy poked the ground in a very Fluttershy way. “I got a little carried away with my assertiveness earlier. I don’t think he knew who I was.”

“Well then why are you worried? I’m sure it was nothing.”

“O-okay, if you say so.” The yellow mare’s eyes travelled back to the rock-filled saddlebags. “It must be a lot of fun flying with another fast pegasus.”

“Eh, mostly it just makes me really sore.”

And Rarity? Well, she’d told the gossipy unicorn that she got the bags out of Soarin’s bedroom. Rainbow Dash had never seen Rarity’s eyes get so big.

Of course, it didn’t take the five long to figure out she’d told each of them something different, but it was fun while it lasted. Twilight’s grumbling that Fluttershy got the true story and Rarity’s disappointment sorted through Rainbow Dash’s memories while she packed up the fashionista's stand at the Ponyville market.

The short, noteworthless guard pony waited for Rainbow Dash to have her hooves full with the heaviest piece of Rarity’s display before he snuck up. Dash saw him slither over out of the corner of her eye.

“I noticed this pretty filly in a blue dress and couldn’t help but come and see if she needed any help.” The comment was directed at Rarity without so much as acknowledging Dash existed.

Had he really just said that?

Rainbow Dash struggled against the Wonderbolt saddlebags to carefully place her friend’s elaborate, jewel encrusted mirror into the cart. Rarity professionally and politely declined, noting they had a cart and needed no help. The stallion turned away, back to the guard recruiting booth at the other end of the market. Rainbow Dash caught the phrase, “I did it!” uttered carelessly enough that the two mares overheard it.

Did that actually happen? She couldn’t get over it. This sort of thing never happened around her. Blue and magenta eyes met, and the two friends laughed strangely, having no other way to respond. Rainbow Dash muttered, “They totally bet each other to do that.” The two stands were far apart, but apparently not enough so that a pony could not see Rarity in her striking, yet simple, blue dress.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes flashed vengefully at the stand horsed by four guards, two of which were the young colt and his equally juvenile friend. They thought they could just say stuff like that and get away with it?

Nopony brushed off the Best Young Flyer, either. Sure, she was wearing two brown bags of rocks, her mane was a mess, and her attitude radiated aggression, but this was Rainbow Dash. She had more talent in a speck of dust on her coat than that colt had in his entire family. The proud pegasus snarked at Rarity, “I really want to go over there and say, ‘Oh, I couldn’t help but see such a fine stallion in uniform and decide he must need my help carrying those things.’” Sarcasm threatened to drown everypony nearby.

“Oho Rainbow Dash, I was thinking perhaps, ‘Terribly sorry, but I prefer palace guards.’”

Ouch.

As Rainbow Dash pulled the cart past the recruitment booth, she bit back the clever jab she so desperately wanted to say. They would probably twist it and throw it back at her, anyway.

It was annoying that the two freshly minted guards followed them on the path out of the market, carrying nothing but a single set of saddlebags. “Sure you don’t need any help?” The guy’s tone said he didn’t give one snort about helping, only about Rarity’s swaying tail.

Thank the bright sun Princess Celestia this never happened around Rainbow Dash. She felt like she could barf a rainbow all over the colt’s shining, untried plate mail.

Wouldn’t that be something? She pictured it. Good thing nopony could see her wicked grin. Maybe she’d just give the guard a black eye, seeing as she was invisible anyway.

“Are you two together?” This time it was the short guy’s friend.

That was it. Rainbow Dash could only hold her patience for so long. “Yeah. We are.”

They were so dense they didn’t even get what she’d just said. “Would you mares like us to treat you to dinner tonight?” Because so clearly all it took to get at Rarity was a cheap, disingenuous meal.

Rainbow Dash whirled between the cart hitches. It took all her control not to fly over and kill them both in verbal combat. “No, I don’t think you get it.” she said forcefully, drawing out the next word. “Together.” She crossed the two tipmost feathers of an outstretched wing for them to see.

That shut them up.

The athlete turned away, pulling the cart along with a deeply satisfied smirk. Heavyset hoofbeats stopped following them, sparing the two elements of harmony any more idiocy.

Rarity noticed her friend was still stewing about the whole thing. “Darling, you shouldn’t let two insufferable colts get to you like that. They’re not even worth your time.”

“Yeah, but it still pisses me off.”

“Oh come now, it’s still early. Let’s go see if Twilight will join us for breakfast. And you really must take off those bags – the clacking is driving me crazy!”

~~~

“So you just flew away?!” Spitfire said, dumfounded. “No ‘goodnight,’ or anything like that?”

“Well I guess I said something like that,” Soarin’ tried to defend himself, knowing it was ultimately useless. “I didn’t know what else to say! You weren’t there. It’s really hard for me to describe what it looked like.”

“You could try drawing it,” Surprise offered.

“Aw come on guys, you know I suck at drawing.”

Spitfire smacked her forehoof to her head. “You’re hopeless, Soarin’.”

Rapidfire held out a hoof. “Told you so.” Spitfire put a bit into it. The competitive mare wasn’t about to let Soarin’ off the hook, though.

“Ideally, Soarin’ wouldn’t be as thickheaded.”

Here we go. “Ideally, I’d be smarter than you.”

“Ideally, you wouldn’t have to be smarter than anypony to have common sense.”

“In a perfect world, I wouldn’t need common sense because I’d just do the right thing automatically.”

“Exactly, because in the best situation, you’d be me,” Spitfire said.

“Only with much cooler hair,” he quipped.

“It would actually be hotter hair, because it matches the yellow coat better. Your hair would be just hot enough to knock ponies off their feet, but not so much that you attract Princess Celestia’s attention.”

“Ideally I’d not only have a searing hot mane, and do everything perfectly because I’m Spitfire, but Rainbow Dash would just come to me, and I wouldn’t have to even lift a feather.”

Spitfire slammed a hoof down triumphantly. “Yes, because in a perfect story, it’d be Rainbow Dash and Spitfire, not Rainbow Dash and Soarin’.”

He faltered on that one too long. Rapidfire called the new score, putting Spitfire ahead by two points. They were fairly equally matched at this new game. It was one of Surprise’s favorites now; the ‘ideal situation’ game. The white Wonderbolt was pretty good at predicting when to show up for an unexpected showdown.

“Oh,” Surprise suddenly remembered something. She passed a letter to Soarin’. “Fleetfoot told me to give this to you. Said it was from Ponyville.”

They all stood there, looking at him eagerly (except for Rapidfire, who was stoic as always). Soarin' wanted to remind them they all needed to get back to practice. It wouldn’t have made any of them move, though, so he opened the letter.

Hey Soarin’,

I’m going out of Equestria for a few days or so, so don’t show up for practice this week. We’re following the Great Dragon Migration because Twilight’s dragon assistant Spike has this crazy idea in his head. Obviously he’s never dealt with an adult dragon. Tell Spitfire thanks for lending the saddlebags. Hopefully see ya soon,

(I mean seriously, I better not get burnt to a crisp before I’m a Wonderbolt.)

Dash

He held the letter away from prying eyes. “Looks like I’ve got some free time this week. No practice.” He didn’t mention the part about the saddlebags.

Spitfire raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you blew it that bad.” Rapidfire merely shook his head sadly.

Soarin’ said, “It’s not like that. Dash is following the dragon migration.”

Surprise looked surprised.

For a pegasus, Rainbow Dash seemed to get into an awful lot of interesting situations. Soarin' had a feeling there was something about her he hadn’t figured out yet.

8-Xenon-8 made this chapter's day:

14 - Fluttershy doesn't miss the sky spiders

Soarin’ had learned over the years that as you got older, you started to find out about some of life’s interesting twists. One of these was that once in a great while, you would meet a pony and something small would happen – maybe they mentioned an obscure favorite song or niche hobby – and instantly both of you discovered a very strong connection. A complete stranger suddenly seemed like they were a close friend. It was the weirdest, coolest thing; Soarin’ couldn’t put a hoof on the feeling. Within minutes the two of you would be swapping stories like you’d known each other for years. At first he thought it was an experience particular to him because it was so rare, but one day he talked to Surprise about it, and she knew what he was talking about.

He’d asked Surprise the day after he showed a certain pegasus Thunderwings.

Soarin’ spotted her waiting for him up ahead. "Rainbow Dash!"

"Soarin'!"

"How were the dragons?" he asked, doing a once over to see if she was injured, which would affect today's training.

"Ugh, teenagers. As cocky as fillies and colts, but worse. I wish I could say I taught them a lesson, but we basically grabbed Spike and got the hayride outta there." She pulled her head up, suddenly aware of the weight of the rocks as if she'd forgotten it was there. "I did manage to wear these for a whole week, even though I didn't bring them on the trip. Good thing I left them here, too, because a couple of phoenixes took all our stuff. Spitfire would probably fry me if I lost these suckers."

Soarin' pictured the flaming mare searching through everything last week trying to find her backup bags after burning the official ones to a crisp during a crazy stunt. He laughed, hoping it didn't sound nervous. "She hardly realizes they're gone. They're not the fancy blue ones anyway." The saddlebags at Rainbow Dash's sides were brown. "Alright, enough talk - let's train! We'll start with that cloud trick I showed you last time. After all," Soarin' did a forward flip and slammed his hooves down, creating a cloud pillar in front of him, "it's a fair trade. You can take those saddlebags off now. Leave them here and I’ll get them when we leave”

He watched the spunky athlete scramble out from under the weights, like a pony trying to escape an embarrassing hoofknit sweater. Was that what he looked like last time? It was pretty funny. Rainbow Dash wriggled and writhed, the saddlebag strap getting caught in her mane and making static electric shocks. She made faces at the stubborn contraption.

The heavy saddlebags flew off and sank into the cloud. Rainbow Dash picked up one of her hooves, inspecting it. "What the...?" She cautiously placed it down and took a few steps, staring at her feet the whole time.

“A little confused?” he chuckled.

“A little confused?” she said accusingly. “I'm more than just a little confused; I'm massively confused. Like the murder mystery train crashed and all the suspects are now dead confused.” The mare’s legs locked, like she might fall through the cloud any second. “Am I supposed to feel like this?” Her magenta eyes sparked angrily, as if it was his fault her senses were thrown off.

Oh, right. It was.

Thanks to this training trick, Rainbow Dash had suddenly become aware of pegasus magic in the way an average pony wasn’t. Unless you had a special occupation, the most you ever needed to know was that clouds were like regular hard surfaces until you concentrated and turned your magic off. Rainbow Dash was about to learn you could do the opposite: extend your magic to hold yourself in place. Right now the mare probably felt like she had dinner plates stuck to her hooves. She sure was standing like she did.

“Yeah, that’s normal. Have you ever seen an earth pony press their forelimbs against a doorframe as hard as they could for a few seconds, and then step back? This exercise is like that.” He looked at the heavy rocks. “More extreme obviously, but it’s also more fun.” There was a reason they practiced over the creepy misty clearing in the Everfree Forest – but first thing’s first.

He came over to where she was standing. “Chill. You won’t fall. Your magic is stretched out to support the extra weight from the rocks. They’re not there anymore, but you still feel it. So what I need you to do now is try to grip onto the cloud with your magic.”

“How do I do that?” Rainbow Dash peered at her rebellious feet.

“Uhm.” He didn’t know how to explain it, really. “Concentrate. It’s different than usual, though, like you’re thinking in the opposite direction.”

“Like…” Rainbow Dash exclaimed ‘whoa!’ as she suddenly fell through the cloud.

“Not that way! The other way!”

They went through this a few more times. With each failure she looked more determined to get it right.

Finally she looked at him triumphantly, all four hooves secured to the puffy cumulus. “I think I’ve got it. Now what?”

“Now don’t let go.” Before she could question, he flipped the whole cloud over. A lesser pony would’ve startled and fell, but she held fast.

They looked at each other. Nothing had changed, except now Rainbow Dash’s hair and tail stuck straight up (oh, straight down). Soarin’ took a few steps. “Try walking. You can do anything you want, as long as it doesn’t break your concentration. It’s a lot harder to maintain than the easy stuff to go through clouds.” Heightened sensitivity made it possible to get a feel for how to work magic this way.

He watched Dash test out her new power and wander around the surface, scuffing at it and building a formidable cloud castle. She was a far cry from the pegasus he'd punched out of a magical storm way back when. This pony didn't stick to unruly Everfree Forest clouds, wasn't afraid to lead, could do more than fly alone, and had precision and control without sacrificing heart. The unstoppable mare in front of him had to be practicing hard on her own. A few flight lessons from a Wonderbolt didn't make that kind of change. At this rate, she'd be his equal or better in skill, and an excellent flight partner.

He couldn't wait.

No, literally, he couldn’t wait. “Hey Dash, come with me.”

She flicked her ears in acknowledgement from where she was standing, experimenting with keeping her grip on only two feet. She let go to follow him. “Wait, we’re going down into that creepy fog?”

He nodded. They swooped down to the forest and landed in the short grass. The clearing was empty and presumably safe; he’d never run into anything here. Thick sheets of mist floated slowly over the field. No flowers or anything else grew here other than grass. Combined with the ever-present fog, it was an unusual place indeed.

A layer of translucent white hovered around Soarin’s knees. Rainbow Dash stood nearby, clouded by a blanket of mist. Raising a forehoof, Soarin’ said, “This is my favorite way to use magic.” He took a step and set his hoof down on nothing. Rainbow Dash followed him with her gaze. He rose into the air as he walked up an invisible staircase, going wherever he wanted in the fog like a ghost. “Come on, try it.”

She narrowed her eyes in concentration and sought a foothold in the water vapor. Hoof after hoof, she shakily stepped off the ground. Soarin’ made it look easy, but it wasn’t.

Rainbow Dash laughed sharply. “This isn’t so ha-” one of her feet slipped and she jerked downward violently, barely managing to keep the other three feet stable. Soarin’ snorted. Rainbow Dash lived to show off. Even if she knew that she didn’t have to impress him, she’d try anyway.

Soarin’ let himself sink slowly. “Alright hotshot, if it isn’t so hard, you tell me when you’re ready to race ground-pony style.”

“Can’t talk. Focusing,” she cut him off.

Soarin’ swam lazily around the clearing while the rainbow pony ignored him. Getting bored of that, he swam upside down. He was there to give her advice, but she didn’t need it. She was figuring it out on her own.

All this upside down business was making the blood go to his head.

Suddenly something hard mashed up against his nose. Rainbow Dash was holding her hoof out. She challenged him, “Okay Soarin’, you wanted a race, you got one.”

He flipped over and landed beside her. Had anypony been watching them, right about now they would be wondering if they drank something crazy, because two pegasi were standing on nothing in the middle of the mist. Soarin’ lined up and got ready to gallop. “Remember, if you run out of fog, you have to jump. We’ll race around the clearing, three laps. Winner gets…” he tried to think of something he wanted.

Rainbow Dash beat him to it. “Winner gets to visit the loser’s house for dinner.”

So she wanted to sneak into Wonderbolt Headquarters again, huh? Too bad for her he wasn’t about to lose this contest. A racer’s grin spread across his face. “Sure. On three. One.”

“Two.”

“Three.”

Soarin’s weatherpony went down and he pulled his last piece off the board, embarrassed. I can’t believe I fell for that old trick.

“That’s what you get for beating me.” Dash left her seat at the dinner table and cantered proudly into the kitchen.

The inside of Rainbow Dash’s home had less Wonderbolt paraphernalia than he’d expected. Clearly there was a lot more to her than that alone. Downstairs, the first floor of the house was sort of a mix between a living room/entertainment center and a training facility. He’d recognized the golden winged crown on a shelf covered in prizes and awards. On the floor there were some small dishes with vegetables and fruit, water, and what he guessed was pet food. Rainbow Dash had noticed him looking at the bowls curiously. “Those are for my pet. His name’s Tank.”

“Doesn’t he eat anything?”

“Well, this is his lunch, so he should be here in about,” Rainbow Dash tapped her chin, “twenty minutes. Oh, right, he’s a tortoise. You didn’t know that.”

“Ohhhh.”

Right now they were on the second floor, which was dedicated to the kitchen and dining room (and some random things lying on the floor). The kitchen took up one-third of the space, and was separated from the rest of the room by a wall open on both ends. You could run a buffet line right through it, no problem. The things on the floor included a beach ball, a pair of black shades, a stack of books, a… hmm. He wasn’t sure what that was.

A smash came from the kitchen, like a pan being smacked full force on hard marble.

Maybe they should get takeout. “You okay in there Dash?”

“Sky spider. No big deal. I’ll just wash it off.” The sound of running water followed.

The dividing wall really made things interesting. Soarin’ couldn’t see what was going on and had no idea what dinner was going to be. He just hoped it wasn’t like Surprise’s signature dish, the “surprise.” One of the greatest Wonderbolt pranks was to hide the surprise on an hors d'oeuvre table and see if anypony was foolish (or lucky) enough to try it. They’d been trying to trick Princess Celestia for years.

Low-volume music coming from a stereo near the dinner table layered itself over the pauses in conversation and cooking noise. Slow, rhythmic chopping minced Rainbow Dash’s words. “Hey Soarin’, I’ve been meaning to ask you. For as much as I know about you guys… Is there a taboo or something against Wonderbolts being together?”

“What, like a rule against it?”

“Yeah,” she said.

“No.”

Chop, chop, chop. “No rules? What about drama, then? There must be a ton of it. Or a crazy love triangle.” Soarin’ could almost hear Rainbow Dash’s eyes roll while she said ‘crazy.’

He shook his head back and forth before he remembered she couldn't see him. “Love triangle, let’s see. I think maybe once, before my time.”

“Well that’s a load off my mind.”

“Sheesh Dash. Where did you get those ideas anyway?” He couldn’t think of a single job in Equestria with a rule against relationships. “I’m pretty sure Celestia has a ban on ridiculous laws – and if she doesn’t, Luna sure as shine does.” There was an exception to that. “Unless they’re stupid and funny.”

“The only way to make a rule,” Rainbow Dash asserted saucily.

Soarin’ put the top on Battlecloud and took the box downstairs. With a second chance to glance around the living room, he noticed a daredevil license among the things on Rainbow Dash’s prize shelf. Should have guessed she had one too. Definitely gonna have to take her up on that. He ran through a list of the few racetracks he hadn’t tried yet and didn’t have a familiarity advantage in. What’s the one Rapidfire’s always talking about? Tartar sauce? Something like that.

The Wonderbolt returned to the table and flipped into his seat. Over the sizzling of a pan, the two ponies talked about flying and Wonderbolts and weather ponies and the odd lack of interesting things going on in Canterlot. Soarin’ started to become thankful for the wall separating the kitchen, because he was sure he’d be looking at nothing except Rainbow Dash if it weren’t there.

After a bit, said pony brought out dinner, which was a simple but colorful vegetable stir fry. Soarin’s astonishment was written all over his face. Here he was expecting, well, after he started thinking about the “surprise,” he couldn’t think of much else.

“Heyyy,” the chef complained lightheartedly, serving herself a plate and digging in. “You weren’t thinking that just because I train hard means I don’t know how to feed myself, were you?” A devilish grin spread across her face. “I’m Rainbow Dash. I can do anything.”

He swallowed an appetizing bite and countered, “Prove it next month.”

Rainbow Dash dropped a snow pea before it got to her mouth. She stared blankly, shocked. “I completely forgot. I’m supposed to hold a meeting tomorrow to make sure I get the whole weather team in shape to deliver this year’s water to Cloudsdale. We’ve got to start training asap.” The mare jumped out of her chair. “Oh crud, oh shoot,” she jittered in place, hooves rapping at the floor. “Uhm.” The pegasus zipped around and up and down the stairs and back and downstairs and back again in a blur. “Where are they? Scootaloo! Scootaloo has them! Hey Soarin’, can I borrow these until next week?” She was pointing at Spitfire’s empty saddlebags. “I have a ton of flyers I need to get printed right now. Like, right now right now.”

“Okay. Sure.” Here’s hoping she doesn’t have them when Spitfire’s around, or I might lose my tail. “Use them tomorrow and then put them somewhere safe where they don’t get messed up.” Good thinking, Soarin’. Then he realized Dash had said she needed flyers printed now. “We’ve barely started eating! Isn’t the print shop closed?” He kinda wanted to spend a little more time with her outside of training.

“In about thirty minutes it will be.”

“What about dinner?”

“I’ll,” she quickly took a step forward and back a few times, undecided. “I’ll eat it on the way.” On the saddlebags went, out came the wings, and the full plate of food landed in Rainbow Dash’s forehooves. “Urgh this is so annoying. You probably won’t be here when I get back, so I’ll catch you next week.” The goodbye practically had a trainwreck with itself the words were so fast. Rainbow Dash was gone.

That was one way to avoid an awkward parting late at night.

He definitely couldn’t stay here, or neither of them would survive the gossip. Soarin’ turned the radio up a little and ate until he was satisfied – as satisfied as he could be with the host missing and nopony to talk to. The least he could do after that was put things away, so he did, fortunately without running into any sky spiders.

Now the question was: would he poke around a little, or go back to the base? He shouldn’t pry. That was bad manners.

Soarin’ peered into the third story of Rainbow Dash’s home. Fancy tiled floor lead to a private bathroom and a raised dais opposite it. An impressive custom blanket with Dash’s cutie mark on it adorned a comfortable looking bed. There was a photo on one of the nightstands. Soarin’ inched away from the stairwell just far enough to recognize it was Rainbow Dash and her friends.

He might get caught if he stayed any longer, and he was starting to feel sleepy. Imagine getting caught sleeping in Rainbow Dash’s bed. Hahaha…

No.

He left out the main entrance on the first floor, passing Tank finishing his lunch on the way out. That was a pretty cool pet.

~~~

Flyers? Check. Flight training? Check. Feathers still intact? Check. Fluttershy?

Shy.

You know, it doesn’t make any sense how she can convince me to do stuff like watch butterflies and I can’t even get her to make one lousy tornado.

The soft yellow pegasus was currently pouring her heart out about some ponies making fun of her at flight camp.

The best thing to do about taunting was bury it. “Suck it up Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash pushed aggressively. “This is no time for-“ No, wait, this won’t work on her. I don't wanna get beaten up and have her escape out the window again, either. Rainbow Dash softened her tone and backed off. “I mean, confidence or no confidence, I’m gonna need every pegasus to break the record, including you.”

Even after Rainbow Dash managed to get Fluttershy to fly, the sensitive pegasus ended up running off in tears. So that’s it? After all this, I can’t even get my best friend to fly with us? What kind of a flight coach am I?

The so-called weather team leader clenched her hoof, but there were no enemies here to swing at. She kicked the ground in frustration and walked away, watching a pink tail disappear on the horizon. Fluttershy didn’t look back.

Even if we do beat the record, it won’t be the same. Why can’t she see that? Rainbow Dash sighed. She cut the wallowing short. Now’s no time to look weak! I’ve got to go out there and give it my all, or everything the team’s worked for will fall to pieces.

She pushed Fluttershy from her mind and went to blow that record skyhigh.

~~~

Spitfire should be back soon. What was taking her so long?

Soarin’ looked blankly at a magazine while Blaze and Wave Chill fought with each other on the common area couch. Blaze had her yellow hoof pressed into Wave Chill’s foreleg while he tried to block her from stomping him in the eye. She reached for a video game remote he held as far from her as he could.

“What the stuff Wave Chill. I want to be player two this time. Gimme that.”

“Heck no, dude. No freaking way am I gonna be the one responsible when we die. Again.”

“Fine, I never needed you anyway. I’m fast enough I can play both parts at once. Now hoof over the remote, bro.” None of the Wonderbolts were related; Blaze just called everypony bro. “I’m gonna school you Celestia-style.”

“In your moon dreams.” Wave Chill dropped the remote and the two pegasi slapped at each other with their wings.

Soarin’ read the sentence for the utmost time that evening, finally registering the words.

These sexy models are just a sampling of what will be at the competition next month. Take a look at this beauty:

He pawed the trifold open. A triple tier cake to die for unfolded in strawberry-chocolate layers so finely printed he might just eat the page.

The cake picture and the couch tipping over as squabbling ponies rolled onto the floor still wasn’t enough to distract him from the growing worry about Spitfire. Did Dash wear those saddlebags? What if she acts differently around Spitfire? What if she’s just bragging about being able to coordinate her team better? It’s not like I’ve seen her in action, but I was so sure – focus on the cake, Soarin’. Keep reading. You never worry, what’s your problem?

The door slammed open behind his back. Blaze and Wave Chill shut up. Soarin’ heard stiff-legged stomps head straight for him.

Spitfire poured bits onto the table and they clattered noisily. She laughed, still fully suited up. “Soarin’, you win. I still can’t believe it. I thought you were exaggerating your horseshoes off when you said she was ready. Do you know what she said?” Spitfire pulled off her goggles and coolly wiped them down, still smiling. “She said, ‘If you wanna talk guts, then you’ve gotta give it to my number one flyer, Fluttershy.’ Holy fireballs Soarin’, what did you do to that pegasus? I didn’t even see that coming!”

Soarin’ collected his winnings, worries gone. He was a proud pegasus, but he knew Rainbow Dash’s ascension probably had more to do with her friends than his sadly small presence. Not that he was going to tell Spitfire this. Instead he said, “You mean you’re actually going to listen to me from now on?”

“Nah. That’s all Lightning Streak’s money anyway.”

Leave it to the lightning pegasus to bet a large amount of money against Spitfire and lose.

Wave Chill extracted himself from Blaze’s headlock and said, “Yo, wait up. Those are my bits. I told Lightning Streak he couldn’t spend a week without hanging out with any fans and I lost.”

Blaze cocked her head. “Guys, d’ya think we ever actually spend any money, or does it just go hoof to hoof around here?”

They all shrugged. Blaze snatched the remote out of Wave Chill’s curled wing.

~~~

She was still bummed they didn’t beat the record, but things could’ve gone much, much worse. At least Spitfire had seemed happy. Rainbow Dash really wished she could’ve impressed her, though. Maybe just a little bit, I wish Soarin’ had been there. More than a little.

She pulled open one of the drawers on the nightstand next to her bed to get something. I have to stay focused on the Wonderbolts. The contents of the drawer looked off. Hmm.

Rainbow Dash pushed around the things inside the nightstand drawer again, double checking. She shuffled through old papers, letters from home, fan mail, a few bits, some more photos of her friends, and a crayon drawing of a light blue potato with legs and rainbow hair.

It was gone.

I probably put it somewhere stupid. The only pony who could've been in here was Soarin', and he better have not been nosing through my stuff.

She forgot whatever it was she was looking for earlier. All she knew was that one of the things that had been in there wasn't anymore. Well, no big deal. It'd turn up eventually.

It did.

15 - Rock and roll

The sun came up, and then it went down and the moon rose. The sun came back up again. The moon shoved it out of the way and it was dark once more. After two seconds, the sun pulled the moon down and the daylight shone on. Soarin' crunched a pillow over his head. If he didn't know any better, he'd think he could hear the arguing from here:

"Day."

"Night."

"Day."

"Night."

"Day."

"NIGHT."

"Oh, look Luna. I think breakfast is ready," Soarin' imagined the sun princess saying after noticing a guard cowering in the doorway.

"Ha-hah. So it seems. I shall be eating my breakfast before the sun is even up." Luna turned her back and went to the dining hall.

"Day," Celestia whispered.

With the approaching Summer Solstice, there had been a few minor issues regarding the time the sun was supposed to rise on the horizon. On a good morning, the sun came up a little earlier than the previous day. On a bad morning, everypony who didn’t feel like being at a rave buried their heads in their blankets.

Soarin’ rolled out of bed and crashed into the floor. He lay on his side, wincing.

Note: do not roll out of bed. Sounds good on paper, doesn’t actually work.

The growing sleep deficit and lack of free time was taking its toll on his ability to concentrate. There was a derby the day after he ate dinner at Rainbow Dash’s place. After flying back and forth, demonstrating the cloud trick, and more team flight practice with her, he wasn’t in full form for the race the next day. He didn’t place high enough to make it to the second round.

Soarin’ expected to see his hallway portrait in last place in a few weeks.

Yes, the other Wonderbolts noticed his underperformance, but he would find little sympathy from them. If a team member’s own personal choices were affecting their competency, then that was their problem to sort out. It was fine to lose stride for a while, as long as the consequences weren’t damaging or prolonged.

“Yay for being a responsible adult,” Soarin’ sighed to himself on the way out of his room. He had to make an announcement this morning before routine practice. ‘Routine practice’ made it sound dull and easy, but it was the opposite. As a result, every week it got more difficult to keep up with Wonderbolt training and also visit Rainbow Dash.

He tried not to think about how tired he was over a cup of coffee, which he only recently started drinking. Was all of this exhaustion worth it?

Yes. It had nothing to do with the coffee, either. Coffee tasted terrible. He added two more sugar cubes.

Everypony else was already on the practice field when he got there. He had to shout over them to get their attention. When he had it, he went on: “Guys, I know the Wonder Trial is only a few weeks away and it’s a little late for this, but I can’t be involved in the Trial this year. I’m dropping out of the planning meetings.”

None of them seemed surprised. Lightning Streak’s flashy mane whipped around. “Oy Soarin’, and why’s tha’?” Lightning Streak knew full well why not. Rapidfire cuffed the troublemaker’s ears.

Fleetfoot tapped the empty spot next to her for Soarin’ to get into position. “Perfect. You can deliver the Trial invitations with me and Spitfire.”

Soarin’ felt his coat prickle in alarm. When and why did Spitfire back out of the Trial? He tried to catch his teammate’s attention, but she was another row in front of him and focused on the formation. This wasn’t the time for questions, anyway. All of the Wonderbolts took to the sky on a cue from Rapidfire.

During break, half of the team left to practice small group maneuvers and combat training. Soarin’ took the opportunity to corral Spitfire, who had been ignoring him and making sure Rapidfire was between them at all times. Now the gray stallion stood to the side while Soarin’ interrogated Spitfire.

“Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t going to judge the Trials this year?” Soarin’ tried to keep the worry from his voice. “You’ve been training one of the other potentials, haven’t you?” Training one of them enough to get too vested in one competitor over the others.

“And what if I have?” Spitfire said coyly. That was all the confirmation he needed.

“Don’t you remember what you said after the Best Young Flier Competition last year? That you and Fleetfoot were seriously considering training Dash specially? It’s not like you to go back on your word! She’s ready, I swear, as biased as I may be – you saw for yourself in Ponyville. Why can’t we just take her on without wasting everypony’s time at the Wonder Trial?”

Spitfire’s expression turned serious. “Even if the whole team agreed to that, it wouldn’t be fair to Rainbow Dash. How do you think she would feel about being handed a spot on the team without fighting for it like everypony else here? Also, if I recall, some sneaky fox-excuse for a pony took on Rainbow Dash before Fleetfoot or I did.” Spitfire’s usual saucy smile returned. “If she’s as good as she claims to be, my recruit won’t stand a chance.” She put her leg around Soarin’s shoulders. “Don’t worry pal, I’m sure it’ll be fine. I think she’ll enjoy the competition, and we’ve got to give every talented pegasus a fair shot.”

“Yeah,” Soarin’ said, returning to his senses. He cared too much. “I guess you’re right.”

This is one competition against Spitfire I don’t want to lose.

Rapidfire clicked his hooves together. “An impossible riddle.” He trotted off towards a different gathering of Wonderbolts like he hadn’t been paying attention to Spitfire and Soarin’ at all.

~~~

Rainbow Dash opened the latest edition of the school newspaper and saw her picture at the top of Gabby Gums’ feature. It’s about time I get to be in the spotlight. Not like every pony in town was before me or anything. She read the title.

Suddenly the column wasn’t funny anymore. She opened the newspaper to the column and skimmed through the first few lines.

Rainbow Dash, Speed Demon or Super Softie? A certain “do not” source close to local speedster Rainbow Dash revealed in an interview that the pegasus enjoys hooficures, wears cute accessories during her downtime, and has a bed covered in plush stuffed animals. Some suspect Rainbow Dash’s daredevil license is a fabrication to promote her “bad girl” attitude. No pony was able to confirm they had ever actually seen the license.

Gabby Gums was going down. A split second before Rainbow Dash raced out to get all of the copies off the market, she noticed the “continued” box at the end of the second page. That was the first time Gabby Gums wrote three pages. Rainbow Dash flipped to see what came next.

Before she knew it, she was interrupting the news carrier. Dense stacks of papers filled a mail cart behind the delivery pegasus. Rainbow Dash zoomed into the cart without a word and heaved every copy of The Foal Free Press into her forelegs. It shouldn’t have been possible to hold all of them at once, but Soarin’s magic trick apparently worked on newspapers. “I’ll pay you back later!” she shouted as she took the first batch of papers away.

Rainbow Dash dumped the load into her living room and raced off to find the shipment of newspapers going to Ponyville. How could Gabby Gums possibly have made it past Tank? She must be a pegasus. When I find out who she is…

This was not how she expected to find the photo that had gone missing from her nightstand drawer. Reprinted inside every school newspaper was a black and white image of her and Soarin’, him dangling ridiculously from a cloud while she clutched one of his hind legs. Her cutie mark was blurred out.

Even the fastest pegasus in Equestria couldn’t stop all of the newspapers. By the time Rainbow Dash made it to the last newsstand, ponies pointed her out and laughed. This was slightly more tolerable than the other reaction, which was to look at her, blush, and turn away. It didn’t take Twilight Sparkle to figure out what the text might be on the third page of Gabby Gums’ article.

Rainbow Dash swept past the ground ponies, snatching papers straight from their hooves left and right. “I’ll take that! Whoops, that one doesn’t look any good. 'Scuse me, thanks! Sorry! Recall." Enraged readers shouted and shook their hooves at her as she sped away with a new heap of newspapers to one of the safe zones in Ponyville: Sugar Cube Corner. Pinkie Pie would definitely know how to get rid of all these papers.

A few days later "Gabby Gums" apologized. At that point Rainbow Dash had calmed down enough to be glad to see the end of the stupid column. If she needed to have her daredevil license printed in the paper to prove it was real and she wasn’t a wuss, though, she was going to sock somepony.

There was one thing she couldn’t figure out. Before the Cutie Mark Crusaders could leave to make amends with their next victim, Rainbow Dash turned to the winged filly in the trio. “So Scootaloo, how did you get into my house?”

Scootaloo fussed with the soggy newspaper. “Uh, well, you see, that’s…”

“Oh, she didn’ fly,” Apple Bloom said cheerfully now that she wasn’t getting rained on. “We put her in a big box an mailed her straight to yer door!”

Two of the three crusaders grinned at their creative brilliance.

“Well,” Scootaloo said quickly, “We’ve got a lot more apologies to do, so we’ll see you later!” She grabbed her friends and zipped off.

“Not so fast.” Rainbow Dash was on the ground, blocking their path. “One of you still has my photo. Since you already have my address, go ahead and mail it back.” She put a hoof to her face. “Just don’t let any more ponies see it, okay?” She stepped aside to let the troublemakers get on with their apology quest.

Sweetie Belle complained quietly, “Scootaloo, you just wanted to add that to your Rainbow Dash collection.”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

Apple Bloom walked ahead without them. “Come on Crusaders, let’s go see Fluttershy.”

Pinkie Pie rolled in the dirt next to the restaurant table, laughing. “I mean, did you guys see what was in the one about Rarity? It was so funny, I couldn’t stop reading. Especially the part about the garden party in Canterlot.”

The voice of reason Twilight Sparkle said, “We were there, remember?”

“Oh yeah!”

Rarity harrumphed, insulted. “That was my private diary. I’d appreciate it if you put what was in that column out of your minds. Besides, those three greatly exaggerated the most important details and added a few beastly things I would have never written.” She muttered to herself something about peanut butter and prince charming.

Applejack handed her menu to the waitress while she spoke. “Well ya can sure as hay bet there won’t be no more of those nasty, low-down stories. Big Mac gave those three a talkin’ to like I ain’t never seen.”

“Yay,” Fluttershy cheered. “I’m glad there’s no more Gabby Gums.”

“You know what this calls for?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“A party!” Twilight chimed in with a spot-on impression of Pinkie Pike.

“No,” Pinkie Pie said. “No, it doesn’t call for a party. Leave the decision-making to the experts, Twilight.”

The waitress returned with a tray boasting more glasses than there were ponies at the table. Three pink lemonades lined up in front of Pinkie Pie. “It calls for drinks! Woo-hoo yeah!” The party pony slammed down an entire glass of lemonade in the time it took to blink.

Rainbow Dash pulled her drink closer after the waitress set it on the table. “How come you always order the same thing Pinkie?”

“Well that’s a silly question, silly. Don’t you know anything about flamingos? If I didn’t drink anything pink, I’d lose all of my splendiffic color. Wouldn’t that be a surprise! I mean, imagine me completely white.”

“Uh. Newsflash Pinkie, you’re not a flamingo.”

“Well duh Dashie,” the mare rolled her eyes. “I’m not the one who thinks ponies are trees.”

“I do not think – ggrrrr,” Rainbow Dash gave up on that particular argument.

Pinkie Pie didn’t, though. “Prove it!”

“How am I supposed to prove what I’m thinking?”

“Easy, we’ll just hook you up to my–“ Pinkie Pie twirled her hooves in the air and made a spooky voice “–mind reader.”

Twilight finished sipping on her drink and set it down. “All in favor of not wanting to read Rainbow Dash’s thoughts.” Every pony at the table besides the two arguing raised their hooves and said ‘aye.’

Oh come on, my thoughts aren’t that bad.

After lunch Soarin' intercepted Rainbow Dash on the way to the Everfree Forest and told her there was a change of plans. Thanks to this new activity, Rainbow Dash was developing a serious animosity towards everything large and gray. This is earth pony work! I don’t have a hard forehead like Pinkie Pie. Rolling rocks with my noggin ain’t an option here.

She struggled and strained against the boulder, digging furrows into the ground. It didn’t budge. “Is this really…”she panted “…necessary?”

“No,” Soarin’ said. He continued kicking some small stones into a pile on the other side of a line scored in the dirt. Today he sported nothing except a pair of flight goggles fastened around his neck.

Her own goggles shifted as she tried to get more leverage on the dumb rock. “Then why are we doing this?”

“Come on Dash, be a hero.”

“Believe me, I tried that and it didn’t work out so great.” Rainbow Dash rammed her shoulder into the boulder and heaved. Dirt and grit crackled underneath it as it plowed forward. The big stone passed over the line on the ground and erased a section of it.

They were spending their training time on the rock farm outside Ponyville. Barren trees tainted with dull earth pony magic poked from the grassless earth. Nopony ever visited the rock farm because the folks here were so uptight. Day in and day out pegasi managing the skies could see the stiff-faced farmers moving rocks from one side of the field to the other. Often the weather team put gray clouds up so they didn’t have to see.

At the moment Rainbow Dash and Soarin’ were the only ones here. Apparently Celestia had told the Wonderbolts to move the rocks for a few days. The rock farmers themselves were on a forced vacation, courtesy of the Princess.

Today it was Soarin’s turn to rotate all of the stones from the south field over to the west field. Rainbow Dash complained, “Why couldn’t Spitfire give you a different day, or assign another Wonderbolt to help us?”

“Spitfire?” Soarin’ was confused. “Wait, you don’t think…”

“She’s your captain, right?”

“I should have explained this to you. I thought you might have already noticed.” Soarin’ shuffled his feet. “We don’t have a captain. Everypony finds this hard to understand, so they assume one of us is leader. A lot of the military stuff about the Wonderbolts dissolved before my time, and ponies didn’t listen to the team when they said there wasn’t a captain anymore. Might as well let them believe what they want to believe.”

Rainbow Dash sat down, dumbfounded. Spitfire was not captain. Everypony said Spitfire was captain. All the newspapers and stories agreed. But just because everyone believed something didn’t make it true. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I’m not.” Soarin’ grinned. “What, had your eye on being captain, did you?”

“Commander of the most talented flyers in all of Equestria? Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Ha ha. Of course you wouldn’t, Modest Mare.”

Rainbow Dash shushed him and put one hoof on top of a small rock, adopting a grave expression. “No talking. And no smiling. This is a rock farm, remember? Wipe that grin off your face. Yeah, that’s right.” She put her free forehoof on another small rock. “This is serious business.”

Now the rocks were ready to roll. The ruler of Ponyville’s skies did her best impression of a Canterlot snob, throwing her head so far back that her muzzle pointed straight to the sun. She pouted her lips and rolled the stones underneath her hooves with dainty kicks: left, right, left, right. Soarin’ was trying to contain his snickering with little success.

She reminded him without breaking stride: “Rock farm. No laughing.” The rocks went over the border with two final kicks.

“No need to tell me that.” Soarin’ flattened himself against the ground and pressed his nose to a rock. “I’m a very serious stallion.” Without warning he pushed the rock forward as fast as possible, taking awkward spider-like strides to keep his body low to the ground. Rainbow Dash put her hoof over her mouth. There was Soarin’ the Wonderbolt, chuffing through the dirt like a demented winged bug.

The two pegasi were definitely breaking the rule about no smiling while they desecrated the stoic atmosphere of the rock farm. Rainbow Dash lay on her side and attempted to kick stones into the west field, squirming to a new batch when she ran out. Soarin’ did every silly bowling trick in the book. Then he used his wings like a snowplow to gather up bunches of tiny stones. Eventually both of the racers did the forbidden thing and burst into laughter. The rock farmers were going to wonder why the skies were blue and sunny when they got home.

All of the rocks had been rotated, so nopony would find out today what happened if they did not get moved. “Hey Dash,” Soarin’ said. “Race ya to the Everfree Forest. Threetwoonego.”

Rainbow Dash tore into the sky and overtook Soarin’, even though he’d tried to catch her off guard. “Last one there is a Wonderbolt!” she yelled over her shoulder.

It took her competitor a few seconds to process that. She heard him spluttering behind her, “Hey wait, you mean me – I’m the Wonderbolt in this duo. Get back here!”

He couldn’t catch her, though. Not today Soarin’. Not today! Rainbow Dash barrel rolled over Sweet Apple Acres and landed with a final flip on the first pinkish cloud at the edge of the forest. Soarin’ joined her seconds later. She boasted, “What did you think of that?”

Soarin’ smirked and poked her in the chest with a wingtip. “I think I’ll see you at the Wonder Trial, and then we’ll find out who’s the Wonderbolt. Now let’s fly!” The pale pegasus crouched and shot off the cloud, Rainbow Dash following right behind him. She flapped to catch up and fell into a steady synchronized rhythm with her flight partner. This coordination wasn’t some neat little trick she’d picked up. This was the product of months of practice, and Soarin’ was about to test her on all of it.

The two pegasi spun round and round each other, flying straight up in a corkscrew until the sun's rays shone in their eyes. Flight goggles snapped into place to reduce the glare and protect against high wind speeds. The speed demons turned and raced side by side over the clouded skies of the Everfree Forest, punching through any that got in their way without slowing down. Their goal was a towering cotton candy cumulonimbus up ahead.

Already it was in front of them. Both flyers angled upward and flew a tail’s length from the unusual tall wall of cloud. Soarin’ dipped the tips of his hooves into it and skimmed along the surface. Rainbow Dash followed suit. When they reached the top they kept going upward, contrails of pink streaming from their feet. Soarin’ shifted his legs in a signal she now recognized.

Fireworks crackled as the two collided again and again, unleashing bursts of magic every time their hooves struck together. Sparking clusters of light fell to the forest and their creators fell with them.

“Dash.” Soarin’ rushed to get the words out before the trees were too close. “Fly south far enough for a Rainboom at this spot. When you get there, rise above the clouds and wait for me to stop. Then charge.”

“Got it.” They both turned and took off in opposite directions. Colored wisps of mane lifted off Rainbow Dash’s face and blew back against the wind. Her heart thrummed in her chest; her soul was alight and burning for action. I don’t need to go as far as I used to.

She cut an upward corner and climbed the sky. A colored beam flowed from her tail and created a vertical rainbow. She noticed out of the corner of her eye a bright yellow path mirroring her movement far away. The blue speck at the tip of the shining pillar came to a stop, as did she. All movement paused for the pair of ponies crowning the two distinct contrails. The moment of stillness was brief.

Rainbow Dash aimed for the spot they’d started from and flew true. The distance between her and the goal shrank rapidly. Faster, faster. Her wings lashed at the sky in dual blurs. Through the clear surface of her goggles, she saw another blur headed in her direction, slightly offset from the path straight toward her.

Soarin’ pushed at the sound barrier. If they miscalculated and collided, they’d both die so quickly their minds would survive a fraction of a second past their bodies: just enough to maintain full awareness as flesh and bone were crushed beyond all recognition.

The danger of stunt flying was that this thought wasn’t fast enough to keep up with Rainbow Dash. It only made it to her brain after she shot through the pressure trying to hold her back and colors erupted around her; after she felt the air disturbance of Soarin’ passing her at supersonic speed. A sickening crack made her ears throb and her breath catch in her throat. Her breakneck pace slowed slightly as she flew against the wind generated by the opposing flyer. Like always, she turned her head to see the Sonic Rainboom.

Rainbow flames of light swirled outward from a pair of brilliant golden wings. It was the same awe-inspiring Sonic Rainboom that had put her on the map, only the radiant white center highlighted blossoming yellow plumes of light, growing and spreading into Thunderwings.

Soarin’s sigil faded and the rainbows followed, but the image still burned in her memory.

I think that broke my awesomeness scale. I’m gonna have to ask Twilight for a better word.

Rainbow Dash landed on the ground outside the forest and let her wings hang limply at her sides, brushing the grass. It had been a really long day. Soarin’ joined her after some time.

“You know what, Soarin’? I never thought I would say this to another pegasus, but we make a great team.”

Their eyes met. “Yeah. We do.”

Soarin' opened one of his wings halfway and for a moment, she thought he was going to reach out to her. Instead both of his wings dropped open to the ground in exhaustion. He had come all the way from Canterlot, after all. The Wonderbolt turned his gaze back to the forest and closed his eyes, letting his head droop.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "You okay?" No response. She poked him and he didn't so much as flick his tail. Soarin' had fallen asleep standing up.

"Oh come on! Not again," she grumbled aloud and stifled a yawn. "Falling asleep on me like that." She left Soarin' standing at the edge of the forest for some unsuspecting passerby to find.

That was, of course, after she went and borrowed a marker from Applejack.

16 - Soarin's last lesson

Twilight added some notes to a scroll so lengthy it snaked around the balcony of her bedroom and back. Even so, most of the paper wrapped tight around a scroll rod, creating a cylinder about two hoofs in diameter. Rainbow Dash thought it was another checklist, but she flapped around to sneak a peek over Twilight’s shoulder and saw a bunch of ridiculous equations. It was probably the same scroll Twilight had started making months ago for the Summer Solstice celebration.

Is this supposed to be a spell scroll or a book?

Twilight stopped writing long enough to continue scolding Rainbow Dash. “Of course we saw it! We’re right on the edge of the Everfree Forest. How could we not see something so huge?” The unicorn dropped her quill into the inkwell. The scroll made a zipping noise while it rolled back up with impressive speed, whipping around the balcony and snapping around the scroll rod. It landed on the table with a thunk. “I’m only saying you two may start getting unexpected visitors if you keep training in the same spot. Every pony in town knows you go out there now. Fluttershy and Zecora are going to have their hooves full if they have to keep rescuing ponies from the forest.”

“Why? Did somepony get lost out there?”

Twilight looked incredibly irritated. “You might say that. At least she had the decency to thank Fluttershy for pointing her in the right direction before galloping straight back into the woods.” The bitterness left her face. “Also, Zecora found Scootaloo tangled in a bush after getting lost while trying to follow you.”

Rainbow Dash groaned. “Guess I should have a chat with the squirt.”

“Honestly, every time any pony sets foot in the Everfree Forest it’s trouble. After listening to so many old mare’s tales about it I had to get to the bottom of what’s going on out there. A few weeks ago I was doing late night research at the Canterlot archives when I came across Princess Luna.” Twilight went on with her story about studying the forest, unaware that Rainbow Dash wasn’t paying full attention. Instead the pegasus was looking with renewed interest at the restricted top shelf behind Twilight. She’d just thought of a great game to play. Twilight finished, “Now normal wildlife have adapted to the environment and it wouldn’t be right to take their home away. Between Fluttershy and the Apple family, they’ve done a pretty good job of keeping the border secure.”

Twilight sighed and paused, lost in thought. After a moment her smile returned and she pulled a book from a stack near the stairs. “Anyway, the weather is so nice today I thought I would get a hay smoothie and read outside for a bit. Care to join me?”

“Eh, thanks, but I said I’d go help Fluttershy with some ducks. At least, I think she said ducks.”

During the usual friendship adventures, Dash wound up in Canterlot after escorting a bunch of desserts via train to the National Dessert Competition. Since she was in Canterlot anyway, she may or may not have swung by the Wonderbolt base.

~~~

Soarin’ raised an eyebrow. “Wave Chill, are you even listening to me?” Most of the team was standing on the practice field under the rays of the hot summer sun. Wave Chill’s eyes drifted from Soarin’ and followed some clouds in the sky behind Soarin's head. The corners of Wave Chill's mouth turned up. After the incident a few days ago, Soarin’ was reluctant to find out why.

When Soarin’ showed up late to practice the morning after training Rainbow Dash, nopony took him seriously. They kept laughing at him, and he only dug himself deeper when he tried to explain that he hadn’t stayed at her house. Spitfire had elbowed Surprise, whose muzzle was all twisted up in an effort to contain her laughter. “Sure. Sure you didn’t.” Only after practice did Soarin’ see his reflection in the sky marble tile and notice the sprinkled doughnut rings drawn around his eyes, connected with lines to make a pair of geeky glasses.

That was the thing about falling for a prankster. There was probably a tripwire involved.

Blaze joined Wave Chill. They both looked like they were reading something behind his head. In fact, the rest of the team had their eyes turned skyward now, too. “Aw, how sweet bro,” Blaze said, “It’s a love letter for you.”

A sky letter from a fan all the way out here? Soarin’ turned around to see the cloud writing, giving his friends a great angle on the body part being advertised.

SOARIN IS A BIG PLOT

Rainbow Dash. Soarin’ didn’t care if she was supposed to be over in Ponyville; there was no mistaking it was her doing. He opened his wings. “Looks like Dash needs a writing lesson. I think I see a typo in there.”

Soarin’ struck out some of the cloud letters and pushed PLOT down to make room for the corrections. With speed and agility he put up what Rainbow Dash meant to say, then landed back on the field. “There.”

SOARIN HAS A GREAT PLOT

“Come on ponies, nothing to see here. Let’s get back to training.”

The night before Soarin’ went to see Rainbow Dash, he made a decision. They only had three sessions left together before the Wonder Trial. He didn’t know what she would have to face.

I’m going to tell her.

“My point is, what I’ve been trying to say in the pages of this text since the chapters when we very first met… Oh, how might I say it! Is there not some other way I can display it?” Soarin’ said. “But there’s nothing I can do to compare to the majesty of your wings, now, is there?”

Rainbow Dash turned her gaze away. “Your eyes are sparkling sapphire pools of stars in dark night. I cannot look lest I get lost and never return. But to think of you makes my magic glow brighter as I write this, shadowed in Celestia’s moon.”

Soarin' flipped through one of the books spread out on the library floor around him. He quoted, "Your mane blows in the wind like golden fields of wheat." He was trying not to laugh. "I feel the fireworks of my soul explode when our eyes meet."

"I got one I got one." Across the room, Rainbow Dash snickered and held down the page of a book. "Rain Drop pressed her wingtip to Cobalt's mouth, but it wasn’t enough to contain the heady waves of emotion rippling through her body. Her wing moved aside on its own; their lips met. Hot waves of passion rocked the room. Cobalt drew closer, closer, wrapping his wings around Rain Drop's supple body."

"So you're going to fight dirty, huh?" Soarin' kicked open a book to his left. He slid his gaze to the text with a smirk on his face. "Flanks heaving, Flaming Shield panted into Wind Spear's ear. Sweat rolled off their bodies and onto the hard stone of the guard tower. Wind Spear bit into one of her armored forehooves, trying to muffle her moans of ecstasy."

"Pshh, that's nothing," Rainbow Dash scoffed. She flew up to the top shelf of the library and pulled out more books. She decided on one with a bright red cover and dropped the others to the floor. After shuffling through a few pages, she read aloud: "She ran her tongue down his thick, hot–"

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight shouted upon seeing all the books scattered and open on the floor. The unicorn stood in the doorway, a brown takeout bag suspended in the air next to her.

The culprit whipped the red novel behind her back and grinned. "-baguette," she finished.

Twilight eyed the room suspiciously. "What are you two doing? You know what? Never mind, I don't want to know. And Rainbow Dash, I thought I banned you from the romance section." Twilight put her lunch on the table in the middle of the room. Books started flying from the floor and organizing themselves in stacks. A broom floated next to the serious-faced librarian. "Cheerilee's class is going to be here in five minutes." Twilight brandished the broom handle at the two disruptive guests. "I will use this," she threatened. "Now both of you, out!"

The broom chased Rainbow Dash around the library twice before sweeping both her and Soarin' out the front door. They landed on the doormat just in time to be noticed by an approaching herd of disorganized students.

A spry orange filly Soarin' recognized popped out of the herd. "Hey, look! It's Rainbow Dash!"

One of the colts in the group pointed Soarin' out with a lanky brown foreleg and announced slowly, "And do nut guy."

Soarin' whispered out of the side of his mouth without looking away from the foals, "Someday I'm gonna get you back for that, Dash."

"Ha! You can try."

~~~

The closer the two pegasi got to their training spot, the more withdrawn Soarin’ seemed. Rainbow Dash wondered if she’d upset him with her dirty romance novel game. They landed on one of the clouds in the Everfree Forest and her anticipation to learn a new flying trick got the best of her. “Okay Soarin’, what cool moves are you gonna show me today?”

Soarin’ didn’t respond. He stood apart, silent.

Rainbow Dash went over to the strangely somber Wonderbolt and prodded him in the side. “You okay?”

“I don’t have anything left to show you.”

That statement woke her up. If there wasn’t anything else, then there wouldn’t be any more weekly meetups. It was over. The next time they’d see each other would be the Wonder Trials.

Rainbow Dash put her foot down. “I don’t believe you.”

Something flickered in Soarin’s eyes. There was more. There was always more, wasn’t there?

The stallion rubbed one of his forelegs, suddenly self-conscious. He wouldn’t meet her gaze, instead looking just past her head at a pinkish cloud nearby. “There is one more thing. It’s not something I know how to show you, but I can try.” He smiled and pointed out a small cotton candy puff just big enough to fit them both and a little wing space. “Let’s go over there.”

They landed so they were facing each other. After all this time, it was hard to remember these clouds weren’t normal clouds and this forest wasn’t a normal forest. What irked Rainbow Dash now wasn’t the Everfree Forest, but rather the feeling something significant was about to happen. The suspense made her want to flip out and yell ‘What is it already?!’ but she found a scrap of patience she didn’t know she had.

Soarin’ broke the tension by explaining, “Like the forest, the clouds here have magic qualities,” he said, pulling a hoof up and letting the gum stretch with it. “Weird ones, but you get it.” The cloud snapped off his foot and sprang back into position. “This is going to sound pretty dumb, but that magic is sensitive to feelings.”

Dark red veins spread from Soarin’s feet and swirled into the cloud, deepening its color. “Especially anger and hate. Any strong emotion will do, but it’s the negative ones that really get these things going.” He relaxed and the cloud brightened. “Obviously it’s not good enough to simply be upset, or else there’d be a storm here every other day. You have to channel the feeling into your weather talent. The more you lose control and get absorbed by that singular feeling, the more powerful the effect and the greater the risk you’ll hurt somepony or yourself with the backlash.”

A rare flash of insight struck Rainbow Dash. Soarin’ had pretty detailed knowledge of the Everfree Forest clouds. She seriously doubted it was something every Wonderbolt knew. “This is related to your cutie mark, isn’t it?”

Soarin’ grinned, returning to his usual self for a moment. “What, anger and hate?”

“No, egghead, this,” she said, sticking her hoof into the winged lightning bolt on his flank, the spitting image of the Wonderbolt emblem.

“Yes.” Soarin’ sat down. “Look, Dash, I’m going to tell you that story and then you can decide if you want to finish training with me. Maybe I should have told you how I got my cutie mark before, but I couldn’t do it.” Soarin’s eyes seemed to be searching for a way to phrase what he said next. “This might be hard to hear, but did you know there are some things in Equestria that are… bad?”

She was careful not to laugh. She’d fought hoof-to-hoof with some of those things. Soarin’ didn’t know that, and she wasn’t about to let the Element of Loyalty status influence her Wonderbolt acceptance. All she said was “Yeah.”

“How much can you handle, Dash?”

“Bring it on.”

x x x

He still didn’t have his cutie mark.

His fillyfriend sighed. “It’s like we’re going in two completely different directions. I mean, you don’t even know what you’re doing with your life.”

That stung. “I’m going to be a Wonderbolt.” It was the one thing he really wanted to do. She knew that. Everypony knew that.

She didn’t believe him, though; or rather, she didn’t believe in him. Soarin’, the colt with no cutie mark, part of Equestria’s premiere flight team? Not a chance.

Tears welled in her eyes. The fact they’d grown apart didn’t make ending a once passionate relationship any easier. The filly turned away. “It’s over. I’ve gotta go. Just… don’t do anything stupid. I don’t want to see you hurt.” The caring words made him feel terrible. Why couldn’t she be mean about it?

That was the first time his heart had been broken. It was far, far worse than your crush snubbing you at flight camp, or a relationship you thought was going to work that petered out in the first few days. No, this was… he thought he’d…

Soarin’ was so miserable he didn’t have the will to live. Mechanically he moved through the next few days. He’d never be okay again.

x x x

“Aw, come on, Dash, don’t look at me like that. I was a teenager, cut me some slack.”

x x x

But he didn’t give up on his dream. For a long time he’d listened to ponies talk about his blank flank, wondering if maybe he was half mule and his parents had adopted him and so on. He’d had trouble getting a job because others worried it would keep him from discovering his talent. To get away from the pity-filled onlookers he went farther and farther from Los Pegasus to practice flight routines.

After his heart was crushed into a thousand irreparable pieces, he traveled a greater distance than ever before. He wanted to be alone where nopony would ever find him. He didn’t care if it was the Everfree Forest, or how dangerous it was, because his wings were only going through the motions. There was nothing to feel.

His wings brought him over the green border and into night skies obscured by odd clouds. They stuck to his hooves and he tripped, sucked into a sticky surface. The more he struggled the more the gum got everywhere, trapping him. Somehow one of his back legs got pasted to a foreleg, his tail was stuck in his mane, and he was curled up on his side with one wing sticking out. If he’d been in a better mood he would've laughed.

While he lay stupidly in this sticky predicament, the forest buzzed with night life. It was far more active than in the tales he’d heard; he could practically feel the static of magic in the atmosphere. He saw no ponies, but unusual plants grew with wild abandon. His cloud passed over a clearing of purple blue flowers shrouded in mist. Vines snaked up trees. A small dark shape with glowing red eyes leaped through the woods. One of the tree vines snapped around the shape and the eyes disappeared. Screeching pierced the darkness. Soarin’ wondered if the cloud was consuming him in a similar fashion.

After a while he tried to get free again without falling through the cloud completely. He failed. The moment he concentrated and broke the flow of pegasus magic, the cloud whisked past him and he toppled in a tangled mess into the trees. He smacked into the ground and a shower of twigs and branches rained over him.

Soarin's head pounded from the impact. It was hard to understand what was going on. He felt dirt rub the wrong way against his coat, pebbles digging uncomfortable trails into his belly. One of his back legs wouldn't move. It was caught in something, which turned out to be a vine dragging him along the forest floor.

The vine pulled him off the ground so he was suspended upside down. With a whip crack another green tendril lashed around one of his forelegs. It pulled taught. The forest was trying to rip him in half. He beat his wings to no avail.

If he could reach that one vine on his front leg he could get free. His teeth snapped shut over nothing. Even resting his neck over his leg and stretching as hard as he could, it wasn't far enough. The vines were too smart for him. He stopped wasting energy and held still.

Today sucked.

A sultry, feminine laugh echoed in the darkness around him. Great.

“My my my, what have we here?” He couldn’t see who or what was talking. “A little foal wandering out where he shouldn’t be. With no cutie mark, nonetheless. You must be quite brave to come here under such circumstances. Quite brave, or quite foalish. Well, never mind that. Let me help you.”

The vines lowered him to the ground and unraveled. For the first time since he’d arrived he stood up.

“If that is all you needed you are free to go.” The voice was everywhere. Soarin’ turned, trying to pinpoint its location. “But I can offer you much, much more. Your mark, for example.”

x x x

Rainbow Dash interrupted him. “Okay, so this creature is clearly evil Soarin’. Tell me you didn’t say yes.”

“I said yes.”

The rainbow mare smacked her hoof into her forehead.

“Nonono,” Soarin’ tried to save face by explaining, “I knew she was up to no good, but I thought I could trick her. It’s not like she made me agree to anything.”

x x x

At its request, Soarin’ told the obviously evil entity what he wanted most. He wanted to be a Wonderbolt, one of the best flyers in Equestria.

“Then the deal is simple.” The creature made no sounds in its effortless, impossible movement around the space. At one moment its voice came from the left, the next it was on the right. “I’ll teach you the art of flying which ponykind hasn’t seen in centuries, and you will accept no training from anyone other than me. Then, and only then, will you receive a cutie mark. Agreed?”

“Alright.”

x x x

Rainbow Dash looked blandly at Soarin’ through half-lidded eyes.

“What? I forgot about that part, okay!”

x x x

With renewed determination, Soarin’ went to training as often as he could. It was a long trip, and the creature would only ever speak to him at night and only ever in the same spot. The possibility he was being trained by a ghost or the tree with the vines did not escape him.

It didn’t matter, because he was learning things Wonderbolts could only dream of. He was going to show everypony who’d ever doubted him a thing or two. Oh yes, he would show them.

Soarin’ was beginning to understand how messed up Equestria was. The ponies who’d turned him away because of his blank flank, they didn’t do it out of compassion and desire for him to find his talent. They did it because they thought he was worthless. Creatures without a mark were scorned as lesser beings. As a result, it was rare to see the prideful griffin race even bother to set foot inside Equestria anymore. Most ponies were selfish and self-centered: one only needed to look at Canterlot to know that. He recalled a bitter fight between two would-be lovers he’d heard the other day. No, this world was only dressed up as peaceful and kind.

But wait, were those his thoughts, or the thoughts of his mentor? His mind turned cloudy every time he tried to figure it out.

“Yes, that’s right,” the voice instructed. Soarin’ was standing on a layer of mist. Vines from the tree rustled through the dead leaves below like snakes, waiting to snap him up if he failed. “Focus all of your anger. You shouldn’t even be listening to me, foal. You are the element of fury. Who dares set foot in your path, disturb your peace with their words?”

The fog at Soarin’s feet thickened into black storm clouds. He collected every ounce of suffering he’d ever witnessed, ever suffered himself, ever heard in a story, and internalized it. The pegasus pony bared its teeth. Thunder rolled from its hooves and its eyes glowed with rage in the darkness.

“Now fly. Fly!” the voice commanded over the thunder and howling wind.

The dark colt spread its wings and shot into the sky against a backdrop of a single, enormous lightning bolt. The bolt cracked the vine tree clean in half and the wood burst into flames. Rain poured from the broiling thunderstorm, sizzling against the dying flames. The pegasus was forced to dodge the chain lightning that tore through the clouds in the sky above the forest. Black sears where the heat came too close burned the pony’s pale blue coat, marring everything but two new cutie marks. Singed feathers tore off and whipped into the gale, lost forever.

Even the storm couldn’t drown out the maniacal, evil laughter emanating from the forest.

It was too much. A lightning bolt charred the side of Soarin’s face and he came to his senses, realized where he was, who he was. He fled the forest, but the hateful creature chased him. “You’ll have your dream, all thanks to me! You will never be free of me! Never! You’ve helped me in more ways than you can imagine! haha ahaaha aHaHAhAhaHAHA!” Those words echoed in his head as the beast’s cackling receded into the distance.

x x x

“I didn’t go back after that night. For the first time in months I could think clearly. That monster was wrong about the world, and it lied to me and tricked me about my place in it. Imagine the few friends I had left when they saw the state I was in. And to see a cutie mark that was an exact replica of the Wonderbolt crest... nopony knew what to make of it. It took a long, long time for me to realize that it wasn’t given to me. I earned it.” Soarin’ smiled weakly. “Yeah, it’s definitely mine. It still reminds me every once in a while not to let heart’s desire get the better of me.”

Situations like this made Rainbow Dash nervous. How was she supposed to react? Was she supposed to comfort him? It would be awkward and forced. Should she tell him she was an Element of Harmony, and she’d been tricked before too? But then again, Soarin’ had been influenced by something pretty hoofing evil… was she supposed to report to Twilight on this? She didn’t know what to do. Feelings were not her specialty. I could really use Fluttershy’s kindness right about now.

But there was no Fluttershy, only Rainbow Dash. And Rainbow Dash said, “Damn, Soarin’, that’s a horrible cutie mark story.”

“I can tell you the happy version if you want.” Soarin’s smile didn’t meet his eyes, which looked worried on account of the rings etched under them. Rainbow Dash knew then that he wanted some kind of sign she was okay, that she didn’t hate him because he’d done something featherbrained.

“Save the happiness for the fans. The only two ponies here are you and me, and as far as I know, you’ve done nothing but eat doughnuts and pie and be a Wonderbolt when I’m not around. That’s the Soarin’ I know. If you ask me, this,” she brushed a feather down the mark on his flank, “is the symbol of triumph in the face of adversity. That’s what you did. You got your special move, got your cutie mark, and got the hay out of there. Bet you’d never faced something as sinister as that before. How else are you supposed to get that kind of mark? But, y’know, that’s just coming from a pony who’s wanted to be a Wonderbolt since flight school.”

Soarin’ was at a loss for words at this point, so she threw in a little signature Rainbow Dash spice. “Now you know the truth – your cutie mark means your talent is training yours truly to be a Wonderbolt.” She polished a hoof on her chest. Soarin’ snorted at her play-arrogance.

Now that the mood was lighter, she had some questions. "So why did you start coming back here?” Rainbow Dash looked over the edge of their cloud. No doubt Soarin’s disembodied voice was down there waiting for sundown.

“Rapidfire wanted me to prove it when I told him about my lightning techniques. I refused to come out here after dark, obviously. The forest is a nasty place any time of day, but at night…” Soarin’ shuddered and didn’t elucidate. “The Everfree Forest has proven to be a useful training location. Some of the others were already coming here to test new moves out.”

“Did that thing ever bother you again? Seems like a pretty shady deal. I don’t get it.” Rainbow Dash thought of Nightmare Moon and Discord. She’d nearly been tricked by one and had fallen prey to the second. The villains always had a goal in mind. “What was it that it got in return?”

“That’s what worries me. I don’t know.”

This is one mystery we might never know the answer to. Unless we confront the night out here ourselves.

I’ve got better things to do!

“Hey Soarin’, you gonna teach me that awesome move now?”

“After what I told you you’re still interested in that?” He was surprised. “Well, okay.” The stallion took a deep breath and let it out, getting to his hooves. He’d taken a big risk by telling that story. It was natural to want to take a break. Rainbow Dash waited for him to collect his thoughts.

“Uh, so yeah, the clouds are affected by feelings. The truth is this trick works anyplace in Equestria, but it’s easiest with these clouds. I’ll try to teach you here to get started, but no guarantees. Every pegasus is capable of different moves.”

The space on their cloud was small. Soarin’ came even closer. “You’ve probably already figured some of this out. How do you make the moon rainbow?”

“I close my eyes and stop thinking about anything.”

“That’s the first step. After that, you need to focus a specific feeling. Can you prepare like you’re going to make a moon rainbow?”

With you standing so close to me? “Alright, I’ll give it a shot.”

She closed her eyes and let everything fall away. She could feel the heat of the pony in front of her and sense the way the wind moved around him. Warmth from the sun seeped through her skin. Rainbow Dash felt the air shift around her wings and flow through the feathers as she opened them.

“Now focus,” a calm voice that seemed distant but also very close said. “You need to feel it right… here.” A hoof pressed softly where her heart was. It stayed there. Some feeling she’d put behind her a while ago welled beneath it in a rush. The emotion was so strong it hurt. She became fascinated with Soarin’s hoof and couldn’t focus on anything.

“Soarin’, I can’t… with you…”

“Oh.” The pressure on her chest went away.

It was much easier to concentrate after that. Rainbow Dash dipped back into the realm of nothingness. A male voice echoed through her memories. Haha, yeah right. Rainbow Crash ain’t never gonna make it to the Wonderbolts. A honeyed, sarcastic mare announced, The only thing they'll call you is loser. Discord’s self-confident laughter reverberated in the depths of her mind. She clutched onto it and let it annoy her. Discord, who’d made her turn her back on her friends. Fashioned her into a puppet of chaos. Tamed her.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes flew open and a small jagged rainbow bolt split the sky in a flash so bright it blinded her. Soarin’ yelped and jumped out of the way an instant before the bolt struck the cloud at her feet, transforming the spot into a molten rainbow pool. The light kept shining. Everything was so white it was hard to see.

“Level up,” she said in awe. Already she was thinking of ways she could use this.

“D-dash? You’re – Can you see this?” Soarin’ was flapping nearby.

“See what?” She blinked. The colors returned to normal. Soarin’ was looking at her. She didn’t feel any different. She checked her wings. Nope, still there.

“I don’t know what happened. There was that flash of light, and everything changed. You turned dark, and all the colors in your mane switched around. Then it was gone. I swear I saw it. Why did I see it and you didn’t?”

“Should I try again?”

“Aren’t you tired? I can’t believe you pulled that off.”

She realized how worn out she was. There were too many unanswered questions bouncing around in her head. Too many revelations. It was emotionally exhausting. She fell on her rump. “You know what? I am. I think I could use a good nap right now.” She yawned.

“Wait, don’t fall asleep here. Let’s go back.”

The pegasus duo left the Everfree Forest. Rainbow Crash, huh? They’d called her that before. Now she was going to own it.

“Why howdy there Rainbow Daaaaahahaha.” Applejack put a hoof over her mouth. A basket with some carrots in it sat next to some fresh holes in the ground. Nearby, Fluttershy was occupied with nosing rabbits through rows of fresh vegetables. The animal lover turned around at the sound of Applejack’s laughter.

“Oh my. Rainbow Dash, you have, um, you have a little something on your face.”

Applejack kept laughing. “More like a lot of somethin’. I never took you fer one of those sophisticated types RD. You goin out with Rarity tonight?”

“W-what?” Rainbow Dash stuttered, confused. “Great. Somepony get me a mirror.”

“We got one back at the farmhouse you can borrow. Ya might want this too.” Applejack held out a kerchief. Rainbow Dash snatched it and went over to the Apple family home.

Old Granny Smith and her granddaughter were washing vegetables off in a big tub in front of the house when they saw the blue pegasus. “See Applebloom? Ah told yehs. Ah saw this great big pony out in the fields and he had doughnuts on his face, make no mistake. Lookie here, here comes another one. Ah swear, ponies these days. Don’t know their left hoof from their right un. Eh, lemme see, which one wuz that again?”

Rainbow Dash went inside and peered into the bathroom mirror at monocled, mustached Rainbow Dash. That explained why Spike kept laughing and wouldn’t tell her where Twilight was. She’d left him burping up a scroll on the library floor.

The proud pegasus went back outside after a great deal of scrubbing. “Anyway,” she said to Applejack, “Either of you two seen Twilight around?”

“Ain’t she out getting stuff for the picnic she’s got scheduled? You know, the one she planned for all of us?” Applejack’s tone of voice made it clear she didn’t expect Rainbow Dash remembered.

Right, the schedule. Rainbow Dash hadn’t looked at her calendar. She didn’t want to pay attention to the date triple circled on it.

Twilight placed some apples in her satchels. “It’s called an afterimage.”

Thank Celestia for Twilight (literally). Rainbow Dash never thought there was so much she should know that she didn’t. “Yeah okay, so what’s that?” The pegasus hovered around the market, following her distracted friend.

“It’s an optical illusion. Here, watch this and don’t let it get away.” Pinkie Pie floated in front of Rainbow Dash, suspended inside a purple magical aura. The peppy pony waved happily.

When did Twilight get so strong?

Twilight sorted some bits out to pay for the apples, flour, and some other things. “Pinkie hold still. Rainbow Dash, watch her. Don’t look away or she might disappear. I’m serious.”

Rainbow Dash stared at Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie stared back, hanging in the air like the balloons on her flank.

Without warning there was a bright flash of light. Pinkie wasn’t so pink anymore – she was emerald green. Rainbow Dash blinked and moved her eyes and the color went back to normal.

“That’s an afterimage,” Twilight said, glad to finally one-up Rainbow Dash. The light on the tip of her horn went out and she lowered Pinkie onto the ground. “You have to be staring at a certain point for a few seconds for it to happen. In terms of what you described there’s probably illusion magic at work too. I didn’t know pegasus ponies could tap into that kind of magic.”

Rainbow Dash laughed nervously. “Well, you know me. Making the impossible possible and all. So, for my next question, can you repeat all that stuff you said about the Everfree Forest earlier?”

“Ugh,” Twilight sighed. “I thought you were listening back then. I don’t want to repeat myself every time you get a little curious Dash. But that’s okay. Can we talk about it later? I’ve only got a few more minutes at the market before I have to go to Sugarcube Corner and remind Pinkie Pie to make the cake for the picnic on Wednesday.”

“Yep!” Pinkie Pie saluted. “I’m due to forget in about five minutes, right after I take the cupcakes out of – oh, the cupcakes! I gotta go. See ya later!” Pinkie’s frizzy tail bobbed up and down as she bounced off.

On Wednesday the wedding invitation came. Check that, the Wedding invitation. All six Elements of Harmony arranged for ponies to take care of things while they were away. Rainbow Dash wasn’t going to pack anything. She could fly back and get things when she needed them, right?

Her temporary team leader Cloud Chaser, a purple pegasus pony with spiky hair and a star in Dash’s book for being nice to Fluttershy after tornado day, thought otherwise. “Dash, maybe that’s not such a good idea. You might not be able to leave Canterlot once you’re there.”

“What’s up? Why not?”

“There’s a force field around it. You can see it from here, look.”

Rainbow Dash poked her head out of the window in her home, where she’d been prepping Cloud Chaser to take over. “Don’t know how I missed that before. What’re the reports saying?”

“We don’t know. No pony’s been allowed in – or out.”

“Well in that case wish me luck!” Rainbow Dash threw some things into her bags. “See ya when I get back.”

17 - Royal wedding afterparty and after

Upon their arrival, Twilight stormed out of the train and went to find her brother without even bothering to collect her things. There was a carriage awaiting the other five friends, which Rainbow Dash suspected was the result of Rarity’s last visit. Applejack helped Rarity move her luggage into the respectable vehicle and Fluttershy took care of Twilight’s single suitcase. Dash tossed her saddlebags in last. Maybe the carriage was intended to hold ponies, but it wasn’t going to get that luxury for the next hour or so.

The five ponies walked alongside their luggage down the shining white cobbled pathway that led through the city and to the castle. Yellow sun emblems were set into the sides of the road. Fluttershy’s songbirds chirped and flit around Applejack’s hat until their conductor told them to go rest at Canterlot Gardens. For a while, that was all there was to see besides the royal city’s imminent approach. Not many ponies were on the main road until they entered Canterlot proper. Of course, it was hard to tell what was going on from this angle.

“Oh Rainbow Dash, stop that,” Rarity scolded. “Canterlot ponies do not walk like that.”

Rainbow Dash put her head down. A brown unicorn stallion strut past the group with his snout high in the air to the tune of Pinkie Pie’s giggling.

They arrived in front of one of the lower levels of the castle that stretched lengthwise across a green space. A spindly gray unicorn in an ill-matched red uniform greeted them at the door. It seemed they wouldn’t be sharing rooms for once. Rarity and Twilight would be located in different parts of the castle, as there were only four unoccupied rooms in this wing. The porter told them that Twilight had a room in the visiting scholar wing attached to the Canterlot Archives. Rarity was in the west tower, which left the four of them. The still full carriage trundled away with Rarity on board, and the porter wiped sweat from his brow as if dealing with four ponies instead of five was some kind of miracle.

Oddly enough, the gray unicorn chose to physically carry their luggage. “This,” he said to Rainbow Dash as he opened the door, passed her saddlebags over, and bowed in one fluid motion, “shall be your room.”

The guest room sported the usual lavender and gold castle colors. A four poster bed with deep purple curtains drawn back was situated on one wall. Opposite it was a set of training weights and a Wonderbolt poster on the wall. “How did you…? Wow, sweet, it just needs a few things here, here, and here,” she said, pulling out whatever was on the top of her saddlebags and tossing it on the floor. Applejack’s marker knocked against one of the bed posts and rolled underneath the ornate wooden frame. I gotta give that back before I forget again. Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out and reached under the bed, fishing for the instrument of trickery.

“The Princess says you are welcome to use the Royal Guard training facility. You will find it on the south end of the barracks. There is also a gym in town should you be looking for something more conventional. I’ve been told to instruct you that preparations begin tomorrow, but in your case, as soon or late as you like. Enjoy your stay! Even though, uh, things are out of sorts right now.” The doorman bowed himself out of the room.

The true mark of excellence was that Rainbow Dash pulled the marker out from underneath the bed without so much a speck of dust on her fur. She went right over to Applejack’s room. In place of a weight set, this room contained a small bookshelf filled with cookbooks and a desk topped with various writing utensils and blank paper. Applejack removed a single book from her luggage with reverence and placed it on top of the bookshelf. The plain brown covers were practically falling off, all the yellowed pages were dog-eared, and papers of different greasy colors stuck out. Stains spotted the book like a Dalmatian. Twilight would’ve been horrified.

“Hey Applejack, I brought your marker back.”

“Aw Rainbow, yeh can keep that.”

“You know, I really think that’s not a good idea. I’ll just leave it right here.” Rainbow Dash placed the marker on the writing desk. “Since all of us are here, do you want to hang out later tonight?”

“Ah dunno RD, I’m plumb tuckered out and I’ve gotta be up bright ‘n early tomorrow morning ta start on the cake. Princess Celestia expects me to take care all of the food for the weddin, and I’ve got a team of ponies ta help me that’re all strangers. Let’s hope the folks round here can cook as good as they can talk.” Applejack ran a hoof along the brim of her hat. “An’ I don’t give a hoot about whether or not these Canterlot ponies’re gonna eat apple fritters or not this time, ‘cause I’m bakin’ em!”

Applejack took a pen from the desk and started writing out a list of foods. “Yeah, we’ll see what you think of my desserts this time. Betcha won’t complain if they’re at a fancy dancy weddin, now, will ya?” Rainbow Dash slowly backed out of the room. “Common carnival fare. Ah’ll make everythin else taste like it was common carnival fare!”

Rainbow Dash bumped into Pinkie Pie bouncing from her room to go check on the Great Hall where the reception would be held.

“But Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash said, “why would you need to check on the hall? We’ve been there plenty of times before.”

“I’m not going to see what it looks like. I’m making sure it’s spick and span to start decorating tomorrow. Gotta check for any dust bunnies, you know, or tacks.” Tacks. The sharp, pointy things used to put posters on bulletin boards. Pinkie wrapped a hoof around Rainbow Dash and pulled her close. “You never know what might happen in the spy world.” She let go and walked backwards out of the wide corridor, eyes darting left and right.

Looks like I’m on my own. Love being on my own. Love love love it, She lied to herself on the way out of the building. There was plenty to do. She just didn’t want to do it right now.

~~~

Surprise switched places with Lightning Streak, bringing herself one slot closer to the apex of their formation. Fleetfoot was in the lead. Spitfire paced herself to stay in line with Soarin’. “Ideally,” Spitfire said, “Celestia’s calling us in to issue your retirement notice.”

Soarin’ topped that one easily. “Ideally, I live a long and healthy life and retire when I feel like it, and today’s meeting is actually a surprise party.”

The flock of pegasi tilted their wings in perfect synchronization and turned toward Canterlot. Spitfire didn’t take her eyes from their target destination. “Ideally, the food at the surprise party will be the best we’ve ever had, everypony we know will be there, and it’ll all be free.”

Soarin’s wings leveled out and the Wonderbolts were once again on a straight path towards the unsightly pink sphere. “And this strange force field is nothing but a shield to keep all the ponies we don’t want to see today out of our super awesome party. Oh, and there will also be pie among the best foods ever.”

“In the best possible situation, we’d go to our Canterlot party and the music would be provided by none other than DJ Pon3 herself. Heck, we’d all fly out of the strategy room and go over to the nightclub right away. Princess Luna’ll bring the moon up early.”

“I’d have to think too hard to come up with something better than that.”

Unless you chose to look at it in the best possible light made by Celestia herself, the situation was bleak. You’d never think seeing a big pink bubble could make a pony feel so grim, but that’s how it was. Soarin’ had heard it was possible but didn’t think he would ever see a city-sized force field.

“How long’s this sucker been up?” Blaze asked.

“Two days,” Fleetfoot responded.

The orange Wonderbolt scanned the city they were about to enter. “Doesn’t look like nothing bad’s happened.”

Surprise folded up a uniformed foreleg covered in watches to check one of them. “Yet.”

Rapidfire sighed. “You had to say that, didn’t you Surprise?”

Their uniforms gained them quick access through the bubble. At least, they had the permission but not the means to get in. A pair of white pegasus guards looked at each other and shrugged.

Fleetfoot did not have an appreciation for nonsense. “What do you mean we can’t get in here? Go ask one of the unicorns in charge to open the barrier for us. What! The captain of the guard is the only pony controlling this thing? Oh for the love of – then where should we come through?”

The guards indicated they could get in at the front gate if they cut in front of the ponies waiting for admittance or go through where the train came in. Fleetfoot took the fastest route, train be damned. The gray guards moved their spears and a stream of Wonderbolts poured into the royal city. So much for arriving the back way unannounced.

Fleetfoot shouted down, “No! No trumpets!” The ponies on the ground sadly lowered their instruments.

Despite the overpowered defenses around Canterlot, a lot of folks were out and about on the streets in town. The shops had their best displays out. Ponies clattered about and chatted in a festive, celebratory mood. Could it possibly be a party dream come true?

They arrived at Cluster Mess Hall. The double doors were propped open by stiff faced guards while others moved in and out. The guards tried to navigate the area in an organized fashion, but it ended up being a cluster mess anyway.

Inside the hall a diagram of the city stretched out on the long table. Next to the city map was one of Equestria, and next to that map was one of the whole region. Different tactical unit pieces were scattered in a way that Soarin’ hoped made sense to somepony here. A figure of Nightmare Moon sat on Equestria’s Southern border. Two dark guards flanked her.

At a time like this, one of the Princesses or the Captain of the Guard should be presiding over the strategy, but it seemed all of those ponies were occupied. Rapidfire was also suited for the position. He didn’t seem inclined to put a hoof into the chaos. No, instead they got something much, much worse. Spitfire and Soarin’ should’ve played Worst Possible Situation on the way here, because the pony they got was he-who-could-not-be-shamed.

Prince.
Blueblood.

The pristine white unicorn turned with a flourish at the head of the table. “What took you so long? You’d think I was waiting tables, not waiting for assistance.” The prince continued dictating to those around him how the figurines should be placed. “Surely you don’t expect me to move them myself? Thank you. Five squares to the left. No, no, three to the right. Now one down."

Never had Soarin’ seen so many annoyed palace guard faces in one place at one time.

Prince Blueblood looked up, as if he’d forgotten the Wonderbolts were there at all. “Oh, of course, you. I shall not waste my breath with mere athletes such as yourselves. Guard! Yes, you. Please explain to the Wonderbolts so I may rest my weary voice.”

Soarin’ realized the grinding sound he was listening to was Spitfire’s teeth. The chosen guard slid his amber eyes from Prince Blueblood to the group of Wonderbolts and walked to the other side of the long hall. It was unnecessary to move, but the thing about the opposite half of the room was that it was farther away from the unicorn at the head of the table.

The guard sighed in relief and cleared his throat. “Let’s get to business. There’s been a threat made against Canterlot. As such, it is a threat against Equestria, although I’m sure you are all aware of that.”

“The details on the threat, please,” Fleetfoot said.

“A penned letter delivered to Princess Luna claiming ponies would begin disappearing from Canterlot if she did not go to the southern border and parley over a scrap of sky the griffins want as theirs. We had a specialist analyze the text and discovered the pony who supposedly wrote it bound and gagged in the back of his home. He’s still alive, but had no information about what knocked him out. The investigators asked if he was representing the griffins.”

“And what did he say?”

“He asked if a griffin was a kind of muffin.”

Back to square one.

Surprise pulled her goggles down around her neck. “Griffins aren’t known for their love of civilization. They go wherever they want. Sure, they have a kingdom of their own, but it doesn’t add up why they’d want to expand now. All you gotta do is put two and two and two and two together to see that.”

Surprise was right, although Soarin’ didn’t see what math had to do with it.

The standard palace guard gave a standard nod. “We gathered as much, but the Princess of the Night would not risk it.” He coughed. “She was, ah, also excited about visiting the griffins again after so many years in rather… dull… company.”

Were moon rocks more or less dull than regular rocks? Soarin’ decided questions like these were better left unanswered. Especially through personal experience.

Spitfire stood with her back to the annoying white thing in the room. “It sounds like a diversion to keep the royal sisters apart. I’m sure they’re aware of this. Are there specific instructions for us?”

Amidst the chaos of guards coming in and out of the room and Prince Blueblood’s whining about needing his hooves polished again after touching these musty old parchments, a single sheet of paper lifted off the end of the table and held itself in front of the guard’s face. He read from the paper, “Two to report to Princess Luna, three teams of two to observe the other borders, and the rest to switch between patrolling Equestria’s skies and defending Canterlot. Please suspend all upcoming performances until further notice. No Wonderbolt is to go out alone,” he finished.

Two thickset white legs appeared between a pair of gray guards moving tactical units onto the maps. Prince Blueblood parted his unfortunate assistants and stared straight down the length of the table. “A-hem.”

The Wonderbolt’s guard looked to the ceiling and he shook his head ever so slightly in exasperation. His amber gaze returned to the scroll. “We would also be most gratefully appreciative if the Wonderbolts in Canterlot could provide a Wonderworks display to follow the Royal Wedding this Saturday.”

“Royal wedding?” Fleetfoot sighed, looking ten years older. “I knew it was too much to hope all the ponies outside were celebrating a national emergency.”

High Winds’ mouth turned down in consternation. “Love may make the world go ‘round, but there needs to be a world to go ‘round in the first place. Were they not convinced their love would last if the wedding were postponed?”

“The bride to be, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, insisted the wedding continue as planned. The organization has all been very stressful for her, and she does not want to wait, not when everypony is already here in Canterlot for the ceremony. Captain of the Guard Shining Armor was of the same opinion.” The guard lowered his voice without detracting one bit from his trained bored expression. “As for the Wonderworks, Prince Blueblood may act aloof, but he is quite a huge fan of the Wonderbolts.”

Spitfire’s “I know” was so resoundingly flat the Canterlot Symphony Orchestra decided to call off their performance that night.

Celestia’s note slid back onto the table, revealing the extra line added in at the end in a pin perfect script most certainly royal and most certainly not hers.

There wasn’t enough wingspace in the middle of a cluster mess, so the Wonderbolts stepped outside and circled into a team huddle. Soarin’ flashed his wings open and felt the sensation of his teammate’s feathers interlocking with his own. He lowered his head instinctively. Lowering your head automatically makes things more secretive and private. It also aids in whispering.

“Alright,” Spitfire whispered. “I’d like to stay in Canterlot, but those of us with family nearby should get first dibs.”

Fleetfoot shook her head. “Princess Luna will require the most searching to find. I cannot stay here. Surprise, will you come with me?” Surprise nodded once.

The borders were easily split among Wonderbolts familiar with those regions and their peculiarities. Soarin’ wanted to keep an eye on the Everfree Forest, so he chose to stay behind. When every team member had their assignment, they broke the huddle.

“Until the next time we meet,” High Winds said aloud.

“An’ it better dang well not be on our feet!” Lightning Streak finished.

Multicolored feathers untwined and became separate shades once again. Each Wonderbolt extended a wing into the circle. “Three, two, one, hah!” Blue and gold scattered in all directions.

“Well then team,” Spitfire said. “Looks like we’ve got a wedding to crash.”

~~~

Rainbow Dash inspected the hued surface in front of her. She placed a hoof on it.

Hard, like magic.

This was going to be more difficult than she thought. The Sonic Rainboom required at least that much space to pull it off, and she only had this much. If she hit the barrier at supersonic speed, it would shatter. Rainbow Dash doubted Princess Celestia would approve of her breaking Canterlot's things, although there was the last time at the Grand Galloping Gala to consider.

"Stop! What are you doing?"

Rainbow Dash jolted away from the magic field. Spears lanced across the space she'd been observing and two sharp-faced pegasi looked back at her, wings flapping in sync. The coolness factor of their golden armor was only slightly impacted by the pink tinge of the wall behind them.

Rainbow Dash yawned. “Just the ponies I was looking for. You wouldn’t mind letting me out, would you? I’ve got a letter I need to deliver.”

The guards shook their heads as one.

A simple ‘no’ did not suffice. She’d been carrying this scrap of paper all day trying to find an easy way to send it to Wonderbolt headquarters. “Look, I’m not even gonna be gone that long. I can take this letter out and be back in less than ten minutes.” It was a stretch.

“The city is under quarantine. You need special clearance to get past here.”

So that’s how it’s gonna be, huh? Then I’ll just… do nothing. These guys are zero fun anyway. Sorry Soarin’. She turned tail and flew away, hoping Soarin’ would somehow find out she was in Canterlot that week and going to miss training. The post office had been closed, and it would take a serious amount of spy business to get the letter out at this point. It would probably be easier to ask Princess Celestia to send it, but she was so busy with her eye glued to the palace telescope these days.

What exactly is going on around here anyway? Twilight would know. She hadn’t seen Twilight since they’d arrived. No doubt the organized unicorn was overseeing all the preparations with her handy dandy checklist.

Rainbow Dash had a checklist, once. It might still be crumpled up under the sofa somewhere.

She located the barracks only to discover that it, too, was guarded by statuesque stallions. At least this time they did nothing to stop her from snooping around. Fortunately, the south end of it was easy to find. Unlike the rest of the ornate entryways, the door in back was small and simple. Rainbow Dash had a hard time finding it, especially because it was the one unguarded door in all of Canterlot on this fine summer’s day. The white tile blended in nicely against the pure stonemasonry of the rest of the structure.

Rainbow Dash opened the door and realized which Princess was granting her access to their military training room. She went down the stairs to the large underground facility beneath the barracks. “Now this is what I’m talking about.”

The atmosphere alone made the place special. Ambient night light radiated from a dark, starry ceiling. The design was not perfectly lifelike, else Rainbow Dash would’ve excitedly flew into it right away and smacked her head. Even so, it was convincing enough to make you feel you were on one of those late night training sessions, out and about while all the ground ponies were sleeping below. There was a slight chill in the air, which would be perfect once she got warmed up.

An indoor track with generous wingspace circled the whole area. Rainbow Dash recognized a set of pointy spears propped up in a rack on the left wall and realized all of the twisted bits of metal and magical material around those were in fact exotic weapons. Nightshade blue armor rested nearby, though there were noticeable gaps where a set or two was missing. The rest of the room was dotted with training equipment. A couple of the odd contraptions were highly complex and took up a decent span of the room, like compact obstacle courses. There was even one of those silly step machines she got a kick out of because they were so easy.

She flipped onto the machine and landed with each hoof on its own platform. The athlete pedaled away like a pony born to bicycle. “Awww yeah,” she laughed, legs turning to a blur. The step platform kachuncked and suddenly she was walking through thick mud up to her stomach – or at least that’s what it felt like. Rainbow Dash pressed onward, not used to exerting herself to use her legs. Apparently even the regular equipment had been kicked into high gear by some crazy pony with a talent for gadgetry.

Rainbow Dash got off the platforms and felt a spring in her step. If everything here is like that, I’d better be picky about what I work with so I’m in top form for my Sonic Rainboom. Wings, there’s gotta be something here for wings.

Oh, there was.

Celestia went inside and Luna came outside. It was nighttime. And once again, Twilight Sparkle was freaking out. Wedding planning really brought out the best in ponies, didn’t it?

“Rainbow Dash, you’re with me, right?”

Rainbow Dash hadn’t been paying any attention at all to What’samorecadenza. She hadn’t met the pony and didn’t have any opinion about her supposedly bad attitude. But she did know Twilight, and Twilight had the tiniest tendency to overreact.

Twilight brought her hoof down on the table so hard all of the drinks spilled. Then she turned and walked off without a word.

“I hope she’s not complaining about me again.”

Rainbow Dash’s heart slammed into her throat. The five friends turned around and saw what’shername. There weren’t that many alicorns in Equestria; it wasn’t hard to know it was her. She sure had a way of sneaking up on ponies.

“Oh, nothing like that,” Rarity attempted to smooth the situation over. “She’s worried about her brother is all. I’m sure she means you no ill will.”

“Mmhm. Actually, I’d like to speak with her. If you point me in the right direction I also have some news for you.”

“She went that way,” Fluttershy said to be helpful.

The princess looked bored but noted the direction. “What I came here to say was I need new bridesmaids, and I would love, love, love it if you could take their places.”

Rarity’s eyes sparkled. “Us? Really?”

“Really. Now I must go speak with Twilight.” The alicorn hesitated upon seeing Rarity’s eyes. “You’re the dressmaker, right? Make some new dresses.” She trotted off quickly to find Twilight before the crazed unicorn got too far.

“Oh yes yes yes, I already know exactly how they should look. Girls, please come with me.”

~~~

Prince Blueblood clopped his hooves twice. “Guards, I am bored. I do believe this calls for some epic poetry. Do you have a preference? No? Silent as always, I see.” A book came in through the open double doors, flew across the table, and opened itself before one of Celestia’s royal white guards. “You may commence the reading.”

The poem read line for line as if it were spoken at a funeral. The bright side was the monotonous tone made it easy for Soarin’ to ignore. Prince Blueblood’s right hoof pony moved the tiny Soarin’ out of the field and back into Canterlot.

At that moment Fleetfoot came flying through the open doors. She banked just in time to avoid whipping up the maps on the table and barrel rolled onto the floor. One of her back legs slipped and she collapsed into a pile of torn fabric and feathers. “Send as many winged guards you can spare,” she gasped. “Now.” Fleetfoot’s head fell to the floor and she lapsed into steady breathing.

Prince Blueblood’s book snapped shut. “You, take her to the infirmary immediately. Nopony outside the guard is to know of this. It will cause a panic.” The prince turned his gaze to the next closest guard. “Alert Princess Celestia immediately.”

“Sir, she is performing the marriage at this very moment.“

“Interrupt it, then.”

The guard saluted and went out the door without further question.

“All of you with wings.” Prince Blueblood walked alongside the table and put his hoof on the border where Nightmare Moon and her paltry army of four stood guard. “You fly in this direction and do not stop until you find them.”

~~~

Twilight was taking Shining Armor’s comment to not come to the wedding very seriously. Nopony had seen her. You can’t find a unicorn that doesn’t want to be found.

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza walked up the aisle. Rainbow Dash had the strangest feeling there was singing going on somewhere, but the blare of the trumpets brought her back to her senses. The alicorn joined Shining Armor and the ceremony began and ended. Almost.

“Stop!” Twilight’s voice echoed in the great hall. She appeared, silhouetted in the grand doorway and the bride started crying again. Some ponies were sensitive like that. Or evil; very, very evil. The kind of ponies that sprouted bug wings and had glowing green eyes. Those kinds of ponies cried too, but they were never genuine tears.

Everypony stepped back and gasped.

Rainbow Dash leaned forward and thought, Cool. Then all hell broke loose.

~~~

It was a battlefield, and at the center of it was the darkest moon Soarin’ had ever seen. The Nightmare towered over a crumpled shape on the ground. Green goo splattered in a ring around her. Every time one of the fanged insects swooped down to snatch at the fallen pony, the Moon smashed it under her hooves. The bugs were learning, though.

Three of the black creatures crawled underneath the Princess at once. Only two survived. One of them jerked back as a gray pony pulled it out and smashed armored hooves down into the exploding carcass. The remaining bug grew a hoof out of its skull. Surprise withdrew her green leg. She wouldn’t last much longer, but the insects were finding it difficult to pin the slime-slathered pegasus down. Her Wonderbolt uniform and all of the watches were gone.

Soarin’ dove and plowed into the writhing mass of exoskeletons, cutting a swath away from one side of the battle-crazed alicorn princess. He got a close look at a viscous curved horn on top of a pony shaped head as it tried to gouge his eye out. Soarin’ lashed his legs forward and rolled, dumping the creatures he’d smashed to the ground. One of them sported thick, dark blue chitin on its body and head. That bug pulled up from its defeated comrades and flew back at him in rage. He wound up a punch and socked it in the head, sending it flying.

Backup would arrive soon, he hoped. How far ahead had he gotten from the guards?

Soarin’ landed and dug his feet into the ground. He whipped around rearing, back legs compressed to kick him into the air like a loaded cannon. He faltered and fell to all fours in front of Rainbow Dash. She’d seen him go over Ponyville and followed him into the war zone, and now there she was like it was no big deal. Soarin’ was incapable of thinking anything, let alone fumbling for words.

What was this unfamiliar sensation? He felt a tug deep within his emotions like they were being drawn from him, or maybe consuming themselves and leaving nothing behind.

He must've landed a lot harder than he thought because he was also seeing double. The fight split into two Surprises mirroring each other. Usually you needed a mirror to do that.

Soarin's focus snapped back to Rainbow Dash. "What's the code?" he said. She froze at this sudden bizarre demand, hoof midair. "That's what I thought." Against his will, Soarin' leapt past the pony and snapped open a wing, cracking her across the neck and knocking her to the ground. The pony mirage burst and became one of the armored insect commanders. It tried to rise, but Soarin' crushed his hoof straight through its black caraprace and finished it off. "I'd advise you to stay down next time a Wonderbolt punches you," he said as he threw another attacking enemy to the ground, "but it's a little late for that."

They're not mimics, Soarin' reasoned while fighting for his life. But still, what the heck? Rainbow Dash - why would they do that... His blows slowed down as he became more cautious, concerned this pony was the real Surprise or Luna's guard. Thank Thunder there weren't any more Rainbow Dashes.

The alicorn’s rallying cry split the hum of insect wings. "To me! To me!" Two ponies, one gray one white, rested helplessly beneath the shadow of the Moon. Surprise was down.

Soarin' withdrew and took the position opposite the only guard still standing. Bits of shell crunched under the layer of ooze around the hellish-looking Nightmare Princess. The wall of shattered carcasses circling them would have been useful against unwinged enemies. What a waste.

The tides turned and armored pegasi crashed into the black swarm. Comets of green blood and pony feathers rained down, drizzling the carpet of bodies below. Even so, they’d hardly made a dent in the opponent’s forces. A swath of their attackers broke from the swarm and headed for Equestria’s heart.

Soarin’ exploded into the sky after the breakaway group. Canterlot’s defensive winged forces hesitated, unsure whether to go after the rogue army or continue battling the enemies here.

A royal voice boomed across the distance Soarin’ had already put between him and the carnage. “We can handle this. Stay your ground and fight!” Soarin’ knew she wasn’t talking about ‘we’ Princess Luna. She was putting faith in Celestia to handle whatever made it past the first line of defense. Reassured, the guards plunged into the fray around the Bringer of Night.

Soarin’ was already gone. He swatted aside the mock ponies at the back of the pack, but there was only one of him and hundreds of them. They ignored him like a horse ignores a dead mosquito. Never did a single creature falter when Soarin’ felled one of its comrades, as if the swarm was driven by a hive mind that only felt a prick when that tiny piece of it went out.

They were fast little buggers, too. With singular determination they rocketed towards the pink bubble in green comet fire. Black specks crawled along the surface of the force field; some of the attackers had already arrived.

Canterlot shattered.

A path of fire streaked across the sky and burst into a shower of fireballs, which was what remained of any creature caught in the blast. The heat signature came closer and closer to Soarin’, setting fire to any who dared try to join in the destruction of Canterlot. Through the flurry of his swinging hooves Soarin’ saw unnatural explosions strike the castle and the city’s rooftops. A gash opened the fabric on his chest and cut into the skin underneath. He pulled away from the dark horn before it dug into his knee.

Soarin’s coat prickled and instinctively he rolled to the side. An electrocuted husk fell past him, still crackling with static. Others tumbled after it. No doubt Rapidfire was out here too, but nopony would see him coming. Alternating lasers of purple and yellow shot from the castle and picked off enemies in the sky. It wasn’t enough. That’s the main trouble with minions: there were a lot of them, and killing them got very repetitive.

~~~

Their captors brought them back to the Queen so she could have her obligatory moment of gloating. Rainbow Dash hated being on the receiving end of it. She was only putting up with this until there was a clear shot for them to strike back, until the Wonderbolts showed up, until Princess Luna came and brought the night down on them all. Where were the guards?

Rainbow Dash’s ears pricked. The sound of destruction outside was being canceled out by something else: a spark between the two defeated ponies on the altar.

“There are all kinds of magic in this world.”

This was like no magic she’d ever experienced before. She could feel it. It warmed her from the outside in, straight to the core of her being. A sense of comfort settled in her heart, and underneath that was pure energy: the desire to be something, to do something, to achieve, to dream. There was no way to describe it, really. If poetry couldn’t do it, Rainbow Dash sure as shine didn’t stand a chance.

She knew this feeling, though. It was love.

~~~

Everypony was okay. Fleetfoot and Surprise were resting; some of the other ‘Bolts on the borders had to help her back to the base. Princess Luna had stayed behind to finish the fight. Only right when the wedding afterparty started did she grace Canterlot with her presence. The black alicorn was perfectly happy and completely unharmed.

As for the changelings, all of the Wonderbolts had felt it – the thing that had blown the black shapeshifters back to the dead woods. Anybody would’ve been hard pressed to be unhappy after that wave of love blanketed Equestria. Soarin’, however, felt as if his emotions were tripping over themselves like a five legged pony. He was doing his best to keep his cool.

Rainbow Dash was having less success. “Come on Soarin’, let’s dance! I’ve been through drama like you wouldn’t believe this week. Let’s have some fun!” She jammed to the beat. All of their friends had mysteriously disappeared. The camera ponies were still in full form, though.

Twilight Sparkle kept singing ‘love is in bloom.’ The song would be over soon, and Soarin’ had to admit it was impossible not to move to the beat. “Alright Dash, but I’ve still got Wonderworks to do, so don’t wear me out,” he teased. He wanted to be fit for the after party after the light show, so he resisted all of Dash’s attempts to get him on the dance floor and make a scene.

Soarin’ nearly hid underneath a table skirt when Dash pulled a yellow pony with a pink mane from the crowd onto the floor. He needed to have it explained to him that Fluttershy had been in a bad mood the first time they’d met. It should not have been possible to fit “sorry” that many times into one conversation. This Fluttershy was the complete opposite of the pegasus who’d thrown him halfway across Ponyville.

Rainbow Dash dragged the apologetic pony away and the two friends danced. Soarin’ rounded up the scattered Wonderbolts so they could do the Wonderworks they’d planned.

“How’d it go, mate?” Lightning Streak nudged him.

Soarin’ ran through the routine in his head. “It was nothing.”

“Soarin’.” Spitfire said, concerned.

He didn’t respond. Fireworks always make ponies happy. It’s a nice touch.

~~~

The wedding was finally over, and they’d seen the married couple off. Pinkie Pie’s eyes darted back and forth while she waited for them to stop laughing. “Forget the bachelor party,” she said. “It’s time for the after after party.”

Rainbow Dash tipped her head, curious with a mischievous edge. “After after party?”

Pinkie Pie bounced. “You know, the party you have after the after party, the party that’s three levels deep!”

“It’s not gonna be a party without me there. I’m in.”

Even Fluttershy came with them to the hottest night club in Equestria. Everypony was there. Colored lights scanned over the crowd in the darkened room and Rainbow Dash saw ponies with their wedding finery still on, ponies with nothing on, the glare off Lightning Streak’s mane, guards dancing despite their armor next to two griffins doing the same in steel plate, and even Discord frozen up next to the bar. A wave of starlight gave away Princess Luna, whose impressive steps and turns and snaps to the pounding beat drew a circle of memorized spectators. Rainbow Dash was fascinated by this and watched other club goers move in and out of the circle to dance with the night sky. That corner of the dance floor had a life of its own.

Fluttershy immediately joined the ponies near a wall where a trellis of white flowers and ivy grew. The flowers glowed in the different colors of the club lights. Fluttershy’s pink mane bobbed while she smiled and nodded to something another wallflower pony said to her and the two struck up a conversation. Every so often a group of them left the wall to dance or were invited to dance by one of the more brave souls out there. It took guts to ask a shy pony onto the floor.

Rainbow Dash kept looking, making her way around the club with Rarity and Twilight sticking close to her. The mood was still sparking with the after-wedding hype and the giddy feeling left over from the royal couple’s magic spell, mixed in with one or two cocktails, of course. Pinkie Pie had disappeared, and Applejack was at the bar with a bunch of her folks. Discord was shocked to see ponies trusted him enough to hold their hats and accessories and all those flowers wreathed around his horns.

The music leveled down into hard, plain beats with no musical layover. “Alright ponies. Time to show you how this song really goes.” DJ Pon3’s horn lit up and a curved panel of magical energy whipped into existence in front of her. Hints of a melody spread out over the thundering subwoofers. A voice clear as a bell rang out “Love is in Bloom” and the song burst into action. Rainbow Dash felt it pulse through her. Her hooves moved on their own, seeking their place in the rhythm. She let the song take over her senses and prowled the edges of the dance. Unicorn magic lit the DJ booth and displayed lights and shapes swirling with the mood of the beat. Rainbows rushed overhead in a mock sonic rainboom, followed by dazzling Wonderworks explosions. The bloom of love melted into darker, driving tones.

“Hey Rainbow Dash, thought I saw you.” Rainbow Dash turned and noticed Spitfire. Rarity and Twilight stood nearby, bouncing to the thrum of the music. Spitfire came closer so she could hear. “Soarin’s looking for you, you know.” She laughed. “His sight must not be that great if he can’t spot you, even in this crowd. He’s probably still over there,” she pointed across the dance floor to the other side of the room.

Rainbow Dash looked into the colorful mass shifting in the space between. There wasn’t a gap big enough for her to see through.

~~~

The music was too good to be wasted. It pulsed in him, forcing him to take action. Once again the rhythm shifted, this time into a haunting sound of desperate longing that pulled him forward. “You…” the single word echoed in the music. Dancing ponies slowed their movement to follow the change, and it was then that there was a clear line of sight across the floor. “You…” Their eyes met for that brief second before the dancers closed the space.

Soarin’ removed his goggles and slid his tie off, reaching for the clasps on the jacket hiding the bandage across his chest. “Lightning Streak, hold these.”

~~~

Rarity caught the items before they hit the floor. “Rainbow Dash, please, dresses are made to be worn, not thrown every time you feel like flying.” But nothing could call the pegasus back. She’d turned herself over completely to the DJ’s mix and disappeared into the crowd.

A cymbal roll opened up a vast emptiness in the song that reverberated with the lyrics. Dancers started to move away from the center of the floor and cluster around it.

“So Twilight Sparkle,” Spitfire said. “You’ve seen pegasi pull water from the ground, but have you ever seen them dance?”

Twilight turned her gaze up to the airborne pegasi couples, which were now all focused on the clearing in front of the towering DJ booth. Two ponies were facing off in the space below. Twilight thought back on all the times she’d seen one of those ponies dance at parties with her and their other friends. “Yes, but this is the first time I’ve seen Rainbow Dash stand still like this.”

“Then you’re in for a treat.”

Up above, the DJ grinned, still bobbing her head to the hidden beat in the silence of the lyrics. Music had a way of drawing out the heart’s desire. It had been a while since two ponies cleared the floor like that simply by looking at each other. She reached into her magic and brought on the bass, waiting for the couple to make their move.

Down below, Rainbow Dash and Soarin’s eyes were locked with intense clarity. They circled each other around the perimeter of the ring, two combatants waiting for their opponent’s gaze to waver. Neither paid any heed to the wounds and bruises that the lack of clothing revealed. Their footfalls matched step for step on every other strike of the beat. The music grew in power, one level of complexity after the other until the pair sensed the impending climactic crash.

The musical wave bore down on them and they spun together in a blur at the center of the floor, wings outstretched and still not touching. Hooves hit the floor at the same time. Grounded, they fanned their wings out and around, dodging just in time to avoid hitting each other in a brave show of coordination. Soarin’s wing rushed over Rainbow Dash’s head and stirred up the colors on her mane. The mare retaliated with a fierce uppercut that breezed past the feathers on her companion’s wing when he twisted out of the way. There was no lead in freestyle. It depended entirely on your ability to read your partner.

Rainbow Dash held her wings out and stepped back, hooves still cracking the floor with the beat, hips swinging back and forth. She gave Soarin’ space. Bring it on, I dare you, was her wordless challenge.

Soarin’ folded his wings in and pawed the ground, launching into a slow motion charge. At the center of their shared circle he flared his wings and reared, whirling around once before slamming his forelegs into the ground and bucking. He beat his wings to keep his rear legs aloft while he took a few paces backwards, eyes trained on Rainbow Dash.

Soarin’ let his hind hooves touch down and held his wings parallel to the floor. Starting with one tip, he rolled the wing and his shoulder into the other shoulder and wingtip in an ocean wave. The stallion thrust both wings forward and pointed at Rainbow Dash with them. He lifted a foreleg and indicated, Come and get me.

The stunning colored mare never let a pony show her up, and she wasn’t about to start. She strut right over to the pony standing in her way until their noses were almost touching and gave him a wicked grin. She jumped backward and flipped forward over the sky blue pegasus. Halfway through her upside down arc she stretched her wings to the ground. Her pinions brushed down his back and she landed right on the booming musical downbeat. Soarin’ whipped around to see what she was going to do next and found a hoof in his face – “stop”. Rainbow Dash grinned behind it. She had anticipated he would turn around like that.

They touched and it was electric and still not enough all at once. The two pegasi grooved to the music with their necks pressed together. Soarin’ turned so he could speak into Rainbow Dash’s ear without leaving her side. “I don’t think I mentioned how dashing you look in the dresses I’ve seen, but you know what?”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes flickered with a mischievous spark while she reached for his ear. “Funny, I was about to say the same. I like it best when it’s just you, no clothes.”

“Exactly.”

Let’s take off and fly, the music called. Hooves left the ground and the two pegasi twirled round and round on their way up. They broke apart and looped a mini flight routine in the confines of their circle, clashing their hooves together on Soarin’s cue.

“I always wanted to try this,” Rainbow Dash said. “Walk with me.”

The two walked straight up on an invisible vertical surface, using each other’s hooves as a landing point. It was like a mirror had suddenly appeared, but on one side was a stallion who’d achieved his dreams and on the other was a mare who hadn’t. Not yet.

The DJ flipped the switch on the music and gave the Wonderbolt and the Rainboom a little something to work with. The World Is Mine. Fog rolled out over the dance floor and refracted the colors of the club lights into misty glows. The rest of the crowd couldn’t resist the mood, so they danced while instinctively maintaining the invisible boundary for the pegasus pair.

On the boundary of the dance floor, a purple unicorn blinked and tried to make sense of what she was witnessing. Her body swung to the beat with its own agenda; it was impossible to resist the masterful magic of the music. This didn’t prevent her eyes from following the two ponies walking on thin air, bouncing off it and flying through it like it was solid and not at the same time. The blue duo stood on an imperceptible dance floor above the real one and wrapped their wings around each other. They used them like extra legs to spin one another on angles impossible for ground ponies. At one point Rainbow Dash guided Soarin’ with her wingtip into a barrel roll above her head. He landed on all fours upside down above her. The two rocked it out with their heads turned upward/downward to not lose sight of each other. Colored fog flashed around them.

Twilight would have to pick up her jaw. If only she could find it.

The couple wanted to keep dancing, but the long night was taking its toll. Both ponies sensed the end of the song and did one more whirl before landing in the air. It defied all logic of gravity, those two standing on nothing like that.

The couple stared at each other, frozen, and sank to the floor. They were so close. Twilight felt every hair on her pelt prickle while the two unmoving pegasi exchanged a Look. It went on for a long time while the circle around them closed and the music pounded on. Rainbow Dash and Soarin’ were as still as Discord, who watched the proceedings in stony silence.

It wasn’t natural. Twilight found she was able to speak. “What’s wrong with them?”

Spitfire chuckled. “There’s nothing wrong with them. They’re in love.”

“How can they not know?” Rarity said. “It is so obvious.”

The Wonderbolt ran a hoof through her fiery mane. “Well, that’s just the thing. They do know."

Rarity gasped in a most ladylike fashion. “You can’t mean you have rules against this sort of thing? That’s so tragic!”

“No no no,” Spitfire cut her off. “Seriously, I don’t know where everypony gets that idea. My guess is Rainbow Dash wants to be a Wonderbolt first. Soarin’ is trying to see her through the Wonder Trial without any interference.”

Twilight’s full attention turned to Spitfire at that. “So she’s going to be invited this year?”

“Who knows?” Spitfire said in a way that reminded Twilight distinctly of Princess Celestia. The Wonderbolt trotted off, waving goodbye behind her.

Basically synonymous with "being too busy preparing for my Sonic Rainboom." Basically.

18 - Wonder Trial

“And they lived happily ever after,” Pinkie Pie finished. She closed the book and the Cake twins watched her with great interest, as if they expected something else to happen besides the anticlimactic ending. All of that reading just for that: happily ever after. Where was the confetti?

Pound Cake put his forehoof in his mouth. Rainbow Dash thought from her perch inside one of the library’s upper alcoves that maybe she was reading into the situation a little bit. Happily ever after – plplbeh, what sort of amateur ending is that? Pinkie should read more Daring Do books to these kids.

The babysitter scooped up the two foals and tossed them up, catching one in her left saddlebag and the other in her right. The tiny ponies cooed. For some reason kids loved being thrown in the air and caught. Pinkie Pie said to her crew, “So that’s what a library looks like. Now we’re going to go see what an arcade looks like.” She bounced out the door to the foals’ delight.

Rainbow Dash sighed and hung her head over the ledge. “Lovesick” was what Rarity called it. The Wonderbolt-in-training didn’t want to be sick during the Wonder Trial, but she’d really put her hoof in it this time. It’s not like they’d kissed or anything, but she got the feeling if they’d never danced and smooched instead it would’ve been less... less whatever it was!

Instead they’d completely abandoned all sensibility to the music and then at the end they tore their eyes from each other and walked off in opposite directions without a word. This highly unsatisfactory finale left a great deal of unfinished business, and if there’s one thing about unfinished business, it’s that if it doesn’t get finished it causes trouble.

Rainbow Dash growled in frustration and knocked a dangling hoof against the library wall.

Twilight looked up from her writing. “Fine, I’ll do it now! I can hardly focus with you making all that racket. Have a seat over there and I’ll get my notes on the Everfree Forest out.” Twilight’s quill settled in the inkwell and she went upstairs.

Oh yeah, that’s what she was here for. She’d forgotten.

Rainbow Dash kept asking herself the same question over and over. Why didn’t she kiss Soarin’? She should’ve done it. Should’ve said to heck with being a Wonderbolt and dove right into the relationship and let her jealousy tear them apart after she didn’t make the cut at the Trial because her priorities were all screwed up. Geeze that’s stupid, Dash. Quit thinking about it already.

“Here Rainbow, I got the notes. Aren’t you going to come down, er… are you okay?”

“I’m fine! Fine. Never been better,” the lovesick pegasus said while she brought herself down to the floor and plopped onto a cushion.

“Ooookay then.” Twilight sat on a cushion opposite Rainbow Dash and lay a journal and a stack of separate paper out. “And you’re obviously not fine, but I won’t pry. I highly recommend talking to Rarity.” The unicorn tried to look endearing with a big grin, but it had no effect on Despondent Dash.

Twilight had no choice but to move on to the ultimate cure for anything. “Right. Well, I’m sure a lecture will cheer you up.” She closed her eyes and started reciting.

“To begin, Canterlot was not always the Royal City.”

~ ~ ~

If Rainbow Dash didn’t pass the Wonder Trial it would be all his fault. He hated himself right now for that. After all of the training they’d put in, for it to all be ruined… If she felt anything like he did right now, it was going to be hard to achieve the deadly focus needed to succeed in the Trial and win the team’s favor.

Soarin’ realized he’d left the floor again. He stopped flapping and landed with a clack on the cloud marble, continuing his brisk trot to the next door. Go see Lightning Streak, was what Rapidfire had said. Soarin’ knocked and was lucky enough to catch the elemental pegasus while he was still in.

“Ey Soarin’, didn’t expect to yeh ta drop in. What can oi do for ya?” Lightning Streak’s mane was sticking straight up in a static electricity disaster, but neither Wonderbolt paid any attention to it. There were plenty of unusual things like that around here.

“I wanted to see if you’ve ever noticed anything strange about Rainbow Dash,” Soarin’ said.

The other stallion took this question seriously, mulling it over with a hoof on his chin and static crackling in his mane. “Can’t say oi have. If it wasn’t you, oi might say her colors are pretty different than yer standard pony – now dun give me that face, mate, oi swear oi haven’t been ogling her… can’t get away with it on that personality type. Actually, now that oi’m thinkin on it, oi remember seeing her before. In a painting at the gallery opening. You were there, remember? Or maybe it was on a window. Anywho, if it’s about art, ya better ask Wave Chill.”

“Thanks Lighting Streak.” Soarin’ was going to get to the bottom of this today.

“Ya sure you don’t want a different kind of advice? Yer lookin’ kinda down in the dumps Soarin’.”

“Maybe later. I’ve got to figure this out first.” Soarin’ started walking away but had a second thought. He looked over his shoulder with a grin. “But if you’re talking about that kind of advice, I can hold my own, thanks.”

“Never doubted ya.”

Wave Chill wasn’t at the base. It took asking High Winds and Blaze to find out he’d gone on a flight over the mountains. Fortunately, the nice thing about being a pegasus was that you could spot ponies pretty easily if you went up high enough, so Soarin’ located the deep blue pegasus from the sky.

“Yo Soarin’! What’s up?”

“Lightning Streak said you were the guy to talk to about a painting or possibly a window with a rainbow colored pony on it.”

Wave Chill laughed and kicked back while he soared through the air. “That guy’s way out of his depth if he’s trying to talk about art. At least he still knows who’s boss! Rainbow pony, huh? Sure, there’s a painting of Rainbow Dash crashing the Grand Galloping Gala at the Galloping Gallery.” Wave Chill stuck his tongue out after saying that. “It’s probably not on display right now.”

Soarin’ felt like he’d hit a dead end. There wasn’t much a painting would tell him about Rainbow Dash that he didn’t already know, plus he’d been there that night. Mostly he remembered getting caught in a stampede and ridden around like a bucking bronco by bunnies, of all things. He had a hard time getting them off.

The other skyborne Wonderbolt took Soarin’s silence as an opportunity to keep speaking. “If you’re talking windows, you should check out Canterlot Castle. Some of the hallways’ve got these old school stained glass windows. I’d tell you they were classical era, but Princess Celestia just has them done up to look that way. There’s three or four of them that’re brand new. A lot of history’s been going down in the past few years. Heh heh. Guess it always is, though.”

Wave Chill turned around and started to focus on his regular flight pattern again. “Bet Discord ain’t too happy about it – most of those windows used to be dedicated to him. Now it’s all about the Elements of Harmony.”

Soarin’ kept listening, not sure what else to do. He started thinking about who he hadn’t talked to yet. Pony Joe was a mutual friend, so maybe he should check the doughnut shop.

“You know, one of em looks like a rainbow pony.” Wave Chill stopped, noticing the other set of wingbeats was fading away. “Soarin’? You alright? Oh. Oh Hurricane. Seriously? It’s her? The picture isn’t spot on, you know. There’re a couple other pegasi with rainbow-ish manes that could fit the bill. Sorry dude, I can’t help you there. You better go have a look yourself or hit up Spitfire.”

Soarin’ tore all the way back to HQ before his heart could hit the bottom of his stomach.

“Spitfire!”

“Soarin’ what the hay – what happened?” Spitfire looked up from her book and put her mug down on the kitchen island. She was tense, ready to spring into action if there was another invasion.

“Is Rainbow Dash an Element of Harmony?”

Spitfire looked into Soarin’s wild eyes for a while. When the silence so loud you could’ve heard a feather fall did not go away, Spitfire said, “She didn’t tell you?”

He dropped his head and pressed his muzzle into the cold, hard floor. “Which one.” His voice quavered when he spoke. “You know what, never mind. I… I’ve gotta go think this over.”

He left.

All this time and she hadn’t said a word about it. After everything they’d been through she still didn’t trust him enough to say something so simple. Maybe she thought he already knew… no, he could think of the times when his ignorance would have been obvious. Of course an Element of Harmony knew what evil was like. He’d asked if she could handle it before he’d told her his cutie mark story.

Oh Thunder, she was an Element of Harmony and he’d told her that story. He thought he was training her to be tested, but maybe she was the one testing him. Was she watching him now to make sure he wasn’t evil? Maybe it was part of her duty to see if he was visiting the Everfree Forest alone. Maybe he was only imagining she was interested in him because that’s what he wanted to see. He’d fallen for a hero.

All of the pieces fell together and Soarin’s mind couldn’t handle it. The bruises she’d had at the dance. Her fearless attitude toward a story that should’ve been horrifying. The day the Wonderbolts went to Appleloosa in place of the Elements of Harmony; it was the same day she’d been on the trip north. Her ridiculous ability to pick up flight tricks like it was nothing. Thinking she could take on a magical hurricane all by herself. The mares that were her five closest friends.

How in the History of Equestria was it even possible for him to have been so blind? Why didn’t she tell him? Why? Why?

~ ~ ~

“…the taint may very well be irreversible, and the Princess–“ Without warning Rainbow Dash got up in the middle of Twilight’s sentence and headed straight for the door flying. “Rainbow! Rainbow, where are you going!”

She needed time to think this over. One important thing about extreme emotions was to wait at least a few hours before doing anything about it, or else it created a mess and hurt feelings. Yeah, she was going to have to sleep on this one.

Imagine her surprise the next day when Soarin’ sought her out way before scheduled practice time. She couldn’t tell if he was avoiding her gaze, because she was definitely avoiding his. Something was wrong. She felt queasy.

All of the other five Elements of Harmony frowned, but the pony with the biggest frown by far was Rarity. Rainbow Dash couldn’t find the stomach to chug the rest of her drink, so she pushed it away, came out from underneath the parasol over the table, and followed Soarin’ into the air.

He drew a course towards her house and didn’t look back. They flew in unhappy silence for a few minutes before he said, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

Wrong answer. Soarin’ peered over his shoulder and she saw his eyes. She deserved to be punched in the face for the hurt she saw there. He looked away and pulled up a cloud and they sat uncomfortably far apart. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Curse that unfinished business – all of it!

She stammered. “I – I should’ve told you.” This was going to result in a letter to Princess Celestia, wasn’t it?

“But you didn’t!” Soarin’ wasn’t only hurt, he was also angry. He’d had at least the whole flight from Canterlot to think it over. “How can you even be a Wonderbolt when your Loyalty will be divided?”

Rainbow Dash flattened her ears. “This is why I didn’t tell you. Why should being an Element decide my life?"

“Because,” Soarin’ said, frustrated. He put his hoof down and sought for words. They spilled out in a torrent. “It changes everything. I’m not even sure I know who you are anymore. How much of you is really you? Did you learn to do the Sonic Rainboom, or is it just a power of being an Element?” He sounded like he was accusing her.

“I did the Sonic Rainboom way before I even knew this would happen to me,” she snapped. “Being a Wonderbolt was my first dream! Or didn’t you notice?”

“Oh I noticed alright. And if I didn’t know before, I definitely knew after I told you the darkest moments of my life and you made it all seem better. But how was I supposed to know that the whole time it was you keeping a secret,” he demanded.

“Me?” Rainbow Dash sputtered. Gray storm clouds rolled from her feet and met the thunder clouds coming from Soarin’s half of the space. “Well you know what Soarin’? Let’s talk about your story for a second. You want to know what was out there all those nights you went into the forest? You want to know who released Nightmare Moon? It was you. You!”

Soarin’s eyes went wide before they narrowed into thin slits. “Then you should thank me. If it weren’t for that, you wouldn’t even be an Element of Harmony. Princess Luna would still be trapped in the moon.”

“Thank you?” Rainbow Dash laughed. “You don’t even know what I’ve been through.” She stood up. “Nightmare Moon tried to trap me with Shadowbolts. Sound familiar? Where do you think she got that idea, huh? How did she figure out how to twist so perfectly the honor and glory Wonderbolts are supposed to represent? I always wondered.”

Soarin’ hissed through his teeth. He didn’t like hearing that, not out of her mouth and not the way she said it. Both pegasi had their ears back and anger crackling in their eyes and in sparks at their hooves. If there was anything to be said about this fight, it was that epic-level ponies never did anything half-assed.

The stallion found he was standing up also. “So now I’m the villain? Well I’ve got news for you, Rainbow Dash, I’ve put it behind me. At least my mistakes are in the past!”

Rainbow Dash glared. “Oh but it gets worse.” Thunder boomed. “There are things that are still out there, Soarin’, things not even the Princess can remember now. Think of all the horrible stuff you saw in that forest. I can only imagine what a Nightmare could do with real anger and bitterness right from the heart of a pony that was supposed to be true to Equestria. Where do your loyalties lie, huh Soarin’?” She kept pushing. “Think about it every time you hear about ponies who’ve disappeared in the Everfree Forest never to return.”

Soairn’ lashed out. "You will never be a Wonderbolt."

Those were unthinkable words to say.

One moment Rainbow Dash was on her side of the field and the next she was right in front of him, a mere breath away. "Never be a Wonderbolt," she said, casting a withering gaze into the depths of Soarin's soul. He was the only pegasus in all of Equestria able to meet that look without flinching. "We'll see about that."

~ ~ ~

"Like this," Soarin' finished his sentence to the empty air. "You'll never be a Wonderbolt like this."

A flurry of thunderclouds trailed off in the direction Rainbow Dash had gone. He kicked his own cloud and made it rain. The weather forecasters were going to have their hooves full explaining this one.

He was still mad, but he felt a lot better, like maybe his heart had been cut out and now it didn’t matter. As far as he could tell, their fight solved two problems. One: it got everything out in the open. Two: it made Rainbow Dash focus on the Wonder Trial.

He'd meant everything he said except that last bit at the end. Soarin' wasn't one for clever social tactics, but he had a sense for what made Rainbow Dash tick and what would set the ticking time bomb off. Today he discovered that was a two way street, because she'd really turned his dials by bringing up his past in such a nasty way.

Soarin' had half a mind to go into the Everfree Forest right now and tear the place apart until every evil twisted creature was dust in the wind. You will never be free of me, Nightmare Moon said. He'd made a mistake with consequences that would follow him the rest of his life.

He hoped he hadn’t made a second as he stormed his way back to Canterlot, sending billowing clouds out for weather teams everywhere to deal with.

~ ~ ~

A small crowd gathered to watch. It was at once both very scary and extremely funny, like watching a cotton pillow suddenly explode. A blue blur raged around the sky beating up clouds and making new ones just so it could beat them up again.

Audience member Applejack stared at the impossible display of energy. “Ya think maybe we should go talk to ‘er?”

“Uuummmm.” Fluttershy watched Rainbow Dash headbang a cloud to death. “That’s okay, I think I’ll stay down here.”

“Well all right then. I reckon she just wants ta burn off some steam anyway,” Applejack said while the rainbow pegasus stomped on a cloud. It was hard to believe the sound coming from that direction was a pony and not a bloodthirsty lion.

Rarity joined them with an elaborate parasol fastened to her back. “Is Rainbow Dash putting on a show?”

“Ah suppose ya could call it that.”

Rarity hummed to herself while her pegasus friend massacred clouds. “Classic lover’s tiff. I was afraid that might happen after the Royal Wedding. It’s not healthy to contain your feelings like that. Why, it’s even driven some ponies mad.” Doctor Rarity assessed the situation. “She’ll be fine, but Rainbow Dash is not the easily forgiving type.”

Said pony roared something about her life being ruined and threw a cloud across the sky, where it hit another one. Both clouds burst.

Pinkie Pie was suddenly involved in the conversation like she’d been there the whole time. “What they need is something super duper crazy to bring them back together again! Like a big battle! Or a shipwreck on a deserted island and oh – oh – a sea monster attacks them!”

Applejack stuffed an apple into the mouth before it could say more. “Enough with the foreshadowing Pinkie. It ain’t helpin.”

The pegasus of the hour was now panting and swatting at a fat cloud, finally having reached the limit of her energy. Her hooves bounced off the cloud with no effect. “Never… Wonderbolt… Show.... Him…”

“C’mon gals. Ah know RD, and she’s probably gonna sleep this one off now. Any of you got plans fer the Summer Sun Celebration?”

~ ~ ~

Soarin’ stared wordlessly at the words on the page. He was sprawled on the floor with the latest installment in the Wings and Blades series. After a few minutes he turned the page and realized he’d looked over the one before it without actually reading it, so he flipped back and gave it a few more tries before the story stuck.

The problem wasn’t that the book was bad, it was that there were so many other books scattered around the room. The previous two Wings and Blades were by the bed, half-read comic books spread face open on the floor, crunched up balls of paper with Soarin’s drowsy scrawling on them jumbled around the awards display, and a trail of paperbacks led from the sofa to the doorway. In fact, there were books everywhere but in the bookshelf, which should now be called a pantry. He’d tried using it as a refrigerator, but the melted bowl of ice cream was testament to how well that went.

The good thing was he’d stopped drinking coffee. He’d also stopped sleeping – or at least, he thought he had, but sometimes the time of day suddenly changed in the middle of what he was reading.

Lightning Streak barged into Soarin’s room and nearly gave him a heart attack.

"Alrighty Soarin', you had your time off. Now it's back to work with ya! No more of this moping about. Come on then."

The next thing he knew, he was being dragged down the hallway by his tail. "I wasn't moping, I was reading!"

"Moping." Everypony watched Lighting Streak go by, dragging a stunned pegasus behind him.

"Whoa whoa watch out for that-"

Lightning Streak pulled him around the sharp turn without thinking. "Wha?"

"-corner," Soarin’ whimpered.

Lightning Streak pulled onward a little further and let go. "Here he is, jus like ya wanted Fleetfoot. Alright then, oi'm off to the trial. See ya later."

Fleetfoot didn’t question Lightning Streak's methods of 'go get Soarin' before you leave.' She waited for Soarin’ to stand on his own four legs before she said, “Welcome back to the world of the living. Today’s task is simple.” The uniformed mare reached into a bag and put two envelopes on the table, each sealed with a winged lightning bolt. She placed a hoof on them and pushed the letters in his direction. “Can you deliver these two invitations?” The question sounded challenging, mocking, and rhetorical all at once. Of course a pegasus could deliver some mail.

Soarin’ appreciated both of his friends’ directness. It was about time somepony kicked his butt into gear. “Yeah I got this.” He picked up the two invitations in his mouth like he hadn’t taken the last few days off and Fleetfoot described where to find the pegasus for the first letter. The second needed no explanation.

He didn’t have much time to spare, so he went back to his room and suited up. He also cleaned up the ice cream soup and shelved some of the books that were the biggest trip-hazard candidates. The rest would have to wait.

Calm summer breezes marked the journey to Los Pegasus. It was still very early on this day, the longest day of the year. The sun wasn’t due to rise for a few hours yet.

Delivering the first invitation turned out to be uneventful, but Rapidfire had always said Star Breeze was a very level headed pony. She accepted her note with thanks, opened it, and excused herself to go prepare.

Soarin’ turned toward Ponyville and flew.

At that point in time, a number of things happened.

Far away on Equestria's coastline the Princess of the Sun raised the day over the ocean expanse behind her. It was the most breathtaking Sun Summer Celebration any pony watching had ever seen. The sun itself almost felt different - warmer in a new way, as if it were reminding them of all the good friends in their lives and the times they'd spent together. It was going to be a perfect summer's day.

What they did not know was that as a test of everything her student had learned over the years and as by way of apology for a Royal Mistake, Princess Celestia had asked Twilight if she would like to help raise the sun with her. This request had floored the little unicorn when her mentor brought it up months ago. That any pony besides the sun’s Guide should be involved in the sacred rite, it was completely preposterous – preposterous to every pony but the Princess herself, apparently.

Princess Celestia had the patience of a thousand years, so after she broke the news and Twilight’s worldview, she waited with a smile for her faithful student to calm down.

It was a secret just between them, of course. Twilight had only done an infinitesimally small part of it. After months of study she'd managed to capture that one fraction of a moment on a horrifically long scroll and bring it to life with ancient magic.

Back in Ponyville, Applejack was out checking on a newly planted apple tree that wasn't fairing so well. She added some of her magic to it and the young tree perked up a bit. Some saplings were stubborn like that - they needed lovin' care every day until they got big and strong enough to live on their own.

Applejack was about to move on when a bunch of birds started making a ruckus. They lifted out of the treetops over by the forest and flocked toward the farm. Now she'd have to go make sure they didn't eat the seeds out of the sunflowers before the harvest.

On the way to the field she found Fluttershy taking small, forced, quivering steps toward the apple orchard. Her teal eyes darted around until she saw Applejack, who went over to her immediately. "Sugarcube, what's wrong?"

The pegasus stammered through chattering teeth. "I - I don't know."

Over at the edge of the woods Princess Celestia herself warned the founders of Ponyville not to enter, a unicorn appeared in a burst of magic. She looked around and cursed under her breath. This was not the border she’d been trying to get to. Wretched magic. In another burst she was gone, leaving nothing but pink sparks and smoke.

Two guards at Canterlot Castle had already settled into the routine they'd been following for over a week: stand by Princess Luna's room and make sure no weird letters arrive. If it was unusual that the Princess was spending a morning sleeping in her room for once, nopony commented on it. It was well known that both royal sisters were often extremely busy, and the darker one was prone to disappearing for long periods of time.

The sun breached the horizon and marked another four hour shift where absolutely nothing would happen while the guards stood in front of a door.

Princess Luna opened that door three hours later much to the surprise of everypony involved, including herself. The frightening bit was there was not much that shocked somepony who'd been to the dark side of the moon and back. She commanded, "Fetch Morningstar and Equinox. Now."

Soarin’ didn’t know about any of this, though he had seen the sun come up. “Dash?” he called into the open doorway of her home. She wasn’t responding, and the turtle wouldn’t let him inside. No matter how he moved it was somehow in the way. “Look,” he hollered past the turtle’s head, “maybe you’re still angry at me, but at least come get this letter.”

Still Rainbow Dash was silent. He hadn’t come all this way for this to happen. Soarin’ peered into every window he could find until he realized that she wasn’t at home. Gah, Dash, do you think we figure out where to deliver these invitations by magic? Where are you?

In fact, it was quiet around Ponyville. There weren’t many ponies out even in this wonderful weather. Most of them probably packed their bags and were at the Summer Sun Celebration. Rainbow Dash hadn’t forgotten about him and decided to skip the Wonderbolts to go to a party instead, had she?

He seriously doubted it, so he started flying around in order to find her. The Everfree Forest seemed like a good start, but Soarin’s gut instinct told him not to waste his time traveling into the cloudy mess. She wouldn’t want to go back there in case she ran into him, he was sure. Or… maybe she would because she wanted to? A part of him inside cried for that to be true, but no, first he’d search where it was easy to see. Then he’d go to the forest.

They were running out of time. Soarin’ was going to neigh if things got messed up because he couldn’t deliver one stupid piece of paper.

Right when he was reaching his wit’s end he saw a rainbow far from town. There was only one pegasus he knew of that could make a rainbow like that.

Rainbow Dash was out training, of all things, honing her skill right until the bitter end. Soarin’ started to feel sicker the closer he got to the unnatural whorled sphere of clouds out over the countryside, but he didn’t stop. He had to see her again. The thin cirrus sweeping around the area like one of those swirly marbles loomed before Soarin’ and he pressed forward.

The moment he came out the other side of the cloud barrier there was a flash of light and blue electricity poured from the middle of the clearing in beams and waves. The brightness burned and there she was at the center of it all: a pony born of sky and rainbows. She was an ebony pony turning head over heels in slow motion, her brilliant mane and tail streaming against the counterpoint of blackness everywhere. A rainbow in the dark, that’s what Rainbow Dash was.

Soarin’s jaw dropped and the letter fell; he caught in on reflex in a hoof without taking his eyes from her. As quickly as that moment happened it was gone and the mare was her usual aerial blue self. Rainbow Dash whipped out of the slow circle in the middle of the cloud sphere and was about to twist into a new maneuver when she suddenly jerked to a standstill.

He remembered where he was and what he was doing and picked the invitation back up into his mouth and held it out. Rainbow Dash said nothing as she approached in strong, deliberate flaps as if she’d just realized there wasn’t any more time to practice. The Wonder Trial was now.

She nipped the envelope between her teeth and took it from him; the crests of their manes touched. Rainbow Dash pulled away and tore the envelope open. Her eyes darted over the writing.

Soarin’ urged her on. “Dash, you have to hurry. I –“

The chain reaction of events that started with the sun reached the last link and the ground quaked.

Rumbling cut off Soarin’s voice and both pegasi turned to see the green smudge that was Everfree Forest shedding crows like feathers. Impossible as it should have been at this distance, the thing that rose out of the cawing birds saw the two ponies. Soarin’ knew it was looking at him because he felt the horror of the experience in his chest. Batlike wings lifted it out of the depths of the forbidden forest.

Rainbow Dash took one look at the black monstrosity and fled. All that remained at Soarin’s side was a lingering contrail of colors. The Element of Loyalty didn’t have a place for him and had left him behind without a word. It broke his heart.

Soarin’ whipped around and roared at the top of his lungs, “Rainbow Dash!” She didn’t come back. No matter how far he looked the only thing left was a rainbow. She would never, ever forgive him for what he’d said. It was over.

The winged beast charted a course towards Cloudsdale.

Soarin’ turned around with fire in his eyes. Determination burned away every last trace of weariness in his tired body. He was a Wonderbolt, and if he had to fight alone he would. He’d fight for Equestria until it killed him. He’d fight knowing it was he who had helped bring this terrible being into the world, because for once he knew what it was.

~ ~ ~

Not even Rainbow Dash would dare take on a mythic creature of old wars and ancient grudges alone. By the time she was well on her way she noticed Soarin’ did not follow her. Her only hope now was to be fast enough to get back up in time while he kept the foe occupied.

The facts were these: something of unknown strength was going to attack Equestria, something that radiated hate in a way that suggested it would not toy with ponies or play psychological games like intelligent villains did. Her friends were the first ponies she trusted to help her, but they were scattered around Equestria and couldn’t slap on the Elements of Harmony without permission. Getting royal permission was a royal pain and Rainbow Dash was too lazy to deal with it. The one pony who wasn’t too lazy – Twilight – was cities away at the Summer Sun Celebration.

Without the power boost from the gems they needed extra help, and Rainbow Dash knew exactly who that help was going to be. Rushing to the Wonderbolts and making a huge dramatic scene about an attack would be about as effective as rushing into your blood relative’s wedding and accusing ponies of being evil in front of a live audience, and heck, Rainbow Dash didn’t even have lifelong friendships with the Wonderbolts on her side of that deal.

But she could win that bond today. If she showed she was serious, they would listen. The plan was simple: top the Wonder Trial, become a Wonderbolt, find Twilight, rush everypony to Ponyville, stop the Everfree Forest thing. Was this plan over the top, insane, likely to fail, and completely lacking in carefully rationalized thought? Yes. Which is what made it the perfect Rainbow Dash plan.

Equestria dropped off into a sheer cliff where waves churned against broken rocks below. The ocean was speckled with twisting rock formations, many of which towered out of the water in arches and disheveled spires. Some had enough of a ledge for grass and trees to grow; others were pierced with tunnels you could see all the way through to the other side. With clear skies all around it was easy to see the cloud overlooking the natural obstacle course and the group of winged ponies lined up on it.

There were four competitors; Rainbow Dash made them five total. As soon as she skidded into place next to a pink-tinged mare, Fleetfoot launched into a greeting. Most of it slipped through Rainbow Dash's thoughts while she tried to override the screaming urgency in the back of her mind and size up her competition.

Every pegasus there was a force to reckon with, but her biggest concern by far was Rook, a cinnamon stallion with a pitch black mane streaked by a few white bands. The pegasi next to him were tense to the point of almost having their wings out, but Rook was focused on Fleetfoot, calm and ready. His interested, bright eyes made him feel friendly and approachable.

Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, was glaring at the sea cliffs with her wings out and ready to go. She was here for only one thing today: to win.

"...not a test of pure skill. Ponies of your level have no need to prove their skills." Fleetfoot was saying. Her shining white mane crested the blue curves of her flight suit like the waves cresting the water behind her. "The Wonder Trial is never the same twice."

Lightning Streak landed next to Fleetfoot on cue with a round blue ball in his mouth. "This," Fleetfoot said, "is a rubber ball." Lightning Streak dropped it and stepped aside. Rather than falling the ball stayed suspended in the air exactly at the same level it was before. It took on a faint metallic shine. "You will have a hard time finding it and an even harder time capturing it, but it won’t travel outside this area.” Fleetfoot gestured with a wing that encompassed just about everything from the cliff on out. “The last thing you need to know is there is no guarantee any of you will pass.”

Fleetfoot gave that comment a moment to sink in.

“Go.”

Lightning Streak struck the ball with a rear kick so hard it chipped off part of a rock pillar far away and winked out of existence. Where the enchanted object was now was anypony’s guess.

Rainbow Dash stopped midair. She’d shot after the ball and wasn’t fast enough to get it. Each of the other four pegasi rocketed off in different directions. Every muscle in her body was tense while she flew higher and higher trying to spot the small speeding circle. Take too long to find it, and somepony else would. Take too long to catch it and the others would notice and have the chance to intercept. It was a dangerous high speed game of hide and seek and fetch with big stakes.

One tiny glimmer below and Rainbow Dash was off. She swept down at top speed and banked at the ocean level. It wasn’t the ball, only the reflection off a wave. There wasn’t time for this. She needed to win now.

Rainbow Dash swept in an arc to return to the air when a blur caught the corner of her eye. It was the black-flecked coat of Star Breeze. Rainbow Dash followed on low and checked to see if her opponent had found the object of the game already. No, the mare had her nose turned to the sky. Why was she down where you had to navigate around the rock formations that blocked your view?

The water: the ball was the same color as the water. If you flew along the waves and looked up it would be easier to spot. Star Breeze had figured it out right away.

Rainbow Dash bit down and forced herself to be patient. This would be much faster if she could just speed around above and find the thing. Instead she copied Star Breeze and raced around the bases of the seacliffs. She was challenged to keep her eyes to the sky and not run into the cliffs at the same time.

Ocean spray misted her fur. She glided through an arch so low to the water it was almost a cavern. The lack of direct sunlight made the brief underpass cool. She whooshed out the other side, tipped to avoid the column directly ahead, and saw it. The ball was no more than a blue speck racing against the backdrop of the sky.

She lunged upward, quick as rainbow lightning, never letting the growing dot out of her sight. It sparkled and shimmered in the sunlight. Without regard for pony limitations it jerked to the left, keeping the same breakneck pace. Rainbow Dash zoomed around the sharp turn and her wings wanted to rip from her body in protest.

The ball took off over the sea and the desperate pegasus raced after it. Her ears and cheeks burned. Everything, all her hopes and dreams and the fate of Equestria curled into raw determination to snag the thing in front of her. It wasn’t a ball, it was the manifestation of her future in pure Wonderbolt blue. All she had to do was reach out and take it.

The blue circle shot straight up along a jagged rock tower. The pegasus following close behind curved after it. Only a little bit more and she could reach out and chomp down. It was right there, straight ahead, directly above the blur of rocks rushing by.

Blue magic flashes shot from the rubber item and it disappeared. Rainbow Dash cut her flight short and landed on top of the pointy stone spire. She balanced herself on all fours and scanned the area. No sign of it; it was completely gone, like a teleporting unicorn.

On the far side of the arena Rook’s flight pattern tore into a full speed attack. The cinnamon flash was hard to see as it weaved out and around the rocks. Rook kicked off a pillar and pieces of it fell into the sea. Rainbow Dash flew ahead to cut him off and steal the prize out from under his nose. She found the stallion stalled and looking around in confusion.

Rainbow Dash laughed despite the enormous pressure to succeed crushing her down. “Got away from you too, huh?”

“I had it but it disappeared when I was only wingspans away. Saw the same happen to one of the others.”

At that moment Rainbow Dash suffered a brilliant stroke of inspiration. Old Rainbow Dash would never have considered it, but New Rainbow Dash was even more brash than her predecessor. “Hey Rook, let’s team up for a little bit.”

“Huh? Why?”

“C’mon, do ya really think getting into the Wonderbolts is as easy as catching a ball?” She could hardly believe it herself.

Rook didn’t need to think about it. There was clearly a trick to this game. “Sure, just for a few minutes though.”

Not like they had much time to work with anyway, not after spending it trying to find the magical nuisance.

Rainbow Dash had Rook point out the pony he saw go after the ball first. The two pegasi camped out in some tall grass on one of the rock spire ledges and watched. They weren’t the only ones watching, though – Rainbow Dash saw Star Breeze playing lookout on a pillar. The lone pegasus was more interested in the two flyers left in the sky than anything else.

What they were doing was risky and could cost them the spot in the Wonderbolts. Rainbow Dash’s heartbeat pounded in her ears when she saw the pink mare from before lock onto a fast moving object. Dash could practically feel the tension racking Rook’s wings while he watched. They both stood there and waited to see their dreams yanked out from underneath their hooves while they did nothing. They watched. The pink mare put on a sudden burst of speed and closed the distance between herself and the ball and lunged.

In an instant the pegasus stopped vaulting through the sky and threw a fit. Clouds of steam fanned out from her thrashing limbs. The prize was gone, but she’d gotten closer than any pony so far.

Rainbow Dash realized she’d been holding her breath and exhaled.

“Man I’d be ticked,” Rook said. “So close.”

Rainbow Dash came out of the grass. “We need more help.”

“More help? But there’s only one ball!”

“I know.”

~ ~ ~

Gargoyles were the stuff of nightmares: constructs of unfeeling stone impermeable even to unicorn magic, capable of nothing but death and destruction, powered by ancient sorcery sharpened with hatred. They were invented by a brilliant, long-forgotten storyteller and only ever mentioned when your parents really did want to scare you. Gargoyle tales had to run in the family because otherwise the knowledge died the next generation.

There was only one problem. The storyteller didn’t make up gargoyles.

Soarin’ raced to cut the monster off before it got any closer to its goal. As he approached he saw that its size rivaled that of a dragon, a dragon of solid gray-flecked granite. Moss and dirt tore from crevices in its surface and showered the sky. Its head had little resemblance to any living creature. Even though it had no eyes, it bore an expression of twisted rage through a mouth full of jagged, overhanging fangs. Horns sprouted at the back of its skull, its feet were mostly claws, and its whole angular body prickled with spines and points coming off at impossible angles because it didn’t matter if it impaled itself on its own limbs – it wouldn’t feel it. A powerful tail ended in a hooked blade and its demonic batlike wings sliced the sky with audible strokes.

The lone Wonderbolt threw himself in front of this monstrosity and flared his wings. Behind him the sun shone so he looked like a black shadow barring the way. He realized in retrospect that this probably did nothing to help him because the gargoyle had no eyes, but it was still pretty cool. “No!” Soarin’ shouted at the monolith. “Not today.”

It worked. Now he had the equivalent of an entire rock farm launching itself at him full throttle.

Fortunately, the gargoyle did not have the speed of a Wonderbolt. Soarin’ hoped he could tire it out, so he paced himself and stayed barely out of reach. It was a nerve-wracking experience. He did not know how long he flew in front of that hulk of knife sharp rock. The whole time he felt like he’d been tied to a set of train tracks and could see the train coming. It was right there chugging and whistling full steam ahead, but for some reason it never got any closer.

In the end pegasus wings could not keep up with a demon. Fatigue crept into Soarin’s movement and he realized that even if the gargoyle did not have the intelligence to pick an easier target, it was relentless. It would never run out of energy.

You will never be free of me.

A blast of air knocked Soarin’ sideways as thick stone sung down within a tail’s length of where he was. Adrenaline shot through his system and woke him up. He regained control and plummeted to the ground, trying to get away from the gargoyle. It followed and swung again, missing because he rolled into an evasive maneuver. The ground was suddenly very real. Soarin’ banked hard and pulled up. Dirt exploded upward from the monster’s landing and stinging granules pierced Soarin’s coat.

He’d run out of options. If he kept doing what he’d been doing, he’d be done for within an hour tops. If he flew away, it’d follow him directly to where the ponies he wanted to protect lived. Alone, he didn’t have the tactical intelligence or power to subdue the gargoyle. Even if he could buy enough time to build a storm, the chances it would work against an ancient powerful construct chiseled by hundreds of years of plotting were slim.

He’d created his own demise.

Soarin’ despaired. He took a breath and looked one more time at the emblem on his uniform.

The Wonderbolt turned around and put his hooves out. They were dangerous on their own, but with enough speed they could cut through a dragon’s spines like butter. He tilted in time to avoid a slashing set of claws, but it threw him off and he landed on all fours nearby. “Don’t like that, huh?” His side burned, and he realized maybe he hadn’t avoided the claws as well as he hoped.

Pass after pass Soarin’ couldn’t find a clear shot at the gargoyle. He’d come so close at one point, only to have a sharp spike graze into the fabric on his hind leg.

A stony wing moved out of the way and suddenly Soarin’ could clearly see the demon’s head. He fired forward and noticed the engraved runes right before his hooves impacted one of the two crooked horns. The moment of truth where he either broke his legs or succeeded came and went. A jagged rock pierced the dirt, severed clean off the gargoyle’s head.

Soarin’ saw the red on his hooves and to his horror found that a gargoyle could bleed. Not green, not blue, red. Rocks should not bleed. His insides twisted. This was not what he’d signed up for.

He was so very tired.

The gargoyle did nothing about its missing horn. There was no pause, no death defying roar, no thrashing around the trees it had already killed, no reaction at all. It kept going.

~ ~ ~

“Star Breeze,” Rainbow Dash said. “There’s a low tunnel we can chase it under over there. One of us can bring it through and then the other two will head it off if it splits left or right. Otherwise it’ll be forced to go up because there’s a rock in the way.”

The two contestants missing from the alliance of three wouldn’t join forces. They needed to do this on their own, they said. There could only be one winner. While Rook, Star Breeze, and Rainbow Dash wasted their time on a plan to capture the ball, the other two searched for it.

Rook indicated they needed to assign roles. “So after we find it and signal, who’s going to chase it and who’s going to wait?”

The chaser would have the best shot at grabbing the ball out of the air if it went straight and then up. If it banked left or right, the chaser’s shot at the Wonderbolts was gone.

“I’ll do it,” said Rainbow Dash.

They split up and went hunting. Soon Star Breeze’s contrail rose out of the far side of the arena. Rainbow Dash answered the call while her two partners went to take their positions at either side of the low arch from earlier.

All of Rainbow Dash’s view was filled by the sparkling ocean racing close beneath her. She could reach a hoof out and touch it; behind her the water trailed in a V with her passing. Stones rising from the sea swung back and forth and flew behind her while she coursed around them. At the center of her vision was that small shining point. It banked around a rock wall. Rainbow Dash went straight for the rugged brown crags and they grew until they were all she could see. She turned and the wall rushed off to the side, opening to the blue ocean again. Wind breezed in her ears, flowing through her mane and over her coat. Ahead the mouth of the arch gaped, with a round blue sphere headed straight for it.

Everything came down to this moment.

She gained on the prize. The shadow of the arch darkened the water and the ball sparkled brilliantly, wrapped in its magic glow while it spun forward. It didn’t disappear this time. Two more seconds and she’d have it.

They exited the tunnel and the sphere did the unexpected. It zigzagged left and right over and over, throwing their plan off. “Rook!” Rainbow Dash shouted. Victory would now go to the pony with the fastest reflexes. She pulled up at the last moment to avoid crashing into the spire in front of her. Rocks whistled by and she threw her head back, pulling into a backward loop. Upside down, through the vanishing strands of her tail, she saw her victory disappear. Rook clasped the ball between his teeth.

The alliance returned to Fleetfoot without a word.

They knew only one pony could pass the Wonder Trial when they joined wings. They also knew if they didn’t cooperate nopony would catch the ball that day.

She’d lost.

And still the world went on. In a moment she would find Twilight and together they’d face a monster more sinister than they’d ever known.

~ ~ ~

A new sound of destruction met Soarin’s ears with a crunch. An empty house on the outskirts of Ponyville flattened. He couldn’t allow this to happen. Where was everypony? He needed help. Please…

Soarin’ took yet another spine off the gargoyle and landed unsteadily again. He didn’t have enough strength to keep up flying plus constant bursts of speed. Every sweep he took a few seconds on the ground to recover. The breaks got longer and longer.

Again he took to the sky and clipped off a spine on the beast. Blood leaked from its wounds but it showed no sign of defeat. The gargoyle reared and purple, almost black, fumes poured from its mouth in clouds that obscured the sky and billowed down. Soarin’ got caught in the screen and expected to die when he couldn’t hold his breath and inhaled the toxic fumes. They had no effect.

He could barely see as he zoomed around the gargoyle, trying to lure it away from Ponyville. He kicked it and regretted the pain of striking solid stone without enough sheer force. The rocky surface heaved and he moved before a sideways curved spike could sink into his chest.

Rows of long fangs opened up the smoke in front of him. He beat his wings frantically to gain altitude and get away from the snapping jaws. Claws followed and he evaded, putting enough distance from the swing to be safe.

The world went red and his ears rang. Everything felt so far away: the absence of the strap holding his goggles in place, the earth tearing into his side, how exhausted he was. It was a direct hit. He couldn’t catch his breath.

The tail. I forgot about the tail.

When the red faded into the ground and midnight purple clouds all around, Soarin’ rallied himself to get up. Oppressive blackness crowded the edges of his vision and his legs barely stirred the sticky earth. He fought and railed against his mind, beating invisible wings against a cage that wasn’t there. He wanted to burst into tears and curse his bad timing and mistakes, but it served for nothing. Any moment he could be crushed by a mountain of immovable stone.

Then he realized that it didn’t matter. He’d fallen. He wasn’t going to get back up. Exhaustion won and around him the symphony of destruction went on, crushing and crackling. Purple smoke swirled.

He understood the most important things he ever had were his friends and family. An unbelievable sense of calm took over.

They say that when you die, your life flashes before your eyes. They were wrong. Life flashing before your eyes, heh. Isn’t that what it did when you lived it? His life was nothing but a very long flash. Now it was over.

Through the sliver of vision he had left, a blue-clad hoof touched the ground: a Wonderbolt. Soarin’s view grew a tiny bit more. No, not just one Wonderbolt. The purple miasma parted in the wake of the leader’s strides, revealing more hooves. More, and more and more. Purple and white and every color imaginable. The Elements of Harmony headed the battalion, cutting through the fog and pushing it away as if their mere presence commanded a clear path. An approaching roar announced the Wonderbolts in full force, minus two: himself and the newest member standing before him, leading an army of ponies the likes of which Equestria hadn’t seen in centuries.

Rainbow Dash.

~ ~ ~

There is no horror in this world that rivals watching the one you love die, knowing it is your fault. None.

She knew the moment she saw him he wouldn’t survive. There was too much blood. It was on her hooves, the blood. On her uniform. Pooling under the feet of the irrevocable decision to go for all of the help she could find.

If only she’d flown faster. If only she’d said no to the honor of returning to her home with her lifelong dream fulfilled, there, stuck on her body in painted blue and gold strokes. Those minutes alone could have saved him. He’d sacrificed everything to get her this far and they’d fought and she’d killed him by not turning around. Why hadn’t she said what she really wanted to say and instead let it blow up in the exact opposite direction? All of those tiny inconsequential moments, those seconds, if any of them had been different she would have made it in time to save him.

This was all her fault, and he did nothing but look at her with those eyes the same color as those feathering apples in those great big damned pies he loved so much. He did not speak. What was there left to say? ‘Sorry I died while you were out?’

Soarin’ looked into her eyes until he was looking beyond them. He’d lived to see her dream come true. That was enough, and his eyes closed.

Rainbow Dash lowered her neck and pressed her muzzle into the navy fabric covering the side of Soarin’s face and smelled the freedom of the skies.

She snapped.

Somewhere far away Spitfire broke formation and exchanged quick words with Twilight. Fluttershy rushed medical ponies onto the scene. Nopony looked at her because it wasn’t real, she wasn’t really there, it was a nightmare. She stared at the blood soaked earth and didn’t realize she was screaming in rage until a hoof touched her shoulder. Her silence revealed the din of stone crushing wood and bone.

“Rainbow Dash,” Fleetfoot said. “Join your friends.” She removed her hoof and launched into the destructive gale.

For once in her life Rainbow Dash did what she was told. Her mind was full of cold steel and knives.

For a long time she stood there. She stood there while unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies carried away chunks of broken rock now faded to the color of a tombstone. She stood and ponies with healing cutie marks moved past her like a stream flows around a boulder. Friends helped comrades limp away. She stood until there was nothing left, until she was staring at an empty patch of broken ground in the blackened and bloodied clearing.

The last pony standing should have been the first one there.

After there was no more to be done and everypony else left, the five she counted on most remained behind. “You didn’t know he would stay and fight,” Fluttershy said, resting her head on the crown of Rainbow Dash’s mane and embracing the lost pegasus with a wing. Applejack removed her hat and did not speak.

Rainbow Dash’s voice was dull. “I should’ve known. If we hadn’t fought, if I hadn’t said what I did.” Once spoken, words couldn’t be taken back.

None of the friends knew what to say, so they hugged the pegasus who’d died inside. “It’s not your fault darling,” whispered Rarity, “and we’re here for you.”

The comfort of all those warm, caring ponies wrapped around her was too much. It was too much knowing the one pony she so desperately wanted to be held and comforted and forgiven by never would. She would never know Soarin’s love.

Rainbow Dash took a steadying breath and parted from her friends. “Thank you guys. If you need me, I’ll be around.” Five sets of eyes watched her fly away.

That night, even after ponies had fallen asleep to the sound of soft rain outside, Equestria’s skies continued to cry.

19 - Diamonds are forever

The afterlife looked an awful lot like a hospital.

Oh.

As doctors always seem to do, this one showed up right after Soarin’ opened his eyes. The caramel colored unicorn was the same as Soarin’ remembered, except his mouth was drawn in a thin line – the kind of face you’d expect of someone under a lot of pressure.

Soarin’ sat up, feeling rested for the first time since he could remember. Immediately questions poured from his mouth. What happened? Was the gargoyle still on the lose? Where were the others? Was everypony okay? Was Rainbow Dash okay?

“I can tell from here that you’re feeling better. Thankfully no pony has a life threatening injury, but I have a lot of other patients to see. I think your friend can fill you in on the details.” Rapidfire happened to be sitting in a chair to the right of Soarin’s bed. A book was propped underneath his hoof.

The doctor continued, “Don’t even think about leaving that bed. You’d pushed yourself into a state of extreme exhaustion when Nurse Redheart brought you here.” He stepped out of the room and a nurse, this one a long-legged blue stallion, took his place.

Soarin’ expected to hear the bad news about his injuries after the nurse finished wheeling a cart with a tray of food to his bedside. Instead the pony in charge told him to eat everything on the plate and looked him over. “Your wounds aren’t deep, but this one might scar.” The nurse held Soarin’s left wing out and he noticed gauze covering the sensitive area where it was attached to his body. It wouldn’t be the only scar he had, but unless a pony went perusing through his coat it was hard to tell.

The nurse went about changing Soarin’s bandages. “You should have seen the stir you caused earlier. Do you know how difficult it is to wash an unconscious pony? It took several of the nurses to get the job done. At first we were panicked thinking all of the blood was yours, but after we saw how shallow your wounds were and Nurse Redheart realized you were just sleeping, they hoisted you over to the showers and gave you quite the scrubbing. You didn’t even flip an ear. The phrase ‘sleep like the dead’ comes to mind.”

He replaced Soarin’s last bandage and turned serious. “You need to rest. One of the other nurses says you’re physically and emotionally exhausted. Your worst injuries are on the inside, here.” The stallion tapped his own chest to demonstrate. “I’ve got good reasons to trust that judgement. It’s something to think about.” The nurse told Soarin’ he’d check on him from time to time, but the main reason they were keeping him in the hospital was because the doctor didn’t trust pegasi (especially Wonderbolts) to rest unless they were forced to. If anypony needed it, Soarin’ did.

Now that he knew he wasn’t dead or dying, Soarin’ slid under the covers and rolled onto his side to talk with Rapidfire. “So Rainbow Dash is a Wonderbolt now,” he said.

“Yes. There wasn’t time to officially induct her, obviously, but she is a Wonderbolt.”

“Where is she?”

Rapidfire hesitated. “She, ah. She thinks you’re dead.”

Soarin’ was speechless.

“You had us fooled for a while too, until Spitfire went looking for you after the battle and learned the Ponyville medical team hospitalized you. Fleetfoot demanded to know why Rainbow Dash hadn’t been told about this. The doctor said not to let her in here until you woke up because she’d cause a big racket, disturb everypony in the hospital, and interrupt the sleep you desperately needed. Can’t imagine why he said that,” Rapidfire deadpanned.

“We reached the conclusion that the only way to keep Rainbow Dash out was to not tell her. That pony is unstoppable.” Rapidfire shook his head. “To top it off, we can’t figure out where she is.”

Soarin’s eyes were green ice. “Rapidfire, if you don’t bring Rainbow Dash here within the next three hours, so help me Celestia I will get out of this bed and find her myself.”

Rapidfire cracked a best friend grin and did better than that. An hour later, Rainbow Dash showed an amazing respect for hospital property by not breaking the window to Soarin’s room. He heard a door slam on the first floor, ponies in the waiting room and along the hallways gasping and exclaiming phrases that included the word Wonderbolt, something that sounded like a wheeled cart spinning from the force of wind that caught it, and finally the windows on his floor rattling one by one until they reached his room. The door banged open. In flew Rainbow Dash, still wearing her tattered blue and gold suit. The curtains separating Soarin’ from the other patients stirred in her trail.

“You idiot, I thought I’d lost you.”

Rainbow Dash was going to be just fine.

“Shh, Dash, keep your voice down. This is a hospital. I don’t know how badly injured the ponies in this room are.”

“Not as bad as you’re going to be when I’m finished with you,” she said, but the words didn’t have an edge. She let her feet touch the floor and draped her neck over him. Never had Soarin’ thought Rainbow Dash was capable of something as gentle and caring as that simple gesture, but there it was.

“How did you survive?” she whispered without moving. “There was so much blood, and I saw…” He felt the muscles in her neck tense. “Is it really you?”

“Thunderbow, it’s really me,” he said. She relaxed. “I didn’t think I would live, but the blood wasn’t mine after all. I passed out from pushing way past my limit.”

Rainbow Dash sighed into his blanket and stayed with him. Soarin’ regained the piece of himself that went missing after they fought. “I thought you’d left me,” he breathed.

Loyalty lifted her head. “That’s what you thought after all that jazz about the Elements of Harmony?” Her eyes sparkled with certainty. “I’d never abandon my friends, let alone you.”

She was completely irresistible in that moment and also completely unsuspecting. Soarin’ stole a kiss on her cheek. He cursed the design of the Wonderbolt flight suit after. “I’ve been meaning to do that for a long time.” He would’ve done more, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to control himself.

Rainbow Dash gave him a devilish Dash look to die for. “So that’s how it is, huh?” She leaned in close and whispered into his ear so only they would hear. “I can definitely top that, but I’m not the one who got myself stuck in a hospital bed, now, am I?”

He was determined to make this the speediest recovery Ponyville Hospital had ever known.

The rainbow Wonderbolt pulled up the chair by the window and took a seat at his bedside. Her tone changed to conversational. “What are you gonna do now that they’ve probably said to stay here ‘a few days minimum.’” She quoted the air with her hooves.

“Oh I’m not planning to stay here that long,” he said, finally taking an interest in the food on the tray. It looked awful and at the same time like a gourmet meal. This was the unfortunate side effect of not eating all day. “If you don’t mind staying with me for a while, I want to hear your story, about Nightmare Moon and Discord, and the battle I slept through, and how you became a Wonderbolt. Nopony’s told me about the Wonder Trial yet.” He hauled the food tray onto his bed and snapped up the jello. It was amazing.

Rainbow Dash sat back and started with the gargoyle. Soarin’ was amazed that one unicorn managed to teleport herself, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash directly from the Summer Sun Celebration to the outskirts of Ponyville. There the trio found Applejack rallying ponies willing to make a stand while Fluttershy helped evacuate the others. One cloud of smoke later, Pinkie Pie appeared alongside a pony called Trixie, who complained, “Why did I get stuck with you?”

“Because I was all by myself Trixie dixie! Who else was going to come get me?”

Everypony was ready to go by the time the foreboding purple miasma enveloped Ponyville. They arrived on the scene right as the Wonderbolts made it. That was when Rainbow Dash found him.

She paused. “Soarin’, I… I rarely lose my cool, but after that I completely lost it. Let’s not do this ever again.”

He reached out and grasped her hoof. “You’re a Wonderbolt now. You know neither of us can make a promise like that. But if you ask me, we’re due for at least a year of peace in Equestria after all this.”

“At least,” Rainbow Dash emphasized. His hoof stayed in hers. “And I plan to use it. All this battling stuff is messing up my practice time.”

She told him how Twilight said her powers wouldn’t work on the gargoyle and tested a magic beam to be sure. It reflected off the gargoyle’s surface straight back at them. Twilight’s magic shield blocked the rebound.

Pinkie Pie took the stage again. All the big rock needed was a big sheet of paper. Trixie surprised herself by conjuring an enormous sheet of paper that draped over the gargoyle. The paper got wrinkled before it popped and disappeared.

“Huh, usually that works,” Pinkie Pie said.

Meanwhile the Wonderbolts noticed the wounds Soarin’ inflicted. They started shearing off the most dangerous bits of the gargoyle one by one. The battle tipped in their favor. Twilight helped calculate Rainbow Dash’s targets and the Wonderbolt swept off the gargoyle’s second horn. She couldn’t get a bead on the tail, though, so only pegasi could go within range without expecting to get hit.

Rainbow Dash told Soarin’ how she saw High Winds get taken down by the tail. Ponyville residents organized by Twilight rescued her from the battle and took her to the medical team on wait.

After Rainbow Dash said this it suddenly hit her how many ponies got injured. Soarin’ had to reassure her that the doctor said no patients were on the verge of death. She went to check on the others anyway. He felt himself drifting off in her absence.

When she returned she described how the tail was in her way one moment and gone the next. Vines pulled it to the ground. A herd of earth ponies cheered and Applejack threw her hat into the air. “That’ll teach ya ta mess with us.”

The Wonderbolts clipped the tail for good measure and punched holes in the gargoyle’s wings. Rainbow Dash lost track of time. It seemed like there were new spikes in places she’d passed over before, but it didn’t matter to her. All that was left was cold calculation of what part to take off next. Finally Twilight called her back. The gargoyle was regenerating.

She noticed all of the ponies wearing the most beautiful bandages ever seen in Equestria. Rarity conjured fabric out of thin air and wrapped up beaten legs and wings with help from healing ponies. “Dressing” a wound took on a whole new meaning.

A cracking noise split the air and the gargoyle’s tail came free. It swept aside some of the ponies trying to rope the monster’s legs. Humming chains of dark electricity were all that kept the tail attached to the body. Blood flew everywhere. They lost Lightning Streak, Wave Chill, and Blaze. Ponyville went to work saving the lives of fallen comrades and taking the injured far from the action.

They were going to lose. Twilight couldn’t think of what to do next. The unicorn who always knew what to do cried out that this ancient magic catastrophe was all her fault. They were going to lose, and Rainbow Dash didn’t care. She stopped checking in on Twilight and resorted to pure instinct, tearing apart the gargoyle with the remaining Wonderbolts. Claws slashed by her face. The razor rock blades froze, completely motionless.

Princess Luna’s glowing eyes were impossible to miss in the dark skies clouded with her own presence and that of the gargoyle’s smoke. Her horn was plunged directly into its forehead. Energy lit up the runes all over the stone terror’s body and drew itself into the Princess while two night guards ushered ponies away from the terrible, awe-inducing spectacle. When the Dark Alicorn withdrew her horn like a sword from the stone, all the darkness in the gargoyle vanished and it crumbled in an avalanche over the places ponies had been standing.

~~~

“Rapidfire found me in the Everfree Forest by the place we got lost before, the one with the bridge by the castle ruins. Remember?”

Soarin’ didn’t answer; he was sleeping peacefully. “Guess I’ll save the Wonder Trial for tomorrow. Looks like you need a nap.” She flicked his nose with one of her feathers. He rumpled his muzzle and rolled over. Somehow Soarin’ had escaped with only flesh wounds. “Triumph in the face of adversity. If it’d been me, I would have at least broken a wing.”

Hoofsteps through the doorway announced Spitfire and Rapidfire. “Hey Rainbow Dash,” Spiftire said. “Sorry it took so long for us to get back to you. We had to check on the others first. How’s he doing?”

“He fell asleep. I guess the nurses wouldn’t be too happy if I drew on him again.”

Rapidfire shook his head. “Soarin’ does not know when to quit. He went through a lot to stay in form and train you every week.”

Spitfire eased the party of three towards the window where they could talk without disturbing the other patients. “That’s what we’re really here for. Rapids and I are supposed to show you the ropes and get you settled in. Normally we’d induct you first, but because half the team’s in the hospital right now we’ll wait. So first thing’s first, I’ll let you know you have a suite at headquarters now. You don’t have to live on base – a couple of us don’t – but I suggest sticking around for the first few weeks. The practice schedule is hell to get used to.”

Rapidfire nodded once. “I am able to show you around headquarters now if you are willing.”

Rainbow Dash looked from her new teammates to Soarin’ and thought about it. “I need a week to wrap up at the weather patrol. How about the day after tomorrow I’ll move some of my things into the base and you can show me my room.” If Spitfire said getting used to the Wonderbolt routine was intense, then it was intense.

They made plans for either Spitfire or Rapidfire to meet Rainbow Dash at Wonderbolt HQ in two days.

In one week she’d begin her new life as a Wonderbolt. Training would start with observation of daily practice alongside coaching from Spitfire and Rapidfire on the team’s flight patterns. After that she would get on the practice field for real. Pretty soon she’d be soaring through her first air show, racing her first derby, getting dispatched on her first mission… Pinkie Pie would probably want to hold a party before she left.

Everything was happening very fast. For a pony with little patience and a lot of speed, it felt good.

Rainbow Dash remembered a critically important question she had to ask. “Uh, Spitfire, one more thing.”

“Yeah?”

“Can I have a winged lightning bolt on my next uniform? It’s way cooler.”

~~~

In the morning Soarin’s nurse told him if he kept recovering at this rate, they’d discharge him from the hospital tomorrow. The nurse asked what his secret was, to which Soarin replied that there were some things worth not waiting for. Also, it was very boring to lay in bed all day waiting for your friends to visit you.

Fortunately he had Rainbow Dash’s adventure stories to pass the time.

“Hey Dash, you ever thought of writing these down?”

“No way! I’m not some egghead like Twilight. Besides, I’m too busy to sit around and scribble, and the last time I had a ghostwriter he kept messing up what I was saying.”

Soarin’ laughed. “Better get used to that. I know you’ve had some experience with the press.”

“Ugh. Don’t remind me. Anyway, did anypony tell you about the Wonder Trial when I was away?”

Soarin’ said no and Rainbow Dash launched into a tale of near misses with sea cliffs and meeting the other potential Wonderbolts. He knew when she told him about pulling together two of the other competitors to take on an enchanted bouncy ball together that she had listened to his lessons after all.

It sounded like his friends designed a test to push against the one thing they were most concerned with: finding a Wonderbolt who knew life wasn’t only about them all the time. Somepony who could deal with unexpected situations, who was resilient and wouldn’t give up, who knew what camaraderie was. He’d known this pony was Rainbow Dash for a while now. In Equestria there were many pegasi with superb flight skills and unique techniques. Only a few possessed that and, how should he say it, spirit. A dash of loyalty.

After all, Rainbow Dash stated, Fleetfoot never said you had to catch the ball to win.

~~~

Pinkie Pie would have thrown a party even if every royal pony in Equestria asked her not to.

Rainbow Dash kept pushing her friends off of her. “Aw come on guys, I’m like, two hours away. And that’s on a slow day. You know I only have two speeds, and slow isn’t one of them.”

“Of course,” Rarity said. “I’m just quite surprised. To think that you would move to Canterlot before I opened up another boutique there.”

“I’m not getting rid of my house. Hay, I’ll probably be around here on weekends and if we’ve got a performance near Ponyville.”

Fluttershy sipped her punch, not noticing that the hole in the glass caused it all to dribble onto the floor and none of it made it to her mouth. “Was it really that easy to pass the Wonder Trial?”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “My entire life’s worth of training. Yeah, easy.”

Twilight took the opportunity to spout some sage wisdom Princess Celestia would like to hear, something about the test not being the important part but instead the journey to get there. A single test wasn’t a good way to evaluate a lifetime of training, skill, and talent. Might as well give a pony a single parchment and tell them to paint a life-size picture of the sky.

Every pony in town wanted to meet the newest Wonderbolt. Rainbow Dash signed pictures and posters so fast she almost scorched them. Scootaloo nearly had a fan seizure and she had to prop the little pegasus back up. Word was the orange filly was able to fly now. Rainbow Dash wondered if some day she would be a Wonderbolt too, or if her talent and dreams lay elsewhere. Scootaloo still had to find her cutie mark after all.

Later Fluttershy helped Rainbow Dash pack her favorite belongings into an airborne cart. Her friend put Tank’s food dishes on top of the stack of entertainment equipment. “Will he be okay? Is there enough to eat there and space to run around in?”

Tank took his time lifting up a foot while Rainbow Dash spoke. “They have gardens around headquarters. I think he’ll like it. The staff will probably spoil him too, if the team doesn’t. It takes a special kind of pet to keep up with a Wonderbolt.” Rainbow Dash winked and knocked hooves with Tank. He was the last to get into the cart.

Fluttershy looked down. “So. Um. I guess this is goodbye.”

“Oh come on Fluttershy, goodbye for a few hours maybe. I’m still on weather patrol for the next few days. After that it’ll be a lot less sunny around here.”

The fluttering shy pony didn’t take the bait and kept being quiet. Rainbow Dash huffed and gave her a hug. “You know I’ll always be near. It’s me you’re talking about, remember? There isn’t any place in Equestria that is far away for me. I’ll tell you about all the different animals I see when I travel for performances.”

“Okay.” Fluttershy brightened up. This was how Fluttershy should be. Now Rainbow Dash could go get that tour of headquarters and pretend like she hadn’t set foot there before.

The Wonderbolts base was as she remembered it, situated in the mountains off of Canterlot where visitors were not likely to travel on foot. Her second home was majestic cloud architecture rising out of green gardens and all the fresh air a pegasus could ever want.

There were a few ponies who helped keep the compound clean and the gardens growing. During the tour Rainbow Dash noticed plush cloud shoes on an earth pony watering a rose bush. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen the shoes here.

“Hey Rapidfire, what are those anyway?” Rainbow Dash asked now that she had the chance.

“Cloud slippers. If ponies can’t enchant their own feet the slippers let them walk off the cloud marble without trouble. The magic wears off, but it’s easy for a unicorn to recharge. If it were not necessary to fly to reach clouds in the first place, the invention would be more popular.” The Wonderbolt base was a cloud merged with the ground, so ponies could walk up to it if they had the magic to do so.

By the time they reached the practice field they had a small cohort of followers. Every one of the Wonderbolts there wanted to tell her something special about this room and that photo and the unfixed crack in the wall over there.

Rapidfire ignored his chatty friends. “Starting Monday expect to meet me here 0830 hours sharp. Practice starts at 0900, but when you come early I can explain how training works. You’ll get one hour to observe and then Spitfire will take you out for basic training. When you’re ready the three of us will practice together, and then you’ll join regular flight training. There are other training components, of course, including combat practice, free flight, and magic study.”

Rainbow Dash groaned inwardly at the thought of studying magic like Twilight.

“Performance planning, talent scouting, public face-time, requests from Canterlot – it’s all a part of life around here. There’s a lot to take in. I wrote out a schedule for you and left it on the table in your room.”

The stallion allowed himself a smile. “Try not to get too overwhelmed. If you’re feeling stressed you can ask any of us how we survived our first few weeks.” A chorus of agreement followed Rapidfire’s remark.

Rainbow Dash was aware that Soarin’ joined their little herd. Rapidfire led them across the field and under an archway and turned left into another hall. This was the first time she’d seen this part of HQ. Pony portraits covered one side of the hallway, each lined up square with the next row after row after row. The opposite side of the hallway only had a few images, one for each of the current Wonderbolts. She wasn’t there yet.

“Welcome to the hall of fame,” Rapidfire said. “In our case, the current team scoreboard. You’ll learn how it works as you go. The rules are always changing.”

This was the point in the tour where everypony in back stopped listening and started their own conversation. The group following Rainbow Dash and Rapidfire had become very lively. Soarin’ pushed past Surprise and Wave Chill. “What Rapidfire means to say,” Soarin’ said, sweeping Rainbow Dash away from her mentor with his wing and pulling her along with him. “Is that there is a first place and a last place. First is right here.” He stopped at the end of the current team portraits.

Of everypony there, Soarin’ had first place.

Lightning Streak hollered over Blaze’s head. “Oh yeah right Soarin’, oi think she’s callin yer bluff mate.”

Soarin’ stamped his hoof. “Darn it Lightning Streak. Thanks a lot.”

Correction: Soarin’ was in last place. She raised an eyebrow and he shrugged. He really had pushed himself too hard to train her, hadn’t he?

“Ahem,” Rapidfire picked up where he’d been interrupted. “That concludes the tour for now. I’ll leave the rest of it for you to explore yourself. Tomorrow evening we’ll do the official welcome ceremony and survive the mess of introducing you to Equestria. Other than that you have no duties until next week.”

Spitfire brought a picture of Rainbow Dash to the wall and hung it on a new peg next to Soarin’s. All Wonderbolts present stamped their hooves and cheered. Surprise elbowed Soarin’. “How’s it feel to not be last anymore?”

“Ah shut it Surprise,” Soarin’ bumped her back playfully. “The first thing Rainbow Dash is gonna have to do is get past me, so it’ll be like this for a while.”

Rainbow Dash knew a challenge when she heard one. “You’re on Soarin’.”

They showered her with diamonds.

It felt… actually, it hurt! What was she thinking when she looked forward to this? “Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.” She cringed while the brilliant gems pelted her from above, bouncing off her soft pelt and musically clattering on the floor.

After the traditional Wonderbolt induction ceremony was over, strangers came up to her and congratulated her. They wanted to know more about her, where she was from, if she could fly past lightning, if she was the pony at the Grand Galloping Gala, if she was the pegasus who did the Sonic Rainboom. She loved hearing from her fans. Her pride swelled until she could barely stay on her feet to shake hooves and sign photos. Camera flashes peppered the evening and reflected off the gold on her Wonderbolt gear. Reporters pulled her to the side for interviews. Throngs of ponies followed her every move but parted before her when she crossed the room. It was like walking down an infinite red carpet.

Rarity basked in the camera light and Fluttershy shied away, but all of her friends came to support her. It was hard to talk to them when she was constantly being corralled into photo shoots. Now she knew how Soarin’ and Spitfire must have felt at the Grand Galloping Gala when she tried to get their attention. “Sorry!” she shouted to Applejack, feeling bad that again somepony grabbed her and pulled her away mid-conversation. Hopefully her strong-willed friend could forgive her.

The reception went on and on and on into the night.

Rainbow Dash threw herself onto her bed. “Soarin’ that was the worst thing ever.”

He stood at the bedside and laughed. “I warned you a long time ago, but you didn’t believe me.”

“I like attention, but it was way too much. I have no idea how many times I repeated the same thing. I should’ve shoved all the media into one room and talked to them all at once. Get it done and get on with the party. I think I’m losing my voice.” It felt gritty now and was going to be raw in the morning for sure. “Ugh.” Her wings collapsed next to her.

“You’ll get used to it.”

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and found Soarin’ looking into them. She couldn’t read his expression. Suddenly she didn’t feel so tired anymore.

“Dash, I want to show you something.” The stallion stepped back and waited to see if she would follow. She drew herself out of the comfortable bed.

He took her down the hallway in the dead of the summer night. Soft light glowed from sconces along the ceiling, guiding their path. The hall ended and Soarin’ turned, bringing them along the outer corridor open to the world. Luna’s moon and stars were the only lights outside. A grand garden basked in the blue-white glow, but Soarin’ didn’t lead her onto the garden path. They came to a door and he paused to open it.

She’d noticed this room before from the other side. An open doorway across the room connected to one of the halls. The main feature of the space was a large round table in the center. On one wall was a map of the entire world. A select few coats of arms and decorations hung on the other walls.

Soarin’ brought her in front of the decorations. Each was different. The one that caught her eye was a flat golden wreath of wings from pegasi, griffins, dragons, and other flight-gifted races. Soarin’ tipped his head to the strange artwork. “These are trophies from a global flight competition that happens every four years. The Wonderbolts haven’t competed in a while and I’ve never seen it myself. Equestria hasn’t won in a long time.”

She looked from one award to the next and stopped at the empty space where the next one would go. “Hadn’t. Hadn’t won.”

She meant what she’d just said. They were going to win. Already the possibilities were beginning to unfold in her mind.

Soarin’ turned around and their eyes locked. He was standing right in front of her. All she had to do was reach. His voice was soft because they were so close. “Remember what I told you that day we raced to the top of the Canterlot mountains? When you were worried there wouldn’t be anything to strive for after you became a Wonderbolt?”

“Yeah. ’There’s always more.’” For some reason the phrase stuck in her mind. She searched the green depths of his eyes and saw the same desire she had at the dance, only this time there was nothing to hold them back.

The space separating them grew smaller and smaller. Soarin’ whispered, “So I had this crazy idea.”

“Win against the best fliers the world,” she finished. The two Wonderbolts closed their eyes.

“That, and…” Soarin’s barely audible words brushed her lips. “…us.”

Just

~~~

do it.

Both pegasi leaned forward, meeting each other gently in the middle.

It was their first kiss, it wasn’t going to be their best kiss, and it certainly wouldn’t be their last kiss, so who gives a flying feather what it felt like?

Which was, in a word, awesome. Because if you took a word and turned it into a pony, that word would be awesome and the pony would be Rainbow Dash and he was kissing her.

All around Equestria there was a collective sigh as a sudden epiphany struck two sets of fans. Each sensed that the pony they pined for was taken, that their unrealistic fantasy was exactly that. Then, as if the fog lifted from their thoughts, they realized they did indeed love somepony, somepony who’d been under their noses the whole time, somepony who was waiting to be noticed.

It was that kind of kiss. That kiss, and the kiss after that, and the kiss after that. Warmth filled Soarin’s body from his hooves to his heart. Her face felt so soft against his own. He wanted it closer; she had to be closer. When he reached for her, her wingtips were already there stretching to wrap around him. Smooth feathers slid between his and their wings twined together. Sweet kisses started to turn fiery and passionate.

Rainbow Dash pushed him into the wall and he mmm’ed his surprise.

“Shh! Someone’s coming,” she whispered with laughter in her voice.

Soarin’ voiced a silent “oh” and broke his cloud magic. He sank into the wall. There was only so much cloud between the open room and the solid inner part he couldn’t go through. Rainbow Dash tried to hide herself next to him. The best she could do was pull her flashy mane and tail inside and flip her wings straight up. Hopefully nopony was going to do a close inspection of the room and notice the strange pony-shaped lumps in the wall. Now they’d really look suspicious if caught.

Hoofsteps approached the garden side door he’d left open. More than one pony, it sounded like. Soarin’ recognized Surprise’s voice. “Wave Chill is busy looking behind in the middle of the flight pattern. One second he’s talking to Lightning Streak and the next he has an angry gull flapping around in his mane. So he’s racing around like a punch drunk pegasus with this bird in his hair while we avoid the rest of the flock. Finally the gull gets free and Wave Chill apologizes, but it just slaps him upside the head and caws.”

The two ponies in the wall waited until the hoofsteps were gone.

Rainbow Dash tried to choke back a snicker, but it was useless. They ended up falling over each other in a fit of merriment. Any passerby would definitely notice the two laughing bundles of feathers tangled together on the floor.

When they stopped Soarin’ was sprawled on his stomach with Rainbow Dash draped over his back. She was warm like a heavy blanket. He would’ve loved to fall asleep then and there like that, but she got up.

“C’mon Soarin’, we better get some sleep.”

They went to his room on the other side of the circle first. Despite the long day, the Wonderbolts were still out and about. They passed Blaze in the hallway, probably on her way for a late night snack in the kitchen. Wave Chill was engrossed in the glowing TV screen in the common area. Surprise and High Winds were on a night flight in the practice field.

Rainbow Dash wished him goodnight in front of his door. She kissed him again. It was all he could do not to kick the door behind him open with a back hoof and coax her inside. This was probably the last time he’d have her to himself before Spitfire and Rapidfire redirected all of her time and energy into basic training.

Even though he went to bed alone, Soarin’ was very, very happy.

20 - To anyone who ever told you, "In your dreams."

She spent two weeks underwater before she was able to come up for air, gasping. That's what it felt like.

First off, she thought she knew everything about the Wonderbolts, but now it felt as if they knew more about her than she did them. Curse Soarin' and his big mouth. Every one of her new teammates had different quirks and stories – just like it was with Twilight and the others.

Second, the training.

On the first morning of practice Rapidfire gave her the drilldown on how field meetups went. All available Wonderbolts practiced together at least twice each week. There were separate flight sessions for upcoming performances, which included all of the team members who would be flying in that performance. The precise coordination required meant substituting out a pony for another was virtually impossible. In an actual air show where they did more than a flyby, if one of the Wonderbolts in the routine got sick or put out of commission, they had to do the show with a gap in the formation or cancel it. It was critical to stay in good health and attend every training session when you were on a performance rotation.

There was a practice schedule for the week on a board by the west entrance to the field. With the Wonder Trial out of the way, almost every Wonderbolt was preparing for one air show or another. Spitfire and Rapidfire were the exceptions so they could get her up to speed for her first show at the end of fall. Rainbow Dash had to put in over a hundred hours of training to be ready, let alone all the hours with the fall team.

She watched the other ‘Bolts from the edge of the field. Even though Soarin’ said there was no official Wonderbolt captain, Fleetfoot was definitely in charge of group practice. She told the team what the formations for the day would be and made sure everypony was in place before they started with warm-ups.

Rainbow Dash got a full hour of her own personal air show when the whole team took flight. It was a rare treat to see every Wonderbolt out at once. First they formed a single file line of blue gold in the sky. When everypony was in the air, the leader broke the tip of the line by gaining enough altitude to be able to slow down and be above the second pegasus. The entire line folded up on itself like that and the team realigned into a vertical stack.

Every odd Wonderbolt accelerated out of the main column, creating two groups of ponies. Eventually both stacks faced off and raced at each other, leaving stormy smoke trails in their wake. Each half of the team scissored through the gaps in the other and a flag of gray cloud lines remained. More sweeps sliced the lines into a smoke and sky checkerboard.

Rainbow Dash crammed as many of the flight patterns as she could into her head. She’d seen them before, but she hadn’t had enough ponies to practice with to actually try them.

A rush of fire orange split off from the team. “Hey Rainbow Dash.” Spitfire hovered nearby. “Ready to fly?”

“You bet I am!”

Soarin’ hollered at them. "Good luck with that Spitfire! She already knows most of the basics."

"Maybe the way you do, Soarin', but not the way I know them."

Oh boy.

Five minutes later Spitfire had her racing around a mountain peak. Her mentor shouted, “Come on Rainbow Dash, wings out, legs straight. Circles are circular! Maybe they told you in flight school it’s impossible to make a perfect circle, but you’re a cut above that. We’re staying here until I see one.”

Perfect circle. After Rainbow Dash flew a flawless circle, Spitfire took her out over the mountains. The flamed Wonderbolt stayed within a wingspan at all times, but thanks to Soarin’s lessons Rainbow Dash took it in stride. Spitfire flew her through flybys and Wonderworks, V formations and line patterns. It became more difficult with Rapidfire on the second week of training. She was boxed in on two sides, so she had to be aware of what she was doing and how close her flight partners were.

Over early morning breakfasts Rapidfire taught her the rules of Wonderbolt smoke and the different specialties of every pony on the team. He showed her the world map and told her about the lands outside Equestria. Twice Rapidfire talked strategy over a game of Battlecloud. He outsmarted her both times.

Magic study only ever happened in the evening, giving her barely enough time to make up whatever she could for dinner before rushing over to the other end of HQ. This was one training she did not want to be late to.

The first time she went she thought she’d gotten lost because the room on Rapidfire’s schedule was empty, save the door to the garden on one end and the door to the hallway on the other. She went inside to be sure.

A flash of silver light announced a unicorn that Rainbow Dash could describe in a word as severe. The unicorn’s silver mane pulled back into a no-nonsense bun. Two silvery black things that looked like chopsticks stuck through the bun in an X. Her tail was straight, slick, and practical. Not even Rainbow Dash was going to mess with this mare aged by time and experience, at least not until she got a better sense for the situation.

"Please have a seat."

Rainbow Dash double checked to be sure. Nope, the room was still empty. There weren’t any chairs.

"Right there is fine."

She sat down and a cushion was under her. She almost jumped up in surprise at that, and then at the fact a whole library was popping into existence. Years of expertise in remaining cool at all times kept her in her seat.

The unicorn ignored the wrought iron coffee table that appeared next to her. “Good evening Rainbow Dash. I shall be your private instructor in the art of magic over the coming weeks. When I deem you are ready to join the rest of the Wonderbolts, you will attend regular sessions with one of my students. You may call me Magic.”

“Magic?” she repeated skeptically. It was a weird name.

“Magick.” The unicorn snapped the ‘k’ at the end.

Nope, she definitely was not going to mess with this pony. She reminded herself she was learning this for the Wonderbolts. The reminder allowed her to listen for a few minutes before she zoned out. Her wings felt weird from flying in circles so long.

Quick as lightning a chopstick shot from Magick’s mane and snapped Rainbow Dash right across the muzzle. She jerked to full attention. The lash stung and gave her the energy of espresso straight to the bloodstream.

“On your feet please.”

She wasn’t allowed to sit for the rest of the thirty minute lesson, but she had no trouble staying awake. This included when she went to bed afterwards and tried to fall asleep.

As for combat practice, she was glad somepony was finally putting her up to the task. You’d think after facing Equestria’s worst foes Princess Celestia would give the Elements of Harmony some battle skills. Fluttershy could definitely use them. Even though teaching the Element of Kindness about fighting was a lost cause, it would still be fun to watch.

Rapidfire slotted her for combat practice with Lightning Streak and wished her luck.

The training room had targets for accuracy, practice dummies for power, and an obstacle course for reflexes. It was a bit curious that all the gear was suited for ground combat. Aerial sparring must happen somewhere else.

Rainbow Dash was in the mood to pick a fight after being overworked by Spitfire and Rapidfire, and it just so happened that Lightning Streak stood dead center in front of one of the targets. She pawed the ground and readied a charge. “Alright Lightning Streak, let’s do this.”

“Whoa there Rainbow Dash, we have to wait.”

“What for? Aren’t you gonna show me how to fight?”

“Me?” Lightning Streak laughed nervously. “You’ve got the wrong pony.”

Surprise stepped into the room. “What’s this, you two battling without me?”

The white Wonderbolt told Rainbow Dash to charge her instead.

All of that jousting practice was for naught. Rainbow Dash ended up on her back with a great view of the ceiling and not a clue about what just happened.

Surprise helped her up. “I’ll take a flying guess that you didn’t beat Discord down by hoof. Don’t worry, by the time I’m done with you, you’ll be able to smash an entire room of changelings with only one hoof.”

Nopony knew the specifics of their embarrassing defeat at Canterlot Tower. Now Rainbow Dash wasn’t so sure.

Surprise didn’t skip a beat. “Strength isn’t a problem for you. Let’s start with the obstacle course to work on your reaction time.”

Rainbow Dash was lucky to even have a hoof left to beat changelings with after combat training days. She threw herself into bed with aching wings, sore legs, tender spots she tried not to let touch anything, and a headache if she got whacked by Magick’s chopsticks. She was so exhausted it was hard to get to sleep.

Some nights she’d get a knock on her door from Soarin’. “Hey Dash, I came to say goodnight.”

She considered this offer. His visits were right after magic class, so she’d had her fill of words. “How about a kiss goodnight instead?”

“Mmm, that sounds interesting. Did you have a certain pony in mind?”

“Come closer and I’ll tell you who it is.”

He came closer, but she didn’t tell him anything – at least not with words she didn’t.

Soarin’ never stayed more than a few minutes to check in. Having gone through basic training himself, he knew she needed to rest. Rainbow Dash was thankful for this because it was really easy to get caught up in adventures with him around.

Every morning the training wheel of death started all over again.

She meant to go visit her friends during the weekend and found she didn’t have the energy to leave the base, much less her own bed. Rapidfire stopped by to make sure she was okay when the sun reached noonhigh and still nopony had seen her face. She told him she was still sleeping it off and he went on his way.

Her second visitor that afternoon was Surprise. “Hey Rainbow Dash, if you open this door I’ll give you these delicious cookies.”

It worked. Now that she had some free time she was starting to miss some of the things back in Ponyville, like Rarity’s fashion freak outs and Pinkie Pie’s random desserts. A whole week of peace and quiet – such a thing was a rare find at home, especially with some of Twilight’s crazy experiments on the loose. Ponyville: Home of the Flying Orange.

The cookies were so fresh the chocolate chips were still sweet and melty when she bit into one.

Surprise put the plate on a table inside the room. “Great! Now that you’re awake, let’s go do something fun. A good laugh is the best kind of medicine for just about anything. Wave Chill and I are going to an art gallery in Canterlot. Do you want to come?”

The short flight might help push off some of the stiffness. “Sure. Why not?”

“Hmm.” Rainbow Dash stood before the a painting and tipped her head left and right. No matter which angle she looked at it, the picture was still a huge shot of somepony’s posterior. “I don’t get it.”

Wave Chill laughed. “It’s art. It’s not supposed to make sense.”

Surprise threw a hoof up at the butt painting. “Yeah right Wave Chill. Clearly this is a representation of the artist’s self-effacing subconscious, driven by a deep seated insecurity with contemporary sexual mores and her place within them.”

Whatever it meant, there was something highly entertaining about the thought of elegant ponyfolk staring at a giant rear end.

Wave Chill looked over to Surprise. “That’s assuming the artist drew her own behind. How can you tell it’s hers?”

Rainbow Dash tried to imagine how a pony could turn their head to get a good enough view of their own rump to draw it. Maybe with a mirror?

Surprise snorted. “I can’t. You think I’d recognize a pony by their plot?”

“If only Lightning Streak were here with us. I bet he could ID the owner,” Wave Chill said. Surprise stuck her tongue out in mock playfulness.

The next painting was an outstretched wing against a solid white background. The painting’s lack of depth and detail left little to the imagination because the wing had exactly two colors: lavender and a darker lavender outline around each feather.

Rainbow Dash gawked. “Wow, it’s so lifelike.” It was hard to tell it wasn’t the real thing pasted on a piece of paper. “What do you think about this one Surprise?”

“The image is uncannily realistic, but notice how there is only one wing. The painter conveys a sense of hopes and dreams through flight. At the same time those aspirations are curtailed by reality, which presents only half of what is needed.”

“No way,” Wave Chill said. “You’re totally making that stuff up Surprise.” He opened his gray blue wings and flipped around to point across the room at a drawing they hadn’t visited yet. The main feature was a bowl stuffed over the top with bananas. “Alright, what about that one?”

“I…” Surprise hesitated while she surveyed the heap of elongated yellow fruits. “Yeah, I’ve got nothing.”

~~~

It was ironic that now Rainbow Dash was a Wonderbolt, he saw less of her than before. He couldn’t wave at her when she came to watch them during practice because he needed to focus on the flight formations. When he saw her in the hallway, she was always in a hurry to get somewhere else. She looked harrowed and beaten up and determined as always.

Soarin’ tried to spend time with her over the first weekend, but she’d gone off with somepony else and wasn’t anywhere around headquarters. On one hoof he was glad because he wanted her to be friends with the other Wonderbolts the way he was; on the other hoof he was jealous.

He tried to take his mind off her the next week by running Equestria with Lightning Streak, watching Wave Chill and Blaze play video games, trying to bake an apple pie for the first time with Surprise’s help and cleaning up the disaster after, and hoping a mission from Canterlot Castle would come in and distract him. But you know how it is when you get a certain mare on your mind. She drives you wild, and she doesn’t even have to be there to do it.

Friday evening of week two, Rapidfire was making short work of Soarin’ in a game of Battlecloud. The stormy stallion crushed Soarin’s weatherpony. “Y’know Soarin’, I didn’t trust your judgement at first, but I’m glad we chose Rainbow Dash. Surprise said of all the others, she would get along best with the whole team. As usual Surprise was right. Rainbow Dash has obviously trained for this much longer than any of her former peers, so there’s not much to say in terms of her skill.”

Soarin’ was only halfway listening because he was trying to figure out which square of Rapidfire’s to call. His friend was going to beat him anyway, but sometimes in the process of losing he could figure out what kind of strategy Rapidfire was in the mood for that week.

“Don’t look so glum Soarin’. She’s gotten used to the training schedule. I think she’ll have time for you this weekend.”

“Aw Rapidfire, don’t get my hopes up. Sky seven.” Soarin’ struck down Rapidfire’s thunderbolt.

Not only did Rapidfire win the game in the end, he was also correct in his Rainbow Dash forecast.

Rainbow Dash caught Soarin’ on his way to the kitchen that evening. She was feeling good enough to be hovering instead of walking these days. “Geeze, there you are. I only had to fly the hallways two times. Anyway, I wanted to see if you’d like to go out tonight.”

“Sure!” He looked her up and down. She had rings under her eyes, but other than that she was spirited as always. “You sure you want to? We could just stay here.”

She dropped her head. “I haven’t eaten anything since this morning.”

He had the two of them in the sky quicker than Pinkie Pie could say the word ‘fun’. “Dinner it is then. What were you thinking, Pony Joe’s? His place is pretty empty about now. Bet we could get him to cook for us.”

“Nah, I had something else in mind. There’s this fancy restaurant in Canterlot Rarity is always talking about.”

“Let me guess. The most upscale eatery that ranks top in the list of romantic places to eat, and is probably also French?”

“That’s the one.”

“Baiser Français. Don’t quote me on that because I can’t pronounce it.” Soarin’ turned his gaze to the mare gliding at his side, a shot of color on a backdrop of stars. “If we’re eating there we better go back and get dressed up. But don’t think I’m not on to you Dash; you wouldn’t want to eat there for no reason. Are we going to horrify Rarity’s cousins with our table etiquette?”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “No, we’ll use good manners this time. Mostly.”

“I’ve missed your crazy ideas.”

Baiser Français had its own little section of downtown Canterlot inside a square of gardens bordered by elaborate black iron fences. A half circle of cobbled path led to the restaurant for easy entrance and exit. Ornate carriages dropped off couples in their best outfits and parties of ponies in the mood for fine dining.

One of the city’s most detailed fountains graced the lawn between the driveway and the streets of Canterlot. Carvings of vineyards under starry skies and other romantic Canteresque scenery decorated the masterpiece. Every time Soarin’ saw it he remembered the year Blaze went off on a crazy party rampage and ended up playing in the fountain water, much to the horror of the restaurant-goers and the amusement of the press.

The inside of Baiser Français was far more than a fancy dining room. The whole restaurant was spacious and grand, though not all the eating areas were visible from the entrance. Dark mahogany wood was the primary feature, from the paneled walls to the curling rails along the second floor and dividers between some of the tables for privacy. Deep green, blue, and purple tapestries and other ornaments complimented the color of the wood nicely. Here and there was a flash of gold. The far wall was not a wall at all, but an enormous window looking over a breathtaking view of the gardens and Canterlot. At this time of night the city’s lights were a sight to behold.

Rainbow Dash and Soarin’ entered the establishment in full glory. Their appearance together had the effect of an old western movie, where the dangerous wanted criminal enters the bar and everyone shuts up so they can hear the sound of her spur boots stirring up the dust on the floor. The light orchestra piano music died. Ponies in classy attire stopped chatting and stared openly at the couple. Those who couldn’t see turned around to look. A wine glass in the kitchen shattered.

Neither of the two ponies had a single scrap of clothing on, not so much as a fancy hair pin or cravat to their names.

Rainbow Dash loved every minute of their horrified attention. Soarin’ loved the face she made when she was disturbing the peace – the one with the narrowed eyes and smug smile.

“R-Rainbow Dash, yes?” The host stuttered over her name. He was afraid of her, as he should be. “Right this way please.”

No honorable pony ever turned away a paying customer, much less a Wonderbolt.

The musicians snapped out of their stupor and picked the song back up. Background music helped the guests realize they were gaping. Gradually ponies returned to their dinner conversation.

Rainbow Dash and Soarin’ chose to be civilized naked ponies, so they sat across from each other at their table and minded their manners. The hardest part for Soarin’ was not putting his forelegs on the table. He wanted to prop his head up with one of them and daydream while he watched the most attractive thing in the entire restaurant.

If he closed his eyes it was easy to go back to the sensation of her wings embracing his, the soft touch of her lips…

“Ahem,” the waiter coughed. Rainbow Dash had already ordered and was looking at Soarin’ quizzically.

“Ah! Oh, I’ll have this.” He put his hoof on a line on the menu at random. Anything was fine with him.

The two ponies were left in peace. Not even aristocrat fans would bother them – not unless they wanted to be publically shamed for associating with the unclothed.

Over the candlelight they talked about Dash’s first air show and how to get the Wonderbolts in the next global flight competition. When their meals arrived, Soarin’ promised to take her on the Tartar Sauce race course. He still couldn’t remember the actual title, so he was greeted by her laughter at the food-related name he’d made up.

Rainbow Dash put her empty glass on the table. “These are probably all made of fancy crystal too.”

“I’ll bet. Do you know how to tell when a glass is crystal?”

She shook her head no.

Soarin’ flipped over one of the unused wine glasses on the table. He peered over his right shoulder and then his left to be sure the evening guests were deep in their own conversations. He licked his hoof before running it around the mouth of the glass.

The crystalline cup sang a clear, soothing note that blended perfectly with the piano on the other end of the restaurant. The glasses must have been shipped straight from the Crystal Empire itself.

“That’s so cool! I didn’t know you could do that.”

“The higher quality the glass, the better the sound. These sound pretty expensive.”

“I guess we can hold off on breaking things for one night.”

Through an exquisite dinner they revealed tricks they’d played in their childhoods and friends they’d made and lost. There were so many stories to cram into one dinner conversation, but they tried. They stayed long after the faces in the room changed. They ordered desert and sipped slowly out of champagne flutes and watched the city’s lights out the window.

Late into the night the Wonderbolt pair landed together in the private garden attached to Rainbow Dash’s room by a set of glass doors. Faint light from the waning moon illuminated the colors in Rainbow Dash’s mane and on the curves of her face.

Soarin’ pulled his trump card. “By the way, aren’t you going to ask me what 'baiser français' means?”

Rainbow Dash was more than happy to play his game. “Alright Soarin’, what does it mean?”

“Score! Okay, close your eyes.”

The mare thought this was a suspicious answer. She raised an eyebrow, biding time to see if he had any more to say. He kept grinning and waited for her to close her eyes. She did.

Soarin’ eased his way up to her and took one more look at the moonlit mare. Glowing rainbows faded into darkness as he allowed his eyelids to drift shut. Without sight he became aware of the warmth of her presence and the soft stir of her breath while she waited.

Soarin’ brushed the tip of his nose against hers and relished every moment he was able to feel her supple fur against his own. Rainbow Dash softened under the gentle touch, sensing what was coming next. He tipped his head and leaned forward.

~~~

French Kiss, she reminded herself as she got ready to visit Ponyville the next morning.

Sweet rain was he good at it too. She had fallen right into his trap, and no pony ever pulled one over on Rainbow Dash. Even if she’d picked up a single word of French from Rarity (fat chance), the outcome would’ve been the same. Some traps were worth falling for.

Ooohh.

She shook the shivers out of her coat and launched into the promising clear day.

Twilight saw her coming before she landed at their weekly get together. "Rainbow! You made it!"

"Sorry guys. I've been really busy."

"Busy?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Or busy."

"Ch. Yeah, I wish. Spitfire is killing my wings."

Pinkie Pie stopped in the middle of a sip of pink lemonade and sprayed it all over Rarity, who happened to be sitting next to her. Rarity went into shock as beads of pink liquid rolled down her fur.

Pinkie Pie gaped across the table. "You've been getting busy with Spitfire? But I thought–"

Rainbow Dash cut her off. "No Pinkie! Use your brain."

The earth pony looked even more confused than before. "What brain?"

Meanwhile, Fluttershy picked up a napkin and tried to wipe the juice off of a petrified Rarity. It only made the pink smear into splotches. "Oh, um, sorry. Sorry!"

Applejack got up and went over to the broken unicorn. "Here Fluttershy, lemme see that." She took the napkin and made as if to spit in it, but thought better at the last second. In one strong sweep she grabbed a water glass off the table, rammed the napkin on top, and tipped it over. She scrubbed Rarity's face with the wet cloth.

"There. Good as newborn foal on a summer's day."

Rarity came back to Equestria after a few minutes. “Thank you Applejack. And now I’d like to make a very important announcement.” All of the chattering around the table died down. Evidently Rainbow Dash was not the only one who didn’t know what to expect, because all eyes were trained on Rarity, each with their own set of various emotions.

“It is official – tomorrow I’m signing the lease to open a Carousel Boutique in Canterlot.”

Every pony cheered and congratulated Rarity. “Oh Rarity, that’s wonderful,” Twilight said. It was about time Rarity made the big step in her career.

“I’ve found a very dependable set of ponies who will look after the shop there. Of course on some occasions I shall work from Canterlot. As much as Sweetie Belle would like to help with the Ponyville shop while I’m away, I would rather not let her loose in the boutique without supervision. I am still looking for an extra hoof here.”

Pinkie Pie bounced up and down. “Oh, oh! Me! Pick me! I know exactly who can help you at the shop.”

Rainbow Dash whispered to Applejack under the sounds of celebration. “At this rate, I’ll bet something big is in store for Twilight next.”

Applejack countered, “I wouldn’t wager so much as an apple stem against Twilight. You and I are on the same side. How bout we bet on something else?” Applejack’s expression melded into one of mischief. “Like which one of us gets hitched first.”

“Oh no you don’t AJ, we are so not betting on that!”

Rainbow Dash dreamed. And in her dream, she reached the peak of the mountain and saw the other side. She saw the forests to the west shrivel into brown mountains and the great desert beyond. But she didn’t stop there.

Wonderbolts flocked past her, still going up. “Come on Rainbow Dash,” Spitfire called. “We’re starting the race over here.”

At the heart of Equestria, six Wonderbolts hovered over an imaginary derby line. They didn’t know where they were going yet, but soon they’d find out. Spitfire flew before the line and prepared her best announcer’s voice. When she reached the sixth Wonderbolt she flipped towards the group and flared her wings. Gleaming orange rays of Celestia’s sun caught between the gaps in her feathers. “Welcome to the first unofficial race… to the sun!”

“What?” Rapidfire snapped his head around. “Spitfire, are you cr–“

“Go!”

Five of the competitors shot towards the impossible goal without hesitation, leaving Rapidfire in the proverbial dust.

Equestria dropped out beneath Rainbow Dash as she passed Soarin’ and caught up with Fleetfoot. The snowy mare lashed out at the air with her hooves and shot forward, giving Rainbow Dash a lot of distance to cover. Behind her she heard wingbeats of the other three racers not far behind.

The air started to feel uncomfortably chill. Blaze and Wave Chill fell behind, laughing over the three remaining Wonderbolts. Blaze chuckled. “The sun? Nopony’s ever put a hoof on the sun. Spitfire sure had me going for a second.”

Fleetfoot seemed to come to the same conclusion because Rainbow Dash whooshed past her without a fight. Now it was just between her and Celestia’s fireball orb. Cold wind rushed through her mane.

Blaze shouted, “Rainbow Dash, watch out behind you!”

Rainbow Dash was so fast everything was behind her. It wasn’t very useful advice.

A thundercloud trail breezed into first place. Soarin’ gave a smug salute and put on more speed to take the lead.

Fleetfoot shook her head and peered through her goggles at the twin cloud trails lancing toward the sun. “Look at them, they’re both totally crazy. They’re actually going for it.”

In the dream Rainbow Dash chased Soarin’ into the freezing sky where her breath turned to misty puffs trailing behind her. They were both losing speed in the wintry air. She closed the gap separating them with labored wing beats. Flying so high so fast was no easy task, and the air was so thin it was hard to breathe. Soarin’ huffed alongside her. Slowly they both came to a stop. Nopony was touching the sun today.

Far below their teammates called to them to come down. Rainbow Dash gave them a hooves up that they were okay.

Soarin’ panted, his breath forming into miniature crystallized clouds. “Well Dash, is it everything you thought it would be?”

Rainbow Dash was a Wonderbolt.

“No,” she said. “It’s more.”

She was looking directly at him when she said it. He read the feeling behind those words and she saw his own response reflect back at her. It wasn’t said aloud, but it was there in the poise of his wings, in the shimmer in his eyes, in the way he drifted down to Equestria by her side to face whatever the future threw at them.

He loved her, and as long as she wanted him around he’d never let her go, not for anything.

It was a dream. Except the wondrous thing about this dream was that she was not asleep. She was living it.

Crowne Prince's Footnote

Post LOYALTY one-shot Storm from Afar

Wonderbolt & Rainboom

Author's Note

Bonus chapter with scenes from the abandoned novel-length sequel.

Wonderbolt & Rainboom takes place after Storm from Afar.

Wonderbolt & Rainboom

"Ma'am, do you know how fast you were going?"

"Not fast enough, obviously," Rainbow Dash grumbled, not bothering to hide her annoyance. Winged chariots and pegasi traveled at modest speeds while she hovered in place where she'd been pulled over on Canterlot's major air thoroughfare.

The officer took out a sheet of paper. "You are aware this is a speed-restricted flying zone from 9-5 on weekdays."

Dash threw her hooves up. "And today is Saturday for crying out loud! So what did I do this time?"

A shy grin crossed the officer's face. "My son would really love your autograph."

The Wonderbolt relaxed. "That's one piece of paperwork I don't mind signing. Really though, it couldn't have waited until one of our air shows? There. Sorry officer, but I gotta get going."

A brief pause lapsed between those words and the powerful flap that sent the mare racing past all the traffic. The signature smoke trail and a dot of Wonderbolt blue and gold were about all the officer could make out between that moment and saying, "Thanks."

"Remember not to fly that fast through here on Monday!" The officer yelled at the receding speck.

Clouds parted in front of Dash to reveal the flattened top of the mountain plateau, home of the Wonderbolt Academy. She checked to see that the runway was clear before rocketing down and racing less than a wingspan above the paved strip. She threw her wings open, dug her hooves into the ground, and came to a screeching halt right in front of a group of fresh cadets lined up along the path. They stared at her with a mix of expressions: shock, awe, pride, confidence. They seemed like a good bunch.

“Don’t mind me,” Dash told them. “Believe it or not, I’m here for training too. The one you need to mind is her.” She tipped her head to the side where Spitfire flapped her way over to the group, flanked by two academy officers.

Dash hurried off before Spitfire could chew her out for showing off and abusing the landing strip. According to the team's strongest strategist, Rapidfire, the Wonderbolt Academy was very strict, and judging from Spitfire’s stern expression that was true. Rainbow Dash didn’t know much about the operations here apart from that. She’d never been able to attend, so now she was here to learn how to run the academy’s training program.

The authority of Spitfire’s shouted introduction to the cadets struck Dash's ears as she fled the scene. Hah, those poor trainees.

Dash made it to the row of buildings along the edge of the plateau just in time to see Soarin’ on his way out of the largest, most official-looking one. “Dash! There you are. Geez, what took you so long? You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago, and the whole time you were late I had this pony breathing down my neck. Look!” Soarin’ rubbed the side of his neck with a hoof. “It’s still wet.”

An officially dressed mare whisked up behind Soarin’. Her serious gaze registered Rainbow Dash’s presence and she flicked her clean cut tail. “You finally made it, I see,” she said. “Lateness is not tolerated at the Wonderbolt Academy. I was hoping someone had told you that, but fine. I’ll adjust my schedule to accommodate for the loss. Let’s get on with the tour so I may get back to my duties. After that, Wonderbolt Soarin’ will tell you more about the academy while you observe this week’s session.”

When the officer looked away to lead them into the building, Rainbow Dash shot Soarin’ a glance and silently lipped “yikes.” Soarin’ held a wingtip to his mouth and jerked his head toward their guide to tell Dash to pay attention to the tour. He was smiling under the gesture, though.

The three pegasi moved out of the central academy office and over the main plateau. Rings and flight obstacles dotted the flat land. A rainbow fall filtered down from the sky and pooled onto the mesa. Living quarters for full time staff clustered behind the falls. All of those ponies were immediately recognizable by their short cropped tails.

Leaving the plateau took them to the second half of the academy, which consisted of a cloud runway, the mess hall, a set of training buildings, and some impressive weather equipment.

"What are these?" Dash gaped at a series of maroon colored contraptions each easily the size of a building.

"Wind generators," the officer said, "completely automated and capable of producing hurricane strength wind speeds exceeding 150 mph, which is why we keep them on this side of the academy away from physical structures and flight zones. Extremely dangerous."

"And also," Soarin' said, holding a hoof up to shield his voice from their guide, "the secret to how Spitfire keeps her mane swept back like that."

Dash flicked the top of Soarin's puffy blue mane. "What about yours?"

"Mine is natural," he said with mock pride, polishing a hoof on his chest.

The officer showed Dash to her room, which actually turned out to be her own private residence. There were a number of small homes like that for special guests. Each had the benefit of being close to the cadet dormitories and therefore the academy cafeteria.

Having finished navigating the academy grounds, the officer wished the newest Wonderbolt well, left her with Soarin', and raced off to catch up on the rest of her tasks for the evening.

Dash scanned the nearby homes. "Where are you staying?"

Soarin's ears drooped. "Er, actually, I'm all the way over there." He pointed past the clouds toward the opposite side of campus, where trainers for the Wonderbolt support team stayed. Support classes ran concurrent with official Wonderbolt trainees so the two groups rarely crossed paths. Cadets in support work learned how to operate equipment, handle field emergencies, and that sort of thing. Graduates could be found operating the Wonderbolt Academy, overseeing flight shows, and working advanced flight jobs throughout Equestria.

The silence stretched thin while Dash and Soarin’ realized they were slotted in different training programs and wouldn't see much of each other that week.

"Come on, I'll show you the Dizzitron. Spitfire should be loading up the rookies right about now."

Dash wasn't sure what he meant by that, but she found out soon enough. She fanned a wing over her eyes to block out the sun while she watched a white stallion spin out of control into the horizon. "I think that's a new record."

Soarin' held up a wing too. "Eh, I've seen better." Or in this case, worse. He looked back down to the training schedule he'd pulled from one of his saddlebags. "This is just the beginning. When they do cloud exercises you'll get the opportunity to see all kinds of neat moves from around Equestria, and sometimes even other countries. Although I've gotta warn you, Spitfire pairs the cadets up on the second day and the competition can get vicious."

"Why? The academy isn't really about proving yourself. That's what the Wonder Trial is for."

Her partner shook his head. "As long as one of us is watching, many see it as a chance to show off. But I guess that does make some sense, since we usually discover top tier fliers through the Academy. 'Course Spitfire tests them so she can make judgement calls about their behavior and teamwork too. It's not all about flying."

One Surprise interrupted their conversation. The white mare appeared decked out in her official officer jacket complete with – Rainbow Dash did a double take – watches. Little clocks pinned in places medals usually hung. The jacket clocks didn't match the three watches strapped up the Wonderbolt's leg at all. Rarity would've thrown a fit about over-accessorizing.

"What's a pair of newbies like you doing up here? Scared of the Dizzitron?"

"Hah!" Dash puffed up. "I can take you on that thing any day, Surprise."

Her friend grinned and raised an eyebrow. "And I say your overconfidence gets you in trouble before the week is over. Anyway, I gotta take Soarin' away from you now. Come on come on, let's go. Gotta show our teams how to work the weather machines or there won't be an obstacle course for anypony to get injured on." Surprise lowered her head and used it to push the stallion toward the edge of the cloud.

"S-see you later Dash!" Soarin' managed to brush a wingtip under Dash's chin before he toppled off the cloud, dragged along by Surprise. Surprise waved goodbye without looking back.

Dash turned to study Spitfire's trainees. "Alright. Let's see which of these ponies is the top of their class."

~ ~ ~

At night, Dash snuck out to play with all of the equipment. Here and there yellow light filtered through a window, but other than that it was dark. Motion sensor beams glowed dimly, inactive, along the runway. Unless there was an emergency nopony would be landing tonight.

Dash took a breath of the cold mountain air and let early spring wind ride over her coat. It carried the chilly memory of winter. A shiver rippled over her fur.

Spring. When summer hit, the Equestria Games began. The competition was sure to be interesting this year with the Crystal Empire around. Dash was almost positive she'd finally be on a team that would qualify to compete. Last time she hadn't been so lucky. Now she had the Wonderbolts – that is, if she decided to fly with them for Cloudsdale rather than choosing to represent Ponyville.

Yet the thing weighing her mind wasn't the Equestria Games, it was the event far bigger than that: the World Wings. The Wonderbolts had sent a missive to Princess Celestia and Luna about the possibility of Equestria entering the competition for the first time in decades, but they hadn't heard from Canterlot since.

Dash huffed and barrel rolled through several hoops. All the princesses had to do was write a letter back. It couldn't be that hard. Twilight did it all the time.

"Pony feathers, I forgot to write to Pinkie! Oh no," she groaned. She halted in midflight, turned around, and went to find paper and ink before she forgot again.

~ ~ ~

This scene takes place after a less-arrogant Lightning Dust proves to be a strong and capable trainee. She gets paired as wing pony to a showoff flight partner that puts the other cadets in danger with a reckless stunt.

Rainbow Dash heard the words from within Spitfire’s office.

"If all the Wonderbolts value is speed and winning, then I was wrong about this team. I quit." Lighting Dust removed her wingpony badge, put it on Spitfire's desk, and exited the office. The door shut behind her and the horror of the dream she'd given up registered on her face. She pulled her gaze from the floor and found herself face to face with Dash.

"Are you stupid?" Dash hissed.

"E-excuse me?" Lightning Dust uttered as the Wonderbolt grabbed her foreleg and yanked her away from earshot of Spitfire's office.

"You're quitting just because Spitfire made you a wingpony? How dense are you? You think she makes decisions purely on physical stats?"

Lighting Dust recovered from her shock and matched Dash's hushed whispering. "Yes! Because obviously you don't care if my partner's reckless actions put the whole team at risk. It doesn't matter as long as it looks cool."

"Then tell me why you're wingpony even though you ranked higher than him in almost every category. Including," Dash held her head high, "my official coolness ranking."

The rookie's eyes widened. There was no way to know her ranking at the Academy because numbers weren't posted publicly.

Rainbow Dash sighed. "You assume Spitfire would just ignore what happened out there today? She made you a wingpony to see if you would be able to serve in every capacity, not just as leader. The Wonderbolts are a team, Lightning Dust. Once in a while you get to be the leader, but most of the time you follow the pony best suited to handle the challenge. Wonderbolts know how to lead and follow."

The sea green pegasus stared at her feet while the lesson sank in. "I was too quick to judge. I didn't know."

"It's okay." Dash tilted her head to the closed door. "My advice is to get it together and go back in there. Spitfire's going to be mad you stormed out of her office like that."

Dash watched Lightning Dust take a breath and turn back to her dream, open the door, and face certain doom.

"Impressive," Soarin' said, sidling up to his companion. "It takes a lot of courage to stand up to one's superiors like that."

"Hmph." Rainbow Dash's lips quirked into a sly grin. "Then it's a wonder you can stand up at all around me."

"Oh my Dash, are you suggesting you are somehow better than me?"

"Better?" Dash started walking, forcing Soarin' to follow alongside if he wanted to keep talking. "Nah. More like vastly superior."

The stallion paced around Dash and cut her path off with a grin. "Alright high and mighty, if you're so sure, the Academy closes in a few hours. Dinner says you can't withstand more runs on the Dizzitron than me."

Dash poked Soarin's nose with a wingtip and stared him down with a confident smile. "Get your bits ready Soarin', cause you're buying tonight."

Spitfire peeked out of her office, tilting her shades down. “What’s this I hear about a Dizzitron challenge?”

~ ~ ~

Dash flipped and floundered like an earth pony with wings. Multiple Soarins spun around in the fishbowl of evening sky.

"Give up yet?" The Soarins panted, flailing their legs like they would drown if they stopped.

"N-no." Dash gagged. "On second thought, you... you win this time. But next time!" She collapsed on the spinning runway. The cursed thing just wouldn't stay put. "Next time," she said into the asphalt.

Soarin' announced his arrival and bad aim with a dull thud as he crashed into the grass nearby. "Victory," he gasped. "I can't wait to barf up the dinner you owe me."

Spitfire landed neatly between the two bundles of feathers. "Alright pansies. Next time think twice about challenging me to a spin-off. I expect all of that paperwork on my desk stamped before you leave."

"Yay," the defeated pair said with no enthusiasm whatsoever.

Fifteen minutes into hoof-stamping posters, Soarin' announced they would have dinner at Ponyville's popular café. "That way I can gloat in public, for all of your friends to see."

"Thanks for that." Stamp. "Really, though, even if you're making fun of me the whole time for losing it'll be good to check in on everyone." Stamp.

"I know." Stamp.

~ ~ ~

After dinner they flew together. Rainbow Dash pulled in close. He could hear the sound of wind ruffling through her feathers. "Soarin'. Fly with me."

She put on a burst of speed, curving up past the cloud tops. Contrails of mist poured from her pinions. Soarin' sped below the growing rainbow arc she painted overhead, skimming his hooves along the tops of the clouds.

Both ponies flew higher, up toward the sliver of Luna's moon. Higher, faster, trails of rainbow and gold light jetting straight to space. The air grew cold and thin and still they flew until they were colored specks in a sea of stars.

They tossed themselves up and let go of everything. Both sets of wings fell still. They let the world do whatever it wanted. Air fluffed feathers as gravity gradually took hold, slowing their upward path until it was nothing. For one perfect moment they hung suspended in complete stillness.

They plummeted with no control, two points of color falling through the night. Manes and tails streamed into the dark. Feathers hung useless. Wisps of mist tangled in their fur and they toppled through the clouds.

A low growl in Dash's throat turned to a yell of wild abandon. He joined her. The yell flowed into a roar of laughter as they defied death, whipping out their wings and soaring away from the land that would drag them down.

The two Wonderbolts drew close and smashed their hooves together, sending showers of sparks over Equestria. Around and around they weaved, meeting with bursts of fireworks each time they touched.

Soarin' dove low over the empty streets of Canterlot, Rainbow Dash close behind. Dimmed street lights and cobblestones rushed by. Discarded papers and trimmed hedges rustled in the wake of the two flyers. A shocked couple on a stroll froze at the oncoming rush. The two shooting blue comets pulled up and returned to their home in the clouds, leaving shimmering light trails behind.

They slowed and let their hooves catch in a cloud, tumbling in a heap onto its soft surface, breathless and chuckling at the hopeless expressions of the couple they'd frightened.

After a few breaths they lay still, back to back. Soarin' could feel Rainbow Dash's wings pressed up against his own as he stared over the white edge of the cloud and into the night.

"Dash," he said, rolling over and nuzzling the back of her neck. The fur brushed his nose and he breathed into that slightly rainbow-spice scented mane. Now.

"I love you," she said for him.

She slipped out of his grasp and rolled to lay on her other side, and their eyes met. Their hooves intertwined. Soarin' whispered, "I love you."

She kissed him. "Maybe," she whispered before kissing him again, "even more than I love winning. Maybe."

Soarin' was so close to giving in to his desires. He got up. "I can wait," he said, not bothering to hide the rasp in his voice. "I can wait." He held out a hoof to help Dash up. "Come on, let's go home."

He stood for a while outside her door at Wonderbolt Headquarters after they said goodnight. After some time his feet dragged him around the circular hallway to his room on the other side of the base.

On the other side of the door he left behind, Rainbow Dash let out a disappointed sigh at the sound of his receding hoofsteps.

~ ~ ~

"Why did you not go after him?!" Rarity whirled on Rainbow Dash so fast the dresses on the display next to her fluttered. She lowered her voice when several customers looked up from their browsing. "Quit toying with that poor stallion."

"I'm not toying with him, I'm serious. You know that. And if he doesn't want to stick around for the night, then fine." Dash pushed a hoof through her mane. "It's hard though."

"A little patience darling. I know it's not your forte, but you can do it. Are you coming home this weekend?"

"I guess so. Twilight sent me a letter saying Princess Celestia had a task for the Elements of Harmony. Can't imagine what it might be that's not, you know, so bad we have to rush to the castle right away to kick some crazy lunatic's butt."

~ ~ ~

Rapidfire rubbed his forehead. "You mean to tell us you let that lunatic go free?"

The Wonderbolts were not thrilled to hear about Discord. Dash shrugged. "Hey, it wasn't my idea. And he's technically not free. Princess Celestia locked him in a stone tower. It's got some spell barrier around it, but he could probably escape if he wanted."

~ ~ ~

Funny dialogue during an icy part of World Wings.

“It’s c-c-cold,” Soarin’ stammered through his shivering.

“Oh come on,” Rainbow Dash said, slowing down to fly alongside her freezing partner. “It’s not so bad. Those icicles coming out of your nose are very charming.”

“I’ll t-tell you where you’re going to find ici-c-cles.”

“Gotta catch me first!”

“C-curses,” Soarin’ chattered.

~ ~ ~

After catching up with Season 3 canon, the fic leads into the World Wings, a global competition of all winged races. One of the events is an endurance race over the deadliest stretch of the badlands that takes 1-2 weeks to complete.

The Changelings participate in the World Wings but their queen is not present because she is busy scheming. Chrysalis – still hungry for love – uses the endurance race as an opportunity to kidnap Soarin’. When he doesn’t arrive at a checkpoint Dash goes looking for him.

Chrysalis expects this to happen. She only needed to capture one of them to draw the other in.

Dash finds Chrysalis’ hideaway in a desert cave, sees Soarin’ imprisoned in a large cage, and busts in to save him without a plan. Naturally she gets knocked out and captured too.

A little while later, bars no longer separated the two Wonderbolts.

“Soarin’! Are you hurt?”

“No, just bored.”

True, the bars weren’t keeping them apart, but they were still locked inside the cage together. Rainbow Dash had been fine with that up until it dawned on her that it was going to be boring. “Oh,” she said.

“You didn’t bring anyone with you, did you?” Soarin’s question sounded more like a statement.

“Nope.”

“And you didn’t tell anyone where you were going when you left.”

Both ponies sighed. No, she hadn’t.

Dash observed the surroundings. “Nice place you’ve got here. The spikes on the bars really set the mood.”

“Much better than those stuffy clouds.” Soarin’ stood and cracked his wings before sweeping one open to indicate the low ceiling, also studded with long spines. “As you can see, I’m enforcing a strict no-flying zone.” He paced the perimeter of their enclosure, just far enough from the spikes so they didn’t scratch him. Rainbow Dash joined him as he gave her the grand tour.

“Safety is our priority, of course. You’ll notice we have two Changeling guards on duty at all times. One keeps the area secure while the other watches your every move. Y’know. In case you trip and fall and impale yourself on the sharp decor or something.” Soarin’ nodded to one corner of the cage. “Over here is the shower.” He tipped his head to a different corner. “And this is the kitchen. Showers are delivered by hose and meals come in on a pole. We have to ensure the safety of the Changelings, after all.”

Dash harrumphed. “They sure thought of everything, didn’t they?”

“...Eventually,” Soarin’ said with a gleam in his eye.

He returned to the spot in the center of the enclosure where he’d managed to collect stray feathers and tiny puffs of cloud into a bed worthy of an imprisoned criminal. “The guards are listening to everything we say to make sure we stay PG-13.”

In other words, discussing how to escape wasn’t going to happen.

Let the Changelings believe that.

There was a flurry of feathers and Soarin’ found himself face-to-face with Rainbow Dash. Her wings formed a wall to either side of his head, and the last thing he saw was her devilish expression before she kissed him.

Oh Luna’s stars that felt good. It was over too soon. Dash had used the opportunity to whisper in his ear, “We’ll plan an escape when we pretend to sleep tonight.”

“I missed you.”

“Yeah, well, unless we find some way to get out, you’ll never miss me again.”

~ ~ ~

“Chrysalis, you’re an idiot if you think we’re going to get romantic in a spiked cage.” Rainbow Dash threw her wings up in frustration. “There’s not even room for us to fly in here! And the floor is hard.”

“Oooo~” Chrysalis cooed. “What’s that little pony? You don’t like it rough?”

Soarin’ was afraid to look over at Dash. He could practically hear the whistling heat of her enraged expression.

Chrysalis looked satisfied. “Oh, good! I did remember correctly. You are the feisty one.”

“What do you want with us this time, bug butt?” Dash spat.

“Nothing much. Just to drain you of your emotions and watch your relationship crumble to pieces before I toss you back out into Equestria again. I do so love a good romantic comedy.” Chrysalis’ fangs spread wide in a gleeful grin.

~ ~ ~

The final dialogue for Wonderbolt & Rainboom is the first thing I wrote. In the end, the two end up in a situation nobody expects them to survive. They escape and watch their would-be demise unfold from the safety of a sunset hill.

“Do you think they’ll write a story about us?” Soarin’ asked.

“Pff. Who would want to do that? It’d probably be boring as hay!”

“Oh, I dunno. I think it’d be funny and full of adventure.”

The two turned to the sky.

“Hey Dash?”

“Mmm?”

“I’m glad I met you.”

She said nothing, simply resting her head on Soarin’s.

At dawn, there was a blast of light.

“They probably all think we’re dead now,” Dash said.

And it was funny, really, that this was the perfect excuse. They had no obligations. No pony would come looking for them. They were free to spend time together, travel the world, and return to their friends when they were ready.

But for now it was only them. Wonderbolt and Rainboom.

“Well, want to go explore?”

“Soarin’, I’d like nothing more.”

1 - Which is, more or less, a lie

Author's Note

You are reading the old 2012 edition. The 2020 edition with fixed typos and other improvements is available here on AO3.

LOYALTY animation with voice acting: https://youtu.be/TKaIlnVIGVM

1 - Which is, more or less, a lie

The world was dark.

Rainbow Dash savored the cool air through her feathers as she slowly opened her wings. Her hooves lifted off the ground. As she folded her legs underneath her, she raised her head and opened her eyes to see the light of the clear day. Unlike the haste she usually felt, this moment was different.

The ground dropped away as Rainbow Dash ascended into the sky. Soon she passed the treetops and could see the vast orchards of Sweet Apple Acres stretching out beneath her. There were the rooftops of Ponyville and farther along, the Everfree Forest.

Rainbow Dash shifted her concentration to the sky and the large cloud before her. Yes. Pick up speed now. She leaned forward and accelerated, wings beating, tail and mane starting to fan out behind her. The cloud engulfed the blue pegasus. For a moment the sky seemed empty.

Rainbow Dash exploded out of the weightless white cloud, tail streaming, wings a blur, Wonderbolt uniform gleaming. The cloud was but a speck on the horizon now, pierced by the bright rainbow the fastest Wonderbolt left in her wake.

She was just getting started.

Rainbow Dash sped straight upward into the sky. The wind cut into her coat and burned. Still she increased her speed, thrusting both forelegs forward. The burning became a raging fire. She tore at the sky until the muscles felt like they would rip apart. Blackness crowded around the edges of her vision. Only then did she let go, snapping her wings flush with the sleek suit.

An immense force crashed around the tips of her hooves as she rocketed through the sound barrier. The freed energy collided with the rainbow trailing behind her and created a massive ringed burst of prismatic fire. Red, yellow, orange, green, blue and purple showered across the sky.

Plummeting at an insane speed now, Rainbow Dash spun and drilled downward, creating lightning flashes of various colors. As soon as the spinning was almost intolerable, the pony straightened out and lanced toward the ground. Hitting it now would mean instant death. At the last treacherous second, Rainbow Dash braked hard with her wings and angled upward back into the sky. Behind her, a living rainbow extended along her flight path.

It was almost impossible to tell who the ponies along the ground were as she rushed past them. She raced through Ponyville and along the road to the mountains. Just ahead… yes, it was another Wonderbolt. Having lost a significant amount of speed, Rainbow Dash picked up the pace now that her muscles were so numb there was no pain. She would be fine for a few more minutes, but that was the limit. She didn’t catch which Wonderbolt it was as she sped past, but there was at least a 50% chance it was some pony who would rise to the challenge.

Sure enough, the tumultuous signature thunderbolt cloud was suddenly sweeping past her. Perfect. Rainbow Dash grinned and pushed herself back to a competitive speed, overtaking her comrade. Unfortunately, that was all she had left. She whooshed through a cloud and landed, just in time for Celestia’s sunset. Her Wonderbolt companion emerged from below a split second later and landed next to her.

It was simply amazing to finally be here, to have friends and flying partners in the Wonderbolts. The secret fear that something would change when she achieved her dreams – the fear that after that, there would be nothing left to strive for, no competitions to win, that ponies would treat her differently – that fear was gone. Gone like the sun as it gave way in brilliant orange to Luna’s moon.

Gone like the Wonderbolt uniform as it faded into nothing. She was alone on the cloud.

3 - rd time's a charm

Grrr! Rainbow Dash stomped a hole in the cirrus cloud. Why can’t I do this move right?! It just doesn’t make sense! I’ve done it twice now, but I can never pull it off when I want to on purpose.

Rainbow Dash snorted and pawed the ground. Just watch, I’ll get it right this time! She jerked up into the sky, threw a foreleg out for speed, grit her teeth,and got to the part where her eyes were burning. The resistance in front of her grew. It got too hard to move forward. Her extended leg buckled; it felt like stomping a brick wall, or when you expected there to be one more stair at the bottom of the staircase and there wasn’t.

Waves of force crashed into Rainbow Dash’s legs and face, throwing her towards the ground again. Clouds spun by in random patterns as she tried to steady her aching wings. Whatever, I can take this! Irritated, Rainbow Dash activated the pegasus magic and slammed hard on her side into a cloud. Her breath whooshed out of her. She managed to gasp and stumble to her feet before collapsing and having to stand again. Okay, maybe that wasn’t the best plan I’ve ever had.

The tactic of doing the same thing multiple times and expecting a different outcome was not working. It was time to figure out a new angle of attack. Maybe Fluttershy knows what I’m doing wrong. Some pony is bound to have seen what I did to pull off the Sonic Rainboom at the Best Young Flyer competition.

Rainbow Dash tested her wings before hopping off the cloud and gliding towards the edge of the forest where Fluttershy lived. She didn't bother to use the little cottage tree's doormat. Without leaving the air she tapped once on the door.

Fluttershy opened it a crack and peeped outside. “Oh, Rainbow Dash, you’re back.” Fluttershy opened the door all the way and stepped aside. “I can talk to you now, but you have to promise to keep quiet so we don’t wake Mr. Jay.”

“Okay okay, I promise,” Rainbow Dash said as she brushed past Fluttershy.

“Well, um,” Fluttershy pawed at the ground, avoiding Rainbow Dash’s gaze. “What was it you wanted to ask about?”

“Forget the thing earlier. I don’t remember what it was.” The blue pegasus started flying slow circles around the room. “It’s just that I’ve been trying to do my greatest move again, and it’s not working. I’ve tried everything! I’ve flied up, down, and sideways. I’ve closed my eyes. I’ve imagined I’m racing the Wonderbolts,” Rainbow Dash’s voice was starting to reach a squeaky hysteria. Fluttershy raised a hoof to her mouth and made a shhh motion.

She lowered her voice. “Oops. Well, I thought maybe you saw how I did it. What am I missing?”

“Oh, well,” Fluttershy started, surprised at the realization that her friend couldn’t perform the move at will. “Maybe you need to do something special beforehand. Perhaps you have to be thinking about something?” Fluttershy looked down. “Never mind, that sounds silly. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay.” Rainbow Dash’s energy from before disappeared.

“But I don’t want to let you down. Did you try talking to Twilight?”

“Twilight? Why would I talk to her? She’s not even a pegasus!”

“Well no, but she was there too, and she’s much more observant than I am,” came the hushed response. Rainbow Dash’s ears perked up.

“You could be right. Thanks Fluttershy!” All that was left of Rainbow Dash was a breeze.

“You’re welcome,” Fluttershy said to the empty room, eyes round. How did Rainbow Dash move so fast?

For the second time that day, Rainbow Dash found herself at the library. Twilight had her face in her hoof. “Ugh, Rainbow, why can’t you use the door like every other pony? And I just fixed this window after Derpy crashed through it yesterday.” Fragments of glass floated in a purple aura, slowly piecing back into the window pane.

“Sorry, I thought it was open!” Rainbow Dash heard Twilight mumble something like ‘I heard that yesterday, too.’ “Anyway, I wanted to see if you could give me some tips on my Sonic Rainboom. Did you see how I was flying when I did it at the Best Young Flyer competition?”

Twilight laughed nervously. “No, actually, I couldn’t look because I got scared when I saw Rarity fall like that. If she’d been hurt, it would’ve been my fault.”

“Oh…” Rainbow Dash looked stunned for a brief moment. Then she said, “So now what am I supposed to do? Do you know anything about flying, Twilight?”

“Of course I do! Much of flying is based off of physics. Your Sonic Rainboom, for example, is the result of a rupture in the sound speed barrier. It all begins with the discovery of sound waves…”

Rainbow Dash allowed her friend to continue her scientific monologue and looked around the library. The thought that maybe the only thing that could help her was tucked away in one of the obscure textbooks made her want to groan.

“…catches up to the speed of the sounds it is emitting and–”

“Hey Twilight, what’s that?” Rainbow Dash pointed at the huge spell scroll resting on Twilight’s balcony. The purple unicorn was unfazed by the topic switch. She trotted over to one end of the scroll. “It’s a spell for this year’s Summer Sun Celebration. The festival is on the same day as the Wonder Trial this year, isn’t it? Rainbow?” But the pegasus had long since fled. Nopony was going to help her with her flying.

Twilight sighed. “And I was just getting to the good part.”

Over the next few days, Rainbow Dash continued to practice her routine. I must just be out of shape after getting stuck for all that time in the hospital, she thought. After a lot of practice the Sonic Rainboom was completely, absolutely, without a doubt… impossible.

Rainbow Dash landed on a stratus cloud after the umpteenth failure that afternoon. “FAIL!” she shouted into the sky. “What am I doing wrong?!” The pegasus threw a miniature tirade on her fluffy platform. “Come on Rainbow Dash, focus.” She tapped her head with her hoof. “Focus. Just calm down and do it. This time. This time, for sure.”

She drew up every ounce of determination she had and went for it. She was on the verge of tears from the physical and mental strain caused by the aggravating frustration of repeated failure. If she didn’t succeed this time, she would probably cry. That was fine, so long as no pony was around to see it.

How unfortunate for her.

~~~

Rainbow Dash was completely oblivious to him, Soarin’ thought. That was fine with him, as this type of evaluation was supposed to be done in secrecy. Er, well, if it was actually an evaluation at all. Really Soarin’ had just used talent spotting as an excuse to slack off and watch her fly while eating the tasty local apple treats. And boy, did Ponyville have the best apple fritters. They were easier to fit into saddlebags than a whole pie, too. Soarin’ grinned broadly. He was back to his normal self.

He wished he could say the same for the pegasus he was watching now. All of her other moves were fine, but she kept trying to break the sound barrier and failing. Soarin’ smiled sympathetically as he heard her throwing another tantrum, although he was a little worried. The mare’s high speed move lacked professional instruction and training. To top it off, she didn't have a teammate nearby in case something went wrong. Soarin’ ignored that piece of common sense all the time, but he at least knew the risks he was taking when he practiced alone.

His short train of thought was enough time for Rainbow Dash to recover and rocket off again. He saw the sound cone form around her, saw she still wasn’t putting her hooves forward the right way, and grimaced as she was flung away. Cottony puffs of cloud swished up and settled around the sky-blue pegasus like so much dust.

She had crash-landed nearby this time. Soarin’ held his breath and crouched down. He couldn’t move now or she would see him for sure, if she would only open her eyes.

She did. They snapped open, liquid magenta pools of fire burning angrily at him.

Soarin’ expected her to hiss, “How long have you been watching me?” When she didn't say anything he realized her gaze wasn’t focused on him. The anger was at herself for being defeated yet again. Soarin’ waited for her to jump up and go back to her usual level of energy, but it never came.

Instead, he watched her determination die.

He saw the fire go out of her eyes. Their narrowed anger smoothed into a hopeless, empty gaze. Exactly how many times had she tried this move and not made it? Many more times than the ones he had seen, he knew. Enough times to shatter even the most impeccable spirit. Rainbow Dash lay sprawled and unmoving on the cloud. Tears welled up in her eyes.

Not on his watch. A flash of wings, a streak of blue and he was standing tall on the cloud beside the crestfallen pegasus. Soarin’ would not stand by while a promising flyer destroyed themselves. None of the Wonderbolts would.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes cleared up the instant she knew somepony was there. She sprang to her feet, brushed off her front legs, and smoothed the tuft of mane crowning her head. “Heh. Just another crash landing. Happens all the time.”

Then she placed him. “S-Soarin’?! Oh, geeze, you didn’t see that just now – I mean – agh, pony feathers!” Before he could respond, she was off. “Wait, why are you here? Any place in Equestria you could be, and you’re here? Standing on a cloud? Where’s your uniform? You’re not here for the Wonderbolts, I mean, the Wonderbolt’s aren’t…”

“Hey, relax. I’m just passing through,” he said. Rainbow Dash uttered a sigh of relief. “But I did see you flying.”

“Oh, that? You saw that? That was nothing. Heh, I’d be able to do a Sonic Rainboom any day of the week, just not today. I sprained my wing clearing the sky this morning.”

Soarin’ grinned at the probable lie. He resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow. “Great! Then I’ll just be on my way. You don’t need to die of boredom listening to how a Wonderbolt flies.” Soarin’ turned around and made as if to take off, but the rainbow pegasus was already standing in front of him, blocking the way.

“Wait. You mean you were going to show me how to do it?” Her eyes shone with stars. It was the unmistakable look in the eyes of a pony who had discovered their true passion, something that was incredibly rare.

“You bet.” Soarin’ folded his wings in. Had he known Pinkie Pie, he would have classified the smile spreading on Rainbow Dash’s face as a smile-smile-smile. “You’re gonna kick yourself when you realize what the trick is,” he said.

Soarin’ reared up and balanced on his back legs. “It’s this. Instead of one hoof,” he mimicked what Rainbow Dash had been doing, which was a traditional way to build speed that favored a flyer’s stronger side, “put out both.” He extended both legs before falling back to all hooves. “Other than that, it’s just a matter of crazy fast speed.”

He couldn’t resist the temptation to show off, not with a pony grinning like that at him. “Like… this!”

Soarin’ shoved off the cloud and raced away until Rainbow Dash was a speck in the sky behind him. He looped back towards her, and then went into full throttle force.

When was the last time he did this? It felt great. He wished he had his goggles though; his eyes were tearing up. The wind burned his coat and whistled in his ears. He felt for the barrier of pressure in front of him, ignored the pain, and honed his attack.

Now! He flared his wings to full extent at the dead exact moment. A deafening boom roared out around him and shards of light in the shape of his outstretched wings erupted into a huge winged sigil in the sky. Thunderwings. A little hard to see during the day, though.

Opening his wings like that made him lose speed. As planned he landed neatly where he had taken off. No doubt every pony in a ten mile radius would be looking this way right now.

Rainbow Dash’s jaw was almost level with the cloud. “What was that?”

“It’s a night performance maneuver. We don’t use it much because it’s way more exciting when no pony expects it.” The other reason was that it was exhausting. He’d forgotten that part and was remembering now. “I should go.” Soarin’ turned and frowned. Guess that’s the end of sneaking out to hang around on clouds all day.

“Hey, wait.”

Oh man, Soarin’ groaned inwardly. This is the part where I get challenged to a race and lose. There’s no way I can fly fast enough in this state.

“You still like pie, right?”

Soarin’ was thrown off guard. “Like pie? I love pie!” …As long as I don’t have to race for it this time, he hoped.

~~~

Rainbow Dash enjoyed Soarin’s enthusiasm. Even though he tried to look tough, she was no summer filly. She could tell he was worn out. She still remembered how she felt after the Sonic Rainboom at the Best Young Flyer competition. Come to think of it, she knew how she felt now: dead tired. She had spat out the first thing she could think of to keep him from flying off. Pie.

Good thing I know someone who can actually make the stuff. “Let’s go get pie then. Follow me.” Rainbow Dash left no room for protest and took off immediately. She forced herself to keep her speed reasonable, like when she was with Fluttershy.

I can’t believe this is actually happening. Her brain felt like the thick chocolate soup Pinkie Pie made them all taste test one time. Shoot. What if it’s one of those crazy dreams again? Is he still following me?

The two pegasi flew to Sweet Apple Acres. Being in the sky made it easy to scout out Applejack.

Or not – since she didn’t appear to be outside. However, before Rainbow Dash landed, she spotted Applejack inside the Apple family home kitchen. She did so through a pegasus-sized hole in the roof.

Derpy!...

Rainbow Dash hovered by the hole and shouted down at Applejack. “Hey AJ, can you whip up an apple pie for me? Speedy-like.” Rainbow clack-clacked her hooves together.

Applejack was used to having sudden, unexpected yelling matches with RD, so she wasn’t particularly surprised to have one now through the hole in her roof. She looked up towards her friend. “What, righ’ now? Whaddya need a pie for all of a sudden anyway?” At that moment, Soarin’ flew into view.

“O-K, now you’ve got me!” Applejack blinked a few times. “Hey, ain’t you the one who stopped by my cart at the Grand Galloping Gala?”

“What?” Rainbow Dash squeaked. “You got to talk to a Wonderbolt and you didn’t even tell me?!”

“Whoops. Sorry RD, I plum forgot is all, what with you destroying the princesses’ statue that night and all.” Rainbow Dash covered her humiliated expression. “But anyway, les forget about that and Ah’ll see if we’ve got anythin here for you. Why don’t you go out an wait by the family picnic table, so we can stop yelling at each other through the roof? Trust me, ya don't want to wake ol' Granny Smith up from her nap.”

Rainbow Dash flapped over to the indicated place. She noticed Soarin’s eyes widen when he saw the ‘picnic table,’ which was more like a banquet table at a fancy buffet. “Applejack’s kinda got a huge family,” she said.

The two ponies waited awkwardly in silence for what seemed like forever to Rainbow Dash. Her mind raced the entire six minutes.

Applejack brought out a toasty apple pie and set it on the table before speaking. “Well now, I almost couldn’t find you. RD’s never been this quiet her entire life.”

Rainbow Dash shot Applejack a look and haphazardly tossed a pile of bits on the table.

"Thank ya kindly.” Applejack scooped up the bits in a quick, professional sweep. There were too many for the price of the pie, but Rainbow Dash was careless with her money like that. Applejack figured it evened out over all.

"Y'all better be careful with that pie. It's pipin' hot right outta the oven." Applejack pushed aside her curiosity about what a Wonderbolt was doing around these parts and trotted off to eat her own lunch.

Rainbow Dash and Soarin stared at the pie. Actually, Rainbow Dash had just realized there was no tasteful way to slice the pie. How the heck were ponies supposed to eat pie, anyway? She looked at her hooves and the lack of silverware, which, had there been any, would not have been useful anyway. Whose brilliant idea was this again?

"O-on second thought, I'm not hungry." She pushed the pie towards Soarin'. "You can have it."

"You sure?" he asked. Rainbow Dash nodded. "Thanks."

Rainbow Dash was secretly hoping Soarin' would eat the pie with his whole face like last time, but perhaps because this pie had not just survived a horrible, squishy pie death, Soarin' ate it slowly from the outside in, starting by nibbling at the crust.

Rainbow Dash nabbed an apple off a tree to avoid sitting awkwardly with nothing to do. Munching on the apple helped distract her from the surreal feeling that Soarin' was more, well, real. She idolized the Wonderbolts, but it was one thing to know their habits, likes, and dislikes by reading them out of magazines, and another completely different thing to actually get to know them by spending time with them. Her past two encounters with Soarin’ had been brief, and always in the company of his fellow ‘Bolts and her own friends.

The two managed to eke out some casual conversation. How the weather had been for flying lately. What their friends were like. Gossip as to where Princess Luna was all the time. Okay, so the last one wasn’t typical casual conversation, but the Princess came up when Soarin’ mentioned he had seen her return to the castle to raise the moon one night.

Rainbow Dash: "I bet she has a secret lair under the castle."

Soarin': "Nah, Spitfire is certain she flies the night skies and terrorizes little ponies who stay up too late."

It was actually pretty cool to meet the real pegasus behind the celebrity. Soarin' had never been Rainbow Dash’s favorite (right now it was Fleetfoot), and she actually felt a little guilty about it now. His moves weren't spectacular like Spitfire's or swift like Rapidfire's... but now that she thought on it, she'd never seen Soarin fly at night. She had a feeling he got top marks in that category.

The conversation wrapped up. Soarin' nodded at the sky. "I've got to head back. Thanks for the pie. I won't forget." He flashed a smile.

"Hey Soarin'." Rainbow Dash extended a hoof. "Friends?"

Their hooves clacked together. "Why not? Friends."

“Best day ever!” Rainbow Dash was with her five closest pals later that evening, walking around town.

“I thought ya might say that,” Applejack said with a smug expression.

Twilight, on the other hoof, was skeptical. “I dunno Rainbow. Doesn’t it seem strange to you that a Wonderbolt was just wandering around Ponyville?”

Rarity chimed in. “Well he did just say he was passing through. I dare say that may have been the case, especially if he was not wearing the uniform.”

“Who cares?” Rainbow Dash hopped into the air. “It was, on a scale of one to ten in radicalness, one hundred. I can’t believe he even gave me a flying tip – and it works! I tried it out this afternoon.”

“We noticed.” The friends said in chorus.

“So did every pony from here to Fillydelphia,” Twilight said. The rainbow wave had been visible for miles. “Doesn’t doing that make you tired?”

“Exhausted! But I’m not gonna let that stop me. I’m incorporating my Sonic Rainboom into my routine for the Wonder Trial this year.”

Pinkie Pie gasped and shoved her face into Rainbow Dash’s own just as the pegasus touched the ground again. “What?? That’s invitation only. Did you finally get an invitation? Didjadidjadidja?”

Rainbow Dash pushed Pinkie’s face away. “Well… no.” Pinkie Pie frowned and her ears flopped down.

Applejack said, “In all honesty, I dun know why those ponies haven’t invited ya before. Every pony in these parts who gives an apple about flying knows yer one ’a the best.”

“Y-yeah.” Rainbow Dash laughed nervously, trying not to think about the old invitations hidden in a horseshoe box at home.

“Although your teamwork could use a little polishing,” Twilight stated, ignoring Rainbow Dash’s indignant ‘Hey!’ “Though I’m sure they’ll invite you this year. There’s simply no way they would ignore you after the last Best Young Flyer competition.” Twilight smiled just as she stopped in front of her home. “Oh, looks like we’re here. My, how the time flies. Goodnight!” Before any pony could say anything, Twilight slipped inside the library and closed the door.

“Aw shucks, she just wants ta work on that nifty spell o’ hers to impress the Princess. Bet she’ll be at it all night too.”

Twilight would make a great athlete if the only quills and parchment in Equestria were waiting at the end of the track.

The group split apart and soon each of them (save Twilight) were tucked snugly in their beds for the night. As she drifted off, Rainbow Dash revisited the moment where she shook Soarin’s hoof.

13 - That letter could be something important

“No, Rainbow Dash, no,” Rarity scolded. “You cannot take those rocks with you. They’ll mess up my beautiful costume.”

“You’re the expert on rocks,” Rainbow Dash muttered quietly enough so Rarity couldn’t hear. “Come on Rarity, I already took them off for you this morning.”

Twilight intervened. “Rarity does have a point Dash. The noise could give away our position – not to mention that the sound of a bunch of stones clacking together isn’t one a dragon makes. Besides, I don’t know how far we’ll have to travel or what we might come up against out there. Those bags might get ruined.”

Rainbow Dash waved a hoof. “Your ears are way too sensitive. These don’t make that much noise at all. Look,” she landed and walked forwards and backwards. The rocks scraped and smacked together with every step. “Think of it like some sweet dance music!” She prowled around, jaunting the rocks and making techno sounds with her mouth.

“It doesn’t really fit my style,” said Rarity.

Rainbow Dash gave up the game. I don’t want Spitfire’s saddlebags to get ruined anyway. “Fine,” she sighed overdramatically, “but you’re directly responsible for making me less cool. You, Rarity, it’ll be your fault.”

“How ever will I survive?”

Twilight levitated her sparkle travel bags onto her back. “We’ve wasted enough time already. Spike’s small, but you’d be surprised how fast he can move when he wants something. Let’s go girls.” Twilight rolled up a map and they were out the door, dragon costume and all. It wasn’t exactly small enough to fit into a pack, so it floated along in a faint purple magical aura.

Ponies tried not to openly stare at them, some with more success than others. Berry Punch was enjoying an afternoon drink to get over yesterday’s hangover when she saw the trio pass by, shadowed by Rarity’s demented jeweled dragon. There was a dribbling noise as the rest of the drink poured deliberately onto the ground.

Rarity acted like nothing was out of the ordinary, probably wrapped up in the belief her dragon was so magnificent ponies couldn’t look away. She ignored the attention and continued casual conversation. “Twilight, have you ever been outside Equestria before?”

“No, I haven’t. I’ve only read about it. That’s why Rainbow Dash will come in handy.”

“Uh,” the pony in question responded, “Sorry to burst your bubble, but I haven’t gone very far outside the borders.”

Both unicorns looked shocked. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “You make it seem like it’s so easy to just fly wherever I want like I’ve got nothing better to do.” Rarity and Twilight exchanged a glance. The pegasus let it slide. “Hey, it’s not like I can just up and leave, either. I’ve got ponies here depending on me. Why would I need to go anywhere else?”

“For the adventure of course!” Rarity said with a flourish. “I always thought that would be quite like you, Rainbow Dash. I must admit I’m a bit surprised.”

“You know me, gotta keep the ponies guessing.” She flew in a tight loop and continued hovering next to her two unicorn friends. Wow, this is too easy. I miss those saddlebags already. “So where are we going anyway, Twilight?”

“I can’t say for certain because none of the authors in my collection studied dragons enough to know where the migration ends. I’m pretty sure it should only take a few days on hoof, mostly because we’re traveling so light.”

Rarity cut in. “If we run out of food I am not eating grass.”

“I have a rough estimate of where we’re going pieced together from what I know. See?” The map extracted itself from Twilight’s saddlebag and unfurled. It was hoofdrawn. “I had time to figure this out while Rarity put our disguise together.”

Rainbow Dash flicked an ear. “Sweet.” Crap, we’re relying on that? This might turn into a quest after all. Hey, alright! Rainbow Dash and the Quest for the… Hmm. And the Quest to Kick Every Fierce Dragon’s Butt. Yeah! “Are we there yet?”

“Are we there yet?”

“No!” Twilight and Rarity shouted in unison.

Late last night they’d taken the low road past Canterlot, skipping the city altogether and heading for the wide, grassy mountain pass that led North. All three ponies had gazed at Canterlot as it went by on the cliff overhead, all for very different reasons.

Most everything in this direction and beyond was countryside. A friendly family that sorta reminded Rainbow Dash of the Apple family had taken them in for the night, much to Rarity’s delight. The unicorn did not enjoy real camping. This was going to be an interesting trip.

After lunch (trail mix, woo!) the rain started. A big fat drop struck Rarity square on the nose.

“Rainbow Dash, did you spit on me?”

“What? No!” A cold droplet winked out on her wing, followed by a few others pelting the unicorns below.

Twilight turned her head forlornly to peer at her bags. “I didn’t think to bring umbrellas.”

“Rainbow Dash, could you be a dear and do something about this weather?” Just ahead the pattering of rain turned into a steady downpour. “I’m sorry I accused you. I thought perhaps it was another one of those things you and Applejack are so fond of.”

Poor Rarity knew nothing about the sacredness of a spit pact.

“No prob, I got this.” She rushed up to open a path in the gray blanket overhead, thankful for something to do.

The rain went on for a long time, finally turning to a misty drizzle after dark. Everything was cold and wet when they decided to stop for the night. The flaps on the pack Twilight had given Rainbow Dash opened and collapsed stakes came out, stretching to full length midair. A blue glow pulled the tent fabric from the other half of the pack. The unicorns made camp in a matter of minutes.

No pony was in a particularly great mood after trudging through the rain for hours and sitting in the dripping shelter of some trees at night. Rarity made it perfectly clear the only reason she was doing this was Spike. Twilight made that one face she made when her friends were irritating her while she was trying to study. Rainbow Dash was obviously the best behaved, and she didn’t do a single thing to annoy anypony.

“Oof! Rainbow Dash, that was my side you just kicked,” Rarity complained. It was a snug fit in the little tent for all three of them.

“Sorry. I thought you were a cloud sneaking up on me.” She’d only been half awake when the white thing moving in the corner caught her eye.

Twilight growled, pillow over her head. “First Spike and now you two. Go to sleep already.”

The mood improved in the morning, as did the weather. Rainbow Dash slipped out early to stretch her wings and scout ahead. Not too far along she spied Spike having morning tea. There’s no way he is ever going to match up to a real dragon. Maybe I should stop him now before we cross the border. She didn’t.

Twilight and Rarity did not seem surprised she’d gone missing. They were walking amiably along the migration trail when she came back. The pack with the tent in it floated up and dropped itself onto her back.

Rarity peered up through clear blue eyes. “If you’d brought the whole weather team, we could have weather this nice the whole way there.”

“Speaking of that,” Twilight said, “what are they going to do while you’re gone?”

Rainbow Dash dropped altitude to hover alongside them. “Eh, I put Derpy in charge.”

“You WHAT?” Twilight’s eyes were round.

“Heheh. Nothing I can’t fix when we get back. Besides, you should’ve seen the look on her face. Totally worth it.”

The hills planed out into flat grassland ahead. Beyond that were the snowy mountains marking Equestria’s Northern border. There were no signs of ponies anywhere past this point; Rainbow Dash had only been to this area a hooffull of times (so, uh, one).

Twilight rolled up her map and wedged it back into her pack. “Look, I can see the border from here. We should stop for the night when we get close and cross the mountains tomorrow. Tackling them at night is a little too dangerous.” Twilight added as an afterthought, “Even for you, Rainbow Dash.”

Rarity had an idea. “Why not teleport us across so we save time?”

“I wish I could, but teleportation has its limits.” Twilight looked pensive after she said this.

They traveled in silence for a while. Rainbow Dash kept just far enough ahead that she didn’t have to look at Rarity’s dragon costume. Impatience gripped her. “Are you sure we can’t go any faster? I could’ve been there, like, days ago.”

“We have to stay behind Spike,” Twilight rationalized.

Rainbow Dash sighed. She’d never understand how earthbound ponies could stand to travel so slow. Luna forbid, they actually had to walk around things like trees and mountains.

She looked down. Twilight had pulled out a book and was trotting along and reading; Rarity’s eyes were ringed with her petite red glasses as she effortlessly sketched design concepts without breaking stride. Twilight had passed the dragon costume into Rarity’s care at some point, even though neither of them had said anything. Whoa. Okay then.

No one tried to stop her when she went off to fly on her own for a while with complete, total freedom and not a care in the world.

Heh. Maybe one care. She looked around to make sure nopony was watching. All clear. She took a few strides down the stray cloud she’d found and walked right off the edge, plummeting over like a pegasus not paying attention to where it was going. Can’t say I didn’t expect that, Rainbow Dash thought as she flipped over from a headfirst fall.

She tried again slower, but the result was the same. No matter what she did, she always fell off. The rainbow pony probably looked like a crazy dog chasing its tail she got on and off the cloud so many times. “Come ooon, what’s the trick to this?” Heck, she even tried thinking about it. Whatever sly thing Soarin’ knew that she didn’t, she couldn’t figure it out.

Guess I just have to wait. Man, I hate waiting.

A whole evening of waiting later, they made camp at the border near the base of the mountains. It was a little early for Rarity to insist on getting beauty sleep, so the trio found themselves with nothing to do but talk inside the tiny tent.

That grave error dawned too late on the pony there with the most colors. Oh no, being stuck in a small space with Rarity is the worst.

“So Twilight, who’s the newest in your book?” the interrogation began. Too bad Rainbow Dash was too lazy to escape.

“I just started reading this book called Black Beauty, and the main character-”

“Not that kind of book, sweetie. And you really shouldn’t read that one.”

Twilight slid effortlessly from one thought to the other. “Oooh, you meant… Well, you know me, Rarity. Between studying friendship and magic, taking care of the library, and making sure Spike doesn’t make himself sick eating ice cream, I haven’t had any time for dating. Frankly, I don’t even know if I’m interested anymore. There’s so much to learn. I don’t know if I could give up all of the time to be in a relationship.”

“Pish posh!” Rarity waved a hoof. “I’m not used to hearing excuses from you, Twilight. Surely there’s somepony you must have your eyes on.”

“No, not really, but maybe.”

Rarity seemed to be following a trail Rainbow Dash couldn’t see. “Well, who is it?”

“I…”

“Oh, my. I’ll start naming ponies and you tell me when to stop. Let’s start with us. There’s me, of course, but no, I didn’t think so. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Caramel, Pokey Pierce, Lucky, there’s that stallion with the timer on his flank – oh, yes, Time Turner.” Rarity was kind of a genius at this. There was no way Twilight was going to be able to keep a straight face when the right name came up. “Carrot Top, Miss Redheart, Lotus Blossom.” The elegant seamstress took a breath. “Maybe one of the Apple family – do I really have to name them all?”

Twilight’s crimson face tried to hide behind her bangs like Fluttershy, but there obviously wasn’t enough mane. “No, really, that’s okay.” Here it came, the moment they’d all been waiting for. Twilight turned the conversation. “What about asking Rainbow Dash? I’m sure she knows more about relationships than me.”

“Oooo, yes. After all, I don’t even have to play this game with Rainbow Dash.”

Shoot.

The blue pegasus rolled over so she was facing the tent wall. “You know I gave all that up to focus on my career.”

“Mmm. And what would Soarin’ have to say to that?”

Rainbow Dash flourished the wing not pressed against the floor. “’Woo-hoo! I can’t wait to have Rainbow Dash on my team! She’s the best pegasus in the sky!'”

“You can’t even spare us a little detail?”

“This message has been brought to you by the Rainbow Dash for Wonderbolt campaign. Thanks, and have a nice day! Beep.”

Day four. Rarity was looking a little worse for the wear. Twilight seemed to be holding up surprisingly well. Rainbow Dash was bored.

She could take naps and catch up with them later, but it felt kinda cheap. What if they ran into something and needed her help? Slipped and fell down the mountainside? Better to tough it out together.

They were officially no longer in Equestria. There was no path through the mountains, and the incline of even the shortest peak they decided to climb was steep. Gray slate merged with slippery ice. Twilight spelled Rarity’s hooves and her own so they wouldn’t slip on the precarious surface. Ice became snow, fed by a constant stream of flakes from the sky. Rainbow Dash could sense the wind picking up ahead. How in Celestia’s bedchambers did Spike get through this?

Rarity was the first to notice they were not alone. “Yoo-hoo! Hello there!” her sweet voice rang out, the one that was a trap. The thick-coated strangers were immune to Rarity’s charm. Black mountain sheep looked their way, expressionless. (Or did they? Seriously, what was with all that wool – could they even see?) It looked warm. Shoulda brought my scarf.

One of the sheep waved, but determinedly turned back to the task of ascending the snowy slope. Tough, powerful legs drove the creatures onward. Slowly but sure-footedly they made their way over the mountain. Where were they going? It was a mystery.

Rainbow Dash came down to the unicorns’ level, hooves just barely avoiding the white powder below. “Hey Rarity, why did the sheep cross the mountain?”

“No, Rainbow Dash. Just… no.”

Turns out the dragon costume did have a use after all: acting as a shield against the inclement weather. Twilight was focused on holding it ahead to protect herself and the other landlocked pony. Rainbow Dash insisted she was cool through chattering teeth.

Suddenly, Twilight’s feet went out from under her. A gasp caught in her throat as a hole opened up underneath her.

Rainbow Dash grasped Twilight’s forehoof in her own before the royally colored pony could topple into the crevice hidden by the snow. “Whoa there. You’re not allowed to bail until we get Spike.”

They crested the mountaintop without further incident. It had been the shortest of all the pointy peaks nearby, and fortunately the only one they needed to deal with. The sheep seemed happy (or unhappy?) to continue along the top of the range to their destination. Rainbow Dash turned downhill to the rest of their own journey. Cool, a rain shadow.

The other half of the mountain was suddenly dry. It was easy to see the sparse, bare ground along the leeward side. The dry area extended a little bit onto the plain below and turned into a forest. Only a small rain shadow, then.

They would reach the woods by midday. A small purple dot entered the auburn colored foliage in the distance. Dash realized she was biting her lip, and silently kicked back her racer’s instinct. She wondered how he’d gotten so far ahead of them. He probably cheated or something.

Twilight was excited. “Come on Rarity, let’s run!”

“Oh Twilight, I really do not think that’s necessary. Besides, I only run when I’m being chased.” Rarity shook off some snow. “What’s that you’re holding, Rainbow Dash?”

The snowy mudsanddirtball she’d scraped up was cold and gritty to the touch.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

Seconds later, the unicorns were galloping full speed down the slope and laughing from the thrill. Rainbow Dash leisurely chased after them. In the end, the only pony who got dirty was herself, since the muddy snow melted and splattered all over her fur. It’d come off on its own. Eventually.

“Hey, look,” Twilight said, still catching her breath. Her eyes focused on a cabin in the woods just barely visible from where they were standing. As the three approached, Rainbow Dash picked up the sound of running water. The direction of everypony else’s ears told her they heard it too.

The log cabin was situated close to a riverbank. An empty pier stretched into the calm flowing water. “Should we try knocking?” asked Twilight.

Rarity looked cautious. “You don’t suppose it’s a pony, do you?”

“Probably not. It’d be like seeing a griffon at home. Or a dragon,” the studied unicorn added, peering at the migration above.

Rainbow Dash scrutinized the vegetable garden next to the home. No bones or huge piles of treasure: check. “Doesn’t look like anything evil to me.”

“Helloooo,” Rarity called. “Anypo, er, anybody home?” No answer.

Twilight looked around. “Oh well. Looks like we can follow the river for now.” Rainbow Dash pulled her snout out of the sweet tasting water by the dock long enough to agree.

The small ledge and marshy grass by the river kept them from walking right next to it, so they moved through the trees instead. Darkness set upon the unfamiliar land.

“And so he went into the cabin,” Rainbow Dash continued her story. “Every room was empty, except for a layer of dust and cobwebs. Thump. Thump. Thump. He followed the sound into the one room he hadn’t checked. It was hard to see because it was dark outside, but he could make out a wooden wardrobe at the back of the room. Thump. The wardrobe shook. Something was inside.”

Rarity and Twilight unconsciously drew closer together as they walked through the forest setting the storyteller had described only a few minutes ago.

“Thump. He had to open it. All of those disappearances, an empty cabin in the woods, he had to know. Slowly, he stepped across the creaking floorboards and went to the now silent wardrobe. Just as he stood before it – thud! – it banged violently against the wall. Then it was still. He reached to open it, tense. At any moment it could jump again. His hoof grasped the door and he threw it open!

It was empty. The left half of the inside was shaded in darkness. The longer he looked at it, the blacker it seemed. There was something there. Heart pounding, he slowly opened the other door. Dim light from the moon illuminated the barren inside of the piece of furniture, just like the emptiness in all the rooms in the cabin. He stared at the dust layering the wooden panels inside the wardrobe and calmed down. The whole thing was only a story in his head. He ran a hoof on the inside panels to be sure there were no secret entrances. There wasn’t anything.

He turned around.

“GGGRRaaaAAH!” Rainbow Dash’s hooves shot out and pressed into Rarity and Twilight. The two jumped in fright. “The hollowed eyes of a dripping black carcass standing immediately behind him were the last thing he ever saw.”

Nobody said anything for a while. Twilight and Rarity took creeping, cautious strides and cast glances into the shadows everywhere around them.

Rainbow Dash could sense a presence following them, but it was too dark to see. She didn’t want to turn around. The presence grew stronger. Quickly, she lashed her head around and gazed into the darkness behind her. Something moved. She forced her mind to rationalize the alien shapes waiting, still in the night. It’s a tree stump. We just passed it.

How come every time I tell that story I get messed up too?

All she had to do was turn her head and that carcass would be standing right there, right in front of her. Turn around.

“Let’s stop.” Rarity supplemented her words by drawing the tent stakes out of Rainbow Dash’s saddlebags. Nobody argued. Dash collected wood as close to camp as possible and Twilight lit a fire. The cool pink stripe in her mane flashed as she brought out graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows. They were all so freaked out it would be difficult to enjoy even s’mores.

Rainbow Dash picked out a prime marshmallow branch and peeled off the extra twigs. “I could tell a gross story now.”

Rarity nervously ran a brush through her frazzled purple mane. “That’s quite alright Rainbow Dash. I think you’ve done enough storytelling for today.” Brush, brush, brush. “Twilight, maybe you can think of something more… uplifting.”

“Oh, well, I don’t know. I’m not as good at off-the-hoof narrating as Cheerilee.”

“Please?”

“Maybe I can tell a story that happened to me instead of trying to remember one. Have I ever told you the magic kindergarten glue story? No wait, something uplifting. How about my first kiss?” She hesitated. “Er, now that I’m thinking about it, that won’t do either. There was the time I got lost in the supermarket. Nope, that’s depressing too. Snubbed a party invitation from Canterlot, got separated from my foalsitter, misspelled ‘genial’, misspoke ‘clock’ during a spell, that horrible accident at the School for Gifted Unicorns… Ugh, never mind! I’ll just make something up.” Twilight slammed two graham crackers together and bit into them with a vengeance.

She told a story about a Prince who never left his castle because he didn't want to get married. Princes always had a tendency to fall into those sort of things. Twilight finished with a dose of sarcasm so thick their ears got stuck in it. Rarity smiled, entertained. Time to dig in to those s’mores.

“Hey guys, watch thfis.” Rainbow Dash already had three jumbo marshmallows in her mouth. “Seffen, eifft, fifn, fffn, fffffn.” There wasn’t any more room. “FFnnff.”

“Oh dear, I think she’s trying to tell us something,” Rarity said.

“I think you might be right, Rarity.”

Rainbow Dash puffed a string of mellowed mumbles. Twilight took a crack at decoding it. “I want to… eat these?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head in the negative. “Ffnng fn.”

“I’m going to,” Rarity got the first part, “keep a younger colt?”

That wasn’t it. Twilight’s turn. “I’m going to kick a thunderbolt?”

Rarity jumped right in with a saucy smile. “I’m going to kiss a Wonderbolt.” Rainbow Dash fired one of the marshmallows from her mouth and it impaled itself on Rarity’s horn, sticking there like a speared cocktail olive. Sweet, sweet revenge.

Dash piled the remaining puffs out of her mouth and stuck all of them on her perfect roasting stick. She held the marshmallow lightning rod next to the fire. None of them were going to burn or turn the perfect golden brown, but she would roast the most marshmallows the fastest: just the way she liked it. “The only Wonderbolt who’s getting kissed here is me,” she asserted.

Twilight’s curiosity got the best of her. “Have you gotten an invitation yet? I suppose that’s a silly question. We would know if you had.” It was easy to imagine a super hyped pegasus racing through town and breaking things in excitement.

“Actually, the invites go out the morning of the Trial.”

“That’s strange,” said Twilight, mulling it over. “But I guess it would help keep ponies from getting stressed out ahead of time about competing. They’d also have to be willing to be able to drop everything to be a part of the team.”

Rarity inquired, “How did you know when they go out?”

“I know everything about the Wonderbolts,” the speedster said without skipping a beat.

After a restless night’s sleep (Rarity wouldn’t let Rainbow Dash into the tent until she washed the mud from earlier off), the three were having breakfast when a pair of flaming birds swooped down and snatched all of their saddlebags, camping equipment and rations and all.

Rainbow Dash groaned, putting her hoof to her face. Now she was certain phoenixes lived to play tricks on ponies. She watched the disappearing flames. “You know what Fluttershy would say? She’d probably tell us they were parents taking food to their babies.”

Suddenly none of them felt like chasing the birds.

Rarity stomped a hoof, powerless. “I am not eating grass!”

Twilight sorted through the few things they had sitting out. “Don’t worry Rarity, I’ll cook for you.”

“Never mind, I shall eat the grass.”

“Come on Rarity, stop pushing.” Rainbow Dash was still trying to carry Twilight and walk without tripping on the fringe of the dragon costume.

“I’m not pushing, you’re the one standing still.”

Dash muttered, “What is this, the three stooges?”

Twilight bonked Rainbow Dash on the head. “No. Look, he’s getting away, let’s go! Giddyup Rainbow Dash!”

Why do I always end up being the one ridden? Somebody carry me for a change! “Fine, fine, I’m moving, see?”

Dragons were stupider than she thought. Not only did they buy Rarity’s dragon costume, but the three ponies fooled them the whole day. They fooled the dragons right up until Twilight threw the fabric off and leapt to the ground in order to defend Spike. Rainbow Dash immediately jumped to fighting mode. Augh, why’d you do that Twilight? We could’ve scared them off. She tried anyway. “Nopony’s gonna lay a claw on him,” she threatened. No dragon. Whatever.

She evaluated the situation while the two unicorns tried to look menacing. Let’s see, two overprotective ponies, one baby dragon, one unhatched egg, and me. We could make breakfast. Aaand, yep, that’s it, I’ve got nothing.

“Run away!” Spike raced off with the egg and took their group’s morale with it. The remaining ponies broke into frantic galloping (or flapping) in the opposite direction of three majorly ticked off dragons.

Rainbow Dash willed her friends to go faster, faster, faster. She stared over her shoulder at the furious beehive of teeth and claws chasing them. A burst of magic sputtered like a stalled chariot from Twilight’s horn.

Are you nuts? We’re five days out! Shoot lasers at them or something!

Rainbow Dash was going to be the first to go down. It didn’t even cross her mind that she could outfly everything here, because she wasn’t about to leave her friends defenseless. If anypony was getting their battle scars today, it would be her. See how the Wonderbolts like that. All I gotta do is survive. I think I can pull that off. She bit her lip, realizing she’d gotten ahead of the others.

And was in Ponyville. Twilight crawled on the ground, beat. Impossible. She’d teleported all of them all that way? That wasn’t the biggest thing on Rainbow Dash’s mind, though.

“Flipping feathers Twilight, I was about to get some battle scars!”

Rarity fussed, concerned. “And ruin your beautiful face? I certainly hope not!”

Oh well. Group hug, the end.

~~~

“Soarin’. Soarin’, get up!” He snorted awake to the pounding on his door. It was the first time he’d gotten enough sleep in weeks. Never a dull moment at the Wonderbolt headquarters.

Fleetfoot’s pounding turned into woodpecker rapping at an insane speed. The door vibrated.

“I’m up, I’m up.” Faded dream memories of a certain colorful pegasus lingered in his mind. He wanted to lie there and remember what the dream was, but…

“Meeting at Cluster Mess Hall in ten.”

Normally today he would have been off training Rainbow Dash, but she was Luna knows where now and he had free time. Key word: had.

Ten minutes later, one of the guards ushered them to the long strategy table. “Let’s get to business. We received word from Princess Celestia about hostile activity near Appleloosa. The Elements of Harmony were tasked with the job, but there’s been no response. Now the responsibility falls to you.”

Was there standard procedure for the phrase “the Elements of Harmony are not responding?” He hadn’t paid close attention to them, but something felt wrong about it. Heroes were supposed to be there for you.

Leave it to the Wonderbolts to save the day.

“Get on with it,” Fleetfoot interrupted the guard’s elaborate speech, which Soarin’ had tuned out. “What do you need our wings for?”

“All the Princess would say was that it was a lion of a problem.”

A slow, sneaky grin widened High Winds’ face. “I think I can tame this myself.” She trotted to the exit. “Any of you are free to come along.”

Rapidfire caught Soarin’s eye. They couldn’t let her go alone, even if it wasn’t dangerous. ‘Hey, I’m calling in the Elements of Harmony,’ was bound to be dangerous, or at least interesting.

The team split up outside the compound. Everypony besides High Winds’ two volunteers had training and sleep to catch up on. At this point, Soarin’s sleep deficit wouldn’t get repaid until he retired or died, so what the heck, why not dig the hole deeper?

The flight was plenty long. Had they taken the train, it would have been an overnight trip. Railways weaved through dusty mountains and parched canyons. The Wonderbolt trio raced along the barren plain on the other side of the mountain ridge. Clumps of dried bracken broke off in their wake. The weeds tumbled in the wind, freed to an endless roll until they burst on some hard surface miles away.

Appleloosa was the farthest settlement in this direction. Average Joe would be surprised high profile ponies like Soarin’ remembered the name of the small outpost. They would understand if they’d ever actually been there themselves and met… him.

“AAAAAAAApleloosa!” High Winds drawled when they flew over the town, which was unusually quiet, like an old Western movie when something bad was about to happen. She didn’t stop. Soarin’ and Rapidfire followed, not sure what they were looking for in the first place.

Rapidfire voiced his concerns about where they were going. “High Winds, are you sure you know what’s out here? This isn’t going to end up like last time, I hope.” The dragon attack on Ponyville was a sore spot for the windy pegasus, who’d led Surprise and Blaze on a flight to chase off a juvenile dragon and found an adult. When the three escaped, the vicious beast had disappeared. No pony was sure what happened.

If High Winds was upset about Rapidfire’s blunt comment, she didn’t show it. “No worries, Rapidfire.” The bushy-maned mare unexpectedly changed course and landed by a pair of defeated buffalo hiding behind a rock. Only one of them was standing. The other lay motionless on the ground.

“What ails you?” High Winds asked matter-of-factly.

The buffalo mourning over his fallen friend stared blankly, seeing something that was not there. “It came through and took everything. It shows up and asks questions, and when we answer, it takes our food. If we don’t answer, it takes our food. We have nothing left. Our strongest warriors toil away in the Appleloosan bakery, but still the beast comes.” The buffalo’s head turned back to the one on the ground. “Harry just had his last pie taken.”

“My pie,” moaned the buffalo from his dusty resting place.

Pie.

Rapidfire jabbed Soarin’ in the side.

“There’s still time,” High Winds said, spreading her wings and taking to the sky.

The monster’s lair couldn’t have been more obvious. Stacks and stacks of pies were strewn haphazardly around a rocky outcrop. Perched lazily atop one of the flat stones was a creature the exact same color as the sand. If they’d been passing by overhead, they might have missed it, even though the creature was easily as large as Discord twice over. Instead of being thin and noodle-like, the magnificent beast was a lion in everything but the face. A long, powerful equine neck supported a horse’s head. Sandy streams of mane bushed wildly around its ears and down the nape of its neck.

High Winds didn’t slow down. She banked sharply and landed on top of the rock directly in front of the beast. Soarin’ and Rapidfire fell in behind her, loaded and ready to attack. To their surprise, their teammate’s white wings opened slightly. ‘Don’t interfere.’ Is she smiling?

More importantly, what the hay is that thing?

The thing didn’t take kindly to being thought of as a thing. “More tiny ponies?” it hissed. Could horses hiss? Apparently they could. “And this time you come to me. This is quite a surprise. Judging from your unusual garb, you must be their champions, yes? Excellent. Once I’ve done away with you, I can go back to collecting these pies.”

The tufted end of a lion’s tail flicked around ferocious paws. “The game is simple. I will ask you questions, and when you can’t answer them, I throw you over this ledge.” The animal’s blank stare surveyed the landscape behind the Wonderbolts. “Do not think I overlooked your wings.”

Soarin’ stuck his lower lip out stubbornly.

“New rules,” High Winds said. “You ask me the questions, and when I answer all of them, I get to ask you one. Get it wrong, and you release the hostages and go back to the desert.”

A catty, Cheshire grin on the horse’s face revealed rows of sharp teeth. “Very well. What,” it haughtily drew out the w part of the word, “is the airspeed velocity of an-“

“Pfff. You’re going to waste one of your questions on that? You may as well ask me what walks on four legs, or what contains a golden treasure but has no key.”

“I suppose if you wish to make your demise so expedient, then you may exercise your free will in that way.” An empty pie tin rolled off the beast’s ledge. Its voice rolled in the air as it recited:

Black and black against the sky,
The more of me, the more that die,
and so my name it does not lie,
but ponies claim they don’t know why.
What am I?

High Winds flicked an ear. “A murder of crows.”

Energy crackled in jet black eyes as they surveyed the Wonderbolt with renewed interest. “So there is more to you than the wind beneath your wings, I see.”

“I’ve yet to see proof you are more than the pies crowded at your paws.”

The beast didn’t move so much as a hair. “All you must do is get the next question wrong and you will know.” It paused. Then it said,

A buffalo walks into a room full of strangers, who all greet him with familiarity. How can this be?

"Just because they're stranger than he is doesn't mean they can't be friends. Or family," High Winds added with a smirk.

And why is it that all creatures but ponies lack the thing known as a cutie mark?

“Because it’s what’s on the inside that counts.”

“How unusually astute. And here I was expecting the typical stuttered scientific explanation.”

Rapidfire fiddled with a loose rock, giving away the fact that this was exactly what his rational answer would have been. Soarin’ could barely keep up with his own thoughts; he was still trying to unravel the layers beneath each question when High Winds countered it.

The lionhorse looked more amused than anything. “As all of those appear too easy for you, I’ll give you one last puzzle. Explain how a simple, impoverished, weak horse comes to rule a kingdom using nothing but her own tack.”

“A moment, please.”

Sand whirled at the lead Wonderbolt’s hooves while the threatening statue spoke. “A ploy. You do not know the answer to this puzzle.”

High Winds thrust out a foreleg, head tilted toward the ground in concentration. The sand slowed, lying restive around the pegasus as if in wait.

An invisible signal passed between Soarin’ and Rapidfire. Maybe they were fast enough to rescue High Winds before the monster could throw her off the ledge. The stallions tensed in a motion imperceptible to any but the most focused observer.

High Winds put her hoof down. “She takes her own burdens and saddles them on someone else, then harnesses the power of ambition, greed, and determination. No one can halter, and without a hitch, a tack is easy. She uses what’s left to stirrup a bit of trouble, and when every horse has blinders on to everything but that, she puts the kingdom under her rein.”

Nobody moved. High Winds went on, unimpeded, “Now you will uphold your end of the game. Answer my riddle correctly, or go back to whence you came.”

No matter who you ask, I’m exactly the same
Though the smarter you are, the more I’ll drive you insane
for the prize I promise is unobtainable, fool
and any enemy who gives me is merciless and cruel.

Wind ruffled the horse’s golden mane while it contemplated.

Soarin’ rubbed his eyes. No, it was happening. The lion paws were slowly fading away into streams of sand like a bleeding hourglass. Wind whipped up the troughs of sand as the monster continued dissolving, its horse face frozen in thought the entire time. A whirlwind of sharp granules rose around the creature and devoured it, scattering sandy particles to the wind. The rock was bare.

“It didn’t know the answer,” Rapidfire said plainly to High Winds.

“Nay,” she neighed.

Soarin’ looked at all of the treasure left behind. Buckets and carts of foods were wedged between the pies. Now all the three ponies had to do was tell the town and the buffalo herd to come collect their things.

Soarin’ assessed the pies again. “Do you think they’ll reward us?”

High Winds and Rapidfire put on their blank faces during the ride home, ignoring Soarin’s happy, sloppy munching. Rapidfire asked High Winds what the answer to her riddle was.

“A wordsmith never reveals the answer. You may try to solve it, though. There is a price for every time you fail.”

The stormy gray stallion puzzled over this for a while on his own before he dropped back to where Soarin’ was.

Soarin’ licked the remaining pie off a hoof. “You want my help? I’m not any good at this sort of thing,” he reminded his friend.

“At this speed we have approximately four hours and sixteen minutes before we reach Canterlot. What were you planning to do that whole time?”

“Daydream. Fly ahead and get us some late night takeout,” Soarin’ shrugged.

“Great. Help me figure this out, then. It’ll take your mind off Rainbow Dash.”

“Huh? But I wasn’t thinking-“

“You were about to.”

“…”

He got me.

The two pegasi puzzled it out while they rode the paths of least resistance cut by High Winds at the tip of the V formation. First they thought of things that were the same no matter who you were: time, nothing, the future, bits, day and night. All of those answers seemed too common to be something High Winds made up. Rapidfire pointed out that most of them didn’t fit the other parts of the riddle, either.

“What about a book, Rapidfire? Books are always the same no matter who reads them.”

“Perhaps, but they’re easier for smart ponies to understand, not harder. Plus, knowledge is something obtainable by reading a book, unless you were thinking along the lines of ‘the more you know, the less you realize you know.’ It still doesn’t fit the last part about a merciless enemy giving it to you.”

The more Soarin’ tried to figure out the riddle, the more confused he got. Rapidfire was determined to solve it. The gray pony suddenly snapped his wingtips. “I’ve got it.” He called over to High Winds. “A broken promise.”

“Nope. Now you get to switch spots with me.”

“Love. It’s unrequited love, right?”

“And now you can swap the positions of our portraits at the base,” High Winds whinnied, taking the easy spot next to Soarin’. “What about you? Want to take a whack at the egg Rapidfire can’t crack?”

“I dunno. What’s in it for me if I win?”

“A riddle that can outsmart a sphinx."