Rum Raisin Brandy

Chapter 2

The skiy over Equestria was calm and fair, tinted a mild blue with small puffy clouds sparsely dotting the air. Two arcs of light streaked through the serene blue yonder and touched down in a glen in the middle of Whitetail Wood.

The beams condensed and formed the shapes of Midi and Crescendo. The pegasus shook himself and stretched his legs.

"Wow!" Crescendo exclaimed, "That was tingly! Is that what being Megaman feels like?"

"I wouldn't know," Midi said, letting out a slow yawn, "Let's just set up camp. I need a nap after casting all those big spells."

"Right, right," Crescendo nodded, and helped his unicorn friend unpack their tent.

Once the three-room tent was set up, Midi immediately went in, layed out his bed roll, and fell right asleep.

Crescendo smiled at the small unicorn and swore he would pay his friend back for bringing him to this amazing land. The excitement caught up with him, making the pegasus squee. "I'm really here! In Equestria!" He ran outside and took in a deep breath of the sweet forest air, then looked up at the opening through the canopy tree leaves.

He unfurled his wings and grinned. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained!" With a powerful flap, Crescendo shot himself into the air and immediately arced back and fell right on his muzzle. "Ow... it looked so much easier on the show."

Crescendo got to his hooves and tried again, this time making a conscious effort to flap more evenly, and managed to keep his lift. In moments, he was above the trees, but his wings were already growing tired of their first time use. He grabbed onto a cloud, pleased to see that he really could grasp it like a solid object, and climbed on top to catch his breath.

The spectacle of the land below him took his breath away. About a mile from his little cloud, he saw Ponyville. It wasn't the smooth, Flash-gradient town he knew from the show, but despite its realism, it still looked like a perfect town you'd see on a post card.

Leaning forward, his pegasus eyes zoomed in like a raptor, allowing him to observe the citizens down below as though he were only a few feet away from them. "Wow!" He giggled. "Pegasus eyes rock!"

He retracted his view and stood up, then spread his wings once more. "I think I'll try gliding this time." Crescendo lept forward and braced wings, riding warm air currents and carefully tilting his wings, learning how to control his flight path.

"LOOK OUT BELOW!"

A polychromatic blur shot past, making Crescendo lose control and go careening towards the ground. He backpedalled as hard as he could, but couldn't stop himself before crashing into a tree. He strained and pulled his head out of the trunk, then fell to the ground with a loud oof and thud.

"Brbrbrbrbrbrbr!" Crescendo shook his head rapidly and looked for the falling object that cut off his flight, and saw Rainbow Dash face-down in the dirt. "D-Dash! Oh, I'm sorry! Lemme give you a hoof!" He ran over to help the cyan mare off the ground.

"Heh, thanks," said Rainbow Dash, brushing soil out of her mane, "Wait a second, have we met before?"

"Um, I, uh!" Crescendo bit his lip as Midi's words rang in his head.

We absolutely can't let anypony know we're bronies. It would raise too many questions, and they may even feel threatened by us.

Of course Midi didn't need to remind him of this. It was common sense that you didn't tell somepony you've been spying on them most of their lives.

"W-well, you remember the young fliers competition a few years back?" Crescendo asked.

Rainbow immediately brightened up. "Oh, I see now! You're a fan of mine, eh?" She beamed at him.

Crescendo allowed himself a fanboy giggle. "I think 'fan' is a bit of an understatement. You're a legend! The first mare to master the sonic rainboom!" He put his hooves to his face and squeed.

Rainbow's grin widened. "Legend... I'm a legend!" It was her turn to squee, and she did it with gusto.

Both pegasi broke into fan giggles.

"Oh yeah, I never got your name!"

Crescendo put his hoof to his chest. "I'm Crescendo Wolfang. My friend and I are hoping to move into Ponyville, but we need to raise money to have a house built."

"Cool," Dash said with a grin, "And we should totally go flying together sometime. I'd love to hit the sky with a fan some time!"

"Uh, actually, about that..." Crescendo rubbed the back of his head. "I, um, I'm not the best flier. I... I doubt I could keep up."

"Well, that sucks," said Rainbow, losing her high, "But I'd still be up for giving it a shot sometime. Whadda ya say?"

"That'd be so awesome!" Crescendo squished his cheeks between his hooves.

Rainbow laughed. "You know, you remind me of somepony. Can't put my hoof on it."

Crescendo grinned. "Heheh. I'm sure you'll figure it out. Anyway, I should probably head out and start looking for a job. See ya around sometime?"

"You bet!" Rainbow winked. "Later!" She crouched down and then shot into the air like a bullet.

Crescendo followed the rainbow trail with his eyes until the cyan mare vanished into the distance. "Wow!" He tried to take off like her, but again he lost his balance and crashed. "Ugh... Midi never said flying would be this hard."

The pegasus decided he'd had enough for now and went back to the camp. He went into Midi's room and nudged his friend awake.

"Nngh... whuh?" Midi blinked, then yawned and smacked his lips. "Oh, hey, Cres. How long was I out?"

"Not long," Crescendo answered, "Hey, do you think it'd be alright if I went into Ponyville and ask about the job at the farm?"

The unicorn blinked drearily. "Uh, I guess so. Do you know the way?"

"Eeyup!" Crescendo nodded, "I was practicing flying eadlier and saw the town from a cloud. By the way, clouds feel amazing!"

Midi smiled. "Alright then. Lemme finish my nap, and then I'm gonna go gem hunting."

Crescendo tilted his head. "Hunting?"

"Well yeah," Midi said, "You don't think the diamond dogs are just gonna hand them over, do ya?"

"Oh, OK." Crescendo started to leave. "Will you be alright on your own?"

Midi nodded. "Yeah. If you hear explosions, I've got everything in hoof."

"OK, cool," Crescendo said and walked out, "See ya later, squirrelly!"