White, puffy clouds scattered across the crystal blue sky. The sun glowed warmly on them and onto the earth below, heating it up and making for a pleasantly warm day.
A lighter, sky blue pegasus streaked past a few of the clouds, shooting right through them and disintegrating them. Her rainbow-streaked mane and tail blurred along with her body against her dust trail n the sky. The fastest flyer alive and the current bearer of the Element of Loyalty, Rainbow Dash, had chosen this day of all days to take advantage of the perfect weather and decided to soar through it.
She let out a few cheers of excitement as she felt the adrenaline pump through her veins and her body gain altitude and speed. She flapped her wings, letting them stop and stand out still a few times to catch an upcoming thermal, lifting her into the air even higher. She felt a cool draft coming up from behind so she beat her wings harder in order to stay aloft.
Anyone looking from underneath her would had been blinded as she did figure eights and barrel rolls mid-flight, shading and revealing the sun's rays as the winds turned and twirled her around.
She then felt a warm thermal coming from underneath, this one stronger than the other ones she had felt today. She took the liberty to ride it upside-down, closing her eyes and savoring the warm, cushioning feeling of the warm air rising and the sun on her face.
Suddenly, she saw a shadow block the light through her closed eyes. She opened them once more, revealing her magenta orbs. She saw a shadowed pegasus figure pass in-front of her and into the distance.
"Hey" she called, and wasted no time flipping herself upright again and start beating her wings after her. The mysterious flyer, shadowed by the sun above her, was quite the formidable flyer, but only a little slower than Rainbow Dash, as seen when Rainbow the gained on her.
"Hey" she called out. "What was that all about?" The pegasus didn't say a word, but then folded her wings in and started plummeting towards the ground. Rainbow copied her and dove after her. Both pegasai started falling freely through the air, towards the ground, till the pegasai in front of Rainbow did something different and unusual.
Instead of spreading out her wings to slow down her descent, the pegasai reversed her angle of descent, twisting her body so that her head went upward while her body thinned out and she put out her hind legs first. She then spread out her wings and struck them against the air, bursting up forward up into the sky right before she touched the ground.
Rainbow's eyes widened in shock as she witnessed this feat, only to realize she was still falling and beating her wings quickly in order to save herself from smashing into the earth. After she had regained flying straight again, she saw that she was a few feet under her mysterious flying buddy.
Then the pegasai dove again, this time heading towards a cloud, not to bust through but to land on. Rainbow watched in shock and felt a memory coming on as she saw a gold and yellow thunderbolt streak trail followed after the pegasai. All at once she knew who it was.
She flew after her, her trail coming in the same colors as her mane and tail. She landed on the cloud with a thump, some cloud dust rising up from her landing. She stared at the pegasai in front of her, finally recognizing who it was.
"Lightning Dust" Rainbow said, as the colors and form of her former Wonderbolt Academy Training Cadet partner come into light. A female pegasus a pale turquoise coat, carrot orange eyes, a golden-crested mane and tail, with a cutie mark consisting of a lightning bolt and three stars stood before her. Known for her gutsy attitude and for getting expelled for causing a freak tornado that nearly sent her friend's to their doom, Lightning Dust was no stranger to her. The former Wonderbolt trainee gave a sheepish smile and a small wave with her wing.
"Hey Dash. How've ya been" Lightning Dust asked. Her voice had gotten a little more raspy since they had last seen each other, but it was still recognizable. Rainbow dash 'humphed' and walked closer to her with her wings sticking straight up.
"Oh, good I guess. How've about you? Get expelled from any more flying schools lately" she asked in a sarcastic voice. Lightning Dust blushed and scratched the back of her neck nervously.
"Well no actually. I've actually joined the Cloudsdale mailpony service. Figured they could use a fast and maneuverable pony like me to get the mail delivered" she said quietly. She then stared straight into Rainbow's eyes. "But that's not why I'm here. I came here actually, looking for you" she admitted. Rainbow's eyes widened.
"What" she asked, her shock not escaping her voice. Lightning Dust nodded and walked closer to her.
"Yes. The real reason why I'm here is because I wanted to come and find you" she inhaled deeply before saying, "and I want to say I'm sorry."
"What" Rainbow Dash repeated, still not over her rapidly increasing shock. Lightning Dust help up her hoof to silence her.
"I know, I know I acted recklessly and almost hurt your friends with the freak tornado during cloud-bursting training, but getting expelled made me realize how harmful and hurtful my actions were to everyone else. I was stupid and I can only ask for your forgiveness, even though you must hate me now" she finished, looking down at her hooves on the cloud they were standing on.
Rainbow Dash blinked and broke out of the rest of her shock. She stared at the pegasai in front of her. Her eyes were downcast and her wings drooped to her hooves. It was a classic form of submission for a pegasai, used when one has done wrong and wishes to be forgiven. Lightning Dust felt truly sorry for her actions and really wanted forgiveness.
Rainbow sighed and walked over to her and extended a hoof and touched her shoulder, making Lightning Dust look up.
"You may had made me sprain my wing, knocked our classmates off the obstacle course and nearly sent my friends into a tailspin with the crack tornado idea of yours, but I can tell you're sorry and I forgive you" she replied. Lightning Dust's ears perked up.
"Really" she asked. Rainbow grinned at her and nodded.
"Yep. In fact, if you're still up for more cloudbusting, I have an open slot open for a pegasai on Ponyville's weather team. I could put in a good word for you if you like" she said. Lightning Dust grinned widely, her smile genuine.
"Really? I would like that very much. I mean, I like mail-delivering, but it gets rather boring without any excitement every once in awhile" she said. Rainbow slung her foreleg over Lightning Dust's shoulder.
"Well if it means a lot to you, I'll see what I can do to make sure you get the job" she replied. Then Lightning Dust did the most surprising thing yet, one that even caught Rainbow Dash off guard. She twisted her body around so that she was facing her and the threw both of her forelegs around Rainbow's neck, embracing her in a hug. "Thank you" she whispered into her ear. Rainbow seized up at the sudden movement, but then put her other foreleg around Lightning Dust, returning the hug.
After a few more minutes of talking, Rainbow worked out a time and place for Lightning to be for the cloud-bursting job interview, and after another hug, a hoof-bump and a few goodbyes, both headed their separate ways.
As Rainbow changed her course and headed towards her cloud home near Ponyville, she felt something deep inside of her. Her heart felt warm and toasty, and she knew it was from knowing that she had just helped an old friend of her's.
Author's Note
Hope you all enjoyed reading. The cover image is called "Request-Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust" by VladmirMacHolzraum on devianart by the way, just in case you were wondering. The pegasus submission posture is something that I think pegasai would have, seeing as since they have bird wings they would carry some traits aside from flying and sleeping occasionally in trees. Please review and tell me how I did. Sincerely, v.t.7
