Dusty Roads

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Chapter 1

1.

The first thing I remember is feeling clouds under my hooves. My parents had scraped together the bits to let us visit Cloudsdale together. I was too young to know better than to wander off. So while they were sightseeing, so was I, on my own. Clouds and rainbows everywhere. They're the buildings, they're the streets.

You have to be from dirtside to appreciate how different it is to get up into the sky. I meet people who've spent almost their whole lives in Cloudsdale or Las Pegasus or Griffin Keep, and they just don't get the feeling. You go from solid dirt clacking underhoof, to fluffy cumulus that squishes however you want. It's like a dream. Even as a foal you instinctively know how to stomp right through a cloud, or trot on it like a road, or sink in and go "beep beep, I'm a cloud!", or leap as high as you can and belly-flop onto it like the best pillow in the world. I did all of those in the minute or so my parents weren't paying attention. I was so caught up in playing that I fell out of the sky.

I was too young for my wings to do anything. Ended up being a late bloomer. That morning I let myself sink too far until I saw only wisps around me. I had just enough time to yelp and flail before I started falling. Flipping tail over head, spinning out of control. One moment I'd see the cloud city and the next the whole green world below. Beautiful. My wings flapped and I went spread-eagled until I'd righted myself, but that just meant I was going to die with less spinning. I was screaming the whole time, of course.

Go ahead and laugh. I try to tell this story the funny way sometimes, but it really wasn't. I remember thinking, I never got to fly.

You know how in stories like the Daring Do serials, somepony's always about to fall to their death? And some hero saves them by swooping in and slamming into them sideways, just before they hit the ground? That totally doesn't work. It's physics. So what happened was that a tan blur whooshed down past me, and missed, and then matched speeds so he could start slowing me down. And he went, "Hang on, kid!" and I was too startled to keep yelling.

We hit the ground just hard enough to hurt. The blur and I tumbled in a heap of feathers and hooves. When I could stand up I saw him, a bruised pegasus with a dust-grey mane. He looked like he was going to clock me with his left forehoof for being so dumb. I could tell he was trying not to swear, too. He finally said, "Have you thought about starting with a scooter instead of trying to fly at your age?"

I glared up at him. I was angry at the stallion who'd just saved my life. "I wasn't trying to fly! I was just looking around and fell through a cloud!"

He shook out his mane and tail, then spread his wings. His feathers were the same tan as his coat. "Next time, hold your wings out like this." He curved them a little. "You had the right idea with stabilizing your spin, but what you want to do is an emergency glide if you can't generate enough lift." Suddenly the strange pegasus grabbed me, flew up, and dropped me out of the sky!

We were high enough that I'd at least break some bones if he didn't save me again. I'd just stopped being terrified and now I was on my own, falling, with dinky wings. All I could do was throw my wings out to either side, trying to curve them the same way he'd done. The ground rushed up at me. I crashed and tumbled and clutched the ground as though it'd get away from me again.

And the pegasus was already in front of me, nodding. "Good enough," he said.

I stood up on shaking hooves. "What? What the...?" I was afraid to say things like "What the buck?" or "In the name of Celestia why?!"

He said, "I've seen a pegasus or two that had one bad fall, and was timid about flying for the rest of their life. Now you know you can handle yourself if you do fall again, so you're not going to panic and have your wings lock up like you've seen a dragon."

I was still angry at him, but I could see the logic. I had bruises all over, and some of my off-white feathers were lying in the grass. I craned my neck way up to look at the city of clouds and rainbows. My parents were probably as scared as me, and praying to Celestia that they wouldn't see me on the ground in more than one piece. They'd be here to save me any minute.

"Fine!" I said, and stamped one hoof. "Let me try that one more time."

This time it didn't make my heart pound quite so hard. My rescuer took me off of the nice safe ground and dropped me from midair. I still couldn't really fly, but I could stretch my wings and glide down without hurting myself much. I ached all over. Still, I felt stronger. Faster. Better.

The pegasus gave me a curious look. "You know, your mark is a lot like mine."

"Huh? But I haven't got..." I quit looking at the clouds and turned to stare backwards at my own off-white hide. There should have been blank, boring hair on my hip, but it had changed. Instead, a mark like a winged lightning bolt had appeared! I was magically labeled for life. I did what any colt my age would do when he got a mark that awesome: bounce around like an idiot and shout, "Aww YEAH!"

The older pegasus grinned. I spared him a glance and saw the mark on his own flank: a trail slashing through clouds of dust. "I'm gonna go. I don't need the attention and those look like your parents coming down." He put a hoof on my head to get me to quit hopping for joy and pay attention. "Practice your flying, okay, kid? You've got potential. But don't forget to work out your brain too."

"YEAH!" I told him. "Wait, mister. Who are you?"

"You don't know? Heh." He turned away and spread his wings for takeoff. "Dusty Roads. I do a stunt flying show with some friends. Look us up sometime. And good luck with those wings. What's your name?"

"Soren!" I said.

Dusty Roads grinned and pronounced it wrong. Not "SOH-ren," but: "More like Soarin', right?"

My jaw came loose. Everything had come together. My name really did mean something after all, what with the mark of wings. I looked up past the approaching shadows of my parents, past the cloud city, and into the pale blue sky. Up there was where I belonged.

2.

Years later, I was standing on a dark grey nimbus cloud that was itching to rain on somepony.

Spitfire shook me out of my thoughts. "I don't feel right about it. She's one fast filly, all right, but can she handle being with the team?"

I poked at the cloud under my hooves, thinking we should push it over that big apple orchard. The more fallout that part of Equestria got from the rainclouds, the better the harvest. Spitfire had hassled me for months about my supposed obsession with apple pie. I said, "You did test her."

"On the Moonspire Run, yeah." Spitfire had taken our proposed recruit out for a little race, and had picked the craziest place for it. Ever since then we'd been lobbying Their Royal Highnesses to get that place re-opened, even though it's as dangerous as Tartaurus. "But even being good enough to out-fly me doesn't make her a good candidate."

I said, "She eventually took that orange pegasus kid under her wing. That's the right instinct. Join up, and start looking for the one that'll beat you someday." My thoughts wandered off into the clouds.

Spitfire laughed at me. She does that a lot. "I know what you're thinking." She leaned in close to me with her firey orange mane tickling my nose, and switched to a sultry voice. "You, my little pegasus, are fantasizing about just barely losing a race to Rainbow Dash."

I reared back, stammering some kind of denial. Without my flight suit I can't hide a blush nearly as well as Spitfire with her blazing gold coat. "Oh, sure, like you didn't enjoy getting to match wings with somepony who can do the stunt we thought was impossible?"

"In a slightly different way than a stallion might like it," she said, grinning.

"You're merciless. You know that?" I nudged her with a forehoof. "So, what's the problem with inviting her to start training with us? We don't have to commit yet."

Spitfire sashayed past me and pointed down from our cloud. "That. Ponyville." The town filled half of the valley, with the Everfree Forest to the south and Canterlot up on the mountain to the north. "She wants to join the team, but she's already got a great set of friends. What happens if we start demanding all of her time?"

I stepped forward, with my brow furrowed. There ought to be no question about it. "You don't turn down an invitation to the Wonderbolts!"

3.

I was sensitive about that, because I almost had. I knew I belonged in the sky, but I wanted to have more than speed, agility and guts going for me. That meant studying math and science so I could understand things like aerodynamics and weather and pegasus magic. Tearing through clouds is a blast, but it's even more fun if you understand why you can do it. It seems like a lost cause explaining this to people, though. They watch our shows and just think it's all about going fast.

And that's what I'd thought, for years. Dusty Roads had a "barnstorming" show where he'd do these crazy stunts like skimming along the ground at top speed; dodging past the quarray eels of Ghastly Gorge; pretending to fight a dragon that was just unicorns in a low-budget costume; or buzzing through the Tannhauser Gate. Silly stuff. I was focused on studying and working out.

But Dusty was ex-military, too. That's what impressed me when I learned more about him. Served at Stalliongrad on Doe-Day. Some people say actual fighting just shouldn't exist, anywhere in our world, but that's an ideal rather than a fact. Someone has to be willing to keep the peace. Dusty Roads was one of the willing ones. I admired that so much that I flew to Canterlot one day and talked to a recruiter.

But halfway through the interview, a familiar face looked into the office. Dusty was there, and he nickered for attention. "Mind if I have a word with this colt, sir?"

The recruiter saluted and marched out of the office. A clipboard and pen floated along behind him. Dusty snagged the clipboard with one wing and tossed it onto a podium, where he could read the notes. He shut the door and looked me over. "Soarin, right? Haven't seen you in years!"

I ducked my head. "I've seen you, sir. Saw your show once here in Canterlot and once at Fillydelphia." I'd never gotten the chance to speak with him at the performances, though. There were always people mobbing him and his two sidekicks. Ponies, griffins, even a few zebras.

"What're you doing here, son? You didn't strike me as a fighter." He glanced at the clipboard and raised one eyebrow. The recruiter had tested my wing power and everything. "Though you have the raw numbers for it."

"I want to help defend the country, sir. And you were right about flying being my talent." It'd been easy to get people to say my name like Dusty had, once my wings were full-grown. Soarin.

"Don't you have a family to look after? Friends? Pet turtle?"

My ears drooped. "A family near Fillydelphia. But they told me they don't mind me flying off for something as important as the army."

"Got a marefriend?"

"Haven't found the right one."

"Hmm. Want to take a quick flight outside?"

My eyes widened. "With you? Yeah! I mean yes sir!"

We did. Dusty marched me out of the army office and launched himself into the afternoon sky without a word to me. I tried to keep up. It was easy at first, but I realized he was speeding up. The wind whipped through my mane. He smashed into a cloud, kicked it, and used it to flip around to another direction. Too fast for me! I glided until I could spot him. He was above, so I wheeled straight up until I stalled. There's a moment of silence when you do that, when you're falling without actually moving yet. It's frightening, yet peaceful. Dusty was still overhead, so that it seemed like I could never reach him. But I used the stall to streak down, build up speed, and arc forward and up and around. I was so far up, the air grew thin in my lungs. Celestia's sun warmed my feathers without burning them. Far, far below we could see the castle.

I strained my wings to slow down and hover, there at the edge of reality. Where'd he go?

Dusty called down from above and behind me. "You were born to fly, son. But that doesn't mean you have to do it in the toughest, most regimented way possible."

"But I want to get better at what I do, and accomplish something useful with it."

"Do you think fighting is the only useful thing a stallion can do? Come on; look at those wings of yours!"

I looked back at them while hovering. My wings seemed as blue as the sky, like I was only an outline, a blur. Like part of the wind. The elder pegasus was watching me from above, with folded forehooves.

Dusty said, "It's a sad way to look at the world, to think that you need to be grim and dutiful and part of a regiment to make your life meaningful. Be happy. Do what you're best at."

I hadn't come to Canterlot for life lessons. I'd had a goal in mind, a plan for my career. And my old hero was tearing that down. I spun and pointed a hoof at him, glaring. "That's great! But drifting through the clouds doesn't pay, and weather duty is boring. Do you want me to use my talent to carry mail or something?"

"No. I want you to join the Wonderbolts."

We both drifted lower to where the air was thicker, easier on our wings and lungs. It gave me time to think. "But that's..." I didn't want to insult him, to say it was just entertainment. As fun as the shows were to watch, they didn't accomplish anything. "I thought you were basically doing the air shows because you'd retired from the military."

"Retired? Ha! The Wonderbolts started out as an army squad for inspiring talented pegasi to sign up. But it's being phased out of the military, into more of an auxillary unit, and me with it. We can do more good as a business that goes where it pleases. I need a couple of teammates for an expanded show. More stunts and formations. How are you in front of a crowd?"

Dusty was plowing ahead like he just assumed I wanted this. I hovered close to him. "I'm fine in front of crowds. You know why? Because I don't care what anypony thinks of my flying! I don't go around hoping to catch the sunlight and have herds of admirers marvel at me. I fly because I want to know what I'm doing is great, not so that others can tell me how special I am."

Dusty grinned back at me. "That's my attitude. Didn't I tell you our marks are a lot alike? Let the unicorns worry about becoming popular and having people fawn over them. You already know what you are."

The veteran pegasus turned away and drifted lazily over Canterlot. "The best thing about being a pegasus is that you should never have to worry about falling. Not really. Between wings and flying magic and egghead unicorn healers, you can pull whatever wild stunts you want and bounce back. And you can do stupid, crazy things and not give a flying feather what anypony thinks. If anyone asks why you're following your heart instead of doing the obvious, sensible thing, you can let 'em think you're an irresponsible daredevil, a hopeless romantic, or whatever."

His words hurt. Serving the nation was the reasonable thing to do for someone with my talent. I could see myself as the hero of some sort of epic pony war. Or more realistically, being bored out of my skull doing guard duty on the griffin border. Was I being too practical? There was a weight on my back from trying to do what I thought people expected of me. I flopped onto a cloud and stared out at the mountains.

And then I figured out the answer. I could probably be an okay soldier, sure. But mediocre was all I'd ever be. It wasn't practical to do something I wouldn't be my best at. I'd only stand out at the thing I thought was just a fun hobby. And since I could do it well, maybe I could make it meaningful. I said, "What would joining up with you involve?"

"Kicking your flank back and forth across the sky until you're one of the best fliers in Equestria. Then flying for an audience." Dusty circled me, looking carefully. "Can't promise you the job without seeing if you really fit in, but so far I think you will."

I stood on the cloud, lost in thought. I could take whatever training he dished out. "I'll do it."

Later, my parents would ask if I was nervous or overjoyed or what. But that moment with Dusty wasn't anything like that for me. If anything, it was relief I felt. I was good at this, and if I didn't make the cut, I could go do something else. Nervousness was for situations where I wasn't in my element, where there was a big chance I'd fail.

Dusty said, "No 'Yipee!'? No 'Aw, yeah!' like the day you got your mark?"

I shrugged with my wings. "I'm good enough to survive falling off a cloud, anyway. Let's see if I have what you're looking for." I was curious to find out, now.

"All right." Dusty started making lazy loops, getting ready for some real speed. "One question before your tryout, though. Are you going for 'cool customer', then? Or 'irresponsible daredevil'?"

"Huh?"

"Your excuse for doing what you love, of course."

I laughed and hopped off of my cloud, to follow Dusty Roads. "What's yours?"

"Get your own excuse! Now follow my lead with this move..."

Chapter 2

4.

It was humbling to think about the day I joined. Spitfire was saying, "Earth to Soarin. You still there?"

I nodded. "Just thinking. Our candidate seems more like you than like me. She's been trying to show off and get our attention, to the point of landing herself in the hospital at least once. How about if we grab her for a day, and let her get the 'ohmygoshohmygosh' out of her system?"

"Already did, at the flying contest. That was quite a morning."

Almost a really bad morning. Rainbow Dash had started it by flubbing all her moves, getting upstaged by that unicorn friend of hers, and having to save me and Spitfire. From falling, of all fates. Dusty would've called that disaster a royal cluster-buck. And then Dash had acted like we were doing her a huge favor by hanging out with her.

I shook my head. "For Celestia's sake. She's already a national hero, twice over, and she saved our lives. And she still couldn't quit grinning the whole rest of the day, just because she got to fly in private with us. She's got to get over being a fangirl."

"I'm still a Wonderbolts fangirl," Spitfire said. "Hasn't hurt me any."

"I say we bring her in, show her the base, and schedule a few training sessions. It's the only way to start getting her comfortable around us."

Spitfire frowned. "She'll still be terrified of doing something wrong in front of us." And then her expression changed.

"Why have you suddenly got an evil grin, captain?"

"I have an idea."

5.

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh..."

I put one hoof to my face. "I haven't even talked yet."

"But you're here! And that means..." Her grin was bigger than I thought was possible.

We were standing at the door of Rainbow Dash's... castle, I should call it. I got the sense that she made the place this big and fancy just to show off, since she lived alone. She'd hardly used anything but clouds for building the patio and the tower. It would've been dull but for the rainbow spilling perpetually from the top like a waterfall. I said, "Cool it. This isn't the day you're probably thinking it is. Spitfire wanted to talk to you, but I thought you might explode with glee. We'd have feathers scattered everywhere."

Those violet eyes stared at me. Dash scuffed a forehoof against the cloud patio. "So, uh, what can I do for you?" She was trying to look nonchalant now, and failing completely.

"If you've got time, we'd like to have you do some training with us. See if you fit in, give you a tour of --"

"Epona Two!?" She was instantly up in my muzzle in full fangirl mode again. "Yeah, definitely, anytime! How's right now?"

I hated having to do this, but I said "No" to an overexcited Rainbow Dash. "You need to calm down. So, a bit later. How's this afternoon?"

"You mean this afternoon this afternoon? Yeah, sure!" Her eyes flicked back and forth and she seemed as shy as that other pegasus she hangs out with. "But what's going on? Am I joining up with you or what?"

"All I can say is, maybe. Think of it as one step closer. But please, don't drop everything for our sake."

She wasn't listening. "Right! I'll be there! Where? Here?"

I nodded. The poor mare wasn't going to get anything done between now and then. I made a note to come back as close to noon as possible, and took to the air. "See you."

As I flew off I could hear her whooping for joy.

6.

The base's shadow happened to fall on Dash's castle. She was standing there right at noon, of course, and she rocketed up in a spiral to look at it. Epona Two is less military than the original, but it still looks more like some kind of flying vehicle than like a typical cloud building. We've got our wings-and-lightning banners hanging from the walls, and there's wood and even metal worked into it. Magic too. You only get a hint of how sturdy the thing is from looking at the exposed beams.

Rainbow Dash was fluttering around outside, rattling off all the statistics she'd memorized about it. "Eighty wingpower just to move it when the stabilizers are on, six levitation boosters tweaked by Celestia herself, fireless heating system... oh wow. Can we go in? Can I see inside?" Her mane was flopping over her face and it seemed like she hadn't stopped jittering since I last saw her.

The door glittered; it was made of rainbow matter with a locking spell. I pushed it open for her, and we all just let her look around for a minute. Two floors of hardwood, clouds, sleeping stalls, rainbows, exercise machines and other stuff I take for granted. And two other rooms.

"So anyway," I said, "You know me and Spitfire already. And meet Rapidfire and Fleetfoot. Mustang, Concorde, Challenger..." All us pegasi were there, slapping hooves with the newcomer. "And Stardream and and Boilerplate."

Dash was peering at the last two, unicorn and earth pony, with a confused expression. Spitfire said, "We need Stardream on hand for her magic, and Boilerplate works the machinery and does some of the legal and financial stuff."

"Hi. I, uh, admit I didn't know about you two."

The unicorn waved off the slight. I said, "We're about more than flying, and the non-pegasi are part of the team."

Fleetfoot snorted. "They are doing the things that are letting us to the flying, keep." I kind of admired Fleetfoot, a pure-white-maned speedster from Germaney. She was totally focused on perfecting her skill and didn't care about anything else. She was on her way out to pasture, though. That left an opening for someone more colorful. She had her goggles on, hiding her eyes. "Miss Dash, you should always everypony's contribution remember."

Rainbow Dash drooped. "I'm sorry."

Our technology horse, Boilerplate, tapped her on the shoulder to make her look up. "Seriously, it's all right. Want to see the stabilizers and everything?"

"Would I!"

Spitfire added, "Almost everything." Boilerplate nodded.

We gave her the rest of the tour. I'm proud to understand half of what that stallion's talking about when he goes on about laminar airflow and magitechnological vapor density control. That is, how Epona Two doesn't drop out of the sky and why our non-pegasi don't fall through the floor. Rainbow Dash didn't seem to grasp much of the jargon, but the mare was no dodo. I figured I could lend her my old textbooks.

"And what's that room there?" she asked. She looked like she was coming up for air, after listening to a long-winded explanation about inertial stabilizers. (The exact way they work is scary, but fun.)

Spitfire opened the wooden door. "This is his room." Just a little sleeping stall, unused these days. It was full of Dusty Roads' things. We kept all the medals, trophies and photos shiny. Something seemed wrong when I looked in, though.

"Oh, wow!" said Dash. "That's where the goggles came from?"

I froze. "What."

Spitfire turned back to look at me. "They were my property. I bet them on that race with Dash."

I said, "Yeah, they're yours, but they belong in the shrine." There was an empty space on the wall of clouds, above a picture of the old stallion. In that photo he was posing, wings spread, with two bright-eyed recruits. Me in icy blue, Spitfire in flame orange, on either side of the tan man. Dusty's goggles weren't so beat-up then.

Spitfire said, "They're not mine anymore. They're Dash's. Okay?"

I looked away, ears low. "Yeah, all right. It doesn't matter."

Our candidate realized she was hearing an argument, and tried to defuse it. "So anyway, what's this other room off to the side?" That was the only one she hadn't seen yet.

Boilerplate said, "Sorry, but that's the skunk room. Pretend it stinks and leave it alone."

I changed the subject too. "Let's hit the weight room. Are you up for a workout?"

Dash looked relieved that she hadn't stepped in anything too badly. "Anytime."

And... wow. She had wing muscles like you wouldn't believe. Even Fleetfoot looked envious. Needed to work on her legs, but she was a ground runner too. Her weakness was that she wouldn't shut up. I could tell she wasn't putting full effort into the weight machines, because she kept peppering us with questions. Even we didn't know some of the trivia she brought up about our own shows!

We were tired after the training session and all that conversation. Spitfire said, "I think we're done for today. Thanks for..." She avoided saying 'joining us'. "For being here today. We're still not committing to anything, and we've got a couple of shows coming up. So take some time and think about how some regular practice with us would fit into your schedule."

Dash nodded, trying not to look like we'd kept her wound up tight for hours. "Right! It works just fine, so whenever you're available just say the word and I'll be there... for... oh no." Her wings shuddered. "There's somewhere I've gotta be. I promised Rarity I'd do lunch and model some kind of dress for her."

"It's way past lunch," Spitfire said.

Dash was backing toward the exit. "Yeah. I'm really sorry, but I've gotta go. You know where I live! It was great!" She pushed open the door and threw herself at the ground, wings readied.

It felt like the whole base had suddenly gotten a lot quieter. Less colorful, certainly. Spitfire sighed. "It begins."

7.

I don't think she recognized me without the flight suit. I don't look that boring, do I? Finding Rainbow Dash took a team effort, me and Challenger. He spotted her from the sky, and I moved in so that I could show up casually instead of saying "Hi, I'm a Wonderbolt!"

She was hopping impatiently in line at a market stall. I trotted up beside her and looked at what they were selling. "Oatmeal? Are you crazy?"

"Special training diet," she said. She hardly gave me a second look.

"Oh, nice. Going to join the postal service or something?"

"Heck no! I'm gonna... uh..." She finally looked again. "Soarin! What're you doing here?"

Spitfire had captured me and explained her evil plan over breakfast. "Our fearless leader thought I should spend some time with you outside of training. I mean, if that's okay with you."

"Sure it is!" Her wings fluttered uncertainly. "Just hanging out, right?"

We ended up at a cafe, where she seemed proud of the dessert menu. "My friend Pinkie Pie works in the bakery that caters to this place, and Applejack provides the apples."

"Apple pie, huh?"

She said, "Yeah, I figured you'd want some."

"I'm never going to live that down, am I? At the Gala, I wasn't exactly at my best. I'd had a few drinks of Tres Equis between ending the show and the time you saw me. Sorry about that. It's just so boring there."

Dash looked sheepishly off to one side. "At least you didn't end up damaging everypony's clothes. And the furniture. And the castle itself."

"That was the highlight of the night! And considering you didn't get banished to the moon, the Princess apparently didn't mind. What's Celestia like in person, anyway? I've hardly seen her outside a formal occasion."

She perked up. "She's generous, and kind, and honest..."

"...Loyal, joyous and magical, yeah yeah. But what's she like without the platitudes?"

"Busy. Seems like she's always working, between the whole raising-the-sun thing and her royal duties. Twilight wishes they could spend more time together. But Twi's also terrified she'll make Celestia mad. This one time, she started a town-wide riot..."

I spotted the waiter and gave in, ordering some pie. "How could Celestia get mad at somepony who's a national hero twice over?" I blinked. "A riot?"

"Oh man, that was the maddest I've ever seen the Princess. Except when she was talking to Discord."

"You've got to tell me about that. You and your friends personally took down an evil chaos god, yet I don't see you getting mobbed for autographs."

The rainbow pegasus slumped. "I don't like to talk about that one. It wasn't the fun kind of adventure, for any of us. Except for the last part, where we wiped the grin off Discord's face."

"What exactly happened? We were way out in Baltimare." When we got the emergency signal and hurried back, we only showed up in time to see the aftermath. There were houses rearranged, patches of ground transformed into weird checkerboards, piles of cooked popcorn in the corn fields, and doctors dispensing psych counseling and cake to a hysterical population. "The news stories quoted him saying he was just getting started."

"What happened to the town was bad enough. But the clouds... He was looming over me, made of all these mismatched body parts. He took my wings somehow. And then he showed me Cloudsdale, shattering, and then he said to look inside this box..."

"Something happened to Cloudsdale?" As far as I knew, only the Ponyville area and Canterlot were affected by the brief storm of sadistic chaos.

"N-no," she said, subtly rocking in her seat. "He was lying. But it looked like the clouds were suddenly breaking up, and there were these kids who hadn't learned to fly..."

Now I shuddered too. "Let's talk about something else. You beat up Nightmare Moon the year before, right? Was that any better?"

"Yeah. Better. She tried playing mind games with us too, but wasn't nearly as good at it." Dash started to recover by attacking a sandwich. "She knew something about me. Caught me alone in the forest and made an illusion of some guys called the Shadowbolts, asking me to abandon my friends and join them."

"Wait a minute. How was that supposed to convince you? Evil Wonderbolts hanging out in the haunted forest at night for no reason, while the nightmare goddess was after you?"

"Well, uh, it was a magic thing. It was hard to think straight for a minute about how stupid the illusion was. I just saw these pegasi in cool costumes bragging about being the greatest flying team, and, uh, it was tempting."

I hid a grin. "Cooler than our costumes?"

"You said our!" Her face lit up. "Do I get a Wonderbolts outfit? I can get Rarity to give you my sizes. Ooh, ooh, and she wanted me to ask if you're commissioning new ones. But the regular ones are great too. Do I get a regular lightning bolt like Spitfire or my own thundercloud mark?"

I sighed and sipped my carrot juice. "It's always either/or with you, isn't it? You've got to learn to calm down about us or you'll be constantly hyper or depressed."

"But it's just so amazing this is finally happening!"

I pointed a wing at her. "Look. You helped save the world twice. Rainbow Dash two, Wonderbolts zero. We didn't even look good when we got called in to stop that rampaging dragon. So you should totally not care what we think of you."

"Not care? But I mean, I'm trying out so I have to care."

She was back in fangirl mode. Too bad; I'd been starting to have some fun being something besides her hero. "And if it doesn't work out, you still have a great life ahead doing other things with your skills. So lighten up. Ever hear about when Dusty Roads gave me my first flying lesson?"

She seemed lost in thought for a moment, and then smacked her forehead with a hoof. "And... I'm late again."

"What is it this time?"

Dash finished off her sandwich in one gulp. "Scoots. Uh, a kid who wanted some flying lessons."

I frowned. "Scootaloo, huh? Is she waiting for you?"

"How do you know -- oh, right. Spitfire knew the kid's been following me around. But I can put that off till tomorrow." Dash looked over her shoulder, with her ears hanging low. "Except she doesn't know where I am."

"Then let's go find her."

"Both of us?"

"We give talks at schools and hospitals, remember? Outreach is part of the job. So long as we're responsible about it."

Missing the hint, Dash perked up. "This is gonna be so cool for her, getting to meet you!"

I pulled some bits out of my saddlebags and paid the bill. "Dash, maybe we need to work out a regular practice schedule for you. Something to give you more structure so that you don't have to keep running off."

She was already hovering, ready to fly off to go meet the kid. "I'm sorry about all the distractions. I'm just not used to having this kind of commitment. I mean I really want to spend more time with you. I mean for the scheduling and the practice sessions and --"

"Yeah." I was thinking, Spitfire was right. Rainbow Dash, are we just more Shadowbolts to you? Some cool abstraction trying to take you away from your friends?

Chapter 3

8

She started showing up more regularly. We had a show in Appleoosa, for the first time ever, and Dash met us there. She even got some of the buffalo tribesmen to watch, though they couldn't pay. Apparently she had friends among them.

Half a dozen of us were working out together with Dash, coaching her on some of the weight machines, when Fleetfoot showed up with a letter from Canterlot. Spitfire broke the seal and read, then tapped the rainbow girl's wing. "Leave off of that. We have to talk about something."

"Yeah?" She looked scared of Spitfire's expression.

"We ran a background check on you and it came up sunshine and rainbows. Why, it's almost like you're a national hero. So you have a security clearance now."

"Why do I need one of those? I thought the Wonderbolts were totally private these days."

"Not completely. We're still on call for the Equestrian military; we just don't advertise that." Spitfire tapped the sturdy cloud wall with a hoof. "Epona Two isn't just an army hand-me-down either. There's one more thing to show you."

I said, "This part isn't for fun, Dash. If you're serious about joining the team, you're going to be on reserve for some pretty dangerous things, if your people need you. And it could even mean leaving Ponyville behind on short notice."

Spitfire added, "If you need time to think about it, or you don't want that weight on your wings, we'll understand."

"Are you kidding? I'll never leave Equestria hanging! Element of Loyalty, right? Heh."

I wasn't sure how much of her bravado was real. But I'd seen her hiding a nasty story from me -- the details of what Discord did in that labyrinth -- and knew she could feel vulnerable. The more I thought about Spitfire's worry for her, the more sense it made. Dash needed to look cool in front of everypony, all the time, and not just in front of her idols. It hurt her even to admit she wasn't sure of something.

I gave her time. "It's a little late today. Let's do this tour tomorrow, all right?"

So we did. And Rainbow Dash was just as enthusiastic as before. Maybe she really wasn't worried after all, at least until we swore her to secrecy.

Boilerplate, our technician, unlocked the door to the skunk room. None of us went in there often. We let Dash look inside at what filled half of Epona Two's lower floor.

Let's put it this way. Their Royal Highnesses know there are other things out there as dangerous as Discord and Nightmare Moon. The power of weaponized friendship can't beat them all. And the Princesses trust Dusty Roads' heirs with something we don't want to describe. In a better world, it wouldn't exist, but we'd have a worse world if this thing weren't prepared.

Our new recruit stepped into the room and stared at what was in there. Boilerplate talked about where it'd come from and what we could do with it. He spoke without the pride he had for describing our other gear. Then we all backed away like it'd leap out at us, and locked the door. The walls here were scrying-resistant metal under the cloud veneer.

We've had a few people walk quietly away after seeing that room, and throw away their dream of flying with us. Dash was quiet for long enough that I thought she might be one of them. I leaned forward a bit. She said, "So you're more than stunt fliers."

Spitfire had a hoof on her shoulder. "Someone has to be. Wearing the uniform isn't just about being fast and cool. There are other speedy pegasi out there. We've been watching you for reasons besides your 'Sonic Rainboom' trick."

"Wow. I had no idea. I mean, you showed up last time we had a dragon problem, but this is... overkill for that."

Spitfire said, "We'd never go all-out for something like a dragon attack. Which means someday, you might have to fight for Ponyville or Cloudsdale or someplace else, knowing you're not doing everything you could."

"What would qualify for this kind of treatment?" Dash asked.

"There was an... invader called an Infernal --"

I interrupted. "Let's not get into that story today. The question is, now that you know more about the job, do you still want it?"

She turned to look at me, wings wavering in confusion. I wanted to shelter her with a wing, but she had to get through this moment on her own. Learn to glide through it. "Why didn't Celestia send you in for Discord? He was tearing things apart!"

I've seen the hallway where the Princess keeps the actual artifacts Dash and friends used. The stained glass windows show a cackling mare made of starlight standing astride the world; a misshapen dragon-horse thing dangling ponies like puppets over a pit of fire; and a few other things. The prison of Tartaurus exists for a reason. "We did get the signal to come in, and the authorization to go all-out if we had to, but we were far away and you beat him first. Even Celestia was scared, and she had Luna on her side that time."

Dash shook her head. Her mane and tail looked a little duller in the dim hall outside the room. "Even she was, yeah. But someone has to be ready for that kind of thing, right?" We were crowded around her, waiting for her decision. "What if I have to run off to use the Elements with my friends? The six of us have to be together for that, and I don't think even Spike could replace me."

"If that happens," I said, "you'll get pulled in different directions. Bound to happen. If it's so important a problem that you're actually needed as the Element of Loyalty, that's worth skipping an air show for. We'll all be on alert anyway. If it's just that your friend's having a party and we need you elsewhere, then you have to decide what you're loyal to."

Spitfire added, "Tell us you're not missing an important party right now."

Dash scuffed the floor with a hoof. "Actually, AJ's birthday is tomorrow. But I wasn't gonna forget that one."

"Did you write it down?"

"I'm not the one who obsesses over schedules."

Spitfire said, "Maybe you should start, then. If you still think joining us is right for you."

"I do! Of course I do. You do more cool stuff than I even knew about."

Our leader looked relieved; I wasn't so sure. Spitfire said, "Great. Next visit, we'll go back outside and test you with formation flight. You're not used to flying with anyone that can keep up with you."

Does not fly well with others, I thought, hoping it wasn't true.

9.

She was terrible at it the first time. The "go insanely fast" part of our shows is actually the easy bit, and that's the one she had down. We whipped out the contrail generators for practice, so she could try flying between her wingmates' trails of smoke and lightning.

"Do I get one of those?" Dash asked. The smoke effect is an enchantment in the suits.

She was wearing Dusty's beat-up goggles, which irritated me almost enough to show it. We weren't performing in conditions that really required the full costume, though goggles are always good. I kept to the gentle arc we were flying in. "Not yet. Besides, you have that rainbow trail thing going for you. How do you do that, anyway?"

She grinned and zoomed around me and Spitfire, wrapping us up in a multicolored blur. "Some kinda innate magic. Twilight says --"

She mistakenly veered right at me. I recoiled to avoid a head-on crash, directly to the forehead. Still she clipped one of her wings against my head. I was glad it wasn't a hoof to the face this time.

I yelped, glad for the goggles, and banked until I could spot my wingmates. Spitfire was hovering safely; Rainbow Dash was stalled and falling. I had the most speed built up, so I raced down after her and matched speed until I could prop her up in midair. "Calm down and glide!"

To her credit, she recovered her wits. Her wings fluttered out. One of them was banged up from smacking me upside the head. We got her flying level, then hovering with only lazy wingbeats needed to keep her in the air. I let go of her just as Spitfire got within reach. "All okay?" our captain said.

"Y-yeah," said Dash. "Sorry!"

"Back to Epona. Now." We all perched on the cloud deck and checked for injury. I was bruised, and Dash had only lost a few feathers. Stardream equipped her cloud-walking and wind-resistance gear and trotted right out to patch us up.

Spitfire had a tougher time hiding her mood than me. "What was that, Dash?"

"We were just talking about the rainbow trail thing, and --"

"And you went out of formation! The whole point of this exercise was that you don't suddenly veer off in a different direction. If I'm leading your formation and heading for a mountain, you should be so focused on keeping position that you hit the mountain too!"

Dash winced as she got zapped with a healing spell. "Sorry! I just got carried away."

"Half-hour rest, everyone, and then we go back out and get it right this time." Spitfire stomped inside as heavily as one can do on clouds.

The new mare flopped onto the deck, sniffling. I knelt nearby and said, "I'm ticked too, but I've seen worse rookie mistakes. Can I hold those goggles?"

Without a word she stripped them off, taking a green hair from her mane with them. I sat and held them around one hoof. The brass and glass were old, but recently polished. "Spitfire and I were new once."

"She trusted me with these things, and I've already messed up in front of her."

"Now, see, there's your problem. The 'in front of her' part. Quit trying to impress the Wonderbolts, Dash. That was the dumbest thing Spitfire ever did."

"Huh?"

I stared off into the sky, and told her about Dusty Roads. "He was unflappable. Dusty was the one who invented some of the team's moves, like the inverted nose-to-nose diamond formation. You can't be a total hothead and get that one right. You'd get somepony killed. That's why for a while, he regretted picking Spitfire as one of his civilian wingmates.

"Fleetfoot's the biggest perfectionist in terms of skill. She gets upset if she makes a mistake, but not because anyone saw her do it. Sometimes you see her stomp off after a show, but you don't even notice what little error made her mad. Me, I usually manage to shrug my mistakes off so I don't get distracted and mess up again. But Spitfire takes it all personally.

"When the Wonderbolts were just me, her, Dusty and his two army buddies, Spitfire made a little mistake at a show. By then, Dusty was letting her take the lead more and more. I think it was more than professional interest. Spitfire kept trying to dazzle him and prove how worthy she was. So at a show in Trottingham, she started a Barrel Roll Break at below normal altitude. Cooler for the audience, a little riskier for the fliers. Nothing we couldn't handle. But she could tell that Dusty was mad at her. She took that as criticism of her sloppiness. And Dusty didn't stop the show, which was a mistake. He always did have some of her hothead streak."

Dash interrupted. "Trottingham? I think I know the show you're talking about. The one where --"

I was lost in the memory. "So there was Spitfire, true to her name, angry at herself in the middle of a show for messing up. The boss had glared at her, and thousands of ponies below were watching her botch a performance. She had to make the next move something special, to redeem herself.

"The next one was a Razor Edge 360 to Delta Cross combo. You know the one. Pairs of fliers spin around with inches between their wingtips, and then we zoom horizontally toward a single point and flip up and out like flower petals, a second before we all collide in a giant feather explosion.

"Spitfire was supposed to sit that one out. Five fliers, two pairs, remember. But no, she got involved. Right as I was spiraling in for the Delta Cross, up comes this fifth trail of smoke right between us all. Unscheduled. We could've reacted a little better except that Spitfire forgot her trail would obscure the distance between the other four of us. So, suddenly I was about one hoof from my partner and less than a quarter furlong away from the other pair -- and I couldn't see exactly how far. Felt like my blood had frozen and time slowed down. I did the safest thing I could think of, which was to bank sideways instead of up. The way Spitfire imagined, we'd all be blooming up and out from our near-collision with her in the middle, streaking toward the sun. Would've been awesome, and we do a version of that move on purpose now. Instead, the four of us veered off in completely different directions. That wouldv'e been okay too. Except that Dusty's direction made him slam into his wingmate Hornet, who managed to kick me in the chest and break a rib.

"It was messy. Nopony died, but it was the closest we'd ever come. The show ended right there. Even our medic was furious."

Rainbow Dash cringed. "I heard about that show. But I thought the move was supposed to go like that, with her in the middle. She just made it up on the fly?"

"And nearly got us all killed."

Dash looked toward the base's front door. Spitfire was still nowhere to be seen. "But she's team captain now. How'd that happen?"

"Dusty had been grooming both of us for the job. She's better than me at the knock-their-shoes-off showmanship, and she enjoys the autographs and photographs more. I didn't mind. I knew we both had Dusty's respect. More than his respect. But Spitfire almost lost it that day. Dusty's reaction was... weird, though. He announced he was taking the blame, and retiring from the Wonderbolts effective immediately. The press reported it that way. What really happened in private was that he threw those beat-up goggles at Spitfire and said, "You're never, ever going to forget this lesson."

"A lesson?" said Dash. "Did he do anything to her?"

"Didn't need to. The stare he gave her would've left even me quivering. And he was a fright to look at, bandaged up in a hospital bed. He could never fly quite right afterward. Spitfire was..." I decided to spare a little of her dignity, by not telling Dash how the girl had looked. "She came to my own hospital room, upset, and told me what had happened. I tried to console her. So that's how Dusty Roads' official career ended and Spitfire got hit upside the head with some responsibility. Ever since then, she's tempered her actual personality with some by-the-book management."

Dash looked thoughtfully at the goggles wrapped around my hoof. "She thought I should have them, after we raced."

"Maybe there's a lesson in that." I nosed at the brass one more time, to take in the scent of all the smoke and lightning the headgear had been exposed to. Flying with the original owner had been the best time of my life so far. Now, though, it was time to quit thinking about Dusty quite as much. I took the goggles in my teeth and hooves and helped slip them onto Dash's head. "Your mane fits in well, by the way. You've got some fire red and ice blue. Though you seem to favor Spitfire's side of the family." The hot colors were usually draped over her forehead, with the cool ones in back.

Dash slipped the goggles over her eyes, and wouldn't quite look at me. "I promise I won't mess up like that. Not again. I'll do everything by the book."

"Not everything, I hope. Spitfire's only a martinet when it comes to keeping the performances safe. I wouldn't want either of you to lose the crazy streak the rest of the time." Even I liked the Moonspire Run.

"You think I'm crazy?" Dash said.

"Crazy awesome; how's that?"

She giggled. It was great to hear her relax a little.

"How's your wing?"

"Better."

I hopped up into the air and stretched my wings. "Spitfire's still sulking, I guess, so we've got time for a quick lesson in formations. Want to try that before she's back and staring at you?"

Dash sprang up too. "Definitely."

I hovered nearby, feeling the beat of air from her wings. "The general idea is that you have to sense how close you are, like this, and use that to know whether it's safe to move any nearer. How are we now, for instance? Shut your eyes and tell me based on the air currents."

"Maybe... you could get just a little closer?"

10.

I was alone in Dusty's room, looking over the photographs. He'd kept some old shots of blocky, dour old Epona One. And that group photo with his wings around me and Spitfire. It really hadn't been that long since I joined, had it? I'd started out younger than our new recruit. The one who was late at this moment.

Fleetfoot nudged my wing. "What do you think? We must soon to Baltimare go."

It was an hour after our scheduled departure. Dash was supposed to come along, not to formally be in the show but as a sort of ascended fangirl and roadie. The idea was to start giving her experience with the backstage stuff, so that she wouldn't be doing that giddy, unreasonably cute "ohmygosh" thing. But she hadn't bothered to show up. Spitfire had some patience, but after this much waiting she wasn't happy and had let us all know it. We were all kind of hiding downstairs from her.

I said, "It's up to the boss. But it's not like Rainbow Dash to stand us up like this. I'm starting to think something's wrong."

"The mare may have just another birthday party forgotten."

My wings drooped. "She would've told us. After that last practice session, I thought she understood. She should know better!"

"Not everyone does. Not every dashing newcomer qualifies." The letdown was personal for Fleetfoot. Not that she was eager to retire, but I'd seen the mare quietly nudging Dash along in her lessons. Handing down some of our lore and tricks.

I bowed my head to Fleetfoot. "I'm going to find her and see what's going on. Tell Spitfire --"

"You can tell me yourself," Spitfire said. She hopped down from the staircase.

I said, "Don't blow up at her just yet. There might be a good reason she's late."

"Fair enough. Fleetfoot, make sure everything's in order so that we're ready to go when we get back. With or without her."

Spitfire and I took wing from the deck of Epona Two, on course for Ponyville. I was cursing to myself, trying to figure this situation out. If Dash hadn't ditched us for a good reason, she'd probably just made her last mistake with us. And if she did have a good reason, she was probably in trouble. I wasn't sure which option scared me more.

We soon found out. The base was hovering east of the mountains, so it wasn't until we flew past Canterlot that we saw the smoke rising from Ponyville.

Spitfire shrieked something and dived. I hovered for a moment to get a better view. A big white building was engulfed in flame, and some nearby houses were catching. Normally it wouldn't be a big problem, but it was a dry month and a cloudless day. The city of Cloudsdale was currently far away, too. This was the kind of bad luck that could actually get somepony killed. I swooped back toward the mountains to grab any rainclouds I could find.

To my surprise, they were already claimed. A grey pegasus was struggling with a mass of sullen-looking nimbus she'd corralled. "Oh hi!" she called out, waving a hoof in my general direction. "Rainbow Dash said to go south and find some clouds!"

"This is east."

"Oh. A little help?"

"Right!" I quit staring at her crossed eyes and hurried over. We pulled and shoved the unwieldy blob of cloud over the mountain and hurried it toward Ponyville. "What's on fire?"

"The hospital!"

I pulled faster. We could see the town below, where other pegasi were bringing in little clouds from all directions and the rest of the town fought with magic and buckets. A cheer went up as everyone spotted us with the giant flying sponge. Fliers hurried to help us wrangle it over the hospital. Hundreds of people, including a couple of griffins and a zebra, were starting to block the blaze with water and wind and spells. Strangely, someone had convinced some woodland creatures to scurry around with buckets.

I slapped hooves with the wall-eyed girl. "Got it under control? Where's Dash?"

"She's inside pullin' people out!"

Of course she was. But I still missed a heartbeat thinking about her in there with the smoke and fire. A second later I was at ground level, going in after her.

It was a nightmare inside. Pegasus lungs aren't good in smoke, either. I put on my goggles for what they were worth, took a few deep breaths outside, and bounded back in. Just then, a door smashed next to me. An orange mare had bucked it wide open. She and some others were clustered in a glittering violet bubble of air, centered on -- "Twilight Sparkle!"

"I dropped one back there!" she said, trotting right past me with a look of panic in her eyes. She and her friend Applejack were toting some unconscious ponies by might and magic. But it was obviously hard even for the mad genius unicorn to keep up the air spell, her levitation, and enough roving magic to keep anything from collapsing on her head at the same time. Her horn sparked with exertion.

I hurried past them, deeper into the fire. I kept my wings folded tight and tried not to breathe. There! I spotted a heavy earth pony in a full-body cast, lying on the floor. I had to drag him by one leg, which probably hurt him worse, and I was close to passing out.

"Allow me," someone said, and my passenger floated delicately into the air. Rarity, the famous belle and businessmare of Ponyville, was wobbling on her hooves. Even with her mane scorched and her lungs heaving she kept her levitation going, saving me some work.

"Now that's how to treat a gentleman!" I said. I let her lean on me as we helped each other toward the exit. "Where is --"

"Coming through!" Spitfire blasted through the shattered door behind me. Her mane was a comet, caught by actual flames. And she had a colorful blur clutched in her hooves. I stared as they crashed and skidded outside in a mass of tangled feathers.

Rarity and I hurried outside too. Twilight looked to that dragon kid, who held a quill and clipboard. "That's everyone!" The unicorn breathed a sigh of relief. A whole wing of the hospital looked ready to collapse, but was propped up with an upturned cannon and an even more inexplicable wall of cake.

"Thank Celestia!" said Twilight. She feebly conjured a spray of water to help put out the flames. The pegasi had the roof under control, and the earth ponies had cleared everything flammable out of the way.

That other pegasus -- Fluttershy -- was cuddling a terrified bunny and murmuring, "You did great, Angel."

"I don't know, Gummy," the baker Pinkie Pie was saying to no one in particular. She was holding a spellbook. "I'm not even sure 'Wall of Cake' is in this edition."

Rarity and Applejack had crouched beside Rainbow Dash, and I hurried over too. "Is she okay?"

"She'd better be!" said Spitfire. My captain looked battered and scorched, and ready to cry. I kept my goggles on and nodded, over and over, until a medical pony shooed us away.

11.

"You can see her now," the same nurse said. It was crowded outside the makeshift medical tent. We crowded inside all at once, over her objection. Me, Spitfire, Dash's five fellow Elements, and her young admirer Scootaloo. If Dash didn't have a fan club yet, she would now.

Rainbow Dash was propped up in bed, mostly intact. Her amazing mane and tail had gotten charred, which was a shame -- but they'd be back. And her rose-colored eyes were weepy. "I'm so sorry, guys!"

"Sorry?" I said, stepping forward. "The mayor's going to give you and your friends another award for your collection, after you helped save so many ponies."

"But I promised I'd be there for you! For the Wonderbolts! I told Derpy to go tell you, but then one of the cows kicked over a lantern and the fire got even worse and --"

Twilight fluffed Dash's pillow by magic, and discreetly set a book on the table beside her. "I don't think even the Wonderbolts outrank saving Ponyville." She looked over her shoulder. "No offense." Spitfire and I nodded.

The rainbow girl sniffled. Every one of us started forward as though we were going to give her a group hug, but then we all stopped when she said, "I've got something to say. I stayed up all night thinking about it. Guys... I can't join the Wonderbolts."

We clamored. She held up a bandaged, sky-blue hoof. "I'm supposed to be this big pony hero now, but I don't feel like it. I only count as the Element of Loyalty if I'm actually sticking with my friends. I ditched you five once before, even if it wasn't really my fault. So now I feel like I'm getting pulled apart. If I go with you, Soarin and Spitfire, I'm not there if my friends need me. What kind of super magic loyalty would I have if I left everypony behind for the sake of... of some silly filly dream of mine?"

Twilight shut us all up with a flash of light. "NO! It's not going to happen like this! Rainbow, do you know how much grief I've gotten for trying to keep my life neatly organized? If you really care, you can make the time to work with the Wonderbolts and still be around sometimes. I could even teach you some of my scheduling methods."

Applejack said, "What Twi is meanin' to say, sugarcube, is that we've got the town covered. Not that we can't use your help, but you're entitled to your own life. And Ah know how competitive y'all are. So go out there and make Ponyville proud!"

"Yeah!" said Pinkie. "And then when you come back you'll have lots more cool stories to tell us at your homecoming party!"

We were quiet enough for a moment that the pegasus Fluttershy felt she could talk. "Um. You know, all five of us owe you for getting our marks. If you do your big amazing Sonic Rainboom someplace else, some other foal is sure to see it and just light up with joy, and maybe then they'll find their own special talent." She scuffed a hoof against the floor. "I mean, if that's what you want."

Rarity took her own turn. "Darling, we've gained quite a lot from having you as our friend. But we don't own you, and we wouldn't dare to take the sky from you. There comes a time in everypony's life when one must stop hoarding a friend's attention and set them free to find their own life of romance and adventure. Go with the blessing of all of us."

Dash was sniffling, trying to look brave and cool in front of us even now. "But all you guys are assuming the Wonderbolts even want me. We never decided that. I dreamed that one day a letter would show up at my door and wham, I'd be on the team. But I don't even know if I can always be there for their shows and for -- other stuff they do."

Spitfire and I looked at each other. We'd talked about this, of course. She said, "Would you still want to be on the team after all you've gone through?"

Dash's voice cracked as she said, "Heck yeah!" She let her gaze roam around the room at her friends. "I love you guys, you know?"

Spitfire and I turned and walked out of the tent. And then we came back, carrying a fancy blue invitation and a matching gold-lightning uniform and goggles.

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh..."

12.

Dash tells me she wrote a letter to Celestia about the last few months. It amazes me that she and her friends are so close to the Princess that they can chat almost like equals. But then, they're all amazing mares. Our new recruit especially.

I suspect that the Princess will personally see a letter if it's on our fancy stationary. I'll take the chance of being laughed at by the ponies in the palace mail room, and write something a little sappy if I can find a moment when Spitfire won't peek. I guess she knows what I'm going to write, though. Basically this:

Being part of our team takes more than speed, agility, guts and style. You have to love what you're doing, and you have to love who you're with. Our new flying ace definitely does. I asked her, see, and she said yes. And her official flight debut is tomorrow, so it's going to be that much cooler of a show. For both of us. We're performing at Ponyville, skimming along the dusty roads and way up into the heavens.