The Great Fairflanks Adventure

by Windrace

Rating: everyone
Tags: Sad, Romance, Tragedy, Adventure, Slice of Life
Length: 15551

Rainbow Dash learns to overcome her weaknesses, and finds love in the Arctic town of Fairflanks.

Rainbow Dash needs to get her weather management license and goes to the Arctic town of Fairflanks where she learns to overcome her weaknesses and finds love.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-07-17 22:44:02 UTC

A Young Heart

The Great Fairflanks Adventure – Chapter 1

By Windrace

“She never pays for anything,” Rarity whispered into Twilight Sparkle’s ear.

Twilight looked across the table at the laughing pegasus and wondered why she had not noticed it before. Rainbow Dash never pays for anything. Whenever the six friends go out, Dash always either “forgets her wallet” or “will be getting her paycheck soon.” What paycheck? What job? Twilight had finally had enough of the sly pegasus’s tricks.

“What do you do, Dash?” Twilight blurted out surprising the entire table.

Breaking the awkward silence, Rainbow Dash raised her eyebrow and said, “What was that, Twi?”

“What I think she means is, what do you do for a living. How do you make money?” Rarity cut in knowing what Twilight was getting at.

Rainbow Dash smartly replied, “I work at the Cloudsdale Weather Factory, you know that. You see me moving the clouds all the time.” Rainbow studied the other ponies confused faces, “What are you implying Twilight, that I don’t work!”

“Now, that you mention it, we always see you sleeping or trying new tricks,” Fluttershy said in a caring but concerned tone.

Twilight Sparkle looked at Rainbow Dash with an angry expression and half-yelled “No, we’re just tried of . . .”

“Worried!” cut in Rarity. “We are worried about you Dash, sweetie. I mean, we want to, ummm.”

“Why don’t you pay for anything?!” Twilight finally shouted causing silence in the whole restaurant. The unicorn realizing how nasty she sounded, cooled off and said in a hushed voice, “Everyone has noticed it, Dash. What’s going on?”

Rainbow looked at each of her friends worried faces, shrunk in her chair, stared at her half-finished glass and mumbled, “I don’t have one.”

“What was that?” asked Applejack leaning closer.

“I don’t have a job. At least not a real one. Sure I fly around moving the clouds and sometimes help with the weather, but I don’t get paid for it,” Rainbow Dash said sadly, shrinking further in her chair.

“Why not. Why aren’t they paying you? That sounds unfair to me.” Applejack said shocked.

Rainbow Dash looked up with a small tear in her eye, “I’m not qualified. I failed out of weather management school. I need to get my license in order to officially work.”

“Well, try again and get your license already silly!” Pinkie Pie shouted without thinking.

“I want to, but I have to go through training first and the training center is all the way in Fairflanks, in the arctic. I don’t have the money to get there,” Rainbow Dash said now with another tear peeking out.

The sight of her friend on the verge of crying was too much for Twilight, “I’m sorry Rainbow, I didn’t know. I bet if we collect some money from everyone, we can get enough to have you go.”

“Those train tickets are really expensive. Why don’t you fly there yourself? You’re the strongest flyer we know,” Applejack said with a smile.

A half smile crept on Rainbow Dash’s face, “Not even I can fly that far. It’s over 4000 miles to Fairflanks. It would take me a week or two to get there and by the time I did, I would be too tried to fly and would fail the training. Thanks for trying guys. I just have to find another way to get a job.”

The saddened pegasus got out of her chair and with her wings dragging on the ground, started walking slowly out of the restaurant. As she reached the door, she stopped said something to the headwaiter, gave him something, and walked out. The remaining five turned to each other with concerned faces.

“It must be awful, the poor thing. We must help poor Rainbow Dash,” Rarity stated. “I wonder if Princess Celestia would be able to help?”

The other four nodded their heads in agreement. As the headwaiter passed the table Twilight Sparkle asked for the bill, but to the ponies’ astonishment, he said their bill had been paid by the gloomy looking pegasus that had just left.

“That was probably all she had left.” Twilight whispered to herself.

“I’ve never seen Dashie like this before. Maybe a party will cheer her up?” Pinkie Pie shouted.

Turning to Pinkie Pie, Twilight said, “I think she’s going to need more than that, and I think I know what that is.” With that, Twilight leapt out of her chair and out the door.

****

Lying in her favorite tree, Rainbow Dash couldn’t stop the tears that were flowing down her face. She felt horrible for taking advantage of her friends, and tried to come up with a way to make money so she could pay them back. As she was contemplating leaving Ponyville to go seek a job in Manehattan, Twilight ran up to her shouting.

“Rainbow Dash! You can go!”

“What did you say?” Rainbow Dash said brushing her tears away with her hoof.

“I talked with Princess Celestia and she bought you a ticket on the Canaydian Express to Fairflanks. You can get your training!” Twilight shouted jumping up and down.

“She did.” Rainbow Dash said wide-eyed with a hint of a smile coming.

“The train leaves tonight. You better get ready,” said Twilight.

Rainbow Dash jumped off the branch she was on and gracefully glided down to Twilight. “I’m going to Fairflanks? Wait! Am I going alone?”

Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash confused, “Of course, those tickets are extremely expensive. Plus you’re such an independent pony, you don’t need somepony to go with you.”

Rainbow Dash’s smile disappeared, “Twilight I’ve never been anywhere outside Ponyville, alone.” Hesitating with an embarrassed look, Rainbow Dash murmured, “I’m kind of scared.”

“You? Dash? No, that can be true,” Twilight said with a puzzled look. “Really?”

Rainbow Dash stomped her hoof, “It doesn’t matter! I have to go. I need that license!” Breaking her composure completely, jumping up and down she said, “I don’t know how to thank you Twilight. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

Twilight smiled and said, “Well your quite welcome Rainbow, but the pony who you should be thanking is Princess Celestia. She got you the ticket. But you can thank her when you get back, you better get a move on. The train leaves in a few hours.” Rainbow Dash got the hint and took off in a flash. Twilight chuckled to herself and walked away.

****

The six friends hugged and said their goodbyes as the whistle blew in Ponyville’s train station. Rainbow Dash jumped on the train marked Canaydian Express: to Fairflanks and shot her head out the window waving to the other five standing on the platform.

“Thank you so much, you guys really are the best friends a pony can have.” Rainbow Dash yelled being drowned out by the train’s whistle. She kept waving until the train started moving and raced out of sight. Rainbow Dash closed up the window and entered the hallway. She looked at her ticket and found her booth at the end. She threw her one bag in the overhead compartment and sat down across from it. She looked up at the bag. It was her favorite, a cyan colored duffle with her cutie mark on the front. She admired it intensely until it was shoved over by a beat up brown bag. Rainbow Dash was about to protest to the pony who had rudely push her bag out of the way, when an apology beat her to it.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to push your bag like that. My legs aren’t quite use to trains. I’ll put mine over here,” said the pegasus removing his bag and placing it on the other side over Rainbow Dash. The train jolted again and sent the pegasus falling on Rainbow Dash.

“What the hay! Watch it!” Rainbow Dash shouted angrily. The other pegasus apologized again and quickly sat down across from her and stared out the window.

Rainbow Dash continued venerating her bag, but slowly turned her attention to the pegasus sitting across from her. He had a clean, white cloat with a short dark grey mane and tail. She couldn’t quite see his cutie mark from how he sat, but Rainbow Dash lost interest in that when she noticed his eyes.  Great big blue eyes! She had never seen such blue eyes. Rainbow Dash quickly shook herself out of that and thought about this clumsy pegasus was. As much as she didn’t want to admit it to herself, she was curious about her temporary boothmate. If she were to spend the next two days riding with him she might as well get to know him. “Where are you from?” Rainbow Dash asked assertively.

“I’m from Fairflanks. I can’t wait to get home. I’ve been spending some time in Manehattan, but I guess I’m just not a city pony. I miss all the mountains,” said the white pegasus. “How about you?”

Rainbow Dash was amazed at this pegasus’s openness, but just replied, “I’m from Ponyville.”

A long awkward pause settled in the booth only to be interrupted by the train’s whistle. Finally the silence was broken by Rainbow Dash’s question. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Snowblast,” he said turning to Rainbow Dash could see his outlined snowflake cutie mark. “And you are?”

“I’m Rainbow Dash,” she answered proudly.

“Well Rainbow Dash, I am sorry about what happened before. I really can’t stand trains,” Snowblast said.

“You can’t stand ON trains, is more like it. That’s why they have seats.” Rainbow Dash said smartly.

“Ha, ha, very funny,” Snowblast said sarcastically. “So, what’s bringing you to Fairflanks?”

Rainbow Dash’s smirk changed to a shy smile, “I need to get my weather management license and the training center is . . .”

“Yah, I know that center. I work there.” Snowblast interrupted.

“You do?” Rainbow Dash said sheepishly.

“Sure thing, I’m one of the trainers,” Snowblast leaned closer to Rainbow Dash, “And don’t worry, I’m much better in the sky than I am on a train. So you’re going through the training, eh?”

Rainbow Dash felt the blood drain out of her face. Shrinking into the seat, she replied, “Yes.” She realized she might have blown it and tried to make a come back, “Do you have any tips?”

“Ummm, number one, don’t make fun of the trainers,” Snowblast said with a friendly smile.

“Yah, I’m sorry about that. I’m just really nervous. I’ve never been away from home alone before,” Rainbow Dash said blushing.

Snowblast saw her worried expression and said, “First time, eh? Well, don’t you worry, we may have some nasty weather up there, but the ponies are some of the friendliest in Equestria. Plus,” Snowblast paused making sure Rainbow Dash was looking at him, “I could be your personal tour guide, if you want.”

Rainbow Dash just blushed more, “I would love that.” She couldn’t figure out why, but she was being drawn to him. There was something about this pegasus that she really liked. Maybe it was his eyes. Or something behind them. For the first time in Rainbow Dash’s life, she had no worries; everything was going to be ok. “When are they serving dinner, I’m starving,” she added.

“I believe just in a bit. I have to go and put my things in my room. See you at dinner then?” Snowblast said standing up grabbing his bag.

“Sure, see you then,” Rainbow Dash watched as he left the booth. A million thoughts rushed through her head. What are the odds she landed in the same booth with a weather trainer? Rainbow Dash felt as though her luck had finally changed. She grabbed her bag and trotted to her sleeping room. It was a nice room too, a private suite! Princess Celestia do not spare any expense on this trip.

Rainbow Dash threw her bag on the pullout bed and deliberated whether to wear something nice to dinner. She wanted to make a good impression, particularly after how rude she was to Snowblast, but she didn’t want him to think she was trying to bribe him or get other crazy ideas. Or were they? “No, I’ll just go as I am,” Rainbow Dash said out loud. She looked at the clock and saw it was time.

****

Rainbow Dash poked her head through the door into the dining car, trying to catch a glimpse of Snowblast. The long boxcar was quiet save the mummer of ponies locked in soft conversation and the occasional clanking of silverware against plates. One of the staff noticed her and asked if he could assist her. After telling the pony who was looking for, he gestured to a table on the other side of the dining car. She thanked him and walked slowly to the table, trying to keep her wings from brushing anypony since the walkway was narrow. As she drew closer, Rainbow Dash recognized the white pegasus sitting with his back to her. She walked passed and plopped down on the seat in front of him. “Hey,” she said with a grin.

Snowblast looked up at her and smiled, “I don’t think hay is on the menu tonight. But I have to recommend the horseshoe crab, I heard it’s one of their specialties.”

“I might have to try that,” Rainbow Dash said giggling. The two sat there staring at each other for a minute until the moment was shattered by the waiter arriving asking what drinks they wanted.

“I’ll have a maretini on the rocks,” said Snowblast not taking his eyes off Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash had never ordered an alcoholic drink before and had no idea what was good. She wondered if Princess Celestia would mind and remained silent until Snowblast saw her dilemma and ordered for her.

“And she’ll have a . . .” he said looking through the menu, “a manehattan cocktail.”

Rainbow Dash felt her stomach lurch with excitement and worry. She is getting to drink like an adult, but she worried what her friends might think since she was not yet of age. She wondered why Snowblast had assumed she was old enough, and feared he might ask. She caught herself and decided to put all these things behind and accepted her part as an adult.

“So do you see anything on the menu that you would like?” Snowblast interrupted her thoughts.

Rainbow Dash glanced at the menu and nearly jumped out of her seat when she noticed the prices of the dinners. Finding the cheapest thing she could, she replied, “I’ll just have a daisy sandwich.”

“Why so plain. You have the opportunity to have something you would not usually have. You might as well take advantage of it.” Snowblast said with a puzzled look. After studying her face, he realized something was bothering her and took a swing at what it was, “Look Rainbow Dash, you get whatever you want, my treat.”

Rainbow Dash head shot up. “Oh no, I can’t let you do that. I’m fine, I’m just not that hungry tonight,” she said with a dishonest look.

“That’s why you said earlier, ‘I’m starving,’ because your not hungry. Get something nice, please. It will be my pleasure,” Snowblast said putting his menu aside.

After eating her dinner of steamed carrots with clover and enjoying the molasses apple cookies Snowblast had ordered for her for dessert, Rainbow Dash asked, “What happens tomorrow, when we get to Fairflanks? Do we just go our separate ways?”

Understanding Rainbow Dash’s question, Snowblast replied, “I promised to be your personal guide didn’t I. I intend to do so. Anyways, the training goes on all week. There will be time to do some sightseeing, and I know all the best spots. How does that sound?”

“That sounds great,” Rainbow Dash said through her cookie filled mouth. After swallowing, she added, “Thank so much again for tonight. I’ve had a lot of fun, but it’s pretty late,” she said looking around at the now empty diner car, “I should be getting to bed. See you in the morning?”

“See you then,” he said, watching Rainbow Dash leave the table. “And Rainbow Dash,” he said stopping her, “Thank you, for tonight.”

Rainbow Dash had no words, but the giddy smile on her face said it all. She said goodnight one last time and trotted back to her room humming along the way.

****

What if she failed the test? What if she couldn’t find a job? What if her friends abandon her after they learn she failed? There was no sleep for Rainbow Dash that night, too many question rushed through her mind. Either that or the bed she slept in was not the comfy, plush clouds she was used to. She finally woke up and with droopy eyes, glanced over at the clock next to her bed. It was eleven o’clock and she just missed breakfast! She panicked and flew out of bed, hitting the ceiling. She gasped when she saw the dent she made with her head. She rubbed her eyes trying to wake up, but felt a sharp pain over her right eye. Rainbow Dash glided over to the mirror hoping there was nothing there, but to her horror she found a large bruise where she felt the pain. “I can’t meet Snowblast looking like this!” she screamed out loud. “What the hay am I going to do?” She thought about not going out, but Snowblast would wonder what happened to her and she wanted to make a good impression on him. Then she remembered she had brought her sunglasses! “Thank Celestia I brought these babies,” she said putting them. Then looking in the mirror she said smoothly, “Yah, radicalness.” Then a loud knock echoed through the suite.

“Hey Rainbow Dash, it’s me, Snowblast. Are you awake yet?”

It surprised Rainbow Dash so much she tripped over her bag on the floor and fell face first on the bedside table. Hearing the loud crash, Snowblast opened the door and found Rainbow Dash on the floor wearing broken sunglasses. “Are you all right,” he said rushing to Rainbow Dash’s side.

“I tripped over my bag. Ouch!” She felt even more pain now and the hint of tears were imminent. She felt so embarrassed, she didn’t want to cry in front of Snowblast, but couldn’t stop the tears as a couple rolled down her face. “I’m sorry, it’s just . . .” she said trying to come up with something, “I always tear up when my eye gets poked.”

“It looks like you did more than just poke you eye. You really shouldn’t practice flying in a train,” Snowblast said trying to make Rainbow Dash smile and he succeeded.

He helped her up and said, “I kind of missed you at breakfast. I guess you were too busy flying around yourself. There will be plenty of that when we arrive at Fairflanks. Well, you must be hungry, let’s trot over to an early lunch, shall we?”

“Great, but how am I supposed to go out in public with a black eye?” Rainbow Dash said staring in the mirror. “I broke my sunglasses.”

Snowblast just smiled at her, and walked away leaving a puzzled Rainbow Dash in the doorway. A few minutes later, he came back and gave her a pair of blue sunglasses with gold lightning bolts on the sides. “Here, you can have mine,” he said.

“Thanks, these are some pretty cool looking shades,” Rainbow Dash said glancing in the mirror.

Snowblast motioned her out and the two walked down the hallway. “They’re just glasses.”

“Wait. I know these,” she said studying the lightning bolts. “These are the sunglasses the Wonderbolts wear.”

Rainbow Dash stopped, trying to hold back the scream. “You’re a Wonderbolt!” Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe this normal looking pegasus was a member of Equestria’s greatest flyers.

“It was a while back. It doesn’t matter now,” whispered Snowblast. He could tell how excited Rainbow Dash was and tried to hush her up as ponies were poking their heads out of their rooms. “Let’s continue this during lunch, Rainbow Dash. Now please,” Snowblast whispered pushing Rainbow Dash out of her trance.

****

Snowblast started to become a little uncomfortable with Rainbow Dash’s stare. Even as they ate, her stare never left him. Snowblast just looked down at his oats and barley soup, until he could stand no more. “What?” he said with an annoyed tone.

Rainbow Dash realized what she was doing and snapped out of it. “How did you get in?”

Snowblast didn’t feel right talking about the subject, “Do we really need to talk about this.”

“YES! I need to know!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

Luckily nopony was in the dining car, so Snowblast looked at her and asked, “Why are you so obsessed with the Wonderbolts?”

“They are my heroes. Ever since I was a little filly, I’ve wanted to join them,” Rainbow Dash giggled. “Please tell me how you got to join them. Tell me your story.”

Snowblast saw there was no going around this, so he finished his soup and with a sigh he said, “The Wonderbolts were looking for a new member and they came to my school, the Pegaspeed Academy. They asked me to tryout and I did. That’s it.”

Rainbow Dash’s face dropped, wanting to hear more, “What! That’s it. That can’t be all. Please, please, please. If you tell me I won’t ask anything about ever again. Please!”

“They liked my tricks, that’s it. There really is nothing else to say,” Snowblast said turning away.

Rainbow Dash realized Snowblast was hiding something and knew this was going to be hard. “Snowblast, come on. What tricks did you do? What did they make you do? What was it like flying with them? Why did you leave?”

“ALL RIGHT!” Snowblast’s shout sent a beaming smile on Rainbow Dash’s face. “You are the most annoying filly I have ever met,” steamed Snowblast.

Rainbow Dash’s immediately felt her honor under attack and replied, “I am no filly! I am four years old just to let you know!”

“Do you want to hear the story or not?” Snowblast shot back, knowing he controlled the conversation now.

“Yes, sorry,” Rainbow Dash whimpered.

“All right now. As I said, the Wonderbolts came to school and were looking for a new member. They held tryouts and I was forced in by my teacher.”

“You didn’t want to join the Wonderbolts?” Rainbow Dash interrupted.

“Yes Rainbow Dash, not everypony wants to join the Wonderbolts.” For a second Snowblast looked down, “I wasn’t the most popular pony in school, quite the opposite really. My mother was a mare from one of the northern tribes of the Eskiponies, and the other colts and fillies didn’t understand. I didn’t play sports or participate in most of the activities. I wasn’t interested in races, weight lifting, or other things colts did my age. I was more interested in, snow.”

“Snow?” Rainbow Dash cut in sounding disappointed.

Snowblast shot her a look and continued, “Not so much snow itself, but what I could do with it. I enjoyed creating snowfalls, seeing the snow crystals dance around and sparkle when the sun reflected off them. On the day of the Wonderbolts’ tryouts, all the colts went and I followed out of curiosity. When they noticed me following them, they shoved me back and told me I was not allowed to tryout. Before I was able to tell them I had no intention of trying out, just merely wanted to watch, my teacher told them that I too was going to tryout and then she told the Wonderbolts. My fate was sealed, and after watching a few colts do some amazing tricks, it was my turn. I didn’t know what to do and just stood there. The other ponies starting laughing and . . .” Snowblast’s voice got lower, “I got mad, and . . . I started a blizzard.”

“You WHAT?” shouted Rainbow Dash.

“I got mad and started a blizzard,” Snowblast said sheepishly.

Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped, “How did you start a blizzard?”

“I flew up into the clouds, putting holes in them. It starting snowing and I circled around the Academy as fast as I could, causing winds to pick up and there. A blizzard,” Snowblast said looking ashamed.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe her ears, “You must have been bookin’ it. How fast do you think you went?”

“Fast enough to catch the attention of the Wonderbolts. Unfortunately, the blizzard I caused was so bad, it damaged the Academy and grounded even the Wonderbolts themselves. No one could fly in that blizzard for hours. Except me. I think that’s why they choose me,” Snowblast said talking to himself, “I was the only pony who could fly in that blizzard. Anyway, they made me a member, which was good because I got expelled from Pegaspeed Academy, and toured Equestria with them. I stayed with them, using my signature blizzard making move, but left after a couple of years.”

“Why did you leave?” Rainbow Dash said completely entranced in what Snowblast was saying.

“My pride got the best of me,” Snowblast said.

Rainbow Dash’s stomach tanked when she heard those words. Those were the exact words her friends used to warn Rainbow Dash about her pride. She immediately didn’t want to hear any more.

“I became very arrogant and the fame was getting to my head. I lost a lot of things dear to me because it. That is why, Rainbow Dash,” he said looking straight to her, “I left the Wonderbolts. That’s why I don’t like to talk about it.”

“Well, when I join the Wonderbolts, I won’t get a big head,” Rainbow Dash said proudly.

“That’s exactly what I said,” Snowblast said under his breathe. He looked out the window and a big smile broke out. “Wow, we must have been talking for a long time. Take a look outside Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow Dash glanced coldly out the window and blew it off like it was nothing until her head shot back after noticing what he was talking about. She took off the sunglasses and stared out. It was beautiful. The mountains, taller than anything Rainbow Dash had ever seen before, were painted gold by the setting rays of the sun. It was late summer, but the mountain summits were locked in a perpetual winter covered in snow. The vast green painting like tundra stretched as far as the eye could see until it sloped up the mountains eventually being swallowed by the snow. She had never seen anything like this. “You live, here,” Rainbow Dash choked out.

“Have been even since I was a foal. I take it from your expression that you’ll like it here,” Snowblast said with a chuckle.

“I love it already, “Rainbow Dash said flabbergasted. “When will we arrive at Fairflanks?”

“Oh, not that long, another ten minutes,” Snowblast said leaning back in the seat.

“I better get my things ready than,” Rainbow Dash said flying up and speeding off to her room. She stopped in the middle on the car and flew back putting the glasses on the table in front of Snowblast. “Here are your glasses back. Thanks for letting me use them,” she said.

Snowblast smiled looked at them and gave them back to Rainbow Dash, “They’re yours now,” he said touching Rainbow Dash’s hoof, “make sure you don’t make the same mistake I did, ok?”

Rainbow Dash grinned and said, “I won’t. Thanks.”

She put the glasses on her forehead and floated out the car to her room. Snowblast stayed there with thoughts rushing through his mind. Why had he just given his life story to this mare. He had never done that before. He never talks to anypony. There was something about this young pegasus that attracted him. She reminded him so much of himself and his . . . These thoughts continued to bombard him until they were disturbed by the conductor shouting the train had arrived at Fairflanks. “Finally,” Snowblast muttered to himself, “home.”

****

The train came to a stop and the doors flung open. Rainbow Dash followed Snowblast outside with her bag flung on her back and was suddenly hit by the cold.

“I thought it was summer,” she said confused.

“It is, but at night it can get cool,” Snowblast said gesturing to go down the station.

The station was much larger than Ponyville’s and had multiple shops and bars in the main station building. Some of them were still open and Rainbow Dash could see ponies looking at the little trinkets and seating down sipping drinks. This made Rainbow Dash miss home and here friends. Snowblast saw she lonely look and took Rainbow Dash’s bag off her and put it on his back. As they walked, Rainbow Dash noticed how easy it was the breath and she was filled with a new energy and immediately took off. She soared through the black chilly night air, but was startled by Snowblast carrying both bags. She speed off in a teasing way hoping Snowblast would follow, but he just hovered watching her. She took full advantage of the situation and the opportunity of having an audience, and flew around spinning, flipping, and gracefully gliding around Snowblast. She ended her little performance with a shot toward the moon, but was startled again when a blue-green light shot through the sky and remained floating far above her. Frightened, Rainbow Dash dropped down to Snowblast’s side and asked, “What’s that?”

“Those are the Northern Lights. Nothing the to be afraid of,” Snowblast said sensing Rainbow Dash’s fear.

“I am NOT afraid,” she said pretending to be tough, “I was just surprised.” She looked at Snowblast who was silently laughing. She sighed and asked, “What causes the lights to do that?”

“My ponies believe the Northern lights are the unborn pegasus foals who play in the night sky. Quite mesmerizing, aren’t they. I have been watching those lights for years, and they still are as beautiful as they were when I was a foal.”

Rainbow Dash looked at them with the new perspective and wondered what other beauties awaited her the next day.

****

Rainbow Dash stretched her legs and rolled over to face the middle of the bed. She suddenly felt hot breath on her face and shot her eyes open and was inches away from the face of a smiling Snowblast. She smiled back and ran her hoof through his mane. As she did he pushed her hoof aside, kissed her, then retreated to his side of the bed. She giggled and flung herself on him continuing what he had started.

“WATCH OUT!”

Rainbow Dash was ripped out of the fantasy dream by cold water falling her. She immediately shot up into the sky ready to fight anypony.

“Sorry about that dear,” said a tan pegasus hovering above trying to balance a bucket of water on her back. She flew away leaving Rainbow Dash shivering.

“It’s too cold here,” she said gliding back down to her sleeping bag, snuggling into it trying to keep warm. She looked across the vast tundra, wild and uncultivated. “That was a weird dream I had. I can’t believe I could actually see myself doing that.”

“Doing what?” Snowblast said coming out of nowhere.

“I dreamed that I had s . . . nothing!” Rainbow Dash said realizing what she was saying almost too late. “Dreams are stupid,” she yelled hoping he would change the subject.

“Alright, no need to get upset. Just asking. Do you make it a habit to sleep through breakfast? Or is Fairflanks getting to you?” he said chuckling. “You best be up, your training session starts in a little under an hour, and sorry about not having a place the sleep. The hotels are all jam-packed. That’s the life of a Fairflanks pony, you got to get used to the great outdoors.”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Rainbow Dash said looking up at Snowblast with gleaming eyes.

“What!?” Snowblast was caught off guard.

“You heard me. Why?” Rainbow Dash really wanted to know this pegasus’s intentions.

“I . . . well ummmm . . . like you,” he stammered.

“What do you mean, like,” she said lowering her voice. Rainbow Dash could see Snowblast starting the blush, and because he was a white pony, he really turned red.

“Look. Dash. I your getting this wrong . . . you . . . you remind me so much of somepony I knew. It must be great to be young. I miss those days of carefree fun. I saw you at the Ponyville train station with you friends. You really have something special that a lot of ponies don’t have. Your friends really love you, it was obvious. Don’t let that slip from your hooves. Like I did,” he said looking down. “I made huge mistakes, Rainbow Dash, don’t you make them too. Your friends are your life source. Keep them close, don’t lose them.”

“That doesn’t answer my question,” Rainbow Dash said smartly.

“You’re going to miss you session. Pack your things, tomorrow night we can get you a hotel room,” he said with his blush quickly replaced by a stern expression.

Rainbow Dash rolled up her sleeping bag and packed up, saddened that she might have blown it with Snowblast and lost his friendship. Snowblast, seeing her down, lifted her head with his hoof, smiled, and said, “You do have beautiful eyes. We’ll finish this discussion after your training session.”

The grin on her face quickly reformed into a look of panic. The training, she was so lost in the moment, she almost forgot about it. She hurried her packing and speed off with Snowblast to the training center.

The Colt

The Great Fairflanks Adventure – Chapter 2

By Windrace

The auditorium was large and noisy. At least a hundred pegasi were sitting, chatting loudly to their neighbors. Rainbow Dash felt uncomfortable with so many other flyers around, some showing off doing tricks overhead. She didn’t like that Snowblast had left her by herself. Her loneliness left and her heart jump in excitement when she noticed a familiar yellow pegasus, chatting to a group. “Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she trotted over. The pegasus turned around and Rainbow Dash immediately saw the kite cutie mark. “Oh, I’m sorry. I looked like a friend of mine,” Rainbow Dash said backing away. She looked around trying her hardest to find somepony she recognized but with little success. Rainbow Dash finally decided to sit in the back alone. She put her hooves up on the chair in front of her and put on the sunglasses Snowblast gave her as the room went dark. A large projector came out of the ceiling and flashed a bright picture of the weather-training center on a screen, which was situated on the stage in the front of the auditorium. “Wow, we don’t even have something like that in Ponyville,” Rainbow Dash murmured to herself, “I thought Fairflanks was a wild, rustic town. This place is more high-tech than Canterlot.”

“OK, quiet down everypony. Please can I have everyponies’ attention?” a purple pegasus shouted into a microphone. “Thank you. Welcome to this years Fairflanks Weather Management Qualification Training. This is the most ponies I’ve seen in years and it looks like we’ll have some great fun. First off, before we start our presentation, I’m Allstar your lead trainer, and I would like to introduce to you the other trainers for this year.”

Five pegasi stepped up in a line, but Rainbow Dash had trouble seeing who they were from where she sat.

“Our cloud trainer is Cumulus,” continued Allstar, “our wind trainer is Rushstreak, our snow trainer is Snowblast.” Rainbow Dash’s stomach jumped with excitement at the sound of his name. “Our rain trainer is Splasher, and last we have a special celebrity filling in for our lightning trainer, Spitfire from the Wonderbolts!”

A little shriek echoed through the auditorium and heads turned followed by a loud buzz. Rainbow Dash shrank into her seat embarrassed.

“Ok, ok. I know everypony is as excited as the mare in the back,” Allstar said looking straight at Rainbow Dash, “but if we could now direct our attention to Rushstreak, she will start us off with a little safety brief.”

Snowblast patted Rushstreak on the back as she walked on center stage. Rainbow Dash did not like that at all. “Hello, how is everypony doing?” Rushstreak said cheerfully.

A loud in synced, “good,” echoed back.

Rushstreak smiled and continued, “We just need to go over a few rules to make sure everypony is safe during the training. We don’t want to have any accidents do we . . .”

Throughout the presentation, all Rainbow Dash could think of was how lucky and excited she was. She was friends with one of the trainers and best of all, Spitfire was here, so Rainbow Dash could showoff some of her moves. She might even pull a sonic rainboom and the Wonderbolts would ask her to join them. She could not wait to start the training.

“You! The mare in the back with the sunglasses on, what do you think the answer is?”

Rainbow Dash snapped back into reality, “Come again?”

Allstar looked at the other trainers with suggestive eyes and asked her question again, “What is the angle at which you should fly at in order to round up a medium sized cloud?”

Rainbow Dash looked at crowd staring inventively at her, leaned back, put her hooves up on the seat again, and said coolly, “I have no idea, I just fly at whatever angle I happen to be at and round up clouds all day long.”

A few gasps filled the hall and Allstar stood there dumbfounded. Spitfire saw how insulted she was and cut in, “Maybe if you weren’t day dreaming and paid some attention, you might have known the answer. And no you should never fly around like that, you might get yourself and somepony else hurt one day.”

Being scolded by Spitfire caught Rainbow Dash by surprise and she immediately felt ashamed. She put her hooves down, sat up, took off the glasses, and watched in defeated silence. However, it only took a few minutes until Rainbow Dash started day dreaming again. Her mind was not on the lessons, or the Wonderbolts, but of the mare, Rushstreak, who was off to the side having her mane hoofbrushed by none other than Snowblast. Rainbow Dash could feel the envy bobble up inside her. How dare Snowblast play around with Rainbow Dash only to be foaling around with other mares. She wanted answers.

****

When the presentation was over, Rainbow Dash exited the auditorium and waited impatiently outside where Snowblast had told her to wait for him. Only after all the other pegasi left, did she see Snowblast coming laughing with Rushstreak. Rainbow Dash bit her lip until it started bleeding. The small pain felt good and coincided with her raging feelings. Snowblast ended the chat with a quick kiss and Rushstreak trotted away giggling. Snowblast walked slowly toward Rainbow Dash obviously in deep thought. His thought was disrupted when fuming Rainbow Dash popped up in front of him. “You put on quite a performance out there today,” he said misjudging her anger.

“So did you,” she said under her breath.

“Well, I talked to a friend and he said all the hotels are packed tonight,” Snowblast said as the two walked together. So many pegasi came to this years training the hotels are overwhelmed. Sooooo, I guess you stay at me place tonight.”

“Fine,” she replied coldly. She didn’t know why she was following this backstabber. She wanted to give up and leave Fairflanks right then. She had not felt this betrayed since the death of her father when she was a little filly. The memory brought up some angry tears, which she quickly wiped away so Snowblast wouldn’t see them. Snowblast, with his excellent eyesight, saw them anyway and wondered what could trouble her so much. He feared to ask so she didn’t get the wrong message.

“You know we can get there faster if we fly,” he said trying unsuccessfully to be funny.

Rainbow Dash didn’t answer but shot up into the night sky disappearing. Snowblast stood there smiling and waiting for her to come back. A few minutes later she floated down and hovered next to him, “I don’t know where I’m going.”

“Follow me,” Snowblast said taking off himself. Rainbow Dash tried to keep up with Snowblast but he was much faster than she had anticipated. Realizing he was going too fast for her, Snowblast slowed down so he flew next to Rainbow Dash. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize how worn out you were,” he said hinting at her speed.

“I’m not tired,” she said flapping her wings faster. “You’re just . . . you’re faster,” she lowered her voice.

“What was that,” Snowblast said not hearing what she had said.

“YOU’RE FASTER! OK!” she screamed feeling rather odd. She had never said that to any pony before and words hurt her. “This has been a trip of many firsts for me,” she said sadly.

“Don’t worry, once you practice a little on our wind fields, you’ll be just as fast if not faster than me in no time,” Snowblast tried to comfort the obviously hurting pegasus.

****

They reached Snowblast’s home just as ice was starting to form on Rainbow Dash’s wings. Snowblast gracefully glided down to the front door, but Rainbow Dash, who was not use to ice on her wings, crashed into a tree by the front of his house.

“Darn ice. Stupid tree. Dumb wind. Can’t even fly straight here,” Rainbow Dash muttered to herself. Snowblast helped her up and the two stepped inside. The warmth felt so good to Rainbow Dash and she quickly flung herself on the couch in the middle of the room. It was a nice snug single room log cabin with one bed in the far back corner and the small open kitchen to its left. Besides the couch she was lying on, the place was a mess. Pots, pans, and bowls stacked high in the sink, stains covered the countertops and the floor looked like it hadn’t been swept in years.

“Sorry about the mess, hadn’t had time to clean,” Snowblast said quickly trying to straighten things up.

“It’s fine,” she grumbled remembering she was still angry with him.

“Angry about something?” Snowblast said sitting down on the other couch next her’s.

“Yes!” she said furious he would ask such a question.

Then it hit him. He tried to think of the nicest way to say it, “You know if you had paid more attention to the presentation, and not gave Allstar that type of answer, you might not have been reproached like that. You have to watch what you do and say, Rainbow Dash. They were talking of kicking you out today after the session. If you’re on your best behavior from now on, they might forget about it. I’m sorry you mad, but you have to let some of your pride go.”

“That’s not it,” she growled resting her head on her forelegs.

Snowblast realized what she was mad at. He didn’t want to tell her the truth because he didn’t want to lose her friendship. But she has to know. These thoughts scrambled through his mind until he made his decision.

He had to tell her.

****

“I love you,” the snow white pegasus said leaning closer to her cyan body until she could feel his breath against her back sending shivers up and down her spine.

Rainbow Dash’s ears perked up and she lifted her head off her aching legs. Looking at Snowblast with teary eyes. This was exactly what she wanted to hear and was about to express her feelings toward him, when her bliss was shattered.

“But I think you are mistaken,” Snowblast forced the hurting words out, “The love I bear for you is not one between lovers, but love between a father and a daughter.” He could see his rainbow companion’s face drop, and watched as the sadness took over.

“I didn’t tell you everything during our conversation on the train. I left the Wonderbolts because of my pride in the wide picture. But . . . I lost . . . more than friends . . .” the words choked him, “A year into the Wonderbolts I met the most beautiful mare of my life. We got married and had a beautiful daughter, Solar Flare. She had the most beautiful pink eyes. She was the fire that inspired me everyday. But as I gained my precious gem, I lost another. My wife didn’t make the pregnancy and died shortly after giving birth from an illness. I cared for my little bundle by myself for a while, but as soon as she learned to walk and talk, I thought it was about time I continued my work with the Wonderbolts. I felt bad leaving her alone at home, but I missed the notoriety and wanted more. It was my drug. Since I lost my wife, my daughter and the Wonderbolts were the only things keeping me together. Unfortunately, I had to choose which one to concentrate on, and I . . .” he said whipping a tear away, “I choose wrong. My anger grew and my tricks became more bazaar and dangerous. The crowds loved it and my pride swelled. My friends started to leave me, saying I was getting too arrogant and was no fun to be around anymore. I had more time then, which I should have used to be with my daughter, but soon I found myself touring again, leaving my little one alone for days at a time. After one successful tour around Equestria, I came back to find nopony at home. I searched through Fairflanks to find my daughter, but nopony knew where she was. It was only a couple of days later when the troopers brought her little broken body to me door. . .”

Tears streamed down Snowblast’s face, accompanied by light sobbing. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but feel his pain for she too had a dark past. “What happened to her?” she asked trying to hold back the tears.

Snowblast regained his composure and continued, “She got bored, went outside into the mountains, and was killed by an avalanche. The troopers only found her because one of her little wings was sticking out of the snow. After losing her, the Wonderbolts didn’t cut it anymore. I fell into a depression, quit my job, and sat at home drinking and crying most of the time. It wasn’t for another couple months when Rushstreak found me lying on my floor half-dead, did I start to come back to reality. She had known me from the Pegaspeed Academy, was the only nice pony to me. Guess she had been looking after me since my wife died. I owe her my life, I would be six feet under now if it weren’t for her healing words and loving help. But you, Rainbow Dash, to answer your question from before, the reason why I like you so much is . . .” he stammered with tears flowing from his eyes, “every time I look into your eyes, I see my daughter.”

Snowblast shuttered, unable to say any more. Rainbow Dash lay there watching the full-grown stallion sobbing uncontrollably, with tears of her own. She realized it all made sense. She thought she was attracted to him in a romantic fashion, she was wrong. She felt foolish for not recognizing the truth. He had told her the truth, so now it was time for her to come clean.

“I . . . I have something . . .” Rainbow Dash thought carefully of the words she was about to say, “My dad and I were best friends when I was a young filly. He was the one who taught me to fly, and he would always have time to give me a flying lesson,” Rainbow Dash said with a clenched throat, understanding how difficult it was for Snowblast to recount his past, “One day he was teaching me flips when a big lightning storm appeared out of nowhere. We tried to get out before it became too bad, but my wings couldn’t handle the high winds. Lightning was striking everywhere and I was terrified, that’s when my dad came and sheltered me under himself, shielding me from the lightning. We were almost to Cloudsdale when a strike hit him. The pegamedics said he died before he hit the ground. After that, I became the ‘stallion of the house’ and had to take care of my mom, who took a long time to recover. I guess,” she said staring teary-eyed at Snowblast who had gotten up and sat next to her, “I guess I never recovered myself. I miss him.”

She broke down this time and curled up in a ball. Snowblast moved closer and rested his head on her soft cyan back and said, “I think we both know why we appeal to each other. You need a father-figure and I need a daughter-figure. Call it chance, but I believe we were supposed to help one another.”

Rainbow Dash lifted her head, smiled, and said sniffing, “Thank you.” The rest of the night was filled with laughter and talk of past memories shared by the light of the warming fire.

****

Rainbow Dash woke up to the buzzing of the oven timer. The house was filled with the smell of newly baked muffins. Her newly dubbed “father” had let her sleep in his bed while he slept on the couch. Only in the light of day did she finally identify the soft nature and familiar smell of the bed. Clouds. This small reminder of home allowed a trifling amount of sadness to reach her heart, as she thought about her friends in Ponyville. She could spend the rest of her life here, but she could never think about abandoning the ponies she shared so much with. Loyalty was her element, but for the first time in her life, Rainbow Dash considered shunning it.

These thoughts continued until she notice a puzzled Snowblast staring at her with a tray of steaming muffins. “You look like a fish trying to inhale air. Everything ok there sparky?”

Rainbow Dash jumped out of bed and whispered, gazing at the tray, “What happens after I receive my license? What happens to . . . us?”

“You ask too many questions,” Snowblast knew another long talk was inevitable, but the next training session was soon. “Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now you to eat and moving, you’ll be late for the next session.”

The next thing Snowblast knew was a flash of rainbow and two muffins missing from the tray. He looked around in a daze and found Rainbow Dash standing at the door with bulging cheeks and muffins crumbs covering her face. He just chuckled, put down the tray, trotted over to her, and the two departed.

****

Rainbow Dash knew what to do; find the raincloud, round it up to the correct position, and make it stop. Sounded easy enough for her. She took off as fast as she could through the cloud training area. She felt all eyes on her, and aspired to make an impression on those eyes which mattered most, Spitfire and Snowblast. As the other pegasi watched in the stands, Rainbow Dash dashed up in a bluish, rainbow flare. She picked out the darker raincloud from the whiter, puffier billows and raced toward it. As she approached, Rainbow Dash wondered why it was taking her so long to reach it. After another minute of soaring past the forests of clouds, the little cyan pegasus stopped in front of the dark raincloud that towered over her. Intimidation swept over her as she tried to size up the monstrous storm cloud. Looking below, Rainbow Dash could see the instructors taking notes and Cumulus taking off nearing her position. She swallowed hard ready for the criticism she was about to be hammered with.

Cumulus hovered in front of her, his searing gaze made Rainbow Dash nervous. “Loudmouth ponies don’t get far here, Miss Dash. Why did you stop? Did you pay attention to the presentation, or do we need to go over the proper techniques of cloud herding . . . again?”

“No, I know exactly what to do. It’s just . . .” she answered lowering her voice, “It’s so big.”

“Well, from your flattering actions on the first day, I assumed you were an expert, so I choose the largest cloud for you. Good luck.” With that, Cumulus dropped down leaving an opened mouthed Rainbow Dash gaping at the enormous task she caused herself to do. This was her chance to show these frostbitten arctic ponies how a Cloudsdale pegasus does it. She mustered up and shot away leaving enough space for her initial charge. Down she sped swiftly orbiting the monster cloud, though the faster she zoomed around, the faster she grasped that this cloud was going nowhere.

“Faster, I have to go faster,” she proposed to herself panting and speeding up even faster. Rainbow Dash tried to maintain the fastest speed right before entering the stage for her sonic rainboom, but a sudden gust of wind whacked her into the cloud and knocked her cold. She woke up in a free-fall, rocketing toward the widening ground. Panic and fear caused her wings not to respond and she continued to fall. She had just failed the cloud training. For a second, she considered meeting the welcoming ground before her, but thoughts of a grief-stricken Snowblast loosened her clamped wings and she pulled up, missing the ground by a few feet.

“Are you ok? What happened up there?” an anxious Snowblast popped up.

“This is going to be a long day,” the already tired pegasus replied.

“You better save what strength you have left for the other sections,” Snowblast said softly seeing the younger pegasus’ gloom. “Don’t worry Dash, I’m sure you’ll ace the others. Plus this is only the second day. You have three more days to try again and the final test is in four days, these are only trainings. It’s ok to mess up.”

Snowblast just stared at her dejected face, waiting for a smile or some sign of cheerfulness, but all she did was turn away and say, “I hate failing.”

“Rain is next and you told me how you love to take flights in the rain in Ponyville. That should be a snap for you Dash,” he said trying to perk up his depressed friend. At last, success! A smile crept on Rainbow Dash’s face as she remembered the feel of the soft raindrops dripping down her soft cyan coat and wings as she danced around in the spring showers back at home. The memory brought some new vitality back and she was ready to attempt the next section.

****

“I think their trying to kill us,” said the terrified colt standing next to Rainbow Dash as both stared up at the colossal waterfall in front of them.

“Don’t sweat it kid,” Rainbow Dash assured him. “Just fly as fast and hard as you can. Here, watch an expert do it,” she said proudly as Splasher, the rain instructor, motioned her to the base of the waterfall.

“All you have to do is fly up through the waterfall to the top. I will meet you there. Ready when you are Miss Dash,” he hovering above her until taking off to the top of the falls.

Rainbow Dash gazed at the cascading water crashing down on the rocks before her, and looking back to the terrified pegasi behind her, smiled and took off into the falls. She had completely underestimated the strength of the falls. The torrent was nothing like the soft raindrops she was used to, but she was not about to give up on this one. She flapped as hard and fast as she ever had, but after what seemed like hours, Rainbow Dash’s stinging sore wings failed her and she plummeted to the bottom, plunging into the freezing pool below. She dragged herself out and stood soaking wet, shivering, and embarrassed as the other pegasi looked on with grinning faces. She glanced at Snowblast looking for comfort, but he only shook his head. Splasher came down from the top, and told the next pegasus to try. He flew up having the same trouble as Rainbow Dash, but soon remembered the important flight style shown during the presentation, and spiraled up making his way to the top of the waterfall. Rainbow Dash watched in repulsion as he came down also wet and cold, but carrying a huge smile on his face as the other pegasi cheered. With her hurt pride and stinging wings, Rainbow Dash tottered away with Snowblast.

“You gave your best shot Rainbow,” Snowblast said holding her close with a compassionate wing.

“I did it again, I’m a failure. And my wings hurt . . . a lot,” she croaked back, letting her wings drag on the ground.

“Stop worrying. As long as you know what to do for the final, you’ll be fine. I hope they don’t hurt enough not to have dinner out tonight. I would like you to officially meet Rushstreak, if you’re ok with that,” he answered.

“I guess,” she said still thinking about how sore her wings were.

“Great! We’ll go back home, wash up and meet her at Le Pégase Voler,” Snowblast shouted with delight.

“What’s that?” Dash asked.

Snowblast looked at her with amazement, “It’s only the best restaurant in Equestria! Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of it? Well aren’t you in for a surprised, we may be a frontier out here, but we have damn good food. Come on let’s get ready.”

****

Sitting with Snowblast at the table in the middle of the restaurant made Rainbow Dash feel very uncomfortable. Her rainbow mane had been tidied up and brushed back out of her face, a request from Snowblast. The last time she wore her mane like this was at her father’s funeral. The slight pain in her wings didn’t help, plus the menu was entirely in another language, which frustrated her even further.

“Ah, they’re here,” Snowblast said drawing Rainbow Dash’s attention to the front door.

“They?” she asked confused.

Rushstreak and another younger pegasus trotted over to their table. He was a strongly built bluish-grey colt, around the same age as Rainbow Dash, with a silky black mane and three wavy lines for his cutie mark. But it was his eyes she noticed again. Those big deep blue eyes. She felt as though she was back on the train in Ponyville.

“What’s with these colt’s eyes here?” she muttered to herself.

Rushstreak noticed Rainbow Dash gaping at her guest, “Rainbow Dash, I would to meet my nephew, Windrace.”

“Hay,” the shy colt stammered turning red.

“Hay,” replied the awestruck cyan filly replied turning the same color.

Recognizing the situation, Snowblast muttered under his breath, “Here we go again.”

Cold Tragedy

The Great Fairflanks Adventure – Chapter 3

By Windrace

Snowblast broke up the awkward stillness, directing the young Pegasus to sit next to Rainbow Dash. This was of course, the last thing she wanted and wanted to protest, but politeness replaced her fuming anger toward Snowblast, who she knew was having fun with the situation Rainbow Dash had been forced into.

“So how did the training go today?” Rushstreak asked Rainbow Dash.

Seeing the rainbow filly’s attention entirely on Windrace, Snowblast replied, “It went ok. Rainbow Dash just has to remember the very important information given to her at the presentation.”

Rainbow Dash quickly popped back into reality when she heard her name. “I did just fine,” she snapped. “They’re not training us right, their just telling us to do this and that and see how we do. It’s more like the big test than training if you ask me.”

“I hate to criticize you Rainbow Dash, but I think WE did tell you everything you need to successfully complete our training,” Rushstreak answered in a gentle tone. “As I remember it, you didn’t pay much attention. I hope you at least listened to what I said, because you start my wind section tomorrow.”

Rainbow Dash squirmed with embarrassment. She almost forgot she was complaining in front of two trainers. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend anypony. And I did listen . . . but if you could go over it one more time, I would really appreciate it,” Rainbow Dash lied through her teeth.

Rushstreak explained what to expect on the wind course and the proper flight techniques, but soon the direction turned into a heated debate with Snowblast about how fast a pony can fly safely during high winds. Rainbow Dash tried her best to pay attention, but she was curious about the colt sitting next to her. Soon the bluish-grey pegasus noticed her eye wondering around him and gazed at his food, occasionally glancing at Rainbow Dash’s solid stare. As Rushstreak and Snowblast continued to talk unaware of the other side of the table, Windrace leaned over to the rainbow filly and whispered, “Why are you staring at me?”

Rainbow Dash instantly shot her head forward and shoved her muzzle into the food, forgetting she was at a restaurant. The colt smiled and tried not to laugh, but the weird noises Rainbow Dash was making while eating did not help. Windrace joined in and soon the two were laughing at each other’s poor manners. Rainbow Dash was thrilled to have finally meet another pony who was not obsessed with clean and perfect things. Unfortunately, this fun ended with a loud burp from Windrace and angry glares from Rushstreak and Snowblast.

“Windrace!” gasped his aunt. “Please excuse yourself.”

“I’m sorry,” he responded looking over and smiling at Rainbow Dash. The two adults continued their debate and the two troublemakers continued their havoc.

After finishing their food and not being able to stand the argument Rushstreak and Snowblast were still ranting on, the two young pegasi ask if they could go outside.

“Just make sure you do go too far,” said Rushstreak.

“I was wondering if I could take Rainbow Dash to Lighnting Ledge,” asked Windrace.

Rushstreak looked at Snowblast who, in turn, nodded in agreement, but before she could turn to say yes, the two pegasi galloped off. The two adults looked at each other and kissed. “Finally we can talk at will,” Snowblast said running his hoof through Rushstreak’s mane.

****

“What’s you favorite Wonderbolt move?” Windrace asked, breaking the silence.

Rainbow Dash’s face lit up, “I love Spitfire’s Lightning Bolt, the one when she flys through a thunder cloud and shoots out the other end with lightning following her. It’s so awesome! She’s my favorite Wonderbolt. Who’s your’s.”

“I like Soarin and his Spiral Swirl. I heard he could do hundreds without getting sick,” Windrace said trying to imponynate Soarin’s moves.

“You know,” Rainbow Dash said proudly, “I can do a sonic rainboom.”

“That’s cool,” Windrace said unimpressed.

Rainbow Dash disliked his middling reaction and shouted, “What! You think you can do better.”

Windrace just looked at her and smiled flying off a distance then shooting up into the star filled night sky. Rainbow Dash stopped, hovering in place watching him in confusion. She watched as Windrace stopped and shot downward reaching speeds she had trouble getting to. Soon before her eyes, he performed a perfect sonic rainboom, lighting up the night sky with a blue burst, but he did not stop there. He continued speeding down faster and faster. Soon an eerie blue light started illuminating from his wings growing brighter and brighter. Then in a blinding flash, he exploded into a big blue bolt of lightning zipping up from the ground toward where Rainbow Dash floated in disbelief. He had just pulled off the fabled Warpbolt, a mythical speed that was said to be only broken by the Lord of the Pegasi some two thousand years ago. Nopony really thought it existed, it was a myth, and this young colt pulled it off in a matter of minutes. Rainbow Dash dropped down to the ground followed by her jaw. Windrace came back panting and made a half-crash landing, collapsing to the ground in exhaustion.

“That . . . was . . . the . . . coolest . . . thing . . . I . . . have . . . ever . . . seen,” Rainbow Dash stammered trotting over to the wheezing colt.

“Thanks,” he said trying to catch his breath.

“I’ve gotta tell my friends what you can do!” Rainbow Dash screamed excitedly.

“NO!” Windrace yelled standing up. “You can’t tell anypony. I don’t want anypony to know.”

“Why not!” she shouted in protest. “You can do something that nopony can do, not even I can pull off a Warpbolt if I tried.”

“It’s my secret talent, and that’s the way I like it,” he replied.

“A SECRET, why the hay would you want to keep this a secret!” Rainbow Dash could not understand why anypony would want to keep this from others.

“I don’t like to show off,” Windrace said ruffling his feathered wings getting ready to take off.

“Oh,” she said looking down at the ground realizing that is what she should learn to do, but her pride soon overshadowed her values, “Wait that’s stupid, it’s ok to showoff sometimes, especially if it is showing off a Warpbolt. Can you teach me how to do it?”

“Maybe later, I just want to fly around a little, get the blood back into my wings,” he said flapping his wings.

“Yah, you’re supposed to take me to see this ledge thing you mentioned,” Rainbow Dash said shooting into the air.

“Right, follow me,” Windrace lifted himself into the air.

The Northern Lights appears in the sky as the two flew together, spinning and flipping around in an aerial dance. Rainbow Dash had not had this much fun in a long time and tried to keep up with her new friend. The two flew around for a while out of the lighted city of Fairflanks, into the darkness of the surrounding wilderness.

“So, where’s this Lightning Ledge?” Rainbow Dash asked as the two soared through the night sky.

Windrace pointed down to a cliff face below them. “That. It’s where lightning strikes a lot during storms, hence the name,” he replied dropping down rapidly and landing softly, right near the edge of the cliff. Rainbow Dash, seeing this as a contest, rocketed down after him, misjudged her own speed, and crashed into him send both of them tumbling off the cliff. They fell together until Rainbow Dash kicked away from Windrace sending him down further. She watched in horror as he fell into the darkness below and then she heard a thud.

“Oh no,” she panted, racing down to the ground. The clouds moved allowing the moonlight to light the landscape revealing her friend lying still near the base of the cliff. Rainbow Dash flew over to his motionless body fearing the worst. As she put her head to his chest, Windrace wrapped his legs around her and tackled her to the ground laughing. His laughing was met with cyan hoof across his muzzle.

“I thought you were dead,” Rainbow Dash fumed.

Still laughing Windrace replied, “You should know a pegasus would never fall to their death like that. I’m shocked you don’t have faith in my flying ability.”

He remained standing over her, both staring into each other’s eyes, waiting the other to make the next move, but nothing happened. Rainbow Dash liked this reckless colt, he reminded her of herself. What just happened was the type of prank she pulled on hers friends back in Ponyville all the time. She did not want to moment to end. He just stood there smiling at her with those big blue eyes. Rainbow Dash had never had this feeling before, not even when she met Snowblast. She could not explain the serene sentiment, but she liked it. Sure, she had been attracted to many ponies before, but not this strongly before.

“You have beautiful eyes,” Windrace said, soon realizing what he said and quickly back off, turning away.

“You do too,” Rainbow Dash whispered, getting up and slowly walking over to him.

“I hope you are enjoying Fairflanks, Rainbow Dash,” he said timidly.

“No, I’m not,” she replied. Windrace looked at her confused as she moved closer. “I’m enjoying something much better.” With that, she leaned over and kissed the already blushing colt.

****

The rainbow pegasus retreated from the stunned colt as he stared at her not knowing what to do. Rainbow Dash began to worry that she had been wrong to make the first move and questioned what Windrace’s next move was. Her fears lifted as he took her hoof and smiled, returning the kiss with one of his own.

“I thought I saw something in your eyes, something different,” Windrace said plopping down observing the starless night sky.

Rainbow Dash followed his lead and asked, “What do you mean?”

“I know this sounds crazy but,” he said focusing his gaze on her, “when I walked into the restaurant tonight, I thought you might be the one. Then I saw that special spark in your eyes, and that only confirmed it.”

“That’s not crazy,” she replied. “I have to admit, I felt . . . something . . . when you came in. I don’t know, maybe it wasn’t anything,” she said turning away.

“We could always make it into something,” the young colt answered solemnly. The cyan filly looked at him in understanding and the two sat and gazed into the sky for a while.

“Windrace, do you think certain ponies were made for each other, like something happens that purposely begins them together?” Rainbow Dash whispered feeling somewhat foalish for saying something like that.

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” he relied, “I’m not really supposed to be here.”

“No?” she confirmed in amazement.

“I was supposed to be in Bridleson to take a few summer classes, but something told me to spend the summer with my Aunt Rushstreak because I don’t get to see her very often,” he said lowering his voice and shifting closer to Rainbow Dash, “I’m glad I did.”

The bluish-grey colt leaned over and ran his hoof through her rainbow mane. The provoked filly lay down in response allowing him to continue his caressing. Windrace could not deny he had impious thoughts as he moved his hooves down her back, massaging her cyan wings. Rainbow Dash, too, had erotic deliberations as she turned around exposing her stomach to Windrace’s probing hooves. The moon broke out of the dark clouds and illuminated the heated scene below. With her eyes glistening in the moonbeams, Windrace stopped his kneading, and stare into Rainbow Dash’s dark pink eyes. The two young pegasi communicated more than any words could in those few moments, which were interrupted by a swift and passionate embrace.

As the two continued their canoodling, the Northern Lights appeared in the sky above them. Upon noticing this, Windrace shot up into the cool black air waiting for his new marefriend to join him. She floated up to him and the two flew around the neon green lights swaying and twirling around against the blackened sky. Spinning and soaring about, the two love stricken pegasi danced around each other in a complicated series of loops and spins. Windrace stopped and gave Rainbow Dash a devious grin. With a giggle, Rainbow Dash fleetingly tore past him hovering a distance away. Seeing an impending race, Windrace shouted, “Where’s the finish line?”

“That fancy restaurant place we ate at,” the slim, fit pegasus yelled back commencing with her midflight stretching.

The two prepared themselves for the race of the century. Windrace counted down from three and upon hearing GO, the two spread forward. Rainbow Dash had been waiting to race somepony for a while and was enjoying every second, until she realized Windrace steadily leaving her behind. As much as she tried, she could not keep up with him. The challenge-loving filly pumped her wings as fast as she could thinking a sonic rainboom was the only way to beat this wildly fast colt. To her relief, the familiar cone formed around her, now all she needed was concentration. Thoughts of winning continued to flood her mind as she edged closer and closer to achieving her goal. Suddenly, snow and wind began to bombard her exposed eyes; closing them seemed to be the only option. It was pitch black, the wind was deafening, and Windrace nowhere to be seen. Fear seeped through her adrenaline-filled mind and considered slowly down for safety, but her pride and will to win the race blocked out caution and she continued to soar faster and faster.

“Watch out for the . . .” a familiar voice screamed next to her as Rainbow Dash plowed into a thick snow-filled storm cloud she failed to see.

The force at which she hit the cloud knocked Rainbow Dash out and she began to freefell and plummet toward the ground. Windrace, who was at Rainbow Dash’s side since he noticed her trying to preform a sonic rainboom, shot down to save her, but the lack of light and the approaching snowstorm made it difficult to see where she was. Panic stricken, he finally spotted her but saw there was no time to grab and stop her at this speed before she hit the ground. So, he did the only thing he could think of. He dashed in front of her using himself as a shield just before they both hit the ground with a horrific crack.

****

Sun light gleamed through her sore eyelids and hastened consciousness. Rainbow Dash tried to move but the shooting pain in her left side kept her from standing. She tried shaking the snow off that covered her, but the pain prevented that too. After realizing what happened, anxiety settled in and checked to make sure everything was still there. As she examined her body, her sore eyes scanned over her wings, but noticed something off. Rainbow Dash was still lightheaded from the fall so it took her a while to make at that her left wing had changed color. Focusing harder she was horrified to find a disheveled wing with a bone sticking out. Blood was oozing out into a large puddle she was lying in. The terrified young mare could feel tears sprouting out and finally flowed down her bruised and hurting face. She franticly swung her aching necking around the see her right wing only to find a snow-covered, bloodied Windrace lying in an unnatural position next to her.

“Windrace,” Rainbow Dash croaked, not having the vigor she thought she had. She felt like breaking down and crying, but was unable due to her consciousness slowly leaving her because of the loss of blood. A faint groan emerged from Windrace’s disfigured body but no movement. Rainbow Dash stared at his blood splattered muzzle, looking for signs of life, but received none. She mustered all strength she had, and ignoring the pain, shuffled closer to her coltfriend’s cold motionless body as consciousness finally drifted away from her.

****

Rainbow Dash dreamed of voices. Familiar voices, voices she had not heard in while. Twilight Sparkle! Applejack! Pinkie Pie! Rarity! Fluttershy! Hearing the imaginative voices of her friends made her wish she was back in Ponyville. Other voices, Snowblast and Princess Celestia? Rainbow Dash knew dreams were weird, but this was getting out of hand.

“She’s lucky you found her when you did, otherwise we would probably would not have made it,” said an unfamiliar voice.

“Well Rushstreak thankfully knows all of Windrace’s favorite places to go,” said Snowblast.

Realizing this was no dream, Rainbow Dash forced herself awake and slowly opened her eyes revealing a group of ponies standing around her hospital bed. “Windrace,” Rainbow Dash muttered under her breathe.

“Up, she coming through,” said the doctor.

“Is there anything you can do, Princess,” whispered a worried Fluttershy.

“I’m afraid I have done all I can for her right now. Magic can only mend minor injuries, Rainbow Dash is going to have to mend herself right now,” relied Princess Celestia.

Rainbow Dash could see Twilight stepping closer out of the corner of her frail eye. “Rainbow Dash, can you hear us? Can you say something?”

It took some time to get her sore mouth to move, “How did you . . . Why did you come here?”

“Snowblast thought it would be better for you to come home than to stay in the Fairflanks hospital. You came to us,” Twilight Sparkle replied happily.

“I’m in Ponyville? Windrace! Is he ok? Where is he? Can I see him? Is he here?” Rainbow Dash forgot about her pain as her thoughts flooded with feelings for Windrace.

Applejack looked at her friends, then turned to Rainbow Dash and said, “He’s . . .”

“OK! I think everypony needs to give Ms. Dash some privacy,” yelled the doctor. After the group had left, the doctor “She’s needs to rest if she is to get better. Don’t worry Ms. Dash you’ll be fine. All you have is a broken leg, a couple bruised ribs, and a fractured wing. You’ll be out of here within the week.”

“What about Windrace,” the worried filly said.

“I’ll see you in the morning, right now you need to rest. Good night,” he replied walking out of the room and shutting the door. Rainbow Dash was very tried and the fact that she was now back in Ponyville eased her mind slightly and she soon fell fast asleep.

****

“Hey Dashie!”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes shoot open as the pink pony bounced up and down in front of her.

Pinkie Pie continued, “How are you feeling today? I brought you some cupcakes. The doctor said they are fine for you. Did you sleep well? How is your wing? Do you . . .?”

“Pinkie, how long have I been out?” Dash asked.

“When you first got here or just today?” Pinkie Pie replied.

“Wait, what? I’ve been here longer than . . . When did I arrive in Ponyville?” Dash was curious.

“You gave us quite a scare. You came here about a week ago and had been sleeping ever since you woke up yesterday,” Pinkie said stopping her bouncing and looking down at the ground. “We thought you might not wake up at all.”

“A week! I missed the training than. Now I have to wait a whole year to do that training again. I’ll never get a job now,” the pegasus sulked.

“Don’t worry Dashie, we’ll find something for you. Hey! You can work for Mr. and Mrs. Cake with me!” Pinkie shouted excitedly.

Rainbow Dash looked at Pinkie Pie with a scowl, “Pinkie, you know I can’t cook to save my life.”

Pinkie Pie just smiled and said, “I know you could be the official sampler.”

Rainbow Dash laughed, “That I would love. By the way, Pinkie, any word on Windrace?”

“Who?” asked Pinkie Pie getting nervous.

“He was my . . . is my friend from Fairflanks,” Rainbow corrected herself.

Pinkie Pie look down at the ground, “Oh, you have a new friend now?”

“No Pinkie. Not like that, you should know you girls are my best friends. He’s not that type of friend,” Dash turned away and blushed.

Upon seeing Rainbow Dash’s reaction, Pinkie Pie took full advantaged of the situation. “Oh, you mean he’s your special somepony? Ha, Dashie’s got a coltfriend! Dashie’s got a coltfriend!” Pinkie Pie shouted bouncing up and down.

“Pinkie, Stop it!” Dash fumed. “Do you know anything about what happened to him?”

Pinkie bouncing stopped and her smiled disappeared. Rainbow Dash had never seen such a fast alteration in Pinkie’s mood before. “Dashie,” she said stepping closer to Rainbow’s bed. “The others didn’t want you to know yet, but I think you deserve to.”

“What! Tell me!” Rainbow Dash shouted fearing the worst.

Pinkie Pie looked at her teary eyed friend and said, “Windrace is alive. Well, barely. He’s in a coma and on life-support.”

Rainbow Dash could believe it, did want to believe what her friend just told her. What she lacked in words she made up in tears. Pinkie Pie saw how distraught Dash was and leaned over and hugged her. Rainbow overlooked the pain and hugged back letting her emotions take over.

After sobbing in each other’s embrace, Dash leaned back and asked, “Where is he? Is he here or back in Fairflanks?”

“Oh he’s here. Ponyville’s hospital is better equipped than Fairflanks’. Plus Snowblast was bringing you here anyway,” Pinkie replied wiping the tears off her face.

Dash tried to move again and found it easier than before. “Can I see him?”

“That’s up to the doctor. I’ll go get him,” Pinkie Pie said walking out of the room.

Moments later, Pinkie and the doctor came in. “I guess since you know now, it would be fine if you want to see him,” said the doctor glaring at Pinkie Pie.

They put Rainbow in a wheelchair and Pinkie push her down the hallways to Ponyville’s ICU. There, alone in a dark room, lay Windrace. Pinkie Pie push Dash’s wheelchair up next to his bed and said, “I’ll give you two some time,” and walked away.

Dash sat there staring at him, fighting the inevitable tears. He would have looked peaceful lying there if it would not for the large semi-healed gashes on the side of his face and the bulky feeding tube in his mouth. His chest moved with the ventilator next to him as it did the work for him. All Rainbow could hear was the beeping from the heart monitor, the IV dripping liquid into Windrace’s foreleg, and the pounding of her own heart.

“Windrace,” Dash whispered through her tears, “I don’t know if you can hear me, but I want to thank you. I promise to you right now, I will come and visit you everyday until you wake up. And you will wake up. You have to promise me that. Promise me, Windrace, you’ll . . . wake . . . up . . .” Rainbow couldn’t say anymore. She put her head on the bed and cried softly.

To Ascend

The Great Fairflanks Adventure – Chapter 4

By Windrace

“Dash? Dash? How long have you been here?”

Rainbow Dash perked her drowsy head up and stared at the colt lying on the bed in front of her. Her heart sank as she soon learned it was Twilight Sparkle who woke her up.

“How long have you been here?” Twilight asked again.

Rainbow looked at the imprint she left on the bed and then to Twilight, “I can’t remember. Pinkie Pie brought me here a little while ago, I guess.”

“A little while?” questioned the approaching doctor. “You my dear have been sleeping next to young Windrace for quite some time. You must remember that you too are in need to care still. I am here to escort you back to your room where you should remain until you are well again.”

“Could you move me in here?” Rainbow Dash asked with dozy eyes.

“I don’t think the ICU is where you belong,” he said taking hold of Rainbow Dash’s wheelchair.

“Hay! Wait! I don’t want to go!” Rainbow shouted in protest.

The doctor looked at Twilight hinting that is was time to leave. “I know what you want, but right now I need you to recover.”

Rainbow Dash grabbed the bedpost and held on. As the doctor pulled harder, a sharp pain rushed into Rainbow’s side and she let go. The doctor rolled the wincing pegasus down the halls back to her room where she was tucked into bed without a fight.

****

Thinking was the only thing Rainbow Dash could do for the time she was recovering in the hospital. She thought of home, her parents, her friends, and Windrace. The harder she tried to keep herself busy with games with her visiting friends and books brought by Twilight Sparkle, she could not keep her mind off that crazy colt lying in the ICU, that stupid childish colt. Why did he have to do it! Tears were a constant visitor to Dash as her sorrow turned to anger.

“It should have been me,” Rainbow Dash thought out loud in front of her visiting friends.

“Now why would you say such a thing?” Applejack objected.

“Dashie, aren’t you happy that you’re ok?” Pinkie Pie asked.

Rainbow Dash huffed, and turned away.

“Listen sugar cube. I understand what you’re goin’ through,” Applejack lay her hoof on Rainbow’s head. “Big Mac had a bad accident on the farm a couple years ago. Sent him to the hospital, almost died from it. I was supposed to close up the barn before a big storm hit, but Big Mac wouldn’t let me and did it himself. Well, a long story short, the wind blew the barn down right on Big Mac. He was in the hospital for weeks. I was mad at myself for it not having happened to me, but after some time past I realized how selfish I was being. I should have been grateful, cuz if it weren’t for my brother, I wouldn’t be here today. He saved my in a way.”

Brushing away a tear, Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack and replied, “I’m sorry, it’s just . . .” She trailed off and embraced her friends.

It was true. Because of him, she was could fly. Because of him, she was able to see her friends. Because of him, she was alive. After Applejack and Pinkie Pie left, she reflected on Applejack’s words and soon fell asleep.

****

Days turned into weeks, and soon Rainbow Dash could walk again. She took full advantage of this gift and visited Windrace everyday she could. As soon as she was released, Rainbow took a volunteer job at the hospital so she could see Windrace more. The weeks went by and still no sign of her colt ever waking up. Everyday she would spend time sitting at his side reading to him, telling him how her day went, or just sitting and gazing at him, waiting for those blue eyes to appear. Rainbow Dash’s friends came to visit too, but none more than Pinkie Pie.

One day Pinkie Pie turned the corner and trotted into the hallway Windrace’s room was in. She swore she could hear singing. It was only when she reached his room she could recognized the sweet soft voice coming from Windrace’s room, piercing through the hospital’s dull silence. She knew Rainbow could sign, but not this well. Pinkie Pie entered the room quietly not to disturb the performance and stopped in the doorway.

“That was beautiful Dashie,” Pinkie Pie said in astonishment after silence had returned.

“I wrote it for him,” Rainbow Dash whispered, turning around.

Pinkie Pie walked over and wiped the tear making its way down Rainbow’s cheek. “Don’t worry Dashie, he’ll walk up. And when he does, you and I can organize a party for him together!”

“Thanks Pinkie. Thanks for always being there for me,” Rainbow said giving Pinkie Pie a big hug. “You’re the best friend a pony could have.”

“I thought I was your best friend,” said a weak voice.

Rainbow Dash looked at Pinkie Pie, “I just said you were.”

“I didn’t say anything silly willy,” Pinkie Pie said confused. “You said, ‘You’re the best friend a pony could have,’ and then you hugged me.”

Rainbow’s wishful heart jumped as her head pivoted around and a pair of big blue eyes met her’s.

“And you never told me you could sing so beautifully,” stammered the blue-eyed colt.

Rainbow Dash could not breathe and could not moved; frozen in shock.

“Windrace you’re awake!” shouted Pinkie Pie. “Now we can have that party!”

“Party? For what?” Windrace said puzzled.

“For you,” Rainbow Dash sputtered still in shock. She could hardly see him through her tear soaked eyes. “I’ve been waiting for you every . . .”

“Day. Yes, I know,” Windrace interrupted. “I heard everything you said, everyday, and I thank you for it. That was probably what kept me going, kept me alive. I guess we’re even now, huh Dash? Dashie?”

“Oh Windrace!” Rainbow cried, reaching over and embracing him. “I missed you.”

“I think I’ll get the doctor now,” said Pinkie Pie, knowing it was time to leave the two alone.

Windrace escaped Rainbow’s grip and leaned back in bed, “now tell me the story again how you and your friends used the elements to defeat Nightmare Moon.”

The two talked for hours, only to be interrupted by the occasional visit from a nurse to check up on Windrace. “So what happens now? Are you going back to Fairflanks?” Dash asked, worrying what his answer might be.

“I thought I might stay here for a while,” Windrace replied, “with you. You could show me Ponyville and all your friends.”

Rainbow Dash leaned over and kissed him, “I would love that.”

****

Rainbow Dash lay on the soft grass letting her belly soak up the golden rays. Occasionally a shadow from above would float across blocking the warming gleams, but she did not care. After a few trial takeoffs and landings, the shadow came down back to earth and trotted over to Rainbow Dash.

“So how was that?” Windrace asked.

“You need to work on your takeoffs, they’re weak.” Dash replied whipping out Snowblast’s shades and putting them out.

“I’m trying,” Windrace shot back, a little annoyed. “If you haven’t noticed I’m a little on the hurting side still.” He walked closer and spread his scarred wings.

Rainbow rolled over and pushed herself up to a standing position with her wings.

“Well Mr. Windrace,” she said walking in circles around the colt, “You need to try harder.”

Rainbow poked him in the flank, “Back straight, wings up, and neck down. Now, what you need is to ignore the pain, flap hard, and push off with your hind legs.”

“Easier said then done,” Windrace said more annoyed. “And Dash I know how to fly, it’s just hurts. I think I need to take a break.”

The glum colt walked over to where Rainbow had been and laid down hiding his head under his wings. Dash felt sorry for him. He had been retraining himself non-stop as part of the recovering process, but with little success. All he could do was takeoff, hover for a while, and tire out. Whenever he tried to ascend higher, he would stain himself and fall back down. Dash strolled over to him and lay down next to him.

“I think I know what the problem is,” she said softly.

“What?” the muffled voice said from under the feathers.

Rainbow pushed aside Windrace’s wings revealing his wet face. She looked into his teary eyes and smiled. “All you need is a little help,” she shouted standing up. “Come on, get up!”

“It’s hopeless Dash,” Windrace said covering himself with his wings again.

Rainbow Dash kicked him in the flank and shouted, “Get up, now! You didn’t give up like this before, why start now? Come on, I’ll help you.”

Windrace shot Dash a look, and soon realizing he already lost, reluctantly got up and tottered over to her. Dash in response sprang up into the air and hovered over him.

“All right Windrace, your turn,” Rainbow shouted below.

“Ok, I can do this,” Windrace muttered to himself. He positioned himself, lifted his wings, and shoved off the ground with all his strength. Windrace flapped up to where Rainbow Dash was and hovered there with her.

“Good, see I knew you could do it,” she said sarcastically. “Now try getting up here.” Rainbow lifted herself above a little further and stopped, waiting for Windrace to follow. He looked at her, way above himself, and sighed. He was already tired and could feel his wings straining, but he didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of Dash any further. He flapped harder but it was not enough, and started to float down. Rainbow saw this, and immediately flew to his aid. She placed herself beneath him and began beating in time with his wings. Soon the two rose together higher and higher. Windrace looked down at Dash and smiled. She returned the smile with a little kiss on the neck as the two continued to ascend.