The sharp, cold wind cut into Rainbow Dash’s wings and the cold rain spat on her as she glided through the sky on this stormy June day. A great deal of water was needed to fulfill the demands of the Earth Ponies and their crops after a scheduled dry spell. Why there even needed to be dry spells was beyond Rainbow Dash. She was just in it for the bits. A small side job on her way to fulfilling her dream and finally becoming a member of the most prestigious flyers in all of Equestria, the Wonderbolts
More often than not, it turned out to be very monotonous and trivial work. Often times, she would be caught up in daydreams while arranging or kicking away clouds, dreaming of racing through the skies at breakneck speeds with her favorite flyers. This would sometimes throw her off, but her sheer speed was more than enough to accommodate for any error that she might make in her whimsy.
As she placed the last cloud into place, completing the wall of rain that covered Ponyville in its entirety, she spotted an orange speck over at Sweet Apple Acres. Feeling jubilant and proud of her work, she decided to go have a chat with her good friend Applejack.
“Boy howdy, this sure is a monster of a rain storm ya’ll got cooked up! ‘Course, my trees could never have too much rain! Thirsty little devils. Care to come inside for a while, Rainbow?” said Applejack to her damp friend.
“Yeah, I guess I have some time to spare.” Said Rainbow Dash, feeling relieved that she would finally be getting out of this brutal cold. “I’m starting to get a headache though.”
“You alright there, girl? Headaches are never fun. Ah had a right nasty one the other day, but it cleared right up after I took a nice, long nap.”
“Oh yeah, I’m fine. It’s just a little headache, I get ‘em all the time. It’ll be gone before I know it.”
Yes, Rainbow Dash had been getting these headaches often recently, that much was true. But what she wasn’t so honest about was the intensity of it. As it turns out, this particular headache was pulse pounding and as painful as any she had ever felt.
The bitter cold of outside was quickly forgotten as Rainbow entered Applejack’s humble abode, but it took a moment for rainbow’s eyes to adjust to the brightness of the home. A large fire roared in the fireplace sending bright light cascading through the structure, contributing its part to creating one of the coziest environments in all of Ponyville.
“Granny, how about we fix ole Rainbow Dash here with a nice hot cup of cider?” Said Applejack.
“Rainbow who now? What? Oh, Rainbow Dash! Why didn’t you say so, Applejack? Gosh, you look cold! Here’s some Cider to get rid of those chills, Dearie!” She said, handing the warm cup to Rainbow Dash. She took a sip of the heavenly sweet apple concoction before choking, realizing she had forgotten something dire.
“Wow, great Cider Granny- err, I mean, Mrs. Smith! But I really have to run! I forgot something REALLY important!”
“Are you sure you can’t stay for just a spe-“tried Applejack, but she was interrupted by Dash’s hasty exit, leaving her trademark rainbow Jetstream in her wake for all to see.
--
Her destination was not far, which made the haste displayed in Applejack’s home somewhat unnecessary, but nonetheless she was late, and she was kicking herself for not remembering such an important commitment. Today was Scootaloo’s twelfth birthday, an important milestone for any young filly, and Rainbow Dash had promised that she would be there. This was, after all, the greatest gift that she could give the young pony, who would give anything to be just like her favorite blue flyer.
Rainbow Dash approached the trademark tree house of the three rambunctious little fillies known as the “Cutie Mark Crusaders” based their center of operations which solely consisted of obtaining their identity, their Cutie Marks. Music poured out of the wooden structure which was decked out in streamers and balloons and a large, sloppily written sign that said “Happy Birthday Scootaloo!”, no doubt the product of Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle trying to get their “Sign Making” cutie mark.
She rapped on the front door with her hoof and said “Where’s my favorite little Pegasus at?” as she creaked the door open and peeked inside. She was greeted with an ecstatic “Rainbow Dash!” before being nearly tackled by the orange and purple filly. “I’m so glad you made it! I knew you’d make it though! You’re the best!”
“Aww, thanks kiddo.” Said Rainbow Dash, raising a hoof to comfort her aching head, “What’s up Sweetie and Apple Bloom?” she said with a quiet groan.
“Heya there, Rainbow Dash! Ahm just helpin’ Sweetie Belle clean up the place! Scootaloo’s real excited fer her surprise!” said Applebloom, sweeping some crumbs out the doorway and onto the ground below.
“Yeah Scootaloo, no need to stick around, we have it covered here! You go and have a good time!” said Sweetie Belle. “I need to hurry up and get home anyways. Rarity’s taking me…shopping…” The disdain in her voice was clear and it was obvious that she would much rather be spending time with her friends trying to find their cutie marks.
“As fun as that sounds sweetie, we’ve gotta run! Let’s go Dash!” said Scootaloo, shoving Rainbow Dash out the door.
Rainbow Dash led her down the road and through some moderately thick trees to a small, pristine clearing that Fluttershy had shown her a few days earlier. It was very quiet, surrounded on each end by trees and dotted with various types of flowers all over. She figured it was the perfect place to give Scootaloo her surprise.
“Can I know what my surprise is now, Rainbow Dash? Pretty please?”
“Oh alright sport. I bet you’re wondering why I brought you here, right?”
“Well yeah! This place is deserted! What could we possibly be doing here?”
“Well scoots” Rainbow Dash said “Today, I’m going to begin the first of your personal flying lessons, taught by me, Rainbow Dash.”
Scootaloo could barely contain her excitement when the reality of her surprise was brought to light. “Oh my gosh, really? Really? Oh wow! This is the best gift I could ever ask for!” said the squealing filly, who leaped around, clearly making no attempt to hide her boundless excitement.
As cute and adorable as it was, the high pitched shrieks of joy were wreaking havoc on Rainbow Dash’s headache. She raised a hoof to her head and massaged her temple, providing little relief.
“Are you alright Rainbow Dash? Was it something I said?”
She jerked her eyes open. “Uh, no, sorry Scoots. I was just thinking about something. You ready?”
Before Scootaloo could say anything, Rainbow Dash burst off down a small narrow strip of the clearing for a short time, before realizing that she had forgotten the reason she had come out to this secluded location in the first place. She zoomed back to where she had her headache incident earlier to the sight of an awestricken filly who was completely and thoroughly amazed at the unexpected display of skills by Rainbow Dash.
“Heh, sorry about that kid. You want to get started on some fundamentals?”
It took Scootaloo a moment to regain her bearings before she confirmed that she was indeed ready to begin. Although it was absolute hell for Rainbow’s headache, the two spent hours attempting to get the filly off the ground and flying, to no avail. Only a tiny bit of fluttering and a split second of airtime was to show for their efforts, which left Scootaloo absolutely dejected.
“I’m… I’m never gonna fly, am I Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo said, trying to fight back tears.
“Hey hey hey, buck up! Of course you’re going to learn to fly, and I’m going to be with you every single step of the way! You have my word, Scoots.”
“Thanks, Rainbow. You’re the best mare in Equestria.” Said Scootaloo, wiping away her tears.
“I’m not all that gr...” Rainbow Dash was cut off prematurely, as she collapsed to the ground.
“Rainbow Dash!”
