Azure
Inspired by song from Derpidity
Editors/Proofreaders: Ryan Darling, Nonameknight, Breath of Plagues, Salacar
My dear what can you say to me
I don't know what to respond so see
My Dash, fly far, fly so free
Swing wild and soar past the old green trees,
Where apples grow and the air is free,
Then take a break, please dream with me…
I work at the weather station near Ponyville. I know, typical job for a Pegasus but hey, it's an interesting job with good pay. I was just making my rounds today by hoarding the clouds before they wandered off and vanished. It's a good way to save clouds so that we don't have to renew water when we're running low or just when the boss ponies calls for it.
I gathered clouds over town square, waving to all the ponies below and to those in the sky doing other duties that evening. When I had all the clouds bundled up, I sent them to the Cloudsdale weather station via wind current and went on my merry way. Next and final stop, Ponyville Park. Just a glide, flap, then a turn and in a matter of minutes. I was there…only to find clear skies.
I was baffled. The head pony had told me that this area was the most cloud compact place of them all. So, why was it that there was not a cloud to be seen?
My question was answered in an instant as a rainbow whizzedright past me, spinning me around for a few loops before I finally regained my sense of aerial stability.
"What's up, Slowbie?" she called from wherever she was.
Pretending to be more shaken up than I really was, I pulled my best Derpy impression. "Uhhh… I dunno, west?"
I heard chuckling from above me, and the next thing I knew RD was hovering just across from my forehead. "You always were the funny one, weren't you?" She laughed when she saw me rubbing the back of my head, looking the other way. "Hey, chill. I just wanted to say that you seemed to take a while with these clouds, so I took the liberty of gathering them for you–in case you haven’t wrapped your mind around that already." I see her smirk. "I made a great time! I cleared up this sky in-"
"10 seconds flat?" I finished for her with her infamous little catchphrase.
"Nope! 8 point 64 seconds!" She grinned that big, proud smile.
"Nice Rainbow, you're shaving off more and more time every day, huh?"
"Yep! Just another day’s work for the world's fastest flyer!" She gives a hearty chuckle, flexing her wings. "Whelp, that’s all our duties today! I don’t know about you, but I think I’m gonna head back and-"
"Wait, that’s it? You’re going already?" I suddenly sputtered out. Rainbow Dash was usually the sort of pony who liked to stick around, either to gloat or play a little. Her simply passing by like that was almost like Pinkie Pie staying somewhat remotely calm.
"Um yeah, why?" I could tell by her expression as she flew down to me that she knew why. "Sorry, it's just I've been busy working on various stuff. I don't have as much free time as I used to." She sighs. "But, maybe we could hang out some other time. Maybe on our next day off? We could chill at my place."
I looked at her warily, and gave a small smile. "That'd be cool, I guess."
She did the same. "Alright then, well, see ya Coltny," she spoke without her normal enthusiasm as she flew away.
I watched her fly away till she's little more than a speck in the distance before I head home myself. What happened to her unbound energy?
Perhaps it’s a good time for me to go into our history. The name 'Coltny' is really a pet name. A lame one, but it grew on me over time. It all started back at flight camp…
I was a bit of a loner pony back then, still am. Sort of. I stood out from a crowd, figuratively and literally.
One day I heard of a commotion outside the schoolyard. Turned out there was a race going on. Rainbow Dash, or as everypony nicknamed her: ‘Rainbow Crash’ given how many times she had accidents while trying to pull off new stunts, stood at the starting line.
Next to her were probably two of the biggest dweebs I'd had the displeasure to know. I didn’t know their names, so I just nicknamed them Dumbbell and Blunty. I never called them that to their faces, however. Immature–I know, but hey I was a colt.
I found out that the race was started by Rainbow to defend that shy yellow pony from being picked on. I’ve got to say, that was respectable. I used to get picked on myself, and it was not enjoyable to say the very least. It passed when I stiffened up and learned how to keep to myself and hide my emotions. I suppose that’s why I was so reserved back then.
To pick on a pony as timid as that yellow filly–that was low. Sadly, it was to be expected in the world we live in. I'm glad somepony decided to stand up for the poor pony, but I never thought it'd be an equine like that chromatic filly. Then again, with a nickname like Rainbow Crash, I guess it made sense that she'd sympathise with somepony getting picked on. Experiences like that builds character as they say. That, or more unkind ponies at worst, yet thats beside the point.
Back then, I also had a tendency to get lost in thought and go off topic, a trait that may or may not have stuck with me since. Well, I was lost in thought at the time, paying little attention to the race when a sudden explosive blast shook the clouds. With my attention fully grasped, I turned to look at the source, only to find a rapidly expanding ring of rainbow light. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Flying out of it was none other than that Rainbow Dash.
A filly– a filly had just performed the Sonic Rainboom?! The legendary color spectrum blast told only of in legends… acomplished by a filly.It felt like the myths of old had officially been bucked in the… whatever they get bucked in, templates? I decided to fly over to the finish line and wait for her return. However, when she did come back she was quickly swarmed by other foals who wanted to know about what had happened before I could get close. As I said, I was never one to be part of a crowd, so I just decided to wait for another time and fly off.
Observing my surroundings, I noticed some pegasi assisting the dark brown colt out of the pillar he had crashed into, which I couldn't help but snicker at. I hadn’t even noticed him crashing in the first place.
Minutes later, I saw a few older pegasi flying to the ground. They looked like the ones that'd been summoned when somepony fell off of Cloudsdale. Then I remembered that the yellow filly couldn't fly very well, and was nowhere to be seen…
I flew around the area just to be sure and perched where the pony was last seen standing.
Poor pony.I hope she's okay. All she would need is know how to glide. That way she shouldn’t have a too nasty fall. But the question is, did she? I thought. I stared down from the cloud. We foals weren't allowed to leave Cloudsdale by ourselves so I bet somepony had reported her fall. I continued to do nothing but stare until something, or rather somepony, decided to interrupt.
"Hey, why are you always staying out of the action?!"
I flinched and spun around to see that rainbow maned filly before me.
She rolled her eyes. "Wow, are you always startled that easily?"
"Wha? I-I mean no! Y-you caught me by surprise, iszall." I hastily stammered.
"Yeah, I'm sure that's iszall." She rolled her eyes as she said it. "Anyway, you didn’t answer my question. Why are you always standing out? I even saw you waiting there, yet as soon as some ponies came around, you turned tail."
I tried to turn my gaze away as I struggled to find the words, but this filly would have none of that.
"Hey! Don't you turn away! Look at me when I'm talking to you!" My head bolted right back to meet her glare. "Much better.” She sighed and relaxed her gaze. “Sorry, but I don't want to have a second pony with talking problems if I can help it."
"It's fine, I guess. I think I just don't exactly fit in with other ponies that well, is all. You know, different interests and social interactions do that."
She rubbed her chin with a hoof. "I see now." She gave me an inspecting gaze, and I couldn't help but to awkwardly take a few steps back. "You know, ya don't seem to be like the other colts around here."
I snorted. You don’t have to tell me twice.
She stopped her inspecting and sneeringly added, "Especially not like the nimrod ones. They're all like–” She stood on her hind legs, pouted out her chest and deepened her voice. “Look at me, I'm so tuff and aweshoum!"
I chuckled at the impression. "Yeah, that or a certain rainbow filly I just met."
She went back on all fours and stared at me. "Now what is that supposed to mean?" She glared, and I just continued to smile smugly. Soon, we both ended up laughing. When the laughter started to die down, Rainbow Dash was the first to speak.
"You know, I like you. You're not half bad," she punched my shoulder, "for a colt at least. Maybe we could hang out sometime?"
Well, it was the special filly who had just done the Rainboom, and if she talked to me of all ponies, I guess it'd only be polite to accept. "Well, I suppose maybe. You're not half bad yourself, for a filly." I returned the little remark.
"Okay great let's go, Coltny!" She then grabbed my hoof and dragged me to around Cloudsdale. Apparently ‘sometime’ meant, ‘right now’.
"Coltny?" I asked as she was pulling me along.
"Yeah, you're a colt who always knees out of a crowd, so I thought I'd mix up the two for your nickname!"
"That doesn't sound cool, or creative! I have a name you know! It's-"
She cut me off before I could have finished "We're almost at the Pegasi Center. If they found Fluttershy, they should have her there. I hope they did–I told them of this like ten minutes ago!"
"I'm going to go out on a limb here, and assume Fluttershy was the filly you were defending that fell from the clouds, right?"
"How could you tell?" she asked with sarcastic wonder. "What, you didn't know?"
"I'm not that great with names. Your name is Colorrunner right?" I asked with returned sarcasm.
"No, it's Firefly doi!"
I have to say, despite being friendly with her I had yet to be where a pony likes another like... well, really likes another. Plus I wasn’t and is still not the kind of pony who believes in instant crushes.
Anyway, I never did get to tell her my name. I mean I DID tell her my name, several times in fact, but she still kept calling me ‘Coltny’ so I just gave up.
I also did get to meet that yellow filly, and as you may have expected, she was very shy at first, especially since I was a colt. With Rainbow Dash, we were at least able to start talking, and over time we did become friends, though nothing much more than that.
I saw numerous colts give Fluttershy lovestruck glances during high school. I guess it was because many ponies, myself included, considered her cute. She was quite cute, that fact can't be denied. Though honestly, I never really got lovestruck, despite being friends with her. I always found Dash the more attractive one as we grew older.
Sure, Flutters was the queen of cute, which was made official by a few school boards' rankings. I just found Rainbow to be more, I dunno, dashing? That was a dreadful pun I know, but I really mean it.
I find Rainbow Dash to be so pretty with that brilliant windblown mane of hers. More so, I find her to be like… like the ocean blue. So beautiful, and rippling with power. The main difference is that Rainbow is faster than any ocean current. I think I started getting a crush on her sometime during high school.
Well, I don't want to call it a crush really– I find those kind of things stupid. But during those school years, I just wanted to spend more time with Dash and get to know her better– Especially when I spent not-really-that-long moments of time away from her. Again, I don’t want to call it a crush. In fact, I don't even know if that’s what it even was.
This may have been because I only had a few friends and trusted Dash more than anypony else. I mean, I've said it before: I'm not the kind of pony who believes in trusting quickly, nor going out with just anypony. Yet Dash is far from just anypony. I mean, we grew up together, so of course I trust her.
Again, I don’t know if this is what a crush is, but…I hope not. I know Dash; I don't think she'd be the kind of pony who'd slow down enough, figuratively and almost literally, for a relationship. At least, not with me. Sure we’re good friends but could we ever be anything more than that? I'm nowhere near as athletic as she is, and chances are, she'll be too busy being a Wonderbolt, whenever she reaches that goal, to be in a relationship. I can just forget about even thinking of joining the Wonderbolts myself. I mean I'm pretty nifty and agile, but nowhere near Dashie’s level.
Well , I’ve gone and basically written a sort of ballad. What else is new? A flight with rainbow, and it’d turn to two. Yet eventually, like a winters breeze, I’d be left out cold lost with helpless…lease?
I guess I'm not really one for poetry. Seriously though, how would she react if I told her I had feelings for her? Would she flip? Would she freak? If I'm lucky, she might just say she doesn't like me like that and we'd continue our lives, but I'm not sure if I'd be willing to risk it. I mean yeah, she's semi-famous for being the Element of Loyalty, but that doesn’t mean she can’t leave me if I tell her. I've seen all the elements do things that go against their concept at least once in the past few months, and sadly Dash is no exception.
I know, the old "afraid to admit" thing, but how can you blame me? I mean, Rainbow Dash is a foalhood friend; I don't want to lose her or do anything to endanger our friendship, and being told that your foalfriend has a crush on you… Well, it certainly isn't anything you can just spill on any occasion, yet I can't hold these feelings inside forever... can I?
Would she ever slow down enough to spend time with me like that? Would she go forever without the need of any colt dragging her down? Or worse yet, what if she does get a special somepony in her life, and I never get to tell her how I feel?
I guess panicking will get me nowhere at a breakneck pace. I'm just going to wait ‘till the weekend where we get the day off. Not like there's anything else I can do... I'm just going to go home and rest for the night, as Dash said.
I slowly made the glide to Rainbow’s place. Funny thing, I hadn’t seen her too much after she cleared those clouds for me days ago. I mean, it's not like we saw a ton of each other in recent weeks, but now I hardly see her at all. She usually liked to spend a lot of time flying around, doing tricks or just napping on a cloud, but I'd only seen glimpses of her in those past few days. The only reasonable thing I could think of was that after weather duty, she'd gone off on some misadventure with her other friends.
I won't lie, it does kind of make me wince a little, knowing that she spends considerably more time with her other friends than with me. I guess I'll just have to deal with it. They are the Mane Six as they've been named by the several news articles involving them and sometimes by Celestia herself during big events. It only makes sense that they'd spend a lot of time with one another. Not that it makes me feel much better...
I could see Rainbow's little abode in the distance. I must say, every time I see it I can't help but to gaze in awe for a few moments. Sure, cloud is by no means difficult to make into shapes, but it's still impressive to have a manor like the one Rainbow Dash has. I mean, it has Poman Interior and exterior design, rainbow springs, not to mention the place is huge even for cloud standards. I'm talking like three stories at least. There’s even a bunch of cloud pillars that support the building, and a big rainbow going out of the top. Plus to finish it off, there's a symbol of her cutie mark over the entrance.
What makes it the most impressive, however, is the pony that occupies it. No, I'm not going into another Rainbow is really Dashing moment; I’m referring to how much Rainbow cares for her home.
I can't lie; I wouldn’t expect Rainbow Dash, being the daredevil she is, to take good care of her house. I know Rainbow wants everything she does to be awe-inspiring, but you wouldn’t think that she'd choose such a complex design. Not to mention all the care it takes to make sure the clouds stay in the desired shape, or that the rainbows don't spill in any unwanted way. Even if she doesn't spend much time at home, she must spend enough to at least care for it.
Rainbow Dash got this humble abode through parent inheritance. Long story short, her parents wanted to move to a pegasi town, so they decided to let Rainbow keep the entire estate when they deemed her old enough. Still, that didn’t exactly mean she'd keep the place perfect or even remotely like it was. With a speed demon like Rainbow, it'd only make sense if there were a couple of flaws here and there; but no, the whole place is relatively orderly. I suppose I'm trying to say that I think it's really impressive what Rainbow does here, especially considering her standards.
I landed on the doorstep and knocked, and soon the door opened to reveal the blue pony herself.
"Ah, I see ya made it!" She stepped aside and pointed her hoof to the interior of her house. "Come right in! Make yourself at home."
I took a few steps in as RD closed the door behind me. After such a long glide, I decided to take a moment to just give my wings a little stretch before folding them to my sides. Looking around I noticed the swirled lines decorating the walls, along with a cloud table and bench in the room. Sitting on the table was none other than Tank, Rainbow's pet tortoise who was just looking around slowly. I'd only seen him a few times, given that Dash adopted him relatively recently, but we knew each other.
It was thanks to Twilight's magic that he was even able to live up there in the clouds. Clouds used by pegasi have the ability to condense water in such a way so that we can stand on them, so putting our fur and such into clouds makes them able to hold other things.
I guess you could say it's how we stand it all. Anyway, though we can use this nifty trick it takes an awful lot of pegasi stuff to support the weight of a pony (or in this case, a tortoise), not to mention it can make the cloud hard, brittle, or too heavy to support weight. Thanks to this complication, we sometimes need unicorn magic to help with things. You'd think if this cloud could hold books and birds they would be able to hold the tortoise, especially since they live in water, but I guess not.
"So then, Coltny,” Dash spoke “are you done staring at the walls? Pretty as they are, I'm sure they're not why you’re here."
I snapped out of my thoughts. "Opps! Sorry about that." I turned my head to see her smug expression.
"It's fine, just the Coltny I remember," she chuckled. Really, much as I value her as a friend, would it kill her to call me something else?
"Hey, want some cider?” she says ”I was able to get some to spare this season."
"Cider?" I instantly perk up. "Alright!" I eagerly followed her as she made her way to where she stored her edibles. I'm not sure if I'd call it a kitchen, but it's something.
Sweet Apple Acres Sweet Cider is one of the best beverages around. But since it's so popular, the Apple family has to sell it almost as soon as it's made lest they face many angry customers, so they never got the chance to experiment and make hard cider. It's for the best I suppose. I'm not sure if I'd want to see a drunk Rainbow. Really, I'm not that kind of pony.
"…Then right when that mountain was about to get a pony sized crater, I gave my wings a powerful flap and skimped across the side of the mountain, till I was soaring above the clouds! It was just like that one time Daring Do performed that stunt to trick the griffin fiend and save the Sliver Armguards from evil!" she boasted with excitement as she slammed her cup of cider onto the table, spilling a few drops.
"Yep, that's awesome!" I said as I took another sip of refreshing cider. "I'd be hard pressed to do things like that." That's the Dash I know, always ready to boast, though she's more like the kind of pony who lets her actions speak for her. Even so, it was nice to just sit down and chat for a while. Especially over sweet, fizzy, tangy cider.
"Ya don't have to tell me twice! You're just not Daring to Do that stuff! Heheheh." Bad puns ahoy. Dash took a gulp of her cider before continuing. "So you said you've gotten into the books as well, right?"
"Yes I have! Though I'll admit Daring Do is not the first fiction I've ever read, so I haven't gotten up to speed with them as you have. Joke not intended." I chuckled, as I took another sip.
"Oh, say that again, I don't think I heard you the last five times." Rainbow remarked as she put her hoof to her ear "Speaking of up to speed." She set her hoof down and flexed out her wings. "I'm getting bored, and I think I should stretch my wings about now." With a few strong flaps, she hovered at the other side on the table. "How about we go for a race or something? It has been a while since we really did any sports you know."
Also like Dash–she never stays in one place for long. Well, anyplace that's not considered a napping spot that is. "A race? Dash, you can fly at legendary sonic speeds and have aerodynamic prowess to match. Or shall I say, Mach 2. I doubt it'd be fair."
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm too awesome for yah," she chuckles. "Come on, just for old times' sake? It'll be fun! Or…" She turned her gaze to Tank, who had just climbed up the stairs. "How about… we try to tag Tank here? I’ll put the hover thingy on him, we'll give him a head start, then we'll see who can tag him first!
"Well what do ya say? You game? Besides." She gazed at me with a mild expression and bumped her elbow into my forearm. "It's not like you're bad at flying. I know I made sure to get some skill in you with the time we spent in Cloudsdale growing up!"
I tilted my head, then just shrugged. " Oh why not? Alright!"
"Alright!" she repeated with more enthusiasm. "Now let's go get Tank ready!"
I stood next to Dashie, with Tank between the two of us. The reptile seemed ready to soar with his helicopter strap and what I assumed were custom goggles.
"You remember the rules of this game, right?" she asked me. I nod in response. "Alright then, Tank, take off!" With that, the little guy flew off at top speed. "And by the count of 5, we take off! Ready?" She punched my shoulder.
I smirk."As I'll ever be."
"May the countdown commence!" she eagerly shouts as she crouches.
"1…" I crouched and looked for Tank as I said this.
"2…" Rainbow does the same as she counts…
"3…" We get into position…
"4…!" Wings extended… And then we simultaneously shouted…
"5!" We take off with a flap of our wings; a take off so powerful it obliterated the cloud we were previously on.
I felt the wind whip past my face as it went through every feather in my wings. It felt good, and I could see Dashie was enjoying it as much as I was. Her eyes were closed in bliss as she felt the wind brush her mane and wings. Truly this was one of the highlights of being a pegasus.
But much as I savored the air, this was a game and a game I should try to win. I flapped my wings yet again to get myself a burst of speed. It didn't take Dash long to realize what I was doing and she did the same to catch up with me. Soon enough the race came to outpacing the other while dodging incoming clouds.
You know the one inconvenient thing about having the power to walk on clouds as if they were solid when you're a pegasus? You can never turn it off. When most other creatures effortlessly pass through normal clouds, like, oh say a tortoise, the most the clouds can usually do is mildly distract them.
Pegasi however, can be slowed or even thrown off course if the cloud's compressed enough. It's never really too much of an issue given how easy clouds usually are to break through, but in a race it can be the difference between victory and defeat. This is probably just me complaining, given how many clouds we had to dodge at such speeds we were going, still.
We continued this charade for a while; dodging clouds while Tank had no problem going through them, despite having the ability to walk on clouds. Sometimes he even changed direction behind the clouds to attempt to throw us off, though the most that got him was a few inches of distance.
I couldn't help but notice that we flew over a portion of Sweet Apple Acres’, well, sweet apple acres. With another turn we soared over grassy hills that nearly reached us yet fell short a few meters. Tank took another sharp turn behind a cloud, and Dashie and I tilted in pursuit. We soon found ourselves over most of the clouds, with little in view other than grassy hills below, blue sky above, and the mountainsides.
Celestia’s sun over the horizon was brilliant as its rays hit our coats and manes. I turned to Rainbow Dash, and her mane seemed to be a luminous rainbow within the light. It felt like we were flying within the heavens, though no angel could hope to keep up with the one flying next to me.
Wow, we're really getting nowhere if I can take the time to notice all that during the competition, huh? Com'on now I must think. This isn’t the time to get lost in lala land, it's time to get ahead! But how? I'm already going at maximum horsepower, what can I…
Whoa clouds again! Dumb things! Tank was going within the cloud layer and got hard to spot! Wait, that gives me an idea! I tilted my wings down to go into a sort of dive, and Dash does the same. The turtle, I mean tortoise, was getting really close, and swiftly went into a thick cumulus cloud. Rainbow attempted to dive around it to finally catch Tank on the other side, while I tried something a bit more tricky.
With a sideways tilt of my body and shift of my wings, I found myself spiraling just around the cloud in a barrel roll. I caught a glance of Rainbow Dash, who clearly did not see that trick coming as her mouth was agape, just before I reached the end of the cloud in time to tackle Tank down.
"Ha! I did it!" I landed on the cloud that I pulled the maneuver over and stood victorious. Tank just hovered near the victorious pony.
"Heh! Not bad," said Rainbow, flying through the cloud, "though I must admit I was taking it a little easy on you. Despite that, I wasn't expecting your little stunt there." She smirked as she lands in front of me. "Of course, it would've been more of an insult to me if you hadn’t picked up a trick or two from yours truly from the time at flight camp! I knew you had some skill in you.”
"But now that we've really stretched our wings, how about we try this again! I'll show you how this game is really done!" Rainbow spread her wings out, ready to take off again.
I chuckle. "Why not? This is too much fun!" I walked to the edge of the cloud, waiting for Dash to follow suit.
"Aw yeah! Tank, you know what to do!" The tortoise nodded and flew off. Meanwhile, Dash and I fanned out our wings and started the countdown.
"Phew! That was awesome. You did pretty well, Coltny!"
When will you stop calling me that?! "Heh, you weren't a slouch in the sky either! I didn't expect I still had it in my wings!" We had just finished like, the dozenth (is that even a word?) round of Tank tag; having just recently dubbed it that. Right now we were settling on a cloud, as was Tank who conveniently was suddenly able to stand on clouds to my slight annoyance, as the sun was disappearing over the horizon. I had a fair share of wins as well as losses, but with Rainbow Dash that's more than acceptable.
"Yeah. I must admit, that was incredibly fun! Not often do I get to compete with other pegasi, given how much time I spend with my other friends." She plopped down on the cloud, putting her front hooves behind her head and one rear leg over the other as she pleasantly relaxed. I decided to do the same and rest flipside to her. "You know, usually I like to call myself the victor and everything, but just cause you were such a good sport I'll admit your skills were fairly even."
"Heh, thanks, I did learn from the best!"
I hear her chuckle. "I'm sorry, what was that? I didn't hear you the 12th time!"
"Dash! You've said that already!" I extended my hoof to ruffle her mane a little.
"Hay!" She knocks my hoof away with a swipe.
I chortle. "But seriously, we should do this stuff more often. What has been going on anyway?"
Did I just see her flinch? I guess I accidentally pulled a hair off. "Oh uh, not much really, just more Wonderbolt practice. I still have to perfect the Sonic Rainboom but I'm getting there! I'll be a Rain-Bolt before you know it! That..." she hesitated, "and I guess I also mess around with my other friends a bunch of the time."
"You mean the other element wielders?"
"No need to make it sound so mystical," she sighed. "Sorry, but considering what little we really do use the Elements for, we don't really talk about it that much. But yeah, we've had many things happen in the time that’s passed. I mean if I was to try to tell you about all that we've done we could be here all week!" she snickered; is it me or was it a bit forced?
"Yeah, I guess." I extended my hooves for a stretch before continuing. "Say, next time you guys hang out, think I could join you?"
Her ear twitched as she started to scratch her head. "I dunno, don't you know them all already?"
"Not very well, most of the time it has just been casual conversations."
"Even still, you'd be one stallion in a group of mares," she replied rather quickly.
Where was she getting at? "Yeah, but what about Spike? He's male and you have no problem with him. Sure he's a dragon, but still."
"Yeah, yet he's Twilight's trusted assistant. Even so, everypony knows about his feelings for Rarity, much as he vainly tries to hide it."
"What do you mean by this? You're not saying just cause I'm a stallion I'd…" I couldn't go any further, given what I felt for Dash. Or at least, what I thought I might have felt.
"No, it's not that. I know you're not that kind of equine." Well at least she knows that. "It's just, I'm not exactly sure what right now. The gang can be crazy and if we're seen with just one stallion it can attract some looks. That or some other shenanigan could come up and who knows what could happen?"
I thought about it for a moment.. "Odd as that seems, I guess that makes sense.…" Well, kind of. Your logic seems fine, but the way you presented it is questionable. I decided not to press on it further, least not now.
She sighed. "Sorry, but, I honestly don't know what to really do about a number of things right now. I have techniques to practice, which is loads of work on its own; I don't really need any mischief from my friends at the moment. Not to mention I have Tank to keep in check, as well as take care of my cloud home.
"I made time for your visit so I could take a break from it all. I mean, I'll be with my other friends till the end, but even I need a break every once in a while." Rainbow gazed up at the sky, which was darkening as Luna began to place her stars across the heavens above us. I could even see the full moon reflected in Dashies eyes, though only for a second as she moved.
Rainbow let out a huge yawn. "Well, I dunno about you, but I'm beat." She rolled around on the cloud to lay on her belly."I think I'll finish the day here. I'm drained, mentally and physically. I dunno about you, but I think I'm going to sleep here. Thanks for the fun times." With that she curled up slightly and fell silent.
You said ‘I dunno about you’ twice. I shifted my head up to look at her for a second. The only movement she made was the slight rise of her chest due to breathing, and the occasional wind blowing her mane astray. Sighing, I decided to lie on my side to rest.
I couldn't help but wonder how much effort she was putting into this Wonderbolt routine. Was it all necessary? Seriously, she can do the Sonic Rainboom. If that won't get her a shot then I have no idea what will. I mean seriously, what's left to do, a Double Rainboom? I don't think it even works like that but still.
Not to mention that she met the Bolts on several occasions. What could possibly be holding her back, I wonder? Was it even the Wonderbolts that she was training for right now, or something else entirely?
A small breeze made some of Dashie’s mane brush my face, and I felt my cheeks warm up. This issue, the whole day I hung out with her and I still hide these feelings I hold within myself. I'm growing tired of it, yet what can I do? No, enough of that, I know what. Next time, when the time is right, I'll simply ask if she does like me like that or not. A simple yes or no question. It can't be much harder than that, right? Okay it can, but still.
But not now. It's nighttime, and the sport has left us both exhausted. I closed my eyes to sleep.
But before sleep catches me, Rainbows voice cuts the darkness. "Hey, I was wondering, what do you think it means to be a Wonderbolt?"
I take a moment to think before answering. "I think, that it means to be a pony with a strong spirit, with beautiful talent to match."
"Huh…" Was the last thing that was said that night.
I woke up to the rays of Celestia’s sun. Slowly starting off, I stretched my limbs before rolling onto my hooves. Rubbing my eyes, I looked around for Rainbow Dash, who was nowhere to be seen. Instead I found Tank, who simply looked at me. When I turned my attention to him, he looked upwards. Following his gaze, I see a blur of a rainbow between the clouds for a few seconds before it, or shall I say she, disappeared.
I turn back to Tank, just to find that he's leaving back to Dashie’s place. Half of me wanted to follow the blur that just passed by, but something inside tells me not to. I just watch both of them leave in the blue sky, semi-reluctantly.
Days upon days you're not found in the air,
Did she crash or does she not, even care?
"Okay Ditzy! That should be the last cloud for today," I shout to the gray mare shifting the last cloud in place. Today called for a slightly cloudy overcast, so after I finished shifting the wind currents and other such duties I had, I decided to help Ditzy with her assignments.
"Thanks!" She flew down to talk to me. "But do call me Derpy. I have grown fond of that title," she said while one eye looked at the sky and the other at me.
"Alright then Derpy, we finished the job pretty quickly." Moving the clouds wasn't too much of a problem, but Derpy sometimes puts the wrong clouds too high or too low. Not that I can blame her, the lazy eye issue she has can make it hard for her to get a sense of depth. In fact, her clumsiness and silly look was what got her the nickname 'Derpy Hooves' in case that wasn't obvious. She clearly didn't seem to mind, despite what some ponies say about what 'derp' really means.
"I know! We both finished our duties this afternoon," she mentioned.
I looked at the sun, and sure enough it was still fairly high in the sky. "Huh, you're right. Looks like you'll have time to whip yourself up a good batch of muffins."
She rolled her eyes, both in different directions I might add. "Just cause I'm fond of muffins doesn't mean everypony has to have the pastry be the first thing they bring up. Though I do love myself some blueberry muffins."
"Yeah, sorry just had to." I look off to the sky dotted with clouds that Derpy and I had just placed when a thought came back to mind.
"Hey Derpy, have you seen Rainbow Dash anytime this week?"
"Rainbow Dash?" She placed her hoof on her chin, one pupil at the bottom of her left eye with the opposite on the top of her right eye as she went into some impression of 'The Thinker.' Sometimes I think she's trying to look as ridiculous and silly as possible, which wouldn't surprise me really. "Ehh, nope, can't say I have. Either she picks up her duties and finishes them too quickly for anypony to keep up with or she hasn't been coming here at all recently.
"Now that I think of it, I haven't seen Rainbow for a while. Is that why you're asking?" She dropped her thinker impression and tilted her head, still with her derped expression.
I sighed. "Yeah, I guess I just worry about her, or something. I visited her a while ago and I haven't seen her since."
Derpy lowers her eyes and gives a soft smile, with eyes somehow not crossed. "Well, maybe you could ask her other friends about her. I mean if anypony was to know about her antics it'd be them."
I scratched the back of my head with a hoof. "Oh, I’m not sure. If Rainbow was with her friends and she sees me asking about her she may think me as a stalker, or something."
She gave a slight laugh. "Come on, don't you think you're being a bit ridiculous?" That coming from Derpy of all ponies? "You know that you're just asking about her welfare, that's just something good friends do when they haven't seen each other in a while. I'm sure she'll understand."
Realizing she’s right , I nod. "You know, you're right. This is something I should do. Heck, I should've done this a long time ago! Thanks! You know, silly as you seem sometimes, you can be a pretty smart pony Derpy."
A wide grin spread across her face. "No problem, and thanks! " She waved her hoof, and her whole body slightly with it. "Good luck! Maybe next time I see you two I'll give you guys a muffin!"
I smiled. "That'd be nice. Maybe you could make mine banana nut?"
Her eye rotated again as she looked at me. A big, mischievous smile plastered on her face. "Oh, so you're a colt who likes mmm, banana nut?"
I warily look around and back to her. "Uhh, sure. Why?"
She reverted to her normal smile. "Oh no reason!"
I stare at her for a moment, before shrugging it off and flying to Ponyville.
"What a silly pony. Speaking of silly ponies…"
I made my first stop at Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack sometimes gets into some competitive arguments with Rainbow Dash, not to mention AJ has a wide field to look over, so I went to her first. That, and a nice apple does sound good right about now.
It didn’t take long to find Applejack in her feild, tossing some apple cores into a container that looked like a compost bin in the middle of the area. I called out to her and she turned her head to me, waving to acknowledge my presence. I make my descent and land in front of her.
"Hey Applejack! What’s up?"
"Howdy, sugercube! I'm just putting more things in the ol' compost." She turned it to its side, rolling it around a little, I assume to mix up everything, and then set it back up again. "Makes some handy fertilizer for special cases of apple trees. Course the process of decomposition takes a mighty long time, so we have several of these things around the fields.” She turns to me. “So, anything in particular you came for sugercube?"
"Well actually, other than maybe getting an apple or something, I was hoping to ask you about Rainbow Dash."
"Well no problem!" She walked to the nearest tree and gave it a small buck with a hind leg, making a succulent red apple fall. She hit it with her tail towards me, which I barely manage to catch in time. "On the house!"
"Thanks! You're too kind, really!" I took a bite of the apple, and it was just as delicious as it appeared, if not more so.
She chuckled. "It ain't nothing. So tell me, why do you want to talk about Rainbow? It's been awhile since I really did much with her."
I stop munching on the apple right when she finishes the sentence and set the fruit down before I speak. "Well, you see Rainbow and I have been close friends ever since we were foals. Yet within the past couple weeks, we haven't seen each other much at all. In fact ever since my last visit to mainly talk and fly with her I haven't seen her at all. I came here hoping that some of her other friends may know what's going on."
She sighed and shook her head. "I’m afraid I can't say much. Rainbow always has 'er head in the clouds, figuratively and literally. I've mainly just seen her fly by doing some sort of stunt or resting on a cloud by the edges of the fields, with the latter being surprisingly rare recently. She doesn't seem to hear me when I call out to her these days. Occasionally she comes down for a few apples or something, but whenever I try to ask about what's up she somehow manages to brush it off and leave without answering the question. It’s not that she bolts as soon as I ask something but she just manages to dance around what I'm saying to her long enough to get away."
She put her hoof on my shoulder "Look, I know this must mean a lot to you, and trust me it does to me, yet I'm not winged. I can't follow Rainbow in the sky to find out what she's hiding up there. You however, you do have wings. You'll likely have an easier time catching what's on her mind than I would.
"As the band of friends that we are we try to help one another out much as we can. However, we can only do so much when Rainbow keeps so anonymous. We'll figure something out if she doesn't just come out with it. I mean we were chosen to hold the elements based on our bond with one another. What friends would we be if she was to suddenly break apart from us and all we did was watch?
"What I think I'm trying to say is…" her head shifts to the sky before moving back to me. "If you feel like you must do something, then do it. Just don't attempt anything out of your limits if you do, for we're trying as well."
I smiled as I took in the mare’s encouraging words. "Thanks, AJ."
She grinned, pulling me into a quick hug. " You're welcome Sugercube. Anything for a good friend of a good friend." She releases me. "So, you ready to figure out what you need to do or do you have something else on your mind?"
Much as her words inspired me to head out, there was one last thing on my mind. "Well, now that you mention it, yes. You guys are the 'Bearers Of Harmony' as some ponies dub it, yet you and the others only seem to bring the fact up once in a blue moon, if that even. Why is that?"
"Well," she turned to look at her fields. "ya see, we don't really think of it much. The reason we were chosen was because we simply represented elements of friendship, nothing more and nothing less." The wind began to blow her mane past her face while she continued talking. "It didn't change who we are inside, so we have not much reason to let it change how we live our daily lives. I mean sure, sometimes we have to save the world from chaos, but other than that we're just the same as we always were, and that's just a little more different than every other pony."
I couldn't help but give a slow clap of my hooves, which caught her by surprise as she suddenly became very self-conscious. "Hay, cut that out! You're embarrassing me!" She turned back to me and struggled to keep a straight face. She was even blushing slightly!
I tried to refrain from smiling as I put my hooves back down when a sudden memory cuts the laughter. "What about Rainbow Dash though?" AJ's faces transitioned from a pout to realization.
"Hmm." She looked down to the hoof that she placed on her muzzle again. "Now that you mention it, I wouldn't put it past her to brag about being an element at least once. Surprisingly I've never seen her so much as mention the fact, even before all this." She put her hoof down to face me again. "My best guess is that Rainbow wants to be known for her natural skill and not some royal element. I mean being known as an Element holder can in a way link you to royalty, and I can easily see Rainbow Dash in some pretty tea party before being stuck up in uptight royal life."
I nodded, knowing how much Rainbow hates those things. "I suppose you've got a good point there." I looked up at the sky, and I saw that the sun had moved slightly on its way across the sky. "Well Applejack, thank you for sharing this with me! I really appreciate you taking the time to help me with my little issue."
She snickered "Hay, anything involving Rainbow ain't no small issue now! I wish you luck." She points to something next to my hoof. "Don’t forget your apple now!”
"Oh, I actually forgot about it for a moment!" I picked up the fruit before extending my wings for flight. "Thanks again Applejack!" With a flap of my wings I took off into the sky.
"No problem! You feel free to come back anytime!" I hear her shout as I leave.
I followed the path just outside of Ponyville to the cottage next to the forest. It had been a while since I last saw Fluttershy, so it was only fair that I pay her a visit. Not just that, she was likely to know and have felt the effects of Rainbow’s absence, so I suppose it's safe to say that there was more reasons than one here to talk.
I walked to the door of the cottage and tapped my hoof on the door, and after a few seconds it opened.
"Hello, Who is i…" She stopped as soon as she saw me and decided to shy back a half step. "Oh, um hello sir, what brings you here? I-I haven't been um, wait…" She stepped forward to squint at me."...Do I know you? Not to be rude but…"
I raise a hoof to cut her off. "Fluttershy, it's me, the pony who accompanied Dash when we found you at the pegasi center at flight camp? Or the pony who fell into Rainbows little color pool once and never heard the end of it?" It took weeks for Rainbow Dash to forget about the latter, and even still she brings it up every now and again.
Anyway, when Fluttershy realized the identity of the pony in front of her, her eyes became big as could be–It was almost as creepy as it was adorable, the pupils nearly filled her whole eyes–and she pulled me into a hug. "Oh, I’m soo sorry I didn’t recognize you for a second! It's been so many months I was starting to wonder when the next time you'd visit! I was afraid that just cause me and my other friends are a bit more popular you felt uncomfortable, or something."
How did you not recognize me if you were apparently waiting mouths for my visit? I decided not to ask.
She released me and I noticed that she was grinning ear to ear. Made me feel kind of bad for not visiting her in a while. I mean she is a bit sensitive to things like these, or maybe just sensitive in general. "So, how have you been, if you don't mind me asking?" she asked. "Have you and Rainbow Dash still been keeping in touch?"
"Well, I've been doing well at my weather job, so I've been good. As for keeping in touch with Rainbow, well we used to hang out every now and again, but recently…" I kicked the dirt with my hoof, and Fluttershy quickly catches on as her grin vanishes.
"You've had trouble talking to her too I see." She sighs. "Come on in, I think we can talk about this over some tea." She opened the door further and walked back inside her cottage. I followed and noticed that even the inside was an animal haven. I spotted numerous gaps for various animals to roam, small stair paths across the roof and walls for small animals, and even some birdhouses. The scent of grass lingered in the air out of all scents. Not that this was a new sight, just a bit of a refurbished one since I was last here.
"You can sit on this couch while I prepare the tea." She points to a couch in the living room, a simple brown and green couch accompanied by a similar chair and a circular blue table. "It'll take a moment, so get comfortable. If you don't mind that is."
Still timid as ever I see, even with that training incident. "Alright then. Thanks, Fluttershy." I sat on the couch and waited patiently. About three minutes later I see Fluttershy walking in with a little bamboo tea set. Classy, and certainly beats a silly, pretty pink tea set. In my opinion at least.
She placed them down on the table, pouring two cups and taking one for herself, while I took mine. "Careful, it's really hot." She took a quick sip. "But it's still good."
I took a sip, it had a sort of bitter yet at the same time sweet taste. It wasn't bad really.
Fluttershy puts her cup down. "So, may I ask, when was the last time you talked to Rainbow Dash?"
I finish my sip of tea before answering. "Well, it was when she invited me over to her house to visit, little more than a week ago. We talked about some stunts and Daring Do over some cups of cider. Then we mainly just raced each other trying to tag Tank in a little game we made." I took another sip. "After that we just sat on a cloud and talked about a few things before going to sleep on said cloud. After that I woke up to see her and Tank leaving, and that's it."
Fluttershy seemed fairly intrigued, yet still held that gentle air to her as she continued to talk. "Hmm, you sure that's all? Was there anything you talked about during the flight? What did you talk about before you went to sleep?"
I noticed that she was less shy with questions than I remembered. Either predicaments like this brought out the courage in this pony or the previous assertiveness training had been effective. Most likely both.
Answering the question, "Well, there wasn't much said during the cider talk, and not much other than cheers or jokes were shot between us in flight." I took another sip, and Fluttershy refilled my teacup when she noticed it was empty. "When we finished however, that's where things got… distant."
I certainly got her attention then. "Distant? Like how?"
"Well, I asked why we didn’t hang out more, she said it was due to Wonderbolts training and antics with friends; namely the mane six. I asked if I could hang out with you guys sometime, and she said that she was afraid that some antic would come up, especially since I'm a stallion. Not that she thought I'd try anything funny, but more so that funny things would try me, if that makes any sense that is."
Fluttershy started to look a little crestfallen, so I quickly continued. "However, there was one thing that I found odd." Fluttershy looked back up at me. "While talking about this, she was giving almost as many signs as Pinkie does when her Pinkie Sense comes in. I saw her ear twitch as well as her flinching, though I'm not sure if that wasn't just because I might have accidentally pulled one of her hairs when I was teasingly brushing her mane. Her logic was good, but the way she delivered it…"
I took a break to sip my tea again when Fluttershy started to talk. "Well, you’ve certainly pinked my interest at this point." She giggled for a second before quickly continuing. "But seriously, I am intrigued. I suppose I can understand her reasons behind keeping you from us as a group, I'd be lying if I said nothing crazy ever happened, but her other actions are curious. Plus, we haven't been seeing too much of her either. Last time I saw her it was to help her with some practice session, which I think was for tricks or something a few days ago. I don’t think I've seen her much since.
"I’m really starting to worry about her. I mean, with how rarely she comes out these days I don't know what's going on. I don't know if she crashed while trying to perform some trick and injured her wing again or if something else is on her mind these days or whatever. I can hardly tell." She sighed and took another sip of tea to calm herself.
"I don't like to talk about other ponies behind their back, especially not my friends, but I feel like this may be important. I don't think this is healthy for any of us, and by us I mean us as a group of six and you but mainly Rainbow Dash, for I know we're all wondering what she's doing. What do you think? Do have anything to add?"
I looked at the brown-green liquid in my cup. "I'm not entirely sure, there's not really much more that I have to say that hasn't already been said. Rainbow Dash has been my best, not to mention one of my only, friends that I could really relate twith back then. Other then you of course, but you must know what I mean. I just want to spend more time with her I guess. If there's something going on then I want to see if there is something I can do to help. Other than that I don't know what else to say…" I sipped my tea.
"Oh." Fluttershy looked out a window to view the sky. "Umm, I hope you don't mind me asking, but do you, umm..." she turned back to me, fidgeting to find the words."You know, plan to do something like," she squeaks this last part. "give her a fine feather or something?"
I know what she means by this. Sometimes in history of Pegasi it is a custom to give another pony a feather from your wings personaly as a sort of token of trust, namely for those you trust more then normal friends–More often then not mates. What Fluttershy must be implying is if I have any feelings for Rainbow.
I just sigh. "I'm not even sure."
There's a moment of silence, and she gives a shy smile deciding not to press on it further. "Okay then." She sips her tea again, and the silence continues.
Realizing that nothing more could be said about this topic right now, Fluttershy decided to break the quiet air. "Say, it has been a while since you last visited. Want me to show you the new animals that I've been caring for?"
I sip my tea again and smile. "I guess that'd be nice."
"Now that piece hangs there, you got it!"
I placed the final replacement piece on to the now fixed birdhouse and hung it back up again. I dropped to the floor next to Fluttershy.
"Thanks for your help. Now all the birdies have a nice home to sleep in with all the extra houses we made." She said.
"It's nothing. I still can't believe you have so many animals in and around your cottage." I looked at the various trees outside, decorated with various wildlife that I couldn't begin to name. "It must be a load of work for one pony."
"Oh yes, I mean I do get help from the animals themselves and sometimes my friends, but I enjoy what I do. That's all that matters, right?" she asked genuinely.
I nod. "I suppose so." I looked at the windows; the sunlight was entering from a far angle. It would be evening soon.
Fluttershy noticed this as well. "Oh dear, has that much time passed already? Time sure flies, huh?"
"It does." I turned back to Fluttershy. "I guess I'll have to be leaving soon. Anything else?"
She shook her head "We’re fine. You can go take care of what else you may want to do. Though be sure to visit more often please. I mean, if you ever find the time."
I gave her a reassuring grin. "Don't worry, I will."
She smiled, waving a hoof in goodbye. "Alright, see you!"
"See you later, Fluttershy!" I flapped my wings and headed home. I saw Fluttershy walk back into her cottage as it turned smaller with distance. It was nice seeing her again, I really should visit her more often. I'd like to hang out with the entire mane six, but Dash did have good reasoning…
I simply sighed as I flew higher into the sky above a few clouds. Not even ten seconds after I leave and Rainbow Dash was already on my thoughts. Why can't I get her out of my head?
Well, yeah I kinda have been asking around for her all day, but now that it's over it's time to go home and take care of my own business. I suppose I'm stupid if I thought I'd be over this just when I made the last visit.
Now that I think about it, it's entirely possible that Rainbow is off on some vacation or is working on a surprise for her friends or something. Yet still I feel the need to intrude.
You know that you're just asking about her welfare, that's just something good friends do when they haven't seen each other in a while. I'm sure she'll understand.
I hear Derpy’s words echo in my head. She's right; Dash would understand why I'm doing this, even if I kind of don't.
Another pulse of my wings sent me soaring through the clouds, golden in the low sunlight. It was quite a sight to behold I must say, not unlike when I played Tank Tag with Dash. The only difference was that there was no blue angel in the heavens flying next to me.
Is it selfish of me to want to take up more of Rainbow’s time like this? She has her own life to live, so why would she waste it on me of all ponies? Okay, I'm just ‘stinkin thinkin’ now. I know that Dash respects me as a friend. Even still, is that even an excuse? Shouldn't I just let her have her space?
Then again, even the other Element holders are having trouble talking to Rainbow, and I know that's nothing really ordinary. Well, at least not to have it last this long. Maybe I should go to her place, just to see if I can find out more what she's doing. Would she appreciate me invading her personal space though? Would she expect me?
No, stop that. All her friends are wondering what's going on, it’s only fair if you try to seek an answer. Com'on, If Rainbow Dash is there then we could ask her about what's going on. If not we could probably find a few hints.
I took an updraft and headed towards Rainbow’s home, trying to ignore the arguments within my own mind.
"Come on now, just go inside and see if she's there! Stop the hesitation already!" I said to myself as I hovered over Rainbow's home, a position that hadn’t changed for a few minutes.
I shook my head. "Come on, you know why you're doing this, just calm down and slowly descend to-" Before I could finish I felt a strong wind behind me, pushing me towards her house. Before I could even look to see what was behind me I felt something collide into me with enough impact to send me crashing through the roof of Rainbow Dash’s house.
‘So much for smooth descent.’ I thought to myself as I was sprawled on the cloud floor. Through the hole in the roof that I just made, I saw only a glimpse of something seemingly golden. I can only assume that it was either a cloud, or a certain pegasus pony. It couldn't have been Dash, I'm sure she would have shouted something by now.
"I'll have to fix the roof, oh well." When I regained my senses I got up on my hooves, expecting to see Rainbow flying up to see what the ruckus was. Instead, I saw a mess that I don't think was caused by the small crash, and Rainbow was nowhere to be seen. Nor did I hear the flapping of wings anywhere nearby.
I landed in Rainbow Dash's bedroom, and the first thing I notice is her bed covers scattered on its cloud mattress. Daring Do books were strewn across the floor and bed covers, as if somepony had been giving them a quick glance and then merely tossed them aside. There were some pieces of cloud around due to my less-than-graceful entrance, but other than that there was nothing much else.
For what little could be made a mess, I suppose that it was rather messy. Messier than I remember. Sure, I kind of helped in that regard but still.
I flew down the stairs to the main room, and sure enough that was messy as well. Some rainbow was slightly leaking near the entrance of the place and the table and chairs were misplaced. Even the patterns on the walls were curved slightly, not to mention some parts were the wrong color in places. As I said before, for how little it can be, it was pretty messy. I knew Rainbow Dash normally took better care of this place.
Suddenly, I heard something going down the stairs. It was Tank, and I noticed that he was going down the stairs much faster than I've ever seen him move since I’d known him, even if that was just barely faster than pony walking speed. He locked eyes with me and turned his head to the back doorway, as if bidding me to go there. I noticed that there seemed to be a genuine look of unease in his eyes as well.
That’s when I knew something was up, even her pet was worried. I walked out the door just beyond the table to a patch of cloud outside. Here I assumed was Dashie’s little 'backyard' of sorts, but that's not what caught my attention.
Just beyond this was a trail of small clouds, eventually leading to a lone, gray cloud out in the distance, blocking out the sun.
I spread my wings and flew towards this odd cloud. This must’ve been the thing that Tank wanted me to see.
I flew around the cloud, inspecting It from a distance until I noticed a small opening on the upper left of the cloud. Not that it really had a left side, considering the whole thing was roundish in shape. Oh, that's not the point.
I inspected the opening more closely, discerning if there was anything worth seeing. Inside the cloud seemed to be a small room of space that was pretty dim in terms of light. There were also some clouds scattered here and there within the cloud. Not just that, I could make out the sound of… yelling?
I saw something blur past the smaller clouds within, yelling as it was doing so. The many clouds made it difficult to keep an eye on her, yet there was no doubt in my mind it was Rainbow Dash. I could recognize that filly a mile away, with a blindfold on.
"…no no no no NO." I heard her shout within. The smaller clouds started to disappear one by one as a hoof slammed each one of them, until the cloud was nothing but an empty pocket of, well cloud. I saw the dim figure of Rainbow Dash, descending onto the cloud floor, slamming a hoof on it, making a small thunder boom around.
I didn’t need to be told that she was distraught. I flew in without even thinking. Well, I was thinking really, like if she would really want to see me in these conditions and other things. Yet, another part of me just decided that it was time to put doubts aside and just go. That's the side that was speaking to me the loudest at that point.
I land on the cloud floor, just about a yard behind her. My eyes adjusted quickly to the dim cloud to see that her mane wasn’t as well kept as it normally was. I knew Dash wasn't one for dressing in style, but neither was she one to completely neglect her appearance.
I took a step forward in the dark cloud dome, and she turned an ear, hearing my step.
Without turning her head, she spoke in a shallow, broken voice. "How long have you been here?" she didn’t even try to hide how distressed and tired she seemed to be.
I walked in closer. "Long enough to see that something is wrong. Dash? What's going on?"
She sighed, still not looking at me. "If I tell you, do you promise not to tell, or to hold any of it against me?"
"Yes, I promise." I said calmly. She looked back at me with sad and slightly red eyes, trying to tell if I meant it. To prove myself, I recited the Pinkie Pie Swear silently. I could almost feel the pink pony's presence looming over me as soon as I finished reciting, despite being hidden many miles in the sky.
Rainbow gave a slight smile, then it was gone as she sighed and turned away again. "Okay then… You know my fillyhood dream right?"
"To be a Wonderbolt?" I walked to her side as I answer, as slowly as I dared.
"Ah-huh. Ever since I was small, I loved seeing the Wonderbolt shows. I always dreamed of being one of them, and for many reasons. The main reason was so I could one day have my own place in the spotlight. To have ponies from all around Equestria look at me with the same sense of awe as they do with the ponies with the legendary athletic skill.
"Yet, it was also to show that I," she put a hoof on her chest. "a strange pony with a fancy hairdo, could accomplish a feat as huge as that. A pony who used to have few to no friends, becoming one of the most adored figures in Equestria. I wanted to be a bit of an inspirational figure like that, even if I had let popularity get to my head at times." she said, kicking a hoof at the end of the last sentence.
I was sitting just a few feet from her side at this point. If she noticed, she gave no sign of acknowledgement.
She groaned, still holding her head low. "Yet no matter how much I try, I can never seem to match their grace. I can do a few quick tricks, yet whenever I try to do some major Bolt signature moves, I just can't seem to get the same control. And that's just one problem, it's all so frustrating!" She fidgeted with her hooves, before simply slamming them on the ground, causing more thunder. She let the thunder echo a little before continuing.
"Many times I've been asking myself if this has been worth it. To stray from my best friends to see if I can reach some goal that seems to be just out of reach. Sometimes it feels like I'm a dog," she half-wittedly swiped the air. "pouncing for a treat that is yanked out of my reach every time I seem to get near it."
Rainbow dug a little piece of cloud and let it float off. "Normally, I would go to at least one of my friends, if for no other reason to just talk away my problems. Yet, each time I think of my friends, I think of the elements we represent. Namely, the one I have." She held her hoof over her chest, as if holding her element. "Element of Loyalty… this only makes my goal seem even farther away."
She turned her head to me. "Of all the elements that exist, I probably got the most complicated one." She looked at her empty hoof. "Loyalty… sometimes I wonder what it really means to go under such a name. How deep would your loyalties lie? What if someone you're loyal to does something you feel isn't right?
She placed her hoof down to look at me again. "Like Twilight Sparkle for example. Once she went crazy just because her silly paper was late and caused at least 90% of Ponyville to get love struck with her silly old doll. Everypony knew she was overreacting, but she went through with it anyway.
"But, there's also that time at the wedding in Canterlot. Nopony believed Twilight when she said that Cadence was evil, yet the fact that she was really the changeling queen who kidnapped the real Cadence became the top news of Equestria!" Dash shook her head. "But, I don't think that's what's related to my issue."
Dashie allowed herself a moment before continuing. "As the wielders of harmony, we need to stick together for whenever anything happens. But, if by some miracle I joined the Wonderbolts, I would have to spend less time with my friends so I could practice, travel, rehearse, and things like that. Would the Element of Loyalty be able to spend less time with friends like that?" she groaned, “Sometimes I ‘d wish life wouldn’t have to be so complicated. That I could just do what I wanted sometimes without having such big events follow, or to not have to do super complex things just to figure out a little trick.”
She sighed and turned away. "Basicly, I'm afraid that in the long run, I may have to choose between being loyal or living my life." She cast a glance at me, then back again. "I guess I'd choose my friends over the Wonderbolts, but…" she let her gaze fall. "It doesn't mean I wouldn't regret having to choose between my friends and my dreams.
"Yet here I am, selfishly worrying about things that haven’t even happened while my friends must be worried sick about me." she lightly shook her head. "Some Loyalty I am…"
I put my hoof on her shoulder. She turned a glance at me, then suddenly pulled me into a tight embrace, breaking into tears.
To say that this caught me off guard would have been an understatement. I had been friends with Dash for years. All that time, never have I once thought it possible for such a strong pony like her to break down like this. Yet, here I was, holding my dear friend close as she drenched my shoulder with her sobs. The only thing I felt I could do was simply holding her tight.
After a few moments, her cries started to weaken, so I dared take the opportunity to try and comfort her.
"Dash… I can't say that I know what it's like to hold an element, but if these friends are truly the ponies I know they are, they wouldn't force you to quit your life goals merely because Equestria doesn't have good enough security. All of your friends have their own things in life, it'll only be fair if you get to live yours too.
"You know that they respect you and your opinion. Just because you just so happened to be loyalty doesn't mean you can't have a say. In fact, Applejack told me that the elements represent the elements of friendship, nothing more and nothing less. I think that means that as long as you still feel that it's right to keep your place, that's all the loyalty you need."
Rainbow's tears started to slow. I kept going "You know Dash, I'm also willing to bet that every one of the Bolts has had their rough times I'm sure. Yet it was through their tenacity, or determination, that they managed to get where they are today. To do that, they created their own sets of rules and stunts. That, and I'm sure they managed to do so with their lives in check so they could focus. If nothing else, you should try to find new ways of being impressive, while being sure that you're not too conflicted with life to reach your goal."
I patted her back. "Remember, just because you're loyal doesn't mean you can't think, nor do you have to give up your life. Yet, don't forget to let yourself rest and think whenever you face some sort of conflict. You'll reach the stars, I know it. We know it. You just have to work on fixing your way there."
Her tears became silent. She pulled away just enough to look me in the eyes, still tearing slightly. "You really think so?"
I simply nodded.
Her tears became slightly thicker. "… Thanks…" She pulled me into another embrace for one small moment before letting go.
"Now," She wiped any remaining tears from her eyes before speaking again "I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of this depressing cloud dome." She flared out her wings and cracked a smile, strength slowly but surely returning to her voice and posture. "What say you we clear this thing up?"
I returned the smile as I extended my wings. "Sure."
We simultaneously flew to the top of the little dome, and when we reached the top, we spiraled down in opposite directions, clearing the cloud as we went down. Our wings slightly contacted one another each time we passed one another. Within a few seconds all that remained of the cloud was a small platform, on which Rainbow and I perched. I glanced at her, noticing that her mane and coat were starting to look better already.
Rainbow was transfixed at the sight before us, so I turned my head to the sight. The sun was setting below the horizon, turning the sky a golden color around it. Yellow clouds in the sky leaked golden streams of light.
"It's so beautiful…" said Rainbow.
"Yes, It's amazing… I'm glad to be here with you to see it." I let myself say. Perhaps now, if there was any time for it…
"You know, Dash… There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about for awhile. You see-"
"The sunset." Dash suddenly said, as if she didn't know I was talking.
"Excuse me?" I asked
"The sunset. I've always liked to watch Celestia's sun fall down the horizon. Just the way the sky slowly transitions to night, I find it a sight like no other. Just watch with me."
And so we did. Slowly yet surely Celestia's sun made its descent below the horizon. The way the clouds were lined with purple and pink reminded me a lot of Twilight Sparkle’s mane, not surprisingly I guess.
Only when the sun was but a sliver and the sky pale did Luna's stars dare show themselves. More the sky dimmed the more the stars attempted to make their presence known. It was a truly breathtaking sight, especially from up on a cloud.
I don’t know why I kept silent through the whole thing, but I did. It wasn’t until deep into the twilight that Rainbow Dash decided to break the silence. "I know, so awesome. To think that the princesses do this every day and night." I simply nodded.
I glanced my head heavenward. The many stars were starting to shine quite brightly. I'd always liked stars, the way their white and semi-blue light glisten in the dark night sky.
"Like an art." Dash spoke out, head skyward. "A pattern set random yet orderly in such a way only Luna herself can really pull it off. That’s one prop I have to give to her. I may not know many constellations but, I still love the look of the many stars across the black canvas of the night sky." She paused and I simply stared. "Quote from Daring Do."
Ah, I thought that was a bit too clever for her to come up with on her own.
Like the last time Dash and I hung out, I could see the stars reflected in her eyes. I'd be lying if I didn't say I was getting a tad lost in them.
In the stars, or her eyes? I asked myself. Well, whichever one it was, I noticed her eyes were drooping slightly. Before I could say anything, she gave her head a slight shake, apparently noticing.
"Whoa, I think I might have been more exhausted than I realized." She stood up and stretched a little. "Welp, I think that's a sure sign as any that it's time for some rest! Before that though…" She flapped her wings and was suddenly in front of me before I could even open my mouth to say anything.
"I just wanted to say..." I gazed into her soft magenta eyes as she looked in mine, back at my reflection. Dare I say, I also noticed we were hardly lip distance apart. She smiled and closed her eyes, then lightly grabbed my front hoof and lifted it to where it was downside up, and put hers over it.
"Thanks, for always being out there." With those words passed she retracted her hoof from mine and pulled away, to my slight reluctance. We made eye contact one more time before Dashie flapped her wings again and flew off to her home.
I was numb. In the span of not even a minute I felt like I was closer to her than I ever had been in my entire life. I guess I'd be lying if I said I didn't like it.
I suddenly remembered that I forgot to tell her that she recently got a new sunroof, but I decided that it wasn’t quite the time for that.
I retracted my hoof slowly. It wasn't until I felt something soft in it that I realized she must have given me something.
I took a glance, and I nearly jumped. I rubbed my eyes to see if the moonlight was playing tricks on me, yet the object didn't change. No, there was no illusion here. What Dashie had put in my hoof…
Was an Azure feather of fine plumage.
Many things…that’s what’s going through my mind as I fly to town. That is what this feather could have meant. I've been thinking of that little act since the moment it happened.
In the end, it was Rainbow who gave me a feather, inverse of what Fluttershy said. Of course, Dash could be unaware of this tradition and might have just given me her feather to give me a small part of her in the moment, or it could have simply landed in my hoof when it fell out of her wing.
Yet, I have seen that Dash is smarter than what she usually lets on. She might as well have given me the feather to show that she does trust and respect me. Maybe, just maybe a bit more trust than you'd put in an ordinary friend.
That just might be it, right? The feather, it might stand for 'maybe one day.' Whether or not Dash ever did notice or even feel anything is still beyond me, but it's possible.
Either way, I fly down to town hall to check on the breeze in the area. To my pleasant surprise I see Rainbow Dash with her friends at town hall, aka the Mane six, having a joyful reunion. I even notice Rainbow holding a flyer with a familiar Wonderbolt signature on it.
Dashie’s ear twitches as she hears my wings and turns in my direction, promptly waving and inviting me to come over, causing the other ponies to follow suit soon as they notice me.
Not one to turn down, I accept their offer. I still don’t know if this means Dash and I will ever be more than friends, but right now it's probably better to just let this tale unroll itself and believe that it can and will turn out for the better.
Besides, dashing my own hopes… haven't I been doing enough of that already?
Days upon days you're not found in the air
From the pain of the life that she lived,
From the constant expectations.
Did she crash or does she not, even care?
From the disappointing results.
And constant friend relations
Lost in the wind, I'm lost in my mind
And the days upon days upon hoping and wondering
Whether all her work was worth her goal.
Who was she to expect?
To expect that it is my heart she stole?
Author's Note
Thank you so much for reading! You would not belive how much effort and time went into this stupid thing. In fact it feels weird simply posting this story so nonchalantly on this site.... i elaborate more on this in acknowledgments. But here, i'd just like to say thank you for reading and i hope you enjoyed this. Please comment on what you thought and or any opinion you may have. Unless your one of my editors, in that case shut it. Ha, i'm just kidding i love you guys.
Again, thank you for reading, please like comment, and if you'd be so kind, Watch... though i'm very slow so you wouldn't be geting muu-i mean, I post daily stuff that you'll love! no i won't but still, Thank you for reading, and have a nice day!
