Flying over Ponyville has never felt so satisfying as it does right now, Rainbow Dash thought. She couldn’t fly at top speed of course—even though she would have really liked to do so—she didn’t want to lose her left wing again. And her slower pace at least gave her the opportunity to look at all the new houses in Ponyville.

Rainbow knocked on the door of Scootaloo's house. After a moment, an earth pony mare opened the door. "Hey, Holiday, I'm back," Rainbow Dash said.

"Rainbow, I'm so happy to see that you have recovered—" her muscles twitched for the fraction of a second. She wanted to hug Rainbow, but decided against it "Come in. Scootaloo really missed you."

"I missed her as well," Rainbow said while following Holiday into the house, "I'm really bummed that I missed Winter Wrap Up."

"Forget about it, there's always next year, and we had no problems with Ta—"

"Rainbow!" Scootaloo yelled, excited when she saw her big sister. She jumped up from her homework and dashed towards Rainbow for a hug, but stopped at the last moment. "Eh, is it ok to hug? I don't want to break your new wing."

Rainbow unfolded her wings, looked at her new, shiny left one and said, "It's ok, it's just going to be a bit colder than before."

"Don't you mean, 20% cooler?" Scootaloo asked with a trolling grin.

Rainbow let out a really, really deep sigh. "I really regret ever saying that." But before she could complain further, she could feel Scootaloo's hug, so she just put her wings over her—carefully, to not give Scootaloo a shock with the metal wing—and said, "But I guess it really is cool."

"It's awesome, I'd really like to see how it works."

A certain reptile licking Rainbow's cheek got the two pegasi out of their hug, and now Rainbow gave Tank a big hug. "Sorry for not being there when you woke up." Tank just grinned at her like always, so Rainbow knew that he wasn't mad at her for it.

They sat down to eat some of Lofty’s cookies and Rainbow Dash said, “Ponyville sure grew a bit while I left, huh?”

“Yeah, they already had to make the school bigger. Many of the new kids are vampires and… how do they call themselves again?” Scootaloo scratched her head.

“Schatten,” Auntie Lofty said, “The pony subjects of Shaded call themselves schatten. Not really creative if you ask me.”

“Why not?” Rainbow asked.

“It’s just their word for shadow.”

Scootaloo took a bite of a cookie. “You never really told me what happened during the race.”

“Right, I didn’t have the chance yet.”

Rainbow told Scootaloo everything about the race.

“That Shadowbolt, Surprise, could give me crystals to build a hover-scooter?” Scootaloo asked. Rainbow nodded, and Scootaloo yelled. “That. Would. Be. AWESOME!”

Rainbow grinned. “You want to meet her?”

“If you trust her, of course!”

After some consideration, they agreed that it would be the best course of action to just invite Surprise to Scootaloo’s home for the next day, so Rainbow Dash flew to the old castle to tell her that.

She found Surprise quickly, who greeted her similarly to everypony else, talking about how glad she was to see her recovered before asking, "So, how's the new wing working?"

"Well, definitely better than no wing. I mean, I still have to hold myself back, because my top speed would probably wreck it. But other than that, it does it's job. And Doctor Alae works on improving the prosthetics all the time, so maybe I'll get my full strength back eventually."

"It's good to hear that Alae was able to put you back together." Surprise shifted her weight from one leg to the other, and avoided looking Rainbow in the eyes when she said, "I heard that the Wonderbolts announced that Angel Wings is going to fill your position. Is… Is that permanent or is she just filing in until you get back to top form?"

Rainbow's ears dropped to the sides. “It’s permanent—” she sighed “—I got a medical discharge from the wonderbolts. Because we can’t know if I’ll ever be able to fly like before the accident ever again, and they can’t just keep a spot open on the off chance that it happens. But I get a full pension, which is fortunate, because I can also forget my job at the weather control since I’m not allowed to fly during bad weather.”

“I’m really sorry to hear that.” Surprise shifted her weight from one leg to the other. “And I’m really sorry about what happened. I hope you don’t think bad about the other Schatten because of me.”

“What do you mean?” Rainbow asked confused.

“The race. If I would have chosen another track, you wouldn’t have lost your wing. I’d understand if you wouldn’t forgive me that.”

“And if I wouldn’t have been stupid enough to fly at top speed while not seeing in front of me, I wouldn’t have clipped my wing. So yeah, I won’t forgive you, because there’s nothing to forgive.”

“That’s a relief, thank you.” Surprise relaxed, took a few deep breaths, and said, “So, why are you here?”

“We talked about you getting a few hover crystals for my little sis before I passed out, right?”

“Yeah.”

“She’d like to meet you tomorrow if you have time.”

“My shift ends at sixteen o’clock, so I have time then, yes. Where do I need to go?”

Rainbow Dash told her the address.

“Ok, I’ll be there. By the way, our offer still stands, in case early retirement turns out to not be your thing.”

“I’ll need some time to think about it.”

“No problem. So, do you want to stay a bit?”

“I can’t, I still have a very special somepony waiting for me.”

Surprise grinned. “Well, I wish you lots of fun, then. Until tomorrow.”

The sun was already over the horizon when Rainbow Dash reached Sweet Apple Acres, which meant that she was too late. Applejack already stood on the porch, waiting for her.

Rainbow landed in front of her. “Sorry, AJ, I know I said I’d be here before sunset, but I’m just not used to the new wing.”

“It’s alright, sugarcube, you’re worth the wait.” Applejack laid her right leg around Rainbow’s shoulder and pulled her in for a hug, and Rainbow returned the hug. “And at least we know now who the real iron pony is now,” Applejack whispered into Rainbow’s ear.

“Don’t you dare go easy on me in the next tournament,” she whispered back.

“Ah would’ve never dreamed of that,” Applejack said with a cheeky grin before both let go of the other.

“So, what did you have in mind for today?”

“That’s supposed to be a surprise,” Applejack said.

“Where’s Pinkie?”

“Twilight is helping her.”

The door to Pinkie’s party cave creaked as if it would break every time Pinkie bounced against it from underneath, even with Twilight and Starlight’s magic reinforcing it.

“This better be worth it!” Starlight yelled.

“I’ll count it as a friendship lesson,” Twilight responded. “Just make sure she doesn’t get out! She’ll get tired eventually!”

“You can’t honestly believe that yourself…”

Twilight didn’t give Starlight an answer.

“So she won’t just interrupt us again?” Rainbow asked.

“Nope. Now, we’re gonna have to walk a bit. I hope ya have no problem with following my voice, because I’ll blindfold ya. I really want it to be a surprise, and I know that ya probably know every square of Ponyville like the back of your hoof.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I guess that’s fair.”

Applejack put the blindfold on and said, “Alright, let me tell you what you missed, and it’s gonna be a longer story. It began when Applebloom came home with a jar of pear jam...”

“...now he’s back in Ponyville, and the feud’s finally over.” Applejack finished

“And what happened with the seeds?”

Applejack smiled. “Take off the blindfold.”

They stood in front of the apple-pear-tree. “Wow, that’s…” Rainbow was at a loss for words. It was the very tree Bright Mac and Buttercup had planted at their wedding. “It’s awesome.”

Applejack kissed her on her cheek before walking closer to the tree. Rainbow just now noticed that her marefriend was carrying a basket on her back. She placed it before the tree and took a picnic blanket, two mugs and a bottle of out of it. “Will you only stand there or do you want to share some cider with me?”

“You’re the best, Applejack.”

The next morning, Applejack woke up from the rising sun shining in her face. She still laid under the apple-pear-tree, snuggled together with Rainbow Dash, her wing wrapped around her. There’s certainly worse things to wake up to, she thought.

Then she got a reminder of Rainbow’s snoring directly in her ear.

“Morning, Dashie.” Applejack turned round under Rainbow’s wing to look her in the face.

“Morning,” Rainbow replied, more asleep than awake.

“Ah have to get up.”

“Five more minutes.”

“Rainbow, Ah have chores to take care of.”

“Big Mac can take care of it.”

“You sure ain’t an early bird.”

“Nope.”

Applejack sighed. “Ah guess we can stay a bit longer—”

“Yaaay.” Rainbow yawned it more than she said it. Her eyes finally opened.

“—but only if you help me with my chores later.”

“Sure... If you give me a kiss,” Rainbow added with a grin, and Applejack happily fulfilled her request.

“Now turn around, Ah don’t think it’s a good idea to lie on your new wing.”

Ten minutes later, they finally managed to get up. Rainbow wanted to stretch her wings, but the left one didn’t do anything. She groaned. “Damn it, I forgot the charger…”

“The what?” Applejack asked.

“The charger for the wing. I have to sleep close to it every night to let the wing recharge. Well, guess I’m grounded for now.”

“As long as your legs still work,” Applejack said with a smug grin.

Rainbow grinned back. “What do you think about—”

“A race back to the farm?” Applejack finished for her. “Of course!”

After they arrived back at the farm—the race ended in a tie—Rainbow stayed true to her word and helped Applejack make up the time she lost earlier.

And then some more.

And some more.

Rainbow really missed Applejack, so she didn’t mind doing chores if it meant spending time with her.

At noon, Rainbow left Sweet Apple Acres to walk back home. Luckily, she had landed and anchored her house a few months ago to make it more accessible for Scootaloo. As soon as she stepped over the doorstep, her wing gave off a soft, humming sound, telling her that it started charging. The charger itself was a bronze sphere the size of an orange, with azure blue runes engraved all over it, and it laid in a nest made from silver. The silver seems to be a bit much, but Alae said it’s necessary.

So, what to do now? I got a few hours to kill.

Her first idea was to get something to eat, so she went to the fridge to get something. The food she bought before the accident was still there, but it had gotten moldy. Well, I don’t know what I expected… Guess first thing to do is cleaning, then.

After throwing away everything in her kitchen that had taken on new life while she was gone, and cleaning the entire rest of the house because hyperfocus is weird sometimes, she wanted to take a shower, which meant she had to take off her new wing.

First step to do that was to fully open it. Then she had to open the locks holding the actual wing part on her shoulder piece. Unlock wing, she thought.

You gave the order to unlock the wing, a synthetic voice said in her mind, this should only be done while standing on secure ground. Do you confirm that you want to unlock the wing?

Yes!

Unlocking wing.

The locks opened with a clicking sound. Rainbow sighed and muttered, “I have to tell Alae to make the safety lock faster. I get that there needs to be something to prevent it from accidentally opening mid-flight, but this is ridiculous.”

Now she just had to pull the wing off, revealing the shoulder piece, a metal rod around thirty centimeters long, connected to an artificial joint replacing her original shoulder. From what she remembered of Alae’s explanation, it connected to her nervous system to allow her to actually move the wing.

Rainbow put the wing down beside the charger and took the cover, a cone of the same weight as the wing, and put it on the rod. It both made sure that the contact points on the rod wouldn’t get wet and ensured that she’d be balanced out.

After the shower, she reattached the wing and left for Scootaloo’s house.

Surprise, a saddleback on her back, didn’t even have to knock on the door when she arrived because Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash were already waiting for her.

Rainbow opened the front door, Scootaloo excitedly standing beside her. “Hey, Surprise.”

“Hey, Stripes.” she looked at Scootaloo, “And you are?”

“Scootaloo!” She asked while they went into the living room, “And you’re the one that beat Rainbow in a race, right?”

Surprise giggled nervously, holding the back of her head with her wing, “Only because I know the terrain better, I would have lost on a normal track.” She looked around the room, noticing the pictures of Scootaloo’s parents. “Wait, are you Snap Shutter’s and Mane Allgood’s daughter?”

“You know my parents?” Scootaloo asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, not personally, of course, but I heard of them. Equestrian ponies actively seeking out monsters are quite rare. They have quite the reputation in the Schattenrealm. Don’t they in Equestria?”

“No, they never really valued fame.”

“Huh… Anyway, how much wingpower do you have?”

Scootaloo avoided to look at Surprise, so Rainbow had to answer, “We never tested it.”

“Why not?”

“Because I can’t fly,” Scootaloo said with gritted teeth, “So there’s nothing to test. I don’t have any wingpower.”

“Oh, I don’t think that’s true. You have to have some wingpower, or you wouldn’t get any momentum with your scooter, right?”

Scootaloo opened her mouth to reply something, but couldn’t think of something to say. And neither did Rainbow.

Surprise turned to Rainbow and said, “Is there a racetrack or something in Ponyville?”

“Yeah, the sports ground, why?”

“I’d really like to see her show me her skills with the scooter before giving you the crystals, to have a comparison. And we could see how much power her wings really have.”

Rainbow took Surprise to the side and whispered, “Do you think that’s a good idea? It will just show that she doesn’t have any wingpower, and that’s not something we should rub in her face.”

“I saw her drive around once or twice already,” Surprise answered loud and clear, “and I’m sure she’ll do great. You know what, I’ll even make a bet. If she doesn’t have at least 5 wingpower, I’ll resign from the Shadowbolts.”

“NO,” Scootaloo yelled, “I don’t want you to give that up because of me.”

Surprise grinned. “Then you better make sure that I don’t lose my bet.”

Scootaloo stood on her scooter on one end, Surprise and Rainbow waited on the other end with the wingpower gage.

Alright, don’t mess this up, Scootaloo thought, just go as fast as possible. And maybe I’ll get at least point four wingpower or something. She put on her helmet, took a deep breath, and shot forward. Ten seconds later, she reached the end of the track and came to a screeching hold.

Surprise looked at the gage. Without looking away, she asked, “And, what do you think, Scootaloo?”

“Maybe 0.3 or something.”

“Almost. You had”—Surprise stepped to the side to let them see the result—“7.8 wingpower.”

“What!” Rainbow and Scootaloo couldn’t believe it.

“My wings are that strong?” Scootaloo asked with shining eyes.

“I knew you had you’re awesome,” Rainbow said.

“But why can’t I fly, then?”

“Because your wings are too small for that,” Surprise said casually, “They don’t produce enough updraft, unlike my or Stripe’s wings. But what they can still produce, and quite a lot, apparently, is forward momentum.

“But now, I think you deserve—” Surprise took a little box out of her saddlebag, placed it in front of Scootaloo, and opened it, revealing two little green crystals “—these.”

Scootaloo grinned from one ear to the other. “How do they work?”

“Just put them on the bottom of your scooter, one in the front and one in the back. You’ll probably have to play around a bit to get the balancing right. It could take a few days until you—”

“Done!” Scootaloo hovered thirty centimetres above ground on her scooter. She swayed around a bit, but was able to keep her balance. “It’s a bit like balancing on a balloon. Good thing that we tried to get circus acrobatic cutie marks a while ago.” She leaned a bit forward, and the scooter slowly hovered in that direction. She experimented around, and after a few minutes, figured out how to steer the scooter

She drove off for a few laps around the track to get a feel for her new scooter. Surprise turned to Rainbow. “She’s really impressive.”

“Yeah, my little sister is awesome,” Rainbow said grinning, “I only had four wingpower when I was her age.”

Scootaloo drove past them with a loud “YOO-HOO!”, creating a gust of wind that almost blew the two mares off their feet.

“Let’s check how fast she is now,” Surprise said. They waited until Scootaloo had completed another round before checking her new score.

Their eyes widened when they saw it.

Her new score was 9.4 wingpower.

Author's Note

I'M ALIVE

Ok, some quick things, I made some minor changes to Chapter 6 and changed the type of Luna's sword from rapier to spatha.

Now to the important stuff: I'm casting a vote!

I'll add two comments under this chapter, and you, dear readers, will have two weeks to upvote the option you are in favour of. The mattter you will all be able to decide this time is:

Should Rainbow join the Shadowbolts?

If it's a tie, I decide myself. Same thing if noone votes at all, but if there is a result, I swear in Gaia's name that I will honour it.