A Skip and a Dash

Chapters

Blazedart
Unexpected Invitation
The Party
A Connection
Gift of the Rainboom
Suspicions Arising
Found Out
Crash Meeting

Blazedart

“Need to fly! Have to get back in the sky!”

“Hold still for one second, Rainbow!” Rarity said, holding the frustrated Pegasus to the ground.

Rainbow Dash was wearing Rarity’s latest breakthrough: a lilac coloured frock that trailed to the ground. Dash was clearly not happy about it.

“Any thoughts, Twilight?” Rarity asked.

Twilight Sparkle looked at Rainbow Dash in the frock. Rarity’s tone of voice was slightly impatient, but she didn’t look as impatient and annoyed as Rainbow Dash did.

“Rarity, you have nothing to worry about.” Twilight said, “This is perfect. A work of art.”

“You think so?”

“Sure. It’ll be an amazing entry. And Rainbow Dash has been a great model for the day. You should let her go now.”

Twilight winked at Rainbow Dash.

“Certainly.” Rarity said with a smile.

As the frock was unclipped from her, Rainbow sped out of the front door. She sighed once outside.

“Feel better now?” asked Twilight, coming from behind her.

“Phew…much! Thanks, Twilight. I could have been there for hours!”

“Say, now that I think about it, I’m kinda still deciding on what to write for Princess Celestia this week and…”

Twilight kept on talking but Rainbow Dash was not really paying attention, for she had seen a dark shape move across the clouds up in the sky. It looked mysterious and sneaky…and why would another Pegasus be up there?

“…if you would like to, you can have a rest at my house and give me some ideas.”

Her mind suddenly switched back to Twilight Sparkle. “Erm… I think I’ll give it a miss this time, Twilight. You know…wing exercise needed!”

She fluttered her little blue wings to show them.

“Okay, understood!” Twilight said cheerily, “See you later, Dash.”

When Twilight trotted away, Rainbow turned her attention back to the sky. Her eager sense of curiosity led her up into the clouds again. The desperation of wanting to fly fast suddenly went away. Maybe that was just an excuse to get away from Rarity, but she was only inquisitive now.

She scanned every cloud for signs of movement. Soon boredom took over her again, and she slumped onto a nearby cloud, her wings folding away, but her eyes still alert…

“Is somepony lonely out here?”

Rainbow Dash let out a squeaky yelp and fell off her cloud, before her little wings held her upright. She immediately recognized the Pegasus looking at her.

“You!”

The grey male Pegasus with a mane and tail coloured with fire gave Rainbow Dash a cheeky smirk.

“Oh we’ve met before then?”

“Just what is your problem?!” Rainbow Dash snapped, shooting up to him so her eyes were staring sharply into his.

“First you come crashing into me, and then you intend to terrify the wit out of me!”

“Well, the WIT certainly hasn’t gone.”

Despite Rainbow Dash’s fury, the colt still kept calm and had a casual grin on his face. Rainbow wasn’t used to being outsmarted like this.

“I don’t have time for your lame comebacks!” she propped herself on the white fluff underneath her, her hooves folded, “Don’t you have some other place to be?”

The colt looked amused at Rainbow Dash’s irritated eyes. “Actually, right here is where I have to be. I AM a weather pony, you know.”

“Oh, are you now?” Rainbow Dash said sarcastically, “Well, I’M the top weather pony in Ponyville so don’t get any rough ideas!”

Her frown then changed to a proud smile. “You should also know that you are talking to the Best Flyer in Equestria.” she fluttered a little off the cloud, her eyes closed with smugness.

“Hmmm, then I am most honoured to be so, my lovely one.”

Another tinge of anger stung in Dash’s stomach, but she tried not to show it.

“So what can you do with those blue wings of yours?” he asked, showing off his own pewter wings.

“Oh. An AWFUL lot.” she said in her smug tone, “Including a sonic rainboom.”

“That I gotta see!”

For the first time the colt was honestly intrigued.

“Well, obviously I would show you my talent but…” she let out a brief yawn, “these little beauties get tired.”

She flapped her wings lazily.

“You couldn’t face up to me then.” the colt said, still grinning, “I’m active every day and every hour! Let me entertain you with my style!”

Before Dash could protest at him, he had already bolted high into the sky and began a series of backflips and loops through a row of ten clouds. He weaved through every one of them with little effort and he looked like a ball of fire as he sped gracefully around the sun.

Rainbow Dash forgot how to blink. She just stared with round eyes. She didn’t know whether to be annoyed or fascinated…

After a while he spiralled down in front of her, showing off his spiral Cutie Mark. It was clear what his Cutie Mark meant now.

“Clearly you’re too tired to show me your own stuff…”

His voice was so offhand and annoying that Rainbow couldn’t take it anymore.

“You think you can get the better of me THAT easy?” she said with fiery eyes, “No one outsmarts Equestria’s Best Flier!”

And Rainbow Dash was set to prove that. As she felt the colt’s eyes follow her into the sky, she thought of every move she could remember. She twisted in and out of every treetop nearby, she darted straight through a row of fluffy little clouds and performed an incredibly fast loop the loop just above the wide eyed Pegasus. As she landed, she left a little trail of rainbow behind her.

“Admit it, mister.” Rainbow said happily to the colt, sitting in front of him, “You HAVE met the BEST Flier in Equestria.”

“I can’t deny you were pretty impressive…but I still don’t see a sonic rainboom.”

“They’re a hard job, ya know. I can’t manage them EVERY time.”

“All the same…impressive flying.” the colt said, smiling at her with admiration, “Love to know your name, missy.”

She rolled her eyes, her multi-coloured tail curled around her legs. She looked away from him and said, “It’s Rainbow Dash. If you must know…”

“You’re a fascinating pony, Rainbow Dash. My name’s Blazedart. Hope to catch you around again sometime.”

“Um, I-”

Blazedart whizzed off in the blink of an eye. And Rainbow Dash sat on her cloud in thought, suddenly feeling lonely again.

Unexpected Invitation

For the rest of the day, Rainbow Dash kept her encounter with Blazedart out of her mind. She wasn’t going to let some arrogant colt distract her from everything else. So she decided that she would visit Twilight, just for a little while. It was regrettably boring having to help the unicorn with her tidying up, but it was better than nothing.

Rainbow Dash said nothing about Blazedart to Twilight. In fact, she hardly said anything at all. Twilight was the pony doing all the talking.

“Rarity’s being ever so sweet and everything but all her chatter about dress designs does my head in. I can’t seem to think straight or concentrate on my studies. Not to mention I’m panicky about my letter to Princess Celestia. I’m having trouble thinking of lessons I’ve learned.”

“Well, I wouldn’t know, Twilight.” Rainbow said, “I’ve been too caught up in my flying to learn any friendship lessons.”

“Let’s not worry, we’ll figure something out. We always do.”

Twilight lifted up one last book with the magic of her horn and it settled itself onto the top shelf. “Phew. That’s all of the books away.” she said with a relieved smile.

She turned to Rainbow Dash.

“I appreciate you keeping me company, Rainbow. What made you decide to come here anyway? I thought you were busy in the sky?”

“Uh, well…” Rainbow hesitated for a second, “I was. But it turns out the weather doesn’t need much help today. And I’m happy to help a friend if it gives me something to do.”

“That’s nice of you. And thanks. I suppose it gives me something to do too.”

Before the two could continue their conversation, the front door suddenly burst open. A pink pony stood in the doorway, a big beam on her face.

“Twilight, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie said excitedly, bouncing up to Twilight.

Pinkie’s little hooves were jiggling with overexcitement and the unicorn stared at her with stunned eyes.

“Calm it, Pinkie.” she said sternly, “What is it? And couldn’t you have knocked before barging in?”

“I couldn’t knock!” Pinkie Pie squeaked, “I was way too excited! You and Rainbow Dash have to come round to mine later cos there are like so many new ponies in Ponyville! I just have to throw them a welcoming party cos they all seem so nice and they could be our friends and I love making friends and-”

“All right.” Twilight said, stopping Pinkie Pie in her words, “I think we get the idea. You want us to come to your welcoming party where there will be new fillies and colts. Right?”

“Right!” Pinkie Pie squealed, “You’re going to come, aren‘t you? Please come, Twilight! You’ve got to come too, Dashie! It’ll be totally fun! It’s at mine at 5 o’clock!”

“Well, we do love a good party I guess.” Rainbow Dash said with a grin.

“Great! You’ll be there! I know you guys will! Cos you’re my best friends! Can’t wait! See you there!”

As quickly as she had come in, Pinkie Pie was out of the door again. Twilight blinked and was silent for several moments. Rainbow just smiled and rolled her eyes.

“Well, a welcoming party. That should be interesting.” Rainbow said with a smirk.

“Trust Pinkie Pie to let us know about a party in THAT way.” Twilight said, still drowned in Pinkie Pie’s mass of words.

“She’s just being Pinkie Pie.” Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle, walking up to Twilight’s side, “And anyway, a party like this will help take your mind off things. You don’t have to worry about the letter. You can just have a nice time with your friends.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Twilight agreed, a smile back on her face, “And it’ll give us all a chance to make new friends! That’s definitely something I could write about.”

With no other chores to take care of, Rainbow and Twilight left the house to wander around Ponyville. Along the way, they talked about the upcoming party. Would it be fun? Who would they meet? And WOULD they make some new friends?

It was obvious that Pinkie Pie had told all their other friends too, since Twilight and Rainbow stumbled upon their cowgirl friend Applejack who burst into conversation at once.

“Howdy, partners!” she said to them cheerfully, “Heard about Pinkie’s new welcomin’ party?”

“Sure have.” said Twilight, “You know how Pinkie gets news around quickly.” she added, rolling her eyes.

“I think it’s a mighty nice idea!” said Applejack merrily, “Before y’all know it, we’ll have made some more friends!”

At that precise moment, a teal coloured mare trotted up to Applejack’s side.

“Oh uh, this is Rosy Dilly.” Applejack said, pointing to the mare.

Rosy Dilly shot a happy grin at Twilight and Rainbow who each returned an awkward smile.

“Ah promised ‘er I’d show ‘er round for the day.” Applejack explained, “I’ll catch the rest of ya later. Hope you meet some nice folk!”

Applejack cantered off with Rosy Dilly by her side.

“Wow.” said Twilight, “There does seem to be a lot of new faces in town.”

“And they’re getting around pretty quickly.” Rainbow added.

“I’m sure we’ll find some pony friends of our own if we look around. Besides, I need to go into the store to look for new writing equipment.”

So Rainbow Dash followed Twilight into the small corner shop. The Pegasus never roamed around the shops much, but she thought she might find the odd thing that would interest her in here.

When inside the shop, the two ponies split up and looked at different shelves. Rainbow went straight to the posters section, searching for Wonderbolts pictures.

Twilight browsed the shelves that held all the essentials for writing. She examined quills, parchment, ink and much more. Her eyes latched onto a block of papers, which were perfect for writing new letters on. She used her horn to pick the papers up, but underestimated the weight. The pile was, in fact, very heavy. Just as she lost her grip, the head of another pony lifted the papers up before they reached the ground.

“That could have been a nasty shocker.”

It was a stallion that Twilight had never seen before. She noticed his Pegasus wings and his spiral Cutie Mark.

“Thank you, sir.” Twilight said in relief, “That really would have been an embarrassment.”

Her voice was rather shaky around this stranger.

“Oh please, don’t call me sir.” the stallion said, “My name’s Blazedart.”

“Twilight Sparkle.” the unicorn said in return, “You’re new around here?”

“Yes, along with many other newcomers, I believe?”

“Oh, I’ve been seeing an AWFUL lot of new ponies here. And it’s so nice to meet new citizens of Ponyville.”

“Hey, how are you doing Twilight?”

Rainbow Dash’s voice came to Twilight’s ears. The cyan Pegasus was trotting out from behind a nearby shelf and it was then she noticed Blazedart. Her eyes grew wide in surprise.

“Rainbow Dash, wasn’t it?” Blazedart said in his usual calm voice.

“You? Again?” Rainbow exclaimed.

“You two know each other?” Twilight said, switching her gaze between Blazedart and Rainbow Dash.

“We’ve only just met.” Rainbow muttered, “And it WASN’T intentional.”

She had a look of annoyance on her face. Twilight, on the other hand, looked pleased.

“Well, I’m sure we’d both love you to join us at our friend’s welcoming party later on today.” she said to Blazedart, “Pinkie Pie is inviting every new pony in town to her house at 5 o’clock.” she lowered her voice, “Pinkie Pie has to be friends with everypony there is to know.”

“I understand that.” Blazedart said with a chuckle, “I’d be happy to tag along if that’s all right with you.”

“Of course it is! Right, Rainbow Dash?”

“Ugh…yeah. Sure it is.” Rainbow said, glaring at Blazedart.

He smirked at the lack of enthusiasm in her voice.

“Pinkie Pie lives at Sugarcube Corner right?” he said, “I know.” he added with a grin, “That pony’s talked about a lot around here. I’ll be seeing you at five o’clock then. Lovely to meet you, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight replied with a shy smile. The Pegasus colt stepped up to Rainbow Dash’s side before saying, “See you around, Rainbow Dash.”

And he exited the shop with a flap of his wings.

“Wow, Rainbow!” Twilight gasped, trotting up to Rainbow’s side, “He seems so nice! And charming! I’m looking forward to having the others meet him!”

“Yeah, sure…whatever…”

Rainbow was staring out of the door and into the sky where Blazedart had flown off to. Her face was still rather annoyed.

“What is it?” Twilight questioned, “Don’t you like him or something? And you’ve already met him! When? And why didn’t you say?”

“It was only this morning, Twilight.” Rainbow said, rolling her eyes, “And I didn’t think it mattered.”

“Of course it matters if you’re making new friends!” Twilight said happily.

To this, the Pegasus scoffed.

“Err, FRIENDS?” Rainbow exclaimed, “When did I say he was my frie-”

“We’d better go home and prepare ourselves now.” Twilight said, ignoring Rainbow and heading to the door, “Pinkie’s party is in an hour.”

Rainbow hung her head sulkily and followed Twilight out of the shop. As they walked together, Rainbow Dash had thoughts spinning around in her head. How would Blazedart act at the party? Would he talk to her even more? Would he talk to her friends? Would he embarrass her in front of her friends?

He’d better NOT show me up in front of my friends, she thought, he thinks he’s so much better than me.

“Don’t worry.” Twilight said to her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Twilight lay a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder. “I’m sure everything will be great at the party. I’ll see you there, Rainbow!”

As Twilight trotted off towards her house, Rainbow heaved a small sigh and fluttered up into the clouds. Hopefully Twilight was right.

The Party

The skies were just beginning to get dark and the windows of Sugarcube Corner were lit up. Inside the house, ponies, balloons and laughter filled the room. Pinkie Pie was bouncing around saying ‘hi!’ to every new pony she saw. She would also set off a party popper every now and then. Twilight was standing with Applejack at the side of the room, giggling at the annoyed ponies that had just been sprinkled with confetti.

“Heehee, oopsie!” Pinkie Pie squeaked, hopping away like a kangaroo.

Twilight and Applejack were so used to the antics of their cheery friend that they simply exchanged smiles and chuckled. An irritated stallion brushed the confetti off his head.

The atmosphere was still cheery when Rainbow Dash arrived. The door had been left open so she could wander inside, and before she had a chance to look around, she was met with a tight hug from Pinkie Pie.

“Dashie, you made it!” the pink pony squealed, her arms squeezing the baffled Pegasus.

“Err yeah…hi, Pinkie.” Rainbow said awkwardly, running low on breath.

She sucked in a breath when Pinkie Pie finally let go of her and bounced away. Looking around her, she spotted her five friends dotted in the large crowd of ponies. Fluttershy was sitting silently in a corner, her eyes nervously swivelling around the room. Pinkie Pie was leading a conga line down the room, each pony behind her grinning. Rarity was wearing a fabulous party gown of course. She was speaking to a few colts, but took care to keep her dress away from any risk of damage.

At this point, Rainbow Dash had forgotten about Blazedart. She just happily trotted over to Twilight and Applejack ready to spend some time with her friends. This was going to be great.

“So, Rainbow.” Applejack said to her, whipping her hoof around her and giving her a friendly squeeze, “Been socialisin’ at all? Or are you just too nervous for that?”

“Nervous?” Rainbow said, ducking out from underneath Applejack’s arm, “I am NOT nervous. I’m never nervous!”

“Well, I’m so glad that Pinkie Pie has decided to throw this celebration.” Twilight said with a calm smile, “It’ll make all the newcomers feel so welcome here, as I know THEY will be nervous.”

“Are you guys excited?”

The three of them weren’t surprised when they heard Pinkie’s giddy voice toddle up to them.

“I’m so excited, I’ve never been so excited! Well, maybe I HAVE been before but this is still so exciting because we’re going to be really popular when we make all these new friends and maybe they’ll all come to more of my parties and I’ll know everypony around here! Hi!”

She waved her hoof frantically in front of a mare that was walking past the four of them. The mare looked surprised at first, but then smiled politely at Pinkie Pie. Pinkie grinned a huge grin and darted off.

Twilight flashed a smile at the brown pony.

“We are so happy to have you here.” she said courteously.

The brown mare replied with a small smile and trotted off to eat something from the long table of treats. Rarity was staying well back from all the crumb covered plates and ponies with food in their mouths.

Rainbow Dash felt rather sorry for Fluttershy, who was staying out of all the action in her corner; her pretty teal eyes were full of apprehension as she looked around at the large crowd surrounding her.

But then, a sudden tinge of shock jumped in Rainbow Dash’s stomach as she recognised the pony that walked up to Fluttershy.

It was Blazedart, and he gave her a comforting smile. “Hello.”

“Um…hell…o…”

Fluttershy’s voice was merely a mumble as she spoke. She wasn’t looking Blazedart in the eyes.

“I’m Blazedart. Do you wanna come out and have a chat with everypony?”

When Fluttershy hesitated, Blazedart chuckled.

“It’s all right!” he sniggered, “I won’t bite.”

The nerves were fading from Fluttershy’s eyes. Twilight, Rainbow and Applejack were watching the scene as the shy Pegasus got to her feet slowly. She smiled at the colt next to her.

“Thanks…B-Blazedart…” she murmured, “I’m Fluttershy…”

“Nice to meet you, Fluttershy.”

He then turned his attention to Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Twilight and Applejack were grinning happily at him while Rainbow just frowned at him.

“Oh hello, Twilight Sparkle.” Blazedart said, smiling at Twilight.

“Hi again.” Twilight said, her voice sounding slightly timid, “Glad to see you could make it, Blazedart.”

“I take it these are your friends?” he asked, looking around at the ponies surrounding Twilight, now including a giddy faced Pinkie Pie.

“Yes,” said Twilight enthusiastically, “well. You’ve just met my friend Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy cowered a little from the mention of her name. “Hi guys…” she murmured, “Sorry I’ve been so…reserved. I get so nervous in big crowds.”

“Ahh, don’t worry ‘bout it, sugarcube.” Applejack said to her, and then looked up at Blazedart.

“How ya doin’? I’m Applejack.”

“Hi, Applejack.”

“And I’m Pinkie Pie!”

The colt smirked at the excitement in her voice. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Pinkie Pie.”

“You have?!” Pinkie gasped.

She did a little bounce in the air, her hooves waggling up and down.

As her friends continued to talk to Blazedart, Rainbow Dash stood sulking in the background. She didn’t like the way her friends were giving him so much attention and leaving her out. It felt strange…SHE was normally the Pegasus that everypony talked about, not some colt that had only just arrived in Ponyville.

Trying not to let the jealousy get to her, she turned away from the scene and wandered over to the food table.

There were a few Pegasi that she recognized from Cloudsdale so Rainbow didn’t feel too lonely. While chewing on several sandwiches and having an odd chat with a cross eyed Pegasus called Derpy, her eyes would often glance over to her friends.

One minute, Pinkie Pie was tying a blindfold around Blazedart’s face so he could pin the tail on the mule. The next minute, he was in deep conversation with Twilight Sparkle and Applejack. He was always very pleasant with Fluttershy, and Rainbow noticed that the normally nervous Pegasus had a comfortable, happy look in her eyes.

“Rainbow Dash, darling. Are you all right?”

Rarity stepped up to Rainbow, still in her glistening party outfit.

“Hey, Rarity. Yeah, I’m fine. Met any new ponies yet?”

“Well, I HAVE been socializing with several newcomers that share my fashion interests.” she said in her classy manner, “But I tend to stay out of all the ruffian party games. Anyway never mind me. What about you, Rainbow Dash? Don’t you want to spend some time with the others?”

Rainbow’s smile changed to an awkward expression. Her eyes swept over to her friends again, where Twilight was laughing with Blazedart and Pinkie Pie was tying blindfolds around strangers so they could also pin the tail on the mule.

“Errr…” Rainbow said, sliding a hoof across the floor awkwardly, “I was. And I’ve had a great time and all. But I’m done with making new friends for today. In fact…”

She looked out of the window at the darkening skies.

“It’s getting pretty late. I should probably head off now. Weather duty calls.”

“All right then, Rainbow Dash.” Rarity said to her politely, “I’ll let the others know where you are. But now I think I should say hello to that colt over there. Twilight has been talking to him an awful lot.”

Rainbow Dash heaved an irritated sigh as Rarity headed over to where Blazedart was. What was it that her friends liked so much about him? She wasn’t going to worry about them any longer.

She headed out of the door into the dim evening. As she looked up at the sky, she was rather shocked to see that it was covered with clouds. She decided she would go up there and tidy it all up before going home. It would help her take her mind off things.

“Nice to see you again.”

She jumped at the voice from behind her. She turned her head around to see Blazedart standing there, smiling in a friendly but mischievous way.

“Ugh…”

She rolled her eyes and looked away, irritably.

“You have some very nice friends, Rainbow Dash.” Blazedart said to her.

“Yeah, I do…” Rainbow said, glaring at him, “And they’re MY friends.”

“Oh…!” Blazedart chuckled.

He had a look of realization and slight embarrassment in his cobalt coloured eyes.

“I don’t want you to think I’m intruding or anything.” he said with a smile, “It was your friends who invited me to the party, not me.”

“Yeah well…you were lucky that time. And we have good views on friendship since we’re the Elements of Harmony.”

Blazedart’s eyes looked stunned for a second. “Wait a minute…did you say the Elements of Harmony?”

“Sure did.” Rainbow said, turning her body around to face him, “Me, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Fluttershy all represent the Elements of Harmony. That’s how we saved Equestria from Nightmare Moon and Discord.”

“Wow…the Elements of Harmony…” Blazedart said, staring at the ground with an astounded face, “That’s pretty impressive. And what element do you represent?”

“The Element of Loyalty.” said Rainbow Dash, a proud smile on her face, “I’d never abandon my friends for anything.”

“Well, that’s a good trait to have. I’m sure your friends adore you for that.”

Rainbow paused, not quite knowing what to say to that.

“Uh…yeah, I suppose…they do?” she said, her forelegs fidgeting awkwardly.

“I definitely like you for it.”

For some odd reason, Rainbow felt an unusual sharp tingle in her stomach. She bit her lip, as a small smile spread across her face.

“Are you up for showing me more of your acrobatics tomorrow?” Blazedart asked her, “I’d love to see what else you can do.”

“Um…yeah okay…”

“So I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“See ya tomorrow, Blazedart.”

Before she could fly off, Blazedart said, “Hey, you don’t have to call me Blazedart. It’s a bit of a mouthful. You can call me Blaze if you want to.”

Rainbow shot him a friendly grin. “Okay, Blaze. You can call me Rainbow.”

He returned her smile. “All right then. See you tomorrow, Rainbow.”

And with her smug grin, Rainbow Dash fired into the evening sky.

The brown Pegasus colt trotted up to a nearby pond. He concentrated on the water as it rippled in the evening breeze, until he heard a male voice.

“Blazedart.” it echoed into his ears, “How are you getting on?”

“Pretty well…”Blazedart said, his voice quite nervous, “I’ve found out a lot.”

“Good.” the voice continued, “Well, don’t spend all your time messing around. We’re counting on you, Blaze.”

“Yes…I-I know…”

As the voice disappeared, the stallion trotted back the way he came, his eyes full of worry...

A Connection

Hey guys! This is the longest chapter yet, and I have worked super hard on it, so I hope you like it! Sorry for the delay in updates, my inspiration kills me sometimes.

Please leave a comment giving me your thoughts!

The next morning, Rainbow Dash was awake bright and early. She was still rather sleepy, but she promised herself that she would clear the sky so everypony below could appreciate the morning sunlight.

While performing her weather duties, her mind often wandered back to the events of the night before: Pinkie Pie’s party, her friends meeting Blazedart, and how he had taken a friendly interest in her. She was trying to keep it all out of her mind but she couldn’t help wondering when she would see Blazedart again.

A while later, she had nearly finished moving all the clouds. She was still deep in thought and feeling lethargic from waking up so early. She sat down to rest as a little quiet yawn escaped from her.

Rainbow then heard a female voice from below.

“Rainbow Dash!”

It was Twilight’s voice. She flew to a hole in the clouds and peeked out of it. Twilight was standing on the brown pathway looking up at her with a smile. A small purple dragon was sitting on her back.

“Morning, Twilight!” Rainbow called to her, waving a hoof, “Hi, Spike!” she added as the baby dragon waved back to her.

“We just wanted to let you know how everypony is grateful for the early morning sunlight.” Twilight said, “It’s a lovely sight to wake up to.”

“Aww it’s no problem, Twilight.” Rainbow Dash said to the unicorn, “Just doing my job. But hey, now that’s done, I got more time to practice my signature moves for the Wonderbolts. So I can’t sit around right now. Gotta aim to impress!”

She fluttered into the air ready to take off.

“Of course, Rainbow.” Twilight laughed.

Before the unicorn could say any more to her friend, she flew off leaving a rainbow streak behind her.

“She sure is brilliant, isn’t she?” Spike said enthusiastically.

“I know she is, Spike.” Twilight agreed.

Rainbow Dash had flown to a quiet place high up in the clouds where she always practiced her favourite moves. She felt it was a good way to relax and unwind.

She remembered a sequence of moves that she had been trying to perfect especially for the Wonderbolts and she decided she would work on it now. She began with a couple of slow loops around a row of fluffy clouds.

The problem was… she was so caught up in her acrobatics that she had forgotten how tired she was. Her eyesight was less clear than normal and her muscles felt unusually weak and achy.

She continued on without a second thought, doing all sorts of flips and spins that nopony else could pull off at such speed.

It was when she approached a row of cloud columns, which she had laid out herself, that she started to feel very drowsy. As she began to fly in and out of the slalom, she found it hard to concentrate. She thought back to her cosy bed; she could be asleep at home right now in her cosy cloud bed and have wonderful dreams of flying with the Wonderbolts…

“Ouch!”

Rainbow was snapped out of her daydream when she banged her head on the side of a column. The impact of the crash sent her hurtling off course, her forehead throbbing.

The pain made her vision distorted and she struggled to regain control of her flight.

“Ugh…my wings are so tired…”

Her wings felt weaker than ever, definitely not strong enough to keep her up. She fluttered them desperately, but she could feel her body tumbling downwards…until she felt something furry block her fall.

She opened her eyes, which had been scrunched shut in a panic, and looked below her. She saw the smiling face of Blazedart look up at her. Her whole body was lying heavily over his back.

“Woah, that was a close one.” Blazedart said to her, “You okay?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes, trying not to look impressed.

“I’m fine.” she grumbled.

They weren’t airborne for very long. Blazedart’s legs began to wobble and the weight of Rainbow Dash was pulling him down.

Rainbow yelped as the two of them tumbled towards the ground. A soft, squashy bush was there to break their fall but Blazedart’s landing was still a little painful after they bounced off the bush and skidded onto the grass.

“Ughh, my head…” Rainbow Dash groaned, rubbing a hoof on her forelock.

She shook the dizziness out of her as she lay over Blazedart’s back. A nervous tingle pinched her stomach as he suddenly looked up at her. Their eyes locked for a few awkward seconds…

Embarrassed, Rainbow shuffled off his back and straightened herself up on her legs.

“Sorry about that.” Blazedart said with a nervous chuckle, getting up himself.

“Oh, trust me. I’ve had MUCH worse landings than that.”

She shook some dirt out of her rainbow tail while holding Blazedart’s gaze with her pretty fuchsia coloured eyes.

“Why are you up here so early, Rainbow Dash?” he asked her, “Got duties to perform?”

“Well, yeah.” she said, her tone slightly smug, “But I also have to practice my moves.”

“Practicing moves? What for?”

“For the Wonderbolts of course!” she said loudly, sudden enthusiasm in her voice, “I’ve wanted to be in that group ever since I was a little filly! So everyday I’m trying to perfect my signature moves so I can impress them.”

“The Wonderbolts?”

Blazedart had an excited smile on his face, looking at Rainbow Dash in awe. “Wow. That’s amazing! I’ve loved the Wonderbolts my whole life.”

“Really?” Rainbow exclaimed, her voice cracking in a cute way.

“Yeah!” he gasped, “And you want to join them? That’s pretty huge.”

Whilst he was talking to her, Rainbow Dash managed to get a closer look at Blazedart’s cutie mark. The black spiral stood out on his grey flank and she now noticed that it was breathed in several orange flames. She wondered what it meant.

“I wish I could join the Wonderbolts.” he said to her, “You’d have to be a pretty amazing athlete to be one of them.”

“Well, I’M a world-class athlete!” Rainbow said, hovering into the air and pointing a hoof to her chest.

Blazedart couldn’t help smirking at her smug face.

“Remember what I said? Best flier in Equestria.” she proclaimed, shutting her eyes proudly, “I can get into that group, no problem! That’s why I practice every day.”

“Every single day?” Blazedart asked her, looking at the hovering figure above him.

“Yep.” she said in that same arrogant tone.

“Well, I’ve always been athletic too.” Blazedart continued, “I used to fly through the skies all the time when I was just a young colt. Lets me burn off steam and feel like I can do anything.”

Rainbow Dash had a curious look in her eyes as she landed on the ground in front of him.

“That’s how I feel when I fly.” she said softly, “I love that amazing sense of freedom and having the wind blow through my mane.”

“So do I.” Blazedart said, “Flying is practically my life.”

“Mine too.” Rainbow said.

She gave him a smile; her and Blazedart had quite a lot in common. Was that a good thing?

“Flying was my speciality as a colt. And that’s how I earned this little beauty here.”

He nodded at his cutie mark; the flares of orange around the spiral seemed to glisten in the sunlight.

“Whenever I flew, I felt an amazing burn in my wings. Like fire. Since then, travelling the skies has been my lifetime hobby. My cutie mark represents stimulation and enthusiasm.”

That’s kind of awesome, Rainbow Dash thought.

“So what about you?” he suddenly said, his eyes fixed upon the cloud and lightning bolt that lay on Rainbow’s blue coat, “I’m guessing your cutie mark means flying too?”

“Yep. It sure does!” she said, looking at her cutie mark proudly, “And, like I told you, I’m a weather pony so I use my amazing speed and agility to tidy the clouds.”

“And you do that on your own?” Blazedart asked her.

Rainbow Dash put a hoof to her chin, thinking for a moment. “Well…no.” she admitted, “Every Pegasus helps out with the weather control. And all the pegasi, including me, come from there.”

She rose a few feet off the ground again and pointed her hoof at the large white cloud city high up in the sky.

“Cloudsdale. I’ve lived there most of my life.”

“But you seem to be in Ponyville a lot.” said Blazedart.

“Yeah, that’s because I wanna see my friends. Ponyville’s like a second home, I spend so much time here…”

As she gently landed on the ground to face him, Blazedart smiled at her again. “You know,” he said, “I like you, Rainbow Dash. You’ve got a lot of spirit compared to most mares I’ve met and I admire that.”

“Uh…” Rainbow Dash felt shy for a moment, running a hoof awkwardly down her mane, “what do you mean by that?”

“Well, you’re very sure of yourself.” Blazedart said, “You seem so confident that you can achieve anything, especially with flying. You’re fast, right?”

“Right!” Rainbow said, flashing him a daring grin.

“So do you reckon you could beat me in a race?”

Rainbow Dash widened her eyes at him. Was he actually challenging her? She wasn’t sure what to say at first, but then she replied, “Yeah. I bet I could!”

“Well, we’ll see, won’t we?” Blazedart said, flexing his wings and gazing at her with bold eyes.

So you still think you’re better than me, do ya? Rainbow Dash thought, irritably.

“You really don’t know what you’re letting yourself in for, Blazedart.” Rainbow Dash said to him.

“I’m willing to take risks.” he said to her cheekily, raising an eyebrow, “As I’m sure you are too.”

He flapped his brown wings a little more while Rainbow eyed him with a frown across her face.

“Now let’s see you be the first to Cloudsdale!”

Before Rainbow Dash could react, Blazedart shot up into the sky towards the distant cloud city.

“Hey! I wasn’t ready!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

Annoyed, she powered up her wings with several flutters and zoomed after him.

Blazedart had already gotten quite far ahead of her, but she wasn’t going to let him stay that way. She surged forward with all her flying power, his brown outline gradually growing larger as she got closer.

She looked up to see the huge white shape of Cloudsdale getting nearer to the two of them. Blazedart looked around and gave her a mischievous grin as he continued to speed ahead, his mane flickering around in the wind. Rainbow Dash scowled at him before flapping her wings harder. She could feel the wind shooting past her and stinging her cheeks, but she ignored it. She was desperate to catch up with Blazedart, who was not far from Cloudsdale.

Her efforts were paying off. She had soon flown far enough forward so that the two of them were neck and neck. Rainbow Dash didn’t stop pummelling her wings for a second, even though she was growing short of breath. The dizziness that she had felt not long ago seemed to drift away completely. She was not going to let somepony else beat her.

She soon noticed Blazedart panting, beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. She saw this as a chance. She used her agile wings to swerve her whole body to the right, passing right ahead of the exhausted stallion, who has now having trouble keeping up with her.

Pleased with herself, Rainbow Dash did a happy somersault in the air before shooting down towards the nearby city. She had got this in the bag now.

It was not long before she felt her hooves land on soft cloudy ground, her exhausted wings folding themselves away.

“Phew!” she sighed, looking around at the dozens of pegasi roaming the air in the magnificent cloud city.

She smiled proudly to herself as she heard the worn out pants of Blazedart coming up from behind her. He landed on the clouds beside her, laying his tired body on the floor like a blanket. His eyes were shining and his breathing was loud and rigid. He looked up at the grinning blue Pegasus, who was looking at him with victorious eyes.

“Okay…” he gasped, holding a hoof up, “you’re fast…I underestimated you, Rainbow Dash. You’re a great flier.”

Rainbow Dash knelt down in front of him so that she was looking directly into his face. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” she said to him cheekily, before turning away from him and giving his face a brush with her tail.

He looked at her with annoyed eyes as she strutted in front of him, eventually getting to his feet shakily.

The brown stallion followed her as his eyes scanned everything around him: Pegasi roaming the air, the sounds of chatter and the whooshing sound of wings. The white cloudy scenery was beautiful.

He stepped up to Rainbow Dash’s side, his breathing normal again. “Nonetheless,” he said to her, as she looked at him through the corner of her eye, “I’d like to see that sonic rainboom of yours at some point.”

Rainbow Dash shot him an optimistic grin. “Well…let’s just say I’m saving it for a special occasion.”

Blazedart smirked, not asking her any more about it. Their hooves barely made a sound as they walked together, Blazedart’s eyes swerving about in wonder at everything around him.

Rainbow Dash noticed him gaze intently at a nearby building: the weather factory. “That place looks interesting.” Blazedart said to her, his hoof pointing towards it.

“Yeah, the weather factory.” Rainbow Dash said, “That’s where Cloudsdale sorts out the weather!”

“Woah…” Blazedart gasped, in awe of the huge building, “We never had anything like that where I came from. It sure is impressive.”

Blazedart lifted himself up into the air with the power of his wings, looking down at Rainbow Dash.

“Mind if I go and take a look?” he asked her, his eyes looking thrilled with anticipation.

“Sure. Go ahead. I’ll meet you back here. Then I can show you even more of Cloudsdale!”

“All right, Rainbow Dash. See you in a minute.”

He smiled at her before flying off towards the factory.

Rainbow Dash thought, maybe she should have gone with him? Would he be okay finding his way back?

No. He didn’t need her company right now. Chill out, Rainbow. He’ll be fine, she told herself in her head.

She looked around at the city she stood in, so many memories flooding their way into her mind: she had grown up here as a filly, discovered her love for flying, trained with Fluttershy at Flight Camp. Time had flown so quickly; she had a group of amazing friends now and she had so many special things to be known for. Yet, she would never forget this wonderful place, her true home. Her shiny eyes looked around at the other pegasi in the air and on the ground, and the comfy looking clouds that hovered in the sky. She wondered whether to hop on one and relax, but decided not to. She should wait for Blazedart to come back before going anywhere.

She smiled when she remembered Blazedart. Only a few hours ago she didn’t want to have anything to do with him. Now she was happily showing the stallion around her home. What am I like? She giggled to herself, beginning to stride around the area, awaiting Blazedart’s return.

The seconds ticked by, and Rainbow felt boredom coming over her. Maybe she should have gone with him, she thought, it would have saved her from waiting.

Just then, Rainbow Dash recognized three male faces that began to pass her. She felt a sting of worry in her stomach as their eyes looked in her direction.

She had managed to escape bullying for a while ever since she won the Best Young Fliers Competition; Hoops and Dumb-Bell had left her alone after seeing her sonic rainboom. But she still received some tough times coping with colts that would make fun of her and accuse her for being over-confident. Right now, the colts near her were one that she knew as Slate Streak and two others that had been with Hoops and Dumb-Bell before. They had always picked on her whenever they got the chance.

Slate Streak was a turquoise Pegasus with a bright streak of blue through his aqua mane and tail. He was known for a being an athletic and brash stallion that was proud of who he was and wanted all other ponies to know his name.

Feeling nervous, Rainbow Dash wondered whether to slip away and hide, but then she remembered Blazedart wouldn’t find her. She looked at Slate Streak with uncomfortable eyes, her blue body shrivelling up a little.

“Oh look, fellas!” Slate Streak exclaimed, “It’s Rainbow Crash! You destroyed anypony’s house recently, Rainbow Crash?”

Rainbow frowned at him as he and his friends began to laugh at her. She had always tried to act tough whenever she was laughed at, but on the inside, she hated it and wanted to run away.

“She doesn’t have any friends today, does she?” one of the smaller colts shouted out.

“No, just the ground!”

They burst into laughter again.

Rainbow felt hurt and angry inside. Were they saying she was lazy?

“Ugh, guys, just quit it will you?” she snapped, “I’ll have you know I’m tired out from all my practicing!”

“Practicing? Don’t you mean…failing?” Slate Streak snorted with laughter, “Like you’ll ever get into any flying team!”

As the laughing began again, Rainbow Dash turned her head away from them, hiding the sadness that was forming in her eyes.

At this moment, Rainbow was unaware that Blazedart was flying back the way he came, a few metres above her in the air. His blue eyes were happy and joyful at first, amazed by what he had seen at the weather factory, but then he glimpsed the anxious form of Rainbow Dash below him, and three mean-looking stallions laughing at her.

“Well,” he said to himself, frowning at the colts below him, “what have we got here then?”

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash kept her head turned away from the stallions, who continued to laugh and make her insides tremble with fear and anger.

“Hey!”

Rainbow Dash gasped at the sound of a familiar voice. She looked around to see Blazedart land swiftly in front of her, looking the bullies directly in their eyes.

“What do you think you’re playing at?” he barked at them, “She’s never done anything to you!”

Rainbow stared at him as he stood defensively between her and the bullies. She was stunned at his sudden outburst.

Slate Streak was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. “Oh yeah?” he retorted, “And why should you care? I’ve never seen you around here before.”

“That doesn’t matter.” Blazedart snarled, stepping a little bit closer to Slate Streak, “I’m telling you not to say another harsh word to her. I don’t even want you near her.”

“Who are you to tell me what to do, low-life?” Slate Streak snapped, “This is practically none of your business!”

Rainbow Dash continued to watch the scene, her eyes wide. Why was Blazedart defending her like this? He hardly knew her.

“It IS my business if I catch somepony bullying another pony that doesn’t deserve it!” he shouted at the older stallion.

Despite his intimidating appearance, Slate Streak seemed quite taken aback by Blazedart’s fury. He said nothing for a few moments, Blazedart staring at him angrily, and then gave a grumble with his chin up.

“Say what you want, chump.” he muttered, beginning to turn away, “Nopony will think anything of you. Come on, fellas. Let’s leave the lunatics to muck about on their own.”

With that, Slate Streak and his two friends stomped away. Blazedart shook the anger out of his eyes, turning to look at Rainbow Dash, who was still standing there with a bewildered look on her face.

“Are you all right?” he asked her calmly.

“I…I don’t understand…” Rainbow Dash said, “Why did you do that for me?”

“You were being picked on, Rainbow. I had to do SOMETHING.”

He paused to run a hoof down the back of his neck shyly.

“And…well…” he said quietly, “you just seem like a pony worth protecting.”

Rainbow Dash gazed at him questioningly, wondering what to do; he was giving her a timid smile. Before she could think about it, Rainbow smiled back at him, a warm feeling in her heart. They smiled at each other for a few moments…but then Rainbow suddenly shook her head.

“Yeah, well…I don’t need protection.” she said, back to her arrogant tone.

Blazedart rolled his eyes at her as she began to walk past him, but in a friendly, amused way.

“I appreciate your concern though.” she said to him ironically, stopping to turn her head to look at him, “It’s hardly surprising.”

He grinned at her and let out a snigger. “Whatever you say, Rainbow Dash.”

“Ahuh…so, erm…” she fidgeted nervously, “I was gonna show you around a bit more, wasn’t I? Come on then.”

She took off into the sky, seeming unaware of where she was headed. Blazedart stood there watching her fly for a moment, and then used the power of his own wings to follow her into the clouds.

It was now midday and Rainbow Dash was rather tired from touring around Cloudsdale with Blazedart. The two of them were now outside of the city and were hovering along in the afternoon sky.

“You’re very lucky to have lived there as a filly, Rainbow.” Blazedart said. “Cloudsdale is a stunning place.”

“Yep. I’ve known that for a long time.” Rainbow Dash said proudly.

She smiled to herself, pleased that Cloudsdale had always been her home. The two Pegasi settled themselves on a nearby cloud, large enough to fit them both on it. They lay on their fronts to face each other, feeling the warmth of the sun beating down on them.

Rainbow heard Blazedart let out a content sigh as he stared at the view of Ponyville below them. She too felt very relaxed, resting her achy forelegs across the soft cloud.

“Sorry about what happened before.” Blazedart suddenly said, “With the bullies. Maybe I shouldn’t have left you on your own.”

“That’s okay, it wasn’t your fault.” Rainbow Dash said, “I’ve dealt with it before anyway.”

“Before?” Blazedart asked, his eyes curious, “How long have you been picked on?”

“Just…a little while.” Rainbow Dash said uncomfortably, her voice growing quiet, “There were stallions that made fun of me since Flight Camp-”

“Since Flight Camp?” Blazedart exclaimed, looking staggered, “Rainbow Dash, that’s not just ‘a little while’, that’s practically your whole life!”

“It’s no big deal, Blazedart. I’m used to it.”

She rolled her eyes at him as if she didn’t care. Of course, she really did care that she had been made fun of for so long; she just didn’t want to admit it.

“Has nopony ever been there to help you?” Blazedart asked.

“Well, actually I’M normally the one doing the helping. I used to stick up for Fluttershy at Flight Camp whenever she got picked on.”

“Really?”

Blazedart smiled at her. “You sound like a good friend to her.”

Rainbow felt bashful from that comment. “It was nothing…” she mumbled, with a shade of pink on her cheeks.

“But listen, Rainbow Dash,” Blazedart said to her, focusing his gaze on her eyes, “I know how you feel. I got laughed at a lot when I was a colt.”

“Honestly?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking curious.

“Yes, honestly. My school mates never cared much for me. They always thought I was too distant with everypony else because I was always flying instead of chatting. It was only when I got my Cutie Mark that I finally earned some respect.”

Rainbow Dash looked intrigued by his story. She had experienced times like that as a filly too; it was hard to believe how many similarities they had.

“Glad we’re on the same page then.” Rainbow Dash said to him, her voice still sounding cheerful, “But I had plenty of respect myself of course.” she added with a prideful tone.

“I can imagine that, Rainbow.” Blazedart said, a look of laughter in his eyes, “But you still shouldn’t let those dim-witted colts take advantage of you.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t.”

Her voice sounded confident, but the look on her face was hesitant.

“But, um…” she said softly, “I never said…thanks for helping me back there.”

Her voice was low and withdrawn, as though she felt uncomfortable. Blazedart gave her a warm smile. “Don’t mention it, Rainbow. I know what you’ve gone through, so if you ever need reassurance, I can be there for you.”

As if to comfort her, he gently lay a hoof onto hers. Rainbow Dash felt happy inside; nopony had ever treated her this way, except maybe her friends, but this pony really understood her.

She looked at his cobalt eyes with her own questioning violet ones, wondering what to do. They looked at one another with their hooves still touching; until Rainbow awkwardly pulled hers away.

“Erm…sure. Thanks, Blaze…”

She turned her body so she was facing to the side and down at Ponyville.

“That’s all right, Rainbow Dash.”

Blazedart got to his feet and walked peacefully to the edge of the cloud, admiring the view of the periwinkle coloured sky and the distant chirps of birds as they flew in groups through the air.

“Still, you can cope pretty well on your own. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be capable of all your flying techniques, would you?”

He talked to her without looking at her, adding a mischievous tone to his voice. Dash still lay on the cloud, looking down at Ponyville, and listening to his words.

“Flying techniques?” she asked, before scoffing, “Yep. I can do plenty of those. Except, next time, I think I’ll get extra sleep before practicing in the mornings…I’m so tired… ”

She took in a small breath before letting out a quiet yawn, which Blazedart seemed oblivious to. He stared out into space, a look of deep thought on his face.

“Yes, hopefully I won’t have to rescue you like that again.” he said with a small chuckle, “In the meantime, you should show me some more of your flying sequences, and maybe we could have a few more races, or maybe…”

He turned around to face the cyan pony, only to find that she had fallen asleep. Her chin was resting on her two front hooves while her tail hung down off the cloud; her breathing was steady and relaxed.

Blazedart stopped in his speech, pausing to watch the cyan pony as she slept. His mouth curved into an adoring smile. He stood next to her, wondering what to do. He looked around him for a moment, seeing or hearing no movements apart from the breeze and the tweeting of the birds.

He turned his head back to Rainbow Dash, a nervous gulp forming in his throat, and stepped towards her quietly, his hooves moving silently across the cloud. Being as gentle as he could, he slowly knelt down beside Rainbow, settling himself in a lying down position right next to her. She didn’t move a muscle or make a sound, thankfully.

Blazedart gave Rainbow Dash a warm gaze with his blue eyes, snuggling up close to her, and then he calmly lay his head onto his forelegs and drifted into his own deep sleep.

Gift of the Rainboom

This is probably my favourite chapter so far. :D I hope you enjoy it, and sorry for the wait. :)

P.S. if anyone would like to make some fanart for this fanfic, e.g. Blazedart, or Blazedart and Dashie romance :D, feel free to ask me and do it! :)

***

Celestia’s warm yellow sun was perched in the blue carpet of sky, sending a gentle light over Ponyville. Blazedart slept silently on the cloud, his front hooves dangling lazily over the edge and his head settled into his forearms. He could sense the gentle warmth of the sunlight above him, making a quiet mumbling sound and twitching his head slightly, but he didn’t open his eyes.

Before he could relax and fall back to sleep, he felt a whoosh of air ruffle his mane and a hoof nudging him.

“Blazedart!”

Rainbow Dash was hovering above him, hissing his name while prodding the back of his neck in an urge to jolt him awake.

“Wh-wha…?” Blazedart murmured, his voice muffled by the cloud his head lay on.

“Wake up, you sleepyhead!” Rainbow Dash growled, “You’ve gotta come down and see this!”

“Rainbow Dash…” Blazedart mumbled irritably, looking up at her with eyes he was struggling to keep open, “it’s early morning…what happened to getting extra sleep?”

“It’s nine o’clock, I’ve had enough sleep! Now, come on! I’ve gotta show you something!”

She yanked one of his front hooves impatiently before fluttering down towards Ponyville, leaving Blazedart with no option but to follow her. She’ll only get annoyed if I don’t, he thought to himself.

He got to his feet reluctantly, stretching out his stiff forelegs, and hopped off the comfy cloud, catching up with Rainbow Dash as she made her way through the sky and towards the ground below.

“What is it anyway, Rainbow?” Blazedart asked her sleepily, “It better be important.”

“Twilight’s trying out this big new spell! It’s apparently gonna help Fluttershy’s wing power grow stronger, but you have to be a really powerful unicorn to pull it off! Twilight’s never tried anything like it before.”

“Oh…” said Blazedart, “so…is Fluttershy not a strong flier then?”

“Well, she’s not as strong as most other Pegasi. And I’m glad that Twilight’s offered to help her and everything, but hardly anypony has managed to do this spell. I just hope Twilight can do it.”

The two Pegasi were soon flying just above Twilight’s tree home. Blazedart could see several ponies gathered just outside the tree on the green grass: Twilight, who was facing a nervous-looking Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie, all ponies he recognized from the party.

They gently landed on the ground and trotted towards the gathering.

“Have you done the spell yet, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked, as she and Blazedart stepped beside Applejack and Rarity.

“No, Rainbow. I’m just about to try it,” Twilight said, looking edgy, “I need to concentrate for this to work… oh! Hello, Blazedart.” she added with a smile.

“Hi again, Twilight,” the stallion said, his friendly smile appearing on his face, “Rainbow Dash told me about this spell that you’re trying?”

“Yes, it’s a rather difficult one for me. I’m hoping to help Fluttershy with her flight abilities.” Twilight nodded at the shivery Fluttershy next to her.

Blazedart then received a hearty nudge from Applejack. “I’m sure bettin’ Twilight can do it. I’ve seen ‘er pull off dozens of amazin’ things!”

“Oh, AJ,” Twilight giggled, a blush appearing on her cheeks, “I haven’t done THAT many amazing things.”

“She will be okay, won’t she Twi?” Rainbow Dash asked, “Fluttershy, I mean. This spell won’t harm her, right?”

“Of course not, Rainbow,” Twilight said with a reassuring smile, “she’s in capable hooves.”

“I…I trust you, Twilight.” Fluttershy said, nodding her head, although the look in her eyes was uncomfortable.

“All right. Here goes.”

Fluttershy clenched her eyes shut, gulping in a huge breath of air and holding it, as Twilight’s horn began to sparkle. Silence fell on all the ponies; only the sound of Twilight’s magic could be heard. Eventually, it flared up with a loud crackle and shot towards Fluttershy’s delicate body.

The Pegasus was lifted up into the air inside a thick purple bubble, her eyes swerving around in panic. Twilight’s whole body was scrunched up as she forced every bit of magic inside her to do her job. She winced a little as the magic around Fluttershy grew stronger, a glow forming around her wings.

Blazedart, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie watched in awe as the fizzling sounds of magic grew louder until…

BANG!

Fluttershy landed on the ground with a gentle thud as the bubble around her exploded into thin air. Nothing appeared to have changed. There was a moment of curious silence, before Rainbow Dash said, “Well? Did it work?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight said, taking in a few mouthfuls of air, “there’s only one way to be sure. Fluttershy, can you try and fly for me?”

“Uh…o-okay…” Fluttershy flexed her wings, looking at them with an unsure expression.

Trying to ignore her muscles trembling, she lifted her hooves off the ground; her wings only made quiet flapping sounds as she hovered in the air.

Her friends watched her intently, as if something amazing was going to happen. As Fluttershy began to flail her wings in a desperate attempt to impress, she squeaked. She landed back on the ground with a loud thump.

Humiliated, she heaved a sad whimper, covering her face with her hooves. Twilight sighed; all of her friends had disappointed looks on their faces.

“Sorry, you guys,” the unicorn groaned, “I guess it didn’t work.”

“Awww, never mind, sugarcube.” said Applejack sympathetically.

“It was a wonderful attempt, Twilight.” Rarity pointed out to her friend.

“I just wish I could have managed it.” said Twilight, looking sad, “I’ve been wanting to do a spell like that for ages, and it would have helped a friend at the same time.”

“Don’t worry about it, Twilight,” Fluttershy said, getting back onto her hooves, “it really doesn’t matter anyway.”

She walked up to Twilight, putting a reassuring hoof around the dejected unicorn. “Thank you for trying.”

Twilight stared at the ground for a moment, and then looked up at Fluttershy with a smile. “That’s okay, Fluttershy. It was worth a shot.”

“It was a really hard spell, Twilight.” Rainbow Dash piped up, “I would have been surprised if you’d pulled it off. So…don’t let it get you down, hey?”

“It’s all right, Rainbow, I won’t.” Twilight said, looking happier than she had before.

But Rainbow Dash knew just how much magic meant to Twilight, and knew she would still feel unhappy about her failure. Words from her friends, though, seemed to cheer Twilight up.

“Why don’t you guys stay for a while?” she said brightly, “Spike and I could do with a little company.”

“Ooh! Ooh!”

Pinkie Pie started hopping up and down, in her usual hysterical way.

“If we all stay at yours, does that mean…we could have a PARTY?”

“Err, a party?” Twilight repeated, her voice not sounding keen on the idea, “In a library?”

“Well, why not, Twilight?” Pinkie Pie squeaked, skipping up to her, “Seeing as we’re all here, and a party’ll help cheer you up! Yes, it will definitely cheer you up! Parties always help cheering ponies up, they always cheer ME up at least, but it’s bound to cheer you up as well, isn’t it?”

“Uhh, I guess so.” Twilight rolled her eyes at Pinkie’s excitement, “Okay, Pinkie. We’ll have a little party if you really want one.”

She smiled at her pink friend. A party wouldn’t have been her ideal evening, but it was sweet how Pinkie Pie just wanted to make her friend feel better.

“Woohoo!” Pinkie Pie leapt once into the air, causing a few ponies around her to jump back in surprise.

“This is gonna be lots of fun, guys! I’ll go and get some balloons up!”

And then she disappeared off into Twilight’s house in a blur of pink. She sometimes seemed as fast as Rainbow Dash when she was in her excited party mood.

“Err, well…” Twilight stroked the back of her neck with her hoof, “you all don’t mind staying for a short party, do you?”

“Fine with me.” said Rainbow Dash.

“It’s a great idea, honey,” Applejack said, “and besides, Pinkie’s right. It should cheer ya up a bit.”

The orange pony patted her friend on the shoulder before trotting into the house, wanting to help with preparations.

“You…you don’t mind if I stay, do you, Twilight? “ Blazedart asked, “I don’t want to feel like I’m intruding.”

“Of course not, Blazedart!” Twilight said with a smile, as if the idea was absurd, “You’re welcome to stay with us. Any friend of Rainbow Dash is a friend of ours.”

Blazedart gave Rainbow Dash a smile, but she just rolled her eyes, looking embarrassed. Blazedart could see a tiny smile forming on the corners of her mouth…

“I’ll be back in a little while, Twilight!” Rarity called to Twilight, who was just outside her front door, “I’m just going to change into one of my new dresses at Carousel Boutique!”

“Okay, Rarity!”

“Um…I think I might pop home quickly too,” Rainbow Dash said to Blaze, raising her wings up, “just to check on things before I stay at Twilight’s.”

Blazedart looked up at her with his friendly grin, which Rainbow couldn’t help returning.

“Don’t take too long?” he said, raising his eyebrows cheekily.

Rainbow Dash snorted at that.

“Err, I’m Rainbow Dash, remember? I never take very long.”

With a sparkle of mischief in her magenta eyes, she took off into the sky. Blazedart heard an unmistakable sound of chattering and noticed Pinkie Pie running out of the house, giggling with excitement.

“I haven’t got my party balloons with me! Silly me! Back in a mo!”

She bounced off, her mane and tail bobbing up and down as she went. Blazedart smiled as he heard her humming to herself as she disappeared into the town.

“Come on in, Blazedart!” Twilight called, poking out from the doorway, “You can help me tidy up a bit.”

Blazedart politely obliged, walking into Twilight’s welcoming home, and it wasn’t long before he entered that Applejack and Spike, whom he figured was Twilight’s assistant, went out of the door to collect party food. It was just him and Twilight alone together.

“So how are you, Blazedart?” Twilight asked, as she walked around the room putting several books away, “Adjusting well to life in Ponyville?”

“You could say that.” said Blazedart, beaming.

A large book lay open on a nearby desk that Twilight trotted up to, using her magic to flick through the pages.

“I remember finding it hard to fit in when I first moved here. But then I found out the ponies are just so easy to make friends with.”

“You’d be surprised.” Blazedart replied, biting his lip to hide a chuckle.

Twilight turned her head around with a knowing smile on her face.

“Well,” she began to admit, “not necessarily everypony.”

She laughed, and then Blazedart changed the subject.

“I have to say it was brave of you to try out that spell, Twilight. I mean, not just ANY unicorn would attempt something that advanced.”

“Yes, it was quite a challenge. But you see, my magic can be quite powerful. I’ve been studying on how to use it since I was just a filly. It’s my number one hobby.”

“I can see that.” Blazedart glanced at the large book Twilight had her eyes on; it appeared to be full of all sorts of spells.

“Right now, I’m going to find something else that I can practice. You just never know what could come in useful one day.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” Blazedart agreed, “and even thought that spell didn’t go to plan, I’m sure you can manage a different one, without a doubt.”

“Oh, Blazedart…” she sniggered, her cheeks turning pink again, “you don’t need to say that. But thanks for having confidence in me. I really hope I can manage it.”

At last, she turned away from her book, the cover closing behind her.

“Well, I can worry about magic another day. This party will be great. I hope you enjoy spending time with us.”

“Sure will.” Blazedart returned Twilight’s friendly beam.

“I’ve noticed you and Rainbow Dash are hanging around quite a lot.”

For some unknown reason, Blazedart tensed up at the mention of Rainbow Dash.

“Um…you have?” he asked, with slight embarrassment.

“Of course I have,” Twilight laughed, “how do you find her?”

“Err…well, she’s…” Blazedart paused to consider that question, “an interesting pony.”

‘An interesting pony’. Yes, that was about right, Blazedart thought.

Twilight gave him another smile, but this time with an attentive sparkle in her eyes.

“I know just what you mean.”

“In a good way!” Blazedart said quickly, before shuffling his hooves awkwardly, “I-I meant…in a good way.”

“Yes, I understand, Blaze.”

There was something about Twilight’s warm smile that made Blazedart feel comfortable and happy. He could definitely see a growing friendship between the two of them.

Twilight then looked around at the piles of books that lay around the room, not tidy enough for her liking.

“Ah. This may need some sorting. You don’t mind helping me, do you?”

“’Course not.” Blazedart picked up a book near to him and settled it onto his outstretched wing, “I’m ready to get started.”

Twilight was pleased by his enthusiasm, and soon the two of them had worked hard enough to put every book on its correct shelf, leaving the room almost spotless.

It wasn’t long before Pinkie Pie returned, carrying a small bag in her mouth. Blazedart wondered how so many balloons could fit in the tiny thing.

When Rarity arrived, she was in another one of her gorgeous dresses. This one was filled with a gentle blue colour, much like the blue on Rainbow Dash’s coat, and encrusted with several gleaming diamonds.

As for Applejack, she had brought with her plenty of food choices: sandwiches, toffee apples, buns, cupcakes from Sugarcube Corner, and a small collection of crumpets, which were carried by Spike.

Lastly, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash entered. It was easy to tell that Fluttershy had given her mane a brush, but Rainbow Dash still looked her normal tomboyish self. No one was bothered though.

This party was just as good as the previous; Blazedart loved the company of these mares, they made any get-together a great one. Pinkie Pie, of course, arranged fun things to do: joke-telling, collecting prizes from a piñata, and even singing along to karaoke songs. Despite all the noise in the normally quiet library, Twilight didn’t seem to mind at all.

The fun went on for about an hour, but then all the loud games and music began to die down. The room was now a calm atmosphere with only the sound of pleasant conversations in the air. Blazedart was feeling quite washed out from all the energetic activities.

While he sat himself down in the corner to rest, Rainbow Dash kept her eyes pinned on him. She was soon sure he wasn’t paying any attention to her, and she quietly trotted up to Twilight’s side, who was holding a small cup of punch in her purple hoof.

“Hey, Rainbow,” she said to the Pegasus with a smile, “you okay? You look a little edgy.”

“No, no, I’m not. I just…” Rainbow Dash quietened her voice, “don’t suppose you could keep Blaze in here for a while, could you? There’s something I’ve gotta do.”

Twilight stared at her friend with a look of confusion.

“What is it?” she asked, as Rainbow Dash sighed and started to whisper into Twilight’s ear.

Meanwhile, Blazedart sat comfortably in his chair, breathing out some air happily. He felt very content and at home, even though Twilight’s tree was nothing like his old home in the slightest. He was admiring everypony around him, all filled with laughter and gracious smiles. He received many kind beams from Applejack, an eyelash flutter from Rarity, which embarrassed him slightly, and plenty of hugs and sniggers from Pinkie Pie.

In the midst of his happiness, he realised that something wasn’t right about the room. It didn’t feel full enough. Getting up from the chair, he looked around more closely…

There were only five ponies instead of six. Blazedart noticed that there wasn’t a multi-coloured mane and tail in the crowd anymore. Rainbow Dash had gone.

Puzzled, he spotted Twilight nearby and went up to talk to her.

“Hey, Twilight. Um…have you seen Rainbow Dash anywhere? She hasn’t gone home, has she?”

“No.”

Twilight gave him a light-hearted smile, with a sparkle in her eyes much like the shape of her Cutie Mark. Blazedart could tell she knew something that he didn’t.

“I think I saw her go outside,” said Twilight, “she won’t be far away.”

“Erm, thanks.”

Blazedart wondered what Rainbow Dash could be up to, and why Twilight wouldn’t let it on. As she had said to him, Blazedart didn’t head very far from the house. He saw that the sky was quite dark due to the small mass of clouds that had gathered.

He thought that Rainbow might have been flying around, but he didn’t think he would have any chance of spotting her in this kind of sky. She wasn’t to be seen on the ground either, making Blazedart even more perplexed. Where was she?

Just then, his worried thoughts were broken. There was a deep, distant rumbling noise coming from above his head. At first, he thought it must have been thunder. Why else would it be so cloudy? But no. It wasn’t thunder.

Something was dropping at immense speed through the sky, growing into a larger shape as it got closer. Blaze stared more closely; it was a Pegasus pony. She was shooting downwards at such a fast pace that he could hardly keep track of her.

And then he saw her main feature: a beautiful rainbow coloured mane and tail.

No way, he thought, is that Rainbow Dash?

He could see that it definitely was Rainbow Dash. As her flying became faster, the rumbling grew louder until it almost pierced his ears, and he could see a white cone forming around Rainbow’s outstretched fore hooves.

Blazedart opened his mouth a crack, his eyes large and round as he stared in amazement. As Rainbow was enveloped in the white barrier, there was a humungous booming noise, sending a huge multi-coloured disc through the sky. A force of wind gusted through Blazedart’s mane, nearly pushing him off his feet. He recollected himself to gape at Rainbow Dash as she left the large boom behind her and created a wonderful rainbow arc as she trailed around the clouds.

The stunned stallion rubbed his eyes, wondering whether all that had been real or not. When his sight cleared up again, he couldn’t see Rainbow anywhere. The only thing he saw was the incredible rainbow perched in the sky, a patch of blue revealed from the disappeared clouds. But then, he heard an all too familiar voice.

“I hate to say I told you so, but…” Rainbow Dash landed on a single cloud not far from Blazedart’s head, “I told you so.”

She lay smugly on the cloud, her hooves dangling off the edge and her eyes looking into his with a look of arrogance and triumph. Her conceited ways didn’t bother Blazedart at all. He shut his mouth, which had been hanging open for so long, and smiled in admiration.

“Rainbow Dash… you ARE amazing,” he said, as she hopped off the cloud and landed in front of him, “in so many ways.” he added softly.

And then Rainbow Dash did something he did not expect: she blushed, an entire shade of crimson over her cheeks. She turned her head away, a timid smile on her face, fidgeting her front hooves.

This was a side to Rainbow that Blazedart had not seen before. He liked it a lot.

He took a step towards her, as she turned to meet his eyes.

“You up for another race?” he asked softly.

Rainbow Dash nodded, the shyness still in her eyes.

“Sure I am.”

They gave each other grins, before Blazedart shot up into the sky, Rainbow Dash following not long after. The two of them were not aware, however, that they had not been alone. Behind a nearby bush, there were two mares watching the Pegasus ponies flying off together. They were Twilight and Applejack.

Twilight’s eyes were shining, as if tears were going to fall from them.

“Wow.” she said gently, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Rainbow Dash so happy before.”

“Neither have I.” Applejack said.

She gave Twilight a meaningful look with her eyes, smiling cheekily, before turning back to the house, Twilight accompanying her.

***

Rainbow Dash and Blazedart’s second race was not as competitive or energetic as the previous. They flew gracefully and quietly through the clouds, Rainbow Dash sometimes stretching her neck forward to get in front of Blazedart’s muzzle.

The race to Cloudsdale had been full of power and determination, but this time the two of them were flapping their wings gently with hardly any force from their bodies. It was more like an evening stroll than a race.

In the end, though, Rainbow Dash’s competitive side got the better of her. She fluttered her wings harder to propel her body slightly ahead of Blazedart. He smirked at her, and Rainbow knew he was about to do something.

He gave her a friendly nudge with his shoulder that sent her a tiny bit off balance.

“Oof!” Rainbow groaned.

She gave him a frown at first, but then grinned as she nudged him back. After receiving his nudge, Blazedart gave Rainbow Dash a naughty look, and before she could do anything about it, he flew at her, tackling her onto some nearby clouds.

They were in heaps of laughter as they wrestled each other, their bodies rolling down the clouds like a large ball. It was a friendly, gentle fight so neither of them hurt each other; they only tortured each other with tickles.

When they finally stopped moving down the clouds, Blazedart was on his back in fits of laughter with Rainbow Dash lying on top of him, also giggling. They stopped laughing after a few moments, looking into each other’s faces.

The two ponies’ heads were so close that their noses nearly touched. Rainbow Dash felt a flutter of butterflies in her stomach as Blazedart gazed at her with a tender smile.

“You have really pretty eyes.” he said softly, exploring every twinkling detail of Rainbow’s fuchsia eyes with his own.

Rainbow Dash said nothing; she only returned his smile, a nervous gulp forming in her throat. Her heart was beating uncontrollably fast and she could feel her cheeks growing warm. Why was she feeling like this? she wondered.

She was only halfway through her thoughts when she suddenly felt Blazedart gently stroke her cheek with his right hoof, and then slowly through her mane. Rainbow stared into his warm eyes, the shy prickly feeling surging through her veins. She questioned in her head why he was treating her in this lovely way…

When she suddenly became aware of his face edging closer to her own, nerves took over her.

“I think I’d better go home now.”

She jumped off Blazedart’s body, holding herself above him with her wings. Blaze looked sadly at her embarrassed face for a moment, before getting to his feet.

“Okay, Rainbow.” he said, smiling at her.

“This was a really fun race, Blaze.” Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her ear, the rosy colour not quite gone from her cheeks, “Th-thanks.”

“You’ll be around tomorrow, right, Rainbow?” Blazedart asked hopefully, “I wouldn’t mind racing you again sometime.”

“Y-yeah, sure. Why not?”

Still full of a warm and happy feeling, she gave him an affectionate gaze. She wondered whether she really wanted to go home, or would rather stay with Blaze.

“Bye then.”

Before she even made up her mind, she powered herself off into the distance, where her cloud home was waiting. There was an agonizing pinch of regret in her stomach, but she forced herself to ignore it.

She left Blazedart feeling slightly disheartened, but at the same time: happy and fulfilled. He breathed in the cool, crisp air through his nose, letting it out with a calm sigh. He thought he may return to the ground to see what everypony else was doing at Twilight’s house. But, just then, he felt a sudden vibration right underneath his front hooves.

He looked down. The area of soft cloud he stood on was bumping, almost like a frantic heartbeat. He could feel his very own heartbeat increasing as he realised what it was. Fearfully, he used his left hoof to clear away the beads of cloud, revealing a faint purple light beneath it.

“We hope you have good information for us, Blaze,” a familiar male voice said, somehow echoing from the cloud, “it’s been long enough now. We’ll be at Ponyville tomorrow afternoon.”

“T-tomorrow?”

There was obvious anxiety in Blazedart’s voice.

“I hope you don’t have a problem with that,” the voice said, teasing his apprehensive manner, “because I expect you to meet us in the sky at 2 o’clock sharp. You’d better not be late.”

The grey stallion swallowed hard, suddenly feeling like a weak child instead of his normal brisk self.

“I won’t.”

Nothing more was said; only the gentle sound of the cloudy hole closing up could be heard, and then the nervous Blazedart was left in silence. His heart thumped against his chest, his breathing rapid, but quiet.

He looked up at where Rainbow Dash had flown off… guilt flooded into his bones, and tears began to build up in his eyes. He quickly wiped them away before they fell, taking a deep relaxed breath.

Blaze decided he didn’t want to return to Twilight’s house anymore. He slipped off the clouds and flew off to find a place he could spend on his own for the rest of the day.

Suspicions Arising

It was 12 o’clock the next day when Fluttershy walked sleepily out of her cottage. She looked up at the sun, rubbing her eyes with her hooves. She had not meant to sleep for so long, but the party at Twilight’s house had lasted until the late afternoon, so Fluttershy had been very tired when she finally returned home. To add to that, she had animals to look after, and they had been particularly impatient when she had tried to put them to bed. It had been quite a long night for her.

She yawned loudly, all her muscles still feeling worn out. Then Fluttershy suddenly shook her head when she heard a familiar voice calling to her.

“Fluttershy!”

Applejack was cantering towards the house, pulling a small cart of apples behind her.

“There you are, Fluttershy,” she said, stepping up to the drowsy pony, “Been wondering where ya were. You all right?”

“Oh yes, I’m fine, Applejack. I’m just a little…” Fluttershy paused to let out another yawn, “tired. I had to get some extra sleep after being awake for so long yesterday.”

“Aww well, that’s all right then, sugarcube.” Applejack patted her friend on the shoulder. “I was just poppin’ by to tell you that the girls and I are gonna have a picnic down near the lake.”

She nodded at the cart of apples behind her.

“That’s why I’m preparing some food for us all. Don’t suppose you’re not too tired to come along and join us, are you?”

Applejack noted the exhaustion in Fluttershy’s face. There were vivid lines underneath her eyes. She obviously had a rough evening taking care of her restless animals.

“Oh, of course I’ll come!” Fluttershy said, perking up and looking excited. “I don’t want to miss out, and…well, I can’t let my friends down.”

She pawed the ground and drew her ears back timidly. Applejack couldn’t help chuckling at Fluttershy’s mannerisms.

“Okay then,” she said to her shy friend, “if you think you’ve rested enough.”

Just then, Applejack heard the sound of hooves behind her, and turned around to see a grey stallion trotting quickly along the path. She immediately recognized him to be Blazedart.

“Hey!” she called. “Blazedart!”

Blazedart stopped abruptly in his tracks to look at the two mares. His balance seemed more unsteady than usual, and there were was a clear sign of anxiety in his face.

“Oh, hi there, girls,” he said, giving them a small wave.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. Blazedart’s behaviour was odd: his voice seemed to tremble as he spoke, and the blueness of his eyes was clouded over by a fearful grey colour.

“You okay, Blaze?” Applejack asked him. “Pardon me fer sayin’, but you look a little panicky. Something wrong?”

“Wrong? No, of course not!” Blazedart shuffled around anxiously, flattening his mane with a hoof. “I’m perfectly fine.”

He forced a wide beam at Applejack, although he could not hide the visible tension in his legs.

“Well, then,” Applejack said, her voice sounding unconvinced, “you wanna come with Fluttershy and I to the lake? We’re meetin’ the others down there.”

“Oh, I… I don’t know…” he scraped his hoof awkwardly over the ground, “I wouldn’t want to get in the way…”

Applejack gave him a light-hearted laugh.

“Don’t be silly, Blaze,” she chuckled, “you don’t get in the way at all. We’re quite happy to have you join us.”

Blazedart still wore a look of discomfort on his face, but he managed to smile.

“All right then. Can’t do any harm, can it?”

The meet-up at the lake was scheduled for half past 1, so it was up to Applejack to organize any food that they would need for the picnic. The first stop was Sugarcube Corner. After Fluttershy said goodbye to her animals, the three ponies made their way there.

Pinkie Pie was already busy, with help from the Cakes, baking plenty of cupcakes for the picnic food. The lovely, warm cooking smell came to Blazedart’s nose as soon as he walked in.

He remembered when he had been in Pinkie’s living room at the party not long ago, but he had never been in this room very much. There was a counter not far from the entrance, filled with shelves of sweets, cakes, and all kinds of yummy ingredients. As expected, there was also a large amount of pink all over the walls and ceilings. It gave Blaze a warm, fun feeling as he scoured the shelves for interesting treats.

“Hi, guys!” Pinkie Pie squealed, popping up from behind the counter.

She nestled her head in her outstretched forelegs, grinning widely.

“We’re gonna have a super-duper-cool hamper for the picnic! Cupcakes, sandwiches, punch, you name it!”

She suddenly leaned right over the counter to look into Fluttershy’s startled face. She wore the excited smile that her friends were so familiar with.

“Are you excited? Are you? Are you?”

The tired look still on her face, Fluttershy gave Pinkie a weak smile.

“Yes, very much,” she said sleepily, blinking her blue eyes.

“Sleepyhead!” Pinkie Pie giggled, patting Fluttershy’s head.

At the other side of the room, Blazedart was looking curiously at the array of snacks available on the shelves. It was a shock for him when Pinkie Pie sprung up in front of him.

“Hi, Blazedart! Can I interest you in a cherry cupcake?”

She held out a cupcake as an offer to him. It was pink, had a white swirl of cream, and a shiny red cherry on top. Blazedart straightened his mane again. He wasn’t used to ponies being this excited around him.

“Err, I haven’t got any money on me, Pinkie Pie,” he said, chuckling nervously.

“Don’t worry! Free sample!”

Pinkie Pie placed the cupcake on top of Blazedart’s head, before zooming away again. Blazedart was uncomfortable about her gestures, but he soon took the cupcake off his head and bit into its soft, crumbly texture. It tasted wonderful.

“So you’ll be ready with the food in about half an hour?” Applejack asked Pinkie Pie, as the she returned to her spot behind the counter.

“Yeah, ‘course! I’ll probably be ready waaaaay before then!”

“Oh, good,” Fluttershy said, her ears popping up , “I am quite hungry.”

When she realised what she had said, her ears drooped to the side of her head.

“But, I mean, err…” she murmured, “you don’t have to rush or anything.”

“I’m not gonna rush, silly!” Pinkie Pie laughed again. “I’m just gonna bake quickly!”

In the background, Blazedart was hardly paying attention to their conversation. His eyes swerved over to a clock that hung on the wall just above him. It was 1 o’clock.

An hour away? Already? he thought to himself. His blood was running through his veins so fast that he thought his body might burst. The clock seemed to loom against the wall like an eerie moon, and threatened him with every loud tick.

“Blaze? Blaze!”

“Huh? What?”

Blazedart shook his head and noticed Applejack standing there. She was staring at him, looking confused and concerned.

“Are you sure you’re all right, sugar?” she asked. “You seem like… maybe you’re late for something?”

She nodded at the clock he had been staring at.

“What? No!” Blazedart sounded breathless. “Why would you think that? I’m just fine.”

“Well, if you say so…”

“Love to stay and chat, girls, but I got something cooking!” Pinkie Pie gave her friends a big wave, grinning, before shooting into the back room and disappearing from sight.

“Guess we’d better get goin’ then,” Applejack said. She noticed Blazedart’s blank expression and draped a friendly hoof around him.

“We’re gonna have a great time, Blaze,” she smiled at him affectionately, “just like all the other times you’ve spent with us. So cheer up a little, yeah?”

She tickled Blazedart under the chin, which he found to be very reassuring. It even encouraged him to laugh out loud.

Everypony is so nice here, he thought, I wish I didn‘t have to leave.

It was a very refreshing afternoon: the sun was beating down on everypony’s backs, and the air was sweet and warm. Blazedart walked peacefully through the town with Fluttershy and Applejack by his sides, feeling a little more relaxed than before. The journey to the lake was quite a long one, since it was outside the borders of Ponyville, and Blazedart’s hooves began to ache with all the walking, dust and gravel getting into his fur. He longed to spread his wings and take flight so he could let off some steam, but he decided it was best to stay on the ground to keep in conversation with his two friends.

Friends.

The word whirled around in his head like a happy butterfly. His time in Ponyville had introduced him to some lovely ponies, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to leave all of that. Yet, he knew that he would have to very soon.

“Hey there, Rarity!” Applejack called, waving a hoof.

Rarity was emerging from her splendid-looking boutique, smiling at her friends, but looking quite restless at the same time.

“You still gonna come down to the lake at half 1?” Applejack asked.

“Why, of course I am!” Rarity exclaimed. “How could I possibly forget something like that?”

She swept one of her hooves through her curled mane. It was gleaming in the sunlight, which meant she had probably washed it recently.

“I’m just attending to a little something at the moment,” she continued. “Something important.”

“Really?” Applejack asked. “What’s that?”

“Well, I’m sure you’re aware of the new dress styles I’m using for my designs at the moment? Today I have a new outfit that I’m hoping to send to Canterlot! It will be judged by only the best fashion experts in Equestria!”

She raised a hoof over her forehead, looking overcome with excitement about the whole thing.

“So, as you can see,” she continued, calming her voice down, “this means a lot to me and I’m determined to get this design right before I send it off. Rainbow Dash helped me with modelling a few days ago, and she agreed to do the same today.”

“Rainbow Dash? Modelling?” Blazedart couldn’t help but chuckle with disbelief.

Rarity replied with a knowing smile. “Yes, she’s not entirely happy about helping me, but I told her I’d return the favour. IF she behaves.”

Blazedart laughed. He could clearly picture how Rainbow Dash would be feeling right now: reluctant, exasperated, wanting to be somewhere else.

“Ooh, Rarity,” Fluttershy piped up, “I’d love to see how the outfit looks. Could we…um…have a quick look at it? If that’s all right with you…”

“Of course, sweetie!” said Rarity. “I’d appreciate somepony’s opinion on it anyhow. Come on in!”

The main area inside Carousel Boutique was noticeably untidy: mannequins were standing all around the room, many kinds of felts, threads and clothing were littered across the floor.

“I apologize for the mess,” Rarity said, looking quite flustered in the face. “I’ve just been so busy trying all sorts of styles.”

“Doesn’t matter at all, Rarity,” said Applejack.

“Rainbow’s in the next room modelling the new dress.”

Rarity pointed towards a nearby lilac curtain that covered an opening in the wall.

“Feel free to go and take a look, while I make this room a little more presentable. Be careful, by the way!” she warned her friends, “Rainbow’s been here for more than an hour and she’s probably quite impatient.”

As Applejack and Fluttershy headed through the curtain, Blazedart held back. He looked at Rarity as she began to pick up the bits and pieces on the floor.

“Would you like some help with tidying up?” he blurted out.

“Oh, that is so sweet of you!” Rarity said, smiling at Blazedart adoringly. “I would like some assistance if you don’t mind.”

Carefully, Blazedart picked up a clump of ribbons in his mouth and set them on a nearby shelf. He found himself worrying about organizing Rarity’s things in the correct way, and was glad when she gave him some instructions on where to put everything.

During their work, Rarity broke into friendly conversation.

“So Blazedart, darling, I’ve hardly had a moment to speak with you since we first met. How are you at the moment?”

“Me? Oh. Never better, never better…” Blazedart tried to avoid eye contact with Rarity as he continued to pick up discarded ribbons.

“I am pleased to see you’ve made friends here. Do you like it here in Ponyville?”

“Err, yes, I do like it here a lot,” Blazedart said, looking up from the floor with a polite smile.

“Lovely place to live, isn’t it?” Rarity said, her eyes sparkling in thought. “I’m not surprised you, like so many others, decided to move here. Do tell me, Blazedart: what brought you to Ponyville? Where did you live before?”

It was this question that made Blazedart tense up and look extremely uncomfortable. He took an anxious gulp of air before saying, “It was quite a secluded town, you wouldn’t know it.”

“Oh.”

Rarity frowned at this answer, feeling sure she would know the name of any town in Equestria, but she didn’t ponder it.

“So, why did you decide to move to Ponyville?” she asked. “Have you got family here?”

“Um…”

Blazedart searched his head for answers to give, but he thought of nothing. All he wanted, desperately, was for Rarity to ask him about something else.

“It’s…it’s a bit complicated.” he finally said, hoping Rarity wouldn’t ask him any more.

Rarity looked at him, studying his uncomfortable face.

“Yes, I understand.” she said calmly, although Blazedart didn’t think she was being completely honest. “I’m sorry, Blazedart, I didn’t mean to be so nosy.”

“No no, that’s all right.” Blazedart said apologetically.

He didn’t like the awkwardness of the conversation, so he cleared his throat and changed the subject.

“So um, this dress of yours. How long have you been working on it for?”

“Oh, quite a while actually,” said Rarity, a beam appearing on her face. “I’ve changed it so many times because I’m often not happy with it, but I think I’ve finally got the design sorted!”

Blazedart smiled at her politely. He wouldn’t be in Ponyville for much longer, and he wanted to treat his new friends nicely before he had to leave. “I’m glad to hear that. And I’m looking forward to seeing it.”

“Well, you’ll get to see it very shortly, won’t you?” Rarity winked at him, using her horn to levitate the last of the materials onto the appropriate shelves.

She looked around the room, pleased at how tidy and sparkly it now was.

“Also, may I ask,” Blazedart said, “is there any reason why you chose Rainbow Dash as the model? I’ve spent enough time with her to know that she isn’t overly keen on dressing up.”

“You’re most certainly right about that,” Rarity chuckled, rolling her eyes, as if a memory had popped into her head, “it’s just that Rainbow has such a lovely figure, perfect for outfits. I don’t think anypony could model my new design in the way she can.”

She lowered her voice.

“Even if she completely despises the idea.”

Blazedart chuckled. He had known Rainbow Dash long enough to understand what Rarity was talking about. It was very difficult to imagine her being enthusiastic about standing still in a pretty dress for hours on end. Although, Blazedart had to admit in his head, she was the perfect pony for a modelling career, despite her attitudes towards it. She did have a very pretty figure after all. What? Pretty figure? Why am I thinking all of this? Blazedart thought, almost laughing at himself.

“Rarity!”

Fluttershy’s voice rang into the room.

“We think the dress is just beautiful!” she exclaimed, trotting through the doorway with Applejack by her side.

“Oh, I’m so happy you think so!” A wave of relief showed all over Rarity’s face. “Oh, Rainbow! It does look gorgeous on you!”

Blazedart turned to see that Rainbow Dash was stepping through the door, looking irritable in her new attire. Blazedart, however, was not paying much attention to the angry look on her face. His eyes locked onto the dress that she wore: it was a beautiful navy colour, shining with the rows of crystals that lay arranged on the velvet material. A neat pattern of purple lines were woven into the fabric, rippling against the dark blue like ocean waves. The corners of the outfit were pristine and pointed, like the nib of a sharp pencil.

Blazedart turned his attention to Rainbow’s magnificently coloured mane. It had been twirled into a delicate style that wound around her neck, and it was decorated with three tiny jewel flowers that seemed to twinkle in the light. Her hair also seemed to be gleaming, or maybe that was just Blaze’s mind playing tricks on him. Maybe it was all an illusion, since he didn’t think he had ever seen a more beautiful sight in his life. Was that the dress he was thinking about? Or the pony wearing it? He had to confess to himself that Rainbow Dash looked more stunning than she had ever done. Her eyes seemed a brighter colour, and her eyelashes seemed more emphasized. Overall, she had become a pure beauty.

When he finally snapped out of his daydream, Blazedart rubbed his eyes to allow the room to come back into view. He noticed that his mouth had been hanging slightly open. He quickly snapped it shut before someone saw.

“So Blaze, what do you think?” Rarity asked.

“Oh!” Blazedart quickly realized that she was in fact talking to him. “I think you’ve done a great job, Rarity. A really great job.”

Blaze let himself have a moment to glance over the outfit one more time. Rainbow Dash was looking at him thoughtfully through those glittery eyes.

“Hey there, Blaze.” she said quietly, a shy smile appearing on her face.

Blazedart coughed nervously before addressing her. “H-hi, Dash.” he murmured, smiling back.

“So glad you like the outfit, Blaze!” Rarity exclaimed. “Thank you for your opinions, everypony! It was just what I needed.”

“Okay, great, can I get out of this thing now?” Rainbow piped up impatiently.

She stomped a hoof heavily on the floor, like an angry child, trying to shake the heavy material off.

“I’ve been here for hours, and I wanna get away to spread my wings!”

“All right, all right, sweetie,” Rarity said gently, but with a hint of annoyance in her voice. “I’ll take it off now. But remember we all need to meet near the lake for our little get-together. You don’t want to miss that, do you?”

“I won’t! I haven’t forgotten!” Rainbow snapped.

Blazedart worried that Rarity would be quite offended at Rainbow Dash’s attitude, but she simply shrugged the retorts off. Once the dress had been removed, Rainbow was clearly a lot more relaxed.

“Phew. At last.”

She risked a glance at Rarity, who was scowling crossly at her.

“But, err, that dress is really… um… pretty!” Rainbow said quickly, blinking innocently. Blazedart only just suppressed a giggle.

“Thank you, Rainbow. Nice to see some appreciation.” Rarity said with a grimace.

She gently hung up the dress on a rail of outfits near her. The diamonds on it still twinkled in the daylight.

“So, guys!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, suddenly changing the subject. “Shall we all go down to the lake now? I’m up for some swimming!”

She began jogging excitedly on the spot as if she were preparing for a race.

“I s’pose we better had,” said Applejack. “The others’ll be meetin’ us down there. Blazedart? You’re still tagging along, right?”

“Oh! Erm…yeah, of course I’m coming!” he said enthusiastically.

“Great! Come on then, y’all!” Applejack announced, leading Fluttershy and Rarity towards the door.

“Err, you guys go on ahead!” Rainbow Dash said.

Blazedart noticed she was impatiently fiddling with a jewel in her mane.

“I need to get this stuff out of my mane. I’ll catch up with you in a while.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to help you with that, darling?” Rarity asked, looking concerned.

Suddenly, Blazedart had a thought. Quickly, he said to Rarity, “Oh it’s okay! I’ll help sort her mane out. You girls can head off and we’ll meet you at the lake soon.”

Rarity thanked Blazedart, and once she and the others had left, Blaze went to Rainbow Dash and gently helped her unclip one of the jewel flowers from her mane, using his mouth and hooves to pry it from her strands of hair. Rainbow flinched a little when the first clip was pulled out, so Blazedart took extra care when removing the other two.

Neither of them spoke while Blazedart was doing this, although they exchanged a couple of timid smiles. For a reason he couldn’t explain, Blazedart felt particularly nervous around Rainbow Dash today. His mouth was very dry, and his heart was beating considerably fast. He also felt a rush of tingles surge through him when he accidentally brushed his hoof against her mane. And was he blushing? His cheeks felt quite warm. What’s wrong with me? he thought.

When he had removed all the clips and stretched the curls out of her mane, Rainbow Dash looked up to smile at him.

“Thanks for that, Blaze.” she said quietly.

“That’s all right.”

When they stood in silence for a moment, Blazedart spoke again. “Did you…um…get home okay last night?”

“Yeah! Yeah, I did, thanks.” Rainbow’s eyes went from Blazedart to the floor, and she scuffed her hoof shyly.

She did look very pretty today. Blazedart couldn’t keep his eyes off her. He started to wonder to himself: was Rainbow Dash thinking about the night before? Did she remember what had happened between them? Blazedart certainly hadn’t forgotten. In fact, he had woken up that morning thinking about the time he had spent with her, and how much he wanted to do it all over again.

Rainbow Dash kept her eyes away from Blazedart’s, and he felt sure he could see her smiling. Then he suddenly remembered what he had stayed behind for. He had an irrepressible urge to tell somepony about his plans, and he felt that Rainbow Dash was the only pony he could talk to comfortably. Nervously, he took in a breath.

“Listen, Dash. I…err…”

Rainbow looked up from the ground to gaze at him, curiosity flooding through her purple eyes.

“There’s something I’ve got to tell you about. Something important.”

Rainbow looked confused, but interested. “Okay. What is it?”

“Well, erm…”

Blazedart realised he hadn’t really thought of how he was going to tell her his news. He stuttered under his breath, wondering how he was going to put it. The last thing he wanted was to upset her.

“You see, the thing is…I’m not gonna be in Ponyville for much longer.”

He paused. Rainbow Dash’s eyebrow was raised, and her eyes began to look sad. “Wh-what do you mean?” she asked.

“I…err…I’ve gotta leave. For a little while. There’s something important that I have to do, and I can’t tell you what it is. It’s private business.”

Blazedart waited for Rainbow Dash to say something, but for a long moment, she didn’t. She just looked at him with those magenta eyes, looking quite sad and lost. Then she nodded her head in understanding.

“Okay, Blaze. That’s fine.” She gave him a small smile. Blazedart felt a bit better from her reaction.

“When are you going?”

“Probably… this afternoon.”

“That soon?” Rainbow exclaimed, looking quite aghast. It pained Blaze to see her so dismayed, but he forced himself to carry on.

“Yes, I have to go. Like I said, it’s important.”

“But…you’re sure you can’t tell me what it is? I mean - I am your friend, aren’t I?”

“Course you are!” Blazedart tried to encourage her with a smile. “It’s just…really private. And I wouldn’t be going if it wasn’t urgent.”

Rainbow Dash nodded at him, although her eyes didn’t look happy. “Okay. Whatever.”

Another moment of awkward silence. Until Rainbow Dash said, “You ready to go to the lake then?”

“Yeah, sure.”

As the two of them began to leave Carousel Boutique, Blazedart felt a wrenching urge in his stomach to run away right now. He wanted to get out of this predicament, and get to where he was supposed to be before he would get in trouble. Maybe he could find a moment during the picnic to quietly slip away. Yes. He could do that. No one would notice.

You’re a terrible pony, Blaze. A cruel voice nagged at him in his head. A lying deceitful pony who cares about nothing other than himself. How can you do this?

He desperately ignored the voice, and carried on walking as though nothing had ever happened.

“Do you think he’ll turn up, sir?”

Two Pegasus stallions were hovering above the clouds high in the sky. One was rather young, with a lime green mane and a pale blue body. The other was clearly a bit older, with a dark blue mane and silver-coloured fur. He was hovering around in impatient circles.

“He will if he knows what’s good for him.” the older stallion replied, rather sharply. The younger stallion shrank down next to his leader, and kept silent.

“And I hope he’s done his job well. If he has, we can get to where we want to be. Do you know what that’ll mean, Flex? The things we’ll be able to achieve? We’ll be invincible. It’s what we’ve been waiting for.”

The large Pegasus stared straight into his comrade’s eyes, a look of anticipation and desire all over his face. Flex was clearly nervous, but he showed a sign of excitement at his leader’s words.

“It will be wonderful, sir. It will.” he said, nodding his head up and down.

The blue maned stallion looked into the sky, watching the clouds floating nearby.

“It’s nearly time. He should be here soon.”

He turned away from Flex and began to hover around in slow circles again. Flex landed gently on a cloud and curled himself into a bundle. Hopefully there wouldn’t be long to wait now.

“Phewee!” Applejack exclaimed, wiping her brow and staring at the bright sun above. “It’s getting mighty hot out here! Didn’t know that was scheduled for today.”

She cast a curious look at Rainbow Dash, who was lying next to her with a Daring Do book laid out in her hooves. When Rainbow saw Applejack staring at her, she frowned.

“What?” she asked irritably. “Don’t look at ME! I didn’t plan any sunny weather! And if you want me to go up there and move the clouds around, you can forget it.”

“Well, I think it’s just lovely,” Rarity said happily. “This kind of weather always brightens up my day. Erm…most of the time, anyway. “

The ponies were all crowed around a patched picnic blanket, relaxing in the early afternoon sun. Twilight had joined them not long after they arrived, chatting about her day with Spike, when she had been organizing all her letters, books, and returned letters. For now, she was rather quiet, her nose in a book and her horn glowing.

Rainbow Dash was lying comfortably on her front, her Daring Do book laid out beneath her. Her mane was damp and ruffled from a swim she had taken in the lake a while ago.

Blazedart sat next to her. She gave him a comforting smile every now and then, but he would only reply with a slight curl in the corners of his mouth. Then he would look somewhere else, as if there was something interesting in the distance. Rainbow was quite annoyed on the inside, but she didn’t show it. She had grown very close to Blazedart, and wondered what on earth could be bothering him, let alone why he wouldn’t tell her anything. She also felt worried. She had to keep his secret safe, and that meant not saying a word to her friends. It was difficult not to say anything; it felt wrong.

Just then, the ponies felt a small rumble that came from the sky. Rainbow looked up from her book to see that grey clouds were now gathering, blocking the light from the sun.

“That’s strange,” Rarity said curiously. “It was so sunny a second ago.”

She suddenly gasped with horror.

“No, I don’t want my mane to get wet! I just washed it!” She desperately buried her face in her hooves and tucked her curls of hair in tightly, as if to shield herself from rain.

“Oh, don’t get your horn in a twist,” Applejack grumbled. “We can find some shelter under the trees. Besides, there isn’t even any rain yet.”

“And I hope there won’t be.” said Twilight, placing her books safely into her bag.

“There shouldn’t be.” Rainbow Dash said, puzzled. “The other Pegasi didn’t say anything about a thunderstorm today.”

She stared up at the sky, which was almost completely clouded over. There was definitely a threat of rain, but thankfully, no-one was getting soaked just yet. Rainbow suddenly felt Blaze fidget beside her, and looked over to see he was on his feet.

“I’ll…err… go and check the clouds, shall I?” he said awkwardly. “Just in case it does rain on us.”

“So thoughtful, aren’t you?” Rarity smiled widely at him, clearly showing off her eyelashes.

“You don’t need to go, Blaze,” Rainbow said quickly, feeling a bit frightened. She looked at him with apprehensive eyes. She knew he wasn’t leaving to go and sort out the clouds.

“I mean, erm…” she quietened her voice so she wouldn’t raise any suspicions, “you don’t have to do that. We’ll be all right.”

Blazedart stared back at her, a painful look in his eyes. It looked as though he were fighting back tears.

“I’d better go,” he stuttered, “I’ll be back soon, girls.”

He then turned away from the group and flew off, rather abruptly.

“What was that about?” Rarity asked, confusion on her face. “He seemed quite stressed to me.”

“Tell me ‘bout it.” Applejack rolled her eyes. “He’s been acting weird all day. I’ve asked him what’s botherin’ him, but he won’t let on.”

“I hate it when ponies leave like that!” Pinkie Pie protested. “Blaze is gonna miss out on everything! Just look at all the cakes I made!” She reached into her picnic basket to pull out a whole handful of cupcakes.

“Did Blaze say anything to you, Rainbow?” Twilight asked.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well, didn’t he talk to you yesterday? Or today?”

“Erm…” Rainbow fidgeted uncomfortably. “No. No, of course not. I don’t really know what’s wrong either.”

Twilight looked at her with a raised eyebrow, then said, “Okay, if you say so. I just wish we knew.”

Rainbow Dash nodded vaguely. Her mind was still distracted. She felt terrible for keeping a secret from her friends. A part of her was desperate to spill all her thoughts out, otherwise she would explode if she kept it in for much longer. However another part of her said that she needed to keep Blaze’s trust and stay quiet. For now.

“Wow, I didn’t know it was that late in the day,” Fluttershy suddenly said, knocking Rainbow Dash out of her daydream. “I must have slept for so long!”

Rainbow wondered what she meant for a moment, but then she heard two loud dings. She looked up and realised that the clock tower in the distance now read 2 o’clock in the afternoon.

Found Out

Blazedart flew in a straight line up towards the clouds, his wings aching from every beat. He soon realized he was sweating, and quickly wiped his brow, squinting as the bright sun penetrated his gaze. He was stressed by what was happening. He just had to leave his new friends behind in Ponyville, without telling them a thing, and he probably wasn’t going to come back. Ever.

And even if he did, how would they treat him if they knew the truth? How would Rainbow Dash react? Blazedart didn’t want to think about that, so put it out of his mind. He focused on the task at hand. He remembered that, not long after he set foot in Ponyvile, he had been told to wait for the sound of thunder in the sky, but only when there couldn't possibly be a storm coming. Today was that day. The sound of thunder meant his comrades were nearby.

2 o'clock had just gone and Blazedart hoped he wasn't too late for his meeting with them. His leader, a bulky pony named Spear Runner, had been communicating with him for the past few days. To do this, powerful magic had been used; Blazedart was able to hear his master's voice talking to him through a pond and even through a cloud. It was amazing to think this magic had been stolen and used by Pegasi so effectively. Blazedart personally did not agree with using this power recklessly and for all the wrong reasons, but he wouldn't dare challenge his leader with that opinion.

Eventually, he slowed to a gentle speed before placing his feet onto the nearest cloud. Ahead of him, just a couple of metres away, they were there: two male Pegasi, one of which was pacing around impatiently, the other hovering in mid-air. The bigger stallion, whom Blazedart recognized to be Spear Runner, stopped pacing and looked up when he saw him approaching.

“Well, well,” said Spear Runner, “you did decide to turn up after all.” He had a cruel smirk on his face. It gave Blazedart the shivers, since he could never tell it was a sign of happiness or mere scrutiny. He sneaked a look at Flex, who floated nearby with a fearful expression on his face.

“You’re not late either. Bang on time actually.” Spear Runner nodded in approval, which was unusual for a pony of his personality. He was dominant and authoritative, but Blazedart wasn’t afraid to be firm.

“Can we just get on with this, Spear?” he asked petulantly. “I’m not in the best of moods and I want to get out of here quickly.”

“Mmm, you do seem keen to leave, don’t you?” said Spear Runner, almost mockingly. “Clearly that Ponyville place has darkened your mood. Hardly surprising, really.”

Blazedart felt a sadness stab him in the chest. He glanced down at the view of Ponyville that lay below him, wishing desperately that he could fly back to the ground.

“So anyway,” Spear put his hoof under Blaze’s chin and turned his head to face him, “I’d like to know what you found out while you were down there. Tell me: are there six of them?”

“Yes, there are. I met all of them. Apparently they’ve saved Equestria many times.”

“Have they indeed? Oh, how remarkable,” Spear said, only pretending to be impressed, “and will we be going to Canterlot?”

“Err…” Blazedart took a deep breath, “I should think so. They’re definitely not here at any rate.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes. Everywhere I looked there was no sign of them. I don’t see why they would be hidden here where anypony could find them.”

“I hope you’re right.” Spear Runner gave him a stern look which made Blazedart cower. But thankfully, he didn’t seem angry, so maybe Blaze had given his leader enough information. Spear Runner took in a breath and looked at the sky, supposedly in deep thought. After a few seconds, he put a hoof in his mouth and produced a shrill whistle.

“All right then, boys! Stand to attention!” he called.

Blazedart stared as three more Pegasi flew from the clouds above them. He wondered how they had even managed to get that high. Each of them placed their feet onto the cloud beside where Spear Runner stood and obediently arranged themselves in a row.

“It’s time to get down there,” Spear Runner commanded. “You all remember what I told you?”

“Yes, sir,” the three stallions all said at once.

“But – Spear!” Blazedart was horrorstruck. “I thought we were going straight to Canterlot! There’s no use staying here!”

“Don’t be so ridiculous, Blaze,” Spear Runner said in his malicious tone, “how can you expect us to go straight to Canterlot with those six ponies running around freely? They’re bound to come after us and ruin our plans if we just leave without doing anything.”

Blazedart could feel his heartbeat growing faster again. They couldn’t go down there! Everything would be given away!

“Wh-what are you going to do?”

“Well, we’ll capture them,” Spear Runner shrugged carelessly. “Restrain them. Maybe lock them someplace where they can’t cause any trouble. Sound fair to you?”

Blazedart gawked in disbelief, his eyes wide and his muscles trembling. “I-I...uh…” He stuttered uncontrollably.

“You up for this, boys?”

“Yes, sir,” the three stallions said in unison before lifting themselves into the air.

“So, Blaze,” Spear Runner stepped up to Blazedart and put an unfriendly hoof around his shoulders, “you’d better tell me what your little friends look like, hadn’t you? And where did you last see them?”

Blazedart didn’t reply. He stood there staring at Spear, the fear not leaving his eyes. What have I done?

Down by the lake, the sun's heat had become quite intense and the six friends had decided they would head home to cool down. As Twilight used her magic to lift all the items into her picnic basket, she looked around to see that nearly all her friends had left. Rainbow Dash had hung behind, using her towel to dry her mane a little more.

"You all right, Rainbow?" Twilight asked her friend.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Rainbow Dash replied, looking up with a confused expression. "Why?"

"Nothing, it's just...well... I can't help thinking about Blazedart and the way he's been acting. It's strange, don't you think?"

"A little bit, I guess..." Rainbow stared up at the sky. The sun was still shining but it had become more cloudy. The thunderstorm they had anticipated never actually started, so she put the worry of rain behind her. Twilight stared at her friend, concerned. It was not like Rainbow Dash to be distant.

"Is there something you're not telling me, Rainbow?"

The Pegasus elaborately shook her head. "I don't know what you mean. Anyway, I'd better get home. I shouldn't have left Tank alone for this long."

Before Twilight could get another word in, Rainbow Dash took off into the clouds, without so much as a goodbye. The unicorn sighed. Now she was worried about both Blazedart and Rainbow Dash. Speaking of which, she realized she hadn't seen Blazedart for at least half an hour. She remembered him saying he would be back soon after he left, but he had never returned. Maybe that's what was bothering Rainbow Dash so much. Perhaps she was just worried; she and Blazedart had grown very close after all. Twilight had only recently begun to question whether they were...

No. They couldn't be. Rainbow clearly wasn't into that sort of thing. When had she shown interest in stallions? Never. But still...

Annoyed at herself for having these thoughts, Twilight shook them out of her mind and began to leave the lake. She decided she would head home and talk to Spike about her day. There also might have been some work she needed to do for Princess Celestia, or some letters she needed to send to other ponies -

Princess Celestia! Letters! She hadn't written her weekly friendship report yet! And she hadn't learned anything! What would her mentor say to her if she missed the deadline? She didn't want to know, but was sure the punishment could be something horrible.

Before panic could take over her, the unicorn calmed herself. There were still two or three days left of the week, enough time to write her letter. She would have to think over what lessons she had learned and write something that would at least be acceptable.

Once she snapped out of her deep thoughts, Twilight suddenly realized that she was back in the town centre. It was quite deserted, which was unusual for Ponyville, but she imagined that most ponies had probably left to attend special celebrations in other places. Taking in some air though her nose, she relaxed, feeling it was the best way to get through the day. Stress and needless worry wouldn't get her anywhere.

Then, without quite expecting it, Twilight noticed a pale blue stallion stepping out from behind a nearby house. His mane was a darker blue and his Cutie Mark looked like the shape of an ocean wave. She didn't pay much attention to him at first, since he could have been a mere resident in Ponyville, but then her eyes widened as the stallion began to race in her direction. He had a fierce expression on his face, which was quite frightening. Twilight quickly checked around her to see if he was looking at a different pony. There was no-one else around. He was heading for her.

She barely had time to react when the pony sprinted up to her and pushed her to the ground with great force. She shrieked, desperately trying to shove him off as he pinned her down. But he was too strong for her, and Twilight couldn't move.

"Isn't it Twilight Sparkle?" the stallion sneered, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Why?" she snapped. "What do you want with me? Get OFF me!"

"We've heard a lot about you. And your little friends. You're quite famous where we come from."

"What do you mean by 'we'?" Twilight asked, feeling both angry and scared at the same time. As if to answer her question, two more stallions appeared on either side of her. They were definitely Pegasi, because she saw them fold up their wings. She felt more scared now: the stallions were bulky, mean-looking, and now there were three of them. What were they going to do to her?

"I think it's best that you come with us, Miss Sparkle," the blue stallion said with a crude smile, "and don't bother trying to escape. We'll only catch you again."

It was then that Twilight realised physical force wouldn't help her in this situation. She had a special trick up her sleeve: magic. If she could teleport to her house, she would be away from the stallions and could warn her friends of the danger. Still feeling weak under the blue stallion's strong hooves, Twilight began to power up her horn, visualizing the place that she wanted to go. But the magic wasn't working. No matter how hard Twilight tried to power up her horn, she was only met with fizzes and crackles that didn't transport her anywhere. She was left panting for breath as the magic subsided. "Wh...why wouldn't it-"

"There's no use in that, sweetheart!" one of the other stallions sneered. "You won't be able to use magic against us. We've already had that taken care of."

"But...h-how?..." Overcome with confusion and anger, Twilight desperately tried to move again, but the stallion kept his hooves firmly planted on her. There was no use. She couldn't escape. Why wasn't her magic working? Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice and saw a fourth Pegasus land near the group.

"All right, guys. That's enough. Just do what you've been told to do. You don't need to hurt her."

Blazedart was standing behind the other stallions as they all turned to look at him irritably. A wave of relief momentarily swept through Twilight's body; she felt elated to see him at last. But as she stared at him, her high hopes were slowly extinguished: Blazedart's facial expression was different from before. He seemed stern, serious and quite glum.

"Blazedart?" she asked, trying to revive him in some way. He barely looked at her. He only cast her a fleeting glance before turning his gaze to the stallions again.

"You are such a killjoy, Blaze," the pale blue stallion retorted, "Don't think you can boss us around just because you're Spear's right-hand stallion." He then proceeded to bind Twilight's front hooves tightly, so much so that she could not move them. Reluctantly, she stood up, allowing the hefty stallions to hold onto her and walk her in the opposite direction. Feeling confused and almost heartbroken, she turned to look at Blazedart. He stared back at her, an extreme look of guilt and sadness in his eyes, before turning away and shooting off into the sky.

Twilight was more frightened than she had ever been, and felt betrayed. She couldn't comprehend what was going on: strange stallions had appeared in town, they had captured her for some unknown reason, and Blazedart, the pony who she and her friends had liked and trusted for so long, seemed to be one of them. It was a terrible thought to take in, so she tried to remove it from her mind. She could do nothing but bear the pain in her shoulders and stifle her winces as the stallions dragged her hooves off the ground and lifted her into the clouds above.

Rainbow Dash was alone in her room, lying on her bed flicking through her Daring Do book. She stared sadly at the pages without taking any of the words or pictures in. Her mind was fogged up with dozens of thoughts that wouldn't go away. She wondered where on earth Blazedart had gone and why he had to leave so suddenly. It had been difficult keeping a secret from her friends and it wasn't something Rainbow Dash wanted to do again. After all, Applejack had always told her honesty was the best policy.

Wherever Blazedart had got to, Rainbow hoped he would come back to Ponyville at some point since she had grown to like him an awful lot. This sounded strange when she thought about it in her head, as many stallions she had known in her life had been complete jerks without a sense of kindness. Blazedart was different. She could really understand him and felt suddenly eager to spend more time with him. What did all these feelings mean?

Irritably, Rainbow slammed her book down on the sheets and rubbed her eyes, wishing all these complications would go away. She was just thinking about taking a nap when there was a firm knock on her door from downstairs. She rolled her eyes, as she didn't really want to be disturbed, but flew down to the door to check who it was. She opened it to find Fluttershy standing there with a worried look in her blue eyes.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash, I'm so glad you're here!" she exclaimed, pushing some of her mane back from her face to reveal more of her scared expression.

"Err, hi to you too, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash answered, quite confused by the state of her usually happy friend. She then noticed that something was sitting on Fluttershy's back; something purple and scaly. "Spike? You're here too?"

The small dragon craned his neck out from behind Fluttershy's head. "Hey, Dash. Um... we've got a bit of a problem."

"Why, what's wrong?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine," Fluttershy said, an uncomfortable tone in her voice, "it's just that...something's very wrong! You see, when I got home from the lake, I was looking after some injured lizards that I found near the river. It wasn't long after that when Spike came to my house. He seemed so worried about something which is why he came to tell me about it. He told me that-"

"Twilight's missing!" Spike blurted out, nearly falling off Fluttershy's back.

Rainbow Dash looked at her friends, aghast and puzzled. "Missing? But - I only saw her about half an hour ago!"

"We know," Fluttershy replied, "but Spike's been telling me that he waited at the library for a long time and Twilight never returned. He went out to look for her but couldn't find her. It's rather unlike Twilight, don't you think?"

"Well, I guess it's a little bit weird," Rainbow Dash admitted, prodding her chin with her hoof. "But why did you guys come here?"

"When Spike came to my house all panic-stricken," Fluttershy explained, sympathetically rubbing Spike's cheek to reassure him, "I remembered that you were the last one with Twilight when everypony left the lake. We thought that you might know where she went."

"Err, I don't really," Rainbow Dash said, stroking her mane awkwardly, "I talked to her for a minute and then I just went home. Twilight was the only one left at the lake when I was gone." Rainbow suddenly felt guilty at the thought of leaving Twilight all by herself. What if something had happened to her and she hadn't been there to stop it?

"Will you help us look for her, Dash?" Spike asked hopefully, clear worry in his eyes. "I can't help thinking something bad's happened."

"Yeah, 'course I'll help," Rainbow immediately replied, stepping out of the house and closing the door behind her, "and don't worry, Spike, I'm sure she's fine. I bet she just got caught up in her reading or something." Spike nodded at her, though the look of concern hadn't left his face.

"So where shall we start looking?"

"We could check in the town first?" Fluttershy suggested, "She might be in one of the bookshops and we could ask ponies if they've seen her."

"Okay, come on then." The Pegasi took flight into the air, but Rainbow suddenly paused. "Err, Spike? You sure you're okay on Fluttershy's back?" she asked, taking note of the baby dragon who looked quite petrified as he stared at the ground far beneath them.

"Y-yeah, sure. I-I'll be fine," he stuttered, swallowing hard and looking rather sick.

"Don't worry, Spike, I'll look after you," Fluttershy said sweetly, ruffling the top of Spike's head. His cheeks turned rosy pink and he appeared a little more relaxed. "We'd better go," Fluttershy continued, "I don't want to leave my poor lizards for too long. But of course Twilight's more important! Oh, I didn't mean it like that! I just-"

"It's fine, Fluttershy," Rainbow said quickly. She shook her head with a smile and began to lead the two of them down to Ponyville. The thoughts of Blazedart were still niggling in the back of her mind, but Twilight's disappearance was now far more important. It was a very short flight to the town below them, yet Spike seemed very relieved to hop off Fluttershy's back and onto the safety of the ground. Rainbow hovered in the air, where she felt comfortable, following Fluttershy and Spike as they strolled down the path. They scanned everywhere for signs of Twilight, called her name, peeked through the doors of shops and cafes, but to no avail. Spike was clearly getting more worried, so Fluttershy gently snuggled him against her to try and calm him.

The three of them were thinking of heading into the Everfree Forest when they suddenly heard a voice calling cheerfully to them. "Hi, Rainbow Dash! And Fluttershy! And Spike!" They turned to see Pinkie Pie bounding towards them, waving a hoof frantically. "Watcha doing?" she asked curiously.

"Well, we're-" Rainbow Dash stopped in mid-sentence when she saw the outline of a dark figure sneaking up behind Pinkie Pie. Gasping, she cried, "Pinkie, look out!" She was already too late. Pinkie Pie barely had time to look around as she was tackled to the ground by an angry-looking beige stallion.

"Hey!" she shouted, squirming underneath him, "What are you playing at, you big meanie?!"

"Get your filthy hooves off her!" yelled Rainbow Dash. She spared no moment for hesitation as she sped towards them, completely unafraid. She dived at the attacker, grabbing hold of his body and trying to drag him away from Pinkie Pie. Just when Rainbow thought she would manage it, another pony charged towards her and slammed her onto the ground. The impact was strong and knocked almost every wisp of air from her lungs. Struggling to retain her breath, Rainbow felt the pony spring onto her and pin her down by the tail before she could fly away. She winced from the pain, desperately trying to use her wing power to fly out of his grasp.

"Rainbow Dash!" a terrified female voice squealed, "Help us!"

Rainbow looked behind her and saw, to her horror, that Fluttershy and Spike were in the tight clutches of a third stallion. The two of them were wriggling under his hooves but clearly couldn't escape. Rainbow felt a sudden anger come over her. No one was ever going to come marching into Ponyville and hurting her friends if she had anything to say about it. She flapped her wings even harder and managed to yank herself out from under the stallion's hooves. He used his own wings to shoot into the air after her, but Rainbow was too fast and dodged out of the way before he could grab her. Suddenly, she froze, staring down at her friends whose hooves were now being tied up. She didn't know what to do: if she attempted to free them, she would risk getting captured herself, and then who would help her friends?

When she saw the male Pegasus flying for her again, she made up her mind and decided to flee. "I'll come back for you!" she shouted to her friends, though she was unsure if they would even be there when she returned. She became aware that her pursuer was hot on her heels, so she powered up her wings and flew like a bullet high into the sky to get away from him.

"Get after her!" she heard one of the stallions command. "We need all six; we can't let any of them get away!"

All six? Rainbow Dash thought. Surely that meant these strange stallions were after her and her friends specifically? But why? They hadn't done anything wrong! Rainbow wasn't going to let them catch her that easily.

Aware of the Pegasus on her tail, she surged through the sky and into the array of fluffy clouds that hovered high up in the sky. Quickly, she jumped onto one of them and burrowed her way into it like a dog digging in the soil. Once she had made a decent hole, she squeezed herself inside, curled herself into a tight ball and wrapped her rainbow tail around her so she couldn't be seen. She then gathered some fluff into her hooves and used it cover herself up from any prying eyes. Anypony flying past would not see her and mistake her for just another cloud.

Rainbow took a deep quiet breath and waited, her ears listening out for any sounds. After a few moments, she carefully moved a tiny ball of fluff away from her face and peered outside. She hid herself again immediately. The Pegasus stallion that had been chasing her was floating nearby, his devious face surveying the area around him. He was a pale blue colour with a darker shade of blue striped on his mane and tail. She made out the Cutie Mark on his flank to be an ocean wave curled into a high point. Rainbow kept her eyes fixed on him. He clearly had no idea where she had disappeared to, and was unable to spot her, hidden away in her little cloud.

Rainbow Dash waited for perhaps a minute or so, then felt a rush of relief as she saw the stallion fly back towards the ground. She hoped he had given up searching for her and wouldn't come back. Trying to be as quiet as possible, Rainbow heaved herself out of the cloud, being careful to shield her body from any eyes looking up from below. She cautiously peeked over the cloud to see if she could spot her friends still being held captive, but she couldn't see them anywhere. All that lay below her was the winding, snake-like path they had been waking on only a few minutes ago. There was no sign of Fluttershy, Spike or Pinkie Pie, neither of the stallions who had captured them.

Rainbow felt her heart pummel anxiously against her chest; she was very worried now, since those stallions had been Pegasi and it was likely they had flown to a high place with her friends still stuck in their grasp. What was she to do now? There was no telling where they had flown to and Rainbow had been hiding in her cloud for so long that she hadn't seen which direction they went in. Feeling quite furious with herself, she lifted into the air and began to fly across the sky, scanning the area for any familiar signs, though with no idea where she was going.

But just then, a recognizable female voice rang in her ears. "Rainbow Dash! Up here!"

Rainbow looked up in the direction of the shout. It had come from the clouds quite high above her. Quickly, she shot upwards to look around and, almost immediately, spotted a purple figure lying on one of the clouds.

"Twilight!" Rainbow cried, rushing to her friend and pulling her into a tight hug. "We've been looking all over for you! Are you okay? What happened?"

"Oh, Rainbow, it was...it was awful," Twilight whimpered, her voice catching in her throat. "These stallions ambushed me and tied me up before dragging me all the way up here. They put a spell on me that lets me lie on a cloud, but now I can't escape because it's too high."

"Hold on, stallions ambushed you?" asked Rainbow Dash. "That's what happened to us! They got Fluttershy, Spike and Pinkie Pie and took them away!"

Twilight gasped in horror, emitting a pained sob.

"I'm sorry, Twilight, I tried to stop them," said Rainbow Dash guiltily, "but I had to get away and hide before they got me too. I don't get it! Who are these guys and what are they doing here? And what in the hay do they want with us?"

"I don't know, Rainbow Dash. I just don't know. But... that's not the worst of it." Twilight gazed at Rainbow Dash with a very sad expression on her face. Rainbow studied her face and immediately knew something was wrong.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Well..." Twilight stumbled on her words, looking very uncomfortable as she averted her eyes from Rainbow's face and traced a circle in the cloud with her hoof. "Rainbow, I... I don't know how to tell you this..."

"Look who decided to take the bait," a sly voice said.

Rainbow Dash turned to see a large grey stallion with a navy blue mane stepping towards her on the clouds. He had a malicious look in his eye as he stared at the two mares; Rainbow Dash didn't like the look of this at all. She got to her feet, prepared to stand her ground, and watched as three more stallions flew down to the clouds to accompany the larger pegasus: a dark blue pony with a lime green mane, the light blue stallion with the wave Cutie Mark, and the third was-...

Rainbow Dash's mouth fell open in shock. Blazedart was standing there. It appeared to take him a moment to register what was going on; then he noticed Rainbow Dash and stepped back in terror, staring at her as though he had seen a ghost.

"Blaze, what are you doing here?" exclaimed Rainbow Dash. "What's going on?"

"Dash," Blazedart stammered, his voice faltering as he spoke, "it...it's not what it looks like."

"Oh, I think it is what it looks like, Blaze," said the large grey stallion, a devilish smirk on his face, "I'm afraid you owe your little friends here some sort of explanation."

"What are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash snapped. "Who are you? What has Blaze got to do with all of this?"

The stallion turned to Blazedart inquisitively. "Do you want to tell them? Or shall I?" Blazedart seemed at a complete loss. He stuttered for a moment, then shook his head, looking away from Rainbow Dash's curious expression.

"Fine then. I'll tell them." The large stallion stepped a little closer to Rainbow Dash, scanning every detail of her with his merciless green eyes. "My name's Spear Runner. My comrades and I have travelled a long way from our home to get here, but it's definitely been worth it."

He paused to look her up and down again. "You must be Rainbow Dash, unless I'm gravely mistaken?"

"Yeah, why should you care?" Rainbow spat, a surge of anger racing through her. As she looked up into his face, she realized how much taller than her he actually was, and suddenly felt quite daunted under his gaze.

"You are quite something, aren't you?" Spear Runner said, his mouth curved into an admiring yet unnerving smile. "The stories I've heard really don't do you enough justice." He then used his left hoof to stroke her multi-coloured bangs that hung beside her neck. Disgusted, Rainbow Dash slapped him away like the crack of a whip.

"Don't you dare touch me!" she barked, staring daggers at him. Out of the corner of her eye, she felt sure she had seen a flicker of anger in Blazedart's face as he surveyed the scene.

"Ooh, you're a feisty one as well," Spear Runner said tantalizingly, the sly smile still broad on his face. "All the better. It's nice to see a bit of spirit."

"How do you know my name and what are you doing to my friends?" Rainbow Dash snarled.

"Well, you should know that you and your little... troupe, are quite famous in many places," said Spear-Runner, in quite a matter-of-fact way. "Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty - always willing to stick by her friends no matter what happens."

She eyed the taller pony suspiciously, her jaw set in a firm, defiant line.

"And then there's Twilight Sparkle." He gestured to Twilight, who still lay in a nervous position on the clouds. "She represents the elusive Element of Magic, the most powerful of all. And you're Princess Celestia's student. That's quite a position to hold, don't you think?"

Twilight didn't answer; she only stared at him angrily with her eyes narrowed, though Rainbow could tell from her tense limbs that she was only trying to hide her fear.

"So you two and your friends represent the Elements of Harmony, don't you?" Spear continued. "Many times you've saved Equestria from chaos and destruction, purely with the magic of those six jewels. Amazing feats, I have to admit."

Spear then turned his head to nod at the three stallions still standing behind him. "We come from a fairly remote place a long way from here. It’s on the outskirts of Fillydelphia; a small forsaken village that nopony cares about. No name, no recognition, just a poor area of small houses and shacks where many are growing hungry. I’ve been living there for a short while myself, though I’m originally from Manehattan. That’s when I met these guys.” He gestured to Blazedart and the other two stallions standing in their row. Blazedart looked up momentarily from the ground, but then turned his head away again, as though he wanted to set his gaze on anything but Rainbow Dash’s stunned face.

“They weren’t very well off, you see – living in that village. Each of them had a small house to themselves with no friends or family nearby, and hardly enough money to get the food they needed. Flex could hardly speak to me when I first came across him.” The pony with the lime green mane tensed up at the mention of his name.

“So,” Spear continued, “I promised I’d give them a better life; somewhere better than that place, with better company. To do that, we need something really special, something that would protect us from any kind of harm and make us rich beyond our dreams.”

“That’s why you’re here then?” Rainbow Dash asked angrily, shooting the occasional glance at Blazedart. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. “You’ve come to Ponyville to ransack the place and steal things you need?”

“No, not quite,” Spear Runner sneered. “Ponyville’s a nice place, but it isn’t a wealthy town and there’s nothing special for us to steal here. No – what we want is in Canterlot.”

“Canterlot?” Twilight echoed, bewildered. “If that’s true, then why are you here capturing us?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Spear smiled at them knowingly, a vindictive twinkle in his eye. Rainbow Dash stared at him with a frown, thinking for a moment. What could they possibly want from Canterlot and why would that mean capturing her and her friends?

Then realisation hit her like a stone. Before she could open her mouth to speak, Spear Runner said exactly what she had been thinking. “We’re going to take the Elements of Harmony and keep them for ourselves. I can’t think of anything in Equestria that would be more valuable.”

"No!" Twilight exclaimed in shock. "You can't do that!"

"There's no way we're gonna let you take them!" Rainbow Dash snarled.

Spear Runner scoffed nonchalantly. "You're not going to be able to stop us. My other two comrades already have the rest of your friends taken care of, I can assure you. And despite what you think, you won't be escaping either."

Rainbow Dash was so engrossed in Spear's unbelievable words that she hadn't noticed that the pale blue stallion had crept up behind her. She had no time to fly off as she felt strong hooves coil aroud her and pin her feet down firmly. "Get off me, you jerk!" she growled, her voice muffled under his hooves. She wrestled against him as much as she could, but she wasn't strong enough to break free of his grasp - so she gave up, panting heavily and staring at Spear Runner angrily.

"When I get out of this, I'm gonna beat the living daylights out of you!"

"Oh, Rainbow Dash, try all you want to escape," said Spear Runner, a gentle, sarcastic tone in his voice. "It isn't going to happen. I'm not going to deny that you have a gutsy attitude, but it's not going to convince me to let you go. You and your friends will be confined somewhere nopony will find you and none of you will be able to escape. It's as simple as that."

He paused to turn around and look at Flex and Blazedart; both of them had guilty and sad looks on their faces, quite unlike the other stallions Rainbow had seen.

"None of this would have been possible without Blazedart here," said Spear Runner, stepping up to the grey pony and putting a strong hoof around him. "He's been the perfect spy, coming to Ponyville to get to know all of you, earning your trust and acquiring all the information we needed. If it weren't for you, Blaze, I daresay we wouldn't have been able to capture them as easily." Blazedart's ears were twitching nervously, and he glanced at Spear Runner with an incredibly awkward look in his eyes. He looked as if he were itching to say something, but somehow couldn’t get the words out.

If Rainbow Dash had been shocked before, it was nothing compared to what she was feeling now: anger, hurt, confusion and utter shock. This couldn't be true, it just couldn't, she kept telling herself. But it was impossible to deny what was in front of her eyes: Blazedart was part of this awful plan, and always had been.

“Blaze?” she said quietly. She stepped forward, feeling the stallion loosen her grip on her slightly, and stared at Blazedart with her inquisitive eyes. Blazedart met her gaze, sadness flooding through his face.

“Is it…is it true then?” she asked.

Blazedart couldn’t seem to speak. He gazed at Rainbow Dash helplessly, shaking his head slightly, as if he desperately wanted to deny it. “I... I didn’t know how to tell you, Rainbow," he said, almost in a mumble, "and it wasn't supposed to happen like this.”

Rainbow’s anger suddenly boiled over. “Well, obviously you weren’t planning to tell me at all judging by the way you’ve been acting!” she shouted. “No wonder you appeared in Ponyville out of nowhere and started befriending me as soon as you saw me! I should have known there was something wrong…I can’t believe I ever trusted you!”

Her legs shook from her temper, and the stallion had to tighten his grip on her as she tried to wrestle out of his clutches.

"So everything you told me was a lie? Your foalhood, your love of flying... the things you said about me... and then you tell me you have important business to do," she put on a mocking sing-song tone when she said this, "but all you were doing was making me feel sorry for you so you could run off to Canterlot and steal the Elements!"

Blazedart stared at her sadly, guilt etched all over his face. It could have been her imagination, but Rainbow thought she saw a shiny tear flickering in the corner of his eye.

"Rainbow, I-... I'm sorry," he said helplessly.

"Ugh!" Rainbow groaned loudly, shaking her head in disbelief. "'Sorry' isn't going to fix this! Nothing will! Nothing you say or do will make me forgive you!" She paused to take a breath. Her face felt very hot and her limbs were prickling furiously.

"How could you betray us?" she hissed, her voice piercing the air. "I thought you were my friend! And I thought we-... I thought we were..." She trailed off, unsure what she was about to finish her sentence with.

Blazedart looked at her questioningly. "You thought we were what?" he asked nervously.

"Well, I..." Rainbow stuttered, feeling embarrassed. She gave a frustrated groan. "I don't know! I just thought we had something special! But obviously not. You were just manipulating me the whole time."

"And you've done it very well, Blaze," Spear Runner said approvingly. He looked quite pleased to see Rainbow Dash so uptight, paying no attention to Blazedart's guilt-ridden face. He turned his gaze to the blue stallion holding Rainbow Dash. "Keep hold of her, Flow Tide," he commanded, "we'll be taking them to the prison soon. You know where to find it?"

"Yes, sir," Flow Tide said obediently. Rainbow winced as he pulled her hooves off the cloud and tightened his strong hold around her body.

"Flex, you can take Miss Sparkle, if you would," Spear Runner said to the young green-maned stallion. His eyes looked nervous at the idea, but he obeyed Spear Runner reluctantly. He flew over to Twilight and began to pick her up between his hooves. He seemed to be handling her a lot more gently than Flow Tide. Twilight's gaze set on Spear Runner and Blazedart, her face filled with shock and her purple eyes looking tearful.

"This doesn't explain how you stopped my magic from working," she said defiantly. Flex kept a firm hold on her, but refrained from going into flight.

"And how did you manage to use magic to keep me trapped up here?" Twilight continued. "None of you are unicorns; you're Pegasi. It's impossible!"

Spear Runner shot her a smug smile. "Clever, isn't it? You see, during our travels from Fillydelphia to Ponyville, it was clear we were going to need some way to communicate and defend ourselves from danger. Pegasi don't have many ways of doing that, but magic can allow you to do anything. So we stopped by at Baltimare, where there were a fair number of unicorns about. It took some persuading, but we eventually convinced the most powerful unicorn we could find to give us her magic in return for some bits. We also gained from her the ability to drain other unicorns of their own magic, therefore there's no way a pony like you could use it against us."

Twilight stared at him with repulsion. "That's...horrible!" she exclaimed.

"True, yes, but also effective." Spear's lip curled as he examined Twilight, who was not tearing her gaze away from him. "Speaking of which, we might need some more unicorn magic later on... I think you might be the pony up for the job."

"No!" Rainbow Dash shouted as Twilight whimpered in terror. "Don't you lay a hoof on her! I swear I'll make you pay for this!"

"I don't doubt it, Rainbow," Spear Runner said slyly, "but let's just say we've got one up on you this time." Rainbow Dash stared daggers at him, though there was an unfamiliar feeling in her heart: it was like everything was going against her, and she wasn't going to win. For once in her life, she was actually terrified about what was going to happen. Nonetheless, she was determined not to let her fear show on her face.

"Take them away," Spear Runner commanded. Rainbow irritably tolerated the stinging on her back as Flow Tide picked her up slowly, binding her hooves and wings up, and began to fly her away from the clouds.

She turned her head to look at Blazedart, who stared up at her with his ashamed, cobalt eyes.

"Tide, please don't hurt her," he said, quite anxiously. "Don't hurt any of them."

Flow Tide rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Whatever, Blaze."

The look on Rainbow Dash's face was so full of anger and hurt that it stung Blazedart to see her this way. Why had he ever done this in the first place? It was so wrong...

"I hope I never see you again," Rainbow Dash spat coldly. She then turned her head away from him as she and Twilight were carried away by the stallions. Blazedart felt a sickening sweep of remorse through his bones as he stood there; it was like his whole world had come crashing down on him. He flattened his ears against his head forlornly as Spear Runner draped a hoof around him.

"Come with me, Blazedart. I've got another special job for you."

As Spear rose into the air, Blazedart reluctantly followed, the tips of his grey wings sagging on either side of him. I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash, he thought, an aching lump forming in his throat. I'm so, so sorry...

Rainbow Dash and Twilight were flown past the outskirts of Ponyville and into the high border of cliffs that surrounded the area. Rainbow watched helplessly as the town below sank from view and the towering cliffs began to envelope the ponies in a dark valley. The Pegasi were flying to a place that was quite unknown to her, beyond the murkiness of Ghastly Gorge and the looming green outline of Everfree Forest. They ended up by a rock face that towered right up towards the clouds, almost entirely devoid of sunlight. There was a large, gaping hole in the rock that funnelled into a small cave that clearly went a few metres inside the cliff.

Rainbow Dash was desperate to spread her wings and shoot out of Flow Tide’s grasp, but her wings were strapped together tightly and there was no way she could do that. She hung helplessly in the air as she and Twilight were brought to the very edge of the cliff face where the cavern lay. As Rainbow looked inside and scoured the darkness, she saw pairs of eyes staring back at her. When Flow Tide dropped her rather roughly onto the ground, the darkness cleared and she recognized their faces.

Fluttershy, Spike, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rarity were gathered in a small group near the back of the cave. Fluttershy’s mane was rather dishevelled and Applejack had a few bumps and grazes on her body. Rainbow guessed they went through quite a scrap when captured, especially Applejack, who had clearly taken a battering from her efforts to escape. It pained her to see her friends like this. Because of Blazedart’s doing, they had been taken from their homes and dragged to this awful, cramped place. This was the last thing she had wanted to happen and she felt terrible for it.

Fluttershy ran up to Rainbow Dash with her hoof outstretched. “Oh, Rainbow Dash, Twilight!” she exclaimed with a sob, pulling Rainbow into a gentle hug. “I’m glad you’re both okay. We’ve been so worried!”

The others walked up to Twilight and Rainbow Dash to hug them while Flex and Flow Tide hung in the background. “You will be staying here for as long as Spear Runner sees fit,” Flow Tide said assertively, “and don’t bother trying to escape.” He aimed his glare specifically at Rainbow Dash, who returned it defiantly. “It’s a fifty-foot high cliff and you wouldn’t find it easy. Plus, we’ll just catch you again.”

He turned his back on the group and beckoned to Flex. “Come on, let’s go.” He flew out of the cave with an uncomfortable looking Flex on his tail. They were left in silence, only the sound of the breeze flooding in and dust drifting around to be heard.

“I can’t believe this happened, y’all,” Applejack said solemnly, breaking the silence. Her ears drooped against her head and her voice was almost trembling. “Those horrible ponies taking the Elements? And Blaze being one of them… I never would have suspected him of anything.”

“How do you know about that, Applejack?” Twilight asked.

“When two of those guys got hold of Rarity and I, they told us everything,” Applejack explained, her eyes wavering anxiously at the memory, “I couldn’t believe my ears. I don’t think any of us can quite take it in…”

Twilight nodded, not really wanting to think about it right now. Then her thoughts suddenly went to Rainbow Dash. She looked around the cavern to see that Rainbow was no longer with the group but had retreated to a corner. Her head was hanging loosely and she was staring at the ground with her multi-coloured hair draping down her neck. Twilight suddenly felt very concerned for her. Awkwardly, she walked up to Rainbow Dash and spoke to her softly. "Rainbow? Are you all right?"

The Pegasus mare turned her head to stare at Twilight, a small smile on her face. "Yeah, I'm fine," she replied quietly, "why wouldn't I be?"

"Well..." Twilight didn't know how to tell Rainbow what she was thinking without hurting her feelings. She didn't really want to remind her friend about what had just happened. "I... I'm sorry. I didn't know how to break it to you, and-"

"It's okay," Rainbow said reassuringly, placing a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "It wasn't your fault." She was smiling comfortingly, but Twilight wasn't convinced that her smile was genuine.

Rainbow's gaze settled on her other friends that stood behind Twilight. They all looked at Rainbow Dash sadly, unsure of what they could say.

"We're all going to be okay," Rainbow continued. "You'll see. We'll get the Elements back."

Twilight forced a smile, still feeling unsure about Rainbow's spirits. "We'll try, Rainbow," she said, "it's just that... I know it must be horrible for you - after everything's that happened..."

"Twilight, I'm fine," Rainbow said with a hint of impatience. "Blazedart and I weren't that close anyway; why should I care what he does? I'll move on from it." She nodded confidently, the smile still on her face.

But Twilight could tell she wasn't being honest: there was something different in Rainbow's eyes, like a little twinkle of sadness desperately trying to hide itself away. It was strange, since it was unlike Rainbow Dash to lose her nerve over anything.

Rainbow's smile slowly faded from her face and her eyes wandered to the floor beneath her feet. It was like she was reminiscing something. When she suddenly realised her friends were watching her, she broke out of her thoughts and turned away from them, frustrated. "Just let it go, okay?" she snapped. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

They all exchanged sad glances, afraid to say another word. Twilight studied Rainbow Dash as she kept her back turned to the group, her head hanging forlornly. Twilight noticed the Pegasus raise a hoof to her face, as if she were trying to protect it, and then she began to sniff loudly, curling her head deeper into herself. Twilight stepped closer to her again, suddenly very worried. "Rainbow?"

Rainbow Dash's entire body shook as she let out a pained sob, something that Twilight had never heard from her before, and then when she finally turned around, Twilight saw that her magenta eyes were shining with tears.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said, her voice croaking, and she pulled Rainbow into a tight hug, cradling her and stroking her mane as she cried softly into Twilight's neck.

"I know, Rainbow... I'm so sorry... it's okay, you'll be fine..." Twilight spoke to her gently, trying to calm her down, though she knew there was no way she could make Rainbow Dash happy right now. Fluttershy ran over instantly to put a comforting hoof around her, she herself in quiet tears, eventually followed by the others who enclosed themselves around the two ponies in a warm huddle, desperately trying to lift each other's spirits in this dark place. None of them knew what was headed their way next, but the only way they could tolerate this fear was to stay together and stay strong, hoping, somehow, that they would get through this. They would just have to wait and find out...

Crash Meeting

For a few moments, everything was quiet and still in Ponyville’s blue skies…until a flash of brilliant colours whooshed out of nowhere, echoing into the distance. When silence fell again, the source of the flash perched glumly on a singular white cloud. The little turquoise Pegasus, Rainbow Dash, swished her multi-coloured tail underneath her. She let out a careless yawn and propped her head on the cloud, shutting her tired eyes.

A flapping of Pegasus wings rose up from below. The little creamy pony Fluttershy edged up to Rainbow Dash, and prodded her shoulder.

“Um…Dash?”

“Huh?”

The blue pony gave a little grunt and glimpsed Fluttershy’s twinkling eyes staring at her.

“Yeah Fluttershy?” she mumbled.

“Well, um…” Fluttershy’s voice was its usual shy tone, “Rarity is desperate to try out her new dress…and she wants you to be the model for the day.”

“Argh…” Rainbow Dash moaned, drooping her head down, “Not again…I’m gonna be bored to tears…”

“Is that a no?”

Rainbow Dash sighed. She couldn’t just say no to her friends. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

“Oh…okay.”

As Fluttershy flew off, it took a while for Rainbow Dash just to stand up. Her hooves ached and her eyes stung from sleeping. Her dozy wings flapped and carried her off the cloud. Unfortunately, her vision was still blurry from her sleep, and she was not paying full attention to where she was going. It was then she felt a sharp bump on her forehead.

“Ouch!”

She rubbed her face with her hoof and then she heard another ‘Ouch!’ coming from next to her. She looked up, her sight now clearing up. Another Pegasus was in front of her. She hadn’t seen this one before. He had a grey body, with a spiral shaped Cutie Mark, and bright orange mane and tail, glowing like fire.

He looked at the cyan pony in front of him. His eyes were awkward.

“Um…sorry.”

And he sped off.

Rainbow Dash glared after him in annoyance. “Maybe you should watch where you’re going next time!” she called after him, not knowing whether he would hear or not, neither caring.

She rolled her eyes, and fluttered down to the Earth below her.