A strong gust of wind was all it took to get her going. The moment she could smell the storm, Rainbow Dash headed towards it. The forecast had called for a strong squall line coming from the northeast. Perfect training grounds. Dash double, and triple checked her list. It was a two days journey to where the storm was forming, and Dash did not have time to come back if she left something behind. Going through the motions one extra time, Dash locked the door and took flight. She put on her visors to block the sunlight. Some Pegesi were just not meant to fly, and she wanted to avoid an accident. That was the last thing that Dash needed. Some idiot who was too tipsy to fly banging into her, and breaking a wing.
Dash had sent a note to Twilight telling the Alicorn to meet her just outside of the forest in two days’ time. She was anxious to try some new stunts. It had been several months since the last major storm, and her and Twilight worked whenever they could on new tricks. The ones they had developed were rated a ten, the highest difficulty rating. As the travel wore on, Rainbow Dash felt her heart race more. There was just something to entrancing about pulling of wicked stunts. She almost wished for Twilight to transport them there, but she had to fly herself. Twilight would be an awful partner without her energy, and Dash needed to warm her wings a bit before practice. She did not want to risk an injury.
Rainbow Dash arrived at a small inn just after sunset. It was a quiet place. Two stories high and not a lot of rooms. Dash did not expect anything fancy, but this? It looked like the type of shack teenage ponies hooked up in, with drugs not that far behind. Being out in the middle of nowhere almost guaranteed it. Dash stared at it almost hoping it was a joke, and behind it was a five-star hotel, but she knew her fantasy was not gonna happen. Dash slowly peeled into the lobby. It was more depressing than she imagined.
There was only one table with two chairs missing. A fireplace that was tucked in a corner looked like it was not used in ages. The reception desk itself was cluttered with paper. And to top it all off she could hear the floor upstairs creaking. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. What was it with teenagers and sex these days? Sure, it was the weekend, but why not vandalize a town hall like she had done back in the day? At least that would be good exercise.
After waiting for a few minutes, a pony finally arrived.
“I’m so sorry madam, I had an emergency I needed to take care of for a few minutes.”
“That’s alright” Rainbow Dash nodded, accepting the young mare’s apology. “I would like a room to stay the night please.”
“Sure thing. I’ll be right with you” the mare said. Fumbling through the mountain of papers, she pulled out a small notebook. Rainbow Dash studied the young mare. Couldn’t be older than early twenties. Probably a collage student on Spring break. The lack of color in her mane (probably caused by endless nights studying) told her that much. Or the fact there was an Intro To Flight book Dash had seen tucked away in the back. “Just sign your name here and number of days here.” Rainbow Dash complied.
“How much am I in the hole?” Dash joked. The receptionist cracked a weak smile.
“Three silvers.”
Rainbow Dash paid with a gold coin. “You can keep the change” she said, walking up to her room. Her bed was second on the left. Right next to the lovebirds. At least she had an excuse if she was late to practice this time.
Twilight stared at a mountain range. Rainbow Dash was supposed to meet her and Spike for training. She had arrived a day early to prepare everything ahead of the storm. With their tight schedule, Twilight wanted to use their time as efficiently as possible.
“There she is!” Spike pointed at a blue dot just beyond the mountain range. Rainbow Dash was racing towards them like she was attempting a Sonic Rainboom. Landing gracefully on the runway, Dash ran over to Twilight’s picnic basket.
“Hey! Aren’t we going to practice?” Twilight protested.
“In a minute! Boy am I starving.” Rainbow Dash said in-between bites.
Twilight laughed at her friend. She smiled to signal the laughter being a friendly jab at Dash’s eating habits. “Had enough yet Pinkie?”
“Hey, you’re a bigger eater than I am!” Dash parried coupled with a quick giggle. The friends traded friendly insults until the reached the practice field.
“You want to start now or wait till the wind picks up in a few?” Twilight asked.
“I think I’ll do a few five to six-star tricks to warm myself up first. Then we can get to the fun stuff.”
Twilight smiled, though it was more out of obligation. She worried that the extra practice less than an hour after a long flight would damage some ligaments. She had read a few articles on how with increased training Pegesi were tearing wings more than ever. While Dash’s wings were stronger than a good number of pros, she was still a pony. Father Time would win eventually, and Twilight did not want it to be because of something preventable. Yet, she still knew how obsessed her friend was with wanting to be the best and let it be.
“Now that you’ve warmed up do you want to go with the Tricky-Doo?” Twilight asked. The trick was one of the first ones they came up with. Rainbow Dash would start by flying up extremely high, and then descend close to the speed of sound to create a small Sonic Rainboom. She would then do a few tight twists. These were not some ordinary beginner twists either. No, these were ones that even the pros were scared of. The twists then led into a small breather. There wasn’t a need to push Dash too hard. Immediately after she goes through several increasingly smaller hoops while doing a quick trick after each one. Finally, at the end Dash takes a sharp turn upwards, and the speed of the turn will hopefully create a Sonic Rainboom.
“Hell yeah Twi! That’s the one I’m most pumped about!” Rainbow Dash pumped her fist in the air. “If that won’t win me my first title then I don’t know what will!”
“You know it!” Twilight cheered her on. “Enough being the bridesmaid! This year will totally be yours Dash!” They high-hooved.
The short trot up to the approach felt like an eternity for every professional flyer, and Rainbow Dash was no exception. The nerves that a pony felt could be excruciating. Nerves were something that Dash thought were foreign to her. Though even with the most Herculean exteriors given a hard-enough course, any pony’s nerves could be shattered.
As she stretched her wings and arched her back, Dash studied the course one more time before taking off. The start and the hoops would be easy enough to navigate. Dash knew that even before creating the stunt with her skillset. It was the unknowns that frightened her. How many twists should she do? Twilight had calculated it would take five to keep the course at a ten-star rating. Was that too many? If Dash failed even one the judges could take the rest of the course as compensation. And the Sonic Rainboom at the end. If she makes one small misstep, the best result would be that she ends up being paralyzed. No, Dash shook her head. She shouldn’t think such thoughts. Dash slowed her breathing to more manageable levels. If she didn’t think she could pull off the coolest, most badass stunts in the world, then she stood no chance.
After take off the twists were surprisingly easy to manage. Dash just did three the first time. Her and Twi would iron the exact number in the coming hours. Dash took a deep breath during the break. If she could not mess up her wing during the next segment, she was good. First few rings she breezed through. The last hoop was the nightmare one. She had spent weeks going through Twi’s calculations to get the angle down to the smallest measurement. So why was she still nervous? In that moment of indecision, Rainbow Dash had made a mistake. One of her wings had clipped the ring on entry that caused her to instantly spiral down. The collusion was so massive that she caused a crater several meters deep. Twilight ran over to check up on the hurt Pegasus.
“Oh, my goodness Dash! Are you okay?” Twilight said out of breath. She had grabbed a bucket of water to wake her friend up.
Rainbow Dash nodded, though unconvincingly, after coughing. The fall had been brutal, and Dash had felt it all over her body, but especially her lower back. She had been out for a good few minutes that had Twilight so worried she had started to call some paramedics.
“You can call off the squad, Twi. I’ll be fine.” Dash waved her off. In truth she was far from fine. Before Dash went unconscious, she had heard a loud snap. She felt her heart rate skyrocket as she turned to look at it. She had a small sigh of relief as it just looked like a break. To any flyer a break was leagues better than a tear. A break meant you were out for a few months, but could still compete. Depending on how bad a tear is, you could be out for life. Rainbow Dash saw it with her own eyes when Spitfire went down during competition.
“Are you sure?” Twi felt Dash’s wing. Dash winced and brushed Twi’s hoof away. Now wasn’t the time for sympathy. She’d been through worse injuries before.
“Do you mind transporting me to Canterlot for treatment? I hate to put you through that exhaustion, but I’d rather get treatment started ASAP. If we start today, I can be healthy by opening day.”
Twilight nodded and in the blink of an eye the trio teleported just outside of Canterlot. Rainbow Dash wanted the best treatment possible, and it was only found at the Royal Palace. She felt bad for stealing away resources that could be used on the less fortunate, but she needed an edge, and that was the best place to find it. She figured a public donation campaign after recovering would make up more than enough for the costs of her treatment. But that was later. In the present, Rainbow Dash was hell bent on doing the best she possibly could to recover.
“What do you mean there’s no room?” Rainbow Dash shouted as loud as her throat would let her.
“I’m so sorry miss, but our hospital only takes critical injuries. Why not use the Performance Institute in New Colt City? Didn’t you read”
“I don’t care about some article! I want the Canterlot special!” Rainbow Dash interrupted the clerk putting her hooves on the desk for emphasis, which caused the smaller mare to scoot back. Dash threw a small ‘sorry’ under her breath, not meaning to scare her.
“Look, I get you want to heal” the receptionist’s tone was sterner “but, we only take ponies in critical condition. Your wing might be broken, but you’re still alive.”
The receptionist went back to organizing her papers. A strong wave of guilt washed over Rainbow Dash. She had expected to be treated like a queen here. She was an Element of Harmony. People would die for a picture with her, and here she was treated like just another pony. No. Dash shook her head in defiance. She shouldn’t think such things. Then again people loved her tough, arrogant public demeanor. After all, she had a reputation to uphold.
“Fine.” Dash rolled her eyes, adding a dramatic flair. “Guess I’ll have no choice but to call in the Princess.”
The mare stopped like a deer in headlights. Dash let a smile slip. She hit a cord. Good.
“Why. Why would you want to bring her there?” She tried acting confident, but Dash could read between the lines. The smaller mare was very obviously green. Some jerk in the office must have lied to her about the Princess. Dash wasn’t about to tell her the truth.
“I have a direct line to the Royals.” Rainbow Dash flashed her a smug grin. She wasn’t going to let the peasant get off that easily.
“Well prove to me you know the Princess and I will consider giving you a room.” She sat more upright now. More confident. Dash was impressed. She guessed the youngster had to prove herself as a small crowd was now forming a ring around them. She reminded Dash of her younger self. A young twenty-something pony with a chip on her shoulder that no one could contain. Dash tried not to show it, but a tiny nod of approval snuck out.
“Do you guys have the number to Princess Twilight? My affiliation with her should be enough proof.”
The receptionist nodded, and not soon after Twilight came storming in, with Spike not too far behind. By now the lobby was filled to the brim with spectators. It was a smaller room, and filled up quickly, much to Rainbow Dash’s delight. Twi however, wasn’t so thrilled. She stormed in as if she had just failed a friendship exam.
“Rainbow Dash what in Celestia’s name are you doing!?” She screamed so loud that the poor dragon covered his ears in pain. Twilight studied the room, and responded with a much more subdued “sorry.”
“I’m just trying to get a head start on my healing.” Dash said wrapping an arm around her friend. “Just got into a small argument with the front desk lady about arrangements is all.” Twi shot her a look that told her I’m not buying it. Dash shrugged back. They knew each other too well for that excuse to fly over Twilight’s head.
“Excuse me Miss, Trot is it?” Twilight walked up to the mare. “Do you mind telling me your end of the story before I consult my friend?” Trot caught Twilight up to date with the events of the last half hour. Dash chuckled watching Trot’s body language. The Princess really did have a universal adoration rating. Twilight thanked the clerk, and gave a generous tip. She walked outside motioning Dash to follow her. They found a bench in the courtyard just outside the hospital to sit down and talk it over.
“Do you mind telling me what happened back there?” Twilight asked. She had switched gears from annoyed friend to mother without hesitation. Dash wondered how the Alicorn did it. After all, she was still in a bad mood from the argument.
“Cross my heart and hope to die, but I honestly don’t know what the hell that was back there.” Dash made sure that each word was dripping with remorse. She didn’t know why she had lashed out back there. Normally in situations like that she would just be only slightly annoyed. Maybe a quip here and there. Not screaming at an innocent messenger, and drawing out the entire office. Now that she had time to think the past couple of days she had been on edge. While she made sure to not lash out at friends, anything a stranger said could, and often did, set her off. Twilight drew a long hefty sigh. The sigh reminded Dash of her own mother whenever she was in trouble growing up.
“She was just doing her job, Rainbow. You of all people should have known they weren’t going to take your request. Even I got denied when I had the flu as a foal.”
“Yeah, but you had maids with you!” Dash shot back quickly. “They’re just as good as the royal hospital.”
Twilight shook her head in disapproval. “That’s not the point. My point was that if they denied a student of Celestia’s, then they’ll deny anyone. And you and I both know that very little progress around these parts.” She playfully rolled her eyes, drawing a giggle from Rainbow Dash. The hint of sarcasm seemed to get bigger with each passing day. It was a little jarring as she’s known Twi for years to be quite shy, but she was hanging around the expert after all. So, she shouldn’t be all that surprised that her personality was rubbing off on the Princess.
“I guess you’re right as always.” Rainbow Dash parried with her own sarcasm. “Though shouldn’t they at least look at my request? I am an Element of Harmony. They should at least give me that respect.”
Twilight shook her head again. “I think you forgot the contract that we all signed with Canterlot. None of us can use our status as an Element of Harmony for monetary gain. The courts could easily argue that if you did that, that would be in violation of our contract.”
“How so?” Dash asked confused. “If I don’t receive a direct payment from the hospital then I should be in the clear, then right?”
“They could still argue that if you had unfair access to better treatment and therefore more potential income than your competitors. Not to mention your league would be on you for cheating.” Twilight paused as if she knew what Dash was doing. “But enough stalling Dashy. Let’s get back of track before I spend the day talking about Equestrian politics.”
Rainbow Dash shifted towards the edge of the bench. Even with her soft interior she was not one to let out her deep feelings. Not to her best friend, not to anyone. Twilight should already know this, so what was she getting at?
“You’ve been feeling different since the injury, haven’t you?” Twilight asked. Dash didn’t need to say anything for her friend to come to that conclusion. She already had to know the answer was yes. She just saw the evidence.
“I don’t know what it is. I’ve become angrier, more tired.”
“Are you getting enough sleep?”
“Yeah. I’m still sleeping my normal eight hours. It’s like that fall zapped me of all my energy.”
Twilight’s head perked up. She didn’t need to say what they were both thinking. Rainbow Dash was showing signs of early depression.
“I’ve just been extremely pissed at myself lately.” Dash went on. She had spent that first bedridden night alone, deep in thought. Was it her nerves that got the better of her during that hoops section? Right before the crash her mind had wandered back to the previous season.
It was a performance that had huge implications for best performer. The one trophy that Rainbow Dash had coveted long before she had entered the competitive scene. Winning it would mean that she was the best professional flyer in the world. Looking back, she might have put too much pressure on herself to win. Family members touting her as the next Red Barron, didn’t help things either.
The weather ponies had predicted very little wind for the competition. That was bad news for Rainbow Dash, as her stunt that day relied on huge gusts. That didn’t bother her as much. She had medaled in worse conditions. Leading up to the event Dash felt very confident that she could win. So confident that she had called a press conference declaring that she would win handily. First mistake.
Not lowering her heart rate on the approach was the second. Usually she was more relaxed before takeoff. She needed to win. Not only for her family watching (the meet was in Cloudsdale), but for her best friends too. That was their first time seeing her preform. As she took off, everything felt normal. Her shoulders were a little sore from practice the day before, but that shouldn’t affect her flying.
Dash’s first few tricks had drawn a thunderous applause. Her style was to get the crowd going early, and often. Helped to win over boring judges. Then the hoops came. Then, and now hoops had always been Rainbow Dash’s worst area of performance. For some reason no matter how hard she tried, she could not get the correct angle of approach even fifty percent of the time during competition. In practice it was only seventy-five percent. Better yes, but still the lowest out of all professional flyers. Her already fast heartrate skyrocketed when the first hoop neared. This trick had no break time to clear for Dash to clear her mind. She just had to suck it up and gun it. The first hoop was the smallest, and therefore the hardest. She had designed it that way to make sure it would be smooth sailing once the first obstacle had been cleared. The stadium of ten-thousand held their breath. Most of them waiting to see the best flyer in Equestria fall flat on her face. Dash thought they should be heading towards the winners’ circle to watch her win gold. Dash closed her eyes for a brief second as she passed through the hoop, praying to Celestia that the judges didn’t see that. If they did that might lose her the title. Judges did not like it when ponies weren’t confident in their tricks. It did make sense in a way though. They were professionals after all, and by design should have supreme confidence in themselves. Turns out that was the mistake that not only cost Rainbow Dash her gold medal, but a medal in general. It was her worst finish of her career up to that point. After the judges announced the points, Dash stormed off far away from anyone.
She explained to Twilight in great detail all of her emotions in those few hours afterword. Her anxiety for what the press would say about her. The guilt of not even medaling after all that trash talk. The pain and embarrassment she put her family through after talking up their golden girl to anyone within earshot. The depression of coming so close to that MVP award. The anger of screwing it all up.
Twilight listened intensively reading between the lines. Dash was grateful for that. Not just any pony could read her mind the way Twi did.
“I think you would need some counselling before you start rehab.”
Rainbow Dash shook her head in disagreement. “Can’t I do both at the same time?”
“It’s possible, but that punishment is going to be brutal. I know you’re up for the task, but I’d rather not risk any more instability.”
Rainbow Dash tried to argue the point some more, but Twilight casually distanced herself from the conversation. Maybe she had a point. After all, her best friend was a known perfectionist who had spent days at a time without sleep doing research! Dash figured she might need to take a few weeks’ vacation, but she couldn’t let that idea come from some other pony. She needed to validate it herself.
“How about we go to the beach for a few weeks after I get my wing in a cast?” Dash offered. “I’m sure we all could use a break with how busy our lives have become.”
Twilight clapped her hooves quickly agreeing to the plan. “I can call some of my people to arrange something for us! It’s been forever since all seven of us hung out together!”
“All eight you mean?” Spike reminded her.
“Oh, sorry.” Twilight laughed.
Dash smiled. It made her feel warm inside to see her best friend in high spirits. She continued to smile. Ever since the injury she almost had forgotten what true happiness had felt like. If all it had taken to get her back on track was this simple deed, then Dash knew she would recover well. Maybe not before the season’s start, but Dash could safely say that she will indeed be able to fly again.