Return to Flight

by Outlaw Quadrant

Rating: teen
Tags: Romance, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Comedy, Slice of Life
Length: 92140

Rainbow Dash lives to push herself to the limits, consequences be damned. In one moment, she begins to find out how dire those can be and how difficult it is to regain what has been lost.

Passion for flight - Rainbow Dash wouldn't be who she is if she didn't love spreading her wings and fly.

However, one crash sets off a chain of events where she finds herself facing her greatest nemesis from within and she doesn't have her friends around for support. Instead, she turns to somepony else that she just met but may be the best qualified to assist. Together, they start developing a friendship and face challenges that may place them in more jeopardy than they could ever imagine.

Cover Art by AstralFray

Editing Assistance from: Shaleclaw, Azusa, krabynaby123 & Duel Monster

Comics related to this fan fiction universe: Return to Flight Series Comics

Published 2011-12-15 21:12:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-01-11 23:40:16 UTC

1 - Crash Landing

Every day is a good day for Wonderbolts training. That’s the credo that Rainbow Dash has always followed.

Today, on this early Monday afternoon, Ponyville’s climate schedule called for fierce and unpredictable winds. As expected, gusts ripped through the town, scattering anything not properly secured, be it leaves, litter or the umbrellas off the tables at the local cafe. Any sensible pegasus would have taken one look outside and either decided to stay home or to make any necessary trips for the day on hoof—anything to avoid flying in the unpredictable gales if at all possible.

Rainbow Dash was not what one would call a precautious, sensible pegasus.

In an open field north of Ponyville, Rainbow licked her hoof and raised it, sensing the air flow as a nearby sapling leaned back, fighting for its right to stay upright. At that moment, a massive gust snapped the trunk, the crack loud enough that the daredevil mare flinched as though lightning struck by her hooves. Once Rainbow spotted the source of the noise many yards away, she winced at the sight of the weather’s latest victim, its remains no more than splintered wood.

Any other time of the year, she might have considered calling this day a loss and taking a nap instead, preferably somewhere indoors. Unfortunately, her vacation from her job as Ponyville’s weather leader ended on Friday. Come Saturday morning was seven-straight days of steady rain—a whole week of long, hard, and dreary hours barking orders, pushing clouds and resolving problems resulting from a sustained downpour over a region which did not normally deal with that much precipitation in that span of time. With all that labor, there would be scant time to prepare for what she believed was her destiny, so these next few days were precious stones. She was in no mood to waste a single moment of them.

Chest swelling with bravery, Rainbow turned to her usual training session companion. “Well, Fluttershy, it’s not too bad, dontcha think?”

The yellow pegasus held onto her plentiful mane as if she was afraid the gusts would steal it. “Um, are you sure it’s safe to do this right now?”

“Huh?” Rainbow asked, speaking above the wind’s howl.

“Is this safe?” Fluttershy covered her mouth, realizing the gust was dying down. “There’s a lot of new pegasi on the patrol, and I know they’re trying their best, but—”

“What are you trying to say, Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked, her face inching closer. “Don’t tell me they can’t handle things without me!”

Another sudden gust of wind pushed down Fluttershy while stretching Rainbow’s cheeks wide.

“Well, maybe they need—” She got up, dusting off loose grass “—you know, a little more training?”

This was not the first time such sentiments had reached Rainbow’s ears. Just about everypony in town had complained about her staff at one point or another with problems ranging from unscheduled rainstorms to the surprise heat wave that brought sizzling temperatures to Ponyville in the middle of winter. They were by no means incompetent, but they needed some guidance on the more technical aspects about weather. Rainbow, being the action mare that she was, thought it would be better to learn by doing, rather than boring lectures. Besides more teaching meant less time for important Wonderbolt preparation.

“They’ll be just fine," Rainbow said. “I’m sure they don’t need me telling them what to do every single minute.” She pointed upwards, “Ok! For my first trick, I’m going right into the Bolt Super Loop n’ Dive!”

Fluttershy gasped. “Are you sure about this, Rainbow? Don’t you think it’s a little dangerous?”

“You worry too much,” replied Rainbow, patting her frightened friend on the shoulder. “It’ll be just like every other stunt I’ve done. I promise nothing’s going to go wrong.”

From afar, an orange blob on a scooter was approaching them at high speed, defying both the weather and road conditions with precise body leans and rapid wing beats.

Rainbow winced, “Uh, oh. Scoots.”

“Something wrong?” Fluttershy asked. “Are you afraid she’s gonna ask you again?”

“No.” She tousled her hair, “It’s just that I don’t know what to—”

Scootaloo skidded for a stop but the winds caused a wobble to the left. Releasing her grip on the handlebars, the filly jumped off the scooter and stumbled onto a dirt patch. Her hooves tip-toed across the surface until she finally came to a rest just as her ride tumbled right past her and landed flat in front of Fluttershy.

“I’m okay!” the Crusader said as she picked up her scooter. “Lousy weather, huh?”

Rainbow nodded slowly, “Uh, yeah. What are you doing out here? Aren’t you supposed to be at school right now?”

“You won’t believe what happened,” Scootaloo responded with a grin. “There was this big whoosh! and then half the roof collapsed!”

Fluttershy cusped her mouth. “Oh, no! Is everypony okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. Nothing that a few bandages couldn’t fix. But anyways, we got the rest of the day off. Isn’t that great?”

“But you’ll miss a few hours of lear—”

“So, Dash,” Scootaloo continued, ignoring Fluttershy. “Since I’m here, how about some flying lessons?”

The daredevil’s eyes darted left and right. “Well, I… you see, I’m kinda busy right now, Squirt.”

The words was a punch in the gut to her euphoria. “Oh. You are?” Scootaloo pawed the grass, “But you always say that. I mean, I thought you were on vacation right now.”

Rainbow cringed at the building of water in the filly’s eyes. “I am but… um, I was in the middle of some Wonderbolts training.” She wrapped one hoof around Scootaloo’s neck while using the other to rub her forelock. “C’mon. I need you to be my cheering section. You can do that for me, right?”

Her negative emotions wilted with every rub. “Ok,” Scootaloo giggled. “Let me show you what I can do!”

Scootaloo inhaled the air around her until her lungs ballooned to their maximum size. Then, the inevitable happened as the pegasus filly let loose a cacophony of shouting. “That was so awesome Rainbow Dash! You are the best—”

Rainbow shoved her hoof in Scootaloo's mouth. “Yeah, that will do, squirt." She turned in Fluttershy’s direction and winked at her. "You hear that? Now that's how it's done!”

Fluttershy, however, had more pressing concerns on her mind than her cheering voice’s volume. “Don’t you think you can do this stunt tomorrow?” she pleaded as her flowing mane flapped in the persistent breeze.

“No,” Rainbow answered flatly. “I can totally handle this! Just watch!”

With all matters settled, she cast her eyes towards the sky and closed them tight. This was her favorite moment. She could picture herself as a Wonderbolt awaiting the start of a show. She would be standing with her teammates in the entryway to the field of the Cloudsdale Cloudosseum. The open-air stadium crowd’s fervent cheers would echo in her ears as she and her comrades awaited their introductions. One-by-one, an announcer called their names until Rainbow was left standing in the tunnel, waiting to make her grand entrance.

The announcer would pause dramatically, stretching the moment as long as possible to build the anticipation. The crowd inside the arena would grow impatient, chanting Rainbow’s name repeatedly, as if to remind the emcee of the name of only the most important pony there that he was forgetting. Finally, the master of ceremonies would yield to the crowd’s demands and call her name with drawn-out emphasis.

She would rip through the fabric and then zoom over the crowds, leaving behind a sparkling rainbow contrail. Jaws would drop, hooves would clap, and her piece de resistance, the Sonic Rainboom, would make a few faint at its awesomeness and shake the stadium’s cloud architecture to its very foundation in a thunderous explosion of prismatic color.

The sound of her own wistful sigh brought her back to reality, reminding her it was just a fantasy. She was just plain, old Rainbow Dash, Ponyville’s resident Weather Manager, not an awesome and inspiring Wonderbolt...yet.

Drawing breath, she spread her wings and tensed her muscles in preparation for departure.

“It’s showtime!” Rainbow exclaimed, before vaulting herself into the sky with a mighty flap.

In seconds, she had rocketed upwards to a white cloud a few hundred feet above the ground. Just as her hooves touched the soft, white surface, an air blast did all it could to throw her off balance. Biting her lip, she looked down, only for the green world to shrink on her as though she was rocketing toward space. Another gust opened the floodgates holding back her doubts.

Ugh, maybe this isn’t a good idea after all. Maybe I can wait, or I could tell my team to… She stomped down on the cloud. No! I’ll never be a Wonderbolt if I let a little wind bother me; I have to be ready for anything!

For a few seconds, she focused within, demanding that anything hinting of nervousness be silent. Once all her vitals had sufficiently relaxed, she let herself fall off the cloud and then began twirling, keeping her limbs tucked flat against her body. As the wind howling in her ears rendered her deaf to her surroundings, her stomach twisted up in a knot. Her instincts demanded she swing her flight appendages open, but Rainbow refused, knowing this was all part of the plan.

When Rainbow reached the altitude of the surrounding treeline, she opened her wings with a snap, but only to generate lift for a loop. As she ascended upwards, she continued her rotation, but gravity ate away at the momentum she gained on her downward trek.

Flap! Her body told her.

No! Her mind replied, as the whole point was to complete the maneuver using only her momentum to see her through.

Defying her body’s urgent warnings that she was approaching a deadly stall, she persisted until she reached the loop’s apex, where time slowed to a crawl. Only now could she hear the wonderful melody that was Scootaloo’s and Fluttershy’s excited gasps, feel her body lighter than a feather and experience the smug satisfaction of reaching this far in the stunt with no problems.

Now came the hard part: she would nose down and continue the loop, ultimately rounding it out completely inverted, mere inches from the ground. This was the portion that separated the wannabe stunt ponies with the ones destined to fly amongst the greatest: a precise, blind set of maneuvers requiring intense concentration, willpower, and sheer bravery. One mistake here meant full wingpower for a hastened level-off, the equivalent of a white flag, or worse, disaster at the bottom.

Time hit the play button and she started her descent. Gravity added a helpful dose of velocity, but the wind decided to pour some extra.

No matter, she thought. With the ground fast approaching, Rainbow adjusted her wing profile for more drag, only for a downdraft to ramp up her speed, triggering alarms in her head.

Abort! Abort!

She jammed the throttles to full and pulled upwards, but all that loomed in her vision was the fast-approaching terrain beneath her. Surpassing the known limits of her strength, she wrestled even harder to slow her descent, but she was out of time. All restraints lost on her vocabulary, she opened her mouth to curse her luck.

"Oh, horse—”

Equestria disappeared all around Rainbow, replaced by silent darkness. For an instant, she noticed images flashing within sight so fast, she couldn’t begin to make them out. She strained to decipher them, but her mind yanked them away with such force, it brought her back into the conscious world.

"Don't get up just yet,” said a peaceful but distorted voice.

Rainbow opened her mouth to speak, but found she struggled with each word. "Who's… who’s talking? Where am… where am I?"

"It’s Nurse Redheart. You're at the Ponyville Clinic."

"The… the clinic?” She wriggled her back and felt a hard, smooth surface beneath her. “What am I… doing here?"

"Don't you remember what happened?"

At the nurse’s prompt, Rainbow thought back to the recent events still fresh in her mind but was surprised to discover she could not remember doing anything recently that would warrant a trip to the hospital. That’s odd. Maybe somepony crashed into me or something? I’m drawing a blank here! C’mon, Rainbow, think!

She thought harder, but the constant pounding in her head made thinking in general a painfully unpleasant task. Fighting back the urge to panic rising in her chest, Rainbow had to admit defeat. “I-I’m not sure what happened, Nurse Redheart! I can’t remember!”

“Easy now,” the nurse soothed. "From what Fluttershy told me, you crashed in the middle of a stunt. When I arrived, it looked like you were in shock, so I sedated you. Does that ring a bell?"

The nurse’s words were foreign as her environment. "I… don’t think so.”

"Do you what day it is?"

Probing deeper into her mind, she discovered the latest available memory: breakfast at a local café she usually visited on weekends. "Sunday?" she guessed.

"It’s Monday,” corrected Redheart, her voice dripping with nervousness. She leaned in closer. “Do you know who you are?"

“I’m Rainbow Dash,” she boasted with what little strength she had, “only the best flyer in Equestria."

Redheart chuckled. "That’s a relief, best flyer in Equestria." The nurse carefully assisted her patient into a seated position. “Just stay put for a few minutes while I go over my notes, okay?”

Rainbow acknowledged her with a nod, allowing Redheart to walk away. She rubbed her eyes blearily, and what had been a kaleidoscope of moving hues converged into an examination room painted powder blue with flower and butterfly patterns scattered across the walls. On one end was her attendant, scribbling away on a clipboard laid on a countertop beside a jar of cotton swabs and a series of small medical instruments. On the side, she spotted a general pegasus pony anatomy chart and an x-ray illuminator, although there was nothing on it.

"Rainbow?” said Redheart, returning with her written diagnosis on hoof. “Based on my examination, you have a moderate concussion, resulting in your headache and short-term memory loss. I have some pain medication for the headache, but for your memories, you’ll just have to wait and see if they’ll come back.” She flipped over to the next page. “You also have a few scratches here and there, but I took care of those already, so that shouldn’t be any trouble.” She grabbed something black, and plastered it over the x-ray device. “As for you right wing—“

Adrenaline snapped Rainbow out of her daze. “My wing?” she screeched. Finally, she noticed the skin-tight, white cast holding her appendages in place. Panic made her try to escape the unwanted restraint, but a dull, throbbing pain thwarted her attempt.

"Please, don't do that!" implored Redheart.

When she stopped, a sound that resembled a snapping twig reverberated within her mind, a possible indication that her flying days could be numbered indefinitely. "Umm, did I…” A lump went down her throat. “… umm, you know?”

Nurse Redheart put a hoof on her shoulder. “Rainbow, consider yourself one lucky mare. It’s a sprain along with some swelling. Not the best of news, but at least nothing’s broken.”

She swiped her forehead, relieved that this wasn’t a worst case scenario.

"However, you won’t be flying around any time soon. Typical recovery time’s around two to three weeks, so in the meantime, that cast stays on you, got it?”

That timeline gave Rainbow’s optimism a strike in the gut. "But—”

"No buts,” Redheart snapped with an authoritative tone. “I already scheduled you an appointment next Monday to check on you. If I believe you’ve making enough progress, I’ll remove the cast, but until then, the cast stays on! Understand?"

Rainbow might not have had much fashion sense, but even she thought the restraint was ghastly. “But—”

Redheart glared at her patient, “No buts, Rainbow! I mean it! Don’t make me make house calls every day!”

Even the brash mare was no match for the stern nurse, especially with a threat that Rainbow believed had merit. "Oh, all right," she muttered, looking away.

Nurse Redheart placed a bag around her neck. "This should have enough medicine for the entire week. I’ll also inform the Weather Committee that you’ll be off-duty indefinitely.”

She gulped as she realized her accident came at a bad time. Ponyville’s weather team would be without its leader at a time when she would be needed the most. Already, she believed the workload was a lot for her squad—even with her assistance—so she could only imagine the impending disasters that would occur. "Uh oh. My bosses are going to have my flank on a platter for this."

Redheart gave her a reassuring pat. “Don’t worry about that. I’m sure they’ll figure out something. Just focus on taking it easy for the next few days.” She offered her hoof. “C’mon. I’ll help you outside. Your friends are anxious to see you.”

Rainbow’s head fell with her spirits. She did not want her friends to see her in such a pathetic, weakened state. This was humiliating enough already! After a long moan, she held onto the nurse, who helped her off the padded examination table. When she tried to stand, her legs buckled beneath her, their strength sapped by whatever Nurse Redheart sedated her with.

It took a second to reorganize her wobbly limbs beneath her, but eventually Rainbow gave Redheart the okay and allowed the nurse to escort her out of the room and into a hallway. There, Rainbow could finally distinguish the source of a tinny, looping noise that was faint within the room’s confines: muzak playing over the PA system. Redheart guided her left, and down the corridor past three other doors—all shut to prevent any prismatic ponies from eavesdropping.

With a right, the two arrived at the waiting room: an area adorned with green plants, abstract art on the walls and rows of cushioned benches where Rainbow’s friends had each taken a seat, with the exceptions of Pinkie Pie and Spike. The party pony was bouncing around the room, talking with each pony as if she knew them her whole life, while the small dragon tailed her, holding balloons. He saw Rainbow first, so he called attention to her arrival, prompting her friends to surround her and begin an interrogation.

Redheart raised her hoof in between the conversation, and bellowed, "Now hold on, everypony, please!”

Everypony ceded to the authoritative mare’s terse command.

Her tone softened, “I’m sure you have a lot of questions, but Rainbow’s not in a condition to answer much right now, so go easy on her.”

The nurse then briefed everypony in on Rainbow’s diagnosis, taking them on a rollercoaster of emotions.

As she finished, “…and make sure she keeps that cast on!” Redheart turned to Rainbow, who found comfort examining the tiled floor. “You’ll be just fine. If you’re lucky, you’ll be back in the skies the next time I see you.”

A faint smile flashed on Rainbow’s face. While Nurse Redheart was strict with her patients, she proved to be a constant source of encouragement. No matter how many times Rainbow fell, she was there to pick her up, patch up the scars, and send her off on a high note.

After a goodbye, Redheart turned her attention to her next patient on the roster, Derpy. Once the nurse noticed her green face, and the obvious stomach pain, she facehoofed, and then took her patient into the hallway. Their tones were hushed, but that did nothing to stop Rainbow from catching the beginning of their conversation.

“Another bad muffin batch, I presume?”

“I just don’t know what went wrong,” the patient whined as she and the nurse disappeared into a vacant examination room and closed the door behind them.

Rainbow turned her attention back to her friends standing in front of her. Twilight opened her mouth, no doubt to deliver a lecture on the dangers of performing aerial stunts in perilous weather conditions. Rainbow braced herself for the second scolding she was about to receive courtesy of one of her best friends, when Twilight closed her mouth.

An uneasy silence befell the group, and nopony seemed to know how to break it. Rainbow shifted on her hooves to the rhythm of the cheesy ambient music; a lame, but better alternative to starting a lengthy conversation with her friends. She wanted nothing more than to find an empty space and wallow in her sorrows in private, or to find something that would release her from the restraints that proved just as uncomfortable as the injury itself.

“So, um, how are you feeling?” Twilight finally inquired rather lamely, breaking the silence.

So much for getting out of here for a moment to myself!

Rainbow rolled her bloodshot eyes. "What do you think, Twilight? I can’t fly, and I have to wear this dumb cast. This totally stinks!"

Applejack had no qualms in putting in her two bits. "Well, you should have thought of that before you—”

Rarity pulled back the orange mare. “Not now, dear,” she whispered.

Pinkie presented a pink box along with an envelope. "I made a cake for you, and had everypony in town sign a get-well card!"

"You mean the whole town knows?” Rainbow screeched in horror. “What are you guys trying to do? Make me Ponyville’s next laughingstock?"

Applejack growled, "Why you ungrateful—”

Twilight conjured tape, reducing the remainder of Applejack’s rant down to an angry mumble. However, Rainbow got the hint, and calmed herself down.

"Sorry, Pinkie. Thanks, but I don't feel like eating right now."

“Okay!” Pinkie shoved the card in Rainbow’s medicine bag, then tied the balloons around her tail, eliciting some sniggers from the other ponies in the room.

“This is so embarrassing," muttered Rainbow, covering her face in shame.

With a gesture from Twilight, the band of friends exited the clinic. Immediately, the wind swooped in for an attack, taking a few balloons away. As Rainbow watched them leave, something dawned on her.

"Umm, guys, how am I going to get home?" she asked, scratching her forelock.

Twilight raised her hoof, as she had expected the question. “My first idea was to take you up there on my hot-air balloon, but with all this wind, that’s probably not a good idea. Besides, we thought you would want some company, so Fluttershy was gracious enough to offer her place for you to stay.”

“If...if you want, Rainbow,” Fluttershy added.

Rainbow mulled it over. There was nothing wrong with her abode in the sky, except she didn’t spend much time there. Rather, she embraced the open skies as her usual hangout, an area she could no longer reach. Just the thought of being reliant on somepony to bring her down every day made the choice an easy one.

“Well, guess I’m crashing your place then, Fluttershy.”

“That’s great!” exclaimed Fluttershy as she gave Rainbow a quick hug. “Do you want me to cancel my Manehattan trip too, so you don’t feel all sad and lonely?

Everypony gasped, except for Rainbow. She could only manage to mumble the name of the place where all her friends had chosen as a vacation destination to escape the upcoming Ponyville rains. The timeframe proved especially good for Fluttershy and Rarity, as the big city was hosting a major fashion show, something that both mares prattled about for the last week. Rainbow wasn’t going to be the wrecking ball that would smash everypony’s plans into pieces. After all, she had already told them before that she was cool with them going off on a trip without her.

“I’ll be just fine,” replied Rainbow with confidence. Her injuries then reminded her that, in fact, she was far from it. “Ugh, darn it,” she said through clenched teeth. “What exactly was I doing anyways?”

“So you really don’t remember?” inquired Twilight.

Rainbow shook her head.

“No, today’s a complete blank. I think Nurse Redheart mentioned something about it earlier, but I can’t remember. If I’m this beat-up though, I must have either really messed up on a stunt or somepony dropped an anvil on me.”

Fluttershy confirmed the former with a nod. “You were doing the Bolt Super Loop n’ Dive. Scootaloo and I saw you lose control on the way down.”

If she wasn’t heavily sedated, Rainbow would’ve exploded for embarrassing herself in front of her number one fan. “You mean she saw me crash?”

“She did. I took her home about an hour ago.”

This was too much. Rainbow slapped herself, a last ditch effort to wish everything was a bad nightmare, but it was quite real indeed. She wanted nothing more than to hide in some dark corner, away from it all. “Let’s go, Fluttershy. I need a nap. A long nap.”

After the obligatory goodbyes, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, and Spike watched in silence as they watched their two friends slowly walk down the trail leading out of town. It was odd, almost depressing seeing Rainbow Dash following Fluttershy at a snail’s pace as a prisoner of the ground rather than blasting off into another of her reckless endeavours. Once the departing mares left earshot, Spike waved his hands to draw the attention of the ponies around him.

"Hey, if you don't mind me asking, is this the first time Rainbow injured herself like this? I would’ve thought she’d be used to it by now, but she looked really down."

It was an innocuous question, yet it forced Rainbow’s friends to ponder every instance of the brash Pegasus banging into walls, ceilings, signs, cliff faces, and every other imaginable obstacle in Equestria.

"Well, I guess she's been lucky all this time,” said Applejack. She shook her head. “I told that mare her luck was gonna run out one day, if she kept pushing it too far.”

Rarity added, "Maybe the poor dear will be more careful next time. Being grounded is like me not being able to stitch dresses.” She leaned back and threw her hoof to her forehead dramatically. “Oh, what a frightening thought! Why must I think of such horrible things?”

Twilight scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, sure! Rainbow Dash learns a lesson about not flying like an absolute maniac. I'm sure that's going on the next friendship report!"

“Well,” Applejack began as she clung to her hat to prevent the wind from stealing it, “what do you ladies think about what Fluttershy said about staying in Ponyville? Personally, I’d sure hate leavin’ Rainbow behind like this, even if it’s her own fault. Do you think we should just cancel the whole thing?”

Twilight rubbed her chin. “I’m not sure. I have the itinerary set, bought the train tickets, and made all the necessary arrangements here. Besides, Rainbow said she’d be fine, and you know how upset she gets when we keep bugging her about things.”

“I suppose you’re right,” agreed Rarity. “Rainbow wouldn’t want us to babysit her like she was a foal. If she does change her mind, it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle. We don’t leave until Friday anyway, so there’s plenty of time.”

“Couldn’t agree with you more!” replied Spike. The sound of his stomach halted any further flattery. “Oops. I guess all this worrying has made me hungry! Hey, how about some of that cake, Pinkie?"

They all turned to the baker, only to find her tossing the box toward a trash can, which then toppled over from the impact and rolled down an alleyway. Chocolate frosting dripped off Pinkie’s lips, which made a few strands from Twilight’s hair pop up.

"P-Pinkie?” stammered Twilight. “You ate it all?”

Pinkie licked her mouth clean. "No, silly! That was the backup cake!" She brought out another box out of thin air before opening it, revealing another round confection. "Dig in, everypony!"

Twilight grabbed a slice, as her eyebrow rose up. "Backup cake? Pinkie, why would you need—” She took a bite of the soft, moist dessert. Tasty cake overruled logic. “Love the idea, Pinkie.”

With the winds ramping up, everypony grabbed their respective slices and made their way to their homes. All were content that Rainbow Dash had escaped the worst, but wondered whether she’d injured more than just her wing.

Author's Note

Hi there!

If you're a new reader to the Return to Flight series, this is the revised version of Return to Flight. If you want to see the original version, you can download it here:

Go to original version

2 - Warning Light

For Rainbow Dash, sleep was a respite from all the worries in the world. It was an opportunity to take a load off her body and soul, a time to relax and forget her troubles through fantasies whose limits were defined only by her imagination. Thoroughly battered by the day’s events in every way imaginable, she needed nothing more than a long rest this Monday night to recover.

Unfortunately, even sleep eluded her tonight, as if it too was determined to see her suffer.

Laying on a green chaise lounger within the confines of Fluttershy’s living room, Rainbow found herself spending many hours exploring the inside of her eyelids. Her medication was only strong enough to dull her headache; the constant throbbing from her wings kept the train to dreamland from pulling into the station. A midnight flight would normally do the trick, but with that a clear impossibility, a moonlight walk would have to do instead.

Rainbow uncurled herself from her resting position with a suppressed groan and hopped to the floor as softly as she could. Fluttershy was sound asleep upstairs, and Rainbow didn’t want to wake her. She tiptoed to the door, undid the latch, and gave it the softest nudge possible.

Creeeeeeaaaaak! It groaned as it swung open.

Rainbow cringed and turned her ears upwards to listen for any stirring upstairs. There was none. Encouraged that her friend hadn’t come down with a bat on hoof, Rainbow stepped out into the cool night, allowing the door to close with a whisper-quiet click.

It was an hour of mindless wandering on the trails around Fluttershy’s house before Rainbow Dash returned for another attempt at catching some shuteye. While she finally succumbed to sleep, the usual dreams of performing death-defying feats for a ravenous audience, however, did not appear. Rather, it was the same void darkness that replaced Monday’s memories, and it held the same meaning as before: nothing at all.

A rhythmic pitter-patter dragged Rainbow from her slumber and back into the waking world. Casting her white blanket aside, she glanced at the old-fashioned wooden clock adorning the wall by the stairs. Ten-thirty. Turning the other direction, she found an unwanted surprise: rain trickling down the window pane. As if for emphasis, a thunderclap echoed through the room.

Rainbow wrinkled her nose.

Tuesday’s forecast called for a brief sprinkle in the wee hours of the morning, but that should have cleared up at least an hour ago. Rainbow could pretty much guess which ponies from her team could mess up the weather that badly. Once she threw the window open and scanned the skies, she confirmed the culprits. Even though she knew they would not be able to hear her at this distance, she still shouted at them through the storm.

“Raindrops! Thunderlane! You--”

Her wings tried opening reflexively, as they often did in these situations, but all that did was remind her that she was in no condition to do so.

“Owww, oww, owww!’ she moaned, banging her hooves on the windowsill to provide her pain an outlet that was not through her tear ducts. After all, Dash does not cry.

Once the throbbing subsided, Rainbow reached for three pill containers on the adjacent coffee table. As she ingested the medicine, Fluttershy came through the front door with a dripping, yellow umbrella mounted on her work saddle.

A small, white rabbit pattered down the stairs, and then hopped onto the homeowner’s back. With practiced precision, Angel unclasped the umbrella with his mouth and took it upstairs.

“Good morning, Rainbow,” greeted Fluttershy, beaming wide. “Did you sleep well?”

Rainbow snorted indignantly.

Fluttershy’s ears drooped. “Oh... I’m terribly sorry! You must have been just miserable last night! I’ll see if I can find you some softer pillows.” She slipped into another room for some rummaging.

“Thanks, Fluttershy,” Rainbow sighed. “That would be great.”

“So, did your memories come back?”

“Well…” Rainbow delved into her mind in search of what happened the day before. There was eating at the café on Sunday, then nothing, then waking up in the hospital. This time, however, something seemed different, but she could not quite put her hoof on what it was. Must be my imagination.

“I guess not,” Rainbow sighed. “But I suppose the less I know about what happened, the better.”

Fluttershy emerged from the other room with several pillows tucked under her wings and immediately went to work adding them to Rainbow’s bedding. Privately, she had her reservations about Rainbow’s missing memories, but reason and her non-confrontational nature held her tongue. Once Rainbow had an idea in her mind, even the most logical suggestions were no guarantee to change it. She needed to relax as much as possible, and raising a counterpoint would only add unnecessary stress to the situation. She already knew she crashed, so any details about said accident would be trivial.

“I suppose you’re right. I promise I won’t mention your crash ever again, okay?”

“Fine by me.”

As Fluttershy added the last pillow to her resting place, Rainbow laid back down and allowed herself a long, luxurious stretch.

“Ah, that’s much better!” she said with a contented sigh. “Thanks, Fluttershy.”

“Are you sure you have enough pillows? I have a few more I can get from my bedroom if you need--”

“Naw, this is good, Fluttershy,” Rainbow interrupted, punctuating her sentence with a yawn and smile. “I think I’ll sleep just a little bit more, though.”

Her upbeat mood soured, however, once some raindrops found their way through the open window and onto her face.

“Let me take care of that,” said Fluttershy, as she reached over and pulled it closed.

Rainbow crossed her hooves. “Lousy Raindrops and Thunderlane! Those two are always screwing things up! How am I supposed to yell at them from down here?”

“Actually,” Fluttershy chimed, “you don’t have to worry about that. You see, the Weather Committee is searching for somepony that can fill in for you for the—”

“What?!” Rainbow exclaimed.

She would have continued right into a full-blown rant, but the searing pain caused by jostling her injured wing in her excitement cut that plan short. She gritted her teeth and clenched her eyes shut to prevent any tears from leaking out.

Fluttershy shook her shoulder. “Oh, please don’t get mad! It’s not good for you!”

While Rainbow managed to calm her raging emotions, the thought of somepony else managing her team still left a bad taste in her mouth. Sure, her position as the regional weather manager was tedious at times, but as with Twilight and her library, Rainbow had her way of handling the weather. If somepony else was calling the shots, they would pollute the entire operation with their own methods! She could end up having to clean up a mess left by an inexperienced temp, or worse yet, the pony could do such an amazing job that the Committee would decide to make the replacement permanent! With her recent luck, the latter would come true. Thanks to a group of unsympathetic ponies, her distinction as a weather ace could take a hit as well.

Nearly overwhelmed by yet another blow to her self-esteem, she wrapped a blanket around herself and turned away from her friend.

“Umm, Rainbow?” Fluttershy inquired, leaning in closer.

“Go away,” she mumbled. There was no way she could face Fluttershy now, not without crying.

Rainbow waited until she heard Fluttershy’s slow retreat up the stairs. She waited a few seconds more, then kicked the lounger’s side in frustration.

This stinks! How could they do this to me? Haven’t I suffered enough?

The threatening tears finally trickled down Rainbow’s cheeks. Her reputation as the best flier in Ponyville was no-doubt ruined by now. She shut her eyes in hopes of finding the comforting respite of sleep. It had failed to cleanse her mind the night before, but at least it would occupy time that would otherwise be spent worrying about things that were now beyond her control.

Unless it follows me into my dreams... Rainbow shook her head violently at the thought. No! Thinking about it will only give me nightmares.

She shifted her position to lessen the throbbing sensation from her injured wing and make herself more comfortable. Rainbow wasn’t sure if it was the medicine or just her own emotional exhaustion, but slowly, she felt the world grow hazy, and soon she was fast asleep.

Sunlight.

It penetrated her eyelids and roused her from her dreamless sleep. Still unready to face the troubles plaguing her, she threw a foreleg over her face in an effort to block out the merciless light so she could continue her emotional respite. She lay there in that position for a few moments before coming to the conclusion that it was no use; she was awake, and she would be for awhile.

Reluctantly, she cracked open her eyes. The sun was now at its zenith in the Equestrian sky, its brilliant light bathing the room in a warm glow. Too warm for Dash’s tastes--she wished Thunderlane and Raindrops had just let the rain continue, even if it was contrary to the schedule. Once she adjusted to the surrounding brightness, she became aware of an unfamiliar aroma from the kitchen that made her stomach rumble cavernously.

“Hey, Fluttershy?” she called. “Whatcha making in there? Could you bring me a bowl of whatever that is?”

Her only reply came from birds singing their various melodies outside.

Ugh, must I do everything myself? As she rose from the lounger for a stretch, she noticed a note on flowery stationary laying on top of the coffee table:

***

Rainbow Dash,

I have some errands to run today, but I left some soup for you in the kitchen. I know this is hard on you, but please keep yourself busy. You can always see Rarity and model some dresses for her. I’m sure Pinkie can let you help plan for her next party, whenever that is. Applejack may need a helping hoof at the apple stand. She looked quite busy this morning. Twilight has a stargazing session before dawn tomorrow. Maybe you can help me tend to some animals, and if you change your mind, I can stay behind and watch over you. I can always go to Manehattan some other time.

Your friend,

Fluttershy

***

The letter brought a small smile to her face. She was fortunate to have the kind and gentle pony as a friend. After reading the last part, though, she crumpled up the sheet and tossed it in the trash bin across the room.

No way, Fluttershy! Just because I screwed up, doesn’t mean you have to suffer!

Rainbow stretched her aching limbs a second time before wandering into the kitchen in search of something to fill her empty tummy. A small, silver pot was simmering quietly on the stovetop, and judging by the smell, it was also the source of the tantalizing aroma that was permeating the house. Spurred by a mixture of hunger and curiosity, she cracked the lid open for a peek. Inside was a creamy, green broth, bubbling idly as it awaited consumption.

“Pea soup?” Rainbow gagged. She slammed the lid back down as if the pot’s contents were going to jump out and grab her. “Doesn’t she know I don’t like peas?”

Something furry jabbed her hoof.

“Huh?”

Confused, Rainbow looked down to find Angel glaring up at her and bickering with those rabbit sounds he made. She presumed Angel didn’t appreciate her comments, but Rainbow had no love for cheap shots, even if they felt like somepony jabbing her with a cotton swab.

“Why you little… ow, ow, ow! My wing!”

Angel snickered as Rainbow revelled in the self-inflicted pain caused by her irritated outburst.

“I’ll show you!” she growled as she fought to shake off the piercing pain shooting up her wing.

Angel wasn’t about to stick around for Rainbow to recover, however. He gave her another round of nickering, and then scurried away with a proud grin on his face. Fluttershy’s honor had been successfully defended from the rude cyan mare; if only he could have made her eat the soup that had been prepared with such love and affection.

Rainbow shook her hoof as the bunny retreated up the stairs.

“Yeah, you better run!” she called after him, before punctuating her sentence with a far less spirited “ouch.”

With her stomach voicing its discontent even louder than before, Rainbow opened the white door leading to Fluttershy’s pantry in hopes of finding something more palatable.

She found a green apple, which she took out for a hearty bite. Immediately, she spat out mushy brown, and tossed the rest in a nearby wastebasket.

“Yuck! How long has that’s been there?”Her stomach then griped again.

Great! Now I’m craving apples, but all my bits are up in my house. Maybe I could ask Applejack for some free ones? Oh, wait! Rainbow examined her bandages. Darnit! I don’t want ponies seeing me like this!

That was of no concern to her belly, however. It wanted something, now. Rainbow took one last peek at the green slop before marching through the front door. She was starving, but not desperate. Even if she were, putrid apples, ice shavings, and pillow stuffing were higher in the hierarchy than pea soup.

Once outside, Rainbow started down the dirt path toward Ponyville. It was a winding path that lacked the traffic of the other major roads that snaked in and around the town—good for avoiding unwanted attention but at the cost of a longer travel time. Her wings normally enabled her to travel from Fluttershy’s to the Ponyville marketplace in a few minutes, but a trip on hoof would take closer to half an hour.

Soon enough, she found herself thoroughly bored and searching for something—almost anything, really—to occupy her mind with while she plodded towards town. Other than a few trees that appeared to have been bent during a powerful windstorm and the occasional noises from the region’s indigenous critters, nothing near the ground grabbed her interest. Up above was something a little more fascinating: some dark clouds drifting in the same direction she walked.

Hah! Race ya! she mentally challenged the clouds. Three, two, one...

“Go!”

At her shout, she took off (on hoof), making for gallop speed. Unfortunately, that’s when her head and wing reminded her that she was not in a condition for any strenuous activity, so she cantered down to a slow trot and resumed the drudgery that was her journey for a crispy Apple Family apple.

As she approached a section where the path encircled a fountain, Rainbow stumbled across her first sighting of potential trouble, Bon-Bon and Lyra exchanging gossip. They spared no time making poorly disguised glances in Rainbow’s direction.

“What are you looking at?” Rainbow snipped.

“How rude,” Bon-Bon answered, raising her muzzle. She left, followed by Lyra, who expressed similar sentiments in Rainbow’s direction.

While that brief interaction ended poorly, at least no other ponies witnessed the exchange. Her attitude would be the more of the topic of gossip than her cast, and that would surprise nopony.

Rainbow resumed her unremarkable travel toward the town’s center, following the gentle rises and falls of the road. The dark clouds she attempted to race had reached the bridge over the river marking the town limits; she would arrive at the crossing three minutes later. Then her attention drifted downwards, as another cloud came travelling in her direction. This one was composed of dust and the pony responsible its creation was riding a scooter powered by her wings.

“Why me?” Rainbow moaned, slapping her head. That pea soup back in Fluttershy’s kitchen sounded quite appetizing now.

A few feet away from her idol, Scootaloo twisted the scooter into a 360 and stuck the landing with nary a bobble.

“Liked that, didn’t you?” she said smugly, wiping the dust off her helmet.

Rainbow shrugged, “It was okay, I guess.”

“Fluttershy filled me in on everything this morning. Are you really going to be out three weeks?”

Given how excruciating it was right now to move her damaged wing an inch, that timeframe sounded like a reasonable estimate. Then again, she wasn’t admitting that at the expense of her reputation.

“Of course not! Just you wait! I’ll be flying by next week!”

Scootaloo ate up her words as though they were ice cream.

“That’s great, Rainbow! So, since you don’t have anything to do—” she leaned in and grinned “—can I have some flying lessons now?”

Walls closed in on Rainbow. She had her reasons, except they weren’t much better than telling a lie. Falsehoods had been reliable all this time: using them again was a no-brainer.

“I would but I, umm… I already have… things planned for the next few days. Yeah, things! You see—”

“Why won’t you teach me?” Scootaloo interrupted, rubbing her hoof. Her purples eyes trembled as a small flame flickered alive within them. “All I want is to learn from the greatest flier there is, and all you do is tell me no every single time! Why, Rainbow, why?”

She opened her mouth, but her words chose this moment to fail her and her clever response came out as a jumbled series of babbling and voice cracks. Scootaloo was demanding the truth, but Rainbow wasn’t ready to confront that. Too much was happening to her at the moment, and spilling the beans would only add fuel to the raging inferno systematically burning every last scrap of her self-image. In desperation, Rainbow crafted another tall story, and then tried presenting it.

Scootaloo stomped the ground. “Just stop! You know what? I don’t care anymore! I don’t need your help anyway! In fact, I’ll find a way to be a better flier than you!” She hopped back onto her scooter.

Rainbow reached out to her. “Wait! You don’t understand! I—”

The filly blasted off, covering the cyan mare with dust.

After coughing out all foreign particles that had found their way into her lungs, Rainbow watched her biggest fan make a right at the nearby intersection and down a path that straddled an open, green field. While guilt crept into her consciousness, something else took precedence: a sense that the area had some strange familiarly to it. She knew she was at was her usual training spot, but there was a connection between the open field and the departing Scootaloo.

“That’s right. Fluttershy said she saw me crash, but I don’t remember that at all.”

Suddenly, the gears in her mind began turning. Soon, it produced moving pictures, indecipherable thanks to constant choppiness, but that stabilized over time. Rainbow then could recognize the orange blob: it was none other than her upset fan. However, she was cheering for her, quite loudly in fact. On her left was another familiar figure, the dependably concerned friend. In seconds, they were distant dots, for she was high above them in the skies.

“Wait a minute. Is this—”

A sudden wave of nausea overtook her, strong enough that she collapsed onto the road. Her heart skipped beats while her lungs struggled as though she climbed too far into the skies. A small earthquake from within made her convulse, but it was brief in duration. Moments later, all the other ailments disappeared, save for residual fear and confusion.

“What was—” Rainbow panted, clutching her chest “—what was that?”

She could come up with two possibilities: the prescribed medications had powerful side-effects that had begun manifesting or her body was going bezerk without food. As if on cue, her belly rumbled again, so she assumed the latter. “All right, all right! I’m going!”

Satisfied with her diagnosis, she dusted herself off, and then resumed the trek down the pebble-laden road. As it led to a residential area, she wondered where was the usual afternoon traffic. Other than a few young ponies playing a game of tag, the only signs of life were an old stallion fast asleep in a rocking chair and somepony humming a tune while watering their garden. Rainbow couldn’t help but grin to herself in appreciation of small miracles. The few residents milling around ignored her the rest of the journey, although their numbers swelled when she approached the marketplace.

Whoa! Talk about busy! Everypony must be stocking up for next week!

All around, customers clamored for whatever wares the local merchants were selling at their booths, including the apple stand. To Rainbow’s dismay, the barrels on the cart lay empty, and the one behind Applejack had a little more than a dozen. With supply clearly running low and demand reaching new heights, the hungry ponies in the line had resorted competing for who could shout their order the loudest.

“Hold your horses, everypony,” Applejack pleaded with unruly crowd. “I’ll be with ya in a second!” When she spotted her friend, her eyes widened.

Rainbow ran up to her, smacking her lips. “Hey, AJ! Listen, I know you’re busy and all, but you think I could nab—”

“Oh, good! You’re here!” She tossed Rainbow a white apron. “I’m almost out of apples, and for some reason, Big Macintosh hasn’t come back with the next cart. Take care of the stand while I look for him, will ya? Thanks a lot, Rainbow!”

Without so much as waiting for a response, the cowpony made a beeline for the road back to her family’s farm.

“Hold on!” shouted Rainbow, waving her hooves in the air. “I only wanted—”

“Don’t worry!” Applejack called over her shoulder. ”The stand practically runs by itself!”

The stand’s patrons turned to the unwilling volunteer, demanding prompt service. Rainbow buried her face on the counter. Should she bolt on her new post? Her self-image said yes, but her unwavering loyalty stomped that idea out quickly. There was no way the one-and-only Rainbow Dash would leave her friends hanging!

Sighing at her misfortune of being at the wrong place at the right time, she put on the apron while the waiting customers chanted their impatience.

“We want apples! We want apples! We want apples!”

Rainbow slammed her hooves down on the stall’s wooden surface.

“Hey! Pipe down or no apples for anypony!” This brought the crowd under control, but the same couldn’t be said about her wing. “...ow.”

It had been nearly an hour of Tartarus for Rainbow by the time Applejack appeared over the road’s crest and into the marketplace. Behind her was the most glorious sight anypony had ever beheld: Big Macintosh with a cartful of apples in tow. Salvation was at hoof, and it had brought ample food! When the patrons heard the wheels clanging over the cobblestone, they greeted the pair with a raucous cheer.

“What in tarnation?” said Applejack, raising an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you missed me that much!”

The cowmare approached Rainbow, “Sorry ‘bout the wait. One of cart’s wheels broke, so we had to put a new one in. Thanks for filling in for me.”

Rainbow leaned forward, repeatedly pointing her muzzle at the juice red fruit. She didn’t need to ask for a free apple, she deserved it! “And?”

Applejack smile wide, “Oh, no thanks. I can take over from here.”

With a snort, Rainbow tossed Applejack the apron. She marched toward nearby Sugarcube Corner, each stomp harder than the last.

“Um, okay then,” replied Applejack with a shrug. She peeked into the barrel behind the cart, now empty. “Now, you did sell the apples and not eat them, right?”

Rainbow turned around, clenching her teeth. Now she regretting not pilfering the stock when she had the chance. “Yeah, yeah, but all these ponies were a total pain! I worked my rump off, and they didn’t even give me a tip!”

A voice within the crowd shouted, “Here’s one! Be nice to us!”

“Who said—” Oh, horse apples! “—Owie! Owie! Owie! Ow!”

Based on the pony cowering behind the floral stand, Rainbow identified Caramel as the culprit. No surprise, he was quick on the trigger on complaining but hid the moment anypony confronted him on it. Fortunately for him, Rainbow’s wings disallowed any verbal or physical retaliation without worsening her injury. Therefore, all she could do is stick her tongue his way before retreating toward Sugarcube Corner. After all, her stomach was growling at her like an angry dog.

Finding the kitchen door open, she waltzed in to the sight of Pinkie sitting by the counter, scribbling on a notepad. A most wonderful aroma permeated the room, except the expected sweets were nowhere to be found. Rather, the room was spotless; whatever the source was must have already left the area.

“Hey there, Pinkie Pie,” she said, her ears flattening.

Pinkie spit out her pencil. “Hi! You’re just in time to help me prepare for my next party!”

“Oh yeah, sure,” Rainbow replied half-heartedly. Hunger pushed aside the tattered remains of her pride. There was no way she could leave with an empty belly now. Maybe she could open a tab, that is if Pinkie knew how that concept worked in the first place. “Um, Pinkie do you have—”

In a flash, Pinkie pulled a tray full of sugar cookies from the oven. “You hungry?”

Whether her friend had mind-reading abilities or just awesome timing, Rainbow didn’t particularly care. Food was food! After one munch, she moaned in delight. Oh, glorious food!

“Oh, yeah! That hits the spot!” Rainbow swallowed the rest, before biting into cookie number two and three at the same time. Manners need not apply. “So, who’s the lucky pony this time?”

Pinkie had her mouth open wide enough that she could swallow a watermelon, but unlike her friend, she nibbled on her own creation, “Only the pony filling in for you until you get better!”

Rainbow now had four cookies on hoof.

“Oh, okay. Boy, these are really good! Do you have some with—” She did a spit take as Pinkie’s last words finally sunk in. “What do you mean you’re—” Rainbow flinched in pain. “Darnit! Wings, stay down!” After a quick, irritable breath, “Pinkie, do you really have to throwa party for whoever’s coming? It’s like you’re celebrating that I got hurt!”

Pinkie rocked her head up and down. “Don’t think of it like that, silly! I just want to give them a friendly, fun and happy Ponyville welcome for helping Ponyville with the weather.”

“But we don’t need their help,” Rainbow rebuked while parading around the kitchen floor. “Sure, my team’s rough around the edges, but it’s not like they can’t handle things on their own!”

A thunderclap rattled the building, followed by what sounded like a nearby downpour. Both mares soon discovered the source, a low-lying cloud hovering above the nearby café, bombarding the patrons with swirling air and water. Thunderlane pushed it out of the way, but not before the soaked Horte Cuisine delivered a tirade.

“Kinda funny,” said Pinkie with a snicker. “Two giggles out of five. Totally lacks originality, though.”

For Rainbow, she hid her face with both hooves, muffling choice words of her own. At this point, she knew she was not winning this argument.

“Okay, okay,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “Maybe a fill-in for me is for the best, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it one bit.”

Pinkie embraced her friend. “Ah, don’t worry, Dashie! Just think of it like sharing! You gotta shareeeeeee, you gotta—”

“No song, Pinkie!” she whined. “So, who’s this pony that’s gonna screw everything up?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“You don’t know yet?” If her head didn’t already ache, Rainbow would’ve slapped her head. “Then how in Equestria can you plan the party for somepony you don’t know?

Pinkie grabbed her notepad.

“I have my ways. You see...” she paused to draw breath as she powered up her mouth to full speed. “Sometimes, my Pinkie Sense will give me a clue on what they like, but if that doesn’t work, I can always go back to what I did in a previous party as a baseline. Oh, but I do have a rolodex of everypony that’s come through Ponyville, in case any one of them has the inside scoop. This one time, I knew a pony that knew a pony that knew a pony that knew a pony that knew a pony that knew a pony—wait! Is that one pony too many? Mmm, no. Anyways, I found this one pony that just so happened to know that—”

Suddenly, Rainbow staggered sideways, so she held onto the counter for support. The dizziness, the heart palpitations, the images, they all returned, along with something new: this overpowering perception that it was windy, except it wasn’t coming from the local disturbance. No, this was in the past, but she was too much in a daze to figure out when.

Meanwhile, Pinkie continued her diatribe. “—and I said, that’s not how you tie a knot! That’s how you get worms!” Once her ears picked up Rainbow’s labored breaths, Pinkie stared at her face. “Whoa! Your eyes are going cuckoo! That looks like fun!” She imitated her actions to a tee.

Rainbow didn’t laugh, not even a chuckle. Pinke realized this was no laughing matter.

“Uh, oh.” Pinkie waved her hoof across Rainbow’s sight of vision. “Did I put too much sugar in the cookies?”

Rainbow raised her head up, blinking a few times. Four Pinkie Pies stood in front of her, although that wasn’t entirely unexpected. “I… umm, I’m not sure,” she said, rubbing her forehead. Then the quadruplets become one. “I don’t think it’s the food. Actually, I was feeling all weird earlier, and thought I just needed to fill my tummy. I didn’t sleep well last night, maybe that’s it...”

Pinkie prodded Rainbow toward the exit, staying her peppy self. “You should go home and rest! Don’t worry about the party! Your Auntie Pinkie Pie, can take of it all by herself!”

“Your call, I guess. Just don’t go overboard!”

Pinkie resumed working on her list, while singing to herself a medley on how planning for parties can be fun as the party itself.

Fluttershy was in the middle of washing dishes when Rainbow stormed through the door and straight towards the fancy green couch in the living room. All the negative aura surrounding Rainbow distracted her from gripping a soapy plate, which slipped from her hooves. She and Angel made a vallient attempt to save the doomed plate, but even their combined efforts were for naught as the piece of ceramic dinnerware shattered on the floor. Judging by Rainbow’s slumping onto the lounger, Fluttershy didn’t expect her to assist in the clean-up.

“Back already?” she called out, as she grabbed a nearby broom while Angel opened a cabinet for the dustpan.

Rainbow was ready for a rant, but then she remembered how that was bad for her mending appendage. She settled for general complaining.

“I go out for an hour, and I end up selling apples to annoying customers, Then I find out Pinkie Pie’s doing a party for the pony that’s taking over my job, and on top of that, I had these really freaky dizzy spells where I’m seeing stuff.” She grabbed onto her main suspect. “You know what? I bet you it’s these dumb pills.”

“Are you sure?” inquired Fluttershy, as she searched for any more sharp objects.

“I’m sure of it! Look at all the writing on the label!”

With Angel’s blessing, Fluttershy made her way to the living room while he rummaged through the kitchen’s tight spots for errant shards.

Rainbow presented her with the first piece of evidence, a cylindrical orange container.

Fluttershy enunciated the pill’s name, “Zyrgra... tole... menatocin? Huh?” More bizarre were the side effects printed on the back in a font so small that most ponies would need a magnifying glass to read them. Nonetheless, she did manage to identify a few familiar words: dizziness, nausea, indigestion, insomnia, blurry vision, and a few others too embarrassing for Fluttershy to say aloud. All the other bottles appeared to have the same scribbling, so she had no issues presuming that the drug cocktail was the root cause.

“If you say so.”

Rainbow grabbed the nearest container and aimed at the wastebasket. “So I can stop taking these, right?”

Her friend caught the medicine mid-air.

“Oh, c’mon, Fluttershy! If they make me feel funny, then I should stop taking them!” Once again, her temper caused an involuntary wing extension. “Ow.”

Fluttershy returned the medication to the coffee table, “I don’t think that’s a good idea. You really should follow Nurse Redheart’s instructions or she’ll be really upset with you.”

Rainbow’s fur stood on end, for she had a feeling that the moment she defies her orders, the nurse would barge through the door and force-feed them into her mouth. “Fine,” she grumbled, hooves crossed.

“Anyways, I need to check on some of my animal friends and see if they’re ready for all this rain. Do you want to join me?”

“No,” she rebuked, as she examined the ceiling.

“Are you sure?”

“Just go,” she mumbled.

Fluttershy did just that, closing the creaky front door with no urgency.

After she left, Rainbow opened the window so she could keep vigil of the skies. Finally cleared of all the day’s storm clouds, it was a perfect afternoon for practicing her stunts. That wasn’t happening today, nor would she have a chance for days—even with the most optimistic timetable. She sighed, as she strained to demonstrate interest in watching the wind sway the nearby trees.

This is so boring.

Boredom turned to another, more stomach twisting emotion. In this moment, the only other souls within her vicinity were the critters that frequented the forest around Fluttershy’s cottage. For a pony whose ego required frequent feeding, this was not an ideal situation. It would become worse come Saturday, when her friends would leave for Manehattan while much of the townsfolk either bolted for a vacation or hunkered down in their homes. Rainbow might not have any company at all for the week of miserable rain! She sighed and closed the shutters, then fluffed her pillows in preparation for another nap. Even then, her thoughts continued to haunt her.

What if my wing doesn’t heal fast enough? Am I really gonna be stuck here— she gulped —all by myself?

3 - The Arriving Flying

Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock.

Even with pillows placed around Rainbow’s ears, the clock’s constant noise drilled into her skull. It had been just background noise on Monday, but after hearing it relentlessly for three days, it might as well have been a jackhammer.

Without any regard to the fact that she wasn’t at her home and couldn’t break objects at her leisure, she heaved one of the many pillows that comprised her bedding in its general direction to silence the timepiece permanently. She might have succeeded too, had she bothered poking her head out from under the sheets for an accurate toss. As it was, the pillow hit the wall with a thump and fell harmlessly to the floor.

“So much for sleeping,” she grumbled as she tossed aside the covers. “What time is it?”

As Rainbow scrutinized the hands on the clock, her eyebrows furrowed at their relative position. “That was a short nap.”

The sound of hoofsteps coming down the stairs signaled Fluttershy’s approach. The steps, though still relatively soft, were decidedly louder than the hesitant pace the mare usually had, as though she was trying to wake her houseguest with her noise. Luckily for her, Rainbow was already up and alert.

Fluttershy stepped into the room and smiled warmly at her guest. “Good—” she checked the time “—afternoon, Rainbow! So, are you ready to go to Pinkie’s party?”

“Huh?”

She procured the invitation from the table, “Oh, you see, she came over with it an hour ago. I was going to wake you up, but you looked so peaceful, I thought it would be best to let you be for a while.”

Rainbow put the card aside. “Let me guess. This is for the pony that’s taking over my team.”

“Um, yes,” Fluttershy conceded with a small nod. “We didn’t think anypony would come until Friday, but the Committee found—”

Rainbow pulled the sheets over her head, “Have fun.”

There it was again, Fluttershy thought. It was definitely not her imagination--Rainbow had become noticeably more reclusive since her accident. She was not “in the mood” for Pinkie Pie’s surprise picnic Tuesday afternoon, called Twilight’s offer for stargazing “incredibly boring”, was “not hungry” when Rarity offered to take her out to some fancy restaurant for brunch on Wednesday, and was “too tired” to go bird watching with Fluttershy herself this morning.

Granted, Rainbow usually would have turned down at least one of those offers anyway, but watching her spend her time moping about indoors or staring vacantly into the skies at the expense of any social interaction was too painful to watch. As her close friend, she knew she had to say something. Spurned on out of concern for her friend’s well-being, Fluttershy opened her mouth… then closed it with barely a squeak.

Hearing this from upstairs, Angel ran down the stairs and then hopped onto Fluttershy’s head, so he could chatter discrete encouragement into her ear.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Fluttershy whispered. “She might get upset if I do that.”

Angel slapped his forehead. His timid caretaker clearly needed an additional push to get the (rude) cyan mare out of his house. He hopped over to Rainbow’s side and snatched away her blanket.

“Hey!”

Twack! went the wing against the side of its cast. Rainbow groaned; this whole uncontrollable wing-opening reflex was really getting old. She shook her hoof angrily at Angel, who returned back onto Fluttershy’s head after leaving the bed sheet sprawled at the bottom of the staircase.

“You know, that little pest is really getting on my nerves!”

Angel blew a raspberry.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Fluttershy stammered. “Angel just must not be used to having a guest around all the time!”

The rabbit shook his head; he just didn’t like this particular guest. Angel then delivered more wisdom only Fluttershy could understand.

Fluttershy nodded constantly as she deciphered the rabbit’s message. While she had no disagreements with his bullet points, she had already thought of all of them. The problem was the delivery -- if only Rainbow spoke rabbit. As it was, she was on her own.

“Um, Rainbow?” the shy pony started. “Ahem. I really think you should… um, stop by at the party. You might have some… fun?”

Angel facepalmed.

“No.” Rainbow snorted.

At this point, Angel told his owner one last thing and then scurried upstairs with the blanket. He wasn’t sticking around for the result.

Fluttershy pulled out the puppy-dog eyes. “Pretty, pretty, please? I don’t want to go by myself!”

Fluttershy’s ‘Stare’ was legendary, but its unsung sibling was definitely her puppy-eyes. Despite her best efforts, not even iron-willed Rainbow Dash could muster the willpower to say no.

“Okay! Okay! I’ll go!” she conceded, looking away from those eyes. “But I’m only staying for a little while!”

Fluttershy squealed in excitement. The words were music to her ears!

“Just a little while,” Rainbow emphasized. “So, should we go?”

“Not yet!” Without missing a beat, Fluttershy trotted to the kitchen and returned with a glass of water. Then, she removed Rainbow’s pills from the series of containers on the coffee table and presented them to her. She had this down to a routine, even the sing-song way of announcing the moment. “It’s time for your medicine!”

Rainbow stuck out her tongue. The unusual symptoms had struck her four times yesterday, so when she thought nopony was looking, Rainbow tossed her medicine in the garbage. She would’ve succeeded in losing them if it wasn’t for that meddling rabbit ratting her out to Fluttershy. If there was one upside, however, the headache had disappeared while her injured appendage was no more than an occasional bother.

“Lousy pills,” she grumbled, as she placed them on her hoof. “I can deal with the pain. Why do I have to keep taking them?” She swallowed all at once, followed by a healthy drink. “There! All right, let me see who’s gonna be a pain in the flank.”

She opened the invitation, poring over every detail. Once she finished reading, Rainbow turned the card around with a perplexed expression.

“Something wrong?” Fluttershy asked.

“There’s no name in here. What gives?”

“Oh, Pinkie made those yesterday night, and she didn’t know the name until this morning. She told me it was...” Fluttershy trailed off. Pinkie had mentioned it in their conversation earlier in the day, but the name got buried somewhere in the middle of her warp speed chattering. “Actually, I didn’t quite catch it.”

Rainbow used the details on the card for an educated guess.

It says here it’s a stallion who is the weather leader for… Brayside Beach? Huh? I thought it was that old... No, wait a minute. That spot opened up a few months ago, and they gave it to—

Rainbow slapped her face, “A rookie! You’ve got to be kidding me!”

By now, Fluttershy stood in front of the door. “Are you coming now?”

She had no choice. Her body was rested and those eyes would coerce her into following her friend outdoors. “Yeah, yeah. I just hope that for once, Pinkie doesn’t go overboard with the party.”

“I knew it,” Rainbow groaned.

Pinkie Pie had transformed Sugarcube Corner into a tropical resort. Peppy island musical blared through loudspeakers, fauxthentic palm trees dotted around the perimeter, a slip and slide kept the younger ponies entertained, and behind the building was a volleyball court, complete with real sand and eager players. While Rainbow thought the setup was too much, Fluttershy oohed and aahed, before tugging her grumpy friend toward the entrance.

The tropical theme continued inside with a fruit-heavy table spread, coconut cups for drinks and flower streamers hanging from the rafters. Many of the partygoers were adorned with leis around their necks and more than a few were wearing grass skirts. From out of the kitchen area, a conga line moved toward their general direction, led by none other than the party’s hostess.

“Hi, girls!” said Pinkie. “I’m so glad you finally came! Don’t worry! The fun’s just getting started! Woo hoo!”

“Where’s our guest?” asked Fluttershy.

Without stopping, Pinkie replied, “Fly-Fly’s playing games upstairs with Applejack.”
“It’s Swift Flying, Pinkie,” corrected Twilight, positioned further down the pony convoy. “Must you insist on giving everypony a nickname?”

“A fair warning, ladies: please avoid calling him Swift,” Rarity called from behind Twilight in the line. “Apparently he has… issues with it. The whole thing’s a bit daft if you ask me. Anyway, he said Fly or Flying would be appropriate.”

Fluttershy turned to ask Rainbow on whether she wanted to greet the guest of honor, but one look quickly told her that the prismatic pegasus wasn’t all there. Her friend was staring vacantly at the stairs with eyes reminiscent of a predator catching sight of its prey.

“Um, are you okay?”

Rainbow snapped out of her trance. “Uh-huh. How about we say hi to him, shall we?”
Fluttershy flew up the staircase, but the sound of Rainbow clearing her throat stopped her halfway up the first flight. When she turned around to face her, Rainbow’s scowl said it all: she wanted Fluttershy to walk up the stairs with her so she wasn’t the only pegasus getting around completely on hoof.

“Sorry,” Fluttershy whispered, landing on a step.

Once the two climbed the first flight, they found a long line to the bathroom down the second floor hallway. Not needing such services, Rainbow and Fluttershy continued up a second flight of stairs to reach the top level. There, they found an indoor carnival complete with all the usual games scattered across the floor: apple bobbing, horseshoes, milk bottles, and darts. However, all the ponies in the room had congregated across from the staircase, preferring to be spectators to an active game. Whatever was going on over there must have been captivating, for nopony noticed their arrival.

Recognising Spike standing near the back of the crowd, Rainbow walked over and tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey Spike! What’s going on here?”

“Applejack challenged Fly to a game of bean-bag toss. It’s getting really good!”

Rainbow smirked. “Oh, really? I bet she’s showing off because she’s creaming him.”

Spike shook his head. “Actually, this is the fifth round and they’re tied up!”

Rainbow’s eyes grew wide. Applejack was the only pony in town who could come close to matching her own skills in bean-bag toss. If this Swift Flying character could challenge Applejack, he could possibly even beat her, and that didn’t sit well for the best athlete in Ponyville. Rainbow absolutely had to see this with her own eyes. Without any consideration for the other onlookers, she barged through the crowd to get a front row seat to watch the action.

At the corner of the room was the target: a hole cut through a slanted board adorned with painted balloons. The contestants themselves were standing across the room, a few pony-lengths away from Rainbow. One of them was Applejack, but her usual confident expression had been replaced by tense facial muscles and sweat. Beside Applejack was the challenger: a skinny, gray pegasus stallion who stood a tick taller than the cowpony. A pair of light blue goggles rested on his forehead above eyes of a matching color. While they displayed a sense of control, his pupils lacked the fiery passion that illuminated the cowpony’s eyes.

Rainbow rubbed her chin. I wonder—

She thought back to her first day at Junior Speedsters Flight Camp. She was standing in front of a glass case labeled the Junior Speedsters Hall of Champions. Within the enclosure was an assortment of trophies and photos of each year’s competitive teams and individual standouts in every category imaginable from agility course times to fastest level flight speeds. The various records were held by a conglomeration of individuals from different species, some with natural advantages in areas she could never hope to match, albeit she’d never admit that publicly. Therefore, she looked closest at the records held by pegasi. There, she found one particular name kept surfacing: Swift Flying, a lanky gray and blue colt that had attended the camp before hers and rewrote the record book in just about every event where agility was the key to success.

I remember seeing pictures of him; can this pony be the same one?

The stallion in the present did look remarkably similar, though he was nowhere near as tall as she would have expected from the photos of him as a colt. It was like he hadn’t grown much since he left flight camp, and he definitely was sporting a different hairstyle. While the pictured colt had a neatly groomed mane and tail, this pony appeared to just let the wind sort things out--and with a mane that almost reached his withers, that translated to some serious knots and curls! Maybe these were two different ponies or a case where a parent rushed in to introduce hair to comb--that would explain his sullen expression in the photo.

Rainbow turned her attention to his cutie mark, an upside-down thunderbolt over a dark gray cloud. The upside-down bolt was definitely a unique symbol of something, but wracking her memory of the photos of the colt in flight school, she just couldn’t think of a single image that had a clear shot of that area of his body. That’s what happens when photographers try to capture fast fliers in motion.

Darnit! I wanna say it’s him but how can I be sure of it?

With a snappy bite, Applejack secured the beanbag in her mouth. She moved her head back and forth in a slow, deliberate fashion, but Rainbow could tell the cowpony was off her rhythm. Her motions were jerky and she was swinging the beanbag far too hard--a fact which became quite apparent when the beanbag slipped from her grip and sailed backward over her head. Now free of pony control, the sandbag sailed over the crowd, heading right at the massive punchbowl on the snack table clear across the room. A direct strike meant that, at a minimum, red splatter indiscriminate of its targets; furniture, carpet, and ponies.

Before the crowd could open their mouths for a collective gasp, Rainbow moved to intercept the twirling target, finding a crease through the masses to reach open floor. Without her wings for flight, she would have to gallop--and gallop quickly--if she were to make the save. However, she hadn’t even taken three steps forward when a gray blur streaked over her head.

What the—

It was the newcomer flying past her, leaving bluish contrails in his wake. At unsafe speeds for being indoors, he caught up and snatched the beanbag with relative ease, but with the wall approaching rapidly, a crash appeared imminent--she knew it would be for her if she dared such speeds inside such a tight space! Without warning, the stallion rotated his body parallel to the upcoming surface and beat his wings fervently to slow himself down. Instead of seeing a pony pancake, she watched him compress against the wall and then push off for a safe recovery.

Rainbow skidded to a stop. What? Did he just do that?

As he made the return trip, the assembled ponies all applauded his acrobatic display, save for the mindblown Rainbow Dash. No pegasus within fifty miles could pull that off, and she couldn’t have made it look that easy without multiple failed attempts! Flying like that was quite a feat of agility and precision, after all! Her eyes narrowed, all doubt extinguished from her mind.

After all this time, you finally show your face, Swift Flying!

Once Swift landed, he dropped the beanbag by Applejack’s hooves. Then, he turned to face the gathered ponies, who continued with their celebratory noises. The spotlight was shining on him and given his acrobatic performance, rightfully so. Yet he took a step back and clutched his mane as though he’d rather be anywhere else but there at the center of attention.

“Thanks, everypony,” he said, his voice an octave higher than expected for a young stallion. “I wasn’t really trying to show off. I just wanted to avoid a big mess, that’s all.”

Rainbow’s pupils shrank as though his words were blasphemy. Sweet, Celestia? What… what... Are you kidding me? You’re supposed to work the crowd, you dolt!

Applejack gave Swift a nudge. “Now, don’t be modest, Fly! Those were some pretty slick moves.” She gave the beanbag a kick. “A lot better than what I did. Consarn it! I thought I had the win there!”

“Except that wasn’t a toss,” Swift replied.

“Huh?”

With a wink, “We have games like this at Brayside, and our rule is that the bag must go forwards to count.” Swift turned to the crowd. “So, how about it? I think she gets another shot, right?”

The spectators cheered, but Rainbow slapped her forehead. You’re giving the game away! She was upset enough to trigger her wing. “Ow!”

Applejack tipped her hat, “Mighty kind of you, but you might regret that in a second!”
She repeated her prior motions, her nerves more calm than the last time. The moment she loosened her mouth, the spectators leaned in, watching the beanbag drift right. With a thwack, half the projectile was on the board, with the rest over the hole. Gravity took care of the rest.

“Yee haw!” Applejack hollered, raising her Stetson. “That was cutting it close!” She extended a foreleg. “Best game I’ve had in awhile!”

As they shook hooves, the crowd dispersed, leaving Fluttershy, Spike and Rainbow behind.

“Way to keep up with Applejack, Fly,” the dragon addressed the loser. He then whispered, “Not sure why you’d let her take that extra shot, though. Did you have a bet with somepony or something?”

“Eh?” the stallion replied with an upward inflection.

Spike chuckled, “Just joking with ya!” He glanced left, acknowledging the two newcomers to the fray -- time for introductions. “Anyways, I got two more ponies you really should meet, Fluttershy and—”

Rainbow pushed Spike aside and strutted into the spotlight. She preferred handling this on her own. “I’m the one and only Rainbow Dash, Best Young Flier Competition champion, future Wonderbolt, savior of Equestria many times over, and full of awesome!”

Swift blinked a few times, before smiling. “Sup, Rainbow! I—”

"So,” She paced like a sergeant dealing with a private, “, you were in Junior Speedsters, right…” Rainbow stumbled, remembering what Rarity said earlier. “…Fly?”

His head tilted slightly, “Umm, yeah, late spring in—”

“I joined Junior Speedsters early summer, right after you did. Naturally, I looked at the record books to see whose records I had to crush, and I found--” she poked his chest “--your name all over the place.” Rainbow resumed her little walk. “Gotta say I was pretty disappointed how low you set the bar, because I destroyed each and every one of them.”

“That’s not what you told me,” interrupted Applejack, moving her eyebrows in a suggestive manner. “You know that one course that tests agility? The one you said you tried over and over again, but you just couldn’t beat the all-time record?”

Rainbow stammered, “Wh-what are you talking about? I never said that!”

“Yeah you did,” Spike interjected, snapping his fingers. “It was during your birthday party, remember? You wished you had that record! Actually, you wished for a lot of things that night.”

She snorted at the small dragon. “You remembered wrong! C’mon Fluttershy, back me up!”

“W-well, I…” Fluttershy tapped her hooves together nervously. Clearly she wouldn’t be much help here.

Since embellishment wasn’t working, Rainbow changed tactics. “Okay, okay, fine! You kept one measly, little record! But remember this, Fly: I’m the best flier in all of Equestria, got it?”

Swift twirled his forelock, “Can’t argue about that, I guess.”

It took all her effort to keep from falling onto the floor.

“That’s all wrong! You were supposed to say ‘I’m the better flier’, and then we’d argue on and on, until I finally challenge you to a race!”

“Eh? But why would I do that? We couldn’t even race anyway! You’re wing’s busted!”

“Oh, for pete’s sake!” Rainbow’s wings reminded her there was a limit to her temper; she sighed irritably. “It’s just a sprain, that’s all! Just tell me that you’ll race me once I’m all better. I’ve waited forever to ask you!”

Swift scratched his head.

“Please?” she begged.

That last bit swayed him in her favor, although he sounded as a pony asked to do boring chores. “Sure… No prob, Rainbow.”

Rainbow pumped her hoof, “Yes! Okay! Now that we have that out of the way, how about we—”

Suddenly, Rainbow lost her balance, staggering into Fluttershy, who grabbed hold. Swift took a step back as though the injured pegasus had a contagious condition, while Spike and Applejack hovered over their friend.

“I’m all right,” Rainbow slurred, rubbing her forehead. “Yeah, I kinda forgot to tell you guys, but my medicine’s doing some really strange stuff to me.”

Applejack waved her hoof across Rainbow’s face, “Are you sure ‘bout that? You look a might rattled.”

Once again standing under her own power, Rainbow retorted, “I’m fine, Applejack! This isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with this. I’m used to it by now.”

Fluttershy tugged her toward a nearby beanbag chair, “Maybe you should lie down for a while.”

Rainbow pulled away.

“I said I’ll be fine, geez! Besides, I was gonna challenge Fly here for—” She noticed Swift staring at the floor, biting his lip. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Eh?” Swift snapped out of his trance. “My bad, Rainbow. You were saying?”

Before Rainbow could respond, Pinkie materialized between the gathered. “C’mon, everypony! We’ve got Pin a Tail on the Pony running downstairs!”

They all heard a mare downstairs yelp, followed by raucous laughter.

“Don’t miss all the fun, fun, fun!”

Rainbow watched her friends follow Pinkie toward the stairs. But when Swift tried joining them, she blocked his path. “Oh, no you don’t! I’m not done with you yet!”

He gulped. “Um, you’re not?”

“You owe me at least one game of beanbag. There’s a few lessons I need to teach you.”

“Lessons?” Swift balked. “Shoot... What did I do to deserve this?”

Playing beanbags, a fun diversion that should keep ponies busy for fifteen minutes, half an hour at most. Any longer would’ve been a tedious exercise and Rainbow hated tedious.

Yet, she had her reasons to keep the game going past the one hour mark. Something about Swift’s performance smelled like a meal cooked by the Cutie Mark Crusaders during the last local fair (they claimed it was hay casserole). During the first round, she realized Applejack’s earlier apprehension -- this stallion could toss those beanbags blindfolded! His motions, his release, all deliberate but consistent. She should’ve lost, but when he had a shot to win, he missed. Badly.

“Ah, shoot,” he remarked with a hearty chuckle.

A simple mistake, no problem. It happened to even the best of competitors. Well, other than herself, of course. In fact, she decided to continue with a few more rounds, adding some competitive banter to the mix. Not only was he not taking the bait, he choked again at game point. No good. Wide left.

Swift shrugged, “Guess it’s not my day.”

That, or he collapses under pressure.

Round three played out the same way as the other, too much for Rainbow to call it a coincidence.

“What’s going on here?” Rainbow questioned him with a glare.

After a long pause, “Um, bad luck? Maybe it’ll go away next round?”

What a fortune teller! Sure enough, he notched a victory for round four, only to lose the next, then a win, another loss and so on. Yes, something definitely stunk around here, Rainbow thought. Her peering eyes collected additional evidence until she had her smoking gun during one toss in the eleventh round. The sack sailed over the board exactly like it did five minutes earlier, even the release point and head velocity were a match! A duplicate mistake!

Wham! Rainbow’s hoof slammed the carpeted floor. “What do you think you’re doing, Fly?”

The startled stallion yelped. “Eh? What’s wrong?”

Rainbow leaned closer to his face, “You’re messing up your throws on purpose!”

Swift leaned back, “I, um… I can explain!”

Matching his steady retreat step-by-step, Rainbow pressed on. “What’s your deal? Think you’re too good for me to give it your all? Is that why you never bothered to show up in even one competition? It would be too boring for you?”

“No!” He stopped just short of the wall, reaching back for an imaginary exit. “It’s that… I mean, it’s not really about winning. It’s about having a good time, right?”

Both the brash mare’s eyes twitched. “What?”

He strained for a nervous smile, “I just… enjoy the game more than the result. If I win all the time, that’s not really fun for you, isn’t it?”

Those words about set her eardrums on fire! She might expect to hear such words from Fluttershy or Twilight, but for a fellow Junior Speedster alum to say it was practically sacrilege! She took a step back, not sure whether to yell at the ceiling or faint. She settled for a simple facehoof along with a headshake, stuttering some muted angrish.

“Is something wrong?” Swift asked meekly.

“This isn’t what I thought you’d be like at all!” she whined.

“What do you mean?”

She pointed at his face.

“You were supposed to be my rival! Somepony with my greatness always has one, and you should’ve been it—a strong, tall, gruff, aggressive, trash-talking stallion who wants nothing more than to put me in my place! But I would always get the upper hoof, and you’d say ‘I’ll get you next time, Rainbow Dash!’ But no! You’re just some short, skinny, lame pony that has no pegasus pride! I can’t believe I waited this long for—”

Swift turned and walked toward the staircase without saying a word.

“—Hey!” Rainbow’s wings reacted but alas, the cast denied that demonstration of her anger. “Where are you going?”

Swift stopped but kept his sights toward his destination. “Bailing,” he said in a nonchalant fashion.

“What are you? A coward?”

He turned to face her, his eyes narrowed. “My bad if I wasn’t what you expected, but I don’t want to be your rival. All I wanted was to get along with you, but no, you’re just like all the other Junior Speedsters I’ve met, ragging on how much better they are and wanting to crush each other.” Swift sighed, coming out more disappointed than irritated. “I thought for once that it could be different. Guess not.”

At those words, Rainbow’s fiery temper quickly fizzled out. This wasn’t her first time meeting another camp member during her travels, but the results had always been the same: her abusive behavior drove them away. The problem carried over from back in camp proper with her constant trash-talking, ego bashing, and rule bending. While it brought her records and medals, it didn’t bring her any stable friendships.

Gilda had been the lone exception, but that was only due to their similar personalities back in the day. Rainbow’s experiences and bonds with her fellow Element-bearers had changed her for the better since her days of flight camp, but the brash griffon remained the same. What was the one exception became the rule in an abrupt and public fashion, an inevitable moment that she accepted, though that did little to soothe the wounds.

Ending that friendship left a void that nopony within the town could fill, so she thought perhaps another Speedster could at least serve as a patch. Unfortunately, given her prior experiences with the other Speedsters she encountered outside of camp, she had yet to test that theory and she didn’t know if she’d ever have the opportunity again. She had to make this one count! At the least, she already had one thing in common with him. There’s no reason to butt heads just because they were Speedsters.

“Hold on a minute!” Rainbow trotted across the floor. “Wait!”

Swift all but taken that first step down the staircase but hearing the urgency in her voice, he turned sideways to face her. “What is it now?” he droned.

She paused for an extra breath. “Okay, look. I’m sorry if I was hard on you!”

“Eh?” Swift remarked, tilting his head slightly.

Rainbow looked away, shifting her weight around uncomfortably. “It’s just been a really lousy couple of days for me, so I’m not in a great mood, you know? I’m not like this all the time… well, okay. I can be kinda annoying and I brag, a lot. But I promise I’ll try to be better. C’mon. I’ll, um—” She pondered on a hook. “—um, okay. How about this? Forget everything I said before and all start over the right way…. with the Junior Speedsters chant?”

“The chant?” Swift parroted, with apparent disinterest. Then, his eyes widened. “I love the chant!”

Forget his major-faux earlier. That was music to her ears! The chant was one the camp’s lowlights but the ritual was one of the few events in the world she would willingly wake up early for. “Then c’mon! Let’s do it!”

Swift had his doubts that somepony wearing a restrictive cast could perform the chant, but she was already in position. He had to give her points for determination, that’s for sure. The moment he moved besides her, his memory retrieved every single gyration in the sequence; each one had always been done in the air.

Rainbow momentarily stood on her hind hooves. “Like that, okay?”

“Oh!” he remarked, realizing that posture would free up the forelegs. “I gotcha!”

Without realizing it, a grin appeared on Rainbow’s face. It had been ages since she had done this, and even the cast couldn’t contain her enthusiasm. “On three! One! Two! Three!”

Junior Speedsters are our lives,
Sky-bound soars and—

Rainbow pirouetted, a move her wing disapproved of. The sudden sting knocked her off balance, and flat onto the floor with a dull thud. Before she knew it, Swift offered his forehoof along with some stifled chuckling.

“You alright, Rainbow?”

How dare he laugh at her expense! She might’ve been trying to be on her best behavior, but this required retribution!

Refusing his help, she got up and thought back to what Rarity mentioned earlier downstairs. Issues about his name, the fashionista said. Rainbow wanted to see exactly what that meant.

“Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up.” She smirked, “Swift!”

Right away, the stallion reeled as though a skunk had sprayed him.

Rainbow collapsed onto the floor and rolled around, hooves wriggling in delight. “Ha, ha, ha, ha! That… that face is priceless!”

“Would you not call me that, please?” he muttered, barely audible over Rainbow’s raucous laughter.

Rainbow staggered upright, “Oh, c’mon. Loosen up, will ya?” She picked up a beanbag. “Tell you what? How about we spice up our game a bit, you know, make it more, fun?”
Before he could answer, Rainbow grabbed a handkerchief from the nearby table, and then wrapped it over his eyes.

“Um, what are you doing?”

“Just making it more of a challenge,” she answered as she nudged him closer to the beanbag board.

“Um, are you sure this—” A beanbag muffled the rest of his sentence.

“Don’t worry about it. Nopony’s here, and besides, when you screw up, I’ll make sure you don’t break anything. So, let’s see how long it takes you to score.”

Swift moaned through the bag. His sole reference in the pitch-black was his memory and that would work only if Rainbow placed him in the same position as in the other games. While he didn’t see the point of using a blindfold, he went ahead anyways with one swing of his head.

Thwack! His ears picked that up as failure and indeed, removing the cloth showed him the beanbag had landed past the hole and to the left.

“Wow,” Rainbow exclaimed, pointing at the projectile. “You almost had it, Fly!”

He couldn’t help but smile.

“Beginner’s luck. Won’t happen again.”

Just like that, she robbed him of his joy. “Whatever, Rainbow. There’s not much luck involved. All you have to do is—”

She stuffed the beanbag into his mouth, “Save it, rookie. You won’t even come close this time.”

After the mare tied on the blindfold, Swift assimilated all the data from attempt number one, and translated it to simple commands.

Loosen up your grip and a little less arc. Yeah, that should do it.

As he practiced his throwing motion, Rainbow stood a few feet away, focused on every miniscule motion from the slender stallion like she would when watching the Wonderbolts. The constant observation was lulling her into a trance, so when he finally took his shot, it jolted her awake. Rainbow craned toward the corner of the room, catching the beanbag tumbling onto the wood, with half the sack hanging over the hole.

“Heh! That’s—”

The bag slide into and through the hole.

Rainbow gaped. “That—that went in?”

“It did?” Swift slid the cloth over his head. “It did! Ah, wicked!” The stallion hoof pumped. “I didn’t think it would go in on just two tries! Maybe it was a little of beginners luck, right, Rainbow?”

Downplaying his achievement aggravated her like an itchy rash. Maybe he was really challenging her to do better or it could just be her imagination. “Hmf. Two tries is pretty good but I’ll show you how it’s done right the first time around. Set me up!”

Moments later, she stood in the same position as Swift with the same dilemna. Sans sight, Rainbow relied on both on her experience with the game and the stallion’s earlier motions. It should work, she thought, if she compensated for a slightly lower stature with more power. She even found an area for improvement, a little celebration for a hole in one.

Easy peasy! Her head swung backwards. Steady. Steady. Release!

Her chompers released its grip on the projectile. Immediately, her ears folded for a shrill yelp. She ripped the fabric off her face, fearing her partner would be knocked out with a ghastly purple bump on his head.

She had the first part right; Swift was prostrate on the floor with beanbag on hoof. He dropped it like a hot potato and began hissing.

Rainbow guffawed, clutching her chest. “Aw, is the little colt hurt? Does your mom have to kiss it for you?”

“That beanbag almost hit my face, you know,” he whined.

“I’m just pulling your mane,” she giggled. “You know, you’re not too bad, Fly. Maybe you’re not a lost cause after all!”

Swift grunted confusion. “I don’t get it.”

She grabbed onto his hoof and lifted it. “Just look at you. A little short, kinda scrawny and you don’t sound like a tough guy at all. I bet everypony pushes you around, right?”

“Well, not exa—”

“Well, don’t you worry! Spend enough time around me and maybe some of my awesomeness will rub off on you. Isn’t that great?”

His excitement level was that of a doctor telling him he had the feather flu. Swift found her pompous, temperamental and overbearing although he’d dealt with far worse ponies in his life. Tolerating Rainbow Dash was well within reason, at least he hoped so.

“I guess. At least you’re not trying to hit me on the head with a surfboard.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind. So, you want to try again?”

Rainbow did just that, wearing the blindfold, securing the beanbag in her mouth and finally tossing it blindly into the air. Moments later, she heard the sound of sack hitting wood, a wonderful sound to her ears but when she lifted the cloth over over eyes, she saw an eyesore.

“Darnit! I hit the corner! Ummm, that one didn’t count. My nose got really itchy and it threw me off.”

“Eh? But you didn’t even—”

Rainbow feigned a sneeze. “There it is. Don’t you hate it when that happens, Fly?”

She might as well have a ‘I’m a lousy liar’ sign over her head. “Yeah. Must be allergy season.”

To no surprise for the stallion, the mare’s third attempt was the charm except she called it her second.

“How about that, Fly? Now let’s make this even harder!”

Rainbow did just that, increasing the distance between the throwing point and the slanted piece of painted wood to about twenty feet. More so, she had him facing the wrong way so he needed a backwards fling to make his target.

“By the way—” Rainbow spoke while tying the cloth covering his eyes — “you have to make it within five shots.”

“Really?” he mumbled through the sack Rainbow shoved into his mouth.

Such mechanics needed for a long-range shot was too much to nail down the first time; anywhere within five feet from the hole would be a success.

Plop! His beanbag landed on the floor just short of the board.

“What was that?” the mare snorted, slapping her sides. “Is it too far for you?”

Swift rolled his eyes. “Hold on. Just keep watching.”

She did just that, observing a blindfolded stallion improving on every toss, his brown sack landing closer and closer to the hole. At his rate, he’d reach a goal that she’d admitted was like asking her to do two consecutive Sonic Rainbooms. Therefore, she decided that the plastic palm trees outside the window tickled her snout at the worst possible moment (for him).

“Ah-choo!”

Splat! Swift’s beanbag hit the floor inches from him.

“Excuse me.” She feigned rubbing her nose. “Darn, what bad luck, huh?”

His eye muscle twitched as he removed the cloth. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

Rainbow pointed at her chest, “Me? That was just bad timing. Ok! My turn!”

As he helped her with the blindfold, small huffs escaped his snout. Rainbow was that pesky fly at a picnic, buzzing around his head, ever persistent in testing his patience. He wasn’t one to take a swipe but watching her line up her attempt with that smug smile was too much.

“Achooo!” Swift watched Rainbow’s beanbag float upwards before landing right on her head.

“Ow!”

I shouldn’t laugh. I shouldn’t laugh. Cracks turned to a hard wheeze - revenge never felt so good. Then, a complete three-sixty in emotions once he noticed Rainbow grumbling his way, nostrils flaring. His hooves stiffened, unable to step away from incoming mare’s scorn.

“You!” Her muzzle pressed against his.

“B-b-b-but… bad luck?”

A shaking Rainbow growled, her eyes reddening. “Youuuuuuu….” Then, a light shove onto his chest and with that, she chuckled. “Heh. What do you know? You got a little fight in you.”

“But I wasn’t—”

Patting him in the back, “Don’t worry about it. It’s all in good fun.”

Swift managed a smile. “Yeah, that was sorta funny. Oof!”

Another blow to the chest. “Don’t get too comfy. I think my nose is starting to get itchy again—” She smirked “—if you know what I mean.”

He scratched his head. “Um… well?” Then, a cough. “Shoot. Think I caught something on my flight over here.”

“Heh. Like that’s gonna throw me off my game!”

They continued with what should’ve been a simple game of bean bag toss, except the two competitors not only ratchet up their timely distractions but discovered new ways to make the game more difficult. By the time the last of the ember light ceded to the twilight of the night, a blindfolded Swift stood on his hind hooves on top of a table, his balance thwarted by Rainbow Dash’s constant bombardment of insults.

“You couldn’t hit the side of a massive thundercloud, Fly! Just give it up! Thirteen tries ain’t the charm!”

Removing the beanbag from his mouth, “Yours keep going into the water tub. If you really want to bob for apples instead, you could just tell me.”

She raspberried. “What a lame response! Boooooooo! Now, hurry up and screw this one up, wontcha?”

Swift thought otherwise; all her deliberate distractions meant he was getting used to them. Even when Rainbow shook the table, he waited until the second she stopped for his blind hurl. Once he shed the blindfold, the stallion gasped as did his partner.

“Rainbow! It’s—”

Beanbag pelting a wooden board, the hollow sound of failure. He fell flat onto the table, his forelegs covering his eyes. “Ahhhh! I should’ve had it!”

“Could’ve, should’ve, would’ve,” said Rainbow smugly. “Good to see you’re really getting into it, though.”

“Yeah. I guess I am.” He hopped onto the floorboards. “Shoot. Biggest surprise of the day right there.”

Pinkie suddenly materialized in front of him. “Ohai!”

“Ah!” Swift stumbled backwards and onto the floor. “W–what what, how did you do that, Pink?”

“Do what?” She batted her eyelashes with a wide grin.

Rainbow sighed. “Forget trying to figure it out, Fly. She just has a knack for sneaking up on ponies. Anyways, what are you doing here, Pinkie Pie?”

“Well—” She pulled the two pegasi together “—you two have been up here all alone for at least two hours. Just wanted to see if something was going on.”

“We were playing a few games,” said Swift.

Pinkie giggled. “Oh, I see. Anything else?”

“Eh? I don’t follow you.”

“Um, what are you trying to get at, Pinkie?” Rainbow interjected, oblivious to what she implied.

She released her grip on the two. “Ok! Must be too early, then! C’mon! We’re having a small dinner downstairs!”

Rainbow and Swift watched the party pony skip and hop her way down the stairs.

“Early for what?” The stallion scratched his head.

With a shrug, “You got me. What I do know is that I’m ready to chow down. Let’s go!”

“Right behind you.”

Moments later, they descended the staircase onto the first floor. Where there had been partygoers was now empty space, save for bits of confetti, half-eaten food and deflated balloons. Instead of blaring music, the only sounds came from Rainbow’s friends, who were sampling the spread at the largest table in the room.

“Oh! Fruit pizza!” Rainbow barged through everypony for a slice with nary a hello.

Meanwhile, Swift said his greetings before grabbing a paper plate. “Shoot. No pineapple.”

Applejack raspberried. “You don’t need none of that yellow mush.” She polished a red fruit. “There’s some apple slices over there.”

“Well, I”—

“Let Fly pick his food, Applejack,” Twilight interrupted, as she levitated a sandwich onto her dish. “So, since you’re here, Fly, there’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

The stallion acknowledged while filling a cup with punch.

“If you’re here, then who’s filling in for you?”

Swift paused for a sip. “You see, the forecast is sunny for the next three weeks, so nopony, really. My team can handle clear skies, no worries.”

“Sounds like a cushy job to me,” Spike interjected, prodding the stallion. “So, where do I sign up?”

“It’s not that easy, little dude,” Swift chuckled. “Brayside’s weather can sometimes really throw us a curveball.”

“Like what, exactly?”

While Swift began describing waterspouts, Rarity focused on something more fascinating for the wrong reasons. That hairstyle, all of it, was a disaster zone with loose strands, split ends and how his forelock had a darker shade of blue than his mane and tail. It would’ve been rude to ask if he dyed his hair but she just had to intervene for his sake. At the least, he could move his goggles to free some of the strands.

The moment he finished, she politely coughed. “Ahem. Mister Flying? I presume dealing with all that turbulent weather is the reason for the—” Rarity shuddered —”condition of your mane. You know, I know of a little place in town that can restore it at an affordable price.”

“That’s okay.” He ruffled up his forelock, “I like how it is right now. Low maintenance.”

“Oh are you sure? Don’t you want to provide a good impression to Rainbow’s teammates?”

“He’s just fine,” interjected Rainbow as she munched on hay fries. “Geez, you always have to complain about us weather ponies and our manes.”

Rarity raised her muzzle. “Just because your occupation is in the elements doesn’t mean that one can’t maintain a professional appearance.”

“Give it up, Sugarcube,” said Applejack, wiping off apple bits around her mouth. “Don’t think you’ll win this one.” She prodded Swift, “Speaking of which, were you able to beat Rainbow in any of them games, Fly?”

He glanced at Rainbow before answering, “Not really, no.”

“Now, don’t be fibbing on me, now. You almost had me, and I know for a fact that I’m better than Rainbow.”

The mentioned pony tossed the cowpony a grape.

“Hey!”

Rainbow stuck out her tongue. “You wish you were better than me, loserjack.”

That triggered a barrage of insults between the two competitive mares. Swift could only slink towards Fluttershy.

“Is Rainbow always like this?” the stallion whispered.

“Not all the time,” she replied in kind, smiling. “I know she may sometimes be… a teensy bit annoying, but don’t worry. Once you get to know her, she can be really nice.” Her ears then folded. “Why do you ask? Was she giving you trouble upstairs? I’m sorry if she was.”

Shaking his head, “Nah, nah, it’s all good. We’re starting to get along… I think.”

“If you say so but can I ask you something? Spike was telling me you mentioned that you had a pet?”

“Well, a turtle, but he’s not exactly—”

Her eyes glittered, “A turtle? Do you have pictures? When is his birthday? Does he have any friends? What’s his diet like? What time does he take a nap?”

Waving his hoofs, “Whoa, whoa, cool your jets. It’s not quite like that.”

“So he’s a tortoise?” Pinkie interjected.

Spike slapped his face. “No, Pinkie. Swift has a pet turtle.”

That grabbed everypony’s attention, especially Rainbow -- it was worthy of a point and laugh.

Ignoring her cackling, “I wouldn’t call him a pet. You see, he lives in the ocean but for whatever reason, he started hanging out in my place. Eventually, I decided to call him Leo.”

Twilight raised her foreleg. “Hold on. How can a turtle reach a pegasus in the skies?”

“Because I live in a cave.”

Everypony around him exclaimed surprise.

Not missing a beat, “Brayside doesn’t allow cloud homes within town limits so you either live far off or live in a cave like I do.”

“That sounds pretty weird,” Rainbow responded while grabbing an apple.

“Rainbow!” Twilight barked.

Between chews, “What? I’m just saying… I couldn’t do something like that. The sky’s my home, and the second I can fly again, that’s where I’m go—”

Suddenly, she could breathe no more. Rainbow saw swirling blue skies even though she was really inside Sugarcube Corner. She heard cheers but none from this room; they were gasping at her loss of balance. Applejack’s hooves saved her from falling except that didn’t stop that sensation that she was spinning out of control. Then she felt something moist over her forehead, a towel provided by a blurry Rarity.

“What’s going on?” said Twilight, her voice trembling. “What’s wrong with her?”

“Rainbow said her pills are making her do… this!” replied Applejack, removing her hat to give cool air to her stricken friend. “Is that true Twi?”

“I don’t really know! I’m a librarian, not a doctor! Let me go find one!”

“It’s all right,” Rainbow slurred. “It’s gone now but seriously, can I toss the pills, Fluttershy?”

She got no answer, not from Fluttershy or anypony else. They just stared at her as though she was in an hospital bed.

“Oh, c’mon, now!” Rainbow staggered onto all fours. “Don’t look at me like that!”

“Our apologies, Rainbow,’ said Rarity, “but you really gave us a scare there. We’re concerned about your well-being, darling.”

“That’s right,” added Pinkie. She then shook around the room like an alarm clock, “Youuuuu… werrrre… goingggg… likeee... thissssss.”

“I was?” Rainbow replied.

Twilight nodded. “We can’t leave you behind like this. Manehattan can wait for—”

“Ugggggh!” Rainbow facehoofed. “N. O. No! Look! I already promised Fluttershy I’ll tell Nurse Redheart about this the next time I see her! You girls enjoy your trip, all right?”

She was convinced of one thing; Rainbow wasn’t budging. Even so, Twilight wanted to dangle some low fruit. “If that’s what you want but if you need us for any reason, you have the hotel address. Just write to us and we’ll hop on the next train back. Deal?”

Warmth trickled onto Rainbow’s face-- she couldn’t say no to this. “All right. I’ll keep that in mind.” Then, she put up a brave front, “But I doubt it’s gonna come down to that. Besides, I’ll be too busy bossing Fly around because there’s no way that… hey! Why are you all the way over there?”

He stood by the kitchen doorway, left wing twitching as though he saw a ghost.

“Not you too! Did I freak you out or something?”

“Eh?” His wing stopped moving. “Oh, I, um, yeah! That’s what it was!” Swift treaded slowly toward the front door. “My bad, everypony, but I gotta bail. You know, long flight, party, and I… meeting, in the morning with the Weather Committee. Thanks for the party! Wicked meeting all of—”

“Hold it!” Rainbow blocked the exit. “You can’t go just yet. You see, you seem okay as a pony but I still don’t trust you taking over my skies or my team. For example—”

“I know where this is going,” Swift said in a downcast tone. “I’ll be reporting to you even though I don’t really need to.”

She winked. “You learn quickly. Sunset tomorrow. Cottage just outside of town. Can’t miss it.”

“Gotcha.” He flicked down his goggles. “Later, then.”

Rainbow let him through, and then watched him depart into the twilight sky.

That went okay, I guess, but he gave in to me far too easily! I’m marking him down for that.

She continued staring at what she considered her true abode, ignoring the whispers behind her back. Sure, her friends had her welfare in mind but that gave way to wondering why the guest of honor left in such a hurry to divying up cleaning duties and emerging conversation about Manehattan.

“I know you got a cast and all”—said Applejack—”but you would mind giving us a hoof here?”

“In a minute,” Rainbow answered half-heartedly.

The mare flicked her wing, the impact with her shackles no more aggravating than a mosquito bite. A step in the right direction and that had her grinning from ear to ear. Finally, progress not just with her injury but with her overprotective friends. If she could recover fast enough, she might even take back command before this newcomer finds a way to screw up.

I’ll be back in action in no time! I can’t wait!

4 - Beneath the Feathers

Passengers, luggage and locomotives.

For a town such as Ponyville, the platform never had so many ponies standing on it shoulder to shoulder. The many conversations drowned out the station’s clock tolling fifteen to noon, but fortunately, the conductor’s whistle captured everypony’s attention.

“All aboard to Fillydelphia!”

Once the passenger car doors slid open, three dozen ponies shoved their way inside the carriages, allowing the remaining crowd to spread out under the increasingly dimming sun. Five minutes later, the train chugged down the line only for another to take its place.

Twilight paced back and forth, “Where in Equestria is Rarity? Didn’t I tell her to be here at least thirty minutes early?”

“At least thirty times this week,” said Applejack with an eye roll. “I thought you sent Spike over to help with her luggage.”

“I did! Ughh! If we miss this train, the next train to Manehattan doesn’t leave for another two hours and we’ll be completely off-schedule.” Twilight pulled out a long parchment. ““I already reserved a carriage to take us through Central Trot before sundown today. If we miss that, we’ll—”

“—be late for dinner with Aunt and Uncle Orange at that fancy place,” Applejack finished, placing herself in Twilight’s path. “Don’t you fret, Sugarcube. They won’t be upset if we’re a might late.” Under her breath, “Hopefully.”

She then turned toward the train station’s wall where Rainbow leaned against it, her usually vibrant colors dimmed by the overhang’s shade. The daredevil mare had that look of a prisoner who never had a visitor until noticing Applejack’s staring her way.

“Hey, Applejack! Um, you need me to find Rarity for you?”

The cowpony winced. “Well, I… that’s okay, RD. I mean, your, um… I’ll ask Fluttershy instead.”

Rainbow glanced at her cast. “Oh. All right.”

Three words, that was the most Rainbow had said all morning. Then a smile, one more painful to exert than her injured wing but it was enough to shoo away the orange mare. After all, she would be staying behind so it made little sense getting involved in their affairs. Besides, she’d have to get used to not getting to converse with her friends. This moment served as good practice although a part of her wished they would bug her about staying behind once more, even if her answer would be the same.

From her left approached a moving stack of handbags and suitcases, its owner strutting beside them wearing a silk mauve dress and a matching colored flower hat.

“Apologies for being fashionably late,” Rarity spoke, “but I had some last minute packing to do.”

Suddenly, the mountain of luggage collapsed onto the platform, as did the courteous small dragon.

“Anything else I can do for you?” Spike wheezed.

Rarity patted his head. “That will be all for now.”

Twilight counted the baggage as a burly stallion placed it on a cart. “You need this much, Rarity?”

“I must be ready for every occasion. You do realize we’re not coming back until next Saturday?”

More like next month.

Rarity levitated a sheet, and then took out a pair of just-for-show reading glasses. “There is one item I want to discuss before we leave. On your schedule here, there is an event tomorrow that I would like to have removed for—”

“Oh, no! What did I specifically say on Wednesday?” Twilight rolled up the parchment and waved it like teaching stick. “This schedule is final except in case of emergency!”

“But this is an emergency,” Rarity replied, adjusting her glasses.

“That’s what you said about the other thing while we were cleaning up yesterday!”

Withholding her laughter, Applejack whispered to Fluttershy and Pinkie, “Here we go again.”

Then came the whistle followed by the call for the Manehattan Express. Rainbow trotted from the shadows to beside one of the many openings to the train. She yearned for acknowledgment one last time. Maybe that would be enough to tide her over until their return.

First up were the two bickering unicorns. Rainbow waved them a goodbye, receiving a cursory mumble before Twilight and Rarity continued their scheduling squabble.

That’s okay. They’re... busy.

Up next was Pinkie Pie - now there was a pony that could make a scene out of a simple farewell. Unfortunately, she had a sleeping Spike on her back but that didn’t stop her from delivering a quick grin before stepping into the passenger car.

Better than nothing, I guess.

Applejack, an honest pony but straight to the point- Rainbow expected nothing more than a tip of the hat. However, she stopped right in front of her; maybe she was the designated ‘I’m staying behind with you’ pony!

“Rainbow, could you do me a favor? When you see that Flying fella again, tell him to go easy placing rain clouds over the farm. Big Mac’s a bit worried about flooding. I told him there was no way that was happening with all the trenches we dug but just in case. Thanks!”

Work? For pete’s sake, Applejack! “Fine but you owe me —”

The cowpony had already left, with Fluttershy taking her spot.

“Rainbow, be nice to Angel.”

The brash mare snorted. “I’ll try, but I’m not guaranteeing anything.”

“Remember to tell Nurse Redheart about the medicine.”

“I’ll try to move up my appointment.”

Fluttershy stared at the wooden planks below her hooves. “Um, Rainbow? I know you’ve already made up your mind but… well, I—”

Rainbow nudged her onto the railcar. “It’s all right. Just promise me you’ll have a great time.”

Her friend nodded and then inched closer. A hug, that could’ve been the only explanation and despite the cast and crowds around them, Rainbow would accept it without hesitation.

The train door suddenly slid closed, splitting them apart.

Moments later, she saw all her friends one last time, waving goodbye from open windows as the locomotive tooted its horn while laboring away from the station. Clear smoke soon enveloped Rainbow and when it cleared, she saw them no more. Even so, she ran to the platform’s edge and watched the Manehattan Express take her friends to a new adventure while another train arrived to take even more ponies to places beyond Ponyville. Despite the continuing hustle and bustle of departing passengers behind her, Rainbow only heard the fading whistles of the locomotive that just left until its caboose disappeared into a tunnel. Then, the last glimmers of sun vanished, leaving her under a sea of pale grey.

“Have fun, you guys,” she whispered.

Something wet trickled down her cheek, followed by another splashing on top of her head. In seconds, ponies around her ran for any type of protection from the water bombardment.

“What in Equestria? It’s not supposed to start yet!”

Rainbow stared upwards, finding what looked like a greyish dot flailing his hooves at a darker gray blob. Then, the two figures flew into the rain-producing cloud, splitting it into pieces and ending the shower.

Not even a whole day and there’s problems already. Great. I better figure out Fly’s deal before he really messes up my skies.

Where is he?

Rainbow slouched on the chaise lounger by the window, her eyes glancing at the murky clumpy clouds shifting across the sky. She had been keeping count on the number of layers, knowing that the stallion temporarily in command wouldn’t arrive until the patrol placed the requisite number to keep the rains going once they began.

She checked the clock on the wall; it was three hours after scheduled sundown.

Ugh! They should’ve been done about an hour ago! Don’t tell me he ditched me!

She could do nothing except clutch on a pillow and sigh. Usually, Fluttershy’s cottage lacked much noise other than from the nature surrounding it but even that was gone. Angel was somewhere in the house although Rainbow hadn’t seen him in hours. A brief back-and-forth would’ve been welcome, something to take her mind off the friends that, by now, were probably enjoying a fancy dinner in a ritzy Manehattan restaurant.

It’s all right. I’d probably be eating yucky food and wearing fancy clothes… with my friends. Rainbow hugged the pillow tighter. This isn’t much fun at all.

Then came a knock, a magical sound that sent her spirits soaring. Maybe it was one of her friends, coming back to be by her side after all. She trotted toward the door, asking who was here at this hour.

“It’s Fly!” the visitor responded.

So much for that slim hope, but at this rate, Rainbow would’ve welcomed the most boring pony in Ponyville. Before opening the door, she searched for the right state of mind; there was no way she would show any signs of weakness.

“You’re late,” a frowning Rainbow barked as she blocked his path. “Already starting off on the wrong hoof.”

Swift pushed up his goggles. “My bad, Rainbow. Um—” He tried going around her to no avail — “I had some, um, problems.”

“What a surprise,” she deadpanned. “All right. Get in here and tell me.”

Rainbow directed him to an easy chair diagonally across from the green couch by the window. After she sat down, Swift pulled out a few sheets from his satchel and placed it on the coffee table.

“What’s that?”

“The report I gave to the Committee this afternoon.”

“Huh?” She flipped through the pages, her eyebrows slanting downwards. “Why did you do that? I’ve never bothered with that kind of stuff.”

Clutching his hair, “My bad. I’m just used to doing—”

“Yeah, yeah. Just give me a sec.”

While she’d rather hear from him than read, Rainbow couldn’t overlook what other eyes had already seen. She expected scathing criticism but instead found a simple and factual description of what happened today - mishaps at the Cloud Factory, certain ponies that made expected mistakes and others that caused trouble. Nothing came as a surprise, especially how the newcomer tried handling each situation.

Rainbow crumpled up a page and then chucked it at Swift’s face.

He snatched it with his mouth. “What was that for?” he mumbled.

Crossing her hooves, “Are you sure you can handle this?”

“Eh?”

“How often do you deal with problems with your Brayside team?”

He raised a limp hoof, “Well, um, my team’s a lot more experienced and yeah, there’s one or two troublemakers but—”

She threw another crumpled sheet; he avoided it with a slight head tilt. “Thought so. Your squad all but runs itself. Well, my patrol’s no cakewalk. You gotta be on top of this job at all times. You gotta know what you’re doing. You gotta be a strong leader and honestly, I don’t think that’s you.”

His head slumped, and she took that as the stallion folding like a lawn chair at her rebuke.

“I know I can do this,” he responded an octave lower. Swift then stared right at her. “Maybe I’m not the best leader out there but Ponyville trusts the team and I to bring them rain for quite a while. Sure, we’ll have our wipeouts but shoot, we’re pulling this off, no matter what happens.”

That sudden burst of determination, where did that come from? Her perception of Swift Flying was becoming more of a puzzle - a welcome one that could keep her busy until her friends returned from Manehattan.

“Rainbow, if there’s anything you could do to help me, though, I’m all ears.”

Smirking, “You wanting help from me? Hmmm. Tell you what. I will, but on one condition.”

His pupils retracted, “What condition is that?”

“I want to know exactly what the deal with your name is.”

Swift leaned against the seatback. “C’mon! Can’t it be something else? I don’t like—”

“Take it or leave it, Swift.”

He covered his ears, hissing as though acid spilled onto his coat. Rainbow cackled with glee, her hooves banging on the cushions. How she wished he’d reject as an excuse to say his first name again!

“Fine,” he muttered under his breath, “but try not to laugh too much.”

“N-nno promises,” the out-of-breath mare said.

Swift stared at the ceiling, a more preferable sight “My name comes from both my mom and dad, ‘S’ Gale and Cloud Flying. Do you know why they did that? Because they really—” His face writhed “—love each other, I’m a symbol of that and they just have to tell everypony about it. Friends, strangers, it doesn’t matter who, when, and where. The worst was my first day of school when they told the whole class. That was the worst week I’ve ever had, all the teasing about my name.”

“And you let them get away with it.” She snorted amusedly. “What a foal.”

His ears drooped. “Yeah, whatever. Anyways, at least I got a break from it when I earned my cutie mark.”

“Oh, really?” She stretched across the lounger on her stomach. “C’mon. I wanna hear that too!”

Swift shut his eyes, searching for the words to match his memories.

*** Start Flashback ***

A young gray colt sat at the end of a table, watching the clouds pass by beyond the paned windows. All around him was the Saddlecloud Flight School’s cafeteria, a square area with several pillars supporting the high ceiling. A few colts and mares stood in line for whatever slimy goop the cafeteria staff dared to call food but most were already munching down their grub while chatting with their classmates.

He wanted none of that, at least not right now.

“I’m not Swift,” the colt grumbled under his breath. “That name is dumb.”

While he wasn’t on speaking terms with his mom, he did accept the meal prepared for him, a simple but delectable daffodil sandwich. Swift took it out of his knapsack and went for a bite.

Suddenly, a pair of hooves yanked away his meal. Three shadows towered over him but he didn’t look back - Swift already knew they were same bully trio that had bugged him the most this first week of school.

The largest spun him around so he could see his buff tan frame. “How you’re doing, Swift? It’s your buddy, Pad Lock. When will you tell us that lovey-dovey story again?”

Swift said nothing.

The second colt, a tall but slim pony, furiously rubbed his hair, “Poor Swift! I think mommy and daddy needs to tuck lover-pony in!”

Again, he remained silent.

Finally, the last colt, the heaviest looking of the trio, placed Swift in a headlock, and then pointed at some fillies sitting together at another table. “So, which one are you gonna marry? I can ask for their names to help you out!”

“Whatever,” he mumbled.

Pad Lock began chewing on Swift’s sandwich. “Is that all the little foal has to say? What a lame-o! Fruit Tart! Barrel Lift! C’mon! I see some colt with a tasty pie! Time for dessert!

All three gave him a shove before leaving with a cocky laugh.

Seconds later, Swift grumbled as he peeked into his lunch bag for whatever he could salvage for a meal.

“Milk and carrots? Really?”

Swift pushed it aside before slouching on the table. Already, he could hear the poor classmate whining about his stolen baked treat along with the murmurs from others wishing somepony would do something about these bullies. He heard similar talk for five straight days but that’s all it was. Nopony took action and for whatever reason, that riled him up almost as much as hearing his name. Swift grabbed his lunch bag, his instincts urging him to ignore his inhibitions.

Just let it go. If I try anything, I’ll… “Eh?”

He noticed the troublemaking three making a trip to the table three rows from his position. The group of at least five students sitting there was those he knew, the colts and fillies that had trouble flying. Usually, an adult kept an eye on them but today, nopony stopped the bullies from belittling them. Heads sunk and tears fell but that only intensified the taunts, as did a flame that lit within his chest.

This isn’t wicked at all! Shoot! I wanna do something but… I just can’t!

Then, one from the group rose up, a redheaded filly with an orange coat. She held her lunch tray up but just as she went for an attack, the largest bully pushed her onto the floor.

I can’t take this anymore!

With all his might, Swift tossed his leftover lunch at the trio.

Splash! The milk carton exploded, dousing his targets with white liquid mixed with uneaten vegetables. Those in the room gasped while he, for an instant, sensed thrilling accomplishment. They deserved what they got, consequences be damned.

“Who did that?” Pad Lock bellowed, his voice echoing across the cafeteria.

Everypony pointed in Swift’s direction; even the sun decided to shine brighter in his area. The three steaming-red colts powered up their wings, making his trembling appendages unfurl.

What should I do? What should I do?

“Fly!” the redheaded mare shouted. “Fly away!”

Instincts taking over, Swift blasted upwards, avoiding their tackling attempt. He then propelled forwards, searching for an exit but finding fixtures and pillars. After zipping past a support, he hid behind it for cover but his swinging tail might as well been a flare in a dark room. His pursuers immediately called out his location and in an eye blink, tried pinning him against the pillar.

“Ahhhh!”

Swift dove straight toward the floor, waiting until the last second to level off. The largest bully belly-flopped through the table, launching half-eaten lunches ten feet into the air. The other two split their routes, and hit the afterburners, their aim to squish him from both sides. His instincts slammed the brakes, and just like that, two pegasi crashed right in front of him before falling onto the floor.

Oh, shoot! Did I just do—

“Look out!” a bystander said.

Barrel roll! There went the fat colt with a failed lunge but how was he pulling all these moves? This was no time to ponder; all three bullies came for another go at him.

Exit! Where’s the exit?

He zigged and zagged through the pillars, the only way to stymie his capture while searching for a doorway. The trio countered by splitting their efforts, attacking him from all directions but once more, inner impulses guided him; somersault, flip, spin, dive and roll. With every attempt, what was lightning flashes slowed to a baseball pitch. Dodging became easier, at least until Pad Lock managed to grab his tail and toss him straight at a pillar at bone-crushing speeds.

Swift stretched his wings wide, slowing him down just enough that his hooves took the brunt of the impact. They bended but not only held, but then propelled him in the direction of an open doorway.

The exit!

In seconds, he was out of the cafeteria and into a hallway with pale green lockers on both sides.

If I can just get outside or find the principal’s office—

Out of time. The bullies started chasing him down the narrow corridors, each one indistinguishable from the other. He was going too fast to read the door signs to find a safe destination but not fast enough to pull away from his pursuers. His heart seized, realizing coming to this area was a mistake; he should’ve stayed in the roomy cafeteria until the adults arrived. His only hope was to find it after the next bend but instead, he eventually ran into a dead end. He skidded to a halt, and then turned around.

“You’re trapped, twerp!”

The trio stood shoulder-to-shoulder several feet away, their stance that of bulls ready to charge at its target. One way or another, somepony’s going to hit the lockers and he’d rather it be they than him. He had no red cape but maybe a taunt would do.

My head must be in the clouds!

He gulped, swallowing his fear before leaning forward.“Come on and get me! Come and get it!”

“Pound him!”

In union, three ponies blasted toward him, their forms becoming a blur. Swift sprinted right at them, wings extended. He motioned upwards, causing the fat colt to block that route.

Now!

Swift slid right under Pad Lock’s hooves, using his own to trip the lead bully into a flip, collecting the other two. At full speed, all three banged right into the lockers, the force loosening the many doors and unleashing an avalanche of heavy tomes on top of them. For a few seconds, the pile shifted as though one of them tried to continue the chase but he eventually collapsed and joined the others in their moaning and groaning.

Finally, the young gray colt could slump against the lockers and catch his breath. “Did I just do that?”

“You totally did!” replied an approaching perky feminine voice.

Into his sights appeared the redhead filly, grinning from ear to ear. Behind her was those she tried to defend with those that watched in the cafeteria steadily flowing into the dead-end corridor.

“I was gonna whack some sense into them but you beat me to it.”

“I wasn’t really trying to,” he said, scratching his hair. “When they pushed you down, I… well, it just—”

The filly tittered as she flicked one of her braids. “Oh, I see. You were standing up for me.” She leaned to within inches of his face. “That was sweet of you.”

The crowd whooped and hollered for a kiss, but he was having none of that. “No! Don’t! Cooties! Anything but that!”

She pulled back, giggling. “Awwww. Well, doesn’t matter. I wasn’t going to kiss you anyways. Name’s Surfing Blossom. And you are?”

Before he could elaborate, somepony within the crowd shouted it out. That got the others to chant ‘Swift’ repeatedly in a way that should’ve been acceptable to him.

But it wasn’t. Every incantation was a painful needle injection to his flank. How he wanted it to stop and it did, thanks to Blossom slamming a lunch tray against the lockers.

“Quiiiiiiii-ettttttttttttt!”

In an instant, the corridor turned into a library, its occupants stunned by the filly’s shrill roar. For all the pain he just inflicted on the bullies, she might be capable of more. That poor piece of plastic snapped in two like a twig!

She extended her orange hoof to him, the fury in her orange eyes gone. “I’m sorry. I forgot you’re that pony that was teased about their name. So, what do you want everypony to call you instead?”

“Fly,” he replied as he got up on all fours. “Just call me, Fly.”

Blossom winked. “Ok! Oh, by the way, nice cutie mark!”

“Eh?”

That couldn’t be - his flank was empty real estate this morning! When he checked, there it was in full display, an inverted bolt over a cloud. Another surprise, the shape and colors came from both his parents! Surely, that would only give them more ammunition to embarrass him but for now, this was receiving everything on his wish list on Hearts Warming Day.

“My cutie mark!” Swift hovered in random directions, his hooves busting a move. “Most wicked day e– oof!”

Swift believed he bumped into a wall but rather, it was a bearded stallion wearing square spectacles. His towering presence had every pupil trembling; a few whispered that big trouble was coming.

“‘S–sup, C–counselor Ruler.” Swift wiped sweat off his forehead. “I—”

The stallion pointed at the crime scene, “You’ve injured your fellow classmates, you’ve caused a major disruption and you’ve damaged school property! Now—” In a hushed tone —“what do you have to say for yourself?”

He had nothing to give, especially after such a verbal assault. Then, he caught a glimpse of Surfing Blossom among those that got bullied in the cafeteria. No more tears, just smiles and in that moment, it all made sense.

“I, I wasn’t trying to, um” — Swift took a tall stance — “I had to do what I thought was right.”

Ruler grabbed him by the hoof. “We’ll see what the principal has to say about that!”

*** End Flashback ***

“Did you get in trouble?” said Rainbow, leaning at the couch’s edge.

Swift slouched on the easy chair. “Two weeks detention.”

She banged the coffee table. “That’s totally unfair! Don’t tell me your parents grounded you too?”

“Actually,” he let out an amused snort, “they were cool with it. Mom wanted me to ask Blossom out.” He stuck out his tongue. “My pop gave me this really long speech about pegasus pride. Pfft. That’s so old scho—”

“Aw, yeah! Good ol’ pegasus pride!” She stood up, chest inflated and hoof over it. “Be strong! Be fast! Be tough! Earn that pride! Keep it! Use it! Be the best, for you, for all pegasi!”

Swift shrugged. “All these years and I still don’t get it.”

Rainbow crumpled another page, and let him have it - he swatted it away with ease.

“What was that for?”

Sitting back down, “Because you missed the lesson. You think what you did that day was all about doing the right thing?”

He nodded.

“Wrong! It was about defending your pegasus pride by teaching those bullies a lesson! Well, don’t worry. Once I’m done with you, you’ll totally get it.”

One crumpled piece of paper, two and three, Rainbow went on the attack. Swift leapt from his chair and slid backwards over the wooden floor, avoiding the projectiles.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing?”

She pointed at the wasted ammunition, “Lesson’s starts now! Defend yourself!”

“Eh?”

Rainbow opened a ream from a nearby shelf. “Throw it back!”

The stallion took a step back. “Really? Don’t you think this is— ah!”

In came an endless barrage and all he could do was avoid. Papercuts sting and he didn’t want one tonight but this mare had the hooves to heave these paper balls with speed. Her cast, it was mere wardrobe with how hard she was trying to hit him.

“Stop” — She tossed five all at once — “moving!”

He continued dodging, much to her chagrin. It was time to unleash her weapon.

“You’re mine, Swift!”

He froze in place, leaving him wide open for easy pot shots. One grazed his cheek, the paper’s edge slicing through his flesh. Swift body rolled, grabbed himself a crumpled ball and threw it at his assailant.

“Ow!”

Oh, how wrong that was of him and yet, satisfying like gobbling a tub of ice cream. He hit her again, right on the muzzle.

“Hey! Not the face!”

He broke out a laugh. “Y–you said to defend myself, right?”

“En garde!”

In moments, Fluttershy’s living room turned into a winter wonderland but with white paper zipping through the air rather than frozen mush. Whatever objective Rainbow had for this exercise was but a distant memory. Her chortles threw off her aim and made her a large target but her joy was that of a filly in a playground chasing down a colt playmate.

Then, the floor beneath her hooves vanished and she fell. Rainbow tried flapping her wings but a strong force was pushing her downwards. Green, a wide patch of it, she was gonna crash! Her mouth opened to yell but a voice immediately shattered her hallucination into pieces.

“Rainbow! Rainbow!”

She was back to reality, lying flat on the floor with a closeup of Swift’s trembling blue eyes.

“Are you all right?”

Rainbow rubbed her eyes, “Darnit. I already chucked those pills and it still hit me.”

Swift’s folded left wing began twitching. “What did?”

“Ugh. I don’t know. It’s like… I wonder.” She rose up. “They day I crashed, I don’t remember anything that happened. Maybe my head’s trying to and that’s why keep feeling this weirdness.”

His appendage trembled even harder and his breaths became raspy.

“Darnit, Fly! Whatever I have is not contagious so stop acting all scared and stuff! Besides, I’ll finally have an answer tomorrow.”

“T–tomorrow?”

Returning to the green couch, “I was able to move up my next appointment with Nurse Redheart. Even better, I think I can convince her to take off this silly cast. Isn’t that great?”

Swift plopped onto his chair. “Wicked, I guess.”

“You sound excited,” she muttered.

“Nah, nah. I just… need to catch my breath. Hey, um, how about that help you promised me? You know, so I can be a better leader out there?”

Rainbow moaned aloud. “Fine. Just make sure you’re paying attention because I’m only going to bore you once.”

He had no problems with a lecture; it would keep his mind busy listening to every syllable rather than thoughts emerging into his consciousness. Soon, he realized that no matter how much new material Rainbow was giving him, he couldn’t forget her momentary seizure. Every time she asked if he was listening, he answered with a simple ‘Gotcha’. Eventually, she caught wind of this habit, so she blabbed some gibberish.

“You got that, Fly?”

“Eh? What was that all about?”

She lazily tossed a pillow at him; no surprise that he caught it. “Just seeing if you’re paying attention. Now, where was I?”

“Dealing with the Cloud Factory,” Swift said.

Rainbow continued down a list of need-to-knows, especially the ponies he would deal with for the upcoming days. If anything, this was an excuse to air her grievances about just about everything about her job and on those within her patrol that gave her issues. She had enough material to talk nonstop for half an hour.

“...but this is the most important thing to remember. Keep an eye on Thunderlane and Raindrops at all times!” Pointing at Swift, “at all times!”

He snorted. “Believe me, you don’t need to tell me twice. With them and all the other problems I had today, I had to push the rain’s start time from sunrise to noon tomorrow.”

“Noon?” she said an octave higher than normal. Then, a sigh. “Well, I suppose that’s not too bad. You know, my appointment at eleven so maybe I can quickly check up on you afterwards.”

“Eh?”

She pressed on her cast, “See? Almost can’t feel anything. I should have enough in me to fly, dontcha think?”

“Fly?” His left wing went into spasms and the air around him became mountain peak thin.

“What’s wrong with you now?” She got up and waved her hooves across his eyes. “Seriously, are you getting sick or something?”

He feigned a cough. “Um, could be. Maybe I should just… catch some early z’s just in case.”

She checked the time; ten o’clock. “Are you sure? I wasn’t quite finished yet.”

He walked toward the door, “No worries. You gave me enough to work with.”

“Ha! Hardly! Well, I’ll be sure to tell you more tomorrow. Something tells me I won’t be cleared to come back right away so maybe we can hook up after work, say my place? You do know where that is, right?”

Swift lowered his goggles, “That really wicked place floating a few miles from here? Yeah, I personally checked that it’s anchored in place. Something told me you’ve have my head if something happened to it.”

“Darn right,” she said, chuckling. “I’ll give you a little credit for having some of your priorities straight.”

“No prob. Later, then.”

With a door click, Rainbow was left alone in the middle of the living room wondering why he wanted to leave so suddenly.

Why is he getting all freaked out like that? She tossed herself onto the lounger and clutched on a pillow. I know my friends were worried about me but he just got here. Does he know something?

Rainbow slapped her forehead.

I’m reading too much into it. Fly’s just kinda weird, that’s all.

She checked the world past her window, the outside’s colors dim and uninviting. Manehattan at this hour must be glistening with more hues than her tail, she thought, and her friends must be bathing in its glow.

They must be having the time of their lives, without her.

Then, a crumpled sheet smacked her ear.

“Hey! Who did that?”

Angel stood atop the coffee table, pointing at the endless wasted ammunition littered across the floor. He spoke some gibberish which, based on his subsequent motions, was a rant about not picking up the trash.

“I’ll clean up later,” she moaned.

The rabbit popped her with another rolled-up sheet.

“Why you little—”

She lunged at him, but rather than catch a rabbit, the table toppled from under her, sending her rolling onto the hardwood.

“Ugggggh! Angel!”

He delivered one last hit before scurrying up the staircase, tittering all the way.

Rainbow buried her head onto the paneling. “Just one more night. Just one more night.”

5 - Aborted Takeoff

“C’mon! C’mon! Hurry up!”

“This isn’t a race, young lady.”

Rainbow could already hear pitter patters on the clinic’s roof, as well as Nurse Redheart’s grunting as she cut into her patient’s cast with heavy duty scissors. She stopped the incision just short of where she started it. Finally, a reward for waiting in this diminutive room an hour too long.

The nurse spat out her instrument. “Rainbow, you will not spread those wings until I say so. Understand?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Redheart glared at her patient an inch from her face. “You give me that tone again and I’ll put another cast on that wing.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Rainbow affirmed with a fierce head nod.

With a yank, the shackles around Rainbow’s body plopped onto the tiled floor. Free, her wings are free but the brash mare trembled, holding back the instinct to unfurl them and soar into the skies.

Grabbing a small rubber hammer, “Extend only the right wing, please.”

She did, albeit slowly like pushing a heavy creaking door. In no way could Rainbow demonstrate pain lest she receives an unfavorable opinion from her physician.

No pain, no gain!

Redheart began tapping Rainbow’s appendage on the outer edges, moving inwards with every impact.

“See. I don’t feel any—”

Pop! Right at the center.

Rainbow yelped, as though the nurse poked her with a needle. “No, no! It’s nothing! Just a—”

Another strike on the injured area.

“Ah!” Her wing folded flat against her body. “No! It’s just a little sting! That’s all! I don’t wanna wear a cast again! Please, please, please, please, pleaseeeeeeeeee!”

Final hit, a soft one on the groveling mare. “You don’t need to worry about that. Now, I need to look closer at that wing, now!”

Once Rainbow obliged, the nurse switched to a portable flashback so she can pry deep within the feathers. The light shone healthy cyan, save for a few blotchy bruise spots.

“Rainbow, flex this wing, nice and easy.”

She did except the movement was that of choppy ocean wave. Worse, her muscles throbbed with heat just enough to have her hiss. With time came relief - a little workout was all she needed.

“Hmmm.” Redheart scribbled on paper attached to a clipboard.

“Is that good or bad news?”

Mumbling through her pencil, “I’ll give you this much. You might win for fastest recovery in all of Equestria.”

Rainbow hoof-pumped.

“But you’re not in the clear just yet, young lady.” Redheart flipped through some pages. “First off, I will not clear you for duty until after the rains have concluded. Do you understand?”

Her lips moved for an interjection, but one look at the nurse’s subtle stare halted it. “Got it.”

“I’m only doing that as a precaution. Your wing needs time to fully recuperate. As for the medicine I prescribed you, will you need a refill?”

“No!”

The nurse leaned back, “That was sudden. Did they give you trouble?”

Here it was, a perfect opening to tell everything - that was if her mindset wasn’t on leaving in a hurry. “Um… nothing, really. They tasted bad.”

Redheart placed the clipboard aside on a table. “Now, I think you’ll like this part. Slowly, I want you to power up your wings and lift off, gently.”

With a salute, “Yes, ma’am!”

Rainbow flipped all the switches to on, which pumped fuel to the engines that would grant her flight. When she turned the key, her wings became lead weights, their movements no more than a sway.

“You don’t need to hold back that much,” Redheart assured.

“I’m not,” she huffed.

“Does it hurt?”

“No. Ugh! C’mon! Move!”

Finally, she sensed her hooves becoming light. In a rush, she pulled the yoke up for liftoff.

In a flash of light, Rainbow was now standing on a floating cloud in a blustery sky. The world’s colors were that of those coming of a projector, present but muted. Beneath her hooves hundreds of feet down, Fluttershy and Scootaloo watched her every move with nary a blink.

After a prolonged exhale, the daredevil mare free fell off the cloud, her wings in the closed position. Her heart raced as she accelerated by the second, resisting her natural instinct until reaching her desired altitude. Then, she unfurled her feathers and started a twisting loop using only momentum.

I remember now! I was doing it and then… oh, no!

The winds pushed her downwards toward the grassy fields, asphyxiating her with panic.

No! No! Not again!

Rainbow crashed sideways with a dull thud, the impact on her right the force of a swinging hammer. Her wing was on fire, her tear ducts gushed water and she unleashed a blood-curdling scream louder than Fluttershy and Scootaloo’s cries of shock and dismay. Nothing could’ve prepared her for this, not even all the times she crashed into ponies, signs and walls. Those were like pinpricks; this was raw and sudden pain and even as a memory, it felt real.

Make it stop! Stop, please! I can’t take this anymore! No more! No more!

Then, all the lights went out. All her aches has vanished, replaced by a stomach twisting calmness. Far ahead, an object suddenly came into form under a dim light, a barrier three times her height. Rainbow chose to fly except she had nothing to extend. Her pupils contracted as she touched her sides - soft hide instead of feathers.

“My wings!” Her voice echoed. “Where are my wings?”

“Over here,” somepony whispered.

Rainbow flinched. “Who said that?”

The stranger spoke again but not loud enough to comprehend the words. Yet, Rainbow somehow extracted more meaning out of that; she must walk toward the wall. Based on distance, it would take seconds to reach it with a gallop but when she tried, her hooves refused to budge.

“Ugh! Move!”

Bogged down by unseen quicksand, Rainbow grunted for every step. Then, she relived the crash, not just the one on Monday but every single instance where she impacted something; trees, signs, walls and ponies. Now they shone under a different light, that of primal fright and she screeched after every impact.

“No! No! Stop! Stop!”

“Rainbow!”

Just like that, Nurse Redheart’s voice pulled her back to the clinic, under the physician’s tight embrace. Rainbow pulled her face away from her chest just enough to gasp for air.

“It’s okay,” said Redheart, brushing her mane. “Just relax.”

She looked all around the room, “I–I don’t…what just happened?”

“I asked you to hover off the ground. You fainted and then…just like at the fields, your screams.”

“Before you put me under.”

Redheart cusped her gasp. “Hold on. You remember that?”

Her patient nodded. “It came back to me. Everything that happ…ened.”

Rainbow pushed the nurse away so she could inspect her sides; both wings were still there. When she tested them for lift-off, that’s when her bravery received a punishing uppercut. Feathers fell off and teeth chattered, as the idea to fly was much like dipping into lava. With a whimper, she raised the white flag.

“I don’t… what’s wrong with me? Why can’t I… no.” She ran toward the door.

“Rainbow! Wait!”

Running on panic, she entered the clinic’s hallway. To the left were multiple conversations from ponies waiting in the lobby, far too many witnesses. She trotted right and around the bend where she bypassed the door to the right, choosing the one straight ahead leading outside.

Cool, damp air greeted her along with the sounds of water pelting the building’s overhang before flowing off its slope. Fly, she urged herself, Fly! Rainbow ran into the open, wings unfurled but then came to a halt. She tripped and fell into a large puddle, the pain of hitting cobblestone chin-first nothing was like the gut-wrenching emotions that had her eyes gushing agony. The skies, she was free to come home but she was still in shackles, even after her nurse removed them.

Banging the ground, she screamed “Why? Why? Why? Why can’t I fly?!”

Redheart yanked her back under the awning’s protection, her typically stoic expression faltering at her despairing patient.

“Please tell me what’s wrong with me,” Rainbow begged. “You know what it is, dontcha?”

As a professional, she had nothing conclusive but she had a theory. Something about Rainbow’s trembling eyes reminded her of a patient she saw two days ago; a stallion needed a physical and she was happy to oblige. After running down through a basic examination checklist, he provided her with his medical records. There, she saw it, that brief moment where her patient’s confidence about his bill of health dipped. When she reached the page within a folder filled with text and diagrams, she knew why.

“Sw--, I mean, Flying, according to your history, you had quite a serious accident last year with your left wing.”

The short, grey stallion fidgeted on the exam table. “Yeah, I did… but you said my wings checked out, right?”

She caught the appendage in question quiver. “Hmmm. They did.”

Redheart continued reading his records detailing his recovery. Everything fell in line with a typical recovery except for one thing - his doctor diagnosed him with a condition she’d never seen before in all her years as a nurse. Nothing in her training or in the subsequent pages gave her a clue on what this was but it did say he recovered from it. Recover from what exactly, she thought. She dared not question a fellow physician about his diagnosis nor could she could ask her patient what this was, at least not directly.

“Young stallion, is there anything not in the files you want to tell me? Please understand that as a physician, I am bound not to—”

Swift shook his head, “It’s all good. What happened to me… it’s over now. Doc said so.”

That was that. Redheart had nothing substantial that would deny him a pass. “Very well. Then you’re cleared for duty, Flying.”

He slid off the table. “Wicked! So, can I go?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Later, Nurse.” The stallion left the room, but then stuck his head in.“Oh, and thanks for telling me about the special Committee Meeting at Sugarcube Corner.”

She suppressed her giggle. “Yes, of course. Have a great day!”

Once the door closed, the nurse tossed the files onto the exam bed. While she was an earth pony in an earth pony town, Redheart prided herself as a nurse that could diagnose any species with their unique conditions; she wasn’t going to be stumped by this. In the short time between then and now, she accumulated just enough knowledge to begin diagnosing her current patient.

“Rainbow, let’s go somewhere a little more dry and private.”

Redheart guided her back inside the building, but rather than return to the patient room, the nurse took her through the door by the exit and into an office. Pictures of the clinic’s staff hung on the left wall headshots depicted the clinic’s staff while a tall and wide bookcase occupied the right. Rainbow sat down in one of the two red beanbag chairs, while Nurse Redheart sat on an office chair across a burgundy desk.

Atop the polished surface was a thick book she had pulled out from her nearby collection yesterday, Understanding Complex Pegasus Physiological, Physical, and Psychophysiological Conditions. She opened it to where she placed a pink bookmark, the section which she memorized by heart. This was mere confirmation of her recollection.

“Maybe,” she said, rubbing her foreleg. “I, um, started fainting and shaking. Then I saw things but I couldn’t remember what it was. I thought it was the pill’s side effects. Please tell me that’s all it was.”

“I’m afraid not.” Redheart inhaled deep, so she could hold her composure. “Rainbow Dash. I believe you have something called Flying Stress Syndrome, or FSS for short.”

Rainbow’s head tilted slightly. “Huh?”

“I’ll put in in the simplest way I can. You’re afraid to fly.”

Instantly, an arctic chill ran across her body. Flying was her lifeblood, the very foundation of who she was and yet, this nurse was telling her that it wasn’t. “That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard! You’re lying to me!” She leaned forward and banged the desk. “Tell me the truth! Now!”

Redheart’s grim expression did not waver. “I am, Rainbow. Please, if you sit back down, I will explain it to you in detail.”

She slumped on the beanbag, grumbling.

“You see, FSS is a rare condition. In fact, the medical profession doesn’t have a lot of material on it. What I do know is that it affects mainly highly-skilled pegasi, such as yourself, after a traumatic event that occurs during flight. Usually, this is some type of flying accident. In most cases, it’s like falling off a bike. You shake it off and get back on again. Unfortunately, there are situations where what happened is so traumatic, the pegasus’ mind tries to repress the memory related to that event”

Rainbow’s lips quivered. “That’s what happened to me.”

The nurse nodded. “While doing so is good short-term, the long-term consequences can be quite dire. Anything can trigger vague recollections of the hidden memory and the pegasus will often faint or convulse as a result. If the pony just happens to recover their memories, then all the negative emotions manifest itself into a phobia. In essence, that fear is a defense mechanism since it all but eliminates the possibility of having a similar accident again.”

She heard it and yet, she had trouble digesting all of it. “It can’t be.” She pulled back tears. “Please tell me this is a joke. There has to be something else. Anything but that.”

Shutting her eyelids, “I’m sorry, Rainbow. All the symptoms fit. Nothing else is even a close match.”

The gavel struck the anvil and soon after, her face hit the desk, muffling her sobs. Her job as a weather manager, gone. Her dreams to be a Wonderbolt, a mere fantasy. The humiliation she would endure, total and complete. It was the perfect trifecta of the worst things that could happen to her in a single day, maybe in her lifetime.

“Rainbow, please,” the nurse spoke, reaching across to caress her head. “It’s all right. This condition is not terminal. There is a way to recover.”

“A... cure?” She suddenly latched onto Redheart. “What is it? Medicine? A spell? Whatever it is, I need it now!”

“Hold on! It’s not like that. Please, just calm down let me explain.”

Rainbow let her go and took a fetal position on the beanbag chair.

The nurse leaned back on her office chair, rubbing her temple. “You see, FSS isn’t something you can wish away with magic or take pills and syrups. Unfortunately, this is where details are scarce.” Redheart closed the book and then tapped the cover. “Supposedly, the only method that has shown any sign of success is through rigorous flight training starting from the very basics. You must confront your fears repeatedly so you can eventually overcome it.”

“But how?” she said, wiping her cheek. “I can’t even get off the ground.”

Redheart sighed. “I wish I had a good answer. There is a physician from Cloudsdale I would refer you to but she’s away on leave for a few weeks. I will ask her office if they have any information that might be of any help.”

“Oh.”

“What I do know is that this is something you can’t do on your own. You’ll need help from somepony else to help you every step of the way. What needs to be done specifically, I’m not sure.”

Rainbow stared at the tiles, “I have to… tell somepony else about all this?” A few drops splattered onto the floor. “I–I don’t… know if… I’m already embarrassed enough. How can—”

Redheart went around the desk, so she could hold up her patient’s face and display a comforting smile. “Rainbow, I’ve patched you up enough times that I know that nothing in this world will stop you from flying again. This is no different. You just need some backup. How about your friends? I know they would do anything for you.”

“I can’t,” she whimpered. “I don’t want for them to know about this. What are they going to think of me if they find out? Besides, I promised myself I wouldn’t ruin their trip.”

“Oh, dear. Then, um—” She did have a name in mind to share, except doing so would break her oath on patient privacy. “I’m sure there’s somepony else out there than can help. Just think it through, Rainbow.”

It pained her to do so, but she did, running through every flier she could recall. Too slow, too gabby, lost touch, poor character or lives too far away - Rainbow found new reasons to dismiss every name that came into her head.

“How long would it take for somepony to cure me,” Rainbow asked. “When will I know when I’m cured?”

Redheart frowned. “I’m sorry but I don’t have any specifics.”

Without that information, going through the rolodex a second time twisted her heart even harder. If she wanted any chance to minimize her shame and hide it from her closest friends, Rainbow only had those within Ponyville to choose from. The pitter patter above her was a reminder that the only ones that could conceivably help her were on the weather team. One name stood far above the rest for qualifications but otherwise, just thinking about it had her teary-eyed once more.

“I—I can’t ask Fly for help,” said a dejected Rainbow. “I barely know who he is.”

The nurse bit her tongue; how she dreaded being in such an ethically bound profession.

Her head sank. “I need to think this over.”

“Do whatever you need to do.” Redheart hugged her like a mother would a child. “I’ll be here to help you anyway you can but please, I beg you. Don’t do this by yourself.”

Rainbow fidgeted. “I’ll try but promise me something. Please don’t tell anypony else about all this. Not even any other doctors.”

Redheart placed her foreleg over her heart. “Whatever is said in this room always stays in this room.” She then squeezed Rainbow even tighter. “I wish you all the luck in the world, Rainbow Dash.”

She said nothing, preferring to bask in the gentle warmth of her embrace as long as she could. For this moment, she had no worries in the world but once Redheart ended the hug, all her worries heckled her psyche.

I won’t cry again. C’mon. Stiff upper lip.

After saying their goodbyes, Rainbow was back in the clinic’s hallway, free to leave. To where, that was the question. Rather than raise questions from onlookers by walking through the lobby, she left the building via the rear exit and back outside into a dreary rainy Saturday afternoon. Obviously, her floating home was inaccessible but she just had to give flight one last try, hoping fate would deliver a miracle.

If I can just—

Down onto the cobblestone she went, proving her extended wings were just for show. Hence, she only had one place to go, down the roads leading toward Fluttershy’s cottage. At least there was nopony in sight. She could run through the rain undetected but that gave her little solace. As she galloped away from the clinic, she was bitterly cold and abandoned.

But somepony was watching her solemn journey - his light blue eyes peeked through the shifting grey masses traversing the sky. They soon disappeared before she had a chance to notice.

If a nap didn’t relieve Rainbow’s stress, a hot and bubbly bath was the next best alternative.

Floating within the tub, however, gave her wrinkly skin rather than answers. Once she toweled off, she meandered out of the bathroom and down the staircase to what has been her bed since Monday, the green chaise lounger by one of the living room windows. She could’ve used her friend’s bed - Fluttershy insisted as such during the week - but it didn’t feel right. Besides, the couch was more familiar to her now after all this time, a reliable but inanimate companion.

“I don’t know what to do,” she moaned, as she rested on the couch.

Her eyelids grew heavy and the murky drizzling world through the glass soon faded to black.

Bang! Bang!

A knock woke Rainbow from her slumber. The ambient light had dimmed but not by much. An hour past sundown read the clock.

Again, somepony tapped the door.

She slithered onto the floor and toward the window across the living room, avoiding the visitor’s eyes peeking into the living room. The moment the shadows shifted, Rainbow moved her head up to confirm who it was. She immediately curled into a ball.

Fly! This is bad! This is really bad! What should I do?

“Hey, Rainbow? Are you in there?” the young stallion spoke.

“No,” she whispered to herself.

Angel suddenly appeared in front of her, speaking in rabbit while pointing at the door. Somehow, she understood the gist of the message.

“I can’t. I’m not ready to see him yet.”

He pulled a feather out and brushed it against her nose. Inevitably, she broke her silence with the subtlety of a foghorn.

“Is that you, Rainbow?”

Again, more gibberish from Angel before he disappeared up the stairs - she vaguely interpreted his message as ‘good luck’.

“One sec, Fly,” she responded

Rainbow stood on all fours and then reached for the knob. She paused for a sigh before turning the knob, her foreleg trembling all the way. “Calm down”, she told herself. Little by little, she opened the creaking door until catching a glimpse of the grey stallion on the other side.

Slam! She denied him entry.

“Um? Is something wrong?”

A few seconds of labored breathing later, she swung the door wide open. “Sorry about that. Thought you were somepony else.” Rainbow faked a chuckle.

“Eh?”

“Never mind. Get out of the rain, wontcha?”

Swift took a step back and then shook his whole body, going from drenching to damp. Before he went inside, Angel had returned with a towel, a doormat and terse chatter for the stallion.

“I have no idea what you said” — He rubbed his hooves on the mat before wiping off some water — “but I think I got your drift.”

Once he handed back the towel, Angel retreated up the staircase with nary a grumble. Rainbow watched him, contemplating the rabbit was actually acting out of kindness rather than being a constant thorn on her side. He was no Fluttershy but she had a reason to smile just a little.

“Um, do you want to hear about how my day went with the team?” Swift said, sitting down on the easy chair.

“Huh? Oh, sure.”

Back to the green couch she went, allowing him to start rambling about equipment failure at the Cloud Factory, more Thunderlane and Raindrops hijinks and his struggles teaching the patrol on improving their weak spots.

Everything he said went in and out of Rainbow’s ears, not because of disinterest but of preoccupation about the subject that would surely rear its ugly head by the end of the evening. Surely, he already has or will notice that the cast was no more and ask why she was in Fluttershy’s cottage instead of her floating domain. Could she fabricate a lie? Would she get away with it? What if he figures out what’s wrong with her? What if the patrol realizes she was sleeping down here? Should he spill the beans? Would he even bother to help? Does she want him to help? Endless questions bombarded her to crippling indecision.

“So, what do you think?” said Swift as he rubbed his goggles’ lenses.

“Hmmm?” She kept her eyes set at the ceiling. “Um, what did you say?”

“No worries.” Securing his headgear on his forehead, “It’s not important.”

“‘kay.”

Rainbow waited for him to say something, anything. Ten seconds went by, then twenty and more. Then, a sudden nose tickle - she sneezed, her wings opening by reflex. He saw, no way he didn’t notice by now!

“Rainbow?” Swift said, his voice becoming softer. “I, um—” His left wing went into convulsions “—you got bad news at the clinic?”

She gave a hesitant nod.

His forelegs made circles on the seat’s cushion. “Can you… I mean, is something… does it feel like… oh, shoot.”

“Just say it.”

“Eh?”

Voice cracking, “Don’t dance around it!” She briefly unfurled her wings. “Go on. Just say what you want to say. It doesn’t matter what it is. My life is ruined anyways.”

He glanced at his shaking wing, grimacing at an impulse that was out of his control. “Well, I-I think… shoot!” He slapped his face. “All right! All right! I—I was by myself, in the clouds above the clinic. It was my lunch break but I thought you had already left. Then you went out the back, when you fell.”

She covered her crimson face.

“And when you ran off. That’s when I knew, Rainbow. I know what’s wrong with you.”

Rainbow turned her back to him, unable to patch the leaks. “Just go.”

“But—”

“Leave!” She blindly threw a pillow, missing wide of her target.

Swift slid off the easy chair and took a backwards step toward the door. His left wing just wouldn’t stop his fervent shake, however. It was telling him, no, ordering him to pull skeletons out of the closet. The stallion pulled on his mane to where it hurt but not to the same level as watching a fellow pony spiral deeper into agony.

I can’t take this anymore! I don’t want to do this! But I will be going through this, aren’t I? Why must this happen to me? Haven’t I gone through enough already?

She tossed another wayward pillow, “I told you to get out of here!”

Swift swallowed his cowardice. “I can’t. Not until I show you something.”

After a sniff, “I don’t want to see it.”

He raised his hind leg, wanting to step away from Rainbow. Instead, he fought his instincts and walked right up to the couch. “You have to. If you want answers, then you’ll turn around. Please?”

Rainbow noticed his reflection off the window. His twitching left wing was in full display, the same one that moved violently both times she had her medical episodes. It might’ve been coincidence or a key to the puzzle.

“What am I looking for?” she whispered as she turned around to face him.

“Straight ahead. This close, you can’t miss it.”

She leaned forward to inspect the many grey feathers attached to his appendage. Their distribution was even except for an area right of center.

“Can I?” she said, lifting her foreleg.

With his audible permission, she moved around the plumage. Beneath, a thin straight scar ran across five inches and all around it, the skin’s color had a tinge of crimson.

She fell back, covering her mouth. “I think I’m gonna barf.”

“My bad.” He retracted his wing. “I should’ve warned you.”

“That’s okay.” She patted her chest. “I–I just wasn’t expecting, that. Umm, how did that happen, exactly?”

Swift slumped onto the easy chair. “That’s why I showed you that. You, um”— He removed his goggles and began fiddling with it with his forelegs —“it’s something that may explain a lot of things for you.”

Rainbow latched onto a pillow. “Something tells me this is a long story.”

“You could say that.” He paused until Rainbow got comfortable on the nearby couch. “Have you ever heard about the Saddlecloud Tornado Incident?”

“The Saddlecloud Tornado Incident?” she parroted. Rainbow then gasped. “Oh yeah! A really bad tornado popped up near Saddlecloud and it was headed toward its twin earth pony town. There are some details missing but I do know that… wait a minute. Don’t tell me. You were there, weren’t you?”

His wing twitched once more. “I was a rookie within the Saddlecloud Weather Squadron. That day, a major storm front kept us busy but that’s sorta the norm in that area. Then, a tornado suddenly appeared a few miles from Saddlecloud Village. Our leader, along with some of the best pegasi from the team, attacked the clouds above it while the rest of us flew into the town and warn them.”

“They didn’t have an alarm?”

Swift shook his head. “The last reported tornado in the Saddlecloud region was well before my time. Nopony saw it coming.”

*** Start Flashback ***

Swift exited a one-story cabin building onto a narrow road. Immediately, gusts kicked up dirt but with his plain brown goggles, he could still see his surroundings. Ponies ran past him and to his right toward a thick pine forest. In the other direction was a growing, spinning black mass ripping apart the soil beneath its wake. He trembled as though he faced a giant whose every step shook the ground. All the log buildings around him had no chance of surviving its brutality. A few colored dots hovering above the monster was their only hope from wiping the town and its fleeing citizens off the map.

“Is that everypony in this sector, Fly?”

Swift saluted the approaching yellow stallion. “Think so, Drizzle, but still have at least… eh?”

A turquoise-tanned mare soon arrived from above, frantically flailing her hooves. “The wind knocked down some trees and it blocked the main road! We can’t find a clear way around!”

Drizzle stomped the ground, “Dammit! Find one, Cirrus, but make sure everypony keeps heading north! Carry them if you have to! We don’t have… oh, no.”

More pegasi arrived, many of them with bruises and collapsing onto the dirt upon landing. Two ponies carried one stallion with a dark bruise on his cheek on a stretcher.

Swift gasped. “Boss!”

“Flash, no!” Cirrus screeched, shaking the unresponsive pony. She then turned to one of the mares that carried the patrol’s leader. “Crush! What in Equestria happened?

“The tornado tore up an empty barn and we got pelted by debris.” Crush removed a small wooden piece from her orange mane. “We barely made it out but that’s not the worst of it. We’ve tried every protocol in the book and nothing worked. I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do to stop the tornado from hitting the village.”

Drizzle latched onto Crush. “But we have to stop it! The evac route’s blocked right now!”

“What?” Her face lost all color. “If that’s the case, there’s no way we can get everypony out before—” Her eyes shrank and she lost most of her voice “— oh sweet Celestia.”

Cirrus pranced in place, “What should we do? What should we do?”

Multiple conversations broke out, but for the silent Swift, it was a wild zoo with no tamer in sight. This group shredded every plan that came to fruition with its sharp razor claws. They lacked the numbers for a massive airlift of every resident. Lifting the blockage would take too long. None of the structures could possibly serve as a last-resort shelter. Fear and panic spread like flames, not only within the patrol but also to the fleeing residents that overheard the grim news. Some yelled of their imminent demise while others bent down and prayed to Celestia that she would somehow come and save them.

Swift facehoofed. Shoot! Why won’t anypony take charge here?

He hovered a few feet off the ground for a better look at the approaching gargantuan funnel. Ten minutes at best - that’s all the time they had left. Then, a spark ignited in his mind.

That’s it! We just have to… hold on. Smacking his forehead, They’re not going to listen to a rookie like me! They’ll think my plan is bonkers!

Below, a few began pushing and shoving. There was no consensus, no order, no respect. This team was tearing itself apart, pushing everypony closer to the edge of unspeakable disaster. By impulse, Swift checked the mark forever imprinted on his flank.

His body went limp in mid-air. Ah, shoot. I’m going through with this, aren’t I? Why is ‘doing the right thing’ so hard?

Swift whistled with all that he could muster.

Suddenly, all eyes were on him. The scorching spotlight parched his tongue.

“Ummm, ‘sup?” He cleared his throat. “Well, you see, if—” He paused for a fervent mane rub “—the tornado! W-we can’t stop but what if we move it, away from the town?”

Crush covered her face, muffling her groan. “How in Equestria will we accomplish something like that, rookie? Transform into alicorns?”

“No, Crush. We’ll nudge it off its path, with our own whirlwind.”

Crickets, Swift heard them from the forest of bewildered ponies.

“Are you nuts?” Drizzle eventually barked.

Other squadron members repeated the sentiment with snide remarks, crazy-in-the-head motions, or outright laughter. Swift sensed warmth coming to his face, only for it to escape through his nostrils as boiling steam. His chest swelled ever larger, preparing for the imminent eruption.

“Knock it off!”

Lightning struck through the patrol, stunning them into silence.

He pointed at the tornado, “You see that? We have a job to do, save this town and everypony that lives in it! Now, unless somepony else has a better idea, we’re going ahead with my plan! I know it sounds crazy but if you guys follow exactly what I tell you, it will work!”

Cirrus raised her hoof. “But your idea sounds dangerous!”

Swift landed in front of her. “I get that, Cirrus, but we knew there would be risks the moment we signed up with the squadron. Now, I’ll admit that I’m a little scared about all this. We all are and that’s okay because we’re gonna face this together. We’ll watch out for one another and I’ll do everything I can to keep the team out of danger. If you wanna bail out of this, I won’t stop you but we’ll need every able pony for this. Please, trust me on this.”

For the longest few seconds, he had no inclination whether they would accept him or disband and flee. Then, they all came closer, either nodding approvingly or saying their endorsement aloud.

Drizzle popped him on the side. “Hmf. I’ve always wondered why Flash let you in our squad. So, what’s our orders?”

*** End Flashback ***

“Now, wait just a darn second,” Rainbow interrupted, raising a suspicious eyebrow. “You’re telling me the leader got knocked out and the pony that replaced them was… you?”

Scratching his head, “Isn’t that I just said?”

“Uhhhhh, huh.”

Swift raised his hooves, “What? Both my folks have weather-related talents. I picked up on stuff they don’t teach ponies at school.” He grumbled. “Even when I didn’t wanna hear it. I had the right plan for the right situation. How’s that hard to believe?”

“That’s not it.” Rainbow stretched, “I just can’t see you of all ponies taking over like that.”

“Whatever,” he said with an eyeroll. “Well, I didn’t want to but I had to, Rainbow. Anyways, we didn’t have much time, so we only had one shot at it. We had to form our whirlwind exactly right or we’d all be in trouble.”

*** Begin Flashback ***

Swift hovered in the middle of the patrol’s whirlwind. At a torrid pace, he shouted orders to the ponies circling around him. Coming ever closer was the spinning funnel, its size towering twice as high as its false cousin. In seconds, they would go hoof to hoof with a monster to force it eastward. Its ear-splitting howl of a freight train barreling down the tracks pierced into his very soul and for those around him, they faltered in their formations.

“Shift right,” Swift shouted at the top of his lungs. “Hold on to your paths! It’s coming!”

He sensed the tornado’s long claws tugging the entire whirlwind towards its shredding teeth.

“Left! Left!”

They couldn’t hear him, so he signaled his orders. As the patrol adjusted their paths, a massive shudder travelled all across the whirlwind. Ponies screamed at the sounds of a thousand thunderclaps simultaneously striking the ground. Swirling doom was right at their footstep trying to rip off the door.

“Don’t panic!”

Again, another deafening collision, wobbling the whole contraption. One mare veered off course, heading straight at another.

“No!”

Swift flapped right up to her and grabbed onto her foreleg. With a wing burst, they spun around, avoiding a stallion before releasing her back into a counterclockwise course. No rest for the leader, however, as Cirrus was panting heavily. He approached her and tapped her shoulder.

“You’re too tired! Stay in the center!”

“But… I want to help!”

“Then fly up and tell me if we pushed it safely off-course!”

She pointed at both her ears, mouthing something stolen by the blaring tornado.

He pointed skywards, repeating his instructions.

Right after she left, another shove from the behemoth so hard, the force ejected three pegasi clear out of the whirlwind and into some soft bushes. While they were in no danger, losing that much wingpower meant the balance of power swung further against their favor.

Swift joined the patrol flying in a circular motion but his tingling fur felt no difference in their collective strength. Their nemesis salivated for another hit but a minor flux in its rotation limited its blow to a soft jab. Even if they couldn’t see the real tornado, everypony sensed its shift in direction. Confidence swelling, the squadron countered with a shove, then two more. They had the upper hoof.

Or so they thought.

Suddenly, the tornado flipped a switch and its suction pulled them in like loose dirt under a vacuum hose.

“Full power! Full reverse!”

Pow! The hardest impact yet flung another four ponies well out of harm’s way and even knocked Swift off-balance. By the time they recovered, they realized the hit pushed them a fair distance but the tornado drifted toward their location, readying for a crippling blow.

We can’t survive another hit!

He signaled his lookout for an update.

“Fly!” Cirrus flew right next to him. “Position, a quarter mile east of the town’s border!”

“Heading?”

“Thirty degrees and holding!”

Good enough! He returned to the whirlwind’s center and with his forelegs, formed a cross symbol. “Evac! Evac!”

Following the predetermined plan, the team peeled away in a set order, starting with those closest to the middle. As more ponies left the whirlwind, he resumed moving in circles as the tornado’s power grabbed onto some nearby pine trees, bending the trunks with a crunch.

“Hurry! Hurry!”

With the whirlwind all but dissipating, the howling black vortex came into full display. Never in Swift’s life had he felt so small and powerless being face to face against something that must have emerged from Tartarus. He wanted to flee but had to wait his turn; the patrol’s safety took priority.

The last flier, Crush, flung herself toward the pine forest. He immediately pursued, engines at full to escape the black hole’s tug. Then, a snap - some fencing surrounding a large field lost its hold with the ground.

“Crush! Watch out!”

She remained on-course, oblivious to the tumbling debris coming her way. Adrenaline rushed into his wings, giving him an explosive burst straight at the mare. He body-slammed her, pushing the stunned pegasus out of the way right before painted wood delivered a crippling blow to his jaw. All flight systems went offline and his world became dim and blurry. Before he could overcome his staggered state, the howling demon grabbed him and pulled the stallion away from safety, away from the patrol that could do nothing except watch.

*** End Flashback***

Rainbow hugged her pillow tight. “I–I had no idea. I thought everypony had made it out okay.”

He kept his head down, motionless and breathing erratically.

“You all right?”

He shut his eyes. “My bad. It’s just that you try forgetting heavy stuff like this, you know?”

“If you wanna stop—”

“No worries.” Swift breathed out deeply. “You need to hear everything.”

*** Start Flashback***

Alive. Somehow, he was still alive.

The monster’s belly tossed him around its black guts in a neverending swirl. His eardrums had popped, he tasted soot and with what little strength he had left, he folded his wings back to his sides. They could do nothing to dictate direction and with all the fence posts, branches and logs floating around, he dare not expose them.

Gotta… hang on!

Wood splinters flew past him, a few skirting across his skin like a hot sharp knife. His eyelids weighed a ton but he held them open a sliver. He had to remain conscious for he had one hope to cling onto - the tornado would eventually spit him out.

Stay... awake!

He ricocheted off half a barn door, sending his limp body spinning around even faster. Then, another excruciating strike to his hindquarter but from what, he never saw. By the second, the lights dimmed closer to pitch darkness, his hold onto this world slipping from his grasp. Then, blue skies, marvelous blue skies!

I’m... out. Must… fly!

Swift unfurled his wings but his feathers simply fluttered in the wind. Gravity took over, sending him into a downward spiral toward what he saw as hazy dark green. The forest canopy, that’s where he would fall through and no matter how many times he told himself to fly, his wings wouldn’t move an inch.

Fly! Why can’t I—

He caught of glimpse of colorful dots coming his direction; the weather patrol were mounting a desperate rescue attempt. In desperation, Swift opened his mouth so he could utter the most his vocal chords could muster.

“Help, me.”

Swift continued spinning in mid-air. Sky, ponies, trees. Sky, ponies, trees. Sky, ponies and finally, he saw nothing but trees.

*** End Flashback ***

“They couldn’t—” Swift cleared his throat — “they were too far away. The branches broke my fall but they also, um—” He looked slightly away from Rainbow, trembling.

“It’s alright,” she said in a hushed tone. “I can guess what that did to your wing.”

He nodded. “Every–everything I told you and the day after that, I… there was a time when I couldn’t remember any of it.”

Rainbow’s eyes shrank. No way. But, but—

“At the hospital, I was in shock. Sure, the docs patched me up but I didn’t know what to think. Then the top weather bosses came to see me. For breaking so many rules during the crisis, disobeying chain of command, placing the team is such danger, and a few other things, they had no choice but to kick me off the team. Even though what I did saved the town, they couldn’t make an exception but would let me resign to save face. I… I thought—”

His whole body trembled and his teeth clashed against each other. It was for but a moment, though. An exhale brought him back into a solemn tone.

“That wasn’t very wicked at all. By the next morning, I’d forgotten everything.”

“But it came back to you, didn’t it?”

After a few seconds, “Little by little, then at once the day I tried to fly again.”

Her jaw shuddered. “Y–you had that... that’s why... it all makes sense now.” She huffed. “You knew what was wrong with me all along!”

Waving her off, “No, no! I mean… I wasn’t sure and besides, would you’ve believed me? ‘Sup. I’m Fly. Did you know you’ll be scared to fly?”

“Well, when you put it that way, I guess not.”

Swift stood on up all fours. “Listen, I get what you’re going through. It’s not easy and it won’t get much easier. The thing is that—”

She hopped off the couch, cheeks with a touch of red. “Can you help me?”

“Eh?” He took a step back, almost tripping on his hooves.

“I mean, that was the whole point of this, right?” she said in a squeaky voice. “So that I could trust you in helping me fly again?”

Both wings rose firmly, “Eeeeeeh-what?” You want me to help you with that?”

Rainbow’s eyes quivered. “You not going to, are you?”

“I never meant to… I mean… why me? Isn’t there somepony else? Like your friends? When they come back—”

“No, no, no. You just don’t get it.” She turned around, realizing salty streams were touching her lips. “Right now, you and Nurse Redheart are the only ponies that know and I wanna keep it that way. Besides,” she began rubbing her eyes, “if you made it through this, then you should know what needs to be done, right?”

His mouth made strange noises as though his mind had short-circuited. “Rainbow, it was hard enough to… the patrol, what about—” His foreleg tried starting a fire with his forelocks “—I’m not sure I can even, um—”

“This is so embarrassing,” she whimpered.

Her words struck right at his heart. “Oh, shoot. Please don’t cry.”

“I’m not crying,”she snapped. “I just… never mind.” She collapsed onto the bed and took a fetal position. “Forget I even asked.”

He wanted to but he couldn’t. Somepony was reaching out to him, a fellow pony that was going down the same narrow and treacherous road he once traveled. Such a request was too much for him. The tribulations of his crash and recovery, he would relive through that all over again. Besides, his first duty was to Ponyville’s weather. With a no, he can walk away from this nightmare and save himself.

Except it was the wrong thing to do. Every instinct, every fiber of his being and even his cutie mark told him that but that made his decision no less painful than extracting teeth with a string and a doorknob.

“Rainbow?” He moved closer to her. “It’s not that easy to choose that someone. You gotta really trust them all the way from start to finish. We’ve just met two days ago and you wanted me to be your rival.”

She returned to a seated position. Despite the redness in her eyes, Rainbow allowed him a partial view of her face. After she got him to sit next to her, she began dangling her hindlegs. “I know that but, hey, gotta take a risk sometimes. Well, maybe not that big of a risk. I feel like I can actually trust you, Fly.”

“But why?”

“Because what you told me today isn’t something you’d tell some random stranger. Tell me, how many others know about the… thing?”

Swift sighed. “Just two. Obviously my doc, so that’s one. I was lucky that my folks had already moved out of Saddlecloud before my crash and I’ve been able to keep them in the dark. The other one who helped me rehab my wing and deal with the—” His tongue twisted —“you-know-what, was a falcon, actually. Blaze Peregrine, my friend from Junior Speedsters, of all places.”

“And you trusted me enough to make me the third. Fly, if you were willing to share that big of a secret to me, that tells me more about you than anything else. You’re the type of friend that I can count on for this.”

His mouth opened wide. I, um, friends?

She popped him in the ribs. “Geez louise. Well, duh! You’re terrible as a rival but in a weird way, you’re kinda fun to hang out with.” Rainbow then played with her mane, “But don’t think I won’t be your friend if you don’t wanna go through with this. I won’t force you like that. If you wanna bail, I understand.”

“Rainbow?” he said as the grey stallion stood up straight.

“Yeah?”

He chomped on his lips. What in Equestria am I getting myself into? Then, he barely moved his head up and down.

Leaning toward him, “You will? You really will?”

Swift squirmed in place until finally, a smile emerged. “Right thing to do for a friend, right?”

Salvation! She reached out and glomped the slender stallion with all her might, sending both of them down onto a rug. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!”

His talent failed him from having an overly joyous mare literally crush the life out of him. “Rainbow, I can’t, I can’t breathe—”

Realizing his face was turning blue, she released him. “Oops. Heh, heh. Sorry.”

He rose to his haunches, savoring his ribs. “N–no worries,” he wheezed. “Can’t blame you for getting excited.”

“So, how long is this gonna take? How will I know when I’m all better? Do I need to buy anything?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Cool your jets now!” Swift rubbed his chin, “I gotta rack my brains about all this.”

She held up her foreleg, “Actually, before you do that, can you promise me something?”

“Promise?” he said with a head tilt.

Rainbow gestured toward one of the rain-soaked windows. “I know the weather’s gonna keep you busy during the day but since ponies either left town or are staying indoors, it also gives us cover once you’re done. Then again, my friends come back next Saturday.” She sighed. “It’s asking a lot, I know, but can you promise me that you’ll keep everything we do a secret and that you’ll cure me by the time my friends return from Manehattan?”

Swift craned his neck to look at the clock. “Shoot. That’s… whew. I gotta find a way to shorten the workday but even if I could, ummmmm—” He stared right at her. “Rainbow, it took me a month but, well, I had rehab for my wing. Um? What time do your friends get here?”

“Noon.”

He facehoofed. “Not even the whole day there.”

“Well, can you promise me, please?”

What she asked for made challenging the Saddlecloud tornado a trot in the park but at this point, there was no backtracking now. Whatever came his way, he would grin it and bear it. “Gotcha, Rainbow. I promise.”

“Pinkie Pie swear?”

“Eh?”

While making the gyrations, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. Now, you do it.”

Grin it, add whining noises, and then bear it. Along with the chant, he crossed his hooves, then flapped them, and finally touched his shut left eye. “There.”

“Thanks. So, um, when do we start?”

Swift headed for the door, “We start tonight.”

6 - Up and Away

I’m afraid of heights? There’s no way! Absolutely no way!

Rainbow paced around the living room, waiting for the stallion to return. Rearrange the patrol’s schedule, that was his reason to leave but not before telling her the first major hurdle to her recovery.

“I gotta think of a way to deal with your fear of heights that doesn’t involve hanging you in the air like a piñata.”

He closed the door, denying her any follow up. Instead, she spent the next twenty minutes testing his assertion: standing on the couch, gazing from the second story window and sliding down the staircase railing. She would’ve made it onto the roof had he not arrived earlier than expected.

Rainbow walked right up to him. “How can I be afraid of heights, Fly?”

“Dunno,” he answered, shrugging. “Probably something to ‘protect’ us from even trying to fly again.”

“You don’t sound too sure.”

“Look, I know you want answers but even after everything I’ve gone through, I barely got any. Just follow my lead on this.”

Rainbow grumbled. “All right, all right. What do I have to do, exactly?”

“Not much.” He began stretching, “I’ll be taking for you a ride.”

“Huh?”

She imagined him carrying her on his back above the clouds, the moon casting a light on them as a slow and passionate song played in the background.

Rainbow shuddered. “Bleh! None of that warm and fuzzy stuff, Fly!”

“What are you talking about?” He opened the door wide. “It’s just a simple cloud ride. I worked on it a bit so it’s nice and comfy.”

Past the doorway was her white chariot, a much better mode of transportation for her. “Oh, okay!” She began snickering, “But are you sure you can push me like that with those flabby noddle hooves of yours?”

“Just get on the cloud,” he tersely answered, pointing behind him.

Once both walked past the threshold, the door swiftly closed and deadbolts locked into position. Moments later, a smiling Angel waved at them before shutting the blinds and turning off the lights.

“That little pest! Hey! What’s the big idea?” she protested, banging the door.

He lowered his goggles. “No worries. If this works, you can finally sleep at your place tonight.”

Her own bed in her castle home, the rabbit can keep her out for all she cared. Rainbow tossed herself right into a material that made her standard fare feel like stone-cold concrete. The condensed water vapor caressed her body in such a scintillating fashion that she just had to coo her delight.

“Oh-kay,” said a bewildered Swift. “Taking off now.”

With a shove to the cloud’s side, the stallion steadily applied power but the cloud only inched forward. He pushed wings to maximum, earning him more momentum but robbing him of the requisite breaths for a warning to his relaxed passenger.

At five feet off the ground, Rainbow’s mirth immediately switched to a heart-stopping panic. Air, she was up in the air with nothing but cloud material between her and hard damp ground.

“Stop! Stop!” she screamed to the heaves. “I’m gonna fall!”

Leveling off the climb, “You won’t, all right? I’m right here.”

Rainbow crawled up into a ball and clutched onto the cloud as though her life depended on it. “Please? Go back down! I don’t wanna do this! I quit! I totally quit!”

Swift bit his lip, wanting nothing more than grant her request. Then again, his trainer never did and he had to do the same. That thought did nothing to stem the heartache as she continued pleading with him that this was too much. He might be able to take this for minutes but not hours, even less so when her pleading shifted more toward stifled weeping.

“Just talk to me about something, okay? Something that’ll distract you.”

Rainbow would if her mind would stop telling her she’d fall through her ride any second now. “I–I don’t know what to say.”

Wiping the condensation from his goggles, “First thing that comes to your head. Just let it out.”

There was only one thing she could focus on, her awful predicament. “Why me, Fly? What did I do to deserve this?”

Swift frowned as he increased the climb rate and turned the cloud into a wide spiral path. “Don’t say that. You didn’t deserve this.”

Rainbow rubbed her face on the cloud’s surface. “Yes I did. I did this to myself. I should’ve listened to Fluttershy, but I didn’t. I’m always impatient. I’m always pushing my limits. I just don’t listen.”

In an instant, she was no longer on the cloud, but back in that dark realm where the wall stood firm off in the distance. That voice, there it was again but still too far away to comprehend the words. However, its condescending tone had her marching forward - somepony was getting a buck in the face. Then, she relived through her crashes a second time, starting with the last one through to accident number one.

Rainbow was in a park on top of a slide. Her microscopic wings fluttered at the idea to put on a demonstration to all the other foals gathered at the bottom. They rode down the slide just like an earth pony would but she’d be different. Today, they’d all remember that Rainbow Dash beat them all to the skies. Thank Celestia no adults were present to stop her. Sure, this was her first attempt ever but what better motivation than having an audience.

With one leap forward, she did exactly as what her parents told her many times over - flap those wings and let the wind carry you. Unfortunately, words alone could not give her lift and as such, her tiny body landed on the slide at the halfway point and at the end, went head first into the sand. The taste of bitter failure was nothing compared to the loud guffaws and name-calling that tore right into her. Somehow, she got up and shrugged off the mistake before marching to a faraway brush. There, Rainbow could cry away her shame, or at least try to do so. Even as she returned to present day, the tears burned the same.

“Do you know my nickname’s Rainbow Crash, Fly?” she said, rubbing some buildup on her nose.

Swift’s ears perked up, “What does that mean?”

Now she felt ridiculous for revealing the derisive moniker, but with her silence allowing fear’s claws to draw her in, she continued. “I think I’m so great, that I’m the best flier in Equestria but when I was a foal, I just had so much trouble learning how to fly.”

“Eh? You?”

“Mhm. All I could do was crash into everything, and everypony made fun of me for that. You don’t know how many lumps I had to take just to get where I’m at right now. I make flying look so easy, but that’s only because I practice hard every single day.” She let out a melancholy sigh. “That doesn’t always work, though. If I’m off my game even just a little bit, that’s when the trouble starts.”

“Hold up. Why not trust your instincts?”

Her face turned beet red, so she hid it behind her forelegs. “My instincts are… they’re not as sharp as I want them to be. You know, I don’t know why I bother trying to be a Wonderbolt. Just one bad day and everypony in Equestria will know what a total loser I really am.”

With a tug, Swift halted Rainbow’s journey through the skies. “Cool your jets, Rainbow. Don’t be calling yourself a loser.”

“But it’s the truth.”

“It’s not.”

“A pathetic good for nothing loser.”

Swift pried her hooves apart, “Don’t say that!”

His gaze cut through his goggles and the rain right into the depths of her soul. Somehow, he appeared stronger without gaining an inch of height or a lump of muscle.

“B–but—”

“Don’t put yourself down like that. I’ve known other pegasi that aren’t natural-born fliers and they’re no slouches, but you, Rainbow, you’re something else. I didn’t even spend a whole day with your friends but they wouldn’t stop telling me how much you’ve done. You’ve rescued the Wonderbolts, you’ve won the Best Young Flier competition, you crushed just about all my camp records as if it was nothing and you’ve bailed out your friends many times over with your wicked speed. You’re the Element of Loyalty, for Celestia’s sake!”

He paused to catch his breath.

“My point is that it doesn’t matter how you started. Look at where you are now. My pops always tells me, Just keep aiming for the skies and you’ll get where you wanna go. You, Rainbow, you’re up there with the stars.”

She didn’t have an immediate answer, for his smile drew her into a sense of reassurance. In this one moment, he turned her grey cloud white again. “Fly?”

“Yeah?

After a long pause, “That was the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Eh?” Swift planted his face onto the cloud. “You know, I think I’m going to hide here for a while.”

Rainbow giggled at his expense, only for guilt to stifle it. That’s when she noticed right in front of her the abundance of medium blue hair sitting on top of his head. Despite its dampness, it drew her in like a fresh batch of cider. Without even asking, she dug right in and rubbed, hard.

“But I really needed that,” she said, grinning. “Thanks.”

Swift pulled away and touched his singed head. “Ow! That’s how you thank ponies?”

“Not really. Just curious how soft your hair was.”

“Oh-kay. I’m just glad you’re feeling a lot better now.”

She gasped. “Yeah. Yeah, I do. Hey? How far up are we?”

His pupils shrank, “Rainbow, don’t—”

Rainbow saw her answer - twice the height of Town Hall. Immediately, she shrieked before covering her eyes once more.

“Let me off! Let me off! Let me off!”

Groaning, he resumed pushing the cloud. “No worries, all right? C’mon. Just start telling me about something you know like, the Wonderbolts. Yeah. I heard you’re a huge fan, aren’t you?”

“Biggest fan ever,” she said, sounding like she had asthma.

“Really? I’ll level with ya. I don’t know much about them, so how about you fill me in?”

She grabbed hold of him and shook him, “You don’t know? How can you not know?” Rainbow’s eyes drifted down. “Ahhhhh! Okay, okay! I get what you’re getting at! Umm, relax, Rainbow. Relax. Um, yeah! The roster! I’ll start with the roster.”

Satisfied with the response, Swift shoved the cloud ever higher through the persistent rain. He pegged the time spent talking about the Wonderbolts, at best, no longer than fifteen minutes.

He underestimated her, by a lot.

While Rainbow Dash was foggy on their history, she had plenty of material about the current squad: eating habits, hobbies, flying formations and their entire schedule for the past year. Her fear was not much more than a footnote other than when she accidently noticed she was closer to the peak of the unseen mountains than Ponyville proper. At that point, he took a breather, which he soon regretted. Getting the cloud back moving proved a herculean effort.

My wings are gonna fall off!

Eventually, they breached the bottom cloud layer and entered a foggy realm. She continued talking about the Wonderbolts without missing a beat about every single performance she’d witnessed. By now, he thought it was best to make this an actual conversation just to hear his own voice. He began with no-brainer questions but over time, Swift uncovered a few embarrassing truths hidden beneath a web of lies.

“What’s this about you and Fluttershy sneaking in backstage?”

The memory made her eyes roll. “Oh, yeah. I was hiding in the rafters, waiting for them to show up and guess what happens to me. I get tangled in between some wires, but get this. Fluttershy actually called Security to help get me down.”

He broke out into guffaws, forcing him into an all stop. “My, my bad. I just—”

“Hmf! Whatever. Anyways, I know she’s a great friend and all, but sometimes, she’s not the best pony to do cool stuff with. I mean, she complained about the show being too noisy. It’s the Wonderbolts! You know what I’m talking about, right?”

Swift looked away, rubbing his mane. “Well, yeah. Their show… um—”

“You’ve never been to a show, have you?”

He opened his mouth to answer, only to shut it tight.

“Darnit, Fly!” she replied, slapping her forehead. “One of these days, I’m taking you to a show myself! Got it?”

He resumed his cloud pushing duties, “Whatever you say. Guess I haven’t had the urge to watch them. I know my folks would love to see me go, but only because they want me to actually join the Wonderbolts someday.”

“And what’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing, really. It’s your dream, but it’s not mine.” Raising his hoof, “I know, I know. You’re disappointed about that, too.”

Rainbow grimaced. “Uggggh! I don’t get you. You know how many pegasi out there would give just about anything in the world to have your talent. Yet you’re nothing more than some weather pony. Don’t you have bigger dreams than that?”

“Nah,” he said with a smile. “If anything, I’m sorta living my dream already, a nice gig by the beach with some great friends. Do I really need anything more than that?”

She looked him straight in the eye. “I don’t believe that for a second and you know why? That sounds really boring and that’s a big problem. You need some more excitement in your life. Well, don’t worry! With me as your friend, there’s plenty of that to come!”

His face turned pale. “But I have enough excitement already. Besides, I don’t have a problem.”

“Yeah, you do. I can’t even call you Swift without—”

He blocked his ears while shuddering. Even so, he heard Rainbow’s cackling piercing the otherwise serene skies. “I told you not to call me that,” he grumbled.

“See, right there,” she said, pointing at him. “I bet I can fix that if—”

“No way,” Swift replied tersely. “I’ve heard that line before!”

“Okay, fine,” she conceded, rolling her eyes. “So, are we done yet?”

Swift checked his surroundings; they had finally crossed over into open skies where the stars blinked hello. “Not yet. C’mon. Gotta keep talking.”

”So, about your name,” she started, wearing a devilish grin.

Swift snorted his displeasure. “Pick something else. How about Junior Speedsters?”

Even pegasi had limits on how high they can go before their life supply dwindled to dangerous levels. For Rainbow and Swift, they were fortunate that their climb ended short of that zone, and therefore, could make the trip toward the mare’s adobe in the skies. However, Swift was already short of breath after three hours of being an aerial locomotive, so he let gravity take over on the downward journey. As for Rainbow, the subject about a former friend she made in camp dampened her joy of overcoming her altitude sickness.

“I can’t believe Gilda could’ve been so mean to my friends,” she said, staring off into the distance. “Our friendship pretty much ended right after that.”

“Bummer, Rainbow,” Swift replied, sharing her frown.

She whisked away some of the soft white. “It’s okay. Time changes ponies, or in this case, griffons. It could just be that I didn’t know her as I thought I did. To be honest, I know as much about her life than I do about yours. Actually, even less than that. She never really opened up about stuff.”

“Well, I did tell you more than I normally would with somepony I just met.” His head then slumped, “Way, way more.”

“You make it sound like that’s a bad thing. That’s what friends are for, right? You tell me stuff, I tell you stuff. Of course, I expect you to keep what you know, especially what I said tonight, to yourself. Otherwise,” She slammed her hooves together.

While he was an agile pony, Swift did fear this mare could grab him and do unimaginable things to him if he had a loose tongue. “Gotcha.”

Soon, they travelled through the dense layer that made quick work drenching their coats. When they broke through the mist, Rainbow’s domain was floating in its usual location, far away from Ponyville proper. The colorful rainbow streams protruding from the rooftop had lost much of its luster. Whether it was due to lack of maintenance or the drab dark atmosphere surrounding it, she was unsure. Either way, what should’ve been a welcome sight for Rainbow Dash was instead more like approaching a prison in the middle of the ocean, as the method of escape required a talent currently out of reach. That was the price she would have to pay to stay here.

“I’ve assigned this section to myself,” remarked Swift, nudging the cloud toward the front door. “That way, nopony will have a reason to lurk around.” His mouth opened wide, which he covered to stifle a yawn. “I’ll have to think of what we should do next.”

“Will every step be like this, Fly? This was kinda rough at the start but it didn’t turn out too bad.”

“This was the easiest part for me, unfortunately.” After sighing, he pulled up the corners of his mouth. “No worries. I’ll do what I can.”

Swift slowed the cloud to a stop. She hopped off her ride and then slowly turned all the way around. Here she was above ground and yet, that fact wasn’t enough to muster much excitement. It was cold, damp and if it wasn’t for the stallion standing by her, more desolate than the bottom of a well. “So what am I supposed to do while I wait for you?”

He shrugged, “Hang tight, I guess. Just don’t try anything on your own.”

That wasn’t the answer she wanted to hear. She was in no hurry grabbing the key below the welcome mat, and nudging the door open. All the surrounding moisture made it creak, so she stopped pushing it any further.

“You all right, Rainbow?”

A tremble traveled from her wings to her voice. “Well, I… it’s nothing. I’m cool.”

“Wicked. I’ll pick you up when we’re done with the weather tomorrow. Later.”

She waved goodbye to her friend, who disappeared into the damp cool darkness. Even with the persistent rain, Rainbow stood outside for a few minutes, pondering what turned out to be a rollercoaster Saturday.

What started out as a day where she believed flight was within reach went all wrong, just like the stunt she now remembered with crystal-clear clarity. A curse, Flying Stress Syndrome, threatened to break her spirits in two, but thanks to Swift Flying, there was hope for a full recovery. However, he was one pony, the only individual she could interact with for the time being.

Already, she wished someone’s voice would break the monotonous pattering sounds of water striking the overhang. She wished Twilight would lecture her, Rarity measure her for a frilly dress, or for Pinkie to surprise her with confetti, but all her friends were in Manehattan, having the time of their lives.

Are you guys thinking about me out there? Probably not. Rainbow released a mournful sigh. That’s okay. I told you I’ll be fine, here. By myself.

Rainbow dragged herself inside, but not before grabbing a piece of Swift’s cloud. She needed something comforting tonight, for she felt she lost a battle today, even though she actually won.

7 - Air and Water

“What am I going to tell her?”

Swift hated being late, especially when it was for important matters such as a friend who needed his help. Yet he was also Ponyville’s temporary weather steward, and his duties on this Sunday proved more daunting than yesterday. All across his body were nicks and scratches, thanks to one disaster after another. From sandbags suddenly failing at Sweet Apple Acres to a massive hole on the roof at Town Hall, he found himself between teaching and actually doing the physical work. Time to think about Rainbow’s recovery proved hard to find as a break in the clouds.

Despite the dim lighting around Rainbow’s home, it was only half an hour past six. His mind was scrambled eggs, not just because of the day’s events but also because of sleep deprivation. Images long unseen came back in his dream and jolted him awake an hour too early. Even now, the dream had him pacing around Rainbow’s front lawn, indifferent to the rain dampening his fur.

I just had to tell Rainbow about Saddlecloud. He stopped and slapped the side of his head. Don’t think about it! That was a long time ago! Last thing I need is getting her worked up about nothing!

Before he could knock on her door, Rainbow opened it for him.

“Fly,” she exclaimed as though he’d been gone for years. “You made it! How about we—” She stopped, noticing the stallion’s appearance resembling that of a pony that had fought a bear. “What in the hay happened to you?”

He laughed away his nervousness. “Oh, um, just some floods, accidents, Raindrops and Thunderlane.” Rolling his eyes, “Again. So, are you ready to do, um, stuff?”

Rainbow noticed his hooves buckling, trying to hold his weight. “I don’t think you’re ready to do anything except taking a break. Just look at your wings. They’re not supposed to bend like that.”

The stallion brushed off the offer. “Naw, I’m cool. See, I can close them.” He made a painful, but unsuccessful effort. “Shoot. Maybe not but I’ll just deal with it.”

She wagged her hoof, “Oh, no you won’t! You’re coming inside, Fly! There’s something I have that will make you feel one hundred percent in no time!”

“But what about your reco—”

Rainbow pointed past the doorway. “Now! I’m not taking no for an answer!”

Under his breath, “Gotcha.”

Swift hobbled through the doorway and into a living room with light tan walls with a carved labyrinth pattern. Multiple windows had their openings draped in sheer white curtains. A cream-white three-sided sectional sofa provided seating for guests and at the center, a table held up by small roman style pillars. On his right, the wall blocked his view, save for a square opening that showed him a small rectangular kitchen area. All the appliances there had a brand-new shine as though she never touched the dials. A few discarded pizza boxes garnered a chuckle.

Take out every day, huh?

Further down and to the right was a round dining table with a bowl of half-eaten apples. Across from the eating area was an L-shaped cabinet pressed against the walls, holding pictures of Rainbow with other ponies, some that he already knew. Many of the small doors hung open, the shelves all but bare. Before he could ask why, he found game boards with its pieces out, plush toys, knick-knacks and an electric guitar sprawled in front of the cabinet on the tan rug.

“About that mess,” she started, “I was keeping myself busy. Well, trying to anyways.”

Was she playing against herself? “I can see that. Are you feeling okay, Rainbow?”

“Um, y–yeah. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, nothing.” His ears detected a rushing sound above his head. “What’s that? Do you have a leak in your roof?”

Rainbow snickered. “No! Well, actually… you’ll find out! It’s what I want to show you!”

She led him straight ahead through a second doorway and up a spiral staircase to the second level of the structure. As he wondered why Rainbow installed stairs inside a cloud home, she gestured at a hallway with doors on opposite sides.

“The right one’s the bathroom and the left’s my bedroom. Right is right. Left is—” Rainbow smashed her hooves together, producing a sound that echoed through the tall round chamber.

Swift shuddered. “Gotcha! Loud and clear!”

Both continued their climb. The third and final floor proved to be much further away from ground level and with every step, they headed deeper into a hazy cool mist. Fortunately, he had enough visibility to find his way past the last step and through another doorway.

“Wi-cked!”

He was inside a domed room with a ceiling five stories high. A sparkling waterfall with every color of the rainbow cascaded into an oval pool, spilling its hues evenly across the shimmering wavy surface. Ivy-covered columns littered the dry area along with plain patio furniture. Slits on the roof allowed a peek into the outside world, the glass holding back the constant rain from seeping into the chamber. Glowing orbs on the walls gave the area a soothing, almost calming glow.

“Pretty neat, huh? Put this in just last month,” she said, holding her head up high.

The mist seeped into his wounds, which gave him a tingling pain-free sensation. Whatever the vapor was doing was miles better than having a strict nurse apply burning ointment. “This is so wicked,” he moaned.

“You think this is great, take a dip!”

Swift pushed down his goggles and made a beeline for the water. In his glee, he forgot about his sore hooves. One of them buckled, sending him flipping backwards into the pool.

Rainbow pounded on the tiled floor, laughing away at his carelessness. He couldn’t care less, for the water washed away the day’s frustrations and all the associated pains. Soon, he was floating on the surface with wings spread across. This was just what he needed, serene and uninterrupted bliss. He could do this all night if he wanted to.

“Cannonball!”

All his flying skills proved useless in water; much of the rainbow colored liquid slipped into his lungs. It tasted nothing like candy and it even burned his throat. “Shoot, Rainbow,” he spoke in between coughs. “You couldn’t give me a few minutes?”

She swam toward him, bearing a mischievous grin.

“Um, why are you looking at me… no, wait! Don’t—”

Rainbow raised a hoof, “Water fight!”

He ducked underwater, avoiding the initial attack. “Oh, c’mon,” he whined after resurfacing. “I just wanna chi—”

Rainbow delivered a second salvo but he hid once more. “Don’t hide from me, you wimp!”

Swift remained submerged.

“Ugh!” She slammed the water. “Can’t you see I’m trying to help you here? Not that I don’t enjoy pushing you around, but you gotta push back. Remember what I told you about pegasus pride. Defend it!”

Rainbow no longer saw the air bubbles giving away his position. She assumed he swam deep within the surrounding mist.

“Get your butt out here or I’m gonna use your name again!”

The only sound was the falling water right behind her. She would’ve made good on her threat if she wasn’t overwhelmed by disappointment. Darnit. It’s just like the first time we met. If I keep this up, I’ll just drive him away.

Suddenly, a small wave crashed right into her face. “H–hey,” she coughed. “What, who, how did you… ugh!”

“You sound surprised,” he answered, his presence unknown. “I live right by the ocean, so I’ve had my share of water fights.”

Rainbow huffed water from her nostrils. “But a surprise attack? You got a lot of nerve! Wait. Since when did you have nerve in the first place?”

“You used my name as bait,” Swift replied casually. “Gotta draw the line somewhere but that should make us even, right?”

Rainbow thought otherwise; there would be no peace treaty with this stallion. “I suppose we are, Swift!”

His subsequent yells gave away his location. Rainbow quickly swam closer - full battle cry in effect - and then returned fire. Swift splashed water in return but with the cyan torpedo threatening to strike, he backpedaled deeper into the pool.

She then took a lunge at him, grabbing him by the hind legs and yanking him a few feet underwater. Like a worm, he wriggled free of her grasp and finally switched to wing power. She tried to do the same but forgetting about her condition did nothing to stop it from flooding her engine. Even so, Rainbow had just enough momentum to float her head above the waterline and cough out everything that went down the wrong tube.

Swift thought of helping her by hitting her back but held back at the last moment. “What happened?”

Patting her chest, “Ugh! The you know what hit me just now.”

He slapped his forehead. “Shoot! My bad, Rainbow. I forgot that you can’t use your… wings.” Swift looked around the chamber. “So you felt that thing in the water? How is that… tell me. How bad was it?”

“Bad but—” She ejected the last of the water “—not bad bad. Why?”

His smile grew, before a laughing fit overcame him. “Rainbow, I’ve got it,” he said, tossing himself backward and back into a floating position. “I’ve totally got it!”

She believed he lost his mind. “Ummm, what are you talking about?”

“Don’t you see? This can be our training spot today! Think about it! We use our wings underwater in the same way we do in the air, except in slow mo. Let’s treat the pool like the skies! If you practice the motions to hover underwater, it’ll make doing it in the air a lot easier! Shoot! This might actually work!”

His idea was nothing like Twilight’s elaborate plans but she didn’t find herself lost in the details. “Whoa. I totally hear ya. That’s a great idea! I bet it’ll get my busted wing back to full strength too! Since when are you so clever?”

“Eh? Clever?” He paddled up to her side. “C’mon, now. More like lucky. So, you wanna try this?”

“Hey, you’re the one call the shots. If you think this will speed things up, go for it. Just one thing, though.”

“Yeah?”

She splashed him one last time. “Ok! I’m ready!”

He rubbed the moisture off his goggles. Should’ve seen that coming. “Rainbow, I want you to swim all the way down to the lowest part of the pool. Then use your wings to get back up. Keep your hooves out of it the best you can. I’ll keep an eye on you in case something goes wrong. Got it?”

After acknowledging the order, she dipped back below the water and swam deeper into the sparkling depths. She followed the floor’s sloping surface until reaching the point where it leveled off, twenty feet based on her recollection. Now at her starting point, Rainbow stood still, allowing her wings to float freely in the water.

C’mon. You can do this. Nothing fancy. You’ve done this a million times.

She carefully added power, only for her condition to startle her and wreak havoc on her concentration. Some pool water seeped through her lips, robbing her of what little air she held in her chest.

No! Keep going!

Rainbow sensed her body rising but so did her heart rate and the urge to breathe. Five feet into the climb, her resistance collapsed. In a panic, she switched to her hooves for propulsion but her mind couldn’t figure out where was the exit. The lights were everywhere, fading closer to black.

Then a grayish figure grabbed onto her and in seconds, she was safe. This time, Swift helped her clear up her airways.

“Darnit,” she wheezed. “You could’ve given a few more seconds. I could’ve pulled it off.”

Swift shook her shoulders, “Are you bonkers? You almost drowned down there!”

“But I knew I wouldn’t.” She hacked out even more water. “I trusted that you had my back and you did. I’m not sure what the problem is.”

She trusted him - that made him smile. “Gotcha but if you’re pushing it that far, I’m joining you underwater.”

Rainbow’s eyebrows twitched. “Oh, I see. So you want to make this a race.”

“Eh? That’s not exactly what I—”

He caught lightning in a bottle. How silly of him not to season this training with a dash of challenge. That should make the whole experience for her a lot more palatable.

“—you’ll have to keep up with me,” he finished. “Down and back up again. If something goes wrong, though, I’ll—”

“Nothing will go wrong,” Rainbow reassured him. “Well, other than you losing, of course.”

He had a long chuckle. Maybe it was the grind of a long day’s work or the length of time since his arrival but her brashness didn’t annoy him at all. In a way, he even enjoyed it a little but that would stay a secret. No reason to ruin a good thing.

“Whatever you say, Rainbow. All right. On the count of three!”

“Three!”

In an instant, Rainbow dove for the bottom of the pool. The advantage she surely thought she’d have wasn’t there. He matched her stroke for stroke, forcing her to push harder so she could be the first to touch the submerged floor. When she did, Rainbow went for wingpower. Instead, fear pumped into her veins. Swift began pulling away, a searing whip to her pride.

“Push”, she told herself. “Push!” Her appendages responded with the slowest of a flap but it was enough to keep her moving. Each one became more difficult, the air supply dropping like a rock until there was no more. Air bubbles formed above her head, the signal for her partner to aid her to the finish.

“Pathetic,” she complained. “Eck! This water… getting really tired of it.”

“Don’t tell me you’re quitting already,” said Swift.

“Quit?” she answered. “Rainbow Dash doesn’t know what that word even means! Let’s keep going!” After a deliberate pause, she swung her hoof for a surprise splashing, except her target ducked under the water.

Once he came back up, he flashed a smile, “Nice try but I’ve caught on to you. Oh, and you know what else?”

“What?”

With a cheeky grin, “Three.”

Swift disappeared once more. Apparently, he subscribed to the idea that turnabout is fair play, something she would’ve approved if he had applied that idiom to somepony else.

“Why you—” she muttered, before pursuing her friend.

Eight in the evening.

From one of the pool chairs, Rainbow checked a clock hanging on a pillar. Two hours of training did make her mending wing sore but she had plenty of juice left to continue. Swift, on the other hoof, had tossed himself into the chair next to her with a towel over his head. His occasional shifting assured her he wasn’t asleep but even if he were, she would’ve pestered him with the same question anyways.

“Are you done with your break yet?” she whined.

“It’s only been ten minutes,” he mumbled, waving a limp foreleg. “C’mon. You said I needed some rest when I got here, didn’t you? I never really got it, now, did I?”

Rainbow snorted. “Yeah, yeah. That’s why you gotta take your daily naps. Once every three hours for me. That’s how I roll.”

“I don’t take naps.”

She rolled out onto the floor. “W–hat did you say,” she asked, stumbling back onto the pool chair.

Swift lifted off part of his towel. “Naps throw off my sleep cycle. Even if I wanted one, there was no way I was getting one today. If constantly saving the town from flooding wasn’t enough, that Thunderlane wouldn’t leave me alone.” Adjusting his pitch lower, “Where do I put this cloud? Raindrop is messing with my cloud! Why is Granny mad at me?”

“That’s Thunderlane for ya.”

“There was so much to do, I literally ate on the fly. Well, if you count a few bites as eating.”

“It was that bad out there?”

He let the towel cover his face once more. “No worries. Things would’ve gotten real heavy if you didn’t fill me in about that stuff on Friday. Sure, I’m not where I wanna be but I’ll keep pushing myself to be the best weather pony I can be for Ponyville. That way, I can spend more time helping you.”

She had newfound admiration for his dedication to his duty and to her recovery. If she had to perform his juggling act, she’d be a walking zombie by now. “Okay. Take all the time you need. I won’t say a word.”

“Thanks, Rainbow. Another five and I’m good.”

Rainbow relaxed on the chair when a bluish glimmer caught her attention. It came from Swift’s goggles lying on the table beside him. Something about his accessory had her quietly getting up and going for a grasp. She had a foreleg over the strap when Swift tossed out a cough.

“Ah!”

“What do you think you’re doing,” he asked amusingly. “If you wanna try them on, go right ahead.”

She slapped them on and then ran to the pool’s edge to use it as a makeshift mirror. These goggles were nothing like the plain brown ones worn by pegasi weather teams. The straps had a soft yet sturdy feel while the lenses gave her world a touch of blue without narrowing the field of vision. However, the biggest plus was how she and the goggles were the perfect marriage of cool and awesome. If she could find the perfect pose, that would be even better.

Swift sat up on his lawn chair, perplexed. “Um, what are you doing?”

“Just styling. Oh, oh! That’s the one! Fly, what do you think of this?”

In front of him, Rainbow had her head whipped back, goggles pulled slightly downwards and she accentuated her posterior. He’d seen mares pose in suggestive postures before; living by the beach guaranteed regular sightings. He never paid much attention to it other than saying a brief compliment if asked. This time, Swift had nothing to say at what he saw: damp hair, alluring eyes, sly smile and all those curves he didn’t know existed. Who was this pony that had sparkles flashing all around her, he thought.

“Looking cool, huh?” she said, unaware of his stupor.

“Eh?” With a headshake, Swift rebooted his mind to find the same old Rainbow Dash. “Wicked stuff,” he easily answered.

Before returning to her lawn chair, Rainbow tossed him back the goggles. “Flashy and ridiculously expensive. I’m surprised somepony like you would buy this.”

Swift adjusted his eyewear over his forehead. “I didn’t. My friends at Brayside bought them for my birthday.” He hopped up and walked toward the pool. “They said I needed something to complete my look.” He began a stretching routine, starting with his wings. “Not really my thing, though.”

“Then why do you even put it on?”

“Because,” Swift started on some hoof extensions, “they remind me of my friends. If I have these on, I feel like they’re with me.”

Her pupils shrank, realizing that the goggles were not a fashion statement but a symbol of his devotion to his friends. It was an odd way to demonstrate loyalty but she gave him a nod of endearing approval.

Then she had a naughty thought.

Rainbow rolled off the chair, careful to avoid making noise. After a few breaths, she went full speed at the stallion, ready to tackle him into the pool. However, the grey in her sights suddenly vanished, replaced by a body of rainbow liquid.

“Ahhhhhh!”

The water punished her folly with a hard strike to the face. Staggered, she let her body float back to the surface where hysterical laughter echoed within the chamber. The stallion responsible was flat on the floor.

“My—my bad,” Swift blubbered. “But you—” He could say nothing more other than point and cackle some more.

Bubbles formed from her submerged muzzle. She gave him points for a demonstration of his talent but she wouldn’t let this go unpunished.

Emerging from the water, “You’re gonna get it!”

“Ah!”

He ran into the mist, still laughing but somewhat afraid of the mare’s wrath.

While the moon was approaching its apex for the night, the massive cloud layer floating above Ponyville hid it from view. Therefore, the solitary clock at Rainbow’s pool was in charge of providing the time. However, it wasn’t until the hands went past twelve that Swift finally checked it. He had just finished a lap around the pool with Rainbow surfacing next to him moments later.

“You’re almost at my pace now,” he remarked.

“Almost isn’t good enough,” she replied. “I’m not faster than you yet.”

Swift moaned. “Forget about that. You’ve got the swimming up to the surface part down. How about using your wings in a straight line? Is it bothering you?”

“Well, I dunno,” she said, feigning uncertainty. “I really need some more laps to—”

Swift drew in closer with beady eyes. “Rain-bow?”

Rainbow grumbled disappointment. “Fine. I guess I feel good enough that we can stop. Does that mean I can try real flight now?”

“Tomorrow. Now don’t get the idea it’s gonna be easy like this was, more like less hard.” He muffled a long yawn. “Shoot. If I’m lucky, I can actually catch a few good z’s tonight.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Swift looked away. “Um, n–nothing. Let’s get out of here. Any longer and I’ll transform into a prune.”

Once both pulled themselves out of the pool, she went toward a rack with towels. Her partner, however, did a quick body shake before heading for the staircase.

“Hold on,” she begged, wrapping a towel over her head. “Can’t you sta… I mean, you’re not gonna dry off even a little?”

Swift stopped and turned around. “It’s raining outside. Not much of a point.”

That was that. He was really going to leave for the night. The prison door would be closing with no chance to see any more visitors until he came back at who knows what time. Solitude couldn’t laugh at her jokes, play board games or even be an eating companion. Instead, it would remind her of all her friends in Manehattan. On a desk in her bedroom was a sheet with Fluttershy written on it. The pencil that made that mark was now in two pieces, the eraser end by the incomplete letter and the usable part thrown out the window.

“Right,” she replied, her voice losing vigor. “What’s the plan for tomorrow?”

His ears folded, “Well, we’ll see. Just wait for me, okay?”

Another chance to say something about the demon that was loneliness but all she managed was the face of a sad puppy. “Mhm.”

He gave her a curious stare. “Good deal. I’ll help myself out. Later, Rainbow.”

Swift disappeared down the spiral staircase, leaving her as the only soul within the rotunda. A few seconds later, she heard the bang of a door closing at the bottom.

“Cya,” she whispered.

Rainbow took her time descending through the moonlit stairway, every hoofstep making a hollow sound. When she reached the second floor, rather than go into her bedroom, she continued onto the first floor. The sectional sofa in the living room would be her bed tonight, just like yesterday. She tossed herself onto the couch and gripped one of the many pillows. Eyes closing, her Ponyville friends materialized in her head with smiles on their faces and a bounce to their trots.

Can you hear me, Fluttershy? You better be having fun. She tightened her hold. Darnit. I miss you, and Applejack, Pinkie, Twilight, Rarity, Spike. All of you. A few drops trickled out of her ducts and she did nothing to wipe them. I hate this. I don’t wanna be alone all day again.

A knock spooked her off the couch. At this hour of the night, there could be only one possible visitor. Even so, she crept up to the eyehole just in case somepony wearing a black mask was on the other side. Instead, the one at the door was such a thrilling site, she fumbled through the locks.

Calm down! Play it cool.

After swinging the door open, she sneered at him “Oh, back already, Fly? What’s wrong? Need directions to Cloudsdale or something?”

His eyebrows slanted downwards. “Whatever, Rainbow. I just wanted to check if there was anything you want me to fetch for you. Something you need like, I don’t know. Supplies? Food?”

Rainbow bopped her head. Other than icicles in the icebox, she had finished the last of the grub this afternoon. “Well, the fridge is kinda empty but, um, how… takeout? Is there any way I can get takeout?” Rubbing a hoof on the floor, “I–I’m not exactly a great cook. I just… never mind. You don’t have—”

“No worries,” Swift chirped with a twinkle in his eye. “If you want takeout, then you’re getting takeout. Actually, I just had a thought. Maybe I should get takeout too and eat with you here. I am supposed to get a lunch break.” He chuckled. “And a break from the weather team. You don’t mind, do you?”

She stood there dumbstruck, unable to figure whether he recognized her problem or this was mere coincidence. With one look into those blue pearls staring back her way, Rainbow had her answer.

“Oh, okay,” she said, shrugging. “I’m not picky about place. Surprise me.”

“Will do,” he answered.

From the doorway, she watched him zip into the clouds and vanish. No amount of falling rain could dampen this moment of relief and appreciation that she would have an extra visit. Tomorrow brought more challenges but on this nippy evening, she could sleep a little easier and a little less alone.

8 - Shock Therapy

Fresh air mixed in with rainwater, one of Rainbow’s favorite scents.

Just as she had done on Saturday, she rode on top of a soaring cloud with Swift as the struggling pusher. This time, there was nothing to fear other than catching a cold. Darkness surrounded them but that didn’t bother her either. She did have something to complain about, however, and she wasn’t shy about putting it out on the open.

“Is this thing you’re going to show me the same surprise as my lunch?”

Swift rolled his red veined eyes. “I told you already I had no clue you hated peas. You didn’t even know there was any in your food until I told you.”

She waved him off, “Excuses, excuses. C’mon! Get with the program! If you’re my friend, you should know what I like and don’t like. Otherwise, how will you know what to get me for my birthday? You do know when that is, right?”

You only told me five times today. “I hear ya,” he said, exasperated by the question.

They climbed toward the gray cloud layer in a familiar area for Rainbow Dash. Nearby, the Stallihorn Mountains, the main range separating Ponyville and areas beyond, were but a jagged shadow sprawled across the purple horizon.

“Whoaaaa!” A sudden gust tried pushing her off the cloud and she had to grab ahold. “Hey. Why are we here of all places? Don’t you know this whole area’s a rough patch for flying?”

Swift winked. “Gotcha, Rainbow. Nopony travels through here and the clouds around here are super low maintenance. I made myself charge of this area, natch.”

“Okay, but that still doesn’t explain why you’re taking me here.”

“Just give it a minute,” he stated as he pushed her and the cloud right into a massive cumulus cloud the width at least half of Ponyville’s city limits. “I don’t wanna spoil the surprise for you.”

“Surprise? Heh. I don’t think a pony like you can sur—prise, me.”

The grey sea around her parted for clearer skies. That was too short distance travelled to traverse the cloud and she soon found out why. She discovered the secret within the cloud, a hollowed out chamber. The walls stretched hundreds of feet above her head, with a part of the ceiling thinner than the area around around it, allowing the celestial moon to provide natural lighting. Rainbow hopped off the cloud and onto a clearly marked runway, one of two.

“No, way!” Her jaw dropped like a stone. “No way!”

Cloud hoops, floating posts and hollow tubes, oh my! Her eyes filled with the same wonderment she experienced the last time she’d seen something like this.

“Junior Speedsters Camp!” she squealed, jumping in place. “It’s almost like the real obstacle course! T–this is… I don’t know what to say, Fly!”

“You could start with awesome,” he said with a chuckle.

She stammered, switching views between him and the makeshift course. “H–how did you, I mean, you left after midnight!”

Just drinking the most coffee I’ve ever had in my life. “My pop’s a bit of a cloud expert. You pick up a few things to make stuff like this faster than usual. So, you’re ready for the next step?”

“Since yesterday!” Rainbow boasted. “Which Speedster challenge will I do first?”

“Hold up a sec,” said Swift in a more deliberate tone. “Before we even think about that, you gotta learn how to hover in the air. Now—”

Rainbow zoned out most of his instructions. All she needed to understand is that this was a hover race all the way to the canopy. This would be the same as yesterday, except without the water to constrict her movements. Muscle memory would lift her out of her dilemma and Flying Stress Syndrome would be a mere mosquito.

Blah, blah, blah! C’mon! I’m ready for this! Get ready to get creamed!

They took positions side-by-side before Swift started a verbal countdown. Rainbow unfurled her wings and awaited the green light. Despite his warnings, she was ready to go at maximum wingpower, anything to win.

“Go!”

She released the brakes, but rather than lift into the air, she was back in that black world with the faraway wall. The same voice that berated her was present, calling out to Rainbow with the same derisive tone.

“You can’t make it, Rainbow Crash! Give up!”

“I won’t,” Rainbow shrieked back.

The mare trudged forward and for it, fear delivered a crushing blow right out of her daydream and sent her tumbling onto the chamber floor. Her hind legs never even lifted off, adding to the shame that leaked down her face. When a shadow cast over her, she shied away from it.

“I’m not crying,” she whimpered. “Something just got in my eye.”

There was no point correcting the lie, wanting to preserve her dignity. “Tell me when you’re ready to try again.”

He didn’t have to wait long. One minute was enough for Rainbow to make a second attempt. Again, she prepared for takeoff, but the moment her hooves lightened, a horrifying shudder sent her back down in a small puff of cloud dust. Once more, she hid her face until her frayed nerves cooled off. Soon, it became a vicious cycle of constant failures. One attempt became twenty-five but the floor had a magnet-tight grip on Rainbow. Her tears turned more salty and Swift optimism wilted over time.

Shoot. This isn’t working like I thought it would.

All her grunts and huffs were daggers right into Swift’s heart. Her suffering was much like his: the falls, the tears and the testing of resolve. Echoes from his trainer bounced around his head, muted but encouraging words as a rope lifted him off the ground. He spent endless days weaning off the strand into using his wings, time that he simply didn’t have with Rainbow. She had to be stronger than he was and yet she got back up weaker and with more black around her eyelids every single time.

Then she remained down on the cloud floor, the only movements being the rise and fall of her chest as she labored to breathe.

“I’m not Rainbow Crash,” she muttered. “I’m the best—” Whimpers stopped her sentence short. “I can’t do this. There’s no way I can do this.”

Swift sat right in front of her, lips moving for words that weren’t there. These were the moments he feared - he had to be more than the pony simply that gave her direction. He had to inspire her to continue, somehow. Solutions wouldn’t come save for one that brought disgust to his face.

Clearing his throat, he adjusted his vocal chords for a deeper pitch. “Rainbow. Where’s your pegasus pride?”

Rainbow lifted her head and rubbed some buildup on her nose. “W–what? What did you say?”

He firmed up his posture. “That’s right! If you’re truly the best flier in all of Equestria, you must defend your title! This thing you’re fighting is not stronger than you! I want winners, not quitters! I won’t have my son, er, you, wallowing in pity like a foal that cries because the milk is too cold! You have a duty as a pegasus to be—”

She was still in tears but coupled with a bellowing guffaw. “Y–you… what… ha, ha, ha, ha!”

“Eh,” he mumbled with his regular voice. “What’s so funny?”

“What were you trying to do?” Rainbow slapped the cloud floor, “If you were trying to cheer me up by being really silly, y–you totally nailed it. Ha! Ha! Ha!”

“But I was trying to build up your confidence,” he complained. “My pop would say stuff like that to me all the time.”

Rainbow stumbled back onto all fours, struggling to breathe. “Yeah, I’ve never met your dad but something tells me he doesn’t sound like that. Heh, heh, heh.”

“Ughhhhh. Whatever,’ he said, throwing up his forelegs.

“But no, really. Thanks. I feel better after that. C’mon. Give me a Hoof bump.”

He raised his hoof, willing to accept the gesture. Then, a hammer struck him. “Ooowwww. Shoot! Okay. Well, I guess you’re ready, then.”

“Ready for what?”

“Something I was hoping I wouldn’t need to use. One second.”

He pushed off and accelerated toward the furthest wall. Calculating his trajectory, she found something that was within chamber all this time but hadn’t noticed - a collection of small dark clouds. As expected, he brought one of these rumbling cotton balls all the way back and over her head.

She stepped out of the cloud’s shadow but he kept moving it, “Umm, Fly? What exactly are you—”

Zap! Lightning struck inches from her face. She leaped into air - her high-pitched scream no match for the thunder’s boom - before flopping back down. Headache and all, she shook an angry hoof.

“Darnit, Fly! What do you think you’re doing?”

With a shrug, “You can’t take off, right? If this will get you jumping that high, then a few wing flaps and you’re hovering. Problem solved!”

“No,” she shouted with a hoof stomp. “What if you hit me by mistake?”

“It’s low voltage, so it won’t hurt, much.”

“I said no!”

Swift pulled on his face skin. “Ugh! I know this isn’t wicked at all but this should speed things up. Just think about being able to hover by the end of the night. You want that. Shoot. I want that so let’s do it, okay?”

While she would agree that faster was better, this was pushing the limit. The last thing she wanted was replacing one fear with another, although just about anything would be better than Flying Stress Syndrome. “A–all right. But seriously, if one spark touches me—”

He shuddered at the mare’s deadly scowl. “N–no worries. Just start up your wings. I’ll do the rest.”

Rainbow followed his instructions, but the expected white flash didn’t show. Swift had his hoof up and held it there.

“What’s the hold up?” she complained. “Are you trying to—?”

Whack! went Swift’s hoof on the cloud, releasing its charge to Rainbow’s left. She soon found herself a few inches up in the air except gravity didn’t put her back into place. Her wings were performing the simplest of acts but after everything she has gone through since her accident, she was back home in the air.

I’m doing it! I’m—

Suddenly, the fear locomotive ran right over her. The landing knocked the air out of her but not her spirit. There was nothing to cry about except for a long overdue, hard fought victory. However, this was no time to celebrate - three seconds of airtime wasn’t enough. She wanted more, much more.

“Rainbow?” Swift floated down to touch her.

She stared at him, resolute. “Again. Let’s go again.”

Nap time.

Unfortunately, two hours of thunderclaps meant a throbbing headache that would deny her from a quick slumber. If she couldn’t sleep, then she’d take this time to prod more into what made Swift Flying the pony he was.

“So you’re telling me you and your friends not only saw, but fought off a Leviathan?” she quipped, sitting across from him. “I’ll admit that’s a pretty good lie.”

“Eh?” he replied. “First off, that did really happen. I didn’t say I fought it, though.”

She stroked her chin, “Hmm, lemme guess. You were a decoy?”

“What was I supposed to do? Kick him in the nose?”

“Exactly! I bet you’re always playing it safe and you know why?”

The statement paralyzed him. Why I– it’s not that I… I wanted to do more. I was, I couldn’t—

“You’re too weak,” she answered, poking his chest.

His thought suddenly disappeared as quickly as it came. “I’m what now?”

“Just look at you. Sure you got the wing power, but look at these!” She grabbed onto one of his forelegs and squeezed them. “I’ve seen colts with better muscles than you!”

He tried prying away from her grasp, “I’m not that… ow! Too tight! Too tight!”

With a sigh, she acquiesced. “See what I mean? I bet you don’t even work out.”

“I have a routine,” he said, rubbing his mane. “Some stretches, a short run and—”

“Well, you need a new one! Hoof wrestling match right now!”

His pupils retracted; he already knew the outcome of this game. “How about we continue with your—”

“Swift?”

His face muscles twisted in unnatural directions. “Don’t call me that,” he uttered through clenched teeth.

Rainbow placed her hoof in the ready position. “What are you going to do about it, Swift? Whine and complain? Oh, boo hoo! Rainbow’s using my name against me! Waahhhhhh!”

Twice in a row in thirty seconds, that was more than he could bear. With all his might, he grabbed onto her foreleg and tried squeezing the cyan out of it.

“Ready?” said Rainbow.

Swift snorted in response. So you want to call me that.

“One.”

Not wicked!

“Two.”

Take this!

“Three!”

His challenger pushed his entire body straight through the floor and into a freefall through the mist.

Wha—what? What!

Once he overcame the initial shock, he fluttered back into the chamber where Rainbow was rolling around in utter glee. He hated admitting it but her laughter stung more than his reddish hoof. He returned to his prior spot but refused to face her directly.

“Why did I even bother?” Swift muttered to himself, clutching his sore foreleg.

She finished off with a few bangs on the soft chamber surface. “Hey? Do you need your mommy to kiss that boo-boo for you?”

“Whatever,” he grumbled.

The mare sat up and facehoofed. “Ugh! Don’t give me a whatever. You can’t let somepony walk all over you like that. Pegasus pride, remember?”

He rolled his eyes.

“C’mon! Let’s do a few more and work those hoof muscles!”

For a moment, he thought of fleeing the scene, but no matter how difficult a pegasi she was proving to be, he had promised to help her. That and he didn’t want to hear his name a third time this evening. Reluctantly, he switched his hurt hoof for the good one and hoped that he’d be more ready this time.

“Ow!”

Splat! Another defeat but at least he saved the embarrassment of going through the floor. However, now he had to shift weight between the two throbbing forelegs just to stay on his haunches.

“Hurts, doesn’t it?” Rainbow remarked.

“Lots,” he said, wincing.

“Good. No pain, no gain! C’mon! Best three out of five!”

“Maybe we should stop. I sorta need my hooves for our training, remember?”

She sighed in frustration. “Fine.” Then, she snatched onto his less red hoof. “But I’ll do you a favor. Let me show you the proper technique. You’re doing it all wrong.”

Swift raised a suspicious eyebrow. “You’re not just saying that to get me to hoof wrestle some more, are you?”

“Lighten up, Fly.” She moved his hoof in a slow deliberate fashion. “See? No funny business here.”

He loosened up his muscles allowing her to place his foreleg gently in between each other. “Sure. I have my eye on you.”

“You’re too much,” she snickered. “First, you want to shift the power to, um… this is… how you do it.”

“Eh?”

What she held, it had a warmness that transferred into her body. Rainbow looked up to his face when something struck her- his pale bluish orbs. Around them, veins drew in closer to them to disrupt the calmness encased within the trembling iris. She swore there was something mysterious in there the deeper she searched but couldn’t find anything except a mesmerizing package rivaled only by a rainbow spanning the sky.

“Are you actually gonna do something,” he asked, smiling matching the width of hers.

“I was, um, what was I, doing?” Rainbow snapped out the stupor and as such, let go of his hoof. “Um, never mind. How about we get back to work but I do have one request.”

“Lemme guess. Less juice?”

“Actually, can we crank up the juice?”

Swift leaned back, surprised at the suggestion. “What? You’re bonkers! Why would I do that?”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but I need to be even more startled. I’m starting to get used to the lightning so I need it louder. More power! More thunder! Should speed up things even more, right?”

“Well, I guess but—”

“Do it!” ordered Rainbow.

“Umm, you sure? You see, when I ordered these from the Cloud Factory, I think—”

“Are you here to help me or not? C’mon, Fly! I can take it!”

The conversation was over, whether he wanted it over or not. He fetched another product from Cloudsdale’s Weather Factory, which the weather team told him was durable and reliable. However, this was an old batch from a month ago; thunderstorms were in nopony’s forecasts for that span. The way the cloud felt on his hooves didn’t feel quite right, as though whoever made these created them in a hurry. None of this would be a problem if he didn’t need a higher setting.

“You ready,” he asked, placing the cloud over her head.

Rainbow flexed her wings, “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

She stared at the hovering stallion, waiting for the eventual strike. When he did hit it, a burst of white light blinded everything in the room while a thundering boom shook her off her hooves. After a few seconds of total blindness, a smoldering pile of black came in focus directly ahead. Then she saw a few strands of hair not covered by ash - two shades of blue.

“Fly!”

Rainbow crawled up to him and shook him violently. “Fly! Fly!”

A few coughs knocked off some of the dusty buildup. “I knew some of those clouds were bad,” he slurred as he took a seated position. “Guess—” A body shake tossed a few errant sparks “—ugh. I’ll have to make some new ones for tomorrow.”

Her head tilted and her jaw shuddered. “How… you’re okay! You’re okay! B–but how?”

Struggling for a smile, “Lightning resistance.” He discharged more static electricity. “I have more than your typical pegasus. It’s one of those things that runs in my family line.”

She mouthed a whoa. “That’s pretty awesome. So you don’t feel anything at all?”

“Not quite.” He began scratching all over his body, first a little but then left marks on his coat. “Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Itchy!”

After three hours, the good news for Rainbow Dash was that she no longer needed thunderclouds to hover off the surface.

The bad news was that she continued having trouble staying afloat.

Swift stood on a solitary cloud right in the chamber’s middle, encouraging his friend to reach his position. “C’mon!” he would say, clapping his hooves but she barely acknowledged him. Ten seconds was the time she could hold a hover before her wings and determination would run out of juice. As the night went on, the mare that attacked head on turned to a pony that could barely stand, let alone fly. Crust developed on her eyelids and she went from talking to communication via moans and grunts.

Finally, as the moon shone its brightest for the night, she went down and stayed down.

He landed next to her and lazily tried to lift her. “Rainbow? C’mon. Up you go. We’re not done yet.”

“This is too much,” she replied, nudging away his foreleg. “Can’t we call it a night?”

“It’s not midnight yet. We still have time.”

She made some whining noises but otherwise refused to budge.

With a melancholy sigh, Swift prepared the cloud that would aid in taking her back home. As he worked his magic in making her ride the most comfortable possible, a shrill whistle resonated within his head. This moment triggered a memory had surfaced and right away, he clutched his forehead.

Shoot! Blaze and that whistle of his! He blew it every time I tried to cut my training short. He blew that thing just about every chance he had! Even now, it’s driving me bonkers! Wish I could’ve broken that thing and—

Just like that, he had himself another idea. If she wanted to go home so badly, then she’d do anything to reach that goal. He just had to set a trap, one that might put him in peril if he wasn’t careful.

He positioned the cloud fifteen feet above the mare.

“Hey! How am I supposed to get on from down here?” she yelled.

He patted the cloud, “How else? You hover up here. Nothing to it.”

“What do you mean, hover up there? I told you I’m done with training.”

“It’s not training,” he replied, keeping his cool. “Just come on up, and we’ll head out of here.”

Under normal conditions, reaching his altitude was foal’s play - this was climbing the highest peak in all of Equestria.

Flipping the switches, her wings came alive, generating the necessary lift for takeoff. Like a broken record, levitation made her teeth chatter and her body jitter. Every inch was a tug-of-war battle between fear and her love of flying and it gnawed away at her climb rate. However, her goal was soon within reach. One hoof on the cloud meant she could pull herself up and end this long night.

Then the cloud crept upwards, thanks to the stallion’s sudden pull. A few tears ran past her nascent scowl. “What are you doing?”

He perspired as though he was in a sauna. “Climb on board.”

Once more, she reached for cloud but Swift denied her. Her wings sputtered, halting her ascent but Rainbow thought less and less about the terror. No, she wanted to clock him for doing this to her. He was supposed to be a friend; all her other friends would never be this cruel. Anger was the propellant that kept her going.

“You’re gonna pay!” she bellowed.

Flap by flap, what was a hobbling pegasus clinging to flight transformed to a shark. Swift had reeled in his bait but he found himself doing everything to get away from those sharp teeth. She continued climbing at an increasing rate: fifty feet, one hundred and more. What had been a faraway ceiling was turning into a barrier that would force him to stop in a few seconds. He didn’t even get a chance to reach the top.

“Fly!” She flipped onto the cloud, smoke coming out of her nostrils.

He fell backwards, forelegs flailing. “Hold up! Hold up! You did it, Rainbow! You did it!”

“Don’t try to waste time!”

“Look where you are, please!”

She granted him a cursory glance only to double take. All that distance, she and only she covered it. Carefully, Rainbow tried to hover once more and lo and behold, it was easy as breathing.

“Rainbow! Y–you’re holding it. You’re holding it!”

What had frightened her two minutes ago was an inconvenience that soon fell by the wayside. All at once, her negative energy switched polarity and exploded with a celebratory scream. Was this all she could do, she thought. Maybe this was the big moment when she was back at full strength.

“Rainbow, don’t!”

Rainbow went full speed ahead but immediately, all the horror of flight took it away. Gravity took over and pulled her down into a spin.

“Yahhhhhhhhh!”

In a flash, Swift had grabbed onto her dangling hind leg. However, he joined her in the downward spiral of doom. All her mocking about his strength was no joke after all. His hooves stretched like rubber bands and with all this tension, they may just snap.

“I won’t, let go,” he huffed.

Swift revved up his wings to maximum. He bit on his tongue, forcing him to bear the pain until he slowed down their descent.

“Brace!”

Both he and Rainbow fell onto the chamber surface and rolled sideways in opposite directions. Rainbow immediately reached for her sore back but otherwise, she marked this down as a successful crash landing.

Swift remained face down, panting for air. “Rainbow,” he wheezed. “You, ugh, you—”

Dusting off some cloud dust, “I think I’m okay. One second.” Rainbow lifted straight up and held the position for a few seconds. “Forget okay. I feel awesome! Look at me! I’m hovering! Woo!”

He rolled himself belly up and stayed on the floor. “Y–yeah. Oh, that was exhausting. Rainbow? You—” He wheezed for air “—that was wicked but, um, let’s stick to hovering for now.”

Rainbow landed by his side, smiling smugly. Then, she gently poked him on the ribs.

“Ow!”

“That’s for your little stunt but I forgive you.” She extended a foreleg but once he reached out, Rainbow placed him in a headlock. “After this!”

Swift’s forehead caught on fire, as she knocked off loose strands of his blue forelocks. “Owwww! Ha, ha, ow! Are you thanking me or, ow! Punishing me?”

“Both,” she answered before helping him to all fours.

He coughed out a few chuckles. “Well, I’ll take that over hearing my name again.”

Rainbow facehoofed and shook her head. “I think you’re missing the point. Why do you think I use it even though you tell me not to?”

His eyelids went halfway down. “Because you know it annoys me.”

“Well, yes, but I’m also trying to help you out.”

“Uh, huh. Sure you are.”

“Think about it, Fly. It’s like bad medicine. You get used to it if you take it enough times.”

“Eh? But I thought you threw away your—”

“—then again, hmm.” She scratched her head, “I suppose it would be better if I just say it normally. What do you say I help you with your name, huh?”

“I don’t think so,” he responded, lowering his tone an octave.

She rolled her eyes. “Ah, c’mon. You’re making a big fuss about nothing.”

Swift turned away from her and took a seat. “No way.”

“At least think about it for a second!” She walked around him, “What do you have to lose, Fly?”

He crossed his hooves, but he did grant her the time to mull on this proposal. Ever since Flight School, the embarrassment over his name had diminished, thanks partly to more understanding parents but more so because he kept the origins of his name to himself. In some ways, his reactions made him stick out worse but even so, something held him back. On this, he was just too stubborn.

“I’m not feeling it,” was his answer.

With a huff, she swiveled in the opposite direction. “Fine! Be a grumpy mule!”

Swift reeled at the odd outburst. “Shoot. Why are all mad at me now?”

Rainbow kicked some cloud into the air. “I just… all I wanted.” Then, all the pent-up steam left her body in one despondent breath. “I wanna pay you back.”

“Eh?”

“I mean, I got you into this so I owe you a big big favor. I thought fixing your name problem would be a good place to start.”

“But you don’t owe me anything,” Swift said, rubbing his mane. “I’m not doing this to gain favors from you.”

Rainbow faced him once more, head down. “I know that but it doesn’t feel right if I don’t try something and this idea makes perfect sense to me. You help me beat this thing I have while I help you beat your thing. C’mon. You gotta let me have this one. Please?”

Swift fidgeted in place. “Ummm—”

“Please,” Rainbow said, putting on a pouty face.

He’d heard this story before and his answer was always the same - no. This time, despite saying it a minute ago, he couldn’t go through with it. She was practically begging with those puppy dog eyes and matching adorable posture. An outright denial would be a crime! Even if he hated the idea, he’d do anything to keep her going with raised spirits. He already made sacrifices to reach this point, so this was just another one added to the list. He just wished it wasn’t this, anything but this.

Swift pulled on his hair and yelled briefly. “All right! All right! Put that away! Shoot!”

“Does this mean—?”

“Gotcha,” he said through his sudden double facehoof. “Just don’t overdo it. Please!”

Rainbow shook his hoof, “Thank you! Thank you! I promise you won’t regret this for a second, Swift!”

Oh, the agony on his face was that of a pony doused with hot water. Hearing his name without any mockery made no difference at all. This was a horrible deal for him but he had already signed on the dotted line. This would be part of the experience with Rainbow Dash for the foreseeable future, a walk through a thorny bush.

After a long yawn, “Ok, Swift. Take me home.”

Now his head throbbed and his eardrums popped.

Why in Equestria did I say yes? Why?

9 - Flying 101

Rainbow Dash was the adventurous type, at least when it came to anything related to flying. Her palette, on the other hoof, not so much compared to Swift. For this lunch session, he brought over a few paperboard containers boxes with a red building printed on the sides. More unusual were the chopsticks that came with the steaming-hot Tuesday meal but one whiff convinced her to take a taste test. Soon, she went into gobbling mode, eschewing the provided utensils.

“Nice call on the food, Swift,” she mumbled, wiping some noodle bits off her lips.

His chopsticks fell onto the floor, as did his nearly empty food box. “Did you really have to say it while I’m eating?”

She held back a chuckle. “Sorry. I thought you wouldn’t go all—” She shuddered in place while sticking out her tongue.

“Whatever,” he replied before grabbing onto a soda. “I still think this isn’t gonna work.”

Rainbow walked his direction and then patted him on the shoulder. “It will. Trust me. There’s no way I’m stopping until you’re cured, Swift.”

Bubbling soda exited his nostrils. “Ugh! Thanks a lot, Rainbow!” While he wiped himself with a napkin, Rainbow rummaged through random items spread across the floor. “So, are we playing another board game today?”

She returned with a sparkling crimson electric guitar. “No. Thought I’d surprise you with a little something.”

“I was gonna ask you about that. You know how to play it?”

“Hey, yeah! I play this thing all the time!”

“Then why is there a gift receipt taped to the back?”

Rainbow ripped it off the guitar. “Never mind that. I’ve been practicing while waiting for you. Get ready for some awesome rocking music!”

As her cyan hoof rose up, Rainbow closed her eyes and imagined she was on stage, her hair wild like the face paint and tattered clothes she wore. Her audience was a rowdy group, chanting Dash, surfing the crowds, holding up homemade signs or otherwise pushing their way toward the front for the best view. Behind her was a percussionist, keyboardist and a bassist, but they were merely mundane and replaceable support in this fantasy. She was the face of the band, the vocalist, the star, the one everypony from around Equestria came to see. That’s why her face was front and center on the posters, why the band’s name was Dashing Rainboom and why the lights from above shone on her the brightest.

Down came her hoof, striking the strings and creating a sound that made the ground tremble and her audience holler. More notes came out of her guitar, accompanied by the lyrics coming from her mouth, both mixing in perfect harmony. Her head bobbed as the fervent energy from the crowds fed her ego but there was one problem. One pony within the thousands winced and grunted in pain, pulling the curtains open to the actual performance. The noise she generated from the guitar was an incomprehensible ear-splitting racket that even she would boo at for redefining terrible. Even so, she glared at the pony that shattered her fantasy into bits.

Swift bore a sheepish grin, “Umm, well, you–your singing’s okay?”

On purpose, she strummed some high notes. “Yeah, yeah. Maybe I’m not meant to be a rock star but I’d like to see you try!”

She shoved the guitar into his possession. “Really? I–I’m not sure if—”

“C’mon! Just give it a go!”

After an audible gulp, he hit the chords in a slow jerky fashion. His first effort wasn’t offensive but lacked rhythm, tone or a sense of direction. However, with more twangs, the guitar’s tunes transformed into a simple but catchy riff that made the stallion slosh around his plentiful forelocks. Rainbow mimicked his motions until he ended the acoustic melody by holding his hoof high in the air.

“Get out!” Rainbow delivered a playful shove, “How did you do that?”

Swift rubbed his hair, “To be honest, one of my Brayside friends wanted to start a band and he sorta forced me to join. That was, um,” he chuckled away his nervousness, “all I could play after a whole month of trying.”

“Don’t downplay it. That was pretty cool.”

The compliment turned his cheeks pink.

“But, you were a little off –tune. If this was a competition, I’d have to take some points off.”

She might as well have thrown a tomato his direction. “Whatever, Rainbow. Whatever.” Then, he caught a glimpse of a round clock hanging on the kitchen wall. “Shoot. I better go.”

“Already?” Rainbow’s smile inverted.

He secured the guitar against the wall. “My bad. I have a few teammates working through their lunch, so I should check up on them before they flood something.”

While she understood his concern, that did little to quell her disappointment. “Oh, okay.”

Swift made his way toward the door but stopped before reaching for the handle. “Hey, just wanted you to know that the team’s really making some headway. We might actually finish by around four today. Isn’t that wicked?”

That lifted her spirits, although not by much. “That’s, um, great. I guess you’re really getting the hang of the job, huh?”

“Eh?”

“I’m just saying you’re getting more out of them than I ever could.”

He shook his head. “Just lucky we didn’t have any big fires to put out so far today and besides, there was no way we’d be where we are if you didn’t help me out. I even told them you wanted me to check in with you every day. It was the only way I could see you during the day without raising anypony’s suspicion.”

That small tidbit filled in one hole, but there was another. “Um, do they ask about me, by any chance?”

Swift beamed, “Oh, yeah. They said I’m nicer, and more helpful—”

Rainbow frowned.

“—but you’re more fun, and you’re better dealing with trouble. They really do miss you out there, Rainbow. They can’t wait to see you again.”

She trusted him enough to nod in agreement. “Yeah, I kinda miss my team, even Thunderlane and Raindrops.” Realizing she revealed too much of her soft side, “But don’t tell them that! You give them one inch of weakness, they’ll take a mile!”

“I won’t,” he said, winking at her before closing the front door.

This time, even the fact that she was alone couldn’t squash the joy that indeed, there were ponies out that that miss her company. The faster she could kick Flying Stress Syndrome out of her system, the sooner she could see them again.

Four thirty. Swift had missed the promised deadline by half an hour.

This time around, Rainbow paced right outside her door, unperturbed by the showers turning her forelock into a heavy mop. Every so often, she stared into the dimming clouds expecting a pegasus to break through at high velocity ferrying a cloud. Instead, he came into view from below.

“You better have a good explanation,” Rainbow said, glowering. “You told me—”

He raised his hoof, “I know, I know. I saw something happen down below as I was coming over here and I had to check it out.”

Her eyes narrowing, “Well, c’mon! Tell me!”

There was no immediate reply. “Well, um, I–I saw these three fillies near the river—”

“Let me guess,” she interrupted. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders?” She released a long sigh. “What were they trying to do? Earn their cutie marks in rafting?”

“No, it wasn’t that. They were by the trees setting up some type of flying rig, so I told them that was a bad idea in such bad weather. We got talking a bit and, well, um, that’s when one of them mentioned you.”

Rainbow turned pale. The way he just spoke told her everything she needed to know. “Scootaloo’s trying to prove a point against me, isn’t she?”

“Can’t say she’s too happy with you right now.”

Then the silence came, an uneasy and lengthy pause that made Rainbow fidget in place. “Oh, yeah. I guess she would be. Um, did she at least, you know, get off the ground?”

“Not really,” he answered without much emotion. “I stayed a while to help set up the ropes and stuff but it was sorta painful to watch. She kept trying and trying. Not even close.”

The conversation died once more, furthering Rainbow’s uneasiness. After all, she denied lending her biggest fan any assistance in achieving flight, and yet, here was a pony putting in the extra mile for a relative stranger. Hypocrite, that was the nicest words she could use to describe herself; dirt might be more appropriate.

“Fly? It’s, complicated,” said Rainbow in a hushed voice. “I wish I could explain this to you.”

“You don’t have to. This is between you and Scootaloo.”

“You’re not mad at me, are you?”

He shrugged. “Rainbow, that’s just not my style. We get along together and that’s all that matters to me.”

That cooled her nerves but not by a lot. “Thanks, I guess,” she said, as she boarded his cloud. “You’re not just saying that, are you?”

Swift grunted as he pushed her ride into motion. “Cool your jets. Like I said, I’m not part of this, so I won’t poke around.”

She believed that he would indeed drop the subject but Rainbow’s conscience refused to let this go. It was bad enough dealing with one huge problem. At least she could mitigate another before it ballooned to something far worse. “Do you want to know?”

“You don’t have to. Really. I—”

“I’m willing to fill you in,” she implored.

Now he knew Rainbow was going to reveal all, regardless of his choice. With a nod, Swift tuned his ears to her voice as they travelled through the dense clouds. Expecting something long in duration, he took a more circular route toward their destination.

“—so that’s pretty much it,” she finished. “I know. I’m making a big fuss about nothing, right?”

He continued pushing his passenger on a straight path. “Nah. You just need to tell Scoots what you told me. She’ll get it.”

She let herself fall flat on her back on the cloud. “I can’t just open up to her like that. What if she thinks it’s a lame excuse and she sees me differently afterwards?

“Well, you told me, didn’t you?”

“But it’s different with you.”

“Why’s that?”

Rainbow tripped up on her potential answers. She wouldn’t hold a conversation like this except with Fluttershy, sometimes. “You know? I’m not sure. Maybe I just… it’s just is.”

“Then take a chance with Scoot and tell her everything, Rainbow. At least it shows you care about her.”

She slowly nodded. “I’ll think about it, but there’s one more thing I want to ask you, Swift.”

Instantly, his stomach twisted into a knot, while his wings spluttered, robbing him of forward momentum. I am not getting used to his at all.

“What’s with the bags around your eyes? Have you’ve been getting enough sleep?”

He bit his lower lip. Not really.

As both broke through the chamber wall, Swift breathed a sigh of relief.

“No worries,” Swift said, nudging up the corners of his mouth. “I’ve been working a bit too hard, nothing more. So, shall we start?”

After Rainbow hopped off the cloud, she scrutinized the area as though it was an enchanted garden. Even if this was her second time coming here, her giddiness matched that of every morning when bugle horns woke her up to another great day at Junior Speedsters Camp. What did damper her mood was that she wasn’t at the point where she could tackle every obstacle. Instead, she guessed that based on where they stood, her trainer would utilize the runway; she asked him for a confirmation.

“Gotcha,” the stallion replied. “Before we actually start, I need to gauge your hoof speed. Rainbow, how about—”

There was no need asking the mare to line up for a gallop down the runway. “C’mon! I don’t have all day! Let’s go! Let’s go!”

He took his time lining up with her and then went through a series of stretches.

“Ready to lose, slow colt?” Rainbow asked, leering his way.

“Whatever,” he said, continuing his routine.

Rainbow slapped her face. “Oh, geez. That’s a totally weak answer! Come up with something better, please? Must I remind you about your pegasus pride?”

Hearing his name sounded like a better alternative than Rainbow yapping about an old-fashioned concept. Alas, he racked his mind in coming up with something that would appease her, a phrase that was not overly pompous and simple. Once he came up with it, he moved his blue-tinted goggles over his eyes.

“I’ll, um, let my wings do the talking?” He forced a grin.

Rainbow faced him, baffled. “Well, that was, um?” She waggled her foreleg. “Eh. You’re learning, though, and that’s good. Guess I’m a good influence on you.”

“You’re an influence, all right,” he replied in a deadpan tone.

“Good influence,” she corrected, jabbing him on the side.

“Whatever.” Swift placed his left hoof forwards while aiming his nose toward the end of the runway. “Okay, on three. One, two, three!”

Both pegasi pushed off, scuffing off some cloud particles in their wake. As Rainbow accelerated, she glanced right to confirm her lead. Instead, the grey stallion had pulled ahead by half a length. When she asked her hooves what the hay was going on, they responded that they had the gas pedal pegged to the floor but they had not yet reached top speed.

Once she hit her stride, they were at the midpoint and the gap was shrinking fast. She drifted in his direction with an urge to knock him out of balance - too dirty in her mind. Besides, Rainbow had this victory secured by the three quarter mark, only for Swift to slip in behind her. Somehow, he narrowed the distance but not close enough to challenge her to the end of the runway.

“Rainbow Dash,” she wheezed as she tapped the brakes, “wins the Canterky Derby!” She raised her hooves, imitating a cheering crowd. “Again?”

Swift rested on the floor, his lungs working overtime. “That runway’s, longer… than I thought.” After a few seconds, he woozily got back on his hooves. “I think it’ll work.”

“What will work?”

He moved his head at some rope lying close by. Swift grabbed a strand and then tied it around his body. “We’re going a little old school, if you get my drift.”

“I think I get the picture,” she answered, grabbing onto the rope’s loose end. “Run straight down the runway, lift and tug me around. I, um,” Her face turned red, “my parents did this with me.”

“Gotcha,” he answered with a diffusing smile. “We’ll start at about half hoof speed.”

Rainbow finished the knot. “Can’t we just go all out?”

Swift moaned. “No, Rainbow. We should take it nice and easy for now. Pull on the rope if you need me to slow down. And we are cleared for takeoff!”

The pair trotted down the runway with Rainbow keeping enough distance behind me to allow some slack on the rope. Soon, she held her wings horizontal to allow the air to flow around them. She kept her nose slanted downward, keeping her weight planted on the runway.

Swift craned back his head. “Rainbow! Rotate!”

She stared back with a puzzled stare.

“Push off!”

“Ok!”

Along with a sprightly step, Rainbow flapped her wings and she floated into the Equestrian skies. What a joy it was to fly but she couldn’t even scream it out. Stress leaped out of the darkness and sent tremors all across her body. Ten feet was all she could manage before she began losing attitude control. Although she was too distracted for a rope tug, Swift noticed the problem and decreased speed, only for the strand to reach its limits. Rainbow banked left and skidded hard onto the runway, her flank leaving a swerving skid mark on the false asphalt.

Swift rushed to the downed pegasus.

Rainbow banged on the clouds. “Darnit. I won’t let this” – She stood up – “beat me! No way!”

He smiled at her sheer defiance of the tears streaming down her face. Surely, she could succeed in short order but fifteen tries later, she found a new way to make an ungraceful crash via somersaults and skids. On attempt sixteen, her face smacked the centerline and chose to keep it there. Moments later, she sensed Swift’s presence nearby but continued with her sniveling.

“You’re not quitting on me,” he said, all but challenging his friend. “You’re stronger than that.”

With her hind hoof, she delivered a weak kick to his ribs. “I’m not quitting. It’s just really, really hard.”

“I know but you’re doing good so far.”

Finally, Rainbow mustered the pride to sit on her haunches and rub her veined eyes. “How did you ever get through this?”

He peered through the ceiling and into the hazy starry veil that draped across the Equestrian sky. “I, um, wanted to go back.”

“Back where?”

“Back to the skies. I’ve been flying for the longest time but I didn’t really appreciate it until I was out of commission. What kept me going is being able to fly again. My friend said I was being really stubborn about it too.”

She raised a skeptical eyebrow, “You’re pulling my mane, Swift.”

The stallion hurled but held back any unpleasantness. “No fibbing, Rainbow. You know what I did once I could keep myself in the air? I flew around Saddlecloud until my wings were sore. I’d bet you’d want to do something like that too.”

“Actually—” She craned her head into his sights – “the first thing I wanna do once I’m ready is race you. I haven’t forgotten about that.”

He scrunched his face, “Do we really have to?”

Rainbow raised her muzzle, “You better believe it!” Then, she pawed the floor. “Actually, I’d probably have to wait until I’m completely cured. Now that I think about it, how do I know I’ve beaten this thing?”

His blank expression was that of a stallion asked what Commander Hurricane had for lunch as a filly. “Well, it’s—” He found comfort shaking off some loose blue strands from his hair –“that bad feeling just went away.”

“That’s it?”

He hesitated on his nod. “Doc said everything checked out.”

Her gut feeling was churning just enough to bring discomfort. This should’ve been answering what color was the sky but it didn’t sound like it. “Um, okay?”

“You’ll know when you’re free of this thing better than I will,” he said as he examined the rope’s condition. “Until then, we keep pushing.”

“Full speed?”

Swift pointed down the runway, “Full speed!”

In synchronous motion, the duo trotted with renewed vigor. Swift wouldn’t even perform a head check this time; he trusted that Rainbow could maintain flight. She, in turn, focused on the hanging cloud hoops. That’s where she wanted to go tonight and no condition would tell her otherwise. Even so, her wings struggled to provide lift as she ascended from the runway. Cyan plumage fell off the quivering appendages, and if Rainbow couldn’t maintain her fortitude, she would crash, again.

I’m not going to quit! I want to fly! I want to go home, to the skies! That’s where I belong!

Her internal struggle manifested into the dreary universe where it was Rainbow and the menacing barrier that had taunted her all this time. With a big step forward, the mare’s hooves send a shockwave that struck the wall with enough force to make a small dent. Immediately, the fear receded like the shift from high to low tide. Wing power stabilized as did her breathing intervals, prompting her to pull on the rope.

When Swift glanced to the rear, there was no point asking the reason why she needed his attention; she had graduated from hovering to flying. Their speed was nowhere close to maximum, but that was beside the point. “Wicked!” he proclaimed, raising his hoof.

Nothing in the world could steal Rainbow’s wide grin. “Woooooo yeah! Look at me! I’m making this look so easy! Hey! Can we do the hoops now?”

“Not yet. I’d like to get your speed up some more first. We'll just circle the chamber and work on landings.”

Rainbow’s smile fell off her face. Simple maneuvers sounded like a major bore but Swift got her this far. She wasn’t going to question his methods, yet. “You’re the boss.”

Swift guided her in an elongated circling pattern within the training grounds, keeping the speeds at cruise mode. Once they neared the runway’s glide path, he aligned his body to make a smooth landing. For him, this was a cakewalk; he had no issues with this during his recovery. As for Rainbow, so many days without flight meant her internal gyroscopes fell out of alignment. Every few seconds, she played with wing power and her angle of attack, believing she was swinging off course like a pendulum.

In the end, her hooves touched left of centerline, and then skidded across the surface. Rainbow stumbled to a stop upright, a good reason for a hoof pump. “Finally! Just a few more of those, and I’ll be back to my usual stellar self! C’mon, let’s—”

Swift’s head slumped and his breathing slowed. Rainbow yanked the rope three times. “Hey! What’s wrong with you?”

His mouth stretched to its limits, “N–nothingjustabittired.”

“A bit?”

He waved her off. “No worries. I can” – He yawned a second time “—keep going.”

The stallion wasn’t kidding. Once airborne, he tugged Rainbow around the chamber, onto the runway and back up in the air again without a break. Initially, she had other concerns on her plate; every tug of the rope brought her speed up and right up to another battle with Flying Stress Syndrome. It had no qualms delivering cheap shots but they lacked the devastating power it had from earlier in the evening. When she asked Swift whether her diminishing fear meant progress, he struggled in processing his words.

“Yeah, it’s… you’re—” He slapped his cheek, rebooting his brain “My bad. A good sign but don’t let your guard down.”

After another hour, she did but not because of overconfidence or carelessness. Swift’s speed had remained the same all this time. He said little and only bothered with three additional landing attempts, none within the last twenty minutes. If he had an autopilot switch, it was stuck in the on position. She might’ve loved the skies but even this was testing her patience.

Tugging on the rope, “C’mon, Swift. Let’s head down.”

Her jaw slackened when he didn’t react with some type of convulsion – that would come after a five-second delay.

“Ugggggh,” he moaned, nicking up his goggles. “Way to get my attention!”

Rainbow reeled, not expecting such a terse reply. “Never mind that. It’s time for you to get some shuteye.”

He raised a foreleg.

“Uh, uh, uh,” she said, slapping away his counterargument before he could say it. “You’re gonna lie on the clouds below and sleep. No buts.”

“No.”

She slammed the brakes, the transition from flight mode to hover a little shaky. She pulled him in with the rope, “What do you mean, no?”

His veined eyes twitched, “N—O. No. I already told you I don’t like naps.”

“Too bad!” Rainbow pointed downward. “You, nap, now!”

“Who are you, my mother? Geez!”

Rainbow wanted to bop him in the head. This wasn’t the pony that she befriended at all. It was some grouchy stranger that wasn’t giving her the time of day. For once, she had to calm down somepony else.

“I’m not, but I’m your friend.” She reached out and grabbed his hoof. “Please? I’m just looking out for you.”

The moment her coat brushed against his, Swift’s reasoning kicked back into service. He winced once he realized what he said. “Rainbow, Sorry. I can’t be helping you if—”

“Don’t worry about it,” she spoke, using his hoof to pat his cheek. “Just get some sleep, okay?”

A respite, Swift’s body certainly beckoned for one. Many of his vitals were already shutting down when he landed beside the runway. Rainbow said a few words, but he couldn’t make any sense of it. His eyelids gave him just enough for him to decode the message; she was taking a nap as well.

While she fluffed a piece of cloud to use as a pillow, he required no such comfort. Once his hooves had enough of carrying his weight, he allowed his frame to land sideways on the chamber floor. In less than two minutes, he took a step into unconsciousness, only for the blinds to flap open. Even in his exhausted condition, his ears picked up a pig snoring in the immediate vicinity. Pig couldn’t fly, at least not willingly. The only source could be from the cyan mare slumped a few feet away from him.

Why I am not surprised?

Shutting his eyes to the world, he found serenity in the darkness, where he hoped that the next thing he saw was a relaxing fantasy world or Rainbow Dash aching him to resume training.

Instead, he saw wooden fencing ready to strike him at the speed of light.

“Oh—”

The Saddlecloud tornado pulled him into its jaws and tore him apart like tissue paper. Even then, the slender stallion fought to stay alive despite knowing the outcome. The menacing dark monster spat him out and howled a manic laugh as it watched the pegasus fall from the skies toward the towering trees.

Wake up, Fly! You’re dreaming! This isn’t real. This isn’t real!

Swift continued falling out of the skies, with the fastest of Saddlecloud’s Weather Team racing to be his savior. He called out to them for help but alas, they would not come. His fate sealed, primal fear ripped through his vocal chords and into the grimly lit skies. The branches of doom parted for a swirling mass of nothingness.

Wha–what’s going on?

His wingtips transformed into particles and then dissipated. They were gone, all gone and soon enough, more of his appendages faded into black.

“Please! Not again! No! No! Nooooooooooooo!”

“Wake up!”

In a flash, he had a close-up look of colorful hair strands lightly touching his cheeks. They soon parted, allowing him to discover a pair of trembling magenta staring straight at him. Before they could hypnotize him with a spell, his universe experienced a massive earthquake.

“Wake up!” Rainbow pleaded.

“I’mmm alllready uuuppppp!” he answered.

Rainbow released him but he chose to stay on the floor.

“I’m” — He patted his chest “—I’m good.”

Rainbow did a headshake, “No, you’re not. I heard you screaming and it sca—, I mean, I was… you had a really bad nightmare, didn’t you?”

She figured that much out already, but Swift used the lowest volume to acknowledge it. “You could say that, Rainbow.”

After a pregnant pause, she clutched her mouth. “Saddlecloud,” she whispered. “It was that day, wasn’t it?”

For any other subject, he would’ve congratulated her for her excellent deduction. “I see bits and pieces of it every once in a while. The nightmares don’t usually bother me, but since Saturday, they’ve been way more intense.”

“Saturday? Saturday!” A brain flash sent legitimate fear running down her spine. “But that’s when you started helping me! Darnit! Why didn’t you tell me anything?”

“I didn’t want to worry you.”

“Well, I am,” she huffed, slamming her hoof beside his head. “I mean, what if these nightmares mean something, something really bad?”

Her trembling passed onto him. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let’s not jump to conclusions. Yeah, they flared up after I started helping you but that could just be stress.”

Rainbow thought he had a point. In her weaker moments, whimsical scenarios with a mathematically minute probability felt very much realistic and certain. This was not one of those; every fiber in her body told her there was something wrong with her friend and as the element of loyalty, she wasn’t backing off. “Swift?”

He gagged as though he swallowed rancid fruit.

“I just don’t like this. We should see Nurse Redheart tomorrow. Maybe she’ll know something.”

If the nurse had any knowledge, Swift wasn’t aware of it. Besides, the one time he brought up the bad dreams to his first physician, the doctor shared his indifference. ‘It is nothing’ he had remarked with confidence. He expected a similar line from Redheart, so he had no problems hearing it once more if it appeased Rainbow.

He finally got on his hooves. “Gotcha but no worries. I’m sure she’ll clear me.” Swift then noticed the moon’s position. “So, do you want to keep going? We still have some time left.”

If they had slept for more than ten minutes, she would’ve said yes. Already, her eyelids strained themselves staying open. How Swift could possibly be more alert than she was a mystery she was too tired to solve. “Let’s not. We should wait until we know what’s going on, right?”

“Eh?”

Rainbow playing it safe was Swift’s biggest surprise of the evening. Sure, she was beginning to stretch her mouth for yawns, but he assured himself that his welfare was the motivating factor.

Shoot. I think she’s going bonkers over this. It’s not like—

Instantly, an invisible fist knocked all the air out of his lungs. Vertigo threw off his balance but Rainbow saved him from a fall.

“Hey! What’s going on? Say something!”

Flashes of dark skies appeared in front of him. Ominous clouds drifted toward him, triggering a piercing klaxon that sent his heart rate through the roof. His wings folded open, and then moved as though they had jammed.

What is this? Where am I?

The clouds retreated but not before frightening the stallion with a subtle swirling motion emanating from the bottom. His pupils trembled at a presence he thought had long since gone. Yet it was there tucked in the deepest reaches of his soul, trapped in a cage but clawing at the bars. An eye blink brought him back to a colder harsher reality.

What in Equestria is going on?

10 - Turbulence

Constant rain was great for the land. Ponies susceptible to illness, not so much.

The Ponyville Clinic’s waiting room brimmed with patients, many of them wheezing and coughing up a storm. Others had the typical slip and fall injuries common when ponies test their luck going out in a downpour. Most waiting for service had little to talk about other than how wonderful the sun must be shining elsewhere while they serve this long sentence of dreariness. Even the muzak failed to lift the corners of their mouths. Somepony asked for a different tune to break up the monotony but the receptionist snipped at the request.

Emerging from the corridor, a light brown stallion with a muffin-shaped mane examined his clipboard. Once he found the name of his next patient, he called it out with a rasp eccentric voice.

“Um, Lickety Split.”

In seconds, a young colt with a sundae as his cutie mark approached the doctor. He had an icepack wrapped around his head and winced with every breath.

“Well, what’s your problem, young colt,” the doctor asked.

Lickety touched the cool bag, “I was bouncing this ball and I chased it right into a wall.”

“Oh, you poor widdle colt bump your head in the wall?” The doctor escorted him into the corridor, “You’re such a brave little bitty one for not cywing! Oh yes you are!”

Nearby, Swift peered through the foggy windowpane.

Wow, glad he’s not helping us.

He then saw a nurse stepping into the waiting room to replace some magazines on a table. For a second, she winked his way before disappearing back into corridor. Right after, the nearby clock tower rang its bells twelve times.

That’s our cue!

After surveying his surroundings one last time, Swift flew up to the thick layer of rain clouds and then stuck his head inside for a conversation with the pony hiding within its midst.

“Did you see her,” Rainbow asked.

“Sure did. One sec. I’ll provide the cover.”

From another nearby cloud formation, Swift pulled out a lumpy mass and then nudged it in the clinic’s direction. Once reaching a few hundred feet off the ground, he gave the bubbling cloud a karate chop. Soon after, its hazy contents spewed in every single direction, covering the immediate area with a thickening fog. Rainbow slowly descended to the stallion before visibility neared zero.

“I can’t see,” she complained. “How good is a cover if we don’t know where to go?”

Instinct, Rainbow. Just… oh. That’s right. “Grab my tail. I’ll lead ya.”

She begrudgingly complied. The act was not graceful, nor did it demonstrate confidence in her limited flying skills but she had more worries than crashing into a building. What will transpire within the next few minutes had her tossing and turning on her bed last night. That face he showed her after his tumultuous nap was the same one she saw in the mirror every morning. Only now did she have the gumption to ask questions.

“How did you sleep last night, Swift?”

He shuddered but not because of the cold breeze. “On and off. I got maybe three hours, max.”

“Did you have another nightmare?”

“I didn’t dream at all, so I guess not.” Then, his sensors detected the ground. “All right. Time to land.”

Following his motions, her hooves touched moist terra firma without any drama. A nearby door creaked open and through the sliver, Redheart stuck her head out into the fog.

“The coast is clear,” the nurse whispered.

They followed her inside the building and straight into her office.

Once the door clicked shut, Rainbow’s heart pumped harder. She had been in this place before when she first heard the dreaded term Flying Stress Syndrome and she felt this visit would bring even more bad news. Not even the beanbag’s cushy surface could relax her nerves.

Swift sat next to Rainbow and struggled for a reassuring smile. “No worries, um, right, Nurse Redheart?”

The nurse pulled a few manila folders from a file cabinet and then stacked them on her desk. “Sw–, I mean, Fly? I know we talked a little bit in the morning about what’s been happening between you two.” She took a seat in her chair. “Please, I want to hear from both of you on everything and I do mean everything.”

Both pegasi looked at each other. That amount of information required a lengthy dialogue with their physician, so they agreed to take turns painting a picture that turned out being more about their budding friendship than training sessions. Redheart didn’t mind at all. If anything, she found the session therapeutic as it reduced the tension hovering within the room. She even giggled at certain parts, especially when it came to the stallion’s name.

“I think I’m doing a good job, aren’t I?” Rainbow boasted. “Swift will be cured in no time!”

He rolled backwards into the wall but he pushed himself back to a seated position. “Uggggh. Doubt it.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Redheart chimed. “Rainbow, I’m glad that you’ve found somepony that not only has gone through this before, but a pony that you can connect with. It’s no wonder you’re making good progress.”

Rainbow shrugged, “What can I say? Everything about me’s fast, even recoveries.”

Swift rolled his eyes. Thanks for giving me credit.

“That’s great, Rainbow. I believe I’m ready to ask my question.” She swiveled in Swift’s direction, a shadow casting over her face. “I want you to be completely honest with me. Are you actually cured?”

He avoided the nurse’s stare, “Well, my doc said—”

“That’s not what I asked. Do you believe that you are cured?”

“I just… I can fly. Nothing’s holding me—”

“Yes or no? Is there any doubt that you’re not cured, no matter how insignificantly small that is?

“I–I think I, I mean, I’m not affected by—”

Swift began gasping for air. The entire room turned into a blurry swirl that quickly turned into a dirty black. Imaginary debris pelted his body, the pain within his chest building with every slice. A howling noise pelted his eardrums until he slammed his hooves on the table, ending it all.

“I don’t know!” He paused to slow his breathing. “I want to say yes but I can’t! I just can’t!”

Rainbow froze in place.

“Even after my doc cleared me, I’ve always felt, something. Something that wasn’t right. I can’t see it but it’s there! After last night, I—” He shook his head and sighed.

“Please, Nurse Redheart,” Rainbow pleaded. “You gotta tell us what’s going on.”

She leaned back on her chair while shutting her eyes. “From the last time we met, Rainbow, I’ve received a more information from a few physicians that I know, mostly references books. Those weren’t that useful but I did also receive a few case files. Names redacted, of course. Please understand that I’m still learning about this condition so what I tell you may not be completely accurate.”

Rainbow nodded.

“From what I know now, Flying Stress Syndrome has varying effects on each of its victims. In fact, so varied that just about every case is rather unique. However, there are three constants in every single one. One, initial memory loss of the events leading up to the traumatic episode. Two, compromised flying skills.”

“What’s the third one,” Swift asked.

Redheart paused for a deep breath. “Every time, it was the patient that knew when they overcame FSS, not the physician treating them. How and when differed but in the successful cases, the physician documented that their patient experienced a type of epiphany, a moment when there was no doubt. Do you recall such an experience, Fly?”

After a few breathless seconds, he shook his head. “N–no. Nothing like that.”

“Hold on a sec,” Rainbow flustered. “You mean to say he’s not cured?”

The nurse exhaled slowly. “If he’s not certain, then I’m afraid not.”

Swift held a blank stare. “I’m, not cured?”

“If it was just that, it wouldn’t be such a major concern. However, this last nightmare that Fly mentioned is troubling.”

“Eh?”

Redheart opened one of the folders, “I had found a case that was a relative close match to yours – a serious injury, nightmares, and helping somepony else with the same condition.”

“So what happened?” asked Rainbow.

“According to the file, once the trainer realized that they had not been cured, that pony decided to continue helping the other pony.” Her tone turned even more somber, “However, they experienced two more traumatic nightmares. The second was traumatic enough that the trainer went into full relapse. In other words, the trainer could no longer fly.”

“What?” both pegasi shouted.

“I’m afraid it gets worse. When the other pony realized what had happened, the emotional shock proved too much. They also lost all their flying abilities.”

“W-wwhat?” Rainbow stammered. “You mean, all that work, for nothing?”

“Did they ever recover?” Swift asked in a muted voice.

Redheart flipped through the pages. “The last update here says that after six months, they can hover for a few seconds. Prognosis not favorable.”

Both her patients sat there as though they had just lost a loved one. The nurse had to provide them a prescription of hope or she would lose them.

“Please. Do understand that this is just one case. There’s no guarantee that’s what could happen in your situation. Even if it is a possibility, I know it won’t get that far.” She banged the wooden counter. “Not with you two! You’re stronger than that!”

After a moment, Rainbow and Swift lifted their stares from the floor.

Redheart removed her cap. “Now, the following is purely a feeling that I have, so I say it as a friend and not your nurse. Continue what you’ve been doing because whether you like it or not, you’re now following the same path. If you help each other, then you’ll find the cure, together. I truly believe that.”

Swift discovered that while Redheart’s suggestion was vague, they did provide a sense of direction and inspiration. Every time life pitted the odds against him, he searched for that one solitary bright light that would pull him out of the darkness. In this case, that light was all the different colors of the rainbow, the mare sitting next to him. If she can rid herself of Flying Stress Syndrome, then he could as well. This newfound optimism yanked him above his despair but not much higher. It would have to do for now for he was Rainbow’s trainer. Weakness would sink them both.

I have to hold on. I have… shoot! Good thoughts or—

“I totally screwed everything up, didn’t I?” Rainbow whispered, eyes set on the floor.

“Eh?”

She covered her eyes but water came out of them anyways.

“Rainbow?”

“If I just listened to Fluttershy for once, then I never would’ve crashed, I never would’ve busted my wing, I never would’ve pushed Scootaloo away, and you would’ve had no reason to come here. I’m the one responsible for this. I had to be stupid and look what happened.” She found the courage to face him directly for an apology, tears be damned. “I’m sorry. This is all my fault. I—”

“But I did have a reason,” he interrupted.

“Huh?”

“My mom once told me that meeting somepony is never an accident. Each one will affect your life in some way, sometimes good and sometimes not so good. Either way, they’ll guide you toward your destiny.” Swift then stuck out his tongue. “Then she starts getting into the mushy stuff.”

Redheart smiled.

He inhaled, drawing in all his fears and then releasing them for some momentary peace. “Maybe what you did is what needed to happen, so that I could face this thing, to be a better weather pony or at least meet somepony that will be a great friend of mine. You don’t have to apologize for any of that.”

Rainbow couldn’t understand how he could forgive her for such a large sin. “How can you say that? Is our friendship worth being grounded forever?”

“That’s not happening,” he answered with vigor. “My promise. I have to keep my promise to you.”

“I know that, but still, aren’t you,” Rainbow had to yank the word out of her mouth, “scared if we fail?”

That’s when that possibility delivered a crushing blow to his brave face. Despair’s waves reached out to pull him back inside its suffocating depths, but he kept his balance on the wire, just. “Even if we do” – His blue eyes rose up to meet hers. “—meeting you was worth it.”

At that moment, all her guilt vanished. The owner of those serene blue orbs had just given her the best gift any friend could provide – validation of their friendship. Then again, even in such a serious moment, his statement tickled her funny bone.

Swift slapped his face, withholding his own chuckle. “Shoot. My bad. That sounded really cheesy.”

“Any more cheesy and I could make a quesadilla for lunch.” Rainbow then chortled away at her joke.

“Thanks for making me feel better,” he countered with amusing sarcasm.

“You’re quite welcome.”

As they shared a laugh, Nurse Redheart rose from her chair.

“Well, I’m glad that you’re both in a better mood. There’s no point keeping you here any longer.” The nurse walked around the desk to stand between the two. “Please keep me updated and” – Redheart wrapped her hooves around both pegasi —“Good luck.”

After exchanging goodbyes, Rainbow and Swift left the office, leaving the nurse all by herself. As she sat back in her chair, she had her own demons to confront, the ones that told her she had fallen short in helping her patients. There were medical professionals better versed in Flying Stress Syndrome than she was although none apparently held the miracle cure. As far as she knew, the patients held the key. All the physician can do is diagnose and then point them in the right direction. Using that measure, she reassured herself that her patients had the tools to succeed.

I sure hope they’ll be all right.

Then, the door swung wide open. An earth pony donning a stethoscope waltzed into her office, lips pouted. Redheart wished it were her patients once more. Their problems she could handle with kindness and consideration. This one only tested her patience.

“Oh, hello, doctor,” she said, placing the files back inside the desk drawer. “Is there a problem?”

“I sure do,” the muffin-top physician whined. “I can’t get any of my younger patients to like me. Just now, I had this colt that bumped his head on the wall and I tried to make him feel all nice and comfortable but he only got upset at me.”

Redheart gritted her teeth, “Have you tried not speaking to them like a foal?”

The doctor adjusted his glasses. “Well, I, no.”

If it wasn’t for her Hippocratic oath, she would’ve wrung his neck. “Doctor, I believe we’ve had this conversation before. I think with a little practice, I’m sure you can develop a better doctor-patient relationship. Be polite and professional.”

“If you say so.”

Once the doctor left Redheart’s office, she let her head drop onto the desk. Always with these foaliatricians.

It’s amazing what a grim diagnosis can do to speed up a stallion’s weather job.

The celestial sun had yet to relinquish its domain to the moon, but the chamber already had its usual guests flying in a semi-circular pattern and practicing both landing and takeoff maneuvers. It was a repeat of yesterday night, save for the condition that had duplicated itself. One was feasting on Rainbow’s resolve every time she pushed her limits. The other lay dormant within Swift’s conscience, ready to render him flightless at any time.

As it was, Swift counted his blessings that the condition had yet to compromise his motor functions. However, the fear now simmering within him occupied his head with negative what-ifs’. The glimmer of optimism he showed in Redheart’s office evaporated the moment he flew from the clinic. The smiles he put on to placate Rainbow’s worries about him proved harder to hold.

After another routine landing, Rainbow called him by his real name. He moved as though he’d sneezed.

“Um,” she rubbed her hoof on the runway. “Hey? Do you have any idea why you’re not cured yet? If you do, maybe I can help.”

He blinked a few times to remove the visual bombardment of a black swirling mass. “I—I’m not sure yet but I’ll figure it out.”

Rainbow bit her lip, wanting to press further but he then changed the subject.

“Look at this,” he lamented, tugging on the rope. “It’s already frayed. Shoot. Guess I shouldn’t complain, though. I’m surprised it lasted this long.”

She ran her hooves through the rope. “Hey, where did you get this rope? It feels familiar.”

“Sweet Apple Acres. I told Big Mac I needed it for my job, if you catch my drift. He even gave me some wicked ones.” Swift retrieved one of many long strands spread on top of a nearby cloud and then pulled it. “Extra stretchy. We’re going to need this one next.”

“Why?” Rainbow inquired as she removed the damaged rope.

“Remember that list I asked you to make earlier today?” Once he finished tying the new thread around his body, he retrieved a scroll lying beside the extra rope. “I wasn’t going to incorporate tricks into our training, but since that’s key to your flying regimen, I can’t skip it.”

Rainbow hoof pumped to that. Stunt work always brightened her mood. Maybe it would lift his as well.

With a prod, he unfurled the list. The paper rolled onto the cloud floor. “Rainbow? I told you to keep this short.”

She acknowledged with a grin. “I did. Those are the most important ones.”

Swift tossed away the long sheet. “I’ll pick and choose which stunts we’ll do. But before we can work on stunts” – He then pointed skywards – “we’ll need to work on simple turns through the cloud hoops. Let’s start with, um, pattern Delta Four? Yeah. I think I said that right.”

Sparkles shimmered around Rainbow’s eyes. Delta Four was code unheard since her days at Camp; it indicated to the fliers the path they followed through the obstacle course. She knew each route by heart, of course.

“Tug on the rope if you want me to slow down or need some slack. You ready?”

She wasn’t, not with one final item to mark on the checklist. Already, a pompous jingle played within her head. “Just one thing. We need to do the chant. For luck.”

The medley blared into his ears, prompting him to shed his end of the long strand. “Gotcha! That’s a ten-four!”

The two got into position a few inches part. On Rainbow’s cue, they rose into the skies.

Junior Speedsters are our lives
Sky-bound soars and …

Rainbow added too much spin, sending her into a daze. “Ohhhh-kay. Guess I’mmmmmm not r-ready for thatttt yet.”

Swift re-tied the rope, his ears in the down position. “We’ll try again later, I guess.”

With a small burst, Swift pulled Rainbow towards their destination, the hanging cloud hoops scattered across the chamber. Each one of them spanned a wingspan and a half wide, and to a casual observer, their placement made no sense. For those that had the Junior Speedsters experience, they knew that the camp trainers placed careful thought about the overall layout. Acceleration, pitch, roll, yaw, altitude and attitude control – the course tested each factor much harder than what pegasi learned in ordinary flight school. Delta Four would’ve been advanced material there but introductory for a camp member.

Swift pushed his throttle to around forty percent. “How’s that, Rainbow?”

Her wings jittered like mad but she slapped her efforts on a rope tug. “Yeah, I can… I can take this!”

“Keep your eyes on me, Rainbow! Go where I go!”

The two passed through the first hoop without incident, but the second one came up quick, hovering slight left and far up. Swift increased power while aiming his nose toward the target. Rainbow followed his lead, but with her condition proving a frightful distraction, she climbed too high. Even with a desperate correction, her plentiful tail disintegrated the top half of the hoop. She had an expletive ready, but that’s when the rope had run out of slack.

“Whoaaaa!”

Now her path took her to cloud hoop number three, same altitude but far to the right. Thanks to the strand’s strong pull, she struggled compensating by turning left. She slid straight through but completely sideways.

“Darnit!”

She was off position for the fourth target, located down and left. The rope begged for a surrendering tug but she ignored its siren call.

I can’t quit! I’m not a quitter!

With a loud grunt, her body banked past forty-five degrees. Her wings trembled even more, fear plus the risk of losing aerodynamic lift. She ignored the danger, and at the last second, leveled out.

Yes! Perfect!

Rainbow had no time to celebrate. The next dozen hoops came in rapid succession: up, up, a tight circular path, a steep descent followed by an equally arduous climb. Through the first few rings, she jabbed away at her fear, building her confidence and her speed. The latter then slipped out of her control as she followed Swift downwards. Therefore, she increased drag on her wings to slow down.

Twang! went the rope as the distance between the two ponies reached its design limits. Swift mistook the tightening sensation on his belly as a call for attention.

“You okay?” he bellowed as he performed a shoulder check.

Her terror was trying to pull her appendages into the closed position. “I’m… okay! Keep pushing!”

Soon, Swift reached the lowest hoop in the skies, which meant Delta Four was all but complete. The last five cloud hoops required going straight up, so she released the air brakes to allow more slack on the rope. The syndrome slapped her in the face; not allowed. It tightened its grip on her psyche, making her flight path waver while ebbing away at her momentum. The rope recouped the lost speed but it lost threads in the process.

No! It can’t—

Snap! There went the cord and her wings. She grabbed the air, hoping she could defy the laws of physics but soon enough, Rainbow spiraled out of control. At this altitude, even the cloud floor would bend something the wrong way if she hit it at terminal velocity. She screamed for help and just like that, Swift quickly grabbed her midsection and flapped all he could. She heard his struggles all the way down but he fulfilled his duty safely, if a little jerky with dropping her onto the chamber surface.

“Rainbow! Rainbow! Are you hurt?” Helping her up, “Oh, shoot! I totally shouldn’t have pushed you that hard! I’ll get—”

Rainbow introduced her hoof to his mouth. “Don’t worry so much,” she said, her voice wavering in the zone between annoyance and whimpering. “We can’t play it safe, not if we wanna beat this thing.”

Swift moved his goggles up so he can rub his eyes. “I know that! It’s just that” – He lowered this speech volume – “I’m iffy about pushing you harder than I want to.”

Don’t be such a wimp was Rainbow’s next statement if she hadn’t considered Swift’s physical and emotional condition into consideration. She was guilty of ignoring both with her friends numerous times, and didn’t want to make the same mistake now, not in this situation. “I understand.”

“You do?”

“You’re looking out for mel. Well, at least you’re trying to.”

“Eh?”

“If you had better hoof strength, then you could actually hold me up.”

He rolled his eyes.

“Anyways, isn’t there something else we can do that doesn’t involve dropping me like a sack of potatoes?”

He searched the chamber for another task, finding it near the walls. “Well, I suppose we can work on some dodging.”

Rainbow looked at what he pointed at, an area covered with rumbling thunderclouds. Its pent-up energy released below the dark layer in a blazing white flash, triggering her wings to the raised position. “Ohhhh no! I don’t want to be hit by lightning again!”

Swift nodded, “That’s sorta the whole point of the exercise. Dodging bolts does wonders on reflexes and agility, which can only help your overall recovery. Do it enough times and you may even be better than before your accident.”

His nonchalant statement slanted her eyebrows downwards. “But I don’t wanna be hit by lightning.”

“Cool your jets, now. You’re flying close to the ground, the lightning’s at minimum power and you got me by your side to bail you out if you need the help. Look. Just watch how easy this is.”

After shedding the now-tattered rope, he flew right into the thunder fields without any hesitation. Rainbow crept toward the cloud’s edges, wary of stray bolts wanting to singe her cyan fur. None came in her direction but they darted from the rumbling puffs at speeds she had no chance of matching in her lifetime. Their pattern seemed random, chaotic and uneven, telling her that they are masters of no pony. Even those with lightning as a component of their special talent can attest that they are merely tamers of a tiger that could turn at them any second.

As far as she knew, Swift didn’t have that capability, but what she witnessed was a skill nearly as useful; a knack of avoiding their burning-hot strikes. Somehow, this slender stallion moved under the menacing clouds like it was another ordinary day, meandering in whichever direction while white flashes went off around him. Then, with no provocation, he hit the afterburners for a moment while rolling left. Rainbow had no time to process the reason why. A bolt suddenly fired at his prior location.

Whoa! How did he know it was going to strike there?

He demonstrated his agility a second and third time before making the return trip. One massive ribbon tried stopping him by anticipating his flight path, but he simply hit the brakes and then exited the fields.

Once he reached her, he removed his goggles to shake off some sweat. “You see, Rainbow? If you’re the flier I believe you are, you’ll get the hang of it in no time.”

While she would’ve loved to charge in at full-speed, she had little trust of her current flying skills. “Well, what’s the trick?”

Snapping his headgear back on, “Don’t think about where to go. Just go.”

“Huh?”

“It’s something my parents kept telling me when I was just starting to fly. Every pegasi knows how to fly just like how all ponies know how to breathe. You just gotta let your wings and body feel your surroundings and they’ll be your guide.”

His sage wisdom whisked inside Rainbow’s ear and back out the other end. “Huh?”

He sighed in exasperation. “All right, all right. The heat will rise, your fur will tingle and your heart will go,” he clutched his chest as though he was having cardiac arrest. “You’ll get used to that, believe me.”

Now with the proper instructions, she decided to think of this as a challenge. “All right! Just watch! I’ll dodge those bolts faster and better than you!”

“Yeah, whatever. Now let me snatch some strong rope and then we can get going.”

As he began said task, Rainbow allowed her subconscious to fill in the void.

Look at you. You just keep marching forward even after everything that’s happened.

After he tossed her one end of the strand, she was in no hurry to secure it around her body.

How in Equestria can you do that? Are you really okay or are you hiding something from me?

With a strong tug, Swift had his side secured. “Ready over here.”

It took a moment for Rainbow to get her head out of the clouds. “Huh? Oh, right. Lead the way”

Swift travelled on a straight path toward the thunderclouds, followed closely by Rainbow.

“I’ll try to head in that direction,” Swift said while pointing forward. “There should be enough slack on the rope. If you wanna bail—”

“Pull the rope,” she said in a dismissive tone. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t expect me to, okay? I can handle this.”

Her courage faltered once she reached the field’s threshold. As Swift told her, the thin hairs across her body stood on end as they sensed the temperature shifts, going from arctic cold to a hot simmer. The constant booms shattering her eardrums gave her heart palpitations. She couldn’t trust on her indicators; they’ve gone haywire! Rainbow had to think her way through this or she’ll have gigawatts striking her down with impunity.

Her path began to waver, thanks to her mind handing out course corrections every second. Bolt at four o’clock, another at seven, one at two, then three and six. Every strike, she moved away from the shattering sound, but this was ineffective dodging. All she did was move in reaction rather than in anticipation, a tactic that all but bit her when lightning came perilously close to setting her tail on fire. If she were by herself, she would’ve chickened out a long time ago. She couldn’t here, not when her partner flew about with ease.

Her eyelids drew halfway closed. Just like he said, don’t think where to go. Just go.

Slowly, but surely, the yoke moved on its own. Of course! Lightning had a code, and she had the decoder to solve it. All she needed was her senses to move the multiple rings into position. Eventually, everything clicked together and then, she had internal sonar. It wasted no time pinging.

Rainbow nailed the throttle while banking left. Crack! A bolt zapped down, but failed to hit its target. Again, her new guidance system sounded off, so she hit the brakes. Bang! Another energy ribbon made their futile effort in hitting Rainbow. She sneered, loving that she had made that look so easy. Better yet, Flying Stress Syndrome was nothing more than a mild irritant. She just had to keep her bursts of speeds short.

Ah, yeah! Easy-peasy! I should ask Swift to—

Another ping sounded, except she had no idea where to turn. That’s when lightning bolt number three formed right over her head, ready to knock Rainbow down a peg. In less time than an eye blink, the energy condensed to a single focal point right above her back. Right before the light blinded her, a greyish blur pushed her clear of the thunder fields.

Once her eyes recuperated, she clasped her gaping mouth. It wasn’t the static flowing through Swift’s charred blue forelocks that stunned her but his goggles. They were on the floor, one lens cracked with the other all gone. As he shook off all the static, she bent down to pick up the headwear but when she touched it, the whole accessory came apart in an ashy pile.

Swift finally noticed this fact but all he did was move his hoof across his mane so it would return to its usual disheveled condition. “Bummer,” he said without much emotion. “This really isn’t my day, huh?”

“Um,” she preferred staring at the remnants of his goggles, “Oh. I–I could try to—”

“No worries. Told ya they weren’t my thing.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

He stood at what remained of his birthday present from friends. He reached down to touch it but pulled back and sighed. “We should switch back to the course for a while. We can try the lightning fields later tonight.”

Rainbow approved with a nod, but as she resumed flying through the cloud hoops, the syndrome’s contrived fear become less of a distraction than the subtle transformation occurring to her friend. His naive but charming optimism, that glimmer in his eyes, and his indomitable spirit, each aspect that made Swift Flying a reliable beacon was losing its luster, much like the patch of darkening skies from atop the chamber.

When the moon arrived, the celestial body lacked its usual shimmer while many of the stars hid behind errant clouds. As a result, their home away from home was only half as bright. What had been full-speed ahead progress became an uphill slog. Her wings continued jumping the gun and folding in while in mid-flight. Rope that should’ve been high grade continually frayed after minimal use. While the strands were in sufficient supply for this evening, words between her and Swift were scarce. What he did say was nothing more than simple instructions: go here, go there, Bravo Eight, stop, wait, and so on.

By ten o’clock, the pegasi returned to the thunder fields for a second attempt. It lasted all of fifteen minutes. They had run out of rope and Swift had developed a stench of burnt hair.

“We could try the obstacle course without the rope,” he suggested.

Rainbow slowly shook her head. While her body still had some fuel left, her emotional tank was on fumes. “Let’s just call it a night.”

“You need a cloud?”

I didn’t need one to reach the clinic. “Well—”

Too late. He already had one ready to go. It would’ve been rude if she refused now, so she hopped onto her ride. No doubt, it was up to usual soft and plushy standard although she wasn’t really in the mood to relish it. Other than some initial grunting, Swift made no verbal announcements.

Say something, wontcha?

As they traversed through the chamber walls and into increasing precipitation, she opened her mouth.

“Rainbow?” he said in a hushed voice.

Whatever icebreaker she had slipped from her tongue. “Um, oh, yeah. What’s up?”

After a short pause, “Tomorrow, we can start on some of those stunts. We can also tackle the harder flight routes through the hoops and continue with the lightning training.”

Her ears folded. “I, um, okay. Do you think we’ll find our way out of this tomorrow?”

A longer pause later, “We’ll see.”

Once more, Swift switched to silent mode as he continued pushing the cloud carrying Rainbow through the rain clouds and then below them. The soggy skies had a noticeable chill, made worse by a constant breeze blowing from every direction and the heavy raindrops that sought them out with impunity. From where she lay, Rainbow could practically touch him but he was a specter with no substance or soul. If she had the right words, she would say them to make him whole again, to pull him back into the present. Alas, Rainbow could only watch him for the remainder of the journey until he finally spoke by her door.

“I’ll see if I can wrap up work by lunchtime,” he said, watching Rainbow hop off the cloud. “We’re ahead of schedule now, so I think I can chance it.”

“Ok,” she answered, nudging open the door. “So, you gonna sleep tonight, right?”

He nodded.

“Well,” She gave him an opening he didn’t take. “Have a good night. No nightmares, okay?”

His blood-shot eyes darted away from hers. “I hope so. I’ll see you later, then.”

Rainbow raised a foreleg but he had already taken off into the Equestrian skies. He was heading into the darkness, swallowing him into parts unknown. She had to save him, her instincts screamed. She had to pull him away from the unseen imminent danger or else, Swift Flying as she knew him would never come back.

She slammed shut the door. “Condition or not, I can’t let him get away!”

She ran toward the edge of the hanging clouds, building up the requisite speed for a quick departure. With a giant leap, her wings spread wide, the air working its magic around them. Immediately, she put her hoof down on the accelerator to close the distance between her and the gray dot just within sight. In seconds, fear crept into her nervous system, so she cupped her mouth for an alternative solution.

“Swift!” she hollered into the night skies. “Swift! Stop!”

He juddered to a sudden stop and then waited for her eventual arrival. “Um, is there something wrong, Rainbow?”

Words didn’t come to her; she hadn’t thought this far ahead. “I, um, I wanted to… well, there is something wrong.” She placed hooves on hips. “Yeah. There is something wrong. You.”

“Eh?”

She rubbed her forehead, “Look. I know today’s been tough, especially for you. You’ve been, different, since we saw Redheart. What’s bothering you?”

“N–nothing,” he said with a headshake.

“It can’t be nothing. It has to be something.”

He reiterated his prior response.

“Don’t tell me that. Tell me now what’s up with you.”

“Nothing,” he said tersely.

Her eyes twitched. “Darnit! That’s a lie and you know it!”

“I’m not, lying!”

“Yes, you are! It’s all over your face! Believe me, I know it when I see it because I look just like that every time I try to hide something from my friends! Don’t think you can hide whatever it is you’re hiding because you can’t! Not anymore!” Realizing she was shouting, she lowered the volume a notch. “Please. I want to help you. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing! Zero! Zippo! Stop jumping down my throat,” he snipped, raising booth hooves in the air.

Rainbow prodded his chest, “It’s Saddlecloud, isn’t it? It has to be. Nopony can go through that and not be affected somehow.”

“Knock it off,” he snarled, pushing away her hoof. “I don’t wanna talk about it!”

“You have to!”

“No!”

“Why? Because you’re afraid?”

He had no response other than a trembling through his body.

“Dammit! Don’t do this to yourself and hold it in! Did the tornado shake you up?”

Swift pressed right into her face. “Of course I was but who wouldn’t be? But I got out of it, didn’t I? I lived!” Suddenly, fright seeped into his voice. “All I had to do was fly way, if I could. The weather team could’ve reached me, if they were only fast enough. I could’ve had Princess Celestia swoop in and save me, if she only knew I was in trouble.”

She wanted to intervene; his pain was now visible trickles flowing down his face but the answer was just within reach.

“It wasn’t fair, Rainbow.” At the top of his lungs, “It wasn’t fair!”

Rainbow mouthed his words. “I, I don’t—”

“I did the right thing and what does that get me? My bosses decided that I had to leave the… no. I was fired! What I did saved the town and smashed my wings into pieces and they fired me!”

“W–why would they do that?”

“I broke too many rules. I put the team in danger. I broke the established chain of command. They couldn’t make an exception for me, they said, even if what I did saved lives. They made it so that everypony thought I had quit, that I was a victim. I had to live through that whole experience and they do that to me? They didn’t even acknowledge what I did! As far as the official record goes, the team knew what they were doing all along.”

“You’re angry at what happened to you,” she whispered.

“I was!” His voice developed cracks, “I was. I snapped, Rainbow. I actually wished I hadn’t done anything at all, that there was no point in doing the right thing if life punishes you like that. I turned into the worst thing a pony could be, completely selfish and once I calmed down, I hated myself. I hated myself so much, I wanted to forget everything. That’s when everything started for me.”

Rainbow shook her head. “No, you’re not sel—”

“Ever since then, I’ve chickened out on things I would’ve done before. I’ve let my weather team or my friends charge into danger while I stay behind or play the safest role. When ponies pick on others, I look away. When somepony is tricking others, I don’t speak my mind. Every time I want to do something because it’s right, I get scared. I hesitate.” Tears washed away in the rain. “I don’t want to risk going through something like that again. Even the smallest things I can’t seem to do without thinking about what happened to me. Shoot. I almost didn’t want to you help you.”

Her mouth opened slightly. In front of her was a pony on the verge of total collapse.

He covered his eyes. “I wanted to run away from this. I didn’t want to remember what happened to me. I didn’t want you to know what a worthless coward I am. I’m not strong enough, Rainbow. I’m just not—”

Amid the chilly downpour in the dark, Rainbow reached around his slender frame and pulled him right up to her body. She held onto him and listened in at the chaos coming from within chest, an erratic violent shudder that tore away at his soul. As she allowed her soul to meld with his, his breathing started to relax.

“You’re not a coward,” she whispered. “You're stronger than you think you are.”

His eyes opened wide. Certainly, what he heard was a mistake.

“You may not have the muscles on the outside but this," she touched his chest, "is the toughest part of you. What you’re doing now, for me, that takes a lot of courage. Just like when you earned your cutie mark. Just like when you faced that tornado. You’ve gone through so much and yet you’ve made it this far because you were strong enough. When I asked you to help me, you could’ve run away but you didn’t. Something inside of you made you want to help me. I can’t think of anypony in the world that could live through what you did and have the guts to get this far, even me.”

“What? You?”

She moved her head so she can take a long look into pair of blue orbs. “Yeah, I’ll admit it. Compared to you, I don’t much to complain about. I’m glad you’re here because if I know you were about to tough it out all this time, I can too. I can keep going, all the way to the finish.”

“But I’m not sure if I can.”

“Yes you can and you know why? You’re not fighting this thing on your own. I’m here for you too. If you ever doubt yourself or think you’re not strong enough, then look at me. I believe in you, Swift, and if that doesn’t work, then I’ll knock you silly until you do believe in yourself. No matter what happens, I won’t leave you hanging, okay?”

On her eyes, he saw a reflection of himself, the one she thought he was. It was the stallion he strived to be, the pony with the bravery to continue the march toward danger. “You really are the element of loyalty, aren’t you, Rainbow?”

She didn’t answer with words, just a smile. When Swift saw it, he hugged Rainbow tighter. Then, they stayed as they were, basking in the glow that shielded them from developing ice on their wingtips until their eyes met once more. Peace, they had a moment of serenity where doubt and fear didn’t exist.

“Sorry.” Swift chuckled lightly. “I shouldn’t have acted out like that.”

Rainbow tapped in on the cheek, “No, you were holding onto that way too long. You needed to vent. I’m just happy I could be here for you.”

With the slightest of moves, their muzzles touched. Instantly, their faces caught fire and yet, they were gentle in letting each other go to give each other personal space.

“I’, um, I’ll see you for lunch?” Swift said in a half-asleep voice.

“Lunch,” was all she could say in her lightheaded state.

They went their separate ways. Swift constantly checked back to ensure she had a safe journey home. He smiled every time she looked back his way and even after she had closed the door, he continued smiling.

Then, a scent of something sweet and juicy flowed into his nostrils.

Orange? Why do I—

On his shoulder was the source, a few strands of red and yellow hair. When he took a sniff, it brought him back to the hug. Two minutes, that’s all it took to undo most of the damage done to his confidence. He could face tomorrow again better, stronger and with a desire to see somepony once again. Rainbow Dash, she was more than she thought she was, more than just a brash outspoken mare who liked pushing his buttons. She can be gentler, compassionate and demonstrate genuine concern for his well-being but one fact stood above the rest.

For her hair, she used orange scented shampoo.

And he liked the smell of it.

11 - The Approaching Storm

Thursday, more of the same.

Rain pounded Rainbow’s roof like thousands of miniature hammers. While sitting on the sectional sofa inside her living room, she strummed her sparkling red electric guitar. Granted, she continued struggling creating anything resembling a tune but the exercise kept her mind busy. The clock in her dining room approached noon, which meant Swift would be arriving at her door with outdoors food. At least, that’s what she hoped.

Suddenly, the most wonderful noise in the world came from the door. Tossing her guitar aside, she rushed to open it with the most eager of smiles. However, when she finally saw her trainer, some of that optimism rusted in the open damp air. Bags hung below his half-closed eyes and he yawned, constantly.

“Did you sleep well, Swift,” she inquired.

“No,” he responded with a mild shudder.

Her head slumped.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” He chuckled. “No, no, no, Rainbow. No nightmares, nothing like that.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s just that there was an accident at the Cloud Factory at four in the morning. Somepony went overboard with the chemicals in the mixture drum before they left for the night and the explosion blew a hole in the roof. I had to go over there and help with the cleanup. Of course, all of that meant not a lot of z’s.”

“That’s great!” was her abrupt answer.

One of his eyebrows moved upwards, “Eh?”

“Don’t you see? No really bad nightmare! If you don’t take naps during the day, that means we have at least two more days!”

Swift rubbed his mane, puzzled at how Rainbow was calculating the doomsday clock. Then it came to him. “Rainbow, we can’t start thinking that way. It was just that one case. Our situation could be completely different.”

“I know but it’s hard. I mean, that one you had –how you were tossing and turning and yelling – I can’t see how anypony can go through one more of those, let alone two.”

Swift held a blink for a few seconds. “Gotcha but try to push that out of your head. What we should do is aim for Saturday.”

“Saturday?”

“That’s when your friends come back from Manehattan and I promised you’d be cured by then. If I can do that, it’s like what Nurse Redheart said. We’re following the same path. What cures you may just cure me too. That’s what I choose to believe.”

He was back, the somewhat dorky but steadfast Swift Flying that Rainbow was honored to call a friend. Even so, she couldn’t switch off the clock inside her head, which hands moved in all sorts of directions but inched closer to twelve. “Then I’ll believe that too! So what are we having?”

Swift picked up a box with steam pouring out of the small opening. “No clue. Everypony’s raving about this new place in Cloudsdale but I couldn’t understand most of the menu.” He flipped opened one of the flaps for a whiff and immediately shuddered. “Whoa! That smells wicked spicy!”

“What? Can’t handle the hot stuff?” she teased.

He snorted amusedly. “Whatever. Hot or not, at least it’ll keep me awake.” He walked inside, food in tow. “I went ahead and left Thunderlane in charge so we can start training right after lunch. Good thing there’s so little left to do today, so even he can’t screw—”

Swift stopped in front of the electric guitar.

“Oh, you’ve been practicing? Are you getting better at it now?”

“Well, I sorta, well, no.”

“Lima One!”

Two hours into weaving through the obstacle course, Swift had reached the first high-difficulty route: hard ascent, steep descent, zigzag around cloud columns, and going through tight bending chutes. Rainbow remembered bumping into the round and tall columns during the Best Young Fliers competition, an unpleasant memory she eventually re-lived.

“Yahhhhhhhhhhhh!”

At least this time, she had a friend to stop her from crashing into a nearby wall.

“Not again,” she muttered as she pulled herself off the barrier. “I practice that at least once a week!”

Swift rubbed on his forehead. With half the cloud hoops now arches and body indentations all across the course, it needed a timeout for eventual repair. “We’ll work on it later. Next up” – He grinned –“stunts!”

Rainbow hoof pumped. “Yes! Finally!”

Swift hovered to and fro, “Now, we should be able to blast right through the easy ones and then we can work on the toughies. To make this work with the rope, you’ll have to stay close to me at all times.”

Rainbow saluted him. “You got it! So, you do know what you’re doing, right? I mean, these are stunts, after all.”

His enthusiasm ran dry once he recalled the correct answer. “Actually, the last time I specifically worked with stunts was, um, Junior Speedsters.”

She glared at him like a mother seeing mediocre grades on her colt’s report card.

Laughing his nervousness away, “Ah, c’mon. My special talent should be ideal for stunts. You know, everyone at Speedsters told me I was a phenom that would make the Wonderbolts blush if I joined. Of course, I told them—”

“Wait a minute.” Rainbow mouthed a wow. “Was that a boast I just heard, Swift?”

He rewound the tape and sure enough, he had a hint of swag when he made his statement. “Um, no. No! I was just—”

“Ooooh, and you didn’t even react to your name, Swift.” She put on a cat smile, “My efforts are starting to pay off.”

This time, he did with a wince. “Look! I can explain!”

“Looks like I’m being a good influence on you after all.”

Swift puffed a snort. “Wha—”

“Whatever,” she chortled. “See? I’m totally figuring you out, now.”

At this point, all he could is raising his hooves as a form of surrender. “Well, you’re—” He lowered his hooves, chuckling –“you’re something, all right. You’re a lot to handle but you’re a pretty wicked pony.”

Such a complement should’ve been no surprise but her body temperature rose anyways.

“Anyways, we’ll begin with simple loops, each one tighter than the last and with increasing speed. That should—” He noticed Rainbow’s reserved stare in no particular direction “—Rainbow, are you listening?”

She was, although she took a few seconds to acknowledge with a fervent nod. “Oh, yeah. Sounds good!”

“Then follow my lead.”

In seconds, she was trailing him at close distance with one goal in mind; mimic every motion Swift made. Once they reached the chamber’s middle, he curved his body upwards for the start of a wide and gentle loop. No problem, she thought. This was the most elementary trick in the book and better yet, her velocity was well within her comfort zone. That held true until she hit the loop’s apex when her world was upside down. Her stomach twisted in a tight knot and not because of all the spicy morsels she ate for lunch.

Ugh! I’m gonna hurl!

As she descended, that fear trickled down, literally. With the loop a success, Swift spent scant time in starting the next one with more vigor and increased turn angle. For Rainbow, her belly proved more compliant this time.

There we go! Just need to get used to this again!

Then Swift gunned the throttle for loop number three. With the slack running thin, she tried matching his speed, only for terror’s waves to crash into her body. In defiance, she stood her ground even as the rushing water pushed all it could to make her fall.

You can’t scare me!

The syndrome pulled back into the larger sea, freeing her mind to the task; fly up, hit the apex, and rush downwards to close the loop.

I’m still here!

Her condition believed otherwise, as it sent another wave twice as tall as the last one. She lost her footing but she pedaled all she should to stay above the water line. As she fought against the imaginary force, she climbed five feet over her intended position, narrowing the thread’s slack to zero. With a painful tug, the rope assured she merged back onto Swift’s flight path but not without losing a few loose strands in the process.

I won’t let you beat me! I won’t!

Even with her eyes flooded with liquid, she noticed a gray blob going upwards like a rocket. Her speed increased at a similar rate, making the next incoming rush of water a wall at least five times taller than she was. The wave would surely sweep her away, but with a tug, the coast guard would come to her aid. Yet, she stayed in place gritting her teeth.

C’mon! Hit me with all you—

Suddenly, she was underwater, the pale liquid rushing into her lungs and asphyxiating her with primal fear. Her world spun as though a vortex was pulling her deeper into disaster but something else was tugging her in the other direction. It was that of her fellow pony and his voice shattered the wall separating fiction and reality.

“I can’t hold on, Rainbow!”

Through her tears, she noticed the stallion’s wings at maximum power, not enough to overcome gravity. She turned to key to make her appendages come alive, but all they did was flutter before returning to the down position. Three more tries it took before she was hovering under her own power.

“Shooooot,” he groaned, savoring his now-reddish hooves. “I’m just not built for this.”

She had to let this opportunity to make fun of him slip by; the emotional tsunami had left her willpower in tatters and needed mending. “Give me a sec,” she wheezed.

“Was that too much for you,” Swift asked, still wincing in pain. “I could slow it down next time.”

“No,” she slurred. “We gotta keep pushing.”

Swift’s eyes ran up and down the connecting rope. When he glanced upward, he got a face full of sun. Gonna be a long day.

Soon, the two pegasi performed loop after loop, interrupted only by Rainbow’s wall of terror killing the lights and the constant snapping of intertwined threads. Once Rainbow got into a comfort zone, Swift bumped up the difficulty.

“Do a barrel roll!”

He swooped left and right in a spinning motion, an easy task for the daredevil mare if her instruments would actually provide accurate numbers. Mistakes proved constant, from losing sense of direction to over-rotation leading to an aerodynamic stall. The worst blunder came at her friend’s expense, when she accidentally wrapped the rope around him, cutting off his wing power and turning him into makeshift piñata. Before she could set him all the way down, the rope ripped apart, making his landing a belly flop.

“Sorry!” she said, covering her mouth to withhold her laughter. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

All systems checked normal except his energy levels. What he lost in thirty minutes should’ve lasted hours. “I’m okay,” he answered with a grimace.

That wouldn’t be the last time he would say that on this Thursday afternoon. Swift switched the curriculum to stall turns, a test of climbing power and subsequent recovery of the downward journey. The first part proved easy but the second required aerial mastery. Both pegasi possessed the requisite skills, but one was battling mental exhaustion with the other fending off physical strain. Every time Rainbow fell out the skies, the strand took Swift along for the ride.

“Sorry,” Rainbow huffed and puffed.

Swift rubbed his eyes, “N–no worries. I just, whew.”

Next, they mixed together stunts with the obstacle course: looping and spinning around the rings, flying through the chutes backwards and barrel rolling around the posts. Rainbow inched closer to the wall that obstructed her from freedom and with every attempt, her fear retreated. However, with all the constant collisions into objects, Swift continually hit the pause button so he can reshape the course to something other than a hazy mess. Each time he did, his eyebrows slanted further downwards as did Rainbow’s. They were losing more precious minutes with repair work instead of actual training. Eventually, he called for an all stop.

“Oh, c’mon!” she protested. “I was just getting warmed up!”

Her scratchy voice was nails on a chalkboard. “Can’t you see I can’t keep this up anymore?” Swift grabbed a part of a hoop and squeezed it. “Look how hard this stuff is! This isn’t easy to mold, you know!”

A puff of air escaped her nostrils. “That’s because you don’t work out enough, scrawny!”

“Scrawny?” Other ponies had called him that before, but Rainbow was the first to use it in a fashion that boiled his blood. He yanked his mane, dousing the flames. “All right. Let’s cool our jets now. How about we hit the thunder fields for a while? We need to work on your sluggish reaction time.”

Her teeth gritted. What was that supposed to mean? Did he just call me slow?

Whatever he was or not, the fact was that in the department of lightning dodging, he was the jackrabbit. Swift had done something with those clouds for the notes she jotted in her head yesterday proved less helpful. All her sensory functions provided her continuous false alarms – she didn’t know what to trust anymore. One thing did remain the same, Swift being the caretaker against her mistakes via pushing, tugging with the rope, or taking a direct hit of electricity.

She wished he’d do something else. The bubbling fear within her had cooled to a tepid temperature, comfortable enough to shed the safety net. Unfortunately, fatigue made her forget about tact, what little she usually had anyways.

“You don’t need to babysit me!” she snapped as they were discarding another frayed rope. “I can handle the strikes myself, Swift!”

At this point, the dark circles around his eyes had merged into one. “No you can’t.”

Rainbow marched his way, “What did you say?” she said in a low simmer.

“There’s no point putting you at risk. Besides, I told you a million times already that I have higher resistance than you.”

Poking his body, “You’re full of it! You’re just trying to one-up me!”

“What?” he shrieked, his wings rising to the upright position. “I’m trying to one up you?”

“That’s right. You’ve been doing that ever since we got here!”

Swift rolled his eyes. “No, I’ve been trying to help you. The only reason I’m looking so good is that you’re rusty!”

She got right up to his face. “Are you calling me a klutz?”

His entire body trembled in frustration. “Rainbow, I think you need a nap.”

Rainbow’s wings flared. “Hey! Don’t be telling me what to do!”

“Oh, so now you don’t want to take a nap.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Let’s just say I heard a lot of stories about you sleeping on the job. I might not know everything about being a leader but at least I actually try to do work I’m supposed to be doing.”

Her face caught fire, “Oh, you’re going to get it now!”

“Pffttt. Whatever. Like you could even hit me.”

She swung with her right hoof, but she hit air rather than a pony’s face. All that momentum took her right into the cloud floor with an embarrassing flop. By the time she found her target, he was nearing the chamber walls, his speed implying he was going right through them.

Rainbow shook her hoof in the air, “Where are you going?”

He stopped but refused to face her. “Away from you.”

In an instant, her anger vanished. What just happened, she thought. Sure, anger came easy to her, a little too easy for her taste but she didn’t think it would degrade to attempted assault. What a horrible mistake! “Wait!” she called out him. “Are you coming back?”

“Take a nap,” was all he said before leaving the chamber.

The air turned artic around her. Other than the nearby clouds rumbling its collective energy, she had nothing else for company, not Swift Flying, her friends, her weather team, not one soul. Loneliness had bothered her many times over before, but this was a far worse emotion. Abandoned, he had just abandoned her.

No, I can’t think like that. He just needs some time to cool off, that’s all. Maybe I should take that nap.

She slumped onto the floor, and then closed her eyes to this real nightmare.

When her eyelids opened, she was still amongst the clouds. However, the white walls shielding the chamber from the outside world disintegrated into vapor, allowing the surrounding thunderclouds to overtake the space. In moments, the precipitation pelted her coat but that was of little concern compared to the troubling fact that if a stray pegasus happened to be in the general vicinity, her secret would no longer be one.

Except there were no flying ponies around her. In fact, she couldn’t see anypony in the air or walking on the distant Ponyville streets. Surely, there had to be some sign of activity if she waited for a few minutes.

Nothing. Not even a solitary bird.

Rainbow flew straight into town at her best available speed. She peeked through windows, knocked on doors, and then headed inside to what turned out to be homes full of belongings without a visible owner. Distraught, she rushed to the Ponyville Clinic – no doubt patients would fill every seat! Instead, there were no sick ponies or nursing staff, just the jazzy muzak playing for nopony’s entertainment. She ran right into Nurse Redheart’s room, finding her desk and large chair.

She’s not here. What’s going on here?

She continued searching through random buildings, calling aloud for anypony else to acknowledge her very existence. However, fog had rolled in and consumed everything it touched at an alarming rate. What was a small quaint pony town disappeared all around Rainbow Dash as did the rain and everything else imaginable. Soon, the white shroud was all she could see.

“Hello?”

Her voice echoed off endless walls and then faded away without a response. Rainbow tried flying in a general direction except her wings provided no lift. Therefore, she walked straight-ahead, searching for anything resembling an exit. No matter where she turned, however, she always ended up at the same place, a solitary floating cloud. Eventually, she collapsed onto the only object left in this world, the void within her chest too painful to bear anymore. The moment she clasped the cloud, she immediately recognized it as something more than just a comfortable puff.

This is, this is his cloud!

From within the mist, a grey hoof reached out to her. For a second, her heart jittered, afraid that her one source of hope would disappear if she tried grasping for it. The moment she touched him, she instantly arose where she dozed off within the makeshift training facility. Sitting next to her was the same pony that pulled her out of her dreams, his focus on the floor.

“’Sup, Rainbow,” he said in a somber tone.

A scintillating scent caught her attention – it came from a transparent cup placed in front of her. Brown liquid sloshed inside with whipped cream floating on the surface. He had a similar frosty drink on hoof but he already had drunk a quarter of it. He leaned in for another sip through the straw but he stopped short.

“I didn’t know what you’d like so I ordered the same thing I did. I hope you like it.”

Rainbow chose to take a sample. Sweet and powerful caffeine rushed into her system. “Mmmmm. Thanks.”

He flashed a smile. “No prob.” He pulled out a brown bag from his side, “I also have some doughnut holes if you want.”

“I’ll, um, I’ll eat them later.”

Swift grabbed onto his hair for the obligatory nervous rub, “I know today’s been a little rough, and we’re really pushing and wearing ourselves out but that doesn’t excuse how I acted. I’m not like that at all, Rainbow. If you’re mad at me—”

Rainbow smacked him on the shoulder, restraining much of her strength.

“Ow!”

She chuckled at his low pain tolerance. “Yeah, you were kind of a jerk.” Then, she grabbed his hoof to deliver equal retribution onto her shoulder. “But so was I, so I guess that makes us even, almost.”

“Almost?”

He had no chance; Rainbow had a firm hold on his hoof, preventing any hopes of escape from an energetic rub to his head. Then again, he had no need. Despite the burning sting, it was joyous forgiveness without words.

“Rainbow” – He spat out in between chortles – “you enjoy doing this to me, dontcha?”

After a pat on his head, she let him go. “You keep giving me reasons.”

“Well, you won’t get any more today.” He went for another sip, “Not with this and my nap.”

Rainbow’s pupils shrank. “Wait a minute. A nap?”

Swift wiped off some cream off his lips. “Yeah, you were still asleep when I came back so I caught some Z’s. Still not a fan of nap but my sleep cycle’s all out of whack anyways.”

Her wings spread open. “But the nightmares! What about the nightmares?”

“Don’t think like that.” He exhaled deep. “But if you must know, I don’t remember what I dreamed about. Even if I did, it didn’t change a thing.” He then hovered into the air for a few quick speed bursts. “See?”

She could see that plain as day but that did little to stifle the sound of the ticking doomsday timer. “Well, if you say so. Anyways, are you okay to keep going?”

He finished the last of his chilled beverage with one large gulp. “Ah! That’s a ten-four! I even fixed up the course while you were asleep!”

Rainbow peered through the ceiling. The moon was exchanging places with the sun, which meant her siesta must’ve lasted at least an hour. “Then there’s no time to waste! What are we doing next?”

Swift yanked out a piece of white cloth.

Waving her hooves, “Oh no! I’m not flying blind!”

“Eh?” He rubbed some food particles off his face. “No. We’re jumping right into the harder stunts.”

“Oh shoot!”

Swift accelerated with all his muster, his target the falling Rainbow Dash with her half of the rope dangling in the air. How convenient it would’ve been to grab that if it wouldn’t crush her ribcage in the process. Instead, he followed the same procedures as always, grasp her hoof and pray she could engage her wings in time.

Not this instance. All the perspiration made a connection impossible. Running out of altitude, he clasped her body like a claw and attempted to soften the landing. At their approach angle, however, the impact may crush more than just the agenda for the rest of the night.

“Rainbow! Pull up! Pull up!”

Fear stalled her wings. Get over it, Rainbow! Fly, darnit! Fly!

Her systems came alive, allowing her friend to disembark scant feet from the runway. His hooves touched down fast and hard, creating a massive plume of cloud particles that hid his rough landing. Eventually, he stopped upright but immediately stepped in place.

“Hot, hot, hot!”

“Sorry,” Rainbow responded as she landed next to him.

He pranced for a few more seconds, “No worries. The Pegasus S’s no walk in the park if we can’t go full speed.” Finally, he stopped moving. “Whew! We’ll put that off for now. There is one more stunt I want to try, without the rope.”

The thought of ditching her lifeline made her gulp. “Do we really have to?”

Swift pointed at the shredded remains of tattered strands. “It’s really getting in the way now. Besides, this one I feel you gotta do solo.” After a brief pause, “The Bolt Super Loop n’ Dive.”

Rainbow’s face turned pale. It was thattrick, the very one that started everything, the one that legitimately frightened her senses. “I don’t want to.”

He nodded slowly. “I know you don’t but you can’t run away from it forever. I won’t ask you to fly that close to the ground. It’s just a basic walkthrough with plenty of altitude to spare. I’ll be at the bottom in case something goes wrong.”

“I’m not sure about this.”

“Trust me on this, Rainbow. Think about it. If you can finish what you started, there’s a chance that’s what will cure you. It’s worth trying.”

The problem wasn’t faith in him but the guts to attempt this stunt once more. “I–I, well, I might not… all right. All right. I’ll do it. What do you want me to do, exactly?”

His head tilted upwards, “You see the highest cloud? That’s the launching point.” Swift then traced an imaginary path in the skies, “Like that. You’re better off with a less aggressive angle.” Swift powered up his wings. “I’ll do a test run so you know what it looks like.”

“Swift! Wait!”

His takeoff sputtered to a spot. “Ugh. Yeah?”

“How many times have you’ve done this move?”

“Never,” he replied without missing a beat.

She pictured him falling out of the skies. “Um, you don’t need—?”

Swift held up his hoof, “Rainbow, I got this.”

She stood on the cloud floor, taken aback at his restrained but stout confidence. For his fervent stand that he didn’t want to be a Wonderbolt, he sounded like one just now. He moved like one too, taking a few moments on the cloud top to relax before tipping over the edge with nary a bobble. Never had she seen a pegasus fall with such smoothness and grace. Rainbow wondered whether her friends reacted with the same awe when she had her turn over a week ago.

Look at that!

His wings suddenly sprang open with no feathers lost, and then he started his loop with nothing but silent momentum. There was an eeriness not hearing any wing power and yet so entangling, like an artist making the stroke that makes the picture come alive.

“Wow!”

Swift’s speed climbed in a hurry, all while in a position where she could see his calm and relaxed face. The moment he leveled off upside down, Swift waved at her. Easy, he made it look so easy and if it was anypony else, she would’ve pouted. Instead, she welcomed him back with a steady clap.

“What do you know? You got some moves in you, after all.”

That made him grin.

“Way to show your pegasus pride!”

He opened his mouth to counter, only to shrug. “Your turn.”

Suddenly, that cloud near the ceiling might as well be a distant star. She checked the distance as she flew upwards; he fell around the same length as she did during her failed attempt. The speed she would carry was beyond her current limits, a fact that made her stop.

“Are you sure you can catch me?” she yelled at him as she reached the cloud.

Cupping his mouth, “No worries! I have a plan!” In a flash, he pulled off a chunk of the chamber wall and then massaged himself a few small clouds. “There ya go!”

Her eyes bulged at the small floating objects. There’s no way those can catch me.

Rainbow’s heartbeat echoed within Rainbow' ears. What she saw switched from the real world to a hazy image of Fluttershy and Scootaloo awaiting her in the Ponyville fields. She heard the wind rushing between her eardrums, even though her mane remained tucked by her side. She commanded to take a step forward with her wings closed, but the controls jammed. Whether it was Flying Stress Syndrome or actual fear, she couldn’t distinguish the problem’s source.

“I won’t make it,” she bellowed. “I’ll screw up!”

“No you won’t,” he shouted back. “See yourself pulling it off!”

She knew that already, but saying and doing were two different things. Every time she pictured her run, it ended up with her flailing her hooves toward the cloud floor.

Bad thoughts! Let’s see good!

With an eraser, she wiped out the fail scenario and then worked on a more successful attempt.

Yeah. That’s it. I’ll make you proud, Swift. Watch me.

With her appendages closed, Rainbow fell from the cloud but she did so with a small hop. Mistake number one; she was dropping at an angle rather than perpendicular to the ground. As Rainbow twisted her body for a course correction, her velocity exceeded her compromised speed limit, triggering the terrifying shakes. She hadn’t reached the designated altitude but Rainbow had to extend her wings now or they never would.

Now! Have to do it now!

She pulled the release lever a second too late. Her wings refused to flap.

“Yaaaaaahhhhh,” she shrieked as she fell from the skies.

With haste, Swift maneuvered the clouds into position and then spun around them at a high rate of speed. What was a cluster became one condensed puff that caught her and gave way to her weight.

“Your wings! Flap your wings!” Swift commanded.

She didn’t understand his urgency, but she complied just as the cloud she sat on suddenly sprang up. Now she was out of control going the other direction, but before she knew it, Swift grasped both forelegs and tapped the brakes. Soon enough, her ride came to a calm end.

“I guess I wasn’t ready,” said Rainbow, frowning.

He released one hoof but gently held the other, “You will be. Just need some practice.”

“Yeah, I suppose.” Her eyes darted to the dissipating clouds that broke her fall. “By the way, that was pretty clever. I thought I was the only one that knew about that little trick.”

“It’s something my dad taught me. No big deal.”

She brought up a content smile, “Bet he’d be proud of you right now, Swift.”

He chuckled, “Yeah, probably.”

Rainbow had nothing more to say other than the fact that he, once more, had no reaction to his name. She neglected pointing this out for she was too busy enjoying the moment until realizing the reason why. She had held onto his foreleg for at least half a minute.

They split apart and coughed to disguise their mutual embarrassment.

“Sooooo—” Swift glanced at the small ceiling window “—do you have enough juice for one last thing?”

“It’s not even midnight yet. You bet!”

Swift landed by the cloud holding the precious rope. There was about five left, but his interest was within the cloud itself. He grabbed something and then returned, hiding his newly acquired item of interest.

“I have an idea on something we can do without rope and I won’t even need to motivate you through it. Unfortunately, it’s an idea I don’t care for.”

“Why?”

Rainbow saw him pull out another Junior Speedsters memento, a set of belts with colored flags attached to the string.

“Catch the Flag,” she yelped, sparkles all over her face. “I love Catch the Flag!”

“I can’t stand Catch the Flag,” he whimpered, a cloud of dread hanging over his head. “I really don’t.”

“Free for all?” she blurted.

His eyebrows drooped, “No. We’re using the obstacle course.”

“Awwwww. Ok. I’ll play by your rules, I guess.” She caught a belt with two attached red flags and clipped it around her body. “So when do we start,”

Swift fastened his blue flag belt. “Now.”

Rainbow smirked at his friend fleeing at a high rate of speed. She tasted his urgency to get away and it was so addicting! She went right after him, going through a few easy cloud hoops. That dangling blue flag would be hers in moments. She was sure of it!

She turned on the afterburners but in came the paralyzing fright. A lunge would be impossible, so she settled staying just below her tolerance limit. The gap went from feet to inches.

I got you now!

Swift turned straight up, her hooves grabbing thin air.

One course correction later, she was back on his trail except it was no longer a linear one. At every obstacle, he turned the wheel and switched to an obtuse direction: hard left, hard right, down, up and sideways. Trying to keep pace was hard enough. Doing all these twist and turns at the same time tested her agility and reaction time. In the span of ten minutes, five cloud hoops turned into mangle messes while the air chutes had more exits than originally designed. Eventually, she used one of those to leave the enclosed tunnel and then sneak in another hole.

You’re mine!

There was nopony within the space. Swift revealed his head through the next open hole.

“’Sup!” he said, waving.

She snorted, taking the friendly greeting as an insult. No more games, she thought. Ignoring good sense, she went full power his way.

Swift headed toward the lined-up cloud posts and did a shoulder check. That pony was closing on him in a hurry; his decision for a lazy take-off was a big mistake. Her cyan hoof was two seconds away from swiping his blue flag, and then to his shock, she suddenly lost all her steam. Flying Stress Syndrome was throwing her off-course and producing blinding tears. He readied for a possible save.

“That flag is mine!” she yelled.

Her tears melted away in the competitive fire that surrounded her being. In her imaginary realm, she no longer trudged toward the wall blocking her way to freedom. She charged right at it like a bull blowing smoke from its nostrils.

Swift pushed the engines to maximum, just as Rainbow went for the grab. Nothing once again. Reaching the first pillar, he went around it.

“I’m going to catch you, Swift!”

Bad timing on the name. He wobbled and had to reduce speed so he could avoid hitting the second obstacle. Rainbow decided to go over the pillar and straight down. Forelegs out, she locked on her target but suddenly, Swift spun like a top and out of her reach. Before she could exclaim surprise, he swiped the whole belt clean off her flank and stopped in mid-air.

Swift one, Rainbow zero.

“Rainbow,” he moaned. “What did I tell you? No tackling! Shoot! Are you trying to get yourself hurt again?”

“H–how did you, how did you do that,” she asked, pointing at her lost flags.

“I just—” He mimicked a grabbing motion. “You know how big a target was on my back every time we played this at Camp? It wasn’t wicked having everyone trying to squish you like a bug.”

“But no one tackled you, right?”

“Nope.”

She rubbed his hair. “Then you got nothing to worry about. I bet I could try all night and I wouldn’t score a hit.”

He frowned sideways. “Rainbow, no tackling.”

Rainbow grabbed back her belt, “Fine, but you better keep this challenging.”

For the next hour, he did but not in the expected manner. Pegasi had their limits in total flying hours per day before they lost performance. With about eleven hours’ worth of mileage on their wings, their respective capabilities nosedived by the minute. What should’ve been two young ponies playing a fiercely competitive sport was more like two elders struggling to take a Sunday flight. By the time the moon reached its apex, Swift collapsed on top of a hoop and then waved his belt around in surrender.

“I’m done,” he wheezed. “No more.”

For a second, she contemplated taking his flags but instead, she took off her belt. She didn’t want wins handed over so easily. “Guess tonight wasn’t my night,” she remarked as she hovered above him.

“Eh?” he muttered, too tired to raise his head. “But your flying’s a lot better today.”

“I know but we’re not done yet, are we? I mean, what else is out there?”

Swift held back a yawn, “We still have that stunt to do. If that doesn’t work, um—” The gears in his head jammed – “well, I’m not sure.”

The answer made her then-calm heart slam into her chest. “What do you mean by that?”

Finally, his wings moved him back into the air, albeit with a jitter. “If the Bolt n’ Dive isn’t it, then… speed. We need to work on your speed. That’s the only thing left.” Once he mulled over his statement, he covered his face. “Shoot.”

She scratched her head, “What’s wrong? That doesn’t sound too hard.”

I don’t think you understand, Rainbow. He brushed his worry into a corner. “C’mon. Let’s get out of here. You need a ride?”

Based on the varicose veins spreading around his eyes, just being airbone was a miracle. “You know, I’m pretty sure I don’t need rides anymore. But seriously, you can just go straight on to Cloudsdale. I can head home by myself.”

“I’m not chancing it,” he spoke throw a yawn.

She took that more as a lack of confidence of her skills than an act of chivalry. If she wanted to, she could’ve made that point clear except the last thing she needed tonight was another fatigue-induced flare-up. “If you say but you better keep up with me.”

However, her hopes of an impromptu race to her castle home fell apart when she noticed Swift puttering behind her at Fluttershy speed. Worse, he struggled staying true to his path, drifting every time his body tried shutting down for the night. Therefore, she maintained a leisurely pace so he could fly beside her. Rainbow wanted to talk to him as a method to keep him awake except the only topics in mind were anything but upbeat.

Once they emerged from the clouds, she went ahead anyways. “Hey. If I need to work on my speed, is it possible that I might have to do Sonic Rainboom?”

The question startled him more than the cold rain splashing onto his coat. A Sonic Rainboom? I… how can I even get close to that speed?

“Well?” Rainbow said with hesitation.

Swift rubbed his eyes, “Um, let’s not worry about that right now.”

Rainbow sensed it, that instinct that Swift was somehow slipping away from her like the prior night. She slapped herself for such a stupid question that only made things worse. Once she saw her home emerge from the darkness, she made a decision that could fix it.

“Hey Swift?”

After a long yawn, “Yeah, Rainbow?”

“You can crash on my couch tonight.”

Swift registered that as an open invitation rather than an order. Either way, Cloudsdale was halfway around the world in his state. “Are you sure?”

She softened her voice, “Don’t be shy about it. Just say yes.”

“Gotcha,” he mumbled.

They landed on the front step where they performed the obligatory shakes to remove all the rainwater they could. Then, Rainbow pushed open the door and held it there. Swift stumbled his way toward the space within the sectional couch that had abundant pillows. Once he was close enough, he allowed gravity to send him falling onto the white cushions with a small bounce at the end.

“Night, Rainbow” he whispered as he adjusted his hooves into a sleeping position.

Before she could answer back, Rainbow heard Swift gently snore. A faint wind blew through her always-open windows and onto his damp coat. While his breaths slowed in rhythm, he trembled at the sudden drop in temperature.

“I’ll be right back,” she said in a hushed tone.

She disappeared up the spiral staircase for a few seconds before returning with a blue throw filled with Wonderbolts logos on her hooves. Once she was in position, Rainbow carefully draped the sheet across his body.

Darn. Not quite.

Rainbow landed right in front of him and pulled the spread up to his neck. She had no more reason to stay but concern made her sit in place. Any moment now, he’ll enter a dream and she wished to be part of that. Maybe she would be if she turned in for the night or she’d have better luck being here, watching over him. She didn’t mind staying here for his mere presence brought forth a soothing calm.

You know, you’re not so bad. Actually, I don’t think you know how awesome you can be sometimes. She stroked her forehoof, Um, yeah. So, you have a good night, okay?

That was her cue to move away but she didn’t. In fact, the impulse that kept her here gave a new command. Without even a second though, she leaned toward his cheek.

Swift then shifted ever so slightly. Rainbow took a step back and almost fell on her back.

Whoa! Whew. Darnit. Feel a little lightheaded all of a sudden. Suddenly, she had an urge to yawn. All right. I really should be hitting the hay.

She headed up the staircase to the second floor and into her dark bedroom. Once she lied in bed, she pulled the bed sheets above her and closed her eyelids. Then, a thought had her reaching to buttons on the alarm clock on the nearby nightstand.

There we go. Five in the morning, just in case I have to wake you. You owe me one, Swift.

Finally, she closed her eyes for good as the hands on the tiny device read fifteen to one.

When they opened again, it was not the alarm clock but a scream that jolted her to three thirty in the morning. In her rush, she tripped over hidden objects on the dark floor.

Wings! I got wings!

She used them to dash out of the bedroom, down the spiral staircase and to the living room. In front of her, Swift sweated profusely on the couch, clutching tight the Wonderbolts blanket. One look into his eyes and an uppercut of fear knocked out down to the floor and attacked her. She wanted to scream but she couldn’t breathe, much like the stallion that watched her in sheer horror.

Moments later, the feeling vanished but the damage had been done. Rainbow deployed her wings and they worked just as before.

“Rainbow?” Swift spoke with a distinct tremble. “I—”

She silenced him with a nervous nod. Between them, the sudden chill in the room told them everything they needed to know.

Strike two.

12 - The Cloudy Solution

The aroma of delicious bread, open juice bottles and food inside a red cardboard box hovered over Rainbow’s dining room table.

Neither ponies sitting across from each other touched their meal.

Rainbow sat intently as Swift recanted the experience that led to a rude awakening.

“I was falling into this black hole,” said a somber Swift, breaking the stalemate and grabbing a biscuit. He took a nibble before laying it down on the plate. “My wings, they were, disappearing.”

“Disappearing?” Rainbow parroted.

“Into thin air. They were all but gone but then, well—”

She reached for a juice bottle, “What was it?”

Swift tousled his hair, “I think I heard you telling me to wake up.”

Sweet liquid spilled all over the floor. “Really? I called out for you?”

“You did,” he answered with a nod. “It felt like you were watching over me. I know, I know. Sounds bonkers but even if it was just my imagination, thanks, Rainbow.”

What a dorky smile he flashed, she thought, but her cheeks approved with a warm glow.

“Anyways, I stopped to see Redheart before I came here and asked her if that meant anything. She said it is possible stuff like that could happen if you spend enough time with just one pony. Then again, she also said she wasn’t a psychologist.”

Rainbow took one gulp of juice. “So, um, did she say anything about you having another nightmare?”

“Pretty much what I told you. It was just that one case, Rainbow.” Swift readied to bite on his bread but put it back.” She did warn us that we should sleep on the ground from now on, just in case we’re wrong.”

“I, see.”

The doomsday clock reached eleven o’clock; her fragile optimism escaped with every exhale. When she saw his friend’s face, however, she immediately sealed the leak. He had opened the red container and stared at his wrapped food, apparently lost in his own thoughts. Rainbow was fighting for him as much as she fought for herself, so she had to keep that fighting spirit alive.

“All right, then,” she shouted, standing up and banging the table. “No time to mope around, Swift! We eat and then we train!”

Swift’s wings spread wide. “Oh, I’m, um, I wasn’t moping.” He took out a sandwich wrap. “I just noticed this isn’t quite what I ordered. I wanted extra lettuce.”

“Oh,” she mumbled, taking a seat once more.

The stallion began munching on his main course, “But you’re right. We can’t lose any time.” He took a big gulp of juice directly from the bottle. “Ah! I should hurry and check on my special project at the Cloud Factory.”

“The what, now?” she spoke through three biscuits wedged in her mouth.

He wiped the crumbs off his mouth. “Remember when you asked me about the Sonic Rainbow?”

“Yeah?”

Swift paused a few seconds, clasping both forelegs on the table. “If the Sonic Rainboom is what we need to do, that probably means that I have to help you get close to that speed. Think about it for a sec. You realize what you’re asking of me?”

At that moment, her face faded in color. “A Sonic Rainboom? It’s hard enough for me to do it, even at my peak. How in Equestria could I do it now? I don’t have the speed but… uh oh. You can’t go that fast either, can you?”

“Not even close. I might be agile but raw speed, that’s your area.” From a saddlebag on the floor, he pulled out a few books. “That’s why I snuck into the Library this morning and borrowed these.”

“What are those?”

“Books on pegasi history. My mom always told me the answers to tomorrow are in yesterday, or some cheesy thing like that. It’s a stretch but I’ll take just about anything right now.”

“Did you actually find anything useful?”

His ears flopped, “Nothing yet. No worries because whatever I do find will be my – hopefully – backup plan. I’d tell you about my first idea but it’s better if I don’t.”

Raising an eyebrow, “Oh, trying to keep me in suspense?”

“Just trying not to raise your hopes too much. Besides, we might not need what I have at the Factory after all if you pull off the ‘you know what’ today.”

“You mean the Super Loop n’ Dive.”

“You’re up for it,” he asked before sipping some juice.

Rainbow delivered a confident smile. “Ready when you are, Swift!”

His juice flowed straight into his lungs. After much wheezing and coughing, he glared at the giggling mare. “Should’ve expected that from you.”

Boing!

For the twentieth time within the training chamber, Rainbow bounced off a cloud. Twenty consecutive failures of practicing for a stunt should’ve had Swift worried but her sniggering during her last few attempts told him otherwise. That and he didn’t need to hold her up anymore after try number ten.

“Having fun, Rainbow?” the hovering stallion spoke, crossing his hooves as she descended to his eye level.

“What? I’m just trying to loosen up before I do this for real.”

“Thought so. Are you ready to do this for real, then?”

“Am I?” she boasted. Then she rubbed her forearm, “Well, kinda. You see, for the real run, I kinda wanna fly close to the ground.”

“You what?” he screeched. “No way, Rainbow. I can’t—”

“Please?”

He raised an objecting hoof.

“I have to be sure about this. I know it’s risky but that’s the whole point of the trick and that’s how I did it the first time. When I pull it off, then we’ll know for sure if that’s the ticket. Let me do it. I know I can.”

One look at her steely eyes broke down his resistance that impatience was getting to her. This was a bull charging straight at him and he was wise enough to get out of its way.

Swift nudged his head toward the high cloud inside the chamber. “Good luck.”

“I don’t need luck,” she said, giving him a wink. “But thanks anyways. Cya on the other side!”

Moments later, Rainbow rose higher into her air, the destination being the small cloud that served as the starting point. Déjà vu soon trickled into her consciousness, which morphed all her surroundings into that one open field outside of Ponyville. There it was again, that spring scent of fresh-sprung daisies and young saplings, the turbulent wind trying to yank some hairs off her coat and two ponies watching from below her hooves. Then another sound made its presence known, faint but increasing in volume by the second.

Thump, thump! Thump, thump! Thump, thump!

Rainbow clutched her chest for she knew the next sequence of events – the dive, the loop, a gust of wind, and that crushing splat for the painful finish. She even remembered the Wonderbolt daydream that became a mere footnote on that fateful Monday afternoon.

“What’s wrong, Rainbow?”

Swift’s yell melted away her fantasy. She was back inside the chamber, stopped three quarters of the way to the ceiling.

“Do you need something?”

A button that would erase her past failure from memory would’ve been nice. That wasn’t an option. She focused on what rode on this stunt, not just her potential recovery but his as well.

“I’m okay,” she answered, waving at Swift. “Enjoy the show!”

Finally, she reached the puffy cloud that would be her jump-off point. Once her hooves touched down on the cottony surface, her heart resumed its fervent trembling. Deep inhale, then exhale, rinse and repeat. Soon, her heart settled into a slower rhythm, enough to look downwards.

Vertigo. She should’ve seen that coming.

I don’t have time for this! C’mon! Wings in tight. Eyes shut. No pressure. Just do it, Rainbow. Just do it.

Rainbow tipped over the cloud’s edge and gravity immediately took over her body. Even with sight blocked out, the smoothness of the air rushing around her was a good sign. She was traveling straight down – no need for minor adjustments – so she added a slow, constant twirl. Five seconds into the free-fall, she opened her eyes so she could spot a faraway line carved on the chamber wall. There went the first one, marking the halfway point of her dive. The next line marked when her wings would extend and switch to glide mode. Based on prior testing, it should’ve crossed her line of sight in roughly eight seconds.

And…. where is it? I don’t see it!

Rainbow moved her head to find a different reference point. All she found was spinning white ground with no Swift in sight. When she checked the wall again, there went the second line swooping out of view.

Pull up!

Her feathered appendages swung open, proving lift powerful enough that the G-forces twisted her stomach. She hissed in pain but otherwise, Rainbow refused to let that affect her. She couldn’t do the same with her lightheadedness turning her vision into a messy white and gray cocktail as she started the looping spin. With some fine body calibrations, she regained a clear picture just as she reached the loop’s apex. Déjà vu again –time stopped so she can catch a glimpse of her observer. There was only one, but that’s all she needed for that extra motivational boost.

With time resuming to normal, Rainbow started closing the loop with all controls stable. No sudden gust would thwart her today but maybe that rapidly approaching cloud floor would. Everything she knew about this stunt told her this was okay. She would level off with a few feet to spare by stopping her spin at the right moment.

About fifty feet off the cloud floor, Rainbow applied hard right rotation. Too much spin according to the blaring warnings in her head; her wing was going to clip the ground at this rate! She tried correcting the other direction but she only had ten feet to spare. For a moment, she was in perfect alignment with the floor — inverted too — but then Rainbow bobbled. Her mane skipped across the cloud surface twice before stabilizing her path.

Big finish!

Rainbow flipped upright, scrubbing off altitude and velocity in the process. No choice now, she had to land immediately. When she flared for the anticipatory touchdown, another bobble threatened to end the run in tears.

Hold it! Hold it!

Her hooves skipped across the cloudy surface, struggling for traction. Once they dug into the white cotton, Rainbow spread her wings wide and let aerodynamic drag do the rest.

Ten days after her accident, she completed the Bolt Super Loop n’ Dive.

“I did it,” she whispered. Then, she fell backwards onto the floor and raised her forelegs in the air. “I did it! I did it! I really did it! I—”

That’s when it struck her. Clearly, this was a personal victory but whether the war was truly over was another question. Her opponent, that dreaded Flying Stress Syndrome, didn’t show its face once during the stunt and yet, her joy withered under the afternoon sun peeking through the makeshift window. When Swift’s face entered her sights, she had no more excitement to show him.

Swift took a seat, crestfallen. “It’s just like with me.”

“This wasn’t it, was it?”

Seconds later, he cleared his throat. “Rainbow”—

“Minor setback, that’s all.”

“Rainbow—

“It’s alright. I won’t lose hope.” With a huff, she sprung onto all fours. “If I can do the Super Bolt n’ Dive, I can do anything, even the Sonic Rainboom. Yeah, that’s our way out of this jam. Swift? You said you had something at the Factory that could help us?”

That resilience, he couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Gotcha. I’ll fetch my little project from the Factory. Sit tight!”

Rainbow waved goodbye at her friend, who quickly pierced through the chamber wall and disappeared. Alone again but this time, she knew he’d be back. She had many concerns but loneliness was far down the list.

Okay. I should squeeze in a nap.

Once she had made a makeshift bed, Rainbow told her mind to shut down except its machinations continued moving, pumping out reminders about the stunt she just performed.

I wish you could’ve seen me do it, Fluttershy, Scoots. Ughhhh! That’s right. I can’t really tell you about it without spilling everything. Guess I’ll just have to— Rainbow yawned while closing her eyelids for good – show you later.

“There won’t be a later,” said a foreign voice.

Here she was again, standing on water in the dark. The faintest of light shone down on the cracked wall that had stood from the moment she first spotted it. It was here, cementing the tragic truth that the fight was far from over. Sure, its face had craters as though a wrecking ball repeatedly smashed into it and she was a few feet away from reaching the base but it was in one piece.

“Why are you still here?” Rainbow stomped the murky floor. “I did the stunt! That should’ve been enough!”

“But that would’ve be too easy for you,” a familiar voice answered. “I’m not finished with you yet.”

She gasped. The other presence was sitting on the top of the wall, hidden by the shadows. By the silhouette, this was certainly a pony. “Who are you? Show yourself!”

“Pffft! No way! You’ll have to come a little bit closer but I’ll tell you what. Just for making it this far, I’ll let you in a little secret.”

“We’ll see about that!” Rainbow tried taking a step forward but the air suddenly had the resistance of bedrock. “Fine! What is it?”

“One Sonic Rainboom. That’s all it will take for this to be over for you. If you’re lucky, maybe even for your friend.”

Rainbow’s jaw became unhinged. Despite not knowing the figure’s identity, her instincts said this was true as the sky was blue. There was an ending to this nightmare after all. She pinched her body in vain to wake up.

“Of course, I’m telling you because you’ll never be able to do it,” the unseen stranger added. “At least, not before your Ponyville friends come back and figure out what’s happened. Heh. I can’t wait for that moment so I can swipe these wings from ya. You don’t deserve them anyways, Rainbow Crash.”

“Hey!” Rainbow shook a foreleg, “Come out here and say that!”

“Say what?” a third voice responded.

Suddenly, light, too much for her eyes to bear. After a few eye blinks, Rainbow saw all of it; the diminishing sunglow, the floating obstacle courses, thunderclouds parked on one end of the enclosure and a familiar stallion watching over her.

“How long was I out, Swift,” she asked, rubbing off eye crust.

He flinched before helping her up to her haunches. “Um, couldn’t been more than two hours.”

“Two hours?”

“While you were out, I stopped by Fluttershy’s to see if I could get back inside. That little rabbit shut the door on me, so I snuck in through an open window. He wasn’t too happy but after I told him what was going on, he was cool with it.” He scratched his head, “I think. He did stop throwing stuff at me. Guess that’s progress.”

“Don’t worry about it. That’s Angel for you.” Then, Rainbow noticed all the scribbles on the permeable surface.

“Oh, that.” Swift gestured across his hoof work, “I was working on the details for my plan. I, um, kept screwing up my math.”

A light bulb shone above Rainbow’s head.

“Shoot. My parents were right. I should’ve paid more attention to—”

“It is going to work!”

“Eh?”

Rainbow grabbed onto him with eager eyes and matching speech cadence, “You see, I keep going into this world where it’s all dark and there’s this wall that I have to bust through and I keep trying to walk towards it but something holds me back but just now, some pony in there told me that all I gotta do is do the Sonic Rainboom and then I’ll be cured and maybe you too!”

Swift’s pupils narrowed. “Eh? The you in the what, now?”

Just as quickly as it arrived, her memories turned into a haze. She sounded like a loon just now – or Pinkie Pie – but she still recalled the big takeaway. “Um, okay. All you gotta know is that the Sonic Rainboom is the cure to this thing. I know it. I feel it. Do you get it?”

“Do I get it,” he said slowly. “I’m not sure if—” He caught a sparkle emanating from her pupils. “I got it! Rainbow, I do! When I look at you, I see, um—”

“See what?”

Swift held a blink for a few seconds. “I’m sure of it now. My promise to you, Rainbow, it’s what I needed all this time. My biggest challenge since that tornado.” He glanced at that reverse bolt and cloud forever sketched on his hindquarters. “I’m seeing this thing through to the end, no matter what happens because it’s the right thing to do, Rainbow. It’s the thing I will do because that’s who I am! It’s who I want to be!”

She released him, “That’s right!”

He smiled wide.

With a hoof pump, “You’re the one and only Swift Flying!”

He hung his head low. “Wh… I’m letting that one slide.”

“That’s the spirit!” She then went over the writings on the floor, rubbing her chin. “Now, what’s this plan of yours that’s gonna pull us out of this jam? I actually understand what you put here except—” She pointed at what appeared as a hastily drawn cloud – “this part.”

Swift engaged his wings, “Then come outside and take a look.”

Rainbow followed him in his ascent through the cloud chamber, aiming for the thin part of the ceiling and then cutting right through it. On the other side, she expected clear blue skies across the horizon but instead, the only visible geographical feature was towering mountains to the east. Ponyville remained beyond the many scattered and hazy cotton balls floating around the skies. Unless somepony came within half a mile of here, nopony would even know they were here.

Secrecy wasn’t at Rainbow’s mind, though. According to Swift’s crude schematic, the starting point for a flying run was way above her head. That part of the plan made sense. Two ponies flying almost vertical plus gravity equated to extra speed. What puzzled her was the object on the projected path, a cloud that looked just like every other one in existence except for the neat massive hole right through the middle of it.

Rainbow hovered right up to the white lump for a poke. The entire cloud rumbled slightly and she flinched backwards.

Swift stifled a laugh. “No worries, Rainbow. It won’t bite. My pop designed this experimental cloud. He wanted to find a way to reliably control wind so it’s not so, gusty.”

Yeah, I kinda know how that is.

“All you gotta do is fly straight through the hole. When it does, it pushes you out the other end with a big gust of wind. If everything goes right, it’ll push us right into a Sonic Rainboom, just like that.”

“Hold on, hold on. You say this was an experiment, right?”

His ears flopped, “Oh, yeah. That. There’s some, um, issues. My pop couldn’t figure them out so he gave up on it.”

“I–issues?”

“One, the materials needed to make something like this is pretty rare. I had trouble finding the right stuff at the Factory, and I really had to stretch the mix just to make two. This is the good one. The other one won’t be ready today, that much I can tell you.” His head slumped. “The bigger problem is that the cloud itself is quite unstable. Once she’s running, it won’t last long.”

The follow up question was obvious, yet a struggle to say. “How long, exactly?”

Swift checked the sun’s position; three quarters down. “If we’re lucky, no longer than sunset.”

Sunset?

It was the same old record, hope tempered by despair, doubt and deadlines. A mere ninety minutes was all they had, if that. Otherwise, Rainbow had to wait through another fretful night and pray that another nightmare would not shatter all the work they had put in throughout these days.

“Then let’s not waste any more time,” Rainbow spoke vigorously. “How far up do we go? I couldn’t make out the altitude on your diagram.”

Swift directed her to a general area thousands of feet above their current location. “There.”

She squinted, unable to detect anything significant within the mesh of yellow and orange colors. “What am I supposed to be loo—” Then she noticed a white dot floating by its lonesome. “You mean all the way up there?”

“Gotcha. We’ll do a few mock runs first. C’mon!”

Soon, it was a stallion and a mare climbing the skies at a breakneck pace, anxious for some practice. If only they had something that would carry them to their starting point as the dense air began thinning a minute into the ascent. With every upward motion, the temperature went the opposite direction, clogging up nasal passages and turning the wicks of moisture on their wings into ice crystals.

Rainbow chattered her teeth, “Why must it… cold!”

“Forget that.” Swift’s breathing turned more raspy and visible. “Air. Have to, save it.”

They could see the start line, but covering the remaining distance took five minutes rather than five seconds. The moment they reached the soft white, both collapsed onto it for a much-needed break. Unfortunately, the elements worked in turning them into ice popsicles and had to cut it short.

“You… ready, Rainbow?” Swift panted.

She rubbed her hooves together, “R–ready.”

He took a step right up to the cloud’s edge. “Behind me. Stay behind me all the way.”

Rainbow moved into position. She wasn’t one to be following somepony but in this situation, he was better suited for the head spot. Experience should always lead, at least that what the Wonderbolt guidebook says.

“Full—” Rainbow sneezed – “speed from the start?”

“Gesundheit! And yeah. No—” He paused for extra air – “worries. We’ll get… our timing down. Eventually.”

If he’s that sure we won’t crash into each other… “Okay! Ready to go!”

“On three.” His exhale materialized past his lips as a fine mist. “One, two, three!”

More than thirty thousand feet above the sea, two rocket ships launched downwards. The big shocker was that the behind pony didn’t need to lift off the throttle at all. Swift was actually pulling away from her! She could even sense his acceleration as a pulling sensation on her outer feathers but that feeling soon faded. Whatever the reason for his great start, she had no time to ponder why or how. In seconds, that gap between them evaporated.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

His flapping tail punished her snout with multiple face slaps. Not only did each strike was sharp paper slicing her face, all that light blue hair proved a major distraction much like the increasing wind noise pounding her eardrums. Left and right she drifted, unable to stay within his slipstream until Rainbow distanced herself from his rear.

Uh, oh! Too far!

Back to full throttle, she ran right into trouble, again.

Back off! Back off!

She did but again, repeating the same mistake, too far away and off the centerline. By now, Rainbow sensed her speed went past three quarters her maximum as Swift inched closer to her again. Rainbow acceleration slowed down a little, then a lot.

What’s going on? I still have a lotta—

Flying Stress Syndrome injected its paralyzing agent but Swift’s tail proved a greater hindrance. With some serious grunting, Rainbow fought to keep her path nice and tidy as a small white object came into focus.

Is that—?

They flew past the special cloud in such a hurry, Rainbow didn’t even spot the hole. No wonder practice was necessary. They had no room for error if they wanted to make the entry point.

“That could’ve been a little better,” she said, slowing down to a stop.

Making a slow three-sixty, “A little?” He flicked his tail, “I literally felt you back there.”

“Well, what about you? I thought you’d be a lot faster than that. Isn’t speed part of your talent?”

Swift rubbed the sudden throbbing headache. “Like I tell my folks all the time, just because I can move fast doesn’t mean I am fast, relatively speaking. But”— He briefly sped up his wing flaps—“you do have a point. It’s not often I have to hit my top speed.”

“What a shocker,” she answered, feigning shock. “If that’s the case, then more practice it is!”

He preferred a short respite but she had already started a second ascent. For Rainbow’s sake, however, Swift kept his mouth shut. He wouldn’t let anything tamper her determination, even if he had to practice a third, fourth or fifth time.

Six just happened to be too much for his wings.

After finishing the run, he drifted down to the top of the largest cloud in the sky so he could lie on his back on the soft cushy surface. Yes, this was so much better than launching himself down the increasingly orange Equestrian skies but that cyan mare gave him a perturbed glare. He expected more dings about his mediocre endurance. Instead, she chose to relax right next to him with a nonplussed sigh. Then nothing, not even a peep, for over a minute.

Rainbow broke the silence first, “So, what do you think? Are we ready for the real deal, Swift?”

“Eh?” Neurons fired in his brain, causing a brief eye twitch. “Close enough. We only have an hour left of daylight left, so we can’t chill too long.”

Rainbow reached out for the special cloud for an impossible grasp. “So, it comes down to that thing, huh?”

“Gotcha.”

“If you can’t learn anything from those books, you don’t happen to have a backup backup plan, do ya?”

He answered with a despondent groan.

“Then if I can’t do the Sonic Rainboom today, we’ll pretty much be done for the day. There’s nothing else we can really do.”

Swift sat up, “What are you trying to say?”

She followed suit but rather than answer, Rainbow stared at the skies, her chest swelling with cool spring air. She held it in until she could no longer and even then, fought for a slow and steady release. “It’s nothing. So, how about starting up the cloud?”

“Ten-four.”

Once they reached the experimental cloud, Swift placed his hooves on the surface as though it was a fragile artifact. “I should warn you. This boost’s pretty rough, so you gotta be ready for it. I’ll bail you out if something goes wrong.”

Rainbow figured as much. Wind betrayed her once before and only now did it dawn on her that she’d have to trust it.

One sweat bead trickled down Swift’s face. “All right. Here we go.”

With a grunt, Swift pushed both hooves inside and then made a few deliberate twisting motions. The moment he yanked out his limbs and drifted back, the cloud sputtered as though it was trying to do something but couldn’t get going.

Rainbow inched closer, “Is it broken?”

“Get back!”

Whoosh! Faded white wisps came from the bottom of the hole at immense speeds. Even from ten feet away, the forces emanating from this solitary cloud forced both pegasi to engage full reverse, lest it pulled them in prematurely.

“It’s working,” Swift shouted over the wind’s howl.

Rainbow’s heart rate ticked up, “That is insane! How does that cloud stay together like that?”

“It’s not! You can’t see it now but the cloud’s breaking apart as we speak! That’s why we—”

Just like that, she was gone.

“Wait up!”

She failed heeding his call but no matter. The less time spent in the cold and thin air, the better – if only that actually mattered. Every trip to the starting point got a little better but in the end, their bodies could only cope with so much. They’d be fortunate not to catch a cold at this rate.

Rainbow landed on the high-altitude cloud first. “C’mon, slow poke,” she called down to him.

“All right. Just, ugh.” He landed in front of her and patted his chest. “Okay! Follow me! If you, get a run after, the cloud, pull out! Go for the Rainboom!”

She flashed a smirk. “Get ready to see, the most awesome thing in the world!”

For the seventh time, Swift performed the countdown. Like clockwork, both pegasi blasted away right on three. Repetition proved that and two other things. Swift did indeed have a small advantage off the line and Rainbow closed the gap in a hurry, too much of a hurry.

If I had a pair of scissors right now—

No need. Rainbow escaped Swift’s slapping hair and even better, maintained a three feet gap.

I should get closer. No! I can’t waste this run!

Then, Swift shifted his trajectory, the first time that has happened. That hole was certainly coming, even if she couldn’t spot it around him.

Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa!

The cloud sucked both ponies into the hole and then shot them out the other end like cannonballs. Feathers flew off appendages, cheeks stretched to their limits and the needle on Swift’s speedometer swung past the fastest number on the dial. He wrestled to keep his path in a straight line, as everything in front of him was a shaking white and green cocktail. So much was his focus on his troubles that he didn’t immediately pick up the audible calamity unfolding behind him.

“Yahhhhhhhhh!”

Poor Rainbow had too much stimuli attacking at once: popping eardrums, syndrome stress, his swinging tail and her wings buffeting in the air. Then, her left appendage sputtered for an instant, enough for Rainbow to drift far right. “Off-course, off-course”, her mind pleaded! She tried a small swing left but at such high speeds, what should’ve been a subtle movement became sudden. Another hard right, hard left and a final right that sent her into a tailspin.

From the corner of his eyes, Swift caught a cyan blur swirling away from his position. “Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!”

With a minute turn, Swift escaped the wind’s influences and with it, exchanged speed for control.

“Get back control,” the stallion hollered. “You can do it!”

No answer; too much noise.

“Hold on! Let me grab you!”

When he was within reach, he stuck out his hoof but with all her spinning, he didn’t know what to grab. Rainbow made that decision for him, using both forelegs to latch onto his lifeline.

“Oh, shoo—”

Now he joined her in her non-stop twirling. All the stallion could do is slow down their tumbling descent with a few sudden wing flaps.

“Rainbow! I can’t stop the spin! Get your wings moving again!”

“But I don’t know where to go,” she blubbered.

“Forwards!”

That was up, down, left, or maybe right; she didn’t know where to look.

With more urgency, “Don’t think about it! Just do it!”

Through clenched teeth, Rainbow engaged her wings at quarter power.

“Hang on!”

Swift tugged on her in the opposite direction of their rotation. One pull, no good. A second try, some success. Third attempt, some semblance of control but that’s when his head alarm triggered. Collision with cloud terrain in fifteen seconds!

“Rainbow! You’re, slipping from me!”

Finally, she regained her sense of direction. “I’m okay! I got this!”

Releasing her lifeline, she cranked up the power and pulled up on the yoke. She found a landing spot on the top of a cloud and aimed for it.

Too fast, too bad. Her hooves sunk right into the cloud, carving a path until hitting a hard patch. Up and over she went, marking yet another crash landing in the books. Inevitably, Swift arrived and pulled her out of the cloud.

“Sorry,” she said, rubbing her head. “I wasn’t quite ready for that but I’ll get it right next time!”

Wrong. Attempt number two was a carbon copy of the first try, down to the manner in which she landed.

“You don’t need to let go of me,” Swift told the flipped-over mare. “I can help you land.”

Rainbow rose from the hole she made in the cloud. “It’s okay. I gotta work on flight control anyways. Third time should be the charm, right?”

Wrong again. The only improvement was that she stopped with a face-plant rather than a flip.

“Bleh!” Rainbow spat out cloud bits.

Eventually, her tongue eventually sampled even more bitter defeat, twice in a row. When Rainbow threaded the hole for the sixth time, that awfulness only added to her fervent drive. This time, she’ll hold her flight path, no matter for many pinpricks Flying Stress Syndrome jabbed on her back.

Lo and behold, speed, pure and raw speed! It was both terrifying and exciting at the same time, a new experience traveling so fast with somepony else close by!

C’mon! Faster! Faster! We gotta go faster!

Noticing she was again closing in on Swift, she readied for a slingshot, the most important one she would perform in her life. The moment her nose touched his tail, Rainbow pulled out of line.

I’ve got this! I—

She gained no more velocity and worse, neither did her companion. The cloud’s effects had dissipated to a mere downwards breeze, which did nothing except ruffle some feathers.

“Ah, shoot!” Swift banged together his forelegs. “I took too long straightening up that time!” He noticed Rainbow slowing beside him. “That was my bad.”

She was already shaking her head. “Don’t worry about it. We’re finally getting somewhere! We’ll get it next time!”

Without skipping a beat, they ascended, launched and then threaded a needle hole for another go. Success begets success or so they thought. No amount of grit could compensate for growing fatigue, not just for the two pegasi but the cloud itself. The air it generated lacked its usual brutality, rendering Swift and Rainbow’s run the same as the last. When they turned around to check what was wrong, they discovered the cotton ball bubbling as though it was inside a boiling pot.

Rainbow’s pupils retreated deeper into the white. “Wh—what’s going on? What’s happening?”

Swift’s face turned pale, “It’s all but done for. We should—”

The mare yanked him like a ragdoll, “We gotta go! We gotta go now!”

“Cool your jets! Ow! Ow! Ow!”

“But the cloud!” Her voice breaking, “Don’t you understand? We’re almost out of time!”

“Rainbow! The other cloud! We still have tomorrow!”

No answer. Instead, Rainbow flapped further into the dimming Equestrian skies with strained grunts, pulling away from him. He was losing her in more ways than one. Where did her confidence go, her determination, that fire in her magenta eyes fueling her passion? Then again, this was the good cloud. There was no guarantee the other one at the factory would work like this one, or at all.

I can’t think like that. Gotta keep her head in the game.

As the pair lined up for another run, Swift opened his mouth for calming words.

“C’mon!” Her chest swelled and contracted unevenly. “Go, please!”

His ears folded, the visible pain written on her face too much to face. Swift wanted his brash friend back and there was only one solution; pump her up.

After a snort, “Ok! Give me—” He paused to inhale frigid air—“all you’ve got Rainbow!”

“I–I’ll try,” she stammered.

Immediately, Rainbow gave herself a mental slap. “I’ll try” was the worst thing she could’ve said to him. Before she could correct her mistake, Swift had started his countdown. Too late now. Rainbow would make it up on her run.

Right after the launch, Rainbow kept an eye on the prize. With every passing second, her facial muscles tightened, her concentration faltering as she wondered if that white dot would still be there when they arrived. Then came the tail whacks, catching her by total surprise.

Dammit! Focus!

Rainbow flailed her forelegs while adding drag on her wings, far more than required. Immediately, she recognized and corrected her error except it cost her precious feet. More terror flooded her bloodstream but it was her own concoction. She pushed for maximum speed, with complete disregard to closing distance for they would arrive at the cloud in mere moments.

I gotta catch up to him! I won’t have another chance!

Just within sight, a minuscule white blob suddenly appeared. There it was, still running but the momentary distraction meant that her focus returned onto Swift right when they slipped through the hole.

The wind grabbed onto her and sent her spinning into a gray wall, the last thing she saw before every sensory perception ceased functioning. No more wailing from the rushing air, no spring scent, not even a speck of color. Time seemed to stop or moved so fast, it was but a blur. Either way, Rainbow wasn’t aware of anything.

Then, an echo, its source unknown but with a familiar tone. Somepony was calling out to her, a worried stallion and moments later, she sensed his soft touch on her face. A tingling sensation rushed to the source, triggering the first of many head throbs. When she regained control of her eyelids, she pulled them opened but what welcomed her was a disorienting and shifting picture.

“Is that you, Swift?” Rainbow slurred.

He nodded slowly.

Rainbow pushed all her hooves against the cloud surface, believing she could get on all fours.

“Hold on!” the stallion urged her. “You’re not—”

She almost returned to unconsciousness, so she wrapped her hoof around his friend’s neck as support. “I’m okay. Not the first time I’ve blacked out. Ugh. What exactly did I hit, anyways?”

He touched his sides, causing a wince. “Just some of my ribs.”

Her head slumped. “Sorry.”

He bore a small smile. “No worries. I can still move okay. I had to or you wouldn’t be here right now. My hooves actually hurt more.” Swift began chuckling but then clutched his chest. “Ow.”

Rainbow repeated her apology.

“Don’t be. That’s why I’m—”

“It’s gone, isn’t it?”

“Eh?”

“The cloud. We lost it, didn’t we?”

Swift chewed on his lip. Above their heads was a fading haze, the only remains of his creation. If only he had done a better job building it, he could’ve told her that they had more time, more chances, a beacon of hope he could present to her. Instead, all he could say was the message he already gave her; they had tomorrow. To him, that couldn’t even soothe his nerves.

“Okay,” she whispered. “That cloud better be ready tomorrow, then.”

Much to his shock, Rainbow stood up with nary a bobble and then took a few steps to the cloud’s edge. While she faced away from him, her stance was that of a resilient pony ready to face whatever came her way.

“Can I ask you something?” she spoke, this time with a more normal voice. “Something important?”

Swift joined her vigil of the setting sun, its rays changing the mosaic of colors from faded crimson to a softer violet.

“Yeah, Rainbow?”

“I wanna do some really awesome flying stuff tonight, not for training but because it’s fun. You see, if things go wrong tomorrow—”

“But it—”

Rainbow touched his lips, “I haven’t lost hope, all right?”

He nodded once.

“If I can’t use my wings anymore, then I don’t want any regrets about not using them to the fullest.” Rainbow raised her hoof triumphantly. “I’m gonna have the greatest night of flying ever!”

Swift leaned back, flustered by her sudden elation. “Um, okay, then. Whatever your plans are, go nuts. I won’t get in your way.”

“Huh? No, wait. You don’t quite get it.”

Before he knew it, Rainbow stood inches away from him. Suddenly, what was a cool day mysteriously became a little warmer.

“I want you to fly with me,” she said with tenderness.

Even a simple Eh proved impossible for him to say. “I, um, what?”

“Swift? I may have the flying talent but sometimes, that makes you feel a little, um, lonely.”

“Lonely?”

She scratched her blushing cheeks, “Yeah. I just… when you’re the best flier in the world, you can’t really fly with anypony else without holding back. Even when Gilda was my friend, we didn’t see each other much after Camp. Whle it’s nice having somepony watching you being great, like with Fluttershy, it’s not the same as enjoying the moment, together. Be my flying partner. Please?”

Rainbow waited for his answer, one she doubted on a positive reply. After all, this was Swift Flying, the pony that knew nothing about pegasi pride, lacked the heart of a competitor and couldn’t brag to save his life. For all she knew, maybe he already had plans for what could be his last night of flying.

Then, he answered with a smile with the warmth of the falling sun behind him. “Okay.”

“You will?” she spoke with an upward inflection. “You really will?”

“Yeah, I, um—” He looked slightly away –“I’d do anything for you, Rainbow.”

Adrenalin rushed into her beating heart except its effects was more like a gentle caress.

Then, she jabbed him on the chest, snickering. “You sure know how to make any moment cheesy.”

Soon, the laughter spread to him. “My bad. I meant to say it would be wicked to hang out with you. So, what do ya have in mind?”

13 - Night Pursuits

Catch the flag, no holds barred.

Swift would’ve never agreed to that but Rainbow Dash’s patented pouty face had something to say about that. It struck him right in the heart and for that, he now had a bull’s-eye painted on his chest. Rainbow had tried hitting it twenty times.

“I got you now,” Rainbow yelled, hooves outstretched for tackle attempt number twenty-one.

His body swung left, missing a collision. Then, he pounded the gas pedal, his wings responding with a deafening flap that violently shoved the air behind him.

Rainbow covered her face, unable to attack from the rear until the effects from his sudden burst subsided. When she was back underway, he had pulled a sizable gap but she didn’t worry at all. Reflexes would only carry him so far and even better, she had no fear to slow her down. Time would wear him down and that’s when she’d strike. In the meantime, she would continue the chase within the training chamber, humming the tune of a predator of the sea.

Swift performed a head check, his ears folding at the sound of doom closing in on him. Why does she have to do that?

He aimed for the ceiling and once Rainbow copied his maneuver, Swift dove straight down toward the cloud floor.

She grinned, confident that she figured out his plan. He can avoid a collision much better than she can, so he would turn at the last second, forcing her to an all stop. Rather than fall into that trap, she can anticipate which direction he would go and attack from above. It was all a matter of timing.

Seconds from impact, she tapped the brakes and then waited. When she saw the slightest flinch, Rainbow chose left and down.

Almost! She belly flopped onto the smooth surface and then spun around like a top. Other than scuffed-up pride, she had no injures but it exposed her to a sweeping dive from the stallion.

Offense, huh? I’ll show you true offense!

She got up and went straight at him at full speed.

“Oh shoot!”

Swift raised his nose, allowing Rainbow to pass by below him with only a foot to spare. Too close for comfort. No more time to fool around.

Ok, Fly. Nice and straight.

He eased off the gas. Rainbow inched even closer, just as expected. Not wanting to arouse suspicion, he eschewed a look back along with his best act of labored breathing.

C’mon. Take the bait!

His prey had closed to within ten feet. Perspiration ran down his face, knowing that any sudden movements would unravel his plan. She had to lunge straight at him; any other angle would be disastrous.

Wait for it. Wait for it!

Five feet! He heard Rainbow’s wings go off-sequence. Tackle imminent!

Now!

Swift flared his wings and swung his muzzle back, the rapid movement flipping his body up and over the lunging Rainbow Dash. As he completed the rotation, he snatched his prize and slammed the brakes. Victory was his but she continued looking in every direction except straight behind her. Eventually, his increasing laughter gave away his position.

“Wh–what?” Rainbow peeked at her flank. “My flags! That’s impossible! What just… h–how did you do that?”

He used his foreleg to demonstrate the maneuver. “Like that.”

Rainbow hovered right up to his face, scowling. “I see! Think you can make me look like a fool and get away with it?”

A lump travelled down his neck. Then her hoof tickled his noggin.

“Heh. You’re such a scaredy cat!” She took back her red flags. “You’re pretty clever. I’ll have to be more careful next round.”

His head tilted slightly right. “Next round? There’s a next round?”

Indeed, they continued on whizzing about the chamber for a second time. Once more, Rainbow played the role of a patient pursuer. No unnecessary dives, no falling in traps, just a constant high-speed pursuit. It might’ve taken fifteen minutes but fatigue finally did slow him down. With a shoulder bump, she popped him right into the chamber wall and then stole his blue flags.

“Yes! I finally got, uh oh.”

Swift wasn’t moving off the vertical cloud, save for a twitching wing. “Ow.”

She cusped her mouth. “Oh my gosh! I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“Not permanently,” he wheezed, pulling himself off the wall and holding his midsection. “I’ll need a few minutes, if you don’t mind.”

Rainbow gave him the time to relax, sort of. While he lay down on the cloud floor, she regaled him about her most glorious hits during Junior Speedsters. Every excruciating detail added sympathy pain to his tender body, especially the tale about knocking down three fliers at once.

“Bam!” She smacked together her hooves. “They went down like bowling pins! Wow! I got in big trouble that day. Lousy tattletales can’t take a hit without whining to the counselor.”

“Shoot. Sounds like your Camp was rougher than mine was. Whew! Glad I wasn’t there.”

She started making circles on the cloud, “Oh.”

Swift raised his head. “No, Rainbow. I didn’t mean—”

“It’s okay. I understood what you meant. Um, but can I ask you something? If we were in the same Camp, do you think we would’ve been friends?”

He nodded. “That’s what I wanted out of Camp. But too many just wanted to think of me as a rival.” He chuckled, “Like you did at Pinkie’s party.”

She scoffed but with a sly smile. “Hey, give me a break. I didn’t really know who you were. I’m just glad I gave you a chance.”

“Hold on now. It’s more the other way around. I all but walked out on you” Swift winked. “Remember?”

She grabbed a cloud chunk off the floor and threw it at his face.

He dodged it without any effort. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Rainbow delivered a raspberry. “Whatever. Looks like you’ve had enough rest. I know what I wanna do next?”

“I’m scared to ask but what?”

She pointed at the thunderclouds spread across one corner of the chamber.

Swift hovered into the air. “Let me guess. Dodge lightning at the max setting?”

Rainbow grinned. “You learn quickly.”

“You do realize even I might not be able to dodge every bolt at that setting?”

“So you want me to rescue you then?” she teased.

He released an exasperated sigh. “You’ll see how hard this is gonna be, Rainbow.”

Rainbow watched him land on top of the clouds and then work his hooves through the dark layer. Right away, the thunder’s rumble doubled in decibels, making her yelp. The flashes lit up the chamber from dim evening to a summer’s day. Her mind did all in its power to discern any resemblance of a pattern but it was no use. This was chaos in action, constantly jumping from thundercloud to floor at velocities too fast even for eagle eyes. She’d seen her share of bad storms but this was at a level approaching insanity. Her valor was no match for nature’s fury and her trembling hooves showed it.

The returning stallion read her fear but rather than rib her for it, he took the high road. “Hmmmm, how about you just follow me? I’ll stick to the edges in case either of us has to bail.”

“All right, we’ll play it safe,” she answered, feigning disappointment.

Swift flew toward the thunder fields followed by a perspiring Rainbow.

“Umm, so” – Rainbow rubbed her forehead – “how are you so good at this?”

“Some skill but mostly luck. You really gotta be watching and feeling what’s going on, you know?” He watched the upcoming light show, his blue globes darting all over the place. “Like now, there’s a certain rhythm to the lightning but it’s going to change any second now.” Three bolts flashed. “Right there! I knew that because of the temperature flux.”

All she spotted was disorder. “Oh-kay.”

Swift moaned. “Just follow my lead.”

Rainbow kept behind his trail a pony’s length apart as they slipped under the frothing cloud layer. A booming crack rendered her eardrums out of commission, save for a constant painful high-pitch tone. A few seconds in, her nose shut down, thanks to an overpowering burning metallic scent. With every light flare, Swift become more of a moving blob and then a blur.

Zap! Lightning came down all around them, one bolt coming inches from Rainbow’s right. Thankfully, the raucous sound hid her screech but she all but exited stage left.

C’mon! Shake it off! She slapped her face. You can do this!

Another close bang came, then a third, fourth and a pair. Each one stopped her heart and tested her vocal chord’s upper range – both ached once the initial siege ended. Then, Swift’s mouth moved but she wasn’t able to decipher his message.

At Rainbow’s maximum volume, “I can’t—”

Swift slammed the brakes while swerving up and right. Right as Rainbow inputted the same command, another bolt emerged right in front of her nose.

Boo.

With all the power she had, Rainbow left the thunder fields, leaving behind a trail of feathers. That was one defeat she could swallow and when she swiveled back toward the dark clouds, she expected Swift to have done the same.

To her shock, he was further within the phenomenon that had taken a life of its own, attacking the stallion with an incessant lightning barrage. No doubt in her mind that he wanted out except the electric currents dictated his erratic path. His moves, the untrained eye would perceive it as a performance piece practiced a million times but she knew that every twitch, every flex, every flap was raw instinct. At her best, she could match his precision flying but not for the thirty seconds he avoided gigawatts striking him down his impunity while searching for an exit. For a moment, the light show ceased.

“Now’s your chance,” Rainbow shouted. “Go! Go!”

Swift went full speed towards her, only for the clouds to make one final attack. Two bolts crashed down but he dodged left. A pair anticipated that move and attacked – Swift swerved right. Three put up an electric wall, so he went around it. He was home free, just a few feet to go but that’s when the lightning decided to cheat. Right before he crossed the border, five lightning bolts emerged all at once around him.

One too many.

Rainbow covered her eyes a second too late. The sight of malevolent current striking a flying pegasus was forever burned in her retinas. Then, an overpowering burning scent caused her to peek.

There he was, flat on the cloud floor a few feet away with ash sprinkled across his barely moving figure. Smoke billowed from his rear. The moment her ears picked up his faint moaning, she approached him with haste for assistance.

Swift gingerly got up on all fours. “’Sup.”

She didn’t know her next line. Rainbow should be rushing him to the closest medical facility and yet, he was upright and talking as though nothing happened. Then again, his hair needed treatment from a salon or at least a run-through with a hoof. She tried doing just that, but his forelock zinged her in response.

“Careful,” Swift responded achingly. “I’m so overloaded with juice.” A sudden electric pop made him wince. “Stand back! Have to let it out!”

Rainbow stepped backwards, not wanting an unexpected electric shower. However, for all of Swift’s grunts and huffs, nothing came out of him except erratic prancing.

“Itchy! So itchy! Why isn’t this working?”

She leaned in, “Can I do something?”

“Stay there!” He stomped the floor repeatedly, “Shoot! All this static! Get out of my body! Get out! Out! Out!”

In a flash, a translucent blue aura surrounded the stallion. Rainbow’s mouth unhinged, her beady eyes dissecting something she saw only in comic strips, a heroic figure with electricity flowing across his tangled hairdo.

“What the?” Swift examined his glowing body, “What in Equestria is—?”

Just like that, the sudden phenomenon ended and with it, whatever forces kept him upright. He collapsed onto the floor and remained there, despite Rainbow calling out his name. She wasted no time shaking him profusely, begging for a response.

Rainbow slapped his face. “Swift! Answer me!”

“Ow,” he whispered. “Not so hard.”

Seeing that he was still with her, Rainbow hit him again, albeit much gentler. “Do you need something?”

A grumbling sound from his abdomen answered for him. “Juice would be nice.”

Eight bottles. Swift counted them a second time and he was right. Adding the six plastic wraps that once were around sandwiches, he just finished enough meals to fill him up for a week. Even so, he was anything but bloated.

“Whew.” He wiped crumbs off his lips. “I’ve never been that hungry in my life.”

Sitting next to him, Rainbow finished the last of her sandwich. “So, are you ready to tell me what’s up?”

He blinked at her a few times. “Um, are you talking about the whole lightning made me look weird thing?”

Her eyes narrowed. “No, I want to know if you dye your mane. Yes, that whole thing that happened.”

As usual, his hoof rearranged the many strands on top of his head. “I have no clue whatsoever. Maybe when I tried discharging, I did something wrong because I felt, different.”

“Different?”

Flexing his hoof, “It was like a sugar rush but way way more intense. I’ve never felt so pumped up!” Then he let his hoof flop back onto the surface. “So was the crash but I’m all good now. Well, maybe except for one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Dye my mane? Really?”

Rainbow gave him a leering look, “Sometimes, I wonder.”

“I’d ask the same question about your mane,” he answered in kind.

“This is one hundred percent natural and awesome,” she said, brushing her hair. “And it’s six colors versus two. No need to do the math which is clearly better.”

“Whatever,” he answered along with a chuckle. “Well, I’m ready. So, what do wanna do now?”

The moon’s position overhead reminded Rainbow that this night wouldn’t last forever. “You still owe me that race and, believe me, we’re gonna race but there is one thing I wanna get out of the way first.” She scanned the obstacle course, “I’ll admit that I still have some rust to shake off so I need to work those hoops a little more. I do need somepony to set some times for me, though.”

“Gee. I wonder who’s gonna do that.” Swift pointed at his chest.

“You’ve got it!”

“I know what you’re trying to do. You want to go after my records.”

Rainbow took out a stopwatch. “You know how hard some of your records were back in Camp? I’m just curious how much easier they would be to knock them off.”

He floated in mid-air and crossed his hooves, confidence trickling into his voice. “You do realize I did a lot of runs in one try and that was a long time ago. I’d like to think that I could do much better now.”

“Oh, I see.” She joined him in the air, “That sounds like you’re defending your pegasus pride.”

He slapped his forehead. “I wasn’t, Rainbow. I was just… this whole thing about pegasus pride is… don’t give me that look!”

Nothing he could say could sway her that he was finally shedding some of that ho-hum humility. A few obstacle course runs would aid some more, she thought, and what better way to start than with a path where her speed advantage would come into play.

She chose a route that was nothing more than a simple S-shape through the floating hoops. Easy work for the stallion who finished it in thirty seven seconds but she controlled her pace just enough to edge him, just as planned. All she needed was to waggle her behind at him as bait.

“You got served!”

He shrugged “So? I wasn’t—”

“Slowpoke! Slowpoke! Slowpoke!”

“C’mon, Rainbow,” he whined. “It was only—”

She patted her flank, “Can’t touch this! Can’t touch this! Can’t touch this!”

“Set the watch,” he said in a hushed tone.

Bingo. After a button press to reset the device, “Don’t hold back!”

“No worries about that,” he answered, moving in front of the first cloud hoop.

“Ready?” She raised the stopwatch above her head. “Set, go!”

Her fast count made no difference – Swift’s reflexes were that of a cat. More stunning was his rapid progress through the course, confirmed by the final time. Thirty-two seconds the timer read, a benchmark worthy of her mettle.

Once he returned, Rainbow tossed him over the stopwatch. “Watch! I’ll do this in less than thirty seconds!”

Typically, her bodacious claims fell short of expectations but she had extra motivation. If this Friday were her last day of holding the Best Flier in Equestria crown, she’d do everything in her power to prove it. Grit flowed through her body while every system calibrated to optimum efficiency. Those round white circles in the skies were no match to the cyan bullet rushing right through them and neither was Swift’s mark. She knew it the moment she noticed his blank stare at the small device’s readout.

“Twenty-eight seconds,” he mumbled, showing her watch.

She spared no time giving Swift a repeat celebratory performance. “Ah, yeah! Ah, yeah! I’m Number One! I’m Number One!”

“Now, hold on!” Swift pointed at the course, “That challenge was so easy, it might as well have been a drag race! Now, how about something much harder instead of this filly stuff?”

Rainbow reeled back. Whoa! I wasn’t expecting that!

“My bad,” he said, looking somewhat away from her. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“It’s alright. A little competitive juice is good for you. Now, let me pick out a really hard route and we’ll see who’s really the best.”

Swift moaned aloud. Rather than a gradual difficulty increase, he watched Rainbow plot a path through the obstacle course with many bends turns and twists. Then he rubbed his chin, noticing she was attempting to recreate of the toughest test in Junior Speedsters, the much-acclaimed agility run. The biggest obstacle to Rainbow’s emulation was lack of natural barriers such as mountains and trees, so she mashed cloud parts together as a substitute. Swift believe it a valiant albeit ugly looking effort.

“That looks great!” Rainbow said aloud, patting together what looked like melting ice cream.

With a few last touches, she finished her work. Swift moved toward the ceiling, the presumed starting point, only for Rainbow to stop him.

“I’ll go first this time. Take good notes, Swift.”

He rolled his eyes. I don’t need em. This should be right up my… wait a minute. Did she say my... Shoot. She’s ready to go!

He pressed the watch’s button just as Rainbow accelerated from her starting point at the chamber’s top. Soon, she traversed through a fabricated tunnel and then made a u-turn toward hovering pillars at a speed too fast to attempt a slalom based on his internal calculations. Yet he remained in position, hoping she would rectify her own mistake and slow down.

Splat! Rainbow crashed right into the pillar face-first. Moments later, she pushed off the flat surface and after checking for damage — none found – she whipped up an excuse to the timekeeper.

“That was just a practice run,” Rainbow bellowed.

Eventually, she found a way to say that phrase in seven different ways before finally putting a time on the board.

“A minute twenty?” she grumbled. “Terrible! I left at least five seconds on the table.”

Rainbow was wrong. As her eyes did her best following the zipping stallion, her mind checked off every spot where Swift gained time on her. In the end, the combined mistakes could fill out a chalkboard as a long formula, with the final answer being fifteen seconds.

“Shoot,” said the returning Swift, shaking his head. “That should’ve been under a minute.”

“Huh?” She pored over her math, finding no errors. Was he playing mind games on her to knock her off her game, she thought. It couldn’t be. His expression had no inkling of such deviancy. If Swift could go even faster, it became her task to not only beat his current time but also obliterate it.

Instead, her frantic efforts in maximizing turning speed destroyed the entire course little by little. First went the pillars – she sliced through most of them in ten minutes. Then she poked holes through the cloud tubes, turning them into Swiss cheese. Rainbow’s pretend mountains crumbled every time she left her body imprint on them. Swift did all he could with hasty repairs but her unintentional destruction was too fast for his hoof work. By the point she closed the gap to five seconds off his mark, there was no more recognizable course to run through.

“There’s still a little bit left,” Rainbow complained as she worked on a bent hoop. “See? I fixed it! Good as new!”

Swift watched the chunk she added slide off the obstacle. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s gonna work.”

Her head slumped, knowing that with all the damage, it would take hours of reconstruction. “Alright. Guess that’s a draw.”

“Eh?” He checked the watch – one minute and ten seconds. “How is that a draw?”

“Because you obviously had an advantage, so I have to add five seconds to your time,” she answered, pacing back and forth. “With the other course, it was the other way around but since it was much shorter, I would only add—” Rainbow did the math in her head – “three seconds to my time. That means—”

Swift’s raucous laughter ricocheted off the chamber walls.

Hoofs on her hips, “What’s so funny now?”

“That’s just like—” The tickles had him wriggling in the air –“just like you, Rainbow.”

“Huh?”

“You, the time.” He patted his chest to restrain his mirth. “You made up those numbers just so that you could call yourself a winner. It doesn’t work that way. You won the first one fair and square but I won the second one in the same way.”

“It didn’t look that way to me. You’re supposed to celebrate when you win.”

“Oh, really? You mean like this?” Swift waggled across Rainbow’s sight like a dancing snake. “Yeah! Yeah! You got burned! Can’t touch this! Number One!”

Her guffaws were that from a pig, sounds reserved for the truly comical. He stopped his gyrations, unable to hold back his laughter.

After a minute, she collected her breath. “Wow. What was that all about?”

Swift beamed. “I’m just trying to loosen up the mood for ya. I just wanna forget about all our worries, even if it’s only a little while.”

“I hear that! So, how about we get ready for our race?”

“Gotcha, Rainbow! Guess it’s time to cover this up.”

That snapped her off her upbeat demeanor. “Cover this up? What do you mean?”

“Well, we don’t really need this space anymore so might as well hide the evidence now, right?”

He made it sound so simple but her quivering heart said otherwise.

“It’s funny,” he continued, rubbing his mane. “I’m sorta gonna miss this place.”

Rainbow felt something wet running down her cheek. Struggles aside, the memories she created within these training grounds were those she didn’t want to forget. “Yeah. I will too. Good times.”

The Ponyville Dam, a mammoth concrete structure that stood between the low-lying town and raging waters threatening to wipe it off the map. The dam performed its crucial duty with ease on most days but with the persistent rain, the river level had risen to the maximum designated safe level. Rainbow noticed this right away as she and Swift landed on the walkway running over the top of the dam. It was rather damp and full of leaves but otherwise, the rain did not fall in this area.

“Wait a minute.” Rainbow peered through the darkness. “What’s that over there?”

“Eh?”

Rainbow squinted upriver at trenches from the banks leading to multiple reservoirs. All of them had reached its limits, with some spilling its contents onto the dampened soil. “What in the… why is it…whaaaat?” She spotted a few nearby trees with their trunks snapped clean off. “Swift? What happened here?”

He grinded his teeth. Something called letting Thunderlane be in charge for the whole day. “No worries,” he answered, adding a half-hearted laughter. “All of that was just part of a training exercise.”

Rainbow arched an eyebrow. “A training exercise?”

That’s right. An exercise on my patience. “Gotcha. He walked toward the dam’s edge, “Shall we get ready?”

“Do you want me to go over the route again,” she asked as she followed him.

Swift hopped onto the wall’s top, “You’ve told me the route four times.”

“I just wanna be sure. Oh, and one last request. I don’t want you to hold back.”

“I won’t,” he answered plainly.

“I’m being serious.” Rainbow focused on the skies shrouded by clouds. “If this will be my last race, I want it to be the best one I’ve had. I picked this route because you actually have a real shot of winning. I won’t let you, obviously, but make me work for it. Can you do that for me?”

Racing wasn’t in his blood and yet, excitement pumped through his body. He didn’t know where it came from or why but it tasted like a fattening slice of cake. It was bad for his diet but he wanted more. “Rainbow, I’ll let my wings do the talking.”

Such a fiery proclamation caused Rainbow’s ears to quiver in sheer pleasure. This was coming together so well, the cool spring night, the reduced visibility, a course with a blend of speed and cornering and a friend who granted her wishes because that’s the pony he was. All she needed was to drop the green flag.

“Get ready to eat my rainbows! On your mark!”

Both pegasi leaned over the dam’s edge, spreading wide their sleek appendages.

“Get set!”

Rainbow paused for dramatic effect.

“Go!”

Two blurs of light traversed down the concave concrete fascia before turning parallel to the river. Their wake pulled up the water and turned it into an explosive mist that splashed into the canyon walls and loosened up some rocks. Rainbow ignored the falling debris and focused on her competitor. As expected, he had a nose on her but this wasn’t a drag race to the upcoming waterfall. Even then, she would’ve gotten him anyway. She erased the gap and began pulling away by the time they reached the pitch-black air and aimed at some roundish terrain hundreds of feet below them. Swift tucked in behind her, limiting his loss of distance.

Soon, they approached a field of apple trees. Rainbow spotted the widest dirt path snaking across Sweet Apple Acres and descended close enough to it that their wings kicked up dust and pebbles. The multiple fruits hanging from the branches were nothing more than red dots whizzing around them, a visually distracting sight if the ponies traversing the farm weren’t so focused on the winding road. They followed it everywhere it went – a steep incline, a gentle decline, a tight S-bend cutting through young saplings and then another upward ascent in between two mammoth hills. When Rainbow reached the crest, she performed a head-check. About three seconds behind was her competitor, a fair distance for the next major obstacle on the makeshift course, a dimly-lit barn at the road’s end with its massive doors wide open.

As they flew over a painted fence, bales of hay stacked to the ceiling within the red barn came into focus. On opposite ends were two openings leading to the route through the structure. Rainbow chose left while Swift headed right.

Right into a maze.

All corners were right angles, requiring perfectly timed body drift to keep up momentum. That was right up Swift’s alley; he nailed every turn using every inch of space. Rainbow, on the other hoof, bounced off the yellow squares, earning her some scrapes on her coat. Three quarters of the way through the maze, she pushed off an unstable stack, which started a chain reaction of plummeting hay.

Uh oh!

Now the route to the exit was changing by the second. Amidst the falling bales, Swift squirted through the small openings and came charging back outside with the lead. Rainbow soon followed three pony lengths back, a bad omen as what laid ahead was a deep field of orchards or as she saw them, posts hidden in the dark.

Don’t lift, Rainbow! Full speed!

Rainbow pursued the gray dot into the trees, which started swaying back and forth in a rhythmic fashion. This wasn’t too bad, Rainbow thought. She was learning something watching Swift attack the trees with smooth and precise motions. Unfortunately, his maneuvering put her in a trance long enough that when he finally moved up and straight, she hesitated. That’s when a dilapidated shack appeared directly ahead. She could’ve slammed the brakes but that cracked wall appeared ripe to blast through.

Swift checked his rearview in time to watch Rainbow karate kick through the small shed with nary a drop in speed.

She’s completely bonkers!

After weaving through a few more apple trees, he emerged on the road leading toward Sweet Apple Acres’ front entrance. However, he went the opposite way that quickly led to a split in the path. The sign spelled out the two destinations, Ponyville and the Whitetail Woods. He chose the latter, leading him through more trees with abundant leaves that would’ve remained attached until the fall. They were no match for about thirty wing power combined rumbling through the forest.

The debris was but a minor inconvenience and with the pebbled path’s relative straightness, this section was all Rainbow Dash. Swift could hear her flaps increasing in volume and pace but he had no recourse other than shoving more coal into the boiler. Good fortune came to him, however, via some overgrown branches up ahead crisscrossing the road. While he weaved through them, they slowed down Rainbow enough that by the time he approached a bridge by a waterfall, a head check confirmed a twenty-five foot gap.

I’m still ahead! Whoa! How am I still ahead?

He traversed up the waterfall and then travelled upstream. A gentle left bend lay ahead but he went straight into rising terrain littered with tall pine trees. Soon enough, a rolling fog hid their trunks, making Rainbow gulp.

Why did I pick this course? Oh, stop complaining, Rainbow. This isn’t supposed to be easy!

Despite the limited visibility, neither moved the throttle from full. The shadowy bark was no wider than their bodies but grew in density the deeper they flew into the forest. Rock formations soon jutted off the ground, ready to cut their race short. At this point, Rainbow was ready to slow but Swift had a different idea, rotating sideways. That was nothing out of the ordinary; she duplicated the move with ease. However, she could only hold the position for ten seconds before switching back to normal, but he continued darting through the pines with the bare minimum of motions to avoid impact. Area that needs improvement, Rainbow added to her internal notebook.

That’s Ghastly Gorges up ahead! I should’ve been in the lead by now!

Going past the last towering trees, they were now above the ravine with its stream running three times its usual height. The fog thinned but she still couldn’t see much of her opponent. That did nothing to stymie Rainbow’s yell.

“Swift! Get back here!”

He heard the call, a mix of annoyance and delight. He laughed aloud not out of mockery but for the rush of of leading against the fastest flier in all of Equestria. Even he had to acknowledge the sense of gratification, too much to hold back.

“Come on and get me! Come and get it!” he taunted before banking into the gorge.

Once he neared the splashing water, Swift checked on what was an angry rocket ship.

Oh, shoot! Me and my big mouth!

Swift followed the gorge’s contours, a simple route that did nothing to slow down the cyan bullet. Then he spotted a tunnel that inexplicably generated a headwind that dragged down his velocity. With a switch flip, his wing strokes changed to shorter quicker bursts to counteract the opposing force. Inside, the raging waves splashed all the way to the ceiling, and with scant space, both pegasi became drenched in water. They found little relief on the other side as the area past the tunnel was under a drizzle.

Swift rubbed his eyes to clear up his vision while switching back to normal flying mode. That’s when a surprise laid ahead, twisted vines peeking above the water’s surface. It was the next course section that would’ve given him another advantage except it was now underwater. Much to his chagrin, he skipped over it and soon enough, she had cut his lead in half.

“You’re gonna get it!” Rainbow bantered.

Another surprise appeared in front of him, holes on the left side of the towering canyon walls.

Eh? I don’t remember Rainbow telling me about—

A huge red eel suddenly popped out the opening.

“Ahhh!”

Swift dived down, avoiding digestion only to dodge another hungry monster. Then the whole clan appeared for a lean meat appetizer but Swift was too fast a food. As such, they missed a slightly meatier Rainbow Dash who went by them with a friendly wave.

Heh! Thank you, guys! Nice and easy section next! That lead is mine!

Rainbow pushed all she could to get it. Twenty feet was all she needed to be within hoof’s reach of his tail. In seconds, she was close enough to attempt a slingshot.

Darnit!

The walls began narrowing and twisting at increasing angles, so she tucked in behind him to wait for a better opening. Together, they leaned right, avoiding protruding rocks and then zoomed below a natural arch formation before reaching a tight but straight section. She pulled aside to overtake him except she chose right instead of left, the direction of the next bend. Swift blocked her path on the entry and for the next few tight turns through the ravine, he was in command. Left, right, left right, he executed his moves with extra crispness and his reward was adding some breathing room for an approaching juncture point. The gorge continued north but per Rainbow’s earlier instructions, he headed northeast.

Past the turning point was a tall flat wall with a small vertical crevice running across its surface, an opening Rainbow had told him was wide enough for pegasi. His eyes couldn’t gauge that but the wisps of air emanating from the opening did.

Meanwhile, Rainbow started scrubbing off speed as she always had when performing this run.

What? He’s going full speed! She gulped. Okay. If he can do it, I can too!

Swift slipped into the crack at an angle past forty-five degrees. Rainbow performed the same move, doing all she could to avoid a nervous flinch. She made it inside, only to realize she had to change her bank angle closer to ninety and then quickly back to level. She did the best she could but near the crevices’ end, her left wingtip touched rock. Rainbow hissed at what was a paper slicing through skin.

The race leader emerged inside a limestone chamber with water dripping from the ceiling and running down the walls. Stalactites and stalagmites dominated the surroundings but well across the other side was his next destination. It should’ve been a simple matter of weaving through the rock formations.

Then the whole world started to shake. Parts of the ceiling began raining down.

Swift had an eye twitch. “Really? It’s like somepony does stuff like this to me on purpose!”

No matter how many jagged rocks tried to take him down, he predicted their paths and moved out of the way. When larger chunks fell from the ceiling, Swift used them to his advantage, running on one of its walls before pushing off for a momentary burst. He was almost in the clear when a massive slab threatened to crush him like a bug. Swift descended while sliding toward the limestone wall, trying to escape its expanding shadow.

“Ahhh! It’s gonna hit me! It’s gonna hit me!”

Close call. Swift performed a second wall run to build up his speed but by the time he approached the opening, his competitor had erased his lead. The earthquake and all the falling fragments must have been a big Rainbow Dash fan.

“You’re mine now!”

At the cave’s entrance, she went side-by-side to his right, only to reduce speed because this route was winding, devoid of light and particularly narrow. The sane option was allowing one of them through and attack the course it single-file but neither acquiesced their air space. Instead, Rainbow and Swift navigated the slowly inclining path an inch apart from each other. Their wings sang a song of what true pegasi power sounded like, a rowdy and shrill noise amplified by the hard surfaces all around them to the volumes in which even a cheering crowd couldn’t match. Rainbow wished there was an audience to witness such flying prowess in action but that would be asking far too much. What she wanted was the win, and she was ready to seize the opportunity.

When the tunnel stopped its constant curving, Rainbow finally sped ahead of his friend and retook the lead. Perfect timing too for lights installed on both sides illuminated the way so she knew exactly where she was going: through an archway with its wooden door down on the floor, up a hole, down a wider corridor with a slight upward slant for the first few hundred feet and then vertical to a shaft leading to the outside world.

Through the clouds and this race is mine!

If only ascending to the heavens was that easy. A race this long had taxed her wings so she ran out of momentum by the time she passed through the exit. Rainbow switched to short and quick wing flaps much faster than Swift did, costing her half her lead. “Push! Push!” She told herself but her competitor was doing the same while switching strategy. Longer flaps, he chose, a decision that cost him some ground on the upstroke but made up for the loss and then some when his wing surged him upwards. If he could just hold this pace, he could pass her.

Not letting you off… shoot! His breathing became raspy.

He stole the lead, then lost it, took it back again before losing it once more. Rainbow pushed to solidify her top spot, but all it did was throw her off rhythm. Neck and neck, they disappeared into the clouds, where the one coming out first would be the winner.

The trip through the white mist should’ve taken thirty seconds but nopony emerged for about a minute. Then, a shadow emerged on the cloud’s surface, followed by a pair of hooves breaking through the cotton and finally the head with the unmistakable hair.

It had all the colors of the rainbow.

Even though Rainbow crossed the checkers, she continued climbing as her mind was slow to remind her that she could stop. The moment she turned around, Swift popped from the clouds and immediately shut off all power. He collapsed onto the soft surface, out of breath and with nothing to say, much like the mare who eventually rested next to him. Rainbow didn’t need words, however. Her wide grin told the tale.

“Aren’t you gonna gloat?” Swift finally spoke with an asthmatic voice.

That was her standard procedure, especially after a race that intense. This situation, though, was much different. This might be her last victory she would earn. While she could have races on the ground for the rest of her days, that wouldn’t be the same. Bragging just wasn’t in her right now, not with some sadness escaping her tear ducts. Even so, she held a small smile.

“Thanks for making that fun, Swift.” She brushed his foreleg before getting up. “Do you think we can do something like that again, someday?”

His first answer was a big, fat no. Every muscle in his body throbbed, his lungs burned, and when he stumbled onto all fours, his vision turned Rainbow’s face into a haze. Even if he did enjoy his duel with Rainbow, Swift couldn’t possibly make this a regular habit. Then his sight cleared up and he saw her magenta eyes, its gleam brighter than the stars behind her. Suddenly, he forgot all his reasons along with the art of speaking properly.

“Well, I, um, you see, it’s sorta—” Swift clutched his mane – “We’ll see.”

She snickered at his stumbling. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Swift’s logic center reactivated. “T–that was a maybe.”

“That’s not what I heard.”

“Then clean your ears.”

Rainbow rubbed off some earwax. “See? I heard you loud and clear.”

That earned a chuckle. “Rainbow, if we’re talking about this after tomorrow, then I might just say yes.”

“Yeah, tomorrow.”

A small breeze made Rainbow’s hair sway as she surveyed the faraway stars and the cratered celestial body that had all but finished its climb on this Friday evening. Fatigue settled in and forced some yawns.

“Guess it’s time to head on over to Fluttershy’s, huh?”

“Yeah, but we don’t have to go right now,” Swift answered.

Rainbow broke her vigil for a headshake. “It’s okay. We need a good night’s sleep anyways.”

Moments later, they headed toward Ponyville’s direction at a leisurely pace. They were in no hurry to leave the air, at least until breaking through the clouds.

“So, how about we race back to Fluttershy’s,” Rainbow asked.

Swift snickered for he saw that question coming a mile away. “No.”

One in the morning was well past Swift’s bedtime.

This evening, he made an exception.

Sitting on a red cushion in the middle of Fluttershy’s living room, he had his nose buried in a thick book. Besides him was a wax candle providing him just enough brightness to understand the printed text without disturbing Angel, who slept within a basket beside the front door.

Another source of light lay on the small table next to the green chaise lounger where Rainbow should’ve been asleep ages ago. However, she insisted in helping him find any potentially useful information. Her book was thinner and with a more interesting cover – multiple colorful explosions – than the more drab ones spread across the wooden floor.

After trying to appear interested in reading for half an hour, however, she tossed her choice along with the other rejects. “That cover was so false advertising.”

Swift flipped a page, eyes trained on the text. “Told ya it was going to be full of technical junk.”

“They could have—” Rainbow stifled a long yawn. –“added more pictures, you know?”

“Did you at least find something?”

Rainbow blinked several times. “Um, no. I don’t, um, don’t think I did.”

Swift moved his head to check on what sounded like a sleepy mare. Indeed, the only motions she did was breathing and the constant fight to hold up her eyelids. “You really should go to sleep, Rainbow.”

Again, her response was on delay. “But I–I wanna help.”

“You’ve done more than enough. I’m just about done here anyways. I won’t be up much longer.”

Rainbow raised her hoof from the lounger’s side and then let it fall. That was all the protest she could muster. “Ok. Just do me a favor, wontcha?”

“Yeah?”

Her head nodded ever so slightly at two objects, the nearby candle on the coffee table and a cotton blanket just out of her reach.

“Really?”

Rainbow moaned like a little puppy.

He sighed. “One sec.”

Once he found his footing, Swift performed one wing flap directed at the orange flame, snuffing it out on his first try. Then he picked up the sheet and with one motion, made his friend warm and toasty. Before he could stumble back onto the red cushion, Rainbow said something unintelligible.

“What do you want now,” he asked through a yawn.

“Um, remember what you said about, um, your dream? When you heard me?”

“What about it?”

“If you’re in trouble again when you sleep, I’ll call out to you again, okay?”

“Eh? Oh-kay but how are you gonna do that? Was that even you I heard during my nightmare or was it just my imagination?”

She reached out for a hoof bump. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll find a way, okay?”

Maybe it was because of the tenderness of her voice or sleep deprivation but Swift clasped hooves and held it there for a few seconds. “G–gotcha, Rainbow.”

She released her grasp. “Have a good night, Swift.”

Rainbow shut her eyes, but only until hearing the turn of a page. Then, she took the occasional peek of the stallion who was returning to his task of boring himself with books. Every time, he caught her in the act and returned the smile. Eventually, she snuggled deeper into the pillows, hoping that she would see him again in the morning in the same state she was leaving him now.

14 - Past the Limit

Bona fide sunshine.

A sliver of yellow light penetrated the clouds and made its way through the windowpane and into Rainbow’s tender eyes. A few droplets remained on the leafy greens outside but her ears perked up at forest animals chirping their merriment. The basket where Angel had slept in had just some loose fur while a lone grey feather lain on top of the red cushion.

“Swift? W–where did you go? You’re in here, aren’t you?”

No reply.

She stumbled off the couch and trotted into the kitchen. She hoped that he was making breakfast but all the pots and pans hanged in their respective hooks along the wall.

“Oh, no, no, no, no,” she blubbered as she stepped in place. “Don’t tell me he ditched me! He couldn’t have!”

Rainbow scampered through the living room and up the stairs, where a misstep caused her to hold onto the guardrail. That’s when she thought of her wings.

“Oh, please, oh, please! Let me fly!”

A few flaps later, she was hovering.

“Okay! Okay. Relax. Breathe.” She pulled her mane, “I can’t! I have to find him!”

She continued to the second floor and straight into Fluttershy’s living room. There was her bed, fireplace and knickknacks but no stallion in sight. At least it had a greater view of the general area through the windows: dirt roads, forest, squirrels and Ponyville in the distance under a mostly cloudy sky. She even picked up a few floating dots that could be her pegasus friend except they were the wrong shape, gender or hue. Her willpower draining, she collapsed onto the floor and assumed the fetal position.

“Swift? Did you have another nightmare? It’s all right! It doesn’t matter if something happens to me! I just don’t want to be left alone!” A whiff escaped her mouth. “I can’t handle this by myself!”

More sobs came out, as did salty grief. Abandonment was such a cruel way to end their friendship, especially after everything he’d done for her. She didn’t have the heart to blame him, though. He had suffered enough already.

Downstairs, the door groaned open, accompanied by his voice.

“Rainbow? We have to… eh? Where did you go?”

What joy! She’d scold her imagination later for doubting him. Rainbow hurried back to the top of the staircase and there he was, floating over the floorboards under his own wing power. Tomorrow had arrived after all.

She hit the boosters and aimed for an air tackle. One try was all it took to pin him to the floor. “You’re flying! You’re still flying! We still have a chance!”

Swift’s ears rang at Rainbow’s elated shrills. “Shoot. Happy to see you too! But we have a problem.”

“Problem?” Rainbow rolled off him. “How could there be a problem?”

Once he was back on all fours, his muzzle aimed at the wall clock; it read eleven o’clock. “I woke up about an hour ago, and since you were still asleep, I checked on my cloud at the Factory. It’s set up and ready to go but, um, well—”

“What is it?”

Swift clutched his hair, “It’s definitely not the same quality as the first cloud.”

Rainbow’s hooves quivered, “How bad is it? Tell it to me straight.”

“If we’re really lucky, five runs.”

Rainbow’s hope balloons popped one by one until she had none.

Swift grabbed a book from the floor with Great Pegasi in the Olden Times inscribed on the cover. “Now for the good news. I actually found something useful last night.”

Right on cue, he had pulled another balloon from behind his back. If the situation weren’t so dire, she’d applaud him for his dramatics.

After a few page flips, he found the section he wanted. He moved right next to Rainbow to demonstrate a picture of a dark-tanned stallion with crackling light wrapped around his body.

“Who is that, Swift? He looks pretty awesome.”

“If I remember my family history right, he’s one of my ancestors, Flying Discharge. You know how I have great lightning resistance? That just happened to be part of his special talent. In fact, he could actually use the built-up charges as a power source!”

Rainbow’s wing extended. “No, way! What could he do with it?”

Swift turned the page. “From what I read, nothing that exciting. Yeah, he was able to shoot lightning but it was super weak. What got my attention is that he was able to use the collected energy to give himself a temporary boost of speed. Downside was that he was slow to begin with so it wasn’t such a large advantage.”

“That’s great and all but how does that help us?”

He tossed the tome aside. “Remembered what happened yesterday after that bolt stuck me? I’m telling you that it was a lucky strike!”

“Why do you say that?”

“I think it proved that I can use that same ability! See, my idea is to charge myself with a thundercloud. Then I somehow repeat what I did right before I take off. That way, I’ll have the extra boost I need to reach Rainboom speed!” His elation gave way to head scratching, “I think.”

“You think?” She latched onto him. “You think?”

“Eh?”

“Just because you’re this pony’s ancestor doesn’t mean you can pull off the same talent just like that, Swift! Did you tell Nurse Redheart about this? And what about when you collapsed? Don’t you think that’s a sign that this is dangerous? Did you at least do a test first? What about—”

“It’s just a last resort thing,” he answered as he nudged her forelegs off his body. “Besides, I don’t see why it won’t work.”

Enunciating every word, “Are you sure?”

His head motioned to the ticking clock. “Rainbow, we gotta go now. Hurry!”

The two pegasi emerged from Fluttershy’s cottage but before Rainbow could take flight, Swift held her back.

“One sec.” He scanned the skies, “We need to time this right or the weather team will see us.”

Rainbow touched his side, “It’s okay. Right now, it doesn’t matter if anypony sees me. If we fail, they’ll know—”

“We’re not failing.”

“Okay but can you do me a favor. I… I just want to see my team again.”

“Gotcha,” he answered with a smile.

Moments later, they rocketed above roads that showed signs of normalcy. A stallion pulled an empty cart into the town square while a mother and her child searched for a dry spot of grass to set up a picnic. Above it all, weather pegasi worked in unison like gears inside a grandfather clock, tugging away the clouds now devoid of all water. Their duties fell by the wayside once Raindrops noticed a rainbow streak approaching the work site.

“Hey, look. What’s that?” Raindrops pointed at the incoming streak of color, “Holy moley! It’s Rainbow! Rainbow’s back, everypony!”

Soon, the entire squad hovered around their true leader, shouting their jubilation or otherwise wing-slapping Rainbow.

All except for Thunderlane. His face was that of a pony who forgot his sunscreen on a hot balmy day.

“Thunderlane,” Rainbow chirped. “How—”

“I did nothing,” he blurted out, flailing his hooves.

“Huh?”

Behind Rainbow, Swift mouthed that she didn’t know anything.

Thunderlane coughed a few times. “I mean, h–how’s it hanging, boss?”

Suspicion made the mare leader gaze at her subordinate, trying to peel away the barrier between her and the truth. “Okay. What did he do, Swift?”

Now Swift was the one under the microscope. “Oh, you know, just the usual run-of-the mill stuff with Thunderlane but I, um, took care of it.” His muzzle gestured at the massive cloud formation a few miles away. “So, we should get going, Rainbow. You said you wanted to shake off some rust with some cloud busting, remember?”

Her mind returned to the big task that lay ahead. For once, she actually wanted to work side-by-side with her team but that wasn’t happening today. All she could do is pray to Celestia to get that chance. Less sleep, more training her squad, she promised herself.

Rainbow waved goodbye before taking off once more. Swift stayed behind a few seconds for a brief message to Thunderlane.

“Fly!” Thunderlane repeatedly bowed down to him. “Oh, thank you for not ratting me out!”

He poked the stallion’s chest, “Just remember that you owe me a big one, buddy. If Rainbow ever finds out you almost burst the dam and flooded Ponyville, she’d have both our necks.”

Thunderlane nodded vigorously, “Yeah, yeah. Thanks, Fly!”

Once Swift chased after Rainbow, Thunderlane ordered everypony back to work. He readied to push the closest cloud when a brain flash made him stroke his Mohawk. Did Rainbow just call him Swift?

Meanwhile, Swift caught up to his partner who was staring at something on the ground.

Scootaloo rode her scooter down a hill and then up a ramp. Then, she discarded her ride, hoping her wings could keep her airborne. Instead, Scootaloo fell into some prickly bushes.

“Ouch,” Swift remarked.

“Mhm,” Rainbow muttered.

Noticing her heavy eyelids, he inched closer by her side. “You all right?”

She watched Scootaloo pick up her scooter and then proceed up the incline.“It will be, I hope.”

A few minutes later, past the many hazy clouds, she spotted the special cloud at a distant point above what remained of their hallowed training grounds near the mountains.

Per Swift’s instructions, she stayed behind while he made the trip to his creation so he could activate it. However, the activation sequence ran much longer than the first time. His hooves worked overtime, beating the cloud like a broken machine. One minute ticked by, then two.

Oh, please! Please! Please! It’s gotta work!

Finally, her mane began moving as the winds of hope tickled her coat. Already, her heart had the jitters and Swift’s next words after his return made it worse.

“I know this sounds bonkers but I want you to do a solo run.” He drew an imaginary line from the cloud downwards. “I gotta admit the possibility that you could now do this with me completely out of the way. Starting point’s those really tiny black dots up there.”

“By myself? Um, okay. All right. I’ll go. I’ll give it a shot.”

After an aviator salute, Rainbow progressed further upward to what she soon recognized as thunderclouds. He’s serious about his idea, isn’t he? I won’t let it come to that. I can’t!

Meanwhile, Swift covered his eyes, the burning orange globe proving an impediment to tracking his friend’s progress. He missed the launch but a few seconds later, caught the cyan blur traveling through the skies at an increasing rate.

Push, Rainbow! Push!

While he had no measuring device, he’d bet bits that Rainbow was faster than yesterday, maybe right at his limits but no more.

C’mon! Boost! Boost!

She slipped through the hole with pinpoint precision and with it, the rewards of immediate acceleration. What came afterwards was his fading smile – Rainbow went everywhere except in a straight line. This was another heart wrenching failure, which then became a seizure.

Oh, shoot! Not again!

An overcorrection sent her into a wild spin, a cue that he should come to her aid as he had been all this time. However, he decided to make this a teaching session. Rather than prepare for a catch, he used his body as an obstacle, spreading his limbs wide at her projected path. Surely, she would have the incentive to not crash into him, hopefully.

What in Equestria am I doing? I’m a pony, not a roadblock! The collision alert rang. Rainbow. Rainbow! Don’t hit meeeee!

She swooped above his head by a few feet and then skidded to a stop. While she landed clean, she fell onto the cloud and banged it repeatedly.

“It won’t leave me alone!” Then with voice cracks, “It just won’t leave me alone. Swift, I need you with me. I can’t focus if you’re not with me.”

The time bomb within him approached ten to twelve. “Then we’ll do the next one together.”

He started the climb with her, but while she trained her eyes at the starting point, he continued glancing at his cloud for any signs of imminent disintegration. Every infinitesimal shift in form moved that clock a minute closer to total disaster: eleven forty nine, fifty, fifty-one. Swift looked away but what he couldn’t ignore was that today, the cold was even more nerve numbing. The moisture around his nose had crystallized hard, reducing precious airflow. By the time they reached the starting point, every word was the hardest ever spoken.

“Let’s, make this, count.” He rubbed his body for warmth. “Okay?”

Rainbow moved right behind him, mimicking his shiver. “I’ll be, so glad when this is, over.”

Swift wiped his muzzle, “Let’s leave, our worries, behind!” He captured extra air. “Ready?”

“Yeah.”

“On three! One! Two! Three!”

The pair sped off in a tight formation, with Rainbow taking great caution not to run into him. There was no need to worry about that right away; he was accelerating a tick too fast for the first thousand feet. Then she had to reduce throttle or his tail would flick all across her face. With the howling air, her command “Faster!” came into Swift’s eardrums as a jumbled mess.

No matter, for he was already in search for every crumb of momentum. Mouth closed, ears folded in, hooves stretched out even further out. He cared not how much pressure he placed on his wings. He had to thread that needle and then hold on for dear life, as did the pony riding behind him.

Zoom! The wind currents shoved them with the force of a buck but they kept nose-to-tail. Ninety percent of Rainboom speed climbed to ninety-five and that’s when the air started bending in front of Swift.

We can do this! Just a little more!

That visible film was at its absolute limits, ready to grant them access to liberation. Just a sliver more velocity, that’s what Rainbow and Swift wished more than anything else in the world. The many days of waiting and this was their moment. All it took was a breakthrough.

A lump of coal.

The winds diminished, as did their rate of descent. All they could do next is meander to the top of the massive popcorn cloud so they could collapse onto it.

Neither knew how to react. They’ve been disappointed before but this was far worse than each let down combined. A silent minute passed by when Rainbow’s wildly conflicting emotions settled on a compromise. She began ripping apart the cloud as it collected her tears.

“Dammit! This isn’t fair! Why…. Swift?”

He had stood up, chest fully swollen and teeth gritted. This was less of a pony than a volcano ready to erupt in a violent explosion. She took a step back, whispering his name.

“Shhhhhhhhh,” He faced the skies, “dammitttt!”

Rainbow faced his direction, her jaw teetering on the edge of falling off. Never had he cursed in her presence and he almost did.

“I’m sorry, Rainbow! I just” – His anger morphed into red-faced embarrassment. “I shouldn’t let it get to me.”

She sat next to him. “It’s all right. Look at me. I never cry and—” She rubbed off salty liquid “—just look at me. I’m a total mess.”

“You’re not crying. You have something in your eye.”

A lie but a convenient and a welcome one. “That’s right. It’s pretty itchy too.” She scratched the area around her ducts. “See?”

His hoof muffled his laughter. “I gotcha, I gotcha.”

Rainbow glanced at the cloud. “We almost had it, didn’t we? Ugh, but that run really wore me out. I may need a minute, Swift. Swift?”

All his attention was skywards with his body in an incessant spasm. For a moment, she believed that Flying Stress Syndrome had finally taken over her friend. Only when she turned and recognized what had him in shock was when the infliction spread to her. She clutched her chest for the pump had clogged, dropping her body heat to dangerous levels. How she hoped that she was in a state of delirium that was affecting her eyesight but this was no illusion. Their last best grasp at the straw was bubbling away bits and pieces of white.

“Rainbow, I—”

“Last chance isn’t it,” she whispered.

Eleven fifty nine. This run would determine which way their lives would lead. One path led to the promised land, a return to flight without restriction. The other where they’d fight every day to identify themselves as pegasi. He wanted no part of the latter and he’d do anything in the world to avoid it. That’s when he checked his cutie mark, the steadfast symbol of a cloud and an inverted thunderbolt.

It’s the right thing to do, isn’t it?

One brief snort was all it took for him to find his resolve. “Rainbow? It’s time to go.”

Rainbow knew that but he said it with no trace of fear, doubt or panic. Her shaky acknowledgment carried all three.

He blasted toward the starting line with Rainbow following suit. “Listen to me, Rainbow. Once we reach the top, I’ll jab my hooves into the thundercloud so I can fill myself up with electricity.”

She gasped. “But—”

“Five seconds before we reach the hole, I’ll tap into that energy. Be ready to give it all you’ve got. Whatever happens, don’t lose track of me. Grab my tail if you have to.”

“Swift! I can’t—”

“I’ve made up my mind, Rainbow. I made a promise to you, didn’t I? I’ll cure you before your friends come back and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.” He turned his head. “You said if I ever doubted myself, I would just need to look at you. Well, I actually don’t have any doubts. I am strong enough. I do believe in myself. I just want to hear from you, that you believe in what I’m going to do.”

That conviction, that poise, he sounded just like herself in her best moments. Even with the cloud beginning to lose its form, Rainbow found hers. In such a dire situation, the last thing Swift needed was anything that would erode his determination. No more doubt, no more waterworks. If this was the end, she was going down swinging.

“I believe in you,” she answered with a hoof pump. “One hundred and twenty percent!” Her firmness then subsided, “You believe in me, right?”

His wide beam told her everything she needed to know, but he wanted to add the exclamation point. “Course I do! I have the best flier in all of Equestria with me!”

Returning the favor, “And I got the second best flier in all of Equestria with me!”

Feeding his ego was a kind gesture, but irrelevant. Even so, his muzzle inched upwards. “Oh, you’re giving me too much credit.”

“Well, maybe third, or fourth or even fifth. Actually, when I really think about it, if you count non-ponies—”

Eyelids closed halfway, “I get your drift. You can stop now.”

Then, they reached the altitude where most flying creatures chose to level off but they continued their ascent unimpeded. Nothing would stop them from reaching the top of the world, not the cold or the lack of oxygen.

The moment Swift reached one of the hovering thunderclouds, he shoved his hooves into the flowing current. Immediately, his hair rose on end and his pain perceptions reminded him where he was. Frigid cold, razor-thin air, and a raging temptation to itch, all walloped the slender stallion into writhing and moaning.

Rainbow covered her eyes for even a glimpse would make her pull him out against his will. When she finally peeked, he was already done. The black mass that gave him power was now white while he was the same as before, only with added intermittent sparks emerging from random spots across his frame. Based on his refrained whimper, she presumed that he felt the same agony as when she once crashed into a field full of poison ivy. He didn’t have to tell her to line up. She did that so he can rid of his pain as soon as possible.

“Ready when”— Rainbow recharged her oxygen –“you are!”

He wasn’t, at least not yet. Step One was complete, retrieve electricity. Now came the mysterious Step Two, understanding how to use it. For this, he blocked out his sights and looked within in search for the key that would unlock this mystery. Soon, he spotted the flowing currents as a glowing but unstable blue ball.

That’s gotta be it! I just need to control this energy! I can do this!

“Time, to earn our wings, Rainbow,” he shouted. “This time, you count us down!”

Rainbow went through a mental checklist. Proper position and alignment check. Their wind-generating cloud, on its last legs but still functioning. Wings, they move all right but they needed minutes for a full recharge. Check anyways. Inspection of the leading stallion, despite foreign energy flowing through him, he never moved an inch. She can check this off too. Everything was a go.

“Three!”

Their wing flaps synchronized in movement.

“Two!”

Hormones secreted every drop of adrenaline available.

“One!”

Serenity, a brief moment to reflect on how on this day, they would write their own destinies.

“Go!”

Swift and Rainbow’s combined launch ripped apart the spare thunderclouds behind them. In seconds, they no longer picked up their hoarse breaths or feathers beating against the air, just the sound of their slender bodies carving a downwards path in the Equestrian skies. Like many times before, Rainbow had a gap that she closed with every heartbeat. Unlike the prior run, Swift was now trickling sparks, blinding her every time they splattered over her eyes. She drifted off-course, something that while Swift couldn’t confirm visually, his sense of increased drag did.

I gotta hold it in!

He reached for the faucet and with a tight turn, eliminated the drip. Rainbow moved back to position as they came within twenty seconds of the wind generator. It was still there.

Time for the big finale.

Swift switched his commands to autopilot, so he can visualize the spinning mass of electricity. It was a tad smaller but the currents had become even more violent, its hue sending shivers down his spine. He should’ve reached out to it by now except a red alarm screamed at him that what he didn’t know what he was doing. The stallion reached out for it anyways but the moment he did, a storm front emerged within his imagination. Its mass swirled and decreased in density before a foggy duplicate of himself suddenly materialized inches from him.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” said his double.

Swift stood face to face with his fear incarnate. For a moment, he thought about flying away but after a huff, his eyebrows slanted downwards. “I remember you now. You never did leave me, did you?”

The doppelganger rolled his eyes. “Oh, now you figure it out, dummy! If all the times I yanked your chain wasn’t a big enough clue!”

“What are you doing here?”

“Another stupid question. I’m here to stop you, of course.”

Swift snorted. “I’ve had enough of dealing with you. I’m putting an end to this now.”

“Tough stallion talk?” The fake Swift guffawed and slapped his sides. “Whoa, now! Where did you get this from, all of a sudden? That chick out there?”

“Her name is Rainbow,” he sternly corrected.

“Whatever. Look, Swift, Fly. Whatever you want to call yourself now. I just wanted to drop in and tell you you’re making the biggest mistake of your life.”

“And why’s that?”

The fraud muttered a curse word. “You already know that answer to that, doofus. You’re bonkers to think you can control all this energy. What if you screw up?”

“I already know the risk,” Swift grumbled. “That’s why I gotta—”

“Blah, blah, blah. Your heads in the clouds, just like back in Saddlecloud. You were way over your head and I gotta say, you almost pulled it off. Then you just had to push your luck too far. You just had to save that one last pony and wham! Right into the tornado you went.” He placed a hoof on his chin. “Come now. You don’t have to do this anymore. Stop now and save yourself. Let Rainbow—”

“Knock it off!” Swift pushed his fake away. “This is my call to make, not yours! Besides, I do have a backup plan in case something—”

The doppelganger laughed some more. “Oh, yeah. That pile of manure you call a backup plan. More like a delusion to me, one that will spell the end of you. You better stop if you know what’s good for you.”

“Let me tell you something. You’ve done nothing but mess with me ever since Saddlecloud. No more. I’m done listening to you.”

His fake disintegrated into mist, “Then I guess this is the last time you’ll see me… or anything else in this world. What a waste of a life.”

“What a waste of my time,” he answered back.

Approaching five seconds to the hole through the cloud, Swift grabbed ahold of the charge with a feather touch, wanting just a part of it. Instead, all of it escaped his grip, no matter how much he fought to grab ahold. All his controls short-circuited, leaving them stuck on the maximum setting. As a cerulean glow saturated inches above his coat, he stunned the trailing Rainbow with a jump of speed well beyond her expectations. A desperate reach for his tail garnered her air.

Oh, no. No. No!

The instant the cloud thrust them forward with its final burst, the nose to tail formation was no more. Swift was pulling away and she could do nothing at all except hope that she could, somehow, someway perform a Sonic Rainboom with the last bits of his slipstream. Sensing weakness, her condition pounced on her chest and with its fervent grip, crushed the last embers of optimism. She had reached her limits, right at the wall within her imaginary world but there was no way through to the wings floating on the other side.

Swift! Wait! Please!

He could do nothing to help her. In fact, he could do nothing at all except watch the air bend around him as he approached a massive congregation of clouds that once held the training arena.

Shoot! I can’t… I don’t have any control! What’s going on? I can’t stop!

The electricity within him continued working its magic, defining new boundaries of his limits. With his flying controls fried, the random air currents pushed him away from a straight path and even more dangerous, the foreign energy running across his body had coalesced into a much tighter sphere. Something was going to happen except he was clueless on what was on the next chapter, if there would be one at all.

Bang.

He breached the barrier and at the same time, every watt of power escaped his body with luminesce challenging the sun’s. The ensuing ripple spread in all directions at immeasurable speeds, shattering every molecule of cloud it touched. For three entire seconds, Swift Flying had entered the world of supersonic, an unguided missile hurtling toward the ground.

Then, the power suddenly dropped like a rock as though a fist punched it out of him. The sudden jolt sent him into a high-speed spiral and no matter how fast he toggled the switches, all they did was click. Even his mind flickered on and off, struggling to keep him awake as the world around him moved in every imaginable direction. To his side were the Stallihorn Mountains and below, open green fields, a nearby forest and finally a gut-wrenching truth - distant billowing smoke pouring out of a locomotive traveling down the rails.

They’re coming. Her friends—

Then, his limp and aching frame twisted around once more, giving him a full view of everything he left behind, a trail of ash but not the spectrum of light that Rainbow had described to him in intimate detail.

S–she, didn’t do it.

He saw the ground again: hard, unflappable, and bereft of emotion. Nothing in sight would break his fall. His consciousness slipping, a project turned on to show him some of the highlights of his life: the day he earned his mark, his first A grade in school, and all the friends he made, including the most recent one on the list, the mare he promised to cure. He couldn’t even cure himself – the bomb’s minute hand was ready to signal twelve. All it waited for was for him to lose all hope, raise the surrender flag and sign the document certifying his loss.

I have, to believe, in Rainbow.

His eyelids weighed like an anvil but he had one final task. For that, he found just enough power to move his vocal chords. While the gap to her was great and a force strangled the last bits of awareness out of him, he had to get out two syllables before the world faded to black.

“Help, me.”

15 - Return to Flight

Inside Rainbow’s mind, she delivered blow after blow at the wall standing between her and freedom. Yet, all her strikes bounced off the surface as though she had the power of a feather. Then, her sensors detected trouble. Her friend, for reasons she didn’t understand, had begun spinning out of control and trailing smoke.

“Nooooooooooooooooo!”

Rainbow continued her assault on the barrier, every hit weaker than the last. Eventually, she rested her head against it, weeping uncontrollably.

“This isn’t happening.” She banged the wall one last time. “It can’t end like this.”

Suddenly, a billow of smoke materialized on the wall’s top. As the gray mist cleared, the newcomer cackled uncontrollably. When she looked up, her tears suddenly dried. There she was, after all this time, the pony that had traumatized her from the very beginning.

“W–what?” She stumbled back and fell. “All this time, you were… you’re me?”

The duplicate grinned with malice. “Not exactly. I’m your doubts, your fears, you know. All that bad stuff you try to hide away from everypony all rolled into one.”

Rainbow mouthed a no while shaking her head.

“Believe what you want.” Tapping the surface she sat on, “All I know is that in a few seconds, you’re going to lose everything. Your wings, your reputation and that friend of yours too. What a shame. You were so close too but like with everything else in your life, you always come up a little bit short.”

“You’re lying.” Rainbow resumed banging the wall, tears splashing against the coarse surface. “You’re lying!”

False Rainbow had another raucous laugh. “You’re so lame, crying about what you can’t do. Oh, boo, hoo, hoo! I’m such a failure! Quit now and get back onto the ground while you still can.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

She facehoofed. “Uggggh! Get a clue! It’s so obvious that you soon won’t be able to fly again. Save yourself and land before it’s too late.”

“But I can’t.” The real Rainbow collapsed onto the pitch-black floor. “Swift needs me. He’s, he’s gonna—”

“So what?” Her counterpart shrugged. “What can you do about it? Cry some more like when you were learning to fly as a filly? Wahhhhhhh! Hey! You’re crying now! Ha, ha, ha, ha!”

Then, a third voice entered the dark subconscious world. The volume was at such a minimum that neither Rainbows could make out the words. It came again, just a tad clearer and louder, enough for the real mare to gasp. Again, the phrase resonated within the room, angering the figure sitting on the wall.

“Oh, be quiet! You’re not welcome here!”

The real Rainbow thought otherwise. There were Swift Flying’s last words, brief and strained but they carried such meaning for they were directed at her.

Help me.

In a flash, her memories with the stallion from Brayside Beach ran through her head at lightning speed. He had been everything she needed and despite it all, the only thing he really asked of her was friendship.

Except for right now.

Swift Flying was in danger and as his final act, asked her to save him. Around her neck, the necklace representing the Element of Loyalty materialized, and the lightning bolt gem pulsed with light. Even if it wasn’t the real one, its presence alone gave her the reason to stand up, her willpower rising by the second. No more tears, no more pity.

“I have to go,” the genuine Rainbow whispered. “He needs me.”

The figure sitting on the wall cusped her ear. “What was that, crybaby?”

“I have to go! He needs me!”

The doppelganger crossed her hooves. “Buh! Yeah, right! You’re going to blow it!”

“No! I’m going to save him!” Flames of all the colors on her mane sprouted around her body. “I’m the one and only Rainbow Dash, the best flier in all of Equestria and I’m going to save him!”

Shoulders in, she rammed right into the wall. Visible rainbow ripples emanated from the area of impact. Her duplicate watched with puzzled curiosity as Rainbow made a second attempt at a breakthrough. This time, fractures traversed through the darkness, revealing what was happening in the real world.

“You’re running out of time,” the fake Rainbow said with a Cheshire grin. “Tick tock. Tick tock.”

The flames started to sputter out, as one of her hind legs buckled and made her fall onto the floor.

“Giving up already?” the heckler spoke. “Booooo! Lo-ser! Looooo-ser!”

Swift’s call for help re-emerged, this time, with more urgency. Rainbow stood up, the flames intensifying with every echo of the stallion’s words. The intense heat created more fissures around Rainbow’s imaginary realm, allowing the sun’s rays to pierce through the openings.

“You hear me, Swift?” she yelled at the top of her lungs. “I’m coming!”

She stepped back a few feet, and then charged toward the wall headfirst. The multi-hued flames converged toward the front, creating a shrill noise.

“Get out of my way!”

Her false counterpart remained sitting as she had done before, watching the real Rainbow Dash crash into the barrier at full speed and creating a rainbow ripple. The entire structure shattered into a million pieces and exploded outward. Out of the corner of her eye, the real Rainbow caught the darkness fading along with her doppelganger.

She’s, smiling.

Rainbow thought it was another dig but her final words proved it was genuine.

“Just needed me to push you a little, that’s all. You better give it all you’ve got.”

Rainbow emanated from the Sonic Rainboom and aimed straight toward her unconscious friend. Once she figured out the distance to reach him, her heart convulsed.

I won’t make it in time! I have to go faster! Faster! Faster!

After flipping off every safety switch, she accelerated to velocities beyond her specs. Every muscle fiber stretched like they’ve never stretched before, a few developing small tears in the fibers. The heat on her nose climbed to unbearable levels and the edge of her wingtips started to turn bright orange.

I don’t care how much it hurts! I have to go faster!

At five thousand feet, an alarm rang in her head along with a grave audible warning.

Terrain. Pull up.

No! I won’t pull up! I have to save him first!

She continued with reckless regard to the fast approaching terrain, no matter how much her eyes burnt or how the turbulent noise threatened to shred her eardrums. One mistake and her wings could snap right off but her well-being was the furthest thing in her mind. She had once chance to grab him for she was just about out of altitude.

Three seconds later, she finally latched onto him and then secured him behind her back. That’s when the audible warnings returned, repeatedly instructing her on what to do.

C’mon! Lift! Lift!

Rainbow threw her body directly against gravity’s overwhelming push. Her trajectory changed except it was nowhere near as sharp as she wanted. The audible warnings went on repeat as she dipped below five hundred feet.

I’m going too fast! I can’t turn!

Her wings shed even more feathers while they struggled for lift commanded by its captain. The pressure on her spine intensified to where it could snap like a twig any second now.

Up, up up!

Fifty feet. Smoke billowed from her scuffed up wings.

I can’t crash! I have to level up!

The boost from the Rainboom was no more.

Uppppppppppppppp!

Tall weeds whizzed a few feet below her belly but never touched it. When she tried climbing, a lightning strike of intense aches struck every inch of her body. She had to land soon but her momentum was far too much and the brakes barely responded. Worse, coming up in a hurry was a field of trees, each thick trunk ready to end their flight prematurely.

She clutched Swift’s hooves around her neck even tighter. Hold on, all right?

Rainbow aimed for the largest gap in sight and then yawed left. She cleared the first wooden obstacle with ease, but the second trunk was much tougher, thanks to diminishing flight controls. By the fifth tree, her head skimmed a few leaves but hope suddenly sparkled in the distance, a lake in the middle of this small forest.

There! I have to make it there!

She avoided left, left, right, and another left before her wingtips clipped a low-lying branch. The resulting jolt sent Swift sliding closer to the ground, so it became a juggling act between trying to reposition him while avoiding a collision with the surrounding objects. Reach down, swerve right, pull him up, turn left, secure him and descend gently toward the water.

Oh no!

That’s when her wings finally ran out of fuel. Her flight path suddenly dipped, her dangling hooves catching the lake’s surface at the wrong angle and speed. Rather than skimming over the water, it flipped both her and the unconscious passenger into the lake’s murky depths.

As they sank toward the bottom, Rainbow moved her hooves while trying to restart her wings. Without access to oxygen, however, all she could do is slow her descent. Then, bubbles emerged from the stallion’s snout. The frigid water had brought life back into her friend but the water rushing into his open mouth would undo that in a hurry.

She sliced through the blue, grabbed ahold of Swift, and then aimed for a shimmering light on the other side of the lake’s surface. The pain shooting across her body was that of a thousand lashes but she told herself to keep pushing. Just a little more to safety, just a little more for this ordeal to end.

Rainbow emerged from the lake, friend in tow and then made a beeline for the nearby shore. A few feet from the coast, her second wind faded out. Meandering to the sandy surface, she released Swift and then let her body flop onto the ground. Disregarding her aches, she crawled right up to her unconscious friend.

“You’re not breathing. You’re not breathing!” Rainbow pressed against his chest. “C’mon! Please!” Tears rained down on his pale face. “Wake up, please!”

One by one, his sensors came back online. Whatever particulate matter floated in that lake tasted quite bitter but it remained in his lungs. He could smell a faint citrus scent coming from Rainbow’s hair and hear the water sloshing ashore nearby. Behind her, many miles away, fading blue ripples spread across the skies followed by multi-hued swells. Both eliminated the last of the clouds and allowed the sun to shine unobstructed.

The imagery felt surreal but this was no dream. Swift was in the here and now, watching what was left of his creation and the Sonic Rainboom. The pony waiting for an answer was Rainbow Dash, the one that did indeed heed his call. Swift wanted to say something but he couldn’t. The real world was in front of him but a black curtain soon fell over it. Then, a tornado materialized far away from him with a height measured in miles. As it came closer, it shrunk in size and transformed into his grayscale copy.

“Wicked,” he said, clapping with a grin. “You actually pulled it off. I knew you could. Took longer than I thought but you finally did it.”

“Eh?” Swift rubbed his mane. “W–what… I don’t catch your drift.”

His double paced back and forth, “Oh, c’mon. You already figured it out. That tornado really messed you up, bud. You forgot why you took that on in the first place. Now look at you. You saw this through to the end, even when I tried to stop you. Even when you knew the potential consequences.”

“W–wha?”

“It feels good to do the right thing for others, doesn’t it? That’s what makes you who you are. That’s what drives you to rise over your fears. Always remember that.”

“Eh?”

“Now, don’t go and get reckless on me. You’re smart enough to know that you don’t have to take chances all the time. Just when your number’s called.” He touched his chest. “Take care of yourself, Swift Flying! Oh, and go say ‘sup to that mare for me. She’s waiting for you.”

The doppledanger faded in front of the real stallion, “Hold up! I don’t understand. All this time, were you really trying to help me?”

In a flash, he was lying on damp grass, coughing out warm lake water. Before his vision could clear, colorful hair and part of somepony’s nose pressed against his face. Then, a pattering of tears fell on his cheek.

“You’re okay,” Rainbow whispered. “Thank Celestia you’re okay.”

“R–rainbow?” she mumbled. “‘Sup.”

Rainbow peeled away from him and then punched him in the gut.

Once he overcame the loss of air, he stared up at a trembling mare, her wings casting a shadow over him. “Swift Flying! That was the most reckless thing I’ve seen anypony do in my life! If you ever scare me like that again, you’ll be wishing I didn’t save you at all! Do you understand?”

That’s when he knew. The puzzle was complete. From deep within came out a slow snicker which suddenly exploded into a burst of laughter.

“This isn’t funny! I almost lost you!”

He pressed both his forelegs on her face. “Rainbow? Do you realize what we just did? Ha, ha ha ha ha! Do you feel what I feel?”

With one deep stare at him, she knew as well. By the shores of this lake on a Saturday, the final bell had rung. They had no need for the decision from the judges. The answer was right in front of each other. It was Swift Flying and Rainbow Dash, no one else. Flying Stress Syndrome lost by knockout on the final round.

“We did it, Swift. We did it!”

Rainbow hugged her friend and rolled him along the lakeside. They broadcasted their filly-like joy with hearty shouts. They had gone hoof to hoof with their psychosomatic fear and they won, they finally won and what a victory it was. This was their moment on the sun and they freely basked in it for as long as they could, no matter how soiled their coats became in the damp dirt.

Then, she rolled him right beneath her and stomped a hoof beside his head. “Ughhhh, but I’m still mad at you!”

“Eh? Why? I don’t understand what—”

“You knew what was going to happen, didn’t you? You knew that lightning charge thing had a humongous risk! You knew what made me do the Rainboom the first time around! The whole ‘putting yourself in danger’ was the plan all along, wasn’t it?”

Her anger perplexed him, but he continued smiling anyways. “No, Rainbow. I wanted the lightning charge idea to work all along. Didn’t work out but you were the fail safe. You were always the fail safe.”

“A fail safe? You put it all on me and you didn’t even tell me about it!”

“Your point being?”

She exhaled an exasperated sigh. “You put your life on the line, Swift. You put all your trust on me just like that. What if I failed you?”

“Never thought you’d let me down for a second. After all, you are the fastest flier in Equestria, aren’t you? I believed you could do it. I always did.”

“But still, I can’t believe you would go that far, just for me.”

He had a few strained chuckles. “Hey, now. What can I say? Sometimes, I’ll do just about anything to do the right thing. Besides, you’d do the same thing, right?”

The corners of her mouth curled up, not having to think of the response. “Definitely, but don’t be doing insane stuff like that all the time, okay?” She patted the hair on top of his head. “That’s my job to do that. You can’t be hogging all the glory.”

“Gotcha,” he answered, grinning. “You can play hero for a while. I need a break.”

“Deal. Now, c’mon. We should go get patched up.”

“That’s a wicked idea except—” His hooves flailed in vain “—ohhhhhhh. Um, I can barely feel anything. I’m kinda stuck here.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes, partly out of amusement. “All right, all right. Guess I’ll just carry you all the way back.”

Easier said than done. She had enough trouble wobbling upright, and trying to help her friend back on all fours added more strain on her tender muscles. When she tried powered flight, a sledgehammer slammed right on her spine. “Ah, ah, ah! Darnit. Swift, can you walk? I don’t think my wings are up to it right now.”

He secured his grip around her neck. “Just don’t go too fast, wontcha?”

“No guarantees,” she answered with a sly smile.

Rainbow had the pace of a turtle, taking her time with each aching step through the forest. The constant rains left the thick grass damp, so she had trouble with proper traction. What caught her off-guard more was the sound of a grumbling stomach. While she had a hankering for full plate, what she heard was somepony wanting a whole buffet.

“My bad,” Swift replied with a light blush. “Must’ve been because of the thing I did when I broke the barrier.”

Rainbow peeked through the canopy to watch the clouds dissolve. “What exactly did you do up there, anyways? I’ve never seen anything like that.”

“I, you know? I have no idea.” He stumbled on some loose rock but quickly regained footing. “The energy, I couldn’t control it. It sent me flying so fast, I guess it’s almost like, no. Not quite like a Rainboom. Whatever I did, it busted up all the clouds in this area. Whew. Talk about knocking two seagulls—”

“Cloud Buster!”

“Eh?”

She snickered at his naiveté. “Duh, Swift! You gotta name any new moves you add to your tricktionary but don’t worry. I took care of that one for you. Sounds awesome, huh?”

“Like I need to do stuff like that, Rainbow.” He snorted a laugh.

“But you should. That’s what us proud pegasi do.”

“Not this again.”

Rainbow sighed and shook her head. “Geez, Swift. You’re still all uppity about that? Well, that’s okay too. I’ll just keep working on it. If I can make you like your name, then I can do anything.”

“Yeah, well—” He stopped, now realizing the plethora of times Rainbow had used his name in conversation in the last few minutes. “Um—”

Rainbow brushed against him and giggled. “Just admit it. You’re getting used to it, just like I said you would.”

“I, um, well, it’s different when you say it.”

She stopped walking just past the last of the trees. “Oh? What do you mean by that?”

He opened his mouth for an answer but something in the distance made his eyes bulge. “Oh, shoot.”

Rainbow looked his direction, noticing a pink dot bouncing in the horizon. Her face turned pale. “Is that, Pinkie Pie?”

Said pony yelled from afar, “It’s Dashy and Fly-Fly! I see them! I see them!”

A few more ponies suddenly appeared behind Pinkie, and soon, all of them ran in their direction. Rainbow’s teeth began chattering, Oh, no. Bad! Bad! The can’t see us like—

Rainbow yelled her surprise, the party pony appearing in front of them. “Pinkie! Umm? W–what’s everypony doing out here?”

Pinkie inhaled some air for the obligatory long explanation. “Oh, you see, we were on the train and everypony saw this really big spiral which went Kerplak! and it blew all the clouds away and I was like, oooooh, pretty spiral and then, Boom! A Sonic Rainboom! I was so excited that I saw another one because all this time, I didn’t even know what it was the first time I saw it back at the rock farm. How silly is that? I should’ve known by the way—”

Via teleportation, Twilight arrived besides Pinkie and silenced the blabbermouth with some tape. “Sorry about that. To keep it short, we were heading back home on the train when all of us say this big explosion in the—”

Twilight stopped, noticing that Rainbow and Swift looked as though somepony tried to barbecue them.

“What in the world happened to you?”

Rarity then arrived, immediately gasping at the flying duo. “Oh, sweet heavens! Your coat! Your mane! And to think I don’t even have my emergency mane kit with me!”

All the others arrived, adding to the inquiry barrage. The questions came too fast for Rainbow to process and respond but Swift had something ready. Thankfully, such an experience only drained the body and not his mind.

“No worries, everypony,” the beaming stallion slurred. “We were just taking a break from weather duty and Rainbow said she wanted a race. Guess we got a little carried away, right, Rainbow?”

Perfect, she thought. She could run with that. “That’s right! Yep, he’s pretty fast, you know, but I totally blew right by him with my Sonic Rainboom.” Rainbow gave him a jab, “Well, too bad, Swift. Maybe next time.”

They had a laugh together. Surely, they had dotted their i’s and crossed their t’s with this false tale.

“But a Sonic Rainboom,” Applejack inquired. “You make it sound like it’s as easy as apple pie when it’s more like making zap apple jam.”

“I thought you hated being called Swift,” Spike added, rubbing his chin. “And since when would you volunteer for a race?”

Rainbow and Swift perspired at the sight of Twilight pacing back and forth.

“Something seems off here.” She gazed at the stallion, “You should’ve been busy taking care of the weather all week—” Twilight swiveled to Rainbow – “and you should’ve been resting that wing. Why do I feel like you’ve two been doing a lot of things together all this time?”

Swift sputtered some nonsensical words before finding his groove, “I–I was… um, Rainbow really really cares about the weather, so she made me report to her constantly about what I was doing. Painful at first and, um—”

“That’s right,” Rainbow interrupted. “He needed a lot of help, not just weather. Along the way, we found some things in common and bam! We’re good friends now! Yep, that’s all that happened. Nothing more to say.”

The unicorn detective scrutinized the faces of her two suspects, “Hmmm. Well—”

Rainbow and Swift fidgeted at Twilight’s hesitation.

Finally, Twilight shook her head. “You two should really be more careful, especially you, Rainbow. Haven’t you learned anything at all from your crash?”

She raised a foreleg, “Um, I suppose… I—”

“Never mind,” Twilight added, frowning. “I already know the answer to that. Let’s get you two on the train.”

Soon, they began the trek toward the stopped locomotive. Rainbow got a reprieve from carrying Swift, courtesy of Applejack, and then had an offer for help of her own from the one pony that had said nothing until now.

“Are you alright?” said a shaken Fluttershy as she held onto her battered friend.

Rainbow reassured her with a squeeze. “Nothing a few bandages can’t fix.”

“I meant that I never got a letter from you. I checked at the front desk every day but nothing came from Ponyville. I just wanted to make sure in case the mail got lost along the way.”

“I was just fine,” she boasted. Then, she gestured Fluttershy to lean in closer. “But there were times when I really missed you guys.”

Fluttershy could hardly contain her gasp. “But then why didn’t you write to me?”

Rainbow gestured at Swift, who was asking Spike about what grub was available in the dining car. “I didn’t need to. I just had to make a new friend. Nothing to it.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” she answered with a wide smile.

“So,” Rainbow continued with more volume, “how was the trip?”

She might as well hit the brake line, for everypony around her stopped in their tracks. Their eyes centered on a sweltering Twilight.

“Um, did something happen in Manehattan,” Swift inquired.

“Nothing!” Twilight blurted out. She then coughed politely to calm her nerves. “I mean, nothing interesting happened. Just some boring uneventful sightseeing of the big city. That’s all we did. Right, everypony?”

All the travelers made various agreeable but panicked noises.

Now the tables had turned. Rainbow put on the detective’s hat, ready to start the inquisition.

“Just drop it, Rainbow,” Swift whispered.

“But they’re hiding something,” she replied in kind. “I just know it!”

Swift used his pupils to point at where the skies once held their hallowed training grounds. That was all she needed to understand.

They had their own secrets to hide. It was fair to let Twilight and friends keep theirs.

Inside Nurse Redheart’s office, the physician pored over a folder with test results for the two patients sitting across her desk. From reading her dour expression, Rainbow presumed she was upset about something. Either that or she had just sat on some cactus.

“Um, Nurse Redheart?”

The nurse rose up and slammed the paperwork onto her desk. “Mister Swift Flying. I would’ve expected such irresponsible actions from Rainbow, but you?”

“Eh?”

Pointing at the sheets, “You had the gall to proceed with your plan without even consulting me about it! Do you even begin to understand how extremely dangerous lightning is to a pegasus?”

“I kinda do now,” replied Swift, rubbing his mane. He added a few strained chuckles.

“This is not a laughing matter! You’re incredibly lucky that we had the proper equipment in storage for the new Ponyville Hospital to help you! Any worse and we would’ve had to send you all the way to Cloudsdale for treatment!”

Swift put his head down. “Sorry, Miss Redheart.”

Redheart leaned back in her chair and sighed. “Fortunately, there’s no permanent damage but I’ll be blunt. You try that stunt again and you’ll be lucky if you’ll walk again. Now, drink and eat heartily and absolutely no strenuous activity for an entire week. Don’t even think of resuming your weather duties at Brayside or I’ll come over and I personally tape you to a palm tree. Understood?”

He swallowed his fear. “Yes, ma’am.”

The nurse then faced Rainbow, “You, plenty of rest as well. You can resume on light duty for this week but I’ll be watching you closely. If I see as much as a loop out of you, I’ll ground you for the entire month!”

“Understood,” Rainbow responded quietly.

The nurse sat up from her chair, “That being said—”

In moments, Redheart had both pegasi in a tender embrace with the widest smile she could manage. “I knew you two could do it. I knew it all along.”

Rainbow could hear a few soft weeps. “Are you crying?”

Redheart wiped away some dampness on her cheek, “I’m not supposed to become so emotionally attached to my patients but I’ll make an exception for both of you.” She released them and patted her chest, “Especially when they have made a full recovery.”

Swift rubbed his hoof on the floor, “So, you sure nopony else knows what happened to us?”

Opening a nearby cabinet, the nurse placed the files inside and then closed the drawer. “As far as everypony else is concerned, you two simply overexerted yourselves today. Oh, and a few impromptu visits over the past few days for general soreness in case anypony caught you sneaking in here. If you want to tell your friends what really happened—”

“Nope,” Rainbow and Swift said in unison.

“That’s up to you but they won’t hear it from me. Before you go, though, promise me something.”

The duo nodded.

“Rainbow, please be a little more careful with your flying.”

“I’ll try.”

“Swift?” Redheart wagged her hoof, “Please use better judgment next time.”

“No worries. It’s not like I’m going to turn out like Rainbow.”

“Hey,” Rainbow responded, wrinkling her nose at him. “You make it sound like that’s a bad thing. I’m a good influence, remember?”

Swift opened the office door, “You’re an influence, all right.”

Walking through the exit, “Why are you smiling at me like that?”

He followed her friend into the hallway, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Redheart sat back down, reflecting on her now departed patients. Even though they had recovered, she wished she had known what had been wrong with Rainbow from the beginning. Too many questions had been left unanswered and based on all the files she had read, other physicians must have feel the same way. At least she could sigh contently and let her mind wander into the more trivial.

“I wonder if they’re…” Redheart tittered as her imagination ran wild. “I’m pretty sure they haven’t told me everything.”

Sugarcube Corner was alive once more.

It was proper that with the party pony’s return that Ponyville’s citizens would celebrate the end of the spring rains that had dampened their spirits for over a week. Ponies drank, danced or otherwise chatted away on plans for the next few scheduled sunny days.

Missing from the crowds was Rainbow and Swift. The former had received a priority letter from Brayside Beach and decided it would be better reading it in a solitary cloud high above the gingerbread structure.

“What does it say?” Rainbow said, trying to get a peek at the unfurled sheet.

Swift’s ears folded down. “It’s an order from by bosses. They want me back ASAP.”

Her smile flipped upside down, “But why?”

Waving around the letter, “There’s a weather report from one of my teammates. Looks like the currents suddenly shifted in Brayside’s direction. We’re going to have some really heavy weather coming soon.”

“Can’t your team handle it by themselves? I mean, Nurse Redheart—”

“I know. That and I don’t even have it in me to fly over the Stallihorns. Still, I can lead the team from the sidelines. I’ll take the train first thing tomorrow morning.”

Rainbow whisked away part of the cloud. “Okay. Duty calls, I guess. I just thought we could actually hang out some more before you left.”

“You make it sound like you won’t see me again.”

“Well, will I?”

He threw out one letter and pulled out another one. “Well, you ever heard about the Stallihorn Zephr project?”

Rainbow paused before slamming her forelegs together. “Of course! It’s the rail line that would connect Ponyville and Brayside Beach together through the mountains!” Her head went down, “But that’s been talked about forever.”

“That talk’s gonna be reality,” he said, winking. “While we were busy with the you-know-what, Brayside finally said yes to the project.”

“That’s great! But what does that have to do with us?”

“Well, the weather all over the mountains is really heavy stuff. They’ve asked for at least two experienced pegasi to volunteer for the project. I thought that maybe, um, since—”

Raising her hoof, “So you’re asking me to volunteer for extra work just so we can see each other again?”

He gave a small nod.

She made a mess of his forelocks. “All right, but only because you’re the one asking me.”

At that moment, the sun had reached the time of day when its colors shifted to sunset mode. However, the hues had an extra touch of vibrancy; bright orange, lush purples, a dash of blue with some subtle reds mixed in between the smattering of clouds sculpted in smooth charming shapes and placed in the perfect places to reflect the light.

Rainbow’s eyes fixated at the work of art spread across the canvas. “Wow! Did you do this, Swift?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, well, I thought I should give the townsfolk a nice beach sunset. My final act as their weather pony.” His enthusiasm vaporized once he peered downwards. “Shoot. That took me forever to set up and just about everypony in town is inside Sugarcube’s. Me and my bad timing.”

Rainbow tapped him in the shoulder. “It’s okay. I saw it and it’s awesome. Thanks for setting it up.”

“No prob.”

She rubbed her hoof, “And thanks for everything that you did for me. I can’t even begin how I can ever make it up to you. But if there’s anything and I mean anything I can do for you—”

“No worries, Rainbow. Really. I needed to make this trip, even with all the bumps on the road. Like all the times you made fun of my name. And the times I was dinged up. And all the juggling between helping you and working.” He shuddered. “And dealing with Thunderlane and Raindrops.”

“But it was worth it, right?”

“Now who’s the one delivering cheesy lines, Rainbow?”

Snickering, “You said it first, Swift. When I think about it, I’m not surprised.”

“Eh?”

“You may look cool but in some ways, you’re kind of dorky.”

“Dorky? Ouch.”

Then, her body temperature ticked upwards. “It’s not all bad. It’s… cute.”

His face burned red, “Well, I wasn’t, um, trying to be… like—”

“Well, you are… um, right now, you’re—”

Moments later, she closed her eyes and leaned in and he did the same. Whatever had struck them, it sure wasn’t paralyzing fear but a calming agent. Closer, closer, the urge to do so was too much to overcome. Magic was inches away from occurring.

A third voice joined the party. “Hi!”

In an instant, Rainbow and Swift’s eyes opened wide and quickly darted to the newcomer riding a flying contraption propelled by bike power.

“Pinkie,” Swift exclaimed.

“What are you doing here?” stammered Rainbow.

“Well, duh! We were going to start a new game, so I wanted to ask you two if—” A light bulb suddenly illuminated over Pinkie’s head, literally. “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” she remarked, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Pinkie!” Rainbow waved her forelegs uncontrollably. “It’s not what you think! We’re just friends!”

Swift pointed repeatedly at Rainbow, “Yeah, yeah! Totally what she said!”

Pinkie giggled. “That’s not whatmy Pinkie Sense tells me!”

Rainbow clenched her teeth and stormed to the edge of the cloud. “Pinkieeeee.”

Ignoring her rising anger, “Hey, you know what this oh, so special moment calls for? A song! And I know just the one, too!”

“No!” Swift stood right up. “No song, Pinkie! We don’t want a—”

“Fly-Fly and Dashie, sitting on a cloud, K-I-S—”

“Pinkie Pie!” both fliers shouted at the top of their lungs.

Pinkie stopped singing and put on a grin. “Oh, you two are just too much fun. Well, don’t worry. I won’t tell anypony about this. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. See you at the party!”

Before Rainbow or Swift could respond, Pinkie descended out of view. Immediately, the two took a seat and stared in opposite directions, afraid to display their boiling-hot embarrassment. The everlasting silence only turned up the heat even more.

Rainbow feigned a cough. “Umm, Swift? About what I just said to Pinkie—”

“N–n worries,” the mane-scratching stallion stuttered. “It’s just been, um, I mean, there’s been too many things going on throughout the last week or so. We’re not thinking straight.”

Rainbow gave a firm nod. “You’re right. Nothing but crazy stuff and… whew! We almost did something too crazy. I mean, we’re friends, right? We can’t stand the fuzzy wuzzy stuff, even between other ponies.”

“Yeah, um, same here.”

She swiveled back and extended a foreleg. “So, we’re cool, right?”

Reluctantly, he gave her a bump before looking slightly downwards. Confusion had taken over him for something he almost did.

Did I have my head in the clouds or something? Why would I even try— He shook his head. Shoot! I think I need a long vacation.

Meanwhile, Rainbow held a sideways glance at her silent distracted partner. There was nary a smile on him and she blamed herself. She couldn’t leave things as is but she had boundaries to maintain. Then she came up with a way to fix the situation and without giving it a thought, she took it.

Without warning, Swift sensed something warm and moist pressing against his cheek. Instantly, every fuse in his body blew out and his wings froze in the upright position. Three seconds suddenly felt like three minutes of nothing but small fireworks exploding with every color of the rainbow.

Then Rainbow pulled away, her task completed. She found herself making circles on the cloud but couldn’t look at the granite statue. “I, um, t–that’s the least I could do. Thanks for…. stuff.”

After a long pause, he mumbled “Eh?”

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I just thought that, um, that would be okay. With you, I mean.”

He muttered another confused grunt.

From below, whatever shenanigans were unfolding had ponies in a laughing riot.

Rainbow slipped out of the trance, her wild emotions smoothing over. “P–party! We should, um, get back to the party.”

The gears in his head groaned back to life, “Party is Pinkie too much punch.”

Rainbow took to the skies, her back to him. “Well, don’t take too long. I think Pinkie was gonna set up the beanbag game for us. You, um, owe me a rematch.”

“R–rematch?”

She left in a hurry, leaving behind a rainbow trail.

Swift touched his cheek, wondering what in Equestria just happened. He’s had lips touch there before – mostly his mother’s – but those were icky revolting moments that he tried purging out of memory. Whatever emotional brew he tasted right now tickled his vocal chords into moving in a way to create a first-ever sound for him.

A quick content whinny.

Swift muzzled his own mouth and then gave himself a piercing slap.

All right, cool your jets, Swift. No need to pa… I just called myself Swift! In my own thoughts!

He plopped onto the cloud belly up and stared at the sky. A few deep breaths and not only did he calm his nerves, he had a few laughs. Free at last, he was free at last from his nightmare that was Flying Stress Syndrome. A peck on the cheek and his name were such small matters compared to that. He could let those worries float in the wind, at least for now.

Rainbow Dash, thanks for being my friend. He smiled wide. Even if you sometimes drive me bonkers.

On a typical sunny Sunday afternoon, the Cutie Mark Crusaders would try new methods to discover their cutie marks with disastrous and hilarious results.

Today, however, Scootaloo was by herself travelling down a lonely dirt road at top speed. After so many failures, the last thing she wanted right now was company, friend or otherwise. She would leave her frustration as deep tire tracks all over town.

What she didn’t see was Rainbow watching from one of the few clouds in the skies. Earlier, she had said her farewell to Swift at the train station. The only part that was even close to solemn was the topic of Scootaloo. Rainbow chose this day to settle that matter and his parting advice was short and to the point.

“Tell her what you told me.”

Once she swallowed her nervousness, she swooped down and impeded her path. “Scoots? I need to talk to you!”

The filly went around her like an anonymous pebble on the road.

Rainbow matched her speed. “Stop!”

Scootaloo found some extra power to add distance but Rainbow remedied that in two seconds.

“Scoots! I know you’re mad at me but will you stop and listen to what I have to say?”

Scootaloo gave her a raspberry.

“Please?” She shook both forelegs together, “I’m begging you. I promise this won’t take long.”

The filly slammed the brakes and came to a dusty stop. “What do you want?”

Rainbow suddenly lost the little speech she had written in her head. “I, um, just wanted to check, um, how you were doing?”

“I’m fine,” she grumbled. “Now, good-bye!” Scootaloo powered up her wings.

Rainbow stood in front of the scooter. “No, wait! I’m not done yet!”

The filly cut the power. “Well? I’m waiting.”

Rainbow had an idea– avoid all the fluff and deliver a bold proclamation. “Ahem! I, um, I hereby declare that once a week, Scootaloo will have the great honor of having personal flight lessons from the most talented flier of all of Equestria, the one and only, Rainbow Dash!”

“Huh? Wha–?” Scootaloo tightened her grip on the handlebars. “Is this a prank or something? Is somepony else forcing you to say that?”

“You’ve got the wrong idea,” she flustered. “I’m not—”

“Stop playing games with me, Rainbow! Just tell me the truth for once! Is that so hard to ask?”

Rainbow sat on her haunches, head down. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry. Okay? I guess I haven’t always been straight with you. Do you want to know why?”

“Yes,” said an exasperated Scootaloo.

“I—” She decreased the volume a notch “—I used to be like you.”

All at once, the filly’s temper flamed out with an inaudible gasp.

“I wasn’t the greatest flier in the world when I was your age. In fact, you could say I used to be one of the worst. I went through so many struggles just to get where I am today and to be honest, I don’t like to remember those times. Seeing your struggles brings up those memories again and, well, I guess it’s easier to be a total wimp and look the other way.”

“Rainbow, I–I didn’t know—”

“I’ve always wanted to tell you but I was just too scared what you would think of me.” She firmed her posture, “But that’s no excuse, Scoots. If anything, that only means I should be helping you out even more. I know what you’re going through so I should be able to make your life easier for you. I may not always have the time but I want to make the time for you. That’s if you’re still not mad at me.”

Scootaloo eased off her scooter and let it fall sideways onto the dirt. “Y–you really mean that? You really want to help me?”

Rainbow squirmed. “I’m not exactly the greatest teacher in the world but if there’s anything I can do to help you earn your wings, it’s the least I can do for my number one fan.” Her hoof extended for an anticipated shake, “So, what do you say? Maybe an hour each Sunday to start?”

She glomped Rainbow’s hoof. “Yes! Yes! I will! I forgive you! Train me, Rainbow! Train me!”

Rainbow tried shaking off her attached fan, “Oh–kay! A little too much there, squirt!”

Scootaloo fell off with a thump. “Oops. Heh, heh. Sorry.” Hopping back up, “But I’m just so excited! I can’t wait to tell Applebloom and Sweetie Bell and—”

Rainbow closed the filly’s mouth. “Actually, you mind keeping this on the down low? You know, if other ponies catch wind of this, then I’ll have a line all the way to Canterlot for personal lessons with the greatest flier that has ever lived. We certainly can’t have that, right?”

The filly saluted Rainbow, “You got it! So, what are we doing first?”

Rainbow froze in place. “Umm? Heh heh. I haven’t exactly planned this out yet. Oh, but I know we’ll need a lot of rope!”

“There’s a lot of that at the clubhouse!”

“Thought so. Your friends went through a lot of ropes for that crazy flying rig, didn’t they?”

“Sure did! We—” Scootaloo’s mind then buzzed in with a question. “Wait a minute? How did you know that? I thought you stayed inside Fluttershy’s all last week.”

She gulped aloud. “Oh, well, you see? Um? Swift! He mentioned that to me… the weather! Yeah. He came over, to Fluttershy’s, to tell me what he was doing with my skies the whole time. He just happened to mention that to me.”

“Okay,” she answered with a smile. “So, what’d you think of him, Rainbow? He seemed pretty nice and I think he did an okay job. Certainly not better than what you would’ve done, of course!”

Her imagination whipped up an image of him: grey coat, two shades of blue for his hair and the most calming cerulean pupils this side of Equestria. She can ever hear his voice, young and with the occasional cracks that gruffer stallions would chide him. She would too but only in jest.

“He’s, um” – She whisked her foreleg on the dirt – “he’s a pretty wicked stallion.”

Scootaloo waved her hoof across her sight line. “Hello? Are you getting sick or something, Rainbow?”

She flinched. “Um, friend! Friend! An awesome friend!”

“Huh?” Scootaloo was either too naïve or too eager for training to comprehend her outburst. “Okay! If you say so.”

Rainbow wiped away some pretend sweat. “Well, no time like the present, kid! Time to fetch some rope!”

The two ponies left together towards the clubhouse, Scootaloo with an extra beat in her wings as she rode on her scooter. Rainbow Dash held a smile on her face. Her life was slowly returning to normal, wings intact and with her personality almost the same way as before her crash. She was still the aggressive competitive braggart with a deep sense of loyalty and the self-proclaimed best flier in all of Equestria. Even her credo remained the same– every day was a good day for Wonderbolts training.

Except on Sundays. That was a good day to help a filly spread her wings and fly.

Author's Note

If you enjoyed this story, continue on to its sequel, Top Wings!