In Pursuit of...

*In Pursuit of Perfection

A My Little Pony Tale*

Chapter 1: Flyby Fantasy

The warm sun rose over the fields and mountains of Equestria, casting its soft glow like a blanket over the land. Inside her home, Rainbow Dash was sleeping restlessly. Today was the day of the Grand Galloping Gala, and as always, her personal heroes, the Wonderbolts, were scheduled to perform.

She turned over and yawned, exhausted. The previous night, she’d been practicing her tricks, in the hopes of finally getting an audition with the famous flying team. She’d practiced her high-speed passes, her flips, and one move she was particularly fond of, the “Sonic Rainboom.” As she yawned, a sudden “whoosh” ripped through the air above the rented house in Canterlot of her friend, Twilight Sparkle, where she was now staying, and Rainbow Dash started awake, gasping. Almost instinctively, and still half-asleep, she rushed to her window and looked out, recognizing the distinct formation of the Wonderbolts flying by overhead. She whinnied with joy and ran outside. Above, they banked left and circled around for another pass. Rainbow Dash’s wings began to flap with excitement when she saw them. They were coming back! Slowly they leveled out, at rooftop level, and screamed by again over her house.

“Yeeha!” she yelled as they flew over.

“What’s up, Dash?”

Rainbow Dash turned around and fell down. Twilight Sparkle, bleary-eyed and obviously still waking up, was standing behind her.

“Oh, hi Twilight!” she grinned, not realizing that her excited wing flapping had lifted her off the ground. She raised a wing to wave, and crashed to the ground in a heap.

“Oh my gosh!” Twilight Sparkle said, running to the scene of the accident, “are you okay?” She nudged the unmoving Rainbow Dash with her hoof, trying to illicit a response. She got nothing.

“Am I okay?!” Rainbow Dash asked suddenly, perking her head up and startling Twilight Sparkle into falling over herself, “I’m more than okay! I’m splendid! I’m walking on the clouds! I’m peachy keen! I-“

“Whoa, slow down,” Twilight Sparkle said, standing up and dusting herself off, “what’s got you so excited?”

“The Wonderbolts!” Rainbow Dash said, pressing her face right up into Twilight’s.

“Oh, right,” Twilight said, “I should’ve known.”

“Yes you should have,” Rainbow Dash said, galloping circles around her friend, “but since you forgot, I’ll remind you.”

Twilight tried to force a smile, but it came out more like a grimace. As soon as her friend’s back was turned, she rolled her eyes. She had to listen to this speech at least once every year, on the morning of the Grand Galloping Gala. Every year, it seemed, was the same.

“Just like every year, the Wonderbolts are going to perform at the Grand Galloping Gala, and after their show, I’m going to ask them for an audition. With my flying skills, they’re sure to say ‘yes,’ and when they see me fly, they’ll ask me to join their team on the spot. Any questions?”

Dash was once again hovering in the air, and extremely excited. Twilight’s mouth hung open at an angle, and her right eye was twitching. When she was worked up about something, Rainbow’s excitement could have that effect on people.

“Hee hee hee! You look funny!” Rainbow Dash looked over just in time to see Pinkie Pie approaching from up the road. She’d seen the expression on Twilight’s face, and was currently overcome with an unconquerable fit of giggles. The bouncing, pink pony stopped right in front of Twilight, kicking up a cloud of dust.

“Huh?” Twilight asked, still shell-shocked from Rainbow’s yearly speech.

“I said you look funny!”

Twilight realized that she was making an extremely strange face, and instantly recovered, grinning.

“Oh yeah, thanks.”

“So what’s all this hoopla about?” Pinkie asked the two ponies.

“Oh, I’m so glad you asked!” Rainbow Dash said, swooping down and landing right in front of Pinkie, “you see, today, the Wonderbolts are-“

“Yes, yes, yes,” Twilight said, “I’m pretty sure she knows.”

“Not really,” Pinkie said, “go on, Dash.”

Twilight groaned as she realized she was about to experience “The Speech” again.

“You know what, guys?” she said, “I’ve got a little more studying to do on a… special recipe, yeah… that I’m bringing to the Gala.”

“Well okay, then!” Pinkie said, “I’ll just stay here. Have fun!”

Twilight smiled and waved, walking back towards her house. She loved Rainbow Dash as much as everyone else, but she knew how quickly her friend could get swept up into her own little worlds. Now, it was probably best to leave her alone.

…

“Sunshine, this is Nimbus. The sky is clear. No unauthorized ponies in the airspace.”

An orange pony with a black mane and tail soared through the air, high above the stadium where the Wonderbolts demonstration was to take place later on. He was wearing a silver helmet with a clear, yellow visor, and his cutie mark was that of a feather.

“Roger, Nimbus. Thank you for your sweep.”

“You’re welcome, sir,” Nimbus said into his built-in microphone, “Nimbus out.”

Nimbus began a slow bank over the stadium. Today was going to be a fun day for everyone here, which meant his job was going to be made much more difficult. Large gatherings and aerial demonstrations were the bane of the Equestrain Air Force, or EAF for short. There were simply too many things that could go wrong. Security had doubled as of late due to reports of dark magic that had apparently been detected along Equestria’s borders, and such things were not taken lightly by the EAF. As a result, Nimbus and a detail of two other ponies, had been sent here to ensure security.

As he looked down at the stadium, he felt a pang of longing. Before he’d joined the EAF, he’d been just like every pony down there. He hated to reminisce, but sometimes it felt good to remember the easier times.

He snapped back to his task at hand. He had a Gala to protect, and that was exactly what he was going to do. Suddenly, a shrill alarm sounded in his helmet, and a small blip appeared on his helmet’s heads-up display on a map.

“Sunshine, this is Nimbus,” the pony said, activating his com and rolling and diving towards the ground, “we have an intruder in the airspace. I say again- we have an intruder!”

…

Rainbow Dash leaped off the ground, headed for the sky. A little practice certainly couldn’t hurt, she reasoned, so why not fly around the stadium before the Gala?

As she soared skyward, she turned around and lined up with the stadium seats, ready for her first move: the high-speed, low-altitude pass. She tucked her wings in for speed and headed for her destination, picking up speed as she went. As she went faster, rainbows began to stream from her coat, hence her name, until she appeared as a colorful streak in the sky. She was just about to buzz the stands when something from above collided roughly with her.

…

“Target sighted,” Nimbus stated, spotting the intruder streaking across the stadium, “engaging with manual force.”

He positioned himself for his attack, tucking in his wings, and folding his legs up, tucking into a ball for speed. Just before the collision, he extended his legs and wrapped them around the target. The pony had no idea what hit her.

…

“Ow!” Rainbow Dash said, smacking solidly into the ground. She hit the soft grass and tumbled, rolling end-over-end until she stopped, confused. What had hit her?

She looked up. Nothing was in sight. Then something hit the ground in front of her with a thud, raising a cloud of dust. Rainbow Dash coughed and blinked. Whatever this was could sure make an entrance. As the dust cleared, she saw the silhouette of another pony- a male Pegasus about her age, standing in front of her. Slowly she could make out his orange coat and black mane and tail.

“What in Equestria did you do that for?” she asked angrily, standing up.

The pony didn’t answer. Instead, he asked his own question.

“What’s your name?”

Rainbow Dash stood tall. “I’m Rainbow Dash, the best flyer in Equestria!”

The orange pony smirked. “Right. Somehow I doubt that.”

“Believe what you want,” Rainbow Dash growled, kicking up dust, “but it’s the truth.”

“I’m Nimbus, a flyer in the EAF,” the pony said, ignoring her. Then he fixed his gaze upon her, glaring with his deep brown eyes. “Rainbow Dash, you have violated restricted airspace under the temporary control of the EAF. What do you have to say for yourself?”

Rainbow Dash gulped, then glared back. If this pony wanted to be tough, she’d show him right back just how tough she could be.