My eyes snapped open at the crash of thunder, my heart slamming against my ribs. The sky flashed white. For a moment, I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming—until hooves grabbed my tail and yanked me clean out of the cloud. Stunned, I barely registered the familiar voice of a pegasus.

"Are you trying to give your sister a heart attack, or is that a side effect of your nap?"

"Rainbow?" I blinked, still shaking off the last bits of sleep. Even though I was staring right at her, my brain lagged behind, like a cloud that hadn’t quite finished forming. My ears flicked back. If Rainbow Dash was here, that meant Applejack had sent her—and that I was in trouble, didn’t it? I swallowed hard, my wings twitching at my sides. Maybe if I acted casual, she wouldn’t make a big deal out of it. Before I could say anything, Rainbow just sighed.

"All they ask is that you check in every few hours. Come on, let's get you back home," she said, leading the way. I followed close behind, mimicking her movements.

I fell in line behind Rainbow Dash. My wings matched hers beat for beat, almost like they had a mind of their own. Flying is easy—when I can copy somepony else. I’ve been doing it since I was little. Everypony at school thinks I’m a natural, but the truth is, I just mimic what I see. It’s like my wings understand before I do—watch, copy, repeat. Maybe that’s why I can never explain how I do it. I don’t think about flying—I just do it.

"Look, your sister isn’t used to looking after somepony who can fly." I already knew what was coming next. My ears flattened—I was well aware of what I did wrong.

"I know, Rainbow Dash. I was just worn out today. I stopped to catch my breath… and I guess I lost track of everything." She shot me a glance out the corner of her eye. It was such a small movement I was surprised I noticed it at all.

She let out a quiet sigh, nearly lost to the wind."Is there something on your mind that’s making you this tired?"

I tensed. We both knew this conversation wasn’t one either of us wanted to have. Talking about feelings always felt like trying to fly with clipped wings—awkward, uncomfortable, and best avoided.

"Nope. Just a lot of running in gym today," I said quickly, hoping she wouldn’t push. To both of our relief, she didn’t.

For a while, neither of us said anything. Then, she asked about gym class. Before I knew it, we were just talking about my day—minus the parts about Guiding Bolt.

I barely had time for my hooves to touch the ground before my sister's voice hit me like a thunderclap. I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sudden boom, ears pinning back as she let loose.

After what felt like forever defending myself, Applejack finally cooled down—though the tight set of her jaw told me she was still far from pleased.

She looks at me and sighs before pulling me into a hug. I squeak as I'm suddenly pulled close to her. I stiffened for a second before leaning in. It wasn’t often I got hugs like this.

"Look sugar cube, I just worry about you. I just want you to check in so I can make sure you ain't getting into too much trouble." Her voice dipped into something softer, the kind of tone she used when tucking Apple Bloom in at night.

"Why don’t you worry about Apple Bloom like that?" The question had been on my mind for a while, even though I could probably guess the answer. Unlike her, my voice was unsure and weary when I spoke. For the first time, I felt the weight of my own age. There was something in my voice—something I rarely heard in adults—but I couldn’t name it.

"Applejack hesitates—just for a second. "'Cause she can't fly," she finally says, voice steady but distant. Then, as if catching herself, she adds with a small smirk, "And with you learning to fly from Rainbow Dash, who knows if you’re gonna get hurt?" Without missing a beat rainbow dash cut in.

"Why am I getting dragged into this?" She says with a smile on her face. She was enjoying the newfound levity.

Applejack chuckles, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. She slowly lets me go, one hoof lingering on my shoulder a little longer than usual before she pulls away.

Then—I feel it. A drop of water lands on my nose.

I blink and glance up. The sky is clear. Not a single cloud in sight.
Huh. That’s weird.

I rub at my nose, frowning, but Applejack just shifts her hat lower over her eyes and clears her throat. "Anyway," she says, voice a little rougher than before, "you better listen to Rainbow if you’re gonna be flying with her."

Rainbow stretches her wings. "Speaking of which, since I’m here, how about a little practice before I gotta head out?"

I grin, already shaking off the weird moment. "Yeah! Let’s go!"

As we take off, I barely notice the way Rainbow glances back at Applejack.

"Alright, pipsqueak, take off as fast as you can from right here!" Rainbow Dash said it like she was asking me to open a door—like it was the easiest thing in the world.

I glanced down. The nearest cloud was way below us.
"But, Rainbow… don’t we need a floor or a perch for takeoff?" I was sure my confusion was written all over my face. She smirked like I’d just fallen for a trick.

"Normally, yeah. But if you do it just right, you don’t need one." She flicked her tail, tilting her head at me. "You ever seen a pony do a quick takeoff?"
I frowned, thinking. The more the question hung in the air, the more I realized… no, I hadn’t. Not really.

"What about a side dive perch?" She says as she mimics the motions of a side dive. The motions looked familiar, but it took awhile for my memory to find where from.

"Yeah I Seen it in books before but not myself." I say lookin' up to the sky. From what Applejack told me they are a little more common in big cities.

"If you remember how to do that launch, do it—but much faster," she said, smiling, seemingly oblivious to how difficult this seemed to me. I wasn't sure if I should feel honored by her faith in me or terrified.

"Alright, I think I've got the idea," I said. In what I thought was a fast motion, my back hooves came up to an imaginary perch, and my body pulled back to meet them. I felt like an accordion. In that quick movement, something weird happened. I could of sworn that something solid was under my hooves. As I tried to push off, it felt like it broke under my hooves. I didn't ever think I would slip when flying, but that was suddenly my reality. I was falling quickly, tail over tea kettle towards the floor. I was having trouble righting myself, but its not often you are in this position or lack there of. As I plummeted toward the ground, I felt hooves wrap around me. Like a dip on a rollercoaster, we fell for a moment longer before swooping back into the air.

"Not bad, besides the whole falling-to-earth thing. Fix that, and you would have done it perfectly," she said. I couldn't see her face, but I could hear the smile in her voice.

"Thanks a ton. I'll keep that in mind," I said in a sarcastic monotone, but the lingering terror crept in. Her chuckle eased my nerves. I was sure there were few pegasi I'd rather have had there than her. We flew back into to the air where we started As she stared to speak.

"All jokes aside, that was pretty close. You really are a natural flyer. Actually, that was really close. Right idea, but you hesitated." I smiled hearing that I was close to getting it on my first try.

"Thanks, but if I were such a natural, you'd think I'd have my cutie mark by now." I say with a chuckle, looking down at the view a bit embarrassed from the compliment.

"I'm sure you're closer than you think to finding out what it'll be. You catch on to things fast." She gave me a pleasant smile before turning her attention back to the task at hand. "Okay, that was a pretty good try, but you need to follow through. When you went back to the ready position, you hesitated before pushing forward. That's why you dropped like a ton of bricks."

"Yuh, when I went back, I felt something under my hooves. What was that." I say not doing very good at hiding my surprise.

"It works sort of like walking on clouds. Clouds are basically water, and there's a lot of that in the air. But you have to be fast, or it won't work. If you take too long, you'll go right through it, like standing still on a cloud. Since there's a lot less of it, you have a lot less time," she said, smiling. "Here, I'll show you." She looked ahead, preparing to go. "Ready?" she asked, staring forward.

"Ready," I said. As if my voice were the starting cannon, she instantly became a blur. She was suddenly in the same position I'd been in. But with her, there was no hesitation; her legs strained as she pushed off the air.I heard a small crack—like a cloud bursting apart—before she was gone. It was almost like she vanished. I turned to look and see her take a wide turn before coming back to where I was.

"See? Easy as pie." She said with a smug smile.

"That's easy to say when you're about twice my age, " I said, mimicking her smile. Thinking about it, I wasn't even sure if she was aware of her smile.

"Hey, I'm not that old!" She says, smiling back at my comment.

"Wait... How old are you?" She didn't seem to appreciate this line of questioning as much.

"Hey, don’t you know it’s rude to ask a mare her age? Besides, we're here to get you flying better, not play 20 questions." She says, rolling her eyes with a smile on her face. Showing no hard feelings, or at least thats what I think it means.

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry about that." I say with a small blush cause I didn't even think about that. Though sometimes it feels like some words just fall out of my mouth.

"Alright kid, you just do it like I showed you and Ill follow just behind just to make sure you don't get hurt. Also, once your legs are starting to straighten out, give one hard flap with your wings, then start flying as fast as you can." She says. She braced herself, looking ready to go. "Alright, go for it once your ready!"

I look forward a good bit nervous. I take a few deep breaths trying to calm my nerves. Then It felt almost like I was possessed. The nerves was gone, and my body moved on its own free will. This time, as I pushed off, the air beneath my hooves felt solid. My legs snapped straight, my wings flared, and then—CRACK!—I was airborne, rocketing forward faster than ever before. It felt like running on a treadmill at a really fast speed. You have to run as fast as you can and if you muck up its gonna be bad. I never went this fast before except one time I free falled before pulling up after a good bit. It was scary but exciting. This only lasted maybe ten seconds before I felt a pain in my back and wings. It was a pain that I was familiar with but rarely felt in my wings except when Its been a lot of work in the sky's. My back and wing muscles screamed in protest, too exhausted to keep me aloft. It was like holding a weight too heavy to lift—one second I had control, the next I was plummeting, the wind roaring in my ears as the clouds rushed toward me.

"Close your wings!" Rainbow Dash called, quickly closing the gap behind me. With little hesitation, I used the last of my energy to force my wings to fold on my back. As soon as my wings snapped shut, I felt Rainbow's hooves wrap tightly around me. She pulled up just in time, narrowly missing the cloud before slowing us down for a landing. Once we landed, My legs felt tired and shaking. I collapsed onto the ground, chest heaving as I caught my breath. At first I thought it was just my nerves cause that was a good bit terrifying, but once the adrenaline started fading I realized I was exhausted.

"W-why am I so dang tired?" I asked, still struggling for breath. I usually don't feel this tired even after a day of work.

"The best way to think about it is like this. You know how sprinting is super exhausting? That would be us flying at our fastest taking off from the floor. A quick takeoff is even more intense—it's basically an all-out burst of power. You just need to build up your stamina." She says with a smile on her face.

"How do I do that?" My breath started leveling out some. I slowly starting to get up despite my bodies reluctant my body was to comply.

"Easy. If you're not sitting, hover. No walking—except for a morning jog so your legs don't weaken. Got it?"

"Sounds like a nightmare to be frank." I say knowing that this was gonna be real hard.

"You'll be fine. You're making amazing progress. Just make sure to get rest tonight. The first day is always the hardest."

"Good to know. Ya, think you can help me back to the house? If you said my legs was gone, I'd believe you." A chuckle escaped my lips with my plea.

She chuckled as her wing wrapped around my body supporting my weight. We started walking back to the house at a slow pace since my legs didn't feel like moving like they normally do. Ever since we started training, I don’t think I’ve seen anything but a smile on her face. Every time we train, she’s always smiling.

"Rainbow, why do you always look so happy when we train?" I look up at her but being close to her side it was hard to see her face.

"Because it’s a lot more fun being the one teaching."

Author's Note

Hope you like the new chapter. Let me know what you think. I'm aware there may be some Grammer error. I spent a good amount of time looking for them all. Im real hit or miss when it comes to Grammer, even with grammerlys help. Need to get pro lol