Head in the Clouds

by Calm Wind

Rating: teen
Tags: Wonderbolts, Spitfire, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Soarin, Rainbow Dash, Romance, Fleetfoot
Length: 51585

Fame and fortune have their values. But sometimes ponies just want to be normal.

The Wonderbolts are debuting a new show in the skies of Ponyville. Rainbow Dash is ecstatic to see a performance up close and personal. But when she is left speechless by their unbelievable techniques, she begins to question her chances. Lost in her thoughts, a very unexpected surprise throws her life into a roller coaster. A story of staying true to yourself and knowing when to listen to your heart, even if it isn't the logical choice.

Featuring art by: lortstreet54, shad0w-wo1f!, PenumbraGlow0290 Deviantart: bonnama, colorstirkeand rulette, Astrum

Also a small animation in chapter 2 by: HarlenBooks

This story has not been fully edited yet, i apologize for anything sloppy.

Published 2012-11-11 07:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-05-12 07:51:22 UTC

Chapter 2

MLP: FiM
Head in the Clouds
By: Calm Wind

Chapter 2

RAINBOW DASH YAWNED as she flew towards sweet apple acres. She was excited about Soarin showing her his special techniques, but how could she not let a yawn slide? She had just sat through a weather team meeting. She couldn’t think of anything else in life that was more boring. They were about 100% boring. Even with her natural talent to make anything 20% cooler that still left 80% boring to deal with.

She headed to the south end of the ranch near where she and Scootaloo always met up. There was a nice wide clearing near the Cutie Mark Crusader’s club house that was the perfect size for practice or play. She landed near the trees before the clearing and stretched out her wings a few times. She decided warming up a bit would help, and since there was no sign of Soarin yet it’s not like she had anything better to do.

“Well, imagine running into you here.” The sudden voice caressed her ears in a familiar violating way. She stiffened and gasped quietly. There was no mistaking that overconfident tone. She turned her head around just enough to catch a glimpse of Rapidfire’s yellowish orange figure. She quickly faced back forward.

Now she remembered what Spitfire had told her. Rapidfire was a flirt and apparently a peerless sweet talker despite his failed attempt to woo Rarity. It was hard to please Rarity when it came to stallions, her number one rule that they be polite. Rapidfire lost that battle before he even started it.

The only other interaction Dash had had with Rapidfire was when she caved beneath his forward approach. She had gotten used to the Wonderbolts being around, but he didn’t know that meaning he’d probably be just as forward.

“I was just going for a walk and saw you out here all alone. It makes sense with Apple mare, but with you I’d guess you’re just out to enjoy yourself.” He walked up beside her. Dash tried her hardest to avoid eye contact. She wanted to tell him off, but he was a Wonderbolt. Despite being more comfortable around them, she still respected the very ground they walked on and the air they flew through.

She jumped as she felt something touch her tail. She bit her lower lip and glanced back at her tail to see Rapidfire brushing his tail against hers. Her face was engulfed in a nervous and embarrassed blush as he slowly slid his tail along hers towards her body.

“You know they say at the end of a rainbow is a pot of g—”

The loud rasp of someone clearing their throat came from the tree above them. Rapidfire flinched and sighed with a chuckle,

“I never took you for the stalking type. Maybe you aren’t as innocent as you seem, eh Sir White Knight Soarin?” Rapidfire sneered while glancing up. Dash quickly turned and looked into the tree to see Soarin glaring down at Rapidfire.

“Seriously Rapidfire? You can’t even go a day without backing a mare into a corner?” He floated down and got in Rapidfire’s face. “Didn’t we tell you to leave them alone?”

“Spitfire told me to leave them alone. What are you going to do? Tell on me? I’m soooo scared of her please don’t I beg of you!” He mused in a very sarcastic matter, swaying back, and forth, and giving him puppy dog eyes. Soarin glared harder.

“I swear to Celestia,” Soarin shoved Rapidfire against the tree, “if we weren’t teammates I’d beat you sensless!” Dash stepped back, surprised at Soarin’s anger. She had yet to see this side of him, but the way that Rapidfire so easily got under his skin suggested there was more to this than she knew. Rapidfire winced as he was forced against the trunk, but then smirked and lifted an eyebrow.

“What have we here? It usually takes me at least a few minutes to aggravate you,” he stole a quick glance at Rainbow Dash, causing his sneer to widen even more if it was even possible, “oh that I’d live to see this day.”

“Something funny?” Soarin looked like he was about to give Rapidfire a swift right hoof to the face.

“I’ve always known you to be the white knight in shining armor to come and rescue the mares from big bad Rapidfire,” he whisked a hoof through his mane, “but something’s different here,” he rubbed his chin, “could it be Little Rainbow here? You seem a little more protective of her than you usually are. Could it be you care about her?” Soarin’s eyes widened a little.

“Stay away from her!” Soarin snapped.

“Bullseye!” Rapidfire laughed and slipped from Soarin’s hoof, “you have a thing for her? Ah little Soarin is growing up! I think I’m gonna cry!” Rapidfire taunted while trotting in a wide arc around Soarin, faking a sniffle. The more Dash watched the more she felt like never respecting Rapidfire again. Forget him being a Wonderbolt, unlike the rest of the team he wasn’t a normal pegasus beneath the uniform. He was just a straight douche bag. Rapidfire made his way around Soarin and over to her. “You better be careful big guy, I might just sweep this one out from under you!” He draped his arm over Dash’s shoulders.

Soarin grunted and prepared to charge at Rapidfire, but before he got the chance Dash placed her hoof on Rapidfire’s head.

“You wish, jerk!” She forced him down and slammed his face into the dirt. Soarin’s expression instantly faded to surprise. Dash quickly motioned for him to follow and took off towards the cloudy sky. Soarin glanced towards Rapidfire, then at her retreating form. He nodded approvingly and followed.

“Well you handled that better than last time.” Soarin chuckled as he landed near Rainbow Dash on the thick clouds. She shrugged.

“I was still a bit shocked from you guys just being here when he tried the first time. When I saw him being a creep to both of us I just really wanted to put his face in the dirt,” she made a punching motion from one hoof to the other. She smiled, but only earned a brief somewhat forced laugh from Soarin before he sighed. She picked up on this. “So, I don’t mean to pry, but you two don’t seem to get along that much.” She asked as she lay back in the cloud.

“No we don’t,” he put plainly and quickly, “and if Spitfire didn’t keep us separate most of the time I swear I’d rip his wings off.” His voice was harsh and sounded very irritated. Dash gritted her teeth and edged slightly away from him. The subject clearly put him off. Any trace of his usual upbeat and goofy demeanor was nowhere to be seen.

“Um, sorry I brought it up.” She looked away.

“No no, it’s fine,” Soarin sighed, “you got caught in one of our disputes, you have a right to know.”

“Really Soarin, you don’t—” She was cut off as Soarin extended a wing and held his longest feather against her mouth.

“No buts, I’m telling you,” he retracted his wing and Dash obeyed, “well, unlike Spit and Fleet, I didn’t know Rapidfire until we were stuck together on the third squad. From the start none of us liked him. He’s brash, impolite, disrespectful, and a mareizer. He likes nothing more than to get under my skin and he knows exactly the kinds of things that bother me. He purposely gets me involved in things I either dislike or am uncomfortable with just to make me angry. Luckily our paycheck keeps him in line when it comes to shows. If he brought his personality into our performances we’d be ruined. If only he took after his parents.” He stopped there and shook his head. Dash tipped her head to the side,

“Were his parents Wonderbolts too?”

“Blazetail and Flashwind.”

“WHA—” Dash fell through the cloud, popping back up a few seconds later and landed right in front of Soarin, “he’s the son of the legendary—”

“Yes.”

“And I just,” Dash put her hooves on her head, “oh god I just pushed his head in the dirt!”

“Whoa, whoa hey,” Soarin stood up and put his hooves on her shoulders, “he deserved every bit of it. Don’t let who his parents are make you respect him,” Dash settled down and looked Soarin in the eyes, “In fact they’d probably be glad you gave him a piece of your mind! He’s always been like this. He thinks he’s a hotshot by default just because his parents were legends, like he’s owed a certain amount of respect and never eligible for denial.”

“Oh I know that type,” Dash rolled her eyes, “I ran into so many back in flight school.”

“See? We’re just normal. Even if his parents were amazing, he’s just another idiot who doesn’t know better nor cares,” Soarin fell back into the cloud on his back, “but enough about him, I believe I promised you some special training.” Dash perked up. She smiled giddily and flapped her wings.

“Yes! Teach me the Sonic Blast Off!” She hopped up and down. Soarin snorted and held back a laugh.

“The what?” He chuckled.

“The Sonic Blast Off!” She repeated.

“It’s called Power Acceleration.”

“And that’s lame,” she waved a hoof at him, “so I renamed it and by default that makes anything cooler.” She grinned confidently while placing a hoof on her chest.

“Can’t argue with that,” Soarin rolled his eyes jokingly, “how about this then? If you can pull it off, I’ll rename my signature move to the Sonic Blast Off!” Dash’s eyes went wide. Competition was her game, but being given credit for the name of a Wonderbolt move? She couldn’t think of anything that would be more awesome besides becoming a Wonderbolt herself.

“Consider it learned!” She flashed an eager smile.

“Let’s be off then! Follow me, I found a good place we can do it.” He turned to take off, but he felt a hoof wrap around his. He glanced down and saw Dash’s hoof stopping him.

“Soarin, well, I,” she blushed, not quite used to this kind of thing, “thanks for looking out for me with Rapidfire. Before you showed up I felt completely frozen.” Soarin grinned back.

“The least I can do, you’ve been so kind to all of us.”

“But really Soarin, you’re awesome. Not just as a Wonderbolt, as a pony. I love my friends to death, but it’s great to connect with someone who understands me down to the core of my interests. Thanks.” She struggled to look at him throughout. He remained quiet for a moment, watching the bashful and somewhat clumsy attempt. Much like how she was getting to know him beneath the surface, he felt he was beginning to know her. Dash spent most of her time sporting a tough exterior, but even the hardest of shells may contain a soft interior.

“Thanks Dash. I appreciate it, really.” He spread out his wings. “Now how about we catch some speed?” He watched as Dash’s expression did a full turn to her usual confident smirk.

“Let’s do it!”

They picked an area of land just outside the of the Apple family’s property, a wide open grassy area with little obstruction save for a few trees here and there. Dash set down and began doing her typical warm-ups as Soarin did a few of his own.

“Alright,” Soarin turned to her while flapping his wings a few times, “now watch and listen closely, it may look simple, but it’s fairly complicated,” Dash nodded with determined eyes. Soarin turned sideways, “I’ll go through each motion slowly and separately. Take note of my body and wing position in each one or else it won’t work. Got it?”

“Right!”

“Good. Now you start by planting your hooves firmly to the ground with a wide base,” he did so, “if your legs are too close together there’s no way you can generate enough force. Next,” he spread out his wings, “just like when you try to accelerate while flying, the first part of the motion is to reach your wings forward while leaning back. Think of it like a sling shot: Your wings are the base and your body is the band.” He paused after assuming the ready position so Dash could look him over. “Now the hard part. To put it simply, you have to jump and swing your wings back at the same time.” Dash blinked and tipped her head to the side.

“That doesn’t seem too complicated.”

“Silence young grasshopper you have much to learn,” Soarin smirked, “It may seem simple, but the simplicity ends at the explanation. Your form with each motion in the jump must be perfectly fluid and in synch with your wing movements. All of your forward acceleration must be generated at the same time or you will either face-plant, start very slowly, or get completely smacked down by the air cone.” He turned sideways again and reset his stance. “The front plant, the back legs coming forward, the front push off, and the back push off,” he demonstrated the typical form that every pony knew for a normal jump, “they all must connect. If any part of it is mistimed or not perfect it will all fail. Then you must push your wings back with all your strength as you give the final push off your hind legs.” Dash kept nodding throughout. This was definitely more complicated than just jumping. Soarin saw her taking mental notes and grinned. “The end result?”

Dash’s eyes widened as he planted his feet. He was going to demonstrate up close and personal. Soarin’s eyes narrowed and his body tensed. He grunted as he leaned back and reached his wings out in front of him. Seeing it up close really did show Dash the difference, he went through the jump motions quickly, but so smoothly that it looked like his entire body moved at once. He forced his wings back vigorously as his back hooves pushed off the ground. Soarin fired from his spot, the wake of his takeoff forced Dash to squint and shield her eyes. A loud boom sounded very close by as Soarin broke an air pocket less than a second after takeoff. Dash was thrown off her hooves and tumbled to the ground. She forced herself back up quickly and saw Soarin zipping to and fro across the sky at extremely high speeds.

Animation by: HarlenBooks

“Whoa…” was the only response Dash could muster as she struggled to follow his movements. Soarin did a few more passes before turning back towards her. As he neared he spread his wings and body out to air brake as he approached. Despite still going very fast as he touched down, he angled himself and pushed his hooves hard into the ground, skidding to a stop beside dash, leaving kicked up grass and dust behind him.

“And that *huff* is my *huff* signature *huff* move.” He plopped down on the ground to catch his breath. Dash could only stare wondrously at him. There were very few things she considered to be more awesome than herself. The list currently stood at two with the Wonderbolts themselves and Daring Do. Soarin’s power acceleration was now the third. It was so cool she almost felt dizzy thinking about it.

After a few moments, Soarin got to his hooves with a sigh.

“The only downside is this move is very tiring. Don’t tell Spitfire I did that, she’ll get on me for not resting my body.”

“But, I saw you do it at least twice during the show.” Dash’s eyes widened.

“Three times actually,” Soarin chuckled, “and that’s usually my limit. I was out on a couch in sugar cube corner while we were waiting for the Cakes to call us down.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Dash turned and trotted out to where he started, “ready to have your mind blown?” She confidently announced. Soarin lay down on the ground and rested his chin on his hooves in front of him.

“It’s rigged to blow, show me the spark!”

Dash faced forward and replayed to herself what she saw. She set her hooves, took a deep breath, leaned back and reached her wings forward. This would be a piece of cake, she was very good at remembering and mimicking moves, she did it all the time after watching her idols for so long. She told herself over and over in her head to make her next motions as smooth and precise as possible. With one last breath, her eyes fixed forward and she went through the motions. Front hooves, back hooves, front jump, back jump, and force wings!

The force of her wings sent her face straight into the ground with a loud thump.

“OW!” She shouted, quickly rubbing her nose. That was very embarrassing. She nervously glanced at Soarin, who smiled, put his hooves on his head, and made a comical sound of an explosion while moving his hooves away. Dash glared at him. “Yeah, yeah, very funny.”

“You were too stiff. You need to utilize all of your power, but if the movement is too rigid you will have no control over it. Remember,” he stood up and trotted right beside her, “strong base, smooth follow through,” he nodded at her, “strong base,” he planted his hooves firmly, “smooth follow through,” he slowly did the entire motion.

“Alright, let me try it again.” Dash replanted her hooves and concentrated. She took into account his words. Strong, but smooth. She repeated the motions, but this time made sure not to tense herself in the jumping motion. She thrust her wings back, and to her surprise accelerated much faster than she ever had before. Soarin’s eyes widened in disbelief as she fired from her spot.

“No way,” he was stunned. However, less than a second later from taking off, Dash was repelled by an air pocket and tumbled roughly to the ground. She groaned as she lifted herself up and shook her herself off.

“What happened, I thought I had it!” She pounded her hooves on the ground in frustration.

“I thought you did too,” Soarin landed beside her, “Dash, that was extremely impressive,” he reached out his wing and brushed a few stray grains of dirt from her wings, “you managed to copy my signature move on your second try. You are very talented.” He winked at her. Dash thought her heart was going to stop. She just received praise from a Wonderbolt. That was more than enough to make her giddy. But the feeling was short lived.

“Thanks Soarin, but, why didn’t it work?” She looked to him for an answer, but she was surprised with what she got,

“I honestly don’t know,” he rubbed a hoof in his mane, “you did everything perfectly as I said. Do it again,” he urged her on. She obeyed and tried again. She was a quick learner. Once she figured out a move, muscle memory had it saved for good. She repeated all the motions exactly how she had before, this time with Soarin watching carefully. She fired from her spot, and just like before, hit an invisible wall, and tumbled to a halt on the ground.

“Argh! What am I doing wrong?” She fumed while patting specs of dirt and grass from her face. Soarin had watched the whole process and was in deep thought. She had done every motion perfect, only she kept getting batted down by the air pocket, while he always pierced right through it.

“Hmm?” A thought dawned on him. He glanced at Dash’s body and her wings, then looked down at his body and stretched his wings out to eye them. Then he replayed both of her lift offs in his head, taking into account what it felt like when he did it. “Aha!” He came to a conclusion. Dash looked to him as he approached her. “I got it. There’s really only one reason why it isn’t working for you.”

“Which is?”

“Strength.”

“What?” It wasn’t the answer she expected. Soarin trotted around her.

“I’m the Wonderbolt “power flier”. I have that name because I do most of the throwing and swinging of our other members, because of my Sonic Blastoff, and because I’m the most resilient against g-forces. When it all comes down to it, my role is that of strength.” She knew all of this. She didn’t know what he was getting at. “Because of that strength, I’m able to push off much harder than you during the motions, thus I break the air pocket with ease. The reason you fail to break the air pocket is because you can’t generate enough force through the acceleration.”

“So I’m not strong enough.” Dash summed up.

“Basically.”

“Could’ve just said that,” she rolled her eyes, “you went all science on me.”

“I felt like going into detail.” He shrugged. Dash could only sigh as she thought on his explanation. She glanced at his body. He had a muscular body and wings, not to mention his wings were bigger than hers, and he had the advantage of being a stallion. Perhaps this was a lost cause.

“Wait a second, did you call it the Sonic Blastoff?” She suddenly remembered. Soarin chuckled.

“A deal’s a deal.”

“HAHA! YES!” Dash jumped up, forgetting all about her frustration, “it’s okay Soarin, I’m naturally victorious, you’ll get used to it!” She nudged him as they shared a good laugh. She decided not to sit and mope about it. If more strength was what she needed to pull it off then she would work on that. She knew she had the wing power, but Soarin’s move clearly required body strength as well. She didn’t spend much time on the ground. Perhaps she would get some help from some earth ponies.

After she spent most of her day with Soarin, Dash bid him farewell to meet up with her friends at the spa. She wasn’t the biggest fan of it, but Rarity always went out of her way to reserve the whole place for them, so she wasn’t going to turn it down. She usually spent most of her time there in the hot tub or getting a massage. Everything else you could do there weirded her out a bit.

“So a few more harvests and we’ll finally have enough t’expand the barn!”

“That’s great news Applejack, how long have you been saving?” Twilight and Applejack were conversing behind Dash as she relaxed in the hot tub.

“About a year now. We’ve been putting aside some bits here and there from our profits.” Applejack explained with pride.

“I’m s-s-s-s-s-sooooooo h-h-h-h-h-apppy f-f-f-for-r-r you!” Rarity reached up to halt the masseuse for a moment, “that old barn really needed some remodeling.” She waved to the masseuse and she started up again.

“Speaking of the farm, oh, if you’re done Rarity, it’s too bad the Wonderbolts can’t be here. I’m sure a nice massage would help relieve them. They sound like they’re overworked.” Fluttershy expressed her worry as she received a much, much, much lighter massage than Rarity. As she continued, Dash spotted a small tube traveling towards her in the tub. It took a turn and passed near her. She rolled her eyes and put her hoof over the opening. After a few seconds the tube began to shake and Pinkie shot up out of the water, wearing goggles, a snorkel, and some flippers, gasping for air.

“It’s not a swimming pool Pinkie.”

“It’s close enough!” Pinkie dove right back underwater and the tube began circling the tub again. Dash shook her head and emerged from the tub, she walked down behind a curtain and shook herself off, flapping her wings a few times to get most of the water out of the feathers. She draped a towel over her back and walked back over to where the rest were relaxing.

“I hear ya Fluttershy, I keep thinking I should be doin’ more for ‘em, but Sweet Apple Acres is the only darn place in town where they won’t get mobbed.” Explained applejack as Dash lay down on the cushion next to her.

“Nah, you don’t have to worry,” Dash waved a hoof forward, “that’s exactly what they want, I was hanging out with Soarin yesterday and,” Rarity zipped over, nearly pressing her face to Dash’s.

“Details!” She squealed with delight. Applejack reached over and pushed Rarity back.

“Not every mare and stallion that get together are gettin’ friendly drama queen, now let Quake finish, ya keep interruptin’ your massage,” she nudged her back over to the table as Dash just sat with an annoyed blush on her face, “and?” Applejack urged her on.

“Oh right. Being away and secluded from the rest is exactly what they were looking for. At least that’s what I picked up from the mares. Soarin actually said it to me, but I could care less about Rapidfire. We should just throw him in the middle of the town square.” Her grumpy finish made Applejack chuckle.

“A nice grass facial ya gave him!” She laughed.

“You saw that?”

“Naw, Fleetfoot did. She came flyin’ in to Spitfire and the two were rollin’ around the floor laughin’”

“No way!” Dash got a kick out of that, the two Wonderbolt mares approved of her stuffing Rapidfire’s face in the grass, she loved it. Then she remembered something important. “Oh hey Applejack I got a favor to ask.”

“What’s on yer mind sugar cube?” Dash looked at the rest of her friends and scooted towards Applejack to make sure the rest didn’t hear.

“So I’m trying to learn a move Soarin showed me today, problem is, it requires leg strength. You don’t think Big Mac would mind if I helped out in the fields with some of his heavy lifting?”

“Sounds more like a favor for us, but,” Applejack lifted an eyebrow, “you wanna help Mac with his work?”

“Yeah.”

“There’s a reason he’s the one that does his portion ya know.”

“I figured.”

“But ya still want to?”

“Of course.”

“Well then,” she shrugged, “If yer looking to strengthen the legs, I can’t think of a better way than farm work, but be warned, Mac’s work ain’t easy.”

“And I’ll do anything to get this move right!” Dash pounded her chest with a hoof.

“Alright, and thanks by the way, it’s always good to have some extra help. Mac works pretty much all day, so come by whenever, I’ll let him know you wanna help.”

Rainbow Dash felt way in over her head as she heaved a small cart of apples towards the Apple Family barn. She had come by the next day to help and already felt spent after half an hour of work. She forced herself not to use her wings, but the more she struggled the more and more she wanted to break that rule.

“Ugh!” she stopped in the shade for a brief rest, “how does Big Mac do this all day?!” she yelled to herself. As if on cue, Big Mac trotted past her at a casual pace, pulling a cart at least five times the size of hers, filled to the brim with apple baskets. She first viewed it with awe, then remembered it was Big Mac so it shouldn’t be surprising. Then she realized it was perfect timing for some self motivation. “Look at that smug workhorse. Thinks he can waltz right by me like I don’t even exist? I’ll show him!” She taunted herself. She dug her hooves into the ground and forced the cart into a solid pace behind her. She made her goal to at least keep up with Big Mac.

This only lasted a little while. Dash found herself stopping for frequent breaks. Despite her aching body, she managed to keep it up until mid afternoon.

“Last carts, then we lock up for the day.” Explained Applejack as she finished unloading the carts Dash and Mac had just brought in. “Second lunch, then plow Mac we gotta get some new trees planted in the east field.”

“Eeyup.” Mac replied and began down the path one more time.

“Ah, wait up!” Dash stood up from resting and trotted after him, earning a chuckle and smile from Applejack. She was surprised Dash managed to hold up.

Dash kept her pace behind Mac, more than ready to get the last haul over with. Then she spotted something out of the corner of her eye, an orange pony moving about the trees a little ways off to her left. She stopped and turned her head. She saw the pony again and this time she could clearly see who it was. A very familiar orange pegasus stallion. He had a smirk on his face that spelled, bolded, and underlined trouble. Dash glanced at Mac, who had pulled away from her. She didn’t want to abandon her little job, but she wanted to be sure Rapidfire wasn’t doing anything bad. She quickly parked her cart by a nearby apple tree, unhooked herself and quietly weaved between the trees after him.

During a brief moment where he turned around, Dash hid for a few seconds behind a trunk. When she looked out, he was gone. She cursed herself for losing him, and began carefully searching around for some trace of where he went.

Then she heard a quiet yelp. It sounded far away, but there was one possibility that Dash hoped wasn’t true. There was one way it could have been close too, and only one pony was that quiet. She followed the direction of the sound and peeked around a trunk. The sight infuriated her.

She was right, it was Fluttershy, and she had been backed against the trunk of an apple tree by Rapidfire. She was wearing saddlebags, which looked to be filled with food and picnic supplies. She was staring wide eyed at Rapidfire, who approached her with his usual cockiness.

“Where are you off to in such a hurry?”

“I, uh, I mean I’m, I’m going, um.” Her quiet voice was frantic and panicked. As Rapidfire advanced, she turned sideways and slowly lowered further and further to the ground with no other direction to go. Rapidfire placed a hoof on the tree over her shoulder and stared down at her.

“Hey, hey, no need to be scared. I’m just looking for some fun. I wouldn’t dare be rough with a delicate little thing like you.” The closer he edged his face to her’s, the more she tried to curl up. Eventually she shut her eyes tight and began whimpering. “Don’t worry, I’m a gentle stallion,” her ran a hoof into her hair hanging down over her face.

Flutterhsy was so frightened she couldn’t even scream for help. Rapidfire was clearly unaware of her extreme social anxiety. He was putting her in a traumatic situation. Rainbow Dash was ready to leap out, but a streak of light blue flew down from above and slammed to the ground beside him. A hoof was pressing against his shoulder an instant later.

“Rapidfire! Enough!” Soarin yelled in his face, visibly annoyed and angry.

“Sweet Celestia Soarin, can’t you just leave me be?” Rapidfire rolled his eyes. Fluttershy’s eyes had snapped open and she was frantically glancing between the two stallions. Her heart was beating furiously, she felt helpless beneath the sheer presence of the two she both didn’t really know or trust.

“None of us are going to leave you alone if you keep bothering every mare you come across!”

“Oh get over yourselves!” Rapidfire chuckled, brushing Soarin’s hoof from his shoulder, “What I do is my business. Why don’t you go back to Little Rainbow?”

“Don’t bring her into this!” Soarin gritted his teeth.

“Such a temper over one mare? Face it Soarin, you’re head over hooves for her. She’s quite a little bundle of tough isn’t she? You know the ones that resist the most are always the most satisfying when—”

“Say one more word. I dare you. Say one more thing and screw the Wonderbolt code of conduct, I’m gonna pull all the feathers from your damn wings!” Soarin crouched down, ready to charge at Rapidfire. Rapidfire only laughed and glanced at Fluttershy.

“Oh don’t worry Soarin, you have time,” he leaned his head towards Fluttershy. Her pupils shrank and followed his movements as he grew closer to her. She began to breath heavily, “I’m a little occupied at the moment, but I’ll be sure to pay Little Rainbow a visit right after!”

Soarin leapt at Rapidfire, tackling him to the ground. Fluttershy screamed in terror and covered her head with her hooves. The two rolled on the ground, trying to gain an edge. As the roll ceased, Soarin connected a right hoof to Rapidfire’s jaw, sending him to the ground. Soarin quickly burst after him, but Rapidfire kicked up dirt, blinding Soarin. He yelped in pain and tried to wipe the dirt from his eyes. He received a strong buck to the side, sending him rolling to the ground. Rapidfire charged, but Soarin rounded himself and head butted Rapidfire in the chest as he delivered a left hook to Soarin’s side. The two fell back from each other, but quickly went right back at each other.

Suddenly, as they were about to exchange blows again, two strong hooves caught them by the necks and forced them both towards the ground. They both gasped for air as the hooves held them tight to the dirt. Dash jumped around to see Big Mac, using his two front hooves to pin them both to the ground. They struggled to get free, but soon learned they wouldn’t escape Mac’s grip.

Dash quickly went to Fluttershy’s side. She was curled up tightly and crying.

“Fluttershy! Fluttershy!” she bent down and draped a wing over the quivering pegasus, “Fluttershy it’s me, Dashie, it’s alright, just breath.” Dash hurried to comfort Fluttershy. Her breathing slowly calmed and she stopped shaking.

“Hey don’t look at me! He started it!” Rapidfire motioned towards Soarin while addressing Mac.

“Says you! I’m not gonna let you get away with your antics!”

“Oh please, I just wanted to have a little fun with her, what’s the big deal? I’m a stallion, I’ve… got… needs…” his voice slowed as he looked back up to see Mac glaring down at him with an expression filled with rage. Soarin felt the force of Mac’s hoof leave his body while Rapidfire found he was being pushed harder to the ground.

“Yer were gonna do what to Miss Fluttershy?” Mac spoke. Dash glanced up to see the situation unfolding, roused by Mac’s sudden and unexpected speech. Mac glanced towards them and saw Fluttershy, now looking up, still sniffling, gasping for air, and trails of tears staining her face. Mac snapped his eyes back down to Rapidfire. Using his free hoof, he swung and connected a strong blow to Rapidfire’s chin. Rapidfire was sent flying from his spot on the ground and tumbled to a halt a few feet away.

“Ahhh AHHHH!!!!!” He patted his chin furiously, pain searing through it like he’d never felt before. Mac approached him and stood over him, fire alight in his eyes, and anger burning as he stared down at Rapidfire. Not many people could push Mac’s anger, but the value in which he regarded Fluttershy was almost stronger than his own family.

“GET UP!” Mac’s voice boomed loudly across the fields. Rapidfire struggled to support himself and tried to crawl away. Mac wrapped one hoof around Rapidfire’s neck and used his other to connect another strong blow to Rapidfire’s stomach. Rapidfire exhaled loudly as Mac flung him over his back and into a nearby tree so violently that it split the trunk and toppled it.

“Mac!” Dash flew after him as he approached Rapidfire again, “that’s enough Mac!” Dash tried to grab his hoof, but he shook her off, knocking her back and to the ground. Rapidfire lay sprawled out on the ground, badly cut and bruised with a black eye and bloody nose. Mac reached for him again, but Dash jumped on his back, while Soarin stepped in front of him.

“Whoa! Cool it big fella! I hate him too, but you’re gonna kill him if you keep this up!” Soarin spread out his wings to bar Mac’s way. Soarin never thought he’d find himself defending Rapidfire, but Mac was clearly enraged beyond reason.

Mac reared back, knocking Dash off and batted Soarin aside with a swipe of his head. Mac stood above Rapidfire, who looked up at him with fear and horror. Mac readied to stomp down on him,

“Stop!!!!” a quiet shout came from behind him. Fluttershy ran up beside him and wrapped her front hooves around one of his large, strong front legs, “Please stop Macintosh, I’m just fine, please stop hurting him!” She pleaded to him. Mac blinked at her, his expression regressing back to normal. Rapidfire struggled to his hooves and wiped the blood from his nose. He tried to hobble away before anything else could happen to him.

“You,” Mac’s voice stopped him in his tracks, “if I ever see yer face ‘round Miss Fluttershy again, I’ll rearrange it for ya. Got it?” Rapidfire only whimpered in response and fell back to the ground.

“What the hay is going on over here?!” Applejack came running from the trail. Dash looked up and gulped, seeing both Spitfire and Fleetfoot descending towards them as well. Applejack ran up between Mac and Rapidfire, staring horrified at the beat up pegasus. She turned to her older brother, nearly speechless, “Mac, ya didn’t—”

“Rapidfire!” Fleetfoot called out as the two landed. She helped him get up, but Spitfire was glaring at Soarin, who in turn tried not to make eye contact with her.

“Mac! He’s one of our guests! How could ya?” Applejack stared headlong into her brother’s glare without flinching, a mixture of disbelief and shock in her eyes. Fluttershy tried her best to hide herself behind Mac.

“Y’d rather I let him violate Miss Fluttershy and get away with it?” Mac spat back in his sister’s face. Applejack gasped and looked over her shoulder at Rapidfire. Spitfire’s eyes darted back to Rapidfire, furrowing her brow with disgust.

“Fleetfoot, bring him over here. Soarin, line up!” Spitfire barked. Soarin flinched, but obeyed, walking over to stand beside Rapidfire, who could barely keep his hooves. Spitfire paced back and forth between them as Big Mac and Applejack tended to the still flustered Fluttershy. Dash watched the Wonderbolts anxiously. “It seems that you two ungrateful idiots have caused a bit of trouble for our generous hosts. From the looks of things, Rapidfire was unlucky enough to incur the anger of Big Macintosh and paid for it, HOWEVER,” she stopped and looked over Soarin, “by the looks of things, both of you have seen a bit of action today. Don’t even bother denying, I know you two hate each other’s guts, so who threw the first punch?” Neither of them answered. She looked between them, “Nobody did huh? Princess damn Luna must’ve done it then. Don’t keep me waiting gentlemen. I could come up with some nasty ways to find out.”

“I did.” Soarin spoke up. Spitfire stopped pacing and walked directly in front of him.

“Did you now? Actually I don’t know why I asked, I’m not really surprised.”

“Ma’am, Rapidfire was taking advantage of—” He was cut off as Spitfire extended a hoof to him,

“I’ll get to him Soarin, but it seems like I have to remind you of some of our base rules. I believe rule number one in our code of conduct is: No member of the Wonderbolts shall bring harm to another member for any reason or under any circumstance. Need I remind you our job, not to mention our reputation is dependent on our ability to perform at the top of our skill level at all times. We can’t afford any serious injuries do to violence between members. Do I make myself perfectly clear?” She finished, but looked him straight in the eye for a few more seconds.

“Yes Ma’am.” He replied plainly.

“Good,” she shifted her eyes towards Rapidfire, “now as for you,” she walked in front of him and glared, “I don’t think I have ever seen a more sorry looking sack of shit in my life. Rapidfire, I seriously question your intelligence sometimes. Disobeying direct orders from a superior, more often than not, results in immediate removal from the team,” she turned and took a few paces away, “luckily for you, there are few with your talents and your legacy speaks for itself, so you’ve got a shield to hide behind. Too bad it’s made you into the cockiest douche on the face of Equestria. You’ve got a lot of nerve disobeying me, not to mention taking advantage of a shy, defenseless mare,” she looked his injuries over, “maybe this will teach you a lesson, but I doubt it. As soon as you’re all fixed up, you’ll be back on your feet, ignoring my orders, and chasing mare’s all over again. Well guess what, I’ve had just about as much as I can take of it. I can’t remove you from the team, but if you don’t stop,—” she glanced at the ponies around her. She leaned in and whispered something into Rapidfire’s ear. Rapidfire’s expression fell from blank to a look of pure, absolute dread. Spitfire pulled away and smirked at his face. “By that look I take it we have an understanding?” Rapidfire quickly nodded and squeaked out an inaudible acknowledgement. “Good. That’s all.” Spitfire turned away from them and approached Applejack.

“Golly, I’m so sorry ‘bout all this. I ain’t never seen Mac lose it like that, I’ll make sure he gets it good from Granny.” Applejack frantically apologized. Spitfire chuckled.

“Hey, hey, settle down cowgirl, he had it coming. What’s important is he just got beaten up, nothing broken or injured. A few days rest and he’ll be fine.”

“Still,” Applejack tried to reply, but Spitfire walked up to Big Mac and Fluttershy before she could.

“Fluttershy, I’m so sorry, I should’ve kept a closer eye on him,” Fluttershy didn’t respond. She remained silent behind Big Mac, “hey big guy, this is a heck of a way for us to be introduced. I know Rapidfire’s a no good menace, but next time go a little easier on him.” Mac replied with a grunt and looked away from her. She turned back to the rest of the Wonderbolts. “Fleetfoot, attend to Rapidfire. Soarin, go clean yourself up.” With that, Spitfire returned to Applejack to assure her again that everything was alright.

Dash caught up to Soarin as he turned away.

“Hey, hold up!” She called after him, but he kept walking. She eventually got her aching body to move fast enough to catch up. “You okay?” She asked. Soarin huffed and didn’t look at her. She narrowed her eyes, “ahem.”

“What?!” He turned and spat at her. She leaned back slightly, but didn’t let it faze her.

“Oh gee sorry Mr. Sorewings, I was only wondering how you were feeling.” She rebounded. His expression lightened and he sighed.

“Sorry. I’m a little frustrated.” He continued on his path, Dash kept up with him.

“You don’t say?”

“I’m just so tired of Rapidfire, but when I try to stop him, I get flack too.”

“Well, duh, that’s exactly why he’s doing it.” Dash’s straight forward response made him chuckle. They made it back to the house, where Applejack had run ahead and was waiting with a box full of medical supplies.

“Here’s what we c’n spare for ya. He ain’t too banged up, but we need the rest for yer friend.” She handed the box to Soarin, he nodded, then smirked.

“No problem, if you have a wrench I suggest trying to tighten his head a little tighter to his neck, he could use it.” Applejack snickered in response and left them to prepare a room for Rapidfire. “Dash, c’mere. I might need some help with this.” He sat down on the porch and began grabbing bandages. He wasn’t banged up too badly, but he did have a few cuts here and there that would be better off cleaned and covered. He had one a good distance down his back that he knew as soon as he tried, that he couldn’t reach it, without a word, Dash assisted.

shad0w-wo1f!

“So was it worth it?” She asked as she cleaned off the cut with a sterile cloth. He winced as she traced around it.

“What was?” He asked as he tore off the end of a bandage around his front leg with his teeth. When she didn’t answer, he glanced back and saw her giving him an obvious look. “Oh,” he chuckled, “of course it was.”

“Losing your cool over that idiot was worth getting chewed out by Spitfire?” She questioned his reasoning as she prepared to cover the cut.

“I was sick of him-AH!” His body jolted forward slightly as Dash tried to apply the bandage. She quickly pulled it away.

“Sorry.”

“It’s alright, just surprised me,” he exhaled and tensed his body, “go ahead.” She covered the cut and wrapped the bandage around his body. She hovered the best she could, trying not to violate his personal space. When it was fastened he continued. “I was sick of him getting away with everything. It may have gotten me in trouble too, but at least I finally got Spitfire to address it.”

“What did she say to him by the way? He looked like he was going to throw up after.”

“Well,” Soarin smiled, “let’s just say she has quite an imagination. I’m sure she came up with something that’ll make him NEVER want to disobey orders again. I’d honestly rather not know what she said.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Dash shuddered to think of what she could come up with if it made someone as vulgar and crass as Rapidfire fold in an instant. “Ah you have one more on your neck, let me take care of it.” She removed more supplies from the box.

“But really Dash, he had it coming. I wasn’t expecting the apple freight train to get involved, but I was tired of his crap.”

“He was baiting you and you took it,” she poked him in the side, “I’m still failing to see how that makes this good for you.” She rolled her eyes as she wrapped a bandage lightly around his neck.

“Would you have backed down if someone was playing you for a fool?” His question made her stop briefly. She had to admit, if someone taunted her she wouldn’t just let it slide. She was a very prideful pegasus after all. She blinked a few times and shrugged.

“Point taken,” she finished the bandage, “all fixed.” Soarin stood up and flapped his wings a few times.

“Good, nothing’s hindering the wings. Want to go for a flight? I need to get my mind off of this.”

A good flight was all a pegasus needed to clear their head and feel relaxed. It was in their nature. Dash and Soarin flew a few laps around the apple fields, eventually taking a few over Everfree forest as well. It didn’t take long for the two of them to loosen up and start showing off, exchanging stunts as well as trying to one up each other with stories and past experiences. The ordeal with Rapidfire quickly took a back seat to them enjoying each other’s company. As the sun began to set, they landed on a cloud amongst the scheduled overcast of the night sky.

“You know I was wondering,” Dash began as she reclined on a tuft of cloud she patted up, “how did you pull off that lightning stunt during the show? I mean how did it not kill you?” She forced a sarcastic laugh.

“Lots of practice and concentration,” Soarin rolled onto his back and stuffed his face into the cloud, “we try to use a lot of natural elements in our shows,” he continued slightly muffled, “we tend to use water a lot, usually rain. Spitfire of course has her fire stream,” he popped his face back out with a cloud mustache and beard, Dash began to giggle as he kept talking, “so we thought why not try to get electricity in there? So I spent a lot of time shocking myself to figure out how—”

“Oh stop!” She reached her wing forward and brushed the clouds off his face. “I’m trying to pay attention to you, stop being so goofy!” She laughed as he grinned and rolled onto his stomach.

“Sorry clouds are fun! Anyway, yeah I spent a lot of time shocking myself to figure out how to NOT shock myself. It’s pretty simple, you just have to keep yourself wide, spread your wings and legs and the electricity can’t gather enough in one place to hurt.

“That’s so cool.” Dash sighed, thinking about what it would take for her to be a Wonderbolt. It used to seem like a simple task of being skilled and talented, but after seeing up close, meeting, and getting to know the Wonderbolts she had her work cut out for her.

“How was your weather meeting this morning?” Soarin suddenly asked with a hint of sarcasm.

“Argh,” Dash grunted in annoyance, “I can’t stand those meetings. Reports, points of interest, scheduling, it’s all a bunch of stuff they could take care of and mail me later but noooooo.” She shrugged and rolled her eyes.

“So just a routine meeting? Sounds like loads of fun.”

“Well it wasn’t quite routine, they brought up some odd weather occurring over Everfree Forest lately, but it’s showing no signs of coming this way, be on lookout, be ready if it heads this way, blah blah blaaaaaaaah, blah blah blah blah.” She whisked her hoof back and forth while crossing her eyes and tipping her head back and forth. Soarin chuckled and stuffed his head back into the cloud. Dash finished her musing and looked away from him. The encounter with Rapidfire a few days back came to mind as well as the fiasco earlier. Some of the words they exchanged had been on her mind, specifically the ones about her. Soarin had definitely been a great guy the entire time she’d spent with him. She couldn’t remember ever having this much fun or feeling this comfortable around a stallion before. She blushed at the thought. Thinking about this was so unlike her that she barely recognized herself. She was always so tough and outspoken. Perhaps having someone of his caliber, fame, and downright awesomeness pierced right through her hard exterior and brought out emotions she’d never dealt with. She wanted more. She had to know what was on his mind. She had this strange pull to ask him as if her life depended on it. “Say Soarin,”

“Yeah?” He looked up from the clouds with a cloud afro and mustache. Dash instantly snickered and held back a laugh.

Fan Art by: Astrum

“You’re so weird!” She let a few giggles slip. Soarin shook his head back and forth until the clouds dissipated.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help it, what were you about to say?”

“Well, I—” she realized she was about to ask something very personal. Hesitation hit her like a ton of bricks. “Um—” She felt stuck. She wanted to ask him about it, but her instincts were telling her to let it be. She ultimately decided this was no time to let her typical last minute fits of anxiety to get the better of her. She took a deep breath and looked up at him, already blushing in embarrassment. “The other day with Rapidfire, he said, I mean you were, um,” she shook her head and glanced at him. He wasn’t looking at her weird or in confusion. He was patiently waiting for her to say it. It made her feel a little less pressured. “Sorry, I mean, was he right?” she was already calling herself pathetic in her mind. She clearly didn’t say anywhere near enough for him to know what she was talking about.

“About?” He asked on cue, a confused look now appearing. Dash plopped her face onto the cloud and groaned loudly to vent some frustration. She pulled her head out and exhaled. She felt so awkward due to her lack of confidence in personal matters.

“That,” she nearly choked before continuing and cleared her throat, “that you,” she hesitated again, but only briefly, “care about me.” She didn’t face him the entire time. She felt ashamed of her embarrassment, but it was an automatic response. She had no idea how he reacted or if he was about to answer.

Soarin was caught completely off guard by it. He thought back to the encounters with Rapidfire, especially when he saved her specifically. It was true he had swooped in to save mares from him in the past, was this any different? He did lose his cool a lot faster, not to mention when Rapidfire brought her up earlier it escalated to a fight. He glanced at Dash as she continued to avert her eyes from him. He had to admit, she had made his vacation great so far. It was nice talking to her friends, but Dash was the only one he felt he could relate to. Not only that, but the others still treated them with some Wonderbolt praise on the side. After hanging out with Dash, it was refreshing that she acted like a friend and not a fan. Plus she was fun to be around, she had a vigorous personality, she was always up for a challenge, but got very anxious when nervous or embarrassed. He did like her. It was hard to find anypony he could be himself around. Because of that, he cared about her.

Yet he had a feeling that wasn’t the kind of “care” she was referring to. In fact he was certain, especially after the context Rapidfire implied. Soarin had never put much thought into a “special mare” for him. He was a Wonderbolt, his career came first. But did that mean he couldn’t care for a mare that way? He just never had the time to consider it. It’s not like Dash was the first mare he had personal interactions with. She was definitely different. All the others had boiled down to liking his fame over him as a pony. Dash WAS different. Would he ever know a mare like her again? Maybe that’s what had his attention, maybe he did care about her a little more than he’d thought about.

He had been silent for almost a minute. He realized it as Dash began to lightly shake nervously. He cursed himself for getting so lost in his head and quickly mustered a response that was true, but a tad dodgy,

“Yeah, I do,” he paused as Dash’s eyes snapped back to him with a look that was half shocked half hopeful, “you’ve been such a good friend to me even if it’s only been for a short while, how could I not?” He smiled, but gritted his teeth as he saw her expression fall slightly.

Rainbow Dash herself wasn’t quite sure what kind of response she wanted. It was awesome to know she had a close friendship with a lead Wonderbolt, but part of her was hoping for more than that.

“Oh, I see.” Was the only response she could muster. Something was tugging at her heart. She couldn’t get all emotional over something she was only iffy about. Who was she, Rarity?

“Look, Dash,” Soarin suddenly began again, but was cut off.

“That’s cool, no I mean awesome!”

“No, but,” he tried to come back.

“I was just wondering that’s all cause he said that stuff,”

“Dash, listen,”

“And I mean it was weird from where I saw it so,”

“Rainbow Dash.”

“EEP!” She flinched and froze in her spot. Soarin sighed heavily behind her, stood up from his spot and slowly glided in front of her. He put one hoof on her shoulder and used the other to turn her head and face him.

“Listen to me. I’ve been around enough mares to know what you wanted to hear. As someone who’s had his fair share of bad cases, let me tell you, don’t be in such a hurry.”

“But,”

“Have you ever had a Coltfriend before?” His question silenced her in an instant. This situation had escalated to much higher heights than she had planned, but she had no way out.

“I, I have, but they were just small things, I mean, they never went very long.”

“How long had you known them before engaging a relationship?” His gaze was serious, not a trace of the usual loose and relaxed Soarin. She didn’t want to make him wait, so she thought back to her younger days in flight academy.

“The longest I knew any of them before we became a thing was two or three weeks.”

“And how long did those relationships last?”

“A few weeks, never more than a month.”

“Did you feel like you do now when you were with them?”

“What?” He was reading her closer than she could read a Daring Do novel. He could tell she wanted more, despite her not being so sure herself. Every relationship she had had in the past, she kept up her tough exterior, played it cool all the way through, and always had the colts wrapped around her hoof. She was never into the mushy stuff. She felt they should consider her to be a lucky catch. Maybe that’s why it never lasted. That certainly wasn’t the case here. It was almost a role reversal.

This time she was the one trying to gain the attention of an individual she regarded highly. She had never been on this end and it was messing with her mind. Was this what it felt like to be in love? Did she fall for a Wonderbolt? She couldn’t have aimed any higher and was sure she set herself up for a train wreck of a failure.

“No. I didn’t. This is new for me.” She admitted, looking down with a quivering lip.

“Bingo,” Soarin removed his hoof from her shoulder and lay back down on the cloud beside her, “Dash, there is nothing wrong with you. Hell you’re great. I’ve told you over and over again that it’s been a lot of fun being treated like a normal pony. You can’t sell yourself short. You have a competitive and fiery personality, but you’re also caring and passionate. The last thing I want to see is you build yourself up to something unrealistic,” he paused and shifted, looking towards the mid afternoon horizon, “you need to put it all into perspective Dash, you’ve only known me personally for barely a week, it takes time for real relationships to get started, trust me I’ve jumped into them before and it never works out that way. Plus you have to consider I’m a lead Wonderbolt, I’m expected to perform at almost every show we hold. I’ll never be in once place for more than a few days. It would be too hard on both of us. I don’t want it to effect my career or your dreams.” He glanced over at her. She had a vacant look in her eyes. He could tell she wasn’t taking this well, but he was only being realistic and that’s what mattered. He was sure that’s what mattered, even if it was hard to accept.

“I understand.” There was no trace of positivity in her voice. Soarin furrowed his brow. He extended a wing over her.

“Hey, come on. There’s no reason to get down. I just don’t want either of us to get caught in an endless struggle. We’re still friends. That’s the most important part.”

“I,” she forced a smile, “I guess you’re right.” But it didn’t feel right to her at all. Everything he said held wisdom and made sense, but since when did feelings make sense? Soarin glanced over the edge of the cloud and saw a small dust cloud traveling along the ground.

“Hey, looks like your little friend’s right on time.”

“Huh?” Dash looked over the edge and spotted Scootaloo zipping along the terrain of Sweet Apple Acres on her scooter. “Oh yeah, it’s about that time isn’t it.”

“Go on,” Soarin nodded at her, “go have fun. It’ll take your mind off all this.” She glanced at him only briefly.

“Yeah, see ya.” She descended from the cloud down to Scootaloo.

“Heya Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo greeter her enthusiastically.

“Hey kid, how it going?” She kept looking at Scootaloo as the filly began spilling wave after wave of info about her day, but try as she might, she couldn’t shake Soarin off her mind. She felt rejected even though he technically didn’t. Nothing is worse than being rejected and in a way agreeing with the person that did so.

“-oh and do you know someone named Mr. Sorewings?” Scootaloo asked, breaking Dash free of her inner turmoil. The false name almost made her chuckle, but laughing was hard at that moment.

“Yeah, I was with him a moment ago, he told all about helping you.”

“He showed me all kinds of other things I can do to help me fly! He’s awesome!” She hopped up and down, her tiny wings buzzing. Dash smiled.

“Yeah,” she let a sigh escape as Scootaloo turned around to begin her warm ups, “he’s a great guy.”

Above them Soarin watched for a while, not quite sure why something didn't feel right. The more he watched Dash help Scootaloo, the worse the feeling got, so he took off into the sky. He decided to go for another casual flight to help clear his head. The sun began to set, but no matter what he tried he couldn’t get rid of the knot in his stomach.

What was the big deal? He had given that same explanation on several other occasions to mares. He had to be real with them. It took an obscene amount of hard work for him to earn his great career he didn’t want to be distracted by a close relationship, and he didn’t want them to deal with the strains of his lifestyle. It was common sense. Then why? Why was Rainbow Dash so different?

Was it because she wasn’t fake? Close to 90% of the mares who got friendly with him in the past were all about his fame. He’d seen it so much he knew exactly when it was the case. He dared not be Rapidfire, he didn’t want that kind of attention if it was for his status and not for himself. Yet it also wasn’t the first time he had met a mare who treated him more normally. He had to turn them down the same way and in the end he felt it was the right thing to do. Then this scenario came along.

He was so lost that he ended up flying until nightfall, unable to shake the feeling that this time it wasn’t right. When Rainbow Dash turned away from him he felt crushed, when she looked at him with those empty eyes he felt awful, when she nearly broke down he felt hopeless. After she left to be with Scootaloo he felt like he solved nothing. None of these things had ever happened in the past.

With a headache, he landed at the Apple Family house and pushed through the front door. The aroma of many delicious baked apple goods swirled from the kitchen, but he had no appetite.

“Hey Soarin! Come try one of these pies!” Spitfire called to him as he passed by the kitchen. He stopped glanced in to see Applejack, Spitfire, and Fleetfoot all with half eaten apple pies before them. Applejack had frantically baked them to make amends for Big Mac’s “hospitality”. They seemed to have lifted Spitfire’s mood. He shook his head.

“Not hungry, I’m gonna go lie down.” He continued up the stairs. Spitfire was up and after him before the other two could say anything. Soarin turning down food, much less apple pie, meant something was seriously wrong. She followed him up the stairs and caught up right as he reached the guest room set up for him.

“Hey hold up Soarin, what’s wrong?” She stopped him before he could go in. He turned around and looked at her. He looked completely distraught and exhaled loudly.

“Remember when I told Rapidfire no broken hearts?” he asked. She nodded.

“Yeah, why?”

“Well I’m a damn hypocrite.” Before she could answer, he moved in and slammed the door shut.

---to be continued---

Chapter 3

(Okay so I lied. I was sure this would be the final chapter of the story, but it ended up being a heck of a lot longer than I thought it would be. When I hit 62 pages in Microsoft word I decided to break it up into two chapters because I’ve made you all wait long enough.

The funny part is, all the installments in this little series I’m doing were all meant to be one long chapter each. But I got WAY carried away by this one. Not a bad thing, but expect them all to be one shots after this (unless I lose control again). Anyway, I apologize for the wait, enjoy!)

MLP: FiM

Head in the Clouds

By: Calm Wind

Chapter 3

The next few days were strange for both Rainbow Dash and Soarin. Neither found they could fully understand the situation. To Dash, Soarin’s explanation was wise, valid, and true from experience. Because of that, she didn’t feel upset or sad, but she felt extremely distraught. She knew it was right, but it wasn’t what she wanted. She couldn’t force herself to accept it no matter how hard she tried.

To Soarin, he was sure he did the right thing, but unlike every other time he was forced into this scenario, it felt wrong. Above all else he was just confused towards what made Dash so much different than any other mare.

With the two of them not quite depressed, the days continued in the same matter they had. Only they avoided each other. Dash continued her work on the Apple farm because she still wanted to follow her Wonderbolt related goals. Despite looking visibly put off, it’s not like she could talk about it. Applejack was completely occupied by the farm work and Big Mac, well, you could get more conversation out of a road sign.

It was hard for Soarin. He went on flights, hung out with the other Wonderbolts, and enjoyed the hospitality of the Apple Family, but kept catching glimpses of Dash down below, off to the side, and out windows of the Apple house. Each time he caught eye of her he found himself staring and quickly shook it all out of his head. As captain and long time friend of Soarin, Spitfire tried to get him to spill the beans on what happened between him and Dash, but he continuously replied with, “I’m fine,” or, “Nothing happened.” Despite the continuing outcome, Spitfire continued to press the subject.

Fleetfoot however, after watching Spitfire’s attempts, decided to seek a different solution. She knew how stubborn Soarin could be and she also knew how adamant Spitfire could be. That process was going to continue to the end of time, so she sought out the other half of the predicament.

Rainbow Dash was pulling an empty cart back towards the orchard when Fleetfoot spotted her from the sky. She immediately tilted down and landed beside her. Dash glanced at her briefly before looking back forward, with the intention to ignore.

“Hey Dashie, still workin’ on the bod huh?” Fleetfoot greeted with her usual casual tone as she trotted beside her.

“Mhmm.” Dash murmured in response, keeping her eyes in front. Fleetfoot sighed, keeping in pace.

“Heard you almost copied Soarin’s signature move in two tries, that’s pretty impressive.” She tried again.

“Mmm.” Dash replied nonverbally again. Fleetfoot furrowed her brow and rolled her eyes. She moved in front of Dash, baring her path. Dash’s eyes widened slightly in surprise as she came to a halt, face to face with Fleetfoot’s demanding glare.

“Alright, screw the friendly small talk, what the hell happened between you and Soarin?” She pointed a hoof at her. Dash lifted an eyebrow and shifted to pass beside.

“Nothing.” She didn’t get far. Fleetfoot stuck her wing out to stop her.

“Sure, I also heard pegasi can use magic, earth ponies could fly, and unicorns are known for their physical strength. Spill it.” She ordered. Dash just pushed passed.

“I don’t want to talk about it!” She yelled as she continued on the path. Fleetfoot narrowed her eyes as they followed Dash moving away. She suddenly smirked and pursued.

“Oh? Now I’m curious. Something you don’t want me to know?” She prodded with a snide tone. Dash gave her a confused look.

“Just leave me alone will ya?” She fumed and tried to pull the cart faster. Fleetfoot lifted off and landed in front of her.

“Denial and an escape attempt? This is ripe! Did you two have a little extra fun?” Her smirk widened. Dash picked up on what she was implying and panicked.

“What?! No! We—”

“Spent a night in a haystack?”

“ARGH! NONONONONO!!!!!” Dash blushed furiously, flapping her wings, and stomping her front hooves.

“Then why the all the angst? Seriously, you two have enough clouds looming over your heads to block the sun.”

“There’s—,” Dash looked her in the eyes, then at the ground, “nothing, nothing’s bothering me.”

“My flank there isn’t,” her quick response made Dash wince, “you’re a terrible liar. Spitfire’s been confronting Soarin endlessly, but trying to get him to talk when he’s frustrated is like telling a wall it’s in your way.” Content, she awaited Dash’s explanation, but she just stood with her head hanging. Fleetfoot frowned. “Please?” Defeated, Dash sat down on the dirt path with the cart still hooked up to her and sighed.

“Fine.” She finally agreed. Fleetfoot smiled and sat across from her. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but even though it’s been awesome having the four of you here, I don’t even know how to describe the time I’ve spent with Soarin. Getting to know all of you without the uniform has been great, but something was different with him. I just want to be around him, I feel drawn to him!” She pounded her hooves in the dirt. “Then I had to go and bring it up to him, it was so stupid! I should’ve just let it be! ARGH!” She thrust out her wings and smacked herself upside the head. Fleetfoot leaned back slightly as Dash briefly abused herself.

“Oh I can see where this is going. What did he say?” Fleetfoot commented as if she could see the outcome.

“He was quiet for a while and then warned me not to get attached to him. Said his career came first, that his lifestyle can’t have relationships like that. He didn’t want me to get dragged in.”

“Oooooh myyyyyyy GOD!!!!” Fleetfoot cut in, her head tilted back with her hooves pushing her ears flat to her head. Dash blinked in confusion as she fumed in front of her. “How stiff can you get?! You’d think he’d have a little more faith in himself after how quickly we moved up in the Wonderbolt ranks! Why does he always do this? Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy? It’s like a train wreck I have to watch!”

“Um.”

“Sorry,” Fleetfoot sighed, “I had to let that out, if you’d known Soarin for as long as I have you’d react the same way. RRGH!” She stood up and trotted in a few circles as Dash continued to stare dumbly. “Okay, I believe that outburst requires an explanation. Soarin is an idiot,” she paused, “if only that explained everything. Soarin has this very, VERY, bad habit of turning our profession into the only thing that matters. Don’t get me wrong, it most certainly is the most important part of our lives, but Soarin lets it dictate EVERYTHING in his life regardless of whether or not it’s what he truly wants. It’s his universal excuse to avoid anything he can’t figure out.”

“Oh.” Dash barely answered half contemplating, half still depressed. She was knocked out of her haze when Fleetfoot clapped her hooves together.

“This is the last straw, I’m fixing this now,” she reached out and placed her hooves on Dash’s shoulders, “he’s heard it from Spitfire and I more times then we can count, it’s time he heard it from someone it’s affected. YOU are gonna tell him off.”

“ME?! But—” Dash’s eyes darted back and forth while trying to lean away.

“C’mon Dash, don’t stand for it! Where’s the sharp confident Rainbow Dash I hung out with before? Use that confidence! He needs it laid on him good and thick! With a chair to the face if necessary!” Fleetfoot encouraged her. Dash thought over her words, thought about what Fleetfoot was suggesting, thought about the new knowledge on Soarin, and then thought about what she really wanted. Fleetfoot was right since when was she one to not to go after what she wanted? Doing whatever it takes to reach a goal was one of her strongest traits.

“You’re right,” she stood up and unhooked herself from the cart, “the moping can wait, I have wuss to straighten out!”

“That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” Fleetfoot agreed and the two flew quickly towards the Apple Family house.

Fleetfoot was right. Now that she thought about it, Dash could see exactly why everything felt so wrong. His presence was different, he was a Wonderbolt, and because of that her usual challenging personality held back. If Soarin was really not thinking of himself, someone had to tell him. Since she was drawn into all of it, she would set him straight.

Soarin had spent most of the day moping around the apple house. He was doing his best not to look out towards the farm knowing that Rainbow Dash was out there. He just didn’t even want to think about it. For some reason turning down Dash was harder than any other mare. It didn’t matter, he needed to do it. He didn’t want a relationship to get in the way of his career. He worked too hard for it. The last thing he wanted to do was drag her into his hectic life.

A loud knocking came from his door. He rolled his eyes and approached it assuming it was Spitfire trying to prod him for his thoughts. Eventually she would give up, they would be out of Ponyville, and everything would go back to normal. He opened the door and froze, looking directly into the glaring eyes of a familiar blue, rainbow mane’d pegasus. He slammed the door quickly and blinked a few times, hoping he had only imagined it, but the door was forced from the other side, slipping the knob from his hoof. The door pushed him and he found himself backing away from Rainbow Dash as she advanced into the room. Spitfire and Fleetfoot peeked in from the doorway.

Soarin shook his head and regained his senses. Glaring right back at Dash.

“What are YOU doing here?!” He asked harshly. She got in his face, reached out, and poked him in the chest.

“Wondering how you can be such a numbskull!” she belted at him, swiping her hoof out to the side, “so quickly throwing me to the curb like that!”

Soarin wasn’t quite sure what to say. He never had to follow up after turning a mare down. It was usually left be. Dash was firing back. He felt he should’ve expected that, but failed to consider it.

“Throw you to the curb?! I was being honest! Is that really hard to understand?” His competitive side reacted to hers.

“So what if it makes sense? Is it what you really want? Or are you just tucking your tail between your legs?” She stood her ground. The two were nearly butting heads now, anger alight in the small gap between their eyes. She had struck a nerve. Soarin didn’t take well to being called a coward as was proven by his quarrels with Rapidfire. He fumbled for ways to lash back, unsure of where the argument was going.

“What’s it to you?!” He gritted his teeth. Why couldn’t she just let it be? This was for the best and she just had to accept it.

She narrowed her gaze even further.

“Why don’t you ask yourself that?” she said in a more hushed tone, grabbing his attention with a vice grip, “forget what’s right and what makes sense! What’s the point if it isn’t what you want? What’s it all matter if you’re miserable?” He stared directly at her. As true as it was, he felt as though she was speaking from his point of view. It was almost like she felt she knew him better he knew himself. It was beginning to irritate him.

“You know what I was talking about!” he finally found his words, “this isn’t just about me! It’s about you too! This isn’t a complicated thing you know! My life is going one way, yours is going another, getting them mixed up will only make things hard for both of us!”

“And I. Don’t. Care!” She stomped with each word, making it crystal clear for him.

“WELL YOU SHOULD!!!” He yelled at the top of his lungs right into her face. “If you cared you wouldn’t be a lazy freeloader who occasionally works for some stupid weather team!” His tone had completely shifted to harsh and cold. Dash was suddenly completely taken over, surprised that he was lashing out with insults. “If you cared maybe you wouldn’t be stuck in this stupid little backwater town! You want to be a Wonderbolt?! Forget it! It requires hard work, dedication, and a good sense of reason. Things that you clearly lack! So what if you have potential and talent?! It’s all worthless with your attitude and immaturity!” Dash’s confidence had completely shattered. Fleetfoot and Spitfire stared in disbelief at his outburst, “you are nothing but a useless, wishful thinking, idiotic, failure of a pegasus THAT WILL NEVER AMOUNT TO ANYTHING!!!!!!” He finally ended, breathing heavily, rage boiling from the pit of his stomach all over his body.

Dash felt like she couldn’t breathe. Every word he said was filled with hatred directed completely at her. She staggered backwards, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, but she couldn’t even bring herself to cry. One of her biggest idols in life just completely berated her as a pegasus. With no other option she turned and ran. She ran right past Spitfire and Fleetfoot, past Applejack entering the house, and took off in the direction of her cloud house, the only place present in her mind.

Soarin glared at Spitfire and Fleetfoot, who only stared at him as he slammed the door to his room. Spitfire regained herself and turned to Fleetfoot, slightly frustrated.

“Gee Fleet, that sure fixed everything right up.” She commented sarcastically. Fleetfoot sighed and turned away.

“I’m gonna go lock myself in a room before I come up with anymore bright ideas.”

Rainbow Dash didn't emerge from her house. By afternoon the next day, her friends decided waiting was a bad choice. Dash was usually one of quick action before words. When she did nothing within the first few hours, they were already considering stepping in. The only problem was the cloud house. Because none of them could physically go there besides one certain pegasus, they weren’t sure what to do. But what could they do? If Rainbow Dash refused to come out, they had to send someone, and because of the drawbacks of Twilight’s wing spell and cloud walking spell, they were left with one option. One very shy and quiet option. In fact it was probably a destined to fail option, but one option was better than no option.

“Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy poked her head through the door of Dash’s house. She had spent ten minutes lightly knocking with no response and had finally built up the courage to open the door herself. She peeked left and right before letting herself in. The house was entirely devoid of noise or action. It almost seemed as if nopony was there at all. If not for the small swishing noise coming from upstairs, Fluttrershy would have assumed the house was empty. She followed the noise to the staircase, waiting at the bottom of the stairs for a few moments. Not because she assumed the noise was in her head, but because she was afraid of just plain bothering Dash.

It had taken a few good hours of convincing just to get Fluttershy to agree to talk to Dash. It took another few to get her to follow through with it. As they expected, it took her a long time to do it period. Fluttershy advanced one step every minute, reaching the top of the stairs fifteen minutes later. The swishing noise was much louder now coming directly from Dash’s room. Fluttershy approached the door and shakily put her ear to it.

“Okay Fluttershy, she’s probably very depressed and needs someone to talk to. That’s why they sent you up here, you have to go through with it.” Fluttershy coached herself on the situation while gently tapping her front hooves against the sides of her head. “Rainbow Dash?” She whispered with no response. She tried again three more timed before raising her voice just a little, “Rainbow Dash are you in there?” Again no response, just the swishing noise. She knew what she had to do. She didn’t like it, but she had to do it. She slowly and carefully pushed the door open.

She could immediately see that the room was in disarray, the pillows and sheets had been thrown from the bed. Small piles of seldom worn clothes were strewn about as well. Things had been knocked off the shelves and the bed itself was shifted from its usual spot. The swishing noise was coming from behind the bed. Fluttershy fluttered her way across the room slowly, flying above the bed and peeking over the other side. She blinked a few times at the site. It wasn’t what she nor the rest of them had expected to say the least.

Dash sat on the floor about a foot from the bed, hunched over, arms crossed, and mane a mess. Her face was scrunched in what appeared to be anger instead of anguish. The swishing noise was coming from her tail whisking back and forth quickly, brushing heavily against her bed mattress. Fluttershy’s long pink mane hung down over Dash, catching her attention. She looked up at Fluttershy, a heavy glare smacking the shy pony right in the nerves.

“What?” Dash asked flatly and harshly, directing her mood towards Fluttershy instead of wondering what she was doing in the house in the first place. Fluttershy squeaked.

“I’msorryibotheredyouishouldbegoingnowbye!” Fluttershy spun around and took off towards the door, but as she did her back hoof struck the bedpost, causing her to tumble from her course and crash into a pile of clothes by the wall near the door. Some of the clothes were tossed up into the air and floated down on top of her, burying her beneath them. Rainbow Dash sighed and rose from her spot. She approached the shaking pile of clothes and picked up the Wonderbolt shirt lying on top. Two wide eyes slightly covered by a pink mane were beneath. They stared up at her for a moment before squinting shut.

Rainbow Dash reached in and pulled Fluttershy out of the pile.

“I’MSOSORRYIDIDNTMEANTOMAKEYOUANGRYPLEASEDON’THURTME!!!!” She flailed and screamed on instinct.

“FLUTTERSHY!” Dash stomped her back hoof. Fluttershy instantly stiffened and stared at her with eyes wide like dinner plates and pupils small as gnats. “Calm down.” She set her down and trudged back over to her bed. Fluttershy took a moment to exhale and gather herself before approaching Dash again, who had plopped down on the unfurnished mattress facing away.

“Um, so—” Fluttershy haphazardly began while circling around, “how are you feeling?”

“I’m angry. Isn’t that obvious?” Dash spat while kicking a pillow still hanging on the edge of the bed. Fluttershy flinched, but kept her cool. Mostly.

“I’m surprised. After what happened with Soarin, I thought you’d be sad.” She flinched again as Dash let out a loud scoff.

“HA! Sad? Yeah right!” She laughed amusingly. Fluttershy was confused.

“So, um, if you don’t mind me asking, why are you angry?”

“Because he’s a JERK!” Dash pounded her hooves on the mattress, gritting her teeth.

“Oh my, um, I think—”

“He’s the biggest jerk in all of friggen Equestria!” She threw her hooves up in the air.

“I don’t think, I mean I—” Fluttershy began to slowly slide herself off the mattress, peeking over the top from the floor as Dash continued to rant.

“Sad? Why the hell would I be sad?! I’ve got no reason to give a damn about him! He walked all over me!” She stood up on the bed and turned towards Fluttershy, who was barely visible over the side of the bed. Dash walked over and got right in Fluttershy’s face. “He’s a jerk! A straight up, no good jerk!”

“Dashie, please don’t yell, I—” Fluttershy found herself pressing further and further to the floor as Dash kept yelling.

“I don’t need him! I don’t! I hate him!” Her voice started to choke up. “He’s an idiot! A loser! An asshole! A creep!” Her expression began fading and tears started forming in her eyes. “I hate him I hate him I hate him I h-hate himmmm…” she trailed off, sniffling loudly before turning around and burying her face in the mattress crying with her hooves on her head. Fluttershy poked her head out from below the bed and stared dumbly at Dash creating a puddle of tears on the mattress. She instantly switched from self preservation mode to kindness mode, hopped up on the bed and sat down beside Dash, draping a wing over her.

“It’s okay Dashie, let it all out, I’m here.” So Rainbow Dash really was sad. Fluttershy wondered why she hadn’t put the pieces together. Dash has a tough exterior, a trait that makes its way into nearly every situation she’s involved with. So most of the time even if it seems like she’s okay after something like this, she’s usually just sucking it up or playing it tough. After thinking more about it, Fluttershy realized she’d probably missed it out of fear for her own physical well being.

A loud knocking came from door across the room opposite to the window where Soarin had slumped with his chin on the sill. As he had the other five times today, he completely ignored it and continued to sulk while staring out into the apple fields.

This “vacation” of theirs had done absolutely nothing to relieve any sort of stress. Here he was getting all bent out of shape over a mare when he should be enjoying himself. Having the situation with Dash feel completely different still didn’t make any sense to him. He actually felt more stressed than before they arrived.

The knocking came again, surprising him because each time before he was given up on after the first try. He refused to go open it. He figured it was just Spitfire, but the last time he answered he came face to face with what was bothering him. It made him lose himself and his temper in ways nopony had ever seen before.

He didn’t feel good in the slightest about how he berated Rainbow Dash, but she just wouldn’t let it be. Every other mare just took it for what it was worth and left him alone. Why did she have to be so damn persistant?

“Soarin, open the door,” speaking of stubborn, Spitfires voice came through the door. Soarin caught himself moving and returned to his position. Screw her being the captain, she was also his life-long friend and he had made it quite clear he wanted to be alone. “Last chance Soarin.” She spoke again. That was a new one. He wondered what she meant by that. “Fine. You don’t mind big fella?”

“Nnnope.” A second voice replied. Before Soarin could put two and two together there was a loud crash and the door was forced open, breaking the lock and the bottom hinge. Soarin spun around in shock to see Big Macintosh in the doorway, a very casual look in his eyes as if he hadn’t just pulverized a door in his own house. Spitfire stepped around him while staring wide eyed at the broken door.

“Damn Biggie, that looked like a love tap, Applejack wasn’t kidding about your strength,” she spotted Soarin on the other side of the room, staring with his jaw agape, “anyway, sorry again for making you break the door, but thanks for the help.”

“Eeyup.” Mac replied, passing the string of wheat from one side of his mouth to the other before leaving to fetch his tools. Spitfire’s smile turned to a disappointed glare that she shot straight across the room in Soarin’s direction. He gave her nothing more than a brief glance before turning his back and staring out the window.

“Don’t you turn away from me buster,” she trotted over to him and tried to get in his view, but he kept turning to avoid, “oh so your just gonna avoid talking to anyone for the rest of your life? Sheesh Soarin, I always thought you were good at handling your emotions. Since when did you become a teenager that locks himself in his room?”

“Did you come in here just to insult me?” He muttered, still facing away. He flinched as Spitfire stamped her hoof hard.

“I came in here cause I’m sick of you moping! This whole vacation has been a mess, and I’ve spent all my time making sure the two idiotic stallions of my squad don’t kill each other or make us look bad!” she reached forward and forced his head around to look at her, “you are in no position to judge my actions Weeping Willow, now are you gonna shape up and act your age or do I have to kick your ass?” She was right in his face. Despite being bigger than her, Spitfire was very good at making him feel like she towered over him.

Soarin groaned, turned away, and smacked his head down on the window sill, pressing his hooves into his mane.

“I like Rainbow Dash.” He spoke into the wood, but Spitfire heard him loud and clear. She rolled her eyes.

“Newsflash Soarin, we’ve all got healthy vision,” she said with as much sarcasm as possible while pointing a hoof at her eyes, “although at the same time, the way you two went at each other recently—”

“I really, REALLY like her.” He added. Spitfire sighed, flattening her ears.

“Alright Soarin, I’ll bite. What makes Dash any different from other mares you’ve dealt with?” Spitfire knew Soarin liked to confide in her. Her intentions upon confronting him were not around starting a confession session, but if that’s what it took to get him out of mope mode she’d do it.

“Well she’s normal.” He said nothing further. Spitfire tapped her hoof waiting for more, but quickly realized he was done.

“I hardly agree. Care to elaborate?” She was growing impatient.

“She treats me as a friend. At least after all of her fangasms subsided. She made the effort to connect with ME. Not the Power Flyer. Not my fame. Me.” Soarin lightly bumped his head against the wall continuously as he relayed his thoughts.

“Well, it’s not like she’s a mystery or anything. She clearly wants to be one of us in the future—” Spitfire thought out loud. Soarin spun around quickly, shaking his head and throwing his wings out to his sides.

“It’s more than that!” he suddenly spoke loud and defensively, catching Spitfire off guard, “I’m sorry,” he slumped into a sitting position, “I’m just not used to being treated like a normal pegasus. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade my life for anything in Equestria, but sometimes I don’t feel like I can trust anypony. It always seems everypony is molding their actions based on my status. With Dash, it doesn’t feel that way, it feels genuine,” he groaned and flopped down to the floor, “but it doesn’t matter, I’m a Wonderbolt, and that comes first! Plus I just tore her apart AND made her cry! I’ve dug a hole deeper than I can climb out. I wish I never came here and got to know her, it’s only made my life hell!” He rolled over onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. Spitfire let him finish and scoffed before walking up to him and staring down into his eyes with an annoyed glare.

“Are you done whining?” She put flatly. Soarin flinched and brought himself back upright. He looked at Spitfire, his face wrought with both contempt and disbelief. She didn’t waver. “Will you listen to yourself Soarin? The only conclusion I’ve drawn from all this is that you feel attached, you don’t know how to handle it, and you decided to lock yourself in a room to hide from it. You’re being pathetic.”

“But—”

“NO!” she waved her hoof out in front of her, “I’ve heard enough,” she turned her back and started walking towards the door, “Soarin, get a grip. I know how you feel about relationships and your job, but for heaven’s sake, if you like her that much then compromise!” she stopped in front of the door as Big Mac returned to fix the door. “You’re dodging your own feelings. Nothing good comes from that. Now stand up and be a stallion dammit! The floor doesn’t suit you.”

Soarin just sat still as her words sank, no, stabbed roughly into his skin. He hated it, but no matter how many times she verbally kicked his ass, he could never disagree with Spitfire. She would always be right. Damn mares and their way with words.

He knocked his hooves against his head and shook it back and forth furiously a few times. She was right, as usual. Forget Rainbow Dash trying to tell him his problems, Spitfire had read and memorized his thoughts, wrote a review, and recommended against it for too much amateur writing and angst dialogue.

Nothing he had said was wrong. Dash was different. Why? Because for the first time in his life he felt he’d regret leaving a mare behind. Rainbow Dash had proven herself to be an odd breed of mare that also happened to catch his eye in more ways than one. Who was he kidding, she was brash, spunky, and competitive, but clearly had a caring center underneath the rugged exterior. More than anything else, she had a backbone. She challenged him, throwing his famous status into the wind and holding her ground. He couldn’t lie to himself. She had left an amazing impression on him. She was the most interesting mare he had ever met, and most certainly one he never wanted to let go of. What the hell was he doing trying to block her out?

Spitfire was acting like she was admiring Mac’s muscular body (unbeknownst to him of course), when in reality she was glancing back at Soarin for brief moments at a time. She smiled as she saw his expression go from deep thought to determined. She snidely complemented herself, knowing that it as long as they lived, Soarin’s mannerisms would never be a mystery to her. He wasn’t a blind foal that needed to be guided around, but she took pride in knowing she could lend a hoof if needed.

As usual, it took Spitfire to set his mind straight. Soarin smiled, wondering where he would be without her. In fact, he probably wouldn’t even have the career he was so quick to defend. Leave it to the one who got him where he is today to tell him he’s maybe taking it a little too seriously. He caught her glancing at her and she looked away with a smirk on her face. She knew he knew, and he knew she knew. Soarin chuckled and trotted towards her.

“Hey Spitfire—” he was quickly cut off as Rapidfire turned the corner frantically.

“Guys! Quick! We—” he ran face first into Big Mac’s side. Mac glanced over from his tool box and glared daggers at Rapidfire, who in turn whimpered and shied away. Spitfire, keeping her professional air, quickly addressed his eager approach.

“Look alive Rapid, what’s got you all worked up?”

“Uh—” he forced his eyes out of the chokehold of Mac’s gaze had and turned to Spitfire, “Captain, you better look outside.”

After having a good cry into the bed, Dash finally quieted down. Fluttershy waited patiently as Dash regained her composure and noisily blew her nose into dozens of tissues.

“This sucks,” she put plainly as she tossed a ball of tissues towards her trash can, missing horribly, “stallions suck,” she continued to grumble, folding her front hooves over her chest, and facing away from Fluttershy yet again.

“You’ll figure things out,” Fluttershy shifted towards her, “if I know you, you’ll have it all figured out in no time.” She comforted her. Dash turned and looked at her blankly.

“You make it sound so easy. Then again,” she lifted an eyebrow, “it did come pretty easy to you. Wish I had a natural disaster bag me the stallion of my dreams.” Dash sarcastically mused back to Fluttershy, who turned bright red in an instant.

“What!? But Macintosh and I, I mean we,”

“I never mentioned Mac,” Dash found it hard to contain a little bit of laughter.

"We aren't! I mean, but when we, actually I,” Fluttershy frantically stuttered, never finding words to defend herself. Dash only looked at her, eyelids flattened, wondering why she was even bothering because they all knew there was more to the kind quiet mare and the large silent stallion than met the eye. They were the quietest unsubtle couple in the history of Equestria. “Oh gosh.” Fluttershy turned away and hid her face behind her left wing, trying to conceal the blush that was already bright enough to make signals out Dash’s window.

Dash couldn’t help but chuckle, but also couldn’t help being slightly jealous. Fluttershy was lucky to find a stallion that was guaranteed to be in one place at all times. Why did she have to attach herself to someone famous and always on the move? It felt like she set herself up for a guaranteed failure.

Fluttershy jumped off the bed and began to pace around the room, saying “oh gosh” over and over again. Dash sighed, realizing she probably overloaded Fluttershy’s brain. She moved to alleviate that, but was cut off by a sudden crashing noise by her window. She spun around to see Tunderlane scrambling to his hooves, breathing heavily as if he had just flown across Equestria.

“Thunderlane? What the hell?!” Her first reaction was that of extreme confusion and slight privacy infraction, but his terrified expression suggested this was not the time to knock at the front door and wait patiently.

“Dash!” he yelled as he finally found his hooves, “Code five weather emergency! We need you! Hurry!” He was out the window an instant after.

With her mind mostly occupied by a certain famous stunt stallion, the words “code five” went in one of her ears and right out the other. She twitched as realization hit. The words ceased their escape and fired themselves right back into her head, her eyes widening.

While the weather team was responsible for controlling the conditions above town, at times natural weather shifts called for the team to ward off the unscheduled changes. Usually it was no big deal, but while seldom dealt with, the weather team was trained to respond to possible disastrous scenarios. For all of this, the weather team had a code system. Code one through code five. Code one represented nothing more than an unplanned drizzle or wind gusts, easily handled but had to be dealt with none-the-less. As the code number increased, the more severe was the weather condition to be prevented. In all her life, Dash had never experienced anything above a code three, which was a thunderstorm mishandled in Canterlot that landed on Ponyville. Yet even that wasn’t very severe. It wasn’t even strong enough to be labeled code four, which was used to describe an unplanned severe thunderstorm.

A code five however, was the worst case scenario: best described as an unplanned natural disaster, the signs of which had slipped right by the weather watchers and called for dangerous yet crucial action. Dash had a hard time believing it because a code five had never been recorded in the history of Ponyville’s weather team. In fact, Equestria hadn’t experienced one for at least two hundred years, if she remembered the weather team lecture she slept through correctly.

Forgetting all about Soarin and Fluttershy, who was still pacing, blushing, and oh goshing, Dash dove into her pile of clothes near her closet and emerged with a pair of flight goggles. Her emotions would have to wait. As much as the current events were prying at her, this was an emergency. A few tugged heartrings could hardly compete against the safety of Ponyville and her friends. She took to the sky through her bedroom window, strapping the goggles to her face while doing so.

The clouds were inexplicably dark and the wind battered against her from the side as soon as she cleared the walls of her home. It looked like a hurricane was about to hit Ponyville. She wondered how the weather team could have screwed things up this badly.

She sped up, catching Thunderlane right as the two met up with the rest of the team. Every member was present from each shift, confirming to Dash that this was beyond serious. All the Pegasi were fretting and conversing with no control or order. Dash looked around to find Cloud Kicker, the captain of the Ponyville Weather team, but she was nowhere to be found.

Then it hit her. Cloudkicker was out of town for the week. Ponyville’a weather team was without their head coordinator to handle a fabled code five. There was no time to over-think it, so she quickly tried to find out the situation.

“Cloud Chaser!” Dash pushed herself through the scrambling mass of pegasi, “What’s the situation?” she questioned Cloud Chaser, who was frantically fidgeting.

“Like, THAT!” She pointed a shaking hoof towards Everfree forest. Dash followed with her eyes and froze, nearly falling due to her wings going numb as well. There was a large, full funnel, tornado heading straight for Ponyville from over Everfree that looked almost quarter mile in around. Dash stared, mouth agape. How did such an incredible natural disaster appear out of nowhere? She knew there were reports of strange weather activity over Everfree, but how did it escalate to this in such a short time? Secondly, without Cloud Kicker present, who was going to direct? As proven by the cacophony around her, the rest of the team was in dire need of some directing. A solution quickly came to her, and there would be no time for arguing or debate. Dash had only one objective in mind: she had to prevent the tornado from destroying everything.

“Flitter! Cloud Chaser! Thunderlane!” she called to the three closest to her. They all turned and looked at her with fear stricken eyes, bracing themselves against the harsh gusts. Dash approached them quickly and pulled them all into a huddle, “there’s no time to panic or over-think things! I know Cloud Kicker isn’t here, but we’ve been trained to handle this. I’m going to take over as coordinator, and if any of you have a problem with it, have fun watching Ponyville destroyed!” She glanced among them briefly. None of them showed signs of fighting her on it. “I’m glad you all agree, now I need your help!” she paused as a powerful blast of wind knocked them and the entire weather team ten feet from their current spot before they managed to regain their balance. Dash refused to waver and acted like nothing even happened. “Flitter! Go into town and organize a few ponies. Make sure everypony has found shelter! Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser, help me calm down the team and get them lined up! We are going to take the fight right to this tornado!” The three nodded. “Let’s get to it! Go! Go!” They dispersed, Dash catching Flitter by the tail before she could get away. “Make it quick Flitter, we need every pegasus on the weather team if we’re gonna pull this off!”

“Yes ma’am!” Flitter replied before speeding towards town as quickly as her wings could carry her.

This tornado had picked a wonderful time to appear out of nowhere. Dash felt weighed down enough by her personal feelings and now had to command the weather team on a whim. Not exactly the most welcome scenario, but it wasn’t like she had a choice. The weather team members were currently more hysterically disorganized than a group of infant changelings let loose on Hearts and Hooves day.

With the help of Tunderlane and Cloud Chaser, the team was rounded up quickly. Flitter returned just in time as Dash finished lining them up. The Tornado was rapidly approaching, now no more than two hundred yards away. The twister was getting thicker, filled with hundreds of pulled up trees and other debris from Everfree.

Dash hovered before the lines of Pegasi, noticing very visible unease in every single pair of eyes that met hers. This wouldn’t do at all. As frightened as they all were, she had to convince them that they were Ponyville’s only hope. She would need every single one of them if they were to have any chance at all against this freak monstrosity. Having no experience in the motions of guiding a weather team, the only weapon she had was motivation. She was an expert at self motivation, and if anything got her gears turning, it was telling herself she couldn’t do something. She pounded her hooves together and cleared her throat to grab their attention.

“Listen up! I’m looking at all of you right now and I’m downright sickened!” her choice of words came as a surprise to them all, “you all look scared, frightened, and pathetic!” All the Pegasi began to glance between each other. “Look behind me!” She suddenly yelled. They all stiffened and obeyed. The tornado would be upon them in minutes. “You see that!? If we don’t do something you can all kiss your home goodbye! From what I see in all of you right now, we’ll never stop this!” She braced herself as the wind grew even stronger. Even while struggling to hold her place she kept yelling. “You want to run away?! Fine! But think about what will happen if you do!” she thrusted a hoof towards the tornado. “Ponyville will be torn to pieces!” she pointed at Ponyville, “and not only you, but everypony down there will lose EVERYTHING! They rely on us day in and day out to keep the weather clean, clear, and on schedule! Right now they are taking shelter. They are scared. But they know they have us! We are their hope for safety right now! They are depending on us. Turning tail and flying away would mean that simple faith was misplaced. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t be able to face them if we caved.” Dash spun around to see the tornado less than 100 yards away. She turned back to the team and liked what she saw. Most of them suddenly looked determined. It was better than nothing.

“We are the weather team!” She yelled, pounding a hoof to her chest. Then she pointed at the tornado. “And what is a tornado?! IT’S BAD WEATHER!” she turned her back to them, “I’m flying into the storm,” she glanced back, “I don’t care if I have to try alone, I’m going to do my best to stop it. It’s going to be hard and I’m more than certain I won’t get out unscathed, but I’m gonna try anyway,” she faced forward and glared at the tornado, “I’m not about to let this storm destroy my home!”

She blasted towards the tornado. Rash? Yes. But she knew she wouldn’t be alone. She stole a quick glance. Every single Pegasus of the weather team was following close behind. There was no emotional reaction. She didn’t honor it with a smirk or even pride in herself for motivating them. They had a job to do.

“Counter Tornado Formation!” She yelled out Cloud Kicker’s commands from their training. The group of Pegasi expanded and they all took position into a large cylinder. “Counter spin!” Dash ordered. They all faced the opposite direction of the tornado’s wind. “Give it all you’ve got!”

On Dash’s command, the Pegasi all began to spin their cylinder formation. Slowly, they formed a tornado of their own that spun in the other way. They used the excess wind of the threatening tornado to add the required force they needed. The counter-tornado grew and grew until it was roughly the size of the natural one. Slowly, the two closed in. Dash knew there was a rough battle of willpower approaching, and braced herself for the initial impact. She could only hope that the rest of the weather team was ready to take the heavy hit.

There was a very hard and sudden jolt. Dash felt like somepony had just punched her in the side. The edges of the two tornados had met, and suddenly the pressure on the weather team had increased nearly threefold. She kept her composure, and kept her body stiff. Any loss in balance or strength from any of the pegasi in the formation would kill both their tornado and their chances of victory.

Stability was key, and extremely tricky in this scenario. The biggest problem was the debris. In order to fully negate the incoming tornado, the team would have to move theirs fully into it. The even conflicting winds would cancel each other out and dissipate the tornado. It would be a simple task if not for the pulled up trees and rocks from Everfree. Any dodge or shift would have to be corrected within two seconds or less. Any more time and the one small, miniscule imbalance would cause the entire team’s tornado to collapse.

Dash found herself dodging large splinters of wood as soon as she started worrying about the rest of the pegasi’s mobility. Luckily for her, the speech had sunk in. The ponies were being battered and beaten by stray flailing stones and sticks. Occasionally they had to dodge large rocks or tree trunks, but every time they moved right back into position as quickly as possible, never compromising the formation.

After a lot of effort, the tornados were atop one another. Dash was beyond thrilled, confident she had successfully commanded the weather team and Ponyville would be safe.

But something was wrong. The tornados were perfectly aligned. One stood directly on top of the other, the powerful gusts blowing in opposite directions. Then why wasn’t the tornado dying? She was well aware how weather conditions worked. The reverse gusts the team provided should have been more than enough to counter it.

She shook the thought from her mind and continued to pump her wings up and down, up and down. She would for an eternity if it meant saving all she loved from harm. She kept her eyes fixed on the flank of the pegasus in front of her as they group maintained the false twister. She did, at least, until said pegasus suddenly fell, tumbling to the ground. Dash looked to all of the weather team and watched as four, five, six more inexplicably fell from formation. Each time one fell, it looked as though they had been struck roughly by some unseen force. Soon not even half the pegasi remained in the false tornado. The wind vanished and the pegasi left in the area were thrown from the tornado in every direction, Dash included. The whole way down, she tried to figure out what went wrong. There was no way they could have just lost concentration. The falls were too rough and sudden. She braced herself as she struck the earth, luckily not on her wings or her head. After tumbling to an uncomfortable halt, she put herself upright and shook the dirt from her body while staring up into the tornado.

She glanced behind her, seeing Ponyville in the path of the disaster, glaring as she looked back at the tornado. Something wasn’t right. The tornado was incredibly strong, but they had performed every necessary measure to counter it. Pegasi didn’t just fall from the sky due to wind gusts. Something made them fall.

The thoughts left quicker than they had entered, desperation to save her home taking full control of her body. Rainbow Dash didn’t care what happened to her, or if her actions were beyond the definition of suicide. She would take on the tornado by herself if she had to.

Unfortunately, being rash and brave doesn’t guarantee success. Dash was repelled back to the ground before she could even touch the edge of the funnel. After three more attempts with the same result, a grim future for Ponyville was the only image alive in her head.

But as her fifth attempt to single-handedly destroy the tornado left a mark across her face, and as the last trace of hope for her home became dust within the very wind she was fighting, she spotted four figures in the distance. Her eyes widened as they grew closer, realizing just how lucky she and the rest of Ponyville was. Four of Equestia’s greatest fliers just so happened to be on a secret vacation at Ponyville’s very own Sweet Apple Acres. This Tornado would never know what hit it. Dash smiled and chuckled to herself as the lead squad of the Wonderbolts passed overhead, with both their flight goggles and game faces on.

The Wonderbolts rocketed into the scene two by two with Spitfire and Soarin up front, Fleetfoot and Rapidfire keeping up two feet behind. They effortlessly cut through the powerful winds as if it were a clear sunny day.

“Spearhead!” Spitfire yelled, falling back beside Fleetfoot as she shifted behind Soarin. They now flew with Soarin in front, and the other three directly behind. Spitfire and Rapidfire slinked back, grabbing hold of Fleetfoot’s back legs, while Fleetfoot pressed her front hooves against Soarin’s back hooves. All at once and in synch they began to pump their wings hard, picking up as much speed as they could. As their fastest flyer, Fleetfoot was the main power source in the formation. She pushed herself to the limit, with Spitfire and Rapidfire helping her accelerate. Their efforts were all for one purpose: to make Soarin into a living missile. After passing his own top speed, he flattened his wings and angled them back, ready to glide. A very large air cone formed around the formation, about four times larger than one created by a single pegasus hitting the air barrier. Right before it broke, Fleetfoot pushed her hooves against Soarin’s as hard as she could.

A loud boom echoed across the landscape as Soarin was fired right through the forming air cone, and sent as a screaming projectile towards the tornado. He crossed his hooves in front of his face to shield himself as he crashed against the mighty gusts. Unlike Dash’s attempts, the sheer force of the impact created a large hole in the tornado that quickly began to close up. With plenty of speed still built up, Fleetfoot grabbed hold of Spitfire and Rapidfire, dragging them at her pace through the hole before it completely closed. They all made it inside and were instantly battered by the spiral gusts.

“Let’s counter this breeze! Expanding circle! Go!” Spitfire called out. They huddled together in the center of the tornado, facing opposite of the wind rotation. They flew close, in a small circle at first. As they picked up speed they began to expand the circumference of their path. Having practiced this thousands of times, the increase in speed was perfectly in synch as they flew faster and faster, expanding their formation wider and wider. Soon they were spread out to the ends of the tornado, flying slightly faster than the wind blowing against them. They formed a perfect counter tornado, using their hard trained refined abilities. It was even better than the tornado made by entire Ponyville weather team. It looked like they were about to have everything under control.

The counter twister was fully formed, but the tornado didn’t weaken even slightly. Spitfire noticed immediately, the other Wonderbolts noticing soon after. This wasn’t the first time they had countered a massive tornado. Why wasn’t it dying?

Out of the corner of his eye Soarin spotted something above them. Something was careening down through the tornado at an alarming speed. It was heading right towards,

“RAPIDFIRE! ABOVE YOU!” Soarin shouted at the top of his lungs. But as soon as he did, the object collided with Rapidfire. He cried out in pain as he was forced from the formation and driven straight to the earth with a loud crash. Soarin was ready to break and assist, but the missing pony in the formation caused their counter twister to capsize, pulling him, Spitfire and Fleetfoot all the way back to the center uncontrollably. Soarin grunted, forcing himself upright as he neared the middle. He spotted Spitfire and Rapidfire tumbling uncontrollably towards him. He focused and braced himself, reaching his forelegs out. Spitfire and Fleetfoot crashed into him. He grunted in pain, but quickly latched his arms around both of them and thrust his wings out, successfully halting their movement. They regained their senses, and Soarin released them.

“What the hell is going on? Why didn’t it work?!” Fleetfoot panicked while glancing between the two of them and holding herself steady in the winds. “And why is the wind so weak in this tornado? You’d think by the size we’d be struggling to stay put!”

“Something’s amiss here,” Spitfire observed the spiraling winds on the edges of the tornado, “We should be straining ourselves to not be whisked away. This can’t be a natural tornado. Rapidfire broke formation?” She looked around for him. Soarin shook his head.

“No, I saw it all happen. Something fell from above and knocked him out. It drove him right from his spot all the way to the ground,” Soarin paused and looked below, a cloud of dust was rising from the ground and being sucked into the tornado, “down there!” He pointed. They all looked down in time to see a silhouette disappear from the impact zone. Rapidfire lay motionless in a small crater, covered mostly in stray dirt and grass. “And it looks like whatever attacked him, knocked him out. No doubt about it, somepony is controlling this tornado.” Soarin glanced around quickly, all three now wary that they weren’t alone. On instinct, Spitfire glanced up,

“LOOK OUT!” She yelled, throwing herself forward and pushing Soarin and Fleetfoot. Two more shadows zipped passed them from above, barely missing. Without a moment of thought, Soarin fired downward after the shadows. He didn’t know what he was chasing, but he had had enough of the sucker punches.

The two silhouettes broke formation and went in opposite directions. Soarin followed the one that broke right, glancing briefly to keep an eye on the other. They had split off and began looping back towards each other. He smirked, easily recognizing what they were doing. They were going to fly at each other, and the one flying opposite was going to intercept. He didn’t know who or what these things were, but they clearly had no idea who they were messing with. The shadows aimed at each other, Soarin close behind one of them. Just as he had predicted the two began converging. Soarin kept pace directly behind the one he was chasing. At the last moment before the two shadows crossed, Soarin veered himself slightly to the right, ready to give the interceptor a face full of Wonderbolt hoof.

They collided. A loud bang sounded out as two air cones collided and blew each other out. They had stopped dead in their flight paths. If that wasn’t enough of a shock for Soarin, the sight he laid eyes upon was more than enough to cause more. He was locked face to face with a dark grey pegasus stallion, slightly bigger than himself. He was wearing a uniform that reminded Soarin of the Wonderbolt uniform, only the color scheme was dark purple and black. He couldn’t see the pony’s eyes through the green tinted flight goggles, but the sinister smirk was enough to tell him he wasn’t friendly. Even worse, the pegasus had caught Soarin’s striking hoof in the collision, which seemed impossible. Before he could think or demand answers, Soarin found himself being swung around and thrown downward.

“Argh!” He grunted in frustration while trying to level himself out. In the corner of his eye he spotted another figure blazing towards him from the side. It was a light blue pegasus mare, wearing the same uniform as the stallion. Soarin was still not in control of his flight. Impact was imminent. That was, until Spitfire came shooting from above. The dark mare turned and shielded herself as Spitfire drove her front hooves into her, shifting their flight path completely away from Soarin in a trail of fire.

Soarin didn’t let himself worry about Spitfire, he knew his captain was more than capable of taking care of herself. He focused on the stallion diving towards him. Upon assessing the situation, Soarin turned and picked up speed towards the ground. Upon nearing impact, he rounded out and slammed hard to the ground, digging his hooves into the earth. He proceeded into his motions for a sonic blastoff. He fired from his spot, quickly banking into a hard turn and angling up towards the stallion. They smashed into one another, the stallion exhaling loudly on impact as Soarin drove his hooves into his stomach. The blow thrust them back up into the air. As they ascended, the stallion spread his wings and forced them against their movement. They eventually stopped and broke apart, slamming back together quickly, both of them punching with one hoof and evenly blocking said punch with the other. They were locked face to face, glaring and grimacing.

“Heh, you’ve got some nice moves for an amateur!” The stallion jeered at Soarin in a low, refined voice. Soarin gritted his teeth and pushed harder.

“I’m full of suprises!” He pushed the stallion towards the edge of the tornado, if he could get him caught in the unnatural, repelling wind flow it would be an easy victory. But a few feet from the edge, the stallion sneered and halted them in their path. No matter how hard Soarin pushed against him, he wouldn’t budge.

“Well? What are you waiting for? Surprise me.” The stallion taunted as Soarin failed to move him any further.

“Who the hell are you?!” Soarin demanded as he strained himself, determined to move his enemy.

“More than you could ever handle colt!” With little effort the stallion spun them around, shifting Soarin towards the edge of the tornado. Soarin found himself being pushed closer and closer to the razor sharp winds of the tornado’s edge. The stallion had taken his plan and turned it on him in an instant. Try as he might, Soarin couldn’t stop the stallion. The Wonderbolt “Power Flyer” was being outmuscled, and slowly being guided towards a very painful experience. Soarin pushed with all his strength, pumping his wings as hard as he could, straining his muscles against the stallion as his head grew closer to the wind’s edge, mere inches away from being swept into the uncontrollable torrent.

“Hooves off jerk!” Fleetfoot streaked in, ramming the stallion in the side. He proved to be sturdy, not wavering much despite being struck full speed by Fleetfoot. But the impact threw him off just enough for Soarin to rip his hooves free and glide away from the edge. Soarin looped around, glancing down to check on Spitfire, who was locked in combat with the pegasus mare. His concern for Spitfire, while well placed and routine, was the brief hesitation that got Fleetfoot knocked out.

The stallion, roughly twice her size, grabbed Fleetfoot around the neck and tossed her up into the air. Soarin quickly turned back towards them as he heard Fleetfoots choked cough. His eyes went wide as a third pegasus appeared, a lavender one, colliding at top speed into Fleetfoot. The two flew right into the tornado’s edge, the tornado seemed to open up for them as the pegasus pushed Fleetfoot out of the funnel. Soarin wanted to help her, but remembered he had his own problems to worry about. He shifted to the side to avoid a diving elbow from the stallion. Soarin exploded upward, deciding to change up his strategy. If he couldn’t rely on his strength, then he would use his speed. The enemy was larger than he, and clearly wasn’t the quick type.

As he had predicted, the stallion grew further away. Soarin arced and dove down, careening towards his target once more. The stallion smirked, aiming his hoof right for Soarin’s face, but Soarin knew better than to try a battle of strength again. Inches from colliding, Soarin twisted his body to avoid the incoming strike. He slid by so close to his enemy that their bodies nearly brushed against one another. Soarin grabbed hold of the stallion’s back leg and pulled him down with him. He was in control now. He would slam this creep into the ground and rush to help his teammates.

But then he felt a hoof against the back of his head. Once again, the situation had been turned on him. The stallion had a firm grip on his body, the free back hoof placed against the back of Soarin’s head, using his weight, gravity, and the speed Soarin had built up to aim him right into the earth. Soarin could only shut his eyes as the ground grew closer and closer, before he was driven face first into the ground.

Outside the tornado, Dash’s eyes squeaked open. Her hooves went right to her head, groaning in pain. After four harmless landings she felt she could have at least pulled off one more. The fifth was directly on her head. She dwelled on the state of her noggin briefly as something crashed to the ground, quite violently, only a few feet from her. It kicked up dirt and dust everywhere. The intense winds instantly blew the small debris into her eyes, forcing her to shield herself. When she regained her vision, she gasped and fell back.

Fleetfoot was sprawled out in a small crater in front of her at the end of a crash trench. Standing over the fallen Wonderbolt, was a lavender mare wearing a Shadowbolt uniform. Dash rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating. She was certain the Shadowbolts were only an illusion created by nightmare moon. Was that assumption wrong? She flinched as the Shadowbolt glanced at her, pushing herself away, clumsily shuffling her hooves over the ground to scoot herself backward. The mare smirked and laughed, not even acknowledging Dash. She spat on Fleetfoot’s defeated body, turned, and fired back towards the tornado, piercing right through the blades of wind as if they weren’t there.

Rainbow dash sat completely still, sweating, blinking, and wondering what was really going on. She was having trouble comprehending all of it. The Shadowbolts were real? The tornado was caused by them? The pegasi being knocked from the sky was definitely their doing, and the Wonderbolts were in COMBAT with them? She thought they were stunt flyers. Fleetfoot suddenly groaned painfully, reminding Dash that there was a situation at hand.

“Hey! Wake up! Sleeping? I thought you would be a challenge!” The words stabbed themselves into Soarin’s ears as he was jostled awake by a blow to the face. His mind was instantly occupied by multiple focused points of pain in his head, most notably in his nose, left eye, and forehead. As if his vision wasn’t already blurry enough as he tried to open his eyes, the pain in his head only made it worse. He wasn’t moving on his own. He was being hoisted up. “You still with us colt?” The voice seemed to have its own painful blow. His right ear was ringing like crazy. He couldn’t tell if he was being yelled at or quietly taunted. He tried to speak, but grimaced at the taste of blood in his mouth. His nose was bleeding, pretty badly. Even worse, his head was bleeding too. He was having a hard time focusing his vision. His goggles had shattered to pieces upon impact, and the blood trickling from his forehead was running into his eyes, causing an unbearable stinging sensation.

To put it simply, Soarin was a physical wreck. While his body was relatively unscathed, he just had his face driven into the ground like a fence post. Scramble the command center and everything else loses control.

Any other pegasus would have curled up and accepted their fate. Soarin, however, never learned to accept limits.

Through sheer determination and will, Soarin forced his hooves up and gripped the stallion's forelegs holding him around the neck. The action was met with amused laughter.

“Well lookie here! The little colt isn’t quite down for the count yet!” The voice struck another wave of pain into his already scrambled brain. Soarin grimaced and shook his head. He forced open his right eye, his left smeared in his own blood. He could see the stallion holding him by the neck, a grin extending from ear to ear, “you’ve got heart colt, I’ll give you that much.”

“Having fun Descent?” another voice. Soarin forced his eye up to see the light blue mare, holding the back hoof of Spitfire, dangling limply in her grip, covered in painful looking bruises. Soarin’s natural instincts caused him to move and squirm. His body wanted to help Spitfire but his head was so scrambled that he could barely control any motions.

“Heh, I like this colt. I crammed his face right into the dirt, full speed. But he still has the gusto to resist. I admire his determination and will power, but in the end he was just another weakling.” His grip tightened around Soarin’s neck. Soarin choked and glared with one eye, desperately trying to regain control. “How was your opponent Nightshade?” The mare glanced at Spitfire, holding her up so she could see the defeated Wonderbolt’s face.

“Spunky, but careless. She wasn’t much of a fight. I saw Starry Skies make quick work of the third, she’s already above making the storm clouds.” The mare scoffed and tossed Spitfire towards Soarin. Spitfire crashed and tumbled to a halt, a blank look of pain on her face as she lay unconscious. “Are these chumps really the head squad of the Wonderbolts? These weaklings took over for Blazetail and Flashwind? If this is the legacy of the legendary flyers, then all the apples have fallen hard from the tree.”

Her words were harsh and cocky. Soarin wanted nothing more than to shove it to both of them and then find the third and repeat. But he was currently having trouble just focusing his sight. In his blurry vision he could see Spitfire sprawled out on the ground. His captain was down, Rapidfire was long out of commission, and from what he heard he assumed Fleetfoot was knocked out as well.

“I’m disappointed really, I was hoping for more excitement. But hey, I shouldn’t have expected much from these fledglings anyway,” the mare shrugged. The third lavender pegasus flew down from above, and exchanged a few words with Nightshade. “Are the clouds are ready? Good. Let’s destroy this backwater town and go home before I die of boredom.”

Soarin forced his eyes open, both of them, ignoring the burning sensation from his own blood seeping into his left eye. His long time, irreplaceable friend had just been brutally beaten and the enemy was about to destroy the home of not only many innocent ponies, but the home of another mare he cared deeply for. All of his pain disappeared, his brain found itself and blocked out everything that didn’t matter. His mind ignored the hardships of his body and focused tunnel vision set on one goal, and one goal only: to stop these fiends.

Art by: colorstirke

He growled loudly and clamped his grip down on Descent’s arms, squeezing them like a vice turned three times past its tightened limit. Descent turned back to Soarin as a sudden pain clawed through his arms.

“What do we have here? Have some fight left in—” his taunting suddenly ceased as Soarin began to push Descent’s arms away slowly. Descent found himself struggling against Soarin’s adrenaline fueled strength. Instead of helping, Nightshade watched, a grin growing on her lips as Soarin threw Descent’s hooves off of him. Without hesitation, Soarin cracked Descent across the face with a powerful left hook, receiving a hoof straight to the stomach right after. The blow would have knocked him out under normal circumstances, but it was almost like his brain had shut off his nerves and he only cared about stopping them. He began exchanging blows with Descent, not having any other option. His body received harsh punishment, he felt cracks and pops as he was hit. His body was operating beyond feeling, pain, or hindering injuries. All of his focus was on throwing his punches.

This did not work in his favor. Descent was bigger, stronger, and sturdier than him. It wasn’t long before Soarin found himself falling down.

“Give it up colt. It’ll be a million years before you can match me.” Descent growled, slightly shaken up by a few of Soarin’s blows. Soarin however, knew nothing of giving up. Spitfire had permanently drilled determination into his head from the moment he trained to become a Wonderbolt. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, and you certainly can’t make him forget the one’s he’s perfected.

“ARGH!!!!” Soarin forced his body up and back onto all fours. His head hung low to the ground, blood dripping from his mouth and down from the wounds on his face and head. Nightshade continued to watch, the grin on her face becoming a full, slightly psychotic smile.

Soarin thrust out his wings and shot skyward within the tornado. Descent pursued with an annoyed scoff. With his body practically no longer under his control, Soarin arced and dipped down towards Descent, who sped up himself. The two collided, both delivering simultaneous blows to each other’s faces. They flew in opposite directions, Soarin getting a hold of his flight quickly. He banked around and dove straight at Descent’s tumbling form, tackling him and slamming them both into the ground. Descent gripped Soarin’s body as he regained his control, hoisted him over his head and slammed him to the ground.

Soarin just wasn’t built like Descent. His body felt like it was beginning to crumble. Even his determination began to show cracks and dents.

Descent snatched him off the ground, carried him up into the air, and spiked him towards the ground. Soarin flailed about as he fell, trying to prevent a heavy impact. He managed to right himself only a foot from touchdown, slamming to the earth hard and painfully on all four hooves. He immediately dropped, desperately trying to stand.

“If I can stand up just one more time”, he kept repeating in his mind over and over again. While it seemed out of place, this was bringing him back. Whenever he fell, he was conditioned to stand right back up. When he was young, he tried to be realistic and told himself he would never be on the level of the Wonderbolts. Now he wears the uniform. Never backing down, never giving up, and never saying I can’t. Words he lived by, and words he would die by if need be.

Descent landed nearby and scowled at Soarin’s perserverance. It was getting on his nerves. Starry Skies flew in and landed next to Nightshade. She quickly noticed something strange. Nightshade was shivering and her wing feathers were all flustered and bent out of proper form.

“Captain, you alright?” She asked while tipping her goggles up. Nightshade responded with a sharp jittery shiver, a deranged smile, and a creepy chuckle.

“Look at it Star. Isn’t it incredible?” She suddenly mused. Starry Skies followed her fixed gaze to Soarin. His body was beaten, bloody, and broken, but he was slowly hoisting himself back up. There was no fear in his gaze and absolutely no yielding in his movements.

“He looks like he got mauled by a timberwolf.” Starry replied, confused. Nightshade burst out laughing uncontrollably for only a few seconds before stopping in an instant and draping a hoof over Starry Skies. She pulled her teammate towards her tightly and pointed her other hoof at Soarin as he threw himself at Descent again.

“Look at him, look at the state he’s in,” she waved her hoof in a slow side to side motion towards Soarin as he and Descent continued to beat on one another, “Descent has beaten him within an inch of his life and he refuses to lie down and die!” she paused and released a few maniacal laughs, “isn’t desperation such a beautiful thing?!” she continued laughing. Starry Skies awkwardly glanced back and forth and tried to remove herself from Nightshade’s grip, but it only tightened and Nightshade locked her eyes with hers, “desperation is powerful Star. It can push us beyond anything we are capable of. It is so powerful that our bodies refuse to let us use it unless we are cornered or about to die. Desperation reveals the monster hidden inside all of us. Only with it can we see the true power and nature of a pony!” She ended with a deep, slightly pleasurable sigh. “It gives me goose bumps every time I see it.”

“Dandy,” Starry Skies pushed herself away, “look, just lemme give the report. The storm clouds are ready to be fired and the twister jewel is still functioning properly.” The information seemed to have an odd effect on Nightshade. She suddenly twitched, dropped down, and grabbed her head briefly. She stood right back up and shook her head, almost like it was a challenge to pull her eyes away from Soarin.

“Good,” she replied with her voice back to its normal tone and manner, “we might as well get on with it so we can move the tornado again and finish the job.

Descent threw Soarin to the ground. He landed roughly, bouncing and tumbling to a halt in a cloud of dust.

“That’s enough Descent,” Nightshade ordered, taking her place next to him as did Starry, “We are already way behind schedule, I don’t care if it takes snapping each of the bones in his body, let’s make quick work of this Blunderbolt and move the tornado into Ponyville.

Rainbow Dash desperately crawled over to the trench dug by Fleetfoot. She climbed over the edge of the small crater at the end, losing her balance and tumbling in. She frantically tried to stop herself, but fell right into Fleetfoot, who groaned in pain. She quickly turned over and supported her head,

“Fleet! Fleet!” She called to her. Fleetfoot’s eyes fluttered open slightly. She coughed, clutching her heavily bruised stomach. Her breathing labored with sputters and wheezing. “Fleet, what’s going on?! Was that a Shadowbolt?”

“S-,S-,” she tried to speak, but her throat was swollen from multiple blows to the neck. She could barely speak. She continued to try and say something. Dash realized this and quickly put an ear close to listen. “Sp-, Spitfire, S-, Soarin.”

“Spitfire and Soarin?” Dash confirmed, earning a nod and painful cough from Fleetfoot. She reached up and grasped Dash around the neck, tearing up from how painful simple breathing was.

“H-h-help, them!!” She forced through her throat, her pain threshold breaking her consciousness. She fell limp. Rainbow Dash panicked, but sighed heavily in relief after putting an ear to Fleetfoot’s chest. Her heart was beating, she just passed out. She lowered her gently and turned to the tornado.

There was nothing natural about this disaster. The Tornado had even been stationary for a while now and then she saw the Shadowbolt. It was all the evidence she needed. By the state of Fleetfoot, and her desperate plea to help Spitfire and Soarin, Dash knew the Wonderbolts were in danger. But what could she do? She already tried to get into the tornado, but her many attempts were all swatted away by the razor winds of the funnel.

She began to envision what was going on in the Tornado. Fleetfoot was left in this state outside by one Shadowbolt. In her brief experience dealing with them, Dash knew there were at least three. She remembered two mares and a large pegasus stallion that was almost as large as Big Mac.

Her eyes widened. Soarin and Spitfire were fighting that stallion along with two more and she wasn’t going to put her bits on Rapidfire still being in the fight. Spitfire was one of her biggest idols. She didn’t like the idea of her being abused.

And Soarin? Yeah, he was a jerk. At least he was last time she talked to him. Actually she was the one who barged in and instigated it. She shook her head roughly. Now wasn’t the time to get all emotional. She didn’t care if they had butted heads and she didn’t care who was to blame, if he was angry with her, or that he had recently insulted her pride. She cared about him dammit, and she was going to help him whether he liked it or not.

A wave of determination rushed into her as she looked the twister up and down, squinting to prevent any tossed up dirt and dust from plastering her vision. She recalled the way the Wonderbolts had pierced through the tornado. They used Soarin as a living projectile, using all their speed and extra force to accelerate him beyond anything they could generate alone. She had to find a way to replicate that, but how she would do that exactly was far from figured out. Knowing she had little time to act, she forced her head into overdrive, she had to do something, how could she do it, how could she get through, how could she-

“That’s it!” Her own tornado of ideas halted as the one thing that just might work appeared in her. She scanned the area around her, looking specifically for a sturdy object to use as a platform. Since debris had been tossed everywhere, it didn’t take long for her to spot a large boulder that would fit her needs perfectly. She approached it, gave it a few kicks to test its sturdiness, and took to the air once satisfied.

The difficulty of flight made itself known quickly with the tornado so close. She hadn’t considered that, but it was a little late to be doubtful. She looked down as she ascended, noticing the distinct wobble in her flight path.

This would require perfect control and timing. If she missed the rock, or was unable to keep her course steady, she would miss and—.

Dash looked towards the tornado. It was still stationary, and she hoped it would stay that way until she could attempt this move. But as she was thinking before, if she was off target at all, she would hit the tornado at roughly twice the speed she had on her previous attempts. Since she was trying to more than quadruple her speed, it would only end in a crash, one possibly very hazardous to her health or worse.

But no more doubts. This was no time to think about failing. Dash knew if she were to succeed she needed not only to be perfect, but to believe she could do it perfectly. Any shred of doubt was more than enough doubt to make her screw up. Fighting the doubt was easier than it might have seemed. She filled her head with thoughts of Spitfire and Soarin suffering and in pain. While it was morbid thinking, it only made her more determined. Nothing meant more to her than protecting those she held close and as of recently, the Wonderbolts (save for one) had become very precious friends to her. Especially Soarin, who had shown her sides of herself she had never truly accepted.

She reached her desired height. She braced herself as the wind proved to be even stronger at her altitude. She focused on the boulder below, and clapped her hooves against the sides of her head to psych herself up.

“I’m coming guys!”

Soarin cried out in pain as his body struck the ground violently once again. He twitched and squirmed as the three Shadowbolts approached him.

“This bastard just won’t die.” Starry Skies growled with discontent.

“His mind has completely overpowered his body. I doubt he’d stay down even if we ripped his legs off.” Descent stomped down on Soarin’s face. It was just as Descent said. Soarin had not felt a single bit of pain for the past few minutes now. All he could feel was the pressure caused by the blows and his stability equilibrium constantly changing where he thought his hooves were. He wasn’t even sure how he was still able to move because he was certain a lot of his bones were broken. His wings had luckily avoided most of the punishment he received, allowing him to keep the hopeless battle up. He no longer felt victory to be even a sliver of an outcome, but he was going to fight until there was nothing left of him if he had to. He pulled his face out from beneath Descents hoof and forced his body into the air.

Descent quickly leapt up and put him in a full nelson from behind. His wings were completely pinned between him and his captor. Nightshade hovered up and slowly got in Soarin’s face with the devilish smirk forming again.

“You are quite a piece of work,” she punched him hard in the gut. Soarin felt all the air leave his lungs, “I’ve never seen a pony fight so hard past their limit. You are a rare find indeed.” She grabbed his head and head butted him, “As much as it pains me to kill you,” she slinked closer and whispered into his ear, “It has been beyond satisfying!” She ended with another sharp punch to his stomach. Following with another, and another, and another. Each blow cut off any attempt to breath. Soarin felt like he was going to suffocate. Without anything to exhale he could only sputter and cough up blood. Yet despite the tortuous beating, he forced his head up and glared at Nightshade. She grabbed his head and pressed her face against his, laughing like a crazed maniac while smearing his blood on herself. “YES! CLING TO LIFE! SHOW US JUST HOW STRONG YOUR DESPERATION IS!”

PenumbraGlow0290 Deviantart: bonnama

“HEY!” Descent pulled Soarin away from her. “Captain, cut it out before you start rubbing yourself all over me too! Save your twisted fantasies for another time!”

Nightshade looked annoyed at Descent’s prevention of her interests, but Starry Skies came down and draped a hoof over Nightshade quickly.

“Look captain, I know his agony is tickling your fancy, but now isn’t the time to be your crazy sadistic self. We need to move the twister jewel into Ponyville before Celestia is informed and our cover is blown. I’ll help Descent kill this apparently half-immortal dolt and you start moving the tornado okay?”

Nightshade looked down, blinked a few dozen times, and shook her head.

“Y-yes. That’s a good idea,” she sounded reluctant to comply, “Make it quick, I’ll take care of the tornado.” She turned away and flew up, leaving the two others to exchange disturbed glances before continuing to beat Soarin.

Rainbow Dash dove towards her target. The wind battered her from all angles, trying to force her from her path. It was just another opponent she refused to yield to. If the wind pushed her hard right, she would push back harder. It was as simple as that. The pressure around her grew stronger as an air cone began to form. This was far and away the longest shot with the smallest chance of success she had ever attempted. But that didn’t matter to her. It wasn’t the time to be logical, nor was it the time to think of her safety. If she couldn’t pull this off, it was over for everypony, plain and simple. She was the element of loyalty, it didn’t matter what the situation was, letting them all down would go against her very nature. Plus she was awesome. What could possibly go wrong?

The wind ripped and tore at her body as it threatened to collapse her acceleration. At her current speed she couldn’t afford any movements off course. Luckily, her goggles prevented the wind from snapping against her eyes, she was entirely focused on the rock below, mere seconds away from it.

She suddenly dipped down, purposely going off course for only a moment, then pulled up hard, leveling herself out into a straight line along the ground. The boulder approached rapidly.

The air cone broke, shattering into a sonic rainboom only a few feet from the boulder. Even with the intense blast, her eyes remained focused. It was only for an instant, but an instant was all she needed. As she blasted over the rock, she was at just the right height to touch her hooves to it.

She touched her front hooves first, planted her back hooves right behind them, then fluidly pushed off the front, followed by the back without breaking the flow of the movement. In the instant she had over the rock, she applied Soarin’s Sonic Blastoff technique.

Dash didn’t even have time to blink, much less breath. She felt like her head was nearly ripped off her shoulders and she lurched forward as if being whiplashed by a bungee cord. A second sonic explosion echoed out, leaving a double rainboom by the rock, which was pulverized to pebbles as soon as she launched.

shad0w-wo1f!

Her ecstatic internal response to the successful maneuver had to wait, as she braced herself for an almost immediate impact, shielding her head as she struck the tornado. She felt a giant lurch, but nothing that felt like pain. She peeked out from under her arms, just in time to see the face of a surprised Shadowbolt directly in front of her.

“WHAT THE FLYING F—” Starry Skies shouted as something suddenly came hurling towards her. Rainbow Dash collided with her, hooves to face, knocking Starry’s goggles right off and sending her twirling to the ground. Descent had to double take to make sure he actually saw some random blue pegasus mare come flying in like a screaming missile and knock out his teammate.

Soarin saw the whole thing as well. He both wondered how Dash managed to break through the tornado, and began to worry about her getting involved in a battle. Both quickly took a back seat when Soarin realized his opportunity. He thrust his head back, smashing the back of his skull right into Descent’s nose.

Nightshade stopped and turned around as she heard Descent yell multiple swears. She was just as perplexed as the others upon seeing Starry Skies unconscious with a blue mare flailing to control herself along with Soarin free from Descent and heading upward. She huffed in annoyance and turned back down.

Now free from the hold, Soarin stole one glance at Dash, who was tumbling, but slowly regaining control of her flight. He had to admit, if this was the break that won the day, he owed her big time. Pouring all the strength he could find into his wings, he went skyward. He wasn’t sure what he was in for, but he remembered hearing something about a tornado jewel and cover being blown after long. So either he had to destroy whatever was powering this tornado, or buy enough time for Celestial herself to get involved. The situation was FUBAR, but it certainly wasn’t lost.

“Oh that’s it! I’m going to smash your smug little head until your eyes pop out!” Descent was visibly enraged. If you asked him, he had never had anypony last this long or fight back this hard. It was annoying him to no end.

Soarin knew he couldn’t outrun Descent in his current state, but he could finally see Descent’s weakness. His pride. Soarin spun around right as Descent caught up.

“Better watch your own!” He jeered as he grabbed Descent’s goggles in his teeth, pulled them back, and snapped them onto his face. Descent roared out in pain, rubbing his eyes. Soarin retracted his wings, let himself float up, and fall back down towards Descent.

“I’LL KILL YOU!” Descent was already flying upward as his eyes refocused, just in time to see Soarin clasp his hooves together and drive them down with all his weight into Descent’s forehead. Descent reared back and fell towards the ground.

Soarin sighed and forced himself upward again. But something latched onto him, and quickly restrained him,

“Oh I just CAN’T get enough of you.” The familiar sinister voice slithered behind him. Nightshade had snuck up behind him and put him in a chokehold. Normally he’d have been able to break out, but in his broken state there was no resisting. “It’s too bad I have a mission to carry out. If I had it my way I’d chain you to a wall and test your limits,” she rubbed her free hoof down the side of his body, “in more ways than one, I assure you.”

Soarin struggled, finding a little extra incentive to break free from her unbelievably sadistic and creepy actions. The way she seemed to be aroused by his pain was beyond disturbing.

Close by, Rainbow Dash finally got her head to stop spinning. On first glance, she realized she was inside the tornado. She remembered a brief instant where she made out a Shadowbolt uniform followed by a very head jarring collision. She blinked and glanced all around her, spotting Soarin and Nightshade above. Not only did she see Soarin in a chokehold, but she also saw the Shadowbolt licking him?!

“OH HELL NO!” Dash rocketed towards them. She aimed her front hooves right at Nightshade’s head. Nightshade smirked and turned Soarin towards Dash. Dash’s eyes widened and she put on the brakes. Nightshade grabbed hold of Soarin’s arm, spun him around and tossed him into Dash, following right behind. Dash grunted as Soarin crashed into her, and before she could do anything Nightshade drove her hooves into Soarin’s back. She pushed the two down towards the earth, looking to literally kill two birds with one stone. Dash opened her eyes, finding herself face to face with Soarin as they fell. She tried to fight the fall, but Nightshade was too strong. Soarin’s eyelids squeaked open as well. Since they were pressed together, the only thing he could see in the entirety of his vision was the terrified look on Rainbow Dash’s face. He considered the situation she was in. Dash somehow managed to get into the tornado, and found herself in combat. He would have some explaining to do to her if they lived through this, but it was clear she was scared and confused.

“HRRGH!!!!” Soarin forced his wings out, causing just enough of an airbrake to make Nightshade lose her hold on him, and crash into his back. He reached around and grabbed her hoof, slinging her over his shoulder and sending her hurling away from them. Soarin quickly turned and grabbed hold of Dash, stopping them before they hit the ground. Dash immediately looked him over in a panic, seeing the brutally beaten state he was in. He was covered in scratches and bruises, had a black eye, a swollen cheek, and was bleeding from multiple places including his head. His body twitched and shuddered as his cracked limbs and bludgeoned joints struggled to keep him stable. His eyes were all red, irritated from the blood trickling down his face into them.

“Oh my gosh Soarin you’re—” She was stopped dead as his hoof pressed against her mouth.

“Listen, I don’t have time to explain! I’m going to stop the tornado! I need you to keep her busy!” He pointed to Nightshade, who had already leveled out and was looking for them.

“But—”

“NO BUTS! I need your help Dash! This is our only chance!” Those words from him were all she needed to hear. His body may have been nearly ground into a swollen bloody eyesore, but the spark was still in his voice and the fire still alight in his eyes. Her expression flipped from worried to determined and she gave him a nod. He nodded back and turned, but she grabbed his foreleg before he could take off.

“You better not die. I’m not done with you.” She glared with a smile. Soarin gave her a confused look, but quickly replaced it with a smirk.

“Who the hell do you think I am?” He jeered back, taking off instantly right after.

“Heh, show off.” Dash focused on Nightshade as the Shadowbolt looked up. She had clearly seen Soarin take off. Dash immediately set an intercept course, and met Nightshade right in her path. She connected a hoof with her face, throwing Nightshade off and forcing her attention towards her instead. “Where do you think you’re going?!” Dash put her hooves up in front of her face like a boxer. Nightshade glared at her, but suddenly relaxed, looking Dash over in sudden realization.

“Oh? My, I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you! What a small delicious world we live in,” Nightshade smirked and rubbed her hooves together, “if it isn’t the one and only Rainbow Dash, the only pegasus to ever resist our temptation. I’m still curious as to how you did it.” She slowly moved towards Dash.

“Like it was very hard.” Dash taunted, trying to hide the fact that she was both slightly disturbed and subtly edging away from the approaching creep.

“Oh but it is. You’re just so resilient that you brushed it right off. That’s quite an accomplishment,” Nightshade suddenly rushed towards her. Dash had no time to react as Nightshade rammed her right in the stomach, “such strong devotion. Such peerless loyalty! If only you knew your potential!” She grabbed Dash by the shoulders and turned them down towards the ground. Dash grunted and shoved Nightshade off, but spun and crashed to the ground roughly.

“AUGHH!!!!!” She quickly reached up and clutched what would clearly be a large bump on her head later. She wasn’t used to this. She had gotten into scuffles and fights in flight school side by side with Gilda many times, but this was different. She had never fought for her life before. She began to realize the gravity of her situation. She spun upright, but was caught around the neck by Nightshade. She hoisted Dash into the air.

“How awful of the big hero to leave such a damsel in distress to be beaten.” She spoke with false woe in her voice. Dash gripped the hooves holding her up and smirked.

“Funny--, you don’t seem--, too worried--, about him!” Dash didn’t like being roughed up, but she was keeping Nightshade busy like Soarin asked. Nightshade shrugged.

“Oh I’m not worried. I know a certain somepony who has blind pride and determination,” as if on cue, Dash saw something fire skyward after Soarin, “by the time Descent is done with him, Soarin will wish he’d never been born!”

Soarin approached A large mass of dark thunder clouds that were gathered near the top of the tornado. He deduced these were the clouds Starry Skies had gather for a use that had not been revealed. He surmised it had something to do with launching them from the tornado to torment Ponyville, but whatever it was, that plan was long gone. All he had to do was find the source of the tornado, this supposed tornado jewel. If he could destroy it, would bring instant victory.

“RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!” A fierce battle cry roared out below him. His eyes widened and he looked down to see Descent hurling at him, goggles cracked, face bloody, and snarling like a feral beast. The initial shock subsided and instincts took over as Soarin shielded himself the best he could. Descent rammed him full force, pushing them upward past the thunderclouds. Soarin grunted and glanced behind them as he was pushed higher and higher. If they reached the open funnel of the tornado they would both be thrown violently from the twister, ruining his chances to stop the disaster and most likely killing him wherever his flailing form landed.

Forcing his body to find strength, he grabbed Descent’s hooves and slowly forced them off his chest. He tucked his back legs in and kicked them out, right into Descent’s goggles. Descent lost his hold on Soarin, his goggles shattering to pieces as he tumbled back. Soarin quickly arced down, avoiding the top of the funnel by only a few feet. He didn’t bother going after Descent. It was clear that he couldn’t defeat that juggernaut in combat. He had to find the source of the tornado.

He glanced over his shoulder, luckily at just the right time. He twisted around mid flight and caught an incoming punch from Descent. He glared at Soarin, nostrils flaring, breath heavy, and growling. It was if his mind had completely snapped. The force of Descent’s punch drove them downward towards the thunder clouds.

As they fell, a bright pink twinkle in the corner of his vision caught Soarin’s eye. He glanced to his left and saw a jewel. A small, pink, spinning jewel that floated above the gathered clouds. It was spinning the same direction as the tornado. That was it. It was the power source.

Unfortunately, Soarin was not in a position to go after it. He tried to rip himself away from Descent’s hold, but his efforts yielded little reward. He hadn’t a fraction of his usual strength, how could he fend off a pegasus that was already stronger than him to begin with? Not to mention said pegasus was being fueled by rage. After a quick glance at the approaching thunder clouds, Soarin saw an opportunity.

Rainbow Dash yelped as she hit the ground hard, tumbling to a stop. She shuttered and slowly rose, a sharp pain gnawing at her jaw. Nightshade landed close by, grinning wider by the second.

“See what you could have had?” she tipped Dash’s chin up to look her in the eyes, “this power!” she delivered an uppercut to Dash’s chin, sending her upward. In the blink of an eye Nightsahde had whisked around, “this speed!” she brought her hooves down into Dash’s back, sending her downward. Nightshade was on the ground way before Dash was even close, catching her falling form by the neck, “but most of all, this enjoyment!” She said while licking her lips.

Dash couldn’t think straight. She had never experienced so much pain. It was unbearable. It made her want to curl up and cry. Then why did her body refuse to back down? She was terrified, but she didn’t dare take one step back. She felt no need to ask herself, because the answers were pretty clear.

Loyalty.

Devotion.

Perseverance.

Blood.

Sweat.

Tears.

The very building blocks of her character were stronger than any punch Nightshade could throw. Someone she cared about deeply had trusted her to hold Nightshade’s attention, and she was going to do it even if she had to cut off her legs and wings to succeed.

She grasped Nightshade’s hoof, squeezing tightly.

“Oh ho! Looks like I found another die hard. Go on. Struggle. Show me how much you want it,” she whispered into Dash’s ear with a little too much interest. Dash opened her eyes and glared at Nightshade, gritting her teeth, and letting out a low growl. She looked down at the foreleg holding her and changed her grimace to a smirk.

“Confident huh?” Dash began, earning a lifted eyebrow from Nightshade, “you’re tough, I’ll give you that. But honestly, you should be a little more careful!” Her words earned hearty laughter as Nightshade looked like she would burst. Dash waited patiently for her insane captor to settle down.

“This is rich! Enlighten me little filly. What sort of fight does the cornered mouse have to offer?”

“Well, nothing much,” Dash managed to shrug despite being held up. She released her hooves from Nightshade, placing one above the foreleg and one below, Nightshade observed, perplexed. “JUST THIS!!!” Dash slammed her hooves together from above and below, meeting Nightshade’s foreleg on opposite sides of her carpal bones. A painful, nerve stiffening snap echoed out between them. Dash felt Nightshade’s grasp instantly release, followed by an ear piercing scream of agony. Dash hit the ground and glanced up to see Nightshade with her head reared back. Her right foreleg was flailing about, bending in directions it wasn’t supposed to, with her left clutching the base of her mangled carpal joint. Dash shuttered and winced. The sight was mortifying, but what’s worse, she had never caused such a terrible injury to another pony before. Despite it being to save her own skin, Dash wished she hadn’t had to resort to it.

Seizing the moment, Rainbow Dash tried to get up and ready herself, but was cut short by something pinning her to the ground by her back. She grunted as her face smacked against the dirt and turned her head as far as she could to see Nightshade pressing her intact foreleg down on her. The Shadowbolt goggles had been removed, there was bloodlust in her eyes, her breathing was extremely labored, and she was slightly foaming at the mouth.

“You impudent little SHIT!” she stomped down on Dash’s head, “I’LL CRUSH THE LIFE OUT OF YOU!” she stomped again and again. Each blow forced Dash’s face to the ground, and made her more and more dizzy. She eventually went numb to the pain and could only feel the force behind each stomp.

As she began to slip from consciousness, she at least felt satisfied. She kept Nightshade busy as long as she could, and if nothing else she left a lasting impression on the psycho.

Nightshade pulled back for one final stomp, but another hoof reached out and caught it. Nightshade frantically looked to her left, meeting the intense eyes of Spitfire. bruised and bloody, but up with a second wind and lots of pain to repay.

“I believe I owe your flank a whooping.” She clutched Nightshade’s hoof and vaulted her over her back, slamming her hard to the ground. Without hesitating, she repeated the motion over her again, slamming Nightshade on her other side. “Hey, get up, I have more for you.” Spitfire pulled Nightshade to her hooves and delivered three heavy punches to her face and stomach, followed by turning around and bucking her in the chin. Nightshade was sent airborne and tumbled to the ground. Spitfire spat out some blood on the ground and turned to Dash, “You okay?” she reached down and helped Dash get on her hooves. Rainbow Dash’s vision was blurrier than it would ever be, but after focusing, shaking, and blinking dozens of times she managed to regain most of her balance.

“I’ve been better. Thanks Spitfire.” They both looked towards Nightshade, who rose shakily with only three working legs.

“She’s still up? Good. My hooves are going to have a few words with her. I need some answers.” She glanced up, squinting towards the thunderclouds gathered far above. “From what I saw, Soarin will have this Tornado down shortly and we can have all have a chat with the princess.” When Spitfire mentioned Soarin Dash forgot all about her pain and dizziness. She immediately remembered seeing Descent charge skyward after him.

“SOARIN!!!” Dash blasted off, heading straight up towards the thunderclouds above. Nightshade locked eyes on Dash and readied to pursue, but was cut off as Spitfire delivered a fierce right hook to her face.

“Oh no you don’t. Those two are the least of your concerns right now,” Spitfire removed her goggles and glared at the struggling Shadowbolt, “I’m gonna teach you what happens when you cross the captain of the Wonderbolts.” She pounded her hooves together.

Soarin continued to hold Descent at bay. The enraged beast was trying to force his hooves to Soarin’s neck, but without his wits about him, Soarin easily warded off multiple attempts. With the two locked in close combat, Soarin angled towards the storm clouds, eyeing the electrical charges pulsating through them. This was a long shot and very reckless, but he needed to buy himself time to destroy the jewel. This was the only way he could think of.

He bent his head as far back as possible in disgust, Descent hissing and snarling in his face. When the time was right, Soarin kicked his back legs into Descents stomach as hard as he could, yanking him free and propelling him straight into the closest storm cloud.

As soon as he entered, Soarin spread his body out and braced himself. The electrical charges of the lightning surged at him, filling his body with hundreds of volts of electricity. As he had trained, he braced his body, not allowing the energy to gather too much at any point. When he absorbed all he could handle, he erupted out the top of the cloud, eyes wide, teeth grinding, mane spiked, and ribbons of electricity pulsating around and through him. As soon as he emerged he saw Descent roaring towards him.

“THAT’S RIGHT YOU OVERGROWN BULL! COME AT ME!” Soarin beckoned, feeling literally supercharged by the lighting. He hovered completely still in the air, letting Descent charge right into him, taking the blow. Soarin clamped his hooves to Descents forelegs immediately upon impact. The lighting pulsated through his arms, flowing freely between the two of them. Descent cried out in agony at first, but growled loudly and met eyes with Soarin. The two were locked in a giant ball of undulating electrical pulses. It wasn’t having the effect Soarin was hoping. Descent was fighting against it. Soarin never predicted this scenario, but it should have been obvious. Descent was hell bent on killing him to the point where he seemed mindless.

It was risky, but Soarin saw no other option. He forced his limbs into his body, letting the energy concentrate. He instantly felt the unbearable shock, but because it was so sudden, all the electricity rushed into Descent. Soarin saw this, and tried to pull away, but his hooves were caught in Descent’s concrete grip. Even with the heavily concentrated lightning tearing at his flesh, Descent was dead set on killing him. Soarin had no avenue of escape, and was fresh out of options. He needed a miracle.

And he got one.

Rainbow Dash came streaking in out of nowhere, driving her hooves full speed into Descent’s side. Descent’s hooves were ripped free from Soarin, sending the two hurling towards the clouds. Soarin readied to help Dash, seeing her on a collision course with the thunder clouds, but caught glimpse of the determination in her eyes. She had risked her safety to come and help him. She would be undoubtedly hurt by the clouds, but he knew she’d give him what for if he ignored the opportunity she gave him to save her home. He forced his eyes away and poured everything he had left into his wings, aiming straight for the jewel.

Descent growled and snapped at Dash as she pushed him, she could feel some of the electricity passing into her, but she kept stretched out full length, remembering what Soarin had said about controlling lightning. If she let up at all she knew Descent would beat her to a pulp. She aimed them right at the group of storm clouds, pulsating with electricity, hoping to give Descent a double dose of thunderstorm to cool of his hot temper.

She drove him into the clouds, the energy stored inside instantly being displaced by the energy within him. It almost acted like a magnet, drawing the rest of the energy towards him. Dash tried to pull back, but ribbons of electricity crashed against her, surging through her body. She felt herself being dragged closer. She desperately shielded herself.

Soarin found the jewel spinning innocently in the center of the funnel. He took no time to wonder or speculate. He clapped his hooves together, smashing it to dust between them. There was a bright pink flash, followed by the winds dying down. He glanced around and could see the visible gusts of the funnel grow weak, slowly dissappearing.

Soarin sighed heavily, his body feeling very heavy from pain and fatigue. He had taken an extremely severe beating. The only things that had kept him going were adrenaline and will power. He began to realize just how bad his injuries were, his body struggling to keep itself together. His wings could barely maintain a simple hover. He had to get down before they gave out on him.

But before he could rest, a loud crackle and boom echoed through the air. Soarin spun around to see all the thunderclouds get sucked into one big mass, followed by it expanding and exploding. Soarin shielded himself as stray ribbons of electricity shot in all directions. He peaked out from behind his arms, spotting two bodies falling below him. One was burnt to a crisp. If not for the size he wouldn’t have known it was Descent. The other,

“DASH!!!!!” Soarin tried to rush towards her, but his wings seized up and stiffened. He found himself helplessly tumbling down. After much painful effort, he managed to control his body into a freefall and glanced down at Dash. She was slightly singed with small trails of smoke rising off her falling form. She was clearly unconscious, falling like a ragdoll.

He straightened his body to pick up speed, forcing his wings outward. He was going to catch her. If he couldn’t fly, he would glide. If he couldn’t glide, whatever, he would swim. He didn’t care what he had to do. He was GOING to catch her. After many spasms and what he was sure were a few muscle strains, he managed to get his wings to fully agree with him. They were straight out at his sides, and were probably going to be stuck that way for a while. He angled himself to set an intercept course, drawing closer to dash by the second. He reached out and gently cradled her in his forelegs, tipping up to slow down.

Soarin examined her as they slowly spiraled towards the earth. He frowned as he spotted multiple injuries and electrical burns, both minor and cringe worthy. He now held in his arms the mare that changed him forever, a mare that finally broke him out of his “logical reasoning.” The mare that taught him it was okay to become attached to something.

Yet he looked upon her. Her brutally beaten state scarring him forever. It was because of her that they were successful, but he felt it was because of him that she had to suffer through so much pain. If he was faster or stronger, he felt he could have prevented this. Instead his weakness caused harm to somepony he cared deeply for.

Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes. Tears of shame. He lightly placed his forehead against hers.

“I’m so sorry Dash. I’m so sorry.”

Spitfire looked up, spotting Soarin slowly circling towards her. She gave a light kick to a struggling Nightshade she had in a head lock as Soarin prepared for a sloppy landing. He tried his best, but ended up tucking Rainbow Dash into his body as he bounced and tumbled to a stop.

“Ouch, that was graceful.” Spitfire began jokingly, but quickly became concerned upon seeing Dash, and the down-right horrifying state Soarin was in. Soarin set Dash down softly and fell back onto his flank. His posture was completely drooped, and his expression vacant. Spitfire could hardly tell if he was conscious. He was literally caked in his own blood, all of his limbs looked like they would fall off any second. His wings were painfully bent in awkward directions, and his breathing sounded weak and uneven. “Sweet mother of mercy Soarin—” Spitfire covered her mouth with her hoof, almost unable to look at him.

“Is Dash okay?” He spoke very groggily. Spitfire forced herself to look at him and examined Rainbow Dash. She was still out, but she was visibly breathing, and almost looked good as new compared to Soarin. “Is Dash okay?” He repeated. Spitfire nodded.

“She’s fine. Thanks to you.”

“Good.” He let his neck hang down, somehow managing to stay upright. Spitfire turned her focus towards the Shadowbolt in her custody, but was suddenly thrown off by a purple streak whisking by. Spitfire spun around and set her hooves, spotting Starry Skies a few yards away with a twitching Nightshade on her back and standing with one hoof on a severely burnt Descent.

“Oh no you do-argh!” Spitfire was prepared to charge, but pain from a heavy kink in her right wing forced her to her knees. Starry Skies held up a hoof and shook her head.

“Enough. We’ve been defeated. Any further confrontation is pointless. I’m leaving with my comrades before we can be apprehended.”

“Who said you could just walk awAUGH!!!!” Spitfire’s wing was throbbing, but she wasn’t about to let them get away.

“Save your breath. You’re better off not knowing our motives. I suggest you enjoy your ignorance. When everything comes to pass you’ll be glad you did.” She turned away. Spitfire broke into a gallop towards them. She didn’t even get halfway before Starry revealed a tiny pink, glistening shard from a pouch on her uniform. It blinked briefly and a small spiral of winds surrounded them. It became a small tornado that wrapped around them entirely and shot into the air. It was out of sight within seconds.

Spitfire slowed to a stop and stared after them for a moment before stomping her hoof in frustration. A moment later she rushed over to Soarin, whose demeanor almost looked ghostly. He had over exerted himself past the point of utter exhaustion and fatigue. Not to mention he had forced through more pain he had ever felt in his entire life time. If not for his natural stubbornness, Spitfire was sure he would have just keeled over and died by now.

“Ugh. AH!” Dash suddenly cringed and awoke. She instantly felt the pain spread across her body from the electric burns. She tightened herself into a shaking ball as her nerves adjusted.

She turned back to see Spitfire watching her next to somepony who looked like they’d been hit by a train. Then she gasped. “SO-AGH!!!!” Her first step sent her face first to the ground. She forced herself up, ignoring any pain or lack of control. She limped up to Soarin, Spitfire backing away to let her get to him. “Soarin—” she used her nose to tip his head up and force him to look at her. He blinked, taking several seconds to recognize Rainbow Dash in his blurring vision. He smiled weakly.

“Dash?” He spoke very quietly between wheezing breaths.

“Yes, it’s me.” She placed a hoof gently on his cheek, trying to help support his head. Hearing her voice made him happier than he had ever been in his life. It was a good thing too, because he suddenly felt very, very tired.

“Oh—,” he began to wobble, “thank—,” his eyes slowly shut and his legs gave way, “goodness—.”

They watched as Soarin fell lifelessly, his face slipping from Rainbow Dash’s hoof. It was a slow, gentle fall, his body spreading out. His head rested on the ground with a small, content smile curled on his lips.

Then he lay completely still. His body showed no signs of breathing.

“SOARIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

---To Be Concluded---

Chapter 4

MLP: FiM
Head in the Clouds
By: Calm Wind

Chapter 4

THE MOOD IN THE Canterlot Central Hospital was empty. Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and a very deflated Pinkie Pie all sat in complete silence. Nearby, patched, and bandaged up, sat Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Rapidfire. It had only taken half an hour to tend to the three present Wonderbolts. Three hours since, not a word had been spoken, not a single pony had moved a muscle. The only thing that could break the painful atmosphere was the sound of the double doors at the end of the room swinging open.

The wall clock ticked. The pony at the check in counter stamped forms. The aquarium on the wall quietly hummed. Then like having a brick thrown through a window, the double doors pushed open and a brown unicorn with round glasses and a white scrubs stepped through, removing an operating mask from his mouth with a frustrated sigh. All eyes moved to him, but nobody spoke. He simply walked over to them. Twilight built up the courage to ask the question weighing on everypony’s shoulders.

“Doctor Redcross?” she stood up and approached him, visibly shivering, “how is he?”

Redcross glanced around at all of them, pushing his glasses up into his nose as he prepared himself.

“He’s in very bad shape,” he paused, waiting for the first emotional wave to pulse through the whole group, “he has several broken bones, multiple muscle tears and strains,” Rarity jumped off her chair to comfort a shuddering and tearing up Fluttershy, “a few punctured organs, and almost more swelling than we can control,” Twilight bit her lip and cringed, “I’ll be completely honest, from a practiced surgeon’s point of view, I’m very surprised he’s still alive. If you had gotten him to us a second later I’m certain he’d already be dead.”

“What do you mean already!?” Fleetfoot rushed up and grabbed him by the scrubs. “He’s gonna be fine, right?!” Redcross remained completely calm, as if he had dealt with this multiple times in the past.

“He’s lost enough blood and sustained enough internal injuries to kill anypony three times. Logically he should’ve died hours ago, but his body is holding on.” He stared directly into Fleetfoot as she grit her teeth and prepared to give him a piece of her mind. Spitfire quickly stopped her. If the mood could get any sadder, it just had. There was hope for Soarin in their thoughts and prayers, but that hope was now being tested. It came straight from one of Equestria’s top doctors that Soarin might die from his injuries.

“Enough Fleet. Doctor, lets refrain from picturing that scenario and assume he’s going to live. What condition will his body be in once he recovers?” She questioned as she pushed Fleetfoot over to the bench and sat back down with her.

“I was able to stabilize most of his broken bones, but I fear his wings have been compromised,” a wave of shock struck the group, Spitfire looked down and grimaced, not willing to accept it, “The bones were easily managed, but damaged joints and tendons are a different story. Once harmed past a certain point, there is no hope of fully repairing them. As is it will take him months to recover and regain movement, but he will probably never be able to fly again.”

That was the dagger in the heart. It was no mystery to anypony that flight was the absolute pride of the pegasus race. A pegasus losing the ability to fly was like losing your very individual identity. Rapidfire rose pressed a hoof against Redcross’ chest.

“Probably!? You said probably didn’t you?! That means there’s a chance—”

“If he is able to regain flight it will be on a very minimal level.” He kept his composure with Rapidfire glaring daggers at him.

“What kind of crap is that!?” he shoved Redcross back a few inches, “you’re a doctor! It’s your job to fix this!”

“RAPIDFIRE!” All eyes turned to Spitfire. She slowly looked up, her expression hard and stoic as the captain of the Wonderbolts should be. Yet tears dripped from her eyes, streaking slowly down her face. “That’s enough.”

Rapidfire stared into his captain’s eyes, utterly defeated. He turned away from Redcross and pounded his hooves on the ground in frustration. He and Soarin may have not gotten along. They may have had scuffles, fights, and very frequent disagreements. But it didn’t matter if they were your sworn enemy. Any civilized Pegasus would never wish the loss of flight upon another of they’re kind. To have such an important label of one’s self removed was only a brush short of having one’s head cut off. It would be absolutely no different than just plain dying in the hospital bed.

“What about Rainbow Dash?” Applejack spoke up, clutching her hat in front of her chest. Redcross nodded.

“She’s been completely tended to, and is sure to make a full recovery. The only real issue with her was a minor concussion, she’ll be in the hospital for a few days for monitoring, but she’s going to be just fine.”

“But—, where is she?” Applejack questioned. Redcross glanced back at the doors.

“She waited right outside the operating room during our whole procedure,” he shook his head, “as soon as we stabilized him and hooked him up to life support, she forced her way in and has been glued to his side since.” All of Dash’s friends looked among each other. Fluttershy sniffled and rubbed tears from her eyes.

“Can we—, see them?” She asked followed by a hiccup and pushing her face back into Rarity’s neck with a sob. Redcross looked them all over. He was a veteran doctor with a heart of steel. Procedure was always the most important factor to recovery, but this was one of few times he felt inclined.

“He’s in room 407 down the hall on the left. I’ll be along shortly, once I deal with the media outside.” They all rose as he walked towards the waiting room entrance. The gravity of the matter had made them all completely forget about the enormous mob outside the hospital. The Canterlot royal guards were straining themselves to keep reporters and news teams from entering the building.

Twilight gently pushed the door to room 407 open, slowly revealing to all of them a very heartbreaking sight. Most of them looked away the instant they laid eyes on it.

A broken image of the Wonderbolt Power Flyer, the great Soarin. He lay still in the hospital bed in a green patient gown, the white sheet of the bed pulled up to just below his chest. His body was almost completely wrapped in bandages, save for around his neck, nose, mouth, and in some places around his face. His mane peeked through some of the bandages on his head. He had a large, white patch covering one of his eyes, the other shut with a heavy eyelid. He was hooked up to multiple I.V.’s and a respirator that was breathing for him.

To his right a cardiac monitor beeped steadily. To his left a familiar, slightly bandaged, blue pegasus mare with her head resting on his arm. A large wet stain was smeared on his sheet below her head. She wept quietly, taking absolutely no notice to the new presence in the room.

Only a few mustered the will to enter. Fluttershy instantly turned and left, Rarity and Pinkie couldn’t handle it either. Rapidfire shuttered, turning away while banging his hoof hard against the door frame. He glanced back at Soarin briefly before trudging away. Fleetfoot looked after him, and then looked towards Spitfire. Spitfire gave her a nod and a head motion towards Rapidfire before Fleetfoot pursued him. Twilight, Spitfire, and Applejack were the only three who remained.

Twilight, having some basic medical knowledge from several books, walked to the opposite side of Rainbow Dash and examined Soarin. She glanced between all the I.V.’s, the respirator, and the heart monitor. Several X-rays were hung up on the wall as well, showcasing more broken bones than Twilight was aware a pony could break.

“This is-,” she choked on her words, “this is awful, I can’t look at this.” She bit her lip and stared straight down. Applejack made her way over to Dash and stood beside her, her eyes locked on Soarin as she placed her hat on Dash’s head. She had no words to say, knowing there was nothing verbal that could do any good. She simply offered her presence and rubbed her hoof on Dash’s back, the tough apple bucking mare failing to hold back a few tears herself.

Spitfire stood at the foot of the bed, staring directly at Soarin’s mostly covered face. She never dreamed something like this could happen. Sure they had their extra secret training. They were more than a stunt team, but the few times they had engaged in combat they emerged mostly unscathed. To meet such vicious foes with skills beyond theirs, much less on vacation seemed so sudden and brutal. Spitfire was always prepared to scrap, but had never prepared for this. She could never prepare herself to lose a close friend. Even if he didn’t die, what would be left? Soarin wouldn’t be himself. The lack of flight and the dream he worked so hard to obtain would squeeze the desire to live right out of him.

She looked at her surroundings, at Twilight, at Soarin, and at Dash being comforted by Applejack. Her new Ponyville friends had gotten involved and as evident with Dash, some a little more involved than others. They all had a right to know the truth behind the Wonderbolts. She didn’t care if she was stripped of her rank for revealing such top secret information. This just wasn’t right.

“Everyone,” Spitfire caught their attention, all eyes moving to her except for Dash, whose world currently only had a population of two, “there is something you all need to know. This is very confidential, but you’ve all seen it, and it’s had a heavy impact on you. This is only fair. The—”

“Rest easy captain. I shall explain,” a familiar and very unexpected voice to all in the room cut off Spitfire. It even broke Dash from her daze over Soarin, “there are some facts about these ponies you are unaware of as well. Allow me to clear up everything at once.” Standing in the doorway with the ponies that had retreated from the horrific sight, was none other than Princess Celestia herself and Princess Luna right behind. The air in the room instantly grew tense as Spitfire stood attention, saluting. Twilight yelped and sat stiff and still. Applejack turned quickly, accidentally bumping Dash and making her hat fall down over Dash’s head. Princess Celestia chuckled.

“Please, everyone just relax,” she requested. Twilight and Apple jack loosened up, Dash tipping the hat up to see, “I first want to apologize for-,” she paused, seeing Spitfire still in salute, “at ease captain.” Spitfire exhaled and slumped down. “As I was saying, I want to extend my deepest apologies for not noticing the tornado. Something prevented me from sensing the disturbance. It wasn’t until I received a frantically written letter from Spike that I even knew what was going on.”

“We would have thwarted the enemy had our sense not been led astray.” Luna added as Celestia walked over to Soarin’s bed. She closed her eyes and shook her head.

“And it would seem that single flaw caused great loss for this one. Hopefully we can fix that.” All eyes snapped to her as she finished.

“You mean, you can—” Twilight’s eyes lit up, but Celestia shook her head.

“Before we go any further there are a few things to share.” She turned back to them. “First, Captain Spitfire, the past few weeks you have been in the presence of living legends. These six ponies are the fabled Elements of Harmony.” Her words made Spitfire’s eyes widen.

“Whaaaaaaat!?” Fleetfoot reacted across the room, next to a confused Rapidfire.

“The what?” Rapidfire questioned and was instantly grabbed by the face by Fleetfoot.

“You’re kidding right?! The forces that brought down Nightmare moon? Prevented the second coming of Discord AND reformed him later? DON’T YOU READ THE NEWS?!” She had her face pressed to his by the end of her yelling.

“Oh.” Was the only response he mustered, terrified of his face being crushed.

“You don’t say?” Spitfire looked around at the six ponies, “lots more to you all than meets the eye isn’t there?” Celestia nodded.

“They are very special indeed. But now as for you six, the Wonderbolts are more then you know as well.” These words caught Dash’s attention in particular. She knew everything about the Wonderbolts.

She stole a glance at Soarin. She knew much more than anyone else that was for sure. What else could they possibly be?

“A stunt team is their secondary function. It allows them to have presence and to completely mask their main objective. Among the Royalty at the castle and among only our most trusted subjects, the Wonderbolts are known as the PRA. Short for Private Royal Air force.”

A collective gasp came from five of the six. Dash made no sound nor moved. Her eyes were only wider than saucers. Forget what she knew about the Wonderbolts. The stunt flying was all a ruse? They were really super badass air combat specialists enlisted by the princess herself? That made them at the least 20000% cooler. She thought back to the tornado, and she remembered seeing both Spitfire and Soarin perform maneuvers and stylistic moves against the Shadowbolts. She should’ve suspected something there.

“But princess,” Twilight spoke up, slightly put off by the information, “What does Equestria have need of a private air force?” The question was innocent, yet it was not a subject Celestia was proud to bring up.

“It pains me to admit this, my faithful student, but Equestria is never at ease. We are all constantly threatened by forces of evil. What kind of evil differs greatly, some so small they are snuffed out like a candle, some so great that Luna and I must work together to fend them off. For a while it was rough for me to do alone. Before you released Luna from the Nightmare Miasma I could barely hold everything intact. I formed the Wonderbolts around a hundred years ago to be a reliable left arm to support the strong right of my own power.”

“Yet even with us returned from the Miasma, our combined powers are best used to prevent large scale threats.” Luna cut in. Celestia nodded.

“The Wonderbolts offered a force that could look into smaller details so that Luna and I could focus all of our power into preparing and dealing with anything that could have a disastrous effect on Equestria. But even with their help things can slip by, as you all witnessed with the Changling attack during Princess Cadence’s wedding. I hope I’m not scaring you though, especially with Luna back now we’ve been able to swat away any level of evil with little effort, with a few situational exceptions like Chrysalis and Discord, but those were rare special cases.” She cocked her head to the side as Twilight fell back, rubbing her head.

“That was A LOT of information to take in all at once.” She sighed. Celestia smiled warmly, turning to Rainbow Dash.

“And I’m sure, little Dash, that you can’t imagine unicorns and earth ponies in Wonderbolt uniforms.”

“Huh?” Dash glanced at Spitfire who nodded.

“Research and supply divisions.” She casually described them. Celestia was right, Dash couldn’t picture it, but all that said was they had done an awfully perfect job of keeping it all a secret. She looked back at Soarin as Celestia began to converse with Spitfire about the tornado. She wondered if he had any secrets he’d kept from her. She didn’t want to think about it and it wasn’t like it would mean much to him anymore. The thought of such an awesome pegasus being stripped of his pride was unbearable. Not to mention the thought of him dying like this would leave her with scars that would never heal. She cared about him so much.

She jumped slightly as a large white wing draped over. Celestia looked upon Soarin with her.

“Rainbow Dash, I must know. Captain Spitfire was unsure of the enemies you encountered, do you have any insight?” Her words forced Dash’s gaze to Luna quickly, who tipped her head in confusion.

“Well, back when we fought against Nightmare Moon, I was forced to fly off alone to secure a bridge. While I was there, I was confronted by three uniformed pegasi. They looked like the Wonderbolts, only dark and frightening. They called themselves the Shadowbolts, and I assumed they were an illusion created by Nightmare Moon. I warded off their tempting offer, and by doing so earned the Element of Loyalty.” Her explanation made Celestia smile.

“Rightfully so,” she turned to Luna, “do you have any recollection of this Luna?”

“Neigh my sister, we had little control or consciousness whilst possessed by that fiend.”

“I see, it would seem there are some ponies working in the shadows, we will have to investigate.”

“As captain of the Wonderbolts, I shall do my best to uncover any information on these imposters,” Spitfire spoke up professionally while giving a salute. Her form seemed to waver briefly however, “it’s—, it’s the least I can do for Soarin.” She forced back any sign of weakness. Celestia smiled brightly at her and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“Be strong captain, he will still be working at your side, if I am successful.”

The force of everypony’s attention being drawn to Celestia was so intense it could almost be heard.

“You said something like that before, can you help Soarin?” Fleetfoot prodded. Celestia smiled and nodded, nearly drowned out by the sudden wave of excitement in the room.

“I examined him with my magic when I entered the room. Doctor Redcross is one of the most skilled in his practice I have ever seen. But even with all the treatment he has been given, Soarin will not make it through the night.” All the ponies in the room looked horrified. Dash couldn’t breathe. Either oxygen suddenly ceased to exist or her lungs shut tight in shock. If not for her curiosity towards Celestia still smiling, she was seconds away from keeling over. “But fear not little ponies. I have knowledge of a magic that may be able to save his life AND repair his broken body.” Her word almost caused the mood to completely shift, for a third time like an endless thrill ride. There was sudden joy and glee of immeasurable quantities. Princess Luna scowled and slammed her hooves hard on the floor, breaking the moment.

“Sister! We thought this had already been discussed! Did we not find it too dangerous?” She was doing her best not to use the royal Canterlot voice. Everypony looked to Celestia in confusion. She sighed and looked towards Soarin.

“Luna, we did have this discussion, and I recall telling you it was necessary.”

“We hardly find sacrificing thy life ‘necessary’” Luna sharply replied. Shock spread throughout.

“Wait, rewind a second, what’s all this about?” Twilight asked, tugging on Celestia’s mane. Celestia glanced at her pupil and frowned.

“I do know of a magic that can save Soarin, however it is a very dangerous dark magic created by King Sombra centuries ago. It was so dangerous that Sombra himself nearly took his life trying to use it.” She watched as Twilight’s eyes grew in horror.

“What?! What sort of magic could kill the user? Much less one of Sombra or your power?”

“It is a spell of unparalleled power,” Celestia looked back to Soarin, “It can repair any wound, make anypony on the brink of death good as new, it can even reanimate dead flesh. It is nothing short of the power of creation itself. A power no pony should ever possess.” She was cut off sharply by Luna.

“Precisely! It is forbidden magic! Necromancy! You use your very life force to give it power and form! Sister it is madness!” Luna pushed past Twilight and got in Celestia’s face, “even with the work around we cannot guarantee success! Is it truly worth the risks!?”

The room was silent as the two long lived princesses of Equestia stared eye to eye. Celestia did not waver in Luna’s demanding gaze. A gaze that could crush the will of any pony it fell upon. Celestia closed her eyes and let her head tip down.

“Luna, I have yet to even tell you of this,” she turned away from her gasping sister, who seemed hurt Celestia would ever hide something from her, “there is a conflict approaching Equestria, one that even Luna and I will not be able to handle alone. The nature of this threat is yet unknown to me, I only have the premonition. However in my vague visions, I could see that this Pegasus plays a very important role in the conflict,” she motioned to Soarin, “I saw him alive and flying full strength, defending Equestia with all his might an honor. Premonitions are a regular occurrence for me. Most are insignificant, but from time to time I am shown an important event in the future. At times I have ignored them, at times I have acted on them, but something I have realized is that the events I see always come to pass. I must ensure everything I saw is present. It is a law of space and time that I must uphold.” She glanced around, noticing very many confused looks. “I know it is very hard to comprehend, but Luna and I exist on a different level of both reality and continuity. I cannot possibly put it into word for all of you who live in the world as you know it. Just know that Soarin must be alive and at his best if Equestia is to have any chance of a future.”

“Shucks, that’s all you had to say.” Applejack suddenly spoke up. Twilight glanced at her, mouth hanging open.

“You aren’t even slightly weirded out by this?” She asked, receiving only a scoff.

“Sugarcube, the princess has been alive for thousands of years. She don’t work the same way we do. If she says things are different for her, I ain’t gonna question it. Cause o’that, if she says Soarin’ needs to be up and ready to kick some flank in the future, then who am I to question?” They all glanced among themselves and nodded in simple agreement. It’s not like they could understand the mysteries of the two sublime alicorn princesses, so why would they question their methods or reasons?

“It requires a tremendous amount of life force to conjure the required magical energy. Were a common unicorn able to use it, they would surely die before a fraction of the power is gathered. I risk taking my own life, that is if I cast it the conventional way,” Celestia re-grabbed their attention, “while still very risky, I found an alternative method of performing the spell. A work-around as Luna mentioned. Since life-force is required to execute the magic, if the use of life-force is spread out and forced through multiple bodies, it will consume less overall, and almost ensure no loss of life.”

“Meaning someone else has to share the burden?”

“Precisely Twilight. While my life force is much stronger than that of a normal pony, even I lack the required amount to not be taken by the spell. However, by my calculation, if one or two ponies were to share the burden, then there is a chance it would not claim a single soul.”

“Thou speak as if it were risk free that way Sister,” Luna cut in, “you would be out of commission for months, not to mention those with you would suffer the same if only for a few weeks.” Celestia nodded.

“Yes, there are drawbacks as Luna mentioned. I will be unable to move much for a month or two, and whoever helps me will probably have to stay in the hospital for a few weeks to be taken care of. Also, as I said there is a CHANCE of it not claiming any life. I have no experience with the spell, so I can’t guarantee success or survival, but I assure and implore you, it is a risk we must take.” She looked among the ponies. She could tell that this was a very hard explanation to both understand and accept. She knew the risks of the procedure, and was inclined to reveal them all. She hoped they could see things the way she did, because the future of Equestria depended on it. “Most importantly, those whom choose to help me must share a strong bond with who I’m trying to save. The stronger the spirit tied to Soarin, the more powerful the spells effect on him.” She flinched in surprise as Spitfire immediately stepped forward.

“I’m not gonna lie Princess, I couldn’t be more confused right now, but somewhere within all that mumbo jumbo you said something about needing somepony close to Soarin to help save him. Well you have one right here.”

“And you have another one here.” All eyes went to Rainbow Dash as she stepped up besides Spitfire. She was met with immediate protest from her friends, but she shrugged it all off and stomped her hooves firmly on the ground. “I don’t care what might happen, if we don’t do this he dies. I will take any risk for him.” Beside her, Spitfire smiled.

“Are you both sure? There are no guarantees of survival, as is the process will probably be very painful.” Celestia gave them one last warning out of courtesy. Spitfire saluted.

“It’s my duty as a Wonderbolt and as his best friend.”

“He’s special to me.” Dash added while glancing at him, “you’d never have to ask me twice.”

“I’m glad you understand the situation.” Celestia smiled at them both and turned to Luna. “Luna, I know you don’t agree with this, but listen closely to my words. While I am out of commission, you will be in charge of Equestria. You will be responsible for the sun and the moon, as well as keeping the peace. I assume you are up to it?”

“We will gladly assume the role of our blundering sister. Assuming, you’re misplaced judgment doesn’t claim your life right here.” While her voice was stern and annoyed, Luna seemed generally worried about Celestia partaking in such a risk. Celestia could see right through her sister’s proper words and gave her a gentle nuzzle on the neck.

“I’m glad I can rely on you.” She turned back to Spitfire and Dash. “Now then, let us begin.”

All the other ponies stood back with Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, and Celestia gathered around Soarin’s bed. As instructed, Dash and Spitfire stood on opposite sides of the bed, each grasping one of Soarin’s hooves.

Celestia spread her wings and nodded to them both. A soft green glow surrounded her, a bright green light shining from her eyes. As the glow intensified small green flames rose from her eyes as well. The glow extended and surrounded the bed along with her two helpers. Spitfire winced and Dash yelped as she suddenly felt like she was being poked by thousands of tiny needles. She gripped Soarin’s hoof tightly.

She began silently coaching herself that any pain received was pain worth taking. Motivation was her strength, her fuel, and her reason. At her current place and time, she had never felt more motivated by anything else than the broken form of Soarin before her. His life was taken from him. She never thought she’d find herself caring so much for something that she’d take unlimited pain for it, but Soarin was special. He proved that to her over and over in less than a month’s time. Pulling him from the pits of hell was a small favor she owed him for how much he had changed her.

Likewise, Spitfire braced herself against the pain. It was only the very beginning and it was much more than she expected. She wasn’t sure how long she could keep it up. But once she glanced up and saw Dash, body poised and gaze determined while fixed on Soarin, she felt a wave of confidence run over her. Soarin was her best friend. It seemed she did most of the pushing and nudging when it came to their successes, but there were many times, more than she could count, where things seemed bleak or things were hard and she’d surely have caved if not for his goofy, upbeat, but just plain heartwarming personality. Whenever he was around, things always seemed to work out. She’d help save him even if it meant taking a little pain.

Celestia could sense the high spirits of her two helpers, but hoped they’d be ready for what was to come. She focused all her magic into the spell, the aura’s light shining so brightly that the rest of the ponies had to shield their eyes from the glare as if it were the sun itself.

Dash and Spitfire cried out as the intense wave of energy was poured into the spell. The pain went from painful pricking to internal agony in an instant. And seconds after, everything went dark for both of them.

It was a strange feeling. Everything had gone dark as if they had lost consciousness, yet both felt wide awake and aware. The pain had completely ceased as well.

Rainbow Dash was the first to open her eyes, but as she did, everything remained pitch black. She looked down and saw her body as if it was clear as day, but she stood in a void of complete nothingness. She quickly glanced around and caught eye of Spitfire close by to her left, who was also in the process of trying to figure things out. Before they could converse, there was a single white flash a few yards in front of them.

Soarin’s body, devoid of color, floated limply where the light had occurred. They both tried to move towards him, but black bands of energy reached up and grabbed their legs. They struggled to free themselves, but the bands began reaching up over their bodies, and pulling them to the apparent floor.

As she struggled, Dash looked up and saw similar bands pulling Soarin down, only as he touched to the floor, it began consuming him.

“NO!” Dash began to rip and tear at the bonds with her teeth. She flailed with her legs and thrust her wings all around, anything to force herself loose. As she and Spitfire struggled, Celestia suddenly came searing down from above and landed roughly before them. The black energy began wrapping around her legs as well, but with a single swipe of her horn a white blade of magical energy swept through them, fending them off. She turned to Dash and Spitfire and blasted their bonds with her magic as well.

“Don’t let the darkness consume Soarin! If we lose his spirit, the healing magic will fail!” She grunted and swiped at the dark bands again as they tried to reach for her. “Only those with a strong bond to Soarin can tear him free of his own demise! I’ll keep the darkness after us at bay! Save him!!!” She ordered. Neither questioned her because as soon as she spoke a large pillar of dark energy rose from below and flew towards them. Dash and Spitfire rocketed at Soarin as Celestia shielded against the dark flow of energy. They both clutched Soarin’s hooves and pulled with all their might. The dark energy had already consumed half his body, from back hooves to halfway up his back. It had a good grip on him and their efforts yielded little success. Dash began to panic. They couldn’t get him free.

“DAMMIT SOARIN WAKE UP!” Spitfire suddenly belted directly into his face. Dash glanced at her with a slightly disturbed expression. “What kind of little wimp sleeps when he’s being eaten alive? You’ve gotta be kidding me! GET ON YOUR HOOVES!”

“uhn—huh?!” Soarin suddenly sputtered and his eyes squeaked open. Dash couldn’t believe it. On a whim Spitfire just decided to lay it think on him and it got him to wake up? She really did know him well. Now that she knew what would work—,

“Rise and shine ‘Sorewings’! Since when are you lazy!? Better start practicing what you preach!” Her words smacked him in the face and his eyes sprung open.

“What the hell?!” Color returned to his body and he saw the situation he was in. He wiggled his body until his wings were free and started flapping them against the pull.

“On three Dash!” Spitfire ordered, “one, two, three!!!!” They both yanked at his hooves as hard as they could. The combined force of Soarin’s effort and their pull dislodged him completely from the dark mass. Dash and Spitfire flew back with him,

But in the blink of an eye, Rainbow Dash and Spitfire found themselves falling away from Soarin’s hospital bed and crashing into the walls opposite of his bedsides. Dash was frantically sat up as several swabs, a stethoscope, and Soarin’s X-ray’s fell on her head. She felt around her body, breathing heavily, her brain trying to make sense of what she just went through.

The aura had returned to Celestia and was sucked completely into her body before it exploded out from her with a small bang. She fell back as well, and skidded to a stop at Luna’s feet, her tiara flying from her forehead and clinking softly to the floor. Something strange was happening to her. Her mane turned to pure pink and it lost its natural, continuous flow. She lay on the ground, sweating and panting as if in pain.

“SISTER!!!” Luna quickly supported her with the help of the other’s minus Dash and Spitfire. Celestia gave a weak smile as the rest fretted over her, squeaking her eyes open and looking up at Luna.

“Do not worry Luna, I’ll be fine. What’s better is we were successful.” Her words brought a collective sigh amongst the ponies. “I used up a lot of energy, I just need my rest.”

Between her jittery shivers and her body having small spasms in response to the disturbing experience she just went through, Celestia’s words reached her ears. Then as if her mind wasn’t just blown by supernatural energy, she became ecstatic. Celestia said they were successful? They saved Soarin’s life? He would heal completely? The answer was yes to all, and she couldn’t be happier. She stood up, but felt very wobbly and disoriented. She spotted Spitfire, who had tried to move towards the rest, stumble towards her. Dash reached out and caught Spitfire as she fell into her, but the impact made her beyond dizzy.

“Oooooh, that was a bad idea—” Dash muttered before the two collapsed in a two pony pile on the floor. Applejack and Fluttershy responded quickly, trying to get some sort of response out of them.

“They’ll be just fine.” Celestia suddenly quelled their worries. “While the strength of their life force is but a fraction of my own, their small contribution made the spell successful without loss of life. I imagine they are quite confused and drained of energy, they will probably have to spend a week or so hospitalized.” She finished and Applejack turned to the unconscious Rainbow Dash with a smirk.

“Always takin’ it too far. Some things ain’t never gonna change.”

As the ponies moved in to help the fatigued pegasi, Luna helped Celestia get to her feet and supported her as they moved into the hallway.

“That was reckless sister, thou should be more aware of thy duties as ruler before the life of a single pony.” Luna spoke harshly, but with a hint of worry. Celestia chuckled as they neared a cushioned bench.

“Sometimes it is worth the sacrifice Luna. This is the fifth time I’ve had a foreboding premonition in the recent years. I foresaw Nightmare moon, and did nothing. I discerned the return of Discord and did nothing. I was aware of the threat of the changelings, made preparations, but was useless in the end. I predicted the rise of Sombre, but was unsure and nearly sent the elements of harmony to their death.” Luna helped her down to the bench, as she sighed, “I’ve led Equestria with the gift of the sun’s power for thousands of years. You’d think that much time would make one wise, but in a few short years I let four major catastrophes slip right by. If not for the elements of harmony, Equestria would be in ruins.”

“Thou cannot pin the responsibility on thy own self sister.” Luna tried to interject. Celestia only shook her head.

“You are kind and thoughtful Luna, but the facts are written in history. Every premonition I’ve had has come true, I can no longer ignore them. It was risky, but by restoring the life of that single pegasi will make the future turn out in our favor. Trust me.” Her breathing was still labored, she felt fatigued beyond anything she’d ever felt in her long, extended lifetime, but especially after the recent hiccups in her watchful reign, she felt like she had finally made a real difference. “Oh, Luna, I must’ve dropped my Tiara back in the room, could you fetch it for me?” She suddenly asked. Luna hadn’t even noticed, glancing at her sister’s bare forehead.

“Ah, how unbecoming, we shall retrieve it.” Luna turned and made her way back down the hallway.

Celestia sighed, laying on the bench in a sprawling manner. It was designed for ponies, not alicorns, so she didn’t quite fit. She glanced to her left and rolled her eyes.

“You can stop hiding now.” She spoke in an annoyed tone.

“Oh, I could never fool you, could I?” A snide and snarky voice echoed around her. A figure materialized behind her, completely flat like a crayon doodle on the white hospital walls. She knew who it was, but her pride kept her from gracing him with eye contact.

“Come to tell me I’ve slipped up?”

“Oh my sweet Princess Celery, you couldn’t possibly think anyone knows you better than I. The only surprise to me is that you actually went through with it.” The voice seemed to tickle her ears in a very uncomfortably confident way.

“But at what cost?” she crossed her hooves and lay her chin down on them, “I will pay a terrible price for this. I’ve got you and a few others to thank for making me feel useless. These past couple years have taken a heavy toll on me you know. I’ve felt less and less qualified to be the prime ruler.”

“But surely you didn’t put everything into the spell—” the voice paused, but Celestia didn’t answer, “Oh wait, that’s right, you did, didn’t you.”

Celestia flinched as she felt something slither against her back.

“Well, you’ve met with a terrible fate, haven’t you?” The voice was now right beside her, speaking quietly into her ear, “Frankly I’m surprised how recklessly you dove into it. Luna can’t sense it can she? Not even she knows what you’ve done. How awful. How absurd. I didn’t think you had it in you!”

“Save it. I made my choice. After thousands of years of being just some symbol, I finally feel like I’ve done something. Nothing you say can take that satisfaction away from me.” Her words were met with a loud cackle that lasted a few seconds.

“Oh how quick you are to lie down and give up. Sweet yet silly Celestia, as if I’d ever let you off that easy.” The voice grew quieter as it finished. Celestia’s eyes widened and she shifted to look behind her. But the owner of the voice was gone, vanished into thin air. She wondered what it meant, but the voice echoed in her head.

“You’ve sacrificed everything and have accepted your fate, but just because you have, doesn’t mean I do.”

She stared up at the ceiling for a moment before closing her eyes, sighing, and resting her chin on her hooves again.

Rainbow Dash groaned uncomfortably, placing her hooves on her head as her eyes forced themselves open. The last thing she remembered was catching a falling Spitfire before realizing how woozy she was. She blinked repeatedly as if it would help, but she quickly noticed it was dark wherever she was. She prodded her hooves around and found she was dressed in a hospital gown, in a soft bed which she assumed was a hospital bed by her attire, and her right fore-leg was hooked up to a single I.V.

She remembered the whole strange process she endured, and recalled Celestia mentioning a week or so of being completely out. That was for damn sure. She was so stiff she could barely move anything.

What a dull way to wake up. In a dark room, in presumably the same hospital, with no knowledge of what she hoped was only about a week. She groaned in frustration at all the discomfort. She was stiff, tired, confused, and alone.

“You finally awake?”

Or so she thought. At first she was just startled at the voice to her left. It was a pleasant surprise to know someone else was with her. Once the brief shock to her nerves faded, her brain registered the voice. It was familiar. Very familiar. She suddenly felt a wave of happiness plow her in the face.

“SOARIN?!” She looked left, blinking furiously to try and adjust her eyes to the dark. She wanted to see him. She wanted to know he was alive and well and that Celestia’s reassurance wasn’t just a trick of her fatigued mind. Try as she might, she could not see through the darkness. She ignored her half-asleep limbs and threw the sheet off her body. She rolled over, falling off the edge of the bed. She intended to land on her hooves, but with her stiff limbs she landed in a heap on the floor. She wobbled up and shakily advanced in the direction of his voice, dragging the I.V. along with her painfully by the foreleg it was attached to. She ran right into the curtain that she now realized was surrounding her bed. She tripped completely into it and fell, yanking the cloth clear from its rails and getting tangled in it. She cursed and ripped herself free from it.

“What the hell is going on over there?” His voice came again. She hadn’t imagined it. The voice caressed her ears. Hearing him speak was like candy for her brain. Seeing his broken face slip from her hoof and fall to the ground, devoid of life, was scaring and traumatizing. When she had realized he wasn’t breathing she felt like her insides had gotten all tangled. The pit of her stomach burned and she even vomited from the shock. It was a good thing Spitfire had her wits about her because she could barely think straight when she thought Soarin had died right in front of her.

She forged on, dragging the I.V., the curtain tangled with the tubing. She’d drag a train with her if she had to. Her nose touched another curtain. His voice sounded nearby before, so she assumed he was behind here. It didn’t matter, she’d leave the room and run twenty eight doors down to get to him.

She quickly prodded around, eventually just pulling the curtain aside until it was out of her way. She advanced and ran right into another hospital bed with a loud clang of her foreleg against its metal frame. She yelped, but quickly ignored it and felt around the mattress with her hooves. Her heart skipped a beat when a hoof reached over and hooked her own.

“Whoa there Dash, you’re gonna bring the building down at this rate.”

Her body froze. She couldn’t see him. But that’s not what she wanted. She just wanted to know he was really alive. Her sacrifice and effort had given him another chance at life.

When Dash was a filly and a young mare, she was rough tough, and impossible to break. The mere thought of ever being reduced to tears for any reason was met with a scoff. Cleary that rule changed very recently. But what would you do if one of the ponies you looked up to the most stepped on everything you stood for? She considered that to be a special case. She had never gotten over emotional or choked up about anything while in her natural state of mind.

Here she found herself so overjoyed, that not even an automatic code she lived by could prevent tears slipping down her cheeks. The tears found themselves altering course in a wide angle around the widest smile Dash ever had.

“SOARIN!!!!!” She threw herself into the bed, wrapping her hooves tightly around him. He grunted painfully, still not fully recovered. Her squeezing hurt, but he didn’t stop her. He wasn’t sure of all the details, but after a brief rundown from Fleetfoot the day before, he knew both Dash and Spitfire sacrificed their well being to save his life. Dash endured pain and fatigue to save him. Plus he kinda died in her hooves, so her aggressive happiness was well placed.

Her grip eventually loosened, but she remained clamped to him.

“Don’t EVER do that again.” She choked out, her voice muffled due to her head buried in his chest. He smiled, reaching his mostly healthy forelegs out into the dark, finding the bend of her back and gently returning the embrace. He suddenly sighed, the smile flipping upside-down.

“I’m surprised you give a damn after all that stuff I said.” He had nearly forgotten all about their emotional confrontation during the battle. His words alone cause him enough regrets to last seven lifetimes. He felt Dash shake her head against him with a sniffle.

“You’re a jerk.” She stated. Soarin lifted an eyebrow. “But I don’t care what you say. I like you anyway.” She finished with a sniffle. He smiled as she shifted slightly. “I’m surprised you aren’t mad. I was a bitch to you earlier.” Soarin sputtered and held in a laugh.

“Dash. You came to my aid during the battle, made it possible for us to save Ponyville, and oh, right, just saved my life. If that isn’t enough reason to feel grateful then let’s just go with I care about you regardless, okay?” She didn’t respond, just continued to sniffle and hug him. “So am I forgiven?” He asked suddenly. She responded with a sharp sniffle. Followed by an attempt to speak that got completely watered down by her emotions, which seemed to have intensified. She had become a train wreck of joy, barely able to speak straight because she was so happy at just everything. She tried again.

“You’re not off the hook, but if you ever die in front of me again I’ll kill you.” She spoke with a blubbery tone. It was charmingly amusing to him that her tough side still dictated what she said in a moment as heartwarming as this. Not to mention it made her say something that made no sense. He rubbed his hoof softly against the back of her head.

“I’ll be sure to not die anymore.” He jokingly replied. Her grip on him suddenly tightened again.

“Just shut up and cuddle me.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Roughly a minute later, a nurse barged through the door after a patient next door was roused from his sleep by clanging noises and cursing. The light form the hallway shone on Rainbow Dash and Soarin. Her sense of urgency faded when she saw the two locked together in the bed.

Art by: rulette

Rainbow Dash was out, her intense struggle to reach Soarin took more than she could handle in her current state. She now slept peacefully against him. Soarin glanced towards the door and waved off the nurse to indicate that all was well. The nurse smiled and left, quietly closing the door behind her.

After a day of close monitoring once she awoke, Dash was released from the Hospital along with Spitfire. The Wonderbolts vacation had already run long, but they also had to wait another week for Soarin’s magic induced recovery to fully heal him.

Much to Rainbow Dash’s dismay, the Wonderbolts had to take leave as soon as Soarin was ready. They had already missed a show and without the lead squad the reported ratings of the performance was a record low. Some uninformed spectators had even sent mail demanding a refund for their ticket.

Dash stayed in Canterlot until Soarin was fully recovered. While she couldn’t stay in the hospital, she knew a few ponies from back in flight school who she easily bummed a couch off of for a few nights. Visiting hours were also limited. She wanted to spend all day with him, but she got one hour at most daily.

Unfortunately it was now time to part ways. Something that Rainbow Dash felt hit too fast despite being extended by undesired events. Here was the problem she thought she was prepared for. She had the hots and then some for one of the most famous Wonderbolts. How did she ever think it would work? Soarin was right all along.

She was glad her friends made the trip up to Canterlot to accompany her on the train ride home. She needed the extra support.

They all gathered on the station platform for their goodbyes, a few assigned royal guards doing their best to keep fans away.

“It's too bad things became so strange. I really enjoyed spending time with celebrities.” Said Twilight with a warm smile.

“Strange would be putting it lightly.” Spitfire added with a light hearted eye roll, “we fought amongst ourselves, got locked in combat with some loonies, one of us died temporarily, and I got violated in a void of dark magic,” she paused and smiled, “it’s one hell of a story to tell, but I doubt anyone would believe that last part.” They all shared a joint laugh, reminiscing about the very interesting month they just lived through.

Dash did her best to keep smiling and follow the laughter, but it was getting harder and harder to conceal how sad she was as it all went on. She cursed the different paths in life she and Soarin walked. While she was determined to fly among their ranks eventually, it just wasn’t soon enough in the future. She wanted to be with him, hang with him, laugh with him, and share everything with him. Sometimes life just didn’t deal you a winning hand.

It didn’t take long for Soarin to pick up on her mannerisms. He’d learned how to read her expressions a little over the past month and it was clear she was distraught. He kept his focus on the group as a whole as he contemplated what to do. She’d made his vacation fun if not a bit emotional from time to time, but there was much more to it.

She persisted when he shied away, copied his signature move, found a workaround to make up for what she lacked in order to pierce the tornado, came to his rescue despite the danger to herself, and put her life on the line even more severely by withstanding the dark magic that ripped him from the claws of death itself. She was one hell of a mare, he was certainly enamored by her through everything she had done.

And then, the harsh truth. They had lives that would turn to hell if intertwined. He had given his explanation to her again during the last time she visited him in the hospital. It ended differently because they had a better understanding of each other, but it still left them wishing it wouldn’t be so.

“All aboard!!!” The engineer’s call snapped Soarin from his thoughts and he realized he wasted the whole time thinking to himself.

“Well, that’s our cue, It was an honor and a pleasure.” Rarity bowed respectfully to the Wonderbolts.

“Have a nice trip!” Fleetfoot waved as they all gave their goodbye’s and turned towards the rear train car.

“See ya.” Said Dash half-heartedly. Spitfire nodded to her.

“I expect to see you at our next Wonderbolt Camp Dash, after they hear about your tornado stunt, the Academy board would be downright stupid not to send you an invite.”

“Will do.” Dash forced her smile a little wider and glanced at Soarin, giving a small wave. Soarin flinched, hesitated and swallowed before returning the wave and saying “bye” very quietly after she had already turned to leave. His ears flattened against his head and he sighed as Dash boarded the train.

The Wonderbolts watched as the train pulled out of the Canterlot station and chuffed down the tracks towards the horizon. Soarin had never felt dumber in his life. He felt so strongly about Dash, and he just botched a goodbye before possibly not seeing her for a long time. But that was probably better right? He had to focus on himself and his work. He’d just have to wait a while. He’d see her again. But why did it have to be so long? Was there really no way they could meet up every once in a while? It couldn’t be a relationship but he wouldn’t mind keeping in touch. Not like it all mattered, he missed the opportunity to settle all of that, say a heartfelt goodbye, and possibly give her a hug. He felt pathetic. He wished Spitfire could kick him into action all the time, but it’s not like she could read his mind.

“Soarin.” Spitfire’s voice caught his attention as if on cue with his thoughts. He glanced at her, still looking depressed. She wasn’t looking at him. She was staring straight forward at the platform. “You have three seconds to go after that train and give that poor mare a better farewell before I make you wish you died in the hospital.”

“Wha—?”

“One.” She began. His eyes lit up and he shook his head.

“Argh!” He grunted and spread his wings.

“Two.” She got no farther. Fleetfoot and Rapidfire squinted as an intense blast of wind rushed by them. Spitfire stood still, eyes still forward, and cracked a smile as the space where Soarin stood was now vacant. “Good.”

Rainbow Dash left her friends in the car to talk amongst themselves, exiting through the back door and onto the small space outside the car. She rested her forelegs on the railing, watching the tracks run from beneath the car.

What a lame, anti-climactic way for it to end. The most exhilarating and soul searching month of her life and the stallion responsible barely gives her a goodbye. It’s not like she did a very good job either. Perhaps it was her way of acknowledging the inevitable space that would remain between them as long as their lives went different ways. She would just have to accept it. Not all ponies get to live a fairytale.

She sighed and decided to return to the car, but her eyes caught something in the distance. Something was speeding through the air towards the train. She squinted, trying to make out what it was, and realized only a little too late that it was Soarin.

“Whooooaaaaa!!!!!’ Soarin had misjudged how quickly he could decelerate. He was on a collision course with the rear car. He put up the air brakes, straining his wings against the pressure of his speed, shutting his eyes and gritting his teeth as he tried to force himself to a stop. He slowed down considerably, but there was no way he wouldn’t hit the car, he opened his eyes to ready himself, but came face to face with Rainbow Dash.

They both grunted as he crashed right into her. The two fell back and tumbled to a halt. Soarin ending up on top of her. He quickly pushed his forelegs to the ground to lift himself slightly from her, flinching when he realized just exactly how they landed. Dash shook her head and stared up at him from her back. Her face turned bright red when she felt the body contact and saw their position, but it turned into an angry glare at him.

“Eh—” Soarin smiled awkwardly, “Hi?”

“Get off of me you jerk!” Dash pushed her legs up and forced her wings to the floor, effectively pushing Soarin up and toppling him over onto his back. He totally blew it. But then Dash flopped on top of him. “And damn it, I’m so glad to see you.” She hugged him tightly, squeezing him as hard as she could, and digging her face into his neck. Soarin’s mind drew a blank for a few seconds before laughing to himself and returning the embrace.

“You’d think by now I’d expect this.” He joked as the two let go and got to their hooves. "You should thank Spitfire sometime, if she couldn’t see through my brain she wouldn’t keep sending me after you to fix things.”

“Noted. I was already contemplating ways to punch you in the face for not saying goodbye.” Dash jeered with a smirk. Soarin looked away, turning towards the railing, smile fading slightly.

“I know we can’t be what we want to be, but that doesn’t mean you’re not important to me. Hell after all you’ve done this past month I don’t think I could live without you in my life even if only a little at a time.”

“Likewise.” Dash walked up beside him, “I think both of us learned a lot from each other.” She looked at him and she looked at her. They flashed each other smiles and stared back into fading horizon.

“You’re special to me Dash. Never forget that.” He draped his wing over her back. She leaned into him with his wing. She was beyond happy that he came after her. Just when the end was going to be depressing, Spitfire fired him out of a cannon so he could flip the whole thing around. They both stole a glance at each other at the same time, then quickly averted their eyes, both embarrassed that the other caught them trying to get a more “desirable” look at the other.

They waited a few seconds before a wave of determination swept them both. They would regret it if they didn’t take a chance right now to at least ease a little bit of their deeper feelings. They both quickly turned and leaned towards one another. Their faces collided painfully and they stumbled back, groaning while rubbing their noses. They looked across the small platform at each other blankly.

“Were you trying to—” Dash paused and motioned a hoof towards her lips.

“Um—, yeah, were you too?” Soarin copied her motion.

“Yeah.” She nodded. The two of them continued to stare until Dash lost it and burst out laughing. Soarin did the same.

“Well competing is in our nature, looks like we butt heads even when we want to—” Dash was suddenly right in front of him and shoved a hoof over his mouth.

“Shut up and come here.”

She edged towards him slowly. He reached up and placed a hoof on her cheek. They both closed their eyes and shared a long, satisfying kiss. They broke apart and stared into each other’s eyes, barely an inch between them.

“You’re too important to me to just let go,” Soarin spoke softly, “a full-relationship is out of the question, but I want to see you as much as possible.”

“I can accept friends with benefits,” Dash winked, “at least for now. As soon as our lives cross for good I’m hunting you down.” She nudged him with a playful growl. He bounced his eyebrows comically.

“Sounds good to me. Oh and don’t tell Spitfire, but I’m gonna be sending you tickets to all of our shows in case you are ever able to make the trips.” He snidely smiled at her. She caught on that there was a catch.

“What kind of tickets might these be? You seem eager to tell me.”

“Oh nothing special,” he tipped his head back and forth, “V.I.P. front row seats with backstage admittance.”

“WHA—?!” Dash’s wings fired out to her sides, her ears stood straight up and she was instantly covered in goose bumps. She grabbed him by the sides of his head and pressed her face against his. “SAY THAT AGAIN!”

“V.I.P. front row seats with—”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!” She squealed directly into his ears and flapped her wings furiously. She was almost never able to get tickets to their shows and now she had a pipeline to the best seats in the house, plus a free pass to hang with them whenever. She would never ask for anything else in her life.

She calmed herself down and hugged him tightly.

“Oh my gosh, thank you, thank you!” She bounced lightly as she gripped him before putting him at leg’s length again. “I will make as many of them as possible, and you better be the first one I see every time I come back stage. Got it?”

“Of course.” Soarin smiled. “I’ll fight anypony that gets in my way.”

“Good.” Dash hugged him again, this time less of a squeeze and more of a gentle embrace. She knew he was about to leave, but she couldn’t be happier with the way everything came around.

“Well, I better take off Dash.” He lifted her chin and planted a second brief kiss on her lips. “I’ll see you around.” She grinned and nodded.

“Count on it.”

Soarin hopped over to the railing and flashed one last smile at her before jumping up, and rocketing back towards Canterlot.

Rainbow Dash leaned her forelegs on the railing, this time with a much more positive state of mind. She watched until he disappeared from sight and dropped back onto all fours. She inhaled sharply and let her wings gently flutter. She rose barely an inch off the floor before exhaling and dropping back.

Damn she felt good. She felt so good she could just burst. Life was awesome.

She turned and re-entered the car with newfound confidence and poise, only to be tackled to the floor as soon as the door closed behind her. Her eyes shot open and she found herself staring into the wide, sparkling eyes of Rarity, who had a giggly smile pasted to her face.

“DETAILSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!”

“RARITY!!!!!!!!!!”

---The End---

---Timeline to be continued---

Chapter 1

(NOTE: Unlike the second two in the Soarindash trilogy, i have yet to apply Edits to this story. I apologize ahead of time if it is a little sloppy, i plan to fix it in the future)

(Timeline position: Two months after the events of Soft Spoken With a Big Heart.)

(For timeline info, please visit my homepage)

“MAIL CALL!!!” A shrill goofy voice caused Rainbow Dash to jump straight up out of bed and cling to the cloud ceiling. She stared wide eyed at the floor where the noise came from to see Derpy’s head sticking through the cloud floor of her bedroom with Dash’s mail in her mouth. After spitting it out, she saluted, “Bye-bye!” and disappeared beneath the floor. With aggravated sigh Rainbow Dash released herself from ceiling and hovered towards the mail, wondering if Derpy could find any more ways to give her a heart attack.

“Huh?” Her eyes caught the edge of a picture beneath the envelopes. The word “-derbolts”. She quickly pushed the envelopes aside and picked up the copy of the day’s newspaper. She scanned the paper over and over, eyes growing larger every second. “Ohmigoshohmigoshohmigoshohmigosh!!!!!” She erupted with glee, dropped the paper and fired out of her room, through the front door, and out into the sky. She flew in dozens of circles before zooming towards the center of Ponyville.

The paper lay sprawled out on the floor, the headline covering the whole front page with a picture of the Wonderbolts streaking across the sky. “Wonderbolts debut new show in the skies of Ponyville!”

MLP: FiM

Head in the Clouds

By: Calm Wind

Chapter 1

“Tomorrow they’re gonna be here! I don’t even have to leave Ponyville! It’s gonna be SO. AWSOME. AHHHHH!!!!!!” Rainbow Dash zipped around the inside of Sugarcube corner talking at a mile a minute. Applejack and Twilight both had their faces flat on a table with their hooves covering their ears.

“Thanks for letting us know. Again.” Twilight complained as she squeezed her eyes shut.

“Good gravy Dash, give it a rest! You’ve told us about twenty times per day for the past week!” Applejack angrily stomped her hooves on the table. Rainbow Dash stopped right in front of her, upside-down, the goofy smile still spread across her face.

“How can I? I’ve never seen a Wonderbolt show so up-close! Every time I’ve gotten tickets I end up in nosebleed seats and can barely even see them! Tomorrow they’re gonna be doing all their stunts RIGHT. THERE. EEEEEEEHEHEEE!!!!!” She flew right over Applejack’s head and slammed right into Pinkie Pie. The two tumbled into a pile of sugar bags, luckily not breaking them, but cushioning their landing. Pinkie stuck her head out over Rainbow’s body at Applejack and Twilight.

“Will someone pleeeeeeeease restrain her?! She’s ruining my cupcake baking time!” Pinkie complained while pointing to a stopwatch around her hoof. Dash flopped off and fluttered back into the air.

“Sorry, I just can’t contain the excitement!” She sped through the front door and took to the sky above Sugarcube corner, giggling with excitement and she flew circles around the place. She didn’t care what her friends said. Yes, she may be going a little overboard, but how could she not? Seeing a Wonderbolt show up-close was a major part of her life’s dream. After tomorrow, she would see firsthand the tricks and techniques of her idols. So when the day comes that she finally has a shot, she’ll know what she needs to work on.

She flew in circles, her head in the clouds, imagining what tomorrow would bring her. However, her daydreams were cut off by a scream from Sugarcube Corner. Dash glanced down to see Mrs. Cake frantically moving around near the upstairs windows. Dash flew down to see what had gotten the baker so flustered.

“What’s wrong Mrs. Cake?” She asked through the window as Mrs. Cake looked about the room. Dash recognized the room as the Foals’ room.

“Pound! Where’s Pound?!” Mrs. Cake yelled as she overturned every loose object in the room. Dash glanced at the crib and noticed Pumpkin was sitting in it alone. Before she could say anything, Mrs. Cake snapped her head towards the open window. “He must’ve flown out the window! Oh what was I thinking leaving it open!?” She galloped over to the sill nearly shoving Dash out of the way as she looked around outside.

Seizing the situation, Dash looked around for signs of the little pegasus foal. She gasped as she looked up. Pound had indeed flown out the window, and the talented little foal was shakily flying higher and higher, right towards a common airway used by pegasi a good two hundred feet above the main street of Ponyville. Pegasi traveled quickly along this path. If Pound were to slip into it, there was a high chance of a pegasus colliding with him.

“I got him!” Dash fired towards the Pound with only seconds to spare before Pound entered the airway. She could see pegasi flying at high speeds back and forth as she neared her objective, keeping her pace, but not going so fast that she would slam into Pound. “Gotcha!” She yelled out as she gently wrapped her forelegs around Pound.

The foal flailed briefly, but settled quickly as Dash slowed them down. Unfortunately, her deceleration had edged them a couple inches into the travel space of the airway. An oblivious pegasus mare’s hoof slammed into the side of Dash’s face, forcing her into a falling spiral. Pound fell from her gentle grip and began tumbling towards the ground. He was unable to level himself out, his wings not developed enough to handle the uncontrollable fall.

Dash leveled herself out and glanced all around, spotting the tumbling foal. Pound had already fallen almost half the distance to the ground. Without any hesitation, she plunged downward, pushing herself as fast as her wings could carry her. She had a lot of air to cover between them, but as the “fastest flyer in equestrian” as she so often called herself, she knew she could reach pound in time. Or could she? She pushed herself to the limit as she realized just how close Pound was getting to the ground. He had lost the slight cushion of his tumbles and was now falling straight down, head first.

She neared the threshold of a sonic rainboom. She had to make it. Pound would be seriously hurt or worse if she didn’t. Then more problems arose, the closer he got the ground, the harder it would be to pull up without slamming to the ground, she tried to angle her descent, but it only slowed her down. If she went too fast and broke the “rainbow barrier”, she would surly slam straight into the ground. Her thoughts kept swirling as she watched in horror. Pound was few mere feet from the ground.

Then out of nowhere the sound of an air-pocket being shattered boomed throughout the streets of Ponyville. Rainbow only caught a quick glimpse of a light blue streak that fired along the ground, covering at least three times the ground her top speed ever could. The blur zipped beneath Pound, two forelegs grabbing hold of the foal the instant before he hit the ground. The blur crashed to the earth, digging a small trench thirty feet along the ground until finally stopping. Small flames lingered upon the upturned dirt as ponies began to emerge from the surrounding buildings and gather around.

Dash’s mouth hung agape. She couldn’t put any words to describe what she had just witnessed. The speed was unreal. Even when she performed a sonic rainboom she never reached such a velocity. She flew down to the crash site and landed near the edge of the trench where the dust was still clearing. She made out a pegasus stallion with a light blue coat and a dark blue wild mane, but her attention was drawn towards his forelegs where he slowly un-tucked them to reveal an unscathed Pound. The foal stared wide-eyed at his savior as Mrs. Cake pushed past Rainbow.

“Pound! Oh my little Pound, you’re okay!” She grabbed Pound from his arms and huggedhim tight. Cheers were beginning to erupt from the crowd as the stallion stood up and cracked his neck.

Dash wanted answers. Who was this stallion that just showed her an impossible display of speed? Who was he to walk into town and show off when she was clearly the fastest flyer of Equestria?

“Whew, that was a close one!” Said the stallion as he stretched out his wings and shook the dirt from his mane.

Dash froze. She had heard that voice somewhere before. She quickly recognized the mystery stallion, finally getting a look at his face. Her eyes widened and shakily glanced at his flank to see a cutie mark of a lightning bolt with angel wings. It was Soarin, the Wonderbolt power flyer.

“AAAAA-mph!” She covered her mouth with her hooves to muffle her scream as a raging blush appeared on her face. Soarin glanced towards her, hearing the one second squeal, and smiled.

“Hey, it’s our buddy, the rainboom!” he trotted towards her, her eyes growing wider as he approached. “Sorry I had to step in there, it didn’t look like you were gonna make it.” He grinned and glanced back at the crowd closing around them. Dash’s pupils shrunk as she put two and two together. Soarin was close enough to see the scenario, watch her go after Pound, and hadn’t moved until he realized she wasn’t going to make it. She let her hooves fall from her mouth to the ground, her mouth hanging open at the realization. Soarin had gone from a dead stop to a speed much faster than her fastest dive in a couple seconds or less, and over presumably a very short distance.

“Whoa, sorry I gotta fly before I get mobbed. Hope we see you tomorrow at the show!” He spread his wings and lifted off the ground, picking up speed so fast that those trying to follow him gave up almost instantly.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight called towards her. Dash didn’t hear her, or any of her other friends. She was too busy staring in the direction Soarin had gone in. Two things were boggling her mind. The first was the pure, incomprehensible ability of a Wonderbolt compared to her. The second, Soarin, the famous light blue stallion of the Wonderbolt’s main squad had just approached, acknowledged, and SMILED at her.

“Earth to Rainbow Dash?” Applejack waved a hoof in front of her face. Dash only blinked twice. Then released an uncharacteristic girlish squeal before falling over.

Ponies lined the streets and rooftops of Ponyville as the excitement built all around. The Wonderbolt show over Ponyville was about to start and everypony was waiting anxiously. Rainbow Dash and her friends had secured the top balcony of the town hall tower, Dash dragging Fluttershy to the roof to watch with her.

“Is it safe up here?” They-they won’t fly too close will they?” Fluttershy’s quiet tone failed to reach Rainbow as she giddily bounced up and down.

“I HOPE they fly really close! I can’t wait ahhhhhh!!!!!” She squealed delightfully. Down below Rarity watched Rainbow with a confused interest.

“Is she always like this with the Wonderbolts?” She asked nopony in particular.

“This is why we never bring them up.” Twilight answered with a chuckle.

“She goes from tough cookie to surprise birthday cupcake in less than a cup of sugar!” Pinkie exclaimed while waving her hooves over her head and staring at Rarity. As confusing as the statement was, they all knew she meant Rainbow Dash becomes a different person and they all could see it clearly.

The Wonderbolts were Dash’s dream, her purpose, her drive. Every morning she woke up, she started the day staring up at the Wonderbolt poster above her bed on the ceiling. It was an old poster her grandfather had given her back when she was a young filly. It was worn and grainy, but she cherished no piece of Wonderbolt merchandise more. Her grandfather had told her it was the first Wonderbolt poster ever put up back when the team was formed. It was a very motivational piece of work, showing an image of ponies looking up at three Wonderbolts blazing across the sky. The caption at the bottom read: Ambition. The subtext: Let your heart soar higher than the heavens.

It was a code she lived by. The mentality that she believed would one day win her the life she always dreamed of.

“Look!” A pony called out among the crowd. All eyes went skyward as a single cloud floated to the center of the sky above Ponyville. Dash instantly froze and stared wide eyed at the cloud overhead. Four Wonderbolts stood at the edge of the cloud with their backs turned. Even from behind, Rainbow could tell it was the famous four of the Wonderbolt lead Squad. On the left and right, Fleetfoot the “Silver Streak” and Rapidfire the “Artist”. In the center, Spitfire the “Searing Flame” and Soarin the “Power Flyer”.

All went silent as all the Wonderbolts except for Soarin tipped backwards and let themselves freefall. All watched in anticipation as they grew closer and closer to the ground, their wings still pinned to their body. With a loud bang that resembled a thunderclap, all eyes looked back up to see Soarin fire from his spot, causing the cloud to explode. Mere yards from the cloud, an air pocket built up and shattered around him in seconds and Soarin’s image became a blur. He began twisting as he approached his teammates. The spinning and the speed created a cyclone that expanded around him. The winds were fierce and all the ponies watching were forced to shield themselves.

The cone expanded and engulfed the other three members. The instant the cone overtook them, they all spread their wings and forced themselves opposite of the cyclonic winds. It made them appear to be flying in place. The reverse in the force caused the cyclone to implode on itself and the three other members were thrown in three different directions, streaking smoke across the sky. The reverse of the winds cushion Soarin enough for him to land roughly, but safely on all four hooves. He fixed his eyes on Spitfire, who angled down as Rapidfire and Fleetfoot angled up. His nostrils flared, his wings spread out sharply and he dug his hooves into the ground.

Rainbow Dash gasped and quickly left the shivering Fluttershy on the roof, descending to the ground to watch. Soarin was only a few yards from town hall, If he was about to do the same thing he did the other day she wanted to see it up close. She fixed here gaze on him and watched with an analytical eye.

Soarin bent his wings forward while leaning back. His muscles flexed and tensed as he gritted his teeth. In one fluid motion, he reached his front legs forward, planting them firmly in the ground. Then he brought his back legs up, as he drove them down, he pushed off his front legs, extending his body, and swinging his wings back. With this motion complete, he pushed hard off his back legs before the previous motions could carry him forward.

The end result was a loud boom and Dash had to shield her eyes as a pocket of air around him lashed out at any nearby. She quickly looked back and stared after him in admiration. He careened along the ground at speed that almost seemed faster than when he had done this the other day. She tried to break down the process she witnessed in her head, but it was so fast. Had he just jump as he thrusted his wings back? It didn’t seem that simple.

Soarin reached Spitfire as she flattened out right above the ground. She reached her front legs up. Soarin hooked his hooves with hers as her passed by and pulled up fiercely into a loop. Halfway through the loop he released her, the added speed pushed her to his speed. Spitfire smirked as a trail of fire broke out behind her. Fleetfoot and Rapidfire had been flying in loops, creating a tunnel with their smoke trails. Spitfire careened through the center, leaving a trail of flames in the middle of it.

Soarin put on the breaks, and slammed to the ground once more. He repeated his motions and rocketed like a bullet towards Spitfire, directly into the trail of fire. The crowd gasped as he pulled off the daredevil tactic, but the flames blew aside, expanding into rings every few feet as he pulsed through the trail. He reached the tunnel and his speed caused the smoke to collapse inward as the fire expanded outward. The heat of the fire collided with the clouds of smoke, causing a chain reaction of a lightning bolt that traveled along the length behind Soarin. There was an immense crack of thunder behind him and he emerged from the smoke with a trail of lightning rising from and surrounding his body. Fleetfoot, Rapidfire, and Spitfire all pushed dark clouds together to create a large dark cloud and together tossed it higher into the sky. Soarin went after it as it raised higher and higher, the lightning sparking and crackling as it trailed from him.

He collided head on into the cloud. The electricity spread throughout it and a lightning bolt jutted out, followed by a crack of thunder, and a light drizzle began to fall. Soarin exploded from the back of the cloud and turned about, stopping beneath the rain. There was still some electricity coursing around him. He threw his wings and legs outward, forcing the energy out of his body with a few crackles and pops around him. The four Wonderbolts all slowly glided down and congregated on the ground. They all removed their goggles and took a bow.

The silence broke and the crowd erupted in cheers beneath the calm light rainfall. Everyone was applauding except Dash, who sat like a statue staring in complete awe at her idols. The applause died down the four lifted off to let the other squads do their performances.

Dash remained quiet for the rest of the show. The other squad performances were not nearly as awsome as the opening act, they were impressive nonetheless. She enjoyed it, but she couldn’t break he mind away from the spectacle of the main act, Soarin’s techniques, or just Soarin. She never really had a favorite Wonderbolt. They were all equally awesome in her book. But after that performance that was centered around him, she wanted to know everything. How did he do that instant full speed start? How did he push aside fire? How did he survive with the electricity of a lightning bolt coursing through him? Every single part he played in the show was beyond awesome. In fact awesome was too light a word to describe it. She couldn’t find words to describe it.

“ARE YOU DREAMING?! WHATS IT ABOUT!?” Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared in the replayed images from Dash’s mind. She blinked and saw Pinkie’s eyes less and an inch from hers.

“Wha—”

“Oh you’re awake! I couldn’t tell if you were asleep or awake and asleep!” Pinkie bounced away. Dash was in Sugar Cube Corner, which was filled with her friends and lots of other ponies who had just seen the show. She couldn’t take her mind off of it, and it was probably because the only topic of conversation in the entire bakery was about the Wonderbolts. She sighed as her friends continued conversing around her, beginning to wonder if she’d ever become a flyer of such fierce ablilty.

“I’m sorry everyone, but something’s come up and we have to close.” All turned to Mr. Cake standing on the counter who was already shaking his head at the reactions. “I apologize, but please make your way out in an orderly fashion. We’ll have a half price sale tomorrow so no complaining, now move along.” After the generous next day offer the complaining subsided and they all began to leave. Dash was about to leave, but Mrs. Cake stopped her.

“Oh no, you six can stay, in fact we insist!” She said with a smile on her face. Dash shrugged, sighed, and sat back down. Soon the whole place was quiet, save for Dash and her friends.

“Okay, the coast is clear!” Mr. Cake yelled up the stairs. The six ponies turned to see what was going on. Then it hit Rainbow Dash. She had a feeling what was going to happen, but she was afraid to say anything.

From the stairs appeared Spitfire, Fleetfoot, Rapidfire, and Soarin all out of uniform.

“Oh my! This is a surprise!” Rarity spoke up first as all their faces lit up. Save for Rainbow Dash who sat still with her jaw nearly on the floor.

“Heyyyyy!” Pinkie appeared between all of them. “That was an awesome show! Can you do it again?!”

“Sure.” Spitfire smirked.

“REALLY? AWSOME!”

“We’ll do it again next week in Canterlot.”

“OKAY!” Pinkie sat there smiling at her. “Heyyyyyy wait a minute.” The rest of the Wonderbolts chuckled.

“I thought I saw the Wonderbolts fly off after the show,” said Twilight, “what are you four still doing here?” Fleetfoot tossed her sparkling silver mane over her shoulder and stepped away as Pinkie continued to hassle the other three.

“As the lead squad of the Wonderbolts, we’re expected to perform at every single show. The other squads get mixed and matched from show to show.” She explained. Soarin and Rapidfire broke away, leaving Spitfire to deal with Pinkie’s assault of weird questions. Rapidfire took over.

“We decided it was time to take a few weeks off, I can’t even remember the last time we got to relax.” He was cut off by a heavy sigh from Soarin.

“We thought Ponyville would be a good place, but even in a small town like this we get mobbed by ponies.”

“Well shucks it sounds like you four could use a nice, quiet, wide open place!” All eyes turned to Applejack. “Y’all can stay at sweet apple acres for a while as long as y’don’t disrupt our harvest.” Spitfire shoved her hoof into Pinkie’s mouth.

“If you don’t mind the four of us slouching around.” She said as Pinkie’s muffled questions kept coming.

“Ain’t nothing sugarcube, I promise you’ll be comfy and never eat better meals in yer life!” She puffed out her chest with pride.

“Then it’s a deal,” Spitfire smirked, “but I gotta warn you, Soarin here has quite an oversized appetite.” Applejack smirked right back.

“Y’all never met Big Macintosh.” She winked.

During the commotion, Rapidfire had made his way over to Rainbow Dash.

“Hey there, I’ve seen you before. You’ve been frozen like that since we came down.” His voice directed at her snapped her daze and she shook her head.

“What? Uh, I mean, um, omigosh,” She put her hooves on her head, staring wide eyed at him. Her flustered state made Rapidfire chuckle.

“Whoa there, I don’t bite, I know I’m a Wonderbolt,” he slowly bent his head down to hers, “but at the end of the day I’m just a stallion and you’re just a mare, riiiiiiight?” He smoothly slurred. Dash nearly did a full pigment change from blue to red.

“I, I, I, I, Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, GOTTA USE THE BATHROOM!” She zipped from her chair and crashed right through the mare’s bathroom door. The other wonderbolts all looked up in surprise and confusion, but Rarity stepped in front and waved them off.

“Oh nothing to worry about, Rainbow Dash is quite a fan of yours. This is perfectly normal.”

“Even when we get away we still really can’t” Fleetfoot sighed. Soarin kept looking towards the bathroom door, then narrowed his eyes at Rapidfire. He approached his teammate subtly, figuring out what really happened by the smirk on his face.

“Rapid, I know this is going to be our vacation,” he glanced over at the bathroom again, “but that doesn’t mean go chasing mares, could you just try to sit still and relax?”

“Oh loosen up Soarin. I’ll be relaxing alright, especially with these six beautiful mares around.” Soarin grunted and shook his head.

“Just don’t break any hearts.” He put clearly.

“Have I ever?” Rapidfire smirked.

“Want me to get the list?”

“Hey it’s their fault for getting attached.”

“And you just eat them alive don’t you.” Soarin glared, ready to scrap, but Spitfire stepped between them, crossing her front legs and placing her hooves on their mouths.

“Gentlemen, I’d prefer to avoid escapades of testosterone while we’re on vacation. Understand?”

“Yes captain.” They replied in unison, Rapidfire with much more gusto than Soarin.

Rainbow Dash gasped and panted for air as she stared directly into the mirror in the bathroom. Her wings refused to fold neatly to her body, the feathers all puffed and ruffled. It was enough of a shock that her life heroes were suddenly hanging out with her friends. Was Rapidfire, flirting with her? A Wonderbolt? That was too much to take all at once.

“Rainbow Dash?” Her gaze refused to shift from her reflection. “Darling, you’re sweating! Are you alright?” The reflection of Rarity appeared beside hers. “I know the Wonderbolts always get you worked up, but this seems a little more than usual.”

“Rapidfire.” Said Dash.

“Excuse me?”

“He, did you hear what he said to me?”

“The orange one? I saw him talking to you, what did,” she paused and her eyes lit up. She put her hooves on Dash’s shoulders and forced her to look her in the eye. “Details.” She sounded giddy and Dash instantly pushed her off.

“NO! No, no, it, I don’t know,” she put her hooves on her head and squinted, “he sounded too confident, too smooth, I, I, didn’t know what to do! It was intimidating, scary,” she shivered, “I didn't know, so I just ran.” She suddenly started knocking her hooves against her head. “I bet I looked so stupid! They probably all think I’m weird! What a horrible impression! How will I,”

“Everything alright in here?” Spitfire stuck her head in the door.

“AHHHH!!!!” Dash ducked behind Rarity, who smiled awkwardly.

“You could say that.” She shakily replied. Spitfire sighed and entered, walking up to Rainbow Dash.

“Hey, hey, relax girl.” She patted the shaking Dash on the back. Rainbow Dash settled and stared up at her. “Soarin told me what he saw. Rapidfire right?” Dash nodded silently with her eyes stuck wide. Spitfire sighed. “As usual,” She crouched so she wasn’t looking down at Dash. “Look, don’t let him get to you. Rapidfire is, how should I put it, a tail chaser. Probably the biggest flirt in Equestria. No matter where we go his eyes are always darting around for mares. Just don’t let him sweet talk you, and you’ll be fine, but be ready he’s pretty good at it.” As she finished she noticed Dash had frozen in place. She chuckled and ruffled Dash’s mane with her hoof. “Don’t worry, I’ll do my best to keep him under control. We’re here to relax and have a good time. Come hang with us!” She ended with a smile and left the bathroom.

Rainbow Dash stood up from the floor and sighed as Rarity looked her up and down. This was going to be an interesting experience.

Two days went by. Rainbow Dash had spent both locked up in her cloud house rehearsing what she would say to the Wonderbolts. Yet even after the hours spent she felt so nervous that she wasn’t sure if she’d even see them. Plus she began to feel the rehearsing was pointless, because she wanted to be natural and not too stiff. She paced back and forth over and over to the point where there was almost a visible divot in the cloud floor below her.

“I’ll just go over there and hang out. It’s that easy. But what if it ends up being awkward, what if I have nothing to say, what if they’re trying to relax and I annoy them? NO don’t think that way, make an impression! Maybe you can show them some of your moves! But what if they’re not interested in them? Maybe they’ll think I’m annoying for hassling them when they’re on vacation, but then—” She turned around in her pace path for the umpteenth time, but this time came nose to nose with someone who had silently entered her house. Her eyes widened and her pupils shrunk and she stared into the friendly smile of none other than Soarin.

“Hi!” He said cheerfully right before she screamed directly into his ear. “Whoaaaaa that felt like it went RIGHT through my brain!” He stumbled back and shook his head.

“WHEN DID YOU—”

“Just now.”

“HOW DID—”

“You left that window open.” Soarin calmly answered her flustered questions, pointing to the open window of her living room. She put a hoof over her heart and heaved as it beat furiously from shock.

“The rest of your friends have been at the apple farm, they’re all very nice, but I was hoping to get to know you.” He went on casually, oblivious to Dash’s complete state of disbelief. There was a genuine Wonderbolt in her house talking to her. When did the universe explode and allow such a ridiculous fantasy to be real? But she did catch, “get to know you” and the first thought that came to mind was Rapidfire’s advance on her. Soarin was still spouting casual conversation despite not being answered, but stopped when he saw her somewhat shrink away. He examined her for a moment and recognized her body language to be just like last night. He sighed and looked her right in the eyes with sincerity.

“Look Rainboom, you don’t have to worry about me getting all Casanova in your face. I’d rather full speed collide into a mountain than give off an impression like Rapidfire.” He slowly put a hoof to the side of his head to represent the collision. He hopped over and crouched down to be eye to eye with her. “I just want to enjoy my vacation! I don’t get to be a normal pony very often you know.” He ended with a wide grin.

Dash was still nervous, but Soarin gave off a completely different air than Rapidfire. Nothing about Soarin’s movements or conversing felt intimidating. In fact he seemed very upbeat, talkative, and goofy. This was not the way she had envisioned Soarin, the “Power Flyer”. He reminded her of Pinkie Pie in a way, only not quite as out of control and less reality bending.

“I feel kind of bad,” he started up again as she processed everything going on, “I’ve run into you a few times over the past year or so, but we were always pre-occupied by something.” He tilted his head from side to side. “I think it’s about time we got to know our biggest fan!”

Dash was glad he could talk so much, because she still didn’t know what to say. She had all that time to come up with something, and now that he seemed to be waiting for a response she still had nothing.

“Uhhh, um.” She stalled. “O—okay?” She forced a smile.

“Great! Cmon, let’s fly!” He turned to the window and spread his wings. Dash just stared at him as he smoothly took off and flew out the window. She blinked a few times before realizing he was probably waiting for her.

“Impression dash! Impression!” She quietly chastised herself as she quickly forced her stiffened wings into flight. But right when she got to the window sill,

“You coming Rainboo—” Soarin poked his head back in and the two collided head to head. They tumbled out the window and onto the clouds outside her house. They groggily sat up, Soarin quickly shaking his head and laughing. “Well this certainly has been an interesting day so far!”

“Stupid, stupid, stupid!” Dash wanted to curl up and disappear, how many more times would she make a fool out of herself in front of her heroes, the pile of screw-ups just kept stacking higher and higher. She was snapped from her thoughts as Soarin grabbed her by the shoulder’s hoisted her up, and placed her on her hooves.

“No time to be sitting around! C’mon!” He was off again like nothing had happened. Dash quickly followed behind, keeping up with his casual pace. The whole exchange with Soarin just now, while full of clumsiness, had been a rather educating experience. Soarin was a Wonderbolt, and to her the Wonderbolts were the epitome of pegasi, gods among mortals. But seeing this side of Soarin brought that idea a little more down to earth. She got to see the pony side of him. He was just like her and every pony else, a face and personality with quirks and faults. She now knew Soarin the pony, not just Soarin the Wonderbolt. That felt pretty cool. She smiled, now feeling a lot less nervous, almost forgetting completely about the night before. She wanted to know what the rest of them were like.

They flew casually to Sweet Apple Acres, landing in the open barn door. AppleJack and Twilight were talking to Fleetfoot and Spitfire.

“Hey where’s Rapid?” Soarin asked. Fleetfoot rolled her eyes and pointed a hoof towards the door.

“Followed white and pink to the house to “Help” them.” She responded sarcastically. Soarin frowned and shook his head.

“Hold on, I’ll go save them.” He turned, but Dash caught his shoulder.

“Actually there’s no n—” she paused quickly and briefly pulled her hoof back. Worried that she invaded his space. Wonderbolt space was sacred space to her. “N-no need to worry about it.” She stuttered briefly before regaining her tone. “He picked the wrong two to mess with.” She said with a wink.

“As charming as you are,” Rarity’s voice suddenly came from the door. It had a harsh tone of sarcasm, “I think I’ll pass thank you.”

“Heh, playing hard to get eh?” Rapidfire smirked as he followed behind.

“Playing not interested Darling, there’s a huge difference.” She batted him in the face with her tail and walked towards them. Spitfire and Fleetfoot snickered to themselves. Rapidfire looked like he was about to make another run at her, but Pinkie zipped in front balancing a tray of full water mugs on her head.

“So what’s it like when you hit the sound barrier? Ooo! Wait! Do your ears pop when you fly too fast? Is the sky still blue when you have your goggles on?” She never gave him a chance to respond, continuously pouring ridiculous questions to him. He backed away from her and eventually flew out the door. “Hey wait I wanna ask you something!” She tossed the tray of water mugs across the barn to the table, they all the mugs landed on the tray and the water landed back in the mugs. She quickly bounced after Rapidfire.

“I think we found Rapidfire repellant.” Spitfire chuckled. “Just have every mare in Equestria know Pinkie and he’ll never bother them again!” They all shared a good laugh. Rainbow Dash made a mental note to find Pinkie Pie if Rapidfire got anymore ideas.

Rainbow Dash sat with her friends and the three Wonderbolts as they conversed and had their refreshments. She remained quiet, only laughing when a joke or funny story was told. Eventually Applejack mentioned cooking up some apple pies. Soarin followed quickly at the mention of Pie and Twilight went to lend a hoof as well.

Rainbow Dash found herself alone with Spitfire and Fleetfoot. While her strange experience with Soarin had calmed her nerves a little, she was still afraid to speak up. She told herself to be herself, to be the normal outgoing, rough talking, and confident Rainbow Dash all her friends knew. As with most important moments of her life, she was frozen, never expecting the moment to actually occur.

“Ahhhh.” Spitfire stretched out her body and wings. “I’m feel like a flight, my wings are stiff.”

“Sounds good to me.” Fleetfoot agreed, rising from her seat. Dash just glanced back and forth, avoiding eye contact.

“Hey come with us!” Spitfire wrapped a hoof around Dash’s shoulder, causing her to visibly flinch. “We’ve gotten to know all your friends. You’re the only one left.”

“Uh, sure!” Dash wasn’t sure how to feel. She had met Spitfire twice in the past, but Spitfire clearly didn’t remember her.

“Yeah, we need to make up for the flight contest, gala, and wedding. Did I miss any?” Fleetfoot added. Dash’s eyes went wide as Spitfire nodded in agreement. They did remember her. She smiled and followed them towards the barn door, lifting off behind them.

Dash began to think about her nerves and what really caused them. It wasn’t the Wonderbolts, she was afraid of herself. They all clearly remembered and acknowledged her, but she was still worried about creating an impression. They were here on vacation and they wanted to get away from their fandom, so if anything her nervous behavior was only reminding them of it. She felt a weight lift off her chest, if they wanted to be normal, then she had no reason not to be her normal self. Her confidence returned, she pulled up alongside them.

They glided around the skies of Sweet Apple Acres. Dash found casual conversation with them and was enjoying herself immensely. She got to learn about the two of them as she had with Soarin. Spitfire was very proud and outspoken, not afraid to talk about her accomplishments. It didn’t come off as gloating, more as confidence and pride, which were good qualities for a Wonderbolt squad captain. Fleetfoot, while a bit blunt, was very smooth and stylish. She seemed very street smart, and well versed in dealing with lots of different people and situations.

Dash wasn’t quite sure how to handle all of it. It wasn’t bad, in fact she loved it. When she thought “Wonderbolt” now, the images of the uniform clad fliers that usually came up instantly were being slowly replaced by Soarin, Spitfire, and Fleetfoot out of uniform as normal ponies just like everyone else. She was getting to know the famous stunt fliers on a personal level, a privilege barely any others had. Then she decided to ask how old they were.

“WHAAAAT?!” Dash put on the breaks and came to a halt. The two Wonderbolts circled around and hovered beside her. “You’re both only a few years older than me?!” she had her hooves on her head, “But, wha-, how? You’re the lead squad! I figured you’d all been at it for a while!” She was dumbfounded, and suddenly felt inadequate.

“A lot of luck.” Fleetfoot shrugged.

“It was a little more than luck,” Spitfire added with an eyeroll, “Dash, it takes a lot of skill and talent to be a Wonderbolt, but it’s also being in the right place at the right time. I’m sure you remember Blazetail and Flashwind.” The two names caused multiple bells to ring in Dash’s head.

“Gosh, how could I forget them?”

It all went back to when she was a filly in Cloudsdale. The first Wonderbolt show she had ever seen. She was far back in the nosebleed seats, but during the show a weather team working nearby lost control of their wind system. The winds blew over the stadium so strong that a lot of Pegasi were forced out of their seats. The stadium’s funnel structure caused the wind to swirl around. A small tornado started to form, but the Wonderbolts broke formation in their show and began subduing the weather shift. In the confusion, Dash had been separated from her parents. A pegasi trying to find shelter bumped into her, and the wind caught her little wings, throwing her upwards and towards the tornado. She flailed about, trying to save herself, but the wind was much too strong.

She heard a scream and caught brief glimpse of her mother shooting towards her. She was desperate to save Dash, disregarding the circumstances and the danger. Her mother’s hooves were an inch from grasping her, but their proximity to the tornado became too close. Now they were both being tossed about uncontrollably through the air. The situation seemed dire. Dash shut her eyes. But then she felt something grip her tightly. She was no longer spinning and now moving incredibly fast away from the tornado.

When she opened her eyes she was staring up at a Wonderbolt mare with a flowing white mane. She set her down and glanced to the side. A bright red Wonderbolt stallion with a short, bright orange and yellow mane set Dash’s mother on the ground. Dash’s mother immediately ran up to her and hugged her tightly, but Dash barely noticed. She was staring in awe at the two Wonderbolts as they turned and sped off to finish weakening the tornado. It was probably the most defining moment in Dash’s life besides the day she got her cutie mark.

“Wow, that's quite a story. Small world huh?” Said Fleetfoot in awe.

“They’re pretty much the reason I became such a huge fan. Did you know them well?” Dash asked with excitement.

“I wouldn’t say we knew them well, but we were lucky enough to get their attention.” Spitfire landed on a cloud and settled on it. Fleetfoot and Dash did the same. “Soarin and I were competing in an amateur stunt contest in Manehatten. Fleetfoot here had come all the way from Fillidelphia to compete. We all managed to snag the top three places, and after getting our simple trophies and celebrating our small victory, they just walked up to us. It was such a surprise. You should’ve seen the look on Soarin’s face. I thought he was going to pass out!” She laughed as she recalled the memory. Fleetfoot gasped and exhaled while rolling her eyes back, impersonating Soarin before taking over.

“They were just passing through and saw the competition. They told us they had been looking for ponies with our specific talents and invited us to Wonderbolt tryouts. We ended up on the 3rd squad with Rapidfire, and two years later the legendary Gold Squad retired. They held a competition between the top five squads to see who would replace them. Since all four of us have very different styles, they chose us and voila.” Fleetfoot shrugged. “Like I said, right place at the right time.”

Rainbow Dash listened with awe. She always felt she was a long way away from her dream, but if a coincidence was all it took to be recognized, her chance could come at any moment. She wondered if there was a way she could grab their attention while they were here. It was too perfect a chance to pass up, but she didn’t want to seem pushy. She was also worried that she wasn’t quite on their level yet. She was jarred from her thoughts as Fleetfoot suddenly pointed down towards the orchard.

“Oh Spitfire there he is!”

“Where?”

“I told you I saw a huge stallion by the trees yesterday!” Fleetfoot looked at Spitfire giddily. “C’mon! Trust me he’s an eyeful!” She dropped through the cloud and glided towards the trees. Spitfire followed close behind. Rainbow Dash blinked, wondering what had them so excited. Then she looked down and saw a familiar member of the Apple family hard at work below.

“Uh oh,” Dash quickly followed behind them, hoping she would stop them before a certain other pony would. She landed nearby as the two peeked out from behind an apple tree towards Big Macintosh.

“See? What a hunk!” Fleetfoot giggled.

“Whoa,” Spitfire’s eyes widened, “look at those muscles! He looks like he could move a house!”

“And he’s huge! So stallionly!”

“That would be Big Macintosh. Applejack’s older brother.” Rainbow Dash put herself in front of them. “Yes, he’s big, hunky, and quite a stallion,” they tried to look around her. She spread her wings out to prevent them. “but you should probably leave him be. He pretty much works around the clock. Plus he’s a bit shy, doesn’t talk much, but most of all,”

“Um, excuse me.” A very quiet voice came from behind them. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth as Spitfire and Fleetfoot turned to face her.

“Oh, Fluttershy! So you do talk,” Spitfire smiled, “After how quiet you were at the barn,”

“Please don’t bother Big Macintosh, he’s very busy and has a lot of responsibilities on this farm.” Fluttershy cut off Spitfire, earning a surprised look from them both.

“What’s the deal? We were just admiring the sights.” Fleetfoot turned back to look at Mac but Fluttershy moved in front of her next to Dash.

“Please. Don’t. Bother. Big. Macintosh.” She said sternly. Spitfire and Fleetfoot glanced at each other as Dash rapidly contemplated what to do.

“Look honey, can you blame us? I mean look at that fl—” As Spitfire spoke, Dash saw Fluttershy’s eyes start to widen with a harsh glare forming. With no other option Dash zipped between the two and covered their mouths with her hooves.

“Hey we were just walking around and came across Mac, he’s very busy so we decided not to bother him! See you around Fluttershy!” She forced them to turn around with her and started dragging them away. “Just play along you’ll thank me.” She whispered to them and let them go. As soon as they walked a good distance away, Dash breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

“Mind telling us what that was all about?” Spitfire asked, slightly annoyed. Dash cringed at her tone, hoping she hadn’t angered her too much.

“Well, as I said, Big Macintosh is very quiet. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him speak a full sentence. The only pony outside his family he ever seems to converse with is Fluttershy. Don’t ask me, apparently there was some circumstance where the two became close. Anyway, she’s VERY protective of him, and trust me, you don’t want to see her when she snaps.” Dash explained nervously, hoping they’d accept it. Spitfire’s expression remained annoyed, but Fleetfoot stared dumbly at Dash.

“Wait. Those two are,” she turned to Spitfire who only eyed her quizzically, “that shy, frail, timid, gentle mare and that hunk of eye candy?” Spitfire got the memo and both turned to Dash.

“Hey, hey, I couldn’t tell ya. Whenever anypony asks her she squeaks, turns completely red and runs off.”

“Oh man,” Fleetfoot covered her mouth with her hoof and blushed, “how does he not break her?” Spitfire’s eyes widened and she gave Fleetfoot an uncomfortable look. Dash looked confused.

“What do you,” then realization hit, “AH! CHANGING THE SUBJECT!” She lifted off, the two Wonderbolts close behind.

Rainbow Dash spent the rest of the afternoon with them. Again the wave of accomplishment washed over her. It felt weird knowing her role models personally, but at the same time it was exhilarating. She bid them farewell as the sun began to set and flew towards the Cutie Mark Crusader’s hideout on the south side of the orchard. It was almost time for her daily training session with Scootaloo.

She had promised the little filly a few months back that she would help her with her flying troubles. At first Dash assumed the only reason Scootaloo couldn’t get off the ground was because she never went to flight school and therefore just needed a little teaching, but after a few months of little progress she was beginning to think there was something wrong with her wings. They were still very small despite being old as most other fillies who were already flying up and about. She had been wondering what to do, she wanted to help Scootaloo, but how do you tell a young pegasus they have bad wings? She kept telling her that it takes time, and to keep her chin up. Encouragement from her always lifted Scootaloo’s spirits, but how much longer could she keep it up?

She began her descent towards the Crusader hideout, catching glimpse of orange and purple between the trees. Scootaloo was out front, doing wing warm-ups Dash had taken straight from flight school.

“Huh?” Dash slowed to a hover as she saw another pegasi land nearby.

“Hey kid, whatcha doing here?” The voice gave it away. It was Soarin. Dash floated down and landed in a nearby apple tree.

“Huh? Who are you mister?” Scootaloo asked cautiously. Soarin hesitated for a moment.

“Oh, I’m Sorewings, me and a few friends are staying on the orchard for a few days.” Dash had to hold in a fit of laughter. Soarin had clearly changed the name in case Scootaloo was a crazy fan. But Sorewings? Her sides were aching trying to contain the giggles.

“Oh yeah! Applebloom said something about some pegasusususes staying at her house. I’m Scootaloo, protégé of the great Rainbow Dash!” Dash scrunched her face and put a hoof over her eyes. She’d here about that later.

“Oh? I’ve heard of her!” Soarin played along. “I heard she’s a great flyer!”

“She is! I’m waiting for her right now! She’s teaching me how to fly!”

“Huh?” Soaring tipped his head. He watched as Scootaloo continued to do her warm-ups. Dash watched as his eyes narrowed, examining Scootaloo’s wings. Dash bit her lip. She hoped he wouldn’t say anything to her. He trotted up to Scootaloo and took a closer look at her wings.

“Whatcha doin?” Scootaloo asked with an eyebrow raise.

“Hold still a sec kiddo.” He pushed one of her small wings out with his hoof and looked it up and down. He let it go and rubbed his chin. “How long has Rainbow Dash been helping you?”

“It’s been two months I think?” She replied while returning to her routine.

“Two months huh.” Soarin’s ears drooped.

“Why?” She asked, realizing he knew something.

“Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t please.” Rainbow Dash whispered to herself as she watched Soarin.

“Well kid, I’ve got some bad news,” Soarin began. Dash’s mouth hung open. He wouldn’t, “you’ve got stunted wings.” Dash felt the air leave her lungs. How could he do that? Scootaloo’s eyes widened and her mouth hung open.

“W-what?” Her lover lip quivered. “But, but,” she was young, but she knew what that meant, “but I,” tears started welling up. Dash felt an intense wave of anger rush over her. She had never seen anything so low and uncalled for her entire life. Flight was what defined a pegasus. There was nothing more disgraceful to a pegasus than being permanently grounded. Any respect she had for Soarin was gone if he was capable of being either that cruel or idiotic. She spread her wings and readied to rush in and give him a piece of her mind.

“Hey!” Soarin bent down and ruffled Scootaloo’s mane, “whoa there, dry those tears kid, you wanna know a secret?” Scootaloo sniffled loudly and looked like she would burst out crying any second. Soarin stepped back and spread out his powerful, toned wings. “I had stunted wings too when I was your age!” Dash’s wings screeched to a halt right before she could push off from the branch. Scootaloo instantly stopped sniffling and stared wondrously at his wings.

“Really?” Her voice was filled with awe, any traces of tears gone.

“You bet! Just because you have stunted wings doesn’t mean you can’t fly. It just takes a little extra practice and dedication.” He smiled. Dash returned to her sitting position on the branch and watched with curiosity. Her brief moment of rage quickly disappeared, replaced with an analytical eye. Soarin had stunted wings and he became a Wonderbolt? That feat alone was beyond amazing. But what interested her more was how he handled the situation. He revealed Scootaloo’s problem to her and turned it into motivation. She never thought of that scenario, but she felt someone else who had a similar problem had a better chance of putting it the right way. It was masterfully done, but then again he was a lead squad Wonderbolt, it was to be expected.

“Please Mister Sorewings! How did you learn to fly?” Scootaloo bounced up and down excitedly with her little wings flapping continuously. Soarin chuckled.

“I’m sure Rainbow Dash has you doing a lot of good things already, but here let me show you a few things to help those wings grow.”

“Yay!” Scootaloo cheered.

Art by: lortstreet54

Dash was speechless. Soarin was leaving quite an impression on her. As if his Wonderbolt status wasn’t enough to make him amazing, he was kind, upbeat, selfless, and inspiring. Not to mention his willingness to help Scootaloo and do a much better job than she felt she ever could. All of his qualities were very endearing. She had never met a pony like him before, nor felt so drawn to any other pony like she was to him.

Sure he was goofy, a tad forward, and a pretty sloppy eater, but those small imperfections made him seem more real, and not just some dreamy image. She pondered these thoughts as she watched him show Scootaloo some extra techniques. A smile formed at her lips.

Rainbow Dash ended up staying hidden as Soarin pretty much took over her afternoon session with Scootaloo. She contemplated showing up once or twice, but she was enjoying watching them too much.

“Oh it’s late isn’t it? I should go home now.” Scootaloo said with a frown, which turned upside-down as she looked to Soarin. “Thanks so much Mr. Sorewings! Dash must’ve been busy, it’s too bad you couldn’t meet her.”

“Oh I’m sure I’ll see her at some point,” Soarin smiled, “now don’t forget to do those wing stretches in the morning and before bed. Make sure you do some of those extra exercises after school before you train with Rainbow Dash. Keep that up and you’ll be in the air in no time!” He ended with a wink. Scootaloo smiled wide and grabbed her helmet and scooter.

“Just you watch! I’ll be the best flyer in all Equestria!” She sped off with vigor. Dash stood up on the branch and stretched out before gliding down.

“I was wondering if you were gonna come down.” Soarin turned to her with a smile. She flinched briefly.

“You knew I was there?”

“Kinda hard to miss a rainbow in an apple tree.” He grinned. She glanced back at her mane and tail. He had a point. She shrugged.

“You looked like you had it under control, I wasn’t about to butt in on a training session with a Wonderbolt,” she smirked, “Mr. Sorewings.” She added while chuckling. He laughed with her and faked like he had aching wings.

“Cut me some slack, stunt flying is taxing!” He let his wings droop comically.

“So,” she looked at his wings, “you had stunted wings huh?”

“Nope.” He casually replied while folding his wings up.

“WHAT?!” Dash looked at him in disbelief, “YOU LIED TO HER!?”

“About myself yes.” He continued to act as if nothing had happened. Dash wasn’t sure what to think. Her opinion of him was on a never ending rollercoaster.

“That, that,” She fumbled with how to reply. Her head was starting to hurt.

“Not about stunted wings though.” He added. Dash stopped and looked towards him, completely stumped.

“You’re putting my head in a vice, what are you talking about?” She demanded. He smirked.

“Just because she has stunted wings doesn’t mean she can’t fly. It just means it’ll take more time and work. Yeah I lied about my wings, but she’s just a little filly, it wouldn’t have mattered if it were me, you, or any other Pegasus. If she never knew there was a problem she would never know what she needs to focus on. As long as she knows and believes that it’s possible she’ll succeed,” he walked beside Dash and nudged her in the side with his elbow “and with a role model like “the great Rainbow Dash” I doubt she’ll have trouble staying motivated.” He flashed her a smile.

Dash stared blankly at him. Genius. It was pure genius. She would have never put all that together. The more she got to know him, the more amazing he seemed. Then she found herself blushing. She quickly turned away. Luckily he was looking towards the sky as night began rolling in.

“Hey looks like Luna has the stars out tonight, wanna go for a night fly?” He suggested with a friendly smile. Dash regained her senses and nodded.

“Yeah let’s go.”

Soarin and Dash flew across the clear night sky, exchanging stories about their friends and occasional jokes. Soarin was very quick and clever, usually catching her off guard with a pun or sarcasm. After a little while they rested on a stray cloud the weather team seemed to miss.

“I’m gonna have to talk to Thunderlane about doing a thorough job.” Dash sighed.

“You work for the weather team?” Asked Soarin as he got comfortable.

“I work late morning if they need a weather change, but since they usually change the weather early morning and late night I don’t get called in much.”

“Sounds like straining work.” Soarin joked.

“I get to sleep in and I still get paid, nice try but I’m content.” She fired back with a smirk.

“Can’t argue with that.”

“Say Soarin,” she was curious about something. She wasn’t quite sure why, but after hearing Spitfire’s story about becoming Wonderbolts she had a question lingering in her head, “I was talking to Spitfire and Fleetfoot earlier about how you became Wonderbolts,”

“They didn’t say anything about my reaction did they?” Soarin quickly asked. Dash paused and snickered. She mimicked the face Fleetfoot made with a sharp inhale, a weak scream and fell on her back. “Oh it wasn’t THAT dramatic!” Soarin laughed. “Sorry I interrupted what were you saying?”

“Well, they talked about how you three were competing in a competition. I was wondering, how long have you known Spitfire?” Her question seemed to surprise him. He was expecting something less personal and more Wonderbolt related.

“Gosh I can’t remember a time I didn’t know her.” His eyes trailed off into the stars, recollecting his past, “She lived next door to me in the suburbs of Manehatten. She was the first friend I ever had. I can remember she always used to race with me and all the other colts. We never beat her she always left us in the dust. We both dreamed of being professional flyers, and trained together day in and day out in hopes of one day reaching that goal. As we got older I began to feel we were in over our heads, but she kept pushing me to train and improve. One wild shred of luck later and we reached our dream. I definitely couldn’t have done it without her, she’s like the sister I never had.” He ended with a nostalgic smile.

Art by: NightyScribbles

Dash listened to the whole story with great interest. She felt a strange wave pass over her when he called her a sister. She wasn’t sure what it was. Was she jealous of Spitfire for knowing Soarin for so long or was she touched by a story of perseverance? Maybe it was something else, but another thought dawned on her.

“Oh! This is something I’ve always wanted to know!” She patted her hooves on the cloud excitedly, “which one of you is the fastest?” She asked eagerly.

“Fleetfoot.” Soarin answered quickly like it was painfully obvious. “At least at top speed, hence “Silver Streak”. She just takes longer than the rest of us to reach full tilt.”

“Oh?” Now Dash was even more interested, “So what are the differences between all of you?”

“Let’s see,” Soarin rubbed his chin, “Spitfire is by far the most agile, and is the best with different trails, especially flame trails, “Searing Flame”. Like I said, Fleetfoot can hit some ridiculously high speeds. When Rapidfire isn’t chasing mares I guess he’s really good at manipulating effects like mini tornados and weaving trails. “The Artist”” He stopped there.

“Aaaaaaand?” Dash leaned towards him.

“What?”

“Don’t give me that, you know what I’m waiting for.” She crossed her hooves and stared at him.

“Oh yeah, little old me.” Soarin smiled wide while tapping his chest. “Well, I’m actually the slowest of the four, but I do a lot of the heavy work, like catching and throwing the other three. I can also hit my top speed faster than the rest using my power acceleration, “Power Flyer”. You probably saw me do it at the show.”

“I did but,” she frowned, “I only caught a glimpse of it, I tried to get close, but I couldn’t quite figure out how you did it.” Her eyes widened and she stood up quickly. “Could you teach me how to do it?!” She asked with a bright smile and pleading eyes.

“I could,” he tipped his head to the side, “but why do you want to learn it?”

“Psh, why else? To be better than you at it!” She replied with a sly grin. Soarin suddenly coughed then hacked and grabbed his throat. Dash looked towards him with concern, “You okay?” His coughing became violent and he fell over on his back while gasping for air. “Soarin!? What’s going on!?” She jumped over to him and turned his head towards her, panicking all the way.

“The smmm” Soarin coughed hard, cutting himself off. Dash continued to look him up and down in confusion and worry. “The smmmuuuuuhhhhhhh” Soarin forced out before arching his neck back. “I can’t BREATH, the SMUG around you, it’s so THICK, the SMUUUHAHAHAHAHA!!!!” He burst into a fit of laughter. Dash realized she had been played and glared at him. “Oh the look on your face was priceless.”

“You’re terrible!” She pushed him into the thick of the cloud before beginning to laugh herself. Soarin’s head popped out of the cloud as their laughter eventually ceased.

“Sure, I’ll show you, but,” he yawned loudly, “let’s do it tomorrow I’m dead tired.”

“Sounds good to me.” She answered as he removed himself from inside the cloud. “Oh I have a weather team meeting before noon, I’ll come by after that.”

“Then it’s decided, I’ll see you tomorrow,” he took a step towards her, “and Dash?” To her surprise, he gave her a small hug, gently brushing his neck against hers with an arm around her. “Thanks for spending time with me, it feels good to be treated like a normal pegasus.” With a wink and a smile he flew off, leaving a very confused and very red Rainbow Dash behind on the cloud.

---To Be Continued---