A Kindred Spirit

Dash had just arrived in tow of Pinkie, hovering frantically and looking very put off. I could assume Pinkie had shown up, said a word or two, and yanked her all the way here before having adequate time to react. I easily felt for her.

"Oh, um, hey," she said to me dazedly. She turned to Pinkie and took on a highly annoyed posture and expression.

"I thought I told you not to do that." Said pink pony replied, genuinely, it seemed, "Oh, oopsies! I forgot! Silly me!"

Dash was obviously still perturbed, but landed softly on the ground with a few small flaps of the wings. "So, are you ready?"

I was a more than a little sore from yesterday's exercises, and wasn't exactly keen on any more stretching exercises, but...

"I guess so."

Dash smirked. "That was weak," she said, referring to my lack of enthusiasm. "Try again."

"Yes," I said flatly. "Better," was the response.

We started walking out of the building. "Today we're going to focus on getting you used to the proper way to use your wings. You've got the definition and the tone in your muscles already--" Dash gave me a playfully contemptuous look. "--lucky colt." I did feel a bit sheepish about this; it was undoubtedly a big part of Dash and other athletic ponyfolk's lives to keep themselves in ship shape, and I'd just been endowed with it by a stroke of luck. I was absolutely sure it could deteriorate, however, and I planned on keeping in the form of my life. "We'll also be giving them a little workout. Use it or lose it, ya know." I smiled inwardly at our apparent momentary synchronization of thought.

"Anyhow, back on track, you're probably not using proper wing technique. Smooth, powerful sweeps are always better than little choppy ones." She should probably tell poor Scootaloo that...

Y'know... maybe I should tell her to talk to the little orange filly after she was done with me. Scoots would probably have a cow at her idol giving her a little training. Dash carried on.

"The main reason we're doing this, though, is to give your tendons, joints, and ligaments a rest after all the strain you put on them yesterday. If you overdo it, it'll only make 'em tighten back up." I nodded.

"So, where to? Same place?" We were strolling rather aimlessly down the wide street. "I guess. Now, tell me; can you take me there?" A navigational challenge? You're on, Dash. I cracked a cocksure smirk. "As you wish."

After a very easy stroll to where I knew we had been yesterday, Rainbow nodded. "Good." She pulled out a handkerchief, folded in the manner of a blindfold, from the small satchel she'd been carrying. "Now, I'm gonna put this on, and then you're gonna first tell me where north is, and then everything you can about the weather."

"O... kay...?" I said a little uncertainly. Dash tied the band around my eyes, leaving me cut off from looking up at the sky, which I hadn't done today. Instantly, I pointed my hoof to the left of me. "North's that way." That done, I started to figure the most obvious factors about the weather.

"Well, it seems to be about 85 degrees or so, the wind's gusting through at... I'd say 20 miles an hour." I was making pretty quick assessments of what I figured the different statistics would be measured at. "Humidity seems to be about 25 percent or so. I think there's some cumulus and maybe a few cirrus clouds around... Air pressure's a little lower than I'd expect; I think a storm front's probably somewhere to the northeast. Maybe... 75 miles? Nothing severe, seems pretty light... probably heading this way. Hang on a second."

"How did I get all of that?" I asked Dash, lifting off the blindfold. She smiled. "Pegasus instinct. You've got a pretty good handle on the weather and a practically impossible to fool sense of direction." She took the bit of cloth back and stuffed it away in her bag. "And yeah, that rain's headed this way. Ponyville's due for some." I wonder how the weather crews work the clouds...

"Y'know, you should try for a job on the weather team when you can fly. Pretty easy job, good pay. If you're not the captain, all you really have to do is follow orders."

"I'll be sure to keep it in mind."  I'd never thought of that before, and it seemed like a good idea.

Rainbow suddenly donned a somewhat troubled look. I braced myself for whatever she might say, or to ask the terribly difficult question "what's wrong?" Thankfully, I was spared the pain of the latter option. She turned to me and asked a question that I kind of figured would come up.

"Last night... did you...?"

"Yeah," I affirmed. "It wasn't any less awkward for me than it was for you," I added. I really felt like I'd violated her privacy when I'd accidentally hot-dropped into her dream. Also, that question wasn't phrased well.

A heavy silence prevailed for a short amount of time. The events of the night had been pretty intimate for the both of us; I'd seen a side of Dash I'd never had before. That thought wasn't parsed well. Thankfully, she regained her composure, decided it was time to cut the thick silence, and got us back to work.

A bit of walking had been in order to make it to Sweet Apple Acres, where, oddly enough, Rainbow had picked as a strength training venue. Dash appeared to be a regular here, as Applejack, who was working the orchard, smiled and waved instead of coming to greet us. Both parties had a job to do. Rainbow's strange choice of venue made more sense, however, when she showed me to some unconventional weights, which were, in fact, bits and pieces of steel retrieved for the equipment graveyard applied to other materials in order to be used for specific purposes. I was a bit skeptical of the jerry-rigged barbells and the other assorted weights, but when Dash had me put them to use, I found them satisfactory...

As Dash stored the equipment back where it belonged, I sat at the door of the barn we were in, letting the soft southwesterly wind blow over my fur, wicking the sweat away from my taut body. I felt good after the fair amount of heavy lifting I did, both mentally with my satisfaction at having such a powerful body, and physically with the general sense of well-being that arose in the muscles from a good workout. Dash, I could tell, had focused more on the toning of her form than the bulk, which was fitting for a mare like her; high muscle mass is not exactly something one finds attractive on a female. In the presence of these gusts, the instinct to take wing was tapping on the back of my mind again...

Just to experiment, I unfolded and lowered my wings, stretching the tips out to get maximum span. The lift effect was pretty instantaneous; it was a lot like holding your arm out the window. The soft breezes felt natural flowing across the surface of my outstretched limbs; I could feel every rolling gust, the precise direction each one was taking. I started to experiment with angles of attack; what would give me the most lift? The flattest trajectory? A soft descent?

"Hello mister!"

With a small shout, I reflexively turned toward the sound of the little voice and beat my wings once, giving me about 2 feet of air diagonally away from the little pony. During that time, I absorbed everything I could about my mystery pony. It was a filly, buttery yellow, with fire-truck red mane and tail, wearing a huge pink bow, giggling to herself.

Ah, Apple Bloom.

I sighed, both in apology for my reaction and in relief.

"Oh, um, hello there."

"Did I scare you, mister?"

"Um, yeah, a little bit."

She giggled again. "My name's Apple Bloom. What's yours?"

"Sable.." I finished the sentence a bit forlornly. "well, at least that's part of it."

"Hey, you didn't tell me you found out a part of your name," interjected a certain cyan mare, with a surprisingly deadpan look on her face.

Apple Bloom turned towards her. "Oh, hey Rainbow Dash."

"Hey Apple Bloom," she replied.

Apple Bloom turned to me again, a questioning look in her eye. "You're that guy my sister saved, aren't ya?"

I was impressed with her deduction. "Yeah, actually..."

Apple Bloom did a little victorious movement with a front hoof. "I knew it! Applejack told me how ya changed into a pony and all..." Concern was apparent in her voice. "Doin' alright?"

Suddenly, I froze. This filly, a young, innocent child--however smart she may have been--was asking me if I was okay after an event that really only an older pony could perhaps understand, which meant...

It was possible that everypony was pitying me. Rarity may have felt the need to lend me a room out of pity. Dash may have been training me because she felt bad for me... all the generous actions of the ponies may have been motivated out of pity for me and my situation. I didn't pity myself; they needn't spurn their resources out of a pity for me... I needed to ask, but not here...

Dash was looking at me with a strange expression, probably due to my sudden blankness. Apple Bloom's concerned look had deepened.

"Yeah, I'm just fine," I said, with a little smile to back it up. This seemed to lighten Apple Bloom back to her apparently normal state of cheer, but Dash's quizzical look faded a bit slowly. My answer didn't seem to make up for the pause I had made.

"Alright, the girls and I are goin' to a meeting. Crusaders business," she said, mostly to Dash. "See ya later, mister Sable!"

It was still a little strange to respond to that name, but more strange was my subconscious acceptance of it sinking in so fast that I'd automatically do so. Ponies... I thought to myself, leaving it open-ended and allowing everything to roll into the slot. I glanced up at the sky again. The well-managed storm clouds were rolling in, and would probably make it to town in about 45 minutes.

Dash was uncharacteristically silent and as we left the Apples' farm. The slight tension in the air was easily apparent, as were the advancing storm clouds and cooler winds.

"Hey... um..." Dash spoke up. "What's the deal? I saw how you reacted when Apple Bloom asked you how you were doing..."

I decided to cut to the chase. "Dash, you're not doing this because you pity me, are you?" I looked the cyan mare straight in her cerise eyes, broadcasting that I wanted a straight answer and no lies. My sudden intensity set her aback for a moment, but she didn't shy away, albeit her momentary pause.

"No." The direct, flat answer allowed a small chunk of me to breathe a sigh of relief, but she wasn't out of the woods yet. I needed another explanation first.

"You're a pegasus... you should know how to fly. You seem like a nice enough guy..."

There's that again. Even though it was flattering, was starting to irritate me...

"...and plus, it helps me to learn how to coach other ponies better." She ended with a more confident smile, hoping that was enough.

I forced a little laugh. Deciding to change the subject, I turned the direction of the conversation to my stomach and the sky.

"So, what's up for lunch? I don't think we really wanna walk through the pouring rain afterwards." I shivered at the thought; my pegasus tendencies were causing a large aversion to rainstorms. "Hm. I guess we could go to Rarity's. Neither of us wanna walk through the rain and she won't care if I stay a little while." I agreed with that decision. "Okay," was my simple prompt, and the two of us walked the short distance