The ground was getting closer with each passing second. Still, with each beat of her powerful wings, Rainbow Dash dared it, as if the very earth would yield to the needs of a gryphon flying at full speed, heedless of the risks. Any minute now, surely. Any second now...
With an aggravated call, Rainbow Dash pulled up at the very last second, avoiding the ground by a feather's breadth. The wind became trapped between her wings and the ground, and she had to beat her wings powerfully to keep the growing air pressure there from pushing her wings completely aside and knocking her into a spin. This much was clearly visible even to Pinkie Pie, who was not much of a fan of the sciences in the first place, much less sciences which were generally restricted to pegasi in their applications. Then again, Rainbow Dash wasn't much of a pegasi anymore, either.
"Dashie?"
With a surprised squawk, Rainbow Dash pulled up, her hindlegs latching onto the ground while her wings beat wide. Landings were the one small consolation she had been given in exchange for everything else she had lost to that stupid idol.
"Hey, Pinkie," the cyan griffin squawked, puffing out her chest and trying to seem nonchalant. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same question!" Pinkie gave a bright smile. She was worried, but worry just didn't show on her face. "The girls haven't seen you in days, and the weather team hasn't, so..."
"Yeah... about that." Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly with a foreclaw, as she spread her wings, beating them once. "Uhm... I'm sorry for making you girls worry. I know Twilight's working on it, and all, but... I can't wait, okay? I have to get better."
Pinkie tilted her head. "Better for what, Dashie?"
Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Well, duh, Pinkie! Curse or no curse, I have Wonderbolts trials soon!" She put ona brave grin. "And if that means I have to be the first griffin on the team..." Rainbow Dash's chest fluffed in the same way as her wings once did, fluffing out before falling down carefully. "Well... I'll just have to get better!"
The cyan griffin stood, and shook her head. "I... gotta keep practicing, okay? I'll see you later, I promise." With that, Rainbow Dash started jogging.
"Well... are you sure you don't want to-!"
But it was too late. After building up speed, Rainbow Dash jumped into the air; it was just high enough to clear the ground effect, and with strong beats of her wider wings, Rainbow Dash was climbing.
Despite being fliers, pegasi built their cities in the clouds, but griffins built their homes in caves. There was a good reason for this separation. It was almost nothing for a pegasus to make it up to the clouds. Griffins, however, had wings made for gliding, not climbing; those huge wings made for riding thermals easily, but were ungainly and awkward when trying to climb intentionally. Rainbow Dash could feel a distinct sheen of sweat as her wings beat. And she was barely high enough to get into her own cloud layer, much less high enough to break into the stratosphere.
"Twilight..." She panted, her beak clicking in irritation. "Twi better have something soon..."
As far as she could tell, Rainbow Dash had failed to climb high enough. It felt like high enough in her bones, but the pitiful speed she had built up in her descent made it clear that not even her skeleton could be trusted, anymore. So, with logic even Twilight had to appreciate, Rainbow Dash figured that the next step would be to go as high as she could go. And it was taking a while.
She wasn't giving up, though. If only Gilda was still here to help.
On a normal day, a flight that took this long would have taken her halfway to Canterlot, but the town of Ponyville still stood below her, shrinking ever-so-slowly. Her avian vision was better than her equine vision, though, and she could still make out details. Cloud Kicker taking over for her on weather duty - and not slacking, for once. Pinkie puttering about on the hill she had been left behind at. Applejack and her family was at work, and the Rainbow Dash Fan Club was meeting at the old clubhouse on her farm -
Darn it, girl, now is no time to get distracted!
Rainbow Dash grumbled, then closed her beak instantly; at this height, the air was cold, and getting colder, each breath making her lungs rasp. She thought that, being bigger, her chest would be warmer and it would be easier to get up to the higher altitudes. The air burnt just as much in her chest, however, and the thinning air was getting harder and harder to beat to. Rainbow Dash looked down, at all of Equestria. She wondered if any of them were watching her. Sure, it would be embarrassing if they watched her fail again, the former best flyer in all of Equestria. Even most griffin fledglings had an easier time in the air than she was having.
But... what if it worked?
She had to act like it would. With a small swallow, Rainbow Dash set herself pointing down. Gravity helped with the rest.
The worst part about being a gryphon was the hands. Oh, sure, the earth ponies were jealous of the gryphons for the ease with which they manipulated tools and the unicorns were jealous for being able to simply reach out and grab something without gaining a slow-building migrane for it, but for a pegasus, the claws were a decided downgrade. Rainbow Dash held them out in front of her to break her wind resistance, but the digits just didn't want to cooperate; she hadn't quite got the individual finger motions down yet, but she had to hold each hand open. If she balled her claws up into a fist, they didn't face into the wind at the right angle; if she held her hand open, they would be pushed apart, freezing each finger from the wind pressure and generating lots of knuckle-smacking floppy-finger drag right where she needed to be punching through the air. Not to mention knocking her knuckles about painfully. On the whole, Rainbow preferred her knuckles behind a hoof, where they belonged.
Even from this height, that pain was familiar. She could chart the progression of her future flight in her mind's eye, and the exhausting climb would add little further speed. And her hands were killing her! With a frustrated cry, Rainbow Dash pulled out and flew straight, gliding out, spiraling down, letting her arms fall to her side.
It was past her. Her grace was destroyed, and her speed was gone; oh sure, she had strength, but the Wonderbolts are not known as the most powerful fliers in Equestria, after all. Unless Twilight or Zecora or the Princess or somepony helped her out, her chance at becoming part of Equestria's elite flying squadron was gone, forever.
Rainbow Dash lost herself in the fall, for a moment imagining what it would be to just allow herself the fall and let the ground swallow her forever. As she picked up speed, could feel the air chilling her beak, pushing hard against her cere and freezing her tears...
Wait. There. That!
The pressure building up against her beak was familiar, and Rainbow Dash could feel it growing. It was pushing back against her, daring her to stop. In response, Rainbow Dash pulled her talons close to her heart, her hindlegs tucked back behind her tail as the falcon-gryphon reduced drag to its lowest possible point - becoming a gryphonic dart.
In the back of her mind, she was aware that her little climbing stunt had taken her miles away from Ponyville. She didn't care. This limit, this restriction, this wall on the upper speed she could attain would forever be there - unless she broke it, here and now.
That cry that tore through her was a loud falcon's cry, daring the wind, daring the earth, daring the rules themselves to stop her. She could feel the wave of pressure becoming almost tangible before her beak, and she closed her eyes again, another beat of her powerful wings pushing her beyond terminal velocity with each beat. The world quickly tried to pull her back - and she pushed ever further, iridescent sparks shining off her beak. She was approaching the ground, fast - and she needed to be faster than that.
Just a little further...
