How the Tables Turn

Rainbow sat behind the long, rectangular table. She was paler than she had ever been in her life. If her friend had lost her wings, it was her fault. She had never felt so guilty. She looked at her left wing. All her primaries had been clipped in half. If she were to try and fly, she would simply overbalance and probably land on her clipped wing and break it. No sense in trying to fly anyway. She would probably be shot down by one of the two unicorn guards standing in front of the closed curtains. She shuddered as she imagined Cloud Kicker or Derpy standing behind those curtains, wingless and scared.

And it was all her fault.

She sat, stirring her grain. She wasn’t hungry. Not when one of her friends was on the line. Her four hours of worry had passed, and now it was time for the moment of truth.

“Ponies of the Underground. If you could turn your attention to the stage, please.” Everypony obliged. “Today will be the unveiling of not one, but two newcomers to the Underground. Meet the two newest additions to your community.”

The curtains pulled open.

They both had kept their wings.

Rainbow released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in. Some color returned to her face as she addressed her next question. She looked into the (thankfully) even-eyed stare of Cloud Kicker. Good. Derpy was safe.

“Rainbow? This is where you went?”

Rainbow put on an indignant face, irritated at Cloud Kicker’s comment.

“Hey, it’s not like I want to be here!” She showed Kicker her clipped wing as she spoke, when a thought struck her. Her left wing was clipped.

She took a closer look at Kicker, or more specifically, Kicker’s wings, to confirm her hopes.

Kicker’s right wing was clipped.

Kicker and Rainbow had the same wingspan.

A smile crept onto Rainbow’s face, the largest one she’d had since her arrival in the Underground. It probably wouldn’t work. They would be too heavy. They wouldn’t have enough projection. But there was a chance.

Kicker had yet to realize what Rainbow was smiling at. Neither had Phoenix or Ashes. The three spoke in unison. “What?” They all jumped at each other’s voices, exchanging glances between the three. Rainbow paid them no attention, though. The guards had gone. It was just them and the crowd now.

Rainbow stood up and began trotting towards the stage. Kicker was confused by her sudden activity. “What are you doing, Rainbow?”

She had reached the stage and was climbing up. She had an idea. She was not only going to do this; she was going to do this the hilarious and embarrassing way. She approached Kicker, who was watching Rainbow’s every move as though she expected her to pounce.

She did not expect Rainbow to seductively trace her clipped wing with her own good one.

Kicker felt a fierce blush spread across her face like wildfire. Everypony knew how sensitive Pegasus wings are. An absence of primaries only increased their sensitivity tenfold, now that some skin was exposed underneath. She gasped, hard, her wings rocketing out to their fullest extent, coaxing an evil chuckle from Rainbow as she (thankfully) dropped the seductive act and locked her left wing with Kicker’s own right.

Now kicker understood. She looked over and saw the interlocked clipped wings. “Are you sure about this? If they come apart-”

“They won’t. I won’t let them.”

“But-“ Kicked found herself cut off when Rainbow threw out her hind hooves, both sweeping Kicker’s hooves out from underneath her and throwing her into the air. She followed suit before the distance between them put pressure on their interlocked wings. Kicker flapped her good wing, fast and hard, as Rainbow almost casually flicked hers, matching Kicker in both strength and speed.

Damn, Rainbow was strong.

Together they flew over the heads of the crowd, all looking up at them in awe as they flew. For the first time, somepony had flown in the Underground.

Kicker looked at Rainbow, a wicked smirk on her face. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“We give these ponies a show?”

“This place seems big enough.”

“Follow my lead.” Rainbow felt her spirit soar at the prospect of flying; her spirit soared much higher than she was capable. There was still a ceiling. Still, she put on the best show of synchronized flying ever seen by pony eyes. Two ponies flying as one, performing loops and twirls and barrel rolls. They pulled into a dive so Rainbow could get enough speed to wow the crowd with her signature rainbow contrails. They twisted together, causing Rainbow’s contrail to twist with them. Purple went from the bottom to the middle, meeting up with all the other colors of the spectrum in the middle of her contrail, the separated streaks of light coming together as one to form a concentrated golden glow of artificial sunlight, before breaking off and moving to the top of the spectrum, blue and green following suit, red orange and yellow making way for them, all in unison. Finally they all reversed the action, meeting once again in the middle to form another short golden streak to replace the rainbow contrail, before returning to their normal positions, red on op, purple on bottom, and all the other colors in between.

They pulled out of their dive, pulling up until they flew upside down, reversing the color spectrum a second time. They did half a barrel roll, resulting in a third glow of light, and flew right-side-up once again. They looped around in a corkscrew, slowing down the whole time, Rainbow’s beautiful contrail gradually fading away, until they gently lighted upon the stage, their hooves returning to solid ground. They unhooked their wings, smiling at each other proudly as they trotted happily into the crowd. Their worries had vanished, and Rainbow was even more delighted when she spared a glance around.

Everypony was smiling.

Their smiles varied in size, some small and slight, others reaching their ears in pure delight. Nopony had that hollow look in their eyes anymore. They were genuinely happy after the beauty of the flight show, and nothing was preventing them from showing it.

Maybe Rainbow was supposed to be there after all. Not because she had done something wrong, but because she could lift their spirits. And that was everything they needed and so much more.

Rainbow followed Kicker over to Sunbeam. Kicker introduced them to each other. Then it was Kicker’s turn to follow, joined by Sunbeam, as they trotted over to Phoenix and Ashes. Rainbow dealt with these introductions, all but the introduction of Sunbeam, which was handled by Kicker. The five of them then set out, making their ways through the hallways on their way to Phoenix’s house. When they arrived through the doorway, Rainbow was met by Kicker’s hoof to the back of her head.

“That’s for feeling me up.”