Veiled Violet

The sun hung high in the sky when the blue pegasus pony started work on the skies over the quiet and idyllic little town of Ponyville. Still rubbing sleep from her eyes she soared high above the clouds. There, high above the world, she checked her schedule and made her adjustments.

It was prime growing season right now for the farmers below. The schedule called for a 30% cumuliform but at this phase it would make more sense to make 20% cumuliform and 20% stratiform to create a more even shade and avoid drying out the ground.

The decision had nothing to do with how much more fun stratiform clouds were to form. Nope none at all.

The weather schedule thus adjusted the winged blue pony set to work.

The dense magic fields of the Equestian sky flowed in her wake as she dived. Her mane and tail seemed to stretch out behind forming a multi-hued streak that built and lengthened into a rainbow.

A rainbow that darted through the sky in majestic loops and curls, heralding to all, those who had eyes and cared to glance toward the sky at least, that Rainbow Dash, the famed weather manager of the municipality of Ponyville was on the job.

Striking like a hammer, like a magical rainbow powered artillery shell she slammed into excess cumulus cloud banks. They broke apart and dispersed under the impact. Chunks of cloud flying in every direction trying and failing to hold onto their structural integrity.

Then she returned slicing through the weather patterns cutting them off from their support. Relentlessly she drove them to the corners of the sky.

Then out of the now spread out mountains of cumuliform clouds, she selected and chose. Picking the ones that would work best.

Spinning rapidly she formed a cyclone over one of the mountainous cloud banks. The winds howled in her ears but this high up there was no debris to blind her vision. Until the cloud began to be sucked in. Dash worked blind mostly by feeling the pressure in her magnificent wings. Cloud was pulled up into the cyclone and as it reached the top spread out into a thin and smooth sheet of stratiform.

That was when she hit the goose.

Dazed and blinded from the impact the two fliers tumbled helplessly out of the sky. The cyclone rapidly faded away without it's energy source.

Dash struggled to break off into a glide where she could regain her bearings, but she found herself hopelessly tangled with her now terrified and violent fellow avian.

For long heart pounding moments the two rolled and wrestled in the sky, each desperate to escape the other and what was soon to be their shared fate.

Well not truly shared. Rainbow Dash was a pegasus. Her body was made of much stronger material then a goose. But a fall from this height would certainly see her hospitalized for a number of agonizingly flightless days. The poor bird on the other hoof would likely be rendered into a red smear of the ground below.

Rainbow's life flashed before her eyes. Her cloud house. Her pet tortoise. Her fan club. Her friends. It was nice. It was great. It was missing some things. Even she had to admit that there where huge parts of her life missing. Incomplete.

Her rear hoof planted firmly on the goose's chest. With a strong kick she sent it flying away.

The pegasus and bird after a few extra tumbles soon regained control.

Exhausted, and more then a little shaken, the blue pony set down in the park. It had lots of open area. Good for a nice easy landing.

She took a few running steps after hitting the ground to let her momentum bleed away. Normally she would bleed it all away in a flashy wing braking manoeuvre. But she was tired and playing it safe.

Collapsing onto the ground she waited to catch her breath.

“Oooh, I just love your new dress,” a nearby pony excitedly squealed.

Dash rolled her head slightly to glance in that direction.

“I know right? My coltfriend just loves it. He said it made me look so pretty!”

Coltfriend, the weather pony thought to herself.

The dress in question was a soft and demure pink, accented heavily with lace that some how in showing a slice of it's wearers flank managed to appear almost lewd.

Unusual that, as ponies didn't normally wear clothes.

Her brief summation of the dress was that she would never wear such a frilly and girly thing. It just wasn't her. It didn't fit with the bold and adventurous image that she projected.

Things like that were for pretty ponies, not ponies like her.

She stood up. Carefully step by step she checked each limb and joint. Nothing felt broken and she stretched out each wing in turn. The wind was picking up a little cooling the tension in her wings as she flexed.

She smiled. Was she not mighty and near indestructible. Wasn't she the fastest, the strongest, the fiercest and bravest pony of all?

Her ego stocked and burned. Her grin grew wide. Confidence and power returned to her. The famed, the bold, hero of Equestria...

For pretty ponies. Not ponies like her.

Her grin faded a little.

A stallion and his mare gripped each other on a nearby bench. A flash of moist pink tongue showed in the sunlight as they broke their kiss only to rejoin it a moment latter.

That... That was also for pretty mares. Not mares like her...

Her grin now faded away entirely to be replaced with a firmly set line.

Her work. Her career were important to her. They were the essential core of everything that Rainbow Dash stood for. Working up through the ranks of the weather service and eventually making her way into the halls of the greatest fliers in all of Equestria. The storied and legendary Wonderbolts.

She had no time to spend lounging around making out with some stallion.

Not that they ever... Dash smothered the disparaging thought.

That is why it was with slow and easy circles rather then a thunderous roar Dash began to climb back up to the cloud line.

To say this was an unusual event is an understatement. Many pegasi encounter each other regularly on the wing, many enjoy lengthy conversations with their fellows as they soared serenely across the sky. It was only for Dash that the sky was a place of isolation.

She simply always went too fast for another pony to catch up.

This time however things were different. A familiar brown pegasus stallion caught up to her and joined her.

“Hoops? What the hay are you doing in Ponyville?”

“Vacation. The guys said this was a good place to laugh at ground pounders.”

“Huh.”

“So I'm stuck in town for the weekend, you wanna hang out Friday night? I'll buy you dinner.”

Rainbow Dash forgot to fly for a second.

“Okay, sure. If you're buying,” she replied trying to cover up her flying stumble.

“See you then, and wear something pretty for once, okay?”

“Yeah, sure.” A date? Oh my Celestia, I have a date! Some guy just asked me on a date, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh...

Excited Dash returned to her labours in the skies above Ponyville. A ribbon tailing her as she rocketed through the air.

A date. She had never had a date before. Nopony had ever asked her on one before. This was going to be so awesome!

“Wait till the guys hear I managed to bag Rainbow Crash,” Hoops laughed to himself as he circled back down to the ground below. It was almost comical to think that he would be seriously interested in a scrawny tomboy like her.