Rainbow Dash studied my face as I stammered stupidly at her, my brain struggling to catch up to my mouth.
“Me? Oh, uh… Maybe?”
There was a pause.
“I mean, I know who you are, of course!”
That seemed to distract her from her initial curiosity.
“Heh. Of course you would.”
“Yeah. Big fan.”
“Well, why wouldn’t you be?”
I blinked as she shrugged her wings. She was… not as humble as I thought she’d be.
“R-right. I, uh, I actually had a question for you…”
“Yeah, right. I getcha. Autograph. Lemme ask you one first.”
“Oh? Shoot.”
“Were you in Ponyville a few days ago?”
Ah. That’s why she recognized me.
“Uh, yeah, actually. I ran into an acquaintance of yours—!”
“Right! Applejack says she caught you napping in her orchard.”
“Yeah. I’m… Not proud to admit that.”
“Psh, don’t worry about it, kiddo.”
I flinched at her choice of words. Thankfully, she had missed it as she rambled on.
“AJ’s alright; sometimes she’s just a little too strait-laced. It’s not like you were stealing apples or something.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Oh, yeah. You still want that autograph, right?”
“No, that’s not…!”
“What? Oh. That’s kinda disappointing.”
“Well, as I was saying, I actually had a question—!”
“You sure you don’t?”
“Yes. I’m sure. I wanted to—!”
“Cuz AJ told me about how you were singing my praises and stuff; I thought somepony like you would at least want something to—!”
“Can we not talk about that?!”
Her eyes went wide, as if noticing me for the first time. Her eyebrows furrowed, frustration seeping into her expression.
“Then what do you want?”
“I wanted to ask you…”
Briefly bracing myself with a deep breath, I spat it out.
“…do you remember me at all?”
Her irritated scowl shifted to a suspicious one.
“What? No.”
What?!
“How would I remember somepony like you? Did we meet?”
What did she mean when she asked me all those questions that day?
“Hello? Earth to colt?!”
I blinked, my confused expression meeting her angry scowl.
“What do you mean remember you?!”
“I…”
“Spit it out!”
“I… Just… Forget it!”
I took off at full gallop, my wings flapping rapidly in a hasty takeoff.
“Hey! Get back here!”
I glanced back, seeing a flash of a furious polychromatic mare speeding after me—and rapidly gaining.
“I said forget about it!”
I leveled out in an attempt to gain some speed, my eyes starting to squint as my pace went from brisk to blistering. However, without my goggles, I couldn’t reach my top speed. Tears brimmed under my eyes as the wind battered my corneas, my lack of visibility keeping me from going any faster.
“Forget about what?”
I could hear her getting closer with every word. Unlike me, Rainbow Dash had goggles.
“It’s none of your business!”
“Oh, I think it’s definitely my business!”
“Leave me alone!”
Flaring out my wings, I pulled my head back and kicked my legs forward—narrowly brushing past a speeding Rainbow Dash as my air-brake forced us to switch places. As she began her lengthy turn, I pulled my wings in for a dive to regain the speed I had just sacrificed. Through my squinted eyes, I could see the town of Ponyville rapidly approaching from below. Adrenaline pumped in my veins as I screamed towards the ground—instinct forcing me to open my wings and gingerly angle them upwards. Pulling up just above the heads of several unfortunate townsponies, I tucked my legs into my body to avoid clipping any raised faces as I buzzed overhead.
As I weaved between the buildings, my heart pounded in my chest as my thoughts attempted to out-race my current pace.
What was the point of coming here?! She doesn’t even remember me! But why did she say what she did at the Q&A session?! Was I mistaken? Was she?
“Stop!”
She was on my tail again—no more than a few seconds behind me. I shook my head, dismissing my racer’s instincts of estimating the time gap as I cut around a large, spindly structure I had seen in the book from the library earlier today. I needed to find things that would slow her down.
“Don’t try to run! You can’t outfly me!”
Oh, she did not just say that.
“I’m the fastest flyer in Ponyville! Or did you forget that?!”
Gritting my teeth, I aimed myself towards one of the larger two-story cottages—the sturdier-looking the building, the better. Briefly flaring my wings to bleed off some speed, I bent all four legs as I braced for a heavy landing.
“Are you blind?! Look out!”
With a solid WHUMP, my hooves met the cream plaster of the cottage. I exhaled as I bent my legs, wincing as my joints groaned in pain from the teeth-chattering impact. With a final, forceful huff, I jumped—sideways. Propelling myself off the building like a pony-shaped torpedo, I rocketed past a bewildered-looking Rainbow Dash—once again forced to take a wider, more time-consuming turn. Blood pumping in my eardrums, I grinned as I savored that shocked expression she wore as I had passed.
Having gained a few precious seconds to myself, I beelined it for the edge of the town as fast as my poor visibility allowed. It wouldn’t be long before—!
“C’mere!”
Something slammed into my side, sending me spinning helplessly to the ground. I glanced down at the offender—Rainbow’s vibrant mane whipping me in the face. We crashed into the road, forcing us to grunt and groan in a chaotic chorus of pain as we tumbled flank-over-teakettle. The world spun and blurred as our momentum seemed to carry us on forever in a clumsy dance of tangled limbs.
We stopped suddenly—my left foreleg blossoming in pain as it took the brunt of my impact and cushioned her fall. I cried out as I cradled it gingerly, hissing with rapid breaths as shock began to set in. As I rolled to the side, a sky-blue hoof slammed down next to me. Rainbow Dash glared daggers at me, blood trickling from one of her nostrils.
“Alright! Who the hay are you?! And where do you remember me from?!”
“Aw, I… I don’t know,” I lied pathetically.
“The way you fly, too! You’re no ordinary pegasus! I knew I recognized you from somewhere! You chased me down a few days ago over the lake but disappeared after we crashed!”
So she did remember.
"Tell me who you are!”
“I’m just a fan! A fan! Gah!” I cradled my foreleg as a jolt of discomfort lanced through it.
“You’re hurt? Aw, horseapples… Lemme see.”
“Don’t touch it!”
“Just shut up and lemme look!”
“Rainbow Dash, what’s going on?!”
My head whipped to the left, my crazed stare resting on a purple unicorn regarding the two of us with a concerned gaze.
“Twilight!”
“Rainbow! You’re bleeding!”
“What? Oh. Nevermind that! He’s got a broken foreleg.”
“Oof! Yep. That looks broken.”
“Help me get him on his hooves.”
“Was it you two that hit the side of the library?”
“I was chasing him through the town and… got a little carried away.”
The purple unicorn called Twilight leaned down, her eyes locking with mine for a moment.
“Hey. I’m going to lift you up with magic. It’ll be the best way to transport you without risking any more damage to your leg. I’m going to need you to stay very, very still.”
I gave a halfhearted nod before grunting as I felt myself hoisted by invisible hooves. I glanced around, a mixture of disapproving and confused ponies looking up at me while Twilight cantered ahead—Rainbow hovering close behind.
“You okay, Rainbow?”
“I’ll be fine; maybe a couple bruises but nothing I can’t handle.”
“What made you chase him through Ponyville? There’s damage everywhere…!”
“He asked me if I ‘remembered’ him.”
“That’s… strange. Do you?”
“No! And when I asked him why he would say that, he told me to ‘forget it’ and flew off!”
“Curious. Where did he come from?”
“Applejack told me he’s from Manehatten.”
“That’s so far! That’s almost a day by train.”
“See why I chased him down? He’s just weird! Everything about him doesn’t seem right!”
Rainbow hovered above me, wiping her bloodied nose with a free foreleg as she stared suspiciously at me.
“Applejack said your name was ‘Jet’ or something, right? How do you know me?”
“I… I’m just a fan.”
“Too late to lead with that. You turned down that autograph pretty hard.”
“Since when were you a detective, Rainbow?”
“I know most of my fans by name. Plus, he doesn’t give off that vibe at all.”
My exhausted brain finally gave out.
“I… I can’t tell you.”
“Hah. I knew it. I knew you were hiding something!”
“Wow. I’m impressed, Rainbow. We didn’t even need to bring him to Applejack.”
“You could be a little more supportive of me in front of strangers, Twilight.”
“Can you at least tell us why you can’t tell us about it?”
“No.”
“Then what can you tell us?”
“…That my leg hurts.”
“Then you won’t mind if we turn you over to the authorities.”
“Wait, what?”
Twilight nodded to the ponies inspecting a small crater I had left in their cottage’s plaster from one of my ‘maneuvers.’
“I’m sure that damaging somepony’s property is a pretty common crime in Manehatten, if not all of Equestria.”
“Whoa. Who’s the bad cop, here?”
“Seriously?!”
“As a last resort, of course! We won’t need to go to them if you tell us why.”
I gulped, rubbing at my aching foreleg as I stared at the sky. I had waited too long just to end it all prematurely by blabbing about my true reason for being here.
“I’m… I’m a spy.”
“Ah, I see. Wait, what?!”
“Who for?! Spill the beans!”
“For the Manehatten Meteors!”
“The who?!”
“We’re an up-and-coming flying team based in Manehatten. We heard the Wonderbolts had a promising candidate lined up and they sent me.”
“Huh.”
“There. Happy?” I asked, mildly proud of my improvised excuse.
“Does that satisfy you, Rainbow?”
“I guess it does. Wow, all I had to do was pull off that Sonic Rainboom and now I’m world-famous! So, what did you think? How do I hold up to these ‘Manehatten Meteors?’”
I scoffed before answering, “You’ve got potential, I guess.”
The pegasus wrinkled her nose but said nothing. Twilight cleared her throat.
“Well, that’s one mystery solved. Congratulations, I guess?”
“Uh, thanks?”
***
“You’re lucky a foreleg was all that was broken. Pegasi have lighter bones than most ponies—and while the magic you all innately possess protects you from most falls, that isn’t to say that you won’t suffer a permanent minor injury from crashes at full speed.”
I nodded slowly, yawning unabashedly loud as the stern-looking nursepony droned on about staying off of it for two weeks before returning for a follow-up. It was almost nine o’clock—while the hospital staff were eager to get the bones realigned for proper healing, it had been almost two hours before anypony had come to give the low-down and let us go.
“Elevate it at night; the best way is to lay on your back and put pillows on your stomach. You shouldn’t need any painkillers, but the doctor has prescribed some to you if the aches get too severe. You can collect those on the way out. Other than that, you’re all good to go.”
“Thank you, Nurse Redheart.”
“Oh, think nothing of it, Miss Sparkle. We owe you quite a lot.”
Thinking better than to ask after a pony who carried me to the hospital, I ignored the suspicious statement and turned to give the unicorn a polite nod.
“Thanks. Sorry for being so secretive earlier.”
“Forgiven, Jetstream. I’d really appreciate it if you apologize to the ponies whose property you damaged once you’re feeling better.”
“Done.”
“You too, Rainbow.”
“What? Come on!”
“You drove him into a corner—he wouldn’t have flown so aggressively if you weren’t so dogged in your pursuit.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You scared him into flying like that by chasing him.”
“Yeah, but he was the one acting all suspicious!”
“Rainbow Dash.”
The pegasus sighed, rolling her eyes.
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
“Thanks. I’m sure everypony will appreciate your ability to empathize.”
Twilight yawned suddenly, blinking away tears.
“Goodness. It’s been a long day. I’ll see you both tomorrow. Be at the library at 11AM sharp.”
“Okay, Twilight.”
“I’ll be there.”
Nodding politely, she turned towards the entrance to start her trek back home.
I felt a nudge from Rainbow.
“C’mon. I’ll walk ya back…” She glanced at my leg, “Er… fly you back to Ponyville proper.”
Giving her a curt nod, I limped behind her out into the road. The hospital was on the edge of town—it lacked the rustic charm of the rest of Ponyville’s buildings. Judging by the construction surrounding one side of the hospital, it was one of the newer establishments.
Despite my wings and chest being sore from being pushed to their limits a couple hours earlier, I managed to get my wings working. Rainbow stayed at my pace—the two of us flying abreast of the other.
“Where’d you learn to fly like that?”
“Manehatten Racing Academy.”
“Ooh. Rich parents?”
“Let’s just say they’re supportive.”
“Heh. Sure. So, who else is on your team?”
“Just because I told you why I was here doesn’t mean I’m gonna tell you anything else.”
“Can’t blame a girl for trying.”
“I guess.”
We flew in silence for what felt like the longest minute of my life. Finally, I worked up the courage to ask.
“What made you want to start flying fast?”
“Is this the ‘spy’ talking or the pegasus?”
“Both, I guess.”
She hummed to herself as she cocked her head.
“I think I’ve always searched for something I could succeed in with pure effort. Flying was always something that rewarded those who hustled—although there are a lot of other pegasi who had the same idea.”
“So you settled on the sport of competitive flying?”
“No! Of course not!”
She stared up at the darkened sky, the first few stars starting to wink into existence in the fading daylight.
“I bet you won’t believe me when I say this, but that Sonic Rainboom I did in Cloudsdale a few months back—that was the second time I’ve done it.”
“No way,” I replied, hoping my feigned interest masked my knowledge on the matter.
“The first time was when I was just a filly—I gained my cutie mark and had one of the greatest experiences a foal could have. I felt like I could do something right, for once. I was good at something. And it felt good. It was everything I needed to see to send me straight into competitive flying.”
She smiled sadly as she looked down at Ponyville below us.
“Of course, it wouldn’t be for a long while before I would get another sign that I was on the right track.”
“I wouldn’t take my arrival as seriously if I were you.”
“Not that, featherbrain! The second Sonic Rainboom!”
“I know, I know.”
Her cocky grin quickly returned to the somber smile from before.
“A lot of ponies were worried for me. Worried that my dream was too big. Even those that were close to me—they meant well, but the fact that they were saying they were worried made me realize they didn’t even believe I could do it in the first place.”
She vacantly stared into the now-indigo horizon, almost seeming to be looking past it all. Her eyes turned glassy as her ears drooped.
“After I moved to Ponyville, I sorta lost who I was. Everypony thought what I wanted was unreachable. All the voices of my friends and family only had doubts that I could even do any of it.”
“But the strongest voice telling you to stop was your own…?”
I paused for a second, unsure if I should continue.
“Yeah, actually.”
I felt a bit of relief as she continued.
“And that was the voice that wouldn’t be quiet, either. No matter how much praise or success I enjoyed, that voice always made me think twice about what I could do.”
I looked back down towards Ponyville.
“But now, you’re here. With the attention of the world on your back.”
“Heh. Pretty much.”
“I’d say you’re well on your way. At least, I don’t know anypony who’s pulled off two Sonic Rainbooms, let alone one.”
“Well, you know me, so there’s that.”
I couldn’t help but smile.
“Yeah. You’re right. Oh, here’s my stop.”
Rainbow followed my gaze, her eyes resting on the Carousel Boutique shining like an elaborate birthday cake full of candles.
“Wait, you know Rarity?”
“She took me in during the scheduled rain earlier today.”
“Psh. Sounds like her.”
We regarded each other with equally curious stares. She broke the silence with a hum.
“Welp, I’ll leave you to your ‘recuperating.’ See you tomorrow.”
“Yeah. See ya.”
With a mighty flap, Rainbow sped off towards the horizon. I watched her go for a moment before taking a deep breath.
“Wow,” I breathed.
That was awesome.
I glided down towards the boutique, warmth filling my cheeks as I smiled to myself. While I didn’t have any answers regarding her memories of me in the future, today wasn’t too bad.
A painful throb from my injured foreleg put pause to my thoughts.
Could have gone better.
Hovering at the door, I pawed at the bell hanging just above it. The cascading rings echoed in my ears as I thought back to my little heart-to-heart moments before.
The door swung open, a familiar marshmallow unicorn stepping out.
“Welcome back! Turns out I’ve unknowingly purchased a pull-out couch, so you’re in…”
She eyed the cast wrapped around my foreleg.
“I, uh… Met Rainbow Dash.”