The first thing I noticed was my aching back. I shifted onto my side, nuzzling the pillow next to me. I took a deep breath, noting the gentle floral aroma of my bed. Next, I heard a gentle ticking of a large clock in the distance. Immediately, I knew I was not at home—the unfamiliar smells and sounds sparking excitement and caution.
My eyes slowly widened as my memory caught up—I was on Rarity’s couch. In the Carousel Boutique. In Ponyville. In the past.
I stared at my hooves in disbelief, studying how they looked in the twilight peeking through the window. I frowned at my unwieldy cast before glancing at the clock, barely managing to read the hands in the low light.
5:27.
I yawned, stretching my good foreleg while arching my back. My eyes drifted towards one of the high windows, recalling the troubling dreams that still bumped around in my mind. Having been too excited to sleep hadn’t helped, nor had the glass of milk that Rarity had offered.
Shaking off my worries, I decided some morning exercise would be best.
I rose quickly, hastily folding the blanket and tidying up the couch the best I could. A glint from the coffee table next to my makeshift bed caught my eye, my gaze drawn downwards to a pair of goggles that hadn’t been there when I had fallen asleep. A small note was tucked underneath them.
In case I miss you tomorrow morning. Thanks for visiting the Carousel Boutique!
-R
I couldn’t help a smile, an endearing sigh escaping my nose. Grabbing the strap in my mouth, I made a quick adjustment, setting it on my head briefly before tugging at it on the table with my teeth to tighten it. With a practiced flourish, I pulled them down over my eyes, walking towards one of the many mirrors around the sitting area.
From what I could tell, the goggles looked normal in the limited light. Some further inspection garnered a few bits of extra detail—the strap was a deep purple and wonderfully soft while the goggles were made of burnished brass, the metal glinting brightly even with such low light conditions.
After nodding with approval at how they looked, I made my way to the door and opened it. Gingerly limping out, I eased it shut behind me before turning to face the horizon.
The cool morning air greeted me with a brisk gust of wind, a low fog creeping in from the nearby lake. Giving my wings a quick stretch, I took off as quietly as I could, making my way out of Ponyville proper and into the fringes of the town.
First, I had to warm up. Then some serious stretches. Then some serious flying. If my foreleg bothered me at any point, I would know my limit and stay below it.
First, I began to climb. I breathed in rhythm with my wing flaps, both relishing and hating the way the cold air burned my throat as I sucked it down. The pumping of blood joined the roaring of the wind in my ears as I picked up the pace, my climb turning into a rapid ascent. I glanced at a nearby cloud, using it as a reference to keep track of my height as I continued to climb. The buildings below shrank rapidly, the air somehow growing even colder as I started to approach the cloud layer. Aiming myself towards one of the wispy stragglers, I grinned as I enjoyed the freedom of flight with goggles—my eyes wide open and invulnerable to the frigid air slicing at my muzzle.
With a last burst of speed, I crested my desired altitude, leveling out as I looked back down. Ponyville was almost imperceptibly small below me—my eyes barely catching a couple of darkened outlines of houses in the limited light. Plenty of room to avoid buzzing anyone like yesterday.
I continued my warm up with tight descending turns, slaloming down an invisible slope as I gradually picked up speed. I counted out the repetitions in my head as I dodged an imaginary set of training posts, the distance between them becoming wider and wider as the turns became more and more difficult due to increased speed at the end of every run. Soon, my tight turns had devolved into lengthier sustained turns, my wings starting to burn ever so slightly.
Climbing back up to the cloud layer, I started pushing together some of the wispier clouds to form a big enough platform for me to stand on. Next was stretching—gone were the days of jumping straight into my flight activities with no consequences from cold muscles. While I missed the more carefree approach to flying in my youth, the routine of stretching gave me time to get into the zone before an exhibition.
I settled onto the small platform, putting a small amount of pressure to test the resilience of my foreleg cast. It didn’t seem to hurt at all yet—thankfully the nurse was right about probably not needing painkillers.
Letting a satisfied smirk leak onto my muzzle, I leaned forward, planting my hooves and chest against the cloud. Leaning my head back into a lengthy pectoral stretch, I eased out a breath from my strained esophagus as I counted to twenty in my head. Rolling back upright, I alternated wing stretches—stretching one towards the sky and the other towards the ground. I soon found a rhythm, rocking my body left and right as I shifted my weight from hoof to hoof.
Then I heard it. The sound of wind tearing around a pair of wings. Barely audible at first, but quickly ramping up to obnoxiously loud.
“Boo!”
“Waah!”
The cloud beneath me suddenly gave way as it was dispersed by a swift kick. Tumbling for a half second, I righted myself by flapping my wings rapidly.
“Hahaha! Oh, man! You looked so scared! Heehee!”
Rainbow Dash held her stomach as she laughed at my expense, my glare doing nothing to phase her mirth. She pointed at me with a foreleg, still laughing.
“It’s l-like you forgot y-you had wings! Oohoohoohaha!”
“Quit it!”
The mare wiped a tear as she regarded my frustrated scowl with a sassy grin.
“Oh, relax. Nopony saw that but me.”
I bit back a retort as I tried to calm myself down. I still needed answers from her—it wouldn’t do if I drove her away by overreacting. I started moving more clouds together to reform the platform. Rainbow started gathering some nearby wisps, pushing her contributions to mine.
“What’re you doing up this early, Jet?”
“Morning flight.”
“Figures. You just got started?”
“Were you already up?”
“I like to start a little earlier—never liked flying with the sunrise blinding me.”
Settling onto our platform, I glanced around, briefly forgetting I wasn’t in Manehatten. There would be no buildings to hide the sun’s rays.
“So what’s with the goggles? You actually need those things?”
I scoffed. Wearing goggles in casual flying usually meant one of two things: You were either scared to fly or were so cocky you thought you flew fast enough to need them.
“You bring yours?”
“Don’t need ‘em. I’m not afraid of a little wind tickling my eyes.”
“Suit yourself.”
I pulled my new goggles down with my good foreleg, eyeing the gradually brightening horizon ahead. I felt a light breeze as Rainbow opened her wings, her body tensed like a spring.
“Need a partner?”
“For what?”
“Racing, duh.”
“Huh. Thought you meant something else.”
“Psh. In your dreams, creep.”
“Says the one who flew over to my patch of sky.”
“Alright, buster. Get this show on the road.”
A hoof playfully shoved my left shoulder. “I wanna see you put your money where that big fat mouth is.”
“Hmm… Why don’t we make a bet.”
Rainbow smirked. “Shoot.”
“You catch me, then I try to catch you. Whoever takes longer buys breakfast.”
“Heh. You’re on.”
“Alright. Ready?”
“Of course I am!”
“Just don’t want to hear any of your excuses later!”
Not waiting for her to reply, I leapt off the edge, starting in a steep dive. Already, I could hear her behind me—the roaring of the wind in my ears barely hiding the whistling of a second pegasus riding in my slipstream. If I let her stay there, she’d catch me for sure.
I broke off, turning away from Ponyville and towards the countryside. I briefly thought about going for another air-brake but decided against it—while she didn’t seem like an analytical mare, she certainly knew how to fly. She wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice. With goggles, I could put her legendary speed to the test.
I steepened my dive, sacrificing maneuverability for more speed as I dropped like a stone. Keeping my mouth closed to keep my lips from flapping, I smirked as the noise informing me of her presence got quieter and quieter. Nopony could fly comfortably at speeds like this without eye protection.
The ground got closer and closer, my altitude slowly starting to run out. I pulled out of my dive early—I did not want to risk another crash while my foreleg was still in a cast. Zipping left and right to keep her off my tail and out of my slipstream, I cut across a wide swathe of grassy fields populated with small copses of trees. Keeping myself low, I began to cut between the tree trunks—breaking left and right randomly after threading the needle in hopes of throwing her off.
Despite my best efforts, I could hear her getting closer as I weaved through the trees. She was reeling me in. Her speed really was something else. Without the “pinball” technique, I was a sitting duck. While I hated admitting I was slower than somepony, Rainbow Dash was just wicked fast when it came to flying level—not to mention not needing goggles to fly as fast as she was. While I had lost a lot of speed from weaving, the pace would still be eyewatering for me without goggles—she pursued me like a mare possessed while suffering from low visibility from her current airspeed.
I didn’t even last thirty seconds.
There was a tap on my shoulder as I straightened out from one of my turns. I glanced over—finding empty space. Realizing I’d been tricked again, I looked the other way to find a smug Rainbow Dash looking back. She pointed up before starting to climb—back up to the starting altitude. I grimaced, following her up. If she had managed to catch me that easily, this was not going to be a fun final half.
I joined her at the cloud layer once more as she shouted and waved.
“Hey! Just so you know, I like the Cheese n’ Chives sandwich from Café Hay!”
“Oh, don’t you start!”
***
“Why’d you make such a bold claim if you didn’t have any bits on you?!”
“Spur of the moment, I guess. The fact that I had nothing to lose made it easier than usual…”
“Whatever, dude. I’ll get you this time—you got me craving that dang sandwich now…”
“It’s your fault for not holding back on this cripple.”
“Nice try, Mr. Guilt Tripper, but you could’ve just settled for a simple race with no stakes. You asked for it.”
“…Touché.”
We flitted towards the café, nodding in greeting towards the pony at the host desk. The orange earth pony acknowledged us with a nod of her own before directing us to one of the exterior tables, leaving us with one other older couple sitting nearby.
I took a seat in the elegant wire chair—all the outdoor furniture was painted black like an old iron-wrought fence, giving it an upscale yet classical vibe. Each table was decorated with a single candle and pristine white tablecloths that billowed gently in the morning breeze.
A waiter approached, dropping off some menus and a bowl of complementary daisies before leaving us alone.
“What’re you thinking about getting? Anything you’ve got a hankering for?”
I sighed, my stomach approving of almost everything I saw printed on the pages. “No idea, really.”
“Ooh, the mint waffles are pretty bomb—the vanilla whip that goes on top is killer.”
“Anything savory I can get with those?”
“Get a side of their country hash. I’ll help you with that.”
“Hey, you’re the boss, boss. You’re paying for this, after all.”
“Quit reminding me.”
The waiter returned, skillfully balancing a tray with a pitcher of water and two glasses across his back.
“Are we ready to order?”
“Yeah! Cheese & Chive Egg Sandwich, sub a brioche bun for the sourdough slices and a glass of orange juice. Oh, and an order of mint waffles and a side of country hash for this mug right here.”
“Of course, Miss Dash. Will there be anything else?”
“Need an apple juice to sip on, kid?”
“…We’re fine. Thank you, sir.”
“Of course.”
The waiter trotted off—his burden deposited onto the table. Grasping the glass with both hooves, Rainbow emptied hers in a single long draught while I took a decidedly dainty sip. The pegasus shoved her snout into the bowl, grabbing a few daisies with her mouth before asking me a question.
“Mmf… So. How long you been flyin’ wild?”
“Been awhile now… Almost six years.”
“Oh, nice. Late start, but you’re not half bad.”
“Since you’ve got my breakfast I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
Rainbow swallowed her daisies as she wrung her hooves.
“Sorry, I mean you surprised me with your flying. You’ve got a good base—good fundamentals. I can tell you practice what you preach.”
“Oh.”
“What you don’t have in speed, you make up for with tricks for turning and diving faster. Also, the fact that you could pull off that crazy ‘bouncing-off-buildings’ thing in a pinch means you’ve got a lot of experience with it. And I’m all for the crazy stuff.”
“Whoa. You got all that just from those two times we flew together?”
She shrugged her wings. “I love flying. It’s sorta all I know.”
“And where’d you learn all of that?”
Rainbow set her glass down with a loud THUNK, jolting the two elderly ponies out of their polite conversation.
“The Canterlot Wonderbolts!”
“Ah, right.”
“Not just ‘alright,’ they’re the best!”
“So I’ve heard.”
“And I get to see them tomorrow!”
“Very nice, very… Huh?!”
The pegasus grinned at me. “Got your attention now, do I?”
I doused my enthusiasm before cautiously replying, “Er, that’s great, Rainbow. Glad you’re getting the recognition you deserve.”
Her grin evolved into a big smile. “I’ve been looking forward to it all month. It’s my prize for winning the Young Flyer Competition in Cloudsdale!”
The waiter returned, setting down our two entrées and side of county hash before departing. Both unable to resist, we dug in for several minutes—unable to even entertain the thought of discussion. The waffles were on the dry side, but between the melted butter and whipped cream they quickly became flavorful sponges that drowned my tongue with a wonderful balance of savory sweetness. I glanced up eagerly at the country hash—my interest falling into mild disappointment upon seeing an empty plate. Rainbow wiped her mouth with the back of her foreleg as she leaned back in her chair, her eyes turning skyward.
“Ah, good.”
“Glad you enjoyed that country hash.”
“Hey, pays to be fast.”
“Whatever. Guess you can buy it for me next time.”
“You mean you’re gonna be buying it next time.”
“Next time, I’ll have my leg back and it’ll be fair game again.”
“Did you forget about how I totally whooped you yesterday?”
“I wasn’t thinking straight. I was flying out of desperation.”
“Not sure about you but that sounds like you’re making excuses.”
I sat back in my chair as I mentally swapped my upcoming retort for a question.
“So, you’re going to Canterlot today?”
“Tonight. Gonna do whatever Twilight wants us to do before I go.”
“Well, I’m happy for you, Rainbow.”
“I’m cool with you being jealous, too.”
“Of course I’m jealous. What self-respecting flyer wouldn’t be?”
“Just wanted to hear you say it.”
I leaned onto the table, my eagerness bubbling back to the surface. “What’re you gonna do tomorrow? Did they give you an itinerary or schedule?”
“Just to meet at the Canterlot Stadium tomorrow morning.”
“Wow. So you’ll be doing literally whatever you want?”
“I guess so. Maybe we’ll race! If I beat one of ‘em, they’ll have to put me on their team!”
“I would say that’s a very, very optimistic outcome.”
“Alright, nerd. Sheesh, you sound like an egghead using all those big words.”
“You gonna ask them any questions?”
“Yeah.”
“Like what?”
“Like… I dunno. About how to join their team?”
“That’s…. kinda desperate, don’t you think?”
“Alright, smart guy! What would you ask them?”
I tapped my chin thoughtfully, a grin sneaking onto my muzzle. “Maybe ask them about bringing a plus one?”
“Hah! Yeah, sure. Feel free to win your own Young Flyer Competition, ya mooch.”
I glanced down at the breakfast she had just bought for me. “Touché. That was a little too soon for my liking.”
The mare’s laugh rang out across the front patio, the elderly couple glaring towards us with an irritated stare.
“You’re a fun dude, Jet.”
A grin tugged at the side of my mouth. “Likewise, Rainbow.”
“When are you going back to Manehatten?”
“After enduring my sentence of community service with Judge Sparkle, I guess.”
“What’re you gonna tell your team?”
“That we’ve got some mean competition in Ponyville.”
Rainbow nodded approvingly. “I like the sound of that.”
I shrugged. “I got my flank handed to me twice—that’s two more times than any other pegasi in Equestria.”
Rainbow’s ears perked up as the clock tower began to chime. Her ears drooped as she heard eleven bongs.
“Oh, crap. We’re late!”
“W-wait, we still have to pay!”
“Check please!”
***
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“Only you would think that wasn’t the most boring thing in the world.”
“Trust me, those townsponies will be much more willing to cheer for you if you ever perform in another flying event.”
“I guess you’re right, Twi.”
“So… I’m good?”
The unicorn turned to me, flashing an innocent smile.
“Of course. Thanks for cooperating with me, Jetstream.”
“Even if I did have a choice in the matter, I would do it again in a heartbeat, Miss Sparkle.”
“Just call me Twilight. Everypony else does. Miss Sparkle makes me sound like a teacher or something.”
“I mean you definitely love explaining stuff to any pony willing to listen.”
The unicorn nodded towards me, ignoring the irritable mare’s goads with a patience I wished I had.
“Take care, Jetstream. And don’t hesitate to come visit. I’m sure Rainbow would love it.”
“What?! No! That’s not… Well, I guess that’s accurate. Never mind.”
I smiled and bowed my head. “Noted. And tell Rarity I said ‘thanks.’ I’ll cherish these new goggles.”
“Safe trip home, Jet.”
“Bye Jet! Maybe I’ll come to Manehatten and visit you!”
I forced a smile as I started towards the nearest passenger car. “Might be too busy training to beat you, Rainbow.”
“Good luck with that,” she teased back.
Boarding the train, I quickly moved to a window seat facing the platform. Twilight gave a polite wave while Rainbow gave a knowing smirk. I gave a curt nod back just as the train lurched forward.
Turning my head, I watched as Twilight and Rainbow became small dots on the horizon before disappearing from view. The slow chugging of the steam engine ramped up in its pace as the train gained speed, taking me further and further from Ponyville.
My muzzle hurt from smiling but I didn’t care. While her words were mildly disturbing at how true they would ring some fifty years later, Rainbow’s enthusiasm made my apprehension melt away. She was excited to see me.
Before I could even take a look out the window, I suddenly felt drained—settling back into my seat. My eyes slid closed, fatigue washing over me.