The train took longer to leave than normal, since construction teams were loading building supplies and equipment onto it for the fair. In fact, the majority of the ponies who were riding the train were construction workers, wearing bright orange vests, tools belts, and bright yellow hard hats. Twilight and Rainbow Dash sat in a seat together, while Soarin’ sat alone in the seat next to them. Rainbow Dash could feel Twilight glaring at her.
"What?" she demanded, brows furling.
"You going to be alright, Rainbow?"
"Pfft, yeah? Why wouldn't I be?"
"One of your idols got your name wrong... twice. He barely remembered you. And I saw your face when he was hovering next to us on the way here. Trust me, you're not alright."
Rainbow Dash sighed, her gaze drifted outside. "You’re right... it's just... it's just being grounded like this stinks! I can't fly, buck clouds, go to my house, nap on those soft, plush white clouds, do any of my tricks or impress anypony! Now the Wonderbolts are going to be here, and I won't even be able to show off to them!"
Dash's voice was raised, raised enough to the point that Soarin’ heard her, and looked over to investigate. Twilight replied quietly. Soarin’ was unable to hear the rest of their conversation, so gave up entirely, losing himself in his own thoughts.
"It'll be alright, Rainbow. We'll figure something out."
"Yeah, I guess... are you sure you can’t use a healing spell on my wing? Please? Please, please, please, please!?"
"Like I told you last night when we got home. I. Can’t. It’s too dangerous.There are some healing spells in one of my advanced magic books... but—"
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Rainbow Dash hugged her friend tightly. The sudden outburst of caught the attention of Soarin for the second time, and every other pony nearby, who gazed at them with annoyed eyes.
"But, they're dangerous and hard to perform. The slightest mistake and I could seriously hurt you! I won’t do it, Rainbow. Just wait for your appointment with Doctor Stable and see what he says. You’ll just have to wait for it to heal like every other pony."
"Ha! How in Equestria could you hurt me performing a HEALING spell?"
"By misaligning bones, tendons, muscles, veins, things like that. Rainbow, it's very dangerous, I don't want to hurt you!"
Dash hesitated. "I think it'll work. Nothing can keep Rainbow Dash down!" She proceed to bask in her own glory, standing in her seat, flexing her leg muscles.
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Other than rocks, you mean?"
Rainbow Dash sank back into her seat, falling like a deflated balloon.
Unable to believe that she was giving in, Twilight continued. "Fine... But not until after the fair. Hopefully by then most of your wing should be healed, so it won't be as risky."
"Deal." The two solidified the agreement with a simple hoof shake and friendly smile. Rainbow took the opportunity to glance over Twilight's shoulder at Soarin. He was fixing the tie on his officer's uniform and inspecting the rest of it. He felt somepony's gaze upon him. Looking around to investigate, he caught Rainbow Dash watching him. Quickly, she realized that she was caught, and ducked back down behind Twilight.
Finally, after a half hour delay, the train moved forward once again, heading for home. Twilight and Rainbow Dash didn't say anything else to each other for the rest of the ride, mainly eavesdropping on the conversations around them. What each pony would be assigned to build for the fair. Some had to construct the bleachers, while others were assigned to the fences and pathways. A few spoke about a theatre and surrounding food courts. One construction pony, who looked like the site manager, was sitting next to Soarin. The two were talking about what kind of living arrangements the Wonderbolts wanted, what they needed as far as the area went, and other small necessities. Dash couldn't listen to any of it. She rested her head against the window, and dozed off to a light sleep.
The warm sun bathed her back in its glow. The wind flowed through her mane. Her wings fluttered softly as she gracefully glided between cloud after cloud. Rainbow Dash angled herself towards her soft, peaceful home of Cloudsdale. There, her family would be waiting for her, getting ready to head to the local air show, an event that Dash had eagerly awaited all year.
But dark storm clouds closed in from all sides. Her home disappeared behind the swirling hurricane. Lightning flashed, thunder rang out, and rain swirled. Darkness was beginning its reign over the skies. Suddenly her wings stopped and went limp, nothing she could do had any effect on changing that. Rainbow Dash, the strongest flyer ever to grace the skies over Equestria, fell helplessly.
The color from her coat and mane faded with every foot she fell. The leaves were stripped away from the trees below, providing no padding when she crashed into the earth. Her sheer speed was enough to leave a trench that stretched from the point of impact to the point where she skidded to a halt. The friction from the slide gave her a severe case of road rash, and she felt it when staggering to her feet. Dash didn't get that far, though she only managed to sit on her rear legs.
All around her, chaos ruled. It was silence in one fell swoop by a rush of cold air. For a moment, there was empty silence. Cold and darkness controlled everything. Rainbow Dash sat alone, scared, her visible breath escaping from her snout. She looked up. Above her, a shaft of light shined down. Through it she could see the familiar blue skies she’d once called home, with the occasional cloud passing by. Dash tried to fly up, but couldn't. Her wings couldn't move. She tried and tried but couldn't. The dark, cold air became ever closer.
A tear escaped an eye as she sank as low as she could. There was a sudden warmth on her side. She investigated the change through her blurred eyes and could have sworn she saw a pink wing hugging her side tightly. Dash looked over her right shoulder, expecting to see her mother, only to see darkness.
"Rainbow Dash." A soft voice echoed. "Rainbow Dash, wake up. Dashie."
"Dashie."
Rainbow's watery eyes fluttered, trying to open.
"Rainbow..." The final call of her name roused her out of her nightmare. Water blurred the bottom edges of her vision as she looked around, attempting to confirm that she was once again back in reality. Still feeling a warmth on her left side, she looked to investigate. At first, Dash thought she saw a pink wing resting over her back and bandaged wing, but once she blinked a few times to clear her vision, it was revealed that it wasn't pink, but lavender. Glancing over her right shoulder, Dash saw the gloomy face of her alicorn friend. "How bad?"
Not wanting to admit she was vulnerable, Dash replied, "Fine. Everything's fine. Why are you asking?"
Twilight pointed with her left hoof at a small collection of tear stains on the seat, then towards a dent in the wall just under the window.
"How bad?" Twilight's words sounded more like a statement than a question.
Rainbow sighed to herself, bowing her head. "Bad. I was flying home for the Cloudsdale Airshow and my wings just... stopped. A hurricane surrounded me and I fell. I couldn't get back up. I tried and tried and tried but couldn't. Then everything got cold, dark. I thought my mom was there but... I couldn't see her."
Twilight pulled her friend in closer with her wing for a tight hug. During this time, Rainbow Dash took notice that the train was no longer moving. She confirmed this by looking out the window at familiar surroundings. They were home.
“Come on,” Twilight ushered, releasing Dash from her wings and stepping out into the aisle. “We’re here.”
Dash looked past her, at an empty seat.
"Where’s Soarin?” Dash questioned.
“He left in a hurry. Said something about getting things ready for Spitfire’s arrival tomorrow.”
“Spitfire is coming here? Tomorrow!?” Dash’s ears perked up, and her rainbow colored tail flicked from side to side. Twilight could see her friend’s teeth through the smile.
“Along with the rest of the Wonderbolts. Weren’t you listening to Princess Celestia?”
“Yeah, well, no, not really. I was distracted by somepo-- something.” Twilight rolled her eyes with a sly grin. “Let’s go,” Dash continued, desperate to get out of the conversation before she said something she’d regret. “Don’t we have a fair to prepare for?”
“You have to prepare for the fair. I don’t have to do anything.”
This time it was Dash who rolled her eyes. “I know somepony who’ll disagree.” She followed Twilight into the aisle, then the two proceeded to head out of the train. They stepped outside into the fresh Ponyville air. The skies were clear since Derpy was in charge of them until Dash’s wing was healed, she was pleasantly surprised. She’d been expecting patches of clouds here and there, maybe even a tornado or two.
“DASHIE!” a familiar voice cried. Before Rainbow Dash could react, she found herself pinned on the platform floor. Streamers and confetti fell around her. When she rolled onto her back to see who the assailant was, her first sight was the bright blue eyes of a certain excitable pink pony.
“Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow yelled, gasping to get her breath back. “Can’t... Breathe...”
“Oh! Sorry.” Pinkie Pie blushed and quickly got off of her cyan friend, who actually appeared to be a little more blue in the face, if that was even possible. Dash smartly took the opportunity to get up before anypony decided to step on her when boarding or departing the train. “Guess I got a little carried away. I haven’t seen you since last night! Then I was on my way home but got carried away and ended up in Canterlot! Then I saw you guys and was like ‘OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH’ so I tried to talk to you guys but then I noticed another pony following you so I decided to follow him and make sure he didn’t you a surprise party because that’s my! Then you guys boarded the train and I didn’t know where you were going to go so I hopped on to follow you guys. I didn’t know you were coming here otherwise I would have ridden inside with you instead of on top of the car, waiting for my moment to pounce, like this!”
Pinkie started to reenact what she had just done, by literally getting on top of the passenger car again, and going through every motion to the tee. Once she pounced on the spot that Rainbow Dash had previously been standing in, she appeared to remember something. Pinkie Pie reached into her saddlebag and placed a light bulb at atop her head.
“Oh! I got so many ideas for the party! Twilight!” She zipped over to her confused, friend, shaking her rapidly. “I need quill and paper! Where is your quill and paper!?”
“Pinkie...” Twilight responded, freeing herself of the violent grasp of her over energetic friend. “You’re not going to have time for a party. Princess Celestia is hosting a fair here, in Ponyville. It starts Friday and preparations being tomor—”
“I know!” Pinkie interrupted.
“You know!?” Twilight and Rainbow Dash replied in unison.
“What party did you think I was talking about? We just had one last night, sheesh. That’s why I went to go get all of these supplies!” She indicated towards a pile of crates that were neatly stacked on the side of the platform. “Princess Celestia herself asked me to put together the decorations and events! That way, everypony will have the best time out of all of the other times they’ve ever had!”
“She did?” Twilight questioned her. When she’d gotten the letter from Spike earlier that morning, he hadn’t said anything to her about the rest of her friends. “Who else knows about this fair?”
“Everypony, silly!” Pinkie Pie pulled out a small, silver cylinder with a red button on top. She pressed down on the button. Expecting something to explode, Twilight and Rainbow Dash flinched, getting as low as they could and looking to the skies for falling debris. They were not, however, expecting thousands upon thousands of balloons, confetti, and streamers to rain down via strategically placed party cannons all throughout town. A banner dropped down from the archway that led into the train station. It read ‘Welcome to Princess Twilight Sparkle’s coronation fair!’. “Pretty neat, huh? Rarity designed it herself!”
“Rarity knows...?”
“Duh? I said EVERYPONY knows. Rarity is helping me with the decorations and is going to design all of our dresses for the events; Applejack is gathering food and cider to sell to the ponies who visit, and is providing some space at Sweet Apple Acres for the fair; and Fluttershy is getting her critters ready for a concert she’s producing and directing for one of the nights!”
“Uh-Huh... Dash, we should leave Pinkie Pie to prepare...” She nudged her friend several times in the hopes that she’d understand her secret meaning.
Thankful, Rainbow Dash was usually quick to catch onto a subtle plot. “Uhh, yeah!” She responded, forcing a strained smile. “We’ll see ya later, Pinkie!” The two ponies quickly trotted away, trying to stay clear of Pinkie before her antics got out of control..
“Okay!” replied the pink pony as she skipped away, out of sight.
“Thank Celestia,” Rainbow Dash sighed as the two slowed their pace. “Where to now?”
Twilight pondered for a second. “I think your house will suit.”
Before Rainbow Dash got a chance to reply, Twilight’s horn lit up with a bright white light. The light flashed, forcing her to close her eyes. When she opened them, she saw more white, but instead of an unexpected, terrifying flash, the color came from familiar clouds. The clouds that made up her home. Twilight had teleported the two to Rainbow Dash’s front door. Twilight! Dash turned towards where Twilight was standing earlier, expecting to see a gaping hole in the clouds. To her surprise, Twilight was standing exactly where she should have been, and the clouds were intact.
“Alicorns can walk on clouds too,” Twilight explained.
“Wish ya woulda told me that sooner. I thought you were a goner.”
“Hehe, sorry.” Dash noticed that Twilight was now staring at her house, examining and admiring every detail. “I’ve never see your house, apart from the bottom at least.”
“Well, now you can admire the inside while I try to find those books...” Rainbow Dash entered through her door, leaving it open behind her, offering for Twilight to step inside. She entered in time to see Dash head upstairs.
As Twilight had suspected, but not confirmed, the most everything was made of clouds; the walls, floor, ceiling, stairs, furniture, shelves, counters, windows. The front room contained a couch and recliner combination that faced a bay window, giving an excellent view of the mountains in the distance. On the back wall there was a shelf, also made out of a cloud. Medals, trophies, and photos adorned the shelf. Most of the pictures were of Rainbow Dash, flying through the clouds at high speed; a few depicted her with her parents. Twilight looked around some more. The house was well lit with natural lighting through open windows. As far as she could tell, there were absolutely no lights, not even a candle or two.
Not seeing much one the first level, not even a kitchen, Twilight headed upstairs to see what Dash was up to. Once on the second floor, Twilight had to use the sounds her friend was making to find the elusive mare. She finally tracked her into the farthest room on the left. Along the way, she passed the plainly decorated guest room; a workout room that Twilight couldn’t figure out why the pony had; then a restroom, directly across the hall from what seemed to be Dash’s bedroom.
Twilight poked her head inside. Dash had a cloud bed, with a Wonderbolts blanket on top. It looked extremely comfortable. In the past, Twilight had always wondered what it was like to sleep on a cloud, and now as an Alicorn, she had the opportunity to. But today was not that day. The walls were plastered with countless posters of the Wonderbolts. In the back corner, Twilight could see her friend’s rainbow-colored tail sticking out from a closet. Clothes were being thrown behind her, including, but not limited to: Rainbow’s Gala dress, her Wonderbolts academy uniform, flight goggles, a Wonderbolts flight uniform, formal dress uniform, and a Shadowbolts uniform.
“Found ‘em!” Rainbow yelled, her voice muffled by the clouds that separated her and Twilight. She backed out of the closet, dragging with her a cardboard box. Twilight approached as Dash opened it. Inside was book after book, once piled on top of the other.
Twilight’s magenta magic surrounded the mess of literature. She inspected the titles carefully, trying to find one to read first. The Air and I. Aerodynamics 101. One Beat At A Time. Preen Clean Preen.
“You read all of these?” Twilight wondered.
“Well, not exactly,” Rainbow Dash responded shyly. “My parents read them to me. I actually learned how to fly before I could read.”
Twilight giggled. “How am I not surprised?”
A sound from outside caught Rainbow’s attention, but it was too faint to make out. She turned her head and ears, trying to locate the origin when she heard it again. Somepony outside was calling her name. Rainbow Dash headed downstairs, through the living room, and back outside. She wasn’t expecting the pony to be at her door when she ran into him.
“You should slow down next time,” Soarin' commented, standing back up, shaking the blow off like it was nothing.
“Soarin'! W... What are you doing here?” Dash’s words were escaping her mouth about as fast as she hit him.
“I came to say I was sorry. Sorry about getting your name wrong earlier... I guess it just took me awhile to remember who you are. Let me make it up to you. Would you like to go for a walk? Maybe talk about a few things?”
Dash looked back at Twilight, who had followed her down, for confirmation as to if this was actually happening. Twilight happily nodded, indicating for her friend to go along. But Dash didn’t budge at first; she gave Twilight an intent glare, then looked down at her broken wing.
“Oh... ha ha, sorry.” Twilight apologized. “Let me, uh, get that for you.”
In the midst of another white flash, Rainbow Dash found herself on the ground under her house, Soarin’ glided down towards her.
“Ready to go?” he asked Rainbow upon landing next to her.
“Uh, sure, I guess.”