“Though I fly through the valley of death, I shall fear no evil. For I am eighty thousand feet and climbing.”
- Sign at Kadena AFB in Okinawa, Japan
How long?
‘CRACK!’
How long had she been falling?
There was no telling how much time had passed, or how much time was left. The roar of the wind as it blasted over her face gave no answers.
“-ash...”
It was her own fault really, that much she understood. Too caught up in her curiosity to see the clues. Too stubborn to stop for an answer that she’d missed.
No.
‘CRACK!’
That wasn’t true. She didn’t miss the answer. She simply refused to see it. She didn’t WANT to see it. Too absorbed in her own ego, when the answer was presented to her not once, not twice, but three times, she refused to acknowledge it. Because she didn’t WANT that answer.
So stubborn, so full of pride.
So selfish...
And in the end, Rainbow Dash had to learn the hard way. That’s just the way it was. Learn to fly by crashing. Learn to do the sonic rainboom by trying over and over again, only to succeed when her mind was on other things. Rainbow Dash learned her limits, and how to push them.
‘CRACK!’
And now, she’d found a new limit. And this one was going to teach a painful lesson when she finally ran out of sky to fall through.
“Rainbow Dash...”
A little odd though, the sky talking.
“Wake up Rainbow Dash.”
And... And why is she falling face-first? Didn’t she go into a spin?
“Wake up RainbowDash.”
The darkness parted, a blast of wind immediately stinging and drying her eyes out in an instant. The burning sensation made Rainbow Dash jerk her head, clenching her eyes shut on reflex before slowly opening them to a squint.
‘CRACK!’
Her body jerked forward slightly, the intensity of the wind picking up just as it had begun to drop off. It was a strange sight before her. The sky was below her, lazy blue haze stretching to the horizon, where it met... Where it met the night sky, stars twinkling mischievously above her.
Her nose burned, the air seemed to force its way into her lungs as if it were actively trying to reach down her throat. Breathing out was a little more work than expected.
“Wake up Rainbow Dash,” the voice called again.
Dash blinked away some of the stinging, realizing that something wasn’t right. She wasn’t falling. Something... Something had her, holding her by the shoulders and hind-quarters, tight and secure.
“Wha-” she found her throat dry, talking difficult.
Dainty Dish’s head popped down into her view. Upside down for all of one second before she quickly jerked it up.
“You’re okay,” Dainty’s voice sounded clearer than anything she’d ever heard from the pony. “Just relax and breathe.”
“What?” Dash blinked again. “What’s going-“
Rainbow Dash looked down, spotting the clouds far, far below them.
“Keep your head UP!” Dainty’s voice snapped over the wind in a very strong, very clear tone.
Dash jerked her head up, surprised the action made her dizzy.
“Keep your mouth open and face the wind,” Dainty continued in that same, disturbingly strong tone. “If you look down for more than four seconds, you’ll get dizzy. More than six, and you’ll pass out... Again.”
‘CRACK!’
They jerked forward again. Rainbow Dash took a moment to think about where she was, her mind slowly collecting the last few minutes she could remember. Climbing, climbing, endless climbing. How high had they gone? They were above the sky itself so it seemed. Clouds faded into view across the edges of the haze, and slowly crept past.
Sucking in a breath, she risked a quick glance down, silently counting to three as she watched Equestria roll by before snapping her head back to the wind, already feeling light headed.
“Whoa...” she stated after feeling her lungs thank her. Aside from the burning sensation across her nose, it almost seemed like just another day, cruising along the clouds. Only she could feel the nip of the air where it swirled behind her ears, colder than anything she’d ever experienced in the winter. But yet, she wasn’t cold.
‘CRACK!’
Dash recognized what the sound was now, catching Dainty’s wings as they snapped like a whip, propelling them across the top of the world.
Head a little clearer now, she looked around for a brief moment, taking in mixed day and night sky, how it all blended together so perfectly. It was a beauty she’d never seen before. After a moment, she worked up enough courage to speak.
“Where, ARE we?” she asked.
“Cruise Altitude,” Dainty responded curtly. “At least, that’s what I call it.”
“This is AMAZING,” Dash came back, turning her head in awe. “It’s like you can see forever.”
“Keep your head forward,” Dainty warned again. “You have to be VERY careful up here.”
Dash did as instructed, watching the distance ahead of them melt away into a blue haze, and remembered to keep her mouth open as well.
“How did YOU manage to get up here?” Dash continued, curiosity getting the best of her. “You could barely last two minutes in our race.”
“I told you,” Dainty’s voice softened. “I’m good at climbing. And that’s ALL I’m good at. It’s the only way to get away from all the stuff I’m allergic to.”
“Climbing?” Dash suppressed a slightly crazed laugh. “This is beyond climbing. This is... This is something else.”
“It’s what I’m good at,” Dainty replied. “And it’s the best place for photography.”
“And what’s with your voice?” Dash continued to bombard her carrier with questions. “You sounded different on the ground.”
“This is what I really sound like,” Dainty replied, her voice taking on a happy chirp. “I’m so stuffed up on the ground. Ugh... I HATE it. Up here, the wind dries it all out and I can breathe. It’s so nice.”
Then the darker pegasus paused before continuing.
“You feel it, right?” she asked. “Like a blast of heat right on the tip of your nose?”
“Yeah,” Dash went cross-eyed to look at her nose, but saw nothing. “Like fire and sand yet without either one.”
“Best feeling in the world,” Dainty’s voice almost seemed to swoon. “If I could, I’d live right here, at the top of the sky.”
‘Crack-CRACK!’
“Sorry, lost more speed then we wanted,” Dainty continued, her tone becoming business-like once more. “You have to keep the wind on your face JUST right, or you start to sink, or the burning gets too intense. Normally I’m up here by myself, so there’s nothing to distract me.”
“No kidding,” Dash smirked, glancing around again before looking forward. They were silent for about a minute before Dainty spoke again.
“By the way,” she began. “I believe it’s seven.”
“What?” Dash looked up.
“I noticed you counting when you ran into things,” Dainty replied. “Wouldn’t this be number seven?”
“You remember THAT?” Dash blinked. “Why would you-?”
“Force of habit,” Dainty replied.
‘CRACK!’
Dash remained silent for another minute. It just felt so awkward. Being carried along by a pegasus she’d been so unintentionally mean to, all because...
Dash lowered her head, sighing, then remembered to keep it up so she didn’t pass out.
“Look,” she began. “About the whole flying to Seaddle thing... I... I’m sorry.”
Dash sucked in her pride and continued.
“I was so caught up with myself that I just couldn’t believe you got there and back so soon. I’ve never seen or heard of any pony doing that before. I didn’t mean to call you a liar, or a fake. And certainly not a thief... That was my bad. I just couldn’t think of any possible way for it to happen. Except one... One I couldn’t accept despite what everypony was telling me.”
’CRACK!’
“And the reason was because, quite simply...” Dash took a deep breath, inaudible over the roar of the wind. “You’re faster than I am. WAY faster. Impossibly fast. I didn’t want to believe it. And I’m sorry for not believing them... Or you.”
There was moment of silence, punctuated mid-way through by yet another snap of Dainty’s wings before the darker pegasus spoke, some confusion in her voice.
“We’re... not going all that fast.”
“Huh?” Dash’s face screwed up. “Don’t be silly. You outran me every step of the way.”
“We can’t be going that fast,” Dainty countered. “Feel for yourself. We’re going slower than when we were racing and everything's going by so slowly.”
Dash closed her eyes for a second, her face getting even more confused. It felt like they were going at what Dash considered a lazy pace, less than half speed. That... That wasn’t right. Something was wrong, very wrong.
“No,” she opened her eyes. “Something’s not right. I SAW you breach the barrier. You did a sonic rainboom back during that short dive. I’d know that feeling ANYWHERE.”
“But,” Dainty’s voice, while clear, was starting to sound unsure again. “It didn’t feel like that during the race. I never even got CLOSE to going fast enough for a sonic rainboom. And, and you just outran me so easily!”
“And you were so tired so fast,” Dash frowned. “But the higher you go, the faster you go, and it just seems easier for you as-“
It clicked.
“Wait a second,” Dash started to grin. “The higher you go, the faster you go! So the higher you go, the EASIER it is to go fast!”
Then she waved her hooves around.
“And WHERE ARE WE?!”
‘CRACK!’
Dainty blinked, realization dawning on her features.
“We’re so high,” Rainbow Dash continued dramatically. “That if you can get up here, it’s EASY to go SUPER FAST! In fact, in order to get this high, you HAVE to go super fast!”
“R-really?” Dash couldn’t see Dainty’s face, but the pegasus was gaping in shock.
“Dainty Dish!” Rainbow Dash shouted as everything fell into place. “You. Are. AWESOME!”
Dainty’s heart skipped a beat. Nopony had EVER called her awesome. Her pictures, sure. But her?
“And, AND, AND!” Dash continued in excitement. “If you can get to Seaddle and back in four hours what takes me twelve to go both ways... Then, you’re... You’re three times FASTER than I am!”
And the last part of the Cutie mark clicked into place.
“And if that’s me pushing the speed just below what it takes for a sonic rainboom, then you’re three times faster than that. Sonic Rainbooms happen when we’re going about as fast as the sound from a yell!”
Dash started to laugh.
“You’re over three times faster than the speed of sound!” she crowed. “That’s it! I know what your cutie mark means!”
Dainty almost dropped out of the sky in shock.
“Y-YOU DO?!” she shouted back.
“YES!” Dash hollered triumphantly. “It all makes sense! ALL of it!”
If it weren’t for the wind blasting her face, Dainty would have had tears streaming out of her eyes. Her cutie mark, that weird diamond of confusing stripes and triangles. Somepony had figured it out! That was... was...
“Uh,” Dash’s voice came up to her ears. “You okay? You haven’t, cracked the whip or whatever it is you do with your wings in a while. I think we’re dropping.”
Dainty glanced around, focusing on the sensation on her face- WHOA! Way too slow.
‘CRACK!-CRACK!-CRACK!’
“HAHA!” Dash shouted up to her. “That’s more like it! Now can you make a turn back to Ponyville? We’ve got to tell the others!”
“Executing a one-hundred and eighty degree left turn,” Dainty called back. Then she rolled and began to drift slowly left. For just a moment Rainbow Dash frowned at the lack of speed in the turn. But stopping to feel the sensation in her body, she could tell, that traveling at three times the speed of sound, this was a FAST turn.
“Hah,” she laughed. “I’m being carried by a pony with a turning radius of a hundred miles! And it’s SO AWESOME!”
Dear Princess Celestia,
Their friends were waiting for them in the drizzle outside Fluttershy’s house upon their return. The first thing anypony noticed was that both Dash and Dainty were flying side by side, smiles on their faces.
I’m not entirely sure what happened today, as I wasn’t there for everything. But I think Rainbow Dash learned a lesson we should all take to heart.
“That was amazing!” Spike was the first to speak as they slid to a stop in the mud. “You two flew so high we couldn’t even see you!”
“What happened?” Twilight asked.
“Oh,” Dash laughed. “You’re going to LOVE this. And AJ...?”
“Yes ma’am?” Applejack asked.
“You were right,” Rainbow Dash admitted. “So right it’s not even funny.”
It’s good to have pride in yourself and your abilities. That’s what makes each and every one of us unique. But sometimes one’s pride can get the best of them, blinding them to things they would normally see.
“So what happened dear?” Rarity asked. “Don’t keep us waiting. It’s not your style.”
“Well,” Dash put a hoof to her mouth. “How about we start by explaining the meaning of Dainty’s cutie mark.”
“Ye’ know what it means?” Applejack asked in surprise.
“Yep!” Dash grinned. “Figured the whole thing out after Dainty caught me.”
“CAUGHT YOU?” Rarity gaped. “My stars, WHAT happened?”
“One thing at a time!” Dash laughed. “Now, listen...”
Sometimes, the very things that make us unique can lead to adversity, and from that adversity, we often substitute our own beliefs and answers to problems that come up, even if those answers are wrong.
“I knew it,” AJ grinned after hearing what Dash said about the cutie mark. “I knew it had ter do with a camera.”
“But the rest,” Rarity blinked. “My word... That’s simply fantastic, almost TOO fantastic.”
“I know!” Dash grinned. “Isn’t it AWESOME? I can’t believe I didn’t realize it sooner.”
I saw this today, watching Rainbow Dash struggle to come to terms with a pony who’s abilities we couldn’t understand. We each came to numerous conclusions, some of them silly, some that were almost cruel. But none of which were correct.
“Oooh! So that’s what the skyline this afternoon was!”
“Pinkie!” Dash jumped in shock. “Where’d you come from? Didn’t you head home?”
“I skipped on ahead,” Pinkie Pie commented, earning a confused look from her friends to which she replied. “You think I’m going to miss the climax AND everything after it? HECK NO! That’s when all the best parties are held!”
“Heh,” Dash shook her head, not knowing what to think. “Pinkie Pie, you’re just so random sometimes.”
“I know,” Pinkie smiled. “Are you guys ready to party?”
“Uh,” Rarity looked around. “Now? Here? In the MUD?”
“Of course,” Pinkie smirked. “There’s no dust because of the rain, so it’s perfect for Dainty! Isn’t that right?”
Dainty Dish glanced around, confused.
“Uh...” she began.
“A party right here is just fine,” Rainbow Dash hooked a hoof around her neck and dragged her closer. “If we need to wash off, I’ll just drop a monsoon on us. No sweat.”
Dainty just smiled weakly while Rarity sighed, finding Dash's methods still wanting.
It’s important to remember that sometimes, even when somepony seems to be false, they can still be just as mistaken as the rest of us. And as such, it’s best not to accuse them of wrong doing just because things aren’t adding up. Sometimes, the answers you find will amaze you beyond your wildest dreams and show you things you never thought possible.
Your Faithful Student,
Twilight Sparkle
P.S.
I ran the math I did on Dainty Dish’s flight three more times. I’m sure of it now. Dainty Dish’s cruising speed is Mach three point three four. And based on one of the individual photos from the ‘Atlas of Captivating Cartographic Captures’, and knowing what kind of camera was being used. I calculated that the photo was taken from eighty-one thousand, two hundred feet above the ground. If I’m not mistaken, and numbers don’t lie, that makes her the fastest, highest flying pegasus in Equestria.
Glancing away from Twilight’s letter, Celestia levitated a spectacular photo showing the shadows of Canterlot off the mantle. It was signed in very clear letters.
‘Blackbird 420, Dainty Dish’
‘Equestria Land Survey Group’
Celestia lowered the photo and levitated a cup of tea and took a sip.
About that moment, there was a small thump that caused the tea to ripple, prompting the princess of the sun to glance out the window. High in the sky, she could see a single string of cloud stretching out to the horizon and the sunset. The front of it was already stretching away to the east, getting longer by the second as if somepony were up there with a paintbrush, gently drawing a single, dainty white line.
Celestia smiled.
Wow
Just, No words
SO...AWESOME! This was a fantastic story. This is probably one of my favorite stories, and I can say with almost absolute sincerity that the music for Dainty's climb was what really kicked it in for me. I am so impressed. This was magnificently done. I'm stunned beyond words that aren't synonyms of what I've already said.
So beautiful. I really want to read more about Dainty Dish but at the same time it is wrapped up so nicely. {I am definitely gonna be watching you and if anything more about dainty dish comes up it's gonna get another 5 star rating from me.
Still crying by the way!
Wow! Great Story! And I could really emphasize with Dainty Dish and her sneeze attacks, mines usually leave me with a bloody nose.
Very, very good story. As usual, didn't care much for the typical Mane Six stuff, but the aerial stuff, especially here at the end, was really great.
Well there we have it, a brilliant story, and impressive use of musical accompaniment.
More importantly this is an example of successfully breaking one of the 'cardinal rules' of fan-fiction, making an OC that is better at something then a cannon character’s specialty. Because Dainty Dish is so specialized, she does not occupy the same space as Rainbow Dash and cause problems. Of course, the fact there is solid characterization, and a well rounded and developed (for the length) character to work with in Dainty Dish is what makes this work in the end. But it is a rare example of breaking the rules with an OC done right, and for that I salute you.
I'm reading this again.
Absolutely amazing. I am utterly lost for words after how epically you painted this. I could see the whole thing play out in my head, and I could feel every whipcrack wingbeat.
Ace Combat music helps.
Ace Combat music helps a lot of things, really.
^ rainbow dash is the best at loyalty.
Everything else seems to be written with the same comedic style and silliness as the source material making it even better than a lot of other, more serious, fics.
None of those suggestions would have made this better to read, just less spectacular.
Great story, clad I read it.
Well, that was a very nice story. A story is supposed to be entertaining, and this one certainly did its job. Sure, some things seemed a stretch, but stories are far more entertaining when embellished and/or exaggerated. Well done
Okay. Let's add it up.
You took AWESOME plane. You ponified it into cute, meek, cool-looking pegasus. AWESOME. Story have simple but very good plot. Plus it have moral on the end. Characters are... in-character. Story could be likely in animated series (Weell... It would be very original episode! ). That's another AWESOME. Plus there of her method of flying is all accurate, plus you added few fanarts to the story. Half of AWESOME.
It makes you story 3+ AWESOME!
But this is just...
I can not express the amount of feels I feel right now.
This story is just so nice and heart warming. Just like a real episode.
I can't even begin to tell you how much this has brightened up my day.
Continue being excellent!
I've always thought the Blackbird was an absolutely godly airplane.
And now you sir have turned it into a pony.
...this is perhaps the single greatest and most original idea I have ever seen, ever.
You are a god. This is going on my favorites.
Question: how did Dainty catch Dash? From context I assume that by the time Dash passed out, she was already going faster than she had ever gone before due to the decreased drag from being at high altitude. Let's say they were going at mach 2.2, in part to make the math simpler. Dainty's turning radius should go as the square of her velocity, which means at 2/3 max speed it should be about 44 miles, or about 66 kilometers. Thus a u-turn covers about 210 kilometers (sure, she could get a smaller turning radius by slowing down, but she's not very good at slowing down, and I'm ignoring the fact that a u-turn does not put her right back where she started, so I'm pretty sure I'm making the catch easier than it actually was. Not to mention how if she slows down to much, she'd pass out). As she's going about 750 m/s = 3/4 km/s, a u-turn takes 280 seconds, or the better part of five minutes in other words. At a rough estimate from the prologue, Daisy in a flat spin was falling maybe 10-15 m/s, and Dash would probably fall faster due to her smaller wings. But let's say Dash fell at an average of 15 m/s; she'd fall almost a kilometer every minute. Sure, that gives her possibly as much as 30 minutes to fall before she hits the ground, depending on altitude, but Dainty not only has to be able to get to Dash before she crashes, but also has to not lose sight of her at any point, not go low enough to tire herself out from drag or from returning to cruising altitude and velocity while carrying Dash, and not go outside the range of velocities where she neither suffocates nor catches fire as that range shifts with altitude.
Not to mention she has to notice that Dash is no longer yelling at her due to passing out rather than due to giving up despite having a well-founded aversion to looking backwards.
And don't get me started on wondering what Dainty could possibly have pulled to almost catch her camera and to cause herself to forget to breathe properly.
97200
Generally, I would agree with you, but I think that the whole "the OC is a real plane, except as a pony" thing takes it from "bad idea" territory to "weird idea" territory.
Anyway, she mostly just flies so fast because she flies so high. Dash can almost keep up with her, even if she does go considerably faster than Dash can manage at the sorts of altitudes most ponies fly at, and she certainly can't compete with Dash's maneuverability, nor her speed at more breathable air pressures.
97200
Yeah... no.
Rainbow Dash did leave her in the dust. Remember the first race? Dainty can't take turns at all. Not even at low speeds. I feel that even if Dainty hadn't crashed, Dash still would have won. Just like real life, the more inertia you have, the harder it is to change direction.
I do agree with you on the cutie mark thing, though. Far too complex. But it still looks cool.
I loved the story. Dainty Dash may not have been a strong character but I liked her regardless
Me gusta. Me gusta mucho.
No wonder Dainty Dish's photography name is Blackbird-- she IS a jet plane! Bravo, good sir!
It's 5 AM and this story randomly popped into my head so I went back to read it again. It was even better the second time around simply b/c I read it more slowly this time, and took everything in. The portrayal of Dash showing her dark side b/c her pride won't let her admit that there is some pony out there faster than her was spot on. Along with her complete 180 at the end and acknowledges there is some pony better than her when she faces the truth is so in character it's kind of scary. I could totally see this being an actual episode of the show, granted it would have to be a 2 part episode, but it would be so worth it. I'm pretty sure this is the insomnia talking. Regardless it's always awesome to read a great story again.
Thanks for sharing it with us.
Second time reading this story and I absolutely love the attention to detail. The immersion in this story is intense, it feels like you are either right there with Dainty, or in the cockpit of the Sled itself. Very awesome and I do hope to see more of Miss Dish and her friends.
So basically, Dainty broke logic.
Yep I'm lost. There goes a half an hour wasted. Anyone care to explain?
7416765
Dainty broke the sound barrier, she's merely moving where the atmosphere is thinner, and where relatively it feels slow because of the height.
That and she's cute.
That was fun. Interesting idea, too.
Less air to feel... = Make you feel slower??
From above earth, it would look like things were moving slowly and will less air resistance mean you feel slower?
Idk something along those lines.
There's a spy!
Really good story. Very simple and felt like a Season 1 episode. Though some reason I could see a cross over bit with Rayquzza since Dish is so high up that she would definitely bump into the legendary Pokémon.
Anyways, awesome story took to long for me to get to read it.
10160693
Look at video from orbit. It doesn't look like it, but they are moving at over 17,000 MPH. Altitude can make your points of reference kind of wonky once you get past about 60,000 feet.