//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Danger // Story: Identity Crisis // by The Engineer Pony //------------------------------// Wind rushed through Rainbow Dash's mane as she went into another dive. She felt it pick up speed as she fell, pressing against her in a vain attempt to slow her down. With a precise flick of her wings, Rainbow Dash entered into a tight roll. Sky and earth alternated around her as she streaked through the air. As the onrushing ground engulfed her vision, she terminated her spin, finishing upside down, and pulled out of her dive to soar back into the blue abyss below her. As with any stunt, she made it look effortless. Of course, even Rainbow Dash knew that such a performance was incredibly difficult, with very little margin for error. One wrong twitch of a wing and the unforgiving ground would leave her incapacitated for weeks. But that was the thrill of flying: making the impossible seem effortless and the dangerous merely routine. Rainbow Dash peaked at the top of her inverted ascent. She flipped upright and hovered for a moment to take in the glorious view of the heavens around her. The clear blue of unconfined sky gleamed in all directions, illuminated by the strong rays of the midday sun. Far off in the distance, insubstantial wisps of clouds broke the symmetry of the vast expanse, but they were not large enough to threaten a future storm. The weather would be perfect for the performance that evening, and Rainbow Dash was prepared to enjoy every minute of it. “Alright, everypony, listen up!” Spitfire strutted out onto into the middle of the stadium where the Wonderbolts were practicing. Around her, pegasi flew every which way as they exercised, practiced, and—as in Rainbow's case—showed off. But as soon as Spitfire called out, every Wonderbolt raced down to land in a precisely ordered line before their captain. Spitfire marched up and down in front of her teammates as she reviewed their schedule. “This is our last practice before the performance tonight. The ponies of Las Pegasus are expecting a great show for their centennial celebration, so we need to give it our all. We start with a flyby at the beginning of the festivities, right before the fireworks. An hour later, we present our full routine here in this stadium. Until then, I want everypony going through basic drills.” Her gaze lingered on Rainbow Dash as she passed by. “No more practicing complicated maneuvers. All of you have the routine down, but I don't want to run the risk of injuries before tonight. Am I clear?” “Yes, ma'am!” chorused the Wonderbolts. They then took to the skies again, some pairing up to practice basic formation flying, others going off on their own to fly speed and agility drills. Soarin walked over to Rainbow Dash just as she was preparing to zoom off again. “Hey, Rainbow Dash, want to race around the stadium?” “Sure,” answered Rainbow. “How many—hey!” Soarin took off immediately and streaked toward the other end of the field. With a cry of indignation and amusement, Rainbow Dash spread her wings and raced after the other pegasus. To Rainbow Dash's surprise, she caught up to Soarin after only a couple of seconds. While she knew she was the fastest pony in the air, Soarin's head start should have let him stay ahead of Rainbow for at least the first lap. On the other hoof, maybe Soarin had just accelerated slowly. Or maybe Rainbow Dash was even faster than she thought. Regardless of the reason, Rainbow overtook Soarin as he reached the edge of the field and entered into a banked turn. She dived underneath him, feeling the soft tickle of grass brush against her hooves as she flew mere inches above the ground. It struck Rainbow Dash as peculiar to have a stadium with a grass field in a pegasus city, but she supposed Las Pegasus was not the typical floating cloud town. It probably hosted a hoofball team for the entertainment of Las Pegasus's tourists. Rainbow's musings on the ground beneath her abruptly ended as she suddenly became much better acquainted with said earth. A hoof clipped her in the back, knocking her downward and giving her a face full of grass and dirt. In a panic, Rainbow tried to stabilize herself, but it was too late. She flipped over twice, bounced several times, and finally skidded to a halt at the far end of the field in a tangled mess of limbs. Rainbow slowly picked herself up, her head still spinning. She carefully stretched her wings. They did not feel broken. Likewise, her hooves and neck ached, but did not seem to be terribly hurt. Fortunately, losing control so close to the ground had apparently lessened the severity of her injuries. “Rainbow Crash!” Rainbow winced as she heard Spitfire yell behind her. Slowly turning around, Rainbow Dash saw Spitfire fly over and land right in front of her, expressions of concern and anger fighting for control of her face. “What happened? I specifically told you stick to basic drills to avoid injury.” Rainbow took an involuntary step backward, grimacing a little as pain flared in her right hind leg. “Wait, that wasn't my fault!” “You're telling me it wasn't your fault you lost control recklessly showing off when you passed Clipper?” Spitfire's disciplined fury seemed to be winning out over any worry she had for the wellbeing of her teammate. “No!” Rainbow protested. “I could've handled that maneuver! But Clipper kicked me in the back when I went by.” Spitfire frowned. Then she whipped around to face Soarin, who hovered timidly a few feet away. Around them, other Wonderbolts put their practice maneuvers on hold and gathered to watch what was happening. “Is that true?” Spitfire demanded. “Of course not!” Soarin reared back, offended by the accusation. “I would never do something like that to Rainbow Dash!” Spitfire glanced between Soarin and Rainbow Dash, her frown deepening. “So what happened? Rainbow Dash, are you lying to me?” Now it was Rainbow's turn to be offended. “What? No! I wouldn't lie about a teammate kicking me. It really was Soarin's fault.” “It was not!” Soarin shot back. He flew closer to Rainbow, and his nostrils flared menacingly. “Yeah, it was!” Rainbow refused to back down. She jumped into the air to hovered right in front of Soarin, their angry faces mere inches from one another. Rainbow's injured wings protested the sudden strain, but she ignored the pain to glare at the other pegasus. “Enough!” Spitfire bellowed. She lowered her volume and she continued firmly, “If you two keep acting like school ponies, I'll throw you both out of tonight's performance.” “What?” Rainbow exclaimed in surprise. She turned to face Spitfire and gestured wildly in exasperation. “But it wasn't my fault this time! It was Soarin! He kicked me as I sped past him—wait a minute.” Rainbow forgot her indignation for a moment and gave Soarin a puzzled glance. “You were deliberately flying slow. I shouldn't have been able to catch up to you so fast.” Shock and worry flitted across Soarin's face. “What are you talking about? I was going full speed.” “Oh, yeah?” Rainbow Dash challenged. “Then how about a race?” She waved a hoof at the far end of the stadium. “First one to make there and back wins.” She lowered herself to the ground and crouched into a ready position. Soarin, surprised into reflexive obedience, settled into a racing stance next to her. “Ready, set, go!” In the blink of an eye, Rainbow Dash was off. Her sore wings screamed in disapproval, slowing her down by just a hair. Still, Rainbow shot ahead of Soarin, reaching the other end of the field before he had even made it halfway. She reversed direction with a tight loop and raced back toward the confused group of watching Wonderbolts, coming to a halt just in front of Spitfire while Soarin was still turning around at the stadium wall. Several long seconds later, he arrived and plopped down on the ground with a gasp. After a couple of large gulps of air, he weakly waved a hoof at Rainbow Dash and panted, “You win.” Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves in front of her. “See?” she sad triumphantly. Spitfire stared at Rainbow Dash, perplexed. “So what does that have to do with you crashing?” “Soarin's not acting like himself today,” Rainbow replied. “He should've been right behind me in that race.” She landed and stared down at Soarin, still sprawled across ground as he tried to catch his breath. “What do you have to say for yourself?” Rainbow demanded. “I think...I think...” gasped Soarin. “Yes?” asked Rainbow, a bit of smugness leaking into her tone. Soarin panted once more for breath, and then slowly got up to face Rainbow Dash. He raised his neck to its full extent so that he looked down on his shorter teammate. His eyes blazed with uncharacteristic hatred. “I think the impact should have broken your wing,” he spat. “What?” Rainbow Dash flinched backward. “So I'll do it myself, instead!” Soarin abruptly yelled. He leapt forward with surprising ferocity. His forelegs lashed out, and he began to pummel Rainbow Dash with kicks. Rainbow tried to raise her hooves to defend herself, but the suddenness of the assault had rendered her a bit to slow. Soarin's first kick hit her in the chest, knocking the wind out of her. A second kick put her off balance before she could take flight, and Rainbow Dash tumbled to the ground. The other Wonderbolts rushed forward to help, but Soarin seemed oblivious to their presence as he continued to unrestrainedly pound his teammate. Rainbow saw a hoof hurtle directly toward her forehead, and then blackness overtook her.