//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 - Dashing into Action 
// Story: Under Her Wing 
// by Tinyweasels 
//------------------------------//

Chapter One - Dashing into Action

For a few moments, Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and just savored the feel of the wind in her mane and the freedom of flight. There were few things as awesome.

"This is really fun, Dashie," Pinkie Pie said, waking Dash from her pegasus daydream.

Rainbow looked up to see her Earth pony friend in the harnessed position above her on their tandem hang glider.

"Yeah, it is, Pinkie," she replied, a bit annoyed at having her daydream interrupted, but she knew she needed to stay focused on this. It was a big deal to be asked by the Wonderbolts to make this excursion into the air for the sake of little ponies that couldn't fly, to show that even the flightless could enjoy the skies. 

She glanced down at the cloud platform just below them that two Wonderbolts pulled along; on that small platform was the unicorn in charge of cloud magic along with six fillies and colts. Once the kids were ready, she and Pinkie would do some sick stunts on the hang glider as their admirers followed them down and then Rainbow would detach and use her wingsuit to do an awesome big finale, using her rainbow colored smoke flares as she parachuted to the ground.

Things had not gone without a hitch, however. Rainbow checked her altimeter—they were nearly at nine thousand feet. Rainbow felt tension growing inside, her instincts telling her to keep on guard.

"What's wrong, Rainbow?" Pinkie asked from above.

“Way too high!” The wind was too strong and it was too cloudy. The Wonderbolts and unicorn had dismissed her concerns so much as a word. “And don’t get me started on those ‘Wonderbolts’. It’s like they just grabbed two ponies off the street and stuck them in uniforms, and that unicorn looks like he’s going to hurl. He’s totally afraid of heights! We were supposed to get rookie mares Lightning Dust and Fast Feather but those two are just two dudes.”

Pinkie laughed good-naturedly and smiled down at Rainbow.

"Just relax, Rainbow. We've handled worse trouble than this. If something's going to go wrong, who better than us to fix it? We'll have fun and show those fillies and colts that even we non-pegasusususes can enjoy flying."

Rainbow and Pinkie began their performance, one that was frequently interrupted by cloud masses that blocked their path or visibility to their audience. With the cloud walking magic in effect, the lighter clouds were the consistency of pudding while the denser clouds might as well have been blocks of concrete.

They began to drift away to avoid the clouds that had started to obscure Rainbow’s view of the pony team. She got on the radio and called in, but got no response. 

“They shut off their radios! What are they thinking?" Rainbow shouted.

“Don’t worry, Rai--” Pinkie said and then went silent.

Rainbow knew nothing good would come from this.

“TWITCHY TAIL! TWITCHY TAIL!” Pinkie shrieked.

Something was going to fall. Rainbow quickly looked over the hang glider; it was fine and their harnesses were all secure. She still didn’t have a visual on the pony team, so she maneuvered the glider around to try to find them, her mind counting the seconds since Pinkie’s exclamation. She could see Pinkie frantically looking for the others as well. 

Finally they could see the cloud they sought--two pegasi up front, a unicorn right behind them, looking forward, as were the five foals. 

"Oh horse apples. Five, not six!" Rainbow shouted and in an instant she detached herself from the glider and swept her arms and legs straight back, plunging nearly straight down. She knew Pinkie would somehow get the attention of the others, then once the pegasi realized they were short one kid they would panic for a few seconds, try to fly down and forget they were tethered to the cloud. It would take a few seconds more for the equally panicked unicorn to release them, then they’d leave the unicorn and kids stranded on a cloud at 9,000 feet and begin flapping wildly trying to catch up, but they wouldn’t have a clue how to do it. They knew how to fly, but she knew how to fall.

It had been over ten seconds since Pinkie’s warning. The little pony would already be at terminal velocity and more than 1,000 feet below them. Rainbow doubted even Fleetfoot could fly that fast. Her eyes scanned the world below her, trying to spot the tiny dot of a falling foal.

The wind whipped past her and pulled as if trying to stop her heroic effort as she shot down like a rainbow blur. Only rarely had she moved at these speeds, knowing with her body streamlined she could possibly hit 300 miles per hour—she could, in theory, catch up. 

Then finally a break. A tiny orange form tumbling below her. 

Rainbow changed directions using her wing suit, precious fractions of seconds lost in a race against time as she bulleted down past clouds that blocked her here and there, forcing her to judge their density and whether she’d be able to pass through or crash—at last, a clear line, the only thing in the way two clouds drifting close together. 

“Thread the needle, Dash!” she shouted to herself and with preternatural skill she slipped between the two puffy obstacles, feeling the dense clouds brush past her with inches to spare. She became aware of a strange light in the corners of her vision, a rainbow effect, and she briefly worried she was going to black out from the G-forces but she continued on, going faster than she would have thought possible had she time to ponder it.

The screaming foal ahead was smaller and lighter than a human, tumbling and flapping her wings. Rainbow risked glances at her altimeter, estimating with her speed and altitude the foal would hit the ground in about 45 seconds. She activated the can of black smoke to alert the ground crew below them that there was a problem.

The ground loomed closer with alarming speed as Rainbow Dash got close enough to make out the tiny filly with an orange coat and purple mane and tail, her wings beating the air desperately. 

Rainbow watched her altimeter as she passed below 2,500 feet, the altitude she’d normally deploy her parachute. It was only moments later she blew past 2,000—they were now below minimum safe deployment altitude. 

Rainbow didn’t bother looking at the altimeter any longer. She was in uncharted territory now. On a wing and a prayer.

She could still do it—she was getting closer, but so was the ground. In a terrible and triumphant moment she finally made eye contact with the foal, the desperate child twisting around now and reaching out for Rainbow. 

Rainbow Dash knew she’d only have one chance at this. At their current altitude they’d be too low for her main chute to open completely; she’d have to release it and use her quick deploy reserve chute and there might not even be enough time for that to deploy fully.

They had to be under 1,000 feet by now. Rainbow got closer and closer, reaching out, her fingertips brushing the filly’s hooves. Dash focused everything on her, the look of terror and desperation in the child’s eyes driving her to risk it all. Some force seemed to drive her forward and the gap between them closed. She grabbed the little pony and pulled her in close. 

“Hang on!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she pulled the three ring release of her main chute, it pulled away and deployed the reserve at the same time. She wrapped both arms tight around the filly as she felt the reserve chute opening, but they were still going too fast. She glanced at the altimeter just as they passed under 200 feet.

It was going to be bad no matter how it ended. Rainbow protectively held the filly to shield her as much as possible from the impact.

“I’m sorry!” the filly shouted an instant before they hit the ground. 

With an awful force, Rainbow Dash smashed into the ground. She tried to roll with it but they were moving too fast; the foal screamed. She heard bones break.

Then there was darkness.