//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Flights and Falls // Story: Hero of War // by Teal //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash flew straight and steady, keeping herself stable as she tried to move through the air as gentle as possible. Easing her wings, she let the wind flow under her, as she maintained level flight at a decent altitude in the sky. Looking down at the world below her, she got a perfect view of Ponyville and the surrounding fields, thanks to the clear skies the local Weather Patrol provided during that day. With no clouds to obstruct her view, a beautiful panorama of the countryside was before her, a picture perfect sight. Smiling, she made a quick glance behind her, so that she can look at her passenger who had both her hooves wrapped around her neck as she look down with awe. “Hey, are you enjoying the view up there, kid?” Rainbow Dash asked, seeing that Scootaloo’s face was stuck in a trnce, as she marveled at the sight below the. Without looking away from the sight below, Scootaloo nodded her head, her mind trying to find words to express her feelings. “This is amazing!” She shouted back, her eagerness and excitement evident in her voice. “I’ve never seen anything like this before. Just look at the ponies below, they’re so small!” Chuckling, Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Well, kid, soon you’ll be seeing views like this all the time. Once I’m done teaching you, you can fly up here and look down the world as many times you want.” “Heh, maybe I can do it right now.” Scootaloo boasted with an air of confidence that reminded Rainbow Dash of herself. “It seems simple enough.” Giving a small chuckle, Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Alright, don’t get too cocky, kid. It may look easy, but there’s a lot of skill behind it. Now, let’s have you get a feel of having wind beneath your wings. Do you have a good grip on me?” Scooting a little bit and making sure her hooves were locked around Rainbow Dash’s neck, Scootaloo gave a short nod. “Yup.” “Alright then, I’m going to do this a smoothly as possible, but better make sure that you hold on tight.” Rainbow Dash said, before ordering: “Alright, kid, now I want you to open your wings. What we’re going to do it let you feel the flow of air on your wings, so that you’ll know what it will be like when you glide in the air.” Following as ordered, Scootaloo slowly opened her wings, letting the gentle air flow beneath them. Having the air flow before her, felt natural, as if she herself was flying on her own up in the air. Having the wind flow beneath her wings felt great and wonderful and a part of her said that she can fly on her own and soar in the sky if she just let go. But before she could go with her instinct and follow the urge to let go, Rainbow Dash began speaking up, removing her from her distracted state as she turned her attention to the pegasus. “Alright, now, I’m going to do some simple maneuvers. Hopefully this will help you get a better feel on what flying feels like. You ready?” “I’m always ready!” Scootaloo responded, prompting another chuckle from Rainbow Dash. “Alright then.” Rainbow Dash said, before doing a gentle bank towards the right. Holding on tightly to Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo felt her weight shift to the right as they turned. For a moment, a sinking feeling that she might slip away and fall hit her as she gave a slight sign of panic. But after a second or two without anything happening, she began to relax her tense body as shifted from panic to enjoying the feeling. It was calming and relaxing and the sensation of this all thrilled her. It really did feel like flying, a great immersion. Although she knew that Rainbow Dash was really the one who was doing the flying, the sensation of having the wind blow against her and on her wings as they flew made it feel like that she was flying on her own. Closing her eyes to add to the feeling, she let Rainbow Dash fly her through the air as they did more banks, ascents, and descents. Like a dream come through, she soared through the air, even if it was under the assistance of another pony. She was flying in the air and her mind wanted to take her to new heights. Letting her feelings and instincts take hold, Scootaloo began flapping her wings, acting as if she herself was doing the flying. With each stroke of the wing, she felt the cool wing go under them, as a part of her brain told her that she can gain flight if she continued doing this. Unconsciously, this caused her to loosen her grip on Rainbow Dash, making her ever so slowly slide away. As the Rainbow Dash’s maneuvers continued, her hold began to loosen and loosen till she suddenly slipped from her position and slid off of Rainbow Dash. “Ahhhhh! She screamed as her eyes bolted open in terrified panic. Looking up at the sky as she fell, she could see Rainbow Dash’s silhouette go distant, as she fell from the sky and head straight for the ground. Flailing her hooves and working her wings, she desperately made an attempt to fly, hoping that she might be able to save herself. But with no experience on either gliding, let alone flying, this was a hopeless endeavor. Immediately realizing that Scootaloo had fallen from her back, Rainbow Dash made a quick assessment of the situation, searching around her to find where Scootaloo was. Quickly spotting her below her, she immediately went in for a dive; hooves extended and ready to catch the filly. It’s a good thing I went high. Rainbow Dash thought, knowing that at this height, she would have plenty of time to catch the falling filly. Quickly catching up to Scootaloo and scooping her with her hooves, she made sure that the filly was secure in her grasp before using her wings to slow down her momentum. “Okay, I think that’s enough flying lessons for now.” Rainbow Dash said, as she turned in for a glide and began to descend. “Yeah…agreed.” Scootaloo said, still a bit shaken from the fall. Then, once recovered, she turned to Rainbow Dash and gave a small smile. “But do I at least get an A+ for free fall?” Looking at the filly and grinning, Rainbow Dash shook her head. Yup, she definitely reminds me of myself. “Ha…ha…very funny, kid, but that was a dangerous thing you did. You could have been seriously hurt or worse…” Rainbow Dash said, her words trailing as she knew that something terrible could have had happened if she had failed to catch Scootaloo. A sense of dread filled her as she realized that, for she was unsure if she would have been able to cope with the guilt of having the loss of another life on her hooves. If she had been flying lower and if she had been too late, things could have ended differently. But it didn’t… A small part of her argued, while another part of her continued to pester her on what might have had happened, telling her that if a mistake did happen, then it would have been her fault. You should have made note of the possible accident that might happen, now look, Scootaloo almost fell to her death because of you. This internal debate raged in her head, before being interrupted by Scootaloo, who called out to her in an awkward and seemingly scared voice. “Hey, you aren’t going to tell my mom about this, are you? The fall I mean…” “Hmm…” Rainbow Dash said, thinking. “Well, for now I won’t. But please make sure you don’t do it again. I know you want to fly as soon as possible, but until you can fly on your own, you’ll need my permission and assistance first, got it? “Sure thing, Dash!” Scootaloo chirped, a smile growing on her face. “Good, kid.” Rainbow Dash set, as she gently set Scootaloo on the ground as she landed. “Now, let’s get you home for some rest. Celestia knows how tired you might be, especially after what happened earlier.” Then, looking around her surrounding, she tried to find out where in the town they were. Looking around, she can tell that they were just by the outskirts of Ponyville, since the buildings of the town could clearly be seen from their position. But having been here for only a couple of days, she still wasn’t used to navigating around the place, and she had a hard time pinpointing were exactly at the town they were. Turning her glance towards the nearest buildings, she stared at a large worn down barn and a smaller farmhouse located in the middle of an orchard of apple trees. Scanning the area, she saw that a dirt road was located near those building, a road that led directly back towards the town. Smiling, she made a step towards that direction and gestured for Scootaloo to follow. But to Rainbow Dash’s intrigue, she noticed that the orange filly was now moving from her spot and was once again showing a worried look on her face. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I…” She said, as she looked Rainbow Dash in the eyes. “…I don’t think we should go that way.” “Huh? Why not?” Rainbow Dash questioned. “It’s Applejack.” Scootaloo told her. “This is her family’s farm. If Applejack sees you near this place, then she’ll throw a fit and might hurt you. So we should go near that place or stay anywhere within its sight.” “Applejack?” Rainbow Dash asked, confused at the information Scootaloo is giving her. “Who’s that? And why would this ‘Applejack’ pony be angry with me if I pass by their orchard?” “Well…” Scootaloo said, shuffling her fore hooves as she looked down at the ground. “It’s because she hates veterans…every veteran, no matter who you are. If you served in the war, then she will automatically hate you. I remember that encounters between her and dad, before he went to the hospital, weren’t that pleasant and I want to avoid the same thing happening to you.” What she was told shocked and at the same time angered Rainbow Dash. Veterans of the Crystal War had fought to keep Equestria safe, to make sure that everypony lived free from King Sombra’s tyranny. Yet here was a pony who seemed to hate those who had fought for her. Anger flowed inside Rainbow Dash and it would have certainly overtook her if it weren’t for the nagging curiosity of wanting to know why this pony hated veterans in the first place. “Do you happen to know why she hates veterans?” Rainbow Dash asked, Scootaloo. “Or does she just hate us because she think it’s a cool thing to do.” “From all the screaming I hear from her, when she shouts at the nearest veterans she sees, it seems that she hates ponies like you because he thinks it’s unfair that her brother died in the war, while veterans like you survived.” Scootaloo said. “So she’s just overcome with grief?” Rainbow Dash guessed. “Yep, pretty much.” Scootaloo said with a nod. “I think she just wants her brother back and hates the ponies who lived through the war because her brother wasn’t so lucky.” Shaking her head, Rainbow Dash felt a wave of frustration hit her. “Well that’s just stupid. It’s not like it’s our fault that her brother died. Who are we to control who lives and dies?” Turning her glance towards the orchard, Rainbow Dash noticed a distant figure trotting by there and pulling a cart. Narrowing her eyes and concentrating on the figure, she saw that it was an orange earth pony…an earth pony that seemed way too familiar to her. For a moment, she kept her gaze focused on this pony, staring at her and trying to remember where she had seen her before. I know I met that pony before…but where? Searching her memory, she tried to remember who this pony was, until, in a sudden burst of realization, her mind went wild. She remembered who this pony was and she also remembered that she had a score to settle with her. “It’s her…” Rainbow Dash’s said, her voice icy as she hissed those words out. “…she’s the one who bucked me on the face!”