Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock.
Even with pillows placed around Rainbow’s ears, the clock’s constant noise drilled into her skull. It had been just background noise on Monday, but after hearing it relentlessly for three days, it might as well have been a jackhammer.
Without any regard to the fact that she wasn’t at her home and couldn’t break objects at her leisure, she heaved one of the many pillows that comprised her bedding in its general direction to silence the timepiece permanently. She might have succeeded too, had she bothered poking her head out from under the sheets for an accurate toss. As it was, the pillow hit the wall with a thump and fell harmlessly to the floor.
“So much for sleeping,” she grumbled as she tossed aside the covers. “What time is it?”
As Rainbow scrutinized the hands on the clock, her eyebrows furrowed at their relative position. “That was a short nap.”
The sound of hoofsteps coming down the stairs signaled Fluttershy’s approach. The steps, though still relatively soft, were decidedly louder than the hesitant pace the mare usually had, as though she was trying to wake her houseguest with her noise. Luckily for her, Rainbow was already up and alert.
Fluttershy stepped into the room and smiled warmly at her guest. “Good—” she checked the time “—afternoon, Rainbow! So, are you ready to go to Pinkie’s party?”
“Huh?”
She procured the invitation from the table, “Oh, you see, she came over with it an hour ago. I was going to wake you up, but you looked so peaceful, I thought it would be best to let you be for a while.”
Rainbow put the card aside. “Let me guess. This is for the pony that’s taking over my team.”
“Um, yes,” Fluttershy conceded with a small nod. “We didn’t think anypony would come until Friday, but the Committee found—”
Rainbow pulled the sheets over her head, “Have fun.”
There it was again, Fluttershy thought. It was definitely not her imagination--Rainbow had become noticeably more reclusive since her accident. She was not “in the mood” for Pinkie Pie’s surprise picnic Tuesday afternoon, called Twilight’s offer for stargazing “incredibly boring”, was “not hungry” when Rarity offered to take her out to some fancy restaurant for brunch on Wednesday, and was “too tired” to go bird watching with Fluttershy herself this morning.
Granted, Rainbow usually would have turned down at least one of those offers anyway, but watching her spend her time moping about indoors or staring vacantly into the skies at the expense of any social interaction was too painful to watch. As her close friend, she knew she had to say something. Spurned on out of concern for her friend’s well-being, Fluttershy opened her mouth… then closed it with barely a squeak.
Hearing this from upstairs, Angel ran down the stairs and then hopped onto Fluttershy’s head, so he could chatter discrete encouragement into her ear.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Fluttershy whispered. “She might get upset if I do that.”
Angel slapped his forehead. His timid caretaker clearly needed an additional push to get the (rude) cyan mare out of his house. He hopped over to Rainbow’s side and snatched away her blanket.
“Hey!”
Twack! went the wing against the side of its cast. Rainbow groaned; this whole uncontrollable wing-opening reflex was really getting old. She shook her hoof angrily at Angel, who returned back onto Fluttershy’s head after leaving the bed sheet sprawled at the bottom of the staircase.
“You know, that little pest is really getting on my nerves!”
Angel blew a raspberry.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” Fluttershy stammered. “Angel just must not be used to having a guest around all the time!”
The rabbit shook his head; he just didn’t like this particular guest. Angel then delivered more wisdom only Fluttershy could understand.
Fluttershy nodded constantly as she deciphered the rabbit’s message. While she had no disagreements with his bullet points, she had already thought of all of them. The problem was the delivery -- if only Rainbow spoke rabbit. As it was, she was on her own.
“Um, Rainbow?” the shy pony started. “Ahem. I really think you should… um, stop by at the party. You might have some… fun?”
Angel facepalmed.
“No.” Rainbow snorted.
At this point, Angel told his owner one last thing and then scurried upstairs with the blanket. He wasn’t sticking around for the result.
Fluttershy pulled out the puppy-dog eyes. “Pretty, pretty, please? I don’t want to go by myself!”
Fluttershy’s ‘Stare’ was legendary, but its unsung sibling was definitely her puppy-eyes. Despite her best efforts, not even iron-willed Rainbow Dash could muster the willpower to say no.
“Okay! Okay! I’ll go!” she conceded, looking away from those eyes. “But I’m only staying for a little while!”
Fluttershy squealed in excitement. The words were music to her ears!
“Just a little while,” Rainbow emphasized. “So, should we go?”
“Not yet!” Without missing a beat, Fluttershy trotted to the kitchen and returned with a glass of water. Then, she removed Rainbow’s pills from the series of containers on the coffee table and presented them to her. She had this down to a routine, even the sing-song way of announcing the moment. “It’s time for your medicine!”
Rainbow stuck out her tongue. The unusual symptoms had struck her four times yesterday, so when she thought nopony was looking, Rainbow tossed her medicine in the garbage. She would’ve succeeded in losing them if it wasn’t for that meddling rabbit ratting her out to Fluttershy. If there was one upside, however, the headache had disappeared while her injured appendage was no more than an occasional bother.
“Lousy pills,” she grumbled, as she placed them on her hoof. “I can deal with the pain. Why do I have to keep taking them?” She swallowed all at once, followed by a healthy drink. “There! All right, let me see who’s gonna be a pain in the flank.”
She opened the invitation, poring over every detail. Once she finished reading, Rainbow turned the card around with a perplexed expression.
“Something wrong?” Fluttershy asked.
“There’s no name in here. What gives?”
“Oh, Pinkie made those yesterday night, and she didn’t know the name until this morning. She told me it was...” Fluttershy trailed off. Pinkie had mentioned it in their conversation earlier in the day, but the name got buried somewhere in the middle of her warp speed chattering. “Actually, I didn’t quite catch it.”
Rainbow used the details on the card for an educated guess.
It says here it’s a stallion who is the weather leader for… Brayside Beach? Huh? I thought it was that old... No, wait a minute. That spot opened up a few months ago, and they gave it to—
Rainbow slapped her face, “A rookie! You’ve got to be kidding me!”
By now, Fluttershy stood in front of the door. “Are you coming now?”
She had no choice. Her body was rested and those eyes would coerce her into following her friend outdoors. “Yeah, yeah. I just hope that for once, Pinkie doesn’t go overboard with the party.”
“I knew it,” Rainbow groaned.
Pinkie Pie had transformed Sugarcube Corner into a tropical resort. Peppy island musical blared through loudspeakers, fauxthentic palm trees dotted around the perimeter, a slip and slide kept the younger ponies entertained, and behind the building was a volleyball court, complete with real sand and eager players. While Rainbow thought the setup was too much, Fluttershy oohed and aahed, before tugging her grumpy friend toward the entrance.
The tropical theme continued inside with a fruit-heavy table spread, coconut cups for drinks and flower streamers hanging from the rafters. Many of the partygoers were adorned with leis around their necks and more than a few were wearing grass skirts. From out of the kitchen area, a conga line moved toward their general direction, led by none other than the party’s hostess.
“Hi, girls!” said Pinkie. “I’m so glad you finally came! Don’t worry! The fun’s just getting started! Woo hoo!”
“Where’s our guest?” asked Fluttershy.
Without stopping, Pinkie replied, “Fly-Fly’s playing games upstairs with Applejack.”
“It’s Swift Flying, Pinkie,” corrected Twilight, positioned further down the pony convoy. “Must you insist on giving everypony a nickname?”
“A fair warning, ladies: please avoid calling him Swift,” Rarity called from behind Twilight in the line. “Apparently he has… issues with it. The whole thing’s a bit daft if you ask me. Anyway, he said Fly or Flying would be appropriate.”
Fluttershy turned to ask Rainbow on whether she wanted to greet the guest of honor, but one look quickly told her that the prismatic pegasus wasn’t all there. Her friend was staring vacantly at the stairs with eyes reminiscent of a predator catching sight of its prey.
“Um, are you okay?”
Rainbow snapped out of her trance. “Uh-huh. How about we say hi to him, shall we?”
Fluttershy flew up the staircase, but the sound of Rainbow clearing her throat stopped her halfway up the first flight. When she turned around to face her, Rainbow’s scowl said it all: she wanted Fluttershy to walk up the stairs with her so she wasn’t the only pegasus getting around completely on hoof.
“Sorry,” Fluttershy whispered, landing on a step.
Once the two climbed the first flight, they found a long line to the bathroom down the second floor hallway. Not needing such services, Rainbow and Fluttershy continued up a second flight of stairs to reach the top level. There, they found an indoor carnival complete with all the usual games scattered across the floor: apple bobbing, horseshoes, milk bottles, and darts. However, all the ponies in the room had congregated across from the staircase, preferring to be spectators to an active game. Whatever was going on over there must have been captivating, for nopony noticed their arrival.
Recognising Spike standing near the back of the crowd, Rainbow walked over and tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey Spike! What’s going on here?”
“Applejack challenged Fly to a game of bean-bag toss. It’s getting really good!”
Rainbow smirked. “Oh, really? I bet she’s showing off because she’s creaming him.”
Spike shook his head. “Actually, this is the fifth round and they’re tied up!”
Rainbow’s eyes grew wide. Applejack was the only pony in town who could come close to matching her own skills in bean-bag toss. If this Swift Flying character could challenge Applejack, he could possibly even beat her, and that didn’t sit well for the best athlete in Ponyville. Rainbow absolutely had to see this with her own eyes. Without any consideration for the other onlookers, she barged through the crowd to get a front row seat to watch the action.
At the corner of the room was the target: a hole cut through a slanted board adorned with painted balloons. The contestants themselves were standing across the room, a few pony-lengths away from Rainbow. One of them was Applejack, but her usual confident expression had been replaced by tense facial muscles and sweat. Beside Applejack was the challenger: a skinny, gray pegasus stallion who stood a tick taller than the cowpony. A pair of light blue goggles rested on his forehead above eyes of a matching color. While they displayed a sense of control, his pupils lacked the fiery passion that illuminated the cowpony’s eyes.
Rainbow rubbed her chin. I wonder—
She thought back to her first day at Junior Speedsters Flight Camp. She was standing in front of a glass case labeled the Junior Speedsters Hall of Champions. Within the enclosure was an assortment of trophies and photos of each year’s competitive teams and individual standouts in every category imaginable from agility course times to fastest level flight speeds. The various records were held by a conglomeration of individuals from different species, some with natural advantages in areas she could never hope to match, albeit she’d never admit that publicly. Therefore, she looked closest at the records held by pegasi. There, she found one particular name kept surfacing: Swift Flying, a lanky gray and blue colt that had attended the camp before hers and rewrote the record book in just about every event where agility was the key to success.
I remember seeing pictures of him; can this pony be the same one?
The stallion in the present did look remarkably similar, though he was nowhere near as tall as she would have expected from the photos of him as a colt. It was like he hadn’t grown much since he left flight camp, and he definitely was sporting a different hairstyle. While the pictured colt had a neatly groomed mane and tail, this pony appeared to just let the wind sort things out--and with a mane that almost reached his withers, that translated to some serious knots and curls! Maybe these were two different ponies or a case where a parent rushed in to introduce hair to comb--that would explain his sullen expression in the photo.
Rainbow turned her attention to his cutie mark, an upside-down thunderbolt over a dark gray cloud. The upside-down bolt was definitely a unique symbol of something, but wracking her memory of the photos of the colt in flight school, she just couldn’t think of a single image that had a clear shot of that area of his body. That’s what happens when photographers try to capture fast fliers in motion.
Darnit! I wanna say it’s him but how can I be sure of it?
With a snappy bite, Applejack secured the beanbag in her mouth. She moved her head back and forth in a slow, deliberate fashion, but Rainbow could tell the cowpony was off her rhythm. Her motions were jerky and she was swinging the beanbag far too hard--a fact which became quite apparent when the beanbag slipped from her grip and sailed backward over her head. Now free of pony control, the sandbag sailed over the crowd, heading right at the massive punchbowl on the snack table clear across the room. A direct strike meant that, at a minimum, red splatter indiscriminate of its targets; furniture, carpet, and ponies.
Before the crowd could open their mouths for a collective gasp, Rainbow moved to intercept the twirling target, finding a crease through the masses to reach open floor. Without her wings for flight, she would have to gallop--and gallop quickly--if she were to make the save. However, she hadn’t even taken three steps forward when a gray blur streaked over her head.
What the—
It was the newcomer flying past her, leaving bluish contrails in his wake. At unsafe speeds for being indoors, he caught up and snatched the beanbag with relative ease, but with the wall approaching rapidly, a crash appeared imminent--she knew it would be for her if she dared such speeds inside such a tight space! Without warning, the stallion rotated his body parallel to the upcoming surface and beat his wings fervently to slow himself down. Instead of seeing a pony pancake, she watched him compress against the wall and then push off for a safe recovery.
Rainbow skidded to a stop. What? Did he just do that?
As he made the return trip, the assembled ponies all applauded his acrobatic display, save for the mindblown Rainbow Dash. No pegasus within fifty miles could pull that off, and she couldn’t have made it look that easy without multiple failed attempts! Flying like that was quite a feat of agility and precision, after all! Her eyes narrowed, all doubt extinguished from her mind.
After all this time, you finally show your face, Swift Flying!
Once Swift landed, he dropped the beanbag by Applejack’s hooves. Then, he turned to face the gathered ponies, who continued with their celebratory noises. The spotlight was shining on him and given his acrobatic performance, rightfully so. Yet he took a step back and clutched his mane as though he’d rather be anywhere else but there at the center of attention.
“Thanks, everypony,” he said, his voice an octave higher than expected for a young stallion. “I wasn’t really trying to show off. I just wanted to avoid a big mess, that’s all.”
Rainbow’s pupils shrank as though his words were blasphemy. Sweet, Celestia? What… what... Are you kidding me? You’re supposed to work the crowd, you dolt!
Applejack gave Swift a nudge. “Now, don’t be modest, Fly! Those were some pretty slick moves.” She gave the beanbag a kick. “A lot better than what I did. Consarn it! I thought I had the win there!”
“Except that wasn’t a toss,” Swift replied.
“Huh?”
With a wink, “We have games like this at Brayside, and our rule is that the bag must go forwards to count.” Swift turned to the crowd. “So, how about it? I think she gets another shot, right?”
The spectators cheered, but Rainbow slapped her forehead. You’re giving the game away! She was upset enough to trigger her wing. “Ow!”
Applejack tipped her hat, “Mighty kind of you, but you might regret that in a second!”
She repeated her prior motions, her nerves more calm than the last time. The moment she loosened her mouth, the spectators leaned in, watching the beanbag drift right. With a thwack, half the projectile was on the board, with the rest over the hole. Gravity took care of the rest.
“Yee haw!” Applejack hollered, raising her Stetson. “That was cutting it close!” She extended a foreleg. “Best game I’ve had in awhile!”
As they shook hooves, the crowd dispersed, leaving Fluttershy, Spike and Rainbow behind.
“Way to keep up with Applejack, Fly,” the dragon addressed the loser. He then whispered, “Not sure why you’d let her take that extra shot, though. Did you have a bet with somepony or something?”
“Eh?” the stallion replied with an upward inflection.
Spike chuckled, “Just joking with ya!” He glanced left, acknowledging the two newcomers to the fray -- time for introductions. “Anyways, I got two more ponies you really should meet, Fluttershy and—”
Rainbow pushed Spike aside and strutted into the spotlight. She preferred handling this on her own. “I’m the one and only Rainbow Dash, Best Young Flier Competition champion, future Wonderbolt, savior of Equestria many times over, and full of awesome!”
Swift blinked a few times, before smiling. “Sup, Rainbow! I—”
"So,” She paced like a sergeant dealing with a private, “, you were in Junior Speedsters, right…” Rainbow stumbled, remembering what Rarity said earlier. “…Fly?”
His head tilted slightly, “Umm, yeah, late spring in—”
“I joined Junior Speedsters early summer, right after you did. Naturally, I looked at the record books to see whose records I had to crush, and I found--” she poked his chest “--your name all over the place.” Rainbow resumed her little walk. “Gotta say I was pretty disappointed how low you set the bar, because I destroyed each and every one of them.”
“That’s not what you told me,” interrupted Applejack, moving her eyebrows in a suggestive manner. “You know that one course that tests agility? The one you said you tried over and over again, but you just couldn’t beat the all-time record?”
Rainbow stammered, “Wh-what are you talking about? I never said that!”
“Yeah you did,” Spike interjected, snapping his fingers. “It was during your birthday party, remember? You wished you had that record! Actually, you wished for a lot of things that night.”
She snorted at the small dragon. “You remembered wrong! C’mon Fluttershy, back me up!”
“W-well, I…” Fluttershy tapped her hooves together nervously. Clearly she wouldn’t be much help here.
Since embellishment wasn’t working, Rainbow changed tactics. “Okay, okay, fine! You kept one measly, little record! But remember this, Fly: I’m the best flier in all of Equestria, got it?”
Swift twirled his forelock, “Can’t argue about that, I guess.”
It took all her effort to keep from falling onto the floor.
“That’s all wrong! You were supposed to say ‘I’m the better flier’, and then we’d argue on and on, until I finally challenge you to a race!”
“Eh? But why would I do that? We couldn’t even race anyway! You’re wing’s busted!”
“Oh, for pete’s sake!” Rainbow’s wings reminded her there was a limit to her temper; she sighed irritably. “It’s just a sprain, that’s all! Just tell me that you’ll race me once I’m all better. I’ve waited forever to ask you!”
Swift scratched his head.
“Please?” she begged.
That last bit swayed him in her favor, although he sounded as a pony asked to do boring chores. “Sure… No prob, Rainbow.”
Rainbow pumped her hoof, “Yes! Okay! Now that we have that out of the way, how about we—”
Suddenly, Rainbow lost her balance, staggering into Fluttershy, who grabbed hold. Swift took a step back as though the injured pegasus had a contagious condition, while Spike and Applejack hovered over their friend.
“I’m all right,” Rainbow slurred, rubbing her forehead. “Yeah, I kinda forgot to tell you guys, but my medicine’s doing some really strange stuff to me.”
Applejack waved her hoof across Rainbow’s face, “Are you sure ‘bout that? You look a might rattled.”
Once again standing under her own power, Rainbow retorted, “I’m fine, Applejack! This isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with this. I’m used to it by now.”
Fluttershy tugged her toward a nearby beanbag chair, “Maybe you should lie down for a while.”
Rainbow pulled away.
“I said I’ll be fine, geez! Besides, I was gonna challenge Fly here for—” She noticed Swift staring at the floor, biting his lip. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Eh?” Swift snapped out of his trance. “My bad, Rainbow. You were saying?”
Before Rainbow could respond, Pinkie materialized between the gathered. “C’mon, everypony! We’ve got Pin a Tail on the Pony running downstairs!”
They all heard a mare downstairs yelp, followed by raucous laughter.
“Don’t miss all the fun, fun, fun!”
Rainbow watched her friends follow Pinkie toward the stairs. But when Swift tried joining them, she blocked his path. “Oh, no you don’t! I’m not done with you yet!”
He gulped. “Um, you’re not?”
“You owe me at least one game of beanbag. There’s a few lessons I need to teach you.”
“Lessons?” Swift balked. “Shoot... What did I do to deserve this?”
Playing beanbags, a fun diversion that should keep ponies busy for fifteen minutes, half an hour at most. Any longer would’ve been a tedious exercise and Rainbow hated tedious.
Yet, she had her reasons to keep the game going past the one hour mark. Something about Swift’s performance smelled like a meal cooked by the Cutie Mark Crusaders during the last local fair (they claimed it was hay casserole). During the first round, she realized Applejack’s earlier apprehension -- this stallion could toss those beanbags blindfolded! His motions, his release, all deliberate but consistent. She should’ve lost, but when he had a shot to win, he missed. Badly.
“Ah, shoot,” he remarked with a hearty chuckle.
A simple mistake, no problem. It happened to even the best of competitors. Well, other than herself, of course. In fact, she decided to continue with a few more rounds, adding some competitive banter to the mix. Not only was he not taking the bait, he choked again at game point. No good. Wide left.
Swift shrugged, “Guess it’s not my day.”
That, or he collapses under pressure.
Round three played out the same way as the other, too much for Rainbow to call it a coincidence.
“What’s going on here?” Rainbow questioned him with a glare.
After a long pause, “Um, bad luck? Maybe it’ll go away next round?”
What a fortune teller! Sure enough, he notched a victory for round four, only to lose the next, then a win, another loss and so on. Yes, something definitely stunk around here, Rainbow thought. Her peering eyes collected additional evidence until she had her smoking gun during one toss in the eleventh round. The sack sailed over the board exactly like it did five minutes earlier, even the release point and head velocity were a match! A duplicate mistake!
Wham! Rainbow’s hoof slammed the carpeted floor. “What do you think you’re doing, Fly?”
The startled stallion yelped. “Eh? What’s wrong?”
Rainbow leaned closer to his face, “You’re messing up your throws on purpose!”
Swift leaned back, “I, um… I can explain!”
Matching his steady retreat step-by-step, Rainbow pressed on. “What’s your deal? Think you’re too good for me to give it your all? Is that why you never bothered to show up in even one competition? It would be too boring for you?”
“No!” He stopped just short of the wall, reaching back for an imaginary exit. “It’s that… I mean, it’s not really about winning. It’s about having a good time, right?”
Both the brash mare’s eyes twitched. “What?”
He strained for a nervous smile, “I just… enjoy the game more than the result. If I win all the time, that’s not really fun for you, isn’t it?”
Those words about set her eardrums on fire! She might expect to hear such words from Fluttershy or Twilight, but for a fellow Junior Speedster alum to say it was practically sacrilege! She took a step back, not sure whether to yell at the ceiling or faint. She settled for a simple facehoof along with a headshake, stuttering some muted angrish.
“Is something wrong?” Swift asked meekly.
“This isn’t what I thought you’d be like at all!” she whined.
“What do you mean?”
She pointed at his face.
“You were supposed to be my rival! Somepony with my greatness always has one, and you should’ve been it—a strong, tall, gruff, aggressive, trash-talking stallion who wants nothing more than to put me in my place! But I would always get the upper hoof, and you’d say ‘I’ll get you next time, Rainbow Dash!’ But no! You’re just some short, skinny, lame pony that has no pegasus pride! I can’t believe I waited this long for—”
Swift turned and walked toward the staircase without saying a word.
“—Hey!” Rainbow’s wings reacted but alas, the cast denied that demonstration of her anger. “Where are you going?”
Swift stopped but kept his sights toward his destination. “Bailing,” he said in a nonchalant fashion.
“What are you? A coward?”
He turned to face her, his eyes narrowed. “My bad if I wasn’t what you expected, but I don’t want to be your rival. All I wanted was to get along with you, but no, you’re just like all the other Junior Speedsters I’ve met, ragging on how much better they are and wanting to crush each other.” Swift sighed, coming out more disappointed than irritated. “I thought for once that it could be different. Guess not.”
At those words, Rainbow’s fiery temper quickly fizzled out. This wasn’t her first time meeting another camp member during her travels, but the results had always been the same: her abusive behavior drove them away. The problem carried over from back in camp proper with her constant trash-talking, ego bashing, and rule bending. While it brought her records and medals, it didn’t bring her any stable friendships.
Gilda had been the lone exception, but that was only due to their similar personalities back in the day. Rainbow’s experiences and bonds with her fellow Element-bearers had changed her for the better since her days of flight camp, but the brash griffon remained the same. What was the one exception became the rule in an abrupt and public fashion, an inevitable moment that she accepted, though that did little to soothe the wounds.
Ending that friendship left a void that nopony within the town could fill, so she thought perhaps another Speedster could at least serve as a patch. Unfortunately, given her prior experiences with the other Speedsters she encountered outside of camp, she had yet to test that theory and she didn’t know if she’d ever have the opportunity again. She had to make this one count! At the least, she already had one thing in common with him. There’s no reason to butt heads just because they were Speedsters.
“Hold on a minute!” Rainbow trotted across the floor. “Wait!”
Swift all but taken that first step down the staircase but hearing the urgency in her voice, he turned sideways to face her. “What is it now?” he droned.
She paused for an extra breath. “Okay, look. I’m sorry if I was hard on you!”
“Eh?” Swift remarked, tilting his head slightly.
Rainbow looked away, shifting her weight around uncomfortably. “It’s just been a really lousy couple of days for me, so I’m not in a great mood, you know? I’m not like this all the time… well, okay. I can be kinda annoying and I brag, a lot. But I promise I’ll try to be better. C’mon. I’ll, um—” She pondered on a hook. “—um, okay. How about this? Forget everything I said before and all start over the right way…. with the Junior Speedsters chant?”
“The chant?” Swift parroted, with apparent disinterest. Then, his eyes widened. “I love the chant!”
Forget his major-faux earlier. That was music to her ears! The chant was one the camp’s lowlights but the ritual was one of the few events in the world she would willingly wake up early for. “Then c’mon! Let’s do it!”
Swift had his doubts that somepony wearing a restrictive cast could perform the chant, but she was already in position. He had to give her points for determination, that’s for sure. The moment he moved besides her, his memory retrieved every single gyration in the sequence; each one had always been done in the air.
Rainbow momentarily stood on her hind hooves. “Like that, okay?”
“Oh!” he remarked, realizing that posture would free up the forelegs. “I gotcha!”
Without realizing it, a grin appeared on Rainbow’s face. It had been ages since she had done this, and even the cast couldn’t contain her enthusiasm. “On three! One! Two! Three!”
Junior Speedsters are our lives,
Sky-bound soars and—
Rainbow pirouetted, a move her wing disapproved of. The sudden sting knocked her off balance, and flat onto the floor with a dull thud. Before she knew it, Swift offered his forehoof along with some stifled chuckling.
“You alright, Rainbow?”
How dare he laugh at her expense! She might’ve been trying to be on her best behavior, but this required retribution!
Refusing his help, she got up and thought back to what Rarity mentioned earlier downstairs. Issues about his name, the fashionista said. Rainbow wanted to see exactly what that meant.
“Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up.” She smirked, “Swift!”
Right away, the stallion reeled as though a skunk had sprayed him.
Rainbow collapsed onto the floor and rolled around, hooves wriggling in delight. “Ha, ha, ha, ha! That… that face is priceless!”
“Would you not call me that, please?” he muttered, barely audible over Rainbow’s raucous laughter.
Rainbow staggered upright, “Oh, c’mon. Loosen up, will ya?” She picked up a beanbag. “Tell you what? How about we spice up our game a bit, you know, make it more, fun?”
Before he could answer, Rainbow grabbed a handkerchief from the nearby table, and then wrapped it over his eyes.
“Um, what are you doing?”
“Just making it more of a challenge,” she answered as she nudged him closer to the beanbag board.
“Um, are you sure this—” A beanbag muffled the rest of his sentence.
“Don’t worry about it. Nopony’s here, and besides, when you screw up, I’ll make sure you don’t break anything. So, let’s see how long it takes you to score.”
Swift moaned through the bag. His sole reference in the pitch-black was his memory and that would work only if Rainbow placed him in the same position as in the other games. While he didn’t see the point of using a blindfold, he went ahead anyways with one swing of his head.
Thwack! His ears picked that up as failure and indeed, removing the cloth showed him the beanbag had landed past the hole and to the left.
“Wow,” Rainbow exclaimed, pointing at the projectile. “You almost had it, Fly!”
He couldn’t help but smile.
“Beginner’s luck. Won’t happen again.”
Just like that, she robbed him of his joy. “Whatever, Rainbow. There’s not much luck involved. All you have to do is—”
She stuffed the beanbag into his mouth, “Save it, rookie. You won’t even come close this time.”
After the mare tied on the blindfold, Swift assimilated all the data from attempt number one, and translated it to simple commands.
Loosen up your grip and a little less arc. Yeah, that should do it.
As he practiced his throwing motion, Rainbow stood a few feet away, focused on every miniscule motion from the slender stallion like she would when watching the Wonderbolts. The constant observation was lulling her into a trance, so when he finally took his shot, it jolted her awake. Rainbow craned toward the corner of the room, catching the beanbag tumbling onto the wood, with half the sack hanging over the hole.
“Heh! That’s—”
The bag slide into and through the hole.
Rainbow gaped. “That—that went in?”
“It did?” Swift slid the cloth over his head. “It did! Ah, wicked!” The stallion hoof pumped. “I didn’t think it would go in on just two tries! Maybe it was a little of beginners luck, right, Rainbow?”
Downplaying his achievement aggravated her like an itchy rash. Maybe he was really challenging her to do better or it could just be her imagination. “Hmf. Two tries is pretty good but I’ll show you how it’s done right the first time around. Set me up!”
Moments later, she stood in the same position as Swift with the same dilemna. Sans sight, Rainbow relied on both on her experience with the game and the stallion’s earlier motions. It should work, she thought, if she compensated for a slightly lower stature with more power. She even found an area for improvement, a little celebration for a hole in one.
Easy peasy! Her head swung backwards. Steady. Steady. Release!
Her chompers released its grip on the projectile. Immediately, her ears folded for a shrill yelp. She ripped the fabric off her face, fearing her partner would be knocked out with a ghastly purple bump on his head.
She had the first part right; Swift was prostrate on the floor with beanbag on hoof. He dropped it like a hot potato and began hissing.
Rainbow guffawed, clutching her chest. “Aw, is the little colt hurt? Does your mom have to kiss it for you?”
“That beanbag almost hit my face, you know,” he whined.
“I’m just pulling your mane,” she giggled. “You know, you’re not too bad, Fly. Maybe you’re not a lost cause after all!”
Swift grunted confusion. “I don’t get it.”
She grabbed onto his hoof and lifted it. “Just look at you. A little short, kinda scrawny and you don’t sound like a tough guy at all. I bet everypony pushes you around, right?”
“Well, not exa—”
“Well, don’t you worry! Spend enough time around me and maybe some of my awesomeness will rub off on you. Isn’t that great?”
His excitement level was that of a doctor telling him he had the feather flu. Swift found her pompous, temperamental and overbearing although he’d dealt with far worse ponies in his life. Tolerating Rainbow Dash was well within reason, at least he hoped so.
“I guess. At least you’re not trying to hit me on the head with a surfboard.”
“Huh?”
“Never mind. So, you want to try again?”
Rainbow did just that, wearing the blindfold, securing the beanbag in her mouth and finally tossing it blindly into the air. Moments later, she heard the sound of sack hitting wood, a wonderful sound to her ears but when she lifted the cloth over over eyes, she saw an eyesore.
“Darnit! I hit the corner! Ummm, that one didn’t count. My nose got really itchy and it threw me off.”
“Eh? But you didn’t even—”
Rainbow feigned a sneeze. “There it is. Don’t you hate it when that happens, Fly?”
She might as well have a ‘I’m a lousy liar’ sign over her head. “Yeah. Must be allergy season.”
To no surprise for the stallion, the mare’s third attempt was the charm except she called it her second.
“How about that, Fly? Now let’s make this even harder!”
Rainbow did just that, increasing the distance between the throwing point and the slanted piece of painted wood to about twenty feet. More so, she had him facing the wrong way so he needed a backwards fling to make his target.
“By the way—” Rainbow spoke while tying the cloth covering his eyes — “you have to make it within five shots.”
“Really?” he mumbled through the sack Rainbow shoved into his mouth.
Such mechanics needed for a long-range shot was too much to nail down the first time; anywhere within five feet from the hole would be a success.
Plop! His beanbag landed on the floor just short of the board.
“What was that?” the mare snorted, slapping her sides. “Is it too far for you?”
Swift rolled his eyes. “Hold on. Just keep watching.”
She did just that, observing a blindfolded stallion improving on every toss, his brown sack landing closer and closer to the hole. At his rate, he’d reach a goal that she’d admitted was like asking her to do two consecutive Sonic Rainbooms. Therefore, she decided that the plastic palm trees outside the window tickled her snout at the worst possible moment (for him).
“Ah-choo!”
Splat! Swift’s beanbag hit the floor inches from him.
“Excuse me.” She feigned rubbing her nose. “Darn, what bad luck, huh?”
His eye muscle twitched as he removed the cloth. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
Rainbow pointed at her chest, “Me? That was just bad timing. Ok! My turn!”
As he helped her with the blindfold, small huffs escaped his snout. Rainbow was that pesky fly at a picnic, buzzing around his head, ever persistent in testing his patience. He wasn’t one to take a swipe but watching her line up her attempt with that smug smile was too much.
“Achooo!” Swift watched Rainbow’s beanbag float upwards before landing right on her head.
“Ow!”
I shouldn’t laugh. I shouldn’t laugh. Cracks turned to a hard wheeze - revenge never felt so good. Then, a complete three-sixty in emotions once he noticed Rainbow grumbling his way, nostrils flaring. His hooves stiffened, unable to step away from incoming mare’s scorn.
“You!” Her muzzle pressed against his.
“B-b-b-but… bad luck?”
A shaking Rainbow growled, her eyes reddening. “Youuuuuuu….” Then, a light shove onto his chest and with that, she chuckled. “Heh. What do you know? You got a little fight in you.”
“But I wasn’t—”
Patting him in the back, “Don’t worry about it. It’s all in good fun.”
Swift managed a smile. “Yeah, that was sorta funny. Oof!”
Another blow to the chest. “Don’t get too comfy. I think my nose is starting to get itchy again—” She smirked “—if you know what I mean.”
He scratched his head. “Um… well?” Then, a cough. “Shoot. Think I caught something on my flight over here.”
“Heh. Like that’s gonna throw me off my game!”
They continued with what should’ve been a simple game of bean bag toss, except the two competitors not only ratchet up their timely distractions but discovered new ways to make the game more difficult. By the time the last of the ember light ceded to the twilight of the night, a blindfolded Swift stood on his hind hooves on top of a table, his balance thwarted by Rainbow Dash’s constant bombardment of insults.
“You couldn’t hit the side of a massive thundercloud, Fly! Just give it up! Thirteen tries ain’t the charm!”
Removing the beanbag from his mouth, “Yours keep going into the water tub. If you really want to bob for apples instead, you could just tell me.”
She raspberried. “What a lame response! Boooooooo! Now, hurry up and screw this one up, wontcha?”
Swift thought otherwise; all her deliberate distractions meant he was getting used to them. Even when Rainbow shook the table, he waited until the second she stopped for his blind hurl. Once he shed the blindfold, the stallion gasped as did his partner.
“Rainbow! It’s—”
Beanbag pelting a wooden board, the hollow sound of failure. He fell flat onto the table, his forelegs covering his eyes. “Ahhhh! I should’ve had it!”
“Could’ve, should’ve, would’ve,” said Rainbow smugly. “Good to see you’re really getting into it, though.”
“Yeah. I guess I am.” He hopped onto the floorboards. “Shoot. Biggest surprise of the day right there.”
Pinkie suddenly materialized in front of him. “Ohai!”
“Ah!” Swift stumbled backwards and onto the floor. “W–what what, how did you do that, Pink?”
“Do what?” She batted her eyelashes with a wide grin.
Rainbow sighed. “Forget trying to figure it out, Fly. She just has a knack for sneaking up on ponies. Anyways, what are you doing here, Pinkie Pie?”
“Well—” She pulled the two pegasi together “—you two have been up here all alone for at least two hours. Just wanted to see if something was going on.”
“We were playing a few games,” said Swift.
Pinkie giggled. “Oh, I see. Anything else?”
“Eh? I don’t follow you.”
“Um, what are you trying to get at, Pinkie?” Rainbow interjected, oblivious to what she implied.
She released her grip on the two. “Ok! Must be too early, then! C’mon! We’re having a small dinner downstairs!”
Rainbow and Swift watched the party pony skip and hop her way down the stairs.
“Early for what?” The stallion scratched his head.
With a shrug, “You got me. What I do know is that I’m ready to chow down. Let’s go!”
“Right behind you.”
Moments later, they descended the staircase onto the first floor. Where there had been partygoers was now empty space, save for bits of confetti, half-eaten food and deflated balloons. Instead of blaring music, the only sounds came from Rainbow’s friends, who were sampling the spread at the largest table in the room.
“Oh! Fruit pizza!” Rainbow barged through everypony for a slice with nary a hello.
Meanwhile, Swift said his greetings before grabbing a paper plate. “Shoot. No pineapple.”
Applejack raspberried. “You don’t need none of that yellow mush.” She polished a red fruit. “There’s some apple slices over there.”
“Well, I”—
“Let Fly pick his food, Applejack,” Twilight interrupted, as she levitated a sandwich onto her dish. “So, since you’re here, Fly, there’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”
The stallion acknowledged while filling a cup with punch.
“If you’re here, then who’s filling in for you?”
Swift paused for a sip. “You see, the forecast is sunny for the next three weeks, so nopony, really. My team can handle clear skies, no worries.”
“Sounds like a cushy job to me,” Spike interjected, prodding the stallion. “So, where do I sign up?”
“It’s not that easy, little dude,” Swift chuckled. “Brayside’s weather can sometimes really throw us a curveball.”
“Like what, exactly?”
While Swift began describing waterspouts, Rarity focused on something more fascinating for the wrong reasons. That hairstyle, all of it, was a disaster zone with loose strands, split ends and how his forelock had a darker shade of blue than his mane and tail. It would’ve been rude to ask if he dyed his hair but she just had to intervene for his sake. At the least, he could move his goggles to free some of the strands.
The moment he finished, she politely coughed. “Ahem. Mister Flying? I presume dealing with all that turbulent weather is the reason for the—” Rarity shuddered —”condition of your mane. You know, I know of a little place in town that can restore it at an affordable price.”
“That’s okay.” He ruffled up his forelock, “I like how it is right now. Low maintenance.”
“Oh are you sure? Don’t you want to provide a good impression to Rainbow’s teammates?”
“He’s just fine,” interjected Rainbow as she munched on hay fries. “Geez, you always have to complain about us weather ponies and our manes.”
Rarity raised her muzzle. “Just because your occupation is in the elements doesn’t mean that one can’t maintain a professional appearance.”
“Give it up, Sugarcube,” said Applejack, wiping off apple bits around her mouth. “Don’t think you’ll win this one.” She prodded Swift, “Speaking of which, were you able to beat Rainbow in any of them games, Fly?”
He glanced at Rainbow before answering, “Not really, no.”
“Now, don’t be fibbing on me, now. You almost had me, and I know for a fact that I’m better than Rainbow.”
The mentioned pony tossed the cowpony a grape.
“Hey!”
Rainbow stuck out her tongue. “You wish you were better than me, loserjack.”
That triggered a barrage of insults between the two competitive mares. Swift could only slink towards Fluttershy.
“Is Rainbow always like this?” the stallion whispered.
“Not all the time,” she replied in kind, smiling. “I know she may sometimes be… a teensy bit annoying, but don’t worry. Once you get to know her, she can be really nice.” Her ears then folded. “Why do you ask? Was she giving you trouble upstairs? I’m sorry if she was.”
Shaking his head, “Nah, nah, it’s all good. We’re starting to get along… I think.”
“If you say so but can I ask you something? Spike was telling me you mentioned that you had a pet?”
“Well, a turtle, but he’s not exactly—”
Her eyes glittered, “A turtle? Do you have pictures? When is his birthday? Does he have any friends? What’s his diet like? What time does he take a nap?”
Waving his hoofs, “Whoa, whoa, cool your jets. It’s not quite like that.”
“So he’s a tortoise?” Pinkie interjected.
Spike slapped his face. “No, Pinkie. Swift has a pet turtle.”
That grabbed everypony’s attention, especially Rainbow -- it was worthy of a point and laugh.
Ignoring her cackling, “I wouldn’t call him a pet. You see, he lives in the ocean but for whatever reason, he started hanging out in my place. Eventually, I decided to call him Leo.”
Twilight raised her foreleg. “Hold on. How can a turtle reach a pegasus in the skies?”
“Because I live in a cave.”
Everypony around him exclaimed surprise.
Not missing a beat, “Brayside doesn’t allow cloud homes within town limits so you either live far off or live in a cave like I do.”
“That sounds pretty weird,” Rainbow responded while grabbing an apple.
“Rainbow!” Twilight barked.
Between chews, “What? I’m just saying… I couldn’t do something like that. The sky’s my home, and the second I can fly again, that’s where I’m go—”
Suddenly, she could breathe no more. Rainbow saw swirling blue skies even though she was really inside Sugarcube Corner. She heard cheers but none from this room; they were gasping at her loss of balance. Applejack’s hooves saved her from falling except that didn’t stop that sensation that she was spinning out of control. Then she felt something moist over her forehead, a towel provided by a blurry Rarity.
“What’s going on?” said Twilight, her voice trembling. “What’s wrong with her?”
“Rainbow said her pills are making her do… this!” replied Applejack, removing her hat to give cool air to her stricken friend. “Is that true Twi?”
“I don’t really know! I’m a librarian, not a doctor! Let me go find one!”
“It’s all right,” Rainbow slurred. “It’s gone now but seriously, can I toss the pills, Fluttershy?”
She got no answer, not from Fluttershy or anypony else. They just stared at her as though she was in an hospital bed.
“Oh, c’mon, now!” Rainbow staggered onto all fours. “Don’t look at me like that!”
“Our apologies, Rainbow,’ said Rarity, “but you really gave us a scare there. We’re concerned about your well-being, darling.”
“That’s right,” added Pinkie. She then shook around the room like an alarm clock, “Youuuuu… werrrre… goingggg… likeee... thissssss.”
“I was?” Rainbow replied.
Twilight nodded. “We can’t leave you behind like this. Manehattan can wait for—”
“Ugggggh!” Rainbow facehoofed. “N. O. No! Look! I already promised Fluttershy I’ll tell Nurse Redheart about this the next time I see her! You girls enjoy your trip, all right?”
She was convinced of one thing; Rainbow wasn’t budging. Even so, Twilight wanted to dangle some low fruit. “If that’s what you want but if you need us for any reason, you have the hotel address. Just write to us and we’ll hop on the next train back. Deal?”
Warmth trickled onto Rainbow’s face-- she couldn’t say no to this. “All right. I’ll keep that in mind.” Then, she put up a brave front, “But I doubt it’s gonna come down to that. Besides, I’ll be too busy bossing Fly around because there’s no way that… hey! Why are you all the way over there?”
He stood by the kitchen doorway, left wing twitching as though he saw a ghost.
“Not you too! Did I freak you out or something?”
“Eh?” His wing stopped moving. “Oh, I, um, yeah! That’s what it was!” Swift treaded slowly toward the front door. “My bad, everypony, but I gotta bail. You know, long flight, party, and I… meeting, in the morning with the Weather Committee. Thanks for the party! Wicked meeting all of—”
“Hold it!” Rainbow blocked the exit. “You can’t go just yet. You see, you seem okay as a pony but I still don’t trust you taking over my skies or my team. For example—”
“I know where this is going,” Swift said in a downcast tone. “I’ll be reporting to you even though I don’t really need to.”
She winked. “You learn quickly. Sunset tomorrow. Cottage just outside of town. Can’t miss it.”
“Gotcha.” He flicked down his goggles. “Later, then.”
Rainbow let him through, and then watched him depart into the twilight sky.
That went okay, I guess, but he gave in to me far too easily! I’m marking him down for that.
She continued staring at what she considered her true abode, ignoring the whispers behind her back. Sure, her friends had her welfare in mind but that gave way to wondering why the guest of honor left in such a hurry to divying up cleaning duties and emerging conversation about Manehattan.
“I know you got a cast and all”—said Applejack—”but you would mind giving us a hoof here?”
“In a minute,” Rainbow answered half-heartedly.
The mare flicked her wing, the impact with her shackles no more aggravating than a mosquito bite. A step in the right direction and that had her grinning from ear to ear. Finally, progress not just with her injury but with her overprotective friends. If she could recover fast enough, she might even take back command before this newcomer finds a way to screw up.
I’ll be back in action in no time! I can’t wait!