//------------------------------// // Meet Up // Story: Fraternal // by Melody Song //------------------------------// Rainbow was flying through the skies above Ponyville, doing some leaps and spins. She was doing a double loop and was considering a Sonic Rainboom, just for fun. "Woo hoo! And for her next trick, the amazing Rainbow Dash will do her legendary...Sonic Rainbooomm!" Rainbow said, pretending to be an announcer, since Scoot wasn't around. Rainbow flew up high and hovered in midair, then dove down, pushing as fast as she could. The sound barrier began to form around her as she dove down, wind whistling in her ears. Rainbow was almost there, just one more push should do it. But then, her wings stiffened, the way a Pegasi's wings do when they're being overused. "Shoot." Rainbow muttered, before she was hurled backwards by the sound barrier. Rainbow recovered quickly, having been trained on the Dizzitron, but was forced to land on a cloud to relax her wings. As she was massaging the feathers, a familiar raspy voice-raspier than usual, but still familiar-came from somewhere. "Do you talk to yourself often?" Rainbow looked around and saw a cloaked pony flying up to her, a grin on her face and in her eyes. "Daring! What're you doing here?" Rainbow asked, smiling at her. "Answer my question first." Daring responded slyly. Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Okay bossy. No, I don't, I was just filling in for my number one fan, she usually acts like an announcer when I'm flying, but she's not here." "What about the nearly crashing part?" "That's...normal." Rainbow sighed "But only when I'm doing a Sonic Rainboom!" she added hastily "Sonic Rainboom? You mentioned that you could do that once, but why did you mess up?" "Even I can't do it right every time Daring. I try to practice it pretty often, and a lot of times something happens that causes the sound barrier to push me backwards. I'd get technical about it but I don't want to sound like Twilight. Plus I don't know the technical stuff." Rainbow replied, and Daring snickered. "I'm guessing the recovery was planned though, if you expected to not get it right." "Yes, it was. My wings stiffened, probably because of Wonderbolt training on top of Weather Patrol duties." Rainbow explained, as Daring settled onto the cloud beside her. "Wonderbolt training? Is that what taught you to do a spinout recovery? I've been an adventurer for so long, I've gotten used to recovering from things like that." Daring said, pulling the hood down on her cloak due to the heat. "Yep, they've got this machine called the Dizzitron that's used to train recruits and Wonderbolts themselves for spinouts. It whirls you around and then releases you." "Wow, that sounds tough." "Actually, I set the record for fastest recovery, only six seconds." Rainbow boasted, and Daring chuckled "Based on what I just saw, I don't doubt it." "But what are you doing here? I've answered like, all fifteen hundred of your questions, what about mine?" "Fine, but you do know how to count, right?" Daring asked, nudging her in a teasing way. "Of course, but answer me!" "Fine." Daring sighed and looked around "Are we alone?" "No one up here but us, though I can't guarantee that somepony won't come looking for me, the Weather Patrol isn't allowed to do anything without running it by their leader." "Then can we go to your house? Where do you live anyway?" "A cloud home not too far from here. My wings are feeling better, so we might as well head over there now." Rainbow said, standing and extending her wings, flapping them a few times to get the feeling back. The two mares took off and Rainbow led Daring to her house. She could predict Daring's reaction before it even happened. Rainbow knew where Daring lived, in a run down old cottage in a forest. To her the most basic of hotels would seem a luxury. And besides, she was on the road so much Rainbow wouldn't be surprised if Daring was tired of Inns and camping. "This place is huge." "I know. Most of the other Wonderbolts have houses like this, except Fleetfoot, but her parents are making her pay them back for all they spent on her when she was living with them, so she doesn't have a house. Not that it matters, since she stays at HQ with Spitfire, the captain, to help with paperwork and stuff. She doesn't even need to help, that's Soarin's job as co-captain, I actually think she's just finding an excuse to stay with Spitfire." "Are they a thing?" "Sort of? I'm their friend, so I should know, but they haven't really defined their relationship yet. I know at least one of them wants them to be a couple. Enough about that, how'd you find me anyway?" Rainbow asked as she unlocked the door and let them in. "I got your address from my publisher, he's the one that figured out where to send that first edition of Ring of Destiny." "Thanks for that, by the way, a signed first edition and with an original cover? I know I saved your life but that was a little much." "Not really. I knew you'd like it, you seemed to be a pretty big fan. And you were nice enough to rescue me even after I treated you badly." "To be honest, I almost didn't. I thought I'd messed up and was being awful to you, I just wanted to leave. Then my friends helped me, and you know the rest." Rainbow replied "But can you answer my question now?" "Yes, if you're going to be that impatient. You brought up this conversation after all." Daring said, sitting beside Rainbow on the couch. "So?" Rainbow pressed, and Daring sighed "I came to talk to you because I need a break. From everything, really." "What's going on? You don't give up easy, I know you too well to believe that this is for no reason." the concern on Rainbow's face was so obvious Daring was touched that she even cared. "I had just discovered a breakthrough in my research on the Crystal Sphere of Khumn, but when I reached the location all I got was hours' worth of sweat, probably heat stroke, and a pile of sand. On top of that my food rations had nearly run out and I had to make camp for the night. I woke up with a sore back." Daring explained "You're making it sound like you're older than you really are, you know that, right?" Rainbow asked, and Daring swatted her playfully "Okay, okay, I'll stop. Sensitive much? But what does that have to do with you being here?" "I need some quiet time, I thought maybe I'd catch up with you." Daring replied "If you came for peace and quiet you came to the wrong place. Something crazy happens in Ponyville every other week. But I guess we could hang out, Wonderbolt training ended for the season, so I'm not doing anything." Rainbow agreed "Great. So, can I get some food? I'm starving." "Yeah, sure, just to warn you though, I can't cook to save my life." Rainbow said, standing. "You want some help?" "You can cook?" "I'm an adventurer, when you live like I do, you need to know how to cook for yourself, so you know what you have while on the road." Daring shrugged. After they ate, Rainbow showed Daring a guest room she could stay in. "Thanks Rainbow, for this." "No problem." "About what you said earlier, do you know how old I am?" Daring asked. "Not really, I just assumed you're young." Rainbow admitted. "Well, I'm sort of young, I'm 21." "Oh, really? Me too. I guess that explains why we're such good friends even when we hardly see each other. So, you wanna hang out a bit?" Rainbow asked. "How do you do that?" "Sweet Celestia, didn't you ever have any friends when you were a kid?" "Not really. My parents used me to get rich once I got my cutie mark. I got used to being alone." "I have so much to teach you."