Chapter 13: Lightning Strikes
The entire world seemed to slow down, coming into focus as it did. The wind still howled in his ears and tugged at his wings, but he pushed just as hard to stay in formation as he flew in a circle. The cyan figure was flying, straight as an arrow and twice as fast, punching through the compacted clouds with ease. The flash of rainbows was spectacular, a prismatic glow of light that emanated from a single pony. He watched as the pegasus spun around to observe her handiwork, a wide smile painting her face. A deep rumbling came from within the slate-grey cyclone, a heavy shake that he could feel in his core.
Without further warning, a harsh blue light came from within, arching out to touch the prismatic pony. The smile on her face turned to pain, and then to fear as she started falling. He didn’t realize he was speeding towards her until he was already halfway there, his front hooves out to catch her. Pain flashed hot across his wings as he pushed them harder. Gritting his teeth, he approached the falling Rainbow Dash with speed that would be matchable only by a few pegasi in Equestria. She was rapidly approaching a wall, its cold and unforgiving surface seeming to move to meet her halfway. His eyes shut with the force of the wind, but still he flew.
Something soft, though going the speed of a missile, smashed into his side. He grunted with the pain, spinning slightly so he could stop the object from falling further with his hooves. Rainbow’s head looked over to him, her eyes slightly closed as she gazed into his face before falling to the side. Cold filled him, an icy pain that washed over him in waves. It carved out every inch of warmth in his body and left behind a feeling of nothingness. His hooves touched cloud as he descended, the soft puffs accepting his weight with ease. The sun beat onto his back and the wind brushed through his mane, but he felt nothing as he stared into the face of Rainbow Dash, nothing except a frigid chill that pulled at his body.
Five other ponies touched down behind him, similar whispers of noise announcing their arrival. Shockwave stepped up beside him, laying a hoof on his shoulder. “Is she…?” The electric-blue pegasus left the question unsaid, letting the implications hang in the air.
“No Shockwave, she’s…” Cloud Walker left his statement unfinished as well, walking up to the cyan pegasus lying on the cloud, unmoving. He bent down, his hoof reaching for the space of neck underneath the rainbow hair. A pony screamed in fright, and Cloud looked calmly up into his face. “Soarin, I’m only checking. If she’s still alive, we need to get her to a hospital.” Shock penetrated the chill long enough for him to notice his hoof was laid atop the older pegasus’s with more force than was needed. He pulled away, letting the grey pegasus feel softly along Rainbow’s neck. He looked up to Soarin, a hopeful light in his eyes. “She’s still here.” It was all the confirmation he needed.
Soarin grabbed Rainbow in his front hooves, pumping his strong wings to get into the air. Even two ponies couldn’t have matched his speed as he shot through the air to the hospital. The wind tore at him, threatening to toss the pony from his hooves, but he gritted his teeth and pressed on, ignoring the pain that flashed across his body. The walls of the hospital loomed ahead, their white surfaces looking as slick as ever. He bent protectively over Rainbow as they smashed into the walls, punching straight through them into the hospital within.
Something tug at his hooves, trying to take Rainbow away from him. He held on tighter, intent to stay with her as long as he could. He opened his eyes to the sight of doctors and nurses looking down at him, shouting something he couldn’t hear. A sharp pain jabbed into his side, soon followed by a feeling of nothingness. Blackness teased around the edges of his vision, soon consuming his mind and pulling him under the sea of unconsciousness.
000
The shouts of fear from the pony on her back were lost on the wind as she dived towards the ground. The wind pulled at her, rushing past her ears and pulling her skin taut. Let’s do this. Her eager smile was reflected by the lake as she flew parallel to its smooth surface, which was soon broken by the air that followed her. With another flap of her wings, she went higher and higher, pulling higher into the sky. When she leveled out, a hoof tapped angrily on her shoulder. That one touch drew her out of the bliss that came from flying and replaced it with irritation. “What do you want?”
His voice, normally so deep and calm, screamed out fearfully in her ear. “CAN YOU PLEASE NOT DO THAT AGAIN!?” She looked back at the pegasus perched on her back, holding onto the makeshift saddle for dear life. His eyes were filled with fear as he flapped his one good wing worriedly.
Oh? Big bad pegasus wants me to stop? A mischievous smile lit up her face, her eyes glinting with joy. “Okay then big stallion, I’ll stop doing that…” She trailed of suggestively, smiling wider at the growing fear in Wind’s eyes. She banked sharply to the right, spiraling downward. “And I’ll start doing THIS.” Without further warning, she bucked Wind from her back, watching him flail around in the sky as he fell. She spiraled around him, circling and turning away at the last moment around his falling body. His mouth was open in a scream that was lost in the wind. The air burned hotter as she cut through it, the friction from her mane causing sparks to fly from her hair. “Spitfire.” She said the word as if it were a command, flames springing to life along her body as she circled downward. Any cloud that she punched through instantly turned into vapor, the water heating with her passing.
She looked over to see the falling pegasus flip over to stare at her, his eyes widening as she literally blazed through the air. Turning her gaze downward, she saw that the ground was a lot closer than she had expected. With a sigh, she slowed her passage through the sky, the warmth that had spread through her body slowly disappearing. A thud on her back signaled the return of the disoriented Wind Cutter, and she flew back up into the sky. She turned back to look at his bewildered face, his mouth open with awe. “So? What did you think?”
The grey pony shook himself, holding onto the saddle with a hoof as he rubbed his eyes with another. “That was…” His voice was faint, as was to be expected from a pony that had been supposedly tumbling to their deaths a moment before. “Amazing…ly terrifying!” He amended when her smirk grew larger. “For the love of Celestia, can we just FLY like normal pegasi!?” He poked her with a hoof angrily.
She raised an eyebrow at his attitude, annoyance slightly filtering into her good mood. “Oh? What’s the fun in that?” She laughed aloud as she dropped into another dive. “THIS is the fun part of going anywhere!” Her shout of joy was torn from her mouth as the ground flew up to meet her.
Several hours later…on a trip that should have only taken one…
Spitfire flopped down onto the soft cloud, relishing in the relief that it brought her sore limbs. “Oh Celestia, you know you’re pretty heavy for a pegasus.” She threw a ball of the soft gas towards the grey pony and smiled at the soft poof sound that came from the contact. Ha, didn’t even have to look. “You should lay off of the cupcakes or something.” No response. She flipped herself over to look at the now-kissing-the-clouds-and-shivering pegasus, having to suppress a giggle at his uneasiness. He looked over to her, his eyes glaring straight into her own.
“M-m-maybe you sh-should h-hold off on the t-t-tricks!” The anger in his voice was lost in the shaky stutter, his legs trembling as he stepped closer to her. She couldn’t suppress the new round of giggles that bubbled up from her throat. He sighed and turned away, walking down the familiar streets of Cloudsdale. “W-whatever, lets j-just go.”
She couldn’t help but roll her eyes as she stood up to follow him. “So uptight. I’ll have to fix that, one way or another.” She muttered as she walked over the clouds, plotting her next move. That’s when the idea hit her like a splash of water. An evil grin spread across her face as the plan formed itself in her mind, growing clearer and clearer with every step.
Author's Note: Once again, sorry for the slow-coming chapter updates. I just.... can't seem to find much motivation sometimes. Hopefully this chapter was decent enough to sate you all until the next one. If it wasn't, I DO have other stories that you can read.