//------------------------------//
// Chapter 42 - Fast ascent 
// Story: Dusk Shine in pursuit of Happiness 
// by bigsnusnu 
//------------------------------//

Fast ascent

Rainbow Dash slowly opened her eyes and stretched her body as she woke up to the new day.  Remembering the previous morning, she sneakily stretched her hoof to feel for something, or specifically someone.  However, she was a little disappointed to discover that unlike last night, Dusk had not slept with her.

“Guess there’s no other reason to stay in bed now.” Rainbow Dash groaned followed by a long sigh.

As she stood up, Rainbow Dash automatically attempted to stretch her wings as she always did, but just as it had since her accident, her wings still did not respond.  So, she stretched her neck and legs before preparing to leave the room. This was her second morning waking up in Dusk Shine’s bed, and although the bed was so comfortable and she couldn't be more grateful to him for letting her sleep there, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but sigh discouraged as she remembered her own bed  Her fluffy soft bed made of clouds that had remained intact since she had fallen from her home.

Hearing noises downstairs, Rainbow Dash hurried down to the first floor of the library, heading straight for the kitchen, where Dusk Shine and Spike were already sitting front the table.  Spike was drinking a glass of juice, while Dusk stared at him, not even batting an eye .

"What's wrong?  Why the look?" Spike asked after getting nervous at his brother's watchful eye.

"Uh!? Oh! I-It's nothing, don't worry, it's... it's just that you have a piece of gem in your teeth." Dusk replied nervously, snapping out of his thoughts and looking away.  Then Dusk saw that Rainbow Dash had finally woken up and stood up to prepare her breakfast.

"Good morning!" Dusk said cheerfully waving his friend while inviting her to take a seat as he made a pitcher with orange juice. "Sit down, I'll make you breakfast. In the mornings we prefer orange juice to apple juice, but don't tell Applejack."

"Gosh... I should be the one to serve you breakfast, it's the least I can do since you let me stay here and let me use your bed." Rainbow Dash said blushing slightly, scratching her head.

"It's not a bother.  Besides, to be honest, I doubt that you'll get up before us to make breakfast, you usually just conk out the second you hit the matress." Dusk said smiling as he brought a tray of bread to the table, along with a glass and the pitcher of juice.

"I-I'm not that heavy of a sleeper! It's… it's just…" Rainbow Dash replied blushing. “Well, with everything that happened yesterday, who wouldn't be tired!  Discovering that thanks to you all your best friends got their cutie marks isn’t just something you take in, it is ... It's mental fatigue!" Rainbow Dash pouted, not coming up with another better excuse to justify her morning laziness.

"Sure… whatever you say..." Dusk said smiling, offering the tray with bread to his friend.

While Rainbow Dash ate, Dusk used his magic to levitate a book that was on the table and began to read.

"What are you reading?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously.

"It's an advanced spell book, I started reading it last night." Dusk said as he read. "I've been thinking about what other options we can look for to fix the problem with your wings, at least temporarily, until we can find a definitive solution."

Hearing Dusk, Rainbow Dash widened her eyes and then lowered her head with a sad look. Lots of things went through her head, but she wasn't sure to say them at the time.

"I... I don't know if it's a good idea..." Rainbow Dash said with a worried look.

"I found a spell that works so flightless ponies can walk on the clouds." Dusk added while still reading the book. "It is only temporary but lasts for several hours, I think we could try it."

"That is not the problem, remember that I fell from my house only when I tried to fly..." Rainbow Dash said with some regret when remembering. "Also, I don't think that-"

"Oh! Right! I had forgotten. That means we can then focus on this other spell…" Dusk said interrupting Rainbow Dash, quickly advancing in his book to find the spell he was looking for.

"Dusk, I-" Rainbow said before being interrupted again.

"Here it is! This is a temporary flight spell!" Dusk said excited to find what he was looking for.

"Dusk." Rainbow Dash said seriously, since she noticed that Dusk was not even listening to her.

"Wow, I've never seen such a complex spell, but I think-" Dusk said excitedly as he read the spell.

"DUSK!" Rainbow Dash yelled, this time being her who interrupted Dusk.

With the pegasus’s scream, Dusk was shocked and lowered the book. Then he saw his friend staring at him with a look of pity and concern.

"Dusk, I ... I can't do it again." Rainbow Dash said sadly, lowering her gaze. "Only two days ago, I accepted that this seemed to have no solution.  So yesterday you came up with the idea of ​​using the Elements of Harmony and my hopes were completely renewed. And after I had all my faith in the Elements of Harmony, and then… it all failed."

At that moment Rainbow Dash raised her head and looked at Dusk with a sad smile.

"Do you understand? I… I don't know if I could bear another disappointment." Rainbow Dash added sadly.

"B-But we can’t just give up... We must exhaust all options." Dusk said worriedly, ready to continue arguing against his friend. However, Dusk bit his tongue when he saw his friend so sad, just as it had happened the day before, when he himself gave her false hope before he was sure that he could heal her. "It's... It's okay... I get it..." Dusk added lowering her head, sad that he couldn't continue helping his friend.

"Thank you." Rainbow Dash said with a sad smile.

"Yeah... Uh... Can we continue having breakfast?" Spike said suddenly, trying to fix the tense atmosphere that had remained after the discussion.

Then Rainbow Dash blushed and ate her toast again, while Spike drank from his glass again. For his part, Dusk couldn't recover his spirits so easily, he just stared at his friend with a sad face, all while many thoughts crossed his head.

"Huff... anyway..." Dusk said with a sigh, thinking that despite what he thought, he would have to do what was best for Rainbow Dash at that moment. "Rainbow Dash, do you want juice?" Dusk added, shaking his head and smiling again, determined not to ruin breakfast with his sad face.

"Sure." Rainbow Dash replied, thanking Dusk for ending the topic.

Dusk poured the juice and Rainbow Dash sipped it, and as she drank it, a brilliant idea came to her mind.

"Hey, Dusk." Rainbow Dash said hitting the glass on the table, drying her mouth and putting on a huge smile full of determination. "Tell me more about that cloud-walking spell."





Above the skies over Equestria, a small pink hot air balloon soared, carrying a few well-known crewmen on it: five ponies and a baby dragon. While the balloon was being pulled into the air by a yellow pegasus, which flew very slowly while pulling on the balloon.

"Does Fluttershy really have to carry the balloon?" Rarity asked worriedly watching her friend fly as she pulled on the balloon.

"Well, we are a little late." Dusk replied with a guilty smile, then looking at Pinkie Pie. "It took you a long time to borrow the balloon from Cherry Berry."

"Oh, yeah! It was kinda difficult to distract her so she wouldn't see as I pulled out her balloon." Pinkie Pie said with a shrug.

"You stole it!?" Applejack asked scared.

"I didn't steal it, I just... borrowed it ... without her permission..." Pinkie Pie said with a nervous smile, while her other friends looked at her with a scolding face. "What did you want me to do!? We needed the balloon and Cherry Berry said she would never let me borrow it again after the weather team nearly destroyed it in the Running of the Leaves!"

"Huff... Anyway, just remind me to apologize when we get back..." Dusk said with a resigned sigh, running a hoof over his face.

"Don't worry, if it's you, I think she'll forgive you. I have heard that she’s a huge fan of the Dusk-Sempai stories." Pinkie Pie said with a big smile.

"Who is that?" Dusk asked without understanding.

"This will be fantastic!" Rainbow Dash said suddenly, who hadn't been paying attention to Pinkie Pie's conversation. She had only been glad to see the towns and landscapes again from above, just as she did when she could fly. "When we get to Cloudsdale I'll give all you a tour of the most beautiful city in all of Equestria!"

After breakfast, Rainbow Dash had told her brilliant idea to Dusk, to take him and all her friends to see Cloudsdale, the hometown of not only her and Fluttershy, but also most of the pegasi that lived in Equestria.  Only pegasi lived in the city, which was logical given that it was floating in the clouds, for the same reason, other races were normally prevented from visiting that city.  But thanks to the spell Dusk found, Rainbow Dash could finally show all of her friends the beautiful city in the clouds.  Thankfully, the balloon was finally about to arrive at said city.  The clouds parted to reveal Cloudsdale in all of its glory.  

"I'll take you to the weather factory, also the coliseum... and then we can all go see The Wonderbolt Show!" Rainbow Dash yelled full of emotion.

"I know, it'll be great. I already came prepared to see the show." Spike said as he held up a package of popcorn, only this one was filled with gems instead of popcorn. "A good show deserves a good snack." Spike added, throwing a small ruby ​​into the sky and catching it with his mouth.

"Yeah, just keep an eye on saving a little for the afternoon show." Dusk said with a small smile. Knowing his brother so well that he would bet on whatever it was that Spike would end up eating all the gems before the competition.

Rainbow Dash smiled to see that Spike was also excited to see the show, then she turned and leaned on the railing of the balloon to keep looking down and enjoy the aerial view, however, this time she couldn't help but look askance up and see Fluttershy, who with effort was slowly guiding the balloon towards the approaching Cloudsdale.

"If my wings were fine, I would have brought them much faster..." Rainbow Dash whispered very quietly, sighing with a look of pity.  Something that didn't go unnoticed by Dusk, who had been looking at her at that moment.

Finally, the ponies reached Cloudsdale, where Fluttershy landed, a little exhausted after guiding the balloon, as it slowly fell onto a cloud that was already part of the city. Then Rainbow Dash jumped out of the basket and smiled as she could feel the soft touch of the clouds on her hooves again.

"At least I can still walk on the clouds." Rainbow Dash said smiling and then looking at her friends. "And now you guys can feel it too!"

"I’ll go first, in case this doesn’t work." Dusk said as his horn gleamed as he remembered the spell he read in the morning to walk in the clouds.

Then Dusk's horn flashed for a second and his hooves had a purple glow that lasted for a couple of seconds. After this, Dusk closed his eyes sighing, determined to trust his magic, and made the leap out of the basket of the balloon, where, like his two pegasus friends, he could fall on the cloud without going through it.

"I knew the spell wouldn’t fail!" Dusk said smiling with pride. "Whenever you cast a spell the first time there is a bit of a doubt, but I-"

At that moment Dusk stopped talking, as he turned to look at Rainbow Dash with confidence, but she was not looking at him, she hadn't even paid attention to him. The only thing the cyan pegasus was staring at was the dozen pegasi, flying above, going back and forth over the city. Noticing Dusk looking at her, Rainbow Dash quickly looked away and put on a nervous smile.

"G-Good! I knew you would make it, egghead!  Now who's next?" Rainbow Dash said, wishing her slight distraction had been overlooked.

Dusk looked at his friend with a sad look, then he closed his eyes and sighed as he made a decision.

"Wait a minute... Before that, I would like to try something else." Dusk said looking with a slight look of doubt at Rainbow Dash. "I… would like to test the temporary wings spell."

"What!?" Rainbow Dash said with a scared face. "No, Dusk. I already told you in the morning, and-"

"As we flew here, I could see your face when you saw Fluttershy fly." Dusk said a little sad." Today you'll see not only Fluttershy, but hundreds of pegasi around you, and I don't want to see you sad while watching other ponies fly.  Even if it's just for this day, let me help you."

"No. No more illusions." Rainbow Dash said, looking away in fear. "If this doesn't work, I..."

"It'll work, I'll prove it to you." Dusk answered confidently, knowing how not to excite his friend again without reason. "This time I'll not disappoint you, not again."

Dusk Shine closed his eyes and began to recite in his mind the spell he had to cast as his horn grew brighter and brighter. This spell was one of the most complex Dusk had ever read, so he needed a great deal of energy and focus. Still, as his magic was channeled, Dusk couldn't help but wonder what it would look like once it worked… Would he have big wings? Since he was a unicorn, would he look like an alicorn? Perhaps his new form would be so imposing that the city pegasi would bow before him at the thought that he was an alicorn prince.

The magic in Dusk's horn peaked and a great flash appeared, blinding everyone who saw him, making them close their eyes for a second, while the light that covered Dusk was slowly dimming until everything returned to normal.

As soon as the light faded completely, Dusk slowly opened his eyes, to see his friends in front of him, who looked at him with an astonished face, especially Rarity, whose eyes seemed to shine with emotion as she saw him. Something very different from the look that Spike had, who unlike mares, covered his mouth with effort, as if he was holding out a laugh.

"What happened?  Did it work?" Dusk asked confused, looking at his back when he felt that something had changed in him.

Looking back, Dusk's eyes widened, totally shocked and quite disappointed at what he saw. The spell had indeed worked, Dusk now had wings on his sides, yet they were nothing like what he had imagined. Instead of big and imposing pegasus wings, with strong and long feathers, Dusk had a pair of huge butterfly wings, almost transparent, as if they were made of silk, with various colors on them, from where the light shone, giving a beautiful show of colors on the ground he stepped on.

"Look!  What a beautiful butterfly, hahaha!  You look like a fairy!" Spike laughed out loud, not knowing what made him laugh the most, whether to see his brother with those pretty, feminine butterfly wings on him, or to see his shocked face when he found out what he had done to himself.

"What is this!? Why are my wings-? Woah…!" Dusk said frustrated, stopping when he noticed that his wings flapped unintentionally and now kept him afloat awkwardly.

"Are you... are you flying!?" Rainbow Dash said, amazed to see how Dusk's spell had worked when she saw him flying awkwardly with his new butterfly wings.

"Y-Yes... But it's harder than I thought." Dusk added nervously as his wings continued to flap and he spun out of control.

"Try to flap both wings at the same time, inhale and exhale once for each flap, level your tail or you will lose your balance, your eyes straight ahead." Rainbow Dash said, excited for some reason as she gave her friend flight instructions.

Dusk listened to his friend's instructions, which helped him to stabilize a bit, but he still didn't have total control over his wings, and even less with his way of flying. After several seconds, Dusk finally managed to get his wings to flap at the same time and he was able to land again.

"Huff... It's... it's hard..." Dusk said exhausted after finally landing.

"Hehe, it's harder than it sounds, right?" Fluttershy added with a small giggle, thanking someone with wings for sharing her opinion on the difficult task of flying.

"Those wings are divine!  Oh, they simply just go perfectly with your coat!" Rarity said from the balloon basket, staring in wonder at Dusk's wings. "I would look fabulous with wings like that! Could you try using that spell on me too? After Rainbow Dash of course."

Dusk Shine looked at Rarity in surprise, then he looked down thoughtfully for a few seconds while doing some mental calculations.

"I don't think I can, in fact the wing spell takes up a lot of magical energy, more than I thought." Dusk replied pursing his lip and then looking at Rainbow Dash worried. "I think it's still enough for me to use the spell on you, Rainbow Dash, but if I do, I don't think I have enough energy left to use the spell to walk in clouds on the other girls."

Rainbow Dash was surprised at Dusk's revelation, then she looked at her friends for a moment, and looked at Dusk again with a serious look.

"Use the cloud walking spell on the others." Rainbow Dash said with a small smile. "I would love to be able to fly again, even just for a day.  But I promised my friends that we would have a fun day getting to know Cloudsdale, and I never disappoint my friends.  Also, butterfly wings don't go with my style."

Hearing Rainbow Dash's response, Dusk smirked as he verified that his friend answered exactly what he thought, after all Rainbow Dash would not abandon her friends, even out of her most precious personal desire.

After that, Dusk used his magic on his other friends and finally the six ponies and Spike were able to stand on the clouds that were part of the great city of Cloudsdale.

"Okay, time to tour the city." Dusk said excitedly.

As soon as Dusk wished he could move forward, his wings reacted to his wishes and fluttered again, causing him to rise up and begin to awkwardly move from one place to another zigzagging through the air. Seeing that Dusk seemed to have no control over his wings yet, the other mares ran after him to try to catch up and stop him.

"Well, well, isn't it Rainbow 'Crash'?" A mocking voice suddenly said, just as Rainbow Dash was about to follow her friends, causing the rainbow-haired pegasus to stop and look back, scared to recognize that old nickname.

Looking back, Rainbow Dash froze to see who was landing behind her. They were two pegasi that she hadn't seen in years, but that she still remembered perfectly. They were the two little bullies from the Flight Camp, the same ones who had mocked Fluttershy and competed against her in the race where she got her cutie mark.  But now neither of them were little colts, they were both adult stallions with the attitude of little colts, one with brown fur with a cutie mark of a dumbbell, and the other with ocher fur with a cutie mark of basketballs balls.  Although both had grown, both maintained is as annoying smirks that Rainbow Dash remembered.

"Tell me, you still remember us, don't you, Rainbow Crash?" The brown colt said with a mocking laugh.

"My name is Rainbow Dash!  And yes, unfortunately I still remember you." Rainbow Dash replied with a serious look, trying to hide her nervousness. "You’re the two idiots I humiliated years ago in that race."

"You mean the race where you cheated." The ocher colored colt said with an annoyed look.

"What!?  I didn't cheat!" Rainbow Dash replied offended.

"And then why did you run away from the camp?  Not only from camp, you even left Cloudsdale, didn't you?" The brown colt said pointing at Rainbow Dash. "Surely your conscience bit you. If you hadn't done anything wrong, you wouldn't have run away."

At that moment Rainbow Dash widened her eyes and looked away while biting her lip. The truth was that what that clumsy pegasus was saying was true, she had left Cloudsdale because of the guilt she felt back then, but not for cheating in the race, but for having abandoned Fluttershy.

"Yes, I'm sure the Sonic Rainboom thing was just a silly trick you did to trick us." The other pegasus said. "No filly could possibly do that trick."

"I... I did so pull off a Sonic Rainboom." Rainbow Dash said, getting more and more angry with those annoying colts who continued to belittle her despite all the years that had passed.  If it were any other occasion, Rainbow Dash would silence them with some acrobatics in the air and she would only fly away from there.  But without her wings and with her self-esteem wounded, she had a very difficult time facing those two fools in a discussion.

"Then you'll prove it in today's competition, won't you?" The brown colt said, again putting on a mocking smile. "In the morning I saw the list of participants and, oh, surprise! Guess the name of who was inscribed there… yours, Rainbow Crash."

Rainbow Dash froze upon hearing that they already knew that she was supposed to enter the competition that day.

"What's wrong with your wings?" The ocher colt asked, for the first time noticing that Rainbow Dash's wings were down.

"I-I… Uh… I-I'm just resting, y-you know, to save energy for the competition." Rainbow Dash replied quickly and awkwardly, trying in vain not to be nervous.

The two colts looked oddly at Rainbow Dash's fallen wings and then looked at the hot air balloon behind her.

"Pfft! Could it be that your wings aren’t strong enough to fly to Cloudsdale and you had to come in that silly balloon here? Hahaha!" The brown colt laughed loudly, followed by his partner.

"T-That's not true, I… I used the balloon to bring my friends here." Rainbow Dash said blushing with embarrassment.

"Your friends? What friends?" The ocher colt said, looking around mockingly, finding no one.

"My best friends, ponies that are worth a hundred times more than you’ll ever be worth." Rainbow Dash said annoyed, ready to stop defending herself and start counterattacking. “Actually, I'm friends with one of the coolest colts in Equestria. The personal student of Princess Celestia, the savior of the kingdom, who has faced dragons and dark beings.  A true stud, not like you!"

"Heh... And where is that so-called cool colt?" The brown colt asked mockingly.

"He's there-" Rainbow Dash said raising her hoof ready to target Dusk Shine, however she stopped at the last second when she saw that in the distance , Dusk kept flying like crazy, with a scared face while her other friends were trying to grab him to get him down. At that moment Dusk looked so silly that pointing him out would be Rainbow Dash's downfall.

"There!" Rainbow Dash yelled at the last second, changing direction and pointing in the totally opposite direction from where Dusk was.

The two colts turned to see where Rainbow Dash was pointing.

"Over there!" Rainbow Dash yelled again before the two colts finished turning pair to see, causing them to look in another direction.

"Over there!" Rainbow Dash shouted a third time, making the colts dizzy without knowing where to look.

"I see nothing." The ocher colt said with his dizzy eyes.

"It's just that my friend is flying so fast that you couldn't see him, hehe..." Rainbow Dash said with a nervous smile as she scratched her head, hoping that both bullies believed her lie.

"Sure. Well, it's time to go, we'll leave you and your imaginary boyfriend alone, hehe." The brown colt said with a mocking laugh, not believing anything Rainbow Dash had said. "We'll see you in the competition, where everyone will see that your famous Sonic Rainboom was just a fraud, just like you!"

Then both colts spread their wings and laughed as they continued teasing each other in the distance of the rainbow maned pegasus.

"Rainbow Dash, why did you stay behind?" Fluttershy said, as she and her friends approached it again, all walking as Dusk continued to float, flapping his wings involuntarily as he was held by a rope on his hooves, which Spike was holding, as if Dusk was a balloon.

Seeing her friends return, Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and quickly shook her head to clear her mind.  She had no time to get upset or worry about what that pair of fools who upset her said.  She had promised herself that she and her friends would have a great day in their beautiful hometown, and nothing would ruin that.

"N-No problem, I'm fine." Rainbow Dash said, with a big smile. "I'm sorry for the delay, now, let's start our tour of Cloudsdale!"





Going with Rainbow Dash as a guide, the first thing the group of friends visited was the Cloudsdale suburb, where almost all the houses were built with clouds.  Although, like Rainbow’s house, with a type of cloud much denser than the usual clouds in the sky. Constructions that could only be made and kept there in the sky, all following the aesthetics of the city, with large columns and arches that reminded a bit of antiquity.

After they continued through the market, which was quite basic but with very high prices, since there in the sky not all the things that were given on earth were given, such as food, gems or other raw materials, so that many pegasi preferred to shop in neighboring cities.

Finished with the market, Rainbow Dash smiled at what was coming as she intentionally led her friends down the most common and boring route to make a greater impact with the city's crown jewel: the weather factory.

Upon arriving at the factory, everyone's eyes widened when they saw the enormous construction of clouds, with chimneys from which many and varied clouds came out; while on one of their sides a rainbow river fell, from where the pegasi made precisely rainbows.  Once inside, everyone had to put on robes and helmets, all to keep clean such a delicate work area where the weather of all Equestria was manufactured, especially in the first room they entered, which was where the snowflakes were made.

"It looks like you've got the hang of it already." Rainbow Dash said looking at Dusk and his wings, as they moved through the winter room, noting that his friend was no longer flying awkwardly.  In fact, he was already able to fly slowly and stay suspended in the air like a normal pegasus.

"Yes, I think I already understood the trick of these wings." Dusk said proudly, taking a couple of turns in the air to show off his new acquired skill with his wings. “These wings aren’t like pegasus wings, they’re magical.  So once I understood that, I figured that I should focus and command them with my mind, not with my back muscles. It is a process that-"

Dusk stopped talking to noticing that all the pegasus workers of the place started running from side to side as snowflakes they worked on were flying all over the place. It took Dusk a couple of seconds to understand that doing his demonstration had flapped his wings too much and caused a wind that had blown away the delicate and light snowflakes.

"Oops! I'm sorry." Dusk said embarrassed, landing immediately as he put on a nervous and guilty smile.

"How can you be so careless!" An angry mare shouted, who looked like the boss of the place, who went furiously to where Dusk was. "These tourists... Didn't you read the sign that said- Wooaah...! Those are your wings?"

The furious pegasus stopped suddenly as she got closer to Dusk and saw his wings more closely, causing her to radically change her attitude and now show a face of profound astonishment.

"Uh ... yes, it's... it's a magic spell that allows me to fly..." Dusk said again embarrassed, only this time because of the excessive attention he was having, since when the other pegasi saw their boss amazed, most of the other workers also approached there, all showing amazement at seeing Dusk's wings.

At that time Dusk didn't understand it, but for a pegasus, wings were everything.  And seeing a pony with other types of wings, and even more, such cute butterfly-shaped ones, made all the pegasi be amazed and enchanted by those particular wings.

At first, all of Dusk's friends smiled when they saw everyone around them coming to admire Dusk, but when noticing that most of them were mares and that they were getting too close to Dusk, reaching out to touch him, it made some jealousy appear in them, which made them all begin to separate Dusk from his new fans. Then the mares began to hurry the way to leave this room soon and continue with the next.

As soon as the group of ponies reached the next room, they all instantly forgot about the hustle and bustle they had left behind and just stared in shock at what was in front of them.

"And this is the room where rainbows are made." Rainbow Dash said smiling, amused to see her friends so amazed to see the colored pools, each one with the most vivid and brilliant colors they had ever seen, colors that then mixed in waterfalls and formed the beautiful rainbows. "You can go on a tour, just be careful with..." Rainbow Dash stopped speaking when she saw that her friends had already separated, all wanting to go on their own in such a beautiful and exotic place, even Fluttershy, who had never been in that room.

While Fluttershy, Spike and Rarity watched the pools where the colors were mixed, and Applejack ran after Pinkie Pie after she tasted a little the flavor of the rainbows and ran away for how spicy it was; Dusk was once again being cornered by a group of mares that began to approach and flirt with him, none attracted to the colt himself, but rather to the beautiful and exotic wings that lavender colt had.

Rainbow Dash sighed and walked over to where Dusk was, ready to separate Dusk from all that crowd again, however she stopped noticing that in that crowd were the two bullies who had bothered her earlier, who just seemed to be working there. Noticing that those two pesky colts were there, Rainbow Dash jumped to hide behind a column that was right next to her.

"Wait a minute, this is silly. Why am I hiding?" Rainbow Dash thought as she unconsciously hugged one of her fallen wings with her hoof. It was then that she sighed and decided that she could no longer be ashamed of something she would have to get used to living with.

"Wings made of gossamer and morning dew… how wonderful! You’re like an alicorn!" A pegasus said, getting closer to Dusk while flirting with him.

"Yes! You are like royalty!" Another mare said, also smiling flirtatiously. "And tell me, prince... do you have a girlfriend?"

"G-Girlfriend?" Dusk repeated nervously, as always, getting a little scary when being in large groups of strangers.

"Yeah, I mean, I saw you arrive here with five mares." The pegasus who had asked the question said. "Surely one is your girlfriend, but if it wasn't, maybe you and I... you know..."

"Oh! No, they are my friends." Dusk replied trying not to be so nervous. "We all came by balloon from Ponyville to see-"

"Balloon? Wait a second, are you Rainbow Crash's imaginary boyfriend?" Asked the bully colt with brown fur, who had also come with his friend to see the strange wings of that lavender colt.

"Rainbow Crash? Oh! I think you were wrong; her name is Rainbow Dash." Dusk said smiling innocently as Rainbow Dash covered her face, red with embarrassment upon hearing how Dusk and the bullies were talking.

"What? Oh! Yeah, sure, I was referring to her." The brown colt said with a mocking smile.

"No, Rainbow Dash is not my girlfriend." Dusk said smiling. "In fact, of all the girls, she is the one I least imagine having as a girlfriend."

Hearing that, Rainbow Dash froze with pain in her chest. She had heard that phrase before from Dusk's lips: 'Of all the girls, you are the one I least imagine having as a girlfriend.' Those were the words that Dusk had said to her in the Everfree Forest when she thought they were on a romantic date, and it had been burned into her heart, because those were the words that began to collapse her love for Dusk, when she realized that she would never have a chance with him and that he had never seen her in a romantic way.

Although Rainbow Dash had already sworn to herself that she had to accept that Dusk would never see her as more than a friend, hearing that phrase again was like opening an old wound, which made Rainbow Dash put her back against the pillar and let herself fall slowly, with her head down, feeling desolate.

"Rainbow Dash is the coolest mare I know. She would never notice someone like me.  I just can't imagine that she would ever accept me as her boyfriend." Dusk added blushing slightly as he had a nervous smile. A comment that made Rainbow Dash raise her head in surprise. "She deserves to be the girlfriend of the best pony in the world, and I... I'm definitely not that pony"

As the other ponies continued to invade Dusk with questions, nothing else reached Rainbow Dash's ears. Dusk's last clarification made her start internally.  All those days since she had escaped her date with Dusk, she had repeated that phrase in her mind a thousand times, about that Dusk would never imagine having her as a girlfriend, which had led her to think that Dusk didn't see her even as a desirable mare, but it was just the opposite! Dusk had said that phrase because he thought that he himself was not worthy to be with her, that she had so many virtues that he was not worthy of her love. It wasn't that Dusk had ever thought of her romantically, but his damn low self-esteem!

In the realization of that and what it meant, Rainbow Dash lowered her head again, but this time to try to hide the huge smile that she could hardly bear when she realized that the colt whom she loved could indeed love her, in addition to discovering all the admiration he felt for her. With just one phrase, her wounded heart, which had been battered for days, had healed and now this made her want to scream and jump for joy.  

There was still a chance for her to earn Dusk’s love!





"Hm? Rainbow Dash, is something wrong?" Fluttershy asked suddenly, who approached her when she saw that her friend was hiding behind a pillar.

"Uh? N-No, everything’s good! Hehe." Rainbow Dash said blushing, scratching her head, still smiling. "Well, enough of the tours, it's time to go to the coliseum." Rainbow Dash added nervously, trying in vain to hide her happiness.

The very perceptive Fluttershy immediately noticed that something really good had to have happened to her friend to make her smile like that, an authentic smile full of happiness that she had not seen her friend in weeks, so Fluttershy could not help smiling too.  No matter what the reason was, the only thing that mattered was that after many days, the real Rainbow Dash had finally returned.





Once they left the weather factory, Rainbow Dash guided her group of friends again, only this time with a big smile that no one could take from her face.

"You’re looking a lot more chipper! Did something happen back at the factory that made you feel better?" Dusk asked smiling, intrigued by his friend's smile.

"Who knows." Rainbow Dash replied, bringing her face closer to Dusk and giving him a huge and authentic smile, which made Dusk blush slightly, while also being very happy to see his friend so happy.

As they continued walking, everyone's eyes widened in amazement when they saw the huge coliseum in the clouds, where dozens of pegasi were arriving, the vast majority to see the show, while a few lucky ones got ready to participate.

"Over here is the main entrance. Let's hurry up! If we reach seats in the front rows, we'll get a closer look at the Wonderbolts!" Rainbow Dash said excitedly, leading her friend s to the main entrance.

Along with Rainbow Dash, the five mares advanced towards the entrance of the coliseum, where there was already a line to enter.  However, not all followed Rainbow Dash.

"What's wrong?  Why aren’t you following them?" Spike asked confused, seeing that his brother had stood still, with a thoughtful look as he looked towards another sector of the coliseum.

"It's... it's just that I think I have an idea." Dusk said slowly, not moving his gaze from where he was looking.

"Here you are!  Why didn’t you two follow along with the rest of us?!" Rainbow Dash said a little annoyed, after noticing that neither Dusk nor Spike were in the group, which forced her to return thinking they were lost. "I told Applejack and the girls to go ahead and find and reserve seats."

"Hey Dash... Is that other entry what I think it is?" Dusk asked without moving his eyes.

Then Rainbow Dash looked where Dusk saw, which was one side of the coliseum, where a few pegasi, with numbers stuck on their flanks, also entered the coliseum.

"That’s the entrance for the participants." Rainbow Dash replied, narrowing her eyes to see clearly.

"I thought so... Come on, follow me." Dusk said seriously, who flapped his wings and flew over there, to the surprise of Spike and Rainbow Dash, who looked at each other confused and ran to catch up with Dusk.

As soon as Dusk landed in front of the other entrance to the coliseum, Rainbow Dash and Spike also arrived, both a bit tired from having to run so suddenly.  In front of the entrance, there was a corpulent stallion, with dark glasses and a military mane cut, who blocked access with one of his wings.

"I think I ran too fast." Spike said, putting a claw in his mouth, pretending that he was going to vomit. Exhausted from running so fast with his short legs.

"Excuse me." Dusk asked, approaching the guard gently. "We wanted to know if-"

"Only participants." The guard said roughly, interrupting Dusk.

"I have an invitation." Dusk said, surprisingly pulling out a crumpled letter.

"Uh!? You… did you bring that!?" Rainbow Dash said in surprise, acknowledging her invitation to the competition.

"Just in case, hehe." Dusk replied smiling as he passed the invitation to the guard.

"This invitation is for a certain ‘Rainbow Dash’." The guard said, lowering his glasses to see Dusk from head to toe.

"Yes, she can't participate, so I thought-" Dusk said pointing at Rainbow Dash, before being interrupted.

"The invitation is for her, not for you. You can't get in." The guard said, putting his glasses back on and standing in front of the entrance, motionless as a statue.

At the guard's refusal, Dusk lowered his head in frustration, biting his lip. If only they had found a less embittered guard, Dusk's plan would have worked.

"I’m serious... I... I don't feel very well... Blargh...!" Spike said approaching Dusk, not being able to avoid vomiting right at his hooves.

"Eww! Spike! Are you okay?" Dusk said worried, seeing that his little brother had just expelled his last meal from his mouth: a lot of gems, the ones he had been eating in his pack of popcorn while they were going there. "You should be more caref-"

At that moment Dusk stopped speaking when he noticed the guard, who for the first time showed emotions, since he had taken off his glasses and was looking at the gems vomited by Spike as if it were the most beautiful thing he had seen. It was then that Dusk understood what was happening and levitated the gems before they fell through the clouds.

"Oh, but what a waste! My brother threw up this pile of gems, now what shall I do with this?" Dusk said in a mock theatrical voice, glancing sideways at the guard. "Perhaps some good pegasus could make better use of these gems than us..."

"Uh, hmm... m-maybe I was a little harsh in saying you couldn't participate." The guard said, looking away embarrassed, while looking askance at the gems that Dusk levitated. "I guess if your friend can't participate, it wouldn't hurt for you to participate instead."

"Thank you!" Dusk said with a big smile, stopping levitating the gems and dropping them into the guard's hooves, who looked at them smiling avidly, not caring that they had dragon slime; while Dusk and company finally entered the coliseum.

"Did you bribe that guard with Spike's vomit?  I'm a little impressed.  Kinda grossed out, but mostly impressed." Rainbow Dash said with a hint of mockery, amused to see that Dusk, who always respected the rules, had done something illegal.

"Bribing is a very ugly word, rather it was a small gift that inadvertently opened a door for us, hehe." Dusk said smiling and blushing slightly. "It was fortunate that in Cloudsdale the gems are worth more than in the land cities, and especially the rubies that Spike likes so much, after all they can't be extracted here."

As they entered the hall under the coliseum, the three saw how dozens of ponies stretched their wings or exercised with them, getting ready to soon fly off to try to win the competition and the prize: One afternoon with The Wonderbolts!

"Dusk." Rainbow Dash said as she stopped the lavender colt. "Are you doing what I think you’re doing?"

Dusk gave his friend a warm smile to his friend. "Yes, Rainbow.  I’m going to try and win that prize for you.  It’s a little different the similar plan we had with Fluttershy, but I think these new wings present us with an opportunity.  I figured that maybe spending the day with your heroes would really brighten your mood."

The cyan pegasus’s heart swelled as she heard the colt’s proposition.  Being with the Wonderbolts was an absolute dream for her, a dream that she thought she would have to give up.  But seeing how Dusk was going through all this effort just to have her wish granted, it proved to her even more that the lavender unicorn had her close to his heart.

"Wait here for me, I'll go get you a number to compete in." Rainbow Dash said, coming forward to look for the manager.

"Gosh... I still don't feel quite right... I wonder what I ate that hit my stomach...." Spike said touching his belly as it growled.

"Maybe it's the potion I gave you." Dusk said with a small nervous smile.

"What potion?" Spike asked confused.

"Well… do you remember the potion you showed me yesterday? The one that someone left at the door the other day." Dusk replied scratching his head. "I thought about giving it a try to Rainbow Dash, but I wanted to make sure it worked, so… I put some of your juice in for breakfast."

"You... Did you use me as a guinea pig!?" Spike said annoyed, until his stomach growled again and he had to bend down to endure the pain. "You don't know how much I hate you right now... I'll take revenge….ugh, eventually." Spike added in pain, looking annoyed at his brother.

"Oh, come on! And what about that time you made me believe I ate noodles when they were actually worms? I would say now we're even." Dusk said sticking his tongue out in disgust as he remembered that prank that Spike had played on him years ago.

"It looks like the potion only gave Spike a stomach ache... Maybe it doesn't work." Dusk thought at that moment. "Although Spike is a dragon, and also he has no wings. Maybe the potion will work with Rainbow Dash... There is no way to know.”

After a while Rainbow Dash finally returned, with a sticker with the number 15, which Dusk put on his flank.

"You'll be the last to go out. By the way, I think I already guessed your plan." Rainbow Dash said with a mischievous smile. "You plan to fly and use your horn to put on a show with your magic! That would be something never seen in competition, after all the pegasi can't use magic."

"No, that would be cheating.  I’ll participate only using my wings, like the other pegasi." Dusk replied with a shrug.

"What!? But then, how do you plan to win!?" Rainbow Dash asked confused.

"You just said it, you have to do something unique, and these wings are!" Dusk replied. "All day long the pegasi have approached me to admire these wings. I think if I fly and do some simple stunts, it'll be enough to impress the public."

"So, you plan to win with something artistic instead of speed or skill..." Rainbow Dash said thoughtfully, not sure if that would be enough to win. Then she saw to the side, one of the unused dressing rooms, where there was a box with various ornaments, which seemed that nopony was going to occupy, since rarely did anyone compete with an artistic number. "I know! We can use those trims and makeup to fix you up and make you look even better."

"Wear makeup? I... I'm not sure about that..." Dusk said nervously, as he remembered how much he was teased as a colt for his purple fur which in turn caused him to avoid looking too feminine.  Then Dusk saw the sparkles in Rainbow’s eyes and remembered that he was doing this for her, in order to win the prize that she so badly wanted. "O-Okay… I will. Call to Rarity to come to help us."

"Pfft! Rarity isn’t the only one who can use makeup.  I totally got this!" Rainbow Dash said, puffing up her chest with pride. "In fact, few days ago me and AJ had a makeup competition at her house and I won.  Don't worry."

Then Rainbow Dash went to the box next door to search decorations and makeup, and put on her hooves to work, quickly 'beautifying” a nervous Dusk Shine.

"Number 15! It's your turn to go out!" The announcer said, just as Rainbow Dash was putting the finishing touches on Dusk's makeup.

"And…. there you go! What do you think?" Rainbow Dash said proudly, holding a mirror up to Dusk so he could appreciate her artwork.

Seeing himself in the mirror, Dusk's brain froze and stopped working due to the impact. What he thought would be subtle makeup to perhaps make his eyes pop and look fiercer was actually excessively overloaded makeup.  Dusk had layers and layers of makeup all over his face, making him look like a circus clown or a little filly who had applied makeup for the first time.

"Pfft! I think it matches perfectly with your butterfly wings, hahaha!" Spike laughed out loud.

"I have to take this off!" Dusk shouted in terror, looking for some towel to remove all that makeup, while Rainbow Dash looked at him innocently, not understanding what was wrong.

"Number 15, go on stage or you'll be disqualified!" Screamed the announcer a second time.

Dusk Shine glanced nervously toward the exit, then he closed his eyes tightly and resigned himself to having to go out like this.  Then he approached the exit of the hall, and nervously walked to the center of the coliseum to the starting of where he would start his show.  Dusk took a breath, repeated to himself that everyone would pay attention to his wings instead of his face, and then he jumped up and started the flight for his show.

As soon as Dusk began to fly, voices in the coliseum began to murmur.  At first, the audience was perplexed by the current participant.  His flying was entirely basic and lacked any sort of high speeds or stunts that the previous participants had done.  But as soon as he ascended, the public was amazed by the unique butterfly wings that were never seen on any other pegasus.  The beautiful color mixing along with the sparkles that gleamed off the wings earned Dusk his first applause.

"It’s working! I knew that these wings would wow everypony here!" Dusk thought, smiling more as he flew higher and more confidently. "Now to approach the stands so that they can see my wings better."

Then Dusk moved closer to the stands and began to fly in a circle so that everyone around had the opportunity to see those wings up close, which caused the screams of astonishment to increase, as did Dusk's confidence. At least until he reached the main box, where, to his utter surprise, was Princess Celestia, who had been the guest of honor at that competition.

As soon as their eyes met, they both looked at each other in amazement, since neither expected to find the other there. After recognizing that it was her faithful student who was before her with feminine butterfly wings and excessive makeup, the princess had to block her face with one of her wings so that on one would see her hysterical laughter.  The princess had had to attend that competition only by protocol commitment, like so many other ceremonies that were in the kingdom, so she didn't expect anything really exciting there.  But just seeing her beloved student with such appearance had been enough to make that trip to Cloudsdale worthwhile.  She would no doubt spread this juicy gossip to her little sister.

For his part, Dusk was for the first time grateful for the makeup as it no doubt covered the burning blush that was spreading on his face.  While flying, Dusk bit his lip and decided to ignore his teacher and the inevitable teasing that he would receive from her.  He couldn't fail and ruin his show, he was doing this to win the award for Rainbow Dash, so he continued with his show as planned.

Dusk had previously noticed that the wings were translucent, so he had planned to close with a flourish his show.  The flying unicorn put everything he had into his wings as he flew high above the coliseum.  All of the audience’s eyes were on the colt as he put himself between them and the Sun.  Dusk then opened his wings and allowed the sunlight to pass through them.  What resulted was a beautiful spectacle of colors that bathed the coliseum in a soft rainbow spectrum.  Dusk then closed his eyes and basked in the resulting “Ooos” and “ahhs” from the audience.  

As the public watched the show of colors skyward, a great flash appeared, and the colors disappeared. Then everyone started clapping loudly as they thought that flash had been the mark of the end of the show. The applause went on and on, slowly easing as everyone stared confusedly around, trying to find the mysterious participant.

"DUSK!!" Suddenly, a lonely, piercing scream was heard, leaving everyone even more confused.

Seconds earlier, Dusk Shine was about to receive an unwanted surprise. He had been illuminating the public with the light passing through his wings, until, to his surprise, Dusk felt a heat on his back and a great light flashed behind him, and then... he began to fall right out of the sky.  The wings were made of gossamer and morning dew, and being so high, directly receiving the rays of the Sun, it happened that the magic wings no longer withstood the heat and dissolved in a magical outburst.

Dusk began to flail around and scream for help as he began to plummet.  Unfortunately, the speed of his falling combined with the applause from the audience.   All the coliseum was still looking up waiting for Dusk to emerge from the great flash, only they failed to realize that said colt was falling to his death.

Almost all, that is.  Unlike the public in the stands, Rainbow Dash was lower, at the starting point from where Dusk had started his show. So, she was the only one that noticed from the corner of her eye that something falling through the floor of the coliseum.  As Rainbow poked her head through the clouds to see what was falling, her blood froze when she saw that it was an all too familiar lavender unicorn.

"DUSK!!" Rainbow Dash screamed in terror.  She didn’t waste a second thought and instinctively jumped through the clouds to catch her friend.  Only after that did she remember her crippled wings and now found herself falling to the ground.

As Rainbow Dash fell, she realized too late that her wings weren't working, but even that didn't matter to her, she didn't yell for help to save herself either. What Rainbow Dash did, was lean back and put her hooves in front of her to gain more speed to try to catch up with Dusk. There was nothing else in Rainbow Dash's mind. Neither her safety, what she would do next, nor anything else.  All she thought about was reaching Dusk.

Within a few seconds of jumping, Rainbow Dash heard a noise behind her, fast approaching. Then, just to the side of her spent three ponies wearing the same suits colored blue with yellow highlights, wearing goggles on their eyes. They were The Wonderbolts, the fastest fliers in all of Equestria.  No doubt thanks to their fast reflexes that they were the first to react after the Rainbow Dash scream and now they had even reached her.

"Take flight, we'll save him!" One of the Wonderbolts shouted, who seemed to be the captain. The captain had said that thinking that Rainbow Dash could fly and that she had jumped to try to save Dusk.  The Wonderbolts flapped their wings to try to gain more speed, and little by little they began to overcome the Rainbow Dash free fall, thus flying at enormous speed.

"No... It's not enough!" Rainbow Dash thought terrified when she saw the speed of the Wonderbolts, the distance Dusk was, and the little distance that was left to the ground.  Even with their incredible speed there was no way that they were going to reach Dusk in time.  Rainbow Dash had a lot of experience flying at high speed, and she was never wrong about that sort of thing. She began to breathe heavily and closed her eyes tightly as she began to cry helplessly at what was about to happen.

"No! No! NO!! Don't give up! Don't fail! Don't lose hope!" Rainbow Dash crying shouted, looking up and penetratingly looking at where Dusk was, with an absolute resolution. "I’m not gonna let you die, Dusk!  Not before I tell you how much I LOVE YOU!”

Rainbow Dash's wings spread, but there was no time for the pegasus to be impressed.   A strong flap, two strong flaps, three strong flaps, Rainbow Dash surpassed the Wonderbolts... four strong flaps, five strong flaps, Rainbow Dash reached her maximum speed, the wind hit her face, the air became dense, it was like swimming in water, this was the speed limit of a pegasus... Six strong flaps! A desperate heart!  A rainbow explosion flashed in the sky as Rainbow Dash broke the sound barrier.

Rainbow Dash flew like lightning, reaching Dusk and lifting him, overcoming the inertia of the fall, just before both hit the ground, making a bow and rising both followed by the rainbow trail that Rainbow Dash was leaving in her path.

"Rainbow Dash! You're flying!" Dusk screamed, so agitated from a near-death experience that he could hardly breathe.

"That wasn't flying, that was falling with style." Rainbow Dash said with a huge smile, happier than she had ever been in her life. "This is flying."

So Rainbow Dash held Dusk tight and she began twists and pirouettes as she ascended, all while maintaining her rainbow trail and breakneck speed.

The Wonderbolts had been stunned after seeing that sonic explosion, and even more when seeing that that rainbow pegasus had saved that colt and she was now making those spectacular stunts in the air. And the Wonderbolts were not the only ones who had seen that show, because everyone in the coliseum had been expectant to see the rescue, and amazed to see that Sonic Rainboom. But the most excited in the public were four mares, who had remained on the edge of fear to see Dusk and Rainbow Dash fall, and now cried with relief and joy to discover that both were safe and to recognize that particular feeling of the Sonic Rainboom that they had also felt years ago and that had united them since they’re fillies.

"Does the cloudwalking spell still work for you?" Rainbow Dash asked ecstatically as she continued to ascend and hold Dusk.

"Yes, it should work until sunset." Dusk answered from below, not understanding why his friend asked him that.

"Okay, wait for me here." Rainbow Dash said as she released Dusk onto a cloud as she continued to ascend towards the coliseum. "I have a competition to win."

Already without Dusk's weight, Rainbow Dash got more speed on the rise and sped up over the coliseum, leaving a rainbow behind her as the crowd leaped to make the biggest cheer ever heard that afternoon, all while Rainbow Dash continued to spin and twist, taking advantage of the fact that she still had her beautiful rainbow trail caused by the Sonic Rainboom.

"Go get ‘em, Rainbow." Dusk said to himself as he saw his friend soar high.

From below, in a small cloud, Dusk could perfectly hear the screams, applause and praises that everyone gave Rainbow Dash, both for saving him, and for the great and beautiful show she was giving them. There was no doubt, right now the great winner of that competition was flying.





"You lost!?" Dusk Shine yelled in shock once Rainbow Dash returned to his cloud and told him what happened after the competition ended.

"I didn't lose, rather we were disqualified." Rainbow Dash said scratching her head as she landed on the little cloud she had left Dusk in. "Turns out taking my place meant we were both disqualified from the competition for trying to cheat."

Dusk Shine had waited patiently for his friend to come back for him, time he took to remove the rest of the ridiculous makeup that was on his face.  He had enough time to clean up since Rainbow Dash didn't return immediately after finishing her routine, where Dusk thought that it was most likely that after her act they were rewarding her.  So, it was a total surprise to know that she hadn't won despite having performed one of the most impressive air shows ever seen in Cloudsdale, surprising and very discouraging.

"I'm sorry you didn't win. I know how much you wanted that award." Dusk said with a look of pity.

"Nah, it's okay!  Plus I was able to talk to the Wonderbolts anyway." Rainbow Dash said with a huge smile. "After the awards show, the Wonderbolts approached me and told me how amazed they were after seeing my Sonic Rainboom.  And not only that, even the princess herself came to congratulate me!  Everyone was super impressed, all thanks to my wings working again!  I knew it was only a matter of time, I managed to get them to work again only with my awesome will power!"

"And with a little orange juice." Dusk said with a guilty little smile. "I guess it took a while to take effect, like with Spike's vomit."

"What? What do you mean?" Rainbow Dash asked without understanding.

"The other day Spike found a little bottle that said 'Potion' on it.  And this morning I secretly used it on him and I was ready to use it on you, but then you said you didn't want any more false hopes, that made me hesitate, but… anyway I took a chance and put it in your juice." Dusk replied looking at his friend with a guilty face. "I know you didn't want to try more things, but I didn't want to give up... nor did I want you to give up."

Rainbow Dash was amazed at Dusk's story and remembering the orange juice he had offered her at breakfast.

"And where did that potion come from?" Rainbow Dash asked in amazement.

"That... is a long story." Dusk replied with a thoughtful look, knowing that he still had a great mystery to solve. "By the way, isn't it about time we got back to the others?"

At that moment Rainbow Dash blushed a little and looked away.

"The... the girls are already gone." Rainbow Dash said blushing. "I told them to come back on their own because…" At that moment Rainbow Dash fell silent as she was unsure whether to say what she wanted to say, but then she reminded herself that she had promised to be braver after the near-death experience that both she and Dusk had experienced. "Because I... wanted to spend time with you alone..."

Dusk was surprised at Rainbow Dash's proposition.  Then she approached the edge of the small cloud and fluttered a few times to give it momentum and it began to move.

"Welcome to the Rainbow Dash Air Express. Next stop, Ponyville." Rainbow Dash said with a shy smile, sitting next to Dusk once the cloud picked up momentum and started to move on its own.

As the cloud moved, a few seconds of silence followed when Rainbow Dash knew she should talk about something, but she was so nervous she didn't know what to talk about.

"I’m honestly kinda surprised that you didn’t spend the rest of today hanging out with the Wonderbolts." Dusk said suddenly, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah.  I kinda wish I was, but what other choice did I have?  I couldn't leave you here abandoned on a lonely cloud." Rainbow Dash replied with a smile, thanking Dusk for breaking the silence and her nervousness.

"I'm sorry." Dusk said blushing a little, regretting that his friend put her dream aside for having to come back for him.

"Don't be silly. You’re my friend, stop thanking me for everything." Rainbow Dash said looking towards the horizon with a smile.

The cloud moved slowly but safely towards Ponyville, which luckily didn't was too far from Cloudsdale at that time of the year.  So they would arrive in a few minutes, but at the least it would give them enough time to enjoy in the past rays of the sun before sunset.

"You know, everything in my life felt like it was downhill since our last date." Rainbow Dash said thoughtfully, glancing at Dusk. "The only thing I hope is that now that everything will get back to normal."

"Well, your wings are back, and more importantly, your smile is back.  So everything seems to indicate that we're on the right track." Dusk said smiling, until he remembered their previous date which his friend meant. "About that adventurous date we had in the forest, I... I'm so sorry I made you mad."

Rainbow Dash remembered that moment, and she blushed embarrassed.

"I guess sometimes I'm not sure how to treat you." Dusk added with a confused look.

"I-I think that time I exaggerated a little.  It's… it's just that it bothers me a bit that you treat me differently than other girls…" Rainbow Dash said, still remembering when Dusk called her 'dude' and treated her like a boy.  “I mean, sure, we’re all different from each other.  But the end of the day…we’re all still mares.  And that's something I don't want you to forget."

Dusk Shine remembered what her friend was referring to and this time it was his turn to blush embarrassed as he remembered his mistake.

"I promise." Dusk said sadly, then put on a thoughtful face as he remembered something else. "You know, this is the second promise I’ve made to you, but this one I intend to keep.”

"Hm? What do you mean?" Rainbow Dash asked confused.

"The day of the Summer Sun Celebration. You won the bet to clear the clouds in less than ten seconds, and I promised that I would do anything you wanted, but you still haven't asked me to do anything, hehe." Dusk said with a small smile.

It took Rainbow Dash a few seconds to remember what Dusk was saying, and then she blushed and looked away.  What Dusk was saying was true, that time she had been about to ask Dusk for something, but Pinkie Pie had taken him away before she could tell him.  But now it was different, they were both alone, no one could interrupt them.  However, would she be able to ask what she had wanted to ask him on that occasion?

Rainbow Dash lowered her head and she breathed slowly to calm down a little.  Just moments ago, she cried helplessly as she believed that Dusk would fall to his death. She had vowed to be braver, and she couldn't hesitate any longer for her own fears about what might happen or think others if they found out what she said.

"I already know what I want." Rainbow Dash said, with her head down, so Dusk couldn't see more than her reddened ears. "I want... a kiss."

Again, an awkward silence followed for a long time, with both ponies static as statues. With Rainbow Dash hiding her face and Dusk with his eyes wide open in surprise at what he had just heard.

"You... You want a kiss?" Dusk asked blushed and nervous, wanting to confirm what he had heard, even though he was sure of what he heard.

"Y-You’ve kissed all the girls, and I... I'm the only one who..." Rainbow Dash started to speak, looking up, showing her blushed face, but still not being able to look Dusk in the eye. So nervous that she was unable to finish saying what she thought. "I was just saying that I don't want you to treat me differently from others. That's... that's why... just for that. I... I don't want to feel different."

Dusk was always nervous when it came to romance, so he perfectly understood what Rainbow was feeling right now.

"You... Do you want to know how a kiss feels...? Have you ever kissed anyone?" Dusk asked nervously.

Rainbow Dash didn't reply, but she unbelievably turned redder than she already was, her gaze even more embarrassed. Which was enough of a response for Dusk.

"It's... it's just that those things have never mattered to me." Rainbow Dash added blushing, looking out into nowhere. "And now that everyone has done it… sometimes I think, how I might screw it up when I do it?"

Hearing Rainbow Dash's words, Dusk was surprised and thoughtful as his mind tried to find an explanation of what was happening and it was inventing a mental puzzle to try to justify something that had a much more obvious answer, but that his own self-esteem prevented him from seeing.

"Maybe she wants to practice kissing so as not to ruin it in the future with the colt whom she loves..." Dusk thought after joining the last thing Rainbow Dash said with her particular request.

"O-Okay... I will." Dusk finally said, also blushing full. "But I think it is a waste that your first kiss is with me and not with the colt whom you love..."

Hearing that, Rainbow Dash was surprised for a moment and then she looked to the side with a small smile.

"How dumb can you be, egghead... you are that pony." Rainbow Dash thought with a tender smile.

"If you don't want to do it, that's fine... I don't want to force you to do something you don't want to do." Rainbow Dash said nervously, looking sheepishly at Dusk.

"What are you talking about? It seems more like an award than a penalty, haha." Dusk said, thinking out loud, until he realized he had spoken out loud and blushed even more than Rainbow Dash was, getting totally nervous. "I-I... I didn't mean... I mean... I did say it, I just thought... no, I thought it... well, yes I did, but what I wanted to say is... uh... I…" Dusk started to stutter awkwardly, without finishing any ideas and without knowing how to justify what he had just said.

Seeing Dusk being so clumsy, Rainbow Dash smiled fondly noticing that he, like her, was also very nervous.

Finally, both were silent and stared at each other, both with their cheeks blushed, knowing that words were already superfluous.  At that moment the cloud, which had gradually decreased its speed, had almost reached its destination, and had stopped just above a lake that was next to Ponyville, causing the rays of the sun that was hidden in the sunset to be reflected in it, resulting a romantic atmosphere and creating the perfect moment.

"A-Are you ready?" Dusk asked shyly.

Rainbow Dash tilted her head in acceptance and nervously began to move her face closer to Dusk Shine's.  She would finally kiss Dusk. It didn't matter that she was the last of her friends to kiss Dusk, that didn't matter, right?  That didn't mean she was losing likewise… right?

As Dusk Shine stood still, his eyes closed and his cheeks blushed, he gradually felt Rainbow Dash's breathing approaching him slowly, just as the lips of both ponies almost touched; the pegasus suddenly widened her eyes at a sudden bright idea, the brightest idea that had ever occurred to her, and then she stopped.

"No, I don't want to kiss you." Rainbow Dash said stopping and receding her face, before Dusk's surprise gaze. "I... want you to kiss me."

"Uh? What is not the same?" Dusk asked confused.

"It’s not the same!" Rainbow Dash said completely blushed.

And it was then that things were reversed. This time Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and slightly bowed her head, waiting for Dusk Shine.

Then Dusk looked at Rainbow Dash, she was more helpless than he had ever seen her, and he slowly brought his face closer to that of the pegasus. As he got closer, Dusk saw the beautiful features of Rainbow Dash's face more defined, her eyebrows, her beautiful rainbow mane, he could smell her soft scent, and saw her small lips waiting for him impatiently; And it was then that Dusk understood what Rainbow Dash was saying.

"She’s right… Kissing is different from being kissed!!" Dusk thought blushing fully as his heart beat a thousand per second.

Finally Dusk closed his eyes at the last moment and he joined his lips to Rainbow Dash's, fulfilling his promise and kissing her.

The first seconds were just a touch of the lips, in which both froze with their lips glued together. Both with almost no experience and so nervous that they expected the other to make a move. But finally they both relaxed and let themselves go for the moment, moving their lips and finally giving each other a passionate kiss.

Dusk didn't have much experience kissing, besides, he still didn't know if this was good or bad, since he had only done it with his friends.  An intense and fleeting kiss with Pinkie Pie, a quick and accidental sweet kiss with Applejack, a strong and passionate kiss with Fluttershy, a tender and romantic kiss with Rarity, and just like all her friends were different, their kisses were also different, because Rainbow Dash's kiss was slow, inexperienced, but also tender and natural.

After several seconds, both lips finally peeled off, and Dusk and Rainbow Dash stared at each other closely, their cheeks blushed as they slowly caught their breath.

Only a couple of seconds passed and instinctively they both began to slowly approach again. And without warning, Dusk disappeared, before Rainbow Dash's stunned and confused eyes.





SPLASH!

Rainbow Dash heard a noise below her and peeked through the cloud, noting that there was Dusk Shine, who had fallen into the lake that they were flying over at that moment.

"Sput! Cough! I-I think the spell for walking in the clouds ran out." Dusk said from below, spitting water and looking into the sunset, which was the time he had previously predicted when the spell's effect would end.

"Pfft! Hahaha! Why are you always so clumsy?!  Hahaha!" Rainbow Dash giggled, blushing at the thought that she liked that silly side of Dusk, too.

Rainbow Dash watched from above as Dusk swam towards the lake shore, then she looked towards the town and smiled again, amazed at the thought that so many good things could happen in one day only, which made her decide something, something different from what she used to. This time she would take things easy, after all, even before that day, everything had gone wrong for rush things.

She knew that the race for Dusk's heart was far from over, but now she finally felt part of the race, she was no longer the last in the race, for the first time since she met love, she was in the lead, and now she would use everything she had learned and give her all to win that race.

"Town’s over there.  Will you be okay getting there on your own?" Rainbow Dash asked, flapping her wings so that the cloud she was falling down next to her.

"Sure, no problem." Dusk said as he pulled out a seaweed that had been left on his mane.

"Hehe, see you tomorrow, Dusk." Rainbow Dash said smiling, barely able to contain her happiness. The pegasus felt her heart swell when the lavender colt gave her a smile back.

It was then that Rainbow Dash grabbed a portion of the cloud between her hooves and flew away, taking it with her. 

After all, back at her cloud house, a beloved home that she had spent days from, there was a pillow that she had beaten into nothingness out of fit of anger.  She needed a new pillow, and the tuft of cloud she now had would be the perfect replacement.  After all, what better pillow than the one where she had given her first kiss, a pillow that in her mind still kept the sweet and pleasant smell of the colt she loved.

# End of chapter 42