//------------------------------// // Putting On the Blaze // Story: Nubs // by Ghostly Glow //------------------------------// Rainbow snuck into her house and headed for the kitchen. She dug frantically through the pantry, looking for some form of instant food to give to her captive. It had to be something fast; if her parents caught her, they'd find out about the colt in her fort, and then they'd be in big trouble. Some crackers? No. Not filling enough. Maybe pair it with some cereal? That could work... She quickly dumped some cereal into a bowel and just threw the crackers in there. There was no time to be fancy! She could be caught at any moment! Feeling like a ninja, she walked to her fort as quickly as possible. But she was not greeted by a pretty sight. Her prisoner was sweating heavily and was making faint whimpering sounds while he slept. He trembled violently. Worried, she placed the bowel on the ground and placed her hoof on the colt's forehead. It was very hot. She stared at him, completely confused. He looked fine before; why did he have a fever now? She pushed those thoughts away quickly as she realized he needed medicine. She quickly wondered where her mother kept it. Her mother was a doctor, she had flu medication on constant standby. Her mind went on fast-forward as it tried to remember...oh yeah, the medicine cabinet! That's where her mom always kept it! She mentally facehoofed herself for being so slow. Ever-so-carefully, Rainbow stealthy hovered up to the second floor, where, just as carefully, she slide the window opened and climbed inside. Her eyes darting all about, she quickly opened the medicine cabinet, claimed her prize, and jumped out the window. Landing gracefully, she trotted over to her fort. Her prisoner was wide awake now, and was licking the crumbs of his finished breakfast from the sides of the bowel. She watched in awe. His tongue was HUGE! He looked up at her, smiling a little at her obvious amazement. He still looked a bit sick and sore, but obviously he was well enough to have a sense of humor. "Well, warren?" he asked, in a raspy voice. "What're you gonna do with me?" "Umm..." she mumbled, not sure of what to say. She didn't really have a plan. Rainbow Dash was a filly of impulse. Nothing was ever fully planned out for her. She did best when she improvised. "Well...you didn't look so good, so I thought I'd help...." she mumbled. "And that's it?" "Yeah. Pretty much." He sneered at her, showing off his pointy teeth. Alarmed, she backed up a few paces. "Didn't I save your plot yesterday?" he asked. "Seems like an odd way to repay me, knocking me out and whatnot. You always do that to strangers?" "N-no, not usually." she stammered. The was a quick pause as she realized what he'd said. "Wait...you're the pony who rescued me?!" "Who'd you expect, sweetie? The Wonderbolts?" he snickered. "How'd you do that!? That move was insane! Nopony's ever done that!" she was now bouncing around him in excited circles. "One thing at a time, if you don't mind." he said, a bit taken aback by her sudden change in mood. "You got an name, rainbow?" "It's Rainbow Dash." she replied breathlessly. "Who're you? And how'd you do that fire thing!? It was totally awesome!" "Name's Lucky Roll. Nice ta meet ya...Crashie." he grinned. Rainbow scowled. "It's Rainbow Dash, not Crashie." "Whatever you say...Crashie." he teased. Rainbow realized scolding would do nothing. She sighed and brushed it off. If he wanted to call her Crashie, then fine. She'd put up with it, if it meant learning an awesome new move. "So...the fire thing. How'd you do it?" "Completely confidential, lassie. One does not hand out their signature move to other ponies. It's not as special if everypony else can do it." he stated calmly, slowly trying to stand up. His shivering limbs would have none of that, and he promptly fell over. "Dammit." he snarled. Rainbow suddenly remembered what the colt required. She quickly undid the bottle and poured the proper dosage into the now-empty bowel. "You'll hafta drink it if you want to feel better." Obviously, he had never had experience with medicine, for he gulped it up without hesitation. But soon he started gagging as the bitter taste finally hit home. Rainbow giggled as he scratched at his tongue, trying to remove the taste. "What was that?!" he exclaimed, "Vinegar?" "Nope. Just medicine." she laughed. Moving closer to him, she went into full beg mode. "Could you please, pleeeeaaassseee tell me how to do your move? Pretty please?" "No." She backed away, scowling. Her puppy eyes didn't seem to be working today. "Well...you can leave when you feel better, then..." "Wait!" he called after her. She turned to face him, hopeful. "While I'm not gonna let you in on my move, I can teach you how to dive properly. You'll get booted out of Cloudsdale if you don't, so it's the least I can do." While that wasn't really the answer she'd been hoping for, she couldn't help but grin. She was tired of smashing her face into the ground. If he could help, she was willing. "I'll take it!" she chirped. "Right." he said flatly, face expressionless, "I'll start training you once I can move again. But all I'm gonna show you is a dive. Once that's done, I'm gone." "Deal." "Glad you're reasonable, Crashie." ****************************************************** Two weeks had passed, and under Lucky's careful guidance, Rainbow Dash had blossomed. Lucky was quite pleased with the results. He hadn't had to save her in the past four days at all. And while her dive was quite sloppy, she was definitely starting to get the hang of it. Lucky found himself drawn to the blue filly. They both shared the same spirit of one-upmanship, and the same bull-headedness. He hadn't been too happy with helping her first; many a time he had wanted to call it quits and just disappear. But then she would advance, and he would come back for her again. It was sort of nice, having somepony trust you and listen to you. Soon Lucky realized that being around the filly made him feel something he only felt while flying: happiness. And so there they were, in the diving arena during after-school hours, Lucky trying to show Rainbow the proper position to put your legs at for maximum velocity. "No, Crashie, you're bending it too much. It's supposed to be completely straight." he called, seeing her legs splay out a bit. "But coach says you're supposed to bend them." she huffed. "Well, obviously your coach has no idea what he's saying. If you wanna go fast, you keep your legs straight. That's how it works." She grumbled a little, but she dived again, this time keeping her back legs straight-and going much faster. Lucky smirked. Mister Big-Shot Coach was clearly meant to be in another field. Rainbow, or Crashie, as he teasingly called her, shot back up through the clouds with a big, happy grin on her face. "Say it." he chuckled. "You were right." she panted. "Of course I am. But now your wings are going a bit crooked. See, it's supposed to be more like this...." he stated, going into one of his breath-taking dives. His wings were held perfectly straight and still until the very last second, when they popped open and flung him back up into the air. "See..."he panted, "That's how you do it." "Do I try again?" "Try again." And with that, Crashie took off once more. ********************************************** Rainbow glowed with pride as her parents congratulated her. She had made so much progress in the last week, the coach had boosted her up to Advanced Aerobatics. Her parents hugged her close and told her over and over how very proud they were of her. "How'd you get so good, honey?" her father asked. She smiled mysteriously. "Let's just say that somepony's looking after me." Watching through the window, Lucky grinned. ************************************** "They're such JERKS!!!" Rainbow fumed as she angrily kicked at the clouds. "Just because she's slow doesn't mean they get to bully her!" Lucky watched silently, waiting for his friend to calm down a bit. She had ranted to him about the injustice some of her classmates were performing against her friend, Fluttershy. Lucky had seen the timid little filly before, and silently admitted she wasn't very good. In fact, she sucked. But he wasn't going to say that. He never lashed out without provocation, and obviously, this filly was important to Crashie. He didn't dare to upset her. Rainbow groaned and plunked herself down next to him. "I just don't know what to do, Lucky. Every time I try to help, they just laugh at me too. I want them to leave her alone, but if they won't listen to me, how can I get them to quit?" "Challenge them." he said simply. "That's how you'll get their respect. Do something better than them. Prove your worth. That's the only way they'll back down." "Like...a race?" she asked, ears perking up. She was very fast. She could beat them easily. "That'll work. Make them eat cloud, and they'll leave Shy alone." It was silent as Rainbow considered it. Instinctively, she leaned against him. It took every ounce of Lucky's considerable streanght to keep his wings still. He hungrily drank in her warmth, breathing in her scent of ozone. He loved that smell. She sighed. "What if I don't win, Lucky?" she asked, worried. "You'll win. I've seen you in action, and I've seen them in action, and trust me, you're definitely the better flyer. They'll still be at the starting line while you reach the finish. I don't see how they're in your class; that is some of the shoddiest wingmanship I have ever seen." he said, voice ringing with confidence. "And, if by some miracle, they DO beat you, I'll come buck the living shit out of them. How about that?" "Lucky!" she giggled. "Watch your language!" "Shit, crap, buck, ass, mule, bastard!" he sang, grinning devilishly. "You're hopeless!" she howled, lying back on the clouds, rolling with laughter. "Watch yourself, Crashie. Don't fall off the edge." he chuckled. A pleasant warm feeling started spreading inside him, a feeling he was unfamiliar with. He had no clue what it was, but at the moment, he didn't care. He was just happy that she felt better. ******************************************************* The next day, the bullies made the mistake of insulting Fluttershy again. Rainbow had immediately challenged them to a race, a race for Fluttershy's dignity. Hiding behind the arena walls, Lucky watched, eyes narrowed. Bastards. They were gonna get their just desserts, he was sure of that. Fluttershy waved the flag, and they were off. Lucky held his breath as he watched Crashie zoom past. The bullies were starting to pull ahead! "C'mon, Crashie." he murmured. "Don't make me eat my words..." As if she heard him, her ears went back and she shot forward like an arrow. Nopony but Lucky noticed as a white wall started to build along Crashie's hooves. His jaw dropped. Was she really going to...? Yes. She did. A loud roar echoed through the stadium as Rainbow Dash broke the sound barrier. Lucky cheered and laughed. He knew she would win, but this...this was downright unbelievable! Finally, all that training had paid off! He watched for the wall of flame, but got an even bigger shock when he saw her trail. It was not fire, but a brilliant, shimmering rainbow. "Sonic Rainboom...." he whispered, awestruck. Nopony ever did a Sonic Rainboom before. Afterwards, after a tearful embrace from Crashie, after she had shown him her new cutie mark, they sat together in silence. Lucky wasn’t the complementing type. He rarely showed what he considered weak emotion. But tonight, he couldn’t help it. “I’m proud of you, kiddo.” he whispered.