What felt like a lifetime of serenity passed inside of Dash's dreams before her eyes came open again. When she reached full awareness the words 'test flight' screamed into her mind and blocked out the blissful nap. She jumps to her hooves quickly, knocking Twilight onto the books she was still reading.
Realizing Twilight had been sitting so close made her stop for a moment in elation but the reason for them being where they were came back into perspective. “We're late and I fell asleep again!” She yelled as she berated herself. “Lets get going Twi, I need to get out there and stretch before I do the...”
“Dash, calm down. Just let me get Spike up and we can start everything.” Twilight said calmly. Closing the two books she turned and lifted the green blanket, pulling Spike out from under it. “I'll guess at it being nearly eight by now which means the three hour nap was exactly what you needed to get ready.”
Spike's eyes opened shortly after being lifted up and he groans at the idea that he won't be going back to sleep for some time. He's set down in front of the three machines that were silently waiting to be turned on.
The next object to be lifted up was item left on top of the saddle-bolt “If you could wear this,” Twilight starts once she brings it around in front of Dash, “It's made of metal but it's also completely hollow so it shouldn't weigh you down.”
A confused glance at what was being levitated towards her was all Dash could do. “Looks like a giant – whistle?”
“It more or less is.” Twilight said with excitement. “I figured that a normal size whistle wouldn't make a deep enough sound so using a larger one and slightly modifying it to fit on a ponies back made perfect sense.” The whistle rose higher and over Dash's head as a red cord was stretched out under her. The concave shape of the bottom allowed it to fit on her back but the cold metal made her jump.
"Couldn't you have warmed this thing up first?" she shook under the feeling of the metal and felt it warming quickly enough. “So I'll just need to fly and whistle?”
“Precisely, but try not to go too fast.” Twilight said. The comment elicited a confused glare from Dash that Twilight knew was coming “I need to have everything tuned into you when your flying, if you go too fast I won't be able to keep up.”
Dash nodded in understanding and lifted herself into the air. “So do I go all the way to the other end or just half way?”
“All the way would be best, once you're there if you could fly straight up to show me you reached the end I'll then give you a signal for when you can start back.”
Rainbow Dash flew quickly to get to the far side. The speed of her voyage proved undesirable her ears though. Only a few yards after she started moving the whistle began to blow and though it wasn't bad at first, every small increase made it exponentially louder. Lifting her head up in front of the hole stopped most of the noise but not enough to let her race to the far end of the valley.
Spikes job in the experiment was to turn all three pieces of equipment on then stand back to give the signal for Dash, which he readied for the second part with a yawn, while Twilight adjusted the dial over the view finder so Dash would remain in focus as she went farther into the distance. The earphone lifted off its receiver and was secured to Twilight's head. The recorder showed Dash as little more then a blurred dot of color against a backdrop of darkness, then after another moment of waiting, her dot of color stopped shrinking and moved up.
“Spike, get ready?” Twilight called, raising a hoof to give the signal.
The darkness of night had made the valley walls look like dull crystals that pulled at Rainbow Dash's eyes. It wasn't quite a beautiful sight but still serene - the green fire ball caught her attention and a jolt of energy sprung into her wings, powering her forward as hard as she could while she tried to ignore the blaring sound from behind her.
The fire burning behind Twilight passed under Rainbow Dash several minuets after her take off and when she turned back for it to land she immediately lowered her ears, trying to get them to stop ringing. “That was a great run,” Twilight said, “but I think you might be going too fast. I did say not to go fast but maybe you could do one or two more goes while flying a bit slower.”
Rainbow Dash groaned at the request while lifting herself back up into the air.
The next two passes were done with only enough speed to fill the valley with a low droning hum of the whistle. And when Rainbow Dash landed after the third trip she sat down and tugged the piece of metal off her back in one quick jerk. “Are you sure that me flying back and fourth is all I can do to get this to work. Shouldn't I be going faster so that you can find something out from that or anything other then going slow with this thing on my back.”
Twilight flipped the switch on the recorder that rewinds the reel inside of it. “One moment Dash, I just need to look over the photography then the audio.” The image of Twilight appeared for a short moment on the view find, she was swiftly cut away from to she Dash flying into the distance. When the blurred dot began the grow closer on the small screen and turn into a copy of Rainbow Dash, Twilight's face slightly corded in concentration. “I'll get the audio next and see how they match up. Playing the two together took a moment to set up but when they started Twilight's eyes focused on the screen even more.
The sound of the whistle seemed as out of focus as the image at first and before Dash came into focus the hum that was flowing out from the earphone began to sound like a normal small warbling whistle. Twilight stopped both playbacks and rewound them both before doing her best to sink them up and play them again.
“I think I have what we need, but now comes the hard part.” Twilight said. She paused the recordings together at the point when the audio was at its clearest. “Rainbow, I'll need you to fly until you're about this far out.” she points to the screen. “Spike and I will help you get back there so get ready to fly again.”
“No more whistle though, right?”
“No more whistle.” Twilight grinned at not having to hear the sound anymore either. “When Spike aims his fire towards this fire,” she pointed to the flames behind her “you need to come closer, and when he aims it away the you need to back up. Oh, and you might need this.” a burning log lifts up from the stack and is suspended in the air; the unmarred end out. “ It'll help us see you and you'll need it as a marker for the trick.”
“Hey Twi, I meant to ask you, where did you find this wood at?” Rainbow Dash asked before taking the log in her mouth.
“I teleported down the side of the outer valley wall. There's only a few trees up this high but there were more then enough for a fire and it wasn't to hard even with my magic not working as well as it does back home. But that's not important now, what is important is that we get my devices in focus.”
Accepting the answer, Dash took to the air and flew out into what felt like the center of the valley, hopping it was close to where she needed to be. The first gout of fire rose telling her to come closer, Concentrating on the icy floor below herself Dash moved forwards about as far as the distance between her house and the ground below it before waving the torch. The second signal said to come closer again. Dash beat her wings and what seemed the distance from her house to the edge of Apple Jack's apple farm. A 'back up' flame shot up then and her wings pushed her back several yards. When a torch lifted up above the fire it came from and waved back and forth Rainbow Dash looked straight down before lowering herself to the ice.
Hooves chipped into the hard ice to no avail as Dash looked around for something to hold up the torch. There was nothing but ice down where she stood. Turning her head up to where Twilight was Dash caught the glimmer of her magic and a pop of air went off in front of her; it nearly made her drop the torch.
The flame hung in the air while an extra four logs came from behind Twilight. Without a word all five logs lined up and stacked into a small standing arrangement with the lit piece in the middle. Twilight smiled looking up to Dash – then she slips on the ice with a resounding “humph”
“You okay down there?” Rainbow Dash asked, trying to stifle a laugh. she flapped her wings and hovers just above the ice so she could move closer to Twilight without slipping herself.
“Yeah I'm fine. Just need to...” Twilight pulled herself up but began sliding back from the small pyre.
The held in laugh was let out quickly. Dash chuckles heartily as she drifts herself over Twilight. She swooped her hooves under Twilight's shoulders and lifts her friend up. “Come on Twi, lets get back and finish all your testing nonsense.”
“The testings all done.” was all Twilight needed to say to get Dash's wings flapping faster. Twilight pointed a hoof forward and took a deep breath “Once the fires out,” another deeper breath. “you just need to fly to the far side one more time and do your thing.”
Looking down below herself Rainbow Dash saw the sweat on Twilight's coat. The sight sent a shiver of worry down Dash's back. “You doing okay Twi?”
Spike finishes patting out their bonfire just as Twilight and Dash land and with Twilight's breath she turned to Rainbow Dash and orders her “We'll give you the same signal we did before, once you see it come at us with all you have and use that fire we just set for your mark to go even faster.”
Rainbow Dash wanted to protest at leaving but the pulse and excitement of getting the okay to fly faster and the idea of what might happen was just as compelling. The small fire passed under Dash as she flew out and the thoughts of Twilight's exhaustion started to fade. "This is why we're here, I have to make sure this is the best show she ever sees!" Dash shouts to herself as the end of the valley began to come closer. She lifted up out of the valley walls and landed on the rim. With a confidence building breath she watched for the green signal fire.
Adrenalin sent aching bolts of energy through Dash's entire body making everything that had happened today disappear before this moment. At the same time, Twilight had a thought that she should send a letter of thanks to Luna for letting them have the dark night to themselves.
“Twilight, she's ready.” Spike said and a rumble in his stomach came to ready the signal.
“Not yet!” Twilight quickly used her hoof to turn on the third device. A small needle jumped to life on top of a small roll of paper. Aiming the back of the machine at the tiny red spark on the icy floor she gave Spike the signal.
In a second both ponies eyes saw the green flame crawl into the sky, for Dash it meant go and it caused her entire body to burn hotter the she's felt all day. 'Twilight's watching.' was the only thing that came into her mind as she jumped high into the sky. She climbed until the air was almost to thin for her to breath then she clutched her wings to her sides and dived.
Hurdling herself down to the middle of the walls sent the thrill of flight over her. She loved this sensation so much, the feeling of a race. It made the valley look like the final stretch from the courses she flew as a child. She opened her wings and leveled out and allowed herself a glance for the small red glow in the distance. A powerful grin crossed her face as the words 'Twilight is watching me!' screamed inside Dash's mind one more time before the air became too loud for any other thoughts to be heard.
Twilight and Spike watched in anticipation, both taking a quick glance at the view finder before becoming lost in the sight of Rainbow Dash as she grew closer through the clear night air. An intense calm filled the fjord so completely that even the small pop of the fire on the icy floor went unnoticed by the recorder in front of Twilight.
A cone of cold and frost began to pillow out behind Dash; it bent and warped behind as her speed picked up. Feelings of elation built in her heart as the demand to go faster continued growing. The burning torch came closer as Dash closed her eyes to slits, reading herself for the real power of her speed.