//------------------------------// // 12 - The real star of the show // Story: LOYALTY // by Crowne Prince //------------------------------// Dear Princess Celestia, Never wish for a normal day in Ponyville. Since yesterday, she’d sent her team to check on every unstable thing in Equestria, a giant three-headed dog rampaged through town, she and Spike managed to ruin Twilight’s mane (par for the course), and the purple unicorn was still going on about an impending disaster. If today was the last day of Equestria, then where was the ominous music, the dramatic lighting; the evil, echoing laughter? Rainbow Dash wasn’t buying it. She had a flight lesson to get to. It was midday, but of course that meant nothing to the stupid forest, which was extremely foggy. Ghostly haze haunted the treetops and gray clouds moved slowly above. She flew right in without so much as a second thought. Ten minutes later she realized she was not at the clearing. She did a short circuit and realized she had no idea where she was. Well this is just pony fluffing great. Everything looked the same. Mist, trees, mist, trees, nothing but a monotonous landscape of green and gray. To make matters more awesome, she’d turned around a couple times and now couldn’t remember which way she’d come from. Something big moved the trees below (or the trees moved themselves – entirely possible). There were reasons ponies did not go to the Everfree Forest alone. Rainbow Dash did not want to become one of them. At times like these, you just had to fly straight, so she did – straight smack into a pink magical barrier. “What the?” Backing up, she felt something flat press against her hindquarters. It wasn’t a barrier after all; it was a bubble. A test kick caused the surface to ripple in white waves before returning to translucent pink. She looked out through the magical screen. You know, I didn’t think this place could get any worse, but it looks really awful in pink. The bubble lowered her below the treetops and brought her face to face with a unicorn she wasn’t pleased to see. How much energy would she waste breaking a barrier spell? It was probably worth it. “A pony was not what Trixie was trying to catch. She demands to know why you are here!” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “What happened to the Great and Powerful Trixie?” she mocked. Her captor barked out a confident laugh. “It is no longer necessary for Trixie to waste her breath, as her greatness is self-evident. Now reveal your reason for being here.” The magical force field went down. “Me?” Rainbow Dash snorted indignantly. “What about you? I’d say you’re the suspicious one!” “Insolence! You carelessly fall into Trixie’s spell and then accuse her?” Trixie scoffed, insulted. She lacked the starry cloak Dash remembered. Instead, an unusual necklace embedded with a large, crescent moon-shaped gem gleamed at her neck. A pony could change their clothes, but they couldn’t change their coat. Trixie still reminded her of toothpaste, or maybe a breath mint – something the arrogant pony could definitely use. Rainbow Dash was about to say as much, but Trixie wasn’t about to let the opportunity to talk about herself go by. “If you must know, Trixie is in the midst of a self-imposed banishment, no doubt something the likes of you would never understand.” “Uh-huh. And how’s that working out for you?” Trixie ignored the comment. “The only reason Trixie even bothers with this pointless discussion is because it has been so long since she’s had company.” With her head turned and one eye narrowed in revulsion, she looked Rainbow Dash up and down. “Even if it is the likes of you.” The only reason Rainbow Dash hadn’t left was because she had no idea where she was. It dawned on her. “No way – you’re lost!” “Trixie is not lost!” Yep, definitely lost. Toothpaste-mane flipped her hair haughtily. “She knows, for example, that just down this path is a makeshift bridge.” The unicorn indicated the path behind her, no doubt in the direction she’d just come from. With any luck, the bridge would be the same one Rainbow Dash remembered. “Well Trixie,” Rainbow Dash said bitterly, “this has been… interesting. Unfortunately for you, I really have somewhere I need to be.” She flew past the irritating mare, who shouted back at her, “Next time stay out of Trixie’s trap!” Ugh. The Everfree Forest was now officially the most annoying place in Equestria. Fog engulfed everything behind her and revealed a rope bridge ahead. Gray planks lined an unsteady path across the abyss. It was the same place the Shadowbolts had tried to seduce her into abandoning the others. Whispering in a pony’s ear definitely counted as seduction. She spat, warding off the memories of how naïve she’d been back then. What if she’d said yes? She’d be leading a team of illusions through eternal night, no better than one of Discord’s puppets. Even without Nightmare Moon’s magic, the place looked just like it had that night, only now there was no one nearby who depended on her. “Dash –dash-ash-ash,” her name echoed through the canyon at her feet. Every hair on her pelt prickled. “Dash,” the sound came again, somewhat closer, still rebounding in the empty space before her. “Soarin’?” She recognized his voice, but he was nowhere to be seen. “Dash, where are you?” “Over here! By the bridge.” The unclad Wonderbolt emerged from the mist on the other side of the gorge. As always, he’d brought his saddlebags, weighted down heavily with goodies from the looks of it. Shadowbolts, meet Wonderbolt. Soarin’ took in the surroundings as he landed next to her. “I’m glad I found you. I was starting to think maybe I went a little overboard earlier and you weren’t going to come to practice any-“ This time, Rainbow Dash was the one who pressed her wingtip over his muzzle. She was glad to see him. “Doubting Equestria’s best flyer, huh? That doesn’t sound like the Soarin’ I know. It was pretty convenient you showed up just now. How do I know you’re not a Mimic or something?” She released her hold. “That’s easy.” Soarin’ swished his tail. “Ask a question only the real me would know.” “How did you get your cutie mark?” “It was – hey, wait, you don’t even know that!” She chuckled. She’d almost gotten it out of him. “Fine. What’s your least favorite food?” It was a trick question. “I don’t know what the magazines say it is, but I don’t really have one. Sure, there are some things I don’t like that much, but I’m not a picky eater.” He poked her in the chest. “Now how do I know you’re actually Rainbow Dash and not an illusion? How many times did I beat you at Battlecloud after I taught you house rules?” “Five,” she said flatly. He’d just won their little verbal spar, too. “Good. I’m not in the mood for doppelgangers right now. Maybe we should have a code word in case we ever run into any. Asking questions is too obvious; they always put that in stories.” “I’m game. How about ‘Rainbow Dash is the best pony.’” “That might work, except ‘Soarin’ is superior.’” “Okay, let’s settle with thunderbow. Lightning Rainbow is more radical, but it’s too long,” she said. “Deal.” Neither of them moved. At length, Rainbow Dash said, “You’re lost, aren’t you?” “I took a wrong turn on the way to our training clearing. I was hoping when I found you, you’d be there.” He looked at one of the cracked stone pillars supporting the bridge. “We could train here, but I don’t know how safe it is.” “Let’s not. I don’t want to stay in this place.” Her flight partner’s ears pricked at her icy tone, but he didn’t pry. “I think I can find the way out. We can give a shot at getting to the clearing if we start again in Ponyville.” “Lead the way.” - - - After a fresh start, they’d rediscovered their usual practice area. Luna willing, they’d be able to find their way back to town before nightfall. Soarin’ settled on an expansive gray cloud and struggled out from underneath his two loads of pastries. The strap brushed his mane the wrong way as he dipped his head and wriggled backwards. It was like watching a pony try to take a sweater off. Too bad for her she was standing within range. “Here, put these on.” Before she could react, Soarin’ heaved the set of saddlebacks onto her back. “Oof!” She collapsed, legs splayed on all sides, not expecting the heavy burden. She felt her magic swell to hold the extra weight; it was odd to notice the change. The stuff inside the bags clacked together as it settled. “The good news is you don’t have to clear the sky here anymore. The other good news is you get to wear Spitfire’s saddlebags!” “The bad news is they’re full of rocks,” she finished dryly. “No, that doesn’t really qualify as news because it’s obvious.” He held out a hoof and helped her up. “My challenge for you is to keep those on all week, except to sleep. Wear them to work, wear them to parties, wear them to your best friend’s wedding if you have to.” Soarin’ brushed the official emblem clasp. “You’ll find out quickly that everypony and their uncle is going to ask where you got these.” He gave a sly grin. “You can tell them whatever you want.” At least something fun would come of this. “Fine, how about I tell them I got these out of a certain somepony’s bedroom?” “Mmm. I thought Lightning Streak seemed extra boastful this morning.” Rainbow Dash snorted. I just can’t pull one over on him today. They started the session with Wonderworks. The rocks had the added benefit of distracting her from her survival instinct, but they weren’t making it easy to fly true. Regardless, she was fairly confident with the maneuver now. If it weren’t for the pack of stones weighing her down, they would probably be able to work it at different angles besides straight. After a while they quit, thankfully, because she was getting bored and the concentration was starting to make her head pound. Soarin’ stretched. “I’m bored of that. Let’s try something new. Know any cloud tricks?” “A few,” she said. “Like… this?” Soarin’ swung a foreleg out, scuffing off a bit of cloud. The tiny puff scudded away, leaving a trail of gray in its wake. “Pfff, I learned that in flight kindergarten.” She quickly swung her leg along the cloud. A gray stream spat out from her platform, just like Soarin’s. The line she’d made was just a big longer than his. “Top that.” Soarin’ stood next to her and scuffed at the cloud again, beating her record. She switched legs on her next turn. The resulting line of mist outdid Soarin’s again. He tried two more kicks but couldn’t beat it. “Horses!” he said under his breath. “Do you know this one?” Still standing, the pearly blue pegasus suddenly fell through the cloud like an earthbound pony. He landed on the nimbus below without moving so much as a feather. She concentrated and broke her magic for an instant, landing stiff-legged right beside him. The heavy impact sent a jolt through her. The rock pack was going to make everything more difficult, wasn’t it? “How about,” Soarin’ opened his wings and crouched, letting them mingle in the cloud, “this?” Suddenly, he straightened his legs and threw his pinions up. Cloud flung off his feathers in upward streamers that hung in the air. Rainbow Dash mirrored his movement, familiar with this trick as well. Soarin’ unzipped a hole in a cloud; Rainbow Dash unzipped another hole. The lighter pegasus did a corkscrew through a nimbus, and the other one followed with the same. Soon it escalated into a cloud trick tango. Had there been dramatic music that started slow and accelerated faster and faster, the whole thing would’ve appeared choreographed. Rainbow Dash met Soarin’ move for move. Cloud arcs drew themselves in the air, showers of mist spattered the sky, muffled hoofbeats stamped clouds. Dozens of tricks spilled themselves over an unwritten canvas. Exhilaration tugged at her flyer’s heart. The weight at her sides melted into the wave of thrill she was riding. It was a competitive high that felt so good she didn’t even care who won. “So you know all of those tricks, do you Dash?” Soarin’ slowly walked the length of a gray nimbus just above her. “But I’ll bet,” he said as he sauntered along, “there are some things you haven’t thought of.” He ignored the edge of the surface and kept walking right around the end. Deep navy tail and mane streamed towards the forest. He looked down at her as he travelled along the bottom of the cloud. No, she’d never thought of that. How was he doing that? But as long as he was looking… “I could say the same for you.” Rainbow Dash reached for one of the few tricks left. She crouched low on the cloud, holding her wings closed tight. Rocks and all, she did a forward flip and landed on her rear hooves. Her forehooves came down full force an instant after. The impact made the cloud explode upward where she’d struck. While Soarin’ was distracted, she scooped up another trick they hadn’t covered and lobbed it at his head. Being from the Everfree Forest, of course the cloud snowball stuck to him and glopped off lazily instead of blowing up into harmless mist. The Wonderbolt was so surprised he lost his grip and fell off the bottom of the cloud. He threw his wings open to catch and right himself midair. Finally got him. Heh heh. Soarin’ landed, shaking off the remaining cloudball droplets. “Forgot that one.” Concentration clouded his gaze. He slammed his forehooves into the cloud. Nothing. He reared and tried again, bringing them down hard. Only a small wave of cloud rose up as a result. The stallion stood there, puzzled. Dash snickered. “It’s all in the flip. I guess technically you could fly at a cloud really fast. It’ll work, but you’ll crack your legs. Not one of my brighter ideas.” “How did you do that flip, though? You didn’t use your wings.” “They slow you down. This is kind of an earth pony trick, anyway. Pinkie Pie showed me.” Rainbow Dash settled into a crouch to demonstrate without taking her feet off the cloud. “First you have to get ready to spring. Then,” she raised her back legs “you throw your back legs over your head, using your forehooves to push off. You’re trying to flip in a circle, so after that your forehooves come off the ground. Then you’ll land, and you whip the momentum into everything you got to bring your front feet down.” She straightened herself and rubbed the back of her neck uselessly. “It’s, uh, kinda hard to describe.” Soarin’ looked thoughtful. “I’ll have to try it when I get home.” “Afraid to totally blow it in front of me, huh?” “Naw,” Soarin’ said. “See? Look.” He crouched like Opalescence about to pounce. Launching his hindquarters over his head, he clumsily made it halfway around before he totally blew it for her and fell flat on his back. Rainbow Dash crammed her hoof into her mouth to keep from laughing. “I’ll let you work on that,” she managed to say. “Besides, I’m not about to walk off the edge of a cloud expecting to get to the other side.” Soarin’ rolled onto his side and stood. “I can’t show you how to until next week anyway.” If there was even going to be a next week, what with Twilight’s horrible disaster and all. Not like they’d already averted two disasters already. Nope. It was starting to get darker out. They’d wasted all that time wandering around the forest earlier. Soarin’ seemed to notice this as well and prepared to leave. “Come on, let’s fly before it gets too dark to see.” They headed toward what she hoped was Ponyville. “How’s your weather team?” Soarin’ asked as the two of them glided lazily along. She honestly hadn’t thought about it. “Not bad, actually. We had an… interesting day yesterday.” An image of slobbery fruits capping one of the buildings in town came to mind. “But get this – we managed to scour every edge of Equestria between us, with my help of course, in a little over a day” she said proudly. “But I couldn’t have done it if I had to go all the way to Baltimare. Seems like I finally managed to put the right pegasus to the task. Funny how it works better when you actually think about who to send instead of picking random ponies,” Rainbow Dash finished with her usual sporty laugh. Soarin’ had a face like he was going to win a bet or something. “You should try giving them a pep talk sometime. I bet you’d be could at it.” She stuck her tongue out. “Cheerleading? Totally not my thing.” “Oh, no, cheerleading, no,” Soarin’ said. “Something more like this.” He zipped around her. “Flap those wings Rainbow Dash! Come on, you want to win, right? You gonna let a pile of rocks beat you?” The Wonderbolt barrel rolled to her other side. “NO! That’s what I thought.” She moved her wings faster, gaining speed. “Alright, that’s what I’m talkin’ about. Now we’re going to break some records with style, and most importantly – speed!” Soarin’ zoomed off into the distance. She chased after him. They slowed up and Soarin said, “that’s what I meant by a pep talk.” “If you put it that way, maybe I’ll try it, just for you.” The two exited the gloomy forest into Luna’s clear night air. The waxing moon was just beginning to rise over the horizon. It would be Tuesday morning soon. Yeah, Twilight was definitely just having one of her overblown freakouts and Equestria was not going to end tomorrow. But, you know, just in case. “Hey Soarin’, ever seen a moonbow?” This was one move Fleetfoot wouldn’t have picked up on, unless she’d been talent spotting in the middle of the night. “No.” “Come with me.” She brought them to roof of her cloud home, quiet and blank now that the sun was down. “You sure we’re not going to wake anyone up?” he whispered. It was still early for that, but that wasn’t the point. “Uhm,” she faltered. “I kind of live here by myself.” He drew his head back in slight surprise. “Oh.” This was the reaction most ponies had. “It’s so huge I thought,” the end of the statement trailed off into silence. “I built it myself,” she caught herself saying. Corn husks, I wasn’t supposed to say that. “With some help! A lot of help!” she tried to recover, but Soarin’ was already peering down the tower in fascination. “You made this? Thunder, Dash, that’s amazing.” He looked at the carefully maintained, sweeping cirrus curls adoring the doorways, the cloud garden, and the tunnels where rainbow waterfalls lived during the day. “And I thought I was good.” Landscaping and architecture had to be the least cool hobby that ever existed. Looking uncool in front of the Wonderbolts was at the top of her list of things never to do. Hayhayhayhayhay. It’s Soarin’, she tried to convince herself, so maybe it doesn’t count. He certainly didn’t seem bored. Quickdosomethingelse. “Oh, the moonbow,” she said a little loudly, bringing his attention back. “Ever since Princess Luna came back, I’ve been able to do this.” Suddenly she felt self-conscious. The moonbow wouldn’t work if she felt that way. “It’s nothing like the Sonic Rainboom or anything you can do, but, agh,” she cut off her own rambling, “just wait there and don’t go anywhere. Sometimes this takes a while." No, this wasn’t like the Sonic Rainboom at all. It was a completely different class of move. Rainbow Dash slid down the solid domed roof of the topmost part of the tower to get away from Soarin’. It wasn’t far enough. She flew down to the curved runway leading out of the ground level of the tower and trotted its length until she stood at the precipice. She could see everything from here under the moon’s glow. Deep breaths. Her friends, her family, the Elements of Harmony, ponies jeering Rainbow Crash, that one bad experience with the instant cheese, the most important dream she ever had, the Wonderbolts, Soarin’, the stones pulling her down: everything left her mind. She was just Rainbow Dash. She was a pegasus. A pony. Loyalty. Her wings relaxed open while she let it all go, closing her eyes. She waited like that until she was only another part of the night. Calm, the flyer took to the sky and painted an arc. Motes of invisible energy brushed past the turquoise equine’s hooves and imbued the stroke with magic. She returned to the rooftop when she was done. Her footing brought her a bit too close to Soarin’, so when she sat their closed wings touched lightly. The stones in the Wonderbolt saddlebags pressed into Soarin’s flank. Neither of them made an effort to move away. The two pegasi quietly watched the moonbow, the night rainbow. It was said if you flew far enough North, colored lights danced at the edge of the world. The moonbow made her think of that legend. Bands of soft, translucent color sparkled in an arc against a dark backdrop dotted with stars. Occasionally slow waves of brightness rippled across the rainbow’s length. The seven colors were joined by one more band of white lunar light. Rainbow Dash named all of her moves. She called this the Moonbow, but its real name was Luna’s Joy. It was so sappy that she would never admit this to anyone, ever. - - - “Well that’s an interestin bit o’ gear ya got there RD. Say, that’s a Wonderbolt mark there, isn’t it? Where’d you get that?” “Aw it was nothing. I just beat Fleetfoot in a race is all,” she boasted. Ever observant, Twilight noticed the clasp on the rock filled bags as soon as Rainbow Dash entered the library. “When did you get those?” “Oh, I swiped them that day you helped me and Soarin’ with that one thing.” Twilight Sparkle stood, mortified that she had unwittingly aided and abetted in Rainbow Dash’s criminal behavior. The pegasus could almost read Twilight's thoughts: Could Dash plead insanity on account of loving the Wonderbolts so much? Yes, yes, that might work. There was convincing evidence. Spike looked back and forth between the two ponies, confused. Pinkie Pie had been more interested in what was inside the hefty bags. Rainbow Dash described in detail the jumbo-sized cupcakes until Pinkie started to drool. Just to mix things up, she told Fluttershy the truth. The gentle pony instantly hid behind her hair. “Oh no, Soarin’. Is he mad at me?” Huh? “Uh, why would he be? I don’t think you two have even met while he’s been conscious.” “About that,” Fluttershy poked the ground in a very Fluttershy way. “I got a little carried away with my assertiveness earlier. I don’t think he knew who I was.” “Well then why are you worried? I’m sure it was nothing.” “O-okay, if you say so.” The yellow mare’s eyes travelled back to the rock-filled saddlebags. “It must be a lot of fun flying with another fast pegasus.” “Eh, mostly it just makes me really sore.” And Rarity? Well, she’d told the gossipy unicorn that she got the bags out of Soarin’s bedroom. Rainbow Dash had never seen Rarity’s eyes get so big. Of course, it didn’t take the five long to figure out she’d told each of them something different, but it was fun while it lasted. Twilight’s grumbling that Fluttershy got the true story and Rarity’s disappointment sorted through Rainbow Dash’s memories while she packed up the fashionista's stand at the Ponyville market. The short, noteworthless guard pony waited for Rainbow Dash to have her hooves full with the heaviest piece of Rarity’s display before he snuck up. Dash saw him slither over out of the corner of her eye. “I noticed this pretty filly in a blue dress and couldn’t help but come and see if she needed any help.” The comment was directed at Rarity without so much as acknowledging Dash existed. Had he really just said that? Rainbow Dash struggled against the Wonderbolt saddlebags to carefully place her friend’s elaborate, jewel encrusted mirror into the cart. Rarity professionally and politely declined, noting they had a cart and needed no help. The stallion turned away, back to the guard recruiting booth at the other end of the market. Rainbow Dash caught the phrase, “I did it!” uttered carelessly enough that the two mares overheard it. Did that actually happen? She couldn’t get over it. This sort of thing never happened around her. Blue and magenta eyes met, and the two friends laughed strangely, having no other way to respond. Rainbow Dash muttered, “They totally bet each other to do that.” The two stands were far apart, but apparently not enough so that a pony could not see Rarity in her striking, yet simple, blue dress. Rainbow Dash’s eyes flashed vengefully at the stand horsed by four guards, two of which were the young colt and his equally juvenile friend. They thought they could just say stuff like that and get away with it? Nopony brushed off the Best Young Flyer, either. Sure, she was wearing two brown bags of rocks, her mane was a mess, and her attitude radiated aggression, but this was Rainbow Dash. She had more talent in a speck of dust on her coat than that colt had in his entire family. The proud pegasus snarked at Rarity, “I really want to go over there and say, ‘Oh, I couldn’t help but see such a fine stallion in uniform and decide he must need my help carrying those things.’” Sarcasm threatened to drown everypony nearby. “Oho Rainbow Dash, I was thinking perhaps, ‘Terribly sorry, but I prefer palace guards.’” Ouch. As Rainbow Dash pulled the cart past the recruitment booth, she bit back the clever jab she so desperately wanted to say. They would probably twist it and throw it back at her, anyway. It was annoying that the two freshly minted guards followed them on the path out of the market, carrying nothing but a single set of saddlebags. “Sure you don’t need any help?” The guy’s tone said he didn’t give one snort about helping, only about Rarity’s swaying tail. Thank the bright sun Princess Celestia this never happened around Rainbow Dash. She felt like she could barf a rainbow all over the colt’s shining, untried plate mail. Wouldn’t that be something? She pictured it. Good thing nopony could see her wicked grin. Maybe she’d just give the guard a black eye, seeing as she was invisible anyway. “Are you two together?” This time it was the short guy’s friend. That was it. Rainbow Dash could only hold her patience for so long. “Yeah. We are.” They were so dense they didn’t even get what she’d just said. “Would you mares like us to treat you to dinner tonight?” Because so clearly all it took to get at Rarity was a cheap, disingenuous meal. Rainbow Dash whirled between the cart hitches. It took all her control not to fly over and kill them both in verbal combat. “No, I don’t think you get it.” she said forcefully, drawing out the next word. “Together.” She crossed the two tipmost feathers of an outstretched wing for them to see. That shut them up. The athlete turned away, pulling the cart along with a deeply satisfied smirk. Heavyset hoofbeats stopped following them, sparing the two elements of harmony any more idiocy. Rarity noticed her friend was still stewing about the whole thing. “Darling, you shouldn’t let two insufferable colts get to you like that. They’re not even worth your time.” “Yeah, but it still pisses me off.” “Oh come now, it’s still early. Let’s go see if Twilight will join us for breakfast. And you really must take off those bags – the clacking is driving me crazy!” ~~~ “So you just flew away?!” Spitfire said, dumfounded. “No ‘goodnight,’ or anything like that?” “Well I guess I said something like that,” Soarin’ tried to defend himself, knowing it was ultimately useless. “I didn’t know what else to say! You weren’t there. It’s really hard for me to describe what it looked like.” “You could try drawing it,” Surprise offered. “Aw come on guys, you know I suck at drawing.” Spitfire smacked her forehoof to her head. “You’re hopeless, Soarin’.” Rapidfire held out a hoof. “Told you so.” Spitfire put a bit into it. The competitive mare wasn’t about to let Soarin’ off the hook, though. “Ideally, Soarin’ wouldn’t be as thickheaded.” Here we go. “Ideally, I’d be smarter than you.” “Ideally, you wouldn’t have to be smarter than anypony to have common sense.” “In a perfect world, I wouldn’t need common sense because I’d just do the right thing automatically.” “Exactly, because in the best situation, you’d be me,” Spitfire said. “Only with much cooler hair,” he quipped. “It would actually be hotter hair, because it matches the yellow coat better. Your hair would be just hot enough to knock ponies off their feet, but not so much that you attract Princess Celestia’s attention.” “Ideally I’d not only have a searing hot mane, and do everything perfectly because I’m Spitfire, but Rainbow Dash would just come to me, and I wouldn’t have to even lift a feather.” Spitfire slammed a hoof down triumphantly. “Yes, because in a perfect story, it’d be Rainbow Dash and Spitfire, not Rainbow Dash and Soarin’.” He faltered on that one too long. Rapidfire called the new score, putting Spitfire ahead by two points. They were fairly equally matched at this new game. It was one of Surprise’s favorites now; the ‘ideal situation’ game. The white Wonderbolt was pretty good at predicting when to show up for an unexpected showdown. “Oh,” Surprise suddenly remembered something. She passed a letter to Soarin’. “Fleetfoot told me to give this to you. Said it was from Ponyville.” They all stood there, looking at him eagerly (except for Rapidfire, who was stoic as always). Soarin' wanted to remind them they all needed to get back to practice. It wouldn’t have made any of them move, though, so he opened the letter. Hey Soarin’, I’m going out of Equestria for a few days or so, so don’t show up for practice this week. We’re following the Great Dragon Migration because Twilight’s dragon assistant Spike has this crazy idea in his head. Obviously he’s never dealt with an adult dragon. Tell Spitfire thanks for lending the saddlebags. Hopefully see ya soon, (I mean seriously, I better not get burnt to a crisp before I’m a Wonderbolt.) Dash He held the letter away from prying eyes. “Looks like I’ve got some free time this week. No practice.” He didn’t mention the part about the saddlebags. Spitfire raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you blew it that bad.” Rapidfire merely shook his head sadly. Soarin’ said, “It’s not like that. Dash is following the dragon migration.” Surprise looked surprised. For a pegasus, Rainbow Dash seemed to get into an awful lot of interesting situations. Soarin' had a feeling there was something about her he hadn’t figured out yet. 8-Xenon-8 made this chapter's day: