Thursday, more of the same.
Rain pounded Rainbow’s roof like thousands of miniature hammers. While sitting on the sectional sofa inside her living room, she strummed her sparkling red electric guitar. Granted, she continued struggling creating anything resembling a tune but the exercise kept her mind busy. The clock in her dining room approached noon, which meant Swift would be arriving at her door with outdoors food. At least, that’s what she hoped.
Suddenly, the most wonderful noise in the world came from the door. Tossing her guitar aside, she rushed to open it with the most eager of smiles. However, when she finally saw her trainer, some of that optimism rusted in the open damp air. Bags hung below his half-closed eyes and he yawned, constantly.
“Did you sleep well, Swift,” she inquired.
“No,” he responded with a mild shudder.
Her head slumped.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” He chuckled. “No, no, no, Rainbow. No nightmares, nothing like that.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It’s just that there was an accident at the Cloud Factory at four in the morning. Somepony went overboard with the chemicals in the mixture drum before they left for the night and the explosion blew a hole in the roof. I had to go over there and help with the cleanup. Of course, all of that meant not a lot of z’s.”
“That’s great!” was her abrupt answer.
One of his eyebrows moved upwards, “Eh?”
“Don’t you see? No really bad nightmare! If you don’t take naps during the day, that means we have at least two more days!”
Swift rubbed his mane, puzzled at how Rainbow was calculating the doomsday clock. Then it came to him. “Rainbow, we can’t start thinking that way. It was just that one case. Our situation could be completely different.”
“I know but it’s hard. I mean, that one you had –how you were tossing and turning and yelling – I can’t see how anypony can go through one more of those, let alone two.”
Swift held a blink for a few seconds. “Gotcha but try to push that out of your head. What we should do is aim for Saturday.”
“Saturday?”
“That’s when your friends come back from Manehattan and I promised you’d be cured by then. If I can do that, it’s like what Nurse Redheart said. We’re following the same path. What cures you may just cure me too. That’s what I choose to believe.”
He was back, the somewhat dorky but steadfast Swift Flying that Rainbow was honored to call a friend. Even so, she couldn’t switch off the clock inside her head, which hands moved in all sorts of directions but inched closer to twelve. “Then I’ll believe that too! So what are we having?”
Swift picked up a box with steam pouring out of the small opening. “No clue. Everypony’s raving about this new place in Cloudsdale but I couldn’t understand most of the menu.” He flipped opened one of the flaps for a whiff and immediately shuddered. “Whoa! That smells wicked spicy!”
“What? Can’t handle the hot stuff?” she teased.
He snorted amusedly. “Whatever. Hot or not, at least it’ll keep me awake.” He walked inside, food in tow. “I went ahead and left Thunderlane in charge so we can start training right after lunch. Good thing there’s so little left to do today, so even he can’t screw—”
Swift stopped in front of the electric guitar.
“Oh, you’ve been practicing? Are you getting better at it now?”
“Well, I sorta, well, no.”
“Lima One!”
Two hours into weaving through the obstacle course, Swift had reached the first high-difficulty route: hard ascent, steep descent, zigzag around cloud columns, and going through tight bending chutes. Rainbow remembered bumping into the round and tall columns during the Best Young Fliers competition, an unpleasant memory she eventually re-lived.
“Yahhhhhhhhhhhh!”
At least this time, she had a friend to stop her from crashing into a nearby wall.
“Not again,” she muttered as she pulled herself off the barrier. “I practice that at least once a week!”
Swift rubbed on his forehead. With half the cloud hoops now arches and body indentations all across the course, it needed a timeout for eventual repair. “We’ll work on it later. Next up” – He grinned –“stunts!”
Rainbow hoof pumped. “Yes! Finally!”
Swift hovered to and fro, “Now, we should be able to blast right through the easy ones and then we can work on the toughies. To make this work with the rope, you’ll have to stay close to me at all times.”
Rainbow saluted him. “You got it! So, you do know what you’re doing, right? I mean, these are stunts, after all.”
His enthusiasm ran dry once he recalled the correct answer. “Actually, the last time I specifically worked with stunts was, um, Junior Speedsters.”
She glared at him like a mother seeing mediocre grades on her colt’s report card.
Laughing his nervousness away, “Ah, c’mon. My special talent should be ideal for stunts. You know, everyone at Speedsters told me I was a phenom that would make the Wonderbolts blush if I joined. Of course, I told them—”
“Wait a minute.” Rainbow mouthed a wow. “Was that a boast I just heard, Swift?”
He rewound the tape and sure enough, he had a hint of swag when he made his statement. “Um, no. No! I was just—”
“Ooooh, and you didn’t even react to your name, Swift.” She put on a cat smile, “My efforts are starting to pay off.”
This time, he did with a wince. “Look! I can explain!”
“Looks like I’m being a good influence on you after all.”
Swift puffed a snort. “Wha—”
“Whatever,” she chortled. “See? I’m totally figuring you out, now.”
At this point, all he could is raising his hooves as a form of surrender. “Well, you’re—” He lowered his hooves, chuckling –“you’re something, all right. You’re a lot to handle but you’re a pretty wicked pony.”
Such a complement should’ve been no surprise but her body temperature rose anyways.
“Anyways, we’ll begin with simple loops, each one tighter than the last and with increasing speed. That should—” He noticed Rainbow’s reserved stare in no particular direction “—Rainbow, are you listening?”
She was, although she took a few seconds to acknowledge with a fervent nod. “Oh, yeah. Sounds good!”
“Then follow my lead.”
In seconds, she was trailing him at close distance with one goal in mind; mimic every motion Swift made. Once they reached the chamber’s middle, he curved his body upwards for the start of a wide and gentle loop. No problem, she thought. This was the most elementary trick in the book and better yet, her velocity was well within her comfort zone. That held true until she hit the loop’s apex when her world was upside down. Her stomach twisted in a tight knot and not because of all the spicy morsels she ate for lunch.
Ugh! I’m gonna hurl!
As she descended, that fear trickled down, literally. With the loop a success, Swift spent scant time in starting the next one with more vigor and increased turn angle. For Rainbow, her belly proved more compliant this time.
There we go! Just need to get used to this again!
Then Swift gunned the throttle for loop number three. With the slack running thin, she tried matching his speed, only for terror’s waves to crash into her body. In defiance, she stood her ground even as the rushing water pushed all it could to make her fall.
You can’t scare me!
The syndrome pulled back into the larger sea, freeing her mind to the task; fly up, hit the apex, and rush downwards to close the loop.
I’m still here!
Her condition believed otherwise, as it sent another wave twice as tall as the last one. She lost her footing but she pedaled all she should to stay above the water line. As she fought against the imaginary force, she climbed five feet over her intended position, narrowing the thread’s slack to zero. With a painful tug, the rope assured she merged back onto Swift’s flight path but not without losing a few loose strands in the process.
I won’t let you beat me! I won’t!
Even with her eyes flooded with liquid, she noticed a gray blob going upwards like a rocket. Her speed increased at a similar rate, making the next incoming rush of water a wall at least five times taller than she was. The wave would surely sweep her away, but with a tug, the coast guard would come to her aid. Yet, she stayed in place gritting her teeth.
C’mon! Hit me with all you—
Suddenly, she was underwater, the pale liquid rushing into her lungs and asphyxiating her with primal fear. Her world spun as though a vortex was pulling her deeper into disaster but something else was tugging her in the other direction. It was that of her fellow pony and his voice shattered the wall separating fiction and reality.
“I can’t hold on, Rainbow!”
Through her tears, she noticed the stallion’s wings at maximum power, not enough to overcome gravity. She turned to key to make her appendages come alive, but all they did was flutter before returning to the down position. Three more tries it took before she was hovering under her own power.
“Shooooot,” he groaned, savoring his now-reddish hooves. “I’m just not built for this.”
She had to let this opportunity to make fun of him slip by; the emotional tsunami had left her willpower in tatters and needed mending. “Give me a sec,” she wheezed.
“Was that too much for you,” Swift asked, still wincing in pain. “I could slow it down next time.”
“No,” she slurred. “We gotta keep pushing.”
Swift’s eyes ran up and down the connecting rope. When he glanced upward, he got a face full of sun. Gonna be a long day.
Soon, the two pegasi performed loop after loop, interrupted only by Rainbow’s wall of terror killing the lights and the constant snapping of intertwined threads. Once Rainbow got into a comfort zone, Swift bumped up the difficulty.
“Do a barrel roll!”
He swooped left and right in a spinning motion, an easy task for the daredevil mare if her instruments would actually provide accurate numbers. Mistakes proved constant, from losing sense of direction to over-rotation leading to an aerodynamic stall. The worst blunder came at her friend’s expense, when she accidentally wrapped the rope around him, cutting off his wing power and turning him into makeshift piñata. Before she could set him all the way down, the rope ripped apart, making his landing a belly flop.
“Sorry!” she said, covering her mouth to withhold her laughter. “You’re not hurt, are you?”
All systems checked normal except his energy levels. What he lost in thirty minutes should’ve lasted hours. “I’m okay,” he answered with a grimace.
That wouldn’t be the last time he would say that on this Thursday afternoon. Swift switched the curriculum to stall turns, a test of climbing power and subsequent recovery of the downward journey. The first part proved easy but the second required aerial mastery. Both pegasi possessed the requisite skills, but one was battling mental exhaustion with the other fending off physical strain. Every time Rainbow fell out the skies, the strand took Swift along for the ride.
“Sorry,” Rainbow huffed and puffed.
Swift rubbed his eyes, “N–no worries. I just, whew.”
Next, they mixed together stunts with the obstacle course: looping and spinning around the rings, flying through the chutes backwards and barrel rolling around the posts. Rainbow inched closer to the wall that obstructed her from freedom and with every attempt, her fear retreated. However, with all the constant collisions into objects, Swift continually hit the pause button so he can reshape the course to something other than a hazy mess. Each time he did, his eyebrows slanted further downwards as did Rainbow’s. They were losing more precious minutes with repair work instead of actual training. Eventually, he called for an all stop.
“Oh, c’mon!” she protested. “I was just getting warmed up!”
Her scratchy voice was nails on a chalkboard. “Can’t you see I can’t keep this up anymore?” Swift grabbed a part of a hoop and squeezed it. “Look how hard this stuff is! This isn’t easy to mold, you know!”
A puff of air escaped her nostrils. “That’s because you don’t work out enough, scrawny!”
“Scrawny?” Other ponies had called him that before, but Rainbow was the first to use it in a fashion that boiled his blood. He yanked his mane, dousing the flames. “All right. Let’s cool our jets now. How about we hit the thunder fields for a while? We need to work on your sluggish reaction time.”
Her teeth gritted. What was that supposed to mean? Did he just call me slow?
Whatever he was or not, the fact was that in the department of lightning dodging, he was the jackrabbit. Swift had done something with those clouds for the notes she jotted in her head yesterday proved less helpful. All her sensory functions provided her continuous false alarms – she didn’t know what to trust anymore. One thing did remain the same, Swift being the caretaker against her mistakes via pushing, tugging with the rope, or taking a direct hit of electricity.
She wished he’d do something else. The bubbling fear within her had cooled to a tepid temperature, comfortable enough to shed the safety net. Unfortunately, fatigue made her forget about tact, what little she usually had anyways.
“You don’t need to babysit me!” she snapped as they were discarding another frayed rope. “I can handle the strikes myself, Swift!”
At this point, the dark circles around his eyes had merged into one. “No you can’t.”
Rainbow marched his way, “What did you say?” she said in a low simmer.
“There’s no point putting you at risk. Besides, I told you a million times already that I have higher resistance than you.”
Poking his body, “You’re full of it! You’re just trying to one-up me!”
“What?” he shrieked, his wings rising to the upright position. “I’m trying to one up you?”
“That’s right. You’ve been doing that ever since we got here!”
Swift rolled his eyes. “No, I’ve been trying to help you. The only reason I’m looking so good is that you’re rusty!”
She got right up to his face. “Are you calling me a klutz?”
His entire body trembled in frustration. “Rainbow, I think you need a nap.”
Rainbow’s wings flared. “Hey! Don’t be telling me what to do!”
“Oh, so now you don’t want to take a nap.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Let’s just say I heard a lot of stories about you sleeping on the job. I might not know everything about being a leader but at least I actually try to do work I’m supposed to be doing.”
Her face caught fire, “Oh, you’re going to get it now!”
“Pffttt. Whatever. Like you could even hit me.”
She swung with her right hoof, but she hit air rather than a pony’s face. All that momentum took her right into the cloud floor with an embarrassing flop. By the time she found her target, he was nearing the chamber walls, his speed implying he was going right through them.
Rainbow shook her hoof in the air, “Where are you going?”
He stopped but refused to face her. “Away from you.”
In an instant, her anger vanished. What just happened, she thought. Sure, anger came easy to her, a little too easy for her taste but she didn’t think it would degrade to attempted assault. What a horrible mistake! “Wait!” she called out him. “Are you coming back?”
“Take a nap,” was all he said before leaving the chamber.
The air turned artic around her. Other than the nearby clouds rumbling its collective energy, she had nothing else for company, not Swift Flying, her friends, her weather team, not one soul. Loneliness had bothered her many times over before, but this was a far worse emotion. Abandoned, he had just abandoned her.
No, I can’t think like that. He just needs some time to cool off, that’s all. Maybe I should take that nap.
She slumped onto the floor, and then closed her eyes to this real nightmare.
When her eyelids opened, she was still amongst the clouds. However, the white walls shielding the chamber from the outside world disintegrated into vapor, allowing the surrounding thunderclouds to overtake the space. In moments, the precipitation pelted her coat but that was of little concern compared to the troubling fact that if a stray pegasus happened to be in the general vicinity, her secret would no longer be one.
Except there were no flying ponies around her. In fact, she couldn’t see anypony in the air or walking on the distant Ponyville streets. Surely, there had to be some sign of activity if she waited for a few minutes.
Nothing. Not even a solitary bird.
Rainbow flew straight into town at her best available speed. She peeked through windows, knocked on doors, and then headed inside to what turned out to be homes full of belongings without a visible owner. Distraught, she rushed to the Ponyville Clinic – no doubt patients would fill every seat! Instead, there were no sick ponies or nursing staff, just the jazzy muzak playing for nopony’s entertainment. She ran right into Nurse Redheart’s room, finding her desk and large chair.
She’s not here. What’s going on here?
She continued searching through random buildings, calling aloud for anypony else to acknowledge her very existence. However, fog had rolled in and consumed everything it touched at an alarming rate. What was a small quaint pony town disappeared all around Rainbow Dash as did the rain and everything else imaginable. Soon, the white shroud was all she could see.
“Hello?”
Her voice echoed off endless walls and then faded away without a response. Rainbow tried flying in a general direction except her wings provided no lift. Therefore, she walked straight-ahead, searching for anything resembling an exit. No matter where she turned, however, she always ended up at the same place, a solitary floating cloud. Eventually, she collapsed onto the only object left in this world, the void within her chest too painful to bear anymore. The moment she clasped the cloud, she immediately recognized it as something more than just a comfortable puff.
This is, this is his cloud!
From within the mist, a grey hoof reached out to her. For a second, her heart jittered, afraid that her one source of hope would disappear if she tried grasping for it. The moment she touched him, she instantly arose where she dozed off within the makeshift training facility. Sitting next to her was the same pony that pulled her out of her dreams, his focus on the floor.
“’Sup, Rainbow,” he said in a somber tone.
A scintillating scent caught her attention – it came from a transparent cup placed in front of her. Brown liquid sloshed inside with whipped cream floating on the surface. He had a similar frosty drink on hoof but he already had drunk a quarter of it. He leaned in for another sip through the straw but he stopped short.
“I didn’t know what you’d like so I ordered the same thing I did. I hope you like it.”
Rainbow chose to take a sample. Sweet and powerful caffeine rushed into her system. “Mmmmm. Thanks.”
He flashed a smile. “No prob.” He pulled out a brown bag from his side, “I also have some doughnut holes if you want.”
“I’ll, um, I’ll eat them later.”
Swift grabbed onto his hair for the obligatory nervous rub, “I know today’s been a little rough, and we’re really pushing and wearing ourselves out but that doesn’t excuse how I acted. I’m not like that at all, Rainbow. If you’re mad at me—”
Rainbow smacked him on the shoulder, restraining much of her strength.
“Ow!”
She chuckled at his low pain tolerance. “Yeah, you were kind of a jerk.” Then, she grabbed his hoof to deliver equal retribution onto her shoulder. “But so was I, so I guess that makes us even, almost.”
“Almost?”
He had no chance; Rainbow had a firm hold on his hoof, preventing any hopes of escape from an energetic rub to his head. Then again, he had no need. Despite the burning sting, it was joyous forgiveness without words.
“Rainbow” – He spat out in between chortles – “you enjoy doing this to me, dontcha?”
After a pat on his head, she let him go. “You keep giving me reasons.”
“Well, you won’t get any more today.” He went for another sip, “Not with this and my nap.”
Rainbow’s pupils shrank. “Wait a minute. A nap?”
Swift wiped off some cream off his lips. “Yeah, you were still asleep when I came back so I caught some Z’s. Still not a fan of nap but my sleep cycle’s all out of whack anyways.”
Her wings spread open. “But the nightmares! What about the nightmares?”
“Don’t think like that.” He exhaled deep. “But if you must know, I don’t remember what I dreamed about. Even if I did, it didn’t change a thing.” He then hovered into the air for a few quick speed bursts. “See?”
She could see that plain as day but that did little to stifle the sound of the ticking doomsday timer. “Well, if you say so. Anyways, are you okay to keep going?”
He finished the last of his chilled beverage with one large gulp. “Ah! That’s a ten-four! I even fixed up the course while you were asleep!”
Rainbow peered through the ceiling. The moon was exchanging places with the sun, which meant her siesta must’ve lasted at least an hour. “Then there’s no time to waste! What are we doing next?”
Swift yanked out a piece of white cloth.
Waving her hooves, “Oh no! I’m not flying blind!”
“Eh?” He rubbed some food particles off his face. “No. We’re jumping right into the harder stunts.”
“Oh shoot!”
Swift accelerated with all his muster, his target the falling Rainbow Dash with her half of the rope dangling in the air. How convenient it would’ve been to grab that if it wouldn’t crush her ribcage in the process. Instead, he followed the same procedures as always, grasp her hoof and pray she could engage her wings in time.
Not this instance. All the perspiration made a connection impossible. Running out of altitude, he clasped her body like a claw and attempted to soften the landing. At their approach angle, however, the impact may crush more than just the agenda for the rest of the night.
“Rainbow! Pull up! Pull up!”
Fear stalled her wings. Get over it, Rainbow! Fly, darnit! Fly!
Her systems came alive, allowing her friend to disembark scant feet from the runway. His hooves touched down fast and hard, creating a massive plume of cloud particles that hid his rough landing. Eventually, he stopped upright but immediately stepped in place.
“Hot, hot, hot!”
“Sorry,” Rainbow responded as she landed next to him.
He pranced for a few more seconds, “No worries. The Pegasus S’s no walk in the park if we can’t go full speed.” Finally, he stopped moving. “Whew! We’ll put that off for now. There is one more stunt I want to try, without the rope.”
The thought of ditching her lifeline made her gulp. “Do we really have to?”
Swift pointed at the shredded remains of tattered strands. “It’s really getting in the way now. Besides, this one I feel you gotta do solo.” After a brief pause, “The Bolt Super Loop n’ Dive.”
Rainbow’s face turned pale. It was that trick, the very one that started everything, the one that legitimately frightened her senses. “I don’t want to.”
He nodded slowly. “I know you don’t but you can’t run away from it forever. I won’t ask you to fly that close to the ground. It’s just a basic walkthrough with plenty of altitude to spare. I’ll be at the bottom in case something goes wrong.”
“I’m not sure about this.”
“Trust me on this, Rainbow. Think about it. If you can finish what you started, there’s a chance that’s what will cure you. It’s worth trying.”
The problem wasn’t faith in him but the guts to attempt this stunt once more. “I–I, well, I might not… all right. All right. I’ll do it. What do you want me to do, exactly?”
His head tilted upwards, “You see the highest cloud? That’s the launching point.” Swift then traced an imaginary path in the skies, “Like that. You’re better off with a less aggressive angle.” Swift powered up his wings. “I’ll do a test run so you know what it looks like.”
“Swift! Wait!”
His takeoff sputtered to a spot. “Ugh. Yeah?”
“How many times have you’ve done this move?”
“Never,” he replied without missing a beat.
She pictured him falling out of the skies. “Um, you don’t need—?”
Swift held up his hoof, “Rainbow, I got this.”
She stood on the cloud floor, taken aback at his restrained but stout confidence. For his fervent stand that he didn’t want to be a Wonderbolt, he sounded like one just now. He moved like one too, taking a few moments on the cloud top to relax before tipping over the edge with nary a bobble. Never had she seen a pegasus fall with such smoothness and grace. Rainbow wondered whether her friends reacted with the same awe when she had her turn over a week ago.
Look at that!
His wings suddenly sprang open with no feathers lost, and then he started his loop with nothing but silent momentum. There was an eeriness not hearing any wing power and yet so entangling, like an artist making the stroke that makes the picture come alive.
“Wow!”
Swift’s speed climbed in a hurry, all while in a position where she could see his calm and relaxed face. The moment he leveled off upside down, Swift waved at her. Easy, he made it look so easy and if it was anypony else, she would’ve pouted. Instead, she welcomed him back with a steady clap.
“What do you know? You got some moves in you, after all.”
That made him grin.
“Way to show your pegasus pride!”
He opened his mouth to counter, only to shrug. “Your turn.”
Suddenly, that cloud near the ceiling might as well be a distant star. She checked the distance as she flew upwards; he fell around the same length as she did during her failed attempt. The speed she would carry was beyond her current limits, a fact that made her stop.
“Are you sure you can catch me?” she yelled at him as she reached the cloud.
Cupping his mouth, “No worries! I have a plan!” In a flash, he pulled off a chunk of the chamber wall and then massaged himself a few small clouds. “There ya go!”
Her eyes bulged at the small floating objects. There’s no way those can catch me.
Rainbow’s heartbeat echoed within Rainbow' ears. What she saw switched from the real world to a hazy image of Fluttershy and Scootaloo awaiting her in the Ponyville fields. She heard the wind rushing between her eardrums, even though her mane remained tucked by her side. She commanded to take a step forward with her wings closed, but the controls jammed. Whether it was Flying Stress Syndrome or actual fear, she couldn’t distinguish the problem’s source.
“I won’t make it,” she bellowed. “I’ll screw up!”
“No you won’t,” he shouted back. “See yourself pulling it off!”
She knew that already, but saying and doing were two different things. Every time she pictured her run, it ended up with her flailing her hooves toward the cloud floor.
Bad thoughts! Let’s see good!
With an eraser, she wiped out the fail scenario and then worked on a more successful attempt.
Yeah. That’s it. I’ll make you proud, Swift. Watch me.
With her appendages closed, Rainbow fell from the cloud but she did so with a small hop. Mistake number one; she was dropping at an angle rather than perpendicular to the ground. As Rainbow twisted her body for a course correction, her velocity exceeded her compromised speed limit, triggering the terrifying shakes. She hadn’t reached the designated altitude but Rainbow had to extend her wings now or they never would.
Now! Have to do it now!
She pulled the release lever a second too late. Her wings refused to flap.
“Yaaaaaahhhhh,” she shrieked as she fell from the skies.
With haste, Swift maneuvered the clouds into position and then spun around them at a high rate of speed. What was a cluster became one condensed puff that caught her and gave way to her weight.
“Your wings! Flap your wings!” Swift commanded.
She didn’t understand his urgency, but she complied just as the cloud she sat on suddenly sprang up. Now she was out of control going the other direction, but before she knew it, Swift grasped both forelegs and tapped the brakes. Soon enough, her ride came to a calm end.
“I guess I wasn’t ready,” said Rainbow, frowning.
He released one hoof but gently held the other, “You will be. Just need some practice.”
“Yeah, I suppose.” Her eyes darted to the dissipating clouds that broke her fall. “By the way, that was pretty clever. I thought I was the only one that knew about that little trick.”
“It’s something my dad taught me. No big deal.”
She brought up a content smile, “Bet he’d be proud of you right now, Swift.”
He chuckled, “Yeah, probably.”
Rainbow had nothing more to say other than the fact that he, once more, had no reaction to his name. She neglected pointing this out for she was too busy enjoying the moment until realizing the reason why. She had held onto his foreleg for at least half a minute.
They split apart and coughed to disguise their mutual embarrassment.
“Sooooo—” Swift glanced at the small ceiling window “—do you have enough juice for one last thing?”
“It’s not even midnight yet. You bet!”
Swift landed by the cloud holding the precious rope. There was about five left, but his interest was within the cloud itself. He grabbed something and then returned, hiding his newly acquired item of interest.
“I have an idea on something we can do without rope and I won’t even need to motivate you through it. Unfortunately, it’s an idea I don’t care for.”
“Why?”
Rainbow saw him pull out another Junior Speedsters memento, a set of belts with colored flags attached to the string.
“Catch the Flag,” she yelped, sparkles all over her face. “I love Catch the Flag!”
“I can’t stand Catch the Flag,” he whimpered, a cloud of dread hanging over his head. “I really don’t.”
“Free for all?” she blurted.
His eyebrows drooped, “No. We’re using the obstacle course.”
“Awwwww. Ok. I’ll play by your rules, I guess.” She caught a belt with two attached red flags and clipped it around her body. “So when do we start,”
Swift fastened his blue flag belt. “Now.”
Rainbow smirked at his friend fleeing at a high rate of speed. She tasted his urgency to get away and it was so addicting! She went right after him, going through a few easy cloud hoops. That dangling blue flag would be hers in moments. She was sure of it!
She turned on the afterburners but in came the paralyzing fright. A lunge would be impossible, so she settled staying just below her tolerance limit. The gap went from feet to inches.
I got you now!
Swift turned straight up, her hooves grabbing thin air.
One course correction later, she was back on his trail except it was no longer a linear one. At every obstacle, he turned the wheel and switched to an obtuse direction: hard left, hard right, down, up and sideways. Trying to keep pace was hard enough. Doing all these twist and turns at the same time tested her agility and reaction time. In the span of ten minutes, five cloud hoops turned into mangle messes while the air chutes had more exits than originally designed. Eventually, she used one of those to leave the enclosed tunnel and then sneak in another hole.
You’re mine!
There was nopony within the space. Swift revealed his head through the next open hole.
“’Sup!” he said, waving.
She snorted, taking the friendly greeting as an insult. No more games, she thought. Ignoring good sense, she went full power his way.
Swift headed toward the lined-up cloud posts and did a shoulder check. That pony was closing on him in a hurry; his decision for a lazy take-off was a big mistake. Her cyan hoof was two seconds away from swiping his blue flag, and then to his shock, she suddenly lost all her steam. Flying Stress Syndrome was throwing her off-course and producing blinding tears. He readied for a possible save.
“That flag is mine!” she yelled.
Her tears melted away in the competitive fire that surrounded her being. In her imaginary realm, she no longer trudged toward the wall blocking her way to freedom. She charged right at it like a bull blowing smoke from its nostrils.
Swift pushed the engines to maximum, just as Rainbow went for the grab. Nothing once again. Reaching the first pillar, he went around it.
“I’m going to catch you, Swift!”
Bad timing on the name. He wobbled and had to reduce speed so he could avoid hitting the second obstacle. Rainbow decided to go over the pillar and straight down. Forelegs out, she locked on her target but suddenly, Swift spun like a top and out of her reach. Before she could exclaim surprise, he swiped the whole belt clean off her flank and stopped in mid-air.
Swift one, Rainbow zero.
“Rainbow,” he moaned. “What did I tell you? No tackling! Shoot! Are you trying to get yourself hurt again?”
“H–how did you, how did you do that,” she asked, pointing at her lost flags.
“I just—” He mimicked a grabbing motion. “You know how big a target was on my back every time we played this at Camp? It wasn’t wicked having everyone trying to squish you like a bug.”
“But no one tackled you, right?”
“Nope.”
She rubbed his hair. “Then you got nothing to worry about. I bet I could try all night and I wouldn’t score a hit.”
He frowned sideways. “Rainbow, no tackling.”
Rainbow grabbed back her belt, “Fine, but you better keep this challenging.”
For the next hour, he did but not in the expected manner. Pegasi had their limits in total flying hours per day before they lost performance. With about eleven hours’ worth of mileage on their wings, their respective capabilities nosedived by the minute. What should’ve been two young ponies playing a fiercely competitive sport was more like two elders struggling to take a Sunday flight. By the time the moon reached its apex, Swift collapsed on top of a hoop and then waved his belt around in surrender.
“I’m done,” he wheezed. “No more.”
For a second, she contemplated taking his flags but instead, she took off her belt. She didn’t want wins handed over so easily. “Guess tonight wasn’t my night,” she remarked as she hovered above him.
“Eh?” he muttered, too tired to raise his head. “But your flying’s a lot better today.”
“I know but we’re not done yet, are we? I mean, what else is out there?”
Swift held back a yawn, “We still have that stunt to do. If that doesn’t work, um—” The gears in his head jammed – “well, I’m not sure.”
The answer made her then-calm heart slam into her chest. “What do you mean by that?”
Finally, his wings moved him back into the air, albeit with a jitter. “If the Bolt n’ Dive isn’t it, then… speed. We need to work on your speed. That’s the only thing left.” Once he mulled over his statement, he covered his face. “Shoot.”
She scratched her head, “What’s wrong? That doesn’t sound too hard.”
I don’t think you understand, Rainbow. He brushed his worry into a corner. “C’mon. Let’s get out of here. You need a ride?”
Based on the varicose veins spreading around his eyes, just being airbone was a miracle. “You know, I’m pretty sure I don’t need rides anymore. But seriously, you can just go straight on to Cloudsdale. I can head home by myself.”
“I’m not chancing it,” he spoke throw a yawn.
She took that more as a lack of confidence of her skills than an act of chivalry. If she wanted to, she could’ve made that point clear except the last thing she needed tonight was another fatigue-induced flare-up. “If you say but you better keep up with me.”
However, her hopes of an impromptu race to her castle home fell apart when she noticed Swift puttering behind her at Fluttershy speed. Worse, he struggled staying true to his path, drifting every time his body tried shutting down for the night. Therefore, she maintained a leisurely pace so he could fly beside her. Rainbow wanted to talk to him as a method to keep him awake except the only topics in mind were anything but upbeat.
Once they emerged from the clouds, she went ahead anyways. “Hey. If I need to work on my speed, is it possible that I might have to do Sonic Rainboom?”
The question startled him more than the cold rain splashing onto his coat. A Sonic Rainboom? I… how can I even get close to that speed?
“Well?” Rainbow said with hesitation.
Swift rubbed his eyes, “Um, let’s not worry about that right now.”
Rainbow sensed it, that instinct that Swift was somehow slipping away from her like the prior night. She slapped herself for such a stupid question that only made things worse. Once she saw her home emerge from the darkness, she made a decision that could fix it.
“Hey Swift?”
After a long yawn, “Yeah, Rainbow?”
“You can crash on my couch tonight.”
Swift registered that as an open invitation rather than an order. Either way, Cloudsdale was halfway around the world in his state. “Are you sure?”
She softened her voice, “Don’t be shy about it. Just say yes.”
“Gotcha,” he mumbled.
They landed on the front step where they performed the obligatory shakes to remove all the rainwater they could. Then, Rainbow pushed open the door and held it there. Swift stumbled his way toward the space within the sectional couch that had abundant pillows. Once he was close enough, he allowed gravity to send him falling onto the white cushions with a small bounce at the end.
“Night, Rainbow” he whispered as he adjusted his hooves into a sleeping position.
Before she could answer back, Rainbow heard Swift gently snore. A faint wind blew through her always-open windows and onto his damp coat. While his breaths slowed in rhythm, he trembled at the sudden drop in temperature.
“I’ll be right back,” she said in a hushed tone.
She disappeared up the spiral staircase for a few seconds before returning with a blue throw filled with Wonderbolts logos on her hooves. Once she was in position, Rainbow carefully draped the sheet across his body.
Darn. Not quite.
Rainbow landed right in front of him and pulled the spread up to his neck. She had no more reason to stay but concern made her sit in place. Any moment now, he’ll enter a dream and she wished to be part of that. Maybe she would be if she turned in for the night or she’d have better luck being here, watching over him. She didn’t mind staying here for his mere presence brought forth a soothing calm.
You know, you’re not so bad. Actually, I don’t think you know how awesome you can be sometimes. She stroked her forehoof, Um, yeah. So, you have a good night, okay?
That was her cue to move away but she didn’t. In fact, the impulse that kept her here gave a new command. Without even a second though, she leaned toward his cheek.
Swift then shifted ever so slightly. Rainbow took a step back and almost fell on her back.
Whoa! Whew. Darnit. Feel a little lightheaded all of a sudden. Suddenly, she had an urge to yawn. All right. I really should be hitting the hay.
She headed up the staircase to the second floor and into her dark bedroom. Once she lied in bed, she pulled the bed sheets above her and closed her eyelids. Then, a thought had her reaching to buttons on the alarm clock on the nearby nightstand.
There we go. Five in the morning, just in case I have to wake you. You owe me one, Swift.
Finally, she closed her eyes for good as the hands on the tiny device read fifteen to one.
When they opened again, it was not the alarm clock but a scream that jolted her to three thirty in the morning. In her rush, she tripped over hidden objects on the dark floor.
Wings! I got wings!
She used them to dash out of the bedroom, down the spiral staircase and to the living room. In front of her, Swift sweated profusely on the couch, clutching tight the Wonderbolts blanket. One look into his eyes and an uppercut of fear knocked out down to the floor and attacked her. She wanted to scream but she couldn’t breathe, much like the stallion that watched her in sheer horror.
Moments later, the feeling vanished but the damage had been done. Rainbow deployed her wings and they worked just as before.
“Rainbow?” Swift spoke with a distinct tremble. “I—”
She silenced him with a nervous nod. Between them, the sudden chill in the room told them everything they needed to know.
Strike two.