//------------------------------//
// Part 4: Practice Makes Perfect 
// Story: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Cine-magic: Planes 
// by IndyWriter Productions 
//------------------------------//

The morning was bright and fresh. The sun’s rays glazed over the countryside, reflecting off the dewdrops within the grass. Dusty and Rainbow Dash were flying across the fields side by side. It had taken a bit of effort from Twilight and the others to wake Rainbow up completely, and even then, she was in a grumpy mood from the early wake up, but nobody paid too much attention to that. What was important, was Skipper training Dusty and Rainbow for the race. In order to hear Skipper, Rainbow was given a set of headphones. She complained that they were too tight, but Twilight told her it was supposed to be like that. Skipper, Chug, Sparky, The Mane 5, and Spike all watched Dusty and Rainbow fly through the air.

“Sparky, binoculars.” Skipper commanded.

Sparky finished cleaning the lens before putting them on Skipper’s holder.

“Those are some mighty clean optics there. What do you use? Some kind of shammy?” Chug asked.

“No, it’s a type of microfiber cloth.” Sparky answered.

“Ah, microfiber.” Chug said whimsically.

“Yeah, lint-free, scratch-free. I’ll get you some.” Sparky said.

Unbeknownst to them, their conversation was being picked up by the radio, which meant that Dusty and Rainbow could hear everything they were saying.

“Could you please stop, you’re making me lose my focus.” Rainbow said sharply. However, this proved to not be effective.

“Really?” Chug asked to Sparky.

“I got an ex-Navy buddy who sells them to me wholesale.” Sparky said. “I helped him set up his web…”

“Knock it off.” Skipper snarled.

Chug and Sparky quickly stood at attention, dropping all conversation. Sparky caught his cloth in the air.

“We have a lot of work to do.” Skipper said.

“Indeed.” Rarity agreed.

“I’ll hook you up.” Sparky whispered.

“Thanks.” Chug whispered back.

“Shhhhh!” Twilight shushed them both.

“All right, Dusty and Rainbow, remember this. It ain’t how fast you fly, it’s how you fly fast.” Skipper said.

“Roger that.” Dusty replied.

“Yeah, what he said.” Rainbow added.

“Show me what you got.” Skipper said.

“Watch this! Yeah.” Dusty said defiantly.

He climbed up and down tree lines. Rainbow followed suite.

“Great, you can go up and down.” Skipper said sarcastically.

“What else? Show me your turns.” He said.

Dusty and Rainbow started doing turns around the field.

“Here we go.” Dusty said

“You think that was good? That stunk! Knife-edge those elm trees” Skipper said.

“What!? I’m giving you the best I got!” Rainbow said angrily

“Just do what he says, Rainbow.” Applejack said through the radio.

Rainbow grumbled started doing zig-zags around the trees.

“Come on. Keep your nose up.” Skipper called out.

“Is she really doing that bad?” Spike defended.

“They both are.” Skipper snarled.

Spike moved back a bit behind Twilight.

“Hey, Skip.” Sparky pointed to the sky.

“You want speed right?” Skipper asked.

“Yeah.” Dusty said.

“Heck, yeah!” Rainbow said excitedly.

“Serious, bolt-rattling speed?” He asked again.

“Oh, yeah!” They both said.

“Then look up. Do you see those clouds? The highway in the sky. Tailwinds like nothing you’ve ever flown.” Skipper said cryptically.

They both looked up. They eyed the rows of cirrus clouds. It was so high up there.

“We can do this. Come on, Dusty.” Rainbow called.

Dusty, meanwhile, had an uncomfortable look on his face. He didn’t like the idea one bit.

“What are you waiting for?” Skipper asked impatiently.

Rainbow was already making her way up to the clouds. Dusty hesitantly followed after her going higher and higher up.

“Come on, power up. Firewall thrust. Max torque, max torque!” Skipper said.

“What are you even saying?” Rainbow asked

“I’m talking to Dusty.” Skipper said in irritation. “All right, looking good.”

Dusty and Rainbow climbed higher and higher.

“Hold V-Y Dusty. Max rate, now.” Skipper said. “Your nose is too high. Get you nose down.” 

At this point, Dusty looked down and gasped as the ground shrunk rapidly. The clouds began to look as if they were spiraling around him.

“You doing okay, Dusty?” Rainbow asked.

Dusty was too busy hyperventilating to hear the blue pegasus. He was panicking, he couldn’t handle being so high up. He couldn’t hear Skipper practically yelling at him to level out.

“You’re going to stall. Ease off the pitch. Nose down!” Skipper shouted.

Dusty couldn’t take it. He gave in, flipped over and descended back to the ground.

“Hey, wait. Where are you going?” Rainbow called, flying after her friend.

“Hey, what are you doing!?” Skipper asked angrily.

“Did something happen?” Fluttershy asked.

Skipper didn’t answer, he just glared up into the sky.



(Later)



Dusty landed on the runway. He was still breathing heavily, trying to calm his nerves.

“Dusty, is something wrong?” Rainbow asked with concern.

“I…uh…um.” Dusty tried to say something.

“What just happened up there?” A new voice came.

It was Skipper’s.

Dusty was frozen for a second before he came up with an answer.

“I’m…uh……I’m low on fuel.” He tried to sound convincing.

“Do I look like I was built yesterday?” Skipper asked menacingly.

“No, no. It’s a long story.” Dusty said.

“I got time.” Skipper said flatly.

Dusty remained silent.

“Dusty, we’re your friends. You can tell us anything.” Twilight assured.

“Yeah, we won’t judge you for something personal.” Rainbow added.

Dusty was still a bit anxious.

“Uh…uh……okay, you know, I feel like I was having some problems with my axial compressor so-“

“The Jolly Wrenches have a motto: Volo Pro Veritas. It means “I fly for truth.” Skipper interrupted, stopping Dusty right it his tracks

“Clearly you don’t.” He hissed.

“Sparky, push me back to the hangar.” He said angrily.

Sparky hooked up to him and starting towing him back to his hangar. Skipper glared at Dusty as he was being turned.

“Just spit it out, sugarcube.” Applejack encouraged.

“Uh…uh…I’m afraid of heights!” Dusty finally admitted.

There was sudden screech as Sparky and Skipper came to a halt. Sparky turned Skipper back around to face Dusty. The war veteran glared at the smaller plane, except this time it was out of disbelief. The others just look at him in shock.

“But, your a plane.” Chug said.

“Don’cha usually fly high, Dusty?” Applejack asked incredulously.

“I’m a crop duster, Applejack. I’ve never flown over a thousand feet.” Dusty replied.

“Never?” Rarity asked.

“Once, that’s when I discovered my fear.” Dusty confirmed.

“Are you kidding? Scared of heights and you want to race around the world?” Skipper asked incredulously.

“Uh, Skip, during the attack of Tujunga Harbor, why, even the P-38s had trouble at high altitude.” Sparky pointed out.

“Well, they didn’t have to fly over the Himalayans, did they?” Skipper asked.

“The Hima-what?” Twilight asked.

“It’s a mountain range, one of the largest in the world.” Chug whispered to her.

Twilight wrote that down in her notebook.

“Well, I-I’ll still be low to the ground, just high up.” Dusty defended.

“Huh, never thought of it like that.” Rainbow said to herself.

“Oh, and after the war, those 38s went on to win races.” Sparky said excitedly.

“Really? Is that true?” Chug asked.

“Yeah, true. Like in the Cleveland race of ‘46.” Sparky said.

“For real?” Chug asked in surprise.

“Uh, guys. I think we are getting a bit off topic.” Rarity said.

“Oh, wait, it gets better. In ‘49, the P-38 Sky Ranger averaged 337 miles per hour.” Sparky continued.

“Wow! That fast?” Twilight asked.

“Wait, 337?” Chug asked.

“Well, actually 337.4, but they round it down in the record books.” Sparkly specified.

“Why would you do that?” Chug asked.

“Some people just have no respect for decimal points.” Sparky said.

“Right!? Like it’s ridiculous. That’s crucial information.” Twilight agreed.

“Yeah, I know. Tell me about it.” Chug said.

“Uhh, Twilight?” Spike tried to get his friend’s attention, but it was no use.

“Why couldn’t they round it up?” Sparky asked.

“Why couldn’t they just keep the decimal in? I mean, come on.” Twilight whined.

“Seriously he-“

“All right, all right!” Skipper loudly interrupted.

The three stopped. Twilight lowered her a little out of embarrassment.

“Sorry.” She said quietly.

Skipper didn’t pay any mind.

“So you’re a flat-hatter. We’ll work on that. But for now let’s see if we can turn low and sloppy into low and fast.” He said calmly to Dusty and Rainbow.

“Roger that.” Dusty said confidently.

“I’m not sloppy.” Rainbow grumbled under her breath.



(Later)



“It’ll go like this. The flag marks the start line. Across the cornfield, three silos are waiting for you. Slalom them with a radial-G pass.” Skipper said.

“Wait, “A radial” what pass?” Dusty asked confused.

“Dusty, pay attention.” Twilight said.

“Once you get to the trees, go to your optimal rate of climb to about 500 feet. Roll inverted and extend, trading altitude for airspeed and dive toward the finish line.” Skipper finished.

“Okay.” Dusty said.

“Sounds easy enough.” Rainbow gloated, leaning on Dusty’s right wing.

“Don’t get cocky Rainbow. You need to take this seriously.” Applejack said firmly.

“You string all that together, you might have a chance to beat him.” Skipper said.

“Who are we racing?” Dusty asked.







“Here he comes. He’s a twin commuter pushing about 1500 horsepower.” Skipper said eyeing the plane through his binoculars.

“Uhh, he’s pretty high up.” Dusty said uneasily.

“I mean, how are we supposed to do the course if he’s all the way up there?” Rainbow added.

“You’re not racing him, you’re racing his shadow. Beat it to the water tower.” Skipper said.

Both crop duster and pegasus saw the large shadow casted over them and began the trial.

“Let’s do this! Thread the silos! Tighter! Lean into your turns more.” Skipper shouted.

Dusty and Rainbow weaved around the silos. However, there was too much space between them and the silos during their turns.

“Their turns are terrible.” Skipper commented.

“Yeah.” Sparky agreed.

“What? What’s wrong with them?” Fluttershy asked.

“They're too wide and lazy. They need to be more precise and exact. They’re sacrificing speed and time with those kind of turns.” Skipper answered.

“Well, that’s not good.” Spike said.

“Let’s go, you two. Faster!” Skipper encouraged.

Dusty and Rainbow did their best to catch up. They passed a field full of tractors who didn’t seem bothered at all.

“You’re falling behind. Begin your climb and catch him in the dive.” He added.

Once again, Dusty and Rainbow’s execution was slow, broad, and lazy.

“Start your dives now. Never mind, you already lost.” Skipper said.

Dusty groaned frustratingly. Rainbow was more angry than upset.

“Come on! What am I doing wrong!?” She shouted.

“It’s why we practice, darling. It’s how we get better at things.” Rarity said comforting her friend.







“So, we can increase power or we can decrease drag.” Dottie said.

She ripped the sprayer off of the Dusty drawing she made to emphasize her point. Dusty yelped and clutched his wheels against his sprayer.

“Definitely increase power.” He said.

“How are we going to do that?” Pinkie asked excitingly.

“I’m glad you asked.” Dottie said.

At her garage, Dottie got to work. She shone a laser over Dusty’s engine and starting screwing a screw in his engine tighter and tighter.

“What exactly are you doing to him?” Twilight asked Dottie.

“Changing his propeller pitch, which increases his torque, and more torque means more speed.” Dottie said.

“Fascinating.” Twilight said scribbling notes down.

“Oooo, it’s montage time!” Pinkie cheered.

“Wait, what?” Dusty said.


(Attempt 2)


Dusty and Rainbow zoomed past the finish line, but we’re unable to pass the shadow again. Chug was measuring their speed with a speed gun.

“215 miles per hour.” He said.

“That’s pretty fast.” Spike said.

“Lousy.” Skipper said simply.

Everyone just groaned.

“Way to bring down the mood.” Pinkie whined.

Attempt after attempt, however, the two flyers were getting better and better.

“Come on, let’s work that radial-G turn.”

“Do it again. One more time. Again!”

“Come on, push it, you two.”

“Better!”

“Remember now, altitude for airspeed.”

“Gravity is your ally.”

“The laws of physics govern speed.”

The final attempt had come. Dusty and Rainbow were ready to put there training to the test.

“All right, you two. Give this run all you’ve got. Skipper said.

“Let’s do this!” Rainbow said.

“Use your radial-G. Let gravity work for you.” Skipper said.

Their turns were now tight and precise.

“Looking good. That’s what I’m talking about. Firewall the throttle! Go! Go! Go!” Skipper encouraged.

Dusty and Rainbow zoomed past the field, startling the tractors so much they flipped onto their backs.

“You got it, Duster!” Chug encouraged.

“Come on, Rainbow. Give it everything you got!” Twilight cheered.

“Begin your climb! All right, altitude for airspeed. Catch him in the dive! Dive now!” Skipper shouted.

Dusty and Rainbow started descending, their speed increasing quickly. They rocketed past the shadow and tore through the finish line.

“Ballistic!” Chug shouted.

The Mane 6 and Spike cheered victoriously for their friends accomplishment. Dusty and Rainbow couldn’t be anymore happy.

“Yes! We did it!” Rainbow shouted with joy.

“They kicked Aston Martins out there!” Sparky said.

“Yeah, whatever that means!” Twilight said excitedly.

“Yay.” Fluttershy said softly.

“Dusterino!” Chug said.

“They’re ready.” Skipper said.


(Later)


Dottie spray-painted the symbol onto Dusty’s side. She removed the paper to reveal the insignia.

“Woah.” Dusty said in awe.

“That’s cool.” Chug said.

“The piston and cross-wrenches. Your squadron insignia.” Dusty said to Skipper.

“You earned it.” Skipper said.

“That’s so awesome. I wish I had that.” Rainbow whined

“Sorry, Rainbow, can’t exactly do that when your covered in fur.” Dottie said.

“It fits you. It fits you, Dusty.” Chug sniffled.

“Now, listen. When the race starts and all those planes take off, it’ll stir up a bunch of swirlies. Just like the Wrenches ran into in the Battle of Airway.” Skipper warned.

“Roger that.” Dusty and Rainbow said together.

“Sure wish you were coming with us, Skip.” Dusty said.

“Just radio back when you get to the check points. I’ll be your wing man from here.” Skipper said.

“Thanks, Skip.” Rainbow said sincerely.

“Volo Pro Veritas, Right?” Dusty asked.

“Volo Pro Veritas.” Skipper said softly.

“Kick some tail, buddy.” Chug said ecstatically.

“We’re all proud of you.” Dottie said.

“We sure are.” Applejack said.

She brought Rainbow in for a hug as their other friends joined in. Rainbow accepted it happily.

“Woo-hoo, Dustmeister.” Sparky called.

It was time for Dusty and Rainbow Dash to have their big moment.



(To be continued.)