On a lofty peak, silhouetted against the veiled light of the rising sun, a weary pegasus pony stood alone. Scrapes and bruises marred her athletic, slender body. She was panting, her chest heaving and her breath visible in the slight chill of the early morning air. The wisps of fine mist escaping her muzzle were quickly carried off by the selfsame breeze that toyed with her windswept, multicolored mane. The mare's glistening blue coat steamed slightly with the heat of great exertion, but on the inside she was fuming even more.
“Why can't I DO IT?!” Rainbow Dash demanded of the skies, accentuating each bitter word with a frustrated clop of her hoof.
By the grace of Celestia, dawn broke over Ponyville once more. Nudged by her primordial magic, the sun set out on its daily voyage. It's ascent was heralded by the shrill crowing of roosters, from the farmlands of Sweet Apple Acres to the Cottage on the outskirts of the charming little Equestrian village.
Other sounds soon followed: all over, early-to-rise ponies began stirring. Pegasi fluttered about, painstakingly arranging and stacking the fluffiest white clouds they could find, trying to catch the radiant light and paint the sky in breathtaking hues of orange and pink. Other clouds, laden with moisture, were diligently pushed along the surface, leaving leaf and branch refreshed and delicate spiderwebs sequined with shimmering droplets of dew.
Small teams of unicorns, meanwhile, traversed the pathways, bridges and squares of the town; their horns were aglow as they willed stray leaves and random clutter into large saddle-bags borne by sturdy earth ponies.
The Apple family had been up from the first cock-a-doodle-doo, of course. Applejack was already hard at work inspecting the orchards, in preparation for the fall. Being in high spirits on such a gorgeous day, she whistled as she sauntered from tree to tree. Elongated shadows, belonging both to her and her beloved apple trees, stretched out far across the fields, and everywhere there was the sound of leaves rustling merrily in the wind.
Pausing just long enough to adjust the visor of her hat, Applejack shaded her green eyes from the shifting angle of the sun's rays. Enamored by the breathtaking spectacle unfolding on the horizon, the blonde mare squinted at the orb of dazzling light, trying to take it all in without being blinded. She thought she saw a small, blue dot circling around a distant mountain top, but when she looked again it had vanished. The farm-mare dismissed the sighting with a shrug - she had work to do. Yet she couldn't help but wonder.. Nopony she knew had seen much of Rainbow Dash of late.
While Applejack stood and wondered, however, some ponies still slept soundly. From the loft above the bakeries of Sugarcube Corner only high-pitched snoring could be heard, although the wholesome smell of freshly baked cakes had titillated the noses of passersby since long before sunrise. In the Carousel Boutique, an exhausted Rarity enjoyed a few more belated hours of beauty-sleep after slaving away at yet another tall order. And in the arboreal library that had become Twilight Sparkle's make-shift dwelling, Spike was still curled up in his cozy basket, while his surrogate mother, having burned the midnight oil, slept with a thick tome as a far less comfortable pillow.
Fluttershy couldn't afford to be sleeping in. The dedicated animal specialist had taken upon herself the tedious task of waking up birds that, like the above-mentioned ponies, were reluctant to leave their nests; all so that the customary chorus of songbirds could liven up the start of everypony's day. At the eaves of the Everfree forest, the patient pegasus flitted from tree to tree, rousing her charges with a gentle nose-nudge here and a quiet murmur there. “Come on out, sleepy-heads!” she called into a hollow tree, only to be startled by the resulting echoes. “Rise and shine, Mr. Sparrow,” she urged, gently prodding a particularly old and unwilling bird with a hoof-tip.
In the warm radiance of the sun, Fluttershy's pale yellow coat shone saffron-gold. Her long, flowing pink tail danced as she fluttered about and frolicked with her feathery friends. She was delighted to see every one of them and seemed to know the location of each of their nests, often stopping to meticulously check upon the eggs therein. Fledglings alighted on her head and back, clinging to her hair when their wings wearied. She carried them gladly, making sure not to bank abruptly and toss them off. And ever as she went the choir of bird-voices grew, until they chirped and sang all around her.
Rainbow Dash was resting on a cloud overhead. She watched the delightful scene surreptitiously, wincing quietly while she flexed her aching wings. Her presence wasn't coincidental. Visiting this place at dawn had become something of a habit, though she preferred that nopony knew about it; Fluttershy least of all. Her foalhood friend would probably crawl back into her shell if she found out she wasn't alone. Rainbow Dash frequently felt exasperated by the other pegasus's timidity, but when Fluttershy was alone with her beloved animals like this, completely in her element, she was like a different pony. She laughed and chatted happily, and even sang; making up cheerful little songs that never failed to give Rainbow Dash goosebumps. Away from watchful eyes, furthermore, the usually clumsy pegasus moved with surprising grace. Seeing the mollifying mare like this, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but admire her. She didn't want to butt in and ruin it.
With a smile Rainbow Dash realized that, really, she'd been watching over Fluttershy ever since they were just two little fillies in Flight School. They had both stood out in their own way, and they had both suffered for it. 'Rainbow Crash' and 'Klutzershy'.. What a marvelous pair of misfits they'd been.
Rainbow Dash still remembered the first time she had witnessed some colts cruelly teasing the hapless young pony. She'd been such an easy target: unable to simply fly away from her tormentors and incapable of standing up for herself. Instead the vulnerable filly had just sat there, taking the abuse with helpless tears welling up in her eyes. Oh, the knot of anger Dash had felt twisting and coiling deep within her insides at that gross injustice. Insults to herself she could shrug off casually, or repay with violence and humiliation. But that scene had kindled some fierce, protective instinct in the rainbow-filly. And she had defended her newfound friend ever since.
Rainbow Dash found herself berating the fragile little pony constantly, too, though. She tended to quickly grow impatient with Fluttershy's almost preposterous levels of insecurity, and kept alternating between feelings of affection and irritation towards her. It just didn't make any sense to the cocky mare: how could somepony be so breathtakingly beautiful and multi-talented yet think so little of herself? It was infuriating!
Rainbow Dash would challenge anyone who'd hurt her friend without hesitation. But how could she hope to defend the introverted pony from her greatest detractor: herself? She wanted to do more; wanted to make Fluttershy see; yearned to show the bashful butterfly-bearer that she was cool, and funny, and awesome..
Even loved.
But how she was going to accomplish that, Rainbow Dash was sure she didn't know. Despite her so-called self-confidence, she seldom dared to express her feelings. It made her feel vulnerable when she talked about awkward stuff like that, failing to be coolness incarnate for the duration. It was too risky, since any move on her part could mess up their friendship forever.
But maybe tomorrow, she would fly down and join Fluttershy instead of hiding like a scaredy-pony. She could just hang out with Fluttershy, couldn't she? No pressure. And maybe, if she stopped rattling on about her own hopes and dreams for a minute and just listened, she could get the inscrutable pony to open up to her a little more. Perhaps then she could figure things out.
Yeah.. tomorrow sounded good.
Right now Rainbow Dash wanted to focus on more pressing problems. For starters, she could barely keep her eyes open and her head felt so heavy that she kept nodding off. After all the failed attempts to recreate the physics-defying feat she'd pulled off at the Best Young Flier competition, she was reluctantly willing to grant gravity this one, minor victory.