Your Dreams
Chapter 1: Why I Fly…
By iDash

It was another spring day in Ponyville. It was sunny out with a few fluffy white clouds dotting the sky. There was a slight breeze that cooled things down for everypony in town so that it wasn’t too hot or cold. There were young foals playing in the park and everypony was out talking and just enjoying themselves, that is except for a certain cyan pegasus.

Rainbow Dash sat up in a soft cloud over Ponyville. She was lying on her stomach watching the other ponies go about their day. Everypony seemed to be enjoying their day with a smile on their face, but Rainbow Dash was… well, she was bored. She let out a long sigh. She had nothing to do except take naps after she had finished her job.

Normally she would’ve just gone to an empty field and started practicing her newest maneuvers for her flying so that she could impress the Wonderbolts. However, she had already mastered all of her stunts and found that they got just a little boring after doing the same ones about a thousand times. She just brushed it off and figured in her own head that she had just reached a new level of awesome too good for those tricks. Figured. So now, she actually had to take the time to work out ideas for new ones. It was harder than you think.

Rainbow could’ve turned to racing, but all of the ponies she asked were one of four things: too slow, too busy, not interested, or Fluttershy (which is all of the above). It was probably for the best anyways. Even if she were to get someone to race her, it wouldn’t be that much fun considering that she would beat them without even trying. She needed a challenge and being the best flier that side of Equestria always prohibited that.

Rainbow Dash sighed again and turned over on her soft perch to face the other direction. She couldn’t even fall asleep she was so bored. Frustrated, she got up and started hovering over her cloud. She guessed that she would just have to suffer through the boredom and decided to go and practice some of her already mastered stunts.

She spread her wings and with one flap was already in the air. She started flying in the direction of her favorite practice field. It was a little bit removed from town, but it was a great place for practice. There was never anypony around for her to bother, the grass was always green and lush, and outside the wide open field there were a bunch of trees that seemed almost perfectly set up for her to practice her navigation skills.

After flying for about half an hour, she finally got there, but what she saw when surprised her and made her stop. A dark blue pegasus stallion with a jet black mane that was streaked with light blue was practicing stunts of his own. Rainbow looked in disbelief and felt a little annoyed. She couldn’t believe someone had found her practice field.

She shook her head and quickly darted behind a tree so that the pegasus wouldn’t see her. She poked her head out to the side to watch him. After a minute of watching, Rainbow found that the guy wasn’t that bad a flier at all, maybe even a little talented.

After finishing a stunt he waited for a minute in the middle of the field, probably to catch his breath, and shot straight up in the air. He kept going until he reached a height of about 200 ft. He paused and then shot straight back down in a sharp dive. He began to barrel roll at an increasing speed until one could even make out a light funnel of air forming around him. He kept this up until he was a few feet from the ground. When it looked as if he was going to meet the ground in a devastating face plant, his wings shot out, which stopped his spinning. It also slowed him down enough for the funnel to quickly catch up to him and cause an updraft which slowed him down even more. He came to a graceful stop and was so close to the ground that his snout was touching a blade of grass. He flared his wings at the same time that he stopped which caused the small funnel to quickly disperse and send a light breeze flowing in all directions around him. Every flower and blade of grass flowed gently with the wind.

Rainbow Dash stared in wonder from behind her tree. She had just seen somepony pull off an expert level maneuver. And he had done it perfectly! Not only that, but it was somepony from Ponyville, the place where there are almost no talented fliers. Almost.

Her excitement was overwhelming, completely drowning out the boredom she had felt before. Pretty soon she just couldn’t hold it back anymore. “That was awesome!” She shouted, much to the surprise of the stallion. He had been laying on the ground, taking a break after his latest stunt, but was now standing straight up and trying to regain his balance after being startled from his position by the cyan pegasus.

“Heh, sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you there,” Rainbow said with a smile. The dark blue pegasus turned to who was speaking to him and wore a confused look on his face.

“Well, let me explain. I was comin’ here to practice my flying like I usually do and when I got here I saw you doin’ some cool tricks, so I sat back and watched for a little bit. But I saw that last one that you pulled off and it was so… Awesome!” she exclaimed with a grin while trotting towards the pony. She was so excited. There she was, about to give her best attempt at warding off crippling boredom when she found another super-talented flier!

“Oh, that? Thanks,” he said with a slight smile as the confused look started to fade away. “And uh… sorry ‘bout that. I didn’t know that this was your spot.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Rainbow said. “Besides, I don’t mind sharing with other awesome fliers. The name’s Rainbow Dash by the way.” She held out her hoof with a grin.

“Cool, Thanks,” he said as he tapped his hoof with hers. “My name’s Flare Windcraft.” Since Rainbow was this close, she got the chance to take a look at his cutie mark. It was a blazing white comet with a black tail and two large wings sprouting out of its sides.

Rainbow Dash tilted her head a little, squinting at Flare, which caused him to take a step or two back. “Are you new here? I’ve never seen you around.”

“Yeah, that’s probably ‘cause I just moved here a few days ago. I’m from Manehattan.” He said as he regained his posture. “It was pretty weird. The first pony I met when I got here was some pink earth pony that just gasped when she saw me then ran away.”

Rainbow Dash snickered, barely able to hold in her laugh, “Yeah, I know that pony. Don’t worry about it, she does that to every new pony. Oh, and don’t be surprised if you come home to a party.”

Flare just gave her a weird look like she was crazy, but brushed it off and chuckled a little.

“So, you’re new here, huh?” Dash started, coming dangerously close to Flare and invading his personal space. She just smiled, though, “How’s about ol’ Dashie show you around town.”

Flare seemed like he was mulling it over for a little bit, “Nah, it’s fine, you don’t have to-”

“C’mooooonn, it’ll be fun!” Rainbow begged with puppy dog eyes. “Besides, I don’t mind if it’s for another great flier.” She smirked.

Flare chuckled a little. He looked in Rainbow’s eyes and couldn’t resist, “Alright then, no harm, I guess.”

“Awww yeah!” Rainbow Dash jumped up. “Well then… Welcome To Ponyville!”

They must’ve been walking for hours. When Rainbow Dash said she’d show Flare around town, she had meant the entire town. She showed him around everywhere, apparently excited about the new addition to Ponyville’s pegasi population.

The whole time that they walked, they talked. As it turned out, and to Rainbow’s relief, Flare wasn’t from one of the ‘fancy pants’ parts of Manehattan, but from one of the removed suburbs of the area. Plus, he was an exceptional flier. Just like Rainbow Dash, he had decided drop out of flight school, saying that he just didn’t have the patience to deal with it. Instead, he went back home and started training with his little brother. They improved at a faster rate than flight school could ever teach somepony, pretty much just by challenging each other. Then after sometime he decided to move around and came to Ponyville. When Dash asked him why, he just shrugged and said that it was just on a whim and felt like it was something he had to do. Rainbow laughed at this and saying he was a real funny guy.

After a while of talking, Rainbow learned that he was a really cool pony to be around. He was pretty laid back too, maybe even more so than Rainbow herself. He didn’t talk half as much as Rainbow did, but whenever he did, it was to crack some small joke and he always wore this cheeky grin. She didn’t know what it was, but something about it just made everypony else want to smile, too. So, as they walked and talked, they smiled and laughed and learned a lot about each other.

Flare learned to be a little bit more careful about what he said, because even the smallest compliment about her flying, even if unintentional, could send her ego into overdrive. She must’ve spent almost an hour just talking about all of her flying and talent, especially the sonic rainboom. Flare recalled that there was also a section completely dedicated to the Wonderbolts and how awesome they were. She talked about how it was her lifelong dream to join the Wonderbolts. This sparked a question from Rainbow, though.

“Awesome! So you wanna join too, huh? Well you’re gonna have to get in line, pal, cause I’m up next.” Rainbow stuck out her chest to show off.

Flare laughed a bit, “Well, um- not exactly. It’s not that I want to join them…”

Flare put on his wide signature cheeky grin, raised a hoof pointing to the sky, and said, “I’m going to pass the Wonderbolts and beat them. When I get good enough, I’m going to make my own team of the best fliers in the world that’ll blow the Wonderbolts out of the sky.”

Rainbow just stared for a minute, seemingly in disbelief. Much to Flare’s surprise, she started giggling, which then turned to a full laugh. Normally, it would’ve been considered cruel, but the look that Rainbow gave Flare told him otherwise. It was a look that gave a slight hint of admiration.

“That sounds totally awesome. When you pass them and make your team, make sure to let me be the first to join, alright?” Rainbow said with a wide grin.

Flare was actually bewildered by this statement. Rainbow didn’t know it but she was the first one to ever encourage his dream. Whenever he had mentioned this to someone, they had just laughed, but not like Rainbow. They laughed at him, telling him his dream was ridiculous or impossible. However, not only had this pegasus not disparaged him, but she actually claimed that she believed he could do it. This was the first time anyone had ever said something like this to him since he could remember. He looked at the cyan pegasus and just smiled. He liked this pony, he really did.

“Yeah, you bet, Dash.” Rainbow Dash smiled. After a moment she suggested that they get on with the tour before it got too late.

After walking around a bit more, she introduced him to quite a few of her friends. Flare got to meet Rarity the seamstress, Applejack the farmer, Fluttershy the… animal lover? (All the really got out of her was a few squeaks anyways.) Then he met Twilight the librarian, or rather, the ‘egghead’. She explained that there was one more that she wanted him to meet. It was the pony that had freaked out in front of him earlier, Pinkie Pie.

While trying to think of where the pink earth pony could possibly be, a blur of speed rushed right past Rainbow and Flare, throwing them both back in surprise. They looked to see who it was and turned to find three fillies. One was an orange pegasus with a purple mane on a scooter and the others were in a wagon, a white unicorn with a light purple mane and a yellow earth pony with a red mane.

“You know, you should really watch where you’re goin’, Scoots. You almost ran into my new buddy here,” said Rainbow, who was brushing off the dirt that was flung at her.

“Yeah, yeah. Why do you think I’m here anyways?” Scootaloo said. Rainbow gave her a quizzical look with her head tilted. “Ugh- nevermind, just come here real quick.” Dash obliged and came closer to the trio and the orange pegasus whispered something in her ear. A grin grew across Dash’s face as she listened to the filly.

“Aw man, this is gonna be great,” Rainbow said, giggling. “Alright, squirt. See ya there.”

“Bye, Rainbow Dash! Bye, Flare!” the fillies yelled in unison as they zoomed into town. Flare was slightly taken aback by this, though.

“Wait,” he started. “How did they know my name? I’ve only been here for like two days.”

“Yup,” Dash replied with a smirk. “Actually almost everypony in Ponyville probably knows your name now.”

“No idea. That Pinkie Pie’s a mystery. You’re probably better off not knowing.”

“But- That’s so-” he was at a slight loss for words about just how odd that pink pony sounded

“Yeah, I wouldn’t think about it too much. It’s not good for your health, just ask that egghead librarian,” Rainbow grinned. “Anyways, we got just one more stop if you’re up for it.” Rainbow started trotting away from Flare.

It was a little late in the afternoon when they got to the place. It was a large bakery with a sign that read ‘Sugarcube Corner’. All of the lights were off, so Flare had thought they would just have to turn back.

Flare shrugged, “If you say so,” and walked next to Rainbow and turned the knob on the door to open it.

“Brace yourself,” Rainbow said. She was standing a few feet behind Flare.
Before he could register what she had said, though, he was already a few feet into the place when the lights flashed on and confetti flew from what seemed like a cannon.

“SURPRISE!” shouted the pink pony, who Flare now knew as Pinkie Pie. “Welcome to PONYVILLE!”

“Hahahah,” Rainbow laughed uncontrollably. “Like I said, don’t be surprised if there’s a party. She does this all the time, so the no point in arguing.”

He walked farther into the room. She must have invited at least half of Ponyville. There was a banner that read ‘Welcome to Ponyville’.

“Don’t worry about it,” came a voice from behind Flare. It was the purple unicorn, Twilight Sparkle. “They did the same thing when I first got here and believe me, I flipped out,” she said, grinning.

“Wow. Thanks guys,” Flare said with his signature cheeky grin. “It’s-”

“Alright everypony!” shouted Pinkie. “It’s time to get this party STARTED!” And with another shot from her confetti cannon, the party began.

Everypony sang, danced, and ate more cake than any of them probably knew they could eat. The party lasted until late at night, then things started to calm down a bit. Flare was standing outside of the house, gazing at the stars. They were truly beautiful. They were shining so bright, that he felt he could just reach out and pluck them from the sky. He seemed to be just relaxing, almost as if he were sleeping, when Rainbow found him.

“Pfft. Smart-flank.” She trotted over and stood next him. “Watcha lookin’ at?”

“Stars ‘n stuff,” he said nonchalantly. “They just look… beautiful tonight.”

Rainbow gave him a curious sideways glance. He didn’t seem like the kind of pony to say corny stuff like that. After a moment, she looked back up at the stars and saw that he was right. For whatever reason, Luna had outdone herself tonight. You could every individual star. It was like they were just flowing in a river in the sky. Rainbow was in a trance with her mouth agape, and they both remained in silence until Flare broke it.

Flare said nothing, though. Rainbow was about to ask him again when he said, “Why do you fly?”

This question took Rainbow slightly by surprise. It was such a weird question. “That’s silly. ‘Cause I’m a pegasus, of course.”

Flare shook his head, “No, I mean, why do you push yourself to fly higher than everyone else? Every pegasus flies, but not with the passion that you have. So, what is your reason for flying like you do?”

Rainbow paused for a minute; she actually had to think about it, “Well, there’s just… something in me that tells me that I have to do it. It’s my dream to fly high and something inside just keeps pushing me to do it. I guess I just need to follow my dreams.” She looked over at Flare, whose head was now facing the ground. “So, now it’s your turn. Why do you fly?”

There were a few moment of silence and he looked back into the sky. Rainbow looked at him for a moment. His coat was just a few shades darker than the sky, as if it were where he had come from. “I don’t know,” he finally said. “… that’s why I fly. It’s a little confusing, but I think I fly because I don’t know why I fly. And I’ll find out when I’m the highest up there, next to the stars,” at this he pointed up to the stars. Rainbow could’ve sworn that afterwards, he had muttered something that sounded like ‘… before it’s too late’.

“Man, what’s with all this mushy crap,” she joked, nudging Flare with her wing. “It’s not like you at all. Hey you’re not a changeling, are you?” She laughed and he chuckled a little. She put on a smile, but on the inside, she felt just a little worried about her friend. What did he mean by, ‘before it’s too late’?

“Heh, I don’t know. Guess the stars just do that to a pony,” Flare chuckled.

“Suuuuuure,” Rainbow said in a sarcastic tone. “Hey, I know just what you need.” She unfurled her wings, flew up into the air, and hovered above Flare. “Let’s go for a little night flying.” Flare just smiled and nodded. He spread his own wings, which were slightly larger than Rainbow Dash’s, and flew up next to her.

They just cruised for a little while, taking in the crisp night air and the fresh sky full of stars. Most pegasi don’t notice, but the best time to fly is at night. It’s so peaceful. It feels like it’s just you in a world of your own, with only the wind to accompany you.

When the two were far enough away from town, Rainbow finally spoke. “Hey, do you wanna race?”

“Sure, sounds good. How about to that mountain?” He pointed to the peak of a mountain in the distance.

She could barely keep her eyes open, the chilly night air was stinging her face like needles, but she didn’t care. She just kept going faster and faster. She didn’t check to see how far Flare was behind her. She sped through the skies, shredding clouds as she flew through them. She felt the rush of adrenaline coursing through her veins

Rainbow felt a small pocket of air forming around her. She knew what was coming on. She furiously flapped her wings, until they burned with exertion. She brushed off the slight pain, though, just like any good flier should. She felt the tension building up and could almost feel the barrier. She kept pushing.

A loud crash that shook the air came as she tore through the sound barrier! A full spectrum of colors burst from Rainbow Dash flooding the night skies with warmth and light. She was now flying at her top speed. She felt the adrenaline still flowing. It had felt like forever since she’d had a rush like this. She saw the target peak quickly approaching. Almost there. Rainbow was very quickly distracted from her target, though.

Another crash, just like hers, shook the air around her almost threw her off course. She quickly recovered though. She was absolutely bewildered at the thought of what just happened. Out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse a wave that pulsed through the sky that was a few shades darker than the night sky itself. Her eyes widened.

‘There’s just no way he-’ She thought, but she didn’t have much time to think, though, as a blur of dark blue and speed rushed past her.

She didn’t know what exactly to think, but she knew two things: One, Flare had just pulled off a move similar to her own sonic rainboom and was now speeding ahead of her. And two, there was no way that she would ever lose this race.

Rainbow raised her wings and forced them down again and again as if she were grabbing the air and launching herself. She was slowly closing the now large gap between her and Flare. That mountain peak was just getting too close, too fast. She pushed her wings past their average limit until they almost went numb and then pushed them further. Almost there!

She was now at the tip of Flare’s tail, but that was as far as she got. Not only could she not go any faster, but Flare had noticed her closing in and had sped up. The tip of the mountain was seconds away. 11… 10… 9…

This was it. End of the race. And the winner just had to be her. She knew it probably was true, but refused to accept truth. So, she just pushed further.

Rainbow hadn’t noticed it before, but even though his coat was almost the same as the sky, he somehow seemed to be glowing in the night. With his large wings spread and body shifted forward towards the target, to Rainbow he seemed just as grand and majestic as if she were flying next to one of the princesses themselves. Not that she was trying to say he looked like a princess or anything, though.

In a monstrous whirl of wind, they charged past the mountain peak. It was close- very close- but…

Exhausted, Rainbow decided it was a good idea to finally give her wings a break, as did Flare, and they both split of into wide circles to slow down. After a minute, they came to rest to a lower point on the mountain that was facing the moon. They landed softly, both breathing heavily, though. There was a long silence despite the long and loud series of inhales and exhales.

Rainbow was first to break the silence as she caught her breath, “T-That… that was…” she stopped for a moment to try and think of the right word she was looking for. Flare looked over to her as she figured out what the word was that she wanted that described everything she was feeling. “AWESOME!” she shouted, jumping out of joy and excitement.

Author note:
OK. Well, there it is. Thanks for reading guys, and sorry if it didn’t live up to expectations. This was actually my first time writing a story, so constructive criticism is welcome… as well as compliments ; ) . And also, I know it starts a little slow, but just stay with me. It gets better. And imma try my best to make this a romance/shipping, if you were wondering.

Your Dreams

by iDash

Chapter 1: Why I Fly...