Chapter 6: Shadows Of Ourselves
Rainbow Dash was lying awake in her bed. Everypony else was fast asleep, but her wide eyes stared up at the dark ceiling above her. A few small sounds could be heard, which was mostly her griffin roommate rolling slightly in her sleep.
She was still thinking of what happened earlier in the day. She had come in second behind Gilda. Rainbow loathed herself for not coming in first and, to her at least, it is what kept her up.
“I have got to get better. Much better. Faster than anypony else,” she whispered aloud.
Gilda tossed in her sleep, mumbling something that the blue pegasus could not make out.
“Faster than any griffin, too….” Rainbow added.
Sitting up in her bed, Rainbow Dash looked to see some light coming in to her room from outside. Peering out the window, she saw a figure walking under the security lights that were placed along the walkways. Dash quickly looked to her clock and noticed in was a couple minutes past midnight. She looked back to see the figure move toward the empty bleachers.
Sighing, Rainbow Dash hopped off her bed and exited her room. Armed with only her room key and a light scarf, she trotted down the dorm hallway. She opened the doors to the outside quietly, careful to not startle or wake anypony. Moving quickly, she went to toward the track that the campers were at just earlier that day.
Once there, Rainbow saw the figure again. The moonlight was bright, making it fairly easy to see amongst the darkness. On the bleachers sat the counselor that came up to her earlier that day.
“So, you decided to show up, huh?” he asked with a smile on his face and in his voice.
Rainbow was defensive, “Shut it. It’s not like I have anything better to do. Frankly, I’m surprised you’re here.”
“Why? I told you I would be here,” the counselor began to stretch out his front limbs.
“I thought you were just being stupid,” Dash commented.
“Well, if you are done with the insults, you should start warming your body up,” the green stallion spoke.
After taking off her scarf and placing it with her key on the bleachers, Dash began to do the same with her front limbs, stretching and warming them up, “So what’s going on, you just come out here every night and wait for colts and fillies to come out or something?”
“No, I do this myself and I offer others to join in, too,” he explained as he moved down from the bleachers and on to the ground, beginning to stretch his back limbs.
“What’s your name anyway?” Dash asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Call me Windy Skies. Or just Skies. Whatever suits your mood,” he replied warmly.
“Can I call you stupid?” Dash smirked.
“How about you finish your stretches up?”
Rainbow and Skies continued stretching their bodies up to warm up. The little blue filly continued harassing the counselor pony. Finally, after stretching their wings out, the two ponies were ready to start flying, or so Dash thought.
“So, what are we going to do? Laps? Loops? Speed runs?” Dash asked with confidence.
“What makes you think you’re ready to fly?” Skies answered.
Rainbow was confused, “But we just finished stretching and all that.”
“Yes, but we can still do more to warm up.”
“Huh?”
Windy Skies had a smirk on his face, “Flying is more than just about speed. It is also about endurance.”
“I got endurance. Didn’t ya see me out there this morning? I kicked flank,” Dash complained.
“What I saw was an exhausted little filly,” the green stallion spoke, “When you arrived at the finish line, you were gasping for air.”
“Yeah, so?”
“You can improve from that. The more endurance you have, the better at flying you can be.”
Rainbow pouted with her face. She didn’t like being proved wrong or anything of that sort. However, she knew she was defeated with that logic. “Fine. What do we have to do?”
“Gallop.”
“What?”
“You heard me, gallop.”
The little pegasus was confused. “But I have wings….”
Skies nodded, “Yeah, I know. And so do I. But we still have hooves, right?”
Rainbow lifted one of her front hooves, “I guess….”
“So what’s the problem?” he asked.
“I….don’t get it.”
Windy Skies laughed as he flapped his wings for demonstration, “You see, wings are a peagsus’ most valuable assets, no doubt about that.” He stopped his wings and the continued, “But if you want to be good with them, you have to be just as good, if not better, with the other parts of your body.”
“I think I get it….” Dash commented.
Skies smiled as he pointed, “Then start galloping! I’m right behind you!”
Rainbow Dash began to gallop at a steady pace. While she was used to using her hooves, it still felt alien to her not using her wings. Nevertheless, she kept galloping forward. Behind her, Windy Skies was going at the same pace, leaving a window between them. He then quickly closed the gap and galloped along side her.
“How is it going, Rainbow Dash?” he asked, between breaths.
Rainbow looked at him and his green mane, “It feels really weird.”
“You’ll get used to it. Just don’t trip now.”
Her face gave a determined look as she nodded.
The two continued trotting around the track multiple times. Often, Dash would have to stop to catch her breath. Skies would offer to have them take a break, but she would flatly refuse to stop for more than a couple moments. An hour or so passed before the stallion decided to end the practice. Back at the bleachers, he and Rainbow were cooling off with a few more stretches.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, taking a sip of water from a bottle.
Dash was rationing her breathing, “Tired, exhausted….”
“Wanting to call it quits?”
“I never said that!” she bit back with a grin, “I’m feeling much better after that galloping stuff.”
“Heh, knew you would warm up to it. It certainly is a helpful exercise for pegasus ponies,” Skies said.
“And with more endurance, I can show Gilda up and all the others just how fast I am!” Rainbow Dash was excited.
“Whoa, hang on. That can’t be the only reason you’re out here tonight. Just to show up Gilda, is it?” the green stallion gave a concerned look to Dash.
Of course! I’m sick of being in her shadow, or anypony’s shadow for that matter. I wanna show them who really is number one.”
Windy Skies started, “Rainbow Dash, flying isn’t all about winning. Sure, races can be exciting and placing first is one of the best feelings a pony can get, but it’s not all that there is to it. Let me ask you something, why did you like flying so much when you were younger?”
“Because I was fast.”
“What else?
“And it ran in my family.”
“Come on, Rainbow Dash, there has to be more than just that. Think back to when you first flew. When you opened your wings for the first time and felt the air move between your feathers. Describe that feeling to me.”
Rainbow paused and remembered her first experience. That time was with her father. He often would hold her up so that she could feel the air through her wings. It was a magical moment. “It was….with my dad,” she spoke, “he would lie down on his back to put me up on his hooves. I would open my wings and it was like I was flying. It….was amazing. Just a small breeze going through my wings like that. I just knew I had to keep flying….”
“That’s it. That’s what flying is to you: a passion, not a competition,” Skies explained.
“I….I think you’re right, Skies,” Rainbow stated.
“When you fly, you should focus on that,” he continued, “Not winning, not speed, but the passion you have for flying.”
Rainbow felt changed with this new revelation brought up to her. She sat on the ground, stunned and dumbfounded. Windy Skies, however, had to shake her out of this trance.
“Hey Rainbow Dash, you should get back to your room and rest.”
“Oh, right,” Dash shook her head to come back to reality, “Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Skies smiled as he gathered his bottle and small bag from the bleachers, “By the way, thanks for coming out and doing this with me.”
Dash wrapped her scarf around her neck and grabbed the room key, “Hey, I should be thanking you for helping me out.”
“Not a problem. Just remember why you wanted to fly in the first place. And don’t get caught the shadows of your self-doubt,” Skies began to trot off in a different direction, “I’ll see ya when I see ya.”
“Yeah, smell ya later!” Dash waved as she trotted back to the dorms.
In her mind, Rainbow Dash was replaying her old memories with her family. She thought of the times when both of her parents would fly with her, often racing with her for fun. She smiled remembering the past like silent films playing from an old projector. Dash even had a single tear roll down her cheek as she thought about the times she and her mother would playfully wrestle. Wiping the tear away, she entered her dorm. Quickly looking at Gilda who was still fast asleep, Rainbow Dash opened up her dresser drawer. After a moment of digging, she pulled out a piece of parchment that was underneath some clothing. Looking at the picture frame on the dresser itself, Rainbow smiled. In the frame, the past smiled back in the form of a young Rainbow Dash, her father and her mother. She then looked back at the note and read it to herself.
‘Do your best and have fun at flight camp, Rainbow Dash! We’re proud of you!’