Two Worlds; One Family

by MrEnter


Chapter 9: On a Wing and a Rainbow

Harry tried his hardest to go to school every day that week. It proved easier than he had thought it was. The first couple of days were torture, but by the end of the week he had become old news as long as he stayed in the shadows. Harry made sure to sit in the back of class, out of the eyes of everypony else, and for the most part it made everything bearable.

Harry was still relieved when Saturday came around and he no longer had to go to school. He slept in that day. He only woke up when he heard a whistle. Harry shot up and almost hovered over his bed in surprise. He looked to see that Rainbow Dash was standing at the foot of his bed.

"Thought that you'd be a little more excited," Rainbow said.

"Wha—what's going on?" Harry asked, still getting his bearings.

"I talked to your Mommy and she said you went to school every single day this week," Rainbow said. "You know what that means!"

Harry was suddenly fully awake. "Yeah, it means that—"

Rainbow put a hoof to Harry's mouth and winked. "It means that I'm taking you to the movie theater. The nice, safe movie theater."

Harry excitedly got out of bed and rushed to eat his breakfast of oatmeal. During the whole meal Fluttershy kept asking Rainbow questions, and each one caused her to sweat a little bit more. They were fairly innocuous questions: what movie are you going to see, how long is it, are you going to be doing anything afterwards. Rainbow answered each one more nervously than the last. The truth was building up inside her and she was about to let it out. Luckily, Harry clanged his spoon down just before Rainbow was able to reveal the truth. She grabbed Harry, placed him on her back, and charged out the door.

"That was close," Rainbow said when they were a good distance off. "Boy, your mom's really nosy sometimes."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Well, I kinda... didn't tell her that I was taking you flying."

"Why not?"

"Because I knew she would've said no," Rainbow said. She slowed down into a walk as the headed towards the meadow outside of town. "So this is a secret between you and me. You can't tell anyone, especially Mommy."

"Why not?"

"She worries about you... a little bit too much. And what we're about to do isn't technically safe. Now hold on tight. Trust me. You do not. Want. To. Let. Go!"

Before Harry could say anything she took a deep breath and broke into a run. Harry held onto her mane as tightly as he could. Rainbow rose her wings and seconds later they were flapping. The wind began to push past them. Harry already felt a little bit nervous, but Rainbow took off before he could object.

Rainbow launched from the ground and shot into the air. Harry's eyes began to water as Rainbow sped up. He tried his hardest not to shout, and for the most part he succeeded. For the most part. Rainbow stopped in midair, just above some clouds.

"Oh, you think that's something huh?" Rainbow said. "You ain't seen nothing yet. Now hold on!"

Rainbow tilted downwards and bolted towards the ground. This time Harry wasn't even holding his screaming back. The ground got closer and closer. He could have sworn that they were going to crash right into it. Just before that happened, Rainbow tilted upwards and returned to the sky. She did a few more dips and rises before she turned to her fancier tricks.

It started with simple turns, but gradually grew to loops and corkscrews. Harry eventually calmed down and actually started to enjoy himself. Soon he realized that flying around like this wasn't just fun, it was exhilarating! Rainbow didn't keep it the same either. Every second she doing something new. She weaved in and out of trees, spun around clouds, and combined previous moves in radically different patterns.

The hours went by almost instantaneously. Rainbow touched down out of breath while Harry kept going on and on about how that was the most amazing thing he had ever seen or done. He told Rainbow that he couldn't wait to do it again. Rainbow let him down.

"This is just gonna be a once in awhile thing, okay?" Rainbow said. "I can't keep taking you up there all willy-nilly."

"What? Why not?" Harry pouted.

"Well for one, your mother will have a fit," Rainbow said. She rolled her eyes.

"But what if I ask her and she—"

"No!" Rainbow shouted. "She can't know about this. I'll take you up again, don't worry. It just won't be every week. Now come on, your mother is probably at the movie theater looking for us. If she asks: Chimera King, it was pretty good—a bit slow in the middle though, and we had a medium popcorn because they were out of large bags."

"Rainbow?" Harry asked as they walked the trail home. "Can you teach me how to fly?"

Rainbow blinked.

"Um... no, I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"I—I just can't," Rainbow said. "Why do you want to learn?"

"Because you were awesome up there! I want to be awesome too!"

"Yeah I guess I was kind of—no, I'm sorry Harry but I can't teach you how to fly."

"Well why not?"

"I'm... not a good teacher," Rainbow said, thinking up each word as she said.

"Then can Ms. Cheerilee teach me how to fly? She's a good teacher!"

"No Cheerilee can't teach you how to fly. She doesn't have—"

"Have what?"

"She doesn't have wings, okay. And... neither do you. You need to have wings to fly Harry."

"Oh..."

"You're not too upset are you?" Rainbow asked.

"No, I'm fine."