Chapter 28
“I'm going to go cool off in the lake,” said Dash. “Any pony want to join me?”
The ponies all thought this to be a good idea and took off toward the lake in an impromptu race. Soon they were all splashing around and enjoying themselves.
“Hey Firewing,” said Dash, “what's your mom going to say about you becoming a Wonderbolt?”
“She'll throw a fit of course,” laughed Firewing. “She is so worried I might get hurt. I think I'm a careful flier. I mean it's not like I'm doing flat spins with my tail scraping the the ground.”
Rainbow Dash laughed. “Imagine if you did that in front of her!”
“Oh no,” laughed Firewing. “I think her mane would turn white and fall out. She just doesn't get it. How can you be a pegasus and not love flying? You know, I don't ever remember her doing any tricks. Not one. And yet she marries a Wonderbolt. Weird.”
“Maybe she saw some pony get hurt or something,” suggested Windy.
“Maybe,” said Dash, “but my friend Fluttershy doesn't really like flying like we do. And she could be pretty good if she'd try. She likes it low and slow. I don't get it either.”
“I think it takes some confidence and a lack of fear to really get good,” said Frost. “Is that why you're so good Dash?”
“Maybe the confidence part,” said Dash. “I get scared sometimes, but I do it anyway.”
“I thought you were never scared,” said Firewing.
“Doing a move even though you're scared takes more courage than doing it if you're not scared ,” said Windy. She sounded like her old self for a moment. “That ending I do is dangerous but I love it. I might even try that flat spin move of yours, Rainbow Dash.”
“I wish you wouldn't,” said Dash sincerely. “I've hit the water pretty hard sometimes practicing that move. If you do decide you want to, promise me you'll let me show you how first.”
“Sure Dash. I'll do that,” said Windy.
“I guess you're not the only one that's going to try it,” said Rainbow Dash sadly. “The thing is they aren't going to have your skills Windy, and they're going to get hurt. Bad.”
“Don't let it worry you Dash,” said Frost. “Do you know how many times I've been hurt learning how to do this stuff?”
“A lot,” said Dash. “Same as me.”
“Guilty,” said Windy.
“Many times,” said Firewing.
Frost laughed and the others joined in. “It comes with the sky you decide to fly in Dash. You know it's going to happen, you just have to do your best to see that it doesn't.”
“But what if you where the one that developed the move that got them hurt?” asked Dash.
“Not your fault,” said Frost. “It is the pony's own choice. I tried to do a Sonic Rainboom after I saw you at the Young Fliers competition, you know.”
“Really? How did it go?” asked Dash.
“Not well. Ouch,” said Frost, wincing.
They all laughed.
“I worked a long time on that trick,” said Rainbow Dash, laughing with the rest, “and it's still tough but I can pretty much do it every time now.”
“Are you going to put it in your routine?” asked Windy.
“No,” replied Dash, “it's dangerous and it can be destructive. I don't want to have to pay for a bunch of broken windows.”
“What about those flat spins?” asked Frost.
“I think those will stay,” said Dash. “Immelmane won't let me keep them in the landing, but there's a place for it. I'm going to have to convince him it isn't that dangerous if you know how to do it.”
“Good luck with that,” said Firewing. “You haven't even convinced me.”
Rainbow Dash was irritated. “Alright, let me show you how it's done. I'm tired of this.” She went to the shore. “Now watch. As you get into the flat spin, you fold your inside wing like this. Keep it open just enough to keep you stable and in control. You're actually flying on just your outer wing. You lose speed fast so if you want to do several of them you almost have to dive first. If you watched me carefully before I went into the flat spin you might have seen me try to pull up a little. That's why I don't drop quite as fast once I get into the flat spin. If you don't do that you'll just continue on your dive path and crash.”
“That's sort of how they teach you in flight school,” said Windy, “but doing it your way I can see how you could gain a little control.”
“Right!” said Rainbow Dash. “And that's all you really need. You are going to stay on whatever path you were on when you entered the spin except that you'll lose altitude but you can stay level and control your speed up to a point.”
“What about changing from inverted to upright?” asked Razor.
“That's the easy part,” said Dash. “Just fold both wings and flip yourself over. Just remember to open the opposite wing when you're upright. Getting out of the flat spin is just like they taught you in school. And that's it. I've tried a couple of other ways, and some of them work but it's hard on the wings. The real difference is that my way gives you some control and it's easier to time the exit from the spin. Don't ever try to change direction while you're in your flat spin. It's painful and it doesn't work.”
“How did you figure all this out?” asked Frost. “Especially without crashing or injuring yourself?”
Rainbow Dash splashed her hoof in the lake. “This helps. Or do it high enough up so that if something doesn't feel right you can just fold your wings and recover in a dive.”
“Dash, show them that trick you do on the lake,” said Firewing, “it's so cool.”
“Okay, let me dry off a little more so I can fly.” She shook herself off. “Don't look now but we're being watched. Soarin and Immelmane are watching us. Oh, I've got to do this now.”
She took off and gained altitude, turned and dove back towards the lake. She did her skipping stone trick again. She came to a halt and sank into the water. Looking up the hill, she could see Soarin and Immelmane laughing. The ponies in the lake are laughing too. Windy accidentally dipped her nose in the water and sneezed loudly causing an explosion of water.
On the hill Soarin turned to Immelmane. “This bunch is fun. I haven't thought about it before but we could use a little of that. It could give us some extra punch in our performances.”
“Yes indeed,” said Immelmane. “Did you notice the difference in Windyday's flying today? She wasn't flying like that before. She was enjoying herself, it wasn't just business to her anymore.”
“Yes, I know what you mean,” said Soarin. “You don't even have to be an expert to see the difference. You're going to have your hooves full with Rainbow Dash though. Feeling up to it?”
“We'll see,” said Immelmane as he watched his protege play in the lake. “It will be a delicate balance between keeping her in check and letting her ...be herself.”