The Black Pegasus
“Here we go”, he said under his breath, “The weather’s perfect and the wind’s in my favor. There’s no telling when I’ll get conditions like this again. It’s time to follow in my father’s hoofsteps.”
The young Pegasus looked down the center of the canyon town at the hole that was in a very large stalagmite. That was the same hole that his father had broken the sound barrier through. He wanted to show everyone he could do it just as his dad did. His runway was set. He would soon be lifting off the cliff that overlooked his town.
He looked to his left, where his mailbox stood. “Cloud” was painted in white on the side. It had served as his starting line ever since he first tried to break his father’s record.
A passing pony saw him. “Take cover everyone, Cloud’s at it again!” she screamed.
“Everypony for himself!” another exclaimed. The comment caused widespread panic throughout the town.
Hastily, everypony that was outside quickly jumped underneath something or made their way inside a sturdy structure. All was quiet as he prepared to take off.
He looked to the ground and flexed his wings. He studied the path in front of him. There was about forty yards of cliff in front of him. He trained his eyes for the peak ahead.
Tensing up he took off for the end of the cliff. He began to flap his wings to pick up speed. His hooves left the ground, then he put his wings into overdrive. The wind whipped around him, making him feel more alive as he flew faster and faster.
When he was over the town, the air resistance was becoming greater. He now knew in order to surpass his father, he would have to go just a little faster.
All of the ponies below him shuddered at his tailwind as it nearly ripped the roofs off of a few buildings.
The hole was nearing him at an amazing speed. Just as he was ten yards away, the wind fought back. He couldn’t break the barrier and the force of the air smashed against him so hard that he was sent reeling backwards.
An on looking pony saw the crash coming. Quickly, she kicked a wagon filled with soft bags of hay over his landing area. Cloud came to a heart-stopping halt when he made contact with the hay. He crashed so hard the wagon rolled back a few feet.
The pony that had saved his tail sighed. She peered over the wagon’s edge to find him silently crying at his failure. He saw her and hurriedly tried his best to straighten up.
“Cloud, you have to know when to quit. I know you want to be just like your dad, but have you thought that maybe you just can’t do what he did yet”, she said sympathetically.
“NO”, Cloud shouted, offended, “My dad did it when he was way younger than me!”
The Pegasus gasped at his outburst. He nearly put her into tears.
“Listen, Sugar Pie”, Cloud said, calming down, “I don’t want to be rude, but, I just need to do what I do until I can outdo my dad.” He hopped down from the wagon. “I’m sorry for yelling at you S. P.”, he added, as everypony came out from their hiding places, “I was just frustrated.”
“I understand”, Sugar Pie murmured. Cloud hung his head low and left to be alone. He stretched his wings a final time before shooting off into the sky.
He tried to clear his mind before he turned back. He knew going on a small adventure would take his mind off of it. Being the indecisive that he was he decided to wing it west and see what discoveries lie in wait of him there.
______________________
Meanwhile, in a distant region of Equestria, an entirely different scene was unfolding…
“Just a little to the left”, called Fluttershy gently.
“Right here”, Rainbow Dash asked, positioning the net where she thought Fluttershy wanted it.
“Perfect”, her friend stated. Rainbow Dash fastened the end of net to a branch and landed to join her nature loving friend.
“So what’s the point of these hammocks again”, Rainbow Dash asked.
“Well, since the branches on the trees are almost taken up”, Fluttershy explained softly, “I decided that we could hang these nets between them so the birds can make nests in them.”
She looked up at the nets she had hung. “That’s a really smart idea, Fluttershy”, Rainbow Dash commented.
“Thank you”, Fluttershy replied, blushing shyly at the compliment.
Rainbow Dash nodded. “I’ll see ya later, Fluttershy”, Rainbow Dash said, flying off into the distance. The wind was moving against her, making her feel better than she had been on the ground. But, being the swift, reckless flier she was, she didn’t notice the other Pegasus flying in her direction.
The two hit head on with enough force to knock each other out of the sky. Before she could recuperate, she hit the ground, which knocked the wind out of her. The fall didn’t hurt since she wasn’t very far up, but whatever she flew into sure did. She rubbed her head in an attempt to ease the aching.
“Owwwww…” somepony groaned in front of her. She looked up to see a male Pegasus sitting and rubbing his own head not far from her.
Any other day, she would have started shouting and told him to watch where he was going, but it was her fault for once. “Hey, you okay?” she asked.
He looked up from behind his hooves to see her and Rainbow Dash was captivated by him. His blue eyes were wide with curiosity. His ghostly white mane was complimented by his jet black body. The top halves of his wings were a brilliant gray blue. His gray tail wrapped his color palette up. His Cutie Mark was an image of a thunder cloud with three blue lightning bolts striking from it.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going again. I was so caught up in seeing the town that I forgot to look up”, he said, giving her a slight chuckle.
She rubbed the back of her head. “I guess it’s both our faults”, Rainbow Dash said, “I was going way too fast for you to even get out of the way even if you did look up. Sorry.”
“S’all right”, Cloud said, “No broken bones. Just ruffled feathers.”
“So what’s your name”, Rainbow Dash asked energetically. She started to hover off the ground.
“Well, you hit me so hard I can’t remember anything.”
“Oh no, I gave you amnesia!” she gasped, horrified. “I am so sorry. I know someone that can help, follow me!” She darted back and forth in her panic. Finally, Cloud grasped her face while she was fluttering upside down and looked at her with a wide grin.
“Rosy Eyes, chill out. It’s just a little joke”, he said. She crossed her forelegs and pulled her face from his grip.
“Hmph, some sense of humor you’ve got there”, Rainbow Dash huffed, still upside down. She turned away with an angry expression.
“Oh, sorry. It’s just that everypony back home would have laughed”, Cloud mumbled apologetically.
She glanced over her shoulder. He had turned around as well. She flew in front of him, still upside down. “Well, looks like the joke’s on you! I was just kidding from the start”, she teased. She laughed.
He started laughing too. “Ha! You got me.”
“So, really, what’s your name”, she asked. She turned so that she was now right-side-up.
“Cloud, full name Rain Cloud. The Prince of Speed. Then there’s my dad, The King of Speed”, he replied coolly. “So, am I just going to keep calling you Rosy Eyes, or do you have a name too?”
“My name’s Rainbow Dash, full name Rainbow Dash, it’s short for Rainbow Dash, but my friends mostly call me Rainbow Dash. The Queen of Speed!” she replied, countering his smart answer with a smarter one.
“More like ‘Princess of Speed’”, Cloud commented.
“What was that?” She cocked an eyebrow at him.
“Queen makes you sound old. And besides, there’s no way you’re faster than me,”
“We’ll have to see about that”, Rainbow Dash challenged. “Here, noon, we’ll race to see.”
“Oh, curse my heritage. I cannot turn down a contest”, Cloud joked with a fake Trottish accent, “You’re on.”
“Then it’s settled. The winner will be known as the fastest Pegasus in all of Equestria”, she declared. As they shook hooves, lightning cracked, and then rain started to fall.
“Oh, darn, I forgot about the scheduled storm today! Looks like we’ll have to race tomorrow”, Rainbow Dash observed. Cloud was about to object until suddenly, the rain fell heavier and faster.
“Shoot, I’ll never be able to fly home in this”, Cloud complained.
“C’mon, you can stay at my place until it blows over”, Rainbow Dash stated. She flew off in the direction of her home.
She expected Cloud to be behind her until she heard him shout. “I meant I can’t fly home in the rain at all!”
She quickly shot back down to his side. “Are you kidding me?” she yelled over the rain.
“Sorry, but I just can’t”, he shouted. “Medical condition!”
She turned around. “Okay, follow me, and stay close or you’ll get lost. I can’t even see the trees around us!” she called. She started out in a dead run with Cloud right at her side.
After a long gallop back to her cloud home, and a few trips into water filled holes, they finally collapsed on Rainbow Dash’s living room floor. When she shook the water off, she noticed that she wasn’t as wet as she should have been with the amount of rain coming down. Cloud on the other hand was completely soaked. Especially his wings, which his used to cover his head and, without her immediate awareness, her.
“Thanks, R. D. I owe you one”, he gasped from the long run.
“Don’t mention it”, she replied, then stopped. “Wait, did you just call me R. D.?”
“Yeah, R. D. Initials ya know?”
“Just Rainbow Dash works.”
“Roger that”, Cloud said. He took a look around. “It’s been a really long time since I’ve been on a cloud.”
“You live on the ground”, Rainbow Dash asked.
“More like in the side of a cliff. I live in Canyon Run, east of here”, he explained, “To be honest, I didn’t think there was any civilization out this way.”
Rainbow Dash didn’t respond. She was busy getting towels for them.
“Catch!” she quickly said, slinging a towel in his direction.
Thinking fast, he ducked, then did a back flip and landed so that the towel was draped over him.
“Impressive”, Rainbow Dash stated, “But I’ve seen better.”
“I give myself a nine point six”, Cloud countered.
“A lucky nine point six”, Rainbow Dash added. She now had a towel draped over her.
“Ya know Rainbow Dash, you’re not like any other pony I’ve met before”, Cloud said.
“Is it a good thing or a bad thing?”
“Well, if you count a personality like mine a good thing then yes, a very good thing.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, “Oh, please, I’m nothing like you.”
“Really? We’re both witty, fast, quick tempered Pegasi that are fun to be around. I think that's just about us, don't you?”
“I still don’t see it your way.”
“Well what do you see”, he asked.
“I see a handsome black Pegasus that can’t fly in the rain and thinks we have the same personalities and I see a blue Pegasus that just sees another challenge to try and beat”, she said, grinning.
He raised an eyebrow. “Handsome, you say?”
“Oh, I-I…what I meant was…n-no, I didn’t mean to say-” She was stammering, complete proof of her embarrassment. Where did “handsome” come from?!
He gave her an impressed look and laughed. “Ya know, you’re really cute when you stutter”, he said.
She blushed deeply. “Well, you’re…”, she started, trying to come up with a playful insult.
“What, handsome, cute, cool, sly, fast”, he suggested.
Rainbow Dash stared in awe at him. He was good. She quickly looked for a way to change the subject. “So why can’t you fly in the rain?”
“My wings”, he said, giving his soaked appendages a flap, “Doctors say my feathers are way to absorbent. Soak up water like a sponge.”
“Wow that sucks.”
He nodded in agreement.
Rainbow looked around for something to say. “Uh…you hungry?”
“You betcha!” Cloud rubbed his stomach.
_____________
“This has been a great day”, Rainbow Dash said, sitting on her cloud-couch in the living room.
“Yep”, Cloud agreed. He was hovering in the air with his hooves behind his head, “I made a new friend; she thinks I’m handsome; and I find her cute.”
“Really?” Her head jerked up to look at him.
He opened his left eye and looked at her indifferently. “I’m not going to lie”, he said.
For some reason unknown to her, her heart fluttered in her rib cage. “Thanks, it’s too bad I have to beat you in the race tomorrow.”
“I don’t know, with the weather like this, we may have to wait longer.” Immediately after his statement, a crack of lightning shook the house.
Rainbow Dash cringed. But since Cloud didn’t notice, she replied. “It should be over by morning”, she replied, “I heard from the Pegasi up top that it was a quick storm. Nothing serious.”
“I hope so, Sugar Pie doesn’t like thunderstorms”, Cloud commented.
A twinge of pain pricked her heart. Rainbow Dash’s ears drooped slightly. She didn’t know why. “Who’s Sugar Pie?” She kept her voice from quivering as she asked.
“She’s a really close friend. We’re almost family”, he answered, as if it were nothing.
“Oh”, came her quiet reply. She felt a little relief when she heard that, but could still feel that stitch of hurt. She tried to shrug it off and yawned. “It’s been a long day, I think I’ll go to bed now.”
“Good night, guess I’ll sleep out here”, Cloud called as she flew to her room.
“Good night Cloud”, she called.
He sighed. “That is one awesome Pegasus.”