//------------------------------//
// A New Sky, An Old Sky 
// Story: Rainbow Dash and a Dinner Party with the Wonderbolts 
// by divinearcadia 
//------------------------------//


A New Sky, An Old Sky


Lightning Dust had left as abruptly as she had appeared, but Rainbow Dash still felt as though she were hanging around. As though she were standing beside her with an aggressive smirk of superiority and aggressive pressure. It was a completely new experience for the cerulean pegasus. Sure, she had felt the pressures of stage fright that had nearly thwarted her victory in the best young flier contest but this lit a fierce fire in her competitive spirit. Not even her contest against Applejack came close to this feeling.
“Are you alright Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asks noticing her glare and silence.
“Yeah. I'm fine. It's Lightning Dust who won't be fine.” She says with a predatory smile.
“That's right! You're gonna show that two-bit hack what's what.” Scootaloo says with her usual unshakable bravado when speaking about her role model.
“That may be darling, but we certainly can't go about our business with empty stomachs.” Rarity says with the infallible voice of reason. “Lets retire to the castle for the time being and remedy this situation.”
With that being said, they continue up the steps and into the coolness of the castle.


Lunch was a lively affair with them all sitting around a oval table and enjoying lively conversation along with a delicious meal. They talk about the upcoming race and fashion show but Rainbow Dash remains reserved throughout most of the meal, conversing only when directly talked to. With the fire smoldering in her chest, Rainbow dismisses all thoughts of taking a nap after her meal when they finish. As the meal is cleared away, she begins to walk away from her friends to go find peace in the sky but Applejack notices her before she walks out the door.
“Slow down partner, where d'ya think your goin'?”
“Just out. No need to worry AJ. I just need to clear my head for later.” Rainbow says honestly.
“Don't let'er get your feathers all flustered sugar cube. We know you're gonna do your best, so don't go getting' yourself all riled up.” Applejack replies soothingly as she remembers how heated their own rivalry had gotten.
“That's not an issue AJ. I got this. I just feel like I should go out for a bit. That's all. Tell them to don't worry about it and that I'll be back before four.” Rainbow says with confidence in her intuition. Applejack nods knowingly and turns back to their friends as Rainbow leaves the room. She wanders around the castle taking flights of stairs, always heading up. She eventually finds herself looking out on a wide circular platform, Princess Celestia standing at the outer lip with her wings slightly outstretched, her feathers caressed by a moderately strong breeze comes down from the nearby mountains. Rainbow walks sedately out to stand by her side, extending her wings similarly as she looks out and down. The view is spectacular as she sees verdant valleys, lively rivers and steep mountain sides stretching out before her.
“Beautiful, is it not?” Celestia says breaking the silence.
“Yeah.” Rainbow replies simply. “I thought I'd take to the skies for a while before the big race.”
“You really are something else Rainbow Dash.” Celestia says with a smile. “I've seen you grow from a pony who used to rely solely on her own hooves and wings to pursue her own dreams into somepony who selflessly helps her friends pursue their dreams as well.”
“I'm also doing this for myself. But I also won't let my friends down for my own reasons.”
“That's as may be, but the one thing I've noticed about you is how your attitude about flying has changed quite a bit. Whenever you fly now, it's not only about pushing yourself anymore. You enjoy that part quite a bit, but I think you've fallen in love with the sky itself.”
“I've fallen in love with the sky? What do you mean by that, Princess?” Rainbow says completely puzzled.
“I'm sure you know what I mean, but how about you join me for a little while? I'm sure it will become evident soon my little pony.” She says with a smile as she gently steps off the ledge into a steep dive. Rainbow laughs and follows quickly. Before her, the Princess keeps her wings barely outstretched as they pick up speed. As they near a third of the way down the mountainside she gently unfurls her wings and levels out to glide at a deceptively serene pace, Rainbow Dash emulating her motions. Normally she would try to build her speed quickly and maintain it but it doesn't feel like the right thing to do this time. She glides in the wake of the larger Alicorn and focuses on what she had told her. I've fallen in love with the sky? But what does that even mean?
They quickly cover distance as they travel between mountains, rivers flashing with a silvery light below them and the tops of trees swaying like the waves of the ocean under the caress of the wind that bears them. Rainbow lets her mind go blank so she can just enjoy the sensation of flying, a serene peace steals over her as she glides on. It's such a strange thing to the fierce pony but it feels... Right. Her strong heart begins to beat faster despite the lack of strenuous activity. The wind begins to feel like it's sliding around her without any effort or resistance on her part, her wings become gently strained as they are filled. The peace pulls her under and her heart soars in the embrace of the sky. Without her noticing, she finds herself quickly pulling alongside and past the Princess with a look of overwhelming joy lighting her face.
Her nerves light up as though she flew through a cloud coated by sheet lightning, her heart is now racing as she finds herself gliding along as fast as she would normally fly. Laughter bubbles up from the depths of her heart. Now she knew what the Princess meant. What it was to love the sky, and to be loved by it in turn. She tucks in a wing and rolls over and down to her right to pick up speed. She gently opens her wing back up and completing the roll, she completes the circuit and arcs at a tremendous speed over the flight of Princess Celestia while quickly pulling ahead with no strenuous beating of wings or pushing of herself. Here, it wasn't about racing or proving herself. It was about the joy of flying for the sake of flying. She's not sure how long she flies nor does she care anymore but eventually her joy subsides and she slowly returns to Princess Celestia's side.
She looks at the beaming face of the benevolent ruler and smiles in return. They glide sedately around a mountain and begin their flight back to the castle in silence. When they gently touch down on the same platform they departed from, Rainbow looks up to the Princess with serious expression on her face. “I wasn't sure what you meant at first Princess, but I definitely know now. Since I've been training at the Wonderbolt Academy, I've been spending a lot of time at home just flying around at Ponyville. No purpose at all really, just wanting to feel the wind under my wings. I don't know when it happened, but whenever I race against or with my classmates now I don't feel the same need to beat anypony anymore but I still win anyways.”
“It's because the sky responds to you now. I remember a letter from Twilight Sparkle about a big accident on their first visit to you at the Academy. Maybe that had something to do with your change.” Celestia smiles as she watches Rainbow think about it. The expressions ranging from contemplation to realization to joy.
“I guess you're right Princess. Being around a certain pony who always pushed herself for no reason than to be better than everypony else taught me that it's good to push yourself in the right direction but to also enjoy your efforts too. It took me a while to discover that last bit, but when I thought about it, it made perfect sense to me. I love racing and being the most awesome flier in Equestria still, but now that's not my only reason anymore.”
“I think you've made a profound discovery about yourself my dear. I'm so glad you found that you love what you do more than for the reasons you started it in the first place. I wish you the best of luck this afternoon in your race, I look forward to a spectacular race.” She says with a smile as she walks off to return to the duties she took up out of responsibility but came to love them because she loves her subjects and helping to make their lives better.


“Welcome back Rainbow Dash. Did you enjoy your time alone?” Twilight asks as she walks into Rarities room. Rarity was making some last minute adjustments to her backup flight suit on a ponnequin in the corner.
“Yeah, I feel like I could take on the Wonderbolts right now.” She says with a smile and a laugh. “But my alone time wasn't so alone. I happened to join Princess Celestia for a flight around the area.”
“Princess Celestia?” Twilight says with a little shock. “I hope you didn't get a little... Overeager while you were flying with her.”
“Of course not. In fact, she was the one who taught me something new. Lets just say I'm more than ready to get in the air and show everypony what I'm really capable of now with what Princess Celestia taught me.” Rainbow says with an eager expression. Twilight sniffs a little at the air and wrinkles her nose suddenly.
“What's that smell? It's weird.” She says looking at Rainbow Dash who sniffs the air trying to detect what her friend had smelt. A slight but sharp odor was in the air, which Rainbow Dash recognized immediately.
“It's called ozone, Twilight. You tend to smell it a lot when you work with storm clouds. It tends to dissipate fairly quickly, but the sky was clear when we flew around.” She replies, a puzzled expression on her face.
“Strange. Maybe I should look around the library for a book about ozone and why it would linger or be around for no reason. I really should read more about flying and the related topics since I'm an Alicorn now.”
“Well, now... I think I'm done!” Rarity says excitedly drawing the attention away from their conversation. “Would you be a dear, Rainbow Dash and try this new suit out before we have to make our appearance? I want to be at the meeting place a half hour before we're supposed to be there so I can get everything arranged for the fashion show after the race. Twilight and the other girls will be waiting in the seats while we get ready.”
Twilight makes her goodbyes to the pair and leaves them to go about their preparations to go meet the rest of their friends at the Sky Track. Rainbow agrees and soon tries out the suit, which fits exactly like the first one. She swaps flight suits and is greeted by the strange sensation of the ancient magic at work again, only this time it doesn't even feel like she's wearing a full body suit instead of just letting her feel the air currents through it. A gentle breeze wafts a stronger smell of ozone to her nostrils causing her to shake her head at the smell. Why am I smelling all of this ozone? This is weird. She thinks to herself as they make preparations to head out.
It's not long before they're leaving the castle with a medium sized bag floating in Rarities magic to head up the slope to the Canterlot Sky Track where the Wonderbolts hold their regular derbies and shows. Once they reach the front doors they're greeted by a dark gray unicorn floating a clip board with magic who asks their names and directs them to their individual dressing/locker room supplied with all manner of supplies. Rarity quickly finds herself in her element and sets about organizing the supplies and materials to suit herself. Rainbow Dash finds herself thinking about what the Princess had said about her love of flying and the feel of how she felt the sky respond to that love.
Maybe I can pull this off after all. I'm not gonna get flustered over some pony too full of herself to lift her ego off the ground. Maybe I wasn't so different a while back, but I'm absolutely not gonna loose to her. I'm gonna win this for Rarity and myself. She thinks to herself, the smoldering fire burns a little hotter in her chest. She watches the clock as it gets closer to the time. Her time. Rarity floats a diagram of the race circuit over for her to inspect. It's a large track leading them up the mountain range north of Canterlot with specific checkpoints set up at various altitudes that they have to fly through. She feels her muscles reacting to her excitement as they begin to feel lighter and lighter, waiting to spring into action. Long years of experience helps to keep her own body in check as she moves with exaggerated slowness and purpose so as to not loose any of the energy now coursing through every fiber of her body from a sudden motion or tightness. Then it's time. No tolling of bells or fanfare, just a deep sigh and a look over to Rarity who had been happily humming to herself up until this point. Rarity looks back with a fierce pride and determination matching what Rainbow feels, they leave the room shoulder to shoulder.


They walk into the bright outdoors from the moderately lighted interior and separate to go to their respective places.  The seats are angled a quarter turn north of the city so that if any accidents occur, there's a better chance for the afflicted ponies to recover or to be rescued but to also provide better lighting for the participants and spectators. Floating a moderate distance away were two of the new magical viewing devices set up so that the long distance races can be viewed in their entirety. Turning to her left, Rainbow walks along the wide path in front of the tiered seats walking to the retractable launching platform. Several pegasi have already gotten in place already, each sporting a unique flight suit. They don't matter to Rainbow Dash as she draws nearer. She doesn't hear their mutters or notice their glances as her ears are filled with the sound of rushing wind and her eyes focused on the horizon.
Time seems to loose meaning as she stands there. Each breath takes years, more and more seats are filled without the ponies moving the distance from the entrance to their spots. A voice tries to break through the sound of the wind filling her ears a couple times but is swept away with a casual flick of her ear, it gives up. A officiator climbs up the steps to a signal box leaning out over the straight drop and the gently moving crowd slows to a frozen tableau. In the stillness Rainbow glances to the crowd and easily spots her group of friends in the box seats on the highest row, a certain pink pony rears up noticing her glance and her fore legs become a blur from their frantic waving. She smiles and shifts her attention back to the officiator who is now levitating several flags out over the guard rail of his box.
Rainbow slowly readies herself into a low crouch, wings stretching out slightly. A gust of wind blows by, rustling her mane and tail. The flag flashes again as the first one it retracted to give the final warning to get ready, a deep breath laced by a sharp scent fills her lungs. The last flag is revealed, the fire in Rainbows chest bursts to life from a low smolder to white hot intensity and she lunges forward as the pent up energy in her legs flares from a cool tingling sensation to a sudden warmth. The other ponies around her jump higher than her in their take off and begin pushing off with their wings almost immediately. Rainbow seemingly glides for a few feet before her wings slowly unfurl to their full length, the air slipping around her as she gently flaps downward. Another flap of her wings and she feels herself gliding through the air. Just above and to her left, she sees a pony with an electric yellow tail straining to pull ahead of the other competitors. Another flap of her wings and she feels a straining against her wings similar to her flight earlier, the pony falls from her sight.
The fire in her chest mingles with the joy of the flight, fierce and undaunted by anything else. She flies. She finds herself alone in the sky, calm but incredibly focused. She had a race to win after all. The flight course vivid in her mind as she tilts to the right and begins to fly in earnest. Her friends were watching and confident in her victory. She wouldn't, couldn't, let them down. This flight is unlike anything she had ever experienced before. Joyous, profound and awakening to the fierce pegasus. This race quickly becomes the epitome of what it was that Rainbow Dash had found in her efforts to become one of the Wonderbolts and her own reason why she wanted to be one. Her love of flying and the contest of one pony against any and all competitors.
It is the longest and shortest race she had ever participated in. By the time she returns to the Sky Track to break the circuit, the spectators are silent. Their eyes wide and not understanding the event they had just witnessed. Landing on the walkway and proceeding up the steps on moderately tired legs, she trots up the stairs to where her friends are seated and unconcerned with waiting for her fellow competitors. She walks into the sheltered room to see her friends just as silent but animated in their motions as they just wait to unleash their cheers. Fluttershy breaks the silence with a shriek exactly like when she did finally perfected the Sonic Rainboom during the Best Fliers competition. The sound breaks the spell of silence hanging over the crowds and the air throbs with the sheer volume of their cheers. With a cocky smirk she looks at her friends and says, “So, how'd I do?”




***To Be Continued***