//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 - Breakaway // Story: The Foals of Harmony: Equestrian Rhapsody // by Rainy Meadows //------------------------------// Mama, ooh, I don’t wanna die I sometimes wish I’d never been born at all... She opened her eyes. Darn it. Still the middle of the night. And she wasn’t even tired anymore. She thought back to that dream – that damn dream – the one she’d been having almost every night. It always started with her flying through the early evening, the sky stained orange and pink with the dimming light of the sun, the clouds around her almost seeming to glow. It was beautiful and serene, and she soared freely through the atmosphere without a care in the world. She had just met the most unusual pony who could have existed. He had apparently spent his entire life ostracised by his friends and family, and was now a prodigy with everything to do with... to do with... darn it, what was that word again? Elcrickety? Heck, the guy had even built himself a dog. A dog, for pony’s sake! And then, she had looked down, and seen a misshapen mass lying on a cloud. Slightly closer inspection revealed that it was a pony, and when she had flown down to investigate she had found that it was not only a badly wounded pegasus, but actually none other than- And then she would wake up angry. She forced the covers off her body and set her hooves down on the smooth floor, easing herself out of the bed, and navigated her way through the cumulous tower to the bathroom. Turning on the light, she examined herself in the mirror. Looking back out at her was a young pegasus mare, mid-to-late teens, with a coat as blue as an afternoon sky. Her rose tinted eyes sparkled in the light of the bare bulb which dangled from the ceiling, which shone upon the full spectrum that framed her nervous face. And if the mirror had only been a little larger, it would have revealed that this young mare had a small bulge emerging from her abdomen. Her face contorted with anger as she twisted around and bucked the mirror with as much force as she could muster, and it fell with a tinkle of glass into innumerable razor-sharp shards, strewn all over the floor. She hated being pregnant. There was so much she couldn’t do anymore! It meant she had to be really careful and slow whenever she was so much as sculpting a cloud into shape, and don’t get her started on all the stunts and things. Rainbow Dash was a pony with a serious need for speed, and she couldn’t get that speed because she had a baby inside her! It was so-so frustrating. It almost made her want to scream! And not only that, but she was just so... so... ...alone. So Dash resolved to do what she always did when she felt frustrated, or upset, or any kind of negative emotion, really. She walked back up to her bedroom and opened the window. Standing on the windowsill she teetered for a moment, before launching herself out and into the cool night air. This was how ponies were meant to fly. For so long, Dash had committed herself to travelling as fast as possible, even if it meant breaking the sound barrier, the light spectrum or both, and she had almost forgotten what it was like to simply enjoy the feeling of the wind under her wings, supporting her body as if she were weightless. She flew in a loop-de-loop around a cloud, her tail streaming out behind her like no superhero’s cape ever could, before landing on it, lying down and surveying the scenery. She could see all the way out to Sweet Apple Acres, where there was some sort of campfire going on. She could just make out the shape of Applejack, and two smaller forms with her, and another paler pony with a dark mane approaching from one side. The mane and tail appeared to be meticulously styled – Rarity, of course. “Well hello cutie.” Dash saw the shadow fall across her, and felt the stallion – stallions – land on the cushy surface of the cloud. She looked up; there were two of them, both rather dark and thickly built, and they were leering down at her horribly. “What’s a pretty mare like you doing out here alone at this time of night?” one of them asked. “Could be a lot of nasty things happen to a cutie such as yourself.” “Now missy,” said the other, “we can do this the easy way... or the hard way.” Both stallions snickered at the joke, but stopped abruptly when Dash slammed a forehoof into the face of the first one. The other responded by shoving her onto her back, pressing her into the surface of the cloud, and pinning her there with his forehooves on her wings. Beads of fearful sweat started to break out on her forehead. “I guess it’s gonna be the hard way,” he said. “Now you’re gonna swallow what we give you to swallow, and after you swallow mine you’re gonna swallow my buddy’s, ‘coz you done broke his nose and I think he oughta have something to show for it.” “HEY!!!” It was a loud, clear and above all familiar voice which roared the word into the night. A third pegasus stallion – this one looking and sounding considerably younger than the other two – leapt down from a cloud above and shoved the stallion pinning Dash to the side and almost off the cloud. This newcomer had a distinctly pale coat, which seemed to shine in the moonlight, and a dark mane which fell limply across the side of his face, concealing his eye. He pushed Dash’s attackers to the edge of the cloud and said four simple words: “BACK... the buck off.” “Hey slow down, buddy,” said the one with the busted muzzle, “we was just having a bit of fun.” “It’s were, you illiterate dick,” said Dash’s saviour. His coat looked blue, and his mane and tail black in the dim light, and with his back turned she got a clear view of his cutie mark: some kind of lightning design... “Now you listen here and you listen hard,” he said through gritted teeth. “You are never, EVER to come near this mare or any other mare again. DO YOU HEAR ME?! NEVER!!” Princess Celestia herself could not have poured more anger into her words. Dash had to admit; she was impressed. “Okay, okay!” one of the attackers whimpered. “Hey, you know, you look kinda familiar-” “BUCK OFF!!” The two stallions yelped and flapped away into the night. Nothing else happened for a moment. The young stallion stood with his back to Dash, who stared at him in alarm and confusion, before he asked in a much softer, gentler voice “Did they hurt you?” “No,” said Dash. “I-I think you got here just in time. I... thank you.” “Well,” said the stallion as he turned around, “I had to make things up to you somehow.” Dash gasped in shock. The moonlight glinted off a pair of flying goggles resting atop his head – that alone was surprising, as not a lot of pegasi saw the need for goggles – but it was nothing compared to his eyes. They weren’t the calm, deep, oceanic green of Hex’s eyes, or the steady syrupy sap green of Applejack’s; these eyes were the bright and twinkling kind of green that seemed to shoot right through her heart and pierce the essence of her very soul. And she knew those eyes. Memories hit her mind like a tidal wave. She almost found herself clutching her head as they poured and settled into her brain... memories of fear, relief, and above all of love... “I wouldn’t blame you if you never wanted to see me again,” said the stallion in a resigned, sad and above all guilty voice. “S...” Dash struggled to get the one simple word out of her mouth, “S-Soar-” She would never forget that one moment, when everything clicked into place. “Soarin’... you’re Tearaway?” For a short while, neither of them spoke. The enormity of what was happening needed time to sink in. It was ages before one of the pegasi plucked up the courage to speak. “I know I’m probably the last guy you want to see,” Soarin’ said slowly, “but I just want you to hear me out, okay?” He saw the look in Dash’s eyes – a mixture of shock, horror, confusion and fear, with only the faintest traces of recognition. “Are you...” he began, “You remember me?” “Of course, I...” Dash tried to pull herself together. “I remember everything.” There was a pause which would have won the Equestria’s Most Awkward Pause award by a landslide (if such a thing existed, anyway). Soarin’ broke the silence by saying “I understand completely if you hate me, or want to punch me, or if you never want to see me again. I came back because... well, it’s a long story.” “We’ve got all night,” said Dash. Then she punched him in the face. He didn’t cry out or anything like that; he didn’t even rub his cheek where her furious hoof had collided with it. Her anger was perfectly justified and understandable, and he knew that as he knew that the sun would rise in the morning. “HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME?” she said in an unintentional impersonation of Princess Luna. “AFTER EVERYTHING I DID FOR YOU-YOU BASTARD!! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME?!” She stopped, panting for breath, and resumed her rant in a softer voice which seemed to hit even harder than the shouting. “When I found you on that cloud you were almost dead,” she said as tears rolled down her cheeks. “You know, I could have left you there, I-I could have left you to die! But I-I took you back to my place, because it was closer than the hospital, and I fixed you up as best I could – I had to get medicine from some dude I hardly knew – and I-I never gave up! I never gave up on you, Soarin’! I gave you an extra blanket when you were cold; I-I stayed with you during the night in case you got worse or needed anything else, I...” “I loved you, Soarin’. I loved you like I’ve never loved anypony before. And then as soon as you were better you just left. As soon as you told me you loved me you just-just left. How could you do that to me, Soarin’? How could you just abandon me like that?” Soarin’ tentatively picked himself up, but couldn’t help but feel like- “There’s something else,” he said. “Something you’re not telling me.” ‘Horseapples!’ Dash swore internally. 'How the hay am I supposed to tell him- I just gotta go for it. Just gotta tell him. He’ll understand, won’t he?' So she took a deep breath, and dived right into the metaphorical deep end. “I-I’m pregnant, Soarin’,” she said, wrapping a forehoof around her stomach. “And it’s yours. I... I’m having your foal.” Now it was his turn to look shocked, horrified, confused and afraid at the same time. Despite herself, and thanks to the look on his face, Dash almost found herself laughing. “You-you... what?” He couldn’t believe his ears. Rainbow Dash... pregnant? With his kid? “But that’s not important right now,” said Dash. “Why did you leave me, Soarin’? After everything I did for you – I mean, I saved your life, I thought we could be together – why did you have to go?” Again, a pause, as the Wonderbolt tried to figure out what to say. “Before I tell you,” he said, “I have to ask: what’re you going to do now I’m back?” “I don’t know, I-” it was Dash’s turn to work the right words onto her tongue, “honestly, I’d never even thought about it. But I want answers. NOW.” “Then you better get comfy,” said Soarin’. “It’s gonna be a long night.” Ten years ago... This was it. This was the moment he had been waiting for. It felt like his whole life – all nine years of it – had been leading up to this moment. Ticket clenched firmly between his teeth, he pushed his way through the crowd – manoeuvring around baby carriages and ducking under pony’s legs – until he had a front row seat. He felt his mother and father step in behind him, knowing he would want to share this moment – this one moment – of perfection. “Fillies and gentlecolts!” cried the announcer. It was time! “Please join me in welcoming our beloved Princess Celestia!” Her royal highness descended onto her waiting balcony and waved at the cheering crowd, her pastel coloured mane and tail billowing in a breeze which wasn’t there and making her look even more majestic than she already was. But he hardly even noticed. He hadn’t come here for the princess. “And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! Please give a warm welcome, performing in their hometown of Cloudsdale for the first time in three years... the WONDERBOLTS!!!” YEESSSS!!! See, this was what pegasi were meant to do! Gravity, shmavity, flying RULED! The way the blue-clad ponies dived and careened through the air as if they were rockets, leaving trails of crackling smoke behind them – how did they DO that? It was the most incredible thing in the history of everything EVER! And the way they- “Oomph!” He found himself knocked to the ground. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” the guilty filly shouted over the approving roar of the crowds. “Are you okay?” “Yeah,” he said as he got up, “I’m fine!” Both foals turned their attention back to the Wonderbolts. “Aren’t they amazing?” said the filly after a while. He took the opportunity to examine her properly. She was a pretty young thing – golden yellow in her coat with a fiery two-toned orange mane, and eyes the colour of pie crusts. Mmm, pie... Oh, right, and she didn’t have her cutie mark yet, just like him. “Yeah!” he said. “They’re awesome!” “I’m gonna join them one day you know!” the filly declared. “I’m gonna be the best Wonderbolt in Equestria!” “You want to be a Wonderbolt?” he asked excitedly. “The same with me! I wanna do the Super Speed Strut and the Filly Flash – even though I’m not a filly – and the Buccaneer Blaze and-” “Do you always talk so much?” asked the filly. “I love talking!” he declared. “But not as much as I love pie!” “You’re funny!” the filly giggled, and she held out a hoof for him to shake. “I’m Spitfire, by the way!” “Nice to meet you Spitfire!” he said, shaking her hoof. “I’m Soarin’, but I think I might be Tearaway as well, because I’m always getting in trouble at school and they say I’m a real tearaway, whatever that means!” Introductions over with, the filly and colt turned their attention back to the Wonderbolts, who zoomed and zipped through the sky to the raucous applause of the crowd below. “I’m gonna be the best Wonderbolt there ever was!” Spitfire declared. “Me too, Spitfire,” Soarin’ said, “me too!” “That was the best birthday present EVER!” the colt shouted, leaping into the air just to prove his point. “Well, I’m glad you liked it, kiddo,” said his father. “Took me five months to save up enough money for those tickets. I had to work double shifts at the rainbow factory for weeks.” “But it was worth it to see the look on his face,” said the colt’s mother. “And I noticed somepony made a new friend!” “I sure did Mom!” Soarin’ cried excitedly, jumping again into the evening sky. “Her name’s Spitfire, and she goes to flight school but she’s in a different class which is why we’ve never met before! She says if it’s alright with her mom and dad I can go round to her house next week! Can I Mom? Can I Dad? Can I can I can I?” “Slow down there, sport!” said his dad. “You know Lotus; I think his teachers may have been right: he really is a tearaway!” It continued like that for a little while: Soarin’ narrating his own ecstatic aerial manoeuvres, his parents chatting about what they were going to do next year for his birthday- “Hooves in the air and put your wings where I can see ‘em.” It was a griffon. He was extremely large and tough looking, his talons sharpened to razor sharp points and his face criss-crossed with scars and bald patches where feathers had been pulled out. “Gimme your bits,” he said, “and nopony gets hurt.” “Please,” said Soarin’s father, “just calm down...” “Soarin’, fly away,” Lotus commanded. “What? But Mom-” “Just fly! Get outta here! Fly, Soarin’! Fly home as fast as you can!” So he did. What was meant to be the bestest day of his life quickly descended into one of panic as the young colt leapt into the air and zoomed into the night. Oh cud... THUNDERSTORM!!! “I’ve never been so scared in all my life,” said the present day Soarin’ in a contrastingly soft voice. “I thought I was going to die that night. But somehow – I-I’m not really sure – I managed to get back home. And when I looked at my flank...” He cast an eye upon his cutie mark; a winged lightning bolt. “I knew I was meant to be happy,” he continued. “I mean, I just got my cutie mark, right? Cue the cake and confetti cannons! But then, Mom came home a few hours later, and when I asked her where Dad was she just... looked at me, and...” “Oh my gosh,” said Dash. “Soarin’, I’m-I’m so sorry.” She would never forget the way he looked at her. His normally jubilant and piercing green eyes were overflowing with sorrow and shame. Again, silence filled the air, but this time Dash was deep in thought. Yeah, this guy had left her without saying goodbye and all, but his dad died on his birthday. And on the same day he got his cutie mark. Just... OUCH. Compared to that, even the drug thing seemed kinda, well, understandable. “After that I sorta shifted my focus to getting into the Wonderbolts,” said Soarin’. “Me and Spitfire, we got real close. She was a good friend; somepony to talk to and confide in. As I was growing up I began to have rows with my mom – nothing major at first, but once in a while it would get so bad that the neighbours would call the cops. I guess I blamed her for what happened to Dad – either that or I blamed myself and didn’t want to admit it. "‘Few years ago – I think I must’ve been about fifteen or sixteen – Spitfire and I started the tryouts for the Wonderbolts, and one of the captains... let’s just say he acted kinda ‘inappropriate’ towards her. And when I went to confront the guy about it, he was doing more salt than I’d ever seen in my whole life. Huge blocks of the stuff in piles around his couch! And when I threatened to expose him he-he said he’d let Spitfire and me into the Wonderbolts right there and then if I let it go... “What would you have done, Rainbow?” Here was more food for thought. On the one hoof, he could have declined and exposed the guy for drug use, but on the other hoof he could have gotten himself and his best friend a free ride into the greatest aerial flight team that ever lived. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she was supposed to be angry with him. Fuming, even. Enraged. Seething! And loads of other words that all meant the same thing. But right now, all she could feel was pity. She wrapped her hooves around his body and held him close, feeling him do the same to her. It seemed like time could have stood still at that moment – two young reconciling pegasi embracing atop a cloud on a beautiful, star-studded, moonlit night – and nothing could have spoiled it. Nothing. “I spent the next couple of years in a haze,” Soarin’ went on. “Mom got sick – real sick – but I was too high on salt to have noticed. I don’t even remember what she had – that stuff can really mess you up if you take too much. Sometimes I would get these-these wild hallucinations. Stuff like ponies in the street puking rainbows and armies of hammers marching through the city to heavy guitar music. But things started to look up last year.” “Why was that?” Soarin’ looked down into Dash’s deep pink eyes. “Because of you,” he said. “At the Best Young Fliers competition, you were magnificent. I mean, sure you messed up a little – who doesn’t? – but that Sonic Rainboom, and the way you saved me and Spitfire and Misty, was just- I don’t even know how to say it. I saw you, and I thought ‘what happened to me? I used to be like that – I idolised the Wonderbolts and everything – but then I joined them and...’ I guess you sorta became my inspiration.” ‘I inspired a Wonderbolt,’ Dash thought. ‘Sweet.’ “I thought you said Lotus was your wife,” she said. “Umm,” Soarin’ looked so awkward it was almost funny, “well, I might’ve just said that to make you jealous, um...” Neither of them laughed. This was just too awkward. “You were saying?” asked Dash. “I don’t really see what any of this has to do with you abandoning me.” “Well,” said Soarin’, “things got worse on the night of the Grand Galloping Gala...” “Look Mom, I don’t have time for this!” said Soarin’. “I’m gonna go round to Spitfire’s place, okay?” “You spend too much time with that filly,” said Lotus. “She’s been nothing but a bad influence on you ever since you first met!” “What? No!” Soarin’ insisted. “Now you’re just being crazy.” “Oh really?” said Lotus. “Well, I would think this was crazy.” She took out a small, hauntingly familiar bag. “Take it,” she said. “Go on, take it!” Soarin’ knew that there was no backing out of this one. He took the bag off his mother’s hooves. “Would you mind telling me what’s in there?” asked Lotus in a voice so calm it was frightening. The young pegasus opened the bag and guiltily examined what lay within. “A few small cubes,” he said. “And what are they cubes of?” Lotus demanded. Soarin’ shrugged and said “Some sort of crystal thing- how the hay am I supposed to know?” “Because I found in your room,” said Lotus. “Under your bed when I was doing the dusting. Along with this which fell off as I took it out.” She dropped a label on the ground – a label which read PROPERTY OF SOARIN’. DO NOT TOUCH. “How could you do this to me, Soarin’?!” she cried. “Ever since you started on this Wonderbolts business you’ve gone nowhere from downhill-” “You call it downhill,” said Soarin’, “I call it escape!” “From what?!” “FROM YOU!” “I beg your pardon?!” “YOU HEARD ME!” Soarin’ roared. “Why can’t you just get off my case, Mom? I’m not a little colt any more; I can take care of myself! I didn’t ask you to go rooting through my things! Hey, you know what? Screw this! Screw you!” He flew up to his room and grabbed his flight suit and goggles. “Where are you going?” asked Lotus. “Spitfire’s place!” Soarin’ bitterly replied. “Maybe there I won’t have some old bag hanging over my shoulder all the time!” “And when will you be back?” “Don’t bother waiting up, Mom! We’re going to the Grand Galloping Gala, I told you last month, remember? And I’m not gonna be back before sundown, you know why? Because I’m not a little colt anymore!” All he’d ever wanted was to make her proud, and she was only ever angry. Who the hay did that mare think she was to tell him how to live his life and who to hang out with? He dropped off the cloud and zoomed away into the atmosphere, popping a cube of salt into his mouth as he went. He got back around three in the morning, and the house was eerily silent. “Hey Mom, I’m home,” he said. “Gala was a total bust – there was this-this pink thing singing about poking things and flying cake and pie and I think I mighta had too much to drink but there was this really hot filly who saved my pie and...” By this time, she would have said something. “Mom?” Still no answer. “Mom, you awake?” He felt himself becoming dangerously sober. It was too quiet. Too still. Soarin’ slowly made his way into the house. She wasn’t in her bed, or in the kitchen. Oh, thank Celestia! She had just fallen asleep on the couch. “Look, Mom, I’m sorry about earlier,” he said. “You were right, I was wrong. I ditched the salt when the tap dancing penguins showed up, ‘coz they were really freaky!” Even though he was right behind her, she didn’t respond. “What is this, the silent treatment?” said Soarin’. “Look, what else can I say?” He walked over to where she was seated, and- “Mom?!” Ponies didn’t sleep with their eyes open. Or without breathing. “Mom, no! Please, just wake up! WAKE UP!!” “The doctors said she had a stroke,” Soarin’ explained. “I... I never got a chance to apologise.” He sniffed and wiped his nose on a hoof. “You really thought I was hot?” Dash asked. The remorseful young stallion somehow managed to smile. “Hottest mare I’d ever seen,” he said. “The next few weeks are the ones I remember the least. I’d quit salt, sure, but then I started on the hard apple cider. I tried my best to keep it hidden from the tabloids and everything – some days I would just stay in the house and eat pie all day, and do nothing but work out the next day to make up for it – but one afternoon I got so pissed I thought it would be a terrific idea to fly all the way to Gryphonvale, and guess what? I flew right into a thunderstorm. “Next thing I knew, I was in your house. I’d never known anypony to care for me the way you did. I don’t know if I could ever repay you or thank you enough. You... you believed in me, something nopony had done since my dad died. And I loved you. I loved you more than you could ever believe. And I still do. I... I love you, Rainbow Dash. “The moment you fell asleep that night, I knew I’d made a mistake. I’d let you love me, trust me, done all the things Mom had (and more, obviously). And ponies that get close to me... it never ends well. Dad was killed by a crazy griffin. Mom had a stroke. Who knows, you could’ve been struck by lightning or something! I didn’t want you to get hurt, so I... when you fell asleep, I flew as fast as I could back to my place and mixed up a salt serum, and I injected you with it even though I had no idea what effect it would have on you. It’s one of the biggest regrets I’ve ever had and I am so, so sorry, Rainbow!” By now, he was sobbing unashamedly and uncontrollably. Rainbow Dash gave him as comforting a hug as she could, but still felt that it may not be enough. “You’re not a bad pony,” she whispered soothingly. “You just made some bad decisions. I knew I was right not to give up on you... “...ya li’l tearaway.” Soarin’ pulled himself away in shock, his piercing green eyes connecting with her own orbs of pure rose. She was... smiling. What else could he do but smile back? “But wait a minute,” said Dash. “Why did you wait until now to come back?” “Oh well,” Soarin’ said, “that’s where it really gets confusing...” 24 hours earlier... That. Sucked. ASS. Soarin’ knew he should have enjoyed that. According to Spitfire, it had been one of their best performances yet. The Filly Flash, the Buccaneer Blaze – all of them were awesome moves, and great fun to pull off... ...and yet, the young stallion couldn’t help but feel like he was missing something. Or somepony. He knew who it was, of course. He had made a lot of mistakes in his life, but Rainbow Dash had been the biggest. Their relationship was like one of those Mane Austin novels: he loved her, she loved him, but it just... couldn’t happen. She had been willing to give up her dream – her dream to become a Wonderbolt – if it meant she could be with him. And he couldn’t let that happen. The last time a mare had given her life to him... It hadn’t ended well. “Oi!” Just like this. Soarin’ stopped walking abruptly and looked at the heavy-set stallion approaching him from within the nearby alleyway. “What do you want?” he asked. “Your bits,” said the stranger. “Gimme your bits and you won’t get hurt. And don’t even think about flying away!” Soarin’ looked down the length of his body. “Do I look like I’m wearing saddlebags?” he asked. “Look, I’m tired, alright? I’m tired, hungry and I’m REALLY not in the mood for a mugging right now! So why don’t you just buck off, alright? Go ruin somepony else’s night.” The stallion paused in his advance. “Hey you look kinda familiar,” he said. “Are you-are you a Wonderbolt?” “Wow, you’re observant,” the blue-and-yellow clad pony said sarcastically. “Was it the mane that gave it away, or was it the Wonderbolts standard issue uniform and flight goggles?” “You are!” said the would-be mugger. “You’re-you’re Soarin’! Wow! Can I have your autograph? This is incredible: I’ve never mugged a celebrity before!” He then flew backwards as a frustrated hoof slammed into his face and sent him sailing through the alley until he hit the solid cloud wall at the back. “And you’re not about to start tonight,” said Soarin’. He walked over to his attacker, cast a careless eye over his bleeding muzzle, and stared him right in the terrified eye. “Now do yourself a favour,” he said in a voice as solid as diamond, “and BUCK OFF!” The petrified stallion leapt to his hooves and galloped out of the alley and out of sight. So it had gotten to the point where the most exciting part of his evening was traumatising muggers. Hoo-bucking-rah. ‘You really are living la Vida loca, aren’t you?’ he said to himself. He turned around and left the alley. A few metres down the street, something else caught his attention. He turned around and looked back into the alley he had just left. At the far end was an expanding ball of light, glowing like the sun. A gale rushed through the narrow passage, disturbing the litter strewn around the place and teasing Soarin’s swept back mane. He shielded his eyes against the blinding white light which pulsated and crackled with lightning, and a rushing noise reminiscent of something charging up... WHOOSH. The light and wind simultaneously evaporated, and a stallion galloped out of the alley, eyes closed, screaming his lungs out. He drew to a halt when he opened his eyes and saw Soarin’, whose jaw almost hit the floor. This guy was... this guy was badass. His limp mane replaced a patch over his right eye, and fell carelessly about the rest of his face, which bore not only a steady coating of late night stubble but also a Band-Aid over his muzzle. A bloodied bandage wrapped liberally around his neck was mostly covered by the tattered remains of a Wonderbolt’s uniform, which in turn was hidden beneath a thick, tough-looking black vest. And he clearly didn’t give a buck about his fetlocks. He turned a piercing green eye upon the stunned Wonderbolt. “Soarin’, good, right time,” he said. “Dude, you gotta listen to me. It’s more important than anything!” “Are you-” Soarin’ stammered, “-are you me?!” “Yes,” said the other Soarin’, “but don’t worry; you aren’t gonna look like this for at least another seventeen years.” “Seventeen YEARS?” “But that’s beside the point! Listen, dude, you gotta go back to Rainbow.” “What? But I-” “No buts! You have to go back to Rainbow Dash. She needs you.” “No she doesn’t,” Soarin’ said flatly. “She’s got her friends – those ones she kept talking about, who live in Ponyville – I’m pretty sure she’ll have got over me by now.” His future self then caught him by surprise by pinning him against a nearby wall, forehooves pressing deep into his chest. “See, this is why I quit pie,” said his future self in an irritated voice. “You-” “I QUIT PIE?!” roared present Soarin’ in horror. “Yes,” his other self said flatly. “’Coz it just replaced the salt and the cider. I’m you, okay? Trust me! And I’ve only got a few more seconds to tell you that Rainbow Dash NEEDS you right now. More than you could ever imagine! I should know, ‘coz when I was you I remember me coming back in time and telling myself this!” He paused for a moment, and said, more to himself than otherwise, “You know, that sounded a lot less confusing in my head.” “Doesn’t everything?” “Shut your pie hole and listen. I’ve only got a few more seconds!” His body started to crackle with electricity. “Rainbow Dash is going to need you in times to come. Hex and Twilight can help, but not as much as you can!” He started to glow as he screamed his final words: “A WHOLE LOTTA HORSECRAP’S ABOUT TO HIT THE FAN!” And with a second, shorter rush of light and wind, he was gone. “Umm... future me?” As tentatively as possible, Soarin’ prised himself out of the small rut he had made in the side of the building behind him (which was understandable, this being Cloudsdale where everything was built with – you know – clouds?) and slid down into a sitting position. That had quite possibly been the weirdest thing that had ever happened in his entire life ever. So... He had to find Rainbow Dash again. That much was obvious. What wasn’t obvious was how he was supposed to get to looking like he’d just walked through a raging battlefield. His other self had also mentioned not looking like that for seventeen years, which was relieving... kinda. What wasn’t relieving was that apparently, he quit pie. PIE, for pony’s sake! He-he lived on pie! How was he supposed to just give it up? Not that it was a problem. Soarin’ knew full well that he could quit any time he wanted. He just didn’t want to. That was all. And who the hay were Hex and Twilight? Obviously it was going to be a sleepless night. Again. Soarin’ took off and flew over Cloudsdale until he found his house. He could barely get the front door open because of all the junk piled in front of it. Mind you, he never had been good at cleaning. That had all been left to... Never mind. He removed his uniform – keeping his goggles, without which he would be blinded by wind – and left it, along with a note, in a place where Spitfire would easily find it when she came calling. Which she would, of course. Then came the part he really liked. He left the building – not really caring whether the house was locked up or not, who would want to rob a place so messy? – and jumped off the cloud upon which it was positioned. For several seconds he did nothing. He spread his hooves wide and enjoyed the feeling of the wind rushing past his face and body as he plummeted into gravity’s cool invigorating embrace, before he angled himself into a dive, extended his wings on either side and glided noiselessly through the atmosphere. This was how ponies were meant to fly. From the moment he became a Wonderbolt, Soarin’ had committed himself to travelling as fast as possible, even if it meant breaking the sound barrier, the light spectrum or both, and he had almost forgotten what it was like to simply enjoy the feeling of the wind under his wings, supporting his body as if he were weightless. And that wasn’t just because he had been salted out of his skull for most of his career. But now he was going to set the record straight. This time, he was going to be there for the mare that needed him. He wasn’t going to fail again. NEXT TIME: Hello, Goodbye “Oh my gosh! Is that Soarin’? From the Wonderbolts?” “Darling, something must be done about your TERRIBLE coiffure, and I refuse to take no for an answer!” “Let’s just say that when you meet her, you’ll be in for a surprise.” “Huh? What kind of surprise?” “Ah ah! Spoilers, my friend. Spoilers.” “You know what this calls for...?” Author's Note: Took me quite a while to work out how to present this one- Pinkie, do you mind? I'm trying to write my thoughts on this chapter and how it turned out- Well, you're going to get plenty of dialogue in the next chapter, okay? You see the first quote up above? Chances are people read that in your voice. Yes! Now will you please get back behind the fourth wall? Sorry about that. So there you have it. Dash's lover exposed. As I was trying to say before Pinkie interrupted me, I wasn't sure how to present this one; I've never been good at conveying emotions. Constructive criticism would be appreciated. And yes, I do imagine that salt would be sorta like the Equestrian version of cocaine or marijuana or however many drugs you can come up with- I'm not even gonna...