//------------------------------// // Chapter 77 // Story: The Winning Failure // by marley //------------------------------// Chapter 77 Firewing and Rainbow Dash left and headed for the cafe. They decided to fly to avoid the inevitable autograph seekers. As they neared the cafe, Dash spotted Vinyl plodding along to meet them. Dash was pleased that she was on time even though she didn't seem very energetic. Firewing and Dash landed and got a table. They waited for Vinyl to show up and chatted as they waited. Eventually Vinyl joined them. She slumped into her chair. “Hi,” said Vinyl. “Hi yourself,” said Dash. “Are you okay?” “Yeah,” said Vinyl, “I just got up is all. Did you order yet?” “We were waiting for you,” said Firewing. “I'm getting hungry though. How about you Rainbow?” “I could eat a little something,” said Dash. “Order whatever you want, Vinyl, it's on me.” “Thanks,” replied Vinyl, “what I want most is a Colta-Cola, a large one.” The waiter came and took their order. Vinyl did get something to eat but when the beverage arrived, she quickly downed half of it. “That's better,” said Vinyl. “So where's your other friend? I thought she was coming to this thing too.” “Frost is over at Rarity's place,” said Rainbow Dash, “but it's alright. The music is just for my solo routine anyway. She'll meet us out at Fluttershy's later.” “That's cool,” said Vinyl. “You're Firewing, right? I remember you from the celebration. That was some nice flying.” “Thanks,” said Firewing, “it was fun. What you'll be doing for Rainbow will be more complex.” “Yeah, I'm hip,” said Vinyl. “You want ten to ten and a half minutes for this next show and you'll be needing something else for additional shows. How long are they going to be again?” “Fifteen to twenty minutes each,” said Dash. “I'll open with one and then I'll perform again during intermission.” Vinyl thought for a moment. “Will you want the longer ones to be slower? You were really moving during the celebration.” “”I suppose so,” said Rainbow Dash. “I'll be adding in some slower elements so I can rest a little and make the show longer but the rest of the time I'll be going fast.” Vinyl asked a few more questions while they ate their lunch as she tried to get an idea of what Rainbow Dash wanted. Firewing remained silent most of the time allowing Dash to describe her act. At last they finished their meal and headed out to Fluttershy's cottage to practice. * * * * * * * * * Rainbow Dash and Firewing walked along with Vinyl rather than fly but it didn't take them long to reach the place. Fluttershy was in her yard and three fillies were sitting in front of her. Firewing recognized one as Sweetie Belle from Rarity's shop and she remembered seeing the other two but didn't know them. As they approached one of the three fillies, a purple maned orange pegasus, saw them and ran to meet them. Rainbow Dash smiled as Scootaloo ran up. “Hi kid,” she said, “I thought you'd like to come see us fly.” “More than anything,” said Scootaloo. Rainbow Dash introduced Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, who had arrived by this time, to Firewing and Vinyl. The earth pony and the little unicorn were polite but were otherwise not too impressed by the two pegasus stars or the DJ. Scootaloo was just the opposite, fawning over both Rainbow Dash and Firewing. “Why don't you show us a little flying?” said Firewing to Scootaloo. The filly looked at the ground and mumbled something. “She's having a little trouble getting started,” said Rainbow Dash quickly. “I'm sure we'll be able to figure it out before too long.” Scootaloo looked at Dash and managed a smile. Firewing felt very awkward and didn't know what to say. She had assumed that a filly of Scootaloo's age would know at least a little bit of flying by now. She herself had started sky dancing by the time she was her age. “Go find a place to sit,” said Rainbow Dash, “and we'll get started.” “Come on,” said Vinyl Scratch, “show me a good spot. I'll be doing the music for Rainbow and I need to see her routine.” She didn't know exactly what was going on with the little pegasus but sensed that something wasn't right. As Scootaloo and the others went on ahead, Rainbow Dash and Firewing began to fly and get warmed up. Firewing watched Dash who said nothing and wore a serious expression. “There's something wrong with her, isn't there?” said Firewing at last. “Maybe,” said Dash, “I don't really know. She can barely get off the ground. I know some pegasi fly sooner than others but even Fluttershy could fly at her age. I should have told you.” “Has she seen a doctor?” asked Firewing. “Have you talked to her parents?” “I don't know about a doctor and I don't know her parents,” replied Dash. “I'm not sure I want to know them.” “We'll talk about it later,” said Firewing. “I'll go down and see what I can do about getting a timer or something.” “Fluttershy can help you,” said Dash. “She has a timer and you can shout out to me in half minute intervals. That should work. I'll circle to simulate my start since we don't have a lot of ground space here. When I fly right in front of you, start my time.” “Okay,” said Firewing, “Show us what you've got.” Dash just smiled. She was sure that Firewing was going to love her routine. She started to climb. Rainbow Dash looked down and saw that her friends were waiting for her to start she started to slowly spiral down and build speed to start. She went over her routine in her mind, making sure she had it right. She was at the proper level now and her speed was where she wanted it. This circle would bring her in front of her friends. Rainbow Dash began her routine, concentrating on her speed and trying to do the tricks as if the Princesses were watching. Here and there she added some of the style moves. It felt good and seemed to be the same as when she had practiced for Immelmane. Firewing and her other friends shouting out her times confirmed that she was on time. At last she came to her landing maneuver. She smiled to herself, knowing that Firewing had never seen this move. Rainbow Dash landed and bowed. Vinyl and her friends applauded. She gave Scootaloo a wink and went to talk to Firewing. “How was my time?” she asked Firewing. To her surprise, Vinyl answered. “Ten minutes and twenty-six seconds,” said Vinyl. “Looks like you've got this down pretty good.” “Vinyl brought her own stopwatch,” explained Firewing. “We thought it was better to use that than Fluttershy's kitchen timer.” “Yeah,” said Rainbow Dash, “I might have to get one of those myself. So what did you think? Good enough for a couple of Princesses?” Firewing laughed. “It was awesome. I've never seen a couple of those moves. That landing was incredible. Do you do nothing but come up with amazing landings?” “To be honest, that one came from Frost, partially anyway,” replied Dash. “The Wonderbolts are going to incorporate part of it into their show by the end of the season so I'll show you how to do it later. I do have one more landing but it's still in the development stages.” “She should have used it in her program during the try outs,” said Firewing. “I wonder why she didn't.” “Probably didn't think about it,” said Dash. “The only reason I used it is because Immelmane and Spitfire wanted me to end facing the crowd. I hadn't done it in years except as a way to break off a trick I messed up so I could try it again. It's an old move from when we were kids.” “You had an interesting childhood,” commented Vinyl. “I've seen a lot of pegasi fly but not like that. I'm going to really need to work on this with you and we don't have a lot of time. How many times can you do that in an afternoon without burning out?” “Maybe a dozen before things get sloppy,” said Dash, “but I'm supposed to take it easy this week.” Vinyl thought for a moment. “Do you have this whole thing written down so I could make a copy and make notes on it?” “I have it written down but it's getting pretty marked up already and I still need it to work on my style moves,” said Dash. “I doubt if you'd understand what a lot of the symbols mean anyway. How about if we start over and make you a new one with just the names of the moves on it. Would that help?” “That might be better,” said Vinyl. “I brought some paper and a quill with me but I need some ink. I'm out.” “I have some inside,” said Fluttershy, “I'll be right back.” Fluttershy returned with the ink and Rainbow Dash and Vinyl sat down and made a copy of the routine. Dash then returned to the sky and went through the routine again. As Dash flew, Firewing told Vinyl when she did a move and Vinyl wrote down the time. When Dash finished she landed and they discussed the timing and the type of music to use. Dash was about to run through the routine again when Frost arrived. She was feeling a lot better than before and was anxious to see Dash's routine again. “Firewing,” said Rainbow Dash, “if you have any suggestions about how I can punch this thing up, let me know. Mr. Immelmane wants me to add some style elements to my act and I need a little help in that department. You're the best at that so feel free to write anything down you think would work.” “Alright,” said Firewing, “but I don't know what you mean. That show looks great to me.” “Thanks,” said Dash, “Immelmane thinks it looks good too but we want it to look great. Remember how you showed me that bow for the end of my landing? It's little things like that. What did Immelmane say... a raised hoof, a swish of the tail...expression, um head position, you know, stuff like that.” “Okay, I know what you mean,” said Firewing. “You want something to set it apart from just a set of maneuvers. Got it. I'll try.” Rainbow Dash smiled. “Here we go again.” She took wing and went through the act another time. The time was very close to the first run and Vinyl was able to get most of the times down. After another try, she had them all and Dash was starting to tire. She suggested a break by giving Firewing and Fluttershy a chance to sky dance. Fluttershy put a record on her old phonograph. Vinyl seemed to be amused by the archaic piece of equipment but said nothing. While Fluttershy and Firewing danced, Rainbow Dash looked over the routine that Vinyl had written down. Beside each move was a time. Rainbow Dash thought this was very helpful and said so. “Once you learn the music, you won't need the times anymore,” pointed out Vinyl. “I'll try to get the beat to match the start of the move and you'll be able to tell where you're at in the program. I've done things like this for dance competitions. I'll bet I could get something together for those two up there that would be awesome.” Rainbow Dash thought about this as she watched the two pegasi perform. She had never given much thought to who did the music for the Wonderbolts. Would they be angry if she brought in a new pony? The music that the Wonderbolts usually used was booming, dynamic works mostly composed by ponies long dead. Rainbow Dash couldn't even name one of them. She remembered that they once did a short program that featured the tunes from a popular musical. She was a filly then and couldn't recall the name of that either. “What sort of music were you planning for me?” asked Dash. Vinyl didn't take her eyes off of Firewing and Fluttershy. “I was going to ask you what you like,” she said. “I have a few ideas. Do you like Roan Jett and the Blackhooves?”