//------------------------------// // Preliminary Flight // Story: Stunt Flier for Hire // by RaginCroissant //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle's eyes scanned the page of the book floating in front of her. Left to right, she took in every single word, even going as far to reread several paragraphs. She had no room for error. As she mumbled to herself, a knock at her door grabbed her attention. For a split second, a look of confusion rested on her face, until she remembered the whole reason for reading this particular book in the first place. With a soft smile, she stood up and stretched out a few muscles. The sound of her joints popping nearly drowned out the door's knock. Her relief was short lived, however, as the knocks coming from the door continued, getting louder and more frequent as the visitor was getting impatient. Twilight trotted across the room and magically opened the door as she approached it. She was met with a cyan hoof just a few inches from her nose. “How's it going Twilight?” Twilight's expected visitor, Rainbow Dash said as she moved her hoof away from Twilight's shocked face. She chuckled to herself nervously, taking the extra precaution of taking a step back after she noticed Twilight's unamused gaze. Twilight closed her eyes, placing a hoof on her chest and with a long, drawn out sigh, extended her foreleg. Once she felt her nerves were calmed enough, she returned a genuine smile to Rainbow. “Hello Rainbow. I guess you are here for my flight practice.” said Twilight. That statement alone had, for Rainbow's good fortune, removed any desire Twilight had of lecturing her on impatient knocking. Rainbow Dash took a step forward, realizing her friend had no intention of lecturing her and puffed out her chest. “Of course I am!” Rainbow jumped toward her friend and wrapped her left foreleg around Twilight's neck. “I don't know what has you so interested in stunt flying, but it's the least I can do for a good friend. The kind of good friend who gets their friends tickets to the biggest Wonderbolts event of the year.” Rainbow began to stare off into space, imagining how awesome the event will certainly be. Twilight rolled her eyes and let Rainbow have her moment. As expected, a few seconds later, Rainbow's daydream ended and she looked back to Twilight. “Princesses first.” Rainbow sarcastically bowed to Twilight as the alicorn took a step outside of her library. Twilight hid a small frown from Rainbow Dash while she was bowing and Twilight flapped her wings a few times. A quick hop into the air found Twilight slowly ascending into the clear Ponyville sky. It didn't take long for Rainbow to catch up to Twilight and nudge her with a hoof. “Perfect weather. Just for you.” Rainbow smiled to Twilight. Twilight returned the smile, though if she were honest with herself, she wasn't excited at the idea of having the weather schedule being altered for her sake. The short flight brought Twilight and Rainbow to a large field, just outside of Ponyville. Although Twilight had gotten much better at flying over the last few months, she was still breathing heavily. The clear sky allowing the sun to beat down directly on Twilight did little to help the problem. She made an unsteady landing onto the grass as Rainbow remained in the air a few inches above Twilight. Rainbow looked down to Twilight and noticed her labored breathing over such a short flight. “Are you sure you want to go through with this. Stunts are way more tiring than normal flying.” Rainbow looked down to Twilight with a bit of worry in her eyes. Twilight took in a few deep breaths, trying to regain as much energy as possible. She could already feel the sticky feeling of sweat getting caught in her coat. “I'll be fine. If anything, from what I've read, it's important to get get as much blood flow and built up lung capacity as possible before strenuous exercise.. Though the sun doesn't really help.” Twilight finished with a mumble. She was just able to catch a glimpse of an eye roll from Rainbow, who remained in the air. “Books. Now who's going to be more useful: A stupid, old book, or me, who can give you awesome tips on the spot.” Rainbow's smug grin told Twilight the exact answer Rainbow was looking for. As much as Rainbow had a point, Twilight looked at her with a hint of uncertainty. “I know that practice is important, though when learning to fly, my books...” “Exactly! Now, let's get started Princess Egghead.” Rainbow's enthusiasm was contagious. Twilight nodded, her previous sense of doubt instantly turning to complete confidence in Rainbow's ability to guide her. She once again joined Rainbow in the air, giving Rainbow a reassuring smile that she was ready to begin. The two of them flew higher and higher in the air. Twilight listened closely as Rainbow instructed her on the basics of stunt flying and how it was different from standard flight. Within an hour, Twilight was panting heavily as she lay in the shade of the lone tree in the field. Her coat was matted down with sweat and her lungs were on fire. She tried to carefully close her wings to her sides, but the cramps were too much and she was forced to lay her wings out. Twilight's thoughts began to wander when a sudden splash of water hit her face. The unexpected splash forced her into a sputtering heap with water dripping from her mane. “I told you it was tough.” Rainbow dropped the bucket, that was once filled with water, beside Twilight. Rainbow couldn't help but chuckle at Twilight's expense as she coughed up the remaining water. Although Twilight felt another strong desire to lecture Rainbow, she did have to admit that a splash of water was exactly what she needed. She just wished she would have had some warning. “Thanks.” Twilight said out of breath, though her sarcasm was still quite obvious. “It worked, didn't it?” Rainbow winked. Twilight's look remained unamused until her attention was caught by a streak of orange in the distance. Twilight nearly missed it in the rays of the setting sun, but her eyes widened at the realization of what she had seen. Rainbow noticed Twilight's stare and rotated herself in order to scan the sky. The glare from the sun made it difficult for Rainbow to see anything. She squinted her eyes, though it didn't improve her sight and she saw nothing of any importance. “What's going...” “Got to go Rainbow. Thanks for the lessons. Bye.” Twilight said quickly and disturbing Rainbow with a sudden pop. Rainbow turned back to where Twilight once was and saw a few remnants of purple magic flutter to the ground. Rainbow furrowed her brow at Twilight's strange behavior though decided to shrug it off. She flew over to the tree Twilight was resting under and lounged on top of a branch. A quick evening nap couldn't hurt.