//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Beauty of Flight // Story: Desires // by Skylight77 //------------------------------// 5 days ago: It was a beautiful morning in Equestria. The sun was shining, the winds gave a gentle breeze, and it was so peaceful. All she could hear were the powerful winds that brushed against her cyan coat and her prismatic mane. She wore such a relaxing smile on her face while she flew at Mach speeds, flying just a few meters above the ground. As a pack of clouds came into view, Rainbow Dash increased her altitude, zooming towards the large formations of clouds. She stylized her flight pattern, zigzagging in between cloud formations, brushing the clouds using the tips of her wings as they were crossed. These clouds were much like the ocean to her. She dipped herself inside a few of them. The clouds didn’t evaporate, but her passing was marked with her body’s shape. Flying out of these cloud formations allowed some of them to drip cloud puffs off of her like water, leaving a trail of smaller clouds in her wake. Rainbow Dash opened her mouth as she flew through another cloud formation. Her mouth filled with the cloud’s contents as she flew through it. Shifting her head to the side, Rainbow Dash slowly blew out the contents of the cloud behind her, leaving behind a small smoke of cloud, unlike a cloud of smoke, this left a slight fog behind her. A few larger cloud formations came into view. Rainbow Dash started twirling herself around leaving behind a rainbow trail that traced her flight pattern. Rainbow Dash’s flight took her just below one of the larger cloud formations. She struck it with her hoof, not leaving her path of flight in the slightest. This strike caused the cloud formation to drizzle out a light rain, lightly soaking her coat and mane. She let out a happy sigh as the refreshing rain water sank into her flight muscles. Her speed had lowered as she closed her eyes to allow all of this rain to sink in. Lifting her head up, she opened her mouth and held out her tongue, tasting the drizzling rain that she had caused. The taste was very refreshing, like the freshest glass of water bits could buy, as this was where it all started. All the while, she never broke her path. This was the life. This was her life, her dream. This is what she was all about. The cloud formation soon ended, causing the light drizzle to fade from her path. Rainbow Dash shook her body around to rid of any excess water that was drenched into her coat. She shifted her wings to descend, letting her limbs push straight against her body. It was a gliding technique that allowed her to pick up speed as she lost altitude, without having to use her wings. Rainbow Dash’s flight path had her heading straight towards a long river she caught sight of. Her body brushed through the air like a breeze to her, continuing to blow harder against her the faster she glided. The sounds of the wind repeatedly pierced through her ears; growing louder the lower she went. The sounds beat violently against her. She was practically in free fall, listening to every single sound of the air being sliced. Just before she hit the surface, Rainbow Dash adjusted her limbs and wings to stop herself. The wind effect from her flight caused the river waters to leave a large rippling effect. The waters left visual splashing waves in their wake as Rainbow Dash continued to soar through the stream at a very low altitude. All her limbs were spread forward and back. Her wings continued to flap slowly, yet hang widely to steady her altitude, slicing through the air like butter that made contact with her flight path. Rainbow Dash’s smile however suddenly started fading. Rainbow Dash always loved flying, but today, something else was on her mind. She lowered her head, causing her eye sights to gaze the waters. There, her reflection barely, but clearly visibly appeared. She took a long look at her reflection. Rainbow Dash was carrying a small package on her back. This package was the reason why this flight was happening, but that wasn’t what was on her mind. She continued to stare at her reflection and reflect upon all the events that happened yesterday. It all started with that dream. A dream that she wish would just leave her alone. To think that her friends would ever turn against her was ludicrous, yet she’s been having it for years. These dreams never really had any serious effect on her, but she feared that it may have this time, somehow. Right now she felt that the biggest worries were related to how long she had taken to fulfill this request Fluttershy told her had come from Twilight. Rainbow Dash was given a simple task of flying to Baltimare’s hospital to get a medicine for Pinkie Pie, but she goofed it up a little by trying to fulfill other requests that had failed for unknown reasons. Although she wasn’t asked to help, it was clear they needed it, and Rainbow Dash didn’t want to let them down while she was there. After rounding up the Diamond Dogs her team caught, they reported that the stolen item was no longer in their possessions. She took the rest of her time in Baltimare to assist in searching for leads as to who had taken it. Eventually their search had to end as the direction they were given gave them no more leads. They were only told that the one that had taken it flew off in one direction, but it became clear that this pegasus eventually changed their path. The Diamond Dogs that had previously stolen the treasure were eventually let go after proving to not hold possession of said item. Crime rates were incredibly low for a reason. A lot of ponies in Equestria held contact information with the princesses, even very far away. And practically every living intelligent life that lived in Equestria knew the princesses. They respected them, but at the same time feared them, whether they had reason to or not. So, whenever thieves were usually caught, they never attempted it again, lest they feared they would have to deal with the princesses. Even Rainbow Dash held a fear for them she wouldn’t even try to hide. The ponies of Equestria had such appreciation for the princesses that their overactive imaginations were practically their own punishments. Their imaginations allowed them to believe all sorts of harsh punishments that could possibly come from these princesses, even though they’ve never seen them happen. With all their sources for a lead on the stolen treasure gone, Rainbow Dash was left with no choice but to abandon the search and continue with the task Fluttershy had left her, requested by Twilight. Her activities that day had left her so exhausted that her panting was very noticeable by the time she got to the hospital. Before she could even request the medicine, the nurse at the front desk even asked if she needed help. Of course she was requesting medicine, but it wasn’t for her. It was as simple as Fluttershy had said, all she had to do was give them the envelope, and they took care of the rest. She received the medicine and secured it in her package. Rainbow Dash had intended to leave once the medicine was received, but her muscles were strained too much from all her activities. As a result, she had collapsed on the floors of the hospital before she could attempt to leave. This left the nurse with no choice but to take Rainbow Dash in for the night. Rainbow Dash kept thinking back to that day. The long hours of flying miles from one place to another didn’t leave her with much to do, other than enjoy her trip. But today, she didn’t find that sort of motivation. All she could do was blame that dream. It was just a dream after all. But why would it keep coming back? And why was it bothering her so much today? After all, she didn’t have one last night. Shaking her head, Rainbow Dash brushed all those thoughts away; they made no sense to her anyhow. Ponyville would soon appear in the distance, all she had to do was give Twilight the medicine and everything would go normally again. ______________________________________________________________________________ “I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW IRRESPONSIBLE YOU ARE!” Twilight had this look of pure rage, standing inches away from Rainbow Dash, scolding her to no limits. They were just outside of the Ponyville hospital. Rainbow Dash had delivered the medicine, to which Twilight had immediately taken and teleported straight inside, or at least that’s what appeared to have happened. As soon as Rainbow Dash had arrived, Twilight snatched the package with her magic, tossing Rainbow Dash away in the process before she had a chance to say anything. Rainbow Dash didn’t see what she did with the package, especially now, as Twilight was closing in on her with a very angry expression while Rainbow Dash backed away in fear. The commotion was either attracting the other ponies to observe, or causing them to flee in fear. “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH PINKIE IS SUFFERING THANKS TO YOUR UNTIMELY SCHEDULE?!” Twilight scolded Rainbow Dash. “B-but Twilight, all she had was a stomach ache… right?” Rainbow stuttered while continuing to back away. Twilight turned around and started stomping away from her. “…Do you even have any idea what sort of condition Pinkie Pie is suffering?” Twilight started. “Did you even read that note?!” “…uhh…” Rainbow tried to think, but had no time to. Twilight snapped her head back towards Rainbow Dash, firing a blast of magic at her. The beam of magic hit Rainbow Dash, causing her whole body to go into a zap state. Suddenly the surrounding area around her exploded. Rainbow Dash vanished within the smoke, leaving behind charcoaled grass in her circle. ______________________________________________________________________________ As Rainbow’s form appeared again, her whole body was forced down towards the ground. She was teleported aggressively to another location and thrown against the ground in the process. *Click* *click* *click* *click* All four of her limbs were spread when she landed. She felt something press against all four of her legs immediately after she landed. She was trapped now. “Hello, Rainbow Dash,” Rainbow Dash heard a familiar voice behind her, “so glad you could volunteer to help me with my designs!” She recognized who it was, and she did not like it. She had been teleported to Carousel Boutique. “W-wwait! I-I didn’t volunteer for this!” Rainbow frightenly shouted. “Let’s get started,” Rarity said. “Uh oh…” Rainbow’s ears dropped. Now helpless to defend herself, Rainbow Dash was about to receive what she assumed would be her punishment, and she wasn’t gonna be able to get out of it. ______________________________________________________________________________ “Hold still Rainbow Dash,” Rarity announced while tugging on Rainbow Dash’s mane. She was standing on top of Rainbow Dash, trying to keep her from moving, even wrapping her curly tail around the rainbow one to limit movement. She held a brush in her magic to brush against the rainbow mane. Rainbow Dash wasn’t comfortable with her position, and she was only making it more painful with her squirming. “Rarity, I thought I was helping you model,” Rainbow Dash said annoyingly. Her hooves were strapped down to a floor board to limit movements; limbs being spread far enough for her to be lying on her stomach. Yet, she still squirmed enough to give Rarity a hard time. “You are Rainbow Dash,” Rarity replied, stroking her brush harder against the rainbow mane. “Ack!” Rainbow grunted. “But you’ve let yourself get so messy that I simply cannot start until all this grime and dirt is cleaned up,” Rarity exclaimed, “especially your mane. My my my, just look at it.” Rarity levitated a mirror in front of Rainbow Dash with her magic, all the while continuing to talk. “Judging by your appearance, your day yesterday must have been absolutely horrendous.” Rainbow Dash not only saw the so called ‘mess’ her mane was in, but also the unicorn that had her hostage. She was wearing her red designer glasses again. “And you were given such a simple task. Pinkie has a simple stomach ache, and all you had to do was bring her medicine back as soon as possible. I suppose things don’t always go according to plan don’t they Rainbow Dash? I know mine doesn’t.” Despite what Rarity was describing, the only real mess Rainbow Dash was seeing in her mane was the rough beating it was taking from Rarity’s brush as she was taking even the tiniest amounts of dirt that Rarity could find. The problem that Rainbow Dash was having wasn’t so much that Rarity was brushing her mane like this, but rather that she was doing it so slowly and so carefully, Rainbow Dash knew that this would take forever. Perhaps a little gossip could speed up the time. “Really, I’d like to hear how your day was,” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. The mirror was taken away from her view. She suddenly felt the weight on her body shift and loosen. “Oh I’d love to talk about my day Rainbow Dash, but first…” Rarity started as she was stepping off of Rainbow Dash, unwrapping her purple curly tail from the straight rainbow tail. “But first, be a dear and spread your wings for me,” she demanded. Rainbow Dash attempted to stand up again; only to be stopped by the straps that she forgot still held her down. “Rarity, what are you-“ “SPREAD YOUR WINGS!!!” Rainbow Dash’s wings suddenly flared open after that sudden outburst. If she had the option, she would have gone air born as a reaction instead. “As I suspected, all that flying has caused your feathers to be in total disrepair.” Rainbow Dash could hear Rarity placing some of her tools away as well as take others out. With the mirror out of her face, she could no longer tell what Rarity was doing, but by her guess… “Not to worry,” Rarity exclaimed. “I’ll have these wings fixed to proper conditions in no time at all.” Rainbow Dash could feel some clips moving along and picking at the feathers of her left wing. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure if by “proper”, if she meant either flyable, or fashionable. Either way, Rarity’s work was rather reliable, so she had no worries of getting cut or something, as long as she could hold still. “So, about MY day…” Rarity started as she worked on Rainbow Dash’s feathers. “It all began when I was working on a new fashion line for a very important client. This client is a rather-“ “Ugh, skip that part!” Rainbow interrupted. She could hear a pair of scissors and felt them snipping at some of her damaged feathers. Well okay, Rainbow Dash was going to get cut, but there would be no injuries at least. Rainbow Dash usually preens her own wings, but one advantage to Rarity’s work was that pulling the damaged feathers was more painless with the proper tools. “Humph, fine then,” Rarity replied in a scowl tone. “I was working on my dresses for Hoofington, when all of a sudden, a raging storm shattered through the skies above my boutique!” “Uh, was this two days ago? Mph…” Rainbow cut in again, but afterwards was suddenly silenced by a roll of duct tape being placed over her mouth from Rarity’s magic. “Stop interrupting me, Rainbow Dash!” Rarity replied in a scolding tone. “It is very rude to interrupt a lady's story telling!” Rarity placed that tape to ensure that she wouldn’t be interrupted again. Nevertheless, she continued picking at Rainbow Dash’s feathers with her tools, moving them in place, or apart to get at the damaged ones. “Now where was I… oh yes-“ Rarity continued her story telling, “-when all of a sudden, a raging storm shattered through the skies above my boutique!” Rarity removed the tools from Rainbow Dash’s right wing and switched over to the left. “It was absolutely dreadful! I could hear nothing but thunder clouds, banging violently across Ponyville!” If Rainbow Dash could, she would start questioning who the hay was managing the weather on this side of Ponyville. She couldn’t tell if Rarity was being overdramatic or not, but… “My boutique was the center of such an absolute disaster. It suffered a terrible wrath from such a violent lightning attack! My boutique’s front doors didn’t stand a chance. It was absolutely destroyed!” With the way Rarity was describing it, Rainbow Dash decided to make a mental note that she should go and question some pegasi when this was over. But right now, she had to survive an insane rambling of a story being told so slowly. Shifting her eyes into nothingness, she mentally groaned. This was going to be a long day. ______________________________________________________________________________ “The storm made such a mess of my shop that it took forever to clean!” Rarity since finished the preening on the Rainbow Dash’s wings as she continued her story. Rainbow Dash was no longer strapped down as they moved locations in the shop. Rainbow Dash still had her mouth taped though. Rarity had started the modeling process of her work with Rainbow Dash with some measuring equipment. All the while, Rarity continued her ramblings of her day, or, two days ago. Already, Rainbow Dash was frustrated. “Luckily Applejack came by the next morning. She was nice enough to help clean up. She even fixed my door for me!” ______________________________________________________________________________ Rainbow Dash’s body grew stiffer by the moment for all the holding still she had to endure from this. Now the dress was being put together on her body as Rarity was done measuring. “The material she used to repair my shop is rather impressive. Why, I believe it could stand up to that monstrous weather like a true knight! But after all that cleaning, I myself was in quite a predicament.” ______________________________________________________________________________ Rainbow Dash couldn’t decide what was worse, the modeling or the rambling. She lost track of how much time had passed by, along with most of Rarity’s story. She wasn’t sure how much more she could take. It looked like Rarity was putting the finishing touches to the dress, but with Rarity’s work, you could never be sure. And with this tape still stuck to her mouth, asking Rarity wasn’t an option either. “Luck shines upon me, for the spa closes tomorrow in the afternoon. So this gives me till tomorrow morning to finish these designs and get a quick check up before I leave to Hoofington.” ______________________________________________________________________________ Rainbow Dash completely regretted having ever asked about Rarity’s day. She would just not stop talking while Rainbow Dash was silenced for interrupting such a slowly told story. However, Rainbow Dash’s ears perked up as she noticed mercy finally shining on her. Rainbow Dash’s attention was brought back when she felt the dress starting to be removed. “But alas, Pinkie is sick… I’ve been trying to find a way to reschedule our meeting, but my client insists that it must stay the way it is, and nothing will be able to change that. And if I don’t take this opportunity now, I may never get the chance again!” The dress was now fully taken off, but Rainbow Dash wasn’t out of the woods yet. She was still silenced while Rarity STILL continued her story. Just how much could this unicorn tell without being distracted by anything? There was just so much information told in that story that she could only recall a few key things. But she was in no situation to respond to any of them, especially with her mouth still taped. Then she suddenly realized, taking a sitting position, she looked down to her hooves. They were free, so she could remove the tape herself. “Mmrph!” Rainbow Dash mentally scolded herself for not realizing this sooner. She gripped on the tape with her hooves and pulled on it tightly. Duct tape’s sticking was strong, but she kept tugging on it. “Why, the possibilities could lead to it being The Worst, Day, Ever! Oh, what is a lady to DO!?” *Rip!* “Ack!” Rainbow Dash managed to get the blasted tape off of her snout, along with possibly a few hairs off her coat with it. She rubbed her muzzle to ease the pain that came with it. This was not a recommended solution to removing duct tape, but it worked for her and that's all that mattered. Something caught Rainbow Dash’s attention. It was silent all of a sudden… too silent somehow. She turned her body to look back at the previous source of the sound. Rarity had finally stopped talking. She was lying down on her fainting couch in her usual overdramatic manner, lying on her back with her limbs spread straight out, along with one hoof above her face. A huge wave of relief came upon Rainbow Dash. If there was a time to leave, it would be now. There was no way she could take anymore words from Rarity today. Standing back on all four hooves, she took her sight back to the front of the shop. She found her exit, now she just had to get to it. Rainbow Dash carefully made her approach, silently and slowly moving her hoof steps towards the door. If she could just reach that, she would be back to the refreshing skies and home free. There was no telling how much time had passed during that storytelling, but at this point, she would rather take a twenty four hour work day at the weather factory then listen to any more rambling. Then, the voice came back… “You’re still here Rainbow Dash? Would you like me to style your mane as well?” Rainbow Dash’s entire body crawled in a pit of despair within seconds screaming out. “NOOO!!!” Rainbow Dash violently flapped her wings, dashing straight towards the boutique’s doors. *Smash!* Rainbow Dash smashed right through the doors, causing them to break. She had to get as far away from the shop as she possibly could. “Darn, I just had that door fixed yesterday,” Rarity said. So much for being sturdy material, or maybe that was the effect of the preening session. Rarity flared up her horn and gave a tingling bell signal to it. Within seconds, a certain orange farm pony appeared in front of the destroyed doors of the boutique. Applejack had a smile on her face, having a new set of materials in tow that looked even sturdier than the last batch on the shop’s door. “Ya called Rarity?” ______________________________________________________________________________ Rainbow Dash just kept flying. She didn’t care what her destination was. She would fly all the way back to Baltimare if she had to. She JUST had to get away from Rarity and her obnoxious TALKING for the day! She had said so much that she couldn’t get it out of her mind, and that only made the situation worse with a realization. “Oh no, she’s taking a trip to Hoofington tomorrow. That means she’ll want some help carrying her luggage. No!” Rainbow Dash increased her speed. She didn’t care what she was doing. She did not want more talking with Rarity anytime soon. She would hide outside of Ponyville if she had to, she was not going back until Rarity left for her trip. ______________________________________________________________________________ Current day: “That reminds me,” Rainbow Dash started as she looked towards Carousel. “You were at Hoofington at some point. What business did you have there?” While they were talking, Fluttershy had tried to help Carousel with her wounds, but she had brushed Fluttershy away, in an oddly violent manner. If Carousel was to be trusted, she wasn’t easing her case with how she was treating Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash was tempted to end this charade right now, but because of what happened earlier, things weren’t adding up. They had to know what was going on. Fluttershy had no choice but to tend to her own wounds with the bandages she intended for Carousel. “Fluttershy, I hope you know what you’re doing…”