Rainbow wasn’t expecting this, her partner even less.
Overcast skies threatened to unleash a downpour onto the construction workers carving a path on the side of a mountain. She, alongside with Swift, busted up all the clouds they could before returning to the main work site for a meal break. When they touched down, a tall and slender mare and a larger buffer stallion awaited them. While this was her first time seeing these ponies, she didn’t even need a clue on who they were. Swift had described them well enough before and on top of that, their resemblance to him was a dead giveaway.
“Mom! Pop!” Swift raised a foreleg. “What are you doing here?”
“We were in the area so we decided to drop by,” said the mare with the double light blue tails.
The blue haired stallion arched an eyebrow at Rainbow, “Ah! I bet you’re the grooving Rainbow Dash my son keeps writing to us about!”
Rainbow soaked in the effusive praise. “In all her awesomeness!”
“Gotcha,” Swift added with authority. “My friend, chum, buddy, pal, sidekick. Just like all the other mares you’ve met. You get my drift?”
“Why, of course, dearie,” stated his mother, sharing a knowing look with her husband “We understand exactly what you mean.”
Swift readied a sigh of relief.
“You’re too shy to say marefriend yet. That’s so adorable!”
That word, so out of the blue, she failed in holding back her embarrassment. Before she could stutter a rebuttal, Swift already had one befitting that from a son.
“Mooooooooooooooom” he screamed, his voice causing an avalanche on a faraway mountain and spooking the workers roaming about the site.
His parents laughed it off before sharing a quick nuzzle rub. “There’s no need to lose your cool, son,” Swift’s father spoke. “We’re just yanking your chain.”
Swift wrinkled his nose at him, “You’re always yanking my chain, pops. Don’t tell me you’ve came all this way just to embarrass me in public.”
“Chill, son. Chill.” He stroked his curvy hair. “We ain’t trying to embarrass you, dig? Like we said, just passing by but as long as we’re here, we’d like to talk to you about something.”
“What exactly?”
His mom walked up to him and pinched his cheek, garnering a resigned groan. “It’s something we’d rather discuss in private.”
“Private?” Swift gave Rainbow a shrug and she did the same. “Well, okay. There’s an empty office we can go to.”
“Wonderful!” She turned to Rainbow, her smile accompanied by sparkles. “Swift Gale, Such a pleasure to meet you. You’re more dashing than what I envisioned, Rainbow Dash. I can see my son has a good eye for lovely friends.”
Still feeling the effects of her earlier use of words, Rainbow pawed the ground. “Um, yeah. Thanks. You look good too, almost like a model.”
“Why, thank you,” she cooed, fluttering her eyelashes. “I still get the occasional offer to appear on magazines but I’d rather spend my time teaching. I do hope we can spend some time together and talk.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I’m interested what your thoughts are on the unusual weather dynamics in and around this region. Even with my years of experience, I’m mystified at the highly variable shifts in temperature and air pressure I measured in just one small area. A lot of the weather that originates here appears to drift closer to Ponyville so I assume you’ve already conducted a few experiments and developed theories about this unusual occurrence, possibly terrain dynamics or the shifting air currents?”
Rainbow registered the fancy talk as just that. “Huh?”
“Ah, but I wanted to race her first,” Gale’s husband whined as he walked up behind his Swift to hug him and ruffle his hair. “Just to see how she really stacks up against my champ!”
Rainbow smirked. “I suppose I can race against an adult but if you think I’ll go easy on you—”
“My pegasus pride wouldn’t allow such a thing,” he boasted. “Not if my name isn’t Cloud Flying!”
“Heh! Of course! I’m sorry.” She pounded her chest. “Where are my manners?”
Side by side, the mare and stallion chanted, “Be strong! Be fast! Be tough! Earn that pride! Keep it! Use it! Be the best, for you, for all pegasi!”
Cloud squeezed Rainbow tightly and she did the same.
“You’re like the daughter I’ve never had,” the burly stallion lamented, withholding dramatic tears. “Oh, can we keep her, sweetie?”
“Now, dearie. You’ll have you time with her later,” Gale responded. “Don’t forget why we came in the first place. Please excuse us, Rainbow. We’ll try not to take too long.”
Not long afterward, Swift and his parents walked into one of the makeshift cabins on site.
Now alone, she chose to slip into the mess hall for a quick bite.
Huh. They’re not so bad. Then she just had to hear that word again playing in her head. No, no, no! Forget that! She was just joking! Ugh!
A few minutes later, she walked back out with a bar in a wrapper. Rainbow took that off and bit into what should’ve been granola. Flavored concrete would’ve been a more appropriate name.
“Bleh!”
Rainbow found the nearest wastebasket and made the shot from ten feet away.
Well, guess there’s not much else to do until Swift gets back. I wonder what the deal is. I hope it’s nothing... “Ah!”
A blue blur whizzed right at her and stopped a few inches from direct impact.
“Swift! What—”
“Follow me! Now!”
She took off after him over the site’s perimeter fence and down onto a field stacked with railroad ties and large wooden storage crates. He turned into a narrow corridor and stopped in front of a container with the side panel left slightly open. With her help, they cracked it open just enough to slip in and shut the makeshift door behind them. Railroad car components littered the floor but they had enough room to maneuver.
Swift peeked both ways through the crate’s gaps. “Good. I don’t see them anywhere.”
“What’s the deal, Swift,” Rainbow asked ominously. “Are you okay?”
“I knew my folks wouldn’t come all this way for nothing” His eyes darted left and right, “They waited until now to face me.”
Rainbow scratched her head. “I don’t understand. Why—”
Swift grabbed onto her, his pupils shrinking, “They know, Rainbow! They know!”
“Know what?”
He began hyperventilating. “My condition, Rainbow! They found out I had it!”
She lost color her lips, her skin and even her hair. Flying Stress Syndrome, neither ever dared to say the term out in the open but that was the bone chilling implication. “H–how?”
He slumped against the wooden wall, desperately gasping for oxygen. “They talked, to my doc in Saddlecloud. Apparently, one of my distant uncles was diagnosed with some wing condition, one that may run in the family. They wanted to check all my medical records with him, just in case I’m in risk.”
“Why do that and not just tell you directly?”
“They didn’t want to worry me. Good news, I’m in the clear. Bad news. They dug around a little too much.” He slid down onto the dusty floor covered in sawdust. “Shoot! I guess sealing my records doesn’t apply to parents after all.”
Rainbow slouched next to him, sweat colleting on her forehead. “Okay. Deep breaths. In, out. In out.” She nodded as the stallion relaxed his breathing. “There you go. Now, tell me. How much do they know? I mean, do they know about me too?”
“Don’t think so. They didn’t mention you at all. When they started hammering me with more questions, I told them I needed to use the bathroom. That was five minutes ago.” With both forelegs, he covered his face. “I don’t know what to do. I want to keep my Pinkie Promise with you, Rainbow, but I’m not sure if I can. They’re not going to stop hounding me until they know everything.”
“Swift?”
He ruffled his hair, “Blaze! I wonder if they know he helped… what if they talked to him already? H–he doesn’t know about you and me but… Nurse Redheart! She’s on site right now! I–I have to lie to them. There’s no other way. But how can I pull it off? What can I tell them to get off my back?”
Rainbow watched him spiral further into misery, mumbling idea after idea on how to fabricate an iron tight story. Today could be the day he would face judgment for his secrecy but deep within, Rainbow figured she might one day face the same dilemma. After all the time she had spent with Swift Flying, she had zero doubt what he would say if they switched roles right now. It didn’t make saying what she had to say any easier, however. She wanted more time to think but the bathroom excuse could only hold so long without raising even more suspicion.
She held onto his foreleg and flashed a smile. “Swift? If you want to, just tell them the truth.”
Swift’s wings popped out. “What? Are you pulling my mane, Rainbow? You realize I won’t be able to leave anything out?”
Rainbow squeezed her grip. “I know that but I won’t have you lie for my sake. Not to your parents. I’ve asked a lot from you already but that’s one line I can’t make you cross.” With a sigh, she let him go. “Except I already made you.”
“Eh?”
“The Pinkie Pie Promise. A secret this large meant you… no, we had to lie to everypony about what we did back in Ponyville.” Rainbow closed her eyes and drew in the stale air. When she let it back out, she had found the strength to finish her statement. “You know what? I don’t think we need it anymore. I trust you to do the right thing.”
“The right thing?”
“Yeah. If nopony asks, then nopony obviously needs to know. If they need to know, they should know, like your parents.”
His mouth hung open in shock. “I, you really mean that, huh? Shoot. I wish I wouldn’t need to say anything but if you’re okay with it—”
She jabbed him on the shoulder. “Of course I am and don’t worry about me. I won’t be blabbing our adventures to everypony I see either.” She sighed. “I don’t think I’m ready to tell anypony, at least not right now.”
“In that case, how do we undo the Pinkie promise between us?”
Without a word, Rainbow grabbed onto his foreleg and jabbed it into her shut right eye. She then did the same to him.
“That should do it,” she grimaced, retracting her hoof.
Swift favored his eye socket, “Can we just stick to simple promises from now on?”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Something tells me the Wonderbolts won’t take in a blind pegasus on their squad.”
While Swift returned to his parents, Rainbow paced within the shipping container. Before this day, Nurse Redheart was the only outsider to know their shared struggle with Flying Stress Syndrome. Now she had to add Swift’s parents to that list but even then, Rainbow felt comfortable enough that she wouldn’t have to face another situation like this for a long time.
A few months later, by the shores of Brayside Beach, Surfing Blossom proved her wrong.
“He told you?” Rainbow had an eye twitch, “Swift told you?”
“Please, don’t be mad at him,” Blossom responded, holding her back with a foreleg. “It’s my fault. You see, the last time his mom came to Brayside, I was being a little too nosy about her little side trip to the Stallihorns. She let out a few things by accident.”
Rainbow’s temper chilled. “She did?”
“Not everything, Rainbow. Believe me, it wasn’t much but I had enough clues that I had a guess. Once I told Swift what I knew, he, um, he pretty much opened up to me. I just, um.” She paused, needing more seawater air to continue. “I wasn’t expecting what he told me at all, Rainbow. What you two went through, it… I never would’ve tried to pry in like that had I known how serious it became. Well, not always serious but like the whole deal with the Rainboom and—” She shook her head. “It was wrong of me. I should’ve let him tell me when he was ready. It’s just like me, meddling when I shouldn’t. If you want to be upset at somepony, it should be me.”
Rainbow had every right to be except she couldn’t muster any anger, not with those forlorn eyes staring back at her. “It’s all right. You, um, you had your worries about him. You knew he had gone through something.”
“I did,” she answered, rubbing the corner of one eye. “I just didn’t know what it was but he didn’t have to hide it, Rainbow. I would’ve done anything in the world to help him overcome his affliction, anything.” She pulled back a tear and chuckled once. “He actually apologized to me for keeping everything a secret, Rainbow. I should’ve been the one to say sorry and I did but he said I didn’t need to. That’s just like him, isn’t it? He can just shake it off like that.”
“You, um, care a lot about him, don’t you?”
“You can say that,” she answered, digging a hole in the sand. “First crushes, you can only have one in your whole life, Rainbow. You’ll never forget whom that pony was, especially when you keep in touch with them. When he came here, I thought it was a second chance for me. I wanted to finish what I started back in school, to relive what I felt that day in the hallway.”
The pause gave Rainbow a heart attack. “Oh. I, see.”
Blossom gave her a gentle wing slap. “Now, hold on. Before you start making assumptions, let me finish.”
*** Start Flashback ***
Hearts Warming Eve. Blossom’s living room had reminders of the special holiday all over the place: blinking lights, reefs with bows, presents under the tree and ponies either dancing to the music or sipping some hot cocoa. She even hung mistletoe on the doorway leading to the kitchen but that was for her guests to enjoy. Blossom’s lips were off-limits to just about everyone, especially the turtle held by his not-owner friend.
“My bad, Blossom,” Swift said with a mix of humor and trepidation. “But Leo won’t stop pulling my mane about this.”
“It’s okay. I know how to handle it,” she answered confidently.
Blossom drew in closer to the turtle, heart bubbles bubbling over his eager face. “Aww! Do you want to kiss me, Leo?”
The turtle squawked his joy and wriggled his tiny legs.
“Try it and I’ll send you to the North Pole!”
Even with the music at full decibel, her recipient heard the message loud and clear. He let out an eek before jumping off Swift’s hoof and scurrying away from her scathing scowl.
“Cool your jets, Blossom! Geez,” Swift deadpanned.
“What did you expect?” Blossom harrumphed. “Like I’ll kiss an icky turtle! You don’t know where he waddles at all day.”
Swift sighed and shook his head. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Blossi, but you did hang the mistletoe. There’s a lot of ponies – and turtle – in this town that would anything to score a kiss from you.”
Blossom took a step closer to him, fluttering her lashes at him. “Even you, Fly?”
He stumbled back into the kitchen area, face muscles twisting. “Um, no! You know I don’t do that stuff!”
She reached out and reeled him in. “Why not? You’re not a colt anymore. You’ve grown up to be a cute stallion and I’m more beautiful than back in school? Don’t you think so?”
“Well,” he glanced down at the floorboards, “you’ve always been a wicked looking pony. I won’t deny that.”
Blossom brought up his chin. “Oh, you do? You know, I never truly repaid what you did for me the first time we met.”
“The first time we met?” he mumbled.
“That’s right,” she whispered. “My sweet wonderful stallion.”
Everything had fallen into place. Everypony else in the house were on the dance floor, the twinkling stars shone one them from the kitchen window and she had her knight in her hooves with the perfect excuse to deliver his reward. The cheek was a nice parting gift years ago, sure, but she was ready to deliver the message inscribed on the letter forever lost to the Equestrian skies right onto his soft moist lips.
Then she noticed it. The glimmer in his eyes that she remembered so fondly over the years had lost its luster as though something had stained it. Something was there, a presence that didn’t belong, one that ate at his being. She recalled what she knew, the fact that this pony lived through the double nightmare of a tornado and a subsequent nasty fall into the forest. She felt something for him, a sensation from deep within her chest, but not that of puppy love. It was worry, one reserved for a member of her family that had gone through trauma but had divulged little about it despite the passage of time. Maybe it was just her imagination but she couldn’t shake off her concern.
This transformed emotion guided her into a hug – a long and peaceful one – and it felt just right.
“Don’t worry. I wasn’t going to kiss you anyways, Fly.”
Swift chuckled. “Gotcha. Y–you had me going for a second.”
“Well, I might’ve except that would be like kissing my brother. I have to draw the line somewhere, even if mistletoe’s involved.”
Swift wrestled away from her grasp. “Brother? Hey, now. You’re not going to start calling me that, are you?”
*** End Flashback ***
Rainbow titled her head, “Brother?”
“I grew up without a brother. I’ve always wanted to have one, a pony that I could look after, but that never happened. Swift’s the closest thing I have to one, Rainbow.”
Relief, an unexpected sense of relief. “Um, really?”
She held back a giggle. “Well, I would be lying if I said I still didn’t find him really cute, Rainbow. It just didn’t dawn on me until that night that I liked him, just not like I thought I did.”
“What are you trying to say, Blossom?”
“I… don’t think too much about those types of relationships, not with Swift or anypony else. Besides, he doesn’t share the same love of the sea as I do. I know, picky, but it’s not like I’m in a rush to find a special somepony anyways.” She exhaled aloud. “So there you go. He’s not hiding anything from you about me, if that’s troubling you.”
Rainbow vainly fought from glowing in the dark. “Well, no. Not exactly. Like I said, I was just curious what the deal was between you and Swift. That’s all.”
“Curious.” Blossom held a blink for a few seconds. “Okay, Rainbow. Fair enough. I have to admit I’ve been curious about you, too.”
“Huh?”
“After I learned everything about what happened, I’ve been anxious to meet you.”
“You have?”
“I wanted to see the pony that helped Swift so I could show them what I think of them.”
Rainbow flinched as Blossom came into her personal space. She readied for a defense but when her hoofs wrapped against her chest, she didn’t need to. By definition, Surfing Blossom was a new friend but her hug was that from a close one. Sensing her warmth, Rainbow returned the favor two-fold.
“Thank you, for everything you’ve done for him,” Blossom said, releasing Rainbow. “It means the world to me that a pony like you is… I’m glad you’re a part of his life.”
“Um, thanks?” She smiled and let out a chuckle. “But I’m not sure why you’re thanking me. If anything, he helped me far more through my problems back in Ponyville.”
Blossom grazed her foreleg, “Don’t be so modest. He needed you too, more than you know. I’m not sure if it was fate or just plain old luck but you were exactly what he needed at that point in his life, just like how you needed a pony like him to guide you. I’m sure your friends would say the same thing.”
Her eyes shrunk to pinpricks. “M–my friends?”
Blossom nodded. “Well, yes. Surely, they know about what happened, right?”
Lying, she had to lie. “Y–yeah. Pffft. Of course, Blossom! Told at least, one friend. Haven’t gotten around to the others just yet.”
“Understandable. Oh, and you have my guarantee my lips are sealed about this. Not even Widget or Blitz know anything at this point.”
“Good. Just one last question, though.”
“Yes?”
Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck. Despite what Blossom told her, doubt urged her for a verbal confirmation that Swift was in her friend zone. The problem was asking without giving Blossom a reason to laugh at her timidity but why need to ask in the first place, she thought. Friend, Swift was Rainbow’s friend. That’s what it was and whatever Blossom really thought about him should have little impact on that, if at all. There was no need to manufacture any more drama.
“I think I broke you,” Blossom spoke in between titters.
“Huh,” she uttered after a prolonged pause.
“I’m sorry, Rainbow. That was quite a lot of girly talk from me. Way too much girly talk. I’m surprised you didn’t tell me to stop.”
Rainbow stood up, sharing in her laughter, “Yeah. I don’t know what’s up with me. Whew! I make fun of Rarity and Fluttershy for stuff like this and now look at me. Geez!”
Blossom shook off the sand that had clung to her tangerine body. “You know, I think I have a way to make it up to you.” She gestured at the ocean, “How about we do a little surfing? I’ll let you use one of my surfboards. Don’t worry. I have plenty of them to choose from.”
“Surfing?” She checked the moon’s position. “At this hour? I can barely see anything out here!”
“Now that’s something any regular pony would say but c’mon! You’re an adventurer, aren’t you? You love pushing it to the limits! You breathe in danger! Don’t tell me you’re scared, or are you?”
Under the cool moonlight, Rainbow saw Surfing Blossom as the pony she almost hoof bumped on the wagon earlier in the day and even more. She was a piece to the puzzle to answer that nagging question in her head, one that looked like a good fit where she placed it but hard to judge without knowing the end picture.
In any case, Rainbow could accept her without any reservations; a friend of Swift Flying was a friend of hers. This one, especially, may be worth keeping for a long time. After all, anypony daring enough to attempt surfing after midnight got bonus points for awesomeness in her book.
“Heh! Nothing scares me, Blossom!” Rainbow gave her a hearty hoof bump. “You’re totally on!”