Rainbow Dash lay on her bed, her face buried in the cotton candy textured cloud pillow. The dam that had held in her tears was finally running dry. She coughed croakily, her throat parched, and a solitary droplet ran down her cyan fur. Slowly, reluctantly, Dash lifted her unusually weary limbs and began to pace her room.
Part of her wanted to visit Pinkie again. That part of her wanted to be comforted, to be held close by a beautiful pink mare and told that everything was fine. Part of her wanted to fly down, confess her feelings and be done with it. Yet another part of her said both of those ideas were utterly ridiculous. After all, Pinkie Pie would no doubt be asleep. And best party host or no, nopony would appreciate being woken up at two in the morning twice in a row. And as for confessing her feelings? Dash considered poking a manticore with a stick a preferable method of suicide.
Reaching the opposite wall once again, the pegasus turned and trotted back towards her bed. With a loud sigh, she sat down on the foot of her bed and placed her head in her hooves. She needed to think. Like a suffocating shroud, silence descended once again.
Thunk. Dash shook herself and looked around the dimly lit bedroom. Thunk. There it was again. Thunk. The pegasus got up and trotted out of her room. Thunk. The sound echoed slightly louder as she went cautiously downstairs. Thunk. It was coming from... the door? Thunk. Slowly, Dash opened the large wooden door and poked out her head. With a loud smack, a small rock hit the pegasus on the snout.
“Augh!” she cried out, rubbing the bruised area angrily, “What the hay was that?”
“Sorry Dashie!” a voice called up.
“P-Pinkie?” Dash shouted, anger rapidly being replaced by surprise. Even in the moonlight, there was no mistaking that pink face beaming at her.
“Come on down, I have something for you!” Pinkie replied happily. Shaking her head in disbelief, the pegasus glided down to where a pink pony had entrenched herself near a small mountain of pebbles.
“What are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash asked. Pinkie giggled and removed a pair of saddlebags she was wearing.
“Well, whenever I get nightmares they usually stay around for awhile,” she explained, rummaging through the bags, “so I thought you might have had another one!” The pony finally found what she was looking for as she removed a lamp. Placing it down beside her, she gave a small salute. “Then the Pinkie Pie light artillery division set up fort and waited for you to wake up!” With the flick of a switch, the two ponies became suffused in a soft yellow glow. Nodding in satisfaction, Pinkie returned to her saddlebags.
“How... how long have you been waiting here for?” Dash asked, lying down on the soft grass. Her mood was lifting with every second she spent in the presence of the party pony.
“Well,” Pinkie began, her voice muffled by the fabric, “I'd say about... three hours! Eventually I heard you shouting something to do with a 'zilly hoover', and then I gave the order to open fire!” The pegasus' jaw dropped.
“You – you really shouldn't have done this for me Pinks,” Dash mumbled, slightly embarrassed.
“Don't be a silly filly!” The pink pony replied, withdrawing her head from the bag. She sat down opposite the pegasus. “Thirsty?” Pinkie asked, motioning to the flask she'd taken from the bag.
“Yeah, thanks,” Dash replied. Silence fell as her friend poured hot chocolate into two camping mugs. Steam billowed into the chill air, swirling and dancing as it meandered towards the sky. Screwing the cap back on the flask, Pinkie handed a steaming mug to her friend.
“So Dash, what happened?” The cyan pony remained silent for a long time, staring into her beverage. “...Dashie?” Pinkie repeated, lowering her head to make eye contact.
“Look, Pinks,” Dash said carefully, “I... had a nightmare that brought up some... bad memories.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “This – this isn't going to be easy for me, ok?”
“I understand Dash,” the pink pony replied. “If you don’t want to say anything that's fine.” Dash exhaled slowly.
“No, I have to get this off my chest.” She took a sip from her mug before beginning.“I was born and raised in Cloudsdale. We had a little house on Altocumulus Drive. My dad was a weather pony, and my mum worked part time at the stadium. We used to spend loads of weekends at the park where my dad taught me how to fly, or occasionally we went to see the Wonderbolts perform. A perk of my mum's job.” She smiled slightly at the memory. “I didn't have any brothers or sisters, but I had a gang of friends I hung out with from primary school. We called ourselves the Marvelbolts! I know it sounds kinda... lame, but back then we thought it was the coolest gang ever. We'd practice tricks and formation flying and stuff. Mostly though we just wound up crashing. Anyway, when I turned thirteen I had to go to high-school. My parents didn't have a ton of money, but they wanted me to have the best education I could. I don't know how they did it, but they managed to get me a place at the Institute for Gifted Fliers. I don't even need to tell you how excited I was: the Wonderbolts all graduated from there! It was a boarding school, so my parents flew with me to the institute and then said goodbye. I'd only see them occasionally until I graduated.” Rainbow Dash paused before continuing. “The first day went fairly well...”
* * *
The filly walked nervously up the steps outside the grand building. She felt slightly reassured by the other seemingly lost ponies surrounding her, but feelings of excitement, nervousness and confusion bubbled inside her like a volcano. Many of the young fillies and colts here were already clustered in small groups, friends from primary school. Rainbow Dash felt a twinge of loneliness. All of her friends had gone to the local comprehensive, the 'griffon academy'. She recognized a few faces, but by sight only. Some ponies were laughing, some were quietly crying. Dash even saw a yellow pegasus curled up in a ball, shivering as though the end of the world was upon them. Suddenly, the huge front entrance swung open making barely a sound. At once, everypony was silent.
The headmaster was a large brown pegasus with an impeccable walrus moustache that curled grandly at the tips, not a hair out of place. His brown mane too was immaculately parted as though by a ruler. A pair of silver rimmed spectacles perched on his muzzle, glimmering slighlty in the late afternoon sun. Every inch of the stallion seemed to exude an aura of authority, discipline and respect. Yet the smile he bore as he gazed round at the assembled students seemed as friendly as if they had known each other for years.
“Welcome!” he boomed heartily. “It is always with grrreat prrride that I welcome my newest students to the Acadamy for Gifted Fliers!” Dash glanced to her left and stifled a snigger. The yellow pegasus she saw earlier looked more like a gifted faller. With her wings seemingly being used as feathery shields, she bore a striking resemblance to a small feathery stone. “You shall now be shown to your lodgings by our senior students.” He waved a hoof at several pegasi standing behind him.
“Tomorrow, at prrrecisely eight of the clock, you shall be rrrequired to partake in the entrance test! This will determine your classes for the rrrest of the academic year. I need not inform you that this is a very important exam and should be treated as such.” He paused a bit before continuing, fixing all of the fillies and colts simultaneously with a serious frown. In an instant however he returned to his cheerful disposition. “Until then, please enjoy what remains of your first day here at your leisure!”
With that, the pegasi trotted out from behind him and began organising the new arrivals.
* * *
After a hasty organisation, the cyan pegasus soon found herself trotting along behind a senior pegasus and two pegasi her age. The senior, who had introduced herself as Nimbus Blitz was about four years older than Dash, with short cut blue mane and a light pink coat. Despite herself, Dash couldn't help but gaze open mouthed at the academy.
The main building was arranged like a vast 'H', with the space between the sides housing two enormous flight stadiums. It was these stadiums that immediately caught her eye. Huge striped rings, tubes and pillars stretched into the sky at different intervals across the soft ground. Row upon row of seats surrounded the central stadium, presumably for spectators or teachers. Even as the cyan pegasus stared at the marvelous obstacle course, several students were practicing in it, looping in and out of the various obstacles or simply performing acrobatic feats.
“This stadium is largely for agility,” Nimbus explained. She gestured a hoof towards the window. “Students are free to come and train here for their flight exams or to relax. Take it from me – It's amazing fun!”
“Um, Nimbus,” a pudgy colt asked, “will we have our exam there tomorrow?”
“You'll do some of it there,” she replied, “and some of it in the speed stadium.” She pointed to the wall opposite the window.
“Is it difficult?” asked a filly to the right of Dash. The older pegasus giggled slightly.
“Don't sweat it! It's just a basic test of your flight abilities. You'll have to go through some obstacles, do a time trial around the track and maybe perform some tricks. Trust me though, it's really not that hard. Just enjoy yourselves for today!” The group began trotting down the corridor once again, their hooves clacking on the marble tiles.
As it was lunch, very few students were wandering the corridors, so it came as a surprise to the four, as they neared a T junction, to see a colt come sprinting towards them, soaked from forelock to tail and slipping occasionally in his haste.
“Nimbus!” he panted, skidding about a meter before coming to a halt before them. “It's Harley. He's gone too far this time!” Nimbus groaned and put her face in her hoof.
“Sweet Celestia, what's he done this time Bolt?”
“The third floor toilets!” Bolt replied, “He blew four of them up! Don't ask me how. Long story short, five rooms are flooded.” The pink pegasus swore quietly before turning to her three followers.
“Stay here, ok? This shouldn't take long.” Receiving nods from the trio, she turned and half sprinted, half flew in the direction the colt had come from, he himself galloping not far behind.
* * *
Pinkie suddenly burst out laughing, almost pounding the dirt with her hooves.
“Ex-exploding toilets?” she managed.
“Yeah,” Dash replied, slightly jarred by the sudden outburst. The other pony's laughter only seemed to increase at this, until Dash wondered whether she could still breathe. Eventually, laughter turned to giggles, giggles turned to snorts, and snorts subsided into occasional hiccups. The pegasus couldn't help but smile. Pinkie Pie wasn't the element of laughter for nothing.
“Sorry Dashie,” the pony in question mumbled sheepishly, “I didn't mean to interrupt your story. It's just... exploding toilets.” A chuckle escaped her mouth, causing her to rapidly clamp down on it with her hooves.
“Its fine!” Dash assured her. In fact, it was more than fine. She could already feel herself cheering up, a warmth spreading through her previously chill form. She took a long drink from her mug. It was a nice night.
“So did you make any friends? It must've been horrible being on your own.”
“Yeah, I did,” Dash grinned, before resuming her tale once more.
* * *
Silence once again fell on the three young pegasi. Dash glanced around the small crossroads they found themselves at. Finding nothing of interest to look at, she turned to the other two.
“Hi,” she began awkwardly, “I'm Rainbow Dash.”
“Hasty Feathers,” the filly said, “pleasure to meet you!”
“I'm Cirrus” said the portly colt. The awkward mood that had hung around for some time finally lifted, and the pegasi soon struck up a lively conversation.
“So we found a huge piece of cardboard and went sliding down the hill outside capital park,” Hasty told the other two sometime later. “We all ended up crashing into the skateboarders, and we had to hoof it before they caught us.” All three erupted into laughter once again. It had been fifteen minutes, and there was still no sign of Nimbus. Despite this, Dash couldn't be happier. She'd found two friends when she thought she'd be alone, she was in an awesome school and exploding toilets seemed to be a regular occurrence. It was then that they heard the sound of hooves coming down the hallway to their left.
Three colts trotted past Dash, Cirrus and Hasty. The first was a deep brown with a flowing grey mane. The second was a lighter brown, bordering on orange. His chestnut mane was much longer, falling in front of his eyes. The final one was bulkier than the others and deep blue in colour. He too had a mane that fell over his eyes, but black instead of brown. From what Dash could tell, the deep brown pony was leading the group. Suddenly, the leading pony stopped, causing the other two to almost bump into him.
“Hey, lard-wings.” He said, turning to look at Cirrus. “Mind moving? You're blocking off the corridor.” His two cronies chuckled nastily.
“B-but i'm nowhere near you,” Cirrus replied, hurt evident in his voice. Without warning, the brown colt barged into him, sending him sprawling to the ground.
“Hey, looks like he bounced when he hit the flo - ” the colt began, when he was interrupted. Interrupted by a cyan blur smashing into his stomach. With a grunt he too fell gasping to the floor. His companions took a step backwards. Rainbow Dash stood over him, her eyes cold.
“What the hay do you think you're doing?” she whispered dangerously.
“No!” Cirrus moaned, “Leave it Dash!” The furious pegasus ignored him.
“Mind explaining why you hit my friend here?” she asked slowly. The colt got up shakily, staring Dash down.
“You kidding me,” he spat, “did you seriously just hit me?”
Dash cocked her head in mock questioning. “What does it look like genius?”
The colt trotted slowly back to his companions, glaring at the cyan filly all the while. “I'll deal with you later,” he hissed. With that, the three walked off down the hallway to the right.
* * *
“That big... meanie!” Pinkie interrupted angrily. Once again, Dash used the interruption as a chance to take a drink. “Ooh, if I got my hooves on him, I'd... Um...” She rubbed her head thoughtfully with a front hoof. “I'd not let him buy any of my cakes ever again!” The pegasus eyed her friend. Pinkie's face held a look of solemnity, as though what she had suggested was the cruelest thing anypony could suffer. Judging by her delicious wares, Dash was inclined to agree.
“Yeah, they were kinda horrible,” she agreed. “But you're bound to meet somepony like that some time in your life.”
“ So did he 'deal with you later'?” The other pony asked. Dash glanced down at her drink.
“Well... I'll get to that.” she replied. Her voice was calm, but Pinkie could see her friend was troubled.
“Okie – Dokie,” she said cheerfully. “So what happened next?” Grateful for the change of topic, the pegasus cleared her throat and carried on.
* * *
A hushed silence had once again fallen on the three young ponies, but not from social awkwardness. Both Cirrus and Hasty looked at Dash with a mixture of awe, respect, and in Cirrus' case, worry.
“Dash... thank you,” Cirrus murmured. “No-one's ever stood up for me like that, ever.”
“Aw, it was nothing,” the cyan filly replied with a trace of pride. “I've seen off worse guys than that back in my old school.”
Cirrus gulped before continuing. “Still... you shouldn't have done that.” He glanced hurriedly down the way the three colts had gone as if worried they might hear him. “They're from the same school as me. Their word was law, and anyone who stood up to them... well, lets just say some of them got a transfer afterwards. The worst part is they got away with it. Sure, they were caught now and again, but mostly they managed to steer clear of the teacher's attention.” Dash laughed.
“Don't worry, I’ll be fine,” she replied lightheartedly. Upon seeing her confident grin, Cirrus relaxed noticeably and conversation resumed once again. Yet he continuously glanced apprehensively towards the cyan filly.
A short while later, Nimbus trotted into view. Her mane was drenched and plastered to her frame, stray droplets of water running down her electric blue locks. Every feather on her wings seemed to be waterlogged, ruffled or limp. To top it all off, a roll of toilet paper had latched on to her back leg and was bouncing along happily behind her. When she came to a halt in front of the three ponies, the trio were trying very unsuccessfully not to laugh. Nimbus stamped the ground with her hoof and glared furiously at them.
“What do you think you're laughing at?” she asked. Cirrus, Dash and Hasty took an involuntary step backwards. The laughter stopped instantly. Nimbus allowed her veiled threat to hang heavily in the air, before a wide grin broke out on her soaked face. “I can't believe you fell for that!” she managed to get out before giggling hysterically. It wasn't long before the others joined in.
* * *
Dash chomped energetically on her hay fries. Evening had long since begun bathing Equestria in it's fiery glow, bringing the young pegasus' first day to an end. It went well, Dash thought to herself. For one thing, she'd made friends. A lot of them. In addition to Hasty and Cirrus who sat either side of her at the large table, five other young ponies were eating there too.
Their table was one of about fifty, arranged in orderly rows in the cafeteria. The tiled floor was largely spotless, and the low hum of hundreds of chatting ponies filled the air. One of the walls of the cafeteria was made up of large windows, with doors leading to an outside seating area. Still visible even beyond the ponies eating in the open air was a beautiful view of the earth below, lit by the sun burning red like the interior of a blacksmith's forge. She sighed to herself, earning a giggle from Hasty.
“Dash,” she said, waving a hoof before her friends face, “you still with us?” The cyan pegasus snapped quickly back to the present and grinned sheepishly.
“Sorry about that,” she said, aware that she'd missed most of the conversation occurring at the table. The other occupants chuckled before talk once more resumed of flying. All eight of them were soon regaling each other with tales of spectacular dives, of aerial maneuvers that defied physics, of speeds that broke the sound barrier.
Dash was almost sad as they all finished their meals and trotted towards their respective dormitories. The corridors were now largely darkened, classroom windows shuttered and lights turned low. Eventually, the colts and the fillies split up. The friendly conversation that had encompassed everyone like a warm glow slowly faded away with the departing ponies. The two fillies encountered less and less ponies as they made their way towards the outer reaches of the school, and soon Dash and Hasty walked alone down the darkened hallway. The other pegasus soon broke the silence.
“Dash... are you worried about the test tomorrow?” Hasty asked.
“Well, maybe a teeny bit,” the filly admitted, “but I’m sure it'll be fine. Anyway, you're the one who pulled off a dive from one hundred meters!” Dash playfully bumped into her friend's side, earning a small giggle.
“Yeah, I guess you're right, although that one was more luck than skill.”
“Whatever,” Dash grinned, rolling her eyes.
Finally, they too had to split up, and after wishing each other good night the two went their separate ways. It didn't take long for Dash to find her room, a small plaque bearing her name affixed to the door. She went inside.
The room was small, but pleasantly so. The walls were light pink, and the floor was a soft beige carpet. One window was present on the opposite wall. The room being on the second floor, she had a decent view over the edge of the cloud the academy was constructed on. In one corner was a single bed. A chest of drawers stood sentinel to the right of the door, while a plump cushion was situated near the window. Lastly, several tiny, almost empty bookshelves were attached to the wall above her bed. Dash certainly didn't plan on filling those anytime soon.
Somepony had brought up her bag, filled with what little she decided to take with her, and lit the candles adorning the walls. She yawned. The day had taken a lot out of her; Unpacking could wait until tomorrow. For now she had a full stomach, a warm bed and the gentle fuzz of tiredness.
She curled up in bed and fell rapidly asleep.
* * *
“That doesn't sound too bad at all Dashie!” Pinkie said as Rainbow Dash took a pause in her story. Dash smiled sadly.
“No, it wasn't,” she agreed. “I used to look back on that first day almost jealously.” She sipped some of the drink she held in her hooves.
“Well. Things started going pear shaped after the exam...”