//------------------------------// // Ch. 4: Giving // Story: Races // by Tom From Myspace //------------------------------// She leaves you in the dust. She surged ahead in the last quarter of the one kilometer race, and was waiting for you at your doorstep. She had a bit of an unfair advantage. After all, you still have on your saddlebags. You’d been using it as a weight belt recently and hadn’t emptied it too thoroughly before you left. “Okay, you let me win that one.” Rainbow states. “Hey, I still have my saddle bags. It wasn’t fair to begin with.” You answer. “It was to fair!” She replies. You chuckle. You head inside, and she follows you. You place the saddlebags in your room. She’s patiently waiting for you in your living room. “You wanted help with some new trick Dash?” You say. “Oh. Uh, yeah. But, we don’t need to work on it right now.” She says. Now you’re incredibly confused. She’d been quite anxious only a few minutes ago, and now she doesn’t want to practice? “Then why were you so anxious for help? More specifically, why mine?” You ask. “Oh, hey! Would you look at the time! I’ve gotta go help, uh, Twilight with something.” She says, before bolting. You wonder why she was acting strange. You wonder what caused her to leave in such a hurry, and why she had to make up such a poor excuse to go. It’s easy to tell when she makes up an excuse. She’s not very good at it. ************************************************************************************************************************************************************ Rainbow Dash flew out of her foalhood friend’s home pretty fast. She headed in the direction of the Ponyville Library. She hadn’t lied to the Stallion she called Speedy. She did want to see Twilight about something. She flew down, and landed by the door. Instead of knocking, she just went right in. She wound up interrupting Twilight while she was working on a new spell. Twilight looked to her friend with a look of slight anger. “What do you need Rainbow? Can’t you see I’m busy?” Twilight asks, in an impatient tone. “I need help Twilight.” Rainbow Dash tells her. “What do you need help with?” Twilight asks. “Well, let’s say I really like this stallion. I want him to know, but I don’t at the same time. What’s the best thing I can do? Hypothetically speaking.” She says. “Well, which feeling is stronger?” Twilight asks. “Let’s say I really want him to know.” Rainbow tells her. “Then I’d say you should follow your heart, and tell him.” Says Twilight. “But how?” Rainbow asks. “How would I tell him?” “You could just tell him Rainbow. Unless there’s some specific Pegasus tradition or something.” Says Twilight. Rainbow Dash has a sudden moment of realization. There was one thing she could do to make her feelings clear. A centuries old Pegasus tradition. She knew just when to do it too. ************************************************************************************************************************************************************ Your week carries on as normal. Rainbow Dash still comes over daily. It’s almost as though nothing had happened earlier that week. You feel it’s best not to pick at it like a scab, and just let what happens happen. This day, she excuses you from weather patrol. She wants help with a new trick. You can’t perform half of the ones she knows, and that doesn’t make you much help, but it’s more fun than patrolling a nearly cloud free day. She seems to be doing quite well, as far as you can tell. She didn’t need your help, that’s obvious. She just wanted you to watch. She loves to show off her skills, never missing a perfect opportunity. You love to watch her perform. She’s a very skilled flyer, everypony knows that. It seems to amaze you that such a wild and care free mare can pull off these stunts with such grace and accuracy. She lands next to you on the cloud. She’s been going hard, but she doesn’t show any signs of exhaustion. “So Speedy, how’d I look?” She asks. “Fantastic. Keep it up, and the Wonderbolts will want to join you in the sky.” You say. “Stop it. I’m not that good.” She says, blushing a bit. “Yes, you are. Don’t doubt yourself Dash. I know you can, and will, do anything you set your mind to. We’ve known each other how long?” You say. She’s flattered, you can tell. She wants to try it one more time, and does before you can say anything. This time, doesn’t go as well. As she goes to fly through one of the cloud hoops, she clips it with her wing. Going as fast as she was, it sent her into a bit of a corkscrew, and ultimately crashing into you. You blink repeatedly to clear your vision, and find that you’re on your back. Rainbow is on top of you, lightly shaking her head. Her eyes flutter open, and meet yours. You both stare at each other, silent and wide eyed. Her face is only mere inches from yours. You think it would be easy to steal a kiss from her. There you go, thinking about it again. You almost act on those feelings. Through sheer force of will, you beat them back. She rolls off of you and stands back up. She won’t face you directly, and you can’t see why. “Uh, s-sorry about that Speedy.” She apologizes. “It’s okay Dash, really.” You reply. There’s a bit of an awkward silence that ensues after you forgive her. “You, uh, wanna go see what’s up with Fluttershy? Haven’t seen her in a few days.” You ask. “Sure.” She answers. “Race ya there!” She challenges, her mood changing instantly. You’re caught by surprise as she takes off. You follow her. You both head towards the edge of the Everfree. You land by the small cottage. She beat you here, like always. Something catches your eye when you land.Something leaning against a tree. It's some sort of weapon you've never seen before. It looks like a fallen tree limb, but it has been refined. The entirety of the branch had been smoothed out to an extent. Lashed to one end is a metal triangle. It looks pretty sharp. You wonder what could have made it. "Wondering what it is?" You hear from behind you. You jump up in the air, startled. Rainbow Dash was next to you, and that was not Fluttershy's voice. You can hear Rainbow Dash bursting with laughter. You look down, and see she is clutching her sides and laughing harder than anypony you'd ever seen. You turn around, and face what had startled you. "Oh man. The human got you good Speedy." Rainbow declares, still laughing. You see Fluttershy about to back into Rainbow. They're both oblivious to one another, and you don't seem intent on telling them. A little payback never hurt anypony. Rainbow jumps when the second Pegasus backs into her. It's your turn to laugh, and even the human joins in. "Oh, sorry Rainbow Dash. I didn't mean to startle you." Fluttershy says. "Never mind that. We were coming to say hi, but I want to know what the human is doing here." Rainbow replies. "Oh, he's in a bit of a bind. He needed a place to stay for a bit was all." She explains. You, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and the human all get into a conversation. It lasts a little while, but eventually you decide to leave. “Hey, Speedy.” You hear Rainbow say on your way out. “Can I ask you something?” She, well, asks. “Shoot. You can ask me anything.” You tell her. “What are you getting me for my birthday?” She asks. “I’m not gonna tell you Dash. No matter how hard you try.” You reply. “C’mon! Can you give me a hint?” She asks. “Sorry Dash. No hints. You’ll just have to wait until tomorrow.” You tell her. She lowers her head, a slight frown on her face. She really wanted to know what you were going to give her. You say goodbye, and both fly home. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nopony throws a party like Pinkie Pie. Hers are legendary, and everypony in Ponyville and Cloudsdale went to her for help. Sure, the parties could be a bit childish every now and then, but it was a good break from the stress of life. Today was Rainbow Dash’s Birthday, and tonight was her party. You’re a bit saddened that there was rain scheduled for tonight, but not even Rainbow had control over that. You’re duty was to move the clouds into position. The next shift would initiate the actual rain. You breeze through your duties, and go home. You fetch Rainbow’s gift, and tuck it away in your wings. But, you’ve still got a few hours before you needed to be in town. You decide to go see everypony but Rainbow Dash. You know she’ll start begging to know about her gift. You fly down to Ponyville. It’s much darker under the cloud canopy, and that always catches you by surprise. No matter how often you go down to earth. You go to see Fluttershy first, and are a bit confused to find Shining Armor there first. He seems to be talking with the human. Best you don’t get involved. Fluttershy is nowhere to be found. So, you head off towards Sweet Apple Acres. “Hey AJ.” You greet as you land beside the orange Earth Pony. “Howdy.” She says, this time in a more uplifted tone. “You sort everything out with whoever?” You ask. “Sure did. Ya need sumthin’? Ah’m a bit busy.” She says. “Just wanted to say hi. You need any help?” You ask her. “Hmmm. Nah. I can handle this.” She says, after mulling it over a bit. “You’re making cider I presume?” You ask. “Nope. Just pullin’ out a couple barrels of each kind. It’s a party for Rainbow after all. She just can’t get enough cider.” Applejack says with a chuckle. “She can’t hold it too well either. That silly filly gets drunk faster than anypony I’ve ever met.” You say. Applejack really starts laughing then. You join in. It is pretty funny. The unbeatable Rainbow Dash gets defeated by only a few mugs of cider every time. “Ah’d say yer right. I challenged her to a drink-off once. Long story short, she wound up passed out with her head halfway out the barn window.” Applejack says, stifling more laughter. You both talk for a bit, and you run a few barrels into town for Applejack. You find out quickly that she was the only one available to talk with. Pinkie was busy, Fluttershy wasn’t around (and most likely with Rainbow). And Rarity was hastily getting work done on her latest line. The most perplexing thing that you saw, was Twilight talking with Trixie. You hadn’t seen the braggart Trixie in a long time. But, that wasn’t your business why she was back. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, you get to go to Sugarcube Corner. The wait seemed like an eternity. You go in, and see how much work Pinkie put into it. There were streamers and balloons all around the ceiling. There was a large banner that wished Rainbow Dash a happy birthday. Heck, she’d even talked the Cutie Mark Crusaders into helping out. They realized they’d been tricked only after they failed to get their cutie marks. Again. The sun had just about gone down, and you could hear the rain beginning to hit the roof. It’s a nice pitter patter. Everyone seems to be having a good time. When Rainbow came in, she instantly navigated her way over to you. You both kill some time. When you see Twilight give Rainbow her gift, Spitfire’s Auto-Biography, you decide to give her yours. “Hey Dash.” You say, retrieving your gift from your wing. “Happy Birthday.” You hand it over. “The new Daring Do? Thanks Speedy! I’ve been looking for a copy.” She says. “Open up to the front page, there’s another surprise.” You tell her. “To the most awesome mare I’ve ever heard of. Your friend told me a lot about you, Rainbow Dash. Just don’t destroy Ponyville with you tricks. I grew up there you know.” She reads aloud. She can’t even read the author’s name. She’s completely dumbfounded. Her jaw is practically on the floor. “H-how did you get this?! It must’ve cost you a fortune! Where’d you have to go to find her?!” Rainbow asks. “Well Dash, I’ll let you in on a little secret. I know the author personally.” You tell her. Rainbow looks ready to faint. “Yeah, you heard me right. She’s an old family friend. I could take you to meet her some time if you want.” You tell her. Now, she can hardly stand. She looks to you, and grins wide. She wraps you up in a hug, thanking you repeatedly. After a few minutes, she lets you go. “Thanks Speedy! This has to be the coolest gift you’ve managed to give me.” She says. “Don’t mention it. It’s nothing, really.” You reply, trying to sound modest. She goes off, and shows off what you got her. She acts as though she’s just a little filly again. It’s pretty funny, and kind of cute. Once she’s showed all of them at least twice, she comes back over to you. “Hey, come with me. I’ve got something for you.” She says. You follow her. She takes you to a back room, away from the others. She looks around to make sure none of them followed you two. She turns to you, and smiles a bit. “Speedy, here’s the thing. I really wanted two gifts from you.” She says, her tone changing to a softer one. “But, there’s only one way for me to get the second.” She tells you. She unfurls a wing, and retrieves a small box. Your mind starts racing as you try to recall what it is she's doing. You’d seen it done before. She opens the box, and presents it to you. Your mind stops, and your heart skips a beat. It, it can’t be this. Can it?