"Mmmmmmm..." Rainbow Dash licked at the last remnants of frozen dessert clinging to a crooked cone. "Just you wait, kiddo..." She smirked, sucking up the melted juice within the breaded base. "Once you get into advanced flying, you can soar high enough that the air gets cold. Then you can enjoy ice cream longer."
"Hey... that sounds cool!" I exclaimed. I had devoured my dessert minutes ago. Right then, I was circling around the cloud where Rainbow had parked us. The rooftops of Ponyville lingered far below. "Although... I gotta ask." I squinted at her while hovering. "Why didn't we go to Sugarcube Corner this time?"
"Uhhhhhhhhh—"
"I thought Pinkie Pie had the best treats in all of Ponyville—"
"Think of it as... br-branching out!" Rainbow's voice cracked. "It's an analogy of learning to fly! You... uh... g-gotta learn new tricks and embrace new air currents! Eheheheh..." She gulped. "Yeah."
I smirked wryly at her. "Is that why you're the only pony to have ordered apple flavored ice cream at that shop in weeks?"
"Uhhhhhhhh..." Rainbow Dash shoved the cone in her mouth, crunched it to a fine caramel pulp, and swallowed. "Mrmmmmfff... what do you know...? Mrmmmff... who died and made you the ice cream chicken? Mrmmmfff..."
"Heeheehee..." I stuck my tongue out. "You can be soooooooo silly at times, Rainbow Dash..."
"Yeah, well..." She swallowed the last bits of the cone away and leaned against the cloudbed with a sigh. "Silly won't get you a Wonderbolt."
"You still plan on doing that?"
"Doing what?"
"Being a Wonderbolt—guhhh!" I flailed, suddenly losing my balance. For a second there, I felt as though I would plunge towards the rooftops of Ponyville below.
Rainbow caught me in a blink, setting me straight in my hover. "Let's just say that I've... put them on the 'to-do' list."
"Well, I'm glad," I said.
Rainbow arched an eyebrow. "You're glad?"
"Yeah..." I smirked. "Because I think you're too awesome for them."
Silence.
"I mean it! The Wonderbolts are cool and all... but..." I shrugged. "All they do these days is wear uniforms and perform the same old stunts. And while they're good at is... I just can't really imagine you in a uniform... looking like the rest of them. Someday, you deserve to have your name set in the sky."
"Preserving myself in words... just isn't my bag, kid," Rainbow said with a shrug. "I've always wanted to become a household word. Y'know? Become a living verbal legend? Due to my awesomeness?"
"What changed?"
She squinted. "Huh?"
I hoved about, peering at her. "Well... you make it sound like you used to want that."
She squirmed.
I smirked. "Or maybe you're secretly planning to save the world from the shadows?" I stuck a tongue out. "Cuz that seems totally like you!"
"Yeah... it does, doesn't it?" She sniffed, sitting up straight. "Y'know, kid—"
"Whatever you do, Rainbow Dash, I just know you're gonna make the mountains shake." I winked. "Because you're the absolute best!"
She stared at me. Then, with a calm breath, she murmured: "Sometimes you have to get better before you can be the best, Scootaloo."
I blinked. "Rainbow Dash...?"
"I... uhm..." She gulped, hugging her far shoulder as she avoided my gaze. "I... gotta get working on some things. Some... very important me things. And I... don't entirely know how long it's gonna take. But—"
"Rainbow Dash?" I touched down on the cloud. I stared up at her. "Are... you going away somewhere?"
She bit her lip. She looked at me with glossy eyes.
I gazed at her, blinking.
With a shuddering breath, she leaned forward and said, "I've... already been away, Scoots." Her jaw clenched. "I've been away for a long... long time. And if I don't go and find where I've gone... then there may be nothing to keep airborne."
"But..." I plopped down on my haunches. I felt my tail hairs curling around my little legs. "...what about your friends? Couldn't they help you... find yourself?"
"I wish it were that easy, squirt," she murmured. She gazed past me. "I wish it was all that easy..."
"No you don't."
She twitched. She looked down at me.
I was shaking my head. "You never like 'easy.'"
Silence.
"No..." She murmured. "You're right. I don't. Except for one thing." She brushed my bangs back. "It's gonna be super tough to not see you everyday... and that's not the kind of tough I dig."
I looked at her.
"I'm... super glad that you've gotten this flying thing down pat," she murmured, smiling crookedly. "It... it gives me hope, kid. And that's something I could use more of these days." She swallowed hard. "But... don't you worry or nothing. I'll visit lots... and I'll make sure that you get to the advanced stages so I can teach you all the tricks to blow the minds of your fellow school buddies—" She jolted slightly.
I was hugging her tenderly. "Just make sure you find yourself, Rainbow Dash," I said. "I wouldn't want to fly with any other pony."
She exhaled with a shudder. "Yeah, kid..." Her voice was a squeaking thing. I felt two tender forelimbs hugging me tight. "It's a d-deal..."
I smiled into that warmth. And when her breath broke in little spasms, I closed my eyes.
What tears? I didn't see anything...