Whirl Wind watched on as his dad was packing up his duffel bag in their suite of the Everfree Castle.
"How long will you be gone?" the young Pegasus asked.
"Just for a few days. Your Aunt Spitfire needs me for a huge show we're about to do."
"I wish I could come…" he sighed.
Soarin' pondered on this until his face lit up and he proclaimed, "Why don't you? And we'll bring your mom, too!"
"Really?! That's awesome!" Whirl flapped up in excitement.
"I'm sure it'll be easy to convince your mother, given she hates doing the duties of the castle so much."
"Who hates doing the castle duties so much?" Rainbow had walked in then.
"You." Whirl pointed.
Rainbow gave a smirk, "It's true."
"Hey, hon, how would you like to come with me to Cloudesdale with Whirl?"
"Would I ever!" she hugged her husband in a tight embrace.
The family of three got to Wonderbolt HQ as they saw the Wonderbolts flying and training around.
Whirl Wind watched on in marvel until something blew past him, leaving smoke in the wake.
He and his parents coughed as the smoke cleared. Whirl saw the pony who did it as she was laughing above him.
"Sky…" he muttered under his breath while he scowled up to her.
"How was that, Mom?" she asked.
Spitfire flew to her, "Nice one, kiddo, but remember, we don't leave the smoke on civilians."
Rainbow slightly coughed, "Yeah, it tends to be a smoking hazard…"
Sky hung her head, "I'll remember that next time."
"Good girl." Then she called down to Soarin', "Yo, Clipper! You got ten minutes to hit the lockers and into the skies!"
Soarin' saluted, "You got it, captain!" He turned to his son and wife, "I'll see you later." He kissed her cheek.
"See ya, babe. Whirl and I are going to go around Cloudesdale."
He rubbed his son's head, "See you soon, champ."
"See you soon, Pop."
Soarin' took off and mother and son went off in another direction, unaware they were being followed.
"Is that where they make the weather, Mom?" Whirl asked as they were outside the weather factory.
"It sure is."
"Can we go inside?"
"Well, I'm not sure if-"
Suddenly, a weather pony in their uniform shouted, "It's Princess Rainbow Dash! And Prince Whirl Wind!"
Weather ponies started gathering around them in excited chatter.
One weather mare said, "Isn't he adorable?!"
Another replied, "So cute!"
Whirl fumed, "Cute?! I'm not cute!"
Rainbow just gave out a laugh and rubbed his head while a filly they knew watched them from a distance thought, Yeah, I guess he kind of is, not that I would tell him that to his face…
"Your Highnesses," said the weather foreman. "We would be honored to give you a private tour of the factory."
"Well, thanks!" said Rainbow.
"Follow me." the foreman took the lead.
Once they were inside, they saw everything from snowflake production to rainbows. They even saw where the weather ponies stored the water they received from towns where the local pegasi made water tornados to give Cloudesdale the needed water. And finally, they came to the winter lab, which even had a storage closet where they kept the lightning bolts!
When they were done, Whirl exclaimed, "That was so awesome!"
Rainbow said, "It sure was," She turned to the foreman, "Hey, thanks for showing us around."
He bowed, "It was my pleasure, Your Highness."
"As long as I am here, I need to check the weather schedule for the next few weeks."
"Of course, Your Highness. Let's step into my office." He went on.
Rainbow quickly told her son, "You stay put until I get back."
"Right, Mom."
She smiled and followed after the foreman.
Whirl then noticed a shadow watching him from the corner and carefully went toward it. In one swift move, he managed to pounce the figure. But the figure managed to pin him instead.
A voice smugly said, "Pinned ya."
He looked up and saw who it was. He started fuming, "Why are you following us?!" He forced her off of him.
Sky replied, "Just thought I'd see what you were doing."
"Why? Is your life so boring you have to watch my life just to have some excitement?"
"Ha, ha, my life is plenty excited!"
"And yet here you are." he smirked.
"Fine, you want know why I'm here? I want us to have a race!" she shouted out. But the real reason she followed him and his mom was because she wanted to see what other moms and kids did. She was curious about Whirl Wind's relationship to his own mother since they were royalty and wanted to find how much time they spent together. For a moment there, she was jealous of how he got his mom's attention a lot. At least by racing, she could have something over him like he had something over her.
"A race?" he questioned.
"Yeah! I just know I can beat you!"
"What?! No way!"
"Then prove it," she smirked evilly.
"You're on!" He spit in his hoof and she spit in her hoof, and they shook on it.
"We race around the factory once and come back, and whoever gets here faster wins!"
"Got it!"
They braced themselves as she said, "Ready… set… GO!" In an instant, they flew off like a shot. They flew past ponies making snowflakes and the flakes went around the room, forcing ponies to try to catch them.
It was a close race as the two were neck-in-neck, but that's what happens when fast flyers breed. They were almost to the end when Whirl felt himself getting sucked into the funnel of the weather machine.
"Whoaaaa! Sky, help!" His front body got stuck, leaving his hind legs sticking out.
Sky looked back and gasped as she flew back, "Whirl! Hang on!" She grabbed his legs and tried to get him out, but the machine wouldn't let him go. "I'll get help!" she called to him. "Don't go anywhere!"
"Like where am I going to go?!" he retorted.
She flew off and found Rainbow Dash. When she explained Whirl's predicament, Rainbow wasted no time in gathering weather ponies to get her son out. The funnel was shut off and the ponies pried Whirl out. Once he was free, Rainbow gave him a tight embrace. But once she let go, she scowled at him.
"What do you think you were doing?!" she demanded.
"We… we were racing and I accidently ended up in the funnel."
"And just why were you racing?!"
He exchanged a look with Sky and she looked afraid like if he told his mom it was her fault and that if they told Spitfire… He couldn't ignore the fear in her eyes and told his mother, "It was my idea. I was feeling bored waiting for you, and when I saw Sky, I decided to challenge her to a race. It was fun at first, but I guess the joke's on me."
Rainbow sighed, "At least you didn't get hurt… But now you have to apologize to the factory workers for disrupting them and thank them for getting you out."
"Got it, Mom."
"And then we'll tell your father and see what he has to say to you."
"Yes, Mom."
She sighed again, "I'll make sure everything is okay and you will stay put this time."
He nodded as she went to address the factory workers. He faced Sky, who had a shocked look on her face.
"Why…? Why didn't you tell her? We both know it was my idea in the first place."
"You seemed so scared that I didn't have the heart to do it."
"Scared? You think I'm scared?"
"Aren't you?"
She sighed, "Yeah… I guess I kind of am…"
"Why?"
"I…" But she couldn't get a word in edgewise as Rainbow Dash came back.
"Whirl." She led her son away.
The filly and colt exchanged a final glance as he went and she took off.
He took the heat for me… He could have told his mom it was my idea, but he didn't… I don't get it… I always push him around, so why would he do that?
When Whirl and Rainbow were heading back to Wonderbolt HQ, Whirl couldn't stop thinking about Sky's terrified look on her face.
I have never seen her so scared like that… Sky doesn't get scared. She may be a pain, but at least she's a fast flyer like me and no one else could fly as fast as her. Someday, Sky, I hope to know why you were so scared today…
*Thirteen Years Later*
"…I had no idea how hard it was for you growing up with the Wonderbolts… Suddenly, I see the reason you act mean and take it out on me as a way to cope with it…"
She still looked away, "After being so harsh to you… it's amazing you even had a crush on me…"
"Despite your moods, I didn't care. I just saw you as this amazing pony who was a great flyer besides myself…I knew I needed a pony that was going to be able to keep up with me and you were the only one who could."
She faced him with tear-stained cheeks, "Really?"
"Always." He took her hoof and moved her closer. They then leaned in, closed their eyes, and kissed.
He thought, So that's why she was scared… I know Aunt Spitfire likes her work, but she must have brought some of that work home with her… Sky had to live with the Wonderbolts her whole life. If Spitfire had known then that Sky caused that race long ago, who knows what kind of punishment she would have received… Now, I'm glad I took that for her. I promise you this, Sky: you don't have to worry about living like that anymore. No more fear, no more living in other ponies' shadows. I love you and that's the way it's always going to be…