Wings of Friendship

by DemonBrightSpirit

Field Trip

Fluttershy explained first thing in the morning that Cherry Berry's balloon was out of the question, but that Twilight had arranged a different ride for them. What she didn't mention was that this different ride was a royal chariot complete with two royal guards to pull it. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo would be arriving in Cloudsdale in style.

Riding in Twilight's chariot, Scootaloo felt like a real princess—even if she wasn't about to admit that in front of her idol. "This is sooo cool!" she enthused as she looked over the side at the ground racing below her.

Rainbow Dash scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "This isn't fast at all. I could've been to Cloudsdale and back by now," she groused. Pawing at her stump of a wing, she sighed.

"I'm sure you'll fly again soon," Scootaloo gently offered, meeting Dash's gaze.

A small smile formed on her muzzle. "You just might fly before I do, squirt," she said, ruffling Scootaloo's mane. "To be fair you'll have to fly me around until I can fly again," she teased, sticking out her tongue a bit.

Scootaloo couldn't form a reply before the chariot came to a jarring stop. "We're here?" she asked, looking around at all the clouds.

Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof at a nearby tower of clouds. "That's the Cloudiseum. The Wonderbolts are going to be practicing there all week for their show this weekend."

"Oh!" Scootaloo looked up to Rainbow Dash. "You were raised in Cloudsdale, right? So you know all about it!"

Rainbow Dash grinned. "Yeah!"

"I've never been to Cloudsdale before," Scootaloo admitted. "Is it okay to get off?"

Dash hopped off of the chariot and helped Scootaloo out. "Just don't stray too near any edges," she warned.

Scootaloo giggled as she bounced around on the clouds beneath her hooves. Sure, she'd been up on clouds before, but this was different. It was really an entire city made of clouds in the sky! "This is amazing!"

"You are sure you will be all right on your own?" one of the two pegasus guards asked.

"Yeah," Rainbow affirmed with a nod.

The guards nodded in turn. "We'll be back to pick you up this evening, then. Take care, Miss Rainbow Dash."

The two pegasi took off, leaving Dash and Scootaloo alone outside of the Cloudiseum. "So, wanna go see how the Wonderbolts train?" Rainbow Dash suggested, turning back to Scootaloo.

"Do I!?"

It didn't take any time for the duo to find their way into the Cloudiseum. Almost as soon as they walked in, a pegasus buzzed by them. Once they recovered from the onslaught of wind, they received a spectacular view of Wonderbolts zipping all over the place. There were all kinds of obstacles and tracks set up. There were over a dozen of them doing all sorts of different stunts and exercises.

Dash and Scootaloo stumbled to a comfortable spot and sat down to watch. They had barely gotten comfortable when a uniformed pegasus swooped in and landed next to them.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash," Spitfire greeted. "We weren't sure if you were gonna show."

"Oh, hey," Rainbow struggled to sound upbeat. For a moment she wished she had listened to Fluttershy and at least waited for her cast to come off before coming. Although, that still wouldn't do anything about the stump of a wing on her side.

Spitfire leaned over to take measure of the beaming filly. "I didn't know you had a sister," she noted as she smiled at Scootaloo and pressed a hoof into her chest. "I'm Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts."

"I'm Scootaloo!" the filly excitedly introduced herself.

Spitfire raised a hoof to her muzzle, giving a piercing whistle. A few Wonderbolts were there in an instant. "We have guests," she announced. "Why don't you guys show this filly what it's like to fly with the Wonderbolts?"

Soarin swooped down and scooped Scootaloo up. "Come on, kid!" he cheered as he flew up with the others.

Rainbow Dash was about to protest, but the Wonderbolts took off too quickly for her to warn them that Scootaloo couldn't fly. She sighed as she turned back to Spitfire, who was looking a bit guilty.

"You, uh, you look great for somepony who nearly died less than two weeks ago," Spitfire said, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Yeah, I'm awesome like that," Rainbow retorted, her voice falling quite shy of the bravado she was going for.

Spitfire sighed. "Look, I'm really sorry about what happened to you," she apologized. "I just… I wish there was something I could actually do for you."

"Did-did Lightning Dust ever say why?" Dash asked, keeping her gaze locked on Scootaloo as the Wonderbolts darted about with her in hoof.

Spitfire shook her head as she sat next to Rainbow Dash. "No."

Rainbow Dash swallowed in a futile attempt to quench her suddenly-dry throat. "I-I just… We were wing ponies—practically friends—until she got carried away. I know she was willing to push herself to any length to prove herself, but I just… I can't believe she would do that to anypony."

"She did," Spitfire spat. "She was willing to kill you just to win. You were definitely right back there at the academy. It's not just about pushing yourself and being the best. The Wonderbolts are a team. Anypony that looks out for herself above the team is nothing short of a disgrace. I don't even know what to call somepony willing to do that just to win a race."

Rainbow's ears drooped as she hung her head a bit. "The last time I remember seeing her, Lightning Dust nearly killed my friends. Then I hear she tried to kill me…" She sighed, shaking her head a bit. "I should be angry, right?" she asked, glancing over at Spitfire.

Spitfire raised an eyebrow. "You're saying that you aren't mad?"

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Not really. I mean, I remember her from the academy, but I can barely even picture her face." She sighed before looking Spitfire in the eye. "When you told me about it I was furious. This pony took everything away from me, but, when you can't even put a face on that pony…" Looking back down again, she continued, "I just wanna fly again. Blaming somepony won't help with that."

"Rainbow Dash… Nothing is going to help with that," Spitfire firmly replied. "You know that, don't you?"

Rainbow snorted. "You don't know my friends. Even right now they're trying everything they can to get me back up here on my own power."

Spitfire raised an eyebrow. "But, that's impossible."

Dash shook her head before looking up at Spitfire with a ghost of a smile touching her lips. "I used to think that," she said, shaking her head again. "Not anymore."

"...What?"

"Ever since I lost my wing, my friends have been trying non-stop to make me a new one. At first, I didn't think they could, but...they haven't given up," Dash said, looking back out at practicing Wonderbolts. "They haven't and they won't."

"You're telling me that your friends are going to be able to just...put a new wing on you?" Spitfire asked.

Dash shrugged a bit. "Yeah. It probably won't be as good as the real thing, but they say I should be able to fly again."

Spitfire shook her head. "That's...impossible."

Rainbow couldn't help but to smile a bit. "You know, my friends are pretty good at impossible, especially Twilight."

"Come to think of it, you're pretty good at it, too," Spitfire admitted, rubbing the back of her neck.

Dash's smile widened into a smirk. "I'm gonna fly again, just you watch," she boasted.

"I can't wait to see it," Spitfire said, flapping a few times to get airborne. "I need to go light a fire under these guys or they're just going to keep playing with that filly instead of training."

Before Spitfire got too far away, Rainbow halted her. "Wait," she urged, getting up and hobbling towards Spitfire. The Wonderbolts captain turned around, raising an eyebrow. "Something's been bothering me. Before you said I was a great flier. Why didn't you let me join the Wonderbolts?" Spitfire's face fell. "You know that's...that's all I ever wanted. I just, I wanted to know why."

"I wish I had," Spitfire flatly replied. "Don't think I didn't want to, either."

"Then, why?"

Spitfire sighed as she landed in front of Rainbow Dash. "Even as captain, I still have to follow the rules," she explained, motioned back at the Wonderbolts. "Look at them all. We actually have two more Wonderbolts than our roster is supposed to have. My hooves are tied until somepony steps down and resigns. As soon as somepony quit I was going to recommend you. I don't think anypony would've objected, either."

Dash's ears drooped. "So, you guys always wanted me in?"

"Ever since you did a sonic rainboom at the Best Young Flyer Competition and made the rest of us look like foals," Spitfire claimed. She sighed as she shook her head. "I should've tried harder to get you in. If you were a Wonderbolt, you wouldn't have even been at that competition."

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash muttered, hanging her head with a sigh.

"I really wish we could've somehow prevented it," Spitfire lamented. "Your...accident, I mean."

Dash shook her head. "It's too late to worry about that. The only thing I care about right now is getting back up there."

Spitfire turned back around to the practicing Wonderbolts. "I hope you get back up there, too. I really do."

Spitfire lifted off, heading back to round-up the Wonderbolts. As she started barking orders, Fleetfoot dropped Scootaloo off next to Rainbow Dash. "Hey, squirt. Have fun?" Dash asked as Fleetfoot zipped back to join the rest of the Wonderbolts.

"Yeah, that was pretty cool," Scootaloo replied. "I never see the pegasi in Ponyville flying around like this."

"If they liked flying, they'd have stayed here in Cloudsdale," Rainbow Dash explained.

Scootaloo blinked a couple of times. "Then, why did you move to Ponyville?"

Rainbow Dash rubbed her neck a moment before speaking up. "Hey, you've never been to Cloudsdale, right? Want me to show you around? I mean, we've got all week to watch the Wonderbolts."

"Sure!" Scootaloo enthusiastically agreed, buzzing in the air a moment.

Author's Note:

Finally! Now with this cumbersome chapter out of the way I can get back to the real story. I do apologize for the long wait.

Comments

[dashybrony2012]

Aw that was an awesome chapter and I'm glad it's not on hiatus anymore because this story is just so amazing! Keep up the fabulous work!

[The Sexy Assistant]

Sweet.