Wings of Friendship

by DemonBrightSpirit

Phoenix

“Ugh… I don’t see why you insisted on coming along,” Rainbow Dash said, glancing over at Fluttershy.

“I just wanted to make sure you were going to make it okay. You did just get your cast off yesterday,” Fluttershy replied.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Scoots and I have made this trip just fine back when I had a cast.”

Scootaloo’s forelegs hung listlessly over the handlebar as she lazily flapped her wings, keeping her scooter in pace with the duo. “Are you coming all the way to Cloudsdale with us? You know Rainbow Dash only has two passes, right?”

“Oh, I’m just coming along to make sure that everything goes smoothly,” Fluttershy replied, smiling at Scootaloo. She turned back to Rainbow Dash. “You’re sure it doesn’t hurt to walk on it? Should I go get the wheelchair?”

“Jeez, Fluttershy. I’m fine!” She stopped just long enough to point a forehoof. “See? There’s the balloon, and my leg still feels good as new…” She then gave the offending appendage a good wave to demonstrate, wincing a bit before putting it back on the ground. “Well, good enough anyway.”

As the trio neared the balloon, an explosion accompanied a storm of confetti. “Surprise!” Pinkie, Twilight, and Applejack emerged from the balloon’s basket, startling the trio.

Rainbow Dash was the first to regain her composure. “What the hay?” she said, brushing confetti from her mane.

“Oh, you’re going to love this surprise!” Pinkie practically shouted as she bounded out of the basket.

Dash sent a glare at Fluttershy. “You were in on this, weren’t you?”

“Sorry, but Pinkie Pie insisted on it being a surprise,” Fluttershy said, giving Rainbow her most innocent smile.

“Lighten up, Rainbow,” Twilight said, stepping free of the balloon. Her horn glowed, and a large, flat box levitated out. It was wrapped in yellow paper and adorned with a scarlet ribbon and bow. “We all worked hard on this little surprise for you. You’re going to love it.”

Rainbow Dash stopped as she stared at the gift. “Wait… You don’t mean…”

“Mmm-hmm.” Twilight just smiled and nodded while the rest stared expectantly back at her.

“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!” Rainbow said as she fervently tore into the wrapping. She lifted the lid, and blinked. There in the box was a blue pegasus wing. “It… it looks like a severed wing,” she said, recoiling a bit as she stuck out her tongue.

“Yeah, that’s what I said,” Applejack said, resting on the edge of the balloon’s basket.

“Well, we tried to make it as realistic—and robust—as possible,” Twilight said, matter-of-factly. She grinned. “Ready to try it on?”

Dash jumped up. “Am I?”

Twilight levitated the wing out of the box, bringing it to Rainbow’s side. “Now, this might take a minute,” she said, getting close to where Rainbow’s wing once was. “I haven’t had experience attaching one to a pegasus.”

Rainbow wiggled a bit. “It feels… kind of funny.”

“Hold still,” Twilight admonished.

“This, is this really happening? I’m gonna fly again?” Rainbow asked, as she stiffened up, standing statue still.

“I’ll tell yah this, a pair of those things got me off the ground,” Applejack said, pointing at the wing.

Twilight nodded, a brilliant magenta glow joining the tip of the wing to Rainbow’s stump. “It might not be perfect, but it should be enough to get you off the ground. We can keep working on it to make it better.”

“I’ll be happy just to be able to fly home,” Rainbow replied, her face twitching and wincing every second or two.

“Funny you should mention that!” Pinkie said, bounding back and forth in front of Dash. “It would be silly to have a ‘here’s a fake new wing to help you fly again’ party, so we agreed to throw you a ‘welcome home’ party. Rarity’s there now setting up the last of the decorations.”

Rainbow smiled before wincing again. “Ow!”

“Sorry!” Twilight said. “Almost done…”

“This is so cool!” Scootaloo scrunched in close to where Twilight was working. “Can you make me fly, too?”

For just a moment, Twilight glanced away from her delicate work and over at Scootaloo. “No, Scootaloo,” she said. “You need to learn to fly on your own, first.”

“Hey, you’re getting plenty close, squirt,” Rainbow said.

“Maybe you two can figure out flying together!” Pinkie said in a sing-song manner.

Rainbow chuckled a bit. “I might’ve been grounded for a while, but I think I can remember how to fly.”

“Actually, this replacement might take some getting used to,” Twilight said, “and be still, I’ve almost… There!” Taking a step back, she smiled at Dash. “Well? How about it?”

Dash turned, extending her new wing as she looked at it. “It… looks just like the old one,” she said, staring wide-eyed at the appendage. “Feels kind of funny, though.” She smirked, raising her wings.

“Not so fast!” Twilight said, halting Rainbow Dash by holding her tight with a magic field. “Take it slowly. We need to know nothing is going to go wrong.”

Rainbow groaned as she rolled her eyes. “I think I know my own limits.”

“But do you know the limits of this new wing? I know I don’t,” Twilight said. “Now, just try to go through your full range of motion. Let me know if anything feels too tight or too loose.” As soon as Twilight released the field, Dash spread out her wings and bent her knees. Twilight facehooved as Rainbow launched herself into the air. Dash made it about as high at the rooftops before her initial momentum ran out and she started to flail.

“Whoa! Whoa!” She flapped asynchronously as she began to plummet back to the ground. As The ground approached, she closed her eyes and braced for impact. It didn’t come. She peeked an eye open to find the ground an inch from her face and tinted purple. Looking over, she found Twilight, horn glowing, giving her a disapproving look.

“Ready to try it properly now?” Twilight asked, gingerly setting Rainbow Dash back on her hooves.

Rainbow frowned. “It didn’t work!”

Twilight sighed. “I’m sorry it’s not working right away for you, but you have to understand that this is a completely new wing for you. I’m hoping you just have to get used to it. If not, we can keep working on it.”

Dash’s wings brushed anxiously against her sides. Her gaze turned to the faux wing at her side. “This… this is gonna work, right?”

“It will work,” Twilight said. “We’ll have you flying by days end. You can count on it.” Then, she spread her wings wide. “Now, let’s work on your range of motion.”

After a few warm-ups and a lot of encouragement from her friends, Dash stood ready to try again. “Remember, Rainbow, you need to take it slow! Push yourself too hard and you might break that new wing.”

Dash gave her a curt nod as she unfurled her wings. Instead of launching off, she flapped her wings until her hooves rose off the ground. Quickly, she found herself off-balance. She swung over, inches above the ground, barely missing an impact with Twilight.

“Woohoo! Way to go Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie shouted at her, inexplicably wearing a cheerleader’s uniform complete with pompoms. “You can do it!”

Redoubling her efforts, Rainbow started to gain altitude, though she still swayed wildly. Finally, she managed to stop swinging all over the place and managed to stay hovering several feet above the ground. “Hey, I think I got it!” she exclaimed. Then, she started to tilt a bit. “Don’t got it! Don’t got it!” Flying off to the side, she smashed right into the balloon.

“Wow! Great job Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie shouted again as Dash slowly slid down the bulbous fabric of the balloon. “You really showed that balloon!”

---

A well-dressed Rarity stood outside of Dash’s cloud home, casually observing the “welcome home” banner over the doorway. “I do hope they haven’t run into too many problems,” she muttered. She lifted a hoof, looking at the fluffy clouds beneath her. “I really hope they get back here before Twilight’s cloud walking spell wears off.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Spike replied, hanging out of one of Rainbow Dash’s windows. “Twilight’s magic might’ve been amazing before, but now it’s, uh… even more amazing!”

“Wh-whoa! Guh!”

Rarity spun around to see two cyan forelegs, a cyan head, and a multicolored mop over at the edge of the clouds. Clawing desperately and flapping her wings, Dash managed to pull herself up. “Ah! Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said, trotting up to the pegasus. “Welcome home!”

Panting, Rainbow Dash grinned. “It feels great to be back up on clouds again.”

“Sorry we’re late!” Twilight apologized as the balloon landed nearby.

“Ah, so you’re all here,” Rarity said as the group climbed out of the balloon, followed by Scootaloo. “Oh, plus one.”

“I’ve never actually been to Rainbow Dash’s house before,” Scootaloo excitedly said, bounding over to Rarity and Dash along with the rest.

“I’ve never even been on clouds before!” Spike shouted down, waving at the new arrivals.

Twilight smiled as she motioned to the door. “Come on. Let’s get inside so the party can really begin.”

As the group filed in behind Dash, the lights flicked on.

“Surprise!”

Pinkie Pie and Spike erupted from hiding places, sending confetti flying. “What the…!” Rainbow Dash spun around to find Pinkie no longer behind her, and the rest of the group looking a bit surprised themselves. “How…?”

“Ugh! You guys were supposed to hide and surprise Dashie when she got home!” Pinkie said, facehoofing.

“Yes, well,” Rarity spoke up as she took the lead, “this isn’t just a welcome home for you, Rainbow Dash.” Rarity motioned to several tables set up around the room, covered not in cake and punch, but feathers and fabric. “It’s your wing, so we thought we should offer the opportunity to change it however you like.”

“We want it to be perfect,” Twilight said. “Whatever you need for it to work just right for you. We can add or remove muscle, tighten or loosen tendons, change the shape, weight… we should be able to make just about any modification right here!”

“Oh, oh! But don’t forget, it’s still a party!” Pinkie exclaimed, pulling in an enormous table topped with tasty treats and delicious drinks in the blink of an eye.

“Sweet!” Dash replied.

Twilight ushered Rainbow over to a nearby table topped with a bucket of taffy and what appeared to be a few sticks. “I noticed that you were having some trouble getting here. What do you think the problem was? The shape? The muscles? The weight?”

“Uh,” Rainbow hesitated, looking at the faux wing. “Well, it’s not balanced. If I flap my wings together, my real wing gives me more lift than the fake one.”

“When you soar are they balanced?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I couldn’t soar at all.”

“Okay, sounds like a problem with the shape. I’ll get right on it.” Twilight’s horn flared to life, grabbing Rainbow Dash’s wing and pulling it away from her side. “Anything else?”

Dash rubbed her side where the wing was. “Well, I couldn’t get it to unfurl or snap to me as fast as my real wing.”

Twilight frowned a bit. “Hmm, I’m not sure what I can do about that. I might be able to try to tighten some of the tendons.”

“And, um…” Dash said, pawing at the floor. “It uh, it felt kinda like it needed to be preened.”

“I’m sure Rarity and Fluttershy can help with the feathers,” Twilight replied.

“Soooo, if that’s everything…” Pinkie said, appearing right next to Rainbow Dash as she put her hooves on Dash’s shoulders. A cloud of dust, and the duo vanished. “Let’s get this party started!” Pinkie’s voice echoed throughout the house.

“I take you’ll need a hoof?” Rarity asked, following after Twilight.

“Of course,” Twilight said, smiling. “Mind getting Fluttershy, too? She’d be the expert on feathers.”

The trio gathered around the prosthetic wing as Twilight pulled the skin and feathers free from the muscle and bone. “Okay, Rarity, Fluttershy, you two try and figure out if there is anything wrong with the feathering. I’m going to see if I can’t tighten some of these tendons.”

“Fluttershy and I did these feathers ourselves, you know,” Rarity said, holding up the feathered fabric. “We made sure it was perfect.”

“How many have fallen out?” Twilight asked as she pulled at some of the taffy with her aura. “A fake wing won’t regrow feathers, and I noticed before that they don’t exactly stay in very well.”

Rarity ran a hoof along the fabric before running her magic through it. “I don’t notice anything too amiss. There are no bare patches or uneven patterns.”

“Everything seems to be normal enough,” Fluttershy said.

“Hmmm, what kind of feathers did you use?” Twilight asked, never looking up from the naked wing.

“Well, there was this gorgeous set I wanted use, but,” Rarity replied, rolling her eyes, “Fluttershy insisted that the feathers I typically use were no good.”

“They were fake feathers,” Fluttershy said. “Those would never work for real flight, so I gathered up a bunch of feathers from some of my animal friends.”

“And I dyed them to match Rainbow Dash’s coat and feathers,” Rarity said.

Twilight blinked, looking up from her work. “You used feathers from different species?”

“Yes, well, there weren’t enough from a single bird,” Fluttershy replied. “Pegasi are rather large creatures. It takes a lot of feathers to cover even one wing.”

“Each species has unique feathers. They’re all really similar, but they differ a little in shape and composition,” Twilight said as if reciting something from a book. “That can lead to destructive interference in aerodynamics and make flight difficult. I’m surprised she could fly at all.”

Fluttershy’s ears drooped as she hung her head. “Oh.”

“Uh, I don’t suppose you have enough feathers from a single species to cover the wings? It would be best if you could get feathers as close to a pegasus’ as possible,” Twilight replied.

“Oh, no. I don’t…” Fluttershy trailed off, blinking her eyes as she perked up. “Wait, I just may have something.” She turned, trotting towards the door. “I’ll be back just as soon as I can.”

Twilight smiled. “Okay, good.” Looking back at Rarity, she pointed to the wing’s feathered fabric. “How long would it take us to refeather that after Fluttershy gets back?”

Rarity raised a hoof to her chin, her eyes glancing up. “Well, with you helping, I can’t imagine it would take more than twenty or thirty minutes.”

“Well then, let’s get to it!” Twilight exclaimed.

---

In short order, Rarity had plucked the skin clean of any feathers and left to join the party until Fluttershy returned. That left Twilight alone as she continued to try to mold the wing to just the right shape.

“Um, Twilight?”

Twilight’s ears pricked at the new voice. She turned to find Scootaloo. “Shouldn’t you be outside enjoying the party?”

Scootaloo looked down, pawing at the floor with a hoof. “I just…” She looked up at Twilight. “Can you make me a pair of those wings?”

“Wh-what?”

“You helped Rainbow Dash to fly with that wing. I just know I could fly if I had a pair of those instead of… these things,” she said, rubbing one of her wings with a hoof.

Twilight’s eyes widened before she shook her head. “No, no, no. This is to replace the wing Rainbow Dash lost,” she said, pointing at the prosthetic wing. “Your wings are perfectly fine. I’m sure you’ll grow into them soon enough.”

“They’re not perfectly fine!” Scootaloo stomped a hoof. “I’ve tried to fly harder than any other filly, and I still can’t fly! Fillies half my age are flying, and I still can’t. Rainbow Dash says I gotta just keep trying, but I think she’s wrong. There… there’s something wrong with me—my wings.” She looked down again. “I just wanna fly.”

“Rainbow Dash is right. If you keep trying, then surely you’ll get there someday.”

“And what if I don’t? What if I can never fly with these?” Scootaloo desperately asked, flaring out her wings.

Twilight sighed. “Scootaloo, I can’t just… This wing is to replace a lost one. You still have both of yours.”

“Then get rid of them.”

Physically recoiling, Twilight sputtered, “Wh-wh-what? How can you even ask something so absurd?”

“Why not?” Scootaloo asked, pointing over to her wing again. “These won’t fly—” she pointed back at the prosthetic wing “—but that will.”

“Scootaloo, I’m not going to mutilate you!” Twilight stomped. Her hoof seemed to usher in a dead silence, with even the party’s record player screeching to a halt. Looking up, she found every eye on her and Scootaloo.

“Ugh!” Twilight facehoofed a moment before grabbing Dash and Scootaloo and heading for someplace private. With a little direction from Rainbow Dash, the trio ended up in her bedroom.

“What’s this all about?” Rainbow asked as Twilight double checked the door to make sure that they were alone.

“We have a little problem,” Twilight said, pointing at Scootaloo.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “I don’t see what the problem is!” She turned to Dash, pointing at Twilight. “All I want is for Twilight to give me a pair of wings like the one you’re getting. Then I’ll be able to fly!”

“Oh, hey! That could work!” Rainbow replied. She looked over to find Twilight glaring at her. “What?”

“Rainbow, she already has two perfectly good wings,” Twilight said, tilting her head towards Scootaloo.

“So? Just get rid of them, and you can put the magic wings on me,” Scootaloo replied.

Rainbow’s eyes widened as she looked back to find Twilight giving her a pointed look. “Uh, Scoots, Twilight’s right,” she said as she turned back to Scootaloo. “You gotta learn to fly with your own wings.”

“You just said—”

“I wasn’t thinking,” Rainbow cut Scootaloo off, giving her a stern look. “Look, you still have both of your wings. You should be grateful.”

“But my wings don’t work.” Scootaloo pointed at Twilight. “The ones she made do.”

Dash nibbled on her cheek as she rubbed her neck. Setting her hoof down and sighing, she looked over at Twilight. “Hey, I got this.”

Twilight glanced over at Scootaloo a moment before looking back at Dash. “You’re sure?” Dash nodded. “Well, I’ll leave it to you, then.” She got up and left, closing the bedroom door behind her.

As soon as Twilight left, Rainbow Dash sat down on her bed and patted the mattress next to her. “Come here, squirt.”

“I don’t see why everypony is making such a big deal about this. I mean, you’re getting a new wing,” Scootaloo said as she plodded over and sat down.

Dash draped her wing over Scootaloo, drawing her in close. “You know, I’ve learned a lot since I lost my wing. Wanna know what the first thing was?”

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow as she looked up at Rainbow. “Uh, sure.”

Rainbow raised a hoof in the air. “The very first thing I learned was that losing a wing hurts. I mean, really hurts,” she said. “I’ve had some totally epic wipeouts that even I couldn’t walk away from, and none of them came anywhere close to the pain of losing a wing.”

Scootaloo shuffled a bit, her eyes locked on the ground. “O-oh.”

“But I think I learned something more important this past week,” Dash said, waiting for Scootaloo to look up again. “I’ve… never really been a very good big sister to you, have I?”

“What are you talking about? You’re like the best big sister ever!” Scootaloo replied.

“I might be totally awesome, but I’m in no way the best big sister ever,” Rainbow said, blushing as she rubbed her neck. “Sure, I might have been there for you when you really needed it or when it was convenient for me, but I never really made time for you like I should have. Hay, I’ve probably spent more time with you this past week than I have in the past year combined.”

“Well, I know you’re always so busy…”

“But I’m not!” Dash said, throwing her forelegs up. “My job is super-easy to take care of, or at least it was. I always have free time. I just… I guess I’ve been selfish.” She looked down to see Scootaloo looking away from her. Rainbow tried putting a hoof on her shoulder, but she just shrugged it off. “I’m sorry, Scoots. I really am, and I intend to make it up to you.”

When Scootaloo refused to acknowledge her, Dash got up and stood in front of her. Slipping a hoof under her chin, Dash raised Scootaloo’s head to look at her. “From now on, I’m gonna be a real big sister to you, and we’re gonna start by working on the biggest problem: flying. I know you’ve totally been trying your best, but maybe your problem is that you don’t have Equestria’s best coach to help you.”

Scootaloo glanced away as soon as Rainbow’s hoof slipped away. “I guess,” she muttered.

“Come on, don’t be like that,” Dash said. “Look, as soon as I’m flying on my own again, I’ll take you to Cloudsdale two or three times a week to practice your flying. Soon enough, you’ll be flying on your own, with your own wings.”

Sighing, Scootaloo shook her head. “Wouldn’t it be easier just to give me a new pair of wings?”

Dash smirked as she snorted. “Since when was anything easy awesome? If you wanna be the greatest filly since me, you gotta charge headfirst against anything and everything tough. That’s the only way you’ll ever get to be even more awesome.”

“But, aren’t you getting a new wing?” Scootaloo asked, looking back up at Rainbow Dash.

Dash’s smile faded away. “Yeah, I am. But that’s not the same. It’s impossible for me to fly on my own since I lost my wing. And, as awesome as this wing’s gonna be, it’ll never be as good as my old, real wing.” She sat against Scootaloo, again wrapping her wing around her. “Your real wings might not be much right now, but they’ll only get better the more you use them. My fake wing will only get better if Twilight does something to it.” Rainbow sighed as her gaze trailed downward. “All the training in the world isn’t gonna make me fly better. I just… gotta hope that Twilight can really make a wing that is almost as good as my old one was.”

Scootaloo looked up at Dash, her big round eyes practically pleading. “Do you really think my wings will get stronger?”

Grinning, Rainbow ruffled Scootaloo’s mane. “I know so. And with me as a coach, I’m sure you’ll be flying in no time, too.” She hopped up, stretching out her legs and wing. “Come on. We’re missing a pretty good party.”

“Okay!” Scootaloo replied, running after Dash.

Almost as soon as they got back to the group, Twilight pulled Rainbow Dash aside. “Did you get through to her?” Twilight asked.

Dash nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. I never imagined that sort of complication with this whole prosthetic wing thing.” Glancing aside, Twilight pointed. “Look! Fluttershy’s back.” She patted Dash on the shoulder. “Why don’t you get back to the party? We’ll have your wing ready in half an hour or so.”

As Rainbow Dash went back to the party table, Twilight grabbed Rarity and headed over to the work table to meet Fluttershy.

“My, what a lovely box,” Rarity said as Fluttershy set it down a large, ornate box onto the table. Her demeanor rapidly shifted as she pointed at the box. “Please tell me you haven’t sullied it by stuffing it full of feathers.”

Fluttershy pulled up the lid with a hoof, and a fiery glow emanated from the box. She reached in, and pulled out a single, orange and red feather. “They’re phoenix feathers,” she said with a smile.

“It’s gorgeous!” Rarity said in awe. Then, she gasped. “But Fluttershy! You cannot dye a phoenix feather! It’ll never match Rainbow Dash’s coat.”

Fluttershy gingerly set the feather on the table and began to do the same with feather after feather from the box. “Oh. I really hadn’t considered that.”

Twilight nodded. “So long as we have enough. These might even stay in better than the other feathers since phoenixes only molt once per lifetime.” She paused and blinked before looking back at the table, now covered in phoenix feathers. “Speaking of them not coming out, how did you get so many? The only way to get a feather like this is if it’s plucked right out of a phoenix!”

“Oh, well I guess it all started with Philomena. I got so excited about the feather she gave me, I went on and on about it with all my animal friends,” Fluttershy said. “After that, my animal friends would always bring one every now and again. That’s when I started this collection.”

“Fluttershy… You’re certain you want to use these?” Twilight asked, eyeing the intricate box. “This may take up your entire collection.”

“They’ll mean so much more to Rainbow Dash if they help her to fly again,” Fluttershy said, pulling the last feather from the box. “Besides, I can always collect more.”

“You may have to,” Twilight replied. “If this really works, you may need to keep collecting them to replace whatever feathers fall out.”

Rarity pulled up the wing, setting it in the middle of the table. “I thought you just said that these feathers wouldn’t fall out like the rest?”

Twilight shrugged. “Well, that’s certainly what I’m hoping for, but this is all uncharted territory. No way to find out until we try.”

“Yes, well… Fluttershy, why don’t you help Twilight with the feathers on the outside of the wing while I do the underside?” Rarity suggested, taking a few feathers in her aura.

---

With a fresh wing in hoof, the party spilled out of Rainbow’s house and onto the clouds that served as its foundation.

“Wow! How’d you get it to look like it’s on fire?” Dash asked as Twilight brought the wing to meet the stump on her side.

“That would be Fluttershy’s doing. We refeathered the wing using phoenix feathers,” Twilight replied.

“Well it’s awesome!” Dash said, nearly trotting in place.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight said, trying to hold the wing to Dash’s side while she worked the spell. “How many times do I have to tell you to stand still?”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t matter how many times, trust me. When I have her modelling a dress I just remember to tell her to be still every fifteen or twenty seconds.”

“Yeah,” Dash said, her voice thick with derision. “She even says it when I am being still.” She tried to accent her words by moving her hooves, but was held down by a purple force field.

“Be. Still!” Twilight said, very nearly growling.

“Oh, oh, oh!” Pinkie bounded over near Dash and Twilight. “Why don’t you just use your magic to paralyze her? Or put her to sleep? Oh! I know, I know! Hypnotize her so that she stays still like a zombie!” She stuck out her tongue and held out her forehooves as she mimicked a blank, brain-hungry stare.

“Pinkie, trying to focus…” Twilight replied.

“Yah know, you could just tie her up,” Applejack said. “We just need a length of rope.”

“Trying to do a really complicated spell here!” Twilight said, not even bothering to hide the chagrin in her tone.

“Come on! I can stand still,” Dash said, rolling her eyes.

Twilight let out a frustrated scream. “Be still!”

“Please, let me,” Fluttershy said, daintily walking over in front of Dash. She squared up to Dash and suddenly glared at her. Instantly, Dash’s eyes widened as her ears folded back.

“Whoa… I didn’t know Fluttershy’s ‘The Stare’ could paralyze ponies,” Scootaloo whispered to Rarity. “Even Rainbow Dash…”

Rarity nodded. “Apparently.”

After a few moments of relative silence, Twilight’s horn faded back to normal as she gave her head a little shake. “Thanks, Fluttershy,” she said, rubbing her horn.

Fluttershy blinked a couple of times, before stepping back and smiling at Twilight. “Happy to help.”

“Ugh, come on,” Dash muttered as brought a hoof to the bridge of her nose.

“Cheer up,” Twilight said, patting Dash on the shoulder. “Wing’s on and good to go. But remember to take it nice and slow.” She spread out her own wings. “Now, let’s go through the motions together to make sure everything is hooked up right.” A sudden, quick breeze forced Twilight to cover her face as she flinched. She groaned as she looked back to find no sign of Rainbow Dash.

“Well, at least she seems to be flyin’ pretty good this time,” Applejack said as everypony’s gaze trailed upwards.

A rainbow trail accented with orange embers raced across the sky. Then, it raced back in the opposite direction, this time with a few loops and zig-zags. While most of the small crowd cheered her on, Twilight kept shouting for her to take it easy and slow down. Dash soared upward, whipping back and forth between clouds. Then, suddenly, she careened away from the obstacle course of fluff and straight towards her friends.

Above the din of shouts, Pinkie reared up and drowned them out. “Incoming!”

The group scattered just as Dash crashed into the spot where they had been standing. “Oh my gosh! Rainbow Dash!” Twilight shouted as she raced to the scene. “Are you okay?”

Dash pulled herself up, vigorously shaking her head. “I’m all right,” she muttered, reaching up to rub her head.

“What happened?” Twilight asked as the others gathered around.

“I-I’m not sure,” Dash said, pulling her fiery wing up. “It’s all, loose and weird… but it doesn’t hurt.” She tried and failed to fully extend it. “It’s like it just suddenly isn’t working right.”

Twilight sighed as she looked Dash over. “Nothing else hurts?”

“I’m fine. I know how to take a fall,” Dash said, brushing off her shoulder.

“Rainbow Dash, last time you took a fall… You-you almost died,” Twilight said, looking Dash in the eye. “I know it’s not like you to be careful, but I thought even you would realize you can’t keep throwing caution to the wind like this.”

Dash’s ears perked up as she stared right back. “Hey, I’m not some helpless little filly. I’m fine.”

Twilight’s magic wrapped around Dash’s faux wing, ripping it from her body. “No!” She stomped a hoof as the wing flung away. “I am not getting you back in the sky just to give you free reign to hurt yourself again! You almost died! Doesn’t that mean anything to you? Do you have any idea what that was like for us?” she asked, motioning to the rest of the group. “When your doctor said that you might not make it, I-I…” Twilight shook her head before swiping at her eyes. She turned, rushing off into Dash’s house.

“Twilight!” Rainbow called out as the door slammed. “Ugh.” Looking back, she found a different expression on each of her friends ranging from confusion to condemnation. “Guys, I…”

“Well!” Rarity said, lifting the fiery wing in her aura and brushing it off. “That was a bit of an overreaction.”

A yellow hoof landed on Rainbow’s shoulder. “You should tell them,” Fluttershy whispered in Dash’s ear.

Letting out a frustrated grunt, Rainbow turned towards her front door. “Come on!” she said over her shoulder, opening her door. “I got something to say.”

The group filed in to find Twilight sitting on the floor, muttering to herself. Rainbow Dash rounded her to look her in the eye. “Twilight, I—”

“I’m sorry!” Twilight blurted out, sniffling. “I-I know everypony’s worked so hard to help you to fly again. I’m not going to keep you from that.” She shook her head, her gaze locked on the floor. “I just… I can’t stand the thought of you getting hurt again because of something I did. If-if you have another accident like that again because of the wing, then…”

“It wasn’t an accident,” Dash said, plenty loud for everypony to hear. She rubbed her neck as she felt every eye on herself. “It was… never an accident. If it was, I wouldn’t have been hurt so bad. I do know how to handle a crash landing.”

Applejack scratched her head. “I uh, I don’t quite follow you.”

“How could it not be an accident?” Pinkie asked, her head tilting to the side. Then she gasped. “You didn’t do it on purpose, did you?”

“What? No.” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “It was…” She sighed. “I probably should have told you all this back when I found out. Do you remember when the Wonderbolts crashed the last party Pinkie threw me?” A bevy of nods urged her to continue. “Look, I still don’t remember anything that happened that day, but the Wonderbolts told me… They told me that it wasn’t an accident. I crashed because I got kicked.” She rubbed her head. “Apparently, I was out cold before I even hit the ground.”

“It was actually a lake,” Fluttershy said. She immediately squeaked as every eye shifted to her.

“You knew about this?” Twilight asked as she got up, confronting the duo. She shifted her focus to Dash. “Why wouldn’t you tell us about this?”

“More important, who the hay did it?” Applejack asked, stomping a hoof. “I’d like to go give ‘em a piece of my mind.”

Rarity scoffed. “More like a piece of my hoof. How despicable can somepony get?”

“Why would anypony even do that?” Pinkie asked. “That’s terrible.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Slow down,” she said. “Look, all that matters is that it wasn’t my fault. I can’t promise that I’m not going to get myself hurt again. I mean, I don’t even consider it a good year if I’m not in the hospital two or three times.” A few glares reminded her to stay on topic. “Anyway, yes, I’m going to get myself hurt, but it won’t be anything like what happened back there at the competition. I know my limits.”

“But you don’t know the limits of the wing!” Twilight replied, stamping a hoof. “You didn’t even take thirty seconds to break it.”

“Exactly!” Rainbow returned Twilight’s glare with one of her own, her sole wing raised up in a threatening manner. “I gotta find the breaking point for it. That way I know what the limit is and just how hard I can push it.”

Twilight grunted, then she sighed as her posture drooped. “Nothing I say is going to change your mind, is it?”

Dash grinned. “Not a chance.”

Groaning, Twilight took the wing from Rarity. “Fine. But you have to promise to take it slow. No more being reckless,” she said, sending another glare in Rainbow’s direction. “Nopony here can really catch you if you fall.”

“Fine,” Dash said, rolling her eyes.

“Wait, who did it? Why?” Rarity asked as Twilight took the wing over to the nearby work table.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Pinkie asked, earning a multitude of confused stares. She shrugged. “Lightning Dust did it. I bet she just wanted to win, but couldn’t beat our Rainbow Dash!” she said, bounding over to the cyan pegasus and throwing a leg around her. “You know, I suspected she might’ve been a bad egg.”

Rainbow Dash’s eye twitched. “B-but how could you possibly know that?” Her head swung around, setting her gaze on Fluttershy. “I thought you said that you didn’t tell anypony!”

Fluttershy held up her hooves. “I didn’t. I promise I didn’t.”

Pinkie’s head cocked to the side. “But you told Spitfire, don’t you remember? Back when Rainbow Dash was first in the hospital, Spitfire asked you about Rainbow Dash and who was with her. You said the only one was Lightning Dust, and that really seemed to make Spitfire upset.” Pinkie gasped. “Oh my gosh! I get it now! She was mad because Lightning Dust was the one that hurt Rainbow Dash.”

“Well I say we go an’ return the favor,” Applejack said, raising a hoof to pull her hat’s brim a bit lower over her face.

Dash scoffed. “Good luck finding her. Even Spitfire doesn’t know where she ended up,” she said. “Besides, it doesn’t really matter anyway. It won’t change anything.”

“I’m pretty sure it’d make me feel better,” Applejack replied.

“I agree with Applejack,” Rarity said, extending a hoof towards Applejack.

Dash shook her head. “I don’t. It’s best to just forget about it.”

“It’s fixed!” Twilight trotted back to the middle of the group with the wing floating along in her magic. “You ruptured a tendon, so after I repaired it, I loosened the tendons a bit and tried reinforcing them a little.”

“All right! The party is still on!” Pinkie shouted.

---

Several hours and a few wing modifications later, and the sun kissed the horizon. A glimpse of orange embers accented a rainbow streak as it danced across the sky, zig-zagging and looping. It changed direction, heading straight for the cheering crowd of ponies. Impacting the clouds, it sent up a mist. The mist settled, revealing a proud Rainbow Dash striking a triumphant pose with her wings outstretched and one forehoof off the ground.

“Looks like the wing’s really working now,” Twilight said as the group gathered around Rainbow Dash.

“Yeah, it’s great,” Rainbow replied, her smile never leaving her face. “Think I could do a sonic rainboom with it?”

Twilight instantly adopted a stern expression. “No,” she bluntly said.

Rainbow sighed. “Yeah. I guess not,” she said. “Still pretty awesome, though.”

Twilight’s smile returned. “Let’s worry about heavy-duty stunts later. For now you should just be happy that you can fly again.”

“Oh, I totally am.” Rainbow lifted a bit off the ground, doing a backflip. “This is just amazing.” She set herself back down, still smiling. “Thanks Twilight,” she said, wrapping her forelegs around Twilight’s neck.

“Hey, you know everypony put in a lot of work to make this work,” Twilight replied, returning the hug.

Rainbow grinned, stepping back just a bit and widening her forearms. “Bring it in.” The group coalesced on Rainbow, joining together in a group hug. “Thanks you guys. This really is the best gift ever.”

“We’re all super-happy for you!”

“It weren’t nothin’.”

“I’m just happy that you’re happy, Rainbow Dash.”

“So glad we could make it work for you, darling.”

“I really mean it,” Dash said as the group separated again. “This is the single greatest thing anypony’s ever done for anypony.”

Twilight smiled, holding up a hoof. “Maybe not the greatest thing ever, but we are all more than happy to see you flying again.”

“As much as we’d all love to stay, I’m afraid it is beginning to get quite late,” Rarity said, joining the rest of the gang as they slowly made their way to the hot air balloon. The rest of the group chimed in their parting words as they began to pile in.

“Remember, if you have even the smallest problem with your wing, just come and see me. I can fix you right up,” Twilight said as she levitated the spare materials for the wing into the balloon. “And either way, I’d like to see you in a day or two to see how well it’s holding up.”

They exchanged dozens of goodbyes as the balloon lifted off and floated away. The shouts quickly diminished to murmurs and finally fell into silence as the balloon drifted out of sight. After the balloon vanished, Dash turned to her final remaining guest: Fluttershy. “I guess you’re leaving, too, huh?”

“I wanted to stay here just a bit longer, if you don’t mind, that is,” Fluttershy replied.

Dash shook her head. “Nah, it’s fine.” She took wing, soaring up to a nearby cloud floating above her abode. She sat there and watched the stars and moon rise until she felt Fluttershy land next to her. “I missed this, you know. The night sky might be great from the ground, but up here, it’s spectacular.”

Fluttershy craned her neck, gazing up at the countless, twinkling stars. “It is very beautiful.”

Looking over, Dash watched Fluttershy’s eyes float away from the starts and towards her. As soon as their eyes met, Fluttershy looked away. Dash frowned as she groaned. “Out with it. I know you didn’t stay just to see the stars from up here. You hate heights.”

A blush crossed Fluttershy’s cheeks. “That obvious, is it?” she asked, peeking over at Dash. She sighed. “Are you still planning to take Scootaloo to Cloudsdale for the big show tomorrow?”

“Tch, yeah. Of course,” Dash replied. “I promised her I’d take her, and now I can even fly her there myself.”

“But, won’t it be painful for you?” Fluttershy asked, placing her hoof on Dash’s shoulder. “I mean… you can’t really be a Wonderbolt now. Seeing them can’t be easy for you.”

Dash rolled her eyes. “Please, Fluttershy. I saw them when I really thought I’d never even fly again. Besides, this wing might not be able to carry me through my stunts like my old one, but who’s to say that Twilight won’t come up with something that will?” She smirked. “Come on, you didn’t really think I’d give up, did you?”

Fluttershy smiled in turn. “Of course not.”

Smiling, Rainbow looked again to the stars shining in the heavens. “I’m still gonna be the greatest flier history has ever known. Just you watch.”

Author's Note:

A special thanks to Zodiacspear for prereading this chapter and the epilogue.

Comments

[Alchemystudent]

YEAH! THAT"S THE SPIRIT DASH!!