Lost Chapters

by thechicken95

Grounded Part 1

A strong gust of wind was all it took to get her going. The moment she could smell the storm, Rainbow Dash headed towards it. The forecast had called for a strong squall line coming from the northeast. Perfect training grounds. Dash double, and triple checked her list. It was a two days journey to where the storm was forming, and Dash did not have time to come back if she left something behind. Going through the motions one extra time, Dash locked the door and took flight. She put on her visors to block the sunlight. Some Pegesi were just not meant to fly, and she wanted to avoid an accident. That was the last thing that Dash needed. Some idiot who was too tipsy to fly banging into her, and breaking a wing.

Dash had sent a note to Twilight telling the Alicorn to meet her just outside of the forest in two days’ time. She was anxious to try some new stunts. It had been several months since the last major storm, and her and Twilight worked whenever they could on new tricks. The ones they had developed were rated a ten, the highest difficulty rating. As the travel wore on, Rainbow Dash felt her heart race more. There was just something to entrancing about pulling of wicked stunts. She almost wished for Twilight to transport them there, but she had to fly herself. Twilight would be an awful partner without her energy, and Dash needed to warm her wings a bit before practice. She did not want to risk an injury.

Rainbow Dash arrived at a small inn just after sunset. It was a quiet place. Two stories high and not a lot of rooms. Dash did not expect anything fancy, but this? It looked like the type of shack teenage ponies hooked up in, with drugs not that far behind. Being out in the middle of nowhere almost guaranteed it. Dash stared at it almost hoping it was a joke, and behind it was a five-star hotel, but she knew her fantasy was not gonna happen. Dash slowly peeled into the lobby. It was more depressing than she imagined.

There was only one table with two chairs missing. A fireplace that was tucked in a corner looked like it was not used in ages. The reception desk itself was cluttered with paper. And to top it all off she could hear the floor upstairs creaking. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. What was it with teenagers and sex these days? Sure, it was the weekend, but why not vandalize a town hall like she had done back in the day? At least that would be good exercise.

After waiting for a few minutes, a pony finally arrived.

“I’m so sorry madam, I had an emergency I needed to take care of for a few minutes.”

“That’s alright” Rainbow Dash nodded, accepting the young mare’s apology. “I would like a room to stay the night please.”

“Sure thing. I’ll be right with you” the mare said. Fumbling through the mountain of papers, she pulled out a small notebook. Rainbow Dash studied the young mare. Couldn’t be older than early twenties. Probably a collage student on Spring break. The lack of color in her mane (probably caused by endless nights studying) told her that much. Or the fact there was an Intro To Flight book Dash had seen tucked away in the back. “Just sign your name here and number of days here.” Rainbow Dash complied.

“How much am I in the hole?” Dash joked. The receptionist cracked a weak smile.

“Three silvers.”

Rainbow Dash paid with a gold coin. “You can keep the change” she said, walking up to her room. Her bed was second on the left. Right next to the lovebirds. At least she had an excuse if she was late to practice this time.

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Twilight stared at a mountain range. Rainbow Dash was supposed to meet her and Spike for training. She had arrived a day early to prepare everything ahead of the storm. With their tight schedule, Twilight wanted to use their time as efficiently as possible.

“There she is!” Spike pointed at a blue dot just beyond the mountain range. Rainbow Dash was racing towards them like she was attempting a Sonic Rainboom. Landing gracefully on the runway, Dash ran over to Twilight’s picnic basket.

“Hey! Aren’t we going to practice?” Twilight protested.

“In a minute! Boy am I starving.” Rainbow Dash said in-between bites.

Twilight laughed at her friend. She smiled to signal the laughter being a friendly jab at Dash’s eating habits. “Had enough yet Pinkie?”

“Hey, you’re a bigger eater than I am!” Dash parried coupled with a quick giggle. The friends traded friendly insults until the reached the practice field.

“You want to start now or wait till the wind picks up in a few?” Twilight asked.

“I think I’ll do a few five to six-star tricks to warm myself up first. Then we can get to the fun stuff.”

Twilight smiled, though it was more out of obligation. She worried that the extra practice less than an hour after a long flight would damage some ligaments. She had read a few articles on how with increased training Pegesi were tearing wings more than ever. While Dash’s wings were stronger than a good number of pros, she was still a pony. Father Time would win eventually, and Twilight did not want it to be because of something preventable. Yet, she still knew how obsessed her friend was with wanting to be the best and let it be.

“Now that you’ve warmed up do you want to go with the Tricky-Doo?” Twilight asked. The trick was one of the first ones they came up with. Rainbow Dash would start by flying up extremely high, and then descend close to the speed of sound to create a small Sonic Rainboom. She would then do a few tight twists. These were not some ordinary beginner twists either. No, these were ones that even the pros were scared of. The twists then led into a small breather. There wasn’t a need to push Dash too hard. Immediately after she goes through several increasingly smaller hoops while doing a quick trick after each one. Finally, at the end Dash takes a sharp turn upwards, and the speed of the turn will hopefully create a Sonic Rainboom.

“Hell yeah Twi! That’s the one I’m most pumped about!” Rainbow Dash pumped her fist in the air. “If that won’t win me my first title then I don’t know what will!”

“You know it!” Twilight cheered her on. “Enough being the bridesmaid! This year will totally be yours Dash!” They high-hooved.

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The short trot up to the approach felt like an eternity for every professional flyer, and Rainbow Dash was no exception. The nerves that a pony felt could be excruciating. Nerves were something that Dash thought were foreign to her. Though even with the most Herculean exteriors given a hard-enough course, any pony’s nerves could be shattered.

As she stretched her wings and arched her back, Dash studied the course one more time before taking off. The start and the hoops would be easy enough to navigate. Dash knew that even before creating the stunt with her skillset. It was the unknowns that frightened her. How many twists should she do? Twilight had calculated it would take five to keep the course at a ten-star rating. Was that too many? If Dash failed even one the judges could take the rest of the course as compensation. And the Sonic Rainboom at the end. If she makes one small misstep, the best result would be that she ends up being paralyzed. No, Dash shook her head. She shouldn’t think such thoughts. Dash slowed her breathing to more manageable levels. If she didn’t think she could pull off the coolest, most badass stunts in the world, then she stood no chance.

After take off the twists were surprisingly easy to manage. Dash just did three the first time. Her and Twi would iron the exact number in the coming hours. Dash took a deep breath during the break. If she could not mess up her wing during the next segment, she was good. First few rings she breezed through. The last hoop was the nightmare one. She had spent weeks going through Twi’s calculations to get the angle down to the smallest measurement. So why was she still nervous? In that moment of indecision, Rainbow Dash had made a mistake. One of her wings had clipped the ring on entry that caused her to instantly spiral down. The collusion was so massive that she caused a crater several meters deep. Twilight ran over to check up on the hurt Pegasus.

“Oh, my goodness Dash! Are you okay?” Twilight said out of breath. She had grabbed a bucket of water to wake her friend up.

Rainbow Dash nodded, though unconvincingly, after coughing. The fall had been brutal, and Dash had felt it all over her body, but especially her lower back. She had been out for a good few minutes that had Twilight so worried she had started to call some paramedics.

“You can call off the squad, Twi. I’ll be fine.” Dash waved her off. In truth she was far from fine. Before Dash went unconscious, she had heard a loud snap. She felt her heart rate skyrocket as she turned to look at it. She had a small sigh of relief as it just looked like a break. To any flyer a break was leagues better than a tear. A break meant you were out for a few months, but could still compete. Depending on how bad a tear is, you could be out for life. Rainbow Dash saw it with her own eyes when Spitfire went down during competition.

“Are you sure?” Twi felt Dash’s wing. Dash winced and brushed Twi’s hoof away. Now wasn’t the time for sympathy. She’d been through worse injuries before.

“Do you mind transporting me to Canterlot for treatment? I hate to put you through that exhaustion, but I’d rather get treatment started ASAP. If we start today, I can be healthy by opening day.”

Twilight nodded and in the blink of an eye the trio teleported just outside of Canterlot. Rainbow Dash wanted the best treatment possible, and it was only found at the Royal Palace. She felt bad for stealing away resources that could be used on the less fortunate, but she needed an edge, and that was the best place to find it. She figured a public donation campaign after recovering would make up more than enough for the costs of her treatment. But that was later. In the present, Rainbow Dash was hell bent on doing the best she possibly could to recover.

Comments

[Strawberry Surprise]

Oh my god I love Dashs chapter! Who's the next featured pony?

[IDontWatchMLP]

I might read this later...