Return to Flight

by Outlaw Quadrant

14 - Past the Limit

Bona fide sunshine.

A sliver of yellow light penetrated the clouds and made its way through the windowpane and into Rainbow’s tender eyes. A few droplets remained on the leafy greens outside but her ears perked up at forest animals chirping their merriment. The basket where Angel had slept in had just some loose fur while a lone grey feather lain on top of the red cushion.

“Swift? W–where did you go? You’re in here, aren’t you?”

No reply.

She stumbled off the couch and trotted into the kitchen. She hoped that he was making breakfast but all the pots and pans hanged in their respective hooks along the wall.

“Oh, no, no, no, no,” she blubbered as she stepped in place. “Don’t tell me he ditched me! He couldn’t have!”

Rainbow scampered through the living room and up the stairs, where a misstep caused her to hold onto the guardrail. That’s when she thought of her wings.

“Oh, please, oh, please! Let me fly!”

A few flaps later, she was hovering.

“Okay! Okay. Relax. Breathe.” She pulled her mane, “I can’t! I have to find him!”

She continued to the second floor and straight into Fluttershy’s living room. There was her bed, fireplace and knickknacks but no stallion in sight. At least it had a greater view of the general area through the windows: dirt roads, forest, squirrels and Ponyville in the distance under a mostly cloudy sky. She even picked up a few floating dots that could be her pegasus friend except they were the wrong shape, gender or hue. Her willpower draining, she collapsed onto the floor and assumed the fetal position.

“Swift? Did you have another nightmare? It’s all right! It doesn’t matter if something happens to me! I just don’t want to be left alone!” A whiff escaped her mouth. “I can’t handle this by myself!”

More sobs came out, as did salty grief. Abandonment was such a cruel way to end their friendship, especially after everything he’d done for her. She didn’t have the heart to blame him, though. He had suffered enough already.

Downstairs, the door groaned open, accompanied by his voice.

“Rainbow? We have to… eh? Where did you go?”

What joy! She’d scold her imagination later for doubting him. Rainbow hurried back to the top of the staircase and there he was, floating over the floorboards under his own wing power. Tomorrow had arrived after all.

She hit the boosters and aimed for an air tackle. One try was all it took to pin him to the floor. “You’re flying! You’re still flying! We still have a chance!”

Swift’s ears rang at Rainbow’s elated shrills. “Shoot. Happy to see you too! But we have a problem.”

“Problem?” Rainbow rolled off him. “How could there be a problem?”

Once he was back on all fours, his muzzle aimed at the wall clock; it read eleven o’clock. “I woke up about an hour ago, and since you were still asleep, I checked on my cloud at the Factory. It’s set up and ready to go but, um, well—”

“What is it?”

Swift clutched his hair, “It’s definitely not the same quality as the first cloud.”

Rainbow’s hooves quivered, “How bad is it? Tell it to me straight.”

“If we’re really lucky, five runs.”

Rainbow’s hope balloons popped one by one until she had none.

Swift grabbed a book from the floor with Great Pegasi in the Olden Times inscribed on the cover. “Now for the good news. I actually found something useful last night.”

Right on cue, he had pulled another balloon from behind his back. If the situation weren’t so dire, she’d applaud him for his dramatics.

After a few page flips, he found the section he wanted. He moved right next to Rainbow to demonstrate a picture of a dark-tanned stallion with crackling light wrapped around his body.

“Who is that, Swift? He looks pretty awesome.”

“If I remember my family history right, he’s one of my ancestors, Flying Discharge. You know how I have great lightning resistance? That just happened to be part of his special talent. In fact, he could actually use the built-up charges as a power source!”

Rainbow’s wing extended. “No, way! What could he do with it?”

Swift turned the page. “From what I read, nothing that exciting. Yeah, he was able to shoot lightning but it was super weak. What got my attention is that he was able to use the collected energy to give himself a temporary boost of speed. Downside was that he was slow to begin with so it wasn’t such a large advantage.”

“That’s great and all but how does that help us?”

He tossed the tome aside. “Remembered what happened yesterday after that bolt stuck me? I’m telling you that it was a lucky strike!”

“Why do you say that?”

“I think it proved that I can use that same ability! See, my idea is to charge myself with a thundercloud. Then I somehow repeat what I did right before I take off. That way, I’ll have the extra boost I need to reach Rainboom speed!” His elation gave way to head scratching, “I think.”

“You think?” She latched onto him. “You think?”

“Eh?”

“Just because you’re this pony’s ancestor doesn’t mean you can pull off the same talent just like that, Swift! Did you tell Nurse Redheart about this? And what about when you collapsed? Don’t you think that’s a sign that this is dangerous? Did you at least do a test first? What about—”

“It’s just a last resort thing,” he answered as he nudged her forelegs off his body. “Besides, I don’t see why it won’t work.”

Enunciating every word, “Are you sure?”

His head motioned to the ticking clock. “Rainbow, we gotta go now. Hurry!”

The two pegasi emerged from Fluttershy’s cottage but before Rainbow could take flight, Swift held her back.

“One sec.” He scanned the skies, “We need to time this right or the weather team will see us.”

Rainbow touched his side, “It’s okay. Right now, it doesn’t matter if anypony sees me. If we fail, they’ll know—”

“We’re not failing.”

“Okay but can you do me a favor. I… I just want to see my team again.”

“Gotcha,” he answered with a smile.

Moments later, they rocketed above roads that showed signs of normalcy. A stallion pulled an empty cart into the town square while a mother and her child searched for a dry spot of grass to set up a picnic. Above it all, weather pegasi worked in unison like gears inside a grandfather clock, tugging away the clouds now devoid of all water. Their duties fell by the wayside once Raindrops noticed a rainbow streak approaching the work site.

“Hey, look. What’s that?” Raindrops pointed at the incoming streak of color, “Holy moley! It’s Rainbow! Rainbow’s back, everypony!”

Soon, the entire squad hovered around their true leader, shouting their jubilation or otherwise wing-slapping Rainbow.

All except for Thunderlane. His face was that of a pony who forgot his sunscreen on a hot balmy day.

“Thunderlane,” Rainbow chirped. “How—”

“I did nothing,” he blurted out, flailing his hooves.

“Huh?”

Behind Rainbow, Swift mouthed that she didn’t know anything.

Thunderlane coughed a few times. “I mean, h–how’s it hanging, boss?”

Suspicion made the mare leader gaze at her subordinate, trying to peel away the barrier between her and the truth. “Okay. What did he do, Swift?”

Now Swift was the one under the microscope. “Oh, you know, just the usual run-of-the mill stuff with Thunderlane but I, um, took care of it.” His muzzle gestured at the massive cloud formation a few miles away. “So, we should get going, Rainbow. You said you wanted to shake off some rust with some cloud busting, remember?”

Her mind returned to the big task that lay ahead. For once, she actually wanted to work side-by-side with her team but that wasn’t happening today. All she could do is pray to Celestia to get that chance. Less sleep, more training her squad, she promised herself.

Rainbow waved goodbye before taking off once more. Swift stayed behind a few seconds for a brief message to Thunderlane.

“Fly!” Thunderlane repeatedly bowed down to him. “Oh, thank you for not ratting me out!”

He poked the stallion’s chest, “Just remember that you owe me a big one, buddy. If Rainbow ever finds out you almost burst the dam and flooded Ponyville, she’d have both our necks.”

Thunderlane nodded vigorously, “Yeah, yeah. Thanks, Fly!”

Once Swift chased after Rainbow, Thunderlane ordered everypony back to work. He readied to push the closest cloud when a brain flash made him stroke his Mohawk. Did Rainbow just call him Swift?

Meanwhile, Swift caught up to his partner who was staring at something on the ground.

Scootaloo rode her scooter down a hill and then up a ramp. Then, she discarded her ride, hoping her wings could keep her airborne. Instead, Scootaloo fell into some prickly bushes.

“Ouch,” Swift remarked.

“Mhm,” Rainbow muttered.

Noticing her heavy eyelids, he inched closer by her side. “You all right?”

She watched Scootaloo pick up her scooter and then proceed up the incline. “It will be, I hope.”

A few minutes later, past the many hazy clouds, she spotted the special cloud at a distant point above what remained of their hallowed training grounds near the mountains.

Per Swift’s instructions, she stayed behind while he made the trip to his creation so he could activate it. However, the activation sequence ran much longer than the first time. His hooves worked overtime, beating the cloud like a broken machine. One minute ticked by, then two.

Oh, please! Please! Please! It’s gotta work!

Finally, her mane began moving as the winds of hope tickled her coat. Already, her heart had the jitters and Swift’s next words after his return made it worse.

“I know this sounds bonkers but I want you to do a solo run.” He drew an imaginary line from the cloud downwards. “I gotta admit the possibility that you could now do this with me completely out of the way. Starting point’s those really tiny black dots up there.”

“By myself? Um, okay. All right. I’ll go. I’ll give it a shot.”

After an aviator salute, Rainbow progressed further upward to what she soon recognized as thunderclouds. He’s serious about his idea, isn’t he? I won’t let it come to that. I can’t!

Meanwhile, Swift covered his eyes, the burning orange globe proving an impediment to tracking his friend’s progress. He missed the launch but a few seconds later, caught the cyan blur traveling through the skies at an increasing rate.

Push, Rainbow! Push!

While he had no measuring device, he’d bet bits that Rainbow was faster than yesterday, maybe right at his limits but no more.

C’mon! Boost! Boost!

She slipped through the hole with pinpoint precision and with it, the rewards of immediate acceleration. What came afterwards was his fading smile – Rainbow went everywhere except in a straight line. This was another heart wrenching failure, which then became a seizure.

Oh, shoot! Not again!

An overcorrection sent her into a wild spin, a cue that he should come to her aid as he had been all this time. However, he decided to make this a teaching session. Rather than prepare for a catch, he used his body as an obstacle, spreading his limbs wide at her projected path. Surely, she would have the incentive to not crash into him, hopefully.

What in Equestria am I doing? I’m a pony, not a roadblock! The collision alert rang. Rainbow. Rainbow! Don’t hit meeeee!

She swooped above his head by a few feet and then skidded to a stop. While she landed clean, she fell onto the cloud and banged it repeatedly.

“It won’t leave me alone!” Then with voice cracks, “It just won’t leave me alone. Swift, I need you with me. I can’t focus if you’re not with me.”

The time bomb within him approached ten to twelve. “Then we’ll do the next one together.”

He started the climb with her, but while she trained her eyes at the starting point, he continued glancing at his cloud for any signs of imminent disintegration. Every infinitesimal shift in form moved that clock a minute closer to total disaster: eleven forty nine, fifty, fifty-one. Swift looked away but what he couldn’t ignore was that today, the cold was even more nerve numbing. The moisture around his nose had crystallized hard, reducing precious airflow. By the time they reached the starting point, every word was the hardest ever spoken.

“Let’s, make this, count.” He rubbed his body for warmth. “Okay?”

Rainbow moved right behind him, mimicking his shiver. “I’ll be, so glad when this is, over.”

Swift wiped his muzzle, “Let’s leave, our worries, behind!” He captured extra air. “Ready?”

“Yeah.”

“On three! One! Two! Three!”

The pair sped off in a tight formation, with Rainbow taking great caution not to run into him. There was no need to worry about that right away; he was accelerating a tick too fast for the first thousand feet. Then she had to reduce throttle or his tail would flick all across her face. With the howling air, her command “Faster!” came into Swift’s eardrums as a jumbled mess.

No matter, for he was already in search for every crumb of momentum. Mouth closed, ears folded in, hooves stretched out even further out. He cared not how much pressure he placed on his wings. He had to thread that needle and then hold on for dear life, as did the pony riding behind him.

Zoom! The wind currents shoved them with the force of a buck but they kept nose-to-tail. Ninety percent of Rainboom speed climbed to ninety-five and that’s when the air started bending in front of Swift.

We can do this! Just a little more!

That visible film was at its absolute limits, ready to grant them access to liberation. Just a sliver more velocity, that’s what Rainbow and Swift wished more than anything else in the world. The many days of waiting and this was their moment. All it took was a breakthrough.

A lump of coal.

The winds diminished, as did their rate of descent. All they could do next is meander to the top of the massive popcorn cloud so they could collapse onto it.

Neither knew how to react. They’ve been disappointed before but this was far worse than each let down combined. A silent minute passed by when Rainbow’s wildly conflicting emotions settled on a compromise. She began ripping apart the cloud as it collected her tears.

“Dammit! This isn’t fair! Why…. Swift?”

He had stood up, chest fully swollen and teeth gritted. This was less of a pony than a volcano ready to erupt in a violent explosion. She took a step back, whispering his name.

“Shhhhhhhhh,” He faced the skies, “dammitttt!”

Rainbow faced his direction, her jaw teetering on the edge of falling off. Never had he cursed in her presence and he almost did.

“I’m sorry, Rainbow! I just” – His anger morphed into red-faced embarrassment. “I shouldn’t let it get to me.”

She sat next to him. “It’s all right. Look at me. I never cry and—” She rubbed off salty liquid “—just look at me. I’m a total mess.”

“You’re not crying. You have something in your eye.”

A lie but a convenient and a welcome one. “That’s right. It’s pretty itchy too.” She scratched the area around her ducts. “See?”

His hoof muffled his laughter. “I gotcha, I gotcha.”

Rainbow glanced at the cloud. “We almost had it, didn’t we? Ugh, but that run really wore me out. I may need a minute, Swift. Swift?”

All his attention was skywards with his body in an incessant spasm. For a moment, she believed that Flying Stress Syndrome had finally taken over her friend. Only when she turned and recognized what had him in shock was when the infliction spread to her. She clutched her chest for the pump had clogged, dropping her body heat to dangerous levels. How she hoped that she was in a state of delirium that was affecting her eyesight but this was no illusion. Their last best grasp at the straw was bubbling away bits and pieces of white.

“Rainbow, I—”

“Last chance isn’t it,” she whispered.

Eleven fifty nine. This run would determine which way their lives would lead. One path led to the promised land, a return to flight without restriction. The other where they’d fight every day to identify themselves as pegasi. He wanted no part of the latter and he’d do anything in the world to avoid it. That’s when he checked his cutie mark, the steadfast symbol of a cloud and an inverted thunderbolt.

It’s the right thing to do, isn’t it?

One brief snort was all it took for him to find his resolve. “Rainbow? It’s time to go.”

Rainbow knew that but he said it with no trace of fear, doubt or panic. Her shaky acknowledgment carried all three.

He blasted toward the starting line with Rainbow following suit. “Listen to me, Rainbow. Once we reach the top, I’ll jab my hooves into the thundercloud so I can fill myself up with electricity.”

She gasped. “But—”

“Five seconds before we reach the hole, I’ll tap into that energy. Be ready to give it all you’ve got. Whatever happens, don’t lose track of me. Grab my tail if you have to.”

“Swift! I can’t—”

“I’ve made up my mind, Rainbow. I made a promise to you, didn’t I? I’ll cure you before your friends come back and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.” He turned his head. “You said if I ever doubted myself, I would just need to look at you. Well, I actually don’t have any doubts. I am strong enough. I do believe in myself. I just want to hear from you, that you believe in what I’m going to do.”

That conviction, that poise, he sounded just like herself in her best moments. Even with the cloud beginning to lose its form, Rainbow found hers. In such a dire situation, the last thing Swift needed was anything that would erode his determination. No more doubt, no more waterworks. If this was the end, she was going down swinging.

“I believe in you,” she answered with a hoof pump. “One hundred and twenty percent!” Her firmness then subsided, “You believe in me, right?”

His wide beam told her everything she needed to know, but he wanted to add the exclamation point. “Course I do! I have the best flier in all of Equestria with me!”

Returning the favor, “And I got the second best flier in all of Equestria with me!”

Feeding his ego was a kind gesture, but irrelevant. Even so, his muzzle inched upwards. “Oh, you’re giving me too much credit.”

“Well, maybe third, or fourth or even fifth. Actually, when I really think about it, if you count non-ponies—”

Eyelids closed halfway, “I get your drift. You can stop now.”

Then, they reached the altitude where most flying creatures chose to level off but they continued their ascent unimpeded. Nothing would stop them from reaching the top of the world, not the cold or the lack of oxygen.

The moment Swift reached one of the hovering thunderclouds, he shoved his hooves into the flowing current. Immediately, his hair rose on end and his pain perceptions reminded him where he was. Frigid cold, razor-thin air, and a raging temptation to itch, all walloped the slender stallion into writhing and moaning.

Rainbow covered her eyes for even a glimpse would make her pull him out against his will. When she finally peeked, he was already done. The black mass that gave him power was now white while he was the same as before, only with added intermittent sparks emerging from random spots across his frame. Based on his refrained whimper, she presumed that he felt the same agony as when she once crashed into a field full of poison ivy. He didn’t have to tell her to line up. She did that so he can rid of his pain as soon as possible.

“Ready when”— Rainbow recharged her oxygen –“you are!”

He wasn’t, at least not yet. Step One was complete, retrieve electricity. Now came the mysterious Step Two, understanding how to use it. For this, he blocked out his sights and looked within in search for the key that would unlock this mystery. Soon, he spotted the flowing currents as a glowing but unstable blue ball.

That’s gotta be it! I just need to control this energy! I can do this!

“Time, to earn our wings, Rainbow,” he shouted. “This time, you count us down!”

Rainbow went through a mental checklist. Proper position and alignment check. Their wind-generating cloud, on its last legs but still functioning. Wings, they move all right but they needed minutes for a full recharge. Check anyways. Inspection of the leading stallion, despite foreign energy flowing through him, he never moved an inch. She can check this off too. Everything was a go.

“Three!”

Their wing flaps synchronized in movement.

“Two!”

Hormones secreted every drop of adrenaline available.

“One!”

Serenity, a brief moment to reflect on how on this day, they would write their own destinies.

“Go!”

Swift and Rainbow’s combined launch ripped apart the spare thunderclouds behind them. In seconds, they no longer picked up their hoarse breaths or feathers beating against the air, just the sound of their slender bodies carving a downwards path in the Equestrian skies. Like many times before, Rainbow had a gap that she closed with every heartbeat. Unlike the prior run, Swift was now trickling sparks, blinding her every time they splattered over her eyes. She drifted off-course, something that while Swift couldn’t confirm visually, his sense of increased drag did.

I gotta hold it in!

He reached for the faucet and with a tight turn, eliminated the drip. Rainbow moved back to position as they came within twenty seconds of the wind generator. It was still there.

Time for the big finale.

Swift switched his commands to autopilot, so he can visualize the spinning mass of electricity. It was a tad smaller but the currents had become even more violent, its hue sending shivers down his spine. He should’ve reached out to it by now except a red alarm screamed at him that what he didn’t know what he was doing. The stallion reached out for it anyways but the moment he did, a storm front emerged within his imagination. Its mass swirled and decreased in density before a foggy duplicate of himself suddenly materialized inches from him.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” said his double.

Swift stood face to face with his fear incarnate. For a moment, he thought about flying away but after a huff, his eyebrows slanted downwards. “I remember you now. You never did leave me, did you?”

The doppelganger rolled his eyes. “Oh, now you figure it out, dummy! If all the times I yanked your chain wasn’t a big enough clue!”

“What are you doing here?”

“Another stupid question. I’m here to stop you, of course.”

Swift snorted. “I’ve had enough of dealing with you. I’m putting an end to this now.”

“Tough stallion talk?” The fake Swift guffawed and slapped his sides. “Whoa, now! Where did you get this from, all of a sudden? That chick out there?”

“Her name is Rainbow,” he sternly corrected.

“Whatever. Look, Swift, Fly. Whatever you want to call yourself now. I just wanted to drop in and tell you you’re making the biggest mistake of your life.”

“And why’s that?”

The fraud muttered a curse word. “You already know that answer to that, doofus. You’re bonkers to think you can control all this energy. What if you screw up?”

“I already know the risk,” Swift grumbled. “That’s why I gotta—”

“Blah, blah, blah. Your heads in the clouds, just like back in Saddlecloud. You were way over your head and I gotta say, you almost pulled it off. Then you just had to push your luck too far. You just had to save that one last pony and wham! Right into the tornado you went.” He placed a hoof on his chin. “Come now. You don’t have to do this anymore. Stop now and save yourself. Let Rainbow—”

“Knock it off!” Swift pushed his fake away. “This is my call to make, not yours! Besides, I do have a backup plan in case something—”

The doppelganger laughed some more. “Oh, yeah. That pile of manure you call a backup plan. More like a delusion to me, one that will spell the end of you. You better stop if you know what’s good for you.”

“Let me tell you something. You’ve done nothing but mess with me ever since Saddlecloud. No more. I’m done listening to you.”

His fake disintegrated into mist, “Then I guess this is the last time you’ll see me… or anything else in this world. What a waste of a life.”

“What a waste of my time,” he answered back.

Approaching five seconds to the hole through the cloud, Swift grabbed ahold of the charge with a feather touch, wanting just a part of it. Instead, all of it escaped his grip, no matter how much he fought to grab ahold. All his controls short-circuited, leaving them stuck on the maximum setting. As a cerulean glow saturated inches above his coat, he stunned the trailing Rainbow with a jump of speed well beyond her expectations. A desperate reach for his tail garnered her air.

Oh, no. No. No!

The instant the cloud thrust them forward with its final burst, the nose to tail formation was no more. Swift was pulling away and she could do nothing at all except hope that she could, somehow, someway perform a Sonic Rainboom with the last bits of his slipstream. Sensing weakness, her condition pounced on her chest and with its fervent grip, crushed the last embers of optimism. She had reached her limits, right at the wall within her imaginary world but there was no way through to the wings floating on the other side.

Swift! Wait! Please!

He could do nothing to help her. In fact, he could do nothing at all except watch the air bend around him as he approached a massive congregation of clouds that once held the training arena.

Shoot! I can’t… I don’t have any control! What’s going on? I can’t stop!

The electricity within him continued working its magic, defining new boundaries of his limits. With his flying controls fried, the random air currents pushed him away from a straight path and even more dangerous, the foreign energy running across his body had coalesced into a much tighter sphere. Something was going to happen except he was clueless on what was on the next chapter, if there would be one at all.

Bang.

He breached the barrier and at the same time, every watt of power escaped his body with luminesce challenging the sun’s. The ensuing ripple spread in all directions at immeasurable speeds, shattering every molecule of cloud it touched. For three entire seconds, Swift Flying had entered the world of supersonic, an unguided missile hurtling toward the ground.

Then, the power suddenly dropped like a rock as though a fist punched it out of him. The sudden jolt sent him into a high-speed spiral and no matter how fast he toggled the switches, all they did was click. Even his mind flickered on and off, struggling to keep him awake as the world around him moved in every imaginable direction. To his side were the Stallihorn Mountains and below, open green fields, a nearby forest and finally a gut-wrenching truth - distant billowing smoke pouring out of a locomotive traveling down the rails.

They’re coming. Her friends—

Then, his limp and aching frame twisted around once more, giving him a full view of everything he left behind, a trail of ash but not the spectrum of light that Rainbow had described to him in intimate detail.

S–she, didn’t do it.

He saw the ground again: hard, unflappable, and bereft of emotion. Nothing in sight would break his fall. His consciousness slipping, a project turned on to show him some of the highlights of his life: the day he earned his mark, his first A grade in school, and all the friends he made, including the most recent one on the list, the mare he promised to cure. He couldn’t even cure himself – the bomb’s minute hand was ready to signal twelve. All it waited for was for him to lose all hope, raise the surrender flag and sign the document certifying his loss.

I have, to believe, in Rainbow.

His eyelids weighed like an anvil but he had one final task. For that, he found just enough power to move his vocal chords. While the gap to her was great and a force strangled the last bits of awareness out of him, he had to get out two syllables before the world faded to black.

“Help, me.”

Comments

[Dustchu]

Holy shit all of these comments Dx They can't all be hate... jeebus.
And man this chapter, full of feels... intense man, intense...

Nicely done!

[redmar]

Rainbow Dash is going to do the Sonic Rainboom while saving him just as she did with Rarity.