Dragon Road Season 1

by FoolMeThrice

The Meaning of a Protector

---

This particularly bright day found Rainbow Dash walking back and forth in front of a confused Kai and a determined Fluttershy. The rainbow mare stopped pacing and gave her audience a sharp look.

“So, we're all on the same page?” To that, Fluttershy nodded shortly, while Kai gave a slow nod.

“You want us to cheer for you… But why us?”

“Well, I mean, you and Fluttershy are the only ones who can come see me! So you've gotta!” She did have a point, being that the venue of whatever they needed to cheer for was located in Cloudsdale, accessable only by those who could walk on clouds… or in Kai's case, constantly hover above them.

“Shouldn't you be… you know… TRAINING?” Kai procrastinated, sure, but Rainbow Dash was just annoying him at this point. How long had it been since he told her to get serious?

“Me? I need to make sure you've got it down.”

“Got… what down?”

“Cheering! Duh!” At Kai's continued confusion, Rainbow Dash explained. “I don't know if you've got the right stuff to cheer for me.”

…Kai smirked.

---

In Canterlot, life was still very much peaceful. Especially with the sibling princesses. Although getting Luna adjusted to this way of life was slow-going, Celestia was simply glad to have her sister back in her life.

The two found themselves sipping tea together, enjoying the morning calmly.

“Lulu, may you pass me the—”

“—OOOOOOOOOO!” They jumped, but oddly, only Celestia seemed confused.

“What in the world…?”

“'Tis our best friend, Kai! Perhaps this is a cheer of challenge? Very well, then! We shall cheer, as well!”

“Luna, no—”

---

“How was that?” Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were hugging each other and shivering.

“Y-y-yeah. Th-that'll do.”

“—OOOOOOOOOO!” They all looked up and around, the girls even more startled, but Kai only grinned.

“It's Luna!”

“…Isn't she in Canterlot?”

“Yeah.”

At that point, all they could do was fall over.

---

Chapter 18

The Meaning of a Protector

---

“Alright!” Rainbow Dash hovered just above the grassy ground. “We know that Kai can cheer. But Fluttershy… You're… not that impressive. So, let's review!”

“Oh, um, let's see…” Fluttershy thought for a moment. “Loss of control.”

“Good.”

“Screaming and hollering.”

“Yes, and most importantly?”

“Passion!”

“Right! Now that you know the elements of a good cheer, let's hear one.”

With a decisive expression, Fluttershy nodded and took a breath.

“Yay.”

Clearly, Rainbow Dash was not impressed. She was going to state such, but was interrupted.

“Rainbow Dash, just get to your stupid practicing. I'll help out 'Shy.” She glared at Kai.

“Stupid practicing? Uh, this is only for the Wonderbolts! And if I fail—I mean, not that I would—then I'll never get in!”

“You can't even train when I tell you to. Why would the Wonderbolts—” He stopped himself. Now, Kai was annoyed. Rightfully so. He entrusted the safety of what he sort of saw as his home to Rainbow Dash if he was ever away. And yet she hadn't trained at all for the occassion. Didn't mean he should crush her dreams. “Just start practicing, alright. You need it.”

“You're looking down on me 'cause of that green guy, huh?”

“I am.” At his admission, Rainbow Dash glared and took an angered step toward him.

“I was just tired! You don't think Equestria's fastest flier couldn't keep up?”

“You call yourself the best and fastest flier in Equestria, but you couldn't even keep up with your eyes. Your punch did nothing, and you couldn't do anything to me even when my guard was down. But you still have the nerve to be arrogant!” Try as he might, Kai couldn't resist being brutally honest, and a bit hurtful. “You're a nopony, but you act like you're all that and more! If you had trained like I said, you'd be cranking out that stupid Rainboom trick without trying by now!”

“The Sonic Rainboom isn't stupid!”

“Well, I'll never know, will I? You can't even do it at your full speed! Instead of listening to me, you just keep on failing and failing, making excuses every time. The wind, you were tired, your wings are a bit sore, the weather's weird…” Rainbow Dash looked away, having used each and every one of those excuses. “Magical frickin' rocks are only going to go so far. I told you already; you need to get serious!”

“I… I am serious.”

“No you're not. You're not even training or practicing like you care. If you did, you could get into the Wonderbolts, and keep everypony you care about safe. If you don't get stronger, you can't protect anything. Let alone yourself.”

“I can, and I have!”

“No, you've been in little scraps, and used the Elements with your—our friends. You're weak and inexperienced, but you won't get it through your head!”

“Why are you being such a jerk about it!?”

“Because I was right where you are!”

“That's different!”

“How?”

“I'm not a freak!” Kai flinched at that, then shot back.

“And I'm not a failure!” Rainbow Dash flinched back.

“Then maybe I shouldn't even GO to the Best Young Flyer competition!”

“Maybe not!”

“I'd only fail!”

“Maybe you would!”

“Fine!”

“Fine!”

They turned away from each other, then Rainbow Dash flew away.

“Jerk…”

Kai crossed his arms with a frown.

“…Bitch.”

“Kai!”

“Oh sh—Fluttershy. Heh… forgot you were… there…” Fluttershy was giving him a particular look. One he hadn't seen in quite some time.

The “disappointed mommy” look.

“That was mean.”

“She won't listen! C'mon, Fluttershy! You know her better than me!”

“I do. But what you said was unnecessarily hurtful.” He remained silent for several seconds.

“…She needs to hear it from someone. And sugarcoating things isn't for her.” Fluttershy continued to stare disapprovingly. “…Fine, maybe I could have broken it a little lighter. But seriously, this isn't the first time I told her.”

“…Disregarding that… How do you feel?” The half-saiyan looked confused. “She… um… said something hurtful, too. That you were a freak…”

“Oh. I… um… I guess it hurt a bit more coming from someone I know, but I'm used to it. Thanks for asking.”

“Of course.” He scratched his head while Fluttershy rubbed her foreleg awkwardly. “…Um… Could you… help me get better at cheering?”

“Sure.” With an odd lingering awkwardness, Kai tried talking Fluttershy through cheering properly.

---

Two days passed without incident, until it was finally the day of the Best Young Flyer competition. Rainbow Dash flew with Fluttershy to Cloudsdale, constantly looking back with a regretful stare.

“…He's seriously not coming?” Fluttershy aimed her side gaze at her old schoolmate, letting out a soft hum of thought.

“Well… you two did seem rather… upset.”

“I mean, yeah… but… Can't he just get over it?”

“You called him a freak, Rainbow Dash.”

“So did everypony. Weren't they just messin' with the guy?” Fluttershy sighed, realising that Rainbow Dash truly didn't understand. Fear made even Fluttershy impulsive and quick to react, that was true; hence the issue with Zecora… but still, Fluttershy was level enough to understand kindness, when not driven by fear. She would be the first to admit that, had she not met Kai in the already depressed state she was in, she surely would have been just like the others that wronged him. Luckily, she understood.

And it was time to make Rainbow Dash understand, too.

“They weren't teasing him. They were segregating him because he's different.”

“But… he just shrugs off whatever they say.”

“It's happened for so long, he's desensitized to it. Um… I know I shouldn't say this… but Rarity even told me that Kai resents everypony so much, he wanted to… well… destroy Ponyville.”

“Woah… And he COULD…” It dawned on her just what he could do if he really wanted to. And nopony could stop him. It made her realise—truly realise—that, if Kai was evil, or someone strong like Kai was evil, nopony could stop them. And this was why Kai was so serious about her training. “I'm such an idiot… I-I should go home and train like he said…”

“We're already here. You may as well try in the competition before you go train.” Fluttershy gave her a smile. “Right?”

Landing upon the cloud ground, Rainbow Dash smirked and nodded.

“Yeah.”

Unfortunately, they could take no more than five steps before being bombarded by bullies. Familiar bullies at that.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Rainbow Dash didn't know that the word she was looking for was 'cliché', but it described these bullies perfectly. The duo turned to a trio of stallions smirking at the rainbow mare.

“It's our old friend Rainbow Crash!” Yeah, that old nickname… She didn't even crash that often. But it happened enough to warrant a nickname, apparently.

“Get kicked outta any flight schools lately?” The first stallion asked in a clearly taunting manner, hence his friends laughing in response.

Although she had complained about Kai not being here under the assumption he was still upset… his words had cut at her something fierce. Failure, excuses… so she was a bit lacking in self-esteem and confidence right now.

”I didn't get kicked out.” She muttered half-heartedly.

“Face it, Rainbow Crash. Flight school had too many rules, and not enough naptimes for you.”

“Ask her about the sonic rainboom.” Rainbow Dash froze up.

“That's nothing but an old mare's tale. You don't have the skills to try something like that.” The bullies laughed as the mare looked down, dejected.

“You know, I think I said it before, but…” The clear ringleader of the bullies was suddenly flying off of Cloudsdale itself with a yelp. Everypony looked to the cause: Kai. “…I really hate bullies.” He proceeded to heft the other two in the air by their necks.

“D-don't hurt us!”

“Were these bothering you?” That question to Rainbow Dash made her smirk.

“Yeah, they were being so annoying.” The bullies paled, suddenly very regretful of their actions.

“Got it.” With that, Kai gave them the very light punishment of throwing them through the clouds… downward.

Rainbow Dash and Kai traded a long stare, before mutually smirking.

“You made it after all.”

“Who else is gonna laugh at you?”

“You wanna go?”

“Let's go.” Despite the clear call to a fight, the two just kept smirking. “So, what's the plan?”

“There's still time before the competition… You ever been here in Cloudsdale before?” Kai shook his head. “Let's show him around a bit, Fluttershy.”

“Okay. It's a very nice place, I assure you, Kai.”

“Cool.” They were set to take off, but a shadow loomed over them. Now usually, being that this was a population of pegasi, nopony would bat an eyelash at this occurance. Hence why Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy didn't even slow their step to lead Kai through the city. Kai, however, was unused to this, so he looked back, then up to see what shadowed them. “Uh… guys? Tell me if I'm crazy, but… is that Rarity with wings?”

“Pfft! You're crazy. Come on, that's just stupid.” The pegasi turned, fully expecting to see the odd result of Kai's imagination—probably the altitude, they wagered. But what they saw was, indeed… “Rarity!” With a pair of butterfly wings, no less. “You're… flying!?”

The flying fashionista smiled, spreading her new wings for display.

“I most certainly am! Aren't my wings smashing!?” With the light of the sun, her wings seemed to glisten. “Twilight made them for me. I just adore them!” She seemed to just notice the expressions the pegasi and saiyan had as they stared. “Why so shocked? We couldn't leave our favorite flyer without a big cheering section!”

“‘We’?” Echoed Rainbow Dash, only for her and her entourage to stare with widened eyes at a hot air balloon slowly popping through the cloud. When it finally rose and landed, their friends were greeting them with smiles. “I… I can't believe it!”

“It's incredible!” Fluttershy agreed.

“Sweet!” As did Kai.

“This is so cool! You guys made it!”

“Sure did!” Pinkie jumped out of the balloon basket, which, if she were a pegasus, would be just fine. Since she was not, Rainbow Dash tried to stop her.

“Wait!” But, she actually landed on the cloud and stood evenly. “How'd you do that? Only Pegasus ponies can walk on clouds.”

“Pretty cool, huh?” Clearly receiving no answers from Pinkie, they looked to Twilight for an explaination.

“I found a spell that makes temporary wings, but it was too difficult to do more than twice. So I found an easier spell that lets the rest of us walk on clouds.” Indeed, she explained.

“And we came to cheer you to victory!” Followed Applejack.

Rainbow Dash let out a short sigh of relief.

“To be honest, I was starting to get just the teeniest, tiniest bit nervous.” A severe understatement. “But I feel a lot better now that you guys are here.” She grinned and gestured to Fluttershy and Kai. “Me and Fluttershy were gonna show this guy around. You should all come with!”

Did anypony actually think they would say no?

---

The tour around Cloudsdale was going great!

…That statement is a lie for one pony.

If vanity was given form, then Rarity would be the physical embodiment of it. She had done nothing but flaunt her new wings, accepting all of the praise coming her way. She even went as far as to listen to the suggestion of an awed fan and entered the competition in question, planning to win not by skill, but by beauty. It got to the point that even Kai felt the need to say something to her.

“Rarity.”

“Hmm?”

“You remember the story of Icarus?”

“What of it?”

“New wings? Overconfidence? Ring any bells?” Rarity simply tutted.

“Come now, don't be so overdramatic. They're just beautiful wings, no need to be worried.” She waved off.

“Fine. But when those wings burn, I'm not gonna save you, IcaRarity.”

“That's uncalled for.”

Kai rejoined Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash was nervous to the point that even breathing into a paper bag was not stopping her nausea and anxiety, leading to a loss of her lunch. It was good that Cloudsdale was not frequently walked under, for that exact reason.

Now, Kai disliked Rainbow Dash. He really did. Something about her attitude just ticked him off, as well as how dismissive she seemed towards anything other than herself. The feeling was mutual, from their few interractions. They always clashed, and, while never becoming physical, they were always getting into heated arguments and discussions. It was inevitable that a fight would break out between the two.

And yet, watching Rainbow Dash nearly hyperventating, with Fluttershy rubbing her back to calm her… Kai didn't even hesitate to kneel and pat her head. The mare looked up, not even bothering to hide her distress.

“I thought, if I couldn't win with the Sonic Rainboom, maybe I can look good and cool. But… I'm ugly compared to Rarity… and probably in general.”

“No, you're a tomcolt—there's a different group out for your type. Anyway…” Kai ruffled her mane a bit. “We know you can do it.”

“You called me a failure. And you were right. So what changed?” Rainbow Dash sighed out.

“Nothing. You're still a failure, and a loser.” She shook off his hand and glared at him. “That's it! That's the look. The one that tells me you're fired up.” Smiling, Kai lifted a finger. “It doesn't matter THAT you fail. It's what you do WITH your failure. My old mentor always said, ‘Fall down one-hundred times, get up one-hundred one.’”

“What if I just… can't?” Kai let out a sigh, and returned his hand to Rainbow Dash's head. He didn't realise just how little confidence she had. Her bravado was either completely false, or easily broken. Or both.

“When I trained all that time back, my mentor Kami just kept adding more and more weight on me. It was to the point I couldn't even stand anymore. And I asked him exactly that. What if I can't?”

“…What'd he say?”

“If you truly want something, truly need it, you'll find a way no matter what.” Rainbow Dash tilted her head, expecting more. “Yeah, I was a little dissapointed with that one, too. Basically…do you want to win?”

“More than anything.”

“Will you keep on trying, even with everypony saying you can't do it?”

“…It's hard, but yes.”

“Then, you'll do it. Just believe in yourself.”

She looked to Fluttershy, who smiled and nodded, then back to Kai.

“Yeah… Thanks, guys. I'm gonna go out there and win this!”

“And we'll cheer for you when you do.” Fluttershy assured.

---

The reception for this event was understandably huge. After all, the VIP guest of honor was Princess Celestia herself, and the Wonderbolts were naturally in their own special seats. It seemed like everypony in Cloudsdale showed up to see these aspiring fliers' moves. The best opportunity to be first and show what they had.

It was, then, quite odd when contestant after contestant, Rainbow Dash never showed… nor did Rarity. The group of friends were starting to grow concerned.

…Well, all except one.

“Did ya get enough snacks, Kai?” Applejack asked with a glare.

“Does it LOOK like I got enough!?” With all of the discarded popcorn tubs, wrappers and soft drink cups, it did indeed look like he got enough. He still ate, regardless.

“Can't you fly? Go an' check on RD.”

“Nah, she'll show on her own.” The saiyan brushed off.

“Well, she'd better hurry. The competition is nearly over.” Twilight noted with a bit of worry.

A few minutes later, and it was time for the last acts. This was it, and the crowd could only hope the best was saved for last.

“And now, for our final competitor of the day, contestant number fifteen!” The announcer exclaimed with all of the energy he had started with, if not, more. Though, after receiving another bit of whispered information, he added something on in confusion. ”Uhh… And apparently contestant number four…”

First came Rainbow Dash, hovering out with clearly false confidence, not that the crowd noticed.

Then Rarity emerged, flaring her wings and wearing… a lot of makeup.

Kai's spit-take: Legendary.

“THAT shade of lipstick! And the mascara; more like, massacred! What did she do to her face!?” Again, it was hard to follow that Kai was raised in the same fashion environment as Rarity and shared her habits.

“Shh! It's starting!” Pinkie shushed him while staring at the starting action.

Unfitting classical music started up, but this didn't stop anypony from getting hyped up. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes, and took off flying as awesomely as she could. She looped, zigged, and zagged. It was indeed an awing performance.

Unfortunately for her, the crowd was more enamored with Rarity's wings, so her high-flying skills were ignored. Although disheartened, the pegasus did not stop, and instead commenced the next phase of her show.

Spinning several clouds at super speeds displayed her control and finesse. She almost lost her balance, but she regained it at the last second. This time, the crowd seemed to notice, but still didn't want to miss the contrastingly beautiful display.

Realising only one thing would truly grab everyone's attention, Rainbow Dash ascended higher and higher. Rarity seemed to have somewhat similar plans, and flew up higher. The now winged unicorn smiled at her adoring audience.

“Look upon me world…”

“…False wings, form'd of feather and wax, as the wind takes, let body and mind relax.” The group spared the suddenly poetic Kai a glance, all confused.

“…for I…”

“Leave thy pride and arrogance unfelt, for fly too close to the sun, and thy wings…”

“…am…”

“…shall…”

“Rarity!”

“…melt.”

Poetry usually had some truth to it.

The artificial wings Rarity was given were far too close to the sun. The wings burned away, and only an instant was allowed for the collective shock. Then Rarity began to fall.

“Oh no! Her wings evaporated into thin air!” Leave it to Twilight to state the obvious. Luckily for Rarity, the Wonderbolts weren't famous for nothing, and sprung into action. Unfortunately, Rarity was not a calm faller, and her flailing around ended up taking out the elite flight squad, too. Now they were all falling to their deaths. “Kai! You have to save them!”

“I can't.” She had to double-take at that.

“Isn't she your sister!? Why won't you—”

“Because I already told her I wouldn't. Besides, this is Rainbow Dash's chance to prove herself. If she can't be trusted with this, then what's the point?” Although he seemed sure, his tensed hands gripping at his sleeves and the drops of sweat falling from his face made clear that he was nervous, too. “It's all up to Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow Dash, however, had flown up far too high to hear the first screams of panic. The distant sound of the second brought her attention to several falling figures, one, she could identify as Rarity. Eyes wide, she immediately took off towards them.

“Hang on, Rarity—I'm coming!” She put everything she had into flying to save her friend… but it wasn't enough. She was no genius, that much she could begrudgingly admit. But what she lacked in booksmarts, she made up for in triral and error. Moving, attempting, failing, retrying. All part of an important loop that Rainbow Dash brashly followed that taught her what worked or not through experience.

It was with this, that she knew that she would not make it in time. At the very best, she could just barely catch one, and her choice was Rarity. But even if she did just barely catch her, her head would surely skip across the ground, or the angle would give her severe whiplash. At the worst…? Well, it mustn't be said.

Tears stung at Rainbow Dash's eyes, but she wasn't sure if it was due to the speeds she was going, or her sorrow at her friend and idols' unavoidable demise.

‘Rarity… I'm sorry! If I had just listened and trained, I could have saved you!’ Now, she wept openly, even as she tried her best in vain. ‘Kai trusted me… and I let him down… I'm no Element of Loyalty…’

…But then… there was a spark. Something simply… snapped in her. She could only focus on the ponies falling, and felt her body tremble. Time seemed to freeze, and Rainbow Dash felt a power from within. It was so very similar to the power imbued by the Elements of Harmony. And yet, it was so different.

She wanted to save everypony.

She needed to save everypony!

And thusly…

She found a way.

A deep blue aura engulfed the mare as she took off at impossible speeds. A rainbow ring was left in her wake as she was under the five falling ponies instantly. In an arc, she caught everypony fluidy, with no injuries sustained, and lifted back up to Cloudsdale's Colluseum. That ring pulsed out with a boom, loud enough to be heard towns away.

Rainbow Dash set the Wonderbolts down calmly, and allowed the approaching pegasi to take Rarity. Now, she could properly look herself over in a serene confusion. Not much time was allowed for her to do such, as the crowd went wild pretty much the next instant.

“I… I did it, didn't I?” She didn't even bother to try to stop the tears that formed out of pride and happiness. The tears stopped themselves as she pinned two particular voices going more wild than anypony else in the crowd.

“WOOHOO!”

“YEAH!”

She smiled. Her original cheering squad… For appearances, Rainbow Dash slapped on a confident grin and faced the crowd strongly.

She had done it.

---

With all said and done, Rarity was safely set into the basket of the hot air balloon, and had apologized to everypony for getting lost in her wings. All was forgiven, and even Rainbow Dash had no hard feelings.

“Aw, it's okay.” She waved off. “Everything turned out all right, right?” Though she did sigh, a bit dissappointed. “I just wish I could have met the Wonderbolts when they were awake.”

“Careful what you wish for.” Rainbow Dash was about to ask what Kai meant, but a tap on her shoulder made her turn, and then gasp.

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” Standing before her were none other than the Wonderbolts.

“So you're the little pony who saved our lives. We really wanted to meet you, and say thanks.” The rest agreed with that sentiment.

Rainbow Dash continued to fangirl, even harder this time. As she did, the others turned as they noticed Princess Celestia approaching. They bowed, excepting a certain saiyan of course, and Twilight greeted her mentor.

“Princess.”

“Hello, Twilight Sparkle, and hello to your friends too.”

“Princess Celestia, I am sorry I ruined the competition.” Rarity apologized once again. “Rainbow Dash here really is the best flyer in Equestria.”

“I know she is, my dear. That's why, for her incredible act of bravery and her spectacular sonic rainboom, I'm presenting the grand prize for Best Young Flyer to this year's winner, Miss Rainbow Dash!” As the princess crowned Rainbow Dash with this prize, the pegasus could not stop herself from fangirling even further.

The crowd cheered and lifted her off in celebration. By the time they were rather far, only Twilight, Celestia, Kai and Rarity were still in their original places.

“Looks like I'll have my work cut out for me.” Kai noted with a chuckle.

“Oh? Are you taking students?” Princess Celestia wondered.

“Not just any student, Celestia. Only someone like Rainbow Dash.” She simply nodded, understanding completely.

“It's Princess Celestia.” They glanced at a smirking Twilight. “To think you still haven't learned to be respectful after all of this time.”

“Woah, check it out. She's got a sense of humor! Did you teach her that, too?” Kai's jesting question brought an eye-roll from Twilight and a laugh from Celestia.

“In any case, it would seem you all learned something from this experience.” They nodded.

“Rarity has a mean right hook.” And he got to feel it after that remark.

“Thank you, Rarity. Now then…”

Clearing her throat, Rarity began.

“I learned how important it is to keep your hooves on the ground, and be there for your friends.”

“Excellent. Well done, Rarity.”

Now, they watched from afar as Rainbow Dash rode the feelings of success.

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