One Wish

by Scribblestick

Stretching

Rainbow Dash was no stranger to physical therapy. Every athlete landed there eventually. It was, however, the first time she'd ever gone in of her own initiative. She felt a little nervous as the therapist poked and prodded her wing, but she didn't even think about walking out. Cloudwing deserved the best she could offer.

“Your bone structure is sound,” the therapist said. “Most of your symptoms are the result of age, I'm afraid. There's nothing I can do to turn back the clock.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. It was the answer she'd expected. “I'm not asking you to work a miracle, doc. I just want to make this wing a little stronger.”

“After that incident at the training ground, I don't blame you,” the therapist said as she consulted her notes. Rainbow Dash grimaced. News of her near-disastrous free fall was certainly spreading fast. “I do have some exercises that will help,” she said. “You'll have to limit yourself to stretching until your sprain heals up, but after that, I recommend adding some light resistance training to strengthen those muscles.”

She handed Dash a few sheets of paper with illustrations of low-impact wing exercises. Dash looked them over. “Sounds good,” she said. “So, with this, do you think I'll be able to make those tight turns again?”

The therapist gave her a stern, but understanding, look. “Miss Dash, it's very unlikely you'll ever be as agile as you were in your prime. These exercises will improve your control, but I don't want you to get any ideas or false hopes. As I said, I can't turn back the clock.”

It wasn't the answer she'd hoped for, but she knew better than to argue. She tucked the papers into her bags, thanked the therapist for her time, and left. It'll have to be enough.

---

A week passed, and Dash liked the results. Her Rainboom Squad gave her a little flak over what they called “grandma exercises,” but a few extra laps and wing lifts put an end to that. The joints in her wing popped a little less now, and she noticed her turns became much smoother. Can't believe I just let myself go like that, she thought, then had a good chuckle at herself—even in her current state, she knew she was more athletic than most ponies half her age.

The Rainboom Squad made good progress as well. All three of them could work comfortably at high altitudes now, and their dives and recoveries had all improved significantly. Only Gale seemed close to reaching the speeds needed to perform the Sonic Rainboom, but she was confident all three of them would be able to do it eventually.

Now, if only she could do it, too.

“All right, the pony games end here,” she told them as they stood in an attentive line atop a cirrus cloud. “Any pegasus with half a brain can make a dive. To master the Rainboom, you have to do more. Gale.” He straightened a little at the sound of his name. “You're the fastest. What have you noticed about your speed this week?”

Gale cleared his throat before answering. “It's improved, but not enough,” he said. “Sometimes I feel like I'm close, but there's a wall there, stopping me. I know that's just in my head, ma'am,” he added quickly. “The Rainboom's a legendary maneuver. I'm just psyching myself out.”

“Maybe,” Dash said, “and maybe not.” She stopped her pacing and looked each of them in the eye. “There's a very real wall you'll run up against. As you fly, you push air out of your way. The faster you go, the more that air builds up and pushes back. The trick to the Rainboom is figuring out how to break through.”

Gale nodded. “I think I understand, ma'am.”

“Good. Now, there's a certain technique that helps with this,” Dash said. “You know how your form is different when you're racing, versus when you're just flying around for fun?” The three nodded. “The Rainboom has its own form. It's hard to describe, so I'm going to show you what it looks like.”

The three exchanged nervous glances. “Ma'am, are you sure that's a good idea?” Skypuff asked. “You only just recovered, after all.”

“Don't worry. I have the power of grandma exercises on my side now,” Dash answered, smirking. The trio gave her sheepish smiles. “Obviously, I won't be going full speed on this one. You three follow me and watch what I do.”

Dash turned away from them and faced the plummet before her. Despite her confident air, her hooves were shaking a little. She hoped her years of practice would pull through. “Diving on three,” she said. “One, two, three!”

The four pegasi leaped from the cloud and descended. Dash beat her wings, building up as much speed as she dared. Smarter, she reminded herself, not harder. Though she wasn't anywhere near the speed required to perform the Rainboom, she imagined she was, stretching her body and lining herself up behind her front hooves. She flared her wings. For one panicked moment, she thought her right wing would fold again, but it held, and she swooped out of the dive to land on a nearby cloud. She smiled as she fluttered to a stop. Progress.

“All right,” she said to the three pegasi who shortly joined her. “Hope you all got a good look, because it's your turn to practice.”

Stratus nodded. “Lengthen the body to reduce resistance. Angle your hooves to cut through the air,” he said.

Dash nodded. “That technique is hard on the body, so use it well,” she said. “Now, back up to that cloud. I want ten reps from each of you, one at a time so I can see what you're doing wrong. Go!” The three leaped into the air and raced back to their starting point. Soon, they were dots in the sky.

---

Another week passed, and Dash knew she wasn't going to make it.

She was still making progress, no doubt. In fact, she planned to visit the therapist again to see about expanding her exercise options. Her turns were sharper, her speed improved, and now her Rainboom Squad had to work hard to finish their warm-ups before she did.

Still, that breaking point—the gateway to the Rainboom—eluded her. It wasn't the speed she worried about. It was the recovery. Pulling out of a dive that steep and fast... well, as she drilled into every cadet's head, if you can't do it safely, you shouldn't be doing it at all.

At the end of the second week, Dash had decided to break the news to Fluttershy. It was her weekend off, and she planned to visit Ponyville anyway. A part of her hated to admit defeat, but she consoled herself with the knowledge that she had given it her best effort. And, hey, this didn't have to be the end for Cloudwing, either. Dash felt confident the filly would enjoy a tour of the Wonderbolts Academy, maybe even flying with the team. There were plenty of options for a pony who loved to fly.

“Don't do anything dumb while I'm gone,” Dash told her team as she prepared to fly out. They were getting ready to head home to Cloudsdale for a well-earned weekend of rest.

“Take care, coach,” Skypuff said. “Be sure to give those old wings a rest.”

“And don't forget your grandma exercises,” Gale added.

“Yeah, yeah.” Dash smiled, in spite of herself. Sometimes, the trash talk was the only thing that got her out of bed in the morning.

---

She arrived in Ponyville in the early afternoon. The weather crews waved at her as she flew by, and she waved back. She stopped by Sugarcube Corner for a late lunch, and to catch up with Pinkie Pie. Next, she visited Carousel Boutique to see about getting her old flight suit patched. Rarity was more than happy to accommodate her, and promised the patch would be done by the morning. She decided to take a short detour to Sweet Apple Acres on her way to Fluttershy's cottage, where Applejack talked her into a hoof-wrestling match for old time's sake. She finally arrived at the cottage as the evening sky turned orange, feeling physically worn-out but mentally refreshed.

The cottage looked the same on the outside, but inside, things had changed. With the success of Fluttershy's animal sanctuary, most of her animal patients were able to stay there for treatment, recovery, and relaxation. The extra space was taken up with a half-dozen or so projects Fluttershy had in the works. It took Rainbow Dash a moment to find a place to put her saddlebags when Fluttershy welcomed her in.

“I'm sorry about the mess,” Fluttershy said as Rainbow Dash squeezed herself into a chair flanked by two large boxes. “Those are the new woodcarvings for the schoolhouse,” she explained. “They just came in from Trottingham today, and I didn't have anywhere else to put them.”

“Don't worry about it,” Dash said. “Any time with a friend is fine with me.”

Fluttershy smiled, then got her a drink. “So,” Dash started, “how's the bird sanctuary coming along?”

“Very well.” Fluttershy's grin warmed Dash's heart. “We've just started construction, and it should be done by the end of the month. Speaking of which...”

Dash tried to keep her smile on, but she knew it wasn't very convincing. “Yeah. I've been working my best, but...”

Fluttershy nodded. “You don't have to apologize. I always knew it was a long shot.” She took a sip of her tea. “I'll write to them in the morning. I'm sure we'll be able to come up with another wish that works.”

Dash's heart sank nonetheless. “I hate to let her down,” she said. “I can probably do some other stunts, if she wants. Or give a tour, or put on a show, or...” Now that she said them out loud, all of her suggestions seemed inadequate.

If Fluttershy agreed, she didn't let it show. “I know you'll do anything you can,” she said with a smile.

“This won't mess up the whole program, will it?”

“Oh, no. I have plenty of other applicants,” Fluttershy answered. “I'll look through them tomorrow and let Twilight know we're changing plans.”

Just then, somepony knocked on the door. Fluttershy set her tea down carefully. “It's probably a late delivery. I get a lot of those,” she said. Sure enough, the mail pony stood outside with an envelope. Fluttershy thanked her and returned to her seat.

“Who's it from?” Dash asked.

Fluttershy looked at the envelope and frowned. “It's from Cloudwing.” She opened the envelope and unfolded the letter. As she read, her eyes squinted, and then went wide, ending with a small gasp.

Dash's heart raced. “What's wrong? Is Cloudwing okay?”

Fluttershy's chest heaved with each quick breath. “She heard you'll be doing a Sonic Rainboom for her,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “She's never been so excited in her life.”

Comments

[Gnarlwood]

I must say you, have the cliffhanger ending down pat. Looking great so far.

[Scribblestick]

11091822
Thank you! I've been practicing.