Chapter 4: Flight Without Wings
Chapter 4: Flight Without Wings
I woke up before dawn to the sound of crying. In a groggy state, I reached around the bed to find that Rainbow Dash was missing...although I had already figured it must be her. I looked over at the window to see her staring at the horizon, soft whimpers escaping her lips.
"Dash," I asked softly, "what's troubling you?"
She sniffled a few times and turned to me. Her pretty eyes were bloodshot and she had dried tears all over her cheeks. "Oh...sorry if I woke you up, Koa."
I shook my head. "No, it's alright. I was worried about you."
She sighed and looked back out over the ocean to the west. "I was just thinking about my friends. You know on nights like this, Fluttershy and I used to go out late at night and just fly in the night air." She sniffled a few more times before clearing her throat. "I don't think I ever told her how much that meant to me. We wouldn't race...we wouldn't prank anypony...we'd just fly. It was one of my favorite things to do." She then turned back to me with a broken expression before running to me and hugging me tight. "I miss them so much, Koa."
It was at that moment that I had a great idea for us both...something to lift both of our spirits.
"Hey Dash...let's go skydiving."
Next thing I knew, we were on the road while it was still dark, headed towards Santa Cruz. I called up a friend who worked there and let them know I needed a jump chartered, and I'd be bringing a plus one. Since I had a USPA "A" license, I would be Dash's guide. I found it funny that a human - who couldn't even fly - would have to take a former pegasus and strap her to his body. I tried as best I could to explain to Dash exactly why humans got a thrill out of skydiving.
"I don't get it, Koa. I mean thanks, but I don't see how this is supposed to be fun." she said, a little bored.
I smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder as we walked. "Because Dash, we have to rely on parachutes to keep us from making a mess on the ground. We won't have wings to stop us...and if the parachutes fail, we'll be fertilizer."
Now she actually looked afraid, and she stopped with a look of grave apprehension. "Wait...this sounds really dangerous all of the sudden."
I grabbed her hand and pulled her along as we continued walking. "You've gone faster than the speed of sound. You can't tell me you're afraid of jumping out of a plane with me."
She cocked her head to the side in confusion. "What's a 'plane'?"
We walked around a big hangar and I pointed to the mid-sized propeller plane we'd be taking. "That's a plane. Human's can't fly by themselves, so we build machines to help us do it."
Her eyes widened and she wore a smile of pure joy, and I knew exactly what she was thinking. She was the fastest thing in the air back in Equestria, but here she was just another flightless human.
But now maybe, just maybe, she'd soar through the sky again someday.
"Yo, Koa!" shouted a voice from near the plane. It was my obsidian-haired friend Desiree from college, and she would be our pilot for the day. She rushed over and clapped a hand on my shoulder with a smile. "Man, it's been forever since I've seen you last. What have you been up to?"
I chuckled and slapped her lightly on the back. "Oh not much, just inkin', strummin', and killin'." I then turned to Dash and held an arm open, beckoning her over. "Dizzy, this is Rosabela. Rosa, this is my good friend Desiree. She's gonna be the one to fly us up there and kick us out of the plane."
Dash held out a hand to shake and smiled. "Hey Desiree, nice to meet you."
She shook Dash's hand and smiled back. "Likewise." She then turned to me and smirked. "First date and you're already wanting to jump out of a plane? She must be something."
I chuckled and shook my head. "She's just a close friend is all. I wanted to give her one of the ultimate thrills, so here we are. Can you go and get her suited up?"
Dizzy nodded and beckoned Dash over to her. "Alright girl, come to the hangar with me. We'll get you suited up and I'll give you a crash course in basic skydiving procedure. Forgive the phrasing, please." Dash giggled and nodded, following my friend into the hangar.
I followed and went to the men's locker room, grabbing my suit out of my rented locker and getting dressed in it. I was itching with excitement, mostly because I knew that once Dash got over the fear of hurtling towards the ground at terminal velocity, she would love every second of it.
I walked back towards the plane to find that Dizzy was going through the motions showing Dash proper positions and whatnot, as well as basic safety procedure.
"...lastly, whatever you do, stay calm. Flailing could send you into a spin, and that's bad." She said to Dash, and the rainbow-haired girl nodded.
I chuckled. "Yeah. Plus if you hit me in the face and knock me out, it's all over anyway."
Dash rolled her eyes at me but smiled. "Well don't worry, I'll be cool."
"Alright then...you two ready?" said our pilot with a smile. We both nodded and boarded the plane. After a short safety check, the engine started and we started moving down the empty runway at a slow speed. Dash was fascinated by the plane, and wore an expression of awe the whole time we made our way to the main runway. There was an unknown co-pilot in the cabin already, and we just waved at him.
I clipped myself up to Dash and she giggled. "Well now...this is a fun position."
I called her bluff and whispered into her ear, "Even more fun without clothes."
She blushed hotly and looked over her shoulder at me. I couldn't contain it anymore and burst out laughing. After rolling her eyes, she joined me in laughter, but immediately stopped as we started to pick up speed. I positioned us so that she could look out the window as we took off, and she was in relative heaven. I'd never seen her smile so big and as corny as it sounds, it warmed my heart to see it. As we started to climb, I could see Dash's demeanor change from excited to afraid.
At that moment, Dizzy called back to me, "Alright Koa, I've got clearance for a twenty-five thousand feet high-altitude jump, that means you two need to put your masks on." I nodded and started to fix the oxygen mask to my partner's face, and Diz continued with, "Koa, I'm taking a big risk in doing this...but you told me she needed it. I'm trusting you not to make me regret it."
I nodded as I fixed the mask on my face. Dizzy nodded back as we climbed higher and higher into the air. I watched the altimeter until it reached just under twenty-three thousand, at which point Dizzy started to level the plane out and turned back to us. "Alright you two, landing zone is two miles to the east of the runway. Look for the giant red square with a yellow circle in the middle." The plane leveled out and she held up a closed fist. A light came on in the cabin as the plane started to depressurize, and once the light turned green Dizzy gave me a thumbs up.
I could feel Dash shaking a bit so I hugged her tight from behind and whispered, "Dash, I promise...you'll love this. I'd never let anything happen to you on my watch. I swear it." This calmed her down a bit and she nodded forward, so we stood in tandem and walked towards the door. I lifted the latch handle and the door came open, at which point the co-pilot grabbed the handle and pushed it the rest of the way open, smiling.
The plane slowed considerably and Dizzy cleared her throat. "Okay, we're on target. Koa, it's on you, bud! You're gonna have about ninety seconds of safe freefall before you reach minimum altitude for your parachutes!" I nodded and placed my arms against the frame of the door. Dizzy then started the countdown.
"Alright, this is it! Jump in five!"
I crossed my partner's arms against her chest and held them there.
"Four!"
Dash closed her eyes in preparation.
"Three!"
Even through the cloth of our suits, I could feel Dash's pulse through her wrist.
"Two!"
We stepped out right on the edge of the doorframe.
"One!"
I held onto Dash tight with my arms wrapped around her in a firm hug.
"Jump!"
With a push off the balls of my feet, we were now airborne. Before the sound of air rushing by my ears started to drown out all sound, I heard Dash screaming. I couldn't help but smirk, but focused on the jump. I leveled us out and Dash took the "frog" position, as she was told to.
Dash reached back and tapped me to get my attention, and then crossed her ankles and put her arms at her sides in the "bullet" position. I grinned and took the same position, angling us forward. Our speed quickly increased and I could feel her shaking against me. However, she didn't break the position so I continued. With our increased speed, we soon reached the minimum altitude, so I motioned for her to spread out again as I did the same, slowing our fall speed. When we slowed as much as possible, I pulled the ripcord and felt a large physical shock as we stopped falling. We were some distance away from the landing zone, so I steered us towards it. We landed right in the middle, and fell over. Dash was still shaking...but she was laughing.
She took off her mask and laughed even louder. I unhooked us from each other, and once her laughter subsided, she looked back at me. "Koa...that. Was. AWESOME!"
"I knew you'd like it, Dashie." I said with a wide grin of my own.
She stopped laughing when she realized what I called her, and when I realized as well I was mentally kicking myself. More than likely that nickname was a sensitive subject for her, and I probably crossed a huge line. However, instead of her crying or yelling, she smiled warmly.
The rainbow-haired girl crawled over to me and patted me on the shoulder. "Thanks a lot for this, Koa. This just made my day."
Now relieved, I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding and smiled. "You're welcome, Dash. I'm happy to see you smile."
After relaxing for a bit, Dizzy came around with her car to pick us up. We headed back to the hangar and got dressed again, then went out for a late lunch.
We stopped by a hole-in-the-wall shop that sold funnel cakes and burgers. I decided to share a pastry with Dash while Dizzy went with a burger. As Dash and I ate the glazed apple cake, she eyed the cheeseburger that Diz was eating. After Diz got up to run to the restroom, Dash kept staring at the lovely creation of meat and cheese.
She pointed at it with confusion, whispering, "Koa, what's that?"
I sighed and closed my eyes. "I was really hoping to break this to you easier than this, Dash...but humans are omnivores."
She gasped and drew back. "Y-you mean..."
I nodded. "Yes...we eat other animals as well as plants. That right there used to be part of a cow." I said, motioning to the cheeseburger.
She took it surprisingly well, considering. As soon as Diz got back, Dash rushed to the restroom as well, saying she had to "clean up".
Diz watched her leave and smiled at me. "It's good to see you back on the market after all these years, sea monster." she said, using the nickname she picked for me back in college.
I chuckled and waved a hand off, dismissing her. "I said it's not like that, Dizzy. We're just close friends."
She stared at me with a face that said she didn't believe me. "Please...I see how you look at her. You really like her, don't you? And don't lie to me, Koa...or so help me I'll call Lil and tell her about that one time yo-"
"Okay fine, I like her!" I yelled.
Diz smiled and nodded. "See? Was that so hard?"
I grumbled and then sighed sadly. "It's just...a part of me feels like I'm betraying Kay just by feeling attracted to the girl."
"Koa...Kay's gone." Diz responded softly. She placed a hand on my shoulder before continuing. "I miss her too, man, but she was my best friend as well. I knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't want you to forsake possible relationships simply because of her. Kaykay loved you more than anything, but she also was far from possessive. She'd want you to move on, man."
I took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah...that's what everyone keeps telling me."
She rolled her eyes and pulled my face to look at her. "Well why don't you start listening then? I'm not saying forget all about Kay, because we both know damn well that you could never do that. What I'm saying is allow yourself to live your own life again."
Before we could continue the conversation further, Dash came back looking quite a bit better than when she left. The color had returned to her face, and even though I could tell it still bothered her, she didn't have the same utterly disgusted look when she saw Dizzy's sandwich.
"Sorry about that, Koa." Dash said softly, smiling. She then pointed at the funnel cake. "Are you gonna finish that? I'm starved." I shook my head and pushed the pie tin over to her, and she voraciously chowed down on the sweet doughy mess. Diz couldn't help but giggle at the rainbow-headed girl's antics, and I joined her in laughter.
It was starting to get late, so we got up to leave. Dash headed to the restroom one more time to clean herself up (the food got EVERYWHERE), and Diz stood next to me as we waited.
She nudged me and nodded towards the restrooms. "She's got beautiful eyes the likes of which I've never seen before, and fucking rainbow-dyed hair. That and the fact that she obviously likes you a lot and her personality gels so well with yours." She patted me on the back. "She’s perfect for you...just give her a chance."
I rolled my eyes, but nodded. "Yeah...I think I can do that. You're right."
She puffed out her chest and beat it with a fist. "Of course I'm right, did you forget who you're talking to?"
I smirked. "Slenderman."
Her demeanor instantly changed to embarrassment, and she glared at me. "Fuck. You. You swore you'd never bring that up."
I chuckled and hugged her affectionately while she pouted. "Aww come on, it wasn't that bad. You only had nightmares for what, a week?"
"Yeah, and it wouldn't have been so bad if you hadn't dressed up in that costume and chased me down the boardwalk that night." she said with annoyance.
I let go of her and laughed. "Well, at least you made it in the paper as 'The Slender Wailer'."
She shoved me and I just laughed some more. Dash then came jogging out of the restroom with a smile, so we grabbed our stuff and left.
It was early evening by the time we got home, so I took a quick shower and proceeded to tidy up the spare bedroom while my new roommate took a shower. After putting new sheets and a thin blanket down, I walked out into the hallway, right into a very surprised Rainbow Dash. Her head slammed into my forehead and we tumbled backwards, landing with a grunt from each of us. When I opened my eyes, she was laying on top of me with her eyes closed, a grimace on her face. She opened her eyes as well, and upon seeing the position we were in (and the fact she was only covered in a towel), she jumped off of me, pulling the towel tight to her body.
"Erm...sorry Koa. I'll just...go get ready for bed." she said quickly before running off to the bedroom I'd set up for her.
I shook my head and headed to my bedroom, quickly dressing down and slipping into my own bed after turning out the lights. As I stared at the ceiling and thought about the day, I found my thoughts starting to drift not to Kay...but to Dash. As dirty as it was, I was finally allowing myself to admire the image of her body. Those lean, toned legs and stomach. That tight, firm butt...
'Dude...you need to get laid.'
I sighed and pushed the thoughts away again, figuring I should cut it off before it goes too far.
I lay in my bed for another hour or so, unable to sleep. As weird as it sounded, my bed felt...empty. It was the same kind of feeling I had after Kay had passed, and it confused me.
There was a near undetectable sound of footsteps coming down the hallway, and I pretended I was asleep as my door opened softly. Through near-closed eyes, I could see the slender figure of my houseguest stand in the doorway for a moment before walking over to the other side of the bed. I felt the bed shift as she lay down next to me, and I felt the warmth of her skin as she got closer.
I rolled over onto my back and draped my arm around her with a smile. "This is going to be a permanent thing, isn't it?"
For reasons unknown she got shy all of the sudden and looked away. "Oh, w-well I'm sorry. I can go if you want me to..." and she started to scoot away.
I stopped her by pulling her close again, holding her against my side with my arm. "No...you don't have to go unless you want to."
"I don't..." she said softly.
It was at that moment that I realized something: in my bed with my arm around her, the feeling of loneliness was gone. My bed no longer felt empty...it was like she belonged there. Deciding not to push the thoughts any further, I simply lay my head back and closed my eyes, falling soon into a peaceful slumber.
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OH MY CELESTIA! YESSSSSSS!
I'm not gonna say it.
I'm not gonna say it.
I'm not gonna fucking say it.
I'm not gonna-, oh fuck it. FIRST
1960156 good for you
lol that ending.... d´aaaawwwwwwww
Now I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Things don't stay perfect forever.
simply fantastic!
*starts to wave the Rainbow-colored-flag* *hint hint*
1960437 You're absolutely right, they don't. Any good story needs conflict, as that's what would happen in reality. The conflict is coming soon, worry not.
1960807 It's a "hint" that I'm not getting, apparently. Rainbows are pretty...especially if they're all sparkly, then they're really pretty.
d'aww . and nice one, with the sky diving
Never wouldve thought of that!!
1961292 It's a spur of the moment type of thing, and if you happen to know someone that can hook you up with a jump, why not?
Great story, you update is frequently and thats plain awesome!
Thanks alot for writing bro. I look forward to see your sucess in writing 
1961501 Story is already written, I'm just editing and reuploading it. Thanks though!
sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/311127_299608386817243_630173150_n.jpg
1963381 Yeah, nowadays. This is set eight years ago. You're welcome for the timeline.
1960959 the *hint hint* was a reference to my earlier Comment 1947920.
XD... *waves a 'sparkling' rainbow colored flag*
1963789 Still lost for some reason, but I still like glittery rainbows.
Pretty...
I swear, both this and morning star need to be continued. I am so in love with them.
1971968 They're coming. Patience please, I'm only one awesome man with a day job and ADD and-
...ooh...cookies...
And... And??? Wait did you say cookies?. I love cookies and cake. Cookies and cake. Can't go wrong with chocolate milk either. Wait did I take my meds today... I seem really easy to distract. I just need a factor to ...CAKEE!
1972008 Meh, I'm not much of a cake person. Now mindless zombie slaughter with cookies and milk I can get behind. Oh, and I have to wear my rainbow socks...they're lucky.
Cookies and zombie slaughter? Perfect combo! And my pink socks are lucky for me. Then again I don't even own a pair of rainbow socks. I should buy some.
1972048 You should. They bring your shield gauge to max and give you immunity to virus-based attacks. A must for any zombie-hunter.
1973682 If only you knew what is to come for this story...
this fim fiction just gets better with every chapter ^-^
Heh 'The Slender Wailer'