Dashing Through the Clouds
#3 of Not so Alone
After a couple days with Fluttershy, Flashwing has started to feel as good as new. And today, her leg was feeling much better and she was up and walking around on her own.
"Fluttershy, why don't we go fly?" Flashwing said excitedly.
"Oh- Um... Are you sure you feel well enough to do that?" Fluttershy asked in response.
"Yeah, I feel much better now. Come on, I've been dying to get in the sky. Plus, maybe I can see something that will help me find my way back to Skylands. There has to be something that led me here to Equestria."
"Well OK" Fluttershy said sheepishly "but let's not go too high. Or too fast."
Flashwing almost dragged Fluttershy out the door and as soon as they were on the grass Flashwing was in the air. Fluttershy hesitated for a moment but then shook her head, gritted her teeth and followed her new friend into the air. Flashwing started to pick up speed and dart around to exercise her wings but when she saw Fluttershy struggling to keep up, she slowed her pace to a lazier glide and was happy when the Pegasus caught up.
"Sorry" Flashwing said "I will try to keep a slower pace. I'm just so happy to fly again."
"It's not your fault. Rainbow Dash likes to fly too and I usually end up being too slow for her as well. I seem to hold people back." Fluttershy dropped her head and spoke very quietly.
"Don't worry." Flashwing said reassuringly as she grabbed Fluttershy's leg with her own "I don't mind going slow for you." Fluttershy jerked a little out of shock at the touch but looked up and smiled at Flashwing. "So is Rainbow Dash one of your friends?"
"Oh yes, we've been friends for a long time. She's a Pegasus like me but she isn't afraid to fly. She's one of the best flyers ever!" Fluttershy responded. She talked more excitedly when talking about her friend. Her pride in her was very evident.
"I am the best flyer ever!" came a voice from behind a nearby cloud. Flashwing and Fluttershy looked over in time to see a blue head pop out from behind the cloud. "Fluttershy who are you-" She started until she saw Flashwing on the far side of her yellow friend "A dragon!"
The blue Pegasus charged through the air with a burst of speed and Flashwing was barely able to dodge out of the way. "You stay away from Fluttershy!" the pony threatened.
"No, Rainbow, it's OK. She's my friend." Fluttershy said quietly but insistently.
"Your friend, huh? I know you aren't scared of dragons anymore but I haven't seen any around here before." Rainbow said while never taking her gaze off Flashwing.
"I've never been here before" Flashwing responded, not waiting for Fluttershy to defend her any further. "I got lost and ended up here somehow and Fluttershy has been helping me out after I got attacked by timberwolves."
"Timberwolves? Well you aren't much of a dragon if a few timberwolves were able to attack you." Rainbow brazenly responded. "Fluttershy, is that why we haven't seen you in a few days because you've been hanging out with this dragon?"
"Well she got hurt and needed my help so I-" Fluttershy started.
Rainbow quickly cut her off and kept talking as though she wasn't really expecting a response to her question "So what's your name?"
"Flashwing"
"And why are you flying around here? Are you planning on attacking Ponyville? Cloudsdale? Princess Celestia and Twilight will stop you!"
"I'm not here to attack anything." Flashwing said calmly even though these accusations were starting to bother her. She didn't do anything wrong and didn't deserve this. She was just trying to spend some time with her new friend and find her way back home. "I just wanted to fly for a bit after being cooped up in that cabin."
"Oh, I'm so sorry you didn't like my cabin." Fluttershy quickly offered up an un-needed apology. "I should have known that you wanted to be outside."
"No, Fluttershy, that's not what I-" Flashwing started until Rainbow Dash once again interrupted.
"So you like to fly? Are you any good?"
"Well I'm flying now so I know how..." Flashwing answered, not really sure of the real question.
"I mean, how fast can you fly?"
"I don't know; I've never seen how fast I could go."
"Well then let's find out! I know I'll beat you, but we can see if maybe you can keep up enough to _watch_me beat you."
Flashwing was really getting tired of these insults and was not going to be talked to like this. "Fine, we'll see who can fly the fastest. Let's find a good place to race where the clouds are more clear and we can see where we're going."
Rainbow snorted a laugh and quickly flew into the clouds. During her brief absence Flashwing turned to Fluttershy and said "I didn't mean anything was wrong with your cabin. I loved staying there with you. I just enjoy flying and am happy to be outside." Fluttershy blushed a bit and put her head down but smiled with the acknowledgement so Flashwing felt better. Before long the cloud directly in front of Flashwing burst apart and she could see that most of the sky before her was now clear of clouds.
"We can race right here." Rainbow declared "The first one down to that grey cloud far in the distance and then back is the fastest. The last one is you."
Flashwing ignored this comment and got ready to soar.
"Fluttershy, you'll start us off!" Rainbow shouted to her.
"Oh, um... Ready." She said in her usual quiet manner.
"Louder Fluttershy!" Rainbow shouted to her. Flashwing really hated how rude she was to someone that was supposed to be her friend. Why would Fluttershy be so proud of her friend who was so rude? She thought to herself.
"Set" Fluttershy said in a voice that wasn't noticeably any louder.
Rainbow sighed at her friend and then just shouted "GO!" and bolted quickly away from their starting point.
Flashwing was surprised for a second but then soared off after her. After all the time she spent in Skylands not being able to fly and then the past few days at Fluttershy's she was very tired of not using her wings so now she intended to go all out. She zipped through the sky and suddenly a small cloud dropped right in front of her and she heard a chuckle from the far side of it. She quickly brought up her tail and zapped a small beam at the cloud and it blew apart as a surprised Rainbow Dash exclaimed "what was that?" Flashwing didn't respond and instead blew past her.
Rainbow started to close in after short while and shouted up to Flashwing "Pretty good, but I haven't even started to fly yet." As rainbow got closer, a break in the clouds above them let a bright sunlight down and it shone a rainbow color through the crystal wings of Flashwing and dazzled and slightly blinded her. Rainbow show her head and banked to one side and went to pass the dragon. "Nice try, but you can't blind me and cheat your way ahead."
"I wasn't blinding anyone!" Flashwing rebutted, not sure what Rainbow was talking about "And you were the one who cheated when you pushed that cloud down in front of me."
"I don't have to cheat, I'll beat you anyway!" Rainbow boasted and then once again soared ahead of Flashwing. They had reached the checkpoint now and Rainbow quickly zipped around it and headed back toward the start and Fluttershy. Flashwing grunted softly in determination and put her head down and quickly ruffled her wings and then took off right after her.
Flashwing gained speed quickly and the blue pony ahead of her looked back once and to her surprise saw Flashwing only a foot from her flank. Rainbow sneered before looking forward again and then pushing herself so much that the air around her exploded with brilliant rainbow-colored light and she bolted ahead with a burst of speed. Flashwing was dazed for a moment but then regained herself and hurried off behind her.
Flashwing was flying as fast as she could now and was almost right behind the Pegasus. She could still see hints of rainbow colored light trailing from her rival as she closed in. They were getting close to where they started and Flashwing quickly dodged around this pony and right as they passed Fluttershy and their starting point she pulled ahead of her.
Flashwing slowed to a stop after winning but Rainbow crashed right into her and drove her to the ground. "You cheated!" Rainbow yelled "Nopony is faster than me!"
Flashwing fluttered her wings open and knocked Rainbow back, "I did not cheat!"
Rainbow stomped the ground and snorted, lowered her head as if to attack.
Flashwing didn't want to hurt Fluttershy's friend but was not going to stand for the way she was being treated. She brought up her tail and shot a small beam at the ground just in front of Rainbow's feet. The dirt kicked up and Rainbow shouted in shock as she jumped back into the air after the attack. "That's it, I'm getting Twilight. She knows how to handle a dragon." And without another word the blue Pegasus sped off.
"Oh dear" Fluttershy said as she softly landed next to Flashwing.
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt your friend. But she was being so mean to you and then she attacked me." Flashwing said. She kind of surprised herself at how bad she felt at the thought of upsetting her new friend. I guess I didn't realize how much I cared for you. Flashwing thought about Fluttershy.
"No, I understand." Fluttershy said. She looked as if she was going to say something else but then decided not to. Flashwing stepped forward and was going to try to apologize further but then stumbled a little as she put her weight on her recently healed leg. "Oh! Are you hurt?" Fluttershy exclaimed worriedly. "You must have hurt it when you crashed. Let's go inside, I can take care of it." She reached out to grab Flashwing's leg and as she did, Flashwing moved in and kissed Fluttershy softly.
Quickly she realized what she was doing and stopped and when she moved back, Fluttershy was blushing very deeply and standing there almost frozen, not saying a word. Oh, that was a mistake. Flashwing thought to herself. "Fluttershy, I'm sorry. I-" Flashwing started. She didn't know what to say next but it wouldn't have mattered because from behind her she heard "That's her!" and turned to see Rainbow approaching with a purple unicorn approaching beside her and someone else trailing slightly behind them that she couldn't make out. I just want to go home. Flashwing thought to herself before steeling herself for whatever she about to have to endure.