Return to Flight

Written by: outlaw4rc

Edited by: Shaleclaw, Azusa, krabynaby123 & Duel Monster

Author's Note:

This is a rewritten version. The original is available for download via my FIMFiction or DeviantArt account (outlaw4rc)

Chapter 1 - Crash Landing

Every day is a good day for Wonderbolts training. That's the credo that Rainbow Dash has always followed.

Today, on this early Monday afternoon, Ponyville's climate schedule called for fierce and unpredictable winds. As expected, gusts ripped through the town, scattering anything not properly secured, be it leaves, litter or the umbrellas off the tables at the local cafe. Any sensible pegasus would have taken one look outside and either decided to stay home or to make any necessary trips for the day on hoof—anything to avoid flying in the unpredictable gales if at all possible.

Rainbow Dash was not what one would call a precautious, sensible pegasus.

In an open field north of Ponyville, Rainbow licked her hoof and raised it, sensing the air flow as a nearby sapling leaned back, fighting for its right to stay upright. At that moment, a massive gust snapped the trunk, the crack loud enough that the daredevil mare flinched as though lightning struck by her hooves. Once Rainbow spotted the source of the noise many yards away, she winced at the sight of the weather's latest victim, its remains no more than splintered wood.

Any other time of the year, she might have considered calling this day a loss and taking a nap instead, preferably somewhere indoors. Unfortunately, her vacation from her job as Ponyville's weather leader ended on Friday. Come Saturday morning was seven-straight days of steady rain—a whole week of long, hard, and dreary hours barking orders, pushing clouds and resolving problems resulting from a sustained downpour over a region which did not normally deal with that much precipitation in that span of time. With all that labor, there would be scant time to prepare for what she believed was her destiny, so these next few days were precious stones. She was in no mood to waste a single moment of them.

Chest swelling with bravery, Rainbow turned to her usual training session companion. "Well, Fluttershy, it's not too bad, dontcha think?"

The yellow pegasus held onto her plentiful mane as if she was afraid the gusts would steal it. "Um, are you sure it's safe to do this right now?"

"Huh?" Rainbow asked, speaking above the wind's howl.

"Is this safe?" Fluttershy covered her mouth, realizing the gust was dying down. "There's a lot of new pegasi on the patrol, and I know they're trying their best, but—"

"What are you trying to say, Fluttershy?" Rainbow asked, her face inching closer. "Don't tell me they can't handle things without me!"

Another sudden gust of wind pushed down Fluttershy while stretching Rainbow's cheeks wide.

"Well, maybe they need—" She got up, dusting off loose grass "—you know, a little more training?"

This was not the first time such sentiments had reached Rainbow's ears. Just about everypony in town had complained about her staff at one point or another with problems ranging from unscheduled rainstorms to the surprise heat wave that brought sizzling temperatures to Ponyville in the middle of winter. They were by no means incompetent, but they needed some guidance on the more technical aspects about weather. Rainbow, being the action mare that she was, thought it would be better to learn by doing, rather than boring lectures. Besides more teaching meant less time for important Wonderbolt preparation.

"They'll be just fine," Rainbow said. "I'm sure they don't need me telling them what to do every single minute." She pointed upwards, "Ok! For my first trick, I'm going right into the Bolt Super Loop n' Dive!"

Fluttershy gasped. "Are you sure about this, Rainbow? Don't you think it's a little dangerous?"

"You worry too much," replied Rainbow, patting her frightened friend on the shoulder. "It'll be just like every other stunt I've done. I promise nothing's going to go wrong."

From afar, an orange blob on a scooter was approaching them at high speed, defying both the weather and road conditions with precise body leans and rapid wing beats.

Rainbow winced, "Uh, oh. Scoots."

"Something wrong?" Fluttershy asked. "Are you afraid she's gonna ask you again?"

"No." She tousled her hair, "It's just that I don't know what to—"

Scootaloo skidded for a stop but the winds caused a wobble to the left. Releasing her grip on the handlebars, the filly jumped off the scooter and stumbled onto a dirt patch. Her hooves tip-toed across the surface until she finally came to a rest just as her ride tumbled right past her and landed flat in front of Fluttershy.

"I'm okay!" the Crusader said as she picked up her scooter. "Lousy weather, huh?"

Rainbow nodded slowly, "Uh, yeah. What are you doing out here? Aren't you supposed to be at school right now?"

"You won't believe what happened," Scootaloo responded with a grin. "There was this big whoosh! and then half the roof collapsed!"

Fluttershy cusped her mouth. "Oh, no! Is everypony okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Nothing that a few bandages couldn't fix. But anyways, we got the rest of the day off. Isn't that great?"

"But you'll miss a few hours of lear—"

"So, Dash," Scootaloo continued, ignoring Fluttershy. "Since I'm here, how about some flying lessons?"

The daredevil's eyes darted left and right. "Well, I… you see, I'm kinda busy right now, Squirt."

The words was a punch in the gut to her euphoria. "Oh. You are?" Scootaloo pawed the grass, "But you always say that. I mean, I thought you were on vacation right now."

Rainbow cringed at the building of water in the filly's eyes. "I am but… um, I was in the middle of some Wonderbolts training." She wrapped one hoof around Scootaloo's neck while using the other to rub her forelock. "C'mon. I need you to be my cheering section. You can do that for me, right?"

Her negative emotions wilted with every rub. "Ok," Scootaloo giggled. "Let me show you what I can do!"

Scootaloo inhaled the air around her until her lungs ballooned to their maximum size. Then, the inevitable happened as the pegasus filly let loose a cacophony of shouting. "That was so awesome Rainbow Dash! You are the best—"

Rainbow shoved her hoof in Scootaloo's mouth. "Yeah, that will do, squirt." She turned in Fluttershy's direction and winked at her. "You hear that? Now that's how it's done!"

Fluttershy, however, had more pressing concerns on her mind than her cheering voice's volume. "Don't you think you can do this stunt tomorrow?" she pleaded as her flowing mane flapped in the persistent breeze.

"No," Rainbow answered flatly. "I can totally handle this! Just watch!"

With all matters settled, she cast her eyes towards the sky and closed them tight. This was her favorite moment. She could picture herself as a Wonderbolt awaiting the start of a show. She would be standing with her teammates in the entryway to the field of the Cloudsdale Cloudosseum. The open-air stadium crowd's fervent cheers would echo in her ears as she and her comrades awaited their introductions. One-by-one, an announcer called their names until Rainbow was left standing in the tunnel, waiting to make her grand entrance.

The announcer would pause dramatically, stretching the moment as long as possible to build the anticipation. The crowd inside the arena would grow impatient, chanting Rainbow's name repeatedly, as if to remind the emcee of the name of only the most important pony there that he was forgetting. Finally, the master of ceremonies would yield to the crowd's demands and call her name with drawn-out emphasis.

She would rip through the fabric and then zoom over the crowds, leaving behind a sparkling rainbow contrail. Jaws would drop, hooves would clap, and her piece de resistance, the Sonic Rainboom, would make a few faint at its awesomeness and shake the stadium's cloud architecture to its very foundation in a thunderous explosion of prismatic color.

The sound of her own wistful sigh brought her back to reality, reminding her it was just a fantasy. She was just plain, old Rainbow Dash, Ponyville's resident Weather Manager, not an awesome and inspiring Wonderbolt...yet.

Drawing breath, she spread her wings and tensed her muscles in preparation for departure.

"It's showtime!" Rainbow exclaimed, before vaulting herself into the sky with a mighty flap.

In seconds, she had rocketed upwards to a white cloud a few hundred feet above the ground. Just as her hooves touched the soft, white surface, an air blast did all it could to throw her off balance. Biting her lip, she looked down, only for the green world to shrink on her as though she was rocketing toward space. Another gust opened the floodgates holding back her doubts.

Ugh, maybe this isn't a good idea after all. Maybe I can wait, or I could tell my team to… She stomped down on the cloud. No! I'll never be a Wonderbolt if I let a little wind bother me; I have to be ready for anything!

For a few seconds, she focused within, demanding that anything hinting of nervousness be silent. Once all her vitals had sufficiently relaxed, she let herself fall off the cloud and then began twirling, keeping her limbs tucked flat against her body. As the wind howling in her ears rendered her deaf to her surroundings, her stomach twisted up in a knot. Her instincts demanded she swing her flight appendages open, but Rainbow refused, knowing this was all part of the plan.

When Rainbow reached the altitude of the surrounding treeline, she opened her wings with a snap, but only to generate lift for a loop. As she ascended upwards, she continued her rotation, but gravity ate away at the momentum she gained on her downward trek.

Flap! Her body told her.

No! Her mind replied, as the whole point was to complete the maneuver using only her momentum to see her through.

Defying her body's urgent warnings that she was approaching a deadly stall, she persisted until she reached the loop's apex, where time slowed to a crawl. Only now could she hear the wonderful melody that was Scootaloo's and Fluttershy's excited gasps, feel her body lighter than a feather and experience the smug satisfaction of reaching this far in the stunt with no problems.

Now came the hard part: she would nose down and continue the loop, ultimately rounding it out completely inverted, mere inches from the ground. This was the portion that separated the wannabe stunt ponies with the ones destined to fly amongst the greatest: a precise, blind set of maneuvers requiring intense concentration, willpower, and sheer bravery. One mistake here meant full wingpower for a hastened level-off, the equivalent of a white flag, or worse, disaster at the bottom.

Time hit the play button and she started her descent. Gravity added a helpful dose of velocity, but the wind decided to pour some extra.

No matter, she thought. With the ground fast approaching, Rainbow adjusted her wing profile for more drag, only for a downdraft to ramp up her speed, triggering alarms in her head.

Abort! Abort!

She jammed the throttles to full and pulled upwards, but all that loomed in her vision was the fast-approaching terrain beneath her. Surpassing the known limits of her strength, she wrestled even harder to slow her descent, but she was out of time. All restraints lost on her vocabulary, she opened her mouth to curse her luck.

"OH HORSE—"

Equestria disappeared all around Rainbow, replaced by silent darkness. For an instant, she noticed images flashing within sight so fast, she couldn't begin to make them out. She strained to decipher them, but her mind yanked them away with such force, it brought her back into the conscious world.

When Rainbow's eyelids parted open, a harsh, artificial light forced them shut. Again, she opened her eyes, this time more slowly until they adjusted to its luminosity. Even then, all she could see was colorful blurs and what she assumed was somepony's face hovering above her. She tried to move, but a hoof held her down.

"Don't get up just yet," said a peaceful but distorted voice.

Rainbow opened her mouth to speak, but found she struggled with each word. "Who's… who's talking? Where am… where am I?"

"It's Nurse Redheart. You're at the Ponyville Clinic."

"The… the clinic?" She wriggled her back and felt a hard, smooth surface beneath her. "What am I… doing here?"

"Don't you remember what happened?"

At the nurse's prompt, Rainbow thought back to the recent events still fresh in her mind but was surprised to discover she could not remember doing anything recently that would warrant a trip to the hospital. That's odd. Maybe somepony crashed into me or something? I'm drawing a blank here! C'mon, Rainbow, think!

She thought harder, but the constant pounding in her head made thinking in general a painfully unpleasant task. Fighting back the urge to panic rising in her chest, Rainbow had to admit defeat. "I-I'm not sure what happened, Nurse Redheart! I can't remember!"

"Easy now," the nurse soothed. "From what Fluttershy told me, you crashed in the middle of a stunt. When I arrived, it looked like you were in shock, so I sedated you. Does that ring a bell?"

The nurse's words were foreign as her environment. "I… don't think so."

"Do you what day it is?"

Probing deeper into her mind, she discovered the latest available memory: breakfast at a local café she usually visited on weekends. "Sunday?" she guessed.

"It's Monday," corrected Redheart, her voice dripping with nervousness. She leaned in closer. "Do you know who you are?"

"I'm Rainbow Dash," she boasted with what little strength she had, "only the best flyer in Equestria."

Redheart chuckled. "That's a relief, best flyer in Equestria." The nurse carefully assisted her patient into a seated position. "Just stay put for a few minutes while I go over my notes, okay?"

Rainbow acknowledged her with a nod, allowing Redheart to walk away. She rubbed her eyes blearily, and what had been a kaleidoscope of moving hues converged into an examination room painted powder blue with flower and butterfly patterns scattered across the walls. On one end was her attendant, scribbling away on a clipboard laid on a countertop beside a jar of cotton swabs and a series of small medical instruments. On the side, she spotted a general pegasus pony anatomy chart and an x-ray illuminator, although there was nothing on it.

"Rainbow?" said Redheart, returning with her written diagnosis on hoof. "Based on my examination, you have a moderate concussion, resulting in your headache and short-term memory loss. I have some pain medication for the headache, but for your memories, you'll just have to wait and see if they'll come back." She flipped over to the next page. "You also have a few scratches here and there, but I took care of those already, so that shouldn't be any trouble." She grabbed something black, and plastered it over the x-ray device. "As for you right wing—"

Adrenaline snapped Rainbow out of her daze. "My wing?" she screeched. Finally, she noticed the skin-tight, white cast holding her appendages in place. Panic made her try to escape the unwanted restraint, but a dull, throbbing pain thwarted her attempt.

"Please, don't do that!" implored Redheart.

When she stopped, a sound that resembled a snapping twig reverberated within her mind, a possible indication that her flying days could be numbered indefinitely. "Umm, did I…" A lump went down her throat. "… umm, you know?"

Nurse Redheart put a hoof on her shoulder. "Rainbow, consider yourself one lucky mare. It's a sprain along with some swelling. Not the best of news, but at least nothing's broken."

She swiped her forehead, relieved that this wasn't a worst case scenario.

"However, you won't be flying around any time soon. Typical recovery time's around two to three weeks, so in the meantime, that cast stays on you, got it?"

That timeline gave Rainbow's optimism a strike in the gut. "But—"

"No buts," Redheart snapped with an authoritative tone. "I already scheduled you an appointment next Monday to check on you. If I believe you've making enough progress, I'll remove the cast, but until then, the cast stays on! Understand?"

Rainbow might not have had much fashion sense, but even she thought the restraint was ghastly. "But—"

Redheart glared at her patient, "No buts, Rainbow! I mean it! Don't make me make house calls every day!"

Even the brash mare was no match for the stern nurse, especially with a threat that Rainbow believed had merit. "Oh, all right," she muttered, looking away.

Nurse Redheart placed a bag around her neck. "This should have enough medicine for the entire week. I'll also inform the Weather Committee that you'll be off-duty indefinitely."

She gulped as she realized her accident came at a bad time. Ponyville's weather team would be without its leader at a time when she would be needed the most. Already, she believed the workload was a lot for her squad—even with her assistance—so she could only imagine the impending disasters that would occur. "Uh oh. My bosses are going to have my flank on a platter for this."

Redheart gave her a reassuring pat. "Don't worry about that. I'm sure they'll figure out something. Just focus on taking it easy for the next few days." She offered her hoof. "C'mon. I'll help you outside. Your friends are anxious to see you."

Rainbow's head fell with her spirits. She did not want her friends to see her in such a pathetic, weakened state. This was humiliating enough already! After a long moan, she held onto the nurse, who helped her off the padded examination table. When she tried to stand, her legs buckled beneath her, their strength sapped by whatever Nurse Redheart sedated her with.

It took a second to reorganize her wobbly limbs beneath her, but eventually Rainbow gave Redheart the okay and allowed the nurse to escort her out of the room and into a hallway. There, Rainbow could finally distinguish the source of a tinny, looping noise that was faint within the room's confines: muzak playing over the PA system. Redheart guided her left, and down the corridor past three other doors—all shut to prevent any prismatic ponies from eavesdropping.

With a right, the two arrived at the waiting room: an area adorned with green plants, abstract art on the walls and rows of cushioned benches where Rainbow's friends had each taken a seat, with the exceptions of Pinkie Pie and Spike. The party pony was bouncing around the room, talking with each pony as if she knew them her whole life, while the small dragon tailed her, holding balloons. He saw Rainbow first, so he called attention to her arrival, prompting her friends to surround her and begin an interrogation.

Redheart raised her hoof in between the conversation, and bellowed, "Now hold on, everypony, please!"

Everypony ceded to the authoritative mare's terse command.

Her tone softened, "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but Rainbow's not in a condition to answer much right now, so go easy on her."

The nurse then briefed everypony in on Rainbow's diagnosis, taking them on a rollercoaster of emotions.

As she finished, "…and make sure she keeps that cast on!" Redheart turned to Rainbow, who found comfort examining the tiled floor. "You'll be just fine. If you're lucky, you'll be back in the skies the next time I see you."

A faint smile flashed on Rainbow's face. While Nurse Redheart was strict with her patients, she proved to be a constant source of encouragement. No matter how many times Rainbow fell, she was there to pick her up, patch up the scars, and send her off on a high note.

After a goodbye, Redheart turned her attention to her next patient on the roster, Derpy. Once the nurse noticed her green face, and the obvious stomach pain, she facehoofed, and then took her patient into the hallway. Their tones were hushed, but that did nothing to stop Rainbow from catching the beginning of their conversation.

"Another bad muffin batch, I presume?"

"I just don't know what went wrong," the patient whined as she and the nurse disappeared into a vacant examination room and closed the door behind them.

Rainbow turned her attention back to her friends standing in front of her. Twilight opened her mouth, no doubt to deliver a lecture on the dangers of performing aerial stunts in perilous weather conditions. Rainbow braced herself for the second scolding she was about to receive courtesy of one of her best friends, when Twilight closed her mouth.

An uneasy silence befell the group, and nopony seemed to know how to break it. Rainbow shifted on her hooves to the rhythm of the cheesy ambient music; a lame, but better alternative to starting a lengthy conversation with her friends. She wanted nothing more than to find an empty space and wallow in her sorrows in private, or to find something that would release her from the restraints that proved just as uncomfortable as the injury itself.

"So, um, how are you feeling?" Twilight finally inquired rather lamely, breaking the silence.

So much for getting out of here for a moment to myself!

Rainbow rolled her bloodshot eyes. "What do you think, Twilight? I can't fly, and I have to wear this dumb cast. This totally stinks!"

Applejack had no qualms in putting in her two bits. "Well, you should have thought of that before you—"

Rarity pulled back the orange mare. "Not now, dear," she whispered.

Pinkie presented a pink box along with an envelope. "I made a cake for you, and had everypony in town sign a get-well card!"

"You mean the whole town knows?" Rainbow screeched in horror. "What are you guys trying to do? Make me Ponyville's next laughingstock?"

Applejack growled, "Why you ungrateful—"

Twilight conjured tape, reducing the remainder of Applejack's rant down to an angry mumble. However, Rainbow got the hint, and calmed herself down.

"Sorry, Pinkie. Thanks, but I don't feel like eating right now."

"Okay!" Pinkie shoved the card in Rainbow's medicine bag, then tied the balloons around her tail, eliciting some sniggers from the other ponies in the room.

"This is so embarrassing," muttered Rainbow, covering her face in shame.

With a gesture from Twilight, the band of friends exited the clinic. Immediately, the wind swooped in for an attack, taking a few balloons away. As Rainbow watched them leave, something dawned on her.

"Umm, guys, how am I going to get home?" she asked, scratching her forelock.

Twilight raised her hoof, as she had expected the question. "My first idea was to take you up there on my hot-air balloon, but with all this wind, that's probably not a good idea. Besides, we thought you would want some company, so Fluttershy was gracious enough to offer her place for you to stay."

"If...if you want, Rainbow," Fluttershy added.

Rainbow mulled it over. There was nothing wrong with her abode in the sky, except she didn't spend much time there. Rather, she embraced the open skies as her usual hangout, an area she could no longer reach. Just the thought of being reliant on somepony to bring her down every day made the choice an easy one.

"Well, guess I'm crashing your place then, Fluttershy."

"That's great!" exclaimed Fluttershy as she gave Rainbow a quick hug. "Do you want me to cancel my Manehattan trip too, so you don't feel all sad and lonely?

Everypony gasped, except for Rainbow. She could only manage to mumble the name of the place where all her friends had chosen as a vacation destination to escape the upcoming Ponyville rains. The timeframe proved especially good for Fluttershy and Rarity, as the big city was hosting a major fashion show, something that both mares prattled about for the last week. Rainbow wasn't going to be the wrecking ball that would smash everypony's plans into pieces. After all, she had already told them before that she was cool with them going off on a trip without her.

"I'll be just fine," replied Rainbow with confidence. Her injuries then reminded her that, in fact, she was far from it. "Ugh, darn it," she said through clenched teeth. "What exactly was I doing anyways?"

"So you really don't remember?" inquired Twilight.

Rainbow shook her head.

"No, today's a complete blank. I think Nurse Redheart mentioned something about it earlier, but I can't remember. If I'm this beat-up though, I must have either really messed up on a stunt or somepony dropped an anvil on me."

Fluttershy confirmed the former with a nod. "You were doing the Bolt Super Loop n' Dive. Scootaloo and I saw you lose control on the way down."

If she wasn't heavily sedated, Rainbow would've exploded for embarrassing herself in front of her number one fan. "You mean she saw me crash?"

"She did. I took her home about an hour ago."

This was too much. Rainbow slapped herself, a last ditch effort to wish everything was a bad nightmare, but it was quite real indeed. She wanted nothing more than to hide in some dark corner, away from it all. "Let's go, Fluttershy. I need a nap. A long nap."

After the obligatory goodbyes, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, and Spike watched in silence as they watched their two friends slowly walk down the trail leading out of town. It was odd, almost depressing seeing Rainbow Dash following Fluttershy at a snail's pace as a prisoner of the ground rather than blasting off into another of her reckless endeavours. Once the departing mares left earshot, Spike waved his hands to draw the attention of the ponies around him.

"Hey, if you don't mind me asking, is this the first time Rainbow injured herself like this? I would've thought she'd be used to it by now, but she looked really down."

It was an innocuous question, yet it forced Rainbow's friends to ponder every instance of the brash Pegasus banging into walls, ceilings, signs, cliff faces, and every other imaginable obstacle in Equestria.

"Well, I guess she's been lucky all this time," said Applejack. She shook her head. "I told that mare her luck was gonna run out one day, if she kept pushing it too far."

Rarity added, "Maybe the poor dear will be more careful next time. Being grounded is like me not being able to stitch dresses." She leaned back and threw her hoof to her forehead dramatically. "Oh, what a frightening thought! Why must I think of such horrible things?"

Twilight scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, sure! Rainbow Dash learns a lesson about not flying like an absolute maniac. I'm sure that's going on the next friendship report!"

"Well," Applejack began as she clung to her hat to prevent the wind from stealing it, "what do you ladies think about what Fluttershy said about staying in Ponyville? Personally, I'd sure hate leavin' Rainbow behind like this, even if it's her own fault. Do you think we should just cancel the whole thing?"

Twilight rubbed her chin. "I'm not sure. I have the itinerary set, bought the train tickets, and made all the necessary arrangements here. Besides, Rainbow said she'd be fine, and you know how upset she gets when we keep bugging her about things."

"I suppose you're right," agreed Rarity. "Rainbow wouldn't want us to babysit her like she was a foal. If she does change her mind, it shouldn't be too much of a hassle. We don't leave until Friday anyway, so there's plenty of time."

"Couldn't agree with you more!" replied Spike. The sound of his stomach halted any further flattery. "Oops. I guess all this worrying has made me hungry! Hey, how about some of that cake, Pinkie?"

They all turned to the baker, only to find her tossing the box toward a trash can, which then toppled over from the impact and rolled down an alleyway. Chocolate frosting dripped off Pinkie's lips, which made a few strands from Twilight's hair pop up.

"P-Pinkie?" stammered Twilight. "You ate it all?"

Pinkie licked her mouth clean. "No, silly! That was the backup cake!" She brought out another box out of thin air before opening it, revealing another round confection. "Dig in, everypony!"

Twilight grabbed a slice, as her eyebrow rose up. "Backup cake? Pinkie, why would you need—" She took a bite of the soft, moist dessert. Tasty cake overruled logic. "Love the idea, Pinkie."

With the winds ramping up, everypony grabbed their respective slices and made their way to their homes. All were content that Rainbow Dash had escaped the worst, but wondered whether she'd injured more than just her wing.