Rainbow Dash always [verb]s in style

[elementofloyalty]

Okay, ponies, listen up! The name's Rainbow Dash! There's... probably at least one more of me out there, but that doesn't change the facts. Fact number one: I'm Ponyville's weatherpony, and that means I need a roll call from all you pegasi out there! There's a lot of responsibilities you have that you need to be aware of, so listen up! First of all: DO NOT CHANGE THE WEATHER. We are on a schedule here, people. A one-cloud rainstorm, fine. Deciding you want a sunny day when we've got downpour slated, not fine.

Second: Do not harass the flying tortoise. I'm serious. You do not want to mess with that little guy, he'll end you. Oh yeah, that goes for all you OTHER ponies too, if he's near the ground. He may or may not be a trained combat pet at this point. I'm not sure. But even if he's not, still, do not give that guy grief. Attention and respect is cool though.

Third of all, do not just make homes on clouds. Napping is fine, that's practically what they're there for, but they're not homes. Use a sensible house like a normal pony. If you need help constructing a cloud home, I'm sure Twilight has plenty of books in the library that she'd be happy to loan you.

Fourth, if you think you're fast, you're not, and I'm taking all challengers to prove it. [Rainbow winks broadly at the scroll.]

Oh yeah, and uh, if anypony shows up named...

[Rainbow stops, considers, then shakes her head.]

...Nah. Never mind.

Comments

[elementofloyalty]

Okay, your technique's getting there, so I think your big problem right now is just not getting the fact that you CAN fly, mentally.

So let's get you a little used to being a pegasus.

[Rainbow drops down on top of him to hook her forelegs around his shoulders, then pumps with her own wings to lift him. She's unnaturally strong, thanks to some of the abilities she learned off-world (as well as a regimented training routine, don't think that means nothing!).]

[selfmadespeedster]

<sub>[Wally naturally wiggles a little at first when she grabs him, not expecting to be lifted off the ground. Realizing he's making it harder for her, he goes still.

He's used to falling, leaping, running up the sides of vertical surfaces, and spinning in the air but only as much as gravity allows him to back in his home world. The last time he was in the air without starting to drop immediately was when Miss Martian had been levitating him during one of their team missions.]</sub>

R-Right. Not used to being off the ground very long. I'm not afraid of heights or any thing. Just not used to this.

[elementofloyalty]

[She looks around for a likely cloud, spots a nice fluffy one up a little ways, and hauls him towards it.]

All right, I'm gonna set you down on this cloud. Don't panic. If it helps, close your eyes and pretend you're just stepping onto the ground. You're a pegasus so it'll be stable for you.

[With that much reassurance, she starts lowering him on to it.]

[selfmadespeedster]

<sub>[Brave as Wally likes to think himself, the idea of sitting on a solid cloud isn't something his mind wants to simply wrap around. He squeezes his eyes shut like she suggested as she lowers him. Wally feels the surface of the cloud touching his legs, and before he knows it he's been set down on something that feels in many ways like a large uneven pillow.

He opens one eye to peek around, sky and clouds surrounding him. Opening both eyes, he dares to look down at the cloud.]</sub>

This is... different.

[The words come out in a slightly squeaky voice, nerves gnawing at him. He pats the cloud with a hoof.]

How stable are these clouds?

[elementofloyalty]

Define 'stable'. They're safe enough to sleep on if you need somewhere comfy, but you can crash through them at speed without it hurting. Pegasi like us can move them around, clear them out by kicking them, or knock water or lightning out of them.

[selfmadespeedster]

_{[The idea of the clouds being "solid" had started to sink in but being told they could be broken through so easily continued to leave his science-based brain dizzy.]}

O-Okay. We're pegasi so it just works that way for us.

_{[Still so strange. "I'm a pegasus." SO STRANGE.]}

And we can move the clouds? Just like that. Make it rain and everything. It's that easy?

[elementofloyalty]

Yep. Controlling the weather has been the pegasus' task since before Equestria was founded.

[She's keeping a close watch on him -- panic up her could be dangerous, though if she'd thought he was the sort she wouldn't have tried it. Well... maybe not.]

[selfmadespeedster]

_{[Different clouds, different way of working the weather. That somehow sort of made sense.]}

How do you do it? And how do you know the right weather to make at the right time?

_{[A lot at stake with the weather after all.]}

[elementofloyalty]

Large stuff, we coordinate with Cloudsdale on. It sends stuff like clouds and winds our way in general. Locally we generally draw up a schedule for rain and things like that.

As for how? That's a couple lessons, but it's mostly pretty easy. Pushing the clouds is just like pushing anything else. After that it's just learning how to hit 'em.

[selfmadespeedster]

It all originates from the Cloudsdale place huh? What's that place like? A... weather lab or something?

[elementofloyalty]

It's where the weather factories are, yeah.

[She'll just keep talking, allowing him to get comfortable with the cloud.]

[selfmadespeedster]

<sub>[In reality it's the laws of nature in this world, not so much the cloud that he has trouble getting comfortable with.

Wally nods his head but still can't really picture it.]</sub>

Uh. Interesting...

_{[He glances down at the cloud and stands back up.]}

So the clouds make a good resting spot. What else do I need to know about flying? Got any exercises for me?

[elementofloyalty]

Well... you know how birds get pushed out of the nest?

[She kicks the cloud beneath him, dissipating it with one sharp blow from her rear legs. Rainbow won't let him go splat, but if anything can get those instincts working...]

[selfmadespeedster]

_{[Wally falls with a "Whoa!" and scrambles to react. He spreads his wings to catch himself, tumbles a little further, then with several fast flaps straightens out in the air. He flies back up to Rainbow Dash again.]}

That works I guess. Might be a little hard to do that exercise again now that I expect it.

_{[He laughs a little. Next time, he notes to himself, he'll catch himself faster.]}

[elementofloyalty]

Who needs it? You've got it now!

[She spins a casual loop and a half around him, to end up on his other side.]

See, it's all in the instinct. A little practice and you'll be great!

[selfmadespeedster]

Oh I'll be practicing alright! This is awesome! I never get to fly like this at home.

_{[Lucky friends with flying superpowers!]}

Once I get the basics down, I want to fly fast! What's the top speed you can go RD?

[elementofloyalty]

The top speed, huh?

[Her grin is so confident and smug.]

I bet you've never even heard of the Sonic Rainboom.

[selfmadespeedster]

_{[Sonic boom, yes. Sonic Rainboom no.]}

Nope. I'm listening...

[elementofloyalty]

They thought it was a legend. They thought it couldn't be done. But they forgot about me. I made the impossible possible. I turned the Sonic Rainboom from a thing of myth to a fact of modern Equestrian life. THAT'S how fast I am.

[selfmadespeedster]

That sounds cool. But what is the Sonic Rainboom?

[elementofloyalty]

It's when a pegasus goes so fast, BAM! A giant explosion makes rainbow light blast out from behind you, then you draw a rainbow through the air at unimaginable speed!

[selfmadespeedster]

_{[A sort of sonic boom with visual effects.]}

Nice! Just how fast do you have to be to pull it off?

_{[He so wants to try this thing out once he's used to flying. And of course he assumes he could fly fast enough to do it.]}

[elementofloyalty]

As fast as me. And I run around seventeen wingpower at my cruising speed.

[Modesty, thy name is not Rainbow Dash.]

[selfmadespeedster]

Nice.

_{[Not that he knows exactly how fast that is but he's guessing she's bragging for a reason. A part of him can't wait to show her how fast he can go- he wants to brag too but then... darn the secret identity limitations! Perhaps the pegasus body can be a cover?]}

I'm pretty fast back home. I wonder what my wingpower would be. How do you measure it?

[elementofloyalty]

An anemometer. Twilight's got one around somewhere. Not sure where she put it.