A Break from the Norm

[Rainbow Dash]

(ooc: March 20. Open to all pony characters.)

It had been days since Rainbow Dash moved to Canterlot, and so far she had seen no signs of the Wonderbolts being present. The young pegasus was feeling just a bit disheartened by this fact. The main reason she had moved was so that she might run into the Wonderbolts. What was the point if they weren't even there? ...Well, there was one ray of hope in Rainbow Dash's mind. She knew for a fact that a lot of the unicorns in her new home seemed a bit... stuck up. The majority seemed like they were snooty and caught up with their magic, so much so that they didn't known how to enjoy themselves. Rainbow Dash, a free spirited pegasus, had it set in her mind that she should change this. After all, what harm was there in trying to change the norm a little bit? For all she knew Rainbow might have ended up making a few friends in the process.

So, there Rainbow Dash was trotting through Canterlot and making her way toward an open area not too far from the library. It seemed a lot of unicorns liked going to the library, so maybe she could catch their attention by being nearby. She wasn't in the mood to perform tricks, though. Even if she was eager to be noticed in the crowd of unicorns, Rainbow thought it would be better to not go full out. At least for the moment. She settled herself in a nice patch of grass, letting her wings stretch out for a moment before returning to her sides, and let a soft contented sigh escape her. "Now all you have to do is wait, Rainbow. Some pony is bound to come along sooner or later." she told herself.

[Celestia]

Breaking away from duty was a lot harder than it sounded. Celestia had manged to do it, surprisingly on that day. Getting out of the castle, perhaps seeing friendly, familiar faces, and getting a good stroll around Canterlot shouldn't hurt. Guards insisted on taking her around, but the princess protested by saying she could get a fair amount of working out done by a walk around Canterlot. The alicorn figured that many would swarm her, or bow down when all she wanted was to just walk, but another nice surprise that hadn't happened. Her pink eyes drifted over as her plated hooves hit the ground in a halt.

Pegasi? In Canterlot? That was a bit out of the norm. A change of pace. A good one, not negative. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise at seeing a pegasus. Figuring that the unicorns were probably not so open to welcoming the pegasus, Celestia decided to take the matter into her own hooves as she clip-clopped towards the pegasus. "Excuse me, but, whatever is a pegasus doing in such a place like Canterlot?" inquiried the princess, looking down at the smaller equine. She hadn't meant it negatively, more like intrigued to see variety at Canterlot.

[Rainbow Dash]

The elegant voice was not one that Rainbow Dash had been expecting. She had expected the voice of an inquisitive younger unicorn, or maybe a more stuck up unicorn rudely asking what she was doing there. Instead, she found herself looking up at Celestia herself. For a moment, Rainbow Dash was a bit shocked. She didn't quite know how to respond immediately. But after a few moments she found her voice again. "Oh, that? That's easy, really. I decided that being a part of the weather patrol in Ponyville wasn't really my thing. Actually, I didn't even really want to go to Ponyville. I dunno... I guess you could say I wanted a change of pace after being in Cloudsdale for my whole life." Rainbow Dash explained, shrugging slightly as she did.

"I'm more of a free spirit than anything else. I want to do something awesome with my flying skills... not just handle weather duty." she said as a means of explaining herself further before raising to her hooves again. A bit pointless since she had been so determined to lay in the grass, but she moved anyway. "So, I came here. The main reason was because I heard I might be able to catch a few Wonderbolts shows here since they frequent the area. I haven't seen them around much, though." Rainbow Dash sighed.

A thought occurred after a few moments. She didn't yet introduce herself. Feeling a bit sheepish about this fact, Rainbow Dash decided to correct this. "Oh, yeah! I forgot to introduce myself. My name's Rainbow Dash, but some ponies call me Rainbow. You're... Princess Celestia, aren't you?" Rainbow Dash asked. It had to be the case. How many alicorns went waltzing around Equestria without a care in the world?

[Celestia]

The princess listened to the smaller, blue equine creature. She had come from Ponyville before here as a weather pony. But instead of weather, she wanted to fly and meet Wonderbolts. Huh. The princess decided not to look too far into how to get into the Wonderbolts. Age, species, and flying skills were the most likely factors to get into them. Obviously you had to be a pegasus, or an alicorn somehow, and you had to be able to fly well from what the princess understood. Age was another factor, which could be possible as to why Rainbow Dash wasn't with the famed fliers.

"Yes, indeed I am the princess, my little pony." she said, a warm friendly smile covering up the intrigued expression. "Now, if you came from Ponyville for your flying skills, you must be able to put on a show. There wasn't much work to be done in the castle today, so if it's not much to ask, would you like to put a flying show on for myself? A flight for the princess might get the attention of the Wonderbolts."

[Fluttershy]

Fluttershy peeked out from behind a wall, staring at the Princess and the fellow pegasus. After taking care of the animals in the garden, she wanted to take a little break and fresh air. She was not expecting to see a fellow pegasus, not to mention Princess Celestia.

"oh...what should i do?" she asked. "I guess i should go introduce myself...oh but that would be rude." she looked at her hooves. "I don't want to be rude..."

What to do?

What to do?

Why couldn't she just go over and talk to them? It should be easy.

[Rainbow Dash]

"Cloudsdale, actually. I did consider going to Ponyville, but there was nothing to do there but be a part of the weather patrol. Not much fun, really." Rainbow Dash explained. She had considered it, as her parents probably would have wanted her to be a part of the weather team, but it wasn't her style. She didn't want to be restricted in that way. But everything else that had been said pretty much turned into gibberish when Celestia suggested that she show off her skills. Magenta eyes widened and a broad grin formed on her face. Showing off in front of Celestia of all ponies? It was like a dream come true! Hell yeah she would do it!

"You really want to see?" Rainbow Dash asked hopefully. Her wings quivered in anticipation. Since coming to Canterlot she hadn't had much of a chance to show off her true skills, mainly because she had been waiting for just the right opportunity to show off in front of just the right ponies, but if Celestia wanted a show then she would do her best to impress. "I could totally show you my stuff! I was beginning to think nopony was interested. These unicorns... pff. They're more interested in magic than flying." Rainbow Dash stated. It wasn't all that surprising since they specialized in magic and she specialized in flying, but it did bother her a bit.

Rainbow Dash stretched her wings, preparing to take flight, but the appearance of another pegasus caught her attention. Fluttershy was a bit father off, probably debating over whether or not she should introduce herself, and Rainbow Dash found herself staring at her for a moment. Did she know that pony? Somehow Rainbow Dash thought she did... but couldn't place where she had met her.

[Fluttershy]

Fluttershy poked her head out a little farther. She wanted to see the pegasus fly. Though the thought of her made the blue eyed pegasus wonder if she actually had met this pony before? Prehaps at Fly Camp?

'No way Fluttershy, this cool pony had cooler friends, no way she would have recongized you.' she thought. 'Unless she knew you as Klutzershy.'

she sighed at the cruel memory of the nickname. However, that was in the past, this was in the future. Time for a change in a new life. With a deep breath, she trotted out of her hiding place to join Princess Celestia. Wanting to see this pegasus' moves

[Celestia]

Cloudsdale. Probably from overworking as a ruler got her to think she was from Ponyville. The Princess decided to shrug it off. Just when the blue smaller equine was ready to go and show off her moves for the ruler of the land, another pegasus came out of her hiding place. Her pink eyes instantly flew to Fluttershy, a warm smile upon her face.

"Fluttershy, wonderful to see you, I trust the garden must be doing well?" the alicorn said as she looked at the yellow pegasus. "Even if it's not, you've come just at the right moment. Another pegasus has moved into Canterlot, Rainbow Dash, and I believe she's going to put on a bit of a flight show for the only other ponies with wings. In other terms, you and I get to watch her fly."

[Fluttershy]

Fluttershy returned Celestia's warm smile with a shy soft one. "Oh yes, the garden is good, all the animals are taking an afternoon nap. So i decided to take a look around...since it was okay." she replied. Looking at Rainbow Dash, the smile remained. "Oh, a show, how exciting." cryan eyes stayed on the blue pegasus, the confidence, the bravery she had. That would be a great pony to have as a friend.

Or even become a wonderbolt

[Rainbow Dash]

Fluttershy? Rainbow Dash rolled the name around in her mind for a few moments, trying to remember why it was familiar, but decided to ask about it after her performance. Now it was her time to shine, after all. In front of more appreciative ponies, at that! "Okay, here we go. Just keep your eyes on me." Rainbow Dash stated as a confident smile formed on her face. It would be as though no one was watching at all. Rainbow Dash didn't feel nervous in the slightest, especially knowing her audience at least would be appreciative of her tricks. That, and Celestia might know a Wonderbolt or two that could be told about her. That would be great!

With a whoosh, Rainbow Dash took off into the sky with the greatest of ease. Taking off was always the easy part. Maintaining speed, grace, and making sure she didn't crash was the hard part. Crashing would definitely not be a good thing, especially at that moment. There was no way Rainbow Dash would let herself fail. ...At least, she hoped she wouldn't fail.

The light blue pegasus picked up her speed just a bit and began to spin about in loops. One loop, then another, and finally another... three loops in a row! It must have been a dizzying sight, especially with her rainbow-colored tail streaking behind her and seeming to leave behind a colorful streak in her wake. That was the simplest of her tricks, beyond doing graceful swooping and swerving around objects. It was a cloudless day, though. There was nothing to swoop or swerve around. No matter, though. Rainbow Dash would just think of something else to top the loops.

What about a Sonic Rainboom?

...No. That probably wasn't the wisest idea. Rainbow Dash had only succeeded once when she was a filly, and was unsure of just how fast she would need to go to repeat the actions she had as a filly. Instead, she had another trick in mind. It was untested thus far, but she had confidence that it would be spectacular. Rainbow Dash began by shooting herself upward in a tight swirling flight pattern. She picked up just a bit more speed as she flew up. Higher and higher she went until finally she came to a stop at the highest point that she could. She hovered, feeling her heart racing from the pure rush of adrenaline that had been brought on by her flight, and paused for a moment to think of just what she would do. From that height, she could do anything. It would spectacular.

Okay. Here we go!

Rainbow Dash decided to begin with a somersault through the air and propelled herself downward. To those watching, it might have appeared crazy. There was no doubt there was more than a hint of recklessness in Rainbow Dash as she performed. She was eager to gain any sort of attention that she could, after all. Down, down she rolled before catching herself by stretching her wings out and steadying herself in the air. Once she had straightened herself out of the somersault, she began to fly in a tight circle with her legs stretched out in front and behind her. For several moments she spun around, seeming to create a rainbow-colored cyclone around herself before pointing herself downward again. The Rainbow Tempest. The only reason it had gone untested was because she hadn't had the space to test it in Cloudsdale. There were too many other pegasi flying around for her to get proper space to work with. This was the chance she had been waiting for.

As Rainbow Dash spun downward, taking the rainbow cyclone with her, she tucked her wings in closer to her body. She wanted to get as much speed as she could. She could see herself nearing the ground. If she could pull off this trick, Rainbow was certain that she would impress the pair of ponies watching her. Here... we... go!

However, she moved her wings just a second too late. Instead of swooping upward out of the rainbow cyclone, Rainbow Dash... crashed. The rainbow colored cyclone vanished as she collided with the ground, and she rolled for a few feet before finally colliding with a nearby tree. Nice one, Rainbow Crash!

"...Okay... ow." Rainbow Dash said flatly. She slid down from against the tree trunk and let herself lay in front of it, feeling her body ache from the impact with the ground and the tree. Failure. She'd failed in front of the one pony she probably shouldn't have. "I'm okay! I'm used to this sort of thing!" she said as she waved a hoof to signify that she hadn't been too seriously hurt. How that was possible she was uncertain, but she hadn't sustained too serious an injury. At least, she didn't think she had.

[Fluttershy]

Fluttershy closed her eyes at the sound of a thunk followed by a crash of the blue pegasus. "Oh dear.." she said, blinking, she hoped that the fellow pegasus was really okay. "Was...was that supposed to happen?" she asked naively. She smiled at the pegasus' attempt to let them know she had not been hurt.

That was all that really mattered.

[Rainbow Dash]

Rainbow Dash slowly got to her hooves again, shaking herself out so that her mane settled into its usual position after being jostled about from the rolling and the crash, before turning to face Fluttershy and Celestia while stretching her wings out to make sure they hadn't been injured somehow. Fortunately, due to being tucked in so close to her body and due to not moving them when she should have, nothing seemed broken. "It... wasn't quite supposed to go like that." Rainbow Dash replied with a slight laugh. "Actually, I hadn't really had a chance to test that last bit before. I probably should have thought about that before attempting it." she remarked.

Smooth, Rainbow. Very smooth. Rainbow Dash thought. So she wasn't as hot as she thought she was all the time. It was one failure. That gave her more of a reason to try again and perfect it... right? "I guess I have a few kinks to work out of that. Like... moving my wings out before I hit the ground." she laughed. Rainbow Dash wasn't taking the failure as badly as one would have thought. Sure she hated failing, but it didn't mean she was going to start ranting about it. "...Hey, Princess Celestia said your name was Fluttershy, right? Have we met before? Like... maybe at flight camp?" she asked.

[Fluttershy]

A lightbulb went off in Fluttershy's head. "Uh, fly camp, we probably have." she kicked the dirt with soft tones. "Though you probably knew me better as Kluzershy." she said as her cheeks turned a light pink. She knew the pegasus was familiar and now she could actually place her. Fly Camp. Boy was she ever glad to never go back to that again

[Rainbow Dash]

"Oh yeah!" Rainbow Dash remembered that well enough. She hadn't ever thought of the shy pony as a klutz, but she had never gotten to know her all that well so she wasn't all that certain. "You're the one that those bullies were bothering because you didn't like flying that much. I totally remember now." she said with a grin. "Just so you know, though, I never really thought you were a klutz. Those guys were just jerks. They made fun of pretty much everyone." Rainbow stated with a curt nod. That was the way that she had seen it, anyway. Arrogant boys. That was all those three pegasi back from flight camp had been. "We never really got to know each other, so I guess now's as good a time as any, right?" she asked.

"Name's Rainbow Dash. Good to finally meet you, Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash said at last. It was funny, really. The two had at least been aware of each others' existence, but they had never spoken before. How odd was that, anyway? It seemed like they could have been good friends if they had just bothered to speak to one another.

[Fluttershy]

A smile broke on her face. "R-really?" she asked. "That's so nice..." she said. No one well besides Princess Celestia had said something that nice to her. Why weren't these two friends before? Surely they could have been. "Nice to meet you Rainbow Dash." her smile still remaining. "or rather nice to meet you again."