"Of course you can't go to Cloudsdale camp. You can't even fly! All this time and you still can't fly! It's not difficult, so why won't you do it? All you do is read these useless books! Read, read, read, not do, do, do! Maybe they were right when they said you were just a runt."

Rainbow Dash awoke with a start. She lifted her head up and looked out of the window. She had long ago learned to use the location of the moon as an indicator of the time, and it was telling her that the time was 3 in the morning.

Quickly, she trotted back to her bed and pulled out the bindle she had prepared earlier that day. She didn't know who her father thought he was, talking to her like that. "I'm eight years old", she muttered to herself, "And he still treats me like a baby because I can't fly. It's not like I can help it." She opened her bedroom window and skipped out, landing solidly on her feet.

"I'll show him. I'm Rainbow Dash, and I can do anything I want if I just put my mind to it! I'll go on adventures and learn to fly and sail and be real good at everything, and then he'll be sorry." She began trotting down the dirt path. She didn't know where she was going, but the only thing that mattered is that she wasn't staying. She started to walk and daydream about Cloudsdale camp and all the awesome activities she was missing out on because of her father. Soon, the first rays on sun crept over the horizon and glared into her eyes, which snapped her out of her fantasies. Turning back, she looked for the last time at the cottage in which she grew up. "I hope I'm doing the right thing..." she mumbled to herself.

After a while, these insecurities vanished. It was a marvellously sunny day, and she felt herself whistling as she galloped up a hilly path. She closed her eyes and began to sing a walking ditty she had read in some old book sometime long ago.

"It's a long, long time, but we've got the will! Follow me, boys, follow me! When we reach the top then it's all downhill. Until you drop, don't stop..." She crested the hill, opened her eyes and realised that she had come to the edge of a forest. The last words of the verse died on her lips.

She didn't see this place before. It looked dark and forbidding, almost evil. She moved back, glad she had chosen to look where she was going before she found herself inside this place.

Looking around, she spotted a pleasant-looking tree. She decided to rest for a few minutes before deciding where to head next, since she was now hopelessly lost and in a strange area. Besides, it was 5pm, chow time! Dropping her stuff and settling in the shade, she found it quite pleasant. "Maybe I'll stay for just a few minutes longer..."

Her eyes flew open. It was pitch black, and she was freezing! "I wasn't supposed to fall asleep", she grumbled to herself, and was about to get up to grab her things when she heard something moving almost imperceptibly near her bindle. Slowly rising, she moved backwards, trying to be stealthy. She heard a snort as the thing in the gloom noticed her, and saw a bulk in the dark turn, and glowing beady eyes focus on her. The very last thing she heard before fleeing was an ear-splitting roar.

Rainbow Dash no longer cared about whether the forest was creepy. She galloped into it as fast as she could, brambles tearing at her and ripping her mane as she heard the thing behind her uproot everything in its path.
Tears of fear were clogging up her eyes and obstructing her vision, and soon she lost her footing and slid down a hill.

Scrambling up, she looked around to get her bearings. Disturbed fire flies illuminated her location enough to see where she was. She had fallen onto the edge of a riverbank, the water in front of her fast-flowing and swollen. There was no way she would be able to cross this, and she couldn't get back up the hill, meaning there was only one direction in which to go. A loud crash behind her caused her to look back, heart beating. The animal that had been chasing her came out of the gloom, giving Rainbow Dash her first real look at the predator.

It was a colossal bear, with fur so black it seemed to suck in all light around it, glaring at the cowering pony with eyes the colour of jet. Rainbow gasped as she recognised it to be a pulsar bear. She had read about these in storybooks when she was small, but she had no idea that they really existed!

The pulsar bear advanced slowly on her, confident that its meal had been cornered and wary for the same reason. Rainbow slowly moved backwards until she felt her back legs being splashed by the river, and having no other option, chose to curl up into a ball and pray for help.

I'm sorry I ran away now. I shouldn't have been so thoughtless...

Tears formed anew in her eyes as she began to weep, heavy wracking sobs piercing the night sky.

"Please! Somepony help mee-hee-heeeee..."

Silence held for a moment, and was quickly dispelled by the large CLOMP sound of a heavy-set pony landing near her head. She looked up to the person who had answered her call and was surprised to see a dark-blue pegasus standing between her and the pulsar.

"Dad?"

The blue pony looked back, and their eyes met.

"I'm here for you, Wonderbolt."

The moment was spoiled by the angry roar of the pulsar bear. Blue tore his eyes away from Rainbow, facing the opponent.

"Run, Rainbow Dash! Run!" he shouted over his shoulder before blasting towards the bear with a flap of his wings. With the bear distracted, Rainbow ran down the narrow wedge of land which had previously been blocked off. Turning back, she saw her father locked in mortal combat with the monster. He zipped around the bear, trying to confuse it or get into a blind spot, before bucking its head as hard as he could.

"I'll come and find you!" she heard him yell as he narrowly avoided a swipe of those massive claws.

"I-I can't leave you... Not now!" she shouted, but he didn't hear her.

He was too busy formulating his plan.

He began to circle the bear, going faster and faster around it. The bear began to stumble, rendered dizzy by the annoying fly that it couldn't swat. Blasting into the sky, he flapped his wings as hard as he could. Long after any sensible pegasus would have swerved down out of fear, he began to spin around in a tight roll. Changing his wing position at the correct time, he used his momentum to slingshot him towards the ground much faster than he ever could have propelled himself, even ten years ago. Everything peripheral faded to a blur as he raced towards the bear, which was stood on its hind legs and was clearly preparing to bat him from the sky. He had one chance; to make a mistake now would cost him his daughter.

He pulled up at the last second so he was flying horizontally, and slammed into the bear's stomach, and for a moment they were locked in a struggle for dominance.

The bear lost. It was propelled into the centre of the river.

"Dad!" Rainbow Dash screamed, and before she knew what she was doing she was zipping over the water, looking for any trace of him. She looked downstream, and saw a small lump lying prone on the shore. She threw herself over there, her heart in her throat.

She landed next to him and fell to her knees, nudging his chest with her nose, willing him to move.

"Please wake up, please don't die, please wake up, please wake up, PLEASE WAKE UP!"

"...Rainbow Dash. "

Her ears perked up her dad was alive! She threw her front legs over him, sobbing, weeping for forgiveness, but when she heard nothing back but silence, she looked up.

Blue Bolt was grinning, something he hadn't done in a very long time.

"Rainbow Dash, you were flying!"

Tears came to her eyes as she realised that she had been doing just that it had come so naturally!

"Yeah, I sure was," she sniffed. "did you like it?"

The injured pony hugged back the young filly. Words weren't needed.

"...Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"What was that thing you just did? I've never seen anything like it."

A groan caused her to pull her legs away, worried she might have hurt him. He buried his face in the dirt, clenching his eyes shut.

"What's wrong?"

The old colt opened his eyes and gave a pained smile.

"That trick is called the ShimmerBolt. I invented it for your mother... of course, it works better with clouds than bears."

"You're not answering my question," Rainbow Dash said with a frown. "What's wrong?"

Blue grimaced.

"I'm afraid it's my time to leave."

"Leave? Leave where?"

"Let me tell you something a very dear friend once said to me. 'Blue Bolt,' he said, 'Blue Bolt, all the world's a stage, and every pony is an actor - and when it's your cue to come off, then it's your cue to come off.' I never understood what he meant by that, but now... Now I understand."

"But but I don't want you to leave the stage! I don't want to be alone... I'm so sorry for running away!" Tears were engulfing the little blue pony's eyes once again.

"Such is the way of the world, kiddo. Besides, I saw how you just flew. You can only have one greatest flier in Equestria at one time, right?"

Rainbow Dash sniffed. "Do do you really think I could be the greatest flier in Equestria?"

Blue Bolt shifted himself. He was being bathed in a warm, white light, and he quite liked it. "Goodness, no," he said to the little pony that was squeezing him hard. "I know you will be."

The light ceased covering him, and became one with him. He was at peace.