//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Rain, Rain, Go Away // Story: Initial D: First Equestria Stage // by SixShooterOutlaw //------------------------------// The clouds outside were a dark ominous grey, every so often there would be a strike of lightning and a crack of thunder. The rain pounded harshly against the windows and the group of ponies were sitting or laying around the living area, trying to think of something to do. Any ideas that were suggested were quickly shot down, but then Scootaloo got an idea. "How about we tell you some stories about what has happened in Equestria these past few years?" Scootaloo suggested, "I mean, Twilight and her friends have had some pretty awesome adventures". "Sure, sounds like a good idea" Kenji replied. Scootaloo looked at her friends, "How about we start with Nightmare Moon's return?". "That's a great one!" Apple Bloom responded. "Alright, let's start from the beginning" Scootaloo then cleared her throat "It all started in Canterlot and Twilight was reading a book.." "There's a surprise" Iketani muttered sarcastically. Scootaloo ignored that and continued, "She got to a part about the legend of The Mare in The Moon, she then tried to warn Princess Celestia about it, but she thought Twilight was getting all worked up about nothing, so she sent Twilight here to Ponyville to see how things were coming for the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration" she took a breath "but Twilight was convinced that Nightmare Moon was returning that night, so she tried to get through checking all the preparations as quickly as possible. Then early the next morning when the sun was supposed to be coming up, the legendary Mare in the Moon appeared and threatened to make cause Eternal Night, and Twilight went on a quest to find the only thing that could stop her, The Elements of Harmony!". Apple Bloom then spoke up "My sister and her friends went into the Everfree Forest to find them, it seemed that each one of them had to pass some sort of test to prove their Element". Scootaloo nodded "Yeah, and when they finally got to the Castle of the Two Sisters, Twilight tried to make the Elements activate, but had no luck" she continued "But when Twilight was in trouble, she realized something, she was happy to hear the others and that she knew where the real Elements were, so they were able to stop Nightmare Moon and bring back Equestria's second Princess, Luna, ruler of the night!". "Wow, that is so cool!" Itsuki said "They're awesome!". "I know right?" Scootaloo responded "Want to hear another one?". "YES!" Itsuki nearly shouted. Scootaloo then told them the tales of the Elements of Harmony, about when they defeated Discord, how Twilight's brother Shining Armor and his then wife-to-be Princess Cadence, defeated Queen Chrysalis, right before their wedding, how Spike and Cadence saved the Crystal Empire from Sombra, about Twilight and her friends defeating Tirek, about returning the Cutie Marks to the ponies in Starlight's village and when Starlight returned for revenge and took Twilight on a trip through time and last but not least, earlier this year when Flurry Heart shattered the Crystal Heart and nearly doomed the Empire to be buried in a pile of snow. The guys seemed to be surprised and very impressed by what those six mares have done. "That is so amazing!" Itsuki said about all the stories "The six of them are so cool". "And I'm proud to say my big sis is among them!" Apple Bloom added holding her head up high. "Me too!" Sweetie Belle chimed in happily. "While she may not really be my sister" Scootaloo told them "I'm proud to say Rainbow Dash is my honorary big sister". "Hey, since you've told us stories about your friends, how about I tell you about my best friend?" Itsuki suggested. "Yeah!" The Crusaders answered in unison. Itsuki tapped his hoof against his chin, trying to think of the perfect one to start with, then he thought of it. "I'm going to tell you about the first time I saw Takumi drift race" Itsuki told them. The Crusaders gathered around him, eager to hear this tale. After awhile, Itsuki had told them a number of stories and was just finishing up the current one he was telling. "And that's how Takumi beat 'Akagi's White Comet', the legendary and at the time undefeated Ryosuke Takahashi!" Itsuki told them. "Woooow" The Crusaders said in unison sounding awestruck, smiles on all their faces. "I know, right?" Itsuki added "Isn't Takumi just the coolest?". "Drift racing sounds like flying" Scootaloo said "I wish I could go Drifting". "Me too!" Apple Bloom replied. "Me Three!" Sweetie Belle chimed in. "Maybe if we can go back and if you can come to our world, we could take you on a run" Itsuki suggested. "That would be so cool!" Apple Bloom responded. "What do you think, guys?" Itsuki asked "Do you think we could do that?". Takumi, Iketani and Kenji nodded their heads in reply. "YAY!" The Crusaders said together happily. "So, how has the 'How to be a Pony' training coming?" Apple Bloom asked "I kinda know how Takumi's has been going, but what about you guys?". "They've been going good" Iketani answered "Twilight's a great teacher". "So is Rainbow Dash" Itsuki added "She says I've really been improving". "Which means that he doesn't crash as much" Kenji said with a slight smirk. Everypony in the room burst out laughing at that remark. "I wish I could join you and Rainbow Dash flying" Scootaloo told them "It sounds like you have fun". "Why can't you?" Kenji asked "Haven't learned yet? I'm sure if that's the case, Rainbow would let you join us or I could help you if you'd like". "That's not it" Scootaloo explained then she let out a sad sigh, "I can't fly, my wings are too small to get me into the air, so I just use my scooter to go from place to place". "So, you've never been flying?" Iketani asked her. "No" Scootaloo answered, tearing up a little, "The closest I've gotten is Rainbow either holding me or letting me ride on her back". Iketani thought about something for a moment, then he walked over to Scootaloo. "I know it's not much different to being held up" Iketani told her "But I have a way for you to fly" he looked at her "How much do you trust me?". Scootaloo looked at him with a flicker of hope in her eyes "I trust you a lot". "Alright, just give me a moment" Iketani said, then he began to focus and then Scootaloo began to float a few inches off the ground "Are you ready?" he asked her. "Ready!" Scootaloo replied, then Iketani lifted her higher and higher off the ground, once she was near the castle's ceiling, he started to gently move her about, making Scootaloo giggle happily. "This is soo cool!" She exclaimed. "I'm glad you having fun!" Iketani replied with a huge grin, he was very happy seeing Scootaloo having so much fun. A few minutes later Iketani slowly lowered her back to the ground, her hooves touched the ground lightly, she then looked at Iketani with the biggest grin ever. "Thank you soo much, Iketani!" She told him excitedly, she then galloped over to him and wrapped her hooves around him. "It was no problem at all, Scootaloo" Iketani responded, returning her hug. "AWWWWWWWWWWWWW" All the ponies in the room said together. A few moments later, everypony was sitting around trying to plan what to do next. Several hours later, the castle's front doors opened up, revealing six mares and one dragon. "We're home guys!" Twilight called out and the seven of them walked over to the door that led to the living area, Twilight opened it slowly and let out a soft gasp. In the room, there were ponies that were sound asleep all over, Takumi was asleep on a chair, Itsuki and Kenji were both asleep on opposite ends of the couch, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were on the floor and Scootaloo was snuggled up with Iketani on a smaller couch. "AWWWWWWWWWWWWW" They all said at once. "Let's go to into the bedrooms, quietly" Twilight told her friends "I don't want to wake them up" then she got an idea, she carefully pulled out a camera from her saddlebags and took a few pictures of the scene then she put it back "Now, let's go to bed everypony, I'm very tired". The seven of them quietly headed to the bedrooms Twilight had made up just in case her friends needed or wanted to spend the night. The next morning, the ponies were all having breakfast together and the Crusaders were filling them in on the past weekend. "It sounds like you had a great time together" Twilight said to them, "But you never really explained how you guys escaped the timberwolves so easily" "Oh yeah, Iketani teleported us away from them" Scootaloo told her casually "It was awesome!". Twilight had chosen that moment to take a sip of her tea, which she quickly spat out. "WHAT?!?!" Twilight shouted in shock.