//------------------------------// // Rainbow Wannabe // Story: Crusader's Quest in Cloudsdale // by BoredWriter //------------------------------// "Thanks Starlight!" Cirrus waves to Starlight "Oh it was nothing, have fun finding a different purpose" "Never felt better to be a blank flank". Rainbow Dash lands next to Cirrus "You said it! Can we go for a fly now, we could go cloud busting, or aerial stunts, just like the good ol days" Rainbow whispers into Cirrus's ear "My new friends rarely wanna do those things" Cirrus stops at the CMC looking at her and Rainbow Dash sad "Is something wrong?" Sweetie Belle sighs "We really wanted to help with Cirrus's cutie mark problem, but it turned out our effort was pointless" Apple Bloom nods "All she needed as her unwanted cutie mark removed" Rainbow Dash hugs all three crusaders "ARE YOU KIDDING? If it wasn't for you three, Cirrus would still be in her workshop doing... whatever" The CMCs perk up "Sometimes we each have a different role to play, and you've done yours. Just like when me and your sisters save Equestria" "I didn't think of it that way" "You guys wanna help with Cirrus get a new cutie mark?" Apple Bloom points to a clock in the castle hallway "Well that transfiguration spell has about an hour left, sure" As Rainbow, Cirrus, and the CMC leave, Twilight looks at Starlight confused. "I'm curious, if you can destroy cutie marks, why didn't you destroy the cutie marks of the ponies you made... equal?" Starlight explains "Oh it's quite simple. When a pony's cutie mark is destroyed, it allows them to get a new one. I preserved the village's cutie marks instead of destroying them so they couldn't get a new cutie mark to replace the equal signs. Please don't ask how I know" Twilight nods nervously. Starlight walks away and asks herself "I wonder if I can start a business removing unwanted cutie marks" Cirrus, Rainbow Dash, and Scootaloo start flying around a cloudy area above ponyville while Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom sit on a cloud and watch. Scootaloo stops by them "Wanna fly with us?" "It's okay, we're not as obsessed in flying as you Scootaloo" Apple Bloom pulls out a stop watch "The spells about to wear off, I think we should return to the surface". She gets interrupted by sudden yelling. "WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING UP THERE SWEETIE BELLE" Rarity yells from below "Don't worry I'll get you down". Sweetie Belle's parents rush over to Rarity. "Oh hey Rarity". Sweetie Belle flies down "Starlight turned me into a Pegasi" Sweetie Belle's parents have no reaction. Rarity looks devastated "WHAT!? TWILIGHT!!!!! UNDO THIS MADNESS" she runs for Twilight's castle. Sweetie Belle drops to the ground in front of her parents. "Sorry Mom... Dad..." Cookie Crumbles pats Sweetie Belle's head "Oh it's okay honey, we don't care what you are" Hondo Flanks turns to Cookie Crumbles "Have you been seeing some pony else". The transfiguration spell wears off and Sweetie Belle turns back to normal. "Nevermind dear" Apple Bloom and Scootaloo sit on the ground as the spell wears off. Rainbow Dash and Cirrus fly down to them. "Any luck getting a different new cutie mark Cirrus?" "Not yet, maybe I should try other things Rainbow Dash does" Apple Bloom tells Scootaloo "I'm going to help Applejack with the farm, it was a good day solving cutie mark problems don't you think?" "Sure, have fun!" As Apple Bloom walks away, Scootaloo looks suspicious as Cirrus, who asks "How many times did you read the last Daring Do book?" Rainbow Dash responds "Like 8 times and a half, I'm at the part where Daring Do evades the spear trap" Cirrus responds "I only read it I think twice. Maybe I can become like you by reading it another half-dozen times". Rainbow nods "Come to me house later this evening and we can catch up" Scootaloo exclaims "Can I talk to you for a second Rainbow Dash". Cirrus sits curious. As Rainbow Dash flies over. "Isn't Cirrus awesome, we even share the same taste in books" Scootaloo looks at Rainbow Dash worried "Have you noticed how Cirrus never wants to be herself, only you" Rainbow Dash thinks to herself then gets flashback to "Flight to the Finish". She remembers what she told Scootaloo. "But that was me! You're you! And it just doesn't matter if you can fly or not" Rainbow responds concerned "Yeah, nice observation squirt. Whenever I'm with her we always do what I wanna do. I'm going to ask a few things". Rainbow Dash leads Cirrus and Scootaloo to a restaurant and sit around a table, then asks Cirrus "I've always wondered, after I met you what did you do without me?" Cirrus looks nervous "I was worried if I told you we wouldn't be friends anymore. It's not something you're too keen on" "I'm not keen on a lot of things my friends do, go on I wanna hear it" "Before the 2nd last race we had as fillies, Hailstorm and Rainbow Trail took me to the weather factory to show me the cloud production line. After they showed me each kind of cloud, I thought of using storm clouds to cheat in the last race". Cirrus puts head on her hooves. Rainbow laughs "Don't feel bad, I've cheated against a friend in a race too, and she did the same to me. We learned from our mistakes... but how in Equestria did you go so fast using a storm cloud?" Cirrus takes out a compressed stormcloud in a capsule with various wires coming out. Rainbow Dash looks at it confused. As Cirrus hooks two wires together, the stormcloud creates a storm inside. Cirrus twists one end of the capsule, and the capsule launches itself and flies around the restaurant. A random pony holds up an empty mug "More water please". The capsule explodes above the pony and releases the small storm cloud inside, which rains and fills their mug. "Thanks!" Rainbow gasps "Whoa... how did you make it do that?" Cirrus explains "I researched the properties of storm clouds, they can produce various types of energy such as electric, kinetic, and hydraulic. By harnessing kinectic energy generated through storm expulsion I strapped two of those storm rockets under my wings in the last race to go really fast" Rainbow stares with her jaw wide open, pupils shrunk. "It was hard to control and I went face first into a cloud" Rainbow Dash gets up from the table "THAT'S TOTALLY AWESOME! LETS LIKE STRAP FIFTY OF THEM TO A CART". Her loudness alerts a waiter who approaches. "May I take you order" Scootaloo exclaims "Three hayburgers please, and CUTIEMARK" "We don't serve cutie marks" Rainbow Dash interrupts "Forget that, just get us three Zap-Apple Smoothies with the Hayburgers" As the waiter leaves, Scootaloo points at Cirrus's flank. "She got a cutie mark again!" Rainbow Dash and Cirrus turn to look at it. It's another storm cloud.