//------------------------------// // The Promise of the Rainbow // Story: The Word Became Ponified // by ArthemistheSwordsman //------------------------------// “Okay, the anemometer is in place!” Twilight called out to her friend after securing the device in place on an upper tree branch. “Ready when you are!” Rainbow Dash stretched her wings, did a few push-ups, and examined her planned course from the starting cloud. She would accelerate downwards to a marked spot nearby a tree (where the anemometer sat) and then pull up, gaining elevation from her initial dive velocity. The safety inflatable was in place beside the tree, in case she pulled up too late or if gravity was undervalued. Twilight sat ready, levitating the stretched measuring tape in the correct zone for the speedster to measure her distance from the turn point upwards. Backing up, Rainbow got a running start, leapt slightly, and then dove straight downwards. The blue blur picked up speed rapidly, the rainbow streak behind her growing larger with the increased momentum. She watched carefully for the precise moment, speeding up, approaching the tree faster and faster, until finally at the last second - WHOOSH - pulled upwards, whiplashing a mighty gust of wind onto the safety mat. Rainbow rose adjacent to the measuring tape, and as gravity and air resistance worked their role, the sonic soarer slowed to a near stop. Before changing direction and switching to a proper flying position, she checked her position on the tape. “157 yards!” The aerial ace shouted as she shifted to landing position and descended towards the seated Twilight, who promptly marked the new information in the journal in front of her. “Not bad,” she declared, analyzing the first data. “Seems close to my calculations.” She then levitated the anemometer towards herself to check the velocity. After recording this, she reset the safety mat in the proper place and put the anemometer back. “And that’s good, right?” Rainbow asked, scanning over and not understanding any of Twilight’s elaborate graphs and notes while the unicorn re-prepared the course. “Well, you tell me. Is 157 good for your standards?” Twilight inquired. “I guess so.” She replied with a shrug. “It’s just good to have a number and not a guesstimate.” She didn’t notice Twilight’s resetting, as she began to walk away. “Well, glad that’s done! Thanks for the help, Twi!” “Hold it!” Twilight shouted, trotting towards the now-stopped Rainbow. “We can’t just trust the first experiment; the hypothesis must be tested repeatedly before any theories can be developed! That’s the key to all research!” These words flew right over the pegasus’s head. “Uh, in normal language, please?” She glared. The egghead sighed. “To make sure it’s correct, we have to do it multiple times.” Rainbow groaned. “I had hoped this would be over soon, I held off on breakfast! I figured this would be an in-and-out deal.” At the end of this statement a mumbled grumbling permeated the air. Twilight sighed once more. “Fine, you can go eat the snack I packed. It’s in my bag by the tree. It should tie you over until we finish. I’ll continue recording this data while you eat.” She then began plugging the distance and velocity into her graphs, making proper adjustments as required while Rainbow trotted hungrily towards the saddlebag placed in the shade of the tree. Twilight proceeded with the data. She analyzed the factors of air resistance and gravity to determine unaffected velocity. She had also taken notes of Rainbow’s flight position; it seemed to provide adequate lift and minimal drag. But suddenly, in the middle of factoring reaction times, she heard something which stopped her mathematics solid. “Hey Twi, what’s this ‘Bib-Ell’ thing?” Rainbow called, pulling the brown book from the bag. She had thought it was some sort of relevant science book. The Bible! How could Twilight have forgotten she brought it with her? No way could she tell her friend about it; if it was as important as the note said, it shouldn’t be showed around. And Rainbow was a show-off. It had to be kept in secure hooves! “Oh, it’s nothing! Nothing at all! Just some boring book for us smart, science-y ponies!” She said hastily, levitating the book away from the speedster and towards herself. Rainbow looked at her with an unbelieving stare, knowing that the unicorn was hiding something. Twilight hid her true thoughts in an awkward forced smile. “Oh. Lame!” The multicolored mare finally declared before continuing her search for the snack. Twilight realized she may have to keep the book on safer watch. It was the sender’s most prized item, after all, and may be of significant sentimental or monetary value. Furthermore, the book may not be the prized possession; it may have something hidden in its pages, or contain directions to finding such possession! She concluded that until she understood the book, no pony else has to know about it. That, and she wasn’t comfortable with other ponies figuring out her problems before she even gets a clue. Rainbow Dash finished her snack abruptly, and Twilight re-prepped the anemometer and tape. This time, she gave the pegasus a marker to mark the tape at her time of stop. This way, she wouldn’t have to rely on the accuracy of a moving pony and could have a concrete mark with less pony error. As Rainbow continued her course, the Bible caught the inquisitive unicorn’s eye. Perhaps I should read a full section, she thought. It might make more sense this way. And if I ever want to use it for its proper purpose, I need to figure out what that is. Twilight opened near the beginning and began to read an interesting tale. There was a strange mammal named Noah, and he, along with several other animals, were on board a gigantic boat. Meanwhile, it rained heavily, and the entire world was covered in water. It stayed like this for several months. Twilight was confused. The story had said that there were other creatures like Noah. Why didn’t they have boats too? What happened to everything and everyone that didn’t? Where the heck did all that water come from, and where would it go? Would it disappear as ominously as it came? Despite her wondering, she continued reading, hoping to find answers. All she found was something that dumbfounded her completely. Apparently, a being called God had caused the massive flood. What’s more, he made a covenant with Noah about that very flood. God promised to never flood the world completely ever again, and to symbolize this promise, he put a rainbow in the sky. Just then, Twilight looked up and saw the rainbow streak of her friend flying across the sky. This completely shook up Twilight’s thinking, exploding ideas like a full-auto grenade launcher. Who was this ‘God’ guy and why was he so powerful? Why did he choose Noah specifically? Was God or Noah the ‘HE’ in the note? Did God flood the whole world because of love? She speed-read the nearby parts, frantic to try and answer these questions. But what struck her the most was the rainbow; those can be made very easily, she thought. Why choose something so simple and common to represent something so important and portentous, especially after nearly drowning all life in the world?! The whole situation struck Twilight as humorous, like how you would laugh if a kid broke a toy, then glued a wood block to it and said it’s ‘better’. Rainbow had finished another run, and heard Twilight’s laughter. She flew down to investigate. “What’s so funny, Twilight? Or is it some science-y joke that I wouldn’t get?” Twilight began to explain. “It’s just this story. Apparently, rainbows mean that the whole world won’t be flooded or something by some powerful guy!” She expected her friend to join her laughter, but something entirely different happened. Rainbow became interested in the story! “Really? That’s kinda cool!” She said happily, much to Twilight’s dismay. “And since I manage weather, that’s even more awesome! It’s almost like a promise that I’ll never let you down!” Twilight stopped laughing. She couldn’t believe this! Rainbow actually thought this confusing book was interesting?! Preposterous! “What? This is just some silly story that’s most likely fictional. What could some little rainbow promise possibly mean?” Twilight demanded. “Well,” Rainbow replied, “I just think it’s pretty cool how whenever you see me, you can be reminded of that kind of responsibility. It probably takes a lot to hold back on that kind of power.” She chuckled and added “And I know it takes me a lot to hold back my awesomeness for you guys!” “Whatever!” Twilight shouted angrily. “Just let me see the measuring tape, we got off-topic. How many runs did you go? It might be time to try a different jump height.”