//------------------------------//
// 10 A Vision of Ice and Fire 
// Story: Alternate Beginnings: Year Four 
// by Doug Graves 
//------------------------------//

April 5th, 996

Rainbow Dash looks at the course ahead of her. The weather today calls for scattered clouds over Ponyville. The placement really doesn't matter, so she has rearranged them into a rough simulation of a race course. The clouds serve as her pylons and gates, the areas she needs to pass through in order to complete one circuit of the course. Total length: about two miles.

It isn't anything like the real thing at the Wonderbolt Academy, of course; the wind generators and lightning coils that the Academy incorporates makes the experience much more akin to actually flying through a thunderstorm. The ice and lightning filled stormclouds mess with your sight, making it nearly impossible to tell how far away you are until you burst headfirst into one. You have to navigate by instinct, reflexes, and pure talent.

Things Rainbow Dash is going to prove she has today. Scootaloo is perched on a cloud nearby, watching her dam with bated breath as the filly takes the stopwatch, starting the countdown. The high voice chants, "Ready... Set... Go!"

Rainbow Dash bursts from her starting line, immediately feeling the drain on her magic. She grits her teeth, taking the first turn a little too sharply as she clips into the first cloud pylon. Another strong beat of Rainbow Dash's wings propels the pegasus through the air, passing through the second set of cloud gates. She angles upwards, her wings steadily beating as she takes on a bit of an endurance sprint, a climb across the length of the course; she had run out of clouds to make a true slalom section. She pushes her wings to their limit, though the high speed she ends up with makes her downwards turn a little too large as she goes into the dive section.

Rainbow Dash punches directly through the lower cloud; she should have made a sharper turn there, but her acceleration has already started to give out, making the final sprint slower than it should have been. A tear slowly forms in her eyes, blown away by the wind as Rainbow Dash passes the last of the clouds she had set up for her course.  But, she sighs to herself as she slows down, it's not going to matter. Not this time. And after all the effort she put in for the last five years... well, really, more like her entire life. All that effort, wasted down a storm drain, due to a series of mistakes and unfortunate events.

The letter has already been sent. She just set this up on a whim, to see if maybe she could pull out another miracle; find that, yes, she really did have the power inside her all along! But, alas, life can't be just like the story books her parents read her, about the little pegasus that could drag all the clouds up the mountain. Rainbow Dash doesn't need to look at the stopwatch. Seventy seconds. Seventy tail pulling seconds on a course that she should have finished in ten seconds flat.

Rainbow settles down on one of the clouds, resting her head on her hooves. She suppresses the sniffles she feels coming on; she isn't going to cry, not now. Not with the reason she is having this difficulty watching her, barely able to flit from cloud to slightly lower cloud. She watches with red rimmed eyes as Scootaloo slowly makes her way towards her, having to pause at every cloud to rest her tired wings. But, Rainbow smiles to herself, her filly is making it. Slowly but surely, she is making her way towards her.

Scootaloo stops at the closest cloud to Rainbow, looking up the three insurmountable feet at her dam. "Big Sis! That was so cool! How you flew from one cloud and around another cloud and then you went up really fast and then zoomed back down!"

Rainbow chokes back a sob, grimacing; what kind of filly is she raising, that thinks a seventy second time on a beginner level obstacle course is cool? She was beating this time back when she was Scootaloo's age, give or take a year!

"Mama?"

Rainbow forces a smile on her face as she takes off, landing next to Scootaloo. She flinches as her wing twinges, sore from the exertion, "Yeah, squirt? What's up?"

A brief hesitation before Scootaloo continues, "Oh, um, you just seemed sad, you know, like you hoped you could do better."

Rainbow looks away, focusing on the clouds slowly drifting away from each other, "Yeah, Scoots. I guess I am a little sad. Used to be able to do this course a lot faster."

Scootaloo looks down at her own hooves, then back at the cloud twenty yards away that she had last been sitting on. "And it's my fault too, isn't it? If I wasn't around-"

"HEY!" Rainbow shouts, pointing a hoof at Scootaloo, "I don't EVER want to hear you blame yourself! For that or for anything else!" Rainbow frowns as a tear forms in Scootaloo's eyes, the filly quivering as she looks down again. Rainbow moves a hoof over, rubbing Scootaloo's back while saying in a softer voice, "Hey, Scoots, I'm sorry for yelling at you, it's not your fault. You were trying to encourage me, and I took it the wrong way."

Scootaloo continues staring at the cloud they are sitting on. Rainbow sighs, wrapping her filly in her forelegs, "What do you say we go into town, Sis, find something to take your mind off of this?" At the filly's slow nod, Rainbow smiles, "Alright, hop on, the Rainbow Express is heading to Ponyville!"

Scootaloo climbs up Rainbow's side, holding onto her neck as Rainbow jumps off the cloud. She begins plummeting, picking up more speed than she knows is safe, but she needs this. The wind on her face, blowing harder and harder and drowning out Scootaloo's excited scream. Rainbow Dash smiles as she very gradually shallows out her descent, keeping the acceleration as low as she can. Soon, they are zooming over Ponyville, their destination passing below them. Scootaloo wraps her forelegs tightly around Rainbow as they begin a slow turn, a large spiral as their speed slows.

The two pegasi land outside Barnyard Bargains, an excited filly leaping off of Rainbow and prancing around, "That was awesome! I've never flown that fast before! Well, not since you took me to Canterlot, but still! That was so cool!"

Rainbow smiles, rubbing a hoof through Scootaloo's mane as she breathes heavily, "Yeah, squirt, that was pretty fun. Now, let's go find you something inside, alright?"

Scootaloo stops her prancing, "Okay!" The two head inside, looking around at the scattered aisles. Some contain shelves displaying food and drinks, others racks of gardening tools and bags of seeds with pictures depicting the vegetable or flower inside. Scootaloo, however, is drawn to the vibrantly colored toy section. She runs in, glancing from brightly colored balls to sparkly gallons of paint labeled 'New Style - Glitter Paint!'. Her eyes, however, focus on one item in particular as she makes her way further down the aisle.

"Good evening, Rainbow Dash. How are your wings doing?" Filthy Rich confidently strides up to Rainbow Dash, the brown earth pony running a hoof through his slicked back hair.

"Evening, Filthy. They've, uh," Rainbow glances backwards, "They've been better."

"Oh, please, Rainbow, call me Rich. Well, I do hope you feel better, I've missed seeing my favorite pegasus up in the air, practicing her moves." He turns, giving a startled look at Scootaloo as she drags a brown wooden board with four tan wheels. "Uh, miss, is that what you wanted?"

"Yup!" Scootaloo exclaims, hugging the wooden board, "It's perfect!" She puts the board down on the ground, resting her back two legs on it. She lifts one of her front legs, the board beginning to roll out from underneath her. Her wings flap, pushing her body forward. "Wua-whoa!" she lets out as she rolls forward, wings flapping faster but merely propelling her into one of the display cases.

Rainbow Dash and Filthy Rich wince, turning their heads and raising hooves to ward away the debris. A few balls and plushie dolls fall down around the filly who awkwardly rubs a hoof against her head. "Hey, now," Filthy Rich says, "Let's try to keep the roughhousing in the store to a minimum, please." Hey leans in towards Rainbow, whispering, "Are you sure? That's a unicorn toy, for practicing come to life spells and learning about pushing things. I ain't seen a pony riding one before."

Rainbow nods, a smirk growing on her face, "Oh, I'm with Scootaloo. It's perfect. Although, I think she might need some hoofbars, you know, something to hold onto. And a good helmet."

Filthy Rich nods as Scootaloo tries to get on the board again, "Eyup, I can see that. Make a nice, um, scooter for little Scootaloo." He walks forward, "Hey, Scootaloo, let me help you with that. I've got the perfect addition in mind!"

Scootaloo hops off the board, narrowly averting a second disaster. Filthy Rich takes the board, carrying it under one foreleg and walking, a practiced three legged gait to the back of the store. Rainbow Dash moves over, putting a hoof on a slightly crestfallen Scootaloo, "Don't worry, he'll be right back. Now, what do you think about getting a helmet for you and your sisters? You know they're also going to want a ride!"

"Oh, yeah, they'll be so excited!" Scootaloo immediately perks up, dashing back to the toy section. Rainbow watches with a smile on her face as Scootaloo looks around for a filly sized helmet, a drilling sound coming from the back of the store. Minutes later she emerges, a purple helmet with two white racing stripes on top of Scootaloo's head. She passes the other two helmets to Rainbow Dash, who tosses them onto her back, held between her wings. The two walk up to the register, debating which filly will like which helmet; Scootaloo thinks Apple Bloom will want the green one, but Rainbow Dash is convinced they'll fight over who gets the blue one.

Filthy Rich returns a minute later, holding the brown scooter. He has drilled a hole in the front of the board, bolting a 'T' shaped metal rod to serve as hoofbars. "There you go, little filly. Did you find all that you were looking for?"

The two pegasi nod, Rainbow Dash nervously leaning over the counter, "Hey, uh, I kinda left my bits at home. I don't suppose you can?"

Filthy Rich winks at Rainbow Dash, "Oh, don't worry about it, Rainbow, I know you are good for it. Go on, take it; have fun and stay safe, you hear!"

Rainbow smiles back at Filthy Rich before turning to her filly. Scootaloo is already climbing onto it, testing out the hoofbars. Rainbow smiles, rolling her eyes a little as she says, "Now, Scootaloo, no riding around inside!"

"Aww, but I'll be careful!" Scootaloo tries her best puppy dog face, the hint of a tear forming in one eye, but Rainbow is having none of it.

"You heard me! Outside, then we'll race to the park!"

"Ugh, fine!" Scootaloo awkwardly drags the scooter outside, dropping it on the ground and hopping on. She makes a revving sound with her wings as she climbs aboard, balancing all four hooves on the sturdy wood.

"Readysetgo!" Rainbow Dash exclaims as she watches Scootaloo, making sure the filly is ready. They both set off with determined looks in their eyes, racing down the streets. Rainbow grits her teeth as she realizes that Scootaloo is ahead of her, swiftly taking flight though her speed seems anything but; she must still be exhausted from the race earlier. She watches as the filly picks up speed, her wings blurring as they push her forward. Rainbow gives a cheer as Scootaloo hits a ramp, though it turns to a gasp as the scooter slowly turns to the side.

Scootaloo braces herself as the scooter hits the ground sideways, the filly rolling through the streets as the scooter crashes underneath her. Rainbow flies over to the fallen pegasus, cradling her filly in her arms. Scootaloo coughs once, looking around in a daze. "Hey, squirt," Rainbow smiles as Scootaloo focuses her eyes, "Next time, remember you can fly your scooter the direction you want, just grip the front a little tighter and twist."

"Oh yeah," Scootaloo weakly replies, "I'll have to try that next time."

"Or, you know, just let go and fly to safety. You're way more valuable than the scooter." Rainbow gives Scootaloo a quick nuzzle, "Now, up and at em, I've had worse crashes than that when I was a filly and I got right back up!"

Scootaloo grunts, slowly pushing to her hooves, "Yeah, when the going gets tough, the tough don't notice!"

Rainbow nods, smiling at her, "'Cause they have hard shells."

Scootaloo picks up her scooter, one of the wheels wobbling a little bit. She sets it back down, brushing a bit of the dirt off of her and breathing out. "Okay, Scoots, you got this," she says to herself, putting her hind legs on the wooden board. She grins up at Rainbow Dash, "Readysetgo!"

The two race off again, a little slower this time as Scootaloo weaves her way between the ponies walking along the street. Rainbow can feel the strain on her wings, but especially on her magic, but it feels so much better, so much more natural. Like it is what she is meant to do; she loves the speed, the competition, a delicious breath of fresh air compared to the control exercises she has been forcing herself through for the past three months.

They make their way to one of the parks on the outskirts of Ponyville; she shouts, "Come on, Scoots, you can't just let me win!" Rainbow spots a certain orange maned pegasus out of the corner of her eye as she crosses the park boundary; she gives a reserved happy dance as Scootaloo catches up to her, the filly breathing hard as her wings beat at a slow pace.

"But, Sis," Scootaloo says, rolling her eyes at her dam's antics, "What if I fall off again?"

Rainbow stops dancing, moving over and nuzzling Scootaloo. She tenderly strokes the purple mane to the side, looking into Scootaloo's eyes, "Falling's a part of life, Sis. What matters is that we pick ourselves back up and try again." Rainbow backs up a little, "But, I might need to teach you how to crash though; it's important not to tense up, better off being relaxed and rolling with it instead of trying to stop yourself completely." She moves a little closer, her voice dropping to a whisper, "Now, just between us, I'm getting a little tired, so why don't you do a couple laps around the park while I regain my strength, okay?"

As Scootaloo smiles and rides away on her scooter Rainbow lets out a quick breath, a muttered, "Omygosh omygosh omygosh!" as she prances. She takes a quick look behind her; yes, it is true! Captain Spitfire is here! "Wait", she says to herself, "Does that means that Spitfire got the letter? Why would she be here, then?"