"Okay...here goes."
Indigo's determination was as clear as day on her face as she began her great run. The area had been abandoned by everyone else for the evening, so the track outside her village was clear all for her. It was a crumbling ruin of a place, but it still served her well. She bolted forward, breathing heavy with every step, keeping up a good pace as she sprinted. Her speed was impressive, as was her cornering when she reached the end of the track. Dust skidded all over as she turned, and she raced back in the opposite direction. Her cheeks flustered with the increased effort, and though the ending line was in sight, she dared not let up, even for an instant. Time came though when she crossed over, and when she did, she nearly toppled over with how suddenly she tried to stop herself. But stop she did, leading to a great deal of panting on her part. But it was not long before another sound was mixed in with that. It was long, slow claps, causing Indigo's eyes to widen, especially as a voice came along with them.
"Not bad, girl. Not bad at all."
Indigo looked up, and there, lounging on her side on one of the great stands around her, was a girl who appeared to be her age, with hair as diversely-coloured as a rainbow, and bearing a clear smirk upon her face. After clapping, the newcomer cackled before sitting upright, looking down at the startled girl before her.
"Nice to see someone taking their sprinting skill seriously. Practicing for the big race tomorrow?"
Although Indigo was still taken aback by the tone of this stranger, she nevertheless nodded.
"Er...yeah. I've never won before, so I wanted to get some extra training in."
The other girl nodded, then stood tall before, to Indigo's shock, leaping forward. The jump caused her to fly upwards, an impossible feat for any mortal, and Indigo knew it. When her new companion landed back down, it was with great force, sending dirt flying in all directions. Indigo stepped back, and as she looked at the still-smirking face of the other girl, realisation took her.
"You're...you're..."
The other girl nodded, placing one hand on her hip.
"Yep. Goddess. Rainbow Dash. Nice to meet you."
Indigo seemed understandably bewildered by all of this, and after taking a brief moment to pinch herself and make sure she was indeed awake, she turned back to face Rainbow.
"Um...am I supposed to kneel or bow or something?"
Rainbow considered that for a moment before giving a shrug of her shoulders.
"Officially? Sure. But I've never really been that bothered by it. So yeah, standing's fine."
Nodding back to her, Indigo was suddenly made very aware of the fact that a Goddess just witnessed her performance back there, and so blushed fiercely. Rainbow, apparently able to tell that that's what was concerning her, gave a hearty chortle.
"Don't worry about it. You're doing great so far. Trust me, I keep my eyes on athletes and racers all the time. And judging from what I've seen of your village? Oh yeah, tomorrow's race is in the bag!"
Indigo's face lit up.
"You...you really mean that?"
Rainbow nodded again, prompting Indigo to understandably punch the air with glee over the prospect of winning. Now, Rainbow always admired and respected confidence, so she of course smiled to that display. But that did not mean she wasn't thoughtful, and so poked her chin with her finger for a few moments before speaking up again.
"But you know...you could always be faster."
Indigo looked to her, curiosity taking hold of her.
"What, you mean...more training?"
Rainbow shook her head, then took a moment to quickly glance around, especially up at the sky, just in case certain individuals might have been spying on them at that moment. When she was confident that this was not the case, she smiled again before looking Indigo right in the eye.
"How would you feel about having a little...divine help in your race tomorrow?"
Indigo raised an eyebrow.
"You mean...cheat? I thought Goddesses didn't like that?"
Rainbow gave another shrug.
"Oh, sure, some of the more rule-loving Goddesses would say that, but me? Me, I just like it when my favourites win. And you, Indigo..."
She placed her hand upon Indigo's shoulder gently, taking especial care not to allow her godly strength to shatter the girl's bones there as she did so.
"...are definitely one of my favourites right now."
Indigo smiled at that thought, and after just a brief moment of hesitancy, she clapped her hands together.
"Alright then, what do we do?"
Rainbow's smile widened.
"Atta girl! Now then..."
Reaching behind herself, Rainbow then brought out what appeared to be a pair of ordinary sandals, with the caveat being that they looked to be made of pure gold. Indigo was naturally wowed by the sight, but Rainbow rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, they're pretty. Mac always does forge nice-looking stuff and all. But it's what happens when you wear them that the fun begins!"
Without even a word, Indigo swiped the offered footwear from her divine companion, after which she strolled over to the nearest broken column, which was conveniently short enough to serve as a chair. Sitting down upon it Indigo unceremoniously kicked off her own sandals before slipping easily into the new ones. Standing up again, Indigo made sure they fit right, and once she was satisfied, she waited a moment for something to happen. When all was silence and inactivity, she frowned a little before looking up to Rainbow, who just smiled at her before gesturing to the racetrack beside them. Indigo looked to it, then back to Rainbow.
"What? Just...run?"
Rainbow nodded, then watched as Indigo gave a shrug of her own, taking up more-or-less the same position she'd had before the two even met. She took a few deep breaths, then launched herself forward. At first, it felt like it always did when she began a run, at least for the first few moments. But then, in the next few seconds, her speed seemed to increase. Her steps were faster, and she was moving as though her feet weren't even touching the ground. It was more like gliding than running, and she was zooming along the track faster than she'd ever been able to before. Having this power, this speed, was overwhelming to her, though in a way that caused her to laugh with sheer excitement over it. Rainbow smiled at this, clapping enthusiastically.
"Alrighty then! Good going, Indigo!"
"Thanks! Now, how do I slow down?" she called back.
Rainbow blinked, her face frozen in that one look she had a moment ago.
"Um...what?"
Indigo, still going around inhumanly fast, looked back to her.
"Stopping! How...how do I stop?"
Rainbow blinked again, then scratched the top of her head, mumbling something to herself as if trying to recall a lost memory.
"Rainbow?" Indigo called out, increasingly worried.
Rainbow, in the silence that followed, soon gained a look of utter horror, which she quickly masked with a nervous chuckle as she looked back to Indigo.
"I, er...don't remember."
Now terrified herself, Indigo screamed at the top of her lungs as her magically-endowed legs kept on causing her to zip around the racetrack at faster and faster speeds. Rainbow, realising this was her fault, shouted to her as she passed her by.
"Just...just try something!"
Indigo frowned harder than she'd ever frowned before.
"What?! You mean like just looking down at these things and saying 'stop please' or something?!"
Yet, as those words left her mouth, the movement of her legs suddenly stopped, and she was immediately sent flying, tumbling to the ground and rolling over many times as her speed came to a cataclysmic halt. Dirt was sprayed forth as she finally ground to a stop, and Rainbow immediately flew over to her, looking her over.
"Kid? You, er...you okay there?"
Slowly but surely, Indigo stopped the frantic panting she'd been doing, looking up at the forced smile of the Goddess above her. She gradually got to her feet, still shaking, before aggressively kicking the golden sandals off her feet, before pointing to them with pure intent. Rainbow, understanding, sheepishly went over to the discarded shoes, picked them up, then paused for a moment before finally speaking.
"So...I'm guessing you don't want my help now?"
"Yes, my Lady...you may guess that," Indigo grumbled back.
Nodding, Rainbow started to back away.
"I'll just...take these back to Mac, shall I?"
"Please...do."
Rainbow, not wanting to incur further anger from this girl, began to fly off into the clouds above, sighing and speaking to herself as she did so.
"Note to self...don't encourage cheating."