//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: On the Wings of a Pegasus // by Jinzou //------------------------------// "-And then right before they hit the ground there was this giant colorful explosion! And she caught Rarity! A-And then she caught Spitfire, Soarin, and Misty Fly all at the same time! If she was a second later nobody would've made it, but Rainbow has a flair for the dramatic!" The little orange pegasus recalled excitedly, smacking the ground for emphasis as her wings buzzed. "And then she flew them all back up to the stadium, and Princess Celestia called her down and said she was the best ever, and then she spent the rest of the day hanging out with the Wonderbolts and impressing them with her moves!" "Wow!" Chorused the other foals, save two hiding in the background with sour looks upon their faces. One such foal decided it had been long enough that the spotlight wasn't on her. "Oh sure, the flightless blank flank became good friends with a mare recognized by the Princess herself. I think we all know this is the chicken's lies to make her seem less pathetic." Spoke the pink earth pony from the background. "Get real, even if somebody could do that, they would never hang out with a loser like you!" Giving off her trademark antagonistic laugh, Diamond Tiara drank in the attention, relishing at the crestfallen look on Scootaloo's face, but her gloating was cut short when a cream colored earth pony walked up to her, an angry look on her face. "Oh yea? Well why don't y'all just stick around when Rainbow Dash comes to help Scoots with a flyin' lesson? Ah bet she'll show you then that she ain't playin'!" Undeterred, Diamond that as took another chance to insult the pegasus. "What, now you need to get flying lessons from strangers? Mommy and Daddy already give up on you? Can't blame them, they must know chickens belong on the ground." She spat, her own grin growing wider as Scootaloo seemed to find something very interesting on the ground to stare at. It was Sweetie Belle's turn to step up. The white unicorn didn't know about Scootaloo's family situation, she only knew that every time somebody brought it up, Scootaloo deflected questions with ease. It seemed to be a very sensitive subject for her. "Hey!" She interjected, her voice cracking. "What's wrong with getting help from a Wonderbolt? Maybe it means she's gonna be on their level!" "Oh I'm sure." Said Diamond slowly, watching Sweetie Belle pat her friend on the back, trying to rouse her spirits. "Yeah! Scootaloo shot back, jumping to her hooves. "You come along and I'll prove that Rainbow Dash can do it!" Diamond just gave her a curt nod as she prepared to follow the pegasus to her lesson, thinking she was sure that she just won. "Rainbow Dash! Over here!" A small voice beneath the cyan pegasus called out. Catching the telltale color of the orange filly walking to the pre-arranged meeting ground, Rainbow smiled and flew over to her surrogate sister and gently noogie'd her, granting an exciting giggle from her. "Hey sis! How are you doin?" She chuckled, before catching sight of the slew of other fillies behind her. She recognized the other members of the CMC, her friend's younger sisters, and a few other foals she didn't recognize. "Heya Applebloom, Sweetie Belle. Who are your friends here?" Scootaloo showed disgust as soon as Rainbow Dash said "friends". Her wings buzzing again, she pointed at a pink earth pony wearing some sort of head wear. "Diamond Tiara here said that the Sonic Rainboom was impossible, and even if it was, nobody that could do it would hang out with me. So I wondered if you could prove them wrong?" Scootaloo gave her best sad puppy eyes. Diamond Tiara. Rainbow's eyes narrowed as she recognized the name. She'd heard all too many times from Scootaloo how badly Diamond Tiara had bullied her and her friends. She was also pretty sure Scootaloo downplayed a lot of it to seem tough. Seeing the cautiously hopeful look in her sister's eyes, and having the intense desire to make a bully eat their own words granted her a big smile. Oh, she would take divine pleasure in this. "Sure thing sis. You got it." With a big smile from her little sister, Rainbow rocketed into the air, flying up several hundreds of feet. She could just imagine the sour look on Diamond Tiara's face outmatched by the gleeful one on Scootaloo's. With a deep breath, Rainbow closed her eyes and stopped flapping, instantly falling back down into a nosedive. Her eyes snapped open, and she let out her breath slowly as the adrenaline started pumping through her veins. These were the moments she lived for. All too soon the familiar mach cone started forming around her, and with a sly grin, she broke it, throwing a prismatic ring around her as the shock wave from the boom blew the manes back of her eagerly watching audience. Not content for the show to end, she skimmed along the ground, reaching the back of the group of fillies before turning horizontal, her primary feather brushing the ground. She spun a few tight circles around the fillies before shooting straight back up again to raucous cheers. As she landed back down on the ground she couldn't help but smile back at Scootaloo, who's face had almost been bisected by the giant grin she wore. Rainbow decided to embellish her next words a bit just to mess with the bully. "Couple more flying lessons squirt, and you'll be able to do that too!" She laughed, looking over at the shocked face of Scootaloo's tormentor, whose face had frozen in a look of pure shock. Struggling for words, Diamond Tiara grasped at her mental straws. "I... I... Uh, well do you honestly think Scootaloo could ever do that?" Rainbow pretended not to understand. "Well..." Rainbow began. "It might be a bit less colorful considering squirt here doesn't have a rainbow mane, but I don't see why not." At this, Scootaloo started jumping for joy, buzzing her wings in pure excitement. Diamond flashed back to her coup de grâce. When in doubt, make fun of her enemy. "Well, she obviously can't fly. So she never will." Rainbow wanted so back to jump at the filly. To make her eat her words. But she took a deep breath knowing that would only make the situation worse in the long run. "Way I see it." Rainbow said haughtily, winking at the ecstatic orange pegasus. "Even in the unlikely case Scoots here does end up unable to fly, she'd still be a hundred times more awesome than... Oh, I dunno, some bratty bully. Y'know, in a hypothetical situation." Rainbow shot an innocent look at Diamond Tiara. Turning back to Scootaloo, she grabbed her in her forelegs and took off. "Anyway, very special pegasus business here, we really must go." And flew off before the preppy pink pony could offer a rebuttal. "Rainbow Dash! That was awesome! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Scootaloo squeaked as Rainbow Dash tossed her up, and turned so the filly landed straight on her back. Scootaloo climbed up to her shoulders and grasped her neck in an iron hug. "No problem champ. Can't let those other ponies make you think you aren't every bit as awesome as you actually are." Rainbow smiled. "Now c'mon. Applejack showed me how to cook something new and I'm pretty sure I can make it for you without burning my cloudhouse down."