Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash and Rushing Wind entered a room that held some kind of advanced modern device. Obviously, neither Scootaloo nor Rainbow Dash have seen or heard of such a device. But Rushing Wind knew the drill with it.
"This, Scootaloo, is a VR Simulation device. It is used to simulate a race track and has the competitor fly over the track automatically.", Rushing Wind explained. Suddenly, the three heard a voice.
"Exactly. That's for the Pegasi to test their reactions while they're in the Zone." Scootaloo startled, and asked: "Wh-who is that?"
"Relax.", said Rushing Wind, "This is Hanzal, a fellow Pegasus. He's not really into flying, but he loves history and has a big interest to read."
Hanzal, a green Pegasus stallion with a blond mane and a cutie mark resembling a history book with a bookmark in it, came in and instantly recognized Scootaloo. "I have been waiting for this moment to meet you, Scootaloo.", he said, a little bit enthusiastically.
"You've been waiting... to meet me?", Scootaloo asked, a bit nervous.
"May I know how exactly you know about her?", asked Rainbow Dash.
"I have heard about the tournament, and Rushing Wind asked me to help him with something. He asked me if there was a way to have a Pegasus experience incredible speeds without them even trying to reach it. Like a simulation to test reflexes and accuracy on the track with increasing speed.", Hanzal explained.
"So you heard about the tournament...", Rainbow Dash said sceptically, "So why don't you take part in it yourself?"
"The reason why I don't take part in it is..." Hanzal showed his left wing. It was crippled, some feathers were missing and the bones of his wing didn't look too good. The three gasped.
"So... you're unable to fly too?", Scootaloo asked in shock.
"No, no, I can fly... But not as well as a normal Pegasus can.", said Hanzal, "Actually, I was born with this crippled wing, and I was always struggling to fly with it. But soon, as I got older, I gained more and more control. I may not fly this good, but I am very smart and know a lot about problems going on in a Pegasus."
Scootaloo smiled. Somehow, Hanzal reminded her of Twilight Sparkle, who also was very smart and had a huge interest in books.
Rushing Wind still was a bit shocked. "That's unbelieveable. And here I thought Scootaloo was the only one who had problems with flying. Guess she's not the only one..."
"I know. I think I can't even hit like 2 wing power in speed...", Hanzal said, a bit brought down. Rainbow Dash knew that this was about the same speed that Fluttershy hit on her second try to show her wing power count. But Rushing Wind only said: "The only thing that matters is that you can do it, even if it means you don't race. I mean, Rainbow Dash knows Fluttershy, another Pegasus, and she doesn't like flying fast as well."
"Really?" Hanzal couldn't believe what he heard. He knew that fellow Pegasi can hit speeds over five wing power. But hearing that a Pegasus doesn't even like to fly sure caught his attention.
"It's true.", Rainbow Dash said, "The only time when she flew fast was the time when she was forced to help create a tornado to get water to Cloudsdale. It was so long ago." Rainbow Dash remembered that time, gathering every Pegasus together, getting Fluttershy to help, and in the end, she was the finishing touch for the tornado to hit the necessary wing power.
"And after that, she never flew fast anymore. Heck, she tries her best to just avoid opening her wings.", Rainbow Dash finished.
"I guess that your friend is both afraid of heights and of high speeds. Which would also explain why this tornado incident was the only time when she flew fast. How fast was she back then?", asked Hanzal, curious about what happened.
"About five wing power, maybe a bit more.", said Rainbow Dash, "I know, Rush and I may think it's not fast, but for someone like Fluttershy, it's like... erm..."
"Having the wind in her face while she's riding on a hypercar that's going 290 miles per hour.", Rushing Wind finished.
"Jeez, you always find comparisons or examples that relate to your world, right?", Rainbow Dash said in a slightly bugged voice.
"Yeah. Sorry about that.", Rushing Wind said, knowing that Rainbow Dash didn't know much about his original world, but it was the best he got. "Now, let me show you this device here, Scootaloo." He picked her up and strapped her to the device.
"What does it do?", Scootaloo asked, her fear returning from the moment where her wings were cut off.
"Calm down. This is not like the laser machine." Rushing Wind's statement calmed Scootaloo down a bit. "This is a VR machine. It will put you onto a simulated race track and send you in the Zone."
"Zone?" Scootaloo had no plan what that was supposed to be.
"To put it simply," Hanzal explained, "the Zone is the part of the simulation where it would increase your speed every ten seconds. It may only be a small difference, but the longer you last, the faster you will be."
"Exactly. And the faster you go, the faster your reflexes need to be in order to survive. If you sustained too much damage, the simulation will end.", Rushing Wind continued.
"Right. I also customized the device so that the knockback from the wall will be simulated.", Hanzal finished.
Knowing that she won't get hurt in the simulation, Scootaloo became a lot calmer. "Hey, kid. Remember to breathe. Just don't let the fear get to you. You'll be fine." Rainbow Dash tried to help her the best she could as well, and it worked. "Thanks, Rainbow Dash.", she said to her.
"Alright, Scootaloo. Are you ready?", Rushing Wind asked.
"Yeah, I am!", she responded in excitement.
"Then, let's go!" Rushing Wind started the device. VR goggles were put on Scootaloo's eyes and a simulated environment loaded up.
"This is Syncopia, the perfect place for the ones who make first contact with the Zone. A very easy track, but if you go too fast and screw up, well, you're outta luck.", Rushing Wind said over the microphone into the simulation, "Are you ready?"
The 3-2-1 signal came up, and when the race started, Scootaloo started off flying slow in the simulation. She flew almost as fast as the speed Rushing Wind told her she would originally reach - at least, that's what she felt...
SUB-ROOKIE...
Scootaloo startled slightly when she heard that computer voice. "Relax. This voice only tells you what speed class you're in. Keep in mind that you will go faster every ten seconds.", Rushing Wind said, and Scootaloo became calm again. "And, just as a warning, if you reach a new speed class--"
Rushing Wind's further sentence was interrupted by a WOOSH! and a change of color in the simulated environment.
ROOKIE...
"...the color of the environment changes.", Rushing Wind finished. "Thanks for the warning.", said Scootaloo, unsure if Rushing Wind could hear her in the simulation. Now she was going 112 miles per hour, the speed of a regular Rookie Class flyer, and she still managed to keep accurate on the track.
A WOOSH! changed the color of the environment again.
SUB-AMATEUR...
Scootaloo felt herself going faster. May only be a small difference, like Rushing Wind said, but it's still noticeable. As she approached Zone 5, Scootaloo started to sweat a little bit, knowing that she would go faster and faster the longer she lasted...
WOOSH! AMATEUR...
Scootaloo went faster. She knew that it was only simulated, but the increased speed gave her a slight feeling of losing control.
ZONE 5 CLEAR.
The voice of Rushing Wind letting Scootaloo know that she passed Zone 5 gave her a bit of confidence. She wanted to try to get as far as she could get. She didn't want to let Rainbow Dash nor Rushing Wind down.
As Scootaloo went faster and faster when the next Zones came, she started to lose control more and more. Knowing that she would crash any moment, she tried to stop, but she couldn't. The simulation would keep going until her energy meter is dry. The only thing that Scootaloo was able to do was to maneuver away from the walls, which was a lot harder than it sounded.
Soon, Scootaloo reached Zone 12, the Pro Speed. And at this point, Scootaloo couldn't maintain any control whatsoever. She bumped from one wall into another, over and over, and then, she saw the simulated environment fade to white and finally explode, meaning that the game was over.
The VR goggles were lifted up from Scootaloo's terrified eyes, and she was panting heavily. "Scootaloo! Are you okay?", asked Rushing Wind in a worried voice.
"Yeah... Just vigorously shaken up...", she brought out during her heavy panting.
"I saw what happened. You sure need to learn to maintain control when you're going this fast. I can show you later how it works.", Rainbow Dash said. Then, Rushing Wind exclaimed: "Though I have to admit, reaching Zone 12 on your very first shot at the simulation is something I never thought a filly of your age could pull off."
"Whew, thanks, Rushing Wind...", said Scootaloo, still a bit out of breath. But knowing that the only thing she'll have to learn is to maintain control at high speeds and to stay away from the track walls when racing, she thought it may be easier to win if she manages to do it.
But first, she would have to compete in the last two races of the Rookie Tournament to see if she's a worthy adversary. Those two races that will take place the next day will show who the best Rookie is...