//------------------------------// // 31 - The Sonic Rainboom // Story: The Storm's Challenge // by OneLonelyPickle //------------------------------// Chapter 31 - The Sonic Rainboom Twilight grumbled as she weakly opened her eyes. She was getting tired of sleeping on a bed of straw in a dungeon. “Have… to eat…” she said to herself quietly. Morning’s first light snuck in through the tiny, barred window, pasting a square of orange in the middle of the jail cell floor. She glanced towards the cell door and sure enough, there were still two guards on duty. Only, one of the guards was leaning against the wall having a snooze, and the other could barely stay awake. Twilight narrowed her eyes. The same ones from before I fell asleep last night. Looks like their shift will come to an end soon. Twilight remembered the last time the guards changed. It seemed to happen at least every 12 hours if the sunlight was anything to go by. Twilight tried to stand up, but not realizing just how out of energy she was, she lost her balance and fell back down with a wince. “D-dang… at this rate…” she whispered. The guard who was still awake, but wobbly, blinked at her a few times before shaking his head. He managed to put on a determined face and spoke to her. “Hey, s-scum! Simmer down!” At that moment, hooves on the cobblestone floors behind the guard echoed with a clip-clop. Twilight had to catch her breath from her efforts. Really, really not good. I need food… energy… As if to answer Twilight’s pleas to herself, two fresh guards appeared behind the bars, one with a tray of hay in his mouth. Twilight wasn’t particularly happy about just plain hay for breakfast, but she wasn’t going to be a choosy beggar (or a beggar at all). “Alright lads, shift’s over. Leave the princess to us,” spoke one of the newcomers, wearing a smug grin. The other tossed the tray of hay throw a slit in the cell door and it landed with a resounding clank on the floor. The sun’s light illuminated it like a sick joke. Twilight, however, eyed the hay like a starving dog might a bone. The guard who had given Twilight trouble rubbed his eyes with a hoof and yawned loudly. He poked his sleeping comrade, who awoke with a start. “Hey, s-shift’s over. Let’s go sleep…” Twilight stopped watching the guards and turned her attention back to the food. It was a meagre helping of hay. It didn’t look particularly fresh. Still, Twilight craved it deeply. She hadn’t gone that long without food in her entire life. She shuffled over to the tray and started to eat. Yuck… mushy. It was the sustenance she needed, however, and so she forced it down. “Heh, look at this. An Equestrian princess feeding off the ground!” proclaimed one of the guards, laughing. The other chuckled and joined in on the teasing as Twilight’s cheeks burned pink. “Yeah! Hey princess, if only you didn’t try to attack the prince, you’d still be eating those fancy meals!” Twilight heard the other guard scoff as she forced the stale hay down her gullet. “You Equestrians are all the same… somepony shows you hospitality and you take it for granted. I see the prince has always been right about your kind now.” A well-fed Twilight who had slept on a wonderful, feather bed the night before would have had words to say to those guards, but the Twilight who slept on a hard, stone floor and whose only food for 24 hours was some old hay remained silent. She bided her time and energy. She finished the last of her meal and shuffled over to the wall, sitting up against it. She glared at the guards, who grinned back at her. Let them say what they want, do what they want. But once my food is digested, I should have just enough energy to enact my plan… Twilight changed her focus to the magenta-glowing ceiling. She closed her eyes. If those personal tests I ran last month on my metabolism are anything to go off of, it should only take two hours to digest this much food fully. And then, my ability to cast magic will be back up to at least 50%. Nothing special, but enough to get out of this crazy city if I play my cards right. She looked back down at the guards. Still grinning. She closed her eyes. More rest… go over the plan… think, Twilight. Think. Every single variable needs to be considered. If I get caught again, Prince Tsunami will probably throw me in a twenty-foot hole in the ground. Or, something worse… * * * Rainbow Dash paced from one end of her kitchen to the other. Tank watched her from the table, tired, sleep-caked eyes blinking once every twenty seconds. “Okay, okay. I got it! I’ll tell him I got the mumps!” She looked at Tank for approval, who could barely keep himself awake. “Zeph will understand! Can’t do the Rainboom with the mumps!” Rainbow started pacing again. “Oh, oh — how about this instead, Tank? I tell Zeph that my long-lost sister from Las Pegasus just flew into town a-and if I don’t visit with her now, I won’t see her again for another eight – no, nine years! Yeah, that’s it!” She turned back to Tank, wide smile on her face. Tank was snoozing again. Rainbow glanced over to a window and saw that the sunrise was still new. Only a hint of orange fire peeked over the horizon. Rainbow looked back to Tank with remorse. “Guess it’s still pretty early, even for me, huh? Sorry buddy.” Rainbow scooped up her amphibian pal and gently glided with him upstairs. She laid him down under her covers and kissed his forehead. “You take it east today, pal. Only one of us needs to push ourselves to crazy limits that most pegasi wouldn’t be capable of!” With that being whispered, Rainbow tiptoed out of the room, aware of the throbbing in her wings. All that stress on my body from the race yesterday has caught up to me overnight… Rainboom or not, how am I going to train through this pain?! Rainbow went back downstairs and flopped down on a dining chair. She laid her head on the table and stared at her fridge. “Does Zeph feel this bad too? And there are still two more races to do. If I skimp on training, that puts me at a disadvantage. Or… does it?” Rainbow quickly turned her head to the other side, her right cheek smushed against the kitchen table. “Maybe it’s better to take a day off? Hey — that can be the excuse I give to Zeph! I mean, everypony will need a breather after that race yesterday! Why didn’t I think to say that last night?” Rainbow thought about the way Zephyr had looked at her, full of hope and wonder before he left, confident that he’d see the Rainboom the day after. “Right. That’s why.” Rainbow sighed. She jumped off the chair, cranked her neck one way — it made a noise as vertebrae snapped into place — then the other, and then unfurled her wings. The jabbing sensation between each of her wing fingers was like a thousand needles. “YOOWCH!” Rainbow fell on her rump. She rubbed a wing with her hoof. It was tender. “Kind of like the day after a workout… only this time for my wings. Ughhh…” Rainbow did some breathing exercises. Slowly in, then out. Lots of short breaths, then a long, slow one. She forced some breakfast down and preened herself in the bathroom mirror. Before long she was face to face with her front door, Wonderbolts uniform fitting tight and her googles strapped on just above her eyes. “I can do this. For the sake of my friend, for the sake of myself, and for the sake of the Wonderbolts — I can do this!” Rainbow transformed her tired expression into a vigorous smile. She felt the muscles between her eyes contract towards the bridge of her nose and she bent her knees slightly. “Let’s go, training! Bring it on! Bring it onnnn! I can do this!” She burst out of her front door with a sprint, opened up her wings, dove off of her cloud, and… “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Rainbow started to fall down towards the earth. - - - A grey pegasus carrying a mailbag, and a less-than-impressed Rainbow Dash, happily flew through the skies towards Sweet Apple Acres. “Derpy, this really isn’t necessary!” Rainbow crossed her forehooves and pouted. Derpy had her own forehooves hoisted underneath Rainbow’s so she could carry the intrepid athlete as she flew. Derpy was all smiles. “Nonsense, Rainbow Dash! I’m happy to help! Usually, I only make things worse, but not this time! Aren’t you glad I was there to catch you when you were falling?” Rainbow blew air out of the side of her mouth. “Pshh, I was gonna start flapping any minute! I just had to catch my breath a-and let my wings rest a bit!” Derpy giggled. “Sure, Rainbow, sure!” Before long Derpy had dropped Rainbow off at the top of Three Tree Hill. She flew off with a wave as Rainbow frowned. “Well THAT was embarrassing. I’m really glad Zeph or nopony else saw me.” Rainbow looked up at the clouds and around at the landscape of apple trees upon apple trees as she searched for Zephyr. “Speaking of, where is he?” Rainbow plopped down in front of one of the trees and started to munch on an apple, taking care how she positioned her wings as sometimes the jabbing pain would return. She sighed, loud and annoyed. “How the hay am I going to pull this off?!” Seconds turned into minutes which then turned into what felt like hours. Rainbow almost nodded off a few times, but then her wings would jitter with pain and she was sadly woken back up with a groan. Eventually, a voice called out from the clouds. “Heyyyyy RBeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Zephyr flew down like a whizzing bullet. He was headed straight for Rainbow, whose stomach sank like an anvil in the middle of the ocean. “ZEPH STOP!!” She threw her hooves up to cover her face and braced herself. At the last minute, Zephyr stopped with a powerful gust of his wings. Rainbow cried in between fits of heavy breathing, “Z-Zeph… are you… crazy?! You almost… killed me!” Zephyr laughed hysterically and rolled over onto his back. He stopped and looked up at Rainbow, tears at the corners of his eyes. “Oh, that’s rich! I love doing that one to ponies! Betcha didn’t know I could stop on a dime, huh?” Zephyr leapt to his hooves and unfurled his wings. He was wearing his forest green EFL uniform with the stripes. There was a saddlebag strapped to his hindquarters. “Alright, it’s go time, Rainbow! Sonic Rainboom time, let’s see it!” Rainbow gulped. She placed a hoof on the ground to stabilize herself and tried to get up. The electricity in her wings felt like a hot knife against her nerves. She bit down on her teeth as her shaky hoof struggled to hold her weight. “Rainbow?” Zephyr stepped forward. “You okay?” Rainbow fell back down, having been laying against the tree for so long that her body had grown accustomed to being sedentary. She looked up at Zephyr with wild eyes. “Course I’m okay! Why wouldn’t I be? My hoof just fell asleep, that’s all!” Zephyr cocked his head and rose an eyebrow. Rainbow noticed his eye-blindingly-pink mane was back into a long, thin ponytail. “Yeah? Because it looks like you were in pain,” Zephyr began, reaching back towards his saddlebag. “Here, I’ll give you something to make you feel better. Ancient northern Equestrian secret, you could say!” He pulled out a jar of some goopy-looking, off-white paste. Rainbow unconsciously cringed as she saw the strange material. “What is that stuff?” Zephyr walked over and sat on his rump beside Rainbow. He twisted off the lid and dipped his hoof into a generous portion of the goop. “Special ointment, are you blind? Here — is it in your wings? Giv’em here.” Rainbow glared at Zephyr, who looked at her with such gentle emerald eyes, it was if he was a nurse treating an injured foal. She put on a brave face and spoke, not even trying to hide how she felt. “Hey, I said I’m fine! Don’t put that weird stuff on my wings… what if it stains?!” Zephyr laughed. “Trust me, RB. It’s gonna blow your mind. I’ll just go ahead and” — Zephyr didn’t wait for Rainbow’s permission and started to rub the ointment all over Rainbow’s wing. She felt brief sparkles of pain and braced herself for more, but it never came. Instead, a cool, numbing sensation took over — “There,” Zephyr finished, “One wing done. How’s it feel?” Rainbow’s mouth fell open a little bit and all she could do was blink at the ointment. She then looked up to Zephyr. “What IS that stuff? I can’t believe it…” Rainbow started flapping the wing closest to Zephyr, and sure enough, it felt as good as new, albeit numb in places. Zephyr chuckled and moved over to her other side. “Like I said, ancient secret. The stuff this is made out of is only found around the place I grew up. It can be used to make a numbing ointment that will get rid of that pesky morning-after-a-tough-race soreness.” Zephyr started to rub the ointment on Rainbow’s other wing, and this time she moved it out a bit more to give him easier access. Zephyr continued, “You can keep using it for a few days, but eventually your body will get used to the enzymes inside and the pain will come back even worse. It’s a kind of double-edged sword, I guess.” Rainbow complained. “Hey, why didn’t you say so! So basically, I gotta keep using this stuff until the races are over, and then I’m in for a world of pain?!” Zephyr shrugged and looked at Rainbow with a toothy smile. “You saying you would have said no and kept laying there like a bump on a log while the races went on without you?” Rainbow returned the expression and jumped up to her hooves. “Heh, no way. But still — you owe me when this is over! And hey, it doesn’t hurt that bad, does it?” Zephyr shrugged again. “Only if you’re a wuss, I guess.” He laughed, and eventually, so did Rainbow. “Okay RB, let’s get on with it so we can return to training! I’m not too worried, but you need every bit you can get if you want a piece of me during the final race.” Zephyr took to the skies. “You’re going to need to try out the thing I teach you after this about a hundred times, too, before you get it right. So there’s no time to waste! Get your butt up there and show me a huge, circular, rainbow… thing!” Rainbow followed after Zephyr, amazed at how she could fly as if the morning’s pain had never occurred. Zephyr was doing somersaults, flips, and hollering like a schoolcolt. “Oh yeah! Finally get to see the Rainboom in action — you got the ointment, it’s morning, you had a good night’s sleep — wait,” Zephyr turned back around and looked at Rainbow seriously, “You DID get a good night’s sleep, right?” Rainbow nodded with an “mhm”. Zephyr turned back around and Rainbow slapped her face with her hoof. Why’d I say THAT?! “Okay, Rainbow my friend, is this high enough?!” Zephyr asked. The two maintained their altitude high, high above Sweet Apple Acres. They were essentially above Ponyville as well, and the surrounding countryside. Applejack’s red barn looked like a toy to Rainbow, who felt the onset of vertigo by trying to focus on it. She swallowed hard. “Y-yeah, I guess so, Zeph,” Rainbow managed with a dry throat. She steeled herself and furrowed her brow. Alright, here goes nothing! If I believe in myself, I can do this! Rainbow stretched out her body so her forehooves were forward at the same angle as the rest of her body including her back hooves. She started to flap her wings harder and harder but in a way that kept her in place instead of launching her forward, as if she was powering up. This is the STAR FLYER of the EFL. He’s been talking a big game this whole time but it’s time to show him something that will knock HIS socks off. Rainbow lowered her goggles. Go time! She briefly contracted all the muscles of her midsection and brought her back up. Then with a grunt she launched herself towards the distant ground. Rainbow dove like a bird of prey, the dirt far below her target. It didn’t take long before the air resistance intensified, though, and her cheeks started to flap in the wind. She obliterated any clouds she encountered on her journey. Falling, falling, falling. And then she saw it. The cone. A cone was forming in front of her! It was coming! Rainbow could barely see. The wind was a gruesome howl. The green and brown below was getting closer. The cone was getting bigger. She was going to do it. The wind was so loud. Rainbow’s entire body was numb. She might have been screaming but she wasn’t sure. And then… it happened. In an instant. The world was spinning. Colors blended into colors and it all just became a blur. Sounds didn’t exist, unless sounds were simply the vicious screaming of the wind. Time passed, or maybe it didn’t. Rainbow’s eyes had closed at some point, and then, they were opening. She saw Zephyr, looking at her worriedly. She was back on the ground in front of the tree. “D-Did I do it?” Rainbow asked, excitedly and expectantly. Zephyr shook his head and the disappointed look on his face made Rainbow’s heart drop. “No. You didn’t.”