//------------------------------// // Ch.05: The fastest thing alive // Story: The Element of Balance // by Sonic Boom //------------------------------// Chapter 5 The fastest thing alive 02:34 p.m. Ponyville Outskirts Sonic and Applejack were heading on towards Fluttershy's cottage (which was the last place of the tour). He was thankful that he had a map of Equestria that he received from Mayor Mare a little while back, who was surprised to see a two tailed alicorn as well, but eased into it quickly after the usual explanation. He was hovering just above the ground using his wings. Sonic had never known how to fly before, but thanks to the practice he received earlier, he was getting quite good at it. 30 min. ago... Sonic and Applejack exited the Carousel Boutique and decided to head on over to Town Hall. On there way there, Sonic stopped however when he noticed a statue of some sort. Applejack stopped as well to notice Sonic looking at the statue. "Hey, Applejack? Is this Princess Celestia?" Sonic. "Yep. That's her alright. Ruler of Equestria and controller of the sun and moon." Applejack. "Wow." Sonic. No words could describe how magnificent the statue was. He kept staring at her impressive wings, noticing how large they were. It was right then and there that he realized that he had not practiced at all how to use his wings. Before he could continue on with that subject, he felt a hoof tap on his left shoulder. He turned around to see a gray pegasus with crossed eyes. "Hello there. I'm Ditzy Doo. What's your name?" Ditzy. Sonic was a little surprised to see a crossed eyed pony, but he kept his comments about that to himself, knowing that mentioning that would be rude and make her pretty upset. "Uh...I'm Sonic. Sonic Boom." Sonic. "Nice to meet you, Sonic Boom. Oh, and hey, Applejack." Ditzy, who waved at her. Applejack waved back. "Wow, I've never seen an alicorn up close before. I mean, other than Princess Celestia of course. But I've never seen one with two tails before!" "Thanks. By the way, I'm not related to the princess." Sonic. "I know." Ditzy. "Wait, you know? How?" Applejack. "If you were related to the princess, then would't you have royal guards surrounding you?" Ditzy. "Hmm...true." Applejack. "Hey uh...Ditzy, right?" Sonic. Ditzy nodded. "Okay uh, can you..help me with something?" "Sure." Ditzy, "Can you teach me how to...uh...fly?" Sonic. After a few minutes of practice, Sonic was literally flying circles all around Ponyville. What amazed him more was that he was flying really, really fast. He was however pretty good at maneuvering through the buildings. "Woohoo! Flying is awsome!" Sonic, landing near Applejack and Ditzy. "You're welcome." Ditzy. "Anyway, we should get back on our tour." Applejack, handing back Sonic's cloak, which she held while Sonic practiced his flying. "Right. Bye, Ditzy." Sonic, waving. "Bye, Sonic." Ditzy, waving back. Present time They were halfway there when they noticed it started getting dark. They looked up to see that a house made entirely of clouds was above them. "A house made of clouds? Now I've seen everything." Sonic. Applejack thought this would be a good time to introduce Sonic to the fastest pegasus in Equestria and another one of her good friends. "EY! RAINBOW DASH! WAKE UP!" Applejack. "CHILL OUT, APPLEJACK! I'M UP!" Rainbow, as she poked her head out one of her windows. "I got a new friend ah want ya to meet." Applejack, pointing towards Sonic. "Whoa!" Rainbow, widening her eyes. She exited her cloud house and hovered down in front of Sonic. "An alicorn. That's so awsome! Who are you?" "I'm Sonic. Sonic Boom. And you must be Rainbow Dash." Sonic. "The one and only. I'm the fastest flyer in Equestria." Rainbow. "Really?" Sonic. "Yep. Nopony can match or beat my speed!" Rainbow. Sonic put his hoof on his chin and thought of something devious. "I bet I could." Sonic. Rainbow squinted her eyes at Sonic. "What was that?!" Rainbow. "How about a race? I'm pretty fast myself. Maybe I can beat you easily." Sonic. Rainbow pushed her face against Sonic's. "You're on!" Rainbow. Sonic and Rainbow Dash were standing side by side each other while Applejack was standing in front of them, holding Sonic's cloak for safety keeping. "Alright. Ah want a nice, clean race. The first one to make it pass Sweetapple Acres, Ponyville, Canterlot, Cloudsdale, and land near Fluttershy's home, wins." Applejack. Thankfully, Sonic memorized his map of Equestria to make sure that he knew where each checkpoint was. "Ready..." Applejack. Sonic and Rainbow readied their stance. "Set..." They looked at each other, gave a dirty look, and looked back to the front. "GO!" They blasted ahead, leaving Applejack behind. Applejack started to make her way to Fluttershy's house. As the two racers passed through Sweetapple Acres, they could not stop constantly looking at each other. They pushed harder and harder, determine to prove who really was the fastest pony alive. They raced through Ponyville, passing by everypony that they almost bumped into. Once they left town, they headed for Canterlot. They noticed a train passing by them, so they waved at the ponies inside. They reached Canterlot and passed by the royal castle's library. Canterlot Castle (Library) Meanwhile, in the royal castle's library, a lavender unicorn was reading a large book titled The art of the To-Do List while a purple colored baby dragon was napping downstairs. Suddenly, the dragon woke up and burped out a green fire which then turned into a scroll. He picked up the scroll and headed upstairs. "Twilight!" Spike. "What is it, Spike?" Twilight. "Look." Spike, holding the scroll. "A letter from Princess Celestia. Let me see." Twilight. "Here you go." Spike, giving the scroll to Twilight, who picked it up with her magic, unrolled it, and read aloud. Dear Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student. I have a very important assignment for you to do starting tomorrow. I need you to read a book called, "The legends of Equestria" and only read the section titled, "Nightmare Moon." Please do not read this book until tomorrow. For now, I would like you to read the section labeled, "Elements of Harmony" in the book I have left for you on your desk. Hoping you are doing well, Princess Celestia. P.S. Spike, there's a spider on your head. Spike looked up to see a black eight-legged arachnid on his head. "AAHH! GETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF!" Spike, running, screaming, and waving his claws around. Twilight sighed and used her magic to flick the spider off his head. "Whew. Thanks, Twilight." Spike. Twilight just rolled her eyes, and was curious of how the princess knew about the spider. She looked back at the scroll with confusion. "Why would the princess want me to read a book tomorrow when I can start reading it today?" Twilight. She knew the princess was always right, and that she would always guide her to success. So she listened to the princess's order, gave the scroll back to Spike, and went towards her desk. Twilight found the book she was looking for, which the princess teleported to her desk. It was a brown book with a golden alicorn with cyan eyes on it. Back to the race Rainbow Dash and Sonic were speeding through Cloudsdale, bypassing every pegasus in their way. Once through, they dove straight down towards the ground so as to reach Fluttershy's cottage. As they were halfway down, both rivals started picking up speed. They were flying faster than a meteor crashing towards a planet. They flew faster, and faster, and faster, and faster! Then, it happened. Both Rainbow Dash and Sonic were moving so fast, they created a force faster than the speed of sound: a Sonic Rainboom. Rainbow's rainboom was, of course, rainbow colored. But Sonic's was different. His rainboom was in the form of a ring of fire that was sparkling with electricity: a Sonic Electric Fireboom. "Whoa mighty." Applejack, who stood on top of the moat in front of Fluttershy's cottage. She also managed to catch a glimpse of the two Rainbooms the two racers made. Speaking of which, they came in close, and finally, they landed on the ground on their hind hooves with extreme force. Surprisingly, they didn't get hurt. "I WIN!" Sonic and Rainbow. They gave dirty looks at each other. "NO, I WON! NO, ME! ME! SHUT UP! NO YOU!" "Hold it!" Applejack. Sonic and Rainbow stopped shouting and looked at her. "It's a tie." "What?" Rainbow. "You mean we both won?" Sonic. "Uh, yeah. Didn't ah just say that?" Applejack.