10. The Apple Way
Rainbow Dash lay on her back in her bed, staring up at the stars. It was a few days after the rather...complicated picnic, and it had left her with a lot to think about. She wasn't sure how to handle everything that had happened, everything she now knew, and all that had been finished so easily. She tossed and turned once more, trying to settle her mind.
Her tossing and turning disturbed the other occupant of the bed. Luna opened her eyes slowly. "Something bothering you, Rainbow?" she asked quietly.
Rainbow shrugged. "It's...I just can't seem to get it all to settle down in my mind, you know? Slick Shades dealt with...Soarin' and Spitfire my parents...it's just, I don't know what I'm supposed to think."
Luna sat up. "Perhaps it would help to talk it out?"
Rainbow sighed. "I guess, maybe..."
"Let's start with the simpler issues then." Luna settled her wings. "What is it about Slick Shades that still bothers you?"
Rainbow glanced away. "I guess...at some level, I always knew he was out there. Knowing what he'd tried to do to me, I always pushed myself to be strong...but I never told anypony about it. Fluttershy knew...but now all my friends know. On one hoof, it's like a weight's off my wings, but that just leaves me feeling a...little confused. On the other hoof...I'm also worried this will change how the others see me. I mean, I've worked so hard to be the most awesome pegasus ever...what if they now look at me and see somepony suffering from trauma?"
Luna blinked at Rainbow. "I'm sorry, I thought we were discussing our friends, the other Harmony Bearers. They way you talk, I'd think we were discussing nobles."
Rainbow chuckled. "I guess you got a point. It's...still something that bothers me, though. It's why I never told anypony any of that."
Luna nuzzled her. "I know, Rainbow, I know." She looked thoughtful. "Perhaps I was wrong about which issue would be simpler to deal with."
Rainbow smirked. "And you thought Pinkie was the mysterious one." She sighed. "I guess...what really bugs me about SPitfire and Soarin'...everything I know now, and looking back at everything...I shouldn't be angry with them. I have no real reason to, but I still am. I hate not knowing my own head."
"Perhaps your knowledge of Scootaloo's situation is coloring things?"
Rainbow blinked. "...could be. But it is a completely different situation. Scoot's folks tossed her aside because she couldn't fly, not caring what happened to her. Spitfire did everything she could to ensure I'd have a happy, healthy life, even getting Celestia involved to ensure it...but it's like I don't even know who they are anymore..."
"Maybe that's the problem," Luna said. "You have been a fan of the Wonderbolts for most of your life, starting when Spitfire signed that picture for you. Part of who you were was built on that bond, that dream. She was your idol, your hero...but now she is something else. Like what was once a firm rock to stand on has suddenly turned into a balloon, and you are struggling to mantain balance."
Rainbow paused. "But...if it's just confusion, then why am I angry?"
Luna chuckled. "Because that is what you do, Rainbow. You have always struggled to be strong, and use aggression as a fall back for a situation you don't know how to handle. You have always been the sort to go for the first attack."
"Aw, come on! I'm not that bad."
"Then I suppose Twilight really was a spy?" Luna asked, a twinkle in her eye.
"Well, okay that was- Hey! How'd you know about that?"
Luna smiled. "I've seen your dreams, Rainbow."
Rainbow flobbed onto her back, flailing her hooves. "So unfair!" There was a knock on her door. "Come in, Scoots."
Scootaloo came in. "Rainbow...I can't sleep."
"Come on up here, Scoots." She patted the bed, and Luna scooted over so Scoots could hop up between them. "What's bugging you?"
"...bad dreams..."
"Of what sort?" Luna asked, settling a wing around both of them.
"...Sweetie Belle was cooking in Twilight's kitchen, and the result attacked me with tentacles..."
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "You don't say..."
Luna blinked. "That's...a new one on me."
Scootaloo looked up. "Can I sleep in here with you, Dash?"
Rainbow smiled. "Sure, sis. Anytime."
As Scootaloo curled up between the adult mares, Rainbow smiled, resting her head against her little sister's mane. Suddenly, sleep didn't seem so hard to grasp.
-----------------
Scootaloo stared up at the chest sitting on the shelf. She knew what it was, what was in it. She knew how important it was. She also knew how to read the guages on the front.
98%
1:08:36.12
She knew what that meant. Rainbow Dash's wings were almost fully healed. Late tomorrow afternoon, Rainbow Dash would have her wings back. Scootaloo could hardly wait.
Rainbow ahd done well as an Earth Pony, living, working, and taking care of her. However, Scootaloo knew Rainbow Dash needed her wings. She wouldn't be ehr without them, not entirely. She knew Rainbow had been having some...difficulties in her head and ehart recently, and was sure getting her wings back would solve everything.
Right at that moment, Rainbow Dash came charging in, tossing ehr mailpony bag aside. "Hey Scoots! Guess what?"
Scootaloo spun around. "Discord's escaped?"
"Uh, no..."
"You figured out how to get me my Cutie Mark?"
"Sorry, no."
"Celestia's given into the Nightmare and you need to banish her to the sun?"
"Have you been sneaking cider?"
"Twilight Sparkle's finally proposed to Flutterhsy?"
"...what?"
"...okay, I'm out of guesses."
Rainbow stared at Scootaloo somewhat strangely. "Sometimes I have no idea what's going through that head of yours."
"Pinkie's been teaching me to expect the unexpected!"
Rainbow coughed. "More like the improbable...but anyway, Applejack's finally rescheduled the Sisterhoove's Social! It's tomorrow, and I've got the day off!"
Scootaloo's eyes widened. "For real? We get to be in the Sisterhoove's Social together?" At Rainbow's nod, she leaped, shouting, "YAHOO!" She promptly embeded her head in the cloud celeing, windmilling her hooves below her.
Rainbow laughed as she pulled her out. "You certainly know how to get good air, squirt."
---------------
At Sweet Apple Acres the next day, many sister pairs were lined up, readying themselves for the competition. Applejack and Abblebloom stood together, as did Scootaloo with Rainbow Dash...and surprisingly enough, Rarity and Sweetie Belle. "I'm surprised Rarity's okay with doing something so...uncooth," Scootaloo said in surprise.
Sweetie Belle grinned. "Well, remember what I wrote in my "Happiest Day" report for school?" Scootaloo nodded. "Well, since we both DID have fun, and how important our bond is to both of us, Rarity decided we should do this every year when it rolls around. Isn't that wonderful?" Her voice squeaked on the last word.
Rainbow chuckled. "Well, I hope you're both ready to lose, since there's no way a frou-frou fashonist is beating the fastest ponies in Equestria!"
Rarity glowered at Rainbow. "Oh...it is on!"
Applejack chuckled. "Come on, everypony, this is supposed to be fun. Don't get too competitive."
Rainbow smiled. "Yeah, you're right. I'll save the bragging for after we've whupped you both."
Applejack's eyes went flat. "Rainbow, you're a good friend, but you are so going down for that."
The three sister pairs lined up at the starting line of the big race. A few other sister pairs filled out the race, but neither Rainbow nor Scootaloo paid them much mind. As Granny Smith announced the start, they were off.
Rainbow ahd been running here and there for nearly a month, and had gotten her legs into great shape, as her old need to be the fastest had led her to pushing her body much harder than normal. Scootaloo, having been ground bound most of her life, also kept up easily, as their hadn't been funds since the storm to get her a new scooter, not that she minded. As such, the three sister teams that claimed an easy lead were - as Pinkie referred to them as announcer - the Dash's, the Apple's, and the Belle's.
While Rarity and Swetie Belle progressed through the early obstacles with the same ease as last time, and Applejack and Applebloom showed the grace and coordination being farm ponies had given them, Rainbow and Scootaloo had a lot to show. Rainbow Dash raced through the buckets and jumps with ease, and Scootaloo did a series of flips through the early obstacles. Both easily vaulted over the stack of boxes, and neither were outdone with their appetities when it came time to speed eat pies.
By this point, the three main teams were really the only ones left in the race, as they'd pulled far ahead of everypony else. Pushing a hay bale proved rather easy for Rainbow and Scoot, as they raced at it full speed and struck low, using leverage to actually launch it foreward the neccessary distance through the air. Grape stomping also passed easily enough, as did the last few obstacles.
At the final stretch, the three teams were neck and neck...and that's when Rainbow and Scootaloo began to pull ahead. hile the work as an Earth Pony and Scootaloo's ground bound life had given them muscle tone that could match unicorns or earth ponies, their pegasus bodies were much lighter, allowing them to pull ahead in the final stretch. With the last jump to the finish, this lighter weight let them sail ahead of the others, crossing the finish line together.
"We did it, Rainbow! We won!" Scootaloo hopped into Rainbow's forelegs as she stood up to swing her little sister around happily.
Applejack shook herself as she stood up. "Good race, Rainbow. Looks like yer wings just slowed you down on the ground, huh?"
Rarity stood up, shaking the dust off. "Ooh...we'll win next year. Mark my words!" She blinked. "Pinkie, you can put the marker away."
"Aww..." Pinkie Pie pouted.
Rainbow grinned. "Good race! But...next time, I want to run with my wings."
"Speaking of..." Twilight said, her horn glowing with her magic.
In a flash of light, the chest appeared on the ground in front of Rainbow Dash. The guages read plain as day.
100%
0:00:00.00
Rainbow stared. "They're...finished?"
"Mmhmm!"
Rainbow walked forward, reaching her hoof towards the chest...but she ehsitated. "Are...are you sure this will work?"
"Rainbow, has my magic ever not?"
"Parasprites."
"...touch`e..."
Rainbow stared at the chest...and placed her hoof against it. The lid opened, and a brilliant light poured forth. As the light flared out, Rainbow screamed in pain as she felt her wings again, as an entire month of painful healing sensation squeezed itself into a few moments as everything that her wings had gone through to heal flooded into her brain. As the light faded, so to did the pain, leaving behind just a dull ache and some minor stiffness. She blinked, and looked to her sides.
There were her wings, fully extended out in either direction. Cautiously, she gave them an experimental flap. They moved just as she remembered, only a minor ache from underuse bothering her. She folded them against her sides, then extended them again.
"Come on, Rainbow!" Applejack called out. "Give those wings a proper workout!"
Rainbow Dash grinned. "Yeah! Come on, Scoots! We're flying home!" Grabbing hold of Scootaloo, Rainbow spread her wings wide and hurled herself and her sister into the sky.