Chapter Two
The Line Between Student and Master
Rainbow Dash flew through the skies accompanied by Soarin, and young Scootaloo. Today was Scootaloo’s last flying lesson of the summer, and she was keeping up with them both rather easily. She was getting bored, constantly flying between clouds, following and riding on Rainbow's tailwind, and even occasionally hitting a cloud face fir--
Scootaloo's muzzle met the tip of a Cumulonimbus, igniting a lightning bolt that arced and hit her square in the back. The sudden jolt made her wings lock straight out, allowing a short soar before taking a nose dive. Rainbow heard the thunder, and turned to see a falling orange pegasus trailing a thin line of smoke. Before Rainbow could react, Soarin had already dived from her side after the stricken filly. He caught her in his forehooves, setting her on the grass.
"You alright?" He asked
Scootaloo looked at him, and smiled. Electricity jumped from her teeth as she did, making her flinch. Soarin couldn't help but laugh.
"Wow kid, you could power Rainbow's mansion with your face!"
Scootaloo shot him a glare that could melt steel, before slowly retracting and flapping her wings. She rolled on her belly, positioning herself to get up. Rainbow landed next to her, looking over the charred filly.
"Careful Scoots, Cumulonimbus clouds aren't exactly the most friendly."
She bent down, moving a lock of her mane out of her face with her muzzle.
"Are you good to go again with another training run?"
“Uhh, no thanks. I’m kinda tired, we’ve been doing this for hours, and I have a Crusaders meeting in a little bit. I want to save some energy so I can fly there. I'll bet Applebloom and Sweetie Belle will be surprised! Thank you both so, so much for everything you taught me!"
"Well after two months of being up here, you better have learned something!" Rainbow joked.
"Hah, I bet I can keep up with you in a race!"
Rainbow's brow shot up, considering the challenge. Sure Scootaloo had grown exponentially since her first day of training, but after only two months she is confident enough to keep up with, no, race her? Uncanny. Scootaloo stomped and slid her left forehoof on the ground, spreading her medium-sized wings wide. Her face finally contorted into a serious expression, sending Rainbow's ego over the edge. She stood with her straightest posture, extending her large wings wide.
"Alright Pipsqueak, lets see what you got."
Rainbow proceeded to go through her "Stretch-Before-Every-Race" routine, while Scootaloo simply gave her wings a few flaps, hovering a little with each one. Soarin simply stood back, admiring the filly's bravery. Through determined eyes, Scootaloo examined her wings, looking over every feather. She was going to need all the lift she could get. Going against a pony who created the Sonic Rainboom three times, was going to be her greatest (and first) challenge, ever.
"Ready kid?" Rainbow asked in a mixed tone of energy and determination.
"Yea, but you aren't!" Scootaloo retorted mockingly, but playfully.
"Alright Soarin, can you mock up a course for us, a big one?" Rainbow asked, pointing a hoof at the thick cloud cover.
"Yea, be right back."
Soarin took off with such force that both Scootaloo and Rainbow's mane was blown to the opposite end of their heads. In seconds he was in the clouds, carving a path for the two racers.
"Whoa, is Soarin always like that around you?" Asked Scootaloo, quite suggestively.
Rainbow blushed and quickly looked away. "The hay if I know..."
In a matter of minutes, Soarin was back, following the same route he created through the clouds.
"Alright ladies, the course has been mapped from where you're standing, all the way to Sweet Apple Acres."
Scootaloo shuddered. Geez, that's like a hundred miles or something...
"First to make it there wins."
Scootaloo gulped as Rainbow hoof punched the air.
"Whoa Soarin, nice one. This should set our little student here straight on who runs things around here..."
Scootaloo pushed the thoughts of failure from her mind, focusing on making Rainbow into last week's hay fries. Alright, this is it, focus on the win, and since it's past Sweet Apple Acres, maybe I can give Applebloom and Sweetie Belle the surprise of their lives!
The thoughts put her mind at ease, and she readied her stance.
"On my mark," Alright Scootaloo, time to prove to Rainbow that you are just as tough as her... "Three," No messing around, time to WIN this!... "Two," Sweet Apple Acres, here I come...
"One GO!!" Rainbow shouted, shattering Scootaloo's concentration.
Rainbow immediately took off straight toward the clouds, followed closely by Scootaloo. She closed her wings slightly to avoid hitting the tips on the edge of the tunnel. She flapped harder to compensate for the loss of lift. Scootaloo copied her mentor's move, expertly flying through the tunnel. A rainbow streak followed the mare ahead as she darted through the turns. Scootaloo would not be outdone. She effortlessly kept time with Rainbow, corner after corner, until finally a long and wide straightaway loomed before the pair.
This is it, time to show her what I'm made of! She flapped just under her maximum speed, darting ahead of Rainbow. Time seemed to slow, as Rainbow's surprised rose eyes locked onto Scootaloo's cool magenta. Scootaloo's eyes narrowed and a slow smile cracked her muzzle, before speeding ahead of her mentor. The bright open sky awaited as Scootaloo burst from the cloud, Rainbow hot on her flank.
"You won't get off that easily twerp!"
Rainbow flapped harder, catching up to Scootaloo in a heartbeat. Scootaloo hung an agonizing left around a cloud marker, making it spin like a Top. Rainbow copied her move, spinning the cloud into a blur. Scootaloo used the fragment of time Rainbow took to turn, to accelerate to her max speed for a second. This move put her farther ahead than before, angering Rainbow further. Rainbow found Scootaloo to be a challenge after all, and she was obviously hiding her true strength during training. No time to think about this now Rainbow, guess I gotta go all out!
Rainbow flapped as hard as she could, whizzing past Scootaloo in a dazzling rainbow colored flash. Scootaloo was stunned for a second, before regaining her composure and speeding up to twice her previous speed. I'm not even close to being finished Rainbow...
Several markers lay ahead, dotting the sky a few miles each apart. Rainbow and Scootaloo were muzzle to muzzle, weaving between them. At their speed, each marker flew by only three seconds apart. Rainbow looked over her shoulder slightly, seeing Scootaloo staring back and smiling a very competitive smile. Her eyes suddenly went wide, staring at something in Rainbow's flight path. Rainbow immediately banked left, her right wing carving an upward diagonal line in a cloud pillar constructed by Soarin. Smooth Rainbow, but bad move.
Scootaloo increased her speed further, a cone of moisture forming around her figure. She had broken the sound barrier. She suddenly felt unrestricted, and the air seemed quiet. Rainbow had taken the brunt of the sound, made apparent by her holding her hooves over her ears, clenching her teeth and squeezing her eyes shut. Scootaloo used this new found feeling to accelerate even further, plastering her ears against her head and forcing her eyes closed. She felt strange, as though her body was teeming with static. She couldn't open her eyes without them drying to raisins in a second. Despite flapping as hard as she could, she didn't feel like she was getting any faster. It was like an invisible wall was pushing her back, and no matter how hard she flapped, she simply couldn't break through.
Rainbow Dash, for the first time in her life, was thoroughly impressed with a pony other than herself. Adding to her delight, this pony was a filly she had taken in, trained, and been a mother to. She watched as Scootaloo was surrounded in the rainbow colored cone, lightning building up around her body. But something was wrong, she should of created the Rainboom already... What was holding her back?
No, I'm SO CLOSE... Flap...HARDER!!
On the farthest straightaway in the race, the opportunity presented itself for Scootaloo to attempt the unthinkable, the Sonic Rainboom. From what she could tell, she was going faster than any pegasus in the world, except Rainbow of course. She was going straight and level, for if the were to angle down just ten degrees, she would hit the ground in less than two seconds. Even thousands of feet up, gravity would always win. Bastard.
She had one foreleg straight, while the other hung in the wind. Her ears and mane were pretty much flattened by the wind, creating no aerodynamic resistance. Her tail was straight, parallel with her back legs. She was pretty much like a rocket, but she still couldn't figure out why she couldn't break the barrier. Her concentration was again shattered by a different source, her left wing. It was cramping up, and she knew she couldn't keep this up for much longer.
She flapped with all her remaining strength, feeling the wall begin to budge and bend. Her strength began to fade, and she fell back from her top speed. Rainbow watched with horror as the static began to cease, and the cone began to lose it's rainbow color. She flew to Scootaloo's side, watching through slitted eyes as the filly's face began to contort in pain from exertion. She had to do something. She fell back, contemplating her next move.
Thinking for a bit, she decided to literally push her competition over the edge. She accelerated, coming within biting distance of Scootaloo's fwipping tail. She extended her forelegs, connecting her hooves to Scootaloo's, and began to accelerate even more.
Scootaloo felt something behind her. It felt like her rear hooves were on something solid, and she forced her head to the side to get a glimpse of what was there. To her amazement, it was Rainbow, and she was smiling. But I'm ahead, I'm winning, and she DOESN'T lose... why is she helping me?!
She felt her body begin to slim, as Rainbow pushed her through the sky. She found that she could keep her eyes open slightly, ignoring the pain from the extreme wind. Through slitted eyes, she watched as a cone of prismatic color began to form around her, and the tingling of the static returned. Something was strange. Within the prism of color, she could make out flashes of orange and magenta...
"Hey Sweetie Belle, you seen Scootaloo?"
Sweetie Belle trotted down from the clubhouse, holding the Foal Free Press in her magical grip. She moved it to the side to lock eyes with a disgruntled Applebloom. She looked to be in a hurry, saddle bags laden with supplies. She trotted from the stairs, using her magic to prop it up.
"Sweetie Belle, I thought Scootaloo was gonna be back today for our summer meeting? Didn't ya yell 'er?"
"Of course I did, but graduation was a little over two months ago, and she might have forgot."
Applebloom stomped the gound.
"Swell, just swell, today we need 'er, so can you go get 'er?"
Sweetie Belle's eyes seemed to look up, locked on something. Applebloom stared at her for a moment, before following Sweetie's eyes upward across the orchard.
Rainbow Dash was losing strength herself, teetering over the edge of the Rainboom. Her wings were beginning to cramp; a feeling she rarely ever felt. She continued pushing, creating a very large prismatic cone around them both. Scootaloo was now regaining confidence and strength, adding to the duo's speed. In one final heave, Scootaloo pushed off from Rainbow's hooves, flapping harder than she ever had before.
Thank you Rainbow Dash...
All at once, Scootaloo felt a surge of energy, like a wave of power spread from her entire midsection. The world seemed to blur into a pure smooth canvas of upper blue and lower green...
"Applebloom, look out!"
Sweetie Belle encased Applebloom in her green aura, tossing her like a rag doll into the nearby pond. Sweetie watched as the colorful wave made contact with the ground, sending a visible shock wave in all directions, apparent by the entire orchard leaning to and fro. Trees were ripped from their foundations, and some splintered into millions of shards close to the initial impact.
"Uh oh..." she whispered.
She raised a hoof to her face, eyes still wide as the wave finally met her. The force was unbelievably strong, tearing her from her stance and throwing her into the side of the clubhouse. The wall gave way, letting her burst right through and careen out the other side. Her back met the trunk of an apple tree, knocking the air from her lungs. The rushing wind was the only thing keeping her back against the tree as she lost consciousness. The clubhouse's now weakened structure finally buckled under the extreme conditions, and collapsed into the wind, covering Sweetie's body in heaps of wood and nails.
A confused Applebloom watched from under the water as a wave of prismatic color washed over the above air. The dazzling display was made even more amazing by the rippling of the crystal clear water. Speaking of, she wondered why Sweetie had thrown her in there in the first place. Running low on air, she broke the surface, only to be met with a wind so fierce, her cheeks flew to their extended range. Her eyes were dried in a second, making everything fuzzy to the point of not being recognizable. She dove under, opening her eyes to replace the lost moisture. When she broke the surface again, the wind had died a little, and she could see without inhibition. The scene was horrific to say the least.
"Sweetie! Sweetie Belle!" Applebloom shrieked.
The clubhouse was all but blown away, the foundation being all that was left. She spotted trees in the distance that had been completely destroyed, accompanied by apple chunks and shredded leaves everywhere. She looked around, frantic. She swam to the shore, nearly bursting from the water onto the shore in a mad dash. Her head whipped side to side, frantic to find her friend. She spotted a mixture of purple and white, a little trail of which leading under the pile of wood and metal. Her heart sank.
Scootaloo and Rainbow gradually slowed, making the rainbow trail dissipate and the world become clear once again. Rainbow released her hold on Scootaloo and flew beside her student. They looked to each other, their eyes saying more than words ever could. In just two short months, she had gone from a helpless filly with no flight skills, to the second young mare in history to perform a Sonic Rainboom. Rainbow now truly viewed Scootaloo as a prodigy.
Her wings began to seize with ache, and she dropped altitude. Rainbow recognized the filly's dilemma, and flew under her so that Scootaloo could rest on her back. The added weight did little more than tire her wings more, and Rainbow finally resorted to a steady glide. They landed in the outskirts of a very large field, and collapsed in a panting heap. The pair didn't even bother closing their wings, but let them lay limp. They looked at each other, smiling. Rainbow couldn't help but let a tear escape in front of Scootaloo for the first time in her life.
"Well, if you weren't tired before, you sure as hay are now I'll bet!" Rainbow said through her panting.
She sniffled, lightly punching Scootaloo in the shoulder. Her gesture was met with a quick snore and a stir from the now sleeping filly. Rainbow's heart felt as full as it had ever been, and she painfully extended her wing over Scootaloo.
"Sweet dreams kid, see you in a little while..."
"Dern it Sweetie Belle! Why'd ya have ta go an' be a hero?!" Applebloom yelled as she dug through the wreckage.
She lifted a large board, and blindly reached for another, when her hooves were halted by a loud metallic clang. Startled, she swung her head to look at the obstruction, to come face to face with a pale green dome. in the center, was a peacefully sleeping Sweetie Belle. She was lying on her side, the end of her tail protruding from the dome. Applebloom placed her forehooves on the dome, watching as they created large pulsations upon impact. Sweetie's horn involuntarily flared, taking the contact as a potential threat. A blast of concussive energy blew Applebloom back into the water, along with some debris from the clubhouse. Sweetie Belle jolted awake, making the barrier vanish. She looked around, partially confused. At that point, she was only certain of one thing: her back felt like it was broken in half. Shifting carefully, she stood, waiting for the familiar crack to emit from her back. After she was fully standing, she heard nothing, and the pain seemed to subside.
"Hey, Applebloom!" she called.
She watched as a large pink bow slowly broke the surface of the pond, a shaken Applebloom attached. Using her magic, Sweetie pulled her from the water, setting her on the shore.
"What in Equestria was that?" Sweetie asked, examining the destroyed orchard.
"Dunno, but whoevers responsible better pay up, them trees ain't cheap to grow!"