//------------------------------// // A rainbow that breaks the limits for a friend by Odinsgard // Story: Tales of Apple Scratch: The Council of Harmony // by Mariacheat-Brony //------------------------------//         “Rainbow Dash? Oh, yes, she’s home. Let me run and grab her,” Rainbow Springs told a young dark grey haired kid. “This will take just a minute.”         The kid nodded in understanding, waiting patiently for his friend to come out and get going to the Wonderbolt performance like they had planned out, luckily it was a perfect day outside. “RAINBOW! We got these tickets two months ago and we can’t be late. Now, come on!” He yelled out of frustration.         Rainbow poked her head out of the second story of the cloud house. “Whoa hold up, Thunder! This is our day remember! Have you forgotten who saved her allowance for to pay for both of us?” Rainbow smugly stated. “Anyways, I’m waiting for my mom to finish up a lunch for me. You ready for the show?”         “DUH!” Thunder said exasperated. “We’ve been planning this for the past couple months now, you think I would forget or something? What could be more important than seeing the Wonderbolts!”         “Kay! Just a sec, my Mom’s calling me. My lunch is probably ready.” Rainbow went back into the house only to appear at the door a second later, with a bag full of snacks.  “Come on, lets see if you still can’t beat me! Race to the stadium?” Counting down on her fingers before Thunder could respond, she yelled. “THREE, TWO, ONE, GO!” Her wings materialized on her back and let out a mighty thump. She shot into the air, shortly followed by Thunder.         As they raced through the city of Cloudsdale, a large building, much like the Colosseum, jutted from the bottom cloud level of the Jupiterian city. Both Rainbow and Thunder looked at the cloud building with growing excitement, “I’m so nervous about this, what if one of them comes to see us!” Thunder shouted over the wind.         “Just wave!” Smiled Rainbow before she landed at the front gate a full second before Thunder, jeering at him, “Late, as always.”         “Pfft, whatever, we both know you had a head start. Come on, we need to get in there before the seats get filled up!” Too excited to act cool, they both ran into the colosseum grabbing the first seats they could find in row one and ripping into the snacks Rainbow brought.         All around the two kids, the seats began to fill up, one by one until the entire place was packed to the brim. “This is going to be so cool! They need to do the Double Helix, that move is so awesome, then they need to do…” He stopped abruptly when three tall people in brightly colored jumpsuits walked out of an alcove to center stage.         “OH MY GOD! They look so COOL!” Thunder yelled as quietly as he could, not noticing the look he got for his fan-boying form Rainbow.         “Wow you need to calm down before I need to find some tissues for you,” Rainbow snarked, earning a sharp punch to the shoulder from Thunder.         “Shuddup will you? They're about to start!” Thunder’s attention was now fully focused on the three people readying for the performance. Not paying Rainbow any more heed she focused in on the Wonderbolts and what amazing tricks they had in store for them.         The first to move was the leader, she had sported her wings from the minute she walked out and now that they were visible to Rainbow she noticed that they were white, pure white, with red flame coloring at the tips as well as the base, she looked at the other two and nodded. In unison they jumped forward and down through the floor of clouds and out of sight, Rainbow and Thunder both confused by their action looked at each other only to miss two men explode out of the walls on either side of the colosseum, split seconds after they jumped.         Shooting their heads back to the spectacle before them, a double line of dark blue smoke was flowing from the male Wonderbolts and their formation leader could be seen up above them preparing to dive. “It’s the Double Helix!” Shouted an ecstatic Thunder.         Their leader took off at an insane dive straight for the middle of the helix and with a bright flash of red light emanating from her wings causing the outside of the cylinder to look like a sunset on a cloudy afternoon. ~~~~         A few hours later Rainbow and Thunder left the colosseum awestruck and amazed that such fliers could be real. “That was the greatest thing I’ve ever seen in my life!” An exuberant Rainbow yelled, pumping her fists into the air.         “Gee look who needs the tissues now.” Snarked Thunder quick to avoid a punch from a flustered Rainbow. “So you a fan now, I’m guessing?”         “Are you kidding me? Of course! How could I not be?! They were all so cool, and Spitfire was amazing with that double helix maneuver of hers.” Approaching a bench they sat as one and shared in the memories of the night.         “We should try that move!” Thunder said suddenly.         “What?”         “You heard me, I think we should try it and show that we’re Wonderbolt material!”         “OK, take a breath there Thunder. Do you know how dangerous that would be? We can’t even fly as fast as our parents. To pull that trick off… It’s insane even thinking about it!” Rainbow said, giving Thunder a look that she hoped would convey her desire to not try it.         “Come on, Rainbow! I know we can do it, I just know we can. Maybe all we need is some practice and then we could do it, but I can tell that we’re capable.” A look came over his eyes as if challenging Rainbow to say otherwise.         After several tense moments, Rainbow sighed, “Fine, but I hope to Celestia that you’re right about this. I don’t want to become a meat pancake anytime soon!” Snorting at her quib, Rainbow said her goodnights, promising to meet at the bench in the morning so they could start training. ~~~         Morning came too fast as Rainbow slid out from her covers and looked around her newly decorated room. ‘Eight years can really change things, I really need to talk with him more.’ Rainbow reminiscently thought. New posters hung from the wall, most were of the Wonderbolts in different poses, the others were of bands she loved.         Rainbow moved out of her room, groggy as ever, sitting at the kitchen table, which clearly was used the previous night for a wild 18th party, she cleared away any bottles and plates that scattered her eating spot vowing to take care of it before her parents got home from their trip. As she poured her cereal and began to eat, her mind drifted from thought to thought, suddenly frozen Rainbow slowly looked at a picture of her and Thunder at the front of the Wonderbolt academy with an inscription of ‘Never give up on your dreams, Rainbow!’, “Shit! I said I’d meet him for that Double Helix trick of his an hour ago.” Rainbow yelled at the wall.         Shoving the rest of the food down her throat she ran then flew straight to where Thunder waited patiently as ever. “Still can’t get up before 12 can we? Not even for your oldest friend?” Thunder asked with a mock pout plastered on his face.         “Sorry *huff* long night *huff* big party *huff*...”         “Ya ya, same old thing. You never stop to amaze me how much you like to party without me.” An annoyed smile crept across his face. “What has it been now a year since you invited me last? I know I’ve been kept up with the academy but that still does not mean I don’t need to relax.”         “Ya… Sorry about that I’ve just kinda forgotten about that stuff…” Rainbow looked sheepishly at the ground.         “More like forgotten about me, but nevermind that. I figured out how to do the DOUBLE HELIX! I just wanted you to be the first one to see.” His expression a striking contrast from his calm and annoyed expression not minuted before hand.         Rainbow was definitely not going to let his remark slide but agreed to amuse him for the moment. “OK, so you figured it out. Big whoop! They put that trick in the trash 8 years ago, and I don’t think they'd be impressed if they found you copying their moves.”         “I don’t think you understand, Dashie. This trick was never figured out, it’s the only one unsolved until today!” He spread his thunder cloud black wings out and shot into the air. “I can’t wait to see your face when I do this, so don’t blink!”         Watching with bated breath, Rainbow observed her friend make his cylinder of grey smoke as he ascended stopping at the top of his climb, giving Rainbow a cocky thumb up, aimed himself into the start of a dive.         Rainbow calculated his trajectory and was impressed to say the least, ‘Wow last time I saw him, he was scrawny as a twig and not that great at flying to match, but now look at him. What did I miss in him?’ She ideally mussed. ‘Looks like he figured it out too. Damn, I really am impressed, looks like I’m going to have to…’ The sound of a water balloon smashing into the ground shook her ears, flinging her back into reality. Shock was all she felt, terror rising in her as she ran with all her might searching the smoke for Thunder.         “This is not funny Thunder! Get out here now!” Rainbow screamed into the dark fog, “Get out here or you're never invited to a party… Of… Mine.” Tears started to well up in her eyes as she found Thunder, his body broken but still alive.  She ran to him faster than she had ever ran in her life. “OH GOD! I need to get help. Any one help, help!” When she heard nothing she realised that this was on her head to get Thunder to a hospital.         Grabbing Thunder around the shoulders, nestling his neck on hers. Once her friend was secured in her arms, she extended her wings and took off faster than she ever had before. Focused on her destination and her friend's injuries, Rainbow didn't pay much attention to the sensation of being slowed down like pushing against a flexing, but resilient wall. She just kept pushing forward, ignoring the feeling of being compressed by the air itself. With a growl, Rainbow broke through that invisible wall, not seeing that a rainbow colored jet stream formed behind her and that a loud explosion was heard all across Equestria. She didn't even noticed that she was flying so fast that all records to that day held no ground to her, but she didn't think about it at the moment. All that mattered was her friend, one of her best and oldest friends, laying lamely in her arms, maybe on the verge of death.         Crashing in the front doors of a hospital would normally raise question but with an unconscious bleeding young man in your arms and your hair and wings ablaze with rainbows those questions could come later, as evidence was the stunned crowd of people in the waiting room. “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? HEAL HIM!” Rainbow Dash screamed. “HEAL HIM FOR FAUST’S SAKE!”         Five nurses and the doctors in the room responded immediately, sprinting forward to take Thunder out of her arms, this was the last thing she saw before she blacked out unconscious from the exhaustion and the draining of adrenaline as the horrors of the day seemed to dissolves into inky blackness. ~~~         Rainbow awoke to the beeping of a heart monitor. Needles poking her arm and tubes running down her throat was the worst experience of walking up she ever had encountered.  She did not notice though, a soft flow of something, maybe hair, drifted over her legs and she felt warmth enter her body. She felt warmth sail through her spine and down her arms and chest. ‘Eyes! Yes, I can still use them.’ She slowly opened her eyes revealing a woman in a flowing white dress and hair of sunlight. In a start she realized it was the princess, her ruler, a goddess made mortal but with eternal life.         “Oh good, you’re awake," the Monarch replied in warm tone. "Huh?" the young Jupitarian blinked in shock. "I heard what you did for your friend," The Sun Princess said calmly. "Quite admirable thing to do. You’re a hero, and a loyal friend to the end.” A large smile crept across her face. “With a nice little flying trick to boot,” she softly chuckled, earning no response from the young girl. "You're probably wondering why I'm here, aren't you?"         In a tone of steel and ice, Rainbow snarled “In all honesty, I don't really care about that. I’m more surprised that no one has told me how Thunder is doing, and why I have these?” Rainbow struggled against a pair of cloth restraints eyeing Celestia closely.         "You had an agitated sleep." Looking at Rainbow in thought, Celestia made up her mind and with one snap the restraints disappeared. “There! Your friend is sleeping but you can still go visit him." she invited Rainbow to follow her outside the room. "While we're on the way to his room, I'd like to ask you something.”         “Yeah?”         “How would you like to work for me?” Celestia asked, in the most innocent and kind manner a being who has dealt with everything could. ".........................Huh?" Rainbow let out in confusion, obviously not prepared for the life-changing conversation that was about to happen. "Do you know what you did?" Celestia asked softly. "I ..I brought my friend to the hospital after he got hurt," Rainbow replied in a quiet whisper. "That's the rather obvious part, Renée." "How do you know my name?!" "My sister pays attention to promising flyers," The sun Princess explained. "And you're one of the most promising ones. She once referred to you as the next generation's Spitfire!" "Really?!" Rainbow asked with excitement. "Indeed." Celestia nodded. "I was skeptical when she first said that, but what you did changed my opinion about your ability." "What exactly are you talking about? What the heck did I do......Your Highness?" Rainbow asked in polite whisper after nearly snapping at the princess. "Haven't you heard that big explosion when you were flying your friend here?" "Huh...no. I had other things in mind at that time," Rainbow explained. "My friend's health for example," she added sternly. "Interesting. I thought that breaking the sound barrier would have excited an upcoming flyer like you," Celestia commented playfully. "Hey! My friend needed me, ok?" Rainbow snapped. "I don't care that I broke some stupid sonic fence or whatever!" "Are you sure? Your flight school records say that you have a tendency to be a bit of a show-off," The sun Princess remarked with a knowing grin. "First of all, it's not showing off because I'm the best!" Rainbow argued strongly. "Secondly, I'm sure the whole Wonderbolts team can fly as fast as I did! Thirdly and most importantly, Thunder was injured, and what matters to me is that he's okay now, not that I did something of wonderbolt-worthwhile!" Celestia simply smiled in response. "You have a good way of life. It's rare to see people with your loyalty and ethics, Renée," "Thanks..I guess," "But, do not underestimate what you accomplished today!" Celestia claimed strongly. "You flew faster than the speed of sound! Do you have any idea of how many people in the world can accomplish that feat?" "I don't know... Ten.. Twenty people?" Rainbow suggested. "Take the zero away from that number and you'll get the answer." "Only two people?" Rainbow asked in shock. "Well, three if you count yourself," Celestia answered with a wink. "Wow! Who are they? Wait, they're Spitfire and Soarin' from the Wonderbolts, right?" The Sun Princess shook her head. "Given we're in the middle of the afternoon, one is probably sleeping, and the other is currently speaking to you." "You mean that..." Rainbow asked with wide eyes. "Now, you realize the extent of your little stunt, don't you?" Rainbow slowly nodded, her mouth agape. "You broke a limit that had never been even approached by others, and you did it for the sake of another." Celestia closed the young girl's mouth with her fingers. "You've shown a great potential, both as a flyer and as a human being. My sister and I need potentials like yours, Rainbow Dash!" the Princess glanced at a nearby chamber's door. "It's your friend's room, and this is where we part ways for now. Try to think about my proposition," She said before leaving the Jupitarian with rainbow colored hair in front of her friend's room. "Ok..." Rainbow whispered as the Princess was walking away from her. "Hum, that stunt that I did... What is it called?" she asked. "It doesn't have a name yet." The Princess looked back with a small smile. "Why don't you find one for the next time we meet?"