//------------------------------// // Lickety Splitter // Story: Appledashery // by Just Essay //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash drifted forward, her eyes shut as she basked in the warm winds of the spring afternoon. Her ears whistled as she pivoted to her left and then to her right. Finally opening her eyes, she flung a glance to her side. Her left wing feathers stretched majestically in the wind as the horizon beyond it spun in gentle, swirling circles. She glanced to her other side. The earth spiraled beneath her, a hundred feet away and yet so close. Rainbow Dash finished her corkscrew, effortlessly pulling into a backflipping spiral. She dove towards the valley below and glided over the placid surface of a tiny lake. Gazing down at her reflection, she saw a sad pegasus staring straight back. With a single flap of her wings, the surface rippled, and all she could see were distorted colors against a blue canvas. ”On your mark, get set, go!” Rainbow’s right ear twitched. She looked to her side. Along the shore of the lake, four teenage stallions were galloping as swiftly as they could. Their thundering hooves caused the ground to shake along the edge of the pond. Cattails and sawgrass quivered like seismograph needles as the ponies shook up the earth in their miniature stampede. “I’m gonna beat the whole lot of ya!” “Oh no you’re not!” Rainbow Dash blinked. She stared down at her dangling hooves, giving one forelimb a nervous rub. A sigh escaped her lips, a sigh that dragged with it a frown across her face. Almost snarling, she beat her wings harder and rocketed towards the edge of the lake. Huffing and puffing, the four stallions rocketed towards a pair of trees acting as a finishing line. “Almost… there… ya… bloated… windbags!” “In your dreams…” The lead of the pack grunted through a smiling muzzle. “I’m… the fastest… thing… on land--” Just then, a blue body streaked overhead, exploding a patch of air above everypony’s skulls. “Whoah--!” The lead stallion fell on his front legs and rolled forward. “Gaaah!” the next nearest colt tripped over his tail. “Ooof!” “D’oh!” The last two collapsed into the testosteronical pile, forcing all four of them to slide across the soft grass and cross the finishing line… beneath the shadow of a flapping figure. “Heh…” Rainbow Dash smirked, her hooves on her hips. “‘Fastest thing on land’ doesn’t exactly have a snazzy ring to it, kiddo.” The lead stallion gasped, crawling out of the pony-pile with starry eyes. “Rainbow… Dash…?” The pegasus winked with a devilish grin. “Try going for ‘Raddest Earth Pony!’ It suits ya!” “Raddest?” The teenage pony gulped. “R-really?” “But you got a lonnnnng way to go before you’re ‘fastest’ at anything!” Rainbow streaked a figure-eight within five square meters of airspace for emphasis. The move was finished in a blink. “That title belongs to Equestria’s most awesome pegasus.” Her wings flapped with added force as she twirled around and bulleted for the trees. “So long as I have the skies!” Her rapid flight literally spread the top boughs of the trees apart, so that they snapped back in place, tossing a confetti parade of bright green leaves everywhere. “Whoahhhh!” The other colts finally stood up, jumping in place and clapping their hooves against the ground. “Yeahhhh!” “That was awesome!” “Do it again! Do it again!” “Heh…” Rainbow Dash was already doing barrel-flips in the air. “That one was for free! Next time, you gotta be twice as lucky to witness true badflankery!” Then, with a simple twitch of her wings, she spiraled away, causing the sky to whistle from her agile feathers slicing the atmosphere. “Woooo!” “You’re awesome, Rainbow Dash!” The lead stallion leaned back, a hoof held over his still-beating heart. “She… sh-she thinks I’m ‘the raddest earth pony!’” His companions merely chuckled and ruffled his mane. In the meantime, Rainbow Dash was flying ahead, darting in and around cottage rooftops with wild abandon. She twirled around clotheslines, spun around banners, and flipped over chimneys. Below, Ponvyilleans paused to stare and gasp at her display. Several of them waved and murmured with wonderment. On a two-story balcony, two young fillies galloped out on excited hooves in time to see Rainbow Dash blurring by. They leaned against the railing and wildly waved their hooves. “Rainbow Dasssssh!” “Yaaaaay!” “So cool!” And the two little ponies broke into excited giggles. Rainbow Dash caught this, along with a few other outbursts of cheer and salutations. She smirked herself, a gentle breath wafting in and through her ears. “Awwww yeah.” It was a quiet cheer, but a cheer nevertheless. She let it carry her over the golden rooftops of Ponyville and into the shiny clouds above.