Horizons
07
"Rainbow Dash," Twilight said, her voice barely above a whisper in the roaring winds that screeched past them, flowing through their manes and coats like silk.
Rainbow Dash turned her head to steal a look at Twilight, the moderately fast speeds showing no sign of slowing down. She blinked, and abruptly faced forward again, soaring towards the warm, incandescent glow of the Canterlot sunset. Twilight took her motion as a response to her question.
"Can you demonstrate a Sonic Rainboom for me?" Twilight asked, her soft voice straining to top the piercing air. Twilight had wondered what breaking the sound barrier was like; she was well educated of the topic through her books, but that information can only go so far. Even she knew that written knowledge cannot compare to experience in the field. Even then, all of the information she had known were calculations on paper, since there aren't really any documented experiences on breaking the speed of sound. Rainbow had always talked about it, but she wanted to experience it firsthand for herself. There wasn't a better time to ask than now, she figured. Twilight leaned over Rainbow's shoulder awkwardly, getting a glimpse of her. Rainbow turned her head to face her. She immediately lit up like the serene landscape behind them.
"Oh!" Rainbow exclaimed, caught off-guard yet still excited by the random question. "Um, sure Twi!" Rainbow started to descend to the ground, when Twilight quickly protested, bringing her deceleration to an abrupt halt.
"No!" Twilight protested. "Take me with you," she said as if she were explaining the simple concept to a little filly.
Rainbow responded with a curt 'oh' and a subtle laugh, understanding what Twilight was asking of her. She mentally scolded herself for not understanding.
She ascended again still staying below the mountaintops, as Twilight looked down in slight fear of the impossibly high altitude she was at for a unicorn. She started to feel nervous, feeling her body shake slightly as she clinged on to Rainbow for support. She turned her head slightly to meet Twilight's eyes and gave a short wink that signaled she was ready.
Rainbow gave her wings a quick flutter and reared back to prepare for her sonic descend. She wasn't entirely sure she could pull it off as easily as she normally does, taking into account the Twilight Sparkle clinging onto her back. It couldn't be easy, but she concluded it was still doable.
"Hold on tight." Twilight tightened her grip on Rainbow, bracing herself for the impossibly fast speeds she knew the blue pegasus was renowned for. In a split second, Twilight was flung back a couple inches, as her hindlegs failed to hold onto Rainbow. She held on even tighter with her forelegs as the blistering fast speed overwhelmed her, piercing through her, far from what she had imagined. She felt like her heart was about to burst and explode from the increasingly building pressure in her chest, as the adrenaline pumped excitedly through her veins. Her heart pounded with the sheer feeling of excitement, topped off by fear. She was still holding on by only her forelegs, but she knew she could trust Rainbow. She wondered if pegasi experienced this every time they reached such heights, and how they handled it. The speed got faster and faster, as the pressure built up in her even more. Then, all of a sudden, a circular rainbow colored burst appeared in the dim, sunset sky resembling a doppler effect, painting their near proximity with flashy colors. Rainbow began to pull up and decelerate again to comfortable flight altitude, going a bit too low on that dive. Twilight finally regained her hindlegs' grip on Rainbow.
"How was that?" Rainbow said triumphantly, smiling as she looked back at the lavender unicorn who was still frightened yet exhilerated. Her heart was pounding; she wouldn't be surprised if Rainbow could hear it. Twilight smiled in return through gasps and panting, the speed still quite too fast for her.
Rainbow Dash grinned as she slowed down her acceleration, ascending up above the tallest mountain that Canterlot was mounted upon. She and the lavender mare were engulfed in the setting sun's iridescent colors as the warmth of the sundown immersed their bodies. The air was rather dry today, slightly irritating their skin. Twilight quickly recalled a similar moment she had once shared with Cadence when she was still a filly. They were flying over the same sunset, the same warm skylight, the same laughter and happiness it brought them.
Rainbow Dash slowed down the beating of her wings to a gentle flutter as she flew towards a platoon jutting out of the mountainside, needing to rest her wings. Rainbooms in themselves weren't the easiest feat to pull off; the extra weight contributed to the difficulty of the already challenging task more.
Rainbow gently landed on the edge of the platoon, and Twilight slowly slid off Rainbow as if she was a bed. She felt the cool rocks rattling underneath her hooves as she touched down, finding a spot by the edge to sit down by. She flipped her warm mane to the right, as the setting sunlight bathed her in heat, refreshing her senses as if she was just born. She gazed into the sun, reflecting back on the memories she, Cadence and Shining Armor had spent together under this same sky. Rainbow Dash trotted over, quickly seating herself next to Twilight, an innocent grin caressing her face.
Twilight diverted her attention to Rainbow, then back at the glowing sunset, shining down on them together. "So amazing..." Rainbow whispered, barely audible. Twilight kept looking towards the horizon, as the sun slowly fell while the moon began its dominant reign of the day. She looked over at Rainbow with a smile, then she noticed Rainbow's attention was focused on her, not the sunset.
"Huh? Oh, the sunset's nice too," she said, a little too suddenly. Twilight's heart skipped a beat.
"Don't..." Twilight whispered, laying a hoof on Rainbow's chest. Definitely wasn't expecting that... She slowly slid it off, as she looked back out towards the landscape's beautiful setting, taking in every aspect of the beautiful phenomenon as her heart sped up slightly.
-
"I'm bored." Rainbow Dash complained bluntly, not even three minutes in to gazing and adoring the horizons. "Come on, Twi, let's go!" Twilight still wanted to stay here and reminisce on her past memories around this Canterlot sunset. The sky was getting darker as the sunset concluded, and she did figure that the movie would be starting soon, and being late for a movie is always just a pain. She reluctantly agreed to Rainbow's proposal.
"Fine, let's-" she was abruptly cut off mid-sentence as Rainbow lit up, swiping her along as they they took off into the warm sky.