//------------------------------//
// Chapter 11: Exercise, Exercise, and a Little Magic 
// Story: Rewritable 
// by Detsella Morningdew 
//------------------------------//

       About a week later, I could fly pretty normally. I could go almost anywhere, but I wasn't very fast. My wings were still quite weak. It was time to resort to extreme measures.

Training from Rainbow Dash.

Even in my head, that sounded stupid.

But I was getting nowhere by myself. I kept getting distracted, and nothing focuses you better than somepony shouting at you.

I was in for some very painful evenings.





Rainbow Dash was actually very surprised when I asked her. Apparently she didn't get requests that often. But then she got enthusiastic about it. Way too enthusiastic.

I reluctantly have to admit, she was a very good teacher. She knew how to balance work and fun. But she was intense. Very intense. Everything was done over-the-top. I didn't tell her I was training for the Sonic Rainboom, but based on the exercises she put me through, it was as if she knew.

But I knew better. She had told me herself. These were her own training exercises. Toned down, of course, but still what she trained with.

When she asked me why I was so interested, I just told her the stock answer that I wanted to be the best I possibly could. And she took that to heart.

It felt bad, not telling her about my intentions for the Sonic Rainboom, but I wasn't sure how she would react. Probably just skepticism. She had so much trouble with that move.

It was better this way. Maybe if I succeeded, I could show her how to do it more easily.

Anyway, I didn't lie. I did want to be the best that I could be. I just had a goal separate from that as well.

Rainbow Dash seemed surprised that I didn't give up on training. She hadn't had voluntary students for more than a day, before.

And I almost did give up. But after a week of training, my wings were sore, and same with the rest of me, but I noticed the improvement. I was almost twice as fast as before.

Although that wasn't exactly saying much.

But I was as fast as a normal pegasus, anyway.

And according to Twilight, that is actually a good achievement for somepony as young as me.

But I hadn't forgotten my goal. The magic in my wings had finally become automatic. It was time to experiment.





Rainbow Dash insisted that practice be every day after school. She allowed me to go to Crusader meetings on Wednesday, but it still meant that I only had free time on weekends.

And she gave me homework.

She didn't call it that, of course. She just insisted that I exercise a certain amount on the weekends to make sure I exercised every day.

She really did know what she was doing. It was the healthiest for the muscles.

But those mandatory exercises were annoying.

But now, they were something to look forward to. I could spend as long as I wanted on them, instead of being rushed by Dash.

I could experiment.

So on Saturday, from morning till noon, I studied all the books on aerodynamics I could. Then, I went outside to put what I learned to practice.

This time, I wasn't copying somepony else. I was doing something completely new.

I kept my wings the way they were. It would take more concentration to try and change them, and I didn't want to mess with success.

But I took another part of my magic to do something else. I extended it outside of my body and then took off.

I shaped it rather clumsily as I flew, making a cone-like shape in front of me.

It worked surprisingly well. I got almost a 25% increase in speed with no effort.

Well, that's not entirely true. It took a lot of mental fortitude to keep it up.

Only one thing improves that. Practice.





I practiced the rest of the day, far exceeding Rainbow's requirements.

This was a lot easier than before.

Yes, the exercise was easier, but also the manipulation.

By evening I had formed a perfectly aerodynamic cone.

I must be getting better at this.

The next day, I worked on a harder shape, starting immediately as soon as I woke up. This would be a complete body covering. It would start in front of me, shape around my body, and come to a point at the end.

Of course, my wings would be outside this bubble. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to fly.

Again, it took the entire day, but it was a lot easier to master.

Maybe it was that it was a lot simpler of a shape.

Or maybe this sort of thing just improves with practice.

But the main point was that I was flying at about twice the speed as usual.

It was odd, not having the wind in my mane and face. But the results spoke for themselves. This was definitely the way to do it.

I came in for a landing back at the library. Twilight was waiting for me at the door, watching.

"Wow, I'm impressed. Dash's training really paid off."

I smiled. "Yes it did. But It wasn't just her training."

"Oh?"

"Well, remember how I had to shape the magic on my wings?"

"Yes, of course."

"Pegasi aren't naturally aerodynamic. I used a magical field to fix that."

"Wait--you extended your magic outside your body? I didn't know that was possible!"

"Well, my magic was naturally doing that when it was all messed up. As long as I keep magic flowing through my body at the same time, it shouldn't be a problem."

"I guess you're right. I just never thought of purposely doing something like that. But if you have control over it, it should be safe enough."

"I'm getting better at control now. This new field was actually rather easy in comparison."

"And so you use it to direct the air around you? That's actually pretty clever. But why do you want to go so fast? You're not exactly Rainbow Dash. You haven't shown much interest in speed before. Now it seems you're sole focus is just that. Why?"

I sighed. "I kept it a secret, because I wasn't sure how Dash would react, but I can't keep it a secret from you. A while ago, I noticed that the air was full of ambient magical power. I noticed that Rainbow's Sonic Rainboom must have broken another barrier other than sound. She broke a magical barrier, and not only survived, but was still flying despite she was moving too fast to use that ambient magic. Not only that, she increased in speed. I want to find out what happened on the other side of that barrier. I have to recreate the Sonic Rainboom."

"I see why you want to do that, but Rainbow had a lot of trouble with that move. And forgive me, but you aren't any Rainbow Dash."

"I know. But I believe Rainbow was doing it wrong. She was using brute force. I intend to use aerodynamics. It'll make a less impressive explosion, but it'll do the job, and for me, that's what matters."

"I see. That...might actually work. There have been objects that have crossed the sound barrier before."

"I know; the aerodynamics books showed me those particular objects. I'm basing my "shield" on the air currents that they described.

"Wait a minute--did you say shield?"

"Yes, it deflects air, just as a regular shield deflects attacks. Why?"

"Is this shield of yours solid?"

"Solid enough to deflect high speed air. Other than that, I don't know."

"Have you crashed with it active?"

"Yes. It hurts. A lot."

"So, does that mean your shield broke?"

"No. But it still hurt. Remember, it's not a unicorn shield. It's a part of me, just as my wings are."

"How exactly did it hurt if it doesn't contain nerves."

"I got a splitting headache."

"Okay, that actually makes sense. Just checking. If pegasi could make shields like a unicorn..."

"Yes, that would be awesome. But unfortunately, no."





When I trained with Dash the next day, she was shocked. I showed no signs of extra wing strength, yet I was flying twice as fast as before.

Everything was going great until she gave up and decided to test my wingpower.

I used my aerodynamic shield. The wingpower reading was 0.5.

Less than Fluttershy.

And I was moving at about a quarter of the speed of sound.

It turns out the instrument used to measure wingpower measures the air you displace.

So for me, a lower score was actually better.

But it left Rainbow Dash confused. Very confused. Confused enough to ask Twilight what was going on. Loudly.

She told her, and Dash was even more confused than before.

Dash's brain eventually gave up, and she trained me the same as before. Except she took it up a notch. Now that I showed proficiency, she decided to stop toning the exercises down. I was on her training plan now.

It seems my break is over.