Courageous

by SleeplessScribe

Chapter 3: Grudge

Courageous
Story 1
Chapter 3: Grudge
By: SleeplessScribe

“Nova, you featherbrain!” I guess it was a good thing Twilight was here; just before I went over the edge, Twilight brought a bunch of rocks over my head and blocked off the waterfall. The impact hurt a bit, but at least I was alive. I managed to pull myself over to the riverbank, where both mares managed to pull me out.

The unicorn did not seem happy at all, and before Flutters could open her mouth, she stomped her hoof down. “Nova Dash! This is exactly the problem I was trying to tell you about. Your so-called ‘courage’ isn’t bravery at all! You’re being reckless, and as you can see, your thoughtlessness almost got you killed!”

After a few coughs, I looked up at her. “Hey, I’m alive, aren’t I? And that’s not all,” I opened my left wing, letting the little ferret return to the other Pegasus, “he is too.”

Fluttershy picked him up, twirling around with the ferret. “Oh, thank you Nova! I was so scared that I’d lost him, I don’t know how to thank you enough.”

Standing up, I shook myself off. “No need, Flutters, happy to help.” The timid mare flew off, leaving me alone with Twilight yet again.

She was still glaring at me, though she didn’t look as angry as before. “We need to talk.”

I plopped my flank down on the ground, preparing for a lecture. “Alright, get on with it.”

Twilight began to pace left and right in front of me, keeping her eyes focused on mine. “Look, I know you’re just trying to be nice, but I’m sure I’m not the only pony in Equestria that isn’t comfortable with being followed around. You don’t even have to; your sister isn’t necessarily wrong. While I do love spending time with my friends, most of my down time is spent reading and studying. Learning is my passion, and I just can’t learn enough.”

That wasn’t so bad. She began to trot away, but now that I was try, I lifted myself up and floated beside her. “I like learning, too. Rainbow was never much for education, but I found physics pretty interesting my last year at flight school.”

The unicorn cocked her brown at my, one corner of her mouth turned up in a doubtful smile. “You like physics? Alright then, prove it by reciting a principle to me.”

Chuckling was hard to resist as I cleared my throat. “The widely accepted explanation for flight uses the idea that faster moving air has less pressure. Because the top of a wing is curved, the air going over it has to move faster to meet with the air going underneath the wing, which reduces the pressure pushing down on the wing, creating lift. However, in this situation, there is no action or reaction. What’s really happening is that, because wings are angled slightly, the air going over top of them is bent downwards, and it is this action that receives the reaction of lift, pushing the wing up and allowing for flight.”

The deeper purple eyes were bigger than dinner plates, and her jaw looked like it was about to fall off with how far it had dropped. Now I had to laugh as I flew circles around her. “You should see the look on your face, Twilight! Look, being a racer is more than just athletic training. I had to do a lot of reading and learning to find out what did what and learn what I could do to achieve my maximum potential. For example,” I ascended a little higher, lowering my head and curling up all four of my legs so they were against my body, “this is how I position myself during the bulk of my races. The smaller I am, the less resistance I’m forced to work against, not only increasing my speed just through that, but it also keeps me from expending more energy on fighting against the wind resistance.”

She finally pulled herself together, shaking her head quickly as she watched me. “Wow, I’ve got to be honest, I would have never expected that to come out of somepony related to Rainbow Dash.”

Yet another laugh. “Yeah, most ponies tell me that. See, that’s how I manage to stay faster than my sister. Rainbow and I were both born fast, but I do everything I can to put the odds in my favor. Sis does the same thing, but her problem is that at this point, it’s habitual for me. Even if I’m not going anywhere fast I take on that position. Rainbow was too busy napping during classes to actually learn anything.”

Twilight gave me a happy nod, finally continuing on her way. However, I wasn’t done with her, so I landed and followed beside her. “Now it’s my turn to ask you some questions. First off, what were you doing in the Everfree Forest yourself? And second, what the heck was that thing you were talking to?”

She didn’t seem that upset at me, but she did look a little confused. “Rainbow never told you about Zecora? She’s a friend of ours, and I was collecting ingredients so she could make me a remedy. My little friend, Spike, is rather sick with a fever, so Zecora fixed up this medicine to help.”

I was about to let out an “ooooh”, but was interrupted by a multicolored blur zooming between us. My sister looked a little worried, and the tone of her voice only enforced this. “Nova, we have a problem. There’s these dark clouds up in the sky, and no matter how hard I kick, they just won’t go away!”

Drawing back a bit, I looked to Twilight. “You mind if I go see what this is about?”

The mare shook her head, continuing her trot. “Not at all. I’ll come see you when I’m finished, maybe I can help.”

After a nod, I turned back to my sister. “Alright, what’s up?” She led me back over to the Everfree Forest, where a couple of black clouds stood out against the bright blue sky. “These are giving you trouble?”

My sister nodded, flying up to one and kicking it with both hind hooves, only to be bounced away. “See? No matter what I do, they just keep pushing me away.”

I rolled my eyes, flying up to the same one. “Stand back, sis, let me show you how it’s done.” Unfortunately, the only thing I showed was that something was wrong with this cloud. It was still soft and fluffy, but instead of breaking it apart, my hooves kind of just sunk into it before being pushed out, almost crashing my into my sister. “Okay, maybe not….”

She floated over to it again, poking it with her hoof. “Doesn’t look like there’s anything wrong with it. Something’s fishy, here.” Rainbow kicked it again to no avail. No matter what we did, the cloud just pushed us away from it. Eventually I tried coming down on it, but all that accomplished was me performing ten backflips and dizzying myself.

“I think we need a new approach.” We tried throwing things at it, blowing it with our wings, and even biting it, but absolutely nothing made this thing budge. “Okay, sis, something is wrong here.”

“Are you two having difficulties?” Twilight looked up at us, giggling to herself.

Both of us rolled our eyes, but my sister opened her mouth first. “No matter what we do, these clouds just won’t go away!”

The unicorn raised a hoof to her chin, pointing her horn at the cloud a few moments later. “Stand back, you two, I think I know a spell that can solve this issue!” I wish I had magic, sometimes.

With a loud boom, a purple beam burst forth from Twilight’s horn and right into the cloud. The cloud itself began to glow as well, but other than that, not much came about as a result. Well, not much until we heard another boom, and in the blink of an eye, I was on the ground with my rear left leg twitching.

Both mares made their way over to me, Twilight biting her lower lip. “Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry, Nova, are you alright?”

My words were kind of slurred, and I was really dizzy now, but I was alright other than that. “Nothing broken, does that count as alright?” To be honest, my stomach was a little upset, but that was probably because I had yet to eat lunch. They helped me onto my hooves, and we would have made our way back to Ponyville had the loud howl not frozen us. “Oh, please tell me that’s not what I think it is.”

Well, it wasn’t what I thought it was; it was much bigger, much uglier, and there was only one of them. The massive wolf let out another howl, swiping at us. Twilight turned back towards the town, but turned back around when she saw my sister and I rush at it. “Are you two crazy? Nova, what did I tell you earlier?”

I had learned my lesson about watching where I was going, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t talk. “What are we supposed to do, just lead this thing into Ponyville?” Twilight did have a point, though; rushing into this without a plan wasn’t a good idea. However, as soon as I thought of how bad an idea this was, a plan came to mind.

“Twilight, Rainbow, I have an idea!” Before either of them could say “what”, I began kicking the timber wolf’s face, making weird faces at it. “Come on, big guy! Come get me!” My taunting worked. The wolf directed its attention towards me. I took off, leading him into the same river I had fallen into earlier. “Stay with me, girls!” To make sure he was still on me, I gave the thing a few more kicks and moved away again. As we neared the waterfall, I needed a way to get this thing up on its hind legs, or better yet get it to lunge at me.

It was risky, but I flew in and gave a few more good hits, flying up as fast as I could. Like the idiot this beast was, it reared up on its hind legs, and I grabbed my sister as soon as it was. “Back of the head, now!” With all our strength, the both of us kicked it in the head. Twilight took the hint, too, when the monster began to lose its balance. Finally, she finished it by sending one of the boulders she had blocked the river with into the timber wolf’s head, and we all watched it plummet to the rocky bottom of the waterfall.

Pretty soon, the only thing left were a few soaked logs, and I clapped my hooves together as I turned to the girls. “Woo! Sis, let’s do that again, that was awesome!” My sister’s hoof met mine and we both began to laugh, and this time I was able to keep laughing, even after I saw Twilight’s face. She wasn’t laughing with us, but she definitely didn’t look angry with me like the last few times something like this happened.

After a sigh, she gave me a soft smile. “Well, at least you put some thought into what you were doing. I guess you’re not a total goofball after all.”

I gave her a shrug, floating in the air with my hooves behind my head. “I can be serious when the situation demands it.”

A loud “pfft” came from my sister and she elbowed my stomach lightly. “Quit faking, the only time you’re ever serious is in a race!”

It was time to be a typical big brother. With my foreleg around the mare’s neck, I pulled her to me and rubbed my hoof against the top of her head with a little force. “I’m sorry, say that again, sis? What was that about me being serious?”

Through my sister’s grunts and struggling, I heard Twilight call out to us as she resumed on her way back to the tree. “I’m going to go check up on Spike, I’ll see you two later!”

Had I not been teasing the heck out of Rainbow, I would’ve waved to her. “Later, Twi!”

Despite the wicked noogie she was receiving, my sister managed to turn her head up to look at me, grinning. “Well? You found anything?”

Rolling my eyes, I let her go and sighed. “I thought I did, but it turned out to be something you already knew about and forgot to tell me. She went to go see her zebra friend today, and I thought it was some kind of mutant! Thanks for including that little tidbit.”

Now it was her turn to roll her eyes. “Right, like I was supposed to know she was going to see Zecora today. I didn’t think you’d even care about meeting her, so I never mentioned her!” My fake suspicious squint clued her in that I was joking, and the smile returned to her face. “So, have you learned enough to at least tell me what you think?”

“She’s cool. If you ask me, she’s a lot cooler than you say she is, but I was always the one that actually passed my classes instead of sleeping through them.”

My sister gave another “pfft”, throwing her hooves in the air. “Classes, shmasses, all you need is skill!”

Ah, my sister was so blissfully unaware of how wrong she was. “Care to test that theory?” We both got up in each other’s faces, giving that competitive glare again.”

“You’re on.”

“First one to the end of Whitetail Wood wins.”

“One two three go!” She took off before I even realized what had happened, but it didn’t take me too long to catch up. Just as she normally did, Rainbow had all four of her legs outstretched, and while that might’ve helped her with drag, I always felt my position was the optimal for gaining speed. I had forgotten just how far away our destination was; Ponyville was in the center of Equestria, and Whitetail Wood was actually on the Western Coast, right above Las Pegasus. Our race remained pretty even, with one of us gaining a little bit of distance only to have the other gain just as much moments later. As we approached the forest, I noticed that a fair number of the trees were dead and withered despite it being mid-Spring. This distraction caused me to lose focus just long enough to slow down a bit, giving my sister the win as we passed over it.

“Ha! Look at that, Nova! Like I said, all it takes is skill.”

Grabbing her again, I resumed my playful roughhousing. “I got distracted, don’t get a big head! Oh, too late!” We both laughed at my comment before she pushed me away from her.

“Bro, you’re one to talk! I’ve seen the way you act after you win a big race.” She was right, but at least my opponents stayed focused.

After a few chuckles, we decided we needed to get going before somepony got worried and started looking for us. I kept insisting a rematch, but my sis was way too proud of her “victory” to risk losing in a race where I wouldn’t get distracted. I looked like we weren’t a moment too soon, either. As we looked down at Ponyville’s town square, all of Rainbow’s friends were there, chatting about something.

None of them looked very happy as we touched down, and my sister didn’t waste any time getting over to them to find out what was up. “Hey, hey, what’s all the commotion about? You all look like somepony just demolished Applejack’s barn.”

Well, I wouldn’t have gone that far. I mean, they all looked worried about something, but not something as serious as that. Apparently, I was wrong, though. Applejack turned to my sister and pointed in the direction of the farm. “Well, that might has well have been what happened! We were waiting on y’all so I could show you what’s wrong!”

Now that we were, indeed, all there, Applejack led us to Sweet Apple Acres, where all the dark, leafless trees were met with a gasp from everyone there save Rarity, who dramatically fainted onto a pillow she put beneath herself. “Y’all know it’s about time for the busiest apple harvest of the season to begin, and all these dead trees were perfectly healthy just a little while ago!”

Pinkie began bouncing around the trees, looking up at the barren branches. The hyperactive pony began to sniff at the roots, circling it like a dog tracking a rabbit. She then began to tap the trunk with both hooves, holding her ear to it as she did so.

Leaning over to her, I nudged Applejack while keeping my eyes on Pinkie Pie. “What exactly is she doing?”

It seemed ponies rolling their eyes was today’s recurring theme. “Just being Pinkie Pie. We’ve all learned by now that there’s no real point in trying to say anything. It’s just better to wait until she gives up.”

Well it only took about half an hour before Pinkie finally walked over to us with her head down. “I got nothing.”

Now it was my turn to try something. I slowly ascended, looking at all the girls. “Well, if these trees are in the way, let’s just pull them up so they’re not a bother anymore!” I rushed toward one of them, and had I been running instead, I would’ve come to a screeching halt.

“Nova.” It’s strange how somepony could stop me in my tracks just by saying my name. Twilight tapped her hoof against the ground, her brow lowered and her eyes half closed as she stared at me. “Think.” I slowly made my way back to the group as Twilight pulled a few pieces of bark off the dead trees. “I’ll take this back home and take a look at it. Maybe it’s just something natural, like a sickness. We don’t want to jump to any conclusions,” she then turned to me as she finished, “do we?”

My ears fell flat as I gave her a nervous grin. She didn’t give anypony a chance to speak, though. “I also sent a letter to Princess Celestia about those problem clouds, and she said she’d send some help over right away.”

She had to have planned that. As soon as Twilight closed her mouth, the loud roar as three of the legendary Wonderbolts passed over us, and one in particular caught my eye. With my focus still on her, I elbowed Rainbow. “Sis, do I see who I think I see?”

She let out a nervous chuckle, trying to pull me away. “What? I-I don’t know what you’re talking about, Nova! I didn’t see anypony. Say, how about we see what we can do to help Twilight, huh?”

My sister knew me well enough to know that if that Pegasus ever showed her face near me again, the last thing I wanted to do was avoid her. Applejack must’ve noticed my glare as well, given the fact that she was now nudging me. “Uh, Nova, everything alright? You look like just stole your win.”

I slowly turned to the farm pony, and she drew back a bit when she looked me in the eyes. “You have no idea.” I made my way towards the three pegasi, but I could still hear her say “What the hay does that mean?” as I did. Once I had approached them, I couldn’t help but snicker as I saw my former classmate struggling with the clouds just as I had. “Having trouble there, Spitfire?”

The captain of the Wonderbolts turned to me, sporting a rather happy expression given who had just addressed her. “Wait, is that you, Nova Dash?” Her fake joy was rather convincing as she flew over to me, holding her hoof out. “It’s been way too long, Nova, how are you? I heard that accident didn’t keep you from getting back on the track, but I’ve still been worried.”

Her eyes widened as I smacked her hoof down. “Don’t act all friendly with me. You know why I called you out!”

“I do?” The mare raised her brow at me, lifting her goggles. “If you didn’t come to say hello to an old friend, than I have no idea what you want.”

I closed the gap between her face and mine, and I’m sure if it were literally possible, she’d have a hole between her eyes from my glaring. “Don’t play dumb, Spitfire. I want a race, a rematch to make up for our last encounter.”

Spitfire’s mouth opened slightly, her brows angled upward. “Nova, we’re kind of busy right now. I don’t know what your problem is, but I don’t have time for any sort of race.”

“Fine! Tomorrow at noon. Be here, or be a coward, you hear me?”

Now she was starting to return my hostility, pushing against my head as she gritted her teeth. “Fine! But after I win, you have to tell me what’s gotten into you!”

“No problem, because when I win, you have to agree to have the race published in newspapers across Equestria!”

Her glare was now almost as menacing as mine. “Deal.”

-------

Rarity finally picked herself up, shaking her head as she watched my brother. “Rainbow Dash, what on earth is your brother doing?”

Pinkie Pie was still bouncing, despite not being able to find anything with that tree. “Nova doesn’t look happy at all. He needs a big old slice of chocolate cake to turn that frown upside down!”

I let out a sigh as all my friends met me with both worried and slightly upset expressions. This was another situation I didn’t think I’d need to bring up, just like how I didn’t think I’d need to tell Nova about Zecora, but after a deep breath, I tried to remember as much of the story as I could. “Nova doesn’t like Spitfire too much anymore.”

Twilight tilted her head at me. “Anymore?”

After another sigh, I sat myself down and told them everything I remembered. “Nova and Spitfire were in flight school together since Nova first entered, so they’ve been friends for a long time.”

The prissy unicorn piped up, interrupting me and leaving me with an unamused, straight face. “Wait, that would make her only a year or two older than you, would it not?”

I gave her a nod, turning back to the Wonderbolts struggling with those clouds. “Yes, she now holds the record for the youngest Wonderbolt Captain since the group was established. See, the thing is… my brother believes that title should’ve belonged to him.”

“Yes, it should have.” My brother touched down in the middle of the circle we had now formed, looking up as the three pegasi made their exit. “Spitfire and I had been friends since our days in the Cloudsdale Academy for Advanced Flyers. We were the best of friends, always trying to outdo each other with friendly competition, and that continued on to our entrance into the EAAR. She and I climbed our way through the minor and major circuits and go to the pro league together, but once we were there, she tore our friendship to shreds.”

Twilight held her hoof up, stopping him in his tracks. “Wait. Nova, if you went to the academy, why didn’t Rainbow Dash?”

I leaned back with my hooves behind my head, floating a little ways off the ground. “Too many rules. All that school would’ve done was hold me back.”

Our favorite farm mare looked over at Nova again, cocking a brow. “How exactly did she ‘tear your friendship to shreds?’”

Now it was his turn to sit down. “It was almost two years ago when Spitfire and I completed our first season in the professional racing league. It wasn’t that uncommon for a racer with exceptional skill to be accepted into the Wonderbolts if they took enough interest, and with their captain retiring that year, they decided that the pony with the most points in the poll and the most cup wins of that season would receive the honor of assuming leadership of the group.”

That part he never told me. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! You’re saying that they decided who would lead the Wonderbolts based on this one race?”

The expression I was met with caused me to put on a sheepish grin, backing away as he continued. “It was the Haytona 500, sis. Only the best of the best of the best earn enough merit to participate in the last race of the season. Both Spitfire and I were tied in the poll, and we both had the same number of cup wins that season. Throughout the entirety of the race, we battled for first place, occasionally being passed only to take the position back. Finally, at the fifth from final lap, I guess she had had enough of me and pushed me just enough to send me into the wall, effectively taking me out of the race! That brought me down to fifth place in the poll, and it was my first, and still my only, DNF in my entire career! When I ran into the wall, the resulting crash broke my wing and my leg, and it took a good month for the bones to completely heal. Don’t you see? Spitfire basically cheated to get to where she is now!”

All jaws were dropped but mine. Taking a hold of my brother, I tugged on him to get his attention. “Nova, I’ve met Spitfire before. I know I was there when that crash happened, and I saw her nudge you, but how do you know she was trying to wreck you?”

They all nodded in agreement, and Twilight set her hoof on Nova’s shoulder. “I’ve been scolding you quite a bit on jumping to conclusions and acting without thinking, Nova. Don’t you think you should’ve at least talked to her before challenging her to a race for vengeance?”

He threw his hooves into the air, shaking his head. “No, no! Twilight, I never said anything about vengeance! Pardon my language, but yet, I’m pissed off beyond belief, but I want this rematch because one of two things will come out of it: if Spitfire wins, I’ll know she did it fairly this time, and if I win, I’ll know I’m still the faster Pegasus. Besides, I know she cheated, and I’m not going to give up until I force her to play fair!”

I lowered my head, still looking at him as he began to fly off. “So you’re really going through with this?”

“I have to, sis. If I don’t, I’ll never be able to see Spitfire the way I used to, as a friend. I’ll still see her as a cheater, but at least I’ll know she can play fair when she wants to.”