Chapter 13: Acceptance
Chapter 13: Acceptance
“Come on! Come on!” Rainbow gritted through her teeth, her eyes squinted to the point of almost complete darkness.
She could feel her wings aching as her whole body felt like it was going to give out at any moment. She could barely feel the cool air or the warmth of the sun, all her focus concentrating on what was before her. Everything that passed her by was nothing but blur, the shape of the surrounding trees barely even registering in her mind.
As she exited the forest in a streak of rainbow, she spotted her destination.
“Come on body! You’re not failing me now of all times!”
With one final push, she saw her stopping point, an object sitting on a rock. With quick reflexes, she leaned her body forward, tapping the top of the object, a distinct clicking noise entering her ears. She smiled at the sound, but it quickly faded. Now came the hard part; landing without breaking something.
Letting her body continue its front flip, she stabilized herself as she passed the rock, attempting to stop herself with her hooves. She did just that, slamming them into the dirt, hoping that this would end up worse than it needed to be. She didn’t need to end up in the hospital again. It was working well, for about three seconds.
She held it as long as possible, but her speed was too great. Very quickly, her hooves feel out from under her, her body hitting the ground with a thud. She was forced to tuck in her wings. Last thing she needed was a broken one. She went on for a few seconds before coming to a stop. She winced, feeling the stings on her side and back, but thankfully, it didn’t feel as bad as it could’ve. That didn’t mean it felt good, however.
Carefully picking herself up, she looked back to the rock. She very quickly saw the ruts her hooves made, quickly followed by the much larger one formed from her body. Geez, she really did go all out on this one. She walked back to the rock, a slight limp to her step the whole way as she breathed heavily, her wings hanging at her sides.
As she reached her destination, she looked at the object sitting on the rock, a timer with a tiny switch on top. She looked at its face with slight anticipation. Her time…4 minutes and 47 seconds…
…
“Uuugghh,” she sighed in frustration, letting herself fall flat on her back. “Only 2 seconds better? Are you kidding me?!”
She had been trying the same thing for a nearly a week now. Yet she still only seemed to be able to improve herself at the slowest pace possible.
She didn’t remember everything, but apparently once she had gotten back from Sonic’s world, she had passed out from exhaustion. Her friends had ended up taking her to the hospital, carefully explaining to the nurse ponies there that she simply had a racing accident. Whether they believed it or not, she didn’t know; only that she woke up the next day with bandages all over her body. She may not have wanted to admit it, but Metal Sonic had really ended up messing her up. Most of her injuries were little more than some scratches and bruises. Nothing major, and most of them healed up rather well with those healing spells those unicorns knew. The only one that was still easily visible was that scar she had received on her cheek.
As she just lied there, looking up at the clouds that passed her by, she rubbed the offending cut Metal had left her with. It was currently covered up with a bandage, but that didn’t keep it from itching now and then. At first, she was afraid ponies would start questioning why she had the bandage on, Scootaloo even asked her about it once. Thankfully, knowing the injuries she’d sometimes come back with after some rough flight training, it was rather easy to convince them that she just got it from a wayward branch that caught her by surprise.
Now she didn’t need the bandage anymore, the scar had healed up rather well over the next few days. It was still rather red, but the light bleeding stopped rather quick. She just didn’t like the feeling of ponies looking at it; made her feel like she was showing some weakness. Or something along those lines, she didn’t even really know for sure.
All she cared about right now was the problem she was facing in front of her. She wasn’t in the hospital for long, and once she was out she immediately went back to the place of the Equestrian Flyers competition. For days now, she had been flying the course, her memory still fresh with the exact layout of the track. For the first time she had finally finished the track itself. Now, she had been trying her best to improve her own time ever since then. And she had…if only by a few seconds.
Rainbow let out another sigh, not even bothering to get up. “If only I could have one of those dang emeralds, then I’d be killing this course.”
Oh, and that was another thing.
Yesterday
“Ok Rainbow, try again,” Twilight instructed, holding a clipboard in her magic.
“Haven’t we done enough already?” asked Rainbow. She had been so pent up from sitting in the same place for long, she felt like she was about to die of boredom. “We’ve been at this for days now.”
“I told you Rainbow, we need to find out why your body has been acting the way it has, plus we need to find out if its having a negative effect on you,” Twilight explained, proceeding to attach pulse readers to various parts of her friend’s chest and hooves.
Once Rainbow Dash was released from the hospital, Twilight had now been very interested in this strange power that has been resonating within Rainbow as of late. All Rainbow could tell her is that she felt a warm sensation in her chest when it happened, but that it wasn’t always there. It was like it appeared whenever it pleased and vanished the next moment. However, over the past few days, Twilight had made an interesting discovery. It wasn’t that Rainbow’s power was randomly going on and off, it was just missing its trigger.
“Alright, Rainbow Dash, try and reach out to that power you had before,” requested Twilight. “See if you feel even a little tickle of it.”
Complying with her request, Rainbow shut her eyes. She did her best to feel out the power she had come to recognize. Unfortunately, she felt absolutely nothing, aside from feeling like a dolt from just standing there with all this equipment attached to her, none to comfortably either. Twilight looked at the heart beat monitors, seeing that her pulse was rather normal. After nearly a minute, Rainbow reopened her eyes.
She sighed. “Nothing Twilight. I don’t know what you’re looking to get out this, but you’re asking the wrong pony if you think I know how this whole thing works.”
“That’s the point of all this,” Twilight said. “The best way to utilize this power is figure out how to use it first. I don’t think we want a repeat of what happened last time.”
“No need to remind me.”
Ignoring her comment, she looked to the tiny dragon by her side.
“Spike, could you go get the emerald for me please?” Twilight asked her assistant.
“You got it Twi,” he responded with a salute, heading over to the desk to get the said emerald, the gem coated in light purple magic barrier.
As he picked it up, he heard Twilight say from behind him, “And Spike I better not see any bite marks on that emerald. If it came back damaged I doubt Blaze would ever let us have it again.”
Spike winced at that. At some point, Twilight had asked Silver and Blaze if she could barrow one of their Sol Emeralds for a little experiment of hers. It took a lot of pleading, and some begging eyes, but eventually she managed to convince them to let her borrow it until they needed it again. The Time Gate wouldn’t open without all seven after all.
Unfortunately for the little assistant, when she brought the gem home, she forgot to tell him what kind of gem it was. He simply thought it was another meal she had gotten for him. So, without thinking, aside from the fact that this gem looked absolutely delectable, he chomped down on it. He only made off with a chipped tooth, and barely a scratch on its surface.
He had never known a gem could be that hard. Ever since then, he had to really down his urges so as not to try that again.
Taking the emerald, ran back to Twilight has fast as he could, not even giving the gem a glance, hence he might try to get make it his lunch again; his delicious, uneatable lunch. Very quickly, he passed it down to Twilight, the alicorn gripped the gem in her magic and brought it over to Rainbow’s side.
Letting Rainbow get a good look at the gem, she decided to release the barrier she had cast over it. As the magic dissipated, Rainbow suddenly felt something like a lurch in her chest. Her eyes shined with surprise at the all too familiar feeling entering her body.
“Whoa,” she all but breathed out. “What did you do?”
“Alright,” said Twilight, seemingly ignoring her question and giving her a cheeky smile. “Try one more time. Give it everything you’ve got.”
Complying, Rainbow closed her eyes once more. This time, she did feel something. It was a bit faint, but it was slowly growing. With a deep breath, she felt it slowly beginning to surface.
Twilight was looking at her instruments again, this time with some results. Her heart beat was steadily rising, and if her eyes weren’t deceiving her, she could see a faint glow encompassing Rainbow’s body.
‘It’s working! It’s working! Twilight you are a genius!’ the alicorn thought to herself with glee.
With Rainbow, she could feel her power returning to her. There was no mistaking it. This was it. She couldn’t help but smile as it flooded her body, taking it all in. It was so much that it felt like her mane was flowing with it, her rainbow hairs brushing against her brow. She wasn’t exactly sure what Twilight did, but she wasn’t complaining.
“Umm,” Twilight suddenly began to stutter, “Rainbow Dash…”
“Yeah Twilight?” she asked, still smiling, and still keeping her eyes closed, afraid to open them as if the power would vanish if they did. “What do you think? Do I look any different?”
“Well, you may want to tone it down just a little bit,” her friend said in an almost worried tone.
“Twi, is that supposed to happen?” asked Spike. “If it’s not, then, can I run?”
Unknown to Rainbow, the heartbeat monitor was starting to go crazy. Her heart rate was already over 200 bpm, and it was still steadily rising! Other than that, Twilight and Spike could see some of the papers and books they had lying around them being affected as well. Research paper were being blows away and the books pages were being flipped at a rapid pace, like a wind was blowing them, but neither of them could feel it. In fact, they couldn’t feel a thing a single thing that may have been different. Only seeing what was causing it.
A bright red aura had begun to encompass Rainbow, a red lighting flashing in before disappearing. Twilight looked at the symbol for the short time it there, and for the first time in the past couple of weeks, she believed she knew what was happening. Now, it was just a matter of seeing if she could stop this before it got out of hoof.
She looked at the heartbeat monitor, it was now…300 bpm!
“Rainbow!” she called to her friend. “You need to stop! This is getting dangerous!”
“Not yet Twilight,” Rainbow told her, her smile growing into a wide grin. “I’m gonna see just how far I can take this.”
Reaching deeper within herself, Rainbow let her aura grow even further. And it did so. So much in fact that it flared up like a flame, pages and books flying away from the group.
“Duck in cover!” Spike yelled as he ran for the nearest table and jumped behind it.
“Spike!” Twilight called to him, but she decided to just leave him, as she had bigger concerns.
She turned back to Rainbow, watching as the aura now completely covered her body, nearly rising to the ceiling like a fire. She managed to get another look at the monitor, and she didn’t like what she was seeing. It was now all the way up at 500 bpm! No pony can survive a heart rate like that! The fact that she even made it that far was staggering!
“Rainbow! You need to stop right now! This has gone way too far!”
“Not yet!” Rainbow said back. “I need to see just how far I can take this!”
Not taking the hint that this was a bad idea, Rainbow continued to push more and more of her power out. Sweat was now beginning to for on her brow, but to Twilight’s surprise, the sweat slow began to evaporate. A small but steady stream of steam formed from the sweat. A vein began to show itself onto her brow as Rainbow looked to be struggling to get the most energy out as she could.
Twilight was now seeing a heartbeat spike up to 800 bpm. That’s just inponily possible! Her heart would’ve practically burst out of her chest by now!
“Ok, this getting out of hoof!” Twilight said sternly, lighting up her horn with a sparkling purple magic.
Focusing her energy, she formed a bubble-like barrier around the area her friend was in. As she did, the aura too became entrapped by it. To her surprise, Twilight couldn’t even she Rainbow anymore. The entire inside of the bubble now had an inner layer of red. At first, Twilight believed that she had contained it, but to her immense surprise, she could very quickly feel the pressure begin to push outwards, like water filling up a balloon.
Twilight was about to start to add more magic to it, hoping to completely encompass Rainbow’s body itself to suppress the energy, however, ever so slightly, the energy finally looked to be dissipating. The red aura began to clear, allowing her to finally see Rainbow once more. Before long, the aura completely vanished, Rainbow’s mane falling back down to its normal disheveled state. All that was left now was Rainbow, the machine that she was hooked up to, and the bubble.
“Is it over?” she heard Spike call from the other end of the lab. “The whole castle isn’t gonna explode, is it? I’d rather not have that happen again.”
Eyeing Rainbow once more, Twilight let out a sigh, confirming that everything seemed to have calmed down. “Yes Spike, I think you come out now.”
He did just that, albeit a bit cautiously. He arrived back just in time to see Twilight release the bubble and let it disappear. Rainbow didn’t look up at them, she just kept her head held down. As her friends went to her, they couldn’t help but glance over to the machine that was with her in the barrier, or, what was left of it. A lot of the wires looked like they had nearly burned up and the machine itself had its screen broken out, small shards of glass littering the floor in front of it. But, that could be taken care of later. Right now, all that mattered was Rainbow Dash.
“Hey are you ok?!” Spike asked the speedy pegasus. Although, he was quickly overshadowed by a rather agitated alicorn above him.
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight said sternly. “What were you thinking?! Do you know how much damage that could’ve done to your body?! That was just—just—reckless! I know you seem to have something to prove right now, but that isn’t worth nearly destroying your body over it! You’re lucky that you’re even able to—”
She was cut off when Rainbow suddenly fell to her side with a thud, the pegasus breathing so heavily from exhaustion that she might as well have been underwater for the past 10 minutes.
“—stand…”
Despite the situation, she couldn’t help but notice the huge, but surprising grin that Rainbow had plastered on her face.
“That…” Rainbow breathed out, “was…awesome…”
“More like utterly and definitely terrifying,” Spike said plainly.
“Spike,” Twilight scolded.
“What?” he asked.
It was that moment when all of them had realized just how her powers worked, or at least, seemed to. Before Twilight had theorized that it was from encountering anything with Sonic’s world, but as they found out, that was completely wrong, well, at least to an extent. It wasn’t just about being around thing’s from that dimension, but seven, very specific things. The Chaos Emeralds. Or in this case, it was a single Sol Emerald.
Twilight had deduced that her powers may be caused by a meeting of powers: her harmony, and the emeralds’ chaos. Silver and Blaze had explained to them that the Sol Emeralds were their world’s version of Chaos Emeralds. If both of them had the same affects, then that would explain the sudden appearance and disappearance of Rainbow’s powers. She needed to be near a dang emerald for them to work. That would explain why they didn’t work last time. The only time they started working was when they got close enough to the one they found on Little Planet. Although, one thing she had noticed was that while she definitely felt empowered by the Sol Emeralds, but they felt different from the Chaos Emeralds. She couldn’t explain it, but she just felt more…whole? She had no idea what, but it was there.
Thing was, another thing that they found out that day was that while she had a lot of energy from the emeralds, it wasn’t infinite. In fact, Twilight had deduced that she had a fixed limit of energy that she could tap into that would regenerate over time. Turns out, if she were use it all up then she would just be a wreck. She could barely move for hours after that little experiment. Even now had she got up she could still feel the soreness from then. Although, it was probably paired with the practice she’s been doing, so that wasn’t helping it much.
Rainbow looked at the clock one more time, looking at those last few seconds that she could possibly scrap off, only to sigh in frustration before tossing the clock into a nearby saddlebag. She was done for today. She tossed the bag over her back and walked off, not even glancing at the damage she had caused.
As she walked, she couldn’t help but just stare at the ground, the grass gently passing by her hooves. Why was she like this all of a sudden? Sure, she was competitive, but she couldn’t remember a time when she had pushed herself this hard. This didn’t have anything to do with Lightning, did it? No, it wasn’t all her. Rainbow knew who was in her thoughts every time to took flight now. The one who had nearly pushed her to her limits and then even easily surpassed them. Sonic. Ever since the Stardust Speedway she just couldn’t push out that image of him practically dragging her to safety at a speed she could only hope to see if she was powered up. But him? He seemingly does it on a whim. As somepony who’s practically lived her whole life based on speed, she couldn’t help but feel like her pride and skill as a racer had been overshadowed. It didn’t help just how annoying that kid was.
‘A great hero?’ That’s what Silver had said. “Yeah right,” Rainbow said. “More like great pestering idiot. How does somepony like that kid get that kind of rep anyway?”
She had to admit, he did have some skill. He wasn’t your average kid that was for sure. Still, it was frustrating to be in the shadow of a brat that she felt didn’t even need her help in the first place if he was so great.
At that last thought, she glared at the ground while still walking. That led to another thing.
“You’re what?!” asked all her friends in unison.
“Geez!” Rainbow backed off, nearly having to cover her ears at all the noise, especially with Pinkie there. “Easy guys. Any louder you may wake up half of Equestria.”
“Did you expect us to stay quiet after that?!” Rarity pointed out as she gestured to the pegasus.
They were all currently in Twilight’s study. It was late at night, so Spike was of course conked out, but thankfully for Rainbow she had managed to catch the girls in time before they went back to their homes, or at least, she used to be thankful.
“Look,” Rainbow said sternly, “it’s as I just said. I quit.”
“But you can’t quit!” Pinkie yelled. “Just think of all the fun times you’ll be missing gout on! And I still haven’t gotten my postcard!”
“I’ve yet to have a ‘fun time’,” Rainbow said with quotations. “You guys saw what it was like. Look, I’m all for danger and adventure and all, but I’m not gonna be putting my flank on the line like that for some kid, who I might add, can take care of everything himself! Hay, I bet he was saving me more than I was saving him!” She couldn’t help but feel a hit to her own pride with those words.
“Sugarcube, you may not be able to see it, but you must be crazier than a diamond dog in Rarity’s fancy dress shop if you think you’re not helpin’,” pointed out Applejack. “What about when you and those other fellers took out that big metal contraption. Ya looked like you were helpin’ a load out then.”
“It’s not just about that Applejack!”
“Then what is it Rainbow?!” Twilight asked.
Rainbow was about to retort, but she had to stop herself. She knew very well what the real reason was, but she didn’t know if she could bring herself to say it in front of her friends. There was an awkward silence among the group as she held her tongue.
Unfortunately for her, Twilight’s eyes seemed to flash with realization. “Rainbow…don’t tell me this is about the race…”
Rainbow just turned her head away from them, almost shameful to look at them. It was true…
“So, what of it is?” Rainbow said, although only halfheartedly.
“Darling,” said Rarity. “You can’t expect us to believe that you’re willing to give up on this just over some race. I dare say, it wasn’t even meant to be like that from I remember.”
“Well it is ok,” Rainbow shot at them. “I know it wasn’t supposed to be like that, but it did turn out like it. Before now, I was able to top nearly every flyer in Equestria. I was even able to keep up with the Wonderbolts of all ponies. Now, not only did I lose, but I lost to somepony who doesn’t even have wings! He just runs! And he’s just a kid! How am I supposed to just let that go?”
While hesitant, Fluttershy finally found the strength to speak up to the flustered pegasus. “Well…umm…I would’ve thought that…umm…you’d help out because it’s the right thing to do…”
Rainbow then looked to her shy friend, only to see her nearly hiding herself behind her pink mane. As frustrated as Rainbow was, she couldn’t yell at Fluttershy. It’d be like kicking a puppy while it was down. She was just too kind and gentle to a fault.
Rainbow just let out a sigh and said, “Look, I know I said I’d help, but this is just something I have to work out on my own for a while. I just don’t think I can go back there for a while. Besides, I bet Silver and Blaze wouldn’t like what I may just do to that blue pincushion the next time he calls me Colors. And again, it’s not like he even needs my help to begin with.”
“Awwww!” Pinkie let out before zooming up to Rainbow. “Don’t be like that Dashie! Come on! Let’s turn that big ol’ frown upside down!” she said as she proceeded to take Rainbow’s face and form it into a massive smile.
This grin was held for no more than a couple of seconds before Rainbow batted away her hooves from her cheeks. “I’m serious guys. You girls may not like it, but that’s what I’m sticking to. You want to help him out so badly, you can go back in time yourselves,” she said turning her back and crossing her fore hooves.
Twilight looked at her friend with a look that plainly said, ‘Oh really?’. She didn’t know what was up with her friend right now, but something had to be done.
“Well then,” she said, “if that’s how it’s going to be, then I think I’ll have to do just that.”
Rainbow’s ears perked up at that as her eyes went wide, along with every other pony’s in the room. She swiftly turned around and faced her friend with shocked eyes. “I wasn’t serious!”
“Well I am. Rainbow, you of all ponies know that something has to be done. I know you’re having your own personal issues right now, but that can be taken care of later. We may not know these guys like we do all the ponies here, but they came looking for help. I say, we give it to them. Besides, I’ll bet you anything that you’re not even giving Sonic a chance.”
“I already did!” Rainbow yelled out. “And hey, I wasn’t too impressed. Hey, if you’re so hooked on this, then why don’t you just get the princesses to help? If anything, they can do some of that crazy princess magic all you guys can do.” Rainbow, however, caught herself on her own words. “Not that you don’t have some of that yourself.”
“I know, I get what you mean,” Twilight responded. “I’ve already sent a letter to Princess Celestia, but both her and Luna are down in Saddle Arabia visiting the royal family, plus going on some official business. She’s been really busy. She hasn’t even had time to respond yet. I’d let Candice know, but I can’t ask her to come all the way from the Crystal Kingdom for this. Besides, this is too much of an opportunity to miss out on. Who knows, maybe I’ll have more luck.”
Rainbow wanted to try and argue further, but she knew better than to continue an argument with Twilight. Knowing her, she’d easily find some way to turn the whole back on her.
She sighed in defeat. “Fine. You want to put your neck out for this kid, be my guest.”
Without another word, she took off, floating toward a higher window.
“And where are you goin’?” Applejack called out to her.
“I going for a fly,” she responded bitterly. “Once you’re back Twi let me know how it went. Let Silver and Blaze know what I said.”
And with that, she opened the window and flew off, leaving her friends in somewhat of a baffled state.
That was the last time she saw her friends before they assumedly left with Silver and Blaze. While she was the one who basically made the way for Twilight to head back there, she still didn’t like it. She felt she made the right choice. She needed to work some things out before she even thought about going back to meet speedy blue. Although, at the same time, felt a pang of guilt that she had pulled out.
She let out a loud sigh, letting as much of her frustration out as possible. Sometimes she could really start to make her hate her own decisions. Well, no helping it now.
Out of the top of her eyes, she could see she was once again approaching Ponyville, everypony seeming to be out on their daily lives. Still, she didn’t care enough to look up. She just kept her vision encompassed by bright green grass.
“Is that how you always come back home after you’re out training?”
Rainbow’s ears perked up as she finally looked up again. She knew that voice. She looked around her, but she couldn’t find its source. That is, until she looked up. She plainly saw the pegasus pony just floating there with her hooves crossed and a slight, caring, but at the same time, challenging smile on her face. This pegasus had a bright pink coat with a frenzied ocean blue mane. Her cutie mark was three lightning bolts that were the same color as her mane. Rainbow stared back at her as she stared at Rainbow, both of their magenta colored eyes meeting.
“Last I checked, my little Dashie always had her eyes on the clouds, not the ground,” she said playfully.
“M—mom?!” Rainbow said, almost stuttering with her words.
The pegasus, Cloud Breaker, smiled to her daughter with a warm smile before floating down to meet her. Rainbow Dash, despite what she’s been feeling the past few days, couldn’t help but smile back as she galloped over to her. The moment they met, Rainbow threw her hooves around her mother and quickly pulled her into a hug, Cloud doing the same. They held that for a few seconds, giving Cloud enough time to ruffle her daughter’s rainbow mane before they parted.
“What are you doing here?!” Rainbow Dash asked in an excited tone.
Cloud chuckled at the sudden change in attitude her daughter showed. “You’re father and I have been working our flanks off lately with the weather up in Las Pegasus, so we decided we needed a little vacation to get our strength back up. And what a better way to do that than to visit their daughter and see how she was doing.”
“Things been that tough up there?” Rainbow asked.
Cloud sighed and waved it off. “Just the usual mish mash of ponies complaining that they don’t get enough rain verses the ones that prefer the natural, dry heat. We’ve had to make more than a few compromises just to try and satisfy everypony.”
Rainbow nodded, but then noticed that it was only her mother that here. “Hey, where’s dad? You said both of you were taking off, right?”
“Well, your father got wrapped up in some last-minute work before he got to come visit. Has to make sure that there are enough workers to last the week we’ll be staying. But once he’s done, he said he’d make his way down as soon as possible.”
Rainbow dash couldn’t help but feel all giddy inside all of a sudden. Her dad was gonna be coming here too! Rainbow didn’t get to see her parents much, what with their work and the distance between them getting the way, so every encounter they had, she made sure to make the most of it. She had now almost completely forgotten about all the things that had been bothering her. In fact, this was probably the best she’s felt for the past couple of weeks.
“Yeeeeesssss,” Rainbow quietly let out, but it didn’t go unheard by her mother, who just let out a chuckle.
“Well,” Cloud started, “what’s the matter?
“Rainbow raised an eyebrow at that, wondering where she was going with this. “Huh?”
“Don’t give me that Dashie,” Cloud stated. “I know mopping when I see it. As much as you usually try and hide it, I’ve learned to spot it as you grew up.”
Rainbow gave a little pout, looking embarrassingly away from her mother. Man, she was hoping that she hadn’t seen too much of that. As much as she loved her mom, she didn’t think she needed to know about the little adventures that she had been going on ‘outside’ of Equestria. Her mother was all for danger just like her. After all, she too was a big racer back in her day. Although, that didn’t deter her motherly love and worry one bit.
“This wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with the race, would it?” she asked.
Rainbow’s eyes widened in slight fear, her mind instantly flashing back to the race against Metal and Sonic. It was one thing to face down a killer robot that could out speed her. It was another thing entirely to be scolded by your own mom.
“Y—you know?!” Rainbow asked, stumbling over her words as she tried to find them.
“Of course I do,” Cloud said. “It’s not like the Equestrian Flyers was kept secret from everypony.”
At hearing that, Rainbow had calmed down. Wrong race. “Oh yeah. Yeah, that was a bummer. B—but I’ll get it next time!” she said, almost a mix between herself and Fluttershy.
Cloud raised an eyebrow to her daughter, but fortunately for Rainbow Dash, she didn’t ask further.
“Well,” Cloud started, “let’s not stand out here for our little reunion. Isn’t your friend Pinkie Pie here, too? I’ve been dying to get a taste of one of her signature pastries again after out last visit.”
Rainbow’s mind slightly wondered at that, as she wasn’t actually sure if Pinkie decided to go to Sol with the others or stay behind like she did. Well, either way, she could still take her mother to the Cakes bakery whether she was there or not.
“Heck yeah!” Rainbow said excitingly as she took to the air. “Right this way!”
That was her final words before she took off in a streak of rainbow. Her mother, laughing at her daughter’s enthusiasm, real or otherwise, she too took to the skies and followed, racing right behind her in a streak of pink and blue.
At their speeds, it didn’t take but few seconds before they both came to a dead stop at the front of Sugarcube Corner. Both of them were breathing a little heavily, but it was nothing compared to how they were after a long day of training.
“Nice try Dash,” said Cloud between breaths, “but you still have some ways to go to beat me.”
Rainbow Dash just laughed between her own. “Yeah right. I totally beat you this time.”
Cloud was one of the few ponies that Rainbow has yet to beat in a race. Even her father said that ‘she was sweetheart at home, and a raging dragon on the racetrack’. Even so, she didn’t care if she lost to her own mother. It just showed what she needed to aspire to.
“You can make jokes all you want Rainbow” Cloud said with humor as she roughed up her daughter’s mane again. “Even your father had to admit defeat one day.”
“Mom!” Rainbow whined as she did her best to fix it. She was no Rarity, however, so it still looked just as messed up as it usually did.
Cloud giggled at her frustration, but she proceeded to walk to the entrance of the bakery. “You coming sweetie? Or are you actually taking time fixing your mane today.”
“Like you ever fix yours either!” Rainbow shot back playfully.
Both of them couldn’t help but shoot small insults at each other as they walked to the door, but it always ended with laughs in between. If it had been any other pony that said some of these things, Rainbow would’ve likely beat them into next week. But with her mom, they both knew how to try and really get under each other’s skin, so it always evened out, and even then, it was still fun to them.
As they walked in, Cloud was instantly, and unexpectantly, showered with confetti and glitter that seemed to have fell from nowhere. Both mother and daughter were perplexed at what had just happened, but their soon to be questions were quickly answered.
“WELCOME BACK TO PONYVILLE!” Pinkie came yelling out, dropping from the ceiling with a party hat on an party whistle in her mouth.
“Pinkie!” Rainbow yelled. “What the hay?!”
“What?” Pinkie questioned. “I just happen to see that your MOM was back in town, so I knew that she was instantly going to want to come to see me and the Cakes at the Sugarcube Corner because she loves the cakes we make, so I quickly threw together a little surprise party for her because she isn’t here all that often and at some point she’ll have to leave again and then we’ll all be sad before HEY, she’s come back for some more cake! We just want to cherish the time that she’s back so I want this to be her BEST DAY EVER!”
“…”
“…”
“So welcome back to Ponyville Dashie’s mom!” the pink party pony finally finished.
“While Rainbow was still processing everything, Cloud just opened up into a fit of laughter. She had almost forgotten how this mare is with her love of parties and new and old friends. While it wasn’t going to be pleasant to have to pick all of this stuff out of her mane, she couldn’t help but enjoy the moment and the work this pony must have put into her own little reunion.
“Pinkie,” Cloud said between the laughs, “I have to say, you didn’t have to do all of this just for me, but I’m glad you did it all the same. Thank you.”
“Noooo problem Mrs CB!” Pinkie said with a salute. “Now you ponies get to your table! I’ll be sure to get your orders in a jiffy!”
With that, whistled up to the ceiling and a small hook on a rope came down on que. Like it was nothing out of the ordinary, Pinkie propped herself on the hook as she hung onto the rope, giving it couple of light tugs before it took her up. To where? No clue.
“Well, I’m glad she hasn’t changed much,” said Cloud.
“More like not at all,” Rainbow finally chuckled as she picked a piece or two of confetti out of her mother’s ocean blue mane.
After a little cleaning up, at least for the most part, the two finally took their seats at a table that was all set up for them. There weren’t more than just a couple of other patrons in here, so they could’ve sat anywhere really, but, who were they to disappoint Pinkie. The same mare had quickly reappeared to take their order, which she took at lightning speed, the same with getting their orders on the table. As Rainbow and her mom sat there, they threw various conversations around as they learned what the other had been up to since they were last together. Rainbow was mostly asking about how things had been up in Las Pegasus, like if they had to deal with any crazy weather requests or if her and her dad had participated in any races that were held there. Cloud usually asked about some of the antics that her and her friends had been up to. She had heard how her daughter had been involved in the defeat of that monster Tirak. While she had worried greatly about her daughter in such a situation, she also couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride that she had done so. She was the Element of Loyalty after all.
That led to her next question, however.
“Dashie?” she questioned.
Rainbow looked up at her mom, still stuffing her face with probably one of the best tasting pastries she’s had in long time. “Hhhhhhmmmmm?” she questioned through the dough and icing.
“What’s the bandage for?”
Rainbow suddenly froze at that, but quickly gulped down her food before answering. “Oh—this? I—it happened while I was out training. Stray branch caught be as I was going through the forest.”
“No it wasn’t Dashie!” they both heard Pinkie call from the counter, Rainbow shaking her head in fright, and Cloud giving the pink mare a curious look. “Don’t you remember? You got that cut from—”
She was quickly silence via a cupcake getting lodged in her mouth. She looked to Rainbow and saw that she had just thrown something at her, but she had quickly gone back to her normal sitting position as she whistled innocently, her mother only looking over to her once she had done the deed. Pinkie giggled, but it was muffled by the cupcake. So, she simply gulfed it down in one gulp before prancing back into the kitchen.
Cloud looked at the whistling Rainbow, and simply sighed. She didn’t want her to know what had happened, fine. She’d find out sooner or later. But for now… “Rainbow, why don’t you take that thing off?”
“Huh?” Rainbow questioned embarrassingly. “Why? Everypony would be staring then.”
Her mom just chuckled at that. “Don’t be silly. Usually it’s the mares that like scars on the stallions, but some stallions can like them on mare, too,” she said with a sly wink.
“Mom…” Rainbow mumbled with a blush, close to wanting to bury herself I her own hooves.
“I’m just kidding sweetie,” Cloud said, doing her best to not laugh out loud at her daughter’s misery. “But seriously, nopony is going to look. If anything, you should flaunt it off. I’ve known some stallions who I guarantee would’ve been crying to their own mommies the moment they got a small scratch.”
Rainbow still looked rather unsure about it. Rainbow had looked away from her mom for just a second, but that’s all the time that cloud needed. In one swift motion, she reached over and tore the bandage from her cheek, revealing a slightly red scar and causing Rainbow to clutch her cheek in pain.
“OW OW OW!” she yelled out. “What the hay mom!”
Cloud chuckled as she waved the bandage back and forth. “See. It doesn’t look so bad.”
Rainbow was still just rubbing it. It was quick, but it wasn’t painless. She fought to hold back the tears in her eyes as she just stared daggers toward her mom, who just seemed to accept them with a smile.
Unknown to Rainbow, however, was that while she was smiling playfully at her daughter, Cloud was closely examining the scar itself. Right away, she could tell it was from no tree branch. She had plenty injuries from trees back in the day, so she knew what they looked like. Those were more like scrapes. This one was more of a clean cut, like she had cut herself on something sharp. It was definitely healed, but it was still red.
Rainbow had finally taken break from her glare and noticed that her mom was staring right at the scar. Hoping her mother didn’t see it, she gulped. When she got that stare in her eyes, it usually wasn’t good.
“Umm, mom,” she said.
“Hmm?” Cloud looked up to Rainbow and just gave her a motherly smile. “Oh, it’s nothing.” What she was thinking said otherwise. She still wanted to know where it really came from, but maybe she could figure that out.
Rainbow really wanted this part of the conversation to be over. Her mother couldn’t see it, but her back hooves were tapping furiously on the floor, nervous that this was going to go somewhere where she couldn’t dig herself out of. Hoping for a distraction, she did the only thing she could think of to get her mom’s mind off the conversation. Moving her elbow over just slightly, she ‘accidentally’ knocked her fork off the table.
“Oops,” Rainbow falsely said. “Hold on I’ll get that,” she said reaching down to grab the fork, and hoping to get out of her mother’s gaze for just a few seconds.
“No, I’ll get it. It’s closer to me,” Cloud said as she too reached down for the fork.
“It’s fine mom. I can get it.”
As the two reached down for the fork, their hooves passed over one another as they each grabbed a part of it. That’s when—
“What do you think hon?” Rainbow Blaze asked his wife, holding a little bundle of blue fur and feathers in soft cloth wraps.
“You know what I think Blaze,” Cloud Breaker said. “I think the name Rainbow should continue with her don’t you think?”
“Nah,” he said passively. “You seen her? She looks so much like you.”
“But she has your hair,” she said with a chuckle.
“Yeah, but still, you don’t think she be named after the first place winner of the Cloudsdale Grand Prix? Not the second place?” he said with a chuckle of his own.
“Not at all. This way, when little Rainbow Dash surpasses us both, you can finally say the name Rainbow finally beat me.”
“You’re cruel at times, you know that,” he finished off.
Cloud gave him a light giggle as she brushed up against him and their new daughter. “Only with you two.”
As the flash of white vanished from her eyes, Rainbow quickly reeled back in shock. She had completely forgotten about the fork now. She just breathed heavily like she had been submerged in water. She looked at the hoof that had just brushed up against her mother’s. She was shaking now. Trembling more like. ‘W—what?’ she questioned herself.
Cloud noticed that Rainbow had pulled back and quickly looked back at her daughter. “Rainbow! What’s wrong?!”
Rainbow wasn’t even paying attention to her. She was so focused on the vision she just had. What was that? She was there, but, it looked like they hadn’t even named her yet. She was a newborn. ‘Wait…don’t tell me.’ she felt this sensation before, and she didn’t know what to make of it now. The Time Stones…
“Rainbow?!”
She finally heard her mother call to her again, and she quickly tried to compose herself again. “W—what mom?”
Cloud now looked at her daughter with a very perplexed look. While she didn’t’ voice it, she knew something was up with her daughter right now. She just didn’t know what. Knowing Rainbow Dash, she would just try to beat around the subject, and she could only guess that the whole thing with the fork was a distraction from the conversation. What was she trying to hide?
Rainbow, meanwhile, was picking at mind trying to think up an excuse for any more questions her mom might have. Although, that well was soon going to be running dry with how this was going. Her mom, in fact, looked as if she was about to ask something else, and she couldn’t blame her. Not like it’d be easy to cover this up.
Before, however, she could get out her question, they both suddenly heard the doors fly open, a once quiet voice speaking out much louder than it normally did. “Pinkie Pie! Rainbow Dash!”
Both Rainbow and Cloud, along with Pinkie, who was leaning over the counter, looked out toward the door to see Fluttershy. She looked as if she had just booked it all the way from Manehattan to get here with the way she was breathing. Her eyes were filled with worry and her pink mane was in a near frenzy.
Once she was in she instantly spotted Rainbow Dash at a table and she ran up to her. That’s when she also spotted another familiar face. This caused her to almost instantly regain her normal shy posture, but still with a little urgency.
“Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked worryingly.
“Rainbow…” she said in between breaths. “You need to…come with me…”
“Why?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Are you all right dear?” Cloud asked Fluttershy.
It was like Fluttershy just now registered that the other pony with Rainbow was her friend’s own mother, and when she looked at her she couldn’t help but smile meekly, but warmly to her. In a way, she was like a second mother to her. Her and Rainbow had always been so kind to her when she lived in Cloudsdale, she practically considered them family.
“Oh…umm…I’m ok Mrs. Cloud Breaker,” she said shyly, but with a smile. “I haven’t seen you in Ponyville for a while now.”
Cloud was a bit worried for her, but she smiled back all the same. Looks like she still has that hint of shyness to her that she had back at flight school. Still, she looked to be getting better, her daughter’s influence no doubt.
“Yes, it has been some time,” Cloud responded. “I just got here in fact. Here, why don’t you take a seat. We can catch up.”
“Oh…that’s ok,” Fluttershy said. “But, I really need to speak to Rainbow Dash…oh…if you don’t mind…”
“No, not at all,” Cloud said with smile and a nod.
“Oh, thank you.”
“Hey what is it Flutters?” Rainbow Dash asked the shy pegasus. “Twilight back yet?”
“Hmm?” Cloud piped in. “Princess Twilight is gone?”
Rainbow then quickly attempted to form an excuse about her absence. “Oh yeah, Twi had some official princess business to take care of. It was no biggie though. If it was, she would’ve taken me as backup.”
Cloud nodded, but with suspicion.
“Well actually…” Fluttershy started, but she then leaned in to Rainbow’s ear, so she could whisper the rest. Rainbow listened to every word with a nod, but that was all before Rainbow’s eyes widen as her expression grew to shock.
Pulling away from Fluttershy, Rainbow stood up from the table and said, “Hey mom, uh, I’m sorry to cut this short, but I’ll be right back ok.”
“What’s wrong?” Cloud asked. “Maybe I should come to.”
“No! No.” Rainbow caught her. “That’s ok. It’s just…uh…Bearers of Harmony business! Gotta just go to a quick meeting. Umm, the house is unlocked, so feel free to make yourself at home. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
With that, she and Fluttershy bolted away from the table, leaving Cloud with a confused expression on her face. “Come on Pinkie! We gotta go!” Rainbow called to the hyperactive pony!”
“Cooooommmiinngg!” Pinkie called to them in a singsong voice, all before bouncing out of the kitchen and following right behind them. As they exited the building, however, she popped back in quickly to hang her apron up on the nearby coat hook, all before bolting back out.
That left Cloud breaker to herself in the bakery. She was a bit perplexed by all that had happened. From her daughter’s strange behavior, to the sudden urgency to some meeting. Something was up, and she knew it, but for now, she’d figure she’d give her daughter this one. Right now, she just thought it’d be a good idea to go ahead and see what Rainbow’s done with the house and get herself situated. She can ask what all this was about later.
At the speed they were all running, it didn’t take long for the three ponies to reach the Ponyville hospital. Already they were blazing through the halls looking for the room that was theirs. Rainbow didn’t even bother asking Fluttershy what had happened. She was just focused on getting to her friends as soon as possible without delay.
After finding the room, they burst inside. Rainbow could see the rest of her friends, minus Twilight, along with Silver and Blaze in the room, and they all looked at them as they rushed in.
“Where’s Twilight?!” Rainbow asked with urgency.
Without even answering her, everypony just gave her worried looks, all before parting and revealing a hospital bed. Along with its occupant, Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie looked on in destress at the sight of their friend and rushed up to the bed, Fluttershy following behind them.
“TWILIGHT!” Pinkie yelled at the top of her lungs, everypony swearing her mane extended upwards as she yelled it. “HEY, WHAT HAPPENED?! WHY ARE YOU IN THE HOSPITAL?! WHO DID THIS TO YOU?! DID YOU GET MY POSTCARD?!”
“Sugarcube! That’s enough!” Applejack said as she gripped a hold of her tail and pulled her back, although strangely, she found that she had a much harder time getting Pinkie back than Rainbow. She was pretty sure that this mare had some kind of hidden strength that none of them knew about.
This time, it was Rainbow’s turn to come up to the bed, making sure to avoid the flailing Pinkie. As she came up to Twilight, she quickly noticed that she wasn’t even conscious. Her eyes were closed, and her mane and fur were a in an absolute mess. She had scraps and burns all over her body, very similar to how Rainbow looked when she came back from Sonic’s world last time.
“What the hay happened?!” Rainbow asked accusingly at the rest of them.
“The dear just got back,” Rarity answered. “Although, she didn’t make it out without trouble.”
“Wait,” Rainbow interrupted. “So, she succeeded?”
“Actually, it’s the exact opposite,” said Blaze. “She went in to take your place when you decided to stay behind, but unlike you, she didn’t make it out in one piece. In fact…it was a lot tougher than she, or any of us really thought.”
Rainbow was hanging onto each word as she explained it to her, and while she listened, she couldn’t help but notice the state Twilight’s mane was in. Yes, it was a mess, but it was also…wet? It was like she had just got done washing it. Then again, as her hooves were on the bed, she felt that the sheets were all wet, too. Most likely from touching Twilight’s body. Was she thrown into a lake or something?
“Water?” she asked. “What the heck happened back there?”
“That’s what we needed to talk to you about,” Silver said, waving her over.
She was a bit reluctant, not wanting to leave her friend’s side in this state. But, she knew she couldn’t be much help to her right now. She was still alive thankfully, and she seemed like she’d recover well enough. With a sigh, she moved past her friends, who let her go with the two visitors to the other side of the room before going back to Twilight.
Now that Rainbow was with Silver and Blaze, she asked them the obvious. “Ok, you’re going to tell me exactly what happened, and I mean right now buddy.” she said threateningly to Silver, and partially to Blaze.
Silver and Blaze looked between each other for a bit. But eventually, Silver answered.
“Well, let’s just say things didn’t go as planned.”
“Didn’t go as planned!” Rainbow yelled to him. “It sure doesn’t look like it did!”
“Rainbow Dash, calm down,” Blaze said to her in an authoritative tone.
“How can you tell me to calm down when one of my best friends is here in a hospital bed after one of your botched-up missions?!”
“Like we said, “Silver defended, “nothing went plan. She managed to meet up with Sonic, but after the initial encounter…everything fell apart.”
“First off, Twilight herself didn’t have any speed to her,” Blaze explained. “While she is powerful, I must admit, her power is not infinite. Once she was out of it, she had nothing to fall back on. That’s what cost her in the end.”
“Wait,” said Rainbow. “So, something managed to overpower Twilight’s magic?!”
That was something almost unheard of. The only ones she knows of that could match Twilight in power was either any of princesses or Tirak. Maybe Discord, but he was so unpredictable that she didn’t even know if his abilities were even in the same category as hers.
“That’s not all,” Silver explained. “It was Sonic, too”
Rainbow’s face slightly soured at his name. “What about him?”
“He was, different,” Silver said unsurely. “He wasn’t as fast as he was when he fought Eggman or Metal. In fact, he too was being completely overpowered before he could even do anything. Twilight tried to help, but like Blaze said, nothing seemed to work.”
Rainbow looked rather surprised to say the least. Maybe Sonic was more helpless than she once thought. Plus, one of the most powerful ponies she knew was apparently overpowered past her own limit. It was rather intimidating to think of that.
“So, what? You want me to go back now? You really think that I stand a chance of Twilight couldn’t do it?” Rainbow asked.
“Yes,” Blaze said almost instantly.
“You serious?” Rainbow said almost unbelievably. “What could I do? As cool as I am, I don’t have magic like she does. How do you know whatever did this to her won’t do that to me?”
“Because you have something that she doesn’t have,” said Silver.
“The power of chaos,” finished Blaze.
Rainbow now looked confused beyond all recognition. “Power of chaos?! Umm, hello! Do you not know who you’re talking to? I’m Rainbow Dash! The Element of Loyalty! If you want chaos, then I can point you in the right direction.”
“Not solely chaos,” Blaze corrected. “We mean that you have a power that Twilight has never shown. She explained everything to us. Whenever you’re near a Chaos or Sol Emerald, your power of harmony mixes with it. That’s what causes that big boost of energy you have when you’re in Sonic’s world. According to your own friend, that power could exceed her own.”
Rainbow looked very surprised at that statement. Exceed Twilight?! Did she really say that? Surely, they were mistaken. But then again, none of them had seen a power like apparently, not even Twilight. Not even Silver or Blaze knew completely what it was. Could she really have that much potential?
“Rainbow,” Blaze said again. “We have no idea of any of the others have this same kind of power. As of right now, you’re the only one we know of that can truly be of any help. We know that you’ve been having problems lately, but we can’t do this without you. Until we figure out what’s going on and find out how to stop it…we…we just don’t know what to do,” she admitted, almost regretfully.
Rainbow was now thinking long and hard about this. Ugh! Why did this have to be so complicated?! On one hoof, she absolutely hated the fact of having to back there, to go back and deal with…him… On the other hoof, knowing she was probably the only chance these guys had…
For a long time, she was quiet. Nopony even said a word. Silver and Blaze were in utter suspense. Would she agree again? Or...would she outright reject them, forcing them to look elsewhere, and who knows how long it would take to find someone else.
It was long and quiet, until…
“You know, I honestly hate the fact that I have to go back there,” Rainbow started, catching the attention of everypony in the room. “I hate the fact that I have to go back and play nice with some annoying brat who can’t even call me by my own name.”
The two visitors were now really nervous at her words. Was she…?
“And I could care less about some big baddie out there right now…”
“…”
“…”
“But…when somepony like this…goes around…harming others…and hurts one of my friends…”
She finally looked back at them, her eyes beaming with a fire of new determination.
“That’s when you cross the line!” Rainbow yelled out, her mind made up.
She’s going back, and she’s going to put a stop to this…
To be continued…
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Sounds like Twilight just couldnt handle the power of Total Chaos!
Chaos. IT.IS.CHAOS.
Twilight went back and faced chaos. Wait a sec... I don't know the exact number, but I'm pretty sure at that point, Sonic is around 14 or so. So....does that mean that Rainbow finally meets teen Sonic, not kid Sonic? Because I've been waiting for that since I first started reading this.
One last thing. If I'm correct about Chaos being the villain, then that means Shadow is next in line. ......I hope I'm right.
From Sonic CD to Sonic Adventure. Hyped for the next chapter.
8512202
😁
Well, you're not wrong.
In all honesty, this is a great story. Can't understand all the thumbs down. Maybe all those sayings about the animosity between Sonic fans and bronies are still true after all.
I await your continuation with baited breath.
8539977
The thumbs down don't bother me at all 😁. If they don't like it they just don't like it. I hope lots of others do though, and I hope you're enjoying it, too!
i love this story so far keep up the good work lightwizz
8563081
Will do. New chapter may be up soon.