A Constant Test

by Rose Quill

Sigh

I tried. I really tried. But goddess the girl was fast.

I really try to race my kids straight. It's for fun, after all, and ever since retiring from professional soccer and teaching gym back at CHS, I couldn't really complain. Life was good.

Still, though, Windy could book it when she wanted to. I was tempted to tap into my magic either for wings or for the extra speed from the connection I had with my element necklace. She was staying on pace with me but I could tell she was slowly pulling ahead.

If AJ hears about this, she'll never let me live it down, I thought as I smiled at my daughter. She looked an awful lot like her ma if you didn't pay attention. The long straight blonde hair was tied back with a similar tie that evoked memories of my days when the only way I knew to spend time with AJ was to race her. I was never great at expressing my emotions back then.

"You're starting to fall behind, Mom," Windy called without losing her pace.

"Ha! You wish, squirt," I shouted, giving a little burst of speed. "You want to make this a real challenge?"

"What ya got in mind?" she called back, a trace of her other parent's accent showing through.

"You win, you get one free ride anywhere no questions asked," I said, hopping a tree root. "I win, your ma and I meet the crush."

She stumbled, her face turning red from more than just the exertion. "It's not a crush," she sputtered as she tried to regain her stride, falling behind a little bit.

"I can read you like a book, Windy," I said as I gently tapped a little bit of my magic, just enough to keep a mild lead on her but not enough to make it obvious. "Plus, if you didn't have a crush, you wouldn't have lost your stride there."

She growled and leaned into her run, almost catching up.

I'm only half convinced she didn't get my speed boost magic sometimes. If only she was this interested in running for the school! Then again, the Gymnastics team hasn't had this many golds since we were students there, with Lyra, Tree Hugger, and Trixie keeping us high in the ranks.

At the same time, I loved being pushed to the limit by my own kids. Bushel may not be as fast as me or his sister, but his strength was in endurance and power, like his uncle Mac. He was a pretty good candidate for the wrestling team if he ever got some ambition for leaving the orchards in his free time.

I spared my daughter a grin and ponied up. "Wings only, first back to the house."

She grinned wolfishly, peach wings blossoming into being. "You're on, Mom," she said as she banked hard and turned back towards the house.

Comments

[badninja]

Wait during the chapter you made it sound like Windy didn't have magic but at the end she “ponied up” and had wings. So what is Rainbow concerned about her having magic?

[Rose Quill]

8510907
I’m talking the speed boost more than magic in general. Also, the race is specifically a “Vanilla” race.

I can tweak it to be a bit more clear.

[MySisterBroughtMeHere]

A nice little moment with Rainbow Dash and her daughter.

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

Huh, wasn't expecting their children to somehow inherit magic as well.