The Cruelty of Kindness
“But you promised!” the gray colt, with a darker gray mane shouted.
“I know,” said the stallion with a darker gray coat than his younger sibling. “I’m sorry Rumble. But something came up with work and I’m stuck on the afternoon shift all week. So you’re going to need somepony else to train you for the race.”
“But!”
“No Buts! I can’t do anything about it, so that’s final.”
As Thunderlane looked at his younger brother after his retort, he felt the daggers in his heart cased by the look of pure disappointment in Rumble’s eyes. “Why don’t you just go ask Rainbow Dash to train you? She’s probably already at the practice field training Scootaloo anyway.”
“Exactly!” Rumble yelled, while scuffing his hoof on the carpet dismissively. “She’s training Scootaloo! So why would she train me to compete against her?”
“Because Rainbow’s a more honorable pony than that. That and she likes having ponies look up to her. Just go ask her. Worst she can do is say no,” Thunderlane added, while ruffling his little brother’s mane.
* * * * * * *
When Rumble arrived at the track, he did indeed find Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo there. But he also found Fluttershy. At the moment the orange filly was running the track while the two mares looked to be having a disagreement near the starting/finish line. In addition to that, a small puff of dark cloud was floating at Rainbow Dash’s side.
“I just think that your way is a little too harsh,” the yellow mare said, half hiding behind her pink mane
Rainbow Dash gave an annoyed flick of her rainbow tail as she listened to her friend. Finally turning her gaze away from the filly she was training, the blue mare looked her friend in the eyes and said, “Fluttershy, Scootaloo asked me to train her, so I’m going to train her! And that means train her my way!”
“But does your way have to be so mean?” Fluttershy responded in a quiet whimper.
If Rainbow Dash heard it, she didn’t act like it. Instead she turned her gaze to the colt approaching them. “Oh, hey Rumble! What’s up?” she greeted him with a friendly tone.
“Hey, I was looking for you, actually. My big bro is too busy for me… so I was hoping you could train me for the race next weekend.”
“Are you sure you want me as your coach?” Dash asked with a wily smile. “For all you know I might give you bad advice since we both know I want Scoots to win.”
“Would you really do that?” Rumble asked in a disappointed tone and fixing his gaze on the ground.
“Of course not, kiddo! I’m way too awesome to pull a dirty trick like that on ya!” Dash answered boastfully. Then in a more serious tone she added, “But there’s nothing I can do to stop that doubt from nagging at the back of your mind the whole time. And that kinda doubt might mess you up more than my training can help you. You might be better off just practicing on your own and running the race confident in yourself.”
“Oh.”
With his answer, Rumbled hung his head and let his ears fall flat in clear disappointment.
Yet, as the colt started to turn away, Fluttershy’s eyes lit up. “This is perfect! I can train you!” she said as excitedly as her naturally quiet tone would allow.
“You can?” both Rainbow Dash and Rumble asked with the same skeptical voice.
Fluttershy lowered herself so she could be on eye level with Rumble and looking him in the eyes, said, “I’ve been Rainbow’s friend ever since we were fillies in Cloudsdale. I’ve watched how she trains herself for athletic events all my life. Just because I don’t workout like that myself doesn’t change the fact that I know how it’s done! And even though Rainbow will be cheering for Scootaloo at the race, I have no problem cheering for you!”
Suddenly switching gears from bold and excited to timid and apologetic, Shy ended with, “That is… if you don’t mind… you know, letting me use you to prove to Rainbow that you don’t have to be mean to train somepony… if that’s okay with you…”
“I am not being mean!” Rainbow Dash growled. Then she caught a glimpse of Scootaloo jogging down the track in the corner of her eye. “Hey! I didn’t say you could slow down to eavesdrop on us, Squirt!” With that she kicked out with one hoof and jabbed the dark cloud floating beside her.
*KA-BOOM!*
The resulting lighting bolt stuck the ground right behind Scootaloo. And with a terrified ‘EEP!’ she bolted back down the track at a full gallop.
“What?” Dash asked when she saw the look directed at her from Fluttershy.
Even Rumble had flinched from the flash of lightning. And when Fluttershy turned to look back at him, he’d made up his mind.
“You know what? Fluttershy, you have a deal. You can train me.”
* * * * * * *
With that decision A new rhythm entered into Rumble's life. Every day, after school he’d go out to the track and field area and meet up with Fluttershy, just as Scootaloo would with Rainbow Dash.
True to her words, Fluttershy’s training seemed to be effectively the same as what Dash was giving Scoots. The warm-up stretches were the same as what Scootaloo was doing over by her mentor.
Then she’s have him do a practice run of three laps around the track, like he would have to during the actual race, while she timed it with a stopwatch. Which was also the first thing Rainbow did with Scootaloo after the warm-up routine.
Then both coaches had their students do a few quick non-running related workouts, (usually wing ups,) that allowed them to rest their legs. And then the rest of the training session was spent with running the tack and taking quick breaks.
The differences seemed to be limited to style. And yet, the few differences there were stood out quite clearly.
Where Rainbow Dash barked commands, blew whistles, and shot lighting at Scootaloo, Fluttershy would kindly tell him what to do and cheer soft ‘way to go’s and ‘you can do it’s whenever he ran past the start/finish line of the track.
When they were in the run and rest part of the training, Dash would pull out the stopwatch and make sure to limit how long Scootaloo’s break was. On the other hoof, Fluttershy let Rumble rest until he said he was ready to resume.
And then there was the last order of the day. For the last run of the session Rainbow Dash would command Scootaloo to “Run until you drop!” and she actually meant it. That was when the lighting came out the most. And she’d push Scootaloo into running until she literally collapsed and couldn’t get back up.
Oddly enough that was also the only time when he overheard Rainbow Dash say anything nice to Scootaloo, as she’d usually say “You did good, Squirt!” as she scooped up the immobilized filly and placed her on her own back to carry the kid home.
Fluttershy ended the session with the order “Run until you’re tired.” Which from Rumble’s point of view meant he could quit at anytime, since he was usually already ‘tired’ before the last set of laps. But not wanting to be outdone by Scootaloo, he’s run laps until his legs ached too much. And when he would come trotting back to Fluttershy, she would reward him for his hard work with a treat from Sugar Cube Corner before sending him on his way. That and a reminder that the treats she was giving him should be the only sweets in his diet right now, since athletes needed to eat healthy most of the time.
Rumble couldn’t help but notice the differences outside of the training too. At school, Scootaloo had become a tired, miserable, lifeless shell of her former self. And every time something touched her she’d flinch in a way the proved that she was still sore from the previous day’s training. Yet for him, his legs were only sore the rest of the day, by the next morning he felt ready to take on the world again.
Oddly enough the start of their training sessions was the only time that Scootaloo seemed to be her normal, happy and energetic self. Although that never lasted long as Dash’s workout quickly sapped that out of her.
Not to mention that Rumble never saw Scootaloo after the workouts. Given that she was always carried away on Rainbow Dash’s back, it wasn’t surprising. But it was still felt odd every time he spotted Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle about town without the pegasus part of their trio.
And yet throughout it all, one thing bothered him. Given that they were practicing in the same place, at the same time and Rainbow Dash wasn’t one to speak softly, Rumble couldn’t help but overhear Scootaloo’s time from her first practice run of the day. And so far her best time was almost two seconds faster then his.
Then came Thursday and the rhythm changed when he showed up and found only Fluttershy waiting for him.
“Where are Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash?” he asked.
Fluttershy shrugged. “I don’t know. But given that Rainbow’s been running her into the ground all week, I have a decent guess. The poor filly could use the rest,” she answered. “But look on the bright side, I know you’ve been worried about her times being faster then yours. And well… now that she’s not here… this is your chance to train more and catch up to her times.”
After practice, at Sugar Cube Corner, Rumble spotted all three Cutie Mark Crusaders. And from his table by the window, he couldn’t help but listen in on their conversation.
“Hey Scoot! What to grab a snack?” Sweetie asked, motioning to the bakery Rumble was in.
Scootaloo hung her head slightly. “I wish I could. But I promised Rainbow Dash that I’d let her control everything I ate, until the race. And she said no sweets.” A grim look crossed her face and she added, “I can’t wait for this race to be over so I can have something that tastes good again.”
Apple Bloom gave her pegasus friend a questioning look and said, “So let me get this straight. Rainbow’s been working your tail off and leaving ya too tired to play! You can’t even have a tasty snack once in a while! And now that you’re finally free to hang out with us, she said you couldn’t DO anything fun!-”
“Technically she only said, ‘no strenuous activity,’” Sweetie corrected, interrupting her friend’s rant.
“-Are you sure all this misery you’re putting yourself through is worth it?” Bloom finished.
“I guess we’ll find out on Saturday,” Scootaloo answered, but with a tone of voice that said, ‘I’m not sure anymore.’
As the crusaders walked on down the street, Rumble looked down to what was left of the cinnamon roll he’d been eating. And in that moment he found himself quite thankful for Fluttershy’s approach to training him. The misery of his training had been limited to the few hours a day he was at the track, and hadn’t really bothered the rest of his life. Sure his legs where a little sore right now, but that was it. He was still planing on joining up with his friends and having fun the rest of the day.
* * * * * * *
When Rumble arrived on the day of the race, he found the track and field had acquired a carnival atmosphere since he and Fluttershy had left the previous afternoon. Colorful ribbons now decorated the stands by the start/finish line. Balloons were tied to anything that was nailed down, and many things that weren’t. Various vendors from around town had set up stalls selling snacks.
He couldn’t help but smile when he spotted Apple Bloom helping her big sister at their stand selling fritters, caramel apples and the like. In a way he’d wondered if this was why Bloom hadn’t shown any interest in running the race herself, that she’d been looking forward to working the vender stall, or if she simply didn’t want to race against her pegasus friend.
Rumble didn’t have long to ponder such things though, as soon Fluttershy came flying down.
“Oh there you are! Have you singed in for the race yet?” she asked as she landed near him.
He answered her with a ‘no’ and a shake of his head. And she kindly pointed out the table where they were taking the signups for the race.
Signing up was simple enough, although different organizers had different rules. And apparently this race had decided that as a mixed bread race for kids, that young pegasi couldn’t be trusted to not flap their wings for extra speed during the race. And so he’d not only been given a number, but a vest with no wing-sleeves to keep his wings pinned to his side during the race.
With that out of the way, he made his way to a waiting area near the starting line, and sure enough Scootaloo also had one of the vests on. Naturally she was sitting by her honorary big sister, Rainbow Dash. She offered Scoots something to drink, and the filly eagerly accepted. Until she tasted it and then she complained that it was just tasteless water.
Seeing this, Fluttershy asked, “Rumble, are you thirsty?”
With a nod he said, “A little bit, yeah.”
“Well, I’d planed on giving you this as a reward after the race, but I see no harm in giving it to you now.”
With that, Fluttershy opened her saddlebags and pulled out a small box of juice.
Taking it in his hoof, he felt that it was still chilled. The cool, sweet, apple-flavored liquid took away the heat of the sun on his coat. Looking it over as he drank confirmed that the box had the insignia of Sweet Apple Acres. A quick look around also allowed him to guess that it had probably come from the icebox sitting next to Applejack’s vender stand not long ago.
“Thank you, Fluttershy. That really hit the spot! I feel like I could take on the world now!”
The kind, yellow mare giggled. “Lucky for you, you only need to take on Scootaloo, and only in a race at that.”
“Only Scootaloo?” Rumble asked with a hint of confusion. Understandably so, given that there were ten young ponies with competitor numbers gathered in the waiting area.
Realizing her slip, Fluttershy quickly said, “Oh! I mean, don’t worry! I’ll be proud of you no matter how the race turns out! I just meant… that it would be nice if you happened to beat Scootaloo and proved to Rainbow that being mean isn’t the best way to train a pony, too… But don’t worry about that, I know it’s a long shot. So um… just do as good as you can for you. Yeah that’s it! Do the best you can and don’t worry about anything else!”
Not long after that the racers were called to the starting line.
As Rumble lined up, he spotted Fluttershy and his big brother, in the stands. Thunderlane may have been too busy for his little brother all week, but at least he’d made it to the race. As he looked at the pair in the stands mixed feelings came to the colt’s mind.
A part of him wanted to win the race for Fluttershy, to repay the kindness she’d shown in training him. Another part of him was trying to be the realist and reminded him that he knew Scootaloo would have to have a bad day, and he’d have to have a good day in order for him to get across the finish line ahead of her.
The first part of him reminded him that time trials during practice were only against the clock, and that running a race crowded with other ponies presents the possibility of others messing up Scootaloo’s time. Perhaps more so then his.
The realist side of him reminded him of Fluttershy’s words, to do as good as he can for himself. And the reason that he’d even wanted to run this race in the first place was to impress his big brother. And seeing as his big bro was accustom to being beat by Rainbow Dash, Rumble figured all he needed to do was place in the top three. As long as he won a real medal, instead of one of those worthless participation ribbons, he figured Thunderlane would be impressed.
His internal debate came crashing to a halt when he realized that everypony else had lowered themselves into a starting position. Quickly crouching down, he prepared himself to burst into a run too. With his ears turned to Cheerilee he waited for the sound of the air horn that would start the race.
The blare of the horn sounded and they were off.
Rumble started with the best sprint he could. It only took a second or two before most of the hoof beats were behind him. Only he, Scootaloo and a filly named Sunny Days were out front now. And the announcer for the race said as much.
Sunny Days, continued to pull ahead. Yet nether Rumble nor Scootaloo seemed bothered by letting Sunny get into first place.
Scoots likely recognized Sunny’s mistake as easily as he did. Sunny Days was still in a full sprint, while he and Scootaloo had slipped into a proper gallop. There was no way Sunny was going to last three laps pushing herself like that.
In fact, as they ran Rumble was constantly reminding himself to only match speed with the orange filly in his peripheral vision.
As they neared the first turn in the oval track, Rumble made his move. He pushed himself into a small sprint, just enough to end up in front of Scootaloo and force her to slip in behind him as they both got into the inside lane.
A small smile crept onto Rumble’s face as they ran the turn. This was just the kind of edge he needed if he was going to beat Scootaloo. If he could just beat her to the turns, he could force her to slow down during the turns. That could slow down her overall time enough to be in range of what he could do. Then he would just need to win the final sprint at the end of the third lap.
Scootaloo just followed close behind him as they ran the next straightaway.
As they went into the second turn, they could see that Sunny Days was flagging badly. Even though she’d entered the second turn a good second ahead of them, by the time they came out of the turn Rumble and Scootaloo were closing fast. As they neared the finish line, Rumble and Scootaloo shifted over to the second lane to pass Sunny.
Technically Sunny Days completed the first lap first. But within a few steps Rumble passed her, soon followed by Scootaloo.
As they went into the next turn, Rumble allowed himself to grin as he heard his name called out by the announcer as being in first place. That grin faded as soon as he came out of that turn. His legs were aching, crying out for oxygen and rest far more than they should be. Something was wrong with him, and he didn’t know what.
Then he heard Scootaloo’s galloping hoofsteps shift behind him. His suspicions were confirmed when the announcer excitedly called out that she was making a move. When she appeared in his peripheral vision he tried to sprint, to beat her to the next turn.
Tried being the key word. His legs refused to act on his mind’s command to increase their effort. Something was definitely wrong with him. He felt like had already run the whole three laps even though he was only halfway there. Why was this so hard today? Why wasn’t his second wind kicking in?
As surly as the answers eluded him, Scootaloo passed him and took the lead going into the turn.
But she didn’t stop there. Even as they ran the turn she was slowly pulling ahead, growing the gap between herself and Rumble.
When he passed the line and started the third lap for himself, he dared to look at the scoreboard.
The scoreboard was actually just a black chalkboard. The important part was really the unicorn mare sitting next to it with a stopwatch. The mare’s horn was glowing with a gold light and gold illusions floated in the form of numbers and letters, with the blackboard as a backdrop.
At the top of the board was Scootaloo’s name and the time she’d had at the start of the final lap. The line just below that was Rumble’s and had a “-0.4” to signify that he had been four tenth’s of a second slower then first place.
Halfway around the last lap, Scootaloo actually caught up to the pony in last place and had to pass the filly still on the second lap. Rumble actually managed to pass that filly too, just before going into the last turn.
Yet as he ran the final turn he heard the thunderous clamor of many hooves closing in behind him. The pack had caught up to him.
When Scootaloo came out of the last turn she took off like a rocket, giving her all as she made her final sprint to the finish line. Any hope of beating Scootaloo was lost, no pony could catch her now.
Although what made Rumble’s heart truly sink was the fact that as soon as he came out of the last turn he tried to sprint… and met the same result as earlier. Somehow he was short of breath, more tired than he should be and so his legs just refused to go any faster.
One by one, ponies appeared in his peripheral vision. One by one, ponies passed him in the final straightaway.
When he finally crossed the finish line, he swerved into the grassy field in the middle of the track and collapsed right there. Apart of him wanted to bury his face in shame right then. But the part of him that was curious as to just how bad this disaster of a race had been won out.
He looked up to the scoreboard.
By now a pegasus had taken a piece of chalk and was writhing the times on the actual board so the unicorn could stop holding her illusion spell. Scootaloo’s time had been two minutes and ten seconds. Which was a full second faster then her best time in practice. A two second gap separated Scoots from second place. Second place had had maybe a fourth of a second lead on third. After that ‘the pack’ had finished with everypony being within a tenth of a second or two of each other.
Then Rumble spotted his own time. Seventh place, with a time of two minutes and fourteen seconds. That put him about a second and a half slower then his best time in practice.
He finally buried his face with his front legs. How had this gone so wrong? If he’d just matched his best time from yesterday he might have tied for second. And he certainly would have gotten at least third. He would have gotten what he’d set out to do a week ago. Why had it gone so wrong today?
“Are you alright!” Fluttershy’s question carried an urgent, worried tone even though its volume was as best a loud whisper.
“Couldn’t… sprint… don’t know… what went… wrong,” he managed between breaths, still trying to recover from the race.
Then a voice that Rumble didn’t expect to hear spoke. “You should be proud, kid,” Rainbow Dash said. “You did as good as you could given the situation.”
“The situation?” he asked, finally sitting up.
The rainbow mare shot an accusing look at her long time friend as she answered, “The juice Fluttershy gave you right before the race.” Looking back to Rumble, Dash continued. “I bet you felt like the top of the world when you were riding that sugar rush the first lap. At least until you burned up all the energy in the sugar and got hit with the sugar crash in the second lap.”
“Su-sugar crash? Is that why I couldn’t sprint?”
“Probably,” Rainbow Dash answered. “Sugar doesn’t just disappear when you use up all the energy in it. It stays in the blood for three days, hogging space the blood could be using to get oxygen to your muscles. Most ponies don’t notice it because they aren’t usually in the middle of strenuous activity when it’s at it’s worst.”
Both Rumble and Fluttershy sat there with mouths agape. “Really?” the latter asked.
“Yep! Why do you think I avoid Pinkie Pie like the plague for three days before a competition?”
Fluttershy looked at Rumble to apologize for her mistake, but the words never left her lips. Instead she found herself looking into young eyes deep with hurt.
“You-you… You sabotaged me? You made me look like an idiot in front of my big brother! I hate you!” he shouted before running off in tears.
“Wait! I’m sorry! I didn’t know…” Fluttershy finally managed to get out, far too late and too quietly to be heard by the feeling colt.
“Don’t bother,” Thunderlane said, patting the yellow mare gently on the shoulder. “At his age he’s way too upset to hear anything you say right now. And don’t worry, I’ll talk some sense into him once he calms down.” And with that he took off after his little brother.
“I was only trying to be nice… Please don’t hate me…” Fluttershy whimpered, not really aiming the comment at anyone.
“I know you were,” Rainbow Dash said, sitting down next to Fluttershy and draping a comforting wing over her shoulders. “But he’s not wrong you know. Without your little act of kindness he’d be up there next to Scoots right now, getting a medal. Heck if you’d actually bothered to push him when he was training he might have been strong enough to place despite your last minute mistake.” She finished with a single “Heh.”
“What’s so funny?”
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have. It’s just kinda funny that your idea of kindness made you do the same thing I’d have done if I was trying to be cruel to him. Never really pushing him hard enough to make him get stronger. And then you timed that sugar crash perfectly to make sure he’d never have a chance against Scootaloo.”
“I- I-” Shy stuttered.
“Didn’t know,” Rainbow Dash finished for her tongue-tied friend. “You may have sabotaged him, but it was an honest mistake. You just lost sight of the goal that’s all. You were just trying to make him comfortable in the moment. I may have made Scoots miserable all week, but everything I did was to give her the best chance to get what she wanted in the end. So I guess what I’m trying to say is, sometimes the only true form of love is tough love. Speaking of…” Dash cut herself off and got up.
Scootaloo came galloping from the winners’ stand, a shiny gold medal now hanging from her neck. With a flying leap she tackled her honorary big sister into a hug.
“Rainbow Dash! I did it! I won! Thankyouthankyouthankyou! I’ve never been so happy! This is the best day of my life! And I owe it all to you!”
Returning the hug, Dash responded, “Heh, I know you had a super awesome coach and all but give yourself some of the credit, Champ! You’re the one who ran the race!” Releasing her end of the hug, Rainbow Dash looked the filly in the eyes and smiled. “Now come on! I heard Pinkie Pie is throwing a pizza party for all the racers. And now that the race is over you can get drunk on soda pop and gorge yourself junk food all you want!”
“Whoo hoo! Best day ever!” Scootaloo cheered as she got up and followed Rainbow Dash in the direction of Sugar Cube Corner.