Chapter 8 - School Rush

Spitfire looked up from her bowl of cereal to see Rainbow groggily enter the cloud home's kitchen, the cyan mare didn't notice Spitfire and walked straight passed the mare in a zombified manner and attempted to open a cupboard door in the cloud room.

Spitfire giggled "Having struggles Dash?" she asked. Rainbow groaned and turned round to face the mare that was annoying her sensitive eardrums, soon she regained her vision slightly and realized who it was.

After a few shakes of her head Dash regained enough conscious to talk "Hey Spit, w-where's Scoot?" the mare asked still a little groggy as she turned the kettle on to make herself a  caffeine drink that was sure to perk her up.

Spitfire shook her head playfully, "She's upstairs getting ready for school" she replied.

Dash nodded "sounds good" she said as she let out a yawn

Spitfire raised an eyebrow "I can help you out today if you want?" she asked the rainbow maned mare.

Dash waved a hoof dismissively, "there's no need Spit , you enjoy your day off" she said picking up her coffee and downing the caffeine drink as to get her kick start to the day.

Spitfire sighed but still smiled at Dash's enthusiasm "Well at least let me take Scoots to school" she said as she picked up her empty bowl and headed to the sink in the kitchen

Still Dash protested, "Are you sure Spit. I can do it in 10 seconds fla-" Rainbow started but was cut off by Spitfire

"Dash I insist I take my own daughter to school" Spitfire insisted further as she turned round from the sink to face the mare

Dash sighed "fine, we can go together then." the mare concluded as she started to feel the after affects of her morning coffee.

Spitfire smiled as she walked past her, "Well I guess I'll go get ready, you okay down here?" she asked curiously

Dash nodded whilst propping herself onto a chair in the kitchen, "yeah I'm good" the cyan mare replied.

Spitfire then made her way up the cloud stairs to the upper floor where the other bedrooms and bathroom where situated. She peaked into the bathroom to see a little orange filly trying to straighten out her windswept mane.

Spitfire smiled "do you need any help sweetheart?" she asked leaning in from the doorway.

Scootaloo looked up and nodded, "yeah I can't seem to get this part of my mane down and if I don't Diamond Tiara's just gonna make fun of me" she explained with a groan as her mane bounced back up to its previous position.

Spitfire walked into the small room and picked the brush out of Scootaloo's hoof as she started to sort her mane out. it took a few moments but soon Spitfire managed to start straightening her daughters mane.

"So sweetheart, tell me about this Diamond Tiara girl, she's not giving you any trouble is she?" Spitfire asked curiously as she continued to sort her filly's mane

Scootaloo shook her head "no mum, she just teases me sometimes" Scootaloo said slightly lying as she knew full well that Diamond Tiara had being picking on her and her friends since she joined the school, but she didn't want to make a big deal out of it and besides she felt like she could handle the occasional insult.

Spitfire nodded her head at the small piece of information that her daughter had given her, "Well mummy had to deal with those kinds of ponies too when she was a Wonderbolt" She informed her.

Scootaloo was shocked "y-you did?" the filly asked as she looked up at her mother brushing her mane

Spitfire nodded "yeah, but mummy had a special way of getting rid of them" She continued as she put the brush to one side and nuzzled the space between her filly's small ears on top of her newly straightened mane.

Scootaloo looked at her mother through the mirror that they where both standing in front of "Really, how did you do it mummy?" she asked curiously

Spitfire smiled "Well when mummy used to meet those kinds of ponies she would think about flight routines in her head to block them out" She explained to the now surprised filly.

Scootaloo was stunned by this, "thats it?" was all she could say.

Spitfire gave a confirming nod, "sure is sweetie , it might not sound much, but trust me when you think about something in your head it blocks out the world around you" she explained further. Scootaloo thought this over for a few moments before nodding and making a mental note to try the new trick when she met Diamond Tiara again.

Spitfire looked down at her filly, "well go get ready sweetie, me and Dash are taking you to school today" Spitfire said as Scootaloo trotted out of the bathroom

Scootaloo smiled "okay mum" she said causally as she trotted back down the stairs.

Spitfire turned round to look at herself in the mirror, she realized her mane was also spiked in places where it shouldn't be. She let out a sigh before grabbing the brush in her hoof again and starting on her mane.

After some time the three pegasi were at the doorway, Rainbow Dash was checking her mane just before they left.

Spitfire snickered "come on then Dash" she moaned as she stood outside the house with Scootaloo who was sitting on Spitfire's back.

Rainbow rolled her eyes "hey I need to look my best, I have a reputation to keep up you know" Rainbow said with a smirk as she made her way out of the door and onto the edge of the cloud home where Spitfire and Scootaloo were waiting for her.

Spitfire grinned "Care to put your reputation where you mouth is Dash?" she asked flaring her wings.

Rainbow was stunned, she was getting to race with her idol. She held back a squeal and quickly regained her composure as she stood in her starting position flaring her own wings ready for action.

Scootaloo held back a jump of joy, but the excitement on her face was enough evidence to suggested she agreed with the

idea.

Spitfire nodded, "Okay then Rainbow, first one to the schoolhouse wins" she explained to the cyan mare.

Rainbow nodded "you are so on!" she said gritting her teeth with a grin still tugging at her lips.

Spitfire made sure Scootaloo was safely secured to her neck before turning to Rainbow "okay then hotshot..3...2...1....GO!" she exclaimed.

In a flash of cyan and yellow the two pegasi bolted from the house and into the sky. Spitfire pumped her wings fast as she could as she gained altitude into the blue sky above her.

Scootaloo had her eyes opened just enough to see what was happening, she looked over to Rainbow Dash who was neck and neck with Spitfire and had a determined look on her face as she strained her muscles as hard as possible as she continued to speed up.

Spitfire could see the flash of cyan out of the corner of her eye as she kept focused on the town ahead of her. There was a number of clouds that had accumulated over the night and where circling around the small town, Spitfire looked over to Dash and saw the mare starting to inch forward, Spitfire knew she wouldn't last long at top speed, so instead she changed tactics and dived down.

Rainbow was stunned at Spitfire's sudden decrease in speed as she dived down just in front of her. She looked down to see that Spitfire was heading to the large clouds below them, she didn't want to chance Spitfire getting ahead and so she too dived down after the former Wonderbolt captain.

Spitfire raced into the first cloud rounding its fluffy contents perfectly as she continued to flap her wings in long heavy strides. Rainbow Dash was stunned by the skill of the former Wonderbolt but still she too managed to round the first cloud as perfectly as her idol.

Spitfire knew she was close to the schoolhouse now as she passed under another small group of clouds that had accumulated over the town center as she sped through the village. Dash meanwhile was so concentrated on Spitfire that she hadn't noticed the big grey cloud ahead of her. When she turned to focus in front of her, it was to late and she dive bombed into the clouds and was sent shooting back a few feet before grunting and speeding off after Spitfire again.

Scootaloo was ecstatic by this point and her morning so far, she could see the famous trademark trail of Rainbow Dash behind her as the cyan mare tried with all her strength to catch up. She looked down at her mother through her flowing orange and yellow mane. She could see that she was tiring and started to get nervous to see which of the two great flyers would win the race.

Spitfire finally saw her target which was a red building that stood on top of a grassy hill just on the outskirts of the earth pony town. She put all her strength into her wings as she continued to drive herself towards the finish line.

Dash put all the energy she had into herself as she strived for her goal. she could see Spitfire just in the distance and she could also see that she was gradually catching up, a smile tugged at her lips as she kept pumping her wings faster and faster as she closed in on her idol.

Spitfire was close to the finish line. She quickly glanced a look behind her to see Rainbow Dash very close behind, she also checked to see if Scootaloo was still on her back, she looked down to see a pair of orange forehoofs still wrapped to her neck tightly. suddenly the all to familiar feeling that Spitfire knew came over her as she started to feel her muscles give out and she struggled to keep her distance ahead of the rainbow maned mare.

Dash meanwhile was still flying at max speed, she was now closing in on Spitfire at a very fast rate, However Spitfire was within touching distance of the school. Dash put all her strength into her now screaming and aching muscles as she came side by side with her idol. Suddenly the two collided to the finish line with a 'boom'. The three pegasi tumbled along the ground as they came to a halt in front of the school gates.

Spitfire unfurled her sore wings to reveal Scootaloo who had been protected by them in the tumble. She smiled and ruffled the filly's mane. She then heard groans from behind her and whirled her head round to see Rainbow getting up of the ground with a hoof stuck firmly to the back of her head as she massaged her sore temple.

After a few moments Dash spoke, "so uhh did I win?" she asked hopefully

Spitfire chuckled, "I think we'll call that a tie" she said laughing wholeheartedly

Scootaloo suddenly jumped up in the air and landed next to her mother, "try calling it totally awesome!" the filly exclaimed bouncing around, suddenly the school's bell rang and the three pegasi turned around to face the building to see a maroon mare come out of the schoolhouse and wave towards them.

Spitfire turned back to her daughter, "Well sweetheart you have a good day at school. Mummy will be here to pick you up afterwords" Spitfire said as she gave her filly a peck on the cheek.

Scootaloo smiled as she had only ever dreamed of someone saying that sentence to her. she hugged her mother in return before galloping off towards the school.

Spitfire watched Scootaloo enter the school before she turned to Dash who was still looking slightly out of breath from the race. "So Dash you um.. want to help me move out of my house in Cloudsdale?" she asked plainly.

Dash nodded "sure thing Spit, I guess cloud busting can wait" the cyan mare replied as she winced from a shock of pain that went through her head at the thought of the strenuous task.

Spitfire nodded with a smile and the two took of into the air slowly as the made there way into the blue morning sky.

Suddenly dash spoke up "heh I guess thats what Rarity and Applejack meant by the 'School rush'" she said flatly. Spitfire smiled before she broke into a fit of giggles as Dash joined in with her.

laughter could be heard across Ponyville as the two great flyers found there wings again and shot off in the direction of the great sky city.