Scootaloo

Near the skate park. Roughly thirty minutes after the club meeting.

I knew that whatever activity Rainbow Dash had in mind was going to be awesomely fun! I mean, come on, it wasn't like her to have us do something boring! It didn't take long for my hopes to be realized as we rolled on our sweet rides over to the skate park in Canterlot City. Rainbow was riding her skateboard while I was rolling on my trusty scooter. It looked like a typical scooter at first glance, but I decked it out with all-terrain wheels that day! That meant that no rugged terrain could stop me! Awww yeah! Now, the skate park had smooth terrain, so even standard wheels would have been enough. But, I was glad to have a chance to show off my ride's maximum coolness while having fun at the same time. Of course, Rainbow made sure to carry under her left armpit one of the most essential items for a trip to a skate park: a first aid kit. Grabbing this was smart on her part, because I learned from my aunts and Rainbow Dash herself that one should never play in a sport without a first-aid kit nearby!

The park was packed with athletes who were honing their skateboarding skills by practicing awesome tricks, improving their runs, and just having a good time overall. Seeing all of this made me feel really excited! Rainbow Dash made my excitement grow with ease, as usual;

"You ready to tear up the park with your sweet skills, squirt?" she asked me with her boundless enthusiasm. I turned my head to my right and looked up at her to find that she was giving me a really big smile that showed her teeth. That girl could always fire me up without breaking a sweat! My excitement reaching new heights, I happily exclaimed to her;

"You bet, I am! I know you're ready to show off your sweet skills too!"

"Oh, you know me so well!" she responded with her famous confidence while pounding her chest with her right fist. With that, we checked our sports gear to make sure we were wearing it all properly. My helmet, shoulder pads, and knee pads were all in their places, same for Rainbow Dash's. Our safety assured, Rainbow grabbed her skateboard with her right hand while I folded up my scooter and held it under my right arm. With excitement in every step, we ran into the park itself. As I expected, there was a whole bunch of cool people shredding throughout the park. Skateboarders, mainly. But, I did catch a few bike riders here and there as well. One of the skateboarders was someone I didn't expect to see. Although, I honestly should have, because of course DJ-P0N3 would hang out in a skate park. She just oozed awesomeness! Not as much as Rainbow Dash, but she was still awesome. I caught sight of her doing cool skateboarding tricks on a vert ramp, which was a large half-pipe, while Rainbow carefully put the first-aid kit down on the concrete ground. I was amazed that the DJ's shades stayed on her head, even when she was doing spins, grabs, and flips with her board! She performed a few more sick moves before rolling over to us and slowing her board down to a stop with her right foot. I was glad to see that, like us, she was wearing proper safety gear, though I could not figure out how her large headphones could fit under her helmet. While giving the both of us welcoming smirks, she showed us the devil horns with her right hand, to which we responded in kind while Rainbow told her;

"Sup, P0N3? Didn't know you liked to shred too."

P0N3 looked down at Rainbow's skateboard and then at my scooter, as if she were inspecting them, and then pointed her right thumb at the vert ramp behind her. Her growing smirk was evidence enough that she wanted us to show off our skills. I mean, were we really going to say no to that? Rainbow and I looked at each other with wide smiles, gave each other a fist bump, checked our safety gear, and made our way to the pipe, with the coolest athlete around declaring out of loud pride;

"Come on, Scoots! Let's tear this pipe up!"

Before I knew it, we were doing exactly that! Rainbow Dash was doing all kinds of awesome tricks within seconds of her getting her board moving! She did some ollies and nollies on the ground, which involved her tilting her skateboard forward or backward while rolling around. When she was in the air, though, she did kickflips, heelflips, 360-flips, grab tricks, and so much more! She even started doing 900s, wicked-sick grab spins, when she was getting enough airtime to pull them off safely! Way back in the day, only skateboarding legends could pull that off, and my idol was making it look easy!

Rainbow Dash always found a way to be awesome!

As for me, I was doing cool tricks of my own, while making sure to not bump into her. I started off with some simple tricks while I was building up speed and airtime. Some nollies here and one-handers there when my wheels were on the ground. Easy stuff. But, once I was getting that sweet air, I kicked things into high gear with tail grabs, tail whips, the occasional no-footer, and just because I could, some bar spins! For those grabs and whips, I was either holding onto my scooter's deck or whipping that sucker around in a full 360-degree spin, all while in the air! As for the no-footers and bar spins, if I wasn't taking my feet off of the deck in the middle of a jump, I was making my handlebars spin like wheels! I totally stuck the landing for each and every trick I pulled, same for Rainbow Dash, 'cause we were awesome like that. DJ-P0N3, I noticed, was watching from a safe distance beyond the vert ramp, her smirk proof that she approved of our skills. Feeling emboldened by my cool new friend's encouragement, I pulled off a few more bar spins and one last no-footer before rolling down the right side of the vert ramp and onto the flat surface in the middle before smoothly slowing my scooter down to a stop with my right foot. I could hear Rainbow Dash stopping her skateboard behind me as I moved over to the DJ, who gave us both a big thumbs up with her right hand, her smirk refusing to leave her face. I was about to give her a thumbs up as well when I suddenly heard clapping from behind me. At first, I thought it was Rainbow giving me props, but when I turned around, I saw that it was someone else who was clapping. Standing at the other end of the vert ramp were two people, a guy and a girl, who looked to be around Rainbow's age. It was the guy who was looking right at the two of us while applauding, his face showing appreciation through a smile that seemed to be genuine. The girl appeared to be keeping up a show of quietness politeness with no sign of agitation, her hands held behind her hands in a way that Rarity would call dignified. What had really struck my eye was their outfits. The girl, much to my quickly growing annoyance, was wearing a Crystal Prep Academy uniform. The guy, however, was wearing a pair of glasses with oval lenses, casual street clothes, sneakers, and a set of skateboarding gear that covered the key body parts except for his right elbow. He was even holding a skateboard under his right armpit. It didn't take me long to recognize who these people were: Jet Set and Upper Crust. I had learned about them from Rarity and Sweetie Belle, back when I was visiting their house. They had spoken with them a few times before and found them to be, as Rarity had put it, respectable love birds from well-off families. While I was not going to think of her or my awesome friend as liars, I stayed close to Rainbow Dash just to be safe. DJ-P0N3 walked up to stand with us as well, which made me feel even safer. After all, any Wondercolt back then knew to be cautious around Shadowbolts. If those two rich folks turned out to be punks, we would easily drive them away! Thankfully, we didn't have to, for Jet Set stopped clapping and declared to us;

"I must say, you girls performed magnificently!"

His voice oozed with sophistication and class, but none of the snootiness that I normally expected from rich people. Upper Crust showed off a polite smile while she nodded quietly. No signs of trouble so far, which eased my earlier annoyance. It also helped that Rainbow and I got props for our shredding talents. So, after taking a quick moment to reign in my frustration with Crystal Prep as a school, I smiled back at the rich pair and told them with confidence;

"Thank you! We've been practicing a lot!"

Rainbow Dash, her teeth-baring smile being big enough for me to feel its presence, added with pride;

"Yeah, and we're not just magnificent on our boards..."

Sensing my cue, I turned to face my idol and gave her a jumping high-five that she quickly accepted. Right when our hands connected, we finished in loud and proud unison;

"We're awesome!"

After smiling brightly at each other, we turned back to face Jet Set, who was chuckling along with Upper Crust before noting;

"Well, you certainly have every right to brag."

Rainbow decided to make a remark to Jet before anyone else could speak further

"Since you came here packing a board, I'd say you're here to skate."

Jet nodded while responding excitedly;

"Most certainly."

I looked up at Rainbow Dash in time to catch her pointing at the vert ramp with her right thumb before she challenged him with a wide smirk and eyes filled with confidence;

"Well then, show us what you got! Just mind that bare elbow while you shred."

I added with honest concern that Apple Bloom would have appreciated while eying Jet's elbow;

"Yeah, if you got a spare elbow pad stashed somewhere, you better go get it."

Jet chuckled thoughtfully before explaining to us;

"Normally, I would oblige, but the straps on my right elbow pad were torn apart during a practice session yesterday. The darn things got worn down from use, it seems. Thankfully, I did not get hurt, but I haven't gotten a replacement for the pad yet. Worry not, for I will skate with extra care today."

RD and I looked at each other nervously. I think we both had the same thought at that moment;

"Watch this guy like a hawk!"

I looked over at DJ-P0N3, who was showing as much concern as I did while watching Jet closely. Before the three of us could contest his claim, Upper Crust looked over at Jet and gave him some words of encouragement, which were laced with genuine sweetness and love;

"You've got this, beloved. Just don't take any major risks."

He turned to gaze at her with a warm smile and made the whole moment ten times more mushy by taking her hands into his and holding them up to his chin and saying;

"Thank you for the kind warning. I hope you enjoy the show, my dearest better half."

Upper Crust giggled while he gave her hands two quick kisses, one for each hand, before he released his grip on them...

By the hat of Daring Do, why did real-life couples have to be mushier than the movie ones?!

As I tried valiantly to hold back my growing urge to gag, Jet Set walked into the vert ramp while carrying his skateboard. I made sure to watch him closely as he placed the board on the ground, got himself into position, and started to roll. It wasn't long before he started doing tricks up and down the vert ramp and, I have to admit, he was off to a great start. Sure, it was clear that he wasn't as awesomely skilled as Rainbow Dash, so he wasn't gonna pull a few 900s out from his fancy sleeves. But, that didn't stop him from pulling off some stylish grab tricks, cool flips, and some nollies for good measure. But, as he continued his run, he started to turn up the heat! After doing a kickflip in the air and landing on the left side of the vert ramp, he quickly tilted his board by its nose while balancing on the front wheels as he rolled down the side. That little trick is what skateboarders called a manual, which was super-hard to pull off while moving fast. He did this for a brief moment before transitioning back to rolling like normal, just in time to roll up the right side. What he did next was wild! When he reached the edge, he grabbed it with his right hand and used the momentum from his rolling to lift his body up to straight up balance on that edge while holding the skateboard on his feet with his left hand. He held this position for a good two seconds before releasing his grip on the edge while angling his body so that the wheels on his skateboard could land on the ground first without him losing his footing, allowing him to roll back down safely.

That was a lip trick, an Andrect Invert to be exact, and lip tricks were really hard to pull off without falling on your limbs!

I was amazed to see a Crystal Prepper, a rich guy, perform so well and while missing an elbow pad to boot. All without losing his glasses too! Jet Set was no Rainbow Dash, but I suppose he was a cool skateboarder. Once he rolled over to us and stopped his board, he gave Upper Crust a quick loving look and declared to us with a confident smirk;

"I hope my performance was satisfactory."

All was silent for two seconds before Rainbow responded, albeit reluctantly;

"Okay, I'll admit, you've got solid skills. Buuuuut..."

Oh, I knew exactly what was coming when she said that last word and I was all for it! She paused for dramatic effect before suggesting with plenty of confidence in every word she spoke;

"I want to see how well you stack up against some real competition."

Jet raised his right eyebrow while responding, his smirk holding strong;

"A challenge is it? I suppose I could enjoy a friendly warm-up before the Friendship Games."

He nodded at Upper Crust, who nodded back at him with loving support in her eyes. Without skipping a beat, he asked Rainbow;

"Are you familiar with the Game of Skate?"

My idol's answer was totally correct;

"Of course, I am!" she exclaimed with a smirk of her own. Needless to say, I was already in Rainbow Dash's corner. With pride and excitement in my voice, I told Jet Set;

"She'll kick your butt without breaking a sweat!"

Both Crystal Prep students looked over at me, with Jet responding with calm confidence;

"We shall see about that, little Wondercolt."

It was seriously odd for me to not hear any animosity or arrogance in a Crystal Prepper's voice, but there it was. Jet then returned his attention to Rainbow and asked her;

"So then, do you accept the challenge?"

She didn't wait for even a second before giving him her answer;

"Let's do this!" she exclaimed. Yeah, Jet Set and his main squeeze were being oddly polite for students from CHS' fiercely competitive, and seriously mean, rival, but that didn't bother me too much. After all, I was so looking forward to seeing Rainbow Dash get a clean win off of him! As excited as I was, however, I made sure to keep at least one eye on Jet's unprotected right elbow. Safety first and all that...

A few minutes later.

Upper Crush was standing at my left side and DJ-P0N3 stood at my right while we watched the two competitors prepare for the game. They were both standing on top of the left side of the vert ramp, which had space enough for folks to stand on it safely, same for the right side. Placed on the ground to my right was the first-aid kit that Rainbow had brought with us. Upper Crust had a kit of her own, which she had placed on a spot to her left. As I gazed up at Rainbow Dash and Jet Set, who were stretching their arms and legs, I could hear the rich girl ask me nervously;

"I hate to admit it, but I could use a refresher on the rules of this Game of Skate. I've only seen it once before, you see."

I didn't see any harm in getting her up to speed on how the game worked, so I looked up at her and explained it while feeling as enthusiastic over the competition as I sounded;

"One player picks out a trick and tries to perform it. If they land it cleanly, then their opponent has to land it too. If they pull that off, then the other player has to perform a new trick for them to copy, so tricks can't be used twice in the same game. If a player messes up, they take a letter."

I gave Upper Crust a moment to figure out the rest. It didn't take her long to add calmly;

"Ah yes, so whoever spells out the word 'skate' first loses."

"Pretty much," was my response. Within a second, she asked me a good question;

"Wait, so a player has to perform one trick at a time or can they do a whole set of them?"

"Either way is fine, so long as what a player chooses to do is actually possible for both skaters," I told her simply. As if on cue, I caught Rainbow Dash and Jet Set playing rock paper scissors. I had guessed that they were doing this to decide who would be the one to pick the tricks. It took two rounds, but Rainbow Dash got the honor. She then loudly declared to us;

"Alright! Let's see if Jet can do a kick-flip spin off of the side of this vert ramp!"

She then got her board ready and rolled down to perform that exact trick with skill, style, and pure awesomeness! Of course, she stuck the landing! Anyway, Jet Set gave her a moment to roll out of the way before attempting the trick as well. To his credit, he pulled it off quite well, which spared his bare elbow from injury. After finishing the trick, he rolled up to Rainbow and declared with a prideful smirk;

"A simple matter!"

This only made Rainbow Dash laugh before she responded with one of her toothy grins that I liked so much;

"Yeah yeah, but I was going easy on you with that first trick. With this next set, I'm kicking things up a notch!"

She motioned for the three of us to follow her, which we did so after I grabbed my scooter and first-aid kit. I wondered what kind of cool challenge my idol was going to give Jet.

Leaving the vert ramp behind, we arrived at another part of the skate park that had, among other things, what us extreme sports types called a funbox. Why was it called a funbox? Because it had lots of stuff that athletes like Rainbow Dash and me found fun! This one had a flat table-top in the center, ramps on each side of the table-top, and two grind rails on ramps that were opposite each other. Scattered throughout the area were all sorts of other cool stuff to do the tricks off of. Ledges, banked ramps, grind rails, quarter pipes, and more! As tempting as it was for me to do cool tricks on them with my scooter, which I held under my right arm, I didn't want to miss out on seeing Rainbow kick some Crystal Prepper butt! So, while standing alongside Upper Crust and DJ-P0N3, the first-aid kit safely placed to my left, I watched my awesome sister-at-heart and Jet Set stand near the funbox as she began to lay out the set for him;

"You see that quarter pipe over there on our left?"

We all looked in that direction and quickly saw the quarter pipe itself as Rainbow explained;

"I want you start by rolling down the pipe over to the first grind rail."

She pointed at the left grind rail on the funbox with her right index finger and continued;

"Ollie onto the rail, grind up it, ollie over to the next rail and grind down that one."

She moved her index finger over to the other grind rail as she spoke. Once she was pointing at the ground near the rail, she finished;

"After that, ollie off of the rail and into a manual to finish the set."

Yeah, I know, she was calling for an ollie to be done three times. But, Rainbow and I always figured it best to let ollies and nollies be done multiple times in the Game of Skate. But, only if they were followed up on by different tricks. Jet Set seemed to be fine with this, for he nodded his head and ran over to stand and watch with Upper Crust, DJ-P0N3, and me. Without further ado, Rainbow ran to the quarter pipe and climbed up to its top while holding her skateboard with care. After taking a moment to get into position, she got on her board and rolled down the pipe's ramp to perform the set. She nailed the whole thing within five seconds. She even aimed peace signs right at us with both hands while performing her manual. Rainbow Dash was so awesome! It was no wonder I was clapping and cheering for her as she got back off of her skateboard to make way for Jet Set to try his hand at the set! As she joined the rest of us to watch him skate, I heard Upper Crust ask me out of concern;

"You're keeping an eye on dear Jet's vulnerable elbow?"

"Two eyes," was my response, my voice laced with calmness and worry mixed together. Rainbow Dash added with a serious tone;

"Make that eight eyes, two for each of us."

The three of us nodded in agreement while we witnessed Jet Set perform the set with skill and style. It always amazed me that my DJ pal could hear people through her headphones. Then again, when I looked up at her, I noticed that she wasn't bobbing her head to music that time. I looked back at Jet Set while taking a breath to keep my rising nerves at bay. I couldn't help but worry more and more about the possible uncool consequences of him skateboarding while not fully protected as time went on.

After the second challenge, the Game of Skate quickly took a turn. Rainbow called out the next set, which involved a quarter pipe, some grind rail action, and two lip tricks in an empty pool of decent size. She cleared the pipe and rails easily enough, but she nearly lost her grip on the edge of the pool while doing one of the lip tricks! She just barely managed to stick the landing and complete the set. When Jet Set took his turn, he did fine at first, but he lost his balance on one of the rails and fell on his side before he could reach the pool! The sound of his body hitting the concrete made me wince a little. Thankfully, he had hit his left side, so his safety pads took most of the fall. This meant that the landing stung, but it didn't leave scrapes or bruises on him. Simply put, Jet got lucky. Upper Crust rushed over to help him back on his feet, for which he thanked her with a quick kiss on her cheek. I noticed that Rainbow and P0N3 were eying that unprotected elbow of his with concerned frowns. Rainbow held hers for a moment before announcing;

"Okay, that's a letter for you! Once you're settled, we'll continue."

I was starting to like this contest a little bit less as the two competitors got ready to skate again.

The Game of Skate took us all over the skate park, with Rainbow Dash and Jet Set trying out all sorts of cool tricks and sets. They landed most of them, but they did take a few stumbles as well. Thankfully, those two didn't get badly hurt. Before we all knew it, the game was tied at four letters each. From that point on, a single mistake could settle it! The spot they were gonna perform on next was an old skateboarding standard: the pool. This pool was round like a circle, larger than the one from before, totally empty, and suitably deep. Its surface was as smooth as butter, so it was perfect for skating on! As we all gazed at the pool itself, Rainbow called out the set with her infectious, awesomely awesome enthusiasm;

"We're gonna roll into the pool, do two kick flips and two grabs to get some speed and air, follow them up with a spin grab, a lip trick, and roll back out of the pool with a smooth landing!"

I saw Jet Set nod his head while showing a prideful smirk on his face, as if he was certain he was going to win. For a brief moment, I saw the arrogance that was typically seen from a Shadowbolt in his smirk, but it vanished in a hurry. From that moment on, I was really hoping that he would lose! I gave Rainbow a quick fist bump for good luck before walking back to stand near the pair of first-aid kits that stood side-by-side a safe distance away from the pools edge. Upper Crust and DJ-P0N3 were standing to their left, while I found a spot to their right. We watched as Rainbow Dash demonstrated the set with skill and coolness, complete with a 360 spin grab that she had just enough air time to nail. No crashes, just what I expected from her! Once she rolled back out of the pool and landed safely, she made way for Jet Set to take his turn. With a quick wink aimed squarely at Upper Crust and a face full of pride, he rolled into the pool to begin the set.

What was that old fancy saying that Rarity liked so much... Pride cometh before the fall?

Now, I want to be clear on this, I did NOT enjoy seeing what happened next! Jet Set performed the two kick flips and two grabs without any trouble. But, when he went to do the spin grab, he tried to do a longer spin than what Rainbow had done, a 480 to be exact. To be fair to Jet, there was no specific spin grab called out for the set. So, he and Rainbow out-spinning each other was fine, so long as they could land the trick. But, Jet had made a careless mistake: he misjudged his air time! Gravity made him pay for his cockiness and, man, it was merciless. Like the others, I saw it happen with my own eyes. Jet crashed right onto the incline near the edge of the pool, his bare elbow taking the brunt of the fall. Thank goodness, he barely missed hitting the edge itself! He then rolled down the incline and out of my sight. For one second, I hesitated to act. During the first half of that second, I heard in my mind the stories that Rainbow Dash had told me about Crystal Prep. Of the school's numerous victories and how its students always lorded them over us Wondercolts like total jerks. It was during the second half of that one second that an entirely different memory flashed before my eyes:

My body was cold and hurting.

I sat in the snow, unable to get up.

I looked down at my hands.

They were bruised and-

After the second had passed, I acted. I grabbed my first-aid kit with both hands and rushed over to the pool with enough speed to dart passed Upper Crust, who had reacted sooner than I did. After deftly sliding down into the pool with care, I moved over to Jet Set, who was laying down on the floor while favoring his bare right elbow with his left hand. I could see on his face the tensing and scrunching that typically came with going through a lot of pain. Not wasting any time, I rushed over to his right side and got down on my knees before laying the kit down on the floor to my right. I was about to check Jet's wound when Upper Crust came running to his side with her kit in hand. Like me, she got down on her knees and placed her kit to the side. She then stroked his hair with her right hand while telling him comforting words;

"Oh, my dearest, foolish Jet! You'll be patched up in no time!" she declared with soft worry in her voice. As much as I hated sappy stuff, this was a time when that sort of thing could help someone. I saw Upper Crust reach for her own kit, which prompted me to quickly tell her;

"Hold on! We need to check the wound first!"

She looked over at me and nodded;

"Oh yes, I ought to have remembered that," she said before I reached over to Jet's right arm and moved it with gentle care to get a better look at his elbow. By this point, Rainbow Dash and DJ-P0N3 had joined us in the pool. I was sure they were worried for Jet as well. It took Upper and me some convincing to get him to let go of his injured elbow. But, once he did, I immediately saw what was up;

"You got lucky, dude. You're elbow is just scraped. It's really red, but it's not getting any worse," I told him with a tiny smile. I turned over to my first-aid kit, opened it, and went to grab the pair of blue medical gloves that were inside when Upper Crust asked;

"Do you require assistance?"

I tried to think of an answer as I put on the gloves. But, once they were on, I noticed that my kit was missing something that was super important! I could have sworn I had put a new bottle of ointment in there before I left the house! Thankfully, there was more than one kit available. So, looked over at Upper Crust and asked her;

"You got antibiotic ointment?"

She didn't even wait to answer my question, she just went right for her kit, opened it up, and grabbed the ointment from it. She then handed it over for me to take it, which I did without a second thought. After placing the ointment in my kit, I pulled out a dry wash cloth with my left hand and spray bottle full of clean water with my right. After giving the cloth a few good sprays to get it nice and wet, I reached over and gently wiped Jet's scrape to get it cleaned up. Thankfully, there were no pieces of debris on or near it, so tweezers weren't needed. Once the wound was cleaned, I pulled out Upper Crust's ointment, opened it up, and squeezed some of that medicine onto my right gloved hand. After that, I rubbed it onto the wound with careful firmness. I had to give it to Jet Set, he was being very cooperative! With the ointment applied, all that was left to do was to cover the wound. My kit had just the thing for the job: a roll of gauze wrap. A kind of bandage that was much larger than those tiny tan ones and quite good at protecting large wounds from open air. I pulled out a whole bunch of gauze wrap, enough to easily cover Jet's elbow and wound, before ripping it from the roll. With speed and care, I wrapped the gauze around his elbow and wound as much as I could. Once I could not wrap it up any further, I applied a safe amount of pressure and held the gauze in place with both hands. Looking back up at Upper Crust, who watched me attentively, I asked her;

"Could you hold this bandage in place for me, please? I gotta tape it up."

With calm determination on her face, she reached over to the spot on Jet's elbow where the gauze wrap's length had ended and held it there with her right hand. This freed me up to return to my kit and grab a roll of white paper tape. I pulled out enough tape for what needed to be done and ripped it from its roll. Holding the ripped tape in my right hand, I turned back to check on Jet's elbow to find that not only was Upper Crust keeping the wrap in place, but so was Rainbow Dash and DJ-P0N3. All three of them looked at me with encouraging grins that made me feel pretty awesome, not gonna lie. With care, I taped up the gauze to keep it nicely wrapped and motioned for the others to give Jet some space. As they did so, He slowly sat up while favoring his wounded elbow with this left hand, gratitude and confusion all over his face. He voiced that confusion to me specifically;

"You could have let Upper Crust repair my wound on her own. But, instead, you took charge of the situation and helped me directly. But, why? Why help a student from your school's chiefest rival?"

His girlfriend, DJ-P0N3, and Rainbow Dash all looked at me as well. Like him, they were curious, that was easy enough for me to tell. My mind knew of the answer and so did my heart;

"When you see that someone's hurting and you can help them, don't wait," I declared to them while feeling absolutely certain of my words. I then gave my sister-at-heart a smile filled with well-earned admiration and revealed with confidence;

"That's what Rainbow Dash taught me."

She ran up to me, got down on her right knee, and responded while playing with my hair with both hands;

"I'm so proud of you, squirt!"

I could see the pride she had for me on her face, which made my heart fly up to the clouds. Once I had put away my medical items and closed my first-aid kit, I was suddenly and tightly hugged around my waist by an overjoyed Upper Crust, who exclaimed out of clear gratitude;

"Thank you so much for helping my beloved Jet Set!"

The hug alone made me laugh happily, in spite of her squeezing the air out of my gut. Not wanting to take all of the credit, I told her;

"Hey now, you helped out too, you know!"

Before long, we all got out of the empty pool and chilled together at the closest bench we could find. Rainbow Dash and Jet Set sat on the bench together with me sitting between them. P0N3 and Upper Crust stood at each side of the bench. With a small smile, Rainbow suggested to Jet;

"I suppose we'll have to call this match a draw."

He was not having that, however. Shaking his head, he replied;

"No, no. I crashed when it was my turn, so I took the last letter. Thus, you won the match."

This guy was clearly not a typical Crystal Prepper, as if his earlier behavior wasn't proof enough! I mean, since when did someone from his school take defeat so gracefully? Rainbow Dash groaned slightly out of annoyance before explaining;

"Ugh, you got hurt badly though. So, it doesn't feel like a clean win to me."

Jet chuckled politely and noted with a smirk;

"Well then, we'll just have to settle this issue in the Friendship Games! A clean win earned by either school should do the trick."

Oh, that got Rainbow's competitive streak to flare up! With a toothy grin full of confidence, she replied while looking Jet dead in the eye;

"Sounds good to me, just make sure you heal up before us Wondercolts kick your butts!"

"Kick our butts?" Jet said while letting out a proud chuckle, his smirk growing in size. There it was, that annoying Crystal Prep arrogance! Thankfully, Jet's arrogance was more... subdued compared to what his fellow students would normally show. Same for Upper Crust, who brought out her own confident smirk while staying silent. Jet retorted with an odd combination of arrogance and politeness;

"Us Shadowbolts will be happy to humble you. Again."

Before Rainbow could think of a response, he dropped his arrogance to let his polite demeanor shine through before turning his attention over to me. Showing a warm smile laced with gratitude, he told me;

"The coming games aside, I owe you a favor for helping me."

He turned to look at Upper Crust and asked her;

"My beautiful angel, may I speak with you for a moment, please?"

Upper tittered with a level of sweetness that threatened to make me gag. Thank goodness for self-control! I watched the couple walk a few steps away from the bench before whispering to themselves. I couldn't make out what was being said. After about fifteen seconds, they returned to the bench. Jet, with an excited smile, explained to me;

"There is a party at Filthy Rich's home tonight at 9:00PM that my dearest and I graciously invite you and Rainbow Dash to attend."

Okay, I really did not expect to hear that from a Crystal Prep student! Jet was not done, however, for he added while Rainbow and I stood still and dumbfounded;

"It is the type of soiree that may not be your style, but it should intrigue you to know that one of the musicians playing in it comes from your school."

He was not wrong. I mean, a party fit for rich people didn't seem all that cool to me. But, a fellow Wondercolt being there would make it less lame-wait a minute...

"Did he say a musician?!" I thought to myself as I broke out of my dumbfounded state to ask out of curiosity while trying to hide my growing excitement;

"Which instrument?"

There were a whole bunch of Wondercolts in my mind who Jet could have been referring to. All of them were awesome, but I had my hopes focused on two of them. He answered while keeping his smile strong;

"The cello, I believe."

Just like that, my hopes were realized! I spun over to look up at Rainbow Dash and exclaimed with a happy bounce;

"Octavia's gonna be there! Now, I know the party's gonna be cool!"

Upper Crust, after chuckling sweetly over my excitement, asked;

"You know that cellist?"

I spun again to look at Upper, nodded happily, and told her with pride shining in my eyes;

"She's my friend!"

"Even better!" Jet declared while clasping his hands together in a celebratory fashion. He then added;

"No doubt, she'll be thrilled to see you there. If you accept our offer, of course."

Upper Crust, with a polite smile, noted to Rainbow and me;

"No disgrace will come from declining. Jet Set will simply find another way to repay his debt."

I looked over at Rainbow and P0N3, who were looking down at me with bright smiles. Excited as can be, I asked them;

"Can you two come with? You would make the party at least twenty-percent cooler!"

Rainbow Dash's smile turned into a smirk as she replied with a wink and a joking tone;

"That's my line, squirt."

Recognizing what she meant, I giggled a little as she explained, her smirk turning into a frown;

"I would hang with you tonight, but..."

She scratched the back of her head with her right hand while looking more than a little nervous and finished;

"My parents want me to get my homework and chores done sooner rather than later. Sorry, Scoots!"

My idol not being able to come with me was disappointing, but it would take way more than that to make me angry at her. With a quick head shake and an understanding smile, I told her;

"It's all good. Disappointing your parents is never cool!"

I turned my attention over to P0N3 to get her answer. She reached into her right pants pocket, pulled out a card, and handed it over to me. After taking it with my right hand, I looked at the card to notice that it was actually an advertisement for a rave, its name, location, and start time written in a bold font with cool colorful techno artwork behind it:

DJ-P0N3's World of Wubs Rave
The picnic hills near the Everfree Forest
Saturday, 9:00PM
The wubs are calling!

Yep, she had a gig to run that night. That was fine by me, honestly. I wasn't going to come between her and her dubstep over a party! Yeah, this meant that she didn't get to spend time with Octavia, but I figured those two had talked it out earlier. After taking a moment to think on my next move, I turned around and told Jet;

"I'll ask my aunts if they can take me to the party."

Both he and Upper Crust beamed at me when they heard my words as he pulled a card out of his pants pocket with his left hand and gave it to me. This was a plain white card that had a single phone number written on it. As I took the card, Jet told me with a nod;

"Inform me of your aunts' answer as soon as you can."

After smiling at Rainbow, P0N3, and me for another second or two, the pair of rich lovebirds turned around and walked away, with Upper Crust grabbing her first-aid kit along the way. Before they were out of earshot, Jet Set declared with wave of his left hand;

"Farewell for now, Wondercolts!"

As we watched them leave the skate park, I reflected on what had happened that day. Honestly, those two weren't too bad...

For Shadowbolts.

With the contest over with, Rainbow and I had our fill of shredding for the day. So, we grabbed our gear (and our first-aid kid), said goodbye to DJ-P0N3, and made our way home. There was plenty of time before the party was set to start, so we decided to walk instead of roll. It was during our walk that Rainbow Dash asked me while keeping her eyes on the sidewalk before us;

"You know, squirt, what happened today reminds me of something my parents taught me."

She moved over to stand in front of me, prompting me to stop walking. I looked up at her with a curious expression, fully intent on listening to whatever wisdom she was gonna dish out. She got down on her right knee whole holding her skateboard under her left arm and told me with a calm voice and a serious expression;

"There are two things in this world that you should be loyal to: your real friends and your heart."

I beamed a bright smile at her while thinking of my totally real friends. Just then, Rainbow placed her right hand on my left shoulder and declared, the seriousness on her face melting into a proud and caring smirk;

"You were loyal to your heart today, and that. Is. Awesome."

Right then and there, I heard Sunset's advice from before echo in my mind;

"Always remember to think with your heads and your hearts."

Realizing that I did exactly that at the skate park and earned praise from the coolest sister-at-heart/idol ever, I was tempted to pounce on Rainbow Dash with a tight hug. But, remembering that I was holding both my folded up scooter and first-aid kid, I settled for letting my beaming smile grow in brightness and size, my eyes sparkling with adoration and joy. With that settled, she got back up and we continued our journey home. It didn't take long for her to speak again;

"With that being said, you did take a big chance on those two Shadowbolts by accepting their invite."

I didn't hear any worry, anger, or frustration in her voice when she spoke, just her natural confidence. I responded by asking her with a hint of worry in my voice;

"You think they might cause me trouble at the party?"

With a shrug, Rainbow replied;

"I don't know."

I sharply looked over at her with my head, not at all expecting that answer from her. She looked up at the sky as we walked and gave me another piece of advice;

"Sometimes, you gotta take a chance on someone to see if they deserve your loyalty."

I couldn't help but think back to the times when my friends showed how deserving they were of my loyalty with a smirk. Rainbow looked back down at me and declared with a confident smirk of her own;

"You took a chance on two students from our school's rival, Scoots."

She winked at me before finishing;

"Let's see what they do with it."

I nodded at her before returned our attention to the path ahead of us. To be honest, I was still a little worried. But, I held out hope that things would work out.

After all, I hadn't met anyone who had wasted my loyalty before!

Author's Note

Only Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo would ride like it was the early 2000s! Apparently, even a privlieged Crystal Prep student can hang with them.

Also, during my research for this chapter, I found this:

Guys... I think I found the real life Scootaloo!

Anyway, we got to see two Crystal Prep students when they're not being terribly toxic! But, given what we saw in the Friendship Games movie...

Oh boy.

Crusade Bio #12 - Rainbow Dash

Full Name: Rainbow Dash

Nickname(s): Danger (self-made), RD (her friends only), Rainbow Crash (no longer in use), and Dashie (her friends only).

Student Status: Enrolled

Grade Level: Sophomore

Closest Relatives: Bow Hothoof (father) and Windy Whistles (mother)

Friends: The Sonic Rainbooms, the CMCs (especially Scootaloo, who is her sister-at-heart), Octavia Melody, DJ-P0N3, etc...

Description: Rainbow Dash, a girl who calls herself awesome on the regular, is many things. Confident and arrogant. Proud and stubborn. Hot-tempered and friendly. Above all else, however, she is loyal to the people she holds dear to her heart. If someone has the good fortune of becoming friends with Rainbow Dash, she becomes their ride-or-die. Their defender. Their best friend. It would have to take something truly terrible to make her drop a friend. She has had to do this only once before and, frankly, she hopes to never have to do it again. With the friends she has these days, however, she may not have to worry about that.

Rainbow is a considerably skilled athlete who hones her skills in a wide variety of sports, with a special focus given to Soccer. She is also an avid, and competitive, video game fan as well as one of the biggest Daring Do fans in Canterlot City. Nowadays, she rolls with the Sonic Rainbooms as their lead guitarist and band leader while also serving as the head of practically every single sports team in CHS. She also hangs with the CMCs' very own Scootaloo, who she had taken under her wing after meeting her under terrible circumstances.