The Speed of Sound

The spark in Rainbow Dash's eye was almost visible at this "Sonic's" words.  "The fastest thing alive?"the pegasus' mind mocked Ha! We'll see about that…

With a quick scan of his surroundings, Sonic turned back to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, in a friendly, yet confused tone, he asked "But anyway, where the heck am I?"

Fluttershy swallowed her timidness and tried to speak up, hoping that she could trust the blue Hedgehog enough to speak to him. "You, that is to say.. this is my house, Rainbow Dash brought you here. You see, you apparently fell out of the sky and she caught you before you landed."

"Really? Well thanks for-" The hedgehogs word were cut off before many of them even escaped his mouth.

"Well then, you seem to be all better, and you said your fast too. How about a race?" Rainbow Dash asked in a rushed pride. "You may be fast where you're from buddy, but I'M the fasted pony in ALL of Equestria."

The tension that she thought would arise, Sonic's eye's leering competitively at her, a silent aura filling the room, none of that came. In fact, almost the opposite happened, Sonic's eyes filled with a bright, cocky, rivalry when his mouth curled into a grin only able to be described as blazing. "Sure thing, uhh... Rainbow Dash, right?"

However surprising the lake of competitive force was, Rainbow Dash felt almost a relief from it. Just a friendly race then, huh?   "Yep, Rainbow Dash. You're definitely not from around here, so try not to get lost when we start. "

A bright gleam came from Sonic, his teeth bright white. Does this guy ever lose his smile? "No problem, just choose something big and can't be missed."

The wind was a gentle breeze coming from the north, and the sun was high in the sky, beaming its rays down onto the lands, only being averted by the sparse clouds floating about, ignored by the pegasi on the weather patrol for that day. The day was perfect for a race. Sonic surveyed the surroundings and whistled. "Gotta say, the place looks nice, peaceful, wide open, a place I could get used to."

Rainbow Dash chuckled silently to herself. I guess this IS a pretty good place to live. "No getting distracted by your surroundings, I want a challenge in this race."

They had decided on the trail they would race; they would start at Fluttershy's house, following a southern trail to Froggy bottom Bog, where Fluttershy sent a blue jay to wait as a checkpoint, round towards Sweet Apple Acres, and back to the beginning, quite a far trek, even for Rainbow Dash. This would be around a trip to Cloudsdale, maybe even a little farther.  Shaking her head, the blue pegasus threw her worry to the wind. Meh, I'd be able to fly there and back times over, this'll be a cinch.

Looking over, Rainbow Dash noticed Sonic as he stretched. His legs were thin, very thin, but as he stretched, the pegasus noted the ferocity in the way each hardened muscle moved and twisted just under his fur, the movements were almost invisible, but her eyes had to see such little details, if she couldn't she would never know where she was flying. Starting to stretch herself, she felt the sudden burn of being watched. Turning her head subtly, she spotted Fluttershy looking at her, almost mesmerized in the way each muscle moved, Fluttershy must have the eyes of a pegasus too.

At least she has that, she's never much of a flier, and even when she DOES fly she's so slow. Suddenly a thought brushed through her mind. She lowered he body, the fur of her chest just barely brushing the soft grass beneath. Her haunches tensing, she looked skywards and unfurled her wings, spreading them to their fullest. This'll break her concentration. Her forelegs quickly lifting from the ground and her hind ones extending and extreme speeds, she felt the land below leave her, and was greeted by the open sky.

Looking down onto the world she just left, Rainbow Dash spotted Fluttershy, in awe and amazement. Yep, always gets her. Keeping with the momentum of the take-off, she performed a quick series of tricks, loops, and general high flying, flying up and pasting her shadow over the sun. Sonic looked impressed, and mildly amused, and as she landed, he began clapping and let out a long, flowing whistle. "Nice moves there, I'd give it a solid 10." Giving a smile out of pride and appreciation of flying, she puffed out her chest. "Yep, Rainbow Dash: best young flier in ALL of Equestria, wanna give in, save yourself the embarrassment?" Sonic chuckled and shook his head, his quills waving with it. "Not a chance there, I feel pretty confident about my abilities."  Really? After that, I'd have guessed that would shake him a little bit, but no. Is he for real?  She was about to come up with a retort when she heard a small squeaking cough. Fluttershy was holding a small white cloth in her wing.

Fluttershy's voice was barely a whisper.  "Umm, if it's alright with you, the warm-up time is over, and the race is going to start. If you could please come to the starting.. um... leaves."

Sonic threw his hands behind his head and chuckled. "Heh, I guess we're ready for this, I am, how about you?" He glanced over at Rainbow Dash, his deep emerald eyes showed no hesitance. The blue pegasus pony fluttered her wings in a flashy fashion. "You bet!" Both of the blue self-proclaimed speedsters neared the starting line, composed of leaves, layed out in a neat row, each leaf perfectly overlapping the next.

As they readied, Dash lowered her head close to the ground, she was ready for this race. Sonic looked the same, making quick hops in place, and lowering into an almost kneeling position. Fluttershy walked ahead of them, holding the small piece of fabric in her mouth and looked at both of them, from Rainbow Dash to Sonic, and back. "O-on your m-marks.." She began to lift onto her hind hooves. "Get set..."  Her head lifting higher still, the fabric flapping gently in the breeze, and brought it down in a swift fashion.

"Go!"

The very force from the wind nearly knocked Fluttershy over, her mane fluttering violently. The only thing left that the little pegasus could see of the two was dust. They were both gone.

As she took into a low flight, Rainbow Dash let her powerful wings take control, each flap propelling her forward. The feeling of being alive, that's the feeling this was giving her, the only thing deterring her from it was the fact that whenever she would look down towards the trail, Sonic was right there, running to match her flying.  Speeding up and slowing down didn't matter, Sonic would do the same to match.

He.. He's messing with me! No way! Her cheeks filled with a warmth as she realized what that could mean. Is he trying to be nice, is he pitying me? Or is he just messing with me, he acts cocky enough to do that. Deciding he was just having fun, she shrugged it off as the forest came up to greet her, they were nearing Froggy Bottom Bog.

Closing in on the blue jay hovering with another white strip of fabric, Rainbow Dash closed nearer to Sonic and grinned, her words rushed. "Hey, you getting tired yet?" Laughter can be heard faintly as Sonic looked up towards her. "After a stroll like this? Not a chance. You?"

The tone in his voice told Dash that he was still just doing this for fun, but so what? So was she by now, they both seemed to have an appreciation for pure, simple speed. They both returned their sights to the path before them, turning the corner, the rush of air blowing leaves every which way and dust flying anywhere it may, and rocketed off in the general direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

As the bog became a distant point behind, the two weaved their way through the quickly thickening mesh of branches and foliage. For every branch Rainbow Dash threaded her body through, Sonic was dodging trunks, roots and low hanging limbs. Not a single slip up.. He's good, that's for sure. The blue winged, pony thought to herself, maybe he was just what he said. The small distraction was just enough for her to slip up, just a slight, her cheek catching a thin branch, leaving a thin, nearly invisible cut. The pain was minimal at best, and a little bit of extra adrenaline was nothing to be mad about. Perhaps Sonic was just as distracted, because the blue hedgehog seemed to have tripped, just barely, over a root as they reached the forest line.

HA, that's going to cost you. Dashes mind laughed, but just as she thought such, Sonic didn't even seem to stop the fall, instead, he when with it, and curled himself. The young flier was confused. What's this guy doing? He didn't seem to be the one to just quit. And just as she tried to wrap her mind around it, Sonic has rolled into a complete ball, and rocketed forward, catching the remaining trees for more boost. Did… did he just spin? The slight moment of confusion caused Dash to stop flapping, and glided for a second, she almost instantly broke out of it and caught a small breeze to catch up. Sweet Apple Acres was coming into view.

One thing Applejack wasn't surprised to see was her friend Rainbow Dash bolting down the way towards the acres, what she DIDN'T expect to see was some.. thing with her. A blue creature was running, at a speed mirroring the rainbow maned pegasus'. The very spectacle was enough to make even Big Macintosh lose his calm expression, his jaw dropped. "What 'n tarnation is that there pony doin' now?" The big red colt simply shook his head. "Ain't got the slightest ah clue there."

The turn was gentle, and it took little effort for Rainbow Dash to alter her wing's angles to make it. The last leg of the race was coming upon them, a straight away towards Fluttershy's cabin, only a small part of the marathon race left, and Sonic was still speeding along below her, evenly matching her. This is it, if I don't break away now, I won't get the chance again. Let's do this, rainboom time! As the blue pegasus slowed her flapping speed, she increased the power behind each wing stroke, forcing her way past the burning sensation in her wing joints.

Every droplet of moisture in the air that hit her was like little beads of ice across her cheek. Even small details in her vision began to blur and meld away into the pure speed of things. As she began to reach the apex of her speed, a cone of vapour began to form, the very cone that will bust into a brilliant rainbow as she breaks the sound barrier. And looking below, she spotted something that nearly made her stop dead.

Sonic was keeping up.

The cone, the speed, everything that was happening to Rainbow Dash was happening to Sonic. Swerving towards him, she knew it was dangerous to be this close to anything just before a sonic rainboom, but the pure curiosity pulled her in, little threads of questioning dragging her. She yelled at the top of her lungs, trying to cut through the pure velocity of the impending explosion. "How are… WHAT ARE YOU!?" A thin smile curling across his face, he kept his eyes forward, but chuckled, she couldn't hear it, but the small gyrations of his chest told her. "They don't call me 'Sonic' for nothing!" And just as the pegasus attempted to pull away, it happened. Something she never even imagined, two sonic booms, at once.

The pure, simple, raw force of the feat left Rainbow Dash incapable of any real thought. In the wake of the huge explosion was the rainbow ring the Dash knew would be created, but in company to it, a huge wave of deep blue mixed within, creating two interlocked rings of pure energy. The sight was breath taking, the very world seemed to slip away into it, and nothing existed in this world, just Rainbow Dash, the wind, and the rainboom in her wake.

And as the impossibly beautiful, infinite, eternal moment engulfed her, she realized something, someone else was her, running just below, Sonic. Someone else who can see this. I never thought I'd share a place like this with a soul, and out of nowhere, this guy falls from the sky and just… comes in.

How long did the moment last? A minute, an hour, years, just a heat beat? Whichever it was, Rainbow Dash had been reminded of the reason she lived, her true calling, speed.  With the world reforming about her, she let out a huge breath she didn't even realize she was holding. Her mind began to register the world around, and spotted the cabin upcoming at a ridiculously fast rate. They were coming in too fast. Yikes, turning.. Beginning to act on her thought, Sonic did the same, synchronised with the pegasus' movements, making a perfectly mirrored break just in time to avoid Fluttershy's home, the pressure of the wind blowing leaves in any possible direction.

Slowing to a stop, Rainbow Dash suddenly realized how tiring the race had been to her. Her wings burning as if the blood flowing inside was liquid fire, her breath being caught in her throat as she huffed, and beads of sweat dropping to the ground. She whipped her mane over her neck, wild from the wind, and began to walk over to Fluttershy, sitting dumbfounded and in awe, eyes wide and mouth open. Glancing past, the blue pony spotted Sonic, walking proudly, but breathing noticeably heavy. So that took something out of him too. I still don't understand how he could do that!

She laughed weakly, trying to keep her breath steady. But before she could say a thing, Fluttershy broke from her trance. "Rain..boom…  two of.. two of them. A.. a sonic.. double boom?" A second weak laugh emitted from Dash's throat. "Double boom? I guess that name's as good as any." Sonic chuckled, letting himself collapse on the soft grass. "You're telling me, that was amazing, way past cool." The simple term caught a grin from Rainbow Dash, following Sonic's example. "Way past cool"? Well, he definitely has his terms straight.