Chapter 35 – You Got Lucky
It did in fact take some time for Rainbow Dash to wake, Breeze had to make it to the ceremony by himself, informing the officials of Rainbow Dash's condition at the time. He had brought the copper medallion and the silver medallion back to the garage with him thanks to his magic. She was still asleep when Writch had placed the medallion into the garage with the others, and even through the afternoon, up until the next day, only to be woken up by her stomach growling so loudly that her eyes opened with alarm, "Wow, I'm hungry." she said, and jumped out of bed, startling Hulon as the pegasus ran towards the garage. She didn't even notice the shocked and relieved looks everyone was giving her before she started to just devour everything in front of her. She had gone through several plates of cookies, a cake, some cupcakes, four stacks of pancakes, three hayburgers, and something that looked like green hash browns before she noticed everypony looking at her, "What?" she asked, and noticed Syls and Tris coming through the garage door.
"How are you able to eat an entire dinner meant to feed an entire team by yourself?" Blade asked.
"Look, I skipped breakfast this morning and I think I did a good job racing today, I deserve a little snack." she said and grabbed one of the large blue carrots that were sitting on the table, taking one of the biggest bites she had ever taken, just to see him get a little miffed. Instead, she saw them all look amongst themselves, some worried expressions being passed around with looks that asked a question. "What did I miss?" she asked slowly as her anger began to subside.
"Rainbow…" Twilight began.
"You've been asleep for a day and a half." Syls blurted out.
Rainbow let herself go into shock, her eyes narrowed until they were barely visible, and her mouth turned into a frown that could have touched the ground, "What…?" she asked.
"You've been unconscious for more than thirty-six hours." Twilight said and watched the blue pegasus go even more into shock, "What did you do?"
"ME?!" Rainbow asked.
"Yes, you." Twilight said while pointing her hoof to the pegasus, "You started glowing, and then the B336 increased in power, nearly double the output. It maxed out all of our gauges. What did you do?"
"I…" the pegasus began, and then turned to Breeze, seeing a concerned look as he exited the kitchen, "I'm not sure, I just wanted so badly to protect my friends, and then I could feel…it was like something was trying to help, but it was using me to do it…you know?"
"That doesn't make any sense." Twilight said.
"Think NanoPack Twilight." Rainbow argued.
"But the B336 isn't a NanoPack, it's not even close to it. I examined the blue stuff inside the engine, and it's not anything close to sentient, or even half sentient like Blade's or Breeze's NanoPacks." the purple alicorn exclaimed, "It's just energy, liquid energy."
"What do you mean it's energy?" Pilit asked.
"It's like lightning, but in liquid form, I've never seen anything like it." Twilight explained as she turned to the curious Treeopon, "As it circulates through the engine, it not only reenergizes itself, but it replaces anything taken from it, it's like…" she thought, and only one thing came to mind, "…magic."
"Like what you can do?" Writch asked.
"Yes. Like our magic." Twilight said, "As we use our magic, it circulates through our bodies, it takes concentration to create spells, the bigger the spell the more concentration you need as well as the more magic you need to use all at once. If I use too much, I can exhaust myself pretty easily. However, with rest, it comes back, most likely the next day."
"So, the energy in the B336 is magic?" Tris asked.
"Not exactly, the consistency is different, and its properties are all over the place." Twilight said, "I'm not sure what it is."
"And I'm still going through the documents Twilight organized for me." Pilit said, "I'm sure I'll come across something that explains it. I mean…Liquid magic?"
Twilight began to chuckle nervously, the memory of the crystallized magic coming into her mind, "Eh, he, he. Yeah." she said and smiled nervously. When everyone turned back to Rainbow Dash, she had finished off the cart of food, and somehow not gained any weight. She was patting her stomach and sighing in satisfaction, "WERE YOU EVEN LISTENING?" the purple alicorn asked angrily.
"Look, it's no problem." Rainbow said, "At least we have a speed boost, I'll just have to take a long nap afterward is all."
"I don't think you understand how desperate that sounds, or how irresponsible it really is." Blade said, getting everypony's attention, "The way your wings folded up and the speed at which you were moving, you would have had no turning at all. You sacrificed your mobility for pure speed by doing whatever you did."
"Wait, so…" Rainbow said, "I can't use it on the turns?"
"You were lucky that it was a straight shot, otherwise you would have slammed into a wall and vaporized yourself, my brother, and the racer." he explained.
"Now do you see how important this is?" Twilight asked as Rainbow Dash gulped hard in concern.
"Was there anything I could have done differently?" the blue pegasus asked.
"All you could have done was micromanage your position, but your path was set for you the moment you boosted into the Rainboom." he told her.
"Meaning, what?" Rainbow asked.
"You were going straight no matter what." Syls said, "But if you wanted to, you could have been upside down while doing it."
"Oh." she said as it finally sank in.
"Plus, with you falling unconscious after using it, it's going to be a desperate play until you can figure out how to control it if it can be controlled." Breeze said.
"So, all I can do is use it sparingly, and only when absolutely necessary." she said.
"It's going to take us some time to figure out how to reinforce the joints on the wings." Blade said, "Plus I was surprised you breathed so easily, during that speed. We're going to install some breathing apparatuses to keep you from passing out."
"We're going to need it when we get to Dryskis anyway, the dark side of the planet can cause freezing almost instantly, we're going to have to insulate the entire cockpit." Writch said.
"Trust us." Piks said, "We should know."
"The best thing to do would just to make it spaceworthy." Blade said in thought, "If the planet gets as cold as you say, fitting it for space travel would be beneficial. Ice buildup might be a problem as well." Writch only nodded and suddenly everyone's stomachs growled at once, all except Rainbow Dash's.
"We'll go make some more food." Pinkie said as she and Breeze took off to go back to the kitchen.
"We'll have to remember to make a banquet for R.D. if she ever uses that move again." Piks said.
"What exactly did you do Skittle Head?" Syls asked as the rest of the team dispersed.
"You're going to think I'm nuts, but I think I accidentally forced my magic into the engine through my controls." the pegasus admitted.
"Why would you do that?" Tris asked.
"To save you guys, he was going to run into you at top speed, plus turbo boost." Rainbow admitted, "But like I said, it was an accident that I did that."
"So, the Suniks have Turbo Boosters now?" Syls asked, "Thanks for the save. I think it's time we bust out our own surprises."
"Like what?" Rainbow asked.
"You'll see." her Dryskian friend said with a smile, "For now, I'm just glad you're alright."
"Don't forget to tell Honor and Chivalry about this." Tris said, "They're worried about you as well."
"Let me guess." Rainbow said with a smirk, "Honor has yet to admit it."
"Actually, he was the first to admit it, but only to Chivalry." Tris told her, and the three of them began chuckling at the expense of the Meltackian.
