"How she can keep up a pace like that I'll never know!” Rarity exclaimed.

"You can say that again!" Pinkie added.

"Well, she always was the fastest of us, after all," Fluttershy remarked.

All three girls watched on with both excitement and awe as the most athletic of their group, Rainbow, did exactly as she'd once promised, and was now running around the track field of Canterlot High as fast as she possibly could. She used no magic, nor otherworldly ability to go at the speed and pace she had, and was simply using her natural talents to do it. And moreover, she seemed to be fairly satisfied with it as she was doing it, with her usual look of confidence as she made her way around the field. The other girls looked on, with Fluttershy holding up a stop-watch in her hand, occasionally looking down to it as her friend made her rounds. But, after a while, Rainbow at last came to the finish line, with Pinkie and Rarity cheering her on as she crossed it, while Fluttershy merely smiled sweetly. As one would expect after such exertions, she was panting furiously, but was soon attended by Fluttershy, who handed her a refreshingly cool glass of water.

"Thanks, Flutters."

Her tone was one of genuine thanks, and Fluttershy offered another soft smile in return. Soon afterwards, Rainbow downed the drink frantically, taking gulp after gulp at a pace almost as fast as the one she'd just been running in. After almost a full minute of swallowing that water, she finally took in a deep breath, which was followed shortly afterwards by a long and satisfied sigh.

"Oh yeah! I so needed that!"

Giggling, Pinkie stepped forward.

“That was really great out there, Dashie!”

Rarity nodded.

“Indeed, darling! I daresay I’ve never seen you go around that fast ever!”

Placing her hands upon her hips, Rainbow looked towards Fluttershy, and proceeded to ask the obvious question.

“So...what was my time?”

Realisation came to the animal lover at that.

“Oh! Of course!”

Looking down to her stop-watch, a smile came to her, and she promptly held it up for everybody to see the numbers.

“One minute and five seconds!”

Grinning, Rainbow balled her hand into a fist, striking a triumphant pose.

“Yes! A whole five seconds faster!”

Letting out a hearty laugh, she looked over to Fluttershy.

“You know, my offer still stands, Fluttershy.”

Raising her hand, Fluttershy spoke softly and maintained her smile as she replied.

“Thank you, Rainbow, but I'm quite happy doing my own exercises.”

Rarity nodded.

“I concur. A great burst of energy such as yours may be all well and good for you, Rainbow, but I prefer my morning yoga classes, thank you very much.”

Though briefly disappointed by that, Rainbow soon took it in stride, resuming her prior smile and nodding to her friends’ words.

“Fair enough, I guess. Although...”

She turned, looking out to the track.

“...you girls don’t know what you're missing.”

Pinkie looked to her with some curiosity.

“You really love all that, don’t you, Dashie?”

Folding her arms, Rainbow gave a nod, but kept her eyes firmly upon the field she’d been running on.

“Oh yeah. Ever since I was little, I’ve loved going out for runs like that. The wind in my hair, seeing everything just fly by. It’s just...pretty exciting. And when you come back, panting hard and feeling your heartbeat upped...it really makes you feel like you've accomplished something.”

Fluttershy looked to her, showing understanding, and yet, just for a moment, seemed to share Pinkie’s curiosity.

“Rainbow...does it ever bother you?”

Turning to her, Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

Fluttershy took a moment to get her thoughts in order before finally starting to elaborate.

“When you got your magical pendant, it’s been able to make you go faster than ever before. Faster than any human being could go. Does it...”

She hesitated, but only for a moment.

“...does it ever bother you to have days when you go at these speeds here. After going as fast as you do with your magic...I wonder if you feel...well...”

Rainbow nodded.

“Like it’s a downgrade?”

Fluttershy didn’t answer, and merely nodded back, showing that this was indeed what she was going to ask. Rainbow, for her part, didn't answer back straight away. Instead, she stayed silent, considering the question carefully, tapping her foot slightly to pass the time. And when she finally did speak up, it was with a more reserved tone than she was usually known for giving.

“Well...I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it. I mean, come on, if I love running at these speeds, then running at magic speeds was always gonna be pretty awesome to me.”

The others nodded to each other, as though having expected that from her. But, they said nothing as their athletic friend continued.

“But...no. I don’t think it’s a step backwards for me to do running without my magic, Flutters. Because...well...”

Again, she gestured to the track.

“...when I’m out there, running on my own, with no magic to help me, it feels...it feels like it’s a speed and a time I'm earning. Magic is pretty awesome, I can’t argue with that, but it’s not something I can do myself. It’s something that was given to me by the pendant.”

Slowly, she looked back to her childhood friend.

“Given the choice between running as me or running with my magic...I’ll pick option one. Because as awesome and cool as it is to go at a zillion miles an hour with that stuff...at the end of the day...I’ll always feel that running around as normal...is all mine, you know? That’s as good as I can describe it anyway.”

After a few moments, Fluttershy gave another smile, nodding in understanding.

“I can certainly understand, Rainbow. You always were someone who preferred doing things your way after all.”

A chuckle escaped the other girl at that, but then, as she considered all of this, she sighed, looking just a touch down.

“Although...I will say that I miss my old wings.”

The others looked at her in silence, prompting her to explain further.

“The wings me and Fluttershy got when we first ponied up? I know we still have them and stuff, but we don't really use them like we used to. We just sort of float there while we shoot our friendship lasers and stuff. And heck, all the rest of you do that too now, so what's even the point of the wings these days? I mean, come on, getting to fly?! How awesome was that?”

Then, she started making motions with her arms that, apparently, were supposed to simulate her flying movements.

“Remember when I first got them? I went zoom! And then whoosh! And up and down and all around and...ugh! It was just great!”

Giggling again, Pinkie bounced to her side.

“Not to worry, Rainbow. At least the pony version of you gets to fly all the time, right?”

Slowly, Rainbow turned to her, looking just a little bit incredulous, and Pinkie, after thinking on her own words for a bit, suddenly cleared her throat in a nervous manner.

“Okay...maybe that sounded more reassuring in my head.”