Bubbles and a Fireball

Chapters

The Magic Inside Us
Dancing with the Bubbles
Reunited
The Race
Waking Up
The Results

The Magic Inside Us

„Wake up.“
The soft voice and gentle nudge woke me up from a beautiful dream, where my dearest wish came true – I became a member of the Wonderbolts, together with Rainbow Dash.
I opened my eyes and saw my mom at the side of my bed.
„Come on, you don’t want to be late,“ she said and left the room.

It took me only a few seconds to realize what day it was today.
I looked at my nightstand, where were photos of each Wonderbolt and one of Rainbow Dash.

My name is Fire Trail.
I am a racer and an aerobat.
Just like they are.

„Yeah… I don’t.“

I somehow managed to leave my warm and oh-so-comfortable bed and stumble into the bathroom, where I splashed cold water in my face to actually wake myself up.
A while with a brush managed to tidy up my completely messed up, jet black mane. After a few seconds I stopped and looked into the mirror. The reflection of a fiery orange pegasus looked back into my eyes and smiled.

„Today’s your day, Fire Trail. You learned and practiced for this day for as long as you can rememeber. There’s no way you could screw up now.“

And it was true. I had always dreamed of this happening – „this“ being the Wonderbolts holding a race, and the winner would take a place among them.

Of course, it wasn’t a regular race – the prize being far too high. There will be a vast amount of competition, at least a hundred contestants. The winner will have to earn it and show all their skills in the process. Everypony will do their best. As will I. The only difference is that my best is a little bit better than theirs.

I forced myself to stop thinking about it and went to the kitchen to get a little something to eat.

My mother was already there, and she was preparing a breakfast for my father.
”I made you a salad,” she said and motioned to a small bowl resting on a table. “You shouldn’t eat anything too heavy, as it could affect your flight.”
”Yeah, I know. Thanks, mom,” I said and sat at the table.
”Remember what I taught you.”
The moment she said it, memories started to flash before my eyes.

My mom looked down at me and smiled. I was just a little colt back then. She just came home from the School for Gifted Unicorns, where she worked as a teacher. But not only that – she studied magic and was a respected researcher.
“I know about your passion for flight; for speed,” she said.
“I love flying. It is the purpose of my life, and I will get a cutie mark for it!” I exclaimed.
“I could help you to be better than most pegasi are. It will be very difficult and you will have to learn and practice a lot, but it will be worth it. If you want to, of course.”
“Why do you even ask? Of course I do!” I answered, with impatience in my voice.
“All right. Sit down, and I will tell you,” she agreed, sitting beside me and starting to explain to me that every pony, even earth ponies and pegasi have magic inside them, only unicorns being able to willingly use it. She told me that the magic inside earth ponies made them stronger and sturdier than us and the magic inside us pegasi helped us to fly. She said something about our wings being too small in comparison to our bodies and not being strong enough to carry us on their own, thus having magic which made flight possible and, in fact, quite easy.
“And how does that help me? I never heard of a pegasus or an earth pony using it.” I questioned.
“Because they can’t control it. It is naturally present in them, but they do not feel it. We are doing a research on this, and we are beginning to understand how we could help you harness and use the power inside of you willingly.”
“Well... okay?” I said, a little bit confused.
She reached her head to mine, and touched my forehead with her horn. There was a flash of darkness, and suddenly I was standing... somewhere, in an open space, and I felt my mother’s presence in my mind. And more importantly, all of her magic. It was... overwhelming.
“I will now send a little bit of my power to your wings. Try to remember how it felt, you will later try to do that with your own,” I heard her voice in my mind.
I stood still and waited for something to happen.
“Mom? I don’t feel anything,” I said after a while, a bit unsure.
“Really? Well, I guess I will just have to send you more power.”
Few seconds later I started feeling a tingling sensation in my wings. I looked at them, and the were faintly glowing orange, the color of both my and my mother’s coat.
“I feel it. What now?” I asked.
“I will send it from your wings to the rest of your body. Remember how it felt in your wings, you will later try to move the force back into them.”
The tingling sensation started to flow into my back, and from there to the rest of my body. It was quite... pleasant.
“Trail... focus. Use your will to get a gentle grip on that force, and push it into your wings.”
I closed my eyes, and very slowly and carefully tried to move the force in me to where it was supposed to be. With no effect, of course.
“Don’t be upset. Not even a unicorn could do that on their first try. You will just have to practice.”
The space I was in faded into the darkness and I woke up back in my room, my mom beside me. She lightly nuzzled me and smiled. “You can do it. I felt a very light touch on the magic I gave you, just like a foal’s first steps. You are on the right way. Just be patient.”

And patient I was. It took me less than a month to understand how to move the small amout of magic my mother sent into my body, and another two months to learn how to keep it in my wings. What took me the longest, however, was to start feeling and actually using my own magic. My mom was right – it was so natural that I couldn’t feel it in me at first. Only after long periods of concentration and meditation I was able to get a grip on a small amount of it, much smaller than the force field my mother gave me in my first lecture. Manipulating it, however, was a lot easier, just like moving my legs or wings.

I tried to actually fly while willingly using my magic several times, with various results, most of them being very painful and ending with broken bone or two. On the other hoof, when I managed to use it correctly, I jolted forward, leaving everypony else far behind me, wondering how the hay I did that. The feeling when I flapped my magic-enhanced wings was glorious, shooting me forward a hundred times faster than usual. If only I were able to use it for a prolonged period of time... I found myself exhausted everytime I successfully used enough of it to achieve the boost in my flight speed. But as my mother said, it would all come, given enough time.

My father also helped me. It was him who taught me to fly, and it was him who now taught me how to deal with the high speed I was now able to reach. When I was able to keep up with him, he began to show me some stunts he taught himself, some of them obviously originating from the Wonderbolts. I knew their every move, their every trick, their every stunt, so it was not hard to see the similarity. He could replicate them so precisely and effortlessly that I sometimes wondered how it was possible that he wasn’t in their ranks. Only once have I asked him about that, and I regretted it immediately after. The pain and sorrow in his eyes were much more visible than he’d normally show, and he did not say a single word for the rest of the day. Even his movements during flight became... heavy, lifeless. I made a mental note to find out what happened someday. After every day with him, I could fly a little bit faster and more effortlessly, allowing me to concentrate more on using my magic.

I practiced every single day, for several years – sometimes with and sometimes without him. And today was the time to put all the skill I gained into use. It was time to make both my parents and myself proud.

“Come on, you’re going to be late if you keep staring into forever like this,” my mom said, smiling.
“Yeah... right,” I muttered and started to quickly eat my breakfast.
I have never had problems with nervousness, and I never understood why some of my friends could not eat before the race – or actually do anything before the race because of their stage fright. I actually kind of enjoyed it. The light feeling of butterflies in my stomach and the knowledge that hundreds of ponies are looking at me motivated me. Every time I was determined to give them what they wanted to see, and I did. The sheer amout of trophies in my room spoke for themselves. Yet... today was different. Today’s race could change my entire life, and that’s why I was looking forward to it more than ever.
The race started in Cloudsdale and we took a carriage to get us there.

Dancing with the Bubbles

“You should also remember what your friend from school taught you... What was her name again, Derpy?” my father paused, trying to remember.
“Well, her actual name is Ditzy, but everypony has been calling her that way for so long that almost nopony remembers her real name. I think it’s kinda mean of them. It’s not like her eyes are her fault...” I started to get a little bit angry.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to...” he apologized.
“Yeah, I know. She felt very bad because of it.” I interrupted him.
“Anyway, what she taught you is almost as valuable as anything both of us did.”
Memories began to once again flood my mind.

“Hey, Ditzy.”
“Oh, hello there, Fire Trail.”
“What are you doing out here?” I asked. I found her quite far from the school, in the forest.
“N-nothing,” she hesitated.
“Come on. You know I’m not like the others. I’m your friend, you can tell me. It’s not like I’m gonna laugh at you.”
The slightly frightened look on her face started to melt away. I looked into her eyes – one returned my look, and the other one’s sight wandered somewhere in the skies. I always found that cute. Her golden eyes, her quiet nature, her smile, however rare it was. She was special, in her own way. Despite what others thought, she was not “stupid” or “weird”. She was just a little bit different. Just like I was. And I was one of the few that liked her kind of special. I was her only friend.
“I was playing with my bubble rod. I love the sight of the bubbles...” she paused for a moment, looking for the right expression. “...dancing. That’s the right word.” she said and blushed slightly.
“Can I watch?” I asked.
“You don’t think it’s silly?” she asked in a slight surprise, her eyes coming together – a rare occasion.
“No, why would I?”
She looked lost in her own thoughts for a moment, her eyes drifting apart again. I could not resist and walked close to her.
“Derp.” I said, smiled at her and lightly nuzzled her neck. I was the only one who could say that without sending her running away with tears in her eyes.
She didn't say anything; just backed away a little, smiled at me and then picked up her bubble rod and began to perform her own special kind of magic.
The bubbles floated... no, danced around her, as she flew here and there, the bubbles following her.
“I learned quite a lot from them...” she said distantly.
“What do you mean?” I asked curiously.
“The bubbles... how they dance, it’s all about little changes in the wind, in the streams of air, in their temperature, in the air pressure. I have been doing this for so long that I started to use all these things to help me in my flight. It’s easier, less exhausting and even more pleasant.
“And beautiful,” I said to myself. Her flight really looked different from the style of other pegasi... she was floating through the air almost effortlessly, where others struggled to keep their speed and direction. They forced themselves through the air currents where she used them to her advantage. And she looked beautiful while doing it. Dancing, just like the bubbles.
I jumped into the air and joined her in her dance. Mine was a lot clumsier, of course, but I picked it up really fast. I was a fast learner – I had to be, to keep up with things my mother taught me.
“You seem to be really good at this. It took me very long time to begin mimicking their movements,” she complimented with a hint of admiration in her voice.
“Heh, thanks. I learn pretty fast. And... flying is my life’s purpose. I am always looking for ways to improve myself."
“I wish I could be a little bit more like you.” she said, sinking in her thoughts once again and landing on the grass.
I landed before her, looking into her eyes.
“Why would you want that?”
“Y – you are a great flier. Everypony respects you. Nopony thinks y – you are stupid.” she started to stutter a bit.
“Oh, come on. I’m not that good,” I protested, a blush rising to my cheeks.
“Besides... why would anyone think you are stupid?” I added.
“I guess there really is no reason. It’s just... them,” she said after a while, still deep in her thoughts.
“Yeah. There always will be some stupid meanie who needs to prove his... whatever he wants to prove to himself and picks on the quiet ones who don’t fight back,” I said, my voice growing annoyed over this injustice.
“I’m started to get used to it.” she whispered, with sadness in her voice.
“I don’t want that.” I found myself saying before I could think about what am I actually saying.
“Why?” she looked quizzicaly at me with both eyes.
I blushed slightly, not really knowing what to say.
“I care about you. I like you... the way you are.” I muttered, looking into the ground.
“That’s very kind of you. I... never had anypony tell me that.”
She began to close the distance between us.
I did not have the slightest idea what should I do.
I just looked into her eyes, which were for once focused at the same point – the point being my mouth.
We both began closing our eyes, slightly leaning forward, when...

“DERRRRP!”

Both of us jumped few feet into the air with the shock.
“Ah, ponyfeathers.” I cursed silently.
“Aww, what do we have here? The best flier in our class fooling around with Derpy Hooves?”
Ditzy’s eyes went each in their own direction again, along with tears rising to them. I looked at the two unicorns who just ruined the moment. Sticks and Stones. Two bullies, whose target was, you guessed it, Ditzy. They harrassed her from the first day of school, not a day passed by without them insulting her, with her ocassionally not being able to take it anymore and running away from school, crying. I tried my best to protect her from them, but I couldn’t follow her everywhere.
“I think it’s my decision who I spend my time with,” I retorted coldly.
“Come on, her? You were actually going to kiss HER?” Sticks started laughing out loud.
I stepped in front of Ditzy, so that she could hide behind me.
“Yes, I was. How is that your business?”
Both of them started approaching me slowly.
“Who would WANT to have anything with this retard?” snorted Stones through laughter.
I heard a quiet sob behind me. Sticks and Stones were almost in a hoof’s reach.
“One more word about her and I am not responsible for what happens,” I gasped through my clenched teeth.
“Aw, what are you gonna do about it, step aside and let her derp at us?” Sticks said in a quiet, mocking voice.
The sobbing behind me changed to full-scale crying, and that’s when I completely lost it.
Faster then I ever imagined I could do that, I focused the largest part of my magic I ever managed to grab and, instead of sending it to my wings like every time I did that, moved it to my right hoof. And that hoof made contact with Sticks’s jaw in a split second. The sheer force of impact sent him flying and crashing heavily into one of the trees with an audible crack of the wood. Stones immediately began to back off, but it was too late. In a second I was next to him, and this time a buck of my magic-enhanced hind legs did the work. I heard one of his ribs snapping and then a loud CRUNCH from the tree he landed in. I collapsed on the ground immediately after, the exertion being greater then ever. All I heard was several frightened sobs and weak Ditzy’s voice asking me “Are you alright?”
I simply nodded.
“I’m more worried about them,” I grinned.
“H – how c – could you do that?” she asked, still looking at me with fear in her eyes.
“I was sick of them bullying you, and they clearly wanted to start a fight. So I took the liberty of the first strike,” I said and smiled at her.
She said nothing, she just laid down next to me instead, resting her head on my neck.
I don’t know how long we lay there like that, but we were interrupted by painful groans from both sides, with some really dirty curses being thrown at us.
“I see you two anywhere NEAR her one more time, I’m not gonna hold back!” I shouted at them as they hobbled away as fast as they could.
“And you might want to consider spending less time with each other, people are starting to think you two are colt-cuddlers.” I added mockingly before they disappeared from my view.
“Adding insult to the injury,” A thought shot through my head and I snickered.
“Y – you were holding b – b – back?” the fear in Ditzy’s voice returned.
“No, not really. I threw in everything I had. I just wanted to make sure they won’t bother you ever again,” I returned, smiling.
“Thank you...” she whispered into my ear.
After I recovered myself, we continued our dance with the bubbles, with me grasping progressively more and more of her technique.
But the kiss was never completed...

I snapped back to reality when my mother shook me. We arrived to Cloudsdale.

Reunited

We found the spot for registering racers without much trouble. My mom filled out the required papers, it was both quicker and better looking to use her magic than if I used my mouth like everypony else. I was given a number, which I stuck right next to my fireball cutie mark.
”I think I’ll go into the lobby with the rest of contestants,” I told my parents. “You should go find your seats.”
“Yes, that would be best. So... good luck to you, son,” said my father and nuzzled my neck.
“Good luck. You waited for this so long... show us your best,” my mother added, kissing me on the cheek.
“And remember what we taught you.” both of them continued at the same moment.
“I will.”

I trotted to the waiting lobby to take a look at the other contestants. There were lot of them, few hundreds, like I expected. I knew some of them, but I didn’t really feel like talking to them right now.

“You know, I waited for this my whole life. I am gonna totally win this race and then finally join THE WONDERBOLTS!” I heard somepony exclaim.

My heart sank, I knew that somepony. How could I forget about her? How could I be so stupid to think she’d miss the chance to fulfill her lifelong dream?

I slowly turned around to look at her. My idol, my dream.

Rainbow Dash.

She was even more beautiful than in the photo I had on my nightstand. Everything I heard about her was true; her athletic body, beautiful long legs, strong wings, the little bit messy rainbow mane and her rose colored eyes left me speechless. I couldn’t stop looking at her.

After few minutes she finally noticed that I was gazing at her. She slowly walked near me, apparently enjoying the attention.

“You like the sight of this race’s winner?”

I snapped out of it. I didn’t like those ponies who were so convinced they’re gonna win before the race even started and without knowing the other contestants.

“I definitely like what I see, but I wouldn’t be so sure with that “winner” if I were you.” I said coldly. Despite how beautiful she was, this mare needed to be shown that there still were better racers then she was. Not many, but there were. And this was my chance to prove that I am one of them.

She paused for a moment, apparently not used to being talked to this way.

“Yeah, who wouldn’t like what you see, right? But still, I mean what I said. I’m gonna own this race. I waited for this my whole life and I’m not gonna miss my chance. You know who I am, right?”

“Yes, I do. You are Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty and self-proclaimed fastest flier in Equestria.” I intentionally put extra stress on “self-proclaimed”, just to see her reaction.

“After today, it’s not gonna be self proclaimed. It’ll be official,” she said, but apparently lost some of that obnoxious overconfidence.

“Damn, that’s not a way to talk to a mare like this. She’s one of the most famous pegasi in all of Equestria, and she’s so beautiful...” said a voice in my head.

“I didn’t mean to be rude. Sorry about that. Just... you got some serious competition here today, miss. And I am going to give it my best.”

She backed away a few inches, something in my voice and eyes convinced her that I was not boasting.

“Yeah, it’s okay. Anyway, good luck. Let the best of us win.” she said and wandered off to talk to other ponies she knew.

“So much for making a good first impression,” the voice in my head said again.

I went to take a look at the plan of the race track, which was hanging on the wall of the lobby.

The track was marked by thunder clouds, which would zap anypony who’d get the funny idea of taking a shortcut. The track was very long, with a lot of very sharp turns and even an inside loop. Otherwise it was quite similar to the tracks I was used to. And, to my pleasure, there were two very long straight parts, one beginning after the loop and the other just before the finish line.

“Fire Trail, is that you?” I heard a familiar voice behind me.

A few seconds later I was being squeezed in a tight hug.

“Ditzy! I haven’t seen you in years! What’re you doing here?” I exclaimed happily.
“Aw, stupid question. I just never imagined you as a racer, sorry.” I apologized after I realized how that sounded.
“Yes, I decided I would give it a shot, because hey, why not? I can fly pretty well, and it will be a good exercise.” she smiled. “But of course, with you and Rainbow Dash here, I have no illusions of winning now,” she grinned.
“Oh, come on. Maybe you’ll shine far brighter than we will,” I nudged her lightly and smiled.
“Yeah, maybe.” her grin went even wider before she hugged me once again.
I fully lost myself in the hug, old feelings bubbling to the surface. I did not try to push them back. Rainbow Dash might be beautiful and fast and awesome, but her attitude is just something I could not stand. Ditzy, on the other hoof... she was still as cute as she was back at school. Her adorable crossed eyes, light smile, silky blonde mane... she was more than cute. She was beautiful. And more importantly, she seemed like her personality didn’t change at all.

“Contestants, get ready! The race begins in five minutes! Take your place on the cloud with your number on it,” we heard a deep voice announcing.
“Well then... good luck, Ditzy.” I once again looked her in the eyes.
“Good luck, Fire Trail. You can do it.” she said before disappearing into the crowd of ponies who all rushed to find their starting spots. I inhaled deeply and joined them.

The Race

I stood on my cloud; number seventeen. The numbers have apparently been handed out at random, because there were a lot of ponies who came before me and had larger numbers. To my surprise, next to me stood Rainbow Dash, and on the cloud number one was nopony other than Ditzy Doo. She always seemed to have very good luck, almost as if it tried to compensate for the attitude of others in her life.

I looked at Rainbow Dash, who was slightly shaking and had a very nervous look on her face. Ditzy, on the other hoof, was mostly oblivious, like always. I couldn’t help myself and just smiled at the thought. My smile was followed by a grin aimed at Rainbow Dash. She cowered a little when she saw it. Heh... stage fright is bad, am I right? I too was slightly shaking, but with excitement, as we heard the countdown...

“THREE!”

“TWO!”

”ONE!”

“AND THE RACE BEGINS!”

In a heartbeat, I plunged myself forward, nimbly dodging two pegasi in front of me. Just as I’ve expected, Rainbow Dash immediately took the lead with me flying just a hoof’s lenght behind her. What I didn’t expect, however, was that Ditzy was keeping up with us quite efortlessly and visibly enjoying the speed. We went through the first pair of turns, Dash losing few inches of her lead because she made too wide curve in the turn. I resisted the urge to use my magic, take the lead and just disappear, because no matter how much have I trained, I still felt tired afterwards. I saved it for an emergency.

There was a short straight part after the L turn we went through, with a single cloud exactly in the middle of the track. Rainbow Dash smirked and zoomed past it, making it spin, thinking that she’d create a wind obstruction for me and Ditzy. What she didn’t know was that neither of us forgot our dance with the bubbles and what we learned from it. So, instead of slowing us down, both of us caught the stream of air from the rotating cloud under our wings, accelerating us and shooting us past her. Me and Ditzy were in the lead now, neither of us having an advantage over the other.

“That showed her! I really liked her, in fact slightly more than liked, but she buried it the moment she opened that big mouth of hers,” I shouted at Ditzy, her response being a loud giggle.

“You were sayin’?” I heard as a rainbow blur zipped past us.

“Damn.” We both laughed and picked up our pace. The three of us weren’t giving it the most, and seemingly none of the contestants behind us were either. They were all saving their energy for later, but I saw that some of them were starting to lose hope. It must have been an awesome sight to see us three in the lead – Rainbow Dash in the front, mercilessly tearing her way through the air, Ditzy with her up-down, left-right dance, using the wind and hot air currents to her advantage, and me, having the level of neither one, but by combining their styles, being slightly faster than both.

We were now reaching the speed I loved the most, where the wind sang as I flew through it, gently caressing my mane, and cooling my sweating body. After this point, there were only two speeds left – the unpleasant one, where the wind stopped being gentle and started whipping my face and mane violently, being very uncomfortable and the second speed I never reached – the kind of speed only one pony has ever reached, that pony flying few feet ahead of me. But today, I was determined to change that if necessary. We zipped through the turns, earning more and more space between us and the rest of the contestants every minute.

We were slowly approaching the inside loop. I started to ignore the scenery, the sounds around me, even Rainbow and Ditzy. I slightly picked up my pace, nearing Dash every second. We went through a couple more turns where she lost some more of her lead because of making too large of curves again. We were now perfectly next to each othen, neither of us had or let the other gain even an inch. Ditzy was left few feet behind us. There were several cloud collumns in front of the beginning of the loop. Me and Dash easily dodged them, but Ditzy got distracted by the rainbow trail Dash was leaving and smashed right into one of them. I hoped that she was alright. But now there wasn’t time to worry about her, now was the time to keep up with Rainbow. The determined look on her face meant that she’s finally starting to go all-out, which forced me to do the same. Luckilly for me, the years of practice and racing steeled me enough for having a slight reserve even when she was accelerating as fast as she could.

We flew on the loop, going slightly up, then completely vertical, turning backwards and gaining even more speed from the fall. We were still going side by side, and both of us started to feel the air friction building up at the tips of our hooves. Could it be..? I was actually keeping up with Rainbow Dash who was about to break the sound barrier, and there was a good chance of me doing the same! We shot out of the loop, having the long straight part of the track in front of us. We looked each other into the eye and continued pushing. We were like a mirror reflections of one another. Our bodies made exactly the same movements, we even winked at the same time. And just as the pressure on the tips of my hooves became unbearable, I slightly slowed, letting Rainbow Dash break the sound barrier first. Never did I imagine that I’d actually be in the center of sonic rainboom. It was all around me, blinding me with its radiant color and deafening me with the earsplitting roar. I saw her being propelled at higher speed than I have ever witnessed, her mane leaving the trademark rainbow trail. Another split second later I sent a chunk of magic into my wings, and flapped.

My effect was different. What happened behind me was a roaring inferno of white-hot flames, the explosion violently shooting me forward at the speed even higher than Rainbow Dash’s, leaving a trail of my coat colored flames framed by two trails of jet black smoke, honoring my name. I zipped past Dash, and saw that the sheer force of my sonicboom threw her off balance, and almost slammed her into one of the thunder clouds marking the race track. The rest of the contestants were now far, far behind us. The race was just between the two of us, with me gaining large advantage over her as she was struggling to keep her balance. She had to slow down, and I saw the utterly shocked expression on her face before leaving her behind me. Now there was only me and the speed. The speed I never imagined I could or would achieve. I savored every single second of it, not knowing if I will ever have the opportunity to live this moment again. My flight was now completely effortless. I zipped through the turns, enjoying the feeling of wind under my wings, and the heat of the trail I was still leaving. There was less then a third of the track left when another wave of rainbow washed over me and I realized that I am going to be in a serious trouble in next minute or so. Rainbow Dash apparently wasn’t going to give up. How she managed to pull off a second sonic rainboom was beyond my comprehension. I knew she was good, but that good?

Well, obviously she was, and now it was my turn to do something about it. I began to slowly, very slowly channel magic to my wings, speeding up significantly with every flap. I risked a quick peek over my shoulder, only to find a cyan blur with a hint of rainbow approaching very fast. Ah, ponyfeathers. So much for saving my energy. Well, now was the time to give it all I had. I steadily sped up, but she was still getting near.
Okay, we’ll do it the other way. I kept gaining speed, being careful not to be too rash. I managed to speed up enough for her to fly beside me again, but not letting her an inch forward. Both of our trails combined behind us, and I’d give anything to find out how a burning rainbow looked. I couldn’t, however. I had to concentrate, for there was only the last straight part of the track, right before the finish line. I set my gaze to it, finding out that it was more like a magic wall kept by two unicorns, so that they could feel whoever disturbed it first.

“Come on, show me what you got!” Rainbow Dash yelled at me and accelerated even more.
I ignored her. I knew better than that, distracting your opponent was one of the oldest tricks everypony who ever parcipitated in a race knew.
I just focused on steady movement of my wings, and channelling magic into them. The finish line was getting close.
I still had more magic than I thought I’d have at this point, so I decided to use it to gain the advantage over her. And in first ten seconds, it worked; I left her behind me once again.

Until my left wing decided not to take another second of the pressure put upon it, and the bone snapped.
I screamed out in agony as streams of white-hot pain shot through my back. Time slowed down around me.

I did not come this far to fail right before the finish line.

That was the only thought that flashed through my head.
Through sheer force of will, I forced myself to overpower the agony and send the majority of magic still left to the injured wing, praying to make it work for five more seconds. I did not need any more than that. I felt myself slowing down, but I could do nothing about it. I heard Dash behind me, but I did not care. All I cared about was right before me, closing in rapidly. Her front legs slowly slipped into my field of vision as she once again flew beside me –

And then we smashed through the magic wall held by the unicorn judges and I let myself crash in the clouds, my magic drained to the very last bit. I fell right on the damaged wing, and a whip of agony finally put me out of my misery.

Waking Up

The sounds didn’t make any sense at first.

“He... snapped... alright... fly again?” a familiar voice asked.
I slowly began to return back to my senses.

“His wing bone is completely shattered, but not in a way I have ever seen. It looks like an enormous magic pressure just... smashed it into thousand little pieces. However, with the aid of unicorn magic and certain potions made by our new advisor Zecora, he will hopefully recover and be able to fly again like nothing happened.” another voice said in a serious tone.
“Could you please leave now, miss Ditzy? He needs to rest, in peace and quiet.”
“Yes... I will come check up on him tomorrow, though.”
“And you, miss Dash...” the voice continued.
“I am not going anywhere,” another familiar voice snarled.
“But...” the voice tried to protest.
“No buts. I am staying here until he wakes up,” she continued, stubborn as ever.
“Hm... I don’t think I can talk you out of this, can I?”
“No way.”
“Okay then. Just please be quiet and let him sleep,” the voice said and there was sound of hoofsteps leaving.

I slowly opened my eyes.
”Rainbow Dash?” I asked.
She was lying on a couch in the corner of the room. I was apparently at the hospital, although I didn’t remember how I got there.
“Finally, you’re awake. I saw what happened, and I tried to slow down, but... I was flying too fast.”
“So you won in the end? But why did you try to slow down?” I asked, feeling my heart turn into ice.
“I don’t know. The unicorns who were keeping the barrier ran off arguing. The winner anouncement has been delayed, because of... you know. Anyway, Ditzy came after us, so she’s going to be there with us winners, regardless of how turns out between us. And I tried to slow down because winning like this just... isn’t right. If you made a mistake, I wouldn’t have given it a single thought. The crack of your bone was so loud I heard it though, and I didn’t want to win because you injured yourself. I didn’t want to take advantage of it, eventhough the grand prize is my lifelong dream. I couldn’t fly with them with that in mind,” she confessed.
I simply nodded, my respect for her rising sharply.
“I heard the doctor say something about my wing bone being shattered... It sounded quite bad,” I spoke, sighing.
“Yeah, he said that he has never seen anything like it. It is not a regular fracture caused by too big of an exertion; he said something about magic.” she frowned.
“I don’t care. He said that I will be able to fly again,” I said, with the cold tone in my voice.
“Well, he said hopefully, but I think you will,” she smiled at me.
I was quite amazed by the change of her attitude, but I kept it to myself.
“You are the first pony who has been able to keep up with me... and not only that. If it didn’t happen, you’d actually have beaten me.” she said, deep in her thoughts. This was apparently a thought she needed time to get used to.
“Told ya, remember?” I reminded her, smiling.
“Yeah, I do. I just... didn’t belive that something like this could happen.”
“Well, it did,” I shrugged, but immediately regretted it as a spike of pain shot through my wing to my back.
“Hey, careful with that wing. I broke mine once, and I know how much it can hurt. And I had just a regular fracture, yours is far more... severe,” she said with a worried look on her face.
“Yeah, I know.”
“Tomorrow the results should finally be announced. I’ll convince the doctors to let you out. You can walk, right? It’s not like you’re gonna have to move your wing at the slightest,” she said, the determined look once again settling on her face.
“Thanks. But for now, I’d really like to sleep.”
“Okay.... see you tomorrow.” she said and lightly patted me on the healthy shoulder.

Immediately upon her leaving, my parents burst through the door.
“Fire Trail!” my mom exclaimed and ran to my bedside. Dad only gave me one worried look before he saw the relaxed expression on my face, then he smiled at me.
“No hugging, please, mom. I’d prefer not to move if it isn’t absolutely necessary.” I smiled at her.
“Yes, of course. Sorry, sweetie,” she apologized. “How are you feeling?”
“Well, except having my wing bone shattered into a thousand pieces, I’m fine, thank you.” I smiled sarcastically.
“Uh, of course. But the doctor said you will be able to fly again,” she reminded.
“Well, I hope so! I can’t wait to fly with the fastest flier in Equestria!” my dad exclaimed.
“Come on dad, you know Rainbow is faster than me. I just used a bit of my magic to change that for a little while,” I protested, blushing.
“What happened there?” he asked.
“Well... Dash somehow pulled off a second sonic rainboom, and she was catching up with me. I think I might have used a teeny tiny bit more magic than I should have, but I had to. I’d lose if I hadn’t,” I said, slightly blushing in embarrassment.
“I always told you to be careful, exactly to prevent this from happening,” my mom said, frowning slightly.
“I know, mom. The pain isn’t worth it,” I said, grimacing as another spike of pain shot through my back.
“And that fireboom of yours... we were worried you could get hurt... we saw it from the platform,” she said, a little worried.
“Yeah, that... I honestly had no idea that I could do the same thing Rainbow did, only with... you know. This result. It was awesome, though!” I grinned.
“It sure was!” dad agreed, returning the grin.
“Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’d really like to get some rest, since the results are going to be announced tomorrow and I want to be there,” I yawned.
“Of course, sweetie. Good night,” mom agreed and very lightly nuzzled my neck.
I fell asleep almost immediately after.

The Results

I stepped out of the carriage, which brought me here from the hospital. The doctors didn’t particularly like my decision to go out, but accepted that I really didn’t need to move my wing for just going to the results announcement. It took me less than three minutes to get to the place.

“ALL CONTESTANTS, PLEASE COME DOWN TO THE ARENA!” a magically enhanced voice yelled.

I slowly found my way to the ring surrounded by platforms where thousands of spectators sat, and got into the crowd of contestants, all curious as to who was the winner of yesterday’s race, and why it had to get delayed.

I slowly made my way through the crowd to the front, being very careful not to touch anything with my wing.

“FILLIES AND GENTLECOLTS! THE RESULTS OF THE WONDERBOLTS HELD RACE ARE AS FOLLOWS!” the voice announced and began calling out the names of contestants, from last place to the first.

AND NOW, FOR THE PRIZE POSITONS!

THIRD PLACE, WITH THE PRIZE OF ONE THOUSAND BITS GOES TO... LIGHTNING BOLT!!!

A white pegasus with light blue mane simply flew to the the stage, too amazed to say anything. She bowed slightly as the crowd began applauding.
But that meant...

THE SECOND PLACE, WITH THE AWARD OF THREE DAYS TRAINING WITH THE WONDERBOLTS AND TWO THOUSAND BITS GOES TO...
DITZY DOO!!!

I was completely shocked. I thought that it was going to be either me or Rainbow Dash taking the second place. There was only one place with the Wonderbolts as the grand prize, so the possibility of both of us getting the first place was out. They probably ruled me out because of my injury, thinking that I won’t be able to keep up with them or something like that... Tears started rising to my eyes. Despite that I managed to raise my voice and cheer at the top of my lungs as Ditzy slowly flew – danced towards the stage, adorably oblivious as she has always been.

AND THE FIRST PLACE WILL BE ANOUNCED BY THE LEADER OF THE WONDERBOLTS, SPITFIRE!

I watched the orange maned pegasus, as she flew high above the crowd.

“There were certain circumstances we were not prepared for,” she began.
“The magic barrier raised by our judges was invented specifically to prevent this kind of situation from happening,” she paused and took a deep breath. She wasn’t going to say what I thought she was going to say, was she?
“But our judges agreed upon the fact that Fire Trail and Rainbow Dash managed to cross the finish line at the exact same moment. Neither one of them was ahead, not by a width of a hair. So, this means that the prize money of ten thousand bits will be split between them –“ me and Rainbow Dash both began the crazy mantra of “ohmygoshohmygoshOHMYGOSH OH MY GOSH!!!”
“- and they are both invited to join our ranks.”
“OH SWEET CELESTIA HAVE MERCY ON MY SOUL I ACTUALLY MANAGED TO DO IT!!! “ Rainbow Dash screamed at the top of her lungs and plunged herself at me, only to stop inches before me.
“Yeah, the wing. I know.” she muttered quietly.
“But seriously, we’ve done it! We are with the Wonderbolts now! I can’t believe it we’ve actuallydoneitthisisthehappiestdayofmylifemydreamjustcametrue-“ I managed to run away from her crazy hapiness. Sure, it was the best moment of my life too, but I was taking it far more calmly than she did. But I wasn’t surprised by that. I slowly walked up to the stage, waiting for Spitfire to land before us.
“I am honoured to accept your invitation.” I said bowing my head down.
“We’ll go over the details of your and Rainbow Dash’s membership tomorrow. Can we meet in front of the royal palace at dawn?” she asked.
“I’ll be there,” I simply replied. “But please, tell me – do you know my father, Fireball?”
Spitfire frowned a bit at the mention of my father’s name.
“Yes, I do. He was with us when you were just a little foal. You probably don’t remember it.”
“What?!” I exclaimed.
“However, there was an accident during one of the stunts. Because of his fault, another Wonderbolt, Cannonball, was severely injured, the injury not letting him fly with us again.
He never forgave himself for that, and he gave up his membership immediately.”
“So that’s why...” I began to wonder.
“Yeah. You can tell him that Cannonball has forgiven him,” Spitfire said.
“Really? Maybe I could convince him to join you once again!” I exclaimed excitedly at the thought of flying with my dad – the Wonderbolt!
“I’m not sure about that, but you can always try. He was a great aerobat, actually...” she lowered her voice so only I could hear her.
“...I never told you that, understood? He’s actually better than me. I know that there shouldn’t be any shame in admitting that, but still, with me being the captain and all... you didn’t hear that,” she looked at me, visibly reliving the memories.
She then flew into the crowd to find Rainbow Dash, who was presumably still motormouthing her awe.

“I told you that you could do it,” I suddenly heard.
I did not reply. Instead I looked into her beautiful, golden, crossed eyes.
“Do you remember the day you taught me to dance with the bubbles?” I whispered.
“Yes, I do. Why do you ask?” she looked at me quizzicaly.
“I forgot to finish something that day,” I replied, leaned forward and kissed her on the lips, right there on the stage, ignoring the audience of few thousand ponies around us.
I don’t know how long the kiss lasted, but when we finally broke the connection, she looked me straight in the eyes, her own being aligned correctly for a rare moment.
“Yes, that... I wondered if you’d ever do that,” she said with a warm smile.
“What would you say if I invited you for a dinner to the best restaurant in all of Canterlot? After all, we have to celebrate this, and I’ve got quite a bunch of money to spend.” I asked, smirking.
“Heh, so do I.” she reminded, smiling. “But I’d love to.”
She rested her head on my neck, the same way she did a few years ago, and we lost ourselves to the cheering of the crowd and our own feelings for one another.

This was definitely the happiest day of my life.