The Sonic Rainbloom; the most difficult move known to pegasus kind, and there was only one pony who could pull it off: Rainbow Dash. Sure, she had never done it before - in fact, no one had, except its originator - but she was used to pushing herself further than others would dare to dream. That’s what made her so awesome.
Princess Twilight doubted the level of awesome that Rainbow was capable of, but that was typical. The egghead had her facts and figures, measuring wing speed necessary and blah, blah, blah. All that mattered was guts, and Rainbow knew that she had more guts than anypony else.
Our hero shook her rainbow mane and crouched low. Her wings cracked and stretched and her hooves dug into the ground, anchoring the cerulean pony for a firm start. For a moment, the world paused. She felt the soft, summer breeze rolling over the field comb through her feathers, and Celestia’s sun invited her to the air. This was her spotlight and her time to shine. History was about to be made.
The sound of Twilight’s whistle cut through the peace. Rainbow Dash kicked off of the ground and gave her wings a firm beat. The sky called to her, welcomed her, and she answered; a second, powerful flap brought her high enough to catch and glide with the currents that crisscrossed Equestria. She pulled her ears back and smirked, pleased that the air was working with her today. Phase one was complete.
Below she saw Twilight studying her and taking occasional notes. Typical. How anypony could be distracted with writing facts and figures while she was being awesome was beyond Rainbow, but there was no point in trying to figure out the workings of an egghead’s mind. Besides, the currents were beginning to pick up and the moment of truth had arrived.
“Let’s do it!”
Rainbow twisted her body into a spin. She beat faster, harder, and her spin increased until she looked like the tip of a multicolored drill piercing the sky. This was phase two and it was a complete success. Now the hard part.
She tipped herself forward and began a dive. The elaborate fall pitted her against the wind in ways she had never experienced. Her eyes watered and her cheeks rippled. If she could just hold on for a few more seconds! Her speed was building, but her control was loosing. Just a little more aaaaand….
Rainbow spread her wings as far as she could; she had to stabilize herself fast. The ground rushed toward her, but she would not let it catch her. With a powerful flap she pulled out of the dive, but the force also sent her careening off course. She braced herself and shut her eyes, expecting the impact. It came.
She let out a cry as she felt the bludgeon of a hard surface, a familiar sensation. But hers was not the only scream. She cracked open an eye, though wincing through a throbbing everything; but her external pain could not dull the shock of seeing purple grass beneath her.
But wait, that wasn’t grass.
Whatever hazy state Rainbow had been in before was shaken away when she realized that she was laying atop Twilight; that she had crashed into Twilight! And the lavender alicorn was not moving.
Rainbow jumped to her hooves and trotted in place with a panicked expression and looked from side to side for either help or witnesses. She wasn‘t sure which.
“Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! Omygosh!”
She ignored her aches and galloped toward the village, seeking somepony, anypony, who could help her friend.
By the time a small team had arrived and rushed her to the hospital - only the best for a princess - Twilight was awake and had accepted Rainbow’s apology… Numerous times. But for having given her friend a cracked rib and concussion, the cerulean pegasus was not about to take a simple ‘you’re forgiven’!
The lavender alicorn smiled and waved a hoof in dismissal of the latest, bedside apology.
“R.D, really, it’s fine. And besides, you surprised me and held it together longer than I thought you could; I’m impressed more than anything!”
“No it’s not fine! It’s just… I’m always so careful, but the wind was in my eyes and it was hard to move my wings. I mean it’s different when I’m the only one who gets hurt ‘cuz, you know, I can take it! But you…”
She paused when she spied an unamused look on Twilight’s face and got the hint that she should drop the thought.
“A-anyway, I’m sorry, Twi.” She let her head hang and mentally kicked herself. She might have done better than Twilight expected, but she still failed, and somepony got hurt because of it! Those facts and figures were right; it was an impossible move. A reckless move.
Rainbow was drawn from her wallow by the feeling of hoof placed gently under her muzzle, and felt her head lifted until her eyes met Twilight’s. They stayed that way, in silence, a bit longer than they should have - longer than the pegasus expected, anyway - until the princess smiled, her eyes lidded and welcoming.
“It’s ok.”
Rainbow smiled back and nodded, but was unable to stop the blood rushing to her cheeks. “Thanks, Twi.”
“Now stop worrying about me and get yourself checked out. You look like a mess.” She withdrew her comforting touch; Rainbow resisted the desire to reach out after it.
“Y-yeah.” Rainbow winced when she realized there was not a part of her body that did not ache; it would take more than a few naps to shrug off this one. She got to her hooves and headed for the door.
“Oh, and Rainbow.” The pegasus stopped and turned her head to look at the princess and noticed a look of concern. “Try to take it easy on yourself.”
Rainbow nodded and gave smile, then continued out of the room.
Nonetheless, our hero felt something she could not describe that tickled her insides whenever she thought of Twilight or the Sonic Rainbloom. And it really popped up when she started to practice again a few days later.
The field looked the same as always, but it had a different feel to it. In spite of that, our hero was eager to return to her training; she had a reputation as best flyer in Equestria to keep!
She preformed her maneuvers like she always did, doing spins and summersaults as well as tight turns at high speed. But every time she checked her timing, she found that she was off by at least several seconds, if not entire minutes. She had been injured, sure, but a sprained hoof and a few aches and pains had never before affected her flying.
One more time. She had to try again, though she could not shake off a strange lethargy… No! That was ‘stinkin’-thinkin’’, like Applejack would say, and our hero would have none of it. She lowered her head and raised her rear, and cleared her mind as best she could. She had only begun to fly!
A firm kickoff launched her into the air and past the clouds, into her first loop, then her second. She turned and dipped, then glided for a few moments. It was okay, but something was missing; she felt like… She didn‘t know. Like she wasn’t into it?
The cerulean pegasus relented and began to make her way toward the ground. Maybe she just did not feel like practicing today?
It was a strange thought. Rainbow landed and let out an audible huff, her expression a mix of frustration and disappointment. Her body was heavy, and the more she thought about practice, the more weighed down she felt. She sat on her flank, at first promising herself that she would just rest for a moment. Then she let herself lie down, figuring that a nap would recharge her.
She rolled onto her back, then onto her stomach; she rested her head on her hooves, then let it sink into the grass, then tried holding it up. Another sigh escaped her, and she found herself poking at the ground with her hoof. Why wouldn’t that feeling go away? Maybe she did not need to rest. Maybe she needed to do something that would keep her mind busy?
Rainbow stood up and spread her wings. Practice might have been out of the question today, but she was not going to walk anywhere when she could fly; a beat of her wings returned her to the sky, and she headed off in search of the one pony she knew who could drown any mood in laughter.
Pinkie Pie’s chuckles filled the air around Sugarcube Corner and passing ponies stopped to watch her shoot into the air, then back down, then into the air again as she enjoyed her trampoline. Where the pink pony got a trampoline did not seem to occur to the others, and Rainbow only considered it for a moment, but shrugged it off as she came to hover over where her friend was bouncing.
“Oh… Hi… Rainbow… Dash!” Pinky did not stop her bounce fest, but turned her full attention to her friend. Strange as it was, Rainbow felt herself smile at even these tame antics.
“Uh, hey, Pinkie Pie. You wanna, y’know, hang out?”
“Do… I?!” The pink pony fell one last time, but screeched to a halt in mid air and sauntered off the trampoline. Rainbow landed in front of her, dismissing the breaking of physical laws as ‘typical Pinkie’.
“But isn’t this when you usually practice?”
Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof and cast her eyes to the ground. “Well, yeah, but I’m not feeling too hot, so I decided to take the day off.”
“Oh! Because of the accident, right? What happened? Twilight said that you two got hurt when you were trying to do a Sonic Rainboom, but I was like ’duh, Rainbow Dash can already do that whenever she wants’. Except I didn’t say it out loud ’cuz I was worried that Twilight lost her memory when you hit her and I didn’t want to shock her with stuff that she doesn’t remember. ’Cuz, you know, I heard that it can be really bad for ponies when you do that. But still, it’s like coooome on! There’s no way you would mess up a Rainboom!”
“Woah! Slow down there, Pinkie Pie.” Rainbow put up a hoof to gesture her friend to calm down. She was lucky to get it in; once Pinkie started talking, it could be difficult to stop her.
“It wasn’t actually a Rainboom, it was a Rainbloom. You probably misheard her.”
Pinkie gasped and her jaw dropped. “A Rainbloom? You mean the most super-spectacular-extra-impossible move there is, that no pony has ever done ever except… Him?!”
Rainbow scuffed at the ground with her hoof and looked away. “Yeah…”
“Oh wow!” Rainbow jumped at Pinkie’s outburst. “That’s only the most mega-amazing thing I’ve heard all week! Well, except for that time when Twilight thought you were having trouble doing a Sonic Rainboom.”
“Heh. I guess it is pretty awesome.” Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof again. Why was she doing it so much? She usually loved praise, but for some reason she just was not feeling it today. “Anyway, how about we head by the pond for a swim?”
Pinkie zipped away and into her house, then back out wearing a snorkel, four flippers and a yellow inner tube. “Count me in!”
The two cantered off and enjoyed a chat about Pinkie’s latest pranks and what she was planning. Her list of targets was long, but her highest priority seemed to be Twilight, who hadn’t been pranked since before her coronation. Rainbow thought of two reasons why that might not be a good idea:
“Her royal guards, Pinkie Pie. They‘d never let you pull that off!”
“Oh those guys? But I don’t wanna prank them. Just Twilight!”
“No, Pinkie, I’m saying they won’t let you prank Twi.”
“Wow! I didn’t know they wanted it so bad that they would ruin Twilight’s fun. I’ll prank them first, then!”
Rainbow shook her head; this was going nowhere. But her thoughts of the conversation were dropped when her nose met the fresh, earthy smell of their favorite swimming hole. The pond came into view not long after, past a green thicket that kept it hidden. Equipped with a shady tree and tire swing, the spot accommodated multiple kinds of relaxation.
“First one in isn’t the last one in!” Pinkie threw herself into the water and created a splash large enough to soak Rainbow.
“Oh you’re gonna get it now, Pinkie Pie!” The pegasus jumped in after her friend and swam in chase. The splash war had begun and Rainbow would not lose.
Several hours passed and, following the Pond Peace Accord, the two friends’ horse play died down and they floated around the pond’s center. Rainbow enjoyed Pinkie’s inner tube while the pink earth pony did backstrokes in circles, occasionally squirting water from her mouth. The only thing that could make the afternoon better was a mushroom burger and hay fries, but that would come in due time.
“Hey, Dashie.” Rainbow popped an eye open in response. “What were you trying to do a Rainbloom for, anyway? Wouldn’t you need like a buhzillion wing power to pull it off?”
The cerulean pegasus sighed; she wanted to avoid talking about it, but she should have expected Pinkie to ask. The pink earth pony knew almost as much about flying techniques as she did and loved talking about them.
“Well, Twilight said it was more like thirty, but I guess it might as well be a buhzillion.” Rainbow splashed at the water with a hoof for a few moments while she collected her thoughts. She hadn’t stopped to really consider why she decided to try it. Part of her just wanted to say that doing crazy stunts was who she was, but that one was plain stupid, to the point where Twilight...
She slapped her hoof against the water and stretched out on the floatie. “Ugh, I don’t know. I guess I wanted to see how much stronger I got since Wonder Bolts Academy…”
“Oh! Well you’re loads stronger! I bet if you measured your wing speed now it would be like twenty-five!”
“Heh… Thanks, Pinkie. But maybe not that high.”
“No, really. In fact, you should do a Rainboom right now! I bet it would be super easy with how much stronger you are. I mean, you were already the best flyer in Equestria, but now you‘re probably the super-duper best!”
That wasn’t a bad idea. The pegasus was feeling better than she had been in the morning, and the Rainboom was a good way to remind her that she was the best flyer in generations. She could feel a swell of pride that had been dormant since the accident.
“Alright, Pinkie, I’ll do it. Watch and learn!”
Pinkie let out a squee and watched Rainbow take to the air.
The Pegasus climbed the blue horizon with a growing smile. The winds ripped through her mane and flayed her fur; they filled her mind with possibilities unexplored and desires unmet. Her wings burned and strained, but every physical stress was overcome by adrenaline and will. She pulled her ears back and narrowed her eyes. She had arrived.
Equestria was spread out before her in every direction and every, visual limitation of the ground had been left behind. She looked over the forests and rivers, to the distant mountains and the golden city.
Then she stopped flapping her wings.
Rainbow fell. Slow at first, but soon so fast that the forces against her blurred her vision and stung her face. She leaned into the fall and started to beat her wings again. The images in her periphery dissolved into streaks, then began to bend and warp with the air around her. Currents became gusts, gusts became torrents, and she became the eye of a violent wind storm that tore toward the ground.
She felt a tickle in her spine and through her fur; a spark of magic ignited her senses. She was close, but she needed to give it more, to push herself further.
That was it! That’s what was missing; her desire to push past her limitations. She hadn’t noticed it was gone when she didn’t need it, but now that it stood between her and what she wanted, its absence was clear. But could she revive it?
An invisible fabric pressed against her; a wall of wind that was light and loose at first, but tightened with every second. She had to go through it, to overcome it. She strained her muscles and extended her neck to pierce it. It could be broken! It would be broken!
She was breaking it!
KA-BOOM!!
Rainbow’s body was thrown back, almost as fast as she had been falling. She was dazed; the shock paralyzed her and her ears rang louder than the schoolhouse bell. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Had she failed?
“Dashie!”
Pinkie’s scream brought a rush of other sensations and snapped her into the present. She spread her wings and twisted her body, avoiding the trunk of one tree but spiraling into the canopy of another. It caught her with the delicacy of a bed of needles, and she yelped and groaned while she fell through branches a leaves. She was almost relieved to feel the smack of the ground.
“Dashie! Are you okay? Dashie?!” Pinkie ran to her side and pulled her upright. The gentleness with which the pink earth pony cradled her was surprising, considering how hyperactive she usually was. Rainbow looked up to her panicked friend.
“Yeah, I think I’m alright. What happened?”
“It was amazing! It looked like you were about to do it. I mean, the wind got all swirly around you and everything, but then…” Pinky paused and contorted her face into a grimace seasoned with confusion.
“Then what?” Rainbow felt her heart beat faster when the question escaped her.
“I dunno. It was like it happened, but it happened before you could make it happen.”
Rainbow sat up fully, pulling herself from her friend’s grasp. “What do you mean it happened before I could make it happen?
“Well, I mean, it looked like you were about to do it, but then a rainbow exploded in front of you…”
“That doesn’t make any sense, Pinkie Pie. How could there be a Rainboom before I--”
KA-BOOM!!
Both ponies jumped and clung to each other. They looked up at the palette of colors that had flooded the sky.
“It was like that!”
“B-b-b… What?!”
But unlike the Rainbooms she was used to seeing, this one did not stop; color continued to emanate from its center like ripples in a disturbed pond. That wasn’t all; the center warped and bulged down, and the waves of color it created bent down with it; it seemed as though the sky itself was elastic.
In an instant, the center was pierced, and a figure zoomed through. It impacted the ground nearby with enough force to shake the area and kick up a large plume of dust, dirt and rock. With its center broken, the Rainboom spread out until it dissipated.
Pinkie and Rainbow sat in stunned silence for a few moments. The Pegasus turned to her friend, a desire for confirmation of what she had seen formed on her face. The pink earth pony’s matching expression provided it.
“Well let‘s check it out, then!” Rainbow didn’t wait for a reply, but jumped up, noting only minor pains, and galloped toward the crash site. She zipped past bushes and over a tiny creek, through a small grove of trees and up a hill with a shallow incline. Atop it she could see the edge of the crater; a ring of disturbed earth and stone that billowed smoke.
She crept toward it and crouched near its edge. The smoke was impenetrable. Actually, it didn’t feel like smoke, nor did it smell like it. It was cool to the touch, like droplets of water, and it had a fresh, but slightly metallic odor. Was… was it mist?
A faint movement caught her attention which she strained her eyes to recapture. She looked left and right, then stared straight, but it was no use. The smoke, or mist or whatever it was, was almost opaque and she only managed to strain her eyes trying to--
But wait! Something in the center seemed to budge and bubble, like tar spilling out of a large container. A black blob emerged from the crater and jiggled every time it… Grew. Just great, it was growing. Rainbow stepped back several paces, but realized that a slit, about as big as she was, had started to open on the blob. She stopped and let out a gasp when she realized what was happening.
It was opening an eye.
It popped wide with a sickening squelch and a large, purple iris darted around with a dilated pupil. Rainbow pressed herself against the earth and tried to back away without being noticed, but it was her panicked movement which brought the orb to a halt… Its gaze was on her.
She squeaked and stopped in place, praying that it would pass over her, but it did not move.
The pupil shrank to a point and the blob let out a horrible moan that reminded Rainbow of the frantic croaking of an army of frogs. She froze and watched it expand out of the crater and toward her, flailing a growing number of black tendrils and widening itself to expand around her. To devour her.
She pushed herself back and braced for the inevitable; she saw Celestia’s sun disappear behind its towering form. It was ove--
“FALCOLT STOMP!”
Rainbow was blinded by a flash of light from above and thrown backward, into the air by an explosion that leveled the hill. No, not just leveled. She spread her wings and stabilized herself - she was getting used to being flung about - and turned toward the destruction. It was like the hill got turned upside down; the crater atop the hill was a joke compared to the crater that the hill had become!
Rainbow scanned the area. The dark smoke from before was whipping about and evaporating into the air in streams like it was alive. And where was that… Thing? The thought of it dazed her for a moment. She survived. How had she survived? What happened?!
She flew around the crater in search of the monster, but between the mist and the dust and dirt, finding it wasn’t happening, and she wasn’t about to set herself up for another ambush. In her periphery, down by the grove, she spied a conspicuous, bubblegum tail . The pony attached to it was quivering behind a tree; was that what she called hiding?
Rainbow zipped to the ground and strolled over to the tail. A mischievous smirk crept into her features. She crouched a bit and leaned forward until her mouth was inches from the tail. She inhaled.
“Sup?”
Pinkie squeaked and rocketed into the branches. The tree shook with her frightened shivers until a snort caught her ears. She peeked her head from behind a branch and looked down to see Rainbow in the middle of a laughing fit.
The pink pony chuckled. First it was light, but then it erupted and she fell to the ground, joining her friend in the joke.
Rainbow was the first to surface; she sat up and turned to her pink friend. “I totally… Haha! Woo!… I totally got you, Pinkie.”
The pink pony turned her head to Rainbow and nodded. “Yeah, that was a good one, Dashie!”
“Wooh, yeah! But seriously, we should get out of here. I dunno what’s going on over there, but it’s cray-zee!”
Pinkie sat up and turned her head to the side. “Wadd’ya mean?”
“It was like… I don’t know. There was this tar thing that tried to eat me, then the hill exploded…”
“Hill?” Pinkie jumped up and ran past a few trees obstructing their view. Rainbow jumped in pursuit, a failed attempt to stop her.
"Pinkie, wait!" She followed her friend until the reached the edge of the grove where the hill, well, used to be.
Pinkie chirped at the sight of the destruction. “I don’t see any hill!”
The Pegasus stopped at her side and grimaced. “That’s what I was trying to tell you! That is, er, was the hill; this place is dangerous!”
No sooner than she spoke those words, they were shaken to the core by a croak from the pits of tartarus. Their attention snapped to the center of the crater. A wail pierced the air and rainbow crouched in response, though Pinkie seemed too fascinated to worry about hiding herself.
The pink pony gasped. “Look!”
Rainbow strained her eyes to see what Pinkie meant, and it didn’t take long to understand. The dark mist had completely dissipated, but the dust was beginning to compress and rotate in the shape of a dome. It twirled for a few moments, then stopped and expanded outward until it disappeared.
Then she saw it. Two large, dark grey wings were stretched to the heavens. The large stallion they were attached to was wearing what appeared to be a blue, suit and double breasted jacket with four, golden horseshoes that stretched far enough up his legs to be considered boots. A long, golden scarf, wrapped around his neck, waved with pride, though Rainbow was sure the wind wasn’t blowing. And atop his head… Oh, atop his head. A red helmet with a black visor that made his eyes appear as two, confident white lights, and a golden crest on the forehead.
It was a falcon.
"I-I-It's..."
Rainbow stammered. It was him. It was the pegasus who had toppled gods and felled empires. The Pegasus whose exploits were recorded in lore over thousands of years; the immortal hero. The creator of the Sonic Rainbloom…
Pinkie found words well before our hero could. “IT‘S CAPTAIN FALCOLT!”
Rainbow scrunched her eyes shut and shook her head. Must have been some dust from the explosion left in her eyes. Yeah, that was it.
She opened her eyelids again and looked around. He was gone. What a relief; she thought insanity had finally caught up to her. She turned to her pink friend to chastise her for spreading ‘the crazies,’ but noticed a distant look in the earth pony‘s eyes, her gaze turned skyward. She followed Pinkie’s line of sight, but before she could spy what her friend was looking at, it found her.
A strong gust caught them off guard and kicked up dust and debris; at least, a gust caught Rainbow off guard. Pinkie continued to stare with stars in her eyes.
And why not? Rainbow felt her own jaw drop when she realized that the mysterious stallion was now towering over them. His expression was… Indifference? No, that wasn’t it. He actually looked kind of curious when she considered his wide eyes; well what she could see of his eyes, since his ebony visor obscured all but soulless, white shapes; but his mouth appeared to be trapped in a perpetual scowl.
But unlike Pinkie, our hero wasn’t impressed by this performance. There was no way Captain Falcolt was standing in front of her; he was legendary, even for legends, and hadn’t been seen in generations. This imposter would not get away with walking around in that getup outside of Nightmare Night.
“Hey, bub! Who do you think you are dressing like that?!” She hovered above the ground, so she could chew out the large pegasus face-to-face. He seemed taken aback by the sudden hostility, but remained silent.
“I get that you’re a fan of Captain Falcolt. We all are. But you can’t just stroll around wearing his outfit. It’s disrespectful.”
He looked from her, to Pinkie and back. His muzzle twisted into a smile. “Oh, you’re fans, are you?” His voice was deep and silky; it echoed in her head, and she found herself straightening her back as though called to attention.
“Well look no further for the object of your admiration!” He splayed his wings and raised his head, then flashed a wide grin; his teeth glistened, then were set alight by a flash of reflection so bright that Rainbow swore she heard a ding.
She stood for a moment, aware that her mouth was hanging open but too befuddled to care. How could she have doubted it? Before, she had tried to rationalize; she had tried to explain it away. But no matter how many times she repressed her suspicions, they always came back. She had to accept them.
This guy was crazy.
She closed her mouth and sighed, then returned to the ground. There was no point arguing with a mad pony, as she knew from personal experience.
Pinkie Pie bounced and whistled at the display. She, apparently, didn’t share Dash’s doubts.
“Omigosh! I can’t believe it! I mean, I can believe ‘cause I see it, but I’m really unsure about my eyes right now!”
“Trust your eyes, Little Pony. They’re working just fine.” He flexed his wings, then gave a mighty beat, kicking up a plume of rock and pebble. Rainbow wasn’t impressed.
“Uh huh. Well you enjoy that whole being Captain Falcolt thing. C’mon, Pinkie.”
“What? Are you kidding me? Did you get your eggs scrambled in that crash too, Dashie? This is Captain Falcolt we’re talking about! We can’t just leave!”
Rainbow sighed again. “Look, it’s been a long day, Pinkie; I couldn’t practice, we hung out, I almost got killed. I’m pooped. And even if I wasn’t, I don’t have the time to argue with some wackjob in a two-bit store costume.”
A hefty gasp pierced the air. She turned back to the “Captain,” to see him wide-eyed and wider-mouthed.
“Two-bit… Store?”
“Well yeah.” Rainbow raised a hoof and began to point out parts of his outfit. “That helmet is totally plastic. I see ’em sold all the time around Nightmare Night. And, dude, that blue is off. It should be phthalo blue, not navy blue. Oh, and those boots…” She cocked her head to the side, “those are actually pretty cool.”
The stallion shut his mouth; it returned to the scowl she had seen him with initially. But now his eyes, too, seemed to scowl, and, even through the visor, they now possessed an intensity that almost made Rainbow gulp. Almost.
“Very well.” His voice was abrupt, but still flexible. “Since you choose to dishonor The Falcolt Suit, you will pay the price.”
“Price? What are y--”
Thunder erupted and a stomp of his hoof against the ground cracked the earth. “Silence!”
Rainbow was silent.
“There is only one ritual by which a pegasus, once dishonored, can be vindicated.”
Rainbow searched her memory, but couldn’t find any thing. What was he talking about, ’ritual’? The pegasi didn’t have rituals. There was only one way she knew of to get honor back…
He arched his neck toward the sky and bellowed:
“A RACE!”
Of course. Dash furrowed her brow and considered her options. On the one hoof, she wanted to get back to Ponyville and see what made that rainboom, and what that monster was, and maybe check up on Twilight, since both those things meant a trip to the library. Yeah.
On the other hoof, this goof had to be put in his place. It would be like those times Twilight dealt with that loud-mouth faker, Trixie. But she didn’t have to worry about this guy busting out with magic, though she needed to be on guard for cheap tricks like that thunder thing. He didn’t fool anypony with that.
“You’re on.”
Pinkie squealed. “A race between Dashie and Captain Falcolt? Best. Thing. Ever!”
“Humph.” A firm flap of his wings filled the area with a vicious wind as he took to the sky. No biggie; she could do that too, and did, with a beat powered by an unexpected rush of adrenaline. The flutter of anticipation took to her heart.
She followed the large stallion to the top of the horizon, buoyed by a new found agility. The winds caressed her feathers in some parts of the sky and buffeted them in others, but she maneuvered through both without thinking about it; though now that it was on her mind, she supposed that she was thinking about it. But she didn’t need to think about it!
Anyway… When the would-be Falcolt ceased his ascent and entered a hover, they were high above the devastated landscape. Rainbow thought she could see a pink dot entering the crater, but it was difficult to tell.
‘Fraudcolt’ extended a hoof and gestured toward three, large clouds. “We will start here, then fly to that grouping and make one lap around each cloud.” He traced his hoof back toward the ground, to the opposite side of the crater. His voice was now steely, cold. “After the third lap, we’ll fly to the other end, where your pink friend is. First hooves to touch down is the winner.”
Rainbow scanned the ground. It was a strain, but she could see the tiny, pink speck from before swaying and bouncing… Oh, it was waving.
Dash nodded and cracked her shoulders, then rolled her neck. “Let’s do this.”
“Okay. As challenger, I will call start.”
“Doesn’t matter to me.”
He nodded and lowered his head. Dash did the same.
“Three.”
She tucked her hooves in and licked her lips.
“Two.”
She could feel her heart racing; she hoped it wouldn’t bail on her.
“One.”
She forgot about everything else.
“Go!”
She shot forward; the familiar impulse of a sudden start greeted her; her eyes watered, cheeks pressed to her face and feathers flayed. She dipped toward the first cloud, delighted by the stomach full of butterflies which the maneuver brought. In her periphery, she could see the obvious impostor trailing her kiddycorner. She was only gliding, but he was already falling behind. So much for restoring his honor.
A smirk cracked her muzzle. If he wasn’t going to be any competition, she could at least give him a show. She banked around the cloud’s edge and hugged its sides as she began the first lap. The edge of her wing brushed the fluffy formation and a thin mist sprayed behind her, glistening in Celestia’s sun to form a rainbow which trailed in her wake. She peered back to enjoy its effect, but noted that the stallion behind her was unimpressed. Tough crowd.
Fine, if that didn’t catch his attention, she knew what would. She tipped to the side and edged closer to the cloud, until her back skimmed its surface, then plunged her head into it. The cool interior soaked her mane as she moved her neck about; she collected just the right amount of fluff before withdrawing. She wished she had a mirror, but everything felt like it was in the right place.
Dash turned back to ‘Failcolt’ and flashed him a grin; her face was covered in a cloud beard, and her mane in cloud hair. That always cracked her friends up. The large stallion, however, was unamused. Talk about a buzz kill; if he was going to challenge her, he could at least make it fun. She groaned and shook the cloud away.
Whatever. If he didn’t want to enjoy himself, then he could take his defeat served cold.
The edge of the second cloud came into view. Rainbow righted herself and returned to a glide. Just as its full form became visible, she arced out of the first lap, then applied a few, strenuous bursts of wing power and rocketed toward the next.
She peered back again, to judge how far behind she had left the impostor, but was surprised to find no sight of him. Figures; he was probably thrown off course when trying to break out of his turn and flung off to--
“Yo!”
The deep greeting frazzled our hero, but she maintained her course. Her challenger swooped down from above and positioned himself at her side. A smirk cracked his muzzle, to which Rainbow grimaced, before he waved his hoof in a mock salute and shot forward, into a tight turn around the second cloud. She followed suit.
The large stallion might have been ahead at the moment, but she hoped that didn't make him overconfident. She would have hated to embarrass him so soon; sudden comebacks are best left for the finale.
She edged up, to attempt a pass from above, but he climbed as well. A pass from below was the next option, but he dipped when she did, cutting her off again. Dash groaned, and widened her distance from the cloud, to pass from the outside, but again he mimicked her and blocked her maneuver.
Okay, this guy was a jerk.
She tightened her turn and grazed the cloud. He did the same. Flecks of water and wisps of white were shaved off the fluffy structure in their wake, but neither could spare an inch. The winds were picking up and transformed their steady turning into a battle with the sky. Dash’s eyebrow arched at the turn of events; she had an idea.
The racers adjusted themselves as the edges of the third cloud became visible. Once again, when its form was fully revealed, ’Fakecolt,’ arced away and toward it, but Dash had other plans. Instead of following him, she hugged the second cloud closer, and sped into a second lap. The strain on her wings transformed into a burn, and she struggled to balance her increasing speed with the wind resistance. Shifting currents assaulted her; at first from the side, causing her to tilt away from the cloud; then from the front, so she beat harder, adrenaline alone fueling her; then from the back, which was right where she needed it.
She grinned, feeling out the winds by muscle memory, then, at the perfect moment, broke away, slingshotted toward the third cloud by the wind at her back and the momentum of her turn. Her spread wings caught a separate current, and she rode it into a close arc around the final cloud. Her eyes watered and the speed strained every part of her body. She was in heaven.
The impostor came into view, almost done with his third lap, but she didn’t have time to taunt him as she shot above his head, circling the entire cloud in a quarter of the time she needed to lap the first two. She risked a look back, and was pleased to glimpse a confused look on the would-be Falcolt’s face.
The final lap came to a close, and a clear path opened toward the ground, where a familiar, pink speck bounced and cheered. Our hero would have congratulated herself, but the whole thing had been too easy. That loon in the Falcolt suit clearly didn't know a thing about racing.
Dash dipped and spread her wings, carried by gravity and enough momentum to rip the wings clean off a lesser pegasus. Her senses sharpened and the pink dot grew into the familiar, bubbly form of Pinkie Pie. She tilted up and loosed her hooves to prepare an awesome landing, but before she could resign herself to victory, a clap of thunder shook the heavens, and a multi-colored blur zipped past her.
Boom!!
It slammed into the ground and kicked up a plume of debris. Rainbow swerved, her landing foiled by a sudden lack of visibility, then careened to the side and found an abrupt stop at the edge of the crater; her hooves slid against the rock and rubble and she skidded to a halt, aided by her wings.
She turned to the dust cloud and shook herself, convinced that she couldn't be seeing what she was seeing.
The silhouette of her challenger was apparent through the dust, and a flap of his wings cleared it in an instant. He stood, his stance wide and his head high. He held one of his forelegs aloft, and the glow of an unknown power faded from his body.
Rainbow was surprised by the thoughts racing through her head, but was impotent to stop them; maybe he wasn't as big a fool as she had taken him for. Maybe there was something to his boasting. It seemed impossible, but maybe this guy was actually--
Her thoughts were cut off when he glanced in her direction. His face was solemn at first, but his muzzle twisted into a grin and he opened it to speak. What wise worlds could escape such a champion of pony kind in his moment of victory?
“… Falcolt pose!”
ding
“…”
He’d ruined the moment.
Rainbow dropped her head, and was tempted to bash it into a nearby rock.
