A Cherished Storm

Chapter Four: To Race a Wonderbolt

Rainbow Dash closed the door behind her as she pulled her saddlebag off her back, placing it on an ornately-carved wooden desk near the entrance.

She looked around the room; it looked like Twilight's room, Minus the millions of books... The door leading to the balcony was open, and, unlike Twilight's balcony, it lacked a telescope; light peaked over distant peaks as the sun disappeared behind them. The room itself was plain enough, with only the occasional painting hanging from the mostly-bare walls. Rainbow shrugged, As if decorations really matter.

She reached for the saddlebag and pulled out a book, a Daring Do novel. Rainbow looked at it and smiled, Now I can see what happened to Daring Do! She walked over to her bed and hopped back onto it. She struggled to find a good position, and sat up to prop her pillows up against the back wall before sitting back again. Satisfied, she opened the book and found her spot from the night before.

“Chapter two: The Art of Escaping,” Rainbow recited, “Daring Do held on tightly to a loose root sticking out of the side of the pit. She glanced down out of the corner of her eye; the pit really did seem bottomless. At least, she couldn't see the bottom.

“Her wing was bandaged, still recovering from the close call she had the day before. She attempted to find a hoofhold in the wall. Finding one, she reached for another one and attempted to pull herself up; the first hoofhold crumbled and she lost balance, slamming back into the side of the wall, and weakening the already-loosened root.”

Rainbow winced, “Watch out, Daring! Take it easy, girl...”

She continued reading, “Daring watched as the former hoofhold, a hoof-sized rock, disappeared into the darkness of the abyssal pit. 'One...' she said through clenched teeth, 'Two... Three... Four...' she counted out the seconds as she waited for a sound.  Finally, one came, Twelve seconds... Given that an object in free fall travels one-thousand-twenty-four feet over eight seconds... s being distance and t being time... Her eyes narrowed as she thought out the math in her head, … So sixteen multiplied by twelve squared: one-forty-four... two-thousand-four feet! Her pupils shrunk at the thought, Oh gosh, that's a long drop... The root loosened, causing Daring to gasp through her teeth, I thought I heard a splash down there, meaning water. Hopefully I'll land in that...”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, “Since when was she so smart? I wonder what's going to happen...”

She kept reading, “The root snapped, throwing Daring Do from her position on the wall. She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable impact. Light quickly faded from her closed vision, plunging her into darkness. The air grew damp and warm against her coat. She positioned herself vertically to reduce her surface area, and landed in a pool of chilling-cold water with a loud splash; it was thick with the taste of sulfur. She swam to the surface, gasping for fresh air.

“A torch lit up down a cavern, lighting up enough of the chamber to barely see. Hoofsteps echoed against the jagged, stone walls, 'Who's there?'”

“Twilight...”

Rainbow dropped the book, “Twilight? Why's she in the book?” she glanced over at the door, “Oh... Have you ever thought of knocking before entering?”

“I did. Several times, in fact,” Twilight said, rolling her eyes, “Reading aloud again, Rainbow?” she asked, walking over to the balcony to close the door.

“Well, you get more into it when you read it out loud,” Rainbow defended.

Twilight laughed, “Well, you really do get into it,” she walked over to identify the book, “Daring Do? I thought you forgot that in Ponyville.”

Rainbow grinned, “Oh, I did. You're right about one thing; the library here really does have every book, including this,” she tapped the novel, now sitting on her bed.

Twilight smiled, “Told you. Anyway, I'm going to the train station. You coming?”

“Wait...” Rainbow started, “Already leaving? Didn't we just get here?”

Twilight nodded, “Yes. We're not leaving, though. The others are coming here for the week. I sent a message earlier this morning, asking if  anypony wanted to join us here at the palace,” she walked over to the bed and picked up the book with her magic, placing it on the nightstand beside it, “Owloysius arrived with a message from them a few hours ago. They said that they were going take the next train... And said to bring a cart,” she turned to face Rainbow again, “Anyway, do you want to go? I could use some company while we wait.”

Rainbow looked at the Daring Do novel on the nightstand and sighed, “Why can't Spike go?”

“Spike is already asleep; went to bed an hour ago, maybe... He was still tired from last night,” Twilight said, “So... you want to go?”

Rainbow looked out the window and saw the familiar dark-blue and black of night. She shrugged and hopped off the bed, stretching, “Sure, I guess I can. Let's go.”

In the darkness of the night, Rainbow paced back and forth, passing in and out of light provided by the train station's lit windows. She looked at the clock and sighed, “It's 9:32 already? Where's the train?”

Twilight was sitting against the wall by one of the lit windows, reading from her copy of History of the Tribes: Origins. She glanced up from the book sitting on the ground in front of her, “I'm sure it'll be here soon. It took five or six hours to get here from Ponyville,” she smiled as she looked back at the book, placing a hoof on the page to mark it, “Rainbow, I may have found something interesting...”

Rainbow shook her head, not bothering to stop her pacing, “I don't feel like hearing it right now, sorry.”

Twilight tilted her head in confusion, “Hmm?” she closed the book and got up to walk over to her friend, “What's wrong that's got you so antsy?” Rainbow continued to pace; Twilight wondered if she had even heard her, “Rainbow?”

Rainbow lowered her head to look more directly at the ground, and sighed, “Nothing's wrong. Everything's perfectly fine...” she lowered her voice, “I can do it... I can win... I will win...” she sighed again, “... I have to win...”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at her, confused by her friends behavior, “Win?”

Rainbow shook her head at the ground, “Win? No, no... It's not about winning. It's just for fun, yeah... Fun...” she stopped her pacing, finally. She took a deep breath and whispered, “I'm crazy... Challenging Fleetfoot to a race..?”

Twilight gasped, “You did what?”

Rainbow looked up, “Okay... I may have challenged Fleetfoot to a race today at the Wonderbolts warm up... It wasn't my fault, though! I didn't know they had that good of hearing...”

“You always said that you're as good as the Wonderbolts, though, Rainbow. Why are you afraid?” Twilight asked.

Rainbow narrowed her eyes at Twilight, “I'm not afraid!-”

A whistle blew in the distance. The two ponies followed the sound to find it's source: The train. It slowed to a stop in front of the station.

After a moment of idle waiting, the door to one of the train cars opened. Fluttershy was the first to appear, with a cardboard box balanced on her back; she slowly walked down the steep stairs, careful not to trip. She looked around and smiled when she saw Twilight and Rainbow, and walked to them, “Hello, girls.”

Twilight smiled, “Fluttershy! It's good that you could make it. Who else came with you?”

Fluttershy eased the box off her back, “Oh, um, well... There's-”

“Pinkie!”

Fluttershy turned and saw Pinkie Pie, carrying her own cardboard box, bouncing toward them, “How do you do that without the box falling?”

Pinkie stopped hopping and walked the remaining distance, eyes turned upward in a joyful smile, “Practice!” she stopped when she reached her friends and slid the box off on top of the other box, “We're all here! Me, and Fluttershy, and Applejack, and Rarity, too! These are her things,” she patted the side of the box with her hoof.

Twilight looked at the boxes, “That's a lot of things...”

Applejack joined the group, with two boxes balancing on her back, “Well, that ain't all of it,” she slid the boxes off carefully, beside the other two, “Anyway, howdy y'all!”

“Hello, Applejack!”Twilight said before looking at the growing pile, “No wonder her response said to bring a cart...”

“No kiddin',” Applejack said, “An' that ain't even half of it...”

“Excuse me!”

The group of ponies turned their heads back toward the door. Rarity was making her way down the steep stairs at a snails pace; she had saddlebags hanging off the sides of her back, and three large boxes wobbling on her back. She let out a sigh of relief at the bottom and eased the boxes off of her back. She turned to the door, “Watch your step, darling.”

Mr. Boxcar appeared in the door of the train car; he held several bags in his mouth, and several cardboard boxes of different shapes and sizes stacked on his back. Sweat formed on his brow as he slowly, and groggily, stumbled down the stairs. The boxes tilted to one side, and he tried to compensate, “Oh, no!” he tripped, a shower of boxes and bags landing scattered on the ground.

Rarity sighed, “I told you...” she heard laughing and saw her friends walking over to her, with Rainbow lagging behind them. She looked at the scene again, and chuckled as well, “Well, in any case. I much appreciate your help.”

Boxcar staggered to his hooves and balanced himself. He cleared his throat, “Yeah, yeah... No prob-” he glanced toward the approaching ponies as he was brushing himself off, and notice one Rainbow-maned mare in the back. His eyes widened, “You!” he made his way over to Rainbow, nearly pushing the other ponies out of the way, “You're not expecting a ride back on my train, are you?!”

Rainbow glanced up from the ground with narrowed eyes, “Aren't you being loud enough? You're gonna wake up the neighborhood.”

Boxcar held his breath, as if attempting to hold back another shout. He looked around at the buildings surrounding them and released his breath, “Fine. But I'm not letting you ride on my train again. You can use your scrawny little wings and fly yourself back to Ponyville. I'm not having a troublemaker like you aboard.”

Rainbow looked at the conductor with anger-filled eyes, “Troublemaker? I'm not the one stomping over to another pony to pick fights,” she glanced at the others out of the corner of her eye, and then back at the conductor, “I was here for my friends, not to fight with you. But if you want a fight, I can give you one,” she stomped her hoof against the cold stone of the ground.

Boxcar flinched, “Okay, okay... Fine. Just... don't come back on my train, okay?” he backed away slowly, “You're... bad for my sleeping schedule...” he turned to retreat.

Rarity stepped in front of him, “Oh, Mr. Boxcar, would you be so kind as to help me load all of these boxes onto that cart over there?” she pointed to said cart; two armored stallions stood by it, waiting.

Mr. Boxcar sighed and nodded his head, “Yes, ma'am. I'd be happy to help...”

Pinkie walked up to Rainbow, “Gee, Dashie, what's got you all sour?”

Twilight walked over to them, “It's probably her nerves...”

Fluttershy and Applejack joined them. Applejack eyed Rainbow and Twilight, “Her nerves? What's got her nervous?”

“Yeah, I've never seen you so nervous before, Rainbow Dash...” Fluttershy added with a slight hint of worry in her voice.

Applejack nodded, looking at Rainbow, “Yeah, what the hay did you do to get your wing feathers ruffled?”

Twilight answered for her, “Well... she kind of challenged a Wonderbolt to a race.”

They all gasped. Rainbow sighed, “Not just any Wonderbolt... But Fleetfoot!”

Pinkie tilted her head, “What's so special about her?”

Rarity walked up behind them, “I put bits on the line in favor of Fleetfoot one time when I bet against Fancypants,” she stopped at the group, fixing her mane, “Needless to say, she won.”

Rainbow groaned and fell to the ground to sit, “Ya know, Fleetfoot did a lot of winning today at the warm up,” she looked at her friends, “She beat Spitfire, Soarin', Rapidfire... Fire Streak also. And, even before I got there, she beat High Winds...” she shook her head, “That's a lot of Wonderbolts that lost to her...”

Rainbow laid her head on the ground, hiding under her hooves. Twilight sighed and lifted her back to her hooves with her magic, “You need to get a hold of yourself. I'm sure you'll do fine!”

Rainbow grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her lightly, “You don't get it! If I lose, I'll lose my chance at joining the Wonderbolts forever!” she stopped shaking the dizzy Twilight and looked away from the group, “There's a lot on the line... All it'll take is one tiny mistake, and everything will collapse from under me!”

Applejack shook her head, “You know what ya do if everything collapses from under ya? You use your wings an' stay in the air. But beatin' yerself up over it doesn't make a lick of sense. It ain't gonna help ya, that's fer sure.”

Fluttershy nodded in agreement, “If it'll help... I'll cheer for you!”

Rainbow took a deep breath and held it for a moment before releasing it with a smile, “If you cheer me on like you did at the Best Young Flier competition, maybe I'll do fine.”

Mr. Boxcar approached the group, struggling to keep his eyes open, and straightened as best he could, “Rarity, ma'am... All the boxes and bags are loaded onto the cart...”

Rarity turned to him and smiled, “Ah, good. Thank you very much, Mr. Boxcar. I believe that will be all for now.”

Boxcar nodded and turned around to walk back to the train. He stopped at the stairs and stared at them for a moment before taking a deep breath and walking up them, one step at a time.

“BOO!”

Boxcar yelled out, falling backwards back onto the ground. He groaned and looked behind him to see both Rainbow and Pinkie, rolling on the ground laughing. He grimaced and rushed up the stairs, closing the door behind him.

Applejack walked over to her, anger in her eyes, “Well, that sure was rude of you...”

“You... kidding?” Rainbow breathed out during breaks in her laughter. She took a deep breath to get herself under control and got off the ground, “Ah... Revenge is sweet!”

Pinkie had gotten over her giggle fit as well, “Like cupcakes?”

Rainbow looked at her with a grin, “Like cupcakes, but sweeter!”

Twilight forced a smile, “Well, as much as I think that was very unnecessary, Rainbow... At least you're feeling better now,” she looked up at the clock, “It's already 10:30? We should probably get back to the palace, I have some more organizing to do before sleeping,” she looked at Rainbow again, “And you'll want rest, since you have a big day tomorrow.”

Rainbow groaned again, “Yeah, don't remind me.”

The sky was clear above the city of Canterlot, the only exception being the thick pillars and rings of cloud that were seemingly scattered haphazardly across the sky. Different members of the Wonderbolts moved them around, positioning them just right; after awhile, a clear path began to appear. Thick poles were hammered into the fluffy frames of every ring, each one bearing a numbered sign. Each of the thick, puffy pillars were placed randomly in between each of the rings to act as obstacles, each one rotated differently for added variety in the track.

Rainbow paced around in a circle, her face wearing a slight frown of concentration. Pinkie followed the same path as Rainbow, “I can see why this is fun! It's like a merry-go-round; going up and down, up and down, up and down!”

Rainbow stopped and turned around, rolling her eyes, “That's only because you're hopping around, Pinkie,” she grabbed Pinkie by the shoulders, stopping her motions.

Pinkie's pupils continued to bounce up and down, “Still very bouncy!”

Rainbow sighed and let go of her, allowing Pinkie to continue her hyperactive movements. She walked to the bench and laid back against it's flat surface to stare up at the clear, blue sky. She watched the different pegasi workers as they positioned clouds for the track. She yawned and turned her head, noticing Fluttershy flying toward her with Spitfire; a grin formed on her face as she got up to meet them, “So, how was flight practice?”

Spitfire turned her head toward Fluttershy, smiling, “She did pretty well, actually. Still plenty of room for improvement, but a decent start. She'll need to work her wings daily, not really to the point of exhaustion... Maybe two or three hours a day?” she turned to Fluttershy, “Not a lot, really. Just do that for a month, and you'll see some results.”

Rainbow grinned at Fluttershy when she sighed, “Told ya!”

Spitfire turned back to face Rainbow, a grin spread across her face, too, “So, Rainbow, you ready for your showdown against Fleetfoot?” Rainbow dropped the grin and swallowed, sweat forming on her brow. Spitfire laughed, “It's only a race for fun, don't be so nervous about it!”

Rainbow nodded slowly, “Right, nothing to be nervous about... Nothing at all...”

Soarin' and Fleetfoot flew down to meet the group. Soarin' wiped a bit of sweat from his head, “Those clouds sure are heavy for being white fluff. Anyway, we're ready for the race if you are, Rainbow Dash. It's only about 2:00 right now, but we can start at any time!”

Fleetfoot nodded and walked over to Rainbow, a pair of goggles being held by the strip in her mouth. She dropped them into Rainbow's raised hoof, “Here ya go. You'll probably want those.”

Rainbow nodded with a nervous smile, “Thanks,” she looked at her friends. All but one had been able to make it to the race; Rarity had once again been really busy with fulfilling orders. She had expressed interest in going, but couldn't find the time. That's good enough, I guess. Rainbow thought, looking back down at the goggles in her hoof. She nodded in determination and pulled them over her eyes. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath; she was still nervous, but this felt right. She opened her eyes and released her breath with a grin, This is right... I'm going to beat a Wonderbolt!

Fleetfoot slid down her goggles to cover her own eyes, “So, you ready for the race?”

Rainbow nodded, “Yup, I think I'm ready to win.”

Fleetfoot laughed. Spitfire grinned, turning around, “Okay then, winner, let's go.”

The group of four pegasi made their way to the starting line; a platform of cloud kept them on their hooves. The two competing pegasi looked on at the course designed specifically for them; Rainbow wore an awestruck look on her face, her eyes widened to their max potential.

“That suit ya, Rainbow Dash?” Soarin' said, grinning up at the course, “I designed it!”

Spitfire laughed, “Oh, please, Soarin'! You only designed the drop at the end.”

Rainbow looked down at the two Wonderbolts, a wide smile on her face, and nodded, “Yup! Talk about awesome... I was expecting a few sharp turns and maybe some obstacles... But not this!”

The course had a series of ups and downs, following each of the numbered rings of cloud. There were sharp turns, spiraling sets of cloud pillars, and webs of cloud. The course was about thirty rings in length, with roughly two-hundred feet in between each of the circular clouds; short if that's all there was, but the obstacles would make it a bit tougher.

“Now,” Spitfire said, gaining their attention, “Here's the rules: You must travel through every single ring. You see those signs on them? They tell you the order to pass through them. If you miss one, you have to go back around and go through it. It shouldn't be too tough, though. They're pretty much lined up, except around ring thirteen; there's a sharp turn to the left there,” she stopped and looked at Soarin'.

Soarin' nodded to her and continued, “You see those pillars of cloud? They're super-condensed to act as physical barriers; they're soft enough to not cause serious injury if you crash into them, but they will push you away from them. Now, there is one part before the final descent that has those pillars going every which way; it's pretty much a thick web of cloud,” he looked between the two and nodded, “Now, you may tackle the pillars however you'd like; but you must go through them, not around them.”

Rainbow and Fleetfoot nodded as they continued to look on at the track, memorizing every curve.

Rainbow's heart was racing, adrenaline pumping through her veins. Her eyes followed every ring, took note of every obstacle. She looked away from the track at the sound of her name, “Huh?”

Fleetfoot smirked, “Good luck to ya, Rainbow Dash,” she put her hoof out to her.

Rainbow looked down at the hoof and smiled, “Yeah, good luck to you, too, Fleetfoot.”

The two ponies lined up at the starting line. Soarin' had a whistle in hoof, and looked at Spitfire; she nodded. He looked back at the ponies and brought the whistle up to his mouth. Rainbow and Fleetfoot readied themselves, flapping their wings slowly to loosen them; they looked at Soarin' out of the corner of their eyes. Soarin' smiled and blew the whistle.

The two pegasi launched forward from the line, blowing the platform of cloud away. Rainbow took the lead, making a sharp turn along the original track of the derby, and passing through the first of thirty rings. She looked up and saw the second ring higher up in the sky; a few cloud pillars littered the path to it. Rainbow sped forward, dodging the first two obstacles with ease. She grinned at the third and flew in a tiny loop around it. She looked back to see how far behind Fleetfoot was, and frowned, Huh? Where is she? She looked ahead and saw her rival passing through the second ring, Wait, what?! She sped through the ring after her.

Fleetfoot continued forward, a satisfied smile formed on her lips. She looked beside her; her smile vanished when she saw Rainbow was there, smiling back at her. Rainbow spun up and around to the other side of her. Rainbow grinned at her before speeding ahead. Fleetfoot shook her head before grinning herself, “She's not the only one who knows tricks,” she sped on after Rainbow.

“Woo! Go Dashie!” Pinkie yelled out, jumping up and down on her hind legs.

Fluttershy looked at Pinkie with a smile before looking back at the race, “Go, Rainbow, woohoo!” she cheered quietly.

Pinkie stopped and looked at her, “Uh, I can't hear you, Fluttershy! And if I can't hear you, then she can't hear you. And if she can't hear you, then she can't win!”

Fluttershy's ears drooped slightly, “You think I should shout louder?”

Pinkie rolled her eyes, “Well, duh! Here, follow my lead..” she turned back to the race and rose on her hind legs again. She looked at Fluttershy as she did the same, “Now, like this: WOOO!! GO DASHIE! YOU CAN DO IT! WOOOO!!!” she dropped back down and looked at Fluttershy with upward-turned eyes, “See? Like that.”

Twilight was sitting on the bench beside Spike and Applejack. She sorted through papers, searching for something, “Now, where did I put that list of new arrivals...”

“GO RAINBOW DASH! PASS HER, YOU CAN DO IT! YES!!”

Twilight looked up from her papers and sighed, “Looks like Pinkie got Fluttershy cheering, too..” she placed the stack of papers down, and picked up another with her magic, “Ah, here it is!”

Applejack leaned over to look at it, “What is it?”

Twilight placed the papers back down on the bench, with the page she sought on top. Spike uncorked the inkwell and placed it down for her, she wet the end of her quill with ink and began writing, “This is a list of the new arrivals to the palace. Pretty much a guest list.”

“Ah,” Applejack said, looking back at the race, “So, uh, why'd y'all have ta come here anyway? I know the princess had some business ta tend to an' all... But she's done that before, an' never asked ya fer help.”

Twilight sighed, placing the quill down, “I'm not exactly sure what's going on, Applejack...”

Spike was shuffling through papers beside Twilight, “Princess Celestia said that she had to meet with a prince.”

“Yes,” Twilight continued, “A messenger had arrived from Snow Peaks asking for the princess to meet with their prince.”

Applejack looked at her, “What's Snow Peaks?”

“WATCH OUT RAINBOW! YOU'RE GOING TO CRA- False alarm! She's fine!” Pinkie yelled out.

Fluttershy nodded at her, “I don't think she would crash that easily...”

Twilight sighed, “Anyway, Snow Peaks is a kingdom to the north of Equestria. It's mostly a collection of cold, snow-covered mountains. It's where the three tribes came from before moving to Equestria... At least, the mountains were; Snow Peaks didn't come to exist until well after Equestria was formed.”

Applejack leaned back a little, watching as Rainbow pushed ahead of Fleetfoot, passing through the fifteenth ring of their race, “Must be mighty cold there.”

Twilight nodded, picking her quill up once again to write.

“Hello, ladies!”

Twilight looked to her left. Spike ran past her, “Rarity!”

Rarity smiled at Spike, “Hello Spikey-Wikey!” she rubbed the top of his head with her hoof.

Spike wobbled dizzily and shook himself off, “What are you doing here? Not that I'm, uh, complaining... I mean, I'm glad you're here and...” he, sighed, a deep blush coloring his cheeks, “I thought you had to work on dresses for the Gala.”

“I did,” Rarity said, moving over to the benches to sit down on the other side of  Twilight's stack of papers, “But I managed to convince some kind Stallions in the palace to help with them.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at her slightly, “Do they even know how to stitch a dress?”

Rarity laughed slightly, “Well, they said they knew Fancypants. So I'm assuming they-” a strong gust of wind hit, blowing Rarity's hat off. She gasped, “My hat!”

Twilight watched the hat fly over the edge of the derby. Her eyes widened as she realized something, “No! My work!” she tried to save the stacks of paper as they blew away, throwing her magic out to catch the flying sheets; she managed to catch a few in a stasis field of magic, but most blew over the edge with Rarity's hat.

She sighed and looked up at the sky as thunder cracked. She watched as dark clouds lurked over the mountain to swallow the blue sky. Twilight looked around the racetrack, looking for the two racing pegasi. She spotted them and looked on with worry-filled eyes, This can't be good...

What was that? Rainbow slowed to a stop and turned around, What the hay?! There shouldn't be any rain! Especially not today, with the race going... OH NO! She turned to see Fleetfoot taking advantage of her distracted state; she flew through another ring, the twenty-second one. Rainbow looked up at the loop in front of her; the twentieth, “I don't think so!” she sped forward, vanquishing the ring of clouds.

She spun through a set of spiraling cloud pillars, not bothering to slow down, and then crisscrossed through another series of vertical pillars. She passed through the twenty-first ring, narrowing her eyes at her target: Fleetfoot, as she neared the twenty-third ring. She was catching up, if only slowly; she flapped her wings faster and harder to try and make up for the difference.

Several more cloud pillars later, she passed through the twenty-second ring and checked on her opponent. She gasped, She's not even through the next ring yet? She smiled, Then maybe I can catch up!

She passed through two more rings, dodging pillars along the way. She was almost on Fleetfoot's tail now. Ahead was a thick spider's web of cloud; pillars thrown around haphazardly, creating many tight-fitting spaces and sharp turns. Fleetfoot entered the jungle of clouds first. Rainbow narrowed her brows and bared her teeth as she followed her in.

Immediately, Rainbow was forced to slow herself down to dodge an incoming pillar. She gasped as another one appeared right in front of her; she spun herself to the left in an attempt to avoid it and nearly crashed into another. She slowed herself to plan out her course of action, Soarin' wasn't kidding about this being a web... She looked around and noticed a slight break in the clouds. She nodded to herself and sped through the opening, prepared to face any obstacle she may find around the corner. She corkscrewed through a series of tightly-knit clouds, swerving in between each of them at a steady speed. A wall of white appeared in front of her, causing her to slow to a stop to look around, “I can't afford to keep having to stop!” she flew toward the wall quickly, turning around without stopping. Using her forward momentum to her advantage, she bucked the wall with all her strength, tearing a hole in the stiff clouds. Rainbow turned around to face her handiwork; blue painted the other side, A way out! She smiled widely as she made a break for her gateway out.

Outside, she searched the sky ahead of her, looking for her rival, Where is she? She heard a gasp faintly from behind her and smiled widely; that was her answer.

Fleetfoot appeared beside her, a nervous frown painted on her face. She looked at her slightly, “Ya know, Rainbow Dash... You're pretty good,” she looked away and grinned, “But I hate to tell ya this, but I'm not going to lose,” she looked back at Rainbow, her grin replaced with a snarl, “No matter what!”

Rainbow was knocked off course as Fleetfoot rammed into her side. She gasped as she slammed face-first into a thick pillar of cloud, knocking her well off-course. She rubbed her head with her hooves and shook herself free of the dizziness that took hold of her. She looked at the fleeing Fleetfoot as she tried to get her vision to focus. She growled, “Okay... If you wanna play like that, we can play like that!”

She sped after Fleetfoot, ignoring the ache in her head, and the burn in her wings. Her vision blurred again and she blinked, trying to fix it. She saw Fleetfoot pass through the twenty-seventh ring, “Darn it, wings! Go faster!” she urged; they reluctantly obliged.

She passed through the twenty-sixth ring as Fleetfoot reached the halfway point to the twenty-eighth. She breathed in, begging her wings to continue carrying her on. She passed through another set of pillars, swerving between the sets of vertical and horizontal lines of fluff. She passed through the twenty-seventh ring as Fleetfoot finally reached the twenty-eighth.

Rainbow continued on, urging her wings to go farther. Sweat drenched her face. She finally caught up with Fleetfoot at the twenty-ninth ring. Fleetfoot looked back and gasped, “What?! How are you here?”

Rainbow growled, “That was a dirty tactic, Fleetfoot!” Rain began to pour from the sky, washing away her sweat, she shook her head to try to clear her goggles of the water. The wind gusted slightly, throwing them slightly off; they compensated.

Fleetfoot frowned at her, “Maybe it was, but you have to work to beat me!”

The two looked down at the final ring; it was a steep drop to get to it. Pillars of cloud blocked the path, spread out far enough from one another to not be too much of a problem. Rainbow took a deep breath before releasing it with a grin at Fleetfoot, “You want work? I'll show you work!”

Rainbow turned sharply downward, instantly dodging the first of many spread-apart pillars. She closed her eyes tightly, Wings, please... Don't fail me now! She opened them, a spark of determination shining through. She sped downward, not bothering to slow down for obstacles. She spun out of the way of another pillar, barely missing it. She bit her lip and continued her speeding descent.

Twilight and the others stood leaning over the safety rails, spectating the final moments of the race. The rain picked up, soaking all of them; All besides Rarity, at least, who had Spike holding an umbrella above her to keep her out of the wet.

They watched as Rainbow sped down the steep descent toward the finish. Twilight shook her head in disbelief, “Is she crazy?! She could get herself killed if something goes wrong!” she looked around at the pouring rain. A gust of wind blew the umbrella out of Spike's claws, causing him to fall against Rarity, she shrieked at the invading rain. Lightning struck across the sky. Twilight shook her head harshly, hating nature for proving her point, “Something will definitely go wrong!”

Rainbow dodged another pillar as she neared the final ring. She snuck a quick glance behind her; Fleetfoot was now far behind her. She looked ahead again at the approaching ring, still guarded by a few remaining cloud pillars. She scowled, You want to see work? I'll show you something I know you'll NEVER do, Fleetfoot!

A cone began to form around her body, starting out wide, but quickly tightening around her as she picked up more speed. The wind gusted, blowing her goggles, loosened from her crash, off her face. She ignored it as she approached the final cloud obstacle. The cone tightened to the point of bursting. The wind buffeted against her figure, blowing her slightly to the left. She tried to compensate, but tipped her wing against the final pillar, causing her to spin out of control.

She gasped, trying to regain control. The cone quickly dissipated as she spiraled through the final ring, earning her the victory she dreamed of. She tried to straighten herself, but her spinning was too erratic; she couldn't regain control!

She began to panic, Think, Rainbow, think! Okay... calm down... She took a deep breath and calmed herself down enough to slow down. She released the breath as she regained control of her flight and pulled up. She leveled out and came to a complete stop, panting as she looked around at her surroundings. She shook herself as she tried to regain her breath.

Fleetfoot flew down to her, “Are you alright?! That was some crazy spinning you did there...”

Rainbow glanced up at her, still panting, “Yeah... I'm fine...”

“Ya know, Rainbow Dash...” Fleetfoot said, slapping a hoof onto her back, “That must of taken a lot of guts to do that... Especially in this weather,” she looked around and sighed, “Look, I'm sorry for what I did back there. It was wrong of me... Not like it mattered anyway; you destroyed me at the end there!”

Rainbow laughed, “Yeah, I kinda did... Didn't I?” she grinned at her, “Told ya I could beat you!”

Fleetfoot laughed, “I'll be sure to believe you next time... Anyway, we should get back to the derby. This rain isn't natural, doesn't make sense why it's here.”

Rainbow shook her head, “Yeah, I don't remember rain being scheduled for Canterlot today...”

The duo made their way back to the derby. Pegasi flew above them, kicking clouds out of the sky. Rainbow arrived first, and walked straight to Spitfire and Soarin', who were talking to a Pegasus from weather control. She turned to the weather control pony, “Hey! What's going on? Why's it raining?”

The pony turned to her, “We had a bit of a mix up in Cloudsdale... The rain was scheduled for next week, but somepony messed up and brought it a week early.”

Twilight and the others walked up to Rainbow, each wearing a relieved look. Twilight spoke first, “Are you okay, Rainbow?”

Rainbow nodded, grinning, “Yup! Of course I am. A little bit of rain won't take me down so easily!”

Applejack stepped up to her, eyes narrowed, “No, but yerr recklessness will! What the hay were ya thinkin'? Ya could of gotten hurt!”

“Or worse,” Twilight added.

Rainbow rolled her eyes, “Oh, please. I've done worse than that!”

Spitfire walked over to them, Soarin' traveling behind her. She grinned, “I'll tell ya one thing, Rainbow Dash. That was quite the display! I know what you were trying to pull off, and it's a shame you weren't able to do it.”

Soarin' nodded, “Yeah, that Sonic Rainboom of yours would've probably cleared these rainclouds a lot faster than these weather control pegasi... Would've been a lot cheaper, also.. I can't believe they would charge two-hundred bits to clean up a mess that they made... Ridiculous.”

Rainbow shrugged, “I probably would've had it, too, if it wasn't for the weather...”

Spitfire laughed, “Well, either way, that was Wonderbolts material.”

Rainbow gasped, her eyes widening, Oh my gosh! Is she saying...

“Regrettably,” Spitfire continued, “we have no open positions on the team to accept you.”

Rainbow collapsed, sighing deeply, Game over...

“But!” Spitfire said, causing Rainbow to look back up at her, “I will be talking to Fleetfoot about her little stunt up there. I'm not making any promises, because I need to talk to Soarin' and the rest of the team. But if they're in favor... Maybe we'll let you take her place. No promises, though!”

Rainbow's eyes lit up and she shot up to her hooves again, Straight from the captain's mouth! The possibility of being a Wonderbolt! Just have to take Fleetfoot's... Her gaze dropped again, and she shook her head, “I can't accept that if Fleetfoot's kicked out...”

Spitfire shrugged, “Well, we'll see what happens in the future then, eh?” she smiled at her, “Catch ya later, Rainbow Dash!”

Rainbow watched her walk away and pounded her hoof into the ground, “I can't believe I just did that...”

Twilight smiled at her, “That was a good thing you did, Rainbow! They're easily aware of you, now. That's got to count for something, right?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow sighed, turning to the group, “I guess...”

Twilight shook her head, “Spike? Give me that envelope, please,” he did as she asked, and she opened it with her magic, smiling, “I was going to wait until next week to do this, but I think now is as good a time as any,” she pulled out seven golden tickets, earning an audible gasp from everypony, and Spike.

Rainbow looked at the shining tickets, “Tickets to the Gala..?”

Twilight nodded, “Yep! The princess gave me these a month ago. I've just been waiting for the right time to hand them out!” she looked at Spike, whose eyes were glued to the tickets, “I'll tell you one thing. It was really hard to keep these secret; especially from Spike, since he likes to snoop around sometimes.”

She handed out the tickets to each of her friends, each one smiling widely as they held their tickets. They all crowded her, hugging her to show their thanks.

Rainbow looked down at her ticket, a wide smile replacing the frown she had worn before, Maybe today wasn't so bad... And it can only get better from here! My second Gala... Here I come!