Twenty Pegasi prepared for the race. Simple enough; 100 laps of loops turns twists and turns. Miss a turn, lose the race. Don't go through a loop, lose the race. Finish fourth, lose the race.
Rainbow Dash, the Wonderbolt, is in the race so first place was as good as gone no matter how fast they flew or how hard I tried. That leaves only seven real contenders and I know three of them are sprinters. Good as dead in the air once lap 70 comes around; they'll drop out or they'll get a fourth wind and I'll be in trouble.
Rainbow may only lap me twelve times so I can't concern myself with her and her gloating. Focus Bumble Buzz, you can do this. Just another race, you've done dozens this year alone and are one of the strongest fliers ever. Win and you get a trophy and honor. Lose and you embarrass your clan, again. No, not again. This time I'll win. Third at least. Flag is going up.
I looked left and right at the ponies around me. Rainbow was in the front and I was in the center. I had raced with Rainbow Dash once before and she was at the rear. Huge mistake. When she started the slip stream from her pulled us into her wake and some ponies were seriously hurt as they crashed into each other and tumbled to the ground from the cloud layer. Luckily no pony was killed but the race was cancelled. I had never seen a pony so mad to win.
The flags down, to the skies! I pushed off the cloud beneath me and felt the wind sting my face and was thankful I had my goggles this time. The scream of the wind in my ears was all I could hear except for the occasional insult from a nearby flier to try to psych the others out.
Lap 89 and I'm going to make it. Rainbow's already taking her trophy and basking in the lime light, I'm next. I'm in fifth place and staying strong. No pony will beat me this time. Look at that pony ahead of me. Totally cramping and gonna crash out soon. I'm here because of my endurance and she's barely... YES! She's out, left wing cramp to my rescue. Fourth place. Two ahead of me, focus on the goal. Keep the pace, finish strong. Keep the pace, finish strong. Keep the pace, finish strong.
Lap 100. This' it. I'm in third place and no pony can beat me. Two loops. Two turns. Then I win. I, really, WIN.
One turn left. It's mine. I see the finish line. A simple Rainbow hovering just below our flight path. It's mine.
I put all my strength into my power and focus everything I have to get faster. I use all the training I've recieved at thousands of bits personal cost. My forelegs are straight, my wings are gliding me through the air with focused pumps, and a slight updraft helps me to get a much needed microsecond of rest.
Then it happened.
A sprinter came into my vision, just to my left. Focus, this cow can't beat you. I sneer at the pony beside me and shout an insult about her weight as I pump the last of my energy into winning, lose focus, and I cramp.
It's not my wing, my wing muscles, my entire spine or my leg that retracted so fast I actually kicked my own... rear.
The only part of me that hurt as I tumbled forward was my heart. I watched as that yellow mare passed the line as I tumbled over it before landing just past it. Medics came rushing over and gave me several shots from needles across my body that suddenly made my body hurt more than my heart, for a little while. Through the screaming I was doing, the medics yelling over me to each other, and the two security guards that had landed on my back to hold me, pin me, to the clouds so I wouldn't hurt anypony by accident, the yellow mare looked back at me, lifted her goggles, and winked at me.
Right then, that second I realized I had lost again. Again. "Nooooo!" I screamed as I burried my face in the soft clouds and cried. The medics finished working on me and left me to wallow in my loss as they went to the next pony that crossed the line.
I don't know how much time had passed but I knew one thing that had passed, my career as a racer. My family alotted 5,000 bits to my training and I blew through that and got a job to pay for my advanced training.
I coulda gone into the military and gotten a free ride but that's a four year contract and it's so boring. Stand guard, go there, stand guard. Nothing ever happens in this country and I'd get fat, married and or pregnant long before I got into racing again. So here I am. Grumbling into a cloud holding back tears because I have to go home and show them a partiscipant trophy, again. I have to get a job with Uncle Tomato harvesting fruit from trees. My max height will be 1000 feet, I'll have to get a permit to fly higher than that again, except for Cloudsdale, but what's the point?
As I was wallowing in my pool of self pity I felt a pony land next to me and cough. A mare. A cyan mare I see from my peripherial vision. Great, it's Rainbow Dash. She's going to gloat about my loss. I coulda been third but I got that damned cramp. I placed my hooves in the cloud and forced myself up and by Luna it hurt so much to move. I managed to get to my front knees and raise my head to look at her as she leaned forward was a cup that had a straw in it.
"Here ya go champ, drink up. You earned it." She smiled at me but it wasn't a gloat or anything. It was genuine. Why? She won and it's no secret she's the biggest gloater in the world, even beyond Equestria her ego is known.
"Th-thanks," I said. I just realized I'm not only desperately thirsty but my voice sounds like an alligators. I quickly wrap my lips around the straw and inhale. For a second I have a fear fly through my mind that this was a trick. Vineagar was the liquid or Hot sauce in the straw, but luckily it was was applejuice. How did she know I liked my applejuice warm?
Probably a coincidence. I swallowed the entire cup worth of drink and gasped fresh air into my lungs and exhaled fresh apple flavor across Rainbow Dash's hooves that were outstretched to help me up.
"Who am I to deny help from a Wonderbolt?" I asked like this happened all the time.
"Congrats, you were incredible in that race," she said pulling me into a hug I was not ready for. I pushed her back and fell onto the cloud as she laughed and two ponies landed behind her. That yellow pony, that mare who winked at me. The mare that... was leader of the Wonderbolts? "Spitfire? Soarin? You two beat me?" I said slightly in awe and slightly in sorrow.
"What're ya talkin' about champ? You won!"
I smirked at Rainbow Dash and the others and rolled my eyes. "Yeah, you're as funny as I heard. I thought you'd be gloating, not teasing."
They laughed and gathered around me hoisting me up as I fought until I saw the video screen. It was me being carried by the Wonderbolts, 'live feed' at the bottom left corner. Winner across the top in a gaudy red and yellow explosion cutout.
"What the hay? I came in fourth. I can't win, I'm the first place loser," I said shedding a tear in confusion.
"Yeah, except Wonderbolts aren't eligible contestants in official races, silly filly. Didn't you know that?" Spitfire said as I was led to the center of the winners circle. I couldn't open my wings, standing was nearly impossible and hurt so much, and the shock of seeing my heroes, the Wonderbolts, placing me down; I nearly passed out but fought it off somehow.
Rainbow Dash flew the trophy to me and handed it to me then the three Wonderbolts hoisted me up and cheered my name.
"Bumble Buzz. Bumble Buzz. Bumble Buzz." Before long the whole crowd was cheering for me as I felt my world spin from the rush of finally winning.
I couldn't believe it. I didn't lose? I won? "I WON!"
I screamed so loud they could hear me on the ground they said. That was my last race but still, it was the moment that changed my life.
I met your father, we settled into a nice cloud house, and we started a family; that's why you're so important to us Thunder Dash.
I looked at mommy and daddy and I heard how much they loved me in each of their words and I saw it in their eyes and I knew that no matter what I would be supported by them and I could be anything I aspired to be.
"Mommy, daddy; I wanna be a racer."