The Best Young Flyer Competition
(Author’s note: I was inspired to write this by the first dream I ever had about My Little Pony back in October 2011 of myself doing a Sonic Rainboom. I had another dream of this in June 2012. I thought I could use Rainbow Dash to describe what, at least in my dream, such an event feels like. I can only do the best I can, because I almost feel as if only the richest words in the English language can describe the feeling from the dream, which those words I likely do not possess in my vocabulary.)
“And now, for our final competitor of the day,” the madden, standing on a casually floating cloud, announces to the animated, lively crowd in the Cloudsdale Coliseum. You take a look at the arena from behind the sky blue curtains, holding on to them like a teeny foal with his plush doll in bed trying to sleep in a pitch-black room. Your teeth are clenched. Your eyes a squinting fixedly in horror at the sight. Your feathery wings are flapping in and out repeatedly just how any other pegasus would while they fly, except you can feel the beat of your pulse traveling through your veins through them. In fact, you can feel its force plundering your entire body. Each time your heart pounds, it feels more like a punch in the chest than anything else. You feel like you want to shake in cowardliness, but you know there is no turning back now. You know what you have to do. “Contestant number fifteen!” Once you hear those words come out of the madden’s mouth, you have to push yourself into the stage. Your moderate cerise eyes glance back and forth, petrified.
One of your best friends, Rarity, follows behind you. However, her mood could never be further than mutual to yours. She blasts her beauty to the audience, smiling as wide as a kid visiting Disneyland for the first time in her life. As she continues on flying to the center of the coliseum with the artificial wings one of your other best friends, Twilight Sparkle, generated for her using a unicorn spell of hers, the madden is slightly puzzled. “Uhh... And apparently contestant number four.” Rarity puckers up her red-rose lips with pride as of she were crowned the new Princess of Equestria. You can’t blame her for being so confident. Pegasi all over Cloudsdale have been complimenting her all day. Because of your friend, you’ve been convinced there is no way you can win the competition.
Your friends, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle are sitting on a cloud with great anticipation, cheering you and Rarity on as well as the rest of the crowd. Pinkie Pie is holding a classic bumble bee-colored foam finger with #1 imprinted on the souvenir, jumping up and down repeatedly with a small distance. “Good luck Rainbow Dash,” Rarity tells you. She wings her one of her hooves up in an assertive manner. “Just do your best.” You practically ignore her encouragement, apprehensively. Rarity approaches you, speaking to you practically in your face. “I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of changing our music. That ‘rock and roll’ doesn't really match my wings.” She flies away, and you flinch. A graceful, lady-like melody begins to play, and Rarity begins her performance, which consists of a medley of various dance styles in mid-air, as if there was flooring below her.
You swift back your head a tad bit, and your start talking your yourself, examining the course ahead. “C'mon Rainbow Dash. You can do this. Just remember the routine. Phase one.” You push yourself onto the course. This is your time to shine. It’s your time to prove you could be one of the most reputable flyers in all of Equestria. You casually fly, your wings completely spread out, around the obstacle of clouds like how you’ve been practicing. Your friends in the audience continue to applaud you. Just as you are getting the hang of it all, you clench your teeth in a focused state. Suddenly, you clumsily hit a cloud in the obstacle. “Oof. WAAAH!” you cry in agitating pain. You completely bang your head against the stage’s wall. Sitting below your friends, and right above you, are three employees of the rainbow factory, Dumb-bell, Hoops and Score, that bullied your childhood friend, Fluttershy. You stood up for her in the moments where she couldn’t even do so herself, so you were challenged you to a race by those guys. You won, and you discovered your passion for speed and your ability to cause an event called a “Sonic Rainboom” to occur. Shortly after the event, you got your cutie mark. Little at the time, did you know, that you were responsible for other ponies getting earning their cutie marks as well. Most ponies believed that the Sonic Rainboom was a old mare’s tale. That day, you proved a legend to be true.
The stallions sitting on a cloud take a good look at your blunder. “Nice going, Rainbow Crash!” Hoops laughs. The trio of crude pegasi cracks up. You look up at them, frowning. Your friends sulk at your encountering embarrassment. You look up at Rarity, who is still dancing. There’s no time to waste! You already blew it once! You take your eyes off Rarity and turn your head around. “Time for phase two!” you announce to yourself. You swiftly race yourself to a cloud right outside the dome. You spin around it a few times, and on to the next cloud ahead, and the next few constantly. Fluttershy looks up at what you’ve accomplished. “Look! Phase two is working!” Applejack and Twilight Sparkle all start to motivate you again. Pinkie Pie stands up waving the foam finger. Just when you’re getting comfortable, a speck from the cloud hits you straight in your face, and it causes you to sidetrack. You fly off in the opposite direction. The cloud then darts towards Princess Celestia and her royal guards. The Princess gasps as the cloud harmlessly bounces on her, vanishing in to thin air. You are now incredibly embarrassed. Could things possibly get any worse for you?
Meanwhile, Rarity is about to complete her act. “And now for my grand finale. I will fly right up to the sun and beam my beautiful wings over the whole city of Cloudsdale!” She gasps in enthusiasm. “They'll be talking about it for years!” Rarity is flies directly up towards the burning sun. You talk to yourself again. “Looks like this is my last chance to turn things around. Phase three. The Sonic,” You gulp. “Rainboom.” You turn your head, and look at your flapping wings. "Wings, don't fail me now!” You launch yourself up into the heavens, nearly lining up with Rarity, but you are flying at a faster pace. Some mare pegasi gasp at the sight above them. You close you eyes and clench you teeth together, allowing the rate of motion to kick in. Rarity can take care of herself. You don’t pay any attention to her. She finally stands dead in front of sun. She sweats as she cries, “Look upon me Equestria, for I am Rarity!” The gleam of her wings beams upon the crowd. They ooh and aah upon the mesmerizing sight of the glamorous unicorn with butterfly-like wings.
Then, something doesn’t seem to be right in Rarity’s case. All of a sudden, the heat of the sun impels the wings to loosely appear as if they were catching on fire. In a matter of seconds, the wings dissolve. “Uh oh,” Rarity mouths, as she realizes what will be of her at this rate. Gravity is going into effect. Rarity is being plunged to the earth, and straight through Cloudsdale Coliseum. She screams for the sake of her life. “Oh no! Her wings evaporated into thin air!” Twilight Sparkle shouts. Your heroes, the Wonderbolts glide from their spots in the audience to come and save your friend. Rarity continues to streak, and kicks the Wonderbolts straight in the face as she falls.
You take a moment to open your eyes and look at what’s going on below you. You see the Wonderbolts, and Rarity, falling to her death, crying for some pony to save her. Your jaw drops wide open as you’re flying upwards. You abruptly pause your performance. Nothing in the entire world at this moment is more important than saving Rarity. Sure, you aren’t fashionable like her. You don’t always agree with her morals. You don’t exactly see eye-to-eye, but at the end of the day, you know you love Rarity as possibly a best friend. You will do anything to save her life, even if it means losing the Best Young Flyer’s Competition. “Hold on Rarity!” You immediately dash to the bottom of the dome, and closer towards the earth. “I’m coming!” The crowd can’t do anything but stare at your bravery. Rarity stares up at you, squealing at the top of her lungs. Not even the Wonderbolts, the team of the best flyers in Equestria, can rescue her. You know that you are her only hope.
“Oh, I can't look!” Fluttershy says as she covers her up her eyes. All of your focus is entirely on Rarity. The wind blows past your mane like crazy. It’s now or never. You know what you need to do. Each moment you accelerate more and more like a bat out of hell. No matter how hasty you go, you keep thinking the same thoughts to yourself. I gotta go faster, Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash! Faster! Gotta go faster! Not good enough! Not good enough! A shield-like object forms in front of you. Faster! That voice inside you caterwauls throughout your head. Rarity gasps, jaw dropping, the pupils in her eyes shrinking in bewilderment. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle gasp, smiling widely. They know what’s going to happen. They put their full trust in you. They huddle up each other. Fluttershy uncovers her eyes.
You are dashing so much that tears fall from your eyes. You grunt, and close your eyes, allowing the tears out before your big move. The shield bends around your body, and go from a clear color to a rainbow, the same as your trademark mane. You continue to push youself. No! Not yet! Don’t give up, Rainbow Dash! A vibe of energy is running inside your veins. Your heart, just like earlier, beats more like a punch in the chest, but this time, it’s not hurting you, it’s making you invincible! You now are at the point where you are bending. You’re going at the speed of sound. Right before you make your big move, you start to remember your first Sonic Rainboom as a filly. This is why you have your cutie mark remember? The voices living inside your head speak to you again. Rainbow Dash! Do it! Push yourself! Do it already!” It all happens all of a sudden.
BOOM!
You broke the sound barrier. A colored shockwave barnstorms across the sky. A perfectly clear trail of rainbows follows you. The audience is in utter awe. Applejack and Twilight Sparkle are speechless, their jaws dropped. Even Pinkie Pie, the most energetic pony to ever live, cannot speak. Fluttershy jumps up and down in the air. She wails as loud as a shy mare like her could ever possibly can. “A Sonic Rainboom! She did it! She did it! WOOO!” You can’t think about what’s going on in Cloudsdale. Rarity is just about to hit the ground. You catch her with your hoofs just in time, along with the Wonderbolts on your back. You make a swift acceleration back to the celestial sphere. You take that serious face off, realizing what in the hell you just accomplished. “Woah,” is all you can say as you grin slightly.
You fly above and back down to the bottom entrance of the Cloudsdale Coliseum. Various pegasi ponies come and remove Rarity and the Wonderbolts from your possession. You smile with great satisfaction, and firmly land on the surface. You look up and see hundreds of ponies cheering in your honor. Confetti falls all over the place. You are in wonderment. Never in your life have you ever felt so honored. You notice your friends, specifically Fluttershy, who yelled with all her voice, “A Sonic Rainboom! Whoooo! Yeeeeaaaah!” You look at Rarity, who is in the arms of two mare pegasi, safe and well. You have tears in your eyes. “I did it! I did it!” “You sure did,” Rarity agrees. “Oh thank you, Rainbow Dash. You saved my life.” You continue to smile. “Oh yeah. I did that too. Ha, best day EVER!” This was a day every pony in Cloudsdale would remember. Forever.
See, Rainbow Dash? You are made of more than you thought you were. Just because you doubt yourself doesn't mean you actually can't do it. You saved a friend today; a best friend you thought wouldn't need you. You're not the Element of Loyalty for no reason. You made history yet again.
