Hey, Dude, Bro! Check This Out!

Sunday. The enemy of college students and workers alike. No matter, what we're doing, or why, we all hate Sunday. Not to be confused with sundaes, which, everyone loves. I mean, who doesn't love ice cream, right?

Anyway, today is Sunday. The last day of my training and my last chance to prove to Spitfire that I can fly well, not that she was disappointed, of course.

Over the course of the week, Spitfire had been there by my side along with Rainbow, cheering me on and giving me encouragement.

Of course, this was still Spitfire, so every little screw up came with the pointing out of a flaw or two and the ever present, "Now get back out there and try it again!"

The thing about that is, it also came with the occasional affectionate nuzzle(?) Something I was quite fond of, to be honest.

Spitfire seemed to enjoy giving me pep talks and supporting me as much as she could, and I myself enjoyed her company as well.

She had already pointed out my slight swerving in the rings, my delayed reactions on the hurdles and my use of too much speed on the rings.

Now she was pointing out the fiver points of hovering, such as gliding, and "rising."

She had even told me about the fact that those same techniques can be used to make flight smoother, which was the only reason I had made it this far, if i'm willing to admit it.

I was currently in front of the first ring of the course, glaring at it with fake anger as I pretended to be in a staring contest with it. It won, obviously.

Spitfire's voice came to me from below. "What are ya doing up there, kid? You're not scared are ya?!"

Spitfire's tone was mocking, but there was a slight hint of worry there as well. She wouldn't like it if I fell and hurt myself, that's for sure. I called back down.

"I'm fine, Mom! Just gimme a second!" I said the third word with a similarly mocking tone, but something about the silence I received in return felt...off, as If I had triggered something in the atmosphere.

I brushed it aside and focused on the course. It was time.

I flared my wings and took a stance, shooting forward at a speed I was unaware I could reach. A speed I probably wasn't ready for.

I shot past the rings, completed the hurdles, and aced the turns. I smiled at that. I was doing good. But this was just the beginning.

A part of the course I failed to mention was the several feet of rings that did nothing but stretch on and on in an upward motion. Simply looking up made my head hurt slightly, but I continued onward.

And that's when it happened. Everything else around me stopped. I couldn't hear the wind, nor could I hear the cheers of the two mares below me. The only thing that existed in that moment, was the course, and myself, and, I believe, not even that.

I couldn't even tell where I was going anymore. I could still see, but I wasn't paying attention. I was just going through the motions, as if my body was on complete autopilot. I continued to sail upwards, my body moving smoothly and seamlessly through the exact center of the rings in a perfectly straight line.

Then, as if I had been underwater and was just now coming up for air, all the sound came back to me. The rush of the wind, the cheers of the mares, the full view of the course.

All of it, everything, every single solitary sensation was heightened to a degree I was absolutely sure I should not be capable of.

Everything was in clear focus. I could hear better, see better. Heck, I could even feel better. Everything was at full strength at this point, and it felt amazing.

I was just coming up on the sharp turn that signaled the last leg of the course. I came upon it faster than I expected, but something about this told me I was ready. A smirk adorned my face as I flapped my wings as hard as I could.

'I can do this!' I thought as I reached the pinnacle of the rings...

Only to turn almost immediately in the fastest pivot I had ever done in my human, now pony, life.

What I had yet to realize, even as I blasted through the rest of the turns and came out on the other side, was that all the rings behind me were slowly disappearing, evaporating, being blown away by the fact that my wings were on fire!

As I ripped past the finish line and glided down to the ground, I felt a sudden urge and struck a pose, flaring my wings out, and unknowingly taking my flames with them, as they sat on the tips of my wings.

I ended the pose and looked at the two mares, only to see them with their jaws on the floor.

I looked at them in clear confusion as I asked, "Hey, you two. What's wrong? Did something cool happen?"

Immediately Rainbow flew over to me and got so close that our muzzles were touching.

"Cool? Try awesome! Dude, your wings are on fire!"

"What?"

I looked behind me, and immediately took notice of what Rainbow meant.

Sitting on the tips of my wings were bright orange and red flames, dancing wildly around my spread wings as I spied a trail of flames burning the very air behind me.

They didn't burn. In fact they didn't hurt at all, and they seemed to not be going away despite the fact that I noticed they were there. Of course, I didn't know that at the time, so I did the only thing I knew to do in that situation.

In a loud voice I said, "Stop, drop and roll!" and dove to the ground.