The field was not large, it was about the size of Ponyville Square, but it was just enough to preform some awesome stunts.
Rainbow Dash geared herself up, and took off for the first checkpoint. She had designed the course in such a way that whatever Dash would encounter at the meet was going to be a walk in the park compared to what lay in front of her.
The course that Twilight had set up was fifty percent smaller than the standard racetrack. The circles were twenty-five percent smaller, and there were double the amount in a normal race.
Twilight had said that would help with Dash's turning ability and speed. Two things that she desperately needed to get better at.
Before the first circle there is a five-hundred yard sprint. Rainbow Dash tensed her left wing as it got closer. During her last race she had been knocked into a checkpoint that resulted in her left wing being fractured.
Taking a deep breath, Rainbow Dash gunned through the last hundred yards. She had a brief flashback to the incident which forced her eyes shut. To her shock and relief she breezed through that first circle. Dash quickly then turned her gaze towards the next circle. She had no time to celebrate her achievement because she had around ten seconds in-between checkpoints.
After completing the first lap, Dash took a little rest to pat herself on the back. It had taken nearly two weeks of physical and mental therapy to get here, but damn was it worth it.
She had gotten no sleep the night before, anxious about re-tearing her wing. As soon as she had flown through that first one all of her fears had withered away. Rainbow Dash felt like she could take over the world. Trotting to the starting line she took off again. Leaving her fears, as well as her imagined opponents in the dust.
The day was long over, but Rainbow Dash was still out practicing. She had asked Twilight to put a light spell on the checkpoints to make it so that Dash could practice well into the evening.
"Nice flying there Rainbow Dash!"
The Pegasus turned around to see Spike sitting on top of a hill. The practice area was in a large valley that was mostly unknown to the general public. Perfect for solo lessons.
"Thanks little guy!" Dash flew up to the dragon. "How are things going back at the castle?"
"The usual. Apple Jack and Fluttershy are heading back from Canterlot." Spike summoned the scroll.
"We are very pleased to announce that Twilight's initiative to save the forests of the county is going to be put into effect. Gaining strong support from, Commissioner Blue Blood, the edict was officially passed with a near unanimous vote! They will be rolling out parchment to each mayor within the coming weeks. See you guys soon!"
Rainbow Dash clapped her hoofs in excitement. Twi had been looking to get that Celestia forsaken bill passed for so long. "Spike, looks like it's time that we celebrate! Is Twilight still at the castle?"
Spike nodded. "If we hurry now we may just be able to catch her. She's been hold up in there all day taking care of a mountain of paperwork."
"Phew, I thought we'd miss her for a second." Rainbow Dash pointed at the sky. "It's just after sundown. I may be exhausted, but I can get us there in thirty minutes. Wanna hop on Spike?" The dragon obliged and Dash took off towards Ponytown at a breakneck speed.
They arrived with only minutes to spare. Dash let Spike down, and the pair entered the castle.
"Dash, do you hear that?" Spike's ears perked up. It was feint, but he could make out the sound of someone wailing.
"Yeah, wonder who it could be." Rainbow Dash lowered her voice down to a whisper. "You don't think that could be Twi? That sounds an awful lot like her."
The two friends hurried down the hallway. The castle had grown quite extensive since the day that they had taken down Tirek. They needed more than a grand meeting room to account for the infinity expanding staff. Dash had joked to Twilight that with each passing day they were becoming more like Canterlot than Ponyville.
After wading through the endless maze of corridors the duo arrived at the Grand Room.
Twilight was dead center, and dwarfed among piles of paperwork that stretched to the ceiling. Dash and Spike raced over to comfort their friend.
"I, I don't know what to do guys. There's just so much crap that I have to deal with" Twilight shuffled through her papers. "On top of that there's a big weekend long meeting in Canterlot that I have to go to there's no way that I can finish this all today!"
"It's going to be okay Twilight." Dash consoled her friend with a hoof. "Spike and I can take night shift if you want."
"I appreciate the offer, but all county ordinances must have my signature on them to make the laws legitimate."
"We can just hold these laws until the summit is over. Isn't there going to be an item on the agenda that could change all of that?" Spike asked.
Twilight thought it over. She was worried that even going away for one day would halt the government. On the other hand, she hadn't had a break in over a month. Celestia had always said that it was okay to take a day or two off if things got real busy. "Okay after thinking it over for a little I've decided that I am going to take a few days off before the summit."
Her friends drew a short breath. Dash was thrilled that her best friend was finally taking some time off. "Hey Twilight, you've earned some time off. Spike and I will do our best to sift through this mess." Dash smiled.
"Maybe we were way too over our heads, Spike." Rainbow Dash sighed. It had been three hours and they had only gone through ten pieces of legislation. Dash made a mental note to become more invested in Equestrian politics. A lot of what she read was way beyond her reading comprehension.
"I think you're right, Dash. If Twilight was having trouble getting through some of this then I don't see how we're going to get all of this done." He looked at the pile. "Want to just get the most important ones out then call it a night?"
Rainbow Dash nodded. It was one in the morning, and her body was a lot more sore than she had anticipated. "Hey Spike, what about this one?"
Spike grabbed the paper. "It's not exactly a law so I don't see why it's important to us."
"It might not be a law Spike, but it's a memo about the riots that took place a few months ago. Isn't that something Twilight would look over?"
Spike caved in and went over to look at the memo.
Princess Twilight
We have reason to believe from our recent investigation that there is a possibility of a full scale national uprising against the unicorn nobility. I have my personal faith in you Twilight, that with your proposal of higher wages and less working hours for miners. The commission is hopeful that during the summit in three months we can try to quell another uprising before it happens.
Commissioner Blue Blood
"A full scale rebellion?" Rainbow Dash scratched her head. "Spike, you know more about Equestria's history than I do, so why would ponies want to rebel against each other?"
"Dash, you might want to have some popcorn ready, while I'll try to keep it brief there's just so much history to go over that I'll keep us here all night if I didn't," Spike said. Rainbow Dash nodded, and took a seat next to him.
"So why are the three tribes fighting again? I thought that was taken care of during Hearth's Warming?"
"That my good friend is a little tale that we tell to foals because the real story is much, much darker." Spike went to the library and brought back several thick, hardcover books. Dusting them off, he opened the first one.
"For you see Dash, the story goes much deeper than a simple exchange of services. That took place during the Uneasy Truce. What we're looking at right here is the millennia long power struggle between the three tribes. See, back in ancient times there was rampant tribalism among us. Like if a unicorn looked at an Earth Pony the wrong way a fight would break out. The unicorns, being naturally better skilled in magic and government approached the other two tribes after thousands of years of non-stop fighting."
Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Well I'm not so sure about that. Each kind of pony has equal prowess in their kind of magic. Not all of it is visible spell casting."
"Well are you sure about that?" Spike retorted. "The ancient unicorns were able to easily defeat the other two tribes. Anyway, back to the history lesson. Several times over the course of history the unicorns had conquered and held dominance. Though every time both tribes were able to rise up and execute the leading unicorn nobility of the era."
"So after one of those long drawn out wars, the unicorns had decided to call a meeting for the leaders of all three tribes." Spike opened up another book. "The meeting was not for peace as so much to put a dent in the fighting. However, after long hours of talking things over the three groups realized that there was more to gain by working together than tearing each other apart."
"That's it?" Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "I don't know if it can be that simple."
"Well I did say it was the very short hand version. If you want, I can lend you these for free. It'll take a couple days out of your life but its worth it." Spike gave Dash his collection.
"Thanks Spike! Though what was that stuff about unicorn superiority?"
"Oh that's just from some news commentator that I've been following. Every since Twilight bought a radio I've been following politics non stop."
"Is that so? Hopefully you're not talking about Snake Eyes. He's bad news for Equestria."
"Aww you're giving him a bad rap. You might not agree with everything that he says, but you've got to respect the fact that he's raising political awareness."
Rainbow Dash hoof-palmed. "You do realize that he's been saying some pretty racist shit right? I may not follow the news, but I've been curious and listened to see if he has anything good to say. I feel that he does not. "
"Well that's just your opinion then. I don't feel the things he says are racist."
"How so? How is saying that the Earth Ponies and Pegasus' need to learn their place after the riots isn't racist?"
"But you know it's true Rainbow Dash. With the riots going on recently the lower casts don't appreciate the peace that we have!"
"I can't believe that just came out of your mouth man." Rainbow Dash wanted to yell, but she calmed herself down. No use in getting into a fight this late. Not when most of the staff here are loyal to Twi. Rainbow Dash decided to take the books Spike gave her and leave. She was not about to be victimized right as she was regaining her confidence.