The Free Skies

Rainbow pushed the door open, entering a small room lined with chairs. The few beings in the room made her pause and look them over.

The first one that caught her eye was another pegasus, though this one had a light blue mane and tail with streaks of darker blue, giving them a dynamic and slightly wild appearance. Her coat is a lighter shade of cyan, and she has bright amber eyes. Her cutiemark being three stars under a lightning bolt.

The next was a surprise, as it was a griffon she knew, stretched out across several chairs. White feathers on her head and neck with a brown coat of fur and feathers on her body and wings. Her front legs were yellow-ish gold, the same as her claws. The last two were hippogryphs, one with a gray coat, the other a dark blue.

The pegasus looked up from the clipboard between her hooves and smirked at Rainbow, saying, “Well, look who finally showed up.”

Rainbow smirked back and said as she raised her snout in the air, “Excuse me for actually being a celebrity with fans.” She reached under her wing and pulled out a signed picture of herself, tossing it to the other pegasus. “Here, I managed to finally keep one for ya.”

The griffon piped up from the side while rolling her eyes, “Yeah, yeah, Rainbow Crash. Or should I say Rainbow the Gutless.”

Rainbow's expression half dropped. The smirk frozen on her face in a neutral line as she stared at the griffon for a few seconds before saying, “You wanna run that by me again?” The words came out even, like Rainbow wasn't paying attention to what she was saying.

“You heard me. You’ll back out now if you know what’s good for you. I’ll be winning this one.”

The cyan pegasus scoffed and stood up from where she was laying. “In your dreams, Thunder.”

That caused both the griffon and Rainbow to look at the other mare, the griffon saying, “Why are you calling me Thunder? I thought that was one of those two.” The griffon pointed at the two hippogryphs.

The cyan mare chuckled, “Well you know, ‘cause thunder always comes after... Lightning!” The mare would strike a pose, wings up as if she had just landed.

Rainbow chuckled at that and held a hoof out for Lightning to bump. “She’s got ya there, Gilda.”

Gilda growled to herself but didn’t say anything.

Lightning returned the bump and sat down. “Nice to see you again.”

Rainbow nodded, sitting down next to Lightning. “Yeah, sorry about how I left.”

“Nah, it’s alright. I heard you saved someone on that flight and helped them when you came back here. ‘Sides, I kinda deserved that for how I acted with my wingmare.” The mare was shortly taken by a bout of melancholy before snapping back as Rainbow spoke.

“I... won’t deny that. I suppose we were both in a bad place then.” Rainbow put an arm around Lightning’s shoulders, giving her a half hug.

Lightning nodded at that and said, “I was young and running from my parents.”

“Oh? Too strict?”

The cyan mare shook her head. “They died.”

Rainbow winced at that and tightened her hug for a moment. She was quick to say, “I know how that feels....”

Lightning shook her head again and gave Rainbow a sad smile. “Look, let’s save all of this for after the race. Talking about the past will only get us unfocused.”

Rainbow nodded, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “Right. Well, at least we can have it announced that Prism Storm is flying together again.”

Lightning chuckled at that and patted Rainbow’s shoulder, standing up and moving over to her clipboard. “Only if we’re gonna do shows again.”

Rainbow would rub her neck with a hoof. “Yyeeaahhh, about that....”

Lightning looked over at Rainbow. “Something wrong?”

“I... kinda tried to do something about what’s been happening here, and got caught up in more than I wanted to.”

“Don’t tell me you were stupid enough to try to steal from Canterlot,” Gilda said suddenly. “You seriously are not that dumb.”

Rainbow gave Gilda a glare. “If you have to know, I didn’t go there to do that right away. I tried to get an appointment to see someone high enough, but... well, I heard that night that there would be a hole in the defenses, so I thought getting at least something would be enough to get things rolling.”

“But that didn’t happen,” Lightning said.

Rainbow huffed and crossed her forehooves. “No, it didn’t. Tempest and I got caught, but managed to escape... mostly. It’s a good thing Twilight isn’t gonna hold any of this against us.”

“Wait, what does this have to do with-” Lightning started but was interrupted.

Gilda snarled and stomped over to Rainbow, glaring down at her as she said, “So you’re even dumber than I thought! Seriously? The Grand Admiral’s own student?!”

Rainbow stood up and pressed her head against Gilda’s, scowling. “Hey, she jumped onto my ship! If I knew she’d do that, I wouldn’t have bothered with going back to the hole in the perimeter!”

Lightning pushed between the two of them, pressing them away from each other as she said, “No fighting. Keep it for the track or we’ll all be sanctioned and the race will be run another day with other racers.”

Gilda scoffs and turns away, her tail smacking Rainbow’s cheek. “Fine, that loser doesn’t deserve any more attention.”

Lightning sighed and shook her head, a bell going off just then. “Well, the track’s ready for us. Let’s get out there and make our own streams.”

Rainbow nodded, waiting for the others to leave before following after them. The five of them walked down a tunnel about a hundred steps long. Rainbow thought back to the first time she walked this tunnel, how a bout of stage fright kept her from going more than halfway until she heard her parents cheering her on. Closing her eyes she could still hear them chanting her name, encouraging her on to her awaiting ship.

Tears leaked from her eyes as she walked, remembering all the times she had to be cheered on to do something by her parents. How they always supported her, regardless of what happened calling her the fastest pilot ever. How they had protected her in that cage, giving their lives to force the creature out of its cage and into the enclosure that had been prepared for it.

Rainbow shook her head, clearing the memories away as she stepped out of the tunnel. She walked past the ships of her fellow racers, her eyes lingering on the curves and angles to note how they would fly. Each one would cut through the wind to a degree, but would deal with gusts and drafts differently. Then she looked at the ship she would be flying.

Even in the light of day, The Unseen Lego sat like a shadow within shadows, its faceted surfaces seeming to absorb the light. The aircraft's matte-black skin, interrupted only by a few thin red stripes denoting its unit, gave it a menacing, almost predatory appearance. Its angular shape, more akin to a stealthy bird of prey than a conventional fighter, spoke of its ancient purpose: to slip through enemy defenses unnoticed, strike swiftly, and vanish without a trace.

From certain angles, it seemed as though the Lego was not a solid object at all, but a negative space cut out from the air itself. Despite its sleek, futuristic appearance, the Lego bore the scars of its races. Tiny pockmarks dotted its surface where repairs had been made, each one a testament to the dangers faced in the hostile skies it prowled.

She smiled and rested a hoof on her ship. “Back together again, hey?” She patted its hull and then climbed up through the ship and into the cockpit. “Don’t worry big guy, I’ll get us both back safely. I promised my parents I would always come home, after all.”