Sprinkle Medley paced back and forth inside the cloudiseum with a scowl as Raindrops and the rest of her friends stood waiting next to her.

“Where in Celestia’s name is that marefriend of mine?” Sprinkle Medley grumbled and she glanced at the sun. “It’s almost time for this to start and she’s still not here. I swear, Whitey is the worst at handling being on time.”

“Meh, you get used to it,” Merry May mused and she crossed her forelegs, looking up. “Oh there’s the fly boys. Joy.”

The group briefly glanced up to watch the three Wonderbolts flying over head before they each branched off in opposite directions with trails of smoke behind them.

“Merry May!” Cotton Cloudy landed on the green pegasus and nuzzled her neck with a grin. “Have you seen my sister? I haven’t seen her all day or night since yesterday when you took me home. Well, I saw her when I was supposed to be asleep but don’t tell anypony I said that.”

“No, we haven’t,” Rainbowshine groaned and fluttered her wings. “We hoped you came with her.”

“Nah, not after the fight she, mom and dad had last night. She got kicked out yesterday night. I haven’t seen Whitey all day,” Cotton Cloudy answered and the older ponies shared a worried look.

“Where the heck did she sleep at last night then?” Raindrops wondered as she nuzzled Milky Way.

“She said something about a shelter and then I lost her. She’s really fast at flying,” Cotton Cloudy scuffed a hoof. “But she’s gotta be here, I know it.”

Sprinkle Medley bit back a curse and she continued pacing anxiously in a circle as the others briefly watched her.

“What makes you so sure about her being that?” Milky Way mused and Cotton Cloudy jumped onto his back. “Oof. Warning next time please.”

“Because she signed up to compete this year!” Cotton Cloudy chirped and nuzzled his mane. “That’s what started the whole fight. And then she insulted mom and dad for controlling her her entire filly hood. Why are you all looking surprised?”

“Because you said she signed up to compete, but she’s never once done that because she doesn’t care for showing off like that,” Sprinkle Medley explained and paused her trotting. “Well, now I’m actually kinda excited to watch. A bit angry she slept at a shelter though. She has a dozen of us she could have came to. We’re gonna have words later.”

Rainbowshine licked her lips nervously as she and the others shared a wary look.

“Or she could have snuck in to sleep with me. It would have been nice to sleep next to a warm body and not an empty spot in my bed every night,” Sprinkle Medley sighed and eyed Raindrops. “Lucky mare.”

Sprinkle Medley picked up Cotton Cloudy with a wing and dropped her on her back. She was too proud to admit she was jealous of the jasmine pegasus. Sprinkle Medley was all too accustomed to either sneaking White Lightning though her window or sneaking into Whites room.

“So was this a spur of the moment thing or something she thought out?” Sprinkle Medley glanced briefly at the filly on her back as she started trotting up some stairs. She already had a faint idea of which one it was, but the conversation was nice.

“She didn’t say but probably random. Whitey doesn’t really think about stuff, she just acts and does stuff. Like me. It’s fun.”

Fun is not how Sprinkle Medley would describe making decisions randomly, but she opted to keep that to herself. Or between her and White Lightning, at the very least. Certainly wasn’t the fillys business.

“Next year, we should just steal a freaking cloud from the factory. My hind quarters are tired,” Rainbowshine complained and the purple pegasus stretched out her left hindleg and a few ponies watched. “This walking up stairs is so annoying.”

Merry May rolled her eyes as she dropped down onto a bleacher and wrapped her wing around herself.

“I agree with the cloud idea. This bleacher makes my flanks freeze. It’s cold,” Parasol grumbles and the pale yellow pegasus took a sip from a thermos she had brought with her. “Oh hey, there’s Princess Celestia and her daughter.”

Sprinkle Medley glanced up at a cloud surrounded by police ponies where the two sat with three Wonderbolts and a brown unicorn that she didn’t recognize personally, but from hearing how White had described. It was a fairly accurate description and the unicorn brushed her white mane aside with a hoof, her wide gray eyes scanning the crowd.

Silver Spanner paced back and forth behind Sunset and Celestia, wary of the edge of the cloud as she watched curiously.

“How long does this usually take?” Silver Spanner asked and she levitated a water bottle to her mouth.

“About nine hours,” Soarin answered casually and Sunset sat next to him and Misty flicked him with her tail. “Ow!”

“Nine hours! What the fu-?” Silver Spanner bit back a curse as she leaned forward and she glowed a light gold as Celestia pulled her back.

“Careful not to fall,” Celestia tapped a hoof on the cloud. “I don’t believe White Lightning is out to save you this time. Suppose I will have to fill her role if so.”

Sunset smirked slightly and she tossed some popcorn into her mouth before offering the bag to Soarin.

“Want some?” Sunset offered and she shook the bag with her magic. “It’s got extra butter.”

“Spitfire says I have to watch my weight so unfortunately, no.”

“Oh no Soarin,” Spitfire grinned and nudged him with a wing. “Go right ahead, Soarin.”

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Soarin deadpanned and Spitfire laughed with Misty.

“Immensely.”

Misty and Spitfire both grinned as they each held back laughter as Celestia gave them a quick glance. They both promptly closed their muzzles and Celestia smirked.

“So you’re telling me the pony who does the most dangerous thing wins?” Silver Spanner asked and Misty shook her head. “This seems kinda bad.”

“Not dangerous, impressive. There’s rules in place about what tricks you can and can’t do legally. Like last year, some hundred civilians got injured because of a stunt some stallion pulled. Hence, the hundreds of security guards and police ponies,” Misty Fly explained as a police mare walked through the crowds of ponies under them. “And there will probably more when the royal guard gets involved next year since there’s the retraining going on right now.”

Silver Spanner turned her focus away from the yellow pegasus with a subtle nod as she watched a tan stallion flying over head and she now realized why Celestia advised they not wear hats. Her mane blew all over and Silver Spanner really didn’t want to imagine what her mane looked like.

She licked her hoof and started smoothing down her mane as she watched the pony with a one sticker over his flank land and Silver Spanner stomped her hooves.

“I’ve never come anywhere close to this,” Silver Spanner told the Wonderbolts sheepishly. “I barely left Ponyville till I moved to Canterlot. Other than the time my parents took me to Manehatten when I was four and Trottingham when I was eight. This is cool.”

“It gets better, trust me,” Spitfire smirked and brushed her fiery mane. A mane that randomly reminded Silver Spanner of Sunset’s and she glanced between the two.

“Are you and Spitfire related, by any chance? You two look really similar,” Silver Spanner commented and Celestia snorted.

“I can assure you Captain Spitfire and Private Blaze are not related to me and Sunset in any way,” Celestia wrapped a wing around Sunset and Silver Spanner. “Or Screwball.”

“I still need to learn about Screwball,” Sunset muttered and Celestia nodded.

“After this,” Celestia promised. “I’ll tell you about how she was made.”

This should be entertaining, Celestia thought and she shifted her weight slightly.

White Lightning leaned against a wall, idly watching ponies go back and forth with each other. Some were friendly, others were not so friendly based on the facial expressions she saw.

“Here you go,” Lucky hoofed White Lightning a sticker. “Number ninety five. Cover your left cutie mark with it. When your number is called, you go out.”

“Thanks, Lucky.” White Lightning slapped the number over her gray thunder cloud and lightning bolt cutie mark. She admittedly was a bit nervous. The only ponies she ever did any form of fancy flying in front of was her sister, marefriend or friends. And naturally, her parents.

White Lightning idly wondered if her parents still came even knowing she was here. She highly doubted they would, which probably meant Cotton Cloudy wasn’t either. She was probably still stuck at home doing Celestia knows what.

“Next!” Lucky called out and White Lightning watched a mare with a orange mane pushing the next pony out. “Thanks Lucy.”

Lucy brushed him off as White Lightning raised an eyebrow slightly before she started prancing anxiously in place.

“I really gotta use the bathroom,” White Lightning muttered and ran to the room with a mare on the door across from her. “God bless, it’s empty. Breath Whitey. It’s just flying. You’re a pegasus, flying is what you do. You can do this. Just ignore everypony. And if you do notice them, think of them in their underwear or something. That’s what Raindrops would tell me.”

White Lightning stared at her reflection and closed her eyes as she inhaled, letting out her breath slowly as the mirror steamed from her breath.

“Okay, maybe not picturing them in their underwear. It’d be pretty awkward imagining Princess Celestia in her underwear. It’s probably a gold color. Or a rainbow color. Wait, why am I putting this much thought into it?” White Lightning wondered aloud and a stall door opened as she jumped.

“I don’t know, but you should probably get it together. Breath lady,” the other mare started washing her hooves. “It really can’t be that bad.”

White Lightning glanced at the number forty three on her flank and sighed. This was going to take admittedly way longer than she expected. She saw easily hundreds of ponies in line. At least fifty by her estimate had gone already. Or so she hoped. It was more like fifteen had gone.

Maybe this was a bad idea, White Lightning wondered as she washed her hooves and trotted out the bathroom, finding her spot in line. I might be able to sneak out still and find Sprinkle in the crowd. Of course, she’s gonna be furious that I was late.

Angry Sprinkle Medley, while rare, was a terrifying sight to see. She got really red faced and was loud. And up in your muzzle. Even the brave Rainbowshine was afraid of her when she got angry enough. White Lightning was willing to be all the bits she had to her name that even the Wonderbolts wouldn’t want to face her down.

White Lightning at least was able to talk Sprinkle Medley down. Occasionally. Unless it was her she was mad at.

“What would Sprinkle Medley do if she was in my hooves?” White Lightning muttered to herself as she took a step forward. “Gotta think outside the box. Everypony will be doing barrel rolls or loops. I gotta do something big. Something huge. Something nopony has seen before.”

White Lightning eyes briefly caught a rainbow poster and her eyes widened slightly as they lit up.

“Oh, this is gonna be the death of me,” White Lightning muttered and she bolted out the room, ignoring the startled protests of the other pegasi.

Sunset rested her head against Celestia’s
side as White Lightning landed in front of her panting.

“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in line,” a startled Sunset reminded her. “This is a huge opportunity for you.”

“I know. And I need a favor. A big one, okay?” White Lightning rested a hoof on her shoulder. “Bigger than big. This is huge. And I’m not talking cheating. Come with me real quick.”

The two trotted off to an empty part of the cloud as the three Wonderbolts, Silver Spanner and Celestia watched in confusion as Sunset cast a soundproofing spell around them.

Sunset’s eyes widened in surprise as White Lightning waved her forelegs around, fluttering a few feet above the unicorn as White Lightning made a downward jabbing movement with her hoof.

“Why does Princess Sunset suddenly look terrified?” Spitfire asked and Celestia stared at her daughter going pale.

“I have no idea.”

Whatever it was clearly made Sunset nervous. And that made everypony near them nervous as a result.

Sunset and White Lightning shook hooves as White Lightning hugged her suddenly with a wide grin and Sunset hesitated before returning the hug with a smile.

Celestia visibly relaxed a little at the smile. Sunset dropped the spell and White took off with a burst of speed that surprised even Spitfire as Sunset joined them again.

“What was that about?” Celestia whispered and Sunset grinned at her widely.

“Oh, just watch and see,” Sunset winked at her. That did little to ease Celestia’s nerves, but Sunset seemed fairly confident in whatever was about to happen. “This is gonna be awesome.”

White Lightning paced anxiously back and forth as she waited for them to call her number.

“Ninety Five!” Lucy shouted and pointed and White. “You’re up.”

“Oh, Celestia be with me,” White Lightning prayed softly as she flew out and stared at the large crowds an all sides, her eyes briefly falling on Sunset and the two shared a brief nod. She hadn’t necessarily been looking out at the crowd when she was talking to Sunset. “Well, might as give them a show at least.”

Sprinkle Medley and Cotton Cloudy both leaned forward as their other friends watched curiously as White Lightning started flying rapidly in a circle along the length of the cloudiseum with enough speed to start blowing manes and hats aside.

“I really hope this ain’t all she has planned,” Milky Way muttered and Raindrops whapped him softly with a wing. “Ow.”

Silver Spanners started getting dizzy as she tried her hardest to watch the white and blue blur flying.

“Well, that’s my signal,” Sunset announced as White raised a hoof and Sunset teleported with a pop. She reappeared in front of some started ponies below Celestia as everypony else watched Sunset. “I really hope she can catch me.”

Sunset inhaled and she jumped off the cloud, her mane billowing under her as everypony screamed and Celestia’s eyes widened in shock as she jumped off the cloud with her wings spread. White Lightning shot upwards into the sky as a stunned Silver Spanner used her magic to teleport to where Sunset had been standing.

“Oh shit,” Misty Fly cursed as the three Wonderbolts jumped off after Celestia when a white and blue blur shot past them. “What in Equestria was that?”

Tears welled up in White Lightnings eyes as the wind started making everything hard to see as Sunset’s screaming started getting louder and White caught her mid air on her back and Sunset hastily wrapped her hooves around her neck as White Lightning shot back up and Sunset squeezed her eyes shut.

“She’s gonna do it,” Cotton Cloudy pranced in between Sprinkle Medley and Merry May, the two watching with dropped jaws as White Lightning soared past followed by a loud explosion that sent the the Wonderbolts and Celestia spinning head over hooves. “Never mind.”

White Lightning dropped onto the cloud with a grin, dropping Sunset softly onto the cloud before hugging her.

“While I may not have done what I wanted, that was still epic. And look, they’re cheering my name,” White Lightning waved a hoof excitedly out to the crowd. “I owe you big time, Sunset.”

“Sweet ground,” Sunset kissed the cloud. “Sweet, sweet cloud.”

“I may not win but I did have fun,” White Lightning continued as Celestia and the Wonderbolts landed behind her. “It was pretty hard finding a pony willing to jump off a cloud for me. Thanks.”

“Care to tell me what the heck was going through your mind, Sunset?” Celestia demanded as she stood over Sunset. “You could have died. You’re a princess, not invincible. You almost gave me a heart attack!”

“She needed a pony to help encourage her. And so I volunteered. She was supposed to do a what’s it called?” Sunset looked at White Lightning.

“Sonic Rainboom. It’s been done only once by somepony in flight school. It’s very rare and very hard to do. I was close,” White Lightning explained and she scuffed a hoof. “I could feel it in the wind and an shift in the air. Maybe one day.”

“Well,” Soarin nudged her with a grin. “Wanna spend the day with us?”

“Really? But I didn’t really do anything impressive. And I failed a Sonic Rainboom. Surely there’s better contestants than me.” White Lightning rested a hoof against her chest.

“Need I remind you that you beat three Wonderbolts and Princess Celestia to a screaming pony in need of help,” Soarin wrapped a wing around White Lightning. “That’s something impressive and something to be proud of.”

“I got an idea, but I need your help with it,” White Lightning glanced at the Wonderbolts.

“Name it,” Spitfire bumped her flank against White’s. “Well, within reason, of course.”

Of course, White Lightning thought with a grin as she told them.

“Now that is something I think we can manage,” Spitfire mused as her goggles hung around her neck and White Lightning grinned at her.

Fucking awesome, White Lightning thought as she shifted her wings.

First, she had to find Sprinkle Medley.

Author's Note

Fully completed. Artist is linked in story description, highly recommend him or her.