A Pegasus Tale

Chapters

Chapter 1: Arrival
Chapter 2: Encounters of the Filly Kind
Chapter 3: Mane 6 Meet and Greet
Chapter 4: The Ghosts of the Past
Chapter 5: Welcome to Ponyville
Chapter 6: A Royal Encounter
Chapter 7: The Cloudsdale 500 Part 1
Chapter 8: The Cloudsdale 500 Part 2
Chapter 9: The Cloudsdale 500 Part 3
Chapter 10: Fame and Fortune and Everything That Goes With It
Chapter 11: Just Like Old Times

Chapter 1: Arrival

Chapter 1

Arrival

It had been six days since Forge last touched down for some rest, and six days since the guards started chasing him.

"Oh for Celestia's sake!" Forge shouted at them "Don't you guys ever quit!"

No response as they continued to fly after him. Forge continued flying, looking back every know and then as the guards began to close the distance. Despite having escaped the guards multiple times in the past, Forge was running on fumes. It was only a matter of time before they were on top of him and he was sent to prison.

The trouble all began in Stalliongrad, where despite Forges' best efforts, he was recognized and panic immediately set in. Forge had grown a bad reputation surrounding him and his abilities, causing ponies to flee at the sight of him. In actuality, Forge was a nice pegasus and had at one time been loved by everypony.

Sadly, things change and he was now on Equestria's most wanted list.

They were getting closer, he could feel it. Soon he'd be captured and sent to prison to rot for the rest of his life. He looked back to see his fate closing in...

...except they weren't there.

Forge stopped and began to look frantically everywhere for any possible sign of where they were.

"Th-their gone...," Forge thought. A smile began to spread across his face. "I did it... I escaped again!"

Forge hovered in place for a moment as if in shock before shouting his excitement to the heavens.

"Yyyyaaaahhhhoooo! I got away again! I am awesome! No one can catch me! You hear me! No one! I AM INVINCIBLE!"

The sound of thunder broke through Forges excitement as he suddenly became fully aware of his surroundings. The guards didn't stop following him because he out paced them, they stopped because he had flown into a giant thunderstorm!

"Damn it! I must have been to focused on getting away I didn't even notice where I was flying!"

Rain began to pelt Forges black coat like baseballs and the wind howled through his ears as he desperately searched for a place to wait the storm out. Lightning broke the skies everywhere he looked and the thunder was loud enough to deafen him.

"It's going to be a long night..."

"Wow..." Twilight thought as she stared out the window at the storm over head. "Rainbow and the other pegasi have really outdone themselves this time."

"Yeah, Celetia only knows that she'll be braggin' bout it tomorra", responded Applejack. "Thanks for lettin' us stay the night, Twilight. I don't think its safe ta be outside right now."

"Yes dear, your very kind" added Rarity. "All that gastly wind would ruin my beautiful mane."

"Nothing could ruin your beautiful mane Rarity," Spike said as he stared at Rarity like a lovesick puppy.

"I hope the other girls are okay. I mean the storms pretty bad." A look of worry spread across Twilights' face as she thought of Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.

"Don't sweat it sugacube, I'm sure their fine. Fluttershy's probly made her house more secure than Rarity's jewelry box, and Pinkie Pies outta town with the Cakes. She won't be back till tomorra".

"What about Rainbow Dash?"

"She made this here storm, I'm sure she's fine. Shoot, she's probly causing all the lightning ta try and scare us".

"Yeah, I suppose your right Applejack".

"Of course she is dear. I'm sure our friends are just fine." Twilight looked over at Rarity and Applejack as she relaxed. The sincerity in Rarity's voice and Applejack's comforting words always seemed to relieve any stress, even during the worst of situations.

"Still, I do hope that no one got caught in it though."

"Twilight, you worry to much," replied Spike who had stopped staring at Rarity long enough to listen to the conversation. "You'd have to be stupid or crazy to head into a storm this bad."

"Spikes right, you need to lightnen up a bit dear. All this worrying will give you wrinkles."

Twilight looked back out towards the window, a look of worry still on her face. "They're right", she thought to herself. "Only an idiot would head into this storm...right?

"I must be the biggest idiot in all of Equestria", Forge thought as he continued flying through the storm. "How the hell do I not notice flying into a storm! It's a storm for Celestia's sake!"

His fur was soaking wet and his wings were taking a beating due to the wind in the storm. He had been flying for at least twenty-minutes now and he felt like he could just pass out at any moment from exhaustion.

Suddenly, Forge looked up. He could see lights across the landscape, and where there were lights, there was a town.

"Finally", he exclaimed exhausted. "Salvation."

Forge put his final ounce of strength left into his wings hoping that they would get him to the town before he passed out. He suddenly felt a jolt of electricity course through his body as he writhed in pain.

He had been struck by lightning.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Forge shouted as the electricity passed through his body. After the pain subsided, his eyes began to go dark and he was then plummeting towards the ground. His crumpled body twisted and turned as he fell. He had no more energy left to pull out of this. He stared towards the ground as he sped closer and closer to it.

"One...last...chance", Forge said. He managed to twist his body so that he was looking straight at the ground. He only had one shot if he was going to survive. He closed his eyes and braced for impact.

Chapter 2: Encounters of the Filly Kind

Chapter 2

Encounters of the Filly Kind

Forge's eyes shot open as he gasped for air. He coughed as he began to get movement back in his body and quickly began looking around for any sign of where he was.

"Uggh...", he said as he attempted to stand. He barely made it onto his forelegs when a sudden burst of pain shot through him. He grunted and began looking himself over, checking every inch of is body to make sure everything was still in one piece.

"W-what happened last night...Why can't I remember... Wait!"

Suddenly through the cloudiness of his mind, Forge began remembering everything that had taken place the night before. The guards, the city, the storm. It was all coming back to him in the blink of an eye.

"Oh yeah...the storm...a-and I was falling..." He attempted to stand up again only to stumble around before having to use one of the nearby trees for balance. His eyes screwed themselves shut from the pain. He turned his attention toward his wings where the pain seemed to be resonating from.

"M-my-my wings," he stared mouth agape at what he saw. His left wing was badly broken and he was missing a few feathers on his right wing. But what shocked him the most was the massive burn mark right in the middle of his spine. The lightning bolt had singed most of the fur and was now just pink skin and blisters.

He stood against the tree for a moment to collect himself before a familiar sound snapped his mind back into focus. His stomach.

"He he...I guess I could use something to eat. I thought I saw an apple orchard nearby. Maybe somepony will help me there."

Forge began limping towards the apple orchard, leaving behind only a few hoofprints and the smoking ring of singed grass from where he landed.

The sun shone overhead as 3 little fillies began thinking of new ideas in order to get there cutie marks.

"How about hockey?" Scootaloo suggested, shooting an imaginary puck.

"Scootaloo, its summer", Apple Bloom sighed. "How are we supposed ta play hockey in the summer? It ain't cold enough for an ice rink."

"Oh yeah," Scootaloo said disheartened, "I forgot about that..."

"Oh, I got an an idea!" Sweetie Belle added. "Shark wrestling."

Scootaloo and Applebloom looked at her with confusion. "Sweetie Belle, even I think that's to dangerous and we've gone hiking in Everfree Forest at night!" Scootaloo said.

"Wait. That's it!" Apple Bloom suddenly shouted racing out of the club house.

"What's it Apple Bloom?

"Zecora! Maybe she's got somethin' that'll help us find our cutie marks!"

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle quickly looked at each other and nodded in agreement before taking off after Apple Bloom. Zecora, the local zebra normally had a bunch of potions at her hut. Maybe one of them would help them in figuring out what their talents are.

"Wait up Apple Bloom! Do you remember the way to her hut?"

"Course I do!"

****

"We're lost!" Scootaloo shouted angrily.

"We are not lost! I know exactly where I'm going!" Apple Bloom shouted back.

"Apple Bloom," Sweetie Belle pleaded, "We've been walking around for hours. Maybe we should just turn around and see if we can find another way to earn our cutie marks."

"No way! Her hut's just around this corner, I can feel it!"

Apple Bloom took off around the corner skidding to a complete stop as she realized what was in front of her. There, sleeping in the middle of the road was a manticore.

"Apple Bloom, did you find Zecora's...", Scootaloo was saying before Apple Bloom placed a hoof over her mouth.

"Jus' back up really slowly and try not to make any noise." Both Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell nodded in agreement as the three began to back up. They were just about to turn the corner when one of them stepped on a branch.

"SNAP"

The manticores' eyes shot open looking directly at the Crusaders as they huddled together out of fear. The manticore stared at them, clearly upset for being awoken from its nap.

"Uh...", Apple Bloom tried to say something, but was frozen with fear. The manticore roared at the three fillies and all three began to scream.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"

Forges' ears shot up as he heard what sounded like somepony screaming.

"Sounds like somepony's in trouble. I gotta do something!" Forge said. Ignoring the pain that was still bothering him, he began galloping towards where the screams were coming from. "Hold on! I'm coming!"

Forge quickly reached a hill near to where the screaming came from and looked down. He gasped as he saw a manticore circling three fillies huddled together.

"Oh no! That thing's going to make them it's lunch! Not if I can help it!"

Forge took a deep breath and lined himself up perfectly with the Manticore.

The manticore circled as the three fillies sat there. Unable to move as the manticore closed in.

"I'm sorry girls," Apple Bloom cried. "We shoulda jus' gone home! Now we're gonna be manticore food!"

"It's okay...", Scootaloo sobbed, grabbing onto her friends and holding them closely. "At least we're together... that's all that matters..."

The three grouped together for a group hug as the manticore raised its paw to deal the first blow. Suddenly, a fireball strikes the manticore in the back. The manticore roared as it turned to face its attacker.

"Great! Now there's a dragon here too! We're really done for now" Scootaloo shouted.

"Uh, girls... that fireball didn't come from a dragon..." Sweetie Belle said. At this point Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had looked up from the group hug and looked at Sweetie Bell. Her face was in a mix of shock and awe as she looked in the direction of their savior. The two looked in the same direction as gasped. Standing on top of a nearby hill, was a pegasus pony with a mane, tail and wings coated in fire now staring down the manticore.

"Hey ugly," the pegasus shouted. "Why don't you pick on somepony your own size!"

The Manticore roared once more and rushed towards the pegasus with new fury in its eyes. The pegasus did the same and charged down the hill full speed. As the pegasus charged at the manticore, he began to become surrounded by flames until he looked like a giant fireball. He collided with the manticore, knocking it off its feet and slamming him into a nearby tree.

The manticore got to it's feet and shook it's head. The pegasus had now positioned himself in between the girls and the manticore, flames still ablaze on the pony as he stared it down. "You wanna try going after them again tough guy, he shouted at the manticore. The manticore roared once more before slowly backing off into the forest, it's tail between its legs. When the manticore was fully gone from sight, the pegasus relaxed. The flames that had once been on his body disappeared and his mane, tail and wings were looking like normal hair and feathers. He turned around and looked at the three fillies now staring at him, their eyes wide and mouths agape.

"Are you three okay?", he asked. They didn't respond. The pegasus suddenly looked a little worried. "Okay, I can explain what you just saw. Just don't freak out."

"That...was...awesome."

"Look I now that was pretty scary bu...", he stopped, looking almost shocked at what the fillies had said. "Wait...what?"

Suddenly the three fillies had darted toward him and were now racing around his legs like puppies who were happy to see their master come home. Forge was in disbelief and a feeling a little silly as they continued to run around him. Suddenly, they began bombarding him with questions.

"HOW'DYOUDOTHAT? WHEREYAFROM? WHAT'SYOURCUTIEMARK? WEREYASCARED? AREYOUANALIEN?"

The fillies eventually stopped running and sat themselves right in front of Forge, staring up at him with puppy-dog eyes. Forge stared back still in shock until one of the three began to speak.

"That was so cool! You took down that manticore like it was nothing!", the orange pegasus said.

"Yeah! He was all like "ROAR" and then you were like "No way" and then then kicked his butt!", the white unicorn added.

"That was the bravest thing I ever seen! That was amazing!", said the pony with the pink bow in her hair.

"Wait, wait.", Forge said before they continued speaking. "You mean...none of you are scared of me?"

"Mister you just saved our lives! Why on earth would we best scared of you?"

"Well, normally when ponies find out about the fire thing, they just run away from me. They think I'm a monster or a freak."

"You put yourself in danger to help us! A monster wouldn't do that!"

Forge stared a their now smiling faces...which were now getting kind of creepy. He couldn't believe that these three little fillies were showing him such kindness and trust. He knew he just saved them from a manticore but was sure that they'd run away from him.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves", the unicorn said. "I'm Sweetie Belle." The orange pegasus then cut in front of her a spoke next. "I'm Scootaloo." Both were then shoved out of the way by the one with the pink bow. "And my names, Apple Bloom. And together we are..." Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo then appeared on both sides of Apple Bloom and they shouted the name of their club at the top their lungs. "THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!!" The shout was loud enough to send Forge sliding back a bit and take off every leaf on the trees nearby. Forge stood there looking a little frazzled before giving his head a shake and turning his attention back to the Crusaders.

"Now what's your name?" Apple Bloom said looking at Forge with her puppy-dog eyes again. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle soon followed, eagerly awaiting his response.

Forge looked at the three and smiled as his heart skipped a beat for a moment.

"Forge...my name is Forge. And it's nice to meet you."

Chapter 3: Mane 6 Meet and Greet

Chapter 3

Mane 6 Meet and Greet

Forge continued on his way through the forest, only now he had three little companions that haven't stopped asking him questions or running around his legs since he rescued them from being a manticores lunch. While he enjoyed their company, he was silently hoping that the trip towards the apple orchard wouldn't be much longer as they were starting to get on his nerves.

"We're almost there Mister Forge", said Apple Bloom. "Sweet Apple Acres is jus' around the corner. Soon you'll have all the apples you can eat!"

Forges stomach growled as he thought about the delicious apples waiting for him. "Great. I'm starving. Oh and you don't have to call me Mister Forge, Apple Bloom. Just call me Forge."

"Sure thing Mister Forge". Forge facehoofed as she continued calling him mister, but ignored correcting her and continued walking.

Eventually the four reached their destination and were soon surrounded by acre upon acre of apples. Forge stared in amazement and his mouth slowly began to water as he stared at the apples. His stomach growling loud enough to make him jump a little.

"Your family owns all of this!" Forge said in disbelief.

"Na this is just the first hundred acres," Apple Bloom said proudly. "The rest is over there."

Forge turned his head in the direction of her hoof and his jaw hit the ground. Their were at least a thousand more acres of apple trees, each one covered in fresh, ripe apples. Forge stood their frozen in disbelief before a nudging on his hoof snapped him out of his trance.

"Mister Forge," said Sweetie Belle "are you all right?"

"Yeah. I'm just impressed is all."

"APPLE BLOOM! SCOOTALOO! SWEETIE BELLE! WHERE Y'ALL GONE TO?!"

The Crusaders all looked in the direction where the shouting came from. Forge didn't notice and was busy getting dozens of apples form the nearby trees.

"Hey, that was Applejack!", Scootaloo shouted excitedly. "She must be worried sick about us."

"Then we better get going before she sends a search party for us.", Sweetie Belle added.

Apple Bloom began galloping in the direction of her sisters voice, while Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle began shoving Forge after her and away from the apples he'd collected.

"Come on Mister Forge", Sweetie Belle said as she and Scootaloo pushed Forge towards Applejack's voice. "We want to introduce you to Apple Blooms sister!"

"What? Hey wait a minute!", Forge pleaded as he was dragged away from his precious apples. "I still haven't gotten anything to eat yet!"

Applejack wandered around her apple fields looking everywhere for any sign of her little sister and her friends.

"Where in tarnation could they be", Applejack thought to herself. "it's not like em' to run off without tellin' somepony."

"APPLEJACK!"

Applejack wheeled her head around as she heard the little voice call her name. She smiled as she saw Apple Bloom galloping towards her, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo right on her hooves. "There y'all are! Where have ya' been! I was worried sick about you!"

"We're fine sis. We just went to the Everfree Forest."

"What?!"

"Yeah", added Scootaloo. "And then we were attacked by a manticore!"

"What?!!"

"We were almost eaten", Sweetie Belle said.

"WHAT?! Apple Bloom what were ya' thinkin'! You now the Everfree Forest is dangerous! Did the manticore hurt ya'?! How many hooves am I holdin' up?!"

"That's just it sis! The manticore didn't do nothin'. Mister Forge saved us and sent it running with its tail between its legs!"

"Who's Mister Forge?", Applejack asked suddenly curious about who was dumb enough to tangle with a manticore.

"I am", came a voice from behind the girls. Applejack looked up and noticed the tall black pegasus now looking at her. "And you must be Applejack, Apple Blooms sister right?"

"That's right. It's nice t'meetcha", she said as she began to shake Forges hoof furiously.

"N-n-nice m-m-meeting y-y-you t-t-to", Forge desperately tried to say as they continued shaking hooves.

"Uh...sis? I think you can stop shaking hooves now."

"Oh right". She stopped shaking and looked at the ground, an embarrassed grin on her face. "Sorry bout' that".

Forges' hoof shook in midair for a bit before Scootaloo stopped it. "Don't worry about it."

"Well I do appreciate what ya' did for my sister and her friends. Ya' must be pretty brave...or stupid."

"Thanks...I think."

Applejack smiled at him before she gasped and ran right up to him. "What happened to your wings!", she shouted.

Forge suddenly felt a rush of pain go through his body. All the adrenaline from fighting the manticore had worn off and he was once again fully aware of his injuries. Forge collapsed onto his forelegs from the pain while the Crusaders and Applejack looked at him with worry.

"Apple Bloom, run ta' Fluttershy's cottage and tell her ta' bring her medical kit! This poor fella's hurt bad!", Applejack demanded.

"Sure thing sis! Come on girls!", Apple Bloom said as she began galloping towards Fluttershy's. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle followed closely behind.

Forge watched as the three fillies ran for help before letting out a groan of pain. Applejack looked down at him with a reassuring look. "Now don't you worry bout' a thing sugacube. If anypony can help ya' out, its Fluttershy."

Forge smiled back at her as she began to try and get him on his hooves. "C'mon now", she said as she began nudging him towards the barn. "I got some nice hay in the barn for ya' to lay on."

"Thank you...", Forge said weakly.

"Its the least I can do for ya'. You saved ma' sister and her friends after all."

They made it to the barn and Applejack managed to lie Forge down on a pile of hay. Forge sighed in relief as he lay there. The hay was so soft and warm, Forge felt as though he was lying on the world's fluffiest cloud.

"Now you just rest up, Fluttershy and the girls will be here in no time at all."

"Thank you, Applejack...", Forge managed to give the orange pony one last smile before drifting of to sleep.

Forge had slept for what seemed like days. He was barely conscious when he heard somepony's talking about him.

"Is he gonna be alright?" Forge recognized the voice as Apple Bloom.

"He's gonna be just fine sugacube." The southern accent, clearly Applejack. "How bad were his injuries Fluttershy?"

More voices began speaking as he continued listening to the conversation through his semi-concious state. None of which he recognized. "Oh...um...they weren't as bad as you thought", came a rather quiet voice. Forge assumed this to be Fluttershy.

"Poor guy", came another voice. "How did this happen?"

"Apparently, from what the girls have told me, he was caught in that storm yesterday and crashed in the Everfree Forest."

"Oh the poor dear. He looks positively dreadful."

"Yeah, he looks like he got run over by a cart."

"RAINBOW!" Every voice in the room seemed to shout at once at that moment.

"I'm just saying."

"Well it ain't funny Rainbow! He's already fought back a manticore so whatta ya' expect him ta' look like!"

"I wonder if he likes parties? (Gasp) When he wakes up I'm going to throw him a "Glad your not hurt, welcome to Ponyville and thanks for saving the Crusaders"party! There's gonna be cake and balloons and music and games an..mphf"

"Ssshhh. I know your excited Pinkie but please be quiet, your going to wake him up."

"Okie Dokie Lokie!"

Forge had enough of listening and began to stand up. He looked in the direction of the voices and noticed Applejack and the Crusaders had their back to him while five other ponies were looking directly at them. As he began to walk towards them, he noticed that his wings were bandaged to his sides. He smiled in relief over the fact that he still had them.

He turned his attention back towards the group of ponies and made his way towards them. By this point the Crusaders had noticed him and ran to greet their hero.

"Mister Forge!!!", they all shouted in excitement. One by one the other ponies turned to see the black pegasus walking towards them. Forge stopped in his tracks as his hooves were embraced by Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.

"Its nice to see you to", Forge said as the three fillies clung to him. He looked up and noticed Applejack and the other ponies had made their way into the barn and were now smiling at the sight of the three fillies.

"Nice ta' see your still with us pardner", Applejack said.

"No kidding. How long was I out?"

"Bout' three hours. You looked pretty bad when I brought ya' here."

"It'll take a lot more than a broken wing and a lighting strike to keep me down!", Forge said proudly. Applejack just rolled her eyes.

"Forge, I'd like ya' to meet my friends." Forge looked at the five ponies standing behind her. Each one had a sheepish smile on their face. It wasn't long before the purple pony came forward and introduced herself. "Hello my names Twilight Sparkle."

"Hello Twilight, my names Forge. Its nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you to", Twilight said. Twilight then went and got a pony who was hiding behind a barrel of hay and pushed her over. "This is Fluttershy. She's the one who fixed your wings and helped with that burn on your back".

Forge looked at the pony. She was shaking and her eyes were the size of raisins. "Uh...", Forge said cautiously. "Hi."

"Eep", Fluttershy mentioned before running back behind the barrel of hay. Forge looked at Twilight a little stunned. "Was it something I said?", he asked.

"No, no. She's just a little unsure of you right now. She'll warm up to you eventually." Twilight said reassuringly.She immediately noticed that Forge looked a little crest-fallen. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah...It's nothing", Forge answered. He then cleared his throat and looked back up at Twilight. "So who are the rest of your friends."

"Oh, of course", Twilight beckoned for the white unicorn to join her. "This is Rarity. She's the local tailor."

"Wonderful to meet you darling," Rarity said in a somewhat snobby tone. "Ah, I just love your mane and tail. The colors are simply divine! Tell me, how did you get them that way?"

"Well I..."

"Oh no matter", she interrupted. "But you must stop by my Boutique at some point. I have some suits that would go great with your eyes."

"Umm...okay. I'll drop by sometime." Rarity smiled at this and trotted back towards the other ponies. Twilight then pointed to a blue pegasus pony."This is Rainbow Dash."

"That's Rainbow Dash, the fastest pegasus in all of Equestria to you mister!" Rainbow said as she hovered above Forge. "No one can match my speed!"

"You're the fastest pegasus in Equestria? Ha!" Everypony gasped as Forge laughed at Rainbow's assumption.

"What? You think your faster than me." Rainbow was now inches from Forges face.

"I know I'm faster than you! I could fly circles around you!" Forge shouted back staring directly into her eyes.

"Oh yeah!"

"Yeah!"

"You have no idea who your messing with do you!"

"Do you?! As soon as I get these bandages off, you and me are having a race!"

"Fine! I'll watch you embarrass yourself as I leave you in the dust!"

"You'll be the one whose going to be embarrassed as I cross the finish line and make you eat my dust!"

"Your on!" Rainbow and Forge were now butting heads, staring daggers at each other. They looked as if they wanted to kill each other. Everypony had backed away until a peculiar sound came from the two. Laughter.

Forge and Rainbow had broken their stares and were now rolling on the ground laughing, much to everypony's confusion. Rainbow was the first to get up and flew back towards Twilight and her friends. Wiping a tear form her face she said "Oh I like this guy." She turned back towards Forge and said "I think we're gonna get along just fine."

Forge had stopped laughing and turned to Rainbow. "Oh, yeah we're gonna get along great!"

"Okay...", Twilight said still confused from the what had just happened. "Anyways, this is Pinkie Pie. She...", Twilight stopped as she noticed that her pink friend was no longer behind her. "Where'd she go?" Everypony pointed towards Forge and Twilight saw Pinkie already staring at him, and bouncing with joy.

"Oh my gosh hi there! I'm Pinkie Pie and so so so glad your not hurt! If you were I'd be really sad because you'd be hurt and thats not good! But your all better now and you seem really really nice! (Gasp!) I just remembered i have to throw a party for you to welcome you to Ponyville! Do like parties?! I like parties! I throw parties all the time! don't you worry about a thing because i'm going to throw you the biggest super-special surprise party ever! There's going to be cake and balloons and punch and music and games and dancing and...mphf!"

"Pinkie", Applejack said with her hoof over Pinkies mouth. "Calm down, your overwhelming the poor boy!" Everypony turned to look at Forge who now looked shocked and a little confused as to what just happened.

"Sorry about that," Twilight said to the now confused pegasus. "She just get's really excited when she meets new ponies."

"Yeah, I noticed." Forge replied.

"Anyway, we've been talking so much about ourselves we don't know anything about you. I have a couple of questions I wanted to ask you!"

Forge yawned before answering Twilights question. "Can I tell you tomorrow? I'm kind of tired."

"Oh, okay I guess", Twilight said, disappointed. Forge looked down at her and couldn't help but feel a little bad.

"Look, what if tomorrow you gave me a tour of Ponyville. You can ask me as many questions as you want then." As he said this Twilight seemed to perk up and she smiled at him.

"Okay! I'll see you tomorrow!"

Forge said goodbye to everypony and soon went back into the barn. Applejack came out later with a pillow and a blanket.

"This'll keep ya' comfortable till I can find another place for ya' ta' sleep." She said. "I hope its all right."

"It's fine", Forge reassured her. "Thank you Applejack."

"No problem pardner, oh and welcome to Ponyville."

Forge smiled as she went back into her house. He'd never felt so welcome anywhere. He was accepted. "Maybe...maybe this is where I belong." he thought to himself. As the thought of being home swirled around in his head, he couldn't help but have a huge smile on his face as he went to sleep, wondering what tomorrow will bring him.

Chapter 4: The Ghosts of the Past

Chapter 4

The Ghosts of the Past

Twilight trotted off towards Sweet Apple Acres. She was brimming with questions for Forge and couldn't wait to have him answer them for her. The new arrival had been exhausted the night before, but promised her that he would allow her to question him tomorrow as she took him for a tour around Ponyville. She arrived at Sweet Apple Acres just in time to see Applejack begin her applebucking.

"Hi, Applejack," Twilight chirped.

"Well howdy Twilight," Applejack answered. "I assume yer' here fer' Forge."

"Yeah. Do you know where he is?"

"He's over yonder. The Crusader's dragged m' off the minute he finished breakfast."

Twilight looked in the direction where Applejack was pointing. On top of the hill, there was Forge playing a game of tag with the three fillies. "They've been sticking to im' like glue. I don't think he minds though. I think he enjoys all the attention." Applejack said giving a little chuckle. "If yer' gonna give im' a tour a' Ponyville, I suggest ya get im' now. Otherwise, you'll never get the girls away from im'."

"That's probably a good idea. I'll see you later Applejack", Twilight said before trotting off.

"Later Twilight".

"Quick, he's gainin' on us!", Apple Bloom laughed as she Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle ran from Forge.

"Hide behind one of the bushes", Scootaloo suggested. "He'll never find us there."

The three quickly hid behind the nearest bush just as Forge came over the hill. "Ah ha! I got you now you...wha?! Where'd you go?" Forge began scanning the area for any sign of the fillies whereabouts. "They're not that fast," Forge thought to himself. "Where could they have gone?" Forge continued looking around until something caught his eye. A familiar red tail sticking out from behind the bush, with tiny whispering being heard. Forge chuckled softly and began sneaking up to the bush.

"I don't hear anything", squeaked Sweetie Belle. "Do you think he gave up?"

"I don't know", Apple Bloom whispered. "Do you see him anywhere Scootaloo?"

Scootaloo poked her head over the bush and began searching for Forge. "No. I think he gave up."

"Ehem". The Crusaders whirled around to see Forge standing behind them with a big grin on his face. "Boo".

"Every filly for themselves!" Scootaloo shouted and all three fillies made a break for it...only to crash into each other as when they each ended up going in the directions facing each other. Forge chuckled at the sight and picked the now dazed fillies up and placed them onto his back.

"I think I won that round eh girls." He said with a smirk.

"No fair. You surprised us", Sweetie Belle pouted.

"Yeah, we want a rematch", Scootaloo demanded.

"Forge!" Forge turned his head to see Twilight heading towards him. "Good morning Twilight."

"Good morning to you as well, Forge. I see the girls have been keeping you busy."

"Yeah, they won't leave me alone". Forge looked back at the fillies their heads now hanging low. "But I don't mind. I think they've grown on me." The fillies then looked back up at Forge with smiles back on their faces. Forge gave them a wink before looking back to Twilight. "I assume your here to take me on that tour."

"Yes. Shall we get going."

"But Mister Forge", pleaded Apple Bloom "what about our rematch?"

"We'll have our rematch later. I promised Twilight she could ask me some questions while she took me on a tour of Ponyville."

"Aaaawwww", the three fillies said in unison. Forge lowered himself down to the ground and let the three off his back.

"Well what'll we do now?", Scootaloo said.

"Why don't we try getting our cutie marks again!", Apple Bloom suggested.

"Yeah, its been a while since we've tried that", Sweetie Belle added.

"Didn't we try yesterday?"

"Yeah,but the manticore stopped us from doing any real searching for our cutie marks."

"Okay, Cutie Mark Crusaders to the clubhouse!" The three fillies galloped off to towards their clubhouse leaving Twilight and Forge alone.

"So, do you wanna go now?", Twilight asked.

"Of course. Lead the way Twilight".

"So Forge," Twilight began. "How are your wings doing?"

"Much better than yesterday", Forge replied. "They're still pretty sore though. Remind me to thank your yellow friend for what she did."

"I'm sure Fluttershy is just glad your okay."

"She didn't seem like it yesterday. I don't think she likes me very much." Forge looked a little disheartened as he said that.

"Don't worry about her. She's just naturally shy. She'll warm up to you eventually."

"I guess", Forge said. He was still a little upset that there was a pony who was afraid of him again, but he immediately shook it off and changed the subject. "Twilight, I believe you wanted to ask me some questions."

"Oh, yes". Twilight's horn began to glow and suddenly, a scroll appeared in front of her; much to Forges surprise.

"What's the scroll for?", he asked.

"It's the list I made with the questions I wanted to ask you", she replied.

"Oh...okay then. What's your first question?"

Twilight opened the scroll and it fell to the ground. The list, Forge realized was huge as it continued to unfold over the next six hills that were in the distance. He stood there, his mouth agape at how the lavender unicorn had managed to create such a long list full of questions. "Sweet Celestia, what have I gotten myself into?", Forge thought to himself.

"Okay, first question", Twilight said as she began staring at the insanely long list before her. "Where are you from Forge?"

Forge snapped back into focus and turned his head to Twilight. "Oh, I was born in Edmaneton. Up north from here."

"Interesting", Twilight muttered to herself as she began checking off the question form her list. "Next question. The Crusaders told us yesterday that you can use fire, is that true?"

"I could tell you. Or...", Forge said as he gave Twilight a little smirk. "I could show you!" A flash of orange light came from Forge forcing Twilight to shield her eyes. When she could see again, her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open. Standing before her was Forge, his once yellow and orange mane and tail were now engulfed in flames. His hooves seemed to glow with the same energy as is mane and tail. As Twilight stood there staring, Forge had begun to juggle a couple fireballs in his hooves and was smiling from ear to ear. He eventually stopped the juggling and extinguished the flames as Twilight continued to stare. "Does that answer your question?", he asked in a little sarcastic tone.

"H-h-how are you able to do that?", Twilight asked. "Not even Celestia can do that!"

"I'm not 100% sure myself Twilight. They just sorta showed up one day."

"Really! This...this is incredible! Oh just wait till everypony see's what you can-", before she could continue Forge had cut her off with his hoof.

"No! No pony can find out about this understand!", Forge snapped. Twilight tore away from his hoof and began to back away from him.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Twilight. I didn't mean to snap." The two ponies stood in silence for a long time before Twilight spoke up again. "Why don't you want anypony to know?", she asked. "Are you afraid of your powers or something?" Forge looked at her, her once once sparkling eyes had filled with concern for him.

"No. It's more complicated than that. Before I came here, I traveled to almost every city across Equestria looking for a home for myself. I'd move in and try to keep my powers a secret for as long as I could", Forge explained. "Obviously a pony that can control fire isn't exactly something you'd welcome with open forelegs. But...eventually they'd find out. They would become scared of me. Think I was a freak or a monster. They avoided me like the plague."

Twilight listened intently as Forge continued his story. " Finally, they would have the Royal Guards run me out of town. I don't want anypony to know because I don't want to be cast out again."

"That's horrible", Twilight said. "What about your family? Didn't they try and stand up for you?"

"No. They left me for the same reason. They were afraid of me." Twilight stood frozen in shock at Forge had said. She began to slowly approach Forge before wrapping her forelegs around his neck and hugging him.

"I'm so sorry", she whispered to him. "I had no idea you've been through that." Forge looked up at Twilight. She looked as though she was about to cry.

"Believe me, it was tough for a while. But then I realized that I wouldn't be the stallion I am today if it wasn't in this situation." Twilight looked at Forge. His sadness seemed to have dissolved and his smile had returned.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I could have easily become angry and bitter at the world and used my powers to hurt ponies. But sometime after my parents left, I decided that no matter what anypony said about me, I wouldn't hold it against them. While they may see a monster, I see a regular pegasus with some... 'unique' qualities. I'll always try to help them, whether they want me to or not."

As Forge finished his story, Twilight smiled and wiped away the tears in her eyes. Forge chuckled at the sight. "Hey, why are you crying?", he chuckled. "This is my sad background story, not yours."

She glared at him for a bit before the two broke into laughter. They laughed for at least five minutes before continuing to Ponyville. "So does this mean your going to be staying in Ponyville for a while?", Twilight asked.

"Maybe...", Forge teased. "Why. Would you miss me?"

Twilight blushed and she quickly looked away from him. "N-no... I mean yes... I mean..."

"Relax Twilight your gonna hurt yourself. I was joking."

"Oh... of course."

"To actually answer your question. Yes, I think I'll stick around. I did promise Rainbow Dash a race after all."

"That's great!", Twilight shouted. "First things first; we're going to have to get you a house of your own. Second: we'll need to find you a job..."

Forge couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle as Twilight continued her rambling. "I'm liking it here already."

Chapter 5: Welcome to Ponyville

Chapter 5

Welcome to Ponyville

"Okay", Twilight shouted behind her. "We're here!"

Forge trotted up beside her and looked towards the town. "Welcome to Ponyville."

They made there way into town and Forge began looking around his new surroundings. The town was bustling as everypony went about their daily business. As they continued through town, Forge noticed that some of the ponies were starting to take notice to his arrival and were staring at him.

"Uh Twilight", Forge said. "Why are they all staring at me?"

"I think they're just trying to decide if your a good pony or not", Twilight replied in a matter-of-fact like tone. "Your new so they don't know what to expect."

"Oh. Well they could just ask."

They continued through the town, arriving at a giant tree in the middle of it. Forge looked at the sign that hung form one of the branches; It read 'Library'.

"This is the library", Twilight told Forge. "Feel free to visit me at any time while you live in Ponyville."

"Visit?", Forge said in confusion.

"Yes. I live here."

"You live in a library!" Twilight shook her head in response. "Nerd", Forge snickered.

Twilight glared at him, clearly not approving of Forge's comment. Forge looked at Twilight before wiping his smile off his face. "I-I mean its sooooo cool that you live here. He he...It's not nerdy at all...", he rambled before looking at the ground. "Sorry. I didn't mean it."

Twilight smiled at Forges' attempt at apologizing. "It's okay Forge. Rainbow says the same thing so I'm kind of used to it."

Forge breathed a sigh of relief before following Twilight back into town. "So, where to now?", he asked.

"The Carousel Boutique; Rarity's home."

"Oh good. She wanted me to visit anyway. Lead on Twilight."

Twilight and Forge arrived at the Carousel Boutique where a commotion could be heard coming from inside.

"What's going on?", Forge asked.

"I don't know", Twilight replied. "Let's check it out."

Twilight knocked on the door. "Rarity", she shouted. "You okay in there." No response. Twilight began to push the door open until she fully entered the Boutique. "We heard a commotion and we're-AAAAHH!"

Forge rushed in at the sound of Twilight's scream. "What? Twilight, are you okay? Where's Rar-AAAAHH!" Forge and Twilight stared at what lay before them. The entire boutique was in shambles, with articles of clothing and pieces of furniture strewn all over the place. And in the corner or the room was Rarity, huddled in a fetal position slowly rocking back and forth.

"Rarity!!!", they shouted as they ran to her side. The white unicorn looked up at them with shear horror.

"Rarity, what happened?", Twilight asked.

"Oh Twilight, Forge. This is the worst possible thing!", Rarity managed to say.

"Was it burglars?", Forge asked.

"Worse. Much worse."

"The diamond dogs?", Twilight added.

"Worse."

"Then what!"

"I-", Rarity began to say. "I-I lost a special diamond ribbon for Hoity Toitiy's dress order and now I can't find it!"

Forge and Twilight's mouths dropped as Rarity broke down crying. "So let me get this straight", Forge began to say with clear frustration in his voice. "You turned your house inside out...and had a mental breakdown...all because you can't find a stupid diamond ribbon..."

"Uh-hu", Rarity sniffed. "Now I'll never finish the order and I'll be the laughing stock of the fashion world. Oh woe is me!"

Forge's eye began to twitch a little before he continued speaking. "What the fuck!"

"Forge!", Twilight said shocked that Forge would use such language.

"I'm sorry Twilight, but this is just absolutely ridiculous."

Twilight looked at Forge but something caught her eye. A little glimmer of light appeared from underneath the desk that hadn't been turned over in Rarity's desperate search. Forge noticed Twilight's attention was focused elsewhere and turned to see what she was looking at. Forge walked over to the desk and reached in behind...to find Rarity's diamond ribbon. Forge looked back at Twilight who just smiled feverishly, before sighing and trotting to Rarity who was still balling her eyes out.

"Is this your ribbon?", he said holding the ribbon in front of her. Rarity immediately stopped crying and she swiped the ribbon form Forge's hooves.

"Oh you found it!", Rarity said. Her mood had completely changed and she was now acting as though nothing had happened. "Thank you Forge."

"Yeah...no problem."

Rarity began looking around at her home before speaking again. "Oh my this place looks positively dreadful. No matter, I can fix this." Her horn began to glow and the clothing littering the floor and the furniture did the same. Soon the clothing had folded itself and was being placed into neat piles, while the furniture returned to it's upright position. "I'm sorry you had to see that. I've been really busy lately and I tend to get a little over-dramatic."

"No kidding", Forge muttered under his breath.

"So, now that everything's back to normal can I help you two with something?", Rarity chirped.

"Actually", Twilight began. "I was just showing Forge your home so I think we've seen enough." Forge noticed that Twilight was slowly backing her way up towards the door. He glanced at her and she moved her head slightly in the direction of the door.

"Oh...uh, yes!", Forge said backing up as well. "You have a lovely home and I wish we could stay longer but uh...we need to go. So much more to see you know."

"Oh, all right. But, do come and visit again soon."

Twilight and Forge were outside now. "Y-yes of course." Twilight said nervously.

'Y-yeah, I'll see you later Rarity", Forge stammered. "Bye." He slammed the door behind him and he and Twilight began galloping towards town.

"Well that was...interesting." Forge said. He and Twilight had made it back to town and were now heading to Sugarcube Corner.

"Yeah. Please don't think any less of her", Twilight said a little embarrassed about what happened. "She's really a nice pony. Just...over-dramatic."

"Don't worry Twilight, I don't think any less of her", Forge reassured her. "I'm just a little weirded out right now. I mean...all that for a damn ribbon!"

"I know", Twilight giggled. "That's Rarity for you."

They laughed at that as they turned the corner. Forge looked at the building in front of him and he couldn't help but start drooling. The building looked like it was constructed normally, but the roof looked life it was made from giant pieces gingerbread covered in frosting and sprinkles. It was then topped off with what looked like a giant cupcake.

Forge quickly wiped the drool away from his chin and began to speak. "This place is making me hungry just looking at it", Forge said. "Which one of your friends lives here again?"

"Pinkie Pie", Twilight answered. "The hyper-active pink one you met yesterday."

"Oh yeah. How could I forget her?"

"Come on, your probably hungry now huh."

Forge's stomach growled in response. "That's a yes."

Twilight and Forge made there way into Sugarcube Corner, but not before Forge took one last look at the building.

"I wonder if the roof is actually made of gingerbread...", he thought.

They entered the building only to be greeted by complete and total darkness. "Hey, I can't see a thing", Forge said. Just as he finished talking the lights turned on and he was greeted by confetti and screams.

"SURPRISE!!!", everypony in the room shouted leaving a stunned Forge staring at them. He looked above his head as he noticed a giant banner with the words 'Welcome to Ponyville' written on it. Forge looked at the crowd and noticed that Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie were all amongst them. Even Fluttershy and Rarity had made an appearance.

"Hi Forge," Pinkie said excitedly. "Were you surprised? I hope you like it. I made this party super-uper-duper special for you. So do you like it? Do you? Huh huh huh!"

"Pinkie...this is amazing! Thank you."

"Yay! He likes the party!", Pinkie said. She quickly turned around and faced the white pony near a turn table. "Ok DJ, lets get this party started!"

The pony smiled and began to play some music. Pinkie immediately ran into the middle of the room and began dancing while the other ponies started eating the food that was placed out or playing the various games around the room.

Forge laughed before turning to Twilight. "You knew about this didn't you?" he said with a smirk.

"Yeah, I did. Do you like it?"

"I love it! It's been a while since anypony's thrown me a party."

"Well than don't just stand there! Go enjoy yourself. You are the guest of honor after all."

"I should before Pinkie gets mad. Thanks Twilight." With that Forge made his way to the dance floor.

Twilight shook her head as she watched Forge, and Pinkie dancing to the music. She didn't notice Applejack approaching her. "Great party huh Twilight", she said.

"Yeah," Twilight agreed. "Pinkie always throws the best parties."

"How was Forge fer' ya'? He didn't give ya' to much trouble did he?"

"No", Twilight said glancing at Forge who was now having an eating contest against Rainbow. "In fact, he was a pleasure to be around."

Chapter 6: A Royal Encounter

Chapter 6

A Royal Encounter

"Oh Celestia, my head." Forge mumbled as he awoke. "I feel like I was in the middle of a buffalo stampede."

He opened his eyes to view the chaos surrounding him from last night. Most of the ponies from the party had gone home, but a few of them still remained passed out on the floor. Forge chuckled to himself as memories of Pinkie's party last night filled his head. "That was a hell of a night."

Forge attempted to stand up and he made his way downstairs. He noticed a certain pink pony was passed out nearby, her face buried in cake. "Pinkie" Forge said as he tried to wake her up. "Up and at em' Pinkie." He shook her a bit more before her head darted up, startling him. Her face was covered in icing and her eyes were blocked by cupcakes.

"Good morning Forge! Some party last night huh. You looked like you were having a great time. Were you having a great time? Were you? Huh, huh, huh! Hey what happened to the lights." Forge shook his head and wiped the icing from her face. "Oh there's the light! Thanks." she said cheerfully. She then looked to Forges hoof still covered in icing. "Are you going to eat that?"

Forge stared at his hoof before holding out to Pinkie. "Uh...no. Go ahead." With that Pinkie ate the remaining icing off his hoof like she hadn't eaten in three days. "Mmm, delicious." Pinkie said licking her lips. Forge gave her a nervous smile and nodded.

"Uh...right. Where'd everypony else go?" Forge asked.

"Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity went home early. I think Rainbow's still asleep somewhere. Silly filly!"

"Okay. Thanks Pinkie. That was a great party. I'll see you around."

"Okie Dokie Lokie!" Pinkie said before bouncing off to find Rainbow Dash.

"That mare is absolutely crazy." Forge thought to himself. "Lucky for her, I like crazy."

Forge made his way through the town on his way to Sweet Apple Acres. It was still fairly early in the morning so there weren't a lot of ponies that were out and about. Forge continued through the quiet town until the familiar sound of his growling stomach stopped him in his tracks. "Hmm. Maybe I should have taken some of that cake from the bakery before I left." he thought to himself.

Suddenly, Forge noticed something in the air. It smelled... heavenly. Forge began sniffing the air furiously like a blood hound as he attempted to track down the glorious smell. "It's close." Forge thought as he continued to sniff. "Very close." He followed the smell around a corner where he was greater by a cart full of delicious looking pastries. A big grin appeared on his face and his mouth began to drool as he stared at the cart.

"Oh sweet Celestia, I thought the pastry fairy was just a myth!" Forge shouted excitedly. He began looking around to see if anypony was around for him to pay for the pastries. "No ones here." He looked back at the pastries. "Maybe... No I can't." The smell of the pastries wafted past his muzzle. "I guess nopony would notice If just one pastry went missing..."

"Hey! What do ya' think yer' doin'?!"

"Crap baskets!" Forge whirled around to see a big red stallion galloping towards him. He braced for impact as the stallion sped towards him. He waited... but nothing happened. "Oh, it's you." he heard the stallion say.

"I'm sorry. Do I know you?"

"Probly' not. You'r passed out when a' last saw ya'." the stallion said. "Allow me ta' introduce mahself. Ma' names Big Macintosh."

Something immediately clicked in Forge's mind. "Big Macintosh. Applejack's brother?"

"Eeyup."

Applejack had mentioned she had a brother, but Forge assumed he was out of town. "Well, it's nice to finally meet you. My names Forge."

"A' know. Apple Bloom wouldn't stop talkin' bout' ya'. You'r still fast asleep when a' went to the barn to get ma' working gear." The two chuckled a bit before Big Mac spoke again. "So why were ya' sneakin' food off ma' cart?"

"Yeah, sorry. I was hungry and I smelt those pastries and... I was weak." Forge said slighty ashamed.

Big Mac laughed. "S'all right. Here." Big Mac reached back onto his cart and garbbed an apple fritter before tossing it to Forge. "This ones on me."

Forge licked his lips before devouring the fritter in 3 seconds flat. Forge stared at his hooves where the fritter once was before looking back towards Big Mac with pleading eyes. Big Mac rolled his eyes before tossing him another fritter. "Thanks Big Macintosh. I'll pay you back... right after I find a job."

"If ya' want, ya' can help out aroun' Sweet Apple Acres" Big Mac suggested. "We could always use an extra hoof around the farm."

Forge thought for a minute before nodding in agreement. "I'll ask Applejack about a job when I get back."

"You may not need to. Here she comes now."

Forge turned to see Applejack galloping towards them. She looked worried...

"Hey Applejack. I was just about to..." Forge was saying before Applejack cut him off.

"Not now Forge! A' need ya' to come with me now!" Applejack shouted.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Twilight got a letter from Princess Celestia this morning."

Forge and Big Mac looked at each other in confusion. "So what's the problem?" Big Mac said. "Doesn't Twilight get letters from the Princess regularly?"

Applejack looked at her brother with worried eyes. "This wasn't a regular letter Big Mac!" She then looked directly at Forge. "The princess mentioned you specifically Forge. She wants ta' see you..."

Forge's eyes went wide as a state of shock took hold. He looked at Big Mac who had the same look on his face. Applejack grabbed Forge's hoof and began dragging him towards a nearby train. "Take this train to Canterlot. Twilight will meet ya' there. I'll get the rest a' the girls and get there when we can."

The train pulled away from the town a Applejack and Big Mac looked on. The look of shock that once covered Forges face was replaced with fear. "This can't be good..."

During the train ride Forge said nothing. He was solely focused on what the princess would do to him. The train pulled into Canterlot where Forge was greeted by a clearly upset Twilight. "Forge, what's going on?"

Forge looked at her with a surprised expression. "I was hoping you could tell me!"

Twilight shook her head and gestured towards the castle. "Don't worry. We'll see her together and get to the bottom of this." Forge nodded in agreement and followed Twilight towards the Princess's throne room.

****

They arrived at the throne room where the rest of the girls were waiting. As Forge appeared, he was immediately bombarded with questions. "What did you do?"

"What's going to happen?"

"Are you a spy?"

"GIRLS!!!" Forge shouted. They all stopped talking and looked at Forge. "Look, I don't know what this is about. But the sooner I see her, the sooner I can move on with my life."

"We're jus' worried bout' ya' sugarcube." Applejack said.

"Yeah! You can't leave now! You promised me a race!" Rainbow added.

"Rainbow!" Twilight shouted, glaring at the cyan pegasus. "This is more important than if your going to be able to race Forge or not! He could be in serious trouble here!"

Twilight continued to glare at Rainbow until she felt a hoof on her shoulder. "Relax Twilight." Forge said. "I'm sure it's not serious." Twilight looked as though she was going to try to say otherwise, but stopped when he shot her a reassuring smile. "And Rainbow. Don't worry. You'll still get your race with me." Rainbow nodded as a guard appeared from Celestia's throne room.

"Are you Forge?" the guard asked.

"Yeah."

"Right this way." Forge and the girls began to enter the room, but were stopped by the guard. "The princess wants to see him alone." The girls looked at each other with worry, until Forge gave them a reassuring nod that everything would be okay. The slowly moved from Forge as he entered the throne room. As the doors began to close, Forge couldn't help but look back as his friends disappeared from view.

Forge moved slowly through the long hallway as he made his way towards the throne, where Princess Celestia was waiting. Despite her kind outwardly appearance, Forge couldn't help but feel a little intimidated in her presence. He had never met her before, but she somehow knew him. This put him on edge and his mind was already beginning to assume she had something bad in store for him. "Come on Forge, pull yourself together." he muttered to himself. "You've done nothing wrong... Except for constantly avoid her guards and cause mass panic in a few cities across Equestria." As he remembered his past encounters with the guards, he noticed that some of the guards were giving him dirty looks as he walked by. They all looked like they wanted to beat the crap out of him right then and there. "I am so screwed."

"Princess Celestia!" the guard in front of Forge bellowed. "He is here."

Princess Celestia looked at Forge, almost as if she was studying him before she spoke. "Thank you guardsman. You may leave now."

The guard nodded and turned to join the remainder of the guards that had already begun to leave. "Good luck. Your gonna need it." the guard said as he passed Forge. Forge glared at the guard as he shot him a smirk. The door closed behind him, leaving Forge and the princess alone.

Forge's pulse began to race as he and Princess Celestia stared each other down. The princess then stood up from her throne and started to approach him. Forge slowly went into a kneeling position as the princess beared down on him. "So you're Forge." she said. "The one who's caused my guards years of frustration and created widespread panic across Equestria." Forge didn't look up, but nodded lightly in response. He waited, expecting the princess to start shouting for the guards to come in and take him away. Instead, the princess gave a gentle laugh before smiling at the now stunned pegasus. "You can stop kneeling now Forge."

Forge frantically stood up and looked at the princess. "So uh... your guards have told you about me huh."

"Oh of course! I know all about the acurssed Forge." Celestia said still smiling. "Your quite the legend around here."

Forge smiled at the idea of being considered a legend. "That would explain all the death stares they gave me as I passed by." He chuckled before looking back at the princess. "So, your not going to kick me out of Ponyville or throw me in jail."

Celestia looked shocked at the accusation. "No! What on earth gave you that idea!"

"Well considering everything that I've done, I guess I just assumed the worst."

"Oh Forge, you have nothing to worry about. Everything that happened was not your fault. I know about your fire abilities."

Forge looked at the princess with surprise. "H-how do you know about that?!"

"I didn't. You just told me."

Forge smirked as Celestia gave him a little wink. "Oh your good."

"I know. You don't need to worry Forge. Ponyville is your home now, for as long as you want it to be."

Forge felt a smile sweep across his face as the realization that he had found his new home set in. "Thank you Princess Celestia. I haven't had a smile this big since... ever."

"I'm glad Forge." Forge knelt one last time before turning around and making his way towards the door. "Wait, before you go there is something I want to give you." Forge turned to look at the princess as her horn began to glow. He shielded his eyes as the glow from her horn glowed brighter and brighter. As the light receded, Forge felt something was different.

His wings.

He turned his head and looked at his once damaged wings. The bandages had disappeared and his wings were now looking healthier than ever. He gave them a quick flap before turning back to the princess. "You are the best princess I know."

Celestia nodded at him before he galloped towards the door. He threw them open and was greeted by six smiling mares who greeted him with a barrage of hugs and questions. The guards soon re-entered the throne room, passing the group of mares now suffocating the jet-black pegasus. The commander approached Celestia with a frustrated look on his face. "Princess, are you sure that was wise. He's a known trouble maker and you not only permit him to live in a populated area, but you give him his ability to fly back."

Celestia glared at the guard who immediately looked away. "I'm sorry princess. I meant no disrespect."

"It's okay commander." she reassured. "Forge will have a huge role to play in the coming darkness. Hopefully, his time here will give him the strength to do what needs to be done when the time arrives."

Chapter 7: The Cloudsdale 500 Part 1

Chapter 7

The Cloudsdale 500 Part 1

Forge soared through the air at breakneck speeds. After being unable to fly for a few days, he couldn't wait to feel the wind in his mane again. Now thanks to Princess Celestia, he was back in the sky's flying like his life depended on it. And he was enjoying every minute of it. "Yaaaahoooo!!!!" he shouted as he flipped and barrel-rolled in the air. Up here, he felt invincible. No pony could even catch him... except for one.

"Hey Forge!" Rainbow shouted as she pulled up beside him.

"Hello Rainbow. What took you so long? I thought you were the fastest pony in Equestria." he taunted.

"I am. I just had a little trouble finding you. You were already in the air before any of us even left the castle."

"What can say? I missed being able to fly so i'm making up for lost time."

She smirked at his comment before the two began flying back to Ponyville. "I'll admit your pretty fast. Your probably one of the only ponies around here who could keep up with me. I'm... impressed."

Forge looked at her smugly. "Did I just hear right? The great Rainbow Dash is impressed by another ponies speed. How did those words taste coming out of your mouth?"

"Like vinegar..."

Forge gave a triumphant smile as they landed in Ponyville. "Does this mean your backing out of our little race?"

Rainbow glared at Forge before a smirk spread across her face. "Never. Your fast Forge, but i'm faster."

"There's the Rainbow Dash I remember."

They chuckled as they gave each other a playful shove. "Well, I better get going." Rainbow said. "I've got work to do today. As for our race..."

"Anytime. Anywhere. I'll be waiting."

She nodded before flying off towards Cloudsdale. Forge watched her leave before turning back towards town. "I don't think the rest of the girls have gotten from Canterlot yet." he thought to himself. "I wonder what there is to do around here?"

Rainbow rushed towards Cloudsdale to get her assignment. She arrived at the main office and was greeted by the receptionist. "Good morning Rainbow Dash." the receptionist said. "Glad to see you actually got up for work this morning."

"Yeah, yeah." Rainbow said rolling her eyes. "What's the weather supposed to be today?"

"Sunny. So get to work Rainbow."

The receptionist tossed Rainbow her work order and she began to leave. However, something caught Rainbow's attention. There were very few weather ponies at work today. Normally the place was packed with pegasi, but today the office was like a ghost town. "Hey, where is everypony?"

"They're all out practicing for the big race."

"Race? What race?"

The receptionist handed Rainbow a flyer from nearby and she examined it. "The Cloudsdale 500! That's coming up!" Rainbow said excitedly.

"Yeah. I'm surprised you of all ponies forgot about it."

"I've been busy lately." Rainbow began to smile and started to squeal in excitement. "This is huge! Only the best flyers make it in this race!" Suddenly, Rainbow gasped as she came to a realization. "That's it... This is where we'll have it!" She then made a beeline for the exit.

"Wait! Rainbow!" the receptionist shouted. "Where are you going? You have work to do!"

"I'll do it later! I've got somewhere to be!"

As Rainbow began flying back towards Ponyville, she didn't notice the pair of golden eyes glaring at her as she left.

"I can't believe he just left us like that!" whined Rarity. "That was completely rude!" The rest of the girls had just returned from Canterlot after being ditched by Forge and Rainbow Dash.

"I'm sure he didn't mean to..." Fluttershy said quietly. "Um... he was probably just happy to be able to fly again."

"Yeah. An' why are ya' so worked up about this?" Applejack added. "Rainbow left too."

"I've come to expect being ditched by Rainbow Dash darling. But that doesn't excuse Forge doing the same, wings or not. He didn't even say thank you for all the support we gave him."

They all sighed as they walked back to Ponyville. "Rarity, your taking this the wrong way." Twilight said. "It's like Fluttershy said, he was probably excited to be able to fly again. I mean you all saw how fast he took off."

Rarity looked down at the ground before giving a defeated sigh. "I guess your right. I'm just being over-dramatic."

"Ya' think." Applejack snapped. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie laughed at Applejack's remark while Rarity blushed in embarrassment. They arrived in Ponyville to notice a frantic looking Rainbow Dash zooming from pony to pony.

"Have you seen Forge?" she asked one group of mares. They shook their heads before Rainbow zoomed off towards a nearby stallion. "Have you seen him anywhere?" The stallion also shook his head and Rainbow was clearly getting frustrated. She flew to another stallion pressing her head right up to is face. "Have you seen Forge anywhere?"

The stallion though about it for a minute. "Jet-black coat, orange and yellow mane, lightning bolt with flames as a cutie mark?"

"Yes!"

"Haven't seen him."

Rainbow's eye twitched before she whirled around in anger and began stomping off towards another group of ponies. Twilight looked on as Rainbow continued to question everypony she saw. "I've never seen her this worked up before. Let's see what's going on." The rest of the girls nodded and they approached Rainbow who was now angrily questioning a young colt.

"I KNOW YOU'VE SEEN HIM DON'T LIE TO ME!!!" Rainbow shouted. The little colt looked like he was on the verge of tears as Rainbow bared down on him.

"Rainbow!" Twilight called out. Rainbow whirled around and seemed to relax at the sight of her friends. The little colt saw the opportunity to escape and took off running. "Thank you." he said as he ran past the girls.

"Rainbow, what in tarnation do ya' think yer' doin'?! Scaring a little colt like that! What's wrong with you?!"

"Nothing, I just need to find Forge right now! Have any of you seen him?"

"We haven't seen him since the two of you took off at the castle darling. What could possibly be so important that you go around scaring everypony in town."

"The Cloudsdale 500!"

The girls looked at each other clearly confused, except for Pinkie who was now bouncing with excitement. "Oh that sounds super-duper-fun. What is it?"

"Only the biggest race to ever come to Equestria!" Rainbow said giving Twilight the flyer for the race. "It's only held every five years and only the best flyers in Equestria enter it! The winner get's fifty thousand bits, a statue in their image to be placed in the Hall of Champions at Cloudsdale and the opportunity to become one of the Wonderbolts!"

The girls stared at her in amazement. "Wow!" they said in unison.

"Wait a minute! I think I remember reading about this in a book before." Twilight said. She began searching through her saddlebag for the book. "Aha!" she shouted. She pulled out a book form her bag entitled 'Equestrian Traditions and Celebrations' She quickly began scrolling through the book as the other girls gathered around her. "Here it is! The Cloudsdale 500.

'This race is one of the most famous races in Equestrian history. The pegasi of Cloudsdale used to race each other to either solve disputes or simply for entertainment. However, as Cloudsdale began to expand in size, disputes became less frequent and pegasi began to ignore the race all together. The former leader of the pegasus ponies; Commander Hurricane, deemed that a new race would be created in an attempt to keep the tradition alive. Soon, a much larger race was created and it was only solely used for entertainment. The new race course spanned from Cloudsdale, traveling through the Unicorn and Earth pony kingdoms and ending at what is now Canterlot Castle in the courtyard. In celebration of the new race course, a large race consisting of 500 pegasi including Commander Hurricane happened. Commander Hurricane won the race and became it's first champion. The new course was named the Cloudsdale 500 after the original 500 ponies who particapted and it was decided that a race would be held in Cloudsdale every five years. Today, the race is still held in Cloudsdale and has since allowed the participation of griffons and young dragons in the race. The amount of racers able to participate in the race has been shortened to 50 and only a select few who pass a qualifying race can enter. This race is considered to be the ultimate test of one's speed, agility, and endurance. A total of over 1000 ponies, griffons and dragons have not finished the race due to exhaustion or immense strain put on themselves due to the challenge of the race.'

Applejack looked up from the book and stared at Rainbow Dash, who now had a certain competitive sparkle in her eyes and was now sporting a massive smile. "While that's all very interestin' Twi, it still doesn't explain why Rainbow was acting all crazy like."

Rainbow groaned in frustration before looking directly at Applejack. "It's a big deal for me. I've been wanting to enter that race for so long and since me and Forge still have to race, I figure it's the best place for me to embarrass him. Not only would I prove I'm the fastest pony in Equestria, I'd also be rich and finally become a Wonderbolt!"

The girls looked at each other unsure of what to think. Rainbow clearly wanted to enter this race and they were sure that Forge would want in if they told him, but the fact that the race put so much strain on those who entered it worried them. They didn't want to see Rainbow or Forge get hurt. Not to mention the state Rainbow would be in if she lost the race. Or worse... if she won.

Rainbow noticed this and said "Please. This means race means a lot to me and I know Forge would want to be in it as well. Help me find him so we can do this. Please."

The girls looked at each other one more time before smiling at Rainbow and giving her a gentle nod. "Okay Rainbow." Twilight began. "We'll help you."

Rainbow rushed over to them and crushed them all in a group hug. "Awww, you guys are the best!"

"Of course darling..." Rarity said gasping for breath. "Now can you let go of us..."

Rainbow released them from the hug as they all gasped for breath. Fluttershy was the first to speak. "So um... where do you think Forge would be?"

"I don't know. But we'll probably have better luck finding him if we split up." Twilight suggested "Rainbow and Fluttershy, you fly around and see if you can spot any sign of him."

"Right!"

"Oh um... okay."

"Pinkie and Rarity, you'll stay here and keep looking for him here in Ponyville."

"Of course darling."

"Yay! I'll find Forge! Don't you worry about a thing!" Pinkie said giving a mock salute.

"Me and Applejack will check near Sweet Apple Acres and the Everfree Forest. We'll find him and meet back here in 2 hours."

They all put their hooves together and cheered before splitting up and going in their separate directions. All the while a pair of golden eyes watched from the shadows.

"So, that race is very important to Dash huh. Well, I'm just going to have to make sure she doesn't make it to it then..." The figure laughed before taking flight with powerful wings and disappearing.

Forge flew along at a leisurely pace. He yawned as he approached a comfy looking cloud. "I've been flying for hours. Maybe I should get some sleep before I pass out." he said. He landed on top of the cloud and curled up into a ball. He yawned once more before closing his eyes. "Wow. I forgot how soft these clouds really are. This is perfect. Peace and quiet..."

"Hey! Look out!"

Forges's head shot up and he looked in the direction of the voice. He noticed a dark tan colored pegasus heading right for him. Forge unfurled his wings to try and lift off, but the out of control pegasus slammed into him sending them both tumbling towards the earth.

Forge straightened out and began hovering. "What the fuck! Are you craz-" he began to say. He stopped once he noticed that the pegasus was still trying to even himself out so his wings could catch the wind. The pegasus flailed as he plummeted to earth. "Oh no." Forge immediately went into a nose dive straight towards the pegasus. "I've got to aim this perfectly." he thought to himself. He angled his body, aiming right for the pegasus's side. He collided with the pegasus, spinning him out of his free-fall and he opened his wings. The dark tan pegasus lurched upward and began hovering in place. Forge flew up to him and noticed that the pegasus had a huge smile on his face. He turned to look at Forge who was now glaring at him.

"Hey thank you! That was a close one." he said. Forge continued glaring at him. The pegasus noticed this and immediately wiped the smile off his face. "I-I'm sorry for crashing into you."

"You should be! What the hay were you thinking?" Forge shouted.

"Again sorry. I was practicing a few moves and I just didn't notice you..."

"Well not only did you ruin my nap, you nearly got yourself killed." Forge looked at the pegasus. His head held low. Obviously he was making him feel worse than he already felt. "Look don't worry about it. It was an accident. If it makes you feel any better, you were going pretty fast."

The pegasus chuckled a bit before looking back up as Forge. "Thanks. My names Zephyr. Zephyr Verve."

"Nice to meet you. My names Forge. I don't have a last name."

The two shook hooves and Forge flew back up to his cloud. He turned to look at Zephyr who was hovering in place. "Well don't just hover there. Pull up a cloud and relax."

Zeph grabbed a nearby cloud and pushed it across from Forge's. He landed on his and began to speak. "So Forge. I haven't seen you around here before. You new?"

"Yeah. I just got here a few days ago."

"Hmmm..."

"What?"

"I've heard your name somewhere before but I can't put my hoof on it." Zephyr thought for minute. His head shot up and he stared at Forge. "Are you the same Forge that the royal guards used to complain about."

"Yes I am. Thanks for noticing." Forge replied smugly.

"Aha! I knew I heard your name before! When I was in guard training, they used to mention you a lot. They hate you."

Forge laughed. "Yeah, I know. When I was at the castle earlier today they were all giving me death stares."

Zephyr looked at him curiously. "You went to the castle? It's like guard central there."

"I didn't have a choice. Princess Celestia asked to see me. Any more questions?"

"Just one. The guards mentioned that you could control fire. Is that true or is that just a myth?"

Forge hesitated. "Uhhh. I don't really think I should tell you that."

"So it is true!"

"I never said that!"

"You implied it!" Zephyr said triumphantly. Forge groaned and gave him a frustrated look. "Can I see it?"

Forge's head shot back to Zephyr. "See what?"

"The fire-thing you do."

"I don't think that's a good idea. I'm trying to downplay the whole 'I can breath fire' thing. I don't really want ponies to know."

"Come on. We're nowhere near Ponyville. Nopony's going to see anything."

Forge looked at Zephyr who was now practically begging him to show him. He sighed. "Fine. But If you say anything, I will hunt you down. Got it."

"Cross my heart and hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye. I won't say anything."

Forge looked away and took a deep breath. Zephyr watched as Forge's mane, tail and wings began to glow brighter. Soon their was a flash of orange and the places that were once glowing were now covered in flames. Forge reared his head back and shot a fireball directly into the sky. Soon Forge returned to his normal state leaving a stunned Zephyr starring at him. "There. Are you happy now?"

Zephyr blinked a few times before uttering only one word. "Woah..."

Forge rolled his eyes. "Okay, now it's my turn to ask you some questions."

Zephyr seemed to snap out of his stunned silence upon hearing Forge talking. "Right. Go ahead."

"You said you were training to be a guard. Does that mean your a guard now?"

"No. They kicked me out."

"Wow. What did you do to get yourself kicked out of the guard?" Zephyr didn't answer and just looked away. Forge noticed that this was obviously a personal topic and decided that it was best that they drop the subject. "Forget I said anything. So what do you do know?"

Zephyr looked back at Forge. "I work with the weather ponies now."

"Why aren't you working today?"

"It's a day off."

"It's Wednesday."

"Well, not an official day off. Most of the weather ponies are out practicing for the Cloudsdale 500. That's kind of what I was doing before I crashed into you."

"That big race thing?"

"Yeah. You know it."

"I've only heard of it from the other towns I've been to."

"I'm entering in this years race. The grand prize is fifty thousand bits!"

"Holy shit! Seriously!"

"Plus a statue of yourself in the Hall of Champions in Cloudsdale and a chance at joining the Wonderbolts! Also, the mares love a stallion who's also a champion." he said slyly.

Forge's mind began to race. "If I won that prize money I'd be set for life!" he thought to himself. "I could by a new house! Fuck I could by a new mansion! I'd wouldn't have to look for a job! Wait, is that just me being lazy? Who cares I'm going to be rich!" Forge looked right at Zephyr and shouted. "Where do I sign up?!"

"The qualifying race is in 3 days. But you need to sign up to enter. That's back in Ponyville."

Forge unfurled is wings and hovered above his cloud. "Well, what are we waiting for! Come one Zephyr, I'll show you how to really fly!"

Zephyr shook his head and took off after Forge. "Wait for me!"

The girls all gathered in the middle of town, each one sporting a disappointed look. "Did you girls have any luck finding him?" Rainbow asked hopefully.

"No." they all said in unison.

"Yes!" Pinkie Pie shouted. They all turned to look at their pink friend who was smiling ear to ear. Rainbow moved in front of Pinkie and looked her right in the eyes. "You found him!" she said ecstatically.

Pinkie then giggled. "No silly, but you looked so sad when everypony else said no. So I thought i'd make you feel better by saying yes! It worked! You were so happy!"

Rainbow's eye twitched and she face-hoofed. She sighed before turning back to the rest of her friends. "Where could he be?"

"Where could who be?" Rainbow wheeled around to see Forge and Zephyr land behind her.

"Oh Rainbow! I found Forge!" Pinkie said.

They all rolled their eyes before Rainbow looked at Forge and began speaking. "There you are! Where were you? We've been looking everywhere for you!"

"After you left I got bored. So I started flying around and I met Zephyr over there."

"Hey Rainbow. Hi girls."

"Hi Zephyr."

Forge looked at Zephyr and then back towards the girls. "You all know each other?"

"Yeah, Rainbow's the captain of the weather team I'm in. I met everyone else at one of Pinkie's parties."

"Rainbows your boss!" Zephyr nodded. Forge put a hoof on his shoulder before saying "I'm so sorry about that."

"What do you mean by... Oh never mind." Rainbow stammered. "Forge, I know where we can have our race!"

"The Cloudsdale 500." he finished.

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"Well I figured you'd ask me once you found out about it. What better place to stroke your ego if you won." Rainbow blushed a little at Forge's comment. She whirled around at the girls when she heard snickering. "My and Zephyr were on our way to sign up when we saw you down here."

Rainbow stared at Forge with a new found determination in her eyes. "So your in?"

Forge gave Rainbow the same look. "Oh, I'm in. And I will win that race."

"I don't think so!" added Zephyr. "If anypony is going to win that race it's going to be me!"

The three pegasi stared each other down. Each one determined to win the Cloudsdale 500 for different reasons. The intense rivalry building between the three was thick enough to cut with a butter knife. They stared at each other for a few minutes before Applejack broke their stares. "Y'all better hurry if ya' want ta' sign up. They close in 10 minutes."

This snapped all three of them out of their trance and they darted off go sign up. "Your going the wrong way!" Twilight shouted.

They quickly turned around and galloped in the opposite direction. "We knew that!" they shouted. The girls laughed before they all gave chase after the trio.

The three pegasi mad it to the booth with minutes to spare. However, Rainbow stopped in her tracks when she saw who was at the booth. "Rainbow. What's wrong with you?" Forge asked.

"You look like you've just seen a ghost." Zephyr added.

"Not exactly a ghost." said the figure. Forge and Zephyr turned to see a large figure with golden eyes glaring at them. "Hello Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow gritted her teeth and glared at the figure. Pure hatred seemed to be coming from her with every breath.

"Gilda."

The griffon laughed as Rainbow, Forge and Zephyr glared at her. "What's the matter Rainbow Dash? Didn't you miss your old friend?" Gilda taunted.

"After what you did last time you were here, you should have stayed away!" Rainbow spat. By now the rest of the girls had caught up and were also glaring at Gilda, except for Fluttershy who was hiding behind Forge. "Why are you here Gilda?!"

"Isn't it obvious. I'm entering the Cloudsdale 500 and I plan on winning." Gilda then looked over Rainbow to see the rest of the girls glaring at her. "I see your still hanging out with these losers."

"They're not losers Gilda! They're my friends!"

"Whatever. The gang's all here." Gilda said looking at each of the girls. "The egghead, the hillpony, the princess and the nutcase. Hmm... one's missing. Where's the crybaby?" Gilda began looking around the room before noticing Fluttershy's head peeking out from behind Forge. Gilda smiled and began to approach her. As Gilda neared, Forge flared his wings and put himself between Gilda and Fluttershy.

"I suggest you back off you over-sized chicken!" Forge snarled. Zephyr flared his wings and placed himself beside Forge as they stared down the griffon looming over them.

Gilda laughed before turning to Rainbow. "Who are these two losers? Your bodyguards!" Gilda laughed some more before grabbing both Forge and Zephyr and tossing them aside. They flapped their wings and stopped themselves mid-flight. Forge felt his fire powers clamoring to come out and toast this griffon, but he held off out of fear of harming one of the girls.

Gilda looked from Forge to Zephyr to Rainbow. She smirked before speaking to Rainbow once more. "You used to be so cool Rainbow. Now you surround yourself with these loser ponies. We used to be such good friends."

"Your not my friend anymore Gilda!" Rainbow shouted. "A real friend wouldn't treat my other friends like that!" By this point Forge and Zephyr had returned to her side and were glaring at Gilda again.

Gilda smirked and shoved past Rainbow as she walked towards the door. "I'm going to win Rainbow. You and your little entourage there had better stay out of my way if you know what's good for you." As she opened the door to leave she turned around to look at Fluttershy who was cowering in fear behind her mane. She took a step toward her before Forge jumped in front of her again and cut Fluttershy off form her. She and Forge stared each other down for what seemed like hours. Gilda walked up to him and whispered to him. "Do yourself a favor and stay out of my way during the race. If you try anything, I'll make sure you never fly again."

Gilda smirked at him before turning around and heading to the door again. She was stopped when Forge's hoof shot out in front of her. "I won't be in your way because you'll never be able to catch me." Forge said smirking. Gilda tore herself away from Forge and headed out the door.

As Gilda took off, Forge calmed himself down a looked back at Fluttershy. "You ok?" he asked.

Fluttershy looked up at Forge. "Uh huh. Um... thank you Forge." she said shyly.

Forge smiled and looked at Rainbow. "I can't believe she had the nerve to show her face around here again." Rainbow grumbled.

"Well I don't know about any of you, but I'm going to make sure that Gilda doesn't win that race." Forge said.

"I couldn't agree more." Zephyr added. "That griffons trouble."

Forge and Zephyr signed their names one at a time on the entrance before turning to the still visibly shocked Rainbow. She snapped out of her trance and signed her name as well. "Guys." she began. "I know that when the race begins, we're all going to be trying to beat each other. But how about we make sure that Gilda doesn't beat any of us before we focus on winning for ourselves."

"Agreed!" Forge and Zephyr said.

"If yer' gonna do that, than we wanna help." Applejack said.

"Yeah, we can help you guys train for the race." Twilight added.

"We'll make sure that meany-weanie griffon doesn't stand a chance against you three." Pinkie cheerfully said.

With a plan in motion and the race coming up Forge, Zephyr and Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement. They would all train to improve their skills before the race. With the three of them working together with the help of their friends, Gilda didn't stand a chance.

****

Gilda watched as the three little pegasi in the room came up with their plan to make sure she wasn't a problem. She almost laughed but flew off before they realized she was there. "So, they're going to gang up on me huh. That's not going to happen. I just gotta take one of them out, and the whole thing will come crumbling down around them." She laughed menacingly as she flew off towards the horizon. Gilda had a plan... all she needs now is an opportunity.

Chapter 8: The Cloudsdale 500 Part 2

Authors Notes: Sorry for the incredibly long delay for this chapter. I recently had a family member pass away so... I've been very depressed. But these things happen so, no point in sulking forever. Anyway, here's the longest chapter to date. Enjoy!

Chapter 8

The Cloudsdale 500 Part 2

Forge snored loudly as he slept in the barn. After yesterday's dramatics, he was glad to be able to just sleep the day away. However, something was still bothering him. He didn't know what it was, but he had a bad feeling that something bad was going to happen. "I'm probably just a little on edge because of that stupid griffon." he thought to himself. "No point in worrying about it." He pushed the thought aside and continued to sleep.

He suddenly felt something warm and wet brush across his face. He cleared his face of the excess slobber and sat up. As he sat up he was greeted by a small fury creature staring right at him, panting dog breath in his face. Forge gave his head a shake and looked back at the creature. He eventually recognized it as Applejack's dog; Winona.

"Sup' dog." he said sleepily. "What are you doing here at... 5 AM?" Winona began to bark. Forge groaned and buried his face back in his pillow. "Come on Winona, it's to early for that crap. Come back in like an hour or two." Forge yawned and reached for the covers. As he began to pull them back over his body, he felt something tugging against him. He sat back up and saw that Winona had one end of the sheets in her mouth and was attempting to pull them off of him. Forge sighed and looked down at the dog. "Your not going to let me go back to sleep are you?" Winona released the covers and sat down across from Forge. She stared at him with pleading eyes, until Forge groaned and began to climb out of bed.

Forge sat on the edge of his bed and wiped the crust from his eyes. He got up and stretched, arching his back and flexing his wings until a satisfactory snap was heard. "You know you better have a good reason for waking me up this early in the morning." Winona barked and began running in circles. Then she ran towards the entrance to the barn and barked at Forge as if she wanted him to follow her. Forge grudgingly followed after Winona and the two began to walk out towards a nearby pasture.

"5 AM, this is ridiculous! The sun's not even out yet!" Forge grumbled as he walked. He then turned to Winona who was casualy strolling beside him. "This is all your fault. Crazy dog. What compells you to wake me up this early?" Winona looked at Forge and tilted her head a little. "You don't understand a word I'm saying do you? I could say anything right now and you wouldn't even care." Winona continued to stare at him with that confused puppy dog look. "I'm talking to a dog. I'm so tired, I'm having a conversation... with a dog." He sighed and continued to follow Winona farther out into the pasture.

"You know in some places they eat dogs." Forge snapped. "I just thought you'd like to know that."

Winona led Forge out into the pasture where Applejack was waiting. Winona rushed to meet her master, while Forge followed slowly behind. He was still half asleep so he had no energy to run. He was just tired and cranky. Applejack gave Winona a pat on the head before looking up at the exhausted pegasus. "Good mornin' Forge! Did ya' get a good sleep?"

"Yes... until Winona woke me up." He glared at Winona who was now sitting down beside Applejack wagging her tail.

Applejack giggled at little at Forge's frustration. "So ahm' guessin' yer' not a mornin' pony are ya'?"

"No AJ, I love getting up at 5 in the morning." Forge said sarcastically. "Why'd you get me up this early anyway?"

"Fer' trainin' a' course! You gotta' be in perfect condition fer' the race if ya' wanna' win!"

"And you couldn't have waited until the sun was up at least?"

Applejack thought about this for a moment. "No." she said giving Forge an evil smirk.

"Oh, you're just a cruel mare you know that."

"Yeah, yeah. Come on now. We're headin' ta' Sugarcube Corner first ta' get ya' somin' ta' eat."

"Fine." As they made there way towards Sugarcube Corner, Forge couldn't help notice that Zephyr and Rainbow Dash weren't around. "Hey AJ, where are Zeph and Rainbow? They're training too."

"Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy went ta' get Rainbow, while Twi and Rarity went ta' get Zephyr. Don't worry, they'll feel the joy's of wakin' up early too."

Forge smiled at this. "Good. If I have to suffer, I'm not doing it alone."

Applejack and Forge arrived at Sugarcube Corner where Twilight, Rarity and an exhausted looking Zephyr were waiting.

"Good morning Forge!" Twilight chirped.

Forge grunted in acknowledgement before taking a seat beside Zephyr and slamming his head on the counter. Zephyr looked at Forge and chuckled. "You look like crap Forge." he said with a smile.

"Says the pony with the bed-mane. You look like you got caught in a wind tunnel." Forge shot back. Zephyr's smile immediately went away and he became fully aware of the look of his mane. His royal blue mane was extremely messy, with strands of hair sticking out in all directions. He licked his hoof and attempted to fix it up, much to Forges entertainment.

"Now what?" Rarity asked.

"Now we just wait fer' Pinkie and Fluttershy to get here with Rainbow Dash and we can begin." Applejack answered.

"Woohoo..." Forge and Zephyr said dryly. Just then, Pinkie burst through the door dragging Rainbow Dash by her tail with Fluttershy close behind. Rainbow Dash was clinging to a cloud as Pinkie dragged her in and sat her down beside Zephyr.

"Ugh..." Rainbow faintly said as she clutched the cloud closer. Forge and Zephyr stared at the cloud. It looked so soft and inviting. Zephyr moved his hoof closer to the cloud in an attempt to take some for himself. As he placed his hoof on the cloud Rainbow's eyes shot open. "Take it off or I break it off." she muttered. Zephyr immediately recoiled his hoof and looked down at the ground.

"Huh. And I thought I wasn't a morning pony." Forge stated.

"Great now that everypony's here... and partially coherent, we can begin!" Twilight said enthusiastically. She turned around and pulled on a string that was hanging from the wall, which brought down what appeared to be a map.

"What's that?" Zephyr asked sleepily.

"This is a map of the race course for the Cloudsdale 500! I wrote to Princess Celestia about you guys and she sent me a copy of the map to help us out a bit!"

"Cool." Rainbow said. "So, what exactly are we gonna be going through with this race?"

"Well, the race starts off here in Cloudsdale." Twilight said, placing her hoof over Cloudsdale to accent the location. "Then you'll enter a free-fall towards the ground where you'll fly through Ghastly Gorge. Avoiding the bramble bushes, and quarray eels along the way. You'll then have to get past the windy cave. The air currents in that cave are unpredictable, so you'll be thrown all over the place if your not careful."

"Gee, is that all?" Forge said sarcastically.

"No."

"Of course."

"The cave has multiple passageways that will lead to the next part of the race. But determining which one is the shortest distance to the next part is impossible. Your just all going to have hope the air currents will push you in the right direction."

The three pegasi looked at each other with concern. The idea of depending on a lucky break to decide if they won or not didn't sit well with them. They wanted their skills to determine who was the winner, not luck.

"Once you get out of the cave, you'll be shot out here: in the glacier-carved alpine valleys between the mountains. Your going to have to rely on your maneuverability here to avoid the glaciers scattered across the valley. The G-forces from the tunnels leading out to the valley will increase your speed drastically."

"So once we're in the tunnels, they will speed us up and shoot us at high speeds towards a bunch of glaciers!" Zephyr exclaimed.

"Yes."

"Sweet." Forge said.

"Once you slow down however, you should have no trouble maneuvering past the glaciers. The only problem afterwards is the cold. The temperature will drop drastically once you enter the valley. If your unable to get past this part of the race in time... you'll freeze. Finally, you'll travel up the valley and over the mountains where it's going to be a mad dash towards the finish line at Canterlot Castle! Any questions?"

They all remained silent as the sudden realization of the severity of this race began to set in. This race would push all of them to their limits and beyond.

"Well guys, It looks like we have our work cut out for us." Forge stated. He then leaped from his chair and began walking towards the door.

"Forge, where do you think your going." Rainbow asked.

"To Sweet Apple Acres! Obviously if I'm going to stand any chance of beating Gilda and winning that race, I'm going to need to start training now! Are you guys coming with me, or are you having second thoughts?"

Rainbow and Zephyr looked at each other and then back to Forge. They got up form their seats and approached the black pegasus.

"I'm in!" Zephyr said.

"Me too! I can't let Gilda win! And I sure as hay can't let one of you two numb-skulls beat me!" Rainbow added.

Forge gave each of them an approving smirk before turning to Applejack. "AJ, get everything ready for us. We have some training to do." Applejack nodded and galloped off towards Sweet Apple Acres. With the qualifying race approaching, Forge, Zephyr and Rainbow Dash would need to be in the best shape of their lives if they were going to compete.

****

Gilda watched as the whole thing unfolded. For the first time in a long time, she was worried. "Hmm. I may have underestimated them. Oh well, all I need to do is 'remove' one of them and their whole plan will come tumbling down around them." Gilda grinned evilly as she took off. All she had to do know, was determine which of the three was the biggest threat to her... and crush them.

"Alright Applejack, the qualifiers are in two days. What are we gonna do to help us be better fliers?" Forge asked.

"If yer' gonna stand any chance in that race, ya'll need ta' be faster, more agile, and able ta' withstand the strain it's gonna put on yer' wings. Here's how we're gonna do that." She put her hooves in her mouth and whistled. Big Macintosh came out form the barn soon later with three yokes in his mouth. He walked up to the three pegasi and placed one on each of their backs.

"What are these for?" Zephyr asked.

"Well how else are ya' gonna' be able to drag the Crusaders around." Applejack replied.

"Huh?" Forge responded. He suddenly realized the ropes tied to the yoke. He looked down the ropes and noticed that they were tied to what seemed to be a type of wagon. He looked at the other two, who had similar looking wagons attached to their yokes.

Applejack whistled again and suddenly Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle were standing right in front of the three with an excited grin on all their faces. "Yer' gonna choose one of these girls and they're gonna' ride in that wagon yer' draggin."

"Why?" Rainbow asked.

"Resistance training." Zephyr said. Rainbow and Forge looked at him quizzically. "The added weight from the Crusaders, will slow us down. But it will make our wings work harder in order to counteract the sudden change in weight."

"Oh, I get it!" Forge announced. "With our wings working harder, they'll become stronger. Then we'll be able to fly faster right?"

"Exactly!" Applejack exclaimed. "Plus it allows the girls here a free joy ride."

They looked down at the three fillies who were still smiling away. "We wanted ta' help you guys." Apple Bloom exclaimed.

"Yeah! And maybe by helping you, we'll finally get our cutie marks!" Scootaloo added.

"Alright then. I guess I'll go with... Scootaloo." Rainbow said.

"Yes!" Scootaloo shouted, pumping her hoof in the air and climbing into the wagon behind Rainbow.

"Alright, my turn." Forge said.

"Oh, pick me Mister Forge!" Apple Bloom shouted, as she jumped up and down in front of Forge.

"No way! I wanna go with Mister Forge!" Sweetie Belle argued.

The two fillies continued to argue over who would go with Forge. Forge rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, while the girls and Zephyr tried to contain their laughter.

"That's enough!" Applejack shouted. "Since ya'll can't decide who's going with Forge, I'm gonna decide for ya'. Apple Bloom, yer' with Zephyr. Sweetie Belle with Forge."

"Ha!" Sweetie Belle shouted in victory.

"Awww." Apple Bloom sighed. She walked over to Zephyr's wagon, climbed in and crossed her forelegs in frustration.

"Now fer' yer' agility trainin', Fluttershy and I have set up this here obstacle course fer' ya'." Applejack said pointing to the obstacle course set up nearby.

Rainbow looked it over for a bit. "That course looks very familiar..." she said.

"It should Rainbow." Fluttershy said. "It's the same course we used during the competition to find you a pet. Only um... we made a few changes so it'll work for you all. I mean... if that's okay with you."

"It's fine Fluttershy, thanks for setting it up." Rainbow said.

"Okay, so that covers speed and agility. What about endurance?" Zephyr asked

"You'll get yer' endurance training from jus' doing the track. By the time yer' done one lap, you'll be wishing you stayed in bed this mornin'. Now are ya'll ready?"

"Yeah!" The three pegasi said in unison.

"Good. Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie Pie will time each one of ya' while you do the track. It'll give ya' ideas of where you can improve. Now get going!" Applejack demanded.

Without another word, Rainbow, Forge and Zephyr took off with the three giggling fillies towards the track. Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie started their stop watches and waited for them to come back around.

Forge flew through the first few obstacles with ease. But as he progressed further in the course, he felt himself slowing down form exhaustion and the added weight from pulling Sweetie Belle behind him only made it worse. "Applejack was right..." he huffed. "I haven't even finished the one lap and I'm exhausted." He looked back to see how Rainbow and Zephyr were doing. Zephyr was sweating bullets while Rainbow seemed to be struggling to keep herself in the air. Forge looked back ahead of him and noticed he was nearing the end of the track. He sloppily landed next to Applejack as he crossed the line. Zephyr and Rainbow followed soon after, with Rainbow just face-planting her landing.

"That... *huff* was... *huff* tiring..." Zephyr managed to say. His face was beet red, and his mane was soaked with sweet.

"Oh good... *huff* So it wasn't just me..." Forge said as he tried to catch his breath.

"Ah' told ya'll you'd be exhausted from just one lap." Applejack said. She then looked towards her friends. "What were their times?"

"Four minutes and seventeen seconds for Forge!" Twilight said.

"Four minutes and twenty-three seconds for Zephyr!" Rarity added. Forge and Zephyr bro-hoofed each other as the girls announced their times.

"Six minutes and thirty-four seconds for Dashie!" Pinkie exclaimed.

Rainbow lifted her head off the ground and gave her a confused look. "What?! That can't be right!" she argued.

"Yeah. She was right behind me." Zephyr added. "That can't be her time."

Forge thought for moment. "Pinkie, did you remember to stop the watch when Rainbow crossed the finish line?"

"Ooooooh...oopsie." Pinkie said. Rainbow buried her face back into the ground while everypony else facehoofed.

"Let's just say it was four minutes and twenty five seconds for Rainbow." Forge suggested.

"Alright." Applejack said. "Not bad for yer' first go." Forge, Zephyr and Rainbow forced a few smiles due to them being exhausted. "But you'll need ta' do better. Do it again." Their smiles quickly vanished and they groaned as they made their way back to the starting line and began the track again.

(Two days later.)

Forge stretched out his wings and yawned. The past two days were rough. He, Rainbow, and Zephyr had spent the past two days training. While they were all tired and sore from it all, they all agreed it was worth it. Forge's wings never felt better and he definitely noticed that he was flying faster than he was before. He gave his wings one last look over and smiled. He was ready.

"Forge!" Twilight shouted back at him. "Come on, we're going to be late!"

Forge turned and hopped onto the train where Twilight and the rest of the group were waiting. The qualifiers were today and were being held in Canterlot.

"Sorry guys." Forge said as he took a seat next to Twilight.

"Don't worry about it." Twilight said. "Everypony's here now so were good."

"Great!" Rainbow shouted. "I can't wait to show them my moves! I'm gonna leave everypony there in the dust!"

"Easy Rainbow. Remember, in order to qualify you'll need to beat a Wonderbolt in a one on one race." Twilight reminded her.

"Don't worry about a thing Twilight." Forge said. "The Wonderbolts are nothing more than a bunch of glorified pegasi! We can beat any of them, no problem."

"Hey! Watch what you say Forge!" Rainbow spat.

"Oh right, your a fan... My bad."

"Sounds like somepony doesn't like the Wonderbolts very much." Zephyr said. Rainbow gave Forge a murderous look.

"Not at all Zeph. I personally like the Wonderbolts. In fact, I used to know two ponies in Flight School who ended up in the Wonderbolts."

Rainbow's murderous look was quickly replaced with a massive grin. "Really?! Who are they?! Are they still there?! Can I meet them?!" Rainbow excitedly asked.

"Yes, really." Forge chuckled as he shoved the pegasus away from him. "We were best friends in Flight School. They were some of the very few ponies who knew about my abilities and didn't run and hide in fear." Rainbow listened in awe as Forge continued his story. "We used to get in trouble a lot for skipping classes or messing with the teachers. Despite that we were the best fliers in the school."

"What happened?" Rainbow asked. The rest of the group looked at Forge and awaited his answer.

"Eventually the Wonderbolts began to scout the school for new recruits. Since the three of us were the best fliers in school at the time, we were the top prospects. But they only had room for two new recruits on the team."

"So they didn't pick you and chose your two friends instead." Twilight finished.

"No. I was their first choice."

"What? Then how come you're not a Wonderbolt?" Zephyr asked.

"I didn't want to be a Wonderbolt. I took naps while my friends worked their flanks off trying to impress them. So when they drafted me, I told them I didn't want it and they drafted my other friend instead. They were taken to the Wonderbolts training camp and I haven't seen them since."

"Well that was mighty noble of ya' Forge." Applejack said, tipping her hat.

"Indeed." Rarity added. "And who knows? You may just see them at the qualifiers."

"Yeah. I hope they're there."

"So you can reunite with them after all these years?" Fluttershy said.

"That... And one of them owes me five bits."

The train pulled into the station with a hiss. One by one the group got off the train and made their way towards race track. They entered a large room overlooking the track which was crowded with multiple pegasus ponies, griffons, and a few young dragons.

"Ugh, what are all these ponies, griffons and dragons doing here?" Rarity huffed.

"I'm guessing these are the contestants for the race." Twilight stated.

"I thought your book said that only fifty racers could participate in the race. There's easily over a hundred here."

"Well we do have to race a Wonderbolt to qualify." Forge said. "Most of these guys probably won't beat them."

"I wonder how many have qualified?" Twilight said quizzically.

"I don't know. But we better find a way to get past this crowd or all the spots will fill up before we can even enter!"

"Let's just push our way through." Zephyr suggested. He began to push his way into the crowd. Soon he disappeared from sight as the crowd seemed to swallow him up.

"He's going to get trampled!" Rainbow said. She started towards the crowd but was stopped by Forge. "What are you doing? Zephyr's going to get-"

"No he won't. Watch. He'll come back outta the crowd in 3... 2... 1."

Zephyr suddenly fell out of the crowd in front of them all. "Ha! It worked! I made it!" He stood up and noticed Forge and the girls staring at him. "Huh? How'd you all get here before me?"

"We didn't move Zeph. You're right back where you started." Forge said, trying to contain his laughter.

Zephyr looked back at the crowd and then began to look at his surroundings. "Wha- But I- How did-" he stammered. He rushed back into the crowd and attempted to push through again.

"3... 2... 1." Forge counted. Zephyr fell out of the crowd once more and quickly stood up. He brushed himself off and looked up. He looked from Forge to the girls with a shocked expression. "Damn it!" he shouted. "How does that even work? I pushed straight through the crowd!"

"I think we're going to need a different plan." Rainbow suggested sarcastically.

Forge began to look around the room. "There has to be something that'll clear this room out." He scanned the ceiling when he noticed multiple familiar silver objects hanging from the room. A smile crept across his face as he realized what they were.
"I've got an idea. I'll set off the sprinklers in the room and they'll all have to leave."

"Are you sure that'll work?" Twilight asked.

"It worked in Flight School." Forge scanned the crowd to make sure their focus was elsewhere. Once he saw that the coast was clear, he shot a fireball past one of the sprinklers and the fire alarms went off. While all the contestants were looking for the fire, Forge and the others had left the room and were now waiting outside the door. "Now we wait. In about five seconds the sprinklers will go off and they'll all come running out the door. After that the sprinklers will turn themselves off, and we can walk to the front of the room without having to push through the crowd. Problem solved."

They waited. Soon the sound of running water and screams of shock and discomfort could be heard in the room. The doors flew open and every single contestant in the room came running out. Once they were all out, the group snuck back into the room. "Works every time." Forge said.

"So it was you who set the sprinklers off."

The group turned around and saw two members of the Wonderbolts approaching them. Forge noticed that Rianbow's eyes had gone wide and she had that same excited grin she had when he told her about his Wonderbolt friends. The yellow pegasus spoke up first. "Well well, if it isn't Rainbow Dash. How've you been kid?"

Rainbow shook her head in attempt to regain her composure. "Oh f-fine. Just... trying to enter the Cloudsdale 500." she said nervously.

"That's great! I was hoping that you'd enter. Your a great flier!"

"Y-you think I'm a... a..." Rainbow began. She suddenly collapsed onto the ground with a big grin on her face. They rushed to her side to check on her.

"Oh my gosh! Is she okay?" the azure pegasus asked.

"She's fine. She just fainted due to an overdose of pure excitement." Fluttershy explained.

"Ooookay." The yellow pegasus said. She turned back around and faced Forge and Zephyr. "Now who might you two be?"

"I'm Zephyr. I've been to a few of your shows."

"Well, nice to finally meet you Zephyr." she said as she shook his hoof. She then walked up to Forge and began to speak to him. "And you a-" she began to say. But once she looked at Forge her mouth dropped open and she backed up towards the other Wonderbolt. The girls and Zephyr looked on in confusion as she whispered something into the other Wonderbolt's ear. He turned to look at Forge and his mouth dropped open as well.

Forge began to nervously look around the room. He occasionally glanced at the two as they continued to whisper back and forth to each other. Something about them seemed... familiar.

The yellow mare walked up to Forge and looked him right in the eyes. She removed her hood, fully revealing her face and Forge's eyes went wide. "Forge. Is it really you?" she asked.

Forge's smile grew as he remembered her. "It's been a while. Hasn't it Spitfire."

Spitfire's eyes went wide and her smile beamed from ear to ear. "It is you!" she beamed. She wrapped her forelegs around Forge in a loving embrace. "I don't believe this! Soarin, come here! It's him!"

The azure pegasus removed his hood and stared at Forge. "Hey buddy! Long time no see!"

Forge smiled as he recognized the pegasus. "Soarin! It's great to see you!" He gave his old friend a bro-hoof while the others looked on.

Spitfire stopped hugging Forge and rejoined Soarin. "It's great to see you again Forge! I can't believe your here!"

"It's nice to see you again to guys! Honestly, I was really hoping you guys were still Wonderbolts."

"Not just Wonderbolts dude! We're the leaders!"

"Seriously! That's fantastic!"

"Ehem." The trio turned their heads and noticed Twilight and the rest of the girls looking on. "So Spitfire and Soarin were the ones you mentioned on the train." Twilight stated.

"Yeah! Spitfire. Soarin. These are my other friends."

"We've met before." Soarin said. "It's nice seeing you all again. Are you all here for the qualifying race?"

"No. Jus' Forge, Zephyr and Rainbow Dash." Applejack said, motioning towards the still fainted blue pegasus being tended to by Fluttershy.

"Well, your lucky Forge pulled that stunt with the sprinklers. Otherwise, you'd all be waiting around for hours." Spitfire said. She then raised an eyebrow at Forge. "You just couldn't help yourself could you."

"Hey, we needed to get through and I saw an opportunity. It was just coincidence that the opportunity was something I used to do a lot back in Flight School."

"Rrrright. Well I'm glad you remembered. Get Rainbow Dash and then follow us. We'll get you set up for the race."

Forge, Zephyr and the girls made their way to the front of the room. Rainbow had snapped back in to reality after Pinkie blasted an air horn into her ear. Forge was still wondering where in the world she got the air horn from but decided not to question it. It was Pinkie Pie after all. When they arrived, Soarin and Spitfire were waiting by what looked like a slot machine.

"Glad to see your awake Rainbow." Spitfire said.

"Y-yeah thanks." Rainbow said. She looked away blushing from embarrassment.

"So how does this work? Do we get to choose who we race or what?" Zephyr asked.

"No. We place a piece of paper with your name into the machine here." Soarin said, directing his hoof towards the slot machine. "Then we pull this lever and it'll match you up with a Wonderbolt. Whichever one your matched with is the one you have to race. So... who wants to go first?"

"I'll go first." Zephyr offered. He wrote his name on a piece of paper and placed it into the machine. Spitfire pulled the lever and the machine sprung to life. The machine whirred and clanked for a few minutes until it spat out another piece of paper. Spitfire picked it up and inspected it. "Alright Zephyr, It looks like you'll be going up against Rapidfire."

Zephyr nodded and turned around to rejoin his friends. "Me next!" Rainbow shouted. She pushed past Forge and placed her sheet of paper in the machine. The machine spat out Rainbow's opponent moments later. "Rainbow, you'll be facing Fleetfoot."

"Sweet!" she said excitedly. Forge approached the machine last and placed his piece of paper in the machine. He awaited the results for what seemed like hours. The machine eventually spit out his results which Spitfire quickly took. "Forge, your going to be racing against... oh my."

"What?"

"Forge, your racing Soarin."

Forge looked over a Soarin. Their expressions filled with shock. They stared at each other for a while before their expressions changed from shock to determination. "What a way to catch up with an old friend, eh Soarin?"

"I'll say. Don't expect me to go easy on you."

"Good. It'll be just like old times." They nodded each other before turning to Spitfire. "So when do we begin?"

"Well, if you want you three can go right after the next race. They're just finishing up down there."

"Great! I'll go first!" Zephyr said.

"I'll go after him." Forge added. "Which leaves Rainbow and Fleetfoot for last."

"Fine with me! It'll give me time to practice my moves!" Rainbow shouted. "Do you have like a practice track I could use until these two are done."

"Yes. It's out back. Follow me and I'll take you there." Soarin said. He turned to Forge. "As for you. I'll see you later."

"Count on it." Soarin nodded and flew off towards the practice track with Rainbow.

"I better get going. I'm next." Zephyr said.

"Alright. Good luck Zephyr."

"You to." Zephyr then took off towards the track, leaving Forge and the girls in the room.

"We'll be in the stands cheering for you guys." Twilight said

"You'll know it's us when ya' here us. Pinkie brought her megaphone." Applejack added.

"THIS WAY I'LL BE ABLE TO CHEER EXTRA LOUD FOR YOU!" Pinkie shouted into the megaphone. "GO GET EM' FORGE!"

"Thanks Pinkie! Why don't you go down to the track and start cheering extra loud for Zephyr."

"OKIE DOKIE LOKIE!" She grinned at Forge before bouncing off towards the track. The rest of the girls followed soon after.

"I better get going to." Spitfire said. "I've got to prepare Rapidfire and Fleetfoot. It was great seeing you again Forge."

"You too. Before you go I have a question for you."

"What's that?"

"Did you happen to see a griffon by the name of Gilda participate today?"

"Hmm. I do remember a Gilda today. She raced against Lightning Streak."

"Did she win?"

"Yes. Why?"

"No reason..." Forge felt a surge of anger and frustration sweep over him. He had hoped that Gilda would lose her race and be unable to enter the Cloudsdale 500. Now she'd just be an even bigger problem than she was before. But there was something more to it. The way she threatened them... Forge had a feeling that she was planning something. Something that he feared would involve one of them getting hurt.

"Forge. Are you okay?"

"Huh? Y-yeah, I'm fine Spitfire."

"...Okay. Good luck out there." She gave Forge one last hug before flying off to get her Wonderbolts prepared. As she flew she glanced back at her old friend. Something was wrong with him. She could tell by his voice. He had been her closest friend for years... so why did he lie to her?

Forge stretched his wings. His race with Soarin was about to begin. Zephyr had just barely won his race against Rapidfire and was now off celebrating. The last time Forge saw him, he was surrounded by endless empty beer bottles and was face down in what looked like his own vomit... or maybe it was somepony else's vomit. Either way, he was celebrating in his own 'unique' way.

"Hello one and all! Welcome to the Cloudsdale 500 qualifiers!" boomed the annonucer. The crowd cheered and clopped their hooves in excitement. "We've all seen some pretty exciting races today, and with only two left left in the day you can bet your flanks that they're going to be top-of-the line, grade A awesome! So let's not keep you all waiting! Our next loser... I mean victim... I mean challenger is from Edmaneton. Please welcome, Forge!"

Forge flew out of the gate and zoomed around the track. "Call me a loser will ya! I'll show you!" he spat. He flew around the track a few more times, doing some occasional flips and barrel rolls thrown in before flying up to announcer and flaring his wings right in of his face. The announcer stumbled back startled and fell on his flank. The crowd laughed a little while Forge hovered in midair, giving the announcer a smug look.

"Smart ass." he whispered angrily at Forge. Forge pushed him back on his rump again before flying off to where the girls were sitting.

"Was that really necessary Forge?" Twilight chastised.

"Don't listen ta' her Forge. He had it comin'." Applejack said. Twilight shot her and disapproving glare before turning back to Forge.

"Relax Twi, I didn't hurt him. I just made sure that he knows who he's talking to.

"Well wasn't that exciting! It seems that Forge over there is faster than he looks!" the announcer said. He was clearly struggling to not say anything nasty about Forge at that moment. "However, is he faster than his opponent! Let's find out! Introducing, the second-in command of the Wonderbolts! The one! The only! Soarin!"

The crowd went crazy as Soarin flew in from overhead, leaving the signature Wonderbolt smoke trail behind him. He began flying in a zig-zag pattern in the sky. Once he was done, the smoke trail he had left behind had formed the Wonderbolts symbole and Soarin hovered in the middle of it as he posed. Forge simply shook his head.

"He's kind of a showoff." Rarity said.

"Yeah, he is." Forge added. Suddenly a smile crept across his face. "But so am I!" With that Forge flew towards the giant smoke Wonderbolt symbol. He tore through the smoke, causing it to break apart. Soarin watched as Forge rearranged the smoke to take the shape of his cutie mark. When Forge was done he hovered in the middle of his masterpiece and crowd cheered. He looked down at the girls who were all cheering at the top of their lungs for him. He glanced over at Soarin who just smiled and shook his head.

"Oh, it looks like these two are ready for a race!" the announcer shouted. "Gentlecolts please head to the starting line!"

Forge flew with Soarin towards the starting line. "So, what did you think of my re-design of the Wonderbolts symbol huh?" Forge said, smirking.

"Lame. Mine was much better." Soarin shot back.

"Yeah, yeah. Where's Rainbow?"

"She's still at the practice track. I told her I'd come and get her after I kicked your but."

"Wait, you left her alone!" Forge panicked. He knew Gilda was still around and he didn't want her getting anywhere near Rainbow or Zephyr. If Rainbow was alone, it was the perfect opportunity for her to do something.

"Yeah, what's the big deal? She's a tough mare. She can take care of herself."

"Yeah. I guess your right." Forge knew he was right. Still, was she tough enough to protect herself against Gilda if she tried anything. He pushed the thought aside as he and Soarin arrived at the starting line.

"Racers! Are you ready?!"

"Ready!" they said in unison as they readied their wings.

"You all know the rules. The first one to complete ten laps around the track will be declared the winner! On your marks..."

Forge's eyes narrowed and he arched his back slightly.

"Get set..."

Soarin placed his racing goggles over his eyes and lowered himself to the ground.

"Go!" Forge and Soarin took off from the starting line like rockets and began zooming around the track. The girls tried to keep up with them, but their eyes weren't fast enough and all they say were black and blue blurs.

Forge trailed closely behind Soarin as they entered the 3rd lap. He made a move on the inside, only to be cut off by Soarin.
"Your going to have to do better than that Forge!" Soarin shouted over his shoulder. Forge sneered and began to move in on the outside. Soarin cut him off there as well. Forge growled in frustration as they entered the 7th lap. Forge suddenly had an idea, he began to move in on the outside again. Soarin looked behind him and noticed Forge attempting to pass him. "Come one Forge! I expected more from you! I guess I just know all your tricks!" Soarin moved to cut him off, only to have Forge dive underneath him and appear on the inside as they entered the final turn.

"Not all my tricks Soarin!" Forge shouted as he passed his friend. Forge was grinning from ear to ear as he crossed the finish line before Soarin.

"I-I don't believe it! Soarin has lost the race! Forge is moving on to the Cloudsdale 500!" the annonucer shouted in disbelief. The crowd cheered as Forge did a victory lap around the track. He came to a skidding halt in front of a defeated Soarin. Soarin simply looked away in defeat. Forge grabbed his friends hoof and held it up high along with his own. The crowd cheered even louder than before at Forge's show of sportsmanship. Forge looked over at the girls. Pinkie Pie had taken hold of Fluttershy and was making her jump with her in excitement, Rarity was clopping her hooves together, Applejack was tossing her hat in the air in celebration and Twilight was cheering as loud as she could. Soarin soon let go of Forge's hoof and began to clop them together as he watched his friend celebrate.

"That was a nice move you pulled during that last turn Forge." Soarin said as he and Forge made their way into the stands to join the girls. "I could of sworn that I had you beat."

"You almost did! You've gotten a lot faster since the last time I saw you."

"Yeah, but that's only because of the Wonderbolt training that you turned down! Thanks again for what you did by the way."

"Don't worry about it Soarin. Like I told you and Spitfire before, I didn't want to be a Wonderbolt. You two worked your flanks off trying to get on their good side. I just gave you an extra shove in the right direction."

"Still thank you. I owe you big time."

"Yes, you do! Spitfire too. She still owes me five bits!" They laughed for a while as they reminisced through the times the three of them had in Flight School.

"You know Forge... Spitfire was pretty upset when we left. I mean you two were-"

"I know..." Forge said quietly as the memory returned to him. "Can we not talk about that..."

"Sorry. I-I didn't mean to get you upset."

"That's okay Soarin. Me and Spitfire... we had some good times and we'll always be friends. But I'd be lying if I told you that I didn't wish that we were more than that."

"Yeah... I think she thinks the same way." The two remained in silence for the rest of the walk to the stands. They eventually arrived at the stands where the girls were waiting.

"Forge! That was an absolutely spectacular race! Congratulations!" Rarity said.

"Hoo wee! That was some mighty fast racin' you two!" Applejack added.

"Yes. I got so excited I just felt like shouting... Woohoo..." Fluttershy quietly said.

"Hoof-biting action overload! You were like a super-speed superstar! Flying around the track at those fast speeds--zoom--and then you swooped down--swoosh--and then you passed Soarin and you two went around and around like fwoom fwoom fwoom fwoom fwoom fwoom fwoom fwoom!" Pinkie said, giving them her signature toothy grin.

"Yes Forge that was... a-amazing. You're a really good flier." Twilight said blushing slightly.

"Aww, thanks girls." Forge began to look around. "Hey, where's Zephyr?"

"He's probably still passed out at the bar." Twilight sighed.

"Well he better get his butt over here soon or he'll miss Rainbow's race!"

"All right mares and gentlecolts! It's time for the final race of the day between Fleetfoot of the Wonderbolts and Ponyville's resident speedster and winner of the Best Young Flyer competition: Rainbow Dash!" The crowd cheered as Fleetfoot made her way to the track. Forge and the rest of the group cheered for her but kept their eyes on the gate where Rainbow was supposed to make her entrance. They waited and waited... but no Rainbow Dash.

"Could Rainbow Dash please make her way to the race track." the annonucer said. By now the crowds cheers were turning into silence and they all began to talk or whisper among themselves. Even Fleetfoot was confused and had no idea where Rainbow Dash was. "Is Rainbow Dash here?"

"It's not like Rainbow Dash to miss a race." Twilight said.

Forge got up from his chair and looked up at the sky, hoping for any signs of his cyan colored friend. "I don't get it. Where is she? She couldn't have-" Forge suddenly realized what must have happened. He quickly turned to Soarin. "Soarin... where's the practice track..."

"It's over behind the stadium. Why?"

Without another word Forge took off towards the track. "Forge? Hey, Forge where are you going?! Forge!" Soarin called out to him, but Forge was to far ahead to hear him. Forge flapped his wings as fast as he could. He hoped that he was wrong about what happened to Rainbow. He arrived at the practice track and began searching for Rainbow.

"Rainbow!" Forge called out. "Rainbow are you here?! Rainbow!!!" Forge frantically looked around for her until he heard a sound that made his heart sink.

"Ugh..." came the voice. Forge looked down at the track and noticed a familiar blue wing sticking out from beneath a broken cart. "Oh no..." he breathed. He rushed down to the ground and began pulling the pieces of the cart off of Rainbow. Once he had her uncovered he looked her over. What he saw was much worse than he imagined.

Rainbow was lying in a crater. Her left wing looked like somepony had snapped it in half and she was covered in what looked like claw marks. Some of her feathers were torn out and she was barely conscious. Forge picked her up gently and moved her away from the crater. "Forge..." Rainbow said weakly.

"Yeah Rainbow. I'm here. What happened?"

"G-Gilda... " Before Rainbow could say anymore she passed out. By this point Soarin and the girls had arrived and were quickly approaching the scene.

"Forge, what happened? You just took off. Did you find Rain-" Twilight began, but stopped once she saw Rainbow. The girls slowly approached their fallen friend. Fluttershy began sobbing uncontrollably, while Rarity attempted to comfort her. Twilight looked at Forge and placed her head on his shoulder. She began to cry while Forge watched Applejack and Pinkie Pie carry Rainbow off to the medical wing.

"Forge what happened?" Soarin asked.

"Gilda happened... I knew she was up to no good."

"But why Rainbow?"

"Because Rainbow wanted to enter the Cloudsdale 500 more than any of us. She knew that she would cause the most damage if she got rid of the one who wanted it most."

Soarin stared at Forge. His friends once calm and friendly demeanor was replaced with hatred and anger. "Forge... Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. And once I get a hold of that griffon... I'm going to make her wish she was never hatched!"

Chapter 9: The Cloudsdale 500 Part 3

Authors Notes: Once I again I apologize for the delay. A bad case of writer's block plus Mass Effect 3 can keep a guy busy for a while. I also want to let you all know that you the following chapters will return to having about 1500 to 3000 words a chapter. No more long chapters for a while. Anyway, here's the final part of the Cloudsdale 500 saga and chapter 9. Enjoy!

Chapter 9

The Cloudsdale 500 Part 3

"Is she gonna be okay?" Applejack asked.

"Oh, I'm so worried!" Fluttershy added.

Rainbows eyes fluttered open and she realized she was in the hospital. She looked around her bedside and saw all her friends gathered around her. "Hey guys... what's up?"

"Rainbow! How are you feeling deary?" Rarity asked in a motherly tone.

"Horrible. What happened?"

"From what Forge told us, Gilda got the drop on you." Zephyr said. "You were pretty beat up when he found you."

Rainbow looked at Forge. His head was hung low and he didn't make eye contact. "I'm sorry Rainbow. I knew Gilda was up to something. I should have gotten to the track sooner."

"Hey you didn't know she was going after me. I should be thanking you for finding me when you did."

"Indeed." the doctor said as he entered the room. "Had Rainbow arrived any later, the damage would be far worse."

"How is she then doctor?" Twilight asked.

"Luckily Rainbow will make a full recovery." Everypony sighed in relief at the good news. "However, that wing of hers was very badly broken and will take about 2 weeks to fully heal."

"What?! But the Cloudsdale 500 is in a week! How am I supposed to race if I only have one wing?!"

"You're not. I'm sorry Rainbow, but your injuries will prevent you from doing any flying for a while. You won't be able to participate in the Cloudsdale 500."

Rainbow looked like she had just been bucked in the gut. Her mouth hung open as if she wanted to say something. She said nothing and lay back in her hospital bed. She was devastated. In the blink of an eye, her dreams of winning the Cloudsdale 500 were taken away by a griffon she used to consider her friend.

Everyone in the room took this moment to make their leave and give Rainbow some time to herself. One by one they exited the room with Forge being the last one out. He looked back at the distraught Rainbow before hanging his head and leaving her alone.

"Gilda cannot get away with this!" Forge exclaimed. "She's gone to far! Oh when I get my hooves on her I'll-"

"Forge, calm down." Twilight said interrupting him.

"Calm down! Are you kidding me?! Look at what she did to Rainbow!"

"We know. But gettin' angry bout' it ain't gonna help." Applejack added.

"Neither is standing here and doing nothing about it!" Forge then turned to Soarin and Spitfire. "Isn't their some rule against viciously assaulting another contestant?!"

"There is a rule that we could use that will get Gilda disqualified from the race." Soaring suggested. "But..."

"But what?"

"Well, we need proof that it was Gilda who did it."

Forge looked at them as if they were crazy. "Proof?! Go take another look at Rainbow! She's covered in talon marks from a griffon! If that's still not good enough, just ask her who did it and she'll tell you!"

"It's not that simple Forge." Spitfire said. "One pony saying who did it isn't good enough to enforce the rule. And those marks could have been done by anything."

Forge looked as though he was about to explode from anger. "But we all know who did it!" Zephyr stated. "Even you two know! Doesn't that count for anything?"

"Sadly no. We believe you all but because we didn't actually see Gilda attacking Rainbow, we can't use that as proof."

Forge suddenly erupted in a fit of rage and fire. "BULLSHIT!!!" he shouted. Everypony backed up a little to avoid Forge's flames which burned with the intensity of his anger. He stared down each of his friends, their eyes filled with fear and concern as he stood over them. Slowly, Forge's flames died down until he was back to normal. He gave each of his friends one last glare before flying off.

Slowly, they all got up and looked at where Forge once was. "I've never seen him this mad before." Twilight said quietly.

"I've never seen him mad!" Rarity added. "Where do you suppose he went?"

"If I know Forge, he's gone somewhere he can blow off some steam." Spitfire said. "Just give him some space."

"Does he always erupt when he gets mad?" Zephyr asked. "I think he may have singed one of my wings!"

"Only when he gets really mad. I think Forge is frustrated that he let Gilda hurt Rainbow and angry that there seems to be nothing he can do about it."

"That's legal anyways." Everypony glared at Soarin. "What? Forge knows that he could fry that griffon if he wanted to."

"I think he made it clear that he wants to." Zephyr said, wiping some ash from his wings.

"But he knows that he'll get in trouble if he does." Twilight said. "He doesn't want to be kicked out from another town. It's a loose-loose situation. Will he be alright?"

"He'll be fine Twilight." Spitfire assured. "I'm more worried about what Forge will do to Gilda when he gets his hooves on her."

Forge walked through the Everfree Forest. He needed to be alone for a bit and he knew nopony would bother entering the forest to find him. He was still extremely angry that Gilda would get away with what she did, but he was also feeling guilty for snapping at his friends. "That could have gone better." he thought to himself. "I hope I didn't accidentally burn any of them." He sighed as he continued his walk, not noticing that he was unintentionally walking through a bunch of blue flowers...

*CRACK*

Forge's head shot up and he began to search his surroundings. "Hello?" he shouted into the forest. "Is somepony there?" No response. Forge began to get suspicious and took up a defensive stance. "Look whoever you are, I am in no mood for this! Show yourself and maybe I won't burn all the fur of your body!" He narrowed his eyes and scanned the bushes on the side of the path. Maybe he was imagining things. Forge was about to turn his back to the bushes when he noticed a pair of eyes glaring at him.

Suddenly, the beast jumped out from the bushes and lunged at Forge. Forge quickly turned on his forelegs and bucked the creature right in the jaw, knocking out one of it's teeth. Forge turned to face his attacker: a manticore. Forge studied his attacker before noticing what appeared to be a burn mark on the beasts stomach. "Oh, it's you again!" Forge said smugly.

The manticore roared at Forge. This was the same manticore that had tried to make a meal out of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and it wasn't happy to see Forge again. Forge looked down at his hooves and noticed the tooth that he had knocked out lying nearby. He picked it up and began to taunt the manticore. "I think you lost something big guy!" The manticore glared at Forge with hatred in it's eyes. It roared and brought it's scorpion tail down on him. Forge quickly moved out of the way and continued his taunting. "What's the matter? Not happy to see me!" The manticore bared it's claws and snarled at Forge as they began to circle each other. "So you want another piece of me do ya?! Fine by me! I need to hit something anyways!"

The manticore roared once more before pouncing towards Forge. Forge moved out of the way just in time and delivered a swift kick to it's head. The manticore growled and took a swipe at Forge with it's mighty claws. Forge narrowly avoided them before flying above the manticore and landing on it's head. "I think I felt some breeze on that last one. Why don't you try again?" The manticore snarled and brought it's tail down once again. Forge lept off the manticores head making it hit itself in the head with it's own tail. The manticore roared in pain, clutching it's head in pain as Forge stood by and laughed. "Wow. You're dummer than you look!" The dazed manticore glared at Forge through it's pain. It turned to face him and began to take blind swipes at him. Due to it still being dazed, they all missed Forge by a mile. Forge shook his head. "Alright this is just sad. Time to finish this!" Forge rushed the manticore and placed himself right in front of his face. The manticores eyes shrunk as Forge took a deep breath and breathed... bubbles.

"Huh? W-what the hell!" Forge stared as the bubbles floated slowly towards the manticore before popping inches away from it's face. The manticore seemed to smile as Forge stood there stunned. "Um... hold on a second." Forge said in a panicky tone. He tried to breath fire once more, but all that came out were bubbles. Forge then tried to light himself on fire again, only to have his mane, tail and wings flicker slightly before returning to their normal state. "W-what's happening to me?!"

Forge slowly looked up. The manticore was now standing over him with a sinister smile across it's face. "Eh he he... I don't suppose you're going to let me go and forget this ever happened... right?" The manticore shook it's head. "Didn't think so..."
The manticore raised it's paw and swung at the now helpless Forge. Forge managed to dodge it and began to fly away as fast he could. The manticore reared it's head back and roared before giving chase after Forge.

****

"Did you hear that?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah. A' think it came from the Everfree Forest." Applejack added.

"That was a manticores roar." Fluttershy said. "It's after something."

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"What was that extremely girlish scream?" Rarity inquired.

"That must be what it's hunting." Fluttershy suddenly looked sad. "Poor thing... It doesn't stand a chance."

****

"Crapcrapcrapcrap!" Forge shouted. The manticore was right on his tail and closer and closer by the second. Without his fire powers, Forge was at the manticores mercy. He could fight it naturally, but ultimately Forge would loose that match and end up being it's dinner. A piece of a tree shot past his head as he flew. Forge looked back over his shoulder and looked at the rampaging manticore plowing through the trees and bushes to get him.

The manticore reached out with on of it's paws and grabbed Forge's tail. A look of horror spread across Forge's face, while the manticore smiled in victory.With one mighty heave, the manticore slammed Forge to the ground and pinned him down. Forge struggled to break free, only to have the manticore slam him into the ground again. Forge looked up at the manticore. The mighty beast sharpend it's claws on a nearby rock and smiled in victory as it stood over Forge. "Fine... Make it quick..." Forge said in defeat. The manticore raised it's claw and Forge screwed his eyes shut as he awaited the manticore to finish him.

Suddenly, a bottle filled with some sort of liquid hit the manticore right on the nose. The bottle shattered, spilling it's contents all over the manticore. The manticore winced and began to panic. It released Forge and began to rub it's head on the ground in an attempt to rid itself of the liquid stuck in it's fur.

Forge flexed his back and snarled at the manticore. He noticed that just across from the manticore, one of the trees had been knocked loose. Forge smirked and walked up to the tree. With the last bit of strength he had, Forge bucked the tree as hard as he could causing it to fall. "TIIIIMMMMBEEEERRRR!" Forge shouted. The manticore looked up just as the tree fell on top of it. Forge looked at the manticore know dazed and pinned under the tree and smiled. "Yeah! How do you like me now?!" he bragged. The manticore gave a defeated sigh and looked away from him.

Forge suddenly remembered the bottle that had hit the manticore out of nowhere. Somepony must have thrown it. Forge looked in the direction where the bottle was thrown from and noticed a cloaked figure standing there. "Uh... thank you. If you hadn't shown up, that manticore would have made me it's dinner."

"It was no trouble of mine." the cloaked figure said. "I'm just glad everything turned out fine. You are Forge I presume. The one constantly talked about by little Apple Bloom."

Forge looked a little surprised that this complete stranger already knew who he was. "Y-yeah. That's me. Who are you?"

The stranger removed her hood, revealing her face. "My name is Zecora."

"So that blue plant is to blame for me breathing bubbles."

"Indeed. The Poison Joke is what you should blame for the unfortunate loss of your flame." Zecora rhymed. "The plant is much like poison oak. But the results are like a joke."

"Meaning?"

"It means this plant does not bread wrath. Instead this plant just wants a laugh."

"Yeah, well that stupid plant nearly got me killed." Forge said, remembering his encounter with the manticore just 10 minutes earlier. "You can fix me right? You can get me my flame back?"

Zecora nodded. "I can. I will make a special brew that will make you as good as new!"

Forge sighed in relief and continued to follow his striped friend deeper into the Everfree Forest. They eventually arrived at her hut where Zecora had said she could cure him of the Poison Jokes effects. Forge hesitated slightly as he entered. The creepy masks littering the room made him uneasy. He ignored this feeling however and walked up to a cauldron where Zecora was already mixing together some ingredients. "There." Zecora said as she finished mixing the ingredients in the cauldron. "Bathe for 10 minutes in this brew and then your powers will return to you."

Forge climbed into the cauldron and gently lowered himself into the liquid. He relaxed as the herbal mixture washed over him and lay back in the cauldron, sighing with content. "Ahhhhhhh... Much better." Forge said. "Thanks again Zecora."

"No problem."

"No. If it wasn't for you, I'd be looking at the inside of a manticores intestinal tract right now. What did you throw at him anyway?"

"The bottle I threw contained a liquid with a foul smell." Zecora explained. "I normally use it as a way to repel. It keeps me safe from the creatures of the Everfree. The monsters that live here are not very nice to me."

"So then why live here?"

"The forest is my home. I have made it so. If I had a chance to leave now, I simply could not go."

"Fair enough. One more question. Do you always speak in rhyme?"

"No."

Forge lay further back in the cauldron while Zecora began to mix more potions. "Now I have a question for you." she said over her shoulder. "Why did you travel to the Everfree Forest alone? It is dangerous here. Surely you must have known."

"I just needed some alone to... think about things." Like how I prefer my griffon: original recipe or extra crispy. Forge smiled evilly as that thought crossed his mind.

"Hmm. That's not the only reason your here. You did something that caused a little fear."

Forge looked at Zecora with a shocked expression. "How do you know that?"

"Lucky guess. It was something you did out of frustration yes?"

Forge sighed and turned away from the zebra. "Yeah. I got some news that really pissed me off and I erupted. Literally. My flames were bigger and brighter than usual. I nearly burnt my friends..." Forge hung his head as he remembered his outburst towards his friends.

"They were not harmed, so it's okay. It's not like they hate you now anyway."

"No. But they could have been hurt. That's what worries me the most..."

"Hmm. You fear the true force of your flame." Zecora stated. "You have an incredible power that you struggle to keep tame. You do not know what you can truly do and that thought frightens you."

Forge looked up at the zebra. Zecora had hit the nail right on the head. Forge barely knew anything about his abilities and the thought that he could one day loose control or do something he didn't know he could do that would harm anypony frightened him. His latest outburst towards his friends only increased that fear.

"But you can control it. Your powers are a gift to use how you see fit."

Forge smiled. Zecora was right. They were his powers. He could control them. "Thanks Zecora. Hey have I ever told how helpful you've been to me? I mean you're so full of fucking wisdom."

"I do my best." Zecora smiled and turned back to her potions. "I think your done in the cauldron. Give your fire powers a test."

Forge went to pull himself out of the cauldron when he noticed what looked like a view scope from a submarine appear from the brew. "What in the world?" Forge leaned in to get a closer look. The scope turned around and was looking directly at Forge. The light blue eye in the scope went bug-eyed before suddenly disappearing into the brew once more. Forge could have sworn he heard a gasp as the scope disappeared.

"Forge!" Pinkie Pie shouted, erupting from the cauldron.

"Gah! Pinkie? How did- I mean where did-" Forge stammered.

"I finally found you! Everyponies been worried sick about you!"

"They are."

"Duh! But it's okay now because I found you! Quick, follow me!" Pinkie disappeared back into the brew before appearing outside Zecora's hut and waving her hoof for Forge to follow. "Are you coming or what?!"

"Uh... Just give me a minute." Forge got out of the cauldron and prepared to see if his powers were back. He looked at Zecora who gave him a 'go ahead' nod. Forge took a deep breath and focused. In a bright burst of orange and yellow light, Forge's mane, tail and wings were burning brighter than when Celestia raised the sun on the Summer Sun Celebration. "Oh yeah! I'm back baby!" Forge shouted as he hoof pumped the air.

"I'm glad to see your powers have returned to you. Your strength is back and you're good as new. "

"Right. Thanks Zecora! I'll see you around!" Forge flew out of Zecora's hut with new determination and beckoned for Pinkie to follow him. "Come on Pinkie!"

"Okey dokey lokey!" Pinkie said in a sing-song voice as she bounced after Forge.

"Good luck in the race my fiery friend!" Zecora called after them. "And know that I will be cheering for you till the very end!"

Twilight paced back and forth in the middle of town. "Where could he be?" she thought aloud. Hours after Forge flew off, they began to worry and had split up to search for him. Twilight continued to pace until Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy returned from their searches. From the looks on their faces, Twilight could tell they didn't have much luck.

"Any sign of him?" Twilight asked hopefully.

"In the words a' Big Macintosh; nnnope." Applejack said.

"Same here... sorry." Fluttershy added sadly.

"No luck for me either." Rarity sighed.

The four mares slumped to the ground in defeat. They had searched high and low for Forge for hours now, but he somehow managed to avoid them. The four were so exhausted from their search, they didn't notice Pinkie Pie bouncing towards them with a massive grin on her face. "Hiya silly-fillies! Is it nap time already?"

"Pinkie!" Twilight said. "Did you find Forge?"

"Oh yes! He's over there!" The girls looked in the direction that Pinkie Pie had pointed to and saw Forge flying towards them. He landed a few feet away from them and looked at the group.

"Uh... hey." he said quietly. Suddenly, he was surrounded by the mares (except for Pinkie who was still bouncing around and happily saying how she had found him.) and was bombarded with questions and expressions of concern.

"Oh, Forge, thank goodness!" Rarity exclaimed.

"We're so glad your safe!" Fluttershy said quietly.

"Of course I'm safe. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, when ya' didn't come back, we kinda' got a little worried bout' ya'." Applejack admitted. "Where were you?"

"I went to the Everfree Forest."

"You what?! Why would you go there? It's dangerous!" Twilight exclaimed.

"And scary..."

"And positively filthy!"

"And the last place any of you would ever look!" The girls seemed a little shocked by this statement. "I needed some time alone to think." Forge explained. "I know that you're all afraid of the Everfree Forest, so I figured that I'd spend some time in there to vent and not have to worry about any of you finding me." Forge glanced over to the pink pony still bouncing around happily. "Well... most of you anyways. I'm sorry for making you all worry, but I was just really, really mad and I didn't want to talk to anypony."

"We understand Forge." Twilight reassured. "We're all angry at Gilda for what she did and we know you're frustrated. But unfortunately, there's nothing we can do."

"I know, that's why I'm frustrated. That griffon deserves a beat down after what she did to Rainbow!"

"We know sugarcube." Applejack added. "But nopony other than Rainbow herself saw what happened and ya' can't do anything ta' Gilda or you'll be disqualified. If ya' really want ta' hurt her, then you'll just have to beat her in the Cloudsdale 500."

Forge smiled slightly and nodded in agreement. "You're right. Still, what I wouldn't give to see Gilda have all the feathers burned off of her." His hair, mane and tail glowed slightly as he said this. The girls noticed this and backed away slightly.

"Careful Forge. We don't want you catching fire again." Twilight said.

"Right. Oh and um... I'm really sorry about what happened with my powers. I didn't mean to nearly set you all on fire."

"It's okay. You were just angry." Fluttershy said. "But you're kind of scary when you're mad..."

"Just warn us next time you're going to do that darling." Rarity added. "All that heat is not good for my mane. It get's all frizzy." Rarity noticed that they were now all giving her bemused looks. "Well it's true!"

They all rolled there eyes and laughed for a bit while Rarity looked away, slightly embarrassed. After they stopped laughing, Twilight spoke up first. "Well, now that we all know that Forge is okay, I suggest we get to bed. It's getting late."

"Yeah. Apple Bloom's probly' wonderin' where we are anyway." Applejack stated.

"I should be going as well." Rarity added. "A girl needs her beauty sleep after all."

"I need to tend to my animals." Fluttershy said. "Goodnight everypony!"

"Goodnight!" they all said in unison. Forge followed Applejack back to Sweet Apple Acres, but his thoughts were racing. He had one week to prepare for the race and he was determined to make good use of it. He would be ready for the Cloudsdale 500 and for Gilda.

(One week later)

It was time. The Cloudsdale 500 had finally arrived. Forge flew towards Cloudsdale with a look of determination in his eyes. For the past week, he had been keeping himself occupied with more training or visits to the hospital to see Rainbow. She was still upset over not being able to enter the race, but she was back to her old self and wing seemed to be healing up nicely.

One thing still bothered Forge however. Throughout the week, he had not seen one sign of Zephyr or Gilda. He feared that Gilda had gotten Zephyr as well and he would be entering the race alone. Forge had already been pushed to the breaking point when she got Rainbow. If anything were to happen to Zephyr because of that griffon, rules or not, he'd be having fried chicken for dinner. Luckily, his fears were set aside when he saw the dark-tan pegasus waving him over as he approached Cloudsdale.

"Hey Forge! Over here!" Zephyr called out. Forge smiled in relief at the sight of his friend standing there and flew down to meet him.

"Zephyr! Dude, where have you been? I was beginning to think you had chickened out."

"What? And miss the look on your face when I cross the finish line and take home the prize money. Never!"

"We'll see about that. Seriously, where were you?"

"Well, since Rainbow's hurt, I was took over as captain of the weather team."

"Congratulations."

"Yeah, I though it would be good to. But, then I got stuck with all the unfinished work orders that Rainbow never did!"

"Oh come one. I couldn't have been that bad."

"The jobs range all the way back to December-from three years ago!"

"Wow. Tough break."

"Yeah. So all her unfinished work, plus the extra work orders that came with being captain have kept me busy."

"At least you're here and able to compete. After all, I need to be able to rub my victory in someponies face." Forge shot Zephyr a smug grin before glancing over his shoulder and noticing other pegasi flying towards the Cloudiseum. "I think we better get going."

"Right. I think the other racers are here already so it'll give us a chance to scout the competition." With that in mind, the two pegasi took off towards the track. They eventually arrived at a large room that lead out to the Cloudiseum. In the room the contestants where idly chatting with each other.

Forge and Zephyr pushed through the crowd to a booth where an elderly pony was handing each contestant a number. She noticed the two approach called them over. "You two part of the race." she asked.

"Yes we are." Forge stated.

"Names?"

"Forge."

"Zephyr Verve."

The elderly pony began to flip through a chart covered in names. "Let's see... Forge... Forge... Aha! Here you are. You're number 17." The elderly pony gave Forge his number and began to scroll through the charts again. "Zephyr Verve... uh... Oh, here you are. You're number 19."

Zephyr grabbed his number and place it on him. The two thanked the pony and turned to look at the other competitors. "All right, lets see what we've got to work with." Zephyr said.

Forge began scanning the room, carefully looking over the other competitors to make sure Gilda and Zephyr were the only two he needed to worry about. There were a lot of pegasus ponies competing, but most of them were inexperienced with the kind of flying needed for the race or were just hot-heads who wanted a chance to show off. Forge noticed a couple of dragons near the back of the room. While they were still young, these dragons were already great fliers. However, due to their size, they weren't very maneuverable and were slow to get going. There were a few griffons in the crowd, but Forge didn't worry about them. While fast and agile, they had extremely poor endurance. The strains the race put on them would get rid of most of them before they became a threat. The only griffon Forge was worried about was Gilda, who didn't seem to be in the crowd.

"See anypony who'll give us trouble?" Zephyr asked.

"Nothing we can't handle. But it's not them I'm worried about..."

"Don't worry. Gilda will get what's coming to her. We'll make sure of it."

"Is that a fact?" Forge and Zephyr's eyes went wide and they slowly turned around to see Gilda standing over them with an evil grin on her face. "And I was beginning to think we could be friends."

"We're not going to let you win Gilda." Forge spat.

"You're not letting me! Ha! You losers don't stand a chance against me! Just ask Rainbow Dash."

"YOU BITCH!" Forge angrily shouted. He lunged at the griffon but was stopped by Zephyr who had managed to bite down on his tail in attempt to hold him back. By now most of the other contestants had stopped what they were doing and began to watch the confrontation unfold. "Let me go Zephyr! I'm gonna rip her heart out!"

"Forge, no!" Zephyr said. "You'll get disqualified! She's not worth it!" Forge slowly backed away from the griffon and rejoined Zephyr. He was right. Beating the living tar out of Gilda wouldn't accomplish anything... at least not yet. "Come one Forge. The girls are supposed to meet us before the race." Forge gave one last glare at the griffon before turning and following Zephyr towards the door.

"I'd listen to your girlfriend if I were you!" Gilda boasted. "He knows what he's talking about!"

Zephyr stopped in his tracks and whirled around to face the griffon. "On second thought Forge, let's kill her!"

"What? Whoa, Zephyr wait!" Forge exclaimed as he grabbed Zephyr's tail in an attempt to hold him back. "What happened to 'she's not worth it?"

"Forget what I said! Let's tear her wings off!"

Gilda laughed. "You two are pathetic! I'm going to enjoy watching you losers cry when I win!" She then took off with a triumphant screech and flew towards the track. The crowd eventually went back to chatting with each other and acted as if nothing had happened.

Zephyr had calmed down and had rejoined Forge in heading to meet the girls. "I hate that griffon."

"I know Zeph. I hate her too."

"We're still gonna beat the crap out of her after the race right?"

"Totally."

Forge and Zephyr sat on a balcony looking out towards Ponyville. It wasn't long before Fluttershy was seen in the distance flying towards them. She waved to them as she approached before landing softly behind them. "Hey Fluttershy." Forge greeted.

"Hello Forge. And hello Zephyr." Fluttershy squeaked.

"Hi Fluttershy. You made it." Zephyr said.

"Oh of course. I wouldn't miss this for the world. I've even been practicing my cheers for you two."

"Really? Let's hear it."

"Oh okay." Fluttershy took a deep breath. "Yaay. Woohoo." she said quietly. She proudly grinned from ear to ear, but quickly stopped once she looked up at the two pegasi who were giving her quizzical looks. "...Too loud."

"Uh... It could use a little work." Forge said. "But It was good... right Zephyr?"

"Uh... yeah. It was... really nice. Good work."

When she heard this, her smile returned and she squeed slightly. Forge and Zephyr simply smiled and rolled their eyes before looking back over towards Ponyville. "Where are the rest of the girls?" Forge asked.

"They should be here soon. I think they were going to Twilight's first so she could cast a spell to let the others walk on the clouds."

No sooner had Fluttershy finished her sentence did a hot air balloon filled with girls appear form behind the clouds.The balloon floated near to the balcony where AJ tied it down with her rope. One by one they jumped out of the balloon and landed on the clouds. "Howdy ya'll!"

"Hey girls! Glad you could make it!"

"You didn't think we'd miss this did you?" Rarity said.

"Yeah!" Pinkie said as she embraced Forge and Zephyr into a crushing bear hug. "The six of us are going to cheer you two to victory! Or... at least one of you to victory."

"Wait-" Zephyr began as he struggled to escape Pinkies grip. "The six of you?"

"Yes. The six of us." came a familiar voice. Forge and Zephyr looked up at the pegasus and smiled. "You can't have a race without Equestria's most awesomest pony there!"

"Rainbow! You're here!"

"Yeah, the doctors said that she didn't need to stay in the hospital anymore so we brought her along." Twilight said.

"I wasn't just going to sit in bed and watch the race from that cruddy little TV in my room! I wanted to be there when you two wipe the floor with Gilda!"

Just then, the announcer came over the intercom. "Attention all competitors in the Cloudsdale 500! The race is about to begin! Please make your way to the Cloudiseum and take your positions!"

"Looks like you got here just in time." Zephyr stated. He turned to Forge. "We better go."

"Right. We'll see you girls later! Wish us luck!"

"Good luck!" They shouted in unison as Forge and Zephyr flew towards the Cloudiseum.

Forge and Zephyr arrived at the entrance to the Cloudiseum. They took a few steps towards the entrance but stopped once they heard the roar of the crowd. "Wow. They really went all out for this." Forge stated.

"Yeah." Zephyr said. "Look Forge. I know that we both hate Gilda and we can't let her win. But only one of us will cross that finish line in first place. Do understand where I'm going with this?"

"I do. You don't really think that I'm going to let you win did you?"

"No. I'm just making sure we're clear on the subject. While we don't want Gilda to win, once we're racing it's everypony for themselves."

"Of course." Forge spit in his hoof and held it out to Zephyr. "Good luck Zephyr."

Zephyr smirked and did the same thing and the two shook hooves. "You to Forge. See you on the track." Zephyr than ran out to the Cloudiseum and joined the other contestants as they did a few practice fly-by's. Forge took a deep breath and followed soon after. He was greeted by hundreds of ponies cheering and shouting from the stands in anticipation for the race to begin.

"Welcome one and all to the Cloudsdale 500!" the intercom boomed. "I'm your host Madden, and what a beautiful day for racing! The competitors are ready for action and the crowd is hungry for it! Let's head down to the starting line where the leader of the Wonderbolts; Spitfire, is about to start the race!"

Forge flew down to his platform and took his position. He looked down the line of racers and saw Zephyr near the middle of the pack. Gilda was little farther down, but only a few ponies and a dragon separated her and Zephyr. Gilda noticed his glare and shot him an evil grin. Forge snarled at the griffon before looking away and focusing his attention to Spitfire, who was now hovering in front of them.

"Congratulations!" Spitfire began. "You have each shown great skill in your ability to fly and now have the great honour of being part of the Cloudsdale 500! You all know the rules: If you have to be rescued or cannot continue during the race at any point you forfeit. If you fly above Ghastly Gorge or the alpine valleys you forfeit. No pushing, no shoving, no fighting, and no crying. We've got camera's all around the race course, so don't even try to cheat. First one to Canterlot Castle is the winner. Good luck! Let the race begin!"

The crowd cheered and clopped their hooves together as the racers got into their racing positions. Forge looked around the arena and saw the girls on their cloud seats, cheering. He took a deep breath and crouched closer to the ground as the flag carrier appeared and began to count down.

"Three!"

Forge pawed his hoof at the cloud in anticipation.

"Two!"

His eyes narrowed and he crouched lower to the ground.

"One!"

Forge flared his wings.

"GO!"

With that, racers ran off their clouds and nose-dived towards the ground. Forge tucked his wings in close and straightened out his body. His eyes stung as he plummeted towards the earth. The clouds he hurtled through burst into vapour and raindrops. He could hardly ear anything, save for the high-pitched whistling of the wind through his ears. He glanced back over his shoulder briefly and saw some of the contestants beginning to chicken out, opening their wings early and leveling off early. Forge turned to face the ground again. He was getting dangerously close but he didn't pull up yet. He continued his dive until he was so close, he could make out the features of every single pebble that was on the ground. With a quick unfurl of his wings and a quick twist of his body, he leveled out almost parallel to ground inches below him. Forge flew along the ground for a little bit before diving into Ghastly Gorge and continuing the race.

****

Back in Cloudsdale, the crowd was in awe at what they had just seen. The camera's had captured Forge's near death nose-dive and they were all stunned. The girls all stared in awe, even Rainbow looked a little intrigued by Forge's move.

"Whoa! Did you all see that! That boy was inches from the ground!" Madden exclaimed over the intercom. "I don't know if this kid likes the risks or is just stupid but that was an incredible show of talent! Keep the camera's on this one everypony, this race just got a hell of a lot more interesting!"

****

Forge zoomed along the winding gorge. He was in the lead for the moment and most of the other contestants had fallen way behind. He rounded the corner and came across the first obstacle in the gorge; bramble bushes. The spikey plants had blocked off the path through the gorge and only way to the other side was through them. Forge slowed down and saw an opening between the spiked tendrils. He dove through them and effortlessly twisted and turned through them. As he passed through the spiked tendrils, he looked behind him and noticed that he was all alone. No one had caught up to him yet.

"This'll be easier than I thought." Forge said smugly. He was so busy he didn't notice where he was flying. Suddenly, a blood red coloured eel zoomed out from in front of him and attempt to eat him. "Whoa!" Forge quickly managed to avoid the eel, but was soon greeted with more of them. He had entered the quarray eels nesting grounds and they hated being disturbed. Forge managed to narrowly avoid them until one eel caught him off guard and snapped him up. Forge was keeping the mouth from closing on him, but he couldn't hold it forever.

Forge soon noticed the other racers appearing through the bramble bushes and quickly approaching the quarray eels. Most of them managed to avoid the quarray eels and pass Forge, however a few of them were snapped up in the quarray eels jaws. They were quickly saved by the Wonderbolts stationed nearby. The quarray eel that Forge was trying to keep from swallowing him was beginning to thrash around in an attempt to get Forge to lose his grip. He managed to keep his hold from breaking but, he knew if he didn't get out soon he wouldn't be finishing this race.

Just then, Forge noticed Gilda flying through the eels. She stopped in front of Forge and the two stared each other down for a while. Suddenly, she grew an evil grin. She turned around and flew towards the quarray eel hole directly in front of Forge.
"Hey! Come and get me!" she called to the eel. Forge noticed the eels golden eyes inside the hole. The eel lunged form it's home at Gilda. Gilda however managed to dodge and the eel continued it's lunge, right at Forge still suspended in his eels mouth.

"Oh no..." was all Forge could say before the eel meant for Gilda slammed into him and knocked him into the other eels mouth. "Nonononono!"

The eel licked it's lips while Gilda hovered for a few seconds watching her latest work. Satisfied, she flew of after the remainder of the contestants. Gilda spotted the dark-tan pegasus who was with Forge earlier in the day. "One down. One to go."

****

"Oh no, It looks like the kids luck has just run out!" The crowd was watching the replay from when Forge was knocked into the eels mouth. It looked as though when Gilda dodged, Forge was just unlucky enough to be in the way, but the crowd was talking. Something about what they were seeing wasn't right.

"That rotten griffon did that on purpose!" Rainbow shouted angrily.

"She should be disqualified!" Applejack added.

"Oh, I hope he's okay." Fluttershy said.

"Oh the poor kid, and he was doing so well. Anyway, while the Wonderbolts try to get him outta there we'll head back to the action! The run through Ghastly Gorge had taken it's toll with only thirty-seven of the fifty contestants making there way throu-"

"Wait, look! Somethings happening with the eel!" Spitfire shouted, drawing the crowds attention towards the screen. The eel that had swallowed Forge was thrashing about in a sort of panic. Smoke was coming from it's nostrils and it's belly seemed to be glowing. The eel began to cough up plumes of smoke, until with one final heave it spit Forge right back out.

"I-I don't believe it! The eel has coughed the kid back up!" The crowd cheered as loud as they could at the sight of Forge's escape. One the screen, Forge hovered for a moment before giving his head a shake and zooming off down the canyon. "And the kid is back in the game! Unbelievable! This kid's on fire! But that little slip up has cost him dearly! He's going to need to make up a lot of ground If he's going to catch up to the leaders!"

"Yeah! Alright Forge!" Pinkie shouted.

"Come on Forge, go get em'!" Spitfire added.

****

"Well that was fun." Forge said sarcastically. The trip into the quarray eels stomach was definitely one experience he wouldn't soon forget... or live down. Forge flapped his wings furiously as he attempted to catch up to the other racers. His little trip into the eels stomach had cost him his lead, and he was now trailing behind. However, he quickly managed to pass a few of the slower ponies, griffons and dragons that remained. Each of them looking extremely shocked to see him.

Forge eventually arrived at the next part of the race; The Windy Tunnel. He was about to fly into the tunnel when a night-blue pegasus was launched out of the tunnel right at him. Forge moved out of the way just in time. The blue pegasus missed him and was sent careening into a rock. Forge looked back at the unconscious pegasus who was now being carried away by the Wonderbolts. He turned to look back at the cave. He could hear the screech of the wind as it blew and the thuds and cries of the other racers caught inside. He gulped and flew inside only to find that no wind was blowing.

"Huh. I could have sworn tha-whoa!" Forge managed to say before a strong westerly wind knocked him off his balance and pinned him against the wall. Eventually the wind stopped and Forge fell towards the ground. Before he could pick himself up, the wind blew form the east and slammed him into the other side of the tunnel. "Twilight was right! The winds in this tunnel are crazy!"

Forge began to frantically look around the tunnel. He could see multiple tunnels littering the walls as well as a lot of the remaining racers either unconscious or holding on for dear life. "Okay. I can do this. I just gotta work with the wind. Don't fight it." After the eastern wind died down, Forge carefully flew towards the nearest tunnel. When he felt the air current begin to change. he turned his body so that he his hooves would be facing the wall the wind carried him too. Once it died down he began to fly towards the tunnels again.

Once he arrived at the tunnels, he realized that they were pulling him in all directions. The tunnels were sucking up anything and everything that came near them, almost like a vacuum cleaner. "Which way do I go?" he said as he looked form one tunnel to another. Suddenly the tunnel closest to him began to suck him in. Without warning, a strong wind shoved Forge into the tunnel and he was sent spiraling through the tunnel at an incredible speed. The winding path that this tunnel seemed to take was making Forge sick.

Suddenly, Forge was shot out of the into the bright of day. When his eyes cleared up, he saw that he was heading straight for an iceberg. Forge barely managed to roll out of the way of it as he zoomed by. The tunnel had shot Forge out like a cannon and he was now flying top speed into a group of small icebergs. He rolled and banked in every direction as he attempted to avoid smashing into the icebergs. Forge's extra speed soon began to wear off and he easily glided through the frozen valley.

Forge continued to fly through the frozen valley until something caught his eye. It looked like another tunnel. Suddenly, a disturbingly familiar griffon was shot out of the tunnel. Gilda managed to brake before she smashed into an iceberg. "Stupid tunnel! It's about time I got here!"

"You!" Forge spat.

Gilda turned around and was shocked to find out who the voice belonged to. "You?! B-but how? I saw you get eaten!"

Suddenly, from the same tunnel Gilda came from, Zephyr was launched out and he narrowly managed to avoid the iceberg in front of him. "Wow, what a ride!" He soon turned around and noticed Forge and Gilda staring at him. The two pegasi and griffon stared at each other for a few seconds, before each one bolted through the valley. Canterlot Castle was just over the hill. Now it was just a mad dash towards the finish line.

****

"It's all come down to this mares and gentlecolts! A battle for the finish! These three are our only remaining contestants.It's a mad dash to the finish line! Who's it gonna be? I'm already excited and none of them have even crossed the finish line yet!"

The crowd awaited in anticipation. They had moved from Cloudsdale to Canterlot Castle and were now awaiting the final three racers to fly over the hill and race to the finish line.

"Come on guys... you can do it." Twilight muttered.

"Please, please. Don't let Gilda win." Rainbow begged.

"You can do it darlings!" Rarity cheered.

"Look, there they are!" Pinkie shouted. Gilda, Forge and Zephyr appeared over the hill and were rushing towards Canterlot Castle. The crowd was going nuts. Fans were on the edge of their seat, shouting at the top of their lungs and cheering as loud as possible.

"It all comes down to this! Three racers! One champion! This is gonna be close!"

The three of them zoomed into the castle courtyard. With whatever energy they had left, they made one final push towards the finish line. They crossed the finish line and the crowd went crazy.

"It's to close to call! It's to close to call! I don't believe it! This was the closest finish I have ever seen!" Madden shouted over the intercom. "We're going to go to review and we'll be back with the winner of the Cloudsdale 500!"

Forge stumbled his way onto the staging area. Every muscle in his body was aching and he had absolutely no energy left. He collapsed in a heap if exhaustion as he awaited the results. He heard hoof-steps from behind and lifted his head up to see who it was. It was Zephyr, who looked just about as bad as he did. The dark-tan pegasus stumbled over to his friend and collapsed in exhaustion next to him. "So... quite a finish huh?" he choked out.

"Yeah... what a way to end it." Forge sputtered. "Do you think... Gilda lost?"

"I... I don't know. It was... way to close."

Forge sighed and placed his head on his foreleg. "Hey Zeph."

"Yeah."

"I don't ever want to fly again."

"That's cool. Neither do I."

The two pegasi slowly began to chuckle before breaking out into a full on laugh fit. It didn't last long as the two grabbed their ribs in pain. "Ow... It hurts to laugh..." Forge said.

They heard more hoof-steps behind them and turned to see the girls, as well as Soarin and Spitfire staring at them. They looked over-joyed to see them. "You two were incredible!" Pinkie Pie shouted.

"That was the best race I've ever seen! I was literally on the edge of my seat when the three of you flew over the hill!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"We just want to let y'all know that no matter what the outcome, we still love ya'." Applejack stated. The group of ponies moved in for a group hug, but were quickly shoved away by the two.

"No! No hugs... not now. In to much pain... ow." Zephyr said, clutching his side.

"Oh right, sorry."

"All right folks the results are in!" Madden shouted. He stood in the center of the staging area looking out onto the crowd with a piece of paper in his hoof. "Before I say who won however I just want to say, that was the best Cloudsdale 500 to date! I nearly had a heart attack from all the excitement! Am I right?!" The crowd cheered in response. "All right, all right. Now down to business. This was by far the closest race in history, but the winner of this years Cloudsdale 500 is..."

Forge, Zephyr and their friends all held their breaths in anticipation. The crowd did the same until the entire building was silent. Even the sounds from the distant Ponyville had disappeared. The entire world was watching and waiting for the winner to be announced.

"Number 17, Forge!" The crowd cheered at the top of their lungs. Back in Ponyville, the entire town had emptied out onto the streets and were jumping for joy. Forge, meanwhile, looked stunned. He won. He beat Gilda. He won the Cloudsdale 500.

"Forge you did it!" Soarin cheered. "You won!"

"I-I won... He...hehe I won! I did it! I WON!" Forge shouted, standing on his hind legs and thrusting his forelegs in the air in victory. Forge suddenly remembered Zephyr. He looked down at his friend, who had a disappointed scowl on his face. Zephyr looked up at him and they stared at each other for a few moments. "Uh..." Forge said. He wasn't sure what to say.

Zephyr sighed and shook his head. "Just go, your fans are waiting."

"So your not pissed."

"Oh I am. And I'm probably going to hate you for a little bit, but I'll get over it. You won. You beat Gilda and are the new champion. If anypony deserved to win it was you. Congratulations Forge."

Forge shook his head and chuckled slightly. He then turned around and slowly made his way to the stage. As he approached the stage, the crowd cheered began to chant his name. Forge looked on in awe. "Congratulations Forge, you are this years champion! How do you feel?" Madden asked. Before Forge could answer him, they were interrupted by a loud screech. Forge looked over near the stage entrance to see an extremely frantic and angry looking Gilda.

"NO! NO! NO! NO!" Gilda shouted. "I CAN'T LOSE TO YOU! I WON'T LOSE TO YOU! I SHOULD BE CHAMPION!"

"It's over Gilda! I win, you lose!"

"NO! I REFUSE TO BE BEATEN BY YOU! YOU ARE A NOBODY! A LOSER! A STUPID, ANNOYING LOSER!"

"Uh-huh. Sorry Madden, I'l be right with you just give me a minute."

"Uh... okay."

Forge turned and fully faced the irate Gilda. She has a wild look in her eye and looks like she could snap at any moment. "WHAT?! YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE ME! HA! YOU JUST SIGNED YOUR OWN DEATH SENTENCE! I'M GOING TO BREAK YOU LIKE THE LOSER THAT YOU A-"

Forge quickly silenced Gilda with a quick buck to the jaw. A chorus of "oooh's" responds through the crowd. "Wow. That felt better then I thought it would." Forge declared as he watched the dazed griffon spit out a few teeth. She looked back up at Forge and ran towards him with her claws and talons bared. Forge moved out of the way, sending her tumbling off the stage.
"Hey Zephyr! You want in?! It'll help you vent some of that hatred you have towards me!"

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Zephyr shouted. He quickly joined Forge on stage and the two stared down Gilda.

Gilda screeched and rushed Zephyr. He avoided her swing and bucked her right in the gut. Gilda keeled over in pain and Zephyr grabbed her wing and tossed he to Forge. Forge responded with two quick jabs to her face and slamming her into the stage floor. Zephyr dove in and delivered a massive flying elbow right onto her spine. Forge and Zephyr stood back and admired their work. The know broken and battered Gilda lay, on the stage, Forge approached her and leaned over her. "I... was supposed... to win." Gilda sputtered.

"Don't you know that the bad guy never wins." Forge said. "Now, since I'm a good guy, I'm going to give you a choice here. You can either stay and get your ass kicked some more by me and Zephyr or you can leave here and never come back. Understand."

Gilda roared and lashed out in a blind rage. Forge avoided her swipe and shook his head. "That's disappointing. I thought you'd be smart enough to know when your beat. Oh well, more fun for me!" Forge grabbed Gilda and began to lift her up high above the castle grounds. When he reach a high enough height, he flew straight down with Gilda still in his forelegs.

"W-what are you doing?"

"Sending you into a world of hurt!" Using the momentum from the dive, Forge released Gilda, sending her crashing into the ground below. The crowd all cringed as Gilda slammed into the ground, kicking up a large plume of dust and leaving a griffon shaped crater in the ground. Forge landed back on the staging area, where Zephyr was standing near a cannon.

"Where did you get that?"

"The party cannon, courtesy of Pinkie Pie. I figured it would help us get rid of our little problem over there." Zephyr gestured to the crater, where Gilda was pulling herself out of.

"Good idea. I'll even let you fire it."

The two pegasi approached the griffon. They picked her up and shoved her into the party cannon. "Y-you can't do this to me!"

"Actually we can. And we're going to."

"I-I'll be back you know! This isn't over!"

"Yes it is. And if you know what's good for you, you better make sure I never see your face around Ponyville again. Ready Zeph!"

"Ready!"

"Prepare to fire." Zephyr pointed the party cannon in the direction he wanted and began to angle it higher. All the while, Forge had gotten the crowd to start singing:

"Na Na Na Na

Na Na Na Na

Hey Hey Hey

Goodbye"

They all repeated those lines while Gilda attempted to break out of the party cannon. "Cannons ready!" Zephyr shouted.

"Good. So long Gilda, you psychotic bitch!" With that final send off, Gilda was launched out of the party cannon and sent soaring across the sky. "And don't come back!" The crowd cheered as Forge returned to the stage where Madden was still waiting for him.

"Well... that was certainly an interesting way to end this Cloudsdale 500." he said.

"And it was fantastic! Now to answer your question Madden. How do I feel right now?" Forge thought for a moment. He had just won the toughest race in all of Equestria, he was now rich, and he and Zephyr beat the crap out of Gilda before launching her out of a cannon. He chuckled.

"Madden, right now, I feel pretty damn good."

Chapter 10: Fame and Fortune and Everything That Goes With It

Chapter 10

Fame and Fortune and Everything That Goes With It

The Hall of Champions: where the winners of the Cloudsdale 500 are forever immortalized in stone. These ponies, griffons and dragons were the best of the best. And now, Forge would be joining them.

"Damn I look good!" Forge exclaimed as he gazed upon his statue. "The sculptors did a great job!"

"Yeah... great." Zephyr said dryly. Forge glanced back at him, noticing the scowl on his face.

"Oh... sorry Zeph. I'm probably just making you feel worse about the whole thing."

"Forget it. You won fair and square." Zephyr glanced up at Forge's statue. "Still..."

"Ignore the statue! If you're still upset then why'd you come with me to see it?"

"I only came to see it because you're my friend and this is a big moment for you. If you were just some random douche who beat me in the race I wouldn't be anywhere near here! In fact, I'd probably find some way to destroy it!"

"Okay, okay. Sheesh..."

"Don't worry I won't do anything to your statue... at least not when you're around." Zephyr shot Forge an evil grin before looking up at the clock. "Shit, I'm late! I gotta go Forge. Some of us still need to work for a living to make our money."

Forge was busy tossing a very large bag of bits up in the air. "Hmm? Sorry Zeph, I couldn't hear you over the sound of my fifty thousand bits clinking together. Did you say something?"

Zephyr gave Forge a quick death stare before flying off to work. Forge chuckled slightly before placing his bits in his saddle bag and turning to leave the hall. He took one last glance at his statue amongst the hundreds of previous champions lining the walls before flying off towards Ponyville.

Forge landed in Ponyville and made his way through town. As he strolled through town, he noticed that a few of the ponies were staring at him and whispering. He managed to ignore them and continued his walk through town.

"Excuse me sir." Forge began to look around for the source of the tiny voice. "Down here."

Forge looked down and noticed a little light brown colt with a propeller hat sitting in front of him. The colts little eyes were filled with a mixture of excitement and awe. "Uh... hey kid. What's up?"

"Are you the pegasus who won the Cloudsdale 500?" the little colt asked.

"Yeah."

"That's so cool! Can I have your autograph?" The little colt held out a pen and his hat towards Forge.

Forge seemed a little shocked at the colt's request before smiling and taking the pen and hat. "Sure kid. Who do I make this out to?"

The colt puffed out his chest and placed a hoof over it as he spoke. "My names High Score!" he said proudly.

Forge nodded and signed the hat. "There you go." he said as he handed the hat back to the colt. High Score smiled almost as wide as Pinkie Pie would as he looked at his hat.

"Thanks mister! All my friends at the arcade are going to be so jealous! See ya!" High Score ran back towards the arcade down the road with his hat placed proudly on his head. Forge watched him go and smiled.

"I have a fan. To bad Zephyr wasn't here to see that. He'd be so pissed."

Forge continued his walk until he spotted Sugarcube Corner in the distance. His stomach growled in response as he stared at delicious looking building. He licked his lips as he thought of the many pastries and all the other delicious food that was there. His train of thought was interrupted when Pinkie Pie suddenly sprung up right in front of him a few inches away from his face. "Hi Forge!" she squeaked.

Forge jumped at the party ponies sudden appearance. "Gah! Pinkie! Warn me next time you're going to do that. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry! So what's up?"

"Actually, I was just about to head on over to Sugarcube Corner for something to eat."

"Say no more!" Pinkie suddenly grabbed Forge and dragged him towards Sugarcube Corner, placing him in a seat while she disappeared behind the counter. Forge was still reeling slightly from being dragged into the restaurant when Pinkie Pie returned with an assortment of foods balancing on her hoof. "So what do want to eat? We've got every kind of flavour! Blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, coconut, coconut cream, whipped cream, vanilla cream, coffee cream, hair cream..."

"Hair cream?"

"Hair cream! We've got chocolate, chocolate fudge, chocolate chip, milk chocolate, mint chocolate..." As she continued her insanely long rant, she was pilling the food she mentioned on the counter in front of Forge. The pile was getting bigger and bigger by the second and was now threatening to swallow Forge up. "Uh... Pinkie."

"...peanut butter, peanut brittle, chocolate peanut butter..."

"Pinkie."

"...cherry, cherry chonga, chimmy cherry chonga..."

"PINKIE!"

Pinkie stopped her rambling and looked over at Forge, who was now being suffocated by the pile of food. "Yes, Forge."

"I'll just have a slice of chocolate cake. That's all."

"Okey dokey lokey! Coming right up!" Pinkie grabbed all the food off the table and carried it all into the kitchen. A second later, she appeared behind the counter with his cake. "That'll be five bits!"

Forge got five bits from his saddle bag and placed them on the counter. "Five down, forty-nine thousand and nine-hundred and ninety-five bits to go." he joked as he took a bite of his cake.

"So, how do you like being famous?" Pinkie asked with a huge grin on her face.

"Well, I had some kid ask me for an autograph earlier. But that's about it."

"Don't worry! They'll recognize you eventually."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because there's a crowd outside watching you eat."

"What?!" Forge turned around to notice a large group of ponies surrounding Sugarcube Corner.He recognized a few of them from earlier, but most of them he'd never seen before Forge slowly turned back around to look at Pinkie. "Wow, word travels fast around here." He ate the rest of his cake and got up from his seat. He began to walk towards the door but stopped as the crowd focused all their attention to the door. "On second thought, can I use the back door outta here?"

Pinkie nodded and directed Forge towards the back of the kitchen where the back door was. "Thanks Pinkie. I'll see you later." Forge opened the back door slowly and peaked his head out to see if some crazed fans were waiting for him. Seeing nopony around, Forge unfurled his wings and took off.

Forge flew off into the sky to a nearby cloud. While the attention that he was getting from winning the Cloudsdale 500 was a breath of fresh air from the usual attention he got (normally involving screaming ponies and the guards chasing him out of town), he didn't want to be bothered by fan after fan asking for his autograph all day.

"This will all die down in a few days." he thought to himself as he landed on the cloud. "I just need to lay low for a while and they'll forget all about me."

Forge lay down on the cloud and yawned. He always enjoyed sleeping on clouds. They were softer than any mattress he had slept on in the past. His eyes grew heavy and he placed his head down on his forelegs. It wasn't long before he fell asleep under the warmth of Celestia's sun.

"Excuse me!" Forge's eyes shot open and he noticed a yellow pegasus with a camera hovering in front of him. "Hi, Tracy Flash for the Ponyville Sun. How about a few pictures for tomorrows paper?" Tracy was soon joined by more reporters, each one taking pictures of Forge. He groaned in frustration and flew away from the reporters. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Tracy and the other reporters following him.

"Ugh, they're more annoying than the guards!" Forge began to fly faster as he attempted to lose his pursuers. Forge flew towards Sweet Apple Acres and dove into one of the apple trees in the middle of the orchard. He hoped that the with the insane amount of apple trees in the area, they would lose sight of him and just fly by.

After a while, Forge didn't hear the reporters anymore. He poked his head out of the apple tree and looked around. "Guess I lost them." Forge sighed in relief. His relief was cut short however when multiple flashes of light appeared form above him. Forge looked up and saw the reporters all hovering above him taking pictures. Forge quickly sunk back into the tree and flew out the opposite side of the tree, leaving the reporters taking pictures of nothing but leaves and apples.

Forge flew back towards Ponyville. He figured that he would be able to lose the reporters in the large crowd of ponies that normally accumulated in town in the afternoons. All he needed to do was keep his head down. He arrived in the center of town, where the afternoon rush was just beginning. It didn't take long for the entire town square to fill with ponies and Forge seemingly disappeared into the crowd.

The reporters arrived soon after and began to scan through the crowd for him. "Do you see him anywhere?" one of the reporters asked.

"No. I think we lost him." another reporter replied. He was about to turn around when he spotted something orange swish through the crowd. "Wait a minute..." The reporter gestured to the others and they landed nearby. They slowly made there way through the crowd until the came across a pony sitting at one of the cafe tables.

"Here he is!" The reporter readied his camera and pointed it at the pony. The pony in question turned to face him. It wasn't Forge. Unfortunately for them, the pony that they had found was just one of the citizens living in Ponyville. "Uh... can I help you?" the stallion asked.

"Uh... no. Sorry, we mistook you for somepony else." The reporters hung their heads and flew away. One of them muttered something about this being 'just like when Fluttershy became famous' before flying after the other reporters.

"Hmph. Someponies nowadays." The stallion grumbled.

"Tell me about it." Forge said from the seat next to him. Forge spun around in his seat and smiled in victory before picking up a nearby newspaper and flipping it open to the comics section. "Idiots. Haha! Silly Marmaduke, you're to big for that cart!"

The stallion turned to look at Forge. He looked at him for a bit before looking at the newspaper. He then looked back and forth form Forge to the newspaper for a little bit, before a look of realization spread across his face. "Hey... aren't you the pony who won that big race in Cloudsdale?"

Forge's smile suddenly disappeared and his eyes went wide. "Uh oh." he thought to himself. "N-no. Y-you must have mistaken me for someone else..." Forge's eyes were darting in every direction as he lied to the stallion.

"No no, it is you! Hey Al! Look who it is!" The stallion was soon joined by his friend, who looked Forge over once before nodding in agreement. "Hey your right Arnie! It is him! Forge right?"

"No. Nope. Never heard of him. You've got the wrong pony."

"Really? So that's not you on the front page of the newspaper then?"

"What?" Forge closed the newspaper and quickly flipped it over. On the front page of the newspaper was his picture just after he was announced as the winner of the Cloudsdale 500. He looked back up from the paper and noticed that a large crowd of ponies had surrounded him and were looking at him with excitement and awe. "Oh crap..."

Twilight paced back and forth nervously in Rarity's Boutique. The princess had invited the six of them over to Canterlot for a few days and Twilight didn't want to keep the princess waiting. "Come on Rarity!" Twilight shouted. "We're going to be late!"

"Just a minute!" Rarity called back. She soon appeared with a large number of bags behind her. "Okay. I'm all set."

The girls stared at Rarity's bags in shock. "Uh... Rarity. We're going to be in Canterlot for only three days." Rainbow stated. "You've got enough stuff for about ten!"

"Yeah, what in tarnation' is all this?" Applejack asked.

"Now you surely don't expect me to go to Canterlot with all those high class ponies and not have something fabulous to wear. I want to look my best if I'm going to impress them."

Applejack simply rolled her eyes and was about to say something to the alabaster unicorn, but was interrupted by a visibly frustrated Twilight. "Who cares how many bags Rarity brings! We need to get to Canterlot right now! Otherwise we'll be late! Then the princess will be mad and think that we don't take her seriously! Then she could banish us from Ponyville! Have us black-listed all over Equestria! Or worse... she could send us all to the moon!"

Fluttershy had a look of horror on her face and was now cowering behind her pink mane. "S-she wouldn't do that... Would she?"

"Of course not! Twilight's just overreacting again." Rainbow said with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Rainbow's right dear. I don't believe Princess Celestia will banish us because we're a few minutes late." Rarity added.

"Maybe, but I'm not taking any chances. Now come on let's go!" The girls all sighed and begrudgingly followed Twilight towards the door. Suddenly Pinkie Pie stopped bouncing and hung in mid-air. Applejack looked back and noticed the party pony hovering in mid-air with a look of concern on her face. "What's wrong sugarcube?" she asked.

"My Pinkie Sense is tingling." The girls all gasped as they waited to see what Pinkie would do. "Ear flop, then eye flutter, then knee twitch." Pinkie gasped and looked over to where Twilight was nearing door out of the boutique. "Twilight! Step away from the door!"

"Pinkie now is not the time for one of you-" she said before the door slammed in her face as Forge barreled through the boutique. He zoomed past the girls and crashed into a nearby bookcase. "Forge?" they all asked. Forge quickly got up from his crash and rushed back towards the door, slamming it shut and drawing the curtains. He whipped around, placing his back against the door. A look of panic was on his face and he was breathing heavily.

"Forge! What happened? You look positively dreadful!" Rarity exclaimed.

"I was mobbed! All the ponies in Ponyville know it was me who won the race and now they won't leave me alone! No matter where I go they always find me! They're like vultures!"

"I don't see what the problem is Forge." Rainbow said. "If it was me, I'd be loving all the attention."

Forge pulled back one of the curtains showing a large crowd of ponies surrounding the boutique. Reporters were flashing their camera's at every angle in an attempt to get a picture of Forge, while the rest of the ponies were practically climbing over one another as they tried to get a better look into the building. "Exhibit A." Forge said gesturing to the crowd before drawing the curtain again.

"Okay... maybe that's a little to much attention." Rainbow admitted.

"A little is putting it mildly. This is way to much attention for my liking." Forge glanced to his right and noticed that Twilight's horn was buried in the door and she was struggling to yank it out. "Whoa. Twilight why is your horn stuck in the door?" Twilight glared at him and muttered something under her breath before attempting to pull her horn free once again.

"Hang on sugarcube. I'll get ya' outta there." Applejack strolled over to Twilight and pulled on her tail to try and free her.

"Rrrrright... Well I wish we could help you Forge, but we were just about to leave. Princess Celestia has invited us to stay in Canterlot for a few days and we really must be going." Rarity said.

"Oh..." Forge said. He hung his head in disappointment. He had hoped that one of the girls would have been able to hide him for a few days, but know it looked like he was on his own.

"Wait! You should come with us!" Pinkie stated.

"Hey yeah! The ponies in Canterlot are incredibly stuck up, so they won't care who you are. By the time we get back, everything will have settled down and things will go back to normal." Rainbow added.

"You sure that'll work?" Forge asked.

"Dude, you could be the princess's long lost brother and they still wouldn't care. I know it'll work."

Forge smiled. This was the perfect plan. Not only would he not have to worry about being mobbed, but Spitfire and Soarin were staying in Canterlot while the Wonderbolts were in town. It would be the perfect opportunity to catch up with them. "Count me in!"

"Hold on." Twilight said. She had freed herself from the door and had rejoined the group. "There's still one problem. How are we going to Forge out of here without him being seen? He sets one hoof outside and he'll be mobbed."

"Can't you cast some sort of invisibility spell on me?"

"I don't know any. And even if I did, I couldn't guarantee that it would last until we reached the train to Canterlot."

"What if you cast a spell that made him really tiny?" Rainbow suggested. "Then he could just sneak through the crowd without anypony noticing."

"I don't think so. I'd prefer not to be squished under someponies hoof thank you."

"Well what else can we do?" They all began to think of ways to sneak Forge out of the boutique. Applejack turned her attention to the pile of luggage that Rarity had brought. A sudden smile spread across her face. "Hey Rarity. Do ya' suppose that one of those fancy bags a' yers' could fit a full grown pony?"

"Well I suppose, but I don't see how... oh." The girls all turned to look at Forge. He looked at each of the girls and then towards the pile of luggage on the floor.

"Oh come on!"

Chapter 11: Just Like Old Times

Chapter 11

Just Like Old Times

Forge shifted uncomfortably in the bag as the girls maneuvered through the crowd ponies. In an attempt to sneak him out of Ponyville, the girls had stuffed him into one of Rarity's bags.

"This had better work." he thought to himself. "I hate enclosed spaces." Forge wasn't complaining. (After all, he was getting away from all the crazy fans in town). However, pegasi such as himself weren't comfortable in spaces where they couldn't move or stretch their wings. They were meant for the wide-open skies of Equestria, not small enclosed spaces like a bag.

The zipper that enclosed Forge into the bag was unzipped slightly. Fresh air poured into the bag and Forge took a deep, grateful breath of it. "How ya' holding up in there Forge?" Applejack inquired as she peered inside.

"Fine. Are we out of Ponyville yet?"

"Yeah, we are. We're at the train station now. Figured ya' could use the fresh air."

"Oh you have no idea." Forge pulled himself out of the bag and his wings a much needed stretch. "I can't believe that worked! I owe you girls big time."

"It's quite all right dear. You don't owe us anything." Rarity said. She looked down at the empty bag where Forge had come out of and she sighed. "It's a shame I had to leave some of my clothes behind though..."

"Yes, and thank you again Rarity, but did you really need another bag full of clothes. You're only going for to Canterlot for three days and you're over-packed as it is." Forge gestured to the cart trailing behind her with the large pile of luggage on it.

"Those clothes are necessary darling! Canterlot is the most glamorous and sophisticated city in Equestria and I cannot simply stay there without the proper attire."

"If you say so." Forge He never fully understood Rarity's obsession with clothing. After all, they were ponies. They didn't normally wear clothes.

The trains whistle blew overhead and the conductor's voice called out towards the platform. "The train to Canterlot is about to leave! All aboard who's coming aboard!"

"Guess that's us. Come on y'all!" Applejack said. The group followed the farm pony onto the train and settled down into the bunk beds lining the passenger car. Forge leaned back in his bunk and letting out a relaxing sigh. With a final blow of it's whistle, the train pulled out of the station and he was now on his way to Canterlot.

"So Forge, what are you going to do once we get to Canterlot?" Twilight asked.

"Well, I was planning on finding Soarin and Spitfire and hanging out with them. It's been a while since it was just the three of us." Forge smiled as he remembered all the times he had spent with them. The three of them had a lot of fun before Soarin and Spitfire were drafted into the Wonderbolts.

"That sounds awesome! Can I come?" Rainbow asked with fan-girl like excitement.

"Uh actually Rainbow, I kinda want to spend some time with them by myself. We have a lot of catching up to do."

"Oh..." Rainbows wings drooped to her sides and her ears went back against her head in disappointment.

"Aww its okay Dashie! I'll hang out with you all day once we're in Canterlot! Won't that be great!" Pinkie grinned and placed a hoof on her friends shoulder.

"Yeah... great."

The train pulled into Canterlot and the group casually stepped off the train. Forge took a long look at the city as they proceeded towards the castle. His last few visits here had always kept him pre-occupied, so he never actually got a good look at the city. The city's multiple waterfalls and rivers that ran through it added a sense of tranquility, while the golden spires of the castle added a certain sense of awe and wonder.

Twilight noticed Forge looking around as they approached the castle. She was about to ask him what he was looking at, but was halted by a gentle, angelic voice greeting her. "Twilight Sparkle, my star pupil."

Forge snapped out of his trance and joined the group as they bowed their heads. Twilight was the first to speak as the princess approached them. "Hello princess."

"I'm glad you could come Twilight. It's so lovely to see you and your friends again." Celestia looked from one pony to another as she acknowledged their presence. She stopped as she noticed Forge amongst them. "Oh."

Forge glanced up at Celestia. "Hello princess. It's nice to see you again. And might I say you look as stunning as ever." He winked at the princess, causing her to blush slightly.

"Oh... why thank you Forge! But what brings you here to Canterlot?"

Twilight appeared beside Forge with a nervous look on her face. She began to rub the back of her head with her hoof as she spoke. "Well uh... you see princess. Forge here was being swarmed by fans left and right in Ponyville. It was becoming too much to handle so we brought him along to help him get away until it all dies down. I hope that's alright."

"Oh it's quite all right my dear." Celestia said cheerfully, inciting a sigh of relief from Forge and Twilight. "Forge, you are more than welcome to stay here."

"Thank you princess. I promise not to set anything on fire while I'm here." A few snickers were heard from the girls while Twilight shot Forge a disapproving glare.

"I certainly hope so." Celestia chuckled, turning towards the entrance of the castle. "Come now. I'll show you to your rooms."

The princess led the group into the castle and into a large hallway lined with multiple doors. "Here we are. You may unpack your and meet me in my throne room when you are done."

"Thank you princess. We'll meet you there shortly." Twilight said. The princess nodded before turning around and walking towards her throne room. Twilight proceeded to head into her room when she noticed Forge beginning to fly away. "Forge, where are you going?"

"To find Soarin and Spitfire. I told you this on the train remember."

"You're leaving now! But... you just got here."

"I know. But I want to spend as much time with them as possible. Just tell the princess I say thanks again and I'll see you later okay."

"Oh. Um, okay. We'll see you-"

"Great! Thanks Twilight!"

"-later then..." Twilight sighed as Forge flew off around the corner. He just ditched them. Ditched her. It was like they didn't even matter anymore. A tear came to her eye as she thought that. With Soarin and Spitfire around, did Forge even need their company anymore.

"Always hungry after a practice, eh Soarin?" Spitfire said as her second in command lifted his head from his pie tin.

"As a horse." he said through a mouthful of cherry filling. Spitfire simply shook her head and turned her attention back to her drink. After a long day of practice with the rest of the Wonderbolts, the two of them were enjoying a well deserved break at one of Canterlots local bakeries.

"Why am I not surprised that this is where I'd find you two." Both of the Wonderbolts turned at the familiar voice to see Forge approaching them.

"Forge!" Spitfire said excitedly. She got up from her seat and greeted her old friend with a hug. "What are you doing here Mr.Superstar? I figured you'd be getting swarmed by fans in Ponyville."

"Actually that's what I came here to get away from! Things were getting way to crazy in Ponyville, so Twilight and her friends snuck me out. And I figured that since I was heading to Canterlot, the three of us could hang out like we used to."

"That sounds great! I think we're about ready to hit the skies again eh, Soarin?"

"Mhmm." Soarin mumbled, his muzzled covered in cherry filling as he finished off his pie. "I'm in!" He wiped the excess filling off of his muzzle and took off after Forge and Spitfire. "So, what do you want to do first?"

"How about a few aerial stunts? You two got any new moves, or am I gonna have to school you on how to look good while flying?"

"New moves?" Spitfire said pulling up beside Forge. "Heh, watch and learn Forge." Spitfire zoomed past Forge with Soarin right on her tail. Forge simply smirked and gave chase after the two.

Within minutes, a growing crowd of ponies were looking up as three pegasi streaked across the sky. Forge, Soarin and Spitfire had attracted their attention as they each tried to one-up each others stunts. Their little show of skill consisted of multiple variations of loop-de-loops, barrel rolls, upside down flying and ending in a large Bucaneer Blaze created by the three. The three hovered in mid-air to try and catch their breath. "Just like old times huh?" Soarin said with a huge grin on his face.

"Yeah. Only faster and nothing was set on fire." Spitfire chuckled. "Not bad Forge."

"Not bad yourself. I guess all that Wonderbolt training actually paid off huh?"

"Maybe. Why don't we ask them?" Spitfire gestured to the crowd of ponies who cheering for the three pegasi. Soarin and Spitfire flew closer to the crowd and were about to take a bow. Spitfire glanced over her shoulder and noticed that Forge hadn't moved. "Well, you gonna come bow with us or what?"

Forge thought for a moment. The whole reason he had come to Canterlot was to avoid getting noticed. After a moment of thinking, he reluctantly hovered in between Soarin and Spitfire and took a bow, to the applause of the small group of ponies. "So much for going unnoticed." Forge muttered.

"Don't worry about it dude." Soarin said, placing a hoof on his friends shoulder. "That was nothing. They'll forget about this by tomorrow. Enjoy it while it lasts."

Forge looked from Soarin to Spitfire and smiled. He was with his two best friends. Unwanted attention or not, he and his friends were together again and that was all that mattered.

"And that how Equestria was made!" The entire room looked at the pink mare with confusion.

"I'm confused. What was the joke?" Fluttershy asked. But Pinkie was no longer listening. She was busy munching on the many snacks that had been laid out for them by the servants.

Princess Celestia looked on and chuckled as Rainbow attempted to take one of the snacks, only to have Pinkie snarl at her like a dog. She always enjoyed seeing the girls. It was only a few days of the year where her royal duties let up and whenever they did, she always made sure she saved some time for them. They all seemed to enjoy their visits as well, especially Twilight. She glanced over at her student and noticed that the mare seemed to be lost in thought. "Twilight, you've been awfully quiet this evening. Is everything all right?"

"Hmm." Twilight mumbled. She quickly snapped out of her trance when she realized that it was the princess who was adressing her. "Oh. Uh, yes princess. I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Well, normally you're busy talking about your studies or elaborating on a new spell you've been practicing. But, you've barely said a word." At this point, the rest of the girls had stopped what they were doing and were looking at their friend with concern.

"Hey, yeah! You have been unusually quiet. What gives?" Rainbow demanded.

"Are you sick?" Fluttershy asked in a worried tone.

"Maybe she's hungry!" Pinkie pulled a cupcake out from her puffy pink hair and placed it in front of Twilight.

"No, it's none of those." Twilight said as she examined the cupcake. Oddly enough, there wasn't a single strand of pink hair on it. "I've just been... thinking."

"About what?"

"Well... do any of you hold one of us in higher regard?"

The girls looked at each other with confused looks. "What do ya' mean Twi?" Applejack asked.

"I mean do any of you favor one friend more than the rest?"

"Oh heavens no!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "I love all of my friends equally!"

"Fluttershy is right darling. We all care for each other equally. Why on earth would you be thinking we didn't?" Rarity asked.

"It's not you girls that I was wondering about..." Her voice trailed off and she looked down at her hooves.

"Then who?"

"Oh oh oh! I love this game! Can I guess who it is?" Pinkie placed her hooves to her temples and began to rub in a circular motion. "Is it Spike?"

"No, Pinkie its-"

"Is it Big Macintosh?"

"No, its-"

"Is it DJ-P0N3?"

"It's Forge!"

"Is it Derpy? Doctor Hooves? Zephyr? How about-" Applejack placed a hoof over Pinkies mouth as she continued to try and guess who it was. Twilight sighed and sunk back into her seat as her friends absorbed this new information.

"I believe I know what's wrong here." Celestia stated. The girls turned to look at her and noticed that she was staring out her window at three pegasi who were flying nearby. "Twilight. Are you worried that because Forge has a long-standing friendship with Soarin and Spitfire, he will forget about all of you?"

Twilight looked away, ashamed. "Yes... It's just... when he flew away it seemed like he had just tossed us out of his thoughts. All he cared about was going to hang out with Soarin and Spitfire. I guess I was just... jealous."

"Aww, sugarcube." Applejack said placing her free hoof over Twilight's shoulder. "Ya' don't need ta' worry bout' Forge forgetin' bout' us."

"indeed darling. Forge would never forget about us." Rarity reassured. "After all, look at us. We're simply to adorable to forget."

Twilight chuckled as her friends put on their best 'd'aww' faces to accent Rarity's point. "Thanks girls. You're right. I'm just overreacting."

"Again." Rainbow remarked.

The girls all embraced in a group hug and the princess chuckled. "Excuse me Princess Celestia." Celestia looked up the giggling mares and saw one of her servants at her door. "Pardon the interruption princess. I am just here to inform you that dinner will be served shortly."

"Thank you. I will be there soon."

"Very good. Shall I inform Master Forge as well?"

"It's okay!" Twilight said. "I can get him."

"Very well Mistress Twilight. I believe Master Forge has landed near the Canterlot Racetracks with Master Soarin and Mistress Spitfire. I'll see to it that proper seating arrangements are made." The servant bowed his head before backing out of the room and heading towards the dining hall.

"Okay. I'll go get Forge and meet you all in the dining hall." Twilight said as she made her way to the door.

"You seem awfully excited to go and get Forge, Twilight." Celestia teased, causing Twilight to stop in her tracks and begin to blush furiously.

"I-I uh, just don't want him to miss a meal that's all." Twilight said nervously as she backed up towards the door. "You know... 3 meals a day... and uh. See you later." Twilight slammed the door as she left. Princess Celestia simply rolled her eyes and began leading the remainder of the girls to the dining hall.

"What was that all about?" Rainbow asked as the group made their way to the dining hall.

"I haven't the faintest idea darling." Rarity said as they watched Twilight gallop towards the tracks.

"Oh. I got it! It was Pound Cake right?"

A canvas of pink and orange was overtaking the sky and the air was becoming chilly. Forge, Soarin and Spitfire sat in the stands above the race track as they enjoyed each others company and reminsced about what they had been doing since Flight School.

"You did what?!" Spitfire laughed as Forge finished his story.

"He he he yeah! His coat was completely burned off! The only hair that wasn't burnt off, were the parts where he had armor on!"

"The poor guy must have been so embarrassed?" Soarin said, wiping away a tear.

"I'm sure he was! But I couldn't tell if he was blushing or not! He was pinker than Pinkie Pie!" The trio burst out laughing. Soarin was clutching his sides, while Spitfire had her head buried in her forelegs. "A-a-and you know what the best part was?"

"W-what?!"

"He had to fly back to Canterlot, and walk right through the city so he could report to his commanding officer! T-the whole city saw him that way! Aha ha ha ha ha!"

"Aha ha ha ha! Oh my goodness... I-I can't breath!" Soarin choked out between his laughing fit.

"He he he! N-no wonder the guards hate you! That's just mean!" Spitfire laughed. The three continued their laugh fit for a few minutes. They eventually calmed down long enough to go back to eating the food they had gotten before arriving at the tracks.

Forge looked out at the sky and sighed. "Can you believe its how long its been since we last hung out like this?"

"Yeah. Where does the time go?"

"It doesn't matter. Even after all this time we're still having fun." Spitfire wrapped her forelegs around Forge and Soarin and pulled them closer to her. "I've got my two best guys right here, right now."

"I'm your favorite though right?" Forge said. "It's okay Spitfire, you can admit it. Soarin's a big stallion now, he can take it." Spitfire chuckled, while Soarin simply rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to his pie. He quickly devoured the helpless pastry while Forge and Spitfire looked on.

"So Forge, are you living in Ponyville now?" Soarin asked through a mouthful of pie.

"Sort of. I've been staying in the Apple family's barn. As soon as I get back though, I'm getting a place of my own."

"Seems like a pretty quiet town for a speedster like yourself." Spitfire said.

"Yeah, it's pretty quiet. But honestly, I like it. There are a lot of good ponies there and other only a few pegasi so I could pretty much own the sky."

"That does sound pretty good. Do they know about your..."

"Only Twilight and her friends know about my powers. And I don't plan on revealing them to the entire town anytime soon. I actually want to stay in one spot for once and not worry about guards chasing me out."

"Can you trust them?"

"Of course I can. They wouldn't say anything. They're great friends. I'm lucky to have them..." Forge trailed off as he thought about the girls. They had done so much for him despite knowing about him and his powers. He owed so much more than they realized.

"Forge, you still there?"

"Hmm?"

"You spaced out on us."

"Oh. Sorry Spitfire. I was just thinking. So what do you guys want to do tomorrow?"

Soarin coughed a little of his pie and stared at Forge. Spitfire had a look of sadness on her face and she hung her head. "What?" Forge asked.

"We... actually have to leave tomorrow morning." Spitfire said.

"What?! Why?"

"The Wonderbolts are going on a tour across Equestria. We leave for Phillydelphia in the morning."

"And you're telling me this now because..."

"Hey, would you look at that! I'm out of pie!" Soarin said as he began to nervously back away from Forge and Spitfire. "I'm... just gonna... get some more. You two have fun." Soarin quickly flew off towards the city, leaving Forge and Spitfire alone.

"I'm sorry Forge. Please don't be mad."

"I'm not mad. A little upset though. I mean part of the reason I came to Canterlot was to see you guys. How long are you going to be gone for?"

"Six to nine months."

"Sixty-nine months!"

"No, six to nine months."

Forge groaned and placed his head onto his forelegs. "This sucks."

Spitfire thought for a moment. "Well... you could always come with us."

Forge looked at her from the corner of his eye. "Huh?"

"Don't you remember anything? One of the prizes for the Cloudsdale 500 was an opportunity to join the Wonderbolts! You won so you can easily join up and come with us!"

"Hey yeah! That could work! But..." Forge looked off into the distance. "If I go with you, I'd be leaving Ponyville behind."

"Not forever. Just most of the year..." Spitfire face-hoofed at how bad of an attempt to make him feel better that was.

Forge hesitated. Ponyville was the only place in all of Equestria he could call home. And what about the girls? He couldn't just leave them behind. "I-I don't know Spitfire."

Spitfire reached out and grabbed Forge's hoof. "Forge..." she began. "I know it's not an easy choice to make. But can you at least think about it. For me." She placed his hoof over her heart. "For us."

Forge looked at his hoof, then towards his friends sad face. Spitfire had been his best friend for years. They had chemistry. He remembered how devastated she had been when she had to leave him. He couldn't do that to her again. "I-" he began to say. "I'll think about it Spitfire."

A big smile spread across her face and she embraced him in a loving hug. "Thank you Forge." she whispered. She released the hug and nuzzled him lovingly as she leaned against him. Forge smiled at her and gently nuzzled her back. Forge stared straight ahead as Celestia's sun began to set. His emotions were now battling it out inside of him. He didn't want to leave Ponyville or the girls, but he also didn't want Soarin and Spitifire to leave again.

"What am I gonna do?"

****

Twilight had overheard the whole thing. At first she was somewhat relieved to hear that the Wonderbolts were leaving, but she immediately changed her mind when she heard that Forge may be going with them. Her eyes began to fill with tears as she backed away from the entrance to the racetracks. She galloped back to the castle as fast as she could without looking back.