Forgotten People

Chapter 12 – The Semi-Finals

Alec was pacing up and down the Living Room of Rainbow Dash’s house. Although it was 1:00am, he couldn’t sleep as he was worried about the letter that Ace had sent them. The tapping of his hooves were quite loud and echoed through the house, waking up a shattered cyan Pegasus. She opened her bedroom door and stared at him through her grey, tired eyes.

“Alec, what are you doing? It’s 1am! Shouldn’t you be asleep?” Alec turned to the tired Pegasus.

“Sorry Dash, I couldn’t sleep. I’m just worried.” Dash looked at him with a confused face.

“Worried? About what exactly?”

“That letter that Ace sent us. What does that mean, that he knows about us? I just don’t...” he stopped abruptly with a sudden realization. Could it mean...

“I think he saw us two nights ago. That’s what this whole ‘I know’ thing is about. Crap, he’s gonna spill the beans.

“Well, we can’t let him!” Dash protested angrily. Alec nodded in agreement.

“I know, we have to find a way to stop him doing that, but if worst comes worst, we will have to let him win the final. It doesn’t sound great, I know, but that will only happen as a last resort.”

“So, what’s the plan?” Rainbow asked him worriedly. Alec sIghed as he flopped onto the sofa.

“Honestly, I don’t know. But I’ll figure out something, don’t worry.” Dash finally smiled at him.

“Well, I really hope you do.” She said reassuringly giving him a hug. “Now go to sleep. It’s the semi-finals tomorrow, and we need all the rest we can  get.”

“Well, technically it’s later today, as it’s 1am, but we’ll play it your way of you want.” Dash giggled as she trotted off. Alec also went back to bed and almost instantly fell asleep.

***

The pain was immense as Hamish attempted to lift the new weight that had been set for him. 400kg?! He was only 14, and they were giving him a weight that was almost seven times as much as he weighed?!

“Come on Hamish, you can do it...” he said to himself through gritted teeth. He tried and tried and tried to lift the weight, but couldn’t make it past his neck. At long last, he gave up and dropped the weight. The judges weren’t impressed, but at least he’d tried. As the judges noted their scores, he was allowed to leave. He walked away with his head low and his face ashamed.

“Cheer up Hamish, you tried your best.” Alec tried to comfort his friend, but Hamish didn’t listen.

“It’s the semi-finals Alec, and I couldn’t do it. I...failed.” Alec slapped his friend across the face in an attempt to snap him out of his sadness.

“Hamish, there are times when you try your best and fail, and times when you don’t try at all and regret it. At the moment you’re balancing between the two. Come on mate, just be happy that you got this far! Besides, Luna made it this far, you can go off and help her now!” Hamish considered his friend’s thought, he did have a point there, but then again he hated him being right.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right Alec. I did make it this far. So I can be proud of that...” he was stopped by Pinkie Pie’s voice over the microphone.

“Next up, the 100m Semi-Finals! Competitors have five minutes to get ready!” Alec trotted over to Dash who was waiting at the line.

“What’s up with Hamish? I’ve never seen him look upset.”

“He thinks he didn’t make it to the finals of weight-lifting. The last time I saw him this upset was when he ran out of ‘Monster’. It is an energy drink in our universe.”

“Have you spoken to him?” Rainbow asked worriedly.

“I did, and I hope it got through his skull.” The sight of the racers approaching caught their attention, but so did something else.

“Look up there.” Alec pointed out into the stands. Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy’s and RaRory were holding up a beautifully-made banner with the words ‘Go Alec and Dash!” embroided on it. The two Pegasi waved to their friends in thanks as they waved back.

“One minute to prepare racers! Get to the start line!” Pinkie said happily over the microphone. Dash and Alec began prepping and stretching their muscles when Ace came up to his position rudely knocking over everyone in his way.

“Excuse me, coming through, get out the way...” he was stopped by Alec and Dash who didn’t look to pleased.

“Maybe next time don’t knock over everyone?” Rainbow said angrily.

“You might be an apparent celebrity Ace, but you don’t have to treat everyone like dirt!” Ace snorted at them both.

“I can do what I like, so keep your noses out of my business, lovebirds. Remember you two, one slip about my cheating and your reputation is gone! Ka-put!” Alec and Dash both clenched their teeth angrily behind closed mouths. The temptation to just kick Ace in the face was astounding.

“Just go away Ace, get to your position.” Rainbow ordered shoving him to the side. The male Pegasus gave her one sharp look and wondered off. Alec’s eyes were squinting at his mysterious figure.

“What are you doing?” Rainbow asked him curiously.

“…He’s gonna cheat this race.” Alec said confidently. Dash was surprised, this was a big accusation to make.

“What do you mean he’ll cheat?” she asked confusingly. Alec mildly laughed at his friend’s curiosity.

“You have a lot of questions, don’t you Dash? I can just tell by the way he acted. His eyes, his posture, his expression, it just seems that way. I can somehow tell what someone is going to do in the mi-newt future.

“So, you can predict the future?”

“Pfft, no! that just sounds queer and unoriginal, like an author who’s grown bored of writing and run out of fresh ideas! The good part is that Ace is in a different racing section to us now, so the cheating won’t affect us. That’s how he’s been going through the races.” A light flashed telling the racers to take their marks.

“On your marks!” Pinkie squeaked excitedly.

“Get set!”

“GO!”

The 10 racers leapt from their starting positions as the mad dash to the finish line began. While Rainbow Dash had secured 1st place quite well, Alec had had a slip-up start trailing him in 5th place. He anxiously picked up the pace and slowly began to overtake 4th and 3rd, but the pony in 3rd place caught his eye yet again, it was ACE!

“You?! I thought you were in a different segment!” The green Pegasus yelled.

“I got switched.” Ace simply said as he sprinted ahead to 1st place where Rainbow Dash was. There was only 20m left of the race, and Ace did exactly what Alec had predicted, he cheated. Sticking his back hoof out he tripped up Rainbow Dash and sent her onto the floor skidding. The dust kicked up into the air making anyone who entered it cough and unable to see. Sprinting through the dusty fog, Alec ran ahead to see if he could still hold 1st place and stop Ace winning, but his mind had a different thought, a much more benevolent thought.

“He’s goading me into his trap. He wants me to win, that’s why he did terribly in the 1st race. He hates new racers and blackmails them into losing. Dash and I are probably the only ones who resisted him long enough that he gave up trying and just let us win so he can still ruin us anyway. Screw him, let him have his cup, his victory, his fame, it’s all achieved through cheating and fakery. My friends are more important than winning. I quit!”

5m before the finish line, Alec skidded to a halt. He hadn’t crossed the line for 1st place, but instead walked back down the track. All the other racers, except Ace of course, also stopped before the line with their mouths dropped open. What was this guy doing? Alec trotted over to his friend who lay in the dust. Her fur had been stained a horrid brown colour from the dust of the stones in the track and her wing didn’t look in too good shape as it had been clipped. Dash’s face lay in the ground streaming tears of both pain and failure.

“Hey.” Alec said gently. Dash slowly lifted her head towards him.

“Here, let me help you up.” He said kindly, slowly helping her onto her feet. Dash couldn’t believe what was happening, Alec had given up 1st place just to help her, it really warmed her up inside.

“Why are you doing this?” the broken Pegasus said weakly.

“I thought that somepony would want to finish the race rather than just lay here.” He replied putting a hoof around her back to support her. Ambling along they slowly trotted towards the finish line. The other racers looked among each other in shock and happiness. Then one of them started clapping his hooves slowly, starting a clap build-up. The others joined in, and slowly so did the stands. The two Pegasi were a few metres away from the line and the clapping got faster and faster as they approached. And when they reached it, they both looked at each other.

“After you,” Alec said gently, “You deserve it more than me.” Sparkling a tear of happiness at him, Rainbow put a foot over the line and came in 2nd place overall. The other racers looked at Alec.

“Wow mate, that was really kind!” one said to him.

“You gave up the race for her? Sweet!”

“You must really love her.” Alec nodded blushing a rather bright red.

“Here, you go before us, get 3rd. Might not go through, but you really earned it by doing what you just did.”

“Wow, thanks so much! You guys are the best!” Alec thanked meaningfully. The others scooted out of the way to let him pass as he finished the race in 3rd with all the others finishing at the same time in mega-joint 4th. Pinkie’s sniffing could be heard over the microphone.

“*sniff* Everyone, I think that Alec Bishop here, *sniff* should have a huge round of applause!” The stadium erupted into cheering, wooing and clapping, even Hamish came over and congratulated him.

“You know what Alec?”

“What?”

“I think that you’ve become more of a man. Not as much as me, but, still…”

“Shut up! You’re only two months older than me!” At that point, Rainbow Dash trotted over to Alec.

“Can I talk to you for a sec?” she asked.

“Sure, what is it?” the Pegasus replied happily following her to the edge of the track.

“What you just did for me then, is the sweetest, most kindest thing anypony has ever done for me. You really are a true friend, and…” she stopped.

“What? What do you want to say?” Alec said kindly. It was at that point that she finally said what she was shy to say a couple of seconds ago.

“I…I truly do love you.” She stuttered. Alec’s smile appeared once again as he moved his head forward towards the rainbow-maned Pegasus. The kiss started up again as this one lasted much longer than usual. One of the cameras that recorded the games caught sight of this and their scene became broadcasted to the huge TV that displayed the races. The stands all made an ‘Aww’ sound as they watched the two Pegasi kiss. After a couple of minutes they slowly broke away and gazed into each other’s eyes.

“I love you too.” Alec said lovingly. “Now, let’s get out of here.” She nodded at him as she began to fly out of the stadium, her wing slowing her pace a little. Hamish finally went up to his friend.

“For god’s sake Alec, shut up and just ban…” he was cut off by his mouth covered by a green hoof.

“Don’t even bother finishing.” Alec ordered with a mixture of disappointment and humour. And with that, he followed Dash out of the stadium and back to the house. The finals would be tomorrow, and with Dash going through to them, but not Alec, she’d need all the rest she could get.

Tomorrow, Ace’s tricks and lies would be put to rest.