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// Magic vs Machine 
// Story: A Knight of the Sky 
// by SpectrumArtz 
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The crowd looked at the hoof and as gasps were heard, a voice yelled out:
 “Nimbus no!” As a stallion wandered through the crowd. He looked down at his daughter, his hard expression glared down at her as his voice boomed: “Young mare, this is not how you make it in the world! Besides, we can't put the fate of our home on one inexperienced mare. Tell her, Coldfront.” 
Coldfront made her way carefully through the crowd of ponies before coming face to face with her daughter, then eying up the stranger. “Nimbus, sweetheart. You know we care about you and want you to do what’s right in your heart…” She looked up at her husband then back to her. A smile began to form as she whispered the words “Beat him for us, sweetheart.” This of course was to her father’s disappointment and disgust. 
Nimbus turned to face the stranger and held out her hoof. “Mister, you have a deal. One fair race. Our magic versus your flying machine to see what is better.” 
The stranger smiled and shook her hoof. “Then I believe we have a deal. Meet here in exactly one day and we shall settle this. Don’t be late.” 
At this he got back in his plane and took off, leaving the townsfolk in the dust and silence. The young mare flew up to the cloud courses with the townsfolk in cautious tow, watching what she did next and waited for her to speak. She hopped on a cloud and addressed the crowd: 
“Skysians listen to me! I know a lot of you don’t know me, but I know a lot of you. I’ve watched from the sidelines many times and I’ve seen what all of you can do. Now it’s my turn to show you what I can do! We need a massive course like this one so we can show that pony who the true masters of the sky are and that we don’t need his technology! Now who's with me!?” Her heart broke at what followed next, townsfolk looked away while others remained silent. 
Suddenly, she heard from the crowd:
 “I’m with you.” 
When her eyes looked over she saw her father, shocked by what he said. She gave him a questioning look to which he repeated: “I am with you, Nimbus.” A slight smirk went over his face and one appeared on hers. 
Hearing one pony stand with Nimbus prompted others to do the same and soon enough, the entire town was with her. With a short amount of time until the race, the townsfolk constructed a race course several times bigger than the main one in town. This course would be what Nimbus and the stranger race on, giving Nimbus time to practice. One by one the town’s frequent fliers gave her advice on things ranging from tricks to her agility and speed in an attempt to give her the basics she needed to beat the stranger’s plane. She spent the majority of her day practicing what she witnessed others do hundreds of times. Before she knew it, it was time for the big race.
The stranger was waiting below for Nimbus and the townsfolk to show up. His nonchalant nature and overall coolness of the situation added to Nimbus’s anxiety, making her internally want to throw up. Even more worrisome, however, were the two ponies standing beside the stranger and his plane: a unicorn and an earth pony. A smile cracked on his lips as he spoke. 
“Well, well, if it isn’t the little pegasus who thinks she can beat my machine. I hope you brought your a-game today. I sure brought mine. I also brought some judges along to make sure you didn't try to cheat.” As he said this, he tapped a hoof against the engine of his plane. “This engine can take the magic power of ten pegasi then convert it to one for extended flights, top speed, and of course doing a few tricks here and there. This is your last chance, little mare, I’d take it while you can.” As he finished his sentence, a Cheshire smile flashed at Nimbus. 
She shook her head in disagreement and began to speak: “A deal is a deal. We’re racing to see if your machine is a match for my magic. If you lose, then you admit that you were bested by magic. You better get a speech ready.” As he was about to reply to her, she turned and walked to her parents who had just arrived with a small box. 
“Nimbus,” her father started, “I know I’ve always been hard on you. I will continue to be because I want you to succeed in life. What you’re doing is brave, but stupid. But if you’re going to be brave and stupid you should be safe.” He then opened the box and inside she saw a leather cap and a pair of flying goggles. The smell of mildew and leather filled her nose as her father began again. “These were mine a long time ago. Before I met your mother I was quite the stuntpony, until you were born. The day you were born I hung up my goggles to care for you. Now the choice is yours. Do you follow in my hoofsteps, or my wings?” He handed her the box, tears welling in her eyes and shock plastered her face.
“Pa, I-” 
“It’s okay Nimbus, put them on. They suit you. You’re a knight of the sky like I was before you, it’s in your blood and our heritage to fight for what’s right. And a knight needs a helmet.” He secured the leather flight cap to his daughter’s head then placed the goggles on her head. “Now make us proud and slay this monster.” 
Nimbus shook off her nerves, thanks to the pep talk her father gave her, and went to the starting line next to the stranger’s plane. He smirked at her and muttered,
 “Good luck little mare. You’ll need it.” 
Not as much as you will. This will be the last time you look down at us, she thought to herself. 
The town elder stood before the two of them with his wing held high. 
“Racers, on your mark. Get ready. Get set. Go!” 
When he swung his wing down, Nimbus took off and the stranger was left behind. The ponies around began murmuring at the fact he didn’t leave yet. 
“Oh no, whatever shall I do?” He said with a smirk as he turned on his engine. 
Magic began flowing through it, and the machine took flight. The lead Nimbus had was quickly fading as the stranger came barreling up to her rear. Seconds passed and he was flying alongside her, taunting her. 
“Did you miss me? I’m not going to miss you when I use your skies.” 
Before Nimbus had a chance to react, the plane zoomed past her, causing her to lag behind prompting gasps from the townsfolk. 
This is not how it ends, I will beat you monster. For my home, for myself and for the magic within me I will beat you. Her heart pounded as she flapped her wings harder than she ever had in her life. It was do or die in this race and she had to do everything she could to get ahead.
 In front of her, the pilot started to showboat with his tricks. He pulled off maneuvers that Nimbus struggled with. But she knew she had to try: all eyes were on her, including her father's. She felt her heart beat in unison with the townsfolk as she went around the clouds in an effort to slingshot herself ahead. Cloud by cloud, she went and began closing in on the wooden frame. With her teeth grit and her jaw clenched, she pushed herself to the limit as the feeling of fatigue enraptured her. Despite her physical ailments and the strain she felt, she reached deep inside herself to find the magic she knew was there, the thing that allowed her to fly to begin with. Come on Nimbus, you got this. Everyone is counting on you.
Ascending to the Jetstream, Nimbus spread her wings and let the wind take her to close the gap between her and the plane. In an effort to strut her stuff, she attempted to barrel roll through the Jetstream with disastrous results. Her wings hadn't been at an even angle which sent her spiraling out of it and caused her to plummet a few hundred feet. She began to blackout and heard faint laughter of the pilot. 
When she came to, she was getting close to the treeline and pulled up out of her nosedive two thousand feet above the ground. She felt the tears well in her eyes when a voice spoke out. It told her:
 "Nimbus, we're so proud of you! You need to keep going!" 
When she looked, it was her mother yelling from down below: not far behind Coldfront was Lightning. He started yelling up to her but with the adrenaline, and realization she was far behind, she flew as fast as her wings would take her. Luckily for her, the stranger was more interested in showing off than actually winning and decided he was going to fly through an incoming storm front. Seeing Nimbus was gaining in him he let out a laugh.
"Catch me if you can, little mare!" He began. "Let's see how good your magic really is!" And at that, he confidently flew into the storm. 
Nimbus had a choice to make and only a few seconds to make it. She could finish the race here and now, or she could make sure the stranger knew that his plane was no match for her. Whatever her reason was, Nimbus flew into the storm and out of sight of the spectators. In the storm, winds blew in many directions, lightning cracked, and the rain would not let up. She secured her goggles while the stranger fooled around with the gadgets he had on his dashboard. The biggest instruments he messed with were a compass and a vague of sorts to tell him how high he was, but he would quickly learn how unreliable these were. Nimbus, however, had none of these and relied on herself and what she learned growing up. Lighting cracked around the racers, lighting up the darkness if just for a moment. She knew the push and pull of the wind, letting it glide over her and allowing it to move her. The pilot however had no clue how to fly through a storm, or any weather besides cloudy for that manner, and relied on his instruments. Towards the eye of the storm the racers flew side by side for a brief moment. 
The stranger smirked and said "Well my dear it's been fun, but we both know how this race will end. I look forward to flying around your town."
"The race isn't over yet and neither am I!" Nimbus roared as lightning and thunder cracked the sky. 
The two racers broke out of the storm in opposite directions.What the pilot didn't know was that his instruments turned him around. The pull of the storm was too great for his simple compass and as the storm turned internally so did he. Nimbus however, knew how to rely on herself and that old pegasi magic to get her safely through the storm. 
The stranger, however, realized his mistake and turned around. By then, it was too late. Nimbus was closing in on the finish line and he was not about to lose to some random pony of just flesh, blood and magic. He put his engine into overdrive and smoke began to billow from it. The puttering of the engine turned into screeching as he barreled down to the finish line. When he looked at the damage, he saw that lightning had struck his engine in the storm and caused internal damage he couldn’t see. This caused a rattling in the engine followed by magic fueling the engine to ignite, sending the dying machine to the ground. It skid across the earth, hot on Nimbus’s tail, and gained ground on her. The force sent soil, rock, and anything in the plane’s path flying in several directions, including forward at Nimbus. She leveled herself in her descent, but debris struck her in the side and she began tumbling towards the line, a cloud of dust coating the finish line.