Her grandcolt was on the edge of his seat, hanging onto her every word with wide eyes. “Well, who won? It was the plane wasn’t it?”
“Patience my child, my tale is just about over. When we tumbled past the finish line there was an audible gasp at the sight of the wrecked plane, myself and the pilot. Townsfolk and judges alike ran over to us to make sure we weren’t severely injured. Thankfully we weren’t but, when the townsfolk looked at our positions, I had slid past the finish line where the plane had fallen a yard short.” A beam of pride overtook Nimbus as her grandcolt looked at her with a thousand questions.
Gusty then asked: “What happened then? Surely the pilot didn’t take it lying down.” Being a competitive pony himself, Gusty knew that losing something as big as that would make somepony bitter and mean.
That familiar smirk was on Nimbus’s face when she told Gusty, “You’re darn right he was upset about it!” She let out a hearty chuckle just remembering his face. “His exact words were ‘You’re a cheating little mare! I want a rematch! I don’t know how long it’ll be but one day I'll be back and you’ll be sorry!’ Then he sauntered off dragging whatever parts he could salvage.”
“Did he ever come back Granny?” Gusty inquired.
“Of course he did! He came back with an even fancier plane based off of a pegasus. He never did understand how our magic worked. It took him three years to come back, and plenty of other hotshot ponies from the ground who wanted to fly like we do. Same stakes as before but this time I was able to keep up with him. I was older, stronger, and had more wingtime than before. His new plane was newer, faster. It had a similar engine as before but this time it also had wings that bend like our wings do.”
Gusty then exclaimed, “He won that race didn’t he? Machine over magic, no chance.”
Nimbus let out a hearty laugh before replying: “No no child, it was a tie. He demanded one more race, so I humored him. He said he would return in a year and he did, but this time his plane was made of metal rather than wood. It had an engine that revved instead of puttered, and for this race he heightened the stakes. ‘One more race. Instead of using your skies if I win I would like to take you on a date. If you win you never see me again.’”
A disgusted look went over Gusty’s face and as he gagged he replied: “Ew Granny, I don’t want to hear about your old boyfriends.”
She smiled and looked at a picture over the fireplace of her and her late husband. “Yeah, old boyfriend.”
“Hey Granny…”
“Yes, my child?”
“Did you ever stop flying?”
“No, my child,” she said through a smile, “Nothing ever stopped me. Not my father, not when I was swept off my feet by that pilot, not when I flew for Equestria in the war against the Changelings, not when we got married and had your mother and not when your grandfather’s Wonderbolt Squadron had the accident that took him from us. Nothing ever stopped me.” She lifted her head and saw the storm had stopped. “But that’s a story for another day, my child. The sun is coming out and there’s plenty of world to explore.”
“Are you sure you’re okay to fly, Granny?” He asked her cautiously.
“Of course I’m fine to fly! If I were you I'd stretch if you want to keep up with me.” She went back to the box, took out an antique flight cap, and placed it on Gusty’s head. “Perfect fit! Now, my little knight, let's use that old magic to go for a fly.”