A/N: This is the last chapter. Unfortunately, that’s what happens when you go into a fic with neither a plan nor the ability to wing it, I suppose. Sorry to disappoint, but I did say to leave your expectations at the door.
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It seems so silly, really--that something as small as this would do so much damage.
It’s like a loose bolt in a bridge, I guess. One loose bolt and one garbage cart rolling over it, and you have a broken bridge and a very unhappy and filthy cart puller.
Or maybe it’s like a snowball, rolled down a hill covered with fresh snow. As it rolls down, it builds up snow, eventually bowling over some poor unsuspecting pony at the bottom.
And right now, that unsuspecting pony and cart puller is me.
Two hundred feet and falling.
I look around as my limbs and hair flop about in the brisk winds. The crowd is in shock. Some mothers are holding hooves over their kids’ eyes. Twilight’s just sitting in her seat, jaw slightly slacked open.
I messed up, and I messed up bad.
Everything was supposed to be perfect. Everything was supposed to go to according to plan. The waterworks, the pipes, the architecture, the clouds, Twilight--all carefully pieced together after weeks of brainstorming, conceptualizing, designing and redesigning, practice, testing, and--
None of it matters now.
Dripping, drop by drop. The tank is full. It’s been full for a while now, and it’s overflowing onto the grass below it.
One hundred feet and falling. I try to open my wing, and--Ow! Still can’t do that.
I look up--no, down. It’s getting too close. There’s nothing more I can do.
I close my eyes and take the plunge.
* * * * *
“...And now our next contestant, Rainbow Dash!” announced the announcer as I stepped out onto the grassy field covering the center of the stadium. It was about the size of a football stadium, but the stands went taller and in the center of the stadium sat a massive cylindrical glass water tank about thirty feet tall, slowly filling with water.
I had it set up there, of course, and it was going to be my big finisher.
The stadium was wide, and all of the seats were filled. The seats were like giant steps, going around all around the giant oval. I had it all planned out. First, I’d dazzle the crowd with a few basic tricks. Corkscrews, loops, drops, sharp turns, maybe some flying between pillars. After that, I’d spiral my way up high into the sky, leaving a rainbow cone in my wake. Then, I’d sit on a cloud, jump off, and just dive. I’d land into the tank, make a giant splash while at the same time pull off a Sonic Rainboom.
And then with the first place trophy in my hooves, I’d tell Twilight that I loved her, and she’d say that she loved me back. It’d be perfect.
I smiled, and then I looked up. Only a few clouds. Sparse winds. Bright blue sky.
I looked around. In the rafters all around me sat hundreds and hundreds of ponies of all ages cheering for me, eating their popcorn, waving their flags, excited and waiting for me to act. I couldn’t let them down. And in one certain seat to my right was a certain lavender unicorn, smiling brightly and waving a hoof back and forth in the air.
I definitely couldn’t let her down.
With that, I took off into the air. “And she’s off!” screamed the announcer over the speakers. Wind whistling through my wings, I soared above the stadium as I executed my plan. I practiced too long and too hard to fail now.
I flew high into the air. I started off with some standard tricks, with a loop into barrel roll into some other stuff, then as I captured the attention of the crowd, I started the real part of my routine. A Buccaneer Blaze immediately followed by a Captain’s Cutlass, then a Crow’s Nest for good measure. The crowd went wild, of course.
So the time to finish off my act came, and I flew up high, high above the clouds. I was going to dive down into the tank while performing a Sonic Rainboom, letting the drops turn to mist in the air and letting me make a Double Rainbow all the way across the stadium.
And then it happened.
At the top of my climb, my wing cramped up.
It was probably because I spent all that time practicing in the morning. I prepared too much, and in doing so, I flew too high. And now I’m falling.
* * * * *
Sitting on a bench, I shiver in the locker rooms as I pull a towel tight around myself, watching the other contestants carry out their ribbons and trophies and crowns. I sigh.
A knock comes at the door. “Rainbow Dash?” said a voice on the other side. It’s Twilight’s. “I’m coming in now, okay?”
“Yeah, sure,” I say gloomily.
“How’re you holding up?” she asks as she slowly walks into the room. “Feeling better?”
“Not really.” I look down at the ground. “It’s just that I was looking forward to today for so long, and I totally blew it.” I sigh. “The judges took off all the points I earned just because of that last flop. And worst of all, I didn’t get to pull off the trick I worked on for so long!”
Twilight floats a piece of paper in front of me. “Oh, don’t worry, Rainbow!” she exclaims.
“What’s this?” I take the paper.
“It’s a poster for another flying competition in Hoofington. It’s only a couple days away from here, and it starts in a few days. If we take the train there now, we should make it in time for you to register!”
I dry myself off with the towel. “But Twilight, what about your poetry thing? I thought you were looking forward to that!”
“Well, I was, but then I saw how disappointed you were with this whole Alabaster Angel thing. So I saw this and thought, hey, why not? We’d have to stay in a hotel for a few nights, but it should be fine.”
I beam. Another chance with Twilight, and I get to stay with her in the same room for a few nights?
She notices my wide smile, and returns it with one of her own. “Feeling better now?”
I chuckle. “Yup.”