Twilight was studying last week really hard. That is why she asked Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Star Twinkle to help her clean up her library. It didn't take too much time as Star Twinkle thought to clean up everything but it was way too boring for him and he was glad once the work was done.
“Last one,” said Twilight after putting the last book in one of her shelf's. “Thank you so much for helping me clean up all these books, guys. It was a crazy week of studying,” she said while rolling her eyes.
"Finally, now I can finally go home and relax," Star Twinkle thought. But just when he was about to announce his leave, he saw how Rainbow Dash came flying towards them trough the window.
“Look out!” He exclaimed but it was too late.
Rainbow Dash crashed into all of them, ruining the library in the process. Shortly after, Fluttershy landed in a window and cheered for Rainbow Dash or at least Star Twinkle thought that this was supposed to be cheering, since Fluttershy was not really convincing.
Rainbow Dash then apologized for the performance to which Fluttershy pointed out that it wasn't that bad. But little did she know that Rainbow Dash was talking about her and her cheering.
Of course, everypony was wondering what this was about and Rainbow Dash explained that she was training Fluttershy to cheer for her in the Best Young Flyer Competition. In this competition, all the greatest Pegasus show up to perform their best flying skills.
Since the competition is held in Cloudsdale, only Pegasus could watch, since every none Pegasus can't walk on the clouds and only having Fluttershy to cheer for you was probably not that encouraging.
Pinkie Pie, who was overly excited as always, wished that she could be there to watch Rainbow Dash perform a Sonic Rainboom. Twilight asked what this Sonic Rainboom was, taking out the words of Star Twinkles mouth, who also wondered what that was.
“The Sonic Rainboom is legendary! When a Pegasus like Rainbow Dash gets going sooo fast... Boom! A sonic boom and a rainbow can happen all at once!” explained Pinkie Pie
“And Rainbow Dash here's the only pony to ever pull it off!” Applejack proudly added.
Apparently, Rainbow Dash was only a filly when she first did that Sonic Rainboom, which was quite impressive. Performing one again should be a piece of cake by now, thought Star Twinkle.
When asked if Rainbow Dash could perform one again, she hesitated to answer at first but then she confidently assured that she could do Sonic Rainbooms in her sleep. And Rainbow Dash intended to win the competition since the grand price was a whole day with the Wonderbolts an expert flight acrobat group and Rainbow Dash's long life heroes.
She then decided to rest up for the competition and left the library. Shortly before Fluttershy left too, she explained that Rainbow Dash was trying to perform the Sonic Rainboom over a hundred times and that she was never even close.
After the two Ponies left, Twilight was asked by Rarity if she could find a way to get them all to Cloudsdale. Rarity figured that Rainbow Dash was a little nervous, which Star Twinkle could agree on. She didn't seem as confident like usual for him too.
Eventually, Twilight agreed to find something if there wasn't a huge mess in the library again. Pinkie Pie then gave her a book, which landed on her face after Rainbow Dash knocked her over. Twilight quickly found a spell which allowed Earth Ponies or Unicorns to fly for three days but was also difficult to pull off so she needed a test subject to volunteer.
Since that spell sounded like a personal nightmare for Star Twinkle, who was afraid of heights and flying, he was not even thinking about raising his hoof. But to his relief Rarity quickly volunteered, saying that she would do it for Rainbow Dash.
Twilight then used her new found spell on Rarity, engulfing her in a bright light. This worried Rarity at first but she pulled trough and stood still the whole time until the spell was complete. The result was quite surprising. Everypony let out a huge gasp as a reaction. Rarity had two colorful, butterfly-like wings on her back and Twilight deemed her spell a success.
Rarity was surprised but also happy from the result.
"Oh my, would you look at those beautiful wings!" Rarity said happily.
Star Twinkle was not sure if he wanted to look like this too. But as it turns out, Twilight was heavily exhausted from doing the spell. So Twilight looked for an easier one. After finding one, she then cast a spell on Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Star Twinkle and herself. Twilight also deemed this spell a success, even though they didn't look different at all.
"Now we're all set," said Twilight confidently.
"I don't really feel different," Star Twinkle pointed out.
Twilight then explained that she cast a spell that would allow them to walk on clouds so that they could also watch Rainbow Dash.
The next step was to get to Cloudsdale because Rarity was the only pony who could fly right now, they somehow needed to reach Cloudsdale first. So they used Pinkies hot air balloon to get there. Of course, Star Twinkle needed some "convincing" to get one hoof into this balloon because of his fear of height and flying. He spent most of the trip cowering in the corner, covering his eyes in fear.
"We are getting closer to Cloudsdale everypony," announced Twilight.
"Yeah...," Star Twinkle said in a scared tone in his voice while cowering on the ground of the balloon.
Rarity was already ahead of them to surprise Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy while the balloon landed on a free spot in Cloudsdale. Star Twinkle realized that they landed and opened his eyes again. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity were already waiting nearby. Judging from the expression on Rainbow Dash's and Fluttershy's faces they seemed surprised to see their friends. They were both surprised to see their friends suddenly walking on the clouds, thanks to Twilight's spell.
"We all came to cheer you to victory!" said Applejack.
Rainbow Dash seemed relieved to hear that because she was even admitting that she got just a little bit nervous.
While everypony greeted Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, Star Twinkle stayed in the balloon, still cowering on the ground.
Twilight noticed and approached him, trying to calm him down.
"Common, Star Twinkle," Twilight said in a caring voice.
"Is it really safe to walk on this clouds?" Star Twinkle said while shivering a little.
But Twilight assured him that it was saved and Star Twinkle put one hoof after another outside. After staying on all of his four hoofs again, Star Twinkle was getting more and more confident and quickly overcome his fear for now. It also helped that he got distracted by the sight of Cloudsdale. It was his first time in Cloudsdale after all. The City was literally in the clouds. It was expected that everything looked with but Star Twinkle still had to get used to it. Thankfully, Rainbow Dash offered to show everypony around.
Rainbow Dash explained a lot of things about Cloudsdale. Like how it was the biggest city in the sky or that most famous Pegasi came from Cloudsdale. But those were things that Star Twinkle already knew.
Rainbow Dash decided to show them the Weather Factory first. Star Twinkle only heard about it before and was a little interested in the factory himself. As the name indicates, this factory manages the weather in Equestria and creates stuff like snowflakes, rainbows or clouds.
Through the whole tour, Rarity was paying little attention and was only focused on herself and her new wings, even though Twilight explained that her wings are very delicate and that she should be careful with them. Her wings were eventually drawing some attention to some construction workers of the weather factory. They seem to now Rainbow Dash since they were bullying her with some lame words but since Rainbow Dash was nervous enough as it is, she may take some of their insults serious.
Completely unaware of Rainbow Dash's frustration, Rarity showed off her wings to everypony who crossed her way.
One of them even suggested that Rarity should join the Best Young Flyer competition and much to Rainbow Dash's shock, Rarity agreed.
Now it was obvious to everypony that Rainbow Dash was really frightened about the competition but Rarity was too caught up in her wings and the attention that she received, so she didn't notice anything. It was kind of ironic that the pony who asked to support Rainbow Dash was now doing the complete opposite.
Eventually, time passed and the Young Flyer Competition started. It was held in the Cloudeseum. A very popular building in Cloudsdale. Star Twinkle didn't think that it would be such a big thing but the Wonderbolts and even Princess Celestia were in the audience, so it must be important, making it probably even harder for Rainbow Dash.
Everypony was excited to see the contestants but Star Twinkle had problems to focus and could just think about how high they were above the ground.
"We are really high up here," said Star Twinkle trying to not sound too scared.
"Well, duh. We are in the clouds after all," Pinkie Pie corrected.
That was not something that Star Twinkle wanted to hear right now. It only made him more nervous. But Pinkie Pie didn't seem to notice and continued.
"I mean if you look down closely, everypony looks like ants," she said carefree.
Almost like out of reflexes Star Twinkle looked down, making him feel really dizzy. He then fell unconscious in front of Pinkie Pie who was still oblivious to Star Twinkles fear.
"Oh look at that. He is so excited about the show that he fainted, hehe," she said while giggling.
Meanwhile, Twilight and Applejack, who watched the whole thing only shaking their heads.
Star Twinkle missed most of the contestants because he was unconscious most of the time. He was slowly waking up when the last one was about to start.
"Hey, Star Twinkle, wake up Rainbow Dash and Rarity are next," said Twilight , who woke up Star Twinkle.
While still being dizzy a little, he was hearing Twilight's words and got confused a little.
"Both of them?" Star Twinkle asked.
"I guess there was only enough time for one contestant, so they decided to let both of them go at once," explained Twilight.
"That still doesn't explain why none of them showed up till now," Applejack pointed out.
"Yes. I practiced to cheer for both of them really hard," Fluttershy said.
"Really? Let's hear it," said Pinkie Pie.
"Alright," Fluttershy said before taking a deep breath.
She then let out a really quite "yay" that everypony could barely hear. But Fluttershy grinned proudly as if she did completely fine.
Finally, after enough waiting, Rainbow Dash and Rarity came out to start their performance.
Rarity looked a little different than before. She was wearing a lot more make-up and some weird outfit that looked a little too silly for Star Twinkles taste. Star Twinkle was focused on Rainbow Dash and noticed that she looked a lot more nervous than before.
"You think she can pull off that Sonic Rainboom?" Star Twinkle questioned.
"I hope so. She may fail to do it after a hundred thousand times but I am sure that she can pull it off now," said Fluttershy full of confidence.
That's not really convincing, thought Star Twinkle, who then looked back at Rainbow Dash and Rarity.
Both of them were performing their own tricks separately from each other. Rarity was showing off some dance moves while Rainbow Dash started to perform her Sonic Rainboom.
“She is about to start phase one,” explained Fluttershy.
“Phase one?” Star Twinkle asked.
Rainbow Dash flew through several pillars in a slalom but slipped up on one of the last ones, which was probably not suppose to happen. She then crashed nearby the ponies who bullied her before. It was obvious that they were amused by Rainbow Dash's poor performance. But Rainbow Dash quickly got up again and continued. She was flying to some nearby clouds, circling around them in rapid speed and making them spin.
“Look! Phase two is working,“ said Fluttershy excited.
Star Twinkle was not sure if these maneuvers were essential to improving her speed or if they were just for show. Either way, Rainbow Dash seemed to have messed up again and one of the clouds was spinning towards Princess Celestia, who barely lowered her head and dodged it.
This will probably influence Rainbow Dash's score at the end, thought Star Twinkle. Rainbow Dash already nervous enough and all this mess ups will probably make it even worse.
While thinking of mess ups Star Twinkles eyes wandered to Rarity, who flew up higher and higher in the sky. Nopony was sure what she was trying to do up there and just watched in confusion. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash also flew up in the air but much faster and higher.
After Rarity reached a high enough point, she stopped and spread her wings letting the sun shine through them, covering the whole Cloudeseum in some beautiful colors.
"Look upon me Equestria. For....I...am...Rarity!" she shouted out while posing in the sky, proudly presentation her wings.
"What is she doing?" Star Twinkle wondered.
But after inspecting Rarity for a few more seconds, he realized how her wings crumbled away due being exposed to the sun too much and he was fearing the worst.
"Rarity watch out! Your wings!" Star Twinkle screamed much to the surprise of everypony.
"Yes! I know! My wings! Aren't they just..." but before she could finish, her wings completely evaporated and Rarity was falling down from Cloudsdale. The Wonderbolts quickly attempted to go and save her but Rarity somehow managed to knock them all out in panic and now they were also falling down.
Rainbow Dash quickly noticed their fall and attempted to save them too but it seemed like she wouldn't make it in time.
“Oh, I can't look!” said Fluttershy who covered her eyes.
But just when everypony feared the worst Rainbow Dash accelerated to an enormous speed, creating a Sonic Boom in rainbow colors. That must be the Sonic Rainboom, thought Star Twinkle. Rainbow Dash also left a trail in rainbow colors and caught everypony before they hit the ground.
It was a really fascinating sight for everypony, who were just gasping in surprise, except for Fluttershy who was now cheering on top of her lungs.
“A Sonic Rainboom! She did it! She did it! Wooo!” Fluttershy screamed in excitement while jumping up and down from her seat.
After Rainbow Dash brought back Rarity, the whole Cloudeseum was cheering for her, which was well-deserved since she saved the lives of four ponies. Of course, Rainbow Dash enjoyed the cheers and was in her usual spirit again.
The competition then came to an end and everypony gathered at the balloon, where Rarity apologized for her behavior and for joining the competition to put more pressure on Rainbow Dash. It was unclear who won the competition since it kinda stopped because of the recent events.
Because of that Rainbow Dash was still upset that she didn't win the first price so that she could meet the Wonderbolts.
Until one of them poked Rainbow Dash on the shoulder and thanked her for saving their lives and how impressed they were by Rainbow Dash, which made Rainbow Dash nervous again but this time in a rather good and understanding way.
Even Princess Celestia was impressed by Rainbow Dash's bravery and her Sonic Rainboom and decided to personally give Rainbow Dash the grand prize, making her freak out even more.
Now even the bullies from before apologized for their behavior and congratulated her for winning the competition and even asked her if they could hang out with her. But Rainbow Dash gratefully declined and she flew off with the Wonderbolts to spent the rest of the day with them. After all, that is what she wanted from the very beginning.
It was funny how everything turned kinda well. If the Sonic Rainbow didn't succeed then a lot of things would have gone bad. Just one action and everything changed for the better.
Star Twinkle didn't believe in destiny but the recent events got him thinking. It reminded him how he was helping to defeat Nightmare Moon. If he weren't there at this exact moment, what would have happened to Equestria?
He obviously put way too many thoughts into this like usual.
Now his thoughts were just focusing, to leave Cloudsdale and getting back on the safe ground of Equestria.
Meanwhile far away from Ponyville
The pony in the gray hood noticed on his way the Sonic Rainboom getting closer to him.
"A Sonic Rainboom?" He wondered.
He followed the Sonic Rainboom with his eyes and turned around as it flew past him, looking at it in a hypnotized way until it was out of reach.
“It's been a very long time now since I saw the last one,” he said to himself. "It looks just like the one back then. The one we saw together,” he said while turning around to the different direction again
“Right, Star Twinkle?" he said to himself before going on his way again.