Flying High

by arglefumph

The Young Fliers Competition

Rainbow Dash looked down at her flank. Number two? How could they put her in number two? She wasn't ready yet!

Rainbow looked around frantically, and she saw a brown-coated stallion with number five. She snuck up on him and very carefully took his number, replacing it with hers.

Phew, he didn't notice! Rainbow thought, letting out a sigh of relief. She took two steps backwards, and she backed right into Twilight.

"Rainbow! I don't believe you!" Twilight said.

"Uh oh..."

"I saw what you just did!" Twilight said. "That's cheating! You should be disqualified!"

"What, you're gonna tattle on me?" Rainbow Dash asked, getting up in Twilight's face.

"Why not? You tattled on me to Princess Celestia!"

"That wasn't me! It was Rarity!"

"Yeah, right! I'm sure the princess will love to hear why you're cheating in order to...um...perform later and...wait, why did you do that?"

"Why do you care? You're not my friend anymore!"

"Of course I'm your...your...does this have something to with those stallions who were teasing you earlier?"

"No! I just...I'm nervous, okay?!" Rainbow Dash said. "I...I can't go next, that's all!"

"Rainbow..."

Rainbow lunged forward and grabbed onto Twilight. "You were right all along! I can't do a Sonic Rainboom anymore! I'm going to fail horribly and be the laughingstock of all of Cloudsdale!"

Twilight hesitated for a second. "That's not true," she said. "You're going to do great in the competition. The Wonderbolts will love you!"

"But I can't do it..."

"You listen to me, Rainbow. I did not spend all that time preparing for the competition, just to watch you forfeit at the last minute! I came here to watch you win!"

"No, you entered because we made a bet that—"

"Oh, who cares about our stupid bet?" Twilight said. She hugged Rainbow Dash furiously. "Your friendship means more to me than any old book! I hate that we've been fighting this week!"

"Me too!" Rainbow Dash said. Her eyes teared up. "I've been a total jerk to you for no reason! I'm sorry I yelled at you and called you evil!"

"I'm sorry I kicked you in the face. Friends?"

"Friends," Rainbow said. She sniffed. "Just don't tell the others that I cried."

---

"And now for our next contestant, Rainbow Dash, of Ponyville!"

Here goes nothing... Rainbow Dash thought. As she requested, there were three clouds in the middle of the arena for her to work with.

Rainbow started with some simple dodging exercises. She flew at the clouds and dodged them by going right and left. She looped around and dodged through them again. Picking up speed, Rainbow started to turn her body perpendicular to the clouds as she dodged, getting extremely close to them.

She swerved around the clouds in all sorts of directions, making a show out of it and finishing with an upside-down swoop, going into tall loop-de-loop, and landing on the middle cloud in exactly the right spot to make it rain. Rainbow lowered into a pouncing position, then began the speed portion of her show.

A rainbow-colored blur formed as she went around the clouds in a large circle, slowly moving them closer together. When they were close enough, she began a figure eight around the two outside clouds, which brought her close enough to the middle cloud that she was able to push it upwards. When they were all in position, she began her final trick.

Not losing her speed, Rainbow spiraled upwards in a large circle, until she was about fifty feet about the clouds. She performed a corkscrew dive, aiming directly for the center cloud, which was still raining. Flipping around at the last second, she smashed the cloud apart with her hind legs and came to a dead stop in midair.

A rainbow burst into existence, where the raining cloud had been. The rainbow was an arch, connecting the two other clouds. Rainbow Dash was exactly in the middle of the rainbow, so it almost looked like it was coming out of her body. It was a very impressive effect, and the crowd applauded.

Rainbow waved to the audience, focusing on the booth where her friends were cheering louder than anypony else. That wasn't so bad! she thought. That went really well! Ha! I knew there was nothing to worry about!

Rainbow Dash flew to the inside edge of the arena and landed next to Twilight.

"That was really good!" Twilight said.

"Thanks!"

"And let's see what the judges think!" the announcer said. He pointed to the judges' table, where Princess Celestia, Spitfire and Princess Luna were seated.

"Princess Luna is here?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I was surprised, too," Twilight said. "I guess she volunteered at the last second."

The judges held up their scorecards. Rainbow got two sevens and an eight, for a total of twenty-two points.

"That puts Rainbow Dash in the lead," the announcer said. "Congratulations to Rainbow! The next contestant is number six, Featherby Wingspan of Clopbourgh!"

"Oh my gosh, I'm winning!" Rainbow said. "I've got this competition in the bag! I'm going to spend the day with the Wonderbolts!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Twilight said. "I still haven't gone yet."

"Oh, yeah," Rainbow said. "Is there any chance that you could fail on purpose? For me?"

"In your dreams!" Twilight said. "But if I win, I'll give the prize to you."

"What? Seriously?"

"I know how much you like the Wonderbolts," Twilight said. "And besides, I owe you a friendship favor!"

Plus, I've already seen them loads of times, Twilight added silently. That's one of the advantages of being a pegasus who lives in Canterlot.

---

"And now for our final contestant, Twilight Sparkle, of Ponyville!" the announcer said.

Twilight flew about 300 feet above the stadium. She turned her body face down, angled herself in the same direction as the wind, then tucked her wings to her sides.

She instantly began to fall like a rock. The spectators gasped as she fell. By the time she was level with the arena, Twilight had picked up a good bit of momentum. She opened her wings and started beating furiously, increasing her speed as much as she could.

"No way..." Rainbow Dash said.

Twilight's hair flapped wildly as she pushed against the sound barrier. Instead of holding her hooves in front of her, her arms were against her sides, pinned down by the pressure.

Almost...there... Twilight thought. She had felt these sensations before, when practicing in her dreams. But doing a Sonic Rainboom was harder in real life than it was in dreams...she gave a final push with her wings, and...

*BOOM*

Twilight punctured the sound barrier at the wrong angle. A wave of purple and magenta spread out from that spot, going out about fifty miles, before it shuddered and contracted back into itself. Meanwhile, Twilight was shot upwards at a tremendous speed, like a cork being shot out of a bottle.

Twilight managed to catch herself, without looking too foolish. Hopefully, nopony would realize that was unplanned.

"Um...ta da?" Twilight said.

The stadium was stunned for a moment, before it burst into loud applause. Twilight blushed and waved to the crowd, before flying down to the area with the other contestants.

"That was so awesome!" Rainbow Dash said, hugging her friend.

"Yeah, but I did it wrong," Twilight said. "I was supposed to do a full Sonic Rainboom. I only got one color!"

"Who cares? Even a partial Sonic Rainboom is cool! Besides, you're purple, so it looked like you did it on purpose."

"I hope the judges think so..." Twilight said.

Princess Celestia held up an eight. Spitfire held up a nine. Princess Luna held up a five.

"I don't believe it!" Rainbow gasped. "What's wrong with Luna? You were amazing!"

"I guess it's because she's seen me—I'll explain later," Twilight said.

"And Twilight Sparkle gets twenty-two points!" the announcer said. "She is now tied for the lead, with Rainbow Dash. The two of them will have to go through a tiebreaker contest!"

Rainbow and Twilight both looked at each other, surprised. Rainbow grinned. "You're going down, Twi."

"Eat my dust, Rainbow Breath," Twilight said.

"Pardon me," the announcer said. "I have just been informed that a contestant was added to the roster at the last minute. Please welcome Big Macintosh Apple to the arena! He's going to perform a song of his own composition entitled I'm Sexy And I Know It, Yup."

Big Macintosh flew into the arena, wearing a fashionable jacket and highly-styled hair. At his signal, back-up dancers appeared and heavy bass music started playing. From the moment he first started singing, he had the complete attention of every mare in the stadium.

"Oh, wow! I didn't know Applejack's brother could wiggle like that!" Rainbow said, with hearts in her eyes.

"I need to visit Sweet Apple Acres more often!"

"Ooo, Cheerilee is so lucky to be taking him to the Gala!" Rarity gushed.

"Awww, I wanted to ask him!"

"I need to hire him to help with my magic act," Trixie said.

"Um...I thought you aren't a travelling magician anymore," Fluttershy said.

"I'm not, but who cares? Trixie needs that stallion's help!"

"He's makin' a dang fool outta himself," Applejack muttered, refusing to watch. "I'm telling Granny Smith 'bout this."

"I don't get it," Scootaloo said. "What's the big deal?"

"You'll find out when you're older," Pinkie said.

Naturally, the three female judges all gave perfect tens to Big Macintosh's performance. He won a trophy, but he graciously declined the prize of spending the following day with the Wonderbolts.

"I don't have any free time right now. I need to get back to Ponyville right away for a meeting. You can give it to somepony else."

"Who?" Spitfire asked.

"Gee, I dunno," Big Macintosh said. "This is my first time in Cloudsdale. I don't know anypony here."

"Might I suggest Princess Scootaloo?" Princess Celestia said. "I noticed she's here today, and having her spend the weekend in Canterlot would be nice."

"I reckon that'd work just fine," Big Macintosh said. "She's friends with my little sister Applebloom. They're in the same class, you know."

"Then it is settled," Princess Luna said.

---

Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle trudged slowly out of the arena.

"I can't believe we lost," Twilight complained.

"I can't believe we tied," Rainbow said. "Now nopony wins the bet!"

"Maybe that's for the best."

"I guess... Still, it bites that we lost a flying competition to an Earth pony."

"I know!"

Outside the stadium, all their friends were waiting for them. The group burst into cheers as Rainbow and Twilight approached, which made them feel better.

"You two were the greatest!" Pinkie Pie cheered.

"I'm so lucky that you're teaching me how to fly!" Scootaloo said.

"You rock! Woo hoo!" Fluttershy said.

"But...we lost," Rainbow Dash said.

"Shucks, that don't matter," Applejack said. "You think I win every rodeo I enter? Y'all came in second place, and that ain't bad."

"Plus, now you can be friends again!" Pinkie said. "We should have a party!"

"Is a party your response to everything, dear?" Rarity asked.

"Yes."

"Hello! I hope we're not interrupting anything," Princess Celestia said, as she and Luna landed nearby.

All the ponies bowed, except for Scootaloo, who wasn't sure if she needed to bow to the princesses or not. She tried to curtsy, but she didn't know how to do it correctly, and she ended up falling on her nose.

"We came to congratulate you two on the entertaining display you put on," Princess Luna said. "You should be proud of yourselves."

"Indeed. You did well today," Princess Celestia said. She turned towards Trixie. "And you, my personal student. It looks like your magical studies have progressed nicely."

"It was nothing, Your Highness," Trixie said as modestly as she could (which wasn't very modest, if truth be told). "After all, you were the pony who sent me the spellbook with the walking on clouds spell."

"Yes, well, now you can add that book to the material that will be covered in your exam at the end of the month."

Trixie paled. That book contained over fifty spells! "Yes, ma'am."

Celestia winked at the other ponies. "Trixie has a lot of catching up to do, after missing ten years of school."

"And if I judge aright, it appears that your feuding has ended," Princess Luna said. "Have your ties been mended this day?"

Twilight took a second to translate Luna-speak to English. "Yes, Rainbow Dash and I cleared everything up."

"Yeah, we're best buds again!" Rainbow Dash said, wrapping her wing around Twilight.

"That is good to hear," Princess Celestia said. "I would like for all of you to remain friends, my little ponies. Not only will it bring you much happiness, but you will be able to use the Elements of Harmony in case of emergencies."

"Even me?" Scootaloo asked.

Princess Celestia seemed a tad disturbed by the thought of Equestria's most powerful magic in the hooves of Scootaloo. "Er...perhaps your mother should take care of that."

"Aw..." Scootaloo said.

The princesses stayed with the group for the rest of the afternoon, as Rainbow Dash gave everypony a brief tour of Cloudsdale and the weather factory. Celestia treated them all to a free dinner, before she and Luna went back to Canterlot with Scootaloo. The rest of the ponies returned to Ponyville.

---

Later that night, Twilight went to Trixie's house. She had never been inside the house before; the décor had too much purple and blue for her tastes, but it was very clean.

"Hey, Trixie, can I talk to you?"

"Sure, Twilight. What is it?"

"It's about the wings spell you used earlier," Twilight said. "Can you tell me more about it?"

"Certainly. What do you want to know?"

"Well, mainly I just want to know how it works. I have a hard time believing there's a spell that can make a pony change species!"

"There isn't. The wings are only temporary."

"But couldn't you constantly cast the spell on Big Macintosh, to make him a pegasus all the time?"

"That would be too draining," Trixie said. "And the book warned against using the spell on the same pony, multiple times in a row. There are nasty side effects."

"Oh," Twilight said. "I was wondering how to make somepony into a pegasus..."

Twilight had been wondering about species-changing spells, ever since she had turned into an alicorn and back into a pegasus. She didn't talk about it much, because she didn't want to give anypony the wrong idea, but...if there was a way Twilight could use unicorn magic again...

"You can't fool me, Twilight," Trixie said. "I know this is about Scootaloo."

"It—what?"

"I just learned it from the doctors this week." Trixie took a breath. "She says that Scootaloo...she's crippled. Her primary feathers are never going to grow in."

Twilight gasped. "Never? I mean, of course I noticed she was missing feathers during our flying lessons, but...I thought they'd grow back like mine do."

"They're not," Trixie said. "I was hoping I could use magic to regrow her missing feathers, but...well, you saw the results of the spell. It can only grow featherless wings."

"I was wondering why they looked like butterfly wings," Twilight said. "But still, poor Scootaloo. Isn't there anything you can do?"

"Nothing," Trixie said. "I asked Princess Celestia about it, but she doesn't know of any magical mystery cure."

"Wow..." Twilight breathed. "That's rough. But hey, look at the bright side! Pegasi can still fly without their primary feathers."

"I talked with Fluttershy about it. She said that doesn't happen all the time, and even when it does, the pegasus has limited mobility."

"Yeah, that's true..." Twilight said. "But maybe Scootaloo will be one of the lucky ones! I can look for more information in one of my library books."

"Could you please? That would be...I'd appreciate it."

Twilight looked at Trixie's despondent face, and for the first time, Twilight realized how hard Trixie's life must be. Not only was she Princess Celestia's student, but she was a single mother with a job at Spells and Bells. True, she had Spike working as an unpaid assistant, but sometimes Spike could be just as much trouble as a second child.

"Trixie...I know we got off on the wrong hoof, but if there's anything I can do to help you, just let me know."

"Thank you," Trixie said. "You've been a big help with Scootaloo already, looking after her all those afternoons in the library when I couldn't be there."

"Yes, well, she's a nice little sister. Looking after her is no trouble at all."

"I...wait," Trixie said. "If you're Scootaloo's honorary sister...does that make me your stepmother?"

"Of course," Twilight said. "Fairy tales always have wicked stepmothers in them."

Trixie threw her hat at Twilight. "That's not funny, Twilight Sparkle! The Great and Powerful Trixie should not be mocked!"

Comments

[arglefumph]

3354060 I am seriously considering removing/reducing the Discord scene to one paragraph...but I like the epic 1980's song he suggested a bit too much.

Two Scootaloo gags I didn't include were Squirtaloo (with a super soaker cutie mark) and Scooterlo (the muppet). Scutealoo is cute-a-loo with an "s" in front (that's literally all the thought I put into it), Skeeterloo deals with mosquitoes, while Squeetaloo deals with mosqueetoes.

3354037 The alternate picture I had was this one, but I didn't want to include all the other stuff on the right hand side of the screen.

[Seether00]

Two updates! Darn you super productive author. You're making me look bad.

Oh... I didn't see that ending coming. I approve. HA, loved Luna's score.

[ymom2]

It is so heart wrenching to see Twilight's potential being untapped. I hope you make this premise into something interesting. Great job on the chapter.

[Darkened Paradise]

"Nothing," Trixie said. "I asked Princess Celestia about it, but she doesn't know of any magical mystery cure."

...I take it you weren't fond of that episode?

[FlutterFan93]

This and the last chapter were kinda stupid

[Unknownlight]

I continue to be endlessly amused by this fic.

Although I think you should cut out the fourth-wall breaking last chapter. Breaking the fourth wall is fine if the story has been established from the beginning as having a weak fourth wall, but it feels jarring to do something so blatant so late in the story.

[arglefumph]

3355057 It was a fine song episode, but I honestly do not understand any of the logic behind Twilight becoming an alicorn. What is the "new magic" that Twilight created? I didn't see her perform any magic! All she did was write bad poetry. I don't remember EVER seeing a unicorn use poetry/incantations to perform magic before...

I would also like more information on Starswirl's spell. What was the intended effect of the spell? Why is it considered an unfinished spell, when using it clearly has a huge effect on the world? What does the finished version of the spell do? It can't be the case that the new spell cures cutie mark problems, because Twilight only casts it AFTER everyone's cutie mark is back to normal.

I like Alicorn Twilight for the, like, three minutes we got know her. But the build-up to her species transformation throws me off. Also it seems unfair that the only way to become an alicorn is to create new magic. That basically makes it impossible for non-unicorns to become princesses.

3358164 That makes two votes to get rid of that section. Okay, fine...I'll delete it.

[kingthe13]

3359305 actually that's not true it is possible for Pegasus and mabye earth ponies to ascend remember cadance use to be a pagasus.

[PixelMoon]

What in Equestria, Big Mac!

[Snowdrifter]

"Of course," Twilight said. "Fairy tales always have wicked stepmothers in them."

I LOL'D right there.