Out in the fields outside of Ponyville, Rainbow Dash paced back and forth in front of Sora, Riku, Fluttershy, and Bulk Biceps. In just a couple more days, the preliminaries for a few of the main events for the Equestria Games would take place, primarily the Aerial Relay race, the Struggle Tournament, and many others. The reason why the overly buff stallion with small wings and the timid ex-Element of Kindness were here was because they volunteered to take part in the race with Rainbow Dash, the other pegasi in Ponyville already set in different events. Though Rainbow wanted Sora and Riku there as well to get them hyped about winning, even though they could easily trounce the competition with just physical skill.
"Alright, pegasi! Listen up!" Rainbow said.
"We're all ears, right, everypony?" Fluttershy asked.
Bulk was busy admiring his muscles before he responded. "Nuh uh! I'm all muscle!" He began flexing, letting out grunts as he showed off his hulking biceps. "YEAH!!!!"
"I like your attitude, Bulk!" Rainbow hovered over to the bored Keyblade wielders, not showing as much enthusiasm as her relay team. "Why can't you two be as excited as Bulk and Fluttershy?"
"Maybe because this is supposed to be your team morale speech, not all of Ponyville's athletes competing in different events speech," Riku said.
"You'll obviously win the relay with your hooves tied behind your back with how fast you are," Sora added. "No idea why it had to be an aerial relay when it should be an individual race on its own."
"Sora, Riku, we're going to be going up against the Wonderbolts," Rainbow explained. "They play for Cloudsdale, and they always have the fastest time. That's why I need to remind Bulk and Flutters how much I-err, I mean, Ponyville-wants to qualify for the Equestria Games."
The smaller stallions rolled their eyes, knowing full well this was something Rainbow wanted. "BRING IT ON!!!!!!!"
Sora rubbed his ear, being in close proximity to the muscular pegasus's loud voice, almost going deaf, though it wasn't as bad as Luna's Royal Canterlot Voice. "Can we get a shock collar on him so he knows when to not blast out his lungs when he talks?"
"Gimmie a 'P' for 'Ponyville'!" Pinkie suddenly appeared before the pegasi as she cheered, wearing a yellow and purple cheerleader outfit, with green pompoms on her hooves and a pink and yellow ribbon in her mane. She surprised Fluttershy from her appearance, then pulled out a megaphone, both Sora and Riku quickly covering their ears as she turned the device on. "P, PONYVILLE!"
"P!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Bulk yelled, his voice overshadowing Pinkie's megaphone, sending the mare flying back into the bushes.
"Ow...My ears are ringing," Riku muttered. "Take away their mouths like Trixie did..."
"None of us are unicorns, sadly." Pinkie immediately leapt back up and waved her pompoms around as Applejack walked up to them, dragging a wagon filled to the brim with food.
"Hey, y'all," she said. "If ya want to be good at the race, then y'all will be better with some of mah apple brown betties in your bellies. Perfect snack for a hard workout."
"'P' is for 'perfect'!" Pinkie cheered as the athletes, excluding Rainbow Dash, approached the cart and took a bite of one of the delicious apple pastries.
"Wow. These are really good," Riku complimented as he scarfed down his small snack.
"And plenty more where that came from." Rainbow facehooved as she watched her relay team snack, Bulk chomping down several bettys in one go.
"It's like you made a lot for all of Ponyville's athletes instead of just us, AJ," Sora teased as he finished his apple brown betty and grabbed another. "The train's about to arrive in a while. I'll go and get Aqua, see if she's feeling ok to move around."
Sora flew off into town while the others stayed behind, Rainbow itching to start training before they arrived at Rainbow Falls. "Alright, you two! Snack time's over! Let's see what you've got, team!" Bulk and Fluttershy stopped eating and stood in front of their team leader. "Bend those knees and start flapping those wings! I want to see all four hooves off the ground on the count of three!" The two weaker flyers bent their knees and began moving their wings as they prepared to take off. "One! Two! Three!"
They began flapping, Riku and Applejack watching as the relay team hovered in the air. Bulk Biceps made strained grunting sounds, his tiny wings able to hold up his hulking frame, almost like this was some sort of workout for his small appendages on his back. It was odd for Riku to see him fly like this after watching him be able to fly normally back at the Wonderbolts Academy where he and Sora assisted Spitfire train the recruits. And it looked like he was holding his breath, the bulky stallion's face starting to turn red.
"Bulk, breathe, for goodness sake!" Riku advised. A big mistake as Bulk let out a heaving wheeze, his wings failing him as he began falling, dragging Fluttershy along with him by latching onto her tail. Rainbow also became a victim, flying beneath them, the trio of pegasi crashing to the ground in a heap, the rainbow-haired mare crushed underneath the stallion's body. "And 'P' also stands for 'pain'."
"You sure you don't want to try out as a cheerleader, Riku?" Pinkie asked, her mouth quickly stuffed with one of the pastries as Riku ignored the pink earth pony's question.
Inside Ponyville General Hospital, Aqua stepped down off the bed, walking on three legs as her right foreleg was still held in a cast. She was already feeling better after spending the last few days in the hospital, though her leg was going to need some time to heal. She won't be much help fighting off the Heartless with just her magic alone, but seeing how greatly skilled the young generation of Keyblade wielders were, despite not wanting them to fight her battle against Xehanort, they could handle whatever threats lie in wait for them. At least she was about to leave now that she can move, carefully putting on her clothes without putting too much pressure on her broken limb.
After slowly making her way to the main lobby, signing herself out, finally freed from being bored and restless in a bed. Sora entered the building, spotting the Keyblade Master just as she finished signing her name.
"Hey, Aqua. Finally up on your hooves." She turned around as she heard Sora, casually walking up to her.
"Yup. Though, the doctor said to keep this on for a while." Aqua held up her leg, showing the white cast around the broken limb. "Not going to be much use in fighting for a while."
"Well, that's probably a good thing," Sora said. "You could use a vacation. A whole year's worth, actually."
"Keyblade wielders don't technically have vacations, being so few people who wield the Keyblade that side with the light...And in addition to Twilight being one of the first sentient equines to ever wield one as well in recorded history." Aqua sighed, wishing there was some way to regain any resources of the Keyblade from the transformed world that used to be the training grounds for new wielders and upcoming masters. "But, maybe I should take a vacation. At the very least."
"That's the spirit!" Sora tossed Aqua the apple brown betty he brought with him, the mare catching it with her aura. "Try that. Applejack's brown betties are delicious. Get you some real food in you aside from the slop they serve in hospitals." Feeling her stomach rumbling, Aqua shrugged her shoulders and took a small bite of the crumbly pastry. It was a lot better than the food the nurses gave her during her stay, but after fifteen years of survival in darkness without any proper nourishment, she didn't care what she ate as long as it was filling. "Let's head on down to the train station. We're going off to Rainbow Falls today, and we're going to surely pass through the preliminaries for the events."
"Sounds like fun." Sora lead the way while Aqua followed, munching on her snack as she limped forward. "Did Applejack make more of these?"
Once everyone arrived at the train, including the other athletes for the qualifying events for the Equestria Games, the locomotive sped off toward its destination. Rainbow Dash was a little disappointed that the other pegasi are competing in different events, and can only compete in one event, but she can pull off the slack for Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps. She did wish that either Sora or Riku replaced one of them, but since they were more suited for fight than flight, they would easily win the Struggle Tournament. It did make her curious to know how Struggles worked if it involved smacking ponies around with a foam bat.
They soon arrived at Rainbow Falls a moment later, and the place looked like paradise to the Keyblade wielders. It looked similar to Winsome Falls when Sora went camping with Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, rainbow waterfalls splashing to the river under a bridge connecting to a valley where the relay race would be held, a large rainbow out on the horizon brightening the landscape even further with beauty. There were other pegasi out on the field warming up, and there was even a griffon team as well.
"Wow. This place almost looks like Neverland," Aqua said as the area reminded her of the flowing waterfalls in the island world, gaining her ability to jump twice in the air as she used magical fairy dust to gain extra height to reach the cliffs. "Only, Rainbow Falls is a bit more peaceful without a pirate ship shooting cannonballs at the land to try and hit us."
"I don't think I've actually been in Neverland," Sora said as they walked along the grounds. "Guess you gave Hook some trouble before I did. I need to head back there and see how Peter Pan and Tinker Bell are really doing."
"Hey, look! It's the Wonderbolts!" one of the pegasi spoke, alerting everyone as they looked up at the sky.
Flying through the air in perfect synchronization, three of the Wonderbolts flew across Rainbow Falls, coming in for a landing. The members of the flight team that were taking part in the relay for the Games were Spitfire, Soarin, and a mare named Fleetfoot: her coat a similar cyan like Rainbow Dash's, though her mane was as white as a cloud, swept back from her constant flights on the team. They spotted the future Wonderbolt and approached her.
"Oh man, this year's going to be a good one," Spitfire said.
"We just might have some competition this year with Dash and her team," Soarin added.
"Just a couple days of practice until we see you in the air, Rainbow Dash," Fleetfoot said. "I hope you and your boys can keep up with the greatest and pass within a few seconds."
"Boys?...Wait, you mean Sora and Riku?" Rainbow asked.
"Well, yeah," Spitfire said, the three Wonderbolts staring at each other in confusion through their goggles. "They are racing with you, right?"
"Actually, they're entering in the Struggle fights, but I do have a team, and we're sure to qualify." Rainbow dared not to look at Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps, a little afraid to know how her idols would react if they knew who else would be with her in the relay.
"Man. That's a shame. But, after hearing how well they can fight, they'll probably win that tournament hooves down," Soarin said.
"Good luck, Dash." The Wonderbolts headed over to their tents, set up to look like a professional rest area for the Cloudsdale team after doing their scheduled training sessions.
As they left, the others watching the cheerleaders giving the Wonderbolts a morale boost while also entertaining onlookers, Sora noticed Rainbow was a bit apprehensive when they thought he and Riku would be racing as well. "You alright, Rainbow?"
"Yeah. Just a bit nervous," she said. "We're going to need a lot of practicing, but with enough training, we'll be sure to pass the qualifying time." She looked over at her team, Bulk too busy flexing while Fluttershy watched the cheerleaders with the others. "Hopefully I can pour on enough speed in the final leg of the relay, and make sure they don't drop the horseshoe baton."
"Attention, Struggle competitors!" a stallion over the intercom spoke as they caught everyone's attention. "The preliminary matches for the tournament are about to begin in a few minutes! Contestants, please make your way to the battle arena at the bottom of the plateau at this time!"
"That's us." Sora patted Rainbow on the back, believing she'll be able to get Bulk and Fluttershy into enough shape to qualify. "Good luck with the training. We'll probably finish our matches by today and help you guys out." He left the pegasus to train her teammates, walking up to Riku as they began making their way down the hill of the plateau, Aqua following them to really see how well the two teens were in combat. "So, you guys know where Twilight and Kairi are? They left the train, but I have no idea where they ran off to after the Wonderbolts arrived."
"I think they said they were going on ahead to meet up with you two, though they looked like they were up to something as soon as they left," Aqua said.
The stallions looked at each other, only shrugging their shoulders as they had no idea what their girlfriends were up to. As they reached the lower area, they saw the square arena set up for the Struggle matches, seeing several ponies, along with other sentient creatures from around the world that came to try and qualify for the big tournament or watch the fight. At least there was a lot of competition for Sora and Riku, if they could keep up with them. Aqua walked over to the bleachers with the rest of the audience while the teens stood alongside their fellow competitors.
Up on the arena, a brown unicorn stallion wearing a black vest with a yellow arrow pointing up on the front stepped onto it and stood in front of the competitors, his cutie mark a microphone with lines coming out from it, making it seem like it was being spoken into. "Hello, mares and gentlecolts! Welcome to the first ever, newly created sporting event designed by Princess Celestia herself! This is the event known as Struggle, a one-on-one competitive duel unlike any normal fighting competition! I am your host, Micro Chatter, and I'm sure this is going to be an exciting prelims match for the real tournament in the Equestria Games!
"For those of you new to this sport, here's how it works!" The MC levitated a Struggle weapon up before the crowd, showing off the official blue foam bat, along with a glowing red sphere. "Combatants are to use these Struggle bats to attack their opponent, but the aim of this fight is to not knock them out, consciously or out of the ring! Their goal is to knock these special magical orbs from their opponent and collect all of them or keep the most on them when the two minute time limit runs out! Each Struggler will receive exactly one hundred of these spheres, magically enchanted to be absorbed in their bodies!" He touched the sphere, everyone watching it get absorbed into him. "And the only way to get them out is with a hard enough whack of the Struggle bat!"
Micro swung the bat against his chest, causing the orb he just absorbed getting flung out of him, landing on the arena with a few bounces. "So that's how Struggle works."
"It's too bad we can't beat each other to death in order to win, huh?" Sora whispered as Riku was given the know-how of how a Struggle match worked.
"Knock out your opponent's orbs, run into them to instantly pick them up, and have all two hundred spheres in your possession or hold onto more than your opponent!" the announcer continued. "If one of you loses all of your orbs and there are still some on the arena, pick up at least one before your opponent does to avoid an immediate loss!" The stallion levitated the sphere and bat over to the side, pulling down a magical chart that showed the brackets of the preliminary matches. "The tournament for the Equestria Games will have eight contenders that will compete! Unlike the other events' standings, any single one of you can make it into the top eight, not just one from every single town, city, or kingdom! Anything goes in this event, so bring out your best for the qualifying matches, but not too much for the main event in spring!" The audience cheered, unable to wait for the fights to begin, the Struggle fighters ready to begin the new sport. "We have already predetermined the brackets each of you will be in! Let's all see who's going up against who!"
In a flash on the aura tournament bracket, the faces of the fighters appeared in their places. Luckily, Riku and Sora were on opposite sides of the thirty-two brackets, each victor needing two wins to be placed in the official tournament.
"Alright! We might have an opportunity to fight each other in the finals at the Games!" Sora cheered. "But I won't go easy on you when we do meet up on the field, Riku."
"You better not. You're the only one around here who can at least give me a challenge." Sora and Riku began nudging each other, already anticipating having a match with each other when they're on two different sides of the brackets.
"We'll be starting the first match in just a moment! Competitors, prepare to bring your 'A' game!" The host stepped down, the other competitors getting themselves ready as they were excited to begin fighting.
"I think we're already set to give it our all," Sora said. "But where the heck are-?"
"Hey, boys!" Sora and Riku turned around to see Kairi and Twilight, their jaws dropping at the sight of the two mares.
They were both dressed as cheerleaders like Pinkie was, though they were designed differently compared to the pink earth pony's random assortment of outfits she ends up getting in. Both mares' manes were tied up in a ponytail and their outfits both black and white, only Kairi's top had a picture of Sora on the front with his Keyblade on the back, while Twilight's was similar though with Riku's face and Keyblade. They both held black and white pompoms to match their clothes within their respective auras. Both stallions were stunned speechless, both surprised and enticed as their girlfriends have become their personal cheerleaders.
"Looks like we made it in time," Twilight said. "So, what do you think of your own little cheer squad?"
"I think it's obvious from the expressions on their faces," Kairi said. "Though, we would like your opinion, boys." Both mares stood up on the hind legs, Twilight using her wings to keep herself balanced as they grabbed their pompoms with their hooves, striking a pose as they shook them around. Sora and Riku didn't say anything, their brains too stunned to make them speak, but their wings instantly flared out from their sides. "That's definitely a yes to me."
Both mares giggled while the pegasi tried to fold their wings back in place. Aqua had watched the little display from afar, shaking her head with a small laugh. At least their spirits weren't broken through all the madness of fighting against the darkness and those who side with it, still acting like kids as they reached adulthood.
"You know, this is going to distract us more than give us a confidence boost," Riku said, highly flustered by the embarrassing wing boner around hundreds of others that might have seen them.
"Why must you be adorable in that outfit while you're a unicorn!?" Sora asked. "Dang it, Kairi. No matter what you do, I can never get you out of my mind!"
"That's a good thing," the pink unicorn said. "But I know you could never get me off your mind."
"As a human damsel in distress," Sora corrected. "Now, as a pony, it's too much for me to take."
He winced and groaned, playfully clutching his chest as he pretended to have a heart attack, flopping down on his side with his eyes rolled up in his head and his tongue lolling out of his mouth. Riku kicked his side as Kairi laughed at Sora's high jinks, jostling the teen out of his fake episode.
"We really need you to hang out with less people that don't goof off all the time," he said.
"Well, you should learn to have a better sense of humor," Sora countered.
"The first match of the first round of the preliminary tournament will soon begin! Contestants for the first match please approach the arena!" Sora vaulted back up on his hooves, being the first match of the qualifying tourney for the Struggle Tournament.
"Welp, time for me to show off my skills to the future competitors when the Equestria Games kick off." He quickly flew up to Kairi, grabbed and dipped her, giving her a kiss as he surprised her, then stood her back up as she held a blush on her cheeks while he grinned. "Kiss for good luck, or just because. Now, to win and qualify!"
Sora flew off to the stage to begin his match, leaving Kairi flustered as she stared into space. "How does she deal with Sora's energy back in your home?"
"No idea," Riku said to Twilight. "Even I find it difficult just to keep up with him and his enthusiasm at times. And I usually kick his butt whenever he wants to duel me." As the first rounds were about to start, Riku couldn't help but trail his eyes down to Twilight's outfit instead of the first match that was about to begin. "...So...when did you find the time to make those?"
"Rarity did, actually," Twilight admitted. "Kairi and I thought it would be fun to tease you two and see if we can give you a little challenge not to get too distracted when you fought in your matches." Twilight blushed and looked down at her hooves, straightening out her skirt as she wasn't used to wearing anything like what Kairi wears. "...Do I look good in it?"
"...Duhhhhhhh..." So many comments flooded Riku's mind, his white cheeks turning red as he tried to find the right answer without sounding stupid. Though, with his dumbfounded response while trying to find said answer, he was already making himself look like a love-struck idiot enamored by his girlfriend in a very attractive cheerleader's outfit. "...You look...hot..."
He mentally facehooved, his mouth working ahead of his brain, but instead of receiving a punch or a slap as he expected, Twilight gave him a peck on the cheek, turning his entire face red. Aqua continued watching from the bleachers, a little surprised to see a human, turned into a pony by magic to make them fit in with the world around them, in a relationship with a pony. Though, seeing as any Keyblade wielder could come from other worlds, she wasn't one to judge when there were two beings of sentient nature love each other, the boundaries of some worlds always crossed in some way or another. The blue unicorn did have some feelings toward Terra at some point in her early teens, but it only wound up being a silly crush that she completely moved on from once she made it through puberty. She turned her attention back to the arena, where Sora was in the middle of battling with a unicorn stallion, already stealing more than half of his opponent's spheres without getting hit once.
The day had ended and the preliminary matches were done just as the sun was about to set. Obviously, Sora and Riku had won their Stuggle matches and are moving on to the tournament, their foes not much of a challenge, but they tried to put up a fight against two professional Keyblade wielders that had held back a little bit to not seem too good at what they do. Twilight and Kairi cheered them on as they fought, proving to be quite challenging for them not to avert their eyes to their girlfriends dressed up in sexy cheerleading uniforms as they heard their cheers. Aqua was impressed with their skills, even though they were holding back so they could give their dueling opponents a small chance of making it past at least a minute. If she didn't pass out from exhaustion and pain, she could have seen how well they were when they took on the Dark Hide.
As soon as the sun rose to greet the majestic falls, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Twilight, and Aqua headed for the fields where Rainbow's relay team was practicing. The two mares were out of their cheerleader outfits, planning to help the relay team get into shape for their race the next day. They spotted Bulk Biceps and Fluttershy doing some warm ups, though Rainbow Dash was nowhere in sight.
"Hey, Ponyville flight team," Sora greeted. "Where's Dash at?"
"I guess she must be sleeping in," Fluttershy said.
"Sleeping in? During training?" Riku questioned.
"I really don't know. She told us to do warm ups until she was up and ready to go." The yellow pegasus laid on the ground on her stomach, spread her wings out, and tried lifting herself up with just her wings. She struggled to do a wing up, barely pushing herself off the ground as she strained to do at least one. The others looked over at Bulk doing the same, only his wings could barely reach his stomach let alone the ground. "We did a little badly with the baton passing too, so we need to work on that as well."
"What is wrong with his wings?" Aqua whispered to Sora as she pointed at Bulk, struggling to push both his wings down to the ground. "Can he even fly with those things?"
"Yes, but I have no clue how his wings are physically that small." Aqua was hesitant to question the bulky pegasus's training regiment, as well as any possible illegal substances he took to keep those muscles. "Well, until Rainbow shows up, we'll train you!"
"Cool!" Bulk shouted, grunting heavily to do a single wing up, only giving up a moment later. "What do we do first!?"
"Let's start with maneuverability and passing. Where's the horseshoe you guys were using?" Riku asked.
"Right here!" Rarity called out as she trotted up to them along with Applejack and Pinkie Pie, the hyper earth pony now wearing a rainbow wig with rainbow pompoms. "Had to touch this up a little bit. Can't have a relay team with a terrible baton to pass."
The white unicorn held up the newly painted horseshoe, coated gold with small blue diamonds patterned around it. "...I don't think it matters how good a baton looks. It's supposed to be dirty, Rarity."
"Nonsense! I've even worked on the uniforms our team will wear. I just need a few more moments." Rarity quickly ran back to where they were set up, leaving the baton in Sora's hoof.
"Ok then..." Sora's attention was averted to hearing the cheerleaders for Cloudsdale's team as he looked up from the decorated baton for the race. He saw the Wonderbolts, though out of the trio for the relay, Spitfire and Fleetfoot were there, but not Soarin. "Hey, what happened to Soarin? Is he late or something?"
"He actually clipped his wing off one of the obstacle rings yesterday!" Pinkie answered, waving her hooves and fluttering rainbow pompoms in the air. "He fell out of the sky, but Rainbow Dash swooped in and saved him before he crashed to the ground! He's in the infirmary recovering, so he should be back on his hooves before the race tomorrow!"
"Ow. That must have hurt. Guess we didn't hear it down below the plateau with the announcer spouting colorful commentary on the matches." Despite hearing the unfortunate news with the Wonderbolts' teammate and fellow flyer, Rainbow Dash was able to save them again from another unfortunate free fall. "Hope his wing gets better. But, for now, time to get to training! Up in the air, you two!"
Sora and Riku flapped up in the air, followed by Fluttershy and the straining Bulk Biceps. The four pegasi flew over to a few of the obstacle rings to train their maneuverability, Sora handing Bulk the baton as the sections of their race would be him first, then Fluttershy, then Rainbow.
"Come on, Bulk! Pick up the pace! Work those tiny wings!" Riku encouraged the stallion, knowing he can fly faster than he is now.
Neither he or Sora knew how he was going to fit through those rings with his build. They watched him begin to slip flip around to try to fit through, his back pressing into the ring, barely making it through as he began to bend the pole. Seeing it was close enough, Fluttershy hovered up to him as he waved his hoof that held the horseshoe out.
"Um, I'm ready to take the horseshoe, if you want me to," she said.
"Fluttershy, you don't have to be polite when it's passed to you," Sora reminded Fluttershy. Before she could take it, the pole whip back and sent Bulk flying through the air, heading straight for Sora at blinding speeds. "Oh, sweet mother of-!" He grunted as the hulking stallion slammed into him, both pegasi sent flying across the field until they slammed into the side of the cliff. Bulk pulled himself out of the bulky imprint of his body in the wall, looking around him to find no sign of Sora. He heard a groan and felt something on his back, turning his head to find the skinny pegasus stallion stuck to his back, stuck in a daze as stars flew around his head. "Mommy? I don't wanna play with the big horsey anymore..."
"Oops. Sorry!" Bulk Biceps peeled Sora off his back, the Keyblade wielder flapping his wings on instinct as he swayed around in delirium. "Are you ok!?"
"Yeah. Fine," Sora slurred. "Keep on training. I'll catch up with you...right after a nap." He stopped flying, sliding down the side of the cliff until he tumbled to the ground. Bulk shrugged his shoulders and headed back to the others, leaving the teen behind as he stood up on shaky legs, shaking his head as he now felt the pain in his crushed body. "Ow. What are his muscles made of? Steel?"
"Whinny, ponies, whinny!" Sora looked over in the direction of a couple cheering mares, the same ones who rooted for Cloudsdale's relay team. He saw Fleetfoot and Rainbow Dash flying across the sky, the latter flying through a group of rings as she passed off a horseshoe to the former. "Fly on, fly on, fly on!"
"What the heck is Rainbow Dash doing?" Sora continued watching Rainbow Dash training with the Wonderbolts when she should be helping Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps. It was only a minute later until the future Wonderbolt flew back to where her team was training. Sora began to grow a bit skeptical after Rainbow lied to Fluttershy about catching a few more 'Z's before joining them. "I know she idolizes the Wonderbolts and all, but why was she flying with Fleetfoot? And practicing the pass off for the relay with the other team?"
Sora withheld questioning Rainbow Dash on the matter as he made it back, figuring she was asked to fly with the Wonderbolts and see if she could keep up with them. Rainbow did help him and Riku continue their training Bulk and Fluttershy for the race, but kept making up excuses as she flew off elsewhere. Sora kept a close eye on her whenever she left, seeing her around Cloudsdale's team and enjoying her training with them instead of her best friend and their muscular teammate. When they took a break and had some of Applejack's apple brown betties, Bulk scarfing down a majority of the delicious pastries that could rival Pinkie's endless stomach, Rainbow wasn't all that hungry for them as she had a meal while flying around in the sky.
The outfits Rarity made for the team were not exactly fitting for a racing team: Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps pranced in place, wearing blue dresses with pink and orange flowers on their heads, looking more dressed for a silly modeling theme than a race. A majority of the group who witnessed Rarity's craft groaned or fell over in exasperation, making Bulk Biceps look awkward as he somehow liked it, Sora and Riku questioning the stallion's masculinity past his large frame, but Fluttershy made it look good. Rainbow Dash wasn't even around to see their prototype "flight suits" as Sora spotted her with the Wonderbolts again, her, Spitfire, and Fleetfoot wearing gray and white professional flight suits, the others too dumbstruck at the silly display with Bulk and Fluttershy in those dresses.
Sora finally had enough of Rainbow abandoning her team, not acting like the loyal leader she was supposed to be. He snuck up behind her as she stripped out of her Cloudsdale relay team uniform and approached the lake. With no one else around as she took a drink of water, he approached her and yanked on her tail.
"GAH!" Rainbow shrieked, turning around to glare at the disappointed gaze from the Keyblade wielder. "Oh! H-Hey, Sora. You didn't have to pull my tail."
"I just might yank it off while I drag you back to your team," he said. "But I'm starting to wonder which team you're actually on."
"What...What are you talking about?" she asked, darting her eyes everywhere but on him.
"You're flying with the Wonderbolts, practicing with them instead of with Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps. You're supposed to represent Ponyville, and you're practically abandoning them. And for what?" Rainbow began to try to find an excuse as she stammered, already caught and knows she won't be able to escape from Sora.
"W-Well, we'll still be able to qualify," she reasoned. "You and Riku have the practicing covered and I can pick up the slack when the time comes. Besides, it's a lot more fun working with the winners than the...non-winners."
"You care more about winning than working with your team?" Sora questioned, appalled by her word choice.
"You and Riku are going to fight in that Struggle event and try to win!" Rainbow argued. "The whole point of competing in the Equestria Games is to win!"
"The point is doing your best and working with your team in those events," Sora corrected. "You're supposed to be the Element of Loyalty, yet you're betraying your friends just to win a race, more for your own pride than for the team you're supposed to be racing for."
"Maybe if you and Riku didn't sign up for that dumb tournament, we could beat that qualifying race within ten seconds flat!" Rainbow shouted.
Sora was about to tackle her to the ground after hearing her blatantly say she didn't want Fluttershy, her best friend, and Bulk Biceps, a pegasus stallion with stubby wings that's able to fly and volunteered to race for Ponyville, but Spitfire and Fleetfoot flew down next to them. "Hey, Rainbow Dash! Sora!" The teen grumbled, remaining silent as the Wonderbolts approached Rainbow. "You got a minute, Dash?"
"Uhh, sure." She looked back at Sora, the stallion leering at her, waiting for her little chat with her new team to end. "What's up?"
"You can be a really good asset to the team," Fleetfoot said. "So we want you to join the Cloudsdale team. Permanently."
"Really!?" Rainbow gasped, excited to be a part of the team, only to realize she was going to replace Soarin. "What about Soarin?"
"It doesn't look like his wing will heal up in time before our run tomorrow," Spitfire sadly said. "We want you to fly for us."
Sora couldn't believe the fact that Spitfire had the exact same mentality as Rainbow Dash. It was bad enough that the captain didn't pay attention to her recruits safety when training them to be Wonderbolts when Lightning Dust caused a lot of problems with her cocky ego, but she's planning on stealing Rainbow Dash, leaving Ponyville's Aerial Relay team without a third member.
"Of course, that means you won't fly for Ponyville, but I think that's a good thing," Fleetfoot said as she pointed over to where they could see Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps. They were practicing their passing, Fluttershy shoving her hoof a bit to hard and punched Bulk hard in the face. Ironically, the heavily muscled stallion began tearing up and bawled, running away from her with her chasing after him to apologize for the accidental hit. "Their chances of qualifying for the Games are pretty slim, even with you flying with them."
"So, what's it going to be?" Rainbow stammered, stuck between two choices she couldn't easily decide on. If she sided with the Wonderbolts, not only would she fly for Cloudsdale, but she would have a chance at winning the event in the Equestria Games. But she didn't want to tick Sora off, realizing that she was so lost in winning and hanging out with Spitfire and Fleetfoot that she wound up blowing off her friends, her real team. And if she stuck with Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps, she was afraid they wouldn't be able to qualify with their weak flying. "We'll give you some time to think it over."
The two mares headed back to their tents, leaving behind a conflicted Rainbow Dash and a highly disappointed Sora. She looked back at him again, his forelegs crossed against his chest as he stared at her, waiting for what she'll end up choosing.
"Oh come on, don't look at me like that!" Rainbow whined. "They want me to fly with them! It's my dream come true!"
"And you fulfilled that dream after the Young Fliers Competition a while back, became a Wonderbolt recruit and trained under them, and you've met them several more times than any other fan ever could. So, that's a horrible excuse, and you know it." The mare winced, her decision so hard to make between her friends or her chances of victory.
"What would you do?" she asked, hoping to find an answer.
"I know what I would do, but this is a choice you'll have to make," Sora said. "Either fly with your team, or abandon them so you can win a worthless piece of gold to hang around your neck. Tomorrow's the race, so I hope you pick the right answer."
He walked past Rainbow, not giving her a passing glance as he made his way back to the others. He hoped that she would make the right choice and show her loyalty to who was really important to her and not her life goals.
Early the next morning, the teams were up and warming themselves up for the qualifying trial race later this afternoon. The Ponyville team gathered together, but there was no sign of Rainbow Dash anywhere. At least Sora didn't see her with the Cloudsdale team as they practiced their flight sprints, at least not yet.
"Ohhh! Oh, the pain!" Everyone heard Rainbow Dash's voice, but as they looked in her direction, they saw her in a wheelchair, bandages wrapped around her head, hooves, wings, and midsection, along with a neck brace. While most of the crowd gasped at the injured state she was in, Sora leered at her as her groans of agony were faked. "Woe is me!"
"You have got to be kidding me," Sora grumbled under his breath.
"Oh my goodness!" Fluttershy exclaimed as everyone witnessing the "injured" mare rolling up to her friends. "Rainbow Dash, what happened!?"
"Ugh...I hurt my hoof," she said as she held up a foreleg, her plan already failing as Riku, Kairi, Aqua, and Twilight saw through her ruse as well.
"All of them?" Sora questioned sarcastically. "Because, gee, that's pretty serious for a single hoof injury."
"I-I tripped...on a foam hoof," she said, begging Sora with her gaze not to call her out. "Then I landed on a...pokey stick coming out of the ground."
"What!?" Pinkie shouted, no one able to hear the cause of her "injuries" as she mumbled it. "If I get my hooves on that pokey stick coming out of the ground, it'll be in big trouble!"
"I don't think I can fly in the tryouts, or ever!" Rainbow whined, dramatically pressing her hoof against forehead.
Sora, on the other hoof, facehooved, knowing full well her "broken hoof" wouldn't hinder her ability to fly, which is what she always does whenever she hung out with anyone. He looked over at Spitfire and Fleetfoot, Rainbow's groans of pain overheard as they were a bit surprised that she couldn't compete, ruining their plans to have her in place of Soarin, but what the pegasus was doing was more of a cop out than a solution. They took her to the medical tent so she can be treated, even though she was faking everything, placed in a hospital bed with her legs elevated to help mend her "broken hooves".
"Well, the doctor said there wasn't anything wrong with you," Twilight said.
"Yeah. What's hurting, Dash?" Sora asked. "You want one of us to use Cure on you so you can feel a lot better?"
"NO!" Rainbow shouted, quickly clearing her throat from her sudden outburst. "I mean, no. I don't think magic can heal my broken bones."
"You don't have any, you little liar." A moment later, Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps came back in after they left some time ago, Bulk getting momentarily stuck between the doorway before he squeezed through.
"How's our patient doing?" Fluttershy asked.
"I've been better," Rainbow said as she continued faking being in pain. "Just having all my friends around is already making the pain go away."
"That's good." Sora held himself from banging his head against the wall, getting more and more frustrated with Rainbow Dash's terrible facade. "We're really sorry you're too hurt to move, but you don't have to worry about the tryouts. We'll be just fine. We even have a replacement."
Entering the doorway was a familiar gray pegasus mare with a blonde mane and bubbles for a cutie mark, Derpy Hooves waving a flag in her hoof. "Hi, everypony! Let's go, Ponyville!" Her cocked eyes spotted Sora, surprising the stallion as Fluttershy and Bulk ironically found her as a replacement. "Hi, Sora!"
"Hi, Derpy," he greeted with a wave.
"I saw your fight in that Struggle match thingie! You were amazing!" Derpy said excitedly, accidentally dropping her flag. "Whoops."
"We know you love flying, so we all promise that if we qualify for the Equestria Games and win gold medals, you can have ours." Fluttershy's promise made Rainbow grimace with guilt, even after blowing her and Bulk off to be with the Wonderbolts and side with the winners instead of her friends.
"Cross our hearts!" Bulk said, ensuring the promise, the others thankful he didn't make a Pinkie Promise.
"Let's keep warming up for the race and let Rainbow rest." Everyone began to leave the infirmary to help Derpy, Fluttershy, and Bulk practice some more before the race starts.
Sora stayed behind, giving Rainbow a deadpanned look. "Good choice, Rainbow. You decided to pick the neutral option. Not cool."
"I don't know what you mean. I really hurt myself." Sora lifted a hoof and tapped one of her bandaged legs quickly, failing to respond to being in pain in time for her ploy to look realistic. She groaned in irritation, highly frustrated with the teen hounding her. "What do you want from me?"
"To make the RIGHT decision, not the easy decision," he said. "You represent loyalty, sticking by your friends and those you care about. Instead, you faked an injury, which was a horrible act right from the beginning, choosing to let both teams fail because you don't care about the town you wanted to fight for."
"What do you mean 'both teams'?" Both pegasi quickly turned their heads to the other bed, surprised to see Soarin was there all this time with his clipped wing bandaged up.
"Soarin?" Sora noticed the curtains, forgetting that any hospital or medical tent would have curtains to give other patients privacy when they share a room. "Right...The clipped wing. I heard that you nearly took a nasty fall."
"Yeah, but Dash saved me before I even hit the ground," he said. "But what were you talking about earlier? I was kind of napping when I heard you talking."
"...Uhhh..." Sora didn't want to bring Soarin down if he mentioned how Spitfire and Fleetfoot, his own teammates, wanted to drop him out of the Cloudsdale relay team and replace him with Rainbow Dash. "...It's nothing important."
"Oh. Well, at least Dash is lucky enough to have her friends come to see her with her injuries." The Keyblade wielder fell over in disbelief after mentioning out loud that Rainbow faked the injured state she was in. "Spitfire and Fleetfoot didn't even bother to show up at all yesterday."
"Hope your wing gets better soon," Dash said.
"Actually, my wing's all better," Soarin said, surprising both Rainbow and Sora, the teen quickly standing back up on his hooves in surprise. "I'm just keeping it warm until they want me back."
"'Want you back?' You mean they actually told you they were kicking you off the relay team?" Sora asked.
"They told me they were worried I wouldn't be at one hundred percent before the trial runs today, so they went and found somepony else to take my place." Both ponies' jaws dropped. Spitfire practically admitted cutting Soarin loose, telling him they don't need him and had Rainbow Dash take his place, which meant both Rainbow and the Wonderbolts captain were highly disloyal to their own sides, all for the sake of winning instead of working together. Soarin sighed sadly and laid his head down on the pillow. "Guess we're both out of luck. Cloudsdale can't compete without a third flyer, and Ponyville won't be able to qualify without Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow and Sora looked at each other, utterly surprised by the information Soarin gave. She needed to fix this, and they both knew it. Sunlight began shining through the opened window, reflecting off a pitcher of water nearby Rainbow's bedside table, creating a rainbow down on the flag Derpy dropped. Sora saw rainbow light shimmering in the mare's eyes, similar to how Rarity's had during the fashion show back in Manehattan. Her eyes hardened, getting out of her slung position as she leapt off the bed.
"We both will," she said as she marched her way out of the infirmary and out to the fields.
While Sora figured out what was happening, Soarin sat up, surprised to see Rainbow was up, despite her injuries. "Wait, what the hay is going on? Wasn't she hurt?"
"...I'll...explain on the way," Sora said, his mind still reeling from the weird glowing rainbow eyes that have happened twice. He dragged Soarin out of the bed, took off the bandages on his already healed wing, and dragged him after Rainbow. "Come on. Let's show your team just how well you are and give them a piece of our minds."
Back out in the fields, practice with Derpy went by pretty poorly. Everyone was a bit down to know that Rainbow Dash won't be able to fly with them, even if some of them knew she was faking her accidental slip up.
"Without Rainbow Dash, I don't think Ponyville will qualify for the race with her replacement," Twilight said, only to realize she spoke negatively to Derpy as she sat in front of everyone. "No offense."
"Eh, I'm not a good flyer myself," Derpy said with a shrug. "As long as we try, I'm fine with that."
"Well that's just fantastic! What am I supposed to do with all of these!?" Pinkie pointed at the large stack of pompoms she somehow brought with her, baffling Aqua as she counted them.
"What were you even planning to do with all of them by yourself?" she questioned.
"Don't question Pinkie Pie," Riku and Kairi both said.
"Right...But questions always desire some kind of answer, and they can be found." As they all sat in misery as Ponyville won't be able to compete in an event, Aqua noticed Rainbow Dash walking on her hooves, making her way over to the Cloudsdale team. "Looks like Rainbow's all better now."
"The others looked, those who weren't aware of her faked injuries gasping in surprise as they followed her, Sora and Soarin quickly catching up to them. While Spitfire and Fleetfoot took a drink, donning their flight suits for the race, their jaws dropped when they saw Rainbow up and about with her bandages still on.
"Rainbow Dash? You're already feeling better?" Fleetfoot asked.
"...I never was hurt in the first place." Rainbow tore off her bandages and neck brace, the others gasping in shock as she lied to them. "I faked my injury so I didn't have to choose between Cloudsdale or Ponyville. I couldn't decide, and it was hard to pick who to fly with."
"Rainbow, you don't have to choose us," Fluttershy said. "We know how much you want to win, and you should fly with the winning team."
"No, Fluttershy. I'm flying for Ponyville," Rainbow said, shocking Spitfire and Fleetfoot. "Ponyville might not be my real home, but it is home to me because of all my friends who live there. Even other ponies who care about me, whether I win or not." She rubbed the back of her head as she looked over at Sora, the teen grinning and nodding his head in approval. "And it helps to have somepony remind me who I am when I come up with any stupid ideas."
"But, what about our team?" Fleetfoot asked. "We don't have a third teammate now, and the other Wonderbolts are back at HQ!"
"How about the teammate you left behind?" Sora spoke up as he stepped forward, Soarin walking beside him as they approached the two mares. "Care to explain why you decided to replace Soarin when his wing was already good as new? Why you lied to him so you could immediately win the race during the Games after qualifying?" Spitfire and Fleetfoot stammered, unable to find a reason as Soarin felt hurt by his own teammates abandoning him. "I thought the Wonderbolts were supposed to be a TEAM, emphasis on the TEAM, meaning no one ends up getting left behind or kicked out over winning a dumb competition. I was willing to look past your disregard for the recruits back in the academy when Riku and I helped train them after you gathered them up and hid them when the Heartless attacked, Spitfire, but this makes you and other Wonderbolts who behave like narcissists make wanting other pegasi to join change their minds in a heartbeat."
The two mares lowered their heads after being scolded by one of Equestria's powerful hero, only striving to be winners and disregarding those who aren't the best. Soarin was a little disheartened at Sora's opinions on the Wonderbolts, but after being lied to and being replaced by a future member of the team, he was just as upset as the teen was. Rainbow still wanted to be a Wonderbolt and made her choice on who she was flying for, though Sora almost convinced her to rethink her career choice after her training in the Wonderbolts Academy and being bribed into training and joining Spitfire and Fleetfoot.
"...I guess we really screwed up, huh?" Spitfire finally said after a moment of silence. "I was always told to be the best of the best by our previous captain when I was a rookie, and things were different back then compared to now. We could learn a lot from the both of you." She and Fleetfoot walked up to Soarin, still pretty sore even after they learned their lesson. "Sorry about lying and replacing you, Soarin."
"You all set to fly?" Fleetfoot asked.
"You really think an apology will make up for trying to replace me?" Soarin questioned with a scowl.
"We'll buy you any kind of pie you want for a whole year," Spitfire bartered, making the stallion's ears perk up.
"...Any pie? And however many I want?" Both mares nodded their head, easily winning the stallion over. "...Ok, I'm in. Go, Cloudsdale!"
The races soon began as the teams flew through the course of rings set out for all of them to reach the qualifying time to race. The Cloudsdale team made it with plenty of time to spare, along with the other teams that took a bit longer than the expert flight team. When it came to Ponville's team, everyone cheered Bulk, Fluttershy, and Rainbow on, including the Wonderbolts and their crew. Pinkie was wearing her rainbow cheerleader outfit as she cheered at the top of her lungs, joined by the Cloudsdale cheerleaders as they chanted.
As the race started, Bulk flew off first, flapping his wings as he moved as fast as he was able to through the course. When reaching the rings, instead of getting stuck through them, he managed to slip right through going back legs first, staying horizontal as he made it through them. He handed the horseshoe baton off to Fluttershy, the yellow pegasus taking off as she kept a firm grip on it, releasing a heavy wheeze as he stopped flapping and fell to the ground.
Fluttershy had a better speed than Bulk Biceps, flying through the rings as she went through her leg of the course. The clock was ticking as the timer got closer and closer to reaching the red zone, the ending limit to the qualifying zone coming up within seconds. She reached Rainbow and passed her the horseshoe, the cyan mare speeding off in a blur through the rings as she poured on every single ounce of speed she had in her. Once she passed her rings, she flew up to the circular goal ring of clouds in the sky, passing through it as the timer on the ring stopped it and examined their finishing time.
After an agonizing few seconds, he made his verdict after looking at the arrow on the timer, mere seconds away from failure on the clock. "Ponyville qualifies!"
The crowd cheered, along with the teams, Ponyville's Aerial Relay team moving on to compete in the Equestria Games. They soon held a ceremony for the qualified teams, each contestant for the teams receiving a qualification medal from the officials overseeing the qualifying events held in Rainbow Falls. After Ponyville's team received their medals, Spitfire approached Rainbow Dash and gave her her Wonderbolts pin, a gold lightning bolt with a pair of wings. A little gift given to her after showing the Wonderbolts captain what it truly means to be loyal to their team and friends. They even took a photo, showing each qualifying team with their crew/friends who helped them get the chance to compete.
Once the events were done, everyone boarded the train and began heading back to Ponyville. On the ride back, while the others celebrated Ponyville's passing in the relay race, Sora sat by Aqua, needing to tell her about the rainbow eyes that had happened to Rainbow Dash.
"So it happened to Rainbow too?" Aqua asked.
"Yeah. There's no way that's a coincidence." Sora looked back at the celebrating team, Rainbow leaving her qualification medal with Spitfire's pin attached to it. "I know this may sound crazy, but if Rarity and Rainbow had this happen to them, then the same could happen with the rest of the girls."
"It is crazy, but it might be possible." While lost in thought, both Sora and Aqua felt an odd light presence in the train car. The pin began to shimmer rainbow for a moment like Rainbow Dash's eyes, but when they turned to look in its direction, it disappeared before they saw it. "Again?"
"Again?" Sora repeated, confused by what she meant. "You mean you felt that light before?"
"Yes, but it was at Rarity's home after we got back from Manehattan." Aqua looked back at the medal, noticing Riku and Kairi looking around, feeling the same power that came from the pin as well. "This is odd. What is going on?"
"Beats me." Sora reclined in his seat, no longer able to feel the presence of light around them. "At least it's not dangerous, so I guess we don't have to be too concerned about it if it ever happens again."
"...Maybe you're right. It's not threatening, but I still wonder what the glowing eyes and that light mean." Aqua looked back at the hanging medal, left with more questions than answers with this strange phenomenon. Her stomach began growling, demanding food, more specifically some of those apple brown betties. Sora laughed as Aqua blushed in embarrassment. "Uhh, I'm gonna see if there's any leftover brown betties. I hope that Bulk guy didn't eat all of them."
She stepped out of the seat and approached Applejack, praying there were still anymore of her pastries left over. As Sora watched her, he looked back at the medal, unable to help but feel like that mysterious light would be very important for something, but for what, he was unsure.