//------------------------------//
// When a Competition Goes Horribly Wrong... 
// Story: More In Common Than We Thought 
// by Swift Gale 
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Hey everypony, it's time for the next chapter.  I'm not going to waste anymore time, so let's go!




Ever since Swift and Rainbow met, they hated each other.  They would argue, glare at each other, and they even tried to see who was better by having small competitions.  Needless to say, they always tied.  However, for some reason they felt something besides anger when they looked into each other's eyes.  They didn't know what it mean, but they always tried to pushed it out of their mind.

On this particular day, they were at Ghastly Gorge, where Rainbow Dash issued the race for her pet.  It was three times as dangerous as it was last time.  There were more quarray eels living there, rockfalls could happen with just one little whispered word, the canyon was deeper, and the walls were more enclosed.

"First one out of the canyon wins," Swift said to Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow looked at the canyon with something she never has on her face: fear.  It was a lot more dangerous then she remembered and she had a feeling something bad would happen.  Swift saw this and a cocky smirk grew on his face.

"What's the matter, Rainbow Crash?" Swift taunted.  "Scared?"

Swift didn't really mean to make fun of her, but when he's cocky, his mind can't stop his mouth from saying these things.

Rainbow glared him.

"You wish!" Rainbow retaliated, ready to launch herself into the canyon.

Swift got into position as well and started counting down.

"3..."

"2..."

"1..."

"GO!"

Both pegasi shot off in at amazing speeds.  Everything was just a blur as they passed through canyon.  However, when they got to the eels, they could hardly see them.  They had gotten a lot faster than the last time Rainbow Dash had gone through Ghastly Gorge.  To make matters worse, the sound of them cutting through the air was loud enough to start a rockfall.  Swift was able to see that Rainbow was fixing to be crushed as multiple rocks and boulders began to fall in Rainbow's path.  Swift knew she wouldn't be able to dodge them, not even with her speed.

Swift made quick u-turn and tackled Rainbow Dash into a cave right before one of the boulders crushed her.  Swift wasn't as lucky, as his wing was grazed by one of the rocks.  The only entrance closed in behind them.  There was a few small gaps that light come through, but none of them were even close enough to let anything in or out.  They were trapped.

"What did you do that for?!" Rainbow asked angrily.

"You were about to be crushed!" Swift answered back.  "Is that how you thank someone that just saved your life?!"

"I didn't ask you to save me!" Rainbow retaliated.

She then saw a small cringe from Swift saw he looked at his left wing.

"What's wrong--with--you," Rainbow's eyes wided as she saw Swift's wing.

Even though it was one rock that grazed him, it left a large gash on his wing.  Luckily, it wasn't deep enough to make it start bleeding.  One hard hit, like if it was punched by a hoof, it would probably open the gash.

"Oh my gosh," Rainbow said, getting a closer look his wing.

"This was from saving you, Rainbow," Swift grumbled.

"Why would you sacrifice your wing to save me?" Rainbow asked in a much more softer tone.

Swift expression softened.  He wasn't angry anymore, but he was sad.  Flashbacks of what happened in the past appeared in his memories.

Rainbow saw this and was slightly confused.

"Because..." Swift said with a lump in his throat.

Swift tried to calm down.  The lump disappeared enough for him to talk after about five minutes.

"Because, I didn't want you to die," Swift said, pausing for a moment.  "Like my mother."

Rainbow eyes widened in surprise as she gasped.  Now she knew why he saved her and it took him so long to explain why.  She saw the sorrow and anguish on his face disappear.  He seemed to mutter something.  She listened closer.

"I have to be strong for my mother," he muttered to himself.  "I promised her I would be."

Swift looked at her worried expression.  He looked directly into her eyes and Rainbow looked into his.  The mysterious feelings that appeared whenever they looked at the other's eyes came back, even stronger.  Swift winced again, obviously because of his wing.  He was smart enough to bring at least a long piece of cloth, which was hidden in his left wing's feathers.  He was going to put it on, just in case the gash opened.

"Do you want me to help you with that?" Rainbow asked, knowing that Swift would have trouble.

Swift hesitated for a moment, but nodded his head.  He unfolded his wings carefully as Rainbow Dash walked towards the injured wing.  She carefully wrapped it around the wing and tying it at the end.  She stood back as Swift stretched the injured wing before folding it, letting it rest at his side.

"Thanks," Swift said before turning toward the blocked entrance.

They still didn't like each other, but they didn't quite hate each other either...well, not anymore.  They didn't know why they were having these strange feelings whenever they looked into the other's eyes.  However, they knew one thing, they had to get out of this cave somehow.  They just stood there in silence, not really wanting to talk anymore.

Meanwhile, Dr. Whooves was starting to worry about his cousin.  He said that it wouldn't take very long, but at this point the sun was starting to go down.

"He should've been back by now," Dr. Whooves said, pacing back and forth.

Dark and Chrome had tried their best to calm down Dr. Whooves, but to no avail.

"Where did he say he was going to race Rainbow Dash at again?" Dr. Whooves asked worriedly.

"He said that they were racing at Ghastly Gorge," Chrome answered.  "Why?  Is there something bad about it?"

At the mentioning of the area, Dr. Whooves froze and his eyes widened.

"We need to go to Ghastly Gorge, now!" Dr. Whooves said frantically.

"Why?  What's so dangerous?" Dark asked.

"Swift has no clue how many quarray eels are there!" Dr. Whooves answered quickly.  "Not to mention all of the dangerous rockfalls that could happen!"

Dark and Chrome let out a small chuckle.

"Doc, no offense, but it would take more than a few quarray eels to catch Swift," Dark reassured Dr. Whooves, with a confident smirk.  "And it take more than a few rockfall to smash him."

Dr. Whooves looked at the two unicorns with anger in his eyes.  They both took a step back.

"We're talking about nearly a million quarray eels and rockfalls all over the gorge that start if you even whisper," Dr. Whooves snarled in anger.  "And the gorge itself has barely enough room for both of them to maneuver around the eels and the rockfalls."

Dark's smirk immediately disappeared.

"Now, come on!" Dr. Whooves yelled at the two unicorns again.  "We don't have anytime to waste!"

Dark and Chrome didn't even respond back.  They followed Dr. Whooves as he galloped as fast as he could out of his house and toward Ghastly Gorge.  Dr. Whooves didn't even bothered to ask either of them to warp all three of them to Ghastly Gorge because they didn't know what it looked like.  He already knew that unicorns can't warp to some place they couldn't see.  All they could do was run there and hope it wasn't too late.




Okay, if you're wondering why Dr. Whooves is extremely worried about Swift, and when I say worried I'm mean as worried as if he was his father, you will find that out in the next chapter.  Anyways, I thank anypony who actually is still reading and decided to give this story a chance.  Later guys!