//------------------------------//
// A Blast From The Past 
// Story: Book 1: A New Element of Friendship 
// by Medley of MLP 
//------------------------------//


A New Element of Friendship



A Blast From The Past


Another peaceful day in Ponyville. The sun was shining, the clouds were scattered to provide excellent bits of shade, a nice, cool breeze was blowing though… and I was the unfortunate pony who woke up to yelling near my window that somepony had left open. I was startled awake and quickly rolled out of my bed and onto the floor once more. Groaning in a bit of pain, I looked out the window to see Dash seemingly coaching Fluttershy on… cheering loudly. My brain began to then quickstart as I remembered what day it was today. Today, it was the Young Flier’s Competition, and Dash had been hyping up the day since… well, the last time it happened. She was unable to compete due to severe changes in the weather schedule, so she seemed a lot more energetic and nervous than last time. I smiled as I flew out the window and landed nearby the two ponies, hearing Fluttershy give a very quiet ‘yay’.

“Training for cheering for Dash there, Fluttershy?” I chuckled lightly as she jumped into a bush before blushing and meekly coming out if it.

“Y-Yes… Was I too loud? S-Sorry if I was…” Fluttershy looked a bit scared.

I shook my head with a small smile. “Don’t worry Fluttershy, I needed to wake up soon anyways. After all, I’ll be with the rest of you girls, cheering on Dash as loud as I can.”

        “Wait a sec Med… don’t you need that amply-thingy spell just to *talk* normally? And when didja get it to be permanent? Or is Twilight helping you with that?” Dash took the time to land nearby as she winked at me for my last comment, making me blush and Fluttershy giggle softly.

I soon got myself back under control as I explained. “Twi managed to find a way to make a spell stick to a pony, so long as they don’t overuse it. So if I did actually try to shout, the spell would just kinda… fizzle out. Which then bring me back to my whispering.”

Dash nodded, looking like she was following along and just asked, “So… no yelling because that means no talking?”

“Exactly,” I nodded back as I continued on, a smirk on my face and spoke before she could realize that I had used my nickname for her, “So, how’s our fastest pegasus in Equestria doing right now?”

Instead of looking proud and arrogant, she actually looked kind of scared. “I’m doing fine right now… but I don’t know how I’ll do against all the other fliers…”

I rolled my eyes a bit at this with a chuckle. “Dash, come on now. We all know you’re gonna blow away the competition. Especially since you practice when you aren’t napping or are doing your shift in the weather patrol.” I then smiled a little, happy that today was a day off for the weather patrol as the Princesses made sure today was a day for perfect flying conditions.

Dash nodded again. “Well… since you’re both here… wanna watch me do my routine? I-I of course never make mistakes, I just need an audience to cheer for me!” She struck a pose, though even Fluttershy could see that she was nervous about this.

        Fluttershy and I agreed to it, as Fluttershy giggled a bit. Soon, Dash took off into the air as we gave the loudest cheers we could. She started on a good note, which carried over nicely onto her second part. It was when she reached the climax of her finale that things turned sour, as she seemingly bounced from the air and practically catapulted herself off into Ponyville.

        I blanched a bit. “...any bets on it being Twi’s library again?”

        “Sorry… especially since she invited everypony else over to help clean up after that study session…” She shook her head with a small smile.

        I sighed a bit, shaking my head. “All I know is that she wouldn’t tell me what it was she was studying and that she would be expecting my help, and I quote, ‘after something inevitably destroys my system of order and shelving.’”

        Fluttershy quietly giggled a bit at that as I chuckled lightly while we made our way back to Ponyville. She then tilted her head in confusion as she noticed the nickname. “Um… M-Medley?”

        “Yeah Fluttershy?” I turned to look at her in confusion.

        “U-U-Um… s-sorry f I’m s-sounding a bit too nosey but… wh-when did you start c-calling Twilight… ‘Twi’?”

        I blushed heavily as I looked away for a moment. I eventually turned to her with a sigh. “It’s a… long story… but it was also very recent too.”

        She nodded and smiled a little. “You two kinda look wonderful together, actually…”

        “Heh… thanks Fluttershy.” I smiled as we approached Ponyville.

        Oddly enough, I had to keep up pace with Fluttershy this time around as we got into Ponyville. We soon arrived to see Dash, along with everyone else, adrift in a sea of books that were previously on shelves. From what I could assume of course. For a brief moment, I could see her relieved, and I briefly wondered why, as Dash had done this kind of thing before and shrugged it off like it was nothing. But eventually, the moment passed as we stood at the window, looking down.

        “So… need my help then Twi?” I asked her as everyone looked confusedly at me, except for Twi, who blushed a little and nodded.

        “Now hold on a moment! Since when didja ever call her Twi?” She looked at me, as everyone sans Fluttershy and Twi did as well. Twi, for her part, looked away with a blush, similar to what I was doing.

        “Um… you wanna explain?” Twi and I asked at the same time and we blushed harder. “I was asking you! You first! Stop that!”

        Everyone laughed a little at that as I sighed, capitulating. “It’s a long and more personal story. It also just happened recently, so…”

        “It’s alright darling, we quite understand.” Rarity soothed as me and Twi slowly lost our blush.

        Pinkie gave us a quick and grateful smile before she returned to normal. “Oooo!~ I bet Twilight invited you here for a very private and special reason!”

        “Pinkie, don’t be ridiculous.” Twi rolled her eyes a bit with a small smile. “I just wanted him here in case something happened to all our hard work and reorganizing.” She then sent Dash a look.

        “Um… heh heh heh… sorry about that.” Dash sheepishly kicked a book by accident before blushing and hovering again like she usually does.

        Twi shook her head a bit with a small smile. “Well, I do hope I’ll get to see this Young Flier’s Competition I’ve heard you go on about.”

        I tilted my head in confusion. ”Um… Twi? Unless you can suddenly sprout wings and fly, or you’ve been hiding a pair of them, I don’t see you being able to stay on a cloud.”

        Twi gave a small smirk before looking around, letting out a groan. “Where did I put that book? I can’t tell what went where…”

It was then Pinkie exploded up from the humongous pile of book, gripping a book lightly with her teeth. “Ith thith the one u ashk fur?”

        “Oh, thank you Pinkie!” Twi lightly took the book back in a telekinetic grip. “Where was this thing anyways?”

        “It was in the pile of books you labelled Alphabetical Passive Magic!” Pinkie chirped as she sat back down and started to rummage through the pile more.

        I raised an eyebrow as Twi blushed lightly, trying to defend herself now. “I was curious to see what else there was and wanted to learn more about pegasi!”

        I raised two hooves in surrender. “I never said a word there Twi.”

        Twi scoffed a little. “You didn’t need to. Anyways, this is the book I was looking for: Flight of a Pegasi! And with some notes that I took and hid away in case something like, say, somepony crashing into the bookshelves and ruining an entire weekend’s worth of cleaning, I could still replicate it!”

        “Hey, I said I was sorry already, cut me a break here!” Dash complained loudly before she caught sight of Fluttershy giving her an innocent look and sighed. “I’ll help clean up too if it makes up for anything.”

        “Thank you Rainbow Dash!” Twi smiled as she flipped to the page before a sheet of parchment floated over to her. “Alright, this spell will allow anypony to be able to fly for up to three days, but the wings are fragile and not exactly made of regular pony material. Or pegasus material for that matter.”

        “Oh, oh, I insist to be the one to try out this new spell Twilight darling! I do hope my wings will be fabulous!~” Rarity called out first, much to everyone’s surprise.

        “Um.. Rarity… much as I hate ta make ya think otherwise… why in tarnation are ya so eager ta be experimented ‘pon like this?” AJ asked worriedly.

        “Just think of the design ideas I could get and I could get some hoof-on experience in air maneuverability!~ That, and knowing Twilight like we all do, I have nothing to worry about backfiring. That is correct, right Twilight darling?~” Rarity looked over at Twi after she gave her reasons.

        “Don’t worry, I simply copied down the spell from another book and wanted to see if I could tinker with it a bit. This is the original copy of the spell, though it does look kinda difficult to pull off… But if you think I can do this, I can give it a try!” Twi looked determined as she took a spot a bit away from Rarity before casting the spell.

        Rarity soon was being encased in a cocoon of magic, her eyes widening the last thing I saw before it enveloped her entirely. Then, after a brief moment, it burst in a bright flash, blinding us all for a moment. When we could all see again, what we saw surprised all of us, including Rarity. What lay before us was a marvellous sight of illuminated colors before we noticed Twi groggily still standing on her hooves. I quickly helped her out while everyone went off, Rarity being particularly excited. Not that I blame her. After all, it’s not often one gets to have wings.

        “You didn’t mention that spell was exhausting as well Twi,” I lightly reprimanded Twi as she giggled a little.

        “Sorry there Med… jeez that took a lot out of me…” Twi mumbled as she staggered over to the bed before flopping on it, practically knocked out. I stayed by her, even after Spike came back later that evening.

        “Huh, hey there Med. Wonder what you’re doing here,” Spike asked as he waved at me.

        I waved a hoof back in hello as I looked over at the still sleeping Twilight. “She just attempted and succeeded at using a very intensive spell that sapped most of her magic. At least, that’s what I think happened after the spell.”

        Spike then narrowed his eyes at me as I shook my head, explaining further. “Twi and the other non-pegasi wanted to be there and cheer on Dash in the Young Flier’s Competition, so she found a spell that lets non-winged beings… well, have wings, and all that entails. It only lasts for a few days and they’re apparently very delicate.”

        Spike, mollified by my answer, gave a small nod as he shook his head a bit. “Wish I was a bigger dragon with wings of my own.. But nope, still a baby dragon.”

        I chuckled a bit as I looked at him. “Ah, youth. Always wanting to hurry up and grow up before they all want to be young again.”

        Spike scowled at me before sighing a bit, giving a very light chuckle in return. “Guess you’d know so… old stallion.”

        “Old stallion?!” I looked affronted. “I’m 23 years old I’ll have you know!”

        We both glared at each other before laughing, causing Twi to frown as a pillow smacked into our faces. “Need sleep… quit it... “

        We nodded as I left the room and building entirely while Spike going to his small mattress. Soon we were all asleep once again as a new day was turning around the corner.

        Soon after I woke up the next day (After burning my toast instead of injuring myself by getting out of bed), I met up with Fluttershy and Dash as we flew off to Cloudsdale, our airborne hometown. Along the way, we stopped for a brief conversation with Derpy (who was on vacation from being the mailmare to eagerly watch the games) and a few other friendly acquaintances before touching down. As soon as we did, however, we met some not-so-friendly faces.

        “Well, well, wadda we have here?” The shorter brown pegasus named Dumb-bell spoke first, tauntingly.

        “If it isn’t our old friends, Melody, Klutzershy and Rainbow Crash!” The taller and tanner pegasus named Hoops guffawed.

“Been kicked outta any flight schools recently Rainbow Crash? You can wreck Melody’s band instead!” Dumb-bell insulted while the three of them laughed away.

        Both Dash and I rolled our eyes as I spoke in a monotone voice. “Nice to know the IQ hasn’t changed at all since we started flight school Dumb-bell. Hopefully you managed to actually move out of your parent’s home and live a normal life, but that might be asking for too much.”

        The three then glared at me while Dash snickered and Fluttershy paled a bit. I smirked back at them, almost taunting them back as they knew full well that trying to fight me wouldn’t be a pretty good thing to do. Eventually, Dash returned her attention to the three colts. Oh, sorry, stallions, my mistake.

“As for you three losers, I haven’t been kicked out of any flight school at all!” Dash glared at them as they turned their attention to her, smirking as they knew she wouldn’t do anything violent in front of Fluttershy.

“Face it Rainbow Crash, there were too many rules and not enough nap-time for you.” Dumb-bell smirked as he arrogantly moved closer to her, making sure to keep a fair distance from me.

        Hoops did the same on her other side. “Haha, ask her about the Sonic Rainboom.”

        Dumb-bell scoffed as rolled his eyes, looking down at her. “That’s nothing but an old mare’s tale, something that Klutzershy and Melody here would listen and eat up. You don’t have the skills to pull something like that off.”

        “Excuse me!” Fluttershy looked a little sheepish as the bullies turned to her now. “Um, sorry… But, anyways, she IS going to do a Sonic Rainboom.”

        “No she’s not, cause there’s no such thing!” Dumb-bell retorted back ever so eloquently.

“Then maybe you should be there so you can see it for yourself!” Fluttershy then paled and quickly hid behind me as I shook my head.

        ‘She was doing so well too…’ I thought as I raised an eyebrow at the colts, I mean stallions, who all backed away a step from me before going back to taunting Dash, laughing at her expression.

        “Oh don’t worry. We’ll be there!” Dumb-bell grinned as he and the other two flew off.

After the obligatory “witty insult” from Hoops, I shook my head a bit as Fluttershy stepped out from behind me, looking excited.

“Did you see that Rainbow? I was being assertive!” Fluttershy beamed at Dash as I chuckled a bit, while Dash sighed and looked downtrodden.

“They’re right… I’m never gonna be able to do a Sonic Rainboom.” Dash sighed again as I shook my head, smirking a little.

“Come on now, you know those three colts, I mean stallions. They’re just jealous and a little bit sexist towards you. Always have been, and always will be.” I nudged her with a wing as Dash still looked miserable.

        Fluttershy was about to say something, but looked a little bit and was stunned. “Rare…”

        “Rare? The Sonic Rainboom is WAY more than rare!” Dash snapped a little, both in panic and fear.

“Rarity…?” Fluttershy spoke softly again, this time making both me and Dash turn our heads. I smirked as Dash and Fluttershy still looked stunned at the sight.

        It seemed that our white-furred unicorn friend’s wings were perfectly matched to her. Her wings were very similar to that of a butterfly’s, both in appearance and functionality. However, it did worry me a little at how fragile they could be, as it looked like a microscope could burn them away easily. Eventually, I just put those thought to the side as I laughed at the completely shocked expressions on Fluttershy’s and Dash’s faces.

“Why so shocked dearies? You saw them yesterday, did you not? Hehe, I must say though, I must thank Twilight for making these gorgeous wings for me. Luckily, I can thank her very soon. As in right now, actually,” Rarity smiled as she flew over to the three of us, a hot air balloon soon poking out of the clouds as it revealed Twi, AJ, and Pinkie, all ready to celebrate alongside me, Rarity and Fluttershy.

“Hey…!” Dash began to smile widely.

“You girls came too?” Fluttershy had a similar smile on my face as I looked awestruck.

“OK… I admittedly did not see that coming.” I said, still a little stunned as Twi giggled a little at my expression.

“I can’t believe you girls could make it!” Dash cried happily.

“Neither could we!” Pinkie giggled as she jumped out of the basket before we could react.

However, once her hooves touched the cloud… he stayed on it. I looked completely shocked now before slowly coming to a realization as I looked at Twi’s grinning face.

“You… reverse engineered pegasus cloud manipulation… for non-pegasi to be able to visit cloud cities?” I spoke out loud incredulously as Twi and AJ both jumped out of the basket, the same thing happening to them.

“Hehe, yep! That was part of my super secret studying I was doing to surprise both you and Rainbow Dash! I figured it was way easier and less taxing on my magic to simply let us walk on clouds than to grow a pair of wings each time we wanted to go to Cloudsdale,” Twilight explained as she looked a bit sheepishly at us. “So… um… surprise?”

Dash’s response, surprisingly, was just to cheer happily. My response, on the other hoof, involved me tackling her into a hug as I cheered as loud as I could, blowing out my spell in the process. I then, without thought, kissed her lightly on the cheek before blushing madly alongside Twi herself. Dash and AJ snickered as I set her down and looked incredibly sheepish, pointing a hoof at my throat as she nodded very quickly, her magic appearing around my throat before I coughed, signifying that the spell had been recasted.

“And that’s why, Dash, I can’t yell, scream, shout, or do any loud speaking,” I tried to calmly explain as my blush still betrayed me.

“Well, if I was feeling nervous before… which I totally wasn’t… you girls would be making me feel a lot better now,” Dash grinned as she actually looked a little more relaxed than before. “In fact… we got a little time before the competition. Why don’t the three natural pegasi here show you around Cloudsdale?”

It was met with universal approval as we made our way out towards Cloudsdale proper, with Pinkie bouncing alongside me and Twi as we walked together. Funnily enough, I could see AJ and Rarity walking side by side along with Fluttershy and Dash doing the same.

“Welcome… to the greatest cloud city in the sky: Cloudsdale!” Dash announced as Rarity, Twi, AJ, and Pinkie all ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ the sight.

Well… maybe not Rarity. As I turned over to wonder why she was still ‘oohing’ and ‘aahing’, I soon found my answer in the form of a mirror… as she looked at her reflected self, with her butterfly wings. I shook my head as we moved along, Rarity soon catching up to us as I became the tour guide.

“If you’ve ever heard of a famous pegasus, chances are very likely that they came from Cloudsdale itself. And before you think I’m just bragging or exaggerating… you’d be surprised. I think the last statistic taken was around 95% of all famous flier in general came from Cloudsdale, though that’s just an Equestrian statistic,” I chuckled a little as Twi shook her head with a small smile.

While we walked, I overheard Rarity getting comments from some of the local construction pegasi. I rolled my eyes as Twilight warned her about the delicate state of her wings. I hoped that Rarity was paying some attention, but it sounded like it was going in one ear and out the other.

“Hey Med, mind lettin’ us see this weather factry I heard lots about?” AJ asked.

I quickly looked over at Dash while we had a quick non-verbal debate on whether or not it’d be a good idea, considering the… earned reputation it had. We quickly agreed to regular weather factory only, and not to answer any questions about the rainbows and how THEY were made, other than it made for a really hot and spicy sauce.

“Sure thing girls. Come on, let’s go to the Weather Factory!” I grin as I led everyone to the Factory, handing out uniforms for everyone.

The reason for wearing the uniforms was so that they wouldn’t distract workers unnecessarily and for safety reasons, as the suits came with small pegasus enchantments that helped protect a pegasus from the water in the clouds and the cold from the snow we made. My voice lowered a little as we entered the Factory.

“Here is where we make our snowflakes. Each and every one is hoof-made and created from scratch entirely. It’s also a very delicate operation, as even the tiniest puff of wind can set a worker back weeks, possibly months depending on how long they’ve been working,” I explained as we carefully made our way through the workshop.

“I must say, they look even more beautiful from up here,” Rarity marvelled at the snowflakes on display.

However, due to her wings and the breeze it caused, the snowflakes from around the workshop soon started to fly around in the air, as workers panickedly tried to catch some of the works before they broke. I gave Rarity a deadpan, but she looked back at me as though she was completely innocent. I sighed and shook my head.

“It seems we better move long before Rarity decides to not listen to anymore rules set in place,” I drolled as I quickly moved the girls off to a different section.

I steered clear of the rainbow part for now as I wanted to save that for the end part of the tour. That, and all questions that the girls wanted answered would have been by that point except for the most obvious one of where or how we made the stuff. We eventually came across the cloud making section of the factory.

“And here’s where we make our clouds for any type of weather. It could be just plain-old cloudy, which goes down one tunnel and out across Equestria. Then there’s dark and cloudy, but fluid, which goes down the left tunnel out into requested parts of Equestria. Finally, there’s the dark and cloudy, along with solid, which goes down the right tunnel into the more seasonal parts of Equestria. What type of weather a place will get is all up to Management, and they list the weather scheduled for each branch of Equestria, which in turn local management breaks down into shifts for the workers in each town. Ponyville, for example, is one of those town with the pegasi living there taking shifts,” I broke down as Twi listened with rapt attention while AJ and Pinkie looked slightly confused but still got the gist of it.

Rarity, meanwhile, seemed to have attracted the three colts (stallions, LaurFastia damnit!) from earlier today as they looked at her in awe. When they noticed us, they grinned before looking at me. They froze for a moment before scoffing, ignoring me in favor of Dash.

“Hey look! It’s Rainbow Crash again!” Dumb-bell called out as he stood a little ways away from us.

“Heheh, yeah! It’s Rainbow… uh… Crash!” Hoops called out after looking like he was doing all he could to remember the oh so wonderfully witty insult.

“Rarity! What are you doing talking with these guys?” Dash shot at Rarity, who still looked like she did nothing wrong.

“Oh, they were just admiring my wings Rainbow Dash,” Rarity ariely responded as she kept showing off her wings.

“Yeah, forget the Sonic Rainboom. You should just get a pair of wings like these,” Dumb-bell pointed at Rarity’s wings as all three of them laughed cruelly and flew off.

I now was starting to get a little annoyed at Rarity, who was practically upstaging Dash and making her even more nervous. Fluttershy did her thing and tried to soothe and relax Dash, but it looked like Dash was really starting to get nervous. I then decided it would be best to get out now and skip to the finale that was the rainbows.

“And here is where we collect and transport our rainbows. Not much is known about them, but what pegasi and chefs alike have found out about them is that they are extremely spicy, and to those with inexperienced taste buds, will shoot technicolor flames from their mouths. Otherwise, to those used to spicy concoctions, it will just simply caused technicolor smoke to come out of your ears, the severity depending on how used you are to spicy food,” I detailed as Pinkie, against all reason, decided to take a lick.

The result happened just as I said they would, though her face cycled through all the colors of the rainbow very fast before she spewed out a small ember trail of technicolor fire that instantly evaporated into thin air once they touched the clouds.

“Wait… where do these rainbows come from? What are they made out of? How are they made?” Twi asked curiously.

Instantly, me and Dash both became stone-faced as we looked at her and spoke in a serious tone and in unison. “Pegasus secret. Please, do not try and fish for more information.” Twi reared back a bit in shock before reluctantly nodding.

Dash and I both relaxed as we gave a brief glance at the shadowy figure way off in the distance before returning our attention to the inattention of all the workers, who had circled around Rarity as she flaunted her new wings. Twi looked like she went from curious to angry as she went up to Rarity with a small glare.

        “Rarity! We’re supposed to be helping Rainbow Dash relax, remember? Stop showing off your wings and put them away!” Twi hissed a tiny bit at her.

“Oh, pff, how do you expect me to put away perfection?” Rarity scoffed a little as she rose into the sky, spreading her wings out to catch the sun in them, reflecting beams of colored light onto the ground like stained glass.

I wasn’t gonna lie, that was a bit impressive. What wasn’t so impressive was Dash starting to look like she was about to have a nervous breakdown. Twi noticed this too as she turned to Dash, putting a hoof on her shoulder.

“Rainbow Dash, are you OK? You don’t look so good,” Twi asked worriedly.

“Fine? Of course! Why wouldn’t I be OK? Everyone’s so in love with Rarity’s wings that they won’t even notice me as I totally flop the Young Flier’s Competition!” Dash responded in a slightly panicked tone.

And of course, as if LaurFastia had heard this and decided to mess with her, the crowd soon wanted Rarity to enter in the competition as well, to which Rarity gladly accepted the invitation. This caused Dash to panic even more so as we tried to console her, but to no avail.

Eventually, we had to part ways as Rarity made her way off to the stadium, followed morosely by Dash while the rest of us went and took our spots. I then looked at Twi questioningly.

“Hey Twi, where’s Spike? I thought he’d love to go see this sort of thing,” I asked politely, if curiously.

“Unicorn secret. Don’t try and fish for information,” Twilight snapped back as all of us looked shocked and surprised at Twi.

        I then realized what was going on and gave a small look. “Twi, Dash and I were telling the truth. Only pegasi that work at the Weather Factory are allowed to know the bare minimum, and the penalty for spreading even that information without approval directly from the Princesses could be met with, depending on your talent, loss of flight or Cutie Mark Removal. Only the Princess and those in Management are allowed full and detailed information, and that penalty for telling would be even more dire. So, after the Competition is over, if you still wish to know, ask your mentor Celestia or her sister Luna. But know that sometimes, things are best left alone for many a good reason.”

Twi flinched a bit, as I could see the gears turning in her head and the determination to know the answer clear on her face as she sighed. “Sorry Med… I’m just so used to you sharing secrets with me.”

I smiled a little as I nuzzled her neck lightly. “It’s alright Twi, you didn’t know. But that still doesn’t answer my first question of why no Spike.”

She giggled lightly as she blushed, nodding. “Apparently dragon scales, even as a baby dragon, are resistant to passive magic abilities often gifted to ponies, developing their own instead. It looks like when he gets wings he’ll be able to move and interact with clouds like a pegasus, though not as well as a pegasus.”

I nodded before the announcer came on, introducing everyone to the Young Flier’s Competition. Sure enough, he first introduced as the royal guest for this years competition as Princess Celestia. He then introduced the celebrity guest judges for this year’s competition as well, the Wonderbolts. They did a small routine as a select few of them went and sat at the judge’s table. Soon enough, the Young Flier’s Competition had officially begun.

What then followed were a whole bunch of acts from many different pegasi. Some were decent, and rated so. Others failed horrendously, and the scores reflected that. There was one pony very early on that reminded me of someone, but I didn’t know who… he looked very familiar too… But nonetheless, there were a few good acts within the competition as all 5 of us eagerly awaited Dash’s performance, along with a healthy bit of excitement for seeing Rarity’s. I gave the best cheer I could when Derpy herself came on to fly, and even though she did rather poorly, it looked like she put a lot of hard work to do the best she could and actually pulled off a good move here and there.

Soon enough though, we had seen practically every other flier go up… except for Rarity and Dash. I was beginning to worry a bit, as AJ said the same thing out loud as I did inside my head that the competition was nearly over and we hadn’t seen them. Soon enough though, we saw Dash nervously fly out, followed by an enthusiastic Rarity, who looked completely decked out in… I guess fashion? Whatever it was, it looked fitting, but odd on her as they both started to perform at once.

It was going… horribly. At least for Dash. For each part Rarity pulled off with success, Dash would be close to it before inevitably finding a way to completely wreck the flow. It all came to a head though as Rarity played her finishing move of spreading her wings as far as she could and as high as she could, covering the audience in bedazzled lights. However, I soon noticed a small trail of smoke coming from her wings before it abruptly burst into flames and quickly turned into ash. Rarity was frozen in the air for a moment, looking beyond panicked as she then started to plummet to the ground at a very fast velocity.

The Wonderbolts, for their part, quickly dived into action and chased after her, soon catching up to her. By that point though, they were pinpricks in the distance as I looked over the edge in worry. I then saw Dash quickly go into a steep straight dive down towards the four ponies. As she moved, I started to notice the mach cone forming around her, a grin starting to split my face as the girls also looked excited. The cone became to become more narrow and narrow until…

*BOOM*

She had created a Sonic Rainboom as she went even faster, causing a rainbow colored shockwave to appear, along with a similarly colored trail right behind her as she quickly caught up to everypony and managed to catch them all before pulling them up back towards the stadium, arching over it to create a rainbow above the stadium itself. Everyone cheered as loud as they could, even Fluttershy was actually yelling and screaming in joy.

Dssh eventually slowed down enough that the trail behind her disappeared as she flew right through the center, pegasi quickly helping take off her load of ponies. When she landed on the cloud herself, the celebration was in full blast now, as everyone was still cheering for her loudly. I then smirk as Twi shook her head, glaring at me before I shrugged, shouting at the top of my lungs that she had one before the spell broke down yet again, leaving me in a mute grin of happiness. The expression that would’ve best described Dash at this time was pure elation and ecstasy that she had won the competition, and I thought I could see her celebrating as happily as everyone else in the crowd. Eventually though, the audience quieted as Twi brought her air balloon back, letting Rarity solemnly walk into the basket before turning to us.

“I want to apologize to all of you, for getting so carried away with my beautiful wings. I guess I just lost my head…” Rarity apologized as we all forgave her, knowing her habit to be a bit vain while Rarity turned to Dash, “And I’m especially sorry for being so thoughtless as to jump into a competition at the last minute when you had spent months practicing to try and win it. Can you ever forgive me?”

“Aw, it’s OK. Everything turned out alright, right?” Dash smiled a little and waved a hoof before looking a bit disappointed, “I just wish I could’ve met the Wonderbolts when they were all awake.”

I smirked as I saw what looked like the Captain of the Wonderbolts tap Dash on the shoulder, who turned around and stared in awe at meeting her idols right now, who were wide awake. It was at that moment I think Dash’s brain temporarily shut down, along with any sort of conversation beyond ‘Oh my gosh’ being repeated rapidly.

“So you’re the little pony that saved our lives. We really wanted to meet you, and say thanks,” The captain said with a small smirk.

Dash was still stuck on a fast loop before we heard the sound of wings flapping and three ponies landing. I turned at the same time as Twi, looking surprised as she was.

“Princess…” Twi reverently said as she bowed before her and quickly looked up, the rest of us following suit.

“Hello Twilight Sparkle. And hello to your friends too,” Princess Celestia smiled as she looked over us.

“Princess Celestia… I’m sorry I ruined the competition… Rainbow Dash here really is the best flier in Equestria,” Rarity apologized morosely before turning to Dash with a smile, causing Dash to look a bit sheepish.

“I know she is, my dear,” Celestia stated as she smiled over at Dash, “That’s why, for her incredible act of bravery, and her spectacular Sonic Rainboom, I’m presenting the Grand Prize for Best Young Flier to this year’s winner: Rainbow Dash!”

Celestia the placed the winner’s crown on Dash’s head as the audience erupted into uproarious applause, causing Dash to completely break down in happiness, constantly and rapidly saying ‘Oh my gosh’ as she was being carried out of the stadium by Pinkie, Fluttershy and AJ. Celestia then looked at Rarity, Twilight and me.

“So Twilight Sparkle, did you learn anything about friendship from this experience?” Celestia asked.

“I did Princes… but I think Rarity learned even more than me,” Twilight slightly corrected as she looked at Rarity.

“I certainly did,” Rarity agreed as she went on to say, “I learned how important it is to keep your hooves on the ground and be there for your friends.”

“Excellent. Well done Rarity!’ Celestia praised her as Dash was brought back.

“This really is the best. Day. Ever!” Dash cheered.

I then noticed the three… stallions, hovering nearby, for once being smart and not trying to interrupt something involving Princess Celestia.

“Uh, hey Rainbow……. Dash,” Dumb-bell looked like he was going to say something else before being elbowed in the side by Hoops, continuing on, “We just, uh, wanted to congratulate you on winning the competition.”

“That Sonic Rainboom was awesome!” Hoops called out in awe.

“Huh, thanks guys,” Dash sounded polite, but confused, probably as much as me.

“Uh, w-we’re really sorry if we gave you such a hard time before,” Dumb-bell looked apologetic, but then again… Princess.

“Oh, it’s OK. Don’t worry about it,” Dash sounded accepting, but something still seemed like a ruse.

“Uh, hey, do you wanna possibly hang out with us? Maybe you can show us how you did that incredible trick!” Dumb-bell sounded a little desperate as now I realized what he was trying to angle for.

Luckily, Dash saw the same thing as me. “Sorry colts… but I got plans!” She then started to fly off with the Wonderbolts, causing me to snicker at the three stallion’s dumbfounded expressions.

The three soon left as I then whispered to Celestia. “Princess Celestia, Twilight wished to know the hidden public records of the Rainbow Factory. Do you wish to grant her permission?”

Immediately Celestia stiffened as she looked at Twilight, for once looking like a stoic ruler of the past before nodding. “I will grant her permission directly and tell her what the records say myself. However… I have had faint premonitions of her reaching a similar status as mine and my sisters, alongside Cadence and possibly others. So instead of the public hidden records… she will know the true history of the Rainbow Factory. I can only hope she’ll forgive me in time…”

I nodded as I called over Twi, who came over with a bright smile on her face, which slowly faded as she took notice of our demeanour. “What did I do wrong, Princess Celestia?”

Celestia, despite the news that was about to be broken, smiled a little bit. “Do not fret, Twilight Sparkle. You are not in trouble. Come, let us three go somewhere more private.”

Her horn shined with magical power before we appeared to be in a hidden room inside the castle. Twilight looked nervous as I smiled sadly at her.

“Twi… it looks like there’ll be two exceptions to the rule of what you’re about to hear. I am that other exception, due to my human knowledge and already know the sorry tale,” I explained as I stood in the middle of the two females.

Twilight blanched a bit, but nodded and looked up at Celestia. “I… I’m ready to be told the truth.”

Celestia looked at Twilight for a moment before nodding, launching into her explanation. “To start off this story, I must take you back to a time when I had just recently banished my sister to the moon for her 1000 year imprisonment. During the millennia… drastic changes were to be made. With my sister at my side, I could always subdue or capture the enemy and send them back or try to reform them. However… once my sister had disappeared, I could no longer be merciful or as kind. Instead of capturing my enemies… I utterly banished them or killed them. It was a time when Equestria needed strong soldiers to fight in the many wars that would crop up with new villains trying to overtake the throne. A particularly nasty enemy by the name of the Caribou went nearly extinct before they turned and fled to the farthest reaches of the north, away from my control. And to get these strong soldiers, I implemented a policy and machine that still remains to this day, though now completely revamped. It has gone through many names, but the most prominent one of today… is called the Rainbow Factory.

"That is where they create the rainbows used in the sky and as rare and exotic spice. However, this rainbow did not come without a price. For if a soldier was too weak to join or had become crippled… they were of no use in the wars. But during the wars, rainbows were also used as incendiary devices, capable of causing massive explosions. So instead of fighting as a pony… their blood would be drained and turned into liquid rainbow instead through pegasus magic and a device that would help drain the pony of all blood. The bodies were either turned into jerky rations for our griffon allies or were incinerated. This was from long ago, but the purpose today is now to drain criminals of their blood to create the rainbows you see today. We had made a stockpile of rainbows during the war and were going through what we had left before we started draining again. The only ones that know of it’s existence outside the Factory itself is right here in this room. I’m sorry if this is not what you had wanted to see as the answer Twilight… but it is the absolute truth."

Twi looked like a mixture of horrified, sickened, terrorized, and shocked at what Celestia had described as I nodded my head sadly. “It’s all true Twilight… every city as it’s dark times… Cloudsdale’s is the Rainbow Factory, a secret division of the Weather Factory. Where not a single soul gets through…”

She stayed like for a moment before Celestia took a step towards Twi. Twi immediately flared up her horn, looking desperate. “S-S-Stay b-back!”

I walked over to her instead, nuzzling her as she cried into my shoulder. Celestia looked saddened as she quickly just popped me and Twi back to our… to her home while I continued to comfort her into the night. I end this on a sour note after such a sweet victory, so that I may better help her and comfort her through this. I can definitely say that Twi’s beliefs in Celestia as a perfect and benevolent ruler burned up as quickly as Rarity’s former wings. I do wonder though… what will happen if Luna finds out? And if she knows… how long it will stay in operation?


End of Chapter 17