//------------------------------//
// Chapter Fifteen: The Secret Weapon 
// Story: A Rather Large Adventure 
// by BradyBunch 
//------------------------------//

Noble Blade's day did not start off well.

It started with muffled yelling waking him up slowly. Groaning groggily, he wiped his eyes and fell out of bed onto the ground. He stood up, walked to the window, and opened it.

Outside on the ground, a very heated discussion was taking place between two pegasi.

"You shouldn't have been napping in my favorite spot, then!"

"You could have easily avoided me!"

"I crashed into you and made the two of us fall because you didn't make yourself known! It's your fault!"

"Or maybe you're not as good of a flier as you say you are!" Firestorm hastily said.

In hindsight, that was probably a pretty dumb thing to say.

Rainbow Dash's eyes narrowed. "I'm not a good flier?" she said in a low voice. "You. Say I'm. Not as good. As I say I am?" she snarled, stalking closer and closer to Firestorm's face with every word.

"Nope!" he replied in a chipper tone.

"All right, buddy," she breathed in his face. "If you want to see how good I am- and get left in my dust- " she kicked the dust on the ground into Firestorm's face and Firestorm shook it out hurriedly, "-come to the park at five. A flying competition. Because you don't think I'm that good, you have the privilege to match every trick I do. If you miss one- one- you prove you're wrong. You have to show up, or you'll be forever branded as a coward who couldn't keep his big fat mouth shut."

That last sentence drew Firestorm's head up. "What?" he growled.

She grew a smug smirk. "Park. Five. I'll smoke your hindquarters so bad you won't be able to sit down for a week if you do decide to show up."

"Smoking my hindquarters?" Firestorm said darkly. "Only I can make fire-based puns!"

Rainbow ignored him and spread her wings. "Get the burn ointment ready, Fire Boy," she said before taking off in a flash of color. In a moment she was gone.

Firestorm watched her go, a strange expression on his face. "She's a fiery dame, isn't she?" he said to himself.

"That's one way of putting it," Noble said from the window. "I can't believe it, Storm. The first day here and you already managed to get in way over your head in trouble."

Firestorm turned in surprise and saw the pale blue knight at the castle's window. "Oh, uh, hey, Noble," he said nervously. "Um, out of curiosity, how much of that did you hear?"

"As much as I need to," he said pleasantly. "Better start training. I suppose she gave you that much time to prepare because you're just that bad."

"You heard all of it." He sighed. "Look, I'm a pretty good flier too! I won't get my flank kicked that hard."

"Have you heard about a Sonic Rainboom?" Noble asked him. "She's the only pegasus on Equus that can perform it. She's legendary for it. I know you're pretty good in your own right, but you're going to go up against Rainbow Dash. Don't take this lightly."

Firestorm looked at him for a second, then flicked his hoof nonchalantly. "Wow. I didn't know I was facing down Rainbow Dash, you know, until you pointed that out to me. But now that you did, now I know what kind of thing I'm facing. If I'd known I was taking down the fastest Pegasus on the planet, I wouldn't have been as concerned."

Noble tsked slightly. "Typical Storm," he muttered before he closed the window.

As he came out of the door to his bedroom, he noticed Freedom Fighter come out of the other room across the hall. Noble noticed that he was clutching his right arm and limping slightly.

A little concerned, Noble solemnly asked him, "How was the ritual?"

Freedom looked at him for a second, then did a few signs in sign language.

"You ran out of room?" Noble asked in surprise.

Freedom nodded, then clutched his arm.

"I'm sorry it hurts," he said sympathetically. "But you don't have to start on that arm. Please, don't do it. I care too much for you."

Freedom cut him off with a hard shake of the head to the side, then he turned away from him ashamedly.

They stood in silence for a second, then Noble said, "Were you going to get breakfast? I don't know how well Twilight's cooking is, but at least it can't be worse than Firestorm's, right?"

Freedom Fighter chuckled in silence, then inhaled sharply and clutched his arm again. He then turned and started to walk away. Noble Blade kept his distance before following him. After all, Freedom Fighter had completely re-armed himself, and he was a bit touchy in the morning.





"Did you hear that commotion outside earlier?" Twilight asked as she placed two pancakes onto her plate. She, along with Noble Blade, Freedom Fighter, and Spike, were situated at the round stone table in the throne room eating breakfast. Twilight and Spike were in their respective seats, but Noble Blade was in Rainbow Dash's seat and Freedom Fighter was in Pinkie Pie's.

"'Twas nothing to be feared," Noble said to her as he levitated a plate of pancakes over to Freedom Fighter.

Upon receiving it, he snatched it out of the air and drew a thick knife out of his bodysuit. Ignoring the silverware at his plate, he sliced the pancakes to ribbons with deft movements of his wrists. He then dumped quite a bit of syrup all over the remains, then began to stab the eviscerated pancakes forcefully, bring the dripping pieces to his mouth, and rip the pieces off his knife like a forest predator tearing meat off an injured animal.

Twilight observed his eating habits with a wary eye.

Noble saw this and cleared his throat. "You'll have to excuse him. We've spent many nights in dark trenches and abandoned buildings. Those kinds of conditions don't really hone your eating manners."

"But it's so..." Twilight looked at Freedom Fighter, who was tearing another strip of pancake to shreds. "...uncivilized."

Freedom perked his head up, his ears drooping in disappointment at her words.

"He can hear you," Noble said.

Freedom laid his knife down and did a few signs, gesturing at his stomach.

"He says whether you eat with fancy silverware on a white tablecloth or on the side of a muddy ditch with your bare hooves, it doesn't matter because it all goes to the same place anyway." Noble translated.

"You'd better not let Rarity know you said that," Twilight said to him with a smile.

Freedom did a few more signs, then resumed his ravenous eating.

"He says he doesn't intend on it," Noble said. He started to eat as well, then said, "Now what were we talking about..." He thought for a second before he clapped his hooves together. "Right, the commotion. That was just Rainbow Dash and Firestorm having a friendly argument with each other. Apparently, Dash collided with Firestorm, who I believe was lounging on a cloud in her way?"

"What was he doing up that early?" Twilight asked, taking a bite. "It's only eight o'clock."

"It may not look it, but Firestorm's a light sleeper. No matter what he does, he just can't wake up past six o'clock in the morning."

"Why?"

"Partly because he can't help it. But also, he was almost murdered in his sleep at Arimaspi Mountain."

A bit of food fell out of Twilight's open mouth.

Freedom Fighter made a side comment, still holding his knife.

"He says it's a shame the Arimaspi in question didn't finish the job," Noble translated, raising a quizzical eyebrow at the mysterious earth pony.

Freedom Fighter motioned for him to continue by gesturing with his knife, the edge of the blade coated in syrup like blood.

"He gets... how do I say this... tired of sleeping. And when he gets tired of sleeping, he feels tired enough to try and nap. It's a vicious cycle." He ate a little bit more of his pancakes, then said, "Dash challenged Firestorm to a flying competition this evening. He accepted gladly."

"He got into a flying competition? With Rainbow Dash?" Twilight pinched the space between her eyes in irritation. "Okay, I know he's not the smartest pegasus ever, but doesn't he know who he's up against?"

"I told him, but after I did, he was more willing than ever."

"And he still thinks he can match her? He's more arrogant than I thought."

Noble winced at the description. "I think he knows what he's doing. He's got a plan."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

Noble pointed at Freedom Fighter, who was chugging a glass of milk with unusual force. Freedom looked at him curiously as Noble asked, "Freedom, what do you always have with you on our missions?"

Freedom Fighter then proceeded to reach behind his armored black head and pull out a thin-bladed knife, then laid it on the table. He then started to take out other weapons from increasingly improbable locations on his body and lay them on the table until there was a small pile of weapons on the Cutie Map.

"He always carries a secret weapon- as many as possible," Noble explained. "Firestorm also has one." Noble patted the table absently. "And I have a pretty good idea of what it is," he muttered softly.





A loud slam reached the ears of everypony in Sugarcube Corner, and every head turned towards the doors of the shop, which were swinging back and forth. Pinkie Pie was there, panting as if she had been running a marathon. After she took three deep breaths she yelled, "FIRESTORM AND RAINBOW DASH ARE HAVING A FLYING COMPETITION!"

"Who now?" Lyra Heartstrings asked, setting down her order of ice cream.

"THE PONY WE HAD A WELCOME TO PONYVILLE PARTY FOR YESTERDAY!" Pinkie explained loudly, clutching the sides of her head. "THAT PEGASUS AND RAINBOW DASH ARE GONNA HAVE A FLYING COMPETITION AND IT'S GONNA BE AT FIVE O'CLOCK IN THE PARK TONIGHT!"

Excited murmurs ran throughout the crowd in the shop. Some of them were shocked that somepony would challenge Rainbow to a flying competition, of all things. But most of the others were amused for exactly the same reason some others were shocked by.

"Doesn't he know what he's getting himself into?"

"Is he serious, or is he mad?"

"I think both."

Pinkie reached behind her and pulled a large betting box out of nowhere. "Anypony wanna make any bets?"

"I'll bet twenty bits on Rainbow Dash to smoke that new guy!"  Colgate announced loudly, drawing out the amount with her magic and holding it up in the air.

"Fifteen on Rainbow!" Carrot Top added, taking out her amount.

More and more ponies continued to place their bets for Rainbow Dash. Nopony really knew Firestorm or what he was capable of as a flier, so most of the bidding was for Rainbow. Eventually Pinkie had an exuberant amount of money collected in her bidding box, and when the last bit had been dropped in, she sped out with a puff of pink dust.

As they watched her go, Bon-Bon whispered to Lyra, "How's Pinkie planning on paying us back?"

"Right now, I think we should just learn to accept the fact that Pinkie's Pinkie. We do not question Pinkie," Lyra whispered back.





It spread around Ponyville fast. The citizens of Ponyville responded accordingly. A space in the park had been cleared for the competition to take place, with a few construction workers building a hasty wooden platform. Food vendors were in the process of being set up, and a few ponies were arriving at the scene camping with anticipation for the event to start. Among the food vendors were Big Mac with an apple cart, Mr. and Mrs. Cake with a dessert cart, and Derpy, who was wandering around offering free muffins to ponies at random. Most of the time they didn't take them, but when they did, Derpy's face lit up and she gave a wide, goofy smile.

All around the town, there was an energy of excitement and anticipation. They had all seen Rainbow Dash's tricks before, but they had never had much of such a public display of the most brazen pony in Ponyville before now. Everyone's mind was on overdrive as they thought wildly about what they might witness at the competition that evening. Not to mention maybe seeing that new fiery pegasus doing some tricks of his own.

Rainbow Dash herself was now swaggering proudly through Ponyville. All of the ponies she passed had wished her good luck on her tricks, and all the ponies she had spoken to had gotten excited just being around her. She was just passing by the flower vendor when she noticed three little fillies running up to her. The first to collide with her started to talk very, very fast with a wide smile.

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh, I can't believe it! I'm so excited for you to show off every trick you got!" Scootaloo was hugging Rainbow Dash's front leg with a ferocity that astonished Rainbow.

"Okay, okay, easy there, Scoots," Rainbow laughed, then pried the little filly off of her and tousled her mane playfully. "Nice to know you're supporting me."

"Are you kidding? I'd never not cheer for you! WOOOO!" she exclaimed, throwing her hooves up in the air.

The other two fillies came up next to Scootaloo. "Howdy, Rainbow. We thought we'd come and visit ya before the competition," Apple Bloom greeted her.

Rainbow waved her off. "I've still got about three hours before five o'clock rolls around. It's plenty of time to warm up."

"I was wondering..." Sweetie Bell came forward. "Who're you going up against? Is it one of the Wonderbolts? Is it Spitfire?"

Rainbow laughed for three seconds. "No, it's not a Wonderbolt," she replied. She bent her head down to the three fillies and whispered, "I'm going to fly against a pegasus named Firestorm."

"Firestorm? That sounds like an awesome name!" Scootaloo cried.

Rainbow grew an expression of annoyance.

"What's he like?" Scootaloo continued.

Before Rainbow could answer, a voice said behind Scootaloo, "Well, I know that he's a pret-ty annoying guy. But he's handsome. Very handsome."

Scootaloo turned to see Firestorm himself lounging on the side of the wall with a pair of aviator sunglasses on. Upon the fillies and Rainbow Dash seeing him, he swiftly swept them off and said, "Yo."

Sweetie Bell took a step forward hesitantly. "And are you him?" she asked suspiciously, eyeing his flaming, fiery mane.

Firestorm noticed her eyes looking up at his mane. "What? Of course not."

"You're Firestorm, aren't ya?" Apple Bloom told him bluntly.

He chucked his aviator shades up, landing in his hair. "The one and only," he announced extravagantly, giving a bow.

"You're actually going to try to take down Rainbow Dash in a flying competition?" Scootaloo asked.

"What? No, no, I'm not trying to. I don't know what kinds of things you've been hearing. I am going to beat her."

There was a moment of silence, then Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo fell down, laughing their flanks off. Firestorm watched them with an expressionless face, then whispered out of the corner of his mouth to Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, "Was it something I said?"

Scootaloo got up first. "Dude, there's no way you can beat Rainbow Dash!" she boasted, flapping her wings like a buzzing insect.

Firestorm leaned in close. "But I'm gonna win anyway."

"I'd like to see you try!" Rainbow said, back on her hooves. She flexed on him. "You know, it isn't too late for you to back out of it now and leave not totally humiliated."

"If I back out now, I'll be proved a coward for the rest of my miserable existence. You said it yourself," Firestorm said. "But don't worry. I'll be good competition for you to try and beat."

Rainbow glared at him.

"You know what I think?" Firestorm continued. "I think you just wanted to try and impress me with your flight skills. I'm down for it, but I'll also show you mine while we're at it." He spread his wings. "Now let's get ready. We've got around six hours. That'll be plenty of time, right?"

And he flapped up into the air and flew away, slightly askew.

Scootaloo watched him go, then said to Rainbow, "You beat him, Rainbow! Nopony can be as good as you are!"

Rainbow smirked. "Oh, I'll beat him, all right. And when I do, you'll see who's the most awesome pegasus ever."





Noble Blade hated wearing armor. It was hot and uncomfortable. The armor he had didn't hinder his movements as much, but the problem of the heat and bulkiness of it was still present. Especially in hot environments, like in Saddle Arabia. There, he had almost baked in his armor.

But he had to wear it anyway. Not only was it effective as protection, but it also passively helped keep him in shape. It also had leg stiffeners in it that helped to make him bipedal-- awkwardly, to say the least.

He was currently sweating in it, walking with Twilight, Spike, and Freedom Fighter to the park. He had no helmet on his head, allowing his rich blue mane to flow back atop his pale blue head. His line of sight was clear.

"You think this'll go down well?" Spike asked Twilight.

"I can't say for certain. Who knows how this all might turn out?" Twilight told him.

Noble Blade wisely kept silent.

They had entered the area designated for the competition. The entire park was covered with ponies sitting in chairs or on picnic blankets, waiting for the time when the pegasi would enter to start the showdown in the sky. There was hardly a free spot anywhere to sit down.

"We really should have gotten here earlier," Spike mumbled as he stepped past yet another pony on a picnic blanket.

"Yoo-hoo! Twilight!" a voice called over the chatter of the crowd. Noble, Spike, and Twilight turned towards the source. It was Rarity, who was sitting down on a seat five rows from the front of the stage, her sunhat standing out from the rest of the crowd. "Come on over and join us!" She beckoned with her hoof.

"Oh, gladly!" Spike agreed enthusiastically, and ran over to where she was. Noble watched him, a curious thought in his mind. Noble looked at Twilight for just a moment, but she didn't show any giving expression.

Spike had reached the spot where Rarity was sitting. "Uh... hi, Rarity," he bashfully said to her. He shyly smiled.

Rarity, however, did not notice him more than she noticed Noble Blade. At the sight of him her face lit up and she started to wave even more through the thick crowd of milling ponies. Feeling a little wary, Noble reluctantly made his way to their spot with Rarity. Once he reached her, he bowed. "Lady Rarity," he addressed her respectfully.

She giggled at that. "Oh, hello, Noble," she said to him. "It's a rather fine day, isn't it?" Indeed, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The pegasi had excitedly cleared away all the clouds hours before to allow for the best conditions.

She continued. "I'm so glad you're here. I was afraid I might have to watch the competition alone." She looked around. "Although now, looking around, I've noticed that we cannot accompany all of you in this small spot of ground. Would you mind if I went and got us a spot closer to the action?" She smiled dazzlingly at Noble.

Noble blinked, then focused his eyes. "That would be nice, yes," he agreed.

Rarity stood up. "Don't you worry a thing, Noble. Just you follow me so you know where we will sit." She walked off, adding a gentle sashay to her hips as she did so.

Noble noticed this and looked down respectfully. He then walked behind her.

Rarity walked slowly to the front of the ponies sitting down. She came to a green stallion who was relaxing in the front. She was filled with excitement. She was about to get them a better seat. Noble would love it, and would definitely notice the means she would take. He would be impressed! She batted her eyelashes at the green stallion seductively. "Why hello there, handsome," she said slowly to him, coming in closer to him. "What are you doing here?"

The stallion looked at her strangely, an expression of fearful excitement on his face at her tone of words. He uncertainly replied, "I'm saving a spot for my friends for when they arrive."

"What a kind gesture. I like that in stallions," she whispered to him. "How many?"

He gulped. "Three of them, Rarity," he said, unable to keep the gaze Rarity gave him. He looked down.

Rarity, however, put her hoof under his chin and slowly drew it up so the stallion was now looking directly into her half-lidded eyes. She smirked. "Well, I'm waiting for my friends as well. I have a bit more than three, however, and the spot I'm in isn't big enough to hold them all. I was wondering, if maybe..." she circled her hoof on his chest. "You could be so kind as to allow us to use your spot instead?" she asked innocently.

The stallion took a second before shaking his head no. "I've been waiting in this spot for two hours, Rarity. I got here first, and I want to stay here until..." he trailed off as Rarity gave him an even hotter look. He started to shake slightly.

Rarity put her arm around the back of his head, pulling him in closer. "But surely you wouldn't let me use your spot instead? I do so want it for my friends... you wouldn't be a gentlecolt and allow me to make my friends happy? Our spot only has four seats, you know. You could fit there and be happy with your friends."

The stallion still looked uncertain, though he was definitely cracking under the hot gaze Rarity was giving him.

Rarity bit her lip and nodded at him encouragingly.

The green stallion finally gave in. He rose from his seat. "All right, Rarity. Anything for you," he said as if he was hypnotized. He took his belongings and left, glancing back at her dreamily.

Rarity turned to face Noble. She tossed her mane behind her expertly and asked casually, "Well, Noble? Do you like it?"

She was expecting him to be impressed.

Instead, he had an expression of outrage written all across his face. Rarity, upon seeing this, grew nervous.

"How could you?" he asked quietly. His voice wasn't loud, but Rarity could tell he was angry. She instantly thought badly of herself.

Noble gestured at the stallion who was now in the space they were previously in angrily. "You just forced him out of his space! What, were you assuming I'd be happy?"

"No, Noble... I-I didn't-" she started before she was cut off.

"You manipulated him. You got him to do your will by seducing him." Noble said seducing like it was an ugly word. "Tell me, do you treat all stallions like that? As objects that can be used to serve your own needs? How soon will it be before you do that to me? When will you try and bend my neck against my will?"

"No! I'd never do that to you!" she cried in her defense.

"How can I believe you?" he coldly asked. He looked down, trembling angrily for a little bit. "I'm disappointed, Rarity," he said. "I expected better than selfishness from the element of generosity."

Rarity felt as though she had swallowed something bad and it was festering in her stomach. She weakly said, "B-but..."

"I'm sorry, Rarity," he quietly said, "But I want to be alone right now." He turned and went into a seat far away from her. Rarity made a few more weak noises, then turned away in shame, bowing her head.





"Pinkie? What is that?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, it's just my personal little betting box. I spent the day just whizzing around the town taking bets on who would win the competition, and a lot of ponies bet on Rainbow. Let's see here..." She began to count the ponies who had bet on Rainbow, reading off a list taped to the front containing the names of the ponies and how much they had bet. "Forty-one... forty-five... forty-seven! Can you believe it, Twilight? As opposed to..." She checked the list again, her eyes narrowing in disappointment. "...two ponies who had bet on Firestorm. Huh. Would you look at that."

Applejack had also arrived and was sitting next to Rarity, who in turn was sitting next to Twilight. And Starlight Glimmer had arrived and had sat next to Freedom Fighter, who in turn had sat next to Noble Blade. Starlight looked uncomfortable around him, which was understandable. Freedom was not a very talkative pony.

Noble looked up as he saw something coming towards him. And his heart jumped up a little bit. It was Fluttershy. She had obviously noticed her friends sitting in the front row. Upon seeing all the seats taken, however, her face fell in disappointment. She sadly turned away.

Finding his voice, Noble called out, "Fluttershy, wait!"

Fluttershy turned around.

Noble Blade hurriedly stood up. "My seat," he offered her, gesturing at his chair.

"Oh, no!" she said hastily. "I can't do that! Then you won't have a seat!"

"Please, sit. I want you to." Noble felt every part of his mind yelling at him that he was being stupid, that he was just embarrassing himself, that he was just being too forward towards her and she wouldn't like him at all because he was being too stupid.

Fluttershy smiled and blushed. "Oh... um, thanks," she whispered to him. She clambered onto her chair. "B-but what about you? I don't want to see you stand for the competition."

Noble felt a jolt run through him. Fluttershy was looking down, and she was playing with her hair. She was twirling a long end of it near her face. Noble had to restrain himself from gawking at her. She looked so adorable when she did that! He suddenly remembered he had been asked a question, and he coughed. "I've stood before, and I can stand now. But you I want to sit down in comfort."

He realized how dumb that sounded. It wasn't as though Fluttershy hadn't stood before, he reminded himself.

"Oh, Noble, that's... sweet..." Her voice dropped down low as she finished. Was she embarrassed?

He wasn't dumb after all? Wow. Noble felt much better.

An uncomfortable silence fell between them after that. Noble immediately felt more stupid than before for not continuing the conversation. After about three minutes, Noble said, "So Rainbow Dash... Is she a friend of yours?"

And he mentally cringed. Of course she was a friend of hers!

"Oh, yes. She's actually my closest friend," Fluttershy was saying, fidgeting in her seat. "We were really close in Cloudsdale... She, um, helped me with my flying and she stood up for me when I was bullied..."

Noble's face darkened. Somepony had dared to hurt Fluttershy? Why they weren't shot out of the sky by Faust for that heinous offense was a bit of a surprise.

"...and she raced to defend my, um, honor. And that day, the day she did..." She smiled. "It was the day I got my Cutie Mark. The day I realized what I wanted to do for the rest of my life- take care of animals." She sighed.

Noble lost his breath when she did that. It just sounded so cute! His knees, even supported by armor, started to feel weak, and he almost buckled. Was there anything about this mare that wasn't adorable?

"...Noble?"

"Hmm?" he asked all of a sudden. He had zoned out for a second.

"I asked you how you got your cutie mark," she said, looking down shyly. "When I saw it, I thought it looked... interesting. How'd you get it?" She pushed her mane out of the way. "But, um, if you don't want to talk, that's okay."

"No, no, no!" Noble said hurriedly. "I'm glad to talk." He sat on his rump next to Fluttershy, at a respectful distance. "I got my Cutie Mark when I defended my classmate in school from bullies that were about to beat him to a pulp. He... wasn't close to me, per se. But he was weak and couldn't defend himself, so I defended him. I warned them not to attack him, but they tried to fight anyway. And I..." He paused.

"And what?" Fluttershy asked calmly, tilting her head, clearly interested.

"And I hurt them," he said bluntly, knowing the pacifist Fluttershy would be disappointed. "When they got close enough, I hurt them. Badly. In that moment, I only wanted to defend the innocent. And when that intention entered into my head, that's when a bright light appeared on my flank and I felt something, like a sticker being placed on me."

He braced himself for Fluttershy's words of disappointment. And then-

"That... That's so sweet of you..."

His head turned to face her, not daring to believe it. She thought he was sweet?

"You stood up for those who couldn't...like Rainbow Dash did for me," she said, smiling a little. "That's... amazing."

Noble felt as though he wasn't in his hot armor anymore, and instead free and ready to move. She thought he was amazing!

A loud swoosh caught their ears before they could say anything more. The assembled crowd looked up to see Rainbow Dash, in full Wonderbolt regalia, drop from the sky and land on the wooden platform constructed for the event. As she landed, she waved to the crowd, and the crowd roared back its approval.

To the side, Firestorm appeared, coming out from behind the platform and trudging up the steps. He was an unpleasant sight, in his brown and maroon rags that stank of disapproval. As he appeared, there was some scattered polite applause. Noble noticed that Rarity did not clap for him, but Fluttershy did.

Firestorm, however, took the small applause from the crowd as a sign of immense popularity, and he began to extravagantly wave off the paltry applause, bowing here and there. "Thank you! Thank you! No, seriously, thank you... I mean it! Give yourselves a hoof!" He began to applaud for himself as well, and there arose some laughter from the crowd.

Rainbow came up to him. "So, Stormy," she said mockingly. "You decided to show up."

Firestorm spread his hooves slowly, giving her a goofy grin. "...Yeah..."

"Don't think you're going to get away from this unscathed," she said to him. "Nopony, and I mean nopony, insults me and gets away with it."

"You should be glad I'm not like that," he replied coolly. "Or else you'd already be dead."

Before she could angrily retort, the mayor came onto the stage behind them, separating the two of them. She cleared her throat and spoke into a standing microphone. "Good evening, fillies and gentlecolts. We have gathered here today to witness a..." She looked at Rainbow Dash in her Wonderbolt outfit, than at Firestorm in his rags, "...rather one-sided competition, if I have to be honest."

Firestorm shrugged. "Sorry if I'm making it unfair. If you want, I can tie one wing behind my back. That might even things out." There was a bit of laughter at that, and Firestorm bowed yet again.

"The competitors are: Miss Rainbow Dash."

The applause that arose from her name went on for a full thirty seconds, and involved a lot of whistling and whooping. Rainbow waved them off, not really embarrassed.

"And facing off against her is..." here the mayor paused, then looked at the dark orange pegasus. "Who are you again?" she asked him.

Firestorm flapped up into the air. "The name's Firestorm," he flamboyantly announced. "The fast- the deadly- the super hot," he said, slicking back his mane and winking at the nearest group of mares in the crowd, who collectively sighed in pleasure, "-and, most of all, the super embarrassing!" He then intentionally crashed headfirst into the dirt.

In the crowd's front seat, Applejack muttered sarcastically, "At least ya got one outta four right." Rarity, who was sitting next to her, gave her a hoof-bump.

"The object of the competition is for..." The mayor coughed. "...Firestorm...to match or outdo the aerial stunts performed by Miss Dash. If he fails in any stunt given, he loses immediately. Good flying, Rainbow, and good luck, Firestorm. I think you might need it more than she does." And she walked off.

As Rainbow prepared to fly off to perform her first stunt, she heard a wolf-whistle behind her. She turned, outraged, to find Firestorm giving her a fierce, predatory look. He winked at her.

A little flustered, but mostly annoyed, she then took to the air.

She decided to start him off with something like a taste of what she could do. Twisting in the air, she went with three high-speed barrel rolls, a fifty-foot backloop, and ended with her shooting about two hundred feet in the air, front-flipping at the top of her arc, and landing hard on the ground in front of the stage.

Scootaloo watched all of this with ecstacy as she saw her hero show herself off, and she "Squee"d in happiness as she came to her landing.

Firestorm had barely even looked up. When Rainbow had landed, he simply shrugged off the rags he had on. Underneath them was a fireproof flight suit that hugged every fine-toned muscle in his body, including his wings. It perfectly showed him off, and Rainbow could not help but stare at him.

Firestorm noticed this and smirked at her. "What's wrong, Rainbow?" he asked. "See something you like?" Before she could stutter out an answer, he had already took off, activating the flamethrowers on his wrists as he did so.

As he flew up, a trail of flame followed him, making him stand out against the clear sky. He did four barrel rolls, a hundred foot backloop, and a three hundred foot upward spin before he shot towards the ground and landed on his hind legs, with his wings flared out and his left forearm to the side and his head down, squatting from the impact.

Pinkie was the first to clap, yelling out, "Superhero landing!"

Rainbow just growled in annoyance as the applause rang out.

Firestorm then looked to Rainbow and urged her to continue by gesturing with his hoof.

Rainbow then decided on her next move- the Fantastic Filly Flash- and performed it amidst much applause from the crowd. She felt smug and self-assured that Firestorm couldn't copy her exactly.

Only for her confidence in that to disappear as Firestorm copied her exactly, only trailing flame. Which- she had to admit- did make it look cooler. After he did yet another superhero landing, he motioned her forward. "What next, ma'am?" he pleasantly asked.

"Don't ma'am me!" Rainbow commanded, adjusting her goggles.

Firestorm smirked yet again. "All right, then... Dahling," he said, imitating Rarity.

Rainbow ignored him and flew up again. After gaining enough speed, she produced a bright explosion of light somehow, performing the Buccaneer Blaze. She landed, panting hard from the effort, but sure that somehow Firestorm couldn't follow in her hoofsteps.

And, of course, to Rainbow's consternation, he had to copy the move precisely. Watching him, she thought irritably, If this keeps up I'm going to get mad...





This sort of thing went on for several hours. Rainbow was becoming more and more eager to try new tricks, and Firestorm was more and more willing to outdo her. Sometimes he was only matching her in her accomplishments, but for the most part, they were tied.The tricks became more and more dangerous, and the speeds were at their ultimate high.

Finally, as it started to get dark, the two panting pegasi looked at each other on a time slot between flights.

"Water break?" Rainbow asked him.

"Water break," Firestorm agreed.

They both went to the water table, which was untouched by either pony during the entire competition. Rainbow and Firestorm both filled up a water cup, looking at each other apprehensively. Giving each other side-eyes of suspicion, they both separated to drink.

As Rainbow drank, she was suddenly aware of just how thirsty she really was. She gulped down one glass before she knew it, then went back for more. As she did, she noticed that the crowd assembled had started to move their attention towards Firestorm, who was just sitting on his rump drinking the water. Rainbow scowled at the sight. There were barely any ponies near her. Why were they all going after Firestorm? All he was doing was imitating whatever she did!

One of the mares in the crowd yelled, "I love your mane, Firestorm!"

Firestorm giggled and waved the comment aside, pretending to be flustered. "Oh, you do? D'aww, shucks." He then looked to one side slyly. Then to the other side. Then he tossed his glass of water on his head, soaking his red, orange, and yellow mane. "WHOA, IS MY MANE OUT?!" he screamed, grabbing his scalp in mock terror.

Rainbow chuckled, then stopped herself. Every time she laughed at Firestorm acting funny, he won. If she didn't laugh at his efforts to be likable, then she would win. And so Rainbow ignored his antics the best she could.

She then reflected on his uncanny ability to replicate every single trick she did. Then she remembered that he was a warrior of Princess Celestia, who obviously had to be trained in flight and dexterity in order to be one of the princess's bodyguards. Sure, she was a Wonderbolt, but Wonderbolts did group stunts, not individual ones. She only then realized that whatever she could do, Firestorm was capable of it. They were locked in stalemate.

Then her countenance brightened. She could outmatch him, after all. She had a hidden card up her sleeve, like Firestorm had his flamethrowers up his sleeves. That was obviously what made him popular in his stunts. That was his secret weapon. But Rainbow had another secret weapon, one that only she could do, one that not even Princess Celestia was capable of.

As they re-met in the field, thunderous applause reached their ears, along with cries of protest from most of the ponies that had bet on Rainbow. They had also realized that unless Rainbow did something big, and soon, she would lose the competition. When Rainbow and Firestorm were facing each other, Rainbow gave a wicked grin.

"So. You can match me in most everything. Big deal." She spread her wings and pointed smugly at Firestorm. "But not even you can perform a Sonic Rainboom!"

And she took off with a burst of speed and a flash of color. Firestorm's interested eyes followed her as she ascended at a speed unreachable for most pegasi and continued that way for some time.

After two minutes of speeding upwards, she was so high in the sky that Firestorm had to squint to even see her in the sky. He saw her front-flip in the air and speed down, her velocity growing faster and faster. A cone of sparking electric energy appeared as she went.

Rainbow's face was stretched back, and tears were forced from her tear ducts as she continued to increase her speed even more. The cone around her sparked and zapped more violently, and became as taut as a bowline.

Then she broke the sound barrier.

The instant she did, a huge BOOM shattered the darkening sky and a circular rainbow appeared from where she broke the barrier and begun to expand. Rainbow, now trailing an almost-tangible rainbow behind her, pulled away from impacting on the ground and circled over everypony. She circled over them once, twice, three times, then backflipped in the air and landed on the ground with a thud. The audience roared and cheered, and Rainbow took an extravagant bow.

Firestorm could not decide what to look at, the still-expanding rainbow ring in the sky, or the Rainbow that did it, still feeling the effects of the Rainboom.

Rainbow took her goggles off and laughed. "Ha ha haaaa! That's always awesome!" she declared, then threw her goggles into the crowd, for somepony to catch. She wouldn't need them any more tonight. The Rainboom would crush anything Firestorm was physically capable of doing. She had won.

She then strutted over to where Firestorm was and lightly booped him on the nose. "Your move, Stormy," she said mockingly.

The mayor then came up onto the stage. "Well, I suppose that's it for tonight, fillies and gentlecolts. Give it up for the winner of the competition, and performer of the Sonic Rainboom, Miss Rain-"

But she was stopped by a hoof on the shoulder. The mayor turned to see Firestorm tapping her. He said, "Uh, excuse me? Don't go off naming victors yet. I still need my turn."

The mayor looked confused, and spoke away from the microphone. "But the Rainboom... It's the most timeless feat of flight in the book!"

Firestorm only said, "Give me my turn. Now."

Rainbow overheard this and smugly said to him, "Well, you don't need one. What're you going to do, flop into the air with some useless skill? Anything you have pales in comparison to the Rainboom. You don't have to embarrass yourself."

She was expecting him to just give up, or just concede right there.

Instead, he grew a wide, wicked smile, a disturbing, creepy smile that showed all of his teeth. He looked slightly maniacal.

Feeling a little uncomfortable, Rainbow said slowly, "Soooo... are you gonna give up now, or..."

Firestorm spread his wings and crouched, never losing his evil smile. "Don't take your eyes off of me," he ordered her. He then shrugged. "Although I know you haven't taken your nice, hot stare off of my nice, hot body, so I suppose what I said was pointless." He winked at her again.

And before she could protest, he rocketed into the air with a speed no one had seen out of him before.

Every eye in the audience turned upwards, following Firestorm as he sped up and up.

Fluttershy whispered, "What's he doing?" to Noble Blade, who was standing at attention next to her.

Noble declared solemnly, "Unleashing his secret weapon."

Fluttershy looked scared at what was coming.

The rest of the audience looked a little confused. But as Firestorm gained more and more altitude, most of them realized what Rainbow's challenger was trying to do. Murmurs and whispers filled the air in fear.

Rainbow kept her eyes on his increasingly dimming figure. "Is he-" she muttered, then groaned. "Oh, please don't tell me he's gonna try it..."





Firestorm just went higher and higher, his speed steadily falling away as he went further and further upwards. Up and up he went, higher than the altitude of Cloudsdale, which was in the distance, hanging there like a mirage. He went up so far, and flew up so high, that his breathing became more and more thin as the oxygen levels began to thin out, and he could have seen the curvature of the planet Equus if he had tilted his head to the side. The night was coming quick, the sky turning a navy blue as the sun went down, slowly but inexorably.

As he finally arrived at the top of his arc, he stopped flapping, flipped so he was facing downward, and hurled towards the ground like a loosed arrow.

As he sped down, starting to approach terminal velocity with every passing second, the air started to feel hot. Like a meteor, Firestorm was now enveloped in a teardrop of flame that grew around him second by second. Firestorm fell to the earth faster than any other pegasus was capable of reaching.

He saw the ground growing larger and larger as he went faster and faster. And as he approached the speeds he knew were dangerous, he knew he needed more power.

So he turned his thoughts inward, at his foalhood. It was a remote, darkened place he would barely even touch under normal circumstances. And as he did, he felt bitter. He remembered everything. Everything that had ever happened to him.

Look at this wimp! He messed up again!

I can't believe we have to put up with him! He's just clumsy and worthless!

That idiot! Look at how he sits by himself all the time! He doesn't have any friends!

Maybe that'll teach you to not hang around us!

You're different! You're diseased! I don't care what the principal says, you're sub-pony! Why should I give you special treatment because you're retarded?

You're a loser, Firestorm. A loser. So get out of the big kid activities and go play with your girlie dolls like the other vegetables. You're retarded. You don't belong with us.

Firestorm gritted his teeth so hard they hurt. He poured his pent-up fury into his wings, with figurative and literal fire in his eyes.

I have had enough of this! I'm not going to take it any more, you filthy BASTARDS!

He thought about the bullies in the world. All the bullies he knew.

Name's Hoops. And this is my friend Score.

My (scoff) name is Jet Set, and my lovely wife is called Upper Crust.

Why, hello there... I am Prince Blueblood...

He wanted to hurt them. He wanted to make them realize who was really in charge.

And as he imagined the sweet feeling of giving out pain to the bullies, his rage and wrath gave power to his wings.

He went supersonic.

It was as though the air was ripped apart. A massive BOOM shook the planet and rumbled the ground beneath him as he broke the sound barrier. A massive ring of flame expanded, tearing its way through the skies and leaving a trail of tendrils of flame. The ring was every shade and hue of red, and yellow, and orange.

Firestorm was trailing a long train of fire like Rainbow for her Rainboom, and just before he hit the ground, he pulled up, shooting over the audience. Every single pony gasped and stared at the flaming, fiery pegasus.

Rainbow Dash was hit the absolute hardest. Her eyes were wider than what should have been physically possible, and the bottom of her jaw touched the ground, unfurled like a scroll.

Firestorm, still trailing a long tail of fire, circled around the audience once, twice, three times before he pulled back up again in a huge backflip. Every pony kept their eyes glued to the pegasus who had done the impossible, his flaming body shining brightly against the darkening sky. He completed his backflip and finally landed on the ground with an impact that burned the grass around him in a small radius. He had done another Superhero Landing, but this time the flames on him did not go out. His body was burning, protected by his fireproof suit.

Fluttershy had jumped out of her seat when the massive shock had reverberated throughout everyone there, and was now clinging to Noble Blade. She dully realized after about fifteen seconds who she was clinging to, and slowly looked up at Noble's face. Noble looked back as he realized who was clinging to him, not able to initially feel it under his armor. Fluttershy hurriedly clambered off him and sat back in her seat. Her cheeks were as pink as her mane, which she was now hiding in. Noble just looked at the ground, trying to block out the thoughts that flew at him when he had realized she had clung to him.

"His secret weapon..." Twilight whispered in complete shock. The rest of the girls had similar reactions.

Firestorm calmly got to all fours and lightly brushed some fire off his shoulder, then on the other shoulder. He then slowly walked over to where Rainbow was, a satisfied smile on his face. He leaned in close to her, shaking off more fire. Rainbow did not move. She looked like a stage prop for a play.

"Your move," he whispered to her, then tapped her shoulder playfully. "Dashie."

He then faced the crowd and bowed flamboyantly. "Fillies and gentlecolts," he announced, pointing at the still-expanding ring of flame in the air. "The Sonic Flameboom!"

And he simply cantered off.

Rainbow's expression still did not change. She stood rock solid.

And finally, the pure amazement present among all of Ponyville manifested itself in the loudest round of applause that evening. Whistles, cheers, and roars came up from the crowd by many of the ponies there, mingled with the howls of anguish by the ponies that had bet on Rainbow. The crowd of seated ponies suddenly stood up and applauded louder than they ever had before. Many were overjoyed, but many were completely shocked at the pegasus' achievement.

Rainbow finally made a small gurgle in the back of her throat and began to babble incoherently. "Bu-bu-gu-wha-dgg-da-mu-WHAT?!" She was still rooted to the ground in shock. She stood there for a little bit longer, then shook her head as if she was trying to get rid of an annoying fly. She rubbed her eyes and blinked, staring at the spot where the Flameboom had taken place. "That can't be right..." she muttered, as if in a trance.

She felt a tap next to her and she looked down to see Scootaloo nudging her gently. She looked uncomfortable. "So... does this mean you're not the coolest pegasus ever?" she asked her solemnly.

Rainbow felt a lump in her throat at the question. She did not answer.

"Well, I-I'll still vouch for you," Scootaloo said doubtfully. "In my eyes, you're still the coolest pegasus ever."

Rainbow grew a wavering smile for a second, then it disappeared and she looked away. "...Thanks, Scoot," she said, not at all reassured by her words. She looked miserable.

As the crowd tried to disperse, no attention was paid to Rainbow. She was left alone, with only Scootaloo at her side.

Twilight tried to get to her, but was restrained by Applejack. "Hold on now," she told her. "Give 'er a bit o' space, would ya? Ah don't think she's ready fer ya right now."

"But-" she tried to protest.

"She needs some time ta herself right now," she reminded her. "Sumthin' big just happened ta her. Jus' give 'er some time alone. That'll be best." She was looking downcast.

And so the girls reluctantly left Rainbow alone with her shock and surprise, still staring at the remnants of fire dissipating  in the dark night sky.