//------------------------------//
// Chapter Five 
// Story: Turbulence 
// by Kody910 
//------------------------------//

"...And so I tossed the pebble."

"And!?"

"He flies over, looks towards where I threw it..."

"Oh my gosh, no way!"

"And he yells out, 'Who's there!?'"

"Hahahahh! Seriously!?"

"Yes! And I got right past him!"

"Wow, what an idiot!" As Dash bursts into laughter, you couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the circumstances you managed to bypass yourself.

"Da-ash, come on, keep it down!" You say through your chortles. "They're gonna hear us!"

"No they aren't, relax! Look," she peeks her head out of your little bunker and looks around. After a second she retracts her head. "No pony in sight, we're fine!"

"If you say so..." You reply, leaning back slightly.

After your little adventure involving a certain, muscular, behemoth of a pony, you and Dash had run away to seek some shelter. Your little unintended explosion of colors in the sky no doubt attracted a lot of attention.

Luckily, the two of you managed to find a small hideaway in the clouds. After locating a rather secluded part of the Fair Field, Dash immediately started building a small bunker. She crafted a small, hollow cloud for the two of you to simply hide in, at least until you were found or were ready to get back to flying.

The bunker itself was comfortable enough. It was large enough for the two of you to fit in, but small enough to not raise any eyebrows from the outside. You and Dash took a moment every now and then to take surveillance, just in case any members of 'the horde' might be snooping around. 

When you weren't on the lookout, the two of you simply enjoyed a casual chat. You had been telling each other about the feats and daring escapes you had managed up to this point. Dash had a particularly impressive one involving using the colors of rainbows in the Falls Field to trick ponies into thinking it was her. You have no idea how she would have gotten away with that.

But of course, you both agreed that none of your other near-escapes even came close to the feat you accomplished earlier.  That Rainboom attracted a lot of attention, sure, and it could have been the death of you, but in itself, it was the most amazing thing you had ever done. There was no way you would ever accomplish something like that again. You wondered if Roid Rage was okay after having been launched away. That must have been some force he went through to get launched that far.

After a few minutes, once Rainbow had managed to stop giggling, you spoke up. "So, any idea how many players there might be left?"

"Not sure. I don't think there are too many with flags, though. I saw a lot of ponies without them before I ran into you." She replies, smiling all the while.

"Maybe we'll actually make this happen then."

"Heck yeah! With as good as we are at flying, we got this in the bag!" She replies, folding her forelegs behind her head and leaning back coolly.

"Oh, come on, I'm not that awesome." You respond, feeling a bit bashful.

"Uh, hello!?" She sits back up. "Did you see what we did back there with Roid? That was amazing! It takes a lot of strength to pull something like that off, and you've got it!"

"Well, maybe I do. But hey, had it not been for you, I'd have been toast!"

"If it weren't for you, I might not have pulled that off!" She leans back again and closes her eyes. "I'm glad I picked you."

You stop yourself from responding right away. Something about that had been bugging you ever since she came to you for help. You thought it was nothing at first, but the more and more you thought about it, the more it just seemed out of place. "Dash," you begin. "I'd like to ask something."

"What's that?" She replies, her eyes gleaming.

"Why exactly did you want me to help you?" You ask.

She pulls her head back a little bit. "Oh, I dunno, you just seemed like a good flyer to me. And I was right, wasn't I?" Was she trying to change the subject?

"Sure, but you couldn't have known that just from how we met." You point out.

She begins to look a little nervous. "Um...call it a hunch? Besides, you were on that show! Wonderbolt Wonders! Only really good flyers get on that show!"

"Sure, but I was contestant #16, I got kicked off pretty early. Why would you pick me?" You respond, validating your point.

She simply looks at you with an 'are you serious' expression on her face. "You told me yesterday that you were #26." 

Oh crap. "Uh, I did? Ah heh, must have gotten my numbers mixed up-" She cuts you off by putting her hoof to your mouth.

With a pleading expression on her face, she speaks. "You weren't #26 or #16, were you?" You simply stare into her big, magenta eyes, unable to respond. Something about her stare was just paralyzing you, cutting off your words. You don't know what it is, but they were captivating, hypnotizing even. Your vision darts between both of her eyes, hoping that one of them would paralyze you at least a little less than the other, but no dice. "You lied to me, didn't you?"

At last she removes her hoof from your lips and you find your words again. "Dash, I-" She cuts you off again.

"You were #9, right?" 

You were afraid of this. She knows. She knows precisely who you are. 

Contestant #9, one of the finalists on Wonderbolt Wonders.

And the one who dropped out first. Not because he was eliminated, but because he chose to quit.

"What...How did you...?" You respond.

She lets out a slight laugh before responding. "I kinda dig the Wonderbolts, you know. I know what goes on around them, and with how good you were? I wasn't about to forget your face." She gently pokes your chest.

"So...I guess you're wondering then..." You start.

"The whole world is wondering, dude." She responds. "You had that competition in the bag. Why did you quit?"

You let out a slight sigh, remembering your motivations for quitting. Some ponies would have thought your reasoning silly, but to you, it was everything. "You remember that other guy, Crash Course, right?"

"The guy who won? Yeah, what about him?" She asks.

"Well...He was kind of what drove me to quit." You reply.

"What!?" She suddenly looks furious. "He didn't make you quit, did he? Did he threaten you!?"

"No! No, it's not that...He didn't make me quit, but he's what made me want to quit, in a way." You reassure her.

"Wait, what?" She says with a confused look. "What do you mean?

"Just hear me out for a bit, okay?" You ask. She nods, and sits back. Taking a breath, you continue. "Crash Course and I kind of became friends because of that competition. He's a cool guy and everything, and one helluva flyer. And though I hate to admit it, you're right. I was better than him."

"So why'd you quit?" She asks again, forgetting to not interrupt. You didn't care though. Her interruptions at least told you she was interested.

"The truth? It's kind of what Thunderlane has now." You reply.

"What do you mean?" She asks, leaning forward slightly.

"Crash Course...I think he forgot what the competition was. As we got closer and closer to winning, he started to, well...lose it." She gives you a pondering look, prodding you to continue. "He became so obsessed with winning. He lost sight of the fact that the competition was a sort of game. It was a shot to be in the Wonderbolts, sure, but it was also for fun as well. He started lashing out at everyone else, putting himself above them. If the conversation wasn't about him winning, then he didn't care."

"So...him being crazy made you quit?" She asks, tilting her head slightly.

"Not exactly...After I saw what had happened to him, I realized something. I was worried that I would become that. The Wonderbolts, they're all fine and dandy, but if they can turn a pony as nice as Crash into, well...that, then maybe I didn't want to be a part of it." You let out a small sigh. "Every time I looked at him, I saw something in his eyes. At first, it was a sort of passion. That 'flame' of passion. He wanted to prove he was worth something, to show the world he had potential. But slowly, that flame changed into something else. A sort of hunger. He no longer cared about the competition, or having fun with it all. All he cared about was coming out victorious. I don't know if he's changed or not, or if he realized what he had become...And for that, I feel sorry for him."

A silence passes between the two of you. You weren't looking at her, but you could feel her staring at you. It was almost as if she were examining the validity of your words. You hadn't told this tale to many ponies, but the few that you had told, that simply laughed and called you a liar, saying you quit out of fear. 

Their words were sort of true, in a way. You dropped out for the fear of becoming what Crash Course had become. A sort of monster. A monster with an appetite that could only be satisfied by victory. A cold, unfulfilled victory. You wondered every day if he had ever reflected on what he had become.

"Wow..." Rainbow says. You look up at her, and she gives you a sort of sympathetic look. "You're even cooler than I thought."

"Heh...thanks, I guess." You reply jokingly.

"No, really!" She slowly begins to lean closer to you. "I always thought you quit just because you thought you were too good for the Wonderbolts, or something..." She looks away, a slightly bashful expression on her face. "I had no idea it was for a reason like that..."

"It's fine...not many ponies know why. You're one of the few." You respond, sitting up slightly.

She smiles cutely. "Heheh, I guess I should be honored. Even more honored that you're helping me, right?"

You smile in return. "If you want...So, how do we go about beating Thunderlane?"

"You poor, deluded things, you'll never beat me!"

The two of you freeze. You didn't say that. She didn't say that. But you both were thinking the same thing.

Oh crap.

In an instant, the cloud bursts into vapor from a solid kick. You and Dash quickly bring yourself into flight with a quick flap of your wings. Looking up to the source of the voice, you find a familiar, dark-grey colt floating above you.

And he doesn't have a flag.

In less then a fraction of a second, you and Rainbow had whirled around and were flying away from your attacker. The beating of wings behind you had confirmed your fears that he was giving chase. Not taking time to look back, you fly forward and faster, dodging clouds like you had been doing for the better part of the morning.

Being in the Fair Field, there were plenty of clouds in your way. However, you had plenty of experience today in dodging them, and wasted no time in avoiding each and every one. Looking over to Dash, you can see her having as little trouble as you were. Her flight style, although incredibly quick and spunky, was actually quite graceful. She danced around the clouds without breaking a sweat, and had no issues whatsoever in her flight.

Bringing yourself back to your situation, you found yourself slowly being consumed by fog. You see Dash has a confused expression on her face as you slowly begin to lose your vision. The fog steadily grew thicker and thicker with each passing second.

The amount of actual clouds here was beginning to dwindle, with only a couple thrown in your way. You dodged them with ease, but realized that the clouds presented another problem. They had forced you off your original path, and only now do you realize you had lost Rainbow Dash in the mist. You couldn't even see Thunderlane.

In short, you were alone in the abyss as the prey.

You panic slightly, knowing that your only ally might be missing. "Dash!?" You call out. No response. You turn your head all around, trying to spot any sign of the mare.

You hear a chuckle. "What's wrong? Can't focus without your boss guiding you?"

"Thunderlane! Where are you!" You yell.

"I'm everywhere that you aren't, but at the same time, I'm nowhere at all!" He says, poorly disguising his mind-tricks.

"You aren't scaring me, Thunderlane! Show yourself!" You yell back into the abyss.

"As you WISH!" From your left, the colt comes flying at you with great speed. Pulsing your wings, you dodge him rather easily, and he vanishes back into the fog. "Ergh, you're quicker than you look!"

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" You ask. You begin flying forward, attempting to find her. You call her name out several times, trying to locate her.

"Man, are you obsessed with her or what?" Thunderlane's voice echos. You ignore it, and continue looking for her. "Oh, not talking to me now?"

"This isn't the real you, Thunderlane!" You yell back.

"And how would you know who the 'real me' is?" He asks back.

"Dash has told me how nice of a guy you are. Are you about to tell me that she would lie about that?"

"How nice of her, but I'm guessing she never told you the truth, huh?" He asks, tease in his voice.

"What are you talking about?"

"Uh, hello? Who do you think the record-holder was before me?"

"Wait, what!? Are you saying-"

"Of course, you idiot! Rainbow Dash!"

You're at a loss for words. If Rainbow Dash was the previous record holder, does that mean...she tricked you?

"Do you understand now? She's not doing this for me, or for you! She's wants you to help her win so she can get her record back!"

You stop moving forward. As much as you hated to believe it, all the evidence is right there. She picked the best flyer she knew besides herself, to eliminate one player in particular. That player being the current record-holder. If what Thunderlane said was true...

No. You saw that look in her eyes. She genuinely wanted to take Thunderlane down. Not for herself, but for him...at least, that's what you wanted to believe. Thunderlane's words held a vibe of truth in them. Who were you supposed to believe?

"Thunderlane...are you-" You stop mid-sentence when you hear a sound from behind you. Without a second thought, you immediately roll to your left, narrowly dodging a tackle from the colt.

"Gah!" He exclaims. "How do you do that!?"

Without responding, you turn to your right and begin flying blindly. You have no idea where this will lead you, but if you were gaining some distance between you and him, you were fine with it.

Your mind was spinning. Were his words true? Was she simply using you, or was he just trying to mess with you? Would Rainbow betray your trust like that, or was she more loyal than you knew?

Who should you trust?

After a few seconds of flying, you come to a small cloud among the fog. Without any other ideas, you take the cloud and begin to reshape it, letting you slip inside and hide. Once you were tucked away within the cloud, you constrict the entrance, letting you peek out of it through a small opening.

For a few seconds, you both hear and see nothing. The fog was incredibly thick, and you couldn't see more than twenty feet in front of you. You took a moment to consider your options. If you were not eliminated, you could always simply drop out of the game, and let Dash handle this on her own. You didn't want to resort to that if it turned out that Thunderlane was truly lying to you.

If you did manage to lose your flag, you could always take Dash down with you. You've proven that you are one of the few who can keep up with her as far as speed is concerned. But if it turns out she wasn't tricking you, what would come of that? You had no idea how to approach the situation, and your brain was mulling over every possible detail, trying to give you a hint as to what to do.

A sound from outside breaks your train of thought. Peeking through your cloud, you see Rainbow Dash, frantically looking about. You open your mouth to call out to her.

Time seems to slow down. Out of the corner of your eye, you see a dark-grey missile fly at Dash. You don't even get the chance to yell out before he wraps his hoof around her flag and promptly tears it from her back.

Her face contorts with anguish as she watches her flag fall to pieces in his hoof. Her eyes go wide, knowing her chances at winning were gone with the wind.

You were her only hope now.

Thunderlane gives a cocky smile before speaking. "And when I find your little boyfriend, I'll take him down too!" With that, he speeds off, leaving the foggy abyss.

You wait for a moment, not wanting to leave the cloud before Thunderlane was truly out of earshot. You watch as Rainbow begins to tremble in shock. Her face bears a completely baffled expression, and her bottom lip quivers. You can almost see tears forming on the edges of her eyes.

Not wanting her to be more heartbroken, you emerge from the cloud and present yourself. She looks over to you, sadness evident in her face.

"I...I'm sorry..." She manages.

"Dash. Tell me the truth." She reels back slightly. "Were you truly the record-holder before Thunderlane?"

"What? Y-Yeah, I was but-" Her eyes go wide. She suddenly gasps, catching your drift. "No!"

"Are you just trying to get your record back!?" You yell.

"No! I'm not! I just wanted Thunderlane to...." She pauses for a moment, looking away. She seemed to be searching for the words. "It's just like you and Crash Course!"

"Oh, really?" You ask sarcastically.

"Thunderlane has lost it, and I want him to get over it! Please, it's not what you think! I'm-" She freezes in mid-sentence as a sound from behind catches her attention. Looking behind her, you see the object that has invoked her fear. She doesn't turn around, knowing what's behind her.

It was a CloudCam. And it was staring right at you two.

Neither of you move for a moment. Dash looks at you with a pure fear in her features, her eye twitching slightly. Your eyes dart between her eyes and the camera. The camera silently watches the two of you from behind her. Without a sound, she simply mouths one word.

Run.