The crowd was in awe of what they'd just heard. Especially the reporters.
"Prince Midnight, Prince Midnight! How long has this new squad of yours been in the works before you made their debut?" "Are you directly challenging the Wonderbolts with the making of this group?" "Are you planning any aerial shows with your Silverbolts in the near-future?" "Do the Silverbolts have any part to play in the coming summit?" "Are you making some kind of statement by including griffons and lunar pegasi?"
"Please, please, on at a time!" Midnight raised his wings, then nodded to his team, and they lowered their mask-hoods to reveal their faces as well. "It has been my ambition for some time to found this new team, the Silverbolts, not merely to entertain with aerial shows but also to provide additional security to Equestria, as well as give the Wonderbolts a direct rival for some friendly and healthy competition.
"Beside me are my good friends, Soarin, Thunderlane, Prince Doran, and Hazel Blight, who will serve collectively as my seconds-in-command as I lead the Silverbolts as its Marshal. For the time being, the Silverbolts are split into three squads, with myself the captain of A-Squad. Steel Edge and Amethyst Tides will be captains of B-Squad and C-Squad respectively."
The named ponies stepped forward. Steel Edge was a mighty lunar pegasus stallion with a coat metallic gray and a mane jet black. His leathery bat wings were cobalt blue and his eyes the typical yellow of lunar ponies, along with the narrow slit pupils and the tufts of hair on the tips of his ears. His cutie-mark was a blue shield with various weapons poking out from behind it, such as a sword, a hammer, a scythe, and spear.
Amethyst Tides a graceful pegasus mare. Her mane was three shades of soft pale blue while her coat was a gentle pink. Her eyes were bright opal and her cutie-mark was a sparkling pinkish amethyst, and she wore a flower in her mane, just above her left ear.
"In time, the Silverbolts will recruit more fliers to add to our ranks, necessitating more squads," Midnight went on, "and each squad's captain will be immediately answerable to one of my co-commanders. Steel Edge to Soarin, Amethyst Tides to Hazel Blight. And yes, as I recall someone asking, the fact that the Silverbolts include griffons and lunar pegasi is making a statement.
"Unlike the Wonderbolts, the Silverbolts will test any flier who is skilled enough, brave enough, and trustworthy enough to serve alongside us in our goals, to be the best fliers we can be, to defend Equestria in times of need, to serve as examples, and more. That is why any creature capable of flight will be given their fair chance to join us once things are settled and the proper preparations are made. It matters not whether these fliers are pegasi, lunar pegasi, griffons, or any creature that can fly. What matters if how far they are willing to go in order to take flight!"
The crowd applauded yet again, cameras flashing to record this historical moment-
"NOW WAIT JUST A FLYING BUCK IN THE FACE!!!"
All eyes and ears turned to see the outburst rise up from the crowd as Rainbow Dash gave Midnight such a stink eye, "How come I'm not part of this new aerial squad?! You make this new squad but don't even mention it to me? The Fastest Flyer in all of Equestria?!"
"Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash..." Midnight responded in a slightly condescending way, "I thought you wanted to join the Wonderbolts. So why would I bother you with the knowledge of a new aerial squad I was making when you've already got a lifelong goal to join the Wonderbolts, of whom you're already a Reserve member?"
"Well..." Rainbow Dash hesitated, seeing Midnight had a good point there, "I... That is... It would have been cool of you to at least give me the option! So why didn't you - !!! Wait... You don't want me to join your new team, do you?!"
"No, I do not," Midnight deadpanned, causing several ponies in the crowd to gasp.
"WHAT?!" Rainbow Dash zoomed up into Midnight's face, growling before huffing and backing off, "Well... Your loss! I don't care about your ragtag group of noobs, because soon enough I'll be an official Wonderbolt, and you'll come to regret not inviting the Fastest Flyer in all of Equestria to join your stinkin' team."
Midnight threw his head back in barking laughter, to everyone's confusion, especially Rainbow Dash's, although she was grinding her teeth before she demanded, "What's so funny?!"
"You?! The Fastest Flyer in all of Equestria?!" Midnight laughed while wiping away a tear as he caught his breath, "Oh Dash... Hehehehoo! You're so adorkably funny."
"What're you saying...?" Rainbow Dash demanded in a low tone of warning.
Midnight's expression of humorous mirth quickly vanished, becoming stony serious as he stated, "Rainbow Dash, you're driven to succeed, confident in your skills, whatever the challenge you give it your all. Admirable qualities, to be sure. However...
"Your ego is so sky-high it's just barely balanced out by your loyalty, and I do mean 'barely'."
"Okay, so... I've got a high opinion of myself," Rainbow Dash debated, "Big deal! I'm more than capable of backing up my skills!"
"That you are," Midnight conceded before he added, "But your ego has led you to make stupid, selfish, petty, and just plain reckless decisions in the past."
"Name one!" Rainbow demanded.
"The ruckus you caused with Ponyville General just because you couldn't admit how you'd come to love reading," Midnight raised his primary feathers, listing each and every transgression, "how you used your wings to cheat against Applejack during your Iron Pony competition, the poor sportsmanship you displayed during the Running of the Leaves, how you endangered yourself in the Ghastly Gorge while making animals race to decide which would be your pet, the time you were boasting and showing off until the girls knocked you down a peg with their Mare Do Well persona, how pushy and insensitive you were for Tornado Day, that time you snuck a bite from the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness, how you neglected your team during the Equestria Games tryouts at Rainbow Falls in favor of flying with the Wonderbolts, how you nearly traded Fluttershy into indentured servitude for a book, and let's not forget how recently you tried to stop Winter from coming to Ponyville."
"I said name one, jeez!" Rainbow Dash cringed in response.
"My point is, Rainbow Dash, that you are a skilled and dedicated flier, but while you are my friend, I'm afraid you're not the kind of flyer I want on my team," Midnight pointed out, "and frankly, your egotistical opinion that you're the Fastest Flyer in all of Equestria is just another tally mark for making my point."
"Oh, so you want me to prove it? Fine!" Rainbow Dash stamped her hoof while flaring her wings, "Let's settle it, a race! If I win, you admit that I'm the Fastest Flyer in all of Equestria!"
Several gasps and murmurs sounded through the crowd of onlooker as all eyes turned to Midnight, who smirked, "Very Well, Dash. But I don't need to race you to test your claim of being the fastest."
"Scared I'll whoop you?" Rainbow Dash challenged.
"Hardly," Midnight scoffed, "I just have another kind of challenge in mind, so how `bout this? If you can beat my challenge within one hour I will not only declare you the Fastest Flyer in all of Equestria, on live television no less, I will make you an official Wonderbolt on the spot."
There were more gasps, especially from Rainbow Dash, "You can do that?!"
"I am a prince," Midnight nodded with a shrug, "It'd stick in Spitfire's craw, but I can give you the official status as a member of the Wonderbolts. But let's not forget what happens if you lose..."
"Ha! I don't care what it is, because I'm not going to lose!" Rainbow Dash snorted, "And an hour to beat your challenge? Don't make me laugh, cuz I'll beat whatever you've got in ten seconds flat!"
"So confident," Midnight chuckled, "but let's not set ourselves up for unattainable goals, Rainbow Dash. Since you seem so sure of yourself, I'll shorten my original time of one hour to ten minutes. Beat my challenge within ten minutes, and everlasting glory and a shoe-into the Wonderbolts is yours."
"You're on!" Rainbow Dash was itching to get her wings pumping, "So name your challenge, Midnight! I can beat whatever you've got!"
"My challenge to you, Rainbow Dash is..." Midnight paused for dramatic effect, everyone leaning forward in anticipation as he raised a hoof... and pointed to his cheek as he smirked, "Punch me in the face."
"What?!" Rainbow Dash gaped at Midnight like he'd just farted.
"You heard me..." Midnight narrowed his eyes and smirked in a provoking kind of way, "Punch me in the face before ten minutes pass and you win."
"How's that supposed to prove I'm the Fastest Flyer in all of Equestria?!" Rainbow Dash demanded, sounding insulted, "You want me to be a jerk and punch you on live television and in front of all our friends and neighbors?!"
"I'm challenging you to punch me to see if you can back up your bragging," Midnight corrected before shrugging, "But I guess you're too much of a wuss to see how you measure up against a Wonderbolt-trained flyer."
"Say that again..." Rainbow Dash warned.
"I'll say it as many times as I want, you're a wuss," Midnight responded coolly, "But you're welcome to prove me wrong. Are you fast enough, Dash...?"
"Rrgh... Who's got a stopwatch?!" Rainbow called out.
"I do!" Rumble came forward, holding a stopwatch with his wing, "Just tell me when and I'll start the time, Ten minutes, right?"
"You got it, Rumble," Midnight nodded to the colt before giving a smarmy look to Rainbow, "Are you ready to get schooled, Dashie?"
"Pegasi don't school, they flock!" Rainbow Dash corrected before she flipped him the bird, raising her middle primary feather at him while keeping the rest curled, "So flock off!"
There were a few gasps in the crowd, a couple mares covering their foals' eyes at the rude gesture, but it only made Midnight chuckle.
"And just to make things fair, I promise, for the duration of this challenge, that I won't cast any spells or teleport. Just good ol' fashioned wingpower and body strength."
"Oh how generous of you!" Rainbow Dash snapped in response, getting ready as she stretched her wings and legs. "I'll hold you to that."
"Of course you will," Midnight shrugged as he did some stretches of his own, "Faust forbid you would call me out on taking such an unfair advantage as using magic."
Rainbow Dash frowned at those barbed words, but they stung all the more because deep down she knew he was right. Rumble stepped forward, holding he stopwatch as he asked, "Are you both ready?"
"Hold on!" Midnight lit up his horn and conjured a bottled drink, "Just need a quick swig."
As he drank, Rainbow Dash said, "Hey! You said no magic!"
"During the competition, which hasn't started just yet," Midnight corrected before taking another drink and then letting out a hearty BELCH "Besides, I figured I may as well drink to my... inevitable victory."
"Rrrrggghhhh....!!!" Rainbow was starting to get redder than Big Macintosh before she barked at Rumble, "Start the time!"
"Okay, Rainbow, Midnight!" Rumble held up the stopwatch, "In 3. 2... 1...! GO!!!"
He pressed the button on the stopwatch and almost instantly Rainbow Dash launched herself forward with a mighty flap of her wings! In the split second before she reached Midnight however, her hoof poised to knock that smug look off his face, Midnight simply sidestepped, his wing fanning out and he twirled around Rainbow Dash, his wing brushing over her face, causing her to be distracted as she missed and sped him by!
"Whoa-whoa-WHOOOAAAAOAOAA!!!" Rainbow Dash almost lost control but righted herself as she turned around, snorting like a bull as she launched herself at Midnight again.
This time, however, Midnight didn't dodge. Seeing Rainbow's hoof coming his way, he held up his own, and blocked it, stopping Rainbow Dash like a dam stopping a tidal wave, the air of Rainbow's acceleration rushing past them both in a mighty gale, yet Midnight was as unmovable as a mountain. Stunned for only a second, Rainbow Dash whirled about, trying to kick Midnight in the head, but he easily dodged her attack while maneuvering her just so as he whipped out his tail and tripped her up, making her fall flat on her back.
Growling, Rainbow Dash whirled her body about before hopping back onto her hooves while glaring at Midnight, who had just jumped and flapped to put some distance between them, before raising his hoof, gesturing Rainbow Dash to come get him. As much as he was annoying her, Rainbow Dash took a moment to chill.
He's just trying to get under my coat... she thought, because deep down, he knows he's not as fast as me!
"That's ten seconds, Rainbow Dash," Midnight called out, "and you haven't even come close."
Growling again, Rainbow Dash just barely kept her cool, before taking a deep breath and then began to think, He's got good reaction time, and clearly he's done some martial arts training, so how to get him...! That's it!
Rainbow Dash flapped up into the air and started zipping back and forth, in random direction, up and down, left and right, forward and back, that she became a rainbow-colored streak zipping about so fast it was dizzying trying to follow her movements. Midnight smirked, already having an idea of what Rainbow Dash was trying to do.
Twilight was getting concerned with the direction this was going. Granted, Rainbow Dash could be somewhat of an egomaniac once in a while, but she was still a loyal and reliable friend. She noticed Soarin and Thunderlane watching the challenge closely and went over to them.
"Are you guys okay with what's going on?"
"You mean Midnight teaching Dash a thing or two?" Thunderlane responded with a slightly amused smirk. "I'd be lying if I said otherwise."
"Well, Twi, I love my Dashie, and I want for her to succeed," Soarin said with a hesitant shrug, "some of the things Midnight said about her are true. She's sometimes kinda full of herself, and that's not gonna help her if and when she makes it into the Wonderbolts for real. She's so used to being a solo act that she forgets that the Wonderbolts are a team."
"But she's always worked together so well with us," Twilight pointed out, "she always has our backs and we have hers!"
"That's true, Twilight," Thunderlane nodded, "but you know how she is, always trying to look cool, showing off, boasting, even in times where it's inappropriate."
"Sometimes, Twilight," Soarin hated himself a little for saying it, "you gotta show those you care about some tough love."
Rainbow Dash was still doing her zip-a-dee-doo-dah routine, hoping that Midnight would get confused or dizzy trying to follow her movements, wondering when and where she was gonna strike. But the time was now! She finally stopped zipping about in random directions and flew in a curve, seeing Midnight's eyes were closed and his wings raised as she came at him from behind!
Gotcha!!
Her hoof thrust forward, aiming for the side of Midnight's face-
*WHIPLASH*
-only to find her hoof ensnared by something, stopping her in her tracks yet again!
"What the?!"
She double-taked to see that her hoof was being held by Midngiht's long leonine tail, and he smirked at her from the corner of his eyes, "Hello there!"
"How did you-?!" Rainbow Dash flabbergasted.
"Know you were trying to get me from my blindspot?" Midnight asked while gesturing his wings outward, "I felt the currents in the air as you flew towards me, and that let me know when and where you were coming."
"No way! You couldn't have known just from feeling the air!" Rainbow argued.
"It's true, Dash," Midnight shrugged, "It's actually a special technique for spatial awareness, learning to feel the air around you with your wings to sense the movements of your opponents or your surroundings. It's taught in the Wonderbolts. You don't know about it because you're only a Reserve. I learned it from Silver Lining when he and Hellfire trained me. Now, whattya say we take this... to the sky!!!"
Midnight whirled about, his tail still holding onto Rainbow, who cried out in alarm as Midnight whipped upwards, sending her hurtling into the sky, and he quickly followed after her with a powerful flap of his wings, though he momentarily lost her as she flew into a cloud. Zooming through it, Midnight looked around, wondering where she was.
She has been trained to handle spin-outs, Midngith thought before scoffing to himself. Maybe she's off sulking.
Just then, he saw a cloud float passed him, in a sporadic motion.
“What the...?” he narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
Just then, he felt a brush of wind and looked to his right and saw Dash, coming at him at breakneck speeds, her hoof raised. The misdirection had worked to a point, but he was still able to air-roll to the left, dodging her punch.
“You dirty little....” Dash growled.
She turned and tried again, only to have him dodge to the right. It was now turning into a record player of spinning, dodging and spinning again. Dash was starting to feel queezy, and so was Midnight. Pegasi could handle high speeds and fast spins, but only up to a certain point. They were still susceptible to dizziness and even, in some cases, motion sickness while riding on a cloud.
If this is her plan, it's a good one!, Midnight thought, as he fought to keep his lunch in.
Rainbow Dash finally paused and landed on a nearby cloud, holding her head to calm her spinny eyes, while Midnight did the same. Once their heads were no longer woozy, Rainbow Dash glared at him from her own cloud, snapping, "Hold still, why don'cha?!"
"'Hold still', Dash?" Midnight echoed with a chuckle, "I thought you appreciated a challenge! But, if you're not feeling quite up to it, I'll give you the chance to bow out. Just say 'uncle' at anytime before the ten minutes are up and I'll graciously accept your throwing in the towel."
"You know me better than that, Blaze!" Rainbow Dash flared her wings and snorted, "I never quit, because no matter what I'm in it to win it!"
*KACHOOM*
Rainbow Dash once again tried the direct approach in a superfast launch towards Midnight, who simply ducked down through the cloud he'd been sitting on, easily dodging Rainbow Dash's hoof. She quickly changed direction and flew after him, but this time Midnight led her on an epic aerial chase!
Everypony down below watched in awe of cheered Rainbow Dash and Midnight on, seeing them only as a black and blue blazing blur pursued by a rainbow-colored blur. He led her up, down, left, right, spiraling, curving, crisscrossing, loop de' looping, until finally Midnight led Rainbow down towards Ponyville. He flew up and over or around buildings, giving Rainbow Dash a more difficult challenge in trying to catch him without crashing into anything.
Twilight was honestly amazed by her husband's flying skills before she looked over to Rumble, "How much time is left?"
"6 minutes and 14 seconds," Rumble answered after checking his stopwatch.
"Let me know when the time runs out and I'll alert them," Twilight instructed, Rumble nodding.
At that moment, Midnight had pulled up back into the sky, and now was zooming fast around Ponyville's airspace, keeping well ahead of Rainbow Dash despite her trying to catch up. As his brain hatched an idea, Midnight smirked and fanned his wings out, causing the wind to push him back and Rainbow Dash "WHOA"d to avoid crashing into Midnight as he breezed past her.
Turning around, she saw he was now about ten pony-lengths away, flapping in place while taking a stance... he pulled his right hoof to the side of his face and held his left hoof outwards. Before he gestured with his left hoof at Rainbow Dash in that challenging gesture that universally meant 'Come and get it'. Narrowing her eyes, Rainbow Dash took her own stance, crossing her forelegs before holding them out while angling her side towards Midnight, her left hoof up and behind her, her right hoof low and bent in front of her.
For a few flapping seconds, they stared each other down, and just when Rainbow Dash was about to make the first move-
*WHOOSH*
"HUH?!" Rainbow Dash never thought Midnight would go first as he zipped up in front of her while making a mighty loud CLAP of his hooves in front of her face, causing her to flinch!
Taking of Rainbow Dash's dazed state, Midnight gave a mighty FLAP of his wings, sending her hurtling back in an aerial somersault, from which she barely managed to regain her balance as she shook off the effects of Midnight's fakeout. Growling but still keeping her cool, she threw another punch, but Midnight blocked it. She threw another, he blocked it again.
Everyone below watched as Rainbow threw rapid punches at Midnight, but he blocked or countered them all in quick succession.
"Wow! Rainbow Dash is a blackbelt karate master," Thunderlane commented, "but Midnight's got serious skills! None of her attacks are getting through his defenses!"
"C'MON RAINBOW DASH!!" Scootaloo hollered, "SHOW HIM WHAT'CHOO GOT!!!!!"
But at that moment, Rainbow Dash got just a little distracted as her next punch was off, and Midnight seized it, grabbing her and giving her an over-the-shoulder throw back towards the ground, Rainbow yelling, "WHOAAAAA!!!"
She just barely managed to right herself and use a strong flap to lessen the impact as she landed on all fours not far from the crowd, and everyone gasped as the tension rose while Midnight landed on the ground too, standing about five pony-lengths away from his ornery opponent. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth while giving Midnight such a stink eye.
"Oh, don't gimme that look, Rainbow," Midnight chuckled, "it's good to have fans, but better to keep your concentration on the task at hoof rather than split it listening to them just to satisfy your ego."
"Rrrgh, shut up!" Rainbow Dash snapped while concentrating her pegasus magic. She raised her wings and then her left hoof, pointing straight at Midnight.
"And just what are you gonna do from all the way over there?" Midnight smirked, "Not that I'm counting the seconds, but I'm fairly certain you can't afford to waste any more time."
"He's right, Rainbow!" Rumble called out, "There's only four and a half minutes left before the time's up!"
"See? So what's stalling you, Dash?" Midnight egged, "I thought you were supposed to be the Fastest Flyer in all of Equestria, but thus far I've been flying circles around you."
"Rrgh, so you can use your wings to feel changes in the air and sense when I'm coming, big deal!" Rainbow Dash remarked, as her feathers began to give off a faint discharge of colorful electricity.
"I may not be an official Wonderbolt yet, but they do teach even us Reserves some pretty rad techniques! You're fast, I'll admit it. But let's see you dodge my own version of the Lightning Bolt Strike I learned under Lightning Streak!"
The electrical aura surrounding Rainbow Dash's wings crackled as it was all concentrated towards Rainbow's hoof, creating a colorful electric pulse surging to be released!
"I'm gonna zap that smirk right off your face, Blaze!"
"Then take your best shot," Midnight challenged as he folded his wings to his barrel, "I promise I won't fly away this time."
"You're gonna regret that! So I hope you're ready to take my Rainbolt Strike, Blaze, cuz it's gonna sting!"
*SHHHZAAAAAP*
Everyone watched in morbid anticipation as a rainbow-colored bolt of lightning launched from Rainbow Dash's hoof, zooming straight and true towards Midnight! For a fleeting moment, Twilight, afraid for her husband, almost lit up her horn to to cast a shield spell on him... only for Midnight to rear up, and spin to his left, effortlessly dodging the Rainbolt Strike, and then kicking off, launching himself straight at Rainbow, who was too stunned in disbelief to dodge Midnight's hoof to her gut!
Groaning in pain but refusing to cry out in it, Rainbow Dash gasped, as the wind had just been knocked out of her, and fell to her hooves, clutching her stomach as Midnight stepped back, his expression like a stone statue.
"RAINBOW DASH!!" Scootaloo, Soarin, Rumble, and some more of her friends cried out, but before any of them could come to her aid they saw Rainbow Dash hold her wing out in a halt gesture.
They saw her look their way, her right eye clenched shut in pain but shaking her head no, she didn't want them to interfere. She then gazed up at Midnight, steadying her breath as she forced herself to stand and look him in the eye.
"You're good, Midnight, much better than I thought you were gonna be."
"I know I'm being hard on you, Rainbow Dash," Midnight responded with a stony demeanor, "but it's the only way you'll learn."
"Learn what?" Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes.
"That no matter how good you are, or anyone is, at something, "Midnight explained, "that there's always gonna be someone out there who's better. You think Spitfire's tough on you? Her training is foals' daycare compared to what her grandfather Hellfire put me through for three months straight! I'll spare you the gory details, given how you're pressed for time, and put it simple. You're fast, you're skilled, you're determined. But you'll never be fast enough to punch me in the mug!"
"You want fast...?! I'll give you Sonic Rainboom Fast!!!"Rainbow Dash seethed as she launched skyward.
Midnight hunkered down before he too launched skyward, and flew away from Rainbow as she pursued him. This time however, she was preparing. Though she'd long mastered her ultimate flying technique, she still had to build up enough speed and magic before breaking the sound barrier.
"She's gonna do it!" Scootaloo smiled in excitement, "No way Midnight can get away from her this time!"
"The Sonic Rainboom..." Thunderlane nodded. "But that technique does have one glaring weakness."
His friends and brother turned to pay him attention as he explained, "The first milestone in mastering the Rainboom is actually pulling it off at will. The next is controlling it, which is easier said than done. Rainbow is moving at supersonic speed after she breaks the sound barrier, and moving so incredibly fast is hard enough, much less changing direction while flying at that speed.
"Once Rainbow Dash does the Rainboom, she'd better be absolutely precise on her aim and her timing. `Cuz if she misses, she won't get another chance."
"There's only a minute and twelve seconds left," Rumble brought up.
"Then this is it," Soarin responded with a tense look, "The grand finale."
Indeed. Rainbow Dash steadily built up her speed along with her pegasus magic. Midnight sensed it and picked up his own speed in response, getting further and further ahead.
You're not getting away this time! Rainbow Dash thought as she felt her power increase along with her velocity. Sure, Midnight was managing to stay ahead, but in mere moments... Wait! What was that?!
She didn't stop her focus, but she couldn't help but feel a similar build-up of power... coming from her target!
Whatever you're up to, Midnight Blaze, it's not gonna save your smug mug from my hoof!
"ALRIGHT!!!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she began to charge through the sound barrier "HERE WE GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"
*SHABOOM/SHABOOM*
Everyone gasped in shocked marvel as Rainbow Dash performed her Sonic Rainboom... and immediately after, Midnight did one too! The sky was filled with cascading ripples of colors, first the colors of Rainbow Dash's Rainboom, and then Midnight's, Black, Dark Blue, Sapphire Blue, Blazing Blue, Electric Indigo, and then a Silver-White! The skyward colors rippled out across the horizon until they vanished in the distance, and the sky was again as clear as morning.
"Am I seeing things or did Prince Midnight just do a Rainboom too?!" "Extraordinary!!" "That was awesome!" "You saw it here, viewers, on SHM News!"
The crowd was going wild when Rumble tapped Twilight on the shoulder and showed her the stopwatch. Nodding, she concentrated a spell and launched a magenta flare of mana skyward that exploded, revealing giant transparent letters that read 'TIME'S UP'.
*FLASH*
All eyes turned to see Midnight Blaze, looking stoic, and Rainbow Dash, looking stunned. For a long moment, she looked upon Midnight, and he returned the disbelief in her eyes with the unflinching resolution in his own.
"...how?" Rainbow Dash finally uttered, her feathers shaking, her tail drooping, "How can you do a Sonic Rainboom?! That's... that's supposed to be my signature move!"
"Not necessarily," Midnight responded plainly, "The Sonic Rainboom was legend long before you were ever born, Rainbow Dash. The pegasi who achieved the technique before us have been few and far between across the centuries. As a matter of fact, even during the time of the Pegasus Empire, only one was ever skilled enough to perform the technique, and like you did as a filly it was only a fluke.
"The technique is not yours alone, Rainbow Dash, despite your name. My version of the technique is called the Lunar Rainboom. No one ever saw me do it because I trained to master it only at night when all was dark and everyone asleep."
The gears turned in Rainbow Dash's head as she realized Midnight was right about the Rainboom being around long before she was, and she sighed deeply, looking crestfallen.
"...You won, Midnight. Whatever you want, I'll do it. Fair's fair..."
"Very well. Rainbow Dash..." Midnight declared, "I wish for you... to learn from this defeat."
"What?!" Rainbow Dash gazed up at Midnight, surprised, "I- I don't understand!"
"Like I already said, Rainbow," Midnight explained kindly, "no matter how skilled one is in something there's always gonna be someone out there who's better. Masters and experts in their arts and disciplines come and go, but the efforts they make to become experts and masters, the journeys they take, their triumphs, their failures? All of that is what truly makes them winners.
"It's good to succeed and to aim to win, but victory isn't always what we need in order to learn, grow, and improve. When the chips are down and you give it your all, only to come up short and fail? Well, he kicked my ass six ways from Sunday, but there is one lesson Hellfire taught me that I truly appreciate - That it is in Failure, not Success, where we truly learn what matters. The mistakes we make, the limits we have? If you give it maximum effort, even if you fail, that's where you find out what you're really made of, and figure out where to go from there so that you can improve and be better than you were before! In other words, the greatest teacher we can possibly ask for is Failure."
There were some murmurs of agreement and nods of approval among the crowd, and though the bitter sting of defeat irked her, Rainbow Dash knew when she was beaten. Midnight had won fair and square and there was nothing else to it, and his words actually resonated with her.
"That's really it? You just want me to learn from losing and remember what you wanted to teach me?" Rainbow Dash asked, and when Midnight gave her a kind nod and smile, she couldn't help but smile back, just a little before she sighed.
"i gotta admit, Midnight. You're all kinds of awesome, and I guess that's why you're the Fastest Flyer in all of Equestria."
In response, Midnight chuckled before saying with a cheeky smile, "No I'm not."
"HUH?!" Rainbow Dash and the whole crowd reacted in shock to Midnight's words.
But before Rainbow Dash could ask Midnight anything else, Spike ran in between them holding a scroll and calling out, "SUMMONS FROM CANTERLOT!! MIDNIGHT, TWILIGHT, WE GOT A- WHOA!!"
Unfortunately, a rock had been in Spike's way, causing him to stumble and fall in a rolling motion, and Twilight quickly levitated Spike and the scroll up, the little dragon rubbing a little bump in a sore area as he said, "Thanks, Twilight!"
"No problem, Spike. Now let's see..." Twilight gave the scroll a read and gasped! "Midnight, Rainbow Dash! Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Prince Sombra are requesting us and the rest of the Council of Friendship to come to Canterlot immediately!"