The weather above Ponyville for today was scheduled to be sunny and clean. That is what the Pegasus in Cloudsdale and their local weather control central decided. As a result, the sky above Ponyville was clear of any clouds and looked exactly like what was planned today.
Having a clear sky right now, was thanks to the ponies who worked as weather ponies, which were Pegasus who moved and manipulated the clouds so that it would match with what was decided in Cloudsdale. One of those weather ponies was Rainbow Dash, a mare who did her very best to kick away every single cloud as fast as possible as if it was a personal challenge, constantly trying to improve her speed.
As usual, whenever her work was done, she took a nap somewhere on a single cloud and relaxed. It was her way of rewarding herself for a job well done. Considering that she was also giving one-hundred percent every day, she must have been pretty tired too.
Her nap, however, was rudely interrupted...
"Niiiigth!" A female voice then screamed suddenly in excitement, causing Rainbow Dash's ears to ring and making her jump up in surprise. The voice belonged to Lightbeam, who was hovering above the previously sleeping Pegasus mare. She was smiling, but that didn't last too long once she inspected the mare in front of her. "Oh! You're not Nightsky, my bad..." Lightbeam apologized, innocently sticking out her tongue in embarrassment.
Rainbow Dash, being a pony who highly valued her little naps and her free time, was not taking too kindly about this abrupt wake-up call. "Hey! I was fast asleep!" She exclaimed annoyed.
"Sorry, I mistook you with my brother Nightsky," Lightbeam apologized again. "He usually takes a nap at this time of day in a cloud, just like you just now. Funny, huh?" He explained.
But Rainbow Dash didn't find anything about this whole situation funny. In fact, hearing that name was ruining her good mood completely. "Don't compare me with this lazy guy, we are nothing alike!" She replied as if she got offended by this statement for some reason.
Lightbeam didn't understand why Rainbow Dash reacted like that. She didn't know what her brother's and Rainbow Dash's relationship was but judging from Rainbow Dash's reaction it didn't seem too good. But despite that, Lightbeam still had to disagree. "I don't know. You both work as weather ponies, you both like to take naps, you are both blue..." she pointed out. The more things that the mare listed up, the more Rainbow Dash seemed to get annoyed. "Also, you are both really fast flyer,"
"So, I've heard..." Rainbow Dash replied annoyed. She happened to know this already after witnessing the stallion's flying abilities before. For some reason, it only made her angrier that a pony like him was actually as fast of a flyer than she was.
Lightbeam didn't notice how Rainbow Dash didn't want to hear all of this and just merrily continued. "I mean, I guess you can be considered really fast if even the Wonderbolts approach you and ask you to join them," she casually mentioned.
Suddenly, the annoyance from Rainbow Dash's face disappeared and turned into shock. "He what!?" Rainbow Dash replied in shock, her body now being fully awake. It was almost like she misheard something right now.
"Yeah," Lightbeam said happily with a nod. "One day, one of them came to visit. Spitfire, was it?" She said trying to recall the name, which according to Rainbow Dash's shocked expression must have been the right one. "She said, she saw him flying somewhere in Cloudsdale at some point and asked my brother if he considered joining them with his skills," the mare explained.
"So he is a member of the Wonderbolts!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed in surprise and with widened eyes.
"Nope, he declined," Lightbeam replied casually with a smile on her face.
It was almost possible to hear Rainbow Dash's frustration once she heard those words. "He WHAT!?" She exclaimed louder than ever before. The mare then grabbed Lightbeam's shoulders, shaking her back and forth. "So you are telling me that this guy got the opportunity to join the best and most awesome ponies in Equestria and he decided to not join them!?" She asked desperately.
"Uh-huh," Lightbeam replied, again, really casually considering how Rainbow Dash was shaking her back and forth.
"Why!?" Rainbow Dash asked in desperation, confusion, frustration, and almost any other bad emotion in her mind right now.
Lightbeam began to think for a moment. "I...don't really know. I don't think he ever explained why. All I remember is him saying that he didn't think it was this important,"
"NOT IMPORTANT!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed angrily now. She couldn't take it anymore. It was just too much for her to handle at this moment. All she knew right now was that she had to go to Nightsky and have a talk with him about some things. Some really important things that she couldn't let pass by like that.
"If he was good enough to join the Wonderbolts, then there is no way that I am not fit to join them as well! I am better after all!" She said determined while she was flying over Ponyville at extreme speed to find Nightsky and settle some things that she wanted to settle for a while now.
Later...
Nightsky's shift as a weather pony ended just an hour ago and as usual, to get some rest from work, he would usually take a little nap in the clouds. Given that Nightsky was a pony who was needlessly happy, he enjoyed those naps quite a lot and didn't like it when somepony interrupted them. Except for his sister of course.
Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened now. His nap was interrupted by someone. A shadow was thrown on him, causing his eyebrows to lower in confusion. "Is that you Lightbeam?" Nightsky asked with his eyes still closed. "I'm exhausted, let me sleep for a while please," he begged.
After not hearing a reply for a while and still feeling the shadow on his face, the stallion opened his eyes and soon found out that it wasn't Lightbeam hovering over him but instead a sky blue-coated Pegasus mare with a rainbow-colored mane, cherry red-colored eyes and a rainbow-colored lightning bolt coming out of a white cloud as a Cutie Mark.
"Rainbow Dash?" Nightsky asked confused in a tired voice after he recognized his fellow work partner. "Can I help you?"
The mare clenched her eyes bitterly and glared at the stallion. "You!" She simply said, not breaking eye contact with the stallion one bit.
"Yes?" Nightsky replied confused. His tiredness vanished after he realized with what determined of a look the mare was looking at him. She must have wanted something really serious from him, judging from the expression on her face.
Rainbow Dash didn't waste any time and got straight to the point. "You and me, we're gonna race! Now!" She demanded.
"Huh?" Nightsky replied confused. He had no idea where this came from and he wished for some more explanation from the mare.
But Rainbow Dash didn't want to explain anything. "You heard me! We will both race against each other! The winner is gonna get the title of Fastest Flyer in Ponyville!" She said with a determined grin on her face as if she already won this race.
Nightsky looked at the mare and noticed the determination on her face. For some reason, this seemed to be important for her, very important. His answer followed relatively quickly. "No," he simply said before he turned around and laid down on his cloud again.
The mare in front of him had a look on her face as if she wasn't picked up from her mother after school. "What!? You can't decline! I just challenged you to a race!" She pointed out.
"I just did," Nightsky replied with his head laying on his cloud again, ready to go to sleep again.
Needless to say, Rainbow Dash got pretty angry by this response. "The fastest pony in all of Equestria just challenged you to a race! You can't just decline!" She said angrily.
But Nightsky didn't care one bit. "If you are the fastest pony in Equestria then there is no reason to do a race now, is there?" He pointed out, his head still turned away from the mare.
Rainbow Dash clearly found her determination waver after hearing those words. "Still!" She said with some less confidence in her voice. "This is something that needs to be settled!"
"Why?" Nightsky asked.
Rainbow Dash was now hovering right in front of the stallion's face, much to close for his comfort. "Listen, I've been watching you for a while now!" She said, which confused Nightsky a little and actually made him feel a little weird. "At work, you are always so lazy and laid back, you don't put any energy into anything. But then, on some random occasions, like back then at Apple Cider Season, you clearly showed that you can fly really fast if you want to," the mare pointed out almost angrily.
Still, Nightsky remained calm and collected while replying to her. "Those were not random occasions. I fly fast when I need to, that is all. What is wrong with that?" He asked as if it was the most normal thing ever.
"So you do admit that you are a fast flyer!" Rainbow Dash threw at the stallion, even though he was sure that he never denied that in the first place. "Don't tell me that you are too lazy to spend a few minutes racing with me!" But then something suddenly struck the mare and she got her confidence back. "Or don't tell me that you are too afraid to lose against me?" She said with a smug smile on her face.
The expression on Nightsky changed a little. He lowered his eyebrows and looked a little bit more bothered. Rainbow Dash seemed to have struck the right spot with him now. Now he had to accept her challenge.
At least that's what she thought was happening...
"Sure, that's it. Glad that we are done here now," the stallion said before he turned around to sleep on his cloud again.
Rainbow Dash was boiling in anger. She couldn't believe how difficult it would be to deal with this pony. In the end, she was out of options and gave up for now. She had to come up with something else to convince this pony to race her. And she quickly realized how she was able to do this.
Nightsky watched the mare leave and was glad that this was over with. Now he could happily return to his nap.
Later...
Nightsky was about to fall asleep again. This one talk with Rainbow Dash did give him a little bit of a headache but he quickly put it aside and focused on his nap again. He figured that it was a waste of time thinking about it so he decided to not worry about it anymore.
The stallion came close to fall asleep but again, a shadow appeared on him and Nightsky figured that Rainbow Dash didn't give up on him already. However, as soon as he opened his eyes to check, he saw his sister hovering above him.
"Oh, it's you..." Nightsky said with relief in his voice. "Do you need something, Light?" He asked, hoping that this wasn't the case so that he could continue to rest some more.
"Oh, nothing special," Lightbeam said casually. "I am a little bored, that is all,"
"I'm sure you find something to do to keep yourself entertained..." Nightsky said while he turned around to sleep again.
But Lightbeam was not noticing those signs to leave her brother alone. "I was hoping that you could help me," she said before she hovered in front of Nightsky's face.
"Do I need to?" Nightsky replied with a bothered tone in his voice. "You know how much I like my naps after work," he pointed out, hoping that his sister would understand.
"Yeah, I know," Lightbeam replied. "I just thought...maybe doing something entertaining would get rid of my boredom...like watching you fly!"
Nightsky's eyes popped open in surprise. He turned around and looked at his sister. "What?" He just asked confused.
"I know!" Lightbeam exclaimed excitedly. "I would really like watching you in a race, it'll be fun!"
This was really suspicious. Nightsky clenched his eyes and looked around carefully. He inspected his surroundings and quickly saw what he thought he would find. Rainbow Dash. The mare was hiding behind a cloud, her head was pointed out but as soon as Nightsky was looking at her general direction, she made sure to be out of sight.
"Of course..." Nightsky said annoyed after realizing what might have happened. It was just too suspicious that his sister was asking him to do something like this now out of all days. Rainbow Dash must have somehow convinced his sister to talk him into this whole racing thing.
"Well, what do you say?" Lightbeam then asked while Nightsky's eyes were still focused on the cloud where Rainbow Dash was hiding behind.
His sister had a genuinely excited expression on her face. Rainbow Dash must have gotten into her head really good to make her feel like this. Needless to say, Nightsky couldn't just say no with his sister looking at him like this and he just let out a sigh. "Fine..." he said, agreeing to take part in this race that Rainbow Dash demanded from him.
The stallion could swear that he could hear Rainbow Dash giggling behind her cloud after accepting the challenge.
Later...
The two Pegasus ponies were waiting at the starting line for the race, which wasn't a line at all and just a drawn line in the dirt on an empty grass meadow a little bit outside of Ponyville. Lightbeam accompanied them and had the job to give the starting signal to the two of them, once they were ready.
"Alright, the rules are simple, no need to over complicate things, after all," Rainbow Dash said while she was stretching her legs next to Nightsky.
"Right..." Nightsky said a little annoyed as he practically waited for her to be ready so that this could all be over as fast as possible.
Rainbow Dash pointed forward at the huge city of Canterlot in the far distance. "The first pony that reaches the gates of Canterlot and returns here, wins!" She said. It really was pretty simple. Nightsky almost expected the mare to set up a whole obstacle course for them.
"Got it," Nightsky replied before he stood there ready to fly at any time.
Seeing how the stallion was ready for the race, really was to Rainbow Dash's liking. But instead of being thankful to Nightsky that he was taking part in this race now, she decided to boast. "You probably already know but I think I should warn you that you will not win this race," she said confidently with a big grin on her face.
Nightsky only looked at the mare annoyed. He really wanted to tell her that the race was pointless if she thought that but he just decided to ignore her and get this all over with. No need to fuel the fire anymore. "We are both ready, Light!" He said towards his little sister who was already waiting for the two of them to start.
Lightbeam walked past the two ponies before she eventually placed herself on the sideline. She had to admit that she was getting quite excited to see who would win this race. Of course, she knew that her brother was pretty fast when it came to flying but she also knows that Rainbow Dash was not bad either, according to the things that Nightsky occasionally brought up after coming back from work. This race will probably be really close and not to mention, interesting.
"Alright! Get ready!" Lightbeam shouted. The two ponies both stood ready and just waited for the signal from Lightbeam.
A suspenseful pause happened. Both Pegasus Ponies had their eyes focused in front of them and waited for a signal from Lightbeam. Both of them seemed serious about winning just judging from the expressions on their faces. Rainbow Dash had to admit that she got quite excited about this race as well after noticing the seriousness on Nightsky's face.
"Set...GO!"
The sight of the two ponies was replaced by a huge smoke cloud that was created by their fast lift off. Lightbeam was cheering heavily and bounced up and down on the spot. She shouted her brother's name repeatedly even though he could probably not hear her anymore. Her cheers were, however, stopped as soon as she spotted something right in front of her eyes.
Once the smoke on the starting line cleared, one pony revealed itself, standing still and without any sign to move any time. It was Nightsky. He watched Rainbow Dash flying away at high speed until she eventually was out of sight, and once that happened, he turned around and slowly walked away.
Lightbeam kept continuing to cheer. She didn't quite seem to understand what was happening in front of her eyes. "Um..." she then said after realizing that her brother did not bother to continue the race. She then ran towards the stallion, asking the obvious question. "What are you doing!? You gonna lose the race if you don't hurry!" She advised.
"Yep, Looks like it," Nightsky said while he casually shook his shoulders and continued to walk away.
The mare was still a little bit confused. "But...you didn't even attempt to race her," Lightbeam pointed out.
"The race started and I was there when it started. That should be enough," Nightsky replied.
"I dunno," Lightbeam replied, thinking about how this was not really what she was expecting when she was looking forward to this race.
But Nightsky knew exactly how to handle this situation. "I'll buy you some ice cream,"
Lightbeam ears pointed up in excitement. "Okay!" She said with a smile on her face before she hopped behind Nightsky who was now walking away from the starting line. Thank goodness that his sister was easy to convince. Now it kinda made sense how Rainbow Dash managed to talk her into this race.
Nightsky did not really feel bad for what he did, he attended the race and by now Rainbow Dash was probably way on her way to Canterlot and about to reach the gates so she pretty much won anyway. One way or another, the race was decided.
Later...
Again, Nightsky was laying on a cloud continuing his nap, when not much time later, a shadow appeared on his face again. The stallion lowered his eyebrows in worry because he had a pretty good guess who that shadow belonged to, and once he opened his eyes, he found out his guess was true.
"You! You tricked me!" Rainbow Dash said furiously. As if she wasn't annoyed enough before from Nightsky's previous behavior, now she had a legitimate reason to be pretty angry at him.
"Guess I lost the race," Nightsky casually replied before he closed his eyes again.
"You weren't racing at all!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed angrily.
Nightsky shook his shoulders. "Okay, I didn't..." he replied before he turned around and tried to ignore the mare so that he could sleep again.
Rainbow Dash was furious after hearing that reply. She couldn't believe that this pony was so difficult to deal with. All she wanted was a race and nothing more but Nightsky was just not having it. But the thing was, Rainbow Dash was way too stubborn to give up now.
"We both will go back to the starting line right now and start this race again!" She demanded.
"No," Nightsky shot back.
Again, Rainbow Dash was boiling in anger after hearing this response. "Why are you so stubborn!?" She exclaimed angrily.
"I could ask you the same thing," Nightsky replied calmly. "I'm pretty sure I would lose the race anyway, to be honest," he added.
"But we can't be sure!" Rainbow Dash shouted back before she covered her mouth in shock, much to the surprise of Nightsky who had no idea what this was about. "What I mean is...uh...I know that I'll win this race but I...uh...I can't just call myself the fastest flyer in Equestria if there is still somepony out there that I haven't competed against,"
Right about now Nightsky figured that this was just an excuse. What she said made absolutely no sense. Going by that logic, she needed to race every single pony in Equestria to claim that title. But whatever the reason was for her, Nightsky couldn't care less.
Rainbow Dash, however, was not letting it go until the race was happening. "It will only take a few minutes and after that, it will be all over!" She almost said in a begging tone.
Those words actually sounded pretty good in Nightsky's ears. The stallion got up from his cloud and looked around. "One race?" He asked.
"One race!" Rainbow Dash replied.
"No matter who wins, you will leave me alone after that?" He asked further.
"Yes!" Rainbow Dash answered.
Again, Nightsky looked around until he got an idea. "Okay, from here to the entrance of the Everfree Forest then," he suggested.
Rainbow Dash's ears peeked up. "The Everfree Forest!? You mean that dangerous forest outside of Ponyville?" She said in a slightly nervous tone.
"What? You're too afraid?" Nightsky said with a smug expression on his face.
And as planned, Rainbow Dash jumped up after hearing that. "Of course not!" She replied before she was ready to fly at full speed any second now.
Nightsky also got ready now. He really wanted to be left in peace so he had no choice to get this over with. "On go," he signaled before he counted down from three to give the sign to start this race, which he was forced into. "GO!" He then exclaimed, officially starting the race now.
For Rainbow Dash...
Just like before, Rainbow Dash was flying at high speed while Nightsky didn't move one bit. He tricked her again and as soon as she was out of sight, the stallion left the scene to continue his day.
"Can't believe that actually worked twice..." he commented before he flew away to find a new cloud.
Later...
It was the same scene as before, Nightsky laying on a cloud, only this time he was awake. He probably figured that, with Rainbow Dash constantly interrupting him, it would just be a waste of time to go to sleep. So instead, he decided to read a book: Daring Do and the Quest For the Sapphire Stone. The book he was reading was one that his sister recently bought for him.
Nightsky did read a little bit of this book already and quickly found himself interested in the story. "Wow. This book is really good," he said in surprise as he went through another page of it. However, as soon as he found himself lost into this book, a shadow appeared above him, making it quite a bit annoying to read. "Hey, Rainbow Dash," the stallion casually greeted after feeling a lot of anger hanging in the air.
The mare glared at him. It almost seemed as if she was used to this behavior from Nightsky and didn't even bother shouting at him anymore. "Reading, really?" She commented after she saw the book in the stallion's hooves. She was clearly looking down on her self-proclaimed rival for reading a book instead of doing something of a more athletic nature.
The stallion wasn't offended by this and instead held the book in her direction. "It's a really fun book. I'm sure you would like it as well," he said, practically offering it to the mare to give it a read.
But Rainbow Dash instantly declined. "No thanks. Reading is for Eggheads and not cool ponies like me,"
Again, Nightsky didn't feel offended and simply shrug his shoulders. "Suit yourself." What followed was an awkward silence between the two and while Nightsky was continuing his book as if nothing was wrong, Rainbow Dash was throwing daggers with her eyes at the stallion. Eventually, Nightsky broke the silence after turning another page of his book. "So...how long are you trying to convince me to race with you?"
Rainbow Dash explained. "Until you accept,"
"And if I don't?" The stallion countered.
"I'll try as long until you do!"
"Okay then. I'm quite patient..." Nightsky replied while he kept reading his book.
"Well, I'm not!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed before she slapped the book out of Nightsky's hooves in anger. The stallion was not sure if she did that because she wanted him to react to that or not, but either way, he didn't care too much to bother.
There was another thing that did bother him, however. "Why are you so focused on this race anyway? This is not just about who of us is faster is it?" He asked, hoping to get to the bottom of this.
"Maybe," Rainbow Dash replied coldly. Another silence was between the two of them. Nightsky kept looking at the mare, waiting for an explanation. Rainbow Dash figured that it was now the time to get some answers to a bunch of questions that she kept in her mind.
"Is it true that the Wonderbolts asked you to join them!?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yes," Nightsky replied.
"And is it true that you declined their offer!?"
"Yes," Nightsky replied again.
"And is it true that your reason for declining their offer was because you didn't think it was that important!?"
"Yes," Nightsky replied once more.
Rainbow Dash screamed in anger. "Do you have any idea for how long I tried to join the Wonderbolts!?" She exclaimed before she went up right into Nightsky's face. "And then I'm told that you, out of all ponies in Equestria, had the chance to join them served on a silver plate! It's like you are kicking me right in the face!"
Nightsky lowered his eyebrows in confusion. "I still don't really understand why you are so upset about that," he asked.
Rainbow Dash quickly screamed back, "I am upset because joining the Wonderbolts is my dream!"
In complete contrast to Rainbow Dash's behavior, Nightsky remained calm and answered. "But it's not my dream. It's not like I ruined your chance to join them. It will only be a matter of time until they will approach you someday so I don't really get why you are getting mad at me for declining my chance," the stallion explained.
The mare suspiciously raised an eyebrow. Eventually, she got a little confused about the stallion's words. "You really think they will approach me too?" She asked with a glimmer of hope in her voice.
"Are you kidding me?" Nightsky said. "It's as you said, if they approach me, then surely they will notice you as well in no time."
"You think!?" Rainbow Dash asked as if Nightsky's words were absolute. Still, the mare had a hard time believing that. "You...you are not just saying that so that I would calm down, right?"
"Not at all," Nightsky assured. "I mean, weren't you the pony who pulled off a Sonic Rainboom? I never managed to do something like that," he admitted.
All of a sudden, the mare's behavior changed completely and she began raising her chest confidently. "Yeah, I'm pretty awesome," she said with a grin on her face.
Nightsky smiled after hearing that response. "There we go, that's more like you,"
The mare rubbed her neck with a little bit of embarrassment on her face. "I guess it was pretty stupid of me to think that I am a worse flyer than you," she said followed by a little laugh.
Now Nightsky was the one who laughed. "So that is what this was all about?" He teased with a smile on his face.
Rainbow Dash's eyes popped open in embarrassment. "Like I said! It was stupid of me to even consider that a possibility considering that I am the best flyer in Equestria!" She said in an attempt to defend herself.
Nightsky chuckled and approached the mare. "Listen...even if I am a better flyer than you if joining the Wonderbolts is your dream and you keep improving yourself until you archive that dream then there is no way that you will soon become the fastest flyer in all of Equestria. I am sure of that," the stallion explained with more emotions than he ever showed before towards Rainbow Dash.
Those words certainly helped to boost Rainbow Dash's confidence. "Say..." she then started in order to change the subject. "Now that we all settled who is better, I guess it wouldn't hurt if we both could spend some time together, from one good flyer to another," she suggested while still trying to keep up her confidence. "We do have a lot in common after all." She then moved closer to the stallion. "Just between us...I like to take a nap after work as well," the mare whispered into the stallion's ears so that nopony else world hear it.
Nightsky smiled after hearing that. "Yeah, so I've heard. And yes, that sounds like a good idea,"
The two settled this newfound friendship with a hoof bump. It was true that both of them had quite a few things in common. They both liked to take naps, both were fast flyer, and they both worked as weather ponies. Now those were probably not the best things to start a friendship of from but it was better than nothing.
"But..." Rainbow Dash started after she remembered one thing. "There is still one thing that bothers me..."
"What?" Nightsky asked.
Rainbow Dash quickly asked her question. "Now, what could possibly be more important than joining the Wonderbolts? You said it wasn't that important to you so was there something that was more important to you at that time?"
Nightsky had to smile as soon as he thought back at that time. Coincidentally, his sister Lightbeam could be seen in the distance talking and laughing with the rest of his friends. Seeing that quickly put a smile on his face. "Yeah, maybe," he said happily before he decided to walk up to his friends. "I wanted to stay with my friends...I wanted to spend time with them right here, right now," he then mumbled under his breath.
"What?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Nothing. Hey, want me to introduce you to my friends?" Nightsky then asked towards Rainbow Dash, who nodded in response and followed the stallion who was walking up to the group of ponies.