Chapter 2
“Behind the Clouds”
I looked out of the basket of the hot air balloon I was riding. I looked down to see the ground become like a faraway dream below me. I’ll admit I suffered a little bit of vertigo from looking down. I never much cared for heights.
I myself have never been to the Pegasi capital before. Unlike unicorns and earth ponies the pegasi had a city all to their own. I looked on the massive city made of clouds. The weather factory was hard at work pumping out clouds for the day. The pegasi were everywhere, swarming the city like mouths to a flame. Pegasi were the only race that could normally walk on clouds. Unicorns and earth ponies can but we needed a special spell in order to do it. As a result the Pegasi have developed a culture all to their own.
Looking at the clouds did bring back some memories of mom though. She was a Pegasus herself. Not a native to Cloudsdale but the city still reminded me of those days when she would fly me up to the clouds and we would play for hours. I shook my head at the thought. First Twilight now mom? What next I start mourning the loss of Firebird?
The balloon landed on top of one of the clouds. I casted a cloud walking spell on myself, I used the spell whenever mom and I would play on the clouds. I stepped onto the clouds and looked around. I’ve never been to the cloud city before so I was unsure of where to go. I just knew I was looking for the racetrack. Maybe somepony was willing to give me directions.
I looked around for a bit and then perked my ears at something. It was a beautiful melody the likes of which I haven’t heard before. I followed the sound and came across a butter yellow Pegasus singing to a bird. She hovered next to the bird and started singing a few notes to which the bird repeated. I couldn’t help but smile, her voice was like honey.
“Oh, good work sparrow just remember that diction is important” The Pegasus said in a sweet voice that matched her singing. She was rather small compared to the average pony; she had a long pink mane that covered the side of her face. Her wings weren’t muscular like Dash’s; in fact they looked like they were rarely if ever used. Her aqua eyes looked at the sparrow encouragingly. “Remember to keep practicing” She said as the sparrow flew away.
I smiled and walked to the mare, she didn’t seem to notice me at first. “Hello there”
She turned suddenly and let out a small squeak of surprise. She fell on her romp and looked at me with frantic eyes. She finally turned one side of her head so that her mane acted like a curtain between me and her. “Um…hello…”
Well this was a sudden switch…She was so friendly to that sparrow. I smiled at her trying to be friendly. “I’m Private, what’s your name?”
She looked at me with her aqua eyes as if unsure what to say. She then looked down and said almost in a whisper. “I’m…Fluttershy...”
I raised an eyebrow “Sorry I didn’t catch that…could you repeat what you said?”
She flushed a little in embarrassment and said again this time even softer “Fluttershy…”
Still a whisper, man this pony really is a shrinking violet. I decided to cut to the chase. “I’m looking for the racetrack, could you point me in the right direction?”
She raised her hoof towards the center of town and let out a small squeak. I nodded and started trotting toward where she was pointing. What a strange mare, I’d love to get to know her if she didn’t seem to think I would suck out her soul or something. She seemed awfully sweet.
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I was able to find the racetrack with relative ease now that I knew the general direction of where to go. I was about to enter the racetrack when I heard a familiar voice.
“Hey Private!” I looked up as Rainbow descended to land beside me. She smiled at me and looked at her watch. “Come on the race is about to start! I’ve been waiting forever!”
Not one for patience was she? “Don’t worry, the race isn’t going anywhere”
We both entered the stadium and found seats. Rainbow insisted on spending most of her bits on Spitfire fan gear. She came back to the seats wearing a t-shirt and what looked like a spitfire style wig.
I frowned at her then she said to me. “What? Like you never bought stuff like this?”
I wasn’t going to tell her about my Raystar costume that I wear every year for nightmare night. I simply let out a bemused chuckle as Dash took a seat beside me. The racetrack itself was a simple oval shaped racetrack. This was a test of speed, no fancy tricks or stunts were going to get you ahead. You had to use sheer endurance and velocity to win.
The announcer then started speaking “Good afternoon ladies and gentlecolts and welcome to the annual Cloudsdale Derby!”
Many pegasi cheered at this including Rainbow Dash. She leaped up and down like she just won the lottery. Then again this was probably like winning the lottery to her. I couldn’t help but smile a little at the enthusiastic Pegasus next to me.
The announcer continued “Big turnout here with pegasi coming from all four corners of Equestria! Here come the contenders right now!”
I watched as several Pegasi entered the stadium, all clad in various colored flight suits. The loudest cheer came when Spitfire came out. She was a mare about a year or two older then I was with a long flame colored mane that was swept back. She made an effort to wave at her adoring fans in a very smooth manner. She seemed rather calm and collected despite her reputation as one of the fastest Pegasi in Equestria. I could figure Dash could learn a thing or two from the Wonderbolt.
“Isn’t she awesome?!” Rainbow said almost squealing like a school pony.
It was then that I noticed, she stopped in her tracks and looked directly at our seat in the stadium. I looked around; there weren’t any ponies that were really Spitfire fans around us. Most wore colors of the other flyers. Spitfire had an entire section dedicated to her that was on the other side of the stadium. But she wasn’t even acknowledging them. It was then that I realized…she wasn’t looking at me, she was looking at Dash.
Dash noticed this and waved excitedly at Spitfire. Spitfire gave a small wave…why did she look so…downtrodden? I got the feeling that something was going on. Spitfire made an effort to find Dash…not many celebrities would do that. But why Dash? I looked over at the cyan mare.
“Have you and Spitfire met…personally?”
Rainbow nodded “Only on a couple of occasions, but we never really talked before. Sure she would congratulate me but that was about it”
I looked back at the fire branded racer as she was preparing to take her position. “Funny, it’s almost like she was looking for you”
Her magenta eyes shone with delight. “You mean she remembers me!? Oh my gosh!”
“It’s possible, I just wonder why” I put my hoof on Dash’s tail before she could fly off into the sky propelled by sheer delight. “Cool your jets fly girl, the race is about to start”
“Racers! Take your positions!” The announcer said over the speakers. Spitfire lined up with the rest of the pegasi racers. They were all poised and ready to start.
“On your marks…get set…GO!!!” The racers zoomed out of the gate at blinding speed. I watched the crowd with a pair of binoculars I thought to bring along.
“Where’s Spitfire!? I can’t see her!” Dash said as I searched the crowd of racers for Spitfire.
I finally found the Wonderbolt at the back of the pack “She’s in the back; it looks like she’s…lagging”
Dash shook her head “That doesn’t make any sense! Spitfire always rushes out at the gate first! She doesn’t need to pace herself!”
I watched the Wonderbolt and Dash’s suspicions were dead on, something was wrong. Throughout the whole race Spitfire didn’t make an effort to drive home for first place. She made one effort to make sure she didn’t end up in dead last but aside from that she paced herself.
“Isn’t it a good idea to pace yourself during a race?” I said looking over at Dash
“Maybe if you’re just a normal Pegasus but not Spitfire, she’s a speed demon who never lets up. This race isn’t making any sense” Dash said incredulously
I looked back as Spitfire crossed for the final lap. She was still lagging behind the pack, Dash was right…Spitfire was making an effort to make sure she didn’t place last. Crowds cheered as the final lap began though Spitfire’s section wasn’t.
It was then that Dash did something I never expected anypony to do. She cupped her hooves around her mouth and shouted just as Spitfire was about to pass us. “Spitfire! You can do better than that! I know you can!!!” Everypony in the stadium looked at Rainbow…including Spitfire.
Spitfire looked up at Dash’s seat. She looked at Dash…then at the other racers…then at Dash again. She looked, conflicted about whether or not to give it her all. Spitfire shook her head then unfurled her wings to their full length.
I couldn’t tell you what happened, one minute Spitfire was at the near back of the pack. The next minute she was at the head of the pack almost by a mile.
“I don’t believe this folks! Spitfire just left all the other contenders in her dust! This is unbelievable!”
Spitfire crossed the finish line in a blaze of fire. She landed on the clouds and looked up at the roaring crowd. Again she turned to Dash’s seat and smiled. She gave another wave to Dash before walking out to rest up after the race.
I turned to Dash who was just sitting there with her jaw hanging open. “She…looked…so…awesome!!!!!!” She sprang into the air before I could stop her and let out a huge cheer for Spitfire. I looked back at the Wonderbolt as she went to sit down at a resting cloud…did her wings just droop just now?
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Dash and I were walking into the locker rooms of the stadium. Dash looked at me confused. “Private? What are we doing back here?”
I looked at Dash “Something just wasn’t right about Spitfire; you mentioned she wasn’t racing like she normally would”
Dash tapped her chin with her hoof. “Yeah, she usually just leaves everypony in the dust as soon as she comes out of the gate. Why pace herself?”
I found Spitfire’s locker room “I’m going to find out” I knocked on the door and one of the other racers answered. “I’m looking for Spitfire is she in there?”
The racer shook her head “No, she said she was going to her manager’s office…she looked very upset”
I held out my notebook and started writing things down “Did she say who her manager was?”
The racer nodded “Somepony named Texem I believe; he has an office in the south side of town”
“Thanks, we’ll look into it”
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We arrived at Texem’s office just when Celestia’s sun was about to make its descent. It was on the second floor of an office building. We came to the door and I heard voices coming from inside.
“We had an arrangement Spitfire! You realize how much money I lost in that race of yours!” I heard a male voice shout from behind the door.
“I couldn’t let her down Texem! I just couldn’t!” I heard a female voice say from behind the door.
“That’s Spitfire!” Dash said in a whisper.
Texem started speaking again “You really are on thin ice with me Spitfire! You would ruin our entire setup for one mare!”
Spitfire’s voice fired back, no pun intended. “Maybe I’ve had it with this arrangement!”
“You can’t just walk away!” Texem fired back.
“Maybe I can! I’m tired of being told how I should fly! From now on you can find some other means of generating income you sick twisted son of a-“
BANG! BANG!
I heard the gunshots and bucked down the door. I drew out my pistol and shouted. “Police!”
I looked inside and didn’t like what I saw. There was Spitfire…standing over a male Pegasus’ corpse…a gun on the floor…