I couldn’t believe it has been over a month since I showed up in Equestria. It seemed like the Summer Sun Celebration was only yesterday.
The next event to come up was the Best Young Flyer Competition. That was when Rainbow Dash was going to perform a sonic rainboom. I didn't need to change anything, but I decided I should go with the girls anyway just in case. I wanted to make sure I didn’t subconsciously mess anything up.
Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, and I had just finished sorting the books in Twilight’s library. If I had a dollar, or bit in this case, for every time Twilight has to reorganize the books, I’d be in my greed-zilla form before the next season.
“Thank you so much for helping me clean up all these books, guys. It was a crazy week of studying,” said Twilight.
I then noticed something out the window that made my heart skip. “INCOMING!!”
I leapt out of the way just in time as Rainbow Dash crashed into the library, knocking every book off the shelves like dominoes. By the time the damage was done, the girls were knee-deep in an ocean of literature.
“We just stacked those,” I groaned.
Fluttershy flew in. “Rainbow Dash, you rock! Woo-hoo.” She then noticed the mess in the library. “Did...did my cheering do that?”
“Sorry about that, girls and Spike,” said Rainbow Dash. “That was a feeble performance.”
“Actually, it wasn't all bad. I liked it when you made the clouds spin.”
“I'm talking about yours, Fluttershy. That feeble cheering!”
“Would you two stop arguing?” I asked in an annoyed tone of voice.
“Were we arguing? I’m sorry,” said Fluttershy.
Rainbow Dash groaned. “I wish you all could come to Cloudsdale to see me compete in the Best Young Flyer Competition.”
“What’s that?” Twilight asked.
“It's where all the greatest Pegasus flyers get together and show off their different flying styles!” Pinkie said. “Some are fast! Some are graceful!”
The rest of us were also interested in going there as well.
“I'd love to see you make a sonic rainboom!” Pinkie said. “It's like, the most coolest thing ever! Even though I've never actually seen it, but I mean come on! It's a sonic rainboom! How not cool could it possibly not be?!”
You’ve seen it before, Pinkie. It was the reason you got your cutie mark.
“What’s a sonic rainboom?” Twilight asked.
“It’s when a pony goes so fast, they break the sound barrier and create a rainbow at the same time,” I said. “Rainbow Dash told me that a while back.”
“Rainbow here’s the only pony who can pull it off,” Applejack said.
“That was a long time ago,” said Rainbow Dash. “I was only a filly.”
“I’m sure your flying has improved a lot since then,” I said. “Doing a rainboom should be a snap for you, right?”
“Are...are you kidding? I'm the greatest flyer to ever come out of Cloudsdale! I could do sonic rainbooms in my sleep.”
“If you pull that off, you could win the crown for sure,” said Twilight.
“The grand prize is an entire day with the Wonderbolts.” Rainbow looked up to the sky. “A whole day of flying with my lifelong heroes...It'll be a dream come true!”
“Yay,” Fluttershy cheered. I always found her cheering so adorable, even if it was very quiet.
“Maybe you could ask if you could be with them at the gala,” I offered. “They could teach you how to get into the Wonderbolts.”
“Perhaps. But for now, I'm gonna go rest up. Don't wanna over prepare myself, y'know.” She then turned to Fluttershy. “You, on the other hand, better keep practicing. I need a cheering section to match my spectacular performance.” She then flew off.
“She's practiced that move a hundred times, and she's never even come close to doing it,” Fluttershy said. “I don't know if I can cheer loud enough to help her.” She flew after Dash.
Rainbow just needs the right motivation to pull it off.
I looked to Rarity. Sadly, I have to not prevent Rarity’s wings from dissolving in order for the rainboom to happen. There was no other choice. If Rarity gets too careful with her wings, then Rainbow won’t perform the rainboom to save her. It was going to be tough, but it had to be done.
“Well, guess we better get this cleaned up...again,” Twilight said as she picked up some of the books.
“If only we had wings, Twilight,” I said as I gathered some of the scrolls. “Then we could fly to Cloudsdale.”
“That’s an idea,” Rarity said. “We need to find a spell that can make us fly.”
“Why do we need to go to Cloudsdale?” Twilight asked.
“To support Rainbow Dash, of course.”
“Didn’t ya hear her?” Applejack asked. “She was tootin' her own horn louder than the brass section of a marching band!”
“Heck, with that horn of hers,” I said, “she could practically do the solo act.”
“Rainbow Dash is a pegasus, silly,” Pinkie giggled. “She doesn’t have a horn.”
“That doesn’t matter!” Rarity said. “I have put on enough fashion shows to recognize stage fright when I see it. We've got to find a way to be there for her.”
“How am I supposed to find a flight spell in this mess?” Twilight asked as she looked through some of the books.
“A flight spell? One sec,” Pinkie picked up a book and tossed it to Twilight. “Page 27.”
“How’d you do that?” Applejack asked.
“It landed on my face when Rainbow Dash knocked me into the bookcase.”
“Talk about a coincidence,” I said.
Then it went on like in the show. Twilight managed to find the fight spell. Rarity volunteered first, so Twilight casted the spell on her. The spell worked, giving Rarity a pair of butterfly wings. She almost looked like a G3 Breezie.
“I think it worked...” Twilight said before collapsing to the floor.
“Maybe ya outta try a simpler spell,” Applejack said. “Casting that spell on all of us ain’t the best idea.”
“But how?” Twilight rubbed her forehead. “It’s going to take forever to find another one.”
“What about a cloud-walking spell?” I asked. “We can just rent a balloon to fly to Cloudsdale.”
“Hold on.” Twilight flipped through the pages of the same book. “I saw a spell in here a moment ago. Here! Oh, good. This spell looks a lot easier to cast. We can use that instead.”
We later rented the balloon and flew with Rarity to Cloudsdale. Twilight casted the cloud-walk spell on all of us.
“This spell should last the rest of the day,” said Twilight. “However, if any of you start sinking while on the clouds, let me know immediately.”
We arrived in Cloudsdale just in time to see Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy talking to Rarity. We stepped out of the balloon and onto the clouds. They felt like walking on pillows, to be honest. I hope I’ll be able to walk on them when I get my wings.
“We came to cheer you to victory,” said Applejack to Rainbow Dash.
“To be honest, I was starting to get just the teeniest, tiniest bit nervous,” Rainbow Dash said. I rolled my eyes at that. “But I feel a lot better now that you guys are here. Hey, we've got some time before the competition. Why don't Fluttershy and I show you around Cloudsdale?”
We followed Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy around Cloudsdale. The town itself was pretty amazing. I really liked the Greek architecture on the buildings, which made me feel like I was on Mount Olympus. I guess it would make sense considering how pegasi originated from Greek mythology.
What worried me was how Rarity was enjoying the attention of her new wings. I wanted to tell her not to get too attached to them, but I had to restrain myself and let the problem happen on its own. This was the first time I wanted to make sure the problem happened.
Rainbow and Fluttershy gave us a tour of the weather factory. Our first stop was at the snowflake section. It was where they made the snowflakes. To me, it seemed like a lot of work, given how much it snows in Ponyville, at least according to the show. What really made me cringe was how Rarity accidentally sent some of the snowflakes flying. We left quickly.
Maybe I should ask Fluttershy to the Gala instead.
Next up was the rainbow factory. Thankfully, it was nothing like in that music video. I guess I should count my blessings. The last thing I wanted to figure out was that Equestria was a sugar-coated habanero.
Speaking of which, Pinkie decided to taste some of the liquid rainbow. I tried my best not to fall over laughing at her reaction. I would’ve had a taste as well, thinking the flavor randomizes per taste, but I knew it was a bad idea.
“Yeah, rainbows aren't really known for their flavor,” Rainbow said as Pinkie ran to cool off her tongue.
“Huh, I always thought rainbows would taste sweet, like candy,” I said.
We then noticed Rainbow Dash’s old bullies admiring Rarity’s wings. It made Rainbow Dash uneasy given how they were drawn to them.
We later saw how the clouds were made. They dump buckets of water into a cloud machine and use a special pump to make the clouds. I wondered, seeing how they were made of water, if the spell Twilight casted involved using some sort of ice magic to make us walk on them.
Once again, the workers were attracted to Rarity’s wings like moths to a flame. Just like in the show, Rarity saw how her wings glistened in the sunlight. I liked seeing how they shined just as much as the next pony, but I knew that they made Rainbow Dash feel inadequate. Eventually, one of the workers recommended that Rarity should join the contest, and she agreed. This left Rainbow Dash worried about her outcome in the event, thinking she’ll never win.
After the tour, the girls and I headed to the stadium. I decided to talk to Rainbow Dash.
“Don’t feel bad, Rainbow Dash,” I said. “You’re amazing at flying. Remember all those stunts you showed me? You were soaring like an eagle up there.”
“Yeah, but you’ve seen how Rarity’s wings looked,” said Dash. “I can’t compete with that.”
I whispered to her, “I’m sure the judges won’t be evaluating looks alone. There’s more to winning a contest than just showing your wings.”
“I hope you’re right.” Rainbow Dash bit her hoof.
“Hey, if you ever feel nervous, try to imagine the crowd in...goofy clothing.” I was going to say “their underwear,” but I remembered that almost nopony here wears clothing.
“Goofy clothing?”
“Something that the ponies would look silly in. Like those bullies, for example. Try to imagine them wearing...I don’t know...a dress?”
“I’ll try.”
Rainbow and Rarity went backstage while the rest of us headed up to the stands. The opening ceremony was more or less like in the show. Celestia showed up, along with some of the members of the Wonderbolts. After that the pegasi contestants started doing their respective stunts. I haven't seen Rainbow Dash come up yet. I was afraid she’d delay her performance.
“Is something wrong, Spike?” Twilight asked. “You looked worried.”
I sighed. “I just have this sinking feeling...”
“Uh, oh. Hold still. Let me cast the spell again.”
“No, no! Not that kind of sinking. I mean, I’m worried about Rainbow Dash. What if the sonic rainboom doesn’t happen. I hate to see the tragedy that follows her failure.”
“Oh, Spike, you’re just as nervous as Rainbow Dash.” Twilight put a hoof on my back. “While I admit that Rarity’s sudden narcissism isn’t helping to boost Rainbow’s morale, that pegasus still has all of us here for support. Just...try not to oogle so much at Rarity.”
“Very funny.”
“Speakin’ of which,” said Applejack, “where are those two? The competition’s almost over, and we haven’t seen them yet.”
Then we saw Rainbow Dash and Rarity pop out of the curtains. Rainbow did look a bit nervous, but it wasn’t as much as in the show. Rarity followed after her, and I almost freaked out at the sight of her. Even though I like Rarity, all that lipstick and eyeshadow was too much. She looked like a peacock working at a makeup department.
I hope she doesn’t wear that much make-up when we go to the Gala.
We heard classical music playing, and the two contestants performed their routine. Even though Phase 1 and 2 of Rainbow Dash’s performance was mediocre, she didn’t crash or fling a cloud to Celestia by mistake. I guess my motivation helped her a bit. We all cheered for her.
Then came the part that I dreaded the most: Rarity flying too close to the sun and getting her wings burned off, like a ponified Icarus. I wanted to shout to Rarity, “Don’t fly too close to the sun,” but I had to stay strong and let everything run their course.
Rainbow and Rarity flew up to the sky. My palms started sweating…
Please, please, please! For the love of Celestia, please don’t mess up.
Rarity showed off her wings as the sunlight passed through them and lit up the stadium. I tried to control my breathing.
Don’t mess up…
And just like that, the colors vanished. I knew what that meant. My heart started pounding like a drum.
There it is.
Rarity plummeted to past the stadium.
“Oh, no! Her wings evaporated into thin air!” Twilight shouted.
“CATCH—” I quickly covered my mouth. I can’t have Twilight be the hero here.
I saw Celestia getting up from her seat, but the Wonderbolts acted quicker and flew to the falling Rarity. I knew they wouldn’t save her, though. To be honest, three professional fliers getting knocked out from one flailing pony sounds pretty pathetic.
Now it’s your turn, Dashie.
I looked up to the sky to see what Rainbow Dash was doing. She quickly zoomed past the stadium and towards the falling group. The rest of us looked over the edge. The group was just a tiny dot now.
“Why didn’t ya use yer magic, Twi?!” Applejack asked.
“I can’t just stop her in mid-air!” Twilight replied. “The sudden deceleration would be fatal to her.”
I looked to the ground.
Come on…
Come on…
Do the rainboom…
Do it...
…
…
Each second passing felt like an eternity.
Why hasn’t it hap—
KA-BOOM!!
A loud explosion shook the air, followed by a rainbow of colors filling the sky.
“A SONIC RAINBOOM!!” Fluttershy shouted. “She did it! She did it!”
I gave out the biggest sigh as I leaned back.
Thank Celestia.
Rainbow saved Rarity and the Wonderbolts and brought them back to the stadium. The entire crowd cheered at Rainbow’s rescue.
That sonic rainboom resulted in Rainbow Dash winning the competition, and a day with the Wonderbolts. The rest was like the show, Rarity learned to support her friends instead of showing off, and Rainbow Dash was able to hang out with the Wonderbolts.
“You seemed really tense back there, Spike,” said Twilight. “You were almost as nervous as Rainbow Dash.”
“I...was just worried about her and Rarity,” I replied. “I was afraid Rainbow might fail...and what would happen if she did.”
“I know it was a stressful situation for you, watching Rarity fall like that.” Twilight put a hoof around my shoulder. “But you can take it easy now that Rarity and Rainbow Dash are both safe.”
“Thank you, Twilight.”
I had to be careful with what I was and wasn't going to change, and see if it’ll be worth it in the long run.