//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 - Sibling Reunion. (Part 1) 
// Story: Flaming Tale 
// by Discover 
//------------------------------//

"Easier said than done..." Flame Thrower said to himself as the blue Pegasus flew straight ahead.

A good amount of minutes passed since he took off from his parents' home, and he still couldn't find the street where his sister lives, even though he searched all around Cloudsdale for the exact same name of the street as his mother gave him.

The fire-maned Pegasus thought that finding the street might be the easiest thing after getting all by himself from Las Pegasus to Cloudsdale. However, he quickly found out that finding a street that was supposed to be two streets away wasn't that easy. Flame even ventured back and forth to double-check if he didn't miss the street as he scanned the whole area of neighborhood and adjacent streets. To much of his worry, there was no such street as Wavey Wings Street.

When looking for the street took more time than it supposed, he decided to ask somepony for better instructions that would help him find said street faster. The blue Pegasus remembers that he stopped next to the blueish two-story building with a roof stylized like some kind of cream frosting (but made out of clouds) that was one of the many stores in his parents' house neighborhood. 

The said neighborhood wasn't very unique in terms of design of each houses. His parents were lucky enough to get one of them that had actually different look on the outside than most of the houses on the street that followed the same style – pinkish cloud roofed two story building with blue walls and big front yard.  

As Flame looked on the store between the two identical houses with pink roof, he spotted a cream-colored coat, rose mane, and pink eyes that belong to Pegasus mare who just left the store and had to take off with the bag of groceries on her back if it wasn't for Flame's yell that took mare's whole attention. The blue Pegasus used the chance to ask if she knows anything that could help him find the street he was looking for.

The cream mare was very kind and her character expressed that she really wanted to help, but all she knew was the fact that she saw an ad about Wavey Wings Street that advertised new apartments for rent in Cloudsdale Daily newspaper. She also suggested that the fire-maned stallion should fly to the north part of the city; as it said in the ad, Wavey Wings Street is localized in the north Cloudsdale. He made sure to thank her for some useful information, and soon enough, they both separated as they took off and begin to fly in different directions.

The fire-maned stallion knew that his father obviously made a mistake in his statement or didn't know where exactly Rainbow Dash's house is, but Flame Thrower remembers that his parents said they helped her to feel in her new home as good as in the old one. So, that means they had to visit her, right?

Flame Thrower didn't know what to think of that; eventually, he did what he always does in such a situation – leave the secondary matter and focus on the present. The blue Pegasus will ask his parents for sure about why Rainbow Dash is living in a different part of the city, and not like his father said, two streets away...

Anyway, thanks to this whole chaos, Flame Thrower was somewhere closer towards the north part of the cloud city. To much of his surprise, he could recognize where. After a whole time of looking all around the city, the blue Pegasus came up with the conclusion that he ended up in the center of Cloudsdale.

As Flame's parents live in proximity to the center of the city, his family would often visit for many reasons Cloudcenter –and thanks to that– the fire-maned Pegasus quickly recognized the place.

It was Cloudcenter – the heart of Cloudsdale, where institutions such as Cloudeseum or School for Pegasi were located. Also, it was the place where cloud streets from the north and south crossed, so the traffic of Pegasi flying towards each section of the city was very busy. Flame Thrower got to know the last thing very fast, thanks to the traffic lights that he made through on the way to downtown.

Due to the fact that it passed so many years since Flame was last time in Cloudcenter, the blue Pegasus decided to take a break next to Cloudeseum. All he knew was the fact that Wavey Wings Street is somewhere in the north part of the city, so he assumed that once he pass by School for Pegasi –which was that big red building with flat roof that Flame saw on the horizon, not so far away from the place where he currently took a break– he will be on the straight path towards the north. If the blue stallion is lucky enough, he will be there in a matter of few minutes, but if it turns out that the north cloud street from downtown is as busy as the southern... well... he would at least have the memory of seeing once again the Cloudsdale's biggest source of sport-related events before the nightmare with Pegasi traffic jams will start all over again.

Cloudeseum was probably one of the most known places, after Weather Factory, in Cloudsdale. It stood as all the buildings on the cloud ground, and instead of walls, it was surrounded by huge marble columns that hold whole blueish flat roof, where on top of that, golden flags fluttered in a little bit chilly wind.

'I think, it looks as good as I rememb–' before he could finish his sentence in his mind, the fire-maned stallion noticed –on one of the big columns that surrounded Cloudeseum– a poster with text saying 'Best Young Flyer competition! Do you want to succeed on a larger scale and become the best young flyer that Cloudsdale has to offer? Then join the competition and show everypony what you can do!'.

Apparently, the Best Young Flyer competition always brings a lot of attention to Cloudsdale. Flame Thrower remembers that when his sister joined it for the first time there was not that many Pegasi willing to watch the racing part of competition called Fastest Young Flyer race. Although, it still had a decent amount of audience back then.

Ever since the competition got promoted by Princess Celestia herself –as one of the best competitions that allowed to select the best talents from the young Pegasi– the competition got fulfilled with Pegasi parents and their foals from all around Equestria. All they wanted was to help their foals to make their dreams come true.

As the blue Pegasus moved his gaze on the right side, Flame saw something that he somehow didn't notice.

Flame Thrower looked dumbfounded on the huge line of Pegasi with their foals standing on the cloud path towards the arched entrance to Cloudeseum. He never quite understood why is it so cool to win one competition even if it was promoted by Princess herself.

He thought that if somepony is fast and knows how to keep his fly stable and wants to keep mastering his potential, then it's all that you need to become better and with time, the best. Winning one competition doesn't mean that you're going to become the best already, but apparently these Pegasi didn't know that.

Flame Thrower groaned as he looked on the line of the Pegasi. 'Now I'm not sure what's worst... Trying to get through the horrible Pegasi traffic or trying to get through this line to Cloudeseum,' he thought.

The blue Pegasus shrugged when he decided to drop the thinking part and without wasting any more of his time, he took off the cloud on which he decided to take break. Flame moved towards the path that lead next to School for Pegasi until he noticed with the corner of his eye that he reached high enough in the sky to see through the marble columns what is currently happening in Cloudeseum.

Flame moved his head towards the building and saw that once Pegasi gets through the entrance; they are met with a dark blue Pegasi with an aqua mane that sits at the desk. 'Of course, after getting through the line to the entrance, there has to be another line to get on the list,' Flame said to himself as he rolled his eyes and suspended himself in the air. After seeing that foals who gets on the list are divided into different groups that will compete with each other, he thought. 'Wow... The last time I was here, there were like seven ponies in the competition and now... it's like seven groups of ponies in the competition!'

Just then, the blue Pegasus finally realised that is about time to get back to his mission. He moved his eyes from the whole scenery in Cloudeseum and increased his speed a little bit; as he flew towards the path that supposed to lead him into the north part of the city. However, it didn't happen without Flame's curiosity that made him look back at the Cloudeseum to get a better last view on the building that he didn't visit since he left five years ago. 

The fire-maned stallion realised how many times he ended up watching his sister practice or how many times he cheer her up during the competition (mainly because of lost bets.) Also, it's worth mentioning that whenever she had any competition, his parents always dragged him with them.

Flame Thrower sighed and smiled upon reminding himself of those colorful moments... literally. He reminded himself that once thanks to Rainbow Dash winning a competition he had to dye his mane to rainbow color. Although, the rainbow color came off after a week or so, he made sure to thank Celestia that it wasn't a permament thing.

Reminding himself about the great memories from the past was really enjoyable for the blue Pegasus, until...

Flame has hit his head directly into the head of the lilac Pegasus that he didn't notice on his path. The whole time of his flight he looked back without paying attention to what's before him. If it wasn't for the fact that the fire-maned stallion flew not as fast as he could, and the place that hit the obstacle on his path was his head; he would probably continue to fly like nothing happened and knockback other Pegasus far away. To much of his surprise, destiny had other plans. They ended up being both knocked back after bumping into each other and sent straight to the cloud street below them.

There was even a hearable sound of both Pegasi hitting the cloud. "Ow, that hurt." Flame Thrower groaned as he slowly begins to rise from the cloud-ground. He scratched back and top of his head where –as he thought– was the place that hit the other Pegasus. Flame felt a sharp pain as he touched the place, and almost immediately, he took away his hoof while he let another series of 'Ow.' This time however, he had to close his eyes due to much of the pain.

The blue Pegasus ears picked up a groan coming from the opposite side of where he landed. Flame Thrower decided to look around, and then he noticed slowly rising from the cloud lilac mare. She shook and scratched the top of her head while she kept her eyes closed. "Ugh, what... happened?"

The lilac Pegasus opened her eyes and upon noticing Flame Thrower added, "Or better, who happened..." Slowly her irritated the whole situation face features took happier appearance once she realized who was the main reason of this unexpected situation.

"Cloud Chaser? Is that really yo–" Before he could finish his sentence, the lilac mare flew straight into him; embracing the blue Pegasus into a firm hug, as the impact of the unexpected hug from Flame's friend made them do a few flips back. When they stopped, Flame's head ended up inside the cloud while his friend was on top of the fire-maned stallion; still hugging him. The lilac mare chuckled upon seeing the silly image and added this time with much more of her excitement. "Flame! You freak, you came back!!"

Flame Thrower chuckled with his face inside the cloud. "Yeah, I'm glad you still remember me, Chaser," the blue stallion said as he took his head out of the cloud.

"You? Who could possibly forget you! The whole Cloudsdale was talkin' about your trip when you left!" she said and rolled her eyes. After that, the lilac Pegasus decided to break the hug and get up on her hooves. While she did so, she took her hoof and offered it to her friend to help him get up.

The blue Pegasus took the helping hoof, and soon he stood on his hooves. "Thanks! You have no idea how cool is that to meet you after five years! Not counting the whole heads bumping moment, of course," they both laughed, still partially feeling the pain on top of their heads.

After realizing what his friend said, Flame Thrower added, "But what do you mean the whole Cloudsdale was talking about my trip? From what I know, only me, you, Star, Thunderlane, and my family were the only ones who knew about the trip."

A little hesitation appeared, but after a few seconds she decided to answer anyway. "Well, I kinda told my sister, and she... told everypony." Cloud Chaser lowered her head and moved one of her hooves to scratch her forelimb. "I know you said 'don't tell anypony,' but many good things came afterward!"

"Oh, that..." Flame put one of his wings under his chin as he came up with a realisation. "It doesn't matter anymore, so I forgive you. But, what good things you are talkin' about?"

"Well, after the news spread across Cloudsdale, many Pegasus got inspired by you!" she said. "You have no idea how many Pegasi like you were here in Cloudsdale. When they heard, for the first time, that you're coming once you prove to yourself and everypony that you're somepony special; everypony got excited and some Pegasi from Cloudsdale decided to do the same and, not like they decided to leave their home and go into unknown, but to try new things and don't stop believing in what they are capable of! It was such an amazing thing that even your sister decided to help spread the news about how her brother decided to leave Cloudsdale and won't be coming back until he finds what his special talent is." Such information bring a visible grin on Flame's face. Even when he was gone for a while, his sister still believed in him.

Then another realisation crossed his mind. "So... am I famous here or something?" Flame Thrower asked with curiosity.

Cloud Chaser put one of her hooves under her chin and thought. "Well, for a few months, sure. But, it was so many years ago, and the Pegasi who got inspired probably moved on or forgot about this whole thing once they gained their cutie marks."

"Aw..." Flame Thrower looked down on the cloud as the news broke one of his dreams that he wanted to make come true. He didn't care about the money but rather about how many ponies would talk about him. Such fame would help him find a job in a matter of few seconds, but of course, he missed his chance. The disappointment in the fire-maned stallion's voice was clearly hearable.

Cloud Chaser decided to approach the blue pegasus and put one of her wings besides him. As soon as Flame felt his friends' wings around him, he looked up to meet only with magenta eyes of his friend and a smile on her face. "Remember that for ponies for which you're important, like me, your family or your friends; they will never forget how you helped inspire dozens of ponies."

Flame Thrower sighed as he smiled towards the lilac mare. "Well... I agree. Thanks for reminding me that."

"No problem, but it's only this one time you see me being such nice, got it?" the lilac Pegasus said with smile once she took her wing off the blue Pegasus' back.

As soon as the lilac mare warned him, Flame Thrower nodded and chuckled. "Of course, loud and clear!"

The blue Pegasus also realized that if it wasn't for his friend's sister, he would probably never got such recognition, even though he had no clue about it. "Still, I can't believe that I actually inspired somepony. But if that how it turned out, I'm glad Flitter couldn't keep her mouth shut."

The lilac mare chuckled after getting reminded about her sister. "Yeah, she kinda can't keep a secret. I regret that I told her almost immediately after I did so because I felt that she is not trustworthy with keeping a secret from very beginning. If it wasn't for that rule of ours to tell ourselves secrets, then I wouldn't take the risk. But seeing how things turned out, ponies got inspired and stuff, I think that's even better that I told her."

Once blue stallion nodded in agreement, Cloud Chaser pointed with her foreleg on her friend and said, "Anyway, care to share why did you bump into me like that?"

Flame Thrower scratched the back of his head nervously and decided to look somewhere else to avoid eye contact with his friend as he spoke. "Oh, I didn't even have a chance to say that I'm sorry. Somehow Cloudeseum took all of my attention," the blue Pegasus sighed and finally decided to look directly into Cloud Chaser's eyes. "So... I'm sorry. I hope I didn't hit you too hard or anything like that."

Flame assumed that Cloud Chaser didn't change that much since his departure from Cloudsdale five years ago, and he knew that if somepony would straight fly into her, she for sure would give that somepony a lesson. But instead of an angry expression –due to him saying sorry just now– he meets instead with a smile on her face. She waved dismissively one of her hooves and explained. "Nevermind, if it wasn't for you not looking where you're flying, then we probably wouldn't be talking with each other right now."

The fire-maned stallion decided not to pressure the matter as he knew that she probably forgive him only because the blue Pegasus is her old friend. If it was for somepony else, then, well... you could say that banishment to the moon sounds like a good vacation spot. "Yeah, I think you're right."

"By the way, I was actually flying on the meeting with my friends, wanna join us?" Cloud Chaser asked.

Flame stopped himself for a second to give himself into the thought, then he answered still keeping a hoof under his chin, "Hmm... I'd like to join you! But, I'm actually looking for Rainbow Dash, so if I won't get to her house now, then it will make even more complications and I already have a problem with locating where she exactly lives."

The lilac mare sighed. "Don't worry, Flame. It's just a few minutes, besides, do you even know where she lives?"

"My mom gave me an address, but all I accomplished is  that I somehow got here. My father said it just two streets away from our neighborhood, but I couldn't find that street anywhere close, so I decided to ask somepony on the way here and they actually told me that this street is probably all the way in the north part of Cloudsdale!" Flame Thrower said with slight annoyance in his voice. He had no idea that finding that street was this difficult. Reality struck him and finding the street in Cloudsdale was as difficult as finding a needles in a haystack.

"What's the address?" Cloud Chaser asked.

"I think it's probably Wavey Wings Street 11/5 or something like that," Flame Thrower replied.

Cloud Chaser scratched the back of her head. "I... have no idea where that is."

The blue Pegasus groaned and let a sigh upon hearing Cloud Chaser answer that didn't help him as much as he hoped it would. "Great, now I need to find somepony who actually knows where this address is," Flame looked down as he felt being defeated once again.

To much of her surprise, Cloud Chaser reminded herself that there is actually a pony who could help. "Maybe Compass Star will know?"

Flame Thrower looked up as his eyes lit with the new sight of the hope that brings some excitement to the blue Pegasus. "Of course! Compass Star knows every single corner in Cloudsdale!" However, he quickly connected the dots and added. "And let me guess, he will be at the meeting?"

"Mm-hm," The lilac mare said.

He sighed, and without having anything to lose besides the time, took up on the offer. "Alright, let's go then. I guess, few minutes of hanging out with friends shouldn't do any harm."

As soon as Flame Thrower finished his sentence, Cloud Chaser unfolded her wings and said. "Alright, try to catch me if you can, Flamey!" His friend quickly flew into the sky; leaving the fire-maned stallion behind.

"A race? Oh, you have no chance, Chaser!" As soon as Flame realized what's going on, he unfolded his wings, and with much more energy, flew into the sky to catch his friend as quickly as he could to show off his speed. As always, his mane color followed him behind.





"Are you tired yet, flame-colt?" Cloud Chaser asked as she flew in the direction of their planned meeting.

"Flame?" she asked once again upon receiving no answer from her friend.

After getting no answer whatsoever, Cloud Chaser decided to stop and look around in any sight of the blue Pegasus. When lilac mare turned around, she noticed that it was one of the rush hours of Cloudsdale and many Pegasi were either flying to their job or finishing their job and getting back home. The cloud street that she decided in the middle of it stop was full of different Pegasi flying back and forth. Gladly, all Pegasi seemed to head towards Cloudcenter from which Cloud Chaser and Flame Thrower just flew, so their part of the street wasn't that busy. The proximity of the pink building from the weather control sector of Weather Factory that was next to the street didn't help either and obscured any further view.

"Where is that stallion? I swear, last time I saw him, he was behin–" streak made of yellow, orange, and red colors interrupted her speech. All she saw was some colors and a swoosh sound. Then she saw the streak cut through the air that left Cloud Chaser spinning, like some sort of spinning top.

Flame Thrower noticed who he left behind and stopped; as he looked behind himself, he noticed that Cloud Chaser was spinning rapidly due to his speed impact. Eventually, she began to lose her speed and soon she slowly stabilized herself. Even though she stopped spinning her eyes didn't.

The fire-maned stallion chuckled as he decided to quickly return to his friend. He suspended himself in the air next to his friend –who somehow didn't feel straight to the ground below– and took one of his hooves to place it on lilac mare's shoulder as he asked, "Are you okay, Chaser?"

"Uhh.." was all she could say before shaking her head as her eyes finally stopped spinning. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. But... what was that?!"

"Oh, I'm sorry! I saw a poster on the Weather Factory entrance saying that there are new places available for Pegasi who could work as a part of Weather Control team for upcoming seasons. To why I flew so fast, it's just because I wanted to catch up with you somehow," Flame Thrower explained.

"Alright" – she took one of her hooves and scratched back of her head – "but, why were you interested in that offer?"

"I forgot to mention that I'm probably staying in Cloudsdale for good, and for that, I need to get a job."

"A job you say..." Cloud Chaser said as they resumed their flight into the direction of the meeting's place.

"Anyways, that's great! Hope you'll get there, but... is it not like you need some special abilities to become a Weather Control Pegasus?" the lilac mare asked.

Flame run of his hooves through his mane, and after getting a second to think, he answered. "Well, there's no special requirement after all every Pegasi can control the weather, but only best from the best can get to the elite!"

"And let me guess, you want to join the elite?" the lilac mare asked.

The blue Pegasus nodded, on which his friend only sighed. "Well, hate to break it for ya, but as far as I know, you never showed anything in terms of controlling the weather that could actually be taken as something that would get you to the elite." Cloud Chaser said and shrugged as she moved her eyes on what's before her. "But maybe something changed during your trip, and I don't know about it."

The blue Pegasus smirked as he puffed his chest. "There was something where I saved the village by making a gigantic tornado that pulled fire and smoke into it, and then I made the whole thing disappear."

Face features on Cloud Chaser's face took a very shocked look like she couldn't believe what her friend told her. "You gotta be bucking kidding me!"

"Same reaction as Thunderlane," Flame Thrower chuckled as he made a flip on his back to contain the laughter.

"Wait, you saw Thunderlane? When did that happen?" Cloud Chaser asked.

The blue Pegasus flipped back on the right position during the flight. "Yeah, I had to take a break on my way to Cloudsdale. So, I took the break in a small town called Greenfield Hoof, and I met Thunderlane in, what was the name" – he put one of his hooves under his chin and after reminding himself the probable name of the place added – "Pomele Pie's bar? I guess that was the place."

"How original," the lilac mare smirked as she rolled her eyes and added. "Anyway, Thunderlane probably told you why he was there, didn't he?"

Flame Thrower sighed, showing that this news wasn't the best thing he heard, but kept a smile. "Yeah, but if that's what his family wanted and they are happy, then I'm happy for them. Still, lack of Thunderlane's comments upon how I can't handle asking out any mares will be very misse–" Flame Thrower stopped immediately in mid-sentence as he remembered all Thunderlane's comments about his romantic relationships "–wait, I take my words back. That's the part that I won't be missing whatsoever."

"Well, you gotta give him credit for telling the truth. Admit, you ain't that good in this case," Cloud Chaser said while raising one of her eyebrows to make a look that said, 'I know, that you know that's truth'.

"Yeah, yeah. I know," the blue Pegasus said. "But, I still believe that somewhere out there, the second half waits for everypony!"

The lilac mare groaned as she flew closer to Flame Thrower. "Cool, so while you'll be believing, maybe try actually asking out somepony?"

Flame Thrower sighed and decided to push back Cloud Chaser as she was now invading his private space. "We will see, Chaser."

Cloud Chaser flew away from her friend and decided to look on the path before them to avoid hitting by any chance another obstacle... or pony. "Anyway, back to the topic. You are really not making up this whole thing with the fire-tornado?"

"It is one hundred percent truth," Flame Thrower said as he looked on the lilac mare that apparently didn't find the story too real. "Really? Is no pony noticing on my flank one of the main reasons I left and the biggest proof of the thing that I told you?"

"Wha–" his lilac friend didn't know what Flame meant by that until she got a better look on his flank. "Oh– I... Okay, this looks cool!"

The fire-maned stallion only chuckled as he nodded in the meaning of thank you.

"Okay, let's say I believe you. Then if I understood it well, by saving that village, you gained your cutie mark?" Cloud Chaser asked.

Flame Thrower nodded once again and said, "Yeah, thanks to that, I was able to come back to my home."

"Wow... well, congrats! You've really proven that being a blank flank doesn't mean you can't make your dreams come true!"

"I wish I could know this sooner, but I've gotta say that the trip was the best decision I've made in my life," the blue Pegasus said.

"That means, you have to tell me everything! You for sure got some cool stories, so maybe–" Before she could finish her sentence, she noticed a building between two cloud towers with coffee symbol and text saying Cloudcafé on its cloud-made roof.

"Well, storytelling will have to wait because we're here!" the lilac mare pointed on the place below them and added, "Ready to meet some friends?"

"Ready as never!" as soon as Flame Thrower finished his sentence, they burst down towards the entrance to the cafeteria.

Soon, both of the Pegasi landed softly before the entrance to the café, and then Flame Thrower decided to open the door by the knob and let Cloud Chaser enter first.

"Wow, when did you become such a gentlecolt?" she asked, on which Flame Thrower rolled his eyes, chuckled, and entered after her. After stepping in, the fire-maned stallion closed the door behind and added, 'Don't get used to it,' to which he only got her smirk.

Once Flame Thrower decided to take a better look at the inside of the cafeteria; he noticed very bright cream-colored walls with portraits hanging on them. There were enough natural light thanks to the wide windows that allowed the light to enter the cafeteria from the front. The next thing was the wooden pink-colored floor. It looked like it was just washed with visible gloss. On the right and left side was plenty of tables, lined up in a row and occupied by ponies that enjoyed the meal – or simply – talked to other ponies or even read Cloudsdale's official newspaper called Cloudsdale Daily.

Before them was a line all the way from the entrance to the tabletop on the end of the cafeteria where ponies could order whatever they wanted from the menu that was hanging above the table. Some gray-colored snobby Pegasi that ended up being the last one looked the most impatient as he was nervously looking, once on the queue before him and once on the watch on his forelimb.

'Business is booming, I guess?' Flame Thrower thought as he scratched the back of his head with the confused look from such a big line in a not very well-known place.

"Hey, Chaser! Over here!" both Pegasi heard a voice calling for them from across the room. As Cloud Chaser looked at the possible source of the calling voice, she noticed a brown Pegasus with green eyes, yellow waved-styled mane, eyes, and the yellow star as a cutie mark.

Flame Thrower noticed Compass Star as well and smiled upon seeing another of his old friends after five years. He nodded to Cloud Chaser, and soon they begin to walk towards the table where Compass Star sits.

That was also the moment that Flame Thrower noticed another Pegasus pony in his friend's company.

Said friend had a gray coat, yellow mane, and eyes that seems to be looking in different directions; also, bubbles were visible as a gray Pegasus cutie mark.

As both Pegasi approached the table where their friends sit, the gray mare smiled with an encouraging smile. Cloud Chaser greet with the gray mare, but while she did so, she also noticed that Compass Star's face features took a more annoyed look.

'What's up with that face? Also, why does he looks like he worked for 12 hours in the mine?' Cloud Chaser questioned herself as she –with Flame Thrower behind her– stood before the table where her friends sat.

Just then, she reminded herself how she promised her friend that this time nothing is going to stop her, thus had a chance to be finally on time... well, at least she tried.

The lilac mare sighed before saying, "Sorry for being late... again. But, you ain’t gonna believe me who I just found!" She took Flame Thrower from behind her into an embrace and pushed him forward to show their friends who were that stallion. "Or more specifically, he found me!"

"Hey, hey! Watch out for the mane!" Flame Thrower protested as he quickly broke the embrace and rapidly tried to fix his mane.

Both Compass Star and the gray Pegasus chuckled upon seeing Flame's reaction on somepony touching his mane.

"Flame Thrower! Glad to see you, old friend!" Compass Star said, and soon the annoyed look on his face has been replaced with a smile.

Cloud Chaser sits next to the gray mare, and Flame Thrower finally finished stylizing his mane. The blue Pegasus looked at his friend and said, "Likewise, Star! Glad to see that you didn't forget me either!"

Compass Star chuckled as he wiped one of his eyes with his hoof. It looked like the brown Pegasus just woke up. "Oh, believe me, forgetting you is something that no pony would be able to accomplish after basically growing up together."

As the brown Pegasus finished his sentence, he reminded himself that there was actually a pony very close to Flame Thrower's heart that did accomplish that. "Well, maybe there is one pony who forg–" Before he could say something that he would regret, Cloud Chaser glanced at him straight into his eyes and with the gesture of her hoof saying 'cut it out,' she stopped him in the middle of his sentence.

Good for him, Flame Thrower decided to look on a couple of Pegasi arguing over what they should order when the lilac mare saved him with her gesture before Compass Star would share something that would probably tear their blue friend apart. But still, the pause in the middle of the brown Pegasus' sentence didn't go without Flame's notice.

"One pony who what?" the blue Pegasus asked as he got very confused over why his friend decided to stop in the middle of his sentence.

Compass Star panicked but tried his best not to show that on his face as Flame Thrower was now looking directly at him. He nervously swallowed and said. "W-who? Well... uh..." –he looked nervously on the opposite of the table and pointed on the gray mare sitting next to Cloud Chaser–  "Oh! I'm s-so rude. I didn't even introduce you to my friend!"

"Flame Thrower, this is Derpy Hooves. Derpy Hooves, this is Flame Thrower," the brown Pegasus said as he introduced in the fastest way possible the gray mare and the blue stallion.

The fire-maned stallion raised one of his eyebrows when he saw and felt that his friend definitely kept a secret from him but decided to ignore that and look at the mare next to Cloud Chaser.

"Oh, nice to meet you, Derpy Hooves!" Flame Thrower said as he straightened one of his wings towards the gray mare.

Derpy smiled, did the same, and both Pegasi shook their wings. "And the same goes to you, Flame!"

Compass Star sighed with relief upon seeing that he saved himself at the last minute. The lilac mare did the same and wiped the invisible sweat on her forehead while she let a quiet 'phew'.

"Wait a minute" – the blue Pegasus put a hoof on his chin in thought – "Aren't you that filly who my sister was very competitive in Fastest Young Flyer race, years ago?" Flame Thrower asked.

Derpy Hooves looked straight towards the fire-maned stallion as her eyes seemed to be fixed on him and said, "Uh, I'm not sure I know anything about that. But, I remember that I was first a few times."

"Oh, really? Well, would you like to share it with me? 'Cause I feel like, that was you," the blue Pegasus said.

I didn't take too long for a gray mare to reply with her hearable excitement. "Sure! I actually just joined the competition back then, and it was my first race..."

As the gray Pegasus soon was about to start her storytelling, the brown and lilac Pegasi looked at each other. Compass Star shrugged and soon relaxed by leaning his head onto the seat's headrest. Cloud Chaser rolled her eyes as the brown Pegasus closed his eyes. She looked up towards the rest of her friends as one of them was now telling a story. The lilac mare leaned forward to hear better, placed her forelimb in an arched way, and soon without her notice, drifted away to the land of dreams. Apparently, a sleepless night made itself known.

Derpy looked up with one eye and then back to the blue Pegasus. "Okay, so I remember it like this..."





It's a beautiful day in Cloudsdale (mostly because of the sun that is glowing with its full brightness on the whole city) and seeing such weather gave more motivation to get up from a bed and head out to either work or school. But for some Pegasi, this day was even more special due to the fact that today some of them could have a chance to stand on the podium at the award ceremony, as the new edition of Fastest Young Flyer race was announced a few days ago.

The race had it place on special track behind the Cloudeseum, where the start line was situated. Whole track resembled design closer to letter 'D' with some sharp turns and cloud-made obstacles. The task was simple – be the first on the finish line and do the 3 laps as fast as your wings were able to carry. 

Soon enough, the whole lineup was starting to fill up with pony Pegasi as only a few minutes left for the race to begin. Between the track race was a platform for parents or just ponies who wanted to watch the race, and you could tell from that, that everypony was cheering upon seeing young flyers. 

Some Pegasi from audience got even a little bit carried away, but saying that a blue stallion with a rainbow mane and yellow eyes got a little bit carried away, was understatement of the millennium. Alongside the blue Pegasus was cyan mare with a red mane that had few streaks of lighter red and magenta eyes. They both were the loudest couple of Pegasi in the audience due to their unique method of cheering and yelling 'Go Rainbow Dash!' before the race has even begun.

Also, both Pegasi had some rainbow hats and even t-shirts with Rainbow Dash's cutie mark. However, between the cyan mare and blue stallion was a slightly older (than most foals in the race) colt, that had the same coat color as the rainbow-maned stallion. He even had the same yellow eyes, but very neat divided between the red, orange, and yellow, mane. His look on the face said that he would rather hide somewhere and never come out due to the amount of attention and cringe that his parents always bring whenever his sister has an important sporting event.

"Let this race finally begin, please..." He mumbled under his breath with an annoyed tone as he fixed his glasses.

He wasn't aware that the cyan mare next to him heard his mumbling but she apparently didn't picked up the tone of his sentence. "I can't wait for the race too, Flame! It's the first Rainbow Dash race and it will be so cool to see our Rainbow on the podium!"

"Exactly, Windy! I also came up with an idea of shouting even louder, that's for sure will boost her towards the victory!" as soon as the rainbow-maned stallion said that, he stood up on his hind limbs and took both of his hooves towards his mouth and shouted, 'Go Rainbow Dash! You have this!' While the blue stallion shouted words that he thought are going to help his daughter win. Meanwhile, the Pegasi beneath their seat looked up with annoying features on the face on which Flame Thrower smiled nervously. 'There we go, even more attention...' Flame thought.

Rainbow Dash, upon hearing his parents cheering up method; turned her head towards the platform, and nervously waved back. After doing so, she quickly galloped towards the starting line.

After all, Rainbow Dash wasn't the only nervous Pegasi participating in this race...

The gray filly sighed once she reached the line. She looked around at the other ponies that participate in the race, which are supposed to be her rivals. She wasn't sure if that was a good idea to even come here, but her parents were so happy when she told them that she is going to participate in this race... She just didn't want to destroy that kind of happiness and hope of her parents.

She looked on the platform behind her to see just how many ponies gathered up to watch the event. Apparently, two platforms were filled up with ponies and moost of them were parents, families or friends of her rivals. Sadly, there was no sight of her parents as they both told the gray filly that they won't be able to watch due to the amount of work. They said that even if they won't watch her race physically, they for sure will be there mentally to cheer her up.  The gray filly sighed once again and looked down. That thought didn't help as much as she would hope.

"Hey Derpy, nervous?" approaching Pegasi asked.

As the gray filly looked up, she saw a very light blue coat. Then after looking higher, she noticed a dark blue mane and green eyes. "Hey, Soarin. Yeah, a little bit."

"Don't worry, I'm nervous too," Soarin said calmly. "But I'm not giving stress a single chance to get to me. All you have to do is fly through this track to the finish line, and that's all."

"If it was only that easy..." Derpy said. To his disappointment, she wasn't very much cheered up.

"It's not?" he asked.

"Of course it's not! Look at the other foals that are probably better than me!" she started with a slightly angered tone and look in her eyes, but after few seconds, she slowly calmed down as she positioned her head lower while while her ears rested flat against her head. "I will for sure end up in the last place..."

"How do you know they are better than you? Besides, it's everyponies first race!" he patted her on the back. "You don't have to win this race, just get to the finish line, and that's all, nothing more."

The gray filly sighed. "If you say so..."

"Y'know, maybe focus on the positive aspects of this race. My cousin Compass Star had some races too, and thanks to them, he got to know his two best friends, Flame Thrower and Air–" before he got a chance to finish his sentence, a yellow stallion with a blue mane and violet eyes, as well with blue flag as a cutie mark, approached.

"All ponies, please position yourself at the start line!" he shouted.

"As soon as I'll wave this flag" – he took the flag with his wing from one of the fences that hold the banner with text 'Start'  – "you'll have to take off as soon as possible, got it?"

All foals nodded and started preparing for the mark to start the race. The yellow Pegasus flew to the cloud that positioned itself before the competitors. "Fly safe, but beat everypony else! Good luck!"

Rainbow Dash decided to take this moment before the race officially started and said. "Y'know, guys. You don't have to try beating me, because we all know that's impossible. I'm the–" before she could finish her sentence, the yellow Pegasus waved the flag, and all of the competitors took off; leaving the cyan filly behind. "Hey! I didn't finish my speech!" as soon as she said that, she took off, but it didn't happen without her falling into a random cloud.

Meanwhile, most competitors were at the beginning of the said race...

The mint filly with yellow mane and eyes was leading but right behind her was the yellow filly with the fire-like mane. They were both followed by two lilac fillies. One of them had a white mane with light blue shades and lavender eyes and the other filly – slightly lighter coat and eyes color with a turquoise mane. 

The turquoise-maned filly looked behind as she said, "It looks like you'll be the one cleaning the room, Chaser."

"Probably in your dreams, Flitter!" her sister replied.

"We will see," she turned her head back towards the direction of their race. "But I'll be the one who's gonna win."

The white-maned filly shook her head as she thought that her sister said that she is going to win, on which Cloud Chaser laughed and that made her sister even angrier. "What? Pff... No way, I'm gonna win!"

"I will win!" Flitter shouted with a hearable angered tone.

"No, I will win!" her sister replied in the same tone as her anger begin to rise as well.

"Yeah? Then we'll see if you can catch up with me after that!" Flitter shouted as she got away from her course and flew directly into her sister from the right side. To her surprise, instead of knocking away her sister, it caused both of them to fall off the track. As both lilac Pegasi did few flips back, they landed inside one of the clouds.

As the whole situation eliminated the both lilac Pegasi for a while, It was a chance for Derpy Hooves to bring herself closer to the win. She increased her speed, and rapidly flew by two lilac Pegasi, who were completly stuck in the cloud and apparently argued again.

'Okay, only four more ponies left. If I will keep this speed and not mess up on the way, I have a chance to maybe even finish this race without being the last! ' the gray filly thought as a smile appeared on her face.

Just then, she heard something that flew with enormous speed behind her. Before she could recognize what that thing is, the rainbow streak passed by her with such speed that almost knocked her away from the track as she did to Cloud Chaser and Flitter. Soon enough, she somehow stabilized her flight, but her eyes were still wiggling around. When she shook her head, her eyes fixed, but she sighed with the realization that it was Rainbow Dash, who may be worse in keeping her flight stable, but at the same time, she was impossibly fast. "And the hope of being not last this time breaks again..." she said to particularly no one as she looked down to keep quiet her sad emotions. Derpy could swear that she even heard her saying something like, 'Nothing's gonna stop me!'

Little did she know that Rainbow Dash's flight stability will fail her again... 

They cyan filly didn't notice where she was flying, and before she could change her course or at least do anything to prevent the event that is about to happen, she saw the eyes of both a light blue coated colt and a dark mint filly that widen and filled with horror upon noticing rapidly getting closer filly.

"WHAT THE– " is all that Soarin could say before he and Fleetfoot got strucked by the rainbow streak at its finest speed. Both him, Fleetfoot, and Rainbow Dash (who apparently was not strong enough to get through them) were knocked away from the impact, down into the clouds; as they both landed, all Pegasi raised from their place of where they land and begin to massage their heads as they let painful ouches.

Derpy Hooves once again saw more ponies getting eliminated, and even though she felt very bad for them and wanted to check on them if they are alright; she told herself that nothing happened to them and trying to help them will only result in the same scenario as last time. She tried to help somepony back then, and as soon as she stopped, the said pony used the chance to quickly flew up and leave Derpy behind what resulted in her getting the last place.

The gray filly shook all doubts from her head and once again increased her speed; leaving all group of Pegasi on the cloud behind. Only two ponies left and she would end up getting not 5th place, not 4th place, not even 3rd place! But, she would actually win the whole race! That thought cheered her up and boosted her confidence in trying to insecure that indeed there was a chance.

After three minutes of trying to catch up with Spitfire and Lightning Dust, the gray filly finally got close enough to see that both Pegasi –instead of trying to fly as fast as they can– were casually talking and flying next to each other. Spitfire even laughed, probably due to the Lightning Dust' comment about how there are only two ponies who got so far and no pony else seems to get close to them. However, due to their conversation, they seemed to not notice the gray filly that was getting closer by seconds.

"Let's see... After a sharp turn, there's a straight path to the finish line. What would say that after getting through that we gonna race for real?" Spitfire asked.

Lightning Dust chuckled and said, "You mean like always?"

"Like always," the yellow filly replied with a smirk on her face.

"I have to admit, today is super chill. Even Soarin didn't reach this part of the race yet and it seems–" before the mint filly could finish her sentence, she saw how gray blur flew next to both her and Spitfire and was now rapidly directing towards the sharp turn, which after getting through that, there will be a straight path towards the finish line.

Both Pegasi gasped upon realizing what just happened, "Somepony got the lead! I can't los–" Another interruption appeared from now blue blur that cut through the air while it evaded both Pegasi. As they realized that now two ponies were ahead of them, they looked behind and their eyes widen upon another realization that their conversation slowed them that much that it got enough time for other ponies to catch up.

Even though all ponies were getting closer rapidly, Lightning Dust decided to try something that might help her increase her chances of winning. "Look, isn't it Wind Rider himself?" the filly mare pointed behind Spitfire.

"REALLY?! Where, where??" the yellow filly looked in a pointed direction and saw nothing. She growled with anger as she turned back and saw that Lightning Dust was now ahead of her and quickly burst towards the direction of the finish line to chase the mint filly.

As both Pegasi tried to get on the finish line, Derpy did perfectly the sharp turn and was rapidly getting closer to the finish line. But tiredness reminded her about itself and soon she begins to feel exhausted. But even though the gray filly felt that so badly, she tried her best to keep up.

The gray filly felt once again that somepony was getting closer from behind, but she didn't care. She noticed a banner with the text Finish line getting closer and closer. Derpy decided to use all power that was left in her wings to get even close to the finish line, and...

She did it. Derpy crossed the finish line as the flash from the camera took a photo. However, the blue blur that at the last moment wanted to catch up, crossed the finish line at the same exact moment as gray filly.

Everypony from the platform for ponies to watch was cheering, whistling, and even shouting. The gray filly sighed as she landed on her belly on the cloud not far away from the finish line. As she tried to catch her breath, the blue blur landed next to her. The said blur was, of course, Soarin. He as well, fall to the cloud ground and begin to try to catch a breath.

"Well... it... looks like...one of us... is the winner," Soarin said, still trying to catch a breath.

"Soarin...? Wow... how did you got here so fast?" Derpy asked as she as well tried to catch a breath.

"Huh?" colt asked not very sure how to answer, but eventually he replied. "Oh that... I-... have actually no idea." When Soarin's answer made more questions than answers, Derpy raised one of her eyebrows as she looked on her friend. 

However, before she could say anything else, the ponies in the background raised their applause again as he and Derpy saw the mint filly who crossed the finish line. When Lightning Dust landed not too far from the finish line, she looked around and noticed both gray filly and light blue colt exhausted. "Really?! I lost?!" Lightning Dust sighed and facehoofed herself.

Not too long after that, the yellow filly arrived and crossed the finish line as well. Spitfire landed next to Lightning Dust as she begins to exchange some words with her friend. The cheering and other background noises from Pegasi that watched the race were still hearable. "Why the heck did you trick me like that?!" yellow Pegasus asked.

Lightning Dust sighed and moved her gaze on the cloud under her as the guilty start rising in her mind. "Ugh... sorry, Spitfire. I thought this way I'll get you out of my tail and will have enough time to catch these two" – she took her hoof and pointed on both Derpy and Soarin – "before they get to finish line."

She sighed. Even though it was not okay for her friend to trick her, she reminded herself that instead of racing like all the others, they both ended up talking. "Okay, let's say that I forgive you... at least for now. After all, we both, instead of racing, were talking like it's nothing."

She looked up to notice that Spitfire had a slight smirk on her face, which made her a little bit more confident as she said. "Yeah, we kinda did."

"Uh, it looks like somehow Lightning Dust and Spitfire aren't that mad for not being first," Derpy said, as she and Soarin were looking at both Pegasi from a distance. It was also that moment when they heard approaching the finish line laughter. They moved their gaze onto the finish line as both lilac fillies quickly crossed the finish line and landed next to the place where Lightning Dust and Spitfire talked. The gray filly and light blue colt saw that the lilac Pegasi looked like they were having a great time together as they even did a brohoof. The total opposite of how they behave before. Also, the main reason they ended up beyond the podium was because of how they treat each other, but now? They looked like they never argued.

"Well, it looks like we won't be getting any of the top places..." the white-maned filly said as she took her hoof and waved it dismissively.  "Whatever, I'm glad we won't have to fight anymore, sis."

"Exactly! Also, I should thank you that you stayed to help m. Even though you could fly away any moment and catch the higher place on the podium," Flitter said.

"What kind of sister I'd be if I left my sister stuck in the cloud? Besides, we both realized that if we want to have any chance of winning, we should, at least, try to cooperate and race fair without trying to show how one of us is better than the other. In this case, trying to eliminate each other," Cloud Chaser finished her sentence with a chuckle and embraced her sister in a hug on which both lilac Pegasi smiled heart-warmingly.

"And it looks like Cloud Chaser and Flitter finally stopped arguing over everything," Derpy noticed as the image of reunited sisters brings happiness to her face.

Soarin turned to look at the two sisters hugging each other, and it also brings a smile to his face. As he looked back on the gray mare, his eyes caught something... different. Derpy's left eye was in a lower position than her right eye. He never saw anything like that on his friend's face. "Uh, Derpy?"

Derpy suddenly shook her head, and before he could ask why she did that, her left eye was back in its right place, "Yes?"

"Uh, is everything ok–" before he could ask, the crowd watching Pegasi begin to cheer and applaud as another competitor arrived and crossed the finish line. It was a dark mint filly with a neat white mane. As she noticed the gray filly and light blue colt, the dark mint Pegasus flew towards them and landed next to Soarin.

"Fleetfoot, you did it! You reached the finish line!" Soarin greeted his friend, quickly forgetting about the question he was about to ask.

"Yeah, I did it!" Fleetfoot said as she approached both Pegasi.

"Good race, Derpy!" she added, on which the gray filly nodded in the meaning of thank you with smiling features on her face.

"And thanks, Soarin. If it wasn't for you, Rainbow Dash, and our little talk that we had after our collision, then I don't think I'd even have a chance to fly all the way here completely alone," Fleetfoot said.

The light blue colt quickly realized what his friend meant and begin to feel horrible for leaving Fleetfoot behind when he tried to catch up with the lead of the race. "I'm sorry that I left you behind, but–"

"Don't worry about it. I got to fully know the whole track, and next time I'll be prepared for every turn and obstacle on my way! Plus, I really need to practice more to fly even faster, and yes, I know that you were slowing yourself down for me, but you didn't have to. But anyway, thank you," Fleetfoot reassured his friend in a sweet tone and smiled to show that she doesn't hold it against him.

Soarin, in return, blushed. The light blue colt nervously looked down as he finally got himself to say, "W-well, what are f-friends for?" on which the dark mint filly smiled.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and added, "Aaanyway... I have to agree that if it wasn't for Rainbow Da– wait... where's Rainbow Dash?"

"She didn't reach the finish line yet?" Derpy asked while she looked around in the sight of a cyan filly with a rainbow mane.

"No, it seems she didn't. But, she was the first that took off, and I remember her saying something like 'I know a shortcut. See ya later on the finish line!' She should be here by now," Fleetfoot said, still without a clue why Rainbow Dash didn't reach the finish line.

It looked like only three of them were concern about the lack of cyan filly as all three of them soon begin to scan the whole area. They looked from the platform where parents –or just Pegasi who wanted to watch the race– were cheering up; to the podium and finally on the finish line. The rainbow-maned filly was nowhere to be seen.

Then something unexpected happened...

The cyan filly suddenly popped up from the middle of the cloud on which all gathered Pegasi were standing and shouted as loud as she can. "I'm the best! I got to the finish line before anypony else..." she begins to lower her tone, as she finally opened her eyes to see that all ponies who the cyan filly thought she outsmarted, long before her, finished the race.  But her shouting didn't go unnoticed as the cheering from the watching Pegasi stopped, and all gathered ponies –as well her competitors– looked in disbelief in the middle where Rainbow Dash just appeared.

Her parents' eyes widen as they laughed nervously upon getting some weird looks from the Pegasi above and below their seat. They previously were non stop shouting 'Go Rainbow Dash!' but now all they could say was nervous and almost silent 'Yay...'

Meanwhile, Flame Thrower wanted to disappear... literally. But all he could do is sigh in embarrassment as he facehoofed himself once the possible reason for that appeared in his mind.

'There's no way she got lost on the shortcut,' the fire-maned Pegasus thought, while he still holds his head in his hoof.

"Oops..." the cyan filly nervously added with a chuckle.

Then yellow pegasus stepped in with the scoreboard. He grunted to take the whole attention from the cyan filly to him. "Attention, please!" he begin. "As it seems that all competitors reached the finish line, I think it's a good moment to announce the places."

As soon as he said it, he took out a notepad from his saddlebag with the usage of his teeth and put it on the cloud below him. He opened it and begin to read. "Okay. It seems that two ponies were very close to first place, but after analyzing the photo we have a winner," the yellow pegasus took the photo from the notepad and pin the saif photo to the scoreboard.

"First place, Derpy Hooves!" as soon as he said that, every gathered Pegasi begin to stumble their hooves in applause for the gray filly, followed by 'Congrats!' and 'Good job!' from her competitors.

"Please stand in the first place!" the yellow Pegasus added.

Derpy couldn't believe it. For the first time in her life, she is going to stand in the first place. She didn't hesitate and burst into the sky to land on top of the podium. As the gray filly finally placed her hooves on the podium; she soon saw the ponies that sat on the platform were now looking at her. The applause was still hearable until the yellow pegasus begins to speak. "Second place, Soarin and Lightning Dust!"

The mint filly and light blue colt took off the ground and placed themselves in second place on the podium. They exchanged smiles with themselves and Derpy then they looked around to see ponies that were applauding them as well.

The applause got silenced once again. "Third place, Spitfire and... well, actually Flitter and Cloud Chaser both arrived at the same time, but from what I heard while I asked them about who was first to cross the finish line, it is... Cloud Chaser, who crossed the finish line as the first!"

Cloud Chaser looked back on her sister, "W-what? When did you tell him tha–" before the lilac filly could say any word more, she got silenced by her sister's hoof on her muzzle.

"You decided to help me, so I decided to help you," Flitter replied with a smile and slowly taking off her hoof from her sister's muzzle.

"Now, go! Before I'm gonna change my mind," she smirked, but instead of a harsh reply, Cloud Chaser took her sister into an embrace once again. It only took a few seconds, but it was worth it.

After breaking the embrace, Cloud Chaser looked at her sister. "Thank you, Flitter!" After that, she flew towards the podium. As soon as she placed herself, she got applause from the audience and many congratulations from the other Pegasi who stood on the podium.

"And the fourth place, Fleetfoot and Flitter!" Both Fleetfoot and Flitter placed themselves on opposite sites of the podium. Same reaction from the audience, followed by applause and occasional whistles and congratulations from other Pegasi from the podium.

"Last place... well, today we had only Rainbow Da–" his sentence got very loudly interrupted, because as soon as cyan filly placed herself next to the podium. The cyan mare and blue stallion on the platform start shouting once again, "Great job, Rainbow Dash! You're a-m-a-z-i-n-g!"

It only makes cyan filly even more embarrassed as she cringed back, avoiding looking at her parents.

'Just great...' the fire-maned colt thought as he looked on the image of his sister being last.





The fire-maned stallion took his hooves and pointed on the gray mare while he shouts. "So that's you! Congrats on that win! I remember that my sister said after the race that one day she will be standing in your place," he finished his sentence with a chuckle upon refreshing some old memories when Rainbow Dash just decided to start in the Young Flyer competition.

As he looked back on the gray mare, he noticed that she got a quite nervous look on her face after mentioning that. Flame thought that maybe it's a great memory for him and his sister but not perhaps for Derpy, so he decided to tell her something that should cheer her up and let her quickly forget about bad memories. "Also, I should be thankful to you. I remember that my sister and I had a bet about if she ends up in the first place, I'll have to do the chores like washing the dishes and get her whatever official Wonderbolt's merchandise she wanted. But instead, you won! So, thanks to you, I didn't have to do any of these things."

Derpy Hooves smiled upon hearing that. However, her smile quickly faded, and her facial features took a more concerned look. "Oh, I'm sorry that, because of me, your sister ended up in the second place.."

"Don't be sorry! You actually helped my sister a lot in case of self-improvement," Flame Thrower said as he gave her a reassuring smile.

"I did?" the gray mare asked, not quite believing in what Flame said.

"Of course!" he nodded. "You gave her a good boost of confidence and narcism that –believe or not– she got from me," the blue Pegasus smirked. "And thanks to that, she was more eager to win future races, and thus she became better."

A smile immediately appeared on her face. "Oh, good to hear that! But wait, you mentioned about your sister. But I didn't quite hear her name when I was telling my perspective, so who's your sister?"

"The one and only," he relaxed himself in his seat a little bit more and put one of his forelegs behind his head to make himself even more comfy, as he said. "Rainbow Dash."

Once she heard that, the gray mare couldn't believe her ears. "Really?! For muffins, she never mentioned that she has a brother when I talked with her!"

"Maybe she just didn't feel like she needed to tell anypony? I dunno, but now you know she has a brother, and his name is Flame 'the most awesome Pegasus in Equestria' Thrower" the fire-maned Pegasus said as he runs one of his hooves through his mane.

"Wait, is that your second name?" Derpy asked as she squints her eyes and put one of her hooves under her chin. For the blue Pegasus, it looked like it really struggled her.

He blinked two times and then chuckled. "What? No, it just..." he shrugged. "Sounds cool, I guess."

"Anyway, what is this meeting about, Chaser?" Flame Thrower asked.

As he got no answer whatsoever, the blue Pegasus looked on the mare next to Derpy. He thought that Cloud Chaser was leaning against the table with her face the whole time just because she wanted to relax. Although, when he noticed that her head was slightly down and saw that her mane covered her eyes, the fire-maned stallion finally realized why his friend was so quiet throughout the whole conversation. Additionally, the snore from his side of the table confirmed that Compass Star, while leaning on the headrest of his seat, took a trip to the land of dreams as well.

"Did they fall asleep?" Derpy Hooves asked with a confused look.

"Well, they don't look too energetic, don't they?" the blue Pegasus chuckled as a funny idea crossed his mind. "I've got an idea... just watch."

Flame Thrower hit the table, and almost immediately after his hooves collided with the wooden table, both Cloud Chaser and Compass Star spiked up. Both Pegasi faces had a shocked look as they finally were awake. It didn't happen without both Pegasi rapidly looking in every direction, which gave them a weird look from other ponies in the cafeteria. Soon, their locked their look on the blue Pegasus who kept his hooves on the table, as he and Derpy Hooves were both laughing at their friends' reaction.

"Har har, very funny," Cloud Chaser sighed while rolling her eyes.

Flame Thrower and Derpy Hooves kept laughing for a few more seconds; until eventually, they both calmed.

"I'm not the one who falls asleep!" he said with a chuckle. "But seriously tho, why did you fall asleep?"

"You both are like the fastest Ponies to fall asleep!" Derpy Hooves added as she tried to keep her from bursting with laughter again as their reaction to the sudden wake-up call kept repeating in her mind.

The brown Pegasus stretched himself a little bit before saying, "If you would have to work till late in the night *yawn* then you would be the fastest in falling asleep too."

"Oh, what job do you have that requires you to work that late in the night?" Flame Thrower asked.

Before Compass Star could say, Derpy interrupted him and said, "He works in Weather Factory as one of few cloud scien–, scientsi–..."

"Scientist," Compass Star helped his friend with his tired voice on which Derpy smiled. "Cloud scientist. And, that's the most exhausting job in this whole city, but... I wouldn't change this job for the world!"

"Yeah, you're the only pony I know that enjoys being overwhelmed with work," Cloud Chaser added with a slight chuckle on her face.

"I guess it's a destiny for every Pegasi to work there at least once," the fire-maned Pegasus sighed. "But still, it doesn't explain why Cloud Chaser falls asleep too. Before we got into this cafeteria, you burst with energy, especially after our meeting!"

The lilac mare rolled her eyes before saying, as she leaned a little bit forward.. "I just didn't sleep well because of our new neighbor who decided that it's a great idea to move his bed in the middle of the night!" she stomped her hoof in the table, then sighed. "I had some energy when we met, but when you two start talking about whatever you were talkin', my energy capacity lowered to a few percent. Not mentioning that little race that we did took a lot of my energy as well."

"Oh... I didn't know that you both are so tired. Then again, why did you arranged this meeting if you're" – he took his hoof and pointed on both Compass Star and Cloud Chaser – "like this!"

"Well, we kinda promised to Derpy that we are gonna help with her job since she did a lot for us lately," the lilac mare said.

Compass Star nodded and added, "Yeah, we wanted to repay for her help with doing something for Derpy. Basically, that was the reason for our meeting. After getting ourselves a nice break in the cafeteria, we are supposed to help her with the delivery of letters."

"What letters?" Flame Thrower asked, not quite getting where these said letters are.

As soon as the blue Pegasus asked, Derpy dived down the table and caught with her mouth something that looked like a big brown bag filled with letters. She jerked her head backward and threw the said bag on the table while making the table visibly wiggle with a hearable thud sound from the heavy brown bag hitting the table. "These letters!" Derpy Hooves said while she released the brown bag from her muzzle.

As he looked at the size of the bag, his eyes widen upon reminding himself that Derpy is supposed to deliver all of them. "Oh-wow... that's a decent amount of letters, not gonna lie."

'Where did she hide this bag?,' he thought.

"That's why *yawn* we have *yawn* to help her," Compass Star rubbed his eyes and tried his best not to fall asleep again, but Flame already knew that Compass Star is for sure not going to help as much as he would like to.

"Y'know, I got a better idea," the fire-maned Pegasus said.

Cloud Chaser looked with a puzzled look and asked, "What idea?"

Derpy moved closer and stomped her hooves on the table in exciting meaning, "Oh! Does it involve muffins? Because I'd like to eat one right now."

Flame Thrower shook his head and chuckled. "No, but if you want, we can think about that later."

She quickly nodded as a grin appeared on her face. The blue Pegasus sighed and added. "Anyway, my idea is to get you two to get back home and take the nicest sleep as you can. Meanwhile, I and Derpy; will deliver these letters."

"What? No, no way. We're here to help her, and we ain't gonna let you do the whole work for us," Cloud Chaser crossed her forelimbs, giving away the look of her stubbornness.

"Yeah *yawn* what she said..." Compass Star added very weakly.

Upon noticing how tired Star become in comparison to himself before Derpy's storytelling, Flame Thrower sighed. "You really need to sleep, dude... Otherwise, you could fall asleep in the air, and that wouldn't be fun, believe me."

"What? I'm awake and... ready... to... help..." and before he could fully finish his sentence, the brown Pegasus fall a sleep as his head hit the table.

While everyone at the table looked surprised as their friend hit his head with the table, the blue Pegasus sighed as he reminded himself about one important fact. ’Ughh... I think that I won’t be getting any information regarding that street I'm looking for after all,’ Flame Thrower thought as he facepalmed himself. After doing so, he wanted to shook his friend to wake him up, but upon noticing how his lilac friend was looking at the brown Pegasus, he realized what she had in my mind. "Do the honors," Flame Thrower said.

Cloud Chaser nodded as she flew from her place towards the now sleeping Pegasus and shouted straight into his ear. "Wake up, Star!"

The brown Pegasus spiked up as his friend shouted the words loud enough that even a deaf pony would hear. He shook his head as he looked at Flame Thrower, who had a look on his face that said, 'I'm clearly right.'

"You see? You can't even keep up with the conversation, let alone fly!" he added as he turned his head to the lilac mare. "Chaser, you have to escort Compass Star to his home. And then don't go back, get yourself decent sleep, okay?"

"But–" the lilac mare wanted to protest, but before she could say anything, Flame put his hoof on her mouth, silencing her for good. "No buts, you know that you need to sleep too, and this is a good opportunity. If you gonna fly with us, you will only get even more tired."

"Besides, I and Derpy will have a great time. I can see that coming,"  the blue Pegasus looked on the gray mare next to Cloud Chaser.

"Exactly!" as soon as Derpy said that, both blue and gray Pegasi took her hoof and stumbled it in a brohoof.

"I know, but this is our first meeting after five years, Flame," Cloud Chaser said as she looked towards the floor. "I just wish we could spend more time together as we used to."

"I'd like that," Flame said. "But, hey! We can hang out whenever we'll have a chance to do so! I'm not going to disappear again, so don't worry."

The lilac mare shook her head, and with a defeated sighed added. "Okay, I guess you're right, mister all better."

"Well, I don't see any reason for staying here any longer," Cloud Chaser said. As soon as the lilac mare noticed that her friend wants to fall asleep again, she stomped her hoof on the table hard enough to leave a visible mark. "Star, wake up! I have to get you home."

The brown Pegasus sprang once again as his friend yelled again to wake him up. All that tiredness left him without having anything to fight his friend's decision. He rubbed his eyes and, with a yawn, said. "Oh-okay... See you both soon!" As soon as Compass Star said that, he jumped on the floor from his seat and then flew into the entrance direction.

Cloud Chaser approached the blue Pegasus and embraced him into the hug. "Don't disappear for another five years, got it?"

The fire-maned Pegasus smiled and nodded as they break the embrace, "I wouldn't take the risk."

Cloud Chaser giggled and rolled her eyes. Then, both Pegasi heard like something hit the door. As the whole group of Pegasi friends, and some other ponies from the cafeteria, looked where the source of the sound was, they saw that apparently, the brown Pegasus walked into the door. "Ouch," he said as he begins to massage his forehead. "Who placed doors in such place?!"

"Is... is he getting worse and worse just by a matter of few seconds or what?" Flame Thrower asked and raised one of his eyebrows.

"I guess coffee didn't work as long as he thought it would," Cloud Chaser chuckled.

"Okay, better going before he falls asleep once again. Bye Derpy!" She waved her hoof in the direction of the gray mare on which Derpy replied with a smile; also waving her gray hoof back. And soon, the lilac mare was gone escorting Compass Star through the door to take him to his home.

Flame Thrower sighed and looked on the mare he's going to help. "Okay, so what about some muffins before we start delivering these letters?"

Derpy replied with excitement in her eyes as she closed them; while grim appeared on her face. "Yay!"

To be continued...