It was a beautiful day in Ponyville and on a nearby hill, Chad was trying to coach Fluttershy on the art of cheering.
“Okay Fluttershy, Like this. Strong like a palm tree! Tough as a cactus! Dash and Sprint fly against you just for practice!” Chad cheered with a back flip. Fluttershy tried to mimic his motions.
“Um...Tough as a palm, oh, wait.” She began softly. “Strong like a palm tree. Um… Dash and Sprint-”
“Nonono. Fluttershy, you’re a little too nervous. You gotta be confident. Encouraging. And-” Chad tried to say.
“Passionate.” Lightning Sprint said as she landed beside them.
“Yeah! And Passionate. Now, let’s put them all together and let out with a big cheer!” Chad told Fluttershy. She inhaled before letting out a cheer.
“Yay.” She said quietly. Lightning Sprint facehoofed.
“You’re gonna cheer for Dash and I like that?” Lightning Sprint asked her, disappointed.
“Come on Fluttershy, the point of a cheer is to be heard.” Chad said as Rainbow Dash dropped down.
“Which means, be louder.” Rainbow Dash told her.
"Yay."
"Louder!"
"Yay."
"Louder!"
Fluttershy took a deep breath. "Yaaay."
Both pegasi face hoofed and dropped to the ground with a thud. Chad and Fluttershy looked down at the two.
"Too loud?" Fluttershy asked. Chad looked at her.
“The silence was too loud.” Chad commented, which earned him a sheepish smile from Fluttershy.
My Little Pony,
My Big Changeling too
Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahhh…
[Bandit]
(My Little Pony)
We used to wonder what friendship could be
(My Big Changeling too)
[Twilight Sparkle]
Until you all shared its magic with me
[Rainbow Dash]
Big adventure
[Pinkie Pie]
Tons of fun
[Rarity]
A beautiful heart
[Applejack]
Faithful and strong
[Fluttershy]
Sharing kindness!
[Lightning Sprint]
Motivate the team
[Bandit]
Heroics makes it all complete
You have my little ponies
Do you know you're all my very best friends?
Rainbow Dash and Lightning Sprint were standing on two different clouds looking down at Chad and Fluttershy, who were ready to cheer them on. Well, one of them was ready to cheer them on at the appropriate volume.
“Just follow my lead Fluttershy.” Chad said before looking up at the two speedsters. “Hooray!” He cheered loudly.
“Yay.” Fluttershy cheered softly. Taking in a deep breath, The two used the clouds as a diving board. Lightning Sprint dove into the air as Rainbow Dash dove down.
“Now, phase one of our routine.” Lightning Sprint said.
Lightning Sprint maneuvered around Clouds in a loop-de-loop form as Rainbow dash zigzagged past trees. Both zipping by Fluttershy and Chad.
“Woohoo!” Chad cheered loudly.
“Woo.” Fluttershy cheered softly.
The two crossed paths and looked at each other.
“Phase two."
Shooting into the sky, Rainbow Dash got three large clouds spinning in different directions by flying around them quickly. Zipping down, Lightning Sprint flew towards the river and flew circles around it, making tornadic water sprouts the same way she did in Boast Busters before taking to the skies.
Chad and Fluttershy looked at both, although Fluttershy’s eyes were spinning before she finally stopped them. The two flew up at an angle, almost forming a triangle.
“Here we go. Phase three.” Lightning said.
“The Sonic Rainboom.” “The Hypersonic Lightning Strike!” The two Pegasi said at the same time. They dove down, side by side one another as Chad and Fluttershy looked on in amazement. Mach cones began forming around the pegasi as they gradually picked up speed. Then the air resistance got to them. They both looked at one another.
"Uh oh." They both said before the air resistance sent them both flying off. They let out terrified screams.
Over at the library, Bandit magically placed a book on a shelf and sighed. "Last one."
Twilight turned towards Applejack and Pinkie Pie. "Thank you so much for helping us clean up all these books, guys. It was a crazy week of studying."
"It sure was because bookhorse doesn't put books back after a cross reference." Bandit teased, sticking his tongue out at Twilight.
"I was in the zone!" Twilight exclaimed
"The messy zone." Bandit said as he offered a hoofbump to Spike. Spike chuckled as they hoofbumped. The faint sound of screaming drew closer and closer. Bandit turned to the window and saw Rainbow dash closing in. He brought a shield at the window to stop her from crashing through. He sighed in relief and brought the shield down, right as Lightning Sprint collided with Rainbow dash, which knocked them both into the room, knocking almost all the books over. Bandit was able to save one shelf. The other books feel, covering Spike and the three mares.
Bandit groaned as he helped them out. Chad was on Fluttershy's back as she flew into the library.
"Rainbow Dash, Lightning Sprint you rock woohoo." Fluttershy said before looking at the books. "Oh my. Did my cheering do all that?"
Rainbow Dash stood up and looked back at her friends. "Hehe. Sorry about that ladies and gents." she apologized sheepishly before turning back to face Fluttershy. "That was a truly feeble performance."
"You two did great! Not exactly a feeble performance." Chad told them.
“She’s talking about the cheering from Fluttershy.” Lightning Sprint clarified.
"What are you three arguing about?" Bandit asked them.
"We were arguing?" Fluttershy asked. "Oh, sorry."
Rainbow Dash grunted in annoyance and looked at their friends. "I wish you guys could come to Cloudsdale to see us compete in the Best Young Flyer Competition." she said to them, in a slightly regretful tone.
"What's that?" Twilight asked. Pinkie was gonna say something, but Chad beat her to it.
"It's where all the greatest Pegasus flyers get together and show off their different flying styles!" Chad answered.
"How did you know that?" Lightning asked.
Chad held up a book on that very subject.
"Oh. That explains it."
"Some are fast." Chad said as he scooped Spike on his back and zipped around the room on his legs.
"And some are graceful." Pinkie said as she tried to move gracefully, but she ended up slipping on the books. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" And she fell down, being buried by books again. She tripped Chad, making him faceplant in front of Applejack, who picked him up.
“I’m okay.” He said as he was placed back down onto his hooves.
"Golly," Applejack said, impressed. "I'd love to see you both strut yer stuff in that competition."
Rainbow Dash nodded sadly. "Yeah. I wish you guys could be there." She said honestly.
“Fluttershy's a great support, but her cheering isn't exactly inspirational. Heck, Chad is like what? 10 and he’s louder than her.” Lightning Sprint added.
“You greatly underestimate the noisiness of foals.” Bandit told them.
"Ooh! I'd love to see you make a sonic rainboom! Or A Hypersonic Lightning Strike" Pinkie squealed. "They’re like, the most coolest things ever! Even though I've never actually seen them, but I mean come on! It's a sonic rainboom! And a Hypersonic Lightning Strike! How not cool could it possibly not be?!"
“What are Sonic Rainbooms and Hypersonic Lightning Strikes?” Twilight asked. Chad popped up out of the books with one in his mouth, which Bandit grabbed and opened. He turned a few pages before getting to where he needed to read.
“When a Pegasus goes at speeds greater than mach 7, they can become capable of-” He looked at his friends and saw Twilight and Chad were the only ones who weren’t shooting him a confused look. He rolled his eyes. “A pegasus flies super fast, a rainbow and bolts of lightning will come out with a sonic boom.”
“Oooooh.”
“It also says that they are both extremely rare.” Bandit added. Applejack patted Rainbow Dash and Lighting Sprint.
“Rainbow Dash and Lightning Sprint here are the only pony to ever pull it off in our lifetimes!" Applejack announced proudly. Rainbow Dash flushed a little, as did Lightning Sprint.
"It was a long time ago… We were just a pair of fillies." Lightning Sprint said.
“As a pair of fillies yeah, but you're gonna do it again, right?" Pinkie asked them. Lightning looked at Rainbow Dash and saw how unsure she was, so she stepped forward.
“Are you kidding? We’re the best flyers to ever come out of cloudsdale. A Sonic Rainboom and a Hypersonic Lighting Strike? Those are as easy as taking a nap.” Lightning Sprint said to motivate Rainbow Dash and herself.
“Wow” Twilight said as she walked forward. “If the two of you pull that off, you’ll win the crowns for sure.” Twilight said. Bandit looked confused.
“Both of them can win the crown?” Bandit asked.
“We can ride solo, or we can do teams. Teams are judged a little more harshly, but hey, who doesn’t love a challenge right?” Lightning Sprint said.
"The grand prize is an entire day with the Wonderbolts." She added. "A whole day of flying with our lifelong heroes… It'll be a dream come true!"
"Yay." Fluttershy softly cheered.
"I'm gonna go rest up." Rainbow Dash said. "Don't wanna over prepare myself, y'know. Hehe." She then fixed Fluttershy with a stern look. "You, on the other hand, better keep practicing. I need a cheering section to match my spectacular performance." She then flew back out of the window.
"Wait up!" Lightning called after her, taking off.
“Bandit, didn’t you say you met some of the wonderbolts?” Chad asked him.
“Eeyup.” Bandit answered before hearing Big Macintosh in the distance.
“Stop stealing my line!” He was heard exclaiming.
Bandit snickered a little.
"I hope now isn't a bad time for me to say, The 2 of them practiced those moves hundreds of times, and didn't even come close." Chad told the group.
"Not even once" Fluttershy added. "I thought my cheering would help."
"My cheering's loud enough, but I don't think it'll help." Chad said. Fluttershy flew off after that. Bandit began to start picking up the books.
“Well, guess we better get this cleaned up… again," Twilight said, sighing as she magically began picking up books.
Rarity poked her with her horn, making her toss the book into the air, which Bandit caught.
“Go on, go on."
"Go on what?" Twilight Sparkle asked, shooting her an unamused glare as she tried to gather up the books again.
"Find a spell that will get us wingless ponies into Cloudsdale," Rarity requested. "Didn't you see how nervous she was?"
"Nervous?" Applejack repeated. "Have you spit yer bit or somethin'? They tootin' their own horns louder than the brass section of a marching band!"
"Rarity has a point. It might not have been Lightning Sprint, but Rainbow dash had the stage fright." Bandit said.
"Are you sure?" Twilight asked "It looked like Lightning Sprint was pretty nervous."
"Not as nervous as Rainbow dash. Lightning had to carry the convo." Chad said.
"Chad is right. 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." Rarity said before bumping Twilight with her rump. “Now go on.”
Twilight yelped and landed among the books. She poked her head out, unamused.
"How are we going to find a flight spell in all this?" Twilight asked.
Chad dove into the pile like a fox diving head first into the snow and came back up with a book in his mouth.
"Page twenty-seven." He muffled, tossing the book to Twilight.
“How did you do that?” Applejack asked him, looking at the young nymph, surprised. All he did was wiggle his nose. Applejack was confused at first, but Spike leaned in.
"He can recognize books by smell. You know, a better sense of smell and all." Spike said. Applejack nodded.
"Okay, we'll give this a try." Bandit said. Twilight stepped beside him. "Any volunteers?" Bandit asked. Chad raised his hoof. "One without wings already?"
Chad places his hoof down.
"I would happily volunteer." Rarity stepped forward. Chad pouted and sat down. "Awww, don't look so glum darling."
Bandit and Twilight lit their horns.
"Here goes." They both said. The magic duo concentrated on their magic, feeling it build up, and then a light blue magic began wrapping itself around Rarity. Moments later, there was an explosion of light that knocked almost everyone backwards, into the bookshelves.
"It worked!" Bandit exclaimed, not knowing his friends had been blown back from the force, that is until he turned around.
The next day, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were flying toward Cloudsdale for the competition, and Rainbow Dash was trying to get Fluttershy to be more assertive in order to successfully cheer her on.
"You've got to learn to be assertive, Fluttershy." she insisted as they arrived on the outer rim of the city. "Don't be afraid to speak up."
Just then, they were approached by three male Pegasi: Dumb-Bell, who had dark brown skin, light gray hair, blue eyes, and an exercise weight for a cutie mark; Hoops, who had light brown skin, brown hair, sea green eyes, and three basketballs for a cutie mark; and Score, who had dark gray skin, dark brown hair, gray eyes, and three footballs for a cutie mark.
"Well, well, well," Dumb-bell sneered when he saw the two female pegasi. "What do we have here?"
"It's our friend, Rainbow Crash." Hoops said.
"Without your BFF Burnt Lightning. Was being kicked out of flight school too much for her to be your friend?" Score taunted, earning a grit from Rainbow dash.
"I didn't get kicked out." Rainbow dash said with a glare.
"Face it, Rainbow Crash. Flight school had too many rules, and not enough nap times for you." Dumb-bell told her.
Hoops snickered. "Huh, ask her about the sonic rainboom."
"That's nothing but an old mare's tale. Just like that Hypersonic Lightning Strike." Dumb-Bell stated, refusing to believe that Rainbow Dash had actually done one when they were fillies. "You don't have the skills to try something like that. Neither does your friend."
"Now wait just a minute!" Fluttershy snapped, startling them and herself. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm trying to be more assertive," she apologized before being assertive again. "Anyhow… She is going to do a sonic rainboom along Lightning Sprint’s Hypersonic Lightning Strike!"
"No she's not, 'cause there's no such thing! Same with that Hypersonic Lightning Strike." Dumb-Bell snapped.
"Then show up at the Cloudeseum and see for yourself!" Fluttershy challenged before toning down her voice, flushing. "…If you're free."
Dumb-Bell, Hoops, and Score all stared at her for a long moment, having never seen her that assertive before, and then they burst out laughing.
“Oh, don't worry. We'll be there!” Dumb-bell said tauntingly.
“See you then, Rainbow Crash!” Hoops taunted.
After they flew off, Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash, who wasn't looking as confident as before the encounter. "Did you see that?" she asked happily. "I was so assertive!"
"Those guys are right," Rainbow Dash said, sighing. "I'll never be able to do it."
"But, Rainbow Dash," said Fluttershy, surprised to see her friend's loss of confidence. "Just because you've failed the sonic rainboom a hundred thousand times in practice doesn't mean you won't be able to do it in front of an entire stadium, full of impatient, supercritical sports fan ponies."
"Aaaaaah!" Rainbow Dash screamed, going into a full panic attack. "What do I do?! Everypony's gonna see me fail! The Wonderbolts will never let a loser like me join. Princess Celestia will probably banish me to the Everfree Forest! My life is ruined!" She sank to her knees, covering her head with her forelegs.
Fluttershy stared at something over Rainbow Dash’s shoulder that'd caught her attention.
"Rare…"
"Rare?!" Rainbow Dash repeated, looking up at Fluttershy with annoyance. "The sonic rainboom is way more than rare!"
"Rarity?" Fluttershy asked, still staring.
Blinking, Rainbow Dash looked behind her and her jaw dropped when she saw that their fashion friend was indeed there, and growing out of her back were colorful butterfly wings! "Rarity! Are you… flying?!" she yelped, jumping to her hooves.
"I most certainly am!" Rarity confirmed happily, flapping her new wings and enjoying their lovely colors. "Aren't my wings smashing?! Twilight and Bandit made them for me. I just adore them!" She then saw the expressions of shock on Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. "Why so shocked? We couldn't leave our favorite flyers without a big cheering section!"
“”We”?” Rainbow Dash asked. At that moment, Bandit came through the clouds, pulling a carriage with his friends and younger brother(s) on it.
"It's incredible!" Fluttershy exclaimed, happy to see their friends.
"This is so cool!" Rainbow Dash cheered. "You guys made it!"
“Sure did!” Chad said, jumping out before Bandit landed on the cloud.
“Chad wait!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, almost diving for him. Chad landed on the cloud without falling through.
“How'd you do that?" she asked, exchanging a perplexed look with Fluttershy as Bandit landed, in which Applejack, Pinkie, Spike, and Twilight Sparkle also hopped out of the basket to stand on the clouds. "Only Pegasus ponies can walk on clouds."
“Well, that’s a bit of a stretch. Anyone with wings can walk on clouds.” Bandit said as he detached the carriage.
Pinkie did a cartwheel on the cloud.
“Pretty cool huh?” Pinkie asked.
"Bandit and I found a spell that makes temporary wings." Twilight explained, "but it was too difficult to do more than once. So I found an easier spell that lets the rest of us walk on clouds.”
“I wouldn’t say it's difficult. Just a bit messy.” Bandit said with a nudge.
"And we came to cheer you to victory!" Applejack encouraged.
"To be honest, I was starting to get just the teeniest, tiniest bit nervous." Rainbow Dash attempted to downplay her close panic attack. “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?" She offered. Most of them agreed but Chad was looking around.
“Hey, where’s Lightning Sprint?” Chad asked. The two Pegasi looked at each other.
“We thought she was coming with you guys.” Rainbow Dash said. Chad sniffed the air.
“I smell freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.” Chad said.
“I found her.” Bandit said with an eye roll. “I’ll go grab her, y’all head on.”
They nodded and began to move, but he grabbed Rainbow Dash.
“By the way, mother would never banish you for a bad display. So don’t worry about it.” Bandit informed her before flying off, grabbing Chad.
A short distance away, Lightning Sprint was eating a plate of cookies. Her tail was wagging like it usually did. Bandit and Chad managed to find her there. The two share a sly look and Bandit hid in a cloud as Chad started to stalk her like a tiger, since her back was turned. Lightning was none the wiser.
Chad wiggled and pounced onto her tail.
"Boo!"
"AAAAH!!!" She jolted, knocking the cookies onto the cloud, most of them breaking.
Chad playfully nipped her tail and held on.
"Nom."
She looked back at him. "Chad?" Chad smiled and shook her tail around.
She began wagging it. Chad continued to hold on, trying to keep it on the ground.
"What are you doing?" She asked. "Wait. If you're here then that means-"
"Boo!" Bandit exclaimed from behind her.
"AAAAAH!!!" She jumped, falling to the ground. Chad and Bandit began snickering at her.
"Gotcha." Bandit said with a smirk.
"What are you doing here?" Lightning Sprint asked.
“We came to watch you compete actually. But you not being with Rainbow Dash sort of made me worried that you might have also have stage fright.” Bandit answered.
“Aww, you were worried about me?” Lightning teased. Bandit rolled his eyes at this.
“Yeah yeah, big ole softy.” Bandit sarcastically said.
“Caring for your little sister huh?” Lightning Sprint nudged, making Bandit raise an eyebrow.
“Lightning, you’re 3 years older than me.” Bandit told her.
“I’m referring to height Lingzilla.”
“Let’s just go.” Bandit said as he grabbed her by the scruff. Chad hopped onto Bandit’s back.
“Wait! But cookies!” She cried out as Bandit began to fly.
“I’ll buy you some after the show.” He muffled as he flew off.
The other 6 ponies plus dragon were led to the whole city came into view. "Here it is: the greatest city in the sky!"
"Oooh! Aaah!" Four of the six ponies, plus dragon, said, admiring the view and the city itself.
Rarity, however, was admiring herself and her wrings in a mirror. "Oooh! Aaah!"
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and lead them into the city. "Uhh… Some of the greatest Pegasi in history came from Cloudsdale!"
"Oh, wait for me!" said Rarity, flying to catch up, distracting three construction pegasi that were working on the cloud. One of them lost a jackhammer, which went over the edge of the cloud.
"Those wings are gorgeous!"
"Why, thank you!" Rarity responded, diving down to her friends with her new wings.
"Be careful with those wings, Rarity." Twilight began to warn. "They're made from gossamer and morning dew, and they're incredibly delicate."
"Don't worry, Twilight." Rarity said, flying over them. "I'm sure they can't get worn out from too much attention."
Bandit arrived and put Lightning down.
“Bandit, you finally made it.” Applejack told him.
“You say that like I was gone for an hour.” Bandit responded.
“I was just about to ask Rainbow Dash about where the weather’s made.” Applejack said.
"Great idea!" Rainbow Dash agreed. "C'mon, girls. To the weather factory!"
A short time later, they arrived at the factory, where there was a number of thunder clouds floating around, letting out the occasional lightning bolt, and they put one some of the white work coats and hats before going into the first room, except Bandit, who was too big for the coat and could only wear the helmet.
“This is where they make the snowflakes," Rainbow Dash whispered, nodding to the large room, where a dozen pegasi were busy making snowflakes under magnify glasses, and completed snowflakes were hanging from the ceiling. "Each one is hoofmade. As you can see, it's a delicate operation."
“It must be hard to make all those snowflakes making sure none of them are the same.” Spike said before seeing Rarity fly up.
"Ooh, the snowflakes look even better from up here," Rarity said happily, unaware that the flapping of her wings was creating a breeze that send the snowflakes flying around the room, alarming the workers, and they went running around, trying to rescue the snowflakes before they hit the floor and shattered.
"We better move on before Rarity ruins winter and causes a drought." Rainbow suggested wincing as a snowflake shattered near her. Bandit grabbed Rarity’s tail and pulled her out.
The next area they entered was outdoors, and here the workers were busy stirring up large pots of rainbow colors, pouring them into a massive container. "And here's where they make the rainbows!" Rainbow Dash announced proudly.
“Ah, so this is where you were created.” Bandit joked. Rainbow dash rolled her eyes at that with a small snicker.
“Yeah, Lightning hasn’t made that joke before.” Rainbow said with a nudge.
Pinkie dipped one hoof into one of the pots so it came out colorful, and she slurped it off. Seconds later, her face shifted through a rainbow of colors while panting from the heat.
"Spicyyyyyy!" She panted out before zipping off. The others laughed a little at that.
"Yeah, rainbows aren't really known for their flavor." Rainbow Dash agreed.
Chad stuck his hoof in and took a lick. He smacked his lips and smiled, dipping his head in to lick some more, before Bandit stopped him.
“Chad likes it?” Applejack asked.
“Yeah. Chad loves Spicy.” Bandit answered as he placed Chad on his back.
"Whoa!" Dumb-Bell exclaimed, staring at the beautiful wings. "Oh, where'd you get those amazing wings? I want a pair!"
Rarity considered that for a moment. "Hmm… Yeah, I guess I could see that."
Dumb-Bell then noticed the blue pegasus and smirked. "Oh, hey look, it's Rainbow Crash again!" he teased.
"Heheheyeah! Rainbow… Umm… Eyah… Crash!" Hoops agreed snidely.
"Rarity! What're you doing talking to these guys?" Rainbow Dash demanded angrily.
"Oh, they were just admiring my wings, Rainbow Dash," Rarity replied, obvious to the bullying going on.
"Yeah, you should forget the sonic rainboom and just get yourself some wings like these!" Dumb-Bell sneered and he, Hoop, and Score all burst out laughing. The laughing began do die out as Bandit walked over. They looked up to him and slowly backed away before flying off.
“Cowards.” Bandit said as he looked at Rainbow Dash and Lightning Sprint. “Don't listen to them. You're both gonna win that competition for sure.”
“Are you kidding? I can't do the sonic rainboom, and just look at these boring, plain old feathered wings. I'm doomed!” Rainbow dash said. Lightning Sprint tapped her chin and got an idea.
“Uhh... C'mon, girls. Why don't we go see how clouds are made?” Lightning Sprint suggested.
“I’ve always wanted to taste a cloud.” Chad said. Spike nudged him.
“You want to taste everything.” Spike told him.
“Not ‘everything’.” Chad said. Rarity stood next to him.
“Sure. Not ‘everything’. You adorable little tiger shark.” Rarity answered, pinching his cheeks. Chad pouted. Rarity smirked and nuzzled his cheek, which made it hard for him to keep his adorably mad face. Spike folded his arms as he watched this happen.
At the factory where the clouds were being made, Chad used his magic to lasso a cloud and pull it to him. He took a bite before spitting it out.
“Bleugh!” He exclaimed. Bandit and Spike laughed at this before hearing glamorous from behind them. Courtesy of the pegasi admiring her wings.
"What, these old things?" Rarity asked, enjoying the attention. "Go ahead, everypony. Photos are encouraged."
Bandit walked over to Rarity, looking up at her with a disapproving look.
“Rarity. we're supposed to be helping Rainbow Dash relax, remember?" Bandit reminded her sternly, whispering so Rainbow Dash wouldn’t hear him. "Put your wings away and stop showing off!"
"Oh, pfft," said Rarity, rising up so that the sunlight was reflecting through her wings, creating an incredible rainbow effect. "How can you ask me to put away perfection?" she asked when she saw the workers awing and the rainbow she was creating. "Waa-haa-haa!"
Bandit turned to look at Rainbow dash.
“Rainbow, are you alright?” Bandit asked. Rainbow dash looked like she was on the verge of a panic attack. Lightning Sprint was doing her best to keep her calm.
"Of course!" Rainbow Dash said quickly, panting. "Why wouldn't I be okay? Everyone's so in love with Rarity's wings that they won't even notice when I totally blow it in the Best Young Flyer's Competition."
“Now wait just a minute-”
"Hey!" Rainbowshine called, overhearing her and looked up at Rarity. "There's an idea! You should enter the competition!"
"Yeah!" Foggy Fleece agreed. "I could watch you fly all day long!"
"There really isn't anypony who uses their wings quite like me," Rarity remarked thoughtfully. "Perhaps I should compete."
Rainbow Dash and Lightning Sprint stared in horror. "WHAT?!" she yelped while the workers continued awing at Rarity. She flew off and the workers followed her.
“She is so losing those wings.” Bandit said under his breath.
"What am I gonna do?" Lightning Sprint wailed. "We'll never win the competition now. We’re gonna be laughing stalks…"
Bandit turned to look at them.
“Oh no, not you too Lightning.” Bandit said.
Hours later, every pony and pegasus were seated in the stadium, where they were waiting for the competition to begin, and Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Spike, and Twilight Sparkle had managed to find a good cloud seat so that they would be able to see the entire competition.
“Hey, where are Bandit and Chad?” Spike asked.
A male pegasus named Madden flew onto a cloud and he spoke through a speaker. "Fillies and gentlecolts! Please rise and join me in welcoming our beloved Princess Celestia! And her sons, Bandit and [briefly reads the long name] erm….Chad!"
There was fanfare and applause as the Alicorn, two changelings and two pegasus guards flew over, and they landed in the royal balcony.
"Please welcome our celebrity judges for the Best Young Flyer Competition: the Wonderbolts!" he called out and the crowd cheered as six of the Wonderbolts flew overhead, doing a brief show that ended in a firework, and then three of them took their positions in the judging stand while the other three flew off. "And now, let's find out who will take the prize as this year's best young flyer or flyers!"
The wonderbolts judges looked up at Bandit and Celestia and then gestured to the others and flew over.
“Hey. Long time no see you’re highness.” The yellow pegasus with a fire orange mane with orange eyes.
“Oh, hey Spitfire.” Bandit said as he looked up at them.
“How you been? Haven’t seen you since what….the second gala you were at?”
“Yeah, the second. I’ve been pretty well.” Bandit said before an idea sprouted in his head. “Actually, I have a favor to ask.”
“I hope it’s not rigging who wins.” Spitfire joked.
“Trust me, with my two friends competing, I don’t need to rig the system.” Bandit said. Two of the three wonderbolts chuckled at Bandit’s confidence in his friends.
“I like your confidence. So what do you-” Spitfire glanced to the side. “Fleetfoot stop staring.”
A light blue mare with a white mane and purple eyes shook her head.
“Huh? Um, what?” Fleetfoot asked.
“Forgive her. So, what’s the favor you needed?”
Lucy Packard turned to the waiting pegasus. "Okay, contestant number one, you're up," she announced and Orange Swirl flew through the curtains to loud applause.
Rainbow Dash and Lightning Sprint looked at her before the two realized they were the number two contestants, and they looked around for a moment before sneaking off to switch numbers with one of the other pair of pegasi.
"Okay, number two, let's go," Lucy Packard called out once Orange Swirl finished flying.
"Umm…" went Rainbow Dash, who was hiding behind a brown pegasus, who was eating some grass. Lightning Sprint was whistling past a light grey pegasus who was sipping a hayshake.
"C'mon, c'mon, we ain't got all day!" Lucy Packard shouted, becoming annoyed.
Lightning nudged the grey pegasus.
"Psst. That’s you two.” She said.
He blinked and noted that he had a different number. "Oh. Umm… Oh, I guess that's us! Come on Turner!" The grey pegasus said as he hurried away.
Lucy Packard sighed and checked while Rainbow Dash slipped past her to change numbers a second time, Lightning Sprint was doing the same thing while number three went next. "Okay, number four, time to go," she called out.
Rarity poked her head out of the dressing room, her mane done up in rollers. "I'm number four, and I need just one more itsy-bitsy minute," she requested. "Be a dear and have somepony go ahead of me, hmm?" And she duck back inside.
"Look, I don't care who it is, but somepony's gotta go on!" Lucy Packard snapped.
Meadow Song had number five, so he went next. "Let's do this!"
Rainbow Dash and Lightning Sprint now had number six and they had to think fast, again.
"What are we gonna do?" Rainbow dash asked. Lightning Sprint turned her attention towards Derpy and her partner, a pegasus stallion they didn’t know.
Meanwhile, the gathered pegasus were admiring all of the competitors that had performed so far, and Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle were commenting on what they each thought about the performances.
"I loved number the seven duo." Twilight Sparkle commented. "Doing fifteen barrel rolls in a row over your partner’s aileron rolls can't be easy."
"My favorite is number ten." said Fluttershy. "She just looked like such a nice pony."
Applejack nodded, but she was worried that two certain friends hadn't appeared yet. "Hmm… Wonder how come we haven't seen Rainbow Dash, Lightning Sprint or Rarity yet," she remarked. "The competition's almost over."
“I can’t wait to see Rarity’s act. I know she’s gonna look amazing.” Spike said.
“Of course you’d think that.” Twilight teased. Spike rolled his eyes as his stomach growled.
“Man, I’m kinda hungry.” Spike said before a bag of popcorn was teleported to him, via Chad. He smiled and gave a thumbs up to Chad, who was eating a bag of popcorn on his own.
Meanwhile, Lucy Packard walked over to Rainbow Dash, who was curled up in a ball next to one of the pillars with a terrified expression on her face, and Lightning Sprint, who was pacing back and forward so fast she was practically running.
"Number fifteen, let's go!"
"Rarity… is ready!" Rarity announced, stepping out of the dressing room and was wearing a rainbow-colored outfit with matching makeup, and a very fancy hairstyle.
Lucy Packard looked at them both with an exasperated expression. "Look, ladies. I don't know what to tell you." she snapped. "There's only time for one more performance. If all three of you want to compete, you'll just have to go out there together!"
"Well, Rainbow Dash? Lightning Sprint?" Rarity asked. "Shall we?"
Rarity headed for the curtain while Rainbow Dash did some scared babbling as she got up to follow, shaking like a leaf. Lightning Sprint took in a deep breath and walked to the curtain.
“We can do this.” Lightning Sprint tried to encourage.
"And now, for our final competitors of the day, contestants number fifteen!" Madden announced as Rainbow Dash and Lighting Sprint nervously flew out. He then blinked when he saw Rarity come out with them. "Uhh… And apparently contestant number four…" The crowd began cheering.
"Good luck, you two." Rarity told them. "Just do your best. I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of changing our music. That "rock and roll" doesn't really match my wings." She then began to do a fancy dance as classical music began playing.
Rainbow Dash watched her for a moment and gulped.
"C'mon, Rainbow Dash," she muttered to herself. "You can do this. We can do this. Just remember the routine. Phase one." Lightning Sprint told her to encourage her, but was shaking with every word. They began the first part of her routine, Lightning Sprint maneuvered around Clouds in a loop-de-loop form as Rainbow dash zigzagged past clouds that were shaped like trees, which she wound up colliding with the last one. Her yelp made Lightning Sprint look back at her, which in turn made her collide with the last cloud.
"Nice work, Crash and Burn!" Hoops called out and joined in the laughter of his friends.
Rainbow Dash recovered, and did her best to ignore them while glancing at Rarity, who was still dancing around and flapping her fancy wings. Bandit was about to throw something at the bullies, but Celestia yanked the rock from his grip. Which made him pout.
"Time for phase two." Lightning Sprint told Rainbow dash. Rainbow Dash got three large clouds spinning in different directions by flying around them quickly. Rain drops came out and Lightning Sprint flew around them quick and made them stay mid air.
"Look!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "Phase two is working." And the crowd was cheering. Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash messed up again., this time by bumping into the fourth cloud, which was sent spinning into the stadium. Lightning Sprint tried to go after it, but she was caught in her own wind current and was thrown back to Rainbow Dash. Celestia and Bandit both used their magic to destroy the cloud, in an effort to protect each other. They both look at each other and chuckle a little. Bandit’s stomach then growled.
“I’m gonna get some more popcorn.” Bandit said as he walked off.
Oblivious to what was going on around her, Rarity was on a high and she was about to do something incredibly stupid, but she didn't see it that way. "And now for my grand finale," she announced. "I will fly right up to the sun and beam my beautiful wings over the whole city of Cloudsdale!" She gasped and squealed. "They'll be talking about it for years!" She then flew high into the sky, heading for the sun.
“Wait a minute.” Chad said as he looked up. He dropped his popcorn and then ran off to get Bandit.
Rainbow Dash and Lightning Sprint watched her go. "Looks like this is our last chance to turn things around." Rainbow Dash said.
“Phase three. The sonic rainboom and Hypersonic Lightning Strike.” Lightning Sprint said.
“Wings, don’t fail us now.” Rainbow Dash and Lightning Sprint flew up at an angle, almost forming a triangle
The crowd gasped and watched the three fly higher and higher into the sky, with Rainbow Dash and Lightning Sprint trying to fly fast enough to create the sonic rainboom and Hypersonic Lightning Strike while Rarity reached the sun itself.
"Look upon me, Equestria, for I… am… Rarity!" she announced as the sunlight was made into rainbow beams by her wings, and they beamed down onto the stadium, where the crowd oohed. Unfortunately, the heat of the sun caused her wings to go poof! She hung in the air for a moment and realized that she was in serious trouble. "Uh-oh." She then dropped back toward the ground that was very, very, very far below, screaming.
"Oh no!" Twilight Sparkle yelped. "Her wings evaporated into thin air!"
The three Wonderbolts: Fleetfoot, Soarin, and Spitfire flew into action, flying after the falling unicorn.
Rarity was still screaming as the three Wonderbolts reached her, but since she was also waving her legs around wildly, she accidentally knocked them all out, and so they were now falling to the ground, too.
Chad came back with Bandit, who had five bags of popcorn and pointed to Rarity who was falling with the three pegasi.
“Gah! I was gone for a minute.” Bandit exclaimed as he gave the bags to the guards and Chad.
Hearing the screams and seeing Rarity fall, Rainbow Dash and Lightning Sprint stopped mid air and then dove down.
"Hold on, Rarity! We’re coming!" Rainbow Dash shouted, hurtling toward the ground as fast as she could. Lightning Sprint was right beside her. Bandit jumped into action too, diving down as fast as he could.
Rainbow dash was forming a mach cone as Lightning Sprint began to spark. Bandit looked at both of them and smirked. He placed ear plugs in his ears and as soon as that happened two sonic booms shook the arena. One resulted in a rainbow explosion, the other with bolts of lightning shooting out. Bandit grabbed onto one of the lightning bolts and picked up a vast amount of speed. Both Lightning Sprint and Rainbow Dash had their tail and mane color’s trailing behind them.
Rarity gasped in amazement as the three headed towards her.
"A sonic rainboom! And a Hypersonic Lightning Strike!" Fluttershy shouted, hopping up and down in celebration.
"They did it! They did it! Wooo!" Chad cheered from next to Celestia, who was holding him so he wouldn’t cheer himself over the edge.
Rainbow Dash, Lightning Sprint and Bandit got to the falling for and Lightning Sprint grabbed Soarin. Rainbow Dash grabbed Rarity and Bandit jumped off the lightning bolt and grabbed Spitfire and Fleetfoot. Bandit slowed down before flying straight back to the stadium. Lightning Sprint and Rainbow Dash were still flying at an extremely fast so they arched back to the stadium. Looking at each other’s trials before winking and doing a (technically) double rainbow above the stadium before flying back in. Bandit was already giving Spitfire and Fleetfoot back to the wonderbolts and took his ear plugs out. The crowd was going crazy.
"A sonic rainboom! Wooo! Yeah!" Chad exclaimed.
“Hypersonic Lightning Strike! Woohoo!” Fluttershy cheered.
"We did it." Rainbow Dash said, tearing up from pride.
“We did it!" Lightning Sprint exclaimed, definitely happier.
"You sure did," Rarity agreed, sighing. "Oh thank you, both. You saved my life!"
“Technically, Rainbow Dash saved you.” Lightning Sprint said.
"It was a team effort." said Rainbow Dash with some modesty. "We did that too. Ha, best day ever!" She and Lightning then whooped and did a number of loop-dee-loops to celebrate while Bandit walked over and placed Rarity on his back, after fixing his mane from the Lightning Fritz treatment.
A few minutes later, Rarity was in the carriage Bandit brought the others in.
“I want to apologize to all of you for getting so carried away with my… beautiful wings," she told her friends. "I guess I just lost my head."
"It's okay.” "Oh, don't worry about it, kiddo." “We still love you.” “I’m just glad you’re okay.” “You were amazing.” The group bar Rainbow Dash and Lightning Sprint spoke over one another.
"And I'm especially sorry that I was so thoughtless as to jump into the contest at the last minute after you two had worked so hard to win it.” Rarity said to Rainbow Dash and Lightning Sprint. "Can you ever ever forgive me?"
"Aw, it's okay." Lightning Sprint reassured her.
"Everything turned out all right, right? I just wish we could have met the Wonderbolts when they were awake." Rainbow Dash said. Bandit gave off a sly look before giving off a high pitched;
“Weeeeeeeeell.”
Rainbow and Lightning’s jaw dropped when the three Wonderbolts landed next to Bandit.
"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!
“Bandit pulled us aside and told us to come and meet you after the competition. As a little favor. But we also want to say thanks for saving us. To all of you.”
"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" They both squealed. Bandit rolled his eyes.
Celestia and her guards arrived to them which led to everyone bowing. Everyone but Bandit and Chad, who nuzzled her.
“Did you enjoy the show mom?” Chad asked.
“I sure did. Especially your friends at the end.” Celestia said.
"Princess Celestia, I am sorry I ruined the competition," Rarity apologized. "Rainbow Dash and Lightning Sprint really are the best flyer in Equestria."
"I know they are, my dear," Princess Celestia agreed. "That's why, for their incredible act of bravery and the spectacular Hypersonic Rainboom-”
“I came up with the name.” Chad whispered to them before Celestia continued.
“-I'm presenting the grand prize for Best Young Flyers to this year's winner, Miss Rainbow Dash and Miss Lightning Sprint!" Celestia said as a pair of crowns were placed on their heads.
"Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh!" They both said as the others lifted them into the air in Celebration.
“So. Bandit, Twilight?” Celestia called. “Did you two learn anything about friendship from this experience?" she inquired.
"We did Princess," Twilight started before turning to Rarity. "but I think Rarity learned even more than us."
"I certainly did," Rarity agreed. "I learned how important it is to keep your hooves on the ground, and be there for your friends."
Celestia nodded with approval. "Excellent. Well done, Rarity."
Rainbow Dash and Lightning Sprint were brought back and jumped onto the ground.
“Best day of my life!” Lightning Sprint said with a squeal.
"Uhh, hey, Rainbow Crash," Dumb-bell began when he was roughly elbowed by Hoops, who hissed "Dash!", and he quickly corrected himself. "Oh! Uhh… Sorry. Rainbow Dash. Uhh, we just wanted to congratulate you and Lightning Sprint on winning the competition."
"That Sonic rainboom and Hypersonic Lightning Strike combo was awesome!" Hoops exclaimed.
Rainbow Dash and Lightning Sprint smiled a little, impressed that the three bullies were being nice to Rainbow Dash. "Heh, thanks, guys."
"Uhh, we're really sorry we gave you such a hard time before," Dumb-bell apologized.
"Aww, that's okay." said Rainbow Dash. "Don't worry about it."
"Hey. Do you want to hang out with us?" Dumb-Bell offered. "Maybe you could show us how you did that incredible trick!"
Rainbow Dash smiled and shook her head as she linked forelegs with the Wonderbolts. "Sorry, boys.”
“But we’ve got plans!" Lightning Sprint added as she linked forelegs with two more wonderbolts.
Bandit smiled as he watched them fly away before feeling a tug on his wing. He turned around and saw a few wonderbolts lined up with photos of him holding onto the lightning bolt to catch Fleetfoot and Spitfire. In the front of the line was Fleetfoot.
“Um….Would you mind giving us an autograph? Please?” Fleetfoot asked. Bandit was confused for a second.
“Who the heck took a picture of that?” Bandit asked before Celestia slapped him in the back of the head with her wing.
“I mean, of course.” Bandit said as he grabbed a quill and got to signing.
“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" Fleetfoot squealed.