It's been a little over a week since winter wrap-up and Xavier has been busy. Alongside taking care of Rune and making sure she didn't get into any trouble, but he finally finished his newest gadget. at the moment, both him and Rune were out taking a walk, both to get out Rune's seemingly endless energy and to see if he could find something to test run his newest gadget. At the moment, Rune was running and jumping all around Xavier without a care in the world.
"Hehe, calm down Rune," Xavier chuckled. "I swear, you have more energy than a power plant back at my world." After a few moments, Rune stopped in place with her ears raised. Before Xavier could ask what was wrong, Rune ran off. "What the- hey Rune!?" Chasing after her, Xavier soon saw his pegasus friends in the direction that Rune was running in. Once Rune was close enough to them, she made a very big jump right onto Fluttershy's back, surprising the two. "Gah, I'm sorry Fluttershy! I don't know what's gotten into her." Xavier apologized once he caught up.
"Oh, it's okay Xavier." Fluttershy replied as she was petting Rune, who was happily accepting the attention.
"We can't take too long though, we have work to do if I'm going to be ready for the best young flyers competition!" Rainbow said proudly, catching the attention of Xavier.
"Hmm? What's this about a competition?"
"The best young flyers competition is coming soon in Cloudsdale, and I am going to win it!" Rainbow said with pride.
"Well, the competition is sure to be difficult, but I know you can do it." Xavier said.
"Thanks, and I know that I will win! Plus, the prize for winning is being able to hang out with the Wonderbolts for a whole day, how cool is that?!" Rainbow asked excitedly.
"Really now? Well, I guess that's another piece of motivation for you to win. Know you have my support then." Xavier replied happily, knowing how much Rainbow idolizes the Wonderbolts.
"Thanks, now all I need to do is perfect my performance and I'll win for sure!"
"Well, I may not know as much in flying as you or Fluttershy, but I can still help with my newest gadget." Xavier said happily, catching the two surprised.
"You made a new thing engie?"
"First, stop calling me that Rainbow, and second, yup." Xavier then pulled out his new invention, which happened to be his telescope, though it was quite different. The difference from its original appearance was the presence of a new clear casing with wires and circuit boards seen. There was also a small lens at the top of the telescope. When the girls looked at it, they were just as confused as when they looked at his grappling hook for the first time. "I modded my telescope to do a bunch of new things like recordings and projections. I can use it to record your performance and show it to you when you're done so you can see where you can change and improve." Xavier explained with a bit of pride and excitement in his voice, happy to know that he can help out his friend with his new gadget.
"That, could actually be useful. Thanks Xavier, I'm sure to be even better than before!" Rainbow exclaimed, happy that she had more help in her goal, making Xavier happy that she was excited to help him do a test run.
A Short While Later
After a brief run down on what would happen, Rainbow got into position onto a cloud with Xavier, Rune and Fluttershy watching, the former prepping his recording on his telescope. After a deep breath and a thumbs up from Xavier, she jumped off the cloud, diving straight down until she pulled up mere inches from the ground. As she was flying, she began weaving in between a row of trees with grace. After she passed the last tree, she then flew up quickly and begun flying circles around a bunch of clouds, causing them to spin at great speeds. After the third cloud, she flew straight up and ascended quickly. After she made a lot of distance, she did a few loops to regain her momentum before doing a nosedive downwards. As Xavier was watching her descend, he noticed that the air around her was bending around her as she began to glow, catching him off guard, though he still kept his telescope on her. Unfortunately, as she was about to break the barrier around her, she suddenly stopped, and after a moment she flew the opposite way like a slingshot, causing Fluttershy to cover her mouth, Rune staring blankly and Xavier to lower his telescope is shock. Once they got over the shock, the three of them ran off in the direction that Rainbow flew in. After some running, they saw Twilight's library, though they saw a few books on the ground under a window. When they looked in the window, they saw that there was a huge mess of books in the library and the rest of the girls.
"Whoa, is everypony okay!?" Xavier asked in both shock and worry.
"I think so..." Twilight groaned as she and the rest of them got up.
"Hehe...Sorry about that ladies." Rainbow said as she got up as well. "That was a truly feeble performance."
"Actually, it wasn't all bad." Fluttershy admitted. "I particularly liked it when you made the clouds spin."
"Ugh. I'm not talking about my performance, I'm talking about yours. That feeble cheering!"
"Hey! She was trying her best, don't be bitter about it!" Xavier said defending Fluttershy. During their argument, they managed to catch the attention of the others.
"What are you arguing about?" Twilight asked for her and the rest of them.
"Were we arguing? I'm sorry." Fluttershy apologized, earning a sigh from Rainbow and a sympathetic smile from Xavier.
"I wish you guys could come to Cloudsdale to see me compete in the Best Young Flyer Competition." Rainbow admitted, confusing Twilight.
"What's that?" Before anyone could explain, Pinkie jumped up and began to speak in her own excited way.
"It's where all the greatest Pegasus flyers get together and show off their different flying styles! Some are fast!" She began to run around the room, kicking up books as she went. "And some are graceful." She stood on one hoof to begin to demonstrate, but lost her balance and fell over into a pile of books.
"Golly. I'd love to see you strut yer stuff in that competition." Applejack said, bummed that she would miss out on seeing Rainbow preform.
"Yeah. I wish you guys could be there. Fluttershy's a great support, but her cheering isn't exactly inspirational." Rainbow said, before receiving a somewhat light punch from Xavier, earned through her backhanded comment.
"OOOH! I'd love to see you make a sonic rainboom! It's like, the most coolest thing ever!" Pinkie commented as she bounced around happily. "Even though I've never actually seen it, but I mean come on! It's a sonic rainboom! How not cool could it possibly not be?"
"Sonic rainboom?" Xavier said, clearly confused. "What is that, and was that the thing you were trying to do?"
"The sonic rainboom is legendary!" Pinkie said, starting to explain again. "When a Pegasus like Rainbow Dash gets going so fast...BOOM!" Pinkie crashed into another pile of books. "A sonic boom and a rainbow can happen all at once!"
"Now that, sounds awesome." Xavier admitted, clearly impressed.
"And Rainbow Dash here's the only pony to ever pull it off!" Applejack added.
"Really!?" Xavier said shocked.
"Yeah, but I was just a filly..." Rainbow admitted bashfully.
"Well, this sonic rainboom sounds like a perfect move for you Dash." Xavier commented as he nodded.
"Yeah, and you will do it again, right?!" Pinkie asked happily, putting Rainbow into a corner.
"A-are... you kidding? I'm the greatest flyer to ever come out of Cloudsdale! I could do sonic rainbooms in my sleep." Rainbow said confidently, though Xavier could sense hesitancy and nervousness in her sentence.
"Wow." Twilight replied, impressed with Rainbow's confidence. "If you pull that off, you'll win the crown for sure!"
"Thanks Twi. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to rest up for the big day. Don't wanna over prepare myself, you know." Before she left though, she turned to Fluttershy. "You, on the other hoof, better keep practicing! I need a cheering section to match my specular performance." After she said that, she left through the window, with Fluttershy following behind, leaving the rest in a book-filled room.
"Well, better get this place cleaned up... again..." Twilight sighed as she went over to pick up a book, before Rarity interrupted her.
"Well, go on, go on." She said.
"Go on what?" Twilight asked, feeling annoyed.
"Find a spell that will get us wingless ponies and humans into Cloudsdale." Rarity explained, confusing the other girls. "Didn't you see how nervous she was?"
"Nervous? Have you spit yer bit or somethin'? She was tootin' her own horn louder than the brass section of a marching band!" Applejack said doubtfully.
"I'll have to agree with Rarity here." Everypony turned to Xavier. "I've hung out with Rainbow enough to know when she is nervous about something, and she is. Look at this." Xavier then pulled out his telescope with a small twirl, ad after a bit of fiddling, a projection of Rainbow right before attempting the sonic rainboom came out of the lens, surprising them all.
"Whoa, when did you make this?" Twilight asked.
"Finished yesterday, but not important right now. Just watch." Dismissing Twilight's curiosity (much to her displeasure) he began the recording. After a bit, Xavier paused right before the moment that Rainbow flew back. "See that, I think that her failing that trick is causing a bit of nervousness onto her, and knowing rainbow, it'll impact her quite alot."
"You see, I'm not alone in seeing it. Now go on." Rarity said, pushing Twilight into another pile of books.
"Ugh, how am I supposed to find a flight spell in this mess?" Twilight yelled.
"A flight spell? One sec." Pinkie then dashed off and grabbed a book, to which she lobbed over to Twilight. "Page twenty-seven."
"How'd you do that?" Applejack asked.
"It landed on my face when Rainbow Dash knocked me into the bookcase." She explained happily as Xavier looked at her dumbfounded.
"Here it is!" The group turned to Twilight who found the spell. "A Flight spell that will allow earth ponies to fly like a Pegasus. Ooh, it looks really difficult! I'm not sure I could do it."
"Well, is there any consequences to failed spells?" Xavier asked, a bit worried.
"Sometimes, this one seems to have a bit of irritation for a few days."
"Well, that's at least not bad, so I guess you can try it out."
"Well, alright, but who's gonna volunteer to be the test subject?" Twilight asked.
"Well, I would, but we don't know how these more complex spells work on humans like me." Xavier admitted, with not a hint of fear in his voice, indicating he would if the effects were more predictable to humans like him.
"In that case, I'll do it! For Rainbow Dash." Rarity declaimed, stepping forward.
"Okay, just hold still." Twilight replied as she faced her horn at Rarity and began casting the spell. As her horn was working her magic, Rarity was being encased in a colorful blue light, looking almost like a cocoon. After a bit, a spark occurred, sending Twilight flying and the cocoon of light to burst. When the light died down, everyone looked at Rarity in awe, as she looks to have butterfly wings made of pure light. "I think it worked..." Twilight said dazed.
"That it did." Xavier said as he looked at Rarity, who was also looking at her new wings in glee.
"They're gorgeous! I love it!" Rarity exclaimed, happy to have them.
"Oh oh, me next." Pinkie said, flailing her hoof around happily. Xavier took one look at Twilight and had other thoughts.
"I'm sorry Pinkie, but I don't think it's safe for us to continue. Twilight's already used up a lot of energy to give Rarity wings, so I don't think it's wise to continue. Hmm..." Looking at the book that the wing spell was in, he found something that could work. "Hey Twilight, will this work?" Giving the book to her, she looked at the spell he was suggesting.
"A cloud walking spell? Well, it seems like it could work. It's simpler, so I think I can cast it." Twilight then cast the spell after a small delay, coating the group in a soft white light. Once the spell was done, they all smiled knowing that they would be able to help Rainbow.
Once they were ready, the group went over and rented a balloon to get up to Cloudsdale. Xavier had to drop off Rune at his house, and once he did they left for the city in the sky, with Rarity leading them along. As they were flying Xavier was giving details about his modded telescope. As Xavier was wrapping up his explanation, the group looked over and saw familiar pegasi looking up at them in awe, mostly Rarity. Once the balloon landed, Rainbow spoke up after overcoming her shock.
"This is so cool, you guys made it!"
"Sure did!" Pinkie said as she hopped out of the balloon, much to Rainbow's horror.
"Wait!" She was about to do something, but she then saw Pinkie land on the clouds with no sign of falling through. The rest of the group hopped out, though Xavier was a bit hesitant due to magic still being foreign to him. "What the- how'd you do that? Only pegasus ponies can walk on clouds."
"Pretty cool, huh?" Pinkie asked as she began cartwheeling around.
"I used a spell to give temporary wings." Twilight explained, pointing at Rarity. "But it was too difficult to do more than once. So we found an easier spell that lets the rest of us walk on clouds."
"And we came to cheer you to victory!" Applejack announced.
"To be honest, I was starting to get just a teeniest, tiniest bit nervous. But I feel a lot better now that you guys are here." Rainbow said, smiling sheepishly. "Hey, we've got some time before the competition. Why don't Fluttershy and I show you around Cloudsdale?" The flightless group gave their approvals, so their tour around Cloudsdale began.
"Here it is!" Rainbow announced. "The greatest city in the sky!" The group looked out in amazement at the city, though Xavier was looking with more awe since he never experienced something like this. Rainbow had a look of pride on her face until she noticed that Rarity was not paying attention at all, instead at her own wings. "Uhh... Some of the greatest Pegasi in history came from Cloudsdale." Rainbow said ignoring Rarity as she guided the group along, prompting Rarity to follow interrupted. As they traveled, the Pegasi were looking at the group for two reasons. One was Rarity and her wings' beauty, and the other was Xavier since they never saw a human before. While Rarity was all on board with all the attention, Xavier wasn't as he pulled up his hoodie to try and comfort his mind.
"Be careful with those wings, Rarity." Twilight warned as Rarity was flying around. "They're made from gossamer and morning dew, and they're incredibly delicate."
"Don't worry, Twilight. I'm sure they can't get worn out from too much attention." Rarity responded, confident and joyful of her wings.
"But I can, can we go somewhere with less ponies wanting to look at me?" Xavier said, already getting uncomfortable with all the attention he was getting.
"Sure engie, I'll humor you." Rainbow said, trying to get Xavier to chill out. "Come on, I'll show you the weather factory." With the next destination confirmed, the group headed off to the weather factory.
After a bit of traveling, (Made difficult due to the city being designed around only flying ponies) the group made it to the weather factory. Once they got there, the group put on protective gear to protect them (Xavier simply put on a helmet since there were no human coats). Once they had their equipment, they began the tour of the factory, starting with the snow room.
"This is where they make the snowflakes, each one hoof-made." Rainbow announced in a hushed voice. Inside, they saw about a dozen ponies working with precision. "As you can see, it's a very delicate operation."
"I guess making snowflakes would be difficult. I wouldn't know since weather isn't on a timed schedule like here in Equestria." Xavier said, also hushed seeing that Rainbow was quiet.
"Ooh! The snowflakes look even better from up here!" Rarity said as she flew up to some snowflakes that were hanging. Unfortunately, due to how big her wings were and how light the flakes were, she managed to create a breeze strong enough to blow all the snowflakes around. The workers then began running around, trying to catch all the snowflakes that were blown about.
"We'd...better move on before Rarity ruins winter and causes a drought." Rainbow said with a deadpanned expression as a snowflake landed next to her, creating a decent sized crack.
With that, the group went to another area, this one with large fountains of rainbow-colored liquids. "And here's where they make the rainbows!" Rainbow announced, getting gasps form the group. As they looked at the flowing liquid, Pinkie dipped her hoof into it and gave it a lick. After a moment, her face began lighting up in multiple colors other than her's.
"Spicyyyyy!" Pinkie gasped as she ran off, getting a laugh out of Twilight and Applejack as Xavier shrugged with a small smile on his face.
"Yeah, rainbows aren't known for their flavor." Rainbow explained.
"Whoa! Where'd you get those amazing wings? I want a pair!" The group overheard somepony yelling and looked over, seeing Rarity and three other pegasus looking at her. The trio then saw the rest of the group and smiled. "Oh, it's Rainbow Crash again!" The darker pony said.
"Hehehyeah!" The light brown pony with the long brown mane added as they walked towards the group. "Rainbow... umm... Crash!"
"Rarity! What're you doing talking with these guys?" Rainbow immediately asked, seemingly already annoyed by the presence of them, to which Xavier took notice of just as fast.
"Oh, they were just admiring my wings." Rarity replied like it was no big deal.
"Yeah, you should forget the sonic rainboom and just get yourself some wings like these!" The darker one said, getting a laugh out of the trio of troublemakers, to which Xavier had enough.
"And who are you to say that?" When the three looked at him, they were taken aback at his appearance. "I'm just going to tell you this once and only once. Being a bully is not a lifestyle."
"Oh yeah, and who are you to tell us you- hairless- ape- thing?" The darker one asked. Xavier stood unflinching in his posture and his expression.
"Because I know bullies, and I know that they grow up after school. And since you three seem to like to bully, I think you three should run back to the schoolhouse before they catch you diching class." Xavier said with a cold look, all the while everypony went quiet, dumbfounded at the comment that he made. The darker one recovered first, though not in a happy or calm way.
"Why you-" The pegasus went in for a punch. Before anypony could do react, Xavier pulled out his sword and blocked the punch with the flat side of the blade, startling the pony and scaring him that he would retaliate. Xavier however simply pushed the hoof away from him harmlessly and lowering the sword to show he was not going to hurt him, yet. He looked at him before deciding to leave, prompting the other two to follow. Seeing them leave, he sheathed his sword and turned back to the others.
"Sorry to act like that girls, I just didn't want them to continue to insult Rainbow." Xavier said, his look back to his original calm expression, though most of them were still in shock at the events. One however caught Xavier's attention, and that was Rainbow's panicked expression. Fluttershy noticed it too, so she decided to continue the tour to get her mind off things.
"Uhh....come on. Why don't we go see how clouds are made" Fluttershy announced, prompting the others to follow. As they were walking, Xavier went over to Rainbow.
"Don't worry Dash, I know you'll do well in the competition."
"Are you kidding, I can't do the sonic rainboom!" Rainbow exclaimed in fear. "And just look at these boring feathered wings, I'm doomed!" Xavier looked at her in worry, hoping that her trademark confidence would resurface soon.
After a bit of walking, the group made it to where clouds were made. There, they saw pegasi pouring water into large machines that after a bit of time, produced clouds. While most would be fascinated and would lock their gaze onto this, Xavier was looking more so to his friend who was looking pretty down. He was going to go over, but a crowd of ponies distracted him since they were looking at a part of Rainbow's confidence problem.
"What, these old things? Go ahead, everypony. Photos are encouraged." Rarity bragged, earning deadpanned expressions from the girls and a very annoyed look from Xavier.
"Rarity." Twilight walked over to Rarity and glared at her. "We're supposed to be helping Rainbow Dash relax, remember? Put your wings away and stop showing off!"
"Oh pfft! How can you asked me to put away perfection?" Rarity asked as she drifted upwards in front of the sunroof. Once she did get in front of it, her wings acted like a bunch of lenses that, when the sunlight passed through, created a kaleidoscope of colors. This display was brilliant enough to even get the girls to look impressed, but Xavier looked at Rainbow who was in a fettle position.
"Hey Dash, you good?" Xavier asked, crouching down next to her.
"Of course! Why wouldn't I be okay?" She answered frantically. "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."
"Hey, there's an idea!" One of the workers said. "You should enter the competition!"
"What?" Xavier was at a loss of words.
"Yeah, I could watch you fly all day long!" An elderly Pegasus mare agreed.
"There really isn't anypony who uses their wings quite like me." Rarity boasted. "Perhaps I should compete!"
"WHAT?!" Rainbow screamed as Rarity left to sign up. As she left, the workers followed her to look at her more while the gang went to a panicking Rainbow Dash.
What am I gonna do? I don't stand a chance at winning now..." Rainbow uttered, leaving Xavier in a state of worry and sympathy.
Some Time Later
After ushering Rainbow over to where the contestants were set up, the rest (Excluding Rarity, who was in the same room as all the contestants) went over to the spectator seats. As the girls were getting comfortable and ready to cheer, Xavier was sitting over the edge with a face of worry and sympathy. He was thinking about Rainbow and how she was acting, since he never seen her like this, and another pegasus close to him noticed.
"Are you okay, Xavier?" Looking up and over, he saw Fluttershy looking over him.
"Yeah, but I doubt Dash is." Xavier sighed. "I know that I may not have known her for as long as you or the others, but she was the one pony that I actually began opening up to, so I care for her. To an extent and not to exclude you and the other girls, but she's the first that I've truly became friends with." Xavier looked over at the curtains that the contestants were to exit through, but as Fluttershy was about to comfort him, horns began to ring out.
"Fillies and gentlecolts! Please rise and join me in welcoming our beloved Princess Celestia!" Looking over, the crowd saw none other than Princess Celestia descend from the sky. after Celestia landed and got settled, the announcer rang out again. "Please welcome our celebrity judges for the Best Young Flyer Competition: the Wonderbolts!" Once the announcer said that, six trails of smoke with lightning coming out of them came flying in. Once the trails ended, it was revealed that there were three pegasi that were landing onto a seat. Each of them had goggles and a blue jumpsuit with yellow patterns that looked like lightning bolts on them. Once the got settled, the announcer rang out once again. "And no, let's find out who will take home the prize as this year's Best Young Flier!" After a moment of the crowd cheering, Xavier thought of something and got up to leave. As he was getting up, Fluttershy looked at him confused.
"W-where are you going?"
"To find Dash, I need to talk to her for a second. I'll be back, don't worry." Xavier explained before moving out. After a bit of traveling, Xavier made it to the competitor's room. Entering, he saw Rainbow in quite a panic as she was looking around. Xavier decided to go over and begin his pep talk. "Hey Dash."
"Gah! Xavier? What are you doing here?!" Rainbow said jumping up a bit.
"I'm here to help a friend." Xavier said as he put on a sympathetic face. "Now Dash, I understand you are feeling nervous about things, but being nervous never helps in any capacity. From what I know, you joined this competition to have the opportunity to hang out with the Wonderbolts, am I right?" Rainbow nodded. "And I know that your dream is to join them, right?" Rainbow nodded again. "Well, I think that winning isn't exactly what you need to do. You just need to do your best." Rainbow looked at him skeptically. "Let me explain. Don't think of this as a competition, rather a talent scouting that you managed to attract a crowd to watch. If you do that, you'll preform your best without worrying about looking like a fool. Even if you don't win, you'll make an impression on the Wonderbolts, so when they are thinking about who to recruit, they have you in mind. You get me, right?" Once again, Rainbow nodded. "Good, now I'm going to go back to the stands, don't let this crowd get to you." With that, Xavier left her to go back to the stands.
Later
After Xavier's pep talk, he went back to the stands and to his friends. When his friends asked him where he went, he simply replied, "Just helping a friend." before sitting back down to watch the show. As much as they wanted to press him on it, they decided to not press him on it and continue to watch the show. After a bunch of contestants, they were chatting between themselves.
"I loved number seven. Doing fifteen barrel rolls in a row can't be easy." Twilight said excitedly.
"My favorite is number ten. She just looked like such a nice pony." Fluttershy added.
"Hmm... Wonder how come we haven't seen Rainbow Dash or Rarity yet. The competition's almost over." Applejack pondered out loud, getting the girls thinking.
"Don't worry, she'll be out soon, I know it." Xavier said confidently, getting stares from the girls. Before they could do anything to press him on the subject, the announcer rang out.
"And now, for our final competitor of the day, contestant number fifteen!" With that, Rainbow came out of the curtains, with Rarity following behind in a very over the top costume. "Uhh... And apparently contestant number four..." While everypony was cheering, expecting a grand finale, Xavier stayed in quiet worry, hoping that Rarity being there wouldn't affect Rainbow. He was immediately proven wrong as classical music started playing instead of some more intense music, causing Xavier to put his hand onto his face. Soon, the two's performances began, with Rarity doing some sort of arial ballet and Rainbow hyping herself up. After a moment, she zoomed off to her first part, the tree weave, though there weren't any, so she used some tall clouds shaped like trees. As she was speeding through, she misjudged her flight and hit one of the clouds, sending her into the wall, where her bullies were sitting.
“Nice work, Rainbow Crash!” The dark brown pony mocked, laughing with his friends. They stopped though when something hit their heads. When they looked up, they saw Xavier holding a small bolt with a cold glare pointing their way, so they decided to shut up for a while. Rainbow then flew back and began her second part, rocketing into the air and spinning around some clouds nearby. Unfortunately, a piece of one of the clouds ripped off, hitting her face and sending the cloud off course, right at Princess Celestia who ducked under the impact zone, leaving her unscathed. All of this was getting Xavier to worry that she may not be able to succeed anywhere in the performance as he looked over at Rarity, who herself was having no problems anywhere as she began to ascend, most likely to do what happened at the factory, only at a grander scale. Rainbow saw this too and, after a bit of hyping herself, flew up faster than her. Once Rarity was right in front of the sun, she looked down.
“Look upon me Equestria…” She announced loudly. “For I am Rarity!” When she did that, her wings showered the stadium in bright and colorful lights. As the crowd was gazing upon the spectacle, nopony noticed some embers on Rarity's wings, soon followed by them just disintegrating in a blast of flames. When she realized this and looked at where they once were, she fell very quickly into the hole that was in the stadium.
“Oh no! Her wings evaporated into thin air!” Twilight exclaimed. Wasting no time at all, Xavier jumped from the stands and dashed over to the hole in hopes of catching her. He thought that he did it once with Applejack at the iron hoof completion, so he decided to do it again as he jumped. He forgot one thing though, Applejack was only a couple of feet off the ground, Rarity was more than a hundred feet high as she was falling. When Xavier grabbed her, she hit him like a cannonball as he fell with her through the hole. The Wonderbolts flew after them in hopes of saving them. Rarity unfortunately, during her flailing, kicked all three of them hard, hard enough to daze them and knock them unconscious, sending all five of them into a freefall. Xavier panicked until he saw Rainbow flying after them, so he called out to her.
"Rainbow, come on!" Rainbow flew even harder to reach them, creating the barrier from before that caused Rainbow troubles. Xavier knew what could happen, but he knew Rainbow, somepony who never gave up, especially on her friends, so he screamed out one last time. "RAINBOW!!!" That sent her the burst she needed to succeed, as the barrier closed in on her and snapped, creating the fabled sonic rainboom as she nabbed everyone falling and flew the up to the stadium. Once she got there, some other pegasi flew in to grab the Wonderbolts and Rarity while Xavier jumped onto the clouds. Once the adrenaline began clearing up, she realized that she actually managed to do the move she was planning to do.
"I did it. I did it!" She said in excitement.
"You sure did. Oh thank you, Rainbow Dash. You saved my life!" Rarity said, her voice filled with things like pride, relief, and guilt, as Xavier simply raised his thumb at Rainbow in happiness.
"Oh yeah. I did that too. Ha, best day ever!"
A Little Later
Once things calmed down a bit, the group was in the stadium talking, with Rarity in the balloon as she couldn't walk on clouds anymore without her wings.
“I just want to apologize to you all, especially you Rainbow Dash.” Rarity said sadly. “When I got my…beautiful wings! I guess I just lost my head." The girls excluding voiced acceptance for her apology, while Xaiver just stood next to Rainbow. "And I'm especially sorry that I was so thoughtless as to jump into the contest at the last minute after you had worked so hard to win it. Can you ever ever forgive me?"
"As much as I want to lecture you about what you did, I think that a near-death experience is enough to teach you." Xavier said, not having the energy to lecture after going through the same thing.
"Aw, it's okay. Everything turned out all right, right?" Rainbow said, accepting her apology. "I just wish I could have met the Wonderbolts when they were awake" As Rainbow put her head down in disappointment, a hoof poked her shoulder. When she turned around, she was face to face with none other than the Wonderbolts. "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" Rainbow said in amazement.
“So you’re the little pony who saved our rumps! We just wanted to thank you.” One of the Wonderbolts said.
"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" Rainbow continued in glee. A moment later, Princess Celestia landed near the group.
“Princess!” Twilight said, getting everyone to bow in her presence.
"Hello, Twilight Sparkle, and hello to your friends too." She said, very glad to see them/
"Princess Celestia, I am sorry I ruined the competition." Rarity spoke as she held her head low. She looked over to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow Dash here really is the best flyer in Equestria."
“I know she is my dear.” Princess Celestia nodded. “That’s why for her incredible act of bravery, and her spectacular sonic rainboom, I am presenting the grand prize of the Best Young Fliers to this year’s winner, Miss Rainbow Dash!" The announcement sent the crowd into cheering as some pegasi put a crown on Rainbow Dash to her excitement.
"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" Once again, Rainbow began saying that again as Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie picked her up and carried her for a victory lap. As they were doing that, Celestia turned to Xavier, Twilight, an Rarity.
“So Twilight Sparkle, did you learn anything about friendship from this experience?” Celestia asked.
I did Princess.“ Twilight replied, looking over to Rarity. ”But I think Rarity learned even more than me.“
“I certainly did.” Rarity nodded. “I learned how important it is to keep your hooves on the ground and be there for your friends." Xavier smiled at her in approval.
“Excellent, a well learned lesson, Rarity.” Celestia nodded. It was then that Rainbow and the others returned from their victory lap.
"This really is the best day ever!" Xavier walked over to her and gave her a friendly punch to the shoulder as his form of congradulations.
"See, what did I tell you? Everything will work out."
"Uhh, hey, Rainbow Cra- erm, I mean Dash." The duo paused and looked over to see the group of bullies, though they looked a bit more guilty. "Uhh, we just wanted to congratulate you on winning the competition." The darker pegasus said.
"That sonic rainboom was awesome!" The lighter one said.
“Well, thanks guys!” Rainbow smiled appreciatively.
“And we’re sorry we gave you such a hard time.” The dark brown pony added.
“Ah, don’t sweat it!” Rainbow waved it off, balancing her newly prized crown on her head.
“Hey, do you wanna hang out with us? We’d love to learn how you did that incredible trick!”
“Sorry boys.” Rainbow streaked past them and instead, headed with the two waiting Wonderbolts. “But I’ve got plans!” She glided along with her idols as they headed somewhere else. As they were flying off, Xavier looked at her proudly.
"I must be returning to Canterlot now." Celestia said. "I have some work to do now, I will see you all later." With that, Celestia flew off back to Canterlot, leaving the group of friends alone.
"I say we head home too." Xaiver said, earning nods from the others as they walked over to the balloon. As they were walking however, Xavier stopped suddenly, having a weird look on his face as he began looking around, locking his eyes on a cloud in the sky. The girls noticed this and became concerned.
"Um, Xaiver? Are you okay?" Twilight asked.
"Fluttershy, can you look at that cloud for me?" This caught the girls, mostly Fluttershy, off guard. "Before you ask, something is off around here, and that cloud seems suspicious to me, so can you?"
"Umm, sure." Fluttershy said as she flew up to it. When she got to the cloud's level and looked at it, she gasped and had very boggled face.
"What is it Fluttershy?" Twilight asked. Fluttershy, knowing that words couldn't explain it, brought the cloud down to their level. When she did and the others got a good look at it, they all were surprised as well as they saw-
"A-another human?" Xavier gasped as he looked on the cloud, where a human was on it, though it was hard to tell if they were asleep or unconscious. This human was female around Xavier's age with blonde hair, in it was a cloud hairpin and a white streak of dyed hair. She was wearing an eggshell white top shirt with a yellow stripe in the center of it and a snow-white skirt. On her back was what appeared to be a strangely shaped sky-blue branch around her height, with it ending at a hook and a small white crystal suspended in it. There were many questions that arose in this exact moment, but the biggest one in everyone's mind was how there was another human in Equestria.