//------------------------------// // A crash at the flying contest. // Story: Apple Scratch : Onward to the Equestria Games! // by Mariacheat-Brony //------------------------------// They kept on going with the numerous hurdles qualifications, such as the 200 m and 400 m. Ponyville had to forfeit in those. Rose, while not suffering from any long term damage at her ankle, had been forbidden by Redheart to compete for the rest of the day and no one in the team had gone through a sufficient training to take her place. The florist had accepted the nurse's decision apathetically. She kept sitting on the bench next to Zecora with a defeated expression, her left ankle wrapped up by a cooled bandage. The rest of the teams was busy warming-up for the next trials. Vinyl, Cloud Kicker and Applejack had told their teammates about Rose's accident and what caused it. They took the news as bad as the others had, but they quickly accepted Zecora's idea for a retaliation. Hitting Lightning Dust and Gilda, and ipso facto the rest of Cloudsdale's team, where it'll hurt them the hardest, at the score. Applejack and Vinyl were feeling a bit guilty to include Rainbow in their retaliation plan. Sure enough, the athlete of the Council of Harmony was a sour loser and had cheated more than once on their various competitions they had at the farm. But it had always remained the playful kind of cheating for friendly, silly contest, like a drinking duel. Rainbow would have never dared to take an action that could have harmed her opponent. The rest of the team hadn't been much convinced about that until Rainbow came to see how Rose was going. They all saw that she was genuinely concerned about their partner's well being. It erased their suspicions on the possibility that the Cloudsdale's team leader knew anything about Lightning Dust's actions. The Apples were divided about telling their friend about her teammates, but they chose not to say anything. Rainbow wouldn't want to betray her teammates without a solid piece of evidence of their perfidy, something that the Ponyville team didn't have. "The hurdles qualifications are over!" Pinkie shouted excitedly from her airborne spot. "Congratulations for the selected teams and a round of applause for the others." She added softly, earning thunders of cheering and applauding from the crowd. "It's now time for the sprints qualifications! Let's start with the 100 meters! Calling the following teams, Cloudsdale for lane 1, Ponyville for lane 2, Canterlot..." "That's my cue, girls!" Vinyl said before taking off her tracksuit's jacket. "Yo, Ditzy!" "Yeah?" Ditzy said. "Let me kiss your Lucky Muffin." Vinyl asked playfully, earning a big toothy grin from the mail woman. "Sure thing!" Ditzy replied happily, pulling her lucky treat from its satchel. "Octavia, Look!" Twilight shouted excitedly. "Vinyl's taking her jacket off! She's the one competing for Ponyville in the sprints." "Really?" Octavia asked eagerly, before coming closer to the edge of their box. "Where is she?" "Second lane, my dear!" Rarity said softly. "Here, take my binoculars." She added, extending her opera binoculars. Octavia gladly accepted Rarity's offer. She looked eagerly toward the lane number two with them, ignoring the snickers and small giggles from her entourage. She spotted Vinyl doing lunges to warm up behind her starting block. Octavia cloudn't help but to bite her lower lip when she saw her lover wearing skin-tight running gear. She wouldn't never admit out loud, but her gaze was slightly diverted toward her lover's lower back. "Damn, she's pretty!" Octavia said, not realizing she had just thought that out loud until the giggles became louder."Huuuuuum!" Octavia added with a massive blush appearing on her cheeks. "Pretty good design you did there, Rarity!" She stammered, trying to cover her earlier comment. "Why, thank you, Darling." Rarity nodded, stifling her laugh. "I'm glad you're enjoying it!" Vinyl was busy warming up in her lane, she was quickly joined by Rainbow Dash and a slightly older woman than them with fiery orange hair, wearing Canterlot's Alicorn insignia. Vinyl was no troglodyte, so she recognized immediately who was accompanying Rainbow Dash. She was certain that even a troglodyte would have recognized the famous captain of the Wonderbolts, Spitfire. "So, Vinyl. Ready to lose against me?" Rainbow asked playfully. "Don't know. Are you?" Vinyl retorted with a chuckle. "I take it you two already know each other." Spitfire said, taking her spot in the third lane. "Kinda! This time Vi', we're on my territory. I'll get first place and you would be left at the third!" Rainbow mocked, pulling her tongue at Vinyl. "The third?" Vinyl asked with a crooked eyebrow. "Well, Spitfire's got be somewhere." Rainbow answered with a small laugh. "Of course, but Spitfire's place is at the first one!" Spitfire retorted playfully. "Sorry to break your daydreams, girls! But the first place will be mine." Vinyl assured, popping her legs' joints. "Hold on there, Ponyville! I can accept that sort of line from Dash, because I know she got skill!" Spitfire interjected falsely offended. "But I can't let a no name like you shadowing me like that!" She said with humor, Vinyl only smirked at that. "You better not underestimate her, Spitfire." Rainbow Dash said slowly. "I made that mistake far too many times." "Glad to see some lessons are going through that thick skull of yours!" Vinyl said with a nod. "Only a few!" Rainbow winked. "Hey you, the three chatterboxes! In position, like the others!" Pinkie shouted from her contraption before flying away to get a better spot to watch the race. "Did Pinkie Pie just called us chatterboxes?" Vinyl asked incredulously. "Looks like it." Spitfire answered with a stunned expression. "This world is getting weirder and weirder everyday." Rainbow shivered. "On your mark!" Pinkie shouted, pulling her mini party cannon out of somewhere, as the competitors took their positions. "Get set!" Vinyl leaned on her starting block and rose her bespectacled face. She grinned cockily when she saw the finish line waiting for her in a purple hue. She knew that her team was counting on her. And even more important, Octavia was somewhere watching her. She couldn't afford herself to lose. She heard the bang from Pinkie's small cannon. She launched herself forward. Ponyville's team and supporters shouted excitedly when the race started. Vinyl, Rainbow and Spitfire were leading the race side by side. At mid race, the three of them were five meters in front of the others. The Apple family were cheering louder than every other supporters. But Vinyl couldn't distinguish what they were yelling under the race's noises. Except one, one cheer she managed to understand perfectly. The only one that really mattered for her. "Faster, Vinyl! Faster!" The voice of Octavia shouted. She had no idea about how could she have heard her lover's voice over the others' voices, but it didn't stop her to oblige. She quickened her pace and grew the gap between herself, Spitfire and Rainbow Dash, much to their surprise. Rainbow recovered instantly from Vinyl's acceleration. She had been beaten too many times by her blue haired friend and her sister. The track was where she belonged, she wasn't going to let Vinyl beat her here! She accelerated as well, coming back to Vinyl's level. Spitfire grinned before catching up with them. In her head it was pretty clear, she wasn't going to let these juniors beat her. The finish line was only ten meters away. The three leaders of the race accelerated at the same time, each one of them trying to outrun the other two. They all leaned their body forward at one meter from the finish line. In the end, they passed it together. "Is that a tie?" Applejack asked eagerly. "Looks like it." Turner said. "We must wait for what the line judges decide." Pinkie brought her contraption to the ground, next to the Games official who were checking various chronometers. After a quick chat with the line judges, she took off and took her megaphone to explain that they needed a few minutes to determined who was the first and that the result will be shown on the awesomely fantastic magic powered screen, they used to show the score. Vinyl, Rainbow and Spitfire's eyes didn't turn away from the screen, waiting patiently to see which one of them had bested the others or if it was a tie. After a few minutes, the screen lit with the following order: 1) Spitfire Maverick : 10.73 s 2) Vinyl A. Apple S. : 10.75 s 2) Renée M. Dash : 10.75 s "Drats!" Vinyl groaned. "Still a couple hundredths short." "Very nice race, girls!" Spitfire said happily. "Don't worry Vinyl, you can still try to beat us in the 200m and 400m. And there's also the finals." She added with a wink. "I guess so." Vinyl conceded softly, before her face lit up with a large grin. "But, you both better be prepared for the 400m." "Why's that?" Spitfire asked, very interested. "Because in the 400m, you'll face my sister instead of me!" Vinyl said happily before going back to her pit where her teammates congratulate her for nearly beating Spitfire and Rainbow in a race. "Oh goody!" Rainbow gulped. "Why do you react like that? Her sister doesn't look that scary." Spitfire said softly as she eyed the Ponyville team. "Do you even know what her sister looks like?" Rainbow asked with a crooked eyebrow. "Isn't that the other one with the two tone blue hair?" Spitfire tilted her head in confusion. "No! It's the tall blonde with the ponytail." Rainbow said vigorously, pointing Applejack. "Oh! She does look more athletic than the others." Spitfire admitted, finally spotting who Rainbow was talking about. "But, considering that that Snowflake guy's in your team, I wouldn't have thought her stature could intimidate you." "You heard that story about that giant minotaur and the one who submitted it a bit before Princess Cadence's wedding, didn't you?" "Like everyone in Equestria, yes!" Spitfire shrugged. "Why?" "Well, it was Applejack!" Rainbow simply said, pointing the blond farmer again. Spitfire blinked a few times. "Oh goody!" She gulped. "Told you!" The qualifications for the 200m had gone just like the one for 100m for Vinyl. Spitfire had beaten her and Rainbow Dash again. Sure it wasn't by much but Vinyl had started to think that there was no way for her to beat the Wonderbolt. But then Applejack competed against her for the 400m. Applejack couldn't compete in the 100m or the 200m, she had never managed to reach her maximum speed in the short amount of time that a short sprint lasted. That's why she only competed in longer races. When given a sufficient distance to get to her stop speed, nothing with two legs could outrun her. During the first half of the race, Applejack ran a couple meters behind everyone. Vinyl could hear some of the other teams' athletes laugh at her sister. She snickered when their jaws dropped when Applejack started to catch up with the other competitors. She quickly closed the gap with Spitfire who was leading the race, Rainbow only a half seconds behind her, and passed them without a problem. Spitfire had been very surprised to see the blond farmer outrun her so easily. She had tried to catch up with her, along with Rainbow, but they could only watch in awe the gap growing wider. Applejack had beaten both of them by a four seconds advance. Something similar during the finals, and it would be a gold medal for Ponyville. Applejack's victory had caused a thunder of applause from Ponyville's fans. The part of the Coliseum's tiers in which the Apple Family were seated started to shake violently when the Apples started to acclaim their kin. Back in the Princesses' box, Rarity had been ecstatic at her lover's victory over two of the country's top athlete. "That girl's a monster." Spitfire panted, watching Applejack being hugged by her teammates and her sister. "You don't know the half of it." Rainbow said softly. "What do you mean?" Spitfire asked, with an hint of worry. "Just wait until the fighting trials begins." Rainbow said softly. "Ok, everyone! Today's qualifications for the tracks event are over. We'll finish the first day by the first trials that'd allow one of the teams to win a medal. The flying obstacle course." Pinkie shouted. "Are you excited?" The crowd cheered. "Can't hear you." The crowd's shouts became louder. "That's better." "Zecora, watch this!" Turner said, extending a clipboard toward Zecora. "Cloudsdale is sending out Lightning Dust for the trial." "Mhmm. I would have thought they would send Rainbow Dash instead of her." Zecora pondered with a small smile. "Ditzy, do you think you can take care of her?" Ditzy took a short glance at Rose. She had been feeling a lot less depressed since Vinyl's almost victory in the 100m. She still didn't move much from her bench, wanting to rest her ankle as much as possible. Watching the cool pack around her leg brought back the recent image of Rose crying in shame because of Lightning's cheating, it made Ditzy more resolute than ever. "Surely, Coach!" Ditzy said firmly, earning an approving nod from Zecora. "All the participating teams' contesters are waited on the launching platform." Pinkie Pie shouted happily in her megaphone, designating a large cloud-made platform. The eights participants flew toward the cloud structure in the middle on the Coliseum's sky. Cloud Kicker decided to accompany Ditzy up, for moral support and also she wanted to be there in case Lightning would have another cheating fee. When they arrived on the cloud's surface, Ditzy managed to trip and to fall face first in the cloud. "Aww. Ditzy." Cloud Kicker sighed with a chuckle, before pulling her friend up. "Sorry, I tripped." Ditzy said, scratching the back of her head. "Get in line, girl." Cloud Kicker said happily, letting Ditzy walk to her place in the line. Apparently she would compete in last place. The flying obstacle course was a time trial. The contester that finished the course with the fastest time, would be the one who win the trial. Touching an obstacle would incur a five seconds penalty and touching the ground or stopping mid air for more than a second during the race would cause the participant's forfeit. Cloud Kicker sat at the edge of the could platform, along with the other team's jupitarians who had come to support their partners. Quickly enough, Rainbow Dash sat next to her under Spitfire's dark glare. "You shouldn't sit next to that, Rainbow." Spitfire groaned with disgust, much to Rainbow's surprise. "Who knows where it has been." "You're still on that, Lieutenant Maverick?" Cloud Kicker chuckled. "I thought it was water under the bridge, by now." "It is, but that doesn't mean that I have to like you, Lieutenant Kicker." Spitfire said slowly. "Fair enough!" Cloud Kicker shrugged. "Let's change our conversation topic, shall we? Who do you think is gonna win?" "Well, I'm gonna bet on Lightning Dust!" Rainbow said, glad that the conversation went in less troubled waters. "But I guess that Soarin's gonna pull something awesome as well." "I'll say Soarin as well." Spitfire said casually, not turning her face toward Cloud Kicker. She saw Ditzy tripped again when the line moved forward as the first competitor took off for his course. "Is that the one your team send?" She asked with a crooked eyebrow. "Eeeeyuuup!" Cloud Kicker said, mimicking the Apples' way of responding. "You sure it was a good idea?" Rainbow asked softly, as Ditzy tripped again trying to stand up. She could hear some of the other teams laughing at her. "Absolutely sure." Cloud Kicker nodded with confidence. Spitfire and Rainbow exchanged a worried look, before Spitfire shrugged and focused on the race. It was Soarin's turn. Not much to everyone's surprise, the Wonderbolt's time record for the course was excellent. He had complete the course flawlessly at a fantastic speed. He took the first place with a time of 55.65 seconds. Under the crowd's cheer, he gently flew next to his partner who highfived him. "Nice one, Soar'!" Spitfire congratulated her teammate. "That's gonna get you a nice slice of pie for dessert. I'll even bake your favorite!" She added with a wink. "Sweet!" Soarin smiled, drooling a bit at the mention of the dessert. "So, that's how the Wonderbolts psych themselves up." Cloud Kicker chuckled. "They get to taste their captain's pie if they do good. I knew I should've joined them instead of the Guard!" She joked in a sultry tone, causing Rainbow and Soarin to burst into a loud fit of laughter. "Do not put me in the same bag as you, Kicker!" Spitfire snapped. "Not everyone lay around to get favors like you!" Her remark made Rainbow and Soarin stop laughing immediately. "Spitfire come on, it was just a joke." Soarin said softly, frowning in disapproval at his captain. "And beside, I do not get favors by laying around. I make favors by laying around." Cloud Kicker noted playfully, completely unfazed by Spitfire's outburst. "Hey look Rainbow, it's your teammate's turn." She added pointing Lightning Dust who was spreading her wings, ready to take off. Lightning Dust's race distracted Spitfire enough to cool down her anger, not that Cloud Kicker cared much about it. Her focus was on the race as well. At Cloud Kicker's great displeasure, Lightning Dust had done a good race, she gained the second best time, just behind Soarin with 55.95 seconds. "Good job, Pal!" Rainbow shouted happily, bumping fist with Lightning Dust. "Thanks. Too bad it's not first place." Lightning said in defeat. "Hey, don't feel bad. A silver medal is still a medal!" Rainbow said in a comforting tone. The next three competitors' course went without a problem. Cloud Kicker beamed internally when the Stalliongradi athlete managed to make a 55.91 seconds time, putting Lightning Dust in the third position, much to the concerned party's dismay. The only competitor left was Ditzy. She walked slowly toward the start line and managed to trip again, causing mocking laughs from every competitor around. She sheepishly chuckled before standing up. "Well, at least my third place's secured." Lightning Dust smiled. "I doubt a klutz like her can do anything." "Watch it, pal!" Cloud Kicker warned angrily. "I don't like people mocking her." She added with a dark stare at Lightning Dust. She focused her attention on Ditzy who was preparing on the start line. "Ditzy, you're not forgetting something?" She shouted. "Right! Thanks Cloudy!" She shouted back happily, before pulling her Lucky Muffin from her satchel and kissing it softly. "What's that?" Rainbow asked with a crooked eyebrow. "Her Lucky Muffin." Cloud Kicker answered simply. "Ha! A klutz like her sure needs luck!" Lightning Dust snorted. "But still a muffin?" "She doesn't really need luck actually." Cloud Kicker said softly, giving Lightning Dust a dark look. "She's a bit clumsy I'll admit it...."She conceded, as an official gave Ditzy the signal to start. Before he could even blink, Ditzy had disappeared. "..but that's only when she has her two feet on the ground!" She added with a growing smile. Everyone's jaws dropped when they saw Ditzy's flying. She was nothing but a red and grey blur, smoothly taking the turns, avoiding the obstacles with perfect swift movements. She passed the cloud slalom in a blink of an eye. She was taking the course at full speed. "WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!" Ditzy shouted happily, passing between a narrow cloud gate. "You've got to be kidding me." Lightning Dust said slowly with wide eyes and mouth agape. "That's very impressive." Soarin whistled. "Ditzy Doo... Where have I heard that name?" Spitfire pondered. "She had been in the wonderbolts academy stage period ten years ago." Cloud Kicker explained. At that comment, Spitfire's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh!" Spitfire whispered, realizing something. "The Dizzatron record at the academy." Spitfire said slowly. "That's where I saw that name before. She passed the Ditzzatron test at maximum power with a time of 3.67 seconds." "What?!" Soarin, Dash and Dust shouted in unison. "But...Your record at the Dizzatron is only of 5 seconds and a half." Soarin said slowly, facing Spitfire in disbelief. "How come she's not a Wonderbolt? With a time like that, she would have been recruited right away." "Easy answer to that." Cloud Kicker shrugged before Spitfire could even say anything. "IIIIIINNNNCOOOMMMING!" Ditzy yelled as she came close to the finish line at full speed. "Ha, That's my cue!" Cloud Kicker said, standing up and conjuring her wings, her hands surrounded by a white fog. "For all her talents and speed, there's a small drawback!" She added, as she was creating a large puffy cloud behind the finish line. "A small drawback?" Rainbow asked. "Yep, our poor Ditzy can't brake to save her life." Cloud Kicker explained. Ditzy crashed into Cloud Kicker's cloud after having passed the finish line. Her momentum was big enough to make her pierce the cloud's end with her head. Cloud Kicker flew near the head of her teammate, as Ditzy shook it vigorously to get her mind clear from the crash. "Nice catch, Cloudy." Ditzy said happily. "Did I do good?" She asked eagerly. Cloud Kicker eyed the score screen. "Why don't you see by yourself?" She said softly, grabbing Ditzy's head and gently turning it so that she could see the screen. On the screen, the following message appeared. Ponyville Team : Ditzy Doo. Time : 53.61s = WR Rank : 1 Ponyville's supporters bursted into a huge explosions of screams of joy. Cloud Kicker pulled Ditzy out of the cloud before hugging her fiercely. Pinkie had pulled out her traditional Party Cannon to celebrate the first medal of the Games. Down below, Ponyville's team kept chanting Ditzy's name, applauding madly. Ditzy flew down to her teammates, who tried to bury her into a group hug. Back on the platform, the others contesters kept applauding Ditzy with dumbstruck expressions on their faces. Cloud Kicker smirked when she saw Lightning Dust kicked the cloud violently, venting her frustration from losing her medal. Gilda was next to her trying to calm her. Cloud Kicker walked close to her. "Don't feel bad. It happens to everyone to have their performance on thin ice." Cloud Kicker whispered slowly, before going to the cloud's edge. Lightning Dust and Gilda blinked profusely, before realizing what Cloud Kicker had said. Gilda reacted first by grabbing Cloud Kicker's shoulder. "Hold on you..." Gilda started. "Take your hand away!" Cloud Kicker said in a low threatening tone. "Despite what people say, I do have standards. And I don't tolerate scum like you touching me." She added, snapping her wings open to make Gilda let go of her. Cloud Kicker's sour mood lasted the time it took to land next to her friends who pulled her into the group hug. She quickly started to laugh and chant with the others. Ponyville had just won the first gold medal of the games thanks to Ditzy. All of the members of Ponyville were happy for that, and they knew it wouldn't be the only one!