“Tough talk for a cadet!” Spitfire said, taking her sunglasses off and casually putting them in her shirt pocket. “I know you're fast, Rainbow Dash... but I lead the Wonderbolts. You might have speed to match or beat me, but I have technique. You WILL regret your cocky attitude, foal.”
“You two realize you aren't the only ones here, right?” Thunderlane frowned. “I won that race earlier.”
“That wasn't even a race!” Soarin chuckled. “Sorry to break it to you. However, if anyone's winning this, it won't be you, it won't be Blue Skies, and it won't be Rainbow Dash. It'll be me. Or Spitfire, if I'm feeling generous.”
“Excuse me?!” both Spitfire and Rainbow said in unison.
Rainbow Dash walked within an inch of Soarin's face. She did not feel embarrassed or nervous at all. Nose to nose with the object of the biggest crush she's ever felt, Rainbow Dash smirked. Whenever she felt the spirit of competition, all other worries or nerves left her.
“I'm gonna be your wing pony, Soarin,” she said, jabbing him in the chest, “and you're gonna like it.”
'And so will I!' she continued in her head.
“Sorry, Dash, but I'm gonna perform in that airshow!” Thunderlane said, pushing her aside to face down Soarin.
“Neither of you are going to get the chance. Sorry!” Spitfire said, gazing at her hooves as though the other pegasai weren't even worthy of her attention.
Blue Skies alone had remained completely silent. He looked from Rainbow Dash, to Thunderlane, to Soarin, and then to Spitfire. “Uh... I feel increedibly outclassed. I'm abandoning ship. Sorry!”
Rainbow Dash watched him turn tail and flutter away quickly, as though truly frightened by the competition. Dash caught the Wonderbolt Captain's eye and smirked as Spitfire's glare alternated between herself and Thunderlane. Spitfire then gave a sideways glance at Soarin, who nodded. He signalled to the rest of the Wonderbolts, who came over.
“If you four are racing...” Blaze said, pulling up her goggles. “I've got a proposition. First, we need a location.”
“Cloudsdale,” Rainbow Dash supplied at once, saying the first locale to come to mind.
“Very well. I will fly there. Give me a ten minute head start. I will wait at the main entrance to the Cloudosseum. The first pony to make it back here to Fleet and Streak AFTER hoofbumping me will be the winner. I will return after the fourth reaches me. So, if Rainbow Dash, for example, reaches me second, high-hooves me, but gets back first, she'd still be the win—”
“We get it,” Spitfire interrupted. “We doin' this, or what?”
Thunderlane grinned. “It's my time to shine.”
Blaze waved off the security ponies who had accompanied the group to the field in the first place. They departed, she slipped her goggles back on, and took flight. “Start in ten minutes!” She called, zooming off, leaving a dark and clouded trail behind her, crackling with lightning.
“I've been meaning to ask...” Thunderlane said, frowning up at the sky as the dark cloud faded. “How in the name of Celestia do you guys do that?”
Spitfire just walked away from them, pulling out a pocket watch from the same pocket she had placed her sunglasses in.
“The flight suits are imbued with magic. It's pretty fantastic,” Soarin explained. “They're great. The suits are at a constant room temperature, too, so even at extremely high altitudes, you stay comfortably warm and stuff.”
“Just keep spillin' all our secrets, there, Soarin. There's a good lad,” Spitfire snapped, turning her head towards them with a scowl on her face. “What are you, an idiot?”
Soarin rolled his eyes. He jerked a hoof at Spitfire, shrugged, and walked away as well, albeit not in the same direction.
Rainbow Dash had moved away and sat down on the grass, waiting silently. Now that the heat of the trash talk had worn off, she felt the familiar nervousness crawling over her again. Every twenty seconds or so, she caught Soarin looking over at her. She kept her face averted every time he did so, a little squirm erupting in her stomach. She had to admit: getting up and tough in his face like that had been really exciting. It was comforting to know she was at least able to stare him down. What was more, Spitfire seemed less and less like his girlfriend every time she opened her mouth.
Dash was actually a little surprised. Spitfire was a tough Captain and drill instructor, but she was always somewhat fair and had great morals, as far as Dash could tell during her time training in the Academy. However, every now and then she said something very harsh or unpleasant to Soarin. Was there bad blood between them? Maybe they had been going out in the past, but it definitely didn't seem that way now.
Soarin glanced around and saw Dash staring at him. He quickly looked away, as she did a moment later. Spitfire's eyes never left her watch. Thunderlane was laying on his back, eyes closed but looking relaxed. Fleetfoot and Lightning Streak were speaking quietly to each other, seemingly unconcerned with the others. Rainbow thought that she and Soarin had to be the only ones feeling apprehensive.
“Five minutes,” Spitfire announced, still not looking away from the watch. “Don't embarrass yourself when we race, Soarin.”
Rainbow glanced to Soarin and was unsurprised to find him looking directly at her. She gave it everything she had to avoid looking away, curious to find out if he would. He jerked his head in Spitfire's direction, and shook it sadly. Rainbow Dash frowned at him, gesturing towards the Captain with a 'what gives?' look. He briefly looked at Spitfire again before shrugging and strolling over to the blue pegasus. Rainbow's eyes immediately locked on to the ground.
'Oh no, oooh no... Keep calm...' she thought to herself.
“Sorry if she seems very rude to you guys,” Soarin whispered in a low voice, kneeling beside her. “Spitfire's been going through a rough time lately.”
Rainbow Dash, in spite of her butterflies, looked up at him and whispered back. “I don't think it's me or Thunderlane that she's being rude to.”
Soarin sighed. “Well, it is my fault... She's been good at disguising it lately, grinning and joking around with me, but sometimes it slips through, and... Look, sorry, I shouldn't really be talking about it. It's her business...” he trailed off, walking away again with his head bowed.
Rainbow wasn't really sure how she should have reacted to that. However, at that moment, it didn't matter.
“Two minutes to go...” Spitfire said, putting her watch away. “Let's just start now. Blaze will be at the Cloudosseum long before we get to Cloudsdale, it's sitting on the edge of the city.”
Spitfire unbuttoned her uniform and tossed it to the grass unceremoniously. She stretched out her forelegs and flexed her wings. Soarin followed suit, leaning low to the ground and flexing his limbs.
“Never seen him without his uniform or flight suit on. Yum...” Dash mumbled quietly to herself, blushing again as she eyed up his hindquarters. “He does have an awesome butt. I was only joking...”
“Oy!” Spitfire called to Fleet and Streak. “Don't you two go dozing off or anything. I won't be gone very long.”
“Neither will I!” Dash said, standing up and stretching her legs.
Thunderlane said nothing, getting to his feet and dusting off his coat. Rainbow was impressed with his confidence, considering he was almost as outclassed as Blue Skies had been. She remembered he had an impressive wing power, though. He might be a worthy challenge, for all she knew. She rolled her eyes at herself; was she being too conceited again? She pushed the thoughts from her mind, as she had a greater concern.
She studied Spitfire carefully. She was in terrific shape and, as the leader of the Wonderbolts, she had to be extremely fast. And like Spitfire said herself, she had experience over Rainbow Dash, which meant she had to know plenty of aerial maneuvers. It wasn't just the idea of besting a rival, skilled flier that made Rainbow Dash anxious to beat her; she didn't know or care about whatever was happening between Spitfire and Soarin just now, she just believed so strongly that Spitfire didn't deserve to perform with him, given how she had been treating him.
It had nothing to do with the fact that she wanted to be the one who got to be Soarin's partner. Rainbow Dash wanted to see Spitfire fail. Rainbow Dash wanted to be the one to beat her, even if the airshow wasn't on the line. Dash felt her breath catch in her chest as she recalled something Spitfire said earlier, her hooves digging into the grass as her teeth bared.
”What are you, an idiot?” Rainbow Dash remembered her saying to him. The malcontent in her voice had made it all the worse.
“Enough delaying!” Spitfire said, rising into the air. “Let's get this over with.”
Rainbow jumped straight up into the air, flinging out her wings and catching herself. Her blood was pounding in her ears as she continued to glare at Spitfire. She was going down.
Thunderlane and Soarin rose with them. All four of them hovered silently in place. Rainbow Dash looked to Soarin, who was staring at Spitfire, who looked back to Thunderlane with an expression that made it all too clear that she wanted to ask him why he was even still there. Despite this, Spitfire's head snapped forward.
“Three,” she called out, “two, one.”
Rainbow Dash bumped hard into Spitfire as she shot forward like a cannonball. Leaving the Captain with nothing but a streak of radiant colours, Dash took the immediate lead. Within seconds, she had cleared the outer walls of the stadium, climbing higher and higher. She looked back. Spitfire was behind her, with Soarin and Thunderlane bringing up the rear. All four of them had left the stadium behind now.
Clear skies ahead, Dash's view returned forward and she beat her wings harder. The rush of air tore at her eyes, which she narrowed. They were flying directly into a headwind. It was a powerful one, too, Dash realized. It was going to be difficult take good breaths. Rainbow bent her head to the side, filling her lungs with air. She blinked to get the dryness from her eyes.
Her mouth fell open. Despite the fact that she was still rapidly accelerating, there was a brilliant streak of orange and amber as Spitfire soared on by, her trail burning through the air like an inferno. It was rare for Dash to ever see another pony leave a streak as bright as her own. After all, she had only ever witnessed her old rival at the Wonderbolt Academy, Lightning Dust, pull it off.
Within five seconds, Spitfire was easily forty feet or more ahead of Rainbow Dash, with that distance increasing with each beat of Dash's twitching heart. Was it worth pushing herself to a Rainboom, she wondered? She would certainly shoot past Spitfire and gain a tremendous lead, but it would exhaust her strength rather quickly, she thought. She'd reach Blaze in no time flat, but she'd never get back to the stadium first with her energy reserves in that state.
Dash had to push herself anyway, or else she was going to lose this race. Straightening her body out, she began flapping her wings faster, head bent low as she felt the rush of air through her mane. She glanced ahead, eyes aching from the wind, and saw Spitfire's streak inching closer. Second by second, Dash moved faster and faster, closing that distance.
Spitfire had disguised her skill well, even with her own arrogance. Dash would never have guessed that someone who sat behind a desk at the Wonderbolts Academy would even stand a chance against her, but it was true. Perhaps Dash's skills had grown rusty in the last couple months? With everything going on, it was true that she never really had the time to just practice her flying. She had stopped flying fast for the sake of it, focusing more on caring for Scootaloo and balancing her two jobs. Rainbow Dash had never stopped to think that there was the remotest possibility that she wasn't in her peak physical condition.
Rainbow Dash watched as Spitfire's tail slowly passed by. It wasn't flapping in the wind at all; each hair looked to be frozen in time. Spitfire's form was excellent. Rainbow thought she knew exactly what she was doing. But, as Spitfire's flaming cutie mark and belly passed by, Dash herself inching further and further ahead, she knew Spitfire would have to try a little harder.
They had managed to climb above the air currant now. As the wind died down, Dash's stomach contracted, her chest expanding with a great and full breath of air. As she drew neck and neck with the Captain, Spitfire's eyes rolled over on to hers, looking appalled.
“Nopony... bests Rainbow Dash... nopony!” Dash breathed, her eyes squinting against the air, feeling her wings already starting to ache as she pushed herself harder, urging her body onward at incredible speeds.
Dash had left Spitfire in the dust once more. Bending her head low again, she opened her eyes and saw the rolling hills below her. Ponyville must already be miles behind them. Dash couldn't remember ever flying this fast without exploding in a circle of colour, yet here she was and, what was more, Rainbow Dash was not yet completely fatigued. Perhaps she wasn't as out of shape as she thought? Dash looked at her hooves in front of her. There was a funnel of solid air as she ripped through the sky, but her body was not positioned correctly to execute the Sonic Rainboom. That meant that she could maintain this speed safely as long as she was physically able to. She knew she still had that trick up her sleeve if she needed it.
As Cloudsdale loomed in the distance, Rainbow realized it wasn't over yet. She heard Spitfire cutting through the air beside her. Rainbow's eyes travelled to the gold pony. Spitfire's body moved weirdly. She did not appear to be flying, but swimming through the air. Her arms where pinned to her sides, her tail swishing as she twisted like a fish zipping through water. Whatever she was doing, it was working. Clearly, the Wonderbolt Captain wasn't lying about knowing some maneuvers, Rainbow realized with terror in her furiously beating heart. The blur of orange and yellow behind Spitfire was giving off burning heat.
Rainbow Dash's muscles cramped as her body straightened out more and more, but she could not pull any closer. Clouds, archways, and pillars floated by in a blur of white and grey. The Cloudosseum was dead ahead and Spitfire got there first. Blaze stood at ease as she made their approach, perched on top of the wall of the arena directly above the entrance. She casually raised her left hoof, her expression blank. Spitfire clapped it, twisting in midair as she soared upwards in a graceful arc. She glared down at Dash as she flew over her.
'This... this is gonna be hard,' Dash thought wirly.
With a soft clap, Rainbow Dash made contact with Blaze's hoof as well, tilting her left wing downward and right wing up, making a wide turn without losing her momentum. Spitfire was several hundred feet ahead by now. How in Equestria was Rainbow going to catch up? Should she Rainboom? Rainbow wasn't even sure she had the agility or stamina left to pull it off.
In less than a minute, both herself and Spitfire had already left Cloudsdale. The intense speed of the race was making her dizzy. Rainbow Dash was panting deeply, her wings felt like they were on fire, and her heart was pounding so hard it seemed to tear a stitch right through her. She noticed Soarin and Thunderlane approaching Cloudsdale. They seemed to be in conversation, laughing with one another, at their ease. Both must have realized that their chances of out-racing Spitfire and Dash were very fine indeed, and were just having fun instead. Dash felt warmer upon seeing him, her eyes snapping to the figure of Spitfire. She seemed much closer. What was more, she was turned to look at the oncoming ponies, scowling at Soarin.
Rainbow Dash gave a grunt of anger, her wings making great swishing motions through the air. Spitfire was facing forward once again, but was still drawing closer. She had abandoned her fishtailing, or whatever she had been doing. It must have been tiring, as Dash could see her chest heaving.
This time, it was Canterlot that loomed ahead, far in the distance. They must still be a great length from Ponyville, however, as the little town was not yet visible at the mountain's base.
Within two minutes time, Dash was once more neck and neck with Spitfire. But Rainbow herself was growing very tired by now. She saw Spitfire glance sideways at her. The Wonderbolt looked exhausted. She did not scowl, or glare, or give any signs of hatred. She merely looked at Dash, face sweating, taking sharp breathes.
“You're... a great flier...” Dash heard Spitfire's voice croak, though it was hard to catch as Rainbow's ears were aching and dry. It didn't help that they were hovering near the sound barrier at these breakneck speeds.
“I under... underestimated you, Spitfire!” Dash spoke back, her voice hoarse, her nostrils bone dry.
Spitfire came to a suddenly, completely dead stop with some rapid wing movements. Dash shot by her like a bullet fired from a rifle. Stiffening her wings flat against the air, Rainbow's speeds ground to a halt as well.
“Wha... what?” Dash gasped, throwing her hooves on her knees and struggling for breath.
“I'm... done...” Spitfire said, shaking her head and frowning, her breathing sounding very painful. “You've just given me my greatest challenge in five years, but... I'm running on empty.”
Dash gaped at her. “You're not... serious!” she panted. “We're... almost there!” Dash felt a great disappointment flooding her pores.
“Huh... Really wanted... to beat me, didn't you?” Spitfire asked, cocking an eyebrow and giving a short laugh, coughing. “T-trust me, you have.”
“I guess... but I wanted to beat you fairly... Not with... you just giving up!” Dash sighed, feeling her nose. It had begun to bleed from the roughness of the air being forced up it during the flight.
“Stop being so... dramatic!” Spitfire spat, watching Dash wiping the blood on her arm. “If you want a nice ending, catch your breath and give me a Rainboom.”
“I... don't think I have any fuel left for a Sonic Rainboom,” Rainbow Dash croaked, shaking her head.
“I just told you to catch your breath!” Spitfire rolled her eyes to the heavens. “Recharge your batteries a moment, and then try!”
“Why do you want me to do one so badly?” Dash asked, bowing her head and focusing on keeping her breathing steady.
“Well, like I said... You seem to want a dramatic ending to this race... Besides...” Spitfire continued, her breathing gradually returning to normal. “I can appreciate what the best is. And when it comes to flight tricks, that's probably the best. It's my favourite, at least. At the Best Younger Fliers competition... Incredible...” Spitfire said, shaking her head. “You just whupped me in a race, chump. You owe me a favour.”
Rainbow Dash looked up, grinning. “How does that even make sense? I owe ya nothin', pal!”
“Oh, come on. I know you want to! Besides...” Spitfire said, pointing out the casually passing figures of Soarin and Thunderlane, each throwing the mares startled looks. “Do you really want those morons to win?”
Dash was silent a moment. She made no effort to try and finish the race, even though the two stallions were now in the lead. “What do you have against Soarin? What could he have possibly done to you to justify you treating him like he's garbage all day?” she asked abruptly.
Spitfire glared. “He broke my heart, that's what I've got against him! I know precisely what you're after, Rainbow Dash. The quick glances toward him... I see you flushing red whenever you catch his eye. You're clearly enthralled; you can have him. He's lucky I'm even speaking to him right now. Now, give me my Rainboom.”
“Tell me what happened and I'll do it!” Dash demanded, her heart racing again as dread flooded her. What had happened? Was Soarin an abusive boyfriend, or something horrifying like that?
“That's... really none of your business!” Spitfire spat, but sighed and continued anyway. “He chickened out, that was all. Said he wasn't ready. I can't really blame him, it's not exactly his fault, he did nothing wrong, if that's what you're wondering. But... it shattered me. I feel quite justified in treating him like dirt at the moment. I... I loved him. I wasn't happy to lose him.”
Dash closed her eyes. “I'm sorry if I misjudged you...” she said slowly.
Spitfire groaned, jabbing her hoof in the direction of the mountain. Judging by the smallest streak of dark blue, barely visible against the afternoon sun, the stallions must have accelerated; Soarin and Thunderlane was nearly at the finish. Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and looked in the direction Spitfire was pointing.
“Don't be an idiot!” Spitfire said, turning and flying in the direction of Ponyville. “Make this win official. Besides, we don't want Blaze to catch up to us on her way back. She's the slowest Wonderbolt, the team'll hold that one against me for months.”
Dash watched her leave, sighing. She narrowed her eyes and breathed deeply, starting to move forward again. She stretched her body flat, and began to beat her wings furiously.
“That's it! Come on, I want to see it!” Spitfire said, her own wings beating hard as she kept pace. “Let's catch up to the bronies up there first, and then you can do your Sonic Rainboom. I wanna see their faces!”
Rainbow rolled her eyes, but the idea of executing her Rainboom in front of Soarin was one she could happily anticipate. The two ponies soared through the air, their streaks side by side, merging into a tangled mess of rainbow and a flaming, brilliant orange.
“You'd make a good rival if you ever make it into our ranks,” Spitfire said, glancing over at Rainbow Dash. “I look forward to a rematch someday. I'll win that one, though.”
“Not a chance!” Dash grinned back as the two of them began gaining on the stallions.
The cottages and farms of Ponyville were in full view, just on the horizon. Spitfire and Rainbow Dash separated, flying wide enough to place Soarin and Thunderlane between them.
“What was that all about back there?” Soarin asked Spitfire, giving Rainbow a sideways glance.
“Deciding how best to humiliate you boys, of course.” Spitfire grinned wickedly. “You two honestly didn't think you'd beat a mare, did you?”
Rainbow accelerated forward as promised to Spitfire. Thunderlane groaned.
“You all got my hopes up!” He snapped. “I thought I'd have a chance of pulling this off.”
“It doesn't matter! Rainbow Dash is winning this, I couldn't outmatch her. So just enjoy the show,” Spitfire called to him.
“Show? You don't mean...” Soarin gasped, eyes snapping to Dash's flank as she pulled ahead.
“The Sonic Rainboom!” Rainbow called back in response.
Dash's tail twitched into position, minimizing her drag. She held her head steady, arms bent in front of her to form a point. Her tired wings beat faster and faster, becoming a blueish blur. Her rainbow trail was lengthening and growing as her body elongated and squeezed between the funnel of air around her.
The ponies below were treated to a colossal explosion of sound and colour, easily heard and visible from as far as Sweet Apple Acres. From the point where she had crossed that threshold, her trail seemed to solidify into a solid rainbow. A massive ring of expanding multi-coloured light, the spectrum shattered, stretched outward as far as the eyes could see as Equestria's fastest flier descended in a great arc toward the stadium below.
Fleetfoot and Lightning Streak were waiting for them, the thundering crash of sound having alerted them. Dash sped between them, grabbing each by the hoof as she divided the pitch with a solid wall of colour, catching them both by surprise.
Soarin, Spitfire, and Thunderlane landed on the edge of the stadium's outer wall. Directly across from them hovered Rainbow Dash, beaming wide and glowing with happiness, the two Wonderbolts dangling in surprise from either arm.