//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: The Cloudsdale 500 Part 3 // Story: A Pegasus Tale // by Forge //------------------------------// Authors Notes: Once I again I apologize for the delay. A bad case of writer's block plus Mass Effect 3 can keep a guy busy for a while. I also want to let you all know that you the following chapters will return to having about 1500 to 3000 words a chapter. No more long chapters for a while. Anyway, here's the final part of the Cloudsdale 500 saga and chapter 9. Enjoy! Chapter 9 The Cloudsdale 500 Part 3 "Is she gonna be okay?" Applejack asked. "Oh, I'm so worried!" Fluttershy added. Rainbows eyes fluttered open and she realized she was in the hospital. She looked around her bedside and saw all her friends gathered around her. "Hey guys... what's up?" "Rainbow! How are you feeling deary?" Rarity asked in a motherly tone. "Horrible. What happened?" "From what Forge told us, Gilda got the drop on you." Zephyr said. "You were pretty beat up when he found you." Rainbow looked at Forge. His head was hung low and he didn't make eye contact. "I'm sorry Rainbow. I knew Gilda was up to something. I should have gotten to the track sooner." "Hey you didn't know she was going after me. I should be thanking you for finding me when you did." "Indeed." the doctor said as he entered the room. "Had Rainbow arrived any later, the damage would be far worse." "How is she then doctor?" Twilight asked. "Luckily Rainbow will make a full recovery." Everypony sighed in relief at the good news. "However, that wing of hers was very badly broken and will take about 2 weeks to fully heal." "What?! But the Cloudsdale 500 is in a week! How am I supposed to race if I only have one wing?!" "You're not. I'm sorry Rainbow, but your injuries will prevent you from doing any flying for a while. You won't be able to participate in the Cloudsdale 500." Rainbow looked like she had just been bucked in the gut. Her mouth hung open as if she wanted to say something. She said nothing and lay back in her hospital bed. She was devastated. In the blink of an eye, her dreams of winning the Cloudsdale 500 were taken away by a griffon she used to consider her friend. Everyone in the room took this moment to make their leave and give Rainbow some time to herself. One by one they exited the room with Forge being the last one out. He looked back at the distraught Rainbow before hanging his head and leaving her alone. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Gilda cannot get away with this!" Forge exclaimed. "She's gone to far! Oh when I get my hooves on her I'll-" "Forge, calm down." Twilight said interrupting him. "Calm down! Are you kidding me?! Look at what she did to Rainbow!" "We know. But gettin' angry bout' it ain't gonna help." Applejack added. "Neither is standing here and doing nothing about it!" Forge then turned to Soarin and Spitfire. "Isn't their some rule against viciously assaulting another contestant?!" "There is a rule that we could use that will get Gilda disqualified from the race." Soaring suggested. "But..." "But what?" "Well, we need proof that it was Gilda who did it." Forge looked at them as if they were crazy. "Proof?! Go take another look at Rainbow! She's covered in talon marks from a griffon! If that's still not good enough, just ask her who did it and she'll tell you!" "It's not that simple Forge." Spitfire said. "One pony saying who did it isn't good enough to enforce the rule. And those marks could have been done by anything." Forge looked as though he was about to explode from anger. "But we all know who did it!" Zephyr stated. "Even you two know! Doesn't that count for anything?" "Sadly no. We believe you all but because we didn't actually see Gilda attacking Rainbow, we can't use that as proof." Forge suddenly erupted in a fit of rage and fire. "BULLSHIT!!!" he shouted. Everypony backed up a little to avoid Forge's flames which burned with the intensity of his anger. He stared down each of his friends, their eyes filled with fear and concern as he stood over them. Slowly, Forge's flames died down until he was back to normal. He gave each of his friends one last glare before flying off. Slowly, they all got up and looked at where Forge once was. "I've never seen him this mad before." Twilight said quietly. "I've never seen him mad!" Rarity added. "Where do you suppose he went?" "If I know Forge, he's gone somewhere he can blow off some steam." Spitfire said. "Just give him some space." "Does he always erupt when he gets mad?" Zephyr asked. "I think he may have singed one of my wings!" "Only when he gets really mad. I think Forge is frustrated that he let Gilda hurt Rainbow and angry that there seems to be nothing he can do about it." "That's legal anyways." Everypony glared at Soarin. "What? Forge knows that he could fry that griffon if he wanted to." "I think he made it clear that he wants to." Zephyr said, wiping some ash from his wings. "But he knows that he'll get in trouble if he does." Twilight said. "He doesn't want to be kicked out from another town. It's a loose-loose situation. Will he be alright?" "He'll be fine Twilight." Spitfire assured. "I'm more worried about what Forge will do to Gilda when he gets his hooves on her." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forge walked through the Everfree Forest. He needed to be alone for a bit and he knew nopony would bother entering the forest to find him. He was still extremely angry that Gilda would get away with what she did, but he was also feeling guilty for snapping at his friends. "That could have gone better." he thought to himself. "I hope I didn't accidentally burn any of them." He sighed as he continued his walk, not noticing that he was unintentionally walking through a bunch of blue flowers... *CRACK* Forge's head shot up and he began to search his surroundings. "Hello?" he shouted into the forest. "Is somepony there?" No response. Forge began to get suspicious and took up a defensive stance. "Look whoever you are, I am in no mood for this! Show yourself and maybe I won't burn all the fur of your body!" He narrowed his eyes and scanned the bushes on the side of the path. Maybe he was imagining things. Forge was about to turn his back to the bushes when he noticed a pair of eyes glaring at him. Suddenly, the beast jumped out from the bushes and lunged at Forge. Forge quickly turned on his forelegs and bucked the creature right in the jaw, knocking out one of it's teeth. Forge turned to face his attacker: a manticore. Forge studied his attacker before noticing what appeared to be a burn mark on the beasts stomach. "Oh, it's you again!" Forge said smugly. The manticore roared at Forge. This was the same manticore that had tried to make a meal out of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and it wasn't happy to see Forge again. Forge looked down at his hooves and noticed the tooth that he had knocked out lying nearby. He picked it up and began to taunt the manticore. "I think you lost something big guy!" The manticore glared at Forge with hatred in it's eyes. It roared and brought it's scorpion tail down on him. Forge quickly moved out of the way and continued his taunting. "What's the matter? Not happy to see me!" The manticore bared it's claws and snarled at Forge as they began to circle each other. "So you want another piece of me do ya?! Fine by me! I need to hit something anyways!" The manticore roared once more before pouncing towards Forge. Forge moved out of the way just in time and delivered a swift kick to it's head. The manticore growled and took a swipe at Forge with it's mighty claws. Forge narrowly avoided them before flying above the manticore and landing on it's head. "I think I felt some breeze on that last one. Why don't you try again?" The manticore snarled and brought it's tail down once again. Forge lept off the manticores head making it hit itself in the head with it's own tail. The manticore roared in pain, clutching it's head in pain as Forge stood by and laughed. "Wow. You're dummer than you look!" The dazed manticore glared at Forge through it's pain. It turned to face him and began to take blind swipes at him. Due to it still being dazed, they all missed Forge by a mile. Forge shook his head. "Alright this is just sad. Time to finish this!" Forge rushed the manticore and placed himself right in front of his face. The manticores eyes shrunk as Forge took a deep breath and breathed... bubbles. "Huh? W-what the hell!" Forge stared as the bubbles floated slowly towards the manticore before popping inches away from it's face. The manticore seemed to smile as Forge stood there stunned. "Um... hold on a second." Forge said in a panicky tone. He tried to breath fire once more, but all that came out were bubbles. Forge then tried to light himself on fire again, only to have his mane, tail and wings flicker slightly before returning to their normal state. "W-what's happening to me?!" Forge slowly looked up. The manticore was now standing over him with a sinister smile across it's face. "Eh he he... I don't suppose you're going to let me go and forget this ever happened... right?" The manticore shook it's head. "Didn't think so..." The manticore raised it's paw and swung at the now helpless Forge. Forge managed to dodge it and began to fly away as fast he could. The manticore reared it's head back and roared before giving chase after Forge. **** "Did you hear that?" Twilight asked. "Yeah. A' think it came from the Everfree Forest." Applejack added. "That was a manticores roar." Fluttershy said. "It's after something." "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" "What was that extremely girlish scream?" Rarity inquired. "That must be what it's hunting." Fluttershy suddenly looked sad. "Poor thing... It doesn't stand a chance." **** "Crapcrapcrapcrap!" Forge shouted. The manticore was right on his tail and closer and closer by the second. Without his fire powers, Forge was at the manticores mercy. He could fight it naturally, but ultimately Forge would loose that match and end up being it's dinner. A piece of a tree shot past his head as he flew. Forge looked back over his shoulder and looked at the rampaging manticore plowing through the trees and bushes to get him. The manticore reached out with on of it's paws and grabbed Forge's tail. A look of horror spread across Forge's face, while the manticore smiled in victory.With one mighty heave, the manticore slammed Forge to the ground and pinned him down. Forge struggled to break free, only to have the manticore slam him into the ground again. Forge looked up at the manticore. The mighty beast sharpend it's claws on a nearby rock and smiled in victory as it stood over Forge. "Fine... Make it quick..." Forge said in defeat. The manticore raised it's claw and Forge screwed his eyes shut as he awaited the manticore to finish him. Suddenly, a bottle filled with some sort of liquid hit the manticore right on the nose. The bottle shattered, spilling it's contents all over the manticore. The manticore winced and began to panic. It released Forge and began to rub it's head on the ground in an attempt to rid itself of the liquid stuck in it's fur. Forge flexed his back and snarled at the manticore. He noticed that just across from the manticore, one of the trees had been knocked loose. Forge smirked and walked up to the tree. With the last bit of strength he had, Forge bucked the tree as hard as he could causing it to fall. "TIIIIMMMMBEEEERRRR!" Forge shouted. The manticore looked up just as the tree fell on top of it. Forge looked at the manticore know dazed and pinned under the tree and smiled. "Yeah! How do you like me now?!" he bragged. The manticore gave a defeated sigh and looked away from him. Forge suddenly remembered the bottle that had hit the manticore out of nowhere. Somepony must have thrown it. Forge looked in the direction where the bottle was thrown from and noticed a cloaked figure standing there. "Uh... thank you. If you hadn't shown up, that manticore would have made me it's dinner." "It was no trouble of mine." the cloaked figure said. "I'm just glad everything turned out fine. You are Forge I presume. The one constantly talked about by little Apple Bloom." Forge looked a little surprised that this complete stranger already knew who he was. "Y-yeah. That's me. Who are you?" The stranger removed her hood, revealing her face. "My name is Zecora." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "So that blue plant is to blame for me breathing bubbles." "Indeed. The Poison Joke is what you should blame for the unfortunate loss of your flame." Zecora rhymed. "The plant is much like poison oak. But the results are like a joke." "Meaning?" "It means this plant does not bread wrath. Instead this plant just wants a laugh." "Yeah, well that stupid plant nearly got me killed." Forge said, remembering his encounter with the manticore just 10 minutes earlier. "You can fix me right? You can get me my flame back?" Zecora nodded. "I can. I will make a special brew that will make you as good as new!" Forge sighed in relief and continued to follow his striped friend deeper into the Everfree Forest. They eventually arrived at her hut where Zecora had said she could cure him of the Poison Jokes effects. Forge hesitated slightly as he entered. The creepy masks littering the room made him uneasy. He ignored this feeling however and walked up to a cauldron where Zecora was already mixing together some ingredients. "There." Zecora said as she finished mixing the ingredients in the cauldron. "Bathe for 10 minutes in this brew and then your powers will return to you." Forge climbed into the cauldron and gently lowered himself into the liquid. He relaxed as the herbal mixture washed over him and lay back in the cauldron, sighing with content. "Ahhhhhhh... Much better." Forge said. "Thanks again Zecora." "No problem." "No. If it wasn't for you, I'd be looking at the inside of a manticores intestinal tract right now. What did you throw at him anyway?" "The bottle I threw contained a liquid with a foul smell." Zecora explained. "I normally use it as a way to repel. It keeps me safe from the creatures of the Everfree. The monsters that live here are not very nice to me." "So then why live here?" "The forest is my home. I have made it so. If I had a chance to leave now, I simply could not go." "Fair enough. One more question. Do you always speak in rhyme?" "No." Forge lay further back in the cauldron while Zecora began to mix more potions. "Now I have a question for you." she said over her shoulder. "Why did you travel to the Everfree Forest alone? It is dangerous here. Surely you must have known." "I just needed some alone to... think about things." Like how I prefer my griffon: original recipe or extra crispy. Forge smiled evilly as that thought crossed his mind. "Hmm. That's not the only reason your here. You did something that caused a little fear." Forge looked at Zecora with a shocked expression. "How do you know that?" "Lucky guess. It was something you did out of frustration yes?" Forge sighed and turned away from the zebra. "Yeah. I got some news that really pissed me off and I erupted. Literally. My flames were bigger and brighter than usual. I nearly burnt my friends..." Forge hung his head as he remembered his outburst towards his friends. "They were not harmed, so it's okay. It's not like they hate you now anyway." "No. But they could have been hurt. That's what worries me the most..." "Hmm. You fear the true force of your flame." Zecora stated. "You have an incredible power that you struggle to keep tame. You do not know what you can truly do and that thought frightens you." Forge looked up at the zebra. Zecora had hit the nail right on the head. Forge barely knew anything about his abilities and the thought that he could one day loose control or do something he didn't know he could do that would harm anypony frightened him. His latest outburst towards his friends only increased that fear. "But you can control it. Your powers are a gift to use how you see fit." Forge smiled. Zecora was right. They were his powers. He could control them. "Thanks Zecora. Hey have I ever told how helpful you've been to me? I mean you're so full of fucking wisdom." "I do my best." Zecora smiled and turned back to her potions. "I think your done in the cauldron. Give your fire powers a test." Forge went to pull himself out of the cauldron when he noticed what looked like a view scope from a submarine appear from the brew. "What in the world?" Forge leaned in to get a closer look. The scope turned around and was looking directly at Forge. The light blue eye in the scope went bug-eyed before suddenly disappearing into the brew once more. Forge could have sworn he heard a gasp as the scope disappeared. "Forge!" Pinkie Pie shouted, erupting from the cauldron. "Gah! Pinkie? How did- I mean where did-" Forge stammered. "I finally found you! Everyponies been worried sick about you!" "They are." "Duh! But it's okay now because I found you! Quick, follow me!" Pinkie disappeared back into the brew before appearing outside Zecora's hut and waving her hoof for Forge to follow. "Are you coming or what?!" "Uh... Just give me a minute." Forge got out of the cauldron and prepared to see if his powers were back. He looked at Zecora who gave him a 'go ahead' nod. Forge took a deep breath and focused. In a bright burst of orange and yellow light, Forge's mane, tail and wings were burning brighter than when Celestia raised the sun on the Summer Sun Celebration. "Oh yeah! I'm back baby!" Forge shouted as he hoof pumped the air. "I'm glad to see your powers have returned to you. Your strength is back and you're good as new. " "Right. Thanks Zecora! I'll see you around!" Forge flew out of Zecora's hut with new determination and beckoned for Pinkie to follow him. "Come on Pinkie!" "Okey dokey lokey!" Pinkie said in a sing-song voice as she bounced after Forge. "Good luck in the race my fiery friend!" Zecora called after them. "And know that I will be cheering for you till the very end!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Twilight paced back and forth in the middle of town. "Where could he be?" she thought aloud. Hours after Forge flew off, they began to worry and had split up to search for him. Twilight continued to pace until Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy returned from their searches. From the looks on their faces, Twilight could tell they didn't have much luck. "Any sign of him?" Twilight asked hopefully. "In the words a' Big Macintosh; nnnope." Applejack said. "Same here... sorry." Fluttershy added sadly. "No luck for me either." Rarity sighed. The four mares slumped to the ground in defeat. They had searched high and low for Forge for hours now, but he somehow managed to avoid them. The four were so exhausted from their search, they didn't notice Pinkie Pie bouncing towards them with a massive grin on her face. "Hiya silly-fillies! Is it nap time already?" "Pinkie!" Twilight said. "Did you find Forge?" "Oh yes! He's over there!" The girls looked in the direction that Pinkie Pie had pointed to and saw Forge flying towards them. He landed a few feet away from them and looked at the group. "Uh... hey." he said quietly. Suddenly, he was surrounded by the mares (except for Pinkie who was still bouncing around and happily saying how she had found him.) and was bombarded with questions and expressions of concern. "Oh, Forge, thank goodness!" Rarity exclaimed. "We're so glad your safe!" Fluttershy said quietly. "Of course I'm safe. Why wouldn't I be?" "Well, when ya' didn't come back, we kinda' got a little worried bout' ya'." Applejack admitted. "Where were you?" "I went to the Everfree Forest." "You what?! Why would you go there? It's dangerous!" Twilight exclaimed. "And scary..." "And positively filthy!" "And the last place any of you would ever look!" The girls seemed a little shocked by this statement. "I needed some time alone to think." Forge explained. "I know that you're all afraid of the Everfree Forest, so I figured that I'd spend some time in there to vent and not have to worry about any of you finding me." Forge glanced over to the pink pony still bouncing around happily. "Well... most of you anyways. I'm sorry for making you all worry, but I was just really, really mad and I didn't want to talk to anypony." "We understand Forge." Twilight reassured. "We're all angry at Gilda for what she did and we know you're frustrated. But unfortunately, there's nothing we can do." "I know, that's why I'm frustrated. That griffon deserves a beat down after what she did to Rainbow!" "We know sugarcube." Applejack added. "But nopony other than Rainbow herself saw what happened and ya' can't do anything ta' Gilda or you'll be disqualified. If ya' really want ta' hurt her, then you'll just have to beat her in the Cloudsdale 500." Forge smiled slightly and nodded in agreement. "You're right. Still, what I wouldn't give to see Gilda have all the feathers burned off of her." His hair, mane and tail glowed slightly as he said this. The girls noticed this and backed away slightly. "Careful Forge. We don't want you catching fire again." Twilight said. "Right. Oh and um... I'm really sorry about what happened with my powers. I didn't mean to nearly set you all on fire." "It's okay. You were just angry." Fluttershy said. "But you're kind of scary when you're mad..." "Just warn us next time you're going to do that darling." Rarity added. "All that heat is not good for my mane. It get's all frizzy." Rarity noticed that they were now all giving her bemused looks. "Well it's true!" They all rolled there eyes and laughed for a bit while Rarity looked away, slightly embarrassed. After they stopped laughing, Twilight spoke up first. "Well, now that we all know that Forge is okay, I suggest we get to bed. It's getting late." "Yeah. Apple Bloom's probly' wonderin' where we are anyway." Applejack stated. "I should be going as well." Rarity added. "A girl needs her beauty sleep after all." "I need to tend to my animals." Fluttershy said. "Goodnight everypony!" "Goodnight!" they all said in unison. Forge followed Applejack back to Sweet Apple Acres, but his thoughts were racing. He had one week to prepare for the race and he was determined to make good use of it. He would be ready for the Cloudsdale 500 and for Gilda. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (One week later) It was time. The Cloudsdale 500 had finally arrived. Forge flew towards Cloudsdale with a look of determination in his eyes. For the past week, he had been keeping himself occupied with more training or visits to the hospital to see Rainbow. She was still upset over not being able to enter the race, but she was back to her old self and wing seemed to be healing up nicely. One thing still bothered Forge however. Throughout the week, he had not seen one sign of Zephyr or Gilda. He feared that Gilda had gotten Zephyr as well and he would be entering the race alone. Forge had already been pushed to the breaking point when she got Rainbow. If anything were to happen to Zephyr because of that griffon, rules or not, he'd be having fried chicken for dinner. Luckily, his fears were set aside when he saw the dark-tan pegasus waving him over as he approached Cloudsdale. "Hey Forge! Over here!" Zephyr called out. Forge smiled in relief at the sight of his friend standing there and flew down to meet him. "Zephyr! Dude, where have you been? I was beginning to think you had chickened out." "What? And miss the look on your face when I cross the finish line and take home the prize money. Never!" "We'll see about that. Seriously, where were you?" "Well, since Rainbow's hurt, I was took over as captain of the weather team." "Congratulations." "Yeah, I though it would be good to. But, then I got stuck with all the unfinished work orders that Rainbow never did!" "Oh come one. I couldn't have been that bad." "The jobs range all the way back to December-from three years ago!" "Wow. Tough break." "Yeah. So all her unfinished work, plus the extra work orders that came with being captain have kept me busy." "At least you're here and able to compete. After all, I need to be able to rub my victory in someponies face." Forge shot Zephyr a smug grin before glancing over his shoulder and noticing other pegasi flying towards the Cloudiseum. "I think we better get going." "Right. I think the other racers are here already so it'll give us a chance to scout the competition." With that in mind, the two pegasi took off towards the track. They eventually arrived at a large room that lead out to the Cloudiseum. In the room the contestants where idly chatting with each other. Forge and Zephyr pushed through the crowd to a booth where an elderly pony was handing each contestant a number. She noticed the two approach called them over. "You two part of the race." she asked. "Yes we are." Forge stated. "Names?" "Forge." "Zephyr Verve." The elderly pony began to flip through a chart covered in names. "Let's see... Forge... Forge... Aha! Here you are. You're number 17." The elderly pony gave Forge his number and began to scroll through the charts again. "Zephyr Verve... uh... Oh, here you are. You're number 19." Zephyr grabbed his number and place it on him. The two thanked the pony and turned to look at the other competitors. "All right, lets see what we've got to work with." Zephyr said. Forge began scanning the room, carefully looking over the other competitors to make sure Gilda and Zephyr were the only two he needed to worry about. There were a lot of pegasus ponies competing, but most of them were inexperienced with the kind of flying needed for the race or were just hot-heads who wanted a chance to show off. Forge noticed a couple of dragons near the back of the room. While they were still young, these dragons were already great fliers. However, due to their size, they weren't very maneuverable and were slow to get going. There were a few griffons in the crowd, but Forge didn't worry about them. While fast and agile, they had extremely poor endurance. The strains the race put on them would get rid of most of them before they became a threat. The only griffon Forge was worried about was Gilda, who didn't seem to be in the crowd. "See anypony who'll give us trouble?" Zephyr asked. "Nothing we can't handle. But it's not them I'm worried about..." "Don't worry. Gilda will get what's coming to her. We'll make sure of it." "Is that a fact?" Forge and Zephyr's eyes went wide and they slowly turned around to see Gilda standing over them with an evil grin on her face. "And I was beginning to think we could be friends." "We're not going to let you win Gilda." Forge spat. "You're not letting me! Ha! You losers don't stand a chance against me! Just ask Rainbow Dash." "YOU BITCH!" Forge angrily shouted. He lunged at the griffon but was stopped by Zephyr who had managed to bite down on his tail in attempt to hold him back. By now most of the other contestants had stopped what they were doing and began to watch the confrontation unfold. "Let me go Zephyr! I'm gonna rip her heart out!" "Forge, no!" Zephyr said. "You'll get disqualified! She's not worth it!" Forge slowly backed away from the griffon and rejoined Zephyr. He was right. Beating the living tar out of Gilda wouldn't accomplish anything... at least not yet. "Come one Forge. The girls are supposed to meet us before the race." Forge gave one last glare at the griffon before turning and following Zephyr towards the door. "I'd listen to your girlfriend if I were you!" Gilda boasted. "He knows what he's talking about!" Zephyr stopped in his tracks and whirled around to face the griffon. "On second thought Forge, let's kill her!" "What? Whoa, Zephyr wait!" Forge exclaimed as he grabbed Zephyr's tail in an attempt to hold him back. "What happened to 'she's not worth it?" "Forget what I said! Let's tear her wings off!" Gilda laughed. "You two are pathetic! I'm going to enjoy watching you losers cry when I win!" She then took off with a triumphant screech and flew towards the track. The crowd eventually went back to chatting with each other and acted as if nothing had happened. Zephyr had calmed down and had rejoined Forge in heading to meet the girls. "I hate that griffon." "I know Zeph. I hate her too." "We're still gonna beat the crap out of her after the race right?" "Totally." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forge and Zephyr sat on a balcony looking out towards Ponyville. It wasn't long before Fluttershy was seen in the distance flying towards them. She waved to them as she approached before landing softly behind them. "Hey Fluttershy." Forge greeted. "Hello Forge. And hello Zephyr." Fluttershy squeaked. "Hi Fluttershy. You made it." Zephyr said. "Oh of course. I wouldn't miss this for the world. I've even been practicing my cheers for you two." "Really? Let's hear it." "Oh okay." Fluttershy took a deep breath. "Yaay. Woohoo." she said quietly. She proudly grinned from ear to ear, but quickly stopped once she looked up at the two pegasi who were giving her quizzical looks. "...Too loud." "Uh... It could use a little work." Forge said. "But It was good... right Zephyr?" "Uh... yeah. It was... really nice. Good work." When she heard this, her smile returned and she squeed slightly. Forge and Zephyr simply smiled and rolled their eyes before looking back over towards Ponyville. "Where are the rest of the girls?" Forge asked. "They should be here soon. I think they were going to Twilight's first so she could cast a spell to let the others walk on the clouds." No sooner had Fluttershy finished her sentence did a hot air balloon filled with girls appear form behind the clouds.The balloon floated near to the balcony where AJ tied it down with her rope. One by one they jumped out of the balloon and landed on the clouds. "Howdy ya'll!" "Hey girls! Glad you could make it!" "You didn't think we'd miss this did you?" Rarity said. "Yeah!" Pinkie said as she embraced Forge and Zephyr into a crushing bear hug. "The six of us are going to cheer you two to victory! Or... at least one of you to victory." "Wait-" Zephyr began as he struggled to escape Pinkies grip. "The six of you?" "Yes. The six of us." came a familiar voice. Forge and Zephyr looked up at the pegasus and smiled. "You can't have a race without Equestria's most awesomest pony there!" "Rainbow! You're here!" "Yeah, the doctors said that she didn't need to stay in the hospital anymore so we brought her along." Twilight said. "I wasn't just going to sit in bed and watch the race from that cruddy little TV in my room! I wanted to be there when you two wipe the floor with Gilda!" Just then, the announcer came over the intercom. "Attention all competitors in the Cloudsdale 500! The race is about to begin! Please make your way to the Cloudiseum and take your positions!" "Looks like you got here just in time." Zephyr stated. He turned to Forge. "We better go." "Right. We'll see you girls later! Wish us luck!" "Good luck!" They shouted in unison as Forge and Zephyr flew towards the Cloudiseum. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forge and Zephyr arrived at the entrance to the Cloudiseum. They took a few steps towards the entrance but stopped once they heard the roar of the crowd. "Wow. They really went all out for this." Forge stated. "Yeah." Zephyr said. "Look Forge. I know that we both hate Gilda and we can't let her win. But only one of us will cross that finish line in first place. Do understand where I'm going with this?" "I do. You don't really think that I'm going to let you win did you?" "No. I'm just making sure we're clear on the subject. While we don't want Gilda to win, once we're racing it's everypony for themselves." "Of course." Forge spit in his hoof and held it out to Zephyr. "Good luck Zephyr." Zephyr smirked and did the same thing and the two shook hooves. "You to Forge. See you on the track." Zephyr than ran out to the Cloudiseum and joined the other contestants as they did a few practice fly-by's. Forge took a deep breath and followed soon after. He was greeted by hundreds of ponies cheering and shouting from the stands in anticipation for the race to begin. "Welcome one and all to the Cloudsdale 500!" the intercom boomed. "I'm your host Madden, and what a beautiful day for racing! The competitors are ready for action and the crowd is hungry for it! Let's head down to the starting line where the leader of the Wonderbolts; Spitfire, is about to start the race!" Forge flew down to his platform and took his position. He looked down the line of racers and saw Zephyr near the middle of the pack. Gilda was little farther down, but only a few ponies and a dragon separated her and Zephyr. Gilda noticed his glare and shot him an evil grin. Forge snarled at the griffon before looking away and focusing his attention to Spitfire, who was now hovering in front of them. "Congratulations!" Spitfire began. "You have each shown great skill in your ability to fly and now have the great honour of being part of the Cloudsdale 500! You all know the rules: If you have to be rescued or cannot continue during the race at any point you forfeit. If you fly above Ghastly Gorge or the alpine valleys you forfeit. No pushing, no shoving, no fighting, and no crying. We've got camera's all around the race course, so don't even try to cheat. First one to Canterlot Castle is the winner. Good luck! Let the race begin!" The crowd cheered and clopped their hooves together as the racers got into their racing positions. Forge looked around the arena and saw the girls on their cloud seats, cheering. He took a deep breath and crouched closer to the ground as the flag carrier appeared and began to count down. "Three!" Forge pawed his hoof at the cloud in anticipation. "Two!" His eyes narrowed and he crouched lower to the ground. "One!" Forge flared his wings. "GO!" With that, racers ran off their clouds and nose-dived towards the ground. Forge tucked his wings in close and straightened out his body. His eyes stung as he plummeted towards the earth. The clouds he hurtled through burst into vapour and raindrops. He could hardly ear anything, save for the high-pitched whistling of the wind through his ears. He glanced back over his shoulder briefly and saw some of the contestants beginning to chicken out, opening their wings early and leveling off early. Forge turned to face the ground again. He was getting dangerously close but he didn't pull up yet. He continued his dive until he was so close, he could make out the features of every single pebble that was on the ground. With a quick unfurl of his wings and a quick twist of his body, he leveled out almost parallel to ground inches below him. Forge flew along the ground for a little bit before diving into Ghastly Gorge and continuing the race. **** Back in Cloudsdale, the crowd was in awe at what they had just seen. The camera's had captured Forge's near death nose-dive and they were all stunned. The girls all stared in awe, even Rainbow looked a little intrigued by Forge's move. "Whoa! Did you all see that! That boy was inches from the ground!" Madden exclaimed over the intercom. "I don't know if this kid likes the risks or is just stupid but that was an incredible show of talent! Keep the camera's on this one everypony, this race just got a hell of a lot more interesting!" **** Forge zoomed along the winding gorge. He was in the lead for the moment and most of the other contestants had fallen way behind. He rounded the corner and came across the first obstacle in the gorge; bramble bushes. The spikey plants had blocked off the path through the gorge and only way to the other side was through them. Forge slowed down and saw an opening between the spiked tendrils. He dove through them and effortlessly twisted and turned through them. As he passed through the spiked tendrils, he looked behind him and noticed that he was all alone. No one had caught up to him yet. "This'll be easier than I thought." Forge said smugly. He was so busy he didn't notice where he was flying. Suddenly, a blood red coloured eel zoomed out from in front of him and attempt to eat him. "Whoa!" Forge quickly managed to avoid the eel, but was soon greeted with more of them. He had entered the quarray eels nesting grounds and they hated being disturbed. Forge managed to narrowly avoid them until one eel caught him off guard and snapped him up. Forge was keeping the mouth from closing on him, but he couldn't hold it forever. Forge soon noticed the other racers appearing through the bramble bushes and quickly approaching the quarray eels. Most of them managed to avoid the quarray eels and pass Forge, however a few of them were snapped up in the quarray eels jaws. They were quickly saved by the Wonderbolts stationed nearby. The quarray eel that Forge was trying to keep from swallowing him was beginning to thrash around in an attempt to get Forge to lose his grip. He managed to keep his hold from breaking but, he knew if he didn't get out soon he wouldn't be finishing this race. Just then, Forge noticed Gilda flying through the eels. She stopped in front of Forge and the two stared each other down for a while. Suddenly, she grew an evil grin. She turned around and flew towards the quarray eel hole directly in front of Forge. "Hey! Come and get me!" she called to the eel. Forge noticed the eels golden eyes inside the hole. The eel lunged form it's home at Gilda. Gilda however managed to dodge and the eel continued it's lunge, right at Forge still suspended in his eels mouth. "Oh no..." was all Forge could say before the eel meant for Gilda slammed into him and knocked him into the other eels mouth. "Nonononono!" The eel licked it's lips while Gilda hovered for a few seconds watching her latest work. Satisfied, she flew of after the remainder of the contestants. Gilda spotted the dark-tan pegasus who was with Forge earlier in the day. "One down. One to go." **** "Oh no, It looks like the kids luck has just run out!" The crowd was watching the replay from when Forge was knocked into the eels mouth. It looked as though when Gilda dodged, Forge was just unlucky enough to be in the way, but the crowd was talking. Something about what they were seeing wasn't right. "That rotten griffon did that on purpose!" Rainbow shouted angrily. "She should be disqualified!" Applejack added. "Oh, I hope he's okay." Fluttershy said. "Oh the poor kid, and he was doing so well. Anyway, while the Wonderbolts try to get him outta there we'll head back to the action! The run through Ghastly Gorge had taken it's toll with only thirty-seven of the fifty contestants making there way throu-" "Wait, look! Somethings happening with the eel!" Spitfire shouted, drawing the crowds attention towards the screen. The eel that had swallowed Forge was thrashing about in a sort of panic. Smoke was coming from it's nostrils and it's belly seemed to be glowing. The eel began to cough up plumes of smoke, until with one final heave it spit Forge right back out. "I-I don't believe it! The eel has coughed the kid back up!" The crowd cheered as loud as they could at the sight of Forge's escape. One the screen, Forge hovered for a moment before giving his head a shake and zooming off down the canyon. "And the kid is back in the game! Unbelievable! This kid's on fire! But that little slip up has cost him dearly! He's going to need to make up a lot of ground If he's going to catch up to the leaders!" "Yeah! Alright Forge!" Pinkie shouted. "Come on Forge, go get em'!" Spitfire added. **** "Well that was fun." Forge said sarcastically. The trip into the quarray eels stomach was definitely one experience he wouldn't soon forget... or live down. Forge flapped his wings furiously as he attempted to catch up to the other racers. His little trip into the eels stomach had cost him his lead, and he was now trailing behind. However, he quickly managed to pass a few of the slower ponies, griffons and dragons that remained. Each of them looking extremely shocked to see him. Forge eventually arrived at the next part of the race; The Windy Tunnel. He was about to fly into the tunnel when a night-blue pegasus was launched out of the tunnel right at him. Forge moved out of the way just in time. The blue pegasus missed him and was sent careening into a rock. Forge looked back at the unconscious pegasus who was now being carried away by the Wonderbolts. He turned to look back at the cave. He could hear the screech of the wind as it blew and the thuds and cries of the other racers caught inside. He gulped and flew inside only to find that no wind was blowing. "Huh. I could have sworn tha-whoa!" Forge managed to say before a strong westerly wind knocked him off his balance and pinned him against the wall. Eventually the wind stopped and Forge fell towards the ground. Before he could pick himself up, the wind blew form the east and slammed him into the other side of the tunnel. "Twilight was right! The winds in this tunnel are crazy!" Forge began to frantically look around the tunnel. He could see multiple tunnels littering the walls as well as a lot of the remaining racers either unconscious or holding on for dear life. "Okay. I can do this. I just gotta work with the wind. Don't fight it." After the eastern wind died down, Forge carefully flew towards the nearest tunnel. When he felt the air current begin to change. he turned his body so that he his hooves would be facing the wall the wind carried him too. Once it died down he began to fly towards the tunnels again. Once he arrived at the tunnels, he realized that they were pulling him in all directions. The tunnels were sucking up anything and everything that came near them, almost like a vacuum cleaner. "Which way do I go?" he said as he looked form one tunnel to another. Suddenly the tunnel closest to him began to suck him in. Without warning, a strong wind shoved Forge into the tunnel and he was sent spiraling through the tunnel at an incredible speed. The winding path that this tunnel seemed to take was making Forge sick. Suddenly, Forge was shot out of the into the bright of day. When his eyes cleared up, he saw that he was heading straight for an iceberg. Forge barely managed to roll out of the way of it as he zoomed by. The tunnel had shot Forge out like a cannon and he was now flying top speed into a group of small icebergs. He rolled and banked in every direction as he attempted to avoid smashing into the icebergs. Forge's extra speed soon began to wear off and he easily glided through the frozen valley. Forge continued to fly through the frozen valley until something caught his eye. It looked like another tunnel. Suddenly, a disturbingly familiar griffon was shot out of the tunnel. Gilda managed to brake before she smashed into an iceberg. "Stupid tunnel! It's about time I got here!" "You!" Forge spat. Gilda turned around and was shocked to find out who the voice belonged to. "You?! B-but how? I saw you get eaten!" Suddenly, from the same tunnel Gilda came from, Zephyr was launched out and he narrowly managed to avoid the iceberg in front of him. "Wow, what a ride!" He soon turned around and noticed Forge and Gilda staring at him. The two pegasi and griffon stared at each other for a few seconds, before each one bolted through the valley. Canterlot Castle was just over the hill. Now it was just a mad dash towards the finish line. **** "It's all come down to this mares and gentlecolts! A battle for the finish! These three are our only remaining contestants.It's a mad dash to the finish line! Who's it gonna be? I'm already excited and none of them have even crossed the finish line yet!" The crowd awaited in anticipation. They had moved from Cloudsdale to Canterlot Castle and were now awaiting the final three racers to fly over the hill and race to the finish line. "Come on guys... you can do it." Twilight muttered. "Please, please. Don't let Gilda win." Rainbow begged. "You can do it darlings!" Rarity cheered. "Look, there they are!" Pinkie shouted. Gilda, Forge and Zephyr appeared over the hill and were rushing towards Canterlot Castle. The crowd was going nuts. Fans were on the edge of their seat, shouting at the top of their lungs and cheering as loud as possible. "It all comes down to this! Three racers! One champion! This is gonna be close!" The three of them zoomed into the castle courtyard. With whatever energy they had left, they made one final push towards the finish line. They crossed the finish line and the crowd went crazy. "It's to close to call! It's to close to call! I don't believe it! This was the closest finish I have ever seen!" Madden shouted over the intercom. "We're going to go to review and we'll be back with the winner of the Cloudsdale 500!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forge stumbled his way onto the staging area. Every muscle in his body was aching and he had absolutely no energy left. He collapsed in a heap if exhaustion as he awaited the results. He heard hoof-steps from behind and lifted his head up to see who it was. It was Zephyr, who looked just about as bad as he did. The dark-tan pegasus stumbled over to his friend and collapsed in exhaustion next to him. "So... quite a finish huh?" he choked out. "Yeah... what a way to end it." Forge sputtered. "Do you think... Gilda lost?" "I... I don't know. It was... way to close." Forge sighed and placed his head on his foreleg. "Hey Zeph." "Yeah." "I don't ever want to fly again." "That's cool. Neither do I." The two pegasi slowly began to chuckle before breaking out into a full on laugh fit. It didn't last long as the two grabbed their ribs in pain. "Ow... It hurts to laugh..." Forge said. They heard more hoof-steps behind them and turned to see the girls, as well as Soarin and Spitfire staring at them. They looked over-joyed to see them. "You two were incredible!" Pinkie Pie shouted. "That was the best race I've ever seen! I was literally on the edge of my seat when the three of you flew over the hill!" Rainbow exclaimed. "We just want to let y'all know that no matter what the outcome, we still love ya'." Applejack stated. The group of ponies moved in for a group hug, but were quickly shoved away by the two. "No! No hugs... not now. In to much pain... ow." Zephyr said, clutching his side. "Oh right, sorry." "All right folks the results are in!" Madden shouted. He stood in the center of the staging area looking out onto the crowd with a piece of paper in his hoof. "Before I say who won however I just want to say, that was the best Cloudsdale 500 to date! I nearly had a heart attack from all the excitement! Am I right?!" The crowd cheered in response. "All right, all right. Now down to business. This was by far the closest race in history, but the winner of this years Cloudsdale 500 is..." Forge, Zephyr and their friends all held their breaths in anticipation. The crowd did the same until the entire building was silent. Even the sounds from the distant Ponyville had disappeared. The entire world was watching and waiting for the winner to be announced. "Number 17, Forge!" The crowd cheered at the top of their lungs. Back in Ponyville, the entire town had emptied out onto the streets and were jumping for joy. Forge, meanwhile, looked stunned. He won. He beat Gilda. He won the Cloudsdale 500. "Forge you did it!" Soarin cheered. "You won!" "I-I won... He...hehe I won! I did it! I WON!" Forge shouted, standing on his hind legs and thrusting his forelegs in the air in victory. Forge suddenly remembered Zephyr. He looked down at his friend, who had a disappointed scowl on his face. Zephyr looked up at him and they stared at each other for a few moments. "Uh..." Forge said. He wasn't sure what to say. Zephyr sighed and shook his head. "Just go, your fans are waiting." "So your not pissed." "Oh I am. And I'm probably going to hate you for a little bit, but I'll get over it. You won. You beat Gilda and are the new champion. If anypony deserved to win it was you. Congratulations Forge." Forge shook his head and chuckled slightly. He then turned around and slowly made his way to the stage. As he approached the stage, the crowd cheered began to chant his name. Forge looked on in awe. "Congratulations Forge, you are this years champion! How do you feel?" Madden asked. Before Forge could answer him, they were interrupted by a loud screech. Forge looked over near the stage entrance to see an extremely frantic and angry looking Gilda. "NO! NO! NO! NO!" Gilda shouted. "I CAN'T LOSE TO YOU! I WON'T LOSE TO YOU! I SHOULD BE CHAMPION!" "It's over Gilda! I win, you lose!" "NO! I REFUSE TO BE BEATEN BY YOU! YOU ARE A NOBODY! A LOSER! A STUPID, ANNOYING LOSER!" "Uh-huh. Sorry Madden, I'l be right with you just give me a minute." "Uh... okay." Forge turned and fully faced the irate Gilda. She has a wild look in her eye and looks like she could snap at any moment. "WHAT?! YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE ME! HA! YOU JUST SIGNED YOUR OWN DEATH SENTENCE! I'M GOING TO BREAK YOU LIKE THE LOSER THAT YOU A-" Forge quickly silenced Gilda with a quick buck to the jaw. A chorus of "oooh's" responds through the crowd. "Wow. That felt better then I thought it would." Forge declared as he watched the dazed griffon spit out a few teeth. She looked back up at Forge and ran towards him with her claws and talons bared. Forge moved out of the way, sending her tumbling off the stage. "Hey Zephyr! You want in?! It'll help you vent some of that hatred you have towards me!" "Sounds like a plan to me!" Zephyr shouted. He quickly joined Forge on stage and the two stared down Gilda. Gilda screeched and rushed Zephyr. He avoided her swing and bucked her right in the gut. Gilda keeled over in pain and Zephyr grabbed her wing and tossed he to Forge. Forge responded with two quick jabs to her face and slamming her into the stage floor. Zephyr dove in and delivered a massive flying elbow right onto her spine. Forge and Zephyr stood back and admired their work. The know broken and battered Gilda lay, on the stage, Forge approached her and leaned over her. "I... was supposed... to win." Gilda sputtered. "Don't you know that the bad guy never wins." Forge said. "Now, since I'm a good guy, I'm going to give you a choice here. You can either stay and get your ass kicked some more by me and Zephyr or you can leave here and never come back. Understand." Gilda roared and lashed out in a blind rage. Forge avoided her swipe and shook his head. "That's disappointing. I thought you'd be smart enough to know when your beat. Oh well, more fun for me!" Forge grabbed Gilda and began to lift her up high above the castle grounds. When he reach a high enough height, he flew straight down with Gilda still in his forelegs. "W-what are you doing?" "Sending you into a world of hurt!" Using the momentum from the dive, Forge released Gilda, sending her crashing into the ground below. The crowd all cringed as Gilda slammed into the ground, kicking up a large plume of dust and leaving a griffon shaped crater in the ground. Forge landed back on the staging area, where Zephyr was standing near a cannon. "Where did you get that?" "The party cannon, courtesy of Pinkie Pie. I figured it would help us get rid of our little problem over there." Zephyr gestured to the crater, where Gilda was pulling herself out of. "Good idea. I'll even let you fire it." The two pegasi approached the griffon. They picked her up and shoved her into the party cannon. "Y-you can't do this to me!" "Actually we can. And we're going to." "I-I'll be back you know! This isn't over!" "Yes it is. And if you know what's good for you, you better make sure I never see your face around Ponyville again. Ready Zeph!" "Ready!" "Prepare to fire." Zephyr pointed the party cannon in the direction he wanted and began to angle it higher. All the while, Forge had gotten the crowd to start singing: "Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey Goodbye" They all repeated those lines while Gilda attempted to break out of the party cannon. "Cannons ready!" Zephyr shouted. "Good. So long Gilda, you psychotic bitch!" With that final send off, Gilda was launched out of the party cannon and sent soaring across the sky. "And don't come back!" The crowd cheered as Forge returned to the stage where Madden was still waiting for him. "Well... that was certainly an interesting way to end this Cloudsdale 500." he said. "And it was fantastic! Now to answer your question Madden. How do I feel right now?" Forge thought for a moment. He had just won the toughest race in all of Equestria, he was now rich, and he and Zephyr beat the crap out of Gilda before launching her out of a cannon. He chuckled. "Madden, right now, I feel pretty damn good."