//------------------------------//
// Chapter: 12  Confronting the Storm Part: 1 
// Story: Our Time to Fly 
// by Shokinaw 
//------------------------------//


 


 


Chapter 12:


Confronting the Storm


 


Part: 1

 
 
 
“I can’t believe we’re finally here!”

A bundle of energy that currently took the form of an impatient, orange pegasus was bolting back and forth along the billowy, white streets that made up the city of Cloudsdale. Misshapen cumulus clouds wound and twisted on top of each other to make up housing structures all held upright by strangely solid cloud pillars that made each seem more like a tiny, ancient coliseum than a house.  Sparkling rainbows and streaming waterfalls were used as decorations by the citizens, along with thin, twirling wisps of fog that moved and swirled within a single spot, often forming figures or impressive patterns. Sometimes flags would adorn the rooftops in a bright spot of colour against the different tints of clouds that came in white or a pale blue and pink. It was all so amazing!

From far away, the city looked more like a funny-looking cloud surrounded by dozens of others that were actually far, far larger. The differences grew more obvious the closer they got. The immensely huge clouds around the city were the results of the weather making factories that never shut down. They’d be filled with collected water from unused resources all over Equestria and moved to the cities and farmlands as necessary. It was as stable a career as a pegasus could have, and there was always a warm welcome for another to join the factory’s ranks and their numerous tasks.

Rainbow Dash was watching her fledgling with a growing smirk. The idea of being a pegasus and never seeing Cloudsdale until Scootaloo’s age was one she just couldn’t even begin to comprehend. This city was a representation of their heritage, their culture, and everything it meant to be a pegasus! And now, after being cooped up in a hot air balloon for hours as the crowd made their way to Cloudsdale, Scootaloo was even more wound up than usual to see the sights this historical city had to offer. Twilight and Pinkie Pie had come with them, and as neither was gifted with the ability to fly on their own, Rainbow Dash had decided it’d be rude to fly ahead and leave them behind. By the time they landed, the little squirt was hopping up and down, spouting question after question about everything she could see. Dash hoped her excitement would last, because the only thing that awaited when it faded away would be a torrent of nervousness; the very kind that was consuming both herself and her other fledgling now.

The qualifiers were running the very next day. They had trained so long, worked so hard, pushed through so much, and it all came down to this. The day when her fledglings would find out if they had what it took to impress the judges. Dash knew they did but they didn’t. She hoped this would give them the confidence they would need to enter the true competition that was still a couple weeks away. What the fledglings couldn’t know was the biggest challenge their team would be facing within the week wasn’t going to be taking place in the arena, but in the administration offices. That was where her own nervousness was stemming from. She needed to pick up the registration papers and there had been no word one way or the other whether they had been signed. If they were allowed to show their stuff, Dash knew they could get into the competition proper. The question had become ‘just how big was that if’?

Spike was just stepping out of the balloon now after Twilight’s cloud walking spell washed over him. He was shaking so badly Peewee couldn’t find a decent place to perch on his tail.  She hoped both his and her own nerves would be settled by the following day. It would probably be better to get him booked into a hotel as soon as possible so he had a place to collect himself. Scoot would probably want to see as much of the city as she could. It was just as likely she’d drive the poor dragon up the wall if she was trapped in the room with him anyway.

At the same time, she didn’t want Scootaloo to come with her, just in case things got nasty at the registration office. And leaving him alone with Pinkie Pie wasn’t any better than a hyped up Scootaloo, she’d have to take her too. Twilight was the perfect answer to this conundrum, but she was due at the local royal residence. Princess Celestia would be attending the qualifying rounds for the first time anypony could remember, and wanted to have a word with her personal student as soon as she arrived.

 “Nothing for it I guess, hopefully he can cope by himself.” Taking a deep breath, Rainbow Dash called out to her team, “Fledglings! Front and center!”

In a flash two well-trained flying recruits were standing perfectly straight at her front, both saluting their Flight Captain, and ready for inspection. Many around them stopped to stare at the funny little flight team. Fledgling fliers had been streaming past the city entrance in droves over the last few days, but none were the likes of the ones that stood before them now. The bare minimum requirements for a team, only three ponies strong, and one wasn’t even a pegasus! Gawkers kept looking back to the dragon and phoenix in their midst filled with uncertainty and wonder. Spike and Peewee had drawn their attention like ponies to a train wreck, and their stares were obviously doing very little to help Spike’s morale.

“This is how it’s gonna work.” Captain Dash began, doing her best to pretend they had no audience, and closing her eyes to push the crowd from her mind. “Spike is going to go book a hotel for the night, after which he’ll send me a note to tell me which one he gets. Scootaloo, you’re with me. We’ll go finish of the administration side of this competition then meet them back at the hotel.”

“Umm, permission to go with Spike, Captain?” 

“What?” The question surprised her at least as much as the interruption. She was used to Spike speaking out of turn when she was trying to be serious, but it was something new coming out of Scootaloo.

“I’d like to go with Spike to the hotel, Captain,” repeated Scootaloo, while still standing rigidly at attention. “We need to talk about something.”

Spike’s only response was a shrug. He obviously had no idea what it was about.

It would get Scootaloo out of the way if things at the offices get messy.

That was an appealing thought. If she really had to talk to Spike, it might have the added benefit of taking his mind off of things too.

“Alright, Squirt, but stay close to the hotel, and save the sightseeing for when I get back! The last thing any of us need is one of our team lost in Cloudsdale.”

“Yes, Captain!” They said together.

“See you at the hotel, Fledglings! Dismissed.” A quick salute and the two teammates took to the sky, looking for a place to stay the night.

“I gotta say it, I’m impressed. You did a fantastic job with those two,” Twilight said, trotting over to her side to watch them go.

“You sure did!” Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing over to hug Dash tightly in excitement, “I can’t believe the day is almost here! You guys are going to do so~ooo GREAT!”

“Girls, there’s little to debate about how awesome I am, but no, this time they did the fantastic job. I just showed them what they needed to know to get the job done.”

Shaking her head with a smile that threatened to split her face in two, Rainbow Dash looked past Pinkie’s grip to her departing team. Pride swelled up inside her, so fierce and expansive she felt like she might burst; a pride not for anything she had done, but what they had accomplished together.  “And then they did it. I knew they could do it.”

“It was your faith that they could and the time you put in that got them this far. They’d both still be stuck back in Ponyville trying to sort through all their complications if it wasn’t for you. When things seemed their worst for those two, it was you who came through for them in the end.” Twilight smiled as she watched her not-so-little assistant getting further and further away. “I don’t think you understand how much you’ve done or how much you mean to them.”

“That’s right! You guys are going to be such a super duper team together! I just know you’ll all keep Scootaloo’s Pinkie Promise! First prize, here we COME!” Pinkie cheered as she finally released Dash from her hug to throw her hooves in the air.

As the two young fliers vanished in the distance the three friends began walking together. The coliseum wasn’t a far trot from the royal residence so Twilight decided to travel with them until they got close.

“Yeah, well, let’s just hope I don’t disappoint them when it counts the most. The hardest part comes next. I read every rulebook I could find on the subject, and I don’t think there’s anything stopping dragons from entering the contest. I think with a bit of argument we can slip Spike through.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. These kinds of competitions were put in place by Princess Celestia-“

“-for good relations with all life in Equestria!” Dash finished the quote for her, only to feel her jaw go slack as she stared at Twilight. “How did you know that?!”

“I read it, of course. You didn’t think I’d let Spike think he could enter a competition he wasn’t allowed to enter, did you? I did a bit of research about it the day after you asked him to join in on your flight lessons. It means any resident of Equestria can join any contest, as long as they ‘apply to their correct category of weight, height, or experience, depending on the competition’,” quoted Twilight exactly from the pages of ‘The History of The Equestrian Games’.

“You knew all that already, and you didn’t tell me?! Why?”

 “I thought you knew! You’re the accomplished stunt pegasus, don’t they teach you what games you can join in?”

“Twilight, they teach us how to be athletes, not the history of athletes! There was only one book out of the huge pile you signed out to me that even said that in it! And it was printed like over a hundred years ago! It was lost to obscurity for everpony except, I guess, knowledge-hoarding librarian unicorns.”

“Uh, well, at least it’s one less thing you have to worry about, right?”

“Yeah, sure. Great. Do you have any idea how many mornings I woke up with my face buried in a rulebook?! All that time reading was a complete waste!”

“It was NOT a waste!” Twilight frowned at her friend before continuing. “Studying is never a waste! If anything it’s great for you! You can pass on that knowledge to any other students you take under your wing, and they can pass it on to their foals. And now nopony is going to be able to fool you by misquoting rules or win over you by breaking them. There are probably hundreds of other ways studying those books might help you. Just wait and see.”

“Well, maybe, but it still took up a large amount of time that our team didn’t have to spare. Time I could have spent doing other things. Why didn’t I just ask you? Gah! I feel like such an idiot.”

“Don’t be silly, you silly filly. You’re not an idiot, you’re the best coach in Equestria! And tomorrow, you’ll prove to everypony just how super fantastically awesome a coach you are!” The sing-song voice of Pinkie Pie picked up as they walked along, “all in front of those judges, other coaches, the Princess, your friends, and The Wonderbolts too!”

“T-t-the other c-coaches? J-j-judges? A-a-and the Wonderbolts?!” Rainbow Dash suddenly stood stock still as the as the images of each floated through her head, watching, judging, glaring at her, shaking their heads in distaste, or worse, staring on in apathy.

“Yup yup yup! I heard they were all going to be there.”

“The Wonderbolts are going to be at the qualifiers?!” Dash flew over and picked up the excitable pink pony by the shoulders and began shaking her, “where did you hear that?!”

“The-PO-nies-BY-the-CI-ty-EN-trance-WERE-talk-ING-a-BOUT-it,” giggled out Pinkie, enjoying the sound distortion as she was shaken back and forth. “MY-voice-SOUNDS-fun-NY!”

Dash let her drop unceremoniously to the clouds below. The Wonderbolts were going to be at the qualifiers? But why?! They should only be at the competition proper to do the scouting for fledglings! As the idea began to sink in, she stared down at her hooves. They were beginning to shake uncontrollably. “Why are so many important ponies coming to the quals? They’re normally just the minor flying tests! This is insane!”

“It’s probably because Princess Celestia decided to attend. You know how things kind of become an event everywhere she goes,” Twilight said. “Being a princess must get pretty tiring.”

“Why does she even have to be there?! Isn’t there enough pressure on a pegasus’ first flight test without having royalty breathing down the back of your neck?”

“Okay Dash, calm down. You’re obviously not thinking straight. It will be a pretty big day for Spike, he’s worked pretty hard for this after all. It’s only natural she’ll want to see how far he’s come.”

“Horse feathers! You’re right! Wait, maybe we can just have him take his flight test alone? But then we won’t have a three pony team! We need at least three for the formations.”

A torrent of emotions tore at her mind. She tried to think of someway that wouldn’t have the Wonderbolts looking over their show. Zipping back and forth in the air, panic was setting in while she looked for some way out of the situation.

Her eyes darted towards Twilight, and she quickly zoomed down to slip a leg around her neck, “Twilight! You know the show’s script. Quick! Make yourself a pair of wings and take over Spike’s part!”

“Rainbow Dash! Get a hold of yourself!” A bucket of water appeared over the distressed pegasus before tipping over and dumping its freezing contents over her. The cold feeling soaked through her fur, startling her into stillness. Her normally wild rainbow-coloured mane style was now a soggy mish-mash of tangles that fell flat over her eyes. She took a deep breath, shivered, and turned to look at Twilight.

“Thanks. I needed that.”

“It’s okay. All that pressure must be really stressful.” Twilight slipped out of her soaked friend’s grip, before shaking herself dry and frowning at a road sign. “We have to split ways here, but you’ll do fine! You all will. I can’t wait to see the look on everypony when they see your show. I know you’ll just blow them all away!”

“Yeah,” Dash shook herself dry as well, the shivering had calmed down some, but it wasn’t all coming from the cold water dripping down her neck. The coliseum was in view now, and she looked towards the building that held her team’s fate. “I guess it’s a bit too late to fall apart now. We still don’t even know if we can join. Even if Spike can sign up for certain, they didn’t send us our approvals, yet. If it isn’t about Spike, then something else must be holding them up, and I need to find out what it is.”

“I’m sure everything will work out. I’ll see you guys back at the hotel!” Waving she turned to leave, before noticing Pinkie bounding happily beside her.

“Uh, Pinkie? What are you doing?”

“I’m going with you, silly filly!”

“Pinkie, you can’t just invite yourself to a royal appointment! You need to go with Rainbow Dash.”

“But I can’t go with Dashie.”

“Why not?”

“Because she’s already gone.”

“What?!”  Twilight quickly looked up to see friend’s retreating figure in the skyline, “Rainbow Dash! No! Stop! Get back here!”

Her cries fell on deaf ears though. Dash had already covered miles in the small time frame. Pinkie just smiled, perfectly okay with the result. There really wasn’t any choice now. Twilight couldn’t let Pinkie try to find the stadium on her own, or go back to find Spike and Scootaloo to find a hotel. Who knew what would happen?

“Alright Pinkie,” Twilight sighed, “but you have to promise me you’ll be on your best behaviour. No wacky hijinks or anything like that while in the royal halls, okay?”

“Okie Dokie Lokey!”

Not at all convinced, Twilight frowned at the pony in front of her. As much as she loved Pinkie, official ceremonies and meetings were not exactly designed to handle her particular way of life. Still there really was nothing for it. She was just going to have to try keeping her as normal as she could for the time being. Nervously, she led their way towards the royal residence.


 

*******

 
The dragon and pegasus scoured the city, hotel by hotel, with luggage in claw and hoof, and it was beginning to get tiring. Everything was booked solid and time and again they were being turned away. They’d waited until last minute for this, and there wasn’t much choice left. They’d managed to get a hint of some vacancies at a large, swanky inn that was supposed to be keeping room for late fledgling applications such as theirs. The problem was the more swank the inn had, the more bits it cost. They were looking for something a bit more economical, but they were quickly running out of options. Finally deciding that it was at least worth a look to check out the prices, they were making their way over to this rumoured place of rest.

“So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?” Whatever the reason she decided to come with him to find a hotel, Scootaloo still hadn’t bothered sharing. Every time Spike thought he might get a word about it out of her, some new and strange sight caught her attention, and she’d immediately fly off to have a closer look. It was entertaining at first, but now the avoidance of the topic was getting frustrating, and he’d had just about enough of trying to chase after her. All he wanted to do was find a place for the night and maybe find a way to placate his nerves.

“Anything,” Scootaloo answered dismissively, “whatever you want to talk about.”

“What? Then why did you want to come with me?”

“Because you looked like you needed a friend, duh. Or does flying around a strange city alone with everypony staring at you everywhere you go sound appealing to you?” With a roll of her eyes Scoot gave him a playful bump on the shoulder, before adjusting the straps holding her board in place along her back. It was wrapped up in fabric, leaving it a mysterious piece of luggage to all onlookers. Rainbow Dash had insisted on keeping its existence secret without bothering to reveal why.

“But I thought you really wanted to check out the stadium. It was all you were talking about the whole trip here.”

“Well yeah! Of course I do, but I’m going to see it tomorrow no matter what, and it won’t be as fun to see it without you there. I’m not gonna leave you hanging like that. You’re more nerves than you are dragon right now. So come on, what gives? Why are you so worked up?”

“Why am I worked up? I think the real question is why aren’t you? We’re going to be performing in front of all kinds of important ponies, judges, and even the Princess! Even our Captain wasn’t having an easy time of it. Did you notice how she had to keep looking away from the crowds?”

“Was she? Wow, she looked so calm to me.”

“If you knew her as long as I have, you’d see the signs. So what’s your secret? How are you so calm? This might be one of the biggest tests of our lives, and I’ve never had to take any test before. I can’t stop thinking about it.” Landing on the roof of a nearby public building of some sort, he set down the suitcases, giving his arms a rest. Digging into one of the bags he put out some seed for Peewee to peck at as he looked around. The fancy inn was supposed to be close to this spot going by the directions they were given, but he didn’t see any sign of it. “One screw-up and it’s all over! Over for me and you, and even over for Rainbow Dash after everything she’s done for us! It’s a pretty big deal!”

“Oh! Is that what you think?” Scootaloo snorted with a laugh. “Spike ol’ buddy, as an experienced school filly, let me bring you up to speed on how this test is gonna work. First thing you need to know about it? You are allowed some mistakes. It’s almost expected! Do everything Captain Dash had us do during our rehearsals and you’ll be fine. If you mess anything up, the Captain and I will improvise your way back on script. If I mess up, you cover my back. If by some deranged twist of fate our Captain messes up, we cover for her. The key to making mistakes is to make it look like there wasn’t one.”

“So, we can make mistakes, we just need to work them into the show?”

“You got it! The second thing you need to know is that you’ve already been tested almost every day for the last three months! I can guarantee you there is no Princess, no pony, not even any judge that will grade us any tougher than our coach has. Do you really think any of those ponies are going to notice or care if a couple fledglings are a few inches off height in formation?”

“I don’t kn-“

“-No! No, they’re not going to care.” The question must have been hypothetical because Scootaloo interrupted him before he could finish. “You’re going to care, I’m going to care, Captain Dash is going to care, maybe even Peewee will care, but they’re not going to care. She pushed us as hard as she could so we’d be perfect! This whole thing tomorrow? It’s hardly even worth our time! Our goal isn’t just to pass some crumby, old qualification test.”

Zipping out in front of him, she waved her hoof towards the city at her back, to her sides, to her front, then all around her, spinning round for dramatic effect. Her mane, her tail, and the dangling loose ends of her gear all tangled together on the breeze, dancing with her as she spun. In all honesty, she made quite the impressive figure. Her demeanor and appearance seemed to fit perfectly with the setting of Cloudsdale at her back; like this was where she belonged.

“Our goal is to brand our names into everypony’s minds! We’re going to leave their mouths gaping wide and thirsty for more! Those judges are going to be on their hooves, stomping like thunder and just itching to see us again when the real competition comes around.”

“You really think-”

“-Take it from me, Spike. They’re going to love us. Our show has an endless stream of fire, stunts nopony has ever seen before, and a blast of colour that will blow. Their. Minds. Can you name even a single part of it that isn’t erupting with awesome?”

“Well I-“

“-No. No you can’t. You know why? Because every single part of our show has us in it, and we, Spike, are awesome! Now stop doubting yourself already. We’re going to own this stupid test! And then, Big Guy, we reach for the gold. First place; a trophy the size of you! If you’re lucky, I might even let you touch it.” Looking over the city with her hooves on her hips, her mane blowing in the breeze, Scootaloo reveled in her imagination where all the pegasi were cheering before her. Noticing her teammate’s silence she turned around to give him a sour look. “Well come on, Spike, what’s with the silent treatment? Say something already!”

“What? I’m allowed to now?” Folding his arms he returned the look, not altogether sure if she was joking, or if cutting him off was just another symptom of her excitement boiling over. A smile took over quickly, though, as he went over it all in his mind. “I gotta admit it makes sense. You’re not nervous because your sights are set a lot higher.”

“Yeah! Don’t sweat the small stuff, Big Guy. I mean, think about it like this. Could you have made the flight here without the balloon?”

“I could have glided the whole way here in less than half the time, that thing was so slow. It would have driven me insane if I wasn’t used to the balloon rides. I don’t even know how you put up with it.”

“Believe me, I was this close to tearing my mane out.” A shudder came with the memory of being stuck in that basket for hours on end. “But that is all they’re really testing. If you can land, keep a formation, come out of a dive, and fly long distance. There is absolutely nothing you have to worry about. We got this nailed!”

“Oh hey, that’s true isn’t it? They’re not actually judging the show! It’s practically just kind of an official rehearsal!” Spike felt his spines and tail stand up a little straighter, and his features brightened. Even the luggage seemed a little lighter as he thought about what she said. “When you put it like that, it doesn’t sound hard at all!”

“We’re way beyond passing a silly flight test.” She nodded before fixing him with a look that spoke volumes, “but you still have to give it all you got, remember!”

“Right! You can count on me! I’m not going to start slacking off or anything, but it’s great to know not everything’s riding on this.”

“I bet! Now, we just make sure we do so awesome tomorrow that when it comes to the real show, we’ll already know we can pull it off.”

“If that’s the case, we’re definitely going to need somewhere to stay the night.” Spike looked one way and the other. “That hotel everypony was talking about was supposed to be right around here, wasn’t it?”

“I don’t know. They said we wouldn’t be able to miss it, but everything looks like a cloud in this city! It’s hard to tell one place from another.”

“Everything is a cloud in this city. Maybe we should try looking from the roads instead of the rooftops.”

“What? In the capital pegasi city of the world?” The mere idea seemed scandalous to Scootaloo somehow.

“You know, a pegasus has more legs then wings. Not everything has to be about flying.” Without waiting for her reply, Spike grabbed the luggage and hopped off the roof, gently gliding down to the clouds below. Peewee followed after and found a perch on the tallest of his spines, much to his amusement. Once down, he wiggled his toes in the soft mist, enjoying the refreshing coolness tingling along his heels. A mix of mist and steam rose up whenever he landed, his natural heat dissipating some of the cloud upon touch.

Learning to fly up here must be so easy. I was scared out of my wits trying to land on solid ground, but up here screwing up would only have you lying on your back in a never ending pile of cotton.

Another glance around showed another crowd of gawkers, pausing mid-stride to stare at him. He stared back, uneasily, wondering if they were trying to figure out if they should be flying off to get the city guard or not. Scootaloo landed easily beside him, and her presence seemed to be enough to convince the other pegasi that he wasn’t a threat, but the stares continued.

“Hey look, you found it, Spike. Good job!” Scootaloo wasn’t paying the other ponies much mind, noticing instead the curving stairways of solidified cloud made to resemble the contours of a brick-laid path and railing that wound their way to huge cloud building. The stairways lead to several large doorways just below a giant red banner. In bright golden-yellow letters it read, ‘Olympian Inn, Proud Supporters of the Fledgling Fliers Competition!‘ which was apparently something to hold some amount of pride in. A golden tint of light reflected from the dozens of pillars that surrounded the building, making it seem very ceremonial. “I still think they should have some kind of sign on the roof though. That would make things so much easier.”

“Forget signs, I’d be happier with a few more outside walls like Dash’s house. They don’t seem all that fond of them around here. It’s just pillars and a big, fluffy rooftops everywhere I look.” Spike noted as he began to make his way over to the Inn.

“Yeah, not much into privacy, are they? Maybe they’re different on the inside.” Following Spike in, Scootaloo found her guess to be correct. The walls inside made up grand hallways in fact! Large, swaying fabrics swayed in place of doors, and large tapestries hung along the walls depicting great deeds, legendary champions, and glorious adventures of pegasi past. Each hallway had a plaque above it that displayed the name of a hero of ancient times. It was all very militaristic compared to what Spike and Scootaloo were used to, and at the same time it was kind of inspiring to be standing here in the middle of a hall beside projections of these heroes.

They went up to the main desk, setting down their bags. It took a few minutes of gathering their courage before the attendant made her way over to greet the new arrivals.

“G-good d-d-day.” The pony stumbled through her words, trying not to look at the dragon and directing the greeting to Scootaloo. “C-c-can I H-h-help you?”

“Yeah, we’re here for the games. We were told this was the place to go.”

“Umm, d-do you have your r-r-registration?”

“Not yet, our captain is gone to get them now.”

“Oh, uh, I-uh,” The attendant couldn’t help but shrink back from the dragon, unsure of what his reaction would be at the next set of bad news. “I’m af-f-fraid I cannot help you w-w-without them.”

“I suppose that makes sense. Can we wait in the lobby?”

“I g-g-guess?” It came out as a squeak. “Please d-d-don’t be long? We’re um, running out of rooms.”

The teammates turned to find a place to sit. Spike sent a hastily scribbled scroll off to Rainbow Dash about their situation. They watched young pegasi come and go, each group happily taking several room keys at a time, and waited, their restlessness growing with every key given out to every new arrival. 

 

******

 
“What are you talking about?!” The Best Young Flier Champion, Element of Loyalty, one of the six champions of harmony was just about ready to strangle the paper-pushing clerk in front of her. “How can they be registered and not registered at the same time?”

“It’s like I said Miss. Dash. They have been registered individually, but not as a team.” The-gray furred white-maned pegasus nervously pushed her glasses up further along her snout.

“Are you new to this? I need to speak with your supervisor or something! You can’t be registered individually. The flight test needs a team to work! How else would you pass the formation tests? It even says what captain they’re under! It’s written down, right there!” Dash tapped the forms in front of her. It was the third pony she went through this with already. Each line up had taken at least a full half hour to wait through, and at this point her patience had become some mythical ability lost to an age long past Dash’s ability to remember. 

“Well, yes, but unless there’s a team registered, they can’t actually be on a team. I’m terribly sorry Miss, it’s something new that’s been introduced this year, though I’m surprised you haven’t heard of it. The new rule changes have been distributed to all the major cities across Equestria.”

“Did it occur to you to distribute it to places that are not major cities?!” Frustration howled inside Dash. Finally she was getting some real answers, but they were not answers she liked. “How do pegasi take formation testing if they’re not on a team?”

“Oh umm, well, we put them with other pegasi that aren’t registered on a team. There shouldn’t be any problem with them taking their flight test on an individual level tomorrow. It will be taken into account who they’ve trained with, so chances are that they’ll still be flying with each other, if that is your major concern.”

“But what about the show?! What about the competition?!”

“Due to the Princess’ attendance this year, it has been decided that fledglings don’t automatically get to use the coliseum area for their flight tests. Only fully trained competition level teams will actually be in the competition. We’d like to put on a good showing for Princess Celestia, you understand.”

“My team is competition level!”

“Oh! But I thought you said you weren’t from a major city?”

“You don’t need tall buildings to practice flying lady!”

“Uh, I see.” The grimace that took over the clerk’s features gave Dash a bad feeling. “It’s less a matter of tall buildings and more a matter of sponsorship.”

“Sponsorship.” Rainbow Dash repeated the word, and it weighed heavily on her tongue, and her shoulders slumped. “But the only reason you’d need sponsorship as a team is if bits are involved.”

“I see you understand,” The clerk nodded, “I am sorry that word hadn’t reached, where did you say you were from?”

“Ponyville. We’re from Ponyville.”

“Yes, I’m sorry word did not reach Ponyville in time. The Princess’ attendance came as a surprise, and after the committee had convened on the subject, they just didn’t have enough time to push the information to the smaller towns of Equestria. To make certain only teams that were very serious about the competition would be registering, a one-time registration fee of $10,000 bits was put into place. It forced teams to look for sponsors and investors, but all props in the show would be completely paid for by the games, as well as the booking of their rooms, and all living expenses while in Cloudsdale.”

“But there are great teams out there that would never be able to afford that!”

“Yes, and there is an exception to the rule.” The clerk suddenly perked up, as an idea came to mind. “Expressed permission by committee members will waive the fee for teams that have shown great promise!”

“But we haven’t had a chance to show anypony yet!”

“Yes, I can see that on the forms, the dates your team registered are all fairly new, but there is a committee member here every day to oversee just this sort of issue! Which is fortunate as the other two members are in a very important meeting.”

“Not another line.” Dash hoped her groan didn’t come out as whiny to everypony else as it did to her. She blushed a little, trying not to look at anypony other than the clerk whose smile only widened slightly at the complaint.

“Oh, I think we can make a bit of an exception for the winner of the Best Young Flier Competition. Come with me.”

Rainbow Dash had been enjoying her homecoming. From the moment she entered the stadium everywhere she looked pegasi would recognize her. An autograph or a picture here and there with random foals, or maybe a hoof shake of congratulations by a fan occupied her time. It was great right up until the paper trouble. After that, her anger had kept any fans at bay. Now, with the hope that this trial was finally coming to an end, she began returning waves again as the clerk lead her through the massive hallways.

Things began looking up until she saw the name patterned upon the wafting fabric that made up the doorway to the committee member’s office.

‘Feather Guide’

Dash swallowed. A feeling of dread traced its way through her body, leaving her cold as the clerk introduced her and waved her in. She stepped into the office to see a pegasus who sat in his chair, his hooves together, staring unemotionally at her. He supported a large, barrel-chested frame beneath light gray fur. What was once a very dark-haired mane now sported a lot of gray. As was common with athletes, the style was cut short, along with his tail to not get in the way of physical activity. On his flank sat a loop of string with a whistle hanging at the bottom, and a pair of wings on either side of the loop. She could feel his piercing, gray eyes study her as she came in. The clerk was dismissed with a nod, and then she was alone with him. Alone with the greatest fear the competition held for her.

Alone with her old Flight Camp coach.

Her mouth had run dry, she was unable to say anything and she couldn’t continue to look into those judging eyes. Instead she looked to the pictures that adorned his walls. There were some important framed papers along the back wall, teaching degrees and accomplishments. There were also golden statues lining shelves and cabinets. They seemed randomly placed, without much care put into them compared to the many flight class pictures that sat in perfect lines along the side walls. Different years, different classes, different school names, different camp names, he had obviously never stopped teaching. Stealing his students must not have hurt his prestige too much. She paused in her scan of them, drawn to one in particular; one that had Fluttershy, as a foal, hiding behind her hair from the camera, and one with herself at the same age, legs folded, and glaring back out at her, while leaning on some super uptight colt she could just barely recall.

“They are my greatest treasures. All the diplomas and degrees in the world will never accomplish as much as the pegasi in these pictures have.” His voice knocked her out of the swirl of memories that beckoned to her. She noticed his presence beside her, staring at all of the pictures and then to the one that had caught her interest. He chuckled a little at her foalhood self. “Even when we were just getting a picture taken you had to be defiant about something.”

“Then you-“ she had to pause and swallow again, her voice cracking, “-then you do remember.”

“Remember? Remember the great Rainbow Dash? Remember training the Best Young Flier of our day? One of the elements of harmony, and saviour of Equestria? I don’t see how you left me much choice but to remember.”

“…yeah.” Were it with anypony else in the world that would have come out as triumphant cheer, but with this one, it was barely a whisper. A twinge of regret came with it, regret of ever making name for herself in the world, of ever giving him a way to know she still existed.

“Over a decade has passed. Almost all of the students on this wall have come to visit me or have written me in some form or another. Most dedicated a race or a flight show to me for all my work with them. Every picture has a few students that still come by to wish me well. The far majority have become racers of great caliber, world renowned stunt ponies, or at the very least extremely accomplished fliers. They are my greatest gift to this city.” His voice was completely impassive, almost chillingly so. “That is, all except for the picture you stare at now. No student that attended Flight Camp with you has ever come back to see me. Actually, you are the first of that class to ever even step into my office again.”

“I-I don’t know what to say.”

“There isn’t anything to say. What is it that brings you here, Rainbow Dash?” Feather Guide removed the picture from the wall and took it over to his desk. “I doubt you’ve come to stare at old pictures with a coach whose class you dropped.”

“I didn’t drop it because I wanted to.” Some of her defiant nature returned her voice to her, though still somewhat quiet. “I-I did it to save the school’s reputation. And yours.”

“And you think I needed some filly to save my reputation? Maybe you should take another look at my wall and tell me what it was that your quitting did for me. You weren’t the only pegasus to leave that school that year.”

Looking beside where her class picture had been, the next year’s class had the name of a different flight camp; of a completely different school.

“But they said that-”

“No filly is going to save a coach’s career!” He interrupted sharply, “the only thing that can stop a coach from being a coach is that coach. You should have let me worry about myself.”

“But you can’t hold that against me, I didn’t know! I just did what they said would be best for everypony involved!” Rainbow Dash found herself pleading. She hadn’t wanted to, but she felt she owed him something, maybe some kind of explanation.

“And you decided that without bothering to ask anypony else! That’s what I hold against you, Fledgling. You just went ahead and did whatever it was that came to mind without asking anypony!” The coldness in his voice grew hot with anger as he continued. “There shouldn’t be a single pegasus that doesn’t know you as the champion of stunt ponies everywhere! You should be on top of the competition world! But now? Now you can barely scrounge entries into races or shows because you don’t have a single credential to your name.”

“But I’ve done so much since then! Okay, so I never got to be champion, but I’m going to be a Wonderbolt someday! I’ve never stopped training! And I’m still The Best Young Flier!”

“The Best Young Flier is a charity award! It comes with no money, no official access to other competitions, no challenge to the next great race! And worse still, you won it with a single well practiced, flashy move. How very convenient that the Princess ignored your poor performance on every other part of your obstacle course. The Rainbow Dash that attended my class was capable of much, much more.” Feather Guide sighed. He placed the picture face down on the desk, almost like he was in mourning.

“They call that sonic rainboom of yours my greatest success, you know that?! They found my name in old school records of yours and attributed your success to me because you weren’t around to accept it. As if I had anything to do with it at all! My real success stories; the names written across those pictures, all thrown away because of a single stunt!” All impassiveness was gone now, and he smashed his hoof against his desk so hard, Dash swore she heard the frame snap. “I heard it once said that a coach should not be judged by the trophies on his wall, but by what he molds with the potential at his hooves. If it is to believed then you, Rainbow Dash, are my greatest failure! You had so much potential! So much talent! And it’s being squandered outside Cloudsdale!”

“Wait, you think my talent is squandered?” Now her fur was bristled, “Everypony knows my name! I have done things no pegasus has ever done! I’ve stood up to Nightmare Moon, Dischord, Sombra, changelings, dragons, manticores, and so much more! I rescue ponies in trouble every other week! I’m a champion of Equestria, and you’re angry at me because I’m not a champion of a bunch of stupid races?!

“St-st-stupid races?!”

“And what about everypony else?” Dash continued, flying into a rage of her own, “You were being horrible to any pony that was having a hard time! You think that was inspiring?! You thought I would just let that happen? They were bullying weaker pegasi right under your muzzle, and you didn’t do a thing!”

“They weren’t ready for flight camp! Their parents should have known better! There was even a shy one who was scared to jump off and crash on clouds! Clouds!” Feather Guide entered the shouting match full throttle. “They needed to fail so they could learn. So they’d try harder the next year and come back all the better for it! Not everypony is ready to fly at the same age, and when they were ready, even that soft-spoken, shy pegasus could have flown with the best of us!

“And the bullying? Where were you on that?! Which part does that play in your grand scheme of flying lessons?”

“Foals will be foals. A flight coach teaches their fledglings how to fly. The rest is up to the fledgling.”

“Did you ever think answers like that might be the reason I didn’t bother coming to you? If a pony needs your help, you gotta help! It doesn’t matter if you’re not there for that expressed purpose!”

“A good flight coach does not have time to be looking after every personal problem of every pegasi in their class! You’d know all of this already, if only you didn’t perform that sonic rainboom.” He shook his head, sat back down heavily, and looked back down to the turned over picture.

“What? Now you’re going to blame my cutie mark?! That sonic rainboom was the best thing that ever happened to me!”

“It was the worst thing that ever happened to you. Without it you would never have won my class over. You would have learned from me instead of challenging me. You would have let the other foals learn from me, won contests, gained victories, had all the papers you’d need to join any competition you wanted.” Calmness had come back to him, that cold chill settled back into his tone, but now it floated over her ineffectively. The heat of her own anger warded away any fear he held over her.

“That sonic rainboom accomplished more than you could ever know! It gave me more than any competition could possibly give me, and has ended up teaching me more than you ever could. It tied all the elements of harmony together, started us all towards the lives we wanted for ourselves. And that ended up leading us to defend Equestria over and over again! I won’t hold it against you, because you didn’t know.” Dash took a threatening step forward as glared at her old coach with enough heat to make him take a step back, “But now that I’m telling you how important it was, I better not ever hear you say that again. I don’t want to hear it second hoof, or any other way, either. If I ever do, I’m going to pay you another visit, and it won’t end nearly as nice as this one will.”

“Fine.” He narrowed his eyes, “you obviously didn’t come here because you held any form of regret over your school days. What are you here for then? The sooner you’re out of my office, the better for both of us it seems.”

“I-“ Dash froze, the heat drained from her face. Anger had made her forget her reasons for coming and why she had feared him in the first place.

“I see.” Placing his hooves together in front of his muzzle and hiding his smirk, he sat calmly behind his desk. “Something to do with the Fledgling Flier Competition, is it? Are you that desperate to get into stunt shows? You’re a bit old to pretend to be a fledgling, Rainbow Dash. Surely you know I’m not about to bend age requirements for you.”

“I’m not here as a fledgling!” Unable to look him in the eye again, she grew interested in the left corner of his desk where there was nothing interesting going on. “I-I-I’m here as a coach.”

“By the heavens! No! Don’t tell me you’re coaching a team! Do not tell me you are passing on your lessons to another generation? Wasn’t ruining one enough for you?”

“Ruined?! Those foals were flying better under me than they were under you! Why did you think the school needed to save face to begin with? When I left, they were all working to towards their dreams!”

“Yes, and where are they now? Not one of those fledglings ever made the races. Not one. You left them stranded, Rainbow Dash. You took them away from me, and then left them all to flounder as you went off to nopony knows where. You built those foals up so much, and then let them all fall. You had a responsibility to them, and now, do you even know where a single one of them are?”

“Yes, I do in fact!”

“Well, good for you, because nopony else does. They all grew up to be nopony. Just factory workers and weather ponies, I suppose.”

“And an element of harmony. That shy one you mentioned earlier? Yeah. She’s one of my best friends. She’s the element of kindness, and it was her that reformed Discord, himself! As for the rest, they didn’t want to be racers! All you seem concerned with is teaching a pegasus how to fly, but there’s a lot more to pegasi than a pair of wings. If you bothered to teach them on a one-to-one basis, you’d have seen that. I taught them to fly in ways that would actually help them get to where they wanted to go in life. You can’t just measure a pegasus by how good they are at competitions! My fledglings learned how to fly, both with wings and without. The pegasi you say became nobodies became friends, parents, and family. They’re all following their hearts, and they are important, just not to the races!”

 “For the last time. What is it you want from me?” He was done with the shouting. His words came out quiet now, and sounding very tired.

“I just learned about this whole sponsor deal. My team has none, and I need you to –“

“No.”

“What? But I didn’t even fini-“

“You don’t need to. I knew what you wanted from the word ‘sponsor’, and the answer is no. I will not waive the fee so you can inspire more students into following fantasies. I hate to do this to your current fledglings, I’m sure they trained very hard to come here along with you. I’ll keep an eye on them, offer them a new coach to train under; one that will actually care about training them for races, and not following flights of fancy and pipe dreams. It’s a shame they won’t be able to participate this year, but if stopping you from polluting more minds means they have to take the test individually, it will be better for them in the long run.”

“You can’t do this!”

“I can and I have. Good day Rainbow Dash, I don’t expect to see you in my office again.”
 

******

 
Twilight Sparkle trotted happily through the familiar ivory white, stone halls. The only stone above the clouds, held there magically by a great feat of magic that had occurred during Cloudsdale’s founding days.  Her friends were going to be putting on a play whose source was one of her favourite books from her youth, ‘The Flight of Philomena’. The team would be showing the world ‘their stuff’ as Rainbow Dash would put it. Pinkie was actually keeping true to her word, and hadn’t bothered a single guard or diplomat the whole way in. Her dependable assistant was probably going to be the first dragon to ever take part in Equestrian games. And her new assistant was at home taking care of the library.

Her trot slowed at the mental image that came with that. Snails running the library alone? There wasn’t any choice, but Twilight couldn’t help but wince at the mess she might be coming home to. Mostly she just hoped he didn’t let swarms of bugs in because they wanted to play or something. Or worst yet, there were quite a few species of bugs that were known to eat books!

Her slow trot turned into a walk of dread as she imagined swarms of the small creatures digging into her precious books, and Snails standing by dressed as a waiter and offering more on a silver platter. Suddenly lost in her visions of terror, she bumped face first into the large double doors that lead to the throne room. Pinkie stared at her, confused, while the guards, standing on either side of the great entrance, directed their eyes down the hallway in attempt to avoid looking at Twilight. Their usual tactic used when they were trying not to laugh at something.

“Hey! You said no wacky stuff!” Pinkie whispered, annoyed. “Unless- Huuuu, you made me promise not to be wacky so I wouldn’t show you up! Are you moving in on my turf, Sister?!”

“Wha-? No! Pinkie, it was an accident. Really. Trust me I don’t want to be anywhere near your turf. So please, don’t make a scene.” Twilight tried to hide her blush while attempting to calm her friend’s suspicions.

“Allllriiiight, but I’m watching you.” Pinkie pointed a hoof at her own eyes than at Twilight’s and backed off slowly, carefully watching Twilight’s every move. Twilight swore she heard a muffled snort from one of the nearby guards.

She threw a glare at them as she pushed past one of the doors, hoping to regain at least some amount of dignity. The guards straightened up further, staring far too hard at an empty hallway.

“Princess?” Twilight called out, seeing the throne empty, she glanced around quickly, uncertain if she had the right time for her appointment, but then, the guards did let her in, they normally would have at least asked her business if it wasn’t her time yet. She decided to try again, “you wanted to see me?”

“Twilight! Oh and Pinkie, Darling! Do come in! We’ve been expecting you!”

Well that most certainly wasn’t Princess Celestia, but it was a voice she was very familiar with. She smiled looking over to the side where a pristine white unicorn was adorning one of the pillars with a large purple fabric tied up in a bow.

“Rarity!” Pinkie and Twilight laughed together, running over to wrap their friend in a hug, “it feels like it’s been forever since I saw you last!”

“A forever-ever! With a whole other ever!”

“I know, Darlings, I know.” Returning the hug, Rarity nuzzled against them before letting go. “It’s good to see you both again! “

“What are you doing here?” Twilight asked, still stunned in a happy surprise.

“I came with the Princess! Oh Twilight, you should have seen it! I had a royal escort the whole way! It was just so exciting! And of course, I came for the Fledgling Qualifiers. They offered me a chariot ride right to the Royal Residence, so I wouldn’t have to walk on the clouds, you understand. It’s a little less exciting than our last visit, having to remain inside until the games. I suppose I could have brought those old shoes from a couple seasons ago, but I would feel just awful about wearing them in the presence of royalty. Besides, when considering the locale I certainly can’t complain now, can I?”

“Shoes? What sho-”

 “Ooooooh myyyyy gosh! Spike’ll be jumping up and down! And Rainbow Dash, too! Wait! With me and Rarity here, we have a full-fledged cheer squad!” Twilight was quickly drowned out by Pinkie’s happy squeal as she grabbed Rarity’s hooves and began pulling her towards an emptier space in the throne room, “we would be so awesome together! Come on, we’ll need to start practicing right away!”

“Oh, but I can’t, Pinkie!

“What? Y-you can’t? W-w-why not?” Rarity was face to face with a huge pair of eyes with tears dotting their edge, and a large, quivering bottom lip.

“I’m sorry Pinkie Pie, but I simply must refuse. And we can’t tell the team I’m here. Spike might be excited to see me for now, but come time for the show he’d be so stressed about doing well for me I’m worried it might affect his performance.” Quickly responding to Pinkie’s dramatics, she put a hoof to her forehead, as if mourning what could have been, “I could not bear to have that on my conscience. No, it is better that I remain in the shadows of the balcony at Princess Celestia’s side.”

“That’s actually not a bad idea. He was pretty nervous when we left him,” Twilight said, nodding her agreement. “It’s also wonderful to see you’re getting along so well with Princess Celestia, but where is she? I did have an appointment to keep.”

“I’m afraid she’s in the middle of meeting with a pegasus committee of some sort. It’s running late, I fear. She did want to be here for when you arrived. While we’re waiting, would you like to see the banner I came up with for the team?” She didn’t wait for the expected reply, giving away the excitement that was brimming beneath her features, and quickly began to lead her friends down a hall to a large room.

“Absolutely! Can I carry it out on the field? I’d like to do a one-pony marching band thing, and stick it in the ground. Oooh! Or maybe I can sky dive in and use it as a parachute! Oh-oh-oh! Or maybe I can set off a whole bunch of party cannons at once, have a stage rising out of the clouds, while belting out a classic heavy metal guitar riff, with blazing fireworks shooting out all around me!”

“Um, well, I’m sure at least one of those options will work!” Rarity tried, not at all sure what the random pony had in mind, “How about I just show you, and then you think of something?”

At that Rarity pushed open a large pair of double doors. The display inside took Twilight’s and Pinkie’s breath away. It was laughable to think the fashionista would not go all out for her friends, but even for the element of generosity this was going overboard. The huge banner held up by two wooden poles spread across the entirety of the room. Written on the top corner in slanted gradient of a rainbow was the name ‘Captain Dash’ in large, flowing, script. Below it in smaller script it read ‘and the’ followed by very large, bold gothic print, ‘Skyblazer Crusaders’ ran across the remaining length in faded orange with green outline. Small cyan, purple, and orange silhouettes of each team member were trailing away from the different words: Dash from her own name, of course, Spike from ‘Skyblazer’, and Scootaloo from ‘Crusaders’. The three met together in a ‘V’ formation that was looping back over the letters.

It was quite the sight on its own, but behind it, lined along the far wall, were hundreds of pennants with similar designs, and many that focused on a single team member each in turn. Further still there were uniforms designed for both Pinkie Pie and Twilight, hats and shirts hanging neatly off to the side. The most impressive of it all sat in the middle of the room on a block, lights shone down upon it, reflecting off its intricate sections and surfaces; a huge set of dragon-shaped armour. It was a mass of blackened metal plates layered with tiny, dangerous spikes that looked ominous amidst the colourful flags, pennants, and banners.

“Well go on, tell me what everypony thinks? I haven’t had the chance to design for metal work before, and I have an important order to fill coming up concerning it, and I think it made wonderful practice. I believe the banners turned out quite masterful, even if I do say so myself. I’m not used to making anypony look frightening though; oh I do hope it came out alright.”

“It’s amazing Rarity! It really is! How did you come up with all this? I’m pretty sure all Dash asked for was the banner.” Twilight walked around, admiring the designs along the plates, while Pinkie Pie stared up at the wall of pennants with silent awe in her eyes.

“Yes, well, she isn’t used to selling herself. If you’re looking to put on a grand show of things, advertising is an absolute must! I did what I could with my limited resources. If Pinkie can distribute them somehow before the show, I think it will do wonders for when the actual event takes place a few weeks from now.”

“Don’t worry about that, I have just the thing!” Pinkie grinned widely, a cascade of ideas formulating in mind.

“Then I will leave it in your capable hooves, Darling.”

“Ah, here you all are,” came a motherly voice that stopped any further conversation as a tall, pristine white alicorn stepped into the room.

“Princess!” Twilight exclaimed, wheeling around in surprise. The three ponies bowed before her respectfully.

“My little ponies, I was wondering where you had gotten to.” She nodded slightly in thanks, a gesture to stand. “The guards said you had already entered the throne room.”

“Yes, Princess, Rarity was just showing us her work.” Twilight gestured to the room, stating the obvious. “I’m sorry. We should have waited for your return in the throne room.

“It’s quite alright. I was the one late, and I admit your friend Rarity’s work is often far too tempting to not see after offered the chance to do so.” Princess Celestia smiled at the now blushing unicorn.

“You are far too kind, Princess,” Rarity gushed, “It was a pleasure to work on it all, and I only hope they can serve their purposes well.”

“I’m certain they will, however I’m afraid I must take Twilight Sparkle from your reunion for a time. There is an important matter we must discuss.”

“Of course, Your Highness.” Again Pinkie and Rarity bowed as the Princess and her student left the room.

They walked on down the hallway back towards the throne room until the Princess was certain they were out of earshot.

“I apologize again for being late to our appointment, Twilight Sparkle. The Pegasi Competition Committee had kept me longer than I thought necessary. I fear they have mistakenly taken my presence at the Qualifiers to mean that only quality flight shows should be put on, and their mistakes may have put your team in quite the dilemma.”

“Oh no! What happened?”

“It will make itself clear to you shortly, I’m sure. I will not be able to help as I would like to, I’m afraid royalty has interfered with our ponies far too often as of late. Especially when concerning the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Princess Cadence’s common visits to Rarity’s boutique have not gone unnoticed, and many begin to whisper about favouritism. You will have to resolve this coming issue on your own. I have faith that you and your friends can.” Closing her eyes and shaking her head, Celestia sighed. She warned Cadence about this. Interfering too much in the common life always had this effect. Giving Rairty’s business the prestige of a stream of royal sales brought around a number of disturbing complaints. Now her hooves were tied even though there was a more appropriate use for interference that concerned fairness to all ponies.

“I see. Thank you Princess, I’ll let the others know.”

“Very good. Now, to the matter of your new assistant, I wanted to ask you about his progress.”

“Yes!” Twilight said a little too loudly, reminded of her purpose here. She forced her voice down to quieter levels as she continued, “Yes, I mean, I was so surprised by his potential! I take it you read my latest report?”

“I did, and to be honest, it brought me some concerns.”

“Concerns, Princess?”

“Indeed. I selected Spike as your assistant after much deliberation and training before hoof, Twilight Sparkle. The potential for magic or organizing book shelves are not the prime considerations that need to be taken into account.” Princess Celestia’s voice grew stern and very serious. “Being my personal student, I come to you with often dangerous issues that cannot be spread to the general populace. Your assistant comes with many of the same responsibilities you have, you must be sure any assistant you take on can be entrusted with the fate of Equestria. Knowing this, can you truly vouch for this, Snails?”

“I-I don’t know?” She answered honestly. Snails was just on a trial basis as her assistant, and she had forgotten that in her surprise at his display of power. She’d written to Princess Celestia about him immediately afterwards. “I hadn’t fully considered that part when writing my report.”

“Then his trustworthiness needs to be tested soon. I understand his potential may be great but there are other places he can learn magic if that’s the case. With your recommendation in hoof, he would likely be able to enter whichever magic academy you wish him to. As an assistant, he will become your personal student as you are mine, even if you don’t mean him to be. In fact, I believe the term apprentice might be more suited to what he would be to you.”

“An apprentice!” Twilight repeated the word, a little nervous, and a little excited at the prospect of a student of her own. The idea that her position was so important that the position under her held just such a large degree of importance to Equestria was also something she hadn’t taken into consideration. It was something she would see to though. “I’ll look into it immediately after I arrive home. However, about my questions?”

“Yes, the magical ability without the knowledge behind it. It’s not unheard of Twilight, though it’s been an age since the last so gifted.” She said the last word with a bit of hesitation. It didn’t have quite the meaning she was looking to convey. “It’s a case of the magical equivalent of what some would call ‘savant syndrome’. Though, unlike in their case, the source is more a matter of faith than anything to do with mental capacity.”

“Faith, Princess?”

“You have studied magic since you could read, Twilight Sparkle. You know better than any what it takes to learn a spell. Please, describe it for me.”

“Okay, well, first I have to study the aspects of a spell. I have to know how it works. That’s the most important part, and what takes the longest. I have to know everything right down to its mix of elements, the math, and the amount of magic necessary to make it all happen. Once I understand that, it takes a lot of practice to make sure all the science and elements weave together at the right times to make the spell effective. Obviously, this isn’t what Snails is doing, so I believe it has more to do with a unicorn’s innate spell casting.”

“No, Twilight. As I’m sure you’re aware, innate magic is something that occurs due to the unicorn’s attunement to an action or object. What you described in your letters, his powerful use of telekinesis, is not very attuned to the snail he bears on his flank.”

“I know, and that’s why I’m so confused!”

“The answer is actually closer to your first description. The true reason you can learn spells through that method is belief. All your studying, all your math, insight, practice, and talent reinforces your ability to believe you can materialize the magic you wish. Your assistant, Snails, does not have the cognitive capability that you do. He is used to not thinking about why he can or can’t do something, he’s simply told so, and he takes it on faith that it’s true. This is not true of most ponies. Any pony would normally ask ‘why can’t I?’ Then they would come up with a satisfactory reason they cannot-”

“-Where Snails never takes that moment to question it! It just either works or it doesn’t!”

“Exactly, the powerful display you bore witness to was not one of magic, but one of faith. It will take a very different method of teaching than you are used to if you do decide to train him. It will be a matter of removing false barriers he has built up, rather than providing scientific resources that allow him to increase his ability. Concentration will be his biggest concern, and possibly his greatest obstacle.”

Twilight sighed. She was afraid of that. Concentration was what he lacked most. Inside the library it was at least possible, if difficult, but outside its confines it was almost always a mess. Even spotting a mayfly would cancel larger forms of magic almost instantly! “That won’t be easy. Bugs are everywhere, and his attention span is short even when they’re not. He might as well not even be able to do magic outside of sterile environments! Well, unless it has to do with bugs.”

“It will be a challenge, and even if you do not take him on as your apprentice, as long as he remains in Ponyville, I would request you look after him. Such powerful faith could cause as much trouble as it could do good, and his new role as diplomat with the insects of the region could spell disaster as much as it can reward.”

“Don’t worry Princess. I’ll keep a close eye on him.”

“LET GO!” A familiar shout interrupted further conversation, followed by a loud banging against the throne room door.

“I believe that is the trouble I warned you of earlier.” Princess Celestia paused, and looked back towards the hall that would lead to her royal chambers. “It would be best if I took my leave and let you contend with it, Twilight. My presence will only complicate matters.”

“Alright, Princess,” Twilight bowed as Princess Celestia quickly left just as the doors flew open with a resounding crash. And there an angry pegasus hovered in the entrance, two guards hung off her back legs with an exhausted grip, their eyes wide with surprise as the deceptively strong pegasus struggled to fly her way inside.

“Rainbow Dash?! Stop that this instant!” Twilight shouted, aghast at her friend’s actions.

“Hey! Don’t look at me! They’re the ones that didn’t open the door!” Dash gestured to the terrified guards latched to her legs.

“Dash! You can’t just barge into the throne room without an appointment!” Twilight turned her attention to the poor guards and smiled sheepishly, “Please, release her. I’ll make sure she behaves.”

The guards glanced at each other before agreeing silently and letting her go, though neither was sure if they were releasing her or she them. They didn’t stick around to debate the matter, and quickly headed back out to close what was left of the doors.

“Well, that was entertaining.” Dash smirked with a cocky grin before it turned sour after looking around. “Hey, where’s the Princess? I need to talk to her.”

“She heard you were coming and left, and considering what you did to get in here, you better be glad she did! I’m pretty sure breaking into the throne room constitutes as a pretty hefty crime! What were you thinking?! Whatever it was, is it worth being banished to the moon over?!”

Dash paused in her search for Princess Celestia, staring Twilight, only just then realizing what a bone-headed idea that had been. “D-do you think they’re going to arrest me?”

“No, but only because I’m here instead of the Princess. Now, get down and tell me what this was all about!”

“Sorry about that, Twilight. I was seeing nothing but red for a bit there.” Dash hovered down to land gently beside her.

“Twilight? Is everything alright in here?” Rarity asked in concern as she cautiously entered the room, Pinkie not far behind.

“It’s fine,” Twilight assured, before treating Dash with a glare, “Rainbow Dash was just knocking a little too loud.”

The pegasus in question started whistling out of tune what she hoped was an innocent-sounding melody. She paused mid-note to blink as her friends trotted over to join them. “Wait, what is Rarity doing here?”

“Unlike somepony, Rarity was actually invited.” Twilight wasn’t done glaring, and didn’t feel that a half whistled tune was apology enough. She should have at least had enough decency to look guilty. “You’ll have to save your greetings for later, Rarity. Dash was about to explain why she felt the need to single-hoofedly break into a throne room.”

“Right! Yeah, I kinda, sorta, need 10,000 bits,” she said reluctantly, scratching the back of her head.

“You broke into the Cloudsdale Royal Residence looking for money?!” Twilight found herself struggling to breathe.

“Twilight! Calm down, Darling. Here, have a seat before you hurt yourself.” Taking the distraught unicorn over to sit down on the stairs leading up to the throne, Rarity gestured for Dash to continue. “Well go on, Dear, what do you need it for?”

“It’s to register a team! We apparently need a sponsor or something. It’s something new they just put in this year because the Princess is attending! I flew here as quick as I could to ask her to waive the fee or something. After all, Spike’s the whole reason she’s attending as far as I know, and if our team doesn’t get in, his show’s gonna be cancelled!” Frowning at the crack that now ran down one of the large double doors she added, “I can work off the repairs for that.”

“Maybe after a couple years of hard labour,” Twilight muttered inaudibly, shaking her head. Out loud she said, “Princess Celestia can’t help. She just got back from a meeting with the Pegasi Competition Committee, and she said it’s gone beyond her control due to previous grievances expressed at royal interference as of late.”

 “I was afraid of this.” Rarity couldn’t help the knowing sigh that escaped her lips nor the frown that appeared on her brow. “That would be partially my fault, I’m afraid. Perhaps I can help. I do have enough bits to spare, and I’d gladly sponsor your team, Rainbow Dash.”

“That. Is. GREAT!” She cheered, rushing over to grab Rarity and fly her up in the air in a twirling hug, “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! We’ll need it by tomorrow morning. That’s the absolute latest it can be in by.”

“What?! But Darling! I don’t have it on me! I would need to get it delivered from Canterlot! There’s no way it could be here by tomorrow! Why, it would take a week at least!”

Rainbow’s ears drooped, and her stomach almost turned over. Landing slowly back on the stone floor, and letting Rarity go, she sat down, beginning to realize all their effort might have been for nothing. To get so far, only for it all to come crumbling down now? How was she going to deliver the news to Scootaloo and Spike? They’d be devastated! She couldn’t stop the tears starting to well up in her eyes. “W-w-what else can I do? Where else can I go?”

Twilight and Rarity looked at each other. There was nothing they could say, or do. No thoughts were forthcoming. 10,000 bits in a single night? In a city where they didn’t know anypony?

“Just show up at the stadium, duh.” Pinkie rolled her eyes, not really catching the gloomy mood that had fallen over the other three.

“Pinkie,” Twilight tried to explain, “if we can’t get the team registered, we can’t use the stadium. It would be pointless to go.”

“But there’s still a chance to get registered if we do show up, right? If we don’t show up, there’s no chance at all! So we wait there until the opportunity presents itself, and BAM! Our team gets to play!”

“I don’t think that’s going to work, Pinkie.”

“Do you know it’s not going to work?” Twilight’s vision was suddenly filled with pink, and a pair of big, blue eyes.

“Well, no but-“

“-Alright then! Everypony, saddle up! Rarity brought a lot of stuff here, and we’ll need everypony to get it to the stadium!”

 “Huh?” The other two ponies joined Twilight in her confusion, too stunned to follow Pinkie’s logic as she started gathering saddlebags to put the air show paraphernalia in.

“Aw, come on guys, it’s simple! We’re the heroes, and heroes don’t give up until the very last second, and in that last second that’s when something great happens!”

“Pinkie, things don’t actually work like that,” Twilight answered carefully, trying to figure out how to word this so as not to leave her friend upset.

“Sure they do! It happens all the time! The villain waits for heroes to figure out his plans so they can beat them, or things we need are always close by just when we need them. Levers on train brakes never work in an emergency and are always brittle and break super easy. And heroes think all hope is gone when it’s really not, but they keep on trying until they save the day in the nick of time! It’s all in the rules of physics!”

“Rules? It’s laws of physics, Pinkie, and those aren’t them! They’re just common aspects in story-telling. It’s not like real train brakes actually snap that easily. ”

“You can only say that because your tail doesn’t twirl up like a corkscrew every time it happens!”

“You can’t have a Pinkie sense for train brakes breaking!” Twilight looked to the others for help, at a loss on how to explain how life differed from story books, only to see Rainbow Dash getting her saddle bags on. “Dash! You don’t really believe this, do you?”

“I don’t know what to believe one way or the other Twilight, but we didn’t come this far just to give up. Pinkie’s right about one thing at least. Even if there is the smallest chance of this working, I want to try. Nopony can call my team quitters. I don’t care if we have to do our show in the street; ponies are going to see it tomorrow.”

“A street performance? What a perfectly spectacular idea!  Oh, but it will require a whole different type of set up.” Rarity’s mind was already spinning into action, taking into account the usual Cloudsdale splendor and decorum, and what she could add to spice it up. She smiled as an image began to take form. “There is a lot we have to do to be ready for tomorrow. Rainbow Dash, could you take a quick trip to where Spike and Scootaloo are staying? I’m certain we’ll need all the help we can get to be ready on time.”

“I’m on it!” With a quick salute, Dash was off.

“Well, come on girls! We’ll have to hurry!” Already on the move down the hallway, inspiration had taken hold and as usual, Rarity had every intention of following where it would lead.

“Right! We’re gonna win first place for sure!” Pinkie cheered and bounced down the hall after Rarity with Twilight trailing behind

“A street performance still won’t get them in the competition, Pinkie,” she corrected with a sigh, “pegasi might see the show, but they’ll still forfeit the qualifiers.”

“Nope!” She paused, and smiled back, “We’ll definitely be in the qualifiers! Just wait and see!”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Easy,” Pinkie laughed, “I already read part 2!”
 

******

 
(“Anybody else feeling a draft in here?” Shokinaw looked around and noticed a Pinkie Pie-shaped hole in his fourth wall and all his notes lying in a mess on the floor behind him. “Okay. Well then. I’m gonna need more asterisks.”)


*****************************************************************************************

 
“Do you mind not gawking like country bumpkins? Really, Ponyville has enough of a reputation problem in big cities without our competitors standing around like tourists.”

That voice! That all-too-familiar, condescending, high-pitched, whiny, narcissistic voice! Scootaloo’s ears drooped as far down as they could go, her shoulders hunched on their own, and a grimace replaced the excitement she had been feeling. They had just finished their tour of the large hotel, down its grand hallways and reading its murals and tapestries. In spite of having been waiting for so long, it felt like a good day. But even the idea that that pony continued to exist could wipe away all thoughts of a good evening. She couldn’t bring herself to turn around to face the speaker. It just couldn’t be her. She was an earth pony! It was the one thing Scootaloo was sure she wouldn’t have to worry about dealing with in Cloudsdale! It just wasn’t possible for Diamond Tiara to be here!

“Diamond Tiara?” Spike turned around, giving voice to Scootaloo’s thoughts, and confirming her fears. “What are you doing here? Better yet, how are you here?”

“Don’t you even know that much?” Hearing Silver Spoon’s voice added to the conversation grated Scootaloo’s nerves further. “How far behind the times can you possibly be?”

“Best we educate them.” Tiara held up a hoof a little too close to Spike’s snout for his liking. It bore a silvery sparkling shoe, tiny wings flapped magically at the ankle, seemingly more for decoration than anything else. “This is called a cloudtreader. They became all the rage two seasons ago. Some pegasi apparently saw a bunch of unicorns and earth poinies walking around up here and took the idea to an enchanter. After a bit of marketing, any pony whose anypony had to have them. They’re a tad old fashioned now. I thought they’d just sit in my closet collecting dust, but considering the occasion I thought it worth a fashion faux paus.”

“Such a shame they fell out of style too, I always found they matched my colour so well,” Silver Spoon added, admiring the shimmering, slender shoe on her own hooves.

“As for what I’m doing here; Daddy had to come on business and I came with him to look after my investment and to do some damage control after your show.”

“Damage control? What do you mean by that?” Spike walked right into this one. It was a facehoof moment, and Scootaloo could feel her skin crawl as she imagined Diamond Tiara’s smirk in her direction.

“Obviously somepony needs to save Ponyville’s reputation after Scootaloo makes a fool of herself and messes things up for Rainbow Dash.”

“Scootaloo? Mess up? Well, she might struggle a bit on the gliding parts, but all in all you’d have more to worry about me messing up than her.” Interest perked up Tiara’s features at that new tidbit of information. Spike continued, oblivious to her suddenly renewed attention. “Wait until you see her on that board of hers. She’s really going to blow the competition away!”

“Shhh! Spike!” Scootaloo whispered in a harsh tone, whipping around to plant both her hooves over his mouth. “You’re not supposed to talk about anything in the show where ponies could hear! Remember what Captain said!”

“Oh, don’t worry. I already know all about your surf board thing.” Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes and flicked her hoof dismissively. “Besides, you’d have to be blind not to notice it strapped to your back like that. Tying a bunch of sheets to it doesn’t exactly make it any less conspicuous. Now don’t interrupt, the adults are talking. You were mentioning her gliding?”

“No, he wasn’t!” Scootaloo placed herself between the two. “Don’t you have anypony else to bother? We’re waiting to book our room for the night.”

“Leaving things until last minute, are we? Well, that doesn’t surprise me. In fact, it was so predictable that I already seen to it when I arrived. Here are the room keys, at least attempt to apply some amount of forethought for now on. You are going to be my lifetime employee soon.”

“No thank you! We’ll get our own!”

“If you insist, but it might be difficult. Most of the other competitors are here already. This is the last hotel reserved for them, and it’s already booked full. They won’t even consider you unless you have an approved registration. You don’t have your registration, right? I checked up on the list of applications, your names weren’t there. You could wait here in the lobby all night long hoping somepony doesn’t show up, but I wouldn’t count on it.”

“Rainbow Dash is still getting our registration.” Spike grimaced, watching as the crowd of ponies continued to mingle around in the lobby, sneaking glances in his direction. He could hear them asking hotel employees about the ‘show’ and when it would start, thinking he was some form of event the hotel was putting on for the games. “Can we take her up on it, Scoot? I really would like to get out of public eye at some point today.”

“Fine.” Scootaloo gave a heavy sigh. “What’s the catch?”

“Oh, no catch. The less time you spend in public, the more Ponyville saves face. You’d be doing me a favour. Just go hide in your room and at least try not to look so much like a tourist. I mean, really, anypony would think this is the first time you’ve been to Cloudsdale with the gawking you keep doing.”

Glaring, Scootaloo snatched the keys Diamond Tiara offered, trying to disguise her embarrassment with anger. It wasn’t even their first time in Cloudsdale? Earth ponies frequented the capital pegasi city more than she did? That just wasn’t fair! She turned to leave, looking to retreat from the scathing smirk Diamond Tiara was giving her.

“But, it is our first time in Cloudsdale.”

Scootaloo wasn’t sure, but she thought she felt her own neck turn 180 degrees to stare at Spike. He did not just say that.

One look at the two earth ponies told her she wasn’t hearing things. They were trying everything they could to hold in the taunting laugh that threatened to spill out. What was worse, it wasn’t just mirth she seen in Tiara’s eyes, it was almost a sense of pity? Scootaloo felt her tail crawl between her legs. She felt mortified, completely and utterly humiliated. Spike hadn’t looked back to her yet, and he mercilessly continued.

“You can’t really blame her for being impressed, I mean, the place is so immense it’s kind of staggering. I’ve never seen anything this size since I was living back in Canterlot Castle. Well, I guess the Crystal Kingdom’s castle is bigger than anything they have around here too, but none of that is made out of clouds.”

Suddenly the taunting fits of laughter turned to choking surprise. Living in Canterlot Castle?

“I think Twilight was right about this. Picking a hotel looks like it’ll be way better than staying at the royal residence, I mean. They always kind of look the same. Princess Celestia has a distinct design she likes wherever she goes. Honestly, it can get kind of old. This place comes with a sense of adventure from just walking through it.”

“Royal Residences all looks the same?” Silver Spoon repeated, uncertain she heard what she thought she heard.

“Oh yeah, if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all,” he said with a quick nod then gestured to the grand halls around him, “but this, this is stunning.”

“So, you were a live-in assistant in Canterlot castle?” Tiara tried to confirm. He was working for Princess Celestia’s personal student. It would make sense that the Princess would send an accomplished royal assistant with her when she came to Ponyville.

“Oh, so you don’t know everything.” Scootaloo smiled, feeling some confidence return to her. Crossing her legs, she leaned over on Spike casually, “Spike, here, was raised in the castle. He’s just, you know, Princess Celestia’s adopted son.”

“What?!” The two uppity ponies cried out together. Her mind racing to find some way to reject the idea, Diamond Tiara stuttered out quickly, “B-b-but, I looked into your team’s background! There’s no papers, no certificates, no sign of anything of the sort!”

“Well, no. There wouldn’t be.” Spike frowned, “I am a dragon, and there isn’t a whole lot of protocol to bring dragons into pony society. Probably won’t be any time soon, since I’m the only one in Equestria that would pay attention to things like that. I mean, like you said, there’s no bureaucracy on me at all. I’d bet anypony looking into it would have no idea where I came from.”

“Then you really were raised by-” Tiara had to swallow as colour drained from her cheeks, “-by Princess Celestia?”

“Sure, but it’s no big deal, really.”

“Not a big deal?! You’re technically a prince!” Silver Spoon exclaimed, and the ponies that were lingering around to see the strange sight of a dragon up close began to grow as interested in the conversation as they were in the dragon. Low whispers and gasps filled the hall.

“No! No, you got it all wrong. She raised me, but I’m not royalty or anything like that. Can you imagine how much trouble that would cause? As far as the royal line is concerned, I’m more like a curiosity the Princess took in.”

“But she considers you like a son? And she sent you to Ponyville?” Still trying to clarify the situation as she watched her investments suddenly dive into a sink hole, Diamond Tiara was beginning to feel faint. So much time and effort were put into making certain Scootaloo would be under her employ by the beginning of autumn, and now it was starting to look like it had been for nothing.

“Yeah, Twilight and I have been close ever since she hatched me, so I volunteered to move here with her. We still write to each other a lot though. I kind of have to, if I didn’t, she’d probably drag me home by the ear for visits.”

“Then our bet… it was just a ruse! That’s why you’ve always been so sure you were going to win first place! Because The Princess could just come in and declare your team the winner!” Her eyes went wide as she stared at Scootaloo, and she was forced to sit down, her head was spinning. Was this really planned from the start? Had Scootaloo actually managed to pull one over on her?

“Wha-? Hey! No way! We can win this thing by ourselves!” The accusation really hit home for her. Scootaloo hadn’t even considered the idea the Princess could just play favourites and let them win. “Spike, she wouldn’t do that right?”

“Nah, you won’t have to worry about that. The judges wouldn’t know about me anymore than Diamond Tiara did, and the Princess would never interfere with a contest.”

“Except when she did at the Best Young Fliers Competition, you mean.” Silver Spoon was quick to point out. Spike just rolled his eyes.

“Okay, maybe on the off chance that our team performs a miraculous stunt that nopony’s seen for a hundred years, and we use it to save Rarity and the Wonderbolts from falling to their doom, she might step in and declare us the winners. I will point out that if any other team did that, she probably would step in and name them the winners too. In fact, you can probably consider that a clause in ways to achieve victory. ‘Miracle moves that save other ponies lives are grounds for immediate victory over other contestants.’”

“But barring that,” Tiara said as she began to calm down, “it will be the judges scoring, and the judges don’t know about your ‘relation’?”

“I don’t think they even know why she’s coming to the qualifiers,” he confirmed.

“Coming through!” The warning came fast, cutting off any further conversation as a blasting streak of colours skidded to an easy stop next to the fledglings. “Hey Fledglings, we got work to do.”

The command was brief, and vague, but that’s what Spike and Scootaloo had grown accustomed to. They both saluted quickly before she had even come to a stop. All around the pegasi were cheering and stomping their hooves in applause. Rainbow Dash had no time to greet the masses. Her one track mind was focused on dealing with something far more important than fans just then.

“Captain! Do you have our registration?” Spike asked quickly, “how did everything go?”

“It didn’t.” Dash sighed, she was hoping she could answer this on the way, but then it occurred to her that she should probably ask them first, Captain or not. “They’re not letting anypony enter the competition without a 10,000 bit entry fee because the Princess is going to be there. Basically, we can’t get in without a sponsor.”

“What?! Do we have a sponsor?”

“No, and before you ask, Spike, Princess Celestia already said she couldn’t sponsor us. We’ll have to find our own.”

“In less then a day? Are you kidding?” His shoulders slumped.

“So, let me get this straight, the Princess is going to be there because of the dragon,” Silver Spoon butted in, fighting to hold back the snickering that threatened to take over, “but because she’s there, the dragon won’t be able enter the qualifiers?”

The two childhood friends looked at each other, both struggling to keep from cracking up over the predicament. The flight team all took on sour looks, turning to glare at them. It was just too much, one tiny spurt of a giggle slipped past Tiara’s lips, and soon both were howling in gales of laughter, completely unable to stop, tears streaming from their eyes as they fought for breath.

After starting a team late in the year with a flightless pegasus, a hopeless dragon, and a flight school drop-out of a coach, anypony could have said it was a safe bet. Against all odds, however, they managed to learn to fly and figure out how to put a semblance of a show a show together. And after all that, it was going to be their greatest advantage that would end up stopping their team from being able to enter the qualifiers? Diamond Tiara was trying to stop the fits of laughter, not because of any sympathy for the team, but because it would simply be undignified to be caught in such a state. She was suddenly assisted in her efforts when she looked up to see the rage playing in Dash’s eyes.

“Yeah, real funny! Laugh it up!” Rainbow Dash took a step forward, forcing both ponies to slide backwards to avoid being stepped on, “but let me clear something up for you two. These fledglings behind me? They already proved that either one of them have more heart than the two of you combined!

“They struggled. They fought. They pushed themselves over obstacles and adversities which you two would have taken one look at before running away with your tails between your legs!” With each point she made, Dash took a step forward and then again, leaving them sliding back further and further until the two ponies were left with their backs pressed against the wall.

“I’ve seen them walk away from and laugh off injuries that would have left you both in traction for a month! This whole sponsor thing? It’s just one more hurdle among many; one small setback on top of a pile as high as the clouds that they overcame to make here. Tomorrow, everypony in Cloudsdale will know our names, even if we have to take our show to the street to do it! Because even if Scootaloo doesn’t win your stupid little bet, even if she doesn’t make it into the games, she’ll know she deserved to. And because of how much she put into all this, all the risks she took to get here, she’ll know that even her failures will be worth more than all your safe little victories put together! And the same goes for every fledgling here like her! And no condescending, money-grubbing, flank-kissing sponsor will ever be able to take that away from them!”

The entire lobby was stunned into silence. Forgotten was the dragon that stood off to the side of the growing development. No pony batted an eye at the pegasus at his side with the strange luggage strapped to her back. The Best Young Flier bawling out the young earth ponies had taken everypony’s attention.

When she turned and walked back to her team, there was a single stomp; followed by another, and then another until the entire room was cheering and stomping in applause. Her ears straightened up, and Rainbow Dash looked around. It was the coaches, the captains, the fledglings that were showing their support. Then she wondered, how many? How many more teams were caught in their situation? How many more flight teams met their end at the point of a quill at this competition? How many hearts were left broken because they couldn’t hoof over a pile of bits? How many more would want a chance to show what they had?

Rainbow Dash smiled.

“Tomorrow, before the competition, our team is setting up a street performance! Teams like ours that never managed to scrape the bits together to get into the main show, I’m inviting you to join us. But in order to be ready on time we’ll need everypony to lend a hoof! My team is heading over to the coliseum now. Spread the word, come set up, and tomorrow, let’s give Cloudsdale a pre-show like it has never been seen before!”

Her call out to the crowd was answered with a tremendous amount of applause, hoots, and hollers. Pegasi gathered around her, tossing out ideas, sharing concerns, and pleas to volunteer or join. Like a low rumble their voices grew louder and louder, and they took to the streets as the call went out to the city. The number of ponies grew more and more, until there was a herd of them in the streets and skies, they became a tumultuous cacophony, a rolling thunder that quaked its way through the very foundations of Cloudsdale.