Two days to race day.
Ever since its inception, the Cloudiseum had been the largest structure in all of Cloudsdale. Today, it was but a centerpiece for something much larger. Surrounding the stadium were grandstands towering higher than itself. Posts erected on the top row held flags of every color and every nation while on the exterior walls, banners promoted to anyone within range of the upcoming spectacle that was the Equestrian Grand Prix. In between the grandstands and the Cloudiseum was where a few competitors had already begun their practice runs: two narrow strips of airspace connected by two elongated bends. Cloud hoops ensured that the fliers would follow a predetermined course, as did evenly spaced roman-style columns lining the track’s inside.
Within the Cloudiseum’s crowded hallways, Rainbow stood in one line of many so she could check in for the event. Her partner, Swift, was in a different queue but not by choice. She had turned something as menial as waiting, into a race of who finished first. Although her line was shorter, she slapped her forehead when a gabby goose bored the track official sitting at the booth to tears on their prior racing experiences. An aside glance caught Swift already signing paperwork at his table.
Darnit! Thanks a lot, blabbermouth!
Finally, it was her turn. After rushing through stacks of legalese, the race official slid to her a sticker with a printed black number.
“Thirteen?” She stuck the adhesive paper over her cutie mark. “Are you trying to give me back luck or something?”
The official stamped her paperwork. “Deal with it, missy.”
With her task finished, she turned to where the grey stallion had been; he was nowhere in sight. She thought of calling out for him but with fifty other conversations breaking out around her, there was no point.
Now where did he go off to?
Rainbow glided into one of the corridors, following its gentle curve. At every intersection, she looked in both directions, only finding empty passageways with the occasional straggling competitor roaming about. Then her ears flinched, hearing Swift’s voice along with another. Whoever it was, they sounded anything but cordial.
She dashed left, sped down the short hallway, and then stopped just before the next juncture. When she peeked around the corner, there was her friend standing next to a short, trembling bat. Towering above them was a female griffon, her claws etching a mark on the malleable ground. Even with her long bangs, Rainbow clearly saw the utter contempt written all over the aggressor's goldenrod eyes.
With a motion from Swift’s muzzle, the bat scurried off behind him. The griffon took a large step forward, but he immediately stepped right into her path, wings flaring and brow lowered.
“Out of my way, dweeb,” she snarled.
Swift held his place. “Don’t you have something better to do than scaring off your competition?”
“Who in the world do you think you are, telling me what to… wait a second.” She leaned in closer as a sadistic smile crept up. “I know who you are! You’re that lame-o, Swift Flying, from Junior Speedsters! My buddy, Gecks, told me all about you!”
Other than an eye flinch, the stallion kept his stance. “Let me guess. Gilda?”
“That’s right, you dork!” She pressed a claw onto his snout. “So you should know exactly what I do to punks that get in my way!”
Rainbow slid in right between them and shoved her arm away. “Back off my friend, G! You even think of hurting him, I’ll—”
Gilda fell backwards into a laughing riot. She paused to trace a line between the two pegasi before resuming her cackling.
“What’s so funny?” Rainbow shouted. “There’s nothing cool with threatening my friends!”
Pointing right at her, “Oh, my gosh! You and this… loser?” Gilda got back up on all fours. “I can’t believe how lame you’ve gotten without me!”
Rainbow stepped into her personal space. “And what is that supposed to mean?”
Gilda’s beak insinuated a smile. “Face it, Dash. I know there’s no replacing me, but him? Talk about a major downgrade. I bet he doesn’t have half the talent that I have, if he even bothers using it.”
“Why you—” She raised her forelegs. “You wanna say that again?”
An unfamiliar voice called out, “Is there a problem over there?”
Far off down the corridor was a Royal Guard; the organizers weren’t kidding about having tight security for this event. They all muttered that everything was fine, allowing him to continue with his patrol.
Gilda changed her stance, folding her wings back to her sides. “Tell you what, Dash. Remember how we worked together creaming our competition back in Camp? Those were rad times. We were totally unstoppable, like a huge wrecking ball. I was just looking around and I don’t see that many fellow campsters, just a bunch of lame-o pushovers.”
“What are you getting at?” said Rainbow, raising an eyebrow.
“You know this is a long race, and that was always my thing.” She placed an arm around her and led Rainbow away from a startled stallion. “I know you came here to win, so how about we… forget about our little tiff we had at that party?”
Swift’s pupils shrank. Don’t buy into it!
“We can hang out together, have some fun, crush everyone else on the track, and when that checkered flag waves, we’ll settle it amongst ourselves. It’ll be like old times, only much cooler. So what do you say? All you gotta do is ditch that dweeb of yours. We don’t need his slow flank to drag us down.”
Rainbow wrung out of her grasp. “Haven’t you learned your lesson, yet? I might’ve given you another chance had you cleaned up your act, but if anything, you’re worse than before. I won’t be partners with a big bully!”
Gilda’s growl reverberated off the corridor walls; even Rainbow temporarily lost her tall posture. “So you’ve really flipped to the lame side! Well, let me tell you something, Crash! You’re nothing but yesterday’s news! I found some cooler friends, so don’t bother calling! I’m not answering!”
The fuming griffon turned around, letting her tail slap Rainbow’s face before leaving the scene.
“Why you—”
Swift quickly impeded her path. “Cool your jets! Let her go. We’re done here.”
Rainbow craned her neck around him, so she could grind her teeth. Once Gilda disappeared around the corner, she fell backward onto the ground and covered both eyes. As the seconds ticked by, her steaming temper escaped via an exasperated groan.
“You all right there?” Swift asked, as he sat next to her, staring at where Gilda had been.
From within her mind, Rainbow pulled out the book that she and Gilda wrote together. Their friendship and all its associated memories were forever imprinted on the pages. Near the end were blank spaces reserved for dim hopes that one day, there could be more moments, starting with reconciliation. Alas, she closed the tome and returned it to storage.
Getting back up, “I will be. Sorry for not stepping in earlier. I wasn’t sure how she would act.”
“No worries, Rainbow.”
“It was really cool watching you stand up to her, though.” She jabbed him softly. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”
“Well, it’s not like I’ve never done this before,” he said, tousling his forelock. “That’s part of the reason I got my cutie mark, remember?”
She glanced at where the cloud-inverted thunderbolt mark would be, if it wasn’t obscured by a sticker marked with the number thirty-seven. “Let me guess. You were gonna lead her right into a wall. Gutsy, especially for a shorty like you.”
He lifted a foreleg, “Hey! I am taller than you, Rainbow.”
Rainbow huffed amusement. “Barely. So, how’d you get all the way over here?”
Swift walked down the corridor, turning his head left and right at the juncture, spotting owls, ducks, and a pelican wandering about. “Well, I thought I saw someone I knew down here, so I tried chasing him down. Then I ran into Gilda picking on that bat.”
Following him, “Okay, but how did she know who you were? I thought you’d never met her.”
“No, but she mentioned Gecks. Let’s just say he’s a flying lizard from Junior Speedsters that knows me for the wrong reasons.” He stopped in the middle of a juncture. “Shoot. I swore I saw my friend here. Maybe’s he’s already on the track.”
Rainbow ran past him. “C’mon! What are we waiting for?”
Swift went after the eager mare, going around the many bends and curves within the Cloudiseum. Eventually, a glimpse of light led them outside onto a large flat platform covered by a white misty capony, bringing to the half dozen competitors mingling in the shade respite from the faint heat waves. To their left, beyond the edge stood a pylon stretching into the heavens. Pegasi wearing orange garb moved the numbers affixed on the black surface per instructions from a pony at the bottom, but two numbers persisted at the top - thirty-six and six. Between the pylon and the red hued cloud walls was a checkerboard banner with accompanying flag-pony stand affixed well above the hovering cloud hoops on the active track.
A few seconds later, it finally dawned on the pair that for a competition held in a pegasi city, they were the only one of their species in the immediate vicinity.
“This is really weird,” Swift mused, gazing at a grasshopper with transparent wings. “I saw, like, five pegasi since I got here. What gives?”
“Must’ve chickened out,” Rainbow snarled. “Geez! It’s just a race in the skies, that’s all!”
Suddenly, a gaggle of fliers flying in formation rumbled past them. There had to be five, maybe ten at most, but their mere presence caused an airquake strong enough to knock Rainbow clean off her hooves. Swift covered his ears, a futile effort to muffle what was akin to ten thousand lightning bolts striking all at once. Moments later, the pack had left the area, only for another similarly sized group to approach. They tensed up, ready for another attack on their senses. This time, it was what they saw -an eagle leading the group touched wingtips with an adjacent dragonfly. What had been precision flying became a game of involuntary pinball between competitors. Most plowed straight into one of the hovering cloud hoops, which exploded into a blinding mist.
A speaker above their heads crackled static. “Trouble in turn four,” exclaimed a lively voice. “That’s the third accident we’ve had already! Yellow flag is out!”
Once the mist cleared, the eagle had crashed into one of the pillars, his head sticking out the other side. Two dragonflies laid flat on the cloud layer below, their sole movements being the occasional wing twinge. The more fortunate pulled into the platform area with nicks and scratches. Medical pegasi rushed from the corridor, either to tend those nearby or go out on track with stretchers.
“Rainbow?” said a pale Swift.
“Yeah?”
“What in Equestria did you get me into?”
Rainbow shrugged off his concern. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not like we’ll get really hurt out—” The medical crew passed by with the crashed eagle on the gurney “—there.” One look at his wing and her stomach pushed its contents upwards. “Ugh. If we can stay out of trouble.”
To distract him from the eagle’s groans, Swift trained his sights onto the track workers molding together a brand new cloud hoop. Meanwhile, the remaining racers on track meandered around them at a tepid speed, waiting to resume the practice session. A few chose to come off track, including a gray-headed falcon - Swift flailed his hooves at him.
“Blaze! Over here!”
The bird’s pale purple eyes widened the moment he noticed the stallion. When the falcon reached Swift, Rainbow noticed that he stood over a head above him, but unlike the griffon, his beak insinuated a more welcoming demeanor.
“‘Sup, Blaze! Long time no see!”
“My goodness,” he said in a slightly gruff voice. “This is quite a surprise. I haven’t seen you in a while, my friend.” The falcon chuckled, “You do realize this is an area restricted to competitors, right?”
Swift gestured toward his posterior.
“Unbelievable. I’d never thought I’d see the day. Can I presume the madam next to you brought you here?”
“Practically dragged me here.”
Rainbow’s wing slapped him. “He volunteered. I’m sure you know who I am.” Bulging her chest, “Rainbow Dash, future winner of the Equestrian Grand Prix.”
The falcon took a quick bow. “In my land, they call me Blazious Artemus Peregrine, but you can call me Blaze. I must admit I’m quite perplexed. Has your opinion on racing changed so suddenly, Fly?”
“I wouldn’t say—”
“It will once I’m through with him,” said Rainbow. “Oh, by the way, you can call him Swift now. Fixed that too.”
He squawked, flapping his tan wings. “Impossible! Is this mare telling the truth, um, Swift?”
Other than a small eye flinch, Swift kept still. “I’m… what can I say?”
“I’m awesome,” said Rainbow, grinning.
Swift snickered. “Hey, how about letting me finish, Rainbow?”
She play-punched him on the shoulder. “You’re too slow.”
The word Whatever flashed in Swift’s mind, followed by a mischievous smile across his face. “And you like to hear yourself talk.”
“Hey!”
Rainbow reached for a headlock but a simple sidestep was all it took for her to faceplant onto the platform.
“Who’s the slow one now?” He ran off, letting out a cheerful laugh.
“Get—” She lunged at him “—back here!”
Blaze wondered whether the stallion engaging in horseplay with Rainbow was the same pony he befriended ages ago.
***Start Flashback***
“No deal, Blaze”
The falcon stood on the edge of the cloud beside a younger Swift. Both overlooked a rugged mountain range a few hundred feet below, with the peaks breaking through the thick fog. Then, a teal pegasus emerged into the open skies, followed by a dull grey griffon. The two fliers rounded a snow-capped range before dipping below it and out of sight.
“Those two have no issues displaying their talents,” said the falcon in a professorial tone. “Why must you insist on hiding yours?”
Swift snorted. “Like I told ya, showing off leads to trouble. Shoot, I only came to Camp because my folks pushed me into it. Gonna stay under the radar all the way.”
He rubbed his temple. “Fly, Fly, Fly. You have something quite special but if you maintain this belief of yours that it’s for emergency use only, it will go to waste. Those ruffians below believe they can continually overstate their maneuvering prowess, but they must be shown the truth.”
“Not racing them, Blaze. Just not my thing.” Swift began walking away. “C’mon! I heard there’s good grub at the mess hall for once!”
***End Flashback***
Blaze stroked his chin. Curious. What could prompt such a shift in behavior?
Finally, Rainbow got her target, pinning Swift on the cloud floor. She unleashed a fervent hoof rub over his head, eliciting raucous laughter and a few confused stares from nearby competitors. However, everything came to a stop once the PA system buzzed to life.
“Attention, everyone,” said the track announcer. “Good news! The workers have completed the necessary repairs! The track will go green in approximately five minutes.”
Rainbow released her target. “You heard the pony! Time to show our stuff! You can join us too, Blaze. She leered at him, “If you can catch up.”
He chuckled softly while shaking his head. “Very well, but you underestimate the racing pedigree of the Peregrine clan.”
As Rainbow headed toward a group of competitors gathered near the platform’s edge, Blaze pulled Swift aside.
“May I ask you something? Is this Rainbow Dash your, how can I put this?” He stroked his beak, searching for the perfect word within his vocabulary. “Is she your companion?”
“Companion?” he parroted. “What do you mean by that?”
He coughed. “Well, I suppose not, then. Forget it—”
“What,” he screeched at a voice-breaking pitch. “You think that she’s—” His hooves flailed wildly “—Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!”
Blaze raised his wing. “My apologies. I did not mean to embarrass you or insinuate that you’ve gone well beyond friendship with Rainbow.”
“I haven’t,” he grumbled. “You know I don’t care for the mushy stuff, Blaze.”
The falcon sighed. “Yes, it appears that part of you has remained the same. I’m curious, though. I don’t recall you mentioning her the last time you wrote me back in the wintertime. I presume you met her recently.”
“Right. I had to fill in for her as Ponyville’s weather leader. We, um, I guess we, um, got along.”
Blaze nodded. “I noticed that, my friend. Does she, by any chance, know about your incident at Saddlecloud?”
Swift bit his lip. “W–why do you ask?”
He checked his surroundings - no one stood within earshot. “I must be honest. I had my concerns about you. Despite all our efforts to treat you, I had this inclination that we did not do enough. You were not quite what you were and not your physical state, mind you. Your letters to me only corroborated this but just a few minutes with you today and I sense a positive change in you. Is she partly responsible for that?”
He fidgeted in place. While Swift held the answers, he couldn’t divulge. “I… let’s just say she’s a pony I’m glad I met.”
Blaze didn’t need to hear any more - the stallion’s widening smile told him more than a thousand words could. “I understand, Fly. Pardon me. Swift.” He chuckled. “You know, if you’ve changed your mind on that matter, who says your perspective on romance will remain the same?”
Swift facehoofed. “Do I need to tell you again, Blaze? Geez!”
“Fair enough but I’ll leave you with this hypothetical. What if it’s the other way around?”
With that, the falcon flew off to join up with Rainbow.
Other way around? Yeah, right. Rainbow would never think of me that way!
When he glanced her way, his hoof gravitated to his cheek. Despite all the events he lived through during his Ponyville tenure, the memory that he could recall down to the millisecond was Rainbow’s token of appreciation to him on a cloud above Sugarcube Corner. At least, that was the implied agreement between them.
What if… it was sorta long.
A five alarm fire torched his face; Swift slapped it to extinguish the flames.
Shoot! Thanks for sending my head to the clouds, Blaze! You and your… hypo-whatevers!
“Attention, all racers,” called out the track announcer. “The track is back under green conditions.”
The race, that was a subject Swift could wrap his hooves around. He snuck in beside his falcon friend who was conversing with Rainbow.
“—and with my wingspan, a flying V would be the ideal formation if we’re all together on the circuit.”
Rainbow hoof pumped. “Let’s try it, then! Just remember that when that white flag comes out, all bets are off!”
“Of course. Fly, what about you? Will you actually go for the victory if the opportunity presents itself?”
He smiled with subtle confidence. “I’ll… um, I’ll let my wings do the talking.”
“Boooooo,” Rainbow bellowed. “You really need a better line than that.”
“Whatever,” he replied with some defiance. “So, flying V to start off?”
Rainbow nodded. “All right, the second a big group exits the last corner, gun it!”
All three turned their heads, narrowing their eyes at the reconstructed cloud hoop. The shrill sound of competitors flying in formation pitched higher from their left, and then slowly faded off in the distance. Soon, the noise shifted to the right and behind, prompting the trio to loosen up their wings for full acceleration.
“Steady,” Rainbow cautioned. “Get ready!”
From far behind the Coliseum, a large blur emerged.
“Go!”
The falcon and two pegasi emerged from under the canopy’s shadow, their speeds climbing ever higher as they shifted into a deep chasm, the pillars and grandstand walls serving as the unforgiving barriers. Once they zipped clean through a cloud hoop, Blaze maneuvered into the forward position while Rainbow and Swift lined wingtip to wingtip behind the falcon. Immediately, the formation kicked their speed into overdrive. Everything around them turned into an indistinguishable red and white blur, but it was enough to guide them into an easy bend to the left - tapping the brake wasn’t even a thought.
At the corner’s end, Rainbow peeked behind, hearing what was an approaching freight train. Within the many faces in the pack of fliers, she could only focus on one.
“Gilda,” she scowled.
The griffon led the pack past them as though they were standing still.
“Later, losers,” she taunted, her voice somehow overcoming the wind noise.
“We must merge immediately or we’ll lose them,” Blaze instructed.
The three slid in behind a webbed-wing mongoose, just as they entered a wide tunnel. Within, small holes provide just enough illumination to guide them through the passageway. However, the compressed space amplified the volume of a dozen wings flying in unison, drowning out any hopes for a quick word. After a few seconds, the fliers returned to the outer world and began rounding the second long turn on the track.
Rainbow craned her head; a competitor had just taken the lead spot from Gilda. To her shock, the griffon allowed it with nary a slash from her claw. From this distance, all she could tell is that this creature was brown, long and had delta-shaped appendages.
“Who’s that up front,” she asked. “Hey, that wouldn’t happen to be that Gecks you mentioned, could it?”
One glance was all it took; Swift wretched in disgust. “Shoot! This is totally bonkers! Don’t tell me he’s actually here! Blaze?”
The falcon harrumphed. “I’m afraid I observe what you do, friend. That lizard is not only here, but actually working together with Gilda, of all griffons.”
Rainbow made an inquisitive grunt. “You sound like you know Gilda.”
“Unfortunately,” he replied rather stoically. “As our respective lands are next to each other, I’ve met quite a few griffons. Compared to many of them, she lacks proper racing etiquette. Then again, so does Gecks. If they’re indeed united for whatever reason, we should proceed with extreme caution.”
She scoffed, “Yeah, right. Like those two scare me. We’ll show ‘em.” Rainbow then barked orders. “Blaze! On the go, pull up behind Gilda, then pass up and right! I’ll go down and left! Swift, back me up! We’ll meet up on the other side!”
“Understood,” said Blaze.
Swift’s moved his head between the two, “Wait a minute! Don’t you think we should take it—”
“Go!”
Blaze swung around the mongoose with ease, as did the eager pegasus mare. When Swift tried following them, the air resistance spiked. His slender frame did little to overcome the apparent deficit in wingpower compared to his partners. Only through willpower did he approach the tail of a flame-fur wolf but no more.
Shoot! My talent’s useless on this track! He facehoofed. Great. I’m actually complaining about the layout.
He watched helplessly as his two friends maneuvered around another falcon before making a run at the striped lizard. Just a few feet from Gilda’s tail, the two broke off as arranged. Gilda immediately positioned for a block on Rainbow while the lizard tracked the falcon. Suddenly, the slits within his yellow eyes widened. Before Blaze could act, Gecks spin rapidly around him, generating a self-contained vortex. In less than five seconds, one of Swift’s friends rocketed out of control toward the sky. The culprit immediately re-took the lead position, bearing a menacing fanged grin. He even slithered his tongue in merriment, watching his prey rejoin the circuit but far behind the pack.
Meanwhile, Gilda swung in every direction, impeding Rainbow’s path. Soon, their constant movements scrubbed off their relative speeds but neither seemed to notice or care. Moments after leaving the tunnel, the griffon finally chose the wrong side; Rainbow slammed on the afterburners.
“Oh no, you don’t,” screeched Gilda.
Wham! Direct hit on Rainbow’s side, sending her spinning. Fliers scattered like confetti, avoiding the wobbly pegasus.
Rainbow! No!
Swift made a beeline toward her - she was heading straight into one of the columns! Time was short, the distance was long and he only had one option available. He stretched out his hooves all he could and tensed every muscle.
“Hang on!”
Wham! Rainbow was slammed again, this time sending free falling. A brief moment of eerie calmness later, a third impact on something that had some give, maybe a little too much. She bounced upwards before coming back down for the last time and going for a slide. Finally, Rainbow came to a halt face up but where exactly, her googly eyes couldn’t tell. Then, a voice bellowed above her.
“More trouble at turn one! It looked like one of the ponies deliberately crashed right into the other! Both of them are out cold!”
She rubbed her ringing head, grumbling about being hit repeatedly. When she reached out to get her bearings, Rainbow thanked the cloud layer for saving her from falling a hundred rather than thousands of feet. Then she felt something else, feathers not her own - her vision worked overtime to return.
“Swift?”
There was her friend, motionless and face down. Rainbow crawled right up to him and shook him. Again, she called to him for a response, a word, a cough or even a groan.
Nothing. Nothing at all.