The urge to yawn was getting stronger every excruciating second. After all these years, all four of them, Cheerilee thought she would get used it eventually, but sadly she was mistaken. Getting used to boredom was yet another myth you bust once you start teaching a classful of foals, right after 'you'll be able to pay the rent in time' and 'you'll find a good stallion (or mare, we're not judging you, sweetie) in due time'.
"Thanks mom..." she muttered to herself, hoping it was quiet enough that nopony in her classroom heard. She was using the patented 'Gwendo Pikari Pose' (from an old, neighponese comic), supporting her head on her front hooves and staring blankly at her pupils, while they couldn't see her mouth whenever a yawn escaped her. From their point of view, she was a predator, just waiting for any of them to slip so she could slap a punishment for cheating on a pop quiz. That was far from truth of course, she wasn't paying much attention at all. Any foal that was able to see through it was too mature to cheat anyway. Win-win.
She glanced at the clock at the door. Only 5 minutes passed since the class started, meaning they had ten more excruciating minutes to finish their quiz, after which everypony was allowed to talk again, including herself. It usually wasn't nearly as bad as this, but today was different. Weather aside, once in a while her stare gravitated towards a little piece of paper she recently had to confiscate from Scootaloo. What seemed like just another 'pass'em-notes' turned out to be a flier, advertisng a giant charity race between Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust. No wonder half of her student had troubles with concentration and kept tapping their pencils and hooves nervously, glancing at the clock just as often as she did. Se had to admit, the prospect of town's best racer duking it out with the newcommer was rather exciting. But more exciting was the idea of 'Super Premium Deluxe Spa Treatment', which Cheerilee was pretty sure was a made up on the spot name to attract crowds. Probably Pinkie Pie's or Cloud Kicker's idea, she doubted Aloe or Lotus would ever go that low in naming themes.
Cheerilee kept looking it, thinking about the odds of winning. Lightning Dust was new, but she was good, as herself and her class witnessed. A true darkhorse, if you may. She had about equal chances of winning, but very few ponies knew her, which meant less votes, which in turn raised the chances of winning a lottery for grand prize. And it was years since Cheerilee had last visited the local spa, not since her twentieth... yes, let's keep it at that, birthday.
"Thanks mom..." she muttered again, this time adding a weak smile to the mix. However, the longing she felt from her ... long passed birthday, made her even more bored. Bored to the point that she was seriously considering giving her entire class detention just for fun. She would hate herself forever for being the worst pony being in Equestria (not to mention she would get fired), but at least she would survive with some sanity left behind.
She giggled at the thought of that plan. It was stupid, to even think about punishing foals for innocence just for the heck of it. She would never forgive herself, nor would anypony forgive her or let her get away with it.
Unless...
A moment passed, when she had the most brilliant idea ever. She rose her hooves and slammed it hard on her desk, making everypony jump up.
"Class, stop writing!" She called out, smiling viciously. She had full confidence in her actions, especially now that there was no turning back. She coughed before speaking. "Children, I understand you're getting impatient, what with the big festival today all of a sudden, and you all want to see your idols..."
"YEAH!" Scootaloo yelled across the classroom. That kind of behavior would warrant a parental call, but today was special. "Why do we have to waste our time in school, when Rainbow Dash will beat Lightning Dust without ME seeing it?"
That comment inspired foals to take sides and kindly discuss merits of their respective idols.
"No way, Lightning Dust is totally a better pegasus!" Snips snapped at Scootaloo, leading the charge of the "Dusters" faction.
"Yeah right! Rainbow Dash will totally win!" The captain of 'Dashers' faction responded.
"No way, she will totally lose!"
"She totally won't!"
"She totally will!"
"GRRR!" The two agreed, looking directly into each others eyes. Somepony looking from the distance could get the wrong idea without context.
Cheerilee looked at the foals and slapped her face, making four mental notes.
1. Next time, when you get a brilliant idea, think it through.
2. Find a replacement word for 'totally', because it was getting totally annoying by now.
3. Buy A LOT more chalk, because...
4. Scootaloo and Snips are totally writing 'I won't scream in classroom." and "Taste is subjective, both mares are pretty cool and have their own merits and I shouldn't judge or belittle their fans just because my opinion differs'. Both 100 times over, each.
Sadly, that was all the cruelty she was legally allowed to use.
"Alright children, calm down," she went between the two warring factions (before you ask, they REALLY used those names for themselves and it was too adorable to make them stop) to contain the damage "you'll find out who is the winner in due time. But before that happens, remember to tell your parents that this Monday you'll be staying in school two hours later than usual."
"Huh?" The entire classroom rose their eyebrows.
"But why?" Asked Sweetie Belle.
"Because you're all getting detention for skipping class today!" She answered with a warm smile.
"WHAT!?"
"T'ain't fair!" Cried Applebloom in the crowd. Cheerilee suppressed herself from commenting the fairness regarding her failed date with her brother. Nothing was to be gained for venting her frustrations on an innocent filly. EVEN if she was blood related to Big Mac.
"Sorry class, but misbehavior must be punished. If it helps, I'm going to detention as well!"
"But miss Cheerilee," said Dinky Doo, always first to notice flaws in foalproof plans "you always stay to supervise everypony in detention!"
Cheerilee blinked, trying hard to hide the sweat that itched the back of her head. 'Don't scratch it Cheerilee', she thought, 'not when their eyes are on you!'. She smiled wider and shrugged.
"Well... but this time I actually earned it! Unlike the other times when I had to stay for no reason at all!" She smiled widely, waiting for everyponies reaction.
Dinky thought for a moment and looked classmates. They just shrugged and couldn't say anything else.
"Okay, I guess that makes sense." She admitted, scratching her head.
Fireworks shot inside of Cheerilee's mind, celebrating the victory over an eight year old filly. But to be fair, Dinky was a lot smarter than most foals. Scratch that, she was smarter than half the Ponyville in general.
"If you don't wan't to stay after school next week, you can always stay here, with me, while the race is on. I have a really fascinating, long and detailed lecture about 3rd century Griffin Civil Wars..."
She was interrupted by a massive, collective groan. Foals were so predictable, as all immediately left their seats and went for their raincoats, while Cheerilee nodded, smiling. Her happiness was short-lived, as she noticed one frizzy maned filly still sitting at her desk.
"Twist, why aren't you going with others?"
"Becaushe I wanna lishen about the Shivil War!"
"Twist, just go."
"But..."
"I'll tell you about them next time."
The filly thought for a moment, then shrugged and joined her friends, while Cheerilee wiped the sweat of her forehead while nopony was looking.
"Dodged that one..." she muttered, as she went towards her own desk to grab her things "...I don't know crap about griffin wars! Oh well, there goes my Sunday evening. I guess I was going to meet new librarians eventually..."
After skipping classes (he wasn't sure if that was a correct term when even teacher did it), Rumble didn't feel like joining the festival. Not after what happened yesterday, which he still wasn't exactly sure about details. Thunderlane brushed it off as just a bad day at work, but he didn't buy it. He saw his brother in his worst, but it was never this bad. Not even Nightmare Moon left him this badly hurt. He parted his ways with Dinky and went straight home, determined to take care of Thunderlane. With Blossom out of the picture, he was the only pony for the job... if he could find him. Rumble went straight to the living room where he last saw him, but the couch was empty. Even weirder, the cushions were all over room and the spare blanket was half on the floor. Not even a depressed Thunderlane would leave so much mess behind.
"Curious..." the colt muttered, as he resumed his investigation.
He checked Thunderlane's room, but there was no sign of him, only thing out of ordinary was a messed up bedsheet and pillows, practically untouched since he barely woke him up this morning. He then checked his late parents bedroom, carefully opening the door and finding that no, he wasn't here today. The dust was starting to settle, meaning that his Friday cleaning never started. Finding this odd, he continued towards the bathroom. He knocked on the door a few times, before slowly opening the door and looking inside, finding nopony, thankfully. At this point he started worrying, but shook it away and went to kitchen. He found it dissapointingly empty and messy. No progress on the dish washing or cereal cleaning was made either. He did however find something new. A small note supported by two glasses put together, so that it was standing tall enough for the colt to easily notice. He jumped on the chair and took it out to read the familiar hoofwriting.
"Dear Rumble,
We kidnapped your big brother and will work on fixing him. We'll return him in a day, or two, or eventually. Until then, Ditzy will take care of you. Bring your homework and report to her as soon as possible.
Signed, Doctor.
P.S.: We already have your spare toothbrush, don't bring any with you."
Rumble nodded, having solved the mystery. He imagined they took him out by force, hence all the mess they left. Having nothing more to worry about, he went to grab his raincoat, in hopes he could catch up to Dinky still. But as his hoof reached for it, he stopped and turned back for a moment. He looked at the dirty dishes and hummed. Sighing with resignation, he went back to living room to fix the mess his brother made, made his bed, washed the dishes and hid the cereal box in the drawers, where it belonged. Twenty minutes later, he had no hope of catching up to Dinky anymore. Sighing, he left home, locked the door and hid the key in the usual place (after making sure nopony was looking, of course) and went towards the crowds, looking for the familiar gray mare.
"Fillies and gentlecolts, we have a super special surprise for you! Turns out, we have a new OLD challenger today! Standing right over there, in all of his mohawk glory, the one, the only stallion in our office, the toughest pony I know (In Ponyville) - THUUUUNDEEERLAAAAAANE!"
The crowd cheered... weakly. Most ponies were confused, looking at each other and murmuring, wondering who this guy was and where he came from, but nopony seemed to recall anything. But the few ponies who did cheered were noticeable, to say the least. Thunderlane could see some familiar faces. Ditzy Doo was among them, along with her daughter both cheered loudly. But the one who made the most noise, was nopony other than his little brother.
"GO THUNDERLANE! WOOOOH! KICK THEIR PLOTS!" The gray colt in raincoat shouted. Thunderlane smiled at him, glad to get his support... even if he should be in school right now. He noticed an oddly high amount of foals in the crowd, wondering if they were all skipping school just to see the race. Then he noticed that even Cheerilee was out there, holding a ticket of her own.
All in all, he wasn't welcome nearly enough as the other two, but he didn't expect anything more. So far, he was nopony, but he still smiled confidently, about to make sure it wouldn't be like that for long.
"So, since the new development, uhm, developed," Cloud Kicker continued, slurring her lines just as always "we opened the booth once again, in case anypony wishes to change their favorite!" The crowd went silent, for once. "Uh, anytime you're ready, guys." She gulped and decided it was time to retire and let the crowd do their thing in their own discretion.
"I am never doing this ever again..."
"Well..." Prince Blueblood paused, pursing his lips as he watched Thunderlane leave the stage to prepare for the race. "...that wasn't exactly the development I expected."
"Eeyup!"
"Yeah, it's something we expected from Shining Armor, not Thunderlane!"
"Eeyup!"
"HEY!"
"Guys, focus!" Doctor coughed. "It's a little too late to call this off now, so I guess we should just go with the flow and hope for the best."
"The best?" Prince raised his eyebrow at that comment. "There's no way Thunderlane can pull this off! Even if he was good as a kid, it's been years and he's up against two ridiculously strong fliers! He'll be left in the dust, no pun intended."
"Eeyup!"
"And you," Blue turned to Big Macintosh, giving him a nasty glare "out of all of us, you know him the longest. Don't you have anything more productive to say?" He asked. Big Mac opened his mouth and tried to say something, but... "And don't you dare say what I think you're about to say!"
Big Mac looked shifted his eyes and then shrugged.
"Well, Ah ain't no pegasi, how am Ah supposed to know what to do? Not like anypony here knows anythin' 'bout racin'!"
The group took a moment of silence, before collectively sighing. It was true, they didn't even know what they were up against, since none of them ever had to experience the joy of flying through the air, at maximum speed.
"Wait..." Shining Armor was the first one whose light bulb over head lit up. One after the other, his other friends groaned and resisted the urge to facehoof, instead following his example and directed their glares at one pony who actually knew stuff.
"Actually, not everything is lost..." Soarin finally spoke, completely oblivious to the fact that his friends completely forgot about him, up to including his short-lived but lucrative previous career. That was something they often forgot about.
"What do you mean?" Asked Prince, as they all approached the ex-Wonderbolt.
"I've been thinking. You know, Thunderlane might be impulsive and hotblooded at times, but he's not stupid! He would never do something this foolish just on a whim, especially in front of thousands. Hmmm..." Soarin crossed his hooves and closed his eyes, thinking for a moment.
"There are some circumstances that are in his favor. For one, this race is a marathon- from here to Canterlot and back, that's a heck of a distance. This isn't a contest of pure speed, but stamina, which we all know our Mohawked friend does not lack. He would lose miserably in a short distance sprint, that's for sure, but in this case, he's not nearly as outmatched.
Two, the weather. It'll be a very dense storm all the way through, especially once it gets going in the second half on the way back. We all know that Thunderlane in particular is very tough and has been flying through worse conditions, so he should have an upper hoof over the two in that department.
And three, he's a lot faster than we give him credit for. Yesterday, when he left my office, I didn't have time to blink before he was gone. He's good, he just never had a reason to show it."
"Are you saying he can win?"
"Hmm... I wouldn't go THAT far. I mean, he has a little advantage, but Rainbow Dash is still a better flier and has been flying through bad weather too, and Lighting Dust is an unknown to everypony, but she seems confident enough. I don't think he can win outright, buuuut..."
"He won't lose as badly?" asked Blueblood. Lack of a response was enough to answer his question.
"Wow, you sure know a lot!" said Cloud Kicker, as she walked towards Soarin. "You sound like you were a professional flier yourself!"
Silence, once again, despite the crowds and clouds above. The five stallions looked at the mare with one eyebrow raised.
"What? What did I say?"
"You do realize I was a Wonderbolt, right?"
"Really?" She tilted her head, squinted and looked at Soarin some more. Her face got dangerously close, before she hummed and nodded. "Oh yeah, I knew you looked familiar! Well, good, you're just what I needed! Come on!" She grabbed him by his hoof and dragged him away from the group.
"Woah, what are you...?"
"I could use a cutie like you, right about now!"
"At least buy me a dinner first!"
"No time for food, I need your arse somewhere else, in a good way!"
The other four stood there, saying nothing, but deep inside, they had the feeling Soarin didn't want to be interrupted (a huge grin was an obvious give-away), so they waved him goodbye and went back to their own business.
"So, what can we do?" Asked Shining Armor. The others thought for a moment, until Doctor gave the only answer any of them could think of.
"There's only one thing we can do..."
"Fillies and gentlecolts, we have one more surprise for you! In order to help you keep up with the race, I brought a professional flier to help me with the commentary! Please give big cheers to Ponyville's prime ex-Wonderbolt turned love guru, Soarin!"
The crowd cheered, if only because not everypony in the area knew that they had a (ex) celebrity around. Now they knew and he was sitting right next to the betting booth with Cloud Kicker, waving to the crowds.
"I dunno what I was expecting..." he muttered to himself, forcing a smile on his face.
Thunderlane looked at Soarin, now apparently commentating the entire show for them. Part of him was really glad Cloud Kicker wasn't anywhere near the management seat in weather patrol. She had a special talent for manipulation in her own, unique way, way above what Rainbow Dash could ever do.
"I'm not even going to ask."
Instead of contemplating Soarins' position (it was not his business in the first place), he went back to stretching and preparing himself mentally for the incoming race. It has been a long time, he wondered if there was still enough fight in him, or had he gone too rusty over all those years. It was a lost cause anyway, but there was still hope. And quite honestly, even if he lost, it wouldn't feel nearly as bad as being left out. Not again, not this time.
"Ah, sure brings back memories!" Said Rainbow Dash as she 'happened to' stretch herself right next to Thunderlane. "I missed kicking your plot every Friday all these years."
"Ordering me around wasn't satisfying enough?"
"Nah, that's not the same. I always enjoyed a challenge and nopony in hundred miles had any."
"Challenge?" Lightning Dust snorted, as she 'accidentally' overheard the two. "Please, am I supposed to believe that your lackey here, Sunday Rain is a star flier? Seriously, if it’s about what I said yesterday, then sorry for stepping on your ego, big guy. You don't have to humiliate yourself any more just to prove a point."
Thunderlane's eyebrow twitched as he looked at the smuggliest grin he ever saw. And that comes from a stallion that lived half his life under Rainbow Dash's shadow. He took a step forward and was about to snap back, but Rainbow Dash beat him to it.
"Okay wise-flank, three things!" She went forward to look Lightning Dust in the eyes. "One, that's not his name and you know it. Two, you already used that one once!"
"I did? Tsk, damn!"
"And three, most importantly," she jabbed Lightning Dust in the chest "he's a great flier! To this day, he was the only pony even close to winning with me and I've been to many contests and races. So don't underestimate him just because I'm using him to do my super un-cool, bothersome work, because he's the pony I trust the most! You got that?"
Another moment of silence passed between the three of them. Lighting Dust raised her eyebrow and for once, couldn't reply in a smug way. Meanwhile, Thunderlane was even more shocked and observed his, apparently, friend still standing vigilant in his defense. Finally, Lightning Dust shrugged and turned away.
"Whatever. We'll talk after the race ends. Until then, consider me unimpressed." That said, she walked away.
Rainbow Dash looked at the unimpressed Lightning Dust as she was leaving. She snorted and rolled her eyes.
"Pfft, what a jerk! Oh well, I wanna see her keep that attitude up once she gets her flank handed to her. Am I right or am I right?" She turned to Thunderlane, expecting a smiling face, a friendly nod or even a high-hoof. Instead, she got a glare. And not the good type. "What?"
"I didn't ask you to defend me! I can take care of myself without you babysitting me!"
"You're welcome, Jerklane!" She snapped back and pouted, pretending to not be offended.
Thunderlane sighed deeply. As much as he wanted to beat her, it still felt wrong to be rude to her, especially after she stood up for him.
"Look Dash, don't take this the wrong way." He walked towards her. "She might be a reason I'm here now, but she's not the one I want to beat. Heck, I should be grateful to her! If she didn't chew me out yesterday, I would've never even thought about racing again!"
"Yeah, buy her some flowers, will ya?" She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Whatever your reason, do me a favor. Don't let that arrogant hussie beat you! I'm not accepting anypony else to be my second, but you!" That said she walked a few steps forward before Thunderlane stopped her once again.
"That's my line. You're going down, whether you like it or not. And I won't stop until I beat you, no matter how long it takes!"
Rainbow Dash stopped to laugh, before she turned to Thunderlane one last time.
"Now that's the Thunderlane I know and love!"
As she turned back, she suddenly stopped herself, avoiding slamming herself headfirst into Cloud Kicker's face. A smiling, blushing face. A face that wanted to comment. Rainbow Dash beat her to it.
"Don't you dare!"
"But..."
"Not a word!"
"But..."
"Cloud Kicker, I swear, don't you say a word. Not a single word, not one comment!"
"... uhm..."
"Look me deep in the eyes!" She glared at her, menacingly. "And ask yourself: is Rainbow 'Tantrum' Dash capable of RIPPING MY WINGS out of sheer anger?"
"...aww, but I like my wings..." She pouted, common sense winning over sheer curiosity for the moment. She never saw Rainbow directly hurt anypony, but she didn't grow up in Ponyville, so she wasn't versed in town's lore as much. She made a mental note to ask Pinkie Pie about it later. She suspected what the answer would be, but preferred to be sure.
"Fillies and gentlecolts, now that the betting booths are closed, we have the popularity results, right here!" Cloud Kicker announced, as she opened an envelope, coughed and read it out loud. "Placed at number one, with a whooping 532 votes is Rainbow Dash! Well, years of building up her reputation did pay off, it seems. Second place, with 367 votes, is Lightning Dust! Talk about making a splash, barely few days in and she's already rivaling our local favorite! Way to go, new girl!
And last but not least, we have Thunderlane, sitting at... uhm, 6 votes. Well... now that's a dark horse if I ever saw any, am I right?"
The crowd was silent. Few crickets could be heard.
"Get it? Because he's black coated! And least popular! Anypony?" She smiled sheepish, looking around the crowd. Somepony coughed. "Sheesh, what a tough crowd!" She pouted, ear drooped, wishing she could dig herself a hole in the ground.
The race was about to begin, as all three contestants placed themselves on the start/finish line, doing the final stretches and donning their goggles, while Cloud Kicker and Raindrops flew towards the sky, ready to set off the clouds as soon as Pinkie Pie shot her party cannon to start the race. In case anypony wondered, she couldn't find a single, standard issue sports hoofgun, so she brought a cannon she once bought in thrift store, painted it bright pink and filled it with confetti and streamers instead. Because Pinkie Pie.
"HEY THUNDERLANE!"
The stallion in question heard some ponies from the crowd calling out to him. He couldn't help but smile, when he noticed his friends and Rumble, all together in the front lines (except Soarin, obviously), cheering for him, while waving their tickets towards him. He was pretty sure he knew who they voted for. Although why they were wearing white t-shirts with Foal Hope logos on them instead of actual raincoats was beyond him.
"You better not lose!" Prince Blueblood yelled. "I'm looking forward to that spa!"
"But you already go there every week!" Shining called him out.
"Not the point!"
Thunderlane nodded and turned his entire attention to the sky. It was still a stupid idea, but he never felt more motivated before in his life. He took a deep breath and smiled, trembling from excitement, waiting impatiently for the race to finally start.
"Alright everypony, you all ready?" Soarin asked the crowds, to which he got a loud cheer. "I can't hear ya!" The cheering intensified, now overshadowing even the thundering skies, where Cloud Kicker looked at her co-host with awe and bit of jealousy.
"That's what I'm talking about! Now then, racers, get ready for the countdown!"
Three racers lowered their bodies and started working their wings, ready for take-off.
"THREE!" Soarin announced, helped by the choir of thousand ponies.
Raindrops and Cloud Kicker pushed back their legs, ready to buck any moment.
"TWO!"
Pinkie Pie adjusted the cannon, readied the match, before realizing it's lint that you pull, not burn. Suddenly it made sense why she found it in kids section in the store and why instructions didn't mention fire at all.
"ONE!"
Three pairs of wings rose to the action, while crowd held their breaths.
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The confetti and streamers shot in the air, as the weather ponies bucked the nearest cloud, setting of the chain reaction resulting in tons of water pouring, accompanied by thunder and lightning striking around, happy to finally be free to do their reign. The start line was already empty, only dust and dirt flying around.
It had begun...