Several miles away, on the trade route from Ponyville to Canterlot, two pegasi from weather patrol looked up from their books as they heard the first thunders in the sky and see that droplets started falling from the sky. That was their cue to stop fooling around and wait patiently for the racers, so they could report back on the situation. This meant that next few minutes would pass in relative boredom. They packed their books away from the rain and waited patiently, glad they had raincoats. The only consolation from this whole "standing on the rain, soaking wet and looking at the sky", was an invitation to a Pinkie Party afterwards, along with a bunch of sweet cakes from Sugarcube Corner. Considering it was a job for an hour at most, the pay-off was more than worth it.
"How long do we have to wait? I'm freezing here!" Asked one stallion, rubbing his hooves, shivering from the cold.
"Ponyville's a few miles from here, they race in the rain and go uphill, so I'd say about five minu--"
FWOOOOSH!
A multicolored blur passed right above him, leaving a strong enough current to push him forward, forcing him to summon all of his strength in his hooves to keep from falling.
"W-what was that?"
"I think it wa--"
FWOOOSH!
Another blur passed them, this one more of a bluish lightning, though they couldn't get a better look, as the wind she left destroyed every last bit of the stallions balance he had, making him collapse on his face.
"Ouch..." the stallion groaned, as he massaged his nose. Thankfully, he landed on the soft grass, so the damage was minimal.
"You okay?" His friend gave him a hoof, helping him get up. Until...
FWOOOSH!"
A third blur, a dark thunder, passed them as well, toppling the other stallion as well, making him land on his now more comically injured friend. The two didn't have time to despair, as they looked up after the three passing racers, already gone from their view, leaving the two bruised and alone, in very compromising positions.
Back in the Ponyville, even though the storm was raging and rain poured down from the sky, obscuring the view on the racers even more, the residents were far from bored or uncomfortable. Between the roofs of water-proof tents, tons of hot snacks and drinks and Pinkie Pie's many attractions she whipped out of nowhere (roll with it), nopony had time to complain, as they awaited for reports which would be supplied by ponies at checkpoints each time something happens, via light signals using Horse code. One such message was being sent right now, and Cloud Kicker squinted and deciphered it, ready to relay it to the public.
"Fillies and gentlecolts, we have our first development! According to my scouts, Rainbow Dash passed the checkpoint first, Lightning Dust was just few seconds after her and Thunderlane, uhh," she scratched her head as she looked at her note "he cantered into a temple...?"
The crowd hummed, starting to murmur between each other, wondering if there was some sort of temple in the area, despite living in a country where no deities other than Princesses were worshiped, and even they were hardly gods.
Soarin leaned over to Cloud Kicker and whispered something.
"I mean, Thunderlane came in third... heh, whoops!"
The crowd sighed and shrugged it off.
"Cantered into a temple?" Asked Soarin, raising an eyebrow as he looked at a lot cuter then before blushing Cloud Kicker.
"Oh buzz off, I'm terrible at Horse code!" She pouted and turned away, prompting Soarin to giggle at her expense behind her back.
"Third, huh?" Blueblood shook his head. "Things are not looking good."
Doctor shrugged "Soarin mentioned it's a marathon and it's not speed, but stamina that will win in the end."
"Eeyup!"
"Well, look at the bright side," Shining Armor smiled, as he joined in, trying to inject some much needed levity "at least he won't be second this time!" Few death glares later, he regretted ever opening his mouth.
"There's no way he can win, or even catch up to them, unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Unless somepony does something about it..."
A thunder crackling from the sky was nothing unusual during a massive storm on a scheduled day. A thunder hitting somepony directly was a much rarer instance for several reasons. One, nopony sane wanders around on a weather like this, as it's only asking for troubles. In this day and age, if anypony is outside, despite at least a week of warnings in newspapers and message boards, then they are clearly beyond saving. Two, if anypony actually is outside, it's sensible to dress accordingly. Simple raincoats and rubber galoshes are usually enough to cover from both rain and help repel electricity in the air (some claim it's magic, other call it science, we call it 'not important right now'). And three, if none of the above matches, then you are either dead... or a pegasi.
Just as another bolt struck from the sky, it just missed all three of its targets, one of them by the literal feather. All three racers felt it coming and acted accordingly, sacrificing a fraction of their momentum in air for continued survival. While it sounds impressive, it was just another days work, especially for trained weather ponies.
Fun fact about pegasi magic- it goes way past cloud walking and cloud shaping, that much anypony can tell you from just looking up at their winged brothers and sisters. Not many ponies, some pegasi included, are aware of some intricacies of their race, most importantly a phenomenon commonly known as "weather awareness". To put it simple, it's a sort of sixth sense related to clouds, when a pegasi reacts to any changes in the weather around them. That reaction was always very subtle, often unnoticed and regarded as a gut feeling. Learning the ability to interpret the signs from the sky was the first step to becoming a successful member of the weather patrol and anypony with enough experience was able to do it without thinking.
In other words, none of the three were in any danger whatsoever, unless one of them gets sloppy or careless, which was unlikely. It still slowed them down significantly, which was supposed to give Thunderlane a much needed edge. Compared to Rainbow Dash, he was slower and bulkier, which under regular circumstances would be his undoing, but in a tough environment, he had an upper hoof. Not to mention the fact that he was in his own element, while Rainbow was more used to racing in clear skies, which is probably why he could still see her, despite the rain and overall darkness (to be fair, it's hard to miss the rainbow hue left in the air).
But the real problem, not just for him, was Lightning Dust. Ever since the race begun, she kept very close to the lead and didn't slow down one bit, no matter the conditions they were going through. He should have figured that a pony named Lighting Dust, with a lighting bolt as a cutie mark no less, was going to have a very similar talents to his own, except she was much faster. Right now, as she soared through the sky effortlessly, she seemed to merge both his and Rainbow's talents, but not quite as good as themselves. At first thought he had an advantage in this race, but come to think of it, Lightning Dust was the true dark horse of this race. Nopony knew what she was capable of, few stunts here and there were the extent of her abilities she's shown during her first week.
In fact, what if she planned this race from the beginning?
Unlike Rainbow Dash, she's already shown to be rather cunning. She knew about the storm way ahead of time and yet waited until the last moment to issue her challenge, as if she wanted to tip the scales in her favor. Sure, she didn't plan the whole mess by Pinkie Pie and Cloud Kicker, nor was she expecting him in the race at all, but those were hardly problems. She was steadily keeping her second place right after Rainbow Struggling Dash. Was this the extent of her skills, or was she just waiting for a proper moment to unleash everything she had and leave them in the, well, dust? Given the nature of this long distance race, it was very likely.
Meanwhile he had to bust his own plot just to keep the two in his view still, placing his hope in the stamina match. He had to face the truth- without a miracle, he had no hopes of catching up, let alone winning.
"...so basically, the stormy weather is actually working in Thunderlane's favor?" Asked Cloud Kicker, as she continued her conversation with Soarin. She knew all of this already, but they kept the conversation going for the masses at the fair. After all, not everypony in the world was a professional flier, weather pony, or even a pegasus.
"Exactly! While our two future Wonderbolts are used to clear, clean skies used during derbies and stunt shows, their techniques are less effective in more dire conditions. Compared to Thunderlane, whose special talent revolves around it."
"But all three of them are experienced weather ponies, aren't they?"
"That's mostly true. Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane have been in this profession for quite some time, which by default, would make Thunderlane the most privileged, considering what his cutie mark represents. At the same time though, Rainbow Dash is a faster flier with much more basic training, but her experience with weather is limited to her job. It's hard to predict how these circumstances will balance themselves out."
"And what about Lightning Dust?"
"Now that's a good question, indeed! In terms of experience in weather, she's relatively new to her field, as she's fresh out of the academy. And while she has a lot more qualifications on paper than both of her rivals, her experience is limited. Racing-wise, there are very few records of her achievements, limited to few local contests, but nothing that can be compared to Rainbow Dash's achievements. And also, there's the question of her special talent."
"Well, what about her special talent?"
"A very good question, which sadly I have no real answer for. The lightning with stars on her flanks implies speed, which is clearly her strong suit, but she's been seen generating enough static electricity to be visible to a naked eye, so we can safely assume she's proficient with other forms of electricity as well."
"I hope you heard that, folks! So many different strengths, weaknesses and unknown in the mix, there's no way to predict a victor! Ooh, this is so exciting I can barely sit still! And speaking of which, we have a report from our second checkpoint. Lemme see here..."
"Is Lightning Dust joining the Zebrican revolution?" Asked Soarin, smiling smugly.
"Hardy har har..."
"So... would you like to share your plan with us?"
Doctor, Bic Macintosh and Shining Armor looked at Blueblood, who just came back from the library, now holding a scroll with his magic (after previously casting an anti-rain spell on it). Prince unrolled it before him and held it in the air.
"The plan is simple. Since we obviously can't do anything by ourselves and I won't survive teleporting that far, I'm left with one last solution. I know a communication spell, that I'm using to communicate with my Aunt. I can tweak it here and there so I'll be able to send a message to somepony else."
"Like who?"
"I... I'm not really sure myself. I guess I can name a few ponies who owe me a favor. Or I can always call some high society naive young mare I could... ermm, 'convince' to lend a hoof." He blushed, while a set of eyes looked at him suspiciously. "D-don't look at me like that! I know how this sounds..."
"A new stallion, built on the remnants of the old one," Doctor shook his head with disapproval "and we thought you changed, Blue."
"Sh-shut up! I just spent a thousand bits on t-shirts and cookies for charity. I'm allowed to bend some rules in favor of those who need it."
"And look, he's even bribing himself out of guilt!"
"Disgusting!"
"Eeyup!"
Blueblood in response pouted and covered himself in blush. He waited a moment for giggles to stop before he coughed and continued his plan.
"Right, now that you are done, can we please go back to helping Thunderlane?"
His friends calmed themselves.
"Alright, enough joking around and wasting time," said Doctor "so, we call somepony with your spell and... then what?"
Blueblood opened his mouth, but soon after closed it, tapped his chin, hummed, then shrugged.
"To be completely honest, that's as far as my plan goes. I'm open to suggestions."
Emotional outbreak. Breaking up with Blossom. Encouragement from his friends. The need to impress his little brother. His lifelong goal of being able to talk down to Rainbow Dash, at least once. Revenge against Lightning Dust. His own nature.
Thunderlane had a lot of things to blame for his current situation. Or rather, reasons to be in the air, busting his plot and flapping his wings harder than he did in, well, ever. Not even Everfree forest was this harsh on him. Occasional lightning wasn't a problem, they were easy to predict and avoid. Rain was annoying and thick enough that he could feel the cold through his wet coat, but it was bearable. The wind was annoying as hell as well, but he was bulky enough that it made him little difference. All three combined were a real pain in the flank, but even all that wasn't enough to drag him down. In fact, it barely slowed him. That was the final reason he had before he announced his participation. It was his trump card, an obvious yet hidden factor that was supposed to put himself and Rainbow Dash in equal positions. He knew Dash wasn't a slouch- whenever they looked for volunteers to clean up wild clouds in Everfree forest, both of them were the first (and only ones) in line from Ponyville's branch. He knew she was too proud and boisterous to pass it up, even if she wasn't nearly as good there as he was. It was a very minor thing, but those times were one of the few instances where he felt superior to Rainbow Braggart Dash, whose comparatively smaller frame and mass stood little chances, no matter how much she claimed otherwise.
It was his forte. It was his element.
And yet, why was he still dead last? Even through the goggles, he had to squint to notice the rainbow hue that got further and further every second. She clearly struggled on her way- he saw her dodge the lighting just in the nick of time, every time being dangerously close to her, once even grazing her mane by an inch. Not to mention, he could clearly see her frame being tossed and swayed by the wind here and there. Nothing major, she recovered from each of them gracefully and lost maybe a fraction of her speed on the way. But all of that and she was still in the lead.
And then there was Lightning Dust. He didn't mind her much at first. He expected her to be just like Rainbow Dash, but lesser, slower and not nearly as talented. To a degree, he was right. She wasn't nearly as fast, but she was smarter (that much he already deduced) and, unfortunately for them both, the weather didn't seem to affect her at all. Whatever her special talent was, it had to be related to storms and lightnings and she showed it. Even from his point of view, he could see she was surrounded by stray streaks of electricity, which didn't come from the clouds, but herself.
Another fun fact about pegasi that not many knew- they could generate some weather effects by themselves. Of course, there was never a danger of any pegasi learning how to fling lightning bolts or create clouds through sheer willpower (though some of General Hurricanes fan-boys would beg to differ), but it was there. And just like every other trick they had, it was too subtle to notice, usually. Some high-profile fliers used this trick to improve their visual effects. How Spitfire managed to look like a flying fireball was anypony's guess. And then there was Lightning Dust, who somehow learned how to do it as well. Or was that just a side effect of something different it was hard to tell. What wasn't hard to tell, was that she was different. Just how much, they were about to find out soon.
The storm picked up by the time they reached the third checkpoint, leaving two stallions there as flabbergasted as the previous two pairs. Though to their credit, these two at least remained firmly on their hooves. Three down, one more checkpoint to go. The next one was located right above the main Canterlot branch, which served not only as a halfway point and a rapid 180 degrees turn, but also changed the overall feel of the race.
"What do you mean by that?" Asked Cloud Kicker, fully engrossed in her role as the co-commentator of the race. Whether anypony even listened in between having fun with Pinkie games was besides the point, she enjoyed the conversation regardless and would partake in it even without the microphones.
"Up until that point, it was an endurance run. They were going uphill, against winds and rain. Now that they reached the halfway point, it's a downhill glide back here. This means they'll able to cut loose and release all the strength they were holding back. Basically, this part will be about half as long as the previous one."
"Ah, I see," she nodded and faced towards the crowds "you all heard that, everypony! As cool as it was all this way, sadly our dark horse is out of his league. For those six of you who voted for our mohawked racer, when you pour those tears of regret, remember- it's all for charity, so nopony really lost!"
"Woah, I didn't say he lost!"
"Yeah, but he's already outmatched in the part he was supposed to excel. There's no way he could possibly win now that the focus shifts to raw speed!"
"True, but... but the race is far from over! He can still catch up to them!"
"Oh really, can he?"
"...umm... in theory, I guess?"
Cloud Kicker shook her head and giggled at Soarin.
"Oh, that's just so cute! You really do believe in him!"
"Of-of course I do! And I have a receipt to prove it!" He replied, showcasing his ticket.
"Alright, alright, I'm not saying it's a bad thing. In fact," she took a small pause, then looked him in the eyes "I'm really glad he has you. I mean, all of you, not just you you, but the others you too. Gah, words are hard!" She rolled her eyes and shook her head, trying to compose herself. Soarin said nothing, only waited patiently for more.
"What I mean is, I'm glad he found so many good friends that believe in him. Sure, he's grumpy and kinda of a stick in a mud sometimes, but deep inside, he's a good stallion, he deserves to have somepony at his side. And for some unknown reason he doesn't seem to like me. Go figure." She shrugged and it was Soarin's time to roll his eyes. "I mean sure, he seems to get along with Ditzy and Blossomforth, sometimes, but he really needed a man friend... and yes, I do realize how indecent it sounded, no regrets!" She coughed and turned away, blushing slightly.
This revelation gave Soarin something to think about. When the two first met, they were already in a group on the fair, not unlike this one and the reason they even interacted was, well, the entire Blueblood and Shining inspection fiasco, which later turned into the rest of the story. But even after that, living few months here in Ponyville, he couldn't quite tell who Thunderlane's other friends were. Ditzy was obviously a bit more than just a foalsitter, but not much more than a friend. His relations with weather ponies were mixed at best. At most he heard about his so called friendship with Rainbow Dash, but that was a big question mark in itself. Other than that, he couldn't name too many ponies Thunderlane interacted with on a daily basis.
"And he'll really need all the friends he can get," Cloud Kicker continued "after the plot whooping he's about to receive! I mean, I admire his bravery and all, but he never stood a chance. Everypony knows that. Heck, he knows that! Poor guy, his hot-hotheadedness got the better of him once again." She shook her head again.
Her smiled faltered as she noticed that Soarin still looked at her, now with noticeably less amusement than before.
Time was running out and so were the options of helping Thunderlane win the race. Since cheating was a really bad word, the four gentlecolts settled on calling it a 'Divine Intervention' (using a twisted logic which implied that Blue was a divine being, by the rights of being adopted by 'technical but not quite sun goddess'. They wasted a precious minute discussing it instead of actual plan).
"Okay, everything's in place." Blue nodded, getting similar reply from his partners in crime, though Shining Armor's nod was halfhearted at best. He couldn't blame him for feeling guilty, but it was an honor of a good pony on the line here. Which would be solved by 'Divine Intervention'. The irony wasn't lost on any of them.
"All that's left is to send this letter..." He levitated a scroll with instructions and slowly prepared the spell to send it. A bead of sweat passed his forehead, as he swallowed, concentrated, and...
"Hey guys, what are you doing?" Asked Ditzy Do.
"GAAHH!" The four stallions jumped and yelled. The scroll fell on the muddy ground.
They all turned towards the familiar, wall-eyed mare, who at this point had to block her mouth with her wing to stop her from giggling madly. Once she composed herself, her lazy eye caught a glimpse of the scroll, now buried deep in the mud. She walked towards it and picked it up with her hoof. Her eyebrows widened in realization.
"Sweet Celestia!" She gasped, as she scanned the document. Four (five?) hearts stopped as they looked helplessly at the mare, just about to catch them red hooved.
"W-we can explain!" Blue walked forward, dreading that they were under a tent, so rain couldn't hide the sweat that ran through his forehead.
"It's not what you think!" Doctor added, approaching Ditzy with haste.
"I told them it's a bad idea!" Shining Armor took a few steps back, shaking his head.
"Eyup!" Macintosh went after the Shiny's example.
"This scroll is still dry and clean!" Ditzy announced, as she looked at it up close with her right eye (which happened to be her left eye). "Not even a drop of water on it! That's amazing!"
Four (five?) boulders fell from each of stallions respective hearts. Blue sighed with great relief and wiped his sweat with his new shirt.
"Y-yes, I cast a waterproof spell on it!" He grabbed the scroll from her with his magic, away from her wiggly but surprisingly good eyes. "I-I just learned it recently and I, uh, forgot to send it to Princess." He told it with a fake smile. Ditzy looked at him with one eye, as the other wandered wherever it wanted. She held a small, subtle smile as she somehow managed to pierce him with one-eyed gaze. "You know, as a proof that I mastered it. Yeah!"
Time passed, Thunderlane was as far from victory as he was, if not even further, yet a Divine Intervention was being stalled by a single mother. Blueblood waited for a while, resisting the piercing gaze and a creepy, wandering eye that looked at every direction, except forward. He remembered clearly how he used to find it creepy, but grew fond of the mare, despite the... unusuallness she presented. Right now, he felt like she could see his soul through, ready to do, well, he wasn't sure what exactly, but she wasn't going to like it. He gulped and looked at Doctor. Sadly, his friend could only shrug, being as helpless as him.
More time passed, then Ditzy smiled brightly, closing her eyes in the process.
"Well, you did a great job, Blue! I'm sure Princess will be satisfied!" She exclaimed happily, toppling a second boulder from their hearts." And here I thought four of you were doing something suspicious!"
"...you don't say?" Blue asked, his fear coming back. He could feel a third boulder materializing inside of him. And it wasn't pleasant.
"Yeah. From far away it looked like you were up to no good."
"Unheard of!"
"Preposterous!"
"No way!"
"Eyup!"
"Yeah, I know how silly it sounds," Ditzy blushed and scratched her head "I couldn't help but suspect you would do something wrong, just to help Thunderlane win." She laughed out loud. Nopony joined her, as the four looked at each other. "But there's no way you would do anything like that. I mean, even if you knew a way to do something in such short time, there's no way you'd cheat on his behalf!"
"Y-yeah..."
"I owe you an apology. How could I suspect you, of all ponies, of being able to do something this wrong. Not to mention illegal!"
The four stallions fell into silence, busy only with looking at the muddy ground under them.
"I mean, we all trust Thunderlane to win or lose of his own power. He's not doing it to win, but to prove that he can be just as good as Rainbow Dash, and Lightning Dust too I guess. We all know he's better than those two combined, but hey, it's a stallions pride we're talking about. I think we can all imagine how devastated he would be if he found out some sort of "Divine Intervention" tipped the scale in his favor! That would be the worst stain on his honor. I mean, he IS an element of Honesty, right? I don't think he would ever forgive anypony for that!" She ended with a small laughter.
"Oh well, sorry again for the suspicion, I'll bake you apology muffins later. Now, I gotta go back to kids!"
That said, she was gone, trotting away cheerfully humming under her nose, taking back all the cheer along with her leaving only four humbled stallions. Shining Armor was the first to break the silence.
"Blue?"
"Yeah." Prince answered shortly, as the ignited scroll turned into ashes from.
"That mare," Doctor smiled "I pray she never changes."
"Eyup!"
Cloud Kicker felt the tension raising in the air. And not because of the nasty weather or race in progress. Her gentle and obedient guest commentator suddenly looked at her with a glare that could pierce right through her soul. A feat which not even Thunderlane or Rainbow Dash ever managed to achieve.
"I don't know him nearly as long as most of you in Ponyville," Soarin started "but what I do know about Thunderlane, is that once he says he'll do something, no power in this or any other world will stop him from achieving it. And he promised us he will win this. So all the facts and reasons be damned, he will arrive here and this ticket here will suddenly be worth dozens of cakes and maybe even a day full of massages by two superbly beautiful twin mares with gorgeous, shapely plots... uuhh, what was I talking about?” He shook his head and wiped the saliva from his mouth. “Oh, right, Thunderlane. He will win."
Cloud Kicker raised her eyebrow and subtly moved her chair a few inches away, just in case.
"Yeah, sure he will."
"Wanna bet?" Soarin asked. That magical word always worked and this time was no failure either, as her eyes perked. "If he wins, you'll allow me to take you to a dinner."
Cloud Kicker's eyes narrowed, as she contemplated this idea. She couldn't find a reason to refuse thus far.
"Tempting. And if he loses?"
"If he loses, which he won't, I'll buy you a dinner. So, what do you say?"
She hummed for a moment later, until she just shrugged.
"Eh, you only live once, you got the deal!" They shook hooves. "Better prepare your wallet, I'm a mare of good taste."
"There was never any doubt."
The duo smiled at each other and remained like this for a moment, until...
"Ekhem, two things you guys." Raindrops, of all ponies, approached them and looked at them with her usual, a little irritated gaze, now combined with slight blush. "One, you do realize that you're being played into his scheme here, right?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk!" Cloud Kicker shook her head. "And that's why you can't get a date, Dropsy."
"Don't call me that!"
"Win or lose, I'm getting a free dinner from one of the most handsome stallions this side of Equestria. I already won, no matter how this race ends."
Raindrops raised an eyebrow, but couldn't argue with that logic.
"Sure, whatever, but... And that's two, I don't mind you two openly flirting or anything and I don't want to tell any of you how or when to do it, I'm hardly an expert, but... could you please turn off the mics when you do?"
All the sounds screeched to a halt, or so it felt like, as the two pegasi eyes opened wide. They blushed at the realization that the entire crowd was looking directly at them. The reactions were mixed: some were blushing as well, others laughed out loud, others laughed quietly away from everypony, but almost everypony stared at them and waited for more. A few ponies even took it upon themselves to cover their foals ears (that came from those who already knew the pair and expected worse).
Cloud Kicker thought she couldn't be more embarrassed than she was before, yet here she was, slowly burying her entire body under the table, just so as few ponies could see her glowing, red face. Soarin, a former celebrity, took it a little better and smiled sheepish, waving back to all the spectators. Especially Aloe and Lotus, who were too shocked and embarrassed to hide.
Cloud Kicker's hoof extended from under the table and hit the button on the microphones.
As he was approaching the fourth checkpoint, the halfway point, all the hope was pretty much lost. He bet everything on logic and specific conditions, but never thought about just the sheer gap that was between him and the other two. No amount of advantages could save him right now. Even if both mares suddenly broke a wing mid flight (which wasn't impossible, but unlikely), they would still be able to glide down on the other, and way faster than him too. He wasn't about to give up, but now it wasn't about racing or beating them, not even catching up, just ending with as much dignity as possible. And in the end, nothing will change anyway. He will still be the inferior one and there will be two mares with overblown egos right there with him.
Actually, one thing would change- he would no longer be second. Which is basically what he always tried to achieve, but fate now found a way to crush it in the most ironic way possible as well. He wasn't going to lie to himself anymore and accept defeat. It was just a race. There were still many other things in life he should be grateful for and work towards. His brother, friends, job that would improve in the near future once the two speedsters would be gone. He had a lot to look forward to, as soon as today’s compromitation is gone. No use getting worked up over nothing.
"Already giving up, Lumber Crane?" He heard Lightning Dust taunt him, her voice managing to get through the distance and ambient that surrounded them on a stormy day. "So much bark, but you can't even reach me to take a bite? Ha, pathetic!"
His eyes narrowed.
"Don't worry, I'll save some of my cake for you when you get there... next week!"
His teeth grit. His entire body started trembling.
"That is, if you even get there this year!"
Reason- gone. Determination was the only thing that now fueled his body. Now he had two plots he wanted to kick more than anything he ever wanted in his life. Nothing else mattered, anything that was actually valuable and important got pushed back. He wanted to win. He needed to win. His life couldn't continue if he didn't.
Except, there was nothing he could do.
"Unless..." He looked up, at the giant, angry storm clouds.
He never planned on this. It was the most dangerous, stupid move he could do right now. The risk was high, chances were low and all could be for naught. No pony with half his mind would ever go that far. But one look at the two colorful blurs in the sky before him were enough, as he picked up the altitude and flew up, straight into the eye of the storm.