//------------------------------//
// Race of Races 
// Story: To Call the Moon My Own 
// by That_Random_Pony 
//------------------------------//


Nyla’s wings quickly pushed backwards, sending a powerful gust behind her and launching her straight into the air. Rainbow shouted as the burst interrupted her initial takeoff and sent her tumbling through the air. Nyla immediately took first, leaving the ponies speechless as she zoomed into Whitetail Woods. Rainbow spread her wings to come to a a sudden halt, then shook her head to clear the dizziness. She glanced to Tony, who only shrugged with smirk. 

With an annoyed growl, Rainbow shot after her opponent, quickly zooming after the behemoth. "You didn't tell us she was that fast!" Pinkie shouted with excitement. "She knocked Rainbow back and flew like a Wonderbolt!"

"Most dragon's can't even fly as fast as Rainbow when she's serious!" Twilight added, shocked to see something so big move in a hurry. "How is she flying that fast?!"

Tony laughed softly, turning to see where the competitors sped off. "Nera’ak from my world are extremely fast. When she readies to take flight, her scales clamp against her body." 

"So it compresses her," Twilight murmured. "But that little adjustment doesn't explain her rocketing away."

"She has energy like me, and Nera’ak use that in flight to quicken their wings and get more distance," he replied sheepishly, nearly forgetting to tell her.

"Yeah yeah yeah, let's go see them!" Pinkie shouted, dragging Twilight and Rarity to her hot air balloon. 

Ahead, Nyla focused on maneuvering through the tall trees and over any bunches. She heard a small whizzing sound, then turned her head to the side. Just as she did, Rainbow flew up beside her, stuck her tongue out, and blew past her. Nyla's eye-crests rose, but she dispelled her surprise and snorted angrily. Her tail straightened out, and she leaned forward, her energy gathering in her wings. With another flap, she flew twice as fast as before, easily closing the distance to Rainbow. 

"Jeez, you're fast!" Rainbow laughed, glancing over her shoulder. "Let's see if you can keep it up!"

Nyla smirked and let out a huff as she gained slowly. Rainbow focused on the checkpoint ahead, knowing she would have to either slow down or risk a sharp turn to keep her lead. Her opponent's size would force her to loop around it, or else she would lose most of her speed. With that in mind, she sped up more, nearly fast enough to break the sound barrier. She wouldn't need the sonic rainboom, since she doubted Nyla would keep up after that. As she weaved through the thin branches, she made out a bright yellow pillar of wood down the path. 

Applejack could brought a hoof over her eyes to block the sun and see the two racers speeding towards them. "Get ready down there, Mac!" she called down. 

Big Mac moved to a lever at the checkpoint's side and put both hooves on it. Applejack waited for her friend to get closer, and she gasped as she noticed Nyla coming up right behind her, as if Rainbow was running from the dragoness. Rainbow smiled at Applejack before twirling around to make a small loop around the pillar they'd made. The moment she did, the farm pony signaled her brother, and a slew of firecrackers shot up to signal the first pass. Rainbow turned back to see the display, but her eyes widened as she watched Nyla make the turn. 

Instead of slowing or arcing around it, she did a barrel roll, corkscrew, and backflip all in one, an advanced combination of maneuvers that only professional fliers could pull off. And to top it off, Nyla let out a burst of energy to send her barreling through branches and right up to her. Applejack clung to the checkpoint and her hat as Nyla's move let out a blast of air and energy. When it died down, she slowly slid to the ground and landed on her back, panting heavily. Her brother chuckled awkwardly as she laid there.

"Ah am not goin' back up there," she said flatly, putting her stetson over her eyes.

Nyla's untampered speed brought her back into first, and she shot a small, arrogant smirk back at Rainbow. "They're coming back!" Pinkie announced, pulling Rarity and Twilight close. "Look look look!" 

"P-P-Pinkie, w-w-why are w-w-we s-so... high?" Fluttershy quivered, sitting down so as to not see the ground. 

"To see the race! Fluttershy, you're missing it!" She pulled her friend close and pointed out to the mass of red and the blur of cyan. 

"They're neck and neck!" Rarity gasped. "Rainbow hasn't ever tried so hard!"

"That's because nopony can go as fast as her!" Pinkie squealed. "But Nyla isn't a pony!"

The crowd cheered as they passed over, then clung to the trees as Nyla's speed nearly threw them off their hooves. Anypony still in Ponyville looked up to see an enormous dragon shoot by with their residential daredevil trailing behind. It wasn't long before they reached the beginning to the Everfree. Like before, Nyla kept her lead by performing the same maneuver to keep up her speed. Rainbow had never tried it before, but she knew that she couldn't keep up without copying her. 

She swallowed nervously, and watched Nyla do one of the most difficult movements for pegasi. Her wing tucked in towards the direction of the roll, her tail pushing outwards to help with the corkscrew, and finally her back arched to pull her into a flip. With the movements in mind, Rainbow tried the same. The barrel roll and corkscrew would be easy, but she lacked the solid tail Nyla had. Her legs pushed back, roughly imitating the dragoness' tail. Rainbow yelled in panic as she swung around sharply, then leveled out.

Nyla glanced back, shocked to see Rainbow right on her and gaining. 

How did she recover so quickly?!

Her question moved out of her mind as Rainbow shot past her again, and they zoomed over the starting line, signaling their second lap.

"This is so awesome!" Pinkie shouted, leaning over the side of the casket. "It's like they're both Wonderbolts and we've got front row seats!"

Tony floated beside their balloon as he watched his partner. She looked serious about the race, but he could feel her heart beating in both excitement and anxiousness. They'd both been surprised that Rainbow could keep up, and now Nyla was trying to make sure she won this race. 

She was having the time of her life.

"What's she saying?" Twilight asked, seeing him smile to himself. 

He glanced to her, then back down to the race as they turned from the checkpoint. "I'm just glad she's having fun," he chuckled softly. "She's really trying here."

"Well, this is the first time I've seen Rainbow take a race so seriously," Rarity said, amazed at how quickly the two fought for first.

They rounded back from the Everfree, heading to the start for their final lap. "On Loki'ir, dragons raced to prove themselves as true adults. The closer the race, the more mature they were supposed to be. Maturity means power." Their final lap was met with a roar of cheers from the crowds, most of Ponyville's streets lined with new supporters for both sides. "But... she's acting like we used to."

"And that's a good thing, I'm hoping," Twilight smiled, turning to watch the last lap. 

Nyla felt the strain in her wings as she pushed herself to keep first, Rainbow just a few body lengths beside her. Sweat ran down Rainbow's face, blowing into the wind behind her. If Nyla wasn't so huge, she would be in first, and that fact pushed her to go faster. Nyla could hear Rainbow whizzing beside her, both on the verge of going supersonic. Up ahead, Applejack clung to the base of the checkpoint and waited for them to pass. Like before, they both performed the same turn and bolted back the way they came. Rainbow had enough practice to fix her posture during the maneuver, and so now she was making them swiftly and gaining more speed. She was a light blue blur at the corner of Nyla's eye, and soon she was ahead and creating creating a gap.

"See ya at the finish!" She shouted back, zooming off. 

"Look! Rainbow's in the lead!" Scootaloo yelled, standing on Sweetie Belle's head. "Go, Rainbow! You've got this!"

"It ain't over yet!" Applebloom reminded her. "Nyla could still win!"

"Here they come!" Sweetie shouted, jumping down with her friends.

The two fliers blew past the crowd and over the town. Tony felt Nyla's energy spike just a bit, but it was enough to send her through the sound barrier. Rainbow gasped as Nyla shot by, but she gritted her teeth and leaned into her path. There was another crack, and a circular rainbow blew into the sky, a streak of the spectrum trailing behind Rainbow's body. Nyla was astonished, just as much as Tony, when she caught up to Nyla immediately. The entrance to the Everfree was just in reach, and after a few seconds they needed to turn. Instead of slowing down, Rainbow sped up, startling Nyla.

She couldn't make a turn at that speed and keep up... could she?

There wasn't any other explanation as to why she wouldn't slow down. If she could make the turn at that speed, Nyla was sure she could too. They were right at the turn, and Nyla tucked in her body to start the maneuver, but she gasped as the rainbow streak made one of the sharpest turns she'd ever seen. She tried to bring her body around, but her body spun awkwardly, sending her in a spiral towards the trees.

Tony looked away, and the girls gasped as Nyla crashed through several trees and tumbled to the ground before sliding further into the Everfree. A crater was left to show the path Nyla slid along, until she finally slowed to a stop. Rainbow glanced back in time to see Nyla disappear into the eerie forest, and she pulled back and spread her wings to bring herself to a halt. She hovered in place as she waited for Nyla to keep going, but her dragoness opponent didn't fly up like she thought she would.

Tony knew she couldn't make a turn at her speed, and he knew Nyla did as well. 

You had nothing to prove.

...I know.

Are you alright?

Yes... just have a scale out of place.

Nyla shook the branches from her body and glanced at her front leg. Most of her scales were scratched from pebbles and bark, but only one had any real damage. She ran her tongue over the scale, grimacing as it slid into place and cemented back with her saliva. She pushed herself back up, stretching out her wings and moving her tail to make sure it wasn't broken. 

I've lost... haven't I?

...I wouldn't say that just yet.

Nyla rose her eye crest as she thought over his words, then glanced over to where she heard flapping. Rainbow touched down in the smashed dirt and trotted over, still panting heavily. She could feel Nyla's hardened eyes on her, but she pushed aside any hesitance and trotted right up to her. The dragoness was baffled to see her smiling, and even more when she chuckled.

"Y'know, I hate losing, and I really hate ties," Rainbow said, "buuuuut, I don't think beating you after that is any fun."

Nyla tilted her head questioningly, and Rainbow scratched her head anxiously as she kept up her cheery smile. She trotted up to Nyla and placed a hoof on her leg, looking up to her without any sort of fear.

"Come on. Everypony's gotta see that you're okay." Nyla watched her trot towards town, but she stopped and turned to her. "Something wrong?"

The dragoness continued to stare, then slowly trudged herself after Rainbow. By the time they reached the edge of the Everfree, everypony who watched their race had gathered in the fields. When the two emerged from the trees, everypony cheered for them as they walked side by side. Pinkie's balloon touched down, and the girls rushed over to the crowd before reaching the front. 

"Is she okay?!" Pinkie shouted rushing up to them.

"That looked pretty bad," Applejack chuckled weakly, looking at Nyla for any injuries. "So what now? Ya'll gonna finish it up?"

Rainbow glimpsed at Nyla, and she winked to her opponent, baffling her. "Eh. I'd be pretty sore if that happened to me," she sighed, cracking her neck. "Besides, I'm beat. Maybe I did too many wing-ups or something. We'll settle this later! Then we'll see who's faster!"

"It's a tie, then?!" The Cutie Mark Crusaders wriggled past the crowd and reached Nyla. Scootaloo turned to Rainbow, then said, "But the finish is right there!"

Rainbow shrugged. "Hey, that wouldn't be fair, would it?" 0

"It... you... she..." The filly sighed lowly and shook her head. "No, it wouldn't."

She ruffled Scootaloo's mane and laughed. "I'm glad you came back," Twilight nodded. "For a second I thought you were actually going to try to win."

"I thought about it," she admitted, smiling up at Nyla, "but that's pretty much cheating."

"Aw, I'm so proud of you, Dashie!" Pinkie giggled, hugging Rainbow and Nyla's leg. She quickly pulled away from the dragoness and smiled nervously.

Nyla glanced to Tony, then mentally sighed. He gasped quietly, grabbing their attention.

"What'd she say?" Twilight asked.

Tony opened his mouth, then closed it before turning back to them. "She said... she doesn't mind, Pinkie."

The girls glanced over to Nyla, and Pinkie smiled brightly as she latched on to Nyla's leg and hugged as hard as she could. "Now I can hug you all the time! Just like with our friends!"

She has a strong grip.

The girls laughed together, then quickly gasped loudly.

"I heard her!" Pinkie shouted. "She talked to me in my head!"

"I heard her, too!" Rainbow laughed. 

"Did we all hear her?" Twilight questioned. Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy nodded as well. "Is that a good thing?"

Tony laughed softly and stroked one of Nyla's spines. "Yeah... she trusts you enough to speak to you. You just can't reach out to her like she can to you," he explained. 

Fluttershy gulped softly, then moved out from behind Rarity. "U-Um... you... y-you have a nice voice," she told Nyla. Once again, she was stunned by their words, but she could see how hard Fluttershy was trying to speak.

Thank you. I've... never been told that before.

"Well you're as quiet as Fluttershy, to us," Rarity smiled. "We'd have told you sooner if you'd speak to us."

Nyla nodded respectfully then turned to Rainbow.

Rainbow Dash.

The cyan mare turned to her, anxiously waiting for her to speak.

I... I... thank you. It was very honorable of you to stop this race. Perhaps next time we can have a true race.

Rainbow slowly smiled, then chuckled as she nodded her head. "You bet! And next time, I'm so gonna kick your flank!" she declared.

Nyla snorted smoke and returned the determined expression, lowering her head to bump heads with Rainbow. 

I'll believe it when it see it.










So did you have fun?

...yes... I did.

Good. You were amazing, Nyla.

Except for that turn.

Yeah, that.

Nyla chuckled throatily while Tony laughed quietly. He ran his hand over her eye crest, his energy sending a comforting warmth through her scales.

I'm glad you spoke to them.

Nyla blew out a small stream of fire instead of sighing.

I just wanted them to know that I was grateful.

You're pretty stubborn, y'know?

I'm a Nera'akat. We're supposed to be.

True... but at least you're getting there. 

...hopefully.

Don't worry, okay? They'll show you that they're great ponies. It's just gonna take more time.

Alright... is my voice really as good as they say?

You have a beautiful voice, Nyla. It's motherly... but to me it's just a voice I can speak to without caring.

Nyla leaned closer to him, rubbing her snout against his cheek. 

Thank you, Reku’un. This is the best anniversary I've ever had.

Great. That's all I ever wanted. You want me to sleep here tonight?

...only if you're comfortable.

He smiled as he walked over to the base of her neck and sat down. He laid against her red scales, feeling the heat of her eternal flame. There was never anything that could comfort him like her heat. Nyla felt better with him sleeping with her like they did. When it was only the two of them that were there for one another. While she still had trouble adjusting to how open the others were, she'd seen what Tony was talking about in Rainbow. They were all ponies that she didn't know on a personal level. But as a dragon, she'd relied on her first impression of them. She could see that then and now didn't exactly match.

Reku’un.

Yes, Nyla?

...

...

You are my best friend...

...

...

And you're my best friend, Nyla. And you always will be. To the death.

Nyla smiled, curling her body up around him to get comfortable. She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply.

To the death.








Golden Oaks Library

"They were amazing!" Spike cheered. "They kept switching places and speeding up, and then Nyla went supersonic, and Rainbow did her sonic rainboom and they still couldn't get past each other!"

Twilight giggled as she read through a book about dragon culture. "Yes, Spike, I saw," she said with a playful roll of her eyes. "I'm just surprised she could break the sound barrier faster than Rainbow. It takes her at least 13.2 seconds to do that, and Nyla did it in a fraction of that time! She didn't even try!"

Spike smirked and crossed his arms. "Well she is one of the old dragons. She's like nothing we've ever seen!" Twilight laughed at his enthusiasm before closing her book and grabbing a candle. 

"Okay, okay, we should get to bed. I need to help Princess Luna with something tomorrow," Twilight said. Spike hopped onto her back as they climbed the stairs.

"Oh, is it for Tony's birthday?" Spike questioned. 

"Yep. Luna needs a lot of magic and knowledge from the library, and I'm going to supply her with both!" she proudly announced.

Zzzzz..... zzzzz..... zzzzz..... 

Twilight and Spike glanced to one another, then to Tony's door. She trotted over and opened the door to his room, poking her head in quietly. Laying down beside mounds of books, Luna snored loudly on her lover's bed, hugging a pillow as she slept.

"Oh man, she looks like you after an all-nighter," Spike snickered, earning a small glare from Twilight. "Well its true!"

Rolling her eyes, Twilight trotted over to Luna, moved the books to the floor, and nudged the princess gently. "Princess. Princess Luna. You have to go!" she said in in a hushed tone. Luna just snored louder, swatting sluggishly at Twilight's hoof.

Twilight wondered what could wake her up, then thought of something instantly. She took a few steps back, then yelled as loud as she could, "It's Nightmare Moon!"

Luna leaped to her hooves. "Tis a lie! It is only-!" She froze as she looked down to Spike and her sister's student, then closed her mouth and cleared her throat. "I do not appreciate your methods, Twilight."

"Sorry," Twilight sheepishly shrugged. "But you should get going. Night court starts soon!"

Luna furrowed a brow and glanced outside, gasping loudly. "It's night?! Already?!" She jumped down and sifted through most of the tomes with her magic before stacking three together and heading for the balcony, spreading her wings quickly.

"Luna!" Twilight called.

"What is it?!" Twilight nervously gestured to her chin, and Luna touched her own. She blushed softly as she felt dried saliva on her fur, and she quickly rubbed it off before flapping her wings. "I'll see you soon, Twilight! Don't forget!"

"I won't!" She nodded warmly to her before flying off to Canterlot, while Twilight and Spike watched her until she disappeared. "Spike, could you help me clean up-"

"Zzzzz..... zzzzz....."

"- Luna's mess," Twilight sighed, smiling down at Spike. Her horn glowed gently as she carried him out of Tony's room and into theirs. She nestled him into his bed and pulled the covers over him. "Goodnight, Spike. Sweet dreams."

She trotted back into Tony's room and eyed the stacks of books anxiously. "She really did pull an all-nighter. Er, all-day-er?" Her hoof knocked into a tin can, and she raised it up to read the note on its side. The writing looked rushed and sloppy; almost as bad as Rainbow's own hoofwriting.

"Twilight,

Need more coffee.

~~Luna."

...

...

...

"Seriously?!"









Luna constantly rubbed her eyes as she flew back to Canterlot, drowsy to the point she thought she would sleep-glide. Since her moon was already in the sky, she knew her sister had come looking for her at some point and that she was obviously waiting for her. With yet another reason to hurry, she rushed to reach the castle before being any later than she already was. She landed sloppily on her balcony and galloped inside, dropping the books she'd borrowed on her desk as she sprinted to the door. However, she jumped back and let out a surprised yelp when she bumped into her sister, who looked to be on the verge of using her own Royal Canterlot Voice.

There was an awkward moment of silence as the two stared at one another, Luna's eyes struggling to meet her sister's glare. Celestia's eyes traveled from her squirming sister to the mound of books on her desk. She glanced back at Luna and stepped closer to examine her mane, then a dried trail of drool on her neck. A smirk crept it's way onto Celestia's stoic expression as she stepped back.

"What were you studying for so long?" Celestia laughed, wiping away her sister's drool.

Luna moved her sister's hoof and finished rubbing away what was left and sighed, "I was learning about a pony's subconscious in Twilight's home." 

Her sister stared for some time before raising her brow. "I'm sure we have tomes about that in our library, Luna," Celestia reminded her. "You should have looked here."

The lunar princess silently sighed and looked to the pile of books, her magic taking one from the rest and presenting it to Celestia. "I needed a specific tome I'd seen from her shelves," she explained, watching Celestia read over the title.

At first, it wasn't so strange that her sister, who walked through dreams, was curious about her subjects' minds while they slept, but this was much more in-depth. Along with the entire pile of textbooks on the subject, it looked like research before an experiment. 

And Tony's birthday wasn't that far off.

She gasped softly, then turned to her sister. "Why didn't you tell me?!" she shouted in delight. "Luna, this is an amazing present for him, but you should have told me sooner! We could prepare it when he's busy, or when he's asleep-"

"Sister," Luna interrupted, "I want to do this for him myself." 

"Lulu, this could take months, and even then it's a demanding process!" Celestia exclaimed. "He can't even dream, so you'll have to make him his own dreamscape!"

"Which is why Twilight Sparkle will be helping me in putting this together," Luna smiled, watching Celestia's expression change to surprise.

"Why not me?" Celestia questioned, honestly curious why she chose Twilight.

Luna nervously smiled and chuckled. "If I should 'botch' this, I'd rather deal with her creations rather than one of yours," she said with hint of fear.

Celestia went to speak, then closed her mouth and nodded with a sheepish smile. "It wouldn't be ideal, considering what we've seen," she laughed, then became a bit serious. "Just be careful with Twilight. Have you told her about it, yet?"

"Of course!" Luna smiled. "I wouldn't walk her into this blind, sister. But she's agreed to help." She glanced up at the clock and gasped. "It's already midnight! I need to go, we'll discuss this tomorrow!" Luna quickly said as she galloped past her sister and down the stairs.

Celestia smiled warmly and rolled her eyes. "As stubborn as always," she giggled. She looked back at her sister's materials and skimmed through the pages. "I understand giving him his own dreams... but what could you make for him if all he has are memories?"