//------------------------------// // 164. Rainbow Falls - Part 2 // Story: Blaze the Pony Tale // by Wolven5 //------------------------------// Before long, the train arrived at its destination, the town of Rainbow Falls! Famously named for its most obvious attraction, literal falls of rainbows falling pouring from the clouds! It was also this year’s location for the Equestria Games tryouts, so this year the town was packed with aspiring athletes, their teammates, game officials, and more tourists than the locals were accustomed to. It was a beautiful place indeed, where the rainbow falls became streams that fed into canals curving through town, calling for the need of a few bridges that only added to the town’s charm. As everypony disembarked the train, Midnight made sure to speak with Soarin, “I honestly would rather have you on Team Ponyville than against it, but… I understand the commitment you made, Soar.” Sighing in response, Soarin replied a tad testy-like, “I wonder if Rainbow understands commitment…” Before Midnight could ask what the Wonderbolt meant, Soarin took flight to find his team, before remembering he had a team to coach. “Alright, everypony! Follow me, we gotta check in with the game officials before heading for the tryouts.” After signing up Team Ponyville, Midnight ordered the rest of the team to report to the tryouts of the events they were aiming for while he escorted the Relay team to theirs. The tryouts for the relay event was being held on a field at the foot of the cliff upon which Rainbow Falls was built on. As they walked among their competition, Team Ponyville couldn’t help but notice their would-be rivals were beginning to notice them. “That’s Rainbow Dash! She’s an awesome flyer!” “I heard she’s flying third for her team in the aerial relay, which means everypony’s gonna have to be way ahead to beat her!” “Forget Rainbow Dash, check out their coach! It’s Prince Midnight Blaze!” “I heard he wanted to be on the team rather than coaching it.” “Except the game officials said his being an alicorn and a prince would make it unfair to the rest of the competition.” Almost immediately, the gossiping rivals all felt a chill run up their spines and they flinched to see Midnight slowly but surely look their way with a rather annoyed look. A look where his eyes were narrowed and glowing pure white-hot, that it made them all gulp nervously. “Uh… I think he heard you…” *KAPWING* “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Midnight muttered irritably while Applejack and Fluttershy set up their shade. He hated gossip! The very word felt disgusting in his mouth. Alas it did not stop as a new topic of interest made itself known with a thunderous CRACK and whistling WHOOSH overhead, and everypony looked up to see… “The Wonderbolts!” “I hear they’re flying for Cloudsdale.” “Then Cloudsdale will definitely qualify, they’re the best flyers ever!” Rainbow Dash looked for herself and was unsurprised to see the very best of the best among the Wonderbolts, streak overhead. Spitfire was obvious, as well as Fleetfoot, but the `Bolt she had her eyes on was her Soarin. Mmm….! He looks so hot in uniform! The `Bolts came down for a graceful perfect two-point landing, Spitfire smirking, “And the game is on!” “Nice to see there’s some competition here,” Soarin commented but didn’t exactly sound psyched and for some reason not looking in Rainbow’s general direction. “Two more days of practice, and we’ll see you in the air, Rainbow Dash!” Fleetfoot said to the rainbow-maned pegasus as the three of them took their leave. But Fleetfoot made sure to add a cocky, “If you’re lucky!” But as they walked away, Spitfire couldn’t help but feel Soarin wasn’t exactly his usual friendly self. Rather he’d been curt, which was odd since they’d just stopped to say hello to their favorite aspiring Wonderbolt who also happened to be his girlfriend. “Uh, Soar? Everything okay?” Spitfire asked. “You didn’t say much to Dash.” “Well we’re on different teams,” Soarin answered in a tone that implied that was all there was to it, but Spitfire wasn’t so sure. “In any case, we gotta be in peak condition! Which means you gotta give it a hundred-and-ten percent.” “Huh?!” Soarin was a little baffled by Spitfire’s words, especially after she poked him in the barrel. “Honestly, Soar, how many apple pies do you eat in Ponyville?” Spitfire commented, Soarin pushing her hoof away. “Well… maybe my suit feels just a bit tighter than I remember,” Soarin admitted hesitantly. Flapping over his relay team, Midnight edged up the brim of his cap as he gazed down on them sternly, “Now, I’m sure I needn’t remind you all of what our goal is here?” “Uh…” Bulk hesitated, “Maybe?” “We want to qualify!” Rainbow exasperated, Midnight nodding. “Exactly! We gotta be one of the four quickest teams to make it to the finish line. Bulk Biceps, you’re up first! So get flapping.” Bulk flapped his teeny wings almost quicker than a hummingbird, the poor things working hard to lift the oversized beefcake they were attached to. Narrowing his eyes impatiently, Midnight blew his whistle rather harshly, provoking Bulk to get moving. It certainly wasn’t easy for him, given the loud groans of effort he was making as he floated towards the hoop-topped poles when- *SPLAT* Something brown and pastry-ish smacked him in the chin, making him lose his concentration and fall. Rainbow flying up to investigate, only to almost get smacked too. “What the?!” “Sorry!” They all looked to Applejack, who was standing near her wagon full of apple brown bettys. She looked over her shoulder, saying, “Got th’ idear from them, but…” They looked and saw a couple of mares next to tiny catapults, launching some kind of pastries into the air, and- *ZOOM/CHOMP* From out of nowhere, the pastries vanished into the mouths of Spitfire and Fleetfoot, who hadn’t even slowed down to insure they’d catch the pastries. Their timing and pace were perfect! “Looks like they got better aim,” Applejack commented lamely. “Focus! The passing of the baton must be seamless," snapped Midnight as he held something in his hoof. He flapped over to Bulk Biceps, who’d just gotten his second wind and managed to get in the air again, the prince/coach saying, “You shouldn’t miss a wingbeat or lose so much as a hair in altitude! But most important of all…” He snagged Bulk’s hoof - “Don’t let go of it!” - and placed the baton over Bulk’s manipulation shoe before waving over Fluttershy and getting out of the way. As she flapped closer, Fluttershy asked, “Are you really-really-really sure you’re ready? I mean, I don’t wanna take it if you’re not super-sure…” “READY!” Bulk said after only a moment of hesitation and held out his hoof, shaking as he split his concentration between maintaining altitude and keeping his hoof steady for Fluttershy to take the baton. Midnight and Rainbow watched with relief to see Fluttershy successfully take the baton… only for that relief to fly out the window when she fumbled and dropped it. When it plopped onto the ground, it was enveloped in Rarity’s aura a she tsk-tsk’d how dusty it was, “Ponyville can do so much better. I’ll be back with a freshly-painted one in no time.” “We were using that!!” snapped an angry Rainbow Dash, whose words fell on deaf ears as Rarity trotted off. “Relax, Dash,” Midnight sighed, “it’s not like anypony else has color-coordinated horseshoes.” A loud clacking sound got their attention and they looked just in time to see the horseshoe on Fleetfoot’s hoof was painted the gold and blue of the Wonderbolts, having just received it from Spitfire. Midnight facehooved when he heard Rainbow sigh, “I guess some ponies do....” He looked down and saw Rainbow had landed and did so himself, saying, “It’s not a big deal!” “It will be when Ponyville doesn’t qualify…” Rainbow Dash walked away, her spirits falling, when Midnight had an idea! He looked over to the Wonderbolts’ area of practice and was glad to see Soarin had just started practicing a maneuver. Levitating his whistle to his lips, he gave a shrill alert before calling, “Relay team, fall in!” Rainbow was quicker while Fluttershy and Bulk frantically hurried up. As his relay team stood before him expectantly, Midnight gave them a once-over before smirking, “Follow me.” They did so, following Midnight towards the Wonderbolts, seeing the trainers with Spitfire and Fleetfoot, the former getting a massage while the latter was freshening up with her water bottled. Overhead, they saw Soarin flying, the other trainers watching closely. “It goes without saying,” Midnight said to his relay team, “that the Wonderbolts are among the very best of the best of the best, the most elite flyers today! I should know, given I once trained under a Wonderbolt captain.” “You?!” Rainbow Dash gaped at Midnight incredulously, as he smirked and nodded. “Midnight you just might have become one of my personal heroes.” “And perhaps the rest of you…” Midnight eyed Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps who flinched as they stood straight, “can learn something by watching some pros in action.” “C’MON Soarin!” They all looked to see Fleetfoot looking up at Soarin as he flew about while she got irritable, “Pick up the pace! You can do better than that!” “I sure hope so…” Spitfire commented with rolling eyes as she got her massage. “Would you two nags just shut up and lemme concen-” Soarin snapped from above but having split his focus between sniping at the nags below and flying, he suddenly felt his wing smack painfully against something and send him for a loop. “TRAAAAAAAAAAATE….!!!!” Everypony below gasped as Soarin had struck against one of the suspended rings and was spiraling out of control before he began to go down. “HEEEELLLLPP!!!” “SOARIN!!!” Rainbow zoomed up and quickly swooped up Soarin in the nick of time. “Gotcha!” With her boyfriend on her back, Rainbow gently landed, Soarin sliding off when they both noticed his wing! It mostly had its feathers ruffled but the wing-joint itself didn’t look right. Before either of them could say anything, they found themselves rushed and surrounded by their respective teammates, all expressing relief, cheering for Dash, and so on. “As good as any Wonderbolt,” Spitfire commented to her old student, Rainbow Dash beaming when she heard Fluttershy. “Oh Rainbow Dash, I’m so proud of you! You scooped Soarin out of the sky, got him safely to the ground, and now he’s okay! Or… I think he’s okay.” She faced him, asking in concern, “Are you okay, Soarin?” Soarin slowly tried moving his wing and winced when he'd flexed the joint somewhat, “Well, uh… my wing does hurt…” Just hearing that was enough for Spitfire and Fleetfoot to drop their jaws, that Soarin hurriedly assured, “But, uh- I’m sure it’ll be okay in time for the competition!” “Medic!” Midnight called the medical team over, a stallion pulling over a wheeled gurney with a hospital cross on his uniform and on the gurney itself. Rainbow helped Soarin onto the gurney, promising, “After you get your wing looked at, I’ll come check on you, okay?” Seeing real concern in his girlfriend’s eyes, Soarin actually felt a little relieved that he smiled, “You’re the best, Dashie. Ohhh... “ Everypony watched as the medic took Soarin away so they didn’t see Bulk zoom up beside Rainbow Dash, shouting, “P IS FOR RAINBOW DASH!!” The suddenness had startled Rainbow while Midnight facehooved, muttering, “Illiterate meathead…” Fluttershy flapped up so she could whisper to Bulk, “Um actually, Rainbow Dash starts with an ‘R’.” Bulk realized his goof, and exclaimed, “Never mind!” Rainbow Dash then looked to Spitfire and Fleetfoot, “Tough break to lose a teammate before the tryouts even begin!” Spitfire and Fleetfoot shared a devious look and slipped on their shades, Fleetfoot saying, “Y’know… you grew up in Cloudsdale…” Spitfire added, “So you could fly with us.” “Fly?” Rainbow Dash echoed, the two Wonderbolts fidgeting a bit before Fleetfoot clarified in a rather oily manner. “We mean practice! As in, you could practice with us until Soarin’s better.” “Whattya say?” Spitfire knew Rainbow well enough, that the very idea of training alongside the Wonderbolts rather than under them was too sweet an opportunity to pass up. “Wanna be our third?” “Uh, I dunno…” Rainbow hesitated. Boy did the rainbow-maned renegade feel conflicted. Since the very first Wonderbolts show her dad took her to back when she was a filly, she’d wanted nothing more than to fly with the very best of the best because she knew one day that’s what she was gonna be, the best! Peering over her shoulder, she saw her teammates standing by while her coach seemed to be discussing something with Rarity. Her sense of loyalty felt uncomfortable with the offer Spitfire and Fleetfoot were giving her, “My team… kinda needs me to be at the top of my game for us to qualify. Don’t wanna be too worn out by the time the race comes.” “We put you through some pretty intense workouts back at the Wonderbolts Academy,” Spitfire reminded her old student, as the proverbial fish seemed hesitant to take the bait. “And you handled those just fine!” Her ego stroked, Rainbow smirked, “I did kick some major tail at the Academy, but… I don’t know how my teammates would feel about me practicing with the competition…” “Who says they need to know?” Fleetfoot grabbed Rainbow’s cheeks, “Think about it, Rainbow Dash - This is your chance to fly with the winners!” Rainbow considered it while giving her team another look, seeing Fluttershy smile at a butterfly fluttering in her face while Bulk was showing off his pecs in a rather disturbing way that words failed to describe. Seeing the finish line up floating above the practice field, something in Rainbow helped her make up her mind. “Alright, I’m in!” “Heh, wise decision, Rainbow Dash,” Spitfire smirked in satisfaction as she led Rainbow over to their trainers.