The Cloudsdale Underground

by Stratocaster

Rainbow vs. Falcon

"A volcano?!" blurted Rainbow, near speechless. "...A volcano!...You're serious!"

"Does this face look like I'm kidding?" glowered Falcon, as he stood with her on the observation deck the next night.

"You expect me to race you inside an active volcano?!" repeated Rainbow. "You really are a psycho!"

"What's the problem, Dash?" he smirked. "I thought you could handle anything."

"All I'm saying is that it's pretty suicidal to be barreling at breakneck speeds through a mountain of fire!" she retorted. "I don't care how good a flyer you are, this is just plain stupid!"

"We had an agreement, Dash." Falcon sneered at her. "I decide the venue. And if you want to back out of this race because you're too afraid, then you can forget our deal."

"Now let's get one thing straight!" Rainbow buckled down quickly. "I ain't afraid of racing anywhere! I just don't want you to burn your toupee when you're out there."

"Aww, look who's showing a little more respect for her elders." Falcon continued to taunt her.

Rainbow sneered as she stared out of the panoramic window. Dark clouds formed around the cruising airship as it traversed over the sharp mountains of charred black rock in the Equestria Badlands. Up ahead, Rainbow could see the haunting destination. A massive peak loomed in the distance, with plumes of toxic smoke billowing out of the top, and bright orange streaks of molten rock streaming down the side. Rainbow stared at the hellish scenery and sulked.

"I can't believe I would end up here." She said, forgetting who she was with momentarily. "And all just help my friend in the hospital." She forced a chuckle. "Maybe I just care too much."

"That's the first time I've heard you make sense." Falcon remarked.

"I'll tell you what doesn't make sense," she turned to him. "This whole racing league. What's the point of the Cloudsdale Underground anyway? Just to show up the Wonderbolts? Is it even worth it, knowing the danger?"

Falcon said nothing for a moment, then gave a deep disdained sigh. "There's a lot you don't know about me, Dash. A lot I'd prefer you didn't know."

"Maybe if I did," she said. "You wouldn't come off as such a creep."

Falcon continued to stare out as he explained. "I was a Wonderbolt too."

"Okay, you can stop right there. No you weren't."

"It's true." He looked at her with all seriousness. "And so was my beloved wife. We were just partners during training. But eventually we grew more and more attached until we became lovers. The Wonderbolts frowned upon romantic entanglements with teammates and we were threatened to be fired. That's when I realized the Wonderbolts were full of ingrates, allowing the best flyers to join, but without enjoying the sweeter things in life. So, my wife and I left, and I gradually built up my success with the Cloudsdale Underground, where only the best of the best can truly live life in midair. I was overjoyed when my wife became pregnant with Flare. But when she died of childbirth, it was as if the happiness I had found had been shaken. That's why I wanted to mold Flare into a perfect free-spirited flyer just like her mother. And to tell the truth, she constantly surpasses my expectations. And what did I learn from all of this, Dash? Never let a set of rules keep you from living your passion."

Rainbow feigned a yawn, seemingly unmoved by his story. "Boring. I already knew that! I even wrote something like that in a friendship letter to Princess Celestia once."

"That seems even more far-fetched." Falcon rolled his eyes.

"Well it doesn't matter," said Rainbow. "When I beat your ass in that volcano!"

"You're just like Flare. Rude and rebellious." Falcon cracked a crocodile grin at her. "May the best pegasus win."

...

Before long, Rainbow found herself staring into the maw of danger once again. She and Falcon stood on the rim of the volcano's summit, mere feet away from a dizzying drop into a vat of bubbling magma. The heat rising from the hollow mountain stung their eyes, belching out fumes of smoke and ash. Soarin', Volt, and Turbo stood close by with a viewscreen, as the zeppelin stayed tied down to the summit, rocking and swaying impatiently in the rising hot air. Rainbow dared not approach the edge of the rim to get a look at the bottom. She knew it would only distort her perspective of height. That, and she didn't trust Falcon not to kick her in.

"I hope you're ready for this, Dash." Falcon uttered coldly.

"That depends," she responded. "Are you?"

"Always." With a flick of his hoof, Falcon removed his black duster jacket and spread his wings. They stretched out to an enormous wingspan of over eight feet, made even larger by well-toned wing muscles.

"Holy crap!" gawked Rainbow.

"Forty years of the same wing-lifting routine, and a strict diet of oat steaks." Falcon boasted. "Go ahead and stare. It's not uncommon for mares to get aroused."

"Hm, peacocking to a mare in her early twenties. Gross." Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"He must be compensating for something!" Soarin' called, garnering laughs from Volt and Turbo, before getting thwacked on the head by a rock thrown by Falcon. "Sorry. Inappro-pro."

Without further hesitation, Rainbow and Falcon hunched down on their marks, ready to spring forward.

"Racers, ready!" called out Volt. "Get set..."

Rainbow once again ignored the knot in her stomach and faced death in the eye.

"GO!"

The column of smoke disappeared for a moment as a whirlwind exploded when Falcon took off and into the volcano's mouth. He had already gained a sizable lead on his challenger. Rainbow zoomed into the fiery mountain just behind. Already she could see down below was the boiling mass of lava, stirring and bubbling like a giant pot of overcooked fire stew. There didn't appear to be any markers like in the previous courses. But Rainbow knew that she needed only to follow Falcon to find her way through; that is, of course, if he didn't intentionally lead her into the wrong direction.
With an expertly coordinated roll, Falcon flew into a hole in the side of the mountain's innards, which led into a long but tight cavern. Rainbow followed suit, barely managing to keep on his tail. She knew it would be a challenge judging simply by his over-trained wings. A flashback to the cave in the San Palomino Desert came to her as she ducked and weaved through the tunnel of volcanic rock. Then, she felt a disturbance in the cavern.
The whole place seemed to shake and rumble repeatedly. It then occurred to Rainbow that Falcon must have been knocking himself into the cavern walls to try and cause a cave-in. The old stallion was tougher than she thought. With great strain, Rainbow threw her front hooves back and tried to catch up to Falcon, even pushing off the side of the tunnel for extra boost. Before long, she could already see the back hooves of her foe, who was indeed punching and kicking the walls and sending pebbles falling from above.

"Not today!" she smiled, as she grabbed what was hidden inside her flight suit.

In an homage to her friend in the hospital, Rainbow procured a rope tied into a lasso, and hurled it toward Falcon's rear. She successfully wrapped it around the older pegasus's tail and grabbed a tight hold of the rope. Falcon's eyes bugged as he felt the sudden drag and turned his head.

"So, I see you've learned what I said about getting away with cheating!" he mocked.

"Don't call it cheating!" she boasted. "Consider it revenge!"

In one swift motion, Rainbow also wielded a small mallet and hammered the spike tied to her end of the rope, driving it into the floor of the cavern, careful not to slow herself down. Just as she hoped, the rope held and caught Falcon, causing him to fall with a face full of pumice. As a bonus, Rainbow gave herself an extra boost of speed by pushing her rear hoof into his face. She had gained the lead, but she knew it wouldn't last, since the spike and the rope were only enough to give Falcon a few seconds' worth of drag.

"Clever girl." Falcon seethed as he freed himself from the lasso and sprang off again.

Satisfied, Rainbow continued through the tunnel for a few more moments before it finally ended. Now she found herself hovering in the middle of a massive rock chamber, floored by another cauldron of lava. The walls of the chamber featured multiple cave openings all around, and Rainbow couldn't discern which was the correct path now that she was alone. And she wasn't going to let Falcon show her the way either.

"Dash! Over here!" Volt's voice came as she found him hovering next to a higher cave and gesturing her into it.

Without a moment to lose, Rainbow flew upward and into the opening, sharing a wink with her former rival. Then, Volt quickly fluttered down to a lower cave entrance closer to the lava and used a knife to carve an arrow above it. He hurriedly dove into another cave and waited as Falcon appeared into the chamber and immediately dove into the cave marked with an arrow.

"Idiot." Volt chuckled as he went to find his way out.

The tunnel Rainbow flew into didn't last long, as she soon appeared underneath the night sky again. Back on surface level, she looked out at a sprawling lava bed lined with blackened rock and rivers of melting iron. An earth pony would not have been able to traverse this path, but even Rainbow felt hesitant about the sizzling lava bed. But then she spotted a series of flags dotting the black rock, one of which she could see being planted by Soarin' with a wave. The flags conveniently depicted her cutie mark. It was all Rainbow needed to know that this was the quickest path to the finish.
Even so, sailing over the fiery straight was not no safe feat. The vats of lava beside the bedrock gurgled and spewed balls of flame through the air. Rainbow swerved and dove to avoid the overflowing magma, barely feeling the excruciating heat passing by her. The hairs on her tail were even singed from the pulsating fire. Still Rainbow ignored the heat and pressed on, confident in winning soon.
Suddenly, an explosion of gravel appeared off to the side. Up through the imploded rock flew Falcon, his fur dirtied and singed, hurdling toward Rainbow vengefully.

"You think I don't know this place by heart?!" he growled as he torpedoed into Rainbow's side.

The younger pegasus tumbled off to the right. Rainbow dug her hooves into the dirt with all her might, as she skidded toward a pool of lava waiting to swallow her up. She stopped herself from taking a painful dip just by mere inches, even though her front hooves were now badly scraped and blackened. The bedrock was hot to the touch.

"Some ponies just can't take the heat." Falcon gloated as he looked back at her. But that would be his next blunder.

Up ahead, Volt was setting a slightly more sophisticated trap. As he watched Falcon approaching quick, he hoisted up a hidden rope net and caught the old stallion in the nick of time. The net overlapped Falcon and dragged him down, thanks to a set of four iron weights tied to each corner of it. Falcon struggled and thrashed to escape from the crude ensnarement. Then, he looked in anger to see Soarin' sailing overhead, with Rainbow gripping onto his hind legs.

"Eyes on the road, old man!" Soarin' taunted, as he launched Rainbow ahead of him like a tow plane casting off a glider.

With her burns cooled, Rainbow brought herself up back to speed and continued through the last of the lava bed and down a steep slope. But farther back, Falcon had managed to break from the irritating net by cutting an opening.

"If the lava won't take care of you," he seethed. "Then it looks like I'll have to." He sped off down the slope, with a large grizzly knife clutched in his teeth.

Descending over the staggering slope, Rainbow swooped into a deep, narrow chasm, where the lava came pouring out from the rock walls on both sides. It had already became apparent to her that, almost all the time, the quickest way to the finish wasn't always the safest. Her fur was near scorched, her hooves were blackened and bruised, her throat was becoming hoarse from the ashy air, her joints were soar and aching from too many slams into the rock, and she was pushing herself to the brink of exhaustion. She began to wonder just how much more she could take.
Falcon descended into the rocky causeway as well, ready to put his challenger in her place. Swerving and avoiding the lava-lined chasm with practice, he quickly began to close the gap between him and Rainbow. The ash whipped and battered his goggles. But despite so, he could see in front of him the multicolored tail of the blue pegasus.

"You shouldn't have overstepped your boundaries, Dash." He said to himself, ready to strike.

But before he could completely catch up, the younger pegasus quickly pitched upward and rocketed toward the sky. Falcon looked up in confusion, knowing full well that flying above the chasm would be going off the course. Nevertheless, he followed his target with dastardly intent. Now high over the deep crack in the bedrock, Falcon slowly but surely reached his opponent's hind. With his knife in hoof, he readied himself to attack the blue pegasus, who in fact actually had his fur painted blue.

"FAAAAAST!!!"

"What the buck?!"

Turbo stalled in midair, the wind battering his rainbow wig and collided into Falcon, with a brutish headbutt. The duped older pegasus spiraled out of control back down to earth. But before he could slam into the jagged rock, Falcon righted himself and shook off the dizziness from the blow to his head.

"I'm not taking anymore chances!" he growled as he hovered above the chasm. He then procured a small glass vile and took a swig from its contents. With a mighty whirlwind, Falcon disappeared down the causeway at near mach speed.

Rainbow continued toward the end of the chasm, almost a mile ahead. Fatigue was setting in, and she had no idea of how much longer this endeavor would continue. She wanted nothing more than to land right away, preferably into a bath of ice. But a sight for soar eyes came with Soarin' joining next to her in flight. He held out the straw of a water bottle, and Rainbow immediately refreshed herself with a midair fueling.

"Your're doing great, Rainbow!" Soarin' called. "You're almost there! Just one more pass up the mountain to the finish!"

"Where's Falcon?!" she called back, clearing the dust from her throat.

"Don't worry!" grinned Soarin'. "Volt and Turbo took care of him way back! It was a good idea painting Turbo to look like you! I'll guide you through the rest of the course! Just hang on until-"

WHAM!

"Soarin'!" cried Rainbow.

The Wonderbolt champion was suddenly erased from view, as Falcon bolted from behind with a harsh kick. Soarin' fell onto the cliff above the chasm and rolled to a stop, dangling over the edge and fighting off unconsciousness. Rainbow was about to come to his aid. But before she could descend, she was quickly knocked aside by a hard punch from Falcon. Stopping herself from careening to the ground, she looked at her right shoulder to see a large gash left on it. Falcon hovered in front of her with knife in hoof, fueled on pure muscle and rage.

"This is my domain, Rainbow Dash!" he bellowed. "And you've disgraced it for the last time!"

He sped off again in a blur and crossed Rainbow with another violent impact, before she could fully avoid him. The edge of his knife left a cut on her left cheek and severed the strap on her goggles. Rainbow didn't let the painful blows keep down her focus. She knew she had to get back toward the finish line. But Falcon was moving even faster than he did before, and it seemed that she would not be able to ignore his crude attacks. As she conflicted with herself, yet another kick dug into her back and Rainbow was knocked into the dirt not far from Soarin'. She rolled to a stop, then struggled to sit herself up, coughing up blood. Falcon landed beside her, kicking up dust, and grabbed her by her matted mane, holding the knife to her throat.

"Take pleasure, Dash," he breathed into her face. "In knowing that you got to see my best performance before you and your friends died. You'll never know what it means to be a true pegasus!"

FWOOSH!

"AAAAAGH!!!"

Before he could exterminate his foe, Falcon was struck from behind by a terrifying ball of fire. He quickly flopped onto his back to snuff out the searing burns, dropping Rainbow wear she lay. She strained to glance up to see who saved her from a bloody fate. She lost all attention to her wounds when she saw the assailant hovering above the cliff.

"Your reign is over...Daddy."

Falcon looked up with a surprised scowl. "Flare?! You're awake?!"

"My head must be too thick." The feisty red mare stared him down. "I guess I inherited that from you."

"How dare you try and throw me off!" barked Falcon. "Don't tell me you're actually helping this pathetic wannabe! After everything I've done for you!"

"Please!" sneered Flare. "You've done nothing for me! The only one who's ever shown me any kindness was Volt, and you grind him into the dirt like the other thugs who fly for you. Well I'm gonna put an end to it all. And if that means helping this newbie, then so be it."

"Get back to the zeppelin, Flare!" ordered Falcon. "This is none of your business!"

Flare hunkered down, ready to shoot off. "You've disgraced my mother!"

With a loud whoosh, Flare rocketed toward her father, slamming into his chest and knocking him back. Falcon skidded across the dirt without falling, but refused to strike back against his own daughter. Flare however was more than keen to do so against her father. With a backwards loop, she again zoomed toward him leaving behind her signature flaming pegasus streak. But Falcon could only dodge and defend himself, conflicted in this skirmish against his own kin.
Then, he was suddenly blinded by a familiar flash. Falcon was knocked in his left side by an unseen force, toppling him to his knees. He growled in agony as he saw the impact had completely crippled his left wing, disabling him from flight.

"Man, that felt good!" Volt grinned deviously down at him.

As Falcon stood up, not yet ready to capitulate, Flare circled above him, creating a barrier of fire around her wounded father. Now unable to fly, Falcon had nowhere to escape, and found himself staring down his dear filly in a ring of fire. Flare repeated a series of dive-bombing kicks at a blinding speed even greater than his own. The rapid battering even left burn marks on the old criminal's face due to her pegasus streak. Falcon tried in vain to counter the attacks, still relying on his extra boost of speed. But even he was not fast enough to fend off his own daughter. After many brutal seconds, Falcon stood loosing his balance, his face bloodied and burned, and glowering at Flare.

"So this is what it's come down to." He hissed with a spit of blood. "Betrayed by my own daughter for some small-town nopony."

Flare approached him, plenty of fight still left in her. "You knew this was coming."

Falcon gave her a cocky grin with missing teeth. "Then go ahead. Finish me off." He threatened. "Kill your own dear dad!"

"Rainbow! Hey, Dash!" Volt shook the downed mare gently as she wobbled to stand back up. "Now's your chance. Go and finish this damn race already!"

"But...what about Flare?" she uttered. "And Soarin'!"

"They'll be okay." Volt assured her. "I'll get Soarin' back to the zeppelin. The path to the finish is just up the next slope. I know you can do this, Dash! End this!"

With an affirmative nod, Rainbow summoned every last drop of strength in her body to flap her wings and continue off. She looked back at the tragic duel between Flare and Falcon, grateful that the latter was no longer a threat, but sorry that she couldn't help. Nonetheless, she knew that completing this race would signify the end of Falcon's torture. And so she pressed on.
For the next several minutes, Rainbow could only slow down to a flutter, to tired and beaten to move any faster. But still, she crept up the narrow slope that led back to the top of the volcano, where the welcoming sight of the zeppelin awaited her. Rainbow strained to breath as the air became thinner and hotter. Her now unprotected eyes stung from the floating ash. Each flap of her wings felt like daggers pushing deeper into her back. Soon, her vision grew blurry, and she began to see two volcanoes instead of one. The seconds passed by like hours, and even though she knew that Falcon would not catch up to her, she still had the fear of being crept up on and ambushed. But Rainbow dared not look behind. Up and forward was the only direction.
At long last, the glow from the bubbling lava within the mountain met her bloodshot eyes as she approached the summit. What was once a mile's distance was now just several yards from victory. Closer, and closer, Rainbow floated up to the top. Slower, and slower, her pace grew to a crawl. And before she knew it, Rainbow came face to face with the banner for the finish line...and immediately passed out.

...

"Rainbow?...Rainbow are ya there?" came a familiar voice. "Come on, sugarcube, I know you're awake."

Rainbow slowly opened her heavy eyes, letting her blurry vision unfold. All around her there seemed to be only white, and she felt as if her body was weightless. The thought crept into her mind that she must have perished from exhaustion on the fiery mountain. But there was a figure standing over her in the middle of the light. As her vision resolved, she immediately recognized the presence of her dear friend.

"Applejack?" croaked Rainbow barely moving her lips. Sure enough, the orange earth pony stood by her with her charming smile.

"Shoot, you look like a right mess." Applejack jested as she patted her cheek.

With her vision becoming more and more clear, Rainbow scanned her eyes across the strange location. She peered around to see that she was lying in a brightly lit hospital room, different from the infirmary on board Falcon's zeppelin. She also realized that the weightlessness she felt was from the comfort of the bed she was lying in, along with the IV tube pumping into her foreleg. But what caught her attention apart from Applejack standing to her right, was her other comrades at her left. Soarin', Volt, Flare, and Turbo all stood beside the bed relieved to see her awaken. All four of them featured scattered bandages here and there. They had all taken their share of beating on the volcano.
Rainbow struggled to sit up, pushing herself up despite the sudden aches in her joints. She got a better look at Applejack, who had made a dramatic recovery from the injured farm pony covered in gauze days before. The only evidence of her invalid state that remained was the hospital robe and bracelet she wore. It was a miraculous sight for Rainbow. And yet she couldn't let go of her initial confusion.

"Wh-what happened?" she cleared her throat and asked.

"I gotta say, Dash," said Volt. "I never would've believed a pony like you could reach the top of the volcano after all that."

Rainbow turned her head to him. "You mean...I made it?"

"By a nose!" Soarin' winked.

"But...how did I get here?" she asked, rubbing her head. "Where's the zeppelin? And what happened to Falcon?"

"We managed to incapacitate him." Volt said. "Once you finished the race, we immediately grabbed him, along with you, and returned to the zeppelin. We hightailed it back to Cloudsdale to get you to the hospital, but the damn city had moved somewhere else. So we managed to land in Ponyville which was the next closest place."

"When we rushed you to the hospital here," added Soarin'. "We met Applejack here and told her everything. We told her that you had won Falcon's money to help pay for her treatment and she agreed to go through with it."

"So...it's over?" Rainbow stared into space, unwilling to believe it just yet.

"Rainbow, ya shouldn't have done this to yerself just for me." Applejack told her. "If I'd known you went and joined some big dangerous racing league, I would've never let you. You almost got yerself killed!"

"I know." Rainbow sagged. "You said I shouldn't let it bother me. But I couldn't help myself. At the time, it just seemed right to me, to repay for what I did to you. I guess I'm just a hothead, AJ. I care too much."

With a roll of her eyes, Applejack leaned in and hugged her friend gently and warmly. "I can't be mad at ya, sugarcube." She smiled. "This is the greatest thing you've ever done for me. You risked your life just me. Only a true friend would've done that. I'll never forget this, Rainbow."

Rainbow wrapped her aching hoof around her in return. Just like that, all the regret she had before about risking her life and caring too much was replaced with a tremendous sense of gratitude and triumph.

"Just don't go off doin' somethin' that stupid again." Applejack gave her a gentle nudge.

"Yeah, for our sake, too." Soarin' scratched the gauze wrapped around his forehead.

"Rainbow?" spoke Flare, approaching her side with a sense of guilt. "I'm actually glad to see you're okay. When I came to and heard what you were doing, I didn't believe a word of it. But when I saw you on top of that volcano with my father, I was awestruck. Nopony has ever had the courage to challenge my father like that, or even lived to tell about it. And I think you even gave me the courage to stand up to him also. So, I just want to say that...well...I'm really grateful for what you've done. Especially for saving me from drowning. I can never repay you for that. And I'm so sorry for bullying you all the time. You don't have to forgive me." She looked down with remorse.

Rainbow gave her a reassuring grin. "No, I do forgive you." She said. "Your dad may have been complete tool, but he did make a good point. You gotta be tough in these kinds of fights, break rules and push others aside. That's something I used to live by. But making your way through to victory doesn't matter as much as having somepony to count on for help. I think that's what Falcon may have been missing. But not you, Flare. You're not like your father. You'll always have somepony to rely on."

Volt rested his hoof around Flare's shoulders as she wiped a tear of joy away. "So are you glad I found her now?" he nudged her.

Flare responded with a slap to his already bruised face. Then made up for it with a kiss on the lips. "You can be smart sometimes." She said with a loving smile.

"Say, what happened to that sidewinder Falcon guy anyway?" asked Applejack.

"After coming to the hospital," explained Flare. "We had him detained by the Royal Guard. It looks he'll be doing some hard time for this whole terrible tournament."

"That must be rough havin' your own father bein' sent away." Applejack said sympathetically.

"It is pretty difficult." Flare sighed. "He taught me everything I know about flying. But now, I just have no respect for him anymore. Whatever punishment he gets, for all that he's put me and countless others through, will be too good for him."

"So what will you guys do now that the Cloudsdale Underground is over?" asked Rainbow.

Volt smiled proudly. "Well, there was still a ton of Falcon's fortune left over after Applejack's medical bill. If we sell the zeppelin, along with all the racetracks, everypony in the Underground will probably be set for life! But who knows, we might even start our own racing circuit; one that's perfectly legal anyway."

"As long as we have enough to settle down of course." Flare nuzzled her beloved racing punk.

"You know me, babe," Volt squeezed her. "I never settle down."

"Wow, that's actually pretty sweet." Rainbow beamed. "I might have to pay a visit just to show you guys up again."

"I'd like to see that, newbie." Flare winked at her.

"We couldn't do it if it weren't for you, Dash." Volt grinned.

"You have my eternal thanks, fair Rainbow Dash." Turbo said, in a pleasant mannerly voice. "I will forever cherish our endeavor together. May our paths cross once again on the field of glory."

Rainbow and everypony else stared back at the twitchy psycho in bafflement. "...Thanks...Turbo..." she uttered.

"FAST! FAST! WANNA GO FAST!" Turbo jumped, back to his usual self.

Without a word, Soarin' looked down in deep thought.

"What's the matter with you, poster boy?" jabbed Rainbow.

"Nothing." He said sheepishly. "It's just that...I got so worried when I heard you passed out on the summit. I knew you could win, but deep down, I was a nervous wreck. You mean that much to me, Rainbow. I don't want to see you so beat up again. Maybe I just wish I could've been a better help."

Rainbow looked at him sweetly. "Soarin', I couldn't have asked for better help. To be honest, the only reason I managed to stay in those races so long was...was because I knew that you were there with me. Just knowing that I had a friend to back me up was all I needed."

"You mean it?" he looked hopefully.

Rainbow gestured him closer. "Come here, you."

With a blushing face, Soarin' leaned in closer to the mare of his dreams.

Rainbow touched his cheek lightly, grabbed his chin and spoke into his eyes. "When I get out of this hospital," she said vengefully. "I am going to crush your racing time from the Underground!"

Soarin' grinned back at her deviously. "Then you better be a fast healer, Dash, because it is so on!"

"You pegasi are all freakin' crazy." Applejack shook her head.