It goes without saying that the boys and girls race was a whole new level of personal for me. Whether it was luck or fate or God, somebody was screwing with me and Silver and I were placed side by side again. I couldn't let him win this one; I had to see which of us was the better man. I knew that winning this race meant little in the grand scheme of things but not even Common Sense fought me on this one. If I won, I'd be better.
We all lined up and the starter gave his standard Ready, set, go! In the blink of an eye, we were off.
About thirty of us leveled the flattened ground in pursuit of the red line at the end but I was only focused on one. Silver cruised along looking mighty comfortable as he kept time with me. I was pushing but my speed was nothing for him. We left most of the competition behind as we ran along with each other. I'm really downplaying this, imagine two horses, no, zebra (one with a laughable white mullet) making headway across the Savannah. In my mind's eye, I could see smaller animal rushing to get out of our way. I could see our hooves crash down and shatter the Earth beneath. And then Silver got bored. He back to pull ahead at an almost effortless pace. I began to push forward, straining my limits but as Silver began to try harder, the distance between us grew.
And then I heard it.
The cheering.
I heard Snips and Snails from the sidelines, louder than everyone else. I heard Sugar, her voice weaker but managing to be heard among the others. I heard Sunset calling my name while the others cheered for Rainbow and Applejack. It was faint but Apple Bloom's voice was in there as well. I even heard Common Sense inside me cheering.
Go Lost!
Go Lost!
Go Lost!
I'll tell you this, there are few sights in this world more satisfying than the face Silver put on when I caught up with him. Suddenly, Spitfire and Shatter Heart, the Manehatten girl who'd won the discus toss, sped from behind us. It seemed they had been playing the same 'hide your true speed for last' game that Silver had been, but now they blazed from the rear straight to the front and put an ocean's worth of distance between us in the process. That was okay. They weren't the ones I wanted to beat.
Also ahead of us, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were running in sync with each other. They were smiling with each other but I could feel the intense rivalry burning the air between them. Spitfire and Shatter were still leagues ahead of them but they seemed to have shut out everything else to focus on beating each other. I decided to follow their example and the screams and cheers ebbed away into the distance. It was only me and Silver. We were stepping in line with each other but one of us had to come out on top. As much as I wanted to convince myself that this was only for the race, I knew inside that it was something more. I HAD to be better than Silver. He had gotten the girl I've been into since forever and still managed to keep the adoration of the near impossible to please, Rainbow Dash, it would kill me if I failed to him anymore. Silver was going hard, the sweat on his forehead showing just how much effort it was taking him to keep up. In the meantime, I'd already hit my limit and was pushing past it. My legs ached and my head hurt. I was not going to be okay the moment I stopped, but for now, stopping was nowhere on my mind.
My mind lapsed and I caught a glimpse of what was happening in real time. Shatter Heart, who up until now was keeping perfect time with Spitfire, had stumbled. In that one second it took to steady herself, Spitfire, Rainbow, Applejack, Silver and I surged past leaving her to play catch up ahead of the slower racers. I tuned out again when Spitfire cleared the finish line first. Silver and I didn't once leave each other behind. It was intense. Judging by the cheering that pierced my focused mind, Rainbow and Applejack had cleared the finish line together. There was only me and Silver left.
And then everything slowed down. We were only about five steps from the finish line and neither of us had managed to pull ahead. And then I got to thinking, if my athlete side couldn't beat him, maybe my nerd side could. I began to picture us playing Starswirl's Demons. On my side, I had the Aria card and the Rainbow card. Silver pulled a card from the new platinum deck and played the Chrysalis' Deception card. That took control of my cards and brought them over to his side. In real time, he made a step ahead of me, four more to go.
But I had the platinum deck as well. I pulled out the Windingo Blizzard card which raised my speed by +200. Then I took out the (custom job) Lost Legacy Is Better Than You card. I pulled ahead, closing the three step space left. Silver drove himself forward but it was too late. I'd already beat him.
I collapsed and blacked out for few moments while the other races came up behind and the screams of the crowd washed over me. I awoke to Rainbow Dash hugging me and screaming that I'd won.
"What about you and Applejack?" I managed, remembering their closeness.
"We crossed at the same time," Rainbow explained. "And since we both come from Canterlot, they decided that we should share the silver."
"Cool," I responded. "So that means..."
"You got the bronze!" she squealed. "With all the extra points from you, Spitfire, AJ and I, Canterlot High wins!"
She hugged me again and all my joints screamed. But I didn't mind. I'd beat him. I'd beaten Silver Point.
"Good job, Dashie."
My good mood drained away.
Rainbow left my side and ran into Silver's arms. He lifted her off the ground, twirled her around and ended with a deep kiss on her lips. I cringed. Mid-kiss, he opened his eyes and looked at me. In his eyes I realized, winning the race didn't mean squat. Maybe I was faster than him by about a step, but in the end, Silver got the girl.
On the podium, Spitfire proudly displayed her gold medal. Rainbow and Applejack stood side by side with their arms around each other and the silver medal in between them, the intense rivalry had evaporated. I stood there with the strongest smile I could muster without thinking about it. I was more focused on finding Aria in the crowd. If I found her now I could ask her about what she knew of Silver when I got down off the podium. I passed over Snips and Snails and waved to them subconsciously. I looked to the back and that's where I found Aria... deeply kissing Silver. How the hell did this guy have any saliva left?
I looked at Rainbow but she was too busy fawning over her medal and congratulating Spitfire to notice. I didn't get it. How could he be so public with his infidelity and STILL GET AWAY WITH IT?
For the first time since I began asking myself these questions, Common Sense was quiet.
And then I realized fully that the race meant nothing. It didn't even mean I was faster than him. My fake smile vanished and I dropped my medal. I didn't win anything. At the end of the day, Rainbow was still enamored with him and Aria, whether she knew or not, was still his make out buddy. Silver had won the day and, like the disgruntled Shadowbolts scattered about in the audience, I couldn't help but grudgingly clap for him.