//------------------------------// // Sonic Rainboom or Flight of Fancy // Story: Permanent Vacation // by Apple_Crack //------------------------------// “Permanent Vacation” Sonic Rainboom or Flight of Fancy        The next morning rolls around, and after a breakfast of pancakes and eggs, I prepare to send Scootaloo off to school. “Alright,” I bend down and place my hands on her shoulders, “What’s the game plan for today?”         She rolls her eyes and groans. “Study hard and do my homework.”         I nod my head. “Good. And…?”         “Don’t cause any trouble.”         I raise an eyebrow. “And what else?”         She tilts her head. “Umm… Go crusading for our cutie marks after school?”         I chuckle and rub her head. “Sure, squirt. Just don’t get into too much trouble, okay?”         She smirks and shrugs her shoulders. “Eh, I’ll have you to come bail me out though.”         “And I’ll come running every single time. Now,” I stand back up and motion out the door, “Hurry up. You don’t want to be late for class.”         She chuckles and hops on her scooter. “Are you kidding? Have you seen how fast I go on this thing? I’ll be there before the bell rings!” She straps on her new helmet, and then buzzes her wings as she races off towards school. “See you when I get home!” She calls out over her shoulder.         I wave to her as she speeds off, a content sigh escaping my lips. Can’t believe this is still happening to me. Once she’s out of sight, I head back inside and finish cleaning up our breakfast.         “So, what’s on the agenda for today?”         “Hmm, not sure. Got any suggestions?”         “Trolling Twilight?”         I smirk. “Trolling Twilight.”         “Yes! What’s the plan?”         I head into my room and grab the Cloak and Dagger. Slipping it on, I head outside and carefully circle the library. Spotting an open window, I cloak and peer inside. Rarity, Applejack, Spike, Pinkie, and Twilight are rearranging the books on the main floor. “What better way to mess with someone who probably has OCD by changing their perfectly arranged shelving system?”         “You evil, magnificent bastard!”         I carefully climb in through the window, taking extra care to avoiding putting my full weight on the floor. Once in, I slowly make my way towards the center of the room. Oh, this is going to be perfect. As Twilight walks away from one of the bookcases to grab another book from a pile, I hastily run over. With no one looking, I randomly grab a couple of books and swap their positions before stepping back. Just in time too, since Twilight comes back over with the book in her hands. “Thanks for helping me out today, everypony.”         “Ah, it was no trouble at all, sugarcube.” I move over to the bookcase Applejack was at and start switching books there.         “Yeah, Twilight! We love helping out our friends whenever they need it!” Not even gonna try messing with the one Pinkie was at. Knowing my luck, she’ll somehow catch me.         “Come now, Twilight, you know we would be more than happy to help you whenever we can.”         “Like I had a choice,” Spike mumbles under his breath.         “Well, I’ll treat you all to something nice later today as my way of saying thanks.” Twilight tilts her head. “Hmm, that’s odd.”         Rarity glances over her shoulder. “What is, Twilight?” Heh, this is proving to be far easier than I had thought.         She pulls out the books I had switched around. “I could have sworn I had these in the right order.”         “Well, everypony makes mistakes, Twilight.”         Twilight places the books back in her correct order. “At least it’s an easy mistake to fix.” She hums to herself as she wanders over to another bookcase while I switch around some more books. “Alright, now I know somepony is messing with me.”         “Who is, Twilight? Is it that ghost that still haunts the library even to this day, maintaining a silent vigil over her pride and joy in life?!”         Twilight rolls her eyes. “Pinkie, we’ve already been over this.”         Pinkie giggles. “I know silly, I’m just teasing you!”         Twilight holds up some books in her magic grasp. “I know for a fact that this shelf was properly ordered when I walked away from it not even less than a minute ago.”         “Twilight, dear, ponies make mistakes. You probably were talking with us and got distracted for a moment. It happens to the best of us.”         “But… I…” Twilight sighs. “Yeah, you’re probably right, Rarity.”         I hold back my snickers long enough to swap some more books. As I step back, I hit something and tumble backwards. “Shit!” I rub the back of my head as I glance around. I look at what I tripped over to see a stray book on the ground.         “Aha! I knew Blake was in here!” Spike rushes over and places a claw on my leg, making my silhouette appear.         I stand up and de-cloak, brushing myself off. “Heh, good work, Spike. How’d you know?”         Spike smirks, rubbing his claw on his chest. “Well, I wasn’t sure, but there’s only one pony… Err, human, I know of that can go invisible. Since the books were getting switched around, I figured it had to happen when nopony was at a bookcase, so I laid a trap at the only case nopony was at.”         I smirk. “You clever dragon. You’ve done me proud, boy!”         “Blake! What are you even doing here?”         “Sorry, Twilight, but I was bored and needed a laugh, and messing with you is way too easy to pass up!”         “Well, dear, if you have nothing else to do, would you care to help us out, please?”         I roll my eyes. “Whatever. It’s not like we’ll get very far before something happens.”         Applejack raises an eyebrow. “What do ya mean?”         A window slams open as a blur bounces off the multiple bookcases before slamming into the ground. The impact causes each of the aligned books to tumble out to the ground, creating a sea of books that drowns everyone beneath them. Groans echo all around as everyone climbs out from under the books. “See? I told you it was pointless!”         “Oh my.” I glance up at Fluttershy staring at the chaos. “Is everypony alright?”         “Yeah, I think we’re good here, Shy. Though everyone may be a bit peeved that all their hard work was just wasted.”         “That’s the understatement of the century there, Blake.” Applejack snatches her hat off the ground and brushes it off.         Rainbow rubs the back of her head while hovering in the air. “Heh, sorry about that everypony. I’ll make it up to you all later, but I gotta get back to practicing for the Best Young Fliers competition. Wish me luck!” She bolts out the window she crashed through.         “What’s so special about this competition?” Twilight asks.         “Well, the winner gets to spend the day with the Wonderbolts, and we all know how much Rainbow idolizes them. She’s been practicing for a Sonic Rainboom, but she still hasn’t done it yet.” Fluttershy glances out the window. “Sorry everypony, but I need to go. Rainbow Dash needs me to support her.” She waves to us before chasing after Rainbow.         “Rainbow didn’t look like she needed help standing.”         I facepalm. “Pinkie, it’s just a figure of speech.”         “A Sonic Rainboom? My, what I wouldn’t give to see it again.” Rarity sighs.         “Well, considering I wasn’t looking at it the first time, I would like to see it again. Though Rainbow must be really having a hard time with it if she can’t replicate it.”         I snort. “Knowing Rainbow, she’s probably putting up a front to hide her nervousness.”         “Well, why don’t we all go support her then?”         I raise an eyebrow. “Pretty sure the competition is in Cloudsdale. Unless we can sprout wings within the next couple of minutes, then I say we’re screwed.”         Twilight bends down and starts searching through the books. “Actually, there was supposed to be a spell that could give a pony temporary wings. I might be able to cast it, if I can find the book.”         “Hold on, Twilight. I’ll find it!” Spike starts throwing books around in his endeavor to find said book.         Pinkie thrusts a book up. “Found it!”         Twilight grabs the book with her magic and starts flipping through pages. She idly scratches her chin. “Hmm…”         “Well, can ya do it?”         “It doesn’t seem that hard, though I can’t be sure until I actually cast it.” Twilight looks up at us. “Who wants to go first?”         I look away and rub the back of my head while whistling. Not gonna be a guinea pig for this experiment. Applejack pulls her Stetson down over her eyes. Pinkie rocks back and forth, humming the theme song to herself.  Rarity glances at each of us before sighing and stepping forward. “For Rainbow Dash, I’ll do it!”         Twilight smiles. “Great! Alright everypony, stand back. I need absolute concentration for this.” The rest of us do as she says, leaving a large circle around Twilight and Rarity. Twilight glances one more time at the book before closing her eyes, the aura around her horn slowly growing in brightness, along with a dull hum slowly growing in volume. Rarity slowly levitates off the ground as tendrils of magic reach out from Twilight’s horn and wrap themselves around her to form a cocoon. The cocoon flashes, so bright that everyone watching covers their eyes.         As the brightness dies down, I peek between my fingers. “Oh. My. God.” My jaw hangs open as my arms fall to my side. Rarity hovers in midair, sporting an elegant, no, exquisite pair of butterfly wings. The colors are like someone squeezed the very essence of sunlight that glistens off the morning dew and molded them onto these wings. Coupled with her already natural beauty, it’s… so beautiful that I’m at a loss for words.         “Wowie.”         Applejack whistles. “You said it, Pinkie.”         Twilight rubs her head and groans. “Did it work?” She looks up, her eyes widening at the marvel before her.         And Spike comments… Huh, nothing. I look to my right to see the little guy passed out, twitching ever so slightly. I smirk and roll my eyes. Rarity blinks her eyes, seeing us gazing at her. She looks over her shoulder and lets out that weird laugh she has. “Dear Celestia, I look simply divine!” She gasps. “Mirror! I need a mirror!” Pinkie reaches into hair and pulls out a handheld mirror, tossing it to Rarity.         I chuckle. “Somewhat glad I didn’t volunteer.”         Out of the corner of my eye, I see Spike wrapped in Twilight’s aura as she levitates him upstairs. She catches me looking and smirks, rolling her eyes. “Why? The spell worked exactly like it was supposed to.”         I jerk my head towards Rarity fawning over her wings. “Can you image a guy with wings like those?”         Applejack smirks. “Ah don’t know there, Blake. Ya might actually look good with wings like that.” Pinkie and Twilight can’t help laughing at this.         “HA! GAAAAAAYYYYYYY!”         “By extension, that makes you gay too.”         “…I retract my previous exclamation.”         I smirk as well. “I’d much rather see you with them,” I lean in close to her face, “And nothing else on.” The blush that grows on her face is priceless as she swiftly pulls her hat down and looks away. I burst out laughing at how easy it is to mess with these girls! “Oh, you girls are too easy for this shit!”         “Ahem. If you are finished chatting, I believe we still need to equip ourselves for our little sojourn.”         Twilight rubs the back of her head. “Heh, that may be actually harder than I expected. That spell is actually harder than the book makes it seem.”         Applejack scratches her head. “Well, ah don’t suppose ya got another plan, Twilight.”         I roll my eyes. “Yeah, cause I was so looking forward to being a glorified butterfly. No offense, Rarity.”         “None taken, dear. Not everypony can look simply divine with wings.” Rarity circles in the air around us, practicing her flight. She stops and gasps. “Idea! I need to go design some outfits! Be back soon, darlings!” Rarity flies out the normal path to leave the library, otherwise known as the front door.         Pinkie grabs a book and shoves it to her face, muffing her voice. Twilight tilts her head. “What was that, Pinkie?”         Pinkie pulls the book away from her face before tossing it over her shoulder. “I said, maybe there’s another spell here that you can cast so that we can all go to Cloudsdale to see Rainbow Dash!”         I pick up the book Twilight found the original spell in and flick through it. I stop on a page and idly tap it. “Or she could cast this temporary cloudwalking spell.”         “What?” Twilight snatches the book out of my hands. “This… This is perfect! According to this, this spell allows any non pegasus pony to walk on clouds! And it’s easier to cast!”         I clap my hands. “Well alright! Cast that baby and let’s try it out! Hell, I’ll even go first!”         “Perfect! This shouldn’t take long.” Twilight’s horn glows, the same aura hovering around me. I stifle a laugh from the tingling sensation. As fast as it happens, it dissipates just as fast. “There, done!”         I raise an eyebrow. “That’s it?”         “Yeah, I expected something flashier! With explosions and fireworks and music and—”         “Pinkie, probably not the thing Blake wants ta hear right now.”         Pinkie giggles. “Oopsie, sorry!”         I chuckle. “No problem. Now to truly test this.” I head outside and flag down a passing pegasus. “Yo, mind dragging a cloud down here?” The pegasus nods his head before grabbing a cloud and dragging it down to my level. “Thanks man.” He flashes a thumbs up before flying off to wherever. With a smirk on my face, I dive onto the cloud. Like the Poison Joke incident, the cloud doesn’t give under my weight.         “That looks like fun!”         I glance at the girls. “Heh, you don’t know the half of it.”         “Yes! Alright, I’ll cast the spell on the rest of us. Pinkie, Applejack, please stand still.”         I roll off the cloud just in time for Pinkie to dive on top of it. “Wow! This is the comfiest thing I’ve ever sat on, and I’ve sat on a lot of things! No wonder Rainbow Dash likes them so much.”         Applejack scratches the back of her head. “Uh, hate ta be the bearer of bad news, but how do we get ta Cloudsdale?”         Twilight scratches her chin. “Well, I still have my old hot air balloon stashed away. I just need to set it up, and we could all ride that to Cloudsdale.”         “Only if you purchase the toy for thirty dollars! And don’t forget to purchase the exclusive castle playset to go along with it! Remember kids, your parents don’t love you unless they buy our toys!”         “Sounds like a plan, sugercube.”                 Pinkie gasps. “We’re gonna need snacks for the trip! Be back with food!” With that, she bounds away from us, presumably to Sugarcube Corner.         “I’ll get Rarity to hurry up with whatever she’s doing.”         “Applejack, would you mind helping me set everything up? It’ll go faster with the two of us.”         “Sure thing, Twilight.”         I mock salute to the girls. “See you in a bit then.” I wander away towards Carousal Boutique.         “So, you’re really planning on going up to Cloudsdale then?”         “Yeah, about that… I’d like a plan b option here just in case this spell fails.”         “What’d ya like?”         “A simple parachute this time.”         “Ahh, come on. Go for something a bit more exciting, like a jetpack or Warp Star!”         I roll my eyes. “And where do you expect me to stash something that large? Besides, I’m only having it as backup.”         “Fine, have it your way. I’ll have it ready for you soon. But can we please get something more exciting next time?”         I chuckle. “No promises.”         Getting Rarity to actually leave the Boutique was easy, provided that I had to explain to her that we were on a schedule and that the wings were only temporary and would be useless to create an outfit incorporating them. With her along, I head back to the library, now equipped with a parachute (Thankfully not ACME brand) slung over my back. By the time we get back, Twilight and Applejack have the balloon set up and ready to go, and Pinkie has food for everyone.         After Twilight’s pre-flight check, we all climb into the basket, minus Rarity, who wishes to get some more practice flying. Once we’re settled in, Twilight manipulates the… whatever it’s called, to lift us off the ground. As we rise higher, I glance down at the slowly shrinking town, letting out a whistle of appreciation at the size of Ponyville. From the sky, I can see that the town resembles a star, what with the town hall being the central building and multiple districts jutting off from there.         “So, where’s Cloudsdale at exactly?” I glance at Twilight.         “According to my calculations, it should be northwest of here. You hear that, Rarity?”         Rarity hovers by the basket. “Of course darling. I shall see you there.” She flies off towards the west, staying just in view as we lazily float behind her.         “Mind if I ask you a question, Blake?”         I turn around and sit down, leaning back against the basket. “Shoot.”         “What’s with the saddlebag on your back?”         “Yeah, ah’m curious ‘bout that too. Ya left without it, came back with it.”         “Just a little extra… Insurance, in case something goes wrong.” I slap Pinkie’s hand reaching for the rip cord. “Don’t touch that, unless you want to kill us all.”         Twilight gulps. “Is that…”         I raise an eyebrow. “Another weapon? No, but in this confined space, it could be.”         “Good to know…” Pinkie says.         “Relax. I don’t plan on using this thing today. Just wanted it in case things go south.”         “Well, if you say so. Why don’t we settle down for the trip? It shouldn’t take very long to get there.” Twilight says.         Applejack shrugs her shoulders and follows my lead, sitting down with her back against the basket and her Stetson down over her eyes. Twilight silently works the controls, occasionally checking a scroll. Pinkie can’t sit still, moving from side to side to peer out to the ground below.         “You didn’t have to scare them like that.”         “Ah, but fear makes people listen, makes them take everything at face value.”         “Stopping them so they don’t question where you’re getting this shit?         “Yep.”         “Nice.”         After what seems like an eternity to me, Twilight finally speaks up. “We’re here.”         I stand up and peek out over the edge of the basket. Seeing nothing around or below us, I look up, spotting Rarity just passing through the cloud layer. “Ya know, I would have liked to see the city from above, but I digress.”         The balloon rises into the air, passing through the cloud layer as well. “Girls?! What are you all doing here?!”         “Duh, coming to see our friend win this competition!” I jump out over the side of the basket.         “No! Wait!” Rainbow yells out, right before my feet touch the clouds. When I don’t pass through, she stands there with her mouth open. “How? Only pegasi can walk on clouds!”         “Well, after you crashed into the library and left, Twilight came up with the idea to come support you too! She cast a spell that gave Rarity wings but it turned out to be harder than she thought so we found another spell that allowed all of us to walk on clouds!”         I jerk my thumb over my shoulder. “What Pinkie said.”         Rainbow shakes her head, smirking at us. “Thanks everypony. Heh, not like I’m gonna need it. I got this thing in the bag!”         I catch Applejack rolling her eyes. “Typical Rainbow.” We all have a good laugh at that.         “The competition isn’t for a couple of hours. You guys want to tour the weather factory till then?” Rainbow gestures towards the massive factory spurting out clouds off in the distance.         “That sounds like a splendid idea! I’ve always been curious how the weather is made.” General agreement from the rest of us resounds at Rarity’s statement. As Rainbow starts to walk away with everyone else behind her, I grab Fluttershy’s arm to stop her. Everyone else keeps moving forward, not noticing that we had stopped. “Hey, how’s she holding up?” She rubs her arm and looks at Rainbow’s disappearing form. “Some bullies from flight school made fun of her, saying she’s a terrible flier and that she can’t perform a Sonic Rainboom. She won’t admit it, but she’s questioning herself now. Oh, I wish I could do more to help her.” “That’s why we’re here. Whether she knows it or not, I know her better than she thinks. And if we run into those bullies again, you let me deal with them.” She sighs. “Thank you. I’m sure Rainbow appreciates everypony coming to support her, even though she doesn’t show it.” She blushes slightly and looks down. “Umm… We should probably catch up before everypony questions what we’re doing.” I rub the back of my head. “Heh, yeah… Wouldn’t want that to happen…” I cough. “You know the city better than I do.” “Oh… Yes, the factory is this way.”         Upon arriving, each of us had to put on white coats and hardhats just to tour the place. Our first stop was the rainbow pools outside. “Here’s where the rainbows that shine across Equestria are made.” Rainbow stops at one of the pools. “I’m not too sure about the details, but what I do know is that the light is collected from the air and transformed into liquid form. What’s in this pool are the unfiltered colors.”         I roll my eyes. Not gonna even question how that works, or even suggest how it could be done without factoring in magic. Pinkie dips her hand into the pool, the thick, sludge like substance oozing off her hand when she pulls it out. “Anypony want a taste?!”         I chuckle. “Pretty sure tasting the rainbow takes a whole new meaning here. That probably isn’t gonna taste fruity anyways.”         “Well…”         “Quiet you.”         “More for Pinkie then!” She shoves her hand into her mouth, slurping sounds coming from her before she pulls her now clean hand out. Her eyes go wide and her face flushes a nice shade of red. “Spicy!” She rasps out before dashing off to find water.         “Never thought ah’d see the day when something was too hot for Pinkie. Ya know she drinks hot sauce straight from the bottle?” Twilight cringes at that.         “Oh, I do hope she’s alright…”         I roll my eyes. “Come on, Shy. This is Pinkie we’re talking about. Give it ten seconds—”         “SPICY!” Pinkie’s shout rings out across the factory.         “Make that ten seconds and gallons of milk.”         Rainbow shrugs her shoulders. “Alright then, let’s keep moving.” She leads us to a set of double doors nestled in the side of the central tower. Pushing open the doors, she makes a grand sweeping gesture. “And here is where the snowflakes are created. Each one is hand crafted so that no two are ever the same.”         “Oh my. They’re simply divine to look at.” Rarity hovers closer to them, but the beat of her wings causes the snowflakes to scatter throughout the room. The workers turn to glare at her, but their expression turn to pure amazement at the sight of her.         “Woah, where’d you get wings like that? They’re beautiful!”         “Yeah, you should enter the Best Young Fliers competition with wings like those!”         Rarity basks in the attention, doing little twirls and poses midair for everyone watching. “Really? Well, I never thought about it.”         “You should totally enter the competition! With wings like those, you’re going to win!”         “Well, who am I to deny everypony the chance to see these wings? Very well, I shall enter the competition!” Rarity flies out the doors, the crowd of workers right behind her.         Rainbow hangs her head and mumbles under her breath. I glance at Fluttershy to see her looking at me as well, obviously knowing how Rainbow feels. I think it’s time for a change of topic. “I’m back!” Pinkie drops down from the ceiling, startling everyone.         “Umm, what’s the next place to show everypony, Rainbow?”         “Actually guys, I’m gonna end the tour here. I wanna get one more practice session in before the competition.”         “Alright sugarcube. We’ll be rooting for ya from the stands.”         Rainbow chuckles. “Heh, like I’m gonna need it, but thanks anyway.” She bolts out the doors as the rest of us wish her luck to her retreating form.         “So, what’s next?” Twilight glances at each of us for suggestions.         I raise an eyebrow. “Considering that none of us, save for Fluttershy, have lived here, I think she would be the one to ask for suggestions.”         We all turn to Fluttershy, who glances from the ground to us. “Well, if everypony wants to, there is this nice little bakery near the coliseum where the competition is going to be held that we could go to.”         I rub my hands together. “New places to eat, and a show afterwards? Hell, I’m game.”         “But I brought snacks, remember?”         “Pinkie, we can save those for the competition, alright?”         “Okie dokie, Twilight!”         “Well, Fluttershy, you know the way. Take us to this bakery.”         After our nice little stop at the bakery for food and drinks, where I also got a lecture from Twilight about how pegasi can pass on their cloudwalking abilities to other objects so they don’t pass through clouds, we headed to the coliseum. Based on how Cloudsdale has that Roman style feel to it, I wasn’t surprised to see the coliseum look like the one in Rome. We make our way up to our seats, which are actually built into the clouds themselves.         Once everyone has filed into their seats, an announcer comes over the speakers scattered throughout the place. “Welcome everypony to this year’s Best Young Fliers competition!” The crowd cheers. Okay, the acoustics of this place are great if the sound from the crowd is this loud! “Please welcome this year’s judges, Princess Celestia and the Wonderbolts!” Princess Celestia, Spitfire, Soarin, and some other pony I can’t name right now gracefully fly in and land on a box seat looking cloud.         As the cheering dies down for them, I nudge Fluttershy. “Hey, did you get enough practice with your cheering?”         She rubs her arm. “Oh, I hope so. I just don’t think I’m good enough yet.”         “Don’t fret about it much, sugarcube. Ah’m sure yer just fine.”         “Come on, let’s hear it!” Pinkie throws some popcorn in her mouth and stares at Fluttershy.         “Um, okay.” She takes a deep breath, before letting out an adorable yay.         I blink. “Wow. That was… really great, Shy.”         Her eyes light up as her smile grows. “You really think so?”         “For you, yes.”         She leans over and hugs me. “Ah, thank you, Blake.”         I pat her on the back. “You’re welcome, but I think our attention should shift back to the competition.”         “Our contestants will be judged on their overall flying skill and their ability to wow our judges. With that out of the way, let’s welcome our first contestant!” Living on The Edge starts playing as a female pegasus walks out from backstage and starts flying around.         I laugh. “I like this mare! She’s got excellent taste in music!”         Once her performance finishes, everyone cheers for her as she heads backstage. One by one, more contests come out and perform. While the eleventh competitor is performing, Twilight asks us, “So, who’s everypony’s favorite so far?”         “Oh, I liked number ten. She seemed like such a nice pony.”         “I liked the one that did those aerial flips!”         I raise an eyebrow. “So… All of them?”         “Yeppers!”         I shrug my shoulders. “Eh, I’m holding out for Rainbow to win this, if she ever appears.”         “Ah’ve been wondering when she’s supposed ta come out, her and Rarity.”         I chuckle. “Rainbow’s excuse will be that they saved the best for last, while Rarity’s will be that perfection takes time.”         Twilight giggles. “Well, that does sound like something they’d say.”         As number eleven heads backstage, the announcer speaks up. “Due to time constraints, our last two competitors will be performing together, so keep an eye on them both!” Classical music starts playing as Rarity gracefully flies out in, what is my opinion, the gaudiest thing to ever be worn by her and starts ballet dancing in the air. Rainbow, for her part, zips out and starts weaving in and out of the poles situated at the bottom of the coliseum.         I glance at the crowd, seeing most eyes drawn to Rarity. Rainbow notices this too, and crashes into one of the poles. I shake my head as this goes unnoticed by the crowd. Rainbow shakes it off and heads for some rings hovering in midair. While doing loops for one, Rainbow crashes into it.         Fluttershy gasps. “Oh my.”         I pat her on the shoulder. “She’ll make it, trust me.”         As Rarity rises higher into the air, Rainbow bolts up to her level and easily surpasses her. Rarity, perfectly aligned with the sun, spreads her wings to create a kaleidoscope of shimmering colors on the coliseum. However, her wings quickly burn up from the high heat and she plummets towards the ground, screaming her head off and flailing her limbs. Everyone leaps out of their seats to watch.         “Oh no!” Twilight screams.         The Wonderbolts leap into action, easily catching up to her. However, Rarity strikes each of them in the face by accident, knocking them out. In a straight dive, Rainbow races towards them, still a fair distance away due to her being at a higher altitude. “Come on, Rainbow! You can save them!”         I glance at the crowd to see their reactions. Oh look, Celestia still hasn’t moved. Wonderful ruler right there, ten out of ten. Across the way, I notice a little turquoise filly leaning over the edge to watch what’s going on below. Judging from her size alone, I don’t think she’s very capable of flight yet.         Applejack apparently notices this too. “That filly’s gonna fall if she keeps that up!”         Sure enough, the filly leans a bit too far and falls off the cloud. A screaming child is hard for everybody to miss as more screams ring out. “Somepony needs to do something!” Pinkie screams.         “Ah hell.” Stepping back slightly, I prepare myself to do this by throwing on some sunglasses I stashed in my back pocket. The things I do for these ponies.         Twilight looks at me, her eye wide. “Blake…”         I shake my head. “Sorry, it’s what I do.” With that, I take a running start and swan dive off the cloud.         “Blake!” The girls shouts are drowned out by the wind whipping past my ears. My teeth chatter at the extreme cold I’m being subjected to. I angle myself almost vertical to both increase my speed and head towards the filly. She notices me, her eyes wide with a mixture of both fear and hope, and does her hardest to reach towards me. Come on, come on! Not letting this filly die today!         As I reach her, I notice a slight cone forming around Rainbow a great distance below me. Snatching the filly, I yell, “Hang on tight!” She squeezes as hard as she can around my neck while below, the cone gradually tightens around Rainbow. Without so much as a warning, a boom cracks out as a massive rainbow shockwave extends out across the land. Rainbow bolts towards Rarity and the Wonderbolts at speeds almost impossible to believe, the only indication I have of her at this point being the rainbow contrail left in her wake. As quick as she darts down, she’s whipping back up with the Wonderbolts on her back and Rarity in her hands. “Ahem!” Right, still falling. With one hand, I yank the rip cord on the chute. With a jerk, I’m now vertical with the filly still clinging to me. With my left hand, I grab the left handle and steer us towards a cloud below. As I’m steering us, my eyes widen at the still expanding Sonic Rainboom. I will admit, that thing is amazing to see! “Hey, check out the rainbow.” The filly lifts her head from my shoulder. She gasps at the sight of the ever expanding Rainboom, her eyes wide with wonder and joy. “Hang on now, I need both hands here.” She goes back to clinging to me as we near the cloud. I pull on both handles to slow us down. Thankfully, I picked a cloud large enough for me to land on. As soon as my feet touch, I hastily slip off the parachute before I’m dragged back from any stray winds. Now that we’re safe, I lower the filly to the cloud and sit down, letting out a sigh of relief. The filly looks at me, before promptly wrapping her arms around me. “Thank you.” I smile. “No problem. Be more careful next time though, I might not be around to dive after you.” I look out across the expanse of sky, my eyes following the rainbow stretching across it. The filly follows my gaze. “Wow…” See, this is what I live for, making sure that somebody else can see these moments too. “Need a lift?” I glance over my shoulder. “If you wouldn’t mind, Celestia.” I lurch slightly as the cloud starts moving up, back to the relative safety of Cloudsdale. As we pass through the bottom layer of Cloudsdale right outside the col, the filly’s mother runs over. The filly jumps up and leaps into her mother’s arms. Due to the mother being a hysterical jumble right now, I can’t understand anything she is saying, though I do make out something along the lines of thank you. I nod my head. “No need to thank me, just doing what was needed.” The mother nods her head, heading away with the filly in her arms. The filly waves over her mother’s shoulder. I wave back as Celestia puts a hand on my shoulder. “That was very brave of you, Blake.” I chuckle. “Brave, or foolish. There is sometimes no difference between the two. Either way, I’m not gonna stand by while I could do something.” “It matters not what you see it as, it’s the fact that you did something to prevent danger to others at the risk of yourself. A noble trait to have in these times.” I turn my head to look at Celestia. “One that I’m willing to uphold throughout my life, but that is a discussion for another time. We should get back to crowning the winner today, though I have no doubt I know who it is.” Celestia chuckles as she walks into the coliseum proper with me right behind her. Most, if not all of the crowd, are still in the stands at this point. In the center of the coliseum itself is Twilight’s balloon, Rarity standing in the basket as everyone huddles around it. As we near, I chuckle. “Haven’t you heard the story of Icarus before, Rarity? Fly too close to the sun, and ye shall come crashing down.” Everyone turns to me. “Blake!” I hold my arms out. “In the flesh.” “What were you thinking?! What was that thing you used?!” Twilight practically shouts in my face. “Twilight, you really need to ask that? Told you before, as long as I can do something to save someone, I will. No matter the risk to myself, I’ll be there. As for how I survived the fall, that backpack I was wearing was actually a parachute.” Applejack tilts her head. “A what now?” “Parachute. It’s just a large chute that when I pull the rip cord—” “Oh! Was that that thing I was reaching for earlier?!” “Correct, Pinkie. Anyway, pulling that cord forces the chute out of the pack, where it rapidly expands. Once it’s expanded, the chute slows my decent by way of the air rising up catching within the chute. Two handles that are attached to the chute allow me to move around in the air by pulling them.” “Oh, I’m just glad you and that filly are safe.” I chuckle. “So am I! First time ever parachuting, and it was exhilarating!” Twilight raises an eyebrow. “It was your first time doing it, and you still risked your life?!” I shrug my shoulders. “Call it stupidity, bravery, or whatever, I did it. The filly is alive, I’m alive, let’s drop it at that.” I nod my head towards Rarity. “However, I’m curious to hear what Rarity has to say after all this, considering she nearly died as well.” “As am I.” Rarity clears her throat. “Like I was just saying to Rainbow, I’m terribly sorry for putting myself before her. I got caught within the moment, and lost sight of the reason why we all came here. I should’ve been there to support you, like we said. It took my hooves leaving the ground, figuratively and literally, for me to realize this.” Rainbow waves her hand. “Don’t sweat it, Rarity.” She smirks. “I should be thanking you though. Did you see that Sonic Rainboom?! Hah! Told them I could do it! The impossible has become possible!” Out of the corner of my eye, I see Celestia motion behind her. Spitfire and the other Wonderbolt I couldn’t identify before come out (Seemingly okay after getting knocked out by Rarity, of all ponies), in their hands a golden laurel with a lightning bolt attached to a large wing on the left and right sides. Celestia grabs the laurel from them before turning to Rainbow. “And because of that,” Her voice gets louder, “I am proud to proclaim Rainbow Dash as this year’s Best Young Flier!” The crowd goes wild as Celestia places the laurel on Rainbow’s head. Rainbow beats her wings in excitement. “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! This could be best day ever!” I smirk. “I do believe that the winner also got to spend the day with the Wonderbolts?” If anything, her wings beat harder. “Scratch that, this really is the best day ever!” Rainbow turns to us. “I’ll see you back in Ponyville! Right now, I’m gonna go hang out with the Wonderbolts!” She zips over to Spitfire and bombards her with questions as they lead her backstage. I turn to Twilight. “Well, we came all the way up here for this. Now how’s about we head back down to the safety of the ground?” “I don’t see why not, unless somepony else wants to do something while we’re here?” Nobody objects to this, so we all climb into the basket. Before Twilight starts lowering us, I snap my fingers. “Oh, one more thing, Celestia. Tell Luna that she, and yourself of course, are invited to a movie night in two days. Same goes to everyone else here.” Celestia shakes her head. “I must respectfully decline, though I’m sure my sister will be happy to come.” I shrug my shoulders. “Suit yourself. Alright, Twilight, fire this baby up and get us back on the ground!” As we lower through the cloud layer, Applejack speaks up. “Ah got too much work at the farm right now ta come over. Gotta get ready for cider season.” “Fair enough, just send Apple Bloom along then.” Twilight rubs the back of her head. “I’ve sorta fallen behind on my studies, and I’d like to—” I hold my hand up. “Say no more. I understand.” I glance at Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy. “And you three?” “Duh, like I’m gonna miss a movie night!” “I should be able to swing by, but I hope you don’t mind if Sweetie is along.” “Nah, bring her. Can’t break up the Crusaders, am I right?” “Umm… I’ll be there.” “Great. Same time as usual good for everyone?” Everyone agrees on our time, so the rest of the trip is spent in relative silence as everyone winds down from today.