//------------------------------// // A Day At The Races // Story: Brainiac Takes Manehattan // by TopWanted //------------------------------// Brainy raised his head with a weary groan. Somehow during the night he had fallen asleep draped on top of an overturned love seat. He wiped a hoof across his face and tried to get back up. He found his back legs were asleep as he slipped and crashed onto the floor, awakening the other guests who stayed after the festivities. Rarity rubbed her aching head as she attempted to stand from the piles of dresses on top of her. She crawled out and shook glanced at a mirror, her eyes shooting open. “My coiffure!” She dashed quickly to the bathroom. Sassy and Coco were curled up together on the couch, their faces mere inches apart. With the crash and Rarity’s loud cry, they fluttered their eye open and looked at each other. They both screamed as they pushed each other away. Coco falling off the couch while Sassy unintentionally pushing the couch over. Applejack raised her head from a pile of cushions to the side of the couch, its fall waking her. Brainy took a look at his sleeping legs and realized why. Sapphire Shores had attached herself to his back legs in a bear hug. His simple black dress that Rarity had provided was still on him, though Sapphire seemed to be sucking on the tail like a pacifier. Brainy looked around for a way to remove himself from the situation. Salvation came in the color pink. Pinkie Pie bounded into the middle of the party room, landing with grace on a glass table in the center. She held in her hooves seven plates with breakfast, the smell enticing the recently awakened ponies to gather round. “Hello, party animals!” Pinkie shouted. “Boy, last night was something, wasn’t it? Couldn’t have done it better myself!” A moan of agreement echoed from all the gathered ponies. Sapphire now had her eyes open and had stopped sucking on Brainy’s dress, however she still refused to relinquish his legs. In fact she seemed to hug tighter as she now began to rub her nose in his tail. Brainy crawled toward the table and planted his hooves on the glass, his face still not giving anything away. Pinkie jumped down from the table and set a plate in front of Brainy. “You did a great job last night,” she whispered. “I’ve got a super special awesome breakfast for you.” Brainy eyed the plate. His olfactory senses were screaming for him to eat it. And he was pretty hungry. Brainy shrugged and began to eat. He eyed Pinkie wearily as he ate. The pink mare had given him a lot to think about in only a days time. He had only been alive less than two days and already somepony was calling him a friend. Brainy stopped eating as he considered this. No, it wasn’t that he had been alive less than forty eight hours. He, as in Brainiac, had been alive for millennia. This body was a shell nothing more. Brainy was a fiction, something to bring the ponies closer to him and in so doing make them easier to strike at. Still, he couldn’t help but feel some kind of elation whenever he saw the pink mare. After a few minutes Rarity finally exited the bathroom with a flourish. “Perfect!” she announced. Applejack rolled her eyes and smiled. “So glad you could join us.” “MMMMmmm. Me too.” Sapphire had finally released herself from Brainy’s posterior and joined the table. However now she threw her hooves around Brainy’s neck in a rather too friendly hug. “Rarity you know some wild ponies.” Rarity blushed. “Um, yes, well… I haven’t really known Brai- Brianna all that well but-” “It’s cool, Rarity,” Sapphire waved a dismissive hoof. “I know.” “You do?” Rarity asked as everypony seemed to raise their eyebrows. “I mean, about what?” Sapphire dug a hoof into Brainy’s dimple affectionately. “Not often you see ‘that’ on a mare,” she joked. Everyone in the room but Coco seemed to blush profusely. Coco looked around at everypony’s reactions. “Um, am I missing something?” Applejack leaned over to the mare and whispered in her ear. Suddenly her cheeks were bright red as well. “Oh.” “Still he’s quite the looker,” Sapphire continued. “Aint you handsome?” Brainy simply continued to eat. Sapphire chuckled and squeezed a little tighter. “Ha! I love the silent types!” “Yes, well,” Rarity cleared her throat as she sat down to eat. “We really should get you out of that dress if the jig is up.” “Hmmm, I’d like to get him out of that dress too,” Sapphire commented with a grin. Brainy did not respond physically but one pony noticed his eyes squint in frustration. Somehow Pinkie appeared in between Brainy’s back and Sapphire. She looked at Sapphire with a stern expression. “Brainy doesn’t like that!” she proclaimed. Sapphire looked surprised as she turned from Pinkie to Brainy. Then a smile played across her face. “Okay, okay. I get it. Don’t worry.” She let go of Brainy and went over to her own plate. “I wouldn’t dream of stealing another mare’s stallion.” Pinkie blushed red once more and shouted a response. “Brainy isn’t like that!” Pinkie was surprised to see both Applejack and Rarity join her shout saying the exact same thing. All three mares blushed. Brainy simply continued to eat. After breakfast, Brainy went to the bathroom with Rarity to get out of the dress. Applejack and Pinkie began to pick up the plates when AJ noticed the clock on the wall. “Sweet Celestia! It’s already 12!” “What!?” Pinkie shouted. She looked at the clock as well. “The Wonderbolts Relay is starting in an hour!” Rarity burst from the bathroom once more, this time in a more frantic flourish. “What?! But it will take us at least an hour to get the dresses back to our hotel!” Applejack pulled her hat over her head. “Not to mention I gotta return that cart to Cherry Jubilee!” Coco began to panic as well. “Plus it will take nearly an hour walking through the traffic on one of the busiest days of the year.” All three mares screamed in desperation. Brainy walked out of the bathroom slowly, his hair undid and the dress folded up in Rarity’s hooves. He looked at their buzz of movement with little interest. Sapphire appeared at her doorway holding an envelope. “What’s all the fuss about?” she asked. Rarity ran over to her and shook her hoof furiously. “Thank you for the hospitality, we really appreciate it!” Applejack joined in. “But we have to go!” Sapphire frowned. “But your little friend’s race isn’t for another hour.” “I know!” Pinkie shouted. “We gotta get moving!” They all tried to dash out the door but Sapphire put a hoof in front of them. “Woah, woah! You girls worried about your stuff?” All three nodded in a panic. “Taken care of.” “Huh?” they all replied. Sapphire laughed. “Wow, you three don’t remember anything about last night.” She pointed at Rarity. “All you did was spout about how much of a hassle it was going to be to get your dresses back to your hotel.” She pointed to Applejack. “And all you talked about was finding some way to repay that Cherry Jubilee girl.” She shrugged. “Well your dresses are on their way and your apple cart is already with Miss Jubilee at the Mareiott. I even threw in a nice gift basket.” The two mares looked at the pop star in stunned silence with their mouths agape. Pinkie was the one to break the ice. “We still need to get across town in less than an hour!” she shouted. Sapphire laughed again. “And you kept talking about your friend’s big relay. Well, guess what? Sha-BAM!” She threw the envelope on the table and several tickets spilled out. “Just so happens I have box seats!” All three mares now looked stunned. Coco spoke up this time. “But how do they make it across town in time?” Sapphire grinned again. “That’s where the fun part comes in.” She walked over to the window and pushed it open. A breeze floated in as a large ship slowly descended until its deck was level with the room. The ponies all looked out with their mouths agape as they stared out the window at a large blue airship with a blimp balloon with a giant dolphin painted on the side. “I hope you didn’t think somepony like me just drove around in a carriage?” Everypony but Brainy stared on in disbelief. Brainy took a long look at the airship before shrugging his shoulders. “Meh.” He had seen better. A pony in a captain’s hat pushed a large plank across the side of the ship onto the balcony. They all said their goodbyes to Coco and Sassy as Rarity was the first to proceed followed by Sapphire with Applejack and Pinkie Pie coming up the rear. Pinkie frowned as she turned back. “Well, are you coming, Brainy?” she asked him. Brainy furrowed his brow in confusion. “Why do you wish for me to attend this ‘race’?” he asked monotonously. “Cause you’re my friend, silly!” she giggled. Brainy eyes opened a little wider than normal. After that smallest of expressions, he returned to his blasé attitude and followed Pinkie across. Sapphire spread her hooves, showing the whole ship to the ponies. “Welcome to the High Life!” Rarity gasped in delight as the ship began to set sail. She ran to the prow and held out her hooves in delight to catch the air flowing past her. She let out a squeak of surprise as she felt Brainy pick her up by her waist and raise her a little higher. “What are you doing?” she asked. Then she felt a much nicer breeze and looked down to see even more of the city. “Oh,” she blushed. “Please continue.” She whooped with delight as Brainy lifted her higher. “Ooh! Ooh!” Pinkie shouted. “Me next! Me next!” Pinkie seemed so excited about it that the moment Brainy put Rarity down she jumped onto his back. Brainy did not respond with a moan or eye roll, but he did blush profusely. He lifted Pinkie up in the air as she giggled at the wind tickling her fur. “WOOOOOO!” she shouted. “I’m the princess of the world!” Rarity kicked herself for not thinking of saying that as well. Applejack merely laughed at her friends’ antics. Within a few minutes they already came into sight of Madison Mare Garden. The stadium’s dome roof had been lowered in order for the Wonderbolts to fly at their maximum capacity. Four giant towers stood in the center of the stadium that reached up and out of the roof. Around them were many hoops in odd and various angles. The ponies stared at the sight before them as the captain approached. He saluted to Sapphire. “Ma’am, we’ll be docking in about ten minutes if you wish to get ready.” Sapphire winked at the captain. “Thanks, and don’t wait up for us. Biggest party of the century’s gonna go down here tonight!” “You know it!” Pinkie shouted in agreement. Everypony was smiling broadly as the ship docked at the top of the stadium where the box seats were. They all walked off onto the balcony walkway as the ship pulled off once more. Pinkie was the first to stop as she gasped in distress. “Oh my gosh! The tickets!” Applejack turned to her with a confused expression. “Sapphire has the tickets Pinkie.” “Not her tickets! Our tickets!” Pinkie corrected her. She pulled the three ponies’ tickets out of her mane and rushed to the edge of the balcony. “I’m sure somepony else would really appreciate them!” She tossed the tickets off the side of the balcony and watched them flutter down. Applejack walked over to the edge too and watched them fall, a sinking feeling finally hitting her. “Y’know, we haven’t seen Twilight or Fluttershy in over a day. You think they’re alright?” Rarity’s demeanor changed as well. “Oh, you know you’re right. I would’ve thought they’d join us last night. Twilight knew the show was at the Hillton Premiere. I hope everything’s okay.” Sapphire noticed their concern and smiled. “Don’t worry girls. I’ll have one of my security wait at the gate for your friends. I’m sure they’ll be here.” The ponies smiled a little as that seemed to alleviate their spirits. They all began to walk again but Brainy stayed behind, watching the tickets as they continued to fall. “What’s up, Brainy?” Pinkie called as she turned to look at him. Brainy did many calculations in his head as to just where the tickets would land. It was a simple problem but it was the closest thing he’d had to an intelligent challenge in twenty four hours. He deduced that the tickets would land two blocks away by the Marewood and CanterContinental hotels respectively. He turned to catch up with the group. “What was that about?” Pinkie asked. “Just thinking,” Brainy replied. ----- Wind Rider slammed the door to the Marewood Hotel in a huff. Kick him out, would they? He was a hall of famer! They should have been begging for him to stay, free of charge! “And don’t think I’ll come back after that!” he shouted. Where had his life gone wrong? He was respected once, revered. Then it all went down after he met that stupid rainbow maned floozy. She took his record, his dignity, and now he couldn’t even get a ticket to the races. He was a pariah, a social outcast. He grit his teeth in frustration. At that same moment across the street another Pegasus was being kicked to the curb for having stayed more than two months in the CanterContinental Hotel. The manager tossed her out and Lightning Dust landed on her flank on the curb with a thud. “Consider this your pink slip!” the manager shouted as he slammed the door on her. Lightning Dust rubbed her flank as she stood back up with a scowl. All she had done was try to live in one of the hotel rooms. She barely got paid anyway, the least that crappy hotel could do was let her stay somewhere rent free. Her mind flashed back to how she had reached such a slump. “Grrrrrr!” “This is all Rainbow Dash’s fault!” both ponies across the street from each other shouted. Surprised, they both turned to each other. Lightning Dust immediately brightened up. “Oh my gosh!” she shouted and ran across the street. “Y- You’re Wind Rider! One of the best flyers in Equestrian history. Wind grinned a little at receiving some praise that had alluded him for so long. But he was still curious. “I’m sorry. You were saying something about Rainbow Dash?” Lightning’s demeanor changed drastically as her scowl returned. “Grrrrrrr! That pipsqueak cost me a place in the Wonderbolt Reserves. Wait, how do you know her?” Wind scowled as well. “Let’s just say my story’s pretty similar.” Lightning rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe that dumb airhead gets to fly with the Wonderbolts today!” Wind accompanied her eye rolling. “Tell me about it. Because of her the Wonderbolts hate me so much now that they wouldn’t even let me buy a ticket.” “Stupid Rainbow Dash,” they both muttered. “I just wish there was something we could do to get back at her.” Suddenly two pieces of paper blew through the air and slapped both ponies in the face. Wind and Lightning scowled even deeper as they tore the paper from their faces and were prepared to throw it. Then something caught their eyes. The papers that hit them were tickets to the Wonderbolts relay race. Lightning’s scowl turned into a devilish smile as she turned to Wind. Wind’s scowl became an evil grin as he turned to Lightning. “What do you say we show that blue moron a thing or two?” Wind chuckled. “Couldn’t have put it better myself,” Lightning laughed. ----- Rainbow Dash had gotten into her suit hours ago. Long before anypony else was supposed to. Even Soarin and Spitfire had waited until the half hour mark to get dressed. Spitfire chuckled at Rainbow who paced nervously in the locker room. “Don’t worry about it, kid,” she said. “It’s not like it’s an international competition or anything. Just a relay race. Plus if do anything like you had during the practice it’ll be a cinch.” Rainbow smiled at the support from her idol. True, yesterday’s practice run was awesome and she did even awesomer. But practice had nothing to do with the actual thing. While Rainbow Dash loved to show off and perform, playing in front of the huge crowd in Madison Mare Garden was another story. “Hey kid!” a voice called out from the door to the locker room. A mare in glasses and carrying a clipboard stuck her head in. “Reserve members are lining up on the field for a preliminary show. Get ready.” “Okay!” Rainbow replied with enthusiasm. She donned her goggles and flew out the door. Spitfire watched her leave her signature rainbow trail through the air. “That kid has got way too much enthusiasm,” she chuckled. Fleetfoot nudged her in the side with a grin. “I seem to recall somepony else being just like that when they started out.” Spitfire pushed her friend away with a smirk and continued to don her uniform. Outside Rainbow Dash zipped to the center of the field and joined the lines of Wonderbolt Reserves. Most of them were young and eager like her, their heads pointed high as they stared up at the incredibly tall poles containing the rings they’d be flying through during the race. Rainbow Dash, however, didn’t seem to notice the imposing rings. What got her to gulp in anxiety was the enormous amount of ponies already in their seats. The stadium was enormous and seemed to reach super high. She tried to shake it off. What was she worried about? She’d competed in the Equestrian Games and that crowd had been even larger. There was just something odd about today that she just couldn’t get over. She laughed to herself as she considered what Pinkie might have thought about her gut feeling, what with her Pinkie sense and all. That’s when she heard it. Over all the murmurs and talking of the crowd came a single mare’s incredibly loud voice. “HEY RAINBOW DASH!!!!” Rainbow looked up trying to scan where the voice had come from but couldn’t find it. “HEY!!!!! UP HERE!!!!!” She kept trying to look as the voice continued to shout. Finally she noticed a familiar pink poofy manedo nearly falling off the side of a luxurious box seat at the center of the stands. Two other familiar ponies were holding Pinkie back from falling over as she enthusiastically waved at her. Rainbow cupped her hooves over her mouth. “What are you guys doing up there?” she asked. “WHAT!!!!!???” shouted Pinkie. “I said what are you guys doing up there?!” “WHAT!!!!!!!!???!!??!?!?” Rainbow braced herself to shout. “WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING UP THERE!?!?!?” The Reserve members all cupped their ears as they turned to look at her. Rainbow blushed a little and pardoned herself. “Excuse me a minute.” She flew up to the box seats and landed to greet her three friends. Applejack and Rarity pulled Pinkie Pie back into the box as the pink mare jumped at Rainbow hugged her tight. “OOH! I’m so happy to see you again!” she shouted. “It feels like it’s been forever and a half!” Rainbow rolled her eyes as she pried Pinkie from her. “It’s only been like a day, Pinkie.” “And you would not believe the day we’ve had!” Pinkie replied. “OH! Right! I’ve got to introduce you to our new friend!” She dashed into the box as the sound of pulling and pushing could be heard. “Come on! Come meet Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie pleaded as she tried to budge somepony inside. AJ shrugged as she too came in for a hug. “This might take a while. The pony Pinkie met is kind of shy.” “I’ll say,” Rarity agreed. “But he saved my fashion show and helped Applejack so he’s okay in my book.” Rainbow Dash lifted an eyebrow in curiosity. She really wanted to meet this pony that had impressed all her friends. Finally in a surge of strength Pinkie was able to push the motionless light green stallion out onto the terrace. His hooves scraped the concrete with a grinding noise as he was pushed along. Rainbow took one look at him and frowned. He was an earth pony with a purple mane and purple birthmark on his forehead. He stared at her blankly with an expression of disinterest. “Uh, hi,” she said reluctantly. Pinkie appeared between the two and darted her eyes back and forth with a broad smile. Obviously she was hoping for them to hit it off. The stallion took notice and rolled his eyes. “Hello,” he replied. When nopony else said anything Rainbow rubbed the back of her head in confusion. She leaned over to Rarity. “Uh, are you sure this is the pony that helped you out?” Rarity giggled. “I know he might not seem like much and is pretty quiet. But Brainy is a true friend.” She wrapped a hoof around his shoulder. “Sure is,” AJ added as she too wrapped her hoof around his other shoulder. Pinkie completed this popping up behind him and wrapping her hooves around his neck. Rainbow shrugged. “Well, if you say so.” She just didn’t see it. She raised an eyebrow as she studied him a little closer. “He looks a little weak for a stallion.” Applejack chuckled. “Trust me. You don’t want to test that.” Suddenly a horn was blown. Rainbow looked down as the Reserve members began to take off. She needed to get back into formation. “Uh oh, I’m late. Sorry guys, gotta go.” She waved goodbye as she jumped off the balcony. She glided slowly down to her spot just as they took off again. She still couldn’t shake off the feeling like something bad was going to happen. ----- Pinkie Pie frowned as she watched Rainbow fly off. “She doesn’t seem to like Brainy,” she sighed despondently. Rarity shrugged. “He is a bit of an acquired taste, I’ll admit. Um, no offense.” “No offense received,” Brainy replied in monotone. “But why?” Pinkie yelled as she grabbed Brainy’s face and squished it against hers. “He’s just so adorable!” Applejack chuckled to herself. “Maybe you just have an easier time dealing with ponies like Brainy, Pinkie.” Pinkie didn’t seem to get the implication. “What do you mean ponies like him?” Rarity and AJ looked at each other, not sure how to bring up the demeanor of Pinkie’s beloved older sister. “Um, what Applejack means is…” Rarity thought for a moment. “Less… outspoken ponies.” “But Brainy loves to talk,” Pinkie replied. “Right, Brainy?” “Speech is the most effective form of transmission of nonvisual or virtual information available at this time,” Brainy replied. The three stared at him with odd looks, Pinkie being the first to break as she gave him a friendly bump on the shoulder. “Oh, Brainy. You and you’re silly made up words.” ----- Wind Rider gave an ominous grin as he watched the Wonderbolt Reserves fly high into the sky. After making their way into the stadium, he and Lightning Dust snuck down to the competitors’ area where the lockers were located. Lightning had suggested sabotaging Rainbow Dash’s costume but they were disheartened to find her already wearing it. However, Wind Rider had something else in mind. “Well, she’s already in the air,” Lightning sighed. “What are we supposed to do now? It’s not like we can just fly out there to sabotage her.” “Don’t be so hasty my easily dismayed friend,” Wind chuckled. He walked over to a large basket cart and reached in to produce two articles of clothing. One was a Wonderbolts uniform and the other was a Stadium technician outfit. Lightning grinned. “Nice! Now we can get on the field with nopony the wiser.” “Yes,” Wind sighed as he lifted up the employee uniform. “Unfortunately the Wonderbolt outfit is too small for me so you’ll have to wear it.” He threw it over to her. “Consider this your second chance to outdo that upstart.” Lightning snatched the uniform out of the air, unsure of what to say. “I… Thank you.” This had been a moment she’d wanted for so long. To be given it by one of her heroes was incredible. Lightning saluted. “I won’t let you down, Wind. I’m going to wipe the floor with that rainbow mop!” She smiled broadly with joy as she dashed somewhere she could put the outfit on secretly. Wind watched as she left with an ominous grin. “Oh, don’t worry, my dear,” Wind whispered as he smiled down at the stadium uniform in his hooves. “I don’t need that uniform for what I’m planning.” ----- When the reserve’s preshow was finished, Rainbow came in for a landing as the rest of the main Wonderbolt team flooded into the stadium. Immediately the crowd’s cheers grew in volume as ponies like Soarin and Spitfire flew to the center of the stadium to wave at the crowds. The main team all landed slightly in front of the reserve team. That is, all but one. To Rainbow’s surprise one pegasus flew to join the reserves, standing a little at the end. Rainbow turned her head to look at her but the pony turned her head to avoid eye contact. She wore the basic goggles and face mask of all Wonderbolts so it was a little hard to make her out, but Rainbow swore she’d seen that mane before. The ref walked forward in front of the Wonderbolts as she held a whistle in her mouth. In her left hoof she held a checkered handkerchief high in the air. The main team got into a deep stance for easy takeoff as the ref eyed them all. Then with the flick of her wrist she dropped the handkerchief and blew the whistle. The racers immediately took off. Just the main team would perform the first race, seeing as the reserves had just performed themselves. The latter half of the event would be the time for Rainbow to shine. She watched the race unfold as Soarin took an early lead followed closely by Spitfire. The race was designed like an obstacle course with the pegasi having to fly through the hoops protruding from the four large metal poles. Each racer would pass through the lowest hoop to the ground followed by the next closest hoop on the next pole and so on and so on. Once the racers reached the top of the poles they would have to repeat the process and fly down through the hoops again only in reverse. Pegasi referees were posted at every pole to aid in the racers flight should someone miss or get hurt and fall. Within a few minutes and after they had completed three circuits of the poles making it about half way up, Spitfire overtook Soarin. Fleetfoot was quickly dipping and dodging her way up to the front as well. But what was truly a surprise was… well, Surprise, who surprisingly popped up in a close fourth despite being close to dead last at the beginning. Soarin seemed to be having a tough time maneuvering as Rainbow Dash winced to see him nearly clip his wing on several of the sharp turns. She was so fixated on the game that she didn’t notice the suspicious pony from earlier slowly slipping her way through the lines of reserves to stand beside her. When the mysterious flyer had reached the position next to Dash she leaned over to her. “Quite a show, huh?” she snickered. Rainbow turned her attention from the game as the voice unlocked a memory within her. She lifted her goggles as she looked at the pony beside her. “Lightning Dust?” she asked. Lightning lifted her goggles as well and gave Rainbow an evil grin. “What do you think of my new duds?” Rainbow flew into a rage as she faced Lightning head on. “What are you doing here? You’re not a reserve!” Lightning looked at her coolly as she rubbed a hoof over her insulated uniform. “You gonna rat on me just like last time?” Her tone was dripping with venom. Rainbows expression fell as she remembered what had happened to Lightning. Sure, the pony had no account for the wellbeing of others but she was still a good flyer and probably didn’t deserve as harsh a punishment as she’d got, being kicked out of the Wonderbolts Academy altogether. Rainbow bit her lip as she contemplated what to do. “No, I’m not,” she finally said. “But you have to tell me what you’re doing here!” Lightning smirked. “I’m just here to have a little fun. Maybe get a little rematch and some revenge in while I’m at it.” “What are you planning?” Rainbow asked her with a glare. “If you’re planning on hurting anypony then I-” “Relax, Dash,” Lightning waved a dismissive hoof. “The only pony I’m going to hurt is you when I show everypony here that I should have been the one in your position.” She pushed her forehead against Dash’s so they were butting heads. “You always came in second to me at the academy and now I’m going to show all of Manehattan what you’re made of.” She leaned in to her ear and whispered, “silver.” That was the last straw for Dash who dug her hooves into the ground, ready for a fight. However, Lightning held up a hoof and pointed at the sky. “Save that heat for the track, Dash. Let’s just enjoy the show for now. We’ll have our chance to tango soon enough.” Rainbow growled but relented as she too returned her attention to the sky. Spitfire had completed the first half and was already half of the way down. Amazingly, despite all the racers still on his tail, Soarin had kept his place at second. It was during these last few moments of the race that he decided to kick it up a notch and start using some pretty dangerous maneuvers to catch up. Soarin ducked and weaved through the rings as he just barely clipped his wing once more. The whole crowd seemed to let out a shocked wince. However the epitome of the race came at the final three rings. Spitfire had just flown through the third to last ring when Soarin flew through a moment later. But, quite surprisingly, Surprise had made her way to his side and the two attempted to go through the ring at the same time. Their wings collided and Soarin lost his balance, flying straight into the ring itself. The crowd let out a gasp as they heard the pegasus’ collide with the metal. Soarin was immediately out cold and began to fall the fifty hooves to the ground. Spitifre turned her head at the sound of the noise and noticed her friend and teammate begin to fall. She saw the refs begin to fly toward him but knew they would be too late. Spitfire tore away from the race and flew back to catch Soarin just as he was about to hit the ground. The crowd cheered with delight as she flew to the ground and laid Soarin out for the medical ponies to take him. However, since she had not completed the last ring, Surprise flew through the last hoop to finish the race in first. As all the Wonderbolts finally landed on the ground and began to wave, all of them tackled Spitfire and began to congratulate her on her save, even Surprise. The stadium couldn’t get enough of it as they began to chant her name. Even Rainbow joined in. “Yeah! Spitfire!” she screamed happily. Lightning frowned as she looked at Dash and the stadium. “Why are you cheering for her? She lost!” Rainbow smirked at Lightning. “You still just don’t get it, do you?” Lightning grit her teeth in frustration. “The only thing I get is power! I’m going to wipe the floor with you so hard that everypony here will finally get what that word means!” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Fine, but promise me that you won’t do anything to endanger anypony again.” Lightning furrowed her brow and bit her lip. “Fine by me.” ----- Pinkie cheered with the crowd as she saw Spitfire safely lower Soarin to the ground. “Wow! What a turnabout!” AJ yelled with delight as well. “Don’t I know it!” “That was truly a remarkable thing she did for her friend,” Rarity commented. “Analysis of the height of the drop and Soarin Skies body weight, accompanied by the variables of wind and density of the ground indicate that he would have survived such a fall,” Brainy spouted. Everypony turned to him with wide surprised eyes. Brainy turned to them with a slightly confused expression. “Why then did the pony known as Spitfire attempt to save him?” AJ frowned. “Well, Brainy, that’s just what you do for friends when they’re in trouble.” “Yeah,” Pinkie said. “Besides, even if he survived I’m pretty sure Soarin would have been really hurt. Friends don’t want friends to hurt.” Brainy turned back to the field and studied it closely. “But the pony known as Spitfire had to forfeit the race in order to accomplish this. Does that not mean anything to her?” “Of course it means something,” Rarity replied with a smile. “It’s just that friends matter more than trophies.” Brainy watched as Surprise was offered the trophy and shook her head declining it. Instead she took it and gave it to Spitfire. Spitfire didn’t want to accept it, but Surprise refused to let her decline. She took it and held it high with a beaming smile. The ponies in the stands cheered. “There, you see? Everything’s right.” Brainy’s head was ablaze with thoughts. “Logical outcome of the race was Spitifire’s victory. However, Spitfire lost. The sacrifice from her loss brought about an outcome that would allow her to become victorious. The equation has the same outcome, but… there is a different method to solving it.” Brainy’s brow was the most furrowed the ponies had ever seen it. He never tore his eyes away from the ground as Pinkie walked up to him and waved a hoof over his face. Suddenly his expression returned to normal and he turned to leave. “I must go alleviate unvital waste.” AJ raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Beg your pardon?” Pinkie leaned in and whispered into her ear. “Oh.” Her face went slightly red. Rarity went back to watching the show as Brainy left the box. “I do hope somepony looks after Soarin,” she said. “That knock to the head made the entire pole shake.” “I know what you mean,” Applejack said. “It looked like that whole thing might just come down.” Pinkie waved a dismissive hoof. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that. I saw a technician come out just before the race and tighten the bolts at the bottom.” Rarity blew a sigh of relief. “Oh, well, that’s good.” ----- Once the Wonderbolt main team had left the stadium grounds, the reserves were brought into line for their race. Rainbow glared at the pony next to her just as she did as well. Lightning made a swiping motion across her throat, to which Rainbow frowned and mouthed the words “nopony gets hurt.” Lightning rolled her eyes behind her goggles and nodded. The ref stood in front of them as she held up the checkered flag. The two racers gave each other one last evil eye before they both dug in their hooves for a takeoff. The ref scanned the crowd of reserves and then let out a harsh whistle as she threw down the flag. The racers took off with two distinct pegasi in the forefront. Off to the side, hiding behind a cart, a white maned pony chuckled to himself as he took off his technician outfit. He fixed his trademark leather jacket on as he turned to the race and watched. His smile could have sent fillies running. “That’s it, my dear,” he murmured. “Just get as close as you can to that little runt. Then you’ll find that little surprise I added to your costume.” His smile grew more twisted as he rubbed his hooves together. Rainbow stuck close to the poles as she flew through the rings, Lightning right there at her side just outside. With speed and perfect precision the two weaved through ring after ring almost at the same time. Pretty soon, even faster than the main Wonderbolts team had done it, they had passed through the top hoop and began their way down. “Who’s that trailing Rainbow Dash?” Spitfire asked as she held a hoof over her eyes to look up. “Don’t know,” Fleetfoot replied with a smile. “But she’s got the girl on the ropes.” Rainbow risked a glare to her side as she saw Lightning did as well. They were still neck and neck with the entire team far behind them. This race was just between the two of them. Rainbow refocused her determination on the hoops in front of her and gained a slight lead. Lightning saw her opponent’s head push forward and she grit her teeth in frustration. This was the moment she’d been waiting for. No way in Tartarus was she going to fall behind now. Dash had told her not to hurt any of the other racers, but she said nothing about herself. Lightning grinned mischievously as she let out a big push and came back to neck and neck. As they turned another hoop, Lightning came in a little close to Rainbow, edging her towards the poles. Rainbow nearly clipped her wing as a result. The rainbow maned Pegasus shot her head at her opponent, furious. “What the hay was that!?” she shouted over the airstream. Lightning’s face became stern and fierce. “I’m not letting you take what’s mine again!” With another push she shoved Rainbow closer to the pole. However, to her surprise, Lightning felt herself get pushed toward the pole as well. The ponies were mere inches away from the large metal shaft and Lightning couldn’t stop herself from flying straight into it. Rainbow gasped as Lightning’s body flew past her and she hit the pole with a resounding thud. The dull metal sound echoed throughout the whole arena as ponies winced in sympathetic pain. Rainbow smirked at her opponent. Serves her right, she thought. She returned to the race but stopped when she heard a terrified scream. Rainbow looked up to see that most of the other racers had stopped flying, some even flying away from the track as the pole Lightning had hit began to wobble and tip. The crowd gasped in horror and screamed as the large shaft slowly began to descend toward the stadium seats. Rainbow looked back to where Lightning had hit the pole and noticed that she was still attached to it. Lightning seemed to be struggling to free herself from the pole which somehow had a hold of her suit. Without a second thought, Rainbow dashed over to her and began to try to pull her loose. “What happened?” she asked. Lightning’s eyes began to grow wide as she felt the pole continue to shift beneath her. “I can’t get it off!” She struggled to lift a small part of her uniform around her chest. “There’s something in the suit!” Rainbow looked down and noticed that Lightning had pulled her suit just a little bit off the surface of the pole but it snapped back on when she stopped struggling. “It’s a magnet!” Rainbow exclaimed. Lightning looked at her with terrified eyes. “What?!” The two pegasi continued to struggle with the magnet, adding both their strengths to pull it. In a quiet snap they tumbled back from the pole, Rainbow catching Lightning as she began to fall. She let out a small sigh of relief but was cut off as Lightning’s body began to drift back to the pole. “Oh no you don’t!” Rainbow shouted as she tried to pull her back. However it was for naught as the magnet won out and dragged Rainbow along for the ride, pinning her wing under it. Rainbow screamed out in pain as the stadium attendees continued to run for their lives above them. With pain-stricken eyes Rainbow looked up and saw that they were on a collision course with the side of the stadium. “Any other bright ideas?” Lightning asked dryly as she watched them head towards their doom as well. Rainbow smirked. “You kidding? I’m not going out like this!” As they reached merely a few yards away from the stands, Rainbow kicked out her legs and was prepared to hold the pole up herself when it suddenly stopped and her feet were left hanging. “Huh?” Everypony looked up as they saw an older blue pegasus with a white mane and brown leather jacket holding up the pole further up the stands. “Holy Hay!” Fleetfoot swore. “Is that Wind?” “He’s holding the whole thing up on his own?” Spitfire added. Wind Rider looked around at the gawking ponies. He pretended to struggle slightly as he held up one of the poles that he had rigged to tilt. On the inside he was grinning with delight as the pole had stopped exactly where he wanted it too, the bolts on the ground holding it in place. To everypony around him though, he was holding up a twenty ton piece of metal. He gave a signature smile to the crowd. “It’s okay everypony!” he shouted. “I’ve got it!” The crowd went absolutely wild. Rainbow looked up at Wind and frowned. “Seriously? Wind Rider saved us?” She looked to her side at Lightning and noticed that her face was not fearful like before, or grateful, or even vengeful. She looked up at Rider with the saddest eyes she’d ever seen and started to cry. “Lightning? What the hay is going on?” Lightning gave her a glance before covering her face to hide her tears. “That’s why he gave me the suit,” she muttered. She looked up at Wind Rider receiving accolades from everypony in the crowd as he held up the giant beam of death that would have crushed them. He caught sight of the two and gave them a slight sneer so that only they could see. Lightning’s face grew dark and she lowered her head in shame. “You bastard,” she whispered and continued to cry. Rainbow tried to listen to every word Lightning said and suddenly the situation became clear. How Lightning had gotten in and gotten a uniform. The point of that magnet in her suit. Wind had played her for a foal and she and Rainbow were the stooges to his little play at a comeback. Rainbow closed her eyes and let out a hiss. “Oh, that is low even for you.” Wind now began to play to the crowd as he lifted a hoof from the still stationary pole to wave at the audience. He did it. He was a hero again. This is what he wanted. What he deserved! And he’d been able to shame Rainbow Dash in the process as well, a bonus. Sure the Lightning kid suffered a little, but he didn’t care. Kids like that always land on their hooves. This was his moment, nopony elses. Suddenly his thoughts were silenced by a horrid sound of something bending and breaking. He looked up with wide eyes as the beam began to slowly descend once more, only this time it was bending a different way. He looked down as ponies swarmed the pole base and tried to hold it in place. One side on the pole’s bolted base had not been able to withstand the weight and broke, sending the pole careening to the right. Right into another pole. “Nononononononononono!” Wind shouted as he no longer pretended to struggle with the weight of the pole, now feeling its full weight. Rainbow looked up in horror as their pole collided with another one in the arena and that on in turn began to tilt toward the next. “You have got to be kidding me!” she uttered with a face hoof. Soon all four poles had collided and the fourth and final one was beginning to make its way back to the stands. The ponies began to scream in terror once more as many ran for their lives. Applejack’s mouth was agape at the sight before her. “This is a nightmare!” she shouted. “We gotta do something!” “We need to evacuate, Applejack,” Rarity shouted back. “Maybe we can corral some of the ponies out of the stadium before the beams fall.” “Wait!” Pinkie shouted as she rushed between her two friends with a worried expression. “Where’s Brainy!?” Rainbow watched with horrified eyes as the pole they were attached to began to grind against the second pole as it descended. She closed her eyes as the sparks from the two crashing poles came closer and closer. “Looks like this is it,” she uttered to Lightning. “Any last words?” Lightning still hung her head as she did not even look up to see their impending death. She let out a solemn sigh as she said her final words. “I’m sorry.” Suddenly it all stopped. Rainbow opened an eye to look at what happened and noticed the grinding had halted. The ponies in the crowd had begun to calm down as well as the screams began to die off. Rainbow turned her head as she looked to where the final pole had supposed to strike the stands. Her mouth fell agape at what she saw. “Accounting for age of construction,” All the ponies in the crowd stared with disbelief at the sight “Variables of wind pressure, density of soil and temperature,” Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie let their mouths hang open as they stared at the sight. “Add the correct amount of force and pressure, and…” Everypony drew their gaze upward as the green stallion who held the final beam on his shoulders lifted his body and sent the beam tilting the opposite direction. The beam came to a perfect vertical stop as the third pole let go and climbed higher to a perfect vertical. The process repeated again and again as Rainbow felt her pole begin to move upward and then stay pointed at the sky. When they were done gawking the technicians rushed in to sodder the beams to the bases. For the longest while the stadium was dead silent as they all stared at Brainy who rubbed his shoulders with a disinterested expression on his face. When he had finished he took a look around at the ponies staring at him. “It’s only logical.” The crowd went wild and Brainy was swarmed by ponies. Some asking for his autographs, some asking if he was single, some just asking how he was able to do that. Brainy did not answer any questions as, impossibly, Pinkie appeared in front of him from half way across the stadium. “That’s enough questions!” she said with an authoritative tone. “My client has nothing to say!” She led them out and away into the halls of the stadium. Rainbow waited there with Lightning as a team of Wonderbolts flew up to rescue them. They cut away the patch of Lightning’s uniform that had the magnet and struggled to lift it for Rainbow to retrieve her wing. Lightning said nothing as they were brought to the ground, her head hung in shame. Spitfire came running toward them. “Just what the hay happened out there?” Rainbow took a glance toward Lightning’s defeated form and decided to herself that she’d give the poor mare a pass. “Sptifire,” she began. “I’m sorry, but it’s all my f-” “No,” Lightning cut her off as she removed her goggles and face mask so Spitfire could recognize her. “It’s my fault.” “Lightning Dust?!” Spitfire exclaimed. Lightning hung her head in shame. “I wanted so badly to have a rematch with Rainbow Dash that I put my trust in a bad pony. He may have planned all this, but I’m the one who caused the pole to fall.” Spitfire folded her hooves in thought. She lifted her goggles to give Lightning a stern look. “You snuck into a closed race and impersonated a Wonderbolt.” Rainbow jumped in front of her. “Hey, it’s not her fault! Wind tricked her!” Spitfire’s eyes went wide for a second and then she nodded. “Wind, huh? I should have known that skunk would try to get his popularity back.” “Speaking of skunks,” a female voice came from above. Everypony looked up to see Fleetfoot and Surprise come in for a landing with Wind, his hooves wrapped behind back. “Found this guy trying to fly away as fast as he could after the first pole started to tilt. Knew something was up with him.” Rainbow glared at Wind who frowned with anger and frustration and turned away. Just as she was about to let him have it for what he did to Lightning a familiar voice caught her ears. “Rainbow Dash!” Dash turned to see Rarity and Applejack run onto the field and tackle her in a hug. “Ow!” Rainbow shouted as they accidentally mishandled her wing. “Oh! So sorry, dear!” Rarity apologized as she let go of her friend. “Guys!” The three turned to see Pinkie rush in with Brainy on her tail. She plowed into Rainbow Dash for a hug and got another cry of pain from the poor Pegasus. “Oops, sorry.” Rarity turned to Wind and lowered her eyelids to a death glare. “You.” Wind returned her glare. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the little detective mare?” “I knew you had something to do with this,” Rarity bragged with a flip of her mane. Wind rolled his eyes. “Sure you did.” “So what do we do with him, cap?” asked Fleetfoot. Spitfire walked forward and smirked at Wind’s face. “Take him to the Manehattan police station. They’ll know what to do with him.” Fleetfoot and Surprise saluted and flew off with the prisoner in tow. Then Spitfire turned to Lightning. “Now we just have to figure out what to do with you.” Once again Rainbow came in between them. “Please, Spitfire, it’s not her fault. She was tricked.” “She still willingly interrupted a Wonderbolts race. The law clearly states that any act made to impede or obstruct on official racing event will be met with criminal charges.” Rainbow lowered her head as Lightning did the same. Spitfire frowned at their reaction and then started to smile. “However, this technically isn’t an official racing event since it’s for charity so…” Rainbow looked up with a smile as Spitfire shrugged. Rainbow turned back to Lightning who still seemed to be down. Rainbow frowned and walked closer to her. She wrapped a hoof around her shoulder. “You know it wasn’t your fault,” she said. Lightning rubbed a hoof over her nose to hide her sniffling. “I just… I just feel like such a moron for believing in him. He said this was my second chance.” Rainbow gave her a smile. “That wasn’t your second chance.” She lifted Lightning’s head so she could see Spitfire. “This is your second chance.” Lightning looked at Rainbow with disbelief as Spitfire approached the two. “You may have caused a lot of damage but I do still have to admit that you have serious potential, kid,” Spitfire said. “Though the Wonderbolts may officially look down on your cocky attitude and lack of discipline. I can think of one pony that might be able to help you with that.” She winked at Rainbow Dash. “If you consider training under her for a while, come next year we’ll let you try out for the reserves again.” Lightning’s mouth fell open as she didn’t know what to say. Her eyes began to water as she turned to Dash who nodded an affirmative. “Hey, it’s cool with me,” Rainbow said nonchalantly. Lightning grabbed the mare in a hug and Rainbow patted her back as she felt her softly cry into her shoulder. When she was finally done, Lightning wiped her face and looked back at Spitfire. “Ahem. That’s fine with me, ma’am.” Spitfire smiled and saluted, to which Lightning did as well. The fiery orange maned pony then trotted off to see to her friend, leaving the other friends alone on the stadium grounds. Lightning continued to sniffle slightly but her face did not give away her sheer joy. “So, that was pretty cool what you tried to do for me back there,” she said to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow waved a dismissive hoof. “Aw, it was nothing. That’s what friends do.” Lightning lit up at this. “I’m actually kind of glad I met Wind now. If it wasn’t for him and those tickets we’d found I never would have come here.” Pinkie Pie perked up at this mention. “Did you say you found those tickets?” Lightning shrugged. “Yeah, two tickets just kinda flew into our faces on the street.” Pinkie couldn’t contain her excitement. “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! That was our tickets! Just think!” She ran over to Dash and Lightning. “If we hadn’t thrown those tickets away, you would have never made up with Lightning Dust!” Then she appeared behind Rarity. “And we never would have thrown those tickets out if we hadn’t been invited to box seats by Sapphire, which we never would have been if we hadn’t been at Rarity’s fashion show.” She now appeared in front of Applejack. “Which we wouldn’t have been at unless Applejack hadn’t gotten a catering job there. Which she wouldn’t have gotten if she hadn’t been brave and given out her apple samples early. Which never would have happened…” Finally she appeared behind Brainy and squeezed him enough to turn him blue. “If I hadn’t met Brainy!!!!!!! So don’t you see his appeal now, Rainbow?” Rainbow looked dumbfounded at her friend’s logic but simply laughed it off. She stared at Brainy with a discerning eye and shrugged. “Well, he did save us all. I guess he’s cool to hang out with us.” Pinkie mane shook and nearly exploded with confetti. “HOORAY!!!!!!!! Did you here that Brainy? Now you have the Rainbow Dash seal of approval!” Brainy struggled to breathe once more as she let go of him. He turned to the ponies all looking at him. “This is… acceptable?” “Indeed,” Rarity smiled. “However, I must know how you did all that?” She waved a hoof in front of her face. “I honestly didn’t expect such a display of strength from somepony of your physique.” “I am strong, but strength had little factor in this,” Brainy said blankly. “The poles simply presented a problem of physics. I noticed the technician had unscrewed several bolts from each pole and deduced the amount of force necessary to knock them over. Once the first pole fell it was a simple effort to go to where the final pole would fall and push it with just enough force to right the poles while not causing them to topple over. The poles fell at a stable rate, allowing many ponies to void the impact zones so my original plan was to let events play out. However, Ms. Spitfire’s victory yet loss made me consider a new situation with new variables. The ponies could come back to rescue foals or aid hurt loved ones. I learned that one cannot count on a single possible outcome when it comes to pony reactions. You are… an odd species to be sure. But… you are acceptable.” Everypony stared at Brainy with a look of confusion, not getting about half his words. Pinkie broke the stare as she plowed into Brainy and gave him a huge hug. “Oh, Brainy,” she giggled. “You say the silliest things.” They all looked at each other for a moment and then joined in the laughter. Lightning was the first to stop as she wiped a tear from her eye. “So, what now?” she asked. “Now,” came a familiar female voice from behind them. They turned to see Sapphire approach with a cadre of other cool dressed and stylish ponies. “We get ready for the party of a lifetime.” At this mention everypony let out a cheer. As they all filed off the field to prepare, Applejack rubbed her chin in thought. Rarity noticed and turned to her. “What is it, Applejack?” “Well, it’s just that there were three tickets. I’m wondering where the third ended up.” Rarity laughed and waved a dismissive hoof. “Oh, don’t worry about it. What are the odds that it was another pony we know?” --- As she walked out of the gates to the enormous stadium Gilda took a look back and smiled. “That Rainbow Dash keeps on impressing me,” she muttered. “Hey, Gilda!” called another griffin in a group across the street. “Did the game let up?” Gilda crossed the street to join her friends. “Yeah, you won’t believe what happened!” “Can’t wait to hear it,” the griffin replied with a smile. “Good thing you found that ticket.” “I know. I thought they were sold out.” “Did you say hi to your friend?” Gilda shrugged a negative. “Naw, she seemed to be a little busy. But I’m sure I’ll catch her later. Friends like her are hard to come by.” ----- “Ma’am, please,” the officer said as he tried to calm the hysterical yellow Pegasus in front of him down. “You need to speak slowly and clearly. We’re not getting what you’re saying.” The mare took a deep breath and let loose with her explanation once more. “THERESTHISGIANTMONSTERANDITATEMYFRIENDANDITSGOINGTOCOMEANDEATEVERYPONYANDIDONTKNOWWHATTODOANDIJUSTWANTTOGOHOME!!!!!!” The officer facehoofed as he sat back down. They had brought the mare to the station about two hours ago and she still wasn’t calming down. Whatever had happened had really shaken her up. His partner stood by the door as it opened and two Wonderbolts entered with a hoofcuffed individual in a leather jacket. “What this about?” he asked. The Wonderbolt Fleetfoot shrugged over at the perp they had. “This scumbag tried to sabotage the race, nearly cost a lot of ponies their lives.” “Awwwww!” his partner uttered woefully. “That sounds so much cooler than what we’re doing.” He pouted as he kicked the floor. The officer rolled his eyes as he took the perp and guided him to the cells. Fleetfoot paused before leaving as she noticed a familiar Pegasus sitting on a bench with a blanket over her and some warm cocoa in her hooves. “Fluttershy?” she asked. Fluttershy looked up and her eyes grew wide at the face of somepony familiar. She jumped up and sped over to her grabbing her by the collar and pulling her close. “OHTHANKCELESTIAYOURHERETWILIGHTGOTTAKENANDIDONTKNOWWHATTODOANDIREALLYNEEDTOSEERAINBOWDASH!!!!” Fleetfoot frowned at the mare’s distress. “Okay, calm down! One word at a time, please.” Fluttershy nodded, her eyes red and filled with tears. She let out a trembling long breath and winced as her words came out. “Where. Are. My. Friends?”