//------------------------------//
// 4 Triumph 
// Story: Wonderbolts Millennium Rally 
// by Brass Polish 
//------------------------------//

	“Ow!”
For the second day in a row, Rainbow Dash had taken damage to her eyes. A huge crack in the arch she passed under lengthened, and liquid hot rainbow had splashed into her face. Spitfire and Lightning Dust got splashed as well; Spitfire in her mane and Lightning all over her forelegs.
“I can’t see!”
Rainbow Dash flailed in the air, her momentum carrying her towards the top of the slide. But she was losing height as she approached and, not knowing what hit her, she bumped into the starting platform, somersaulted through the air, and landed on the slide, her impetus causing her to slither downwards. Spitfire and Lightning Dust weren’t concentrating on the course now, and flew over the platform. Spitfire saw what was happening and pulled her parachute cord to stop herself from hitting Rainbow Dash… without any warning to Lightning Dust, who was right behind her. The green pegasus ran straight into the back of Spitfire’s parachute, and circled above her. Instead of being held back, Spitfire was yanked forward. Lightning Dust and the parachute landed on Rainbow Dash. The weight of all three pegasi kept them skating down the slide. Lightning and Rainbow were both tangled in the silk and wires, and Spitfire was being dragged down with them, unable to grip the slide with her hooves.

Some pegasi were helping some earth ponies and unicorns leave the bleachers, and saw that the racers were in trouble. But before anypony could come to their aid, there was a crash from the top of the slide. Hundreds watched in terror as the Rainbowduct fell apart, spilling the liquid it was carrying. Spitfire, still trying to grip the slide, watched aghast as gallons and gallons of rainbow poured down towards her and her competitors. Now they were sliding down much faster as the technicolour fluid grabbed them. Not one of them could break free of the mess of silk and wires now. Those Parachute Pinafores were too well-made.
“Oh, no!”
Scootaloo was still driving her scooter along the bottom step. All the other occupants of the bottom rows had either left or climbed higher up the bleachers. As the rainbow torrent passed under the stands, they lurched violently. The raft Scootaloo had been sitting on before had been a leftover. One of Prof Lactic’s safety measures was to create a flotation system for the bleachers in case of this very emergency. In principal, it worked. The bleachers were not completely consumed by the wave of rainbow. But as the stands were hoisted upwards, most of the ponies on it stumbled. They mostly just fell onto lower benches, and stayed out of the flood. But Scootaloo, who was on the bottom bench, toppled straight into the torrent. Almost at once, the tangled mess of disoriented, panicking contestants struggling to stay afloat washed by her. Some disconnected cords from their Parachute Pinafores go caught in one of the scooter’s wheels. Scootaloo clinged to her handlebars with all her strength as she was dragged after Rainbow, Spitfire, and Lightning.

Everyone in Rainbow Falls knew there was a crisis by now. Ponies were either evacuating the stands or making their way to the slide to try and help anyone caught in the flood. The torrent had reached the end of the slide and was pouring into the thankfully empty gorge. The force of the wave that entered the gorge was so strong, it ripped the metal crate from its hook.
“I can’t move my legs!” cried Lightning Dust.
“Try flapping your wings!” called Rainbow Dash.
“Hurry!” Spitfire could see several pegasi in the distance flying towards the scene.
It looked like the rescuers weren’t going to get there before they reached the end of the slide.
“We’re gonna go over!” Scootaloo shrieked. She was being dragged on her scooter so fast, she was practically waterskiing.
“My wings won’t move!” Lightning Dust was as frantic as the rest of them.
“Please, hurry!” Spitfire called desperately to the approaching rescuers.
All four of them succeeded in keeping their heads above the flood, but the parachute and its wires clung too tightly for them to escape. They reached the end of the slide.
“We’re…!”
Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, and Lightning Dust screamed as they tumbled over the rainbow fall. Their weight dragged Scootaloo forward on her scooter, propelling her from the end of the slide, screaming and grasping her scooter’s head tube.

One of the scooter’s handlebars got caught in the crane hook that had been suspended the metal crate. Scootaloo just barely managed to hang on, aided by the wires that were still tangled in the wheels. She looked down in disbelief. The parachute that had prevented Rainbow, Spitfire, and Lightning from escaping the flood was now a net, cradling the three of them safely above the gorge.
“We’re OK!” exclaimed Lightning Dust. “We’re OK!”
Rainbow managed to open her stung eyes, and looked towards the sky at what was holding them up.
“You saved us, Scoot!”
Spitfire and Lightning Dust cheered. Scootaloo couldn’t believe what she was experiencing. The gorge filled up with rainbow, the torrent died down and became a trickle down the slide, floating bleachers gently touched back down to the ground, and the flood emptied into a ravine beyond the gorge. Dozens of pegasi arrived at the crane hook. Scootaloo was carried away by Amber Aldis, and four ponies removed the scooter from the hook and hauled Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, and Lightning Dust to high ground in their parachute hammock.

A crowd gathered around the four pegasi. Scootaloo was being carried shoulder high around the city. Ponies were singing her praises for rescuing not only the three racers, but several spectators who would have been swept away from the bottom benches of the bleachers along with her if not for her warning. Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust had been pulled free of Spitfire’s tattered Parachute Pinafore. All three of their silk garments now looked like they had been tie-dyed. The flood had not damaged any buildings. The liquid from the Rainbowduct was now just a trickle that led to a river.
“Scoot-a-loo! Scoot-a-loo! Scoot-a-loo!”
“Miss Harshwhinny!” Rainbow Dash called to the pony leading the chanting. “Don’t you have an announcement to make?!”
Miss Harshwhinny, slightly red in the face now, walked away from the crowd and beckoned Twilight to her.
“May I have your attention please?!” her magnified voice called to everypony present in Rainbow Falls.
The chanting and chattering died down.
“The Wonderbolts Millennium Rally has now drawn to a close, with unforeseen circumstances! Actually, one pony predicted this possibility! Professor Lactic, please step forward!”
Prof Lactic made his way through the crowd alongside Miss Harshwhinny. Ponies cheered for him.
“Thank you, Professor, for your apt and effective safety precautions!” said Miss Harshwhinny with a smile.
The professor just smiled and waved in a manner that would make Twilight feel upstaged.
“In addition, I wish for us all to commend the pony who invented the uniform that, in the end, proved to be very beneficial to the competitors!” Miss Harshwhinny scanned the crowd for Coco Pommel, who happily received a smattering of applause.

“As we know, congratulations are in order!” Miss Harshwhinny continued. “Not one of the competitors, not Captain Spitfire, not Miss Rainbow Dash, and not Miss Lightning Dust, won the race, or even finished. But they are all able to move on to other things, thanks to the timely actions of our young hero, Miss Scootaloo!”
More cheers and applause for the young pegasus.
“Speech!” voices hollered in the crowd.
Scootaloo was picked up off the crowd’s shoulders by Twilight, who cast the volume spell on her throat.
“I’m… I’m sorry I didn’t get there sooner!” said Scootaloo meekly.
Some confused and concerned looks greeted this statement.
“I heard the Rainbowduct crack during the fourth lap, but I ignored it! I didn’t want to cause a panic! I waited too long! I was too scared to act too quickly!”
No one in the crowd gave any sign of annoyance… well, not with Scootaloo anyway. But she didn’t know this. As Twilight redirected her voice magnifying spell back to Miss Harshwhinny, the young pegasus looked around at the downcast faces of the crowd. They knew what Harshwhinny was going to say next.

“I’m afraid that this one-off rally shall remain so!” she announced. “Given the circumstances, there’s no guarantee that something of this nature won’t happen anywhere else!”
“So that means Spitfire won!” called a few voiced from the crowd.
Miss Harshwhinny held her hoof up for silence as roughly a third of the crowd cheered.
“Just because the Wonderbolts’ recruitment rules have not been and will not be altered, this does not mean Captain Spitfire is the winner of this race!”
Spitfire nodded.
“No winner shall be named!” Harshwhinny went on. “And instead, the platinum medal that was to be awarded to the victor shall now represent the hero status of the pony of the hour!”
She produced a shiny unengraved medal and placed it around Scootaloo’s neck. The applause and cheers for her weren’t quite so jubilant this time. They matched Scootaloo’s mood.

Rainbow Dash walked up to Scootaloo. “Everything turned out fine. No need to worry about having to make snap decisions. A sharp kid like you oughtta have no trouble.”
At last, Scootaloo smiled. “I guess you’re right. I think I can enjoy this moment while it lasts. I bet I’d regret it if I looked back at how worked up I was while everyone was cheering for me.”
Rainbow looked at the crowd. “They don’t seem too happy themselves. What with the rally being called off and all.”
“I guess none of them get bragging rights,” Scootaloo said.
She told Rainbow Dash about some of the conversations she overheard while she was hiding under the bleachers by the straightaway. And that was when Rainbow Dash knew what she needed to do to fulfil her Cutie Map mission.

As if she knew this, Miss Harshwhinny called for speeches from each of the three contestants, and Twilight cast her voice magnifying spell on Rainbow Dash, who took to the air to be seen by everyone in Rainbow Falls.
“This might sound a bit weird,” she announced, “but I’m glad that this rally ended this way! I don’t mean the flood or anything! I mean with no winners! You know me, I love winning! But I know that if I’d won this thing, not all of you would have been happy! I can’t be everypony’s favourite, I understand! But I want all those out there who were routing for me that you shouldn’t have to validate yourself through my achievements!”
A murmur fell over the crowd.
“My winnings and talents are my own! You’ve all got your own! Otherwise, none of you would have cutie marks, or be destined to get them!”
Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle grinned.
“So just validate yourselves on your own talents!” insisted Rainbow Dash. “If whoever you’re routing for fails at something, that doesn’t make you any less important or special! And anypony who’s routing against your favourite isn’t any worse or better either! I’m glad Princess Celestia outlawed any bets being honoured here, because I would hate it if hundreds of ponies had to lose a ton of money or a prized possession if one of us three lost. If you’re that sure of something, just say so! There’s no need to put up a wager! Otherwise, we’re all in for a bleak future!”
Scootaloo beamed.

All over town, ponies were reconciling with each other. They all understood that Rainbow Dash was right in saying that each and every pony should stick to their own merits rather than ride the coattails of their idols and favourites.
“You’ve done it!” called Twilight, pointing to Rainbow Dash’s flank.
As she touched down on the ground, Rainbow watched her cutie mark blink and buzz, announcing a job done.
“Good job, Rainbow Dash. You figured it out.”
“Thanks to Scootaloo,” smiled Rainbow Dash, turning to the pegasus filly. “You’ve been a huge help today, kid.”
“So have you,” said Scootaloo. “Thanks to you, I don’t have to freak out so much about what I decide to do. Now I know that since everything we do has hundreds of consequences, I’ll just have to use my best judgement. Then things will surely turn out alright in the end.”
“Pretty much,” Rainbow Dash said. “For yourself, and your friends and family.”
“I’d say the future looks pretty bright,” Spitfire interjected.
“Me too,” put in Lightning Dust. “I think from now on, I’ll go on trying to break Admiral Fairy Flight’s old records just because I can.”
Spitfire smirked “I can’t help but wish one of you had beaten me today. Really, I think you both have the makings of a great Wonderbolt. Oh, and you too.”
Scootaloo blushed.