Cutie Mark Challenge

by Touch the Sky

Fly Faster Than Rainbow Dash

It should have been a calm, quiet day on Sweet Apple Acres.Should have been. As it was, the calm was broken by the sound of two ponies arguing.

"Are you still saying you're a better athlete than me?" snapped Rainbow Dash.

"You betcha." retorted Applejack.

"But I beat you! I'm the Iron Pony!"

"Oh please, you used yer wings to win at least half o' them competitions."

"I could beat you with both wings tied closed!"

"Oh, no, Rainbow. We ain't going there again. Remember what happened with the Running o' the Leaves?

"But I beat you in that too!" argued Rainbow.

"Did not! We tied!" snarled Applejack crossly.

"Whatever. I still won."

"Ugh. Fine, Rainbow, we'll have another Iron Pony competition to settle this once and fer all. But this time, we're tyin' yer wings."

"Bring it!" Then Rainbow frowned. "Though, my wings were all sore from the ropes after the Running of the Leaves..."

"Ha. Excuses, excuses." smirked Applejack. "Ya backing out already, Rainbow? Too chicken?"

"Never! I just think there's a better way to level the playing field."

"Oh? And what's that?"

"You can get wings too."

"Sorry Rainbow, but ah cain't miraculously sprout wings whenever ah want to."

"We'll get Twilight to give you some. Remember how she gave Rarity those butterfly wings?"

"'Course ah do. Ah also remember how they disintegrated and almost sent Rarity plummeting to her death."

"But she was too close to the sun. I thought Twilight explained this."

"She did, but ah still don't like it."

"Now who's being a chicken?!"

"Certainly not me." Applejack spat on her hoof and stretched her hoof out to Rainbow. "Ah'll take yer on, and beat yer too."

Rainbow spat on her own hoof and brought it to Applejack's. "Then it's settled. May the best athlete win!"

"Let me get this straight. You and Applejack are having another Iron Pony competition in spite of what happened last time?" Princess Twilight looked up from her book. The three were sitting in the Ponyville library, where Twilight had wished to continue living after her coronation.

"Yep. Now if ya could magic up some wings fer me, we'll be outta yer mane and yer don't need to think about it no more." Applejack flicked her tail.

"You're having a flying competition?" asked the alicorn.

"No-"

"Yes! That would be awesome!" cheered Rainbow.

"Only cuz you'd win."

"What makes you think that?"

"Duh." Applejack pointed at the colourful lightning on Rainbow's flank. "Flying's yer special talent."

"Oh. Right. But we should still have a flying competition."

"Okay, fine." Applejack relented. "As long as we can have a test of strength as well."

"Hmmm... a flying competition." Twilight looked thoughtfully at her own wings.

Rainbow laughed. "You gonna join this race too, Twilight?"

To Rainbow's surprise, the alicorn nodded slowly. "I've been waiting for a chance to test these wings properly for a while. This would be a good chance."

"Sure, ya can join us, Twi. The more the merrier!" said Applejack cheerily.

Rainbow sighed. "We might as well invite Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy to join too, if that's your logic."

"Ooh ooh! I just heard my name!" Pinkie Pie was suddenly standing next to Applejack. "Wait... Rarity and Fluttershy aren't here! Let me go get them!" The pink pony was gone in a cloud of dust, to reappear a few seconds later, dragging a protesting Rarity and whimpering Fluttershy by their tails.

"Pinkie!" moaned Rarity. "I was busy finishing off a dress for a client!"

"But Twi, Applejack and Dashie were having a meeting without us!" whined Pinkie.

"They were?" Rarity suddenly looked much more interested.

Minutes later, after Applejack and Rainbow had told the others about the contest, Pinkie jumped up excitedly. "Count me in! I love contests!"

"Well, scratch my name off the list." sniffed Rarity. "I'd rather keep my hooves on the ground, considering what happened last time I took to the sky."

"Oh, well, I guess you'll miss out on the grand prize then." sighed Rainbow, winking slyly at Twilight.

Rarity turned her head to look at Twilight. "Prize?"

"Yes! The prize! Which is... an all-expenses-paid trip to Canterlot, courtesy of the losers." said Twilight quickly.

Rarity smiled. "In which case, I declare that It. Is. On!"

"Fluttershy?" asked Twilight. "Are you in?"

"Uh... I think I'd rather just watch..." stammered the yellow pegasus.

"Aw, come on, Fluttershy! The others are all novices. You'd come in second, easy!" The other four pulled faces, but Rainbow didn't notice.

"But I don't like races..." whimpered Fluttershy.

"Come on, Fluttershy? For me?" Rainbow gave Fluttershy her best puppy-dog eyes. Fluttershy sighed.

"Okay, count me in too."

The morning of the race dawned clear and bright, and a cheery Rainbow was setting up the markers when the others arrived. The race would take place over some fields outside Ponyville, and the flight path was a simple circuit. The six racers had to go around the circuit five times, amounting to a distance of around a mile.Their only spectators were Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, Scootaloo and Spike - they had all pleaded to be allowed to watch.

As Rainbow and Fluttershy rigged up the finishing tape, Twilight turned to the three wingless ponies and one by one, cast the wings spell on each.

Applejack spread dragonfly wings and took off to test them out. She seemed to be doing rather well for her first flight, and got up a bit of speed when she tried.
Rarity got her butterfly wings back, something she had mixed feelings about, but she took off to fly at Fluttershy's leisurely pace. The butterfly wings just weren't built for speed.

Last was Pinkie, who was hopping up and down excitedly. Twilight cast the spell, and Pinkie grew glittery pink fairy wings.
Before Twilight could consider how odd that was, Pinkie had bounded into the air and fluttered over to join Fluttershy and Rarity.

The warm-up began. Rainbow was doing press-ups on her wings, while Applejack and Rarity took practice runs to test speed. Twilight was analyzing race strategies on the ground, and Fluttershy and Pinkie just glided around, waiting for the race to begin.

Finally, Spike blew a whistle and the six ponies lined up on the start line. At a second whistle, six assorted pairs of wings raised and flexed, Then, on the third whistle, they were off.

Rainbow, as expected, quickly took the lead. Spike, below, was commentating. Sweetie, Applebloom and Scootaloo had bet some of their savings on the race results, and Scootaloo looked smug as Rainbow zoomed away from the competition.

Twilight's larger wings propelled her along more efficiently with each stroke, and she was currently in second. But Applejack, beating her new wings as fast as she could, was gaining quickly.

Rarity and Pinkie were breezing along in joint last, though Rarity was doing her best to pull ahead; the trip to Canterlot obviously meant quite a bit to her. Pinkie was keeping up without much effort, smiling as they soared around the first corner.

Just ahead of them, Fluttershy was holding fourth. She was beating her wings as fast as she could, but was only managing to gain on Applejack a little.
Applejack drew level with Twilight, then passed her. But Rainbow was still far ahead, almost overlapping Rarity and Pinkie.
But then Applejack put on a strange burst of speed and started to gain on Rainbow; leaving Twilight several lengths behind, she buzzed her wings and zipped along at a good pace.

Rainbow heard the buzz behind her and turned, to see Applejack right on her tail. Speeding up in a slight panic, she shot past Rarity and Pinkie, then Fluttershy. Applejack pressed on and soon got close again.

Rainbow turned into the final lap to see Applejack draw level with her. Applejack grinned, but then gradually began to pull ahead. Rainbow growled and threw herself forwards after the orange pony. She swept by Applejack as they swung around the final turn, and Rainbow turned to blow a raspberry over her shoulder- only to crash headlong into one of the poles which held the finishing tape. Before Rainbow could get her bearings, Applejack shot through the tape to victory.

Below, on the ground, a sullen-faced Scootaloo shoved a pile of bits towards a smirking Applebloom.

Rainbow leapt over the line into second just before Twilight could get there and snatch it from her. Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie were so close that it was hard to distinguish fourth, fifth and last, so they were awarded joint fourth.

Applejack patted a fuming Rainbow Dash on the back when they got back to the ground. "It's okay, pardner. It's not shameful to lose to the best athlete in Ponyville."

"But I hate losing. Especially when it's at my own game." growled Rainbow. "I'm supposed to be the best flier in Equestria."

"Well then, we'll never mention this ter the Wonderbolts. It's just a game, Rainbow."

"No. Applejack, this just got a whole lot more personal. If you can beat me at my game,I can beat you at yours. Tomorrow, I'll meet you at the Acres for an applebucking competition."

"You're on, Rainbow." Applejack grinned.

"Oooh! Can we compete too?" asked Pinkie excitedly, fluttering over with Fluttershy and Rarity on either side of her.

"Sure, why not?" sighed Rainbow.

Author's Note:

Vote for which talent they should compete at after the applebucking?

Please tell me what you think!

Comments

[Rainbow_Flash]

.... Actually... it should be impossible for Applejack (who NEVER had wings) to beat RD,who's talent is flying and HAD WINGS HER ENTIRE LIFE. Sorry, but that wasn't possible.

[Kiue Jin]

Caring for animals. That's what is going to happen after apple bucking.

[Visuality]

How about making the best dress or learning the most magic? Those are Twilight's and Rarity's talents, and I bet the other ponies would have a hard time with it.

[UltiXevoz]

Gem Scouting

[MissPegasis]

I think the next competition should be making ponies laugh but I must agree with Rainbow_Flash, even though they were dragonfly wings, Rainbow should've won that.

[Touch the Sky]

2831865 She was winning, but then she hit the post.

Have you never seen how fast dragonflies can fly? Applejack practiced first too...Personally I agree that Rainbow should've won... but that would be boring.

[Rainbow_Flash]

2848347 Eh.

[Periphery]

It's actually not that far-fetched that Applejack could be real competition against Dash in a flying race, even if her win was pretty much a technicality. It just depends on how you think that wing spell works.

Personally, since they're magical wings, I think they tie in directly to each individual pony's personal traits, based on personality plus physical and magical capabilities. So it makes sense that Applejack's magic wings would give her racing abilities comparable to Rainbow Dash, since they're on similar levels in other forms of athleticism. That's why Rarity's butterfly wings were geared toward beauty and grace, because she's not a huge athlete in any case. So I like the fact that you gave AJ dragonfly wings. And then looking at Rarity again, it seems like because the wings are magical, they pretty much grant the automatic ability to use them effectively, so it's actually not that important that AJ had never flown before.

[Seether00]

Baking cakes! Or hide and seek! No way Pinkie loses!

[RoyalBardofCanterlot]

Fun chapter.