Super Sonic Romance

by MegaTJ

The Race

The Race

Morning came to Canyon Run long after Rainbow Dash and Cloud had fallen asleep on the high wall of the canyon. Both lazy ponies had slept well past sunrise and now the sun was high over them in the noon position. The wild wind dissipated the would-be brutal heat and drowned out all sounds from the surrounding nature. It also gave the snoozing Pegasi plenty of reason to keep the blankets Cloud set out tightly wrapped around them.

Rainbow Dash snuggled deeper into her blankets. She liked the way Cloud's blankets kept her warm, how soft they were, and how they…breathed? She slowly opened her eyes to see that her head was lying on the black fur of Cloud's chest. She instantly shot awake to realize that she had cuddled up to him and was nearly hugging him in her sleep. Her face burned over with red. Oh my gosh! He's going to think I'm so weird! Quick, I gotta get away from him before he—

Cloud stirred in his sleep, nearly giving the cyan mare a heart attack. He didn't wake up to Rainbow's relief. She hurriedly rolled over and scooted as far away from him as she could without leaving the blankets. She sat up, still breathing hard. The bright sun stung her eyes as well as her mane dancing in the wind. She lifted a hoof to block the rays from reaching her face. "Whoa, what time is it?"

The wind picked up a little more and blew a blanket right into her face. Annoyed, she pushed it down and stood up. She walked back over to Cloud. He was sprawled out, snoring so loud that she could hear it over the wind. His tongue hung loosely from his mouth. He was so funny-looking that Rainbow Dash couldn't help but nearly laugh her head off. She fell over, kicking her hooves in the air at the hilarity. "Hahaha! I wish I had a camera!" An evil idea came to her mind when she took another look at him. It was going to be so sweet! She began the hunt for a darkening cloud. The sky was mostly clear with the exception of a few drifting cirrus trails. She jumped into the air and drifted with the wind over the side of the canyon. The sky under her was full of rain clouds. She grabbed the closest one and flew back over the wall. Cloud had rolled over on his side when she positioned the cloud directly over him. Thankfully, the wind decided to take a break to help Rainbow Dash with her prank.

It only took her five seconds. She bounced on the cloud and caused a huge down pour on top of Cloud.

"Aaah! Whooaa! Cold cold cold!" Cloud rolled over and took off for anywhere but under Rainbow's cloud. He shivered violently against the wind. Rainbow's laughing caused him to fire a burning glare at her. "You're going to pay for that!"

"I already am!" Rainbow laughed. She rolled over on her back. "You screamed like a little filly!" Her laughing completely stopped after a well-aimed tackle. She and the black Pegasus tumbled right off the cloud and hit the ground rolling in a ball of grabs, reversals, giggles, and laughter. They kept rolling until they finally flipped over with Cloud pinning Rainbow Dash to the ground. Rainbow giggled under him as water dripped from his soaking mane onto her face. He was caked in the watered sand and dust from the ground.

"Gotcha!" Cloud cheered. His weight on her chest was too much for her to move, so she was stuck under him. "I let you win yesterday", he teased.

Rainbow stopped struggling. She wasn't strong enough to push the heavy stallion off. Cloud had moved his face a little closer for a more boastful smirk before hopping off. "Told ya you were going to pay for it."

"So you tackle a defenseless girl?" she challenged. "You coulda really hurt me ya know."

"You chipped a hoof?" he countered. "You poor thing!"

"Yeah, and now I have to go get an expensive hooficure!" She cringed. She couldn't even fully joke about that.

"Hey, I told you your hooves are awesome enough", Cloud reminded her, "You don't need one."

She looked down at her blue appendages. They weren't shiny like Rarity's. And they weren't very well kept like Twilight's. They were a little callused over, and were somewhat dry. "How are they awesome?"

"Because they can beat the feathers off of anypony that tries to fight you", Cloud said a-matter-o-factly.

Rainbow Dash smiled proudly. "I am a black belt in karate", she boasted.

"Karate?" Cloud smiled, "I'm a black belt neighkido!"

Rainbow backed up a few steps and took a fighting stance. "Let's see how good you are!"

Cloud immediately stood on his back hooves and balanced himself with his wings. "Don't cry when I hurt you", he smirked.

"I'm going to make you eat those words!" Rainbow darted forward and tried an express delivery flip kick to Cloud's side.

He hooked his hooves under her knee and used her momentum to throw her effortlessly to the side. He chuckled as she scrambled to her hooves. "That all you got?"

She smiled joyously. "You're going to get it!" She rushed him again and this time tried a roundhouse kick.

He blocked it with, but didn't push her off. Instead he redirected her kick to the ground and flipped her onto her back. The fall didn't hurt; it was even a little fun. Cloud kneeled down and lay down on his back. He put his head next to hers and they both looked up at the clear sky. They both sighed.

"I love the sky." Cloud took a peaceful breath despite having just kicked Rainbow's tail.

"Me too." Rainbow put her hooves behind her head. "So much room to fly around."

"And so blue…it just goes on forever."

The sky reminded her of something. "Hey, don't we have a race today?"

He blinked. "Oh, yeah." He jumped to his hooves. "We probably should go down and get something to eat first." He stretched his wings and jumped into the windy sky.

Rainbow Dash followed him down to the town. They drifted down, dodging the few clouds that Rainbow hadn't dumped on Cloud. The still drying colt spiraled down, enjoying the wind rushing past his ears. He turned his wings inward to slow his descent, causing bold contrails to form at the tips of his wings like the day before. The rainbow-maned filly tried to copy him, but she turned too sharply and crashed headfirst into a cloud. She pushed out of the other side to see Cloud drifting diagonally toward the town. She clambered to her hooves and jumped over the edge of the cloud. She kept her wings tucked in to free fall down to Cloud. She kept falling until she was even with him, then opened her wings. At the same time, they both flipped over and softly landed on the awaiting ground.

"Hey, where is everypony?" Rainbow asked.

Cloud gazed around. "I don't know. The whole town's gone."

An eerie wind swept through the empty streets. No pony could be found anywhere. They walked around through the ghost town. The Pegasi were the only two living things in Canyon Run. Not even the birds were flying around.

"Creepy", Rainbow Dash pointed out.

Cloud nodded. "No kidding..."

A low wailing sound echoed around them.

Rainbow Dash jumped. "W-what the hay was that?"

"That's just the wind whistling through the canyon's walls", Cloud explained. "Don't tell me you're scared."

"Me, scared, ha! Don't make me laugh", Rainbow replied arrogantly. When Cloud didn't return with a tease, she looked around to see that he had disappeared. "Cloud?" She turned in a circle. "Okay, haha, very funny, you're not going to scare me."

She flew into the air to give herself more room from anything that Cloud could be hiding behind. Her wings slowly carried her higher until the buildings were far below her hooves. She had no idea where Cloud could be hiding, so she hovered around, unaware of the cloud stalking her from behind. A slight chill ran down her spine. She could feel the weight of somepony's gaze bearing down on her. "Where are you, Cloud!? I know you're just trying to scare—"

Cloud grabbed Rainbow Dash around her mouth and hooves. If she could have, Rainbow Dash would have screamed. Instead, she jerked around to break out of his hold. He finally let her go after a few seconds.

"That wasn't funny!"

"I couldn't help it. Oh, and told ya I'd getcha back."

She huffed, "I wasn't scared." Her hooves crossed in front of her chest.

"Sure", he snickered.

"I'm glad you're having a good time", she snapped. "Your whole town's gone and all you want to do is make me mad."

"Look, I'm not worried." He flew around to face her. "Weirder things have happened."

She cocked her head to the side. "Like what?"

"THERE THEY ARE!" Gale screamed out of the blue.

Rainbow Dash and Cloud looked up to see the latter pony's twin siblings diving down to them. They both matched the older Pegasi's altitude. Gale put his hooves up furiously. "You two are SO late!" he shouted.

"What are you screaming about?" Cloud asked. "And where is everypony?"

"Awaiting your arrival for your race today, of course", Gust answered. "And you are both very late."

"No pony told us the where and when", Cloud retorted.

He made a good point, so Rainbow Chipped in too. "Yeah, so why should we even go?"

"Because all of your fans are there. I heard that the princesses are even coming down!" the older twin squawked.

"Whoa", Rainbow breathed, "The princesses have never watched any of my races before."

"Then let's go already!"

Gale didn't wait for a reply. He grabbed Gust by the wings and dragged him through the air toward the starting point of the race. Cloud rolled his eyes and followed, motioning for Rainbow to come along. She eagerly followed him and his brothers to wherever it was they were being taken. She drifted to Cloud's side and together they flew in the direction of Ponyville. It wasn't difficult to keep Gale and Gust in their line of sight. They had all flown up so far that the twins stuck out clearly again the green ground below.

They didn't fly for very long before a massive crowd of ponies filled the horizon and eventually a good square mile below them. A thunderous applause nearly knocked them out of the sky when they came into view of the awaiting ponies. There was a thin strip of runway where a banner bearing the word "start" hung on two poles. The ponies of Ponyville stood on one side, and Canyon Run's citizens on the other, held back by a purple rope. They landed a few feet from the starting line. Both crowds of fans held up signs of support, bearing their names and pictures.

"How did all of this get set up?" Rainbow asked.

"I bet the Mayors did it", Cloud assumed.

"Yeah, that makes sense."

The whining of microphone feedback wailed around the small clearing. The chattering and cheering died down to a dull roar so everypony could hear what was going on.

"Fillies and gentlecolts", the Mayor of Ponyville announced, "We are pleased to announce the arrival of the two greatest flyers in all of Equestria!"

Cloud and Rainbow Dash looked around for any chance of seeing the Mayors. Cloud pointed to a hot air balloon floating far above them. Canyon Run's mayor took over the microphone. "But only one can be named Equestria's greatest flyer!"

"Today, they will be flying across the kingdom for that title!"

"And now we will hand over coordination to our race overseers", Mayor Mare of Canyon Run jumped out of the balloon and flew to a passing zeppelin. She passed the microphone along to two Earth Ponies waiting eagerly to begin the announcements.

"Heeeeeeelllllllooooooo down there everypony! For all you ponies from Canyon Run, I'm Pinkie Pie!"

The other pony introduced herself next. "And I'm Sugar Pie from Canyon Run! We're going to be giving it to you as it happens today folks."

"Let's take a look at today's course!" Pinkie Pie smoothed out a map in front of them. "First, both racers are going through Ghastly Gorge at the far end of Ponyville. Then, they have to fly across Horseshoe Desert to Fillydelphia."

"After that", announced Sugar Pie, "It's on to Manehattan, where they have to fly through the canals and waterways and follow the West River until they get to Appleloosa."

"From there they fly to Trottingham, and then across Song Valley to buzz the highest tower of Canterlot."

"The next place to go is Canyon Run, where they fly through the canyon and circle around to come right back here!"

"There's gonna be lots of signs and checkpoint teams so no cheating you two!" Pinkie Pie called down to the soon-to-be-racing Pegasi.

Cloud and Rainbow exchanged stares.

"They're trying to kill us!" Cloud laughed.

She giggled. "How are we going to race that? Not even I have that much energy!"

"And I'm going to be flying on an empty stomach!" Cloud rubbed his growling belly.

"Pit crews to your stations!" Pinkie Pie's voice blasted through the ground speakers.

From the Ponyville side, Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity trotted up to Rainbow Dash. From the opposite end, Cloud's family and Mind Fracture. The teams dragged the Pegasi away from each other for coaching and preparations.

"Okay, Cloud", Gale began, "You got this. There's nothing she can do to beat you."

"Don't get over confident", instructed Fracture.

"Here, I bet you missed breakfast." Cirrus gave him a tulip sandwich. He happily scarfed it down, barely aware of anything they were telling him. For some reason, he didn't feel like he was about to compete in his first race in years, so it was pointless to listen to their tips.

Across the strip, Rainbow Dash was busy ignoring all of Twilight's tips and tactics. She persistently dodged Rarity's attempts to dress her in a stunning flight suit. She did accept a few apples from Applejack, and appreciated Fluttershy bringing Tank along to cheer her on. Rarity was only barely paying any attention to Rainbow Dash. She was too busy watching Cloud get ready for the race, which made Rainbow's ears heat up with a light tint of red.

"Rainbow Dash, where did you get that beautiful flower?" Twilight inquired.

"Huh?"

"The one in your mane", Fluttershy clarified for them. "It is really pretty."

Rainbow's breath got stuck in her lungs and she forgot all about her jealousy. How did she still have the Fire Lily?! "Uh, It must've got stuck there or something", she laughed nervously.

The four ponies saw right through her obvious lie, but they didn't have time to argue about it. Instead, they let it go and offered her more guidance, even though here was nothing more they could have done to prepare her. She was way too stubborn to accept their help. That and she really didn't feel like she wanted to race. It was a little weird. She knew how many ponies showed up to watch, but not even that made her want to race.

"Okay racers, to the starting line!" The Pies instructed at the same time.

Both crews pushed their Pegasus to the banner. The crowd started cheering even louder with anticipation. Trumpets sounded out with a custom tune created just for the race. Cloud humored the ponies by waving to both sides. Rainbow Dash copied him. They managed to get five seconds of waving time in before the next announcement.

"Racer's ready?" Pinkie Pie announced.

They both held open their wings. "Ready!" they shouted together. The moment had finally presented itself to kick their hearts into overdrive. The sudden realization of an official race had finally fed their burning competitive spirits. Now they were taking everything seriously.

Pinkie Pie looked out to see the mayors holding red flags from their balloon. "Oki Doki!"

"One for the money!"

"Two for the show!" Cloud and Rainbow Dash tensed up, ready for the magic word to unleash their speed.

"Three for your ice cream!"

Cloud took one last glance at Rainbow Dash. Now they were opponents, and everything that had happened since they met no longer mattered. Now he had to race her. He had to fly his best. He didn't know what Rainbow Dash was fully able to do, but he knew that he was going to fly his best to beat her. That would impress her a lot, and hopefully make her like him more.

Rainbow Dash's nerves were steadily fraying. She wanted very badly to show off and beat him, but at the same time, she wanted him to win. If she won, would he get mad and not like her? If she let him win, then her reputation and the title for Equestria's most awesome flyer were gone. She sighed. She just didn't know what to do.

Both announcement ponies took hold of the microphone. "And four. To. GOOOOOOO!"

In half a heartbeat, the Pegasi disappeared from the strip and left behind an explosion of a tailwind that almost took a few ponies with it. In mere seconds, both ponies had disappeared. They flew higher until they were dodging clouds. Both ponies were unsure of if it was time to pull ahead. Rainbow Dash dared to look at Cloud. His eyes were fixed on the sky and ground ahead, occasionally changing course according to the signs below them and settled into a few clouds. His concentration caused her to regrettably slow down so that he was ahead just by a little bit. At least she could say she tried, right?

The scenery flying by was quickly changing. Their ears were beginning to pop, telling Rainbow Dash that Ghastly Gorge was just ahead. Soon enough, the high walls of the small ravine were behind them in a flash, and they were now flying around rock formations and bramble bushes. It was then Rainbow Dash knew she had to pull ahead. Even though medical teams lined the tops of the gorge, she wasn't going to risk Cloud getting hurt. She pulled ahead, only to have Cloud dash to first place again. No you featherbrain! she screamed in her head Luckily, she managed to get in front of him and get some distance between them. He didn't know about Ghastly Gorge's—

All of a sudden, three quarray eels shot from their burrows and attempted to snap their massive jaws around the flying prey that had entered their vicinity. Rainbow Dash hoped that by pulling ahead she gave Cloud enough warning. When she was clear of the eels, she looked back to see Cloud flying over an eel and using its head to stomp down on for a burst of hoof-assisted speed. A final one came out to try its luck, but only received a nose full of Cloud's hoof as he flip kicked it. He shot Rainbow Dash a smirk and sped up to her.

She didn't try to block his pass, and only quickened her speed to catch up to his Cutie Mark. They flew through the gaps in the next bramble bush and shot through the opening of the windy cave. Rainbow constantly adjusted her body weight to compensate for the torrents of wind. Cloud fought right through it. The wind dared to push him out of first place, but he wasn't going to let that happen. It turns out the cave's wind was a little stronger than he was and eventually he was at a standstill. Rainbow Dash flew under him and grabbed his tail in her teeth. She dragged him toward the floor of the cave where the wind lost most of its strength. She whipped Cloud around ahead of her.

"That was awesome!" he screamed into the cave. He looked back and saluted her.

She couldn't help but smile and blush. She shrugged modestly, and let him have more distance. She flew closer to the floor to avoid the wind. She glanced up and nearly flew into a stalagmite at what she saw. Blue and white veins of infinitely branching lightning bolts sparked from his tail. His Tail Streak lit up the cave like a full moon, providing ample light to fly around everything in the cave. They rounded the final turn that let them out into the gorge again. The attacking sunlight caused both Pegasi to shield their faces.

Rainbow's stomach was churning with the acid of losing. She wanted very badly to fly past Cloud, but didn't want the colt to hate her. The end of the ravine was approaching fast. That's when she remembered how long the race was. She smiled challengingly at the ground. I guess I could show him how it's done for a while, heheh.

Cloud was just rising to leave Ghastly Gorge when Rainbow shot out from under him and grabbed a commanding lead. Cloud stepped up his game, but didn't push himself all the way. Instead he drifted behind her, and watched her perform a trick here and there. And I'm a showoff, he laughed in his head.

Horseshoe Desert made a clear presence with sweltering heat and a huge sandstorm as soon as they left the forested hills of the countryside. Grains of sand attacked in packs to sting the racing ponies. They both had to squint to the point of barely being able to see to save their eyes from the billions of irritating particles. It was so bad that they had to eventually slow down to stop some of the pain. Cloud ahead by few feet and drifted to the right to shield Rainbow Dash from as much of the sand as he could.

Luckily for them, the sandstorm didn't blanket the whole desert, and soon they were ahead of the winds and back to streaking across the sky over the seemingly endless desert.

C

Back in Ponyville, both towns watched the zeppelin carrying Pinkie and Sugar eagerly while they waited for more news of the race. Pinkie Pie watched the horizon eagerly for any sign of a magically teleporting letter. "Oh, oh, when is it gonna get here?"

"Relax, Pinkie Pie", said their pilot, a unicorn named Star Dust, "They just left Ghastly Gorge, and you know how big Horseshoe Desert is. The next checkpoint is on the outer edge. It's going to be a few minutes."

"What if something in the desert got them?" Pinkie panicked. "Like a sand leech!"

"Those are extinct Pinkie." Star Dust brought the zeppelin around to fly it over the crowd again.

"But desert dragons aren't!" Sugar Pie exclaimed. "What if a desert dragon gets them!?"

Star facehoofed. Keeping the Pies from sinking the zeppelin with their worrying and energetic antics was proving to be a tiring task. She adjusted her captain's hat and ponytail. The little package that Twilight Sparkle instructed her to use in the case of a Pinkie Pie emergency was beginning to twinkle on the dash. She grabbed the package and opened it. The unwrapped it to find that it was a bowl containing to cupcakes. She smiled. "Oh, girls", she called, waving the bowl in the air.

"Food!" Pinkie Pie yelled. She snatched the bowl out of the pilot's hooves.

Sugar Pie tackled Pinkie Pie for the sweets. "Sugar!" cheered the mint mare, taking her cupcake from the bowl.

They both tapped their cupcakes together in a toast before maliciously devouring the poor pastries. Amidst the sounds of cupcake carnage, a small burst of condensed space teleported a scroll right in front of Star Dust. She levitated it outward and read to herself, "Checkpoint thirteen, the racers have entered Fillydelphia with Rainbow Dash barely ahead." She smiled and flipped the microphone on.

C

The ponies of the eastern city of Fillydelphia didn't know to brace themselves for the tailwinds that Rainbow and Cloud would be delivering behind them. As they zipped around the tall buildings, Cloud saw that there were crowds cheering them on. The Mayors let everypony know, huh? He also noticed that they were all chanting Rainbow Dash's name and holding banners sporting her picture and name. He guessed that made sense since he barely left Canyon Run. Rainbow Dash was sort of famous. A burning thought drove him to make a name to himself too. He twisted and draft dashed from Rainbow's low-pressure wake. He rolled to the left and passed so closely under her that he could have kissed her.

Rainbow Dash flinched and nearly lost her balanced. She jerked herself back into the race and chased his tail down. She saw a skyscraper coming up with a sign pointing to go around it. She had him now; all she had to do was take the corner tighter than her. She and Cloud were about fifty yards away when he turned, locked his wings out, and drifted sideways around the corner with about an inch of clearance.

What!? How did he do that!? His drift blocked any chance she had to take first place in the corner, and what was worse, he didn't lose altitude or speed. That was pretty cool though…

The block they were now flying over was narrow, giving Rainbow little chance to pass Cloud, even from a vertical standpoint. However, it was the final straight away that led out into the vast sky over rural Fillydelphia. She spotted a cloud drifting by some four feet higher than they were flying. She smiled. Now it was her turn to show off. She put on the air brakes for a few yards and leveled with the cloud. Cloud tore past the final two buildings taking what he thought was a commanding lead. Rainbow Dash grabbed the cloud, and, by flipping it over, pushed off with all of her might. It exploded under her hooves, sending the mare streaking toward ahead of Cloud at a sonic speed. The scenery blurred together. Her eyes watered against the onslaught of wind. Eventually she had to slow down for ear that of flying into something going that fast.

Cloud didn't bother trying to catch up. Rainbow Dash had flown so far ahead that there was no chance he was going to catch her for a while. He settled with flying at his average speed, wondering when he would see Rainbow Dash again.

C

"Do you think Cloud will win, Momma?" Sprinkle asked Cirrus. She was happily seated on her mother's back with her hooves resting on the older mare's head.

"I don't know, Breezy", she replied. "But you can bet he's going to do his best!"

"Attention belooooooowwwww!" Came Pinkie Pie's echoed voice. "Cloud and Rainbow Dash are flying across Song Valley at supersonic speeds! Rainbow Dash has a super duper amazing lead!"

"They're on their way to Canterlot as we speak, folks!" Sugar Pie cleared her throat. "The princesses sure are going to get a show in a few minutes!"

"What!?" Gale screamed, "Cloud better hurry up and win! I swear if he doesn't…"

"Calm yourself", Gust said, "You wouldn't want to work yourself up over nothing."

"Cloud's losing?" Sprinkle gasped.

"Rainbow Dash must be some flyer", Cirrus stated, "Or Cloud's letting her win…"

C

The end of Song Valley came with the passing wind. Cloud had sped up so he could get Rainbow Dash back in his sight. He wasn't going to let her win, and even if he was going to it wasn't going to be by far. He knew her cloud burst would only last about six minutes. He let her get about three minutes out before sprinting to catch up. Now his wings were at full power, bringing Rainbow Dash to a speck in his vision. He didn't know, but Rainbow Dash had actually slowed down to a slow cruise to let him get closer.

She flew slightly faster when Cloud breezed by, she flew closer to the ground and watched him fly. She liked the way he flew so carefree. He swayed a little as he flew, which was unique since most Pegasi flew as smoothly as possible. She continued to admire him from her second place position and together, they rose higher and higher. That's when Rainbow Dash figured out they had flown past two waving princesses waiting for their flyby. She felt like she was going to puke up all of Applejack's apples. She missed an entire leg of the race by staring at Cloud the whole time. The sick feeling was soon replaced by burning anger at herself. She locked her wings in the delta position and spiraled into first place. Now it was her chasing the signs and checkpoint crews with Cloud desperately clinging to the few feet that separated them.

They were now moving so fast that one slip up would land them a luxurious week stay in a hospital. Rainbow Dash instinctively stopped thinking about everything but winning. She didn't even care about the Fire Lily shaking loose from her mane. Cloud saw it flapping in the wind and concentrated on it. They were in a steep dive to the valley between the mountains. His reaction window was only a tenth of a second, but he still managed to snatch the lily from the air and pull up to shorten the distance to the blue mare. He tucked his wings in and flipped over the front of Rainbow to slip the stem back into her mane. He recovered as soon as he was clear of her flight path, using another drafting technique to pull ahead from under her again. This time, however, he paused before completely taking first place.

"You should keep that in your mane", he said as softly as he could over the wind, "It helps bring out your cuteness more." With that he flipped back over and dashed several feet ahead, leaving Rainbow Dash to stare incredulously after him.

"He meant that", she breathed to herself. Her speed dropped so far it wouldn't even come up on radar. What am I doing? I need to get moving again! She increased her speed until the doubts rose again. But I can't win. He won't like me… She steadily got slower until she haphazardly landed on a high hill just before a river. Her hooves were no match for her weight, making her stumble upon touchdown. She sighed in defeat. Cloud would win, and she would become the laughing stock of Equestria. Did his opinion of her really mean that much to her?

"Hey, you okay?"

Her head shot up to see Cloud looking at her in near disbelief he was so worried. She looked away, unsure of what to say. Part of her wanted to cry, and the rest of her wanted to fly away to the deepest reaches of the land. She shuffled her hooves uneasily.

"Look, if you're sick or something, we don't have to finish the race." He took a step forward. Rainbow Dash looked sick to her stomach. He wanted to check her for a fever, but she didn't seem like she wanted her personal space invaded by his hoof.

"I'm not sick", she mumbled.

"Then what?"

She groaned. She couldn't tell him what was going on. She just couldn't! "I'm getting tired", she lied.

"Yeah, I'm feeling it too", Cloud admitted. "This race is killing my wings. Wanna take a break?"

"Huh?" Her eyes locked on him in disbelief. "What?"

"Yeah, let's go for a walk, catch our breaths and stuff." Cloud nodded to the riverbank. "Come one, the race can wait."

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but let her smile spread under her muzzle. She followed the stallion down the steep hill to the sandy shore. The current splashed against the shallow rocks settled in the middle of the river. The moist sand felt luxuriously cool against their hooves. The breeze was gently carrying the calming smells of valley flowers across their noses.

"Today was a great day to race ya, Dash", Cloud said to her. He trotted closer to the water to let the river lap at his hooves.

"It's pretty awesome weather", she agreed.

"Ya know, I really don't care who wins."

She stopped. "Really?"

He nodded with a smile. "I'm having so much fun. The most in a while."

"It's fun racing you too", Rainbow replied happily, "You're pretty good."

He gave the back of his neck a good scratch. "I never thought somepony would be better though."

The mare's heart somersaulted into her throat. He thought that she was better than him! It was just the comfort she needed to get over her anxiety about the whole winning thing. Now she could beat him with her eyes closed and wouldn't have to think twice about it. It was all back to normal now. She stretched her wings. "Ready to get back to me beating you?" she snickered, ending the calm atmosphere and brewing up a new, heated one.

He opened his too. "You haven't seen flying yet!"

They attempted to stare the other down, but with their impatience it only lasted about five seconds before the nearby trees were struggling to stay rooted to the ground. The newly blazing fires of competition raged on with the Pegasi mercilessly tearing through the sky at breakneck speeds. The next checkpoint team barely saw them as they flew by. They mountains were by far gone, and now they were flying to Cloud's home town. The grass beneath them gave way to patches of dirt, and eventually to rock. Canyon Run rushed toward them at blinding speed, and in a split second, Cloud and Rainbow Dash were racing underneath the plateau toward the southern parts of the giant chasm. They were in Cloud's territory now, giving him a hotel of advantages.

When they came upon the giant rock formations reaching for the sky from the bottom of the canyon, Cloud used his agility to navigate the quickest and most efficient way through them. Rainbow Dash didn't let herself fall far behind. She was far less agile than he was, but could still manage a reasonable course, even when they became denser. The forest of rock stopped all at once, and a giant sign hanging from a cloud directed them to go straight up. Rainbow Dash flew up, and only just spotted Cloud's tail disappearing over the canyon wall. She picked up her pace and shot up to find that she was quickly losing distance. An idea hit her. Something that she was taught back in flight school. She put her wings to their max power and flew as high as she could. It cost her more ground, but now she could end the race with a bang.

Meanwhile Cloud was rapidly approaching the finish line. The crowd was already in view and was getting bigger fast. Both sides began cheering, especially Canyon Run.

"And here they come now, everypony!" announced Sugar Pie. "Cloud has a commanding lead and it looks like it'll be wrapped up in just a few seconds!"

Pinkie Pie squinted her eyes. In the distance she could see Rainbow searing toward them. "Hold your cakes, folks. Rainbow Dash is on her way and coming fast!"

The next five seconds were instantaneous in everypony's memory banks. Cloud was two hundred yards away from winning the race when Rainbow Dash passed him. It only took her five more yards to shatter the repelling wall of air and light the sky up with a Sonic Rainboom. Her speed shot through the roof and she broke the finish tape with explosive speed. She put her hooves to the ground and skidded fifty feet before rolling to a stop. Everypony gaped at her and then adjusted their gazes back to Cloud, who had stopped on top of a large boulder far off from them. He was waving softly.

Everypony lost their bananas over Rainbow's win. Even the ponies from Canyon Run cheered her on. They had never even heard of something so rare before.

"He lost!?" Gale shrieked.

"He threw the race", Gust said frankly.

"He did?!"

His family turned to stare at him.

"You didn't notice how he turned his wings inward to land on the rock before Rainbow Dash did whatever that was she did?" He frowned. "Even though she did do that, he still would have won easily. His body shape would have let him slip right into her sonic cone and overtake her. He lost on purpose."

Cloud smiled as he waved to the pony that had just become Equestria's greatest flyer. No pony would have been able to guess that he let her win. With that stunt, she sure did deserve it. "I better not regret losing", he told himself.

On that thought, he left the rock for the massive crowd that was no longer paying attention to him. Rainbow Dash sure was the pony he was looking for, and now it was time to let her know that.

Comments

[SageBrony07]

Nice job with this story. To be honest though Cloud is going to be in trouble. If Rainbow Dash ever finds out what he did, he is so dead.