Writer's Training Grounds Entries

by Yukito

Prompt #16 - Race for the Record (Gilda, Lightning Dust) [Comedy, Random]

Prompt: Two competitors from the Equestria Games qualifiers cross paths at the Rainbow Falls Trader Exchange. Oh yes: they remember each other.

---

The Rainbow Falls Trader Exchange was packed with ponies as usual. Ponies from every corner of Equestria galloped with their old, unneeded possessions in the hopes of finding that new one-of-a-kind comic book, or that antique vase with a unique design.

Of course, it wasn’t only ponies that gathered at the exchange. Gilda, a young, female griffon, was also browsing the wares at the exchange that day. She had with her something that was an extreme rarity in Equestria: baby griffon teeth. Her own, of course, from when she was just a young fledgling. Griffon teeth were an exotic item, used for making necklaces and furnishings, and griffons were all too willing to sell any teeth they lose for a high price. After all, it’s not like they had any need for their teeth once they lose them, right?

The only problem was that there was nothing these dweeby ponies had that Gilda wanted. What would she do with a new horseshoe? A crystal bowl just seemed impractical with how utterly fragile they were. And there was actually somepony trying to push their dusty old books on some poor sap?

Gilda stopped as she finally found a stall that seemed worth checking out. It was a stall full of records from various bands. Not just any records, but records that weren’t even made anymore! Records from bands that were huge when Gilda was still in flight school but somehow lost popularity with the more recent generation caught the griffon’s eyes. One record in particular got her attention. It was a limited edition copy of a greatest hits album by The Rockin’ Beats! Only fifty were ever released, and each one’s casing was signed by every member of the band!

Gilda grabbed it at the same time that somepony next to her did, too. Gilda turned to roar at the annoying pest, but was taken aback by who she saw. “Lightning?”

“Hey there, Gilda!” Lightning Dust greeted with that ever-so-confident grin of hers. “Long time!”

“It has! Haven’t seen you since that time at the Equestria Games qualifiers!”

“We both passed the five hundred meter flight qualifiers, but I totally beat you that time!”

Gilda scoffed. “Not even close! I beat you by so much I could’ve gone back to the start and beat you again!”

Lightning Dust chuckled as she felt a vein pop. “I think you’ll find that I left you in my dust.”

Gilda grinned as she grinded her teeth together. “You keep tellin’ yourself that, but I totally had you beat right from the start. Even your cheating didn’t change that.”

“Cheating? Look who’s talking. I’m surprised the judges didn’t kick you out.”

“I’m surprised the judges waited for ya to finish, though I guess they’re just used to slow flying from you ponies.”

“Excuse me,” the stall owner said to the two flyers whose faces were just a mere inch apart, “Are the two of you going to trade for something?”

Gilda and Lightning Dust moved back and presented the record they were both holding to the stall owner. “Yeah, I wanna trade for this,” they both said in unison.

The two looked at each other. “Hooves off. I got here first.”

Lightning Dust pulled at the record. “Once again, your sense of timing is way off. I was here before you even lifted a claw off of the ground!”

Gilda growled and pulled the record towards herself. “I let you delude yourself back during that race, but not here! I was here first and you know it!”

“Girls, you were both here at the same time,” the stall owner said.

“Nobody asked you!” the two flyers yelled in unison.

“Well then, what say we settle this once and for all?” Lightning Dust asked. “A race to determine which of us really is fastest? Winner gets to trade for this record.”

“Bring it,” Gilda challenged with a smirk. “Where we racin’ to?”

Lightning pointed a hoof down through the pathway between the stalls beside them. “We’ll race to the other end of the exchange, then back here. Think you can handle it?”

“I just hope you don’t strain yourself, relyin’ on those little pony wings of yours!” Putting the record down, the two turned and lowered themselves into flying stances. “On my mark then… GO!”

And they took off, creating a gust of wind so powerful that many nearby ponies had to hold onto their goods in order to keep them from flying away. Lightning Dust glanced at Gilda flying to her side and gasped. She was flying much faster than Lightning Dust had expected.

The surprised caused Lightning Dust to retract her wing for just a moment, but it was long enough to cause the pegasus to alter her course a bit and bump into Gilda’s side with some force, knocking her wing and causing her to spin out of control to the side.

---

“‘Trixie’s Magic Emporium’? Looks more like you’re just trying to sucker ponies into buying your old junk.” Vinyl Scratch lifted a box from the table and opened it up. “Your retainer? Really?”

“It has magical properties, as does everything else here,” Trixie argued as she took the box and closed it back up. “If you’re going to trade, then Trixie could always do with a new guitar.”

“Nah, think I’ll pass. I just came to- Uh…”

“What?” Trixie turned around to see what Vinyl Scratch was looking at just in time for something large and brown to crash into her stall, crushing her into the ground and destroying everything that was present.

“That dirty cheater… I’ll make her pay!” Gilda took off into the air, leaving the wounded unicorn to slowly rise to her hooves and look over the wreckage that was once her stall.

“… Well, that takes care of everything Trixie wanted to throw away,” Trixie declared, dusting herself off and straightening her hat. “Might as well go check out the other stalls now.”

---

With a shrug and her lead secured, Lightning Dust decided to take it easy and just enjoy the cool breeze passing through her mane. Looking down, she was amazed at just how many ponies were gathered at this one location. The variety of stalls was also impressive; everything from clothes, to appliances, to Discord lamps, to Gilda swooping up and punching her face-

“OOF!” Lightning Dust fall down fast as Gilda’s chuckles echoed through the air.

“What goes around comes around!” Gilda taunted as she took off, leaving Lightning Dust to her fate.

---

Diamond Tiara tapped her hoof impatiently, growling as she looked at the boxes filled with Diamond Tiara plushies that had still not been traded for. Meanwhile, her friend Silver Spoon beside her was already negotiating her fifth trade, and her plushies didn’t even come with a removable tiara or catchphrases reminding the buyer of how much better she is!

“Thank you, sir!” Silver Spoon cheered as she stashed away the nice-looking monocle with a golden trim she had just traded a Silver Spoon plushie for. “Have a nice day!”

“Silver Spoon, I order you to trade for six of my supply this instant,” Diamond said.

“But I’ve got nothing to trade with. Except for these.” Silver Spoon motioned to the piles of plushies all resembling herself, but Diamond Tiara didn’t seem interested.

“WAAAAAAAAAH!” The two fillies looked up and quickly dodged to the side as something came crashing down into their stall. As the dust settled, a disgruntled-looking pegasus emerged from the wreckage and glared up into the air. “Oh, it. Is. On!” The pegasus extended her wings and blasted off into the air, leaving a lightning trail behind herself.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon came out of hiding to check their stall. It appeared that Diamond’s stock was still in perfect condition, whilst Silver Spoon’s supply took the full brunt of the blow, being reduced to nothing more than stuffing and torn grey fabric.

“Ah, good. Now we can focus on the real star product here,” Diamond Tiara said with a grin as she got back into position.

Silver Spoon simply sighed and nodded her head. ‘Well, it was fun while it lasted.’

---

Lightning Dust managed to catch up to Gilda, who seemed rather pleased with her earlier action. “What the hell was that?!”

“It’s called payback!” Gilda shouted back. “If you’re gonna resort ta cheatin’, then so am I!”

“I didn’t cheat!” Lightning Dust protest, but Gilda seemed to pay her no mind. “Oh, well if that’s how you wanna play it!” Lightning Dust stopped for a second and prepared herself, leaning backwards in the air as she narrowed her eyes, locking her gaze on Gilda. With a strong push forward, she propelled through the air at supersonic speed, creating a loud shockwave that shook Gilda as she passed by and caused the griffon to fall once more.

---

Discord chuckled as another pony walked away dissatisfied. “Thanks for stopping by! Make sure to tell your friends!”

“Oh my,” a mare said as she stopped at Discord’s stall, admiring everything that the draconequus had on display. Jewellery, crystal chalices, fancy and funny hats, T-shirts, and a sack of bananas with Princess Celestia’s face plastered onto the front. “Such a lovely necklace,” the mare said, admiring a necklace that just demanded her to take it home. Literally.

“Take me home! Take me home!” the necklace cried out, startling the mare for just a second.

“Well, if you insist… I have this pack of trading cards I could trade for it!”

Discord held out a claw and shook his head. “Sorry, ma’am. I’m not trading any of this stuff.”

The mare raised an eyebrow at that. “Then… why are you here?”

“Good question! Why are any of us here? Are we the product of a higher being, dancing at His strings whilst being made to believe in a thing called free will? Or are we merely here simply by nothing more than a mere accident, simply living our lives to find our own purpose, our own reasons for being. By the way, I would step aside if I were you.”

The mare was confused, but took one step to the left anyway. Discord produced a mallet and closed one eye. As a large griffon fell towards his stall, the draconequus hit her back into the sky.

“THANK YOOOOOOOOOOOOU!”

“Now, about that trade.”

The mare jumped. “W-What? But you just said-”

“Sorry. Not. For. Sale.” The mare stuttered for a few seconds, before simply giving up and leaving. “Sheesh. Someponies just really can’t listen, can they?”

---

Lightning Dust laughed as she waved goodbye to her falling friend. “Smell ya later, slowpoke!” She was sure to win now. That record would be hers, no doubt about it.

“-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!”

“What’s that sound?” Lightning Dust asked herself as she turned back. She found Gilda rocketing towards her and yelped. “B-But how?!”

Gilda grabbed Lightning Dust’s tail and threw her towards the ground. “Better luck next time, Rainbow Cra- I mean, Lighting Crash! … Yeah, that doesn’t work as well.”

---

Coco Pommel beamed with pride. Her first trade went off without a hitch. She was so glad that she carried ten crates of clothes all made in a single week all the way from Manehatten to Rainbow Falls, missing many hours of sleep and a job opportunity with a very important fashion company. The friendly atmosphere here was just what she couldn’t find in the big city, and there were so many exotic goods to be found, like the fire ruby that she had just bartered with.

Yep. No doubt about it: all the sacrifices and hard work it took to get where she was was totally worth it.

CRASH!

Coco Pommel’s smile never fell, not even as a flaming pegasus jumped out of the rubble that was once her stall with a ferocious roar, flinging what little remained of her clothes everywhere, before taking off into the air at such a high speed that a lightning trail was left behind, setting the remained of her stock on fire.

As nearby ponies quickly rushed to extinguish the flames, only one thought passed through the mare’s head. ‘Yep. Still better than working for Suri.’

---

“GILDA!” Lightning Dust roared, flames in her eyes. She had had enough. This was no longer just about the record; she was going to crush Gilda, and if Gilda wanted to play dirty, then so be it!

Gilda zigzagged as Lightning Dust chased her, apparently confusing pegasi with alligators. “You’ll never beat me at that speed?!”

“Hey Gilda, is that Rainbow Dash down there, making out with another mare?!”

Gilda stopped and looked down immediately. “WHAT?! THAT LITTLE-” Gilda could see no sign of Rainbow Dash, and when she felt a large force to her back pushing her towards the ground, she realised that she had been duped.

---

“Thank you for visiting Geoff’s Farming and Mercantile Supplies,” the armoured stallion said as he waved goodbye to his customer. He turned around to place his recently acquired iron and gold pieces into a chest, only to find a unicorn in a kilt suddenly teleport into his stall. The stallion sighed, but a griffon suddenly crashed down onto the intruder before he could say anything.

The griffon picked herself up with a growl. “Can’t believe I fell for that!” she shouted as she ran and took off into the air.

The armoured stallion looked at the crippled remains of the downed cat burglar and shrugged, opening the chest and storing his profits from his latest transaction.

---

Cabbie was happily minding his own business, humming away blissfully as he pushed his cartload of cabbages down the road, looking for an empty spot to set up his stall. He stopped and grimaced as the sight of another cabbage seller entered his vision and he stepped forward to examine the wares.

A grin crossed his face. “Hah! These are the most pathetic cabbages I have ever seen! Ponies won’t trade anything for these, so long as I am still around!” A loud crash caused Cabbie to turn around quickly, allowing him to see his cart in shambles and his cabbages scattered everywhere and in many pieces. “MY CABBAGES!”

The pegasus responsible for crashing into his cart quickly took off into the air, and everypony around watched as she and a mysterious griffon continued to cause havoc and destruction down the Rainbow Falls Trader Exchange.

---

Gilda slammed a claw onto the record stall, startling the pony on the other side. As Gilda pulled herself up to her claws, huffing and heaving with her feathers in complete disarray, a cocky grin crossed her beak and she turned back to the pegasus stumbling towards her. “I… win…”

“Damnit…” Lightning Dust fell onto her face, too tired to remain standing any longer.

“Don’t… let it get to you…” Gilda chuckled softly. “Griffons are… better built for flying, after all…” Gilda turned her attention o the stall owner. “Now, about that record.”

“Oh, it’s you two,” the stall owner deadpanned before returning to her magazine. “Sorry, but I just traded the record away.”

Gilda and Lightning Dust both looked at the mare with shocked looks on their faces. “WHAT?!” Gilda shouted. “TO WHO?!”

The mare pointed to another mare just down the dirt path. It was an earth pony with a purple coat and three flowers with smiling faces for a cutie mark. “Finally,” the purple mare said with stars in her eyes, “I can share with my students the wonders of real music! No more of this ‘dubstep’ in the classroom!”

Gilda couldn’t believe her eyes. She was so close. She suffered so many injuries, endured so much, but it was all for naught. “Well,” she said, turning to Lightning Dust, “At least now we know who the faster flyer is.”

Lightning Dust huffed. “I was just off today. It doesn’t count ‘til it’s the real thing.” Lightning Dust grinned. “We’ll settle this at the Equestria Games, got it?”

Gilda grinned back and bumped her fist with the pony’s hoof. “You got it.”

“Hey, you two!” The two turned around to find an angry mob approaching them. The stallion leading them shouted, “You destroyed my stall! You’d better pay for all of that!”

“Mine, too!” another stallion added.

“And mine!” a mare chimed in.

Everypony in the mob was saying much the same thing, and Gilda and Lightning Dust simply smiled sheepishly as they back backed away. “You thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?” Gilda asked.

Lightning Dust nodded. “I think so.”

“WING IT!” the two shouted as they took off together, heading in separate directions through the air. The angry mob split into two groups and each chased one of the culprits through the exchange.

“… Now that I think about, perhaps the griffon did grab the record first,” the mare said to herself, shrugging off the thought as she returned back to her magazine.

Author's Note:

Check out the other submissions by various authours here: http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/04/writers-training-grounds-018-trade-ya.html

Comments

[CCC]

...I do find myself wondering what exactly Discord was planning on doing there. A non-trading store seems a little tame for him.

[djthomp]

The real question is, could anything actually be worse than working for Suri?

[Yukito]

4269348

Working for Walmart? Heyoooo!

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Excuse me. *Aims sniper rifle and shoots Gilda, then Lightning Dust out of the sky* There, better.