The Cloudsdale Underground

by Stratocaster

Ocean Madness

Chapter 5: Ocean Madness

Soarin' trotted with a spring in his step through the corridors of the airship over to his cabin the next day, hiding a bundle of flowers under his wing which he swiped from the wall decor. Vivid memories of his passionate night with Rainbow Dash not long ago swirled through his mind. He planned to have a mini celebration with his "close friend" before the next race began. After surviving three races so far, life didn't seem so dangerous, and it seemed like time to enjoy it. He approached the door to the cabin happily as he knocked on the door.

"Hey Rainbow, you there?" he called. "I thought we could celebrate not dying so far!"

"Uh, don't come in!" responded Rainbow from inside. "I'm...not decent!"

"Oh come on, you've been in the cabin all day!" Soarin' opened the door anyway.

"No, wait!"

He entered the cabin just in time to see Rainbow sliding a dubious wooden box under the lower bunk. She looked at him with a blank face which seemed to be hiding a sign of worry.

Soarin' stared with suspicion. "What's in that box?"

"What box?" replied Rainbow, a bit quickly.

Soarin' walked over to the mysterious item. "Um, this box?" he said as he held it up. "The one that you tried to hide under my bed?"

"That's not mine!" she denied. Rainbow didn't want to raise more suspicion by taking the box away.

"It has your name on it." Soarin' pointed to a label that said "PROPERTY OF RAINBOW DASH".

"That could be any Rainbow!" she said.

"It also has your picture on it." Soarin' noticed a head photo of her on the box.

"...Okay I got nothing." She capitulated.

Soarin' opened the box to reveal neatly stacked rows of vials all containing vibrant purple liquid. "Uh, Rainbow? What exactly is this?" he looked at her with a raised brow.

"Soarin', I can explain-" she replied.

"Wait a minute," the pieces started to come together for Soarin'. "These are steroids, aren't they?!" he gawked.

Rainbow finally snapped the box back and closed it. "Soarin' please, you can't tell anypony! I'll be kicked out of the races for sure! Or worse! You have to understand!"

"That explains everything." Soarin' frowned in realization. "That's why you were so fast in the Crystal Mountains! Have you always been taking these?!"

"No, just for the last race, I swear! But I have been taking a few more for training."

"I don't believe this!" he glared at her. "I thought you were better than cheating! I thought-" Soarin' then thought about his night of passion with her, suddenly realizing that it wasn't as genuine as he thought. He grew a feeling of embarrassment. "Oh sweet Celestia, I've never felt so stupid!"

"Look Soarin', I have to do everything I can." Rainbow stood firm. "I still haven't forgotten about Applejack."

"Would she approve of you doing this stuff?" he replied.

"You don't get it!" she urged. "I had no choice! I would've died out there in the cold without these potions!"

"No you wouldn't!" scorned Soarin'. "You're better than that, Rainbow. I actually respected you enough to think you wouldn't stoop this low. I even thought you were better than most of the Wonderbolts. But now I'm not so sure that any of that is true."

"Come on, Soarin', I haven't changed or anything!" pleaded Rainbow.

"You know what, Rainbow? I don't even care." Soarin' walked away from her. "If this is what it takes for you to win these damned races, then it's no skin off my nose. Just don't expect me to be there much for you on the track."

"Soarin', please!"

Despite her rebuttal, Soarin' couldn't bear to face Rainbow and slammed the door on his way out. He stopped outside in the corridor filling with a mix of disappointment and humiliation. He looked at the flowers he had hidden and resentfully threw them away. Soarin' had actually made himself believe that his favorite flyer had shown affection towards him. But it was all just a part of a drug-induced, adrenaline-filled romp. Even though he agreed not to tell anypony, the Wonderbolt champion still felt just as much shame. He slumped away to prepare for the next race, hoping his regret wouldn't bring down his game too much.

Rainbow looked down in guilt. She suddenly realized that had become no better than the rest of Falcon's thugs. The need to win and improve had blinded her from her vow of fair play. And even worse, she had lost the trust of a friend. With regret for ever accepting them from the hooded stranger, Rainbow gathered her entire surplus of Shift and took it to the bathroom to be flushed away.

...

Under the glare of a clear sunny sky, the zeppelin cruised over the coast of eastern Equestria, and out onto the open sea. Inside the observation lounge, Falcon addressed his so-called guests with information on the next race.

"That was quite a shaky performance from you all on the mountain." He looked at them all inquisitively. "Perhaps it's time to take this circuit up a notch. You're all probably wondering why we're flying out to sea. How could we hold a race out here? I think you're going to like the answer."

"Wait, Falcon," said Flare with realization. "You're not actually suggesting..."

"Oh yes I am, my dear Flare." He smiled deviously. "I'm talking about the underwater track!"

A gasp from the crowd sounded as Volt protested. "What?! But I thought that course was off limits!"

"There are no limits in my circuit." Falcon continued. "Out in the Eastern Sea I have set up a long network of transparent tubes that run to the depths of the ocean, of which you will fly through. Sounds simple, right?" he gave a knowing chuckle. "That is, if you stay careful. The deeper the water, the higher the pressure, which means that if you make one wrong turn and slam into the tube walls, it could shatter the glass and flood the entire track. Nothing like a little danger to make things more exciting, huh?"

"Just hold on, Falcon!" stomped Volt. "Last time, I nearly drowned on that track! That glass is as weak as paper! I refuse to go there again, it's just plain suicide!"

Falcon sneered at the tenacity of his top racer. "Are you saying you'd rather take the coward's way out, Volt?"

"He has a point, Falcon." Flare said. "The underwater course has the highest casualty risk. And it hasn't been maintained in years. If we fly through that tube, there's a chance none of us will-"

"Shut up!" growled Falcon. "I'm not giving any of you a choice! We have a Wonderbolt in our midst and you choose to run away from a challenge?! What kind of pegasi are you?!"

"Look pal," said Soarin'. "If your best racers think this course is a bad idea, I think you should-"

"You don't have a say here, poster boy!" barked Falcon. "This is my organization, and I what I say goes! And if any of you don't survive a little glass tube, then that only means you bit off more than you could chew when you joined this circuit!" He then walked away in a huff. "I expect you all to assemble in the loading bay in an hour, and leave behind this disgrace. You better not be afraid to get wet."

...

Miles offshore, the zeppelin approached a designated area in the eastern ocean and hovered directly over the calm waters. Underneath the hull, the trapdoors of the airship's loading bay opened up, and a large platform lowered onto the surface on which the racers stood in anxious anticipation. Rainbow looked over the edge as she stood among the pegasi. Beside the platform, she looked at the entrance of a wide round tube that stretched about twenty feet in diameter. The tube seemed to snake down deeper and deeper below the crystal blue water like a ghostly sea serpent. It soon came to Rainbow that Falcon spent way too much time building tracks than actually racing on them.

She then looked over across the crowd at Soarin', who had chose to avoid her. Rainbow hoped that he would soon forgive her for her rash action. But then she also noticed a loud hiss, as a fine mist poured out of the airship's hull.

"Um, what's that?" she asked.

"Oh, that's just the ship emptying its tanks from the bathrooms." Volt answered, next to her. "I don't know why it's purple though."

Rainbow knew exactly why the bathroom water had turned purple, but decided to whistle innocently instead of telling anypony.

Falcon soon stood before his champions as they prepared themselves. "This'll surely be one for the books. I'll make sure that everypony who comes out of this tube won't go empty-hoofed. You'll receive a cash prize just for surviving."

Rainbow perked up at that promise. This race could mean finally getting Applejack out of the hospital. But it could also mean that risk of flying through this underwater raceway garnered a higher risk for death. Suddenly winning didn't seem like such a priority anymore.

"And it seems that this time, cheating won't provide you much help here." Falcon resumed, then spotted one of the racers with curiosity. "Although I see at least one of you came prepared."

"Fast! Fast! Wanna go fast!" Turbo sputtered, wearing swim trunks, floaties, a mask and snorkel.

"Racers, on your marks!" announced Falcon.

Rainbow knelt down, preparing to launch herself into the gaping maw of the-

"Oh just get out of my sight already!" Falcon waved them off.

The platform rocked in the water as the pegasi soared up and down into the tube, descending into the depths.

"Let's see you come out of that one, Dash." Falcon chuckled to himself.

The transparent tube offered an unusual racing experience for Rainbow. There were no obstacles or ways to fly out of bounds, and the priority was much more about keeping ahead of the others than knowing what lay ahead. Of course, since Falcon offered consolation to anypony who finished regardless of position, she couldn't have cared less. But her competitive spirit was still alive as she zipped through the clear tunnel, willing to be the best flyer she could be without cheating of any kind. After all, Soarin's trust mattered more to her than she had previously thought.

Outside the glass wall, the crisp blue water of the ocean provided a strange serenity to the high risk course. Schools of fish passed by the views of the racers, along with bigger lone predatory fish, and even a few whales. Rainbow recalled back to her childhood when her parents took her to an aquarium, where she strolled through a similar underwater tube giving her an incredible view of the sea life around her. It would've been a nice time to reflect, if she wasn't barreling through a tube of fragile glass at high speed, surrounded by twenty other pegasi doing the exact same thing.

Suddenly, she felt a hard nudge against her side, as Volt zoomed past her and ahead.

"Hey, come back here and face me like a man!" she taunted him.

"I ain't got time to deal with you!" he called back, eager to move forward. "I'm getting out of this deathtrap!"

It seemed that the brutal champion was a bit on edge to save his own hide, instead of ready to win. Nevertheless, Rainbow still wanted to show Volt up, in order to redeem herself. She buckled down and increased her speed, which also increased her risk of bonking into the tube wall. Already she began to see hasty repairs made on the glass as she passed. It was really just pieces of duct tape covering up cracks, which showed how miserly Falcon really was.

Alas, Volt still managed to evade her pursuit. It looked like he was so driven by fear of a leak that the fear actually boosted his adrenaline. Rainbow simply thought he was a coward. But her focus was immediately thrown off by a jab in her thigh, as Flare caught up with her from behind.

"A little water isn't gonna stop me from feeding you my dust, Dash!" she grinned.

"Finally, some competition!" Rainbow replied and instantly put on the brakes, causing her to fall back and slam into her.

But Flare knew better than to let herself falter and quickly grabbed Rainbow by the back hoof. With all her might and momentum, she flung the blue pegasus off to the side and into the glass wall with a thump. The tube shuddered from the impact, but no damage was present. Rainbow shook off the dizziness and tried to get back up to speed, by launching from the walls several times and gaining velocity.

From then on out, the two mares duked it out as they recklessly sped through the underwater course. Eventually, the tube descended deeper and deeper into the hollow ocean, and the water around became much darker. It became increasingly difficult to see the curves ahead which only worsened the danger. In addition, the higher water pressure pushed against and weakened the structural integrity of the glass.

As the pressure crushed around them, Flare now held Rainbow in a choke-hold, almost unaware of her flight path. Rainbow wriggled out of the clutch by using her wings as air brakes and fell way back. Flare smiled back at her smugly.

"Don't mess with the best, you little-"

WHAM!

Without paying attention, Flare flew straight into the wall of a perfect ninety-degree turn, impossible to avoid without slowing to a snail's pace. Rainbow stopped just in time to see the nasty turn, which otherwise would have been difficult in the dark of the deep sea. She watched Flare slide to the floor of the tube like a wet sponge.

"Ha! Eyes on the road!" Rainbow gloated.

CCCRRRRRRKKK!

A new and dreaded sound resonated through the tube. Rainbow looked in shock as the a crack spawned in the glass wall, which quickly grew into a shattered web.

"Oh crap."

With a deafening roar, the large crack burst open and a cascade of water rushed in. Rainbow's initial reaction was to hightail it out of there. But before she could forget, she turned around and looked at Flare again, still lying on the tube floor. The impact must have knocked her unconscious. Rainbow knew that leaving without her would only put more guilt in her conscience, and although she hated her foe's guts, she knew it was only right to rescue her. She fluttered down toward Flare to scoop her up.

But she was haltered by the rest of the straggling racers passing by. They completely ignored Rainbow's presence, but were immediately spooked by the sight of the leaking water and bolted though. Rainbow had to swerve and weave to avoid a collision, but inevitably could not dodge the last straggler.

"Ah! Water! Can't get wet! Fast! Gotta go fast!" screamed Turbo as he slammed into Rainbow in a moment of de-ja-vu.

Rainbow hit the floor hard with a pained grunt. She tried to hover again but found that the collision had crippled her wings, which were now unable to even get her off her hooves. The water continued flooding in, and was already rising to her knees. Even still, Rainbow lifted Flare onto her back, and galloped on down the tube.

However, the course up ahead now ascended upward at a steep angle back toward the surface. Rainbow tried to run up the incline, but the glass proved too slippery for her to manage; she was trapped in the depths of the tube. Before she could react, the water thundered toward her from behind and swept her up. Now she found herself treading the water as it filled up the tube going upward, making her feel like a boat in a canal gate. She had to kick hard in order to keep herself and Flare's body afloat. It seemed to Rainbow that she would be keeping this up for a gruesomely long time, until the water finally pushed her out of the exit.

And yet, fate intervened again.

The leak in the deeper section of the tube made the structure even more weak. As a result, a seam higher up burst apart, and even more water came dumping onto Rainbow's head.

"No! No no no!" she yelled.

Up above her, the tube was cracking apart and fracturing completely. In mere moments, Rainbow would be completely underwater, far from the surface. There was no way out. Rainbow was staring death in the face. Her efforts to win and help Applejack seemed all for naught. And on top of that, she hadn't even gotten a chance to apologize to Soarin'. She wished then that she had never joined the Underground in the first place.

"I'm sorry, Applejack. I'm sorry, Soarin'." She said to herself somberly. "I failed you both." In a few seconds, the entire tube shattered, and she was now floating helpless in the middle of the ocean. Rainbow took one last breath in, ready to embrace a watery grave.

And then, she suddenly felt a harsh nudge on her rear. She opened her eyes, ignoring the sting of the salt water on her corneas, and became perplexed as she began to ascend toward the surface. Whatever was pushing her up seemed to be living. Rainbow had heard tall tales about dolphins rescuing ponies stranded at sea, so she glanced down expecting to see the friendly creature. But her amazement instead grew.

It was Soarin', swimming upward like a sleek sailfish, as if he had lived in the water his whole life. He pushed Rainbow up by the crown of his head, while kicking his back legs and flapping his wings rapidly, keeping himself hydrodynamic. What was even more impressive was that he also carried the unconscious Flare in his fore hooves.

Rainbow couldn't believe what was happening. But her longs quickly began to feel compressed, and she was running out of breath. She felt as if she wouldn't make it regardless. That's when Soarin' moved himself up closer to her face, while still pushing her along. He grabbed Rainbow's head, quickly put his lips to hers and breathed a pocket of air into her airway. Even in a life-threatening situation, Rainbow still managed to blush.

But even though Soarin's ability to swim and save a life was astounding, it didn't seem like enough to get all three of them to the surface in time. Then, a loud rumble echoed through the resonance of the water. Down below, the air inside the exposed section of the tube escaped out of the broken end, and ascended in the form of a giant bubble. The massive pocket of air rocketed upward and caught the swimming ponies, taking them with it.

As they expelled air from their lungs, trying to avoid hazardous pressure change in their bodies, Rainbow and Soarin' eventually were propelled up and out through the surface, finally able to take in oxygen. But the bubble had actually launched them dangerously high up into the air and were now plummeting back down toward the water. A fall from that height into water would be like landing on concrete. Rainbow's wings were still broken, and Soarin's were exhausted from paddling through the heavy water. And yet, a new hope arrived in the form of a familiar yellow streak.

Volt swooped in and snatched all three ponies out of their fall, Flare in his forelegs, Rainbow on his back, and Soarin's tail in his teeth. Rainbow gawked at the fact of the punk saving her life, but figured that he only did it for the sake of Flare. Volt quickly brought the survivors down to a floating dock that marked the exit end of the tube, where the rest of the racers awaited in awe. The even clapped and stomped their hooves as he lowered them safe and sound.

Rainbow collapsed on her back from exhaustion and panted, soaked to the bone. She then quickly sprang up and face her friend.

"Soarin'...you..." she panted. "You came back for me?"

Soarin' breathed carefully, trying to rest his lungs. "Well, actually, I was behind everypony else." He said, a tad embarrassed. "But luckily I had water training during my first years as a Wonderbolt. So when I saw the flood, I just kept on moving through the water. That's when I saw you, and the broken tube. I just did what I could."

Overcome with relief, Rainbow wrapped her hooves around him and nuzzled his neck. "Oh Soarin', I'm so sorry for letting you down. I was so eager to win that I just lost sight of-"

Soarin' interrupted her with a long and meaningful kiss on the lips. He then looked into her eyes with a smile. "I'm the one who's sorry. I should've just tried to keep by your side. You know what? I don't care how many potions or underwater tubes you go through. You're still the best flyer in my book, Dash."

Rainbow blushed as she managed to crack a smile. "You know...your breath really stinks."

He smiled sheepishly. "Man, I'm just glad that everypony made it."

Then, Rainbow grew a sullen frown. "Well, I don't know about that."

Flare lay on the floating dock lifeless, her fur matted and her mane unkempt from the water. Volt leaned over her with fright in his eyes. "Flare! Flare, come on! Wake up!" He then tried to resuscitate her.

"Oh no." Soarin' gawked.

"She flew into the side of the tube and got knocked out." Rainbow explained with concern. "I tried to get her out."

"Come on, come on, gimme a sign!" cried Volt desperately. He pressed down hard on Flare's chest several times and breathed into her mouth, repeating the process. He struggled to keep himself from panicking. "Don't do this, Flare! Please! Stay with me! Flare!"

Before he could continue, a couple of pegasi paramedics working for Falcon rushed over and lifted Flare onto a stretcher board. "Don't worry, Volt, we got this." One of them said. "We'll do everything we can." The other said as they hauled her off.

"Please...please save her!" Volt urged, as his face became streaming with tears.

Both Rainbow and Soarin' watched in astonishment, as the hardcore, though-as-nails racing punk bawled and wept. Just like that, whatever grudges they had against him seemed to drop from memory.

"Now that was some real passion, Volt my boy." Falcon's voice came as he approached the heart-stricken pegasus. "I didn't expect it, but you came out of that tube in first place. You've finally redeemed yourself for your cowardice earlier. That's why you deserve that whopping fifty-thousand bit prize for this race."

Volt turned around and looked at him with anger. "You think I care about that now?!" he barked. "Don't you realize that she could die?! Do you have any concern at all?!"

"Really, Volt, I thought you would be more proud." Falcon scoffed. "This just means she wasn't up for the challenge. You might have just trumped Flare's reputation in this tournament."

"Screw the tournament, screw the cash, and screw you!" Volt yelled with fury before storming off.

Falcon sneered at the rebellious flyer, but quickly shrugged off his pity. He then turned toward Rainbow, his anger reboiling. "You just keep coming back, don't you?" he seethed. "No matter how much I try, I just cannot snuff you out. And now you've even come back with one of my champions out cold. Just what did you do to her?"

"Me?!" blurted Rainbow. "It was an accident! The only reason she got hurt was because you put her through too much danger!"

"Yeah, what kind of psychopath are you?!" added Soarin'. "If you want your champions to win so badly, then why put their lives at risk? It seems awfully counter-intuitive!"

"That's enough out of you, poster boy!" growled Falcon. "And as for you, Dash, don't think you can survive anything just because you got lucky down there. I refuse to let an amateur like you stake your claim in my tournament!"

"Shouldn't you be worrying about Flare instead of trying to scare me?" replied Rainbow.

"Why should I care?" Falcon scowled as he lumbered off. "That girl couldn't even make it through a little glass tube without bonking her head. She's no daughter of mine."

"......WHAT?!"

Comments

[Dusk_Writer]

Wow, cold Falcon, reaall cold
This is my fav chapter so far

[coolstorybrah]

Can't wait for more!!!!!

[Stratocaster]

6158906 Coming right up!

[Stratocaster]

6155813 Thanks for following my story, by the way. Your feedback is very appreciated!

[Dusk_Writer]

6159141 Of course, this is an awesome story!

[Fire Feather]

..........She's his DAUGHTER?????!!!!!!! I did NOT see that coming!