Knight in Shining Armor

by ShinxX

Chapter 3

Sky sprinted after his friends up the stairs of the stadium. The two other ponies that went with him to drop off the cupcakes were just a few steps ahead. They could hear the chatter of a restless crowd coming from the end of the tunnel. Violet was panting from all the sprinting the trio had just done, going back and forth around the large stadium. Once they finally reached the end of the first flight of stairs, They could see the track where Wonderbolts were warming up. The trio of friends weren’t late for the announcements, causing Sky to flood with relief. They took a one eighty turn and sprinted up the aisle of the stands. As they ran to their seats, Sky turned his head to look at the course to see what was happening. The trio finally made it to the row their other friends were sitting in and started to file into their respective seats.

“Finally, I thought you were gonna miss Flit’s announcement, too.” Blue Wrench mocked, looking at Sky as he squeezed by the white unicorn.

“Yeah, I’m not missing another introduction today.” Sky replied as he sat next to the white unicorn and tan pegasus.

“So what took you guys so long? All you had to do was drop off some cupcakes.” Prime asked the trio of ponies that had just sat down.

“We got distracted by a shiny object.” Volt replied in a sarcastic tone, looking at the pegasus, getting an eye roll from her, Sky and Violet.

“Twilight had to let us in because I never got my pass. We got in a conversation with her and some others and lost track of time.” Sky half explained. Violet was about to say something, however, Volt Speed beat her to it.

“Wait, why didn’t you mention C-”

Sky cut off the green pegasus, “You know why, besides, the announcements are starting any moment now. I’ll explain later.” The other three ponies didn’t question why Sky was hiding a part of the events that unfolded while he was away for two reasons. One, they knew he always had a reason to do it. Two, even if they wanted to, Sky was correct. The announcements began just seconds after he cut himself off.

The sound of the loud, amplified voice of the announcer echoed across the stadium, “Ladies and gentlecolts, Please help us welcome the Wonderbolts!” The stadium erupted in cheers for the fast flyers. Whistles and chants almost drowned out the announcer, but the sounds of the crowd died down enough for the announcer so her voice could still be heard. “Starting in the outside lane, we have Nighthawk,”

A very dark blue wonderbolt standing in front of the start line, nearest to the wall, waved to the crowd, getting many cheers from around the stadium, including screams of admiration from mares and fillies, including a certain purple unicorn. Violet squealed as she jumped up and down like a little filly.

“Do the hair flip!” She screamed, causing Volt Speed to cover his ears and cringe at her.

“Dear Celestia, what is with you chicks. How does he get all the ladies but sexy ole Volt here can’t get ‘em?” He was ignored by the squealing unicorn whom was too busy staring at the pegasus. Blue Wrench shrugged in reply, and Sky rolled his eyes at Violet, and not Volt for once.

“I don’t see the appeal, but you’ll see why in a bit.” The blue pegasus informed his curious friends.

Violet stopped her jumping and squealing when the announcer continued, “Next, we have Phantom Wing,” The pony standing next to Nighthawk was a light gray pegasus with a blue mane. She waved to the crowed just as Nighthawk previously did and received just as many cheers from fans in the stands, without the ear piercing screeching of fangirls. Sky and his friends politely cheered along with the crowd out of respect. Their moment of uncontrolled cheers was soon to come. When the crowd became quiet enough, the announcer continued, “Then we have Orville Flight, next to his twin brother, Wilbur Flight.” Two white pegasi with black, well groomed, matching simultaneously stepped forward and waved to the crowd. No pony could tell the two apart if not for one of them, Orville, having a mustache. The twins stepped back as the announcer continued announcing the rest of the lineup. “Next we have a newcomer to the wonderbolts.”

In the luxury seats, Twilight and Crystal had appeared just before the announcements started. They, like Sky and his friends, had been politely clapping for the Wonderbolts as they were announced. When the mare on the intercom said she was announcing the newcomer, Twilight became a little more excited. She tapped her niece’s shoulder. “Ooo, here’s Sky’s friend,” She said with delight. Crystal looked closely at the pegasus that was standing next to the twins. She was gray with a navy blue, combed back mane that was a dimmer blue on top. Something seemed off to Crystal. The pegasus she was looking at seemed to stand out from the rest of the group. She inspected the pony, and couldn’t figure it out until she took a closer look at her wings. Crystal’s jaw dropped, Sky Knight’s friend stood out from the other pegusi because she wasn’t a pegasus at all.

“Please give a warm welcome to Flitter Rose, the Wonderbolts first ever bat pony!” The stadium erupted with ear piercing cheers and chants. It seemed she was receiving the most recognition out of the previously announced Wonderbolts as she stepped forward and waved to the crowd, slightly blushing, humbled by the support from the crowd. Adding to the cheers were Sky and his friends. They cheered even more than they did for Rainbow Dash when she raced. Their excitement and enthusiasm was clear as they chanted their friend’s name. Despite how loud the rest of the stadium was, if somepony was sitting within two sections of them, you could pick them all out individually they were so loud. Flitter Rose stepped back, however, that didn’t stop the roar of the crowd. It barely died down, slightly due to the fact that her friends didn’t quiet down at all. Their noise stayed consistently loud for as long as they could. The announcer could barely be heard as she tried to calm the stadium down enough to continue saying the names of the rest of the Wonderbolts. “As great as it is that we have a clear fan favorite for today's race, there are still other ponies that must be announced.” The words of the mare on the intercom seemed to only put a dent in the noise level of the stadium. After a few more seconds, the stadium became quiet enough for her to be clearly heard. However, Sky’s friends continued their chants of their friends name. Sky Knight, however, stopped chanting when he heard that the rest f the Wonderbolts had to be announced. He had a lot of respect for the two Wonderbolts left. His respect outweighed his pride for his friend so he extended his wings in an attempt to quiet his friends down.

“Guys, let them announce the others.” Sky scolded his friends with a serious look on his face. They all followed his order, despite a few frowns of protest.

“Thank you,” The announcer continued, her voice echoing around the packed stands, “Next we have Lieutenant Rarejolt!” A red pegasus with a gray mane stepped forward, waving to the crowd. He didn’t receive as much noise as Flitter Rose did, but it was greater than the others before them. He didn’t wave for too long. He stepped back sooner than the others. It was due to a mix of him being humble and not liking the spotlight on him for too long and from respect for the last pony to be announced. Despite Rarejolt’s shortened introduction, the announcer mare did not miss a beat as she continued, “And last, but certainly not least, the leader of the Wonderbolts, Captain Hap Star!” The cheers exceeded the noise levels of Rarejolt’s introduction, however it was still no match for the ear piercing volume of the cheers for Flitter Rose. While Sky Knight was clapping out of respect for the captain, he was holding in the excitement of his friend being the clear fan favorite to win, which is difficult to do with the line up the Wonderbolts had. The Dark blue pony with a darker blue, but slightly graying mane stepped forward and did the standard wave. Sky Knight stood up and continued clapping for the ageing Wonderbolt. After a moment, more ponies in the crowd stood up, giving the captain a standing ovation. He stepped back into the starting line and nodded his head in response to the large amount of respect coming from the crowd. The standing ponies began to sit back down, Sky being the last to take his seat again. He glanced over his friends with an apologetic expression on his face.

“Sorry I snapped at you guys. It’s just, Captain Hap Star is a good friend of my mom’s, and he’s retiring in a few weeks. This is his second last race.” Most of his friends understood and forgave Sky, while Volt claimed Flitter was still cooler. Violet had to try very hard not to smack the arrogant, green pegasus. Sky ignored the comment and watched as the Wonderbolts did their final preparations for the race.

Up in the luxury seats, Twilight was giving a similar explanation to her niece, whom was curious as to why he was getting a standing ovation and not anypony else. “He joined the Wonderbolts shortly after Rainbow did. I, along with Rainbow were surprised he’s managed to keep going all this time. We’re just a little older than him after all.” Her explanation bringing light to Crystal. She didn’t want to say it out loud, but her aunt was getting a little older, and the fact that he was almost to her age and still raced with the current Wonderbolts amazed the white alicorn. The two relatives watched as the racers got into their ready stances on the start line. The twins hoof bumped and faced forward, Nighthawk shook his black mane, the small, glittery spots on his mane looking like shooting stars when they moved. Crystal was amazed by what the blue pegasus’ mane was doing. No wonder mares were screaming for him. Speaking of screams, many mares did that as his mane went from side to side. Nearly becoming mesmerized by the beautiful mane, she shook her head to try to rid herself of the distraction. She noticed Phantom Wing was already in her ready stance, as if she had no more preparations to do. The Flight brothers shook hooves in gentlecolt fashion and walked up to the line simultaneously, getting into their starting stances, and to nopony’s surprise, they were the same. The wonderbolts captain took a deep breath before he stepped up to the start line. Flitter Rose hesitated to step up to the start line. She lifted her hoof to move, but couldn't take the step, nerves were getting to her. Crystal became immobile as her gaze could not move from the nervous bat pony. If there was one thing Crystal hated, it was to see ponies hesitate out of nervousness. It was a pet peeve picked up from a mother who used to help ponies fall in love. She watched as Flitter Rose continued to stand there, frozen in place. Like an answer to Crystals prayers, a hoof fell onto Flitter Rose’s shoulder. She looked over to the lieutenant who gave her a comforting gaze. Crystal couldn’t make out what he said, but it seemed to help Flitter regain her composure. Her and Rarejolt stepped up to the line simultaneously, both getting into their ready positions. Crystal sat back and relaxed, relieved Flitter Rose settled down.

Down in the regular seats, unbenounced to Crystal, Sky was doing the same thing, worrying about Flit’s hesitation and relaxing when Rarejolt calmed her down. After the two settled into their ready positions, everyone was ready to race. The crowd sat at the edge of their seats with anticipation, waiting for the buzzer to start the race. Sky and his friends were not excluded from this phenomenon. Prime and Puzzle covered their ears, as the buzzer from the previous race scared them nearly to death. Violet, Volt and Sky stared at the pegusi in their tight, blue and yellow uniforms, Sky and Volt focusing on Flitter Rose while Violet Strike switched her focus back and forth from her friend and the handsome, dark blue wonderbolt. She was waiting for the race to start so she could see the sparkling cloud trail he left.

Blue Wrench looked over at the blue pony to his left with a scowling expression on his face. “You’re not going to try and coach her like you did with every other race, are you?”

Sky twitched his ear, “What?” He replied, rolling his eyes away from the white unicorn, “Of course not, why would you think that?” Sky asked with an uneasy laugh.

Blue Wrench raised his eyebrows and lowered his eyelid, “Because It was obvious how hard you were trying not to last race.” Everyone nodded in agreement while Sky sighed in defeat.

“Yea, dude. I could see a vein popping in your neck! It was hilarious!” Volt taunted, bursting out in laughter. He leaned his back into Violet during his fit of laughter. She lifted her hoof and clenched it like she was crushing a rock.

“And I will pop your veins if you don’t get off.” She growled. Volt immediately stopped laughing and sat up in his chair. He stared at her with annoyance.

“You know, you sh-” He was cut off by the ear piercing sound of the buzzer. As it echoed through the stadium and Volt jumped out of his seat and fell on his face, the Wonderbolts disappeared from the starting line. The pack stayed tightly together as they neared the first corner within a few seconds. As Volt tried to recover from his fall, face red from embarrassment, Violet could not hide her smirk as it turned into a wide smile of amusement. Volt grumbled as he got back into his seat and began watching the race. Sky watched intimately, keeping his eyes on his friend. She was in the middle of the pack, barely getting any room to move. Sky knew what she had to do coming out of the second turn. He opened his mouth to yell like a coach on the sidelines, but he bit his tongue, hard. He glanced over at the white unicorn next to him, who was fixated on the race.

“I can’t make any promises with this race.” Sky admitted. He turned back to the race when Blue’s face flushed with unamusement.

“Of course not,” Blue sighed. The first lap of the race had finished with Rarejolt crossing first, followed by Phantom Wing, then the captain closely behind. If he were just a few years younger, he’d be in front of the pack, but his age was holding him back, and it was obvious. Behind Hap, the flight brothers were neck and neck crossing the line. Flitter Rose was right behind them, unable to fly by as they took up the two inner lanes. If she tried going on the outside, Nighthawk would easily overtake her and she'd be dead last, and Sky and Flitter knew it. They entered the second turn of the lap, Hap had overtaken Phantom Wing and she took the outside lane. This allowed the Flight brothers to both squeeze through to overtake her. As they flew by, Phantom had to swerve out a little more so they didn’t clip wings. This was Flitter Rose’s opportunity to pass the light gray pegasus. She had to do it before the turn was over though, and she wasn’t advancing.

Sky bit his tongue as hard as he could, not wanting to be that guy, but he couldn’t resist being that guy enough, “Flit, do it now!” He screamed at the top of his lungs. Blue Wrench groaned in disappointment. He gave Sky a nasty look, however, Sky just ignored him. He kept his eyes on the race.

Flitter Rose hesitated for too long. She tried to pass Phantom Wing, but it was too late. They entered the straightaway and Phantom went to the inside in front of Flitter Rose. Sky stomped his hoof in annoyance and silently cursed. Because she was hesitant to speed up on the turn, Nighthawk had gained ground on the bat pony and was almost side by side with Flitter Rose. He crept closer and closer until they were neck and neck. He was able to speed up due to nopony being directly in front of him, but Flitter Rose had Phantom right in front of her, allowing Nighthawk to make the pass. As they neared turn three, Nighthawk was closer to passing Phantom Wing than Flitter was to passing Nighthawk. However, if she could keep him in the outside lane, she could retake sixth place and hold it.

“Get as close as you can to Phantom! C’mon!” Sky yelled, half encouraging her, half coaching her. He knew she couldn’t hear him, but he yelled anyways. Sky slumped in his seat as his friend held back and allowed Nighthawk to drop inside. Flitter Rose was in last place beginning the third lap. Sky became very nervous for his friend. There are only five laps left, and she had a whole lot of catching up to do.

After two laps of chasing the pack, an opportunity arose for the bat pony. One that she finally took. Orville Flight had dropped back to sixth and was directly in front of Flitter Rose. He must have been going too fast and nearly collided with Phantom Wing in front of him. He swerved to the outside lane to avoid causing an accident. This was Flit’s moment. Before Sky could even yell anything, she advanced into the lane Orville created and kept him on the outside going into the third turn. Sky and his friends cheered as she held off the Flight brother and retook sixth. Sky’s confidence in Flitter Rose shot up again. If she can just keep flying like she is right now, she’ll get at least third. Sky thought as he watched his friend try to move in on Phantom Wing.

After moments of intense racing, Flitter Rose passed Wilbur Flight to claim the fourth position as they exited the last turn. When Rarejolt crossed the line first, the jumbo screen lit up with text reading ‘Final Lap’, with a white flag making up the background. Just behind the leader was the captain, Hap Star. When they started into the first turn, Sky realized something amazing.

“Oh my Celestia,” Sky muttered as his jaw fell to the floor. Puzzle Key looked over at Sky with a curious look.

“What is it, Sky?” She questioned, getting everyone to glance at Sky Knight, who had to close his jaw.

“I just remembered, Captain Hap Star has never finished below a podium spot in his career, even when he raced with my mother.” Sky’s answer didn’t build anyone’s confidence in their friends chances. Sky could tell by their body language that his friends had started to settle for their friend finishing in fourth. He would not sit down with them.

Sky jumped up and pumped his hoof in the air, “Keep pushing, Flit! Don’t settle!” Sky shouted words of encouragement, hoping the bat pony wouldn’t just settle for fourth. That’s not what his mother taught them. He remembered back to when Rainbow Dash would train them together.

“Nice going, Sky! Two minutes and thirty seconds.” The little, blue pegasus panted as he walked over to his mother. He turned around and stood next to her as a gray bat pony landed where Sky Knight had just landed a few seconds earlier. She came to a screeching halt and was breathing heavily, wings drooping to the ground. Rainbow Dash looked at the stop watch, “Two minutes and forty three seconds. Good job, Flit.” The bat pony was able to crack a smile through her panting. Her legs began to wobble from exhaustion. She took one step toward the mother and son, but collapsed before she could plant her hoof. Lucky for her, Sky noticed her spaghetti legs and rushed over to hold her up.

“Huff.. thanks, Sky.” She said as she put her wing around him to gain some extra support.

“No problem. You did awesome back there.” Sky replied, walking her over to Rainbow Dash.

“I guess, but I still can’t beat you.” They reached Rainbow Dash who was holding two water bottles with her wings. She handed them to the kids who nearly chugged the entire bottle in seconds. Rainbow Dash looked over to the bat pony and smiled with confidence.

“You did awesome, Flitter Rose. Your time has improved a lot over the past few months. You even beat your time last week by five whole seconds!” Rainbow complimented. Flitter Rose’s face lit up with pride. She smiled widely and energy flooded back into her eyes. The cyan blue pony then looked at her son, but not with the same confidence as she did with his friend. She seemed more concerned for him than prideful. Rainbow continued, “Is your wing bothering you or something? You should tell me if it is.” Sky became confused by her question. He looked down at his wing and stretched it out.

“No, my wings are fine, why?” He questioned, not understanding why his mother would ask such a question.

“Then why hasn’t your time improved much the past few weeks? You only improved one second in the past three weeks. So what’s up?” Sky thought for a moment, trying to find the right words to explain.

“Well, I guess since I know I’m not going to be a Wonderbolt now, I haven’t tried to improve my speed much lately.” Sky could tell this wasn’t the answer his mother was hoping for. She frowned and looked sternly at her son.

“So, you’ve settled for your current speed, right?” She asked in disappointment.

Sky looked at the ground and answered, “Well, when you put it that way,” Sky didn’t bother finishing his sentence. He new his mother's response would be the same either way.

Rainbow Dash sighed in frustration, “Sky, you never settle, no matter what it is. Always try to improve.” Sky opened his mouth to protest, but before he could say anything, Rainbow continued, “You want to become an elite guard, right?”

Sky nodded, “and hopefully captain of the royal guard someday, too.”

“Then that makes this even more important,” Rainbow Dash continued, “You’ll never make it past cadet, let alone captain of the royal guard with that attitude. Once you settle for one thing, it will rub off on everything else and before you know it, you’ll get left behind by everypony. Do you think Pipsqueak would’ve become captain if he’d settled when he barely got into the guard?” Sky shook his head, dejected by his mother's lecture. He held back tears and kicked the ground softly. Rainbow Dash put her hoof on his chin and lifted his head so they made eye contact. She looked at him with more soothing eyes, “Sky, I’m not trying to get you down. I want you to become an elite guard, I want you to become the captain. That’s why I’m pushing you so hard. C’mere you.” She wrapped her hoof around the colt and pulled him in for a hug. She nuzzled her muzzle against him as he embraced her. After a moment, she looked down at him, “Just keep trying your best and improve in everything you do, and you’ll become captain in no time.” Sky smiled at his mom with satisfaction and nodded. Rainbow smiled back then looked over at Flitter Rose, who had been watching quietly the whole time. She smiled slyly, “Same goes for you kiddo, if you don’t just settle and improve like you’ve been doing, then you’ll be a Wonderbolt in no time.” Flitter Rose smiled with glee.

“I won’t let you down, mom, I promise.” Sky promised with a dead serious look on his face. This made Rainbow more proud of her son in her life. She had all of the confidence in Equestria he’d go far.

She replied with a smile, “I know you won’t.” She then pushed him away and opened her wings, “So you two ready to go again?” Her speech had given them both the energy they had lost in their previous workout. They jumped up and opened their wings with determination all over their faces.

“Yes ma'am!” The two flyers chanted together.

“Alright, let’s go!” At Rainbow’s command, the three flew up and began racing around the sky.

That memory played clearly in Sky’s head. The way his mother always pushed him and Flitter Rose to do their best got them where they are today. Flitter Rose must have been remembering that day, too. She inched closer to the captain, getting ready to try to make a move on him. Sky’s face lit up with hope. He believed in Flitter Rose. She could beat Hap Star.

Flitter Rose moved to the outside when they entered the straightaway in an attempt to get by the captain. Unfortunately for Flitter Rose, Hap’s experience is a huge bonus to have. He knew she’d try to pass on the outside, so he tilted his body slightly to the outside. The bat pony had to slow suddenly in order not to make contact. She could go further outside, but at this point she didn’t have enough track space to make that move before the turn.

Sky Knight gritted his teeth. He knew what she needed to do, but she wasn’t doing it, and he didn’t yell it out because he noticed every time he did, Flitter Rose didn’t do it. She stayed on Hap’s outside where he couldn’t go anywhere nearly until the turn. If she stayed there on the turn, not only would she not pass the captain, she could get passed herself.

It was as if Sky’s tongue was a colander, he bit his tongue so much it was becoming riddled with holes. Though all the biting in the world couldn’t control his urge to coach from the stands. He jumped up and waved his forehooves toward him signaling to come closer, “Inside, move inside!” He yelled. Before anyone could tell Sky to shut up and sit down, like Blue Wrench was about to, shock flooded everyone’s face. As soon as Sky yelled the command, Flitter Rose actually tilted her body to the inside of the track and swerved to the side of Hap Star. Even the captain looked surprised by the stunning move.

This made Sky have a tingly feeling run down his spine, but it felt unnatural to Sky. Not like any other chill he’d get when he’d get goosebumps or the chills. He shrugged it off and continued cheering for his friend.

The bat pony was now level with the captain going into the third turn, keeping him on the outside. The crowd roared when they came around the turn and sprinted for the finish line. Rarejolt finished first followed by Nighthawk. While Flitter had the advantage coming out of the turn, holding off the veteran was still going to be difficult. His finishing speed was his greatest asset. Hap inched closer and closer to Flit as she struggled to find her top speed. They were neck and neck as they crossed the finish line. So close, the scoreboard didn’t show who got third for a moment.

After the rest of the pack crossed the finish line, the announcer came on the intercom. “So we have a photo finish for third! We will announce third when we read off the results.” That announcement made Sky and his friends very anxious. However, they weren’t the only ones. Flitter Rose looked just as anxious as her friends as she walked with the captain over to the podium. When they got there, Rarejolt and Nighthawk were already in their spots, waiting for their medals. Captain Hap Star and Flitter Rose stood next to the third place spot on the podium, waiting to hear who got third. Flitter remained anxious, her legs began to shake and she wobbled in place. She stopped when one of Hap’s wings patted her on the back. She looked at her leader who was giving he a sympathetic look. Sky couldn’t read his lips, but from how his mom described the Wonderbolts captain, it was something reassuring.

“We have a few special guests handing out the medals for todays race.” The announcer came back on, getting the attention of the stadium directed at the tunnel. She continued, “Please welcome back to the track, former wonderbolt captains, Rainbow Dash and Spitfire!” Sky wasn’t expecting this, he looked down to see his mom and her friend walk out of the tunnel with a treasure box looking case. They walked over to the podium as the stadium cheered for the alumni. Rainbow waved to the crowd like her confident self while Spitfire focused on the ponies on the podium. They stopped in front of the empty third place podium and looked over at the two ponies standing next to it.

“Alright, time for some results!,” The announcer continued, “In third place, with a time of six minutes, forty nine seconds and sixteen milliseconds is,” She paused for a moment, and in that moment, Sky probably lost half of his hoof he was biting it so much out of nervousness. That ending was even closer than his mother’s finish. He wasn’t the only one nervous. Violet bit the bottom of her lip and pranced in place while Prime and Puzzle Key hugged while shaking. Volt and Blue sat at the edge of their seats in anticipation. Flitter Rose stood tall and confidently, but Sky could tell she was internally screaming with anticipation just from her face. The entire stadium fell silent. Sky could never recall any other race where there was so much anticipation nerves for third place.

“...Flitter Rose!” As soon as the announcer said ‘Flitter’, the stadium erupted once again. Sky Knight’s face lit up as he jumped out of his seat cheering for his friend. His friends followed in his hoofsteps and jumped up to cheer for Flitter Rose.

By the podium on the track, Flitter Rose erected the biggest smile possible, her eyes glowed. I took a moment, but she finally released her excitement and hopped up to the third place spot on the podium like Pinkie Pie hopping around when she’s in a good mood. She stood tall with pride in front of her former mentor. Said mentor had a face full of pride as she lifted the bronze medal and placed it around the bat pony’s neck. It dangled for a moment before Flitter Rose grabbed it with her hoof and got a good look at it. Her reflection showed Flitter her own joy, which only made her smile ever wider. Rainbow Dash had a small chuckle and said something to the bat pony. Sky couldn’t make out the first part, but the second part of what she said, he read her lips perfectly.

“You did awesome, Flitter Rose.” Those were the words Rainbow would always say to Flitter Rose after a race or workout. Those words must have hit her hard, because she started to tear up with tears of joy and appreciation.

With a nod of gratefulness from Flitter Rose, Rainbow nodded back along with Spitfire and walked over to the second place where Nighthawk stood.

“Second place, with a time of six minutes, forty five seconds and twenty milliseconds, Nighthawk!” The crowd erupted in cheer yet again, along with the squeals from fangirls around the stadium, including one particular purple unicorn, who was supposed to be cheering for her friend. Rainbow Dash lifted the silver medal and put it around the dark pony’s neck. He nodded with gratitude and ended up in a moment of awkward eye contact. For a moment, Nighthawk was confused and a bit creeped out by Rainbow’s sly look. Then realization set in and the amusement drained from his face. Rainbow Dash smirked, Nighthawk knew what she wanted, Sky knew what she wanted, the whole stadium more than likely knew what she wanted.

Sky didn’t even bother trying to read his mom's lips. He could already hear his mom saying, “C’mon, do the hair thing.” He could see that Nighthawk grumbled something, but seemed to agree. He flipped his mane back and forth, creating the meteor shower like specs in his hair to become animated. In that moment, anypony outside of the stadium could swear that the place was full of little fillies. He stopped to see Rainbow and Spitfire sharing a giggle. They both nodded with huge smiles on their muzzles and moved onto the first place spot.

“Ah, doesn’t the medal go great with his mane?” Violet said affectionately, stars glowing in her eyes as she looked at the stallion.

Volt rolled his eyes, “Yea, you and hundreds of other girls think alike. At least you’re being ambitious.” Violet did not skip a beat and smacked the green pegasus without even taking her dreamy eyes off the handsome stallion. Volt grumbled as he rubbed his head where she hit him. Sky watched with amusement. He had a small chuckle as he turned toward the center of the track where his mother was about to hand Rarejolt his gold medal.

“And first place, with a time of six minutes, forty two seconds and sixteen milliseconds, the one, the only, Rarejolt!” Cheers rained down from the ponies of Ponyville for the lieutenant. He bowed his head to accept the medal from the rainbow maned pony. Rainbow Dash grabbed the gold medal from her counterpart, Spitfire, and put it around his neck. She let go, letting the medal dangle from the lieutenants neck. He looked up and thanked Sky’s mother. She nodded in return along with Spitfire.

Rainbow Dash turned away from the podium and looked to the audience. The rainbow maned pony tapped the microphone, then pointed her hoof at the ponies on the podium and talked into the microphone.

“I present to you, the first ever podium at the brand spankin new, Ponyville Arena!” The ponies in the stands roared with cheers and chants as soon as she finished. Some ponies cheered for the Wonderbolts, chanting their names. Some cheered for the stadiums grand opening in excitement for the new addition to their small town. Others cheered for the Rainbow maned alumni, half for her accomplishments on the track, like breaking records and winning. However some celebrated her getting the new stadium built. To them, and to Rainbow Dash, this stadium didn’t just mean they could watch races in style from now on, it meant new opportunities for the small town.

Sky had mixed reasons to cheer. His excitement was for all of these amazing thing wrapped together. His mother just achieved so much in one day, let alone the past few years. His town became more exciting with the new stadium, and lastly, his friend just made her debut and finished on the podium above her captain. Sky would have to check his facts again, but if he was correct, the last pony to get on the podium and beat their captain was Spitfire. Not even Rainbow Dash was able to do that on her racing debut.

The cyan blue pony continued, “Thank you all for joining us in this huge event. None of this would have been possible without you. I am completely amazed by how much support we’ve received, thank you all.” She stepped aside and let Spitfire come up to the mic.

“I am also blown away by your support for the Wonderbolts and the new stadium. I’m sure there will be many great times here, and Rainbow Dash and I can’t wait to experience them with you. Thank you for all of your support.” The duo waved to the crowd humbly as the fans cheered for them.

“Thank you all for coming, and have a safe trip home.” Music came onto the intercom after the announcer finished dismissing the audience. Ponies began to leave their seats and head for the exits. The group of friends followed their example and began filing into the isles. Volt turned his head to look at Sky Knight.

“So why can’t we have our party tonight? It seems anticlimactic to have it tomorrow.” He asked the blue pegasus.

“The Wonderbolts have their own get together after the race, so she wouldn’t make it. And how can we have a party for Flit if there’s no Flit there?” Sky only got a groan of protest in reply. Sky paused for a moment before continuing, “Oh, and when you and Vi left, I invited Crystal to the party, too. Hope you guys don’t mind.”

“Oooo, who’s Crystal?” Prime asked with enthusiastic interest, leaning her head over Sky’s shoulder. He comedically put his hoof on her nose and pushed her back. Before Sky could answer, Volt began to speak.

“Oh, she’s a hot lookin’ mare we met down at the alumni party. She’s Twilight’s-” Volt was cut off by Sky opening his wing and wrapping it around Volt’s muzzle. The green pegasus tried to protest with some, questionable language, but his friends could only hear muffled sounds through the thick, blue wing covering his mouth.

“She’s the niece of a friend of my mother's,” Sky began to speak for himself, “She’s visiting town for the summer, and I thought it would be nice to get to know her. Volt was going to say something else, but I’ll explain at the party, tomorrow.” He then leaned his head next to Volt’s and whispered in his ear, “Because we don’t want to create a fuss about her status.” He let go of his friends muzzle as he jerked his head away from the blue pegasus. Volt grumbled as they walked down the stairs toward the exit.

As the group walked happily to the exit, the atmosphere in the luxury seats was a bit different. Instead of excitement and happiness surrounding the two alicorns, there was worry and confusion. Crystal continued to go back and forth from staring at Flitter Rose to the spot near turn three where she made the miraculous move to beat the captain. In the buildup to the last lap, her and Twilight were watching with excitement, well, Twilight more than Crystal. Twilight cheered loudly for the racers and Crystal watched with some interest. However, the luxury seat section fell silent. Crystal felt a surge of magical energy radiate from the track, specifically from the bat pony. She had no idea what it was, where it came from or why, like when she met Sky, it felt so familiar to her. It’s almost as if she should know exactly the pony who was responsible for the sudden wave of magical energy. While her shock remained, her concentration was broken by her Auntie looking over at he baffled, white alicorn.

“You felt it, too, didn’t you?” Twilight asked in a monotone, worrisome voice. Crystal could only nod in response. She was completely speechless. She gulped at the thought she had just after the purple alicorn spoke.

What is going on? What are these feelings I keep getting? Is something going to happen to Ponyville? To Equestria? To us?

Author's Note:

I apologize to the few of you (if any at all) who actually read this and enjoy it and want more for the lack of updates. College hit and hit hard. Being an engineering student along with the ROTC takes up a lot of time. I'll try to update more often from now on. But again, I'm new to writing and any advice, critique, or feedback is much appreciated. (Also I promised I'd post pictures of any new Original Characters in any chapters, but those aren't done but I want to post the chapter asap, so those pictures will come soon)

Comments

[SolarCloak]

I'm loving this story! Keep up the awsome work!