Rainbow Falls
The Equestria Games, the greatest sporting event in all of the pony nation. It is a competition dedicated to showing one's own abilities, willpower and dedication to push their skills to the absolute limit. But in order to get to the games, you have to qualify. And thus, we find our heroes on a train heading to the qualifying grounds known as Rainbow Falls.
It was here that one athlete, Rainbow Dash, was now sitting beside Princess Twilight on the train while her teammates sat opposite of them. While they sat there, the pegasi known as Thunderlane and Helia walked past them and turned to Rainbow. "Good luck Rainbow Dash! Sorry we couldn't fly with you on the Aerial Relay, but the air sprinters needed us too."
Thunderlane nodded in agreement. "Too bad we can only compete in one event. But, rules are rules." He let out a sigh before he and Helia walked off.
"Good luck!" Twilight told them as they left the carriage before turning to Rainbow Dash, "It was nice of you to be part of the team that doesn't have...uh...the strongest flyers." She placed her gaze on Rainbow's teammates, Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps.
Rainbow let out a short laugh, "Nothing nice about it. I know that I can pick up the slack for anypony. With me on the team, we'll qualify. I'm sure of it."
Twilight gave a coy smile at the pegasi's confidence as the two looked out the window. "Ponyville is very lucky to have you."
"Yeah, I'm pretty awesome."
Fluttershy, who was sitting next to Bulk and getting squished between him and the window, let out a few strained gasps as she waved the flag in her hoof. "I am so proud to be representing Ponyville. Oh, it's such an honor to even try out for the Games. I just hope I don't let anypony down."
"We'll make them proud!"
It was here that Pinkie, who was dressed as a cheerleader, appeared behind Bulk and Fluttershy. "P' is for 'proud'!" This caused Bulk to yell out as he jumped away, freeing Fluttershy.
Before anypony could say anything else, a loud moaning sound made them all look at the seat behind Rainbow and Twilight. There, they saw a sour faced Flash, taking up an entire train seat while crossing his front hooves and leaning against the back window. "At least you all get to compete."
Twilight and the others all rolled their eyes. "Oh, stop whining. You know how important security is at the games, so it would make sense that you, one of Equestria's best fighters, would be tasked with making sure nothing goes wrong. Besides, you're not the only one working that day, so stop acting like a foal."
Flash's only response was to again groan as he stared out the window. A low growl followed as memories flew through his head. Flash had been a fan of the Equestria Games since Grand had taken him to one in Fillydelphia when he was a colt. (Though this was because Grand was doing security) He had always hoped to get a chance to compete, but now it seemed that dream was officially dashed. And to pour salt in the wound, Flash was not allowed to compete, but still had to go watch the others qualify while being charged with security detail for Ponyville.
Pinkie then hopped over to Flash. "Come on Flash, don't be a grouch. This is gonna be fun. We're gonna be the best fans anypony has ever seen!"
She started waving her pompoms in the air while Rarity and Applejack stepped into the train cart. "Ooh, I can't wait to see what everypony else is wearing." Rarity expressed with a knowing smirk, "Even though I am absolutely sure they won't be better than the Ponyville uniforms I'm designing for the Equestria Games."
Applejack nodded as she turned to the relay team, holding up a tray filled with some food. "And we'll make it to the Games once everypony carbo-loads on mah apple brown bettys."
"I can't wait!" Pinkie cheered as they entered a tunnel, which they exited a minute later. There, they saw that they had finally arrived at their destination, Rainbow Falls. It was a little village that sat atop a mountain peak, all of it being close to cloud height. It was from these clouds that the rainbow colored water that the town was named for came from, though Flash had no idea how that miracle of nature occurred.
Everypony gathered their things as the train pulled into the station. Once the doors opened, they stepped out onto the platform and looked around in amazement. The town sure loved the rainbow motif, as every building had some form of it on them. And as they stared at this, Flash shined a smirk and grabbed Rainbow, "Hey, check this out." He pushed her in front of a rainbow wall and moved her bangs away from her forehead, causing her mane to blend in perfectly. Everypony giggled at this, making Rainbow frown as she smacked Flash's hoof off.
"Heh...very mature kid," Flash froze before slowly turning to the voice, soon epping at the sight of the owner. It was a scar covered purple pegasus with a white mane and tail along with a robotic right wing.
"Skybreaker!" Flash stood up straight and gave him a salute.
Skybreaker chuckled and shook his head. "Relax Flash, no need to be so formal." He then turned to Twilight and bowed, "You on the other hoof, your majesty."
Twilight blushed at this and waved her hoof. "Please don't. I'm not here on any official business, so you don't have to be formal with me either."
"Very well," Skybreaker stood back up. "I assume that you're here to cheer for your friends in the qualifying rounds?" He saw Twilight nod before glancing at Flash, "And I'm guessing you've come as security since I know you aren't competing." He then saw Flash pout at this, the others giggling again.
"Sorry about him," Twilight told Skybreaker. "He's just a little miffed that he doesn't get to compete. Are you here for security as well?"
"That's right. I'm Cloudsdale's main security officer. With the Wonderbolt's competing, it makes them prime targets for sabotage."
This statement caught one particular pony's interest, "The Wonderbolts are here?!"
Skybreaker chuckled at the prism maned pegasus. "Yes, they are. Not only that, I've heard a tasty piece of gossip about apparently one of them has started dating a weather pony from Ponyville. I wonder who that might be."
Rainbow's face went full tomato red as she shrunk slightly back in embarrassment. She and Soarin had recently made their relationship public, which had sparked a lot of attention from many fans and media. Over the last few weeks, reporters had even been coming around to Rainbow's house. It was actually one of the few times Rainbow shied away from the spotlight, believing her relationship to be highly personal rather than something to brag about.
Skybreaker laughed at her expression, the others following suit. "You should see your face. Kidding aside, I'm happy for ya sweetheart. I've only known Soarin for a few months, but he's a good kid. You picked a good one and vice versa."
"Thanks..." Rainbow replied as she still tried to hide herself. With that, Skybreaker began to show them around the town, soon leading them to the hotel they would be using before getting to the main training field. When they arrived, they spotted many other pony teams warming up, stretching or doing practice laps. There was even a griffon team, which made Flash raise an eyebrow in surprise.
As the Ponyville crew made their way to find a spot to set up their training tent, Flash overheard the other ponies speaking up. "There's Rainbow Dash! She's an awesome flyer!"
"I heard that she's flying the last third of the relay, which means everypony else is gonna have to be way ahead to beat her!"
Flash and Twilight both smirked at the praise their friend was getting, only for a sonic-boom to catch their attention. Looking up, they spotted a trio of jumpsuit wearing pegasi shoot across the sky in perfect formation, the synchronisation in their movement making some think they were all mentally linked. Rainbow gasped at the sight, only for a huge smile to appear as she saw her coltfriend with them. The three then came in for a landing, perfectly touching down a few feet from the Ponyville team.
"And the game is on," Captain Spitfire smirked as she dusted herself off.
"Ha!" They removed their goggles as Soarin spoke up, "Nice to see there's some real competition here!"
He then turned to smile at Rainbow, only to hear a giggle from Fleetfoot, the third in command, "Alright lover colt, make sure to leave the making of goo goo eyes for when you're on the ground. Don't want your marefriend to feel bad that you crashed because of her."
Soarin rolled his eyes, "Ha ha. I'll have you know that when I'm in the air, I'm laser focused."
"Yeah," Spitfire laughed with a bit of spit, "and its that tunnel vision that earned you the nickname Clipper." She, Fleetfoot and even Rainbow giggled at this while Soarin blushed.
Fleetfoot then winked at Rainbow. "Two more days of practice, then we'll see you in the air Rainbow Dash!" She started walking off as she continued over her shoulder, "If you're lucky."
Spitfire followed while Soarin gestured at Rainbow. "Wanna meet up after practice? We can grab a bite to eat."
Rainbow smiled back at him before nodding, Soarin now shining a huge grin while running after his teammates. It was here that Rainbow sighed, "The Wonderbolts know a winner when they see one...." Flash and Twilight were about to reply, only for Rainbow to turn to them with fire in her eyes, "And we'll be winners too!" She glared at Fluttershy and Bulk next, "Right after we practice, right team?!"
"Right!"
"YEAH!"
Pinkie chose this moment to fire off a confetti bomb, "Hooray!"
Rainbow then turned to Flash and Twilight, a young princess giving Rainbow a nervous smile. "And...um, I'm with her!" She lazily waved her hoof in the air, "Hooray!"
Flash nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you got this." Rainbow shined a grin before walking off, allowing Flash to lean over to Twilight and whisper. "Alright, what's their real chances of doing this?"
Twilight gulped. "Honestly? Fifty to one at best."
Flash flinched at this, "Ouch."
"Give us some clouds!" The two turned towards to the voices, now seeing a pair of cheerleader ponies by the Cloudsdale tent. They were dancing while waving their pom-poms around. "Give us some dale! And what do you get? Cloudsdale!" In that moment, confetti shot out of the pompoms. "Woo-hoo!"
Pinkie gasped at the sight, "Where can I get pompoms like those?!"
Flash snickered. "Try looking on E-Hay."
"Right!" Pinkie shot off in a cloud of smoke, making the others all cough.
Fluttershy turned to Flash, "What's E-Hay?"
Twilight giggled, "It's something he learned about when we went after Sunset Shimmer." Before anypony could ask for more info, Rainbow called for Fluttershy and Bulk to prepare for practice.
The two then took the sky, Rainbow crossing her hooves as she glared at them. "So, do I need to remind you of what our goal is here?"
"Uh...maybe?" Bulk replied.
"We want to qualify!" She pointed to a rainbow colored ring in the sky, the finish line. "We need to be one of the first five teams to cross the finish line! Bulk Biceps, you're the first flyer, so let me see you flap it!"
Bulk nodded and started beating his tiny wings, which Flash still couldn't believe that it actually got him off the ground. He began to hover, though the look on his face showed it was taking tremendous effort. But as he started flying, a certain apple flavored projectile knocked him off course.
"What the-?!" Rainbow yelped as she flew back at the sight, only to nearly get hit by another flying apple brown betty. She turned to the launch sight, spotting Applejack with the treat in her tail.
"Sorry!" The farm pony nodded at the Wonderbolt tent, where a pair of baking ponies had their own snacks on some kind of catapult. "Got the idea from them, but-"
"Hooves down!" The two slammed their hooves into a catapult, "Cakes up!" The treats flew into the air, just in time for Fleetfoot and Spitfire to grab them in their mouths.
"It looks like they got better aim."
"Plus they actually told the flyers they were doing it," Flash added, making the farmer growl.
Rainbow rolled her eyes as she turned back to her team. "Okay," she held up an old horse shoe, "the passing of the baton needs to be seamless. You shouldn't miss a wing beat or drop a hair in altitude!" She flew over to Bulk and forced the baton into his grasp. "And whatever you do, don't let go of it!"
Fluttershy flew up next to Bulk and held her hoof out for the baton, only to pull back at the last moment. "Are you really, really, really sure you're ready? I mean, I don't want to take it if you're not super sure." She gave him a reassuring smile.
"READY!" Bulk screamed before the two slowly brought their hooves together, passing the baton from the stallion to the mare. Rainbow slightly smiled at the sight, that is till-
Thud, thud, click!
Rainbow flinched at the noise, now seeing the baton on the ground. Fluttershy had dropped it, which at that moment, Rarity was walked past them and saw the baton. Picking it up in her magic, "Ponyville could do so much better. I'll be back with a freshly painted one in no time!"
"Hey! We were using that!" Rainbow called out as Rarity walked away. "And its not like anypony else has color-coordinated horseshoes or anything!" As if the universe was out to prove her wrong, Spitfire flew past her before handing a color-coordinated horseshoe to Fleetfoot. The mare sighed as she floated down to the ground, "I guess some ponies do."
"Some ponies do what?" Rainbow looked around to see Twilight putting down a pompom before moving up next to her.
Rainbow sighed yet again, "Have a better chance of qualifying and going to the Equestria Games than others." Rainbow began to walk off with her head down, passing Skybreaker as she did so.
The Knight of the Wind raised an eyebrow at the mare's downtrodden look, "What's up with her?"
Twilight frowned and shook her head. "I think she's a little intimidated by the skill difference between the Wonderbolts and her team."
"Well that's silly. Of course the Wonderbolt's a gonna have more skill, they spend everyday of their lives doing this kind of training. This is probably the first time any of Rainbow''s team have even picked up a baton."
Twilight raised an eyebrow at this. "So you're saying we shouldn't even try against them?"
Skybreaker shook his head this time. "No, I'm saying they should try and be the best they can be and not focus on the competition. Even the Wonderbolts had to first learn how to fly, same way this team needs to learn the basics of the event."
Twilight pleasantly smiled at this, "Why can't Flash be as wise as you?"
Skybreaker let out a laugh, "Give him a few decades. He'll get there...eventually." With that, he headed off onto his patrol.
Rainbow had now regrouped her team and brought them over to the Wonderbolt training area. "Watch and learn. The Cloudsdales are Wonderbolts, and Wonderbolts are the best flyers there are." She then smiled back at the professional athletes, "And my personal heroes."
In that moment, Soarin flew overhead while doing several loop the loops around one of the banners. He was so focused that he didn't even notice Rainbow was there. This made Rainbow smirk as she looked back the team, "So, maybe you can learn something." The sounds of a jet engine made her look up to see Soarin begin the obstacle course, which made her grab the two's chins and pointed them upwards. "Please learn something."
"C'mon Soarin," Fleetfoot called out next. "Pick up the pace! You can do better than that!"
"I sure hope so," Spitfire said as she was being given a massage to keep from muscle strain.
And as the cheerleaders er...cheered, Soarin began to fly through the hoops. A swift upper wind then moved the clouds above him to a spot where they blocked out the sun. Because of this, Soarin pushed his goggles up onto his forehead as he approached the last hoop. But as he did this, a second wind suddenly whipped up and pushed the clouds back away from the sun. "Ack!" he yelped as the light blinded him, making him clip his wing on the side of the last ring. "Whoa!" He cried as the injury made him fly out of control, spinning as he started hurtling to the ground.
Everypony gasped at the sight, Rainbow's instincts taking over instantly. "Hang on!" She shot through the air, increasing her speed to easily pluck Soarin out of the ground. "Gotcha!"
The Wonderbolt and Ponyville teams all cheered at the sight, watching as Rainbow floated down with her coltfriend. Once back on terrafirma, Soarin climbed off Rainbow's back while she spun around to look him over in worry. That is, till he remarked, "Thanks babe."
Rainbow's worried face disappeared, a slight blush now showing. She was about to ask if he was alright, but then Fleetfoot appeared between them. "Awe-some!"
"As good as any Wonderbolt!" Spitfire added.
"Oh Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy spoke up as she walked up to them. "I'm just so proud of you. You scooped Soarin out of the sky and saved him and...now he's okay. At least, I hope he's okay." She turned to Soarin, "Are you okay?"
The Wonderbolt flexed the wing he'd clipped, only to flinch. "Urgh...my wing hurts." As soon as he said this, his eyes drifted over to his teammates and saw their horrified looks, "but I-I'm sure it'll be okay by the time of the competition."
Skybreaker walked up while shaking his head. "Don't push yourself lad." He then gestured to his metal wing, "You don't wanna end up with one of these, do you?"
Rainbow shivered at the sight, "I sure wouldn't."
It was here that the medical ponies arrived, Flash and Rainbow now helping Soarin onto the stretcher. The pegasi let out a sigh of relief as they put him on the moving bed, "Thanks. You're the best Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow smiled and nodded as Twilight walked up to her, "Maybe you should go with him."
Soarin saw Rainbow begin to consider it and shook his head. "No way. She's got more important things to worry about than me." He pointed at his marefriend, "In fact, you're not allowed to come visit me until you've qualified. Got it?"
Rainbow laughed at this, nodding. "Alright, I can accept that." With that, Soarin was carted away while Rainbow turned back to the other two Wonderbolts. "Tough break to lose a teammate right before the tryouts."
Spitfire and Fleetfoot both shared a look, a smile appearing on their faces before they put their shades back on, "You know, you grew up in Cloudsdale."
Spitfire nodded in agreement, "So that means you could fly with us."
Rainbow tilted her head at this, "Fly?"
"We mean...practice. You could practice with us until Soarin's better."
"What do you say?" Spitfire asked as she tipped her glasses down slowly. "Wanna be our third?"
Rainbow's jaw dropped, unable to think as she tried to reply, "Uh...I don't know." She looked back at her team, Fluttershy laughing as Bulk flexed his pecs. "My team really needs me to be at my best in order to qualify. Don't wanna be too worn out by the time the race comes around."
"We put you through some pretty intense workouts at the Wonderbolt Academy, and you handled those just fine."
Rainbow smirked at the praise. "Heh, I did kick some major tail at the Academy," her smirk then became a frown. "But I don't know how my teammates will feel about me practising with the competition."
"Who says they need to know?" Fleetfoot asked before grabbing the mare's checks. "Think about it, Rainbow Dash," she pointed at the goal ring. "This is your chance to fly with the winners!"
Rainbow stared at the goal, then back at her team. A few clicks went out in her head as she muttered, "Alright...I'll do it."
Spitfire chuckled and swung her hoof around the mare's shoulders, "Wise decision, Rainbow Dash."
And as the laughing continued, a certain steel winged pony let out a long, draining sigh.
And so began Rainbow Dash's training with both the Ponyville and Cloudsdale teams. However, she would soon learn that splitting her time between the two parties was gonna be a lot harder than she thought. This arrangement would also make her see the difference of skill levels that existed between the two teams, beginning on the second day when she and Fleetfoot practiced on the obstacle course baton pass. As soon as the whistle was blown, Rainbow began navigating through the moving rings, which had been put on the highest speed, before passing the horseshoe to Fleetfoot.
"Awesome!" She cheered as she immediately went through her section, the Cloudsdale cheerleaders flying up next to Rainbow as she left.
"Whinny, ponies, whinny! Fly on, fly on, fly on!!" Rainbow smirked at this before flying back to her team, passing Twilight as she held up some pompoms.
When she arrived, she handed Bulk the baton and had him do the course. She decided to keep the rings stationary, at least until he got the hang to flying through them. "Come on Bulk Biceps, you can do it!" However, a new problem revealed itself when the musclebound pegasus attempted to fly through the first ring. Notice the use of the word 'attempted', as when Bulk tried to fit through the ring...he got stuck.
Fluttershy chose this moment to come up to him. "Um...I'm ready to take the horseshoe, if you want me to." Bulk nodded and tried to pass the ring over, the ring's pole bending as he tried. It was here that Fluttershy grabbed the baton, only for the pole to reach its bending limit and bounce back, catapulting both Bulk and Fluttershy towards a nearby mountain. Luckily, Flash had been watching and was able to catch them before they made contact while Rainbow groaned at the sight, facehoofing at the same time.
Another skill gap was revealed when Rainbow was doing wing ups with the Wonderbolts. Not only could their wings lift their bodies with all four hoofs off the ground, but could also lift a whole other pony. Rainbow watched as Spitfire and Fleetfoot didn't even break a sweat doing this, showing her just how strong they were psychically. This was even more obvious when Rainbow returned to her team and had them do some wing ups. Fluttershy was having trouble with pushing herself up, while Bulk couldn't even get his tiny wings to touch the ground.
Rainbow moaned at the sight, the call of the Wonderbolts starting to grow a bit too strong. "You...uh, keep doing your wing ups. I'm just gonna get some...um, water."
She was about to fly away when Flash flew up beside her. "Hey, looks like you're having a little trouble."
Rainbow's brain went into overdrive, trying to come up with a way to end the conversation quickly. "Maybe a little, but what can you do? We-"
"You could try using wing weights for Bulk. Have them match his body weight and it'll work the same as a wing up."
"Sure...why don't you do that." Rainbow said while barely listening, "I'll be...um."
"Oh yeah, I went to see Soarin this morning. Looks like his wing will be fine by tomorrow."
"Great! Good to hear!" Rainbow yelped out as she put her hooves behind her back, "Now...I uh...gotta go." With that, she flew off, making Flash raise an eyebrow.
The next day...
Rainbow and the Wonderbolts were now flying in formation while carrying buckets of food. Eating while training may seem like a bad idea, mainly because of the cramps, but their bodies were used to it due to years of the treatment. However, the aftereffects were still something Rainbow was getting used to. As such, when she rejoined her team for lunch, her stomach was unable to enjoy the apple brown bettys she had been looking forward too. Probably for the best though, since both Bulk and Flash ended up in an eating contest a little bit later.
Later that day, Rainbow was with Spitfire and Fleetfoot when a bunch of ponies came up and began measuring them. It was then shown that those measurements are for the flight suits, which Spitfire told Rainbow that her's could be a souvenir and thank you present for helping them train. The cloud colored flight suit fit Rainbow like a glove, as if she was born to wear it.
The same couldn't be said for the Ponyville design. When Rainbow had returned to her team's area, she had discovered a nearly petrified Flash, complete with a dropped jaw. Following his vision, she quickly mirrored him when she saw both Fluttershy and Bulk, dressed in what she could only describe as a table cloth somepony had cut holes into it. That and it came with frilly pink hoof bands and flowers in their manes. Rarity turned to the two and asked, "Too much?"
Flash finally recovered enough to talk, saying, "Maybe it's not such a bad thing that I'm not competing." While Rainbow responded with a long, draining groan.
Twenty four hours now remained before the qualifying round began.
The Cloudsdale team had just finished another workout and were about to finish up. It was here that Rainbow waved Spitfire and Fleetfoot goodbye while making her way back to the Ponyville area. Changing out of her gear cartoon-style, an exhausted Rainbow heaved over to a nearby waterfall pond and began drinking up as much water as she could.
"It's not easy practising with two teams, is it?" Rainbow shot up, spitting the water out as she spun around to see Flash and Twilight glaring at her.
"You...know?" She asked with a loud gulp.
Flash crossed his hooves. "We know."
Rainbow began to sweat buckets, her form almost backpedaling into the water. "Does...anypony else know?"
Twilight let out a long sigh before shaking her head. "No. They're too busy practising to wonder why you keep disappearing."
"Well, I've seen the other teams practising, and we're still gonna qualify." To prove her point, she shot up into the air and stopped without any issue. "I can fly fast enough to make up the distance."
Flash rolled his eyes at this. "Don't underestimate the opposition. For all you know, they're holding back to lull you into a false sense of security. Instead of banking on your own skill alone, you should try getting the rest of your team up to your level."
Twilight nodded in agreement, "Flash is right. Ponyville needs your attention more the Cloudsdale does."
Rainbow frowned as she lowered herself to the ground. "But its so much more fun working out with the winners than...um-"
"The losers?" Flash said flatly.
"I didn't say that."
"You were thinking it though." Flash growled, a look of pure disapproval on his face.
"Oh, don't give me that look," Rainbow barked back. "Even if I'm working with the Wonderbolts more than the others, Ponyville will still qualify."
"Hey Rainbow Dash," the three turned to see Spitfire and Fleetfoot walking up to them. "You got a minute?"
"Uh...sure." Rainbow replied while Flash and Twilight glanced at each other.
"You could really be an asset to our team," Fleetfoot commented before gesturing her hoof out. "So...we want you to join the Cloudsdale team. Permanently."
Rainbow gasped as the other two looked on in confusion, Flash then speaking up, "Hold on there. What about Soarin? He said his wing would be better by now."
Spitfire shook her head and shrugged, "Turns out, he overestimated his recovery time." She looked back to Rainbow, "We want you to fly with us."
Rainbow's eyes went wider than they had ever gone. This was a dream come true, at least until Fleetfoot reminded her, "Of course, this means you won't be able to fly for Ponyville. But let's face it," She pointed to Ponyville's team area, showing Fluttershy and Bulk practising the baton pass. "Even with you on their team, their chances of qualifying for the Games-" Fluttershy accidently slammed the horseshoe into Bulks face, making him hit the ground. "-are pretty slim."
"That's a bit mean," Flash hissed back. A second later, Bulk's whimper made them turn back to see him running off teary eyed with Fluttershy chasing after him and apologising. This sight alone made Flash facehoof. "Seriously?!"
Spitfire smirked at this, "So, what's it gonna be Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow glanced back at the Wonderbolt captain, blinking and sweating at the same time. She could feel her nerves cover her spine as her head shift back and forth from the Wonderbolts to the Ponyville team. The very sight combined with the choices made her stomach turn, "Well, I...I..."
"Take some time to think about it," Spitfire told her as she and Fleetfoot spun around. "But don't take too long."
With that, they left while Rainbow just stood there. She then turned back to her friends, "They want me to fly with them!" She flew around the two before landing on her back, "it's like a dream come true!"
Twilight and Flash both glanced at each other, Twilight asking, "Want me to take this?"
Flash gave a firm nod. "Sure. You can go first, and I'll back you up to help prove a point."
"Sounds good to me."
"Go first for what?" Rainbow replied as she got back up. "What are you all talking about?"
Twilight crossed her hooves as she began, "If you fly for Cloudsdale, Pinkie Pie won't have anypony to cheer for. Rarity's uniforms will never be seen, and Applejack will have slaved over those apple brown bettys for nothing."
Rainbow's face started to change, no longer showing the amazement and joy she had before. Instead, it started to show a small frown, which Twilight gestured to Flash. Nodding, he continued the list, "There's also Fluttershy and Bulk. The only reason they're trying so hard is because they know how much you want to compete in the games. How do you think they'll feel when they learn that all their hard work wasn't enough for you? You know those two's confidence issues about their flying. This could cripple them."
Rainbow blinked at this, a frown now fully showing on her face, "But I...I..." She stared down at the grass as she started to rub her right hoof with her left, "I...I really wanna fly with the best team!" The athlete looked back up with quivering lip and desperation in her eyes. "What would you two do?"
Flash and Twilight both sighed at her question, Twilight responding, "That's a decision you have to make on your own," they then turned around to walk away. "The race is tomorrow, so you'd better make it soon."
Once they were gone, Rainbow's legs gave out and she fell onto her flank. "Awww...what am I gonna do?"
"Tough choice, huh?" She spun around to see Skybreaker standing by a tree while rubbing his metal wing with a cloth.
Rainbow let out a sigh as she stared at him. "You can't want me to stay with Ponyville as well, do you? If I do, Cloudsdale won't be able to compete."
Skybreaker just shrugged at this. "If that happens, it happens."
Rainbow leaned her neck back in surprise, "But...but you're from Cloudsdale."
Skybreaker let out a low hum, "True. I was born, raised and knighted there. I would have once given my life to make sure it saw the next sunrise, and when I was your age, I would have argued for you to join our team. But I'm a Royal Knight, so I must remain neutral in all matters."
"Neutral?"
Skybreaker nodded. "A Royal Knight's loyalty belongs to all of Equestria, not just a single city. Why do you think Flash and I aren't competing?"
"I thought it was because you two were on guard duty."
"That's just an excuse we use. The fact is, competing in the Games would show we care about that city more than anything else. Like I said, a Knight's loyalty can never be focused on one place. If Equestria was invaded tomorrow, I would have to head to the town or city under greatest threat, even if I want to keep Cloudsdale safe."
Rainbow went wide-eyed at this information, gasping, "Wow....I never knew it was like that. Gosh...being a Royal Knight must be tough if that's the case. Does Flash know?"
"Oh, he knows. He just doesn't like it. He'll learn to accept it one day, the same way I did."
"I don't think I could."
"Not everypony can. Its one of the reasons the title of Royal Knight is so difficult to obtain, even for the most loyal of ponies in the guard. Only a select few can detach themselves from their friends and family enough to see what must be done for the greater good. Its the same way you need to detach yourself from this situation in order to make a decision."
"Huh?!"
Skybreaker shook his head at this, soon walking up and patting her shoulder, "Listen, you need to look at your choice from every angle. If you join one team, then it appears the other will not be able to compete. Every single capable pegasus from both Ponyville and Cloudsdale are competing in other events, even the other Wonderbolts. No matter what happens, your decision will be causing somepony to not be able to enter. So the question is, which team needs you more than the other?" With that, Skybreaker spread is wings before jumping into the air. He hovered for a moment as he looked down to Rainbow, "Princess Twilight is right though. This is a decision that only can make."
And as he flew off, Rainbow slumped back into the grass to mull over her choice. But as her thoughts drifted, she soon made a choice.
The next morning...
The day of the qualifiing rounds had finally arrived. The time trials began at noon, and both Cloudsdale and Ponyville were one of the last, so their run wouldn't be until around three or four PM. That gave them seven to eight hours remaining until they were to fight for thier chance at the Games.
However, the question on four ponies minds was whether Cloudsdale or Ponyville would be the teams doing the run. And as Flash and Twilight arrived at the track, the pegasus turned to the alicorn. "You think she'll do the right thing?"
Twilight sighed and shook her head. "I'm not even sure what the right thing is now. No matter what Rainbow does, one team is not gonna be able to compete. Regardless of what happens, she has to decide whether to stand beside her friends, or her heroes."
Before Flash could say anything else, a familiar voice echoed throughout the field. "Woe is me! Oooh!" They all turned to source of the voice, soon spotting one Rainbow Dash sitting in a wheelchair covered in bandages.
"Oh, you have got to kidding me," Flash moaned while facehoofing.
"What happened?" Fluttershy asked as she and the others started to crowd around her.
"Urgh..." Rainbow cried out before holding up a bandaged hoof, "I've hurt my hoof."
Pinkie and Rarity both gasped while Flash and Twilight glared at the mare, Spitfire also suspicious as she started inspecting her 'injuries'. Looking up at Rainbow with a cocked eyebrow, she asked, "What happened?!"
Rainbow began to sweat, the look on her face showing she's obviously forgotten to come up with an origin for her injuries. "I uh...tripped on a-a foam hoof and landed on a-" She then mumbled something unintelligible into her hoof, causing the group to just blink in response.
Pinkie growled as she stomped her pompom covered hooves into the ground. "If I get my hooves on that-" She mimicked whatever it was Rainbow said before stomping again, "it'll be in BIG TROUBLE!"
Rainbow moaned in pain again. "There's no way I can fly now."
"Do you think you'll be better by tryouts?" Fluttershy asked as she held her hooves over her mouth in fear.
Rainbow let out a long groan, now bening over the arm of her wheelchair. "I'll be lucky if I can ever fly again!" Flash and Twilight rolled their eyes as they heard her sigh, "I just need a little rest."
"Oh dear..." Fluttershy helped push the pegasus back up, "Don't worry, Rainbow Dash. We'll take care of you...or, at least, somepony will." She started pushing the chair, "like, a medic or-or a doctor, or a nurse."
The look on Rainbow's face told Flash and Twilight she obviously hadn't thought this through. "Twenty bits says this blows up in her face." Twilight turned to shoot him a glare, which quickly morphed into a smirk.
"Deal, plus an extra five bits if she comes clean and decides to fly for Ponyville."
Flash nodded as the two shook hooves in agreement.
Soon enough, Rainbow found herself in the town hospital. Once she was checked in, the doctor assigned her a room and found herself wheeled into a room with a very familiar pegasus laying in bed. Soarin gasped at the sight of her, "Rainbow?! Holy cow, what happened?!"
"We'll tell you later," Flash grumbled as they helped Rainbow into bed. Not too long afterwards, the doctor came in and ushered everypony out so he could examine her. He did so, asking her several confusing questions that caused Rainbow to fumble with her answers.
It wasn't long till he left, which he then talked to the group before going back to Rainbow. There, Twilight stared at the heart monitor beside her bed. "So...the medic pony isn't sure what's wrong with you."
"Everything!" Rainbow exclaimed, "Absolutely everything!"
Applejack moved up to the bed, holding an apple brown betty in her hoof. "This'll cure everythin' that ails ya!" She shoved the dessert into Rainbow's mouth, the pegasus munching at it happily.
"Thank you," she said through her stuffed mouth. "I couldn't have done that on my own."
Twilight sighed and Flash facehoofed again while Rarity stepped over to her. "Nothing says 'get better' like a little medical pizazz!" She levitated a piece of sparkly purple cloth out of her bag, tying it around Rainbow's hoof. "Silk slings and a glitter bandage?"
The hospital door then opened, Fluttershy and Bulk now walking in. However, the large pegasi got stuck on the door, which Flash had to help him get free. While he did this, Fluttershy asked, "And how is our patient doing?"
"I've been better."
Fluttershy then patted her on the shoulder. "We just wanted to let you know that we're so sorry you're hurt, but you shouldn't worry a bit about not being able to be in the tryouts. We'll be alright." She turned back to the door, "we even have a replacement." Everypony followed her gaze and saw Derpy appear in the doorway, waving a Ponyville flag.
Flash was about to say something, but his mouth was magically shut but a purple aura that made him glare at the only alicorn in the room. Thanks to this, Fluttershy continued. "We're so, so sorry that you can't compete. We all know how much you love to fly. And we promise-"
"CROSS OUR HEARTS!" Bulk's outcried, shocking Derpy into dropping her flag.
"That if we qualify and make it to the Equestria Games and all win gold medals, you can have ours, because we know how much a gold medal means to you."
Hearing her say that made something inside Rainbow crack, her eyes shrinking as she squeaked out, "Thanks..."
Seeing her expression, Twilight cleared her throat to get everypony's attention. "I think Rainbow Dash might need some more rest." The others all nodded and said their goodbyes, the group soon leaving until Twilight was the only one left. She let out a long sigh as she shook her head at the mare, "You know, choosing not to choose isn't really a decision." She then followed the others and shut the door, leaving Rainbow and Soarin alone together.
Soarin had been smiling the whole time as he watched the discussion, now turning to his girlfriend. "You sure have nice friends. Heck, the only pony who visited me was Flash, but I guess the team's just too busy practising."
Rainbow took note of Soarin's wing, which was currently in a cast. "Well, who knows. Maybe your wing will start feeling better before the trials."
Soarin glanced back at his wing and frowned. "Oh, its fine." He flapped it around, showing no pain whatsoever. "I'm just keeping it warm in case my team wants me back."
This made Rainbow's eyes go wide, "What?! What do you mean, 'wants you back'?! Spitfire and Fleetfoot told me that you were still too injured to fly!"
Hearing this made Soarin raise an eyebrow. "No...they told me that they were worried I wouldn't be one hundred percent by the tryouts, so they were going with somepony else."
"That somepony else was me!" Rainbow cried out as she pointed at her chest.
"You?! But...aren't you already on a team?"
Rainbow flinched at his question. Gulping, she tried to look away at his staring eyes. A sigh following this, she told began to tell him the past day, how his teammates had asked her to help them train until he returned. She also talked about how she had been juggling the two training routines until Spitfire had asked her to join, along with Flash, Twilight and Skybreaker talking to her afterwards. Then they got to the part she had been fearing.
"You faked your injuries?!" Soarin almost screamed, making his marefriend once again flinch. "Are you kidding me?!"
"Yeah...I know it was a terrible thing to do, but I just couldn't decide Soarin. I...I'm sorry."
"But..." Soarin tried to reply, only to let out a long sigh. He now saw the sadness on his marefriend's face, making him cringe as he laid back intp the bed, "So...I guess that's that. It's not like you can have a miraculous recovery, and I doubt my team will ask me to join."
"Really?! Spitfire won't do that?!"
"No." Soarin hissed as he turned away, "That mare is way too proud for her own good. Now Cloudsdale won't be able to qualify without three fliers, and Ponyville won't qualify without you. Its over."
As those final words sunk in, Rainbow shrunk into the bed. She felt her heart twist like a pretzel as she whispered to herself, "Way to go Rainbow. You let both teams down, and you pretty much did it for no real reason." She looked back to Soarin, "I failed Ponyville, Cloudsdale, the Wonderbolts....and him."
It was in that moment that a gentle wind blew into the room from the window, causing the blinds to open slightly. This allowed the light of the sun to shine in, which targetted a water jug beside her bed. The light then refracted onto the floor as a rainbow of colors. The 'injured' pegasus followed the light, seeing it move along the floor before hitting something. It was the flag that Derpy had dropped, which was now being illuminated by a rainbow-colored light.
And as this happened, Rainbow's eyes went wide before a rainbow reflected in them. Her whole form shifted as determination flared in her eyes. With a quick leap out of the bed, she caught Soarin's attention as she said, "Come on Soarin, let's get to those time trials."
Back at the training grounds, the group were now all sitting in Ponyville's area. Depression filled the area as they waited for Flash to get back from talking to Skybreaker about possibly joining the team for the qualifier. But as they turned to see the duo walking up to them, Flash's expression didn't help as he said, "Sorry girls, but I'm still not allowed to run, even if its only till Rainbow's healed."
Skybreaker sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, but rules are rules."
The others all looked down in disappointment, Twilight speaking up. "Even with Rainbow Dash's replacement, I don't think we're gonna qualify." She turned to give Derpy a nervous smile, "No offense." The pegasus mare just shrugged in response, no offense obviously taken.
"Gah!" Pinkie spun around to look at a pile of pompoms behind her, "What am I gonna do with all these now?!"
Applejack raised an eyebrow at this, "Uh...what were you gonna do with them before?"
Rarity sighed as she levitated her 'creation', "Maybe my Equestria Games uniforms will still be in style next year." She dropped the dress, making it fall atop Twilight's head. "I mean, I am pretty fashion-forward."
"Is that so?" Flash replied as he continued to glare at the monstrosity, the idea of this Rarity being a fashion blind Changeling flying through his head.
But before he could double check his theory, Twilight spoke up, "Is that Rainbow Dash...walking?"
"Huh?" He and the others followed Twilight's gaze and spotted the 'crippled' mare trotting down the path, Soarin not too far behind wiht his bandages removed.
When Spitfire and Fleetfoot noticed her, their shades fell to their noses while Spitfire dropped the bottle she'd been drinking from. Fleetfoot then asked, "Does...this mean you're feeling better?"
Rainbow frowned, but shook her head and stood tall. "I-I feel great, because-" She flapped her wings and the bandages flew off, revealing no injuries whatsoever. "I was never hurt in the first place." This caused both the Wonderbolts and Ponyville team to gasp, Flash now groaning as he handed twenty-five bits over to a smiling Twilight. "I faked my injury so that I wouldn't have to choose between flying for Ponyville or Cloudsdale. I wanted to fly with you both, and the decision was too hard!"
"Oh Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy stepped over to her friend. "You don't have to choose us. I know you love to win, and you should go with the team that surely will."
Rainbow smiled at her friend, the decision she'd made now more clear than ever. "I know now who I should've been loyal to."
"Good choice," Spitfire nudged Fleetfoot with a giant grin. "Always stick with the winners."
"I'm sticking with Ponyville," this caused both Wonderbolts to raise an eyebrow as they watched her move over to them. "Because its not just where I live, but it's where my friends are. The ponies who really care about me, whether I can help them win a race or not."
Hearing this, everypony began to cheer at Rainbow's decision. That is, except Spitfire, who then got up into Rainbow's face with a glare, "Are you sure that's the right decision?!"
"You lied to me about Soarin's wing just so you could get a better flyer!" Rainbow yellled back as she pointed at her coltfriend behind her. As for him, he was crossing his hooves and glaring at his teammates, "You may be a winning team, but you're still not the kind of team I wanna be a part of."
And as everypony readied themselves for Spitfire to angrily retort back, they all backpedaled at the sight. That is, till nothing happened. Blinking at this, they watched as Spitfire mumbled out, "Huh..." She then reached up and removed her shades for the first time since asking the the mare to join. "Rainbow Dash, you are something. Saw it at the Academy, seeing it again here. We could learn a lot from a competitor like you."
"Think we already have," Fleetfoot added.
Spitfire nodded before trotting over to Soarin, "Ready to fly?"
Soarin's eyes went wide in shock, "Really?!"
Spitfire looked slightly away, biting her lip as she replied, "Yeah. I uh...sorry. I should have never lied and tried to replace you."
Soarin let out a laugh before shooting into the sky. "Go, Cloudsdale!" Spitfire and Fleetfoot followed after him as Rainbow turned back to her friends.
"Come on Ponyville relay team!" She leapt into the air, "We've got a race to get ready for!" She flew after the Wonderbolts, Fluttershy following not too far behind.
"YEAH!" Bulk cheered as he went after them.
A few hours of practice later, we now find both teams ready for their time trial.
The Wonderbolts were the first to go, Soarin as the starting pony and showing no problems as he completed the course and handed the baton to Spitfire. She also ran her section of the track perfectly and passed the baton to Fleetfoot before joining Soarin at the goal, watching as the final flyer raced to the finish line. Fleetfoot eventually shot through the goal, the others watching as the time keep stopped the clock before nodding at them. They all cheered at this before Soarin looked down at the track's starting line. "Come on Ponyville! You can do it!"
The others on the ground watched as Bulk began to fly, slowly and carefully so he wouldn't get stuck in the hoops again. Doing this burned up a lot of time, so when he reached Fluttershy, they only had half the time they began with. Fluttershy took the baton, fumbling with it a moment, before beginning her section of the course. Back on the ground, a very oddly dressed Twilight cheered. "Go, Fluttershy! Woo-hoo!" The others all followed suit and cheered as Fluttershy eventually passed the baton to Rainbow, who zipped off barely a second later.
The Cloudsdale cheerleaders did their own little Ponyville cheer, Pinkie helping them. "Qualify, Ponyville! Qualify, Ponyville!"
"Woo-hoo!" The party pony leapt atop their hooves, confetti shooting out of her pompoms. "Go Rainbow Dash!"
Only a few seconds remained on the clock as Rainbow took that baton. And as the prism painted mare flapped to her limit, the air around her coned so much that she was scared she would end up doing a Sonic Rainboom. With a quick readjustment to her speed, she finished the last obstacle and now aimed straight at the goal. The world seemed to go into slow motion as the goal grew ever closer, only to finally break through the cloud filled ring. Everypony turned to the time keeper, the pony stopping the device before raising his hoof, "Ponyville qualifies!"
For many weeks after, everypony who had been in Rainbow Falls on that day would talk about how they almost went deaf due to the sudden uproar that swept through the town. Rainbow couldn't believe it as Fluttershy and Bulk pulled her into a hug, the ground ponies and Wonderbolts all cheering for them.
An hour later, the five qualifying teams were standing on podiums as the time keeper presented each of them with ribbons. And as Rainbow received her ribbon, she felt somepony tap her shoulder. She looked up and saw Spitfire smiling at her before taking off a Wonderbolt badge she had been wearing and placing it on the ribbon. Rainbow stared it before smiling back at the Wonderbolt, Spitfire nodding with a salute.
The Wonderbolts all shot up into the sky, Rainbow watching them leave with awe before hearing Bulk cry out. "YEAH!"
"Yeah!" the Ponyville team cheered while Pinkie let out a, "woo-hoo!"
They all grouped up as the time keeper readied a camera so he could take a picture. Twilight put an hoof around Rainbow's neck as the camera flashed, "Equestria Games, here we come!"
As she got back to Ponyville, Rainbow headed to the library and grabbed their friendship journal. She took the photo and stuck it in the book, than began to write.
Dear Diary,
Training with Spitfire and Fleetfoot for the Equestria Games was totally awesome. I mean, they're Wonderbolts and really know their stuff when it comes to flying. And when they asked me to fly with them as part of Team Cloudsdale, I gotta say, I was totally tempted. But there's Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps from Team Ponyville. They may not be the strongest flyers—well, let's face it, they're not the strongest flyers—but they sure get an A for effort! And they represent the home team of Ponyville. And as Pinkie says, "P for Ponyville!"
Still, I can't deny it. I LOVE to win...really, really love it! But if I ever gotta choose between winning and being loyal to my friends...I'll always choose my friends. 'Cause as much as I love winning, I love them waaay more!
As soon as she finished writing, she saw her friends playing outside. She then took off her ribbon and put it on the podium. And after she left to join them, a rainbow colored shine reflected off the badge.
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screaching hault... WTF!!!! 1) Bulk can easily get a wind speed of 10, see Hurricane Fluttershy, he's not a weak flyer, 2) Fluttershy had to be forced to take part in anything, see Hurricane Fluttershy, so why would she part take in what is basically the Olympics, 3) Bulk managed to get into Wonderbolt Academy, see Wonderbolt Academy, so how is he not a strong flyer... Sorry, I am out. I am skipping this chapter. I don't care about the SoarinDash that might be in here, you had the chance to tell a better story then the actual episode and you tripped at the starting line just like Corey Powell.
You know what I'll let The Fiery Joke break it down.
9391845
Wow... two dislikes because I call out a poor writing call on the author's part instead of anyone aruging for why the author's call was a good. Bravo, folks. Bravo.
9391976
Wow and another dislike... so much for convincing me I am wrong and that I should the chapter. Way to go, Good job, folks, good job.
9391987
it's like nobody wants to actually defend the chapter and try to convince me that I am wrong with just saying I won't read after the point I said I wouldn't. It's like no one has faith in the material to present an argument in the chapter's favor and all people can do is just down vote... but I know the readers of Banshee's work and Banshee aren't that petty, they are just taking their time to formulate an argument.
9391845
9391976
9391987
9391991
Knock it off! Nobody has responded to you because: a) unlike you, others are taking their time to actually read the chapter, b) some people are busy and don't have time to comment right away.
You want to know why you got down voted? Because you have a bad attitude and did not even read past the first scene, that's why. Get over it.
I am glad to finally see this episode get a chapter! I really enjoyed this episode, even though it hasn't been very popular in recent years.
You did a good job putting Skybreaker in and explaining why Royal Knights are not allowed to compete. It was also nice to see both Rainbow and Soarin handling their relationship professionally and not letting it interfere with their work. You also made Rainbow's realization even more powerful here, with her talking more to Soarin and feeling she let everyone down.
Nice call-forward to that one Bad Future.
Rainbow's
pony
Thanks for the new chapter. I liked how we focused on rainbow and Soarin, with flash as a background character. Good job. I can’t wait for the next one.
9392088
The first impression is the most critical nothing like a bad one to sour things and that choice was a bad one. My 'bad attitude' or not, just down voting me doesn't convince me to read the chapter, make the case for it, if you believe in it so much, sell me on it, make me want to buy it, I'll wait
9392095
it was a near garbage episode back in 2014. Need I cite the reviews from 2014 on it? Because we got at least three that pointed out the many many writing flaws in the episode, Mysterious Mr. Enter, Silver Quill and Commander Firebrand via F.O.B Equestria, right off the top of my head.
9392242
There's no point even trying to explain it to you because you won't listen anyway. The episode was fine before but people like you keep dumping on it and have worsened its reputation over the years. I liked the original because of Rainbow's conflicted loyalties and developing Soarin's personality, and here it expands even further on Rainbow's dilemma while also adding in her relationship with Soarin. But you just choose to skip all of it because Fluttershy and Bulk (who just gets a personality in this episode) are designated as "weak flyers". You bad mouth the entire things because you have a problem with one part of it that doesn't even matter in the long run.
P.S.
You're one to talk about getting downvoted without reason since you always downvote anyone who speaks against you. Hypocrite much?
Aww, this was cute.
I know this is coming later than you wanted it to but...
🚢🚢🚢🚢🚢🚢🚢🚢🚢!
Please be the Flashlight arc, please, please please!
Also, I love Skybreaker in this story. He's like Flash and Rainbow Dash's cranky grandpa.
9392355
I agree with you there. I like how the original episode had small teasing moments with these two, but here it is already official between them and it is even better!
9392365 What are those emojis?
9392368
No clue, I just copied them from Godslittleprincess. Maybe you should ask her. If I had to guess, maybe she used regular emojis from a cell phone or something.
9392368
They're ships! 
9392385
9392368
I think they're supposed to be ships. Really, really tiny ones.
Edit: Nevermind, I'm too late.
9392390
Argh, why didn’t I say that before!? I blacked out and answered where I thought they came from instead of what they were suppose to be. I understood your original comment but not Banshee’s question. That is embarrassing.
9392251
All of these are from 2014 BTW, I would cite Silver Quill, but he took that video down after the ToonKritic fiasco
Long story short even back in 2014 it was not a good episode,
As for me down voting, I didn't start it, so you don't get to call me a hypocrite.
If you truly want to be the one to claim the high ground here, debate the merits for the choice Banshee made to keep the Bulk is a weak flyer, Fluttershy wanted to compete in the Olympics in spite of her crippling stage fright and why the use of that 'one event' completion rule. Prove that I am wrong to call BS on those choices. Give me a reason to buy the premise of this chapter, I'm all ears.
9392406
You know all these reviews are ultimately just the opinions of someone. I mean, I hate Mysterious Mare Do Well but some love it. So none of these reviews actually prove Rainbow Falls is a bad episode.
9392406
As horribly bad as those details are, the story kinda falls apart without them. The only remedies that come to mind are keeping the one event rule and introducing new characters who are just as bad or scrapping the episode altogether and replacing Rainbow's key. The first option would have forced Banshee to characterize two new characters which would have taken focus away from Dash's admittedly forced character development. I'll admit that this story is pretty flimsy, but that's exactly what makes it so hard to modify.
And another
9392426
It like we exist in two complete different universies
9392431
Oh honey... I got another option, just hold your horses, pun un-appologitically intended
Finally decided to read this chapter and take on it's own merits and my concluding belief....
Its still bad, Niether Flash nor Skybreaker contributed anything to the narrative beyond some lore building, which raises a question, if the Royal Knights can't compete because to do so would show them favoriting one city of the nation, then why doesn't this apply to the Wonderbolts? Or the EUP as a whole? Where's the logic? Where's the consitancy? Where's the, dare I say, continunity?
Also there is no real reason why Fluttershy is competing, if we quote Skybreaker that every able body pegusas was there to compete and then we see the Ponyville team have a replacement, Derpy, then why did he say it? why is it in the text?
I stand by an earlier comment from a while ago, if Applejack could be removed and nothing is lost, adding Flash gains nothing, and here the only thing gained was some lore of the Royal Knights that could have been added more fittingly elsewhere and came from Skybreaker not Flash.
So yeah, my opinion hasn't changed, I fail to see how this was a better exicuted idea then in the series. If anyone thinks it is a good chapter, then please show me what I'm missing.
9404717
Wow even when I try to judge it on it's own merits and come to the same conclusion and all I get is a dislike.
Serious what am I missing that says that this is a good chapter?
Serious what do people see that I don't?