CRISIS: Equestria - Divergence

by GanonFLCL

Chapter Twenty-Two: Champion

A large crowd had turned out tonight to watch the Mid-East Rockets take on the Mid-West Warriors, larger than what was typical for any game in which the Rockets played. Word of mouth had gotten around over the past week about the Rockets bringing an actual team to the court this season—headed up by two star-level players—when just the season before, and the seven before that, they'd been the worst team in the league.

Rainslick watched with rapt attention from the private box assigned to the Rockets various staff members and crew… which meant just him, really. The owner would be here as well if he ever bothered to show up to a game. As it was, the Rockets organization consisted of just the seven players and Rainslick, who performed duties as talent scout, manager, press secretary, and budgeteer.

Well, there was also the janitor at the Rockets' headquarters, but he didn't come to games either. He just preferred to sit in the supply closet and read his dirty magazines.

It was only a few minutes into the first period, and already the Mid-East Rockets were up 14-3. It was one thing for Rainslick to be awed by the performance of the new talent he'd signed on, and Rainbow Dash and Havoc were still by far the best players on the team, probably in the whole league. But, he was more impressed with how the other players on the team had come into their own since the new players had joined up.

He remembered when he signed each and every one of these players, none of whom were much better than amateurs but all of whom had heart and drive, and more importantly, were willing to actually play for the Rockets.

Dart Blazer was a wide-eyed idealist, always with his head in the clouds and whose eagerness to succeed were next to none. It was just a shame that the young stallion couldn't hit the goal rings if his life depended on it and lacked any sense on making a pass. That was just how he'd always been.

Now, though, with some coaching from Rainbow, he was making passes with stellar accuracy, and even shot plenty of goals himself. Just now, he dribbled the ball around one of the Warriors' blockers and kicked it hard over towards Sweet Crespelle.

Crespelle was the youngest member on the team, and was barely of age to legally play in the league, as in he'd have been in trouble if he'd signed her two days earlier than he did the previous year. She could hold onto the ball plenty well and even dribble it from leg to leg just fine when hovering still, but had trouble flying and dribbling at the same time.

But not only did she catch the pass from Dart without any issue, but she was able to swivel it around herself to keep it in her possession without dropping it once. He found it amusing the way that she tended to dribble the ball these days, using her flanks and head to bounce the ball rather than just her hooves and legs. It worked not because she was more accurate, but because it was usually… distracting for the blocker that was supposed to be watching her.

This blocker, though—a lithe mare with an eyepatch by the name of Whirlwind—was able to focus enough on the situation to move in to tackle her, sending the ball down towards the court floor; that which usually distracted other blockers—including Thunderclap, another of the Warriors' blockers—didn't work on her.

But Rainbow was always quick enough to recover the ball from a teammate's fumble, pretty much no matter where on the field she was. The other blockers weren't used to her speed yet and got caught flatfooted whenever they tried to keep up, which usually either gave Rainbow opportunity to score, or to get the ball to Dart to take a shot, like she did just now.

Dart caught the pass and kicked the ball straight at the goal rings; the goalkeeper—an athletic stallion named Hazelnut Stripe—had been fooled by Rainbow's feint in his direction. Dart's shot clipped the outside of the inner ring, but still made it through the middle ring for two points. The score was 16-3.

The ball was back in mid-court, and as the ref dropped it down, Rainbow was once again right there to grab it. This time, though, the Warriors' lead blocker—a quick, bulky stallion named Sidewinder—went straight for her when the ball was tossed rather than wait, as was tradition. Since she was in legal possession of the ball by the time he got to her, it was a perfectly legal takedown; a clever adjustment of tactics.

So, when he slammed into Rainbow, she dropped it straight away, and neither of the Rockets' other strikers were in position to get it.

Typically in such situations, the blocker's team would let the ball fall to the floor to inflict a point penalty, but the Warriors' attempted the riskier strategy of retaking the ball to go for more points; they needed to catch up and fast. One of their strikers, a swift, lithe mare named Heartlily, snagged the ball and raced towards the Rockets' goal.

Rainslick wouldn't have been surprised if Havoc had leapt in to block, but she was currently guarding the Warriors' lead striker, a quick stallion named Snow Squall, who she'd kept out of play for pretty much the entire game. That was Havoc's strong suit: being fast enough to keep up and surpass most strikers so that they didn't get an opening at all; it was much easier for a goalkeeper to monitor two players rather than three.

That left the job of stopping Heartlily to Salsa Fresca, and the aggressive mare did not disappoint. It hadn't been too long ago that Salsa, who Rainslick had signed along with her sister Lily Typhoon, was considered the best player on their team and a top-notch blocker… if she wasn't being constantly distracted by her crush on Dart Blazer.

Rainslick wasn't sure how Rainbow and Havoc had helped her work that out, but she was entirely focused on the game now. She was on Heartlily like white on rice, slamming the other mare hard towards the court floor almost the second after she'd gotten possession of the ball, sending said ball soaring upwards.

The Warriors' other striker, an athletic stallion named Scattershot, was ready and able to recover it and made straight for the goal as well. At least, he did, until out of nowhere he was tackled by Brisk Gallop, who moved with speed that Rainslick would never expect from a stallion his age.

Now, Gallop had been signed because he was an old pro that was looking to come out of retirement, but had grown slow in his old age and couldn't even sign with the majority of semi-pro teams, let alone make it back into the big leagues. But Havoc had figured out that the stallion was, true to his name, still insanely fast; he just couldn't keep flying around for long periods.

So instead, he'd been tasked with essentially hovering around the Rockets' goal and waiting for one of the opposing strikers to get close before going in for the kill. And damn, he was good at it. That was the old pro at work.

The ball struck the floor almost immediately after Scattershot dropped it. The score was now 16-2.

And what perfect timing, too, as the clock just ticked down to signal the end of the first period. Rainslick smirked and leaned back in his seat, lifted up his light beer, and waited until the second period started. He'd been waiting eight long years for the opportunity to see his team succeed, and thanks to those two new mares, there was absolutely nothing standing in the Rockets' way of making the playoffs this year.

*****

Rainbow stretched her legs a bit and drank from a bottle of water as the team cooled down in the locker room between the first and second periods. She liked to keep limber, and her left side was still a little sore after she got hit hard by Sidewinder, but that was just the nature of the game.

Skyball was a brutally physical sport, even back home. In their world it had been used in olden times as a military training exercise of sorts, established during the rule of Commander Hurricane before the three pony tribes had even united. The rules had obviously changed since then, but the idea was still the same: the cultivation of tactical planning and practice of swift, brutal strikes against the enemy.

That the rules were the same even in this entirely different world boggled Rainbow's mind, but she supposed that was just the nature of alternate worlds.

Dart—who was still team captain despite him trying to pass it Rainbow or Havoc—was in the midst of giving the team a little pep talk. "Okay, gang, we're doing real good out there tonight! Let's keep up the pace!" He pointed at Rainbow first. "Good hustle out there, Rainbow. Great feint in that last play."

Rainbow shrugged. "Thanks. Nice shot yourself. The mid ring's hard to hit from that distance."

Dart beamed at that, then turned towards Havoc, Salsa, and Gallop. "And you three, great blocking out there. Especially you, Havoc, Squall hasn't taken a single shot all game. I was worried when I heard how good he is, but you're bringing the big guns tonight."

"Damn right," Havoc said with a smirk.

Dart then turned to Crespelle. "You okay after that last hit, Crespelle?"

The younger mare nodded, though she was still rubbing her leg. "Yeah, I'm okay. I think they figured me out, though. I can't distract Whirlwind at all. She's got this, like… laser focus." She shuddered. "She creeps me out a bit, too. Why does she just use one-word sentences all the time?"

"She's got no style for smack-talk, that's why," Rainbow offered. "So you're gonna have to smack-talk her to keep her on her hooves. She's got that stupid eyepatch, make fun of that."

"Call her a wannabe pirate, says she's got scurvy up her cooch," Havoc said, giving Crespelle a smirk. She glanced at Dart. "If anypony else needs pointers, I'm your gal. I mean, you've noticed their whole team's got no game in that sector, right? That Squall dude's gotta be the worst."

Dart raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? How so?"

"Okay, so, I made fun of that dumb scar he's got on his face, right? Told him it looked like he tried to make out with a weedwacker. Do you know what he slung back at me?"

Dart shook his head.

"He said, 'Whatever', and that was it." She shrugged. "Talk about taking all the fun out of the game."

"At least their goalie's easy to keep off his balance," Rainbow said with a grin, looking at Dart. "I wasn't sold on 'chicken wuss', but that set him off real good. Three easy points. Make fun of that stupid tattoo of his next. Seriously, who tattoos their face?"

"Ooh, call him 'Tramp Stamp'!" Havoc said with her usual shit-eating grin. "I know that's not what it is, but it'll throw him off.”

Dart then glanced at the clock and nodded. "Okay, gang! Let's get back out there and put these wannabe warriors in their place!"

"Hoo-rah!" cheered Gallop in his deep voice, mustache bristling.

As the team made their way out of the locker room and back through the hall to the court, Rainbow noticed a familiar face standing about midway through, casually leaning against the wall like he thought he was cool or something. She hadn't seen Thunder Guns since that day at the rec center a while back, when he tried to recruit her and Havoc to his team, the Arcadia Wizards, and was soundly denied.

The bulky talent scout gave a cocky smirk as he stood in the way of the team. "Well now, isn't this a happy coincidence. Fancy meeting you here, folks."

Havoc scoffed. "No shit. This is our team's locker room, where else would we be between periods?"

"Oh, is it? I didn't notice," Thunder said, feigning ignorance.

"What do you want?" Rainbow snorted, eyes narrowed.

"Me? Nothing, nothing at all. I'm just here to watch a fantastic skyball game, that's all, and fantastic it has been."

Dart huffed. "Yeah, right. We know your game, Thunder. So make like a banana and split."

Havoc gave him a half-lidded look of disapproval. "Dude, c'mon…"

"It's the honest truth!" said Thunder with a smile. "Though, I can't say that there are a lot of important ponies out there that would really ever bother to watch…"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" asked Salsa.

"Just that there seems to be a sudden abundance of talent on the Mid-East Rockets, and so it's just a damn shame that none of the pro-league scouts have bothered watching a Rockets game in years." He shook his head. "Tsk tsk. They're missing out."

"Cut to the chase, dickweed," Havoc growled. "We've got a game to play out there."

"Of course, of course. I'm just trying to be a good friend to such wonderfully-talented pegasi, that's all. You see, the professional teams always send their scouts to watch the Wizards play. Do you know why?"

"No, why?" asked Crespelle.

"Because we're champions. We've won nine championships in the past twelve years, all because we have the talent. And that's why the pros come to us. They watch our games and offer our championship players the opportunity to move up to the big leagues." Thunder gave a little dismissive wave towards the court behind him. "They don't waste their time watching teams that haven't won a game in eight seasons."

"You're behind the times, dude," Rainbow snorted. "We're already 1-0 this season, and we've got the momentum going to keep it up. Just you watch: it's gonna be the Rockets in the playoffs this year."

"Maybe you make it. Maybe you don't. But why risk it, when you could play for a real team?" Thunder not-at-all-subtly dropped a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket. "Oh, whoops! Let me just get that."

He made a big show of picking it up and looking it over. "Thank goodness. Why, it seems this check here would pay more than enough bits to buyout the contracts of a couple of star players, if they were interested."

With a grin, he put the check back in his pocket. "Well, I suppose I should be heading back to my box to watch the game, just in case any stars want to be born."

With that, he pushed his way through the team and headed off down the hall, taking the opposite turn towards the upper levels of the stands.

"What a shithead," Havoc snorted as she watched him go.

Rainbow gestured for the team to follow. "Forget him, let's get out there and play ball."

*****

As the second period was just getting underway, Rainslick ordered another beer from the handsome young waiter that was servicing his box, which meant basically he was catering exclusively to him all night unless the Rockets' janitor decided to show up. As he passed the waiter his empty bottle, he also gave him a little wink; the waiter's smile was slight, but noticeable enough.

Then, the game clock started back up, and Rainslick relaxed in his seat and readied himself to watch the best game the Rockets had ever played continue right along where they left off.

To his dismay, the exact opposite happened almost immediately.

Rainbow grabbed the ball at the start of the play like she always did, even spinning to avoid Sidewinder's tackle, but then passed it to a wide open Crespelle, who just fumbled it like she'd never handled a ball before in her life. It went straight from her hoof towards the court floor, and Rainbow, who wasn't expecting the fumble—meaning it wasn't some sort of fakeout—wasn't able to get there fast enough.

Score was now 15-2.

The ball was put in play again, and again Rainbow snagged it up, twisted herself around Sidewinder, and this time chucked the ball towards Dart. Dart just kicked it towards the goal rings, a pretty classic and familiar play to keep the defense on their hooves, but the ball went so wide that the goalie didn't even have to move.

14-2.

On the next play, Rainbow got hit hard by Sidewinder, dropping the ball down and straight into Heartlily's grip. She dribbled the ball and made for the goal, and Salsa moved to tackle… but was so slow that Heartlily barely even needed to make an attempt to avoid it. Salsa might as well have not moved at all.

Surely that meant that Gallop would step in to pick up the slack, but no, he didn't move one bit, just hovered and watched, his eyes just staying focused on Scattershot who wasn't even in possession of the ball. Did he just… not see Heartlily? Was the old pro's vision going?

Heartily seemed just as confused as Rainslick was, but that didn't stop her from taking a shot at the goal rings. And then, Lily just kind of lazily batted the ball away, not hard enough to block it but enough to divert its course so that it actually went into the inner ring instead of the medium ring that it was going towards.

14-5.

This just continued on for several minutes as the second period turned into a total nightmare.

Rainslick kept hoping that it was a fluke, or that maybe he was drunk and watching the wrong team or something, but for every miraculous play that either Havoc or Rainbow made to try to keep their team in the game, the rest of the team just dropped the ball—literally—so that they were taking three steps back for every one step forward.

As the buzzer sounded to indicate the end of the second period, the waiter came back to take Rainslick's order. He ordered a double shot of scotch instead; he needed something stronger.

The score was now 4-27.

*****

"What the fuck is going on out there?!" spat Havoc as the team reconvened in the locker room. "You guys are playing shittier than the toilet at a chill-eating contest! Did you all suddenly get brain damage on your way to the court? Huh?!"

Nopony answered, but instead of looking ashamed or upset at Havoc's tirade, they all just looked despondent, more like they were ignoring her than anything else.

Rainbow was just as upset about the situation as Havoc was, no doubt about it. She'd come in off the field after the first period with high spirits and confidence, then came back one period later wondering if her teammates had been abducted by brain-stealing aliens without her knowledge. But she knew Havoc was angrier, so just let her do her thing.

"Nopony's gonna talk, huh?" Havoc snorted. "You think this shit is funny? We're busting our asses out there," she said, gesturing between herself and Rainbow, "while the rest of you are sleeping on the job! Where the hell is the team we were playing with in the first period, huh?"

"I thought we were playing to win out there, guys," Rainbow added calmly; she and Havoc had a bit of a good cop, bad cop dynamic with these little speeches. "What happened? What's the matter?"

Salsa scoffed, leaning back against one of the lockers. "Why should we care anymore, huh? So we win this one more game, and then what? Lose the rest of the season? Nah, I'm not gonna bust my butt to try and win if we're just gonna go back to square one."

Havoc blinked, stupefied. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Salsa's got it all wrong," Dart said, standing up from his seat. "We're not gonna lose the rest of the season's games, we're just not gonna even be allowed to play. Might as well get used to not playing now."

"No, seriously, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with us," Crespelle said, giving Havoc a hard look that was out of place for her youthful face. "You're not the first teammates we've had that we thought might bring us out of the dumps only to jump ship the first chance they got."

"First ones with the decency to win us a game first, at least," Dart added. "So you've got that going for you."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Wait a second, hold on… is this about that offer Thunder Guns made?"

"What do you think?" Crespelle huffed.

"He does it every year, albeit not so openly," Dart sighed. "Last year he poached up Whisper Wind, and the year before that he grabbed Diamond Dust, and before that it was Ruby Light."

"And they all got traded around to other teams before the end of the seasons, too. I think Diamond plays for the Blizzards now, and Ruby for the Machines," noted Gallop, his mustache bristling. "No idea about Whisper, though."

Havoc arched an eyebrow. "So, what, that dickcheese just comes and poaches up other players off the Rockets and then just trades them off? I thought he was grabbing them to make his own team better?"

Gallop shrugged. "He doesn't need to, the Wizards are statistically the best team in the league, and have been for a long time. They've got the money to buy talent."

"He just does this to mess with the Rockets," Lily said, tapping her hooves together. "Specifically to mess with Rainslick. None of us know why, but those two hate each other. Worst thing is, Rainslick can't do anything about it."

"I thought player poaching was illegal?" Rainbow asked.

"It is, if he comes right out and says he did it, but he's got enough plausible deniability to suggest that anypony that came to him did so of their own volition," Dart said. He gestured between Havoc and Rainbow. "Just like you two are gonna do."

Havoc held up her hooves. "Whoa whoa whoa, who the hell said we were gonna do anything like that?"

"Don't tell us you didn't consider it, Havoc," Salsa said with a glare. "Of course you're gonna do it. You two actually have a chance to make pro, and Thunder's absolutely right, nopony who matters comes to Rockets games."

"He might actually put you guys on his roster instead of trading you around," Dart added. "You'd be stupid not to take that offer."

"You guys aren't serious, right?" Rainbow asked, a sarcastic smile on her face. "I thought Rainslick and I were perfectly clear that I was only gonna be in town for a few weeks, and that I'm on the team for fun. He's already looking for a new striker to cover my spot. Why would I leave now?"

"The money from that check would probably be a good incentive."

"I don't care about some stupid check. C'mon, Dart, think about it: when am I gonna have time to spend it?"

Dart paused, then shook his head. "Fine, fair point." Then he gestured at Havoc. "What about her, though? We still need her to play, even if Rainslick replaces you in time for the next game."

Havoc just outright laughed at that. "Holy shit, Bullseye, you really are stupider than you look."

As with Rainbow, Havoc had come up with nicknames for all of her teammates on the fly during their first game together, and used them whenever they were on the field or in the lockers. She said it was her way of motivating them, making them feel like she cared, like they were her friends, her family.

Dart's "Bullseye" moniker was because of his tendency to take long-range shots and passes, and how he'd miss them until Rainbow kicked him into gear with his aim; originally a jab, now a praise.

"You really think I'm gonna just up and leave you guys because a fucking paycheck? You guys all know that I'm a trust fund brat; I've got enough money that I could probably buy all of your contracts and start my own team if I wanted to. Which I don't, because if I own the team then I can't play."

"Nice humblebrag," Salsa snorted. "You think you can just wave that 'trust fund' crap around—"

Havoc held up a hoof. "Can it, Tailchaser, and let the big girl talk, okay?" she said, despite being a good three inches or so shorter than Salsa; "Tailchaser", incidentally, was poking fun at her former habit of getting distracted, specifically by Dart's butt. "I'm obviously not interested in money, so what, you think I'm interested in fame or some shit?"

Crespelle crossed her hooves. "Don't tell us you haven't considered it, 'cause that'd be just a big lie."

"You're right, Jailbait, I did consider it," Havoc said, throwing her hoof around the attractive younger mare's shoulder; the nickname was, well, easy to understand if not entirely accurate. "But, see, there's a problem with what he's offering."

"Yeah, what's that?" asked Lily, raising her nose in the air.

Havoc pointed at Lily. "It's very simple, Princess." The nickname stuck because Lily tended to be a bit of a diva in the locker room. "Which do you think would get me more fame: playing on the best team in the league and maybe winning another championship? Orrr… playing on the supposed worst team in the league and beating the shit out of the other teams?"

"The second one," Gallop grunted.

"Exactly." Havoc looked at the others. "See? Gramps gets it." The nickname was obvious.

"You're saying that you're not interested in Thunder's offer?" Dart asked.

"Hell no! Fuck that guy, he's a prick." She flashed Dart a shit-eating grin. "I signed up to play with you idiots. And I say 'idiots' because you guys are acting like a bunch of mopey dumbasses right now."

Salsa hung her head. "Yeah… I guess we are…"

"So, now that we've got that all settled," Havoc said, strutting in front of the team for a moment. "How about you all get your heads out of your asses, get out on that fucking field, and help me and Rainbow Dork kick the shit out of these losers! Who's with me?!"

She shoved her hoof out into the open, looking amongst the team.

Rainbow smirked, and was the first to put her hoof on Havoc's. "Heck yeah, let's go kick some tail!"

The others all followed suit, until the whole team's hooves were together in the middle of a huddle.

"One, two, three," Rainbow chanted.

"Go Rockets!" they all shouted together.

*****

When the second period had ended, Rainslick wasn't sure what to think about his Rockets. It was if an entirely different team had taken the field in between periods, and he'd watched a pretty respectable lead turn into a devastating deficit in the span of a few minutes. It wasn't exactly a record-breaking turnaround, but it might as well have been for the effect it had on him.

But now the third period had started, and Rainslick had to do another double take. The Rockets from the first period seemed to have been found and returned to the arena, got rid of those weird doppelgängers that had their faces but not their talent, and retook to the field with gusto.

As soon as the first play started, Rainbow passed the ball to Dart, who then instantly shot it straight into the centermost ring without a second's hesitation and with pinpoint accuracy. Three points, three seconds.

On the next play, Rainbow snagged the ball again, passing it to Dart who just as swiftly passed it over to Crespelle. Crespelle then quite literally danced around Whirlwind, who had somehow lost the focus she had before and made a reckless charge. She was then able to get up to the goal and slap the ball through the outer ring. One point.

On the next play, Rainbow got hit and Scattershot took control of the ball. He soared unopposed towards the goal until just before taking his shot… and then Gallop slammed into him like a bus out of nowhere.

Heartily managed to recover it before it hit the floor, but the instant the ball was in her possession, Salsa slammed her hard into the court floor for an easy point penalty.

On the rare occasion where one of the strikers managed to bolt past or avoid the Rockets' blockers, Lily was back in true form again, blocking shots that by all rights should've been clear goals, or deflecting them enough to limit the points gained.

The game turned back around relatively quickly now that the Rockets were playing like a team again, and by the end of the third period, the score was a much tighter 19-22. Rainslick made sure to order another beer from the good-looking waiter in preparation for the fourth period, which proceeded much as the third had.

By the time the clock ran out in the final period, the score was 31-27. A narrow win compared to the team's first game, but a win nonetheless. Whatever the hell had happened in the second period was now a distant memory, a fluke of some kind that was best left forgotten, and had thankfully been solved.

As the waiter came around to take his order again as the game was ending, Rainslick declined and passed over the team credit card to pay his bill. When the waiter returned, Rainslick signed the receipt and took his own copy, but noticed the waiter give him a coy look as he walked off. A phone number had been left on the back of his copy of the receipt; Rainslick smiled and pocketed it, then headed off to meet the team in the locker room to plan a proper celebration for their second victory.

*****

The Rockets celebrated late into the evening, coming together as a team and enjoying their reaffirmed camaraderie. They kept drinking to a minimum since everypony had to fly home and Crespelle wasn't legally old enough to drink—though Havoc had discreetly snuck a bit of her own beer to the younger mare—but that didn't keep anypony from having a good time.

Once celebrations were over, though, and Havoc was flying with Rainbow back towards the latter's apartment—after what had happened to Pinkie, Havoc was easily able to convince Rainbow to let her fly her home after practice and games—the pair got to talking while they were stuck flying behind some other pegasi in one of the city's many bothersome skylanes.

"Ugh!" Rainbow groaned as they turned a corner and found themselves stuck in a traffic jam; apparently a pair of pegasi up ahead had accidentally bumped into each other and now they were arguing who was at fault right in the middle of the lanes. "I swear, if there's one thing I'm looking forward to leaving behind when I head back, it's this."

"Must be nice not having traffic down in Ponyville," Havoc agreed. She shouted up at the commotion ahead: "Hey! Get out of the fucking road!" Then, back to Rainbow she said: "We need to find another route or something. Every night with this shit."

"How do you put up with it?" Rainbow asked. "You've lived your whole life in the city and dealt with this garbage. How did you do it?"

"I'll be honest, I don't know," Havoc said with a shrug. "I don't remember it ever being this bad. I don't know why but I've got the feeling I spent more of my time on the ground than in the air… and that doesn't sound like me at all. Weird, right?"

"Maybe you just grew into flying as you got older," Rainbow said with a shrug. "I know Fluttershy didn't fly much when she was younger, either, even though she was in flight school with me and everything. She liked to spend most of her time on the ground where the animals lived."

"What, like bunnies and shit?" Havoc tilted her head. "That sounds kind of… nice, actually."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

Havoc corrected her course; she had a reputation to uphold. "Nicer than this shit, I mean. I swear, though, I think this city just has beef with pegasi or something."

"I wonder if it's got anything to do with that city to the south. Hope's Point, wasn't it? Don't they have like a majority pegasus population? Twilight's been doing all kinds of research and she mentioned something like that."

"Ah, yeah, that's probably it. Would make sense to try and screw with the heads of pegasi here because all the pegasi down there are pirates or some shit." Havoc then tapped her chin. "Then again, maybe it's the other way around, and the reason there's all sorts of pegasi down south is because they can't stand dealing with this skylane shit?"

"Yeah, a real chicken/egg scenario, huh?"

The arguing ponies finally got out of the way when an NPPD pegasus flew up to clear them off, letting traffic continue as normal.

"Finally!" Havoc exclaimed.

"But really, this bites," Rainbow said as the pair kept themselves constrained to the lanes weaving through the smoggy air. "The only time we really get to fly around freely is on the skyball court, and that's not big enough to really do it for me. I need big, open skies. I haven't been able to really fly for weeks!"

"I feel you, Dash, I really do. I wish there was something I could—" She paused. "Wait. There is something I could do."

"Huh?"

Havoc gestured at the section of skylane ahead that dropped off and led towards the street level, fading until it disappeared so that pegasi could land appropriately in a designated area. "Take the next exit."

"What're you talking about?"

"Just trust me, okay? I've got a great idea, and you're gonna really dig it. I promise."

Rainbow shrugged, and the two descended down the exit back towards the street, where Havoc led her through the much less-congested sidewalks towards the southern end of the city. There weren't many skylanes in this sector, so the streets tended to be a little bit quicker to navigate, relatively speaking.

It took some time, but eventually the pair reached the edge of the Mid-South District where it ran right up against the city's outer wall, which stretched so high above them that neither one could see the top clearly. It was still easy enough to see the large, turret-based defensive gun positioned at the top, though it wasn't moving right now.

"So this is the edge of the city, huh?" Rainbow asked, putting her hoof on the wall. "Neat. Y'know, I haven't been out this far myself. Why's the wall so big?"

"It keeps those big-ass bugs outside from getting inside," Havoc said matter-of-factly. "As for the guns, well, same thing really, but also to keep out any ships from Hope's Point."

"Okay, so, spill: why are we here?"

"Glad you asked." Havoc leaned in to whisper. "See, not a lot of ponies know this, but there are ways out of the city that don't involve using the Gate or taking an airship. You just gotta know where to look, and I happen to know one of those ways out."

Rainbow's eyes widened. "Really? You know a way out of the city?"

"Shhh," Havoc said, glancing back and forth; they were the only ones here, of course, since the hundred feet or so between the wall and the city were kept open. "Don't tell anypony, okay? It's a big secret, 'cause this is how ponies used to get out of the city, back before lots of the modern stuff got put together at the Gate."

"How do you know about it then?"

Havoc blinked. "I dunno. I don't remember where I learned it, but I know about it." She shook her head, then started feeling along the wall. "There should be something… here!"

Her hoof pressed on a loose section of metal, which then opened up a hatch of sorts that led into a tunnel that stretched through the entire depth of the wall to the other side. It was dark inside, and there was a rather sinister clanking echo that Havoc didn't know the source of and couldn't identify.

Rainbow tilted her head. "Whoa, cool. Secret passage, just like in the Daring Do books." She leveled Havoc with a hard look. "There better not be any booby traps in there, Havoc, or I swear, I'm gonna—"

"Nah, don't worry about that, it's totally safe," Havoc said, unsure why she knew that with such confidence. "C'mon, this leads right out into the Wastelands."

Rainbow took a step forward, then hesitated. "Not to sound weird, but uh… aren't the Wastelands dangerous? Like you said, there's some big bugs out there or something?"

"Yeah, but those things don't hang out in the air." Havoc nudged Rainbow in the ribs. "Don't tell me you're chicken, Dash?"

Rainbow scoffed. "Shut up. I'm just making sure you're not gonna get us killed or—"

"Bawk bawk bawk," Havoc clucked, flapping her wings and bobbing her head. "Look out everypony, here comes Chicken Dash! Careful, she might lay an egg!"

"Oh yeah? Well if it's no big deal, why don't you go first?"

Havoc paled. "M-me? Why me?"

"Aww, what's the matter, afraid of the dark or something?" Rainbow pushed Havoc forward. "Go on, hotshot!"

"H-hey!"

They argued back and forth for a good minute before deciding to just go in at the same time.

Despite how dark it was in the tunnel, and how the echoing sound pounded through the walls with no source in sight, it wasn't really all that bad as far as Havoc was concerned. Just a little dark and spooky, no biggie. Just a few creepy noises, no biggie. She really wished she was allowed to light a spark right about now. When did she develop claustrophobia?

When they got to the other end of the tunnel, the pair found themselves on the outskirts of the Wastelands where it met up against the city's outer wall. Rainbow, who had never seen it before, stepped out a bit and took a look around, with Havoc right behind her.

The Wastelands were, of course, aptly named. For as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but arid badlands, just dust and dirt of an unhealthy orangish-brown hue that wasn't even remotely capable of supporting plantlife. A mountain range loomed off to the east a bit, which even from this distance was clearly of a different color, like a dull gold. But that was miles away, and just barely peeked over the horizon.

"Wow, they weren't kidding when they said this place was bad news," Rainbow said, shaking her head and scuffing her hoof in the dirt. "I mean, I always just figured everypony was exaggerating a little bit for effect or something. Yeesh." She gestured out into the distance. "And this goes on like this all the way to the coast?"

"Yup, this is pretty much the entire continent," Havoc grunted. "Apart from a few mountains and valleys, this is all you get. Unless you head like a few days west of here, then you get those big volcanoes. Big, active volcanoes, and they go all the way south and cut the Wasteland right in half."

"Whoa, cool."

"But uh, I wouldn't go that way if I were you. You'd have to be fireproof or something to make it over those." Havoc made a mental note to herself that when she got an opportunity, she'd go visit those volcanoes and see just how heatproof she actually was.

"Yeah, no kidding," Rainbow grunted. "You'd need to be a real idiot to head out that way. Or really desperate, I guess."

Despite the lack of a decent breeze, there was still enough wind that pegasi like them could fly, and so Rainbow used that to take to the air and hover for a little bit. Because the air out here was clear and clean, if a bit stale, it was actually a nice change of pace.

Havoc took to the air as well and hovered up next to Rainbow, then gave her a nudge. "So, wanna race?" She tilted her head over towards the gold-colored mountaintop. "Bet I can beat you to the mountains there."

Rainbow smirked. "Oh ho ho, you're on."

"Awesome." Havoc settled herself back on the ground in a ready position; Rainbow did the same, adjusting her goggles over her eyes. "Okay, ready? On three. One… two… three!"

The pair shot off like rockets towards the golden ridge ahead, moving faster than they ever could inside the city.

Havoc noticed that Rainbow was a bit faster than she was, as even though she was putting her all into her speed, Rainbow was nudging ahead inch by inch and still going faster every second. How Rainbow could do it, Havoc had no idea; she'd always thought of herself and her small frame as perfectly aerodynamic.

She realized right then and there that the only way she could possibly keep up with Rainbow was if she used her abilities to put some real firepower into her flight, to propel her along like a literal missile. And that was obviously out.

But still, she tried. Even though a part of her inside was shouting at her that she was weak and pathetic, another part of her was telling that Rainbow needed this more than she did, and that as awesome as it would be to win, it was okay to lose.

Of course, seeing that Rainbow was steadily getting so much faster that her flight trail was leaving rainbow-colored hues in her wake was rather surprising. All pegasi could leave such magic-like trails behind them—Havoc's was a fiery reddish-orange when she wasn't using her powers—but Rainbow's was much more striking.

What happened next shocked Havoc to her core.

Rainbow pushed forward again, gaining another burst of speed, her rainbow-colored trail practically rippling behind her. Then, without warning, Rainbow shot forward like a bullet, and Havoc felt like the world around her just exploded. There was a deafening boom… no, that wasn't good enough.

There was a deafening BOOM, and Havoc saw the world explode into a kaleidoscope of color right before her eyes. The sheer force of the sound disoriented Havoc, and she swerved completely off-course; she barely kept herself from slamming hard into the ground, bracing herself just enough so that she would just roll along instead to lessen the impact.

She did not, for the life of her, expect to not hit the ground, or, for that matter, for Rainbow to catch her. And, now that Rainbow had scooped her up and was still flying at supersonic speed, Havoc got to feel what that was like. The wind alone was buffeting her face like… well, she'd never felt anything like this before, so it was hard to describe, really. Like having her face pushed back by an invisible force.

How Rainbow could swoop around so quickly to catch Havoc mid-air while she was traveling at this speed and still maintain it seemed physically impossible, for that matter, but Havoc wasn't about to question it when she was fully capable of creating literal fire with her hooves.

A quick glance behind them gave Havoc the sight of a gigantic rainbow-colored ring expanding from the point where Rainbow had hit this incredible speed. It didn't cause any physical damage to the ground or anything, just sent dirt particles flying about like a swirling dust storm.

After a few seconds, the pair had arrived at the top of their mountain destination. Rainbow slowed down enough to come to a non-abrupt stop, setting Havoc down before swooping around to land in front of her.

Havoc, slack-jawed, just stared at her friend for a moment.

Rainbow smiled. "So, guess I win the race, huh? I mean, if you want to argue that we got here at the same time, go for it—"

"What… in the hell… was that?" Havoc asked, gesturing towards the still barely-visible rainbow ring.

"Oh, yeah, uh… sorry about that. I wasn't thinking and I kinda sent you flying—"

"Fuck that noise, I'm fine. Just tell me what that was!"

Rainbow scuffed her hoof on her chest. "Oh, that's just my patented Sonic Rainboom. Pretty neat, huh?"

"'Pretty neat'?! That was fucking awesome, dude!" Havoc exclaimed. "How'd you do that?!"

"I just… flew really fast," Rainbow said with a shrug. "It's what I do, yo. My name isn't Rainbow Dash for nothing."

"Holy shit, that's… that's the coolest thing I've ever seen," Havoc breathed, shaking her head. "You just… 'flew fast'? To go supersonic speeds?"

"Yup, that's it."

"Wow. That's… that's amazing. You're amazing. Holy shit!"

Rainbow beamed. "Hey, thanks. Y'know, you were keeping up with me for a little while there. I figured you could."

"Yeah, but…" Havoc shook her head. "I can't fly that fast. I knew you were quick, Dash, but wow."

Rainbow put her hoof on Havoc's shoulder. "Don't worry about it if you're not that fast now, squirt. I've seen you fly too, and I bet with a little practice and some dedication, you can do something just as cool. Might need to come out here to practice, though, where it's open. You can't do it in the city."

She then poked Havoc in the chest. "Just call yours something different, got it? Sonic Rainboom is my thing. And don't get cute and call it 'Sonic Rainboom Two' or something lame like that. I'll sue if I have to."

Havoc tilted her head. "You really think I could do something like that? Pull off supersonic speed, I mean?"

"Sure! I'm the fastest flyer I know, that's obvious, but you're like, second-best. A distant second," she added with a smirk. "But still, second-best. Work at it, and hey, maybe someday we'll have ourselves a real race."

Havoc nodded. "Yeah… yeah, that sounds awesome…" She sat herself on the ground on the mountaintop, just now realizing that the entire thing glittered like gold. "So, wanna head back?"

Rainbow took a seat next to Havoc and leaned back on a rock. "Nah, not yet. Let's take a little break, yeah?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Havoc said, leaning against the opposite side of the same rock.

The two sat like that for a long moment in total silence, nothing more than the faint breeze in the air to disturb the quiet. At least for a little while.

From up here on the mountaintop, she could see a lot farther out into the Wasteland. In one direction, there was the city, with its smog-covered skies and towering buildings, and that hellish orange light that poured out of Pandora Tower. In the other direction, nothing but arid, empty wastes and the occasional mountain, plus a weird reddish glow some ways east, just beyond the horizon.

She couldn't remember ever seeing the city from the outside, and frankly found the whole thing rather intimidating. She'd much rather be out here where she could fly wherever she wanted and not have to worry about smog and traffic all the time. This was really the first time she'd ever felt… free.

"Hey, Dash?" Havoc asked, keeping her eyes locked on the fiery orange sky.

"Yeah?"

"Mind if I ask you something?"

"Sure. Go for it."

Havoc paused a moment. "The other day, when I called you, y'know… that, you got really upset at me. Like, super pissed. I didn't ask then because there was a lot going on, but…" She paused again. "You don't have to tell me, but… why'd that make you so mad?"

Rainbow stayed silent for a long moment. "You really wanna know?"

"Yeah. I mean, you don't have to—"

"Nah, it's okay." Rainbow sighed. "So, when I was a filly back in flight school, there were a few punk colts in my class that used to make fun of all the other kids. They made fun of Fluttershy the most, really, and when I tried to stand up for her, yeah, they targeted me too. That's where the 'Rainbow Crash' nickname came from, by the way."

Havoc blanched. "Ugh, I tried to hit you with a name made up by a couple of little colts? Shit, I must've been off my game that day or something."

"Eh, it's not exactly hard to work with. Crash, Bash, Mash, Trash, Gash, whatever, lots of stuff rhymes, and the rhyming stuff is the catchy stuff."

Havoc slapped her forehead. "Rainbow Trash. Damn, I've been missing that one this whole time. Now I feel like an idiot."

"You don't have to feel like an idiot, Havoc. You are an idiot," Rainbow chuckled.

"Yeah? Well, at least I'm not butt-ugly like you are. If I had a face like yours, I'd sue my parents."

"Oh snap, bringing the heat today, shrimp."

They shared a brief laugh, then Rainbow sighed. "So yeah, that's where it all kinda started. Fluttershy learned to kind of keep to herself mostly, so she didn't get too much more of it as we grew up, but me, well, you know me. I just can't keep my big mouth shut."

Havoc grunted. "Please tell me you kicked these punks' asses, Dash, or I'm gonna lose all respect for you."

"There were a few scrapes here and there, yeah, and I always gave as good as I got, but that's not a big deal. I got in trouble a lot, so did they. That was just how flight school went, at least for a while. It got worse as we got older, though. When puberty hits, kids turn real mean. Y'know?"

"Ah… I think I get where you're going with this."

"So yeah, I had to deal with it more and more growing up, but it never bothered me much. Like I said: I gave as good as I got." Rainbow sighed again, and shifted so that she was sitting up. "That all kind of changed when I realized I was gay."

"How'd that happen, by the way?"

Rainbow chuckled. "Like I said, I was young and going through a lot of changes and stuff, and, uh… there was this really cute mare in my class. Firefly. I kind of asked her out, but she turned me down 'cause she liked some colt or whatever. I dealt with it. No biggie there, just typical school crap. But then, those jerks found out about it, and things kinda got… different.

"It wasn't so bad at first, y'know? Just making fun of me for getting turned down by a mare I liked, pretty simple stuff, nothing too harsh. But as we got older… it got worse. That's when they stared making fun of me because I was gay."

"What makes that so different from everything else?" Havoc asked with all the sincerity she could muster.

"Because everything else was just a bunch of crap. You and I make fun of each other for all sorts of things, right? It doesn't bother me because deep down, I know it's not true, and I know it's in good fun; even when they made fun of me for the same things, I knew it wasn't true, and that they were just a bunch of jerks that couldn't handle how cool I am.

"But when they ridiculed me because I was gay, I… I couldn't just ignore it, because they were actually insulting me. They were insulting me for who I was, something I couldn't just… change about myself, y'know?" Rainbow grunted and leaned back against the rock. "I had to deal with being 'Rainbow Dyke' for close to two years…"

Havoc frowned. "Shit, Dash… I'm sorry. I never would've said that to you if I'd known…"

"It's not your fault, dude, I didn't say anything to you to let you know. I guess I never really had to say it to anypony in a while, actually. Y'know, in Ponyville, they're a lot more open about it. There are quite a few gay couples there, actually. It's… kind of why I moved there. So I could be me, and nopony would judge me for it."

"That's where you met Pinkie, yeah?"

Rainbow sighed wistfully. "Yeah… that's where I met Pinkie…"

"That's cool. She's lucky to have an awesome fillyfriend like you are, Dash."

"Heh. Thanks." Rainbow shifted and stood up. "It's getting late, shortstack. Let's get outta here, yeah?"

Havoc stood up as well, and nodded. "Yeah, let's—" She was surprised when Rainbow gave her a hug, and froze up a bit. "Uh, h-hey, what gives?"

"Just… thanks. You're pretty cool, Havoc, and I'm glad you're my friend."

Havoc paused, then relented and returned the hug. "Me too, Dash."

Comments

[Turquoise pony]

👍

[RoboRed]

Ooooooooffff...

...That rainboom is probably gonna draw some unwanted attention.

[Teraunce]

Well that was some nice bonding.

[My name is R]

He'd been waiting eight long years for the opportunity to see his team succeed, and thanks to those two new mares, there was absolutely nothing standing in the Rockets' way of making the playoffs this year.

I love that he's not hoping to win the championship, just to qualify. I've been there as a fan. (Technically my hopes were that my team was in the top 3/4 of the championship, but close enough.)

You see, the professional teams always send their scouts to watch the Wizards play.

Hmm. Tha way he was talking, I thought the Wizards were professional. That might have been tempting. But given how well tha Rockets 'ave been doin', they don't need your help ta get noticed.

Despite the lack of a decent breeze, there was still enough wind that pegasi like them could fly,

Hold up, why would pegasi need wind to fly?