Rainbow Dash's Unstoppable Ego

by MagicS

The Eternal Furnace XIII

That very same day—only a few minutes after Rainbow Dash finished talking with Double Duty—saw Rainbow Dash and the Diesel Kings all walk together through the housing blocks all the way to the end of them. Where the Thunderbirds called home.

The Thunderbirds’ territory was much the same as any other housing block except for the fact that there were a bunch of pegasi flying around up top. They all came to a stop and just floated there, angrily glaring down at Rainbow Dash and the Diesel Kings as they strode onto their turf. But they didn’t attack or anything since the Diesel Kings were walking slowly and it didn’t look like a raid or anything. They would wait for Acid Rain to say something.

Acid Rain himself was puzzled by this turn of events, he gently let himself float down to the ground and stared with untrusting eyes at Dash and Double Duty. “What’s all this then?”

“Peace offering,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Possibility of a peace offering,” Double Duty corrected.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Right.”

“Peace? You lose your will to fight or something, Double Duty?” Acid Rain laughed and looked up at his pegasi. “Hey, everyone! The coward here is saying he doesn’t want to fight anymore!”

“I’m not!-” Double Duty tried stepping forward but was stopped by a hoof across his chest and a strong look from Rainbow Dash. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down. “I’ve just seen that there’s a better way for all of us.”

Acid Rain scowled at Rainbow Dash. “Your doing I suppose? Going to try and get us to listen to your crazy fantasies and have us all get along now too?”

“More or less,” Rainbow nodded.

“You can just go away right now then, the Thunderbirds are-”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard this all before.” Rainbow interrupted and shook her head, sighing. “Truth be told I’ve done enough talking and I wanted to have a little more fun than I’ve been having lately.”

“Oh?” Acid Rain grinned at her with a glimmer in his eyes. “So you do want to do something like fight instead?” He licked his lips. “I’m fine with that.”

Rainbow Dash snorted, knowing she’d knock him and anyone else here into next week. “No, nothing violent either. That’s what I’m trying to stop, remember?”

“So what then?” Acid Rain was getting impatient.

Rainbow Dash extended her wings and grinned. “A race.”

“Heh, part of me becoming leader of the Thunderbirds was because I’m the fastest flier around,” Acid Rain confidently stated.

“Then you shouldn’t have any problem with this, should you?” Dash asked him.

He frowned, thinking for a minute and looking back at his gang. “Well, no I suppose… but what do I get if I win? I suppose if you win you’ll want us all to start being nice again and stop fighting but what about me?”

Rainbow shrugged. “You win and I’ll join the Thunderbirds and be your totally loyal underling. I’ll never try doing something like this again.”

That sent a few murmurs and ripples of worry through the Diesel Kings—as well as put some eager grins on the Thunderbirds faces. None of them had heard about this, they just were asked to trust Rainbow Dash. Soot Mane knew she was fast but she didn’t know how well she could actually fly. And Double Duty was just generally pessimistic.

“Well I must say that does sound pretty enticing. And you’re certainly a capable pony,” Acid Rain said and then grinned. “And if nothing else it’ll be good to have you shut up.”

His Thunderbirds laughed with him and Rainbow Dash held back from rolling her eyes.

“So what’s the racecourse then? Where are we flying to?” Acid Rain asked her.

“We’re starting from here and going all the way to the first housing block and then back. Whoever makes it back here first wins,” Rainbow said.

“Fine by me, I can fly that distance in a flash,” Acid Rain extended his wings for effect and brushed any dust off them. “So when are we racing?”

“Why not right now? We’re all here, we’re all well rested, and there’s plenty of time to finish the race before that bell rings. Especially if you’re as fast as you say,” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him.

Acid Rain narrowed his eyes but then chuckled and flew up a little. “Alright then, come up here and we can get this race started!”

Rainbow Dash stretched her wings and rotated them around, cracking her joints and her neck before stretching back her whole body like a cat. Then she shot up to join him with the two of them hovering halfway between ceiling and floor and facing the exit to this housing block. “The Diesel Kings and the rest of your gang will both stay right here. If it comes down to it they can even judge who got back here first if the race is that close.”

“Fine, they’ll keep things clean and fair,” Acid Rain nodded and glanced at Dash. “You sure you don’t want to have any watching us though? Make sure neither of us does something dirty?”

“Oh I’m sure a gang leader like you wouldn’t need to do anything like that. You’d have waaaay too much pride to resort to cheating against me, right?” Rainbow flashed her pearly white teeth at him.

Acid Rain frowned and clicked his teeth. “Don’t need to cheat against you anyways. I’ll win fair and square easy.”

“Good luck,” Rainbow Dash said to him and then shouted down to the others. “Okay, everyone! We’re about to start this race so you just watch us and see who gets back here first! Winner takes all! We’ll start on the count of three but we need someone to do the count, Double Duty, can you do that?”

Double Duty nodded. “I’ll do it, just tell me when the both of you are ready.”

The Thunderbirds and Diesel Kings all gathered together on the floor, well, not together, they still stood in two distinct groups but they were at least focused on Acid Rain and Rainbow Dash and were going to let the race commence without fighting. If that’s what their leaders wanted that’s what was going to happen. Both groups were very interested in the outcome of this race and what it would mean for them, and while the Thunderbirds were confident in their leader’s impending victory not all of the Diesel Kings felt the same way about Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash looked over at Acid Rain. “Ready?”

“Of course,” he smirked.

She waved back down at Double Duty. “Start us off, dude!”

The leader of the Diesel King licked his lips in anticipation, sharing a last look with Soot Mane and the others. “Okay… one! Two!” He paused for a split second. “Three!”

Both pegasi blasted off at high speed out of the housing block and down towards the work area. Fast enough that they left a whirlwind behind that the others had to wince away from. Nobody thought they would take that long to get back and finish the race, already they were on the edge of their metaphorical seats waiting to see who would be victorious.

Except for one.

A pegasus intermingled in the group of Thunderbirds sweated nervously, looking over at Double Duty who had his eyes affixed to the huge tunnel leading out of the housing block. This pegasus ever so minutely edged towards the outside of the Thunderbirds in an attempt to discreetly get closer to Double Duty. In the feathers of his wing a crude shank was hidden, ready to be used.

---

Winning wasn’t a question. Rainbow Dash knew she was going to undoubtedly win from the very beginning before they even entered the Thunderbirds’ territory. The questions were if Acid Rain would agree to it in the first place (Yes) and if now she could make it look convincingly close while still outright beating him without anyone being able to question it (In progress). She couldn’t just crush him, that might make him upset and angry enough that he’d try and refuse and back out of the deal. She couldn’t humiliate him in front of his gang.

It had to be a close race.

It’s not like Acid Rain was slow or anything—but she was Rainbow Dash. And it was really hard to go at a speed that wasn’t super fast for her but act like it was. She had to act like she was just keeping pace with him or getting slightly ahead when in reality she could’ve probably given him a massive head start and still easily win.

“Hope you don’t think you can actually win!” Acid Rain shouted at her as they both buzzed back and forth in the air, one of them momentarily overtaking the other before the other caught up.

“Hope you don’t think this is as fast as I can go!” Rainbow Dash shouted back at him and forced a little more speed out of her wings to inch past him.

Acid Rain didn’t like that, he grit his teeth and beat his wings harder to match and then overtake her again.

Rainbow Dash raised an impressed eyebrow. He would’ve made a decent Wonderbolt. Unfortunately she still couldn’t let him win so she acted like she was getting more serious too and narrowed her eyes and faux-grit her teeth along with him. The extra burst of energy she put into her wings carried her right beside him and the two constantly wavered with their hooves never more than an inch or two ahead of the other’s.

They had just started but at this speed they were already more than halfway towards the other end of the housing blocks. In another second they would reach the end and double back to Thunderbird turf. Rainbow Dash wondered if any of the non-gang ponies in the housing blocks right now were watching, but she didn’t take her mind off the race long enough to check. They were going at a speed where the average pony would still be able to see them pretty easily. Not quite a full on blur.

Tch, I should’ve actually done this tomorrow, then I could’ve had a whole crowd watching me. Would’ve been awesome! Rainbow Dash chided herself for her lack of patience.

The two pegasi blasted into the Diesel King housing block and Dash prepared to give herself another speed boost the moment they turned around. Acid Rain was doing a good job keeping up and matching her whenever she put in a little more energy but she could tell he was at the point where he was straining. He was pushing himself to go faster than he normally did, she could see it in his expression, the way his wings moved, and the sweat on his brow. Rainbow Dash would be able to easily outpace him on the second half of the race.

Faster than the blink of an eye they were into the final housing block, unbeknownst to Rainbow Dash both Night Reader and Brilliant Star were out on their balcony and caught sight of her and Acid Rain, and they both reached the end of the tunnel shortly after that.

Both turned around and tapped the far wall with their back hooves, pushing off it and not losing any momentum as they shot back down the way they had came.

Now they were flying back through that slight curve down the housing blocks towards the very end where the Thunderbirds called home. Rainbow Dash was putting in some extra energy and Acid Rain was trying to pull out every last drop from his reserves. This was good for Rainbow Dash, she could essentially keep the same speed and maybe just go a little faster while Acid Rain naturally slowed down due to fatigue.

The win was going to look good.

She was already a foot ahead of Acid Rain before he forced all the power he had in his body into his wings to try and reach her.

“There is no way I’m letting you win!” He screamed. Which also showed his desperation and uncertainty, since it was stupid to do something that would lose him air and energy like that.

“Show me you aren’t all talk then!” Rainbow Dash retorted. Unlike him she had the energy and lungs to spare.

“Grr!” Acid Rain growled and flew beyond full speed to match Dash.

She grinned and put out a little more energy too, in just a moment the two racing pegasi would be back where they started and the race would be over. And then Rainbow Dash could start her true mission here. So long as nothing else bad happened and everyone kept their word, she’d be making some good progress to fixing this city and bringing friendship back.

---

Back at the Thunderbird housing block the single out of place pegasus (who wasn’t wearing a work jumpsuit) had slowly inched his way closer to the Diesel Kings. No one had noticed his approach just yet and Double Duty stood out there alone in front of them. It would be a challenge but he had to do this. Quickly rush there, stab him, and fly away in the confusion. Everyone was still watching the tunnel entrance and waiting for the racers to get back, this was as good a time as any.

Two more steps and he was at the front of the Thunderbirds gang. Double Duty was only a little to the right and in front of him now. He gulped to try and calm his nerves and keep from sweating while he nudged the hidden shank out from between his feathers and held it in the crook of his wing.

As fast as he could he sudden jumped out towards Double Duty with the shank aimed right at the Diesel King’s ribcage.

Soot Mane, who has standing slightly behind Double Duty, saw the pegasus lunge at her leader. She tried to jump forward too and reach her hooves out but would never be able to reach Double Duty in time. “Sir, look out!”

Double Duty heard her yell and looked just in time to see the pegasus trying to stab him. His eyes went wide but the rest of his body reacted on its own, he pivoted to the side and brought his hoof up, hitting the edge of the wing and knocking the shank from his assailants grasp right before it sliced into him. Double Duty had been in a lot of fights and he knew what to do—one hoof went around the pegasus’ neck while the other grabbed the extended wing that had been holding the knife. The Diesel King then shifted on his back hooves and lifted the pegasus, throwing him over his shoulder and onto the ground.

The pegasus grunted and rolled across the metal floor while the Diesel Kings and Thunderbirds watched in shock and confusion, none of them sure what had just happened. Soot Mane rushed to stand protectively in front of Double Duty while the leader himself glared at the attacking pegasus. The attacker got up and quickly realized he was in a bad situation, instead of doing or saying anything else he shot to wards the hallway on the side of the housing block that led to the maintenance access corridor, a few Diesel Kings starting to go after him before Double Duty stopped them.

“Stop! Stay here!” He commanded.

The ponies running after the attacker stopped and Soot Mane looked up at Double Duty too. “Sir?”

Double Duty growled and looked over at the Thunderbirds, confused as ever. “So one of you decided to try and kill me while this race was going on, is that it?”

The Thunderbirds didn’t take kindly to that accusation.

“Hey! We’re all loyal to Acid Rain and we’d never do something he didn’t want us to do! We believe in him!” A Thunderbird said and flared his wings, glaring at Double Duty.

“That’s right! He’s going to win this race anyways so why would we do that?” A mare said, stepping to the front lines to face down Double Duty.

“Liars!” The leader of the Diesel Kings shouted and he himself was being backed up by his underlings. The two gangs were close to boiling over and coming to blows.

Suddenly a rainbow blur shot out of the tunnel and landed on the metal floor, skidding to a stop in front of the two gangs and showing a victorious smirk. Not two seconds later did Acid Rain burst back into the housing block and also land, though he was much more winded and sweaty and his return was not quite so glamorous. Rainbow Dash walked up to him and gave him a respectful pat on the shoulder.

“It was a good race dude, but I win.”

Acid Rain gave her a harsh look, his lip quivered and his pupils narrowed to slits… before he sighed and his body drooped. An almost imperceptible nod was given in her direction. “So you do.” He caught his breath and stood up straight, looking to say something else to her when he finally noticed what was going on with the others. “What the?”

Rainbow Dash looked to and saw the two gangs hadn’t been paying attention to their return, so enamored with each other they were. Double Duty and Soot Mane were facing off with two pegasi volleying insults and accusations at each other while the rest of the gangs roiled behind them.

“Woah, woah, woah!” Rainbow Dash yelled and flew over, putting herself right between the two groups. “What are you guys doing?!”

“I didn’t tell any of you to start a fight with them while I raced!” Acid Rain said to his Thunderbirds as he trotted up too.

“One of them tried to kill me while you were racing!” Double Duty yelled.

“That’s not true!” The pegasus stallion pushed him.

That caused Soot Mane to jump forward, she would’ve tackled him if Rainbow Dash didn’t grab her and hold her back. “Stop it! Tell me exactly what happened!”

“It’s just how Double Duty says!” Soot Mane yelled. “One of these pegasi tried to stab him with a knife and then he flew off into the corridor, I saw him come lunging out of the Thunderbirds in the first place!”

“I don’t care who won that race, if you think I’m going to just talk to these flying rats and play nice now you’ve got another thing coming!” Double Duty snarled.

Acid Rain got on the side of his Thunderbirds too and glared at Double Duty. “You think you can just say whatever you want about my gang?”

Double Duty had a vein popping out of his neck as he walked up to Acid Rain. “You insect, I’ll-

“WAIT!” Rainbow Dash shouted at the top of her lungs, stopping everyone in their tracks. “Just wait one second, all of you!” She looked over at Double Duty. “I think I know what really happened, just a hunch, but can you tell me some things about the pegasus that attacked you?”

“What do you want to know?” He warily asked.

“Was this pegasus wearing a jumpsuit?”

Double Duty thought for a moment before realization hit him. “Uhh—no. Now that you mention it, he wasn’t.”

Soot Mane realized that too. “Yeah, you’re right, he wasn’t wearing anything.”

“And did he have a lightning bolt tattoo on his cheek like Thunderbirds are supposed to?” Dash asked.

“Uhh...” Double Duty thought again. “I can’t be sure but I don’t remember seeing one.”

“He wasn’t one of ours!” Acid Rain said. “Every single Thunderbird has that tattoo, you’d definitely remember seeing it!” He turned his cheek to show off how distinctive his own was.

“Acid Rain’s right,” Rainbow Dash nodded. “It wasn’t a Thunderbird that tried to do you in, Double Duty.”

“Then who?” He frowned.

“I didn’t just pull this hunch out of thin air,” Rainbow Dash said. “I’ve been attacked and saved Nut from Nail’s Wrenchers from another attack, and I know for sure that there’s only one other group of ponies who would want to do something like this. The Black Hoofs.”

“Silver Tooth...” Acid Rain growled.

“Those worms living it up in the old casino… are you sure?” Double Duty asked Dash.

“Positive. Who else could it be? Who else would want to keep ruining things for you gangs here and keep you fighting amongst yourselves,” she shrugged.

“You have a point,” the Diesel King said.

“They’re just the first enemy you guys should really be united against instead of fighting against each other!” Rainbow Dash said and flapped her wings so she could float above and look at all of them. “I just won this race, and I’ve helped Nail’s Wrenchers and the Diesel Kings, everyone is willing to get along and join together now, right? You all can see how much I can help! You should know that I can change things for the better in this city, so who’s with me? Let’s go take down the Black Hoofs, then Crush, and then even Resin herself!”

Acid Rain shared a look with Double Duty, and then shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t sound so bad.”

Comments

[THERDSTORYWHISPERER]

Great chapter!