A Weekend In Canterlot

by sjosten

Oh my Gosh, Oh my Gosh, Oh my Gosh

Finally, it was time. After waiting for so long, Dash was heading to the Wonderbolts’ show. Once again, she could see them soar through the air, turning and twisting along the track. Even better, Spitfire was going head to head with Surprise! Those two ripped up the track like nopony else. Watching either of them was spectacular. Watching both of them was like having an epiphany. And now, she would have skybox seats! This whole “going to Canterlot with Rarity” thing might just have been a good idea.

The Wonderbolts were starting soon, and Rarity finally had everything she needed. Salad, milkshake, souvenir Fleetfoot bobble-head, she even got Rainbow Dash a tray of nachos. All she had to do was get over to the skybox and make sure Rainbow hadn’t gotten kicked out. Fortunately, Dash was too busy talking to the pegasus in the seat next to her. Rarity squinted for a moment. Was that Fire Streak? Apparently, Rarity had gotten better seats than she thought. As Rarity sat down, Soarin walked out to announce the beginning of the show.

“Mares and Gentlecolts! As I’m sure you know, I am Soarin, fastest stallion in Equestria. Much as I’d like to go on talking about myself, we have a show to get to. Is everypony ready?”

The entire stadium erupted in cheer. Rainbow Dash was practically jumping out of her seat. Unfortunately for her, Rarity had taken a page from Applejack’s book and was biting down on Dash’s tail. Oh well, at least the show was starting. The first set of Wonderbolts were already lining up at the starting line. Wave Chill, Silver Lining, Rapidfire, and of course Surprise were all hovering in the air and waiting. A flare came out, signaling the beginning. Right off the bat, Surprise rocketed forward, leaving yellow and purple streaks behind her. The other pegasi shot after her, Rapidfire was already gaining. Silver Lining and Wave Chill were barely able to keep pace, but Rapidfire and Surprise were racing at breakneck speeds. They were rounding bends faster than the other two racers could register it. They were just blurs now, speeding along the track like Derpy on muffin day. After the fourth lap, Rapidfire started to lag. Dash should have known. Rapidfire was built for short bursts of speed, while Surprise was built to maintain her quick propulsion. Of course, she tended to coast against the walls, but she bounced back. After another few laps, Surprise was yards ahead of Rapidfire, and Silver Lining and Wave Chill didn’t have a ghost of a chance.

“And our first winner is Surprise! Congratulations Surprise, and good luck for the rest of the day. As for the rest of you, nice try, hope you have better luck with some of the other races. Now, since I have to get ready for the next race, I’m gonna hand this over to our newest winner to announce for me.”

“Really? Yippee! Alright everypony, let’s get this party started! Time to see if Soarin can prep quickly enough to have a chance against Spitfire! You only have a few minutes to place your bets, so hurry and… I’ve just been informed I’m not supposed to say that. Oops. Forget I said anything. Oh hey Manerick, what are you-“

“Good evening everypony. I regret to inform you that Surprise will be incapable of continuing the job of announcing. Instead, I will. We will begin in just a moment, so please get refreshments while you can. Thank you.”

Rarity couldn’t help but feel that Surprise reminded her of somepony. She’d have to think about it later, the next race was starting. The four racers were at the starting line already. Spitfire, Soarin, Misty Fly, and High Winds were all floating in place. Each one looked incredibly determined. The flare went off, and so did the racers. Spitfire was like a bullet out of a gun, going so fast she nearly crashed into the wall. High Winds and Soarin were powerful, but weren’t as quick to accelerate. Last, Misty Fly seemed to be hanging back just a bit and watching. She was too close to Soarin and High Winds to fall behind, but too far back to be neck-and-neck. Just then, Spitfire let loose her trademark trail of flames, causing Soarin and Misty Fly to lurch out of the way. High Winds just flew straight into the trail. Rarity’s eye was drawn to Spitfire, who was already halfway through the first lap. She was going so quickly that she was actually touching the cloud walls most of the time. She kept a rigid form that allowed her to move fluidly. Soarin was gaining on her quickly. His form was unlike any pegasus Rarity had seen. He actually moved his legs as if he were jogging, which seemed to be more for show than for any benefit. High Winds emerged from the fire trail, creating a large, orange explosion. Her movements were rapid and unpredictable, utterly confusing Misty Fly. Misty looked totally out of place among the quick and strong flyers around her. She flew through every curve with grace and fluidity, allowing her to maintain her speed. With this tactic, she was able to catch up to High Winds after a few minutes. It became apparent that neither of these two were trying to beat Spitfire and Soarin. As terrible as it sounded, they viewed it as a lost cause. Instead, they were simply trying to outdo each other. Near the end of the race, High Winds pulled to the left quickly, but Misty Fly was able to dodge. This sent High Winds head first into the cloud barrier. By then, Spitfire was already across the finish line, followed soon after by Soarin. This set Misty Fly at third place for sure, allowing the mare to start showing off. She corkscrewed through the air and made tight loops, all while maintaining her elegant form.

“So Rarity, what do you think of the Wonderbolts?”

“Hmm? Oh, they’re lovely Rainbow Dash. I never expected there were so many ways to fly around in circles.”

“Yeah, of course mine’s the best. It’s a shame there’re only six more races huh?”

“Wait, six? Rainbow how long does this event last?”

“Not nearly long enough. Rares, if you’re worried about being late to meet up with Vinyl and Octy, you shouldn’t be. Just relax and watch Spitfire tear up the track.”

“Alright everypony, your favorite dashingly handsome announcer is back! I hope you took advantage of that little break, because you won’t get another for a few more races. So, good luck to our racers, and let’s go!”

The next set was lined up. Surprise and Silver Lining were back, along with Blaze and Fleetfoot. The flare went off and only Silver lining was hanging behind. The other three were hurtling through the lanes, corkscrewing and twisting around each other. Within a minute, they had become a big blur of motion. This was what really made the Wonderbolts. They’re fast, they’re awesome, and they work together well enough that not even Fleetfoot, the smallest member, was ever knocked around during all that quick flying. The only thing that let anypony know that there were actually three pegasi in that clump of speed was the three different trails left behind. One was thick purple, one was whiter than Rarity, and the other was burning orange. Even the trails were incredibly close, the white and purple bleeding together to… heh, it looked like Rarity. Rainbow snickered at the fact. She looked over to see if Rarity had any reaction to it. Instead, the unicorn was watching intently. Her eyes were practically spinning trying to stay on the speeding racers. Dash was shocked that Rarity was paying attention to something like this. She was sure her companion would be too busy chatting with the other ponies in the skybox to actually watch the race. Rainbow was pulled back to the race as Soarin started shouting again.

“Woohoo! That’s what I’m talking about! Photo finish ending, good job you guys. And don’t worry Silver Lining, I don’t think I would have been able to keep up with them either. Looks like Spitfire needs to keep an eye on you three though, you’ll give her a run for captain. Hang on, yeah, they just got the results in, and the ranks are: Surprise, Fleetfoot, Blaze, and then Silver Lining. Congrats everypony!”

The next few races went by quickly. Finally, it was time for the final race. Four racers, the four fastest Wonderbolts, were standing at the starting line. First was Spitfire, who looked more determined than the other three combined. Her expression was similar to that of Applejack before Zap Apple harvest. To her left was Surprise, who was waving at practically everypony she could see. Next to her was Lightning Streak. He looked absolutely terrified to be racing against the three mares next to him. Finally, next to Lightning Streak, was Fleetfoot. She had been just behind Surprise and Spitfire so far, but hadn’t managed to win when either of them was racing.

“Alright everypony, this is it. The last race, the final exam, the ultimate fight of ultimate destiny, the-“

“Soarin! Get on with it, we don’t have all night!”

“Fine. Ladies and Gentlecolts, at Spitfire’s insistence, let’s get on with it!”

The second the flare was out, all four racers were flying down the track. They were evenly matched so far, no one pony falling too far behind. Spitfire was like a bullet, staying as still as possible except her wings. Surprise was spiraling and flipping, which cost her a bit of speed, but she was able to ricochet off a wall and catch back up. Lightning Streak was trying his hardest to get in the lead, and was very nearly succeeding. However, he wore himself out quickly, and fell a bit behind. Fleetfoot was swaying back and forth. She looked like she was just waiting for an opening. Unfortunately, none were existent. The racers all sped up, becoming more like waves of color than anything else. Lightning Streak fell back again quickly. He had overcompensated, and ran out of breath. As she watched the three mares speeding along the track, Rarity was amazed. The trails behind the pegasi were brilliant, spiraling and turning, each a beautiful color and each fitting with each other fantastically. She never thought that orange, white, and purple would work together, but the interweaving trails looked remarkable. Near the end of the race, Spitfire and Surprise were in the lead by a bit. They were rounding the last few corners, the finish line just inches away. Suddenly, a white streak shot between them, knocking Spitfire and Surprise into the walls.

The entire stadium was silent. Well, the entire stadium except for one mare. As soon as Fleetfoot crossed the finish line, Rarity jumped up and started cheering. After a few seconds, she realized she was the only one and sat back down. Dash was hiding her head in her hooves. Maybe the Wonderbolts would think they weren’t here together. Yeah, maybe she could convince everypony she came alone.

“The winner… is Fleetfoot. I… I didn’t see that coming. And it was Awesome!”

The stadium erupted into applause. Alright, now they were just intentionally messing with Rarity. First she’s the only one to cheer and then everypony cheers? Clearly, she still didn’t understand sports.

“Thanks Soarin. Now, I’ll try to make this short so you can all come down and get autographs. First, I’m sorry for all of you who came here to see Surprise and Spitfire race each other. I guess I messed that up a little. Second, to Spitfire and Surprise, I’ll make it up to you at the after party. Third, this is a team thing. I don’t want any of you to think of any of us as the star. We work together and that’s why we work at all. If you take one thing from my win here, it should be that my team helped me so much I was able to do this. Now, I’ll hand this back to Soarin so he can keep go back to yammering about himself.”

The next few minutes were almost as confusing as Pinkie Pie. Almost. Still, it was awesome. After the skybox had mostly cleared out, Fire Streak asked Rarity to stick around for a while. She didn’t know what was going on, but Dash did. She had heard about this kind of thing before. If one of the fans, usually a little foal, is different in some important way, like if they’re really sick or they’re just really cute or something, sometimes a Wonderbolt that is around will try to get them something special. Usually it’s an autographed poster, or a set of goggles, but sometimes it’s even cooler. Sure enough, after a few minutes, after the skybox was empty except for Dash and Rarity, Fire Streak came back in. Behind him was Fleetfoot herself.

“So, you’re the mare that jumped up first huh?”

“I, um, yes that was me.”

“Cool. I take it you were a bit less surprised that I won then the others?”

“Oh of course! I’ve seen you race before, it’s magnificent.”

“You hear that Streaks? I’m magnificent. So, I just wanted to come up and say thanks. It means a lot to know I have fans like you.”

“Thank you, that’s very kind.”

“And you must be Rainbow. Fire Streaks said you’re a big a big fan too.”

“Yes! Huge! I love you guys!”

“Awesome. Why don’t we get a picture and head down to the autograph booths?”

Well, that went even better than Rarity thought it would. Not only did Fleetfoot win, she came up and talked to Rarity. Even better, Rarity got a poster sized picture of Fleetfoot crossing the finish line. After some chatting with Lightning Streak and Mist Fly, during which Rainbow Dash mostly spoke in single syllable words, the two mares headed off to the bar to meet up with Octavia and Vinyl Scratch.