Our Time to Fly

by Shokinaw

Chapter 12: Confronting the Storm Part: 2

Chapter 12:

Confronting the Storm

Part: 2

The chariot bumped and swayed as it was pulled along by the strong-winged stallions at its front. Clouds were speeding past, as they made their way across the deep blue of a late morning sky. Pegasi were out in droves beneath them, but Rarity could not bring herself to gaze down at them over the railing. She wasn’t feeling the bright cheery morning on white fluffy clouds, not yet at least. It’d been too late an evening for that. She had worked deep into the night helping everypony set up for their shows. Now she was dreadfully tired, and feeling just a tad airsick.

Rainbow Dash, as usual, hadn’t put much thought into the idea of what a street performance of the magnitude she had suggested would entail. Her call to her fellow flight teams had rung very loud throughout the city of Cloudsdale. It resonated sharply to all the teams, registered and unregistered alike, and nearly all of them had come out to help get things ready for the flight shows that were probably taking place at that very moment. Thankfully Twilight Sparkle fell quickly into the role of organizing and supervising the crowds that showed up, but the decorating was still left mostly to Pinkie Pie and herself. Certainly they had a multitude of helpers to choose from, but all of the talents their volunteers boasted revolved around flying, and very few had any skill for presentation beyond that. With that being the case she was stuck working long after the pegasi had left. She was one of the first to arrive and the last to leave as it were.

“At least it meant there were plenty of ponies around that were good at dealing with the weather,” she sighed to herself. Being the main source of building material around, clouds would be the mainstay of props for all the air shows, and they had to gather a significant amount. So much in fact, that even though Rarity knew she was coming upon the grand coliseum it wasn’t because she could see it. The landmark had become completely obscured by aerial view, hidden from all sight by the largest gathering of clouds in a single spot she’d ever witnessed.

She hoped the flight teams were doing well. That was the most disappointing part of it all; she wouldn’t even get to see the result of all her hard work. Her body had given out on her, and rest was her punishment for having overworked herself for the past few weeks. Because of it, she’d missed most of the morning shows, and it was almost time for the sponsored teams to begin theirs. Princess Celestia had insisted on Rarity sitting in the royal balcony with her before any of this trouble began, and it wouldn’t do to be late for a royal invitation. She’d made Rainbow Dash promise to come get her to watch their team’s show, though. That was the whole reason she’d come to these games after all.

Rarity was flown in through the open ceiling of the empty stadium, spiraling down to meet the Princess herself who stood up to greet her. Philomena squawked on her perch beside her, the phoenix’s own semblance of a greeting, Rarity figured. As the chariot pulled to a stop in front of the balcony, the soldiers bowed and Rarity followed suit. Celestia treated her to a large, welcoming smile.

“Rarity, I’m happy to see you! Please, come, join me.” The Princess stepped aside and gestured to the empty seat beside her. “I’ve been seated here for hours, and while Philomena has many talents, conversation isn’t one of them.”

The firebird ruffled its feathers at the comment before being treated to a pleasant nuzzle under its chin, a trick Rarity learned having to deal with Peewee more than once. “A small price to pay to be so naturally stunning, I think.”

“Quite so,” Celestia agreed watching Rarity carefully as she retook her own seat. “You seem tired, my little pony, I missed you coming back last night. I take it to mean you have resolved the flight team’s issue?”

“If only, Princess. There was no sponsor to be found, as far as I know. In fact, I’m not even sure Rainbow Dash bothered seeking any out. I would have gladly done so, as you know, but on such short notice it was just impossible! It was her intention to find one, you understand, but she never had time to get around to it.”

“Oh dear, I was afraid of this.” Celestia frowned, staring away at the sky, “I’ve done more harm than good for little Spike and your friends. It’s too late to change things, however. The flight committee was rather vehement on this admission fee no matter how much I advised otherwise. If you believe the price for registration is high, you should see the fee for spectators. Seems only the most elite pegasi will be joining us here.”

“Well then, it’ll serve them right when the crowds cheering from the street will ring louder than the ones in this grand arena of theirs. I’m surprised at how empty this place is. I thought coaches and scouts, and certain privileged ponies were allowed to watch the Qualifiers, but we seem to be the only two here.”

“They aren’t being allowed in yet. I’m not sure what’s going on outside, but whatever it is, it has the good Captain up in arms about it all.”

“Captain? As in Shining Armour? Is he here? I’m surprised he didn’t come with me to greet Twilight yesterday.”

“No.” Celestia chuckled a bit before reminding her suddenly excited guest, “Twilight’s brother has become the prince of the Crystal Kingdom. I’m afraid faraway princes, in general, make very poor Captains of the Royal Guard. I’ve had to find another to take his place, and it has been a fairly frustrating experience.”

“Oh?” Rarity’s interest grew that much more. The search for a new guard Captain was frustrating Princess Celestia? This was just the kind of juicy gossip that she needed to wake up. “Is it not simply promoting the one that was under Shining Armour?”

Recognizing Rarity’s renewed spirit, Celestia smiled inwardly and continued. “I wish such was true. Shining Armour is a shining example of a soldier, of loyalty, and a friend. As a Captain, well, he was a Captain during a peaceful age, and perfectly suited to the role. The changeling attack has changed that. I can no longer see our position as a peaceful one. Luna and I took careful consideration of the situation and we determined that if Shining Armour and Cadence hadn’t been there to settle things with Chrysalis, we could have lost everything in a single attack.

"Even had I defeated Chrysalis myself, our armies had fallen to hers so quickly Canterlot would have still been lost to us. It was a humiliating blow to our soldiers and to Equestria’s reputation. To our neighbours we are seen as vulnerable; more vulnerable than we have looked in a millennium. We need to strengthen our defenses, and I have had the displeasure of finding a Captain that could do this. I’ve already been through several, and each tried to emulate Shining Armour instead of surpassing him. At last I believe I’ve finally found the pony for the job, but I have issue with the one I’ve chosen for the task.”

“You have an issue with your own Captain? Whatever could it be that you can’t just give him an order and have it go away?”

“He refused the position.”

“What?!” Rarity gasped, “But, isn’t being Captain of the royal guard something of an honour among soldiers? Why would a pony ever turn such a thing down?”

“He is a pegasus and he is very different from Twilight’s brother. A strict, no-nonsense pony, he believes in quality over quantity. I found him leading a small set of troops among the borderlands we share with the minotaurs. It is a border that has never had an issue in spite of the confrontational views of those on either side of it. Because of who he is used to dealing with he is used to dealing in a very straightforward manner. So please understand when I say that when asked to speak freely after he refused the promotion, he was very frank. Probably more frank than anypony should be when talking to their Princess. He told me he would not be able to give me the military I asked for because of me.”

“He did not!” Rarity was aghast. “What utterly impudent, self-righteous behaviour! Not to mention rude!”

“I know! And I ordered him to take the position on the spot. I never even gave him the choice to reject it.”

“What?! Why would you ever? I mean, as the Captain of the royal guard, you have to deal with him daily basis, do you not?”

“I do,” Celestia nodded, “and it has not been easy. But the Captains that came before him all put the blame at Shining Armour’s hooves. They thought him too soft, but then they ended up copying everything he did. The problem was never Shining Armour’s. It was mine. Shining was just following my orders, like all the Captains that followed. My new Captain and I constantly bump heads, and when he gets tired of my interference in his duties, he likes to remind me I can remove him from the position at any time I wish. It’s his fault I’ve been waiting here for hours with nothing but the scarce visit of royal guards for entertainment and between you and me, Philomena is a better conversationalist than any of them.”

“I can’t imagine working beside such a ruffian! I’m so sorry Princess, you must be at your wit’s end! What purpose could waiting here all this time possibly serve?”

“It’s a security measure. I’m not sure what’s going on outside, I’ve been hearing cheering all morning. Normally I would have left to see what it was about immediately, but I promised him I would wait and let him see. About half an hour ago, he reported that there was a gathering outside, and that it was a growing protest that was indirectly due to my presence at the Qualifiers. Well, we both know that’s do to this whole admission fee business, but a pony could easily construe it as the fault of the royal visit at its source.”

“What utter nonsense! I can tell you what it is, Princess” Rarity declared loudly as an authority on the matter. “Rainbow Dash, understandably upset about being unable to register her team, has invited all the other teams in the same situation to perform their flight shows just outside. That’s where we all were last night; setting up the street for the public entertainment. It’s no ill will against the crown, I can assure you. I’ll be joining them when the time comes, if you’ll excuse me. I’ve made arrangements to be informed when Rainbow Dash’s team is about to go on. I believe theirs will be the finale; a privilege of putting the street show together, you understand. I’m expecting a scroll from Spike at any time.”

“That explains much.” Nodding to herself, Celestia turned to listen to another wave of cheers. “And how are things with Spike?”

“He’s nervous as one could expect. He was trying to put on such a brave face too, but once you know of his deceptive tendencies it’s easy to pick them out.”

Celestia allowed herself a small chuckle, knowing exactly what Rarity was referring to. “His tail.”

“Yes, that adorably honest tail of his was fidgeting with its own spines the whole time.” She heard herself giggle, and felt her cheeks flush pink at the sound. She had meant to hold that back. “I wished to hide my being here from him so he could concentrate on his show, but the situation necessitated revealing my presence last night. I fear I’ve made things worse for him.”

“I’m sure he will do fine. There will be much more on his mind than you or I watching. But allow me to be a bit more specific. How are things between you and Spike?”

“Oh-uh, y-yes. Y-yes, of course,” Rarity stuttered. She should have known that Celestia was planning to ask about their relationship. Actually, she did expect it, or had expected it before last night’s events. With all that went on the day before, she was distracted from coming up with a pre-formed answer, and now she was caught off guard. “Things are well, I think. I mean, as well as they can be. We write to each other fairly often. Well, he writes more often than I, but it’s more because dragon flame is so much faster than the mail service.”

“I see.”An unusual frown appeared on Princess Celestia’s face. “So they are as they ever were? That is somewhat of a disappointment. I had hoped you would come back from Ponyville with an answer one way or the other.”

“An answer?” Truly puzzled over the strange statement, Rarity tried to decipher its meaning. Was there still any questions regarding Spike and herself? She had thought any answers were fairly evident at this point. “Well, we camped out together in the Everfree in the most marvelous cave you could imagine, and we had the most lovely time dancing at my farewell party. Oh! And I confronted him about his unnecessary deceptions in my letters and hiding his emotions from me. He’s become a lot more honest, allowing for the hidden bouts of nervousness here and there. I think he’s trying to hide it as much from himself as he is from me, though.”

“That’s actually quite an impressive amount of development considering he has yet to confess his feelings!” Celestia said, fairly surprised.

“Oh! That’s what you’re asking! Why, he already has, Darli-I mean, Princess, long ago.” she laughed, but still managed to correct herself with a slight nod of apology. It was good to be careful about becoming too casual with the Princess. Her usual term of endearment for ponies had almost replaced the esteemed title of royalty. It was the relief that caused her little slip-up. She had thought she missed doing something important with Spike while she was home.

“H-h-he what?” Feeling her jaw go slack, Celestia’s eyes widened at the new information.

“Yes! Yes, it was just after that whole rampage incident, you know. We were falling to our doom; he tried to confess because he was worried about dying before telling me. Well, of course, I had to stop him. I didn’t want him to think we were actually going to die. Not with Rainbow Dash so close by to save us. Even so, it was obvious then it was more than any little crush or infatuation. I’ve known exactly where I stood with him ever since.” Sighing wistfully, Rarity relived the whole event in her head quickly. “Honestly, I’m surprised he never told you.”

“I-I think I can understand why he did not say anything to me.” Lost in thought, the Princess found herself absently stroking a hoof through Philomena’s feathers. “What could he say? That he failed to confess his true feelings because you stopped him before he had the chance?”

“It wasn’t like that! I understood what he was trying to say. I suppose I’m not telling it right, but you have to believe me. Our feelings and expressions reached each other easier than words ever could.” Chewing on her lip, Rarity couldn’t’ stop from gushing now with the memory so freshly played out in her mind, only adding to her recent experiences with the gentledrake. “Oh, Princess, Spike is really so sweet. I haven’t even been able to look at a pony without comparing them to him first, and between you and I, I don’t think I could even picture myself with anypony else.”

“I see.”

The Princess’ response was filled with an uncomfortable amount of sharpness. Their close proximity suddenly seemed a little unsettling as she grew aware of it. Apparently Princess Celestia had a different outlook on the event, and Rarity was beginning to guess that it was one far different from her own.

“I must admit to some disagreement to your assessment, Rarity. It is all very well for feelings to reach out as you put it. Actions may speak louder than words, but they’re nowhere near as clear.” Turning to gaze at her guest, she saw that Rarity was looking away from her with downcast eyes. Celestia let out a heavy breath, and gently reached out to ever so slightly touch her chin. At the unfamiliar contact Rarity’s eyes flew back to catch her own. “You may not think the same way, but please understand I know personally how feelings can be mistranslated to another. I once felt a disturbingly dark emotion growing from a pony I thought I knew. I thought I had done something, I thought it was a simple disconnect between her and myself. Now when I look back and see that a simple question could have stopped it all I near fall to tears. Just asking her what was wrong? Reaching out with words when she needed it most could have prevented everything. The price for my silence was one thousand years of lost time. One thousand years that I could not spend with her.”

“Princess Luna?” The squeak came out as a question, but it wasn’t one really. She knew the answer. Rarity was more familiar than most of the tale of Nightmare Moon. “Princess, you don’t really think that Spike and I would-”

“- It is unlikely that any such thing will occur between you two.” The sharpness in her voice had faded; a touch of sadness had taken its place. “But I would do anything to get those years back to share with Luna. Someday you’ll wish for these years back with Spike as well. Don’t fall prey to the mistakes of Luna and me, my dear little pony. Make the most of what time you have. Talk to him. Tell him how you feel instead of hoping he interprets your feelings for you. Why would you wish to delay the bliss you know you’ll both have together?”

“D-delay our bliss? B-b-but Princess!” Rarity stuttered with some hesitation, “- d-do you not see? We are happy. In spite the distance. And that whole distance thing, well, Spike is attempting to resolve that this very day! W-w-what I mean to say, is what Spike and I share, i-it feels stronger than words. He simply must already know how I feel. I am certain of it!”

“You should hear yourself,” Celestia said, shaking her head with a frown, “you have said ‘our feelings have reached each other,’ or ‘know how I feel’. You are very adept at language, Rarity, but I cannot help but notice your sentences always dance around saying such a simple word as love. Why is that?”

With a heavy sigh, Rarity leaned over the balcony railing before answering, unable to hold Celestia’s steady gaze any longer, “It is simple, and that’s the problem. It is all very well to say I love him, but it’s just so easy to say that it doesn’t seem like it is anywhere near enough to express everything he means to me. Just saying it like that feels like it’s cheating ourselves somehow.”

“Does he think it would be cheating?”

“I- what?”

“Does Spike think it would be cheating?” the princess repeated. “You have thought very carefully over your own feelings on the matter, but have you considered his?”

“Well, as neither of us has ever felt any necessity to discuss it, likely he believes the same as I.” The answer tasted sour in her mouth even as she said it; an excuse more than anything else. It would never fly with a pony as proficient at seeing through spoken word as the Princess, so why even say it?

“Only likely, Rarity? This seems a fairly important subject to you both. If I were in your place, I believe I’d want to know for certain.”

Closing her eyes, she felt Celestia’s reply more than heard it. She understood now, her response was in vain hope to fool herself rather than any attempt to fool the Princess. ‘What if’s’ began to trail through her mind. What if Spike wanted to hear her say it? What if he was still doing all this to earn her approval? What if he left thinking she didn’t feel anything for him?

What if he left?

Her chest clenched at the thought. How had it come to this? She was an independent pony! A career pony! She had long ago settled on the idea that she would have to leave her friends back in Ponyville to live in Canterlot. It was one of the hardest decisions she ever had to make, but she had made it! And she had done it! She was living her dream! The elite of the elite purchased her work, her peers were forced to acknowledge her skill at her craft, and she successfully expanded her small town business into the capital city of Equestria!

Her mind fell back to a very recent memory of several beautiful streams of flowing waterfalls cascading into a rushing river, of ivy growing along rock walls, an image of a shallow cave made magnificent through intricate patterns of moss, shining quartz, and the light show reflecting off the streaming water. Then she pictured the dear Mr. Shallows working tirelessly only to look around to see he was alone. She saw herself in the serpent’s place, looking around for a dragon that simply wasn’t there to find.

She swallowed. She didn’t want to lose him. Rarity promised she would be there for her friends whenever she was needed, to take as many trips back as she could afford just to be near them as much as she could. But Spike wasn’t another pony-erm-dragon… being that she wanted to spend her life with, he was also the only one she couldn’t picture her life without. Even thinking about him warmed her heart and the thought of losing him because she had never said anything left her feeling so cold she was shivering.

Another wave of happy cheers sounded out and pulled Rarity out of the awkward silence she just realized she was treating the Princess to. Though apparently the problem had already solved itself. The Princess was occupied with somepony behind the large red curtains that shielded the balcony from the inner hallways. It was a gruff sounding voice, and the two were having a disagreement of some sort.

“I should address them! Directly! It would settle the whole matter!” her words held some heat behind them, apparently the two had been arguing quietly until that point. “My friend here has told me exactly the reasons for this resistance as you call it, and it is without a doubt nothing of the sort. You are worrying over nothing, and it is delaying my duty to my ponies. It is my fault the teams were left out there. My addressing the situation will resolve this.”

“With all due respect your Highness,” a very gruff sounding voice retorted in a tone that seemed to show no respect at all, “it’s like you said. The problem out there stems indirectly from your presence here. Even if almost every pony out there does not blame you, all it takes is one that does and is crazy enough to try something to create a panic! The whole area would be completely uncontrolled and insecure without a show of force that we do not wish to make!”

“Then I should just sit here on my flank? This is wrong and something needs to be done about it. What do you suggest I do, Captain?”

“Fixing the situation is your job. My job is to keep you and them safe. I’m telling you what needs to be done to assure that. Whatever you decide to do, it needs to take place in this coliseum, otherwise you compromise your own safety and with it, Equestria’s!” The sound of angry trotting followed the words, faded down the hallway. Rarity had never seen the Princess so frustrated before, even when talking to Discord. Perhaps it was because she didn’t have to deal with Discord every day.

“Whatever possessed me to give him the position of Captain of the Royal Guards?! I should have him court-martialed! It would suit that stubborn old mule of a pony right!”

“Princess?” It felt very strange to see the always stately alicorn rant and fume to herself; as if she was witnessing something very personal.

Almost instantly the frustration fell away from Celestia’s face as she was reminded she wasn’t alone. She coughed to clear her throat as she collected herself, “ahem, I apologize you had to see that, Rarity. I fear I have grown more irate with the new Captain around.”

“Think nothing of it! Why I’ve never heard anypony acting so insolent before a Princess! I would probably be absolutely livid were I you. I’ve half a mind to suggest we go out there unannounced just to spite the stallion.”

“Unfortunately, I cannot.” Celestia laughed, feeling a little better to have somepony there to vent with. “I believe the most irritable thing about him isn’t so much his brazen bluntness. Rather, it’s that I often find him correct. It is indeed not his place to tell me how to run a kingdom, nor is it his fault that I find myself in this situation.”

She cast a quick glance to one of the guards nearby who nodded and quickly left. Rarity watched the curious exchange and frowned, not quite certain what had just happened.

“He’s gone to get me a messenger to contact the true source of all this trouble.” The Princess answered her unspoken question. “That committee is responsible for this mess, and I believe I shall direct my mood towards a pony or two that deserves it.”

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“Still a ways to go before our turn,” Rainbow Dash stated while peeking out from behind the tent flap. She was speaking of the show taking place outside. It was the first break her team had since the show began that morning. They had been helping to set up props, distribute clouds, and set up stunts for the other shows for most of the event. After getting a feel for what was needed Twilight Sparkle arranged to have a tent readied so they could prepare, and began getting other teams that had already had their turn in the skies take over prop duty.

Seeing somepony coming their way, she ducked back inside the tent, quickly hoping they missed her, nearly knocking over Peewee’s blanket-covered cage as she did, causing an annoyed squawk from the phoenix. She steadied the cage muttering a quick apology. Everypony had been coming up to thank her or shake her hoof, and while normally Rainbow Dash would be happy to bask in the praise of a fan, today she just didn’t have the time. She turned around to face her fledglings.

“How’s it going?”

Scootaloo stood on top of Spike’s back, and was stretching a strap to its straining point, tightening it around his gut enough to leave his eyes bulging out.

“Scoot! I still need-” he choked out quickly, “-to breathe! Ugh!”

Grinning mischievously, she gave an extra tug before hopping down to inspect her work. Spike fixed her with a flat look as he loosened the strap a little and stood up as straight as the tent would allow. “Well, how do I look?”

The two pegasi circled around the dragon, looking him up and down. It had taken a good half hour to finally put each piece on, but now the armour Rarity had the smith put together for him seemed sleek, and amazingly form-fitting considering they were plates strung together. Even his spines had been taken into account, and the blackened bulk that lined over them bore a resemblance to an overly thick spinal column that ran its way right down to the tip of his tail where the metal covering his spade formed into a longer pointed edge. Each rise over his spines had a dark red ruby embedded in either side of its bump. The only really bulky part of the suit of armour hung along his sides where there were large rectangular holes that curved down to avoid showing his scales but still gave them plenty of air. Lastly the helmet he wore covered over his largest spines with a bulk of metal that was shaped after the plates that one could find along the back of a stegosaurus, and it had an elongated snout far outreaching his own, curved downwards into a dangerous looking beak that had ‘teeth’ running along its edge. It covered only the top of his eyes with a slanted plate that imitated a look of anger, his lower jaw was completely exposed outside of a couple straps holding it in place.

All in all Spike looked outright dangerous and evil. Scootaloo and Dash smiled at each other before chiming in together: “It’s perfect!”

“Rarity put a lot of thought into this!” Dash continued, tapping the bulk along the sides, “look, she even put in ventilation so your heat will still all be directed towards your wings.”

“No kidding!” Scootaloo agreed quickly, “getting your spines in the holes along your back was a tight fit, but it all seemed to work. Can you move alright?”

“Oh yeah, my spines are flexible, so that isn’t a problem.” He moved around and swished his tail awkwardly, getting used to the weight. “It’s kind of weird though. There’s a lot more metal than the stuff we got from the scrapyard but it feels lighter!”

“It’s more spread out,” Dash answered running a hoof down his tail along the sleek plates, “less focus all on your shoulders and back like the scrap was. How’s the fire breath? The helmet isn’t blocking your snout, is it?”

A quick puff of flame was his reply. He instantly regretted it when a scorch mark was left on the tent’s ceiling with a small flicker of green flame beginning to grow before he reached up and pinched it out. “Heh, oops?”

Scootaloo snorted and Dash smirked, “Looks like it’s working fine. Leave it to Rarity to cook up something like that. Looks like we’re all ready to go, but we still have some time. How about we go get you two in line for your flight licenses while we wait?”

“Yeah!” Spike’s wings flew open in sudden eagerness, tangling himself in the tent as they did. Dash and Scootaloo laughed as they quickly stepped out of his way and took to the air, gently lifting up the self-made net he had managed to tangle himself in.

“Excited much?” Rainbow Dash laughed in between tugging him free of the tent. Her laughter was echoed by the crowd that had gathered around the fairground. Spike’s helmet had become lopsided and was half hanging off. His cheeks burned and all the villainous looking armour in the world couldn’t disguise his embarrassment, only making the sight of him more comical for its contrast. Instead of answering he did his best to slip off unnoticed, a feat made utterly impossible with his costume. His expression changed the instant he entered the large coliseum archway. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were right on his heels still giggling about the scene, until Scootaloo noticed what had grabbed his attention.

Inside, the lobby had put the Olympian Inn to shame, and Spike could quickly tell that the Inn’s inspiration had come from this amazing feat of architecture. Adult dragons could have walked upright through these passages without any threat of hitting their heads! The murals portrayed not just the champions of pegasi in pictures that lined the walls, but the course of their entire adventures were carved into the walls, the pillars, even the floors played its part in detailing battle scenes from ages past that had drifted off into myths, or skyscapes of dangerous flight paths and maps trailed by renowned pegasi explorers. All thoughts of embarrassment were forgotten in the presence of this monument to champions and heroes.

“Woah!” All the knowledge he had gleaned from his years as a scribe under the tutelage of Princess Celestia and her protégé allowed Spike to put his thoughts into words.

“Wow,” agreed Scootaloo, mimicking his thoughts as she joined him in standing awe of the tapestries, murals, and sculptures surrounding them. They were truly standing among legends here. Her tail swished back and forth, inspiration and confidence flowed through her from the nose of her muzzle to the tip of her tail. Excited chills ran up and down her fur as the idea dawned on her more and more. “We were going to hold our show here?”

“We still will, Scootaloo,” Dash promised, determination clear in her voice, “maybe not yet, but we will. Come on, guys, we have to get in the line.” Leading the way over to the lengthy crowds while the fledglings took in the sights, Rainbow Dash’s mood was something altogether different. It felt more like all these heroes were challenging her to do more than she had, but her well of ideas had run dry a while ago. She was already doing everything she could think of to get them into the official games. In fact she made so many contacts over their impromptu air shows outside, that she probably would never have trouble sponsoring her team again, but the key word there was again. She’d protested this forced sponsorship to clerks, committees, and even royalty! Still her team was left on the sidelines.

It had all come down to a waiting game. All hopes pinned on some random happenstance that her efforts-no- her team’s efforts hadn’t been in vain; that somepony somewhere would see them stuck in this line up or in the shows outside and give them their fair chance. So there they stood, waiting for that last second to tick by that would deny their entry for a certainty, or for some opportunity to pop up as per Pinkie Pie’s prediction. Rainbow Dash was trying to keep their hopes up, trying to boost morale by not giving up until the end. She didn’t want to come this far only to be failing the challenge in the eyes of the heroes all around her.

“Rainbow Dash?”

An unfamiliar voice rang out her name among the crowds, and she looked around to see where it came from, expecting to see another fan with a pen and a picture. What she seen instead surprised her. It was a large pegasus, a very large pegasus, dressed in the royal armour and colours. He wasn’t the biggest she’d ever seen, that honour belonged to that ugly looking fella back home, but this one would give Applejack’s brother a run for his bits in size. The way he carried himself, the way he stood up straight, the way his pale orange fur was combed back, the look in his dark brown eyes, and even just hearing the sound of her name in his deep voice, everything about him said stern. He kind of reminded her of somepony she knew, but she couldn’t quite put her hoof on who it could be.

“Rainbow Dash?” He tried again, looking for some form of unneeded confirmation as he walked closer. With her mane colours there was no other pegasus she could be mistaken for outside of maybe her dad.

“Who wants to know?” she asked, crossing her legs and leaning casually to one side, staring up at the big guard. She felt her fur bristling, something about this guy was putting her on edge.

He glared at her as he understood he wasn’t going to get a straight answer, obviously feeling she was being rude. “The Racing Committee would like to address you privately.”

“Yeah?” her ears perked up until she remembered her last private discussion with a committee member. “Think you could clarify why?”

“Concern over the official competition,” he answered shortly. “They feel your display outside has gone on long enough. The real games are about to start and it’s generally felt that that it would better for all involved to end this fiasco before it detracts from the official teams.”

“Hey! They created this fiasco, pal! I know for a fact the Princess was against this whole sponsor thing, so it sure wasn’t her idea! That means it was purely their decisions that lead to this.” Any sense of casualness she might have been trying to portray was left behind in a flash as she quickly got up in his face. “And just so you know, the games being held out there are just as real as any they put on in here!”

“It was not my intention to upset you. I have no part in the committee. I’m just relaying their message. But your scene playing outside has created a security concern to the Princess, and that makes it my problem.” The guard did not back off, instead he leaned forward to stare her straight in the eye as he continued, “this debacle needs to end, and it needs to end before the official games start. Like it or not, you are the reason this is occurring that means you have to declare your terms, and discuss this without causing a scene. This has become your responsibility.”

“If you hadn’t noticed there’s already a scene. If you really want to end this, get the committee to allow every fledgling into the games like it should have been all along! There are athletes out there that worked hard to put a show together, and they’re not about to leave without their turn to shine! None of us will!”

“You’re asking the impossible. Even if they were open to the idea, there’s no way to implement and organize it in less than an hour.”

“Not my problem,” Dash smirked.

“It will be,” the guard snarled, “because if this is not resolved I will be shutting down both the official and nonofficial games; by force if I have to.”

“What?” Her voice squeaked out, that was not the answer she was expecting.

“I told you, this mess has become a security concern to Princess Celestia. I have her orders to shut down the entire event if I believe it necessary. Her orders were very clear and put in no uncertain terms to the committee. They have decided that canceling the event is not what they were hoping to achieve, and so have become very amiable to the idea of coming to agreeable terms with you to prevent this from happening. So come up with those agreeable terms.”

With the new information in hoof, she looked back to Spike and Scootaloo who wore smiles as bright as day. It was obvious they were thinking that this was their chance. But this had become more than about their team. It was also about all of the ponies that shook her hoof this morning, about the pegasi that helped put everything together through the night, and it was about all of the flight teams that were left out of their day to shine. Considering her newfound position carefully for a few moments, Rainbow Dash sucked in a deep breath to steady her nerves. Wheeling around to face the large pegasus once more, she began, “Okay, I’m willing to listen, but they’ll have to come out here. I ain’t the kind of pony that makes deals behind closed doors, and I don’t think anypony outside would be willing to accept that kinda thing anyway.”

He arched an eyebrow, and Dash thought she caught a hint of a smile. “Very well, I’ll inform them to select a representative.” With a nod, he trotted off quickly into the crowds towards the main offices.

“Is this it? Do you think we’ll get in?” Scootaloo asked in a conspiratorial whisper, creeping up to her Captain’s side.

“Either that or we’re shut down completely by the sounds of it,” she answered openly. “I can’t believe it came to this. I have no idea what I’m supposed to say that can fix this mess in an hour.”

“Can’t you just say that?” queried Spike as he played with tightening the helmet. Turned out the armour hid his features well enough that the pegasi around were thinking it was a much more than it was; that he was just a pegasus in an elaborate dragon costume. He was still receiving stares but their gazes no longer held any fear, and he enjoyed not having apprehensive ponies around him for the first time in two days.

“Say what? Shut it down because we need more time?” Dash frowned, turning back to look at him.

“Well, yeah, kinda. I mean, it’d give us some more time to train and that’s never bad, but more importantly it’d give us more time to figure out how to deal with all this. They’re your terms, so if you think it can’t be done in time; just ask for more time. Like a couple more days or so to work everything out.”

Giving Spike a half-smile, Dash nodded in thought. A couple more training days, more time to deal with this whole sponsor dilemma, and it might just satisfy everypony. The delay wouldn’t be that bad, not with the inns all booked for the teams already. She was just beginning to think the idea had merit when she caught sight of a golden-armoured troop of guards escorting three important looking ponies through the herds gathered in lines. Her old coach was numbered among them, but she didn’t recognize the other two. They didn’t look at all like Feather Guide, more like a business pony and a lawyer type. One was a mare dressed in a dull-looking gray suit and tie with her mane tied into a tight bun. The other was a pegasus stallion who wore an opened sportcoat and a set of dark sunglasses even though they were indoors. His black mane was slicked back, and he looked altogether greasy.

The guards quickly established a small perimeter around them and Rainbow Dash, even insisting Scootaloo and Spike be pushed back.

“I suppose you are the figurehead of this little issue then?” Her voice had a nasal sound to it as the mare of the group of strangers stepped forward.

“Little issue?” Dash blinked and looked to the guard she was talking to earlier and then over to Feather Guide who averted his gaze. She expected him to be the spokespony for the committee, but he was standing far behind the other two, as if he didn’t expect to be saying anything at all. “I’m pretty sure this has gone beyond being a little issue or you guys wouldn’t even be here.”

“Purely a problem with perspective,” she waved a very well-polished hoof dismissively. “For a small town pony like yourself, it may very well be the largest scale endeavor you’ve ever been a part of. We handle these kinds of petty disputes in our daily affairs.”

“If your minor issues end up shutting down large portions of major city centers, you guys must foul up real bad for the major ones. What do you do? Toss rocks at minotaurs and insult their mothers from the border walls? Or maybe cause buffalo stampedes in downtown Canterlot?” The mare looked nonplussed at her reply, but Dash was surprised to hear a snicker sneak its way out of Feather Guide’s direction. It was quickly followed by a cough when the business stallion at his side elbowed him. The stallion then smiled the widest, most fake smile Dash ever had the misfortune to bear witness to when he ducked his way between the two mares.

“Ladies, ladies! Leave the animosity aside, let’s focus on our similarities not our differences! That’s how disagreements of this magnitude are settled, after all.” He spoke fast, too fast for Dash’s liking, and too friendly-sounding. “The largest thing we have in common, is of course the desire to see the show go off without a hitch, so let’s talk about ways we can make that happen! So what do you say Miss Rainbow Smash? What is it we can do for you to make this all go away?”

“It’s Rainbow Dash! And what you can do for me is get rid of this whole sponsorship thing you three put together!”

“Rainbow! Baby! Let’s not overreact here!” He slipped a foreleg around her neck, leaving her feeling disgusted. “We didn’t just toss the sponsorship ideas out there without thinking. We’ve been running on the coattails of the government for far too long. Sponsorship gets us out from under the royal hoof and into the private sector! That’s good for every pegasus. It means more races, more kinds of races, different categories, and even allows more entries for pegasi without credentials to enter into the races; a problem I know you’re personally aware of?” He finished with what she was sure was a wink under those sunglasses.

She stepped back to free herself from his arm and scowled, “Except it hangs more athletes out to dry than it helps! You want private races, fine! But make your own; don’t try to steal what the kingdom already puts on. Those are ours, and ponies won’t stand for you trying to take it from them.”

“The committee has been left in control of kingdom-run and private races alike.” The mare interrupted, “Legally we are allowed to implement administration and registration fees however we feel will most benefit our athletes-”

“-you mean yourselves! How much of a cut are you getting out of this pay hike compared to the athletes?”

“Ladies! Please, let’s keep focus on the here and now,” the slick-haired stallion nervously suggested, conveniently ignoring that he was the one that had brought up future events. “Rainbow Bash, what can we do to work with you?”

“Dash! It’s Rainbow Dash! And you can let everypony into these games, obviously.”

“Ridiculous, there’s not enough time to change the schedules! And the sponsors have already paid their team’s admission. We are contractually obligated to keep to this schedule.” The suit and tie stated sharply.

“Then just put a show on for another day for flight teams that don’t have sponsorship!”

“Woah there, let’s not just spring that on us. What you’re talking about is a non-profit show. Rainbow, can I call you Rainbow? Rainbow, we’d lose everything we made today supporting a second booking! There has to be another way.”

“Yeah, profits you shouldn’t have been making in the first place. If there’s another way I don’t know it. You asked what you could do for me, and I told you.”

“But I-” The stallion in sports coat was stopped by the same royal guard Dash was talking to before.

“I suggest you consider that idea carefully, Sir,” The guard said in a matter-of-fact tone, “you’re running out of time before I shut this place down. If that happens, you’ll be breaking those big money-making contracts you made. You’ll be lucky to get away with breaking even if that happens.”

The business stallion looked to the mare, sweat starting to dot his brow. “Lofty Heights?”

“It-it would be the optimal alternative, Mr. Deals.” she admitted, hesitating only momentarily as she straightened a tie that was already rigidly straight.

“Well would you look at the time?” Deals quickly checked his fur where there was no watch, before snatching Dash’s hoof and quickly shaking it, “Sounds like we have found an arrangement! We’ll hold our show today and book a day next week for yours! I can see it now! Your name in lights above it all: ‘The Free Flight Show as presented by Rainbow Mash’!”

“It’s Dash! Captain at that Mr. Eels.” She smirked, letting him shake her hoof.

“It’s Deals, actually, Shady Deals. But please, no formalities between friends! Call me Shady.” He tipped his shades a bit lower to give her wink she could actually see before turning to head back towards a familiar face he must have seen in the crowd. Some familiar brown coated pony with moneybags on his flank. He called back to Dash over his shoulder, “have your ponies talk to my ponies, we’ll do lunch and get this whole thing smoothed over.”

“What? Where are you going? This isn’t over!” Lofty shouted as she watched his retreating form, “we haven’t even voted yet!”

“Nuance! If there’s no bits, there’s no me, and Feather Guide was against the idea from the start. A vote would just be delaying what everypony knows.”

She gave a quick glance at the old coach who silently nodded his agreement.

Lofty Heights stood still watching Shady go and the coach step away from the conversation to discuss some further security matters with the guard. She turned back to glare at Rainbow Dash, “I hope you’re proud of yourself.”

“Yeah, I actually am, kinda.” She slyly smiled back.

“Really? This is what you really wanted for Cloudsdale? To continue to let noponies into these hallowed halls? This is a place for heroes! It could have been a symbol of our very best and brightest! Now it will continue to be a farce, letting frightened, small town ponies trot all over our proudest memories!”

“Hey! Everypony has a chance to be great if they work at it!”

“Most certainly true, but it’s not the same chance, Rainbow Dash. In fact the percentile chance of a pony from nowhere has been a dismal 2.35%. Furthermore, our surveys have concluded that the main reason pegasi from small towns fail isn’t lack of skill or talent, but the inability to access the training, funds, and equipment the larger cities can provide. The best thing we can do then is to strongly encourage pegasi seeking the national stage to move to an area with the facilities necessary to supplement their ambitions.”

“Equipment? Have you ever even left these clouds, lady? No funding is ever going to supply a better training grounds than what Equestria itself provided us!” Dash snapped back, “Money will never be what makes a champion! With enough heart, guts, and training your wings alone will take you anywhere you want to go!”

“You’re so naïve.” Lofty rolled her eyes as her frustration broke through her calm façade, “Money is what separates professionals from amateurs. In the world of the best, you cannot afford to give an edge to your competitors, and not having the top sports equipment at your disposal is giving them that edge! If you can’t even provide your team with the basic necessity of funding, then you shouldn’t have a team to begin with!”

“I think we’re done here.” Dash growled out, not wanting anything more than to have this conversation over with, “I’ll be looking forward to our new game day.”

“Oh, you’ll get your day. And so will every other country bumpkin so-called Flight Team Captain! But no other pony! If your teams can’t provide us the money necessary for advertising, booking hotels, or other necessities then don’t expect the committee to pay the bill for you! Go ahead and put on your little flight show, but there’ll be nopony there to watch and you can sleep in the streets for all we care. This whole fiasco of yours is just wasting everypony’s time! Everypony with a brain is going to be able to tell the difference between a grand showing of athletes and your amateur hour! These fees and separate dates will filter quality goods from backwater boonies like your precious, little Ponyville.”

“EXCUSE ME?!” An offended scream called out, even over the noise of the herd of ponies behind the perimeter the guards had made, completely drowning out the angry retort Rainbow Dash was about to lash back with. Shoving her father and Shady Deals aside as she stormed up to Lofty Heights, an absolutely livid Diamond Tiara pushed her way pass the two old friends before the guards managed to block her path just a couple feet from where Lofty Heights stood. Even though she appeared barely out of her filly years, Lofty was suddenly very glad of the Captain’s insistence on security. “What did you just say about Ponyville?!”

Backing off slightly she quickly looked to the guard now, “Captain! They’re getting through! Could you do something about this?”

“One filly against two armed guards? Our part is already being played perfectly well here. We’re here to keep you safe, not to stop ponies from asking questions.”

“What did you say about Ponyville?” Diamond Tiara repeated after seeing she wasn’t being turned away. Her body was shaking with rage and its heat left her face feeling flushed and hot with sweat. “I must have heard you wrong!”

Letting loose a low growl at the royal guard, Lofty Heights cleared her throat and answered this new arrival calmly, “I meant no offense. You look like an educated pony. I’m sure you must understand why a tiny, earth pony village is simply no place for a nationally famed icon of flight to be trained.”

“You mean other than the one that already resides there?” Tiara asked grinding her teeth together while gesturing towards Rainbow Dash who was still gaping in surprise at who had come to her defense.

“Please, she’s not actually from Ponyville. Rainbow Dash was trained here, in Cloudsdale; a perfectly respectable place for our grand champion fliers.”

“So you’re just going to conveniently ignore nearly two decades she put into training in Ponyville because she was born here?!”

“Come now, do you really believe that some small town’s one and only flight team entry is going to be appropriate competition for the seven of flight teams Cloudsdale alone is sponsoring? Let alone the teams from other cities like Vanhoover, Canterlot, and Manehatten?” Lofty Heights explained in the most sympathetic voice she could manage in attempt to calm the pony down. “Our new polices will save small towns like yours the humiliation of being compared to bigger and better flight teams. It is simply logical that they should not be considered in the same league. They’re purely small time.”

“It seems to me that your logic has a few convenient jumps in it.” Tiara snapped back as she walked around the guard over to Rainbow Dash. It wasn’t supposed to be this way! Her plan had all come together so perfectly! So what if the Princess was Spike’s adopted mother? It hadn’t helped the team any. She also could have done without the public berating that Rainbow Dash gave her the night before. The whole point of this was to get in good with the elements of harmony, not get them angry with her. It was a problem, but one that could have been dealt with in time. All that mattered was that they had no entry into the games, just as her research predicted. Now all her plans were being ruined. All ruined because of this mare!

“It doesn’t sound like you’re looking to help small towns like mine. No, it actually sounds more like you’re scared of our flight teams.”

“Scared? Of your flight team? Preposterous!”

“Not as preposterous as you’d have us believe, I think.”

In the last three months Diamond Tiara had become somewhat of an expert on everything about the Fledgling Flier Competition and the Racing Committee. It was easy to predict exactly the stance they would take when it came to Rainbow Dash. Like most things in life, it was all about following the bits. Not the bits from the sponsorship fee, no, a much deeper well than that. A well they literally couldn’t afford to let run dry, and Rainbow Dash was an unknowing threat to that well.

If only this pony hadn’t been such a big- a big-! Ponyfeathers! There were no words terrible enough to describe her! She had hit her right in her hometown pride. Small time?! Country bumpkins?! Indeed! It was all Tiara could do not to charge Lofty Heights down and beat her with a wad of cash as big the pony’s head! Why did this numbskull have to interfere? There was a bet to win, but this stupid pony happened! She had called into question Ponyville’s honour, and no matter how much effort Diamond Tiara had put into winning Scootaloo’s bet, it was one call her pride had to answer. It was her pride versus victory, and as far as she was concerned, a victory without your pride wasn’t a victory at all.

“You see, I’ve been looking into pegasi races and I noticed a trend. All this ‘best training equipment’ talk you keep spouting on about is something the Racing Committee has invested a large amount of bits into.”

“Every piece of equipment bought makes you more money, and honestly it’s an admirable business scheme if I’ve ever seen one. There was only ever one problem with it. The only thing a professional flier wears during a match is a flight suit.”

“Are you going somewhere with this?” Lofty Heights was beginning to lose her patience. Who even was this brat? And why did she have to answer to her?!

“Well, it just seemed odd that you’d introduce a policy like this that actually decreases your profit margin. I mean, the less flight teams there are, the less training equipment ponies will buy. Such a savvy business pony as Shady Deals would never agree to it unless there was risk of much larger losses. That’s when Rainbow Dash flies onto the scene. She’s a pegasus that made it big without a single piece of your expensive training gear. You had to shut her out of competitions. It was a ‘just in case’ measure, but a very necessary one. If she had discovered a method to train for the top spots without your expensive equipment, and was not just willing to share that method, but also teach it to others the committee’s largest financial investment had a real chance of taking the plunge.”

“We are not afraid of her! We barely knew her name before the Young Flier Games, and she’s done absolutely nothing since. Our new policy was for increasing the reputation of the league as a whole, and that’s all!”

“Barely knew her? Even though one of the committee members is famous for being her coach?” An accusatory hoof pointed at Feather Guide left him stepping back, a little shaken about being abruptly brought into the conversation. “A coach, I might add, she outdid during her flight camp years, publicly humiliating him and her associated flight school even when she was a filly new to her cutie mark! But isn’t it strange that you’re right? Even though she had all that latent talent at such a young age, nopony ever heard of her again until the free-to-join Best Young Fliers Competition. All of her attempts to join previous stunt shows had been conveniently blocked through some means or another! But I’m sure it had nothing to do with her moving to Ponyville to train when she was still a filly.”

There was a murmur humming through the gathering crowds, a disgruntled one. Rainbow Dash was trapped into a stunned silence. It couldn’t be- that couldn’t have been the actual reason behind her struggles to get noticed! Could it?

“No! No, she’s wrong! It wasn’t like that!” Flustered, Lofty Heights whipped her head back and forth, trying to correct the whispered accusations from the crowd. “Really, we hadn’t heard of her at all until the Young Fliers Competition! Feather Guide never even mentioned her before! Our new sponsorship policy is purely for paying for advertising, and quality of life for athletes of our league! That’s all! It’s there to help pegasi athletes improve themselves to a new professional standard!”

Finally, Diamond Tiara spotted the familiar gray mane bobbing through the crowd that she’d been straining to see since she had started talking. A large smile and a telling wink from beneath large glasses told her Silver Spoon had completed her task. It was time to end this farce. Her nerves had calmed now, she’d turned it into a conversation about business, and away from hometown pride. She could work with that, she knew business. She knew it very well.

“If that’s true, then why don’t you prove it?”

“Prove it?!”

“Your excuse for this sponsorship is to stop small towns from humiliating themselves up against big city teams isn’t that right? So let’s make a bet. Let’s say that if any of Cloudsdale’s Flight Teams score better than Ponyville’s, Rainbow Dash will have to step down from this whole uprising your new policy incited. Without her, that show outside probably would have never gotten off the ground- or clouds- whatever. That is why you came to her? To put it to a stop, am I right?”

“What?!” Dash near-screeched and grabbed Diamond Tiara by the shoulders before forcefully turning the young mare to face her. . “What are you doing? Don’t bring me into this you crazy filly! Those pegasi out there are counting on me!”

“Don’t worry,” Tiara whispered back, giving her a confident smile, “I have her right where I want her!”

“Right where you want her? You’re trying to bet my good name away! If this is revenge for what I said last night I strongly advise you to shut your mouth! I am not going to abandon those ponies out there!”

“You don’t have to! Look, you’ve already got the ball rolling. They’re not going to stop just because you backed down, are they? They’ll keep that movement going all on their own. Especially if they know about this public bet! Besides, what do you have to worry about? Scootaloo thinks you’re going to take first place,” Tiara made a quick glance towards the attentive young pegasus peeking around the guard’s leg in front of her, “or does your team not have what it takes to beat a couple high class teams? Do you know something she doesn’t?”

Rainbow Dash followed her gaze, staring into the pair of hopeful eyes. There wasn’t anything Rainbow Dash knew that Scootaloo didn’t. In spite of all odds against them, her protégé was still hanging on to the faith that they would fly away from all this with the number one trophy. Still, Diamond Tiara was not news to her. The crafty mare was playing at something here, and she wanted to know what. “You better tell me exactly what this is about, or this stops right here, right now.”

“It’s about us, okay? It’s about Ponyville! It’s my town as much as it is yours, more than it is yours.” A determined look crossed Tiara’s features, a look Dash was all too familiar with. It was the same look her fledglings wore every day of their training. It was surprising to see it worn by this snobby, pink pony known for ridiculing any that didn’t meet her standards of how a pony should be.

“My great grandfather helped found it by selling jams in a stall! My grandfather built a new set of tracks to help Ponyville to sell apples, crops, and everything else Ponyville produces to our neighbouring cities and towns! My father works everyday to expand its reaches, to export our goods all over Equestria! Ponyville is my whole family’s work, and it`s going to be mine too someday! That stuffy pony just insulted my family’s work! And now she’s telling everypony that my town’s not good enough to even apply for a spot among them? Let me do this. Let me do this so that we can make sure Ponyville and other towns like us won’t ever be left out of the air shows just because somepony felt like we didn’t belong there.”

They were strong words, and they weren’t lies. The Rich family had put as much work into building their hometown as the Apple family. Compared to a pony with generations of family working to build a town, she was just some pegasus that stumbled her way into the streets in her teens. It didn’t take an egghead to know which would have more hometown pride. Hesitating only a moment, Rainbow Dash took a step back. “Don’t make me regret this.”

“Since the only way to have any regrets would be to lose, any regrets you have will be on your own head,” Tiara sniffed, flipping her hair as she stuck her nose in the air. “But then if you win, you’ll win big. That is how you said you liked things, isn’t it? Even your failures are better than my victories?”

Laughing, Dash drew away shaking her head, “you’re kind of crazy, you know that? I admire that in a pony.”

“Just don’t make me regret what I’m about to do.” Diamond Tiara turned around to look Lofty Heights in the eye. “Rainbow Dash has agreed to our end of the bargain. If her team loses to any of Cloudsdale’s team today, she will withdraw from any further complaints of your policies, specifically those having to do with sponsorships.”

“And if Ponyville’s team wins as you predict?” Lofty Heights questioned. “Not that there’s any chance of that happening. One good flier doesn’t make a flight team, and it’s more the fledglings that are being judged anyway.”

“I’m not sure who you’re trying to convince, me or yourself.” Tiara allowed herself a confident sneer, “If Ponyville’s team wins you have to step down as a committee member.”

“What?!” Lofty Heights felt her jaw go slack, she had worked too hard and too long to get where she was to wager it on a bet! “You must be joking!”

“Joking? But didn’t you just say earlier that my team only has a 2.35% chance of winning? This is as sure a bet as there ever was one for you. It’s purely and solely in your favour if your stats are true and you’re not trying to pull the wool over everypony’s eyes!”

A new wave of quiet murmuring passed through the crowds before a hush fell over every pony there as they waited on her answer. Lofty Heights began to understand the position she had found herself in. By refusing the bet she might as well retire anyway! Rainbow Dash would go on making a mess of all her plans for a professional league, everypony around would constantly be looking over their books from now on, and she’d be walking on thin ice for the rest of her career! Her only hope was to agree to the bet and count on the odds, unless she could think of a way to hedge the bet somehow. Well, there was always stipulations, wasn’t there? A sly smile grew as an idea began to develop in her mind.

“Very well. I’ll take you up on that wager with some conditions, of course?”

“Naturally,” Diamond Tiara answered unconcerned.

“First, the judges for these teams will score them as if it were the real event rather than just a flight test. Second your Ponyville team will still be subject to the same rules as every other team. Thirdly, since this competition is the Fledgling Flier Competition, it should be the fledglings that are the focus of the show should it not? As such, Rainbow Dash should not be allowed to use her sonic rainboom!” She pointed her hoof at the pegasi in question, her smile wide.

”What?! Now that’s preposterous! She’s the Captain of the team! Are the other Captains not going to use their trademark moves then? That destroys the routine they’ve practiced on for-” A hoof on her shoulder stopped Tiara short. She looked back to see Rainbow Dash shaking her head.

“Don’t worry about it. We got this.”

“You’re- you’re sure?” Tiara paused, now uncertain in her plans, “but that’s your victory move! No matter what problems your show has, it could save you, might even win the whole show for you!”

“Just make the bet.”

“A-alright. We’ll agree to your terms, then, with two conditions of our own. First, if Rainbow Dash can’t use her trademark move then the Captains of the other teams must be held to the same restriction. Lastly, in honour of the crown’s visit, and to encourage her interest in the flight shows, it should be requested that Princess Celestia should be the fourth judge for the competition.”

“Done. I’ll look forward to never seeing either of you again.” In a huff Lofty Heights left the two ponies to their own doings and gestured for her associates to follow. The Royal Guards were quick to provide a safe escort through a crowd that was growing more disgruntled the more time the committee members spent in public. After a few minutes walking they arrived at their council hall, and she turned to the larger of the guards. “This will be fine, Captain, thank you. Could you please bring the request the young earth pony made to her Highness?”

“I’d be happy to Miss, I’m sure she’ll love the idea.” He gave a quick nod and gestured to the guards around them. They instantly dispersed and made sure this secluded part of the building remained that way. As he left, he muttered: “Mostly, cause it sounds like more trouble for me.”

Waving politely until the Captain was out of sight, she instantly grabbed Shady Deals by the collar of his sports coat. “Shut down the registration, and be quick about it!”

“What? Why would we want to do that? There’s still a few teams we’re waiting on and-”

“Don’t you remember my second condition?” She smirked, “They have to follow all the same rules the other teams have to. That still includes registration! I very much doubt they have any way to provide the entry fee, but if you shut the registration down early they won’t even have that much chance! Even if their show turns out to be an amazing success we can still use that rule to disqualify them! So hurry it up!”

“Oh-uh, right!” With that Shady Deals flew off towards the clerks.

“You know the audience won’t stand for that,” said Feather Guide thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. “They’ll still want to see her.”

“Of course they will, and we’ll let them. We’ll let them lose face in front of everypony. This disqualification technicality is simply an emergency plan if things go haywire.”

“I’ll admit it was clever. I thought you had them with denying the use of the sonic rainboom, but you weren’t even aiming for that, were you?”

“Never make a bet with a lawyer,” she cackled, “Hah! I still can’t believe they actually went with that! I only said it to distract them away from my second condition! This deal is in the bag, and that means no more Rainbow Dash getting in our way. That should be a load off your back, Feather Guide. You can finally put that whole situation behind you, just what you always wanted, am I right?”

“I’ll go let the other Captains know of their restrictions.” Avoiding the answer he turned to leave, “They’ll want as much time as they can to go over new last minute changes in their routines.”

“You’re not still on about the whole rich versus poor scenario, are you? We’ve been over this, it will be better for the league. The numbers don’t lie.”

“Yeah.” He answered quietly without looking back, “but will it be better for anyypony else?”

************************************************************************************

“So, you mind telling me what that was all about?” Dash asked after watching the committee leave. The crowd had dispersed into their lines again and Scootaloo and Spike had run over to join them. “I don’t think you did this all for pride.”

“I’m not surprised. Thinking isn’t exactly your strong point,” hmphed Tiara as she gestured for Silver Spoon to join them, pointedly ignoring the impulsive mare’s near-violent reaction behind her. Spike reacted fast, holding Dash back before she did something she’d regret. Instead Tiara’s attention was turned to her friend’s most important task.

“Silver Spoon, did you get them?”

“Of course!” She pushed her glasses further up her snout before passing a pile of official looking papers to Tiara who immediately began reading through them.

“Yes, yes, excellent Silver Spoon! Well done, everything’s here. Now, I believe these are yours.” Diamond Tiara held the papers up to Dash’s face for her to read. As she was forced to read them, her struggles against Spike began to calm until they stopped completely.

“These are- but these are-” There was no helping the stutter as recognition took hold.

“-your team registration papers.” Tiara finished for her, “Captain Dash and the Skyblazer Crusaders are officially a thing now. I hope you plan to change that for the actual show. Sponsoring a team with such a cheesy name does not look well on me.”

“Sponsor? But how did you get these?”

“I didn’t. Silver Spoon did while I distracted that snobby pegasus. Such an obvious tactic too, it was hard to keep a straight face when she made that silly second condition. Of course your team would have to follow the rules, what else would you do? Cheat? At an airshow where you’re allowed to pursue whatever display you want? I’m not even sure it’s possible without bribing the judges. It was almost certainly meant for administration purposes.”

“Why are you helping us?” Scoot asked angrily, “you don’t help. You never help! All you ever do is cause trouble for everypony else!”

“Oh, sweet Scootaloo, you wound me,” she pretended to be faint, holding a hoof to her forehead before offering her a smirk. “That’s simply not true. Causing trouble for you just happens to be my favourite pastime. As for why? Maybe you should try to understand your position here. You can rip up those forms and forfeit your only chance of winning, or you can humour me.”

Tiara tapped Scootaloo’s cheek lightly in as demeaning a way she could. Snarling back, Scootaloo swatted her hoof away and Rainbow Dash stepped between them.

“Hold off, Squirt. She is currently our sponsor. As for you, I don’t like being toyed with, Brat, so cough up your play here and now or we really will walk away from this. My team isn’t playing as anypony’s stooge.”

She sniffed in answer and turned away, “Your position isn’t any better than Scootaloo’s. Go ahead and rip up your best chance to fix all this if you want. I’ll continue to do what I want, when I want, how I want, and I don’t have to answer to you for any of it.”

Scootaloo’s stories of this pony were no exaggeration. Just trying to talk to the little brat was frustrating. None of it made any sense! There was no profit for her to sponsor them; just a ten thousand bit fee to give Scootaloo a better chance at winning their bet. But if money and victory weren’t the answer, that only left one thing. A smile took over Dash’s features as she looked the pony up and down, seeing something there she’d never seen before. “You really are just doing this for Ponyville’s rep, aren’t you?”

“So what if I am?”

“Oh nothing, I just might have a bit more respect for you if that was the case.”

“That bit of respect just cost me ten grand, which was all of my investment money in this whole project!” It would probably be the highest monetary amount any pony ever had to pay for respect, but it didn’t matter. Respect wasn’t what she was buying. What Lofty Heights suggested could start a chain of events that would lead to every sport in Equestria following suit if there was enough profit to be found in it. That would lead to even more of Ponyville’s most talented ponies being drawn to bigger cities instead of making something of themselves in their hometown. The idea had to be shut down before it was allowed to see the light of day.

“What project? Maybe we can help.”

“She’s talking about the bet we made, Captain,” filled in Scootaloo for her, “and if it’s all the same to you, I do not want to help her win it.”

“Oh, yeah. That.” It was the one project she couldn’t help her out with, but there had to be another way. This might be the most selfless act Diamond Tiara would ever commit in her whole life, it deserved something in return. “Okay, so we can’t help you win your ‘Scootaloo for life’ deal, but there must be something else. I’m not going to just let this go. We’re in your debt, no matter how much of a brat you are, and Rainbow Dash always pays her debts!”

“Don’t worry about it. You can get Rarity to pay me back and owe it to her instead if it bothers you that much. Just make every bit worth it! I want to rub that pony’s nose in an uncontestable victory!”

“Nope, not enough. We were going to do that anyway. Why is this bet so important to you anyways?”

“I don’t see why I would be telling you my business plans.”

“Hrm.” The lack of answer was an answer in itself. Rainbow Dash’s eyes were drawn to Scootaloo. Everything ended up coming down to a silly bet made by fillies. How long had Scootaloo been carrying this debt, anyway? Even before she could fly, Scootaloo had this bet hanging over her head the whole time, and she bore it without a word. It had to be a lot of pressure considering how much it meant to both ponies involved. Sootaloo was practically betting her life away on pure faith that she could take first place. And seeing how serious Diamond Tiara was about it, it stopped seeming like a joke to her. “Wait a minute, that’s it! Alright, Diamond Tiara, how about this? Throw my name down with Scootaloo’s for your bet with her.”

“What?” Three ponies answered at once. Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara, and Scootaloo’s jaws went slack.

“It makes sense, right? You just sweetened the deal for us by giving us a higher chance at victory, so we ought to sweeten the deal for you in return.”

“I-I guess, I mean, are you absolutely sure about this?” It wasn’t like her to stutter, but this had caught Diamond Tiara completely off guard. One of the elements of harmony working for her would be- well it would be a dream come true! She wanted to pinch herself there and then just to make sure this was real, that this offer just happened!

“What’s the matter? Afraid you can’t deal? I admit, with me and Scootaloo, this much awesome in one place is pretty intimidating.”

“O-okay! Yeah, I’ll take you up on that!” Surprise still held the earth pony in its grip and wasn’t letting go. Was this happening? Was this really about to happen right here? Right now? “So, you’ll Pinkie Promise, like Scootaloo did?”

“Well, yeah! That’s half the point right, cross my heart and-“

“Hang on!” interrupted Scootaloo, just as she found her voice.

Tiara knew it was too good to be true, that somepony was bound to start making sense again, but she had come so close!

“No way, Captain, come on, it’s my bet, and I made it before you ever offered me a spot on your team. It has nothing to do with you. There’s got to be some other way than this. If we lost, you would lose everything you did all of this for! What about the Wonderbolts? If something happened, you’d be giving it all up!”

The smile on her Captain’s face didn’t dip for a second. No shred of doubt could be found anywhere in her expression. “Why would it matter when it was that you made the bet? You’re on my team now, Squirt, that’s all that matters. You’re no Wonderbolt, but I can think of worst fates than being teamed up with you for the rest of my life. Besides, it doesn’t matter what our end of the bargain is, ‘cause we’re gonna win this thing. We’re going to win it all.”

“No, this is crazy! Spike, tell her she’d be crazy to do this!”

“Alright, Rainbow Dash, you’d be crazy to do this,” Spike turned to his Captain before continuing, “if you’re thinking that you can do it without me, that is. What am I supposed to do if the show goes sour? Be a solo act for the rest of my life? You guys are my team too, you know? Besides, how would you two even get by without me?”

It was meant as a joke, but Dash wore a serious expression. “We wouldn’t. You’re right, it takes all three of us to be a team, and that’s exactly what we are. Through victory or defeat.”

Dash held out her hoof towards Spike, he nodded and covered it with his claw, “through thick or thin.”

They both turned to Scootaloo who had to pause to wipe her eyes before laying hoof over claw. “For better or worse.”

“Then it’s settled,” said the Team Captain, smiling wildly at her crew. “Just add our names to Scoot’s contract, Diamond Tiara. We’re all in this together, and honestly it’s about time we proved it. This shoulda happened long ago.”

“Then you should make it official, the Ponyville way,” added Silver Spoon eagerly, hoping to egg them along into making it a certainty before they had a chance to change their minds.

The three teammates looked from one to the other, each grinning in turn as they spoke the sacred words and made the ritualistic gestures. “Cross our hearts and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in our eye.”

Silver Spoon squealed and hugged Diamond Tiara in delight, but for her part Tiara was still trying to get over the shock of it all. Rainbow Dash, embodiment of the element of loyalty, and the draconic son of Celestia might both end up under her employment? Not because they were coerced, not through any devious plan of hers, and not through any cunning plot or trap. They just swore to it all on their own, willingly. No matter how far her mind reached, it just couldn’t fathom why. The understanding of how one could risk everything so easily evaded her completely!

“Hello in there.” Waving a hoof in front of the stunned pony’s face received no response at first, much to Dash’s amusement.

“Yes!” Suddenly Tiara snapped back to consciousness and tried to compose herself quickly, “I mean, ahem, yes?”

“Alright then, we have an official show to get ready for thanks to you. Let us know when you have the contracts ready for us to sign. Looks like you just made your first real all or nothing gamble, Brat. Congrats!”

“Maybe, but last night you said that failure in this type of this is worth as much as my safe victories.” She sniffed, still fairly skeptic of all this. “I’m not exactly seeing the upside for me if you win it all. What exactly am I supposed to learn if I lose?”

“That’s easy. You’ll learn something everypony better learn,” Dash said with a smirk, “Never bet against me and my friends.”

“Ugh, whatever. I’m sorry asked.” It didn’t matter, anyway. Winning today was the real issue as far as she was concerned now. Lofty Heights had to be stopped, no matter the cost, and there was one thought that still weighed on her mind about it. “What about the Sonic Rainboom?! How are you going to win without it?”

“Leave the competition to the competitors. We need to go get our things together in the locker rooms.” With that Rainbow Dash marched away, head held high and with Scootaloo in tow. Spike hesitated to follow though, and fidgeted with his registration papers, stalling as he tried to think of what it was he wanted to say.

Tiara waited for whatever it was, tapping her foot for a full minute, before she lost her patience enough to snap at him. “Spit it out already!”

“I just wanted to say thank you, Diamond Tiara, for everything.”

“Thank me?”

“Yeah, I mean, Dash and Scoot never actually said thank you, and you’ve done a whole lot for us.”

“We’re on equal standings with the sponsorship fees, already. Like Rainbow Dash said, we both just sweetened the deal for each other. You don’t need to thank me for that. Haven’t you been listening at all?”

“Not really, I prefer paying attention over listening. Like to the part where you booked a hotel room for us, and paid for it in advance?” Spike began to count on his fingers, looking up at the ceiling as he listed each off in the order her remembered them, “Or how you had 10,000 bits prepared for today? I hang with Rarity, and I know for a fact nopony keeps that kind of cash just hanging around. I wouldn’t be surprised if you had something like this in mind the whole time. Not to mention you came all the way to Cloudsdale just to watch our show. You stuck up for us against Lofty Heights. You put Ponyville’s pride over your own gain. You motivate Scoot every time you talk to her. You’ve stood by her for years, encouraging her attempts to fly, while never actually taking advantage of the debt she was digging herself deeper and deeper with you-”

“Enough!” Diamond Tiara interrupted loudly as Silver Spoon began giving her an odd and thoughtful look she didn’t like. “No! Just no! It wasn’t like that! It’s not like any of that! I had the money prepared ‘just in case’ that’s all. I might have needed to sponsor a team to compete against yours, or something. It never hurts to be prepared. And I came because I wanted to watch you all make fools out of yourselves. Also all that stuff about Scootaloo, it’s all wrong and completely out of context!”

“Actions speak louder than words. Whether you like it or not, you’ve been encouraging Scootaloo to keep trying for years. I don’t know just when your teasing turned into looking out for her. I just know it happened. Actually, you’ve been looking out for all of us. Whether it’s because we’re representing Ponyville, or because you have something else planned, I can’t say. I do know that we would have never gotten this far without you, and that we can probably count on you to stand by us and help in your own way whenever things are looking bad. So thank you, for everything. And even after you lose this silly bet, if there’s anything at all I can ever do to repay you, just let me know, alright?”

“Everything you just said is a load of nonsense-” she started, but paused as the thought occurred to her, having the adopted dragon prince of your kingdom owe you a favour wouldn’t exactly be a bad thing. “-but if you really mean that, I’ll hold you to it.”

“Of course I mean it. We’re teammates now after all.”

“Of course we are. I just slept in on every single one of our flight practices, and am not really big on the whole flying aspect of our flight team in general.” The sarcasm just slipped out so easily, she couldn’t stop it. This was getting to be a problem; being so casual and rude with Spike could end very badly for her! Spike just laughed it off.

“You know, even if you deny everything else, I have an official paper to prove this much.” A claw ran down the official paper and tapped her family’s name written on the ‘presented by’ blank. “As far as I’m concerned, if you’re presenting us, you’re one of us.”

“If you’re trying to make me angry, it’s working.” An eyebrow was raised as she fixed Spike with a skeptical look.

“Relax, it’s not so bad after the seventh or eighth time Dash pushes you off a cliff.”

Picturing Rainbow Dash toss Scootaloo off a cliff did bring a smile across her face in spite of herself. It was hidden quickly, though, as she attempted to shoo the overgrown lizard away. “Okay, okay, you thanked me. Now get out of here already. You’re going to be late.”

“Alright! I’ll look for you in the bleachers!” With a nod Spike took to the air looking right then left, then right again. “Uuh, umm-”

“They went that way,” Diamond Tiara said with an exasperated sigh, pointing to a sign that said ‘locker rooms’.

“Oh, right! Thanks!” And off he flew, finally leaving her alone with Silver Spoon. She looked over to her friend who had been studying her quietly for some time now.

“You know none of that was true, right? It would just be ludicrous, I’m half tempted to call the asylum and let them know there’s a loony dragon around here.”

“Of course!” Spoon agreed quickly, “It’s probably just, like, a dragon thing, right? I mean, like an interspecies barrier or something? You know, like a language barrier, only between species instead.”

“Yeah. Probably.” It was as good an excuse as any, better than any she had come up with by far, in fact. Mostly because it was something she really didn’t want to think about right now, or preferably ever. Stupid dragon and all his stupid… paying attention! Couldn’t even pay attention to where he was supposed to go. If he tried listening more he would have known where to go. She’d like to tell him where to go!

“It’s not worth worrying about, really. Let’s go get our seats. Your father is probably wondering what’s taking us so long.”

“Yeah, let’s go,” Diamond Tiara readily agreed, deciding to put the whole experience behind her.

Author's Note:

Part 3 should be out tomorrow or the day after. Enjoy!

Comments

[Grif_Bladefeather]

... that was highly unexpected. maybe daimond isn't so different from filthy after all.

[Seether00]

You expect me to read 35,000 words in one sitting? Damn it! Now I have to wait till after work.

[Shokinaw]

3185769
In some ways, in others well... she's still a royal pain.

3186013
Why... yes. yes I do.

[Seether00]

Way to go, Diamond Tiara! You go kick them in the teeth with your scheming! No one kicks your hometown! Man DT was just winning! Loved it!

[Neutrinos are Magic]

“It’s Deals, actually, Shady Deals.

Yes, let's trust someone who goes by that name.

[Path_of_cloud]

Well, only one thing to say really: It. Is. On!

[djthomp]

Interesting new character in that new guard captain. For some reason I'm imagining him as a potential romantic interest for Celestia. Maybe it's the emotional response he is triggering in her? Even if it's just anger at the moment, he is clearly breaking through her public image shell.

And Diamond finally shines! So glad to have my suspicions about her at least partially confirmed. I've been wondering since the bet at the beginning of the story if she was being more than just a bully, so it's nice to see Spike air my thoughts almost verbatim, not to mention seeing Diamond react so nervously to the suggestion.

[Shokinaw]

3451405
I think I love it whenever Celestia gets personal with anypony. I especially like seeing her leaving ponies tip toeing around eggshells when talking to her, like she does with Rarity. Bit of Trollestia in me I guess?
What I don't like to do is make any personality look perfect, and Princess Celestia borders on that from time to time. I've always felt she needed someone around she could butt heads with over things, and considering how atrocious the show makes out her military to be, I imagine a captain of the guard could be just such a pony. I in no way intended for any form of romantic interest to develop between the two, but I do want them to show respect and begrudging friendship in spite of frustrating differences in opinion on how to do things. On the other hand, if there was someone like that on the show, I'd totally ship them too!
As it is, he's an OC, and romantic interests in OCs are dangerous waters to dip into, especially with a pony who only shows up for one multi-part chapter.

I dare not speak too much on Tiara, even now in the final chapter her part to play is yet to finish. I was VERY surprised on how much you verbatim managed to predict in that other comment though. I'm not sure if I should say 'kudos!' or cry about my story being too predictable now!

[Alondro]

My my, it's finally happened. I HAVE A CRITICISM WITH THIS STORY!!!

Now, it's a minor one unrelated to the central plot, but it's something which I do believe bears consideration as it affects the larger world tremendously.

"Even had I defeated Chrysalis myself, our armies had fallen to hers so quickly Canterlot would have still been lost to us. It was a humiliating blow to our soldiers and to Equestria’s reputation. To our neighbours we are seen as vulnerable; more vulnerable than we have looked in a millennium.

I take issue with this notion. Equestria's neighbors seem to consist of a very weak griffon kingdom, the buffalo, the rather braindead yaks, the Saddle Arabians, and perhaps the minotaur... NONE of whom, so far as we've seen, have ANY magic of their own.
Rather that seeing Celestia's and her guards' defeat as an opportunity, they'd be TERRIFIED. Think from their perspective: the ancient and kindly leader of the most peaceful and prosperous land on the planet was defeated by shape-shifting bugpony demons who feed on love, and which can also use mind-control! They'd be freaking the F out. If anything, this could lead to a solidarity they'd never experienced before against a common enemy they could do absolutely nothing against on their own.

The only race we've seen who might take advantage of the ponies' vlnerability would be Tirek's race... and even then, Tirek alone was the aggressor. His brother, and potentially now the ruler of their kind, was friends with Starswirl over a thousand years ago. We must also consider the fact that they're not exactly neighbors and seem to come from yet another far away land.... like the zebra.... Equestria's planet must be at least as large as earth, with more and smaller continents divided by mid-sized oceans... erf, now I'm wandering into fictional geography. I can't help but consider all these factors!

Some will mention the dragons... but they have no central leadership whatsoever, and already seem to consider the poneis 'namby-pamby', including the Princess. If they were inclined to attack, they would have already, changelings or not. It's more than obvious no other race as a whole could stand against the dragons if they became war-mongering. Even little Spike can swim in lava, eat diamond, and blow fire hot enough to melt a steel lock in seconds. Only the alicorns could hope to battle dragons with any measure of success. But, as I said, they're quite content to live on their own with their hoards and only congregate infrequently. They're simply so powerful, I suspect they see absolutely no need. Society is, first and foremost, concerned with SAFETY; gathering together for protection against the Outside. Dragosn have no such vulnerability to begin with, they are at risk more from each other than any other creature. Thus, their primary drive would be keeping as far away as possible from each other.

My analytical scientist brain strips things down to basics like that all the time. Capture all the fundamental principles, then you can easily conceptualize the most likely outcomes; that's the basic notion.

Pluto's an example of that. I suspect I shall be correct that from Pluto's formation onwards the core has been decoupled from the frozen crust by a liquid watery interior, and the sloshing of the core within in response to the displaced gravitational barycenter of the Pluto-Charon dual system is generating sufficient heat to induce geological processes, albeit at a temperature so low as to have ice and water replace rock and magma, respectively..

And now I'm on astrogeology... god, I'm such a nerd.