ECRL: The Wonderhawks

by WildFire15

ECRL Round 1: Cloudsdale - Build Up

Inside the meeting room on top of the stables early on the morning of the race, all the racers and their spotters were sat milling around and talking ahead of the flyer’s briefing, which took place to discuss any significant issues and remind the flyers of a few procedures.

“Good morning, mares and gentlecolts.” The head official Whiting said loudly and clearly, cutting through the chatter which died soon after.

“We have a few things to discuss ahead of the race. First of all, I’d like to welcome you all back to Cloudsdale, especially our five rookies competing for the first time in the Equestrian Cloud Racing League. As this is the first race meeting of the season, there will be no wildcards competing.

“Secondly, I’d like to remind you all of the rules governing retiring from a race. Simple rule is, if you are pulled off the track and behind the safety barriers, you are officially out of the race and you cannot re-join.”

Dust just leaned back in her chair, looking at a vague detail in how the ceiling was put together as Whiting talked about track limits being under close scrutiny, any repeated violations resulting in a ‘glide through’ of the pit lane.

They hadn’t even started the first race and she was already bored of this charade, though it hadn’t been without it’s amusements. Concorde had been furious after qualifying when Nicki Hest seemingly intentionally held him up and had paced around the stable looking to take his anger out on something before calming down and being his usual annoying self.

She had considered simply grabbing Spitfire and showing her the top secret move she had worked on since she had been able to break the sound barrier. Her Lightning Corkscrew could easily blow Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainboom and Concorde’s pathetic Scarlet Boom out of the water and could give her the path into the Wonderbolts she had always dreamed of, to be the greatest Pegasus to ever join their ranks and loved by both the team and the fans. That was her dream and nothing was going to stop her getting it.

Spanner gave her a nudge and she looked at him, annoyed he disturbed her.

“What?” She whispered to him.

“You should pay attention, this is important.” He whispered back. She didn’t care much but did as he said, not paying attention to those looking at her.

“Finally,” Whiting continued. “The weather will be maintained as sunshine and no wind throughout the weekend, but be prepared for any unexpected gusts of wind similar to what happened during Practice Two, we are miles in the air after all. Any questions?”

The room remained quiet and still as Whiting looked around.

“Very well, that concludes this morning’s briefing. I look forwards to seeing you all on track.”

***

As the Wonderhawks walked back to the stable after the briefing, Dash noticed one of the groups of TV presenters nearby, discussing something with a two pony camera crew. Consisting of Perri, DC and Jordan, a female Earth pony, a male Pegasus with a jaw that seemed too big for his face and an oldish Griffin in a bright shirt, glasses and sporting a rather cool moustache and beard.

“Don’t forget, the EBC over there want to interview you guys before the race.” Fleet reminded them as she let them into the stable.

“Well, if anything, talking to DC and Jordan should be fun.” Concorde commented, looking as uncomfortable as usual at the idea of having a TV camera in his face.

“Concorde, Dust, Dash!” Someone called to them and when they looked over, they saw the Griffin Jordan walking over to them. “Could I get a few minutes?”

“Erm, ok.” The three of them said pretty much in unison after exchanging glances.

“We’re not going to do anything live.” He added reassuringly. Perri and DC had gone off to do something else while the camera pony milled about. “I’m just curious enough to know you three.”

Fleetfoot walked around and stood next to the camera pony who was checking his schedule, giving the flyers a look that suggested she was mainly there to make sure they kept their tongues in check.

“Let’s see,” Jordan pondered out load, referring to a clipboard. “This is what I know of you three: Concorde, you’ve been performing with the Red Hawks since their return after spending much of your youth racing, forming quite the rivalry with Wolke Schwade.”

“That’s pretty much bang on.” Concorde replied.

“Lightning Dust, your grandfather was Lightning Charger, former captain of the Wonderbolts and you yourself attended the Wonderbolts Academy and proceeded to break records from the start, more so when partnered with Rainbow Dash.”

“Yeah.” Dust replied, prideful.

“And Rainbow Dash, currently the only pony capable of the fabled Sonic Rainboom Princess Celestia seems quite fond off, you won the Young Flyers Competition a few years ago in Cloudsdale and have since, of course, been to the Wonderbolts Academy and broke records in your partnership with Lightning Dust.”

“Don’t forget I’m the fastest Pegasus pony here.” Dash added as she had been fastest in the speed trap on the Morning Glory the entire time.

“I suppose that’s true. However, now you’ve had a taste of the track and your opposition, how do you think you’ll do this year?” He asked the three of them.

“Well, to be honest I’m surprised I’m so far up the order.” Concorde admitted. “Didn’t think I’d be anywhere near the top ten. I just came in with a ‘let’s see how I do’ mentality.”

“I’m with Corde on that.” Dash said. “I didn’t really know what I was up against, seeing as I’ve not done this sort of thing before but I think I can do something.”

“I’m still aiming for the top.” Dust said flatly, Dash and Concorde looking at her. “Just might take longer than I thought.”

“Good, good.” Jordan mused as he scribbled a few notes. “I’m going to keep an eye on the three of you as you’re probably going to be the most interesting story all year. The three of you are talented no doubt and I’d give you a shot if I knew about you. For performance flyers, you two are especially impressive.”

“What do you mean by that?” Dust inquired.

“Performance teams aren’t known for speed, but after being seconds off qualifying pace in first practice, the pair of you turned it around instantly in second practice and were within qualifying pace. That’s a big turnaround, though I’m interested to see how you do with hundreds of a second are involved.

“I might come and talk to one of you on the grid, but for now it was good talking to you.” Jordan smiled. “Spanner, I’ll talk to you later as well.” He added, quickly going over to and shaking the unicorn’s hoof.

Jordan and his camera crew walked off in the opposite direction to his co-presenters, likely to cover something else. Dash couldn’t help but think he’d misinterpreted what style was and that Rarity would probably consider him a crime against fashion. She was going to ask Concorde if Jordan always dressed that ridiculously before she realised he seemed to have frozen in some sort of fan boy trance.

“Er, Corde? You there?” Dash asked, waving her hoof in front of his face without getting a response.

“I think the fact Jordan would have considered him for his team has gotten to him.” Maffett remarked.

“He was a team owner Spanner worked for, right?” Dust asked, looking at her spotter.

“He was and probably the best team owner I ever worked for.” Spanner nodded. “He always chose racers on talent, rubbing up a few Ponys and even Griffins the wrong way when he refused the money they offered. That’s pretty high praise if he’s interested in all three of you.”

“We might just need a bucket of water to wake Concorde up, though.” Ratchett added. Dash, Dust and Maffett exchanged evil glances and immediately made it happen.

***

While throwing what turned out to be five full water buckets at Concorde was fun, it did nothing to diminish Dash’s raising nerves. The race was so close yet so far away at this point that she dearly wanted to get it over and done with, just to relieve the nerves.

Before getting suited up, Fleetfoot had insisted the team visit their VIP room, which was situated above their stable. Their turnout hadn’t been great, Concorde’s and Dash’s parents all busy and unable to make it, as was Twilight Sparkle while Pinkie Pie hadn’t given a reason why she couldn’t come. The late arriving Applejack had headed off to set up a stall behind one of the grandstands, leaving Big Machintosh, Rarity and Fluttershy as the familiar faces watching her race.

The Wonderbolts were set to join them after their pre-race performance, but some of the Red Hawks had also arrived to watch. Whilst worrying about the race, Dash hadn’t remembered their names but she still found it amusing to watch Rarity swoon over the Italian member of the team.

The whole time in the VIP room had pasted in some sort of haze. Being reminded these ponies were watching her made her more nervous, especially when Red Hawks leader Hurricane gave her a quick bit of critique about her performance in practice. If he could spot all her mistakes as an observer, what could someone like him do with all the footage and notes they took?

Sometime later, though Dash wasn’t sure how much later, the three ponies were suited up and waiting in their stable uncomfortably. In the next ten minutes, they were go fly out of the stable, fly around the track and land on their grid spot ahead of a proper formation lap and finally the start of the race. Dash didn’t see the point but was at least enjoying watch Concorde be incredibly nervous. After pacing around the stable and occasionally going to use the ‘facilities’, he eventually headed for a guitar he had brought with him but so far not touched.

“Do you have to play that?” Maffett asked as Concorde picked up his guitar and arranged himself.

“The alternative is sit here panicking, so yes.” He retorted before strumming it. At least one of the strings was out of tune, but it didn’t seem to bother him as he started playing what sounded like a poor ‘Wanted: Dead or Alive’.

Maffett headed for the pit wall, likely to go over her own notes as Rainbow just sat and thought. Beforehand, she hadn’t been overly bothered about the ECRL and thought she could win it easily.

Now she was here, less than twenty minutes from her first race, in front of not only her home town but in front of her idols as well who’d be scrutinising her every move, she couldn’t help but think ‘what if I screwed this up?’.

She could already picture them, judging her from high above as they cast shadows across her, saying she wasn’t good enough, that she wasn’t even worthy of being a Pegasus and taking her wings away and casting her down the deepest, darkest hole there was.

“You ok there, Rainbow?” Ratchett asked, ignoring the mistakes Concorde was making and snapping Dash out of her thoughts.

“Y-y-yeah. I’m fine.” Rainbow replied with a fake grin.

“Look, Dash, this is your first race. I know you’ve done the Young Flyers competition, but this is a completely different kettle of kelp. Remember, we’re not here to set Equestria alight, we’re here to finish the race. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Rainbow looked off towards the grandstand opposite their stable. There were plenty of different banners with different names, numbers and messages but their cheering just felt heavy to her, as if it was a weight she didn’t want to carry.

“Don’t worry about them. Even if something does go wrong, they won’t remember it.” Ratchett added before Concorde hit a string so massively out of tune it set their teeth on edge.

Ratchett magically retuned the string from where he was stood which made Concorde shoot him an annoyed look before he continued playing. He still couldn’t play very well, but at least he was in tune now.

“Here, I’ve got a music player in my bag if you want to listen to something and relax a bit?” Ratchett offered. Normally she’d brush such a suggestion off, but she knew she really needed to remain calm.

“Yeah, sure.”

Ratchett smiled before going over to the rucksack he had brought. Almost at the same moment, Spanner ran in and over to his own rucksack.

“What are you doing?” Ratchett asked.

“Getting my cassette player to help Lightning calm down.”

“You’re really going to struggling to shake that ‘Dupont et Dupond’ label now, colts.” Concorde commented before carrying on playing.

“We’re nothing alike!” Ratchett and Spanner retorted angrily in unison before returning to what they were doing.

Dash listened to Ratchett’s music, which seemed to consist of Roxy Music, Angelic Upstarts and Concrete Blonde. Eventually though, he took it off her and sent her out on track to go around to her grid spot.

“Dash.” Ratchett said over the radio as she glided up the Morning Glory. “Stop by Marshal Post seven and do a practice start.”

She did as he said, pulling to the left side of the track where a few racers were stopping to do the same thing. She landed next to Typhoon, who was waving to the crowd.

“Have you seen this?” Typhoon asked Dash as she prepared herself for a practice start, as if asked to confirm he wasn’t mad. She looked past him to see Pinkie Pie sat at the top of the grandstand with seemingly every instrument she owned, playing loudly enough to drown out everyone around her.

Dash couldn’t help but laugh. She had offered Pinkie a VIP pass which she declined at the time without giving a reason, but she was no glad to see her friend there causing her usual ruckus. She quickly waved to her before going back to her preparations, jumping hard off a make shift wedge of cloud and flapping her wings as hard as possible, seemingly getting a good start compared to Typhoon who did a practice start at the same time.

***

Waiting on the grid was a nightmare. All around Dash were TV crews, support crews, models holding grid numbers and celebrates floated about asking questions and providing information, even when the regional anthem was played. She had wanted to watch the Wonderbolts as they performed but it took all the effort she had to focus on what Ratchett was telling her.

He laid out various scenarios for the start and what to do. Apparently her practice start had been pretty good and he was confident she could make a good start, but he also warned her about doing so and getting in the middle of the pack as it squeezed together into the first corner.

Dash really wanted a distraction of some sort to try and calm herself and she noticed one of the EBC presenters, DC, interviewing Aperto and Nicki Hest who were lined up on the grid to her right side. Once he’d finished speaking to Nicki, he headed towards Dash.

“Rainbow Dash, quick word?” DC asked, looking hopeful. Dash nodded in response and he came in closer so she could hear him properly. “Nervous?”

It was a stupid question she thought, but in a situation like this there wasn’t really any other question to open up with. She also noted DC’s Highland accent for some reason, which was a bit cheerier then Hurricane’s somewhat harsh accent.

“I am nervous, yeah.” She admitted. “It’s to be expected I suppose but I’m just going to go out there and do what I can.”

“With this being your first race, I assume your goal is to finish?” DC asked, the camera pony tapping him on the shoulder as he spoke, likely to let him know they didn’t have much time left.

“It is, but that’s not going to stop me trying to get as high up the order as I can.” Dash replied.

“Thanks Rainbow Dash, good luck.” DC smiled before walking towards the pit wall and continuing to present to camera. Dash overheard him saying that he had to run to get to the commentary booth as Ratchett walked over and gave her her mouth guard.

“five minutes to warm up lap.” He informed her as she put the padded guard before helping her get her helmet and goggles secure and comfortable and checking her suit was tight. Satisified, he stood before her and offered his hoof. She took it and gave it a squeeze, his own grip surprisingly strong and reassuring.

“Best of luck.” He smiled. Dash nodded, her nerves threatening to choke any words. Ratchett then headed for the pit wall, seemingly with all the other supporting staff, TV crews and celebrities heading in the same direction as the three minute signal was given.

“Testing testing, one, one, one!” Ratchett said smoothly over the radio. “This is Radio Ratchett, taking you through the afternoon from one til three.”

“Taking any requests?” Rainbow asked back, confirming the radio was working but not taking her eye off the secondary grid marshal, who was waiting for a signal from the primary grid marshal to send the flyers off on their warm up lap.

“I have a wealth of information for your listening pleasure that I’ll get to you when you need it, but don’t be afraid to request anything to be repeated or anything I’ve not mentioned.”

Dash gave her helmet chin strap a tug to put it into a more comfortable position as she watched the secondary grid marshal. After a moment, she waved her green flag and Dash jumped forwards in a quick, mock start to get her reactions right.

She flew through the field, warming up as everyone else was by weaving, sharply slowing and speeding up and allowing herself to climb sharply upwards until her momentum died and gravity took over, at which point she’d glide onwards.

The crowd was cheering excitedly as the flyers went by, Pinkie and her ensemble of instruments somehow still audible over the noise. She had an odd suspicion Riggwelter’s fans in one of the grandstands around the Reservoir were probably going to compete with her to drown the sound out should they be able to hear one another.

As Dash glided around the Reservoir, she steeled herself and swallowed her now steadily increasing nerves. This was it; her first race was about to begin.

Comments

[Piano pony]

These are great! Keep on writing