When rainbows and clouds clash into the skies...
Ponyville’s Coliseum, Canterlot’s pit, fifteen minutes before the second semi-final of the Aerial duels.
“Good job, Spitz,” Soarin cheered with a thumb up as Spitfire jumped inside their team’s pit.
“Well, the competition isn’t really hard since the only ones really up to the challenge of beating her in the air are either in this pit or in Las Pegasus,” Quake commented with a short chuckle.
“Quake just took the words out of my mouth,” Spitfire muttered with a yawn. “Too bad Crystal isn’t one for sports.”
“Well, the sports you and Crystal are used to don’t exactly fit in the categories covered by the Games’ charter,” Fleetfoot reminded with air-quotes stressing the word sports, earning a cocked eyebrow from her fire-haired superior. “Turning a full stadium in a burning/freezing inferno isn’t exactly normal people’s idea of sports,” she explained flatly.
“I’m not even going to reply to that,” Spitfire casually stated as she let herself fall on a nearby bench. “This aerial fight competition is a tad boring after all the excitement I got from the running trials.”
“You mean the excitement you got when Applejack Apple left you in the dust for the 400 meters?” Soarin asked with a mischievous grin.
“It was both instructive and impressive,” Spitfire retorted with a shrug. “It helps to get a serving of humble pie once in a while, Soarin. You should know what I’m talking about, right?” she added with a small smirk.”
“Well to be honest, I’d have prefered an actual pie to the humble-one she gave me a couple of weeks ago,” Soarin reminded with a warm chuckle which spread quickly to his teammates.
“Remember that you DID get an actual pie out of that match,” Fleetfoot remarked, casting a brief wink at Spitfire who simply rolled her eyes.
“True. True.” Soarin nodded quickly. “Totally worth the effort and the pain, by the way,” he added with a smile.
“Spitfire’s special pie was that good?” Pokey asked, sharing a sly grin with the rest of his teammates, minus Spitfire.
“The best I ever tasted! If it were up to me, I’d eat it everyday!” Soarin assured innocently, prompting the hilarity of most of his teammates. “.... What’s so funny?” he asked in confusion in response to their laughs.
“Dear Faust in heaven, stop me from doing the huge mistake of killing all these morons,” Spitfire whispered as she tried to bury her reddening face into the palm of her hand. “I’m going for a walk!”
“Don’t go too far,” Pokey reminded playfully as the Wonderbolt slowly walked up the stairs of the pit. You’ll miss your apprentice’s match!”
“Who’re you talking about?” Spitfire asked, turning around to Pokey with angry narrowed eyes, instantly killing the playfull mood of her team.
“Well, huh…, You know? Rainbow Dash. The one who can do the Sonic Rainboom. Leader of the Junior Wonderbolts. The same Junior Wonderbolts you’re in charge of training.” Pokey reminded with a nervous gulp at the hard amber-colored stare he got from his teammate.
Spitfire held her glare aimed at the fencer for a few seconds before she turned her back to him and left in silence. Fleetfoot and Soarin both let out brief sighs at their leader while a puzzled Pokey looked at them, silently asking what had just happened. They knew what it was all about but they also knew it wasn’t their places to tell Pokey and the others.
She hardly talked about it, but Spitfire hated the Junior Wonderbolts program. It wasn’t its concept that ticked her off -though she had a few beefs with it as well-, it was mostly that the charge of that program had been put on her shoulders. Spitfire didn’t want apprentices, sidekicks, students, etc. If it hadn’t been for the fact that the demand came from her former Captain, Firefly, with the support of the two ruling Princesses, Spitfire would have simply rejected the idea with the help of her middle finger. Since she couldn’t really see herself flipping off Princess Celestia, or Princess Luna for that matter, Spitfire had half-heartedly accepted the responsibility of “babysitting” the next generation of Wonderbolts oddly composed with Rainbow Dash’s close friends at its beginning.
All things considered, Rainbow’s friends, Gilda Skytalon, Lightning Dust and few other members of Cloudsdale’s team for the Games, were talented enough to have earned their places in the Junior Wonderbolts, but Spitfire has never come around to appreciate training them. All the praises Rainbow received for her Sonic Rainboom and her various achievements from the ruling class and the whispers about the young girl being Spitfire’s replacement neither helped in the matter. As the word popped in her mind, Spitfire’s fist closed tightly. The air blurred itself around her, the dirt dried under her steps, the grass withered close to her feet as she walked away from her team’s pit.
“Watch out!” a familiar voice shouted from Spitfire’s left side.
“Hum?” Spitfire let out as she glanced in the direction the voice came from, only to have the content of small bucket of water splash all over her.
After slowly bringing her hand to her face, Spitfire cleared her eyes from the droplets. Once her eyes were free to be open, she saw the one who had warned her and let out a short, annoyed sigh. As the offender’s teammates were looking at her with shocked, gaping mouths, said offender chuckled as she put the bucket on the ground.
“I assume you did that on purpose, Kicker, right?” Spitfire asked the chuckling blonde, chasing a wet lock of her hair that fell before her eyes.
“Just doing my best to protect the community from wildfires, Ma’am,” Cloud explained with a smug shrug as her coach, Zecora, started to mumble something in Zebrican while clenching her fists.
“You’re right, Madam, Cloud IS an imbecile,” Spitfire commented to the Ponyville coach, who looked surprised from having been understood. “The Bolts did a few shows in Zebrica a couple of years ago,” she explained briefly before glaring back at Cloud Kicker. “You could at least offer a towel as an apology.”
“I would if you actually needed one,” Cloud retorted casually with her arms crossed as Allie and Ditzy rushed to a nearby sports bag in the hope of finding a fresh towel.
“You somehow picked up Crystal’s sass over the years, Kicker,” Spitfire commented as she clapped her hands together.
“Here’s a towel, Mis….” Allie started as she extended a red towel to the wonderbolt, only to stop herself when all the water on her had disappeared in a woosh. “Woaw!”
“How did she do that?” Raindrops whispered to an awed Ditzy.
“I don’t know… her hair looks like a flame,” Ditzy commented, dazzled by the fiery aspect of Spitfire’s coiffure. “It’s so fabulous!”
“....What the heck happened to your face?” Spitfire asked with a cocked eyebrow as she noticed the small bandage on Cloud’s left cheek.
“I’ve met an angry kitten yesterday,” Cloud explained with a shrug.
“... A kitten?”
“Yeah, a kitten,” Cloud repeated casually, her eyelashes fluttering a bit.
“Huh-huh,” Spitfire let out as she leaned forward to give the bandaged cheek a closer look. “Did you know that you always flutter your eyelashes three times whenever you lie?” she added in a whisper that only Cloud could hear.
“Really now?” Cloud asked back in genuine surprise. “I would have never guessed.”
“Well, you do and, quite frankly, I find hard to believe that a kitten somehow managed to reach your cheek,” Spitfire commented slowly.
“It’s not like you’d know what a kitten is capable of. You’re more of a dog person from what I remember,” Cloud retorted calmly.
“True,” Spitfire agreed with a brief nod. “So, are you going to tell me what happened?” she asked again, pointing back at the bandage.
“Hmmmm. I don’t think I’m going to tell you, sorry,” Cloud replied after putting up a pensive frown for a few seconds.
“Suit yourself then,” Spitfire replied slowly as she looked at the fields behind her. “Shouldn’t you get ready for your match?” she asked, noticing Cloudsdale’s pit in which Rainbow Dash was busy warming up.
“I think I’m ready as I’ll ever be,” Cloud commented casually. “Considering who I’m up against,” she added with a sigh.
“Tsss,” Spitfire let out with a discreet snort. “Rainbow Dash intimidates you?”
“Why wouldn’t she? She’s the leader of the Junior Wonderbolts and your very first apprentice after all!” Cloud replied in an even tone. “I’m not worth mentioning compared to her.”
Spitfire felt uncomfortable knots in her stomach when she heard those words. She avoided looking back at the blonde behind her as Pinkie’s voice rang through the Coliseum, telling that the second semi-final would start in five minutes.
Pinkie advised the two competitors, namely Rainbow Dash and Cloud Kicker, to get ready, and to take place just next to her zep if they were. An instant later, with a trail of her namesake left behind her, Rainbow was already hovering next to her friend while the whole coliseum cheered her name loud and clear.
“See what I mean?” Cloud asked as a thunder of applause filled the stadium while casually waved at Rainbow’s direction.
“I think you’re right,” Spitfire commented slowly, seeing Rainbow bow to and wave at the raging crowd. “… The comparison isn’t worth making,” she stated calmly.
“Boy, you still don’t mince your words, Lieutenant Maverick,” Cloud retorted with a dry, half-hearted chuckle.
“It would be the same as comparing a copper Bit and a golden Bit together.” Spitfire softly continued, sheepishly scratching her left elbow and looking at anywhere but the blonde next to her. “Those two coins serves the same purpose but, by definition, they’re different from one another. For one, they aren’t made exactly of the same materials. Second, even if one has been established as of superior value to the other, both only have the value people put in them. To some, a golden Bit handed to them like that is worth nothing to the copper Bit they worked hard to get.”
“I don’t get it where you’re going with that, Spitfire,” Cloud remarked slowly.
“I guess that Twilight didn’t rub on you enough to make an scholar out of you,” Spitfire commented with a brief chuckle.
“Let’s hope she doesn’t. You’d imagine me in the high intellectual sphere of Canterlot, discussing magical theories, or philosophy?” Cloud asked with small smile.“... Since when are you all philosophical like that by the way?” she then asked in confusion.
“Hehe, I guess I can thank Trend for that,” Spitfire explained in a whisper. “Moron as he was, he sure was good writer too: He was good at making any subject interesting.”
“I can’t say that I’ve read much of his work,” Cloud replied sheepishly. “I’m sorr…”
“You already apologized for him, Cloud,” Spitfire interrupted her calmly, but firmly. “Even if I had to apologize and you hadn’t, but I was too proud for that.”
“...Wait! What?”
“I always had great pride in what I did in my life and it came with the fear of being replaced,” Spitfire stated, her grip on her elbow tightening. “When Trend told me he chose you over me, I was devastated. My first apprentice had just replaced me in the heart of the man I loved. The only question that came to my mind at that point was : How long until she replaces me in the hearts of others?” Spitfire told with a sad sigh. “That’s why I turned my back on you all these years ago. My broken, personal pride made me cast my copper Bit away… The same copper Bit that used to fuel my pride to its fullest,” she then whispered, finally looking at Cloud straight in the eyes.
Cloud could only opened her mouth in shock at what Spitfire had just told her. Her teammates and coach, who had had the decency to not pay attention to her conversation with her mentor, looked toward the field when Pinkie called for Cloud to join Rainbow so they could start the match. They were more than surprised to see Cloud staring blankly at Spitfire with her mouth left open. Zecora was about to interject when Ditzy waved for her to stop, pointing at Cloud’s face. More precisely at the starting tears in her purple eyes that seemed to shine with relief.
“.... You might want to stop the waterworks, Kid,” Spitfire commented with a shaking chuckle. “You’re waited elsewhere,” she added, nodding swiftly at an impatient, hovering Rainbow Dash and a questioning Pinkie Pie in her zep.
“Right...Right!” Cloud agreed, quickly wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “.... I supposed this conversation in just on hold, right, Lieutenant?”
“Hum-hum,” Spitfire replied with a nod. “We’ll solve all the details during the final,” she added with a wink.
After nodding slowly to the redhead, Cloud took off with a strong flap of her wide wingspan. As Cloud joined her opponent in the center of the field, Spitfire didn’t move from where she had left her until she felt a hand gently resting on her shoulder.
“So, you guys finally worked things out?” Soarin asked softly, oblivious to the stares they were getting from Cloud’s teammates.
“I wouldn’t say we’re quite there yet…We’ve got a lot left to talk about,” Spitfire admitted slowly.
“You finally took the first step in the right direction. That’s something,” Soarin commented warmly.
“Yeah, I guess,” Spitfire retorted, her eyes focused on Rainbow and Cloud as they were taunting each other before Pinke would give them the signal to begin. “Soarin, I realized I’ve never really thanked you for what you did to Trend with Thaddeus.”
“With reasons. I didn’t do anything,” Soarin casually replied, though he did so too quickly to be completely honest.
“Thanks anyway, Soar’,” Spitfire whispered before gracing his cheek with a light, gentle peck.
“....N-No problem, Spitz’!” Soarin said with brightly red cheeks as Pinke blew longly into a blue flugelhorn.
“And it begiWAAAAAH!!!” Pinkie screamed in panic as her zep was chased away from the center of the Coliseum by a loud bang that startled the whole crowd.
Cloud maintained herself in the air by slow and regular flaps of her wings, her left arm extended toward Rainbow Dash’s curled-up from that hovered a good dozen of meters away from her starting position. The crowd gasped in shock as steam escaped from Cloud’s closed fist and Rainbow’s uncovered and bright red, right shoulder.
“You taught her how to do that shape?” Soarin asked Spitfire with a cocked eyebrow. “Didn’t you say the Juniors that it was way too dangerous to do for someone other than you?”
“....Soarin, how exactly do you think I arrived to that conclusion?” Spitfire asked back with her eyebrow raised higher than Soarin’s.
**********************************************************************************************************
“Wait! What exactly happened?!” Alula asked as she watched her sister still hovering in her punching stance, her voice filled by surprise.
“I’m not exactly sure,” Twilight commented in confusion. “It can’t be a wind-shape… It wouldn’t have made so much noise.”
“Rainbow seems to be hurt,” Rarity stated as she looked at her fellow council-member through her binoculars. “... I think she was burned by something,” she added, noticing the steam coming from Rainbow’s shoulder.
“Looks like the young miss Kicker’s claim about her sister’s mentor was true,” Luna commented with obvious interest.
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked as Alula glanced at the Moon Princess with curiosity.
“Only Spitfire could have taught Miss Kicker that shape,” Celestia commented in a low, serious tone. “Rainbow must be quite confused by now…. and probably angry.”
“Why would Rainbow be angry?” Alula asked in confusion. “Your Highness,” she added quickly.
“Because when Spitfire finally agreed to show Rainbow and the rest of the Juniors her Heat-bullet, she also said that she would never teach them how to do it…” Luna explained matter-of-factly. “It’s a shape that requires a lot of precision and that can be very dangerous for the user when not done properly.”
“Dangerous how?” Twilight asked with worry.
“As dangerous as putting one’s hand in a fire,” Celestia explained with a sigh, earning nervous and worried gulps from Alula and Twilight.
**********************************************************************************************************
“Shit!” Rainbow cursed as she saw the reddening skin of her shoulder.
She tried to move it to see how bad she was hurt and rested her right palm on it when she only felt the skin sting at her movements. Her hand was surrounded by a pale fog as the burn cooled down instantly under her touch. She turned her gaze toward her blonde opponent, still in her punching pose dozens of meters away from her. Rainbow smirked a bit when she noticed the steam coming from her reddening fist.
“I don’t exactly know how you ‘came up’ with that shape, Cloud, but I can see you’ve not mastered it yet,” Rainbow taunted as she retook her fighting stance once her shoulder stopped stinging.
“Are you sure of that, Rainbow?” Cloud asked back with a smirk before gently blowing on her left fist. “I hope you’ve realized I’m not here to play. As I told you, I must and I WILL get to the final!” she added firmly as the burn mark on her fist diminished.
“Not if I get there myself, Cloud,” Rainbow retorted back with a smirk. “I’ve got plenty to show off in front of Spitfire… Kinda have to show that the future of the Wonderbolts is assured, you know?”
Rainbow’s confident smirk turned into a confused frown as the only reply Cloud provided to her question/claim was a soft, clearly mocking laugh that only grew louder each passing seconds. As Pinkie commented from her zep, which she had decided to move further away, how both contestants were lost into their pre-fighting taunts, Cloud’s laugh came to a stop.
“The future of Wonderbolts, huh?” Cloud asked, wiping away her laughing tears.
“That’s right!” Rainbow assured sternly. “What’s so funny about it?!”
“I’ve already encountered one of the “future of the Wonderbolts” in battle,” Cloud replied confidently. “She didn’t last longer than a minute.”
“....I’m not Gilda, Cloud,” Rainbow snarled angrily, her fists tightening. “If anything, I’m better and faster than her!” she firmly added as sparks of electricity gathered around her digits.
“Ha? So, it’ll be shorter than a minute then?” Cloud asked back with a smirk.
Cloud heard Rainbow’s pissed-off groan and noticed her light-made blue wings flare on her back. She just had the time to take her stance when Rainbow had already flown half of the distance separating them. If anything, Rainbow was indeed much faster than Gilda had been. Though, Cloud had learned with the fastest, so she was ready when Rainbow reeled her lightning-surrounded fists in, only to blink in surprise when the Junior Wonderbolt conjured a powerful gust of wind with a strong flap of her wings.
With her flight-pattern destabilized by the sudden current of air, Cloud couldn’t really dodge the approaching rainbow-haired threat. Rainbow halted just before the blonde, extending her electrified fists into Cloud’s trunk.
“CLEAR!” Rainbow shouted proudly as she released the thunder in her hands.
The crowd gasped in shock as a blinding light shone and a thunderclap resonated through the coliseum. Pinkie was as silent as tomb, for maybe the first time in her commenting of the games. Twilight’s hands had gone over her mouth, fear obvious in her eyes while Alula gulped nervously as she trembled like a leaf. Even the Princesses, who had been rather unsettled through the whole competition, had blinked in stupor at what had transpired in the air.
“... Impressive,” Luna broke the silence with an approving nod. “I didn’t think she’d block it.”
“Likewise, Luna,” Celestia commented softly, prompting the council Members and the teenager in the booth to snap their head at the two of them in confusion. “Look closely, girls,” she recommended, nodding at the two hovering forms above the Coliseum.
They looked back at the pair, but from where they were, they couldn’t see that Rainbow’s triumphing grin had turned sour after she let go of her lightning bolts. Her fists were supposed to reach for Cloud’s chest, shocking the blonde unconscious. It wouldn’t have been dangerous as the particular shape’s sole purpose is to stun another Jupitarian. Though, instead of her opponent’s chest, her fists had come in contact with a square, now-dark-grey fluff that had formed just in front of Cloud’s chest.
“Thanks for the juice, Rainbow,” Cloud calmly said before her wings suddenly slammed against the Cloudsdalian’s temples.
Slightly stunned, Rainbow felt and heard the sharp whistle of the wind before it blew her away after hitting her stomach really hard. Recovering from the blow with a well-executed back-flip, Rainbow focused her gaze on the blonde before her, seeing her shape the grey cloud she had blocked her lightning with into a short club.
Frowning a bit, Rainbow gathered another lightning bolt in her fist before hurling it at the blonde. As thunder once again resonated through the Coliseum, the bolt was about to hit its mark when Cloud raised her newly-shaped club above her head. The lightning suddenly changed its course and went straight for the cloud-made rod in the blonde’s hand. The shape absorbed the bolt almost instantly, turning darker as it did.
“Tsss, lightnings are a no-go apparently,” Rainbow whispered to herself. “Time for a change of tactics.”
Winds gathered around Rainbow’s forearms as she leaned forward, her wings widely spread on her back. She observed Cloud carefully, waiting for the proper moment to strike while the blonde raised a fog-covered right hand. After a few seconds of mutual observation, Rainbow launched herself toward Cloud at top speed. Mid-flight, she unleashed two powerful wind gusts with two quick punches. Holding her storm-club behind her back, Cloud flew under the first windy projectile before conjuring one of her own by extending her right hand forward.
Both currents of air clashed violently against one another in a loud bang that startled the crowd a little bit, though the concerned gasps of shock were quickly overcome by the shouts, whistles and cheers of encouragement. They had wanted to see a good show and the two Jupitarians were giving them just that.
With her wind countered by Cloud’s, Rainbow zigzagged toward the blonde, hoping to throw her aim off. Though, Cloud didn’t attack her during her approach. She barely moved from her spot and waited for Rainbow to come closer. When she did, Rainbow raised another wind-surrounded fist, ready to shoot another gust almost point blank. In response, Cloud quickly moved her fog-covered right hand so that the back of it would hit the under part of Rainbow’s fist. The fog got caught-up into the wind-shape, turning it white and fluffy before it puffed out of existence, much to Rainbow’s surprise.
“How did you do that?” Rainbow asked in an slightly awed tone.
“I’ll tell you what I’ve been told when I asked the same question years ago, Rainbow,” Cloud replied softly as she turned her hand to strongly grab onto Rainbow’s wrist. “Figure it out on your own, Kiddo!”
Cloud vigorously pulled on the Cloudsdalian’s arm while letting herself fall down a bit. Thanks to the momentum she gained, Cloud managed to throw Rainbow towards the ground after making her pass above her. As Rainbow let out a surprised shout at being flipped over, Cloud chuckled playfully while whacking her backside with her club.
“OUCH!” Rainbow yelped as her behind was shocked. “ARE YOU CRAZY? HITTING ME THERE?!” She shouted with red cheeks after recovering her balance, her hands over her smoking pants.
“So, I’m just allowed to proverbially kick your butt?” Cloud asked after her chuckle died down a bit. “Surely, Spitfire kicked it into shape at some point during the time she’s training you.”
“Spitfire’s not obsessed by every girl’s butt like you, Cloud!” Rainbow snapped loudly, flapping her wings to fly forward so hard that it sounded like a thunderclap.
“Wooo, them fighting words!” Cloud commented as a blur of chromatic colors lunged at her. “Miss!” She shouted after dodging the charge with a sideways somersault. “And, since you’re so attached to it, you should keep a better guard on your butt, Rainbow,” she added as she dodged another charge from the Cloudsdalian while managing to once again shock Rainbow’s behind during her move.
Growling in fury, Rainbow tried to lunge on the blonde, only to be dodged in extremis every single time and to receive a couple of electrical shocks on her lower back area. Even if Cloud was getting on her nerves, especially those of her bottom parts, Rainbow couldn’t deny that the blonde’s escapes were getting more and more laborious. Once or twice, Rainbow managed to graze an arm or a wing of her opponent.
Rainbow decided to rapidly fly in circles around Cloud, alternating between bombarding her with wind gusts and trying to land a hit with a punch, a kick or a wing-slam. It didn’t take long for Cloud to be overcome by the constant assault of the speedster: after a wind blast hit her left wing and destabilized her, Rainbow joined her fists together and raised them both above her head.
After an intense whirlwind gather around them, Rainbow bashed her hands against the side of Cloud’s face, sending her crashing down below in a loud bang. The crowd gasped in shock as the Ponyvillian disappeared into a massive cloud of dirt and dust. The whole Coliseum was as silent as a grave while Rainbow panted loudly to get her breath back.
“Damn, she’s as hard-headed as AJ,” Rainbow commented as she massaged the sore edge of her right hand. “.... Maybe I was a little too rough,” she added with concern when Cloud gave no signs of coming out of the dust.
As the Cloudsdalian voiced her worries for herself, as no one else could actually hear them, tension in the princess’ booth was thicker than the head of familiar farmer.
“Twilight, CALM DOWN! I’m sure she’s fine!” Cadence plead as Rarity held the Princess’ student on her seat while said student was going nervously freaky.
“HOW CAN I CALM DOWN?!” Twilight shouted, concern filling her voice, as she struggled against her friend and sister-in-law’s grip. “Cloud could have hurt herself really bad with that fall!”
“Twilight, I’m sure she’s okay,” Alula whispered softly, her voice was calm even if it had a slight undertone of worry. “She’s been through worse… I think.”
“Still, Rainbow could have hold back!” Twilight snapped after stopping from struggling against Rarity’s grip. “.... Why isn’t she moving already?!” she asked in a low whisper as nothing seemed to move inside the thick cloud of dust.
“She probably is, Dear,” Rarity suggested softly. “She probably just remains hidden to keep the effect of surprise.”
“That would be like her,” Alula commented with a brief, tense chuckle as nothing came out of the dust: no Cloud, no debris, no sounds…
“Worry not, girls,” Luna commented, her eyes glowing in a dark blue hue. “The lieutenant Kicker is about to retaliate,” she added with a devious, interested grin.
“Why are you smiling like that, Luna?” Celestia asked casually.
“You’ll see,” Luna replied cryptically while leaning forward a bit to not miss a single bit of the action.
On the fields, some of the Games Officials and Nurse Redhearts were making their way toward the massive cloud of dust after Pinkie voiced her concerns in her megaphone. They were about to explore the smoke-screened area of the fields while Rainbow hovered close to it as well when noises of electrical sparks came from within it. The “rescue crew” stopped instantly when they noticed two floating, yellowish orbs of lightning through the dirty mist.
“What the heck?” Rainbow let out at the same time as many people in attendance.
The two orbs slowly flew through the cloud of dust up to the point they floated a few feet apart from one another, a good fifteen feet above the ground. It was at that time that the dust started clearing itself thanks to a soft breeze. As the brownish mist was slowly dissipated, Rainbow narrowed her eyes at the two spheres of lightning. It almost looked as if those orbs were looking straight at her. And then they both blinked.
“....Hang on a...WHAAAA!” Rainbow shouted as a huge, greyish form surged from the dust at top speed in a low rumble.
Thanks to her sharp reflexes, Rainbow managed to fly away from whatever-it-was that had charged her. As she took some distances from it, she took a closer look and couldn’t prevent the awed “woaw” from escaping past her lips as it looked back at her. Its serpentine body was of a smooth, shining light-grey matter, much similar to a matted silver. Its skull ended in fearsome-looking spines easily as tall as Rainbow Dash herself. Its maw was polished and almost toothless like a beak if it wasn’t for the two long and sharp tusk-like fangs sprouting out of it.
“Pretty cool, right?” Rainbow heard Cloud’s shout from her right.
The Cloudsdalian turned her eyes away from the lightning-eyes of the beast and spotted the blonde right in the center of the almost-gone mist of dust and dirt. She stood tall on top of a large and fluffy cloud into which the “monster”’s base was merged. One of her hands delicately was probing her bruised cheek while the other was surrounded by light grey fog.
“Yeah, kinda,” Rainbow admitted slowly. “But…” she added, gathering the winds around her right leg. “Your little snake is still just a cloud!”
With a swift kick, Rainbow unleashed a powerful wind gust upon Cloud’s shape in order to blow it away. The gust crashed against the nimbus-construct in a loud clang, but the shape remained intact. Puzzled by this, Rainbow threw a couple of gusts more at the construct. Just like before, it remained unscathed. The Cloudsdalian glanced back and forth between the reptilian-shape and its creator, seeing her smirking playfully back at her.
At one wave from Cloud, the lightning-eyed Shape opened its maw, letting out a loud hiss similar to the rumble of thunder, and lunged in Rainbow’s direction. The blue-winged woman muttered a curse between her teeth as she flew away from the Shape’s snapping maws. The sharp clang that resonated through the stadium after it suddenly closed its mouth was more than enough to convince Rainbow that she wouldn’t appreciate its bite.
Fortunately for her, Rainbow’s speed was more than enough to escape ferocious shape. Cloud had made it intimidating and probably quite dangerous but evidently not as fast as Rainbow Dash. As she kept on dodging the cloud-made-creature’s bites, Rainbow noticed that Cloud hadn’t moved from her spot at the end of her Shape. She cast a few gusts at the blonde, only to see them blocked by the cloud-construct, who had placed itself between its creator and her assailant.
Growling in frustration from her attacks not reaching past Cloud’s shape, Rainbow flapped her wings hard to give herself much more altitude. As she flew high above the Coliseum, Pinkie, who had been going on and on about the huge cloud-made monster in the said Coliseum’s premises, was now going on about all the words she knew to describe how high Rainbow was flying. Cloud couldn’t help but think that Twilight had something to do with Pinkie’s well-developed vocabulary. It was only when Pinkie used her binoculars to confirm that Rainbow Dash had stopped her ascension that Cloud realized what was about to happen.
“Shit!” Cloud cursed as a tiny dot in the sky dived back down to the ground.
As Rainbow flew down, her arms extended forward, her wings placated on her back, the crowd gasped in awe before covering their ears plaintively. The sharp whistling sounds of the winds being torn apart by Rainbow’s dive proved to be too much to handle. During her descent, a wall of air formed itself before her hands. The wall distorted itself as she came closer to the ground, thus forming a sharper and sharper cone around her.
In response Cloud placed both her hands at the base of her creation’s neck. As she closed her eyes in deep focus, the clouds of her shape under her palms grew darker every seconds, turning the silvery construct into a deep black mass. The electrical sparks in its eyes glowed brighter as more of them surged from whole its body. The rumble of its hisses grew louder to the point the ground above which it floated started to tremble, matching the loud whistle that came from Rainbow’s dive. As the cone of air restricting Rainbow Dash cracked after she managed to strongly flapped her wings, Cloud’s Shape opened its maw.
At the exact same time as a chromatic explosion filled the sky, Cloud’s monster released a massive bolt of lightning towards the skies. The roar of thunder along the shattering of the sound barrier forced everyone to cover their ears. A beam of light the color of the rainbow descended right towards the bright lightning that tore the sky upwards to meet it halfway. They were so bright that everyone in the coliseum looked away or closed their eyes instinctually before they clashed just above the Coliseum.
“....Is it over?” Pinkie asked timidly in her megaphone after the rumbling and the blinding lights died down. “Who won?” she wondered as she rubbed her eyes to chase the dark spots caused by the multiple flashes.
As the crowd gathered its spirits back, and probably its sight too for most parts, Pinkie looked down after not spotting any of the two contestants flying at her zep’s altitude. She rapidly blinked in shock at what she saw before screaming in terror.
“RAINBOW DASH IS GETTING EATEN LIKE A CUPCAKE!” she yelled fearfully at the sight of a halfly shattered cloud-monster with the tips of blue wings and a foot sticking out its closed maws. “... Oh wait, there she is,” she added when the shape spit the unconscious Cloudsdalian out, her whole body restrained by silvery white bonds.
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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Well, at least the fight wasnt as one sided this time. My biggest complaint against AJ and Vinyl was that they were so strong that there was no reason for their competitors to bother competing. Thankfully that doesnt seem to be the case here.
sweet as moonshine.
Not an easy fight for Cloud, I was thinking since she had military experience and training way over what Rainbow would that she would dominate the whole thing, but it wasn't one sided. I loved Cloud's tactics and her method for neutralizing Rainbow's lighting and then the making the giant cloud snake. BUT BRING ON SPITFIRE VS CLOUD!!!!!
She's going to be feeling that in the morning.
GIANT SNAKE IS SOOOOOOOOO AWESOME!
Spitfire vs. Cloud is going to be really interesting... Spitfire was Cloud's teacher, but Cloud could have picked up some new stuff.
grandiosa pelea me encanto y se nota con quien entreno espero la pelea de cloud y spitfire
That was awsome can`t wait for the next one even though I know I have to
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Heh.
And Soarin's now voiced by Goku.
Will it be enthusiastic? #Alucard
Of you are Magnificent!
Apparently you do.
What are you up to?
I see.
I suppose so.
I sense shipping!
Did, Cloud just blast Rainbow with a steam bullet?
Oh.
That's dangerous.
Shots fired!
Yeah, that wasn't a bright move, it's like using an energy blast against Android 19 or Dr Gero. You're just giving them juice.
Smart.
Most impressive.
HEH!
Dem's fightin' words!
And here I thought I was the only one who used in extremis.
Nah, she's pulling an old DBZ trick, you think a guy's dead/beaten, you lower your guard, he/she kicks your ass.
Knew it.
Called it. Also, that thing reminds me vaguely of Mega Rayquaza.
Guess there's something solid under it.
I'd like to think Twilight is behind this, also, I sense awesomeness in Rainbow's near future.
Yes...
Rayquaza used Thunderbolt! Rainbow Dash used Sonic Rainboom!
Bonds. Not bounds. Also, Cloud was smart enough to try and restrain Dash, clever.
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I'll Just say that I know it's not exactly good writing to have AJ be all Mary-sueish! I know it's bad, and that I should feel bad about making her win all the time, but I have a picture that proves all my reasoning behind it...
derpicdn.net/img/2015/5/3/887780/large.jpg
Now, after seeing that image, can you really imagine her losing anything?
)
(if you actually can, that means you're way more strong-willed than I am
More seriously though, the hardships are to come, even for my high and mighty representation of Applejack
Ooohhhh come on!!!!!! De verdad pensé que al menos quedaría en empate y se las tendrían que arreglar entre las tres.....Cloud es genial y me encanta, pero van a ganar todo!?
........Rarijack rules!!!!!!!!! 
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Of course, when you say what the princesses do like that it seems pretty awful. .... (it probably is though.)
Though, Celestia doesn't want AJ to work for her, she wants to train her.... for you know.... reasons
..... It would make sense much later.... I guess...Maybe....
Hm... Since Kicker put RD in cloud chains... Would it be called Clouds bondage? Or... Is that just thursday nights with Twi?
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Cloud vs Spitfire? please :p Cloud would get her ass handed to her. Now, Spitfire vs Crystal/Soarin/Fleetfoot... now that would be a fair fight.
I believe you mean "her purple eyes that" and "tears forming"
Wanted elsewhere.
That's all I saw. Good Chapter, Twilight and I freaked out together because I now love Cloud Kicker. Again good chapter.
6005505 I honestly just want Spitfire to admit where everypony can hear how she lied about not training Cloud.
Okay the ending was funny that dash nearly got eaten by Kickers snake.
can't wait for the next chapter.
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......No [Insert Lying Applejack Image here]
next update?
Nooooooooo! Gah! There needs to be more chapters and soon!
Keep up the great work.
Also, Alulu supposed to be Scootaloo or no?
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No, Alula is cloud's sister. Scootaloo is a friend of Alula who also lives in Cloudsdale. (and who's a huge Rainbow Dash Friend)
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Gotcha. Thanks
NEED UPDATE NOW!!!!!!!!!!!
PLEASE!!!!!
I have waited to long please update this story
Im really crying cuz there is no update
trying not to sound mean or annoying if am really sorry
This discontinued
Yeah Cloud Kicker is vicious in combat.
Remember this story?? Because I do <3