A Reunion of Friends
“Well well, if it ain’t old Rainbow Crash herself.”
Rainbow glanced up from the punch bowl and grinned at the approaching mare. “That’s Wonderbolt Rainbow Crash to you, Lightning Bust.”
Lightning winced dramatically and held a hoof to her chest. “Oof, ow, wow that really stings. Been a Wonderbolt for years and yet you still can’t come up with a decent name. What was last year’s? Flunking Dust or something?”
Rainbow rolled her eyes and held out a cup to her. “Yeah yeah, why don’t you just stick to flying well in the contests, or are you gonna cheat with a thunderstorm instead of a tornado this time?”
Lightning stuck out her tongue as she snatched the offered cup of punch. “Oh come on, that was over 20 years ago! Are you really gonna keep bringing that up every reunion?”
“Maybe once I get a proper apology for almost blowing my friends out of the sky.”
Lightning sighed loudly. “Look, we were both young and dumb back then. I’m sorry.” Her lips twitched into a smirk. “For being more awesome than you!”
Rainbow held a deadpan for a few seconds before chuckling and shaking her head. She brought up her own punch glass and clinked it against Lightning’s. “Well that’s probably as good an apology as I’ll ever get.”
“Damn right.”
The mares shared another laugh before turning away from the refreshment table and into the crowd that was gathering in front of a stage. Floating above was a series of clouds strung together and painted with the words ‘30 Year Class Reunion’.
A respectful hush fell over the gathered pegasi as an older mare walked onto the stage, her two toned teal mane streaked with gray and with plenty of wrinkles on her face that showed the age her strong gait did not. She smiled warmly at the group and leaned into the microphone. “Hello everyone and welcome to this year’s class reunion! It’s so nice to see all of you again. How is everyone doing?”
A cheer rose up, Lightning and Rainbow raising their cups as they added their voices. The mare on stage chuckled and waited for the crowd to settle before addressing them again. “Wonderful! Well let’s not delay the main events any longer hmm? Please welcome last reunion’s first place winner of the cloud corral, Cloud Chaser!”
The crowd rippled as the called upon pegasus made his way to the stage, a (relatively) quieter surge of cheers and stomps following him. The charcoal pegasus grinned proudly as he stepped to the microphone. “Thanks Lofty, and thanks everyone for the warm welcome. Now, I may be a little older and with a few more wrinkles, but I’ll still kick your flanks this year just like every other.”
The room filled with laughter, some in the crowd jeering playfully in response. Cloud laughed as well. “The next pegasus here to defend her title, please welcome last reunion’s first place winner of the cloud sprints, Rainbow Dash!”
Lightning smirked at the mare and elbowed her. “Next time, that’ll be me Crash.”
Rainbow jostled her back with an equally devious grin. “Isn’t that what you said last time, Bust?”
Lightning raspberried as Rainbow hopped on stage and replaced Cloud Chaser, holding a hoof up to quiet the room. “Yeah yeah, I’m awesome I know. Not to copy Cloud here but uh, I’m totally going to copy him. Just try and take my title for cloud sprints. And good luck taking first place in the rain bucket pour from Sunshower Raindrops!”
The yellow pegasus joined them on stage, and offered a quiet “Thank you and good luck this year” into the microphone.
Lofty took the microphone again, raising a wing in a sweeping gesture over the winners gathered behind her. “Let’s hear one more cheer for last reunion’s winners!”
The crowd roared, some taking to the air and pumping their hooves. Lofty let it go for a few minutes before calling for quiet again. “As is tradition, we’ll start with the cloud corral. This year's theme is ‘summer’. Everyone head outside and those who wish to participate please follow Cloud Chaser to the starting line. Good luck to everyone!”
A final, shorter cheer followed the crowd as they exited the room, excitement leaping between each Pegasi like bolts of lightning.
Lightning Dust followed the crowd that gathered to watch, not having much interest in the cloud corral. She was better at busting clouds apart than gathering them up and shaping them into sculptures. She wasn’t surprised when Rainbow came up beside her, the mare having won the cloud corral at the 15 year reunion and claiming she would never do it again and risk tarnishing her record.
There was a decent turnout this year, a dozen Pegasi lining up and watching as a team filled the sky above with clouds. A whistle blew and they took off, each gathering clumps of clouds and moving to different areas to begin sculpting.
Rainbow hummed as she watched the clouds come together in various shapes. “Summer theme this year huh? I wonder what ponies are going to create.”
Lightning snorted. “I swear they just keep getting vaguer every time. How do you even represent something like that? It’s just a season.”
Rainbow shrugged. “I don’t know. Rarity would probably be able to spout off a bunch of different ways to show it in a sculpture.”
“Rarity, that was the unicorn fashion designer right?”
“Yup.”
“Figures. How’s your wife doing by the way?”
“Doing good, life on the farm is busy as usual, especially with Applebloom working at the school.”
Lightning smirked. “Is she finally letting you help with the chores or are you two still butting heads over the right way to do them?”
Rainbow huffed, much to Lightning’s amusement. “Since you seem to love poking into my personal life, how about you? Dating anyone or ‘still looking’?”
It was Lightning’s turn to huff, though she tried to play it off by smoothing her hair back. “Hey, it’s hard finding a mare that can keep up with me. You are lucky you found someone in your friend group.”
Rainbow nodded and seemed to think hard about something. “Say, are you doing anything next weekend?”
Lightning blinked. “Well that’s a hell of a way to change the subject. Don’t tell me you and AJ are considering an open marriage, cause while I’m flattered I think I’ll have to turn you down.”
Rainbow’s laughter came harsh and quick, devolving into a coughing fit as she nearly fell over from the force of it. “Oh, that’s, ha, I’m sorry Lightning, but yeah no, no no no that wasn’t what I meant at all.”
Lightning flushed. “Well then what did you mean?”
It took Rainbow another minute to recover. “I was going to invite you to come hang out at the farm. The Apple family reunion is next weekend and I don’t want to be the only pegasus there.”
Lightning tilted her head back towards the sky, eyes focusing on a Pegasi sculpting, of all things, an apple tree and hummed. “Tell you what, you beat me in the cloud sprints and I’ll even bring a bag of chips.”
Rainbow grinned. “You’re on.”
~~
The cloud corral ended with a decisive victory from Clear Skies with her ornate sculpture of a pegasus surfing along a wave. The others were reduced down to regular puffs of cloud and set at regular intervals for the cloud sprints.
Lightning came up beside Rainbow at the starting line, stretching her limbs out with a cocky grin. “You ready to lose your title today Crash?”
Rainbow smirked in response and settled into a starting position. “You should know the answer to that by now, Bust.”
Lightning laughed and settled into her position. Someone blew a whistle, and they were off.
Lightning whooped as she flew, her wings flapping rapidly and body straightened into the most aerodynamic pose possible. She could see the rainbow trail of her rival in her peripheral vision and strained to surpass it. She started to inch alongside Rainbow’s side, just barely able to see her wings moving in a blue blur. She was able to keep pace until the 200 meter mark before her stamina wavered and she fell back to Rainbow’s flank.
They crossed the finish line and though it was certainly close, there was no contest that Rainbow held her winning streak. The mares skid to a stop, both huffing slightly and trying to catch their breath. Lightning groaned loudly as she sat. “Aww man, I almost had you this time!”
Rainbow chuckled and tossed her head, flicking strands of sweat soaked hair from her face. “Almost but not quite. I guess I’ll be seeing you next weekend with a bag of chips.”
Lightning scrunched her muzzle. “Yeah, I guess you will. Oh well, there are worse ways to spend a day than at an apple farm.”
“Oh come on, I bet you are going to have a blast.”
“Once the cider comes out, sure.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Yeah yeah, I’ll make sure we’ve got plenty. Though you are dreaming if you think you’ll be drinking anyone under the table.”
“Shucks, there go my plans.”
They shared a laugh before heading over to watch the rain bucket pour, a challenge of gathering rain clouds and getting the most water out of them. It required a careful hoof to not spill a drop until they intended to and was often the most tense contest. It usually also had the smallest pool of contestants due to its difficulty.
A hush fell over those watching, most even holding their breath as the dark clouds were carefully gathered and molded together. One by one, the challengers guided their collected bundles and placed them over large, clear buckets before bucking them and emptying the collected water.
The crowd began to grow restless as the water levels rose, with soft murmurs and growing bets on who would win. In the end, it was Sunshower Raindrops who barely edged out a second year win by 1/15th of an inch, but the crowd went wild regardless.
Lofty called for everyone to gather back inside for the closing ceremonies and the reunion ended in much the same fashion as previous years, with everyone gathering for another celebration of the winners and more casual reminiscing of the past. Rainbow made sure to not let Lightning forget about her loss and new commitment and the two parted with promises to see each other the next weekend.