//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: The Cloudsdale 500 Part 1 // Story: A Pegasus Tale // by Forge //------------------------------// Chapter 7 The Cloudsdale 500 Part 1 Forge soared through the air at breakneck speeds. After being unable to fly for a few days, he couldn't wait to feel the wind in his mane again. Now thanks to Princess Celestia, he was back in the sky's flying like his life depended on it. And he was enjoying every minute of it. "Yaaaahoooo!!!!" he shouted as he flipped and barrel-rolled in the air. Up here, he felt invincible. No pony could even catch him... except for one. "Hey Forge!" Rainbow shouted as she pulled up beside him. "Hello Rainbow. What took you so long? I thought you were the fastest pony in Equestria." he taunted. "I am. I just had a little trouble finding you. You were already in the air before any of us even left the castle." "What can say? I missed being able to fly so i'm making up for lost time." She smirked at his comment before the two began flying back to Ponyville. "I'll admit your pretty fast. Your probably one of the only ponies around here who could keep up with me. I'm... impressed." Forge looked at her smugly. "Did I just hear right? The great Rainbow Dash is impressed by another ponies speed. How did those words taste coming out of your mouth?" "Like vinegar..." Forge gave a triumphant smile as they landed in Ponyville. "Does this mean your backing out of our little race?" Rainbow glared at Forge before a smirk spread across her face. "Never. Your fast Forge, but i'm faster." "There's the Rainbow Dash I remember." They chuckled as they gave each other a playful shove. "Well, I better get going." Rainbow said. "I've got work to do today. As for our race..." "Anytime. Anywhere. I'll be waiting." She nodded before flying off towards Cloudsdale. Forge watched her leave before turning back towards town. "I don't think the rest of the girls have gotten from Canterlot yet." he thought to himself. "I wonder what there is to do around here?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rainbow rushed towards Cloudsdale to get her assignment. She arrived at the main office and was greeted by the receptionist. "Good morning Rainbow Dash." the receptionist said. "Glad to see you actually got up for work this morning." "Yeah, yeah." Rainbow said rolling her eyes. "What's the weather supposed to be today?" "Sunny. So get to work Rainbow." The receptionist tossed Rainbow her work order and she began to leave. However, something caught Rainbow's attention. There were very few weather ponies at work today. Normally the place was packed with pegasi, but today the office was like a ghost town. "Hey, where is everypony?" "They're all out practicing for the big race." "Race? What race?" The receptionist handed Rainbow a flyer from nearby and she examined it. "The Cloudsdale 500! That's coming up!" Rainbow said excitedly. "Yeah. I'm surprised you of all ponies forgot about it." "I've been busy lately." Rainbow began to smile and started to squeal in excitement. "This is huge! Only the best flyers make it in this race!" Suddenly, Rainbow gasped as she came to a realization. "That's it... This is where we'll have it!" She then made a beeline for the exit. "Wait! Rainbow!" the receptionist shouted. "Where are you going? You have work to do!" "I'll do it later! I've got somewhere to be!" As Rainbow began flying back towards Ponyville, she didn't notice the pair of golden eyes glaring at her as she left. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "I can't believe he just left us like that!" whined Rarity. "That was completely rude!" The rest of the girls had just returned from Canterlot after being ditched by Forge and Rainbow Dash. "I'm sure he didn't mean to..." Fluttershy said quietly. "Um... he was probably just happy to be able to fly again." "Yeah. An' why are ya' so worked up about this?" Applejack added. "Rainbow left too." "I've come to expect being ditched by Rainbow Dash darling. But that doesn't excuse Forge doing the same, wings or not. He didn't even say thank you for all the support we gave him." They all sighed as they walked back to Ponyville. "Rarity, your taking this the wrong way." Twilight said. "It's like Fluttershy said, he was probably excited to be able to fly again. I mean you all saw how fast he took off." Rarity looked down at the ground before giving a defeated sigh. "I guess your right. I'm just being over-dramatic." "Ya' think." Applejack snapped. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie laughed at Applejack's remark while Rarity blushed in embarrassment. They arrived in Ponyville to notice a frantic looking Rainbow Dash zooming from pony to pony. "Have you seen Forge?" she asked one group of mares. They shook their heads before Rainbow zoomed off towards a nearby stallion. "Have you seen him anywhere?" The stallion also shook his head and Rainbow was clearly getting frustrated. She flew to another stallion pressing her head right up to is face. "Have you seen Forge anywhere?" The stallion though about it for a minute. "Jet-black coat, orange and yellow mane, lightning bolt with flames as a cutie mark?" "Yes!" "Haven't seen him." Rainbow's eye twitched before she whirled around in anger and began stomping off towards another group of ponies. Twilight looked on as Rainbow continued to question everypony she saw. "I've never seen her this worked up before. Let's see what's going on." The rest of the girls nodded and they approached Rainbow who was now angrily questioning a young colt. "I KNOW YOU'VE SEEN HIM DON'T LIE TO ME!!!" Rainbow shouted. The little colt looked like he was on the verge of tears as Rainbow bared down on him. "Rainbow!" Twilight called out. Rainbow whirled around and seemed to relax at the sight of her friends. The little colt saw the opportunity to escape and took off running. "Thank you." he said as he ran past the girls. "Rainbow, what in tarnation do ya' think yer' doin'?! Scaring a little colt like that! What's wrong with you?!" "Nothing, I just need to find Forge right now! Have any of you seen him?" "We haven't seen him since the two of you took off at the castle darling. What could possibly be so important that you go around scaring everypony in town." "The Cloudsdale 500!" The girls looked at each other clearly confused, except for Pinkie who was now bouncing with excitement. "Oh that sounds super-duper-fun. What is it?" "Only the biggest race to ever come to Equestria!" Rainbow said giving Twilight the flyer for the race. "It's only held every five years and only the best flyers in Equestria enter it! The winner get's fifty thousand bits, a statue in their image to be placed in the Hall of Champions at Cloudsdale and the opportunity to become one of the Wonderbolts!" The girls stared at her in amazement. "Wow!" they said in unison. "Wait a minute! I think I remember reading about this in a book before." Twilight said. She began searching through her saddlebag for the book. "Aha!" she shouted. She pulled out a book form her bag entitled 'Equestrian Traditions and Celebrations' She quickly began scrolling through the book as the other girls gathered around her. "Here it is! The Cloudsdale 500. 'This race is one of the most famous races in Equestrian history. The pegasi of Cloudsdale used to race each other to either solve disputes or simply for entertainment. However, as Cloudsdale began to expand in size, disputes became less frequent and pegasi began to ignore the race all together. The former leader of the pegasus ponies; Commander Hurricane, deemed that a new race would be created in an attempt to keep the tradition alive. Soon, a much larger race was created and it was only solely used for entertainment. The new race course spanned from Cloudsdale, traveling through the Unicorn and Earth pony kingdoms and ending at what is now Canterlot Castle in the courtyard. In celebration of the new race course, a large race consisting of 500 pegasi including Commander Hurricane happened. Commander Hurricane won the race and became it's first champion. The new course was named the Cloudsdale 500 after the original 500 ponies who particapted and it was decided that a race would be held in Cloudsdale every five years. Today, the race is still held in Cloudsdale and has since allowed the participation of griffons and young dragons in the race. The amount of racers able to participate in the race has been shortened to 50 and only a select few who pass a qualifying race can enter. This race is considered to be the ultimate test of one's speed, agility, and endurance. A total of over 1000 ponies, griffons and dragons have not finished the race due to exhaustion or immense strain put on themselves due to the challenge of the race.' Applejack looked up from the book and stared at Rainbow Dash, who now had a certain competitive sparkle in her eyes and was now sporting a massive smile. "While that's all very interestin' Twi, it still doesn't explain why Rainbow was acting all crazy like." Rainbow groaned in frustration before looking directly at Applejack. "It's a big deal for me. I've been wanting to enter that race for so long and since me and Forge still have to race, I figure it's the best place for me to embarrass him. Not only would I prove I'm the fastest pony in Equestria, I'd also be rich and finally become a Wonderbolt!" The girls looked at each other unsure of what to think. Rainbow clearly wanted to enter this race and they were sure that Forge would want in if they told him, but the fact that the race put so much strain on those who entered it worried them. They didn't want to see Rainbow or Forge get hurt. Not to mention the state Rainbow would be in if she lost the race. Or worse... if she won. Rainbow noticed this and said "Please. This means race means a lot to me and I know Forge would want to be in it as well. Help me find him so we can do this. Please." The girls looked at each other one more time before smiling at Rainbow and giving her a gentle nod. "Okay Rainbow." Twilight began. "We'll help you." Rainbow rushed over to them and crushed them all in a group hug. "Awww, you guys are the best!" "Of course darling..." Rarity said gasping for breath. "Now can you let go of us..." Rainbow released them from the hug as they all gasped for breath. Fluttershy was the first to speak. "So um... where do you think Forge would be?" "I don't know. But we'll probably have better luck finding him if we split up." Twilight suggested "Rainbow and Fluttershy, you fly around and see if you can spot any sign of him." "Right!" "Oh um... okay." "Pinkie and Rarity, you'll stay here and keep looking for him here in Ponyville." "Of course darling." "Yay! I'll find Forge! Don't you worry about a thing!" Pinkie said giving a mock salute. "Me and Applejack will check near Sweet Apple Acres and the Everfree Forest. We'll find him and meet back here in 2 hours." They all put their hooves together and cheered before splitting up and going in their separate directions. All the while a pair of golden eyes watched from the shadows. "So, that race is very important to Dash huh. Well, I'm just going to have to make sure she doesn't make it to it then..." The figure laughed before taking flight with powerful wings and disappearing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forge flew along at a leisurely pace. He yawned as he approached a comfy looking cloud. "I've been flying for hours. Maybe I should get some sleep before I pass out." he said. He landed on top of the cloud and curled up into a ball. He yawned once more before closing his eyes. "Wow. I forgot how soft these clouds really are. This is perfect. Peace and quiet..." "Hey! Look out!" Forges's head shot up and he looked in the direction of the voice. He noticed a dark tan colored pegasus heading right for him. Forge unfurled his wings to try and lift off, but the out of control pegasus slammed into him sending them both tumbling towards the earth. Forge straightened out and began hovering. "What the fuck! Are you craz-" he began to say. He stopped once he noticed that the pegasus was still trying to even himself out so his wings could catch the wind. The pegasus flailed as he plummeted to earth. "Oh no." Forge immediately went into a nose dive straight towards the pegasus. "I've got to aim this perfectly." he thought to himself. He angled his body, aiming right for the pegasus's side. He collided with the pegasus, spinning him out of his free-fall and he opened his wings. The dark tan pegasus lurched upward and began hovering in place. Forge flew up to him and noticed that the pegasus had a huge smile on his face. He turned to look at Forge who was now glaring at him. "Hey thank you! That was a close one." he said. Forge continued glaring at him. The pegasus noticed this and immediately wiped the smile off his face. "I-I'm sorry for crashing into you." "You should be! What the hay were you thinking?" Forge shouted. "Again sorry. I was practicing a few moves and I just didn't notice you..." "Well not only did you ruin my nap, you nearly got yourself killed." Forge looked at the pegasus. His head held low. Obviously he was making him feel worse than he already felt. "Look don't worry about it. It was an accident. If it makes you feel any better, you were going pretty fast." The pegasus chuckled a bit before looking back up as Forge. "Thanks. My names Zephyr. Zephyr Verve." "Nice to meet you. My names Forge. I don't have a last name." The two shook hooves and Forge flew back up to his cloud. He turned to look at Zephyr who was hovering in place. "Well don't just hover there. Pull up a cloud and relax." Zeph grabbed a nearby cloud and pushed it across from Forge's. He landed on his and began to speak. "So Forge. I haven't seen you around here before. You new?" "Yeah. I just got here a few days ago." "Hmmm..." "What?" "I've heard your name somewhere before but I can't put my hoof on it." Zephyr thought for minute. His head shot up and he stared at Forge. "Are you the same Forge that the royal guards used to complain about." "Yes I am. Thanks for noticing." Forge replied smugly. "Aha! I knew I heard your name before! When I was in guard training, they used to mention you a lot. They hate you." Forge laughed. "Yeah, I know. When I was at the castle earlier today they were all giving me death stares." Zephyr looked at him curiously. "You went to the castle? It's like guard central there." "I didn't have a choice. Princess Celestia asked to see me. Any more questions?" "Just one. The guards mentioned that you could control fire. Is that true or is that just a myth?" Forge hesitated. "Uhhh. I don't really think I should tell you that." "So it is true!" "I never said that!" "You implied it!" Zephyr said triumphantly. Forge groaned and gave him a frustrated look. "Can I see it?" Forge's head shot back to Zephyr. "See what?" "The fire-thing you do." "I don't think that's a good idea. I'm trying to downplay the whole 'I can breath fire' thing. I don't really want ponies to know." "Come on. We're nowhere near Ponyville. Nopony's going to see anything." Forge looked at Zephyr who was now practically begging him to show him. He sighed. "Fine. But If you say anything, I will hunt you down. Got it." "Cross my heart and hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye. I won't say anything." Forge looked away and took a deep breath. Zephyr watched as Forge's mane, tail and wings began to glow brighter. Soon their was a flash of orange and the places that were once glowing were now covered in flames. Forge reared his head back and shot a fireball directly into the sky. Soon Forge returned to his normal state leaving a stunned Zephyr starring at him. "There. Are you happy now?" Zephyr blinked a few times before uttering only one word. "Woah..." Forge rolled his eyes. "Okay, now it's my turn to ask you some questions." Zephyr seemed to snap out of his stunned silence upon hearing Forge talking. "Right. Go ahead." "You said you were training to be a guard. Does that mean your a guard now?" "No. They kicked me out." "Wow. What did you do to get yourself kicked out of the guard?" Zephyr didn't answer and just looked away. Forge noticed that this was obviously a personal topic and decided that it was best that they drop the subject. "Forget I said anything. So what do you do know?" Zephyr looked back at Forge. "I work with the weather ponies now." "Why aren't you working today?" "It's a day off." "It's Wednesday." "Well, not an official day off. Most of the weather ponies are out practicing for the Cloudsdale 500. That's kind of what I was doing before I crashed into you." "That big race thing?" "Yeah. You know it." "I've only heard of it from the other towns I've been to." "I'm entering in this years race. The grand prize is fifty thousand bits!" "Holy shit! Seriously!" "Plus a statue of yourself in the Hall of Champions in Cloudsdale and a chance at joining the Wonderbolts! Also, the mares love a stallion who's also a champion." he said slyly. Forge's mind began to race. "If I won that prize money I'd be set for life!" he thought to himself. "I could by a new house! Fuck I could by a new mansion! I'd wouldn't have to look for a job! Wait, is that just me being lazy? Who cares I'm going to be rich!" Forge looked right at Zephyr and shouted. "Where do I sign up?!" "The qualifying race is in 3 days. But you need to sign up to enter. That's back in Ponyville." Forge unfurled is wings and hovered above his cloud. "Well, what are we waiting for! Come one Zephyr, I'll show you how to really fly!" Zephyr shook his head and took off after Forge. "Wait for me!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The girls all gathered in the middle of town, each one sporting a disappointed look. "Did you girls have any luck finding him?" Rainbow asked hopefully. "No." they all said in unison. "Yes!" Pinkie Pie shouted. They all turned to look at their pink friend who was smiling ear to ear. Rainbow moved in front of Pinkie and looked her right in the eyes. "You found him!" she said ecstatically. Pinkie then giggled. "No silly, but you looked so sad when everypony else said no. So I thought i'd make you feel better by saying yes! It worked! You were so happy!" Rainbow's eye twitched and she face-hoofed. She sighed before turning back to the rest of her friends. "Where could he be?" "Where could who be?" Rainbow wheeled around to see Forge and Zephyr land behind her. "Oh Rainbow! I found Forge!" Pinkie said. They all rolled their eyes before Rainbow looked at Forge and began speaking. "There you are! Where were you? We've been looking everywhere for you!" "After you left I got bored. So I started flying around and I met Zephyr over there." "Hey Rainbow. Hi girls." "Hi Zephyr." Forge looked at Zephyr and then back towards the girls. "You all know each other?" "Yeah, Rainbow's the captain of the weather team I'm in. I met everyone else at one of Pinkie's parties." "Rainbows your boss!" Zephyr nodded. Forge put a hoof on his shoulder before saying "I'm so sorry about that." "What do you mean by... Oh never mind." Rainbow stammered. "Forge, I know where we can have our race!" "The Cloudsdale 500." he finished. "Yeah. How did you know?" "Well I figured you'd ask me once you found out about it. What better place to stroke your ego if you won." Rainbow blushed a little at Forge's comment. She whirled around at the girls when she heard snickering. "My and Zephyr were on our way to sign up when we saw you down here." Rainbow stared at Forge with a new found determination in her eyes. "So your in?" Forge gave Rainbow the same look. "Oh, I'm in. And I will win that race." "I don't think so!" added Zephyr. "If anypony is going to win that race it's going to be me!" The three pegasi stared each other down. Each one determined to win the Cloudsdale 500 for different reasons. The intense rivalry building between the three was thick enough to cut with a butter knife. They stared at each other for a few minutes before Applejack broke their stares. "Y'all better hurry if ya' want ta' sign up. They close in 10 minutes." This snapped all three of them out of their trance and they darted off go sign up. "Your going the wrong way!" Twilight shouted. They quickly turned around and galloped in the opposite direction. "We knew that!" they shouted. The girls laughed before they all gave chase after the trio. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The three pegasi mad it to the booth with minutes to spare. However, Rainbow stopped in her tracks when she saw who was at the booth. "Rainbow. What's wrong with you?" Forge asked. "You look like you've just seen a ghost." Zephyr added. "Not exactly a ghost." said the figure. Forge and Zephyr turned to see a large figure with golden eyes glaring at them. "Hello Rainbow Dash." Rainbow gritted her teeth and glared at the figure. Pure hatred seemed to be coming from her with every breath. "Gilda." The griffon laughed as Rainbow, Forge and Zephyr glared at her. "What's the matter Rainbow Dash? Didn't you miss your old friend?" Gilda taunted. "After what you did last time you were here, you should have stayed away!" Rainbow spat. By now the rest of the girls had caught up and were also glaring at Gilda, except for Fluttershy who was hiding behind Forge. "Why are you here Gilda?!" "Isn't it obvious. I'm entering the Cloudsdale 500 and I plan on winning." Gilda then looked over Rainbow to see the rest of the girls glaring at her. "I see your still hanging out with these losers." "They're not losers Gilda! They're my friends!" "Whatever. The gang's all here." Gilda said looking at each of the girls. "The egghead, the hillpony, the princess and the nutcase. Hmm... one's missing. Where's the crybaby?" Gilda began looking around the room before noticing Fluttershy's head peeking out from behind Forge. Gilda smiled and began to approach her. As Gilda neared, Forge flared his wings and put himself between Gilda and Fluttershy. "I suggest you back off you over-sized chicken!" Forge snarled. Zephyr flared his wings and placed himself beside Forge as they stared down the griffon looming over them. Gilda laughed before turning to Rainbow. "Who are these two losers? Your bodyguards!" Gilda laughed some more before grabbing both Forge and Zephyr and tossing them aside. They flapped their wings and stopped themselves mid-flight. Forge felt his fire powers clamoring to come out and toast this griffon, but he held off out of fear of harming one of the girls. Gilda looked from Forge to Zephyr to Rainbow. She smirked before speaking to Rainbow once more. "You used to be so cool Rainbow. Now you surround yourself with these loser ponies. We used to be such good friends." "Your not my friend anymore Gilda!" Rainbow shouted. "A real friend wouldn't treat my other friends like that!" By this point Forge and Zephyr had returned to her side and were glaring at Gilda again. Gilda smirked and shoved past Rainbow as she walked towards the door. "I'm going to win Rainbow. You and your little entourage there had better stay out of my way if you know what's good for you." As she opened the door to leave she turned around to look at Fluttershy who was cowering in fear behind her mane. She took a step toward her before Forge jumped in front of her again and cut Fluttershy off form her. She and Forge stared each other down for what seemed like hours. Gilda walked up to him and whispered to him. "Do yourself a favor and stay out of my way during the race. If you try anything, I'll make sure you never fly again." Gilda smirked at him before turning around and heading to the door again. She was stopped when Forge's hoof shot out in front of her. "I won't be in your way because you'll never be able to catch me." Forge said smirking. Gilda tore herself away from Forge and headed out the door. As Gilda took off, Forge calmed himself down a looked back at Fluttershy. "You ok?" he asked. Fluttershy looked up at Forge. "Uh huh. Um... thank you Forge." she said shyly. Forge smiled and looked at Rainbow. "I can't believe she had the nerve to show her face around here again." Rainbow grumbled. "Well I don't know about any of you, but I'm going to make sure that Gilda doesn't win that race." Forge said. "I couldn't agree more." Zephyr added. "That griffons trouble." Forge and Zephyr signed their names one at a time on the entrance before turning to the still visibly shocked Rainbow. She snapped out of her trance and signed her name as well. "Guys." she began. "I know that when the race begins, we're all going to be trying to beat each other. But how about we make sure that Gilda doesn't beat any of us before we focus on winning for ourselves." "Agreed!" Forge and Zephyr said. "If yer' gonna do that, than we wanna help." Applejack said. "Yeah, we can help you guys train for the race." Twilight added. "We'll make sure that meany-weanie griffon doesn't stand a chance against you three." Pinkie cheerfully said. With a plan in motion and the race coming up Forge, Zephyr and Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement. They would all train to improve their skills before the race. With the three of them working together with the help of their friends, Gilda didn't stand a chance. **** Gilda watched as the three little pegasi in the room came up with their plan to make sure she wasn't a problem. She almost laughed but flew off before they realized she was there. "So, they're going to gang up on me huh. That's not going to happen. I just gotta take one of them out, and the whole thing will come crumbling down around them." She laughed menacingly as she flew off towards the horizon. Gilda had a plan... all she needs now is an opportunity.