New Moon (My Little Pony)

28 The Bloom of Lazuli (1/7)

When night came, the field lights lit upon a track field outside of Baltimare. The bleachers were filled with excited ponies cheering for their home teams as the flight team from Baltimare and Cloudsdale assembled to face off.

You probably already know this, but matches between flight teams are commonly settled in three categories: the synergy event, the cloud event, and the speed event. The matches have a point system that depends upon how fast a team or athlete accomplishes the goal of the event.

I happened to have confidence in my team's skills to get the job done. I had a role in their training after all. Yup, even in my younger years, I had a keen eye on the potential of pegasi and had ideas on how to make them better than what they already were. You could say I was like the assistant coach.

Though it wasn't something I really thought much about at the time. The only reason I bothered to help was to increase our odds of victory. All so I can pave my way to become the perfect wonderbolt and make my father proud.

...what? You don't know about the events? C'mon Leaf, don't you watch sports? Fine, I'll just give you the short version then.

In the synergy event, a pair of pegasi are to complete an obstacle course together as quickly as possible, emphasis on the part together. The pair loses points for the team if there is a lack of teamwork or if they get too far separated from each other.

The cloud event is basically eliminating a bunch of clouds that are placed all over the field. Usually, the event would have a team of three pegasi to rid of them. And again, the event is meant to end as quickly as possible.

The speed event happens to consist of the most points since that is the only one that isn't based on time. Those events usually go to the ace of the team like myself, where the best flyers of each team race across pathways designed by the host of the match and finish first to attain the biggest point for the team.

When my time came, the chanting of my name was electrified the entire field. It didn't really matter to me though since the most important voice wasn't there to see me. My attention was solely upon the ace of Cloudsdale, a mare that I knew would prove troublesome to beat if I played my cards wrong.

The announcer called her Windy Whistles. This mare also happened to be a prodigy like myself. Determined, focused, and relentless to prove herself to everypony. It honestly shook me how similar the two of us were. It made me wonder if she was trying to prove herself to somepony just like me.

I did find it kind of weird the way she glanced at me though. It seemed like something bothered her because she looked a bit saddened. I didn't think too much about it however, my most important goal right now was to bet her.

So, since you're apparently a dunderhead when it comes to flight matches, I'll give you more deets on how the speed event works. There's basically a line of hoops that a flyer must go through. The hoops continue on to make a loop that we had to trek. You know, like laps. Do three and you're finished. Finish it first and you get the points.

In my match with Windy Whistles, the hoops were set from the field to Fillydelphia. A pretty long distance, but nothing an ace can't manage in a span of a few minutes. The two of us were ready to make a strong start when the announcer finished his countdown.

We blasted the winds out of the field when we made a strong start to the air. Windy's happened to be on the stronger side since she ended up ahead of me by a few yards. But it was all according to my plan.

You see, weeks before this race, I visited Cloudsdale to study Windy's flying skills by observing her matches with other teams. Any pony that is given the title of prodigy is quick to be under my radar, so I had to find out how she earned it. To my surprise, she had a unique skill that we Pegasi don't normally use.

Remember the strong start that the two of us did? Well, Windy happens to be able to repeat that on the constant. With it, she is able to easily accelerate to her top speed and even frequently exceed it for brief moments. Doing something like that would cause a serious strain on a pegasi's wings, but I think she trained her wing muscles to bear with the pressure.

That isn't to say that she could keep doing it over and over. Every pony has their limits. I just had to bide time to see when she wore herself out.

All the aces that she raced before struggled to push past her and ended up expending too much energy to hold out against her near the end. Their mistake was trying past her so early instead of waiting for her to wear herself out.

I gave her the false impression that I was trying to pass her as I lagged from her behind. Each time I got close, she would burst her wings and slap me with a thick mass of air as she distanced herself from me. But I was able to creep closer to her often enough to get her to spam that truck of hers constantly.

It was only near the end of the second lap that I began to see the fruits of my efforts. Her stamina was honestly making me anxious, but when I saw her wingspan slowing, I knew she was reaching her limit.

So, near the end of the second lap, I adopted that technique she happened to take pride in and gave her a taste of my wind.

The crowds cheered at my sudden hurdle and jumped from their bleachers. I can't lie and say I didn't soak in their praise. Nothing that compared from a prideful grin from my dad, but it was a nice feeling regardless.

But then my eyes dawned upon the corner of one of the bleachers and I noticed her. A blue plush of a foal was wrung in her hoof as she gazed at me in awe.

My eyes were transfixed on her lips, reminded of that moment we had at the greenhouse. It was so enticing, so warm in my heart, and so confusing.

I shook my head to snap that funk out of my head. I had a race to win. Not for my teammates. Not even for myself. But for my dad. I needed that hoof up from him.

But that memory continued to pester me as it became harder and harder to shake the image out of my head. Why couldn't I get her out of my head? I think I asked myself that question so many times at the moment and even afterward.

I was near the end of the final lap when I hit the side of a hoop. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. At one moment, I was overwhelmed by a single image. The next, I was overwhelmed by the dizzying motion of me whirling down to the ground. At the velocity I was going, it took a terrible amount of strength to find balance. I nearly cracked my head into the ground before purging the motions to a halt.

I had recovered from my accident, but it still cost me everything at that moment. I frantically rose back to the sky, but once I had my sights at the field, Windy Whistles was already at the finish line.

I couldn't believe my eyes. I couldn't believe the cheers the crowds sang to her. That was supposed to be me over there. I was the one that plotted my tactic to perfection. I was the one that studied hard to overcome the strengths of my opponent. I was the one that was clearly going to win...and yet I floated there in a daze, numb to the thick winds that we created.

I couldn't go back there. I did something I believed that no pony, that no fan, that not my father would approve of. I lost.

I never felt so out of place at that moment. I couldn't bear to stay there. So, I left. I flew off to who knows where, but I didn't want it to be there.