New Moon (My Little Pony)

35 A Win (4/5)

"Come on, stretch them bones out. You gotta keep them limber." Lazuli instructed Nebula to perform their routine stretches before she would begin her flight, however, the young thestral had stiffened at Lazuli's words. Nebula expected the utter blasphemy of being bossed around by a plebe the most bothersome, however, it appeared to be the eyes of ponies that fazed her.

"Heh," a pegasus colt smirked from across a white line on the track. The participants of the baton race had already taken their places. Only at the blast of a flare spell, it would begin. But before the flare would shoot to the sky, Nebula was welcomed with the discomfort of three of her competing colts gawking at her. "Guess that's one less pony I have to worry about."

"I'll throw you in the shadow realms for your arrogance." Nebula growled with her fangs out for all ponies to bear witness to. However, she immediately retracted them when she felt a tap on her head.

"Hey." Lazuli lowered her face to Nebula's. "Don't let them get to you. You're going to do great."

"Save your consoling for Luna," Nebula spat. "I have no intention of losing to a bunch of prepubescent colts." Though her words were filled with rage, there was a tinge of a quiver in her voice that became the only thing apparent to Nebula's mind.

Nebula tried to turn her attention back to the track. The baton race will have the staff member and adult of each team cover a quarter of the track, leaving the foals to finish the remaining half. When it comes to speed, Nebula should have no concern. However, she couldn't help but wonder if it's not enough.

Besides her wits, she has nothing to bask over with her physical prowess. Countless times she has fallen to her foes, left at their mercy each and every time. Who's to say it won't happen again? Right here in front of every pony to bear witness to.

Nebula took a step back. Despite how wide the field was, she felt trapped in a tiny cube. She wanted out of it.

But just as her anxieties were getting the best of her, she found Bud and Artemis watching her from the bleachers. Not only them but also the friends and family that constantly dare to be in her presence. As Artemis and the colts pumped their pom-poms wildly in the air and chanted a sound that no pony could possibly understand, it rang inside Nebula.

The proud smiles and glees of her friends and family struck something in Nebula. She couldn't find the right words to explain this feeling. All that she knew is that whatever she was afraid of, it was no longer there. The only fear now was disappointing their smiles, and Nebula would be damned to make that nightmare a reality.

Lazuli noted Nebula taking a step before the white line. "Atta girl." Lazuli grinned. "Go show them what you're made of."

The race began when the vice-principal Cinch was elected the mare to shoot the flare spell. The staff members were the first to start on the track with Leaf Clip racing down the track with mediocre speed. No, that was putting it lightly. Even with the peak of his spirits at the display, Leaf lagged behind the other staff.

He was finally given a moment to rest when he became the last to pass the baton for the adult section. The competing stallions already had seconds of a head start as Wind Rider waited for Leaf Clip with unwavering patience. As soon as the baton fell into his grasp, his body blurred past his competition and stopped before Lazuli and Nebula in barely a second.

Wind Rider and Lazuli shared a brief gaze with each other before he dropped the baton in Nebula's teeth. "Show me what you can do." Wind Rider said.

Nebula stared at the track before her. This was it, her moment. There was no more time for doubts as Nebula roared and unleashed a strong gust of wind with her small wings.

Nebula immediately heaved her wings after reaching the corner in a mere second. Her eyes traced the white lines between, committing her mind and body to stay within its bounds as she rebelled against the rough winds.

Nebula can already see the finish line before her. The colts that were meant to be her competition only stood jaw dropped at her remarkable feat.

Her wings however were only beginning to feel sore. Despite all that training she endured, her body was still too weak to compensate for her unrivaled will. Her body began to descend to the ground.

"I refuse to yield!" Nebula pulled whatever left she had in her body to launch the strongest gust of wind she could manage. The air she created was so powerful that it blew upon the observant audience on the bleachers.

The finishing tap tore and slapped onto Nebula's forehead as tried to pull the brakes on her wings. Instead, the winds launched her upward to the sky above.

At that moment above the stadium, she could see the full stretch of her new home. Manehattan, a city of stardom and fashion. A place where ponies come to make a name for themselves. A place where one can find a place to belong in this large world. And hers was with Luna and...

"I gotcha." Lazuli caught Nebula before she could begin her descent. "Yeesh, where did you learn to pull a trick like that? I don't remember teaching you that. Now you're going to have Bud at my throat."

Lazuli shook when she heard a piercing cheer below her. Down below on the bleachers, she awed at the bombastic cry of Loving Bud. She was practically jumping in applause as she cried, "That's my baby!"

"Woah," was all that Lazuli could manage. However, she had another moment of awe when she looked down upon the filly in her hooves. Though Nebula breathed raggedly in exhaustion, the filly bore a wide and tearful smile.

"I won...I won..." the filly repeated over and over.

"Heh." Lazuli grinned. "I knew you had one in you."

From below, Wind Rider observed the two. The sight clicked something in his mind. "I see now. She's your Lazuli."