Spitfire, Lighting Dust, Rainbow Dash, and Cloudchaser were flying through the skies when they ran into Flitter. Spitfire asked her why she was not with the other mares. She showed them the prism shard and told them what happened. The gold pegasus didn’t let up her gaze, but she nodded her head. They moved aside as Flitter continued on back home. The pegasi continued flying through the air, looking for brash James. As they flew around they saw a tree in the Everfree fall down. Not wanting to leave any stone left unturned they headed for the Everfree.

Once inside the dark forest they pushed forward to where the tree had fallen. They reached their destination and were surprised at what they saw. They saw him floating in the air as he punched the trees. Each punch that he delivered made the tree start to crack. They knew that he was strong, but not as strong as two stallions. They went behind some bushes so they could come up with a plan. They couldn’t take him head on since he could most likely take them out with one punch.

The only thing that would work on him is if they decided to make a competition out of it. If he was truly brash and brave then he wouldn’t back down from something like this. They all agreed on their plan and got out of the bushes. When they were out of the bushes, he was standing in front of them waiting. The mares gave an audible gulp as they stared at him. He smiled down at them and asked what the challenges were. The mares shook their heads as they tried to figure out what he was talking about. After a few seconds they remembered their plan and told him.

The challenges were very simple. There were to be three of them and he would have to take on Spitfire, Rainbow, and Lightning. If the mares won then he would have to go back into the prism shard. If he won then he was free to run around Equestria doing whatever he liked. They all shook hands as they agreed to the terms of the challenge. He pointed up at Cloudchaser and asked what she was going to do.

Spitfire told him that she was going to keep track of who was going to win. He shrugged his shoulders at the boring job, but someone needed to do it. Rainbow’s challenge was first and it was a race to Canterlot and back. He couldn’t help but smile at the excitement that was going through his body.

Rainbow and the human were in the air doing stretches as they got ready for the race. Cloudchaser came up and floated in the middle. She raised her two hands and looked at the racers. They nodded their heads letting her know that they were ready. She gave a deep breath as she counted down. As she counted down they both got determined looks in their eyes. He was focused on winning so he could continue to have his freedom. Rainbow was determined because she wanted James back. Clouchaser finished her countdown and they were off.

They took off going as fast as they could. He had a good lead on Rainbow, but she was slowly starting to catch up. He could see that she was catching up and started to worry. He couldn’t let the rainbow pegasus beat him in this race. He wanted his freedom because he deserved it. He looked out at the fields as he flew over them, slightly enjoying the scenery. He could make out the mountain side that held Canterlot. As they flew closer he took the time to plan his turn so he could maintain his lead.

They reached Canterlot and he angled his wings so that he rode the current to make a sharp u-turn. Rainbow was going too fast so she ended up taking a wide turn. She could see that he now had a huge lead on her. She gritted her teeth as she pushed her body to catch up. He could see the finish line coming up and was cheering to himself for his first victory. As he neared the finish line he heard a loud boom. He turned around as he was hit by the shockwave of the sonic rainboom.

He was thrown off course and Rainbow took the lead. He tried as hard as he could to catch up but wasn’t able to make it. The cyan pegasus cheered as she crossed the finish line beating him. He let her gloat since there were two more events that he could still win at. They all went to the ground as they got ready for the next challenge. Spitfire was up and it was a sparring challenge. He couldn’t help but laugh at the challenge. This was almost like taking candy from a baby, but better.

Spitfire did her stretches as he did his. She had to be careful not get caught in his grasp or it was all over. Cloudchaser stood in between the two of them as they took their corners. She looked at the both of them and they nodded their heads. She lifted her hands as she started to countdown. The two of them looked at each other as they sized each other up. There was a slight breeze as it made the leaves rustle. Cloudchaser finished her countdown and threw her arms down. Spitfire was quick as she got right up in front of him and gave a good punch to his chest.

Her fist made contact, but it did more damage to her than it did to him. The armor that he was wearing was for more than show. He smiled as he went to grab her. She quickly ducked under his arms and gave a good roundhouse to his back. This caused him to stumble, but for only a little bit. He turned around as Spitfire rubbed her ankle. He walked up to her and smiled down at her. He went for another grab, but she was still too quick for him. She was about to deliver another kick to the back of his legs when something grabbed her.

She looked at him and he had a hold of her tail. She stared in fear as it was all over for her. He pulled her towards him and wrapped her in his huge arms. He fell to the ground as he pinned her to the ground. She squirmed under his weight trying to get free. It was useless since that armor made him heavy and she couldn’t move very well. Cloudchaser started to countdown as he kept her pinned. She continued to struggle, but couldn’t break free. Cloudchaser finished her countdown and he got up from the ground. He held out his hand as he helped her to her feet. He congratulated her on trying, but told her that she never had a chance.

She walked over to Rainbow who was looking her over. He got ready for the final challenge which was against Lightning Dust. The challenge was to see who could pop the most clouds in two minutes. Since he had wings he could easily walk on clouds or destroy them if he needed to. The two of them took to the air as they stretched for the final challenge. He couldn’t help but smile at how close his freedom was. Lightning looked over at him with worry.

As she looked him over she couldn’t help but think that she couldn’t win this. She pushed back those negative thoughts as she prepared herself for the challenge. Cloudchaser came up and raised her arms. She looked at the two of them and they both nodded. She started her countdown as the wind started to blow. On the final number she threw her arms down and the two of them took off. They flew around as they popped as many clouds as they could. Lightning was in the lead but he was quickly catching up.

Cloudchaser watched from the ground worried that Lightning wasn’t going to be able to win this. He was now even with her and she was trying her hardest to stay ahead of him. Cloudchaser turned around and saw the prism shard that was in Spitfire’s pocket. She could see the worry and fear in their eyes and it hurt. She looked to the sky one last time as she walked behind the pegasus and took the shard. She looked it over and then looked back at him. She took a deep breath as she took to the air.

Since he was distracted she should be able sneak up on him and touch him with the shard. She flew as fast as she could so she could capture him. He was too distracted to see the oncoming pegasus coming up from behind. She could feel her heart pound in her chest as she got closer to him. She raised the shard as she went in for the attack. He quickly turned around and grabbed her hand with the shard. Right as he did that he popped the last cloud in the two minutes.

He beat Lightning and smiled at the mares. Tears formed in all their eyes as they lost probably the only piece of James they needed to make him whole. He brought Cloudchaser to the ground and set her down gently. She let the tears fall from her eyes as she failed her friends and James. She was surprised when she felt something wipe away her tears. She looked up at the human as he smiled down to her. As he wiped away her tears he ruffled up her mane.

He congratulated her on her bravery. Not many ponies would stand up to him that way. He saw the determination in her eyes as she tried to get James back. He commended her for her bravery and said that he would go back. The mares looked at him dumb founded that he would go back to being James so easily. He couldn’t help but laugh at the looks the mares were giving him. He told them all that they were great competition for him and that he had a lot of fun. He looked at them all as he gave them a thumbs up and telling them that James was lucky to have them.

He kneeled in front of Cloudchaser and told her to finish up what they started. She looked at the mares and then at him. The mares nodded their heads letting her know that she could do it. He looked up at her one final time as he gave her a warm smile. She returned the smile with one of her own. She tapped him on the head with the shard. There was a bright flash that quickly died down. She looked at the prism shard as it turned green in color.

She turned around to see that the other three mares were smiling at her. She smiled back as she put the shard in her pocket and walked over to Spitfire. She helped the pegasus up with Rainbow and headed for the hospital to make sure that she was okay. They got her checked in and after waiting for an hour and a half, she came back out. Nurse Redheart told them that she was fine and that there was no serious damage. She would only have a few minor bruises, but that was pretty much it.

The mares thanked her for her time and left the hospital. Cloudchaser looked at the green prism shard and smiled. He gave her a compliment that only she heard. When he grabbed her wrist he whispered something into her ear. He told her that she was a good mare and a brave one at that. He was proud of her determination even in the face of danger. He told her that he would put in a good word for her with James. She couldn’t help but smile as she thought about James returning to them.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to ErikTheSoulReaper for the help on this chapter.