Today was a good day to fly, or, in Speedy Hooves' case, to race. But first, she needed to train. Because the race was only a few hours away, Speedy's made sure her training wasn't to strenuous. It mainly consisted of flying from one mountain top to another in ten seconds flat over the course of an hour. Back and forth. Nonstop.

As the feeling of tiredness grew in her wings so did her self-confidence. Razor was as slow as a turtle compared to her! Feeling better, Speedy Hooves decided to cut off her training at the end of the next hour. She needed to give her wings enough time to rest and recover before the Pegasusville Circuit. Speedy Hooves found a comfy cloud floating over the starting line and settled down for a short nap.

Speedy awoke to a quiet swishing sound. She listened closely trying to make out what it was. It steadily grew louder. Speedy opened an eye and peeked over the side of the cloud. She saw a crowd of pegasi flying toward the starting line. Right on time! She stretched like a cat and swiftly took of.

She rose up high in the sky and circled the race course. She reviewed every turn and straightway with the keen eye of an expert. Feeling even more sure of herself, Speedy headed toward the starting line. There were already a few other racers lined up, getting prepared. Some were stretching and some were hovering in place. Speedy looked around but couldn't find Razor anywhere. Maybe he had seen her awe-inspiring speed and agility and had decided to forfeit! Speedy laughed to herself silently. Of course he didn't forfeit, but, he would be wishing he had by the end of the race!

Speedy's attention was drawn to two other racers standing to her left. One, a brown stallion, was telling the other, a white mare, something.

Speedy leaned toward them and caught part of what the  stallion said, "... don't believe you, White Wash. Razor would never do that!"

"Well," the white mare replied, "That's what I heard from my friend who lives over in Manehatten. She said she raced Razor and that he took out three of the competition when the refs weren't looking. No one believed her, of course, when she told them. She almost got suspended for starting, 'hurtful rumors.'"

"That's exactly what they are! Razor would never do anything like that."

Then, the brown Pegasus changed the subject, "So anyways, do you know why Razor is going to be here at the Pegasusville Circuit?"

The white pony rolled her eyes. "Duh, to race!"

"I heard that's not the real reason," the stallion whispered excitedly, "The real reason Razor is coming here is to start recruitment for a new flying team that's supposed to rival the Wonder Bolts! He already has two members who are both racing here as well."

The other pony paled, "So, now there are three Equestrian class expert flyers here?!"

"I guess so. I don't know if anypony stands a chance against those ponies..."

"I do." Speedy thought. She then left the two pegasi at the starting line to be by herself. She needed to think over what she had just heard. She thought she could beat Razor if she got him by himself at the front, but now with to other ponies watching his back Speedy wasn't as confident in herself as she had been before. She could still win, of course. Of that there was no doubt. She just had to outfly three ponies. No sweat.

Over the intercom came a loud voice. "Racers! The Pegasusville Circuit will begin in thirty minutes. Be ready to head to the starting soon!"

Speedy was already warmed up and ready so she decided to try and find at least one or two of her friends. She needed to hear some encouraging words- they would help. She scanned the crowd and found Highfly Sparkle sitting near the bottom of the stands. Speedy hurried over to her friend and was met with her usual warm smile.

"Oh, there you are Speedy Hooves! I was hoping to get a chance to talk to you before the race." Highfly looked around to make sure nopony would hear her. "Supposedly, Razor isn't going to be alone at this race."

Speedy interrupted Highfly, "I already know that, I heard two of the other racers talking about it."

"Ok, but that's not what I was getting at. I did a little research on the two ponies backgrou-"

A deafening roar from the crowd cut her off. Everypony turned their heads to watch as three pegasi gracefully landed in front of the crowd. The three ponies bowed in unison before heading over to the starting line. Anypony in the crowd who wondered who these ponies were had their question answered when the announcer introduced the ponies.

"And here they are! Razor, Bane, and Flower Burst! The three fastest flyers in Equestria!"

Highfly Sparkle coughed in annoyance for being interrupted before continuing, "Anyways, as I was saying, I looked into the backgrounds of Razor's two companions. The yellow one there-" she nodded toward Bane, "-is from Canterlot. He grew up wanting to be a professional flyer but his parents didn't agree with his career choice. They wanted him to be a high-class member of society, not some entertainer of the commoners. Razor found Bane and somehow convinced his parents to let him race. He's extremely fast, but, he's weak. If you push him around a bit he wont be a problem. The other one, Flower Burst-" Highfly pointed a hoof at a pink mare doing loop-da-loops, "Is from the far southern reaches of Equestria. She was handpicked by Razor from a prestigious racing school. While she's not the fastest, her agility, acceleration, and aggression make up for anything else."

Speedy Hooves stared at her friend, gaping. "When you said you knew their backgrounds you weren't kidding. How the hay did you find all that information about them? Are you some kind of stalker?"

Highfly's face reddened as she replied. "No, I have my sources. I just had to ask around and remind some ponies of favors they owed me."

"Wow, you are officially twenty percent cooler. Thanks for the heads up."

"No problem, I'm glad to help and the research was something that kept me occupied."

Speedy dove from the stands to the starting line. Speedy felt complete confidence in herself now that she knew her main challengers inside and out.

The announcer called out again, "Competitors, make your way to the starting line! The race will begin in five minutes!"

The big day had arrived. She was here, ready to win. The battle would be fierce but she would come up on top. She was a fast pony- the fastest. She would win.

"Racers, ready!"

To the left, standing on a raised platform made of clouds, a white male pegasus raised a hoof.  Set!"

There was a pause, filled with the a hushed silence of the crowd as everypony held their breath.

"GO!"

The official threw down his hoof but Speedy Hooves didn't see it- she was already off with the sound of a thunderclap right alongside Razor and Bane. A little to the front and right of Speedy Hooves sped Flower Burst. 

"She really does have amazing acceleration, but I have more!" thought Speedy as she pumped her wings faster. Slowly but steadily, she caught up with and passed Flower Burst.

The pony had a hugely obvious expression of surprise on her face which quickly turned to a look of utter rage and anger. Speedy gave a sidelong smirk to the angered pony. Flower Burst swerved toward Speedy. Speedy attempted to avoid Flower Burst's attack, but she was too late to completely dodge it. A pain shot down Speedy's wing as she dropped back away from Flower Burst so that she was again flying alongside Razor and Bane. The two ponies seemed to have smug looks on their faces. Highfly must have meant "anger issues" when she had said "aggression.'"Speedy looked around for something, anything, she could use to her advantage. Then, she saw a small storm cloud a ways up the track. If she could just create a strong enough wind... Yes, that would work!

Speedy headed toward the edge of the track so she could edge right up to the cloud. Seconds later she was in the edge of the damp cloud, water droplets glittering on her white coat. Faster and faster she spun around the cloud till a small tornado formed in the middle of the damp gray mass. She only had seconds for her plan to work since Razor, Bane, and Flower Burst were already blazing away from herself.

Upon finally completing the whirling body of wind and water, she kicked it toward her opponents. Razor noticed it first and let out a startled shout as he dodged below the wet tornado. Flower Burst heard Razor's shout and shot straight up like a rocket only narrowly dodging it. Bane wasn't so lucky. He took the mini hurricane's full force. He let out a startled cry as he spun around inside it. After a fee seconds the not-so-natural disaster dissipated into a glittering rainbow. Blaze crashed into a cloud down on the ground. He shakily stood up and stagger around with his eyes spinning. Speedy knew Bane wouldn't be coming back into the race anytime soon. She looked around for Razor and Flower Burst and saw them blazing through about a corner 200 yards ahead of her own position. 

Speedy had a lot of ground to make up, and make it up she did. She was slightly behind the two ponies on the final stretch of the raceway where she could already here the roar issuing from the crowd at the end. This was it! The last leg of the race! She had to give it everything she got! 

Speedy pushed her sore and tires wings to their extreme limit. She kept increasing her speed until she saw the world around her turn into a blur of colors. Then she heard a deafening boom echo somewhere behind her. It didn't matter as she shot past the finish line. She looked around wildly to find Razor and Flower Burst. Where were they? Did they finish before her?

Something didn't feel right. The crowd had gone dead silent. Speedy turned about and was astonished to see two equally astonished pegasi just now flying past the finish line. She hadn't gone THAT fast, had she?

Her ponderings were quickly mobbed by the huge screaming crowd that gathered around her. Highfly Sparkle pushed and nudged her way this way and that to be at the front to congratulate her friend.

"Wow! You did amazing, and that last bit, well, I haven't ever dreamed of seeing it!"

Speedy was still confused, "But what did I do? I was going so fast the only thing I knew was that I won!"

"Speedy, you just broke the sound barrier and became the first pony to successfully attempt a Sonic Rainboom!"

"Wait," Sunny was dumbstruck, "I'm fast but I'm not THAT fast. Nopony Is that fast!"

"Well," Highfly laughed, "You must be! You are officially the best flyer in all of Equestria!" She gazed over at where the Razor team was standing around. Razor was giving a blank stare toward Speedy Hooves, Flower Burst was glaring daggers in the same direction, and Bane was just now hobbling in from his unfortunate accident. "And so much better than those cheaters."

"Well, I did buck that tornado at them-"

"That doesn't count," interrupted Highfly, "You only cheated a cheater. There's nothing wrong with that."

They both laughed at this and then Speedy heard her name called along with Razor, who placed second, and Flower Burst, who came in right behind her leader.

"Aaannnnd, in the two hundred and twenty first aaaanual Equestria 500, we haaave, in first plaaaace, Speedy Hooves!"

The crowd burst into deafening applause and whistles for Speedy as the winning ponies stood on the raised podium and received their trophies. After the ceremony, a huge celebration was held long into the night thanks to Pinkie Fly's wonderful party planning skill.

To Speedy Hooves the night was a one big jumbled mash of laughter, apple cider, and dancing. When she finally made it back to her house it was well past midnight. Speedy was so tired that when she reached her bed she only was able slump across it before falling into a deep sleep. Then, a loud whoosing sound filled the room, waking the annoyed and grumpy pony. A surprised Derpy hopped out of the wormhole to the even greater surprise of Speedy Hooves. A gray faced pony peaked out from the hole and scrutinized the two others closely.

"Yep, I can see the resemblance! How are you, different Derpy Hooves? We kinda need your help..."