"Speed. I am Speed," I breathed out slowly, eyes closed and mind focused on my heart. The cheering of the crowd in the Cloudsdale Cloud Track was distant as if they were merely a whisper, but they were there. "Three winners, nine losers," I breathed in, flexing my wings outward to get a feel for the air.

"Don't focus on the others, just yourself," I breathed out once more and opened my eyes. Lights flashed from hundreds of cameras, the lights from the stadium didn't help the sudden visual assault as well, but I adjusted quickly.

"Fillies and Gentlecolts!" screamed the announcer as I took my position on in the innermost lane with the biggest pain in my ass since Flight Camp to my immediate right. He was a large stallion, wealthy, had power, a father was the coach of the Wonderbolts. Flash Sentry was a hotshot and two years my senior and already in the Royal Guard under Sergent Shining Armor.

The light orange Pegasus stallion with a short electric blue blown-back mane shot me a dirty look. He wore a skin-tight latex flight suit to give him an edge in this race, while I didn't need one. They were too restrictive in my opinion. To his right in the third lane was a Griffon named Gilda. She was interesting, to say the least. I little rough around the edges, but she knew how to cook a mean steak. I threw her a cheeky smile, she threw one back as everyone else got into position.

"Today the best fliers in Equestria will test their Speed!" I rolled my shoulders and tensed my legs for a good kick off of the ground.

"Their Agility!" Flash did the same but showed off his muscles to all the gushing mares in the crowd cheering his name.

"Their Endurance!" In the corner of my eye, I saw Gilda dig her claws into the cloud flooring for even more initial thrust, a common trick amongst Griffons.

"But today! We have something special!" I rolled my eyes, already knowing what was coming. It was the main reason Flash hates my guts. "The youngest of the group, standing at a tiny three-foot-eleven. Ready to pounce in position 1, the inner-most lane. Hawkfire!" The ground cheering erupted a few extra decibels louder.

'Wait for it,' I groaned internally.

"Never before in the History of Equestria Racing has a rookie that came from an Earth Pony town in the middle nowhere climbed to the top of the Junior season with such a perfect record!"

'Being raised by Spitfire would do that,' I sighed to myself. 'I know her Junior Year she had the same record, and I was there to watch, even though I was just a pup at the time.'

"But can she beat her predecessor's record on this track!? The Captain of the Wonderbolts who is sitting with her team in the V.I.P booth?"

'Hi, Mom! Don't mind me. I'm just going to shatter your record today,' I smirked deviously.

"Or will she crash and burn in a blaze of glory? Like the second placeholder who stands to her right?!"

'Sucks to be you, Flash. Always number two.'

"Let's find out in this years, Equestria's Junior Lightning Cup!"

"BOOM! SNAP! CLICK! BOOM!" Went the crowd and their cameras in tandem to the pyrotechnics lining the track. The cheering was deafening as you would think of a race track, minus the five-hundred-plus horse-powered machines on wheels.

"Ready chickens, cause you are going to eat my dust," Gilda boasted with an intimidating flap of her wings as a pony with a checkered flag got into his little tower against the stadium wall.

"Ha! The only ones eating dust is the freak to my left and you, Chicken Strips," Flash mocked back. I rolled my eyes and dug my hooves into the cloud layer as deep as I could go.

'Ten Bits says flash with tweak Gilda's wing and blind me on the last lap?'

'You are on.'

"Racers! Get into your final positions!" the announcer boomed once more before the dome of the stadium began to close, and the artificial lighting came on to bathe the track in a whitish amber glow. Looking around the track one last time, I realized that the track wasn't going to be your typical circle. Instead, there was huge climbs, sharp turns, steep dives and as well as a line of rings to fly through.

'Interesting,' I thought as I knew Flash can't climb or dive for shit while Gilda had difficulty with sharp turns due to her large wing span. Thankfully, I was golden on the Endurance part, I just had to pace myself accordingly and sharp turns, climbing, and diving were my specialties.

"On your marks!" the flag pony lifted the black and white flag, causing everyone to tense up in anticipation.

"Get set!" the crowd lost complete control, cheering Flash Sentry while booing me. Such nice ponies, but they didn't matter. Nothing mattered. The only thing that remotely came close was the feeling of the air flowing through every fiber of every feather. The intimate bond of Pegasus and the Misteress of the Sky was all that mattered. Her sensual touch of the wings, her loving kiss of the rain. Her tender warmth of the snow, and her ferocious punishment from her storms. That's all that mattered.

"Go!"

Like bolts of lightning, the racers shot out from their starting points with blinding speed, forcing the excited crowd into a wild frenzy. The camera's clicked, bets were made and some even booed at some of the racers to slow them down. The leaders of the group stayed neck and neck down the first stretch until the first corner came into reach.

Spitfire, Soarin, Fleetfoot and the other Wonderbolts watched in astonishment as Gilda and Flash were heavily overtaken by Hawkfire at the first corner by turning nine-degrees to her left without slowing down like the others and banked into the corner of the cloud pylons without crashing and without losing speed.

This caused alarm to flare in the beating hearts of her two competitors as they struggled to catch up from their sudden leave-behind, but the next obstacle was even more sharp turns in the shape of a relay.

"Did you see that bank?! Where did she learn that?!" Soaring cheered the loudest of the group. His enthusiasm matching that of the more quiet Captain of the Wonderbolts.

"You said she was good, but not that good!" Fleetfoot exclaimed. Spitfire only chuckled as she knew the mare in question on a more personal level, and her twin, Fleetfoot knew it, but always forgets about it. Reaching for her drink, Spitfire watched with growing anticipation.

"I said she has talent if she didn't sleep all day. Now shush, the others are coming to the relay," Spitfire chuckled. Like she said, with Hawkfire in the lead with Flash and Gilda slowly catching up, the colored pylons of the relay came into reach.

With a smirk, Hawkfire rolled left and right, using her weight to weave in between each pylon without losing speed, while the others tried her banking maneuver which only slowed them down. To her, going in a straight line while rolling in between each pillar was faster, and the others were learning that as well. Though, she was glad that they had the respect to at least try what she was doing, except for Flash. She hates Flash.

"Well, I know that trick. At least, Hawky listens during her lessons, eh?" Fleetfoot smirked as the mare in question exited the pylons and into the rings.

Spitfire smiled a genuine smile as she watched her daughter weaved through each ring with the grace of a Goddess. The young mare was a pain in her flank at times, mostly because she loved to annoy her. It was one of the ways that she showed ponies that she cared. When Hawkfire wasn't being a pain, she was quiet, respectable, and hard working.

She would find her daughter on most days at her job when she wasn't practicing on becoming a Guard when she became of age. The little coffee shop that she worked at was a wonderful place to wind down and enjoy a good book. Plus, she found her uniform absolutely adorable! When she wasn't there, however, she was at her flight lessons with Spitfire.

At first, when Hawk was just a baby, she simply adored the flight lessons, always begging for more. As she got older, that joy slowly turned to boredom. Spitfire didn't blame her, a lot of what the Wonderbolts did involved a plenty amount of math. Knowing the vectors, angles of decent, angles of attack, and so on was just as important as preening. 'At least she gets perfect math scores, Equish on the other hoof...She tries, but like cooking. It was never meant to be.'

Spitfire missed those days, of her little girl hugging her head affectionately as they walked from their home in Ponyville to Sugarcube Corner for some ice cream. Hawk was so innocent back then, now, though? Now she had more scantily clad mares on her walls than "actual" wall. 'Thank Celestia that she was into mares. I don't think stallions would survive that long with her.' Peeling herself back to reality, Spitfire watched the rest of the race with unblinking eyes and a permanent smile on her face.

"Hawkfire's lead is beyond what anypony could predict!" the announcer shouted through his megaphone, earning a venomous hiss from Flash Sentry who was leagues behind the mare and coming to the third lap. He wasn't happy that he was losing to that freak of nature, Her fucked-up, discolored eyes was a blight on pony society. His hatred of them grew each time he saw the pair on the center podium after each race he lost!

"It would be a miracle for the others to catch up with only three laps left!"

Second place wasn't an option for Flash, especially now since he was in the Guard! If he didn't win, he will always be known as "Number Two" on his squad. The poop jokes will never end, and no mare will ever like him. Even now when mares ask around at bar's, they all laugh because he was "Number Two," and proceed to hook-up with some land pony.

'Today, that ends Rose!'

"What is this?! Flash and Gilda are pushing hard on the straightaway for the Azure Comet herself! What a turnaround?!"

"Hey, twerp, where do 'ya think you're going?!" Gilda shouted with a cheeky smirk from his right, but Flash didn't care. All he wanted was Rose out of the race, and he knew just how, but first. Gilda was in his way.

"Out of my way, Seed pecker!" Flash spat, pushing extra hard on his wings into an Aileron roll too close to Gilda. She gasped and tried to pull away from the venomous stallion, but she wasn't fast enough.

The tip of his wing slammed hard against hers, causing it to have a mini-spasm. She winced in pain, the slap forced her into a long glide to prevent cramping. The blow itself wasn't all that strong, but the impact was enough to keep her from flying at her fastest. Cursing at the stupid stallion, she tried to keep up. 'Stuck at third again. At least Rose is cool enough to hang out with me at the grill. Fucking Cum Twat, Flash Sentry.'

The one think Flash had in droves against Hawkfire was speed and size. Having a lightning affinity also helped. He cleared the distance from Gilda and was now riding the azure flame trail of Hawkfire, while his own, straight, Tron-like trail trailed behind him.

He smirked as Rose looked back in shock to see that he was right on her tail. The snow white mare with a wolfishly wild, two-toned azure mane and tail with red paintbrush splashes throughout her hair had nothing on him in the looks department, and from where he flew, he had a good view of her cutie mark. It was a beveled shield with a red outline. An azure rose in full bloom in the center of the shield with two long swords—With green, stem-like cross-guards, handles, and pommels—Crossed behind it. To finish it all, there were two olive branches flanking the shield from base to tip like a pair of outstretched wings that were crossed at the stems at the bottom.

In cutie mark glass, the olive branches was a royal symbol of the Pegasi, along with wings, and certain weather patterns, but the branches themselves were most important, and it infuriated him. The freak of nature shouldn't have such a rare cutie mark! How could she be a part of the Hurricane Line! She lives in a land pony town in the middle of nowhere!

The quick to anger stallion, now right beside her again as they crossed the finish line for their second last lap, chewed on a little capsule in his mouth. The taste of magical powder that would temporarily blind someone for a few minutes was bile. The judges wouldn't be able to disqualify him due to the nature of the mixture and how no traces of it could be found once the effect was over. It was perfect, and just what he needed to take Rose out of the picture, maybe even making her look like the biggest flop in Equestrian Avionics History.

With his plan in motion, he pushed passed Rose and prepared his mixture before she could overtake him at the first turn. He looked back with a smug look at the unamused mare shooting back a bored expression, knowing exactly what Flash was about to do. Then he spat, forcing Hawkfire to stop in pain as he bounded around the corner with all the other racers zooming by the mare desperately trying to clean her eyes out of the gunk, but to no avail.

"Oh no! Hawkfire seems to have something in her eyes!" the announcer gasped.

"Did you see that snake! He blinded her!" Soarin growled as his wings twitched and flared in anger. Fleetfoot also shared that anger as her little niece was falling behind the other racers, and she knew that if Hawky didn't get back in, then she will finish in Last Place. "I'm going to kill that kid when this is over."

"Spits, can't you do something?" Fleetfoot asked.

"Don't need too, look," Spitfire pointed to the track. Thinking that the paramedics were on the scene to help her little niece out, what she saw confused her, but that confusion quickly turned to shock.

"Hawkfire is back in the race! But wait?! WHAT'S THIS! She is flying with her eyes closed! I don't know if she is showing off, or just that amazing of a flier!"

"How?!" Fleetfoot gasped at the sight.

Spitfire smiled. She knew that her little girl didn't use her eyes to fly, to begin with. She said that a true Pegasus flew with their wings and not their eyes. That their sensitivity to the air was enough to soar in the sky without ever needing to look where they were going. The air currents should be enough to guide them where they needed to go.

"That's an Air Affinity for you," Spitfire beamed with pride as her little girl danced around the backline and through the obstacles as if they were her dance partners. She reveled in the shock of the crowd, as her little girl reached fifth, before shooting up into the air to climb the final section of the track.

"Like Snowdrop, the Blind filly from way back when that invented the Snowflakes?" Soarin whistled.

"The one and only. Now shut up and cheer on our filly."

Heart pounding like it's about to explode, lungs on fire. My eyes burned with whatever Flash spat in my face, preventing me from seeing anything. The roar of the crowd was deafening. The strain on my wings was crushing, yet I pushed on.

The air around me told me where to go, guiding my every movement like a passionate lover. Her hooves traced my curves lovingly. Her lips timidly nipped my wings lustfully. If I wasn't racing, I would have let out a few moans of pleasure for how good it was to fly like this.

Even as I climbed past fourth place with Gilda going into a dive, I felt so alive! I would never tell my Mom how amazing it was to fly with only using the sensitivity of your wings, she was a grown mare. She didn't need her daughter telling her how to fly, but fantasizing had to wait, ass kicking began now.

"Hawkfire is back in the top three?! Can she take the lead after such a setback?!" the announcer bellowed in the distance, his cries riling the crowd almost to the point of riot status.

I smiled as I came to the top. I twisted my body in the air with my back facing down like I was doing High-jump. The whole world went quiet for a moment like everything was in slow motion. Weightlessness overtook my senses as every mare, and stallion saw all my curves being emphasized by my arch, then with a powerful flap of my wings, I shot downwards like a bullet.

The crowd went wild again.

'Now, time to show that cunt who is the real fastest flier IS in Equestria.' Slowing my breath, I pushed harder and harder in my rapid decent. I made myself as straight as could be with my hooves tipped like an arrow in front of me.

"What are those sparks coming off of her wings?! And...And is that a cone forming?!" the announcer gasped in shock once more. Pushing harder, I could feel a wall forming in front of me as well as a shocked Gilda altering her course to avoid me. 'Just a little more.'

"No way! She is about to pull off the impossible!"

Slowly my senses left me one by one. First was the screams of the crowd. Next was my sense of taste, for some reason. Third my internal compass, and fourth my eyes. 'Almost there,' I wheezed. The wall in front was starting to give way, I could feel it, but I was running out of falling distance. I pushed, one last time, and felt the wall explode.

"BOOM!"

"SHE DID IT! UNBELIEVABLE!"

"What?!" Flash howled in both anger and shock as an azure comet blasted passed Gilda at the dive and now was heading straight for him faster than any Pegasus was capable of!

He flapped his wings as hard as he could, hoping to cross the finish line before Rose passed him. It was just in reach, he could taste it. The crowd was cheering him on! He will finally get to meet the Wonderbolts and even, if he was lucky, get asked to join them! He could imagine it: Flash Sentry, Wonderbolt, Playpony, the best of the best. Standing tall on every cover of all the best magazines. Mares will flock to him to bask in his presence!

No more, "Flash Toilet!"

No more, "Number Two!"

No more, "Rose!"

He was going to BE NUMBER ONE!

"Just a few more meters!" he hissed through clenched teeth. The checkered flag was in the air, cameras were flashing, waiting for his victory. He could see the trophy and him holding it, he could see the...Ground coming too fast. "Wut?"

"Thunk!" "Flop!" "Pomf!"

"Winner by a miracle Ladies and Gentlecolts!" screamed the announcer as the racers passed the finish line, all of them panting from their hard work and determination. Gilda joined the recovering Hawkfire near the podium who was chugging down as much water as she could muster. The Wonderbolts flew down from their booth to award the winners, while a group of paramedics flew down to the dazed Flash Sentry.

"Are you alright, Sir?" one of the paramedics asked as he began standard procedure on the half-conscious stallion. Flash blinked for a moment, trying to understand the situation that he was in. He remembered that he was at the finish line, but what happened after he crossed it?

His reply was as followed, "Did I win?"

"No son. You choked so hard that I think you might be remembered as the stallion who literally ate dust," the paramedic replied. "At least you tried, right? You put on a good show. 'Sucks you got Last Place. That was some nice flying by the way, but to be honest? That Hawkfire was something else. If it wasn't for her Sonic Rainboom and that insane show she put on, she would have gotten Second Place. First is nice and all, but I don't think she cares about winning all that much."

Flash Sentry's eye twitched in disbelief as he was carted away to the Nurses office for a check-up, and the last thing he saw as he left the stadium was Winter Ruby Hawkfire Rose, holding his trophy, hugging his Wonderbolts. DRINKING HIS CHAMPAGNE! Surrounded by HIS MARES!

'This isn't over Rose! Mark my words! THIS ISN'T OVER!

Author's Notes:

Just re-color Rose's cutie mark a bit (Its the cover art for AWR) and re-draw the handles of the swords and there you go!

Also, I love you all and I hope that you enjoy this story