The Forgemaster was trudging through the underbrush, following a hovering Rainbow Dash as she led him to an undisclosed location.

"Where are we going again?" asked The Forgemaster

Rainbow Dash's reply was slightly indignant, "I told you! I've been teaching Fluttershy learn how to cheer so she can be there for me during the Best Young Flyer's competition, but I need a second opinion."

"Adorable." He said without hesitation.

"Huh?"

"That is my opinion of Fluttershy: she is adorable." He said while jumping over a downed tree.

Rainbow Dash seemed to think for a moment, her hoof on her chin, then she said, "Yeah, I'll give that one to you: she is gorgeous."

"Hmm, Rainbow, I didn't know that you had those thoughts about Fluttershy…" he said with a small smirk.

She immediately face-hoofed, "Ugh, why can't a mare give another mare a compliment without all the colts thinking they're together?"

He was in the middle of navigating through a particularly dense area of the forest when he replied, "I was just teasing you. I know that you only have those thoughts for Applejack."

She sputtered, and blushed madly, too consumed with her emotions to give a response quickly. He just laughed at the look on her face. Eventually, she managed to think up a come-back.

"Well, no sex for you tonight then." She stuck her tongue out at him

He slowly raised a brow at her, "I'm not some 17 year old colt, Rainbow. I don't have to have sex all night, every night. Unless of course; you want to."

She just groaned at him, but otherwise didn't reply. Rainbow just kept hovering a few feet ahead of him, leading him towards either Fluttershy, or a cliff. Rainbow had tried the cliff thing before.

After a few minutes of silently, or as quiet as he possibly could, fighting his way through a forest that seemed hell-bent on stopping him, Rainbow Dash asked him something, "Why do you walk everywhere? I mean, you can teleport and you have wings!"

He sniffed indignantly, "I am not used to my wings. Imagine if you were to grow a horn, you wouldn't be used to it in a few weeks. Especially considering that I've not had wings for 99.999999999999999-"

"Shut up! I get it!"

"-9999999999% of my lifetime. And, as for teleporting: I need to know where I am going in relation to where I am. Then, I rend a hole in the time-space continuum that acts as a portal and then I step right through."

"Alright, I understood some of that…"

"Ugh, I make a doorway to anywhere, and then I take a step and I'm there."

"That's actually… really cool!"

In a few more minutes, the 2 came upon a clearing with an awaiting Fluttershy in it.

wWwWwWw

Time Lapse: 2 Hours.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were standing facing each other, with Rainbow occasionally hovering around Fluttershy. The Forgemaster, on the other hand, was doing his damnest to laze about under the nearest tree, listening in on the conversation.

"Now, what have we learned?" Rainbow asked Fluttershy

"Loss of control."

"Good."

"Screaming and hollering."

The Forgemaster snorted at that, but the mares paid him no heed.

"Yes, and most importantly?"

"Passion."

"Right! So, now that you know the elements of a good cheer, let's hear one."

Fluttershy inhaled loudly, and then, "Yay!"

The Forgemaster was knocked out of his daze by a sudden and overwhelming wave of cuteness that came from… somewhere. He was immediately alert, and looked around, attempting to find the source.

"Louder!"

"Yay!"

The Forgemaster bristled, 'There it was again! Now, where did it come from?'

"Louder!"

Fluttershy inhaled quite loudly, assuming a stable stance, and then, "Yay!"

The Forgemaster had been examining the trees just over Fluttershy's head when she said that, his eyes immediately looked onto her. He quickly got down on his knees, and looked as though he were praying.

"Madre de dios, y todos los santos! That was amazing!"

Rainbow Dash glared towards him, "Come on, big guy! Show her how it's done!"

Fluttershy looked quizzically between the 2 of them, before asking, "Too loud?"

He barked out a laugh at her, "No, Fluttershy, it was the perfect amount of cuteness!"

Rainbow Dash just facehoofed, "No, Fluttershy, you just weren't doing it loud enough! Come on, I'll show you my routine," She pointed directly at him with a hoof, "And you show her how to cheer right. Lead by example."

"Alright, I'll do it, now go, fly away and do your whimsical tricks." He said with a heavily mocking tone.

She glared at him before flying off to go perform her 'whimsical tricks'.

During her routine, The Forgemaster was shouting his head off, as Fluttershy gently called out her own. However, the difference between the 2 wasn't really in how they were saying it, but what they were saying.

Fluttershy was going through the usual, 'yay's and 'woohoo's, but The Forgemaster was saying completely different things and therefore completely shot Rainbow Dash's performance.

As Rainbow Dash flew in between the trees, The Forgemaster was cheering, "Woo, check out that flank!"

As Rainbow was flying through the clouds, making them spin, The Forgemaster called out, "Whoa Lord, did you see that plot!"

When Rainbow Dash was just about to accomplish her famous 'Sonic Rainboom', The Forgemaster yelled something that distracted her, "Mm-mm, I'd like to buck that fine piece of mare all night long!"

Needless to say, Fluttershy was mortified, and Rainbow Dash was far too distracted to complete her routine. Just before she crossed the sound-barrier, it rejected her and threw her through the air to land, coincidentally, inside the Ponyville Library.

'Ugh, incessant lavender unicorn.' Was his first thought as he flew towards where Rainbow Dash had crashed, Fluttershy following right behind him.

The Forgemaster went straight through the window that Rainbow Dash had crashed through, and hovered above the large pile of books and ponies. Fluttershy, however, alighted upon the windowsill.

She said, "Rainbow Dash, you rock! Woohoo!" Fluttershy then seemed to see the inside of the library for the first time and gasped, "Did my cheering do that?"

While The Forgemaster tittered at her, Rainbow spoke up from a nearby pile of books, "Hehe. Sorry about that ladies. THAT was a truly feeble performance."

Fluttershy spoke up in defense of her routine, "Actually, it wasn't all bad. I particularly liked it when you made the clouds spin."

However, it seems as though she was not talking about her routine, "Ugh. I'm not talking about my performance, I'm talking about yours. That feeble cheering!"

The Forgemaster, who had since sat down on the stair, spoke in defense of Fluttershy, "Her name is Fluttershy, and she is too adorable to be insulted. Apologize." It was a demand, not a request.

While Fluttershy blushed and hid behind her mane at the compliment, and Rainbow Dash glared at him, Twilight spoke, "What are you 2 arguing about?"

"Were we arguing? I'm sorry." Said Fluttershy, seemingly mortified at the very idea of argument.

Rainbow Dash groaned at her, "I wish you guys could come to Cloudsdale to see me compete in the Best Young Flyer Competition." She said, indicating the non-pegasi, "Instead I'm stuck with grumpy and quiety." She pointed at Fluttershy and he.

"What's that?" asked Twilight, questions as always.

Pinkie answered for the wing-ed, "It's where all the greatest Pegasus flyers get together and show off their different flying styles! Some are fast!" Pinkie made some… disturbingly accurate car sounds, seeing as how she can't know about them, "And some are graceful. Woah, woah, WooooaaAAAAHH!" Pinkie had tried to dance on her hind legs, but fell over in the books.

"Golly. I'd love to see you strut yer stuff in that competition." said Applejack.

"Yeah. I wish you guys could be there. Fluttershy's a great support, but her cheering isn't exactly inspirational. And The Forgemaster is great at cheering, but not exactly… safe for normal ponies to hear." She said while blushing, remembering exactly what he had said about her.

The other ponies looked at them questioningly, but the ponies were blushing to badly to respond, and The Forgemaster wasn't about to speak before being spoken to.

And suddenly; Pinkie, "OOH! I'd love to see you make a sonic rainboom! It's like, the most coolest thing ever! Even though I've never actually seen it, but I mean COME ON! It's a sonic rainboom! How not cool could it possibly not be?"

"What's a sonic rainboom?" asked Twilight.

'For once, just not question something.' The Forgemaster thought as he buried his head in his hands.

He then looked up to see the confused faces of the ponies, "I said that out loud, didn't I?"

Thankfully, there was a Pinkie in attendance, which quickly diverted attention from him, "You really need to get out more. The sonic rainboom is legendary! When a Pegasus like Rainbow Dash gets going s~o fast... BOOM! A sonic boom and a rainbow can happen all at once!"

"And Rainbow Dash here's the only pony to ever pull it off!" added Applejack

"It was a long time ago... I was just a filly."

"Rainbow Dash, modest?" asked The Forgemaster.

Rainbow glared at him, but the others laughed at it.

"Yeah, but you're gonna do it again, right?"

"Are... you kidding? I'm the greatest flyer to ever come out of Cloudsdale! I could do sonic rainbooms in my sleep." said Rainbow, after a short pause and some forced confidence.

"I don't think doing sonic rainbooms in your sleep would be very conducive to a healthy life." stated The Forgemaster, as dry as though he were reading a college grad's research paper on economics.

"Shut up, you!"

After a moment of silence, and some helpless snickering, Twilight spoke once more, "Wow. If you pull that off, you'll win the crown for sure!"

"The grand prize is an entire day with the Wonderbolts. A whole day of flying with my life-long heroes... It'll be a dream come true!"

"Yay."

"D'awwww" came from The Forgemaster, along with a few chuckles.

"I'm gonna go rest up. Don't wanna over prepare myself, y'know. Hehe. YOU, on the other hand," getting in Fluttershy's face,"Better keep practicing. I need a cheering section to match my spectacular performance."

Rainbow noticed The Forgemaster's lecherous grin an instant to late, "Which kind of performance?" he asked, brining attention to what, exactly, he had been cheering at her.

Rainbow Dash blushed, recalling the times they had slept together as ponies almost against her will (A/N – that can be read wrong… but, don't. Forgey's orders.), "Sh-Shutup!" she yelled, horribly embarrassed, and then flew out the window quickly.

Fluttershy stared after her friend's escape, before looking back at those still assembled, "She's practiced that move a hundred times, and she's never even come close to doing it. I don't know if I can cheer loud enough to help her."

Fluttershy flew out the window, quickly followed by The Forgemaster who didn't want to get stuck with cleaning up the books.

"Well, guess we better get this cleaned up... Again." said Twilight.

wWwWwWw

Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and 'Crimson' were all traveling to Cloudsdale to be at the Best Young Flyer's Competition.

When Rainbow asked why he was going as a pony, The Forgemaster dutifully explained, "The only place ponies feel comfortable with me as a human seems to be Ponyville. And in this form I get to mess with the other ponies even more! Don't forget to call me Crimson."

Rainbow nodded, she understood the logic behind it all, even if it was kind of… creepy?

"Won't you draw more attention as an alicorn?"

Crimson noticed the look on her face, "I won't care. But, think of it this way, Rainbow, now we can be coltfriend and marefriend in public!"

Rainbow smiled when she heard him say that, but Fluttershy almost choked when she heard that, Crimson noticed, "Oh, yeah. We didn't tell anypony did we Dash?"

Rainbow giggled at Fluttershy as she tried to process what they had said, "No, I forgot, and I know you would never tell anypony unless they just came out and asked!"

Crimson nodded, but Fluttershy was still sputtering in confusion between them as they flew.

Rainbow decided to help her out, or at least give some advice, "You've got to learn to be assertive, Fluttershy. Don't be afraid to speak up."

Fluttershy gulped, "I-I'm sorry, I just never expected-"

Crimson laughed out loud (A/N – screw LOL!), "Fluttershy, I didn't even expect it, I don't think Rainbow did either." Rainbow Dash nodded, then The Forgemaster thought of something, "Damnit, if we're in a relationship then I'll need a pet name for you. How does Dashie sound?"

Rainbow Dash smiled and then said, "Finally! Of course it's fine, you silly filly!"

Just then Cloudsdale came into view from behind a rather large cloud that was obscuring it. While the city was truly impressive, The Forgemaster' stolen memories from Celestia kind of ruined the moment for him: it was as though he had been there a thousand times before. Rainbow Dash had been looking at him, hoping for a reaction to her beautiful hometown from the stoic human-turned-pony, but her hopes were crushed when he didn't seem to react in the slightest. Then again, her opinion of him also was raised slightly: I mean, if you don't get some sort of rise out of a giant floating city made out of clouds, then what would?

The 3 flew through the city before coming to a graceful stop in front of 3 ponies with white lab coats and hard hats on. From left to right, they were dark brown, light brown, and grey.

(A/N – I looked up on the wikia site what the 3 bullies were named, turns out they're Billy, Hoops, and Score. However, they will be referred to by color until their names come up, but I don't think they do. Dark brown = Billy, Light Brown = Hoops, Grey = Score)

"Well well well. What do we have here?" asked dark brown.

"It's our old friend, Rainbow Crash!" answered light brown.

"Get kicked outta any flight schools lately?" asked dark brown.

The 3 colts laughed.

"I didn't get kicked out." Retorted Rainbow Dash, rather unsuccessfully.

"Face it, Rainbow Crash. Flight school had too many rules and not enough naptimes for you." said dark brown, as Rainbow Dash just looked bored.

"Huh, ask her about the sonic rainboom." Said light brown.

"That's nothing but an old mare's tale. You don't have the skills to try something like that." said dark brown.

Fluttershy interceded, "Now wait just a minute!" So far so good, however, the effect was completely ruined by her next sentence, "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm trying to be more assertive. Anyhow... She is going to do a sonic rainboom!"

"No she's not, 'cause there's no such thing!" yelled dark brown.

"Then show up at the Cloudseum and see for yourself!.. If you're free." said Fluttershy

The colts laughed at Fluttershy, making The Crimson growl with anger.

The colts noticed him, "And just who is this, Rainbow Crash?" asked light brown.

He glared at the colts, "I am Crimson Hammer, you insolent dogs, and if you continue to insult my marefriend I will have to grind your bones into dust."

"W-what!"

"I would appreciate it if you left immediately." said Crimson, drawing himself up to his full, and much larger than the colts', height.

The colts eyed him closely beneath their shared woman-like bangs, and then their eyes widened seemingly as one; they had apparently noticed his horn and his wings, as well as his size. Calculating with whatever tiny, jock minds they had they quickly deduced that he was much, much too far out of their league. They quickly took to flight.

"See you at the Cloudseum, Rainbow Crash!" this parting jab seemed irresistible, if incredibly foolish, considering the company, to the light brown colt.

Crimson chucked a rock that he had on his person (A/N – 'on his pony' just didn't feel right.), for whatever reason, and chucked it at the colt, nailing the swine in the back of the head, and making him yelp in pain.

Fluttershy was ecstatic, "Did you see that? I was so assertive!"

Rainbow Dash had let those bullies' words get to her, however, "Those guys are right. I'll never be able to do it."

"But Rainbow Dash: just because you've failed the sonic rainboom a hundred thousand times in practice doesn't mean you won't be able to do it in front of an entire stadium, full of impatient, super-critical sports fan ponies."

Rainbow Dash had gotten increasingly agitated when Fluttershy was speaking, prompting The Forgemaster to say, "God, damn Fluttershy. You are awful at this; leave the pep-talks to me from now on, please." He then cleared his throat and placed his hoof over Rainbow's shoulders, "Rainbow Dash, you are the greatest flyer ever. If anypony can do this, it will be you. Don't worry, you'll be fine: I believe in you." He then looked over to Fluttershy, "See how it's done? Short, sweet, and from the heart."

He was right, as Rainbow seemed to regain much of her confidence from the simple words.

Fluttershy began to look off into space behind the two of them, "... Rare..."

"Rare? The sonic rainboom is WAY more than rare!" replied Rainbow.

Fluttershy continued, much more coherently, "Rarity?" and pointed above their heads.

Rainbow and he looked to where she was pointing and saw an amazing sight: Rarity with butterfly wings.

Rainbow managed to speak with as much incredulity as physically possible for a voice to contain, "Rarity! Are you... flying?"

Rarity flew closer to them, "I most certainly am! Aren't my wings smashing? Twilight made them for me. I just adore them!" Rarity noticed Fluttershy's and Rainbow's jaws wide open, and seemed to ignore him, "Why so shocked? We couldn't leave our favorite flyer without a big cheering section!"

"We?.." asked Rainbow, immediately after she said that, a garish pink balloon pushed through the clouds which just happened to contain Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie, though why Pinkie wasn't already flying was a mystery to The Forgemaster, she was fully capable of that, " I... I can't believe it!"

"It's incredible!" added Fluttershy.

"I don't care." said Crimson, putting his 2 cents in, which the others appeared to ignore in their reverie.

"This is so cool! You guys made it!" yelled Rainbow.

Pinkie called out, "Sure did!" and jumped out of the balloon.

Rainbow yelled out, "WAIT!" but stopped when Pinkie didn't fall through the clouds.

He spoke up, "Pinkie is able to do whatever she wants to the laws of physic. Why does this come as a surprise?"

Pinkie smiled happily at him for noticing, but, once again, the others ignored him in their moment.

"How'd you do that? Only Pegasus ponies can walk on clouds." asked Rainbow.

Pinkie rolled past them, saying, "Haha. Pretty cool, huh?"

Twilight explained for her, "I found a spell that makes temporary wings, but it was too difficult to do more than once. So I found an easier spell that lets the rest of us walk on clouds."

The Forgemaster immediately found something to yell at Twilight over, much to his enjoyment, "So you just decide to come all the way up here and jump out of the balloon before you even test it! You all could've died, Twilight Sparkle, all because you failed to take the always necessary experimentation stage! You could've at least stuck a hoof out of the balloon first, but you just jumped out! What if the spell hadn't worked!" He boomed at her.

Twilight was suitably cowed by his display of anger, "I-I don't know…"

"I'll tell you what would've happened, "He held up a hoof and slowly lowered it to the cloud he was standing on, making a whistling sound as he did so, once his hoof made contact with the hoof, he yelled out, "Splat! Dead, all of you: dead."

Twilight was shaking in her hooves while the other ponies just stared at her in shock: surely Twilight wouldn't have forgotten such an important step, would she?

He growled at her before saying, "At least you let Pinkie go first, I guess. 1 dead out of 3 isn't as bad as 3 out of 3." The mares looked at him in shock, but he continued with, "Don't forget to call me Crimson, you lot."

He then stood there and rumbled angrily to himself while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy started to take them on a tour of the city. Rainbow and Twilight were worried about him, for 2 different reasons. Twilight was worried that he might yell at her some more, even if he was justified, just this once. Rainbow was worried that he would continue to grumble to himself and not have a fun time: true loyalty, to a fault.

The Forgemaster, or 'Crimson' as he insisted they call him as long as he was a pony, didn't stop grumbling to himself as they took the tour. That didn't stop him from offering witty one-liners as they went though.

For instance, when Rainbow said, 'Here it is: the greatest city in the sky!' he had said, "It's the only city in the sky, Dashie."

And when Twilight had said, 'Be careful with those wings Rarity. They're made from gossamer and morning dew, and they're incredibly delicate.' he had said, "Damnit it Twilight, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Those wings'll break faster than Icarus and his wings. And his were made out of wax and feathers, not very durable, but a hell of a lot better than gossamer and dew." He shook his head and then said, "Poor bastard."

When the group was being led through the weather factory, they went through the rainbow room. As soon as he entered that room, he had perked up.

"And here's where they make the rainbows!" declared Rainbow Dash.

Pinkie dipped her hoof in the large pool of pure rainbows and licked her hoof; she immediately turned all sorts of colors and whimpered out, "Spicyyyyyyy!"

Rainbow Dash replied with, "Yeah, rainbows aren't really known for their flavor."

He walked up to the pool of rainbows and dipped his hoof in to do the same, only when he licked his hoof he didn't turn any kind of colors, he just smiled and said to Rainbow, "I don't know, I particularly like the… taste of rainbow." He said this with a wink to Rainbow and as much sexual emphasis on the word 'taste' as he could.

Rainbow Dash immediately blushed, but the others were too busy laughing at Pinkie's antics to notice.

Rarity chose that moment to fly in with the same trio of buffoonish colts from before trailing her, the colts took notice of Rainbow Dash.

"Oh hey look, it's Rainbow Crash again!" called out dark brown.

The Forgemaster took one step towards the 3 colts, and they stopped immediately. They quickly took to flight and flew away, but not before leaving a parting gift in the form of one last insult.

"You should forget the sonic rainboom and just get yourself some wings like these!" the trio laughed.

The Forgemaster once again took a rock out, that he had somehow either managed to retrieve or otherwise replenish, and threw it once more, hitting the same colt, in the same place, only this time, much, much harder. Even through the hard hat, the colt was knocked out and went spiraling to the ground, missing the clouds and continuing his dive to the surface. His buddies managed to rescue him… this time.

However, the parting blow had met its intended target, as Rainbow Dash slumped.

Fluttershy took notice, "Uhh... C'mon girls. Why don't we go see how clouds are made?" the group began to walk away, and Fluttershy leaned in to speak with Rainbow,"Don't listen to them. You're gonna win that competition for sure!"

Rainbow, however, was not to be consoled, "Are you kidding? I can't DO the sonic rainboom, and just look at these boring, plain old feathered wings. I'm doomed!"

The Forgemaster spoke up, "Rainbow, Rarity's wings are fake, given by a spell, she wasn't born with them, and they'll wear off in a few days. Yours are real, and you are much, much faster than Rarity is. And, do not be put down by the ravings of sociopaths and fools."

Rainbow's mood seemed to become happier after he said that.

The group moved towards the part of the factory where clouds were being produced. The Forgemaster tried to stay as close to Rainbow as he could, giving her some support. However, even his assistance seemed to fail to help Rainbow in the face of Rarity's showing off. Rainbow slumped to the floor at her showing off.

Twilight leaned down, "Rainbow Dash. Are you ok? You don't look so good."

Rainbow replied with, "Of course! Why wouldn't I be ok? Everyone's so in love with Rarity's wings that they won't even notice when I totally blow it in the Best Young Flyer's Competition."

When the miscellaneous worker-ponies heard the phrase 'Best Young Flyer's Competition', they immediately suggested to Rarity that she enter the competition. Rarity was too full of herself to notice what she was doing to Rainbow, so she agreed to enter.

Rainbow Dash freaked out, "What am I gonna DO? I'll never win the competition now..."

wWwWwWw

Even though he could've entered the competition if he so wished in his pony form, The Forgemaster felt it was best to not enter, considering both Rainbow's nerves, and his own lack of any real showy flying ability. It was kind of like the difference between free-running and parkour. One gets from point A to point B as quickly and efficiently as possible, the other does the same only with tricks interspersed throughout. The Forgemaster didn't feel the need to impress anyone, and so never learned any tricks.

Once he learned that Princess Celestia was in-stadium, he quickly found his way through the corridors to where Celestia's balcony would be. The Guard ponies that were on duty at the doorway saw his approach, and recognized him as their new Lord-General, and so he was let past. Half-way down the corridor to where Celestia was, he shifted form into his foal version of Crimson, which he lovingly dubbed 'Little Red', though he wouldn't tell anyone that. He activated his ninja skills, and quietly walked to Princess Celestia's side, who didn't notice him. The guard ponies on duty, however, did but Little Red gestured to them to not tell Celestia.

After a few minutes of being at Celestia's side without her noticing, and several ponies flying through their routines, The Forgemaster, as he was wont to do whenever forced to sit still for long periods without anything to do, became bored: the simplest thing to do: mess with Celestia.

He walked underneath Celestia so that he was immediately underneath her chin, and sat down. HE got onto his back, and faced upwards. Celestia still hadn't noticed yet, so he pushed out with his legs and wings and pushed himself forward a few inches, and into Celestia's complete view.

As though his appearance weren't enough, he also screamed out, "Hiya Auntie Tia!" about as loudly as possible.

Later stories told of this moment have her jumping several feet in the air uttering a curse word so foul as to be later banned from the retelling of the story by Celestia's own orders.

The Forgemaster, meanwhile, was giggling as only a child could do: simultaneously manically and endearingly.

Celestia was, understandably, upset though she tried to hide it by being stern and calm, "Honestly… Crimson… this is no time for foolish pranks."

He grinned up at her while still on his back, "You're just mad because I got you!"

She glared at him, though she wasn't too experienced with glaring so it just came out as a stare, "Yes, I am mad that you got me. Count yourself lucky I didn't try to blast you."

He sniffled and then said, "Why, Auntie Tia? Why would you try to blast me?"

She groaned and said, "Because you are incredibly annoying."

He giggled to himself and stood, they watched the next several flyers go through their routines in silence.

This, of course, could never last, "So where's Auntie Lulu, Auntie Tia?"

That actually got a snort of amusement from the ancient deity, "Really; Auntie Lulu and Auntie Tia?"

He grinned up at her and said, "Yep!" as happy as can be.

She sighed away her frustration and said, "Luna is back at Canterlot, probably sleeping. The day time is not exactly her time, so she sleeps through it."

"Why is that?"

"She is the princess of the night, my young foal, "She said, going into either motherhood mode or lecturing mode, "She likes to be awake during the night so that she can raise the moon when I awake, though this does cause a few problems for us…"

He thought for a moment, "I've got it! Tell Auntie Lulu that she should just stay awake during the day, and wake up and go to bed at the same time as you so she can raise and lower the moon at the same time that you lower and raise the sun. That way, she'll be up and about and able to interact with more ponies, instead of meeting with dreary nobles during night court and meeting random ponies during night patrol."

Celestia was taken aback by this, "I sometimes forget how smart you are, Forge, I mean Crimson. I'll tell Luna of this as soon as she awakes." Celestia paused, "Why haven't we thought of this before?" she wondered aloud.

"It's been a thousand years." He quipped.

Just as he said that, Rainbow Dash and Rarity both came out into the ring at the same time.

"Oh, gods, what's Rarity wearing?" he wondered aloud, "She looks just awful."

Celestia nodded, herself being of the same opinion.

Rarity started to do some sort of… aero-aerobics dance routine. Like the kind old people do in water only in the air. It didn't look very pretty, to be honest.

Rainbow Dash had gone flying through the columns of clouds, but struck one of the last few, and crashed into the Cloudseum walls. She immediately got back into her routine, bouncing back from her mistake, and moved on to 'Phase 2', where she spun some clouds like a top.

After going great for a few clouds, something went wrong on the last one and it was flung towards where the Princess and he were watching. One quick spell later, and the cloud was gone thanks to some quick action by Crimson, though it probably wasn't necessary anyway.

Rarity and Rainbow then began to fly very high up, gaining altitude like it was going out of style. Rarity began some sort of light show to please the crowds, but, just like Icarus, her wings were vaporized because she was too close to the sun. Rarity immediately began to fall, falling straight through the center of the Cloudseum.

Meanwhile, The Forgemaster was having a panic attack; this had happened to him once before.

'Poor Icarus, my son, I wasn't fast enough. I hope I'm fast enough this time!' he thought.

He re-grew into adult-Crimson and dived after Rarity, the Wonderbolts doing the same. Since they had more training than him, they reached her first and were quickly knocked out by her flailing hooves.

However, no matter how hard he tried; he just couldn't build up the speed to reach her or the Wonderbolts. Utter horror clutched at his heart: it was happening again!

Thankfully, help arrived in the form of a beautiful cyan blur that trailed a rainbow. The Forgemaster barely managed to pull up in time to save himself, and the rainbow streak did the same. HE and the fast mover arrived back at the Cloudseum at the same moment; the streak would've beaten him there had it not taken a victory lap around the Cloudseum.

He arrived to the cheers of an entire stadium, though it was probably for the rainbow streak, which he just now discovered was in fact Rainbow Dash. He walked over and stood next to Rainbow Dash who was jubilant. He on the other hand, was upset, truly upset, for the first time in a while.

"I did it. I did it!" she was calling out to anyone that would listen.

"You sure did. Oh thank you Rainbow Dash. You saved my life!" declared Rarity, in the hooves of a couple pegasi

"Oh yeah. I did that too. Ha, best day EVER!" Rainbow hoof-pumped

"Good job, Dashie." He offered her his congratulations.

"Thanks, Forgey, I mean Crimson." She paused for a moment and then pointed at his face, "Hey, what's that!"

He lifted a hoof to his eye and when he pulled it away, much to everyone nearby's surprise, was a single tear.

He glared at the offending bead of moisture before flicking it away, "It is as nothing." He told the nearby ponies.

But what he said after, under his breath was, "I'm so sorry, my son. I wasn't fast enough then, I wasn't fast enough now."

wWwWwWw

The 'Elements' were gathered around the balloon, which carried Rarity.

"I want to apologize to all of you for getting so carried away with my... beautiful wings. I guess I just lost my head."

"It's ok." Fluttershy told her.

"Oh, don't worry about it kiddo." said Applejack.

"We still love you." came from Pinkie.

Crimson was not so forgiving, for unknown reasons, he was actually quite bitter, "You acted like an ass and nearly got yourself and 3 Wonderbolts killed."

The others glared at him, but quietly agreed.

Rarity was still working to earn forgiveness, "And I'm especially sorry that I was so thoughtless as to jump into the contest at the last minute after you had worked so hard to win it. Can you ever ever forgive me?"

"Aw, it's ok. Everything turned out alright, right? I just wish I could have met the Wonderbolts when they were awake." Rainbow forgave her.

Just then, the Wonderbolts that Rainbow saved walked up and poked her on the shoulder. Rainbow freaked out!

"!"

The leader, Spitfire, told her, "So you're the little pony who saved our lives. We really wanted to meet you, and say thanks."

The Forgemaster still felt the need to vent, which led to his next sentence, "Shut it, yah grot! You got knocked out by a single flailing mare and beaten by a dragon in one swipe. You aren't worth this much devotion."

Thankfully, Rainbow was too absorbed in her reverie to notice; else his life surely would've been on the line. The Wonderbolts glared at him and then left. As Princess Celestia arrived with all her majesty, and… 2 guards.

"Hello Twilight Sparkle, and hello to your friends too."

Still bitter, The Forgemaster said, "Yes, because we're not important enough to be anything other than 'Twilight's friends'."

Rainbow Dash confronted him, "What's up with you!"

He growled low in his throat, a very feral noise; it made the hairs on the nearby ponies' necks stand on end, "I'll speak of it when I feel the need to do so."

"Princess Celestia, I am sorry I ruined the competition. Rainbow Dash here really is the best flyer in Equestria." Said Rarity

"I know she is my dear. That's why for her incredible act of bravery, and her spectacular sonic rainboom, I'm presenting the grand prize for best young flyer to this year's winner, Miss Rainbow Dash!"

The ponies immediately put Rainbow on their shoulders and gave her a ride as she squealed, "Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh!"

He stayed by Celestia's side as she asked Twilight, "So Twilight Sparkle, did you learn anything about friendship from this experience?"

He felt the need to add, "Like how you should test spells, or maybe that dew and gossamer aren't proper construction materials?"

He received a triple glare from the 3 present mares, which he shrugged off.

"I did Princess, but I think Rarity learned even more than me." Replied Twilight, once she was done with her glare.

"I certainly did. I learned how important it is to keep your hooves on the ground, and be there for your friends."

"Excellent. Well done Rarity." Said Celestia

"I won't say good job, because you already should have known that." aid The Forgemaster.

He left the 3 mares, and went back to his home in Ponyville alone.