Blue Medals and Gold Ribbons

It was a sunny day in Equestria. After school was let out, Gallop Crush and Charger were playing tag in the courtyard. Gallop Crush was a grey filly with a red mane and a gold medal for a cutie mark. Charger was a red colt with a black mane and a checkered flag for a cutie mark. They were the close friends and were always challenging each other.

While they were playing tag, Charger stopped.

"Tag! You're it!" Squealed Gallop Crush.

"Hold on," said Charger, "Everypony left us."

"What," asked Gallop Crush, though she could plainly see it. "C'mon" she said, "let's go find them."

The flew around Cloudsdale for a couple minutes until they came across their friends gathered around a hot pink sky blue mare.

"Did I mention I can carry the weight of two Earth ponies?" Her audience oohed at that.

"And how can we trust her stories?" whispered Gallop Crush to Charger.

"We can't," he whispered back, "These are all just tall tales. Hey, you should show her a thing or two."

"No," said Gallop Crush "I don't need that kind of attention."

"But this girl doesn't deserve that kind of attention."

Gallop Crush just gave him a stern expression.

"Fine," he said, "but just one thing.

"Why don't you put your bits where your mouth is?" he called to the mare.

Gallop Crush thought she saw something flash in the girl's eyes. It was a brief expression that, if she hadn't been looking for it, she wouldn't have seen it.

As quick as it came, it was gone. "Fine," the mare finally said "Time and place?"

"Next week," said Charger, "At the Cloudsdale schoolyard games."

"Very well," she said, "See you there." She took off and away. Gallop Crush got a glimpse of her cutie mark and got a sickness in her stomach.

A blue ribbon.

"Did you see it?" asked Gallop Crush.

"What?" asked Charger.

"The sign that maybe that wasn't Such a good idea."

The week simply flew by. Before anypony knew it, it was time for the games. Of course, Gallop Crush was prepared, but so was Blue Ribbon.

Gallop Crush and Charger came to the lobby of the Cloudsdale arena, where sure enough, Blue Ribbon was waiting for them.

"Took you long enough," spat Blue Ribbon.

"Save it for the games," replied Charger, "And for the record, I won't be the one you're facing. She is." He gestured to Gallop Crush.

Blue Ribbon circled Gallop Crush slowly, pausing at her cutie mark. She stood close enough so their noses were almost touching. "Your cutie mark doesn't scare me."

"Save it for the games," said Charger again.

"I hope he's not fighting your battles. Then again you might need it." She made a swift turn and walked away, making a point to sway her tall as she did.

"I really don't like her," said Charger.

"I Know," replied Gallop Crush, "but let's not get ahead of ourselves"

The first event was a two-leg race. On the first, a 500-meter warm-up sprint. The second was a 3000-meter flying dash. The ponies were lined-up on the starting line. Gallop Crush and Blue Ribbon were side-by-side, since they were going head-to-head.

"Good luck," snorted Blue Ribbon, "You'll need it."

Gallop Crush scowled. She caught herself aghast doing it. She never scowled.

Thump thump thump.

Gallop Crush could hear her heart beat.

Thump thump thump.

The flag raised.

Thump thump thum-

"Go!"

Gallop Crush and Blue Ribbon shot forward, kicking up a real storm cloud behind them. Blue Ribbon definitely had not been practicing on hoof; she was quick, no doubt, but grounded she lagged behind Gallop Crush. That didn't matter in the second leg. Once she left the cloud, Blue Ribbon took off, accelerating herself unsteady.

Gallop Crush pushed herself to her limit. Veins pulsed underneath her pelt. She and Blue Ribbon were nose-and-nose. One half-second Blue Ribbon was in the lead, then one full second of Gallop Crushes. Gallop Crush had her. She was sure she just had her.

"Photo finish!"

Gallop Crush was gasping for air. Blue Ribbon just stared at her. She stared at her with a look of fathomless disapproval and disgust. Gallop Crush followed her silently to the preparation rooms. Beyond the door, she could hear Blue Ribbon hacking and coughing in a very unhealthy way.

Gallop Crush understood now. Blue Ribbon wasn't an arrogant attention hog; she was desperate for approval. Desperate for love. Desperate for hope.

She was just desperate. And that changed everything.

"And the winner is Blue Ribbon!"

Blue Ribbon burst from the door and nearly took out Gallop Crush. She did flips and dazzled the crowd with tricks. She did enough to start the crowd cheering her name.

The second event was Flag Attack. It bore similarities to Flag Football. The rules were simple: one pony (the Flag Bearer) wore flags tied to their flank and tried to elude the other pony (the Flag Chaser), then swap. There were ten minutes to each pony's chase. The rounds were set up like a tournament. So, for Gallop Crush to face off with Blue Ribbon, she needed to make her way to her first.

No problem.

Most of the rounds were uneventful for Gallop Crush. Her virtuosity for nearly everything that could be made into a competition and then some made it almost impossible for her to lose. The reason she never participated in the Cloudsdale schoolyard games. So now she was against Charger.

"I'll be honest. I won't go easy on ya," he said.

Gallop Crush laughed, a much needed expression. "I believe I should say that to you."

"Who knows? Maybe my relationship with you is a lie and I've been holding back until this very moment."

"You and I both know you weren't."

The air horn sounded to signal the beginning of the round.

Charger took off like a rocket, Gallop Crush not far behind. Charger wasn't like the other ponies she faced. He was a challenge. Maybe that's why she liked him. Her chase lasted six minutes until she caught him mid-loop. Then it was her turn to be chased. She had a little doubt that she brushed aside.

Can't think about that now.

The air horn hadn't even finished going off when Gallop Crush left the cloud. And Charger's line of sight.

"What's the matter?" she teased, "Can't catch what you can't see?"

Charger shot off after her, but was sloppy in his haste and lost his balance, falling back to the cloud. It took a lot out of Gallop Crush not to laugh, doubt forgotten. Charger reoriented himself, and took off again. Gallop Crush evaded him for the full ten minutes.

"Good job" said Charger between breaths.

"You're almost as good as me," Gallop Crush teased again.

"Hey I still gotta whole world of skill you haven't seen yet."

"You keep tellin' yourself that."

The intercom came on, "Please give our contestants time to rest in this brief intermission."

Backstage, Gallop Crush could hear the chatter of Blue Ribbon with a voice she didn't recognize. She followed it.

"I don't care if she the nicest pony in Equestria! You better make sure those flags are longer and looser on her turn or I'll ̶"

"What?" Gallop Crush took a firm stance in front of them.

Blue Ribbon just glowered at her.

Gallop Crush took a deep, thoughtful sigh. "I know where you are. I know how you feel. I've been there, and I'm sorry you feel this way. How about we stop this arguing and give me a chance to show you friendship?"

Blue Ribbon wasn't having it. "Yeahuh. Good luck with that."

Gallop crush didn't tell anyone about the cheating. There was still a chance to change her. Gallop Crush didn't want to do it, but she had to break her ego. While she stood thinking, Charger snuck up behind her.

She jumped into the air, screaming. "Don't do that!" she exclaimed as she floated back to the floor.

"Aw, come on," Charger then noticed the unpleasant expression she wore. He put his hoofs on her shoulders and gently massaged. "Don't worry about her. She's just ̶"

"Broken," said Gallop Crush. Then she walked away

"It's time to finish the games!" Said whoever was on the other side of the intercom.

Blue Ribbon hovered inches from Gallop Crush's face.

"May the beat pony win," said Gallop Crush.

"I plan to."

They took their places on the opposite sides of the arena, Blue Ribbon wearing the flags. One second passed… Two… Three.

The air horn blew and Blue Ribbon shot…

Downward?

It was certainly a unique tactic, very effective, too. It took a moment for Gallop Crush to get her bearings before she could chase Blue Ribbon down. Gallop Crush didn't know how much time had passed, but she was determined to win this one. Finally, she caught up and snatched the flag from Blue Ribbon's flank.

"Seven minutes, thirty-six seconds."

Blue Ribbon sat on the track. She looked as though she didn't think she wouldn't get caught at all.

"Hey, it's not that bad. In fact, I'd be a lucky mare if I got seven minutes flat."

Blue Ribbon looked up at Gallop Crush and her sincere expression. She smiled. Gallop Crush flipped inside. Blue Ribbon had taken humility! Gallop Crush helped her up.

"Now let's finish this."

Gallop Crush's technique was somewhat simple. She flew through the air doing stunts, getting higher and higher until she hit the pegasi-stream. Then she shot down, making a straight line downward. Blue Ribbon caught her.

"Eight minutes twenty-two seconds."

"Good job."

Gallop Crush wasn't sure she heard that right. Did she just say good job?

Then it was a face off for the top three contestants: Blue Ribbon, Gallop Crush, and Charger. They each had to perform a routine and dazzle the judges. Blue Ribbon's Routine was grace and elegance. She performed stunning moves and stunts that seemed more like dancing. Charger's was more hardcore. He performed daring stunts most colts would be too scared to do. Gallop Crush was doing something a bit different.

She attacked the clouds. She dragged them together and shaped them with stunning intricacy. A rose. A detailed image of herself. She was just finishing a cupcake when the crowd gasped.

Below her, Charger and Blue Ribbon fell to the ground unconscious. She fired herself down, accelerating faster than a bullet. She was closing the gap, but still wasn't going fast enough. Sparks formed around her, cracking and popping.

Kapow

The air rumbled around Gallop Crush and she caught Blue Ribbon and Charger. A rainbow followed close behind her. There was no doubt who the winner was. When Blue Ribbon and charger woke up the first thing they saw was Gallop Crush with a gold medal around her neck.

"You did it," said Blue Ribbon, a sad smile across her face.

"I did, didn't I? You did good too. You don't need to be amazing to have friends, you know. There's a way to make the best friends you will ever have. Can I show you?"

"I'd like that."

So as the years went by, Gallop Crush showed her the importance of humility, and the magic of friendship.

End.