Episode 8
The Pegasus race
"How was that?" Techi asks, panting as she flaps over to Feather.
"Ten and a half seconds." Feather exclaims. "Nice time!"
"No… no no no!" Techi moans. "It's not good enough!"
"What's the big deal anyway?" Melody asks. "I thought you were into computers… why is it so important for you to compete in something all, you know, athletic?"
The yearly race in Cloudsdale was coming up this weekend, and Techi's been training restlessly for the past couple of days. She'd always competed, just for fun, and never really concerned herself with winning. This year was different, though.
"I just have to break my time, or I won't even make it into the finals." Techi explains. "And if I don't make it into the finals-"
"Then you're never going to meet the pegesi who beat you last year." Feather finishes for her. "How many times have you said it already?"
"Melody doesn't know." Techi reasons.
"She will. She will know plenty well, like the rest of us." Feather huffs.
"Um… but I thought you said you never cared about winning?" Melody questions. "Doesn't that mean that pegasus have beaten you before?"
"Not like this one." Techi starts.
"Here we go…" Feather rolls her eyes.
"Last year at the race, I got lucky and made it into the finals. Of course, I was the last of the twelve who qualified to finish, but at the end, the winner commended me on my effort." Techi explains. "Melody, she was absolutely dazzling- the way her rainbow colored mane swerved around her as she dashed to the finish line…. Oh! I wish I could remember her name!"
"And… that's why you're practicing so hard? Because you want to know this pegasus' name?"
"I want to know where she buys her mane dye!" Techi exclaims. "Er, and… maybe get to talk to her again. She was spectacular in the race… I would be honored to get the chance to speak with her again."
"'Spectacular'" Feather smites.
"Oh, well… good luck, then!" Melody smiles. "Let me know how it goes, alright?"
"Trust me- you'll hear. She wouldn't shut up about it last time."
"Since when did you turn into such a Thiala?" Melody asks, giving Feather a curious look.
"You wanna pull an all nighter keeping the same time over and over again?" Feather asks.
"Point taken." Melody nods. "Why don't you two come in for some breakfast though? You could probably use a break."
"Just as soon as I break this stupid ten point five…" Techi snarls, and readies herself again.
"Alright, but if you don't hurry, Kandi might eat it all on you. I made pancakes."
"And you left them un-attended with Kandi in the room?" Feather asks accusingly.
Melody shrugs. "Thiala's there."
"Meh. Good luck with your practice Techi, I'm out." With that, Feather drops the stop-watch and follows Melody up the stairs to Clan.
"But how am I gonna know if I- oh, I'm coming!" She calls, and flies after them.
Melody freezes when she walks inside. "Where the hell-"
"Something wrong?" Thiala asks, her legs crossed and on top of the empty counter; which Melody was sure she left the pancakes on.
"What happened to all the pancakes? Did you let Kandi eat them?"
"You mean the Frisbees?" Thiala asks. "Why would I let her eat those? I threw them out the window."
"You threw them out the-"
Melody rushes to the window and looks outside. Several pancakes lined the ground.
"Honestly Thiala, was that really quite necessary?" Feather asks, glaring at her.
"It quite was." Thiala smirks. "Wouldn't want anyone to mistake that garbage as food, would we?"
"Well- no pancakes." Techi notes aloud. "Back to training."
"W-wait! We could always just eat them off the ground- I'm sure they're still good! Techi, nooo…!" Feather moans as the older pony drags her back outside.
Melody was still staring out the window. "It took me all morning to prepare those." She mutters.
"Oh, boo hoo! Why don't you get over it? Really, you're such a softy."
Melody doesn't respond.
"…not like those pancakes though, those were hard as rocks." Thiala continues.
"…"
"I even tasted one. They tasted like charred plastic."
"…"
"What did you put in those things anyway? Blueberries? You take those from your old home too? Cause they were rotten."
Melody sighs. "Oh well, guess they're unsalvageable now. I guess I can always make some more." She shrugs, and steps past Thiala towards the pantry.
"Hello? I'm trying to insult your cooking here, do you MIND? Sheesh!" Thiala snorts.
"Thiala!" Cupie shouts from down the hall. "I was in here a minute ago, a full plate of pancakes sitting on the table, and now there happens to be several sprawled out across the property. Are you responsible for this?"
"Me? No, you got it all wrong. Melody said she messed up, and told Kandi to throw them out." Thiala smirks.
Cupie looks at her skeptically. "Uh huh. Melody, is this true?"
Thiala cringes.
"Yep." Melody nods.
Cupie's eyes widen. "Is that so? Well I don't think I have to tell you that Kandi can some times take things a bit… er, literally. I'll let you off the hook this time, but please try to be more careful about what you say around her in the future."
"Okay." Melody says, and grabs the pancake mix out of the cabinets.
Cupie glances at Thiala one last time, who shrugs, before leaving. Thiala then returns her attention to Melody.
"What the hell?"
Melody looks to her for a moment, then focuses on the utensils. "What?"
"What do you mean what- what in the fuck was that for?"
Melody ignores her.
"…whatever." Thiala says with a slight eye-roll, even though she knew very well that Melody wasn't paying attention to her.
Not looking at her, not responding… not even the slightest sign of being mad. What in the world was going on?
"Now do you mind? I have a ton of pancakes I have to re-make." Melody announces, not even seeing that Thiala had already left; puzzled and confused.
Feather and Techi make their way to Cloudsdale early Saturday morning. Techi got her time down to ten point one, which was just above the time required to make finals. She had hoped to get another lucky streak; maybe an adrenaline rush, or an extra draft from being up so high. She felt as stiff as a board, though, and the wind was practically non-existent.
"You'll feel better once you're in the moment." Feather assures her nervous friend, who was trembling sporadically.
She takes a deep breath. "Y-you're right." She says, and relaxes a little. "Besides, I don't see that pony anywhere. Maybe all the intensive training was for nothing."
Just as Feather's about to say something, a rainbow streak shoots past them, nearly knocking them over.
"Oh my god oh my god oh my god..." Techi freaks. "That's- that's her!"
"Really now, is it quite proper for you to be obsessing over this pony you barely know?" Feather reasons.
"She's the winner of last year's race." Techi says, her eyes still locked to the dazzling pegesi. "I'm sure she has a whole fan club devoted to her."
"I'm surprised you haven't attended." Feather smirks.
"Nah, I heard the announcers say she was from Ponyville. I'm not sure how popular she is within Clantopia though."
Feather observes Techi keeping a watchful eye on the sky-blue pegesi, who was sporting a few tricks for her shy pink-maned friend. Techi's motionless; almost mesmerized, by the swift pegasus' stylish movement.
"Hey, we will have a popular racer in Clantopia, though." Feather says, snapping Techi from her sight lock.
"We will?"
"Yes!" Feather assures her. "Come on Techi, you're going to be awesome today. Show those Ponyville folk what a real racer can do!"
Techi nods. "Yeah, I got this! I'll make it to the finals, just like last year." She flips her goggles on. "I'm gonna go warm up. Come get me before the placing starts, alright?"
"Will do." Feather nods, and Techi takes off.
"Phew!" Melody sighs, whipping a bit of grease on her apron. "I may have used twice as food as I needed, but on the bright side, at least I'll have a reason to wash laundry." She claims, and unties her apron. "Harmony, Kandi! Pancakes are done!"
"Food!" Kandi excites, and bursts into the kitchen. Cupie enters too, followed by Thiala, and then-
…
…Harmony?
"Oh, you lookin for the kid?" Thiala questions. "She headed out about half an hour ago. Said something about having to go to school."
"Thiala, it's Saturday." Melody groans.
"Whatever, not my place to watch her." She shrugs. "You should keep a better watch on that kid.
"Oh… where could she be?"
"Don't panic Melody, we'll help you look for her." Cupie offers.
"But- but I want pancakes!" Kandi wines.
"You should have thought about that before you threw them out the window, then!" Cupie scolds.
"I did WHAT? Bad Kandi, bad!" Kandi says.
Cupie rolls her eyes. "Yes, well, anyway, let's go see if we can't find the foul."
"Thank you."
The four split up, each checking different parts of Clantopia, and each returning unsuccessful.
Melody squeezes her eyes shut. "I can't believe Harmony would just leave like that, and that Thiala wouldn't do anything to stop her." She pauses. "Actually, I could see Thiala not really giving a fuck."
As she approaches Clan, she looks in the backyard. The pancakes from before were still spread across the property, despite the fact that she had just picked them all up before she left.
"…wait a minute…"
She rushes upstairs, to find all the pancakes she'd made were gone.
"Oh, hey. You left out your Frisbees again." Thiala says entering the room. "What is with you today? First losing track of your little sister and then again leaving your food out? Do you ever learn?" Thiala chuckles.
"I thought you said you went out looking for her." Melody questions.
"I did. I checked the whole front porch, and she wasn't anywhere." Thiala explains. "Then I came in and found her in her room. She was playing video games."
Harmony comes out from the hall now. "Melody, I'm hungry. When are you gonna make me food?"
"Seriously Melody, take better care of your sister." Thiala smirks.
"Just be patient, Harmony. I'll have some more food ready for you in a second."
A loud tone sounds, signaling the pegasus to start. Techi kicks off at full speed, and shoots forward.
"You got this!" Feather cheers.
Techi increases speed, but so were the others in the group around her. She flies even harder, pushing it to the limit until she crosses the finish line.
"Nine point five five" The announcer calls, when calling off Techi's performance time. "Congratulations, Techi. You'll be competing in the finals once again this year."
"Yes!" Techi cheers, and she and Feather high-five.
"No!" Another pony grunts in the distance. "This is unbelievable, how did I not make finals?"
"It's alright Rainbow Dash, a ten point five isn't all that bad. You can still compete in the semifinals." The pink-maned pony assures her.
"You're kidding…" Techi mutters to herself. "She didn't make it."
"Hey, it was just a streak of bad luck, huh?" Rainbow Dash shrugs. "I'm sure I'll still have the fastest time of all the racers all in all, right?"
"Absolutely!" Her friend smiles. "That's all that really should matter, right? As long as you're happy with your time, then who cares what anypony else thinks?"
"Heh, yeah." Rainbow Dash chuckles. "You better believe I'm training even harder for tomorrow's semifinals though."
"Oh, dear… must we?" Her friend winces.
"Let's go- we only have thirteen hours until the race begins!"
The quiet pegesi whimpers as she's dragged off by the driven rainbow pony.
Feather laughs. "Oh, I feel you." She says, though the two hadn't heard, and possibly hadn't even noticed them listening in on their conversation.
"She's right, though." Techi sighs.
"What, more training?" Feather moans. "Techi, I'm tired!"
"No, not about that. What she said… it shouldn't matter what anypony else thinks. If I'm up here racing, then I should just race for myself. Like I used to do."
"It was nice. Seeing you compete is always good, and doing so at your own comfort level, it's well- more comfortable than having to stay up all night with a stop watch."
"Thank you for all your help, Feather, but I think I'm going to drop out of the race." Techi decides.
"W-what? But, I mean- you made finals!" Feather exclaims. "We worked so hard!"
"It's not within my comfort zone." Techi shrugs. "Maybe next year I can try for semifinals, though. Maybe even quarterfinals!"
"I don't know. We'd have to get your time down to fifteen seconds for quarterfinals. We have a lot of work to do."
Techi laughs, and the two head back home.
"What's this?"
Thiala steps into the kitchen and examines yet another full plate of pancakes sitting on the counter.
"Heh, Melody. When will you learn?" She smirks. She picks up as many as she can hold, and chucks them out the window.
"…out. Out you go… why won't you throw?!"
She was having some difficulties, apparently. The pancakes were stuck to her hoof, and not releasing.
"Go!" She shouts, giving it one final throw. The pancakes release, and her hoof goes flying back into her face, knocking herself over.
Melody stands over her. "Oh, no. Did I accidentally cook paste into the pancakes? Really though, Thiala. You should be more careful about where you throw your Frisbees. You got a little blueberry on your eye." She smirks. She and Harmony laugh, and trot away.
Thiala touches her eye to see blue streaming down it, and both her hooves. "Mother fucker!" She shouts, and runs to the bathroom, covering her eye.
A/N:
What's going on, everypony? As you are all aware, I am a songwriter. I've written quite a lovely theme song for me and my room-mates (AKA the Clanadian Ponies). It's posted up on Medlie's profile page, if you wish to see it. It's set to the tune of 'My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic' and 'My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic Extended Intro'. Check it out, alright? I'll be back next week with another chapter for you all, so see you then.
-Feather