setting [Cloudsdale] The Flyer Competition Arena

[Scythe]

The Colosseum, how some ponies call it, is the Arena in which a lot of competitons are held. Currently there are no events schedulded and yet it is filled with pegasi.

During those times the Arena serves as gym for the pegasi of Cloudsdale. Here they have a place to stay fit, compete with their friends in obstacle courses they can create with the surrounding clouds and meet other ponies interested in wing-focused sports. Occasionally you even meet a griffon or a hippogriff here. It is said that some love stories started here too.

An eventful place it is for sure, maybe even more between competitons than during them.

---

During this late afternoon Nocturna decided she could use some exercise to stay fit for her occupation, which is certainly asking for a lot of practice. But that is not the sole reason. She prefers to fly apart from the crowd, meaning she is usually flying alone and not in a place like this, but today she felt like she could really need the company of other pegasi, wether they are interested in flying as much as she is or not. Everypony needs to socialize from time to time.

It fits rather well that she is in such a good mood today.

The sun was already turning red and nearing the horizon, but still quite far from touching it. [colour=#0000ff]"What could be more satisfying than a wonderful sundown while flying here?"[/colour], Nocturna asked herself, [colour=#0000ff]"haha, except for flying in the night." [/colour]

She wanted to sit down at the border of the Arena and watch the sundown, but remembering what the reason of her coming was she decided to look around, trying to find somepony that looked interesting enough to talk to - that is of course if they won't come at her by themselves.

[ShadowWalking18]

Razor spiraled, passing through numerous cloud rings before spreading his wings full span and rise up into a loops as he rose higher into the air. When he reached a tall altitude he tucked in his wings and went into a fall. Of course he didn't fold in his wings completely, he kept them spread in a way that would allow him to cut through the wind adding to his ever increasing drop speed. Reaching the end of his dive he pulled up just enough to level himself off as he skidded across a landing zone into a stop.

His wing muscles ached, his heart was racing with adrenaline and he felt so alive!!! This was living, and any creature that could not fly should just cry for never being able to experience the raw power, emotion and freedom flying brought.

"Hahaha yes!" Razor cheered, giving a small roar of pure joy. He grabbed his stopwatch and checked his time. .001 seconds above his current record. Decent but he could do better!

Of course even Razor knew when to take a break, so he fell back on the clouds and allowed himself to catch his breath.

[Snowshoe]

Cloudsdale. Home. It'd been a while for Rain Maker, since she was here. She'd been travelling around so much, and she had decided to come back for a few days, specifically to the Arena. She wanted to see who she could meet...some interesting pegasi, maybe, to help fill out her stories?

In the meantime, however, she'd just fly. Rain Maker was a stunt flyer...not the fastest, but she was precise and agile. She came to the Arena low over the bleachers before pulling straight up and folding her wings in as she did. Momentum carried her high, until she lost it and began plummeting back toward the Arena floor. She twisted her body at the apex of her climb, so that she was facing down, and flared out her wings just before she hit the ground to pull out of the dive, The blue pegasus streaked along for a bit, slowing down as she went along, before finally alighting onto the cloudy floor of the Arena and looking around to see who, and what (sometimes, there were even griffons here) was around. She also secretly hoped to see that somepony had caught her rather spectacular (in her opinion) Hammerhead, though that was just the least of what she knew.

[Scythe]

For a while she watched the griffon. [colour=#0000cd]"I wonder if griffons ha-"[/colour], her thoughts were interrupted as she saw a mare not too different from her in colour do some amazing moves.

[colour=#0000ff]"Oh, who is that mare?"[/colour], Nocturna thought, watching the spectacle.

Rain Maker had certainly caught her attention - most ponies are rather mediocre flyers and just go here to keep themselves fit. But Nocturna can spot a pony that is really enjoying flying and it seems like she really is.

Walking over to her the mare felt nervous. Socializing was never her strength, especially when it comes to strangers and much less ones she didn't know anything about. Her being already slightly attractive to her didn't make her nervousness better at all. [colour=#0000ff]"Just play cool... you are a Shadowbolt, not a wimp"[/colour], she kept telling herself.

[colour=#0000ff]"Nice show there"[/colour], she called towards Rain Maker while approaching her.

[Lilia]

Cloudsdale. For Cherry, the place was one of strange memories. It was here she learned to fly, though she hated being so far away from her family. It was here that she had found out about the filly's home that had eventually been her way of finding herself. Her sister's suggestion of visiting for some exercise seemed good enough to her when it was proposed, but now the white pegasus mare was trembling. She watched the other pegasi fly, her heart soaring when they did with the thrill of being in the air.

"[colour=#007000]I can't just sit here and watch! I'm no super-flyer, but I do need to stretch my wings more...and that means flying here. Ok, Cherry, get your act together! You're a Bloom, and Blooms never back down![/colour]" She muttered to herself, stretching her wings a bit before taking off. She watched as a griffon flew through the cloud rings and grinned inwardly. Whatever his time was, she was determined to beat it. She flew as fast as she could, weaving and bobbing through the clouds. As the last ring approached, she laughed. Flying was fun, something she had forgotten long ago.

[Snowshoe]

For a moment, Rain Maker was debating going up again. Put on a string of tricks, just to see how in-practice she was. It'd been a while since she'd done much more than fly straight from place to place.

Before she could, however, another mare, blue-on-blue like herself, trotted over. She grinned at the compliment, taking a little bow with her wings flared out.

"Thanks. Called a Hammerhead, pretty simple once you get past the whole falling thing," she explained. She extended a hoof toward the mare, a warm smile on her face. "Name's Rain Maker, I'm an author," she said. "If you want, I can teach you how to do the Hammerhead. Long as you don't mind hitting the clouds a few times," she teased.

[Scythe]

Thinking about how to respond, much more about the exact words than wether she declines or accepts the offer. Flying with another mare, fast and just for the sake of flying? How could Nocturna say no? [colour=#0000ff]"An author huh?"[/colour], Nox gave her a stern look, [colour=#0000ff]"doesn't sound like it has [/colour][colour=#0000ff]anything [/colour][colour=#0000ff]to do with flying, I guess it's your hobby then, right? My name is Nocturna, call me Nox if you want."[/colour]

She had a smile on her face - could she resist bragging about her occupation? Could she really? No of course not.[colour=#0000ff] "I'm in an acrobatic flying group"[/colour], she said, not adding the name of her group - after all this turned out to sound less like bragging than she feared it would, [colour=#0000ff]"I wouldn't mind hitting the clouds at all - you can bet I do that all day... or better said - all night."[/colour]

[aFlatmajor]

Directly above the Colosseum is where a certain Pegasus rested. Silver lay on his cloud, enjoying a nice, late afternoon nap, only to be disturbed by sounds of numerous pegasi below him.

He slowly rose to his hooves and peeked over the edge of his cloud, taking in the sight of the great colosseum, which sparked a jolt of joy through the silver pegasus. Who began to ready himself to jump into all the fun.

[colour=#696869]"What harm could a quick flight session to? "[/colour]

He perched himself at the end of his cloud, back turned to the edge and fore legs spread out to the side. He preceded to withdraw a large sum of air and close his eyes before lightly falling back into a dive. Keeping this upside-down stance as he opened his eyes and looked below him once more, now much closer to the base of the great colosseum..

He quickly spread his wings and exited his nosedive. Slowing into a glide, greatly decreasing his speed as he descended and landed.

[colour=#696969]"Great landing, if I do say so myself....Ok, actually, maybe I over shot it a little..Gah! Stop talking to yourself, Silver, and find somepony who seems like a good rival"[/colour]

Done with his short conflict, he began to scout the area. Looking for just about anypony who seemed just as competitive as him.

[Snowshoe]

"Ha, nope. Author's my profession, kinda. I haven't put out anything real yet, still trying to figure it out. I mostly adventure a lot," Rain Maker explained, smiling. "Nice to meet you then, Nox." When she mentioned the flying group, her eyes widened a bit. "Whoa. You're not a Wonderbolt, are you?" she asked. There were of course lots of other teams...the once proud Frecce Volanti from Itaily, the Snowclouds from Stalliongrad, others too, but like most Pegasi from Cloudsdale, she immediately thought of the famous Wonderbolts.

She grinned when her offer was accepted, and Rain Maker nodded. "Alrighty then. It's nice and simple..." she trotted along, flaring out her wings. "You'll want to pull straight up and fold your wings. Once you lose momentum and you start to fall back..." she beat her wings once, taking off from the Arena floor. "Twist so you're pointing down, and flare your wings at the last minute! Simple, right?" she teased, circling back to look at Nocturnal.

[Bellosh]

It had a couple weeks since the doctors said it was safe for Sugar Apple to fly again. Not too long ago, the amateur athlete injured her wing while taking part in the Running of the Leaves. Thanks to her persistence and grit in the face of great odds, Sugar earned herself a third place ranking in that event. For days upon end, the purple mare’s coworkers at the Royal Weather Factory congratulated her and repeatedly asked to be regaled with tales of the Bubbling Brook and the Rearing Ravine. It took more than a week in order to find a bit of time for herself.

So as part of her current rehabilitation routine, Sugar Apple flew on over to the Cloudsdale Coliseum as her work day ended. If there was one thing she learned from the Running, it would be to treat her physical exercise more seriously. If the pegasus wanted to compete in another event again, she deemed it prudent to stay in prime condition, lest she ended up injured or otherwise sore (soreness also afflicted the mare during the Running).

As Sugar Apple arrived at the arena, she saw a typical-sized crowd practicing their moves in the area. When not in official use, the Cloudsdale Coliseum was a perfect location to pegasi and others to practice aerial stunts and whatnot. Heading over towards the cloud rings to start her flight exercises, Sugar observed an unfamiliar white mare finishing up her run-through, laughing as she went. [colour=#800080]“Howdy partner!”[/colour] she eagerly greeted; [colour=#800080]“Ah reckon ah’ve haven’t see ya’ ‘round these parts befo’e. Ah muss say, yer quite fast goin’ through those rings thar!”[/colour]

[Scythe]

[colour=#0000ff]"She seems to be impressed - I just hope it's not just due to her thinking I might be a Wonderbolt, because I have to destroy that dream of hers then"[/colour], Nocturna thought smiling.

The mare imagined doing what Rain Maker explained - it didn't sound too difficult. Being used to stunts like this Nocturna was first rather confident that she can do it without a problem, but when she made her muscles ready to try it a bit of doubt grew in her, not enough to destroy her self-confidence, still it was unpleasant.

[colour=#0000ff]"Oh I think I have to disappoint you Rain Maker, I'm not a Wonderbolt. I'm a Shadowbolt!"[/colour], that sounded way more proud than it should, [colour=#0000ff]"not that I never tried to get into the Wonderbolts, but you know, they cannot take every good flyer. And I wouldn't mind trying your little stunt there, it sounds like something we do."[/colour]

[Snowshoe]

"A Shadowbolt?" She'd readily admit to not having heard of that group before. But Rain Maker had to admit, the name sounded really, really cool. She grinned. "Alright, that sounds cool." And even if they weren't incredibly well known (or maybe they were, and she just hadn't ever heard of them, she wasn't quite sure), she felt giddy as a filly to be flying with an actual professional stunt flyer.

"Awesome! See if you can keep up, Nox," she teased. "Keep to my left. When we get to the top and start to fall back, you break left, I'll break right," she explained. If all went well, it'd look pretty impressive to those watching.

[tacobob]

It was a strange thing to think of, but here she was, A Pegasus pony well into her adult years that had never placed one hoof or one feather in Cloudsdale. She had visited and explored the wild lands of the Zebras, she had stumbled about in underground tombs, and even broke into an pirate's lair to retrieve an important item that was stolen from a noblestallion. But Cloudsdale? There wasn't any excuse for not going. She had friends there, and there were an assortment of clubs, theaters and other places she would have enjoyed visiting. Even her younger sister had recently visited the famous floating city a few weeks ago during a field-trip to both attend a Wonderbolts exhibition and to take a tour of the rainbow-factory. She wanted to visit the great city, but there was always something going on in her life that interfered. She might have been called for active duty, or a special mission, or even a adventure of some sorts. But never mind all that, she was here.

She slowed down a bit to take in the city and while it was hard to miss a city in the clouds, to actually be there where she could touch the buildings. Still she had a time table she had to follow. She was to meet a pony named Nocturna at the Coliseum. While she had always considered herself to be a poor flyer, he friends generally found that debatable, then again, the mare had been followed around by a black raincloud for the last few months considering the rather unpleasant turn of events she had to go through. And her father practically begged her to go. He knew she was down in the dumps and needed to do something like this to feel like a real Pegasus!

As she got near the Coliseum, she spotted a small group of ponies that she had assumed were the group. She even heard the 'Shadowbolts' being mentioned. She was thankful none of her siblings were near, as they would have groaned to hear even the mention of a team that wasn't the mighty 'Wonderbolts'. At the mention of such teams as the 'Shadows', the 'Aeroblades' or even the defunct 'Flyin' Arrows' would have caused them to roll their eyes and groan. While the 'bolts' were the top of their game, it was fun to see them compete against other teams from time to time. While watching Fleetfoot and Rapid Fire burn up the racetrack was generally exciting, it could be even more fun to see others test their meddle against the two seriously fast ponies.

"I do apologize for my tardiness.", The red coated mare wore a full body flight suit similar to the one more professional flyers would wear, but it was marked with the official R.E.A symbol. "Traffic outside of Canterlot was absolutely horrible.", she smiled at the group, "I'm Fire Walker, Lieutenant Fire Walker.", she pushed her goggles down as she got closer to the group. "I'm looking for an Miss Nocturna."

[Scythe]

[colour=#0000ff]"Well Rain, the Shadowbolts aren't so widely known ... yet. I'm trying to make them something great. We are something great already, but you know, famous..."[/colour], Nocturna sighed, this felt terrible for her. If she imagines someone coming to her and telling her about the oh-so-great team they have and they want to make them famous and stuff she would probably laugh at them or think they are doomed to fail and yet she is doing exactly this herself. She cannot let this be uncommented.

[colour=#0000ff]"I mean, it's not so much about fame for us. We are all ponies who love to fly, who want it risky, very risky and all of us love to show off. Flying as Shadowbolt gives us with happiness and fulfillment."[/colour]

Just as she wanted to follow Rain Maker to perform what she instructed Nocturna heard her name. Turning around she faced a red mare in a flying suit. Maybe a rival from another flying team? Whoever she was, she seemed to know her, so Nocturna moved towards her. [colour=#0000ff]"I am Nocturna."[/colour]

[ShadowWalking18]

Razor watched the pegasi fly about, and he spotted one going into a dive and then landing. Razor watched and was impressed.

"Not bad. Maybe I can get a race from that one." Razor said as he got up and flew over.

"Yo, nice dive. You seem to know what you're doing when you fly. Names Razor." Razor said, offering a claw out to the silvery pegasus.

"So....wanta race?"

[Snowshoe]

"Should be all you need then," Rain Maker commented, looking back and banking around to catch up to Nocturna, who was going to see a bright red-on-red pegasus down below. "I'd be honoured to fly alongside you, famous or not. Though I have a feeling you'll probably end up teaching me more than the other way around," she joked. She was memorizing all this to jot down for her book later, as she came in for a landing next to Nocturna, looking over the other mare. Rather fiery looking, in more ways than one. And the piercings in her ear were interesting, too.

"Hey, where'd you get those?" she asked casually, pointing to the red mare's right ear with a hoof.

[tacobob]

Fire Walker felt rather silly. Here she was, a full grown mare and it seemed her captain set her up for a 'play-date' with the fast ponies. "Er, my captain recommended I pop over here and meet you. Guess you're some sort of training guru? And the Cloudsale Coliseum has hosted more than a few well known training events over the years.", she glanced around the, "And I guess this is one of those rare days the ol' Coliseum isn't being used for any sporting events, concerts or whatever they normally have here.", as she spoke, the pony glanced around at the others and noticed the griffon, along with the mare who was quite interested in her right ear. She glanced over at the girl and with a nervous grin.

"Where did I get what? My braid? Oh..My earrings?", she glanced up at her own ear, "You've never seen such jewelry before? Guess where I'm from it's rather common. Where are you from, if I may ask? And the name is Fire Walker. "

[aFlatmajor]

[colour=#696969]"Um, it's a pleasure to meet you Razor. You can just call me Silver"[/colour] ,he proceeded to raise a hoof and shake the griffon's talon, trying not to show he really didn't want to mingle with just anypony. At least not with out some sort of meet before hand.

Though to Silver's delight, he was just asked for a race. He scoffed, teasing the griffon. [colour=#696969]"You, race me? Let's see if you can keep up."[/colour] , he said, turning from Razor and examining the coliseum. [colour=#696969]"So what type race anyway? Through an obstacle course? A few laps around the coliseum?"[/colour]

[ShadowWalking18]

Razor smirked, oh this was going to be fun.

"Alright, something basic I think. I want to get a see on how fast you are. Three laps around the coliseum, through obstacles." Razor said.

Oh this was going to be fun, Razor always loved a good race. Heck, Razor loved anything that had to involve flying.

[Frost137]

After work, a blue and gray mare with a black mane entered the Colosseum. During work, the mare couldn't practice her stunts so to make up for it she had to come here. Some ponies were around just talking to each other. Hopefully, they won't mind Spin Art practicing, but until they watch her fail... Oh, she would not be happy.

Ok it's going to be alright. Spin Art thought to herself. Just do it for your father. Not sure if he's dead or not but until you find him, he will be proud of you.

Spin Art began to trot until it turn into a gallop. Her wings opened up and got her off the ground. The pegasus began to ascend higher into the air as she flapped her wings. Higher and higher she went until she stopped flying and began to fall. What happened? Did she break her wing on the way up? Spin Art wasn't that weak, but it was only the beginning of her stunt. The fall began to pick up speed until she almost hit the Colosseum floor, missing it by a few feet by opening up her wings and pulling upward. She twisted her body to a normal flying position.

What can I do for today? She asked herself. She leaned to the right, stopped flying again for a very brief moment and did an aerobatic spin without the use of wings, and caught herself in the air. Spin Art pointed downward and came back up with a loop. The feeling nauseated her, but she tried to hold it. Spin Art began to slow down. She did not know she was about to land right in front of somepony's race, Spin Art glanced up and tried to do something and landed incorrectly. In a sitting position, she spun in circles and stopped.

Oh sweet Celestia! She facehoofed herself and flew out of the area in shame.

[Scythe]

The mare giggled at the remark of Rain Maker - what she said could indeed be true, Nocturna did not only train hard, but she also had a great teacher, sometimes she wished other would have that advantage too, so many teachers at the flight school don't have the right motivation to bring out the best in their students.

"[colour=#0000cd]Maybe[/colour]", she commented towards Rain Maker before looking back at the red mare who seemed to look specifically for her.

Training Guru? Rare days? What was she talking about? There aren't really that much events in the Colosseum and mostly it serves as a gym for most pegasi. The former bugged her more though. "[colour=#0000ff]I am not quite sure who said that but I sure as hell ain't a training guru, I do fly for a living, so I know what I am doing, but I'm not a teacher if that's what you mean. Nevertheless, if you are here to fly with me, I see no reason why we shouldn't fly as a group of three.[/colour]"

She added a swift smile to emphasize her friendly intentions.

[tacobob]

"Oh.", Fire Walker was a little confused. Did she arrive on the wrong day? It was the Coliseum and she was in Cloudsdale, and this mare was Nocturna, at least she looked just like the girl that was described to her. "That is strange. I was...", she glanced up and noticed the blue and gray mare as she left the area. "Let me see what's going on with this pony and I'll be back to fly with you. Hopefully with this other Pegasus.", she took to the air and quickly made her way after Spin Art. She felt quicker than normal. Maybe it was the suit.

Once she got closer to the fleeing mare, she called out, "Hey! Stop! What's going on?! Why are you leaving?". The red mare glanced at her with a look of concern in her red eyes.

[Frost137]

Spin Art stopped in her tracks and turned around to see another pegasus pony. She was red... everything! ... She narrated in awe and looked to the ground while kicking cloud rocks. How embarrassing, she cannot live up to the shame.

"Umm... ahh..." She tried to speak.

[tacobob]

The red pony did in fact have red eyes, a red mane which ended in braids and a red coat which was covered by a flight suit. It was not a Wonderbolts or even another racing team. It was blue and was marked with the R.E.A logo. "You want to talk about it? I'm not going to stop you from leaving. If you wish to go, please, but I'm curious to know why you're leaving. Those stunts you were doing were kind of cool. Wish I had moves like that.", she smiled at the mare. She was neither commanding or condescending,"I'm a Pegasus from Canterlot. I spend most of my day on my hooves in armor. I don't get to fly as much as I like to and it shows. Generally nearly all of my family are the same. We're strong as earth ponies and we fly just as well, but I have a younger sister who has changed everything. She's small but she flies like a comet and more than a few higher ups have mentioned she's Wonderbolt materiel, at least she will be when she's of age. She's given us all hope. I've been trying harder even after losing my Dunder and even after what I saw up north.", she shuddered, "I'm not going to let it drag me down any further."

She glanced down at the Coliseum, "More than a few people I've known recommended I pop over to Cloudsdale for some flight training. They mentioned Miss Nocturna there. She says she's not a trainer or even a teacher, but I wonder. I also wonder if you'll join us down there for some laps. I'd really like to learn a few of those moves you did, and maybe we can perfect them as well. What do you say? It's a wonderful day for flying!", she winked before adding, "Oh, I'm Fire Walker. Lieutenant Fire Walker."

[Frost137]

Spin Art stepped closer. "It's nice to meet you. You don't mind me... um yeah?" Messing up like that. Spin Art added, hopefully Fire Walker understood where Spin Art was going at. She was really nervous anyways. "If you want, we can."

She glanced over at Nocturna when Fire Walker pointed out to her who looked just. like. HER. Weird!I

((I really don't think she looks like her.... -_-")