“Hell yeah, race day!” Downburst cheered, spotting the schedule nailed to a post right next to Autumn’s medic tent.
 
Autumn, hearing her sister’s excitement, turned her head. “You better stretch out before even thinking of stepping on that starting line. Just cuz Mom isn’t here today doesn’t mean you can slack off with warm-ups.”
 
“Psh, please! Mom never warmed up when she was our age, and she did just fine. I bet I can race cold and still win!”
 
“Downburst…” Her sister sighed, already shaking her head at the pegasi’s cocky attitude.
 
Rolling her eyes, Downy groaned. “Don’t you ‘Downburst’ me. I’ll be fine.”
 
Before Autumn could argue further, Downburst had rushed away, obviously trying to avoid her sister and rush to put on her cadet uniform. And as she came out of the barracks with her racing gear on, she noticed everyone else stretching on the sidelines of the racing starting point. Spotting her sister, who was staring right at her, Downburst did some incredibly lazy wing stretches to pretend like she cared about warm-up.
 
What she didn’t notice was another cadet staring daggers at her. Solar Flare, having gotten there early to prepare for the race, finished up her stretches and continued to eye Downburst, as if she was hoping her prolonged eye contact would unnerve her.
 
“Hey, Downy!” Chirped one of the cadets, giving a big grin. “Five bits says I beat you through the thunderstorm area of the race today!”
 
“I’ll take that bet, Breezy! You better watch yourself, I can already tell I’ll be on fire today! Too bad my mom won’t be here to see me win.” Downburst flared her wings proudly, making Easy Breezy giggle.
 
Solar Flare scoffed, heading towards the starting line as they noticed staff members approaching. There were six racers today, and all were ready to win. A stallion holding a whistle at the corner of his mouth stared them all down for a moment before proceeding with the usual speech.
 
“Alright, cadets! I hope y’all are ready for an intense race today! As you’ve seen on the schedule, we have an extreme weather race. You will fly through a thunderstorm, heavy fog and clouds, and intense wind! A full-fledged Wonderbolt is always ready for anything, and can perform even in the worst of conditions! The pony who comes last in this race will be eliminated from training and be sent home tomorrow, so you better show us your best!”
 
This spiel made a few cadets gulp, but both Downburst and Solar Flare were unfazed. The stallion ordered them into starting position, and seconds later blew the starter whistle. Each trainee shot off like a bullet, causing manes to tangle and hats to fly off.
 
“See you on the other side!” Breezy laughed, giving Downburst a playful wink as they passed. The orange pegasus had no doubt that Downy would win first place, but she enjoyed pretending that there was some sort of rivalry between them.
 
The cadets entered the thunderstorm section of the race, their goggles being the only thing protecting their eyes from the rain that poured down on them. Intense booms of thunder shook the pegasi, the only thing worse being the lightning that followed. But each pony continued through and headed to the next challenge, Super Scoop cursing as a lightning bolt blocked her path and slowed her down, making her currently the last spot in the race.
 
As the trainees all entered the heavy fog, they felt the air around them grow heavy enough to drag them back down to headquarters. Between the haze and the thick clouds around them, visibility was down to an extreme, making them all trust their gut or slow down enough to find their way.
 
Downburst, unwilling to decrease her own speed, shot through as if she didn’t need to use her eyes to fly. She could see shapes around her, and she couldn’t tell if they were fellow cadets or just shapes in the clouds. But when one of those shapes slammed into her and sent her spinning erratically, she had no doubt she had collided with another pony.
 
She spiraled out of control, unable to right herself as she fell out of the fog and into the intense winds section of the course. The mare could hear others screaming as the world spun around over and over, her dizziness getting the better of her. With another intense gust of wind, Downburst was sent crashing to the ground, hearing something in her wing snap as she rolled and tumbled through the grass, landing in a mess of bushes, before passing out.
 
Most of the cadets had exited the fog as they saw the mare fall from the sky, but only one abandoned the race. Easy Breezy ignored the others and shot towards the ground, landing a few yards from her friend’s unconscious figure. She could see her through the bushes, her body splayed out like a ragdoll, with her left wing folded in and her right wing bent in unnatural ways that immediately made Breezy feel ill.
 
“Downy…?” She asked softly, cautiously moving closer. Panic set in and she froze for a moment, watching a trickle of blood drip down the mare’s head.
 
“Downburst!” Another voice cried out, Autumn Storm galloping at full speed towards the bushes. In her moment of concern, she had completely forgotten her med kit and procedure went out the window. “What happened?! All I saw was her fall from the course!”
 
Easy Breezy shook her head, unable to take her eyes off her injured friend. “I-I don’t know! We were in the fog, we couldn’t see anything. All I saw was her spinning out as I got out of the clouds.”
 
Autumn took one look at her sister’s wing and winced, knowing once Downburst woke up, she would be in a lot of pain. “Go get another medic, quick! We need a med kit and a stretcher, she’s going to need to go to the hospital.”
 
“Right, o-of course!” Breezy shot off again, hurrying to make sure the other medics knew what had happened.
 
Autumn Storm settled down next to her sister, tearing off her first aid arm cover and pressing it against Downburst’s head, applying pressure in an attempt to stop the bleeding. When she glanced up, she noticed a yellow blur watching, then promptly abandoning their position in the sky, flying into clouds that were outside the bounds of the race. Autumn gritted her teeth, brows furrowing into a look of rage.
 
The other medics arrived swiftly, scooping Downburst onto a stretcher with Autumn Storm following close behind, trying to contain her anger enough to take care of her sister. But as they left for the hospital, the injured mare’s eyes fluttered and opened, immediately filling with tears.
 
“A-Autumn?” She asked, spotting her immediately.
 
Her sister gave a weak smile. “Hey, bud. You’re gonna be okay.”
 
“I-I can’t f-feel my wing…” Downburst let out a choked sob, clearly trying to hold back her panic.
 
“I know.”