A New Generation

Chapters

Solitude
"A Routine Session"
Fate
A Chance
Rainbow Dash in the Wonderbolts
Leaving a good impression
Seeing old friends isn't always great
The Trials
Judgement Day
Epilogue
A Darkened Rainbow

Solitude

"I, Captain Spitfire, hereby induct Rainbow Dash into the Wonderbolts!"

The crowd explodes into wild cheers and applause as the normally brash and confident blue shaded Pegasi with the rainbow-coloured mane trots out slowly onto the stage, unsure of what to think. The Pegasi Captain, Spitfire, beckons her to the centre of the stage, where a solitary microphone stands alongside the flame-haired Captain. Rainbow Dash looks out towards the crowd, and sees her friends cheering and smiling.

Rarity is bawling uncontrollably with happiness, as expected. The usually composed Applejack sheds a tear, the orange Earth pony tries to hide it, but she simply can't, she's too proud of her friend, she finally has what she has wanted for so long. Pinkie is bouncing around like the incredible imbecile she is, "just being Pinkie" Rainbow thinks to herself. Fluttershy and Twilight have a hoof around each others' shoulder, cheering along with the crowd, honouring the new Wonderbolt, their friend Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow hears the crowd chant,

"Speech! Speech!"

She looks confidently at the microphone, she'd planned a speech already and had memorised it just for this occasion. Spitfire beckons the new recruit again,

"Come on, Rainbow Dash!" she cheers excitedly, "you can't keep your admirers waiting!"

The light-blue Pegasi swoops towards the microphone and takes a few deep breaths, composing herself.
The crowd falls silent.
She starts to speak.

Rainbow Dash groans as she awakens, seeing the shelf full of Daring Do books on the wall, knowing that it had been just another dream.

"Damn it!" She exclaims, hitting a hoof forcefully into the bed.

Rainbow was mad at herself, this was the fourth night in a row that she had dreamed about her induction as a Wonderbolt. Four wonderful nights followed by four dreadful days when she realised that her dreams weren't real.

"I'll never become a Wonderbolt." She mumbles sadly to herself, her bottom lip trembling.

"Why do I even bother?" She questions herself as she slides out of bed.

Rainbow trots sadly downstairs into the kitchen and pours herself a bowl of cereal, thinking back to her dream. She knew it could never be true, her becoming a Wonderbolt. Due to either sudden lack of confidence or her own rejection of the methods of some Inductees, Rainbow always fell at the last hurdle before success.

"It's a stupid dream." She mutters, shoveling cereal into her mouth subconsciously, still pondering the events in her dream and her recent life.

It had been a bad few months for Rainbow Dash, not only because of her disappointing dreams coupled with little success in real life, but she had quickly found herself without any friends. It's not that they didn't care for her anymore, but they all had things to do in life.

Twilight became a Princess and she had been given six weeks to rule Trottingham in a kind of trial run to see whether she could rule a region of Equestria, and Rarity became a famous fashion designer. She had started a big collaboration with Hoity Toity and Sapphire Shores, so she had moved to Canterlot to work with her idols, where she was rapidly becoming famous. Fluttershy had gone with Zecora to the zebra's homeland to learn about the nature and animals there.
But Pinkie and Applejack had moved for family. One of Pinkie's sisters had fallen ill, so she had temporarily gone back to her family's rock farm to stay with her family and comfort her sister while she recovered. Finally, Appleack had moved to Appaloosa because her cousin Braeburn had been injured when an apple tree fell on him, so AJ had to take over the operations there.

Soon enough, Rainbow Dash was the only pony from that close-knit group of seemingly inseparable friends that was left in Ponyville.

None of the five mares wanted to leave any of their friends behind, but they all had to go, for one reason or another. They had all wished to meet up again at some point in the near future, but various events and issues complicated matters and kept them apart from each other. The first week had been fine, but by the second week, Rainbow was bored and depressed. Their separation was now into its fourth week, and she was almost at her breaking point.

"If I became a Wonderbolt my friends wouldn't even be here anyway." She muttered sadly, contemplating how lonely she had become now none of her friends were around her anymore. She rested her elbows on the table and held her head in her hooves. A lone tear fell from her eye into the half-full bowl. Rainbow pushed the bowl aside and cried into the table surface, her head resting against the wooden surface, unable to contain her emotions for her missing friends.

Suddenly, there was a loud, erratic knock at the door, which was followed by shouting,

"Rainbow Dash! Come quick!" Shouted the stallion outside.

Rainbow thought that she recognised the voice,

"Soarin?" Rainbow Dash wondered. "What's he doing here?"

Rainbow wiped away her tears and leaped from her chair, suddenly filled with adrenaline. When she opened the door, Soarin was stood there, his Wonderbolt uniform ripped in several places and his mane torn and wild. His eyes bulging in...fear?

"What is it Soarin? What's wrong?" Rainbow asked, trying to calm down the frightened Pegasi.

Soarin gasped, composing himself, trying to speak. Tears had started to roll down his face.

"It's Spitfire..." he gasped, "she's...she's..."

Rainbow Dash laid a hoof on the stallion's shoulder, this seemed to momentarily calm him.

"What is it?" Rainbow quietly asked back, desperately wanting an answer from the petrified Soarin.

The Wonderbolt whispered back,

"Spitfire...sh-...she's...

she's dead."

"A Routine Session"

Soarin fell to his knees, his emotions finally getting the better of him. His whole body was shaking, still shocked by the loss of his Captain. Rainbow Dash didn't react to the collapsed Soarin, she just stared ahead where he had previously stood, her eyes unfocused, but her mind was whirring.

"Spitfire? Dead?" Rainbow couldn't comprehend what she had just been told. Spitfire, the untouchable and unbeatable Captain of the Wonderbolts, was dead? Rainbow wouldn't believe it, she had to see it for herself.

"Take me there" She ordered the bawling Soarin.

Soarin looked up at Rainbow Dash with red and teary eyes,

"sure, I guess you deserve to know." He managed to say through sobs.

"Where are you taking me?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Soarin had started to compose himself,
"Ghastly Gorge, that's were...it happened."

Rainbow herself had flown through Ghastly Gorge several times in her past, blasting through the canyon at rocket speeds, but she'd never been in a situation on her own where she could have died, and with Soarin alongside her, the second most capable Wonderbolt, how did Spitfire perish there?

Rainbow gasped as she realised what may have happened.
"Oh no. Was it...the eel?" She quietly asked Soarin.

Soarin peered across to her, and he simply nodded.

The two Pegasi arrived at the gorge, it was abandoned apart from one other Wonderbolt who had come to see what had happened. Fleetfoot flew slowly out of the gorge to the edge of the cliff and sat down on the grass, she was holding her head in her hoofs, weeping quietly in memory of her Captain. Rainbow Dash and Soarin went to speak to her, she rose her head and tried to speak, but her words stuck in her throat and she continued to cry. Soarin sat down next to the Wonderbolt, trying to comfort her.

"I'm sorry, Fleetfoot, but there's nothing we can do."

Soarin wrapped a hoof around Fleetfoot's shoulder, and he held her tight, he rested his head upon hers, crying again

"At least she went out the way she will have wanted to."

Rainbow Dash looked at the two weeping Wonderbolts, and a tear trickled down her face. Two of her heroes were sat right in front of her, crying into each others' arms, this wasn't the way to see your heroes.

"It was just a routine session." Soarin whimpered, "just an ordinary fly through the gorge. And the eel left took her."

The Quarray Eels had started to die out due to the lack of food in the Gorge, only one remained, and that single Eel had taken the spirit of the Wonderbolts to her untimely death.

"Is the Eel still down there?" Rainbow asked anxiously.

"No, I wouldn't let that thing survive after eating her. If Spitfire was going down, so was the Eel." Soarin muttered angrily, his anger rising.

"I'm gonna go down and check it out." Rainbow Dash mumbled, leaving the two Wonderbolts to remember their beloved Captain.

Rainbow could hardly believe what was happening. Only this morning she was angry about having dreams about Spitfire, and now she was dead, eaten by a Quarray Eel, taken down in her prime. Even though Rainbow knew there were no Eels left, she still advanced cautiously, always ready for danger. But her fears of danger disappeared when she arrived at the holes in the Gorge wall that the Eels lived in.

Studying each hole from a distance, Rainbow saw something that made her heart skip a beat. She rapidly soared down towards the object she had seen.
Rainbow Dash stopped and lowered herself towards the base of the hole, and she trotted towards the goggles on the ground.

These were the Wonderbolt regulation goggles handed out to all inductees.

They had belonged to Spitfire.

A few yellow feathers lay dotted around the goggles, some spattered with the blood of the Captain of the Wonderbolts.

Rainbow collapsed onto the ground, wailing uncontrollably. Her heart had been torn in two, her number one idol, the pony she aspired to be, was gone. And a few bloody feathers were all that remained to remember her legacy by. Rainbow continued to sob, unable to stop herself, too overcome by anguish to cease the river of tears.

Still sobbing, she stood back up and picked up the goggles, she wasn't leaving these here, they belonged to the most wonderful Pegasi who had ever lived, and Rainbow refused to leave them in a dark cave away from civilisation.

Rainbow carried the goggles out of the dank cave and returned to Soarin. Fleetfoot had left, and Soarin had stopped crying, but his eyes still remained red, it looked like he could break down at any moment. Rainbow handed over the goggles,

"I think you should have these." She muttered sadly.

Soarin held out a hoof and took them,
"I'll take these back to the barracks. Thanks for coming, Rainbow. You deserved to know, she really thought highly of you."

And with that, he started to trot away, his head held low.
Rainbow watched the once majestic Wonderbolt take off staggering, and then slowly rose into the afternoon sky.
She sadly sighed and started to wander back towards home, overcome with grief.

Fate

Rainbow Dash fell back to sleep after she had promised herself to attempt to join the Wonderbolts, and when she awoke, she was eager and ready to go, but she didn't know when the trials were happening, if they were, in fact, at all.

As the sun rose to its highest point in the sky, just as Rainbow was finishing her dinner, the Pegasi went to clear the few clouds dotted around the almost clear sky. The clouds were very easy to break, all Rainbow had to do was fly past them and they would disappear.

"Just like old times." Rainbow muttered to herself.

Rainbow continued to fly around the skies for the rest of the afternoon. Occasionally she would stop for a five-minute break on a cloud, but she would soon pass further on. Rainbow Dash would look down at the ground every so often as she flew over the fields, and if she saw another pony, she swooped down to the ground to ask if they knew about the trials, nopony knew. She also checked around Cloudsdale as well, but to no avail.

As the sky darkened and the sun began to go down, Rainbow retreated back to her home. Still eager to impress, but angry at not knowing when the trials were taking place. Rainbow was walking through her door to go and relax in her house when she saw the delivered newspaper on the ground. Rainbow flicked the newspaper up from the ground to under her wing by flicking her hoof upwards, catching the paper in mid-air. She threw the newspaper towards her bed while she went to brush her teeth.

After Rainbow Dash had brushed her teeth, she turned off her houses' main lights and turned on a bedside lamp while she read the newspaper.

"Highest yearly profit ever at Sweet Apple Acres, A look at tomorrow's Wonderbolt Derby, Princess Celestia visi-."

Rainbow froze, looking back at what she had just read.
"The Wonderbolt Derby! Oh my gosh, how did I forget?" Rainbow Dash squealed with excitement.

Rainbow continued to read on, transfixed by the news,
"Tomorrow's event at the Aerodome, the 79th Annual Wonderbolt Derby! The six quickest Wonderolts of the year compete for the golden wings medallion! The event starts at noon, coinciding with the arrival of Princesses Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Twilight Sparkle!"

Rainbow could hardly wait, she would definitely be going to this, and she would see Twilight there! The friends had kept together through letters, but nothing could compare with seeing her friend face-to-face.
After the boredom of that day, Rainbow felt re-energised by the knowledge that she would meet Twilight again and that she would be going to her first Wonderbolt Derby.

The Aerodome was swarming with Pegasi, at least 30,000 had come to the Wonderbolts' Stadium to witness this magnificent spectacle, and Rainbow Dash was one of them! She was stood underneath the stands, near the food stalls by the VIP entrance, hoping to see the Wonderbolts up close. Rainbow was wearing a blue cap with yellow trim, the Wonderbolt colours, but her unmissable rainbow mane still trailed out the back of the hat.

Rainbow had bought a program and was flicking through it, studying the Wonderbolts' line-up. Only the fastest six would qualify for the event, but only six Wonderbolts remained overall, many had left due to Spitfire's death, feeling unable to complete their duties. Fleetfoot and Soarin were both there, along with Rapidfire, Blaze, Firestreak and the outsider Misty Fly. Mistly wouldn't have been in the race if Spitfire had been there to compete, as Spitfire was the fastest Wonderbolt ever on record. As Rainbow had her head buried in the program, a pony spoke from behind the program,

"Well, I didn't expect you to be reading here."

Rainbow looked up from the program to see a beaming purple unicorn, no, an alicorn.

"TWILIGHT!" Rainbow yelled, dropping the program and flying to her friend. The two embraced tightly, finally together after such a long time apart.

Twilight giggled, "Hey, Rainbow, long time, no see."

"Oh, it's been so long, Twi, I've missed you ." Rainbow admitted.

"I know, Rainbow, I've missed you as well." Twilight muttered, releasing her friend from their embrace.

Behind Twilight, Princesses Cadence, Celestia and Luna were followed by Captain Shining Armour, ready to oversee the race. The royal fanfare rang out around the stadium.

"Twilight, are you coming?" Princess Celestia asked, nodding towards the steps to the royal box.

"Yes, Princess." Twilight obeyed, trotting to her Princess.

Rainbow Dash stared longingly as her friend walked away, and she held her head low and walked away to her seat.

"Rainbow, where are you going?" Twilight asked, turning back to face her friend.

"What? I'm going to my seat." Rainbow mumbled, feeling lonely.

Twilight laughed, "Do you seriously think I'd make one of my best friends stay away from me? Come and sit with us."

Rainbow Dash looked astounded that she would be allowed to sit alongside Twilight, the Captain of the Royal Guard and the other Princesses of Equestria, "Are you sure?" She asked.

"Come on, Rainbow Dash." Princess Cadence encouraged her, "the more, the merrier."

Rainbow couldn't help herself, she bounded up the steps after the VIP's into the royal box. The box itself was amazing, there wasn't anything special about the inside of it except for the extremely luxurious couches. But the box itself was open-topped, exposed to the afternoon sunlight, and it was directly in line with finishing post, so the royalty could witness the excitement closely until the very end.

The six Wonderbolts were flying their last practice laps around the track when Soarin flipped into a spin-out, the Wonderbolts trained for this kind of incident all the time, but Soarin collided with the track's concrete border. A horrifying snap rang out around the Aerodome. Soarin started to fall down to earth, but Fleetfoot and Blaze quickly rushed to his aid, catching the strucken Pegasi. The entire crowd fell silent, shocked by the accident. Soarin was being held by the other two Wonderbolts, he himself was unable to fly hard enough to keep himself in the air, he wouldn't be able to compete.

Princess Luna tutted sadly, "Shame. First Spitfire, now this. How can Soarin put up with this?"

The VIP's muttered their approval of Luna's comment, Soarin had been dealt a tough run recently, and now he was out of the competition.
Rainbow looked back down towards Soarin, he was gritting his teeth, but talking to Fleetfoot and Blaze, who still held him.
When he finished talking, they flew up towards the royal box.
Rainbow assumed that Soarin would wish to tell the Princesses that he couldn't compete, but her wanted to talk to her.

"Rainbow Dash." Soarin groaned, still obviously in pain. The medics waited behind him, ready to whisk him away to the Infirmary.
"I don't want there to be only five Wonderbolts out there, neither does anypony else, and we have no other Wonderbolts left. I wanted to do this for Spitfire, but I can't anymore,

I want you to compete in my place."

A Chance

"Me?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking very confused, "you want me to compete?

Soarin just nodded, still gritting his teeth against the pain of his broken wing.

"But I'm not in the Wonderbolts, I never passed a trial." Rainbow relented.

"Rainbow," Soarin started, "you are a Wonderbolt. Whatever you want to tell yourself, you'll always be a Wonderbolt at heart."

Rainbow gasped, remembering what Spitfire had said to her in her dream. Soarin had just said exactly what Spitfire had told her when she was sleeping. It must have been what she had told Soarin as well when he was in the Academy, and if it had worked for Soarin and made him a Wonderbolt, it'd would work for Rainbow too.

"I'll do it."

Rainbow took her place at the start line alongside the five other Wonderbolts. She didn't have the uniform, she just went without. The crowd cheered as the names of the Wonderbolts were read out one-by-one. Rapidfire, Blaze, Firestreak, Fleetfoot and Misty Fly were read out first. But when Rainbow Dash's name was announced, the crowd exploded for her. Nopony knew her, and they had seen how she had been quickly rushed into the race. They loved her, everypony loved an underdog, especially in such a massive occasion.

Rainbow was literally shaking, not often would her nerves get the better of her, but today was the most nervous she had ever been. She looked along the line of racers, four of the Wonderbolts were fully focused on the task ahead, but Rapidfire was looking back at her. He nodded towards her, wishing her luck, then the announcers' voice rang out around the Aerodome.

"May the competitors take their places."

The Wonderbolts donned their goggles while Rainbow looked up at the sky.

"I'm gonna do this for you, Spitfire." She whispered quietly.

"On your marks."

Rainbow put her goggles on, flexing her wings in anticipation.

"Get set."

The stage was set, it was time for Rainbow Dash to shine, all she needed was a good start, then the 400 metres were hers to lose.

"GO!"

Rainbow exploded out of the blocks, she went on the G of Go, catching the other Wonderbolts unawares. Rainbow had already covered 10 metres before the others had even started. As long as Rainbow stayed at her current pace, she would beat three of the competitors, but Fleetfoot worried her. The white-haired Pegasi had always challenged Spitfire in the previous Derbies, and they would regularly alternate between first and second place, neither cementing their place as champion. If Rainbow could hold off Fleetfoot, she would probably win.

The competitors quickly destroyed the first 100 metres. The crowd wildly cheered them on, feeling the wind from the Wonderbolts brush against their faces. It was a spectacular sight, five grey cloud trails flanked by a beautiful rainbow trail.

Blaze and Firestreak had started to fall away, still quicker than all other Pegasi's in Equestria, but not quick enough to keep up with the other competitors. Misty Fly, the original outsider, flipped into a spin-out. Unlike Soarin, she recovered from it, but she lost too much time, leaving her at the back of the pack. Rapidfire, Fleetfoot and Rainbow Dash had started to pull away, one of those three would win.

Rainbow Dash accelerated again, feeling the wind flow through her mane. She didn't have to look across to see the other competitors, the bright hair of Rapidfire and Fleetfoot was enough to tell her where they where. The bright white and orange manes were vivid enough for her to see. But Rainbow couldn't concentrate on them, only on the race.

As the three remaining competitors rounded the penultimate corner, the finishing post came into view. Rainbow saw the flash of white hair accelerate a yard in front of her and Rapidfire. Fleetfoot was making a move. Only 100 metres remained, Rainbow had to make her move soon, go too early and they'd beat her, go too late and she wouldn't get to the line quickly enough.

Rapidfire made a move forwards, leaving Rainbow Dash at the back. Rainbow felt disappointed in herself.
She had no gas left in the tank.
She had let Soarin down.
She had let Spitfire down.
Her chest started to feel heavy, weighed down by failure and grief.
But then she heard a familiar voice,

"Don't think that you're doing this for me, do it for yourself."

Rainbow put on a stern expression, gritting her teeth. She had to do this for herself.

"Nopony beats Rainbow Dash." She muttered.

Rainbow bursted forwards, leaving the other two Wonderbolts behind her in a rainbow trail. Nopony was catching Rainbow, not even Spitfire herself would have kept up with her that day. Rainbow stormed around the last corner into the final straight. The crowd knew she'd won, they were cheering wildly, chanting her name as she crossed the finish line. Cries of 'Rainbow Dash!' echoed around the arena as she swept through the tape on the line, Fleetfoot coming in second and Rapidfire a close third.

Rainbow couldn't believe it, she'd done it, the rank outsider who wasn't even in the Wonderbolts had gone out and won the Derby! She staggered onto a cloud, her breath leaving her, she simply couldn't comprehend it. The crowd continued to cheer her name, she looked around the Aerodome, dumbstruck. The Golden Wings medallion was hers, she had won the Wonderbolt Derby!

While Rainbow collected her thoughts, still absorbing the situation, a steward came over, directing her to the Royal Box. Rainbow followed the steward up to the Box. The Princesses and Shining Armour congratulated her, but Twilight couldn't help herself, she threw herself at Rainbow, tightly embracing her.

"I knew it! I knew you could do it!" The young alicorn squeaked.

Rainbow still couldn't talk, she had been rendered speechless. The situation was getting to her, she felt a tear roll down her cheek, temporarily reunited with a friend.

The announcer's voice roared around the arena again,

"Presenting the champion of the 79th Annual Wonderbolts Derby, Rainbow Dash!"

Twilight released her friend,

"Go on, that's your cue!" She encouraged the victorious Pegasi.

Rainbow Dash trotted up the steps to the podium, the crowd erupted as she emerged to face them. Rainbow stood on the top podium position, Fleetfoot and Rapidfire had already taken their places on the second and third placed pedestals. As Rainbow Dash stood on the podium, the other two Wonderbolts patted her back in encouragement,

"Well done." Fleetfoot said.

"Yeah, you deserved it." Rapidfire seconded.

Soarin walked out onto the stage, his wing supported by a splint. All his pains had diminished, he was just happy for Rainbow Dash. He held a medallion, the Golden Wings medallion, awarded to the winner of the Wonderbolt Derby.

The announcer spoke again,

"Please welcome, Captain Shining Armour and the Princesses of Equestria."

The Royal fanfare rang out as the royalty of Equestria emerged onto the podium position. Firstly, they congratulated Rapidfire and Fleetfoot on their second and third-placed finishes. The royals moved on to Rainbow Dash, the champion.

Captain Shining Armour came first, simply nodding his approval,

"Not bad for a newbie." He congratulated her, winking sarcastically.

Princesses Celestia, Luna and Cadence followed, all embracing Rainbow Dash. Rainbow had never felt happier in her life. She was being hugged, by the Princesses! The dark times of the past few months were wiped out instantly by the ecstasy of her success.

Finally, Twilight trotted towards the podium. Soarin presented the medallion to her, she gave her thanks and took it. She reached out to her friend and hugged her, talking into her ear,

"I hope you can think of a speech as quickly as you flew today."

Rainbow simply laughed, she had a decent idea of what to say to the crowd.

"Thanks, Twi." Rainbow replied.

Twilight released Rainbow from their embrace, smiling,

"Hey! It's Princess Twi to you!" She joked.

The two friends laughed, just like old times.

Twilight used her magic to levitate a microphone in front of her. Speaking to the crowd, she said,

"Ponies! Today, we saw that anything is possible! If you put time and effort into something, you will always succeed! Even the most seemingly inept ponies can brush shoulders with the best and come out on top! Any ordinary weather pony can win the Golden Wings medallion! And that pony is your champion, Rainbow Dash!"

Twilight placed the medallion around Rainbow's neck as the crowd chanted her name.

"Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!"

This was everything Rainbow had dreamed of, the success, the power, the attention. Everything was exactly as she had imagined it.

"Do you have anything to say, Rainbow?" Twilight asked.

The crowd answered the question for her, a loud 'yes!' echoed around the Aerodome. Rainbow would have to think of something good.

Twilight hovered the microphone in front of her. This was more nerve-racking than the actual race itslef to Rainbow Dash. She had always been good at talking brashly and loudly, but these ponies actually wanted to hear what she had to say. She couldn't just brag to them.

"I know...I know that every competitor here wanted to succeed, and everypony who competed here today would have deserved to win the Derby. We all wanted to do this for Spitfire, it's just that natural feeling of trying to do somepony you love proud."

Tears had started to stream down Rainbow's face, and the other Wonderbolts removed their goggles at the mention of their Captain, Spitfire. They had all flown for her today.

Rainbow continued,

"Of course, we all miss Spitfire, and I'm sure she's missing us right now as she looks down upon us from the clouds of heaven. But she made me win today. This'll sound weird, but bear with me. On the night that she...left us, I had a dream. Spitfire was there, and she told me not to do her proud, but to do myself proud.

As I went into the final corner today, I heard her again in my head, saying that exact same sentence. If she was still with us, that is what she would have told me as well. I don't know if the dream was her spirit or my memories of her talking to me, but I felt Spitfire out there with me today. She gave me the belief to go out there and win today, and I'd like to commemorate this victory in her name. Thank you, Spitfire."

The crowd cheered loudly, shaking the arena, many cried in memory of the late Captain, but all cheered Rainbow Dash and her modesty in victory. Rainbow held a hoof out towards the crowd for one last time and disappeared into the stands.

Rainbow trotted down the bottom step and was shocked to see the five Wonderbolts and Soarin stood at the bottom of the steps. Rainbow just looked shocked at them, unsure of what to think or say, but Soarin broke the silence.

"Welcome to the Wonderbolts."

Rainbow Dash in the Wonderbolts

Rainbow Dash trotted home in her Wonderbolt uniform. She was finally happy. After losing her friends and then losing Spitfire in the past few months, she finally had something to smile about. Spitfire was right, she was a Wonderbolt. Rainbow finally had the thing she had wanted since the day she had learned to fly.

Despite it being mid-afternoon, Rainbow Dash didn't see any other ponies as she trotted through Ponyville.

"Where is everypony?" Rainbow asked as she approached her house.

Rainbow flew up to her cloud home, quite annoyed because she couldn't talk to anypony. As she went to open her front door, she saw a note on the door,

"Sugarcube Corner"

Rainbow looked at the note with a furrowed brow, who wanted to talk to her? And why at Sugarcube corner? She took the note off the door and threw it into a bin as she flew on her way to Sugarcube corner.

Rainbow stood in front of the door, she could hear quiet muttering from inside, but no more. Rainbow knocked on the door and trotted straight in.

"SURPRISE!"

Rainbow just stood there, her eyes bulging. At least 200 ponies were in there, she saw Big Mac, Bon Bon, Lyra, then suddenly a pink blur tackled her to the ground.

"Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash! It's me, Pinkie!" The hyperactive pony squealed.

"Pinkie! Oh my gosh, it is you!" Rainbow said, still slightly winded by the well-meant tackle.

The two ponies stood up and embraced each other, as Rainbow hugged her crazy friend, she looked over her shoulder.
Her friends were all stood there, waiting for her. She couldn't have felt any better, she could have happily died at that point. She was finally reunited with her friends. She knew that they had only come for this party and would soon go back to where they came, but being with them for just one day was enough for Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, you guys!" She yelled.
Rainbow released Pinkie and they both ran to Twilight, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy.
The six friends all grabbed each other into a tight group hug, it was the first time they had been together for weeks, maybe even months.

"Oh, I've missed you guys." Rainbow admitted.

"Us too, sugarcube." Applejack replied.

Their friends all mumbled in agreement, they had been apart for too long. The six best friends in Equestria didn't deserve to have been kept apart for such a huge length of time. The music kicked in as they hugged,

"Come on, everypony, let's party!" Pinkie yelled, jumping out of the hug and dancing.

The five friends in the hug all released each other and started to party with the other ponies at Sugarcube Corner. The danced and sang long into the night. Rainbow's best friends promised that they would be back soon, they would all be together in a few weeks.

Rainbow Dash woke up the next morning, still happy with her life. She knew that she wouldn't see her friends for a while, but at least she had met them. It was her first offical day in the Wonderbolts, and it was the day before the new Academy inductees arrived, so it would be a busy day.

Rainbow arrived at the Wonderbolt training ground at 11AM. She only had to arrive at noon, but she wanted to leave an impression of her professionalism on the other Wonderbolts. No other Pegasi were in the the base apart from Soarin and Manerick, one of the training instructors. Soarin had taken over the Wonderbolts, he'd been promoted to Captain after Spitfire had died, and he seemed to know what he was doing.

Rainbow walked past the Dizzitron machine. She remembered how she had trained on it five years ago, when she and Lightning Dust had strutted their stuff. Lightning Dust's ego was too big, and Rainbow couldn't take it, she'd left before she was inducted. But now, five years on, she was an official Wonderbolt. Tomorrow, new inductees would participate in the training she had all that time ago, and Rainbow would help to judge a squadron of Academy mambers.

As she walked past the Dizzitron, the Pegasi who was maintaining it, Manerick, yelled after her.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash! Nice job in the Derby, I knew you had it in you!"

Rainbow turned to face him, thanking him for his compliment.

"Thanks, it's been too long since I've been around here."

"Yeah, that's true." He replied honestly.

The arm of the Dizzitron started to rotate on its own.

"Goddammit, damn machine can't stay fixed. I gotta fix this up, I'll see you around." Manerick said, frustrated in the machine.

"Okay, I'll see you around." Rainbow replied, walking off to the Captain's office.

Rainbow knocked on Soarin's door, waiting for a response.

"Enter." A voice came from inside.

"Ah! Rainbow Dash, good to see you, nice and early as well!" Soarin rejoiced.

"Good morning, Sir." Rainbow replied, recognising her superior.

"Rainbow, you can cut the 'Sir' crap, I'm not the Wonderbolt Captain, I'm just the placeholder. When I see a Wonderbolt who I feel is ready to take the step up, I'll promote them to Captain. I prefer just being in the formation, I don't want any authority." Soarin admitted.

"Yes...Sir." Rainbow giggled.

Soarin chuckled with her,
"You know your way around here, don't you?"

"Yeah, unless something's changed." She replied.

"Not much, nothing's massively different since the time you were here. Right, we've got an hour to burn until the inductees arrive, wanna go for a walk?" Soarin asked, his wing was still healing, so he was grounded.

"Sure, why not?" Rainbow replied.

"We may as well go through what's happening today." Soarin started.

"You'll be working with Fleetfoot and Blaze today at the synchronisation post. You won't have seen it before, so I'll show it to you."

Soarin led Rainbow Dash to a large hangar on the west edge of the runway, the hangar stored a small black camera-looking apparatus and a large projector with a screen.

"In here, we lead the inductees in two at a time, picked completely at random. We show them a maneuver on the screen, then the pair have to replicate it as best as they can. We pick them at random so that they aren't just with their friends, and they have to work with a complete stranger. You and Fleetfoot will judge one of the flyers each to judge their skill and potential, and Blaze will study how synchronised they are." Soarin described.

"We use this machine to measure how synchronised they are." Soarin said as he presented the black contraption.
"We line 'em up in the middle of the hangar, then the machine records their progress. Then we look back at the footage and it leaves an outline of where each pair traveled. The pair with the closest lines together get the most points."

"So, this thing draws out which line they take?" Rainbow asked, kind of sure about the machine.

"Exactly. The machinery's complicated, but you'll get used to it." Soarin responded.

The two Wonderbolts continued to walk around the base and then went to the mess hall to have some lunch. By the time they had finished eating, the inductees had started to arrive.

"I'll be at the Dizzitron if you need me, but Blaze and Fleetfoot know what they're doing, you can trust them." Soarin started as he walked towards his office.

"Of course." Rainbow obeyed, "I'll see you later."

"See you later." Soarin replied.

The day went past fairly quickly for Rainbow Dash. Inductees came and went, some showed promise, others weren't so good. But Rainbow felt good, she could tell how the younger Inductees were looking up to her. It reminded her of how she idolised the Wonderbolts when she was younger.

After the training session, when the inductees had gone home, the Wonderbolts sat in the mess hall, judging who should be wing and lead ponies.

"Genus Whirl recovered the quickest on the Dizzatron, he's got to be a lead pony." Misty Fly pointed out.

"Yeah, I agree. And I think that Nimbus was great on the synchronisation test. His partner wasn't that great, but he made her look good. Nimbus should definitely lead." Blaze suggested.

"Who else should lead?" Soarin asked.

"I'm thinking...Sky Belle and Airheart should be the other two leaders." Rapidfire replied.

"I can see where you're coming from, I don't really think there's much leader material this year." Soarin sadly admitted.

"That's true, hopefully we'll get some leaders in next months' trials, I don't think any inductees this month could make the step up." Fleetfoot pointed out.

"Yeah, we're gonna need some." Rainbow Dash muttered.

Soarin looked outside, the sun had started to go down.

"Right guys, we may as well pack up for the night, it's getting late. Get yourselves a good sleep."

The Wonderbolts all went away to their homes, getting the sleep they needed for the next week.

The next week was decent for Rainbow, a few times she felt a bit bored, but she knew that she needed to prove herself as a Wonderbolt. Being a Wonderbolt just wasn't about your flying ability, but how you can manage a group of inductees. Also, you needed to be disciplined, nopony wanted an arrogant Wonderbolt, you had to be modest to be part of the Wonderbolts.

Inductees came and went, only Nimbus was taken into the Wonderbolts due to his amazing ability to recover and how he could work perfectly synchronised with complete strangers. As Rainbow was trotting towards the mess hall, Soarin peeked his head out of the office and asked her to come in, Rainbow Dash followed him into his office.

"You wanted to see me, Soarin?" Rainbow asked.

"Yes...I had to tell you, it's time." Soarin replied.

"What do you mean, 'it's time'?" Rainbow asked again.

"When you arrived, I said that I'd look for the Wonderbolt that I thought should be Captain instead of me, and my search is over. I've done what I've needed to do as a placeholder, now it's time for you to be the leader of the Wonderbolts."

Rainbow couldn't believe what she was hearing. Soarin wanted her to be the leader of the Wonderbolts. Why her? She'd only been in the Wonderbolts for a few weeks.

"But...why me?" Rainbow asked.

"Because I believe that you deserve to lead us. You have everything needed to lead us, you're the quickest, you're professional, and you're modest in victory. I don't think that any other Wonderbolt has what it takes to be Captain."

"Are you sure? I've never done anything like this before, I'm not sure." Rainbow retaliated.

"Spitfire wanted you to lead."

That was enough for Rainbow, that was like Princess Celestia saying that she wanted her to be her understudy. Rainbow simply couldn't refuse an offer from Spitfire.

"Fine, if Spitfire wanted me to be Captain, I'll do it for her." Rainbow said after a moment of silence.

Soarin saluted her,
"Thank you, Captain Rainbow Dash."

Leaving a good impression

"On in one minute." Sapphire Shores yelled from backstage.

Rainbow Dash peered out from behind the curtain, thousands had appeared to watch her be announced as the Wonderbolts' Captain. Princess Celestia was giving her usual speech for whenever a new Captain was announced. Rainbow was getting nervous, she hadn't been this nervous many other times in her life.

"Rainbow, just stay confident, keep smiling, stick to your speech." Rarity suggested.

"It's hardly a speech." Rainbow admitted.

"Are you kidding? They're going to love you by the end of that speech. Just try and leave a good impression. Do what Spitfire would do, you're the Captain now, so just try and be like her." Rarity replied.

This was the first time Rainbow Dash had realised this. She had always looked up to Spitfire while she was the Wonderbolt Captain, and now she was the Captain. Did ponies idolise her as well?

"I just hope the dress works well." Rarity muttered.

"Don't worry, Rarity, it's excellent." Rainbow encouraged her friend.

Rarity had started to come into the public eye after her collaboration with Hoity Toity and Sapphire Shores. But if her dress ruined the Captain of the Wonderbolts' presentation, Rarity's reputation and career would be ruined.

"In five, four, three..." The voice rang out.

"Go on, get out there. Do me proud." Rarity yelled after her.

The lights dimmed.

The crowd cheered, but as the lights went out, they started to quieten down, waiting in anticipation.
Rainbow walked out onto the stage in the dark, nopony in the crowd could see her. But after a few seconds, Rarity's creation came into life.
Orange and bright blue beads on the dress sparked into life. The luminescent beads leaving small dots of illumination in the pitch black. Rainbow started to trot forward towards the centre of the stage at a slower pace. From the crowd, it seemed as if the dots were moving on their own, attached to the darkness.

Rainbow could hear the 'oohs' and 'aahs' from the crowd as she advanced. They liked the illuminations, but they hadn't seen her yet.

Princess Celestia announced to the crowd,
"Presenting, your new Captain of the Wonderbolts, Rainbow Dash!"

The beads on Rainbow's dress brightened to their highest illumination point as the lights came back on. The appearance of Rainbow was enough to send the crowd into raptures. Only a few weeks ago, Rainbow was nopony, but in the space of a few weeks she'd won the Derby and been promoted to Wonderbolt Captain. Suddenly she was the most popular and influential Pegasus in Equestria.

Rainbow walked towards the centre of the stage, where the microphone was resting on a console. The crowd wanted to hear from her. They needed to hear from her. They trusted and respected the normal Rainbow Dash, but how would a powerful Rainbow Dash act and behave?

"Thank you, thank you all." Rainbow said. She felt good, the crowd loved her and the dress, so Rarity's reputation was safe, maybe even improved.

The crowd fell silent as Rainbow started to address them.

"Wow. Just, wow. I can't believe this day has come, my wildest dreams had barely been this good. Only a few weeks ago, I was a nopony. Unfortunately, my friends had to leave me, and then we all lost Spitfire. I was at the bottom of the barrel, I honestly had nothing left to live for. But when Soarin put faith in me to compete at the Drby, my life changed. You all know the story, so I won't tell what happened next. But I think that we can all learn from this story.

Soarin put faith in me, an unknown weather pony ruined by depression, and now I stand here before you all as Captain of the Wonderbolts. This just shows that everypony has potential, and anypony can become successful. I'd just like to tell people to put faith in those they have never met before. Never judge a book by it's cover. Everypony deserves a good chance at life.

This is why I'll be personally overseeing Wonderbolt trials for every Pegasus in Equestria every week. I want every Pegasus in our great land to have the chance to become a Wonderbolt. Of course, many will be disappointed, but at least they had the chance. Too many ponies who had promise weren't given a fair chance. So I invite every Pegasus to come along for these trials, every Saturday and Sunday at the Wonderbolt base. You all deserve the chance at success I was given.

Moving on, I'd like to say thanks to many ponies today.
Firstly, I'd like to thank our Princesses." Rainbow announced.

The crowd cheered at the mention of their royalty.

"Our Excellencies have put their faith in me and allowed me to be the Captain of their Wonderbolts. I hope I do well for you all, I'll always do my best for our Princesses."

The crowd whooped, everypony loved a loyal celebrity who loved their royalty.

"Secondly, I'd like to thank Spitfire and the other Wonderbolts. They have all instilled confidence in me and wanted me to be my best. Since the day I met them, they have been kind to me and wanted me to do well. Thank you."

The crowd continued to cheer, hanging on Rainbow's every word.

"Thirdly, I'd like to thank my five closest friends. We've been separated for a long time, and it's felt awful not being with them. Only two of them could be here today. Firstly, Princess Twilight Sparkle needs no introduction." Rainbow pointed a hoof towards the timid Princess towards the back of the stage.

"Even though Twilight became a Princess, she never put herself above me or any other pony. She taught me to be modest and to trust in everypony else. Thank you, Twilight."

The crowd cheered, seeing Twilight as a more respectable pony and not like an arrogant character.

"And my second friend who is here today is my close friend who designed and made my beautiful dress you all enjoyed so much. Rarity, would you come out here." Rainbow ushered Rarity over, who was watching from the side of the stage.

The crowd cheered when Rarity appeared, she felt amazing. This was everything she wanted it to be, she was finally in the public eye, finally in the centre of attention.
Rainbow Dash pulled her blushing friend in close, resting a hoof on her shoulder.

"This pony here has taught me a great lesson in life, she taught me to always help those. They don't even have to need your help, but if you are generous and helpful to everypony, you'll always leave a good impression. Also, she's collaborating with Hoity Toity and Sapphire Shores in a fashion show, so wanna see this fashion designer becoming word-famous."

The crowd continued to cheer, clearly impressed by Rarity and her fashion skills.

"My other friends aren't here, but I'll quickly run through what they taught me.
Applejack taught me to be honest, it doesn't matter if a lie will be easier to take, you should always tell the truth to everypony.
Fluttershy taught me to be kind to all, as long as you are kind to everypony you talk to, they will be kind back to you.
And finally, Pinkie Pie told me to get out there and have some fun! Keep smiling!
If you stick to those five lessons on life, and remain loyal to your friends and fellow ponies, you will always go far in life."

The crowd continued to cheer Rainbow Dash, happy to see that they had yet another modest and popular Captain to lead the Wonderbolts.

"And finally, this time it really is finally. I'd like to thank all of you. The crowd here tonight, those sitting at home, all of you. You've all put your faith in me to lead the Wonderbolts. I'll do my best, for all of you. Thank you."

Rainbow Dash saluted the crowd and stepped away from the microphone, Princess Celestia stepped up to Rainbow Dash, she shot a sly wink at her,

"Well done." The Princess whispered.

Princess Celestia then addressed the crowd in a loud, bellowing voice,

"I hereby promote Rainbow Dash to the rank of Captain of the Wonderbolts!"

Huge cheers went up around the stadium, it wasn't often that a new Captain came around, especially one as professional as Rainbow Dash. The ponies of Equestria had been heartbroken when they found out that Spitfire had died, but now they had a new Captain that was equally as good as Spitfire. Rainbow started to tear up, the occasion getting to her, many ponies in the crowd cried as well, it was a great moment for the Wonderbolts. A great moment for all of Equestria.

Rainbow continued her amazing reign as Captain, she stayed true to her word. She oversaw two trial sessions every week for the next month. With many inductees who wouldn't have had a chance being taken into the Academy, Rainbow kept her promise and stayed loyal to the public. Her friends all came back, she couldn't see them as much as she used to be, being Captain of the Wonderbolts, but she spent most of he free time with them, catching up with them, making up for lost time.

Everything was going great for Rainbow Dash, not only did she have her friends back, but she was the most popular Pegasi in Equestria, and she was succeeding in her dream job. Everything was going fine until she entered her second month as Captain. That one day when she met someone she thought she'd never see again.

Rainbow Dash was trotting around the base while the trials were underway when a familiar voice caught her ear.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash, over here!" Yelled the voice.

Rainbow turned to see a pony she thought had moved out of her life. She'd heard that this pony had moved to Saddle Arabia years ago, but here she was, stood in front of her very eyes. This Pegasi had grown a lot since then, she was no longer another little filly, but she was in her teens now, almost the same height as Rainbow Dash.

"Did you miss me? Did you, did you?" The orange coated Pegasi asked.

Rainbow Dash looked like she'd seen a ghost. She finally broke the silence, whispering her name,

"Scootaloo?"

Seeing old friends isn't always great

"Yeah, it's me! I didn't think you'd recognise me! I missed you so much!" Scootaloo squealed as she ran to Rainbow Dash, hugging her in front of all the trialists and Wonderbolts.

Rainbow whispered into Scootaloo's ear,

"Scoot, I know you've missed me, and I've missed you, but you can't just hug me in front of everypony."

Scootaloo released her, looking slightly disheartened. Why wouldn't Rainbow hug her back?

"I'm sorry, Scoot. But if the trialists see you hugging me, and they don't know that you know me, they'll all expect a hug. It's not that I'm not friends with you, but I don't want a million ponies hugging me, I won't be able to work." Rainbow pointed out.

"Oh, right. I get it, you can't have too many friends." Scootaloo replied, winking at Rainbow Dash as she got back in line with the rest of the inductees.

Rainbow faced the Pegasi's who had arrived for the trials. Hopefully, many of them wouldn't feel the need to come and hug them as well. Of course, she wanted the trialists to see her as a friend, but they had to know where they stood with her, she was still the Captain, and they had to know that she was superior.

"Thanks for coming down, all of you, I really appreciate it. Because you've got used to the drills and equipment, it'll be Judgement Day tomorrow. I'm sorry to those who will be disappointed, but I wish you all the best of luck. We'll put you in different groups so that you are working with a different set of Pegasi. Same time as today. See you all tomorrow."

The trialsts all trotted away then flew back to their homes, leaving the Wonderbolts stood on the runway. They all slowly trotted away to the mess hall, ready for food and a rest after a long day. All except Rainbow ash. She hadn't expected Scootaloo to turn up, She was happy to see her old friend again, but she knew her, that was the issue.

Rainbow wasn't sure what she should do, what if Scootaloo wasn't good enough? Could she look her friend in the eyes and tell her that she wasn't good enough for the Wonderbolts? Rainbow hoped that she would be, so she wouldn't have to go through the pain and torment. But if she did pass her, would her decision have been biased? She couldn't make that decision, she didn't feel right. She needed somepony else to grade Scootaloo.

Rainbow Dash trotted back to her office, removing her flying uniform and sitting in her chair behind her desk. She closed the curtains, shutting out the evening sun. She turned on the small lamp on her desk, pondering what to do. This was probably her toughest decision as a Wonderbolt, she always took her job seriously when promoting trialists and other Wonderbolts, but when promoting an old friend, it was a bit different.

Rainbow spent the next half hour racking her brain. What could she do? What should she do? She could watch Scootaloo as if she didn't know her and as if she was any other inductee, but would she still be biased? Then it hit her. She needed an assistant. Rainbow hadn't asked to have a second-in-command when she became Captain. Spitfire had always had Soarin, and he helped her all the time in tough situations.

Rainbow took the quick trip to the archives below the base. It stored all personal information of every Wonderbolt, past and present. Rainbow trotted past the older, original filing cabinets, holding the records of the first Wonderbolts. Rainbow continued to trot down the shoddily-lighten hallway, the lighter and of the hallway coming closer. Rainbow reached the end of the corridor, where the latest records were held. She took the newest records and went back to her office.

Rainbow sat down at the desk again, piling the record files on the table. She took out a pen and paper, ready to note down what she was looking for. She started to sift through the personal records, trying to select who should be her second-in-command.

Fleetfoot came up first, a small profile picture of her held to the file by a paperclip. It showed her height, weight, wingspan. But nothing conclusive. It showed a few medical records, mentioning past injuries and allergies. Rainbow started to grow disheartened as her eyes studied further down the page, nothing conclusive about how these Pegasi acted were listed on the page. Rainbow had only been with these ponies for a few weeks, and even though she was friends with them, she hadn't really seen much leader material in them. She was hoping that some information on them would be lying in these pages.

Rainbow continued to flick through Fleetfoot's file, nothing eye-catching appeared. Until Rainbow reached the back page. She flicked past the penultimate page, when she noticed a different type of paper stuck to the back of the file. All but one page of the file had been in thicker, yellow-shaded card, but this last page was white and lined, with hand-written information on it. Rainbow leaned forward, slightly excited by it, she read it aloud quietly.

"Wonderbolt #178, Fleetfoot.
Very swift flyer, small turning circle, excellent maneuverability.
Calm under pressure, but no leading experience.
Report by Captain Spitfire."

So Spitfire had written these reports? Rainbow thought to herself. Even though she'd died, Spitfire was still helping her long into Rainbow's Wonderbolt career. But this proved that Fleetfoot couldn't be her wing pony. She decided to couple her preferences with Spitfire's reports to pick her best wing pony.

Rainbow continued to flick through the five remaining reports. Spitfire had mentioned that Rapidfire, Blaze and Misty Fly probably wouldn't be fit for positions in authority, so Rainbow crossed them off of her list. Only Soarin and Firestreak remained. Rainbow Dash knew that Soarin was good as a wing pony, but she remembered about what he had said about him not wanting to have any authority, so she crossed him off of her list.

Only Firestreak remained. This couldn't have come out any worse for Rainbow Dash. She didn't have anything against Firestreak, but she felt that he didn't like her. Every time she said hello to him, he only muttered back, he always seemed to have an angry expression on his face. In the training sessions, he seemed relaxed until she appeared, then he'd become serious and try even harder. Rainbow opened his file to see what Spitfire had recommended.

"Wonderbolt #181, Firestreak
Not so agile, extremely fast when encouraged.
Occasional temper flares.
Unsuitable for leadership.
Report by Captain Spitfire."

Rainbow laid her head on the desk, groaning loudly. She'd never find a Wing Pony. None of the Wonderbolts were suitable or wanted to be leader. Rainbow needed a Wing Pony to grade Scootaloo.

"I'll never get through this." Rainbow mumbled.

Rainbow started to feel tired, but she couldn't go home now, she needed to find a Wing Pony.
She continued to look through files and address books. She started to look through the training staff's files and files of retired Wonderbolts. She spent most of the night calling the Wonderbolt veterans, but they were either asleep or didn't want to come back.

She spent so long in the office, she eventually fell asleep. She slumped onto the desk, still sat in her chair. As she slept, she dreamed about how things had been before Twilight became a Princess and when the six friends had to split up.

Rainbow woke up as the clock hit 3AM, the sun still nowhere in sight. She had dreamed an idea, she knew who would be her second in command. She first rang the Junior Speedsters office, asking for the number of an old friend. Luckily, there was a security officer near the phone on a night shift, so he helped her out. Rainbow Dash called the number she'd been given.

The phone rang.
It rang again.
And again.
It rang seven times.

"She's not gonna pick up." Rainbow muttered sadly.

She started to hang up.

"Hello?" Came the faint voice from the other end of the call. "Hello?"

Rainbow replied quickly,
"Hello?"

The voice on the other end was shocked,
"Dash? Why are you calling me at 3AM?"

"I'm sorry. Look, I need your help. We've got an inductee here, and I can't judge her fairly. I need a second-in-command to help."

"Oh yeah, that's right." The voice chuckled. "Rainbow Dash, the Captain of the Wonderbolts. And now she needs help. Is this why you called me?" The voice asked.

"Yeah, I can't do it without you. We've gone separate ways recently after we fell out, but I could always trust you." Rainbow replied.

"Okay, I'll think about it." The voice stated.

"No, the trials are tomorrow, at noon. I need to know if you're in or not." Rainbow pleaded.

The voice sounded like she was getting sadder,
"If I do this for you, can we be friends again?"

Rainbow sighed. She knew they had to have time apart after what had happened, but she missed her friend.
"Yes, if you do this, I'll forgive you."

The voice laughed happily on the other end of the phone,
"Great! Then I'll see you at noon!"

Rainbow smiled, happy that she had her Wing Pony. No, her Wing Griffon.
"Thanks, Gilda."

The Trials

The Wonderbolts held a meeting that morning, before the trialists arrived. They all sat around a large table in the mess hall. Rainbow sat at the head of the table, telling the others what to do when the drills began.

"Soarin and Rapidfire, I want you two with Group One. Blaze and Firestreak, you'll both be with Group Two. Finally, Misty Fly and I will be with Group Three. There's gonna be thirty trialists tomorrow, and we're splitting them into three groups of ten.
When the tests are done, take your group to the mess hall. Then bring me their scores. When I've decided who is passing and who isn't, I'll call them in one-by-one, I want you guys to stay in the hall with them while they wait. Sound good?"

The Wonderbolts nodded and muttered their approval,
"It's gonna be a long day today, so go and relax for a bit."

The Wonderbolts stood up and went back to the barracks to lay down and get some vital sleep before an important afternoon. After they had all gone, Rainbow went back to her office, Gilda was sat in her chair waiting.

"Right, G. Later, we're all staying with certain drills. But you're not. I want you to grade just one of them."
Rainbow reached for a picture of Scootaloo from a file, she showed Gilda her picture.
"She's called Scootaloo, and she's my friend. I want you to stay with her group of ten for the entire duration of the drills. Don't focus on any other Pegasi, just her. If any of them ask why you're always with them, say that every group does, they won't know any different." Rainbow told her friend.

"Got it." Gilda replied, "Just the orange one."

Rainbow looked sparingly between the parted curtain,
"I just hope that she does well."

Rainbow paced up and down her office. Gilda was sat in her chair by the desk, looking slightly more relaxed, but still quite anxious. Rainbow Dash knew that Gilda was here to help, and she would value her opinion, but Rainbow would still check on Scootaloo as the day wore on. Gilda stood up, prowling around the office as Rainbow went to sit down.

"Don't worry about it, Dash. I got your back today." Gilda promised her friend.

"Thanks, G." Rainbow replied.
"I'm just worried for her though. Yeah, you're grading her, but I've gotta tell her if she isn't good enough if she isn't up to the grade."

Gilda walked to her friend, placing a claw on her shoulder to comfort her,
"Dash. It's gonna be fine."

Rainbow looked up at her friend. She'd missed her griffon friend and how they really bonded when they were younger.
"Don't pass her just for me, though. Promise me that you'll grade her properly."

Gilda looked assured,
"Dash, I'm not gonna lie to you."

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Rainbow replied.

Rainbow Dash looked out of the window. The large clock on the barracks had just hit noon. The trialists awaiting Rainbow Dash grew excited, knowing she would arrive any time soon. Rainbow saw Scootaloo waiting. She wasn't talking to any other trialists, she was solely concentrated on the task ahead. Rainbow dash trotted back to her desk and rooted through a draw.

A pair of purple-tinted aviator sunglasses lay folded in the draw. They had been Spitfire's, and Rainbow would wear them for her. Rainbow would be the 'Drill Sergeant' today, the role that Spitfire fitted perfectly. Rainbow placed the shades over her eyes, looking seriously at herself in the mirror. Happy with her appearance, she turned to Gilda. They both simply nodded at each other, ready to do their job. Gilda opened the door for Rainbow, and she trotted out across the runway to the trialists.

The trialists started to cheer and stomp their hooves in applause as Rainbow Dash trotted towards them. Rainbow's eyes were hidden behind her sunglasses, but her eyes were focused on Scootaloo, studying her every movement and emotion.
Scootaloo didn't move, she didn't applaud her or cheer, she just stared her straight back, meeting her steely gaze.

Rainbow reached the trialists, with Gilda prowling behind her. Rainbow stood five metres from the trialists, thirty had turned out for the tests today. The crowd continued to cheer her until Rainbow retaliated harshly,

"What are you cheering about?!"

The crowd fell silent, shocked by Rainbow Dash's different mood, she wasn't normally angry like this.
"Brilliant" Rainbow thought to herself. Of course, she wanted ponies to like her, but she wanted Scootaloo to pass, and if Scootaloo was too relaxed, she might not pass the test.

"None of you have anything to cheer about! None of you have done anything yet!" Rainbow continued to yell.

Gilda and the other Wonderbolts were looking at Rainbow Dash from behind the worried trialists. They all had small grins on their faces, they realised what Rainbow was trying to do. If the trialists weren't in the right frame of mind, they wouldn't pass.

"When you've passed today. If you pass today, then you may cheer! Until then, I don't wanna hear a peep out of any of you!"

Some of the trialists were shaking in fear at the furious Rainbow Dash. But Scootaloo realised the charade she was trying to pull, the orange Pegasi was completely unfazed by her friends' attitude.

Rainbow pointed at a gap between two Pegasi, they both froze, hoping that she wasn't pointing at them. Rainbow then swiped her hoof to the left.

"You ten to the left are going with Soarin, Rapidfire and Gilda." The three made themselves noticed to Group One. Rainbow made sure that Scootaloo was in that group so that the griffon could grade her more closely.

Rainbow then pointed at another gap and swung to the right,
"You're Group Two, you're with Blaze and Firestreak. And any of you left, that should be ten of you, are with Misty Fly and Me in Group Three."

Rainbow noticed some of the Pegasi in the ten of her group stiffen a little in fear. Rainbow couldn't hide a little grin, they were really scared of her.

"Your Group Leaders will stay with you for the duration of the day. Don't leave your group leaders at any moment unless you are allowed to. If you try to dare and leave your group, it'll be the last thing you do before I crush you like a bug." Rainbow muttered menacingly.

"At the end of the day, you'll go to the mess hall and stay there until I call you into my office. Then you'll know whether you've passed or not. Come with me." Rainbow ordered as she walked towards the Dizzatron, she was showing the trialists the drills they'd have to do. Some of the trialists had done them yesterday, but twenty of them were here for the first time.

"This, is the Dizzatron. We put you in it one at a time. It's gonna make you dizzy. Very dizzy. You get a higher grade depending on how quick you can recover from the spin-out and land safely."

Rainbow heard a small scoff from the crowd of trialists.

"WHO WAS THAT?!" Rainbow yelled, her voice echoing around the base.

The silence was deafening. Nopony said anything at first, but then they started to disperse, leaving one yellow Pegasi standing alone, her head held low. Rainbow could see the trialist shaking harshly, she wouldn't have been surprised if her knees gave way and she collapsed.

"Was it you?" Rainbow asked quietly. Her low tone was almost as severe as her shout a few seconds earlier.

The yellow trialist slowly raised her head,
"Y-Y-Yes."

"So you think that this is a laughing matter? Would you care to give us a demonstration? Or do you not want us all to see how bad you are?" Rainbow asked.

"N-No, please." Mumbled the recruit.

"YOU ADDRESS A SUPERIOR OFFICER PROPERLY! You have three choices." Rainbow started to hit one hoof into another to emphasize her following points.

"You call me; Captain, Ma'am or Your Excellency. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!" Rainbow screamed into the recruits face.

The yellow Pegasi couldn't have shrunk any smaller. She was literally lying on the ground before Rainbow Dash.
"Yes, Ma'am." She muttered, almost silently.

Rainbow turned and marched away, muttering angrily,
"Good."

Gilda let Rainbow trot past her, shooting her a sly wink. Rainbow returned it, happy to have released a bit of inner rage.

Rainbow Dash continued the tour around the base.

"You've all seen the runway, you'll be having timed speed runs over one-hundred metres. Again the slower your time, the higher your grade."

Nopony laughed this time, Rainbow didn't think that any would speak out again after that last drill.

"And finally, this is the synchronisation hangar." Rainbow said as she waved a hoof towards it, specifically at the apparatus.

"This machine measures how in sync you are with your partner. You won't know your partner until you start the drill, so you'll have to adapt to each others' flying styles. The machine draws two lines, and the closer your line is to your partners, the higher grade you get."

After Rainbow had finished the tour, she brought the trialists back to the barracks.

"Split into your groups now and go with your Group Leaders. To all of you, good luck."

The thirty trialists split into their groups of ten and went to their pre-determined drills.
Rainbow looked over to Gilda. She was already on Scootaloo's tail, studying her every move.
Rainbow Dash then went with her group to the snychronisation hangar.

Luckily for that yellow Pegasi, she wasn't in Rainbow Dash's group. Rainbow didn't have anything against her, but she just wanted to let the others know who was in charge. And she had definitely succeeded in that.

The drills and the day swept by for Rainbow Dash. Luckily for her, she could stand there and look imposing, when she was actually very far away in her mind, thinking only of Scootaloo. Also, fortunately for Rainbow Dash, Misty Fly was thoroughly at work, and she could manage on her own.

Rainbow felt that she'd only been thinking about Scootaloo for a minute or so, but when she came back to her senses, her group was on their last drill already.

"It's a good job I've got these guys to help me. I've been a zombie for the last hour." Rainbow thought to herself.

The last trialist in Rainbow's group finished their last drill. Everypony had finished what they were doing, Rainbow led her group back to the mess hall. After they had all assembled there, Rainbow went back to her office.

Blaze entered first. He came with a file containing the grades and recommended outcome of each trialist. One-by-one the trialists came in. Some were accepted into the Academy, but most were rejected. Rainbow was genuinely sad about this, she couldn't comprehend what it would have felt like to be told that you weren't good enough. She tried to comfort everypony that was rejected, but nothing she could say could mend their broken hearts.

Misty Fly came next, she knew that Rainbow hadn't fully been there today, so she left her the file to Group 3. Again, small numbers of success and large numbers of heart breaks ensued.

Finally, Soarin arrived with the file to Group One, Scootaloo's group.

As Soarin was walking out of the office, Rainbow yelled after him,
"Keep Scootaloo till the end, you know, the orange one."

"I know." Soarin mumbled as he walked out.

Soarin didn't seem to happy. Had Scootaloo been bad on the drills, or was he just tired? Hopefully the latter.

Rainbow quickly went through the nine trialists in Group One, she was working on autopilot, just reading what was written in the file. After she had gone through the nine, she heard a knock on the door.

"Enter." Rainbow muttered, not knowing who it was.

Gilda walked in, ready to give her report on Scootaloo.

"Come on, Gilda. Take a seat." Rainbow told her friend.

"Tell me what you saw."

Judgement Day

Rainbow leaned forward in her chair. This was the one report that she wanted to hear. She just hoped that it would be a good report, she didn't want to have to tell Scootaloo that she wasn't good enough.
Gilda had a neutral expression on her face.
Rainbow Dash broke the silence,

"So how did she do on the Dizzatron?"

Gilda opened a small notebook she'd kept on Scootaloo,

"Erm, where is it? Oh yes, seven seconds to land."

Rainbow's ears pricked up, pleasantly surprised. Scootaloo had never been a good flyer, but seven seconds was much better than she had expected.

"Seven seconds? That's not bad." Rainbow replied.

"That isn't all." Gilda cut in.
"It was not a clean landing. She almost took out the rest of the group on the runway."

Rainbow sighed sadly. So the seven seconds meant nothing, if she had a poor landing, her time was obsolete.

"Fine. What about the speed run?" Rainbow asked. After her seven second 'landing', she expected a quick time.

"Over one hundred in her group, she was the fastest. Six seconds."

Rainbow smiled, she'd expected a quick one, but Scootaloo had blown the others out of the water.
"Any problems with it?"

Gilda shook her head,
"No, her start and stop were perfect as well. Flawless."

"Excellent. Right, what about the synchronisation?" Rainbow asked, desperately hoping for a good grade.
If Scootaloo had a good grade in this, Rainbow could definitely pass her. But if not, it would be an issue.

Gilda sighed sadly.
Oh no. She's done badly. Rainbow thought to herself.

Gilda inhaled deeply, ready to inform her friend.

"It wasn't great, to say the least. Obviously, she didn't know her partner, but hers was the worst display of the group. Her partner performed the maneuver perfectly, but she was awful at it, in all honesty. I know you don't want to hear this, but she got an F, she took out her partner." Gilda said, looking and sounding very depressed.

This was an issue for Rainbow, how could she make the decision? What should she do?
Gilda wished Rainbow Dash luck and got up to leave.
"Good luck, Dash."

"Wait! G, what would you do?" Rainbow asked desperately.

Gilda looked very puzzled. Rainbow could see her brain working, should she pass her to please her friend? Or should she fail her because she doesn't deserve it?

"I...I really don't know, Dash. I don't know. It depends on what you think, do you think she deserves it?" Gilda asked her friend.

Rainbow placed her hoofs together and leaned on them, in deep thought.

Gilda opened the door and started to walk out, but she turned in the door to talk to her friend. It hurt her to see Rainbow Dash in this way.

"I'm sorry, Dashie. I really am."

Rainbow Dash barely heard her friend, she was thinking too hard.
"It's okay, G. Send her in." She muttered.

Gilda walked outside and spotted Scootaloo. She made eye contact with her and nodded towards the door.
Scootaloo trotted past her, eagerly awaiting the verdict.
"Good luck, kid." Gilda mumbled as she went past her.

Scootaloo knocked on the door.

"Enter." Came her friend's voice from within.

Scootaloo opened the door and trotted in.

"Take a seat." Rainbow ordered. Still acting professionally despite her friends' presence.

Scootaloo sat on the chair facing Rainbow Dash. Rainbow still wore her sunglasses to hide her eyes from her friend. She didn't want to make eye contact with her if she could avoid it.

"Scootaloo, I've looked through your record and how you did today. I've took into account how much potential you have. You didn't have a great synchronisation test or a good drill on the Dizzatron. I know you did seven seconds, but it wasn't a clean landing. Despite that, you had an excellent speed run. Actually, you were the quickest in all three groups." Rainbow admitted.

Rainbow looked over her glasses at Scootaloo for a split-second, and they made brief eye contact. Rainbow's heart stopped for a moment, this decision was going to be much harder than she had thought it would have been.

"So like I said, I've took into account all of these things, and I've made my decision. I made it as the Wonderbolt Captain, not your friend." Rainbow admitted.

Rainbow actually hadn't made her decision, she was still considering all of her possible outcomes. She could pass her, but would she be doing it as her friend? She could avoid it as much as she wanted to, but would she have a bias towards Scootaloo? She wanted Scootaloo to succeed, but she couldn't pass her just because she wanted to please her friend.

But she'd had a bad trial today. She'd failed two of the three drills. She'd had an amazing speed run, the best trialist in that drill, but the two failures worried Rainbow Dash. Her failures overwhelmed her successes, so what should she decide? Rainbow Dash peered past Scootaloo to see Soarin and the rest of the Wonderbolts stood outside. Was Scootaloo up to their level? Would she ever be?

Should Rainbow Dash fail her friend? Or should she pass her?
It was time to decide.

She was unsure until one question made her make a snap decision,
Could she be a Wonderbolt?

She laid the file and notebook on the desk.

She took off her sunglasses.

Rainbow Dash looked up at Scootaloo. Scootaloo returned her gaze. Rainbow looked her straight in the eyes and groaned mournfully to her,

"I'm sorry, Scoot."

Epilogue

A year later

Rainbow Dash was taking a nap in a tree, away from the town and the general hubbub of the centre of Ponyville. Rainbow Dash was awoken by a snapping twig. She woke up and looked down from the branch she lay on. She spotted Fluttershy and Gilda stood at the bottom of the tree.

"Hey, I didn't know that you two were friends." Rainbow said, quite surprised.

"Yeah, Dash. We fell out, but we've made up now." Gilda pointed out.

Fluttershy put a hoof on Gilda's shoulder, proving their friendship.

"What do you guys want?" Rainbow asked, wondering why they woke her up.

"We were just wondering if you wanted to come to Sugarcube Corner with us, we're all meeting up...that is, if you wouldn't mind." Fluttershy coyly pointed out.

"Sure!" Rainbow exclaimed excitedly, flying down from her tree.

The three traveled to Sugarcube Corner, where Rainbow was shocked to find Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Twilight all sat around a table outside of the cafe.

"Hey, you guys!" Pinkie squeaked.

"Come on, the foods coming." Twilight pointed out.

The friends had got back together after their separation, their journeys came to an end and they had come back to live in Ponyville once again. Rainbow had given up with the Wonderbolts, she loved the job and what came with it. But the day after she rejected her friend for the Wonderbolts, she resigned. After seeing Scootaloo break down and start bawling in her office, she'd been heartbroken and couldn't deal with it anymore.

When Scootaloo started crying, Rainbow shed a tear too. She didn't want to fail her, but she had to. It didn't feel right to pass her. Before she left, she told Scootaloo to never give up, always keep trying. But she couldn't heal her friend's broken heart.

"Rainbow, are you crying?" Rarity asked.

Rainbow snapped back into her life from her dreams, and she realised that she had shed a tear in memory of her times in the Wonderbolts.

Everypony and Gilda were looking at her.
Rainbow quickly wiped her eyes, laughing nervously.
"Nah, just some...dust."

Rainbow was saved from further questions by the arrival of the food. Her friends knew her too well, they'd ordered her favourite hay sandwiches.

She didn't shed another tear, but she continued to think back to her time in the Wonderbolts. Scootaloo, when she started, when she became Captain, Spitfire.
Wow, Spitfire. It seemed like an entire lifetime ago when she learned of her friend's death. Rainbow was just happy that she had done Spitfire proud. Spitfire herself said that she was a Wonderbolt, and she had proven her right. She had achieved her main goal in life. She lived her dreams and moved on, now she could live like she used to , living normally.

Gilda had to leave as the clock hit three in the afternoon,
"I gotta be someplace else, you guys. It's been nice catching up with you all."

The six friends all said goodbye to her, promising to keep in touch. Rainbow was happy that she'd seen her friend. They had previously been inseparable, but after their fall-out, Rainbow thought that she'd never see her friend again, but they couldn't be kept apart for so long.
Rainbow went to hug her friend,
"I'm gonna miss you, G."

Gilda returned her friend's embrace,
"I'm gonna miss you too, Dash."

The griffon flew back to her home, sad to be leaving her friend, but happy as she had caught up with her again.

Rainbow Dash trotted back to her home from Sugarcube Corner, the sun had started to go down, and she felt that she needed a good sleep. Rainbow didn't know what to do now, she had no more pursuits for the future, but her friends were back. Was this truthfully the best time of her life? No job pressures, no dealing with breaking the hearts of those who love you.

Rainbow flew up to her house and was just about to open the door when she heard a whistle from behind her. She turned to see a Pegasi in a Wonderbolt uniform, its face covered. The Wonderbolt held a letter, it trotted over to Rainbow Dash and simply hugged her, then handed her the letter. The Wonderbolt then left without a word, quickly flying away. Rainbow called after it, but it didn't respond.

Rainbow trotted inside, she would've chased the Wonderbolt, but it was obvious that they didn't want to talk. Rainbow lay down on her bed and opened the envelope. Rainbow read the letter, at first, she wondered what it was. As she read further down the short statement, she started to cry tears of joy at the letter, the darkest moment of her life now brightened. Her wish had come true.

"You told me to never give up in the face of tears and pain,
you told me to never give up when times grew dark,
you gave me somepony to look up to,
I hope I've done you proud.
Thank you for everything,
Wing Pony Scootaloo"

A Darkened Rainbow

Rainbow nudged the door of her house open, she had walked it to the base of her home, then flew upwards to it. She had felt no need to rush home, why should she? Her friends were gone, and now her idol was gone. Rainbow felt as if she had nothing left to live for, nothing left that would tempt her to stay alive. This had been the darkest she had ever felt, it was as if some omnipotent power wanted her to be sad, for her life to be a never-ending stream of depression.

Rainbow crawled into bed, and she thought about Spitfire, the way she looked, the way she acted, the way she was. The ultimate professional in every single way. Composed and honest, willing to do anything she could to help anypony, regardless of the consequences. Rainbow felt her bottom lip trembling as she started to feel teary, and she slowly drifted into the land of her dreams.

Rainbow was stood out in a field, with the green grass flowing with the wind. The sky was pitch black except for the brilliant white of a full moon illuminating the field. Rainbow Dash looked around her surroundings, and she realised that she was stood on the lip of Ghastly Gorge, where Spitfire had perished.

Rainbow looked down towards where she had seen the goggles and feathers the previous day, but no evidence of Spitfire's death was to be found.

"I can't stay here" Rainbow said, feeling unable to be near the place where Spitfire died.

As Rainbow turned away from the edge of the precipice, she collided with something. Somepony.
Rainbow tumbled backwards, but a hoof reached out and grabbed her to stop her tripping.

"Thanks." Rainbow said as she regained her balance, but then she almost fell again from fainting.

"No problem." Replied the pony.

In front of her stood a yellow-coated Pegasi with flame-coloured hair.

"SPITFIRE!" Rainbow yelled with happiness, flying to the Wonderbolt, hoping to embrace her.

Rainbow Dash passed straight through Spitfire, as if she was only a cloud of vapour. Rainbow landed in a heap on the grass, she looked back at Spitfire, a confused expression on her face.

"I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash." Spitfire said, looking rather sad, "but this is just a dream."

Rainbow felt very stupid, she couldn't believe that she had thought that this was actually Spitfire, it was just her conscience playing tricks on her while she slept.

"Rainbow Dash, I don't have much time, you will awaken soon, and I have something I wish to tell you, so just listen to me."

Rainbow stood back up and stood in front of Spitfire, when she saw that she couldn't be real. Spitfire was standing in the wake of the bright moon, and she was slightly transparent, with some of the moon's light seemingly passing through her.

Spitfire began to speak,
"I know that you'll be sad that I'm gone, Rainbow Dash, but my death couldn't be avoided. Please don't hold a grudge against Soarin, it wasn't his fault, it was fate. The Eel grabbed me, but it could have just as easily have been him. I want to let you know that I always respected you as a Pegasus and I would have had you alongside me in the Wonderbolts as soon as I could, but you kept leaving the Academy, and you have to pass a trial before you become a Wonderbolt."

Rainbow's smile dropped, would it have really been that easy? If she'd have simply stayed in the Academy, she would have become a Wonderbolt? She started to feel unhappy in herself because of how she hadn't utilised her skills well enough while Spitfire was still alive. She could have flown alongside her hero after all.

"But Rainbow, you can still get what you want. Whatever you want to tell yourself, you'll always be a Wonderbolt at heart. I want you to go to the next trials, don't think that you're doing this for me, do it for yourself."

"Are you saying that..." Rainbow started.

Spitfire nodded, replying,

"Yes. You can become a Wonderbolt."

Rainbow Dash woke with a gasp, had she really just spoken to Spitfire in a dream? And had Spitfire just said that she could become a Wonderbolt?

"I'm gonna do it." Rainbow Dash promised herself.

"I'm going to those trials."