“One thousand!” Rainbow Dash said as she marked off her last wing push up of the set. From the hour before she entered the gym, to now, she was hard at work, exercising every last muscle in her body, and the radio music was playing. Everything was going perfect for her. She did more than enough exercise to prepare for the big exam, and she was hopped up on energy drinks. She knew she could bust through any challenge the Wonderbolts were undoubtedly going to throw at her.
Grabbing her small towel, she wiped her forehead and cleaned her sweaty hooves. She knew nothing could stop her at that moment. Everything was riding on her and she was ready. Determination was driving her very soul as she left the Cloudsdale Gym. She had a look of pure resolve on her face as she flew over to Cloudsdale Stadium. Various pegasi said hi to her as they were flying along, some being childhood friends from when Rainbow Dash still lived in Cloudsdale. She waved them off.
She was going at a slow pace to not waste any energy she might need for her big test. She arrived at the back entrance to Cloudsdale Stadium, heading into the locker room. The first thing she noticed were that five other ponies were already there, all of them sitting on one of the benches inside. Four of them weren’t very familiar to Rainbow Dash, however there was one face she could never forget.
“Well, if it isn’t Rainbow Crash?” A familiar yellow maned pegasus said from across the room. “You’re a bit early, the janitors haven’t started cleaning yet.”
“Can it, Lightning. Just because you were kicked out of the Academy, doesn’t mean you have to take it out on me.” Rainbow Dash said, trying her best not to start a fight right there. The other four ponies were innocently watching from the sidelines.
“Pfft, you think I still care about that?” Lightning Dust started laughing. “I’m better off without those Wonderbolt wannabes. I just really, really don’t like you.”
“Whatever, what are you doing here anyway? I doubt they would let you try out after what happened.” Rainbow Dash said as she sat on the very far side of the bench, away from all the other ponies.
“Heard there was something going on, and that you were in it.” Lightning Dust checked her hoof for any scuff marks. “Figured it would be fun to see you fail miserably.”
That pushed Rainbow Dash too far.
“Do you always act like such a b-”
“You really don’t want to finish that sentence.”
They both rushed up to each other, stopping merely inches away, with their faces extremely close. Their foreheads were colliding, as they both had a look of primal anger on their faces. If looks could kill, they would be on a mass massacre right now. That is, if they weren’t busy trying to maul each other.
“And what are you going to do about it?” Rainbow Dash snarled.
“You wanna find out?” Lightning Dust gave a muffled growl, while increasing force on her forehead.
At this point, the other ponies had to get up and hold Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust down. They didn’t try to struggle, instead just glaring at each other with a force that can rival even Fluttershy’s. Soon, Rainbow Dash found herself sitting all the way at the end of the bench, giving a few occasional looks at Lightning Dust’s direction. She looked over at the clock on the far side of the room.
Huh, I guess I am a bit early. She thought to herself.
Seeing as there was nothing to do, she decided to peek outside for any sight of her friends. She sent them each a letter while she was training, so they should be here by now. She walked over to the entrance and stuck her head through the door.
The stadium was buzzing with activity, even if it was a slow day. Various staff pegasi were seen gliding around, each busy with some sort of task or preparation for some future event. Along the rows of cloud seats, many pegasi can be seen in the vacant seats, each conversing to each other or waiting patiently for the show to start. However, Rainbow Dash wasn’t focused on them, she was focused on the empty skycloud seats she had reserved for her friends.
Come on, where are they? There’s only thirty minutes left until we start! Rainbow Dash started taking deep breaths, calming her down a bit. It’s okay, I’m sure they’re just lost or something.
With that, she headed back into the room and went to her seat, sitting and waiting for the staff to call them in. She could hear the crowd moving around above her as the stadium was filling up. She only hoped her friends would arrive before it got too crowded.
She went over by the door and checked outside once again. The seats were still vacant, but all the pegasi were already showing up for the show. She looked towards the clock and saw there was only five minutes till the show started.
Rainbow Dash started to panic. Panic wasn’t right, freaking out was the correct term. What had happened to her friends? Many possibilities kept popping up in her head as she started to felt the anxiety in her grow more and more. She felt more nervous than Fluttershy when Rarity had talked her into modeling.
Where are they?! She kept repeating that thought in her head frantically. The pitter patter of the crowd was growing more intense, along with her feeling of dread. She never knew she relied on the confidence of her friends so much. She almost knew what it was like to be Fluttershy most of the time. Almost.
“Rainbow Dash to the stage please!” A voice came from the opposite side of the room. Rainbow Dash looked over to the stadium seats again. To her misfortune, nopony was there.
Looks like I’m going to have to wing it… now’s not the time to joke around.
Author's Note
Inb4 Kasabian.
Anyways, SpikeDash, that's all you need to know.
MUSH, FORWARD, ONWARD AND UPWARDS!
