Wonderbolts Academy - Alternate ending
After having collected all of her belongings from her quarters, Rainbow arranged to meet with her friends at the end of the academy runway. There, they would go on towards the group's balloon, which had been fixed since the tornado incident. After having met up with the group, she explained what had happened in Spitfire's office. As she spoke, the other ponies' mouths were practically on the floor with shock. As Rainbow busied herself with getting her back-pack on, Applejack summed up the general feeling of the group.
"You did WHAT?!"
Rainbow knew that this wouldn't have been easy for them to hear, or even to understand. A suspicion which was confirmed by Rarity speaking up.
"But being a Wonderbolt was your dream!"
It was true. For as long as she could remember, she'd wanted to be one of them. But after everything that had happened, she could no longer view the prospect of membership as something she wanted, a sentiment she needed to share.
"Not anymore." She said flatly.
Suddenly, she felt something in her right shoulder. Turning her head, she saw Twilight, who had placed her hoof there, her face covered in a look that said she was upset for her.
"I'm sorry Rainbow Dash. I know how much this meant to you." She said softly.
Rainbow said nothing to that, and neither did anypony else. Instead, the group came together, all leaning on her in sympathy. It was not something Rainbow enjoyed, being pitied like this. But she was grateful for the sentiment. The moment would have been pleasant enough, had it not been for a raised voice that now caught everypony's attention.
"Rainbow Dash!"
The group turned. There, approaching their place on the runway, and bearing a very angry expression, was Spitfire. She was flanked by two of the Wonderbolt guards and was marching rather intently towards them.
"How dare you storm out of my office without giving me a chance to respond!"
Rainbow stepped forward, her face equally as angry as Spitfire, ready to face whatever she had to throw at her. Spitfire reached just a few feet from where she and the group were, and stopped.
"The Wonderbolts are the best fliers in Equestria."
The Wonderbolt then took off her sunglasses, her expression softening somewhat.
"But you're right. Being the best should never come at the expense of your fellow pony."
Rainbow's eyes widened in surprise. Did Spitfire just say she was right? Instead of replying to this, she kept quiet as the Wonderbolt leader continued.
"It's not just about pushing ourselves. It's about pushing ourselves in the right direction."
She then smiled and pointed her hoof and the surprised pegasus.
"And you've shown that you're capable of just that."
Rainbow herself now smiled, glad that her words had actually managed to change Spitfire's mind on this. Her smile faded however when the latter's expression became one of disapproval. But instead of that look being directed towards her, Rainbow noticed that, approaching behind Spitfire, was her former squad-mate and partner, Lightning Dust. The two had not seen each other since their spat in the training grounds. The recruit looked rather troubled, and somewhat nervous over having been brought before Spitfire.
The leader of the Wonderbolts then walked right up to Lightning's face, making her very uncomfortable. Then, much to the shock of everypony there, she stripped off the golden leader badge from Lightning's uniform. After doing this, she pointed away from the group, silently ordering the recruit to leave. As Lighting walked away, she gave one final look back to the group. Her expression was hard to read. Disappointment in herself? Or perhaps upset that her actions had led to her being shamed like this? It was hard to say.
Spitfire then turned back to Rainbow Dash and smiled, holding up the golden badge.
"You're no wing-pony Dash. You're a leader."
Rainbow didn't know what to think at this. There was a part of her that wanted to leap for joy over what had just happened. The Wonderbolts want her back! But then, as she dwelt on that thought, another part of her began to speak up. A part which not only brought up memories of what had happened earlier today, but of other things. Her adventures with her friends. The admiration she'd gained from her community. The things she'd accomplished. And when that part of her spoke, the smile over Spitfire's presentation of the badge faded.
Spitfire moved forward, about to place the badge onto Rainbow's uniform when, to the surprise of all present, Rainbow held up her own hoof and stopped her.
"I'm sorry ma'am. But I can't accept this."
Spitfire raised an eyebrow.
"Why not? Is this still about what happened earlier with your friends?" She asked.
Rainbow shook her head.
"No. It's not that. It's just......this is not something I want anymore."
The silence which followed that statement was almost deafening. Rainbow's friends looked at each other, unsure of how to react to that. Should they say something? Do something? All they knew was that Spitfire was just as speechless over this as they were.
"Don't want this?" Spitfire said.
Rainbow shook her head again.
"But....every time we've met you've always said that this was your dream."
Rainbow exhaled deeply before replying to that.
"You're right. It was my dream. Since I was a filly, I've wanted to prvoe myself. I wanted to show the world that I was good at what I did. That I was worthy of being counted among the best fliers there were. Being part of the Wonderbolts was always something I thought would do that. If I joined you, all my friends, my family, they'd see how good I was, the great things I could achieve."
She looked up, right into Spitfire's eyes. She then turned around and looked at her friends, smiling as she did so.
"But you know what? I realised that being a Wonderbolt is not as great an achievement as all the other things I've done. With the help of my friends, I've done thing that I would have thought impossible once. I've flown faster, saved lives, even saved all of Equestria, and more than once. And I did it all without having to wear some blue and yellow uniform."
She turned back to Spitfire, whose face was bearing a look of surprise and confusion over this.
"When I was younger, I thought being one of you was how I could prove my worth. Now.....I realise I don't need to prove anything. Not to you, or anypony else. I am Rainbow Dash. And I don't need the Wonderbolts to be worth something."
Rainbow's thoughts drifted to a memory. One from not too long ago. Of a certain camping trip, where an eager young filly declared just how important Rainbow was to her. Of course, Rainbow had known for some time that Scootaloo had admired her, but not wanting to be the boastful mare she once was, she'd never gone out of her way to encourage it. But still, that girl looked up to her, admired her. And she did with without Rainbow ever having to be one of the Wonderbolts first. She admired her for who she was already, as did all of her friends. The fact that so many ponies felt that way about her, even without her achieving what she once held as her dream, was proof enough that she was doing the right thing.
Looking at Spitfire, who was still speechless, Rainbow spoke once more.
"I don't need you......."
With that, she turned and walked away from the leader of the Wonderbolts. She passed through her friends, who were still gaping in awe over what she had just done. Once she was far enough away, without even looking back, she spoke her final words to Spitfire.
".......not anymore."
She once more started walking, with her friends looking at each other, trying to think of something to say. They looked over to Spitfire, whose face now turned into one that almost looked like shame. But before they could get a proper look, she turned and walked off. Seeing this, the group turned back to Rainbow and ran after her. They caught up with her quickly and nopony said a word until they got to the balloon.
Packing up their belongings, Pinkie Pie decided to break the silence.
"Um, Rainbow?" She asked in an uncharacteristically quiet tone.
Rainbow looked at her. Pinkie hesitated to ask what she needed to, but did so all the same.
"How do you feel?"
The blue pegasus considered this, then slowly smiled. She looked back at the academy one more time. Once, it was a place she'd dreamed of being a part of. Now, it was merely the place which taught her just how much she didn't need it.
"Pinkie. Today.......I feel great."
