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Flight School --, or Rainbow Dash Gets Glomped
A small, light blue filly opened her eyes to the bright sunlight shining through her bedside window. Grudgingly lifting her head, she plopped onto the soft cloud floor of her home. She wiped her eyes and tiredly accepted the morning. Flapping her tiny wings, which lifted her above the floor, she dragged her hooves and stood up.
Zooming through her small abode, she stopped in the kitchen, where she found a pony who towered compared to the tiny filly. She looked up at her mother, who smiled warmly back at her. Firefly's pink hoof smothered some of the filly's cowlicks, and she greeted her daughter. "Good morning, Dashie! Did you have any good dreams?" she questioned with a cherished motherly grin.
Rainbow Dash quickly responded, "Oh yes! I dreamed about flying very high and then I got to the top of the sky!"
Her mother cherished her daughter's imagination and said, "What was at the top?"
Rainbow paused, "...I don't remember, but it was something great!"
"That's sweet, honey," her mother said while combing her blue hair. "Now have a good day, Mommy's going to work now," she said, adjusting her weather team goggles, "Your breakfast is on the counter, and Daddy's home today if you get bored. Have a great day!"
She opened the door to their cloud home and quickly flew outside, a large smile and an embracing attitude defining her face, ready to take on her work day.
Rainbow Dash smiled and flew herself up to the kitchen table, where a plate of razzleberry pancakes awaited her.
Licking her lips, the cyan pegasus admired the glorious pancakes, then began to sloppily eat her breakfast. Not minding her manners or where the stray berries and syrup was going, she dipped her face into her plate. When content with her fill of sugar, the kitchen counter was completely covered in sticky syrup and mashed berries. She left her plate for her father to clean up and licked the remaining food stuck on her face. Satisfied with the morning, she went back to bed for a late morning nap.
About an hour later, she was awoken by a fairly disgruntled father, who decided to wake her by rubbing her snout with one of his feathers. Very pleased in his revenge, he said, "Wake up, Dash, it's time for your first day of flight school!"
"But, Daddy, I already know how to fly!" Rainbow complained after adjusting to the need of sneeze.
"Please, Dashie, you can only fly two feet high and even then, only for a little while. Now I know that already is an advantage, but don't you want to be a Wonderbolt?" Sky Blitz questioned.
"Oh, yes please, Daddy!" Rainbow eagerly said, jumping out of bed and attempting a midair flip. This, however, resulted with the small filly face-down on her cloud mattress.
"See?" Sky Blitzs pointed out, "This school will help you become a Wonderbolt, so let's go!"
"Okay!" Rainbow Dash, now encouraged to discontinue her nap, ran over to the living room to achieve her father's goggles. She then ran back and threw them atop his rainbow-coloured mane. "C'mon, let's go! I don't have all day, that's for flying!" The eager filly yelled happily.
"Ok, Dashie, climb on up," he said, offering her a spot on his indigo back. Rainbow loved riding on her father's back, because she wasn't quite ready to fly on her own outside, and she loved the feeling of wind in her mane. So she joyfully sat upon her father's backside as they flew towards flight school.
After a few minutes of sprinting through the cloud layers, Sky Blitz continued, "Now in flight school, they don't just teach flying. They teach writing, reading, history, you name it!"
Dash silently moaned at the thought of learning egghead stuff.
Sensing her displeasure at that thought, Sky Blitz stressed, "I know it may sound boring, but it's stuff you need to know. And it'll probably be so much more fun when you meet new friends. Also, The "egghead" stuff doesn't even take up that much of the day... In fact, you'll be spending most of it flying! I heard the flying instructors are really good, too! Also, you may see your mother pass by sometimes during weather patrol, and you'll get to learn how to fly in all kinds of weathers... And reading isn't that bad, it's actually very fun! And I'm pretty sure today will just be a day where you get to meet everyone and learn what to and what not to do. So no reading today! How about that, Dashie?"
It was only then that he noticed that his daughter was barely paying attention to his rambling. "Seriously?!" Sky Blitz said annoyingly, "Did you catch any of that?"
"Not really, but I did you know we've passed seventy-four clouds in the past five minutes? Mommy really has to step up her game with the weather..." Rainbow said.
Accepting Rainbow Dash's fondness to not pay attention, he sighed and continued flying.
Soon enough, they arrived at Cloudsdale Flight Academy for Talented Fliers. Not to be mistaken with Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, of course. In fact, the academy was so authentic, they didn't even bother accepting just "talented" fliers to the academy. Now it was just on the sign that no one had time to change. The Academy was a small building in front of a large range of stadiums and obstacles courses constructed out of clouds. There were rings and relay courses galore, which highly interested Rainbow Dash.
"Alright Dashie, we're here," Sky Blitz monotonically said.
"Alright! Time to show them my stuff!" the courageous filly proclaimed, ready to start flying then and there.
"Don't forget to have fun!" Sky Blitz smiled, embracing Dash for a hug before she wandered off. Obviously embarrassed, Rainbow tried to escape his grasp, but, being a good father, he began to annoyingly kiss her hair and hug her tightly in front of all her future peers. Satisfied with further revenge, he said his goodbyes and left.
Now thoroughly annoyed with her father, the young flier flew over to the nearest adult, a white pegasus with fluffy yellow hair, and said, "Hi! I'm Rainbow Dash, when do we get snack time? And when do we get to fly? I really like flying and I don't wanna be stuck here waiting for all the slow-pokes, so can we fly now? And also, do we get a nap time? And how many blankets? Are they cotton or wool? Do we get time to shape clouds? Shaping clouds is so much fun!"
The instructor, slightly surprised by the filly's eagerness and slightly scared with being bombarded, stated, Don't you worry about anything, we're still waiting for the other students to arrive. Why don't you go over there and make some friends?" The pony pointed her hoof at a group of foals.
"Okay, thank you!" Rainbow Dash said, and sprinted over to the other group of students clustered on the spread out cloud floor.
Among them sat three pegasi, consisting of a blue filly with white hair who introduced herself as Fleetfoot, a broad-shouldered colt with dark blue hair named Soarin', and a small yellow filly with fiery red hair who persisted that her name was Ms. Wonderbolt.
"You wish!" said Soarin', obviously tired of her jokes.
"I'm going to be a Wonderbolt one day..." said Rainbow Dash said, trying to sounds cool.
"Really? So are we! We can all be Wonderbolts, wouldn't that be awesome?" said Fleetfoot.
"I don't need to because I already am!" said Ms. Wonderbolt. This received a roll of eyes from Soarin'.
"Oh come on, what's your real name?" said Rainbow.
"Fine... it's Spitfire," the filly sighed.
"Cool!" The cyan filly responded, excited about the prospect of new friends. All her life, her only friend was Fluttershy... and Fluttershy was great and all, but she wasn't exactly a great flying buddy.
Coincidentally, Rainbow noticed Fluttershy being dropped off by her father near the gate. "Hey Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash shouted, waving her hoof at her friend.
Fluttershy saw Rainbow Dash and another group of... (gulp)... foals. Nervous at the prospect of meeting new ponies, she walked slowly towards them.
"Umm, hi..." she whispered, hiding behind her long pink hair and nervously tapping her skinny legs.
"This is Fluttershy, she's pretty shy, but she's cool when you get to know her," Rainbow Dash explained.
After Rainbow's new friends introduced themselves to Fluttershy, a flight instructor rounded up all the foals and started the lesson by going around in a circle and saying their names and favorite color. (Rainbow Dash, of course, said rainbow)
After a few other warm ups, the instructors said they could fly for ten minutes in a small cloud stadium while they tested everypony's abilities individually.
"Aww yeah! This is my time to shine!" Rainbow gleefully said.
"You wanna bet on that?" Spitfire challenged.
"Duh!" Rainbow Dash said.
Spitfire smiled rather demonically,"Then I challenge you to a race."
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The Race --, or Rainbow Dash Gets In Trouble
"Umm... Rainbow Dash... maybe this isn't such a good idea..." mumbled Fluttershy as Rainbow Dash stretched her wings.
"Relax, Fluttershy! I'm totally capable of beating Spitfire, I mean, look who you're talking to!" Rainbow said, puffing her chest out, "Only the best flier ever could be, maybe, half as awesome as me. Winning a race? I could do that in a jiffy!"
"Well, ok..." Fluttershy softly responded.
"Alright, you ready to see awesomeness in the making?!" Rainbow Dash enthusiastically questioned.
"Umm... yes," Fluttershy answered.
"Then let's go!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she sped towards the start line.
"Ok," Fluttershy said, quietly following her.
Spitfire was already waiting at the finish line, and found an opportunity to make fun of Rainbow's lateness, "Well, finally! I thought you'd never show up. Now are we going to race or are you going to spend more time gloating?"
"Just you wait, Spitfire, by the end of this race I'll have a good reason to be gloating!" said Rainbow Dash as Fleetfoot and Soarin' started laughing.
"We'll see about that," said Spitfire.
"Yes we will. Fluttershy, would you like to do the honors?" asked Rainbow Dash, giving Fluttershy the checkered flag.
"Ok..." Fluttershy mumbled, grabbing to flag and quietly walking towards the starting line, "3... 2... (gulp)... 1!"
Before Fluttershy could notice what was happening, two blurs of feathers and determination dashed past her. Almost falling off the cloud from the speed, she stumbled and fell over onto Fleetfoot and Soarin', who were too busy watching the race to pay attention to the skinny filly beside them, "Oh... umm... sorry," she said, without even a looking glance from either of the two pegasi next to her.
"Who do you think will win?" said Fleetfoot to Soarin'.
"I don't know, but it looks like it's going to be a very close race!" replied Soarin', "Wow! Look at Rainbow Dash!"
Rainbow Dash had sped past Spitfire by a good ten feet. Sweat was rolling down her face from the adrenaline and speed associated with her fast, yet unstable, flying. A grin was plastered across the eager filly's face as her wings tried to keep up with her pace. She sped through the cloud rings, obstacles, and trackers with ease. Spotting Spitfire only a few feet behind, she strained her wings to go faster. Faster...
Faster.
She went faster.
Her wings hated it. Everything in her body was telling her to stop. STOP. Her muscles strained, her feathers screamed, her eyes couldn't breath, every part of her hated her at the moment. They needed to stop. But she did not stop. She flew, with the wind in her mane and a smile glued to her face. She loved it. Flight- she loved it. She loved it so much...
Now more determined than ever, she stretched her wings out to their furthest possible length and sped towards the nearing finish line. Determination was her only feeling. Adrenaline was her only notion. And winning was her only thought.
Winning.
She longed for it.
And now, she had it.
She tore through the finish line with another blast of forced energy, then began to slow down. She, Rainbow Dash, had beat Ms. Wonderbolt! "Aw yeah!" she shouted with glee, excited by her newest victory.
Spitfire soon followed suit, with a straight face.
"Did you see that, Spitfire? Of course I have a reason to gloat, I'm only, like, better than a "Wonderbolt"!" Rainbow bragged.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. You're cool, Rainbow Dash, you should hang out with us more," Spitfire said, acknowledging defeat.
"Sure!" replied Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow turned to Fluttershy, who was still hiding behind her tail in fear of the race. "Hey Fluttershy, wanna hang o-"
"Miss Rainbow Dash and Miss Spitfire! What do you think you have just done?!" yelled a displeased flight instructor, rushing up to the two fillies. Her pink hair was brushed aside to reveal a set of concerned and frustrated eyes.
"I-," started Spitfire.
"It was my fault!" yelled Rainbow Dash, willing to take on the worst.
"Wait, n-," Spitfire started, only to be hushed by Rainbow Dash's hoof covering her mouth.
"Well, it seems like you two have reached a disagreement. Now, the race itself was not against the rules, but our number one rule here at Cloudsdale Flight School is to not strain yourselves, which both of you have somehow broken in the first ten minutes! I may excuse you two under the impression that it is your first day and you may have not been familiar with the rules, but I do not want to see either of you pushing yourselves too far again. Okay?" stressed the older pegasus.
"Okay..." said both fillies in unison, with heads hung low and guilt in their eyes.
"Now, now," the instructor reassured, "this is nothing to be upset about, just don't do it again. Flying was always my dream as a filly, too. And it's hard not to get in trouble. Besides, I can already see that you two are quite the fliers, heck, with your talent, you could probably skip ahead two years if you tried! Keep up the great work, you two."
"Thanks!" said Spitfire.
"Wait a second, so we're not in trouble?" asked a keen Rainbow Dash.
"Not today," the instructor replied.
"Yes!" shouted Rainbow Dash as she pumped up her hoof and flew into the air.
"Also, I think we don't need to test your skills, we already have had a good glimpse at that. However, have either of you seen a filly named Fluttershy? It's her turn right now," the instructor questioned.
"Oh, she's right here!" Rainbow Dash said, pointing at the pale filly hugging her tail behind a cloud pole.
"I'm right here..." Fluttershy quietly repeated.
"Well then, Miss Fluttershy, are you ready?"
"No..."
"Oh, now don't be silly, dear, all you need to do is perform a few laps around the obstacle course, drop through a cloud layer, complete the wing power test, demonstrate your ability to multitask with flying, test how high you can fly and for how long, decide your ranking, and answer a survey on your confidence and abilities."
"...Okay," Fluttershy whimpered, now more terrified than ever.
"Well then, let us be going!" said the instructor, grabbing Fluttershy's reluctant hoof and dragging her towards the obstacle course.
"Do you think she can last that entire test?" asked a concerned Fleetfoot.
"Not a chance," replied a less than comical Soarin'.
"Do you think we should go help her?" asked a worried Spitfire.
"Definitely," replied Rainbow Dash, "she needs all the cheering she can get to even think of passing through the first round! Come on, Fluttershy never was that good of a flier, but she doesn't deserve the foal-group either! We need to cheer for her!"
"Seriously, cheer?" responded a sarcastic Soarin'.
"Yeah, I know it isn't that cool, but we can't take the test for her, right? It's the best we can do," reasoned Rainbow Dash.
"I agree, Fluttershy needs our help!" said Fleetfoot enthusiastically.
"Okay, let's go!" agreed Spitfire.
And then all the little fillies and colts went to rescue Fluttershy and eventually they all became Wonderbolts and lived happily ever after, except Fluttershy, she almost dies at the end.
The Test --, or Rainbow Dash Helps a Friend
Sweat rolled down her face as she anxiously awaited her turn to be tested. It was only her first day, and she was already having second thoughts. Oh, how she wished she could just go home and cry in bed instead of publicly humiliating herself. She wasn't going to be able to do it! Her tiny wings couldn't even lift her at all! Her father told her to just calm down and breath out, but how could she do that when all the other fillies and colts were better than her? She was a failure... there was no way she could ever last two days at this school.
Maybe she should just quit now.
"Hey Fluttershy!" a voice directed towards her shouted. She turned her head slowly, revealing a set of worried eyes and shaking hooves.
"Umm, hi, Rainbow," she whispered, trying not to look at any of the other foals in the face. They probably could tell she was on the verge of crying...
Fleetfoot, sensing Fluttershy's despair, said, "Don't worry, Fluttershy, I know you'll do fine."
"No, I won't," Fluttershy honestly admitted, a single tear drifted down her face.
"Yes you can, Fluttershy!" Rainbow comforted, "You're gonna be a great flier, and then we can all be Wonderbolts!"
"No thank you, the Wonderbolts only accept ponies that can fly..." Fluttershy further put herself down. Her face was stained with the scent of salt and multiple tears.
"Okay, so if you don't want to be a Wonderbolt, that's fine too!" Dash said, wiping some of Fluttershy's tears, "Just don't forget that you're gonna be so cool, anyways!"
"Rainbow Dash, you just don't get it," Fluttershy whimpered, "You can fly just fine, and so can the rest of you! I'm worse than all of you and you know it, so why even bother trying to help me? I'll probably never get to fly..."
Spitfire stood up, angered at Fluttershy's persistence, "Fluttershy! Some ponies just get head starts sometimes, and we all have been flying for a long time. Just because you haven't been flying for a long time doesn't mean you'll never be able to fly! We all have to start somewhere!"
"Thanks, Spitfire, but I just don't know..." Fluttershy said, her tears starting to dry.
The foal ahead of her finally completed her test, and she had a smile as broad of the sun pasted across her face. She shouted with glee towards Fluttershy, "Don't worry. It's super easy!"
"Yeah, umm... okay" Fluttershy quietly responded, reluctantly standing up for her turn.
"Don't worry, Fluttershy, you'll be fine," Soarin' said.
"Yeah, you're so awesome, you'll do great!" Rainbow Dash also pitched in.
"Miss Fluttershy? Are you ready for your exam?" the white pegasus mare Rainbow Dash had bombarded earlier asked.
"Umm, no... well, I mean, if you want me to, yes, I guess..." Fluttershy stuttered.
"Well then, let us go. My name is Surprise, and I'll be your flight teacher for this test. Remember to try your best and don't worry about anything, you'll end up where you are supposed to end up."
"Okay..." Fluttershy whimpered.
"Oh come on, now, brighten up. Flight School is a lot of fun, I guarantee!" The instructor smiled.
Surprise guided Fluttershy out of sight, and the four remaining ponies took that as a sign to back off.
"Okay, what now?" asked Fleetfoot.
"I don't know... wanna go play Cloudball?" Spitfire suggested.
"Okay," the rest agreed, flying back towards the waiting arena until Fluttershy returned.
Soon enough, Soarin' and Fleetfoot were each called, and they quickly returned. Neither seemed too bothered by the test.
"How was it?" asked Spitfire.
"Too easy," complained Soarin', only to receive a kick in back from Fleetfoot.
"Puh-lease! That's an understatement, it was like taking candy from Soarin's baby sister. And believe me, that's easy," Fleetfoot stated.
"I know right, she is so slow!" Spitfire agreed.
"If it was so easy, why isn't Fluttershy back yet?" Rainbow Dash asked with a concern glance towards the doorway.
"I don't know, I wonder what happened to her," said Spitfire, her previous grin vanished.
"What if sometime wrong happened?" asked Fleetfoot, concern showing in her widened eyes.
"Maybe she just needed to be tested twice," Soarin' said, trying to offer a solution.
"I doubt it, why would they need to do that? It sounds dumb... Maybe she got in trouble..." Spitfire said.
"Fluttershy is too nice to get in trouble! Believe me, I tried giving her assertiveness training, but she can't do it! Sometimes I think she's better than the rest of us when it comes to being good ponies..." Rainbow admitted.
"So what could have happened?" Fleetfoot asked.
All four ponies seemed to be clueless. Concern hung in the air, and the ponies decided to quietly await Fluttershy's return.
However, a young gray colt walked up to them and asked, "Do you know why we aren't done yet? I thought everypony had finished..."
I think there's still one more filly that needs to be tested," stated Soarin' without any further detail.
"Oh, I see," the colt said, sitting down, "The name's Rapidfire, by the way."
The other ponies happily introduced themselves to the colt, who seemed most interested in flying, as well.
"Do you want to be a Wonderbolt someday?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Well duh! Who doesn't? It's only like, the best job ever!" Rapidfire stated with excitement.
"Cool! But we are going to be Wonderbolts, too, so you better step up your game if you wanna beat us!" Rainbow Dash challenged, only to be met with a grin from Rapidfire.
"Please, I could easily beat all of you." Rapidfire said.
But before a familiar scene began to unravel for the second time that day, Fleetfoot noticed Fluttershy silently walking towards them, her face hidden behind her long hair.
"Hey, guys! She's back!" Fleetfoot shouted, happy to see Fluttershy's return.
All ponies, except Rapidfire, immediately turned their head to be greeted with none other than the shy pegasus.
"Umm... hi," Fluttershy timidly said.
"Where were you? And why did you take so long?" Rainbow curiously asked.
"Umm, it was nothing," Fluttershy whispered quietly.
The other ponies tried to get some details out of the shy pony, but she refused to tell any more information.
Luckily for the timid filly, one of the flight instructors announced all fillies and colts to gather around for the group naming.
"Okay, my little ponies, you all will be sorted into five groups today. These groups will be your classes for the rest of the year. Group Five will be the ponies who need the most help flying, and Group One will be the best fliers here. Now don't be worried if you're not in Group One, you'll all eventually get there, just remember you are all great ponies!" The pink instructor said, a smile seemed like it was taped on her face, because anypony could tell she was reluctant to share that a few ponies were not the best fliers...
The pony lifted the list in front of her and stated, "In Group One are Misty Fly, Soarin', Rapidfire, Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, Fleetfoot, Fire Strike, and," the instructor paused after dropping the sheet. Fluttershy began to sweat, she may actually be in Group One! She picked it up and continued, "and Lightning Streak."
Disappointment swayed through Fluttershy's brain, humility defining her features.
Rainbow Dash stared at Fluttershy, realizing they weren't in the same group,. "Don't worry, you might get into Group Two," she assured her nervous friend.
"Now, in Group Two are Silver Lining, Wave Chill, High Winds, Blaze, Thunderlane, Blossomforth, Cloudchaser, Raindrop..."
And so on names were stated. And with each name called, Fluttershy became more nervous. After Group Three was completed with an absence of her name being called, she truly began to lose it. She would probably end up in Group Five, wouldn't she? Rainbow Dash tried to help her by patting her shoulder, but it only made her feel worse. She was being pitied by someone better than her!
Group Two was called with suspense surrounding Fluttershy with every word the instructor said. Her anxiety crawled into her heart and demanded attention, grasping her fears and strengthening them. She desperately wished and prayed for a spot as far away as possible from Group Five, even Group Four would be sufficient to her! But to her dismay, Her name was not called.
The instructor decided to brashly address the elephant in the room, "All the rest are you are in Group Five!" she said, with a fake smile accommodating the few astonished ponies who were unlucky to wind up in that group. Fluttershy's heart pounded and tears began to fall from her wet eyelids.
"Okay, everypony! Time for lunch," another instructor said, beginning to lead them to the cafeteria. But unlike the other fillies and colts, she was not being led to a lunch room. She was being led to a year of embarrassment and misery.
Flight. Something amazing, extravagant, wonderful. Something that most every pegasi are capable of... but there is the slight minority, the ponies that find pleasure in moving beyond the status quo. Whose dream is to touch the sky. Whose dream is to fly. Whose dream is a reality about to come by.
That's the kind of pegasus Rainbow Dash is. Loyal to her friends, loyal to her family... and most of all...
Loyal to the sky.
She could dream again. All those awful doubts and worries were over. She was home at last, to the place where she started her dream, but also the place she knew she couldn't finish her dream. But this was a different kind of dream. Not a goal, ambition, or life purpose... No. It was so much more.
Somepony once told her that a dream was made to be achieved. Then, they were fulfilled. Their destiny was completed. It was all over.
She knew it was all a lie. But it was a lie she fell for, the kind that demanded to be thought about, that was convincing her it was right.
She was too naive...
And she lost loyalty to herself.
Her fear of ending her dream was eating away at her dream. Every day, she would strive for perfection, struggle for flawlessness, practice vigorously for a goal she didn't want to achieve.
She had fallen for their trap.
Flight was no longer her life dream. It was just a mere time-spender. An activity she knew she would never outshine anypony at.
She was a filly without a dash of loyalty...
She was a filly without a dream.