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                           Speed                           
                    -by Superluminous-                     
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                    Prologue: Farewells                    
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Prologue: Farewells
Prologue: Farewells
Rainbow Dash floated overhead at the Golden Oaks library, facing her five friends. She had invited them for an announcement that she was sure would change all of their lives. The only hint they had about it was that Dash had a letter in hoof.
        Dash was waiting to read the letter aloud, not to build dramatic suspense, but because she was uncertain about how her friends would react. The letter meant big changes for her life, and while she believed her friends would support her wholeheartedly, she also suspected they would be sad when the changes actually came.
I can’t keep them waiting any longer, she thought as she cleared her throat.
        “I wanted you to come here because I got this letter in the mail and I wanted to read it to you out loud.” Dash took a deep breath and tried to start reading.
        “What’s it about?” Pinkie chirped, breaking Dash’s concentration. Twilight turned to Pinkie calmly.
        “Why don’t we just let Dash read it?” Twilight asked politely.
        “Oh, sorry!” Pinkie exclaimed, closing her mouth.
        “Um, thanks, Twilight,” Dash said. She cleared her throat again and began to read.
Dear Rainbow Dash,
We are writing because we wanted to inform you of a wonderful opportunity, should you choose to accept it. A position has recently opened up in the Wonderbolts, and we would like to offer it to you
        “You’re gonna be a Wonderbolt?” Pinkie cried out.
Dash simply nodded her head. Pinkie shrieked and tackled Dash out of the air in a hug. The letter fell out of Dash’s hoof and floated to the floor. The other four ponies were pleasantly surprised at the wonderful news. Applejack smirked and adjusted her Stetson.
        “Well, I think congratulations are in order!” she said, her smile getting wider every second.
        “Why yes, this is fantastic news!” Rarity cheered. “Your life-long aspirations are finally being realized; an opportunity most ponies only ever dream about.”
        “We’re all very excited for you, Rainbow Dash!” Twilight said. She and the others went over to pull Pinkie off of Dash and make a proper group hug that didn’t have Dash being crushed on the floor.
        “This is awesome!” Dash cheered. “Ever since my dad took me to see them as a little filly…” Dash choked up, and her eyes became welled up with tears. “Darn it! I promised myself I wouldn’t cry…”
        “Cry all you like,” Rarity suggested. “It will do no good to try to suppress your emotions. You’ll become overwhelmed.”
        “I’m overwhelmed already…” Dash said, the tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. Seeing this, Fluttershy grabbed a box of tissues and offered them to Dash, who gladly accepted one and wiped her eyes dry.
        “Thanks, Fluttershy,” she said, smiling widely again. “I can’t believe it. I’m gonna be a Wonderbolt!”
        The six ponies began to chat excitedly about how awesome it would be for Dash to perform with the best flyers in Equestria, before speculating about other opportunities that might arise for them, other dreams that might come true.
        Suddenly, Pinkie stuck her head up and shouted out through the room.
        “I gotta go! I have to...um, take care of something.”
        Before anypony could ask, Pinkie bolted out the door, taking off down the road at a speed that might impress even the Wonderbolts.
        “She’s totally throwing me a surprise party,” Dash said with a smirk.
        “Probably,” Twilight agreed, walking up to Dash’s side as Dash floated back down to the floor. “But you’re still going to act surprised, right?”
        “Well, duh,” Dash said, sticking her tongue out at Twilight, eliciting laughter from her friends. Even though Rainbow Dash would be leaving them, she was going to be living the dream, and no good friend would stand in the way of that. The opportunity was too good to pass up.
        “Streamers! We’re gonna need lots and lots of streamers!” Pinkie said to herself, zipping across the floor of Sugarcube Corner adjusting tablecloths and tying up balloons for Dash’s surprise party. Carrot and Cup Cake, hearing the commotion, walked into the room and watched Pinkie moving at full speed. They looked at each other knowingly.
        “What’s all this for?” Carrot asked, the words bringing Pinkie screeching to a halt.
        “Oh, Dashie’s gonna be a Wonderbolt and I’m throwing her a surprise party!” Pinkie cheered, quickly kicked back into gear. After finishing up the decorations, she zoomed into the kitchen.
        Carrot and Cup followed her, and Pinkie was already mixing up what looked to be batter for a cake. Judging by the size of the bowl, it was going to be a big one. Smiling nervously to each other, they slowly approached the pink ball of energy.
        “Pinkie, don’t you think you should ask us before you start baking things with our ingredients?” Cup asked gently.
        “Yeah, yeah, sure,” Pinkie reacted, but she grinded to a halt again after giving the question some thought. “Oh, I’m so, so sorry! I should have realized this is for your business and it’s so rude of me to just use it without permission and I’m so silly I just forgot and please don’t be mad at me—”
        “Pinkie!” Carrot shouted, just enough so that he could be heard over her babbling. “It’s fine. We understand how important this is for your friend, so feel free to use whatever you need. But do try to ask us in the future next time, won’t you?”
        “Of course,” Pinkie said. “I’m really sorry.”
        “It’s okay,” Cup reassured her. “Is there anything we can help with?”
        “Oh! Well, I was hoping the party would be tonight, because Dashie is probably going to have to leave right away and we can’t let her leave without throwing her a party! So I need about ten dozen cupcakes and party favors and we need to set up Pin the Tail on the Pony and there needs to be a giant bowl of punch in case ponies get thirsty and—”
        “Pinkie,” Carrot said, and she stopped talking again. “Why don’t we make a list? Then we can keep track of everything and go through it systematically.”
        “Great idea! Let me go get a quill and parchment!” Pinkie zoomed out of the kitchen and up the stairs, presumably to get the quill and parchment from her room. Carrot looked to Cup and shrugged his shoulders. Smiling at each other, they started to get the ingredients together to make ten dozen cupcakes.
        “There! It’s all ready!” Pinkie cried, looking at the transformed Sugarcube Corner. There were tables set up all over the room with plastic chairs. Balloons were tied to chairs, floating towards the ceiling, and there was a long table towards the back that was laid out with all sorts of party food. Cupcakes, cheese and crackers, vegetables and dip, the works. Pinkie had set up a turntable for Vinyl Scratch, who had agreed to take on the gig last minute after Pinkie offered her a hefty bag of bits. Pinkie realized the party had actually cost quite a bit of money, but she knew it was worth it to see Rainbow Dash off with a rousing farewell.
        The only thing left was to invite everypony. She had scribbled together invitations, but was worried she was going to have to deliver them by hoof to everypony in Ponyville. However, when she went outside, it turned out that nearly the entire village of Ponyville was waiting in the road.
        “This is loco!” Pinkie exclaimed. “How’d you all know there was gonna be a party?”
        Mayor Mare stepped forward from the crowd. “Word got out that Rainbow Dash was asked to join the Wonderbolts,” she explained, “and, knowing you, we assumed there was going to be a celebration. So I asked everypony I knew to gather together everypony they knew, and it continued down the chain until just about everypony in Ponyville had decided to come! Remarkable how quickly news spreads in a small community like this one.”
        “Great!” Pinkie cheered, thoroughly pleased that the hardest work was over. “But where’s Dashie and the others? Do they know to come here?”
        “Way ahead of you!” Applejack called as she, Rarity, and Fluttershy made their way to the front of the crowd.
        “Twilight took Dash out to practice some maneuvers,” Applejack recounted, “and she knows to bring her here at around sunset. We figured that’d give ya enough time to get things ready.”
        “Was that assumption correct?” Rarity asked. Pinkie beamed and nodded emphatically. She looked at the sky and saw the sun sinking low already.
        “They’ll be coming any second!” Pinkie bellowed to the crowd. “Everypony get inside right now! We need to be ready when Dashie gets here!”
        Everypony crowded the door, and they struggled to cram themselves into Sugarcube Corner. Eventually, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack herded everypony into a line so they could funnel in and get into position. Pinkie was running about making sure everything was set up perfectly.
        “Balloons, streamers, tables, chairs…” she recounted out loud. “What am I missing?” Looking up at the ceiling, the thought suddenly hit her.
        “I didn’t get a banner!” she shouted. “How could I have forgotten! We need to make a banner for Rainbow Dash when she walks in!”
        Pinkie pushed her way back out the doors of Sugarcube Corner and found Rarity directing the line into the bakery.
        “Rarity! We don’t have a banner!” she cried. Rarity turned to Pinkie and took a deep breath.
        “Pinkie, need I remind you that you only had a few hours to prepare this party?” she suggested. “It was never going to turn out perfectly.”
        “But it has to be perfect, because this is Dashie’s perfect day!” Pinkie cried. “What is she gonna think if we don’t throw her the absolute most bestest surprise party of all time?”
        “Pinkie, it isn’t so much the party,” Rarity said, “but it’s the time and care you put into preparing it. You know how Rainbow Dash is. Everypony will be approaching her to congratulate her, and you know how much she loves the spotlight. It’s going to be perfect for her, not to mention good practice for when she’s giving out autographs to her adoring fans.”
        “You know what?” Pinkie began, taking a few deep breaths. “You’re right. It doesn’t have to be super duper perfect, because it’s already great the way it is. Thanks, Rarity!”
        “You’re welcome,” Rarity said, but before she had finished Pinkie had already made her way back inside Sugarcube Corner. She shook her head knowingly and returned her attention to the line.
        Once everypony was inside, Pinkie shut the blinds and turned out the lights. Everypony was now huddled together in pitch darkness, waiting for Rainbow Dash to enter.
        Her curiosity getting the best of her, Pinkie couldn’t help but peek out the window to see if Twilight and Dash were arriving. Lo and behold, they were off in the distance flying towards Sugarcube Corner. She pulled away from the window.
        “This is it!” she called out to the room. “Be quiet, everypony!”
        There was a hush as everypony stopped their casual conversations and anticipated the door opening. Not before too long, the doors to Sugarcube Corner opened and the bell rang. Pinkie flipped the light switch and everypony rose from their positions on the floor.
        “Surprise!” they cried out. The noise stunned Dash.
        “Wow, what is this, like, the whole village?” she asked as ponies began to crowd her, offering her congratulations.
        “So I guess you were surprised after all,” Twilight whispered so that Pinkie couldn’t overhear. Dash nodded and laughed in the middle of shaking everypony’s hooves and thanking them for their appreciation.
        Twilight stepped away to join Pinkie, who was already pouring punch into plastic cups for everypony to drink.
        “You really pulled out all the stops,” she said. Pinkie nodded, but remained focused on the punch.
        “I think Rainbow Dash really appreciates what you did for her today,” Twilight added, and Pinkie looked up this time and beamed at Twilight before returning to the drinks.
        “Do you want me to take over?” Twilight asked.
Pinkie shook her head. “Sorry, Twilight, but I have to make sure everything is just right. You’re the expert at magic, but I’m the expert at parties, so let me work my magic here. You just enjoy yourself and have a good time.”
        At that moment, records scratched and music began playing from the speaker in the corner. Vinyl Scratch had prepared her set, and everypony started dancing where they stood. It was extremely hot and stuffy in the room, especially in the middle of summer, but everypony was too excited to care.
        Finally pulling away from everypony shaking her hoof, Dash made her way to the food table, where Pinkie was arranging the cheese and crackers.
        “Pinks!” she called over the noise to get her attention. Pinkie looked up and beamed when she saw the look of joy on Dash’s face.
        “Dashie!” she cried. “I’d give you a big extra-squeezy hug but I can’t get over to you! Did you enjoy the surprise?”
        “Yes, Pinkie, it’s awesome. Thank you so much! How’d you pull it off?”
        “Oh, this? Psshh. This is nothing! I do this like every other week!” Pinkie and Dash both laughed hysterically, each of them recognizing the understatement in the exclamation. A crowd of ponies eager to talk to Dash started pulling her away.
        “Well, I gotta go!” she shouted. “My fans are calling me!”
        Pinkie winked as Dash was pulled back into the crowd. Rarity had been right about the banner. Seeing how this night was going, it had definitely not been necessary.
        The party had wound down, and Pinkie’s friends had chosen to help her clean up rather than go home, even though it was late. Dash was plodding along, picking up plastic cups off the floor but almost collapsing on it herself. Twilight noticed and approached her, holding her upright so she wouldn’t fall.
        “You look exhausted,” she remarked. Dash’s eyelids were drooping, but she shook herself awake and extricated herself from Twilight’s grasp.
        “I’m fine, Twilight,” she ensured her, flying over to the trash barrel and dumping the cups she had in her hooves. Her eyelids began to shut again and Applejack nudged her to keep her awake.
        “You ain’t in good shape right now,” she stated. “Ah reckon all that hoofshaking got you beat.”
        “Not to mention how much you flew today helping me practice,” Twilight added, walking over to Dash’s side. The others surrounded Dash as well, and she looked nervously at the five of them before letting out a big yawn.
        “You guys are right,” she conceded. “I worked really hard today and I’m not feeling so great. Think I’ll fly home and get some shut-eye before I leave tomorrow.” Dash made an attempt to leave, but Fluttershy swiftly flew in front of her to block her from exiting.
        “There’s no way you’re flying home by yourself,” she asserted. “I’m going to make sure you get home okay without passing out in midair.”
        “What are you, my mom? I’ll be fine, relax. Just had a bit of a busier day than usual. No big deal.” Dash’s eyes shut and she nearly fell to the floor before Fluttershy swooped beneath her and caught her.
        “Darling, I would accept Fluttershy’s offer to help, if I were you,” Rarity advised her. “You’ll more than likely miss your train if you can’t make it home and rise early to pack.”
        “For Pete’s sake, fine…” Dash grumbled, allowing Fluttershy to help her out of Sugarcube Corner.
        “We’ll see you at the train station!” Twilight called as Dash and Fluttershy left the bakery.
        “Bye, Dashie!” Pinkie cried even louder as they flew off into the distance.
        Fluttershy wasn’t strong enough to support all of Dash’s weight, so she prodded Dash in order to keep her awake so she could help herself get home. They didn’t do much talking along the way, as neither of them knew what to say to each other. By the time they reached Dash’s house, Fluttershy was afraid she’d have nothing left to say to her before she left tomorrow. But as she set Rainbow Dash into bed and wished her goodnight, Dash sat up straight and called out to her.
        “Don’t leave yet,” she pleaded, hating the vulnerability in her voice, but knowing that Fluttershy was the only pony who had truly seen that side of her. Fluttershy approached her without hesitation and sat on the side of the bed.
        “I’m here, Dashie,” she said, giving her a reassuring smile. Dash smiled back for a moment, but then sighed as her fatigue and emotions overwhelmed her.
        “You made a good point today, Shy,” she admitted, her stomach now a bundle of nerves as she thought about the friends she would be leaving behind. Fluttershy being here reminded her that she was the friend she had known the longest, and would therefore be the hardest one to leave. Letting out a long sigh, Dash curled up under the covers.
        “We’re all going to miss you,” Fluttershy said gently. “But this is a very exciting time for you, and you shouldn’t miss it for the world. You know we’ll be there to support you all the way. We’ll see the shows and be cheering from the sidelines. We’ll keep in touch with letters. You’ll be able to come back during the offseason. It’s going to be okay.”
        “I guess you’re right,” Dash said, sniffling in spite of herself. “I think I’m ready to go to sleep now. Don’t wanna drag this out longer than I have to…”
        Those words stung Fluttershy. She knew this was going to be hard on them, but to be turned away like that by a friend she’d known so long just didn’t feel right. “Rainbow Dash, avoiding it isn’t going to make it go away…”
        “Avoiding what?” Dash snapped, making Fluttershy jump. “Look, I don’t want some sappy, cliche farewell where everypony starts crying and doubting themselves and all that emotional stuff. I’d rather just be left alone. I appreciate you flying me home, now can you let me sleep?”
        There was a pause as Dash closed her eyes, hoping Fluttershy would just fly away and say goodbye at the train station tomorrow like everypony else. Fluttershy stayed right where she was.
        “You were the one that called me back here as I was leaving, so don’t try to get rid of me now. We’ve been friends for so long…” Fluttershy said carefully. “This isn’t how we should say goodbye.”
        Dash groaned. “Fluttershy, look! Oh, forget it, just forget it! Yeah, I’m gonna miss you. Yeah, we’ve been together since flight school and it’s gonna be weird with you so far away, and even though I’m living the dream, I have nopony to share it with. Yeah, writing letters will be nice but not enough. But do you have to remind me of that now, when I’m already feeling lonely and afraid? Do you have to remind me now?” Dash started sobbing openly, turning over and hiding her face from Fluttershy as she cried into her pillow.
        Fluttershy took a deep breath, afraid she was going to cry herself, but seeing a rare outpouring of emotions from Rainbow Dash was oddly quite relieving. She laid down next to her friend and stroked her back, shushing her gently.
        “It’ll be okay, Dashie,” she whispered. “You’re going to love it. Performing in front of huge crowds, signing autographs, getting to know your childhood idols. You won’t have time to miss us too much.”
        “That’s not true,” Dash said, sniffling and wiping the tears from her eyes. “You know I’m gonna miss you, Fluttershy, and all my other friends in Ponyville. No way that’s not gonna sting.”
        “I know, I know,” Fluttershy said, “but it won’t be so bad once you get used to it. Everything’s going to be okay. You have a lot to look forward to, so I just ask that you don’t spend too much time looking back.”
        Dash allowed herself a smile. “Okay, Fluttershy, I promise.”
        “Pinkie Promise?” Fluttershy teased. Dash let out a hearty chuckle.
        “Don’t overdo it,” she said, reaching up and teasing Fluttershy’s mane. Fluttershy beamed and rose from Dash’s bed.
        “Have a good night’s rest, and I’ll see you at the train station tomorrow.”
        “It’s a deal,” Dash said, waving to Fluttershy as she left the room. Dash shut her eyes, knowing it was going to be a fitful night’s sleep. Maybe I’ll sleep on the train tomorrow to make up for it, she thought.
Despite her sadness, she knew that tomorrow would mark a new chapter in her life, just as it had for Twilight when she was crowned a princess. Okay, maybe not thatmuch.
        Dash smiled as she nestled herself into her sheets.
        The alarm clock seemed to ring too soon, shaking Dash from her slumber. It had been harder than usual to fall asleep that night, so she felt like she had missed a few hours. She was looking forward to catching up on the train, provided her nerves didn’t keep her awake.
        She had given herself just enough time to pack the essentials. Given her upcoming life on the road, she’d be leaving most of her belongings behind in Ponyville, where they’d wait for her until the offseason. All she needed was a saddlepack with the basics: toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, and most of the other bath items she owned. It took her all of ten minutes to finish packing, and she had enough time to grab a quick bite to eat before she left.
        Dash, despite her laidback nature, was a pretty good cook, at least when it came to the basics. She had a craving for oat pancakes, so she took out the instant pancake batter and poured a few dollops onto a frying pan before setting it on the stovetop and igniting the burner. As the batter sizzled in the pan, Dash took a glance at a photo she kept on the countertop.
        It was a picture of her and her five friends just after the Summer Sun Celebration when they met. Twilight was wingless, Pinkie’s mane was shorter, and everypony looked just a bit more chipper. Not that a relatively quiet life in Ponyville had worn on her, but even a couple years’ time showed a marked difference, both in age and maturity.
        Seeing the picture reminded Dash of her conversation with Fluttershy last night, and she was hit with a fresh wave of sadness. Darn it, this is supposed to be an exciting day for me. Why am I getting so mushy all of a sudden? Truth be told, she’d be leaving a lot behind here in Ponyville, and the reality of that had not quite settled in. She wasn’t about to start bawling her eyes out again; she suspected her fatigue had as much to do with her breakdown last night as her emotions. But a bitter wave of nostalgia weighed her down regardless.
        She couldn’t remember aching like this when she had left Cloudsdale, because there was much about her childhood she’d rather forget, and she was following a friend. Now she was leaving a far more pleasant community behind and doing so without any social connections whatsoever. The difference was stark, and no less painful when Dash reminded herself of it.
        In her reminiscence, she almost burned the pancakes. She quickly flipped them over and noticed they were a bit darker than she liked, but still far from inedible. She focused the rest of her attention on the pancakes so that her last meal in Ponyville would at least be a pleasant one.
        She heard a low thud at the door that indicated there was somepony waiting to come in. Dash left the stove unattended briefly to answer the door for who she suspected was Fluttershy.
Can’t that mare just stay away for a while? No need to keep reminding me what I’m leaving behind.
        She was surprised to see Twilight waiting for her on the other side of the door.
        “What are you doing here?” Dash asked, the first thing that came to her mind.
        “I didn’t want you to eat your last meal alone,” Twilight said hesitantly, noting the annoyed look on Dash’s face. That quickly faded into a smile as Dash let Twilight in and led her into the kitchen. Twilight could smell the pancakes Dash was cooking on the stove, and the aroma sent a wave of hunger into her stomach.
        “Do you want pancakes?” Dash asked as she manned the stove, spatula in hoof.
        “If you wouldn’t mind, that sounds great,” Twilight said. “Oh, but you were probably making those for yourself before I got here.”
        “Don’t worry about it,” Dash said, taking the finished pancakes off the pan and setting them down onto the waiting plate. “These are a little burnt. Still good, though, I think.”
        “That’s fine,” Twilight said. “Spike always makes them too runny, anyway, at least for my taste.” Dash brought Twilight some silverware, but she let it sit on the table as Dash went to pour more batter on the pan.
        “Go ahead and eat,” she said. “We don’t have time for you to wait for me to sit down.”
        “Thank you,” Twilight said, levitating over the syrup bottle on the counter and pouring some onto the pancakes before taking her first bite. The firm, warm texture seemed to melt in her mouth.
        “These are delicious,” she said, temporarily forgetting her manners by talking with her mouth full. She resumed eating with more proper manners, even though she knew Dash didn’t care in the slightest. Once the stove warmed up, it didn’t take Dash too long to complete her own batch. She set the pancakes down on a second plate and brought both plate and silverware over to the table, sitting across from Twilight. She ate them dry, without any syrup.
        “How do you eat them like that?” Twilight asked.
        “Old habit,” Dash explained. “Didn’t want all that sugar weighing me down. The oats are good for you, the sugary stuff in that syrup ain’t.” Dash was chewing at lightning speed in an attempt not to miss the train. Twilight felt pushed to eat quickly as well, but Dash noticed and shook her head.
        “You take your time,” she said. “I’ve gotta make sure I’m not leaving anything too important behind.”
        The two of them continued to eat in silence. Dash finished first and started zooming around the house looking for items she’d need, now that she was feeling more awake. Twilight continued eating at her own pace at the table, looking around the home she had not spent a lot of time in. It was a strange kind of magic that kept the kitchen appliances floating in the clouds instead of plummeting to the ground. Twilight had read some theories about pegasus cloud handling, but the science behind it all still escaped her grasp. Maybe if she had asked, Dash would have been able to explain it to her, but it was too late now.
        Dash zoomed back into the kitchen, saddlepack on her back, looking just about ready to leave. Her eye caught the picture of her and her friends that was sitting on the kitchen counter, and, hoping Twilight wasn’t looking, she swiped it and stuffed it in her saddlepack. Twilight was now finished with her pancakes, and she used a napkin to wipe the syrup from around her mouth.
        “Ready to go?” Dash asked.
        “I think so,” Twilight said as she rose from the table.
        “Then there’s no time to lose!” Dash cried as she flew out of the house. Twilight took one look at the countertop and noticed the picture was gone. She smiled and followed Dash’s trail out of the house on her way to the train station.
        Dash had to slow down so Twilight could keep up, but they still made reasonable time arriving at the train station. Waiting for them were Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Spike. Waving above them was a banner that said “Good luck, Rainbow Dash!” in bold letters.
        “Hey, Dashie!” Pinkie cried. “Do you like the banner? I was sad that I couldn’t get it ready in time for the party, but then I said to myself ‘Why don’t we have it when she’s boarding the train?’ So here it is! What do you think?”
        Dash chuckled heartily. “It looks great, Pinkie Pie.”
        “Are you sure you packed everything you need?” Rarity asked, fussing over Dash like an overprotective mother. Dash rolled her eyes.
        “I’m fine, Rarity. I’ve got all the basics.”
        “Good. Now, don’t make the same mistakes I made during that Best Young Flyers competition. Don’t push yourself too hard or too fast.”
        “Got it, Rares,” Dash said. “Thanks.”
        “Dash, give ’em all you got out there,” Applejack exclaimed. “Show them what an Element o’ Harmony can really do.”
        “And don’t forget to show off all your super-cool moves!” Spike exclaimed.
        “I won’t, Spike,” Dash acknowledged.
        “And make sure to go really fast!” Pinkie joined in. “That way they’ll be super impressed and might throw you a welcoming party!”
        “We’ll see about that,” Dash said, laughing at Pinkie’s overexuberant smile. The train’s whistle sounded as the conductor made the final boarding call.
        “Have fun, Rainbow Dash!” Twilight called, waving as Dash made her way towards the train. Everypony else made their emphatic goodbyes as Dash boarded. Suddenly, Fluttershy floated up to her and gave her a hug.
        “Good luck,” she whispered into Dash’s ear, before drawing back and joining the other ponies waving to her. Dash boarded the train and waved back through the window as it started to churn and leave the station. Dash continued to wave to her friends until the station platform fell out of view, and then she sat back into her seat and sighed.

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                 Chapter 1: A Little Boost                 
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Chapter 1: A Little Boost
Chapter 1: A Little Boost
        If Pinkie had let Dash finish reading her letter yesterday, her friends would have known that the Wonderbolts Practice Facility was just outside Manehattan, so that was where Dash was heading. Butterflies were starting to flutter in her stomach, and that hope of catching up on some much-needed sleep began to fade. The train ride would take about a day, as Manehattan was way out on the east coast of Equestria, far from the more central location of Ponyville.
        Riding along on the bumpy railroad was a rare experience for Dash, and she realized she had taken for granted the access the train provided to anywhere in Equestria right from her own home. She’d rarely used the train during her stay in Ponyville. There were a few trips to Canterlot, and one memorable journey to find Applejack when she didn’t come home, but other than that she hadn’t really left Ponyville since moving in. To be leaving it now, for such a long time, gave her a heavy feeling in her heart.
        A pony passed with a food cart, asking if anyone wanted something to eat. Dash was not hungry and declined the request. It was the only interaction she’d had with anypony on the train up to this point. She glanced around the train at the other ponies and sighed.
        With nothing to do but gaze out the window at the landscape, thoughts began to fly through her head. What would the Wonderbolts think of her? Would she impress them with her blinding speed, or would she crash and burn so badly that they would send her home? That would be lousy, being Wonderbolt for a day only to find out she didn’t cut it. But that wasn’t going to happen. She would show them her stuff, and they would be deeply impressed, and before she knew it she’d be replacing Spitfire as captain of the Wonderbolts!
        Dash shook herself, reminding herself she was thinking too far ahead. She’d have to take it one day at a time, really get a feel for what they wanted from her, and find more subtle ways of impressing them. It was all about getting the right maneuver, as she found out at the Wonderbolt Academy, about nailing that perfect trick, and all the strength and conditioning needed to do so consistently. It would take a lot of practice, a lot of preparation, and a lot of heart. Well, Dash knew at least she had more than enough of that last element.
        Her thoughts drifted into daydreams of screaming fans chanting her name as she flew through the sky. She could feel her muscles tearing as she pushed her speeds to the breaking point, the chants dying under the air screaming through her ears. A wide turn here, a flip there, and she knew the audience was cheering, even if she couldn’t hear it. Suddenly she was shooting up into the air, preparing for the grand finale. She had to get enough height to pull it off, so she flew so high that ponies would need binoculars to see her from the stands. It wouldn’t matter, though; in a minute she’d be blowing them all away.
        She was high enough now, she turned and dove headfirst towards the ground, feeling her stomach churning and head spinning from speeds approaching the sound barrier. There were only a small number of ponies who had the strength to pull this trick off, and she had done it when she was just a filly. What mattered now, though, is whether she could do it now, in front of thousands of ponies screaming her name. Would she get that last move and wow the crowd, or would she make a small blunder, a miscalculation that would throw her off course and disappoint everypony in the stands?
        None of those questions mattered, because here she was getting closer and closer to the ground, and she still hadn’t reached that breaking point she needed. She dove further and further, preparing herself to pull up at the last possible moment, waiting for the break that would set off the trick and send a hush over the crowd. She could now count the flower petals on the ground. She’d have to pull up early to keep from crushing her skull against the ground, but she needed that final burst of speed.
        Suddenly, she broke free, and she pulled up immediately to rocket back into the air with a trailing rainbow streaking out of her mane. She had performed the Sonic Rainboom! Either the crowd was screaming her name, or they were stunned silent. Whatever the result, she knew they were impressed. She soared higher and higher, curving through the air to make that trademark rainbow shape, both as a visual appeal and to slow her down so she could land safely on the firm earth. She felt less dizzy as her head stopped swimming, and the wind rushing through her ears began to die down, and consequently she could hear the cries of “Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!” from the stands. She landed on the ground and smiled at the crowd as they erupted into applause, stamping their hooves on the stands and screaming at the top of their lungs. This was the kind of excitement she’d only dreamed of, and now it was a reality! Fans cheering her name, the spotlights all on her, the attention, the recognition!
        A bump in the tracks shook Dash awake from her slumber. Her nerves became unsettled once more, and when the food cart came around this time, she didn’t take anything from it, even though her stomach was rumbling. She knew that proper nourishment was crucial to fuel the athletic tricks she would no doubt be performing the moment she arrived, but she couldn’t bring herself to eat right now, afraid that it would just churn around in her stomach and make her feel sick.
        As the day wore on, Dash looked at the other passengers in the cart. A few were asleep; these she looked at the longest, as they were the least likely to notice her looking. There was a young couple with two rowdy foals that kept whining and leaving their seats. Dash could have lived without that kind of nuisance. There was another pony like her, just looking around at the other ponies, and Dash purposely avoided her gaze, knowing she was probably doing the same to her. Everypony was so isolated that nopony was willing to strike up a conversation with anypony else in the cart.
        Dash shut her eyes and tried to fall back asleep, but the closer she got to Manehattan, the more uncomfortable she felt, and her hunger was only making things worse. It didn’t help that she got motion sick on train rides, which she found laughably ironic.
        The wide fields and distant mountains had now turned to houses, paved roads, and more urban developments, signaling to Rainbow Dash that they were getting closer to Manehattan. She had only been to the city twice before, the first time with her father, going to see the very Wonderbolts she would soon be joining. It had been a thrill to see such tall skyscrapers and lines of ponies in the road. It had been so cool to see the hustle and bustle of the metropolitan lifestyle. But she had been completely blown away by her first ever Wonderbolts performance. The death-defying tricks they pulled in the air had had Dash hanging off her seat, and when she struggled to see what was happening overhead her dad had put her on his shoulders. Then it was as if she was flying in the sky with them, coursing through the air and forming those beautiful arcs of lightning that emblazoned the night sky.
        It had been way past their bedtime, and no doubt Dash’s mom would have had something to say about her dad letting her stay up so late, but it had been so worth it to meet with Spitfire after the performance and get her autograph. Dash hadn’t had a cutie mark at the time, so her autograph had been a nice message about growing up and finding her place.
        What exactly had she written? Dash rummaged through her saddlepack looking for the old promotional poster Spitfire had signed all those years ago, back when she had been a new flyer for the team. She found it, lifted it out, and smiled when she saw it. The poster had a picture of the old Wonderbolts flying towards her with a caption about dates and times across Equestria, but in the upper right corner Spitfire had written Dash’s message before signing the poster. Dash took a moment to read those words carefully again.
To a young pegasus still finding her way in the world, always look to the sky!
        Yes, it was brief, and it was probably a generic message for all young pegasi who attended these events, but these words had been in Dash’s head all her foalhood. They had been playing in her head when she performed her first Sonic Rainboom and gotten her cutie mark, and it was then that she knew that she would always be flying for the rest of her life.
        And now she was here, ready to think of her own messages for young fillies and colts who had been her age, who were seeing the Wonderbolts for the first time. What would she tell them? What kind of dreams would she inspire? It was overwhelming to imagine, and Rainbow Dash had to calm her nerves as the train approached the city of Manehattan proper.
        The skyscrapers were enormous. That was the first thing in Dash’s mind as she entered the city. She couldn’t see how high through the train’s windows, but she knew they towered over her. Billboards for all sorts of goods lined the train tracks, including, to her disgust, Flim Flam Brothers Cider.
No way am I drinking that stuff again, she thought Soon the train entered a tunnel, and she knew they were almost ready to depart. She could feel the tension building inside of her. She wanted to fly around the tall buildings in the high up apartments where the pegasi lived. She’d be getting one of her own for being a Wonderbolt, a penthouse apartment no less. She could imagine taking naps in what would undoubtedly be a luxurious bed, getting some of the best sleep she’d ever had after a hard day’s practice.
        The train stopped at the station, and Dash was the first out. She made her way towards the subway, following the signs as she looked for the B-Line, which would take her out of the city and to the Wonderbolts Training Facility. There weren’t quite as many ponies as she was expecting, but there were still some making their way home from work.
        Leaning against a post was a ragged Earth pony with an unkempt muzzle and matted mane and tail. He held up a can to Dash’s face and shook it, with a small amount of bits jingling inside.
        “Please, ma’am,” he said in a decrepit voice, “can you spare some bits?”
        Dash hastily looked into her saddlepack for her purse. Once she found it and dug it out, she took a few bits in her hoof and dropped them in the bucket.
        “Celestia bless you,” the old pony wheezed before coughing. Dash wanted to see what was wrong with the old pony, but her train was arriving. The B-Line would be heading south to the Wonderbolts Training Facility. She left the poor pony behind as she boarded the train, but as the train departed she stared out the window at him until he was out of view.
        Rainbow Dash saw an empty seat, and was tempted to take it. Instead, she decided to remain floating in the air to stay lose. The train ride to Manehattan had worn on her backside, so anytime she could spend standing or in the air was welcome.
        She took out the letter again and reread it to make sure she wasn’t forgetting something important. It contained most of the basics for the first night: the directions to the facility, the first training session, and the information about her living arrangements. She was sure she hadn’t forgotten anything, so she had nothing to do but wait anxiously for the train to arrive.
        The trip seemed to take forever, especially with the frequent starting and stopping as passengers boarded and departed. Dash kept an eye on the map laying out the stops of the train, and at every stop she counted how many more to go before they reached the facility. Five more stops...four more stops…
When she finally arrived at the train stop, she rocketed out of the ship to the facility’s entrance and flew into the lobby. She was astonished to see Spitfire and Soarin waiting for her there.
        “Your train was late,” Spitfire said as she bumped hooves with Dash. Soarin slapped her on the back and gave her a wide grin. The three of them floated down the hall, and Dash was left in awe of all the accolades sitting in glass cases lining the wall.
        “We’ve already met you as your instructors and as your competitors,” Spitfire said. “Now, we meet as Wonderbolts.”
        “I guess we are,” Dash said, elated that her idols were speaking to her as a teammate, as an equal. Gone were the formalities evident at the Gala. Gone were the harsh militant words of Spitfire at the academy.
        “You psyched for your first training session?” Soarin asked. It was already clear from the smile on Dash’s face, but he was trying to be polite.
        “Um...yeah!” Dash said. “I can’t tell you enough how awesome it is to finally be with you guys.”
        “I understand how you feel,” Spitfire said, smiling at Dash. “I felt the same way when I first joined. Wow, that was way back...I think you were just a filly when I made the team. Didn’t I sign an autograph for you once?”
        “You remember that?” Dash blurted. “But you signed so many! Why do you remember mine?”
        “The rainbow-colored mane,” Spitfire said with a smirk. “Never met another filly with a mane like yours.”
        “Oh! Well, that makes sense,” Dash said, flipping her mane back in an attempt to impress them. Spitfire and Soarin chuckled.
        “Yeah, you and your dad were the only ones I’ve ever seen,” Spitfire commented. “Then when I found out you were an Element of Harmony, I remembered signing that autograph all those years ago. You never know where life’s gonna take you, huh?”
        “I guess not,” Dash said.
        The three of them arrived in the training grounds. There was nothing but the sky above them, and in them were clouds formed in the shape of hoops. Dash looking up to the sky feeling puzzled.
        “Why are we not actually in the clouds?” Dash asked. “We’re all pegasi here, right?”
        Soarin stepped forward to explain.
        “We need to practice taking off from ground level because that’s where we perform our shows. I’m sure you know taking off from a cloud is very different from taking off from solid earth.”
        “Yeah, clouds are much flimsier,” Dash said.
        “Exactly,” Soarin replied. “Now, why don’t you just get up there and run a course through the hoops? Show us your stuff.”
        Dash put down her saddlepack on the ground. She steadied her trembling limbs and flexed her wings. She was ready to show the Wonderbolts what she could do!
        “Whenever you’re ready,” Spitfire said, and immediately after those words Dash took off into the sky.
        Her takeoff was stellar, launching her into the air with a  burst of speed. She flew through the first couple of hoops easily, as they were in a straight line. But at the first curve, she overshot her turn and passed through the cloudy part of the hoop on the left side. She corrected herself and stayed strong through the next few hoops before reaching some in a loop-de-loop arrangement. Dash leaned back and soared through the hoops with ease, a stunt that would make any ordinary pegasus dizzy.
        Soarin and Spitfire watched her carefully, taking mental notes of her strengths and weaknesses. The last thing on their list were her landings, which were coming right up. Dash passed through the last hoop and landed on the ground hard, stumbling a bit on her hooves before straightening up, jutting her chest out and smiling.
        Spitfire and Soarin stomped their hooves on the ground and walked over to Dash with smiles on their faces. Dash thought she was going to melt on the spot.
        “Solid work,” Spitfire said. “You need work on turns and your landings, but everything else looked pretty good.”
        “You’ll work on everything, though,” Soarin informed her. “You can never get too much practice, and everything needs to be in top form for performances. Not to mention the moves we perform are dangerous, and we need to practice so we don’t get hurt.”
        “Gotcha,” Dash said. “So, what’s next?”
        “Run the course a few more times,” Spitfire responded. “This time we’ll join you.”
        “Really?” Dash asked, hardly believing her ears.
        “Of course,” Soarin said. “We fly as a team, right?”
        “Always,” Dash said with a sneer.
        The three of them launched off of the ground. Soarin had a faster takeoff, but Dash soon pulled ahead. Spitfire had the slowest takeoff but gained speed so that she was neck and neck with Dash.
Oh, I see what this is, Dash thought. Okay then, prepare to be blown away! Dash put all her effort into gaining speed, straining her wings as she pushed against the wind whipping at her face. At the first turn, though, Spitfire turned beautifully while Dash arced wide, so she was now behind and playing catchup. Pretty soon Soarin caught up to her as well, and by the time they hit the loop-de-loop Dash was in dead last. Soarin slowed down through the loop, though, as he was starting to get a headache, allowing Dash to pull ahead.
        They were coming up to the final stretch, and Dash poured on enough speed during her dive to catch up with Spitfire. It didn’t last long, though, as Spitfire put out a final burst of speed to land a second before Dash did. Dash stumbled again and nearly fell over as she had taken the landing too fast. She was now winded as Soarin touched down a few seconds later.
        “Your speed is impressive,” Soarin commented with a grin. “It’s pretty hard to keep up with Spit here.”
        “You’re tellin’ me,” Dash said, panting. “How are you guys not gasping for breath?”
        “You need to work on your endurance,” Spitfire said. “Don’t worry, if it’s still an issue after a few days, we can help you with that.”
        “How?” Dash asked.
        “You’ll see,” Soarin said. He looked carefully at Spitfire, who gave him a stern look. They decided without words to drop the subject.
        “One last thing,” Spitfire said with a smile. “Can you do a Sonic Rainboom?”
        “What, you mean right now?” Dash asked, her heart pounding and a panicked look in her eye.
        “It’s your signature move, right?” Soarin asked. “You performed it at the Best Young Flyer’s competition and we were really impressed. We wanna see if you can do it again.”
        “Um...okay, I’ll try,” Dash said, gulping. She hadn’t done one since the wedding of Shining Armor and Cadance. Nevertheless, she took off into the air and soared ever higher, becoming merely a dot from the ground level. She stopped when she thought she was high enough, looked down at the ground, and took a deep breath.
        She rocketed towards the ground, building up speed as she worked with gravity. Her eyes began to water, and she could see the cone that was produced just before a Sonic Rainboom. The ground was getting closer and closer, though, and she still didn’t have enough speed to get that final burst. Just before hitting the ground, she had to pull up early and loop around to lower her speed before landing gently.
        She hung her head in shame, but Spitfire and Soarin applauded again.
        “That was a good effort,” Spitfire said. “I know it’s hard to pull off in front of your idols like that, on your very first day of training. But we’ll get you into shape so you can do it consistently. That sound good?”
        “I guess so,” Dash said, staring at the ground but smiling anyway.
        “I think we’re all set for tonight,” Spitfire said. “You did a good job. You wanna meet the rest of the team?” Spitfire asked.
Dash nodded enthusiastically.
“Then follow us,” Spitfire said. “They’re in the locker room.”
        Dash put on her saddlepack, and then Spitfire and Soarin led her through a door that led down a cold hallway. Dash started to shiver as she realized the hallway’s vents were blasting cold air.
        “Why’s it so c-c-cold?” she asked.
        “We work up a sweat on the field. This helps us cool off faster,” Soarin explained.
        “Cool,” Dash said, almost cracking up hearing her unintended pun. Spitfire and Soarin smiled.
        When they arrived at the locker room, there were ten ponies waiting in the center of the room, five mares and five stallions. They all waved to Rainbow Dash and Spitfire, giving their captain a chance to introduce them.
        “In no particular order, these are High Winds, Misty Fly, Rapidfire, Lightning Streak, Blaze, Fire Streak, Wave Chill, Silver Lining, Surprise, and Fleetfoot,” Spitfire rattled off. Dash stared at them blankly, and Spitfire laughed. “I don’t expect you to remember them all at once, but you’ll get to know them soon.”
        “Nice to meet you, Rainbow Dash,” said Wave Chill. “It’s gonna be real cool to have you around.”
        “Uh...thanks,” Dash said, still in shock that she was in a room with all of her idols. Some were from when she was a filly, some were newer, but she admired all of them equally.
        She didn’t have much to clean up from the brief training session, unlike the rest of the Wonderbolts, who had been flying all day and were covered in mud and grime from their coats to their hooves. Dash stepped into one of the showers, hoping the hot water would ease her weariness from her long travels and her brief exercises. Wave Chill stepped into the shower adjacent to her.
        “So what do ya think about being a Wonderbolt for the first time, huh?” he asked, running suds through his mane. Dash grabbed some shampoo from her saddlepack and began rubbing it into hers.
        “Well, you know, it’s really exciting. I can’t wait to show ’em what I can do!” she boasted. Wave laughed along with her, but then his expression turned more calm.
        “You feeling nervous at all?”
        “What do you mean?” Dash asked, rinsing the shampoo from her mane.
        “I mean you’re about to perform with the fastest fliers in Equestria, and you’ve only just started. Aren’t you afraid you’re gonna screw something up, make a fool of yourself?”
        “Why would I be afraid of that?” Dash asked.
        “Well, a lot of new recruits stay on for a few days and then can’t cut it. They either burn out from the strenuous drills, can’t fly as fast or as strong as the veterans, and a lot of them end up crying or getting so mad that they start smashing the benches in the locker room. A lot of first recruits get asked to leave after only a few days.”
        “Days?” Dash asked, trembling as she began to rub her back with soap.
        “It’s a pretty cutthroat atmosphere around here. You’re either good enough to fly with the Bolts, or you aren’t.”
        “What am I gonna do, Wave?” Dash asked, trembling.
        “Look, give everything you got in tomorrow’s drills. That’s all you can really do. Unless…”
“Unless what?”
“It’s not my place to say. All I know is, there’s ways to make you tougher, stronger, and faster up in that sky. Sometimes you’re good enough to make it without help, but sometimes you need a little boost.”
        “And what the hay does that mean, ‘a little boost?’ What are you talking about?”
        At that moment, Spitfire walked past. Wave cringed and moved closer to Dash.
        “Look, all you need to know is this,” Wave said solemnly. “We are the best of the best. Some of us just need to be a little bit better.”
        And with that, Wave Chill left the shower, leaving Dash to mull over his words. Seriously, what the hay was thatall about?
        Dash toweled off and made her way to the benches to sit and relax. There was a bit of a space in the corner behind one of the lockers, and Dash noticed Fire Streak sitting behind it. Dash would have just ignored him, but he was holding a needle in his hoof filled with a blue fluid the color of her coat.
        Fire Streak reached up behind his back and jabbed the needle into his wing, injecting the fluid into the vein on the wing’s outer edge. The injection was swift, methodical, and when it was done his wing was pulsating. Dash was starting to feel squeamish, but then Fire Streak refilled the needle with fluid in a small vial and jabbed his other wing, injecting more of the fluid. Dash shuddered at the sight, and when Fire Streak turned around and left the corner, Dash looked away quickly.
What was he doing with…with that needle? she wondered. What’s inthat stuff?
        Dash had only one experience to call upon involving a needle that large, and that was when she found one abandoned in the grounds of her flight school. Her stomach had squirmed when she saw it, and she hadn’t known what it was for. The needle Fire Streak was using looked very similar, and it made her wonder. If a needle like that had been abandoned at flight school, what had it been used for? And why was Fire Streak using it now?
        Dash’s thoughts were interrupted when Spitfire called her over. She shook herself out of her reverie and flew over to her.
        “Dash, I almost forgot,” she said as she shuffled over to her. Spitfire threw her a shiny object, and it wasn’t until Dash caught it and looked at it did she find out it was a key.
“You’re gonna be rooming with Wave Chill temporarily, until we can find you a place of your own,” Spitfire explained. “I hope that’s not a problem.”
        “”Nah, of course not,” Dash assured her with a nervous chuckle. “Wave Chill seems like a pretty cool guy.”
        “Good, good. You’ll be here at 0900 hours for morning drills?”
        “You mean nine AM? Absolutely.”
        “Excellent. Wave Chill will show you home. It’s not too far from here, just a short flight. Nothing you can’t handle, right?”
        “Right…” Dash said, with a bit of an undertone. She found Wave Chill waiting in the lobby for her and smiled.
        “Looks like we’re roomies,” Dash said, flashing the key to the apartment at Wave.
        “Nice. The penthouse is just a few blocks east of here. It’s great, you’ll see. Oh, and Dash?”
        “Yeah?”
        “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. We’ve all heard of you and your Sonic Rainbooms. I’m sure you’re gonna be great.”
        “Thanks, Wave.”
        “No problem.”
        Dash and Wave smiled at each other. The two of them left the locker room and made their way outside. The sun had set, and the lights of the city were shining in the distance. The two of them took off, and Dash followed Wave towards his penthouse suite. She was excited to see what tomorrow would bring, even with the uncertainties of today creeping in the back of her mind.

//-------------------------------------------------------//
                   Chapter 2: Keeping Up                   
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Chapter 2: Keeping Up
Chapter 2: Keeping Up
        Throughout the entire flight home, Dash struggled to figure out if she wanted to ask Wave Chill about that injection she had seen Fire Streak give to himself. There was something vile about it, something that made it feel wrong, so she was wary about bringing it up.
        “Is this a real nice apartment?” she asked Wave Chill.
        He gave her a smile. “The nicest around. Wait ’til you see the interior. You’re gonna love it!”
        When the apartment complex came into view, Dash was in awe. The building was tall enough to pierce the sky. Wave Chill ascended upwards with Dash following in her wake until they reached the penthouse.
“Before we head inside, I wanted to show you something,” he told Dash as he landed on the roof.
        Dash landed next to him on the cool surface. She immediately noticed the huge pool laid out in front of her. The water was as blue as her coat of fur, and looked so warm and inviting. This pool is awesome! Way nicer than any we had in Cloudsdale.
        “You want to go for a swim, don’t you?” Wave Chill asked.
        Dash looked at him with an eager hopefulness in her expression.
        “You can test the waters if you want. I’m gonna go grab a towel so you don’t track water in the apartment.”
        Dash didn’t need to be told twice. She threw off her saddlepack and leapt straight into the water, which was as warm as she had imagined. She kicked her hooves and traveled across the length of the pool. Just as in her other athletic pursuits, Dash was an excellent swimmer. She was still doing laps in the pool when Wave Chill returned with the towel.
        “And I thought I was a good swimmer!” he said. Dash dunked her head underwater to wet her mane, but she came back up to address Wave Chill. “I was on the swim team in flight school,” she said. “I won a few meets.”
        “I don’t doubt it,” Wave said. “How long are you gonna stay in there?”
        “Not too much longer,” she said. “You don’t have to wait up for me. I’ll be down in a flash.”
        “That’s fine,” Wave said, leaving the towel behind as he flew down to the apartment again. Dash launched herself off the wall of the pool to do another lap. Her specialty was the breaststroke, using her wings to help her propel across the water. The physical exercise went a long way in clearing her head, and when she finally left the pool, she felt cool and refreshed, the water evaporating from her fur, and her earlier doubts evaporating with it.
        She toweled off and returned to the apartment.        When she stepped inside, she was once again overwhelmed. She could feel the sleek, metallic surface of the floor underneath her hooves. She touched the walls and found they were made of the same material, cooling to the touch. The couch in the living room looked to be made of a luxurious fabric, and Dash jumped onto it. It felt as familiar to her as the surface of a cloud, bringing her a sense that she was home.
        Still, there was a lurking sense of anxiety that was creeping into her mind. She tried her best to keep it at bay and wait for the right moment to ask her questions.
        “You look a little distracted,” he said, giving her a smirk. “Everything cool?”
        “Yeah, I’m cool,” Dash said with a grin. “The couch is pretty sweet.”
        “You haven’t even seen your bed yet. Trust me, once you lie down on its pillow top mattress, you’ll forget all about the couch.”
        “Well, show me then,” Dash replied.
        Wave led her into the guest room to a bed adorned with Wonderbolts sheets. Dash stood staring at it for a few seconds, and Wave laughed.
        “Well, aren’t you gonna try it?” he asked.
        Dash sneered and sank into the bed. The sheets were soft but firm, in a way that supported her back and soothed her tense muscles. It was like resting on the perfect mixture of a cumulus cloud drifting across the sky and a firm bed providing the best support for her aching muscles.
        “Oh, Celestia, this is awesome…” she said as she put her head on the pillow and pretended to doze off. Wave laughed, causing her to throw the pillow at him.
        “Do you want me to make dinner or not?” Wave asked.
        “You cook?”
        “Well, I’ve been living by myself up until now, so I hope I could cook. Let’s get you fed, and then you can grill me about anything you want to know about the Wonderbolts.”
        Dash felt another wave of anxiety pass through her. Her curiosity from earlier was beginning to creep back, now that she had become accustomed to the apartment. She blushed a little as she followed Wave into the kitchen. He was already chopping up vegetables.
        “Need any help with that?” Dash asked.
        “Not tonight I don’t. This is your welcoming party, so to speak, and I don’t want you to lift a hoof for the sake of helping me cook. I suppose you can get a few questions off now if you really want to.”
Well, here goes nothing, Dash thought as she took a few calming breaths. She knew what she wanted to ask, but her words felt like they were stuck in her throat. How the heck am I gonna bring this up?
        “Okay, look,” Dash said sternly. Wave gave her a curious glance. “I saw Fire Streak doing something funny today, and it threw me off guard a bit. It feels really weird to say anything but I just have to say it. He was sticking a needle in his wings and injecting them with some kind of fluid. What the heck is that about?”
        Wave deflated, focusing his attention back to the vegetables while he thought about what to say. He cut up red peppers, celery, red onions, and broccoli and put them all in a frying pan. He turned on the burner and set the pan on the stove. It sizzled while he started to prepare the sauce for the stir fry.
        “Well? Are you gonna answer me?” Dash demanded.
        “It’s called speed,” Wave said with a grimace, looking uncomfortable about discussing it. “We use it to...give us an edge.”
        “What? What are you talking about?” Dash already had a feeling she knew what this was about, but she waited for Wave to explain himself instead of flying off the handle.
        “Look, you haven’t been a Wonderbolt for very long. You don’t understand.”
        “Okay, smartaleck,” Dash remarked. “What don’t I understand?”
        “The pressure to perform is everywhere,” he explained. “In the locker room, from Spitfire, but most of all from our fans. They demand the fastest flyers, the most dangerous tricks. You need speed and focus, and this elixir helps with both.”
        “Elixir?” Dash asked mockingly. “So what’s in this, um…‘elixir,’ exactly?”
        Wave took a deep breath. “I don’t actually know.”
        “Well, what the heck? Why would I take something if I don’t even know what’s in it? Do you think I’m stupid or something?”
        Wave Chill raised an eyebrow. “What made you think I was asking you to take it?”
        Dash froze for a minute. She had made that assumption on her own, she had to admit. “I mean...what happens if you don’t take it?”
        “You might not be able to keep up,” Wave explained. “I mean, I know you’re you, but we’re not talking about the Ponyville weather patrol here. This team’s all about speed. Without this boost, you’re just a little slower, your vision’s just a little blurrier, you have a little less attention, and that puts you at a disadvantage. If you want to compete with the big colts, you have to do everything in your power to get faster, stronger, better. Otherwise, you’ll likely be thrown off the team.”
        “Right,” Dash said. “I’m already one of the fastest flyers around. I’m the only living pony who can perform the Sonic Rainboom.”
        “Did you hit it in practice today?”
        Dash opened her mouth to reply, but she stammered and then fell silent, staring gloomily out the window.
        “When’s the last time you hit it?” Wave asked.
        “I think it was Twilight’s coronation.”
        “It’s been some time, then,” Wave said. “Look, I don’t want to be the one to tell you you have to use this elixir, but I think you need a reality check. You’re not gonna make it if you can’t keep up, and it’s going to be a lot harder for you. In my opinion, you’re setting yourself up for failure.”
        “Great! Glad to see you’re looking out for me! As if I needed it!”
        Wave was done mixing the sauce, but the vegetables weren’t quite cooked enough, so he stepped away from the stove and sat across from Dash. “I’m sorry. Fire Streak’s usually the one who tells the new members about this, but since you asked…”
        “What does Spitfire have to say about all this?” Dash asked.
        “Spitfire doesn’t take it,” Wave said. “She’s got insane talent, she can still keep up with the guys that use speed. Absolute legend.”
        “Whatever,” Dash mumbled. “And what would happen if I ratted you guys out?”
        “Well then what’s stopping one of us from ratting on you?” Wave remarked with a scowl, pointing a hoof at Dash like a dagger.
        “But I’m not doing it!” Dash objected.
        “Yeah, but it’s gonna be our word against yours, and you are the newbie in the group, so who do you think she’ll believe?” He lurked over to her and stared her in the eye beadily.
        Dash stared right back without even blinking. “Have you forgotten I’m the Element of Loyalty?”
        “Good for you,” Wave said with a sneer. “Doesn’t make a difference when you’re flying in the air with the best in the world.” He poked her with his hoof. “You’re super competitive, it wouldn’t be hard to believe that you’d do anything to get an edge. And even if you did rat one of us out, that’d be one less pegasus on the team. We’re all in this together, so you either get with the program, or you don’t.” He snorted in her face and turned his back on her.
        “Are you threatening me?” Dash asked, pounding her hoof on the table.
        “No,” Wave said, peering back around and glaring at her. “I’m just warning you. You don’t have to take speed if you don’t want, but butt out of what everypony else on the team does or doesn’t do.”
        “Do you do it?”
        Wave sighed and closed his eyes, as if willing himself to calm down. “I do. Have been for quite a while.”
        “Thanks for owning up to it.” Dash sighed and put her head on the table. “This really stinks.”
        “Hey,” Wave said, putting a hoof on Dash’s shoulder. She wanted to jerk away from him, but she let him stroke her shoulder instead. “Not everyone takes this stuff. Just do your best in practice, then make your decision once you’ve got a feel for your place on the team. Did you do the Sonic Rainboom today?”
        “No, I didn’t,” Dash griped. “I can’t hit it every time, you know. It’s really tough to pull off.”
        “Well, keep trying,” Wave said. “Whatever you do is fine, as long as it works for you.”
        “Yeah,” Dash muttered. “I guess that’s okay for now. I’m still ticked off, though.”
        “I don’t blame you.”
        The aroma of the vegetables was making Dash’s mouth water. Wave went back to the stove and poured the sauce over them. It took only a few more minutes of simmering before the stir fry was ready. He gave a generous helping to Dash, leaving only a little for himself.
        “You gave me way more than half,” Dash said, refusing to lift a fork at the moment.
        “That’s one of the side effects of speed,” Wave said. “You kinda start losing your appetite, but the elixir makes up for whatever energy you lose.”
        “I thought you were gonna stop,” Dash said. “And will you stop calling it an elixir? That’s really getting on my nerves. Call it what it is: a drug.”
        “I don’t like doing that,” Wave informed her. “That makes it sound illegal.”
        “Then I’m definitely not taking it. Now can we just shut up about it?”
        “Fine. We don’t have to talk about it any longer. Let’s just enjoy dinner and then go to bed.”
        “I can get on board with that,” Dash said with a grimace. She took another generous bite of the stir fry and savored it as it melted in her mouth. Wave ate efficiently, like a machine being fed oil, and he was done long before Dash was. He stayed at the table out of politeness, which made Dash relax a bit.
        “Wave rose from the table and pat Dash on the back. “Have a good night.”
        “See ya,” Dash said. The two of them each headed to their respective rooms.
        Dash unpacked her luggage haphazardly and then lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling. She could see a distorted reflection of herself, so she shuddered and turned on her side. She was now facing the windows and staring outside into the sky as the sun set. Dash smiled and shut her eyes, and before she knew it, she was fast asleep.
        “Rainbow Dash?” Wave asked, banging on the door.
        Dash was still sound asleep, groggily mumbling to herself.
        “Rainbow Dash!” he shouted again, banging harder. No response. Wave finally kicked open the door, which woke Dash with a start. She rubbed her eyes groggily as she sat up out of bed.
        “Our morning training starts in half an hour!” he shouted. “You gotta jet or we’re gonna be late!”
        “Oh, Celestia!” Dash said, zooming into the bathroom and turning on the shower. It was freezing cold, but Dash let the chilly water blast her as she scrubbed soap on herself. In about five minutes, she considered herself clean, and she zoomed out of her bedroom ready to leave.
        “Here’s some toast for the road,” Wave said, tossing her a few slices of bread without even looking at her.
        “Thanks,” Dash said through a mouthful of toast. Wave turned to look at her and his jaw dropped.
        “You’re soaking wet!” he shouted.
        “I’ll dry off on the flight there,” Dash said. “No time to talk about it now!”
        “You’re right,” Wave said. The two of them rushed out of the balcony and took off, soaring through the sky in the direction of the training facility. Wave pulled ahead of Dash, who was straining to keep up, but he reached the facility a few seconds before Dash. When they landed, it was clear that Dash was more winded than Wave. She was staring at the ground with a slight tinge to her cheeks.
        “Still not there yet,” Wave reminded her.
        Dash and Wave shot like rockets into the facility, through the halls, and finally onto the field. Spitfire saw them coming and took a glance at the clock.
        “One minute to spare,” she said. “Consider yourself lucky, Dash.”
        “Sorry,” Dash sputtered.
        “Just get in line.”
        “Yes, ma’am,” Dash said, following Wave to the end of the line. There were a few other ponies there that Dash hadn’t seen yesterday in the locker room, but Spitfire called everypony to attention, so her questions would have to wait. Spitfire paced in front of the line of fifteen, eyeing each of them carefully.
        “We’ve got a few new recruits today,” she barked to the team. The veterans tried to look from the side of their eyes at the new blood, but couldn’t see much except Dash’s bright mane.
        “Fast Clip’s been with us before as staff, and Bluebell and Thunderlane are here on reserve,” she said, as if checking them off a list. “You already met Rainbow Dash, of course. She’s a starter.”
Spitfire paced over to Dash and stood directly across from her, staring her in the eye. “So, starter, you ever do warm-ups, or do you just take off and fly without limbering up first?”
        “I just get up and go, ma’am,” Dash said smugly.
        “Wrong!” Spitfire shouted, and Dash’s cheeks tinged red a bit. “If you don’t do your warm-ups, you’re gonna stiffen up quick and won’t be able to complete a vigorous show routine!” She then called out to all the Wonderbolts. “Get down on the ground and do your wing-ups!”
        Dash quickly laid down, propping herself up on her hind hooves and her wings. The other Wonderbolts laid down as well, looking far more determined than Dash felt. Spitfire blew on the whistle she had draped around her neck.
        “Up! Down! Up! Down!” she hollered. The Wonderbolts lowered themselves, bending their wings while keeping their hind legs straight, then pushed back up at the pace set by Spitfire’s shouts. Dash was able to keep pace for the first few sets. She counted the wing-ups in her head and kept up the aggressive pace Spitfire was setting. After around fifty wing-ups, Dash strained, gritting her teeth and pushing with all her might. At ninety-six, she was starting to break a sweat. By the time they reached one-thirty-seven, Dash collapsed on the ground, exhausted.
        “Get up, Dash!” Spitfire barked. “Did I say you could quit?”
        “N-no, ma’am,” Dash stammered, and her fear fueled her to return to Spitfire’s pace. Bluebell and Fast Clip had gone down, too, but Spitfire had said nothing. After one-fifty, Spitfire blew the whistle again, and the Wonderbolts rose from the ground. Some of the Wonderbolts were unfazed, most were getting the kinks out of their wings but didn’t look too worse for wear. Dash, though, was gasping for air.
        “We’re gonna do some laps now,” Spitfire ordered, passing out stopwatches for the other Wonderbolts. “Fifty around the field!”
        “Fifty?” Dash blurted before catching herself.
        “Did I stutter?” Spitfire hollered at her.
        “No, ma’am,” Dash said as Spitfire approached her, “but I mean, come on. You can’t even call this a warm up.”
        Spitfire smacked Dash in the head. “I’ll call it whatever I damn well please. And if you back-talk me again, I’ll send you home with your tail between your legs!” Spitfire shouted. “Is that understood?”
        “Yes,” Dash said.
        Spitfire smacked her again. “Yes, what?”
        “Yes, ma’am.”
        “Good,” she said, suddenly softening her voice and tousling Dash’s mane. The other Wonderbolts were chuckling, and Dash glared at them.
        Spitfire took her position in the center of the track. “Everypony line up at the starting line. When I blow the whistle, you’ll take off.”
        The Wonderbolts positioned themselves at the starting line, all of them poised and ready to take off the moment Spitfire blew her whistle.
        The whistle blew. Dash took off as fast as she could, zooming at what would normally be a good pace, except some of the other Wonderbolts pulled ahead almost immediately. The air rushing past her ears made it impossible to hear Spitfire, but Dash looked over at her and saw her glaring back. Dash pushed herself to go faster, but soon a few of the other veterans passed her, and the ones in the lead were now more than a lap ahead.
        Dash kept track of the laps in her head, but she noticed some of the other Wonderbolts finishing well ahead of her. Fire Streak finished first, but a few of the others were not far behind. Once Dash saw the last veteran finish, she still had three laps to go. She was, however, still ahead of the other new recruits, but she wasn’t thinking about that right now. She kept her eyes away from her teammates, as the faster ones were snickering at her. Her cheeks burned bright red. When she completed the last lap, she tried to touch down, but her legs gave out and she crashed to the ground, sliding a few inches before coming to a stop.
        “Pathetic, Dash,” Spitfire called out, “absolutely pathetic. Did you think you were gonna walk in impressing everypony with a Sonic Rainboom and rising through the ranks quicker than any Wonderbolt in history? Well, with this kind of performance, you’ll be lucky to make it past the first day! We’ve got a routine to learn in a week for a show in Rainbow Falls, and if you can’t keep up, you won’t be flying with your teammates. Is that understood?”
        “Y-yes, ma’am,” Dash gasped, pushing herself up from the ground and returning to line. A few of the other Wonderbolts looked a bit winded, but not nearly as bad as she was. Bluebell was the last to finish the laps, and she looked exhausted as well as she lined up next to Fast Clip and Thunderlane. Again, Spitfire said nothing.
        Dash was still trying not to look around, but she caught a look of concern from Wave, which was worse than any smirk she had gotten earlier. Spitfire went down the line and marked the flanks of all of the starters with individual letters.
        “You know the drill,” she said. “The letters correspond to the routine I’m mapping out on the chalkboard, so you’ll be able to tell exactly where you’re flying.” She reached Dash and gave her the letter ‘F.’
        “Fitting,” she said, causing Dash’s blood to boil. The entire morning, she had been reminded of the Spitfire she had met at the Wonderbolt Academy, and she didn’t know if she could tolerate that for as long as she was here.
How am I gonna get through an entire day of this? Dash thought to herself as she watched Spitfire map out the routine on a chalkboard. The diagrams looked confusing, a bunch of letters and lines criss-crossing each other and forming loops all across the chalkboard.
        “Dash! Who are you flying in sync with at the beginning of the routine?” Spitfire shouted.
        “Misty Fly, ma’am!” Dash said.
        “At least you’re paying attention,” Spitfire said. Dash looked around at the other Wonderbolts with a smirk. Only Wave smiled at her. Dash smiled back, but then he beckoned towards the chalkboard. She quickly turned her head and studied it as meticulously as possible.
Lucky guess, she thought. How’s anypony supposed to remember all this? Dash figured she’d just learn while they were practicing and hope she had seen enough of the Wonderbolts to get the gist of what they wanted out of a routine. All she knew was that Misty was her partner at the beginning.
        “All right, that’s the first minute,” Spitfire said. “We’re gonna practice the positions and map it out slowly before drilling at full speed. Dash, consider this a chance to catch your breath before we get back to the real work.”
        A few of the Wonderbolts chuckled under their breath. Wave was straight-faced.
        “Now find your partners and get in position!” Spitfire ordered. She blew her whistle. Dash followed Misty, hoping she knew where they were starting.
        “You really aren’t cut out for this, are you?” Misty asked her.
        “What are you talking about?” Dash muttered.
        “Whatever, if you don’t know…” Misty chided. Dash was going to object, but she grimaced and looked straight ahead.
        Spitfire flew past her and Misty, staring Dash down carefully. Dash glanced at Misty hesitantly.
        “What am I supposed to do again?” she asked.
        “You’re just flying in unison with me for the first minute,” Misty said. “Just follow my lead.”
        “Thanks,” Dash said.
        Spitfire blew the whistle, and Dash and Misty moved slowly through the routine. They started in a straight line, flying head on towards Rapidfire and Silver Lining. Dash knew they’d be pulling away at the last possible moment, but didn’t know where to turn.
        “Which way?” she muttered.
        “Right,” Misty said, and when Dash was close to colliding with Silver Lining, she pulled right. She kept an eye on Misty to match her flight pattern, and the two of them reunited and looped up and around. They were flying upside down towards Rapidfire and Silver, and this time Dash was sure where she was going. She arced to the right and down, following Misty through the loop and meeting up with her. Misty then arced upward towards the clouds, and Dash saw the other Wonderbolts following suit. She strained herself to keep up with them, but she could feel her wings giving out at the higher altitudes and she had to stop.
        “Damn it, Dash, what is it this time?” Spitfire hollered.
        “It’s nothing. I can keep going!” Dash pleaded.
        “I can’t have you flying if you’re gonna fall. I’m benching you for the rest of the practice. We’ll talk later to discuss your role in this team.”
        Dash felt as though she had been kicked in the gut. She flew down to the ground and sat on the hot bench directly under the sweltering summer sun. She had deliberately sat away from the other new recruits to avoid the embarrassment, and none of them approached her. They were afraid of bothering her. Dash wanted to get some water but was afraid of leaving the practice. She was left staring at the diagrams on the chalkboard, studying them to try to learn the routine.
What does it matter? she thought. I’m not even gonna be onthe team. Dash was feeling glum as the Wonderbolts came down to ground level for a break.
        She saw Fire Streak taking a few sips of water, and a part of her felt compelled to give in and ask him to hook her up with the drugs. But then came a defiant voice in the back of her head that quelled her temptations. So you had one bad day of practice, so what? It’s your first day. You aren’t conditioned like the others who have been on the team for a long time. Give yourself a chance to get ahead the right way before you cave.
        With that decided, Dash spent the rest of her time at the field studying the flight patterns of the other Wonderbolts. Trying to place herself in the sky with her teammates from the ground level proved more difficult than she thought, and the chalkboard wasn’t helping matters either. I’m just gonna have to figure it out tomorrow when I’m more rested.
        Spitfire flew back down to Dash during the team’s next break and looked at her grimly.
        “You getting anything out of this?” she asked, sounding peeved but not quite as insulting.
        “No, ma’am.”
        “At least you’re honest,” Spitfire said with a chuckle. “Go home and rest up so you don’t make an even bigger ass of yourself tomorrow. Got it?”
        “Yes, ma’am,” Dash said dejectedly. She lifted herself from the bench and began flying towards the doors leading out of the field when Spitfire stopped her.
        “Hold on a minute, Dash,” she said as she cut in front of her. “I know I was a hard-ass today, but you have to be that intense to do the kind of things we do. I know I’m being harder on you than I am the other newbies, but you’re a really good flyer, and I’m yelling at you because I know you can do better.”
        “Thanks, ma’am,” Dash said, still looking glum but feeling a bit better. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
        “Yeah, see you tomorrow,” Spitfire said, flying back to the team to resume practice. Dash didn’t look back as she flew away from the field, but Wave looked at her with deep concern.
I hope she’s doing okay, he thought.