On a lone, dark gray cloud, sat a cyan blue pegasus. Her rainbow-streaked mane and tail were more disheveled than usual, and her usual bold and brash attitude was replaced by one of exhaustion and hopelessness.
Rainbow Dash sighed and shifted on the cloud, curling into it. It crackled underneath her, and a slight jolt of electricity ran up through it and into the pegasus’ body. Being a Weather Team member, this didn’t bother her; in fact she was quite used to the tingling sensation. The familiar smell of open sky and rain that came from the cloud was somewhat of a comfort as she lay there.
In reality, Rainbow Dash felt like this lonely little cloud was her only friend right then.
Rainbow’s number one ambition- no, goal- no, dream, was to join the Wonderbolts. The brave and adventurous troupe of fliers had always captivated her. Ever since she was a little filly, she had been set on being like them- like her heroes.
She could still remember her first visit to a Wonderbolts air show. She had been just a little filly then. Her father had managed to get the tickets, and together, Rainbow Dash, her father, and her mother all went to the Cloudasium in the heart of Cloudsdale to view the magnificent show.
Rainbow Dash couldn’t remember ever seeing something so spectacular. The daring dives, corkscrews, flips and turns made her heart soar. The fireworks that went off in her mind that night held true for the rest of her life. Racing and performing stunts was her passion.
The pegasus reflected on that for a moment. It really was her motivation, the more she thought about it. Her cutie mark had even proven that much. She may have loved flying because she was a pegasus, but the Wonderbolts had given her reason to go beyond that- to race, to take risks.
The Wonderbolts had molded her into the adventurous pony she was now. She wouldn’t be ‘rough ‘n tumble Rainbow Dash’ if it weren’t for them. She wouldn’t be the best young flyer, like the crown she had at home stated, if it weren’t for those ponies. Heck, she wouldn’t have even tried had it not been for them. The Sonic Rainboom? Would that even have happened, had she not had the guts to step up to race those bullies in Fluttershy’s defense that day? No, Dash thought. I probably wouldn’t have raced them. I wouldn’t have been bold enough to. I wouldn’t have gotten the cutie mark I have now that day, if I even got one then, since racing is what brought it up to begin with. I wouldn’t have made the Sonic Rainboom.
The Sonic Rainboom. Twice now, Rainbow Dash had performed it, both times in the presence of countless ponies. The second time had even been in front of Princess Celestia. Dash groaned and turned to lay on her back and stare up at the clear blue above her. How could I pull off something so awesome, and yet...
Today had been Wonderbolt tryouts. Now, it wasn’t exactly what the name implied. Sure, impressing the Wonderbolts was important, but even then, it didn’t guarantee anypony a suit under their name. It was more of a “let’s see who has potential for Wonderbolts in the future” competition.
However, when Dash had seen the flyer announcing that the Wonderbolts were allowing ponies to perform in front of them in order to find future potential, she had rocketed off to open sky to practice her tricks immediately. She felt the same determination and energy building up inside her from the Best Young Flyer’s Competition. Maybe she could even pull off another Sonic Rainboom! Or maybe the Buccaneer Blaze! Yeah, one of these moves was sure to win over Spitfire and the other ponies.
Rainbow Dash strapped on her weather team goggles and propelled herself off of the cloud she stood on, diving into the vast sky below her.
* * * * *
After what felt like an eternity (but was really only a few weeks) the time for the Wonderbolt tryouts had finally arrived. Rainbow Dash had visited her friends before flying off to the Cloudasium for her performance. They all wished they could be there, and everypony offered their very best wishes for the pegasus.
“I’m sure you’ll do a wonderful job,” whispered Fluttershy; her words were strong and confident... at least, for her they were.
“Thanks Fluttershy,” Dash replied, offering her timid friend a smile. She then lifted herself up off of the ground, gave them all a salute with her hoof, and flew off to Cloudsdale, and to the Wonderbolts.
The Cloudasium was, as she expected, filled with tons of other hopeful ponies. Most were already lined up, eagerly awaiting their shot at fulfilling a dream come true. Others were getting their numbers. Rainbow Dash decided it was best to start there and proceeded to join the line at the registration area.
“Miss Rainbow Dash, is it?” asked a mare at the table. “Say... aren’t you that pony who won the Best Young Flyer’s Competition? Wait a minute, I remember you! You performed that Sonic Rainboom!”
Dash lapped up the attention as always. “Yup, that’s me! The one and only, Rainbow Dash!” She grinned and looked down at the number now issued to her. Number 142. That’s my lucky number from now on. 142. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have Wonderbolts to shock with my ultra-mega-awesomeness.”
The mare simply rolled her eyes. “Well then, good luck with that.”
* * * * *
The wait was excruciatingly long. The more Rainbow Dash waited, the more she began to regret taking so long to get here. She wouldn’t mind waiting so much if it hadn’t started to gnaw away at her confidence. This is just like the Best Young Flyer’s Competition. Dash shook her head. “No,” she growled to herself, “don’t think about that. Just focus on your moves. Think about the Wonderbolts. Think about being part of the Wonderbolts.” She grinned, a fire lighting in her magenta eyes as she inched, as slowly as Tank, to the front of the line.
“Rainbow Dash.”
At the sound of her name, any rebuilt assertiveness left the cyan pegasus. She nervously ruffled her wings, taking in a deep breath, and swallowing the lump in her throat. “I can do this,” she whispered to herself, slowly lifting off onto the performance platform. “I can do this, I can do this. In the name of Celestia, I’m Rainbow Dash! What do I have to worry about?”
Everything. She shook the thought from her head and turned to face the judges, who looked expectantly at her. She could barely hold in a fan-girl’s squeal as she recognized two of the ponies in the front- Spitfire and Soarin’. Both were wearing their uniforms, goggles hanging loosely from their necks. Behind them were other Wonderbolts, that for the life of her, Rainbow Dash just couldn’t remember the names of out of nervousness, though she did recognize them. Rainbow Dash focused intensely on the two at the front; both were staring back at her, small smiles stretched across their faces. Maybe they recognize me? Rainbow Dash wondered.
“Hey,” Spitfire called out. Rainbow Dash tried to keep her composure as one of her idols addressed her. “Aren’t you that pegasus that saved us at the Competition and performed the Sonic Rainboom?”
“Yeah,” agreed Soarin’, nodding his head along to Spitfire’s words. “You saved my pie at the Gala, too!” He grinned now at the thought. “Thanks for that!”
“H-heh, well, you know...” Dash scratched the back of her head with a hoof; any sort of an ego she had before was rapidly dripping away and giving way to something she rarely ever showed- modesty. “Y-yeah, that’s me.”
Spitfire grinned. “Oh boy, I can’t wait to see what you’ve got to show us! Well, whenever you’re ready.” She sat back now in her seat in the stands, waiting patiently, curiosity framing her face.
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and stared out at the open air in front of her. There were no obstacles this time. There were no friends cheering out in the stands. There was no music. It was just her, and the vast emptiness around her. Gulping once more, she shook any lingering fears and propelled herself off of the platform.
* * * * *
But it hadn’t been enough. She had hesitated, she knew it the moment it happened. She had held back, even as she pushed herself not to. Her performance, though stronger than the last one at the competition, hadn’t been enough.
As Rainbow Dash sat there, on a lonely gray thundercloud, she flopped over onto her stomach again and took in the smell of the cloud, trying to calm her thoughts. It was what she was always afraid of. The thought of failure was what had always held Rainbow Dash back. She was never proud to admit it, and she usually hid it under her typical facade of toughness. But she had failed. She had not thrown caution to the wind as she had hoped, and in return, her performance had been below par. Others had out-performed her in mere attitude and confidence. She was no competition against that.
Dash sighed again and turned on her side. She stared across at the rest of the cloud around her. It looked exactly like she felt- dark, stormy, and gray. Dash closed her eyes, trying with the little energy left in her to block out the thoughts from coming back.
“Hey Dashie!”
The sudden rush of sound caused the pegasus’ eyes to fly open. She recognized that voice. Most of all, she recognized that nickname. It couldn’t be. Please don’t let it be-
“Pinkie Pie?” she asked to the wind. Her voice was hoarse from not having to speak in a while and she quickly cleared her throat.
A sudden puff of cloud caused her to jump and step back a bit. A second later, it was back. Something frizzy, and incredibly pink. Dash’s speculations were right. It was Pinkie, alright.
“Pinkie, what are you doing?” she asked dully.
“Well-” the Earth pony started, before disappearing through the cloud once again; she reappeared a few seconds later. “Fluttershy- said she- saw you- come back from- Cloudsdale and- you were- really mopey so- I thought I’d- come over and- cheer you up!” Every few words, she was cut short as gravity took its course and Pinkie fell back through the clouds, only to spring back up for a few seconds.
“Pinkie... are you on a trampoline again or something?” Dash’s eyebrows raised; nothing Pinkie did surprised her anymore, though she was a bit curious.
“Of course- I am- silly! How else- would I- be jumping- up and down- like this?” The bouncy pink mare seemed to have an infinite source of energy that could have propelled her up and down the trampoline forever.
“But why-”
“Oh Dashie- don’t you see? I told you- I thought- I could- cheer you up! So I thought- maybe we- could go- pull some- pranks on- ponies in town!” she exclaimed, grinning cheerily, from what Dash could see.
Dash contemplated the thought. She thought about how her day had went and how exhausted she had felt sitting alone on the cloud. Suddenly, prank time with Pinkie Pie promised a whole lot more than just a quick pick-me-up. She thought about her friend, still bouncing excitedly up and down from the trampoline. Pinkie, along with everypony else cared so much about her. They always wanted to help her out, whether it be cheering in the crowds or putting up with all of Pinkie’s shenanigans if it meant making Dash smile. Suddenly, playing games and tricks on other ponies for their own amusement sounded like exactly what Rainbow Dash needed.
“Alright Pinkie. I’ll come pranking with you,” Dash replied, cracking a small smile for the first time in what felt like too long.
“Really? Oh Dashie- that’s awesome- that’s great- that’s wonderful- you won’t- be so mopey- after this- I bet!” The party pony rambled on and on, but Dash let her. She smiled and descended from her storm cloud to join her friend as they walked into Ponyville.
The Wonderbolts could wait. Right now, all that mattered was prank time with Pinkie.
