Dreams and Nightmares

Chapter 8: Dreams Google docs

Rainbow peeked out of the carriage door. She blinked as a camera flashed in her face. The grounds of Canterlot castle were packed with photographers and other onlookers, keen to see the guests and performers arrive.

“This is so cool!” Rainbow squealed. She was dressed in her costume, and couldn’t wait for her premier performance. By tonight, everypony in Equestria will be chanting my name!

Fluttershy was not so enthusiastic. “I can’t do it... I can’t do it...” She shivered in her seat, flinching every time that a flash of light went off outside. Unlike Dash, she kept as far from the windows as she could, terrified to reveal her face.

“Hey, relax, okay?” Surprise put her hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Why don’t you put on your goggles?”

“O-okay...” Fluttershy reached up, and pulled them down over her eyes.

“Good, now just think of it like this. Your body is covered by your suit. Your mane and tail are dyed orange. Your eyes are behind your goggles. How much of you can those photographers actually see?”

Fluttershy paused, thinking over what Surprise had said. “...They can see my wings. And my snout.”

Surprise snorted. “Well that’s hardly any of you at all! You might as well be on the other side of a wall, even when you’re right in front of them.”

“Thanks, Surprise,” Fluttershy said. She smiled slightly. “I think I’m feeling a little better.” It was just as well that she did, because at that point the carriage ground to a halt, and the door swung open.

“Alright, everypony,” Stormy Skies growled. “Form up around Fluttershy. Don’t let them get too good a look at her. No schmoozing today, we’re just going straight to our starting places. Wonderbolts, move out!”

They stepped outside, and immediately took to the air. Flying in close formation, with Fluttershy in the centre, they lifted high above the red carpet and headed towards the palace. A couple of pegasus photographers followed, but they quickly returned to the ground when the next carriage arrived, leaving the Wonderbolts to their own devices.

Rainbow sighed. She was a little disappointed to miss her first chance at the spotlight, but the last thing they had needed was for Fluttershy to freak out and give the game away. The important thing is the performance, she thought, I’ll have plenty of time for my adoring fans once I’m a full Wonderbolt.

“See you soon!” Surprise waved as the ‘mares’ team split from the ‘stallions plus one’ team. Surprise, Fluttershy and Ice Wind went to hide in some clouds, while Lightning, Stormy Skies and Dash settled at the top of the waterfall overlooking Canterlot.

Rainbow dropped to the ground, restlessly pacing on the rocks. “How long until the performance?”

“About another couple of hours,” Stormy Skies replied.

Dash groaned. She wandered around for a little, and checked her reflection in the water. She turned back to Stormy Skies. “How long now?”

“About a couple of hours, minus thirty seconds.”

She sighed, laying down on the rocks. “I’m taking a nap; wake me up when we’re ready to actually do something.” Now that the excitement had died down, the lack of sleep the previous night had begun to catch up with her. She wanted to be as fresh as possible for the performance itself.

***

“For Celestia’s sake, Dash, wake up!” Lightning prodded her hard in the ribs.

“Huh? What?” She opened her eyes. The sky was black, but on the ground below floodlights were beaming upwards so that it seemed almost as light as day.

A voice boomed out from below. “Fillies and gentlecolts...”

“Oh horseapples!” Suddenly Rainbow was upright and alert, rushing around in a panic. “Is my costume straight? How’s my mane? Where are my goggles?”

“No time, Dash!” Lightning said, leaping up into the air to hover alongside Stormy Skies. “Honestly, I’ve been trying to wake you for five minutes. You sleep like a log. Oh, and your goggles are on top of your head.”

“Oh right...” Rainbow pulled them down, then took to the air, positioning herself between the two of them. “Um... perhaps we can ask them to delay for just-”

“...the Wonderbolts!” The voice below finished his introduction with a flourish, and was replaced by the opening chords of their musical accompaniment.

“...Or not.” Rainbow bit her lip, and shot forwards. Beside her, Lightning and Stormy Skies did the same. Behind them, her rainbow trail was flanked by two lines of dark, sparking storm-clouds.

In the distance, three other trails were visible. Fluttershy’s white clouds in the centre, flanked by the trails of Surprise and Ice Wind. The two formations sped towards each other in a head on collision.

Shortly before impact, Fluttershy separated from her group, heading towards the ground. The others merged together into a single formation, with Dash at its centre, shooting upwards into the sky. As they passed the top of Canterlot’s tallest tower, the formation split apart. They spread away from one another, their paths diverging like the plumes of a firework.

Dash turned over in the air, preparing to head back down towards the ground. This high up, the ground seemed to move so slowly, even at top speed. It was almost calm, with the music muted by distance. She took this opportunity to get a good look at the crowd. So many ponies watching me! Now this is what I’ve been waiting for! Of course it’s cool to be performing for the princesses, but my friends will be there watching me too. So I’ll give them something to watch! She sped back towards the vertical trail that they had left on the way up, skimming along its surface as she headed back down.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy was marking out a long, wide circle with her trail, parallel to the ground. Now and again, she would break from the pattern to form a tight vertical loop. As she completed the circle, the others shot down through the middle, then swooped around to pass through the loops that Fluttershy had formed. Timing was crucial; a single hoof out of line would have caused a collision, with no time to react to avoid an accident.

In the centre of the pattern, Fluttershy appeared, slowly rising from the chaos beneath on a column of white cloud. Once she had clear air between herself and the others, she span in a midair circle. Then she dropped onto her cloud trail, and spread her wings as wide as she could. The spotlights clicked off, save for one new light shining from the tallest tower in Canterlot, casting her shadow over the crowd below. The others spiralled around Fluttershy’s tower, their silhouettes rising to join her own as the music reached its climax.

Silence. Then, a rising tide of cheers and applause. The amassed ponies below stamped their hooves in appreciation. In the royal box, Celestia and Luna actually bowed slightly towards the Wonderbolts, while Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rarity cheered along.

Fluttershy was gasping for breath, and sweating hard from the exertion. However, there was a slight smile on her face as she looked down on the crowd.

She’s probably just glad it’s over more than anything else, thought Rainbow. She pulled through in the end, and that’s what matters. She did well today. Although not as well as I did, of course.

Surprise put her hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Don’t worry! You did good. It’s all over now, you can relax.”

“Over?” Dash snorted. “It’s only getting started!” She gestured down at the crowd. “They want more! Let’s go!”

Stormy Skies coughed. “Uh... Dash? That was our whole routine. We haven’t got any more.”

“Oh yeah? Watch this!” Rainbow dived downwards.

“Oh, Rainbow... no...” Lightning shook his head, his voice heavy with concern.

But Dash couldn’t hear him. She was gathering speed as she thundered towards the ground. The wind whistled past her ears, blowing her face backwards in a rather unpleasant expression as a cone of air formed around her.

Just as she was about to hit the ground, the air around her exploded in a sonic rainboom that lit up the night, bouncing her back upwards into the sky. The shockwave blasted away the cloud trails as Rainbow zoomed upwards. The crowd, taken aback by the sudden resumption of the performance, began to cheer once again.

Rainbow grinned widely. They were cheering. For her! For Rainbow Dash, the Wonderbolt! She pushed harder. Suddenly, the sonic rainboom just didn’t seem enough. She wanted to do more. She could go even faster!

The Wonderbolts tried to catch her attention as she rocketed past them, gesturing at her to slow down and fall back into line. She just waved back. “Later!”

Faster, faster, faster, faster, FASTER! Faster than I’ve ever been before. Faster than anypony has ever been before. Wow, this is starting to feel a little... strange. Are the stars getting... darker? Just... fading away. Is it me, or is everything starting to move slower? I’m so tired... Maybe... just a little... nap... She blacked out.

***

Her eyes opened slowly. As she tried to focus, she saw a blob of orange, yellow and blue hovering over her. “S-Spitfire?”

“Um... not quite...” Fluttershy replied. “But at least I had somepony fooled.”

“Oh, right...” Rainbow groaned. Her ears were ringing, and her vision fuzzy. The sounds of cheering crowds and stamping hooves began to reassert themselves. She was glad, for once, to feel solid ground beneath her. “What happened?”

“Well... you did a sonic rainboom, then you shot up into the sky.” Fluttershy paused. “Then... you sort of started falling.”

“I blacked out.” Rainbow winced as a stabbing pain shot through her mind. “I was going so fast that I just blacked out... And then... you caught me.” She looked into Fluttershy’s eyes. “Fluttershy... you just saved my life...”

Fluttershy looked away. “Oh... well, if I hadn’t caught you, I’m sure that one of the Wonderbolts would have instead.”

“Well, yeah,” Rainbow admitted, “but you beat them to it! That’s amazing! You must have been really going for it! How fast do...” She paused. Fluttershy mentioning the Wonderbolts had reminded her of something important. “Oh, horseapples. I’ve really messed this up, haven’t I?”

“Well...” Fluttershy paused. “I think the crowd thought it was part of the act.”

“That wasn’t what I meant... What did the others say?”

“Oh...” Fluttershy sighed, she’d been hoping to avoid this until later. “Well I really can’t repeat what Ice Wind said... Stormy Skies didn’t say anything, but he looked very angry. Lightning and Surprise just looked worried.”

As Fluttershy spoke their names, the Wonderbolts appeared alongside her. They moved slowly and deliberately, and the expressions on their faces were grim. None of them seemed willing to meet Rainbow’s eye.

“Rainbow, we need to talk.” Stormy Skies frowned at her. “We’re all going to meet up with Spitfire to... debrief, first. Come meet us in an hour.” None of the other Wonderbolts seemed to have anything to say, they just flew off towards the stands.

Dash sighed. “Yep, I’ve really messed up.”

***

Rainbow paced up and down. It had been more than an hour. It had been a lot more than an hour. But this time, she had felt no compulsion to sleep through it. I know I’ve made a mistake. A big mistake. Maybe I should just fly away and accept it? I’m not sure I could face a rejection. But... there must still be a chance, right? They wouldn’t have kept me waiting this long if there wasn’t, surely? Somehow, the uncertainty makes it even worse.

Fluttershy sat and watched, her face full of concern for her friend. At first she’d tried to cheer Rainbow up. But with such a long wait, she’d run out of things to say, and now just sat in silence.

The Wonderbolts had a small office in the Canterlot grounds, and they were waiting in the hallway outside of the main meeting room. The walls were decorated with memorabilia and awards, as well as portraits of former Wonderbolt members. Normally, Dash would have loved to visit, but right now she had other things on her mind.

Rainbow came to a sudden halt as she spotted something out of place on the wall. Among all the pictures of past Wonderbolts dressed in their costumes, there was one who was not wearing a costume at all. Dash didn’t recognise him, so she glanced down at the nameplate. South Wind. Wait a minute, is he...?

“I never knew him myself,” a voice said from nearby. Rainbow jumped. Surprise was standing in the doorway, her hoof still touching the door. “He was before my time.”

“He’s... Ice Wind’s brother?” Rainbow suggested.

“No,” Surprise replied, “they were much closer than that. Childhood sweethearts. They met in junior speedsters. Married the day she came of age. Then they joined the Wonderbolts together.” Surprise looked down at her hooves. “That’s when it all went wrong.

“They’d only been training for a few days,” she continued, “when Stormy Skies crashed out of the Wonderbolt Derby. South was the only stallion available. He didn’t want to do it; said he wasn’t ready. Ice thought differently, told him he’d be stupid to let an opportunity like that pass him by, and that she believed in him. So he accepted.

“It wasn’t his fault. Stormy Skies insisted that it could have happened to anypony. Nopony had even got the chance to take a picture of him in costume for the wall. Ice blamed herself; wouldn’t listen to what the others had to say. She told him to go when he didn’t think he was ready, and he paid the price for it.”

“I...” Rainbow didn’t know quite what to say. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

“Every time somepony takes a stupid risk, it reminds her of what happened to him.” Surprise sighed. “And with your own situation... well, let’s just say that it came rather too close to comfort. You have to understand, every time she’s hard on you, it’s because she’s worried about what might happen if something goes wrong. Just... remember that, okay?”

Rainbow nodded. “Of course. I-” She paused. Her stomach tightened in anxiety. “Wait, why are you out here? Is it... time?”

“Oh right!” Surprise said, shaking her head. “Of course, they’ll be wondering what’s taking us so long. Please, come on in.” She gestured for them to enter. They walked inside, Rainbow dragging her hooves. Suddenly she wished that she could go back to waiting.

Five Wonderbolts were lined up inside. Spitfire, Soarin, Stormy Skies, Ice Wind and Lightning. Surprise trotted over to join them. Despite having spent the last week training with most of them, they now looked very imposing.

Spitfire cleared her throat. “Alright... We’re here today to decide whether or not you have what it takes to be a Wonderbolt. I’m sorry that it has taken us so long, but we had a lot to discuss.”

“Up until today,” Stormy Skies continued, “we had pretty much made up our minds.”

“You learnt the routines well,” Lightning added. “You’ve been precise, and professional.”

“Not that there haven’t been problems.” Ice Wind frowned. “You haven’t always shown the sort of attitude that we would expect from a Wonderbolt.”

“But today you’ve shown bravery and speed.” Surprise smiled. “And as a result of that...”

Soarin smiled. “Fluttershy, we’d like to offer you a permanent position in the Wonderbolts.”

“Wh-” Dash’s mouth dropped open. “Fluttershy?! You... I...” She froze, as all eyes fixed on her. Remember who just saved your life... Her head drooped. “Well... congratulations, Fluttershy.” I mean, it’s not as if she’ll actually...

“Of course, I’d be honoured to accept.” Fluttershy nodded her head.

“What?” Dash felt everypony staring at her again, but this time she didn’t care. “I’m dreaming again, aren’t I?” Please, Celestia, tell me this is another nightmare! I’m still by the waterfall, the performance hasn’t happened yet! I can take it all back! “I thought you hated all this, Fluttershy?”

“Oh, I know I was a little nervous at first,” Fluttershy explained. “But once I actually tried it, it was actually rather fun.” She paused. “You aren’t... upset, are you? If you don’t want me to...”

“Upset?” Rainbow feigned a laugh. Upset that you’ve stolen my dream out from under me? Hay yes! “Of course not!”

Spitfire coughed. “Now Rainbow, please. Whether Fluttershy joins us or not is not your concern. It’s time to talk about your... performance today.”

Lightning sighed. “You had it in the bag! You did so well in the training, you aced the display...”

“And then you screwed it all up with that... that...” Ice Wind paused as she searched for a word. “That ego trip!”

“What were you thinking?” Surprise asked.

“We’ve told you so many times, being a Wonderbolt is not about personal glory.” Stormy Skies frowned. “What you did was reckless. If you had been hurt, all this mess with hiding Spitfire’s injury would have been for nothing. We could have been disbanded! You lack discipline, and you clearly lack common sense!”

“So that’s why we’ve come to a decision,” Soarin said, his voice grave. “An unanimous decision. Rainbow Dash, you are hereby suspended for two months.”

Dash sighed. “I know, that’s fair, I guess...” She trailed off, pausing in thought. Wait... what did he say? “Um... suspended from what?”

“From performing, of course.” Spitfire grinned. “You’re in.”

“I...” The feeling of relief was so much that she almost collapsed. “B-But all those things you said...”

“Are all true.” Stormy Skies nodded. “You do lack discipline, and you do care too much about your own ego. But you’re young, and a lot of ponies can be that way when they’re young and talented. My job is to make sure they get over that, and believe me when I tell you that I am good at my job. What you did today was stupid and irresponsible, and hopefully your suspension will drive that point home.”

“Don’t think that being suspended from performing means that you get off training, either,” Ice Wind added. “I’m going to personally make sure that you don’t slack off now that you’re in the team.”

“Hang on...” Dash paused. “Soarin said that the decision was unanimous. There’s no way that you agreed to let me in!”

Ice Wind shrugged. “Why not? You’re clearly talented enough. You did well today, at least up to the incident. Why would I object?”

“Um...” Dash glanced away. “Well, Surprise sort of told me about... about South, and after what I did today...” Her voice trailed off.

“Ah.” Ice Wind glared at Surprise. “She did, did she?” She sighed. “Well, I suppose it’s not like it’s some sort of secret. I mean, if somepony bothered to pay attention to the Wonderbolts’ failures as well as their triumphs. Listen, Dash, what you did today was stupid and irresponsible, but I have no interest in ruining your life because of it. I’m only interested in making sure that you don’t ruin it for yourself.

“You’ve clearly got the talent,” she continued. “All you need now is discipline. That’s why I’ve volunteered to take over personal responsibility for your training for the duration of your suspension.” Dash gulped. Ice Wind smirked. “Oh, yes, we’re going to have a lot of fun together.”

“See? I told you that she was nicer once you got to know her!” Surprise grinned smugly.

“Oh, yeah, she’s all sunshine and rainbows now.” Dash shook her head. My head’s starting to hurt with all these surprises. Which reminds me... She turned to Fluttershy. “So... we’re going to be Wonderbolts together, then?”

“Oh,” Fluttershy blushed. “Actually...”

Surprise burst out laughing. “Sorry, Rainbow, that was my idea. I mean... Fluttershy’s cool and all, but she isn’t really Wonderbolt material. No offence, Fluttershy.”

“Oh, that’s alright, I know it’s true.” Fluttershy looked down at the ground. “I hope I didn’t upset you, Rainbow, but Pinkie always says how much you like practical jokes, so when Surprise suggested we pull one on you, I thought it would be okay...” She looked up at Rainbow. “I’m sorry, it was cruel of me.”

The rest of the Wonderbolts were cracking up now. “You should have seen your face!” Lightning giggled, switching into a mockery of Rainbow’s voice. “Congratulations, Fluttershy! Upset, me? Oh no, whatever makes you think that?”

“You were all in on this?” Dash gasped. “That was...” She paused. “Actually, that was pretty awesome. I presume you wouldn’t have done that if you were actually going to reject me...?”

“Oh no...” Fluttershy insisted. “I wouldn’t have dreamed of it.” She smiled. “I knew that you’d been accepted the moment they offered the place to me! Actually, I’m surprised that you believed me at all. I never want to go near a Wonderbolt performance again... except to watch you perform, of course.”

“After my wing gets better, you mean?” Spitfire asked.

Fluttershy froze. “W-what?”

“Well, it’ll still be a while before I can perform again,” Spitfire explained. “We’ve got a performance in Trottingham in a fortnight, then there’s judging the young fliers competition, and after that we’ve got the gala...” She paused. “I mean, you’re the one treating me, surely you knew that I wasn’t going to magically get better after today?”

Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak, but all she could say was: “Eep!”

THE END