Miracles Can Happen If You Truly Believe
The air flew quickly through her mane, heart racing like a horse. Her eyes focused on the ground, skin weighing down to the back of her skull. With one final thrust, maximum velocity was reached, and the rainbows blazed across the sky. In an instant she was hitting the ground, and the next soaring upwards, a circle of beauty streaming behind her. The sonic rainboom had been perfected.
Each color dazzled the ponies on the ground, all staring up with a smile on their faces. They loved to see Rainbow Dash perform her magnificent stunt, and she loved to comply with their demands. For minutes the rainboom lingered on, the world frozen to see the spectacle that now glistened over ponies all over Equestria.
“Yea hah hoo!” Rainbow Dash was bustling, her insides on fire and her mind racing. That was the third time she had done her stunt today, and her body couldn’t handle another one unless she forced it upon herself to wow the ponies who worshipped her.
Looking down, her eyes fell upon Scootaloo. The main reason she did all of these stunts was for the small filly. Her wings wouldn’t lift her even a foot off of the ground, and Rainbow Dash needed to inspire her. Rainbow knew exactly what it felt like to be alone in the world, a small deficiency in her special talent.
As a filly, all she ever did was crash, which resulted in her taking on the nickname “Rainbow Crash.” From the day she received that name, she knew that she had to be the best, no matter what it took. If she wasn’t she wouldn’t be able to motivate the fillies who needed a spark of rainbow in their life.
Flying down to the ground, Scootaloo ran up to her, eyes widened as always. “That was awesome, Rainbow Dash! Now I have something amazing to tell the Rainbow Dash Fan Club!”
Rainbow Dash felt proud. It always brought a tickle to her stomach to see Scootaloo happy. Her hoof went to Scoots’ head, tussling her hair up. “Don’t sweat it, sport. Anything for my fans!” Dash chuckled and kneeled to the ground. Taking off to the skies, a rainbow trail soared behind her, keeping pace to the flaps of her wings.
It had been a good day, and Dash was ready to rest. After enough sonic rainbooms, a pony’s body was bound to give up on itself at some point. Her cloud home was just in reach. All she had to do was fly just a few more feet-
“Wow, Rainbow Dash that was amazing! All of the animals even applauded for you!” Rainbow Dash turned around, sighing as she saw Fluttershy heading towards her, a butterfly on her shoulder. She was always carrying an animal around with her, even when she took off to swimming.
“Hehe, yea...thank you Fluttershy. It means a lot to know that the animals care about me and all, but I really need to get home. I’m about to pass out right here in the sky, and that wouldn’t be very good, would it?” She mustered a half-smile to Fluttershy, slowly backing up, inching ever so closer to the door of her safe haven.
“W-well...the animals all wanted to kind of...congratulate you themselves. I mean...if it’s not too much of a bother.” Fluttershy looked away, her face red in embarrassment. Rainbow Dash knew that Fluttershy was sensitive, and she also knew that she couldn’t hurt her friends’ feelings. Even if she was tired, she would have to find something to keep her awake.
She sighed. “Alright Fluttershy, I’ll go with you. Just give me a minute to get ready, okay?” A nod assured her that she had time. Dash flew inside quickly, running to her fridge and opening it in alacrity. Her eyes scanned each shelve, all seeking the one thing that was sure to keep her vigilant.
A second look through the contents of the cooler played in Rainbow Dash’s favor. In the back of the refrigerator, lounging all by its lonesome, stood the last energy drink in her storage. Binging on it felt so wrong to do at the time, but Rainbow Dash had no choice. If she was going to go see all of her friends, she was going to need a pick-me-up.
Her hooves reached furiously for the can, the condensation causing her to slip up at least ten times before both hooves got a firm grip on the cold aluminum. Her eyes glazed over, her mind zooming at the memories of the rush it gave her. These things were her life, and the whole reason why she could rocket through the sky.
Hearing the pop of the lid on the can made her go wild. Guzzling it down like she would a mug of hard cider, she zipped back out to her waiting friend, accompanying her to the soft grass below.
“Um, Rainbow Dash? You have something in your mane…” Fluttershy ducked behind her hooves, as if Dash would hit her for pointing out something she should have noticed. Looking to the side, the cane stared Dash in the face. Quickly panicking at the thought that her friend would find out about her secret, she hit it square in the center, the can soaring to the ground.
“Better!” Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash both giggled at each other. Finally landing on the soft dirt, Fluttershy raced over to her animals, pushing them all towards Rainbow Dash, who watched as the creatures all fanned over her.
“Umm, hi?” She was uncertain of what to do. They were beasts! Only Fluttershy could talk to them, and Rainbow Dash had no idea if they even understood her. Her question was quickly acknowledged, every single one swarming her and giving her hoof bumps.
Once each creature, mouse and lion alike, got their fair share of Rainbow Dash, they all reverted back to their normal routine of the day, which consisted mainly of sitting around and throwing things to each other. Rainbow Dash could only imagine what it would be like to be an animal, but she never really imagined it too much.
“Well, it looks like I pleased all of your animals. Do you think I can go now? I’m so sorry, Fluttershy...but Tank needs to be fed, and I need to rest...you understand, right?” It looked like Fluttershy was in too much of a haze to make a claim to her question. Rainbow didn’t think it too important to mess with her and her animals, especially Angel. She might get mad for messing up Fluttershy’s playtime.
She turned around, glad to finally have everything done and over with, and bumped straight into Twilight Sparkle.
“Oh, Rainbow Dash, hey! That was a fantastic rainboom you did earlier today. Nice job!” Twilight smiled at Rainbow Dash, who smirked.
“Well, I guess it just comes naturally to ponies like me.” Of course she had to brag every once in a while. If she didn’t, the name she’d made for herself wouldn’t hold up in Equestria. She was Equestria’s Fastest Flier three years running.
Twilight didn’t respond, only playfully rolling her eyes and floating a newspaper up to Dash’s face. “I can’t say that you’ll be happy about this one, Rainbow Dash. It looks like the ponies have...grown weary of your style.”
Rainbow Dash stared at each word on the page. A reporter from the Canterlot Times had written an article all about Rainbow Dash, but it was nothing like she’d expected.
Is Rainbow Dash, Equestria’s best flier and local hero, becoming less and less impressive by the day?
On the afternoon of April 12, Rainbow Dash proceeded to perform her famed sonic rainboom once again. For the third time that day, ponies all over Equestria observed as Rainbow Dash performed the stunt that had already been seen so many other times. Rumors spread across the plains that perhaps Rainbow Dash seeks fame, hogging it at every chance she gets.
While some stay loyal to Rainbow Dash, most question her status in Equestria. It’s said that she only continues doing the same stunt because that’s all she knows how to. Other speculations say that maybe Rainbow Dash is too selfish to enjoy the fame that had been given to her so many times before.
The question remains: Could this be true? It is certainly a possibility that lingers in the air over Equestria. While Rainbow Dash is fast, and is one of the few ponies who can do the sonic rainboom, it has become such a daily trick that it is no longer cherished for special events. Talk says that Princess Celestia herself is hiring new ponies to take over the short-term entertainment at her festivities, such as the Summer Sun Celebration.
So, will Rainbow Dash be remembered as the pony who let fame get to her, or will her legend live on throughout the hearts of all ponies? Only you can decide.
Rainbow Dash’s mouth hung wide open. Every pony in Equestria read the papers, and now her story was leaked. Ponies would get to thinking, and maybe she would be forgotten. She hadn’t even done anything! She was only impressing a crowd.
Maybe that was her problem. She was trying too hard to impress ponies, rather than focus on the main reason of the sonic rainboom. She did it for Scootaloo, and perhaps she had lost track of that objective.
“Twilight, I’m done.” Rainbow Dash turned her head upwards, eyes on her abode in the sky. She was going to go up to the heavens, never to return again. She didn’t even give a second thought to this.
“R-Rainbow Dash! You can’t just leave...what about the Elements of Harmony? What about your friends…” Twilight’s voice was disheartened, her tone low. She couldn’t live in Ponyville without Rainbow Dash. Dash and the rest of Twilight’s friends meant everything in Equestria to her. Without one, there would be no circle, just an odd shape. One that wasn’t symmetrical in any way, shape or form.
“Twilight, you just don’t understand. My job is to take care of a small filly with big dreams. If all the ponies laugh at me, she won’t love me, she won’t look up to me, and I’ll have failed at being her mother. Do you really want that for me?” Rainbow Dash looked down at Twilight. Her eyes were a gray color, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Twilight couldn’t help it, her body beginning to shake as she tried to hold her tears back. “Then go. What you don’t understand is that nopony cares if you mess up, if you’re self-centered, or if you’re the biggest prankster in Equestria. Rainbow Dash, we all love you, and will always accept you. If Ponyville’s friendship means nothing to you, then fly to your house. Seclude yourself until you die!”
Twilight Sparkle galloped off, a wet stream abandoned behind her. Now Dash felt even worse. One of her friends was crying, probably going to tell the others that Rainbow wasn’t coming back. Dash sighed, her wings spreading out. The sunlight blasted off of her delicate feathers, her wings beginning to slowly flap, building up into a rumble. Her anger took over.
Her wings hurt, beating down as the dirt rose up. All of the dirt represented her anger. Anger from making Twilight cry. Anger for embarrassing herself. Anger for failing the one filly that had put hope in her life. She couldn’t handle the stress anymore. With a pound on the ground, she shot up, an imprint left in the ground.
In less than two seconds she was back in her house. The cloud that it rested on transformed into a dark shade of gray, almost black, making sure that nopony would want to visit Dash at any point in the near future.
She didn’t bother turning off the lights. She didn’t even care that the cold air travelled through the house like a lone wanderer. She just glided up the stairs, a breeze in a flurry of wind. Her bedroom door was ajar, pushed open by the bleak status of Rainbow Dash, now, possibly, Equestria’s saddest pony.
Her bed wasn’t comfy anymore. Rocks pierced her back, the winces of her eyes evident even in the darkness of her room. Memories flooded her thoughts. All of the memories from flight school were the ones that haunted her the most. One in particular caused her to silently cry, her reveries just as horrible as the day.
The night had fallen and it was about time that everypony went to bed. Rainbow Dash snuggled tight under her covers, a Spitfire plushie delicately placed between her hooves, cuddled up next to Dash’s chest. A smile plagued her face, her snores coming within the first few minutes of lying down.
“Shh...no, I’m sure she’s asleep.” The voices came from all corners of the room, the sound of ponies getting up and stomping their hooves out echoing across the room. Luckily for them, Rainbow Dash was one of the heaviest sleepers at the school, and not much would wake her. Tonight, she was definitely going to be awoken, but she wasn’t going to be very pleased.
All the ponies in on the plot gathered around Dash’s bed, three of them holding her covers down while the other two took out heavy socks, all loaded with sticks of butter. Dash’s eyes flew open, her breathing heavy. Each pant brought another wave of fear onto her, the sudden realization that she couldn’t move ringing across her nerves.
One of the ponies with a sock spoke through his teeth. “Rainbow Daf, you think you’re tho great!? Better than uth all? Get
'er, girsh!”
Just as suddenly as she had woken up, socks flung down on Rainbow Dash, her whimpers drowned out by the sounds of smacks against her coat. Her eyes teared up, the pain searing through her body unlike any other she had ever experienced. After crashing so many times that day, her body had already been bruised enough.
Not a single pony came in to help Rainbow Dash. For almost ten minutes, the ponies smacked their weapons to her skin, leaving it bruised and bleeding. Her eyes were red, bulging from the pain. Her screams attracted no attention, and all the while the others laughed at her, screaming crude nicknames her way.
When the covers finally lifted, Rainbow Dash could barely feel most of her body. She felt a pool of wetness under her back, her tears covering her chest. With one final whimper, Rainbow Dash passed out, her body giving up from pain.
Her tears mottled the bed like they did on that fateful night. That was the night before all the other ponies up and finally made a name for her. Come to think of it, if they hadn’t done what they did, Rainbow Dash would never have continued on in flight school, nor would she be the fastest pony alive.
She turned on her side, staring out of the window. The sunset finally began to settle in, allowing Dash to close her eyes and think about things. She thought about the world without her, and of the time she moved to Ponyville on her birthday.
Her eyes pressed together, her tears finally beginning to run short, leaving her eyes puffy and red. She looked down at her flank, the bruise from so many years ago still there as a constant reminder of what had happened.
She chuckled at it. It also reminded her that her bullies got shown up by her, and in the process she had made new friends without even realizing it. She needed to stop dwelling on the past, though. It wasn’t going to get her any further in life.
Through her reveries, she heard a small sound at her front door. It didn’t sound like a knock at all. It was more the sound of a single letter floating to the ground from her mail slot. At first, Rainbow Dash was reluctant to go and retrieve it, but then she realized wallowing in problems wasn’t making her feel any better. As she descended the stairs, she looked to her side, pictures of her friends lining the walls of her staircase. Every single adventure they had had was up there, from Twilight’s arrival in Ponyville all the way to the time she almost went crazy trying to study for her Wonderbolt’s History test.
A small crevice upturned on her lips. Not everypony got the chance to have friends as amazing as Dash’s. Sometimes, she took them for granted, treating them as if they were inferior to her. It wasn’t like that at all, and Rainbow Dash realized that she had wronged her friends so many times before. The smile that had started dissipated quickly, her eyes back to their crestfallen expression.
At the bottom of the stairs, Rainbow Dash confirmed her theories. There was, in fact, a single letter planted in a cleft of clouds right behind her door. She bent over, the letter going into her mouth. Taking it to the kitchen table, she felt slightly confused. She hadn’t received a letter in months, which made her question why she would net one now.
The epistle was already opened from the back, which made it easier for Dash to just take it out and read it silently.
Rainbow Dash,
It is my great honor to announce that the Wonderbolts have seen that you have the tenacity and artifice that they are looking for. Acing the History Test and becoming the Academy record holder, the Wonderbolts have observed that you have all it takes to become none other than a Wonderbolt yourself.
If you accept, the first meeting of yours will be in exactly one week from today, April 12, at Canterlot Castle. We would also understand if you do not want to join with us. If that is the case, contact a representative of the Wonderbolts immediately. Thank you for your time and hard work, Rainbow Dash.
Sincerely,
Spitfire
Rainbow Dash’s eyes began to glow with joy. The Wonderbolts had accepted her into their league! She had been working towards becoming a Wonderbolt for years now, and finally her dream was coming alive. Everything seemed to finally be coming into place.
That was when she remembered her friends. She was one of the Elements of Harmony: The Element of Loyalty. If she left Ponyville, who could take her place? How would her friends feel about her leaving?
Rainbow Dash’s face dropped once again. This was the opportunity of a lifetime, but it would also mean leaving all that she cared about behind. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place, the scale in her mind weighing the pros and cons of each decision. No matter which way she put it, the results always came out the same. Tied.
With another sigh, Rainbow Dash opened her fridge, taking out a small carton of milk and reaching into her cupboards to retrieve the cereal. All she had was oats, but it was good enough for her. She always ate the same thing, and it had become a natural habit for her.
Each crunch of the oats brought another idea to her mind. All she wanted to think of was alternatives. Her eyes closed, her body laying back in the chair, not even bothering itself as it fell over, landing on the soft fluff beneath it. Rainbow Dash had fallen asleep,.
The snow fell to the ground in little bits, each delicate flake making a tinkling sound as it hit the whole landscape. Rainbow Dash flew above the rest of the ponies, the large snowball ready to drop on an unsuspecting group of friends. She had invited them all to a nice lunch at SugarCube Corner, where they were acutely unaware that they were going to get pranked so hard.
She couldn’t see the ground under her. She only relied on her ears to guide her shot now. She didn’t have to wait for long before the familiar voices of her friends were heard in the distance. Pinkie Pie’s bouncing could be heard in small plops on the snow, her songs ringing through the valleys around Ponyville. Twilight’s book closed on the table directly under Rainbow Dash. She greeted Pinkie and then noted that the rest were on their way.
Once all of them had been expertly herded to the one table Twilight chose to sit at, Rainbow Dash let go of the large mound of snow, dropping it all on her six closest friends. The whole time they were trying to burrow their way out of the snow, Rainbow Dash laughed and giggled at her perfect winter prank.
After a few minutes, though, Rainbow Dash began to worry. They hadn’t come out yet, and the snow still piled in its crushing position. A few minutes later, Rainbow Dash panicked, darting to the ground to wash away the snow from the tables as fast as she could. She had to save her friends! They couldn’t just die!
For an hour she burrowed around the entire pile, checking time and time again to make sure she hadn’t missed a single speck of snow. Throughout the entire search, not a single piece of memorabilia remained of the five loving souls.
Her tears fell softly to the ground, until finally she heard shouts coming to her from the corner of a building just next to SugarCube Corner. She looked over and spotted her friends, all waving to her with smug grins on their faces. Rainbow Dash was so happy to see them, zipping her way over there to hug them all in one tight grip.
“Don’t ever do that to me again! I thought I lost you guys!” Rainbow Dash felt so relieved to know that her friends were still alive, yet at the same time she felt so ashamed of herself.
“Rainbow Dash, I can’t believe you. We could have been dying under there, and you just thought it was funny to laugh like it was a joke!” In reality, it started out as a joke, turning into something much more fearful.
“I-I’m so sorry, guys! I thought you would come out of there. I didn’t mean to laugh at you guys! I thought it was funny…” Maybe in her mind it was funny, but it wasn’t for the others.
“Well, it looks like we’ll have to teach you another lesson now, won’t we?” All five of her pals started to morph, transforming into the ponies that had attacked her on the fateful night at flight school. All Rainbow Dash could do was scream.
Each shallow breath was replaced with an equal smack to the head for Rainbow Dash. She now knew what her problem was. She only ever thought of herself, her ideas tending to hurt everypony else. No matter what she was doing, her actions always turned harmful to another pony, even if that meant harmful to herself.
Her eyes lowered themselves, her mind made up. She wasn’t going to stay with her friends here in Ponyville. She would cause too much distress by staying with them. Along with that, she wasn’t going to become a Wonderbolt either. Doing that would mean abandoning the ponies she would never come back to. Both options were worse than anything else she could imagine. The only thing left to do was sit in her house, living her life until everything ran out, including her existence.
She took one last look out the window, staring at the bright moon in the sky. Her final moon as an outside pony was, by far, the most beautiful one she had ever experienced. Though red, it was the kind of moon that took all of your troubles away.
That wasn’t what Rainbow Dash took to looking at. What she focused on was much more important than any moon she had ever seen. A tiny filly walked across the cloud, away from her front door. The little orange filly stood on the edge of the cloud, small wings spread. Rainbow Dash speeded outside, yelling to Scootaloo.
“Hey, sport, what are you doing!? It’s dangerous up here!” She didn’t move from her house. She stood at the entrance, watching as Scootaloo turned around, facing Rainbow Dash with a million tears in her eyes.
“Rainbow Dash, for years you have inspired me to continue trying to achieve my dreams. For most of my life, I’ve looked up to you. I’ve even wanted to be you at some moments. You have been the mother I never had, and I’ve loved every second of it.
“As the fastest flier in all of Equestria, most ponies look up to you, taking after your example of showing how a pony can achieve great things, no matter what any other pony says about them.
“And now you’ve turned into what I see now. A disappointment. You’re giving up because of some stupid news article, and that’s not the Rainbow Dash I know.”
Rainbow Dash looked down, at that moment embarrassed to be who she was.
“And yet I still love you…”
At these words, Dash looked up just in time to see Scootaloo fall from the edge of the cloud. She couldn’t stand there any longer. She took high to the air, thrusting herself forward with maximum velocity. Her eyes narrowed to get a better view of the dark sky below her, the orange figure disappearing into the sky below.
She wasn’t going to stop now. She held tight to her position, the familiar feeling of light speed returning to her. As Scootaloo came closer and closer to Rainbow Dash, she held out her hooves, reaching for the small filly. Their hooves connected, Rainbow Dash smashing against the air and shooting upwards, the casual sonic rainboom echoing across Equestria once again. This time, though, she didn’t want a single soul to see her.
Scootaloo sat cradled within her arms. “You okay, sport?” Scootaloo just nodded her head, eyes in wonder as they were every time Rainbow Dash did that move.
When they reached the ground, Rainbow Dash took Scootaloo up in her arms, embracing her like the child she never had.
“Sport, I never ever want to see you pull a stunt like that again. Okay, I’ll admit I have a problem, and I’ve messed up quite a few times in my life, but I’ll make it all up to you. I love you, Scootaloo. And I’m going to show you.
“You will do great things in your life, Scoots, and I honestly mean that. I take it under my wing to personally train you, and make you better than me at flying. I want to see you soaring through those skies, bringing rainbows to my eyes one day.
“And furthermore, I’m going to adopt you. I want to be your mother, the one that raises you and watches as you turn into a beautiful mare. I want to watch you learn how to fly, and I want to help you take down all of your bullies. Scootaloo, I don’t want you to have the life I did, and I promise to make everything better. I love you, you beautiful thing!”
Dash took Scootaloo back into her arms, squeezing her tight and crying into her shoulders. Scootaloo couldn’t hold back her tears, either, crying into the chest of her new mother. They stood that way for the rest of the night, wrapped in each other’s arms
The next morning, all six friends gathered at the center of town, where Rainbow Dash herself had personally prepared a picnic for the six of them. She was going to explain everything to them there.
“So, why are we here again?” Twilight Sparkle questioned Rainbow Dash’s motives. After what she did yesterday, it wasn’t likely that she was up to anything good.
“I’m taking you all out for a picnic. Listen, I may have grown up with quite a story, and I may be a little self-centered and-” Twilight suddenly stepped in, interjecting Rainbow Dash’s statement.
“If that’s what this is all about, just forget it. I’m sorry for what I said!”
Rainbow Dash chuckled. “No, Twilight. I just...I got accepted into the Wonderbolts.” All of her friends started to awe at her, congratulating her and patting her on the back.
“But I didn’t accept it…”
That was when all of her friends took their turns to gasp. Her lifelong dream was right in her face, and she threw it all away.
“But before you ask questions, let me just explain. For years, I’ve always thought I was better and more awesome than everypony else, but I’m not. I may be fast, but everypony else can do just as well if they tried. I was being inconsiderate about all of you, and I want to make up for it.
“So, today is a day all about you guys. I’ll get you guys anything, and we’ll do whatever you want to do. It’s my treat, so don’t worry. I love all of you guys. We’re friends, alright? I never want that to change?”
All of the ponies were glowing, their friendship forming into a light circle around them. All lifted up to each other, and they smiled, giggling at one another and remembering all the times they had spent together.
Today, everything was all right.
Author's Note
Wow...this was just a story I had the urge to write all of a sudden. I really hope you enjoy it :) What did you think of it?
