Change Your Mind

by FlutterSky1979

Chapters

Losing Touch
When You Were Young
Sweet Talk
Battle Born
Smile Like You Mean It

Losing Touch

Change Your Mind

The morning sun shone warm and bright against Rainbow Dash’s folded wings, as she stood at attention with nearly two hundred other Pegasi. While her troop’s primary drill instructor, Rain Twister, made his way down the ranks, nopony dared move an inch, knowing all too well what the consequences for doing so would be. Once the morning cadence had come to an end, Twister began to holler over the ponies, barking out in his typical, gruff fashion.

“Listen up, maggots! The time has finally come when I won’t have to look at your sorry asses day after day! That’s right, in three days, y'all's final examination will commence! Now, my associates and I have done our job weeding out the weaker pukes that arrived at program’s start and molding the rest of you pathetic excuses for Pegasi into what you are today, but there are still five hundred and eighty two of you left! That means that five hundred and sixty seven of you will go home disappointed!"

He paused, continuing to pace in front of the rows of ponies that made up Rainbow Dash's massive group.

"Now, I’m only going to say this once, so listen up! Come the day of the examination, the lot of you that do not pass, WILL NOT come bitching to me when you fail! Believe me when I tell you, that I do not give a damn why you failed, no matter the reason! It does not matter to me that you did not get enough sleep the night before! It does not matter to me that you did not eat a proper breakfast that morning! It does not matter to me that you-”

Twister went on, but Rainbow Dash was far too lost in her anxieties to focus. Sweat poured down her brow, her legs felt rubbery and weak; her stomach was in knots.

Fifteen, that’s it?! I knew most of us wouldn’t make the cut, but fifteen?! Oh my God, what am I gonna do? I’m definitely top twenty five, maybe even twenty, but fifteen? I’m so screwed!

Rainbow Dash snuck a quick glance at the other Pegasi and swallowed hard.

A few months ago, Rainbow had finally gotten an invitation to try out for the Wonderbolts. As soon as she had seen the Wonderbolt’s seal on the envelope, she tore it open and began to pack her things. As much as Rainbow knew about the Wonderbolts, their closely guarded, top secret tryouts, were something that she had never been able to find out much information on. This was probably for the best, for had she had known just how much she would have to go through to make the team, the lazy by nature Pegasus would have most likely given up her dream to join years ago.

The first stop for all Pegasus Ponies trying out, was this 6 week training program: the appropriately named, Pegasus Hell. Never in her life had Rainbow Dash been worked as hard anywhere as she was here! Even her years of training hadn’t been anywhere near enough to prepare her for the nightmare that was Pegasus Hell. If her speed and skill had made her gold before, this camp had transformed her into diamond.

Even worse than the twenty-hour days, were the other Pegasi, each as skilled, stubborn, and just as determined as she was to make the Wonderbolts or die trying. Rainbow had spent every moment of her training eagerly awaiting the day she could leave, but now that it was here, there was nothing she wanted more than a little more time to train. Just a teeny bit more, that’s all she wanted! An extra week, a day, hell, she felt that even an extra hour could make a world of difference. No matter how many times she reminded herself of just how much she had improved since first arriving here, Rainbow was still positive that she wouldn’t be good enough to make the team.

“Rainbow Dash, do you hear me!?”

Rainbow blinked, brought out of her daze. Twister’s muzzle was a mere inches away from her own, his harsh, hot breath filled her nostrils. The rest of the Pegasi had already taken to the skies, each going their own way to prepare for the upcoming final.

“Sir, yes sir!”

Rainbow snapped to attention. Her hoof flew up to her brow, giving her superior a salute. Of course she hadn’t heard the majority of Twister’s speech, but being respectful was definitely the best way to go in order to escape maximum punishment. Twister rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

“Put your hoof down before you go and make any more of an ass out of yourself. Look, you’ve got three days to prepare, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t spend your time here, stinkin’ up my field.”

Rainbow nodded, a faint blush rising in her cheeks.

“Yes sir, sorry sir.”

Rainbow leapt into the air, both welcoming and dreading her return home. Dash made it maybe twenty feet, before Twister called out to her again. With a sigh, Rainbow put on the brakes, swinging herself back around as she readied herself for the inevitable scolding.

“Yes sir?”

“Good luck.”

Without another word, he turned the opposite direction, heading off to join the rest of the staff in their barracks.

“Thank you sir,” Dash replied with a half hearted smile.

Even her instructor’s unexpected tenderness (or at least what could pass for tenderness coming from a pony like Rain Twister) wasn’t enough to improve her mood.

*****

Rainbow Dash gazed up at the ceiling, her eyes tracing imaginary patterns along the cloudy material. Dash had barely moved an inch since returning home the day before. Her bed was feeling more like a prison with each passing second, a self made prison she had absolutely no intention of leaving. Finally, she let out a sigh and took a deep breath.

“Dammit… Gotta pee…”

Dash was debating on whether or not to get up, when she felt a light nudging at her hind hoof. She gazed down and spotted her pet tortoise, Tank, staring blankly up at her. He didn’t make a sound, but he didn’t need to. Dash could read the hunger in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, big guy. I know it’s getting late in the morning, but I’m just not feeling too hot, ya know? Can’t you wait a couple more hours?”

Tank blinked, continuing to stare up at her in his expressionless manner. Dash rolled her eyes and groaned.

“Fine, I’m getting up!”

Rainbow rolled out of bed and took care of her bodily needs, before making her way to the kitchen. Switching her oven on to 350 degrees, she chuckled to herself as she pulled a frozen pizza out of her freezer.

“I know you’ve been missing this, buddy. Fluttershy’s great and all, but I know she ain't been feeding you quite like I have. Hell, she would probably flip if she knew what I’ve got you eating!”

Rainbow slid the pizza into her oven and set the timer.

“Eh, what does she know anyway? This is all those turtles in the comics eat, and they have yet to steer me wrong!”

Dash slumped down at the kitchen table, before reaching down to scoop up Tank. She gently dropped him onto the tabletop in front of her. Tank blinked, still as stone as he stared back at Rainbow.

“What?” Dash finally asked, her pet’s persistence steadily working on her nerves.

Tank opened his mouth, letting out at his dry squeak of a reply.

“Why don’t you invite some of your friends over? They might take your mind off the test.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, not in the mood for one of Tank’s lectures.

“Yeah, maybe… But I doubt it! They just don’t understand how important this is to me. I mean, when they look at the Wonderbolts, all they see is a team of fliers. They just don’t see them like I do! And besides, I’m sure they’ll be by sooner or later anyway…”

Rainbow Dash really didn’t want company, but ever since she had picked Tank up from Fluttershy’s the day before, she had kind of been preparing for it. The girls had been pretty tight friends for the past couple of years now, and one of their problems quickly became the rest’s, no matter how hard any of them may try to fight against the other’s help.

Tank opened his mouth and let out another rustic squeak, continuing a conversation only he and his master could understand.

“Don’t you think you’re being a little unfair to them? It’s not like you’ve ever actually explained just why joining the Wonderbolts is so important to you. Maybe if you’d actually take the time to talk to them-”

“Oh what, now you’re gonna start in on me with that crap? What are you, my shrink?”

Tank’s face contorted just the slightest as he squeaked back in a harsher tone, a slight contort that roughly translated to:

“Well excuse the hell outta me, Dash! I’m just trying to help!”

Rainbow Dash let out a drawn out sigh.

“I know you are, and I’m sorry for being so pissy at you… It’s just the stress getting to me-”

The oven’s alarm cut through the air. Dash looked up for a moment before looking back down at her pet.

“Hold that thought.”

A few minutes later, Dash and Tank were scarfing down their meal. Tank imitating his master’s poor table manners at about a tenth of the speed.

“Like I was saying-”

Before she could pick up their conversation, a loud rapping at the front door interrupted her.

“Were you expecting company? Did you invite somepony over?” Tank’s tilted head asked.

“Expecting, yes… Invite, no…”

Rainbow Dash pushed her chair back from the table, and walked to the door.

“Who is it?”

The muffled, country twang of her friend Applejack’s voice answered back.

“Whaddya mean, 'who is it'? It’s us of course!”

Rainbow Dash hung her head, knowing that if an Earth Pony like Applejack was up here in the clouds, then that meant that a cloud walking spell had been used. If a cloud walking spell had been used, then that meant that Twilight Sparkle was involved. If Twilight was involved, then the rest of her friends were here, and if the rest of her friends were here, then Fluttershy had blabbed!

“Fluttershy! What the hell, you told everyone? I thought I could trust you!”

From behind her door, Rainbow could hear the soft voice of the Pegasus Pony squeak back.

“Um, I-I-, you don’t understand, it’s not-”

She was quickly interrupted by the haughty voice of a particular cream-colored Unicorn.

“Oh really, Rainbow Dash, must you be so accusing? For your information, I was heading over to Fluttershy’s because she was late for our spa day, when I just happened to see you leaving! I’m the one who let everypony else know that you were back, so if you want to get mad at anyone, get mad at me!”

Dash continued on, hoping against hope that maybe she could get her friends to take a rain check on this little 'visit'.

“Rarity, you gossipy bitch. I outta-”

Twilight Sparkle cut her off before she could finish.

“I’m sorry, Rainbow. I had no idea you were going to be this upset! Is this a bad time for you? Do you want us to come back later?”

“We are not coming back later! Ah came this far, and A’m not leaving without at least seein' her,” Applejack interjected.

“I didn’t ask you guys to come over! Look, I just want a few days to prepare for my final, alright? Is that too much to ask?!”

“C-come on guys, let’s go… I told you she didn’t want company…”

Rainbow Dash stopped replying, listening as the girls bickered amongst themselves. She turned to walk back to the dining room, just as a heavy hoof began to thud against her door.

“You guys can go if you want, A’m staying right here until she OPENS THIS GOD DAMN DOOR!!!”

Rainbow couldn’t help but admire their persistence. It was nice to have such dedicated friends, and it felt terrible to turn them away. Dash groaned, knowing that her conscience wouldn’t allow her to keep them out much longer. Dash was still mentally debating on whether or not to let the girls in, when the bubbly voice of her hot-pink friend, Pinkie Pie, pierced the air.

“Don’t be silly girls. We don’t have to go anywhere! Dashie doesn’t even keep her door locked!”

Rainbow’s eyes widened, her guilt quickly transforming into rage as her front door swung open and her friends began to file in.

“Hey! You can’t just barge in-”

She found herself unable to continue, a tight group embrace cutting off her words. Dash looked from one face to another, unable to resist cracking a smile as she squeezed them back.

“Aww, you guys… I was about to let you all in…”

“Well you were movin’ far too slow fer my taste! Ah can’t believe the nerve of you, Aar Dee! Keeping out your own best friends who just want to see you after you’ve been gone for nearly two months,” Applejack scolded.

Rarity chimed in after her.

“Do you have any idea how much we’ve missed you?!”

After Rainbow Dash had at last managed to pull herself free from the hug, she began to walk down the hallway back towards the kitchen; she motioned for her friends to follow.

“Come on, since you’re all here I might as well make you guys some breakfast... Er, lunch.”

“Oh, please don’t trouble yourself. We don’t want to impose…” Fluttershy replied.

“Hate to be the one to break it to ya, but it’s a little late for that, pal,” Dash snorted back.

*****

By noon, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle, were all seated at Rainbow Dash’s kitchen table, a meal of daisy sandwiches and hayfries spread out before them; Dash and Tank stuck with their pizza. Fluttershy was watching Tank eat, an expression of surprised horror on her face.

“Dash… Please tell me this isn’t what you feed him all the time... This-this is so wrong!”

Rainbow looked over to Tank, a wide grin spread across her lips.

“Ha! What’d I tell ya? Was I right, or was I right?!”

“So, lemme git this straight,” AJ began. “The day after tomorrow, you’ve got your final physical exam. The physical exam that decides whether or not you finally make the Wonderbolts? Your life's main goal, riding on a five minute performance that’s coming up in less than 48 hours. Make it or break it, it’s all riding on this, right?”

Rainbow squirmed a little in her seat, the thought of her impending doom making her sick all over again.

“Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. Is there a point to this?”

“Welllll,” Applejack started; if Rainbow hadn’t known better, she would have sworn that AJ was enjoying watching her suffer.

“Well what?” Dash asked flatly.

“Are ya nervous?”

Rainbow didn’t reply, she couldn’t reply. Words were simply beyond her grasp at such an idiotic question. A narrow eyed glare was all she could muster.

“I’m never leaving my house unlocked again.”

Applejack burst into a hearty laughter, Rainbow Dash was less than amused.

“Imagine that! The great Rainbow Dash, Equestria’s own self-proclaimed, baroness of bad-ass, scared like a little school filly! Ah can’t believe you’re letting something like this git ta you!”

Twilight rolled her eyes, sending a sharp jab into Applejack’s ribs.

“AJ, knock it off!”

“Yeah, it’s not like you have a lot of room to talk, now do you? Little Miss, I-can’t-come-back-to-Ponyville-because-I-couldn’t-win-any-blue-ribbons,” Dash interjected.

Now it was Applejack’s turn to glare, and Rainbow’s to laugh.

“Now, that ain’t fair! Ah was under a lot of pressure then, and Ah had an obligation ta Ponyville! It weren’t right ta let y’all down the way Ah was! It was a completely different situation!”

“It wasn’t different at all! And even if it was,” Pinkie Pie countered. “It’s not nice of you to make fun of poor Dashie! The way you’re talking, AJ, one would think you two were enemies instead of best friends.”

“Poor Dashie?” Rainbow Dash asked in disbelief. “Pinkie, I’m a big girl, okay? I don’t need you sticking up for me!”

“Aw shucks, Pink, A’m just giving her a hard time is all. Ah just can’t believe she’s this nervous! Ah mean, the way she’s always going on like she’s Celestia’s personal gift to the world of aviation, she’s just not the kind of pony A’d expect to get all worked up over a little pressure.”

Dash’s mouth dropped open. “Excuse me, a little pressure? Have you lost your damn mind?! This is just a teeny bit more than a 'little' pressure!”

Fluttershy spoke up next, putting her opinion in the same field as Applejack’s.

“Well, you gotta admit, Dash, it is a little, um… Different, seeing you get so worked up over something. I didn’t think anything got you flustered!”

Rainbow Dash sighed, leaning backwards in her chair a moment before snapping back to the conversation.

“Alright, alright. I’m a little bit freaked out, so what? What, am I not allowed to get nervous every once in awhile, is that it? Cause if that’s the case then let me go ahead and apologize right now because I must have missed that memo!”

Twilight placed a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder, hoping to calm her down before she really began to rant.

“We’re not saying there’s anything wrong with it, Rainbow, we’re just a little surprised, that’s all. Don’t take it so personally!”

Dash took a deep breath and folded her arms together. At this point she was done making an effort to hide her frustration.

“Look, we’ve already established that I’ve got a little test anxiety, okay? I’m just flesh and bone like the rest of you, it happens. So can we please stop making a big deal out of it and skip this, whatever the hell this is, and go straight to the part where you guys start making me feel better, or is that too much to ask?”

“Well,” Rarity began with a smile. “I think that’s an idea we can all agree on!”

A murmur of approval ran through the table, and soon, plans were being discussed on the best way to take Rainbow Dash’s mind off the test.

“Oh, oh, oh, I know, I know!” Pinkie Pie shouted, bouncing up in her chair.

“Hmm, let me guess,” Rainbow began, rolling her eyes.

Her and Pinkie answered at the same time. Pinkie, still bursting with enthusiasm. Dash, not so much.

“A party-”

“Ooh, you’re good, Dashie!”

Dash chuckled back in a sarcastic manner she had picked up from Twilight.

“No parties, Pinkie.”

“But, Da-”

“No,” Dash interrupted. “No parties! Being surrounded by a bunch of ponies I barely know is not going to help me, period!”

Pinkie Pie frowned, reluctantly agreeing to Rainbow’s terms.

“Fine… I’ll come up with a better idea!”

“Um, I have an idea,” Fluttershy stated in her soft spoken manner; to her dismay, the conversation continued as though she hadn’t spoken.

Rarity was up next.

“Pinkie Pie, what she needs is some good, old fashioned rest and relaxation! A good pampering is just what her body needs to prepare itself for the upcoming test.”

Dash rolled her eyes.

“Spa day? Uh, thanks but no thanks, I think I’ll pass.”

Fluttershy tried again.

“I have an idea…” Once again, she had spoken too softly for anypony to hear her.

Applejack spoke in her place.

“Yeah, Rarity, your fancy shmancy spa isn’t the ultimate solution to everything! What Aar Dee needs is some quality time out on the farm. There ain’t nothin’ the fresh air of Sweet Apple Acres can’t cure!”

“Now look girls,” Twilight began. “It’s obvious that we’ve all got our own ideas on what would be the best way to ease Rainbow’s nerves, and it doesn’t look like we’ll be agreeing on a single one anytime soon. So… Why don't we just all take her out, one at a time? Surely our combined efforts can do something! How does that sound to everypony?”

Dash looked around at her friends, feeling the situation quickly growing out of hand.

“Twilight, I’d really rather not make a big deal out of this. I just wanna-”

The girls didn’t hear her, they were already arguing over who would get to hang out with her first. Now Rainbow Dash was in the same boat as Fluttershy, unable to get a single word in edgewise. Finally, the little dispute was ended by Rarity.

“Hold on now, Twilight was the one who came up with the idea, it’s only right that she should get first dibs on Dash.”

“Hey, you can’t call 'dibs' on me!”

Again, Rainbow’s complaints went unheard.

“Aw alright... But Ah want her after Twi’s done,” Applejack stated.

Pinkie Pie added in her approval.

“Perfect, that should give me more than enough time to think up something totally, unbelievably, amazingly awesome!”

Fluttershy simply frowned, having given up on trying to get a word in the conversation.

Twilight’s eyes lit up, she clapped her hooves together. “Yes! I know just the thing to take your mind off of this whole situation, Rainbow! Oh, and we should probably get going right away. I’m not quite sure how much longer this spell’s going to last, and I for one don’t feel like falling through the floor!”

Twilight giggled and Dash sighed, hanging her head.

“I give up! I’m done trying to fight with you guys… Just… Do whatever you want…”

Dash looked down at Tank, shaking her head at him.

“You see, this is exactly what I was trying to avoid. This is why I don’t tell anypony anything!”

Tank ever so slightly raised his eyebrows, his tortoise equivalent of a shrug.

“I’m sorry, Dash, I had no idea this was gonna be such a big deal.”

When You Were Young

Rainbow Dash paced back and forth, doing her best to burn off her nervous energy. She paused every few seconds to look up at the circular clock on the wall.

“Twilight, how much longer is this going to take?”

Twilight Sparkle was standing at one of the many bookcases that lined the walls of her library home, using her Unicorn Magic to pull down multiple books at a time as she scanned through the titles.

“I’m sure it’s here… I mean, how far could it have gotten?” Twilight replied.

She shoved the books back onto the shelf, most of them ended up in a completely different spot than they had started out.

“Ugh,” Twilight groaned in frustration. “Why is it I can never find what I’m looking for, when I need it?”

Rainbow couldn’t help but grin. The irony of an over-organized bookworm like Twilight always losing track of her books wasn’t lost on her.

“Here it is!”

Rainbow glanced behind her, seeing Spike, Twilight’s baby dragon assistant, waving a large book.

He hopped off the stepladder he was using and walked towards Twilight, handing the book off to her. She levitated it over to an already existing pile of three or four similar to it.

“Here ya go, Rainbow,” Twilight said with a smile as she pushed the pile to Dash. “There should be more than enough little tips and tricks here to give you an edge during your test, both physical and mental!”

Dash looked them over, frowning at the lot.

“This is your big idea, Twi, books on flight?”

She sighed, shaking her head.

“I appreciate the thought, but this really isn’t going to cut it…”

Dash pushed the books back towards Twilight, once again checking the clock on the wall; it was a quarter to one.

“But, Rainbow,” Twilight interjected. “These have everything you could possibly need in them! They completely break down everything about the way Pegasus Ponies fly and function! Look at this.”

Twilight flipped open The Anatomy of a Healthy Adult Pegasus, thumbing to a random page. She began to read out loud.

“One common misconception, is that the wings do all the functioning as a whole, when in fact-”

Rainbow cut her off, finishing her sentence.

"Each individual feather can also play an important part in the flight process, as each feather has the ability to regulate the basic mechanics of flight, such as lift, control, and even thrust; I know.”

Twilight stared back at Dash in disbelief, impressed with her knowledge. She picked up one of the other books and flipped it open, not ready to give up just yet.

“Okay, how about this… Just as important to flight, is the take-off. Any successful take-off cannot take place without-”

Once again, Dash cut her off, finishing the sentence for her.

“A running start. The key to any good running start is healthy hooves, so proper hoof care must be maintained at all times in order to perform at maximum efficiency. Some key tips on proper hoof care include, blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda, I already know!”

Twilight frowned, turning her gaze over to one of the other books.

“Well, how about-”

“Already know it.”

“Okay… Well here’s-”

“Twilight,” Dash interrupted. “I already know it. What do you think I’ve been doing these past six weeks? They taught me everything I could ever possibly know about flying.”

Twilight bit her lip, glancing back down at the books one last time before looking up at Dash.

“Even-”

“Everything. I'm pretty sure at one point, they had me using muscles that don't even exist.”

Twilight sighed, sitting down on her haunches.

“Sorry, Twi, it was a good effort and all, but there’s just nothing left I can learn from a book… And besides, I’m not into non-fiction anyway. If I’m gonna read, I’m not gonna waste my time reading something boring!”

Twilight put a hoof to her chin, thinking over her options.

“Well, my idea was kind of a fail…”

“Don’t sweat it, bud, it’s the thought that counts,” Rainbow reassured her.

“Well, what do you wanna do now?” Twilight asked.

“I don’t know,” Dash shrugged. “You got the new Daring Do in yet?”

Twi’s eyes lit up. She shook her head but rushed to her bookcase anyway.

“No, but I do have something that I think you’ll enjoy just as much! Have you ever read It?”

“Who’s it by?”

“Stephen King,” Twilight replied, pulling a weighty book off her shelf.

“Stephen King? What kinda lame ass, made-up name is that? Wait a minute... Isn’t that shitty play about the clown based off that book?”

Twi nodded, handing the book over to Rainbow Dash.

“Yes, but I promise the book is way better!”

Rainbow looked back at the clock, weighing her options. She really didn’t want to stay much longer, but it had been awhile since she had seen her bookish friend.

“Come on, Dash, hang out for a little bit, it’s been forever! We’ll just relax here and read awhile, just like we did before you went away.”

Rainbow looked away apprehensively, knowing her loyal nature wouldn’t allow her to disappoint Twilight.

“Eh… What the hell, I’ll stay a little longer.”

*****

Twilight and Rainbow Dash both had their noses deep in a book, when a knocking at the library’s door snapped them back to reality.

“It’s open,” Twilight called out.

She began to skim the paragraphs at breakneck pace, hoping to find a good place to stop so that she could attend to her new company. Dash simply folded the corner of her page and closed the book, not in nearly deep enough to be quite hooked.

The door burst open, and in stormed three young fillies: Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Bell, the self-proclaimed, “Cutie Mark Crusaders".

“Hi girls, can I help you?” Twilight asked, getting up to greet the trio.

Without a word, they zoomed towards the nearest bookcase, tearing through the books as fast as they could get their hooves on them.

“Nah, we’re just lookin,” Sweetie Bell replied with a shake of her head.

“Well can you look a little calmer? You guys are ripping through this place like a hurricane!”

Twilight followed behind them, doing her best to straighten up as they continued to jump from one book to another.

“What are you guys doing anyway?”

“We’re lookin’ for books on writin'! Our Cutie Marks will have to come once we’re famous authors,” Applebloom enthusiastically answered back.

“Yeah,” Scootaloo chimed in. “It’s gonna be- Oh my gosh, Rainbow Dash! You’re back!”

Scootaloo rushed from the books to the elder Pegasus Pony, the very pony she looked up to more than anyone else in the world.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m back, calm down, dude. It’s not like I was gonna be gone forever,” Dash nonchalantly replied, enjoying the attention.

Dash knew that even if she was to completely bomb the upcoming test, she would still be a hero in Scootaloo’s eyes. The thought was surprisingly comforting.

“Well, what was it like?” Scootaloo asked.

She was looking Rainbow Dash carefully over, spotting the changes that had occurred over the short period of time.

“You gotta tell me all about it!”

Rainbow shook her head with a smirk.

“No can do, kid. What happens in Pegasus Hell, stays in Pegasus Hell.”

Scootaloo groaned, her demeanor turning from jittery to pouting.

“Whadaya mean no can do? I thought you were my friend!”

“Of course I’m your friend, squirt. I’m just not allowed to disclose the details of my training, not to you, not to anypony.”

That was the honest truth. The Wonderbolt’s training program was top secret, it always had been, and it would always remain so. Rainbow and all the other Pegasi at the camp had been told in excruciating detail just how serious leaking any of the information was, they had all even had to sign a bunch of paperwork promising to keep quiet! The penalties for talking about the training were stiff indeed. Time in the Canterlot prison was a threat that could and would be carried out without remorse for any brain-dead pony with a big mouth.

“Fine then, don’t tell me, see if I care! I’ll just go join myself and find out all about it!”

Scootaloo stormed away, rejoining her friends.

“There ya go, that’s the spirit,” Dash chuckled back.

Applebloom's gaze jumped over to Dash, her eyes shining with a spark of sudden realization.

“Oh yeah... Ah remember now! Ah think sis mentioned somethin' bout y'all being back in town before Ah left! Aren’t ya supposed to be hanging out with her or somethin'?”

Dash's eyes widened, she brought a hoof up against her brow in frustration.

“Oh my God, you're right! Ugh, what time is it?!”

Dash glanced once more at the clock, groaning as she read its face; it was nearly 2:30.

“Man, at this rate, I'm gonna end up wasting the whole day with you guys!”

Twilight frowned, her head drooping towards the floor as she replied back.

“You know, you didn't have to come over if you didn't want to...”

“What? No! I didn't- I mean-”

Rainbow uttered a small sigh before breaking off into a soft chuckling.

“It's gonna be one of those days isn't it? Damned if I do, and damned if I don't. Twilight, I had fun, really I did. Thanks for having me over.”

Dash smiled and walked over to the unicorn, swinging an arm around her shoulder.

Twilight grinned back, unable to keep from laughing herself.

“I know you did, Rainbow. Thanks for stopping by.”

She slipped out from under Dash's arm and gave her a friendly nudge towards the door.

“Now get out of here, you know how impatient Applejack can be. You keep her waiting too much longer and you'll never hear the end of it!”

Dash nodded, walking towards the door of the library.

“Right, right, I'm going! Take care guys, I'll catch you all later!”

*****

Rainbow Dash collapsed to the ground, trying to recover her breath through short, gasping gulps. Looking over to her side, she observed Applejack lying a few feet away from her. Seeing that she was just as breathless as she was brought a smirk to Dash's lips. Even being out of breath wasn't enough to keep Rainbow from rubbing her victory in AJ's face.

"That... brings us to... eleven to nine... Suck it, bitch!"

Applejack groaned, spitting back her growl of a reply.

"C'mon, best out of thirty!"

Dash shook her head, coughing out in broken laughter.

"Yeaaaaah, I'm gonna have to pass. I've had more than enough of your games for one day, AJ... Do you even have ten more things we can compete in?"

Applejack was back on her hooves, grinning in her devil may care way as she walked over to help Dash up.

"Oh, Rainbow," she began, extending a hoof down to Dash. "If it can be done, Ah can make it into a competition!"

Dash took her hoof, unashamed of needing the help.

"Yeah, I bet you can," she added as she shook the dirt off her coat.

"I gotta say, I'm impressed, Applejack. We were pretty much equal before I left. Considering how much training I've been through since then, there's absolutely no reason for you to be able to keep up with me... What the hell have you been up to?!"

"Oh c'mon, Dash, ya didn't really think A'd let y'all go and leave me in the dust now didja?"

Rainbow shook her head, taking a moment to look around at her surroundings. The little race they had just finished had been the last in a series of games they'd been having since Rainbow had arrived at Sweet Apple Acres a couple hours ago. It was kind of like a sequel to the Iron Pony competition they had put on a few years back. Dash had lost track of how long they had been running, all she knew now was that the area they were in was somewhere that she didn't recognize. In all her years of being friends with Applejack, she had never explored this far out onto her friend's land.

"Still though," Dash started, looking back over to the orange coated Earth Pony.

"I got better because I had to. I can't imagine why anyone would train themselves to death by choice!"

AJ shrugged, wiping a few stray beads of sweat from the side of her face.

"Eh, that's one of those things that's always made us different, Arr Dee. Unlike you, Ah know that a little hard work ain't gonna kill me," Applejack joked.

She took another moment to look around, finally spotting whatever it was she was looking for.

"Alright, follow me, the house is back this way."

Dash grinned, beginning to follow behind AJ.

"Pfft, hard work, that's cute. You're just lucky you caught me off guard. If I'd been on my A game, I would have beaten you like a retarded puppy!"

Applejack stopped and turned around so suddenly that Dash almost ran into her, Applejack's expression was as grave as Dash had ever seen it. Her eyes gazed unflinchingly into Dash's own.

"You're joking," she finally declared, her eyes never leaving Rainbow's.

"Am I?" Dash asked, adding a smirk to her cocky attitude.

Finally, AJ's poker face broke, a soft chuckling taking its place.

"God I've missed you, Dash."

They continued to walk back in silence, too content with the quiet to break it.

Applejack does have a point though, Dash thought to herself. We're similar in a lot of ways, but our work ethic is about as different as can be! If it wasn't for that, I bet we'd be the exact same pony! Well, maybe not exactly the same. After all, she's not quite as cocky as I am... Hmph, tells me I'm too much of a show off, yeah right! When you're as amazing as I am, how can you not show off?!

Dash grinned as she walked on, taking a few moments to feed off her ego.

I suppose that's not the only thing separating us though. I mean, she's way more into family then I could ever be! Ughhhh family, who needs it? My old man and I were never that close and I turned out just fine! Didn't I? Speaking of old man, how come I ain't ever heard anything about AJ's parents? Maybe I should ask Big Mac about them sometime... Hey, come to think of it, don't I have a brother or something? Hmmm... I remember dad mentioning a previous marriage... I think this mysterious brother of mine's got like ten or fifteen years on me though. Hell, I never even seen him growing up... Did I? If I did I don't remember... Does it still count then? He wasn't my mom's so he'd only be a half brother anyway...

Naw, it don't count; he may as well not exist, which I guess kinda works out seeing as how I'm not even sure if he does anyway! I bet if I look through mom's old diary I could find out for sure... I wonder what mom would say if she were still around? Joining the Wonderbolts is a pretty big deal... I bet she'd be proud! I wonder what dad would think... On second thought, never mind, I don't care. I'm sure I wouldn't hear anything about it from him unless I failed to make the team. Screwing up always seemed to be the only way I could get his attention... Bastard...

"You alright back there, Arr Dee?"

Dash blinked, snapped out of her daydream.

"Huh?"

AJ looked over her shoulder as she walked, calling back in her jolly tone.

"Ah said, are ya alright back there? You ain't said a word since we started walking; you okay?"

"Oh... Yeah, I'm fine."

Rainbow blushed, picking up her pace until she was right next to Applejack.

AJ still wasn't quite convinced.

"Are y'all sure you're okay? Whatcha thinking bout that's got ya zonin' so hard?"

Dash looked down towards the grass, not wanting to meet AJ's gaze.

"Oh, you know... This and that... Never mind what I was thinking about, don't worry about it! Er, I mean, I was just thinking about the test. It's still got my thoughts all... Uh, bleh."

Applejack nodded, accepting Rainbow's answer.

"Ah bet, A'm sure this has got your mind all kinds of fucked up!"

Rainbow groaned, quickly realizing that this was probably the worst direction she could have taken the conversation.

"You've got that right, dude! I've never been this miserable in my life... I kinda wish I knew one of the ponies from camp better, that way at least I wouldn't be the only one around who knows how freakin stressful this is!"

Applejack smiled, jumping on the chance to comfort her friend.

"Hey, yer a terrific athlete, Rainbow. As much as Ah hate ta admit it, the best one Ah know."

Dash stumbled, surprised to hear the words coming out of AJ's mouth.

"No way... Better than you?" Rainbow asked in disbelief.

"Better'n me," Applejack added with a wink.

Rainbow smiled, feeling her spirits rise again.

"I just may have to quote you on that, Applejack!"

AJ rolled her eyes.

"If you ever tell anyone Ah said that, A'll deny it with every fiber of my being."

"Well, that's not very honest of you, now is it?"

Applejack kicked a stray pebble over at Rainbow, happy to have brightened up her friend's mood a bit.

"C'mon, Dash, now who they gonna believe? You, or me?"

*****

The sun was high in the sky by the time they were close to Sweet Apple Acres. The remainder of their walk had been a good deal more lighthearted, but now that it was coming to an end, AJ had one final question she wanted to ask Dash.

"So... What happens if ya do make it?"

Rainbow pondered this a moment, looking up towards the skies as she thought it over.

"If I make it... Why, I enjoy life as a celebrity of course!"

Applejack tilted her head, not sure if she knew just what 'life as a celebrity' meant.

"Well, that sounds all fine and dandy in theory, but doncha think yer forgetting something?"

Rainbow was puzzled, not sure what AJ could mean. Applejack sighed, seeing that what she was about to bring up was obviously something that Rainbow hadn't spent much time thinking about, if any at all.

"Ah mean, what about us? If ya make it, if ya become a Wonderbolt, y'all will have to spend all yer time making appearances, and doing shows... Interviews, junk like that... So yeah, what about the rest of us? You won't really have time to hang out with us anymore... Doesn't that bother you?"

Rainbow bit her lip, taking some time to think over AJ's concerns.

"Well... I guess it's just something I'll have to deal with."

Applejack frowned, not happy with Dash's response.

"No... It ain't just something you have ta deal with. It effects all of us, Arr Dee. If yer gone, then our group isn't gonna be the same anymore. Ah don't know if you noticed or not, but we missed you while you were gone, a lot. That was six weeks you spent away from us, but what if the next time it's three months, or six, or even a year!"

Applejack sighed, she hadn't intended on getting so emotional when this conversation had started. She wanted to stop, but at this point she was past the point of return.

"Ah don't mean to push all of this on you, and Ah apologize if Ah sound selfish, but... Well, Ah guess that's all A've got... Ah guess I'm just not ready to lose you is all... Ah guess A'm just not ready for our group to go our separate ways..."

Applejack stopped, not ready to take another step, not yet anyway. She stared down at the ground, the front of her mane falling over the center of her face.

"Hey," Dash began, walking in front of Applejack. "AJ... You know I love you guys, but it's not like we can remain this tight forever... I know it sucks, but no group can stay super close forever. Time, like it or not, eventually wears on things... The older you get, the less time you have to enjoy the things you did in your youth... We're all getting older, AJ, we're all starting to get busy with our own things. Twilight's studies are more serious these days, Pinkies working on helping the Cakes expand their business, Fluttershys gonna be getting her veterinary degree soon, Rarity's Boutique is more popular than ever, hell, even you've got more duties here now that Granny Smiths gone..."

Dash swallowed, letting the painful memories of Granny Smith's passing wash over her a moment. It had almost been a year, yet it still felt so fresh in her mind...

"My point is, that we're all going to have to move on sooner or later... I mean, I'm almost twenty five, AJ... Twenty five! That's like, five years away from thirty..."

Dash shuddered at the thought; if there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was the idea of getting older. Dash sighed, shaking her head as she continued to search for the right words.

"We're getting older. As much as it sucks, it can't be helped. Now, I'm not saying that our friendship is gonna just completely dissolve, but we are going to have to accept that we don't have as much time as we used to. All we can do is make the most out of the time we've got now, while we still can..."

For a long time, Applejack didn't say a word, letting the moments slide by as she stared downwards in silence. Finally, Applejack lifted her head. Dash couldn't tell for sure, but her eyes looked glossy, like she had been on the verge of tears. However, instead of a frown, she wore a smile.

"Make the most out of the time we've got, eh? Ain't that the truth!"

Dash smiled, a sense of relief washing over her.

"Are you really that worried about aging?" AJ asked, resuming her slow walk towards the farmhouse.

Dash nodded.

"Honestly... More than anything else in the world! Thirties bad enough, but could you imagine hitting forty?"

Dash shuddered, giving her body a quick shake, as if she were trying to banish the fate away from her.

"Forty ain't that bad, Arr Dee. Granny Smith was almost eighty when she went, and she cherished every minute of her life! You never know, when the time comes, you may enjoy getting older"

Dash gave her head a hard shake, she was already back shoulder-to-shoulder with Applejack.

"Don't even say that! Eighty is simply something that I will NOT let happen! I hope I die before I get old."

They were past the main fields now, closing in on the backyard of AJ's home. Big Mac waved at them from his spot under the plow, the girls nodded back to him.

"That's stupid, Dash. Ya better be careful whatcha wish for, it just might come true!"

"Stupid nothing, I'm serious! If I ever hit that big four zero, I'm just gonna start flying straight up in the air, as high as I can, not stopin for nothing! And once I can't fly no more, I'm gonna close my eyes, fold my wings, and let whatever happens, happen. Not a bad plan eh?"

Applejack rolled her eyes, stopping to unlatch the gate that separated her yard from the fields.

"That plan sounds damn foolish, Arr Dee."

Rainbow Dash scoffed, walking through the open gate.

"Yeah, if by foolish, you mean awesome!"

Applejack re-latched the gate and the two began walking again.

"Ah don't."

It only took a few more steps for the conversation to change towards something less serious. Rainbow, for one, was glad to leave the intense topics behind in the apple orchards.

"So how are things going between you and this Lavender guy? You guys getting serious yet?"

Applejack took her time to reply, fumbling over the best answer.

"Eh, Ah don't know... He's nice and all, but Ah just don't know if A'm ready to move to the next level... Things feel like they're movin' too fast as it is-"

Applejack was interrupted by a hollering in the distance.

"Applejack!"

Rarity galloped towards them, reaching them a few seconds later.

"What in the world do you think you're doing?!"

Rainbow and Applejack looked at each other a moment before turning back towards Rarity.

"Uh... Beg yer pardon?" AJ asked, clueless as to what Rarity could be talking about.

"Me and Dash were just taking a little walk is all."

"Exactly! Do you know how late it's getting?! You're going over our agreed time and you know it! Honestly, how am I supposed to ease her mind if I don't have enough time? Now, you've gotten your chance at cheering up Rainbow Dash, and now it's my turn!"

Rarity had begun to walk backwards in front of them, keeping her pace a few steps before them as they walked.

"Oh yeah, well Ah guess she's all yers now, Rarity; good luck showing her as good a time as Ah did," she added with a playful wink.

Rarity smirked, pausing a moment so they could pass in front of her, before taking the spot on Rainbow's Applejackless left side.

"Oh, I don't need luck! Big Mac told me what you guys have been up to and I've got the perfect thing to follow that senseless rough housing!"

Rainbow swallowed, hoping that Rarity didn't mean what she thought she meant.

"You don't mean-"

"Oh yes," Rarity said with a smirk.

"To the spa with you!"

Sweet Talk

"Come on, Rainbow Dash, try it! Just this once!"

Dash shook her head, too relaxed to do much else.

"But, Dashhhhhhh," Rarity whined, leaning backwards in her chair.

"These hooficures are simply to die for! I don't see why you're so hell bent against getting one!"

As promised, Rarity had snatched Dash away from Applejack and taken her directly to the most relaxing spot in all of Ponyville, the Ponyville Day Spa. They had arrived just before six, minutes before closing, but because Rarity was such a good customer, the proprietors, Aloe and Lotus, were more than happy to work overtime for her and her friend. Rainbow was reluctant at first, but she quickly became more susceptible to the idea after they had begun treating her. Now, here she was, sprawled out on her belly, arms folded underneath her chin, not a care in the world as all the tension her muscles had acquired through her time that day with Applejack was slowly massaged away.

"And I don't see why you're so damn insistent on me getting one! Frankly, Rarity, it's a little weird."

Rarity gasped, ready to defend herself.

"Weird? It is not! I'm simply trying to share something great with you is all!"

"Lotus," Dash asked her masseuse through half closed eyes.

"Isn't it kinda weird that Rarity keeps asking me to let you guys work on my hooves?"

Lotus answered without pause, knowing that it was always best to keep one's opinion with the pony that was your potential tipper.

"Kinda weird, yeah," she replied.

Dash laughed.

"Hear that? Kinda weird."

Rarity glared at Lotus, who simply gave a little shrug of her shoulders as she continued her job.

"Well I never. Fine, don't get one. You don't know what you're missing."

Dash groaned as her back crackled under the experienced hooves of the masseuse, feeling herself slip away into ecstasy.

"I didn't strike a nerve now, did I?" Dash asked, opening an eyelid.

"What, you have a hoof fetish or something?" she joked, sticking her tongue out at Rarity.

"Wh-what? No! Th-that's preposterous," Rarity answered, her reply becoming a nervous chuckle.

"I do not have a hoof fetish!"

Dash began to laugh hysterically, practically shaking the room with her bellows.

"Oh my God! That's it, isn't it? Rarity has a hoof fetish! I can't even...begin to-"

Her sentence fell apart, breaking away into harder laughter. Rarity looked towards the ground, a red tinge rising in her cheeks. Eventually Rainbow's laughter died away into a faint snickering. The next few moments passed by in silence. Dash continued to watch Rarity through a single open eyelid, and Rarity stared up at the ceiling, pretending that she didn't see her staring. Finally, Dash couldn't contain herself any longer.

"So, Rarity," she began, taking a moment to stifle her giggles.

"I heard you like hooves."

Rarity, never one to be teased, snorted back an angry reply.

"Oh, shut up!"

Over the next half hour, Rarity and Dash did their best to squeeze in as much catching up as they could. Rarity did most of the talking, which was fine with Dash. As hard as it may have been to believe, Rarity's talkative nature was one of the things Dash cherished most about her fashionista friend. Never liking to do a lot of talking herself, Dash had no problem setting herself on autopilot and listening to Rarity talk for hours.

As Rarity filled her in on all the goings on around Ponyville, Dash began to wonder just why she had always been so content to listen to her. She thought back to when she was just a filly, before her mother passed away; the two of them would spend entire afternoons in their den. Lightning Strike reading from a big book of fairy-tales, and Dash hanging on her every word.

I always did enjoy hearing a good story... Dash thought to herself as the memory became fresh in her mind.

I guess not much has changed.

She smiled, feeling more content than she had in quite some time.

"Oh, and just look at me now, I've gone and begun to ramble! Please, Dash, tell me what you've been up to! I'm just dying to know!"

Dash bit her lip, thinking back to her drill instructor, Rain Twister. How many times had he threatened them all about talking about the camp? How many ponies had she watched him beat into the dirt for screwing up? How many times had she taken a beating at his hooves? Dash shuddered, trying to send the thoughts out of her head. Finally, she made up her mind. With a smirk she looked at Rarity.

"Let's go to the sauna, I can tell you some real horror stories in there. Just remember... What I'm about to tell you, no other soul must ever know."

Dash winked, and Rarity smiled, never one to pass up some juicy gossip.

"My lips are sealed!"

Dash nodded, her mind going back to Rain Twister for a moment. In the end, her desire to give the metaphorical middle finger to the system, far outweighed her fear of being punished.

*****

"So, there I was, completely separated from my troop in the middle of nowhere. Nothing but sand and glare as far as the eye could see! My wings were still bound, and using them would result in instant disqualification! Night was fast approaching, and with it, deadly, flesh eating scarabs!"

Dash flared her arms around as she talked, the steam of the room breaking apart in wisps and reforming moments later as she continued on.

"Goodness! Whatever did you do," Rarity asked, her full attention on Rainbow.

"The only thing I could do; I dug, and fast. It wasn't exactly what you'd call an ideal shelter, and I had sand coming off me for weeks, but it got me through the night! The test proctors came in the morning to pick me up, and out of my whole group, I was the only one that came close to passing!"

Dash leaned back against the sauna wall, letting the tales of her exploits sink in.

"And that, was the absolute worst part of my training, period!"

Rarity shuddered, shaking her mane as though the very thought of the sand was enough to summon it.

"That's quite the story, Dash," she replied, following her friend's lead and getting comfortable in the steamy box.

"But I'm confused, I thought you said that the hoof to hoof combat was the absolute worst part of your training."

Dash tilted her head, thinking a moment.

"Well... As a whole, yeah, but as far as individual experiences go, our exercise in the desert was the worst."

Just the mention of the fighting at Pegasus Hell was enough to flair Rainbow's temper. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy giving out an ass kicking to a deserving pony every now and then, no. What she didn't enjoy was having to beat somepony else into the ground, somepony she may have had no problem with whatsoever, just because their commanding officer had told them to.

"Speaking of being confused..." Rarity began. "Why did they have you all doing all those dreadful combat exercises anyway? I mean, the Wonderbolts are entertainers, are they not? I hardly see any reason for you all to have had to fight so much."

Rainbow shook her head, annoyed by her friend's ignorance.

"You really don't know anything about them, other than what I've told you, do you?"

Rarity shook her head and Dash sighed, searching for the best words to explain.

"Well, yeah nowadays the Wonderbolts are primarily entertainers, but that wasn't always the case! Back in the day, they used to serve a much more pivotal function... Okay," Dash paused, thinking of the best example she could give.

"You remember on Spike's birthday, awhile back, when he was being all greedy and turned into a massive prick?"

Rarity nodded, reliving the memory of being captured by him in her mind.

"Well, while he was rampaging through town, who came and tried to stop him? The Wonderbolts, that's who! Granted, they didn't do a very good job... But they were still there damn it!"

Rarity smiled, finding the fact that Rainbow Dash still loved the team so much, even after all she had gone through at their camp, simply charming.

"Please forgive me, Rainbow Dash, but I still don't see exactly what you're getting at."

"What I'm saying, is that sure they mostly perform tricks and stuff now, but their prime directive has always been as a branch of the military."

Rarity's mouth dropped open, she didn't want to believe that she had heard Rainbow correctly.

"Come again, did you just say military?"

Rainbow simply nodded, looking away into the nothingness of the steamy room.

"As in military, military? Like, Celestia's Royal Battalion kind of military?"

Dash raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, that kind of military. It's not a common thing to be sent off to war these days. I mean, Equestria hasn't been in a direct conflict with a surrounding army in centuries, but it was still necessary that I learn to fight like a soldier. If I should make it, and Equestria were to go to war, the Wonderbolts are our first line of defense! It's our job to catch the enemy's army off guard, and do as much damage as we can so that our ground forces can do their job with minimal casualties."

Rarity frowned, soaking all of this new information in. Finally, she spoke, a simple sentence that summed up her feelings.

"I don't like that."

Dash shrugged, not really knowing what else to say.

"Rarity, you and I are both bearers of the Elements of Harmony. If there's ever a war, you, me, and the other girls, don't have a choice. We have to play a part in it."

Rarity looked away, wondering how this had never crossed her mind before.

"I guess you have a point there..."

*****

The rest of their visit passed by without anything more exciting happening. After the spa, Rarity offered to take Dash out to dinner. Never one to decline free food, Dash gratefully accepted. During dinner they switched their conversation to topics of a less dramatic nature. Really they talked about nothing, but it was a good talk about nothing. In the end, talking about nothing did much more good for Rainbow then did talking of things of importance. During the meal, Dash was reminded of just why she had become friends with Rarity in the first place.

They were two very different ponies, and Dash may not have hung out with her as much as she did some of the other girls, but whenever she just needed some time to just turn her brain off and shoot the shit with a friend, Rarity was always to pony to go to. Everypony knew that Rarity could talk up a storm, but what most didn't know, was that Rarity, being the Element of Generosity, could give back what she took in ten times over. Yes, she was a great talker, but she was an even better listener. Finally, as dusk began to settle over the land and Luna took over for the night, they bade each other farewell, and Dash began to make her way over to Fluttershy's cottage.

It was dark by the time she arrived, her pace gradually slowing with each step towards her friend's home. Fluttershy's porch light was on; the yellow Pegasus was sitting on the grass in her front lawn, watching as the last fireflies of the evening began to blink out. She greeted her old friend with a smile.

"Hello, Dash."

Rainbow yawned, feeling the activity of the day beginning to take its toll on her.

"Hi, Fluttershy."

Dash walked over and sat on her haunches beside her, looking up into the night sky. They sat in silence for a long time. Surprisingly, Fluttershy spoke first.

"So, um... How was your day?"

Fluttershy was Rainbow Dash's oldest friend, they had known each other for as long as they could remember. Even before they had gotten real close, they had always more or less been together.

"Long..."

Dash didn't say anything else, a part of her had known what was coming all along.

"Hey, Fluttershy... I feel bad about this, but... If it's alright with you, I'm kinda tired and I kinda just wanna head home... Is it cool if I catch you tomorrow or something?"

Rainbow Dash didn't dare look at her friend, the guilt eating heavily at her conscious.

"O-Of course, Dash... I don't want you to do anything you don't want to..."

Dash frowned, even before she asked, she had known that Fluttershy wasn't the kind of pony to decline her.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to feel left out or anything."

Fluttershy shook her head, still not looking Dash in the eye.

"Of course I'm sure. This wasn't my idea to begin with, and I know you've got a lot on your mind now... Please, go... Don't feel bad on my account."

Dash frowned, not sure how she felt about Fluttershy's answer. Finally, she stood up, beginning to walk down the path away from Fluttershy's home.

"If you say so... I'll catch you soon though, promise!"

Fluttershy watched as Dash walked away. Unnoticed by all except the stars and the moon, a single tear slid down her cheek. In her home, an already cold meal for two grew colder.

*****

Dash chose to walk home instead of fly, something a younger her would never have done. However, as she had matured, she had learned that, as unbelievable as it seemed, sometimes taking one's time had its benefits. As she got close to the ground beneath her sky home, a familiar, peppy voice screeched out at her.

"Dashie!"

Pinkie Pie galloped up to meet her, coming to a skidding halt a few inches in front of her.

"Oh no," Dash said to herself, walking past Pinkie.

"Pink, what are you doing? It's too late for this, can't you see I'm trying to go home?"

Pinkie laughed, whipping around to walk with Dash.

"Well duh! What, did you think we were going to hang out today? Oh, no, no, no, no, I just wanted to let you know that I'm gonna be by early in the morning, so set your alarm! We're gonna need all day if we're gonna get everything I've got planned done."

Dash groaned, stopping just beneath her home.

"All day huh? Greeeeeeat."

Even with Dash's less than stellar attitude, Pinkie Pie remained unfazed.

"Oh, it's gonna be better than great. Tomorrows gonna be the bestest, most splendiferous day ever! I can't wait!"

Dash smiled and rolled her eyes, her wings starting to lift her into the air.

"I'll bet you can't. Until then, good night, Pinkie."

Pinkie waved as her friend disappeared into her home, calling out one last time.

"Nighty night, Dashie! Sweet dreams!"

Once inside, Dash fed Tank and cleared her table of the mess her friends had left earlier that day. She brushed her teeth, put on her pj’s, and climbed into bed. She lay staring at her ceiling for a long time, waiting for sleep to take her. For a while, she tried to think of the great day she had spent with her friends, but in the end it was futile. No matter how hard she tried, her thoughts kept slipping back to the test, and of the fate that awaited her. Finally, she sighed, leaning onto her side.

"Good try girls, but not quite good enough..."

She closed her eyes, her mind feeling no more at ease than it had twelve hours ago.

*****

That morning, Dash woke up earlier than normal. Her body had needs that needed attending, and sleep was not about to get in the way. After Dash left the bathroom, she went to shut the blinds of her window. She wanted to catch a few more hours of sleep, and the blinding sun outside was doing everything it could to prevent her from doing so. Just as she started to walk away from her window, she did a double take, thinking that the early morning light must have been playing a trick on her eyes. Dash leaned her head out the window and yelled down at the ground.

"Pinkie Pie? Is that you?"

Sure enough, the pink speck laying on the ground looked up and waved.

"Good mooooorning, Dashie!"

Dash rubbed her eyes, not believing what she was seeing.

"Pinkie, what the hell are you doing? It's six in the morning! Did-Did you go home last night?"

Pinkie Pie sprung to her hooves, looking away bashfully.

"I was gonna, but then I got to thinking about all the fun stuff we were gonna do today... And I got so excited, and I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep, so I just stayed here!"

Rainbow's mouth dropped open, she didn't know what to make of her friend's behavior.

"Dude! Can you do that? Don't you have a job or something?"

Pinkie simply laughed; how she could be so perky so early, Dash would never understand.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I already told the Cakes you were back in town, and they have things under control at home! Hey, are you gonna be down soon? Hurry up and get ready, sleepy head, we're wasting daylight!"

Rainbow Dash groaned and hung her head, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep.

"I'll be out soon, just give me a sec, okay?"

"Okie dokie lokie," Pinkie enthusiastically answered back.

Dash sped through her morning routine, stopping just long enough to splash some water on her face and feed Tank.

"Tank, I don't know when I'll be back, so you're in charge while I'm away. Make sure nopony breaks in, and don't let the place burn down. Also, if you're gonna have any fine little turtle honeys over while I'm out, make sure you wear a jimmie, and have them out of the house before I'm back."

Tank saluted her, his typical response to the speech Dash gave when she was going out for the day. Rainbow laughed, patting him on the head before she left.

"Be back soon, love ya!"

With that, she ran out the door, hoping off her cloud and free falling most of the way down; at the very last second she spread her wings, gliding safely to the earth. Pinkie Pie was already next to her, bouncing around in her typical, overexcited fashion.

"Hey, Dashie, you want something to eat?"

Dash shrugged, rubbing the last bit of sleep away from her eyes. She wasn't really hungry, but since the camp, routine things like eating breakfast every morning had become habit.

"Sure, you wanna go to Granny Green's and grab a bite?"

Pinkie shook her head.

"Naw, we don't need to go to a restaurant, I've already had a meal arranged to be dropped off!"

Right on cue, the blonde-headed mail pony, Derpy Hooves, swooped in, holding a covered wicker basket in-between her teeth. Pinkie greeted her and took the basket, giving her few bits for her troubles. Pinkie trotted over to Dash, pulling the cloth away from the basket; it was filled to the brim with cupcakes.

"Pinkie," Rainbow began, wrinkling her nose at the sweets.

"This sugary shit is not breakfast..."

Pinkie, who was already on her second cupcake, simply shrugged.

"Suit yourself, more for me then!"

Dash laughed, watching as Pinkie began to devour the bunch.

"Whoa, Pinkie Pie, eat all those cupcakes you're gonna get a wicked bad tummy ache!"

Pinkie Pie led the way and Dash followed close behind her. Pinkie was uncharacteristically quiet, and Dash didn't like it one bit. It wasn't just a regular silence, this silence had an awkward feel about it; like for once in her life Pinkie couldn't think of something to say. It was strange, uncomfortable, and not the first time it had happened. For the past few months, whenever her and Pinkie were alone together, Pinkie had started acting weird.

At first, Dash thought she was just imagining it, but as time progressed she knew that this was not the case. Rainbow had meant to ask Pinkie what was up, but hadn't gotten the chance to. Her time in the Wonderbolt's Training Camp only further delaying her. The more she thought about it, the more it made her blood boil.

If she wanted to hang out with me, why is she still acting so damn weird?!

Rainbow Dash sighed, trying to trace back just when this had started. It was early in the year, about January, February at the very latest. Now here it was, mid July, more than six months later, and this shit was still going on!

Maybe something happened and I can't remember... Did I do something wrong? Did she do something wrong? She wasn't acting weird during New Year's, at least not that I rememb- Wait! Is that it? Did something happen New Year's Eve? Dammit, why can't I remember?!

"Pinkie Pie, where the hell are we going!" Dash finally cried out, unable to take the silence any longer.

Pinkie giggled back; if she felt any tension at all she didn't show it.

"You'll seeeeeeee when we get there!"

Dash scowled, spouting off in her annoyed tone.

"I don't want to seeeeeeee when we get there! If there's one thing that pisses me off, it's waiti-"

She walked into Pinkie's tail end, not having noticed that Pinkie Pie had stopped walking.

"We're here!"

Dash looked around, her mind taking a moment to put together just where 'here' was.

"...You took me to the bushes by the pond?" Dash asked, not sure what was going through Pinkie's mind.

"Why?"

Pinkie Pie shook her head, still sporting her ever present, toothy grin. She picked up what appeared to be a rubber tube.

"C'mon, Dashie, doncha remember?"

Dash stared blankly at Pinkie a moment, not sure if she liked where this was going.

"Uh... Remember what?"

Pinkie sighed, she grabbed Dash and yanked her head forward, pushing it through the bushes.

"Ow, Pinkie! Let go of my mane God da- Ohhhhhhh."

Dash stared through the bush at the pond before her, at the opposite bank was a not too convincing turtle.

"Now do you remember?" Pinkie asked, letting go of Dash.

Rainbow nodded, feeling a wave of nostalgia hit her like a freight train. That not too convincing turtle was a contraption of Pinkie's design. The rubber tube on the ground led into it, the end hidden inside the mouth. By squeezing the bulb at their end of the tube, they could make it take in water through a hole in the middle, and squirt it out of the opposite end. In other words, they could make the fake turtle spit water at any pony that got too close to the dummy. Rainbow pulled her head out of the bush, looking first down at the tube and then back to Pinkie.

"Pinkie Pie, we're gonna spend all day pulling pranks, aren't we?"

Pinkie nodded enthusiastically.

"Mhm!"

Dash bit her lip, not sure if Pinkie was joking or had just finally gone completely insane.

"You spent all day thinking of stuff to do and this is what you came up with? Pinkie, don't you think this is kinda... I don't know... Overplayed?"

She had wanted to say childish, but decided against it, not wanting to hurt her friend's feelings. To her surprise, Pinkie Pie's answer wasn't a simple yes or no.

"I know, I know, but hear me out!"

Dash tilted her head, ready to give her a chance.

"I'm listening."

Pinkie began to pace around as she explained, her jittery nature not allowing her to sit still even for a moment.

"So, you're nervous about tomorrow, and you need something to ease your mind, right? I thought of a ton of things to do, a TON! Going to a theme park, and awesome day out on the town, party in your honor... You name it, I probably thought of it! I was searching for a quick fix to your loss of confidence, and coming up with nothing. That's when it hit me, I was trying too hard! You don't need something to bring you back on top, you're already on top! You just don't realize it! So I thought, how bout we do something she's already comfortable with, something she knows she rules at! The best prank doesn't necessarily have to be intricate or simple, just as long as the pony in control, really has control! So, here we are! The ball's in your court now, Dashie, time for you to remind us of what we already know!"

Pinkie Pie left Dash an opening, and Dash took it without hesitation.

"And just what is it that we already know?" she asked.

"Why, that you're awesome of course! You were awesome four years ago, when we first starting doing stuff like this, and you're awesome now, except even more so!"

Dash blinked, taking in everything that Pinkie had said.

"Remind me of what I already know... That's actually not a bad idea, Pinkie Pie..."

Pinkie nodded, looking just as confident as she sounded.

"Well yeah! I spent all day thinking it up, of course it's a good idea!"

Dash laughed. She wondered if she really had just imagined the distance between them after all.

"You know... Everypony else tried super hard to ease my nerves. Like, they put a lot of effort into what they did, and it was nice, but it also felt kinda weird. Like they were trying too hard. But this, this seems so simple... It feels so... Right!"

Dash smiled, doing the best she could to put how she felt about the situation into words.

"Yeppers," Pinkie replied, picking the tubing back up.

"It's because they're just trying to think outside the box, when they should be thinking around the box, or above the box, ooooh, or even as the box! How neat would that be? Boxception!"

Pinkie poked her head back through the bushes.

"Ooh, I think I see Lyra coming! Dashie, would you like to do the honors?"

She handed the tube's bulb off to Rainbow Dash, not letting her enthusiasm get in the way of the prank's true purpose.

"Pinkie Pie, you are so random," Dash laughed, thinking the phrase was more true now than it had ever been.

The rest of that day went by pretty smoothly. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie played pranks on everypony they could find, and it wasn't too extravagant, and it wasn't overly complicated. For the majority of the day, Dash was actually able to forget about the test completely, and just enjoy herself. For the first time since she had left Pegasus Hell, the test wasn't somewhere in her thoughts, gnawing at the edge of her mind. Eventually, the sun began to set, and Dash gave her farewell to Pinkie and sent her home. Making sure to let her know just how grateful she was for the time they got to spend together.

That night, as Dash lay down for bed, the test was still the last thing on her mind. In roughly twelve hours time she would be back up at the camp, giving the performance of her life for the job of a lifetime, but in the meantime she wouldn't be losing any sleep over it; and she had a certain hot-pink and totally random Earth pony by the name of Pinkie Pie to thank for that.

Battle Born

The morning sun shone warm and bright against Rainbow Dash's folded wings, as she stood at attention with-

Whoa... Deja vu!

Dash looked around, the sensation that she had been in this very spot before tugging at her mind. Dash had been day dreaming to pass the time. It was the kind of daydream you lose yourself in. You stare at the ground or at some distant object (or worse case scenario, at someone close to you) but you don't really see it. Thoughts drift out of reach, your vision's there but not there, and you lose all sense of time.

Well of course this feels familiar, you've done this before! Well maybe not this exactly, but you've had to stand at attention like this every morning for nearly 2 months. The only reason it feels any different at all, is because you've had a few days off.

Rainbow Dash's final examination had already begun. There she stood with the other thirty eight ponies in her group (thirty nine including the one that was already in the air), waiting for her name to be called. Once the drill instructor yelled out her name, she would have five minutes to get up in the sky and put on the show of a lifetime; five minutes, no more, no less. There was no going back now.

They were being called alphabetically. Dash was the 27th in line, which meant that she had a little over two hours to wait before her name was called (the third pony from her group was already in the air, a one minute intermission was given in between each performance to give everypony a little more time to prepare). All in all, the exam would last about four hours.

Rainbow Dash should have been more nervous than she was, but for some reason her mind was calm. Clearer than it had been in quite some time actually. She thought back to the previous day and smiled. Between her day with Pinkie Pie, and her send off this morning, she'd been having a pretty good time. Rather than concentrate on the other pony's performances, she chose to reach back into her recent memories, reliving the build up to this moment.

*****

Dash rose that day at 6 A.M. sharp, waking up a few seconds before her alarm clock went off; she slid the button to the off setting before it could begin to pierce the morning with its demanding screech. For a few minutes, Rainbow just laid in bed, her arms folded behind her head as she stared up at the ceiling, trying to remember what she had dreamed. She had heard that if you don't think about your dream as soon as you wake up, you'll forget it, but this particular dream seemed to have already been completely faded by the time her eyes were fully open. Now, only fragments remained.

"Cotton candy... Pink... Maybe? Bubbles... Warmth... Laughter? Hmm..."

Dash smiled. Whatever the dream had been, she remembered enough to know that it had been a good one, and that was enough for her. Rainbow sat up in her bed and stretched, her popping joints competing in volume with her yawn. Dash swung her hind legs out of bed and looked down, as usual Tank was looking up at her from his little bed at the edge of her own.

"Sup?" Dash asked, getting in another good stretch before hopping out of bed.

"Big day," he replied.

As usual, his words came out in an indecipherable squeak.

"Eeyup," Dash replied with a nod, walking over to her window to draw the blinds and let the sun in.

"You nervous?" he asked, slowly making his way out of his bed.

"Me, nervous?"

Dash pondered this a moment, before giving her answer through a cocky grin.

"Hell no."

Rainbow took a quick shower and made her and Tank breakfast, taking the morning at a nice, easy pace. At eight she'd have to be back at Pegasus Hell, but until then she was going to treat this morning just like any other morning. Or so she thought. There was something strange about the way she felt and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't quite figure out what it was. Finally, it hit her, what felt so off was just how calm she really was.

Just before, the test she had been stressing her mind into near insanity, and now, on the day of the test nonetheless, she felt so calm it might as well have been just another morning! Dash was truly at ease. She should have been freaking out, or at least nervous, not feeling the slightest worry at all was strange indeed.

"Maybe my fear drove me crazy," she said out loud.

Dash decided to head out at half past seven, it left her with enough liberty to take her time getting to the camp and not worry about being late.

As Dash stepped out of her home and onto the cloudy surface that served as her house's foundation, a peculiar sound reached her ears. It was as though a wave of muffled whispers had suddenly been snuffed out entirely. Curious, Dash peeked over the edge of her cloud. She was greeted by a roar of voices.

"GOOD LUCK, RAINBOW DASH!"

The entire town of Ponyville was gathered underneath her home. Some held signs, others were sporting rainbow colored wigs that matched her own mane, some shouted while others expressed their praise through more subtle means; everypony was giving their support for their favorite flier. Dash blinked, taken back by the sight. A big sendoff had been the last thing she was expecting. She stepped off her cloud, her wings gently fluttering her to the ground. Dash quickly picked out her friends and went to join them, working through the hugs, greetings, brohoofs, pats on the back, and the various other congratulations of the town's residents as she made her way towards them.

"Dude," she began, looking around at everypony, her eyes still filled with surprise.

"What's going on?"

Twilight Sparkle was the first to step forward.

"Well, yesterday we realized that you hadn't really been given any kind of send off or anything for this Wonderbolts thing. Seeing as how you're Ponyville's only applicant this year, that simply would not do! So, I got everypony together to show you that you've got the whole town behind you!"

"You did all of this... For me?"

Twilight smiled, clearly proud of her work.

"Well, I can't take all of the credit... After all, it was Fluttershy that first brought this problem to my attention!"

Dash looked over at Fluttershy, who quickly looked the opposite direction, her cheeks burning a deep scarlet.

"Oh wow, guys, this is... This is... Wow..."

Dash didn't know what to say, her friend's actions had quite literally taken her breath away. She held back a few touched tears, a wide smile taking their place.

"I don't know what to say, thank you everyone. Thank you all so much!"

Rainbow Dash looked from one face to the other, her grin growing by the second.

The next moment, Pinkie Pie rushed to her side, throwing an arm over her.

"So, Dashie, got any words for your adoring fans before you leave?"

Dash thought for a moment, closing her eyes. When she opened them back up, her grateful smile was replaced with a cocky grin.

"Just that you guys better get to work on my statue! Otherwise, how will ponies passing through know that this is the town that made me?"

She took off into the sky, making a few well placed twists and turns as she tore through the air. The crowd roared its approval.

Before making her exit, Dash hovered a few feet above everyone's heads. All traces of any fear or lack of confidence long gone.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta go become the first ever Wonderbolt to come out of Ponyville!"

As Dash sped off towards the testing grounds underneath Cloudsdale, the crowd's chanting became inaudible as the speeding wind around her drowned out their voices.

"RAINBOW DASH! RAINBow Dash! Rainbow Dash... Rainbo-"

*****

Rainbow Dash's actual arrival at the testing grounds was less glamorous. Everypony was to be in formation at o eight hundred hours sharp, the skies were filled with Pegasus filing into their spots. Unknown to Rainbow Dash, her arrival was watched with a little more interest than most of the other candidates.

On the ground below, Rainbow Dash's primary drill instructor, Rain Twister, stood with two other ponies. A young stallion and a much older one, they were both dressed in Wonderbolt formal attire. Twister silently nudged the younger Wonderbolt that stood to his right, then looked up at Dash. The young pony followed his gaze, not saying a word while he looked Dash over as she swooped in with the crowd.

"That the pony you were talking about?" he asked, his question answered with a nod from Twister.

"That's her alright," he replied, looking over to make sure the older Wonderbolt had also been able to spot her.

After a few seconds of quiet observation, Rain Twister spoke up again.

"Out of all my years working this place, this year's batch has been the most promising I've ever seen. And she's the star of the lot."

The young Wonderbolt smirked, the rest of his expression hidden behind his goggles.

"The standout in a group of standouts."

Finally, the elderly Wonderbolt joined in their conversation.

"This year is gonna be one to remember."

Dash looked around after she took her place in formation, there were Wonderbolts everywhere! Not just the regular camp coordinators either, but members who actually performed and toured too! She felt her heart beating faster in her chest as she fought back the urge to smile. So many famous Wonderbolts were here, and soon she'd actually be able to perform in front of them. Her dream was finally about to come true! After everypony was in formation and the morning cadence had passed, the senior instructor, Streak, began to speak over the crowd. She spoke strong and proud, no other sound was made over her booming voice as she paced in front of them.

"Alrighty then! You've all known this was coming and you should know what to do by now, but just to be safe I'm gonna go over the details of your final examination one last time! There are five hundred and eighty two of you, and forty five of us here to test you. As you can see, we have guests here today to help us better judge your performances! You will be divided up into twelve groups of thirty-nine, and three groups of thirty-eight. There will be two Wonderbolt captains, and one of our senior staff members to a group. Whichever one of our senior staff members calls your name, is the one you will report too.

Once you are with your group, you will all line up shoulder to shoulder in alphabetical format. Once in alphabetical format, you will each have one minute to prepare yourselves, and then five minutes to get up in the air and put on an aerial display worthy of Wonderbolt standards. After all of you have been tested, we will announce the lucky fifteen who have passed the test. Any questions?"

Rainbow Dash swallowed, hoping she had heard everything Streak had said correctly. Of course no one said anything, to have actually asked a question would have most likely ended in an instant fail for the stupid pony who had asked.

Streak smiled, finally coming to a halt in front of the crowd's center.

"Very well then. Wait until you name is called, and good luck to you all!"

She walked away and Rainbow watched as the fifteen staff members walked forward, one at a time they began to call out names. Rainbow had a good while to wonder what proctors she would be placed with, before her name was finally called. She walked over to the pony that had called her, her excitement beginning to fade as she saw whose watchful eyes she had been placed under.

Surprisingly enough, Rain Twister was the staff member, on his sides were the two Wonderbolts who would be helping him judge her. To his left, was a younger Wonderbolt she didn't recognize, and to his right, was an old Wonderbolt that she wished she didn't recognize.

As she walked up to take her spot, Rain Twister greeted her.

"Good morning, Ms. Dash."

Dash halted, turning to face her superior with a salute.

"Good morning, Sir."

Twister saluted her back and she eased up.

"Ms. Dash, this is Crimson Blaze. I doubt you know him, he's only a few years out of here himself."

Crimson smiled, nodding towards Dash.

"And this is Dusk, whom apparently you already know?"

Rainbow Dash nodded, unconsciously letting her gaze drop towards the ground as the old Wonderbolt greeted her.

"Ah yes, Rainbow Dash, how many years has it been now? Nearly a decade I believe!"

Dash nodded, still not quite looking Dusk in the eye.

"C'mon now, don't act so bashful! After all, your old man and I used be great pals, that is of course before I became quite so bloody old myself!"

He chuckled and Rainbow Dash still didn't say a word. After a moment, it became obvious that her lack of communication was starting to make Dusk unsure of his memory of her.

"You are Thunder Hooves' boy right?" he finally asked, continuing to stare at Dash, his age whitened mane blowing in the morning breeze.

"Uh," Dash began, a blush rising in her cheeks. "Daughter..."

Dusk grunted, taking a few more seconds to look her over.

"Hm, it would appear so. Please excuse me, my old eyes aren't quite what they used to be; Thunder Hooves' daughter. And a what a beautiful mare you turned out to be, eh? Why, you could probably even give your mother a run for her money in her prime! Speaking of which, what's Lightning been up to these days anyway?"

Rainbow's throat sealed up, it was a question she hadn't been expecting and it took her a second to squeak out an answer.

"Oh... Um... She passed away... A while back..."

Dusk gasped, surprised by the news. His surprise only upset Rainbow Dash more. Her mother, Lightning Strike, had been taken away from her by an undiagnosed illness when she was thirteen. Dusk, being a long time friend of her father's, had been by a lot in those days, doing what he could to cheer her dad up. How he could have forgotten something like that was beyond her, and the more she thought about it, the more frustrated at him she became.

"Thunder must have been so upset... She always was the love of his life, the perfect gentle balance to his bold ways... Hell of a flier too! I never understood why she didn't go out to follow in the hoofsteps of her husband. She was great, she would have definitely made it! Course, she probably wouldn't have been quite as known as Thunder, but then again who was!? Your dad, had it! He knew what it meant to wear the uniform and he was a legend even amongst his fellow Wonderbolts!"

Dusk babbled on a little while longer and Rain Twister raised an eyebrow at Dash. This was exactly the kind of thing she had been trying to avoid. Unlike some of the other ponies here who had Wonderbolt alumni in their genes, Dash had intentionally never mentioned anything about her father's status. She had done her best never to mention anything about her parents, period! And that wasn't just here at Pegasus Hell. Not even her own friends knew that Dash's pops had been the Thunder Hooves. Rainbow Dash had always done her best to keep it a secret, so that when she finally became a Wonderbolt herself, nopony would ever be able to accuse her of only making it just because of who her daddy was.

"So, how is Thunder?" Dusk finally asked.

Now Dash was pissed. She glared at him, though he seemed not to take notice.

"He's still dead," she answered flatly.

Out of all the things this old bastard had forgotten, how could he have forgotten that? He had even attended his funeral! There was a moment when Rainbow thought she was going to give the old pony a piece of her mind for being such a shitty friend, but her anger were interrupted as Crimson Blaze called out the next pony in their group.

"Is he now?" Dusk asked, shaking his head as this 'new revelation' rolled over him.

"I'll have to send flowers to his widow, Lightning must be so devastated! And then there's that boy of theirs too, little Rain something..."

With that Dusk turned away from the now completely flabbergasted Rainbow Dash, and went to greet the approaching pony.

Dash's mouth dropped open, she couldn't believe that everything her and Dusk had just talked about was already lost on the old pony.

"Wha- Huh? Is... Is he fucking with me?" she asked Twister, blinking a few times as she took their conversation in.

Her question was answered by Twister's hard hoof colliding into the side of her head; she staggered to the side, seeing stars.

"Ow! Son of a bitch, ow!"

She rubbed the side of her temple, the pain passing quicker than she had expected.

"Watch your mouth, Ms. Dash! His memory may not be what it used to be, but he is still your superior and you will give him the respect he deserves!"

Dash scowled, still rubbing her face as she took her spot in line.

*****

"Rainbow Dash, you're up."

Dash looked up and nodded. While waiting for her name to be called, Dash had decided to lose herself in her thoughts. She found that her mind was mostly still stuck on yesterday, and on the fun her and Pinkie Pie had had together. With her mind now fully snapped back to reality, Dash had sixty seconds before she had to be up in the air and giving her performance to end all performances; fifty seconds now. For the second time that day, Dash was surprised by how calm she was.

At that particular moment, she still had no idea what kind of performance she wanted to give, and it wasn't bugging her in the slightest! One thing Rainbow knew for sure was that she did not, under any circumstances, want to use the Sonic Rainboom. It was a great technique, one that could boost her to the top fifteen in ten seconds flat if she did it right, but it also seemed like kind of a cheap way to win. Not to mention, if she could make it without resorting to using a Sonic Rainboom, it would make her victory even sweeter. Sweet... The word hung in her mind, turning her thoughts back towards Pinkie Pie.

Ahh, Pinkie Pie... Dash thought to herself, her lips curling into a smile.

Energetic... Creative... Unpredictable... Fun... She's the physical representation of everything a great performance should be...

"Thirty Seconds, Ms. Dash."

Planting her hooves firmly on the ground, Dash unfolded her wings and spread them wide. She knew what kind of performance she wanted to give, now all she needed was to decide which moves to use. Rainbow Dash began to mutter to herself, racking her brain for the perfect combination of moves that would leave her judges speechless and with no choice but to proclaim her one of the-

"-Fifteen-"

-finalists. Looking up at the skies ahead, Dash noticed that the field not only had various terrains and obstacles available for ponies to enhance their performances, but it also had a variety of different clouds in the sky.

"Ten. Nine. Eight-"

Rainbow started to stretch the rest of her muscles and began to clear her mind. Dash knew what she wanted to do and she knew the moves she needed to pull, now she just needed to let her body work its magic and a position in the Wonderbolts was as good as hers.

Rain Twister continued to count down the seconds leading to her performance.

"Four. Three. Two... O-"

In an instant, Rainbow Dash had kicked off the ground and taken to the skies, her trademark speed wowing the audience as she sped through the air. Dash darted from one cloud to another, separating the rainclouds from their waterless brethren. Using her skills as a weather pony (and a few tricks she had picked up from watching Applejack), she corralled all the rain clouds into one spot in the center of the sky, leaving only two out of the bunch. One of these, Dash placed a few feet above the rest of the rain clouds. The other, Dash snatched with her teeth.

Still moving at supersonic speed, Dash began to speed towards the ground. As she began to land, she pulled up, breaking into her classic high speed strut before slowing to a halt directly below the pile of clouds she had assembled; the lone rain cloud still remained clenched in her teeth.

"Energetic..."

Dash used this time to catch her breath, and to scan the faces of the crowd watching her. While the exam proctors remained unfazed, the rest of the ponies were looking on in wonder. Dash tried to look as at ease as she could, as she prepared the next part of her performance.

Adjusting her mouth's grip on the cloud, Dash swung her head back and flung it hard up into the air. Dash took a couple steps back and watched it go. To her delight, she saw that her aim had been true and the cloud was now hurtling into the center of the cloud pile above. Rainbow took to the air again, racing to beat the rain cloud before it hit its target. Dash soon passed the cloud and flew up about a dozen feet above the pile of rain clouds, and above the rain cloud that rested above the pile. She waited until the timing was just right, before speeding down and kicking the raincloud that floated above down into the pile.

It hit the same moment that the cloud coming from below did, and the results were even better than Dash had imagined. The massive group of clouds scattered like marbles, each of them bursting open with a mighty crash. The skies began to darken as the clouds rained down on the cheering ponies below. Rainbow Dash smirked as she took a bow, readying herself for the dramatic conclusion to her display.

"Creative..."

Now that the stage had been set, Rainbow Dash began to slowly make her way up higher into the sky. She wasn't sure exactly how much time had passed, but she knew that she couldn't have much more than two minutes left. As she climbed higher and higher, the air grew colder. Dash's breath frosted in the air before her. If she flew up much higher, she'd put herself in danger of freezing her wings. Finally, she stopped, spending a few moments hovering above the field before she snapped her wings shut.

Dash could almost hear the gasps from the crowd, as she began to free fall towards the earth. Faster and faster she fell, the ground was only a hundred or so feet away from her now. If she didn't pull up perfectly, she would soon be turned to jelly against the unforgiving earth below.

"Unpredictable..."

With less than ten yards between her and death, Rainbow Dash spread her wings and arched her body. The result was a high speed glide that only the most experienced of fliers would have even conceived attempting. With a few well timed flaps of her wings, Rainbow Dash brought the gliding into a series of somersaults that, combined with the still falling rain, left behind a rainbow colored blur.

Finally, Dash let her hooves hit the ground, bringing her show stopping performance to a skidding end.

"Anddddd fun!" Dash shouted, throwing her hooves up into the air as the other ponies applauded.

Rainbow walked over to the judges with her head held high, basking in the sheer awesomeness left behind in the wake of her performance. They didn't say a word, but Dash was sure that she saw a faint smile hiding behind Twister's straight laced face.

"Thanks a million, Pinkie..." Dash whispered under her breath as she took her place back in line.

The entire time she had performed, Rainbow had kept her friend's face and thoughts of the day before on her mind. It had proved to be just the fuel she needed. If she did manage to snag a spot in the Wonderbolts, she would have to dedicate the win to her.

After the unused time from her performance had expired, Twister called the next name.

"Rainbow Flare, you're up."

From the opposite end of the line, Dash thought she made out somepony talking.

"I'd hate to be the one that has to follow that..."

*****

About an hour and a half later, Rainbow Dash and the rest of the ponies were all together again, standing at attention in one gigantic group as the test's proctors discussed the results among themselves. For most of the ponies, the wait was maddening. For Dash, it was just boring. Finally, after a decision had been reached, the head instructor, Streak, stepped up and retook her spot before the crowd of Wonderbolt hopefuls. In her hooves was a clipboard that held a few pages of unknown writing. Streak looked down at the paper and began to speak over the crowd.

"Melody Lyric... Starlight... Moonshine..."

Rainbow Dash held her breath and began to count as Streak continued to call out names.

What are the names for? Are these they ponies that made the cut?

For the first time that day, Dash began to feel a sense of dread wash over her. Now was the real moment of truth, she would soon know whether she was a Wonderbolt or not.

As the thirteenth name was called out, the knots in Rainbow's stomach further tightened.

"Thunderlane..."

Dash held her breath, that was name fourteen. If Streak didn't say her name next, then... Then...

"Oh God, please let it be me," Dash muttered to herself.

"Lightning Bright..."

In that moment, Dash felt the devastation hit her like a ton of bricks. She was on the verge of tears, when something strange happened. Streak continued to call out names.

"Bolt... Jupiter Breeze..."

Dash felt her hope rushing back as everypony realized that the names Streak was calling out must have been from the list of ponies who didn't make the cut. Most of the ponies in the crowd were relieved, while the ones whose names had been called were devastated.

Better you than me, Dash thought, listening attentively and hoping that her name wasn't called.

Finally Streak reached the end of her list, she called off the last few names just as she had done the first; in her dull, droning tone.

"Raspberry Swirl... Pumpkin... Ocean Mist..."

With that, Streak straightened herself back up and tossed the clipboard to the ground beside her.

"Anypony who didn't hear their name called is to remain here to receive further instruction. Everypony else, better luck next year."

Dash blinked, she was in shock. Had her name really not been called? Was she really a Wonderbolt? It seemed too good to be true.

"No way," she said out loud in disbelief.

Most of the other ponies were already flying away in disappointment. Others weren't as thrilled about the idea of not making the team and having to be 'persuaded' by the instructors to take their leave.

"Please tell me this isn't a dream..."

Dash smiled. She didn't think she had ever been so happy, today was quickly becoming the best day of her life!

After everypony whose name had been called had been escorted off the field, a well known Wonderbolt by the name of Soarin stepped up, addressing the remaining fifteen ponies.

"Congratulations to everypony who made it this far. Unfortunately, your trial isn't over just yet."

There were groans all around.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Dash muttered with a sigh. "What the hell else do you want from us!?"

Soarin laughed nervously, it was obvious that he felt bad about the situation.

"We're really sorry guys, but we had to do something to drop the numbers a bit."

He began to pace back and forth, further explaining the situation to the ponies.

"The candidates this year have been a real doozy, literally the best bunch of fliers Pegasus Hell has ever seen! We can only pick one pony out of all of you, and at the end of the training there were still way too many left! So we did what we normally do for the true final test, but instead made it our semi-final. This made it easier to choose the top fifteen and it's made it easier for us to choose the next Wonderbolt! Now, don't worry you guys, your efforts weren't completely in vain. All of you are now official Junior Bolts! Even though you're technically in the Wonderbolts, you won't be assigned to a team and you won't be performing any shows. Not yet anyway."

The pony next to Dash, Night Glider, asked what the actual final would be and Soarin continued.

"Oh, well since we've already had you guys do a big performance and everything, we were just gonna do something really simple for the, uh... Final, final. A race, that's it. You all will just have a standard three lap race around Wonderbolts Stadium one month from now. No fancy tricks, no special skills, just a plain old race. The pony that comes in first will be the next official Wonderbolt."

There were groans all around. Dash herself was a little disappointed, but felt that it was still better than being one of the ponies that left with nothing.

"Alright guys, one month, simple race, get ready. All of Equestria will be watching!"

Soarin stepped back and the rest of the Wonderbolts and the Pegasus Hell drill instructors stepped up, congratulating their former pupils and future members on a job well done.

*****

As she flew home, Dash thought about everything that had occurred, and in the end decided that she was okay with it. Fancy displays were fine in all, but all of her life she had settled most major disputes with a race. It felt right that her Wonderbolts membership would be decided the same way. For a few minutes, Rainbow Dash flew without thought. Her time in Pegasus Hell, and the past few days of stress, had kept her from enjoying what had made her want to be a Wonderbolt in the first place: the simple joy of flying.

She grinned as she cruised through the air, the cool wind blowing against her sore muscles. However, her thoughtless flight wasn't kept for long, as thoughts of her friend Pinkie Pie once again found a way to creep into her mind.

"I really owe you one, Pink. Hehe, who would have thought beauty and creativity could go together so well!"

Dash tilted her head, going back over what she had just said.

"Huh... Where did that come from? That's kind of a weird thing to think about a friend..."

Dash continued to fly through the air, trying to figure out why she would say such a strange thing for no apparent reason.

"I guess its not that weird though. I mean, its true! Pinkie Pie is beautiful, gorgeous really! Like, model gorgeous!"

Dash laughed out loud, the thought of Pinkie Pie as a model was a pretty far fetched one.

"Sure she's pretty enough, but she would never stand still long enough for that kind of thing!"

Rainbow laughed again, continuing to try and rationalize her earlier thought.

"Then again, maybe being so animated isn't such a bad thing. Who doesn't enjoy a fun loving beauty? And boy is she a beauty! Breathtaking eyes... Pretty, pink curls that smell like cotton candy..."

Rainbow's eyes began to droop, her mouth tweaking into a dreaming smile.

"Soft, full lips... A body to die-"

Dash suddenly came to a screeching halt, her eyes widening as she snapped back to reality. She hovered in the air, not believing what she was saying.

"Oh my god... Why am I- What the hell- No, no, no, no! Not cool, not cool!"

Dash's heart was beating about a million times a minute, her face was a bright, embarrassed crimson.

"This is not happening..."

Rainbow Dash took off again, speeding towards her home as fast as she could. Her trial with the Wonderbolts had passed, but now it appeared that something much worse was beginning to rear its head.

Smile Like You Mean It

"Oh no, oh no, oh no..."

Rainbow Dash paced back and forth across her living room. Tank closely watching his master as she passed by him for what must have been the hundredth time. Finally, she came to a halt, gently collapsing to a sprawled heap on her carpet. Dash rolled over onto her back, draping her forelegs over her eyes to block out her vision.

"Out of all the crazy things to get stuck in my head, why this? Why now?"

With a sigh, Rainbow turned her gaze towards her pet. She remained on her back, the weight of her predicament keeping her down.

"Yoohoo, earth to Tank! You gonna say something, or what?"

Tank blinked, letting his drawn out squeak and facial expressions create words in a way he could not.

"I don't know what the hell you expect me to do, I'm just as surprised as you are! I never dreamed that you were... Well, gay..."

Dash rolled over, in the blink of an eye she was back up to a sitting position.

"I'm not gay! I mean, I am, I guess... But, I don't think I am..."

Rainbow Dash stared at the ground, her voice reduced to a depressed whisper.

"It's not that I'm attracted to mares... I'm attracted to Pinkie Pie..."

With a drawn out sigh, Dash raised her head, looking back at Tank.

"Gay, straight, what does it matter? Either way, I'm up shit creek without a paddle... Celestia, please kill me now..."

Dash was prepared to fall back to the floor and stay down, when a soft rapping broke the air.

"Great... Just what I need right now, company."

Rainbow held her breath, waiting for the pony at her front door to go away. Unfortunately, the visitor persisted. Dash moved silently to her door, sneaking a quick look through her peephole before thrusting her head back down behind the safety of the door. Dash frowned as she looked back towards Tank, hissing at him is a desperate whisper.

"Dude, it's Fluttershy! What do I do?"

Tank rolled his eyes as he answered.

"Answer the door! Odds are she already knows you're here, why bother trying hide?"

A few more seconds and another series of knocks later, Dash took a few apprehensive steps backwards. She looked over her shoulder at Tank.

"You answer it! Tell her I'm not home!"

"Stop being such a scaredy pony, and answer the damn door!"

Dash looked from the door back to Tank, then to the door again. Half of her mind told her to flee, while the other half reminded her that she had no reason to hide.

"Rainbow..."

Fluttershy's voice was soft as a whisper as she spoke.

"Um... We heard about what happened at the exam today... Pinkie Pies kinda thrown something together at Sugar Cube, and we'd all really like it if you could stop by... But if not, that's okay too..."

Dash swallowed hard, a cool sweat running down her brow.

"P-Pinkie Pie? Sugar Cube?"

She didn't realize that she had spoken out loud, until Fluttershy answered back.

"Y-yes, there's a bunch of ponies there actually. We all were wanting to congratulate you on a job well done..."

Rainbow bit her lip; the thought of seeing Pinkie Pie made her sick. If just thinking about the party loving pony completely wrecked her train of thought, how would she react to seeing her?

"Fluttershy, h-hold on a sec, kay?"

Dash sprinted away from the door and over to her pet.

"What do I do?!"

Tank stared at his master for a few moments, his face reflecting his thoughts.

"Why are you asking me? This is a no brainer, Dash! Do you really like her? Like her like a mare likes a stallion?"

Dash blushed but didn't answer. She didn't need to, she couldn't have hidden how she felt if she tried.

"Then this is your opportunity! You're gonna go to that party, and you're gonna tell her how you feel!"

Dash tugged at her mane as she whined to her pet.

"But, it's hard!"

A puzzled look formed on Tank's face. He began to look around at the room, before turning his gaze back to Rainbow Dash.

"Excuse me, miss, can you help me find my master? She's a blue Pegasus, has rainbow colored hair, and last I checked, wasn't a whiny bitch!"

Rainbow's eyes narrowed into angry slits as she pushed her snout against Tank's.

"Who you callin a bitch... Bitch!"

Tank smirked, his words carefully chosen.

"Just the BITCH that's too much of a PUSSY to go tell another mare she likes her! Seriously though, if you see my master, tell her that I haven't found that backbone she was looking for, but I'll keep searching."

That was all the incentive Rainbow needed. She burst out her door, calling back as she took to the air.

"I'll show you backbone!"

With a confused squeak, Fluttershy closed her friend's door and took off after her.

*****

"Good Lord, I've made a terrible mistake..."

Rainbow whispered the words to herself as they flashed over and over in her mind. Even before she had arrived, her celebration party had been going strong for quite some time. However, once she had walked through the door into Sugar Cube, the place had exploded! Only now, hours later, was the atmosphere beginning to die down.

Thank God it's not the weekend... Dash thought.

If it had been a Friday or Saturday, the party and its 'guest of honor', would be going on all night, not coming to an end at just a little after ten. Even as it reached its end, Dash still had an obligation to mingle, it was both a blessing and a curse. The mingling gave her an excuse to put off talking directly to Pinkie Pie. However, every second she spent sipping a drink or talking with the other Pegasi of Ponyville, was another second she lost a little more of her nerve. Rainbow Dash knew she needed to get Pinkie alone to talk to her and soon, less she chicken out completely.

Finally, Dash saw a window of opportunity open, as Pinkie Pie left the party room to check on some cupcakes. Rainbow, who was stuck in one of Cloud Kicker's never ending conversations, sat down her drink and prepared to go after her.

"Uh huh... Mhm... Yeah... Well, it's tough being a single mother... Will you hold that thought? I uh... Gotta take a wicked piss..."

Paying no mind to Cloud's protests, Dash darted away to Sugar Cube's kitchen, taking a deep breath as Pinkie Pie came into her vision. Hearing the sound of approaching hoofsteps, Pinkie turned around, greeting Dash in her carefree way.

"Hiya, Dashie!"

If she had had a plan before, it was lost that instant as her thoughts fled from her mind. Instead of greeting Pinkie back, Dash just stood in the kitchen doorway, her mouth completely incapable of making a sentence.

"Dashie? You alright?"

Alright brain, you got me this far. Now, how bout you make yourself useful and think up something clever for me to say. C'mon, anything will do! ANYTHING! She's looking right at you! Say something! Say something dammit! Anything! Just. Say. SOMETHING!

"H-hey, Pinkie Pie, bitchin' party..." Dash brought her eyes to a slow close, flinching at the stupidity of her own statement.

"Thanks, Dashie, but there's no need to thank me. I mean, it all came together so effortlessly! Of course, we had been planning something for you regardless of what happened today, but as soon as Twilight found out the results, our progress just skyrocketed! You wouldn't believe how fast word got around-"

She continued on, but Dash didn't hear her. Her mind was transfixed on making her legs move. The closer she got to Pinkie, the heavier her body seemed. After Dash fully got into the kitchen, it got a little easier. There was no way she was going to back out now!

"Yeah... Hey Pink, about the test... I really wanna thank you again, I couldn't have passed today if it hadn't been for you."

Pinkie Pie tilted her head, a gesture Dash found so irresistibly cute she feared her heart might stop.

"Oh really," Pinkie said. "Why's that?"

"Well, you just really calmed my nerves. Calmed my nerves and gave me that extra little fuel I needed to win." Dash added, in a voice too quiet for anyone (except maybe Fluttershy) to really understand, "Like nopony else could have done..."

Pinkie Pie smiled and turned away from Dash, she peered into the oven at the goodies that were ready to come out. Pinkie switched off the oven fan and got out a tray to put them on, keeping up conversation with Rainbow as she did so.

"I'm glad! I've noticed that we haven't been quite as close as we used to be, and I was worried that our big day out would turn awkward."

Rainbow Dash nodded, taking note that it hadn't just been her that had felt that way.

"Yeah... About that, Pinkie... I think I know why that happened..."

Pinkie put the tray down and turned around, putting off the treats for a moment.

"Oh?"

This time, Rainbow didn't turn away or even close her eyes as Pinkie faced her. She had set the stage for her revelation, and now it was time to go through with it.

No turning back now, Dash, you've reached the point of no return.

"Yeah... You see, Pinkie, I like you... A lot."

Pinkie smiled, not quite catching the meaning of Dash's words.

"I like you too, Dashie, a lot!"

Rainbow groaned, forcing her eyes to go back up from the floor to Pinkie's face.

"Noooooo. I mean, I like you, Pinkie Pie. A lot. A looooooooot."

Dash licked her lips as she watched the wave of realization wash over her friend's face, her mouth suddenly seemed so dry.

Why didn't I bring my drink? I should have drunk more before I tried this...

"So... I think I've liked you for quite awhile actually, but I didn't really accept it until yesterday... I think that might be why we grew apart... I don't think I really wanted to believe it before. But now... I don't think I can really deny it any longer..."

For what felt like an eternity, neither Pinkie or Rainbow said a thing. As the uncomfortable silence dragged on, a million different horrible thoughts flashed through Dash's mind at once. Now that her brain wanted to work, all it had to give her was terrible scenarios. Dash wasn't sure which one seemed the most likely, but they all made her feel sick to her stomach. At this point, there were two things that she was sure of. One, was that there was no way Pinkie was going to continue being her friend after this, and the second, was that she really wished Pinkie would hurry up and say something! However, once Pinkie Pie did speak, it floored Dash in a way she could have never predicted.

"Well duh!"

Rainbow's mouth dropped open, she fumbled over a few failed sentences before barking back her confused rebuttal.

"Well duh? Well duh! What the hell kind of response is that?!"

Pinkie Pie just giggled, she didn't seem affected in the slightest.

"I mean, that this isn't news silly. We've already been through this!"

"What the hell do you mean we've already been through this?!"

"I mean exactly what I said, we've already been through this. C'mon, Dash, don't you remember New Year's?"

Dash stammered again, feeling her blood pressure rise at the feeling of having her big reveal turned against her. No matter what the circumstance, she hated being made a fool of.

"Do I sound like I remember New Year's!? Pinkie, what the hell are you talking about? If you know something I don't, tell me!"

Pinkie frowned and eyed her Pegasus friend for a moment.

"You really don't remember, do you?"

"No!" Dash shouted back.

Dash noticed that her breathing had become heavy. She could tell by the fire in her cheeks that she was blushing badly, but it was more than that. It felt like the temperature around her had gone up twenty degrees since she had first entered the room, and it was getting hotter by the minute.

"Last New Year's Eve; the six of us went out to party, you had a few too many Manehattans, got me alone, and then you confessed your undying love for me. You really don't remember any of that?"

Dash stared back at Pinkie, slowly shaking her head. She had a little more control over her voice now, but it was still coming out a desperate shout.

"Stop asking me that! If I remembered, I wouldn't be acting this way, now would I? For fuck's sake!"

Rainbow Dash buried her face in her hooves as she began to pace around the room, letting her wings carry her rather than her legs. Suddenly, it all came back to her. The six of them going out, the wild night of drinking, the bathroom at the club where she had cornered Pinkie, it was all coming back to her now. When Dash finally stopped pacing, she couldn't look at Pinkie. Instead she kept her gaze glued to the floor.

"So, um... What happened?"

"What do you mean?"

Dash groaned again, her friend's blissfully ignorant way was beginning to wear on her nerves.

"I mean, what did you say; the first time? Do you... Feel the same?"

"Oh..."

That wasn't a good start. Now it was Pinkie's turn to look at the ground. Dash wiped the sweat off her brow, it really was getting hotter in here. The heat was beginning to sting her eyes, making them water.

"I mean, you're a great friend and all, Dash, but..."

Pinkie trailed off. Already, Dash didn't want to hear anything more.

"Buuuuuut," Dash said, urging her on against her better judgment.

"But... We're both girls... It-it wouldn't work out..."

Pinkie Pie continued to stare at the ground, Rainbow Dash couldn't believe her ears.

"Both girls... It wouldn't work out..."

In a flash, Dash flew over to Pinkie, clasping her hooves tight over her shoulders.

"What kind of lame ass excuse is that!?"

Pinkie looked up wide eyed at Dash, completely thrown off guard by her sudden advance.

"Dashie! Knock it off, that hurts!"

Dash scowled and kept hold of her friend. She didn't know if it was the heat, her frustration and embarrassment, or a combination of the three, but it seemed like Pinkie was becoming harder to see.

"You knock it off! Seriously, that's the best you can come up with? Here I am, pouring my heart out to you, and not only do you wanna act all nonchalant about it, but the best reason you can give for not being able to be with me, is that it won't work out?!"

Pinkie pushed Dash's hooves off of her. She took a step backwards, her flank hitting the kitchen counter.

"What do you want me to say?!"

Dash bit her lip. She had to squint to see Pinkie now.

"I don't know... Something better than that! Admit it, we'd be great together! Girls or not we're meant to b-"

Dash's rant was cut short as she broke off into a fit of coughing. Her burning eyes shut tight, she grabbed blindly at Pinkie's shoulders just as an electronic scream began to pierce the air.

Dash heard the sound of the kitchen fan being turned on, as she at last managed to open her eyes. It hadn't been her imagination, the room was filled with smoke; smoke and ponies now. All eyes were on her and Pinkie Pie, as they fanned the smoke out of the room and turned the oven off. As questions about the shouting and smoke began to come up, Dash realized just how bad the situation must have looked. She still had her fore hooves grasped tight on Pinkie Pie's shoulders. Rainbow turned around, scanning the crowd of faces before settling on the clock above the doorway; it was ten thirty on the dot.

"Wehehell..." Dash stammered, taking a few steps away from Pinkie and making her way through the crowd.

"Look at the time! It's been fun guys, but I really gotta get going. Big training and stuff... Great party though, great party. You've all been really great. Great! Great... And uh, Pinkie, think it over, okay? And if I have chance, will you let me know?"

Dash quickly found her way out of Sugar Cube and took to the skies, her ears still ringing from the screech of bakery's smoke alarm.

With her spirits weakened but still intact, Dash returned to her home to reflect on the incident. After a change of strategy and a little encouragement from Tank, she decided to try talking to Pinkie Pie again. The next day went much better than the one before. Pinkie even admitted to having similar urges on an occasion or two, but in the end she remained resistant to Rainbow Dash's reasoning. Dash left with a wounded spirit, but returned the next day; still Pinkie Pie refused her. Broken but not beaten Dash tried the next day, and the next, the day after that, and finally the one after that.

By the time the seventh day rolled around, Rainbow was too drained to try and talk with her friend another day in a row, so she decided to stay in. In her saddened state, Dash ended up not leaving the house at all that day... Or the day after that. Pretty soon one day turned into three, three into a week, and before she knew it, it had become more than two weeks since anypony had spoken with her.

*****

Dash awoke in a slow daze, her mind dimly aware of the pounding hoof on her door. She rolled over in her bed, pushing her head underneath her pillow and holding it down with her hooves to block out the sound. The knocking was a timid one, even in its desperation, she could tell it was very restrained.

"Fluttershy today..."

A couple times every day for the past couple of weeks, one of her friends would come to check on her. So far, none of them had made it past the front door. Hell, she hadn't even said anything to any of them in weeks. Rainbow still felt bad for ignoring them, especially when an Earth Pony like Applejack came (cloud walking spells were a bitch to cast after all), but at the moment Dash's shame far outweighed everything else, and there was no way she was gonna face them now. How could she? She wondered how many ponies knew about her numerous rejections from Pinkie. The fact that they hadn't sent Pinkie up here to get her yet, probably meant that at least her friends knew about the incident...

The knocking persisted and Dash continued to ignore it. Of course they had tried to get in, but Dash had made good on her promise to keep her door locked from now on. She wondered why they hadn't just tried busting it in yet. Maybe it was because they weren't sure that she was actually inside. For all they knew, Rainbow had grabbed Tank and went somewhere far away so she could train.

Train... Dash groaned. The race was coming up in a few short days and it had been forever since she had even used her wings. Dash pulled the pillow tighter over her, blocking out the thoughts as she blocked out Fluttershy's concern. Finally, the sound ceased, and Rainbow was left alone once again.

Once she was sure the coast was clear, Dash rolled out of bed, making her way through the hopeless haze her life had become. Dash ran some water from her bathroom sink, and splashed her face with it, taking a moment to look at the mess of a pony in the mirror. Her mane was messier than usual, her face was pale and thin, she didn't even recognize the pair of tragic eyes that gazed back at her.

"Look at you... You used to be something... You could have been a Wonderbolt... You think they'd want you now? You can't even hold your head up, much less impress a crowd..."

Dash turned away from the mirror, unable to stand her reflection any longer.

"Not used to be... Are..."

Rainbow Dash turned slowly around towards the source of the sound. Tank stood in the bathroom doorway, even his normally expressionless face seemed to have taken on a darker aura.

"Dash, you can't keep doing this to yourself... The race is in two days, you can't lose like this!"

Dash nodded, walking out of her bathroom and back to her bed.

"That's easy for you to say, you're not the one being treated like a disgusting pest by your best friend... Ex-best friend, I suppose..."

Tank looked at Dash from the floor and she bent down to pick him up, setting him down on her lap.

"Don't talk like that! Pinkie Pie's still your friend, she's probably just unsure how to handle this whole thing."

"That's just it, Tank. I don't want her as a friend... I want... More... Something more that I'll never have..."

"Listen to yourself!"

Dash blinked and recoiled slightly at Tank's outburst. She had seen him upset before, but this anger filled squeak was completely new to her.

"Look at you, wallowing away in self-pity. It makes me sick!"

Dash didn't know what to say. She tried to spit out a few words in her defense, but they were quickly cut short.

"No! Don't you say a word, you listen! For nearly three weeks I've watched your pathetic ass cry about nothing, and I can't take it anymore! Now, I know you're not used to rejection, and its hard for you to handle and all that stupid shit, but enough is enough! Last time I checked, you were Rainbow Danger Dash, the most bad ass bad-ass to have ever bad assed, and the Rainbow Dash I know does not take no for an answer!"

Dash nodded, finding herself swept up in Tank's pep talk.

"You've got two options. You can keep on sitting here, hiding away in your locked house while the world moves on without you, waiting to whither and die... Or, you can get off your mopy butt, clean yourself up, go take what you want like the old Rainbow Dash used to do, and go win yourself a rac- Whoa!"

Dash sprung to her hooves, sending Tank flying across the room.

"You're right! Misery be damned! I'm Rainbow Dash, and I take what I want! I know Pinkie feels the same way, even if she doesn't yet, and I'm gonna show her!"

She prepared to rush back into her bathroom, stopping to flip the fallen Tank up from off of his back.

"Uh... Sorry bout that, buddy."

With a smile and quick nuzzle, she continued on with her mission. Ready to make Pinkie fall for her once and for all!

*****

It wasn't until dusk had settled over Ponyville, that Rainbow Dash made her move. After cleaning herself up, she made her way to Sugar Cube, and hid within the clouds above the shop. Dash waited for the perfect chance to get Pinkie Pie to herself. Just when she thought her chance would never come, she spotted Pinkie walking out the backdoor of the shop, taking out the garbage for the day. Rainbow landed softly, a few feet behind Pinkie. She cleared her throat to let her know she was there. Pinkie Pie whipped around at the sound of her friend's voice, taking a moment to rub her eyes in disbelief.

"Dashie! Where have you been? No one's seen you for weeks! We were so worried..."

Dash blushed, it seemed that she wasn't as prepared as she had thought.

"Yeahhhhh, sorry bout that, I was... Busy..."

Pinkie swept Dash up in a hug, catching her off guard.

"Well, thank goodness you're back! We didn't know if you were going to make the race or not! Oh my gosh! Do you know what day it is?! The race is in like two days! Are you even rea-"

Dash put a hoof to Pinkie's mouth, stopping her before she began to ramble.

"Yeah, yeah, race smace, look Pinkie, you know why I'm here... We've got unfinished business..."

Pinkie took a couple steps backward, her cheery attitude replaced with a somber frown.

"Oh, Dashie... Not this again..."

"Yes, this again! I don't know what you think this means to me, but I'm serious about this! This is killing me, Pink! I need you, I need us! Can't you just, I don't know, throw me a bone here!"

Pinkie Pie shook her head, obviously made uncomfortable by her friend's persistence.

"Dashie, I'm flattered, really I am. If I was going to be with somepony of the same sex, you'd be high on the list..."

Dash scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Oh you're too kind," she added sarcastically.

"But... I just don't feel that way about mares... If you're gay, that's cool with me, it doesn't affect my opinion of you in the slightest. But I'm not! Why can't you accept that?"

"Because! I'm not gay, Pinkie! Don't you get it?"

Dash stopped, taking a moment to choose her words before starting again.

"I'm not attracted to mares, Pinkie Pie... I'm attracted to you... Your gender doesn't matter to me, it's all the great times we've spent together, all the laughs we've shared, the times we've had, your personality, the way you speak, the way you think, everything!"

Dash bit her lip. Romantic junk like this wasn't exactly her strong suit, but she knew she had to do her best to convey her feelings if she wanted a chance with Pinkie Pie.

"I know you've had some great romances in the past, but I've watched them all come and go while I've managed to stick around! Love's such a fickle thing, and true happiness is such a hard thing to find... Just when you think you've found a sun, a bright spot in your life, it's gone before it can even shine..."

Dash paused again, taking a moment to study Pinkie's face. She hoped beyond hope that maybe, just maybe, some of what she was saying was getting through to her.

"I love you, Pinkie... You've been one of my best friends forever now, and I would never do anything to hurt you... I just want to be there for you... I want the chance to make you feel as happy as you make me... Look, I never thought I'd feel this way about another mare either, but you're not just another mare! We've got something special, you and I. I've always known it but was always too deep in denial to believe it. And I know that somewhere, you feel the same way about me. So please, just a chance, that's all I ask..."

The seconds dragged on like hours, as Dash starred into Pinkie's eyes. Neither of them were about to look away, but neither knew where to begin. Finally, with downcast eyes, Pinkie Pie broke the silence.

"Rainbow Dash... I'm sorry... But, I can't..."

Her words were devastating. It took Dash a second to catch her breath, but once she did, she had no problem letting loose on Pinkie.

"Are you serious?! Still? After all that, this is really fuckin' happening?!"

Pinkie flinched at Dash's words, not used to being talked to in such a way by a friend.

"Dash, c'mon! Don't be that way!"

Rainbow shook her head, storming away as Pinkie gave pursuit.

"Don't tell me to come on! I can't believe you, Pinkie Pie! You're like, the friendliest, most open minded pony I know, and you won't even give your best friend a chance, even after you've seen how important this is to me!"

Pinkie grabbed Dash's shoulder and Dash stopped, turning around but refusing to look at her.

"Dashie! Now you're just sounding selfish and- Are... Are you crying?"

"No!"

Dash yanked herself away from Pinkie again, she couldn't possibly face her friend now.

"Not crying," she sniffled. "Mad!"

As hard as she fought against it now, her efforts proved fruitless. Soon, hot, angry tears were streaming against Rainbow Dash's cheeks. She no longer had the strength to pull away from Pinkie.

"Oh, Dashie... This really means a lot to you... Doesn't it?"

Dash wiped her eyes, her mood furthered soured by Pinkie's question.

"No, this has all been for show!" she snapped back. "Of course it means a lot to me..."

Dash took a moment to fight back the bitter tears, seeing one last opportunity appear.

"Look, Pinkie, we've had so many great laughs together, so many wonderful times... Thinking back, I know that I've always felt this way about you, and I know that somewhere, deep down inside, you feel the same way about me! I know you've got your doubts because we're both mares, but think of it this way... If I were a stallion, would you hesitate? If the situation was different, would there be a problem?"

"Now, that's not fair! The situation's not different, Dashie..."

Pinkie didn't say another word, watching as the last of Dash's tears began to dry.

"Pinkie, I know you think you've made up your mind about this, but one, lousy chance, that's all I'm asking for! Think it over, please, for me! Think about it... And if you can honestly think of any reason, any reason at all that would make us a bad couple, other than that we're the same sex, then I promise I'll leave you alone about this... Forever! But if you can't, even though you've made it clear that the answer is no... Please, please! Can I change your mind?"

Once again there was silence. Neither pony was making a sound, and even the town itself seemed to have paused. At last, Pinkie spoke, a simple phrase that changed everything.

"Win the race."

Dash tilted her head, not sure if she understood the meaning behind her friend's words.

"Huh?"

Pinkie repeated herself.

"Win the race. If you win the race tomorrow, make the Wonderbolts, I'll go out on a date with you. One date! And we'll see how it goes from there... But only if you win the race!

Dash couldn't believe her ears. Her harsh frown transformed into a wide grin, as she hugged Pinkie Pie as tight as she could.

"Oh thank you, Pink! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Her cheeks blushed a happy red as she released her friend. Dash felt that finally, after all the trials and tribulations of the past few months, her journey was at last about to reach its climax, and a greater prize than she could have ever conceived was just on the horizon.

Pinkie smiled, shaking her head as she gave Rainbow Dash a playful nudge.

"Don't thank me so soon, Dashie. After all, you haven't won anything yet."

"Pfft," Dash scoffed, her once ever present, cocky attitude returning.

"Pinkie, please! Like I'm gonna have any problem smoking those bitches! If I were you, I'd be spending less time worrying about me, and more preparing for our totally kick ass date!"

Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes, the smile on Dash's face bringing one to her own.

"If you say so. Anyways, I've gotta go back inside. I'm surprised they haven't come looking for me yet!"

Rainbow nodded, working her wings into a soft flutter.

"Yeah, yeah, I gotta get going to. I've gotta go plan for the biggest date of my life!"

She winked at Pinkie and began to hover away, waving at the pink, party pony as her wings stretched out into the skies.

*****

The next day, Rainbow spent her entire afternoon in town, not shy about telling ponies that she was looking for things to do for her and her extra special friend's date. When asked about the upcoming race, she simply told everyone that she had more important things to worry about at the moment.

The day after that, the day of the race, was one for the books indeed. August 14th of that year, would go on to be remembered by most of Equestria, as the day that one of the most one-sided races in Wonderbolt history had taken place. Rainbow Dash, however, would always remember it as the day that she took Pinkie out for their very first date. A date that would go on to be the first of many...

Change Your Mind