“Bit for your thoughts, darling?”
Rainbow Dash shook her head, her eyes focusing on Rarity’s smiling face. “Huh, oh nothing,” she said. “Just wondering when I’ll get my own statue in the palace gardens,” the lie fell easily from her lips, “Dash the fastest pony alive!” She spread her forelegs wide, framing the scene.
Rarity giggled. “Well it’s nice to see that today's events haven’t dented your ego Rainbow.”
“Hey when you’re awesome, you’re awesome. Being framed by one of my old heroes won’t change that.” She gave a rather false grin.
Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Well, my merely fabulous self has been invited to a dinner with Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis, would your awesome self care to accompany me? I’m sure the hosts wouldn’t mind one more guest, Photo Finish, Spitfire and Soarin will be there as well.”
“No thanks Rarity, you know how much I hate that sort of thing, I’m going to fly a few laps round the city, need to make sure I’m at my best in case the Wonderbolts need to call me up again.”
For a moment Rarity looked like she was going to argue, then she shrugged. “Of course, just don’t spend all your time training, you should have some fun as well. I’ll see you later, darling.” She took off towards her suite, no doubt to spend the next few hours deciding what outfit to wear to the dinner.
Left alone Dash left out a sigh before leaping into the air, her wings catching the breeze and quickly raising her high above the city. It hadn’t been her future statue that had been on her mind, although the castle gardens would be the perfect place for one now that Discord was no longer resident, it had been Wind Rider. How could he have done that to her? Framed her, almost gotten her thrown out of the Wonderbolts.
Banking through the sky she crashed through a cloud bank, the fluffy substance leaving a trail in her wake.
She’d used to look up to him, she thought, gritting her teeth in anger, he’d been one of the heroes plastered over her walls alongside his peers. Of course she’d only been a little filly when he’d retired, but still he’d always been her idea of the perfect Wonderbolt, fast as lightning, skilled, honourable. It felt like a personal betrayal, Why? Why had he done it?!
Stopping for a moment she tried to still her mind as she sighted a large thunderhead a few miles away, it would make a good target for a training run. Stretching out her wings she surged towards it, jinxing around or spinning over any other cloud that got in her way, flashing forwards at an ever increasing rate.
Why? The question flashed back into her head as the wind tugged on her mane. Just to protect some record? Sure she was proud of her own accomplishments, of her records, but to backstab a colleague to stop them from beating you? It wasn’t right. There had to have been more to it than that, didn’t there?
Momentarily distracted, one of her wings struck a passing cloud bank, disintegrating it instantly, but the slight drag pitched her off course sending her rocketing past her target rather than through it as she’s planned.
Snarling to herself Dash swept around and kicked out at the black cloud resulting in a rumble of thunder. That had been a filly mistake! She couldn’t afford to get so distracted.
But she still had to know why!
Turning on a jangle Dash spun around and flashed back towards the palace. It was unlikely, but maybe Wind Rider hadn’t been thrown out of his suite yet. Maybe she could find him, ask him, make him, tell her why he’d done it.
Then maybe her mind could rest.
Within a few minutes she was back inside the castle. She touched down in one of the courtyards hard enough to make her hooves smart, and to crack a few tiles, before galloping down the corridor leading to the guest suites. She cornered a servant who fearfully confirmed that Wind Rider was still in his room, although the guard planned to kick his sorry ass out in the morning.
Coming to a halt Rainbow tried to decide whether to knock or just bash the door down. The decision was taken out of her hooves when she realised that the door was actually slightly ajar.
“Hey! Anypony home?” she called loudly as she carefully pushed it open and peered in.
The only source of light was a flickering lamp which cast crazy shadows around the room barely revealing the figure of Wind Rider slumped over a chair. Rainbow gagged, the room smelt like two bars had gotten into a fight with a brewery.
“Oh, it’s you!” slurred Wind Rider blinking against the light from the door, “Has the wondrous Rainbow Dash come to kick me while I’m down?” His scarf, still stained from his treachery, hung loosely around his neck, while his jacket, with the tear where his insignia had once stood proudly, was thrown aside onto the nearby bed. The stallion upended a bottle into his mouth only to find it was empty, and tossed it aside. The area around him was covered with the remains of the rather generous mini bar the room had come with.
For a moment Rainbow wanted to swoop into the room grab the ex-wonderbolt and shake him until the world made sense again, but the sight of the clearly broken stallion stopped her in her tracks.
“What? No clever remark?” he continued staring at her with red ringed eyes. “I suppose I should be thankful that someone cares enough to even want to see me, Spitfire, Soarin and the rest didn’t even bother to do that. Just tossed me aside and forgot about me. Twenty years I gave them, twenty years, show after show after show, and what am I left with? Nothing.”
Dash didn’t know what to say, she hadn’t expected this, she’d thought that he’d argue, maybe even fight, she didn’t know what to do.
“I guess I should thank you kid,” mumbled Wind Rider straightening up. “Let me give you some advice from somepony who knows.” He took a deep breath. “Welcome to the Wonderbolts, your life's gonna suck, get used to it,” he grinned.
“What!” exclaimed Dash, “No way, being a wonderbolt is sweet!”
“Oh sure it is, it’s great being a wonderbolt, look how I ended up,” he gestured around the darkened room, “oh, right, I guess I’m not a wonderbolt anymore. Sure, it’s great while you’re on top, but it doesn’t last. Look at me! No family, no friends, nothing!” He spat. “Welcome to my life!”
Rainbow frowned, was that right, she couldn’t remember, but surely he had a partner or somepony. “Hey... it’s... it’s not that bad,” she mumbled, this wasn’t how she’d expected things to be. “You must have somepony, you’re... you were a Wonderbolt! You had thousands of fans!”
“Oh yes,” he smiled bitterly his eyes unfocused. “I had so many friends. So many simpering sycophants, but not one ever really knew me! I was a real stud back in the day, a filly in every town, back when I was somepony.” His gaze dropped to the ground. “But one day... one day I woke up in another hotel room and I... I just wanted somepony to talk to, really talk to, somepony special, not just another fan filly, not just another bed warmer, and I realised there was nopony.” He snorted. “What did I even have to talk about? When did I ever have time to talk anyway? No time for me, no time for friends, just train, train, train!”
“It’s not like that!” insisted Dash, “Sure you had to work hard, but you should have had time for your friends as well.”
He pushed himself off the chair and lurched forward, Rainbow had to force herself not to back away and he approached unsteadily. “Sure, you’ve got time now, you’re young, but give it a few years, sooner or later you’re have to make a decision, your friends or your fame. You're still a reserve, hasn’t it ever occurred to you that if you really gave it your all you’d be a full wonderbolt already? If you want to be the best you can you have to give it your all, friends are just a distraction!”
“No, way! I can train and have time for my friends, I’ll be a wonderbolt soon. I’m that awesome!” insisted Dash, a slight quaver in her voice. She’d thought similar things a few times when her dreams had seemed so distant but... no she could have it all, she was Rainbow Dash!
Wind Rider gave a bitter laugh and staggered towards the light switch, hitting it with his muzzle more by luck than judgement. The room was suddenly illuminated causing Dash to blink. Every flat surface was covered by trophies and medals. She gasped in astonishment and pointed at a particular trophy with a hoof. “Is that the Quadruple crown?” she asked, “And that's the Canterlot Million medal!”
“I won it twice!” said Wind Rider with fleeting pride. He picked himself up and for a moment looked like the stallion Dash had thought him to be, until he had betrayed her.
“You’ve got all this dude,” she gestured around the room. “Why did you throw it all away just to stop me breaking a single record? Why?”
“That record was all I had left!” he snarled turning back towards her teeth bared. “The crown, I won it once, Spitfire has two!” He grabbed a scroll from the pile, “Academy long distance record! Surprise broke it two years later!” he threw it aside. “Youngest winner of the sun cup, Rapid Fire was two months younger! Fastest time over ten furlongs, Fleetfoot did it two whole seconds quicker,” he smashed the trophy aside with a hoof sending it bouncing off the wall. “All of it gone! The long distance record was all I had left! When Spitfire said you’d take that from me as well... I had to do something, I had to have something left! For twenty years' work, for my life!” He stood panting.
“Look,” said Dash reaching forwards. “I get why you might be angry with me, but telling Spitfire her mom was sick? That’s so not cool!” She didn’t know what she’d do if something happened to her dad. It had been awhile since she’s last written to him, she’d hoped he’d be able to make the show but he found it harder to get about than he’d used to.
“Not cool! My mother died while I was away on tour,” he snarled, ”She... she died.” The anger seemed to drain from him. “I just carried on, the job came first! I... I had to, I couldn’t stop or I’d fall behind.” Dash recoiled in astonishment. “My father never forgave me for not being there,” continued Wind Rider almost to himself. “He didn’t understand what I’d have to give up. He never talked to me again! I’ve got a sister somewhere, I’ve not seen her in years.” Anger flashed in his eye’s again. “I gave the Wonderbolts everything! Everything! And what did I get in return? I was tossed aside once I wasn’t the best anymore!”
“Dude...” exclaimed Dash in shock.
“It’ll happen to you as well you know!” he cried his legs starting to give out under him. “There’s always somepony faster, somepony younger, somepony hungrier!” He slumped to the ground and looked up at her. “You’re what twenty two, twenty three?”
“I’m twenty five,” said Dash pacing uncomfortably on the spot.
“It’s getting harder already right? Every day it doesn’t come as easily as it used to, every injury takes a bit longer to recover from.” Dash shook one of her hind legs, it ached a little from her earlier landing, but she kept quiet.
“Give it another year or two,” he continued, “and there'll be a new filly looking to take your place, just a bit more talented, you’re tell yourself you don’t care, but you will! Then she’ll break one of your records, maybe a minor one, one you never think about anymore, but once it’s gone, it’s gone, and you’re tell yourself you don’t care, but you will! Then you’ll turn around one day and realise there’s nothing left, you’re surrounded by foals half your age, everyone of them better than you. They’ll tell you you’ve had your day, that it’s time to leave. The wonderbolts are the best of the best, no space for a decrepit has been! Oh, they’ll say how proud they are of you, how they’ll never be half the stallion you were! You probably think that you’d be remembered, that the fans will still follow you? But who follows a burnt out ex-wonderbolt? You’re gone and forgotten, no one cheers for you anymore! Nopony!” His head hit the ground and he started to sob quietly.
“Dude,” whispered Dash kneeling next to her fallen idol gently resting a leg over his back. “I remembered you, you were my hero, and I wasn’t the only one.” The stallion looked up for a moment before his head sunk once again to the ground.
Dash sighed “I already know it’s not going to last forever.” The stallion looked up again in surprise. “But that won’t stop me being as awesome as I can, for as long as I can,” said Dash her cocky smile returning. “I even know who’s going to replace me, there’s this kid called Scootaloo back in Ponyville, she may never get off the ground, but the things she can do with that scooter of hers,” she grinned, “she’s definitely gonna be a champ,” pride glimmered in her eyes, “and there’s this filly called Loop-da-loop, she’s the cutest little thing, not even going to flight camp yet but she can do things I never could at her age.”
“It’s easy when they’re foals,” mumbled Wing Rider from the ground, “When they worship the wind beneath your wings, but wait until they’re competing with you, when you’re the old fossil they need to beat to make a name for themselves, then you’ll see what they really think of you.”
“I didn’t want to break your record to show you up!” said Dash gently. “I wanted to break it to follow in your wing beats, because you showed me it could be done. Sooner or later the same’s gonna happen to me. I’m not gonna make it easy for them, but Scoots or Loopy will beat me someday, and if not them somepony else.” She straightened looking down at the stallion in front of her. “But it’s not gonna matter because I’m gonna be the one that inspired them, they’re going to be awesome because I showed them the way. Every pony cheering them is cheering me!” She looked down at the prone stallion in front of her. “I’m not gonna become you, when my time's up I’m gonna fly away proud of what I did, even if every one of my records is broken I’ll still have shown those that come after me how to do it. Once I’ve had my day I won’t be alone, even if no fan ever remembers me, I’ll still have my friends,” she said fiercely. “I’ll always make time for them. Even when you tried to stab me in the back Rarity was there to protect me, I’m never gonna be alone, never!”
She looked over the stallion, he’d slumped onto his side and his sobs were slowly turning into snores as he passed out. Sighing to herself before grunting with the effort, Dash hoisted her fallen hero onto her back before levering him onto the bed. She gently covered him with the sheets before leaving him there, alone with his tarnished trophies, and his broken dreams.
Slowly Dash backed out of the room closing the door gently behind her. She shuddered, now she knew, she didn’t understand, not fully, but she knew why he’d done it. She slumped slightly, all her anger had burned out of her and had been replaced with pity. The old stallion had seemed so hollow, so small, so different from the posters that had once covered her walls. It was sad what had happened to him, but it had been his choice right? That couldn’t happen to her, could it?
Nah, she was too awesome for that.
She turned and started to trot down the hall, her heart starting to rise as she got further and further from Wind Rider’s room. Maybe she should write to her dad, it’d been awhile since her last letter she was sure he’d like to hear about the show, maybe she could even visit soon, Cloudsdale wasn’t that far, not when you were as fast as she was.
She paused at a crossroads, should she go out and fly her laps? Or maybe she should see if Rarity had gone to dinner yet, she was feeling a little peckish and it would be nice to spend some time with her friend after she’d saved her.
With only a moment's thought she turned and made her way further into the castle, after all she could just fly twice as many laps tomorrow, tonight she didn’t want to be alone.
Author's Note
So, what did you think?
This is my first canon universe story and my first based around an actual episode. It was just an idea that came to me when I was thinking about the episode, why did Wind Rider do it? His plot seemed fairly flimsy so why risk so much just to save a record which it didn't look like Dash was that keen on breaking anyway. That stream of thoughts led to this look at a stallion who put his all into his job and was left with nothing and then on to what Dash could become in the same situation.
In a way I think Dash has actually already gotten past this, I can see season 1 or 2 Dash growing up to be a bitter as Wind Rider but I think the slightly more mature Dash of season 3 onwards can probably balance her work and her life more.
I'm kind of surprised no one else wrote this already, or maybe they did and I didn't notice.
Thanks to grass&clouds2 for his comments.
I did this in a hurry to get it up while the episode was still fresh in peoples minds so I didn't get an editor, hopefully it mostly readable anyway.
Update: Now with a little more grammar, thanks to docontra for his corrections.
Comments as always are very welcome.
