Rainbow Dash heaved an exhausted sigh as she put away her Wonder Bolt uniform. It had been a long day, and her bed was calling her, along with the latest issue of Daring Do. Just as she was about to head off, she heard somepony call her name. Turning around she saw Spitfire walking up to her, her own uniform also put away. She was wearing an expression that Rainbow had never seen before, and, as a result, couldn't read. It was serious, but at the same time gentle.
"Care to fly with me?" she asked.
Rainbow Dash was tired, but something in the look on Spitfire's face told her that she should say 'yes'. So she did. Walking out to the training grounds, Rainbow followed Spitfire as she flew off in an unfamiliar pattern.
"You know," Spitfire said suddenly. "I don't think I ever told you what my nickname is."
Rainbow Dash blinked. No, Spitfire hadn't told her what her nickname was, but she'd always assumed she didn't have one. Spitfire always seem too serious and level-headed to end up doing something foolish out of pride, which seemed to be how everpony else got their nicknames.
"No, you didn't." Rainbow answered simply.
"It's 'Winded'." Spitfire said, a slight chuckle in her voice. "Wanna hear how I got it?"
Rainbow Dash blinked. She didn't know what to expect when Spitfire invited her to fly, but this certainly wasn't it. She wondered what had brought all of this on. Sure she'd done something stupid, what with asking Scootaloo to kick a storm cloud in front of her and nearly gotten hurt in the process, but that was... Okay, it was only three hours ago, but still, she thought this had all been put to rest. Rainbow tried to think of what to say. She didn't understand what was happening or where this conversation was going, but is seemed clear, that this was something Spitfire wanted her to hear. So she'd go along with it.
Spitfire took and deep breath before she began. "It was my first day as a Wonder Bolt. It had been my dream since I was a filly, and I wanted to make a big impression. But, not as a awesome flyer. I wanted everyone to see me as a pony that got things done. A pony that would work ten times harder than anypony else. So, before the welcoming committee even started up, I went to the obstacle course."
New Wonder Bolt Spitfire stared at the obstacle course in front of her. It looked a little complicated, but, nothing that she hadn't been though at the academy. She mapped her flight path out in her head, before turning the obstacles on. As soon as it started moving, she spread her wings and took off. She almost instantly regretted it. This wasn't like the obstacle course at the academy. The obstacles were moving much faster, and there was some that hadn't been visible until she turned them on. Spitfire flew though the course as fast as she could, narrowly avoiding the obstacles as they came flying at her. She managed to avoid them for about ten minutes, before one came right one of her blind spot and smacked her in the stomach, knocking all the wind out of her and sending her reeling into another of the obstacles behind her. Spitfire gasped as she tried to get her breath back. Just as she was about to be sent flying by another obstacle, she felt a pair of hooves wrap around her and pull her out of the way. Wind rushed past her ears as the pony carrying her whizzed around the obstacles back to the starting line. Placing the yellow and orange mare down, the pony turned off the course before kneeling down next to the mare.
"Are you hurt?"
The voice was male, Spitfire could tell that much. But, with her eyesight still blurry, she couldn't see them. She shook her head in a 'no'. The obstacles were padded, so she wasn't hurt. That first hit though, had been in a bad spot. Finally getting her breath back, Spitfire looked up to see a light blue pegasus in front of her. He held out a hoof to her, which she took gratefully.
The stallion smiled at her. "Decided to take a crash course, huh? I can understand wanting to get right into it, but next time," He pointed to the switch. "Put it on the lowest setting. You might still have some wind left in you."
Spitfire flushed a bright red as she saw the numbers next to the switch, indicating the different levels of difficulty. She'd been so caught up trying to make an impression she hadn't even notice it. Well, she'd certainly made an impression now.
Spitfire sighed as she walked to her new locker. That mishap with the course had not been a good way to start her new career. But, she needed to focus on the matter at hoof, and get ready for her first training session.
"Hey, Winded."
Spitfire felt a tap on her shoulder as the name was spoken. Turning around, she came face to face was a pink mare with a yellow mane. She was smiling gently and was dressed in her Wonder Bolt uniform.
"I saw what happened at the obstacle course." She said. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Spitfire replied politely. "And my name's not 'Winded', by the way. It's Spitfire."
The Pink mare giggled. "It is now. Sorry to break this to you, but that stunt you pulled with the course was one of the biggest fails I've ever seen. And I've seen some real doozies."
Spitfire gaped at the mare before her. If this mare was calling her that name, how many other ponies were?
"I'm Ciel Breeze, by the way. But, everypony calls me Flag Pole." Ciel continued, never once losing her smile. "You better get used to remembering nicknames, because there's a lot, and I mean a lot of them."
At that moment a pony called out from the door.
"Oy, Flag. Breaker wants to talk to ya."
"Got it." Ciel gave Spitfire a good natured punch to the shoulder, before heading to the door. "See you at training, Winded."
"It wasn't until a few days later that I found out how Ciel got her name. Turned out she'd been so caught up looking at the grounds, she forgot to look where she was going..."
"And flew right into the flag pole?" Rainbow finished for her.
"You got it." Spitfire chuckled, before turning in to land on a cloud.
Rainbow looked up to see that they were now standing in front of her house. She'd been so caught up in Spitfire's story that she hadn't realise where they were going.
"We've all made stupid decisions in the past Rainbow. I made one very recently." Spitfire turned to the rainbow maned mare, an apologetic look on her face. "Fluttershy explained everything to me."
Rainbow dash gaped at her. Fluttershy told her? She knew everything?
"I'm sorry." Spitfire's apology caught Rainbow off guard. She didn't get it. Weren't nicknames how things work in the Wonder Bolts? "Our nicknames aren't just reminders of our mistakes, Rainbow Dash. They're symbols of how far we've come, and the bonds we share with our teammates. But even if that's how they're meant to be, it's rather hard to see it that way when it also reminds you of something painful." Spitfire placed a hoof on Rainbow shoulder. The action was gentle, kind, like the action of a mother trying to comfort her child. "I know the kinds of scars that that kind of treatment can leave on you. And I am so very sorry that I didn't realise how this whole thing was effecting you. But, Rainbow Dash, you don't have to keep silent when something is bothering you. We may have our nicknames, but there is a big difference between friendly ribbing and bullying. And, although we may not have realised it, what we were doing to you was most certainly the latter. So... I'll understand if you want us to change it to something else or just want us to call you by name. Nopony will think any less of you."
Rainbow stared at Spitfire for a long while, trying to think of what to say. This was the chance she'd been waiting for since everypony started calling her Rainbow Crash. She could pick any name she wanted and they would call her it. But... Rainbow thought of all the nicknames the other Wonder Bolts had. They all meant something. At first she'd thought it was a sign of respect, a way to say who was better based on what nickname they had. But, that wasn't it. She thought of Spitfire's name, the story of how she got it and of how Spitfire had acted around her when she'd gotten her own nickname. Just like Ciel, Spitfire had welcomed Rainbow Dash with open hooves, giving her, her team jacket to show that she was one of them. No, the nicknames weren't saying who was better, what the nicknames were really say was, 'Don't worry. We've all been there. You're not alone.'.
"Captain Spitfire." Rainbow said. "Thank you for the offer. But I think I'd rather you call me by the nickname I've already got."
"Are you sure?" Spitfire asked.
"I'm sure. I've grown kind of attached to it."
Spitfire nodded, a soft smile on her face. "Okay. If you're sure." Turning around she took off, waving goodbye. "See you tomorrow, Crash!"
"Not if I see you first, Winded!"
