The moon was high in the cloudless night sky, illuminating the land below in a cool soothing light. But the pleasant evening was no comfort to the blue stallion who sat alone on the roof of an old bar far from anywhere his embarrassment could follow.
Wind Rider, expert aviator, professional stunt pony and proud Wonderbolt... or at least he had been. In little more than thirty days his life had been turned upside down. First his expulsion from the Wonderbolts, then the loss of respect from the ponies around him, even those he considered friends.
But yet, he could still go home as though nothing had changed. He could still admire his hard earned medals and ribbons, still look at all the happy photos of himself with friends and smile as though nothing had happened. But these things he had once found pride in turned to reminders of a life wasted away for a title he could no longer claim.
But the title did not matter to him, he was a Wonderbolt through and through. He had proven he had the right stuff long ago, the grit and determination to make him one of the best. But suddenly none of that mattered to anypony but himself. All anypony would see was a sad old stallion who couldn't just quietly step back when somepony even greater stepped up. Although, they wouldn't be wrong.
Wind Rider's ears flicked around as he heard wing beats against the air. A few moments later and a small thud followed by the sound of hoofsteps clicking against the roofs shingles approached him.
“Hey” a familiar raspy young voice called from behind him.
Wing Rider glanced over to Rainbow Dash, but gave no response.
The young mare stepped closer to Wing Rider “Nopony's heard anything from you for awhile, then just out of the blue you start running your mouth off about me and friends to everypony”
“I figured it was the only sure way to make you come to me” Wind Rider replied.
“What, you want a fight or something?” Rainbow asked as she ruffled her feathers.
Wind Rider patted a spot next to him with his hoof “Sit down, kid” he said.
“What are you up to?” she asked, as she shot a distrusting stare at Wind Rider.
“I've got something I want to tell you” he replied “I just haven't been able to find the words until now”
“What, do you want to me forgive you or something?” she asked mockingly.
Wind Rider let out an annoyed groan “I just want you to know why I did what I did before it's too late” he said with a sigh “...maybe I can keep you from doing the same thing someday”
Rainbow hesitantly moved closer to Wind Rider and sat down beside him.
“Well go on, tell me your sob story” Rainbow insisted.
“Actually it's not really my story that's important. Have you ever heard of a Wonderbolt called Summer Breeze?” he asked.
“No” she replied
“She was my idol; broke the world record for the one mile sprint flight when I was just a colt. She inspired me to become a Wonderbolt; all any of us kids could talk about at flight camp was how we wanted to be just as fast as her... that is until some new recruit broke her record by 23 whole seconds. Almost overnight ponies stopped giving a flying feather about her, except me”
“Why, it's not that other ponies fault they were faster than her” said Rainbow.
“Well on one hoof I had a bit of a crush on her, but on the other hoof, she was still my idol, even if she wasn't the fastest thing alive anymore. When I finally got into the academy, I couldn't help but find her and gush over her like a school pony. Ponies always get a weird kind of happy when somepony they've never known talks to them like they been friends there whole life... and that's whens she dropped the bomb on me. I had worked my entire life to get to the point where I might actually get to fly with her, and she tells me she's retiring in a few days; but I was young and optimistic back then, so I promised right there that I was gonna give her the best send off she could ask for”
“So let me guess, it didn't work out” Rainbow said.
“Only three ponies came. Her husband, her son, and me” Wind Rider said as he let out a sigh “I'd never seen a pony go from being so happy to trying to look happy in my life”
“But didn't you say she was famous?” asked Rainbow.
“Did you know recognize her name?” he asked.
“No” Rainbow replied as she looked away.
“That's the thing they don't tell you when you're building yourself up to your physical peak” he said Eventually somepony is just gonna come along and make you completely irrelevant, then poof, it's like you never existed... It's a strange kind of fear, not wanting to be forgotten”
“Oh give me a break” Rainbow said harshly as she fluttered off the roof“Look, I feel bad for your buddy, but I don't feel bad for you. She chose to walk away with her head held high, and you tried to prop yourself up at my expense”
“Okay, Dash if you think you're so infallible. Lets say you break every record in the book, but a month before you decide to hang up your goggles, some upstart comes in and starts shattering your records to pieces. Then when it comes time to say goodbye to the place you've devoted your entire life to, before you're even out the door all anypony will have to say about you is, Rainbow Dash, who?”
“Oh please, that wouldn't happen to me” Rainbow said confidently.
“Really?” he asked with obvious annoyance“Well here's a little extra credit for you, Summer Breeze isn't the only example I've seen in my career, she's just my favorite one. All these Wonderbolts ever think about is the next big thing, and once you stop being that you're just... disposable.”
“No, I don't believe it” she said “You're just trying mess with me”
“Kid... it don't take any believing when the proof is right in front of you...” he said somberly “So I screwed up, but do you think if I was ten years younger and still breaking records they would have just kicked me out like that... I was just the old horse they booted out to make themselves forget the things they need to do to stay relevant. I'm sorry for what I did to you, but the only reason I did it was because I thought that a young pony like you in the prime of her life would bounce back like nothing. But now a lifetime of work has gone down the drain because I don't own two scarves”
Rainbow Dash softly landed and thought about what had been said.
“Sorry Wind Rider, but I just don't think it has to be like that. You got kicked out because you did something wrong, not because of how old you are, or how fast you can fly. It's no ponies fault but your own” Rainbow said as she stepped away from Wing Rider “And the faster you realize that, the faster you can move on with your life”
Rainbow fluttered upward, then quickly ascended, leaving the old stallion by himself.
Wind Rider watched as Rainbow Dash became a dot in the distance. He placed his hoof on where his Wonderbolts pin had been ripped from his jacket.
“They took my life”