“Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash!”
Rainbow Dash clearly heard the shouts of over-excited fillies and listlessly rolled onto her back in her solitary gray cloud, not caring if she was wrinkling her best formal gown as she did so. Her eyes focused far up and away into the heart of the clear blue sky. “I’m not going.” She muttered sullenly, voicing the decision she had made only about an hour or so earlier.
Today was perfect; the cloud on which she laid was the only cloud in the sky. Late morning temperatures were kept cooler with a breeze redirected from the northern mountains. That would make it much more comfortable for all the ponies wearing their best formal attire for the ceremony at the Ponyville town hall and the lunch reception to follow afterward in the square outside. Fluttershy’s ceremony was to follow Applejack’s example in nearly every detail. The music would start, signaling her and her procession that it was time for her to walk down the center aisle. The princesses and all the necessary ponies would be up at the front waiting for her. Fluttershy would look stunningly beautiful and exceedingly graceful in her flowing white gown and newly styled mane. Then when she reached the front of the hall, Princess Celestia would say some germane commendations and encouragements for the future…It was all so perfect, and lovely, and she should be happy for Fluttershy!
And she would be, if it didn’t mean that Rainbow Dash was the last one. Because she was never the last one! At anything!
It all started with Twilight Sparkle – Twilight was the first of course – and it was a shock to them all. A pleasant surprise, but still a shock nonetheless. Applejack was next, which surprised Applejack the most. She insisted on having a smaller, more intimate ceremony than Twilight’s and so hers was held in Ponyville’s City Hall. Rarity was next to joyfully announce plans for her queen-sized ceremony in Canterlot in the early winter of that same year. Then the very next the spring, Pinkie Pie had her turn with a grand, and very pink, celebration also at the Canterlot Palace. Afterward, everypony was looking at Rainbow Dash to be next. It seemed so obvious; Fluttershy was too reclusive, too shy, and too wrapped up with caring for her animals to be the next one. All eyes expectantly turned to Rainbow Dash.
High levels of attention and expectancy wasn’t new for her, and Rainbow shrugged off that pressure like she did pre-race jitters and Wonderbolt show anxieties. Stress from meeting high expectations was something that other, lesser, ponies struggled to manage. She was awesome, and everypony could see that. Besides, she reasoned, it wasn’t a race. In her mind it was kinda like earning a cutie mark and it would just happen when it should and it shouldn’t be forced. All she had to do was just be herself. She was cool, and she played it cool.
But then one day after a Wonderbolt show she got the news in the form of an express letter. Plans were underway for Fluttershy’s ceremony there in Ponyville, and would she like to go down and offer her congratulations to her friend like any polite mare should. Well, she did go down and congratulate her friend Fluttershy, but it was a struggle for Rainbow to put life and proper feeling into her words. Despite all her previous contrary thoughts on the matter, congratulating Fluttershy felt exactly like congratulating the winner of a race. And it was especially galling that Rainbow knew she should have won instead.
Of her five closest friends, four of them had new names and addresses. Today, Fluttershy would be joining them. They had moved up, moved on, and passed her by. Rainbow Dash was the last one, a loner, and a loser. Nobody liked to have losers hanging around. None of her friends would say that, of course, but she knew the score. It didn’t matter how often she reminded herself of her earlier convictions that this wasn’t a race; all her arguments rang hollow. Try as she might, she just couldn’t see it any other way.
“Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo yelled again.
“Go away, Squirt. I’m not going.”
“But Fluttershy needs you!” Scootaloo yelled again, sounding much closer this time.
“I doubt that.” Rainbow replied bitterly. There was a tug at the corner of her cloud.
“No really,” Scootaloo gasped from right next to Rainbow’s head. “Fluttershy won’t come out of her room. Twilight told us to come and get you!”
Shocked, Rainbow sat up and saw Scootaloo clinging by her forehooves at the edge of her cloud. “How’d you get up here, Squirt?” She had thought that the filly was only capable of low-level flights in ground effect.
“Well…” Scootaloo grinned and gestured toward the ground with her head.
Rainbow peered down from her cloud and saw Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom waving up to them. They had ‘procured’ a long board from somewhere, propped it up like a see-saw, and used it like a catapult to propel Scootaloo up to her.
That mystery solved, Rainbow returned to sulking. “What am I going to do that they can’t? I’m not needed.”
“But you are! Fluttershy says she won’t come out because you’re not there.”
“But she has to.” Rainbow said, bewildered. “The princesses are there. Her family is there. Everypony is there. She has to. She doesn’t need me there. I’m not needed for her ceremony.”
“Please, Rainbow Dash!” Apple Bloom yelled, “Fluttershy ain’t budgin’ and she won’t be swayed.”
“It’s because of you, Rainbow Dash!” Sweetie Belle yelled next, “she said she won’t come out because of you!”
“What?!”
“It’s true,” Scootaloo said quietly, “She said she wouldn’t come out because she was afraid of what it would do to you.”
Rainbow Dash landed at speed, skidding to a halt perfectly in front of the City Hall room that Fluttershy had dressed in. She took a quick moment to check her gown and hair, then she knocked on the door.
“Go away! I told you all that I’m not doing this today!” Fluttershy yelled from somewhere in the back of the room. Rainbow had scarcely recovered from that unexpected outburst when she heard Fluttershy again, this time speaking in her characteristic soft-spoken manner from right next to the door. “Oh! Uh, unless this is Princess Celestia, or Princess Luna, of course. Then I meant to say, I’m sorry, Princess, but I just can’t go through with this ceremony right now. I think I should go home, and wait, and hide until after Rainbow has hers. I’m truly sorry for the inconvenience.”
“Fluttershy, it’s me.” Rainbow said.
“Rainbow?” The doorknob jiggled, then stopped, jiggled again, and stopped. It was easy to imagine Fluttershy pacing in her white dress and wringing her hooves indecisively as she wrestled with what to do and wondered whether her appearance would upset Rainbow at this moment. When she finally decided to speak, her words were a torrent. “Oh, Rainbow, I’m so sorry! I want to see you, but I don’t want to come out. But I am glad you came. I just never thought… I mean… I know how competitive you are, and I wish… I mean… When you came down to congratulate me, I knew something was wrong, but I just never thought… Oh Rainbow, I never meant to hurt you and be so selfish!”
Rainbow rested her forehead against the door. “Fluttershy, you’re not the one being selfish, and you have no reason to apologize. This isn’t a competition. I even said so. But you’re right, I did think that I was going to be next. And then when I heard about you, I became jealous and let my silly competitive nature convince me that I was a loser because," Rainbow took a deep breath, "because I’m the last one of us to need a ceremony.
“But this isn’t about me, this is about you and what you deserve. You should be able to have this moment for yourself and not have my stupid jealousy ruin it! I hope you can forgive me for causing you to hurt and feel bad when you should be feeling proud, and happy, and anxious for all the right reasons. You deserve this, Fluttershy. And I really am happy for you.”
Rainbow felt more spent than if she had just sprinted a thousand furlongs. Talking about emotional, sappy, feeling-stuff drained her in ways that workouts never did. She stood there and caught her breath. Fluttershy still hadn’t made a peep, and it was starting to worry her. She stepped back from the door and took a deep breath. This was going to be the hardest part. “Fluttershy?” There was no answer. “Fluttershy, I – I want to see you go through with your ceremony. Come on out and show everypony how pretty you are.”
Rainbow held her breath. The door handle turned and slowly the door opened. Then Fluttershy stepped out, more radient than ever. Polished silver hoofshoes glinted in the morning sun and her white dress shone like snowcapped mountains Bright spring green ribbons provided colorful accents and were woven into her mane and tail for a glamorous touch. Her characteristic pink peek-a-boo mane was of necessity pulled back revealing all of her face and more, and Fluttershy, seeing Rainbow’s attention locked there, brought a hoof up to shield it from her.
Rainbow stepped forward and put her hoof up on Fluttershy’s. Gently, she applied pressure till Fluttershy lowered her hoof and revealed the horn she tried to hide. “You don’t need to hide, Princess Fluttershy, you’re beautiful and you deserve this. And I’m very proud of you!”
“You mean you’re not hurt, or angry, or sad?”
“No, Fluttershy,” Rainbow wiped away a tear and wished she could just as easily wipe away the lingering envious ache in her heart. She desperately wanted to be purely, altruistically joyful. “I’m just really happy for you!”
“Oh Rainbow, I wish we were ascending together!” Alacorn Princess Fluttershy threw her arms around her friend and let her mascara run.
“That can be arranged, Fluttershy.”
Rainbow and Fluttershy separated at hearing the new voice to see Princess Celestia walking up to Rainbow Dash. Are you ready, Princess Rainbow Dash?”
“Princess?” Rainbow Dash bunched her face up, “I’m not a princess yet, Princess.”
Celestia tittered. “I know you don’t remember, but you are a princess, Rainbow Dash.”
“What?” Rainbow exclaimed, and felt for a horn that wasn’t there. “But I don’t have a horn. I should have one of those if I’m a princess, right?”
“Yes, Rainbow Dash. Let me explain.” Celestia's horn illuminated the scene above her as she spoke. “The Providential Magic that makes princesses has its own rules. When Providence commanded that I go to you a short time after Princess Pinkie Pie ascended, I was confused. You had not yet had a major event affirming your eligibility for ascension to princess. Nevertheless, I obeyed and I met you that evening to confirm your ascension and trigger your transformation.
“You accepted the news gleefully, at first, but as you floated up in the beginning stage of your metamorphosis, you caught sight of the lights of Fluttershy’s cottage and you asked me to stop.”
Fluttershy gasped, “Really?”
Rainbow Dash tilted her head. “I did what?”
Celestia giggled. “I know it sounds unbelievable, but that is what happened. You, Rainbow Dash, asked me to stop your ascension.”
Rainbow looked at the illustrated scene floating above Celestia’s glowing horn. There she saw herself in miniature, wrapped up cocoon-like in opaque blue wrappings, but her head was uncovered and staring intently at the tiny twinkling lights coming far away from Fluttershy’s windows. She saw herself turn to Celestia with an anguished look on her face. “Why did I do that?” Rainbow asked.
Celestia smiled that motherly smile of extreme pride. “You said you didn’t want to ascend before Fluttershy because you were afraid of the unwanted pressure and attention that she might receive if she was the last one of the Element bearers to ascend. You asked me to stop and wait with you until she had ascended first. That way she would never be the sole focus of anypony's attention.”
“You did that for me?” Fluttershy’s mascara ran in rivulets down her cheeks and she once again threw her arms around Rainbow, who was standing agape and disbelieving at what she had heard Celestia say. “Thank you, Rainbow! Thank you so much!” Fluttershy wept joyfully on her friend’s neck.
Celestia ran a hoof under her own eyes. “Yes, Rainbow, you requested that selfless, devoted act.” Celestia answered the question that Rainbow Dash, still shocked to silence, couldn’t ask. “I believe now, that your refusing to ascend was your test. It’s a paradox, true. In order to ascend, you had to first refuse to ascend. But Providence doesn’t make mistakes. You passed your test then, and you have passed it again now by being here for Fluttershy.” Celestia motioned toward Fluttershy, who still clung to Rainbow’s neck, shedding joyful tears.
The glowing scene above her faded and Celestia put her hoof on Fluttershy till she let Rainbow go. “Would you like to share your ceremony with Rainbow Dash?”
“Oh yes! Yes I would, Princess!”
“Are you ready, Rainbow Dash?”
“Yes.” Rainbow’s voice cracked, and he looked at Fluttershy, who gleefully beamed, oblivious to the black streams comically running down her face. “I would like to ascend with Fluttershy if I can.”
Celestia’s horn glowed once more, but brightly, like a miniature sun, and Rainbow felt herself lifted up, floating, her very being stretched and pulled while her physical body felt confined, yet weightless. Her mind opened to a new power, and she felt her mane part allow her new horn passage. Then she floated back down and was on her hooves, trembling and overcome. She lifted a shaky hoof to her forehead and it contacted a solid object. Rainbow smiled and Celestia held up a small mirror. “AWESOME!”
The two newest alacorns, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, strode proudly down the aisle behind the ponies proclaiming their arrival. They walked together, as both had wanted. Fluttershy wasn’t alone, and Rainbow wasn’t the last one. That day, two Princesses were added to Equestrian roster, but more importantly, pride, competition, and fear lost. Friendship won. And nopony came in last.