Ambition and Curiosity

by PinkamenaPictures

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Wonderbolts, Drama, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash
Length: 8347

When Rainbow Dash realises that Surprise always wears her flight suit in public, she decides to investigate.

While attending a party in Canterlot as a Wonderbolt, Rainbow Dash realises that, although Surprise is almost childishly cheerful with the other Wonderbolts, she is composed and calm in public. Rainbow also realises that Surprise always wears her flight suit in public, and wants to understand why.

Takes place six months or so after Newbie Dash.

I did not enlist an editor nor a proofreader, so I would appreciate it if attention were called to any typos or the like.

This story was my entry to the 2024 Wonderbolts contest, hosted by the Quills and Sofas Speedwriting group.

Published 2024-04-27 14:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2024-04-27 14:40:01 UTC

Chapter I

Many pegasi take flying for granted, it is something that they do all throughout their lives. To most pegasi flight is a given, a fact of life. However, when a pegasus devotes their life to flight, they can see it for the wonder it is. This creates one of two types of pegasi: they could become too scared to fully experience their gift, or they could push it to its limits. The Wonderbolts placed themselves firmly into the latter category.

Although the Wonderbolts are formed purely of pegasi, the elite flying force was known from Equestria and beyond for their spectacular flight shows. A fair number of pegasi aspire to be a Wonderbolt, but only a select few had the combination of skill, strength, and determination to make it past the trials of physical and mental prowess required to enter their training regiment. However, this only meant that every Wonderbolt truly devoted themselves to being a Wonderbolt, and nopony exemplified devotion to the Wonderbolts quite like Rainbow Dash.

Ever since she was a foal, Rainbow had wanted to join the Wonderbolts. While many pegasi have such a dream in their youth, none have ever had Rainbow Dash’s raw talent. Rainbow performed the mythical Sonic Rainboom while still in flight school, and could consistently keep pace with the best just a couple years later. However, most of her skills were self-taught and rough on the edges due to her leaving flight school early, leading her to be passed over time and again for her dream. She could not help being self-taught, but she could improve to the point where they could not overlook her. So she practised with every spare moment, and eventually, it paid off.

An offer was extended to Rainbow Dash to join the Wonderbolt Reserve, so long as she could pass both a flight and written test. Soon enough, she was a reserve. When she heard that she was to fly in a show as a full Wonderbolt, her dream was steps from reality. After working through a poor first impression at the Wonderbolt Academy and learning to accept her mistakes as tools of growth, her first show as an official Wonderbolt was the greatest day of her life.

The more time Rainbow Dash spent as a Wonderbolt, the more she loved being one. Although sometimes she, as the newest recruit, was given the jobs that nopony wanted to do. Still, being a full Wonderbolt was worth occasionally being the one to do most of the work cleaning up after an event. One thing Rainbow liked about the Wonderbolts was that she was rarely surprised by an assignment. Almost always shows, training, drills, and everything else was clearly posted, and for the most important things an announcement would be made the day before. Although that is not to say that assignments were never sudden.

“Hey, Crash!” Rainbow Dash turned away from her locker to see Midnight Strike walking towards her. “Hope your dress shirt is clean.”

Midnight Strike was a nearly-black grey pegasus with a black mane and tail with a streak of bright yellow running through them. Rainbow had only really met her in passing, but knew that she was a strong flyer and generally fairly laid back.

“Of course,” Rainbow said, mostly unconcerned. She had made sure to follow locker and uniform conduct to the letter after hearing what Spitfire did to the last pony that showed up for inspection with a muddy shirt. “Why? Are we doing another surprise inspection?”

Midnight laughed. “Not quite, it's good actually. There's a retirement party for an EUP higher-up in Canterlot tomorrow at The Art Gallery, and you’ve been chosen to join Spitfire, Blaze, Surprise, and I in representing the Wonderbolts.”

“It's not that I'm not happy to have been chosen, but…” Rainbow started before trailing off.

“But sitting through a Canterlot party is about as much fun as being grounded for a week, but you also have to pretend to enjoy it?” Midnight asked with a smile. “I know. Still, this will be your first Canterlot party as a full Wonderbolt.”

“Anything I should know about being a Wonderbolt in Canterlot?” Rainbow asked.

“Not really, just be polite and don't do anything to offend anypony,” Midnight said as she turned around. “Be ready to leave at sixteen-hundred hours.”

After taking a few steps, Midnight looked back and saw Rainbow Dash wearing a look of confusion on her face. “That's four o'clock.”

“Thanks,” Rainbow said as she rubbed the back of her head with a hoof, her ears folded back in embarrassment.

“See you tomorrow, Crash.”

Once Midnight Strike had left, Rainbow turned back to her locker and took out her dress uniform to quickly inspect it. It was fairly simple in design, a moderate blue button down with yellow striped epaulettes and a gold lightning bolt pin on both ends of the collar, paired with a black tie and silver tie clip. It was unlike anything Rainbow had ever worn before and it could cause some issues with flying, but it struck her as less restricting than a dress.

I guess I’ll find out tomorrow, Rainbow Dash thought as she put her dress uniform back into her locker.

This isn't as bad as I thought it would be, Rainbow Dash thought as she flew in uniform towards Spitfire and her group. Not as comfortable as my flight suit. But still, could be worse.

Rainbow Dash set down beside the group, and Midnight Strike greeted her with a nod.

“We're all here, is everypony ready?” Spitfire asked, mostly rhetorically as she looked over them to find the answer herself. Spitfire had a yellow coat with a two tone mane like fire and golden-orange eyes. She was wearing her full captain's uniform, metals and everything, but -like the rest of them -she had not bothered to style her mane due to the coming flight.

While Spitfire inspected each pony's uniform, Rainbow took the chance to do the same. Midnight Strike was wearing the same outfit that Rainbow was, but Midnight had a metal on her chest that Dash did not recognise. Seeing the uniform on Midnight made Rainbow realise why they had chosen the colour they did. Despite the shirt being much brighter than Midnight's coat, it was dark enough to look alright on her. Similarly, it was the darkest thing on Rainbow Dash, but seemed to fit well enough.

Blaze was often thought to be Spitfire’s sibling due to their similar colouring and age, with the same yellow coat and both having orange manes. However, the two mares were not actually related to one another. Blaze’s mane was shorter and pure orange, her eyes were purple, and she was generally a bit sturdier than Spitfire. In fact, many ponies thought that Blaze was male due, in no small part, to her size. Blaze wore the same uniform as Rainbow and Midnight, but had evidently chosen not to wear the medals that Rainbow knew she had.

Lastly, Rainbow Dash turned her head towards Surprise. Surprise had a white coat, a bright yellow mane and tail, and raspberry eyes. To Rainbow’s confusion, Surprise was wearing her flight suit rather than her uniform. While it was not unheard of for Wonderbolts to wear their flight suits to formal events, the facts that Rainbow had been told specifically to wear her uniform and that the others were wearing theirs made her wonder why Surprise wasn't. Before she could ask about it, Spitfire gave the order to fly.

The others were already in the air when Rainbow pulled herself out of her thoughts to take off. Although the others had started flying towards Canterlot, Midnight was waiting for her.

“You alright, Crash?” Midnight asked. “I’ve never heard of you being last in the air.”

“Yeah, just giving you a chance to get there before me,” Rainbow Dash said with a smirk.

“It’s not a race,” Midnight pointed out while they flew to catch up to the others.

“No,” Rainbow agreed. “But it would be fun if it was.”

It was not hard for Midnight Strike to guess that there was something more to it than Rainbow’s excuse, but she let it drop and they flew in silence.

As they flew Rainbow let the question of Surprise’s outfit fade from her mind, and just enjoyed the flight. Even after the countless hours she had spent in the air, there was little she loved more than soaring through the skies. The wind in her feathers and the clouds below her.

The flight from the Wonderbolt Academy to Canterlot was not a difficult one -especially on a clear late spring day -and the Wonderbolts flew at a relaxed pace, knowing that there was no cause to hurry. Although their relaxed was still faster than the pace most pegasi would have flown at. The entire trip only took them about an hour, leaving them half an hour early as they set down in front of The Art Gallery.

The Art Gallery was a large, single story building that Rainbow Dash only recognised as their destination because Spitfire walked up to the doors. As far as Rainbow could tell, there were no signs to suggest that this was a place of business at all. She supposed that Rarity would have called it ‘chic’ or something, but to her it just seemed weird.

The Wonderbolts followed their captain into the Gallery and were met by a large white pegasus with a striped gold mane wearing ornate gold and purple armour. He seemed kind of familiar to Rainbow, but she couldn’t place him.

“Captain Spitfire and her Wonderbolts,” He greeted them formally with a bow of his head, his vibrant green eyes never leaving them. “The EUP and our guest of honour are already here, you can find them in the main hall directly behind me.” He stepped to the side to let them pass, and Spitfire acknowledged his words with a nod before walking past him. Although Rainbow thought it was a bit rude at first, the stallion seemed to appreciate the lack of conversation.

Rainbow Dash followed her group through a set of double doors into a massive room. Numerous paintings were spaced out on the walls with little plaques beneath them, there were circular tables set up throughout the room and one long table towards the end of the room, and there was a stage with a band playing a classical song. However, what Rainbow Dash was willing to guess was the main selling point of the room was its glass ceiling. The high arched ceiling provided most of the light in the room, and must have cost more bits than Rainbow made in a year to put in.

There were ten to twelve other ponies in the room, and all of them were wearing a deep red outfit that Rainbow assumed was the dress uniform of the EUP. Once the Wonderbolts reached the centre of the room, Spitfire and Surprise walked over to a table occupied by two ponies. Rainbow was about to follow when Blaze held out a hoof to stop her.

“Best to let have a minute without interruption,” Blaze walked over to an empty table and sat down before continuing. “Do you know who this event is for?”

Rainbow Dash sat next to Blaze and shook her head in response.

“I do, but I’ve never met her,” Midnight said after joining them. “The EUP’s captain, right?”

“Captain Flame Rose, that’s right. Not only was she the youngest captain the EUP has ever had, Spitfire has been friends with her since before I met either of them. Between the two of them, the Wonderbolts and the EUP have managed to work together better than they have since the Wonderbolts’ founding.” Blaze turned to look at Rainbow and Midnight in turn. “Needless to say that she deserves our deepest respect even in retirement.”

“So if she’s all that, why did Surprise go with Spitfire to meet her? Shouldn’t she have let Spitfire talk to her friend without distraction?” Rainbow asked. Blaze laughed at that, and Midnight also smiled.

“Sometimes I forget how new you are,” Blaze said. “Next to Spitfire, Surprise has easily spent the most time coordinating with the EUP, and is probably good friends with her as well.”

“Why? But shouldn’t that be Soarin’s job as Spitfire’s second in command?” Rainbow Dash was confused as to why Soarin would not be the one to coordinate in Spitfire’s place, and was also trying to reconcile the idea that Surprise would be the one to fill such a role with her view of the mare.

“Probably,” Blaze admitted. “But Surprise has proven to be better at it. And it makes sense that they would want to see how Surprise handles responsibility, given her intention to take over someday.”

“That’s right, Crash. If you’re serious about becoming Captain of the Wonderbolts after Spitfire, it’s not Soarin you’re competing with.” Midnight added.

Hearing that forced Rainbow Dash’s idea of Surprise to collide with the mare she evidently was in Rainbow’s head. Surprise was an excitable mare with energy to rival Pinkie Pie’s, she would joke and laugh with the team and had an air of foalish cheer to her. But she was also a skilled and clever flyer who could adapt to any issue the sky or a situation threw at her. She also came to a formal event for somepony she apparently knew relatively well wearing her flight suit when even Spitfire wore her dress uniform.

It struck Rainbow Dash as she thought about uniforms that she had never seen Surprise without her flight suit in public. She had only seen Surprise without it when she was inside the Wonderbolt Academy or in a locker room after a show, and she always put another one on before leaving. Rainbow realised then that she really didn’t know much about Surprise at all, not even how she earned her callsign of Slowpoke.

“Right,” Midnight said after a minute or two, breaking Rainbow from her thoughts. “I’m going to see if Longshot has finally gotten a proper callsign yet. See ya, Crash. Blaze.” With a respectful nod to her superior, Midnight Strike walked towards a table of EUP members.

The fact that Midnight had not yet referred to Rainbow Dash by her name even once was starting to irritate Rainbow, which Blaze seemed to see in her face.

“I know you don’t like your callsign, but she doesn't mean anything by it. If anything, she’s trying to help you get past the idea that it is an insult by overusing it as your friend.”

Whatever Rainbow was going to say was lost when the main doors opened and Princess Celestia entered with a small group of guards, including the one that greeted them. Who was introduced as the Captain of the Sun, making Rainbow realise that he probably looked familiar because she had seen him near the Princess before. Everypony stood to welcome the Princess, but she quickly made it clear that she was not there to steal the spotlight. It was, after all, Captain Flame Rose’s retirement party.

With all of the guests present, dinner was announced. Rainbow Dash assumed that Captain Flame Rose was the EUP pegasus who took the centre seat of the long table, with an EUP unicorn Rainbow didn’t recognise on her right and Surprise on her left and Spitfire beside the Wonderbolt. Princess Celestia and the large pegasus guard had a table of their own, but the rest had no specific seating. Rainbow ended up sitting with Blaze, two members of the EUP, and a royal guard.

After dinner was served to everypony, a toast was raised to Captain Flame Rose by the unicorn sitting next to her, whom Blaze informed Rainbow was named Radiant Dawn and was the Captain’s successor. Then Spitfire raised a toast, and then Princess Celestia raised a toast. Then, finally, they could eat.

Once the meal was finished, ponies walked around and socialised with each other. The largest group was around Princess Celestia, but there were a number of smaller groups as well. Midnight Strike was talking with two EUP members, one an earth pony and the other a unicorn. Blaze and Spitfire were engaged in what seemed to be a heated debate with members from both the EUP and the Royal Guard. Rainbow Dash was looking around the room for Surprise when somepony approached her.

“Hello, Rainbow Dash,” Captain Flame Rose said. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Seeing Captain Flame Rose in front of her, Rainbow Dash panicked a little, trying to remember how the Wonderbolts would want her to act. Rainbow put her hoof up to her head in a salute and tried to sound confident. “It’s an honour, Captain.” That’s polite, right? Rarity and Twilight say things like that.

“I’m not the Captain anymore, you can relax,” Flame Rose said with a smile. “If anything, I should be saluting you; an Element of Harmony and Savour of Equestria.”

“Well, I am awesome,” Rainbow said, more on instinct than anything, and quickly added. “But I wouldn’t be those things without my friends.”

“That’s more humble than I was told to expect from you. Anyway, I wanted to ask you something before somepony interrupts,” Flame Rose said. “Why did you join the Wonderbolts? You were already famous throughout Equestria, and nopony could claim that you weren't doing your part for the crown.”

“Because they are the best,” Rainbow Dash said without any hesitation or doubt.

“Controversial thing to say to former EUP, but I think that I get your point,” Flame Rose said. “To be honest, I was hoping you would say something to that effect. It’s a lot easier to retire when you know that the next generation is not in it just for glory or out of obligation.”

“Why did you join the EUP?” Rainbow asked out of curiosity, but also because it seemed polite.

Flame Rose turned her head and looked into the room at a group of ponies. “Spitfire wanted to be the Captain of the Wonderbolts, couldn’t let her have all the glory.” She laughed as she turned back to Rainbow Dash. “I hear you have similar ambitions.”

Rainbow opened her mouth to respond, but Flame Rose cut her off.

“I don't need to know why, your reasons are your own. I can tell you have a deeper reason for your ambitions than fame. That’s enough for me,” Flame Rose said. “I'll be interested to see if it's you or Surprise that replaces Spitfire when the time comes. I have a clear preference, but I wish you luck nonetheless.”

Hearing that reminded Rainbow of her questions about Surprise, and she started to ask when somepony walked up and began talking to Flame Rose. The Former Captain of the EUP waved a hoof to Rainbow in farewell before walking away with the newcomer.

Rainbow Dash saw a Royal Guard that she vaguely recognised from Queen Chrysalis’ invasion walking towards her. Rainbow decided that it would be easier if she asked Surprise her questions directly next time she had a chance to talk to her alone, and in the meantime she would just try to enjoy her first Canterlot party as a Wonderbolt.

Chapter II

Surprise was a strangely difficult mare to talk to privately, Rainbow Dash was learning. Her first thought had been to talk to Surprise in the Academy, while she was not wearing her flight suit and would be in a cheerful mood. What she had not considered was that Surprise spent most days training or helping with another pony’s training, and tended to return to the Academy alongside the ponies she was training with.

Trying to talk to her while she was wearing her flight suit did not work for Rainbow either. As, although she was still cheerful, Surprise had a serious air to her when training. Whatever the problem in front of her was that needed to be solved, it was the priority.

With a big flight show coming up in two weeks, Rainbow Dash decided to put her questions about Surprise to the side and focus on preparing for her part in the show. Rainbow did not have a lead role in the show, but every performer had to get everything right or risk ruining the show. To that end, Rainbow was practising each move that she was supposed to perform to make sure that she could do them all flawlessly.

All in all, her practise was going very well. Flight school or no, Rainbow Dash was one of the most versatile flyers in the Wonderbolts. Breakneck speeds and death-defying stunts were some of her favourite things in life, and ever since she joined the Wonderbolts she had been getting better at coordinating with others and being part of a team. She was not the most precise flyer, but her ambition to improve was matched only by her ability to do so.

After completing a series of maneuvers, Rainbow Dash, Midnight Strike, Blaze, and Misty Fly landed on the runway. They had been training all morning, breaking only briefly for lunch.

“Well done, everypony!” Blaze said as they stepped to the side of the runway. “I’d say we’ll be ready for Applewood, and with plenty of time to spare. But that's no reason to get lazy. Do we all know where we can improve?”

“I could use some work on the Abyssinian Eights,” Misty Fly often spoke with a soft voice, which mostly just meant that everypony paid attention when she didn't.

Misty Fly’s callsign was Dizzy, because she tended to lose her ability to fly straight for a moment after performing a spin. Rainbow had never asked if it represented a more specific event. As the issue was, at least to a degree, a physical problem, Misty was rarely made to do many spins or loops in shows. When she was, she always put her all into making sure she did not mess anything up and generally never showed any sign of weakness in shows.

“I’m still having some trouble with the nosedive section,” Midnight admitted.

“My issue is flying right next to another pony,” Rainbow said, then turned to Misty. “Sorry again.”

Misty smiled. “It’s alright, I’ve done worse than brushing another pony’s wings. Nopony crashed, and the routine was barely affected.”

“Alright,” Blaze said. “I’ll help Misty with the Abyssinian Eight. Dash, work with Midnight on the nosedive. Midnight, work with Dash on flying in proximity. That sound good to everypony?” The other three Wonderbolts nodded. “Then let’s get going.”

After checking the runway, Blaze and Misty flew to an empty patch of sky. Rainbow and Midnight followed them into the air, but turned the other direction so as to not interfere with their training.

In order to safely practise nosediving, they flew up well beyond the standard training altitude. Normal dives were fairly common in flight shows due to being a relatively easy trick that many pegasi could not safely perform, being simply flying with a steep downward angle. A nosedive, by contrast, required flying straight down, something very few pegasi ever do because of how hard it was to regain control and pull up. Midnight’s issue with the nosedive was pulling out of it while retaining any significant speed. Something that Rainbow Dash was skilled in both because she had been told not to attempt nosedives by her flight school teacher, and because they were a main part of her attempts to recreate a Sonic Rainboom.

“You ready, Crash?” Midnight asked, wincing as she immediately regretted using Rainbow’s callsign.

“Let’s get to it,” Rainbow said without showing how she also wished Midnight had not used her callsign.

Rainbow Dash and Midnight began their dives slightly off unison, but soon corrected and were quickly diving side by side. Midnight was focused on trying to plan for the end of the nosedive, how to angle herself to lose as little momentum as possible. For Rainbow’s part, she was just trying to keep herself in time with Midnight. Not too close nor too far, and always on pace with her.

The wind pressed Rainbow’s goggles against her face, making her half wish that they weren't there. Goggles were mandatory for a number of stunts in the Wonderbolts, and it was generally accepted that every Wonderbolt wore them during practise and in shows. Rainbow had spent most of her life training without goggles out of preference, and was still not used to wearing them for long stretches of time.

Because they were trying to improve different flight skills, Rainbow put her focus fully on keeping pace with Midnight and let Midnight make that pace. The nosedive went fairly well, Midnight still lost too much speed out of the dive and Rainbow still had trouble staying next to another flyer, but it was an improvement.

They continued training for sometime, performing dive after dive until they were at the end of their endurance. Midnight especially could tell that she would not be able to do her best any longer, and she told Rainbow as much.

“Yeah, not sure how much more I could do either,” Rainbow Dash agreed. She glanced at the sun and saw that it was about to set. “We should meet up with Blaze before calling it a day though.”

They flew across the sky above the Wonderbolt Academy at a slow pace, neither pony wanting to overexert themselves. Although there were still a few groups, most of the Wonderbolts had already gone inside the Academy and the emptiness of the usually crowded skies felt weird to Rainbow. It was not her first time being one of the last to be training, but it never stopped seeming strange to her.

When they flew up to her, Blaze was watching a small group of Wonderbolts -cadets based on their outfits -laughing and performing stunts that would likely never make it into a show.

“Hey, Blaze,” Midnight called as they got close. “We’re gonna head back if you don’t mind.”

“No problem at all. I’ll join you, I sent Misty back a few minutes ago and was about to meet with you two anyway.” Blaze flew over to them and they began back towards the Academy.

The three Wonderbolts flew towards the Academy at a leisurely pace, not wanting to wear themselves off more than they already had. Rainbow Dash was eager to get back, and was a bit ahead of the other two.

As they approached the runway, Rainbow Dash reached up to push her goggles onto her forehead and out of her way. In that moment of distraction, she felt something hit her wing. Rainbow lost control and began losing altitude while gaining speed as she spun downward. She heard somepony -probably Midnight -yell something to her, but she ignored the sound as she attempted to regain control of her flight. Realising that she could not get full motion with her left wing, Rainbow switched focus to losing speed as effectively as possible.

With her goggles half in place they served only to limit her sight, so Rainbow had no idea if she was going to land on the runway or the solid clouds around it. She was confident that she was going to land on one of those things due to where she was when she started falling, but she could not guess which.

One of the first things that Rainbow taught herself after leaving flight school was how to crash. If there was no option but to crash into the ground when something went wrong, then she needed to know how to do so without getting herself killed. If she hit either the runway or the clouds while preparing for the other, it would not go well. Tumbling through the sky and knowing that she did not have long to decide, she prepared to hit the runway.

Rainbow Dash crashed into the runway with a cry of pain through clenched teeth that cut off as her muzzle struck the runway. She hit the pavement at an angle and after her initial roll began to slide along it. Rainbow felt her wing drag against the runway, leaving behind more than just a couple feathers.

Midnight Strike landed near Rainbow Dash’s fallen body soon after she stopped moving, and rushed over to her. Midnight pulled Rainbow’s damaged and bloody goggles off her head and sighed in relief when she saw that Rainbow’s eyes appeared intact. “Rainbow Dash, can you hear me?”

“Ugh, Midnight?” Rainbow managed with another groan of pain.

“Good. It’s me, but don’t try to talk anymore. You’ll be alright,” Midnight said as calmly as she could before turning her head to look behind her. “Blaze! Where’s the medic?”

Blaze landed near them. “I sent Cadet Meadow Flower to get him. How’s Dash?”

Midnight turned back to Rainbow before responding. “You’ll be alright, you’ll get through this like you always have. What’s a little crash to an Element of Harmony?”

Although Midnight’s assurances were delivered with confidence and in a strong voice, it was impossible for Rainbow to miss the fear in her eyes. Somepony landed beside them, and Rainbow Dash heard Blaze say something about a medical kit, but fell unconscious before she could hear Midnight’s response.

Chapter III

The first thing that Rainbow Dash noticed when she woke up was that she was braced on a bed in such a way that her wings did not touch the bed. Her immediate fear over that was calmed when she realised that her right wing was in a fair amount of pain. While that would not comfort most ponies, to Rainbow Dash pain meant that she could still feel her wing, and that meant that it could heal.

Upon opening her eyes, Rainbow was greeted by a room in the medical bay of the Wonderbolt Academy. She was in a small room with a bed, an end table, and a couple chairs. There was a window on the wall above the bed that provided a soft light in the room. The second thing that Rainbow noticed after opening her eyes was that her muzzle was covered in bandages. With a quick test, she found that she could still open and close her mouth with little issue, and that the injury was mostly her nose.

Having recognised two injuries, Rainbow Dash began her process of determining how badly she had crashed. First she attempted to move her front right hoof, then her left. Both moved with no issue and seemed to be no worse than scratches and bruises, maybe a cracked hoof, and she found her back hooves to be much the same. Rainbow already knew that her right wing was damaged, but she could now notice that it was in a splint rather than a full cast. When she tried moving her left wing, she was quickly made aware of a wound on the joint, probably a cut or tear.

Knowing that her injuries did not seem that bad, Rainbow Dash turned her focus to trying to remember what had happened. She remembered falling, but not landing or what made her fall in the first place. She remembered that during the fall she could not take control because her left wing had been hurt, but what had struck it she could only guess. With focus she could vaguely remember hitting the ground, but not much else.

It did not take Rainbow long to decide that it would be easier to just wait for somepony to tell her the specifics, and so she laid back and took the chance to catch up on the naps she had been losing to training.

The door into her room opened, and Rainbow woke up from her nap. A greyish-gold stallion with a brown mane and a cutie mark of a partial moon entered the room. Rainbow recognised him as Crescent Moon, the Wonderbolts’ caretaker. She did not know exactly what that meant, but did know that Crescent Moon filled the role of medic.

“I see you're up, how are you feeling?” Crescent asked while walking over to Rainbow’s bed.

“Not great, not terrible. I've been worse,” Rainbow Dash said. “How bad is my wing?”

Crescent Moon chuckled and picked up a clipboard from the end of her bed. “Your wing will be fine. You just need to rest it for a few weeks, and you'll need some physical therapy after that. You'll have a scar on your left wing, but it should heal without issue. Still, you got off lucky, from what I hear that fall would have killed most ponies.”

Although she was relieved that her injuries were minimal, Rainbow then realised the consequences of a few weeks of recovery.

“What will happen with the Applewood show?”

“There is nothing to say; you will not be near well enough to fly by then. I believe Fleetfoot will fill your role.” Crescent Moon softened his expression when he remembered that Rainbow Dash was still quite new to the Wonderbolts. “It will be the first show you miss, won’t it?”

When Rainbow offered no response, Crescent put the clipboard back onto the bed and walked towards the door. “The other Element bearers and your family have been informed of your crash, I would expect visitors soon. In the meantime, I’ll get a meal brought to you.”

The door closed behind Crescent Moon and Rainbow was left alone. Rainbow stared at the ceiling, not sure what to think. She was disappointed, that much she knew, but it was not the first time she had crashed and had to miss out on something because of the damage caused. Maybe it bothered her because it was the first time she would be unable to fly in a Wonderbolt show, or maybe it was because she was not at fault for the crash that injured her.

Normally when Rainbow crashes it is her fault and hers alone. No matter how irresponsible ponies thought she was, Rainbow Dash had always accepted that if she crashed, even if it was into another pony, then she was to blame. But there was nothing for Rainbow to say about her crash, she had no control over whether or not she fell. So Rainbow Dash was left feeling powerless and weak, with nothing to distract her from her thoughts.

After a few minutes, the door opened and somepony entered Rainbow’s room. Rainbow had been expecting Crescent Moon to return with a meal, and was surprised to see Midnight Strike in front of her when she opened her eyes.

“Hey, Dash,” Midnight said with a smile. “How are you doing?”

“Not terrible, but I’ve been better,” Rainbow Dash said dryly.

“Maybe this will help,” Midnight said with a smile as she slid a tray off her back onto her hooves. “Dinner call. We have for you… a nice lettuce and tomato salad, a couple slices of lovely wheat bread, untoasted, and a glass of cool water. It's not all bad though, Blaze made you some of her cheesecake topped with strawberries.” Midnight pointed to each item with her wingtip as she listed them.

Midnight set the tray down on the end table and pulled a chair next to the bed, while Rainbow sat up to eat. She was not particularly hungry, but knew that it was important to keep her strength up to help with her recovery.

The meal went slowly, but Midnight kept Rainbow engaged in conversation throughout. She did not want to upset Rainbow or otherwise ruin her appetite, so she kept their talk fairly casual. However, once Rainbow had finished the main meal and turned to the desert, she raised a topic of her own.

“So, what happened to me? Why did I fall, what hit me?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking straight at Midnight.

“Are you sure you want to know, Dash?” When Rainbow nodded, Midnight took a deep breath. “I can’t say for sure, but looks like a cadet -I don’t know which -crashed into one of the training obstacles and broke it. And a piece of it flew off and caught your wing. Crescent Moon wasn't available, but luckily there was a medical kit to help you with.”

It was somepony else’s mistake. It was somepony else’s crash, and she was just in the wrong place. “How is the cadet?”

“Nopony else has been checked into the med-bay, but they were found. So they can’t be that bad if Spitfire was comfortable chewing them out like she did. We heard her in her office from the locker room,” Midnight said. She had not been expecting that question, but supposed that an Element of Harmony would worry about others first.

“Good. I’m glad they’re alright,” Rainbow Dash said before leaning back as much as her brace would allow, leaving her desert untouched.

The two Wonderbolts stayed like that for sometime, Rainbow Dash laying back in thought and Midnight Strike sitting next to her trying to find something to say. As she thought about what Midnight said, Rainbow noticed something strange.

“You called me Dash,” Rainbow said, turning to look at Midnight. “You have not used my real name since we met.”

“Yeah, well your callsign seemed like it would be in poor taste.” Midnight rubbed at her neck with a hoof. “Like I would be mocking you for what happened.”

“Don't worry about it, I know you're not trying to bully me. It honestly felt a little weird to hear you call me Dash. But this does remind me: what's your callsign?”

“Shrike, like the owlbear from the foal’s stories,” Midnight responded easily and with a smile.

Hearing that made Rainbow immediately curious. She had heard some of the stories about the shrike as a filly -what pegasus hadn't? -but she couldn’t put together how Midnight Strike could be given its name beyond the similarity of the words. And, although it would not be strictly a compliment, calling somepony a shrike had an implication of strength and power. Not exactly what Wonderbolt callsigns usually referenced.

Before Rainbow could ask about Midnight’s callsign however, Crescent Moon entered the room.

“Sorry to interrupt, but the other Element bearers are here. Seems they dropped everything to meet you,” Crescent said. “I just have to get your permission to let them in.”

“Then I'll leave you to it,” Midnight stood up and started towards the door.

Once Midnight left the room, Rainbow turned to Crescent. “They already know what happened?”

“Mostly,” Crescent Moon answered. “They don't know what injuries you have, I can only tell your family that without explicit permission from you.”

I'm kind of surprised they got here so fast, wasn't Twilight supposed to be in the Crystal Empire? Rainbow thought before responding to Crescent Moon. “Bring them in.”

It was still a little strange to Rainbow Dash that reading could be anything but uncool, but it had become one of her favourite non-flight related pastimes. She wouldn't read just anything, she wasn't that much of an egghead, but she enjoyed adventures and fantasy.

Reading had also proven to be more than just entertainment for Rainbow. While she mostly read modern stories, she had also come across a collection of ancient pegasus myths. Although she would never admit it, after reading them she felt closer to her tribe than ever before, like she better understood what it meant to be a pegasus.

With her hobby of reading came a tradition: whenever she was grounded by a crash, she would read at least one Daring Do book. There were plenty to choose from, but since she was away from Ponyville she only had the one Pinkie Pie brought her; Daring Do and the Razor of Dreams. It was the forth in the series and was written in a much darker style than the rest, less of an adventure and almost a horror. A.K. Yearling had expressed in interviews that she had wanted to try something new after the original trilogy and quite enjoyed writing it, despite its highly critical reception.

Honestly, Rainbow was surprised that Pinkie had chosen Razor of Dreams out of all the options, and was even more surprised to find that the book belonged to Pinkie.

Normally, reading Daring Do would have been Rainbow’s first order of business when grounded, but she had decided to wait. She had been grounded -in a manner of speaking, she was still in the Wonderbolt Academy in the sky -for two weeks, and had only started the book the day before. Her reason was simple: she wanted to distract herself from the flight show in Applewood.

Spitfire and the other performers had left the Academy the day before, and Rainbow had been reading since then. The book served as a very effective distraction, drawing her in and fully engaging her in its story. She was so focused on it that she didn't notice the door open.

“Hey, Dash,”

Rainbow Dash jolted up with a cry of surprise, aggravating her wing and dropping Daring Do and the Razor of Dreams to the floor in the process. She carefully laid back into the bed with a soft groan of pain before turning her head to the open doorway.

Surprise walked over and picked up Razor of Dreams, offering it to Rainbow with an amused smile. “Now I almost wish that I had been trying to startle you.”

“Surprise,” Rainbow said once her heart calmed down.

“That should have been my line,” Surprise said with a laugh. “But anyway, I’m here to check in on you. How are you doing?”

Rainbow took Razor of Dreams and set it onto the table next to a picture of herself flying with the Wonderbolts taken from a magazine that Rarity had clipped and brought her when they visited the Academy. Rainbow knew that Surprise was asking about her missing the flight show, and was not sure how to respond.

“I’ve been worse, and I’m healing well,” Rainbow said without meeting Surprise’s eyes.

“Is that so?” Surprise asked after a moment, clearly knowing that there was more to the story. “Well then, how is Daring Do?”

“What?” Rainbow asked before remembering that she had been reading not more than a minute ago. “Oh, she’s having a nightmare.”

“You don’t need to worry about spoilers, I’ve read it before,” Surprise flipped the book into her hooves and opened it to roughly where Rainbow was reading.

“You like Daring Do?” Rainbow asked, having not thought that it would be the sort of series Surprise would like. Although she had already accepted that she really knew very little of the mare.

“Eh,” Surprise tossed the book back onto the table. “I stopped reading halfway through Stone Garden, giant snakes-creatures with manes of snakes that turn ponies to stone by looking into their eyes really broke my immersion. If A.K. wanted to use cockatrices, just write cockatrices!” Surprise paused. “Cockatrices? Cockatri?”

It was a common complaint with the Daring Do series that many of the books were far too fantastical and unrealistic, an opinion that Rainbow had recently seen for herself at a convention. But Rainbow Dash knew that Daring Do was not only A.K. Yearling’s real identity, but also that all of her books were accounts of her actual adventures. However, she did not want Rainbow telling ponies that she was real, which left Rainbow unsure of how to respond.

“Fluttershy would know,” Rainbow Dash eventually said. “She’s supposed to visit here tomorrow, you can ask her about it then.”

“I may just do that,” Surprise nodded to herself.

They stayed like that for a couple minutes, Rainbow laying in bed and Surprise sitting in one of the chairs, both lost in their own thoughts. Rainbow Dash ended up being the one to break the silence, deciding that it was a good chance to ask her questions about Surprise.

“I was wondering,” Rainbow asked, waiting to continue until Surprise turned to her. “Why is your callsign Slowpoke? It is about the last thing that I would expect for you to be called.”

“Tsk, I lost the bet,” Surprise said, although she was still smiling.

“What bet?”

Her response was a quick laugh. “Blaze said that you would ask me about my callsign if I talked to you alone. I didn’t think you cared,” Surprise shrugged. “Guess I was wrong.”

It was slightly disconcerting to Rainbow that her thoughts had evidently been so clear to Blaze. She put it from her head to focus on Surprise, who had started talking while Rainbow was thinking.

“Like with every Wonderbolt’s callsign, mine is not a compliment. It’s also not a secret, which is why I didn’t think you would bother asking. So what happened is pretty simple: when I joined the Wonderbolts I was younger than most cadets, so I thought that I should try to learn everything I could. I’m sure most Wonderbolts feel the same when they join, but I didn’t know what to do about it,” Surprise spoke with animated hoof gestures despite the story not really needing them. “What I decided to do was as simple as it was stupid. When we did the obstacle course I flew slower than everypony else so that I could study their techniques and styles, and hopefully, learn how to imitate them.

“But the problem was, none of the Wonderbolts or other cadets knew who I was, or that I was -for my age -quite fast. Still, I didn’t see anything wrong with what I was doing, I was learning after all. After a few days like that, Flame Rose came to see my progress in the program-”

“Why would Flame Rose visit you as a cadet?” Rainbow interrupted.

Surprise raised an eyebrow at Rainbow, who quietly apologised. “Like I was about to explain, Flame Rose is the one who suggested that I try out for the Wonderbolts. And is the reason that I was allowed in the training program despite being too young. She wasn’t Captain yet, but she was friends with the Wonderbolt Captain then. Flame Rose knew that I could do better, and was upset that I had earned the nickname Slowpoke with the other cadets.

“Even then, it still wasn’t until she told me that her reputation was on the line that I realised why what I was doing was wrong. The point of the tests is to see what a cadet can do, and I was treating them like study material. I wised up, and put the other cadets to shame the next day. But by then, everypony already knew me as Slowpoke.”

“So, you’re Slowpoke because you didn’t think training needed to be taken seriously?” Rainbow asked.

“Yeah, more or less,” Surprise agreed. “But I gotta say, the only part of my story that is not well known is that I’m a little young to be a Wonderbolt. So why have you been trying to talk to me without anypony around?”

Rainbow Dash knew that she was a terrible liar and that Surprise was clearly quite perceptive, so she decided to tell the truth.

“When we went to Flame Rose’s retirement party, Blaze and Midnight told me that you wanted to be the Captain of the Wonderbolts and that you had connections in the EUP.”

“And those ideas just didn’t fit into your view of me?” Surprise guessed, and Rainbow nodded. “Well, I am happy to help you figure out who I am. Whatever you want to know, ask away.”

“I guess my first question is, why do you always wear your flight suit outside the Academy?” Rainbow asked, trying not to let on how much she wanted to know the answer.

“For some reason, I didn’t think you would ask that,” Surprise said. “I expected something about Flame Rose, or maybe my reasons for being a Wonderbolt. But not that.” Surprise went quiet, and Rainbow wondered if she shouldn’t have asked about it.

“I don't like how I look,” Surprise said after a moment, breaking the silence. “I'm not ugly, some ponies have even said that I'm pretty. But I don't think that. I like how my flight suit makes me look, and more than that I like how it makes me feel.” Surprise turned her head to look at the photo on Rainbow’s table. “If my picture is going to be taken, and thousands of ponies are going to see it, then that's the me I want them to see.”

“I think I understand that,” Rainbow said. “I try to present the Rainbow Dash that I want other ponies to see, even if I don’t always feel like her.”

They both fell silent, but it was much more comfortable this time. They had both shared a secret and understood each other a little better. They spent a few minutes just thinking about their conversation, until Surprise broke the silence again.

“Right!” Surprise said with a clap of her hooves. “We don’t have forever, I need to be going soon; it's my turn to make dinner. But we have time for another question, if you have one?”

“I think that I already know the answer, but do you really intend to become Captain after Spitfire?” Rainbow asked, mostly just to hear it from the mare herself.

“That’s the plan. Why, you don’t think I can do it?” Surprise’s smile made it clear enough that she did not actually think that Rainbow was trying to insult her.

“Oh, I’m sure you could,” Rainbow said confidently. “If I wasn’t aiming for the same target.”

Surprise laughed good-naturedly as she stood. “I look forward to competing with you, Rainbow Crash.”

“Just watch and learn as I become Captain, Slowpoke,” Rainbow Dash responded with a smirk.

Author's Note

Surprise's callsign origin is inspired by Slowpoke Surprise by Metool Bard. A story that made me want to write about Surprise, the contest just gave me an excuse.