Into the Dashieverse

"Okay, here we go, don't mess this up. I may just be the mascot, but I gotta prove I'm Wonderbolt material." A blue feathered griffin muttered to herself; the griffin didn't look like anything like the rest of her kin, sporting a blue and yellow skirt and having her claws stuck inside two massive blue and yellow cheerleader pom poms with multi-colored lion fluff around her neck, a wispy tail with a tuff of rainbow-colored hair on the end and two round magenta-colored eyes. She looked like a perky cheerleader pony, then a griffin, which is why Spitfire made her the Wonderbolt mascot. Soarin flew over towards his sweat pouring off his brow as he shouted, "Buck this!"

He slammed his hooves into the lockers nearby as the griffin was shocked to see the usually laid-back stallion so angry. Worried for her friend, Rainbow flew over and asked, "Soarin, what's wrong?"

He tore his mane and shouted, "They kicked me to reserves. Can you believe it!? I messed up once, and they threw me aside like nothing!" He then took off his uniform and threw it into his locker.

The stallion turned towards her as he calmed down and looked rather hurt, "Sorry, Rainbow, I didn't mean to get angry in front of you like that."

Rainbow Skies was still abit in shock as she asked, "So… they're replacing you? I thought Spitfire was going to let you keep your spot?"

"I thought so too," He sighed, revealing his wings. Rainbow noticed the left was a bit crooked compared to the right and said, "Yeah, I guess after my accident at the relay race, my wing never fully healed. Spitfire just took me aside and told me I must take some time off and put me on the reserves." He lowered his head and grumbled, "Honestly, I think I might just quit."

Rainbow Skies flew over and hugged her and said, "No! We were supposed to be Wonderbolts together!"

The stallion looked over as Rainbow Skies took him by the hoof. "No, you can't give up! You're amazing, Soarin."

Soarin smiled at her as he said, "Maybe before my accident, I didn't know if I could ever be where I was; my wing is all bucked up. The doctors said I'm lucky I can even fly at all."

"Then find a way to work around it! I bet you can be a Wonderbolt again!"

"Maybe, I guess that means there's a chance you can be one yourself now. If anyone deserves my spot, it's you."

Rainbow Skies stood there, her heart pounding in her chest. She couldn't help but grasp a claw to her chest to keep herself from feinting and whispered, "Me, you think so?"

He let out a sarcastic laugh and added, "Come on, you know if it were up to me, you would be a Wonderbolt already; you helped save Equestria like a dozen times now, you were able to do a sonic rainbooom at the young flyers' competition, saved my flank from falling to my death," He then slowly trotted over and whispered, "you were the only one who visited me at the hospital when my wing was broken."

The stallion took the Wonderbolt uniform and hoofed it to her. As Rainbow Skies stepped back, she was completely taken aback by the offer, feeling unworthy, and stammered, "I...I can't."

"We both knew this was coming, and well, you might need to clean it and modify it, but it's yours."

Rainbow Skies gently took the sweaty, smelly Wonderbolt uniform and hugged it as she whispered, "This…this is…"

Soarin gently smiled at her, "Yeah, it's yours. I'll come by to watch you compete, okay? I'm sure you'll be a Wonderbolt, no problem."

He then began to trot off as Rainbow Skies turned and asked, "Wait! Where are you going!?"

He looked over and said, "I think I need to have some time for myself for a while….just fair warning, the Wonderbolts aren't all they're cracked up to be; they can be real jerks."

The stallion continued to trot out of the locker room as Rainbow Skies held his uniform, thinking about what Soarin said. She remembered how the Wonderbolts didn't let her go to the Wonderbolt Academy; instead, they had her become their "mascot," and she thought it was a privilege at first; now she was wondering if this was some token way of keeping her from being a proper Wonderbolt.

She then heard Spitfire shout, "Rainbow Skies, you'll be on in five!"

The griffin sighed as she placed the Wonderbolt uniform into her locker and sighed, "Alright, well, here goes nothing." She spread her wings and flew out towards the stadium.

"One, two, three, hey, the Wonderbolts are the best! They will pass any test!" Rainbow cheered, twirling about in the air and shaking her pom poms in front of a crowd. Many of the ponies clapped and cheered back as they watched her jump about and do some energetic twirls between the many stunts of the Wonderbolts. After a few hours, the show ended, and she turned towards Spitfire, who flew over to her and shouted, "Rainbow Skies!"

The griffin flew over to her, perked up, gave a sharp salute, then chirped, "Yes!"

"You did great out there. I just wanted to ask if you are still interested in being a Wonderbolt?"

Her eyes glowed with excitement as she chirped, "Oh yes!"

"Well, good news, you may have heard Soarin's wing is still busted, and we're holding tryouts for somepony to take his place tomorrow. If you want a shot, be here at 0700, understood?"

"Yes, mam!" the griffin cheered. She then ran off, squealing in delight. She felt terrible for Saorin but couldn't miss this opportunity to be a Wonderbolt finally.

Rainbow Skies soared through the skies at breakneck speeds the following day as she approached the Wonderbolt stadium. The griffin was so excited! She's been waiting so long to finally get a chance to join the Wonderbolts! She then flew to the locker room, adjusted her feathers, and looked at herself in Soarin's old uniform. It was now cleaned and adjusted to her body, thanks to Rarity. She put on her goggles and came outside to the tryouts; she was last in line with dozens of other pegasi as they continued to do various stunts in front of the Wonderbolts as judges, and then it was her turn. Then, when Rainbow Skies did her performance, soaring into the sky and waving through a bunch of hoops, circled a few clouds, dodging and weaving expertly without any, she flew up as high as she could, aiming downwards. This was it time to do her signature move, the sonic rainboom. She tucked in her wings and bent downwards, then shot down like a bolt of lightning as the griffin gathered speed and rainbow swirls went around her. Then, there was a crack as a rainboom appeared, and the magical blast of rainbow-colored energy radiated through the arena. She slammed back down as she took off her goggles, which were now torn from the excessive wear and tear, sweat coming down her forehead, and heavy heaving, but she did it perfectly! Now she had to see how the judges acted as she looked up nervously and asked, "How was that?"

Everypony just gawked at her, and then they all started clapping and cheering. The judges all gave nods of approval, writing things down from the looks of things. She really wowed them. The griffin could barely hold her excitement together. She squealed in delight as Spitfire came over. "Well, uh, Rainbow Skies, that was, uh, really good! But my fellow Wonderbolts and I must discuss who won, okay?"

"Yeah, okay!" Rainbow cheered. She then waited with the other contestants after patiently waiting for what felt like an eternity. But eventually, Spitfire came forward and cleared her throat as she exclaimed, "I, along with the rest of the Judges, decided that you all performed adequately. But only one of you will be chosen to be a Wonderbolt. Without further ado, welcome Lightning Dust as our next Wonderbolt!"

"Oh, heck yeah!" the green pegasus flew in the air, and everypony else groaned. Meanwhile, Rainbow Skies just cried out in horror as the green-coated pegasus was now wearing a wonderbolt uniform and gave her a sly smile as she flew off.

Rainbow Skies then turned towards them and asked, "Wait!? Did I do something wrong? Did I mess up!?"

Spitfire approached her and said, "No, your performance was perfect, but the other judges and I believe you wouldn't make a good fit for the team. You're amazing and can do a lot, but being our mascot is the best place for you."

Rainbow started to get furious as her face turned red, and she shouted, "A good fit!? What does that mean!? Why wouldn't I make a good fit!"

Spitfire stomped a hoof and snapped, "Would you sit down for a second!"

Rainbow did as Spitfire ordered as she stood over her: "You should be thankful we let you be our mascot. Another outburst like that, and I'll have you fired, understood?"

Rainbow bowed her head and grumbled, "Fine, I understand."

"Good, now wash up and take some time off…I know this isn't what you wanted to hear, but take it and be grateful for being our mascot."

Spitfire then turned around and stomped off as Rainbow Skies slowly walked towards the shower, glumly wondering what she had done wrong and why she wouldn't be a good fit.

After an hour of changing and showering, Rainbow Skies was grumpily trotting through the locker room, wondering why the Wonderbolts wouldn't let her join when she heard hushed whispers. Curious, she sneakily went over to some of the lockers and hid behind them, seeing Fleetfoot with Spitfire alone. She then heard Fleetfoot ask, "Please tell me you didn't tell her the truth, right?"

Spitfire turned her head, looking somewhat guilty, as she said, "Of course not. We can't let her know...but this doesn't feel right. Soarin thought she should be a Wonderbolt."

Fleetfoot smiled as she said, "Who cares what Soarin thinks? I understand she wants to be a Wonderbolt. Still, the Guidelines are clear: the only creatures allowed to be Wonderbolts are pegasi."

"Rainbow Skies is amazing, but you're right. If we let her join, other griffins could get the wrong idea and think anyone can join. Griffins are violent and greedy and can't follow orders. Those are the last things we want on our team."

"Exactly! Rainbow Skies can be relied on, but we saw how griffins are; they can never be allowed to become Wonderbolts. You made the right call. Rainbow's perfectly fine anyways; she'll be better off being our cute mascot and will never know the wiser."

Rainbow Skies could feel the anger boiling inside of her. That was why they wouldn't let her become a Wonderbolt; she was a griffin! She then took her uniform in her claws, threw it, and shouted, "That's why you didn't let me join—because I'm a griffin!"

The other two Wonderbolts turned to her Spitfire, eyes lit up, and shouted, "Rainbow, what are you doing here!?"

"Just taking a shower, and I don't know, guess being a ditsy cute griffin!"

Fleetfoot rolled her eyes and threw a hoof, "Come on, Rainbow. She didn't mean it like that. It's not just because you're a griffin; you don't have the attitude we're looking for."

Rainbow Skies was appalled at what came out of her hero's mouth and just stared at them. Her eyes furled as she stared straight down at Spitfire. "Soarin was right; the Wonderbolts are a bunch of jerks. I'm going to find Soarin and apologize for trying to take his place."

She threw the cheerleader uniform towards Spitfire, saying, "You don't have to worry about firing me; I quit." The griffin ran off, tears streaming down her face, unable to look back at her former heroes.

As she flew out of the locker room with tears in her eyes, Soarin stood outside with a smile. He had a giant bottle of Apple Cider and some tankards, and he asked, "So, did you make it?"

She looked up, and his smile turned apologetic when he saw her sorrowful expression. He whispered, "I'm sorry."

"No, don't be. I should say sorry. I was so excited to be a Wonderbolt that I didn't even think how bucked up it was that they were trying to replace you." Tears started to run down her face as she cried, "You were right; the Wonderbolts are a bunch of jerks!"

She couldn't control herself anymore, so she tarted to sob. Soarin held her close and whispered, "It's okay. I was fine with you taking my place. Honestly, I was just happy your dreams were finally coming true."

Rainbow laughed, wiping the tears from her face. "Thanks, You're too good for those jerks anyways. Can… we just get out of here?"

He nodded, and the two flew to a cloud far away from the Wonderbolts Stadium to sit on. The stallion then poured some cider, which they drank as they watched the sunrise. She told him everything that happened as he sat there nodding, "Yeah, I figured they would use those stupid old guidelines against you."

"Did you know about them?"

He sighed, brushing a hoof over his black mane, "Yeah, a little…I didn't know how seriously Spitfire would enforce them, though, but I did try to tell her they were outdated and that you deserved a chance, and for a while, she agreed. I don't understand why she changed her mind?"

Rainbow rubbed her leg, thinking about how Spitfire mentioned Soarin pushing back for her. She said, "Well, thanks for trying to get me in; it means a lot."

The stallion still looked so depressed as he muttered, "Yeah, and what good did that do?"

She turned to him, wishing to cheer him up, but he'd been through so much recently with all of his hospital appointments, even after he broke his wing. Then, an idea suddenly came to her, and she shouted, "Why don't we make our own team! start from scratch, ya know?"

Soarin laughed, then asked, "that actually sounds like a great idea, what should we call ourselves?"

"Not sure, but I'm sure we can think of a cool name!"

Soarin pondered, then suggested, "What about the Rainbooms?"

Rainbow giggled at the name, then asked, "Seriously, the Rainbooms!?"

Soarin laughed back, saying, "I mean, that's how we met you doing a Sonic Rainboom to save my sorry flank."

She nudged him and added," Well, you tried saving Rarity; she bucked you in the face, so that was more on her."

"True…" He nuzzled her back as she whispered, "Let's do it; we'll make our own team; we'll find our own talented pegasi, griffins, heck, even dragons; you got wings and talent you can join, no questions asked."

"Sure, that sounds awesome!" He took out a present as Rainbow put her talons to her face and gasped, "No, you didn't!"

He blushed, then said, "Look, I had to get you something if you made it…but seeing we were making our own flying team, I didn't want it to go to waste."

She opened the box and gasped. Seeing a new set of goggles, she squealed, taking them and placing them over her head. Soarin replied, "These are the most expensive goggles I could find. They're enchanted to help your eyes see much further than they can, and I made sure to have them sized for griffins. Plus, they are way more durable then your last pair."

She held them close and whispered, "They're amazing…"

"Yeah, they'll look great on you."

They then just looked deep into each other's eyes. The two then both came close and started making out as they held onto each other, and then she felt a hot flash, and then she was suddenly thrown aside by Soarin. Everything happened so fast by the time Rainbow turned her head she saw Soarin was being hit by a bolt of lightning and was shouting in pain as he clutched his chest. The griffin then took out her talons and cried out as she turned to a massive shadowy alicorn made up of what she could surmise were storm clouds standing in front of her. This creature was unlike anything she'd seen before. However it looked similar to Nightmare Moon, with glaring green eyes. It glared at her and shouted, "That wasn't supposed to happen! I was targeting you!"

It flew at them, and Rainbow screamed in anger and pain as she slammed into the shadow monstrosity and started clawing at it with her talons in a rage. But they sliced through it like it was made of smoke.

So Rainbow flew up and dodged the lightning strikes from the creature's horn. From then on, as she gained air, she started preparing for another Rainbooom. As she gathered her strength, she flew towards Soarin, picking him up as she then aimed herself like a bullet straight at the shadowy creature. She built up rainbow-colored energy glowing around her as she built up speed, and suddenly, a Rainboom exploded around her as she hit the nightmare creature with all her might. But then, as she made impact, the griffin started tumbling about in an ethereal plane made of rainbow-colored swirls. Then, as she gathered her bearings and looked around the clouds, she relaized her claws were empty. Her immediate thoughts were to find out where Soarin was!

Rainbow Dash looked around as she shouted, "Soarin, Soarin!"

"What!? Who's calling my name?"

The light blue pegasus flew over, and she cried joyfully, "You're okay!" She flew over as he held up a hoof, then snapped, "Um yeah, I am, but who are you?"

"Oh, come on, it's me, Rainbow Skies, your friend. We just fought a shadowy creature; you took a lightning bolt in the chest!"

He blinked looking completely confused as she scoffed, "Okay, seriously!? Drop the act, nopony is around!"

The stallion looked somewhat confused as he said, " I'm sorry, but I don't even know who you are."

Rainbow paused, then eyed him in the Wonderbolt uniform and remembered how he quit just yesterday as she asked outloud, "Wait, what's going on here?"

She then heard, "Rainbow down here."

Rainbow Skies recognized that voice as she flew down through the clouds, seeing her Soarin on a cloud with a nasty burn in his chest. She flew over, crying, "You're okay! I thought you…" The griffin couldn't bring herself to say thinking she lost him.

Soarin then took her by the talon, gave a painful smile, and joked, "Come on, I've been through worse." The stallion groaned as she started to pick him up, "Don't you worry. I'll get you to a hospital, and you'll be good as new."

He could only nod, grimacing in pain. She then took him to her back, and despite being aching and exhausted from all the flying she did, the adrenaline coursing through her was still pumping with the fear of losing a friend. She then turned towards the other Soarin, gawking at them as she shouted, "Can you stop standing there and help me!? Where's the nearest hospital!?"

"R..right! Um, follow me!" he flew over. She helped him onto her back and escorted her down to Ponyville. As they approached the city skyline, the griffin sighed in relief, recognizing Ponyville General. She burst through the front doors and shouted, "I need help! A lightning bolt struck my friend!"

There were several nurses as they came over, taking the stallion onto a gurney and wheeling him away to the emergency room. A nurse reassured Rainbow Soarin would get the best treatment and will be fine. She then took a seat in the lobby and tried her best to calm down. Meanwhile, somewhat confused, the other Soarin sat down beside her and asked, "So, uh, who are you anyways? Who is that other me? What's going on here?"

She turned the stallion around the lobby, recognizing many of the ponies there but noticing that none came to greet her and said, "I told you I'm Rainbow Skies, and from the looks of it, I think I got sent to a different universe."