The Race of Dreams

by Hoof of Approval

Everything's Just Fine

The certificate hung on the wall just above her bed, to the right of the autographed Wonderbolts poster. It was framed in gold and encased in glass, and the sunlight hit it at an angle where the eye would be drawn to it first before anything else. If being around Rarity had taught her anything, it was that location mattered, and maybe the dressmaker had a point as Rainbow looked at the certificate from the entrance to her bedroom. The paper, the writing, what it meant for her dreams—it was all she could think about, even after the coronation of one of her best friends.

This certificate hereby marks the recipient, Rainbow Dash, as having graduated the Wonderbolt Basic Training Course with high marks and with the full confidence of her instructors and peers. Her fortitude and unconquerable spirit are an inspiration to all pegasi, and will be remembered as examples to future candidates.

Spitfire and Soarin's signatures were on it, along with the seals of the Wonderbolts and the Royal Air Force.

Rainbow felt a grin spread across her face, and her heart filled her chest until she felt she'd pop from any more excitement.

Top Five. So many flight runs, simulations, sprints, races, and team exercises, and she stuck it out. Not only that, but she graduated with top honors, one of only five selected! Week after week, she watched as ponies washed out, retired, or saw themselves ejected by Spitfire because of their attitudes. The herd thinned, and it only made things harder. A hundred pegasi had entered, and only a fourth of that made it to the final two weeks. Rainbow shuddered as the memory of that last stint, that final push, broke into her thoughts uninvited.

Whatever it takes. That was the Wonderbolt motto, and those last challenges demanded everything of her and those left of her class. They'd all made it, some half dead, others still on their feet, ready for more. Only the best of the best could stand at the front of the pack, and she ended up in that very spot.

Her eyes narrowed at the thought of one particular mare. Reckless. Headstrong. Inconsiderate.

Almost killed her friends.

They let her stay, but only after some time in the brig. Rainbow wanted more than that for Lightning Dust and her lack of control, but she couldn't bring herself to demand it. Lightning reminded Dash too much of how she used to be. Mare Do Well, the Running of the Leaves with Applejack, her behavior at the Crystal Empire—it all came back to her in a single flash. She and Lightning were mirror images.

It was why she'd asked for the unruly pegasus to be her wingpony. She promised to take responsibility for any mistakes her partner made, and though they were many, she reminded herself that it was only Lightning's attempts to prove herself worthy, maybe even get the gold wing pin that marked a candidate as a lead pony again. They fought against each other more than they worked together, and as days turned to a week, Rainbow started to regret her decision.

Something happened near the beginning of the second week of the course that gave Rainbow renewed purpose, though.

Rainbow noticed Lightning Dust sitting apart from the other trainees’ clouds at mess hour, just after they'd gone through an obstacle course run. Every time Dash asked something, Lightning replied in a clipped tone, her answers brusque and to the point. The back-and-forth eventually irritated the wingpony, and she resorted to name calling in an effort to force Rainbow away. “Teacher's Pony” was the first one she picked. “Spitfire's Mare” was another. Rainbow took it all in stride, letting wave after wave slam into her. Then she asked, with a calm that would make Fluttershy jealous, why Lightning hated everyone so much.

"Not everyone," she replied. "Just you."

Rainbow shook her head. It was everypony Lightning hated, not just Dash. The antics she pulled hurt the team and would hurt anyone watching a show if she managed to make it on the roster. She was better than that, and they both knew it. There was no need to prove herself here. Just being here was enough.

Lightning glared at her and demanded to know what made Rainbow so special, so different from everyone else. Lightning had heard about her feats, her record, but she took it as being above everypony else. What gave Rainbow the right to talk down to her, when she'd worked just as hard?

Rainbow explained herself in as few words as possible: "Because you're just like I was, before all this."

Before Dust could interject, Rainbow went into everything she'd done wrong and every lesson she’d had to learn. She remembered every mistake she made and told her about the friends that helped her through them, to realize what being competitive really was. She’d thought she was the best flyer in Equestria until she saw Lightning. Though she had resented it at first, now Rainbow saw the use of a wingpony: to remind the leaders that there was always somepony better, always somepony that could inspire them to greater things. "Right now," she said, "that pony isn't here."

The next morning, Lightning Dust made a formal apology to the entire class, including Spitfire.

They were a near-perfect team through the rest of Basic Training. Lightning Dust, despite her rough start, made it to the Top Five. Rainbow even noticed a tear running down Lightning’s face as she accepted the diploma and gold pin.

The memory faded as Rainbow turned toward the picture of herself and Lightning side by side in a picture just next to the ones of her and her friends. Her wingpony sported a smile that would make Pinkie proud, without a trace of insincerity or ego. It made Rainbow grin again just to see it.

She turned to the Wonderbolts poster just above the headboard of her bed, and her eyes narrowed in focus. That Basic Training wasn't enough. She wanted more of it, more of everything they could give her. Spitfire said she and the other graduates would be considered for the Reserves, but being put into the Reserves was like being named an honorary member—and that was only a consideration.

"What's it gonna take?" she muttered as she scowled at the poster. "What's it gonna take, Spitfire? I've done everything I can..."

Rainbow Dash shook her head. Some fresh air would do her good right about now. After all, she did her best thinking while flying.

She headed for the exit to her house, grabbed a pair of saddlebags with her cutie mark on the clasps, and made her way out to the “launch pad,” as she called it. Just at the top of her house, she'd built a platform of clouds with just the right amount of bounce to use as a springboard, a booster for a vertical takeoff. All she had to do was point herself in a direction, jump a few times, and give her wings a good flap when she felt she was ready.

The first time she'd tried this, it took her all day just to stop screaming about how awesome it was. Over time she'd made adjustments to it and fine-tuned the cloud density and pressure until she could get to the same height all the time. From that vertical takeoff, she could get anywhere from her house faster than a train.

Ponyville. Today, she'd head for Ponyville and check in on—she paused on her way up the stairs leading from the living room. Who wouldn't be busy this time of hour? Rarity was probably on some fashion trip, Fluttershy had her critters, Applejack was busy with the farm just about every time she went over, so that left—

Rainbow grinned. Perfect.

She finished her climb and took the last few steps up to the launch pad. Her hooves pressed into the clouds, and the pad responded by sending her bouncing a few inches. Rainbow nodded, bent her legs, and jumped. She bounced, bounced again, and launched herself a third time, each leap sending her higher. The fifth one sent her fifty feet into the air, and as she came down, Rainbow let out a war cry.

"Banzai!"

She gave her wings a hard flap once she touched down, and she shot a mile upward, punching through any cloud in her way as she climbed. With a jubilant shout, she reached her apex, and with the momentum from the launch, she burned her way to Ponyville with a contrail of colors in her wake. Seconds later, a sharp crack from air and sound giving way made the snow atop the mountains tremble, and a vibrant halo of light spread from the point of her Rainboom.

---

Rainbow touched down in the middle of the the town square, a few feet in front of the fountain of Celestia. She cast her gaze about the area, taking note of the stalls and tents, ponies selling their produce at every turn. She smiled as she headed for one particular cart, instinct leading her hooves where they needed to go. Maybe she'd be able to see Applejack after all.

A different sight greeted her as she got closer to the Apple family's stall, though. A blond stallion with green eyes and a red coat stood there instead of the pony she expected, handling the usual line of customers with all the pace of a snail on his lunch break. Behind him, the cart of apples loomed, baskets piled to the sky. Rainbow headed to the back of the stall, only to be stopped by a filly with a yellow coat, a red mane and tail, and a determined expression on her features.

"No customers allowed past this point—" She blinked for a moment, seemed to realize who was in front of her, and grinned. "Hey, Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow smiled and put a hoof in Apple Bloom's hair. "Hey, squirt. Mac working you hard enough?"

The filly squirmed away from Rainbow's hoof. "Quit that, I ain't a baby! And no, he's just having me watch out for the line!"

Rainbow chuckled as she put her hoof down. "Well, you're doing a fine job! Don't let me stop you for anything—I just came to see Applejack. Where's she at, anyway?"

Apple Bloom shook her head to try to clear out the tangles Dash had put in her mane. "She's over at Pinkie Pie's—something about bein' invited to a party. I wanted to go, but Mac had stuff for me t'do here, so here I am!" She glanced over her right shoulder. "I needed some extra muscle though, so—"

"Hey! I'm almost done moving this stuff around!"

Apple Bloom smiled again. "Thanks, Babs!"

Rainbow nodded. "Looks like you two are getting along just fine, huh? So she's not bullying anypony?"

"Nope! Gotta hand it to her, she's had it rough back in Manehattan. I figured I'd show her how we do things down here in Ponyville for a bit, and she's taken to it pretty well. After the family reunion, she's been writin' to me non-stop about how she's trying to start up the Cutie Mark Crusaders in Manehattan!" Apple Bloom's grin stretched across her face. "I never thought we'd be in more than one city, but looks like we might have a new chapter!"

Rainbow's eyes widened. "Wow, you guys are coming up big-time!" She ruffled the filly's hair again. "I'm gonna head for Pinkie's, see if I can find out what's up with AJ. Don't get into too much trouble, and tell me if Babs gives you a hard time again. I wouldn't mind a little re-educating."

Apple Bloom frowned. "Hey now, if anyone's gonna be doing that, it'll be me!" She smiled and lifted her chin. "But you can relax—we're best friends now. Anyways, I gotta get back to work!"

Dash nodded and headed for Sugarcube Corner. "Sure thing. I'll let you get to it!" Cute kid.

It took her ten minutes to head to the confectionery and bakery, waving at ponies that called out to her in greeting.

The bass of a muffled house track graced her ears as she approached the front door, and she ended up nodding her head to the rhythm just before she raised a hoof to let herself in. Before she could move another inch, the door opened for her, and she took a startled step back. A pair of blue eyes shone out from behind a cotton candy mane and bubblegum coat, along with the biggest smile a pony could possibly manage. "Hi, Dashie! Come on in, the party's just gotten started!"

Rainbow Dash stared wide-eyed into the pastry shop packed full with customers and a DJ booth. "Sure, Pinkie. Just gotten started."

"Yup. Now, come on, you're missing out!" Pinkie Pie reached out, hooked a leg around Rainbow's neck, and pulled her into the sound and noise of celebrating ponies. "Food's over there, music's over there, games are over there, and I'm everywhere if you need me!"

Rainbow glanced up at the decorations, streamers of purple, lavender and gold hanging from the ceiling and balloons with a familiar six-pointed star for a cutie mark bumping up against the walls. She chuckled. "I'm gonna assume you weren't kidding about the whole ‘alicorn party’ thing, huh?"

Pinkie stopped and turned to face Dash, a grim expression on her features. "I never foal around when it comes to parties, Dashie. It's serious business." After a few seconds, she couldn't help herself anymore and giggled as she led Rainbow through the throng of revelers. "I wanted to deliver your invitation personally, but I didn't have time, with all the planning and decorations and the food. Especially the food! We have cupcakes, eclairs, bear claws, jelly doughnuts, mixed berry pie, all kinds of candy—"

Rainbow's stomach growled, making her cheeks flush. "I get the point, Pinkie! Just lemme find AJ first, and we'll get to the chow!"

"Okie-dokie-lokie! She's right this way!"

They found Applejack surrounded by several ponies, fielding questions and being congratulated for the latest apple crop. When she saw Rainbow approach, the farm pony cleared her throat. "Sorry y'all, duty calls! Mighty nice chattin' with you ponies, but this ain't my show, so I gotta act lively." The small crowd made way for her as she moved toward her friends, raising her right foreleg for a hoof bump. "Thought you'd never show up, sugarcube!"

"And miss a Pinkie Pie party?" Dash met the hoof with her own. "Not for all the bits in Canterlot!" She glanced around at the ponies having a good time. "I'd love to get to the festivities, but I don't see a specific combination. Y'know, purple, horn, wings?"

Applejack frowned for a moment, her eyebrows slanting upward. "And she'd have love to come, darn tootin'. But she couldn't." She made her way upstairs, and Pinkie and Dash followed behind. "She's got all this princess-y stuff to take care of, or at least learn herself how to do it. With all those lessons, she doesn't have time for stuff like this anymore." She looked over her right shoulder. "Before you go sayin' anything, I was there when she told us. Never seen a mare cry so much."

"See, that's why I wanted to have a 'sorry you couldn't come so here's a party to make up for it' party in the castle! A lot of ponies could fit in the ballroom, we could have a ton more food, a whole live band, and a buncha cider to boot!" Her eyes widened. "Ooh, maybe we could even drink cider from boots! Gotta find a way to do that!"

Rainbow blinked at Pinkie before laughing. Okay, that was why she'd come over. "I dunno if ponies would go for that, Pinkie. I mean, I'd be all for it, but would anypony else?"

They entered Pinkie's bedroom—which was all shades of pink, from the candy-coated wallpaper to the bedsheets and comforter, to the closed curtains at the window. The only offsetting feature was the sand-toned carpet, but it seemed to add to the look rather than detract from it. The whitewashed ceiling was still pristine, bringing a good contrast to the room's otherwise garish scheme.

On the lamp stand next to the bed sat something that all six of them shared: the first picture the six of them had ever taken, in a frame decorated with assorted designs of candy.

"What I am for," Rainbow continued as Pinkie closed her bedroom door with one of her back legs, "is heading over there and checking in on her. All five of us. We gotta do it sometime this weekend—that way, we're all free to spend a whole day in Canterlot."

Applejack smiled. "Well, that sounds like a mighty fine idea, Rainbow! 'S not like I have anything planned. We won't have another crop like this for a while. Figure it'd do me some good to see what she's up to. Shoot, I'll even bring Apple Bloom with me! But what I'm concerned about is getting Rarity and Fluttershy to come with us."

Pinkie cleared her throat. "Let me take care of that. I have ways to... convince them."

The other ponies in the room stared at her for a moment.

"What? I do!"

Rainbow shook her head with a smile. She never wanted Pinkie to change, not even the creepy bits. "So it's set, then. We need to get the other two in on this before Saturday. Then we take the train all the way to Canterlot, go right up to Twilight's room or tower or whatever, knock on her door, and drag her out for a good time!"

Applejack snickered. "I'm surprised you even thought of knocking."

Rainbow snorted. "And why wouldn't I?"

"Just sayin’."

"So," Pinkie Pie burst in, "let's get our own little party started in here!" She walked over to the radio next to the picture frame and pressed the “on” switch with one of her front hooves.

Instead of music, a stallion's lively voice boomed from the speakers, probably the voice of the station's DJ. "Before we go into our next mix, I wanna let you fillies and colts know something about Sky Racing."

Rainbow's ears perked.

"It's not your usual obstacle course or a straight line sprint. Oh no, this is the big-time, the professional, high-grade level of flying that every pegasus aspires to. The bad-flank side of flying that demands attention and respect! Obviously I'm a shameless fan of it, and you should be, too—so I'm gonna give you a chance to experience it!"

Dash's eyes widened, and Applejack took a few steps toward her. "Hey, you okay? You're gettin' that look in your eye..."

Pinkie giggled. "We already lost her, AJ. Might as well let her hear all of it!"

"I have just received, for your information, a ton of preseason tickets to the Pegasus Grand Prix, the biggest racing series to ever hit the sport. You heard me—I got a whole mess of ticket sheets, prime seating, for those who call in next hour! Taking the first twenty-five callers, the rest are gonna have to pay for 'em at the booth!"

Rainbow's wings nearly popped out of their sockets. "Omigosh."

Applejack cleared her throat. "Now that sounds like a fine thing to do this weekend, but don't go overboard, sugarcube. We don't wanna do anything too rash."

"No, I know exactly what I'm doing." Rainbow turned toward Applejack and Pinkie, a wild grin on her face. "We're not gonna watch on the sidelines. We're gonna be right in the middle of it!"

The farm pony sighed. "And how d'you propose we do that? I haven't seen a race per se, but I know the particulars. You need a crew, a sponsor, the right gear, and to pass the qualifying time trial for each race. The last one I got no doubt you can nip in the bud, but the others—"

"—are already taken care of." Rainbow chuckled, the grin turning into a confident smile. "You guys are gonna be my crew. All of you."

Applejack huffed. "Beg pardon, but we don't know the first thing about it. Maybe one of the princesses would, but—" She stopped there, her eyes wide. "Oh, horseapples."

Rainbow nodded. "You get where I'm going now?"

"Yeah, I do. Doesn't mean I like the idea, but I get it. So you got us for the crew, plus one more which you don't have a real idea who it might be. You plan on getting either Rarity or one of the princesses to sponsor you, then you're planning on getting us trained in the next few months to be a top-notch pit crew for ya. Am I missing anything?"

Dash's face sported a grin as wide of one of Pinkie’s best. "Nope!"

Applejack glanced at the carpet for a few moments, her brows furrowed and one hoof dragging at the floor. Then she looked up at Rainbow and nodded. "Mac can handle himself and Apple Bloom's turnin' into a fine farmhand. I think I can spare a while to help you out." She put her right foreleg up for another hoof bump. "Let's kick some flank."

Rainbow touched a hoof to AJ's. "And have fun doing it!"

Pinkie Pie squealed, bouncing on her hooves. "This is gonna be the best race ever! I already have an idea for the party we'll have!"

Dash chuckled. "What, you mean if we win, or if we lose?"

Pinkie giggled. "Silly Dashie, I got one for both!"

Everypony shared a laugh and made their way back downstairs to the music. Visions of winning the whole thing danced in Rainbow's head. Just the fame from winning one race would be enough, but she wanted the whole series—needed it. This would make her into more than just a Reserve member. It'd get her on the list, the team itself! And after that, the possibilities were endless.

Rainbow couldn't help but grin again. "Best. Idea. Ever!"

Author's Note:

EDIT: Once again, the mighty hand of Spabble can be seen in this chapter, as evidenced by its enhanced quality! Enjoy the new stuff!

Comments

[Albi]

I liked Lightning Dust's redemption. That was nice.

Also, cover art helps. Even if it's just a generic picture of Rainbow Dash, it can go a long way.

[Shrek the Ogre]

Shouldn't this have a Slice-of-Life Tag?