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Rainbow Dash is specially invited to become the youngest member of the Wonderbolts, and so she moves to Cloudsdale, leaving Ponyville behind. But she stays in contact with her friends through letters. Time passes, but the letters remain a constant. One-shot.
I shed many un-manly tears at the end, there. Not the dignified, silent kind--the bawling, face-scrunched-up-and-puffy kind of tears. What is it about this kind of story that gets me, I wonder? Character deaths, when dramatically laid out, make me cry, too. But this wasn't a sad story, other than Spitfire's death and the near-destruction of the Wonderbolts.
I guess it makes me come to terms with the fact that every story has to end, and nopony can live forever. The sad thing is that I was braced for the tears right from the start--there might not be a [Sad] tag, but it's pretty obvious where this story's going to end up from the very beginning. Cleaning out a 'certain house on the outskirts of Ponyville' can only refer to one thing, really.
Moving on, stepping down, making room for the next generation... is it wrong that these concepts tear at me? It doesn't matter if it's with a boom, a crash or a whimper, going out is still going out. The cynic in me insists that dead is dead, so that even the happiest of goodbyes is bitter and sad, to my mind.
I like the letters, but the general treatment of the wonderbolts seems a bit strange. Remember that they're inspired by the Blue Angels, the us air force's flight demo team. The exact nature of the Equestrian air force hasn't been explained in much detail in the show...whether there's an entire military, or whether the wonderbolts themselves are more or less than just a demo team. But, they've already been shown to be a disaster response force during Spike's incident in Secret of My Excess. Think about it: a dragon "attacked" Ponyville, an air raid siren went off, and then a wonderbolt was on the scene to fight the dragon off. Emergency and disaster response is exactly what they do.
So it seems strange for Dash to be saying that she's "turned them" into that.
....Damn...That was beautifully written and told a good tale. This hits really close to home with me, due to my crazy ambition and I'll be in the similar situation if I continue to pursue it.....God damn its well written.
The concept of the inevitable scattering of the mane 6 is just sad, like even when you know they are going to do it. And the fact that those good times won't last, but in a way thats what makes the good times so good. Seeing how dash changed was just...awesome. It was really cool, I really kind of felt sad for Fluttershy. I also like how it really shows just how fleeting time is. It was just so well written.
>>545935 I totally, undeniably, agree with you 120%. Death itself I do not fear. I try not to think about it but what I do fear, as you mentioned, is what there was being paved for something that will be. Like something great and awesome finally coming to a end and ceasing to be. Like a hero or idol of yours, who you believed was invincible and by all rights was, finally fading away...
It just sorta hit me, maybe it is fear of being forgotten? Just another drop in the ocean... Maybe that's it. Probably along with other reasons too.
That was a pretty amazing story; although I've read others with this premise it's good to see that you went beyond the 'I'm getting old and everything I loved is fading away' cliché. The adventure part was compelling, I had doubts about it managing adventure and slice of life in a one shot but you made it work. On top of that I'd liked too think the ending is more open than it might suggest... Fluttershy finally realized that Rainbow Dash just wasn't coming back so she went after her... who says any of them had to die?
Superb writing too, is this really your first fan fiction?
Anyway liked, favorited, and five stars on EQD; thanks for the story!
Very well played out story here. I have read one other letter-style story, being the one with AppleTwi ship, which to be honest made me bawl tears of manly sadness. This story, however, didn't make me cry at all, but that is not a bad thing. As in both stories, most of the sadness comes in bitter-sweet droves, hitting you like an iceberg in a Titanic movie. What made this one a lot less sad is there was no back and forth, just forth. We were unfortunate to not be able to see the opposite side's reaction, but from the context and plotline of the story, makes sense. It's not a series of letters between two characters, but between one character and a group. There couldn't have been any sadness from the back, for (for the most part) they talked about their everyday lives, and the only sad context was either implied or directly stated in the text. With the other story, it was about both character's personal griefs, and could be worded with both sides giving a vibe of sadness.
Again, very nice melencholy story. Now to figure out why I wrote all if this...
Well, that was worth the read. Ever so slightly saddening though - Because I just don't really enjoy far-future stories in general. (Mostly because they clash with my imagination of the status-quo lasting forever)
It was sad to hear about the Wonderbolts... And I think I need to re-read this entire thing in a fresher state of mind, because I didn't really understand the whole part about the 'Super-Storm Demon' thing. (I skimmed a little too much)
So I'll probably post a new, less rushed comment when I've read it again.
Nonetheless: Good story. Well written, well thought out.
Oh. My. Celestia.
That got so sad at the night. I'm too lazy to read the comments prior to this to find out but I read Dash's voice on that last letter as if she was sobbing. And I know that was only a reflection on how I am feeling after it. This is a majesty,beautiful, unique masterpiece(which also makes me fear how many people will try to copy it for the views). It would be a sin to not thumbs up this as well as favorite it. As well as it would be my honor to do so.
Hm. People want to know whom Apple Bloom is addressing in the opening? I suppose it was inevitable...and just slightly intentional 
.
Yes, I had someone specific in mind...but I'm not going to tell anyone yet. I'd much rather see what everyone thinks on their own. Who knows? At least one of you is bound to hit on the right answer.
Oh my god, that made me cry harder than My Little Dashie. Seriously, that was both one of the greatest and saddest fics I have ever read.
ok.................this was ''okay'' at first i thought this was really decent until the sea creature part.......it was very undash like....no it was unequestrian like.....very ooc like for instance, celestia is not going to send a hooffull of ''stunt ponies'' some with little to no combat training to go fight this thing when theres and entire equestrian army and hundreds of other specialized ponies to do it..... then none of the mane six seam to attempt to organize times to meet up ever......then also i dont think theres a way for them to ''pass the elements down'' its a special god like magic that became part of them....something you cant just pass on, with the only potential exception being next of kin which in this fic most the mane six dont......
so i will give you the credit of you having it well written and is good enough to read though
This was such a touching story and everything was so believable. Not only that but I was also pleasantly surprised to find that you didn’t pair any of the main characters up with a romantic partner; a wise decision, in my opinion, since otherwise you would have made someone upset if your pairing choice conflicted with their preference.
And, of course, a story wouldn’t be complete without some kind of conflict, in this case The Nameless, even when being addressed in letters; that was interesting.
I also really liked the idea that Fluttershy would keep all of Rainbow Dash’s letters, even after so many years…
And for your first MLP:FiM fanfiction piece (correct me if I’m wrong) it was very well done and I enjoyed reading it.
Wow... Just... Wow... o_o In a good way. I can just see Pinkie hopping around Equestria with her party gear, Rarity leading that fashion boutique, Twilight ruling the Canterlot mage quater, AJ with the farms, and so on... All so easy to see in my head. Especially Fluttershy... Poor Fluttershy, with Angels death...
All in all, an AWESOME compilation of letters!
I feel like i need to agree with you, I didn't see the same connection with the ponies in the story and the ones that i have learned to know and love. 
so my feels were less connected to this story than i have had to others ( pleas dont hate me if you disagree)
However, expertly done. and well written. i wish i could read the others letters to get a better picture of what was going on. thank you for the story.
This is what I consider a wonderful fanfic, and by god I am very hard on these. My reviews 98% of the time are pretty bad when it comes to these, but aside from a few grammatical errors, this was a very touching story that captured the characters personalities beautifully. 
Thank you for not twisting the genre and for not making a clopper. I respect good work like this! :)
Haha, after watching the new episode I immediately thought of this fic! With Pinkie waiting for a letter from Dash at the academy and all 
And the way it ended... THIS COULD ALL HAPPEN! ...
But seriously great fic. Definitly one of my favorites! I was thinking about this for days after reading it.
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