When you want something so bad that you spend your entire life working towards it, nothing hurts more than having that dream ripped right out of your grasp.

Lightning Dust wanted to be a Wonderbolt. She wanted it so much that everything else, everyone else, became secondary to the blue-and-yellow suit. A disaster narrowly avoided ceased to even be a blip on the radar, loss of control translated directly to thrills, and anyone near her level was labelled an obstacle.

And now, here she stands. Alone. Broken. Everything she's ever worked for amounts to a suit with a hole in it, and her cutie mark in a blacklist. And she has no idea why.

And since Rainbow Dash is busy with training, the duty falls to somepony else to knock some sense into the disgraced cadet.

A gift for a friend.

Sunshower Raindrops was not a remarkable pony. She was painfully shy and timid, even a bit of a crybaby. She had no friends and tended to blend into the background. She had long believed that she would live out the rest of her days alone and in obscurity. She never asked for much... but was having a friend really so much to ask for?

When Raindrops happens across Lightning Dust for the first time since her expulsion from the Wonderbolt Academy, she sees an opportunity to finally make a friend. She does not know Lightning very well, but she seeks to fix that by talking to her.

Little did either of them know that it would be a talk that would shape the rest of their lives.

Short story of what if Lightning Dust apologized to Rainbow Dash of how she acted at the Wonderbolt Academy. Would Rainbow Dash forgive her even after what she had did?

When Starlight Glimmer sees a drunken Lightning Dust near the castle during a big storm, she decides to let her sleep it off at the castle. The next morning, the two begin to bond, as they find that they have done similar things in the past. Rated T for alcohol.

Getting into the Wonderbolts was tough. Staying in the Wonderbolts was easy. Maintaining solid conversation with her family at home, specifically her younger sister? That's an ongoing process.
---
This may contain trace amounts of angst, references, and subjective humor.
MLP:FiM is property of Hasbro and DHX Media.
Cover art belongs to its respective owner (Sorry, I couldn't find your name.)

On the evening of their weekly sleepover, Scootaloo has a very big surprise for Rainbow Dash. She bought her a copy of the newest Daring Do book, knowing that Rainbow wouldn't have had time to get one of her own because of her job. Her only condition is that Rainbow has to read one of the last few chapters of Daring Do and The Sapphire Statue to her for a bedtime story.

In the warmth of her cloud home, Rainbow Dash is about to turn in for the night when she hears Scootaloo crying outside in the middle of a vicious blizzard. Plucking the freezing filly from the snow, Rainbow hopes to provide some much-needed comfort for the otherwise tough young pegasus, but she uncovers a disturbing reality that she knows she cannot handle alone.

Knowing only one pony that could really help her out, Rainbow enlists Twilight’s help, determined to set things straight for Scootaloo. But what Rainbow doesn’t know is that in her efforts to provide a better life for the filly, her friendship with Twilight will develop into something more.

Edited by Alcatraz, Rated Ponystar, Rocinante, Ponysopher, Marshal Twilight, Knight of Cerebus, ShimmeringStallion, and Jake The Army Guy

Proofread by Neko Majin C

Rainbow Dash has been dreaming of this day for years. The day she would receive her admittance to the Wonderbolts. When her greatest dreams come true, will she be able to handle this new life of fame and fortune? And how will those around her be affected?

Cover picture by Art-Surgery

(First story in my series 'The Elements of Harmony') When Rainbow Dash gets a personal letter from Spitfire saying she's been recruited as a cadet, she's happier than Pinkie Pie hyped up on sugar. But when her number one fan ends up in critical condition at Ponyville Central Hospital can Dashie finally follow her dreams, or will she lose it forever and live up to her title?

Spitfire needs help. There is one pony she can think to turn to, Rainbow Dash. Rainbow saved her life once, now she will have a chance to do it again, if she will.