It had been a long and rather painful first day for Rainbow Dash, who had finally risen into the ranks of the Wonderbolts proper (thanks to an old member retiring, and Rainbow Dash being at the top of the reserve list. A spot which now belonged to Thunderlane). During practice, she had misjudged a landing and wiped out (unluckily, right into a trash can). For the rest of the day, she'd gone by the rather unfortunate nickname of "Rainbow Crash", which distracted her and annoyed her to no end.
And then, to top it all off, she'd been informed of an unfortunate rule at the end of the day: The worst flyer of the group, had to clean the entire compound from top to bottom.
So it was that the newest (and youngest as far as she could tell) of all the Wonderbolts, was sweeping the dust that had gathered with a broom, occasionally brushing against a random paper ball or other piece of trash to dispose of. "So much for making a big splash with the team. It seems like they're never gonna let me live it down." Rainbow Dash glumly thought to herself.
However, at that very moment, there came the sound of hoofsteps from down the hall. Said hoofsteps gave way to the presence of Soarin, who had changed out of his flight suit. "Hey, Rainbow Dash, just forget something in my locker. Be just a minute." He told her.
But Rainbow stopped sweeping, and looked at Soarin. "Did you just call me Rainbow Dash instead of Rainbow Crash?" She asked him, hoping beyond hope that she hadn't misheard.
"Yeah, I did," Soarin replied with a smile. "I reckon the team's been hard enough on you for one day. Though, if I'm being honest, Crash is far from the worst nickname you could get stuck with. I've heard worse."
"Easy for you to say, Clipper!" Rainbow grumbled. "If I had an awesome nickname like that, I wouldn't be stuck on compound duty. Though I guess it beats taking out the trash or cleaning the bathrooms."
Soarin stopped midway to his locker, and turned to face Rainbow Dash. He was glad the compound was now void of all other Wonderbolts. He didn't want others around to see this. "Rainbow Dash, if I'm gonna be honest with you, you don't know the half of my nickname."
"B-but I thought Clipper meant you were fast as a ship! I mean, what else could it mean?!" Rainbow stuttered in confusion.
Soarin sighed, as he leaned close to Rainbow and whispered to her. "You probably didn't know this, because it was long before you ever joined our ranks, but how I actually got my nickname is a lot less impressive and a lot more humiliating," He proceeded to explain in no unclear detail. "On my first day as a Wonderbolt, long before I worked my way up to co-captain under Spitfire, I was super excited! All my life I'd wanted to be a Wonderbolt, and I was thrilled to be reunited with Spitfire, because the two of us used to do everything together when we were kids! But I became too excited for my own good, I didn't pay attention to what I was doing, and my hubris came back to bite me in a very big way."
"Why? What happened?" Rainbow asked, both out of curiosity and out of of concern.
With another sigh, Soarin confessed. "It wasn't pretty. I actually clipped my wing on a flag pole. Trust me, it hurt like you won't believe. I was out of commission for weeks, if not months."
Rainbow couldn't help but wince at the description and the image brought to her mind. She'd thought her own crash landings were painful enough, but the worst she'd ever done was break a wing that then took a week to heal. Clipping your wing on anything sounded far more painful, to say nothing of how much it must hurt to clip it on something like a flag pole. "But that just means these nicknames are more than just silly and childish," She complained. "If they made fun of you for something like that, even if you were acting arrogant, that makes them sound like jerks."
"I'll admit, we went overboard with the whole 'Crash' nickname calling," Soarin apologized. "Even I got swept up in the moment, and it's something I've been trying to work on," Then he added. "But I also realized that, like it or not, that nickname existed because I acted foolish and careless. Had I payed attention and not tried to show off, I probably wouldn't have clipped my wing and earned that nickname. At the same time, I realized that as much as I may hate being called it, it wasn't going to go away just because I said so. The best I could do, was use it as motivation to change how I was perceived. Once I was allowed back onto the ranks, I worked really hard! I obeyed orders, I didn't try to show off all the time, and slowly but surely I rose through the ranks as I doubled my efforts! Eventually, I impressed even myself with how much I'd improved, and my nickname of 'Clipper' became something to be proud of. At the same time though, having it around helped remind me of how I'd first gotten it, so I'd never forget that the first rule of being a Wonderbolt is: There's no I in Team, even though there's technically an M and an E."
Rainbow chuckled a little at Soarin's comment. "You sounded like Twilight there at the end. Don't tell me you're an egghead too."
"With age comes experience, Rainbow Dash," Soarin teased back. "The harder you work, the better you'll do. But you have to remember that regardless of how talented you are on your own, you're part of a team now. And being part of a team means learning to blend in just as well as you stand out. We Wonderbolts are like a well oiled machine, we work best when everyone knows what's expected of them and either does it well, or rises above and beyond it. Despite what you may think, we are glad to have you with us. But you're still on the bottom of the totem pole, and we don't give special treatment to new recruits, even ones such as yourself. If you want to change how you're perceived, you've got to work hard and gain experience. Knowing you, I doubt you'll remain a newbie for long. In fact, you might just be the pony who succeeds Spitfire as Captain one day."
"You really think I have a chance at such a position?" Rainbow asked Soarin, blushing a bit.
"I know so," Soarin said with a wink. "Just don't get any ideas about trying to bump Spitfire from that post. At best, you may work your way up to Spitfire's right hoof mare, or even third in command, positions that Fleetfoot and Misty Fly both occupy at the moment. Or I should say 'Flatfoot' and 'Hoof in Mouth'."
"Dare I ask how they got such nicknames?" Rainbow curiously inquired.
Soarin shook his head. "Nice try, Rainbow Dash, but you'll have to ask them yourself. I just wanted to make sure you're not planning on quitting, just because you had a rough first day. It's happened to the best of us. And after all the time we've spent waiting for you to join us, it'd be a shame to see you leave. Now, you'd better get back to cleaning the compound," He advised as he turned to leave. "Unless you want Spitfire to make you fly one hundred laps around the entire academy."
"Not funny, Soarin!" Rainbow called.
"Never said I was joking, Rainbow Dash!" Soarin called back, and then he departed without another word.