//------------------------------// // Memories: Rainbow Dash // Story: The Remaining Five // by ABagOVicodin //------------------------------// The wind blew through her mane as she flew. Rainbow Dash didn't usually have a smirk on her face, or a smile from her recent weather duties. One would think that she would be cocky and happy, since she created a new record for cleaning up the skies. Instead of ten seconds, she was now at eight. Despite such an achievement, Rainbow Dash landed on her house, wiping off her hooves so that she did not get any dirt on the interior of her house. A letter was clenched between her teeth, her saliva moistening the bottom of the envelope in which the letter was housed. However since she already read the letter, she wasn't worried about it. “Just my luck.” she said to herself, moving the letter to her right hoof as she moved over to her bed. She collapsed on top of it, letting out a sigh, frustration coursing through her body. “How am I going to try out for the Wonderbolts now?” she asked her room. As expected, there was silence for a retort. The light blue mare turned onto her back, as she pulled the piece of parchment from the envelope, wanting to read the letter again just in case she missed something. “To the Wonderbolts Fan Club, As you may know, the Wonderbolts have been providing shows for Canterlot and Ponyville for the past year. The Grand Galloping Gala was one of the best events that the Wonderbolts were able to perform for every pony, but for the next month, the Wonderbolts will be moving their performances to Los Pegasus. We know that you are probably sad from this decision, but Spitfire has told me that she doesn't want any pony to be alarmed. These performances are only for a month, and the Wonderbolts will be moving back to Ponyville after wards. Thank you for your continued support. Sincerely, Fancy Facts, Wonderbolts Publicist” Rainbow Dash tossed the letter onto her cloud end table and it hovered there, probably due to the cloud's magical properties. Her magenta eyes stared up at the ceiling. As much as she wanted to fly over to the Wonderbolt's house, and beg them to stay in Ponyville so that she could practice, she wouldn't disrespect their decisions. She was ready, she could tell. Her wings flexed underneath her body, slowly extending before retracting. She was the best flier in all of Equestria. Princess Celestia deemed it so, when she saved the Wonderbolts and Rarity while creating a Sonic Rainboom. She was sure that even Princess Celestia was not capable of such a feat! But then again, Applejack's words resonated through her mind. “Your magic is a part of you Sugarcube, and we like who you are.” Rainbow Dash couldn't blame Princess Celestia if she wasn't capable of her own feats. That was why the two of them did not have the same cutie mark. She was sure she wouldn't like it if Princess Celestia rubbed the fact that she could raise the sun and moon in her face. She focused back to the problem at hand. How was she going to be able to show off her stuff to the Wonderbolts, if they weren't going to be in this city? She didn't have the energy to fly all the way to Los Pagasus, and she didn't have enough money to purchase a train ticket. It seemed that she was out of luck for the time being. Frustrated, she punched her bed, only to feel the soft and tingling clouds pushing back at her hooves. She bit her lip. “I guess I could take a nap.” she said to herself, as she closed her eyes, her wings relaxing. “I'll worry about this tomorrow.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The next day came around, and Rainbow didn't have much in the means of a solution to her problem. After some brainstorming, the only thing she could think of was taking a train. But tickets were expensive, and she didn't have enough money. An idea came to her mind and she sat up in her bed. If she could borrow money from all five of her friends, then she would be able to pay for a ticket! Tickets were sixty bits. If she could borrow ten bits from all of her friends, then she could afford the ticket, and she wouldn't be making a large financial burden on one person. It was a perfect idea! Rainbow Dash flew out of her house, looking at the beautiful white clouds as she made her way to Fluttershy's cottage. She landed on the doormat, and lightly knocked on the door to avoid startling her. Fluttershy looked through the heart shaped hole in the door, and smiled when she saw that it was Rainbow Dash. “Oh, hello Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy said, as she moved over to hug the other pegasus. The two let go of each other and Rainbow Dash walked into her friend's house, moving over to the living room couch. She sat down, and the yellow mare did the same. “Hey Fluttershy, how are you doing?” “I am doing just fine. I am so excited that you came to visit me. I was just about to feed all of my little friends.” “That is cool. Say, you wouldn't happen to have a little spare bag of bits lying around, would you?” Rainbow Dash asked. She figured that if she wanted to ask Fluttershy for anything, she might as well do it now since any form of flattery would not affect her. Her and Applejack, both of them were not very happy when they were subjected to flattery for something. Fluttershy shook her head, “I'm sorry, but I don't have any spare money with me. I had to spend all of the money on food. I got a few more friends for my house, and the eat more food then the rest of my friends combined. I don't have any spare money for this month, or next month, until I teach my friends how to catch their own food.” she responded. Rainbow Dash sighed, and nodded her head. “I understand, thanks anyway. Sorry if I sounded desperate... it's just,” Rainbow paused, “The Wonderbolts are going to be taking their shows to Los Pegasus, and I need to take a train over there. I am ready to show off my stuff to them, and prove that I can be a part of their team.” she said. Fluttershy looked guilty that she didn't have the money to give to the pegasus, and she once again apologized for not having the money. “If I could help you, I would.” she responded. “Please don't hate me!” Rainbow Dash laughed a few times, and hugged her, “I could never hate you Fluttershy. I'm going to go ask everyone else. Have a good day okay?” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rainbow Dash landed on Twilight's doormat, letting out a sigh at the fact that she had to ask the one mare that she called an “egghead” time and time again. She was going to have to apologize for that... sometime later. She knocked on Twilight's door and Spike was the first to open it. “Oh, hello Rainbow Dash.” he said, a smile on his face as he allowed her inside. Twilight was currently sorting through a large pile of books, her purple eyes staring over a cover. “Spike, would an author that starts with “S” and “A” be alphabetized before “S” and a period?” she asked. Rainbow Dash giggled a small amount, finding it hard to believe that this is what Twilight spent a lot of her time doing. However she reprimanded herself, remembering that everyone was different. Twilight's eyes turned to Rainbow Dash, and she smiled brightly, “Oh, hello Rainbow Dash. How are you doing?” She asked. “Doing fine Twi, listen, I need your help with something.” Rainbow said, still slightly embarrassed that she was asking. Twilight's eyes lit up at the possibility of helping out one of her best friends, and she levitated a clipboard over to herself, followed by a quill. “What is it that is troubling you?” she asked, a bright smile on her face. Rainbow pushed her hooves together, twiddling them a small amount before she finally answered, “The Wonderbolts are going to be going to Los Pegasus and I need to go over there because I can show them my moves. I am ready, I know I am, but since they are going to be gone for a month, I need to go see them now. A train ticket to Los Pegasus is sixty bits, and I have ten on me, I was wondering if I could borrow thirteen bits?” Twilight was disappointed that this problem wasn't something that she could turn into a letter to Princess Celestia, but she understood Rainbow's predicament. It was unfortunate that she wasn't able to talk to the Wonderbolts about joining when she won the flier competition, or when she was at the Gala. Following your dreams was a large lesson that she learned recently, so she would love to be the one to help Rainbow Dash achieve her dreams. However, there was one slight problem. “I would love to help you Rainbow Dash.” Twilight said, although the nervous frown on her face was not reassuring. Rainbow noticed this frown, but she still remained positive, “You will?” she asked, a large smile on her face. “I would love to help you, but I don't have any money to spare.” Twilight replied, guilt slowly moving onto her face. Rainbow Dash sighed, but smiled and hugged Twilight. “I understand, thank you for listening though.” she said, and she flew out the door, closing it behind her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rainbow beat her wings against the wind, moving through the sky. She passed Sugarcube Corner, not wanting to ask her pink friend. Pinkie probably didn't have any money, so there was no reason to ask. She landed on Rarity's doormat, and a smile came across her face. Rarity made a large amount of money from the sale of dresses, at least, Rainbow thought so. How could she afford such a large house if that wasn't the case? She knocked on Rarity's door, and it glowed before being opened. Rarity was in her side of the living room, apparently working. She walked into the room, the door closing behind her. “Hello there Rainbow Dash.” Rarity said, a smile on her face as she placed two colors together, complementing them. She moved the fabrics over to Rainbow's mane, and compared the two before levitating them back to her. “Is there something that I can help you with?” she asked. Rainbow took a deep breath and explained her problem to Rarity. After wards, she took another breath, “So I need a train ticket to Los Pegasus. In order to do that, I need to borrow twenty bits.” she said, afraid that she was going to be shot down like the other friends. Rarity smiled and nodded her head, “Well Rainbow Dash, you are in luck.” she said. Rainbow was about to leave, but Rarity's smile had kept her grounded. “Really? You have enough money?” she asked. Rarity winced slightly, embarrassed that she had the money, but she wasn't able to hand it over... yet. “I do have enough money... but not today. I am finishing off these dresses, and I will be able to lend you the money in a week. Is that okay?” Rainbow Dash's mood deflated once more, and she shook her head. She moved to the door, opened it, and turned to look at her friend. “Thank you for trying, but if I can't be there on the first day, then I might as well not go.” she said, “I'll see you later.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rainbow Dash laid down on a cloud, sighing in frustration and sadness over the coincidences that ended up depriving her of a ticket to Los Pegasus. If she had just been more careful with her money, or her friends, then she would have been able to go. But now, she had to wait an entire month to show the Wonderbolts her moves, and in that time, anything could happen. The Wonderbolts could end up accepting someone else, and kick her chances of joining to the curb. They could end up growing more attached to Los Pegasus, and would travel there more frequently, depriving Rainbow of more chances to prove herself. “It isn't fair!” she said out loud. “What isn't fair?” Pinkie asked. Rainbow sat up, completely surprised at the party pony's question. She looked around, and saw that Pinkie was using the same trampoline that she used around Gilda. She was bouncing every few seconds up to her, remaining in the air, and then falling back down. Rainbow sighed. She might as well explain it to Pinkie. She couldn't borrow any money from Applejack, they still had a feud going on over who won that hoof wrestling match. Pinkie's eyes widened as Rainbow mentioned Los Pegasus. “Ooh, I know that...” her head disappeared before she bounced back up, “Place! It's west of... here!” “Yeah, Pinkie. I don't want to... ask you, because I still... owe you from last month. But will... you lend me... some money for a train ticket?” Rainbow asked. Pinkie paused in midair, as her head punctured the cloud. “I don't have any spare bits.” she responded. Rainbow sighed, “Of course you don't. That's my luck.” she said to herself, as she fell back on the cloud. “But wait!” Pinkie exclaimed, as she fell back down onto the trampoline, and bounced back up, “I do have... A ticket to the Wonderbolts Show.... In Los Pegasus! It comes with... a free train ride to... and back to Ponyville!” Rainbow thought that Pinkie was joking, or that she was dreaming. She punched herself in the shoulder and then winced from the pain. “How did you manage... to get a ticket... to the Wonderbolts Show?” she asked. Pinkie landed on her flying bicycle and she pedaled up to Rainbow's cloud. “Well I did a party for them, and they thanked me by giving me two free tickets! I already gave one to Scootaloo, because she wanted to see the Wonderbolts really badly. You can have the other one!” she said. Rainbow Dash held out her hooves, tears in her eyes as Pinkie pulled the ticket out of (not surprisingly) nowhere and placed it in Rainbow's hooves. She hugged Pinkie Pie extremely hard, and then pulled back, “Thank you so much Pinkie... I don't know how I can ever repay you.” “Oh you don't need to, that smile was all I wanted! Let me know how it goes okay?” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rainbow never got to tell her.