//------------------------------//
// A Major Failure and a Major Success 
// Story: The Rainbow Blitz Disaster 
// by arglefumph 
//------------------------------//

The first round of the Wondercolts Tryouts started with the dreaded obstacle course. Only six of the twenty applicants made it through the obstacle course successfully.

The pony in front of Rainbow Dash, who was the only other mare contestant, made it through the obstacle course without any mistakes, but she was a minute too slow.

"Next up, Rainbow Dash!" the announcer said.

The stallions from Ponyville cheered, as Rainbow Dash flew around the cones and through the cloud maze. The trickiest part was avoiding the moving clouds, but once she got past them, it was smooth sailing for her.

The rings brought her close to the stands. Unlike her male counterpart, Rainbow Dash was not distracted by the ponies in the stands; their cheering only made her more determined not to fail. She put on an extra burst of speed and zoomed to the finish area (which was also the starting area).

"How was that?" Rainbow Dash asked, taking off her official Wonderbolts flying goggles. She had brought them that day as a subtle hint to the testers.

"Perfect!" Fireball—that would be the male version of Spitfire—said. "Better than perfect, even! That's the fastest speed so far!  It's a new record!"

Rainbow felt a surge of pride. "So I made it, right?" she asked. "I passed the tryouts?"

Swift Glider laughed. "Easy there, tiger," she said. "Let's give the other ponies a turn at the obstacle course, okay?"

It turned out that there were seven more competitions, in addition to the obstacle course. The next competition was a race, testing out everypony's maximum speed. The competition after that tested out their ability to change speeds, without being thrown off course. The other rounds of the tryouts included things such as showing off stylish moves, doing formation flying, and an awesomeness contest which Rainbow Dash won with flying colors (literally).

At the end of the events, the three Wondercolts who were judging everything tallied up the various scores.

"Anypony make it over fifty points this time?" Fireball asked.

"Hmmm...looks like Flashy Skies got close, but he completely failed the monster-fighting round," Swift Glider said. "Not good, if you ask me."

"Wait, what about the mare?" Fireball asked. "You know, Contestant number...s-s-sixty!"

"Sixty?" Swift asked. "We don't have sixty contestants!"

"No, I mean, look!" Fireball said, slamming his hoof on the clipboard. "She scored sixty points!"

"Impossible!" Flying Tiger said. "That's pretty near perfect!"

"Well, looks like we found a winner," Fireball said.

In the stands, the pony friends were discussing the tryouts.

"It's taking them forever!" Rainbow Dash complained. "When are they going to announce the results?"

"It's only been ten minutes," Dusk Shine said.

"What if they didn't like me? What if they hated that backflip move I did?!" Rainbow Dash asked. "I could have sworn Spitfire scowled at me after that one!"

"You did really, really well, though," Butterscotch said. "I know I couldn't fly like that!"

"Yes, you were fabulous," Elusive said. The only part of Rainbow Dash's performance he hadn't liked was Rainbow Dash's big victory dance after the speed races; that had been too uncouth for the gentlecolt's tastes. "I'm sure they'll accept you."

"Yeah, yer the best-lookin' flyer out there!" Applejack said. "Nopony else looks as good as you!"

"Sounds like somepony has a crush on Rainbow Dash!" Bubble Berry sang.

Applejack blushed, while Rainbow Dash decidedly looked the other way. This caused Elusive's romantic sensors to go haywire.

"I've been meaning to ask," Elusive said. "What happened after you two went home together last night?"

"They went home together?!" Butterscotch asked. He covered his mouth with his hooves. "Oh, my!"

"Eee...uh..." Applejack said. "Taint polite to say..."

Rainbow Dash was more direct. "None of your business, that's what happened!" she said.

"It is too my business!" Elusive said. "If my friends are becoming romantically involved, I believe I should know about it!"

"Um...not to interrupt..." Butterscotch said softly. "But in romance novels, whenever a stallion takes a mare home at night, the two of them end up kissing passionately."

"Is that what happened?" Dusk Shine asked, getting excited. "What's it like to kiss a mare? You have to tell me!"

Elusive coughed loudly and scowled at Dusk Shine.

"Uh, I mean, I agree with Elusive!" Dusk said. "You two can't date each other! (It's not fair to the single ponies like me.)"

"You know, if you're that desperate for a date, you can always go out with Gummy!" Bubble Berry offered.

This whole time, Applejack was trying to hide under his hat. "Kin we please talk about somethin' other than me kissing Rainbow Dash?" he asked.

"Aha!" Elusive said. "So you did kiss her!"

"Ah didn't say that!" Applejack said. "Look, Ah appreciate yer concern, but please stay outta mah personal business!"

"Yeah, or I'll make you stay out!" Rainbow Dash said threateningly. She gave a death glare to Elusive, who scowled.

"...Fine," Elusive said in a deep voice. He didn't think this was over—not by a long shot—but he was willing to drop the subject for now. "I'll respect your privacy."

"Good," Applejack said.

"Sounds great to me," Rainbow Dash said. "You can start right now. Come on, AJ, we're leaving."

"Eeeyup," Applejack said. Rainbow Dash flew away, and Applejack walked after her. The two of them didn't leave the amphitheater, but they got well out of earshot of their friends.

"How rude!" Elusive said. "I know they're our friends, but my gosh!"

"I wonder what they're talking about," Dusk Shine said.

"I bet they're going to make out," Bubble Berry observed.

Elusive, Butterscotch and Dusk Shine all let out cries of anguish at the pink pony's suggestion. Bubble Berry was fortunately incorrect in this case; all Applejack and Rainbow Dash did was reassess their relationship.

"Look, what happened back there with mah friends..." Applejack said. "Ya gotta understand, they're not usually like that."

"Pffff, no big deal," Rainbow Dash said, waving her hoof downwards. She was hovering in the air about three feet in front of Applejack. "I don't want to talk about that."

Applejack nodded. "What do you want to talk about?" he asked. "Ah remember you promised we'd talk about last night."

Rainbow Dash sighed, then landed on the cloud grounds so she could be level with the rugged farmer. "Yeah, yeah," she said. "Last night. It was...uh...this is going to be hard to explain..."

"Ah kin go first, then," Applejack said. "Last night was...incredible, Ah'd say. You're a great mare, and you're also rull pretty, an' kissin' you...well, Ah guess it'd be a dream come true for anypony."

"AJ..." Rainbow Dash said. She both loved and hated his honesty, at that moment. "Don't make this harder than it already is. I told you, we can't be together."

"But why not?" Applejack asked. "Mah parents taught me that Ah shouldn't let anything get in the way of true love!"

"This isn't true love!" Rainbow Dash said. "It was just a kiss!"

"So it didn't mean anything to you!" Applejack said. "You think you can just kiss somepony, then walk away? Ah thought you were a better mare than that!"

"I...RRRRGH!" Rainbow Dash said. She felt like ripping her hair out. "Don't be an idiot! I really like you, too! If you were in my universe, I would totally date you!"

"Yer universe?" Applejack asked, suddenly very confused.

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash said, taking a deep breath. "I'm from another universe, and I have to go back. That's why we can't be together."

Applejack stood still for a bit, as he processed this information. Then he spit on the ground and said a naughty word. "You expect me to believe that?" he asked.

"It's the truth!" Rainbow Dash said.

"That is the worst excuse Ah have ever heard!" Applejack said, getting angry. "Another universe? You think Ah'm an idiot, just because Ah work on a farm?"

"No no no!" Rainbow Dash said. "I swear to Celestia, I'm not lying! I'm from another universe! Ask Twilight if you don't believe me!"

"Ah see how it is now," Applejack said. "You were just usin' me, this whole time! Ah guess Ah should count mah lucky stars it didn't get no further than kissing!"

"I wasn't using you!" Rainbow Dash said. "I really do care about you, but multi-dimensional relationships never work!"

Applejack turned around and kicked Rainbow Dash in the face, as hard as he could. Bucking apple trees had given him plenty of practice in the area of kicking things.

"Don't ever talk to me again!" Applejack threatened. He trotted off angrily, leaving Rainbow Dash to rub her aching eyes.

"...I guess that's one way to solve the Applejack problem," Rainbow Dash said bitterly. "Why do I have such bad luck with stallions?"

Rainbow Dash's plan was to return home, with the help of Dusk Shine's magic. She had no way of knowing that back in the mare universe, her friends had their own plan to get Rainbow Dash back.

"Please, follow me," Princess Celestia said, as she led the ponies through the castle. Twilight Sparkle and her friends followed the tall white alicorn down a large hallway.

"Where are we going?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Beats me," Rainbow Blitz said. The sporty stallion was also with the group. "I'm just glad I'm no longer a prisoner."

"My apologies for that," Celestia said. "You couldn't be trusted, until I knew for sure who you were."

"I...guess that makes sense," Rainbow Blitz said. He disagreed about his false arrest, but he wasn't dumb enough to mention that in front of the princess. "Hey, no harm, no foul, right?"

"I am glad you feel that way," Celestia said. She stopped in front of a door, then used her magic to open it. "Here we are."

All the ponies entered the room, which had been cleared of all items, except for a large, ornate mirror, standing near the far wall.

"What's with the mirror?" Rainbow Blitz asked.

"Why don't you try it out and see?" Princess Celestia said cryptically.

Rainbow Blitz shrugged, then walked up to the mirror. When he got close, he was surprised to see a pony other than himself in the mirror's reflection.

"It's a mare!" he said. "It's...is that the Rainbow Dash mare you all keep talking about?"

"What? Let me see!" Twilight said, trotting up and shoving Rainbow Blitz aside. She looked at the reflection. "That's not a mare; it's a colt."

"Two of them, it looks like," Applejack said, peering over Twilight's shoulder. She turned her head to look at Princess Celestia. "This ain't a normal mirror, is it?"

"No, it is not," Princess Celestia said. "This mirror is connected to another mirror, in the Stallion Universe."

"So...the purple colt in the mirror...that's me?" Twilight asked.

"In that universe, yes," Princess Celestia said. "Anypony can look into the mirror and they'll see what they look like, as a member of the opposite gender."

"Ah gotta admit, this is pretty freaky," Applejack said, looking at her male reflection. "Kinda looks like a cross between and Big Mac, 'cept with messier hair."

"Let me try! Let me try!" Pinkie Pie demanded. She jumped to the right of Applejack and started making silly faces at the mirror. Her reflection made the exact same faces, right back at her.

"This is very interesting," Twilight Sparkle said. "But how does this help us find Rainbow Dash?"

Princess Celestia laughed slightly. "Patience, my little pony," she said. "The mirror has other uses, if you know how to operate it correctly."

Princess Celestia stepped towards the mirror, her horn giving off a soft magical glow. The top of the mirror turned purple.

"Oh, Prince Solaris?" Celestia said. "Are you there?"

The ponies stepped out the way and watched in awe as Celestia's male reflection came into view. He looked identical to the Princess, except his build was more athletic, and his flowing mane was made of reddish hues. He smiled at her warmly.

"Celestia, good to see you again," he said. "And good to finally meet your Elements of Harmony."

"Prince Solaris!" Rainbow Blitz said, flying above the other ponies to get a good view. "Am I ever glad to see you!"

"The feeling is mutual, Rainbow Blitz," Solaris said. "Your friends at home have been very worried about you. I hope we can fix this situation as soon as possible."

Blitz let out a huge sigh of relief.

"I'm sure there is nothing to worry about," Princess Celestia said. "My friends have proven themselves to be very capable heroes. If anypony can save Rainbow Dash, they can."

The five mares blushed with pride and embarrassment, as Prince Solaris laughed. "I'm sure they can!" he said. "Mares are often more capable than colts give them credit for!  So, then, let's not waste any more time. Which two are coming here?"

"That would be myself and Pinkie Pie," Rarity said, stepping forward.

"Hi!" Pinkie Pie said. "I'm the pink one!"

"Excellent," Prince Solaris said. "Let us begin."

Prince Solaris and Princess Celestia began casting a magic spell at the same time. While this happened, the ponies began to load up Rarity and Pinkie Pie with some gear.

"That should be enough food to last fer a week," Applejack said. "Course, we hope it won't take you that long."

"I brought some extra bits, in case you need them for something," Fluttershy said.

"And if you ever get in any trouble, use this," Twilight said, holding up a small pouch. "It's got a TDSL inside."

"A what?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"A TDSL is...well, it's like a magic distress signal," Twilight explained. "It will allow me to locate you, no matter where you are. That way, I can bring you back to our universe, in case of an emergency."

Pinkie nodded, while Rarity looked a bit unhappy. Being a unicorn, she knew about magic, and therefore, she could see the problem with Twilight's explanation.

"Twilight, I know you're good at magic," Rarity said. "But a spell like that would be impossibly complicated."

"Er...well..." Twilight said. "There will probably be a twenty minute delay between you sending me the signal, and me bringing you back here. Much longer, if it happens while I'm sleeping or something. But hey, it's better than nothing, right?"

"Of course," Rarity said, adding the pouch to her saddlebag. "Thank you very much."

"There are three TDSLs," Twilight said. "One for both of you, and one for Rainbow Dash. Just smash it against the ground to activate it, if you think you're in danger."

"They should be safe," Rainbow Blitz said. "I can't imagine anything bad happening to them while they're under Prince Solaris' protection."

"Are you ready?" Princess Celestia asked. Her magic spell was affecting the entire mirror now, causing it to glow purple. "If you are, simply walk through this mirror to travel to the Stallion Universe."

"I'm ready!" Rarity said, sounding braver than she felt. She adjusted her saddlebags and marched through.

"Me, too!" Pinkie Pie said, bouncing after her friend. Both of them completely disappeared into the portal-mirror.

"Are you sure I can't go?" Rainbow Blitz asked. "I mean, if the mirror leads to my home—"

"The goal is not just to get you back home," Princess Celestia said. "We need to switch you with Rainbow Dash, and more importantly, we need to know how you two were switched in the first place. That way, we can ensure it will never happen again."

"I guess," Rainbow Blitz said grumpily. He folded his wings up and sat down on the ground as Celestia stopped performing her spell. The mirror quickly returned to normal.

In the Stallion Universe, Rainbow Dash glumly walked back to the booth where her friends had been. Only Dusk Shine and Bubble Berry were still there.

"Where are the others?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"They left with Applejack," Dusk Shine said. "He, um, told us what you said."

"Great," Rainbow Dash said, flopping onto the ground. "What exactly did he say?"

"That you're a crazy psycho who seduced him and made up weird stories to cover for it!" Bubble Berry said. "Just like my ex-marefriend!"

"I think you sprang the whole 'I'm from a different universe' thing on him a bit too soon," Dusk Shine said.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Rainbow Dash said. She sighed. "You two are still here, so that means you believe me, right?"

"Uh huh!" Bubble Berry said. "I already knew you were from the Mare Universe! You told me so!"

"If Prince Solaris trusts you, then so do I," Dusk Shine said. "Besides, it looks like Applejack really did a number on you."

"Yeah, I'll have to wear goggles all the time now," Rainbow Dash said, unconsciously rubbing one of her black eyes. She pulled out her Wonderbolts goggles and tried to put them on, but it hurt too much.

The PA system came to life, not much longer after that. In the main part of the amphitheater, Fireball tapped the microphone.

"Hello, can everypony hear me?" Fireball asked. "We have the results of the tryouts."

"Oh my gosh, I almost forgot!" Rainbow Dash asked. "Please tell me that I won! Please please please!"

"We would like to thank everypony for competing," Fireball said. "We'd love to accept all of you, but there isn't that much room on our staff. Therefore, we can only offer invitations to Crimson Star and Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash's recent problems were immediately forgotten. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" Rainbow Dash said. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!"

"Congratulations!" Dusk Shine said.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" Rainbow Dash said. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!"

"...I think she's broken," Bubble Berry said. He reached out a hoof and slapped Rainbow Dash across the face.

She screamed in delight. "I just passed! I'm in the Wonderbolts!"

"Not to spoil your fun, but you can't join," Dusk Shine said. "You're going home as soon as I can find the right spell."

"Who cares?" Rainbow Dash shouted. "They're the WONDERBOLTS! Nothing can ruin this day for me!"