It was the night before Rainbow's first show, the Wonderbolts Derby. It was going to be her first performance as a member of the Wonderbolts, so she was understandably nervous. 'Will I be good enough?' was the question she kept asking over and over again. 'Of course you will, Dashie,' was Soarin's answer to that question every time. He didn't mind how many times she asked that question.
Rainbow and Soarin went to the dining room for dinner that night. They sat down at their usual seats. This night proved to be a little different from any other night, however. Spitfire clanged her cup with her spoon to inform everypony that she had a few announcements to make. "Everypony, I have a few announcements to make before the meal comes out. I am happy to say that Rainbow Dash will take part in the Wonderbolts Derby tomorrow, which will be her first show as a member of our team. Who knows, maybe she'll even win it!"
Rainbow smiled while looking at the others. Spitfire seemed to have accepted Rainbow as a valuable member of this team, which was a relief after the day that Rainbow overheard Spitfire and Soarin talking. As of now, everything seemed to be good in her life.
"I also have one more important announcement," Spitfire said firmly. Everypony at the table looked at Spitfire more intently, ready to listen. She continued, "There have been talks between the kingdoms of Equestria and Saddle Arabia over goods and trade. Saddle Arabia has an abundance of goods that can be very useful for Equestria, but they are so far unwilling to negotiate anything at the moment. As of now things are not too heated, though. If Saddle Arabia is unwilling to negotiate, then the Equestrian forces may go into Saddle Arabia to fight for what we need. If we get into a war, we as the Wonderbolts will have to join the Equestrian Royal Army. Hopefully things will be settled before then, but I thought it was necessary to give you warning now. Okay, now let's eat!"
"Soarin, I was never informed that as a Wonderbolt I would have to fight in the army," Rainbow whispered to her coltfriend as the food was being served.
"Well, it's mandatory for all Wonderbolts to fight for their kingdom in the event of a war because we are the best fliers in Equestria. We are also role models so we need to take the lead. But it hasn't happened as long as I've been here," Soarin replied. He then reassured her, "I doubt anything will happen, though. Princess Celestia and Luna will be able to negotiate something before war would ever be needed."
"I really hope you're right," Rainbow said while looking down at her plate of food, which was mashed potatoes, salad, and cooked carrots. She hardly ate at all. She just sat there with a knot in her stomach. Between her first show being the next day and with new talks of war, she just couldn't handle her nerves at this point. She had to leave her dinner there and go back to her room.
Soarin came by after he had eaten his dinner to comfort Rainbow. She was lying down on the couch with her chin on her front hooves. She was too nervous to even look up at Soarin as he walked in the door. "Dashie, is everything okay?" he asked her.
"Soarin, I feel sick," she said while finally turning to look at him. She had only turned her head towards him, but still remained in the same position. "I am scared about my show tomorrow. What if I suck? And I don't want to be a Wonderbolt if it means I have to fight other ponies simply because they are from another kingdom. I don't want to be a soldier."
Soarin put his hoof on her head and stroked her mane a few times. Her hair felt soft and healthy as he ran his hoof through it. He said to comfort her, "Dashie, you need to take one day at a time. Tomorrow will be your first show, and it will come when it comes. War may or may not happen, but we can't change anything right now. You'll just have to face everything as it comes. You were able to face every challenge with your friends back in Ponyville. Now what you need to do is imitate the qualities you showed then to everything that will come your way in the future. I believe in you."
Soarin's words had a profound effect on Rainbow. She had nothing really to say in reply. All she could say was, "Thanks, you've made me feel a little better, I guess." The two of them sat together on the couch. Rainbow stayed in the same position while Soarin just sat beside her for comfort. Eventually they both fell asleep on the couch in the grasp of each other.
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"Fillies and gentlecolts, the Wonderbolts Derby will begin in a few minutes," the announcer said to the many fans at the racetrack in Canterlot. The stands were completely full. Rainbow Dash was in her uniform and readying herself for the big race. She slowly flew around the course to get herself used to the track. She looked up at the many fans in the crowd; a sight that she would have to get used to. She could see many rich ponies in the crowd, but a few ponies in particular stood out. She took a closer look at the ponies who were sitting in the last row of the stands. Rainbow could not help but smile as she realised that those ponies were actually her five friends from Ponyville. She immediately flew up to greet them. "Hey guys! I can't believe you actually came to see my first show," she said excitedly to her friends.
"We wouldn't miss it for the world, darling," Rarity assured her Wonderbolt friend.
"We are all so excited for you," Twilight said.
"Sugarcube, you are going to be great," Applejack said with certainty.
"I will be cheering for you the whole time," Fluttershy informed her.
"You are going to be super-duper today," Pinkie Pie said while jumping up and down in place.
Rainbow's smile grew even larger thanks to the kind words from her beat friends. "Thanks guys. I'm going to try my best. I can't promise that I'll win, but I will try my best to put on the best show I can."
"Participants, please make your way to the starting positions," the announcer said over the loudspeaker.
"Well, that's my queue. Wish me luck," Rainbow said while leaving for the field. Her five friends watched as Rainbow went down to the track. They all smiled as they saw her go up to Soarin and give him a kiss on the cheek just before she got in her starting position. That was their first time seeing her and Soarin together.
The contestants all readied themselves at their starting positions. They all lined up with their bodies leaning forward and put on their goggles. The announcer readied them, "On your marks... get set... go!"
The race was on. Rainbow shot like a bullet and went straight into first place. She veered the corners aggressively, but this gave her a sizable lead over second place Spitfire. She made her turns with great speed as the laps went on and on. Reaching the final lap, she was a good five seconds ahead of the competition. She looked over to the stands to see and hear the roar of the crowd. Her five friends were cheering loudly for her, and Fluttershy was making the most noise of all of them. "You can do it! Woooooo!" Fluttershy yelled at the top of her lungs. Rainbow grinned proudly as her mane was blowing back hard from her high speeds. She loved the noise that the crowd made. It felt amazing. She could hear the fans chanting her name as she made her way to the final turn. The noise from the crowd spurred her on. She decided to finish the race at her fastest speed.
She loved the attention from the fans, but that proved to be her downfall. She reached her fastest speed of the whole race on the final turn. She realised that she was going too fast to make the turn safely. She tried her best to pull back on her speed. She groaned as she struggled to do so, but it was too late. The high speed made her miss the turn and he ended up flying hard into the advertisements on the sidelines, just under the bleachers. A large amount of feathers from her wings came off of her like an explosion. The fans all let out a collective gasp as they saw how hard she had hit the wall. Spitfire won the race, but nopony cared as they were too concerned about the possibly injured pegasus.
Soarin was the first to come over to the hurt mare. Rainbow's friends just stood up and watched silently. They were too nervous to say anything.
"Are you okay Dashie?" Soarin asked with genuine concern as he picked her up in his hooves. He held her in his front hooves as he hovered in place. She had cuts on her front and back legs and a bad bump on her head. She was also missing a number of feathers, and didn't open her eyes for a few agonizing seconds that felt like minutes.
"Dashie, please say something," he begged as the mare in his hooves just laid there, motionless. Soarin let out a tear that ended up falling on Rainbow's cheek. The drop from her stallion's eyes made her open her own, though very slowly. "Dashie... Please... Please say something. Please tell me you're okay," Soarin pleaded.
"I... I'm an idiot," was what came out of the hurt mare's mouth.
"It's okay Rainbow," Soarin reassured while leaning over to the mare in his hooves. "It's your first crash as a Wonderbolt. We all fall many times. It's how you pick yourself up that matters most."
Soarin took Rainbow into the locker room and laid her down on the soft, padded bench on the side. She laid there for a few minutes with her eyes closed. She was breathing slowly and didn't say much.
After a few seconds she opened her eyes and said to Soarin, "I can't believe on my first day I failed. I was too focused on winning and pleasing the crowd to care for my safety. I'm just a failure. I'm not cut out for being a Wonderbolt."
Soarin tried his best to make her feel better, but also wanted to be honest. He told her, "Dashie, you fell during your first show. It's okay. Even the best of us fall at times. You just need to bounce back. The crowd loved you, which is great! All you need to do is actually slow down and be a little safer."
Spitfire then came in to see how Rainbow was doing. "Hey kid, you all right? That was some hit you had. You were doing so well too."
Rainbow was able to slowly lift herself up from the bench so that she could sit upright. Soarin remained sitting down while she responded to Spitfire, "I think so. I have a few cuts and I'm really sore, but I don't think a broke anything."
Spitfire had a sigh of relief, and then said, "That's good, that's very good. You did really well for your first try. You had the crowd cheering solely for you, which is very promising . Your next show will be your first organised show. It's in Ponyville in two weeks. Hopefully you'll recover fully by then." Spitfire then left the room to go sign autographs for the many foals that were in attendance.
Rainbow had a smile on her face. Even though Cloudsdale was where she currently lived and was born, Ponyville was her home. She could perform in front of all the residents, who were like family to her. And speaking of family, Rainbow's five friends were allowed access into the locker room to see if she was hurt after her massive crash. They all came over to greet her and gave her a hug individually.
"Thanks so much for coming out to support me, guys. This was such a huge surprise," Rainbow said as they approached. She then looked down in embarrassment and continued, "I'm just so sorry that I failed. I hope you aren't mad at me."
"That was awesome!" Pinkie Pie shouted out. "You went sooooo fast! And then you hit the wall and BOOM!"
Rainbow let out a chuckle at the excited reaction of her pink friend. Applejack came by and gave Rainbow a pat on the shoulder and told her, "We are all mighty proud of you. You would have won if you didn't crash on the final turn. You are going to be a great Wonderbolt, sugarcube. Don't worry about falling. What's important is that you get up and keep trying."
"How are you feeling, Rainbow? You must be sore after hitting the wall very hard," Twilight asked in concern.
"Yeah, I did hit pretty hard," the blue pegasus replied. "But I'm tough. I'm just a little sore and I've got a few scratches, but I'll soldier on."
"When are you going to come visit us in Ponyville?" Fluttershy asked.
Rainbow's smile grew even larger as she informed her Ponyville friends, "In two weeks actually. I have a show in Ponyville! I'm going to be performing for you guys."
Her five friends all showed their excitement. Pinkie was bouncing up and down while the others were grinning with joy. Rarity then wanted to change the subject when she looked over to the bench to see Soarin, who was still sitting down. He was watching them converse the whole time. "And who is this fine hunk of a stallion?" she asked while walking over to Soarin.
"Hi, I'm Soarin," is all he said while getting up to shake Rarity's hoof.
"Oh yes, we have heard all about you," Rarity said while smiling at Soarin. "Rainbow told us all in a letter she sent. You seem to be quite the gentlecolt."
Soarin let out a short laugh and said, "Oh no, I'm no gentlecolt. Rainbow has really changed me. She's made me a happier and better pony."
Rarity walked over to Rainbow to tease her, saying, "Oh, he's gorgeous and charming! You have gotten quite the catch, Rainbow."
Rainbow blushed. "O, stop it, you," she said while waving her hoof through the air.
Rainbow and her friends spent the next hour or so catching up on everything that happened since she left Ponyville. Some of those things involved Pinkie re-enacting the time she fell on her face, as well as Fluttershy explaining how she gave Angel a makeover. Rainbow was enjoying her time with her friends, and it made her completely forget about losing the race. It also seemed to make her feel better all around.
Soarin, realizing that it was already almost time for the sunset, went over to interrupt the 'deep' conversation that Rainbow was having with her friends. “And then I got a piece of hay stuck in my teeth for three days,” Pinkie Pie was excitedly explaining to Rainbow.
“Why didn't you just floss it out?” Rainbow asked to her excited friend. She didn't get the answer, however, since Soarin then tapped her on the shoulder.
“I’m really sorry to interrupt you ladies, but Rainbow, we really must get going,” he said.
Rainbow looked back at him and then to the window to see that it was going to get dark soon. She didn’t know why he wanted her to leave at this time, but she went along with it. “Okay, sweetie,” she responded. She turned to her friends and said, “I’m sorry that we have to leave now, I was enjoying my time with you so much. I’ll see you guys in a few weeks though!”
Rainbow and her five friends engaged in yet another group hug. They seemed to do that quite frequently since she received the news that she was leaving Ponyville. The group hugs probably made up for all the individual hugs she would have received on a daily basis.
The six friends said their goodbyes and parted once again. The five Ponyville friends went to their train to go home. Rainbow and Soarin went outside to the main streets of Canterlot. “Where are you taking me, dear?” Rainbow asked her coltfriend.
“There is just something I want to show you, trust me. We’re going to go back to our special place,” Soarin replied. Rainbow knew exactly where that was- Violet Hill.
Soarin took Rainbow back to Violet Hill- the place where they fell in love. The two flew side by side as they made their way over. Upon landing, Rainbow could finally see the true beauty that place. The sun was setting. Rainbow and Soarin went to their tree to rest underneath it. The tree was in full bloom with beautiful pink leaves and flowers. The wind would cause little pink pieces to fall off and dance around in the air as they fell to the ground. The fields around them were exactly as Soarin described. They were filled with the beautiful violet flowers that made him love this place. But this time, it wasn’t the beauty of the place that made Soarin come back; it was having somepony to share it with.
Rainbow and Soarin cuddled while looking at the beautiful sights. The sun was large on the horizon and the sky was beautiful, with many different shades of colour. Butterflies, birds, and other bugs were all around enjoying the beauty.
"This is beautiful," Rainbow said to the stallion cuddling with her.
"It sure is Rainbow, just like you," he replied. He looked at her to see her smiling at his complement. The two of them sat together for quite a bit of time while looking at the lovely sights.
Rainbow had many things on her mind at this time. The sun was just about to disappear over the horizon. She decided to bring up the possibility of war happening. "Soarin, what if there is a war? What should I do? What is going to happen to us?" she asked him.
"Dashie, you should do whatever you feel is right," he replied. "If you don't want to fight, you don't have to. I doubt you will be allowed to stay as a Wonderbolt if you choose not to fight, though. It's a part of the job. We are heroes for many ponies, and we need to support the kingdom when it needs us the most."
"But Soarin, it's so stupid if war is started over something as small as not being able to negotiate trading. I don't think it's right to go kill other ponies for that," Rainbow said.
"I totally agree with you, Dashie. War is a horrible thing. It destroys the lives of everpony involved. I would only fight for Equestria to protect it, and everything in it. If you choose not to go, I will fully support you." Those words were comforting to Rainbow.
The two of them watched the sunset together. They stayed even after night had fallen. The stars were beautiful on this night. There were too many to even count. Rainbow had many worries on her mind, but she knew that she could overcome them with the help of Soarin. Being there with Soarin made everything seem manageable to her. She didn't even have her earlier accident on her mind. The two of them were able to fall asleep in the grasp of each other out on that hill.