//------------------------------//
// Oooooh.... Rainbow Dash! x3 
// Story: Three Words On Your Birthday - Anthology 
// by Duplex Fields 
//------------------------------//

"No way!" yelled Rainbow Dash, grinning from ear to ear.

Her father smiled mischievously. "Oh, wait, I read it wrong. It says, 'Dear Fluttershy, your application to Junior Speedsters Flight Camp has been accepted.' Ow!" he said, rubbing his shoulder.

Rainbow had shoved him hard. "Don't tease me, Dad!" She fluttered into the air on just her wingtips. "This is gonna be SO AMAZING! Races twice a day, and the fastest flier gets a trophy at the end!"

"Don't forget the cloudmaking, the rainbow filtering, and all the other activities they've got," her father said.

"Gimme a break. It's not like I'm gonna be a weatherpony or something lame like that," she said dismissively. "I hear they get retired Wonderbolts to run each roost. I'm gonna learn all the secrets of being a Wonderbolt, straight from the horse's mouth."

---

"Got everything packed?" called Rainbow's father.

It was the day she would fly to camp with the counselor, and her enthusiasm had only grown. Yet right now, Rainbow had only one thing on her mind. "Just a minute! I gotta find it!"

Tossing her possessions from their places, she almost wished she kept her room more organized. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a blue glint of sunlight.

Her father popped into her room just as she pulled the necklace around her neck. "I see you found it." He gazed at the rough blue gemstone dangling there, marked in white by the gentle but firm hoof of an artist, a hoof he knew well.

Rainbow smiled up at him. "She's proud of me, right dad?"

He looked at his little girl, growing up so fast, already heading off to summer camp. "She's as proud of you as anypony ever could be, Rainbow. And I'm proud of you too."

Rainbow Dash stood there for a moment, then buried her face in his chest. "Don't go anywhere, Dad. I want to show you my trophy when I get back."