As the days progressed, Rainbow continued to train under the watchful eye of her companion. She worked hard each day and was beginning to build her confidence back up, unfortunately that also started to make her attitude quite cocky again.
The time had now come and she stood there on a cloud next to her opponent. She examined her from head to hoof. Her coat was purple and her mane was a deep blue. She also had a shooting star as her cutie mark. She turned her head and looked over to the stands. She looked at Soarin' and he gave her a playful wink. She turned her head back to where there was a pegasus holding a checkered flag. A whistle blew signaling for both competitors to get into position. They both crouched low and flared their wings out. The pegasus pony waved the flag and they were both off.
They each followed through clouds that were shaped into a ring. The rings in the sky acted as markers for them to follow through. Through the course they went, twisting, turning, rising and falling. Rainbow had done a fairly decent job at keeping up with the purple mare, but she had always found herself lagging behind just a bit. This course was painfully long and they had to do three laps. Rainbow Dash made a quick pass on the second lap, but it didn't last long. In fact, she regretted expending that much energy just to do so. She had to slow down again and her opponent zipped by her. The third lap had come and this was it. At this point her wings were becoming weaker and her lungs burned inside. They were almost near the end and her confidence was falling faster by the second. She grinded her teeth together and gave it all she had, but it was no use. Her opponent was so much farther ahead of her. She watched her opponent pass the finish line with a look of horror on her face. Her heart was crushed inside and her dreams were shattered.
She flew across the finish line and fell on the cloud. She was completely out of breath and her wings were in so much pain. She couldn't even tuck them back under her they hurt so much.
Her opponent on the other hoof stood next to her with perfect posture. She was breathing calmly and stood there with a confident look on her face.
Rainbow was simply devestated. She had failed again, and this was her last attempt at trying. Her dreams were crushed right before her eyes. She waited for the officials to come and announce the winner, but they were busy discussing something. Eventually one of them came out and announced that Rainbow Dash was the winner. Rainbow and her competitor trotted over with confused looks on their faces. The officials explained that her competitor missed one of the markers resulting in a ten second penalty. Rainbow couldn't believe it! She knew deep down inside that her opponent was way better than her, but joy and pride took over her and she resorted back to her filly-like excitement. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh," she said as fast as she could. "I'm a Wonderbolt!"
During Rainbow's own personal celebration, the purple mare was busy arguing over the harshness of the penalty.
Soarin' flew over and embraced Rainbow with a hug. "Congratulations Rainbow! You did it! I'm so proud of you" Soarin' said as he rubbed his cheek against her sweaty mane.
She broke free and was nearly bouncing with excitement. "So when do I start?" she asked him.
"Oh, they will probably start you within a few days," he said with a rather depressing tone.
Rainbow Dash picked up on the tone of his voice and asked, "What's that matter Soarin'? Aren't you happy that I finally made it?"
Soarin' did smile a bit and said, "Yes Dash, I really am happy for you, but I'm going to really miss you so much while you're gone. Will you promise to write to me while you're away?"
Rainbow Dash nodded her head yes and said, "Of course I'll keep in touch. Don't worry about it! I've got to go tell all my friends the good news." Rainbow struggled to flare her wings out.
Soarin' stopped her and said, "Wait, Rainbow. Are you too tired to fly? Would you like me to take you there? You can introduce me to your friends."
Rainbow couldn't bear the thought of her friends finding out that she had a some pony special. Her pride flared and she said, "Nah, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. I'll catch you later."
Rainbow took off from the clouds and flew over to Twilights library. She was struggling to keep herself airborne. She was almost there, but she needed to rest a bit. She looked for a cloud to land on, but there were none. She lost all strength in her wings and she plummeted to the ground.
CRASH! Rainbow fell through Twilights library and collided with a book shelf. She popped her head out from a pile of books. "Twilight! Twilight!" She called out as she looked around the room for her friend, but she was not there.
Spike came downstairs to see what all the noise was about. "Hey Rainbow! I see you've made a mess for me to clean up again."
Rainbow flew over to the dragon and picked him up in the air. "Oh! Spike, I won the race! I'm in now! I'm officially a Wonderbolt!" She then accidently dropped Spike onto the floor in celebration.
Spike picked himself up and said, "Hey! That's great Rainbow, but does this mean we’re not going to see you again?"
Rainbow put her hoof proudly to her chest and said, "I might not be around in Ponyville, but you all can still keep in touch with me by mail."
Spike had an unsure look on his face. "Uh, if you're really sure that this is what you want in life, then I'm happy for you, but we are going to miss you."
Rainbow rushed over to the door and yelled out, "I've got to go now! Make sure to tell Twi and all the other girls that I made it! See ya!" Rainbow Dash zipped out the door leaving Spike rather stunned.
Spike waved his claw slowly and said, "Good bye Rainbow. We'll miss you."