The next day, Rainbow stopped by at Sugar Cube Corner for some tea and a snack.
She chatted with Pinkie for a while until she noticed the stack of news papers piled up on the counter. Her curiosity got the better of her and she picked one up and started to read. Right there on the front page was a picture of her lashing out at Rain Storm. The title of the article read: "Poor sport, Rainbow Dash, loses it after humiliating defeat."
Rainbow Dash spit out her tea and said, "Pinkie, did you see this!? The media is ruining my good reputation with lies!"
Pinkie bounced over and looked at the paper and said, "Well Dashie, if I recall correctly, I remember seeing you refuse to shake hooves with him and that picture looks like a pretty accurate description of what the title says."
Rainbow slammed both her front hooves down on the counter and said, "Why is every pony trying to ruin my reputation? It's not fair that I lost the race in the first place."
Pinkie Pie put her hoof to her chin and said, "Uhhh Dashie, it sounds like you're trying to make excuses."
"EXCUSES!?" Rainbow shot back at her. "Excuses!? Pinkie, don't tell me that you too believe the lies!"
Pinkie didn't say anything. She simply sunk low to the ground under Rainbow's hoof that was pointed accusingly at her.
"I can't believe that my own friends have betrayed me, Rainbow said. "That's it! I'm out of here!"
Rainbow Dash left Sugar Cube Corner and walked around town.
Everywhere she went she could hear ponies talking about Rain Storm and just how great he is. It made her sick to her stomach, but she was about to see something far more horrifying.
She heard a familiar laugh and hid behind a nearby tree. Out came Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom with posters in their mouths.
Rainbow Dash appeared from behind the tree and stood before them. She then hovered in the air and put her front hooves on her hips. "What are you girls up to and where is Scootaloo?"she asked.
Sweetie Belle spoke up, "We were just at the autograph signing with Rain Storm! We got ourselves his poster with his signature. It was great! Did you go too, Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow Dash almost turned red with anger and said, "NO! I didn't go. Where is Scootaloo?"
Apple Bloom looked behind a tree and called out, "C'mon Scootaloo. She won't be mad. Just come on out already."
Scootaloo nervously peeked out from behind a tree and made her way shamefully over to the others. She was holding a poster in her mouth as well.
Rainbows eyes widened. "What do you have there, Scoots? Need me to sign you an autograph?" she asked.
Scootaloo put her head down and dropped the poster at the hooves of Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow gasped in horror. It was the same poster that Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had. "Not you too, Scoots! Not my most loyal and faithful fan!" Rainbow cried out.
Scootaloo looked around nervously and said, "Hey, I'm really sorry, Rainbow Dash. You're still my hero and everything, but I really like Rain Storm too! He's a really nice pony." Scootaloo suddenly perked up. "Hey! Why don't you and Rain Storm get together and become his some pony special? You two could be the greatest team in all of Equestria!"
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom started leaping around Rainbow Dash in circles and chanting, "Rainbow Dash has some pony special, Rainbow Dash has some pony special!"
Rainbow Dash became sick to her stomach at the thought of having a relationship with some pony who was a better athlete than her. She put her front hooves to her ears and yelled out "ENOUGH! I'm not going to be his special some pony ever! I'm going to become the best racer again and beat him. I am better than him. He just got lucky, that's all. I am disappointed in all of you. Especially you, Scoots. I thought you were my number one fan. It hurts me a lot to see that you don't cheer for me anymore."
Scootaloo looked like she was going to cry. "But Rainbow Dash, I still cheer for you. I cheer for both of you now. You're still my hero!" Scootaloo tried to wrap her front legs around Rainbow Dash's body, but Rainbow knocked her hooves away and glared down at her with anger.
"I'm sorry Scootaloo, but you can't root for both of us. It's either me or him. Make your choice," Rainbow demanded
Scootaloo's lip began to quiver. She didn't say anything, she ran away crying.
The other girl's looked at Rainbow with shock. Sweetie Belle spoke angrily, "Hey! Way to go Rainbow Dash! What a mean thing to do to our friend. Scootaloo really looks up to you. You're her hero and you treat her like that? Well guess what? We're done rooting for you! From now on, Rain Storm is our new hero and we are going to cheer for him only!"
"Yeah!" Apple Bloom added. "We ain't gonna root for a poor sport who can’t even treat her fans right. We're gonna get rid of all your posters in our tree house and replace them with Rain Storm's pictures. Ya hear? Come on Sweetie Belle, let's go comfort Scootaloo."
"WAIT!" Rainbow called out, but it was too late. They already started running. Rainbow held her hoof to her heart and said to herself, "I can't believe they are going to replace me with Rain Storm. What have I done? I'm a monster." A tear streamed down Rainbow's face. Rainbow knew what she had to do. She flew on over to their tree house and was shocked to see her very special pictures of herself ripped up and thrown out the window into the grass outside their club house. She peered into the window and saw that her posters had been replaced with Rain Storm posters.
Rainbow Dash knocked on the side of the house. "Uh girls, listen I'm really sorry about what I said to you all. I'm just under a lot of stress right now and things haven't been going my way. Do you mind if I come in?" She could see Scootaloo hunched over and was sobbing.
"Go away!" Scootaloo screamed as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "You're not my hero anymore and I don't even like you. You're not allowed to come to our club house anymore. You'd better get lost before we tell Applejack that you're bothering us. I don't love you anymore, Rainbow! Go away!"
Rainbow's heart sunk deep into her chest. She thought about Rain Storm. Her emotions went from sad to anger and she lashed out at them. "I don't need fans like you who can't even stay loyal to me. I'll find some pony else to cheer for me. You root for your Rain Storm, but don't be sad when he gets decimated tomorrow afternoon in the next race."
The three girls yelled out in unison, "GET OUT!"
Rainbow Dash frowned and left the club house. Her heart was bitter and filled with jealously and anger.
Rainbow Dash practiced her workout flight routine for the rest of the day, to get all that aggression out of her system.
Hours had past and it was now night time.
She paced back and forth in her home. She was full of anxiety and was worried about the next day. She suddenly heard a knock at her door. She had no idea who it could be at this hour. She walked over to the door and opened it. It was dark outside and she couldn't recognize who was standing there.
"Hey Rainbow, it's me, mind if I come in for a talk with you?" The voice was very familiar.
"Rain Storm, is that you?" she asked.
"Yeah, it's me. Sorry it's so late, I had to come out at night so the crowds wouldn't bother me. Can I please come in for a while?"
Rainbow Dash's cheeks puffed up in anger. "No! You can't come in. I'm really busy and getting ready for bed soon," she lied. "What do you want anyway?"
Rain Storm sighed and said, "Look, I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry if I came off the wrong way towards you after the race. I wasn't trying to be mean and rub the loss into your face. I was only trying to be friends with you. Would you like to be flight partners and practice before tomorrow’s race?"
Rainbow Dash fumed. "Oh, you came all the way out here to try to get right with me after you made me look like a fool in front of so many other ponies, and you want to be my practice buddy after you humiliated me in front of my very own fans?" NO THANKS! You just wait until tomorrow. I'm going to beat you fair and square. We're going to see how you like it."
Rain Storm fumbled for words. "But Rainbow Dash, please just listen! I just wanted to tell you one more thing. I really want to be your...."
Rainbow interrupted him and said, "I don't care what you want. You're not getting anything from me after how you treated me out there. Don't bother coming back to my house again either. I don't know how you found out where I live, but if I catch you around here again, we're going to have trouble. Good bye."
"But Rainbow, Listen...." Rain Storm said.
Rainbow lashed out and screamed, "I SAID GOODBYE!" Rainbow slammed the door in his face.
Rain Storm put his head down and flew back to where he was staying for the night. He felt defeated and didn't even get the chance to tell her what he really wanted to say.
It took a while for Rainbow to fall asleep that night. She tossed and turned in her bed for a while. She grinded her teeth in agony and closed her eyes shut tight. Deep down inside, there was a hurt and regret in her heart, but she did everything she could to ignore it. Eventually she did fall asleep, but much later than she had hoped for.