//------------------------------// // 1. The Big Day // Story: Cheated Dreams // by Kodeake //------------------------------// Cheated Dreams Chapter One The Big Day Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Rainbow Dash once again leveled off high in the sky. The bright blue endlessness of the sea above her seemed motionless, but the ground whizzing by below and the wind blowing in her ears told her all she needed to know; she was going fast. She knew how fast she was truly going when she started to see the mach-cone form around her, signifying that she was approaching the sound barrier. This was it; the final stunt of her routine. So far her entire plan had gone off without a hitch, but she knew her entire performance – and possibly her entire career – hinged on this single stunt. Another breath later and the air was pressing against her, fighting to slow her down, to keep her from achieving mach speed. She angled her head down as much as she could, just barely enough to see the silver lightning bolt necklace that hung around her neck, pressed firm against her chest by the biting wind. She smiled, feeling herself break through the air, not even having to look back to know she'd done it. But the Sonic Rainboom wasn't the only part. No, that would make her a one trick pony, and she was anything but. Screaming through the sky at nearly twice the speed of sound, she started banking back around to the arena she had originally started in, the same arena where her closest friends were waiting with bated breath. The very same arena where nine official representatives from the Wonderbolts sat, silently judging her every move. Once she was closer to the arena and easier to see, she launched into the high-speed portion of her routine, flying through some of her most difficult stunts at her top speed. The sound of her Rainboom had yet to catch up with her. Coming out of an extremely high-speed Buccaneer Blaze, she finally heard the thunderous explosion of the sound barrier being shattered behind her, along with the visible light spectrum. Her idle smile shifted back into a determined glare as she pulled up, directly above the center of the arena. She few straight up, but did not slow down. Her wings burned and her entire being ached from the intense amount of force it had been put under, but still she pushed forward, flapping her wings harder and faster as she soared high into the sky. Once she was mile above the cloud city of Cloudsdale, she allowed herself to slow down, eventually coming to a stop. She gave herself only a second of rest, however, before she began rocketing back down to the ground, following the dimming Rainbow trail she had left on her way up. The air was rough and the currents were still unpredictable from her previous pass, but she pushed through the turbulence, her expertly trained wings keeping her straight as an arrow as she plummeted back down. Once the arena below her was more defined than a blurry dot below her, she once again pushed herself forward, feeling the now-familiar feeling of air pushing against her. Another second later and she was once again free of the resistance. As soon as she was sure she had done it, she pulled up, flying to the edge of the expanding explosion. If the air on the way down was rough, then the air around the Rainboom a jagged cliff face. She was constantly making adjustments, trying desperately to keep herself stable and not be blown off course by a stray wind left in the wake of her light-shattering stunt. She leveled off on the outer edge of the ring of colour, beginning to fly around it in circles, like she would if she were forming a tornado. The ring of colour stopped expanding, slowing beginning to spin, trailing behind her as she continued to circle it. Eventually, it was spinning at a good speed and remaining at a constant diameter, the outward force having been redirected to a centrifugal motion. She flew away from it, slowing down and turning to watch her handiwork. The spinning pinwheel of colour once again began rapidly expanding, though it continued spinning, arms of light reaching out and curling around like a spiral galaxy. In fact, that's exactly what it was meant to look like, the colourful light flashing on the ground as it continued to spin like a strobe light. Rainbow looked down, seeing and hearing her friends cheer for her. She looked over to the judges table, where the Wonderbolts sat along with their managers, ready to scrutinize her every move, and grinned upon seeing their dumbstruck faces. One of them even had their jaw hanging open, before realizing it and promptly closing it, scribbling on the clipboard in his hooves. She flew down to the arena slowly, looking back every now and then as her Rainboom Galaxy faded in the wind. The cheers of her friend became more defined as she came closer. “That was amazing!” “I ain’t never seen anythin' like it.” “Simply gorgeous.” “The colours were so pretty!” “I knew she could do it.” “Thank you for your amazing performance, Miss Dash,” Spitfire's voice rang out, snapping Rainbow back to attention as she landed in front of the panel of judges. “As you know, all the graduates from the Academy were competing in this contest. We will announce the victor in one week. All the contestants will be sent a letter informing them of their loss, or of their success.” With those final words she stood, the other judges following, and made her way out of the arena, Dash having been the final contestant for the day. Her friends all jumped out of their seats, running over to her and wrapping her in a surprising, but welcome, group hug. “Heh... thanks guys.” Rainbow blushed, returning the hug awkwardly for a couple seconds before the group pulled away. For a moment there was silence, before suddenly everypony started talking at once. Everypony had questions for her, everypony wanted to know something straight from her mouth. The noise was horrendous as she struggled to hear each request clearly. Rainbow folded her ears back over her head, trying to block out the loud shouts as her friends all tried to talk over one another. Finally, Twilight rolled her eyes and reached out with her magic, clamping everypony's muzzles shut before speaking. “I'm sure we all have questions, but it can wait until the balloon ride home. Our cloud walking spells are going to run out soon and I can't reapply the enchantment without removing it first.” For a moment they were silent, realizing what exactly Twilight had said, before quickly scurrying out of the arena and towards the safety of the balloon, falling through the clouds suddenly becoming a very real possibility. Twilight covered her mouth, giggling into her hoof as she watched her friends all rush for the promise of something solid to stand on. “Didn't you say those cloud walking spells lasted until you touch the ground again?” Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow as Twilight regained her composure and lowered her hoof. “Yep,” she answered happily. Rainbow chuckled, shaking her head in disbelief. “You never fail to impress me, Twi.” “I aim to please,” Twilight laughed, starting to walk towards the exit doors of the arena and the balloon where all her friends would be hiding. Though she was a little surprised Fluttershy had gone with them without any form of further prompting. After all, it's not like she had to worry about falling through the clouds. She wasn't going to complain, though. Shaking off the thought, she turned and motioned for her friend to follow her. Rainbow caught up to her quickly before looking down and tapping her necklace with a hoof. “Thanks for this, by the way,” she said quietly, keeping pace with Twilight as they exited the large cloud structure. “It was no problem, Rainbow,” Twilight smiled back, “I'm just glad I could help.” “I know, but... still; thanks,” Rainbow said, letting the necklace fall back against her chest as she looked forward, getting a faraway look in her eyes as she continued to follow Twilight towards her balloon. “Hey Twi... can I tell you... something?” Rainbow started awkwardly, clutching a cup of tea between her hooves nervously as she sat at the kitchen table of Twilight's library home. Normally she wouldn't drink tea or anything so... uncool, but her current situation called for something calming. And it was the only thing Twilight had on-hoof at such short notice. “Considering you came to the library at,” Twilight paused, looking up to the clock hanging above the table as she sat across from Rainbow, “one in the morning, I figured you were going to tell me something.” “Right,” Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck, chuckling nervously as Twilight continued to give her a deadpan stare. “Well, you know how the Wonderbolts tryouts are in a week right?” Twilight nodded slowly, “Yeah; you've been talking about nothing else for the past month. How could I forget?” Twilight laughed weakly, trying to ease the nervous tension clearly audible in Rainbow's voice. It did little to help as the pegasus continued hesitantly. “Well... I'm...” Rainbow trailed off, unsure of how exactly to phrase what she wanted to say. In truth, normally she wouldn't say anything at all, and indeed part of her still wanted to keep this quiet. But over the past weeks it had been growing inside of her to the point that she couldn’t bare it on her own anymore. She needed help, and she knew there was one pony always willing to help a friend, no matter when or with what. Of course, it helped that she and Twilight had been growing closer over the past couple weeks, to the point where it was not uncommon for Twilight to lend the occasional magical hoof with Rainbow's flight training. In fact, Rainbow was on the verge of calling Twilight the closest of all her friends, but there was still some debate within her mind. But of all her friends Twilight definitely had the tendency to be the most understanding - barring only Fluttershy - and Rainbow did not want to wake up Fluttershy at one in the morning. So it was left to Twilight to help her. “I'm worried,” she admitted finally, eyes glued to the translucent drink in her mug, still relatively untouched as she sat quietly. Out of the top of her vision she could see Twilight's eyes widen slightly in surprise before going back to normally just as quickly. “Worried?” Twilight asked uncertainly. “It's only natural; even for you. I mean, this is your dream; I can understand being worried about it. But you just need to remember that you can do it; we all know you can.” Twilight assured with a confident smile. Rainbow tried to return it, but found herself unable, knowing she had more to come clean about. “It... it's more than that,” she started again, making Twilight raise an eyebrow at her as she continued to fiddle with her cup of tea. “Well then what is it?” She questioned curiously, and some what worriedly, as Rainbow idly swirled the rapidly cooling liquid. She took a gentle sip, recoiling slightly at the bitter taste, before clearing her throat. “Remember the Best Young Flier competition?” Rainbow asked, trying to make her point clear without actually saying it. “Of course! You were amazing,” Twilight smiled enthusiastically, “but what does that have to do with anything?” “Yeah, I was, but do you remember what I was like right before the competition?” She asked slowly, still trying to get Twilight to come to the conclusion she wanted without having to say anything more. Unfortunately, it didn't appear to be working. “I remember you being pretty nervous,” Twilight nodded, rubbing her chin in thought as she thought back to the competition nearly two years ago. “But it seemed to go away once we were all up there with you.” “Go away?” Rainbow asked incredulously. “That was 'going away' to you!? Twilight, I... oh, right...” Rainbow trailed off, remembering that she had done her best to hide her nerves from her friends. Apparently it had worked better than she'd thought. Twilight, meanwhile, was concerned; what had she said to make Rainbow lash out like that? “Yes?” She answered timidly, unsure what Rainbow was getting at. “Twi I... Backstage before the performance I... I was terrified,” Rainbow finished quietly, voice barely above a whisper, looking down shamefully into her mug as she remembered one of her least favourable moments. Unfortunately, it wasn't far enough above a whisper. “What was that?” Twilight asked curiously, leaning in closer over the table. Rainbow sighed in frustration as she tried to once again gather the courage she needed. “I... before I went out with Rarity I was... terrified. I was so sure I'd screw up that I very nearly flew out of the arena. I was last because I kept switching places with the other contestants. I was positive that I couldn't do it.” She spoke it all so quickly that she was done before she even realized it, and when she did she clenched her eyes shut. Unsure of the reaction she'd get. What would Twilight think of her now? The cool, calm and collected pegasus that she was - and was supposed to be - admitting to being scared about one single performance? She'd probably be laughed out of the library. She'd have to go to the contest all alone because nopony would believe that she was actually scared to do it. She- was Twilight hugging her? In the time that Rainbow had been worry about how Twilight would react with her eyes closed, the unicorn had stood from her seat, made her way around the table, and wrapped Rainbow in an embrace that was not unwanted by the pegasus. Rainbow allowed herself to relax into the arms of her friend, letting her fear drain out through the hug. What was she so worried about? Twilight laughing at her for being scared of something? She knew Twilight better than that. She even felt a slight twinge of guilt for even thinking her friend would be anything but understanding. “I had no idea! Rainbow, I'm so sorry! I should have seen it; I should have done more to help you,” Twilight whispered quietly, tightening her grip on her rainbow maned friend that she had, in her mind, neglected. Rainbow was caught off guard by the sudden apology, never having considered the possibility that Twilight would have blamed herself for anything that had happened. “It's not you fault, I should have told somepony. But that's over, and I'm telling you now; I'm scared of the contest.” For some reason it was a lot easier to admit it in the warm embrace of a close friend. Twilight pulled back, smiling gently. “Wait here,” she said, before rushing out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her bedroom. Rainbow had only a moment to ponder what she was doing before Twilight came rushing back down the stairs, a small box held aloft in her magic. “What's this?” Rainbow asked curiously as Twilight placed the box down on the tabletop in front of her. It was a small, square box, the kind jewelry normally came in. After taking a second to steady her breathing after running up and down the stairs Twilight said “I was originally going to give this to you before the tryouts, but I think you could use it now,” Twilight smiled, moving the box a little closer to Rainbow. “For good luck.” With a hesitant hoof Rainbow reached out and flipped the lid over, eyes widening as she saw a shimmering silver lightning bolt on a shining chain of a slightly darker grey. “We all know you can do it, Dash. This is just a way for you to remember that,” Twilight smiled widely as Rainbow picked up the piece of jewelry. Normally she wasn't one for anything so girly, but this was... cool. After all; it had come from her best friend. How could she not like it? She carefully slid it over her head, watching as it came to rest against her chest, the silver shining brightly against her cyan coat. “I can do it...” Rainbow shook her head, banishing the memory back to the depths of her mind as she and Twilight walked up to the balloon where the rest of their friends waited, hiding in the basket and looking at the clouds below them mistrustfully. All except Fluttershy, who stood beside the basket anxiously, as if expecting to fall through the cloud at any moment. “Alright girls, let's head home,” Twilight announced proudly, climbing into the basket and lighting her horn, creating a pocket of heat that rose and rapidly filled the balloon. Soon it lifted them off the cloud platform and into the open sky. Applejack sank below the edge of the basket, trying to ignore the dizzying height, while the rest of their friends eagerly pressed up to the edge, talking excitedly with Rainbow Dash as she flew next to the balloon, Fluttershy trailing just behind her.