If there was ever a better day for Rainbow Dash, she wouldn't know what was.
Her throat became tight as she walked up the small steps to the stage. She glanced at the audience; everypony was there for her, smiling with pride. Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and her parents along with other Wonderbolt friends watched as Rainbow Dash trotted to the centre of the stage. There waiting for her was the captain of the Wonderbolt team, Spitfire.
I did it.
I finally made it into the Wonderbolts!
The sun shone brightly on the day of the ceremony at the main square of Rainbow Dash's hometown, Cloudsdale. Reporters were there to cover the story of the newest addition to the Wonderbolt team. Not only that, it was reported that she had made it into the main team! With her hard work and determination, it was no wonder she was given this once in a lifetime opportunity.
She squealed inside with excitement as she finally came face to face with the Wonderbolt Captain. Spitfire looked long and hard into Rainbow Dash' eyes, almost like she was testing the new pony. Rainbow was waiting for this moment ever since she was a small filly. Beside them facing the audience was a podium with a microphone. Spitfire turned to the stand and spoke into the microphone.
"Hello, everypony. This is a very special day. For this is the day that the newest member of our team will be inducted at this ceremony. This young mare has given everything she could to make it into the Wonderbolts. Not only that, she will be now be replacing the retiring member of our main team, Thunder Gust.
"She won many competitions as a flyer in her childhood years, and broken more records in our Wonderbolt academy than anypony else. She has faced hardships, and is also one of the Elements of Harmony for Loyalty."
Rainbow Dash smirked at the last line. That was sure to seal the fact that she was the real deal; not just some washed up pegasus wannabe who just only wanted to be in the Wonderbolts for fame.
As Spitfire spoke, Rainbow Dash tuned her out and scanned the ocean of ponies standing in the audience. She squinted her eyes and tried to find a small filly; somepony so special that she didn't compare to her parents or even her friends.
She was looking for her number one fan.
"Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow Dash snapped from her thoughts and glanced at Spitfire. "Wuh?"
Spitfire pointed to the microphone. "Would you like to say a couple words?"
Rainbow Dash blinked a couple times and looked at the audience. Suddenly, she was stabbed with the realization that she had to make a speech. She also realized that she was not the type of pony to actually give a speech in front of a large number of ponies in the same place. Sweat poured down as she felt herself getting hotter by the minute with anxiety.
"Um, well," she stammered. "I dunno if I should..."
"Hey," Spitfire said, whispering into her ear. "You got something to prove to these ponies here. Tell them that you can do it. It's not like you're lying to them."
Rainbow Dash thought about it for a moment, then nodded with a smile. Spitfire returned the gesture and made room for Rainbow Dash to get to the microphone. Her throat tightened again as she made her way to the wooden podium. She scrambled for ideas on what to say. She thought about this moment and planned it all for most of her life, and now she was turning a blank.
You're a genius, Rainbow.
Before she even knew it, she found herself at the podium, with hundreds of ponies staring at her, waiting for her to say something. The crowd was silent and reporters pointed down their cameras to hear what Rainbow Dash would say. A waterfall of sweat poured down her forehead as she tried to form at least an idea what she was about to say.
"Heh, wow," she stuttered. "This is pretty intense."
The crowd remained silent. There was a distant cough. Rainbow Dash darted her eyes around and scanned the crowd again. She was messing up already. How could she mess up? She had been waiting for this moment all her life and she couldn't even speak!
"Yeah, Rainbow Dash!"
She heard a distant voice. She quickly recognized the voice, and instantly found her words.
"This is the greatest day of my life. There are so many ponies to thank, but I can only mention a few. I would like to thank my parents for pushing me to the very limit, my very best friends, and my biggest fan in the entire world. You know who you are. Thank you."
The moment remained quiet, then broke into hysterics. They stomped on the ground and cheered for the newest addition to the Wonderbolts. Rainbow Dash hastily went off the stage and wiped her brow. She glanced at Spitfire, who nodded reassuringly. She made her way to the podium to say some more words.
"The last speaker I would like to bring to the podium is our retiring main member. He has been in service for ten years. However, due to personal reasons, he is now leaving the Wonderbolts in order to pursue other interests. Give it up for Thunder Gust!"
Spitfire moved away from the podium to let Thunder Gust through. He was a grey pegasus with a mohawk and had a sturdy build. Rainbow Dash always wondered why he was retiring; he was only thirty and he could still fly like he did before. Rainbow respected his decision, of course, but she was still curious.
"My dear fans," Thunder Gust started to say. "It was a great pleasure to perform and compete alongside with this wonderful group known as the Wonderbolts. Even though I am retiring, I believe in the newest member of the group to take the torch and light this group like nopony has ever done before. I wish Rainbow Dash and the rest of the Wonderbolts good luck. Thank you all for the support you have gave me, and more. Thank you."
The crowd cheered once again, as a band played and the ceremony closed.
"So, Rainbow, you gonna come to the party tonight?"
Rainbow Dash perked her ears up. "A party?"
Spitfire laughed calmly as the team walked down the streets of Cloudsdale after the ceremony. "Did you really think that was it? That was the formal event; the party is where we really get to have fun."
Soarin pushed through the group. "Yeah, we usually have a party for somepony when they become a Wonderbolt. They're really fun, and we just hang out and drink the night away."
Rainbow Dash smiled. "Yeah, that sounds great! If there's apple cider, I'm all for it!"
Soarin laughed. "Well, we got a lot of that!"
"Perfect!"
The sun was setting and the moon was rising as they made their way to the Wonderbolts Headquarters. The building, on the outside, looked like a regular office building. Inside, it was the same, decorated with Wonderbolt attire. There were display cases portraying the previous generations of Wonderbolts, wearing the respective uniforms from their era. There was rooms with desks for all of the Wonderbolts so they could do work.
The main room was cleared to make room for the party. Streamers were lined up lazily above the guests and a desk was set up for the refreshments and apple cider. A little disco ball was brought out and music boomed out of speakers. The Wonderbolts, wearing nothing but street clothing, danced, talked and drank as the night wore on.
Rainbow Dash stood at a corner, talking to nopony. She just grinned and sipped on her apple cider. She never figured that she would be in an event like this.
She never thought she would in the Wonderbolts at all!
"Hey, squirt!" A voice said, smacking her in the back of her head, making her spill some of her cider.
She turned to see Soarin, redder than the sunset as he waved his cup of cider around, spilling it to the floor.
"Hey, Soarin," Rainbow Dash said timidly.
"Yo, how's it goin? Whatcha doin' all by yourself, man?" Soarin replied drunkenly.
"Oh, I don't know," Rainbow Dash said. "I mean, I know these guys, but I don't know them. I'm afraid I'll say something stupid."
Soarin looked around and cocked his head back to laugh. "Hey, there's no worries. Hey, you know, actually..."
"Hey everypony!" Soarin yelled, causing the party goers to look at their direction.
"Alright, I wanna make a toast, to our newest member, aight?"
The Wonderbolts cheered and slammed their mugs together and drank the cider. Rainbow Dash laughed nervously. She turned to see that Spitfire was coming to Rainbow. She smiled a little bit, thanking Celestia that there was somepony other than a stallion to talk to.
"Hey, Rainbow," Spitfire greeted. "How are you enjoying the party?"
"I'm doing alright," Rainbow replied. "Hey, didn't you get a mug of cider?"
"Me? Nah, I don't drink. I'd rather have water than get a splitting headache."
Rainbow chuckled softly. "Yeah, I guess."
"Hey. If you're nervous, I can show you around. You're not gonna get anywhere in this team if you don't meet the others."
"Yeah, I guess. But what if I say something dumb?"
"You impressed me. How hard can it be to impress others?"
"Hey, I guess you're right!"
Spitfire laughed. "C'mon, let's introduce you to our buddies."
The party was over, and the rest of the Wonderbolts had gone home. Before Rainbow Dash could get out the door of the building, Spitfire stopped her.
"Hey, wanna see something really cool?"
Interested, Rainbow Dash followed Spitfire into one of the rooms. It was dark inside and Rainbow couldn't see anything. Spitfire flicked on the lights, and Rainbow gasped.
It was an entire room, just for her. There was a desk with a stack of papers and a bunch of quill pens. There was wallpapers showcasing the Wonderbolts at their finest. It had drawers, a safe, bookshelves and best of all, a commemorative plaque on the wall, displaying Rainbow Dash's achievement of becoming a Wonderbolt.
Rainbow Dash sputtered with wide eyes. The sputters stopped as she smiled like a filly at Hearth's Warming Day.
"This used to be Thunder Gust's room, but now it's yours. You can do anything you want with it. Go crazy with it."
"Oh my Celestia..." Rainbow Dash said quietly. Spitfire smiled warmly and headed out the door.
"Tell me when you're finished so the janitor can lock this place up."
Rainbow Dash didn't hear any of what Spitfire said. She was too occupied with her new room.
An office space. All for me.
She felt like she was on the edge of tears, but quickly wiped her eyes so no water would escape. She walked slowly around the room, admiring all of the furniture. The papers, for her. The desk, for her. A small window that she could peer from and look down at the sister town of Ponyville, for her. It was almost unreal that she would get all of this. She knew now that she earned every single piece of that room.
Rainbow Dash's ears perked as she heard voices outside her room. She stared at the door as she heard approaching footsteps. A blur of orange and purple popped out from the edge of the door. Rainbow Dash saw a smile.
It was the smile of her number one fan.
"Rainbow Dash!"
"Scoots!"
Scootaloo sprinted to Rainbow and pounced on to her body. The two toppled to the floor and laughed as they playfully wrestled for a small moment. Rainbow Dash was very happy that she could see her favourite filly again. Scootaloo got up from Rainbow Dash and they both stood up.
"This is the best thing ever! You're a Wonderbolt now!"
Rainbow Dash smiled. "Yeah, I totally am."
"How does it feel to be one now?"
"Take the happiest moment of your life and multiply it by infinity!"
Scootaloo widened her smile. "Wow! That must be really happy!"
"Yeah, it sure is."
Scootaloo's smile dropped and she looked down at the floor. Rainbow noticed and perked up her ears.
"Hey, what's wrong, squirt?"
Scootaloo sighed. "Well, this means that I won't get to see you much now..."
Rainbow Dash's eyes widened. The realization struck her like a dagger in the heart. She never thought about it before, but now that the moment has finally come, she realized there would be little time for the small filly. What could she do? She had duties to attend to. She couldn't throw them away because Scootaloo needed training.
No, she couldn't abandon Scootaloo like that. She would simply have to take days off to make time for her.
The Wonderbolts was important; Scootaloo was even more important.
"Hey, don't worry. I'll take days off. Then we can hang out, like we usually do."
Scootaloo looked up at her with sorrowful eyes. "Promise?"
Rainbow Dash smiled. "Promise."
"Yay!" Scootaloo immediately changed her tone and hugged Rainbow. She was caught by surprise, but she returned the hug anyways. Her heartstrings were tugged to the point where they were ripped apart. Rainbow Dash loved the little filly; almost like she was a sister to her.
"Oh! I forgot something!"
Scootaloo raced out of the room. Rainbow Dash got up and raised her brow. It sounded like a box being dragged across the floor. Sure enough, it was. Scootaloo panted as she stopped. Rainbow Dash looked inside the box and gasped; there were a ton of pictures of her in her signature pose.
"What are these?"
"They're photos for you to sign!"
Rainbow Dash glanced at the photos. There must be hundreds of those!
"Do I really have this many fans?"
"Why would you not have fans?"
Rainbow Dash looked at the pictures.
I have fans.
Rainbow Dash smiled and took one of the pictures. She went to her desk and got a quill. She scribbled on the picture furiously. Scootaloo tried to look over shoulder, but she couldn't see. Finally, Rainbow Dash turned around and gave the picture to the little filly. She looked at the picture for two seconds before smiling.
"Wow! An autograph from Rainbow Dash!"
"Yep. Now you can show those kids who's boss."
"Yeah! Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon don't have anything as special as this!"
"Yeah..."
"Hey, Dash?'
Rainbow Dash perked up. "What's up?"
"I love you."
Rainbow Dash's skipped a beat. She said nothing and her eyes grew wide. Tears swelled up in her eyes as she couldn't control her emotions. She sniffled and wiped her eyes.
"Oh, Scoots..."
Rainbow Dash hugged the small filly like she never hugged anypony before. She was too valuable; she did not want anything to happen to her. She wanted to spend every waking moment with her. She was the best filly she knew, and she would do anything to protect her if something happened.
"I love you, too..."
They seperated from their hug. Rainbow Dash got up and wiped away the excess tears.
"Well, I better get going," Scootaloo said.
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash agreed. "It's getting late."
Scootaloo took her picture with her and exited the room. Rainbow Dash turned around and made her way to her chair. She sat on it and sighed. Scoots is the best filly in the world...
Bored, Rainbow Dash opened one of the drawers in her desk to see how much room was in it. She peered inside and raised her brow.
A piece of paper?
She took the paper out from the desk and closed the drawer. It was slightly crumbled, so Rainbow Dash unravelled the paper and looked to see if there was anything on it. For some reason, there was. It was a small little paragraph with bad mouthwriting, almost like it was written in a hurry.
I can't do this anymore. I can't hide the truth anymore. I have to leave...
Leave and go somewhere. This is the end of this horrible secret. Somepony has to let it out. But they'll get me if I say anything...What should I do? What can I do? Let some other sap suffer. This is the end of me.
Rainbow Dash looked over the paper again and again to see if she was reading the note right. Did Thunder Gust write this?
She looked around and put the piece of paper back into the drawer. Maybe she would find Thunder Gust and see why he wrote the note. She got off from her chair and went out the door. She flicked off the lights and exited the building.