CHAPTER 2
Falling Out
"Congratulations, sugarcube! That's great news!"
"Great news? No, it's completely and totally awesome news, AJ! I'm a Wonderbolt!"
All of Dash's friends had gathered in the library to hear her big announcement. Pinkie Pie had even managed to produce some snacks and balloons—to make the news "even more awesomer!" However, as the initial excitement died down, Twilight Sparkle asked a question in a more sobering tone. "But it's temporary? Just for one show?"
"Well," said Dash, biting her lip for a moment before her grin burst forth once more, "yeah. But that's cool. I'll be performing in front of thousands! The Manehatten air show is the biggest in Equestria. If there's one show to do, that's the one! I mean—" Dash leapt into the air and spun head over heels in a double backflip. "I'll be a Wonderbolt!"
They all cheered and clapped—even Fluttershy raised her voice loud enough to be heard. Applejack threw her hat in the air, and Pinkie let loose with confetti and streamers.
The celebration was interrupted by the sudden, distant blare of a train whistle.
Dash swooped to the window and peered out. "That's the Wonderbolts' train. Spitfire and Soarin flew back to meet it after coming to visit me on the express. It's only stopping here on its way to Manehatten to pick me up."
"Then I guess we better say our goodbyes, then," said Applejack, pressing her hat back onto her head and giving Dash a squeeze. Soon they were all surrounding Dash in a tangled group hug, laughing.
"I hope you didn't forget to pack anything," said Rarity. "I always manage to leave something behind."
"Pack?" Dash rocketed up into the air in alarm. "Oh no! I forgot to pack!"
"But the train's already here," said Twilight. "You'll miss it."
"I gotta go!" yelled Dash, and she shot out the library's window.
"Surprise going-away party at the train station!" cheered Pinkie Pie.
———
That was my most awesome entrance ever!
Dash was a little late, but otherwise she couldn't have planned it any better if she had tried.
The train had already begun to make its way out of the station when she had swooped in, flying fast with her bag in tow. She had buzzed the platform, scattering colorful debris in all directions with the speed of her passage. Quickly popping her wings wide, she had instantly matched speed with the train next to an open boxcar door and then executed a swift double barrel roll into it. She had landed in a perfect four-hoof plant, poised and cool with her head held high. Her momentum had slid her to a stop in the middle of the car—right in front of Spitfire, Soarin, and several of the Wonderbolts' ground crew!
Into the stunned silence she had tossed a calm and casual "Hey."
Too. Cool.
That was an entrance suitable for the newest Wonderbolt, if she did say so herself. She would have to practice that slide trick. It had been accidental this time—she had slightly misjudged her speed—but the results were amazing. She might even make it one of her signature moves! I wonder if I could arrange something with the conductor to leave a boxcar door open whenever he goes past Ponyville—
"You're late, Rainbow Dash!" snapped Spitfire. Dash's grin evaporated.
The Wonderbolts' captain left the group and barreled down upon her, volume increasing. "We are not late in this outfit. You think we can be late in the team slalom maneuvers? You're late there, and you're worse off than Silver Lining is!" she shouted in Dash's face, nose-to-nose, eyes fierce.
With a jolt, Dash suddenly realized she had no more ground to give. Her rear was now pressed up against the door to the next car. All of her pride crumpled into a tight little ball inside her chest under the furious wrath of her idol.
But Spitfire still wasn't through. "Worse, you won't be alone in your injuries. You'll be jeopardizing everypony else on the team! If you aren't where the team needs you when the team needs you, you aren't on the team. Wonderbolts are not late!"
And with that final, mane-ruffling exclamation, Spitfire sidestepped Dash and stormed through the boxcar's connecting door, slamming it behind her.
Dash's body was trembling, and the sudden and dramatic reversal from high to low had brought her to the edge of tears. She tried to blink them away and saw the others watching her through the blur. She couldn't stop the shaking.
How could I have screwed up so badly, so fast?
She marshaled her nerves and got her legs and face under control, but her lungs and stomach still wouldn't settle. She couldn't believe how rattled this had made her—how horrible she felt.
I'll never be late on Wonderbolt business again!
As she struggled to pull herself together, the ground crew ponies slipped out quietly by the other door so that only Soarin was left in the boxcar with her. He came over to her, a worried expression on his face. "Hey there. It's not all your fault. She just got some particularly bad news by telegraph right before your rather... spectacular entrance." He chuckled.
Trying to make a snuffle sound cool, Dash puffed herself up a bit, cleared her throat, and forced a shaky smile before asking, "What news?"
He frowned. "Well, it seems the Wonderbolts have been accused of arriving late to a performance—but we were there at the agreed-upon time. It's gotta be some sort of communications mix up." He grimaced. "She was already yelling before you came in. She won't let a trumped-up slight against the Wonderbolts stand."
Soarin shook his head and grinned. "It was just bad timing on your part. Really bad timing." Chuckling, he leaned in close and said confidentially, "She usually waits a whole day before yelling at a new recruit. She must really like you!" He gave Dash a playful nudge with his elbow.
The corner of Dash's mouth turned up, but only the corner. "What a way to start my time as a Wonderbolt." She rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Hey, it puts you in good company, if I do say so myself." He winked at her. "Oh, the number of times I've been chewed out!" He looked up at the ceiling and shook his head ruefully.
"You have to remember that Spitfire... well—" He screwed his mouth up to one side. "She has a sharp, hot temper, like her name implies, gone as suddenly as it appears and often followed by an apology if she goes too far. She doesn't mean to be mean. She's really as sweet as a kitten, except for a moment here and there where she's both spit and fire." He chuckled. "Perhaps too much spit." He fastidiously brushed away an imaginary fleck of spittle from her cheek.
In spite of herself, Dash smiled, pushing his hoof away.
Straightening up, Soarin continued, "She makes up for those moments in spades, though, believe me! There's never been a nicer Captain, or so the old codgers tell me." He leaned in close and whispered, "They think she's not hard enough on us."
He leaned on an invisible cane, hobbled around in a circle holding his back, and adopted a quivering, old-pony voice. "A capt'n apologizin'! Soft! We wouldn'a had that in my day, no-sir-ee!" He shook the imaginary cane in Dash's face.
Dash laughed. Then she took in a deep breath and let it all out in one shaky go. Her chest still seemed to be vibrating. It was a different sort of post-adrenaline shakiness than she was used to, and not as pleasant. She did her best to ignore it. "Eh, it's nothing. I can take it." She gave Soarin a cocky grin.
Soarin perked up and grinned back. "Then all is well! I can show you to your cabin if you'd like. You're lucky—you don't have to share." He started towards the other door. "Just follow me."
Buck up, Rainbow Dash. It can only get better from here on, right? She tried to smile again and found that she didn't have to force it anymore. She trotted after Soarin.
———
Her cabin wasn't large, but then she hadn't brought much with her. She'd only packed a few personal effects and a dress that Rarity had made for her—in case she had to attend any formal functions before or after the show.
Of course, once she had a Wonderbolt uniform on, it was going to be very, very hard to get herself out of it before she absolutely had to.
Dash was just finishing putting her things away when there was a knock at the door. She reached across the tiny cabin and slid the panel open. It was Spitfire.
"I wanted to apologize personally, Rainbow Dash—though I hear Soarin tried to do that for me." Spitfire smiled as she walked into the room—a warm smile, or so Dash hoped.
Dash backed up to make room for her and then didn't make further eye contact, instead turning to look at the last of her bags, still open on the bunk. "It's okay, Captain. I should have been on time. I will be from now on, I promise."
Spitfire put her hoof on Dash's shoulder and held it there until Dash turned to look at her.
"No. I need to apologize." She frowned. "That was a horrible welcome, and I feel terrible about it. I shouldn't have let my anger about something else spill all over you."
Dash quickly took advantage of the change of subject. "Soarin told me about that. They can't call the Wonderbolts liars!"
Spitfire patted Dash's shoulder before turning away to sit on the only seat in the cabin. Dash noted the tired lines on the captain's face and felt her own ire growing. This complaint is really bothering her. It's not right.
Spitfire rubbed her temples and said, "We'll work it out. The planning team think there was a misprint on one of the contracts—a previous version that somehow got mixed in. We won't know till we can get back there and compare sometime after the Manehatten show." She stood back up and shook it off, smiling again.
She glanced at Dash's furrowed brow and said seriously, "Don't let it get to you, Dash. The Wonderbolts stand by their word, and if we are at fault, we make amends. We don't fight when we're in the wrong."
"But if they're lying—"
"Then we'll find that out when we compare contracts. It's not something to get angry over." She laughed. "Something you and I should both know by now is counterproductive."
Dash blinked, taking that in, then laughed right along with Spitfire.
"When you're done unpacking, come up to the next car, the diner, and meet some of your new teammates." Spitfire opened the cabin door, but paused before exiting. "Oh, and Dash... Don't be late again." There was a twinkle in her eye as she said it, but there was a hardness too.
Dash stared wide-eyed at the door after it closed and let out a long, shaky breath.
———
Spitfire wasn't in the dining car when Dash arrived, but three other Wonderbolts were, including Soarin. All of them had changed out of their flight uniforms.
It's odd how they look so much more like regular ponies without the uniforms. Normal. It was vaguely unsettling, but Dash composed herself and smiled as they noticed her arrival.
Blaze set down her cup and approached Dash. "Now that we're not running around like crazy, let me be the first to say: Welcome to the Wonderbolts!"
"Hey! I wanted to be first," whined Soarin as Blaze gave Dash a big hug.
"Didn't you have a nice long conversation with her just after she arrived?" asked Blaze, not quite finished squeezing the breath out of Dash. "Why didn't you welcome her then?"
Soarin rubbed the back of his mane. "Well, we were busy talking about other things. I—"
"Admit it," interrupted Blaze, returning to her cushion and beckoning Dash over with a grin, "you forgot. Some host you are."
"Well, I... I was dazzled by her entrance. That's what it was!" He gave Dash a big theatrical wink.
"Suuuuure." Blaze laughed.
"If her entrance was anythin' like what Soarin described, I can't blame 'im for gettin' distracted," spoke the third Wonderbolt, Lightning Streak. He was leaning back against the side of the car, hooves behind his head. Dash thought he was asleep at first, but now his eyes were open and he was looking her over with a small smile. "Nope. I don't blame 'im one bit."
"Down, Lightning," said Blaze, eyes glaring at him. "Save it for the groupies. Rainbow Dash is one of us now."
Lightning raised his eyebrows in mock alarm. "Now, did I say anythin' untoward? I was merely agreein' with Soarin, here."
Soarin waved his hooves in front of him. "Don't bring me into this."
Looking from Blaze to Soarin and back—and finding no help—Lightning's eyes turned to Dash. "Did I say anythin' to upset you, darlin'? Anythin' at all?"
Dash let a slow, predatory smile spread across her face. "Not until you said 'darlin',' no."
Lightning threw his hooves in the air. "I can't get a break! I try t'be nice. I try t'be courteous. And all I get is trouble." Folding his hooves back behind his head again, he slouched down and harrumphed.
Blaze was about to say something further, but Dash touched her shoulder, laughing. "He's okay, Blaze. If he feels his honor has been hurt, we can always take it out to the track." She gave him a cocky look and a twitch of her eyebrow.
Lightning just stared at her for a moment in surprise. Then, as he opened his mouth to reply, Soarin burst out in whooping guffaws. "She's already... challenged Lightning... to a race... first hour..." Soarin doubled over, pounding at the table with one hoof. Blaze quickly joined him in laughter, and even Lightning started chuckling.
Dash looked from one to another, grinning, still not quite sure if they were laughing with her or at her. When Blaze leaned over and buried her face in Dash's mane, still laughing uncontrollably, Dash couldn't prevent her own laughter from bubbling up.
A sense of camaraderie came over Dash then, a strong attachment to these ponies she'd known of—but not known personally—for so long. I'm really one of them. Really a Wonderbolt!
It was several moments before any of them could speak again. When Blaze got her breath back, she put a hoof around Dash's shoulders and said between leftover chuckles, "Well, I'm glad Spitfire's rant didn't knock the laughter out of you!"
A frown quickly appeared on Dash's face. "You heard about that?" Embarrassment flooded through her, coloring her cheeks.
"Heard about it, darlin'?" Lightning winked at her. "We heard it!"
She looked at Soarin accusingly, but he held up a hoof and shook his head rapidly, still grinning. "I didn't tell them. Honest!"
"It's not his fault, Dash," said Blaze. "We actually heard it. We were in the next car down, and after a while you get really... attuned to her voice. It's one you just have to pay attention to." She leaned in closer and smiled. "And believe me, I know. With her for a big sister, I had to grow up with it!"
"Besides," drawled Lightning, "you remember how it felt when she was chewin' you out?"
Dash thought she was over that, but at his words, the memory of Spitfire's tirade awoke within her. She felt her chest tighten and cheeks flush. She stiffened to prevent the shakes from coming back.
Lighting was watching her and nodded. "I see ya do. Plannin' to be late for practice?"
"Never!" The word forced itself from her, releasing the pressure on her lungs.
"Yup," drawled Lightning, "and that's why she's the captain."
"And which 'why I am the captain' would that be?" asked the captain herself as she entered the car, an older earth pony just behind her.
The three flyers glanced at each other, then Soarin said, "Why, because of your stunning beauty, of course." He pursed his lips and fluttered his eyes.
"Naw," said Lightning. "It was her speed an' skill at flyin'." He weaved his hoof through the air like it was doing aerial maneuvers, making whooshing noises as it turned.
Blaze shook her head, grinning. "You're both wrong." She clasped her hooves over her heart and made soft puppy dog eyes. Breathlessly, she said, "It was because of her crush on Captain Wild Sky back in foal school." She let out a quivering, dramatic sigh.
Spitfire snorted derisively. "You," she said, glaring at Blaze, "are why I don't keep a diary anymore."
She turned to Dash, blatantly ignoring the rest of the team's antics. "Rainbow Dash, meet Quartermane. He's in charge of all our supplies, along with just about everything else in this organization. He'll be setting you up with a uniform, among other things."
"If you need something, I'm the one to see," said Quartermane with a small bow of his head.
A uniform... My uniform. My Wonderbolt uniform! Her heart did backflips in her chest.
"I put her in your capable hooves, Quarter," said Spitfire. "Right now I need to talk with Blaze and Lightning."
"If you'll follow me, Miss?" Quartermane turned towards the dining car's rear door.
"You can call me Dash."
"Dash it shall be, then," he said with a deferential nod of his head. "Let's head back to the supply cars and get you kitted out, hmm?"
Unceremoniously shooed out of his seat by Spitfire, Soarin trotted up. "I'll tag along. Seems I'm not wanted here." He stuck his tongue out over his shoulder at Spitfire's back, only to have the gesture returned by Blaze.
As Spitfire started to turn to see what was going on, Soarin yelped and pushed past the other two, exiting the car first.
My uniform!
Dash was smiling ear-to-ear as she followed Quartermane out the door.
———
"That was quite a send-off your friends did up for you, Miss," Quartermane said as they entered the first supply car. "Dash," he quickly amended. "And on such short notice too."
"Send-off? What do you mean?"
Quartermane carefully latched the door behind them. "Why, the party they set up on the train platform to say goodbye, of course. Your marvelous friend Pinkie Pie let me borrow one of her party cannons. I've got plans to use it in the show. It should be quite a spectacular addition to the grand finale..."
But Dash wasn't listening anymore.
A party for me? At the station? She gasped. Oh no! Those were Pinkie Pie's balloons that I scattered as I was racing to catch the train. They were for me!
And I didn't even notice.
"...with only the confetti and a sufficiently-large compressed air reservoir, I think I can—"
Staring wide-eyed into space, Dash exclaimed, "I didn't say goodbye!"
"What's that, Miss? To whom?" Quartermane raised his eyebrows.
Dash looked at him. "To my friends!" She flopped down dejectedly on a crate. "My best friends. They threw me a going-away party and I didn't even stop to notice. I'm horrible!"
"There, there, Miss Dash. All is not lost." Quartermane gave her a curious smile. "Why say goodbye when you can say hello, hmm?" he suggested with a wink.
Dash sighed and then looked up at him, confused. "Huh?"
"What would you say to sending them—let's see... There were five of them, yes? And the little dragon?—sending them six passes to the show in Manehatten and six train tickets to get there?"
Dash's eyes lit up at the prospect. "Yeah! Then it would be 'hello' instead of 'goodbye.' I get it! You want to know what I'd say? I'd say that would be awesome!"
"You could even throw them a little party yourself. I know just the place in Manehatten that could take care of that for you."
Dash laughed. "That's good, because with Pinkie Pie around, nopony else has much practice throwing parties."
Quartermane chuckled. "So I gathered after watching her party prowess in action. I'll go find the conductor and get word sent off right away. They should be able to catch the next train to Manehatten and get there with plenty of time before the show."
Dash put a hoof on his shoulder. "Thanks so much, Quartermane. You're the best!"
"No, but I always aim to do my best." He gave her another wink and turned to go.
"Wait," she said, giving him a squinty-eyed, suspicious look. "You knew I hadn't noticed their party right from the start. You planned this whole conversation!"
"I'm sure you give me more credit than I'm due," he said demurely. However, she could see the twinkle in his eye and the faintest traces of a smile hiding in the wrinkles of his face.
"Ah-hah!" She aimed an accusing foreleg at him, grinning widely.
Quartermane laughed and gave her a small guilty bow. "I can see I won't be able to fool you easily, Miss Dash. But it is, nonetheless, still a good idea?"
"Absolutely!"
"Then I'll just go see to the arrangements. I'll be back for you in a short while, and we'll see about your uniform," he said as he slipped swiftly out the forward door.
Dash let out a satisfied sigh and stared at the opposite wall of the supply car from her seat on the crate. She could see why he had been picked to work with the Wonderbolts. He was every bit as awesome as they were, just in a different way. She looked forward to meeting all the other ponies that worked behind the scenes, never noticed but—she realized—every bit as important as the flyers themselves. She'd always just focused on the Wonderbolts, but with all the others and their equipment, it was no wonder they needed a whole train of their own.
And now I'm part of it. Her smile faded—suddenly she felt very small and lost in something much bigger than herself. Blaze had mentioned Wild Sky, the previous captain of the Wonderbolts. Dash knew all the previous members by heart, and thinking of herself as one of that long line of amazing ponies—She bit her lip. Am I really good enough?
Lost in thought as she was, she nearly jumped out of her hide when Soarin said, right in her ear, "He is pretty amazing, huh?" She had completely forgotten he was in the supply car too.
"Don't sneak up on me like that, Soarin!" Dash yelled, shoving him away. She shook off the surprise, annoyed. "Look. I could really use some 'me' time, y'know? Could you find somepony else to sneak up on?"
"Oh." He sniffed, his lower lip jutting out. "I understand." He hung his head and slowly started walking past her towards the door. "Nopony ever wants to play with poor Soarin." He paused, swiveling his glistening eyes to look back at her, lower lip a-tremble.
It was so over-the-top and dramatic that she just barely stopped herself from laughing. She relaxed, allowed herself a chuckle instead, and answered belatedly, "Yes, Quartermane is pretty amazing."
Soarin dropped all pretense at forlornness and leapt onto the crate across from her, smiling again. "He's actually been with the Wonderbolts longer than anypony. Spitfire may be the captain, but he's the heart of the operation." He added brightly, "He's my great-uncle!"
His whole family has been part of the Wonderbolts. It runs in his blood.
What runs in mine? The thought was jarring. These ponies are all special. I'm not.
Feeling overwhelmed again, Dash got up from the crate. Frowning at the floor, she started walking towards the rear door of the boxcar.
"What did I say?" asked a confused Soarin, jumping up and following her.
"Nothing. I just—" Dash picked up her pace and passed through the door into the next car. She wasn't entirely sure why, but she didn't want to talk just then. She was questioning her own worthiness, and that was unfamiliar territory. It scared her. She needed time alone.
When Soarin didn't immediately follow her into the next car, she had the brief hope that they could just drop it, that she wouldn't have to put her unthought feelings into words. A moment later, however, the door opened again and he caught up with her, as she suspected he would. Dash slowed down. The way she was feeling, she just had to keep moving, and there was only so much train left.
Soarin was silent for a moment as he walked next to her, then he said quietly, "I was afraid of you back in foal school." At her incredulous snort, he amended, "Not of you exactly, but your skills. After you pulled off a sonic rainboom at so young an age, just as I was about to graduate, I thought my chances of joining the Wonderbolts were all but gone." That made Dash blink.
Soarin glanced at her, somewhat shyly. "I paid close attention to you after that. You were my biggest competition! I really stepped up my game as a result and threw myself into my Academy training. I think that was why I was picked when Summer Zephyr retired."
The idea that Soarin—Soarin the Wonderbolt—had been aware of her in foal school, that he had thought of her as competition, despite being several years older than her, floored her.
Soarin chuckled. "I've kept an eye on you ever since, too."
Dash looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He was looking straight ahead, a simple smile on his face, just taking a walk down a train with a friend. He's so at ease. He was born into this. I'm just a pegasus from Cloudsdale that managed to do a flashy stunt. And now I'm on my way to perform in front of thousands as a Wonderbolt. Thousands.
Rainbow Dash started to shake.
Soarin glanced at her. "Um, did I say something wrong again?"
"No, it's me," Dash said with a forlorn look far more believable than Soarin's earlier fooling around. "I'm not special, I'm 'Rainbow Crash.' You even saw me crash through my window." She felt tears building that she wouldn't let out. Not in front of him.
"I'm just a screw-up." As she said those words, she stopped. They had come to the end of the train, the back of the caboose. She stared out the rear window, a dark cloud filling her mind.
She was vaguely aware of an awkward shuffling next to her, then she felt a wing drape over her back. "You're not a screw-up at all, Rainbow Dash. You're one of the most amazing flyers I've ever seen. Since I've been a Wonderbolt, I've been doing all I can to make you one of us. I would have succeeded when old Gusty retired, too, but—Well, there are even politics in the Wonderbolts."
Yeah, right. She just bowed her head at this. "They didn't want me."
"No, it was... It was just complicated. Nopony else has retired since then, but I promise you this: When that time comes, if they don't take you on—" He was quiet for a heartbeat. "I'll tell them it's you or me!"
Surprise shot through Dash, her head snapping up and around to look at him. Soarin was smiling and his eyes seemed almost as surprised at his own words as she was. She opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out.
He looked back out the window, becoming more serious as he said softly, "There's one thing you can do that will help, though. When Summer retired, she did my initial training. There's something she told me I think you should hear too.
"Don't pull your panic, fear, and doubt into your center and then try to mask them with bravado and bluster. Those feelings are a part of you and shouldn't be denied or ignored, but—be aware of them. Acknowledge your fears and doubts, if only to yourself, so they can't overwhelm you. Keep your center, your core, clear and bright and warm. That way you can plan, innovate, and react without hindrance when the need arises. To have control of anything, you must first have control of your center."
He shifted position next to her, his comforting wing still draped over her back. "When you saw us watching you at your house, you let your panic and surprise into your center, and that threw off your concentration and made you crash."
Dash had always felt that Soarin was a perfect example of what a Wonderbolt should be. Now that feeling had just doubled—and it made her feel all the more unworthy in comparison.
But Soarin wasn't quite done. "You have everything you need already. I know it's all in here..." He touched her forehead with his other wing tip. "... and in here." He covered her heart.
After a moment's pause, she heard him whisper, "I believe in you, Rainbow Dash."
His quiet certainty surged through her, fanning an ember of self-confidence deep within that suddenly began to glow much brighter. That inner warmth didn't fade as the outer warmth did when he closed his wings and stepped away.
"But, ah"—he cleared his throat—"I better get back, or Spitfire will be coming after me again." He turned, whistling as he trotted out the door, leaving her alone in the caboose.
She stared out the rear window at the receding tracks, her center suddenly very bright and warm.
And anything but clear.
———