Chapter 4: The Mane Act
The days had flown by. All the practice, all the sore muscles, all the sweat… today was the day.
Rainbow Dash strutted along Ponyville’s Main Street towards the signup booth at Town Hall. Big Mac and Applejack joined her, flanking their friend. Considering her stage fright at the last big competition, Dash felt it was the nicest thing anyone could do at the moment.
“You’re sure you don’t want to compete, Applejack?” the pegasus asked. ”The Wonderbolts can give you all sorts of training advice for your rodeos, you know.”
“I know, but it just wouldn’t feel right, Rainbow,” Applejack replied. ”I’d only compete to take the prize, and I don’t wanna even try taking it from you.”
To that, Dash looked up at the big guy of the Apple family.
“What about you, Big Mac? You feel alright taking me on?”
“Eeyup,” came the stoic reply.
“Oh, he’s not in it for the Wonderbolts, Dash. Big Mac’s got a little somethin’ different on his mind,” Applejack remarked.
Just as she said it, they passed by miss Cheerilee, and the mares all gave the stallion a brief look with varying degrees of knowingness. Big Mac, ever the gentlecolt, just whistled inconspicuously, and silently thanked Celestia that his red coat meant he could blush without anyone ever knowing.
Coincidentally, a uniformed Soarin’ flew by at the same time and gave Applejack a smile and a look that was somewhere in the awkward regions between ‘Hi!’ and ‘The Great Hunger is upon me!’. Applejack smiled back and wished she had the same luxury as her brother.
“Lemme guess: you’ll be setting up your apple stand at the try-outs?” the pegasus mare asked as the booth came into sight.
“Well, I might try to get a bit of sales going, and if a certain Wonderbolt just happens to like my apple pies and kindly asks to purchase some more, I’m not about to stop him.” She kept her eye on the Wonderbolt as he landed by a burly minotaur.
They got to the signup, no turning back now.
Competition of this sort was a little different from the generic improvisation contests and routine athletic competitions. In bouts like these, signing up was a ‘first come, first serve’ affair, and ponies usually had a very distinct idea of whom they’d be competing against, given the fact that everyone knew who could put up a show and who couldn’t. That’s why there was no need to sign up long beforehand: if you weren’t a proper showpony with an act that could be made ready in a week, you weren’t going to do anything worth doing anyway. At the strike of the clock, the minotaur got a quill, Fleetfoot came flying in, and everypony looked around, a little psyched.
“Alright,” the hulking creature known as Iron Will announced, ”we have ten places open. The best of you, step forward now. If you have any doubt, consider yourself out!”
The two Wonderbolts facehoofed at the minotaur’s obligatory rhyme.
Say what you want about Iron Will, for hamminess the minotaur always fits the bill.
Rainbow Dash, Big Mac and Pinkie Pie stepped forward. The pink mare waved cheerfully at her friend. They hadn't seen each other for a few days with all the practice they’d both put in. The golden mare figured she was mostly in it for the publicity: there were quite a few ponies from out of Ponyville present to check out the performances, and probably to get autographs from the Wonderbolts. A Pinkie Pie party was definitely something one could market to out-of-towners, and knowing her she’d probably get out the old party cannon for her musical act. She was sure it was going to be awesome.
“Okay, so: Rainbow Dash, Big Macintosh, Pinkie Pie….” Fleetfoot pointed at them and impressively got their names right from the first try, ”put them down along with Trixie.” The minotaur wordlessly followed the command.
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. It was done. No more time for worries, no more messing up. She’d have one chance, just one.
Twilight came to see her friend at the competitor’s section. She looked at her a little worriedly.
“Rainbow, are you going to be alright?”
“Of course I will,” Dash replied, ”Why wouldn’t I?”
“Well, you’ve been practising alone since that incident with Trixie, and there’s been rumours. You are still going to do your cloudbucking act, aren’t you? Not this comedy thing everyone’s talking about?” Twilight grimaced at the thought.
Rainbow sighed as she went to watch Trixie’s act. It was all fireworks and flashy fire spells. It looked pretty good, actually, really professional. She hadn’t realised it yet, but the arrogant showpony made her living on performance, making her a real contender.
“I have to, Twilight. Everypony’s expecting me to do it. I got the look.” She looked at her hooves, ”I dyed my rainbow mane for this. I can be somepony else now and leave all the bad things behind me. Fleetfoot even said I can make it big with a comedy act.” The mare bit her lip at the prospect of living her dream.
“But is that what you really want?” Twilight asked. ”To be the one who makes everyone laugh?”
“No, I don’t. Don’t get me wrong, I love fun, and when Pinkie Pie or anyone makes me laugh, I-I’m happy. But I’m not supposed to make ponies laugh, I’m supposed to help them be all they can be.” Rainbow looked on as the blue unicorn wrapped up her act with a loud boom of self-indulgent idolatry.
“So why don’t you? I don’t understand why you don’t just do your normal act. Forget about appearances, it’s what’s inside that counts.” Twilight seemed to recite something she’d said to herself often enough, but never to someone else.
“Guess I don’t really have a reason. It just feels wrong,” Dash admitted as Pinkie Pie entered the stage. Sure enough, she was lining up her one-pony orchestra along with some party cannons.
The two didn’t look at each other, rather keeping their eye on their friend as she started playing her tunes at a building pace, trumpets, violins and percussion all getting worked over at seemingly the same time. Neither of them could place the tune at first, but they both caught a snippet of “La Marseillaise” in her composition, if sped up considerably.
“What is that silly pony doing?” Rainbow Dash smirked curiously.
“I’m not sure, but… I think she’s playing the 1812 Festival Overture by Tchaicudsky.”
“The one with the cannons? Can’t be.” Dash knew the tune, of course, it was frequently played when the Wonderbolts decided to do something bombastic at the end of their act. But as she recalled, that bit of music had the sound of explosions in it right from the get-go.
“The cannons don’t show up until about three minutes before the end. The piece actually takes about fifteen minutes in all. And I think Pinkie’s playing the whole thing, at triple speed, too. That’s going to be some heavy cannon fire,” the unicorn realised.
Rainbow Dash whistled in admiration. Her unicorn friend returned to the original subject.
“So why don’t you feel like doing your normal act? You look perfect, you have the moves down to the last detail, and I’m sure everyone will appreciate it.”
“I don’t know. I know it’s what’s on the inside that matters, that I shouldn’t let myself get wrapped up in what ponies think of me or how they see me. But the thing is: I can’t. I’ve been practising my normal routine all week, and even though I know I can do it, I feel like I shouldn’t. I wanted to be looked at differently, to be somepony better, and now it turns out the pony I am just isn't as awesome. I don’t know how to shake this feeling, and I know that if I try, I’m going to come off as awkward. It’s like… like I’ve always worn a mask, and now that I’m wearing a new one, I don’t know where the old one is.”
Twilight lowered her head.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?” A headtilt answered her.
“For not being able to help. I thought maybe I could get you to feel better, but all I do is make things worse. I mess up when I try to help.” She smiled nervously.
“And that’s what makes you perfect.” The golden mare smiled right back.
“I just wish I could fix this somehow. That stuff you have on you has Zap Apples in it. If I cast a spell on it, there’s no telling what might happen.”
Twilight started talking herself into a panic just as Pinkie Pie started firing her party cannons and getting to the bit that everyone knew. For all its awe-inspiring beauty, Tchaicudsky’s war music always seemed to get cut down to just its finale. Luckily, Pinkie Pie’s parents had brought her up with a bit of culture.
Sadly, ‘sense of restraint’ had been omitted from her cultural heritage, and she wound up making a very loud and a little too overwhelming a spectacle of the thing. In other words, it was par for the course for both Pinkie and Tchaicudsky.
“Then don’t. I can stand a little embarrassment if it means getting into the Wonderbolts. I know this won’t be wasted, Fleetfoot said so herself. I just have to get through it, I guess.”
“You’ll do no such thing, Rainbow Dash.” Rarity came walkiing over with a pair of saddlebags. ”Twilight, I appreciate your effort, but I cannot stand idly by while poor Dash makes a fool of herself in the name of glory.”
“Rarity, it’s okay. I can handle it,” Rainbow insisted. Twilight, on the other hoof, was curious what the bags were for.
“Okay? It is most certainly not okay. If you must choose between what will get you your dream and what feels right, then you must do what feels right, or your dream will lose its meaning.” She stomped her hoof for emphasis, which in her friends’ books meant she was not to be fazed.
“Look: if I do my comedy act, I’ll feel a little bad, but I’ll get what I always wanted. If I do my normal act, I’ll still feel bad and I might not be able to win at all. I’ll look normal again eventually, but for this I need to be different from what I’ve been, so I have to go through with it. There’s nothing I can do to make this easy, so I’m doing it the hard way.” Dash proudly thrust her chest forward and raised her wings to emphasise.
Meanwhile, Big Mac had trotted on stage and started juggling some bales of hay with his hind hooves while lying on his back. He then picked up the cart he’d piled them up on and balanced it on one hoof. The silence that fell over the audience and the entry section got the mares’ attention, and all three picked up their jaws halfway through the act.
Rarity placed her hoof on Dash’s shoulder.
“Rainbow, you don’t need to do it the hard way. As much as you might think we’re completely different, we do have one thing in common: we both live our lives based on looks.”
Twilight pondered that for a bit. Rarity, she could understand, but Dash?
Rainbow Dash frowned at the remark.
“Maybe you do, but I don’t. Even if I feel a little bad when ponies look at me funny, I don’t let it control my life.”
Rarity shook her head and set her bag on the ground.
“You’ll understand in a minute, dear. I ran back to my shop as soon as I saw you looking glum. It’s my fault; I said you should get a makeover. I should have known this was a little too drastic. That’s twice now I stand in the way of your dream. So please, let me make amends, at least this time.“
Rainbow gritted her teeth.
“I’m not going to be my old self for this act, Rarity. I’ve come too far to go back on this. My rainbows will come back, but what I do today will be remembered long after that. This is my one chance to wipe away all those embarrassing mistakes I’ve made, but I can’t do it as my old self.”
The white unicorn opened the bag with her horn.
“Then how about a better self?”
The two ponies looked inside, and Rainbow Dash’s eyes lit up, excitement filling her every nerve like the moment she first accomplished the Sonic Rainboom.
Everyone gaped in awe as Big Mac slowly set down the fully laden cart he’d balanced on his left hood, then set down the barbell he’d balanced on his right hoof, then set down the tub he’d borrowed from Rarity to balance on his chin, complete with warm running water and shower curtains, since Derpy had insisted she bathe in private even if she was going to be part of the show.
All in all, Big Mac had put on a pretty impressive display. For all his shyness, he had a lot of strength and coordination under that deep red colour. He took a bow and received the applause with his usual calm, quiet presence. The judges looked genuinely impressed, even Iron Will couldn’t think of something to say.
A certain white pegasus in the audience gave him a loud “Yeah!,” though.
Fluttershy went to work setting up the thunderclouds just the way Rainbow Dash wanted, carefully making sure everything was in position. One to launch her Thunderclad, one for the Buccaneer Blaze… she mentally checked everything twice before moving off. She noticed Twilight and Rarity coming back from speaking to Dash.
“Is she feeling better now?” she asked.
“I think everything’s worked out just fine,” Twilight smiled at Rarity. True enough, the egghead was out of her league when it came to image, but the fashion unicorn had more than made up for it.
Rainbow Dash stood behind the curtain, darkness in her mind despite the broad daylight. She took a deep breath and got in her zone. She was back in character, though a slightly different one from her usual stunting self. Rarity had been right, of course. She shouldn’t have doubted it to begin with. Her life was, she had to admit, governed by looks. She’d have to write to Celestia about this, when all was said and done. But for the moment, she needed all her concentration. On a whim, she remembered a trick Princess Luna had explained to her last Nightmare Night. While it was mostly only good for pranking, today was just such a perfect opportunity to use it she couldn’t pass it up.
“Next up: Rainbow Dash!” Iron Will shouted.
She breathed out.
Showtime.
She rushed out with a burst of speed, triumphant grin adorning her face and chest pushed out forward in defiance. The crowd gasped as they beheld her. If they hadn’t heard her name, nary a pony would have known it was her. She radiated something different from her usual confidence, a more sinister element none had ever seen in her. And while some still recognised her new mane and the golden streak it gave her, the entrance was certainly impressive enough to make them forget about the little cloud-crashing incident, or any other incident she’d caused.
Rainbow hopped on the first cloud just as the crowd got its breath back. She knew what they saw, what she wanted them to see.
A Shadowbolt: darker in presence and even more awesome than a Wonderbolt.
As she landed on the first cloud, like a real pro, she set the tone of her act with a loud peal of thunder, and threw her voice into the thunder to echo one simple word.
“DARKNESSSS…”
She dashed forward to the sweet spot while her copyright violation ringed in everyone’s ears. She could deal with the riot later. Like clockwork, she readied herself for the big one, hanging in mid-air with her legs ready to kick.
Twilight thought she’d heard what sounded like a goat, so she looked over to Big Mac and the other contenders. Trixie had actually fainted from the scary voice effect.
Perfect.
Rainbow let loose. Lightning and thunder washed over her, then passed through her, and she dived straight down with it. She spun to let the shaking energy stay in position, and pulled up perfectly. Sizzling sounds marked her passage as she went into her High Speed Strut, slightly crouched to give her a more predatory look to go with her costume. She jumped up to the next cloud, catapulting herself with another thunderclap into a summersault.
She slammed her whole body into the next cloud, using one back hoof to get the lightning out into her tail as she swished. The flash of light in the Buccaneer Blaze only added to her terrifying presence, making it impossible to look at her for the slightest moment. Never breaking stride, she belly-flopped into the last one and landed neatly with a curt bow to finish.
Just a few seconds, when it all came down to it. She kept her head low in the bow, and slowly straightened up to her natural posture. Her mind came back to her, she found her pace again, and the crowds exploded.
She took in the crowd’s reactions, knowing what they all saw in her: nothing but good things and pure awesome. Dash finally realised what the word ‘galvanise’ meant, metaphorically if not chemically. She had the golden coat and the dark costume to show on the outside what she’d almost forgotten she had on the inside, and it all just clicked. The costume would come off, the golden coat would fade, but now that she’d felt the sheer power in and out, she wouldn’t need them next time. Now she had a resounding confirmation that what she was doing was the right thing, that she truly was all the things she wanted to inspire in others. All that hard work, all that doubt, this was what she did it for. The nagging doubts were silenced at last.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so much like her true self, and she tried not to think of what could have happened if things had gone a different way.
Rainbow Dash didn’t even bother to turn to the judges, the reaction she got from the audience was all that mattered. Friend and stranger alike cheered her on. She looked down at her hooves and tried to verbalise her lesson. Not that she knew what ‘verbalise’ meant, but it’s the thought that counts.
Dear Princess Celestia,
It’s easy to say that ‘what’s inside is what counts’, and that ‘appearances aren’t everything’. But we can never forget that appearances are something. When we’re looked at in a way we don’t like, we say these things because we don’t want it to hurt, but if we act like it's true then we're crippled.
If it doesn’t matter how we look, how can we ever look good, or even happy? If it doesn’t matter how others see us, how could we be an inspiration in their eyes? The way we look and the way others look at us may not be the most important thing in the world, but if they didn’t matter at all, we’d be lost.
Our idols would never get to see the looks of admiration we give them, our friends would never be able to show us their sadness so we can help. And if we didn't have a look, we’d never realise that what we see in the mirror can change, that we can grow and learn. If we didn’t care about appearance at all, how could anyone see us grow? Would we even care to try if no one ever noticed? Would we ever dare to ask for help if no one could show us their strength? Would we share a smile if no one ever saw it?
Saying that appearances don’t matter is saying exactly that: that no one would ever care, and that we’d have no way of showing how alone that really makes us.
I learned today that a look you wear and a look you give can be a powerful thing, even if it doesn’t change who you are on the inside. A smile, a sob, a dress, a new colour... it can change how others look at you, and they can help you grow because of it. Just by looking different, I feel like a new pony now, even if I am the same on the inside.
Knowing what looks can do, I don't have to let them scare me anymore. I can see them for what they are, and use them. I can change the way I look or how others look at me without worrying about what it does to the real me.
The real me is stronger than that now.
So here's my promise: no matter what costume I wear or what colour my mane may be, I will always be
Your Faithful Student
Rainbow Dash
When the noise had died down and the final contestant was finished, Rainbow Dash joined her friends at Applejack’s stand. The farmer had gotten a nice bit of selling done, and a good dose of free advertising, which was always welcome.
“Hey, Pinkie, I didn’t know you liked classical music,” the speedster half-joked at her pink friend.
Pinkie Pie shrugged.
“Why not? Muffins are a classic, I like muffins, and I like music, so of course I like classical music!”
Pinkie Pie logic: an oxy-genius.
“So what did you think, Fluttershy?” the black-clad mare asked her fellow pegasus.
Fluttershy didn’t reply, she just nibbled at her apple fritter.
“She’s been pretty quiet today, actually,” Twilight remarked.
“Uh huh.” Dash flicked her ear, and Fluttershy promptly took out the earplugs she’d been wearing to stop from fainting. ” What did you think of the acts, Fluttershy?”
“Oh, I think they were all very good.” She looked away from the intimidating athlete, who now had the scent of ozone and lycra to go along with her sweaty smell. Dash didn’t mind: the day had been very loud, and that one dragon costume act probably didn’t help steady Fluttershy’s nerves much.
“Yes, they were all of a very high level, but only a few looked professional,” Rarity offered. ”Big Macintosh could easily compete with some of the ‘Strong Colts’ in Canterlot theatres, Trixie --as much as it pains me to say it--” She gritted her teeth, ”did an astounding job in her pyrotechnic choreography, Pinkie Pie was….”
Currently, Pinkie Pie was chowing down on some apple pie, which broke the unicorn’s concentration somewhat.
“Pinkie Pie managed to put a high degree of class in what was still a festive act. And you, Dash, well…”
Rarity tried to find the words. She frowned in thought.
“Well?” Rainbow egged her on.
“I’m sorry, darling, but I can’t think anything to compare it to. It wasn’t just stunt flying, or just tricks. It was a full act, a persona you adopted beautifully. The only thing I could compare it to is a Wonderbolt act, and even then it was a very good one.”
Rainbow Dash smiled. Rarity, of all her friends, had seen the most of showbusiness. Hay, she literally supplied the business with more show. To get a compliment like that from her?
“Thanks.”
Fleetfoot and Soarin’ came trotting along just then. They nodded in greeting, and Soarin’ immediately licked his lips when he saw Applejack’s stand. AJ patted the counter as he turned to look at his team mate.
“Well, what are you waiting for? I know you’re hungry, I’m hungry too and I don’t have your bottomless stomach.” Fleetfoot let him go first, to which Soarin’ happily dug into some apple pie Applejack had reserved just for him. Fleetfoot herself just had an apple tart for some quick sugar after all the deliberations.
“Well? Do we get to hear who won now?” Pinkie Pie asked. Soarin’ tried to reply, but a face full of apple pie got in the way, and he kept glancing furtively toward Applejack and Big Mac. Big Mac didn’t seem to mind: he was there with Cheerilee, it’d be pretty awkward to stop someone from making advances towards his sister in front of the teacher.
Besides that, he was fully aware of the fact that his sister had no compunctions about using any overzealous stallions for target practice, the target being a tall building and her ammo being them. Soarin’ being aerodynamically built only made the red stallion feel safer about it.
“Actually, kind of,” Fleetfoot started, and she didn’t seem at all happy about it.
Without her goggles, the Wonderbolt’s eyes were clearly showing her frustration despite trying to hold it back. She looked at Rainbow Dash intently, as if to say she’d finished last for some reason. The pegasus stallion looked up from his meal, but the white-maned mare stopped him from speaking.
“We can’t declare you the winner, Rainbow Dash. Even though you were the best, we cannot publicly say you won and give you the prize.”
Pinkie Pie slammed her hoof on the table.
“This is an outrage! I demand to know who is responsible for this debookery!”
“Debauchery, Pinkie,” Twilight corrected.
“Debauchery, debookery, this is nothing but a mookery! Why can’t Dashie take the prize?” Pinkie Pie surprised Twilight with her knowledge of literary devices. She didn’t seem the type to know what a ‘mook’ was, let alone a ‘mookery’. Then again, it might have been a fluke. Pinkie was a flukery like that.
“We’ve had several reports about possible partial judging. Apparently some ponies think that we’d favour Dash because she once saved the lives of three Wonderbolts, and that her being an Element of Harmony -- not to mention tied to Celestia -- somehow makes it an unfair competition,” Fleetfoot explained slowly.
There was a collective dropping of the jaw, from everyone but Rainbow Dash herself. Everyone was thinking the same thing, though.
Trixie. Even if she wasn’t the only one, she must have at least started it.
“When I get my hooves on that no-good --” Big Mac started.
“It’s okay,” Rainbow interrupted him, ”I’m still the best, right? I did beat everyone else, fair and square?”
Fleetfoot nodded.
“By a landslide. Your act had a degree of professionalism we only see in, well, professionals. All of you, by the way. I assume one of you has had some experience in showbusiness?”
Fluttershy nodded slowly, and Rarity followed suit.
“It’s not against the rules to consort with friends, is it?” the unicorn asked, ”We all helped where we could, for all our friends.”
The Wonderbolt smiled knowingly.
“No, it’s not against the rules. But the problem remains that we cannot appear partial to any contestant. Celestia herself has confirmed it, with no small amount of regret, I imagine. So that means we award the initiation and warm-up act to the runner-up. That’s you, Big Macintosh.”
Big Mac nearly had a fit.
“Whu-wha?”
Soarin’ looked up from his now cleaned-out dish.
“Rainbow Dash was the best, Big Mac came in second. Trixie came third, then Pinkie Pie. No offense, but Trixie’s act had a little more coherence than yours.”
“None taken. I like to save up my coherence for special occasions,” came the reply.
“I can’t take that from Rainbow! She’s wanted this since she was a filly! It ain’t right!” Big Mac raised a hoof, but brought it down slowly after a collective gasp. Nopony wanted to give the Phillydelphia Institute of Seismology something to lose sleep over.
Fleetfoot looked at Rainbow Dash as everything sank in for the rest.
“Dash, could I have a word with you? In private?”
She looked at her friends before turning.
“Umm, whatever you need to say to me, they can hear too.”
“No, they can’t. I have orders,” Fleetfoot slowly took off and headed to a higher level in the sky, settling on a stray cloud with a confused Rainbow in tow. She made sure no one was eavesdropping before saying anything.
“What I’m about to say to you has to remain between us. You spill any of the Wonderbolt’s secrets, we cut you off. Forget about becoming one, forget about even talking to one or one so much as acknowledging your existence.” Fleetfoot kept her voice even, but serious.
“Well, if it’s that important, I think I’d rather not risk it. I don’t need to know.” Dash smiled nervously at her idol.
“Good. But we want you to know, we just need to keep it private, that’s all.”
“We?” Rainbow asked curiously.
“First things first: Spitfire wanted me to tell you that she’s sorry for ignoring you at the Gala. She’s promised that one day she will make it up to you, and it will be awesome. You know how it is when you get famous, right? You attract a crowd, everyone wants a piece of you and you can’t really say ‘no’. We got swarmed. That sort of thing happens every year, but we’ve never had a fan quite like you showing up at the Gala. Most of the fans we run into don't get into the VIP section to begin with, so we didn’t think much of it once you were in. All the Wonderbolts feel bad about it, but unfortunately our captain isn’t so good at apologies. I am. So now you have them.” Fleetfoot smiled apologetically.
Rainbow Dash rubbed her head, still intimidated by the celebrity.
“Wow. Apology accepted, I guess.”
“Now that we have that out of the way, I have to ask: why did you compete today?”
“Umm, to win, of course. This was the best chance of getting close to the Won-well, you. I wanna be a Wonderbolt, to join the elite.” Dash tried to find just the right words.
”I have a need for speed, and I love it when I can help ponies be all they can be. Like you: you’re the smallest of the lot, but you’re the fastest. I want to be just like you.” Dash mentally kicked herself for saying the one embarrassing thing every fan tells their idol at some point.
Fleetfoot nodded and sighed.
“I thought as much. You’re one of those ponies. You go around saying you’re the best, pull some crazy stunts, never look back or think twice about what you’re doing. And your idea of motivating is intimidating or playing on somepony’s emotions. You think you deserve a spot on the Wonderbolts because you think you’re a little better than everypony else and want to be famous. You get a kick out of the reaction you elicit, craving fame but hating it when anything hits public ears that makes you look bad, like smashing into things because you got cocky. Is that about right?”
The golden mare felt some stings in her chest at that. She nodded solemnly.
“Yep. That’s me. 'Rainbow Crash', they used to call me. Might as well still do it now.”
“You realise we have about twenty ponies of your skill level just as eager to join the Wonderbolts? None of them can do a Sonic Rainboom, true, but then neither can any of the actual Wonderbolts, so it’s a moot point. Your skills are impressive, I’ll admit, but there comes a point when everyone’s skills look more or less the same and we need to look at other criteria for admission."
"Okay, but what other criteria are there? Stamina?" Dash asked, confused.
"Not that kind of criteria, Dash. What you need to understand is: in the Wonderbolts there’s no room for overconfident flyers who refuse to listen to advice or commands and just wind up doing stupid things that endanger themselves and their friends. Not to mention make the papers on some inanity like hammy heroics or midnight wanderings.” Through all the verbal hammering, Fleetfoot never stopped smiling.
Dash’s head drooped a little now. She bit her lip in resignation. Funny how she forgot that when you're trying to become famous, that means ponies actually know what you're doing.
“I know. And I guess I knew skill wasn’t everything, too.”
“Too right,” came the reply, ”With the training methods we have, we can even turn your friend Fluttershy into a Wonderbolt in ten weeks, flat. We could break anyone down and give them a new, more aggressive personality. That’s how they did it in the old days, you know. And as for physical characteristics, a lot of pegasi have good gimmicks, some even better than yours. Our training and teamwork put us above the rest, not talent. Individual skill is what you contribute, not what gets you in. Anyone can catch up to us, if they know how. You understand what I’m trying to say? You’re just not that special.”
A nod and a sigh came. Dash raised her head to face Fleetfoot's criticism once she’d regained her composure.
“But listen to me rattling on, you already knew all of that deep down, didn't ya? How about I share a little something you don’t know: why am I here with Soarin’, and Spitfire still in Canterlot? Wouldn’t it make sense to have the captain here instead of me?”
“Err, she’s busy?” Rainbow Dash tried a hopeful smile, to at least get something good out of this conversation.
“No. It’s simpler than that: I don’t have that much exposure to my name yet. Spitfire thought it would be a good idea for me to get out and let myself be seen somewhere other than the racing track. What can I say, I don’t get out much. It doesn’t help that I’m the most recent one to join, either.” Fleetfoot kept an eerily calm expression for having chewed out her fan like that.
“But why don’t you get out more, then? You’re awesome,” Dash only just realised that despite everything else, Fleetfoot wasn’t that much older than her: only two years. Three in about five weeks, she had it marked on her calendar. That was going to be one awkward birthday card, though.
Fleetfoot smiled and beamed a little with those cute eyes.
“Be that as it may, I am also the egghead of the team. I prefer books over cameras.”
Rainbow Dash suppressed a gasp. Then she realised this wasn’t that big a deal. After all, she’d accepted that books could be awesome, and a Wonderbolt confirming it only made it official.
“So what do you read, then?”
“Mostly stuff on flying. But I can’t get around to reading much when I’m drawing a crowd, so I try to lay low when I do, or rely on fellow eggheads to get me a good hiding spot. As a matter of fact, your friend Twilight offered her room as a little hideaway while I went through my favourite again: ‘Physics of Awesomeness’. She’s a nice one, that friend of yours: let me read in quiet, away from any curious fans, didn’t even dare try to affect my judgment of you.”
Dash’s heart sank when she heard ‘Physics of Awesomeness’. Twilight had given her part 2 during her little episode. Why hadn’t she started her on part 1?
“So you were there, and you heard --”
“Your little breakdown? I did. And let me tell you something: in the short time I’ve been with the Wonderbolts, I’ve seen a few breakdowns, both in and out of the team. It’s never pretty, but it’s a nasty side effect of flying high: you feel at home racing with your head in the clouds, so you feel homesick when you’re just living your daily life.” Fleetfoot shrugged.
Rainbow Dash averted her gaze. This was pretty much the ultimate humiliation: all her flaws revealed to her idol? Nope, she couldn’t think of anything worse. Even a dragon swooping down and eating her seemed like an attractive option right now.
“Now that you know all of this, I want to give you some advice. Your prize, if you will. You deserve to take at least something home after making all that effort, so here's some things to consider, one ace flyer to another."
Rainbow Dash leaned in a little closer. Finally, something to salvage from this disaster.
"You might want to keep trying to go faster, maybe work on stamina next, since your burst is pretty much all it’ll ever need to be. And you definitely have the drive to keep learning new stunts, you should listen to that instinct to become a better flyer. But there’s just one thing I’d like you to do when it comes to becoming a Wonderbolt.”
Silence fell. Dash locked her gaze with her idol's. This would be it: the one thing she had to know to really make it. The one redeeming factor.
“Stop trying.”
At that, Rainbow blinked and checked Fleetfoot’s expression. There was no frustration, no resentment, if anything Fleetfoot was showing friendship, though that might be faked by some beauty product she didn’t know about.
“What I’ve seen these past few days is a mare who’s not afraid to admit to her mistakes, who owns up to her flaws, and accepts that even though her friends can’t follow her, they can still help her. I’ve seen you go from breakdown to elation to the calm concentration that a professional has, and still you never stopped just trying to be happy. For all your faults, you never turned your back on your dream, and you jumped at any chance you had to get it closer. You took my words to heart and then some.” Fleetfoot smiled warmly as she paused.
"You didn’t even try to make excuses for your mistakes," she continued, "and as for all those screw-ups you wish you could leave behind you? Nothing compared to what the Wonderbolts pulled before they joined, every last one of them. We have ‘The Flying Wrecking Ball’, ‘Little Miss Fizzle’ and ‘The Bane of Windmills’ on our team, and that’s just what they’ll admit to. A ‘Rainbow Crash’ wouldn’t so much as raise an eyebrow. Besides that, the team, right now, still needs some time to get used to each other before we’re as good as the previous generation. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but our track record on heroics isn’t exactly up to speed yet.” the Wonderbolt grimaced at the thought.
“What are you saying? That the Wonderbolts aren’t as awesome as I think, but I’m still never going to be good enough to join them?” Dash shook her head in confusion. She was getting mixed messages here.
“I’m saying that if you never made a mess, you’d never learn to clean it up, either. Every dumb mistake can be a valuable lesson, if nothing else a motivation to do better. It’s precisely those experiences you should share, so you can help others avoid your mistakes.”
As she said it, it dawned on Rainbow why she liked Fleetfoot so much. She was basically Twilight as a Wonderbolt, but she had some of Rarity in her as well. Thinking more about it, she figured that Fleetfoot was just the sort of pony she could be friends with: she had a little of all the Elements in her. But that didn’t help her immediate situation.
“I still don’t understand,” Rainbow squinted a little, as if the answer was flitting before her eyes.
The Wonderbolt put a hoof on her colour-shifted counterpart’s shoulder, the lycra from both giving a little static spark and a pleasant rubbing sound. She looked her in the eyes and recited the same words Spitfire once told her, and that had been passed down from generation to generation of Wonderbolts, going back to before Luna and Celestia’s rule.
“As you are, I once was. As I am, you will be.”
The full weight of what she meant sunk in. Rainbow Dash felt her heart skip a beat.
“You mean…”
“The word ‘elite’ means ‘chosen’, you know. Wonderbolts add members depending on the need, circulating in batches when the generations shift, then adding them one at a time, depending on how many squads we need and what each squad is missing. Prospective candidates have to meet certain physical requirements, but those are standardised and qualitative; you don’t get priority for being the best of the lot, only passing matters. The important thing is that you get in based on a unanimous vote. The main team only accepts those who they think they can rely on, be friends with, the ones they know they can help when the pressure gets to them. So stop trying to be a Wonderbolt, Rainbow Dash.”
The mare was a little teary-eyed at that. Fleetfoot just smiled as her fan caught her breath.
“As far as me and Soarin’ are concerned, you are a Wonderbolt. When the time comes to find a new member and found a new squad, you’ll be at the top of our list. And I know Spitfire will agree once she spends some time with you, trust me. Although I wouldn't count on her showing it right away: she knows how to put up a friendly face for the cameras and how to put up a nasty one for the cadets.” She grinned.
“I-I don’t know what to say…” Dash stammered.
“Spoken like a true champ,” Fleetfoot joked as she patted her shoulder. ”You can focus on honing your skills now, and don’t worry about getting our attention: rest assured, we’ve got our eye on you. You don’t need to go out of your way to get noticed.” She broke the contact and made to go back to the ground.
“Come on, I want to get one of those famous apple fritters before Soarin’ eats the lot.”
“He doesn’t really eat that much, does he?” Dash asked as they went back down. She’d gotten one day with the guy, but that had just raced by, and most of the talking they’d done had been in mid-flight. She'd been giddy that day, and desperate to show her moves. In hindsight, it was normal, but still a little embarrassing.
“Oh, believe me, he does. He’s done the same Iron Saddle training you have, actually, only two levels higher. You can drop a boulder on him and the ground would give before he does. As for his appetite, that’s kind of his thing, I guess. He actually likes to go a little hungry first, gives it all he’s got in training. Then his stomach gets this really unsettling growl going, but when he eats he gives you a silly grin… the same you get when you’re going at top speed, come to think of it.”
Rainbow Dash considered it. She really was just like a Wonderbolt. She’d tried to be, sure, but she never realised how close she'd gotten.
“Hey, about that, something’s been bugging me for a while. That time at the Young Flyer’s Competition?”
“You risked your life to save your friend and my team mates, that’s all that matters,” Fleetfoot insisted.
“But I didn’t really save them, did I?”
Fleetfoot slowed down a notch. Dash knew she was on to something.
“I’m friends with some of the most amazing unicorns in all of Equestria. One can bend space and time itself, the other makes dresses that even Canterlot ponies are jealous of. I’m not an expert, but they are, and I’ve seen what they can do. And what they can do tells me it can’t be that hard to weave a safety spell into your costume.”
Fleetfoot turned to her with a weak smile.
“Remote controlled rune invertors with force field action, lined into the yellow fabric. We always have a backup plan, we never let anyone fall. That doesn’t make you any less of a hero and it doesn’t change one thing about our gratitude.”
Dash’s curiosity sated, they resumed their brisk flight down. Big Mac and Pinkie Pie were still bickering with Soarin’ about the prize, but Pinkie stopped when she saw her friend’s eyes, a tear barely restrained in the speedster’s eye.
“You okay, Dashie?”
“Never been better." She beamed. ”And as for the prize: Big Mac, you should take it. At least you can give Applejack some tips when you’re done with the training. And you’d be getting publicity for Sweet Apple Acres.”
“I can’t, Rainbow. It ain’t right,” came the reply. Even Cheerilee seemed to agree.
“I can live without it, Big Mac. I got everything I wanted out of today. And if you don’t accept, then Trixie goes home with the prize,” Dash half-threatened. After all, the big lug was notoriously shy, and she felt he deserved any reward for performing the way he had.
The prospect of Trixie winning seemed to annoy Big Mac even more. He grumbled as he considered it.
“What is with that Trixie anyway? Everyone I see seems to have some sort of grudge against her,” Soarin’ inquired.
“She came by a while back with this upstagin’ stage show,” Applejack explained, ”said she was the greatest unicorn in all of Equestria, that everything we could do, she could do better. She dared everypony to do something they were good at and that she’d trump it. I tried to show her up with a lasso act, she tied me up with her magic.”
“She turned my hair green when I tried to best her in elegance,” Rarity added, ”and Rainbow was spun around and struck with lightning while she was dizzy.”
To that, Soarin’ gulped and made an angry face at Rainbow Dash.
“You were what now?”
“Nothing big; I just flew around, did some moves, and ended with a rainbow over my wings. She spun me around with the rainbow and I landed off stage. Then she zapped me a little.” The mare averted the Wonderbolt’s gaze. She didn’t see the big deal, really.
Fleetfoot leaned in to Dash and whispered.
“Soarin’ got teased a lot as a colt. The spin and zap? Not a button you wanna push.”
“You do not use lightning like that. You scare ponies with thunder, you give a little zap as a surprise when they don’t see you coming, but no pony zaps a dizzy one. It ain't proper.” Soarin’ gritted his teeth. Everyone looked over at Rainbow and Fleetfoot, clearly missing something.
“Just a shock isn't that bad, but when you get one after being spun around, it's like getting up really quick after the blood's gone up to your head. The spinning makes it easier for you to faint or get hurt when your muscles suddenly tense up. It used to be a war tactic, actually,” Fleetfoot explained.
“I can understand pranks, I can even, barely, forgive a little sabotage if the safety crew is still there to catch you.” Soarin’ must have heard of the training incident. ”But that sort of thing? Unforgiveable.”
For a moment, his line of reasoning didn’t make much sense. Then Rainbow Dash looked at Fluttershy and realised that it actually made perfect sense. Soarin’ was a pro, he knew what was safe and what wasn’t. That he could forgive sabotage with a safety crew present was probably due to him being bullied a lot.
Like Fluttershy and Dash herself, being bullied would make one focus mainly on the sort of bullying they’d endured. Rainbow Dash could tolerate a good prank, as long as it was in good fun, but anyone hurting her friends would be in dire need of a barricade. Besides, they couldn’t actually prove Trixie had done anything to sabotage her practice, and Fleetfoot probably didn’t call it out because she wanted to see Dash’s reaction. Even the Wonderbolts couldn’t just bend the rules, after all. However…
“Then maybe you’d like a little time alone with Trixie, Soarin’? A little training with you guys might help shave off some of her rough edges. And if she just happens to get a little pain along with her humble pie…” Dash dreamily looked away in faux-contemplation.
Soarin’ grinned wickedly. Even Applejack looked at him funny.
“Oh, it would be my pleasure.”
Everyone not dressed in shiny suits stared at Rainbow Dash. Applejack was the first to speak up.
“You sure you wanna let her have your prize, Rainbow?”
“You realise that means Trixie will be officially announced as the winner,” Fleetfoot added. ”You could just wait until the officials settle the matter, but if you agree to this it’ll look like she beat you. And Big Mac.”
Rainbow Dash nodded, then looked to Big Macintosh.
“I’m fine with it. She needs the lesson more than I do. My friends all know I won, and my fans all think I deserved to win. And they’ll look forward to me being even better and winning for real. That’s enough for me.”
“Mighty big of ya, Dash,” Big Mac offered. "I wouldn't mind it either, if you can promise to give that one the lesson she deserves."
“Then that’s settled,” Fleetfoot replied,” Rainbow Dash, you remember our little talk now.”
“I will. Next time you see me, I’ll be even better,” she boasted.
“I’m sure you will.” Fleetfoot helped herself to another fritter, chewing a little slower both to find the right words and avoid looking like a female Soarin’. ”You’ve got a great thing going here, Dash. If things had gone a little different, we’d be having the same conversation with our places traded.”
The other Wonderbolt nodded knowingly, and he suppressed a grin. The white-maned mare shot him a silencing look that he wisely heeded. Rainbow figured she’d hear the whole story once she made it to the Wonderbolts. For a reason she didn’t grasp right away, it made her feel a little sad.
Once I make it to the Wonderbolts.
It hadn’t dawned on her before, but that was getting closer now, almost an inevitability. She realised that if and when she did join the Wonderbolts it would probably mean moving to Canterlot, or back to Cloudsdale. There would be a day she had to say goodbye to her friends.
“Wait! Before you go, don’t we get any spoilers about what you told Rainbow?” Pinkie Pie asked excitedly, ”You know, something cool and mysterious that’ll stay with us for a few weeks?”
“What can I tell you? Just that it's advice that'll make all your lives a bit easier if she listens to it. Oh, and that if she ever wants to be as good as me,” she declared, giving her fan a proud look, ”she’ll have to get used to flying from here to Canterlot in under ten minutes. That’s about what I get on a daily basis.”
“Tuh-ten minutes?” Dash went wide-eyed. Her record was twenty-five, and that was on a good day.
“Against the wind, I might add.” She winked.
“Then ten minutes it shall be,” she saluted the Wonderbolt as she finished her meal. The two professional aces exchanged a glance and a nod, and they made their way off.
“We’ll be seeing you, Rainbow Dash,” Soarin’ and Fleetfoot waved goodbye before bursting off with their characteristic trails in tow.
Dash found herself staring in awe as they left. For once, she hadn’t made a complete fool of herself, she hadn’t gone all fangirl on them.
And for the first time since she could remember, it felt like she was really one of them.
“I think you made quite the impression today, darling,” Rarity offered. ”We’re all very proud of you.”
Rainbow Dash closed her eyes to savour the moment.
“What are you thinking?” Twilight asked.
“I’m thinking that tomorrow, I need to do another run on Ghastly Gorge to get my bearings again. I'm thinking I’ll sleep like a baby tonight knowing I’m on the right track. But what’s really going through my mind, what I’ll always remember…”
Rainbow Dash turned to face them, the ones whose looks at her never changed, regardless of her colour. Everything she’d learned, she owed to them.
“I’d never have gotten to where I am without my friends.”
The End