2 years later...
Rainbow Dash soared through the air, the wind rippling through her mane. She laughed, a huge, happy laugh, that came deep from within her. Today was the day! The Wonderbolts were coming to Ponyville, and they were recruiting! She knew she would stand a better chance than anypony, just as long as she performed her 'Sonic Rainboom'. She couldn't understand why she didn't just get chosen for the job though. After all, she did save their lives and perform a Sonic Rainboom all at once! Although, everypony deserves a fair chance.
She began practicing her stunts. She performed 3 perfect loops in mid air. She flew as close to the ground as she could, the fresh spring grass grazing against her belly as she did so. She soared high up into the air, as high as she could get. Ponyville was just a spec in the distance. It was so beautiful, she would have stayed up there all day if she could! The rainbow maned filly took a deep breath, and dived downwards. She pushed and pushed. The wind pulled at her face and stung her eyes with tears. She couldn't remember pulling off this stunt without being a little scared. The ground inched closer and closer to her. At the last minute, she slowed and was flung backwards into the air. She screamed as she realised she couldn't open her wings. She had been thrown with such a force that the only thing she could do was sit and hope she would be OK.
Applejack was working in the fields at the time. She was just about to kick off from work when she saw a small screaming thing falling from the sky heading closer to her. She squinted, trying to make out what it was.
"Rainbow Dash?" She puzzled. As it drew closer she saw it was definitely her. She wondered if this was part of her act to perform to the Wonderbolts or something. Being an earth pony, she wasn't sure.
"What the hay?!-" She shouted, realizing that this wasn't an act. Applejack was about to run but Rainbow Dash landed right on top of her! Applejack squirmed and managed to break free from under her. She sat up in a daze. What was that filly playing at?! Suddenly, she realized Rainbow was unconscious. She quickly laid her in the recovery position and ran to get help. Maybe Twilight could fix her with her magic or something.
As Rainbow Dash lay there she began to dream. She was tucked up in a bed. It wasn't her bed, she was in some strange room in some strange place. One thing was certain, she wasn't in Equestria anymore. A creature came into the room. He smiled and tucked her in. Without realising she said,
'Why am I going to bed so early?'
'Because tomorrow I'm going to teach you how to fly.' The creature replied.
'Oh, well, goodnight then Daddy. I love you.' Daddy? That 2 legged gangly thing was her Daddy?!
Suddenly, her dream was cut into. Ponies were calling her name.
"Rainbow... Wake up Rainbow..." Slowly, her eyes flickered open. Standing before her were Applejack and Twilight. They were both looking incredibly worried.
"Are you OK Rainbow Dash? You started murmuring something in your sleep." Twilight asked anxiously.
Rainbow Dash sat up, "D...Daddy?" She mumbled.
"What in the hay are y'all talkin about Rainbow Dash? I ain't your Daddy!"
"No... I was in this room... and my Dad was there. He said he was going to teach me how to fly..."
Twilight stared at her in shock. How did she remember? "Rainbow... your Dad died ages ago... Perhaps this had something to do with The Wonderbolts?" She said, desperately trying to change subject. She hated lying to her friend like that, but it was the only way to protect her.
"THE WONDERBOLTS!" Dash shrieked, "I almost forgot!" And without another word she zoomed off into the distance.
"Ah can't stand lyin' to that girl anymore! I'm the element of honesty!" Applejack turned to Twilight crossly.
"AJ. You know it's for her safety!" Twilight replied, "I'm sure it's not what you think it is..."
Twilight Sparkle paced up and down her library, wondering what to do. She couldn't even convince herself that she had misunderstood Rainbow Dash. If she was having memories about her father, then something was wrong. How could Celestia's magic be wearing off?
"It seems the only logical thing to do would be to inform the Princess... she'll know what to do!" Twilight rushed to her desk, picking up a paper and a quill. Using her magic, she urgently began to write.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I am writing to inform you of an urgent matter regarding Rainbow Dash. You see, she got into an accident and landed on her head. She woke up from the dream talking about her 'Daddy' and him teaching her how to fly. As you can tell, this is an urgent matter that needs to be addressed immediately. We cannot allow Rainbow Dash to think any further about this, at the risk of putting everyone in danger. That is why I came to you. What should I do to distract Rainbow Dash from this situation?
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle. x
Rainbow began to panic. Was she late? Had she missed them? She flew through Ponyville with urgency. She passed Derpy the mail pony, she appeared to be the only pony in town!
"Derpy!" She cried, "Are the Wonderbolts here yet?"
"Not yet." She replied, "Come on, we'd better hurry up and get there." Derpy quickly abandoned her mail outside Sugarcube corner and followed Rainbow Dash. Normally, Dash would have scolded the Ditzy mare for making such a foolish mistake. But today she couldn't have cared less.
Rainbow Dash and Derpy pushed to the very front of the stage. They ignored angry shouts from ponies. Dash knew it was rude of them, but nopony had been waiting as long for this day as she had. She had never had such a strange mix of excitement, anxiety, and confusion. The confusion was of course, about her dream. She had no idea why she had dreamt about that, and on today of all days! She shook her head. No, today she was going to have to push it to the back of her mind. She had more important things to focus on. Minutes seemed to slow down as she waited for the Wonderbolts to arrive. It was like they were never going to get there!
Finally, the town Mayoress stepped out onto the stage.
"Ladies and Gentlecolts!" She began, before quickly adjusting the microphone. "I know you are all just as excited as I am for this big, big day. As you all know, one of you lucky ponies will be selected to join our favourite flying team! Now, all the way from Canterlot, I proudly present..."
Rainbow Dash bit her lip. 'Here is comes!' she thought.
"THE WONDERBOLTS!" The mayoress cried. Then, from behind the stage three pegasus ponies shot through the air, leaving a large trail behind them. Rainbow Dash whooped and cheered louder than anyone else. She had met them before, but the sight of her heroes never ceased to amaze her. They flew straight overhead, and Dash managed to leap up and touch a soft feather of Spitfire's bright orange wing. The three ponies did a few more loops in the air before landing back on stage again.
"Hello everypony!" Soarin' shouted, "Thank you all for coming out here today!" Everyone cheered. Dash screamed.
"Now, as you know, today we will be recruiting one pony from Ponyville to join our team!" Rainbow Dash shrieked in excitement. It was about to happen. As long as she pulled off a sonic rainboom, then she stood a chance of winning!
The competitors lined up on stage. Rainbow Dash was about to climb onstage when a guard stepped in front of her.
"Excuse me Miss. You don't have a number." Rainbow checked her back. She was in such a rush, she had forgotten her number! She began to despair. This day could change the rest of her life, and something as stupid as a number was going to screw everything up! Suddenly, a bright orange pegasus mare in a tight, blue and yellow suit came striding over to them.
"It's OK Jim. I saw her get it. It must have fallen off. Here you go Rainbow Dash."
"Thank you!" Rainbow replied, overcome with joy. Hurriedly, she hopped on stage. She was the last pony to compete, stood next to a tall stallion. He seemed strong, athletic, and very smug. He looked down at her and sneered.
"What are you supposed to be? You think you can just walk up here with your fancy rainbow mane, become best friends with the Wonderbolts and win?!"
Rainbow Dash stared at him in shock. "I trained for this the same as everypony else!"
"Oh yeah, you were that dumb filly who fell out of the sky trying to perform a 'sonic rainboom' or something." He replied mockingly. After meeting the friendly competition, Dash knew that she needed to win this. He was judgy, mean, and not a very nice pony to work with! Besides, ponies like him didn't deserve to win! Well, she'd show him! If he knew who she was, he'd know she was one of the most prestigious flyers in all of Equestria! He was just some dumb rookie. She hadn't even seen him at any of her flying competitions!
As pony after pony competed, Twilight Sparkle still paced in her library. It had been an hour since she had sent the letter to the Princess. She usually replied straight away. This was more serious than she thought. If a pony got into the human world again, they could not be as lucky as Rainbow Dash was. Twilight had studied humans for the past 2 years since the day they brought Dash back. They were strange creatures that would probe, torture, imprison, and dissect a pony at any chance they got! It wasn't safe for Rainbow to remember her past. She might try and go back to him, which would only lead to a disaster. They could, supposedly, bring him into their world... but by now he had probably forgotten all about it anyway. Perhaps she was just over reacting... or maybe she wasn't...
The stallion was next in line for the competition.
"Flame, please step up to compete." The putrid stallion walked onto the stage to join the competition. The judges nodded at him to begin and he leapt into the air, spreading his wings wide. Rainbow Dash didn't want to watch, but she couldn't help herself. Unfortunately for her, he was an expert flyer. He did a perfectly straight upwards line, then zoomed downwards, performing 3 precise loops. Dash noticed that his cutie mark was a flame. Oh, how original! For his freestyle, he began flying in a circle. He flew faster and faster. Rainbow Dash wondered what he was doing at first. But then she saw it, the flicker of a flame. He flew back down towards the stage again. He had set a ring of cloud on fire! He flew through it. Forwards, backwards, figures of eight. You name it, he did it. He landed back on stage again, took a bow, and left. He sniggered at Dash as he walked past her. She glared at him. He could go ahead and laugh- she'd show him!!
"Rainbow Dash, please step up to compete." The loudspeaker sounded. Suddenly, her world seemed to slow before her very eyes. Her once in a lifetime opportunity had come. She stepped onto the stage. The judges nodded at her to begin. She flew up into the air. She was nervous, and had too much power. She had flown too far up! She knew she would lose marks if the judges couldn't see her. Panicking, she quickly flew down and began 3 shaky loops. Her precision was terrible. She came too close to the ground and scraped her stomach. Wincing in pain, she thrust her wings, and shot skyward.The only thing she had to rely on now was her freestyle. She hovered in mid air for a few seconds, and took a deep breath. All her life she had admired the Wonderbolts. Now was her chance.
Flying back down again, she flashed. Suddenly, she saw an image of herself as a filly. She was at a rundown park. It looked nothing like Ponyville. The man was there again. She was going to perform a sonic rainboom. "Remember, never slow down! Trust me! You'll be fine!" He called out to her. Filly Dash dived down. Doing as he told her, she sped up. With a loud 'BOOM', she flew back up into the air and landed into his arms. She had broken the sound barrier! On her flank, there appeared a cutie mark of a cloud and a rainbow lightning bolt.
Present Dash opened her eyes again. She looked at her flank again. 'That isn't how I got my cutie mark...' She thought. Snapping back, she drew closer and closer to the audience. The mans words rang in her head again. 'Don't slow down. Trust me'.
"I will Dad." She said. The wind rippled her mane and stung her eyes with tears. Instead of slowing out of fear, she sped up. This was a risky move. If she didn't perform the move correctly, she could land on somepony, and seriously injure them her herself. She ignored every impulse in her body and pushed on. She HAD to do this. She was still falling, closer and closer towards the audience.
With all her might, she pushed herself up and zoomed toward the clouds.
BOOM!