The Winning Failure

by marley

Chapter 43

Chapter 43

“Rainbow Dash!” said the mayor with relief. “There you are and your friends too. I was worried about you showing up! Come here, there is a lot to go over.” She led Rainbow Dash and Firewing away and went over the itinerary for the celebration. Fluttershy waited patiently in front of the hall for them to return. It didn't take Rainbow Dash long to become visibly bored, though Firewing was polite and attentive.

“Now then, what about the show you're going to do?”asked the mayor.

Firewing nudged Rainbow Dash.

“Oh yeah, well, we'll fly out to the field from here,” said Dash. “That will give us a chance to warm up a little. Firewing will open the show and do her routine. When she's done, Fluttershy will join her and they'll do a short sky dance while I fly up to performance altitude. After they land, the DJ will start my music and I'll perform.”

The Mayor frowned. “Excuse me, did you say Fluttershy was going to perform too? I don't know if I like that idea.”

“I'll need a partner to do the sky dance,” said Firewing. “We practiced yesterday and this morning. She did well.”

“Besides,” added Rainbow Dash, “we have to fill out the show a little or it will be kinda short.”

Mayor looked at Fluttershy doubtfully. “If you say so. I know she's a friend of yours, Rainbow Dash, but wouldn't another pegasus be better?”

“She'll be fine,” insisted Dash with more confidence than she actually had. “Besides, it's too late now. She's the only pony that knows the routine.”

“Well if you insist, I suppose she'll have to do,” agreed Mayor Mare.

“Fluttershy is a good enough flier to do a simple little dance,” said Firewing. “Don't worry.”

Mayor Mare decided to take Rainbow Dash's and Firewing's word on Fluttershy's skills. After all, they were both Wonderbolts and should know these things. “Fine. The ponies are gathering and it's almost time to start. Have your friends stand off to that side of the porch. I'll introduce Twilight after I say a few words and she can introduce the rest of your friends if they want to say anything. When they're done, I'll introduce you both and you can address the crowd as you wish.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Dash.

“When you're done, turn the stage back to me and you can head out to the field to get ready for the show,” said the mayor. “I'll tell the crowd to go to the field and also about the after show party. All set? Then lets get started.”

“Hey Fluttershy! Twilight! AJ! Rarity! Pinky Pie! Come up here!” called Dash.

Twilight and the others came forward. “I guess we're about to start.”

“Yep, we're supposed to stand over there,” said Dash.

“I know, the mayor gave us a walk through earlier,” said Twilight. “She was pretty put out that you weren't here.”

Rainbow Dash laughed. “Yeah, well, I didn't think we needed to spend a couple hours on something that should only take a couple minutes. Besides, Firewing had to get her new suit.”

“Those sure are some pretty duds, Firewing,” said Applejack. “Rarity, you really did a great job.”

“Thank you, Applejack,” replied Rarity. “I tried my best.”

“I can hardly wait for her to do my new one,” said Fluttershy.

Mayor Mare began the ceremony. “Everypony, may I have your attention please. As you all know, we are here today to celebrate the appointment of Rainbow Dash to the Wonderbolt's Team. Some of you probably didn't believe her when she said she was the best flier and that someday she'd be on the team but here she is, their newest member!”

The crowd cheered and applauded. “She also brought a friend along home with her, Firewing a fellow competitor and also a new addition to the Wonderbolt Team. Please give her a warm Ponyville welcome, Firewing!”

The crowd applauded again and Firewing stepped forward and waved to them. “Some of Rainbow's close friends would like to say a few words before I introduce our guest of honor. Here is a pony you all know, our talented unicorn librarian, Twilight Sparkle.”

The crowd applauded as Twilight came forward. “Thank you Mayor Mare. Most of you have known Rainbow Dash longer than I have but in the short time I've been here she has become a close friend. She is the most loyal, wonderful friend a pony could hope to have. That's why we were dreading her return from the try outs; we knew she would succeed and move away to Cloudsdale. We wanted her to win but we didn't want to lose her. Happily, when she returned, she told us that she not only joined the Wonderbolts but was also chosen to be their first solo aerialist. What that means everypony, is that she gets to stay here in Ponyville!”

The crowd erupted in cheering. Rainbow Dash was stunned at the reaction and deeply moved. “I want to keep this brief as I know all of you really want to hear from Rainbow Dash herself,” continued Twilight. “Applejack, Rarity, Pinky Pie and I couldn't wait to find out how the try outs were going so we got together and secretly sent Fluttershy to Cloudsdale to see if she could find out anything. She did a good job and made three flights back and forth to Cloudsdale to keep us informed. She also found out some things none of us expected. Fluttershy, could you please say a few words?”

Fluttershy stepped forward. “Hello everypony. I didn't really want to spy on Rainbow Dash but after what I saw and heard in Cloudsdale, I'm glad I did. Most of you have seen the Wonderbolts perform and have seen their amazing stunts so you must know how good a pegasus has to be in order to get into their group.

On the second evening of the competition, Rainbow Dash and Firewing started performing little shows when they came back from the training area. The next night there where a few more and the last two nights all the contestants performed, even the ones that had been eliminated. They were all very, very good. It was just beautiful to watch. Rainbow Dash and Firewing are two of the best of the best and pretty soon we're going to get to see them perform.”

The crowd cheered and Fluttershy ceded the stage to Twilight. “Thank you Fluttershy. Applejack, I believe you wanted to say something.”

Applejack stepped forward. “I reckon so. When I first met Rainbow Dash I thought she was talkin' a lot of hooie most of the time. Always sayin' how she was the best and braggin' about how good she could fly. But the more I got to know her, the more I realized how good she really is. Now I know that it ain't braggin' if you can back it up. Congratulations Rainbow Dash, and you too Firewing, you made believers out us.”

The crowd cheered again and Pinky Pie is introduced. “I just want to say how great it is that Rainbow Dash is staying here in Ponyville. It made it easy for me to plan the best celebration ever! Meet back here after the show and join in! Oh! And it was my idea to send Fluttershy to spy on Rainbow Dash.”

“Rarity, who designed the beautiful flight suits Rainbow Dash and Firewing are wearing, is next,” said Twilight as she continued the introductions. “Rarity?”

“Thank you Twilight,” said Rraity. “Rainbow Dash isn't the easiest customer I've ever had. She's especially hard to fit because she can't stay still long enough to get proper measurements.”

The crowd laughed. “I guess she is just made to move. I'm glad she can, because she used her incredible speed to save my life once, even though I had done some things that ruined a lot of her hard work. She is the most loyal and forgiving of ponies and I'm glad that I'm her friend. I'm looking forward to seeing her first public performance since becoming a Wonderbolt just as much as you all are so I'll let Twilight introduce the pony you really want to hear from. Thank you Rainbow Dash, and welcome home.”

“Thank you Rarity,” said Twilight. “Mayor Mare, I think you have some introductions to make.”

“Thank you Twilight,” said Mayor Mare. “I think it is indeed time that we heard from our guest of honor. Rainbow Dash, on behalf of all the Ponies in Ponyville, let me offer you our heartfelt congratulations and best wishes in your new career. Everypony, I present our guest of honor and new member of the Wonderbolts, Rainbow Dash!”

Rainbow Dash went to center stage and dragged Firewing along. “Thanks everypony! I really appreciate this. This is just tooo awesome! I want to start out by explaining what I'm actually going to be doing with the Wonderbolts because there seems to be a little bit of confusion. First of all, there were actually four open positions on the Wonderbolts, not one. A great pegasus named Windyday from Canterlot took the first regular spot on the team. Wait until you see her fly. My good friend Firewing here took the second regular spot and will be starting her training in a few weeks. She'll be performing this afternoon and you're really going to enjoy her show. The Wonderbolts created a new position that an old friend of mine from Cloudsdale, Frost, will be filling. She will be the first reserve Wonderbolt and will fill in just in case one of the other Wonderbolts can't perform.

My real position is another new one. They asked me if I wanted to become a regular Wonderbolt or be their first solo aerialist and I chose the solo position. I'll be the opening act and also perform during intermission at all the Wonderbolt shows. They asked me to do it because I had the most awesome individual performance and I'm going to perform it for you this afternoon!”

The crowd cheered and Rainbow Dash continued. “Even though I'm a great flier, I would never have made it to the finals without some help. If it hadn't been for Firewing here, I'd have been sent home in disgrace. She showed me all the things I was doing wrong and how to do it right. Everypony, give a big Ponyville welcome to my good friend Firewing!”

The crowd cheered and a somewhat embarrassed Firewing came forward. “Thank you everypony. I've never been to your wonderful town before and I'm so glad Rainbow Dash invited me. Every pony here has been so nice and has made me feel right at home. Rainbow made it sound like it was me that got her into the finals but it worked both ways. Without her I wouldn't be a Wonderbolt right now either. We teamed up on the first day and helped each other all week. She taught me how to fly faster and showed me the special trick that I used in my individual routine. I just couldn't have made it without her. Thanks Dash.”

The crowd cheered again and Firewing continued her speech. “Something else you should know is that there was an unfortunate incident on Monday. During the first day of the tryouts, one of the competitors flew recklessly and injured another pony. Rainbow Dash flew to assist the injured pony and then stopped one of that pony's friends from attacking the pony that caused the accident. She was a real hero that day.”

“One more thing, a lot of ponies don't seem to respect the new position of solo aerialist. The Wonderbolts created the position so you don't have to watch a bunch of lame opening acts and boring intermissions. They all agreed that Rainbow Dash is the most talented flier they ever saw and was the only pony for the job. If she hadn't accepted the job it would have been offered to me and you would have been disappointed. She could do a great job as part of the Wonderbolts team, but there is no way I could put on the kind of individual shows that she can. You'll see what I mean this afternoon. Something she also forgot to mention is that she is a reserve Wonderbolt and will be flying with the team if needed.”

“How did I forget that?” said Rainbow Dash. “Thanks Firewing. I have nothing else so I'm going to turn the stage back over to the Mayor so we can go get warmed up for the show. Thanks again and we'll see you there!”

The Mayor took the stage and addressed the crowd, telling them of the plans for the rest of the afternoon. Rainbow Dash and Firewing went over to Fluttershy and the three took off and headed to the field.