Abstracted Spectrum

by Abstract Spectrum

Chapter 8: The Last First Time

Rainbow Dash yawned, stretched, scratched her back, and did that lip-smacking thing that some ponies did when they woke up. Rainbow's eyes widened, at several things, actually. One, her morning breath tasted terrible. Two, she had her first real show today as an official Wonderbolt. And three, she actually woke up IN HER BED that morning, rather than... anywhere else.

She threw the covers off of her, and stretched again. Dash hummed a happy jingle as she trotted to the bathroom to scrub the taste of morning breath out of her mouth. Afterwards, she made her own breakfast downstairs. Her eyes widened again, suddenly she knew how to cook. Also, it was very peculiar that everything that morning so far had seemed to be going her way. She calmed down and continued eating. She didn't mind how perfect her day was so far, of course she loved it. Rather than sleep all day, Dash thought that maybe she'd head on up to Cloudsdale just to go outside. It was a strange feeling Dash had this particular morning, she felt... happy, more self-confident.

After slipping into her Wonderbolt outfit, she looked at her reflection in the mirror she kept in her room, smiled, then winked. Before heading out the front door for Cloudsdale, she stopped and stared at a picture of her and her parents and her when she was a little filly. It was at her first Wonderbolt Air Show. Slowly walking towards it, she picked it up off of the nightstand, and examined it closer.

"I've always been dreamin', been waitin', to fly with those brave ponies. The Wonderbolts, their daring tricks, spinning 'round and having kicks. Perform for crowds of thousands, they'll shower us with diamonds..." Rainbow sang in a whisper to herself.

"I finally made it. Dad, you always said I'd make it if I tried, and you were right. Mom, you never let me get discouraged, you always pushed me to try my best, and try it always. Thanks to you two, I did it. Thank you... *sniff*..." Rainbow paused for a moment, her eyes beginning to water. "Thank you both... I couldn't have done it without you." Dash finished, lightly kissing the photo. And with a final sniffle, she set it back on the nightstand.

Out the front door, she made sure the door was locked behind her, and set off for Cloudsdale. Taking a giant wiff of the morning air made her feel good, so she sped off as fast as she could to get to Cloudsdale.

Upon arrival, heads turned, all eyes were on her. Noises stopped, and not a single pegasus moved a muscle. Rainbow Dash was frozen solid at all of the ponies staring at her. She was confused, since they didn't look mad, or sad. Only blank faces. Out of the corner of her eye, an orange pegasus smiled, and clapped his hooves together. The surrounding ponies did the same, which brought a tear to Dash's eye. Walking down the main street of Cloudsdale, her ears were filled with the sounds of cheerful whistles and shouts. Rainbow looked around herself. This is what it felt like to be a Wonderbolt. Her eyes watered even more at the thought that she got to experience this feeling more often.

Clapping ponies were lined up all the way from the edge of the town to the Cloudasium, where Surprise stood waiting for Rainbow Dash. Surprise wrapped a hoof around Dash's neck, and led her through the entrance of the Cloudasium.

"What uh... what was all of that about? Is it because I'm a Wonderbolt?" Dash eagerly asked.

"Eyup, get used to it, 'cause you're gonna be getting it a lot!" Surprise told Dash.

"Wow... that's awesome!" Dash replied.

Surprise led Dash to the backstage room of the Wonderbolts, where Spitfire stood with all the other members of the team. Spitfire approached Rainbow Dash, and wrapped a hoof around her neck.

"You ready, kid?" Spitfire asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You know it!" Dash smiled.

Spitfire's ear perked up at the sound of the announcement for them to go out.

"Good to hear, let's go!" Spitfire said.

The team burst out of the curtains in pairs, Spitfire and Rainbow Dash in particular flew next to each other in this sequence.

"Let's hope all that training'll pay off! I hope you do your own stunts!" Spitfire yelled.

"Oh, you ain't seen nothin' yet!"

Rainbow took off behind Spitfire and began to show off the different moves and tricks that she created, but never tried herself. Everypony "oohed" and "ahhed" accordingly. Rainbow Dash was flying incredibly fast, it was hard to keep track of her. Especially with all of the spins, flips, twists, and turns she was doing; all at once. Unexpectedly, she somehow managed to pull off a Sonic Rainboom in mid-flight. Nearly everypony spectating the show jumped out of surprise. The other Wonderbolts could work with this. As Rainbow Dash flew away, nearly halfway across Equestria by now, Spitfire and the rest of the team managed to create a gigantic tornado produced of smoke and Rainbows. When Rainbow Dash came back, she came spinning back up through the tornado, scattering it in a large swirl of several colors. It almost looked like a galaxy from overhead.

While Rainbow Dash was enjoying herself, and her performance with the other Wonderbolts, she noticed something... or someONE, through the corner of her eye.

"What? Soarin'? What's he doing here?" Dash whispered to herself.

Soarin' was in his flight suit, still with some blood on his chest and lips from Rainbow's attack. Spitfire noticed Soarin' approaching the announcer, who stood at the microphone. She and the rest of the team, including Rainbow Dash, stopped what they were doing and just waited. Soarin' whispered something into the announcer's ear, in which the announcer stepped away from the microphone to let Soarin' speak.

"Excuse me, attention everypony! We will be having a short intermission right now, but we'll be back in a bit!" Soarin' announced. He turned his head and gestured for the team to follow him. He and the others flew back to the backstage room.

"Soarin? What are you doing here? You look like you ran into a mountain!" Spitfire said.

"What happened to your jaw? And is that... blood?" Surprise asked, placing a hoof on Soarin's cheek.

Soarin' brushed off Surprise's hoof, and took a deep breath.

"After the incident, I was out cold. Somepony took me home, I don't know who, but when I woke up, it all started coming back to me."

"What incident? What happened?" Spitfire eagerly asked.

Soarin' spat out a bloody tooth, cracked his jaw back into place, and slowly raised his shaking hoof.

"It was... HER!" Soarin' shouted, pointing directly to Rainbow Dash.

"Me? What did I do?"

"YOU, YOU DIRTBAG, YOU ALMOST KILLED ME!"

"How!?"

"You just could take a little bit of insensitivity, could you? You had to just go and use those steroid induced legs of yours, and smack me right in the freakin' mouth! I LOST NEARLY 10 TEETH BECAUSE OF YOU, AND NOW I GOT A BROKEN CHIN, YOU JACK-"

"NOW HOLD ON A SECOND!" Spitfire yelled.

"Soarin', what in the name of Celestia are you talking about?"

"After this jerk's parents died, she came crying to me about it. I told her that eventually she'd get over it, and out of freakin' nowhere, she smacks my head off!" Soarin' said angrily, spitting out another tooth. "ELEVEN!" he coughed.

Spitfire turned to Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow Dash... did you do this?"

Rainbow Dash looked down in despair.

"Well... yes... but I didn't even hit him that hard!"

"Don't you DARE lie to me! Look at this! A dis-located jaw, and two bloody teeth! What the hell do you mean you didn't hit him that hard?"

"He-"

"You could've killed him! You could've just walked away!"

"But you didn't, you PRICK!" Soarin' finished.

"Oh, that is IT!" Rainbow Dash yelled, pouncing towards Soarin', ready to attack.

Spitfire managed to counter the pounce, and pin Rainbow Dash against the wall behind her.

"This is completely unacceptable, Rainbow Dash;

YOU'RE FIRED!"

"FIRED? YOU CAN'T DO THAT! I BELONG HERE!" Rainbow Dash yelled.

"You don't DESERVE to wear that outfit!" Surprise yelled with tears in her eyes, ripping off Dash's flight suit.

"HEY!" Dash yelled back.

"GET OUT, GET THE HELL OUT! You are NEVER to come back here EVER AGAIN!" Spitfire shouted.

The room fell silent. Rainbow's cheeks puffed up. She snatched her torn flight suit from Surprise's mouth, took one last look at the Wonderbolts, and walked out.

She slammed the door, which broke both of the hinges, and threw the flight suit over her back. She took one more glance back at the door, her heart cringing at the thought of it being the last time she ever would.

Rainbow Dash walked away with her head down, as tears slowly began to arise out of her eyelids.

"The Wonderbolts... WHO NEEDS 'EM?" She yelled, shaking her hoof at the Cloudasium, hoping The Wonderbolts would hear her. She sighed as her head sulked back down again.

Rainbow sniffed as the urge to cry started overpowering her.

"I do..."

Comments

[The Real Steel]

No way this can't happen to poor RD.

I hate you/love you for this awesome story sir.

Please continue.

[Derplexity]

Getting fired for punching a person and having him lose eleven teeth? Seems pretty legit, although a pipe would definitely have done a better job...

[SolidFire]

Now that was quite the curveball to the face...I love the story and hate you for doing this to Dash. I guess this will just be one of THOSE relationships.

[CP_BEN]

Welp, time to watch Iron Chef America.