• Published 3rd Jun 2014
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Piercing the Heavens - Calm Wind



Sequel to Flying Sky-High. A lot has happened, but now Rainbow Dash finally has a chance to fulfill her dream and become a Wonderbolt. As the process begins, will her relationship with Soarin be a blessing? Or will it be a curse?

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Chapter 28 (Part 2: Wonderbolt Life and Love)

Part 2: Wonderbolt Life and Love

MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind

Chapter 28:


A buzz of excitement surrounded the Ponyville station platform as the morning train arriving from Canterlot chuffed and chugged into the station.

All of Dash’s friends as well as Derpy, Bulk, Scootaloo and Rumble were waiting impatiently for the train as it slowly came to a complete stop. Wide smiles became wider as the group caught a glimpse of two familiar silhouettes moving through the train car before them. It was an early morning arrival from Canterlot on a weekday. It only had two passengers.

Dash and Thunderlane stepped out.

Their friends erupted in cheers, all except for Applejack, who looked mortified at the beat up state Thunderlane was in. He had a bandage or two still wrapped around him and bruises that were so bad they were visible through his dark fur.

They didn’t know whether or not Dash and Thunderlane had been recruited yet, but they didn’t care. They were at the moment just happy to see their friends return safely.

Amidst the cheering though, Dash simply grunted and shook her head while averting her eyes from all of them. She had no reason to be happy, and neither did they. She got stiffed. All that effort and all that praise… got her a recruit spot. What was the point of being the best ranked cadet if it didn’t land her the holy grail of her life’s dream? It was pointless. At least that’s how it felt now.

The cheering became hushed as Dash and Thunderlane approached the group. Why? Because Dash was clearly very upset. She was leaving her mood out in the open for everypony to see. Why hide it? She felt cheated.

“What’s the matter, darling?” Rarity was the first to speak up as she approached Dash. Dash didn’t say anything. Rarity eyed her carefully then gasped. “Oh no! Don’t tell me they didn’t accept you!” the single gasp became a collective gasp as the whole group zeroed in on Dash. Due to her lack of willing communication though, Thunderlane answered for her.

“Actually…” Thunderlane smiled proudly. “We both got recruited!”

The collective worry was instantly flipped upside down as smiles spread across all of them… except for Applejack who looked mortified.

“B-both?” she stuttered, but was immediately cut off by—

“YEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!” Bulk roared out while flexing as hard as he could to the point where it looked like his eyes were going to pop out. His battle cry was followed by cheers from the rest as they advanced to give hugs and pats of approval. Scootaloo sped in front of the rest directly up to Dash, smiling and bouncing giddily and Rumble landed on Thunderlane’s back.

“You’re the best, big bro!” Rumble cheered as he hopped up and down.

“OOF! AH! Whoa there little dude!” Thunderlane scooped up Rumble with his wings. “Careful, I’m a little beat up…” he admitted with a chuckle. Over by Dash, Scootaloo looked like she was going to shoot up into the sky like a firecracker.

“Dash! You did it! You’re a Wonderbolt! That’s so awesome!” she floated up and stared at Dash with wide, almost sparkling eyes.

Dash’s expression remained upset with the slight glare still in place as well. All of her friends sensed this as they approached and even Scootaloo caught on after a second. They all stared at Dash, beyond confused.

Dash didn’t want this. She failed. No wait, she didn’t fail… she did everything she needed to do. Soarin’s the reason she didn’t get chosen.

“Yeah, sure…” Dash finally spoke. Her tone was harsh, cold, and unpleasant. “I’m a recruit… a stupid, insignificant recruit…” she continued as her friends all looked between each other. “Whoop-dee-shit!” she finished and walked right past Scootaloo and began moving around her friends. Fluttershy stepped out with a face wrought with concern.

“Dashie? What’s wrong? EEP!” Fluttershy squeaked as Dash roughly pushed her aside.

Dash just shoved Fluttershy.

Shoved.

Fluttershy.

Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie all gasped.

“HEY!” Applejack quickly moved to Fluttershy’s side and rested a hoof on the little pegasus’ back as she trembled slightly in disbelief. Applejack glared in Dash’s direction as she trudged out of the station. Pinkie Pie bounced over to Fluttershy as well to get a look at Dash as she left.

“What’s up with her? I thought this was what she wanted! She’s sending me mixed signals, it’s making my brain hurt!” Pinkie said as her tone grew from calmly concerned to overdramatic within three sentences.

Indeed they were all curious. Some were a little angered as well. Not only did Dash completely scoff at their personal homecoming welcome… but she just shoved Fluttershy! Seriously! Who shoves Fluttershy?! A heavy sigh from Thunderlane grabbed their attention.

“She’s been like that since last night…” he began while shaking his head. “She was the number one ranked cadet all three days, but she wasn’t selected to be the new member of the elite squads,” he explained. Twilight and Rarity glanced at each other before Rarity spoke up.

“But… she’s a recruit… right?” she asked.

“Yeah, but I’m sure you can tell she expected more,” Thunderlane tipped his head back and forth and rolled his eyes. He turned and looked at Bulk and Derpy. “She lost the spot to Storm Front.” Rarity blinked as the name went in and out of her ears with no registration.

“Storm Front? Who’s—” She was promptly cut off.

“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!” Derpy leapt up and threw her hooves up into the air. “Storm became a full Wonderbolt! Oh my gosh, WOOHOOO!!!!!” she cheered triumphantly and began flying in circles around Bulk as he yelled out a hearty ‘yeah’ along with her. Rarity blinked and glanced back down at Thunderlane.

“Long story,” he chuckled.

Twilight had her eyes locked on the path leading from the station. She caught a glimpse of Dash lifting off and taking to the sky. She looked back towards Scootaloo, who hadn’t moved since Dash had stiffed her praise.

This wasn’t right. There was more to this than what lay on the surface. Dash had been cranky and grumpy in the past, and at times had lashed out physically, but she had NEVER, EVER, done so to Fluttershy. Twilight entertained the idea that Dash may have done something that caused her to lose the elite spot. It was just a hunch, but Dash did have a tendency to be… impulsive. She frequently got herself into situations that could have been avoided if she had thought before acting. Twilight was well educated in the Wonderbolts system. The only reasonable explanation was Dash either said or did something that they didn’t like… maybe both. The extra anger though? Twilight was more than certain a certain stallion was involved too.

That settled it. Twilight decided to wait a little while to let Dash get situated, and then question her. She and the others would get to the bottom of this.


Soarin quietly grunted and gritted his teeth as he pressed the heavy weights up above his chest. He was counting in his head with each repetition.

8…

9…

10…

“Haaaa!” he exhaled loudly as he slammed the barbell back into the bench rack and quickly sat upright. The horn lightly tapped against the bar as he sat up, but it was enough to make his head and neck move unevenly. “Argh! Dammit!” He grunted as the small collision sent a wave of discomfort through his head. He shook his head out and blinked. There were five other Wonderbolts nearby who were staring at him in confusion. “WHAT?!” he snapped at them. They all flinched and scurried away quickly.

Soarin was getting a hard gym workout in. It was something he usually didn’t do so early in the morning, but he fell asleep uneasy, didn’t sleep well, and woke up angry.

What was with Dash? She had absolutely no right to treat him the way she did. He did everything the way he was supposed to and she came up barking at him for it. It was like it was more about her than the Wonderbolts. It was selfish and unnecessary. Then on top of it all, she brought their relationship into the picture, questioned his love for her after all he had done to show it, and walked out on him.

His heart was torn in two. Half of it was sad, the other half was angry. The imbalance of his emotions had been doing weird things to his magic. It refused to behave itself. He had already singed the ends of a large recruitment poster in the lobby by accident. With no other place to turn and no urge to see anypony else about it, he went right to the gym. Nothing helped clear his mind and focus more than pumping iron.

It was kind of working. While it helped the magic calm down, he was still pissed. Dash had struck nerves. Nerves that were going to sting for a while.

“Sheesh Soarin…” a voice behind him made Soarin jump in surprise. “Mood swings now too? Did you get pregnant on top of all this princess stuff?”

“Fleet…” Soarin growled as he looked over his shoulder and saw Fleetfoot leaning on the barbell he was just using. “I’m not in the mood.”

“No shit,” she rolled her eyes. “You’re scaring off everypony that comes near.

“How about you follow their example?” Soarin threatened while narrowing his eyes at her. She just lifted an eyebrow, unaffected by his sharp glare.

“Doesn’t work on me Soarin. I don’t care if your nose is shooting fire and lightning, you don’t scare me,” she put flatly, with an air more serious than the usual Fleetfoot. Soarin rolled his eyes, grunted in annoyance, and turned back. Before Fleetfoot could say anything else, he laid back down on the bench and went for the bar. “HEY!” Fleetfoot quickly pressed all her weight down on the bar to keep him from picking it up. “I’m talking to you!”

“I’m busy,” Soarin glared up at her from the bench.

“Too damn bad! I’m—Whoa!” Fleet suddenly grabbed onto the bar as Soarin growled and forced the bar up with her added weight on it. Fleetfoot quickly spread her wings and lifted off from the bar. She pouted down at Soarin as he pumped the weight up and down again. She patiently waited for him to finish before she floated back down again. “Quit being an asshole!” she snapped at him.

Soarin visibly cringed.

Asshole…

It was still fresh in his head, and the reason he was doing such a hard workout in the first place.

“That didn’t look healthy…” Fleetfoot referred to the twitch. She blinked as she realized something. “Oh… damn, I didn’t think about that…”

“About what?” Soarin grunted while slamming a hoof against the bench in frustration.

“Dash,” Fleetfoot said simply.

“What ABOUT Dash?” Soarin grinded his teeth together, trying desperately to control his temper. Fleetfoot sighed while staring at the back of his head.

“You two weren’t very quiet last night you know…”

“It’s none of your business,” Soarin quickly fired back.

“Oh, I think it is!” Fleetfoot exclaimed as she came around and sat down on the bench so Soarin wouldn’t be able to use it.

“What, are you going to tell me I did my job wrong too? That’s pretty much what she did. Of course you’d side with her, you chose her for the elite spot,” Soarin grumbled continuously. Fleetfoot suddenly smacked him upside the head. “GAH!” Soarin turned and glared at her. “What the hell, Fleet?”

“Just shut up. Look at it this way Soarin… I can sympathize with Dash a little bit here. I believed she was what we needed in the Wonderbolt ranks. Did I get what I wanted? No. She clearly had a strong belief she would be chosen. Did she get it? No. We both got rejected in this process, but unlike Dash, I accepted it. I acted maturely, I didn’t flip out,” she paused as Soarin snickered.

“Thinking of you and ‘mature’ in the same sentence…” he couldn’t help but crack a smile despite his mood. He ducked as Fleetfoot’s hoof went over his head. “Nice try, OOF!” she came back around and jabbed him in the side.

“You shouldn’t have blown up at her,” Fleetfoot continued.

“What was I supposed to do?!” Soarin threw his hooves up in the air, getting gradually more frustrated with Fleetfoot.

“Not blow up at her,” she repeated.

“Fleet, are you trying to make me mad?” he really couldn’t scrunch his face any more than he already was, but she was making him want to try.

“I dunno, if you couldn’t handle it without yelling, you should’ve told her to take it up with Spitfire,” Fleetfoot suggested calmly, but Soarin growled with anger.

“I DON’T need Spitfire to do everything for me Fleet!” he quickly retorted. She huffed and glared.

“Soarin, calm down.”

“No! I’m tired of both of you treating me like I can’t handle any ARGH!!!” Soarin threw a hoof to his head as the horn began to glow brightly. Fleetfoot immediately sprang up. This is exactly why she wanted him to calm down. It happened much faster than expected. She ducked beneath the bench. “RGH!!!” Soarin grunted as his head lurched around. A few Wonderbolts nearby all stopped what they were doing, saw what was happening, dropped their weights and took cover. Most had heard about Soarin’s little incident in the hallway a few days ago. “AHHH!” Soarin lurched his head to the left and a stream of magical energy burst from the horn, zipping across the gym and completely frying a squat rack against the far wall.

Lightning Streak walked in right after the incident, turned right, blinked as he saw the squat rack broken and mangled, and shrugged.

“Guess I’m skipping leg day…” he said as he turned and left.

“Gaaaah… ha…” Soarin panted and wheezed as his head throbbed with pain. Fleetfoot peeked out from underneath the bench just in time to see Spitfire burst into the gym and look around. Spitfire hovered up into the air, saw the squat rack in shambles, scanned the gym, and quickly saw Soarin sitting across the room with a small trail of smoke rising from his horn. She furrowed her brow and slowly flew over to him. As she approached, she struggled to keep her eyes locked on Soarin’s face.

“Soarin!” She yelled his name as she approached. A small hue of pink crept onto her face as she scrunched her face. “What the hell happened? I thought you had control over that by now!”

“Rainbow problems,” Fleetfoot said as she stood up from beneath the bench. Spitfire glanced at her, then back at Soarin as he finally looked up to acknowledge her. Spitfire’s eyes kept darting to his body then back up.

“The stuff last night?” she tipped her head, showing concern on her face. Soarin groaned.

“Oh great, you heard it too,” Soarin shook his head. He just wanted to get back to lifting, or at least try. His head legitimately hurt after that. He hoped he’d be summoned for magic training again soon, because apparently emotional outbursts had a drastic effect on it.

“Of course I did, I…” Spitfire gulped and her face turned slightly pinker. “I was in my room, the walls are thin, remember?”

Fleetfoot blinked as she watched the two converse. Spitfire was acting… different.

“Look, I don’t want to talk about it right now,” Soarin forced himself to calm down. “Things were said, and shit happened… I came in here to forget about it. Sorry about the magic,” he averted his eyes. Spitfire could not avert her eyes. In fact, she lost the battle with her eyes and was now staring directly at Soarin’s muscles. He had been lifting weights and doing so hard, as he always did. He had built up quite a sweat and of course his muscles were all pumped from heavy lifting. He looked up and saw her staring at his body. “Spitfire?”

“Ah!” she pulled her head back and looked straight up at the ceiling. “Yes! Magic! Accident! Don’t do it again! Etcetera! I have to go!” she turned and bumped right into another male Wonderbolt.

“Oh! Sorry captain!” he quickly apologized. Spitfire looked him up and down, carefully. She slammed her eyes shut and shook her head.

“Uh… Yes! I mean no! No worries!” she kept up her pace towards the exit while keeping her head down and blushing madly. Soarin just watched in confusion. Fleetfoot on the other hand had an idea. One that she hoped was right for her own entertainment’s sake. Then… the perfect indication.

Wave Chill turned walked through the door right as Spitfire was reaching to open it. Her nose ran square into his chest. He grunted and blinked as he looked slightly down at her. Spitfire yelped and looked up at him, her pupils shrank considerably and her face turned completely red. Wave instantly stiffened and stood attention, saluting her.

“Uh, good morning captain!” he forced. Spitfire’s tail suddenly twitched uncontrollably.

“Bingo!” Fleetfoot said to herself.

“What?” Soarin looked at her briefly before looking back just in time to see Spitfire nearly run over Wave Chill as she scurried out of the gym.

“Oh, you understand Soarin… unless you really did turn into a princess,” she giggled. “Spitfire is having some… mare issues. If you’ll excuse me, I must observe the rarely seen, flustered captain of the Wonderbolts!” she winked at Soarin before chasing after Spitfire.

“What?” Soarin blinked and scrunched his brow. What was Fleet— “Oh…” Soarin blinked, putting it all together. The dead giveaway was how she suddenly looked him all over while blushing… then did the same to the other stallion… and then Wave Chill… “Ohhhhhhhh…!”

Wow… awkward. Soarin had been around before when Spitfire was… dealing with it. Looks like Fleetfoot was right… now that she had Wave Chill as a factor…

Also, wow. Talk about a close call. A day sooner and she’d have been dealing with it during the tryouts… that wouldn’t have ended well.

This was going to be a long couple of months for Spitfire… this was one of those times Soarin was glad he wasn’t a mare.


“Alright! Fine! I’m coming!” Dash whined as Twilight pushed her out the door of her cloud house.

“Oh dear…” Fluttershy squeaked and moved out of the way as Dash took control of her movement. Dash turned and glared at Twilight.

“Why the hell do you guys need me anyway?!” she spat as Twilight remained perfectly calm, yet stern.

“We’re all getting together at Sweet Apple Acres. You’ll be leaving for a while soon, so I don’t think we’re getting many more chances to all hang out together. I’m not gonna let you sulk in your house when you have friends who want to support you,” Twilight explained while remaining in control of her emotions. She wanted to smack Dash upside the head for being such a bitch at the train platform, but she didn’t feel like that was the right approach… yet.

“Ugh! Fine!” Dash sighed in frustration as she took off in the direction of the farm. Twilight shook her head in frustration.

“Come on Fluttershy,” Twilight beckoned her to follow. Fluttershy whimpered.

“She’s not… going to push me again… is she?” Fluttershy shivered. Twilight glanced towards Rainbow Dash as she flew further and further ahead, before landing beside Fluttershy.

“I won’t let her,” Twilight assured her. “She needs all of us whether she likes it or not.”

“O-okay…” Fluttershy reluctantly spread her wings and lifted off. Twilight followed close behind as the two flew after Dash.


Dash grumbled and growled to herself as she landed right outside the main barn of Sweet Apple Acres. She didn’t want to be there. She had no reason to be there. She knew what was going to happen. They were going to try and pry her for information while claiming they were just worried about a friend. They were too predictable. Why did she let Twilight convince her?

Dash slowly trotted towards the open door as Twilight and Fluttershy landed behind her. She didn’t even look at them as she heard the patting of their hooves behind her. She kept her eyes forward and walked into the barn, immediately spotting Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie. Pinkie was mid-punch line.

“Then I open the oven and notice the cupcake liners had fallen off. The cupcakes all look up at me and scream!” Pinkie waved arms back and forth in the air. “But it’s too late! I’ve seen everything!” Pinkie burst out laughing and began rolling around on top of a bale of hay as Applejack and Rarity just glanced at each other in utter confusion. Rarity blinked and glanced over Applejack’s shoulder, causing Applejack to turn and look as well. The two stared towards Dash in the doorway.

Pinkie just kept guffawing her lungs out.

“Come on Dash… In,” Twilight said as she lowered her head and pushed Dash into the barn by the plot. Dash was ready to retort, but held it in. She wasn’t even going to argue about being there. She knew it would be a losing battle before it even began. She obeyed, walked in, and took a seat on a bale of hay near the others as they all settled in and Pinkie finally stopped laughing.

They sat in complete, awkward silence for a whole minute before Dash finally got fed up.

“Well?” she threw her hooves out. “You dragged me out here, I’m waiting!” she gave each of them a hard look. Fluttershy squeaked and hid behind Rarity as Dash’s eyes fell on her. Rarity stepped up first.

“Darling…” Rarity pouted as she shifted and reached a hoof around to comfort Fluttershy. “What has you all…” she paused, trying to figure out the best, non-blunt way to describe Dash’s mood.

“Superbitch?” Applejack put bluntly. Dash’s eyes snapped to Applejack, who met Dash’s glare head on with her own. Twilight quickly stepped between them, giving Applejack a firm look of disapproval first before turning to Dash.

“Rainbow Dash…” Twilight began as Applejack rolled her eyes. “What happened during the tryouts? You left with high spirits and got recruited… but then you come back and you’re suddenly—”

“A SUPERBITCH!” Pinkie appeared to the right of Twilight with very wide eyes and a very wide smile. Twilight didn’t even look at Pinkie. She just extended her right wing and shoved it down over Pinkie’s head before continuing.

“You’re suddenly bitter and cold to us despite your achievement?” she finished uninterrupted. Dash rolled her eyes.

“Twi, the elite spot. I didn’t get it,” she answered simply.

“But you’re a Wonderbolt now Dash. Regardless of rank, you’ve become what you always wanted!” Twilight quickly pushed the subject further. Dash growled and lashed out.

“There’s a huge difference between being recruit and being an elite! I showed the lead squad everything! I was the top recruit! I wasn’t chosen! It was bullshit!” she stood up and pointed. "How could you know how that feels, huh Twilight?! You’re an amateur flyer! You’ll never know the feeling of your blood sweat and tears being turned down like that!”

“SIT DOWN!” Twilight’s magic came to life. It surrounded Dash and forced her back to the bale of hay. Dash glared at her through the aura, but something about Twilight’s expression intimidated her. She found herself being overpowered by the young alicorn’s gaze. “Dash… that was one of the most selfish things I have ever heard anypony say!” she stepped forward and glared harder. “How many cadets showed up to the tryouts?” she suddenly asked. Dash blinked, feeling compelled to answer.

“Three hundred…” she answered quickly.

“How many are now recruits?” Twilight immediately asked.

“Twenty…”

“So…” Twilight backed away a little bit. “You are one of twenty recruits chosen from amongst three hundred others who dreamed of becoming a Wonderbolt… and you’re pissed off?!” Twilight slammed her hooves to the ground. “Do you understand what you’ve accomplished?! There are pegasi out there who will NEVER have the chance you have right now! Not to mention there are those who are thankful they are at least able to fly! Like a certain little orange filly who looks up to you! Who you owe an apology for being so cold to at the station!!!” Twilight looked away slightly and panted steadily to catch her breath. She didn’t like doing this, but she also hated seeing her friends forget some of the most important lessons they’ve learned through their lives.

Dash just looked down. She was angry. She was so very angry, but Twilight was right… as always… damn egghead. She was being a bitch, taking her anger out on everypony else.

“This isn’t the Rainbow Dash I know,” Twilight began again after catching her breath. “What else happened?” she suddenly asked. Dash’s eyes widened and her head shot up, ready to protest, but she fell prey to Twilight’s stern gaze again. “The Rainbow Dash I know would NEVER act this way… something else is causing this. Tell us.”

Dammit Twilight.

Dammit, dammit, dammit! Dash just had to be friends with the damn princess of friendship… an expert on everything related and flawless at reading moods and mannerisms. It was impossible to hide things from Twilight. It was both a blessing and a curse, but Dash wasn’t quite sure which one it was this time.

“Soarin,” Dash said while puffing her cheeks out and looking away from them.

“CALLED IT!” Pinkie yelled, slightly muffled by Twilight’s wing feathers.

“What ABOUT Soarin?” Applejack pressed.

“The asshole chose against me,” Dash gritted her teeth as she brought it up. The collective surprise that ran through the rest of her friends was less about Soarin not selecting her… and more about how Dash referred to him.

Asshole.

Whenever Dash was grumpy about a pony over something small or easily fixed she usually referred to them as a jerk. It wasn’t only the word choice, it was the way she said it. Her tone was full of hate and malice.

“What?!” Twilight blinked and stared in disbelief. For a moment Dash felt relief… because it seemed like Twilight shared her feelings. Only she wasn’t done speaking. “Dash, how could you call him that!?” she added. Dash instantly growled.

“He threw me to the side! He saw firsthoof what I could do and didn’t choose me! ME! After all we’ve been through together and all the lovey dovey crap! He turned on me! I hate him!” Dash shouted as she flared her wings out.

“Dash… I can’t believe what I’m hearing!” Twilight tipped her head while looking towards Dash with her mouth agape. She was about to continue, but a hoof landed on her shoulder. She turned to see Applejack.

“Sugarcube, how ‘bout ya sit down and let me handle this,” she suggested to Twilight as Dash sat back down and turned away from them.

“But…!”

“Sit,” Applejack repeated while looking down at Twilight sternly. Twilight sighed and gave in. She backed up and sat down, removing her wing from Pinkie’s head as she did so. Pinkie popped up and sprung slightly into the air before landing softly on her hooves. Applejack glanced at Pinkie. “Pinkie, can ya make a Pinkie promise with me?” she asked. Pinkie’s eyes lit up and she bounced up and down in place.

“Oo! Oo! I love making Pinkie promises!”

“I know, so make this one with me. No matter what I do right now, I don’t want ya to do anythin’ to stop me… and make sure nopony else stops me either. Aight?” Applejack asked while making the comical Pinkie promise gestures.

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” Pinkie gladly recited the words that went with it.

“Good, I’m holdin’ ya to this one aight?” Applejack nodded to her.

“Of course! I never break a Pinkie promise! EVER!” Pinkie proclaimed loudly and proudly.

“I know…” Applejack turned towards Dash as Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy wondered why Applejack made the Pinkie promise.

Applejack took a deep breath, exhaled, locked her eyes on Dash, and slowly walked towards her. She casually approached Dash, who was still turned away from all of them, and lightly tapped her on the shoulder.

“WHAT!?” Dash turned and barked at Applejack, but she wasn’t facing that way for long.

Applejack wound up… and punched Dash across the face as hard as she could. A strong blow to the left cheek. Dash yelped in pain and was sent tumbling to the floor. Twilight and Rarity gasped, standing from their seats immediately as Fluttershy shrieked and dove behind a hay bale.

“APPLEJACK!!!” Rarity yelled as she and Twilight began sprinting towards her. They were both suddenly put into headlocks by Pinkie Pie and forced to the ground.

“Pinkie?! Let us go!” Twilight shouted as Dash got up, glared and charged at Applejack.

“I can’t!” Pinkie shouted painfully while biting her lower lip. Twilight grunted and looked towards the two fighting. They were now grappling and after a few seconds, Applejack connected another punch to Dash’s other cheek, sending her to the ground again.

Twilight and Rarity both channeled magic into their horns, both with the intent of separating them. However, as they tried, their magic was suddenly snuffed. They looked up at their horns to see a cupcake shoved over each of them.

“PINKIE!!!!” Twilight shouted.

I MADE A PINKIE PROMISE!!!!!!” Pinkie slammed her eyes shut and shook her head as she held them down.

Applejack and Dash were grappled again. Dash was confident she could beat Applejack after she won the hoof wrestling contest… but she couldn’t make up for how tired her body was from the tryouts. Eventually, Applejack had pushed her all the way back against a wall, pinning her there.

“What the hell Applejack?!” Dash finally spoke up. “Fine, does this make you feel good?! Does this make you happy?! Don’t worry, I’m used to it now! Even those I care about the most seem to turn on me!”

“SHUT UP!!!!!” Applejack belted in her face while pulling Dash forward and slamming her back hard against the wall. “Are you even listenin’ to yerself?! I can’t believe the words I’m hearin from yer sorry trap right now!” she berated Dash. “After all the shit ya went through t’be with him and all the pain ya suffered to protect an’ fight beside him… yer gonna dump him to the curb cause he made a professional choice? It’s his damn job Sugarcube! If he didn’t choose ya, it’s because ya did somethin’ that didn’t sit well with what they were lookin’ for! That sounds like YOUR fault! Not his!”

“S-SHUT UP!” Dash shook her head, small tears beginning to squeak out. “How could you know how it feels!? I did so much for him! We did so much together! He turned on me! He barred me from my own damn dream!” Dash was yelling whatever came to mind. She could barely think straight.

“Newsflash Rainbow Dash!” Applejack cut her off. “Was Soarin the only one that decided!? Ya said the lead squad got the final choice, right?” she asked. Dash blinked. Applejack was right about that. She nodded in response. Applejack glared harder. “Well guess what?! That means Spitfire and Fleetfoot chose too! Since ya didn’t get the spot… one o’them, or both o’them, didn’t choose ya either!”

Dash’s eyes snapped wide open. Applejack… was right. There were three of them so Soarin couldn’t have been the only one to decide against her.

“Yer makin’ excuses Dash! Yer pointin’ the hoof at somepony and blaming it on them cause there ain’t no way YOU could be wrong, Celestia forbid! Yer tellin’ me yer gonna let Soarin go cause YOU can’t accept yer own faults!? That’s pathetic!” Applejack swiped the back of her right hoof around and smacked Dash across the face. “You’re pathetic!”

Applejack felt Dash’s attempts to force against her cease. Applejack let go of her and Dash fell onto her plot while clutching her face with a hoof.

“APPLEJACK!” Twilight yelled to her as she continued to struggle in Pinkie’s grip. “This is NOT the way to handle this!” she claimed. Applejack glanced back at Twilight briefly, then back at Dash while shaking her head.

“I beg ta differ Twi…” she said as Dash continued to rub her pain filled cheeks and began to quiver slightly. Applejack took a step towards Dash and looked down at her. “I’m the element of honesty… Honesty is all about tellin’ the truth," she reached down and tipped Dash’s chin up so she was looking her in the eye. “And sometimes… the truth can hurt… it needs to hurt.”

The tears were now flowing freely down Dash’s face. She felt broken with absolutely no will to retort. Her head was filled with anger, anguish, and confusion. Everything Applejack said was right, but she refused to accept it. The refusal was stinging her nerves. Why couldn’t she see it the way it was? She was too proud.

Without another word, Dash sprung up to her hooves and ran out of the barn. Applejack made no move to stop her. Dash burst out the doors and took to the sky, disappearing from view quickly.

Applejack sighed and shook her head. She did what she needed to do. Now the rest was up to Dash. SHE had to see things the way they were. Applejack could only guide her towards the path. She couldn’t make Dash walk it.

Applejack quickly made her way over to Fluttershy to let her know she could come out. Fluttershy stepped out and frowned.

“Now don’t look at me like that,” Applejack averted her eyes.

“That was mean,” Fluttershy whined.

“You’d rather I let her keep treatin’ us that way?” Applejack shrugged.

“No, but… I’m going to talk to her later… she’s being scary, but I’m her friend,” Fluttershy stated with a nod.

“Do what ya gotta do, I ain’t gonna stop ya. Just give her some space fer now,” Applejack patted Fluttershy on the head.

Applejack blinked as she heard noises of struggling. She glanced over and saw Twilight flat on the floor, Rarity lying flat on top of her, and Pinkie sitting on top of both of them.

“Ya can let ‘em go now Pinkie…”

“Okay…” Pinkie bounced off of them and landed on her hooves. Twilight immediately stood up. Rarity shrieked as she rolled off of her back and landed roughly on the floor. Twilight stomped up to Applejack and glared.

“That didn’t help at all!” Twilight growled. Applejack stood her ground.

“Y’all wanted to play patty cake with her,” she rolled her eyes as Twilight shook her head.

“I’m going after her,” she stepped towards the door but Applejack grabbed her and stopped her. “Applejack…” Twilight glared at her and her magic sparked over her horn.

“Let her be for now,” Applejack ordered.

“Why?!” Twilight turned and gave her a look of confusion and disbelief.

“Um…” Fluttershy actually spoke up from behind Twilight. Twilight turned and blinked. “Actually… please leave her alone… I agree with Applejack,” she said very quietly. Twilight looked back to Applejack with her ears flattened out straight. Applejack shook her head as she trotted over to the door and looked up into the sky.

“This is her problem Twi… not ours. She’s gonna be on her own again soon. She won’t be able t’rely on us there, so we should let her figure this one out herself. Sooner or later she’s gonna have t’be mature and see things by how they are, not by how they affect her personally.” Applejack turned and looked at all of them. “This is her fight.”

--- To Be Continued ---

Author's Note:

Phew! Got this out just in time! ^_^

I didn't want to leave you guys completely hanging for another week, so here is the intro of part 2!

Looks like Dash has to take a good look at herself eh?

And oh man... Spitfire... control thy mare urges... xD

Alright, my one week hiatus starts now :)

Hopefully it will help my brain rest and i can get back to my usual turbo updates :3

Thanks for all the support!!!

I hope you all enjoyed! :)

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