The Wonderbolt Tryouts

Author's Note:

I would like to apologize for my lack of air knowledge. I am a ground person, not a pilot, so flying is not something I know a lot of. If there are any pilots out there, maybe you could help point out what was wrong.
Plane was based on a plane that a WW1 pilot not far from my area talked about. He flew with what would be known as the RAF. No, I'm not British.

One shot only everyone.

Let me know of any grammar mistakes and I'll fix them right away.

Also, quick thanks to Calm Wind for letting me use his version Rapidfire

It was a bright day in Cloudsdale as Rainbow Dash had arrived for her Wonderbolts tryouts. To say she was nervous was an understatement. She felt absolutely terrified. Sure, she had flown a few planes, but today, she would be flying in front of the best pilots in the Wonderbolts, including one that she really liked. Her and this Wonderbolt had met when she first flew in front of them, but that was when she was flying among others with her five best friends watching her. She ended up proving to some bullies from her youth that she could fly and got to meet her idols that same day.

The next time she met them was when she was invited to the Grand Galloping Gala thanks to Twilight being Princess Celestia’s apprentice. She was waiting for the Wonderbolts to walk by when one of them dropped a pie that they bought from her friend, Applejack. She was able to get over to it before the pie hit the ground, helping one of her idols. Even if she didn’t get to fully talk with them, she at least got to meet them again.

It wasn’t until the Royal Wedding that she got to meet her main idol, Soarin. She wasn’t doing very much of anything when she bumped into him. He was wearing his ceremony uniform while she was in her Gala dress. At first, they were just talking, but eventually joined in the dancing when Twilight started singing “Love is in Bloom”. The two of them went near Spike and Sweetie Belle as they were dancing as well. Both Rainbow Dash and Soarin started busting out some crazy dance moves that would put a certain King of Pop to shame.

Now Rainbow was about to perform in front of them, that included Soarin. They would all be watching her fly one of the new planes that they had received from a mysterious donator. She had no idea how these planes flew, but she believed that if she could fly any plane in Equestria, these new ones would be a walk in the park, which ironically, that was exactly what she was doing at this very moment. Walking in the park near the Cloudsdale Wonderbolt Airport. The train ride had left her tired, so before she went to her tryout, she decided to come here to rest.

“Hey, Rainbow,” a voice said. “How’s it going?” Rainbow Dash looked around and saw Soarin walking towards her. Even if she loved him, she would never catch herself acting all girly like Rarity when it came to males. She prefered to act like nothing was going on and just talk. Even if she didn’t show it, she did get all girly on the inside when she ran into Soarin after the airshows. She just hid it better than Rarity. Fluttershy never got like that with her boyfriend. She was just shy around him, as was he with her. How they got together, she would never know.

“Hey, Soarin,” she replied. “Just relaxing before the tryouts. I’m a bit nervous about those new planes. I never flew them and you said that even you had trouble flying them the first time.” Rainbow remembered when he told her about the planes. They had a wooden frame covered in fabric. The only thing they changed on them was the emblem, which was two black crossed swords, to the Wonderbolts logo. It also had two sets of wings, which was also standard in Equestrian planes.

“I may of had some trouble,” he said. “But after a few minutes in the air, it just seemed to fly itself. I just had to guide it to where I wanted it to go. That plane you’ll perform in is the same one I tested out. It did tricks very well and even pulled out of a stall very quick.”

“So, I don’t have much to be nervous about?” Rainbow asked. Soarin nodded and helped her up to her feet. The two walked to the airfield and went inside Spitfire’s office.

“Rainbow Dash,” Spitfire began. “Glad to see you. You ready for your tryout?” Rainbow, despite being nervous still, nodded as Spitfire and Soarin took her to the plane she would be using. Just as Soarin said, it was one of the newer ones. It was painted blue with the Wonderbolts symbol on the wings and near the tail. She looked over it just a bit longer before Soarin and one of the mechanics began to roll the plane out of the hanger.

“You know,” said Spitfire. “It’s ok to be nervous. I was too when we first got these new planes. The same could be said for the ones that flew them. Those were the first of their kind for the original owners. They had no idea how to fly at all, but they eventually learned. Also, just between us, the one who designed these was a girl. Our old ones were made by men, but a woman designing a plane is new.” The two laughed at how the others were flying planes made by women. “One of them complained so much about the new planes, but if he heard who they were made by, he would totally flip.”

“Which one?” Rainbow asked.

“Rapidfire,” Spitfire stated. “He complains all the time how a girl is the leader of the Wonderbolts and not a guy. Soarin had to beat him up a few times, but he deserved it after what he said to Fleetfoot.”

“What did he say?” Rainbow asked. Spitfire whispered in her ear. “He did not say that!”

“He did.” Spitfire stated. They walked outside and saw Rapidfire next to Soarin, complaining once again.

“She should not even be a pilot!” Rapidfire yelled. “Women should stick with staying home being housewives.” Before he could get another word out, Soarin punched him in the face, knocking him out. Soarin looked over to his right and saw both Rainbow Dash and Spitfire standing there, jaws dropped from what they saw.

“Sorry about that,” Soarin explained. “He was starting to really push my buttons.” Spitfire just sighed as Soarin went to the judges table.

“Good luck up there, Rainbow Dash.” Spitfire said. When she left, Rainbow got into the plane and took a moment to look at the controls. There was the usual joystick and everything else in the Wonderbolt planes, but there were also a few differences, such as a button on the joystick. When she pressed it, nothing happened, making her wonder what this button was for.

After going through the usual pre-take off procedures, she started it up and got ready for take off.

“Tower to Rainbow Dash,” a voice in the radio said. “You’re clear for take off.” At that, her plane began moving down the runway. After a few seconds, she was in the air, ready for her test. “Alright, take it nice and slow for a few minutes to get used to the controls. After that, try some spins.” Rainbow did just that. While she was spinning, she found out that Soarin was right. This plane just seemed to fly itself during the whole trick.

“This plane is AWESOME!” She yelled. Soarin, Spitfire, and Fleetfoot, all of them at the judges table, heard her and laughed. They knew she would like it once she got the hang of it.

“Alright, now try a loop-de-loop.” Rainbow once again performed the trick with ease, but as she was doing a second one, she noticed her plane seemed to have some trouble for a second before it went back to normal. Every trick that she was asked to perform, she did it with great ease. “Now for the final trick. We need you to do everything you did once again to pass.”

Rainbow Dash smiled, knowing this was in the bag for her, but as she was performing the spins again, the plane begun spinning out of control.

“What’s going on?!” She tried to gain control, but was having trouble.

While this was happening, Soarin was watching her and saw that she was in trouble. He immediately rushed for his plane, ignoring Spitfire and Fleetfoot's yelling to stop. He took off and went beside Rainbow’s plane.

“Rainbow, calm down!” He exclaimed. “Listen, try turning the plane in the direction of the spinning. See if that works.” Rainbow took a deep breath and turned the joystick in the direction that she was spinning. After a few minutes, she was able to gain control of the plane again. “Good work, Dashie!” She smiled at his nickname for her. When she looked over to her right, she saw Soarin was flying just a little ways behind her, almost showing off a V formation.

“Now what?” Rainbow asked.

“Take the plane in for a landing,” Soarin ordered. “I’ll be right there helping you.” Rainbow nodded and brought the plane down to the runway. After both her and Soarin landed, they got out of their planes. Soarin ran over to Rainbow Dash to make sure she was alright.

“You going to be ok, Dashie?” He asked. She nodded just as Spitfire and Fleetfoot walked up.

“Soarin, you know that you could’ve blew any chance she had of joining!” Fleetfoot yelled. Soarin just looked at the two.

“Yes I did, but I’d rather her be alive than dead.” Soarin stood by Rainbow Dash, determined to stay by his friend.

“It’s alright, Soarin,” Spitfire began. “You did what any Wonderbolt would do. We will look into what happened to your plane Rainbow. Listen, I have to follow rules and since Soarin went up there when he shouldn’t of, I can’t let you be in the elite Wonderbolt Squads.” Rainbow Dash’s eyes began to tear up, until she heard what Spitfire had to say next. “However, we can put you as lead flyer in the reserves. So if any of us can’t fly, you get to fly with us.” Rainbow’s face lit up in joy.

“OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH!” She exclaimed. Everyone laughed and later, even Rainbow joined in. When Spitfire and Fleetfoot left, Soarin and Rainbow helped take Rainbow’s plane back to the hanger.

“Congrats on getting in, Dashie,” Soarin said. “You’ll do just fine now.” They soon brought the plane to the hanger and Soarin offered to walk Rainbow Dash back to the train that would be heading for Ponyville. As they were walking to the station, they began talking about what life’s been like for them, such as Rainbow Dash helping out a young girl who wanted to fly and Soarin dealing with his crazy teammates all day. They arrived at the station, just as the Ponyville train was about to depart.

“I’ll see you around, Soarin.” Rainbow said. Before he could say anything, she kissed him on the lips. She pulled away after a few seconds and began walking to the train. Before she got on, she heard Soarin calling out to her.

“Hey, Dashie,” he said. “How about dinner next week? My treat.” Rainbow smiled.

“Sounds good to me!” She got onto the train and went to her seat. As soon as she sat down, she fell asleep, dreaming of the date Soarin and her would go on.

Unknown to the two of them, someone had seen the entire exchange.

“I’ll get you, Soarin,” the voice said. “Just you wait.”

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