• Published 26th Apr 2015
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Wonderbolt Trials and Tribulations - White Comet



Rainbow Dash finally gets the opportunity of a lifetime; a chance to join the Wonderbolts and fulfill her lifelong dream. She presumes that from this point on, it'll be smooth sailing. She was wrong...

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Chapter 26

Rainbow Dash lifted her goggles as she headed inside for lunch, just finishing her morning flying tests. She felt a little frustrated with herself as she thought she could've done better, but her mind was so preoccupied with the idea of what Blaze could've found.

She trotted along the corridor, not stopping for lunch. She just wanted to go straight to Blaze's office. But at the same time, her mind was asking what if Thunder Flash knew this would happen and take preventative measures? She could only hope not…but then again, she hadn't seen Thunder Flash since they woke up this morning. Perhaps she had already been caught out?

She unzipped the head of her uniform and took a breath before knocking on Blaze's door.

"Enter," she heard from beyond the door.

Dash pushed through and saluted to Blaze. "Trainee Rainbow Dash reported as ordered ma'am."

"As you were," Blaze replied, waving a hoof.

Dash closed the door behind her then trotted over to Blaze's desk, stopping right in front of it.

"Well, let's just say I had a hunch that your suspicions were right, Dash. I inspected Thunder's locker while you were out on your morning exercises and found a bunch of them." She pulled her drawer open and revealed a whole stack of pictures. "Probably wasn't cheap to print them either. She'll be regretting that one for a while."

Dash's face beamed. She finally had her answer. But her brow furrowed as she thought of more questions. "And...what about Thunder Flash?"

"As I'm sure you know, this kind of behaviour is completely unacceptable. She had been removed from the program and is getting ready to go." Blaze explained plainly.

Dash's jaw couldn't help but drop at the news. However, at the same time, she still felt dissatisfied with the outcome. Sure, Thunder had been a royal pain in her ass the whole time, but she always wanted to beat her fair and square. Looks like she didn't have the same idea…

"And she's actually waiting in reception. She asked to speak to you before she leaves." Blaze explained.

Dash's ears perked up, and she looked at Blaze. "Me?" She asked, confused. Surely she was the last pony Thunder would want to see.

Blaze nodded, "You don't have to, but I thought I'd let you know."

"...T-thank you." Dash stumbled. "What about the rest of the photos?"

"I've got them all here. I can imagine you want nothing better than to throw them in a fire right now…" She said, glancing down.

...Well, she wasn't entirely wrong…

Blaze glanced back up at Dash, "...But don't you want to keep at least one? It's a cute photo." She teased with a smile.

"Hehe, I guess it kinda is," Dash admitted, feeling herself starting to blush.

"I'll embarrass you later," Blaze joked, "But you better go see Thunder Flash."

"Right," Dash agreed, clearing her throat then raising her hoof in a salute. "Permission to carry on, Ma'am?" She thought it best to maintain her professional persona despite Blaze's answer being obvious.

"Carry on, Rainbow Dash," Blaze answered.

Dash nodded, "Thank you, Ma'am," she said as she turned towards the door.

She left Blaze's office and trotted towards the door into reception carefully. She gently pushed through the door, not knowing what to expect. To be honest, she was expecting some sort of surprise attack or seething rage from Thunder Flash. But as she crept in, she got none of those things. Thunder Flash was standing patiently by the door, lifting her head to look at Rainbow Dash as she walked in.

"Hey," Dash greeted, not knowing what else to say as she trotted up to her.

"Feel free to gloat," Thunder spat, breaking eye contact.

"I'm not going to," Dash replied calmly, "I'm curious more than anything. You did well to evade me to get the picture that night."

"Well it wasn't that difficult, you were pretty drunk."

Dash chuffed as she couldn't help but agree with that. "So what are your plans now?"

"I don't really know," Thunder shrugged. "Guess I'll go travelling, find Lightning. Maybe we'll work something out. Do something different, broaden our horizons. You never know, I might find something else I'm good at…"

Dash felt her heart sink as Thunder explained her plan to her. As it sounded just like something she'd do if she didn't make it into the Wonderbolts...a possibility she did her best not to think about. Thunder just sounded so...defeated...

"But I'd like to know...how did you manage to get around it? I was certain nopony would believe you." Thunder asked.

"Well, you know Thunder...it helps to have friends. Something I learnt years ago and am still learning to this day. They wouldn't believe me, but would they believe Dahlia? Comet? Bright Skies?"

"And you trusted them with your secret?" Thunder continued to question.

"Only one of them," Dash replied. "And that's what friends do."

"Hmm…" Thunder sighed. "Well, I can't really bow out gracefully from blackmailing. But I know when to admit defeat." Thunder turned, looking over at the door and took a step towards it.

"Thunder wait," Dash stopped her, taking a step forward herself. "Are we even now?"

Thunder chuffed and shook her head. "I could never fully forgive you for the pain you caused us...but from these past few weeks with you, I've learned that Lightning wasn't lying. You're good. And for that, you have my respect." She summarised, holding her hoof out.

Dash shrugged, "Good enough for me, I guess." Dash met her hoof with hers and gave it a shake. "Good luck."

Thunder nodded and continued trotting towards the door, resting her hoof on it. "Rainbow Dash, you are one amazing pegasus... I'll see ya 'round."

With that, she pushed through the door and took her final steps out. Dash held the door open with one of her hooves and watched her fly off into the distance. The clear skies giving her perfect conditions for cruising through the sky.

She kept her eyes locked on for a few seconds before closing the door. She turned around and glanced around in all directions. With nopony around to see her, she finally did what she had been dying to do since she found out the news.

"Haha!" She punched the air, a big smile crossing her face. With Thunder out of the equation, that was one pony less to worry about potentially beating her. She couldn't wait to break the news to her friends.

She trotted back towards the canteen, not only eager to talk to her friends but to get her delayed lunch. She saw her friends as she walked in, noticing that they were already pretty much finished. She got whatever was left then took a seat at the table.

"So?" Dahlia asked eagerly.

Dash made a motion with her hoof cutting across her neck. "Gone." She dropped.

"Ha," Dahlia replied, smiling. "Good riddance."

"Who's gone?" Comet asked.

"Thunder," Dahlia answered.

"That's amazing news!" Bright Skies replied. "You don't have to watch your back anymore, Dash."

"Yeah, I guess I don't…" Dash hesitantly agreed.

"What's wrong? Shouldn't this be the best news you could get?" Comet questioned.

Dash chuffed, "The best news I could get is 'Congratulations Rainbow Dash, welcome to the Wonderbolts!'" She jested, mimicking Spitfire's voice, earning a few laughs from her roommates. "But no, I was just thinking...it almost seemed a little too easy…and she's just gone...like that."

"What did she even do to get herself kicked out anyway?" Bright Skies asked.

"I dunno," Dash lied, shrugging to make it look convincing. "She wouldn't spill the beans."

"Well, hopefully, I can be a better rival for you now," Comet replied, a smirk on his face.

"Me too," Dahlia joined in.

"Me three," Bright Skies added, getting in on the competitive streak. "And let's not forget them, too," she motioned to the table next to them where Forester, Live Wire and Bourbon were sitting.

Dash looked over at them, idly chatting away. Blaze had warned her about them, and they were proving to be skilful opponents.

"I wonder how they rank up against us," Bright Skies asked.

"Obviously very well, they made it this far." Dahlia deduced.

"Yeah…" Dash half-heartedly chimed in, not really paying attention to the conversation. She seemed more focused on her other opponents who appeared to be conversing amongst themselves. Although she didn't have to try hard to hear Live Wire speaking, his voice obviously never came with a low volume setting. Although he wasn't talking about anything particularly juicy. He was sporting a green and yellow long cut mane covering one of his eyes, with a blue coat.

Dash looked over at Forester and Bourbon, who looked like they were being talked at rather than with. They didn't seem to care too much with food in their mouths, though. Forester had a dark green coat with a brown coloured mane, a similar shade to tree bark. While Bourbon was more of a pale brown or copper coloured coat with a cherry red mane long cut mane.

A tiny part of her brain almost suspected them of continuing to conspire against her, but she knew now that Thunder had been made an example of, that wouldn't be happening. Plus Live Wire wasn't exactly a discreet talker. Him going quiet would be more suspicious.

Dash couldn't put her hoof on it, but her instincts were telling her to watch herself around them. Bourbon and Forester came across the most intimidating to her. It was apparent they all had the skills to back themselves up. Otherwise, they wouldn't have made it this far. She recalled what Blaze had told her. Bourbon had a way with words that made him a terrific trash talker. While Forester was quiet and reserved and would rather let his flying do the talking.

It wasn't long to go now, and the competition was heating up. Dash would have to watch her back...

Author's Note:

Well then... :rainbowderp:

Rainbow Dash's biggest challenge is now out of the way...or is it? She's still got to prove herself in the remaining final tests, and her competitors have proven themselves very skilled.

Not to mention Soarin's got a big decision to make. He doesn't want to be seen as being biased in his viewpoint, so what will he do about Dash? I'm sure Blaze will give him a helping hoof like she always does. :rainbowlaugh:

This chapter is pretty short, but I didn't really want to just stick it on the end of chapter 25 because the time skip doesn't flow naturally enough IMO. This seemed like the best solution.

Thanks for reading! :twilightsmile: