To Be a Wonderbolt

by Avabrony

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was dark-everything was dark. Somepony was screaming-a horrendous crash rang out. The screaming was getting louder- she couldn’t move- she opened her mouth

“Wake up, kid!” The train was stopped; warm light was spilling through the windows. Rainbow Dash blinked and looked around, disoriented by the nightmare. “It’s your stop.” The conductor waited impatiently as Rainbow Dash shuffled to get her belongings.

“Sorry, lots of things on my mind, you know,” she half smiled, embarrassed at her delay, “Crazy times and all.” She hurried off the train, not wanting to look any more foolish, and stopped cold in her tracks when she saw just what was waiting for her.
The scene seemed straight out of a storybook; some Pegasi were performing tricks over the arena, looping and whirling, defying any sort of preconception of what Dash had previously thought possible, others were racing around the track, the entire scene appearing to be a bizarre airborne circus sped up into a blur, but that wasn’t what had her attention. The Coliseum itself was full of the most beautiful scenery- one half of the Coliseum had shining metal bleachers, that dazzled the eye much like the racers in the arena, the other side was open, facing a deep valley, far below the edge of the structure, filled with multitudes of trees of all different kinds, scattered across the valley as though placed on the whim of an artist flinging color at a canvas. The entrance was on the final turn, with the bleachers on the right, and across from there, a cascade of water cast a misty rainbow across the back stretch of the track. In the center lay a beautiful garden, filled with every flower that one could imagine. It was all so much that Rainbow Dash almost missed her name being shouted from across the track. She quickly flew over to the caller, who happened to be none other than Spitfire.

“Hey Rainbow Dash-glad to see you made it. Nice place, isn’t it?” Spitfire smiled at the newcomer, immediately seeing how impressed she was with the venue.
Rainbow Dash could only nod dumbly at first; no words could possibly describe just how she felt about the marvelous scene. However, compelled by the urge to not seem completely unnerved, and therefore not Wonderbolt material, she quickly replied with, “I’ve never seen anything like it before.” She paused for a moment, and then, not knowing what to say, found herself asking, “When do I try out?”

Spitfire chuckled, “I like that attitude kid. Why don’t we start right now?”
A tingling sensation ran through Rainbow Dash’s body. She gulped out in a timid voice, “As in, right now, right now?” Spitfire just smiled, and Dash, with a sinking feeling, realized that there was no warming up, or resting, that this was her moment. They made their way to the starting line, without another word exchanged between them. Some other members of the Woderbolts appeared as if out of thin air, each one bringing with them a clipboard. Rainbow Dash started to shiver, thinking about how much relied on this one moment; what she would say if she returned to Ponyville fruitless. ‘There was this really cool waterfall, and you should have seen the view!’ She rolled her eyes at the thought. ‘I’ll do it for Scootaloo, heck, I’ll do it for Ponyville. I know how much they depend on me, I’m not about to let them down.’ She smiled, inspired, and set up at the line.

Everything began to slow down. The scenery no longer mattered; it was just Rainbow Dash, and the track. With one last thought towards her friends in Ponyville, she closed her eyes and cleared her mind. She heard Spitfire give her the go, and then all she could see was the space right in front of her. The wind was whipping through her mane, screaming at her to go faster; her wings burned, but she needed to go faster; her lungs ached, but still-she went faster, faster, faster. She was completely alone; the wind was her only companion. Everything else was fading away, all she knew was the thrill of the speed. Then, as soon as it began, she saw a checkered flag, and, surprised at the sight, she stopped as fast as she could, careening off into the garden and skidding to a halt next to a particularly thick patch of tulips, the last thing she saw before she blacked out

“I’ll give you 4 out of 10 on the landing, but I’ve never seen that kind of speed before.” Spitfire had already made it over to the crash site by the time Rainbow Dash had regained consciousness. “That crash looked pretty nasty-are you ok?” She extended a hoof for Rainbow Dash to support herself as she attempted to stand. After some failed attempts, she eventually found herself on all four hooves again, ready to bear the result of her flight. The rest of the Wonderbolts, who had been assessing her performance from the stands, saw what had happened and were just arriving at the scene. “Well guys, what do you think?”

Everything seemed to slow down for Rainbow Dash. The Wonderbolts seemed to move in slow motion; the only sound she could hear was a ringing in her ears from the crash. She felt tired and heavy when the situation finally registered to her-these were the Wonderbolts, and she was trying out to be one of them. The staggering blow of this realization almost made her miss the next thing that Spitfire said, a thing that she had dreamed to hear for years. “Well, Rainbow Dash, we’ve had to sit through a lot of auditions, but yours certainly stands out well above the others, and we have a consensus-You’re in.”

Rainbow Dash was speechless-it was all coming true; her hopes, aspirations, lifelong goals- she was doing it! She could barely think, let alone talk. She stood there, head pounding; the embarrassment of crashing in front of the Wonderbolts was gone. She was one of them! Suddenly, with a sinking feeling, her thoughts turned homeward, but before she could even ask, Spitfire was already addressing the issue. “Our policy is that you can do whatever, up until it is time to perform. We travel a lot-so be ready for city hopping like you’ve never known.” She smiled and patted the blue pony on the back. “We don’t start training for another week-why don’t you head on home and spread the good news? Just remember- one week. Don’t be late.” Rainbow Dash nodded and smiled ‘Finally. After all of this-you’ve done it Rainbow. You’re one of them.’ With a shout of joy, she sped out of the stadium, beaming with the success of the day, and rushed to find the next train back to Ponyville, anxious to tell her friends what had happened. Her heart was racing again, but instead of with nerves, she was bursting with joy.