Why?
“Bit for your thoughts, darling?”
Rainbow Dash shook her head, her eyes focusing on Rarity’s smiling face. “Huh, oh nothing,” she said. “Just wondering when I’ll get my own statue in the palace gardens,” the lie fell easily from her lips, “Dash the fastest pony alive!” She spread her forelegs wide, framing the scene.
Rarity giggled. “Well it’s nice to see that today's events haven’t dented your ego Rainbow.”
“Hey when you’re awesome, you’re awesome. Being framed by one of my old heroes won’t change that.” She gave a rather false grin.
Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Well, my merely fabulous self has been invited to a dinner with Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis, would your awesome self care to accompany me? I’m sure the hosts wouldn’t mind one more guest, Photo Finish, Spitfire and Soarin will be there as well.”
“No thanks Rarity, you know how much I hate that sort of thing, I’m going to fly a few laps round the city, need to make sure I’m at my best in case the Wonderbolts need to call me up again.”
For a moment Rarity looked like she was going to argue, then she shrugged. “Of course, just don’t spend all your time training, you should have some fun as well. I’ll see you later, darling.” She took off towards her suite, no doubt to spend the next few hours deciding what outfit to wear to the dinner.
Left alone Dash left out a sigh before leaping into the air, her wings catching the breeze and quickly raising her high above the city. It hadn’t been her future statue that had been on her mind, although the castle gardens would be the perfect place for one now that Discord was no longer resident, it had been Wind Rider. How could he have done that to her? Framed her, almost gotten her thrown out of the Wonderbolts.
Banking through the sky she crashed through a cloud bank, the fluffy substance leaving a trail in her wake.
She’d used to look up to him, she thought, gritting her teeth in anger, he’d been one of the heroes plastered over her walls alongside his peers. Of course she’d only been a little filly when he’d retired, but still he’d always been her idea of the perfect Wonderbolt, fast as lightning, skilled, honourable. It felt like a personal betrayal, Why? Why had he done it?!
Stopping for a moment she tried to still her mind as she sighted a large thunderhead a few miles away, it would make a good target for a training run. Stretching out her wings she surged towards it, jinxing around or spinning over any other cloud that got in her way, flashing forwards at an ever increasing rate.
Why? The question flashed back into her head as the wind tugged on her mane. Just to protect some record? Sure she was proud of her own accomplishments, of her records, but to backstab a colleague to stop them from beating you? It wasn’t right. There had to have been more to it than that, didn’t there?
Momentarily distracted, one of her wings struck a passing cloud bank, disintegrating it instantly, but the slight drag pitched her off course sending her rocketing past her target rather than through it as she’s planned.
Snarling to herself Dash swept around and kicked out at the black cloud resulting in a rumble of thunder. That had been a filly mistake! She couldn’t afford to get so distracted.
But she still had to know why!
Turning on a jangle Dash spun around and flashed back towards the palace. It was unlikely, but maybe Wind Rider hadn’t been thrown out of his suite yet. Maybe she could find him, ask him, make him, tell her why he’d done it.
Then maybe her mind could rest.
Within a few minutes she was back inside the castle. She touched down in one of the courtyards hard enough to make her hooves smart, and to crack a few tiles, before galloping down the corridor leading to the guest suites. She cornered a servant who fearfully confirmed that Wind Rider was still in his room, although the guard planned to kick his sorry ass out in the morning.
Coming to a halt Rainbow tried to decide whether to knock or just bash the door down. The decision was taken out of her hooves when she realised that the door was actually slightly ajar.
“Hey! Anypony home?” she called loudly as she carefully pushed it open and peered in.
The only source of light was a flickering lamp which cast crazy shadows around the room barely revealing the figure of Wind Rider slumped over a chair. Rainbow gagged, the room smelt like two bars had gotten into a fight with a brewery.
“Oh, it’s you!” slurred Wind Rider blinking against the light from the door, “Has the wondrous Rainbow Dash come to kick me while I’m down?” His scarf, still stained from his treachery, hung loosely around his neck, while his jacket, with the tear where his insignia had once stood proudly, was thrown aside onto the nearby bed. The stallion upended a bottle into his mouth only to find it was empty, and tossed it aside. The area around him was covered with the remains of the rather generous mini bar the room had come with.
For a moment Rainbow wanted to swoop into the room grab the ex-wonderbolt and shake him until the world made sense again, but the sight of the clearly broken stallion stopped her in her tracks.
“What? No clever remark?” he continued staring at her with red ringed eyes. “I suppose I should be thankful that someone cares enough to even want to see me, Spitfire, Soarin and the rest didn’t even bother to do that. Just tossed me aside and forgot about me. Twenty years I gave them, twenty years, show after show after show, and what am I left with? Nothing.”
Dash didn’t know what to say, she hadn’t expected this, she’d thought that he’d argue, maybe even fight, she didn’t know what to do.
“I guess I should thank you kid,” mumbled Wind Rider straightening up. “Let me give you some advice from somepony who knows.” He took a deep breath. “Welcome to the Wonderbolts, your life's gonna suck, get used to it,” he grinned.
“What!” exclaimed Dash, “No way, being a wonderbolt is sweet!”
“Oh sure it is, it’s great being a wonderbolt, look how I ended up,” he gestured around the darkened room, “oh, right, I guess I’m not a wonderbolt anymore. Sure, it’s great while you’re on top, but it doesn’t last. Look at me! No family, no friends, nothing!” He spat. “Welcome to my life!”
Rainbow frowned, was that right, she couldn’t remember, but surely he had a partner or somepony. “Hey... it’s... it’s not that bad,” she mumbled, this wasn’t how she’d expected things to be. “You must have somepony, you’re... you were a Wonderbolt! You had thousands of fans!”
“Oh yes,” he smiled bitterly his eyes unfocused. “I had so many friends. So many simpering sycophants, but not one ever really knew me! I was a real stud back in the day, a filly in every town, back when I was somepony.” His gaze dropped to the ground. “But one day... one day I woke up in another hotel room and I... I just wanted somepony to talk to, really talk to, somepony special, not just another fan filly, not just another bed warmer, and I realised there was nopony.” He snorted. “What did I even have to talk about? When did I ever have time to talk anyway? No time for me, no time for friends, just train, train, train!”
“It’s not like that!” insisted Dash, “Sure you had to work hard, but you should have had time for your friends as well.”
He pushed himself off the chair and lurched forward, Rainbow had to force herself not to back away and he approached unsteadily. “Sure, you’ve got time now, you’re young, but give it a few years, sooner or later you’re have to make a decision, your friends or your fame. You're still a reserve, hasn’t it ever occurred to you that if you really gave it your all you’d be a full wonderbolt already? If you want to be the best you can you have to give it your all, friends are just a distraction!”
“No, way! I can train and have time for my friends, I’ll be a wonderbolt soon. I’m that awesome!” insisted Dash, a slight quaver in her voice. She’d thought similar things a few times when her dreams had seemed so distant but... no she could have it all, she was Rainbow Dash!
Wind Rider gave a bitter laugh and staggered towards the light switch, hitting it with his muzzle more by luck than judgement. The room was suddenly illuminated causing Dash to blink. Every flat surface was covered by trophies and medals. She gasped in astonishment and pointed at a particular trophy with a hoof. “Is that the Quadruple crown?” she asked, “And that's the Canterlot Million medal!”
“I won it twice!” said Wind Rider with fleeting pride. He picked himself up and for a moment looked like the stallion Dash had thought him to be, until he had betrayed her.
“You’ve got all this dude,” she gestured around the room. “Why did you throw it all away just to stop me breaking a single record? Why?”
“That record was all I had left!” he snarled turning back towards her teeth bared. “The crown, I won it once, Spitfire has two!” He grabbed a scroll from the pile, “Academy long distance record! Surprise broke it two years later!” he threw it aside. “Youngest winner of the sun cup, Rapid Fire was two months younger! Fastest time over ten furlongs, Fleetfoot did it two whole seconds quicker,” he smashed the trophy aside with a hoof sending it bouncing off the wall. “All of it gone! The long distance record was all I had left! When Spitfire said you’d take that from me as well... I had to do something, I had to have something left! For twenty years' work, for my life!” He stood panting.
“Look,” said Dash reaching forwards. “I get why you might be angry with me, but telling Spitfire her mom was sick? That’s so not cool!” She didn’t know what she’d do if something happened to her dad. It had been awhile since she’s last written to him, she’d hoped he’d be able to make the show but he found it harder to get about than he’d used to.
“Not cool! My mother died while I was away on tour,” he snarled, ”She... she died.” The anger seemed to drain from him. “I just carried on, the job came first! I... I had to, I couldn’t stop or I’d fall behind.” Dash recoiled in astonishment. “My father never forgave me for not being there,” continued Wind Rider almost to himself. “He didn’t understand what I’d have to give up. He never talked to me again! I’ve got a sister somewhere, I’ve not seen her in years.” Anger flashed in his eye’s again. “I gave the Wonderbolts everything! Everything! And what did I get in return? I was tossed aside once I wasn’t the best anymore!”
“Dude...” exclaimed Dash in shock.
“It’ll happen to you as well you know!” he cried his legs starting to give out under him. “There’s always somepony faster, somepony younger, somepony hungrier!” He slumped to the ground and looked up at her. “You’re what twenty two, twenty three?”
“I’m twenty five,” said Dash pacing uncomfortably on the spot.
“It’s getting harder already right? Every day it doesn’t come as easily as it used to, every injury takes a bit longer to recover from.” Dash shook one of her hind legs, it ached a little from her earlier landing, but she kept quiet.
“Give it another year or two,” he continued, “and there'll be a new filly looking to take your place, just a bit more talented, you’re tell yourself you don’t care, but you will! Then she’ll break one of your records, maybe a minor one, one you never think about anymore, but once it’s gone, it’s gone, and you’re tell yourself you don’t care, but you will! Then you’ll turn around one day and realise there’s nothing left, you’re surrounded by foals half your age, everyone of them better than you. They’ll tell you you’ve had your day, that it’s time to leave. The wonderbolts are the best of the best, no space for a decrepit has been! Oh, they’ll say how proud they are of you, how they’ll never be half the stallion you were! You probably think that you’d be remembered, that the fans will still follow you? But who follows a burnt out ex-wonderbolt? You’re gone and forgotten, no one cheers for you anymore! Nopony!” His head hit the ground and he started to sob quietly.
“Dude,” whispered Dash kneeling next to her fallen idol gently resting a leg over his back. “I remembered you, you were my hero, and I wasn’t the only one.” The stallion looked up for a moment before his head sunk once again to the ground.
Dash sighed “I already know it’s not going to last forever.” The stallion looked up again in surprise. “But that won’t stop me being as awesome as I can, for as long as I can,” said Dash her cocky smile returning. “I even know who’s going to replace me, there’s this kid called Scootaloo back in Ponyville, she may never get off the ground, but the things she can do with that scooter of hers,” she grinned, “she’s definitely gonna be a champ,” pride glimmered in her eyes, “and there’s this filly called Loop-da-loop, she’s the cutest little thing, not even going to flight camp yet but she can do things I never could at her age.”
“It’s easy when they’re foals,” mumbled Wing Rider from the ground, “When they worship the wind beneath your wings, but wait until they’re competing with you, when you’re the old fossil they need to beat to make a name for themselves, then you’ll see what they really think of you.”
“I didn’t want to break your record to show you up!” said Dash gently. “I wanted to break it to follow in your wing beats, because you showed me it could be done. Sooner or later the same’s gonna happen to me. I’m not gonna make it easy for them, but Scoots or Loopy will beat me someday, and if not them somepony else.” She straightened looking down at the stallion in front of her. “But it’s not gonna matter because I’m gonna be the one that inspired them, they’re going to be awesome because I showed them the way. Every pony cheering them is cheering me!” She looked down at the prone stallion in front of her. “I’m not gonna become you, when my time's up I’m gonna fly away proud of what I did, even if every one of my records is broken I’ll still have shown those that come after me how to do it. Once I’ve had my day I won’t be alone, even if no fan ever remembers me, I’ll still have my friends,” she said fiercely. “I’ll always make time for them. Even when you tried to stab me in the back Rarity was there to protect me, I’m never gonna be alone, never!”
She looked over the stallion, he’d slumped onto his side and his sobs were slowly turning into snores as he passed out. Sighing to herself before grunting with the effort, Dash hoisted her fallen hero onto her back before levering him onto the bed. She gently covered him with the sheets before leaving him there, alone with his tarnished trophies, and his broken dreams.
Slowly Dash backed out of the room closing the door gently behind her. She shuddered, now she knew, she didn’t understand, not fully, but she knew why he’d done it. She slumped slightly, all her anger had burned out of her and had been replaced with pity. The old stallion had seemed so hollow, so small, so different from the posters that had once covered her walls. It was sad what had happened to him, but it had been his choice right? That couldn’t happen to her, could it?
Nah, she was too awesome for that.
She turned and started to trot down the hall, her heart starting to rise as she got further and further from Wind Rider’s room. Maybe she should write to her dad, it’d been awhile since her last letter she was sure he’d like to hear about the show, maybe she could even visit soon, Cloudsdale wasn’t that far, not when you were as fast as she was.
She paused at a crossroads, should she go out and fly her laps? Or maybe she should see if Rarity had gone to dinner yet, she was feeling a little peckish and it would be nice to spend some time with her friend after she’d saved her.
With only a moment's thought she turned and made her way further into the castle, after all she could just fly twice as many laps tomorrow, tonight she didn’t want to be alone.
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It's because she ate the last broccoli!
Keep that attitude Dash, don't let life force you to pick fame or friends, keep both. Maybe she can't get as famous as she could if she focused solely on her career, but it's not worth ending up like Wind Rider, alone and pining for past glories. Fame with out joy is an empty existance.
Now I wish this was in the Episode, I knew it was him the moment Spitfire was side to be missing.
But something like this could have been used to make it better.
This is good, The story showing two ways of looking at fate of athletes. But this can also be applied to others as well
One that gave everything and All to what they did, sacrificing everything and in the end ending up with nothing.
Another works hard and is helping grow the future.
Yes, a lot of Wind ride said was true but in the end it's just empty thing. He gave it all up for only a few empty platitudes. If he was not so concerned with his status and fans then he could have stepped away. He did nothing to help make his craft better nothing to say "That's my work."
Rainbow knows who will replace her and is making sure that they will have the guidance to reach the mark they want to. By the time they do replace her she can say, "I made this happen, those are my students."
Rainbow will have a true legacy because it made to make a new future and now she see what happens if she doesn't make the right distinctions.
I pity Wind rider but this was partly his own doing.
Thanks for writing this.
Cynicism vs Idealism. I'm glad Dash stuck with idealism. Good work.
6453182 Actually, her position here is more on the realistic side. At least, for me.
Very good very realistic. Nice!
6453235 Cynics say they're realists. So do idealists. Compared to Wind Rider, she's an idealist. (As am I.)
6453482 Wind Rider spent his entire life hoping that he could be the best forever. Dash wants to get as good as she can, and pass the cape to the next generation.
No matter how I look at this, Rider's goals look far more idealistic.
6453491 Having high goals isn't the same thing as being idealistic, as far as I understand the word.
Rainbow Dash wants to see the best in everypony, wants others to have the chance to soar high (and if they soar higher than her, good for them) and thinks that as long as you've accomplished something grand, you'll always be remembered.
Wind Rider thinks that you're nopony if you don't have accomplishments, thinks that you'll be forgotten the moment somepony else overtakes you, and thinks it's fair to ruin another pony's life just to add a few years to your own legacy, even if they only might overtake you.
I fail to see how he is being idealistic. But we may be arguing semantics.
6453740 It doesn't have anything to do with high goals, since idealism isn't about high goals.
Wind Rider lives for an idea - he wants to become the best and remain the best. Everything in his life is secondary to that idea, his whole life is shaped, built (and ruined) around it. The moment this idea falls, his life is pretty much over, since he have nothing else. That's pretty much as idealistic as you can get.
Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, is quite adept in the opposite (at least, in this story) - adapting her ideals to the non-ideal reality. She wants everypony to be the best - but only the best that they can become. She realizes, that her personal accomplishments would be surpassed, so she doesn't need to sacrifice everything she has for them. She's about as down-to-earth in that as Applejack. So while she does have some idealism in her, hers is really puny compared to Wind Rider's near-absolute.
And of course we arguing semantics, that's what idealism is all about.
Damn, that hit hard. Like 6453156 , I wish this was in the episode.
6452706 6452975 6453156 6453844 6453740 6453815
Thanks to all my readers and an interesting discussion between Alkarasu and Mooncalf there about the motivations, many of them ones that I didn't think about at the time of the writing, but death of the author and all that so it doesn't matter what I planned.
I actually saw the two points as more about Dash's element, Loyalty, Wind Rider is only loyal to himself to be the best he can be, Dash it loyal to her friends, to her fans, to her successors, she want to show others how to be awesome the same way she is and if she gets lots of praise on the way, well that's great too!
When I was writing it I wondered how realistic is was than Dash had actually thought this sort of thing out before but thinking about her previous breakdowns I think she's just neurotic enough to have spent a few sleepless nights wondering what she'd do if her career falls through or where she'll be in twenty years.
This should have been in the episode.
Definitely a great take on a possible closure of the episode. Not only was it enjoyable, it was also thought-provoking and well-thought out. Well done!
I would say he was RD's grandfather or something, mean he has the same exact fur color! XD
6454748
I did think something similar, I didn't notice the colour being the same until I put up the image, plus wind's the tone grey mane could have been rainbow at some point. I considered having rainbow note that he reminded her of her father but I thought it might make things to complex.
That was a well-written Wind Rider. I could practically hear his voice while reading the dialogue! The ideas presented by both characters were also really sound; even if Wind Rider's ideology was 'wrong,' you still made his argument believable, understandable, and relatable. His path in life is something that can very easily happen, and it is easy to sympathize with him. However, you made Rainbow's argument equally strong, I feel, and raised some valid points. I LOVED how you framed her feelings regarding records and inspiration, and what they mean. Having Rainbow take caution from Wind Rider's tale was also a great touch, and served to bookend the story quite nicely. Nice work!
There are a few nitpicks:
This line of dialogue from Rarity didn't feel quite like her. The rhythm of it, I think, is off. Maybe something like "Of course. Just don't spend all your time training- do allow for some fun as well" or something like that.
Second, the paragraph where Rainbow was thinking about Discord's statue then suddenly is thinking about Wind Rider was really jarring. The transition came out of seemingly no-where, and feels really odd.
6453844 Thanks.
6454404 Your welcome. Your piece was well written and I am glad that I could read it.
Some day I hope that I could do something like this too.
Oh, this is going in my faves too.
6454404 This is what I thought the difference between Rainbow and Wind Rider was as well - she has loyalty to her friends, and he doesn't appear to even have any to be loyal to. This is why I think RD will have a better future than him.
OTOH, I probably wouldn't have gone as far as to say RD will be totally okay with future flyers beating her records. A record is a bit like a contest - though maybe not quite the same - and we know all too well how RD feels about losing: She despises it. She's not quite immune to bending the rules to her favor, either, to put it mildly - she did some stuff in "Fall Weather Friends" to AJ that she would very likely not be very proud of now!
I think it would be fairer to say she would be accepting of having her records broken, but it will still probably bother her. It would be more likely for her to try and beat the record again instead of sabotaging a competitor. (Whether doing so is achievable might be another lesson for her when that time comes someday!
)
Anyway, I really enjoyed reading this story! I especially love the exposition in the scenes of her flying through the clouds with the question nagging her. I wish I could write exposition that fluidly!
A few nitpicks with some run-on sentences you might want to improve: The "around his neck, while" seems like a run-on, or the punctuation needs to be adjusted in some way. Also "Rainbow frowned, was that right, she couldn’t remember, but surely he had a partner or somepony" also reads bit weird. Other than that, bravo!
A few little typos here and there, but I really like the story you're telling here. :) It's a nice tale.
Headcanon accepted!
6456205 Oh jeez, not this again.
Wait, this "Wind Rider" was the real culprit? What does he have against Rainbow Dash? Or was he created by Hasbro to ruin Dash's life because we all know Hasbro's good at that?
I figured Wind Rider did it because he was so deeply indoctrinated in the Wonderbolts' "Win at all cost" ethos, he didn't know where to draw the line. How many of the other Wonderbolts would have done the same thing in his place? I know Spitfire would have. That part where he says "sometimes you have to play dirty to win" and looks at the rest of the team like he expects those ponies he knows so well to back him up, how many of them were thinking they would have done the same thing, even if they're not dumb enough to admit it.
6454766
Probably just as well I didn't add more Rarity to the story really, she can be difficult to voice, although adding Darling to the end of each sentence can help
6455021
There could of course be some differences between what RD say's to someone why just betrayed her and what she'd do in the actual situation. However, I think RD from before the first season may well have grown up into Wind Rider but not the current RD, she's had some time to grow as a pony, we've seen her bond with Scoots, put her own need to be the best behind her in Hurricane Fluttershy and see she shouldn't be reckless in Wonderbolts Academy. She's a better mare than she was, hopefully.
6458325 No. I haven't seen a single Season 5 episode (my brother, White Kyurem, saw "Amending Fences" for some reason) and with no incentive to review them, I don't want to. I'm just taking a mean stab at Hasbro's formula.
6457672
Haha, that certainly does help! xD
Though I have to say, it makes it even more impressive how the show writers themselves manage to keep her so in character. It surely cannot be easy!
6458565 I didn't even read this fanfic. I'm just assuming Hasbro made up this episode plot because they just love making their characters squirm. And... dashing their dreams, no pun intended, but that's important for them too.
6458633 It's because I've realized people here don't like me because I can speak properly and use good grammar.
So the third-person thing is just not working out.
In some ways, Wind Rider was right: You have to choose what is more important to you. The thing is he chose wrong. When it all came to an end, he had nothing and nopony left except bitter memories and an increasingly-threatened sense of identity as younger and fresher fliers came up from behind.
Rainbow Dash, for all she's far from intellectual, has a better grasp on what is important.
FWIW, I'm very surprised Wind Rider wasn't in the dungeon awaiting Celestia's judgement. Spitfire punished him within the limited powers she has as team captain but he arguably committed a criminal offence, putting Spitfire in danger and attempting to frame Rainbow Dash for something she didn't do. I'm sure that the Princess of the Sun is very, very disappointed with the choices he has made.
I can safely say that was a beautiful little addendum to that episode. Well done.
6460138
I'm hardly a legal expert but I'd think it would be difficult to pin a significant crime on him. I don't recall the place he sent Spitfire off to being dangerous, just a long way away.
He forged a message from Spitfire's mother but is that actually criminal? As for framing RD well he cut part of her mane off (somewhere, I'm not sure where that happened) and stuck it in an envelope, not exactly a major crime.
The biggest think I can see might depend on how military the Wonderbolts are, his actions might be considered incitement to desert of course that might mean Spitfire actually did desert which would be a bigger problem for her, I'm fairly sure the military doesn't immediately let you leave your post if your mom gets sick. The same could apply for the guards he tempted away from their posts with sweet sweet cake, although again I think that's more their issued than him, he left the cake lying about they left their posts and ate it. Maybe his actions could be considered littering?
He also made said disease sound deadly (Only one known cure, grow in one place and is rare in this season, yeah that messed up.)
good fanfic.
This is a good story.
Very nice story good job
It was very nice and realistic. I mean, being replace yourself with someone who is younger and better is really hard to accept. But if you can accept it, you will be remembered for good. Moreover, I also love the end of the story that Dash learnt from Wind Rider, and chose her friends first. Thank you for your beautiful story.
Anyway, I didn't notice this story too late, did I?
He should take a look at Scootaloo.
This is one of the few fanfics I've seen that gave Wind Rider any dimension.
Didn't even realize this fic is already a few years old.
It was an ice look into Wind Rider's thoughts, and made him more believable if not actually sympathetic for doing what he did. Him talking so openly with Rainbow Dash was a great look into both of them.
I would really pity someone like Wind Rider. One thing I've always tried to do first and foremost is know myself. That said, knowing me, I'd honestly, if I could work up the courage, try to uplift this misguided aging stallion, as I know what it's like to become an unwanted outcast. Wind Rider needed to learn that, if one must feel like a legend or one worthy to be remembered, only one place should ever matter; in their own head, and things will potentially sort themselves out overtime (that without this outlook, there is literally next to no hope for him at this point). Have no expectations of others (for his own sake to forget the past/fans/Wanderbolts while looking forward) doing what you love most the best you currently can, and you might just get to some extent what you always wanted (perhaps even if it's just a fraction of that, better than nothing). Life usually works in ironies, while on the path to avoid something, you tend to encounter it anyway (so focus on you - friends and success may follow, but expect nothing less than a life where you must create your own happiness to stay grounded in reality). This all kinda' reminds me of the song 'Ordinary World' by Duran Duran when put into the proper context.
A deep, beautiful story of the stress of glory and consequences of fame. You really hit the nail on the head with Wind Rider's cynicism and even harder with Rainbow Dash rising to be the better pony at the end.