Chapter I
It was only a couple of hours after the disastrous performance with the Wonderbolts.
Globs of pink cotton candy littered the grounds of the Ponyville track as a couple of maintenance stallions worked to clean the entire area from its stick residue.
Nearby, the flap of a magenta medical tent was opened by a plump nurse mare, and out from the opening came the beaten, battered, and utterly humiliated form of Rainbow Dash. Her cyan body was patched with some smaller bandages, and her rainbow-colored mane was kept up by one long bandage running around her head for a few laps. To the nurse mare, she was a Wonderbolt who suffered from minor injuries from a botched performance. To Rainbow Dash, she was the living proof of complete and utter failure.
She knew she messed up her performance. She knew she let her friends down. She knew she let down her team down in front of everypony in Ponyville. She knew her dreams of becoming a Wonderbolt would end soon. She knew she would once again become the laughingstock of Ponyville, Cloudsdale, and beyond. It was all thanks to that disastrous first impression, and the horrible nickname she was labeled from her fillyhood resurfacing to reopen old wounds.
When she stepped out of the tent and into the spotlight of Celestia's setting sun, she found herself facing the last ponies she wanted to see: the Wonderbolts. Each member of the Wonderbolts wore faces with mixed reactions of disapproval and disappointment. The one who wore that face the best was Spitfire, the leader of her team, and one of the ponies to rub the salt in her reopened wound.
"You gonna tell us what just happened, newbie?" Spitfire asked with her firm, authoritative voice.
Rainbow Dash sighed. "I'm sorry."
"I should hope so," Spitfire snapped. "You changed the routine without consulting me and put other ponies at risk. I've drummed flyers out of the 'Bolts for less."
"I know, and I'm ready for whatever punishment you want," Rainbow Dash submitted herself. "You guys were right to call me 'Rainbow Crash'. I've always been a standout flyer, but since I joined the Wonderbolts, I've only stood out for making mistakes."
Rainbow Dash sighed as she hung her head in shame. "It's been my dream my whole life, but... I guess maybe I'm not Wonderbolt material after all."
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash's teammate Soarin's came up to her and nudged her on her wing, surprising the crestfallen pegasus. "Are you serious?! You're the most talented flyer we've ever had!" Soarin' exclaimed as he and the other Wonderbolt members grew a smile.
"And you've saved all of Equestria like, a dozen times!" Fleetfoot added as she sided with Soarin'.
Rainbow Dash was completely perplexed and speechless. "Uh, I..."
"Of course you're supposed to be a Wonderbolt," Spitfire assured as she pressed her wingtip on Rainbow Dash's chest. "We've been waiting for a spot to open up ever since you joined the Reserves!"
"But... you guys all called me Rainbow Crash," the disheartened Rainbow Dash said.
Soarin' came up to Rainbow Dash's side again. "Yeah, so? My nickname's 'Clipper'. You know why they call me that?"
"Uh... 'cause you're as fast as a ship?" Rainbow Dash guessed.
"Because I clipped my wing on a flagpole as I was landing on my first day," Soarin' told her with a single chuckle.
Something inside of Rainbow Dash began to click. "Huh?"
It was Fleetfoot's turn to take the stage. "'Flatfoot'. My first day, I misjudged my landing and came down right on Spitfire's hoof," she said, waving her wing down for effect, making Misty Fly next to her giggle.
"'Dizzy'," the latter said.
"'Slowpoke'," Surprise spoke up.
"'Hoof-in-Mouth'," said High Winds.
Rainbow Dash felt something inside her stir as each of the Wonderbolts listed off their own nicknames. She didn't know what it was, but she knew exactly what she was feeling from it. Anger. Perplexity. Exasperation. These feelings were slowly mixing into a concoction that was similar to a chemical bomb, a feeling in the form of pressure in her chest.
How come they didn't tell her before about these things and chose now of all times to do so?
That's what bothered Rainbow Dash the most.
With a satisfied look on her face as she heard her teammates' nicknames, Spitfire turned to Rainbow Dash. "You don't wanna know what they call me," the leader of the Wonderbolts said, whispering it softly into the rainbow pegasus's ear. The mere mention of Spitfire's unheard nickname did nothing to quell the pressure rising in Rainbow Dash's chest. Instead, she backed up and placed a hoof out to stop everypony from getting a word in before she did.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, time out. So, we each get nicknames based on mistakes we made on the first day?" she asked for clarification.
"Yep," Spitfire answered.
"And everypony here calls each other those nicknames all the time?"
"Uh-huh," Fleetfoot nodded.
"And this is normal in the Wonderbolts?"
"You bet," Soarin' said.
The cyan pegasus felt her body become as still as a stone statue in the Canterlot Gardens. Her eyes went wide and her expression fell into a state of catatonia, utterly devoid of any life or emotion. The bottom lid of her left eye twitched a couple of times as she stared out into a distance, soaking up the facts she should've been learned about a long time ago.
Walking across the pink-splattered grass were a group of five mares, three fillies, and a baby dragon. Their faces were a spread of concern and worry for Rainbow Dash, having witnessing her second humiliating performance with her ending on the ground, covered in Pinkie Pie's oversized serving of cotton candy and reprimanded by Spitfire for it. Out of the nine ponies and dragon to be highly concerned for Rainbow Dash's wellbeing, there was the buttercream pegasus named Fluttershy, the orange earth mare named Applejack, and the little pegasus filly named Scootaloo, the closest ponies that Rainbow Dash had ever grown close to.
"Twilight? Do you think Rainbow Dash is going to be alright?" the pegasus filly Scootaloo asked the alicorn leading the group.
"Given her physical condition, I think she's going to recover in no time at all," Twilight, the Princess of Friendship answered the young pegasus. "The one thing I'm more worried about is how this ordeal has affected her mentally."
"After beatin' herself somethin' bad by that last performance, I'd be just as worried about how much it's eatin' her right now," Applejack said.
"Me too," Fluttershy concurred with the apple farmer. "Rainbow Dash could never stand being called 'Rainbow Crash', especially since the Wonderbolts started calling her that for the past couple days."
"Knowing Rainbow Dash and her... uh... cavalier actions, her pride as a Wonderbolt has been damaged to pieces, the poor dear," Rarity assumed based on her observations of her pegasus friend's daredevil stunts. "I'd be as devastated as her if my finesse as a fashion designer was suddenly shattered in two days."
"Well, at least she's not hurt too much. My cotton candy helped soften her crash landing," Pinkie Pie piped up, earning the deadpan looks from her faces. "What? She could've been super, super, SUPER hurt if she hadn't covered with a coating of my cotton candy."
"Well, whatever Rainbow Dash is feeling right now, it's probably a good idea to check to see how she's doing," Twilight told her friends. "Seeing her friends being there for her might be the best thing she needs."
"I wouldn't count on that, Twilight. Look," Spike called, pointing his finger in the distance at a bandaged rainbow-maned cyan pegasus, surrounded by a team of a several dissatisfied pegasus ponies in tight suits and goggles with only their manes, tails, and mouths sticking out from the holes.
Twilight squinted her eyes to get a better look at what she was seeing. From her distance, she saw a smile on the faces of each member of the Wonderbolts as they said something simple that bemused the bandaged pegasus. Applejack trotted up next to Twilight, took a good look at what the Princess of Friendship was looking at and gasped. "Hoo boy. It looks like Dash is already in the middle of gettin' chewed out."
"I don't think so, Applejack. They seem to be encouraging for... wait, hold on a minute," Twilight said as she saw the Wonderbolt leader, Spitfire whispered something in Rainbow Dash's ear which in turn surprised her. For a moment, the only thing that Rainbow Dash did was stand like a stone statue in Celestia's Garden, eyes widened and devoid of emotions with her left eye twitching, her mouth slightly opened in a small frown.
Scootaloo came out in front of Twilight as she held a hoof over her eyes to what was going on. When she saw her favorite idol and older sister figure stand at a catatonic state, her concerns had increased into a level of worry as she gently nudged her tutor. "Twilight, what's happening? What are they telling Rainbow Dash?"
"I don't know, Scootaloo, but it doesn't look good," Twilight answered.
All of a sudden, from afar, Twilight saw the expression on Rainbow Dash's face twist, one from emotionless and shocked to a teeth-grinding rage. The alicorn had only a brief time to sharply inhale air as a cyan blur suddenly shot into the air, hollering the loudest profanity heard from twenty yards away.
"ARE YOU BUCKING KIDDING ME!?"
The Elements of Harmony and their younger siblings all gasped to the sound of Equestria's biggest swear word, big and loud enough to make Rarity fall over backwards and faint. Spike quickly covered his ear flaps, Fluttershy quickly gathered up both Scootaloo and Rarity's little sister Sweetie Belle, and Applejack quickly held her little sister Apple Bloom, both holding the fillies' heads tight into their chests to muffle out any more colorful words coming from the colorful-haired pegasus's mouth.
"Uh...? Did Rainbow Dash just say what I think she just said?" Spike asked, turning to Twilight.
"Yes, she did," the alicorn answered her young dragon assistant.
"Just what in tarnation was that about!?" Applejack demanded to know.
"I don't know, but it doesn't look too good," Twilight said with a little shake of her head. "Girls, you stay here. I need to check this out for myself."
Twilight reluctantly cantered over to the crowd as she saw Rainbow Dash hovering above the ground, her hoarse voice cracking from anger and exasperation from the distance. The alicorn watched her mad tomboyish friend throw her face close into the faces of some of the members in her team as her voice became clearer as she approached the scene.
The Wonderbolts stepped back to the sudden scream and profanity of their team's most talented flyer. While speaking those loud five words, Rainbow Dash flew up in the air and looked down at her teammates with the most irate expression she never conjured up since the beginning of Tank's hibernation. Every suit-clad pegasus looked up at her with gaping mouths and wide eyes, shocked from their fellow teammate's outburst.
"I can't believe you guys! I can't believe that after all this time, letting me stew in my own bucking Tartarus, you all held out on me!" Rainbow Dash screamed with all of her fury.
The steadfast leader of the Wonderbolts looked up to the furious newnewest member. "What's the deal, 'Crash?' What's gotten your feathers in a twist all of a sudden?"
"That, Spitfire! That name is what's been twisting my feathers for the past two days!" Rainbow Dash screamed loudly. "Ever since I had that accident during my first show, you guys have kept calling me 'Crash' left and right! 'Oh, you're breaking formation, 'Crash'!' 'Check your nine, 'Crash'!' 'Worst flyer of the day has to clean up the entire compound, 'Crash'!' 'Crash!' 'Crash!' 'Crash!' 'Crash!' Bucking 'Rainbow Crash!'"
Soarin' reluctantly spoke up with a scared voice. "Calm down, Rainbow, what's the big deal? It's just a nickname, isn't it?"
Rainbow Dash shot herself in front of the stallion's face, their noses pressed together tightly while her angry eyes pierced into his. "No, it is not just a nickname, Soarin'! That name is the worst thing that happened to me when I was a filly, and it's been haunting me while I was stuck in that Celestia-damned flight camp at that age! I thought... I really thought... that I was finally rid of that name and every horrible memory that followed with it until by some divine joke and an accident crash landing, my life has once again become a living Tartarus by you guys!"
The enraged pegasus flew back to the middle of the gathering and hovered while she berated her teammates. "You kept calling 'Crash' while I tried hard to fly along with you guys! But every time you called me by that name, I kept messing up with my flying! And because of that, you guys called me the worst flyer this week, laughed about it while I had to clean your disgusting toilets until it got dark out and just when I had barely an inch of dignity left, you guys pinned that nickname on my bucking jacket!"
"Now hold on a moment!" Spitfire said, forcing Rainbow Dash away from Soarin' by spreading her wings out to their full span. "You can't get so worked up over some dumb old nickname you had when you were only a filly!"
"Yeah, that's right! The 'Bolts always accept our nicknames like they were our own!" one Wonderbolt stallion spoke up, followed with a series of agreeing murmurs and nodding heads.
Spitfire was one of those ponies who nodded her head. "Like it or not, Dash, each member of the Wonderbolts are given a nickname based on our appearance, actions, or mistakes on the first day. Those names are our own personal lessons on how we overcome them as an individual and that's how we become that strong of a team," the fire-maned pony explained, shooting her hoof out to Rainbow Dash, "and frankly, Rainbow, you haven't learned from those mistakes and you haven't learned how to overcome them!"
Rainbow Dash looked around as she saw the crowd of Wonderbolts nodded and concurred amongst themselves, angering her even further. She flew up to Spitfire's face, her furious expression clashing with Spitfire's disapproving half-lidded frown. "So you say I haven't leaned anything, huh? You're saying I haven't learned how to overcome the name 'Rainbow Crash' and become a tougher mare than I was before, huh? This coming from the mare who wanted to replace Soarin' with me after that little incident at Rainbow Falls!?"
Spitfire said nothing, but her eyebrows narrowed as Rainbow Dash pulled away and hovered in the center of the gathering. "Okay, fine, I understand completely. Why don't I tell you all a little fairy tale about a little pegasus pony and how she was stuck with the name, 'Rainbow Crash'?" she calmly said on the outside, masking the rage she felt on the inside. "Once upon a freakin' time, in the magical land of Equestria, there was a little filly named Rainbow Dash who wanted to become part of the greatest flying team in the world. She had the vintage posters from the previous Wonderbolts generations, she knew the names of every great flyer from the first generation to today, and she dreamed that she would become the greatest Wonderbolt to hit the skies."
Twilight approached the scene, but kept her distance as the rage and venom was bubbling up in Rainbow Dash's voice. "One day, her daddy decided to send her to flight camp to improve on her ability to fly. When she wanted to show how she was going to be the greatest flyer in Equestria, she gets into an accident and ends up in the trash! That's when one of three mentally underdeveloped colts gave her the name 'Rainbow Crash' and everypony was laughing with them, including that useless, no-good, do-nothing nag they called the flight instructor who never raised a hoof or a voice to stop them and help me in my time of need!"
"Rainbow!" Twilight called, drawing the attention of the Wonderbolts and the mad cyan pegasus.
"Not now, Twilight, I'm almost finished with my story!" Rainbow Dash growled at the alicorn. "Now, we jump ahead to not too long ago, the filly has grown up to be a full-grown pegasus pony who worked brain and body to finally get herself into the Wonderbolts, but she had to make a good first impression at her first performance. That's when just one teeny tiny little accident in her first performance caused her to crash and she was officially relabeled as 'Rainbow Crash'! She tried to fit in with her fellow Wonderbolts, but they kept calling her 'Crash'! She tried so hard to focus on her performance practices, but the mere mention of the name 'Crash' distracted her, and caused her to fall into a bucking trashcan, where she was called the worst flyer of the day by her ungrateful, insensitive teammates!"
"Rainbow Dash, that's enough!" Twilight called out as she quickly flew up and hovered towards Rainbow Dash to stop her.
"I'm not finished, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash barked, causing Twilight to jump back a couple of steps. "Then as an insult, her teammates sewed a badge on her jacket that depicted the name 'Crash' and every time she looked at it, she could even feel that badge calling her 'Crash'! No matter how much she tried to fit in, no matter how much she tried to overcome that bucking nickname, she was still remembered as the pegasus who could never fit in with her team!
"And that's when an idea popped into her head! It was a risky idea that would've finally wiped her hooves from the name 'Crash' for good during her second Wonderbolts performance, but that completely backfired and she ended up landing in an oversized serving of cotton candy! And now, as she was walking away from the medical tent with what's left of her dignity, and just when she was finally ready to throw in the towel on her lifelong dream, her teammates came up to her and they had the nerve... the absolute nerve... to tell her that she was the most talented flyer you guys have ever seen, and you tell on the worst possible times that calling each other nicknames was completely normal in that stupid team!"
"RAINBOW DASH!"
"Now hold on!" Soarin' interjected before the princess could do anything. "We meant every word when we said you were the most talented flyer! You've saved our skins in more ways than one!"
"Oh really, Soarin'!?" Rainbow Dash snapped, thrusting herself into his face. "Then tell me, 'Clipper', have you gotten over the fact that Spitfire and her little partner 'Flatfoot'," she sharply moved her hoof towards the two aforementioned mares, "tried to replace you with me at Rainbow Falls at the instant you got your wing clipped by accident!?"
Soarin' looked to the wing he clipped at Rainbow Falls and tried to stammer out a mumble when Rainbow Dash shot herself to one member of the 'Bolts. "Or what about you guys, during that time in Canterlot when you all threatened to kick me out of the Reserves for a crime that I didn't commit because you thought I'd get a spot on the Reserves by letting Spitfire go missing and nopony but my friend believed that I didn't do it!"
"But a bit of your mane was in Spitfire's room! We couldn't have known it wasn't you at the time!" High Winds argued.
Rainbow Dash flew up to her face. "That doesn't matter because none of you guys trusted the one pony who saved the lives of other ponies more times than any of you guys combined!" she screamed, motioning harshly in Spitfire, Soarin, and Fleefoot's direction. "And those ponies happen to be three of those lives that I've saved! If I hadn't come along, the Wonderbolts would've taken a huge nosedive without a leader within a month's time, and this is how you repay me! Way to go! Way to make me almost lose faith in the heroes I looked up to!"
Having enough of this, Spitfire spread her wings and thrusted herself at Rainbow Dash. "Now wait just a minute, Dash! You were as much fault for this like you say we were!"
Rainbow Dash pushed her snout against Spitfire's, pushing her back. "Really!? How was this my fault as well!?"
Spitfire pushed back against the rainbow pegasus's snout, pushing her back further. "You were so caught up in trying to change your nickname that you had to showboat yourself to the entire team and make a complete fool of yourself each time! Not to mention that you put a little filly in danger so she could help you hog our show!"
It was Rainbow Dash's turn to push back even further. "I'm a complete fool!? That's funny coming from the same mare who was knocked out by a flailing hoof in midair!"
Spitfire pushed back harder. "You see!? You're making a complete fool of yourself now! You know, this could've all been prevented if you just told me about your nickname in the first place!"
Rainbow Dash pushed back even harder. "Yeah, well, there are things in my life that I've tried desperately to move past from, and look at where we are right now!"
"Yes, I see perfectly where we are! We're stuck in a conflict between a headstrong leader and a newbie who has too much pride for herself!"
"Hey! My pride was all I had left until you guys started calling me 'Crash'!"
"You know, I'm thinking that recruiting you for the Wonderbolts was a big mistake, 'Crash'!"
"The feelings mutual, 'Spitfu--'!"
"ENOUGH!"
With her outburst, Twilight unfurled her wings out, drawing the two arguing pegasus mares apart from each other. With a few heavy breaths, Twilight turned to both Spitfire and Rainbow Dash with a discouraged face formed on her muzzle. "Both of you, stop this fighting right now! You two are fighting over something important that both of you should have told each other, but for whatever reason you didn't! Things have gotten way out of hoof today, and there's nopony to blame but yourselves for this!"
Twilight turned to the fiery-maned leader of the Wonderbolts. "Spitfire, while your team has a tradition of using nicknames for your teammates, there are some nicknames that can seriously upset a pony. Next time, you and your team need to let any new recruits about this ahead of time so you could avoid another incident like this."
When she was finished scolding Spitfire for her mistake, Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash to repeat the same process. "And you, Rainbow Dash! I know you don't like to talk about your fillyhood or anything that you would find to be a sensitive topic, but you should've let Spitfire know how you were feeling, and she would've completely understood! It's not a weakness to tell anypony what's hurting you personally."
Rainbow Dash and Spitfire exchanged hard glances at each other and turned away while Twilight continued. "Furthermore, you two belong in a team made of the greatest flyers in Equestria, a group that's dedicated to teamwork and pride amongst the pegasus ponies! And this squabbling over nicknames or somepony's personal pride is already bringing the Wonderbolts down by its wings! Don't you realize how much damage you're doing to your team right now, much less yourselves!?"
The rainbow-haired pony scoffed at the question. "It's too late for that, Twilight, because from where I'm standing, the damage has already been done."
"Rainbow!" Twilight gasped.
"What are you saying, newbie?" Spitfire inquired with her hard glare.
"I'm saying that I've had enough of this, Spitfire! I'm done trying to get myself on this team! I'm done trying to prove myself to you! And I am most certainly done trying to fit in with you guys!" Rainbow Dash emphasized with the wave of her hooves outward. "You guys were my future! You guys were my life! You guys were my dream I worked so hard to make come true! You all gave me the reason to fly freely and try my best to get where I wanted to be, and I worked so hard to be a proud member of the Wonderbolts!
"But ever since you guys started calling me 'Crash'..." Rainbow paused for a moment as she let out a depressed sigh. "I feel like my entire life's work had been for nothing. I saved your lives many times before, I brought your attention to how being the best would never be at the expense of your fellow ponies, and I passed the entrance exam with flying colors. My blood, sweat, and tears went into making my dream come true, and all of came down to you guys to call me that name and laugh at my expense while I struggled to fit in with the team.
"And now... now you guys try to make me feel better by telling me that's how it was done in the Wonderbolts? By sweet-talking me to believe I was one of the most talented flyers you had?" Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes, but stopped herself when she felt some moisture start to fill over the brim of her bottom eyelids. She turned away to wipe the tears away and sniffled while the other Wonderbolts watched in worry and guilt, but then she turned back to Spitfire with a hard look in her eye.
"Well forget it. Forget even trying to talk me back into coming into the Wonderbolts, Spits, because from this moment on, I quit." The gathering of winged ponies all gasped in a cacophony while Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. "For good this time."
Rainbow Dash bent her knees and unfurled her wings, prepared to take off as a lavender hoof tapped her shoulder. "Rainbow Dash, please don't do this," Twilight begged. "The Wonderbolts have been your biggest dream since you were a filly. If you fly away from this, then your entire future will be all for nothing."
Rainbow Dash gently brushed the hoof away. "Sorry, Twilight, but I've made up my mind. I don't belong here; not with a bunch of ponies I once called my greatest heroes. I just can't go through all of this again. I just can't."
Soarin' quickly stepped in, hoping to stop the resigning pegasus from flying away. "But you can't just leave us! Who are we supposed to recruit somepony who's as great and talented as you are!?"
"I don't care. Maybe you can find someone else who wants to become the best at anypony's expense, just like you guys," Rainbow Dash said, her words pounding into the heads of the Wonderbolts like a steel hammer. "How about you have Lightning Dust rejoin? She may be impulsive and reckless, but at least she's as good of a flyer like I am. Heck, she could be the best flyer the Wonderbolts had for a long time, far better than I could ever do trying to fly with you guys."
With a gentle thrust, the humbled Rainbow Dash flew straight up in the air and hovered in place, but not before giving her farewell to her former idols. "Now if you guys don't mind, I need to be alone so I can reconsider my life's choices. I'm wiping my life with looking up to guys clean, and that means I never want to see any of you guys ever again. So with that, I wish you guys a good life."
Rainbow Dash turned away, giving one more sideways glance to the appalled top-ranking members of the team. "The most talented flyers in all of Equestria," she huffed. "Guess my dad was right. Hero worship is unhealthy."
Twilight abruptly flew up to her and held a hoof out to stop her. "Rainbow Dash! Wait!"
It was too late. Rainbow Dash took off in a flash, leaving behind a rainbow contrail of her mane and tail behind as she disappeared as a dot into the distance. None of them could've ever guessed that while she flew, little drops of her tears dripped from her eyes and sprinkled onto the ground. Twilight retracted her hoof back, an open-mouthed hurt shown on her face as the Wonderbolts saw the departure of their most talented flyer vanish in the night.
With a deep sigh, Spitfire lowered her head down, reinforcing herself to hide the shame behind her toughness. "Looks like we lost another talented flyer, and this time, it's on us," the disgraced pegasus sighed to her teammates. "Rainbow Dash was the greatest flyer we've ever had for a long time, but I guess that we as a team should've taught her how everything worked in the 'Bolts first. I guess it goes to show how even the toughest pegasus pony can be brought down so easily because of one little thing, and we were the ones who helped her fall. It seems that we have more to learn about how we welcome our newer members than how we let them learn our ways.
"Come on, everypony. Let's move back to base," Spitfire said as she trotted ahead of her group. "There's no more reason to stick around here unless you're all willing to collect the dew in the morning."
Spitfire unfurled her wings, but she looked back to her team and saw them only standing in their spots, staring at her with a collection of worry, uncertainty, and shock. "Didn't you guys hear what I just said!? Let's move, now!" she barked. "That was an order, not a suggestion!"
All of the Wonderbolts were brought back to reality from the raise in their leader's tone. With thrusted wings, every Wonderbolt member present all took off in the air and flew for the direction of Cloudsdale. All but one Wonderbolt remained at the scene, standing by while her team flew for the barracks and looked back at the sky where her fellow Wonderbolt... her former fellow Wonderbolt, to be precise... had flown away with her pride shattered and her dreams broken. She even managed to catch Twilight's attention for a moment as the two looked at each other for a spell.
Heaving a sigh, Spitfire flew after her team at the barracks, Twilight watching her become a silhouette in the light of the starry night while her friends, the baby dragon, and the three fillies caught up with her. "So what happened, Twilight? Why did Rainbow Dash leave all of a sudden?" Applejack asked.
Twilight knew there was no way to break the news out to the group. She turned to the group reluctantly and said in three simple words, "Rainbow Dash quit."
Another cacophony of gasps came from the group. "She did what!?" Applejack replied.
"But... but she was just recruited into the Wonderbolts! What happened to her that made her fly away from the same team that she practically worshipped!?" Rarity asked.
"Well, it turns out that the nickname the Wonderbolts gave Rainbow Dash was their own intimate way of identifying each other," Twilight explained. "When she found out about this only now, she became furious with them and quit the team before she flew away. I've never seen her so angry like that."
"Wait," young Scootaloo trotted to the front of the group. "You mean that Rainbow Dash isn't going to be a Wonderbolt again? Like never ever again?"
Twilight wrapped a hoof around the little pegasus's shoulder. "Never ever again."
This was just enough to break Scootaloo's small heart. Scrunching her face, and forming tears in her eyes, Scootaloo buried her face in her hooves as Twilight brought the filly closer into her chest, allowing the young one to weep into her fur at a muffle while her tears soaked her lavender coat down to the skin. The others looked at each other concernedly as they tried to process what Twilight's summary of Rainbow Dash's resignation.
After her flight home took a few minutes what to her seemed like forever, Rainbow Dash had finally reached her cloudominium, a place she needed to be alone for a day or two, she didn't really care. She didn't want anypony, not even her friends to see her like this. When she went inside her dark home, she did not stop for a swig of apple cider or for a bite of apple pie like she did the first thing she did when she got home. The first thing she did was march up to her room and turned the lights on.
In her room, sitting on her cloud bed was her loyal pet tortoise, Tank, already in the midst of having a wonderful dream when the arrival of his owner woke him up. The tortoise yawned once and looked up to the forlorn face of his friend, the pegasus collapsing on her bed with her back turned away from him. Slowly, Tank stood up on his legs, walked over to Rainbow Dash and gave her a slow, rubbed his scaly head on the back of her nape.
Rainbow Dash felt her pet nuzzle her on her nape. With it, she turned her head up and cast a glimpse of her shelled reptilian friend show his love and affection to her, right before he looked at her with a slow smile. Sighing, Rainbow Dash turned over in her bed, curled up on her bed and gently brought Tank in for a highly needed hug. Something on her wall caught her eye as she hugged her pet tortoise, and when she looked up, she saw the sight of her favorite Wonderbolts poster nailed to the cloudy wall.
Releasing her embrace from Tank, Rainbow Dash gently got up and trotted up to the poster, taking a prolonged gaze at the gigantic paper that held her room together. She stared at the images of three of the goggled, uniformed upper bodies of the Wonderbolts, above them, five rays of light with a dimly light form of a uniformed pegasus flying with the vectors. All that art and illustration placed precariously above the symbol of the Wonderbolts centered in between two lightning bolt.
The symbol of the ponies she once called heroes, now the same ponies that shattered her pride as a Wonderbolt.
The same ponies who brought that awful nickname back from her past.
The same ponies who sweet talked her into joining their team despite the troubles they have caused.
The same ponies who made her feel worthless as a pegasus.
The same ponies who mocked her... called her "Crash"... made her the worst flyer of the team... laughed at her expense...
The same ponies who held out on her... held her back from becoming something greater...
The lousy, no-good, manipulative, condescending, good-for-nothing, worthless...
With that thought in mind, Rainbow Dash screamed as she tore that poster off the wall with a loud rip, splitting the poster in two and two repeatedly until they couldn't be ripped any further than sixteen pieces. Tank witnessed the meltdown in terror and shrank back into his shell all while Rainbow Dash moved to a group photo of her and the Wonderbolts moments after she had won Equestria's Best Young Flyer competition. With a grunt, she threw the picture down on the tiled floor near her door and smashed the frame until the wood and the glass were shattered. After she was done disposing her picture, she quickly moved to her closet, Tank taking a peek from his shell while he witnessed Rainbow Dash take out a box of Wonderbolt memorabilia from the top shelf and throw it down to the floor. The impact was so hard, that it spilled old Wonderbolt posters, Wonderbolt pennants, the tiara she won from the Best Young Flyer, the lead pony badge from her days at the Academy, and other Wonderbolts merchandise such as cups, caps, and history books.
Like an angry tiger against a defenseless bunny, Rainbow Dash snarled and dove right into the spilled items to ravage it piece by piece. Posters and pennants were ripped and broken. Caps, cups, and badges were destroyed under her hooves. Pages from the books were ripped out by the teeth and their spines broken beyond repair. Tank once again retreated in his shell to avoid the horrifying spectacle and listened to the sounds of angry roars, ripping paper, and little crunches from outside.
When the noise of personal property destruction settled, Tank heard the blue pegasus whimper and then cry, bawling from the top of her lungs. The tortoise looked out and was saddened to see his friend had fallen on her belly in the middle of the mess, forearms covering her eyes doing nothing to hold back the tears puddlingon the cloud floor.
While Tank got up to go to his owner, Rainbow Dash realized how far she had fallen in one day.
Her dream was gone.
Her planned future was wiped away.
Her self-esteem had been crushed into dust.
It was like back at flight camp, when she had broken down in private because she felt truly alone in this cruel, unforgiving world.
After minutes of wailing, Rainbow Dash felt Tank nuzzle her shoulder. At the moment she lifted forearm away from her tearing eyes and looked at her only friend she had tonight, Rainbow Dash snatched up Tank and brought him in for a tight hug, needing the support and love from her saddened pet as she cried the entire night away.
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So basically this is just another fixfic/accusation fic? For an episode that was perfectly ok?
7256233 One; yes.
Two; the episode was not okay. It deserved something lower than a C- on Google.
7256246 The episode was fine.
The people complaining about it, like this fic, are just too busy begin stuck on Rainbow Dash being called a name to the point of twisting, if not outright ignoring, context of the episode to fit ridiculous beliefs. That and/or a lack of understanding between different social dynamics.
The whole episode was on Rainbow Dash's head. All the problems caused were makings of her own devices. Not the Wonderbolt's fault.
I actually liked the episode, I also liked this fanfic.
A few missing speech intonations here and there, and we didn't really need Dash's extended exposition about all recent events. But yeah, a good drama filled story so far, and I look forward to seeing it continue.
Catchy username, too.
Well, the episode itself was okay... any kind of fic can be made from it... so I say go for it, "anything goes" as I say in fiction
Well, that was intense. Keep it up :).
Instant like for this story.
Poor, Rainbow, I want to hug her.
7256258 Pfft. Who cares about stupid things like "context" or "logic" or "rational thought" when there's whining to be done? Don't be silly. It's ridiculous to think that the always perfect and humble Rainbow Dash could ever conceivably misunderstand a situation or cause herself problems due to her ego, so obviously it must be the fault of those horrible Wonderbolts. Why, to suggest that there might be any fault on Rainbow's part is nearly as implausible as claiming that Twilight has problems with overthinking things and panicking, or that Fluttershy has problems with anxiety.
7256246 I utterly agree! When Rainbow fell into that Trash Can - and the other 'bolts started laughing - as their Commanding Officer, Spitfire should have immediately turned and barked at them to shut up / quiet! Then she should have immediately ordered / assisted Rainbow out of that Trash Can, something like, "And that's what happens when you don't look before crossing the runway, recruit! Return to Barracks and get yourself cleaned up; be back here in ten!" Spitfire should have immediately reprimanded the team for laughing at Dash, then leaned on Dash as well--to teach, not to humiliate!
Yep, the Wonderbolts are in serious trouble. Oh dear.
'Newbie Dash' isn't the best episode that I've seen, but it's not the worst. Not as offputting as that Mare Do Well episode.
I can understand why Rainbow Dash would be upset: people can be really hurt by some nicknames, particularly if they're connected with past bullying incidents. She could have told Spitfire though, at the start.
The Wonderbolts should have realised that Rainbow was getting upset, but maybe they were used to ponies just accepting their nicknames and not making a fuss. Especially Spitfire. Spitfire does seem to have a habit of not noticing mishaps until they metaphorically blow up in her face. Lightning Dust creating that tornado, nearly abandoning Soarin at Rainbow Falls and believing that note from her 'mother' without really thinking about it, to name a few.
In short, I think that Twilight is right, and Spitfire and Rainbow Dash are both in the wrong.
I like this story! Keep on the good work!
So, the whole "name calling" was merely the straw that broke the camel 's back after so many times Dash chose not to see how unworthy were her idols. Right?
Finally, a story that perfectly speaks my mind after such a stinker episode.
While I've always maintained that Ponyville Confidential is the most mean spirited episode in the series, that dishonour now goes to Newbie Dash, because let's be honest, we've ALL gone through this before in our lives; redeculed at a young age that effects you even into adulthood and can easily cause some form of trauma if brought back by someone (intentionally or otherwise).
There are many things the Wonderbolts have been described as in this episode, but I believe one word suits them to a tee:
Bullies.
The Wonderbolts are Bullies in every sense of the word: they see someone that impresses them, they bring them on board, that person makes a tiny mistake, they take the mick out of them because of it and just to rub salt in wound, they win in end, like all Bullies do.
Thank you for this, you get an upvote and an instant fav.
7256835
Thing is, they did know something was bothering her. They openly acknowledged this. Fleetfoot specifically made an effort to make Dash feel better on her first day. Dash responded by brushing her off and not only saying she was fine, but bragging that she would improve their routines. Spitfire flat out told her that she didn't know why Dash was acting so strangely, and then presented her with a Wonderbolts jacket like theirs. Dash responded by asking them to change the jacket. In both cases, she was given a perfect opportunity to tell someone what was really bothering her (in the latter case with almost complete privacy with her CO), and refused to because she's too stubborn and proud to admit what the problem is.
And you can't say "well, they should have known it was about the nickname." Nothing indicates they knew her history with that name, and there were plenty of other explanations for her behavior. She was nervous about her first show, she was nervous about being on a team with her idols, she was wound up about trying to learn their routine at the last minute, she was trying to make up for her earlier mistake. Given that Fleetfoot and Spitfire both talk about her getting used to being on the team, and Rainbow herself tells Spitfire she's just trying to show she can contribute (while not asking about the nicknames even after hearing Soarin's), it's pretty clear they thought it was just nerves. Something that trying to make her feel like part of the team would help with...hence the nickname, and the jacket, and at least a couple of attempts to reassure her.
I'm sorry, but no matter how people try to work it ,Dash was the one at fault here. They never used the nickname in an aggressive way except when she was being inappropriate. They made multiple attempts to reassure her and make her feel included. They gave her multiple openings to discuss her problem. Rainbow blew them off and just kept trying to show how awesome she was. It isn't their fault that she kept refusing to do so. Expecting them to fix a problem that she refuses to tell them is even a problem is ridiculous. And all of this even after specifically opening up to her friends and listening to their advice about how she should treat the Wonderbolts like them...which she then ignored in favor of imitating them.
Honestly, what bothered me most about this episode was how much character regression Dash had to go through just to make it last more than a few minutes, which is about how long it probably would have been if RD had just told the Wonderbolts (or even just Spitfire) what was up.
7256762
Yeah, that would have been the right call. She should have told Rainbow what her mistake was and then ordered everyone to knock it off and get back to work. Oh wait...
Huh, funny, that's exactly what she did. But, like with every other blatant example of the Wonderbolts actually being supportive and decent in the episode, people desperately grasping to demonize the Wonderbolts and remove any and all responsibility from Dash seem to conveniently forget any part of the episode that doesn't support that effort.
Also, I'm guessing you don't actually know much about the military. CO's don't jump in and start reprimanding people every time someone gets some light teasing from their squadmates. Hell, getting an embarrassing nickname isn't just something that a CO won't generally reprimand, it's basically an unspoken requirement when you join the team. And frankly, given that Rainbow nearly caused an accident because she ignored a rule she was specifically reminded of not ten minutes earlier and then immediately tried to blame her squadmates for it, as the Commanding Officer Spitfire would have been completely within her rights to dress Dash down right there in front of the team. Instead, she calmly reminded her of the rule and told everyone to get back to work.
7257005
The Wonderbolts aren't bullies in any sense of the word. Nearly causing an accident on a runway because you carelessly ignore a rule that you were reminded of just ten minutes ago is hardly "a tiny mistake." Not to mention that she immediately followed that mistake by attempting to blame her squadmates for it. The fact that she didn't receive any retaliation save for a silly nickname was pretty freaking good-spirited of them after that stunt. Never mind that friendly teasing with a mild jibe (based partially in truth) is hardly "bullying," and actually quite common among friends. Especially in the military and on sports teams.
But hey, let's say that it is bullying. Based on your reasoning, the Wonderbolts were only giving Rainbow Dash a taste of her own medicine, given that she's been doing the exact same thing to Twilight since season one. Or are we just pretending that Rainbow hasn't repeatedly teased Twilight about her nerdy tendencies by calling her an "egghead" now? I find it funny that everyone jumping to Rainbow's defense against that oh-so-horrible nickname seem to conveniently forget that Rainbow displays that exact same behavior herself on plenty of occasions.
So either we assume that blatantly friendly teasing between friends and squadmates isn't bullying and the Wonderbolts weren't being bullies, or we assume that it is bullying and that Rainbow is a bully that's just on the receiving end of the bullying this time.
7256246
Agreed it was the worst season 6 episode with AppleJack's Day Off being close now. Right now this is better than the episode and it should have been 2 parts because this should've happened cause it probably would've been decent if this happened. Tracked it and hope this story continues. Be careful if you're doing the Anon-A-Miss story soon because there's a pretty good amount of them already.
7256258 Completely agreed.
Congrats on the feature! "4th from the bottom)
Celestia. I hate the Wonderbolts and I REALLY wish Rainbow Dash didn't join.
However, in the episode 'Newbie Dash' Rainbow Dash and the Wonderbolts both did something wrong in my opinion, but mostly Rainbow was at Falt.
To me the Womderbolts are useless and are not needed in Equestria. Every time we see them they don't help at all, sometimes they just make things worse.
This story made me cry twice and I can't wait to read more.
7257579 I once saw this video "Glass of Water: Down with Celestia" that hints at Celestia being no better than the Wonderbolts in terms of helping throughout Equestria when she might be needed. Even my own princess OC who isn't even a 'royal' princess would make a better leader now that I've seen that video and it further fueled my reasons to deem Celestia the worst character in the series.
As for the Wonderbolts, I had been under the impression that they were too prideful and possibly Mary-sued since Season 4's "Rainbow Falls". What a joke. I personally think that Rainbow Dash should form her own squad called the Rainbolts and have them rival the Wonderbolts to show what true championship is all about. Believe me, I know what true championship is all about. I went there. Once.
7257444 Thank you. And don't worry, my Anon-a-Miss story will be different than all the rest. I'm adding a little something extra in the story.
Eh, no. Just no. To be honest, I find myself agreeing with the Wonderbolts more then I do with Dash. This is a very good example of Strawman Has a Point. I'm a Rainbow Dash fan, but in my opinion any problems in the episode were on her and her alone. As far as I could see, none of the Wonderbolts actually knew why the name they gave her was so bad.
7257503
Thank you so much for pointing that out! That made my day!
7257648 I'll have Fluttershy and Twilight talk more about this to Spitfire soon.
7257579
Based on those standards Celestia, Luna, and even the Mane 6 generally useless and unnecessary in Equestria. Most of the early episodes (and plenty of the later ones) involve them learning a lesson because of a problem they caused in the first place. Like many of the other background and support characters, the Wonderbolts might not really help all that much, but when it comes to actively causing problems or making them worse the M6 have an edge over pretty much everyone except for the antagonists. And even the antagonists have managed to do some good now and then.
I mean, just look at where this line of reasoning leads us: If we're judging their value to Equestria based solely on their rate of solving problems versus causing them/worsening them (relative to their screen time), Flash Sentry has a better record than the M6. He's not even in Equestria, and I hesitate to even describe him as a "character" rather than a blank piece of cardboard, but he actually has a 100% record of being useful (proving Twilight was framed) versus causing problems (none, save for when under the influence of the Sirens) across three full films.
Down this path, only madness awaits.
more please.
7257643
When I said 2 parts I meant the episode, just thought I clear that up.
I'm still waiting for someone to actually make the Wonderbolts point out everything Rainbow Dash did wrong in this episode in one of these rant-fics.
YOU JUST CAN'T UNDERSTAND RAINBOW DASH'S PAIN!!!!
I'm sorry if that hurt anyone with common sense and a spine.
7256233
Exactly. I don't even have to read the fic to know this. It even seems to become more common lately, this trend of "Man, this episode sucks so much, I write it better and show how it should be!".
The fact that those accusations, as well as the fics some write based on them, always come from people who just don't understand an episode of the show and who are too lazy to use their brains doesn't make matters better.
I'm starting to think that there should be a rule made here against such fics. Fanfics that get written for the purpose to pick the show apart or to let the author feel superior over the writer of the episode shouldn't be a thing.
7256758
Thanks for writing those comments. Very elaborate and greatly explained.
Good to see that there's still some common sense left in this fandom.
Edit: I love it how that group there on the right openly admits that fics like this were written for every single episode when the author felt that a character was too mean and that such fics are written because of hatred of episodes. This group basically screams "Don't take us seriously, we are just entitled pricks who write our own episodes!"
7258402
7258708
You guys just don't get the pain that everybody went through upon viewing Rainbow's humiliating experience. The Wonderbolts should be brought to justice for what they did. I mean, obviously you're supposed to feel bad for Rainbow—just look at the cover! See how unhappy she is? If you don't like fave and follow right now, you support the murder of babies.
7258911
Right. Equestria should bring the stakes back into use. It worked fine for all those pesky scientists who didn't believe in magic a thousand years ago, it can work now too!
7258948
Spitfire? More like Spit-on-fire, amirite?
7258954
Exactly. And not to forget Soarin' Flame.
7258968
Roarin' Flame. And Fleetsoot.
When you gonna update?
7259208 When I get to it. I only published the story yesterday.
7259331 well i hope its soon this is good.
This is actually a pretty good fic. It analyzes both sides of the argument, Spitfire and Dash's, and calls out both their problems with the unbiased view of Twilight. Not only that, it doesn't destroy Dash's character like the actual episode did.
"Your broken arm doesn't make my broken leg feel any better." The WB's nicknames don't matter. Dash has had to carry around this baggage for a long time. Yes she should've just said something, but that point has past now and her view of her dream team has been too tarnished to bear. This feels really well done. It could work as a sad oneshot, but I'm glad its not. i can't wait for more.
(Also, while I agree the episode was bad,I think it pales in comparison to the shitpile that is Mare-Do-Well. We all have that one episode, ya know?)
What really scares me is that people are more concerned over Rainbow Dash being called names than her destroying government property, which she said would cause a drought, all so she wouldn't lose Tank for a few months. That episode murdered her character and it wasn't until this one that I could take her seriously as a character again. Not to mention all the problems with this episode were her fault (I'm gonna cross without looking, I'm going to imitate my friends because I have zero brains, I'm going to change up the Wonderbolts formation then bitch out at the last minute because YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND THE CRAWLING IN MY SKIN). Where does this pity train end? What happened to standards?
7259042
Good one! What do we make of Misty Fly?
Also, since I just came across this, here's a, hopefully deterrent, example of maximum, entitled fandom whining:
http://goremise.deviantart.com/journal/On-Newbie-Dash-and-why-I-have-stopped-watching-607854844
7260289 It's because Rainbow Dash is considered to be the most awesome of the main six (I personally think other five are way more awesome than her). Rainbow Dash is the fandom's darling. Think about it. She's a lot of people's favorite/best pony. So if someone mocks or criticize her in the show or real life then the fandom will rip them to shreds and villainized them in fanfics. Of course when she does or says something wrong, no one bats an eye. Hell, most fans will justified and defend her terrible characterizations and actions by saying "Oh, that's just our Rainbow Dash for you!"
7261368 I don't think people really care about something if they don't criticize it. The Sonic series has been criticized heavily for years now because the games could be amazing but Sega simply wants to make a quick buck nowadays, made worse considering Colors and Generations were pretty decent and then things just went back downhill from there. Devil May Cry is just RIP thanks to the insanely idiotic choices with DmC along with Capcom's inability to complete their games and piss off fans, and Megaman's only real chance for surviving is through a game not even about him in any way besides developers: Gunvolt. Starlight Glimmer still gets shit on because she represents everything about how to not write a character, including being better at some ponies special talents for no reason, being super strong for no reason, having a backstory so cringe worthy that it might as well be bad fanfiction written by Helen Keller while inebriated as fuck, and the excuses her supporters come up with is purely "we haven't seen enough yet".
You want to write a terrible character not a single person on the planet can relate to, do it outside of the canon. Forcing characters people do not like into something is how you lose viewers, the same happens when you turn a character into something you would never expect...AIN'T THAT RIGHT, MARVEL? 
7261768
Uh huh...
Season 1. Episode 4. Applebuck Season. End of Episode Twilight levitates a bunch of apples off multiple trees easily.
Twilight Sparkle
Was Amending Fences over a 15~20+ year period. People loved Amending Fences.
7262103
Season 6. Episode 7. Starlight Glimmer made a cake faster than Pinkie Pie or the Cakes ever could because that type of joke on this type of character is totally appropriate.
Because what is the Magic element that we've watched grow over five years ascended to alicorn as opposed to one hundred and twenty minutes of hating cutie marks?
I don't recall Moondancer forcing ponies to accept her ideology, stealing their cutie marks because she didn't want them to leave so she wouldn't need to make an effort to contact them in any way shape or form, or risking the lives of EVERYONE despite being shown what not could but would happen if she didn't stop.
7262188
I'm well aware that she made that cake. It doesn't change the fact that Twilight Sparkle basically could outpick AJ easily with her magic. So hating on her for something like that but not Twilight is ridiculous.
So just because Twilight Sparkle is the most powerful we've seen suddenly that means she's the most powerful magically, period? Totally not like there isn't a whole huge world full of people who could have large magical talent or training their magic to high degrees. And don't assume just because she's the former Element of Magic wielder that it makes her #1. That sounds like headcanon.
First, you're confusing the present with her backstory.
Second, Moondancer was seperated from Twilight for like 1-2 years as adults. Sunburst and Starlight were split for 15+ years (from children to adults), meanwhile Moondancer still had Minuette, Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts and sometimes Lyra coming up to Canterlot even if she hid away. Who did Starlight have that we know of.
Third, Moondancer did not attempt to contact them either. Twilight also completely forgot about her as well.
Lastly, the Season Finale was not done because of Sunburst but more because Twilight and her friends came and fucked up what she was building up and she attempted to break up their friendship as revenge.
7262310
If they were going for the "hurr this person can be better than this person at what this person does because laughs" joke, Starlight is the last character it should be used on with how little was and still is presented.
Six seasons and the most we've gotten was dragons and Starlight Glimmer with zero explanation for it. You can't expect a character to be accepted as powerful if it isn't revealed how they became that way. Especially when they had so much bloody time to establish it but focused on quickly forgotten fanfic fuel and Edgy Dash instead.
She had Sunburst, and just let him leave her life. She just stood in the doorway and watched him leave with tears brimming. If I saw something or someone being taken away from me that I held dear at her age, I'd drop everything and run to get it or them back. Maybe if she was calling for him and tried to get to him but ultimately failed and then couldn't see him for years, I'd believe it. If her inability to do anything to get to him then was because she was a filly, I'd believe it. But there wasn't anything. She was free to run out there, ask Starburst where he's going, and stay in contact from there. There's just too many holes for the way she ended up to make any sense.
And she tried her damned hardest to get back into Moondancer's good graces all episode. Also Moondancer didn't really consider them to be friends so much as acquaintances until Twilight made peace with her.
And risked killing everyone despite being shown what would happen if she did not stop. All pity for this character was lost when she started to tear that scroll. Now the only comfort that I get from her existence is Twilight becoming a bitch in No Second Prances, because at least then Starlight is finally in the right in how no one in Ponyville wanted to be her friend except Trixie, whom is also hurt by how things began to unravel with one wrong thing said after another. You know what? I think I am severely disappointed in Twilight Sparkle, but not for the reason you listed. Twilight had absolutely no intention of letting Starlight be friends with her until she fucked up. The worst Trixie ever did was be corrupted by the Alicorn Amulet, which only occurred because two extremely stupid colts woke up an Ursa Minor so that Trixie could "best it". Her home was destroyed, her life was ruined, she just took it out on the wrong pony. Starlight nearly destroyed the world just to cause Twilight pain, and Twilight trusts her over Trixie who was legitimately trying to be Starlight's friend? And shortly after when Starlight runs out of the stage in tears, she tries to pass the whole blame on to Trixie immediately?! If Celestia knew, she'd be so ashamed.
7262628
Season ONE. Episode FOUR. Barely knew anything about Twilight at this point in time other than she was a powerful unicorn who was just starting to learn about friendship after being lonely/anti-social for a long time. Sounds like another unicorn. Just drop this point because its hypocritical to hold it against Starlight and not hold it against Twilight.
The list of many fictional works and characters would love to disprove the hell out of you. Here let me list an incredibly popular contemporary work.
One Piece: Gold Roger and Whitebeard. Two characters from that series that people accepted but no one needed to see or complained about how they got to be the two most powerful characters in the series.
What you are saying is literally a Frog in the Well scenario. Just because you do not see the rest of the world does not mean it does not exist. There are probably a good amount of people in the MLP universe who have large magical potential just like Twilight and Starlight or have at least trained to be amazing but just because we don't see them does not mean they do not exist or can't be powerful.
First is my skepticism. You could say that you would've done that NOW but back at that age. Ehhh.
Second. Even if you would have you seem to forget something.
You are not Starlight and Starlight is not you.
Don't get the idea twisted that because that's what YOU would do is the same thing EVERYONE else would do. People are individuals and can react to the same situations differently.
It only took being reminded that Moondancer, Lyra, Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Lemon Hearts even existed by an offhand comment by Spike like 1~2 years canonically after series started. Twilight would've just kept going for awhile forgetting they ever existed. Totally not like Lyra and Minuette aren't in Ponyville often. Or that Twilight has visited Canterlot several times in the course of the series before Amending Fences.
5 people that we know of outside of Celestia, Cadance and her family that even wanted to spend time around Twilight and she couldn't even remember they existed.
At this point you're just doing the same thing as this fic aren't you. Just latching onto one thing about said character (Rainbow Falls) and proceeding to bitch about them relentlessly and refusing to give them any chance while twisting anything they do to make them look as horrible as you possibly can?
7262721
We weren't introduced to Twilight being this mysterious dictator who forced ponies to be her friends because of her messed up ideals. We were introduced to a mare who thought having friends was *GASP* unnecessary. She is then told to go make some friends in Ponyville, she meets the five, adorability ensues, shit happens, they save Luna etc etc etc. They hardly sound alike.
Only saw a few episodes, all of which took place with Sanji and that ship that was sliced in two. I do not remember much else unless I look at the official wiki...ah, one is the guy in the opening and the other is a guy that can match him.
It does not exist until it appears in the show, and if it's done extremely poorly then they need to do something about it if they're adamant on keeping it there. Hence why I'm very slowly learning to accept Starlight because her reasons for being who she is are starting to become believable and her character an actual character.
And extremely grateful of it.
I have a hard time believing someone would just stand there and let something happen when all they had to do was simply move. What was stopping her? What??
And she feels bad enough to make amends regardless. Or it could be Hasbro making shit up.
I can't feel sorry for the past that Starlight Glimmer when I've found far too many flaws with it. I will accept the character she is becoming, but how she started and ended in Season 5 will always be shit to me. I can't understand how anyone would or could defend her outside of the fact that she is a cute cartoon horse. That's my viewpoint of the whole thing. Forgive but don't forget, something the writers are becoming aware of in every episode with her so far.
To Hell With The Wonderbolts!!