Crystallized Rainbows

by My Rainbow Dash

The Second Story (A Somewhat Rewrite of Newbie Dash and an Aftermath)

Author's Note:

Just a heads up, I have decided to write a bit of the beginning of the episode and then jump to the end because I find the episode a bit too embarrassing myself. If you want to fully know the story that Soarin tells, it would be best to watch the episode before reading this chapter. Thanks everyone. Enjoy this hopeful good chapter.

"It all started a normal day when Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and I were looking for Dash back when she was in Ponyville. She was talking to her #1 fan when they heard us fly over them. Once we found her, Spitfire dove down to speak to her. Back then, Rainbow Dash was only a reserve. She was super excited once she found out that she'd become a full-time Wonderbolt, but that's only the beginning of the story.

"Once she got to Wonderbolt's headquarters, she'd been warned by Spitfire that you had to look both ways before crossing the runway and lots of other things. She was super excited once she got inside and put on her new Wonderbolt flight suit. Not long after, she walked onto the runway without looking at who was flying toward her. She managed to fly out of the way, only to pull off a stunt that caused her to fall into a garbage can. Every 'Bolt, including myself, laughed at her. I wished I didn't because it wasn't funny at all. Sure, every new flyer makes a mistake on their first day as a Wonderbolt, but the nickname we gave Dash was already a name she'd been teased with since she was a filly. She performed the same thing. She pulled a stunt as a filly and got the name Rainbow Crash which was the same name we gave her..."
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Rainbow exited the medical tent and Spitfire went nose-to-nose with her. The captain wore a scowl on her face.

"You gonna tell us what happened, Newbie?" Dash sighed.

"I'm so sorry." Her ears flopped down.

"I should hope so." Spitfire retorted. "You changed the routine without consulting and put other ponies at risk. I've drummed fliers out of the 'Bolts for less." Dash sighed and lowered her head.

"I know, and I'm ready for whatever punishment you want. You guys were right to call me "Rainbow Crash." She put a hoof up and continued explaining. "I've always been a standout flyer, but since I joined the Wonderbolts, I've only stood out for making mistakes." She sighed. "It's been my dream my whole life, but... I guess maybe I'm not Wonderbolt material after all." Every 'Bolt looked at each other and smiled. Soarin slid up to her and slapped his wing against her side.

"Are you serious?! You're the most talented flyer we've ever had!" Fleetfoot stepped up next to him.

"And you've thaved all of Equestria like a dozen timeth." Dash had no words.

"Uh, I-" She was cut off by Spitfire.

"Of course, you're supposed to be a Wonderbolt. We've been waiting for a spot to open ever since you joined the Reserves!" Rainbow gave her a confused look.

"But... you guys all called me Rainbow Crash." Dash looked up at Soarin as he spoke.

"Yeah, so? My nickname's "Clipper". You know why they call me that?" Rainbow gave him a confused look.

"Uh... 'cause you're as fast as a ship?"

"Because I clipped my wing on a flagpole as I was landing on my first day. Heh." Soarin scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Huh," Rainbow told herself before looking at Fleetfoot.

"Flatfoot. My first day, I misjudged my landing and came down right on Spitfire's hoof." Misty Fly, Surprise, and High Winds told her their nicknames.

"Dizzy."

"Slowpoke."

"Hoof-in-Mouth." Rainbow looked at Spitfire.

"You don't wanna know what they call me." She whispered her nickname into Rainbow's ear and the prismatic mare's eyes widened in shock.

"Whoa!" She exclaimed. "That is so much worse than Crash."

"Right?" Spitfire exclaimed.

"So does this mean I'm... still on the team?" Rainbow asked hesitantly.

"Do you think you can be a part of this team and not constantly try to showboat?" Spitfire pressed. Rainbow nodded vigorously.

"I promise! I spent my whole life trying to be a standout flyer, but now that I'm a Wonderbolt, it's time to be okay with fitting in!" Rainbow said proudly. Spitfire snorted.

"Good, because I really didn't want to miss the chance to tease you for years about this catastrophe! I mean, that crash was epic!" All the Wonderbolts around her laughed along with their captain. She instantly looked back at the polychromatic mare in front of her with a glare and pressed a feather into her chest next to the two band-aids on her chest that made an 'X. "But you're on probation for a month. Got a problem with that?!"

"No ma'am," Rainbow responded quickly. Spitfire smiled and passed the younger mare her pair of goggles. Rainbow smiled and stared up at the sky. Later in the evening, Rainbow Dash was sweeping the amphitheater and the mess she made. She heard her friends walking up behind her. Twilight spoke up.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash. We just wanted to check on you. Are you doing okay?" Rainbow smiled at her as she set down the broom she had been using.

"I'm doing great, thanks!"

"Sure you don't need any help?" Scootaloo asked, her voice full of worry.

"Nah. This mess is my responsibility, and I've got to clean it up. And after this, Spitfire's got me cleaning the Wonderbolt's compound for the next month." The mare went to pick up one of the banners that were laying on the ground with her mouth and tossed it into the trash can next to her. Her friends looked at her confused.

"So why are you in such a good mood?" Scootaloo asked. Rainbow turned and smiled widely at her friends while spreading her wings wide.

"Duh! Because I'm a Wonderbolt!" With that, her friends smiled at her and left her to clean up the rest of the mess she had made. Rainbow sighed and flew around, either putting things back the way they were or throwing away the things that were just added to the show. Once she was finished, she looked around and sighed, satisfied with her completion. She heard hoof steps behind her and turned to see a familiar baby blue pegasus stallion walking towards her. She smiled at him before sitting on her flanks. She stayed like that for a few seconds before flopping onto her back and staring at the starry sky. She looked back at the stallion standing a few feet away from her.

"Can I help you?" She asked. Soarin shrugged his shoulders and took a few steps closer to her before sitting down next to her.

"Is it okay if I ask you a few questions about what happened for the past few days?" Rainbow blinked for a moment, before slowly nodding. Soarin took a deep breath through his nose and out through his teeth. He looked at the mare. "Rainbow Dash, what happened?" Rainbow rose a brow, not fully understanding his question. Soarin decided to shift his question to make it more specific. "I've seen you fly multiple times and what I saw for the last few days was nothing like what I've seen before. What happened that made your flying so, uhh, how should I put this, off?" Rainbow released the breath she didn't realize she was holding. Her ears flopped down as she tried to think of a way to explain what caused her to drop her usual confident self.

"Okay. So, you know the name you guys gave me, right?" She looked over at the stallion and saw him nod. Rainbow continued. "Back when I was in flight school, I did something that embarrassed and still embarrasses me to this day. I always said that I was a good flier before I got my cutie mark, but I never really meant it. I was probably one of the worst fliers until after I got it. One day I tried to perform a flip and did something that made all the fillies and colts laugh. I fell right into a garbage can. Well, they didn't start laughing until after the teacher stopped the garbage can from rolling away. There was a moment of silence before they all broke out laughing. Heh, even the teacher laughed. From then on out, I was called 'Rainbow Crash' throughout the rest of flight school. It wasn't until after I got my cutie mark that I started getting better at flying. It was my talent after all. But, when I pulled the stunt back at Wonderbolt Headquarters, it brought back flashbacks of what I'd gone through, and thought that I'd have to go through that same pain again. That's why I was so hurt by you guys calling me that name. That's why it affected my flying and my emotions. It's also why I changed the performance. I wanted to show you guys something that could change your minds about calling me Rainbow Crash. But, you saw what happened." She sighed as she finished explaining. Soarin sat there, his jaw had gone slack after she told him about her past and why she was affected so deeply by the nickname they had given her. His ears flopped down.

"I don't have to call you that if you don't want to be called that." The words came out faster than he expected. The mare's eyes shot over to him in surprise.

"Excuse me?" Soarin rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, seeing how hurt you were after we called you that, I realize that when the other 'Bolts and I call each other by our nicknames, they're jabs of fun. You were called that name out of embarrassment, not for fun. I might not know how you felt in the past, but now hearing how you truly feel about it, makes me feel like I'm a complete idiot or something. I should have probably asked why you were so offended by the name after we first called you that, but I was a fool and didn't. I'm sorry. So my offer still stands if you don't want me to call you that." Rainbow's cheeks turned a light pink.

"Y-you don't have to do that to me. I'm fine with it now knowing why you called me that. It's okay. I don't mind it anymore, especially when it comes from you guys." Soarin let her words soak in deeply before taking a deep breath. He felt a hoof clasp his. He looked down to see a cerulean hoof holding his. He followed the arm to its owner and saw Rainbow Dash smiling at him. She gently squeezed his hoof. He squeezed back. She squeaked in surprise as he lifted her from under her armpits and brought her in for a hug so her back was to his chest and his arms were around her middle. Rainbow was surprised by this action but relaxed into the embrace.

"You're quite the hugger, are you?" The mare joked to the stallion. Soarin smiled and pulled her closer.

"How are you feeling?" He asked. Rainbow shrugged.

"Eh. I've been better, but this is what I wanted to be ever since I saw my first Wonderbolt show. This wasn't how I expected my first Wonderbolt show would be, but... well... I don't know." Soarin rubbed her arm.

"Welcome to the team, Dash. This is how the first shows go for every new member. I found mine very embarrassing. You've also seen me clip my wing at the Equestria Games tryouts and you saw what happened after that. We all make our mistakes but we all learn from them and things get better over time. Say, it's getting pretty late. You live close by?" Rainbow nodded her head.

"Yeah. It's just a quick flight." Soarin smiled.

"Lead the way them." The mare smiled in return and flew off in the direction of her cloudomaium. Soarin stared at the sight before him. He looked at the mare.

"How much money did you get paid to get this house?" Rainbow snorted.

"You goof. I didn't buy the place, I built it. That's what happens when you're the head of the weather team." She smiled at him as he continued to stare at the cloud building before him and flew towards the door. He puffed his cheeks out before following the mare toward the front of her house. She opened the door for him and the two entered the large domain that belonged to the mare. The high ceilings and large columns fascinated him. To think that one mare could build such a thing made it very hard for him to believe.

"How long did it take for you to build this place?" Rainbow put a hoof to her chin.

"Well, Fluttershy came to Ponyville a while before I did, and after I did come to Ponyville, I crashed at her place because, during the day, I was busy building this place. It maybe took, like, six months or so. It took some time, but eventually, I got good at crafting and shaping exact detailed designs out of a cloud. I found it a habit before I joined the weather team." Soarin nodded in amazement. Rainbow cleared her throat. "There's a guest bedroom right next to mine which has a large Wonderbolt poster on the door. It's easy to find, and the bathroom is right across from it." Soarin smirks at her as she leads him to his room.

"Well, goodnight, Crash." Rainbow snorted and returned the smirk.

"Goodnight, Clipper."
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"And that's how Dash got her nickname on the team and the story of her first day as a Wonderbolt. Not one of her best days, but she learned her lesson about crashing in different ways." Soarin finished telling the story to the large group of fillies and colts around him. They all gasped and blinked for a moment before looking over at the polychromatic mare sitting on his right. A filly spoke up to the mare.

"That happened on your first day?" Rainbow nodded and bit her lower lip.

"Yes. That happened on my first day. Not the greatest thing I've done. But what happened, happened and there's nothing we can do to change it." There was no response from any of the fillies or colts in front of them. Rainbow looked over at her coltfriend. "We could tell the story of how we first started dating." There was a large cheer and a nod from the stallion next to her as the prismatic mare cleared her throat, ready to tell the story.

Comments

[My Rainbow Dash]

10688640
I agree. They're cute.

[THERDSTORYWHISPERER]

Great chapter!

[My Rainbow Dash]

Thanks. It took a while to put that last bit together, but I’m happy it worked out well in the end.

[superfun]

Cute chapter