Chapter 1

Chapter One

Rainbow Dash paced back and forth, critically examining her pupil. “Okay Fluttershy, time to show me your warface.”

It was a beautiful morning (thanks to her own awesome weather skills, Rainbow congratulated herself), and she was spending her lunch in the park with Fluttershy and Dinky Doo.

Dinky looked up, sipping at a cup of juice as she watched from the sides. “Ooh! That sounds dang’rous!”

“Dangerous? Oh my…” Fluttershy eeped, shrinking down slightly. “Could we try practicing cheering some more? I think my screaming and hollering has really gotten better.”

Dash facehoofed. She liked Fluttershy, she really did, but there were sometimes her meek and mild nature could really grate on a pony. “Come on, Fluttershy,” she urged. “I need to have a really strong cheering section to stand out when we get to Cloudsdale!”

As if reading her thoughts, Dinky nodded eagerly to Fluttershy. “Rainbow Dash is gonna be in the Best Young Flyers compe—competing—compe—contest!—with Mommy and Miss Cloud Kicker!”

Rainbow hid a smile behind her hoof as she nodded. The Best Young Flyers Competition wasn’t just any old event. It was the biggest and most important contest for pegasi in the entire year! The Wonderbolts watched the up and coming flyers at the competition and almost all of the Wonderbolts had placed high in such competitions themselves.

If Rainbow Dash was going to make it to the Wonderbolts she had to place well. And by place well, Rainbow meant win. No point shooting for second place, after all. She was shaken from her daydreams of glory when Dinky suddenly gasped, struck by inspiration. “You should sign up too, Miss Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy swallowed nervously. “N-no, thank you, Dinky. I’m not an expert flyer like Rainbow Dash or the weather team. And the idea of all those ponies … watching me …” she squeaked gently. “I’d rather help Rainbow Dash out by cheering for her, like this: Yay.” Rainbow sighed and started doing wing-ups in the grass, hooves folded behind her back as she waited for Fluttershy to muster up the courage to continue.

“A’kay!” Dinky sat back on her safety blanket, Favorite. “So ya gotta do the warface thing, ‘kay? Like this--Grrrrrr!” Dinky growled adorably.

Fluttershy cooed gently at her. “Aww … you mean like this?” The canary yellow pegasus oh-so-gently bared her teeth and gave a slight growl that inspired thoughts of constipation rather than a warface. Still, Dinky decided to humor her by letting out a little squeak and cowering under Favorite, giggling gently. Not catching on, Fluttershy gasped and threw her hooves up to her mouth. “Omygoodness! I'm so sorry Dinky!”

“It's a'kay!” Dink chirped.

But Fluttershy was in full nurturing mode. “I didn't mean to scare you! Oh you must've been so afraid!” She scooped the little filly up and gave her a fierce hug--about the only fierce thing Fluttershy was capable of.

“Only a little, but it's fine! Favorite helps me be brave.” Dinky beamed as she hugged her blanket around herself and Fluttershy. “Do you have a Favorite too? 'cause that might help you be brave.”

“I don't have a Favorite,” Fluttershy answered, smiling as she nuzzled Dinky. “But I do have my teddy bear.”

Dinky looked up at her curiously. “Ooooh! What's his name?” Fluttershy whispered something softly. “Huh?” She leaned closer, tilting her head to better hear her.

“Um, Mister Snuggy-Wuggy Bear.” Fluttershy blushed faintly at the admission.

“Aww!” Dinky squealed. “That's cute!”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and cleared her throat as she finished her wing-ups. “All right, come on guys. There’s gonna be a lot of ponies cheering for me at the competition and I want to be sure that you can stand out.”

“Yeah!” Dinky cheered as Fluttershy set her down. “Cuz yer gonna do the Rainboom and win and be really, really cool!

Her excitement was infectious. Fluttershy started hovering off the ground. “I'm so excited for her I could just--shout!” She took a big, deep breath as Dinky covered her ears with her hooves. “Woo-hoo.” Having gotten that out of her system, Fluttershy looked down at Dinky. “Sorry, I'm just a big old loud mouth sometimes.”

“It's okay! I'm 'cited for Rainbow Dash too! And Mommy!” Dinky beamed.

Fluttershy smiled. “Well you're a very good filly.”

Dinky traced her hoof shyly across the grass and blushed. “Thank you, Miss Fluttershy.”

Rainbow shook her head, almost able to taste the cute in the back of her throat. Then she heard a sound that made her ears perk up. It was the sound of something crashing into the bushes. “By the pricking of my hooves, something derpy this way moves.” She cast a knowing look into the bushes.

Sure enough, a familiar gray pegasus, her mane and coat liberally coated with twigs and leaves, stumbled out of the bushes a moment later. “H-hi everypony!” Derpy sheepishly giggled. “Had a bit of a rough landing...”

Rainbow rolled her eyes knowingly as Dinky quickly scampered over to the newcomer and latched onto her. “Mommy!”

“Muffin!” Derpy beamed as she hugged her back. “Oh my sweet, sweet little filly...”

Fluttershy let out a soft aww before coughing slightly. “Um, excuse me. Sorry about that. Rainbow Dash? I need to go check on the animals before we go to Cloudsdale tomorrow. I need to make sure Angel has everything he needs. I’ll see you later.” She flew off with a wave to Rainbow Dash, Derpy and Dinky.

After she was gone, Derpy looked back to her daughter. “Muffin, were you helping Rainbow Dash get ready for the big competition?”

“You know it!” Dash answered for her, glee written all over her face. “In the Best Young Flyers Competition! Totally gonna win and be awesome!” Dash danced around Derpy and Dinky in a circle, pumping her front hooves up in the air for emphasis.

“Yeah, you are!” Dinky bounced happily around Derpy. “An' Mommy'll win too!”

Rainbow let out an awkward little cough as she stopped dead in her tracks. “Ehehe … uh, sure. I'm sure Ditzy will do awesome too, right Derps?”

Derpy nodded, smiling proudly. “I'm there to have fun!”

“Winnin's fun, right?” Dinky asked innocently.

The grin on Derpy’s face fell a fraction and she started to rub the back of her neck sheepishly. “Well--”

Fortunately, Rainbow Dash knew just what to say. “Sure is!” she rubbed Dinky’s head fondly.

Recovering, Derpy cleared her throat. “It's fun too.”

“But it's more fun when ya win, right?” Dinky pressed. Rainbow started to nod when Derpy’s wing ‘accidentally’ opened up in front of Dash’s face.

“You should always try to win, Muffin.” She nuzzled her daughter, then let her gaze flicker back to Rainbow.. “But if you don't, that's all right too.”

“Huh?” Dinky asked, looking as confused as Rainbow felt.

Ditzy elaborated. “You should try your hardest to win, but go to have fun too.”

Gently pushing Derpy’s wing out of her face, Rainbow stepped forward. “And we are totally gonna have fun by being the most awesome pegasi ever, right Dinks?”

“Yah-HUH!” The little filly bounced up. “'Cause you're jus' that!”

Rainbow mussed Dinky’s mane. “This is gonna be so cool! You and Fluttershy have really been doing good work training to be my--er, I mean our--” she corrected after a sheepish look at Derpy, “--cheering section!”

Dinky gasped loudly in amazement. “Rilly!? We're that good?”

“You're better than good--you're amazing!” Rainbow grinned.

“AWE-some!” Dinky hugged Dash tightly. “Thanks for teachin' us to be so cool! I wanna get it juuuust right for cheerin' you on!”

“Well, I can't wait to show you your very first Sonic Rainboom, Dinks!” Rainbow grinned and booped Dinky’s nose. She was still getting used to being a godmom. Well, sorta; Derpy had asked her way back when she was pregnant with Dinky. Rainbow had even been the first pony--aside from Derpy and the doctors and nurses but they totally didn’t count--to even see Dinky when she was born.

A flicker of guilt made its way into ruining Rainbow’s awesome mood. She used to be really close to Dinky and Derpy, but as she got older and more involved with her training and her lessons with Princess Celestia, she had less and less time to be there as a godmom. She still remembered being stunned when she came into Ponyville right before the Nightmare Moon stuff and seeing just how big Dinky was and how much time she had missed. Totally not cool.

So when Rainbow moved to Ponyville she decided to make up for lost time with her. The more time she spent with her, the more Rainbow wanted to see Dinky happy. “When I do it, it's gonna be for you!”

“Whoooaaaaa...” Dinky said in awe as her nose was beeped.

Derpy laughed as she went over to Dinky and picked her up. “Now that's something to look forward to!”

“Yeah!” Dinky cheered, waving her hooves in the air.

Rainbow flew up a bit. “Come on you two, let’s go into town. Muffins are on me!”

Derpy’s ears immediately perked up. “Muffins?” She quickly scooped Dinky up and deposited her on her back. “Hooray!” The two pegasi took off into town, while Dinky cheered loudly, clinging onto her mother's back.

Her practice session having gone over awesomely, Rainbow Dash zoomed through Ponyville feeling as happy and energetic as Pinkie Pie, tossing out smiles and wave to practically everypony she and Derpy passed.

Afterwards, they stopped in front of Sugarcube Corner and walked inside. Cloud Kicker was just on her way out, and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Derpy. She hurriedly hid a paper bag behind her back. “Derpy! Rainbow! Hey … what a surprise to see you here.” She grinned awkwardly. “I was just leaving, so … ”

Derpy’s wonky eye started to stray, as if trying to see behind Cloud’s back. She sniffed deeply. “Muffins!”

Kicker groaned. “C’mon Derpy, these are my muffins! There are plenty left for you to--”

“MUFFINS!” Derpy glomped Cloud Kicker, Dinky holding on tightly. With a strain, her tiny horn lit up and Cloud Kicker’s bag of muffins jerkingly made its way over to her.

“Thanks Miss Cloud Kicker!” Dinky beamed. “I can have some of your muffins though, right?” Her pleading look withered CK’s defenses before they could even be formed.

Cloud sighed. “Of course you can…” she looked to the wall-eyed mare still hugging her closely. “...and you too Derpy.”

Rainbow smirked. “Heh, guess I won’t have to pay for the muffins after all.” They quickly moved aside to take up some seats at a nearby table as they began their muffin-brunch.

“So are you guys totally excited or what?” Dash asked, wings buzzing in excitement. “The Best Young Flyers Competition is almost here! And guess who is totally going to enter and own that contest?” She flew up a bit, buffing a hoof against her chest as she puffed up slightly.

“Me!” Derpy smiled widely. “Or--wait, you signed up too, right?”

Rainbow facehoofed.

Cloud Kicker snorted as she elbowed Derpy gently. “Dash, not sign up for a contest? Get real Derpy. I'm in too, by the way.”

Rainbow recovered quickly, grinning. “Oh, I know! This is gonna be awesomely sweet! The three of us are gonna totally own that competition! I mean, I’m going to come in first cuz, let’s face it, after doing a Sonic Rainboom in Nightmare Moon’s face, this contest is gonna be a breeze--but you two are gonna be awesome too!” she added quickly after Cloud Kicker and Derpy gave her a warning look.

Derpy shook her head and chuckled. “Modesty, thy name is Dash.”

“‘Modesty?’” Cloud Kicker repeated in a bad imitation of Rainbow’s scratchier tones. “What sorta made up word is that? Stop making stuff up, Derpy.”

Dash snorted. “Oh ha ha. Very funny, you guys.”

Kicker shrugged. “I thought so.” She nudged Rainbow with a wing. “Seriously though, we know you’re gonna kick major flank in that contest. Just don’t expect us to make it easy for you. We’ll be nipping at your hooves all the way to the winner’s circle.”

Rainbow laughed. “Yeah you will. Hope you’ve got a place on your wall for your second place medal.”

Cloud Kicker shrugged again. “Hey, so long as I place in the top three, I can totally pick up some hotties to celebrate afterwards.” She grinned. “That’s a better reward than any first place tiara, or whatever it is.”

“What?!” Rainbow goggled at her. “Are you saying that you’d rather bang some random ponies you just met instead of getting to spend the entire day with the Wonderbolts?!” She looked to Derpy to make sure she was hearing this correctly. The gray pegasus just shrugged and bit into a muffin.

After thinking for a moment, Cloud Kicker nodded. “You’re right…” she conceded, making Rainbow nod. “It’d be much better if I won and could get a threesome with Soarin’ and Spitfire.”

Dash’s eye started twitching uncontrollably. “Y-you…” She ground out between clenched teeth. Stupid Kicker putting stupid thoughts in her head! Grr!

“Or would you like them to be saved for you?” CK winked at her friend as Rainbow’s face lit up in a mammoth red blush. “Yeah, I thought so.”

“Ugh!” Rainbow threw her hooves in the air as she fluttered up over them. “You’re hopeless!”

Cloud smirked. “Jealous, Dash?”

Rainbow landed back down in her seat and snorted. “In your dreams, Cloud.”

Cloud Kicker tilted her head in thought. “Hmm … yeah, you’d be there. With twins. Ooh, or maybe I could find two sets of twins with you in the middle...”

“Why do I even bother?” Rainbow grunted, shaking her head at CK. She just didn’t get it. This wasn’t any old event--this was the Best Young Flyers Competition! This was her chance to prove that she was just that: the best. The Wonderbolts themselves would be judging the competition, and they’d spend an entire day with the winner. Princess Celestia would be there too! And half of Cloudsdale! Everypony would get to see Rainbow Dash at her best. Let her see why she’s Celestia’s student, why she should be a Wonderbolt. Why they shouldn’t call her Rainbow Crash and dismiss her first Sonic Rainboom as a fake and...

Rainbow blinked. Huh. Thought I was over that. Weird.

“Rainbow?” Derpy fixed her roving eye on her. “Are you okay?”

Quickly shaking out the cobwebs, Dash flashed her a winning smile. “Course I am! I mean, I've totally got this in the bag. I mean, I performed a Sonic Rainboom in Nightmare Moon's face. I'm gonna blow all of Cloudsdale away with it! It's cool that you guys are entering too, but you know you're just competing for second place, right?”

Cloud grumbled slightly. “Yeah, yeah, we get it.”

Rainbow didn’t even hear her. “The Wonderbolts will probably make me a member on the spot!” Her eyes sparkled as she fantasized about donning the blue and gold uniform. She snapped back to reality in time to see Derpy and Cloud looking at her a touch crossly and she guessed that she was overdoing it. “But can you just imagine how awesome it'll be, the three of us showing up and dominating that contest?” She asked eagerly, throwing a hoof around both of their necks. “We're gonna own Cloudsdale, and every loser who ever gave us trouble is gonna choke on our wake!”

Derpy rolled her eyes. “Again; modesty. You should try it sometime, Dash.”

“Oh come on Derpy, I--we--deserve this!” Rainbow insisted. “Just think about all those featherbrains from Flight Camp who called us Rainbow Crash, Derpy Hooves--in a mean way--or Cloud … uh.” She paused. “Okay, so they didn't have a name for CK, but you know they called her nasty stuff. It's time we showed them what we're made of!” She tossed her hooves upward in what she knew was an awesomely dramatic pose.

Derpy looked at herself, then at Cloud Kicker and Rainbow Dash. “Fur and feathers?”

Rainbow facehoofed again. Hard. “Derrrrrrpy...”

The gray mare shot her friend her most bubbly, faux-innocent smile. “Yeeeesss?”

Rainbow shook her head at Derpy’s…derpyness, when the door opened and Applejack, Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy walked in. She quickly waved them over to the table, Pinkie Pie fetching some additional seats. “Hey guys!”

Applejack tipped her hat as she sat down. “Howdy Rainbow. Cloud Kicker. Ditzy.” She smiled at Dinky. “Sugarcube.”

“I’m not a sugarcube, Imma muffin!” Dinky pronounced grandly, ruining it by giggling as she happily started sipping a celebratory milkshake Pinkie had brought over as a reward for Dinky’s excellent cheering.

Fluttershy meanwhile gently sipped at a special tea she had brought in a thermos.

“You feelin' okay Miss Fluttershy?” Dinky asked, a sentiment echoed a moment later by Rarity.

“I think I strained my voice.” Fluttershy answered in a hoarse whisper. “I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash, I just wanted to cheer for you really hard.”

Dinky hopped off her seat and made her way over to give Fluttershy a get-better hug. “You did a rilly good job, too!”

Rainbow Dash nodded and patted her friend on the back. “S'okay Flutters. You did awesome! I'm sure with a little rest, you'll be all set for the competition!” She looked at the others. “What about the rest of you? All ready to visit Cloudsdale and see the most awesome competition ever?”

Cloud Kicker got up and fetched a tray of extra food back to the table. “Yeah, with Dash, Derpy and me there, it should be an awesome show.”

Rarity daintily bit into a cruller. “Well I certainly love to opportunity to travel.”

“Same here,” Applejack nodded, before adding. “Ah think. Ah dunno about all them clouds, though.”

But Rainbow waved her fear aside with a hoof. “Eh, no big deal Applejack. Twi's got that covered, right Twi?”

Twilight smiled and nodded. “Of course!” She magicked up a scroll with a list. “I have everything ready for our trip. The air balloon is ready, the supplies are packed, and I have the most recent edition of ‘Cloudsdale’s Top Places to Visit.’”

Kicker looked at Twilight. “Cloud-walking spell, or thunderforged shoes?”

“Shoes? But don't those hafta be nailed onto your hooves?” Dinky gulped nervously sinking down in her seat.

A gentle pat on the shoulder reassured Dinky as Twilight looked to Cloud Kicker. “Cloud-walking spell.” She answered both of them at once. “Thunderforged shoes have the disadvantage that they are the only things that actually touch clouds.”

“Oh phew!” Dinky exclaimed gratefully. “'Cause that's too much like gettin' a shot.”

Rainbow privately agreed. Not that she was scared of needles or getting shoes fitted, she wasn’t scared of anything! But she just really didn’t like ponies touching her hooves. Or the idea of ponies hammering things into her. A disgusted look crossed Rainbow’s face as her imagination did Cloud Kicker’s job for her and made a crass innuendo--in Cloud’s voice--about things she’d like to hammer into Rainbow. Stupid Kicker.

Fortunately, Rainbow was saved from her own mind by Twilight’s reassurances to Dinky. “You don't have to worry about shoes until you’re a bit older.”

“Ah'd prefer th' shoes,” Applejack grumbled in between bites into an apple. “It'd at least be sumthin' solid unnerneath mah hooves.”

Twilight looked vaguely offended. “Please, Applejack, magic is perfectly safe.” Applejack didn’t reply but her dubious look said enough. Rainbow bit into a donut and rolled her eyes. If Applejack’s great-great-great grandparents hadn’t done it, she didn’t want any part of it. Of course, this just provided her the opportunity to tease AJ about just how high they’d be when they were in Cloudsdale. Rainbow made a mental note to bring that up at some point during the visit.

“Yeah, the big advantage of shoes is that most ponies don't have a mage on Twilight's level handy to cast spells.” Cloud shrugged, somehow managing to support both ponies at once.

Applejack nodded. “Ain' nuthin' against magic, Ah just prefer sumthin' a little more long-term than a spell.”

“The spell last three days in any event, so there isn't any risk as long as everypony remembers that.” Twilight said. “I even have it scheduled to be renewed every morning just to be safe.”

Rarity idly tapped her hoof against her chin. “I suppose I could try to learn the spell too.”

Twilight’s eyes gleamed. “I'd be happy to teach it to you if you like, Rarity!”

“Can I learn it too?” Dinky asked eagerly.

“Hmm.” Twilight rubbed her chin as she thought. “We can try during your next lesson, Dinky. Though it’s a tricky spell to pull off.

Dinky’s reaction as instantaneous. “YAY!” She got up to give Twilight a milkshake-stained hug. “Thanks!” Twilight’s smile was touch strained as she hugged Dinky back, feeling the glop of the milkshake against her coat.

Rainbow found this rather amusing. “Heh, hey Twi? You got some milkshake right … here.” She tapped the side of her muzzle.

“Muffin…” Derpy sighed as she pulled Dinky back with an apologetic look at Twilight, cleaning her daughter up with a napkin. Once free of Dinky’s grip, Twilight started cleaning herself off as well, albeit somewhat more frantically and vigorously.

“See?” Dash grinned at the others. “Twilight's got it covered! It'll be awesome having you all up there to watch the competition!”

Pinkie bounced excitedly. “Oooh, I'd love to see you make another Sonic Rainboom!”

“Yeah!” Dinky cheered as she squirmed, trying and failing to scramble out of Derpy’s grasp.

“The Wonderbolts will be there! And the Princess!” Rainbow’s eyes were practically shining with glee. “They're all going to see me at my best! This is gonna be the Best. Day. Ever!”

Twilight nodded, taking a small sip of her coffee. “So what does the competition involve?”

Dinky gave the answer Rainbow Dash was thinking. “Flyin', silly!”

Reaching across the table, Rainbow playfully ruffled Dinky's mane. “Yep, you said it kiddo.” Eggheads really do overthink everything.

“It is pretty simple,” Cloud agreed. “Everypony does their routine, and whoever does the best one wins.”

Twilight leaned forward, clearly interested. “Oh, so it’s basically a stunt contest? Like a basic magic duel, but for pegasi.”

Cloud Kicker shrugged. “Well, it's a bit more complicated than that. You get judged on a bunch of different criteria, and they add it all up to decide on your final score.”

“Like coolness, awesomeness, radicalness and style.” Rainbow elaborated.

Twilight looked at her sideways. “…Aren’t those all the same thing?”

Rainbow shot her a flat look. “You just lost fifty awesome points.”

Rolling her eyes, Cloud Kicker decided to translate Rainbowese for those present. “Coolness is more of an internalized thing, while awesomeness is all about impressing others, and being radical is about constantly pushing your limits and exceeding the expectations of others.”

Everypony just looked at her for a second, Dash as surprised as the others. “…how?” She managed to get out.

“Believe it or not, I do pay attention to that kinda thing.” Cloud smiled. “After all, it's important to you.”

“Aww.” Fluttershy whispered, her voice starting to sound better.

Deciding to spare Rainbow the embarrassment of getting all sappy, Cloud went back to her original subject. “The competitions also about the little technical stuff. How well you cross your I's and dot your T's.” She grinned as Derpy gave her a suspicious wall-eyed look.

Pinkie tapped her muzzle, deep in thought. Suddenly her face lit up. “Hey! If Dashie's first Sonic Rainboom gave us all our cutie marks and made us friends, then maybe having a whole bunch of ponies watching it will make us even more friends!” She gasped at the implications. “We'll have friends with a whole city of ponies! So many birthdays! So many parties!” She squealed as she started bouncing and cartwheeling around Sugarcube Corner.

“Is it bad when I have large blocks of time set aside for ‘Pinkie will host a party?’” Twilight asked the rest of the group. As one, everypony shook their head. Even Dinky.

Rainbow Dash coughed. “Right … anyway, there's a whole bunch of cool stuff to see in Cloudsdale! The weather factories, the museums full of ancient Pegasoplis stuff---s'actually pretty cool, not lame like most museums—”

“Hey!” Twilight frowned at the affront to museums and cultural heritage. “Museums aren't boring!”

“Uh, yeah, they are.”

“No they aren't!” Twilight argued. “Why would you think that?”

Rainbow shrugged. “Cuz I get bored whenever I'm in 'em. Duh.” Sometimes it felt like Dash had to explain everything to Twilight.

Cloud Kicker rolled her eyes. “Rainbow just has no appreciation of history.”

“Yes I do,” Dash countered. “Just not the boring stuff.”

“You said the Agricultural Revolution was boring,” Twilight pointed out with a frown.

With a groan, Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Beeecause it was?”

That drew in Applejack, who sounded outraged. “Now how couldja think somethin' as important as th' Agricultural Revolution's borin'!? Why, that helped shape farmin' into what it is t'day!”

“Oh come on Applejack!” Rainbow looked at her as if she had grown a second head. “You can't tell me that farming and watching stuff grow is as cool as watching a Sonic Rainboom!”

“It's far more important!” AJ pressed.

Dash flinched as if stung. “Hey! A Sonic Rainboom saved your life. Twice! From Nightmare Moon and from living a totally boring Manehattanite life!”

“The Agricultural Revolution put more food on more tables'n ever before in history!” Applejack crossed her hooves stubbornly.

Twilight nodded. “I agree with Applejack. The Agricultural Revolution shaped Equestria in many important ways.”

Rainbow Dash crossed her own hooves, no less stubborn than Applejack. “Well, my Rainboom stopped Nightmare Moon. And without it there'd be eternal night and stuff and no crops. So my Rainboom is even more important. So there. Nyah.”

“I'm not saying what you did wasn't important, Dash, just that the Agricultural Revolution was important too--” Twilight began.

Rarity interrupted her and the argument by loudly clearing her throat. “Perhaps we could simply say that both are important, and leave it at that?” After getting all three to nod—some more reluctantly than others—she turned to Rainbow. “What else can you tell us about Cloudsdale, darling? Are there spas, theatres, fine dining?”

Dash grinned. “Oh yeah, the food!” Her mouth watered, clearly displaying her sense of priorities.

“What kinda food?” Dinky asked innocently.

“Pegasus stuff you can only make up in the sky. Cloudberry pie, lightning toasted sandwiches, snow chilled ice-cream…” She rubbed her belly. “Maybe I can get my dad to cook us some authentic pegasi meals. It’s been a while since I had a homecooked meal.”

Pinkie leaned in, almost having her snout touch Rainbow’s. “Your dad? Will we get to meet him?!”

“We could meet your mommy an' daddy?” Dinky gasped excitedly. “That'd be so COOL!”

Derpy agreed. “It's been a long time since we last saw each other.”

“Her parents are pretty nice, right, Fluttershy?” Cloud Kicker asked her. Fluttershy nodded and took another sip of tea.

“Well, I'm certainly looking forward to meeting them.” Rarity smiled.

Rainbow Dash sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. “A heh, sure … I mean, y’know, if we have time and stuff.” She paused as everypony looked at her curiously. “I mean, they could be busy.”

“…too busy to watch you in th’ Best Young Flyers Competition?” Applejack narrowed her eyes, skepticism plain on her face.

Dinky nodded. “You're fibbin', Rainbow.”

That made Rainbow wince. Caught out by the goddaughter. Harsh. “Yeah, well … I mean, I’m sure they’ll be there.” She grinned weakly. “But, they may have different seats or something.”

“Then we’ll just have to hunt them down when they come to see you get first prize,” Cloud Kicker slapped her on the back, smiling. “Won’t we?”

A sickly grimace was all Rainbow could muster. “Yeah … sure.”

“Sounds like a great time.” Twilight smiled at Rainbow. “We're looking forward to you, Cloud Kicker, and Derpy's performance.”

Derpy smiled, hugging her daughter and pulling her into her lap. “Thanks! I'll do my best.”

“Should be pretty good.” Kicker agreed. “Looking forward to making Rainbow work for her win.”

Dash snorted. “Bring it on CK. First place is mine—” She grinned fiercely at Cloud Kicker, but then added “But the top three spots are ours!”

“Yeah!” Dinky cheered as she finally wriggled out of her mother’s grip and ran over to glomp Rainbow Dash. “What’re we waiting for already? Let’s go let’s go let’s go!”

Chapter 2

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Chapter Two

Despite the Best Young Flyers’ Competition being the day after tomorrow, Rainbow decided to bring the gang up to Cloudsdale a day early, so they’d have a chance to look around and do stuff. Bright and early--brighter and earlier than Rainbow normally liked--the assembled friends gathered to being the trip to Cloudsdale. Twilight had chartered a hot-air balloon to bring the ground-bound ponies up to Cloudsdale while the pegasi flew alongside it. Derpy and Fluttershy stuck closer to the balloon while the more athletic of the pegasi flew off a bit further.

Rainbow Dash nudged Cloud Kicker and pointed ahead of them. “There it is! The greatest city in the sky!”

Cloud nodded. “It is pretty cool, though I'm a Canterlot girl at heart.”

“Snob.” Rainbow teased, sticking her tongue out at her friend. Cloud Kicker grinned, and let the taunt bounce off her, knowing that would annoy her more than any comeback would. Sure enough, Rainbow sulked momentarily at failing to get a rise out of CK, but shrugged it off. She was too excited to worry about her awesome repartee not meeting an appropriate response. “This is gonna be SO awesome!”

“Yeah, it is,” Cloud agreed with a grin. “I'm looking forward to that second place trophy, but don't think I won't make you work for the win.”

Rainbow waved a hoof dismissively. “Yeah, yeah, I know you will.” She grinned fiercely. “But first place is mine. Practically has my name already written on it!”

There was a beat of silence, then Cloud Kicker sighed, sounding a bit subdued. “Dash, you don't need to keep rubbing my face in it.”

Dash was about to needle her a bit more when she saw the look on her face. She took a breath and exhaled. “Yeah ... you're right. Sorry, CK.”

Cloud Kicker nodded, acknowledging the apology but her voice was still soft and low. “Dash, I know you're going to beat me, and I'm okay with that. I don't mind losing to you. But … ”

“I'm sorry,” Rainbow repeated, now feeling a bit like a heel. “I just ... this is important to me, y'know? I have to win this.”

“You will,” Cloud flew over to press a hoof against her shoulder. “I believe in you.”

“Yeah.” Dash bit her lip, her voice forcible casual. “Y'know, they don't even believe that I did it. The first Sonic Rainboom I mean. They thought it was just a trick or something.”

Kicker snorted dismissively. “Then they're idiots. And you're gonna prove that they're idiots.”

“Yeah.” Rainbow gritted her teeth in a fierce grin. “No more idiots calling me a liar. No more whispering that I cheated or conned my way into being Princess Celestia's student. And most of all, no more 'Rainbow Crash!'”

She expected Cloud Kicker would join in her celebration or give some words of support. Instead, Kicker said, “Does it really still bug you that much?” She flew closer to give Rainbow the pegasus equivalent of an in-flight hug, her wing stretched out across Rainbow’s back.

“…no.” Dash mumbled, less than convincingly as she leaned into the hug. “Thanks Cloudy.”

CK nodded then nudged Rainbow. “Hey, I believe in Rainbow Dash. Maybe it's time for Rainbow Dash to believe in Rainbow Dash too.”

“You think so?” Dash asked, then after a second of thinking, gave her own answer. “Yeah … I am awesome!”

“That you are.” Cloud grinned. “Just thought I'd bring it up. Think about it, okay?”

Rainbow nodded, shoulder-bumping Cloud Kicker. “Sure thing. You're pretty awesome too.”

“Thanks.” Cloud smiled, then after a beat, asked. “How awesome? Not as awesome as you, obviously, but on a scale of one to ten, with eleven being you...”

Dash tapped her hoof to her muzzle, pretending to think about it. “Eh, I’d say you’re a nine, nine and a half.”

“Nine point five, eh?” Kicker mused, thinking it over. “I can work with that.”

They flew on in a comfortable silence for a while, just enjoying the feeling of flying together. Then Rainbow got curious. “So, what're you thinking of doing for your routine?”

“I was gonna go for the more technical side of things.” Cloud shrugged. “No way that I can beat you on style and spectacle, so I need to do something different to make me stand out.” She smirked at Rainbow Dash. “You never had the patience to master the detail-oriented side of flying. You're more of a doer than a thinker and planner.” Then she quickly added, “Not that I'd want you to be any other way.”

“I know the technicals well enough to be awesome ... just not an egghead like you.” Rainbow eloquently stuck out her tongue at Cloud Kicker. “Maybe Twilight would like your routine.”

“Yeah, like I said, trying to do something different enough from you stand out.” She grinned. “I know I'm not gonna beat you, but I'd like to not be caught completely under your shadow.”

Rainbow gaped at her in such an over the top manner that Kicker knew she was putting her on. “You’re calling me fat?!”

“'Course not.” Kicker snorted. “Just saying, I wanna stand out a bit too.” She softened her expression a bit into a smile and moved a bit closer. “I can't fly by your side if I'm always under your shadow, y'know?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know what you meant.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “I'm not stupid, you know.”

Cloud Kicker looked hurt. “Dash, that's not how I meant it, and you know it.”

“Chillax, Kicker, I'm just messing with you,” Dash assured her. “S'cool.”

“Yeah? Cool.” Cloud pressed her side against Rainbow’s. “Long as we're messing with each other ... I got some flavored lip gloss for your big victory smooch. It's your favorite, zap apple-flavored.”

“Oh good. It'll be good to know that you'll be on standby to kiss my rump after I win.” Dash grinned.

Cloud snerked. “You want a big rainbow-colored set of lipstick marks on your rump?”

Lacking a snappy comeback, Rainbow opened and closed her mouth a few times as she tried to think of a satisfactory answer. Finding none, she quickly changed the subject since it had become boring. “What do you think Derpy will do?”

“Probably something really weird and loopy, but completely radical.” Cloud shrugged. “That's how Derpy rolls. Speaking of, expect a lot of barrel rolls.”

Rainbow chuckled a bit before turning a bit thoughtful. Cloud repressed the urge to ask if anypony else smelled something burning. “I hope she does well,” Dash said finally. “Y'know they treated her pretty rough in flight camp.” She just barely managed to avoid adding ‘too.’

“I remember.” Cloud grumbled, before she started to grin. “Remember how we hooked up, beating on the jerks giving her a hard time?”

“Her and Fluttershy.” Rainbow growled. “Buttheads.”

Seeing Dash was about to go back to dwelling on the past, Cloud quickly shrugged and tried lightening the mood. “Yeah. Well, we showed them.”

It worked as Rainbow smiled. “Aww, yeah we did!” She exchange a wing-slap with Cloud Kicker.

“Yeah. I say you, me, and Derpy snag the top three spots, then you both get victory smooches.”

Chuckling, Rainbow nodded. “Heh, I can deal with that. Just don't get any funny ideas Kicker.”

“Like what?” Cloud asked oh-so innocently, grinning maniacally.

“Like ... any idea you've ever had.” Rainbow answered. “Ever.”

Kicker snorted. “Relax, Rainbow, I don't think I could ever bang you.”

Dash wiped her forehead in relief. “Oh, well, that's—heeeey, why not?” she demanded, suddenly feeling vaguely insulted.

“Why so curious?” Cloud asked with a not-so innocent smirk.

“Because of reasons!” Rainbow blustered. “Shuddup.”

A stream of giggles escaped from Cloud’s muzzle. “Well, if you really wanna know...” She dropped her voice and waved Rainbow to come closer. Once she had done so, Cloud explained. “You mean way too much to me. I couldn't just bang you ... I'd have to make looove to you.” She finished by giving Dash a quick little peck on the nose.

That immediately set Rainbow’s face ablaze in a huge blush as she scrunched up her nose in a way that CK found simply adorable. “Kickeeeerrrr!” Rainbow couldn’t help letting a bit of a whine creep into her voice. “No sappy stuff! I need to keep my head in the game!”

“So, kisses distract you? Hmm...” Cloud Kicker grinned. “So maybe if I kiss you enough to get your head completely out of the game, I could have a chance of winning? I like this strategy.” She flew up ahead, letting her tail gently smack Rainbow’s snout.

Growling, Rainbow refused to spend the rest of the flight following somepony else so she zoomed up, easily outpacing Cloud Kicker.

But Cloud was not about to be so easily shown up. She started some tight aerial maneuvers, incorporating parts of her Krav Pega fighting style into them. And once the challenge was laid down, Dash stepped up to it. She began a series of complex moves of her own: aileron rolls, barrell rolls, cork screws, and even an Immelmare’s Turn over and around the balloon.

Kicker responded by performing the same maneuvers in a reversed orientation, making it appear like the two pegasi were mirror images of each other.

Rainbow retaliated by sideslipping into CK’s trajectory and forcing her to either come up short or fly into Dash. Kicker veered off sharply and tried doing the same thing back to Rainbow Dash, the two crisscrossing each other. This resulted in the creation of a dazzling display of aerial precision and stunt flying.

As Cloudsdale loomed closer and closer, Rainbow and Cloud fell back to accompany Derpy and their balloon-bound friends. They helped steer the balloon towards their designated landing area. While Rainbow and the others might have expected a bit of a welcoming party for them, none of them were prepared for what awaited them.

Dash’s eyes widened as a veritable sea of ponies--standing on the clouds and flying above them--waved and cheered as soon as her distinctive rainbow came into view. Half of Cloudsdale must’ve turned out for her! They held up banners that read things like, “Cloudsdale Welcomes Her Number One Daughter!”, "Welcome Home Rainbow Dash!", "Cloudsdale: Home of Rainbow Dash!" or simply, “Go Rainbow Dash!”

When the balloon settled on the clouds and Rainbow joined her friends, the already loud cheering seemed to redouble.

“Whooa...” Dinky gasped. “EVERYpony's cheerin' for you, Rainbow!”

Dash didn’t disagree. She just started kinda numbly at the spectacle of it all. Rainbow wasn’t unused to praise, be it from her foal-aged fans in Ponyville or from her friends or even Princess Celestia -- but this was Cloudsdale. Her home town. She had grown up here and they knew her here; including some of her more obvious mistakes and flaws. For her fellow Cloudsdalians to turn out like this for her … she didn’t quite know how to react, it was all too unexpected.

Fortunately, Cloud Kicker had her own ideas for how to handle it. She deftly slid under Rainbow Dash, lifting her up on her back. “Have your moment in the sun, Dash!” She grinned up at her as she hoisted Dash up for the crowd to get a better look.

“Yeah Rainbow Dash! Wohoooo!” Dinky cheered, bouncing around.

“Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh!!!” Rainbow murmured in a rush, letting the sea of admiration rush over her as she was lifted up.

Cloud Kicker winked at Rainbow. “You earned it, Dash.”

“Goodness...” Derpy breathed, her eyes going wide as a mild wave from Rainbow prompted a massive increase in cheering. “Wasn't there supposed to be a competition, or something?” Her daughter didn’t seem to mind as Dinky continued her adorable cheering. With a shrug, Derpy leaned down to give Dinky a boost up.

“This is the BEST day ever!” Rainbow whooped loudly to her friends, having to fight to be heard over the roars of the crowd.

Pinkie cheered just as loudly as anypony (or ten) present. “Hooray for Rainbow Dash! This is like a giant party all for you! This is the greatest thing ever!”

Fluttershy nodded, smiling happily for Dash but still shrinking away from the enormous (and loud) crowd. “Rainbow Dash, you rock. Woo-hoo.”

“Quite.” Rarity agreed primly a she sought to make sure she was suitably presentable. After all, looking good for Rainbow Dash’s big day only made Rainbow look better.

Applejack nodded, letting out a whistle. “Woo-hee. All this turn out for a enterin’ little ol’ contest?”

Cloud Kicker nudged her. “Hey, Rainbow’s awesome, remember?”

“Whoooooohoooooo!” Dinky hollered from on her mother’s back. “Yaaay!” She paused. “An' other cheerin' sounds!”

Rainbow laughed. “Great cheering, Dinky! You're the best!” She grinned as a delighted smile worked its way across Dinky’s face, prompting her to hop up and down even more.

With a strained grunt, Cloud hoisted Rainbow up a bit higher for the crowd as she started to chant. “Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!”

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy caught on almost immediately. “Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!”

“Oh, the hay with it.” Derpy shrugged, giving in to the hype. “Yay Rainbow Dash!”

Dinky giggled. “Mommy, you can be louder! Like Miss Fluttershy--watch!” She took a breath, inhaling deeply before letting out an adorable little “yay!”

The cheers redoubled, getting louder and louder as the crowd picked it up. “RAIN-BOW DASH! RAIN-BOW DASH! RAIN-BOW DASH!”

Completely flat-hooved, Rainbow Dash could only gawk, blushing until Cloud shot her a shameless grin. “Just shut up and enjoy it, or I'm gonna give you a big kiss to fire up the crowd more.”

A wide grin threatened to split Rainbow’s face in two as everything began to sink in. Practically all of Cloudsdale—her home town!—had turn out in droves for her. Her. Rainbow Dash. She stood up on Cloud’s back, pumping her hooves in the air. “C'mon, Cloudsdale! I-CAN'T-HEAR-YOU!!!” The cheering then reached a new feverous pitch.

“Rilly?” Dinky rubbed her ears. “Ya gotta listen harder, then, 'cause I can!” Derpy’s wide smile started to become a bit strained.

Cloud Kicker on the other hoof, felt no such compunctions. “Who's cool?” She called out to the crowd.

“RAIN-BOW DAAAAASH!” Came the answer.

“An' awesome?” Dinky added, apparently being heard by some of the closer ponies, who immediately started up a cheer.

“RAIN-BOW DAAAAAASH!!!”

“And radical?!” Hollered Cloud Kicker.

“RAAAAIN-BOOOOW DAAAAAAAAAAAASHHH!”

Cloud cleared her throat as she bellowed out as loud as she could: “Who's just the best damn pegasus in Equestria?”

Dinky grinned. “Rainbow Dash's the best da—”

“Dinky Margot Doo!” Derpy snapped.

“—rn pegasus in Equestria!” Dinky finished with a meep that was completely lost among the deafening roar from the crowd. Derpy shot Cloud a warning look that was sheepishly, if apologetically, returned.

Rainbow was too busy soaking up the attention like a sponge to notice, hovering just off Cloud’s back and showboating for the crowd. Dinky started pumping her hooves up in imitation of Rainbow Dash, as if she was showing off a new toy or trophy as she pointed to Dash.

With an evil grin, Kicker looked up and started a new call. “Speech! Speech!” It was quickly picked up by the crowd.

The flustered Rainbow opened her mouth only to have a faint squeak come out. “Umm, uh…” she frantically thought for something amazing and awe-inspiring to say. Stupid Cloud Kicker! "Uh, it's great to be back?”

Apparently that was enough for the audience for she was met with wild cheering and applause.

“Whoa!” Dinky exclaimed as she was almost blown off her mother’s back by cheers. Derpy quickly caught her and held her tight.

Cloud whispered up to Rainbow, her whisper being more along the lines of a soft shout, considering she was competing for attention with a huge mob. “Thank your friends and the crowd. Ponies love that stuff.”

Rainbow’s ear twitched, indicating that she heard her. “Let's have a big hoof for my number one gals!” She swept her wing back to indicate her friends from Ponyville. The crowd gave an obliging but not very heart felt cheer.

“Yaaaaay you!” Dinky cheered.

“Woo!” Cloud whooped, shooting Rainbow an approving smile.

Dash waved and waited for the cheers to subside. “Thank you all for coming out … I promise to give Cloudsdale a show it won't soon forget!” She held up her hooves and the cheers redoubled.

“Don’t forget Derpy, Dinky, and the Princess too,” Cloud whispered.

“Umm ... oh!” Rainbow perked up. “Let's give it up for the Wonderbolts and Princess Celestia for visiting our truly awesome city and judging this year’s Best Young Flyers Competition!”

The crowd cheered and Rainbow still managed to pick out Dinky’s own contribution of, “Yay Miss Princess!”

Spotting her, Kicker whispered up to Rainbow again. “Do something with Dinky, the crowd'll love it.”

Grinning, Rainbow landed on the clouds and waved Dinky over. The little filly trotted over obligingly and latched onto her--and there’s really no other word for it--adinkably. “Hi Rainbow!”

Dash hugged her briefly and then held her up over her head, hovering off the cloud to get the maximum amount of attention. “And let's hear it for the awesome guests visiting to see the competition! Let's give them an awesome show, right?”

Dinky gasped as the crowd cheered. “Holymoly that's a lotta ponies!”

Rainbow lifted her higher. “Let's hear it for Dinky—my goddaughter!” The cheers increased. “She's here to watch the competition to see the best Cloudsdale has to offer—including her mom! Let's not disappoint her, right?” The crowd roared approval.

“Whoa!” Dinky gasped, squirming in Rainbow’s grip. “They're RILLY screamy when you listen to 'em from here!”

Cloud beamed up as Rainbow and Dinky, giving them both a cheer, joined in by a smiling Derpy and the rest of Rainbow’s friends. “RAIN-BOW DASH! RAIN-BOW DASH! RAIN-BOW DASH!”

Rainbow Dash felt like she flying on top of the world.

Rainbow was still dancing on cloud nine, both figuratively and literally, half an hour later when they finally managed to shake the crowd and grab some relative peace and quiet. “Oh my gosh ... did you guys see all that?! Half of Cloudsdale must've been there! Cheering for me, me!”

Dinky rubbed her ears. “Wut?”

“Yeah, it awesome.” Cloud reached out and pulled Dash in a hug. “And Rainbow, I just wanna say right now, I'm real proud of you.”

“Thanks, Cloudy.” Rainbow hugged her back. “This is just so ... unbelievable!” Derpy and the other soon joined in, forming a massive pony pile with Rainbow in the middle.

“I know!” Cloud Kicker fought to maintain her control. “But yeah, I'm real proud of you for keeping your hooves on the ground like that. Hay, that was probably the closest thing Cloudsdale's seen to a Pegasopolan Triumph since ... well, since Pegasopolis.”

Rainbow’s eyes went wide. “Whoa … really?” The glee in her voice was evident.

“Yeah!” Dinky hugged her. “'Cept everypony got a little too loud.”

“Yup.” CK nudged her. “And since it's tradition for somepony to say it at the end of every Triumph: ‘Remember, thou art mortal.’”

Dash looked suitably confused. “Huh?”

“Nice omen, Cloud,” Derpy quipped.

Dinky gave all the adults present a confused look. “What’s a moral gotta do with a flyin' contest?”

“Just a tradition.” Cloud Kicker grinned. “Means ‘Don't let it go to your head.’” She leaned over to nuzzle Dash. “Which Rainbow's doing a great job of. So proud of you.”

Rainbow’s face turned crimson. “Aww, c'mon Kicker...”

“I mean it, Dash.” Cloud nudged her. “Sharing that moment with Dinky and remembering everypony else ... it was great.” She dropped her voice into a sultry tone. “Sexy as hay, too.”

Derpy quickly covered a curious-looking Dinky’s ears. Rainbow stammered. “W-well...” She picked up Dinky and held her between herself and Kicker. “Enjoy your moment kiddo?”

“Yah-HUH!” Dinky nodded. “'Cept can I get a moment before I get my next moment? 'Cause next time I gotta bring earplugs.”

Cloud beamed at Rainbow for a second before chuckling at Dinky. “I think we can figure something out, Dinky.”

“Silly Muffin.” Derpy snorted fondly, then nudged Rainbow. “So ... moment of glory, and the competition hasn't even started.”

Rainbow shrugged. “I guess that was for the whole, y'know saving the world thing. But winning the competition will totally be the icing on the cake!”

“Yup.” Cloud agreed. “This is Dash's moment to shine.”

“Duzzat mean we gotta polish her?” Dinky asked curiously.

Rainbow mussed her head fondly. “C’mon Dinks, let’s go get some souvenirs.”

“Can we!?” Dinky gasped, looking to her mother. “Pleeeeeeze?”

Derpy chuckled, relenting. “A few, Muffin--just a few.”

“A few!?” Dinky asked, sounding horrified.

Nodding, Derpy shot her daughter a look. “You're room's messy enough already. Just a few.”

Dinky pouted as Rainbow nudged her over. “C'mon Dinks, we'll get the really awesome ones!” She lifted Dinky up and put her on her back before starting to walk off.

“Woo-hoo!” Pinkie bounced up and down. “I love souvenirs! Come on everypony!”

Derpy looked at CK. “You all go ahead, we’ll join you in a few.”

“A'kay! Bye Mommy!” Dinky waved from Rainbow’s back. “Bye Miss Cloud Kicker!”

“Have fun, you two!” Cloud grinned as she waved goodbye.

Dinky buried her head in Dash’s mane, humming something as just her eyes and horn poked out. After a moment she stopped and giggled. “Right, sorry. The Sneaky Theme's not sneaky if you hum it!”

“You're something else, Dinky.” Rainbow shook her head as they walked off, her Ponyville friends joining her.

Derpy giggled and waved them off. Once they were out of sight she dropped her hoof and sighed. “Oh, Luna.”

“What?” Kicker looked at her. “What’s up?”

“Don’t you think you were laying it on a bit thick?” Derpy asked. “Rainbow's going to have her head in the clouds for months after this.” She paused. “More than usual, I mean.”

“She deserves her moment the sun,” Cloud said, a touch defensively. “Celestia knows she earned it.”

Derpy conceded the point with a nod. “Maybe, but she's overshadowing everypony else that came here.”

Cloud was about to deny it when she thought back to her talk with Rainbow on the way over. “Yeah, she is. Still, couldn't be prouder of how she handled it.”

“Maybe, but this isn't a Triumph,” The wall-eyed mare stressed. “It's a Flyers’ Competition.”

“C'mon Derpy, we both know we're gunning for second place with Dash in the competition. I say let her have her fifteen minutes of fame.”

“You know that, and I know that, but everypony else who had the nerve to sign up actually expected a competition, not a grandiose ego-stroke,” Derpy pointed out. Then she winced. “Please don't elaborate on that mental image.”

Cloud draped a wing across Derpy’s back comfortingly. “It’ll be okay. Besides, what are we gonna do, try and tear her down in front of the crowd?”

Derpy didn’t waste a second in shaking her head vigorously. “No, of course not. That'd just be hurtful. And stupid. And hurtfully stupid, with a dash of stupidly hurtful.”

Kicker nodded as if to say, ‘Well, there you go then.’ She shrugged. “Yeah, it is gonna be hard to compete against Rainbow. That's just how it is. She's the best flyer here, and we all know it. I'm sorry that means other ponies have to lose to her, but...”

“I am too, but there's a fine line between celebrating and gloating, and after an entrance like that...” Derpy trailed off meaningfully.

“Dash tried real hard to keep things modest.” Cloud let an edge of annoyance creep into her voice. “As long as she keeps it up, I don't think we need to worry.”

“If you say so.” Derpy sounded remarkably unconvinced.

Cloud Kicker flicked her tail and grumbled. “She's keeping grounded. First thing she said was to thank her friends, the Princess, and everypony else.”

“With a little help.” Derpy speared Cloud with a pointed look. “It was a little hard to miss you reminding her. All I'm saying is she shouldn't need those nudges in the right direction.”

“Nopony's perfect, Derpy,” Kicker stated evenly. “And if you're worried about her not being modest, then giving her a little nudge and telling her she did good when she follows it is a good way of bringing it up.”

Ditzy opened her mouth only to close it again. “Quit making good points, you're making me feel silly.”

Cloud smiled softly, then looked around to make sure they were alone. Once she was done, she turned back to Derpy. “She doesn't really have a big ego, y'know ... not really.” She shuffled her hooves. “My aunt said once that one of the reasons ponies spend a lot of times bragging is 'cause deep down, they don't feel good about themselves, so they brag to compensate.”

Derpy nodded. “I know. She feeds off of it because she kind of needs it.”

“All those idiots who teased her, said she didn't deserve to be the Princess' student ... it got to her more than she'll ever admit.” Cloud Kicker gave a sad sigh. “She always tries to be tough around you.”

“Even before Dinky was born, she was always the pony who tried to show up for somepony when you needed them—never mind what she needed.” Derpy agreed.

“I guess 'cause of how we protected you back in Flight Camp.” Cloud reasoned. “Hay, I've only really seen how hurt she is once or twice. But...” Cloud bit her lip. “That one time I was holding her while she cried her eyes out 'cause the teasing got to her ... it stuck with me. I don't think she's ever really shaken it. But if a little fame can put that scared little filly to rest, and convince her that she is good enough...” She looked over to where Rainbow had left with Dinky.

Derpy followed her gaze. “I'd hoped that being a hero for another little filly would've already done that.”

“It's a work in progress,” Cloud smiled gently. “I just hope I get to be there when she finishes. 'Cause Derpy, when Dash shakes the last bits of that scared little filly off ... it's gonna be beautiful.” She grinned and started swaying as she broke into song:

So get up, get down. If you're gonna come around.
We can fly together watching Rainbow win the crown!

Derpy smiled, joining Cloud’s singing.

So get up, get down cause it’s gonna make a sound.
If we fly together watching Rainbow Dash win the crown!

Chapter 3

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Chapter Three

Dinky’s eyes grew wide and lit up like two tiny golden suns when she entered the nearest souvenir shop. Aside from the usual kitschy tourist materials for ponies who want to buy cheap trinkets for their families, there was an enormous selection of material dedicated to a certain rainbow-maned pegasus. “Wow, Rainbow Dash! There’s so much stuff!”

Rainbow Dash felt her jaw hang idly open as she came to the same conclusion. There were hats with her cutie mark, rainbow hat with miniature blue wings on the sides, shirts with her face on it, rainbow banners, posters, mugs … wait, were those rainbow wigs?

“Ooh, I want one!” Pinkie Pie announced upon spying the wigs herself and trying one on. “This is so cool!”

“YEAH it is!” Dinky cheered as she practically dove into a bin of them. “I bet ’lula and Scootaloo will rilly like ‘em!”

Rarity critically eyed one of the shirts sporting a beaming Rainbow Dash looking back at her. “Honestly, how gaudy.”

“Who the hay would even buy all this junk?” Applejack wondered as she fished through a basket of Dash-themed merchandise, tossing out—among other things—a hat, a pair of sunglasses, a shirt, a visor, a hoof-held pennant, ankle band and a rainbow wig. She started shaking her head as she turned back around. “Gol durn ridiculous—good gravy!” Applejack yelped as she ended up snout to snout with Pinkie Pie, who had managed to put on every piece of merchandise Applejack had just tossed aside. “Whut in the—how in the—why in the…?” She stammered.

Pinkie giggled as she scooped up a similarly attired Dinky. “C’mon Applejack! This is great.”

“This is so awesome!” Dash squeaked as she spun in place, trying to take everything in and commit to memory. “All of this stuff is because of me! Me!”

“Yay,” Fluttershy cheered grandly, so loud that she completely managed to drown out the sound of a pin being dropped. She giggled as she donned a rainbow wig of her own and stood beside Dinky and Pinkie.

“Joooin us,” the latter proclaimed as she advanced on Applejack and Rarity, holding out a pair of rainbow wigs. “It’s twenty percent … off. And really cool!”

Rarity backed away from Pinkie “It's simply not my color.” She coughed. “Colors.”

“But you have a white coat,” Fluttershy pointed out. “And it's a rainbow. They go with everything.”

“C'mon Applejackie!” Pinkie wheedled. “Taste the rainbow!” She shoved one of the wigs at her, accidentally cramming it into the farmpony’s mouth.

“Ptoo!” Applejack spat the wig out, trying to fish out the remaining hairs in her mouth. “Gyea--PINKIE PIE!”

Unperturbed, Pinkie bounced up and down excitedly. “C'mon, AJ! You gotta wear it! It's Dashie's big day!”

“Well, yes, but don't you think it's a bit ... much?” Rarity looked from Pinkie Pie to Fluttershy, smiling awkwardly.

Fluttershy timidly lowered her head, partially hiding behind her long mane. “Oh. Well, I just thought that it would be nice if you wore it to, um, show your support … but if you don't want to wear it that's okay too.” She finished with a sad little murmur that would’ve melted the heart of a windigo.

Rarity’s mouth opened a closes a few times before she could come up with a counterargument. “But ... but darling, the cut of it doesn't go with tail at all!” she exclaimed desperately, swishing her regally coifed tail for emphasis. But Fluttershy just let out a soft squeak and it was all over. “Perhaps with a bit of work...” Rarity muttered to herself as she took the offered wig and tried to style its shape with her magic.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie continued her own entreaties on Applejack, who remained stubbornly opposed to putting it on. “Ah like mah hat just fine, thanks.”

“C'moooon!” Pinkie went into a full fledged whine. “I dressed up as an apple when you were having your Applebuck Season-y thing!”

“Ya did that on yer own, Ah never asked ya t' do it!” Applejack retorted. “Big Macintosh still has nightmares about that thing…”

Pinkie shot her most pleading, big-eyed expression at her friend. “Please? Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease—”

Applejack put her hoof down. “No, Pinkie!”

The party pony’s mane deflated audibly as she hung her head. “Darn.” Then an idea struck her and her mane poofed up again. “We could sing a song about Rainbow Dash!” She bounced around Applejack, breaking into song. “Go go Rainbow Dashie! Go go Rainbow Dashie! Go go Rainbow Dashie, you superawesomazingmegacool Rainbow Daaash!”

Dinky joined her, her enthusiasm and volume making up for her somewhat off-key singing. “Rainbow Daaaaaaaaaaash!”

Twilight winced as other ponies in the shop began to stare. “Just put it on Applejack, before they make a scene!” The orange earth pony shot her best sarcastic, hooded look that seemed to all but scream ‘are-you-serious?’ Twilight glowered back at her. “MORE of a scene!”

“Fahn, fahn.” Applejack grumbled, lazily slapping the wig on top of her hat. “Happy?” She turned to glare at Pinkie … only for it to slip off her face as she found the party pony banging on a large drum she had some procured with Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark emblazoned on it.

Turning to see Applejack with the rainbow wig, Pinkie stopped in midair and smiled. “Okay!” She somehow disposed of the drum before her hooves landed back on the cloud. “Wow, looking good Applejack!”

Applejack grunted neutrally, idly blowing a stray lock of rainbow hair out of her face. “S'like Ah've got a mange problem.”

Dinky giggled at the new word. “Mane-gey!”

“They have shampoos for that AJ!” Pinkie giggled too. “Remember? Just like the time you had lice in your mane when you were a filly and Granny Smith thought they had to shave your head to get them out?”

“Pinkie!” Applejack barked, a blush overtaking her cheeks. “Aw, this ain't workin'.” She took the wig off her head and put it on her rump instead, laying it over her tail. “Heh, now it kinda looks like her.”

“Really now, Applejack, it's not that bad.” Rarity tried to make the most of it as she continued to try to reshape her wig into something more appropriate for her … and mangling the wig in the process. “… perhaps I should just dye my mane instead,” she mused, looking around for any rainbow-dye.

“Maybe ya could jus' soak yer head in a rainbow?” Applejack suggested, not quite conscious of how that sounded.

Rarity shot and annoyed glare at Applejack that was totally missed. “Hmph!”

Fluttershy softly spoke up. “Oh, um, I wouldn't recommend that Applejack. Rainbows are, um...” She lowered her voice even further. “Spicy.”

“Eh, if Rare can handle sittin' in mud an' them eye-waterin' per-fyumes she's always cahooting around in, she can take a rainbow dye,” Applejack reasoned with a shrug.

Rarity’s eyes narrowed as her voice turned dangerously sweet. “Is that so, darling?”

Most ponies would’ve recognized the warning signs and modified their words. But Applejack was one who always praised truth over discretion and bluntness over tact. “Eeyup,” she said with a nod. “Some o' them per-fyumes'd make an onion cry.”

Silence fell for a moment before Rarity daintily cleared her throat. “Well then.” She walked away for a moment before oh-so-casually calling, “Pinkie Pie? Could I speak to you for a moment?”

“Okie lokie dokie!” Pinkie beamed as she bounced over. “Wait, I mean okie dokie lokie! Cuz seriously, who ever heard of a lokie dokie? That's just silly.” She giggles. “Isn’t it just the funniest thing you’ve ever heard?”

“No, but perhaps this is…” Rarity then whispered her plan for horrible vengeance, making Pinkie giggle as she listened in.

Applejack would probably have started worrying had she not been so preoccupied with the rainbowed monstrosity hanging off her rear. She shook her rump. “Ah dunno, RD... ah still think th' representation's off.”

“What do you mean?” Rainbow asked indignantly, elbowing Applejack. “If Kicker were here, she'd say something about your rump never looking better.”

Dinky burst into giggles at the silliness of the grown-ups, which quickly turned infectious for Applejack, Rainbow Dash and the others. That provided the perfect opening for Rarity to signal Pinkie Pie into action.

With a wink and a nod, Pinkie idly strolled by the others, whistling inconspicuously—right before she pulled a pair of spritz bottles out of her mane and trained them on AJ. “Draw, y'varmint!” She began to spray Applejack with the most overpowering, flowery perfume ever devised by ponykind.

“Ackpt!” Applejack belatedly held up her hooves in a feeble defense against the onslaught. “Pinkie what in th—”

Twirling the two bottles in her hooves, she squirted Applejack some more before returning her weapons to her mane … and pulling out a new one: a full-sized seltzer bottle full of perfume.

Rarity let out a lady-like giggle which quickly became less restrained as Pinkie replaced her now empty seltzer bottle with a water-gun full of perfume, dousing the poor apple farmer.

“DADGUMIT, WHAT THE HAY'RE YOU—” Applejack sniffed, her eyes suddenly going wide and watering. “AAAH IT BURNS! IT BURNS!”

Rainbow Dash started snickering as she stepped away, flapping her wings to waft the smell away from her. The others joined her, seeking safety from the overpowering scent now emanating from the farmer.

AJ hawked and spat. “AAAH! IT'S IN MAH MAOUTH!” She frantically dug into the cloud underneath her hooves and stuffed it into her mouth.

Rarity, no longer able to restrain herself, started howling with the most undignified laughter. Rainbow Dash and Dinky held each other, laughing heavily. Twilight tried and failed to repress a series of giggles as Pinkie cavorted about, laughing freely.

Only Fluttershy had a different response. “Oh my... Applejack, you smell so ... flowery.” She let out a happy sigh. “It’s so wonderful! It makes me think of the meadow outside my house when all the flowers are in bloom and the hummingbirds are flying about...”

If Applejack said anything in response, it was lost as she continued chewing on the cloud, trying to get the taste out. “AAAAH CELESTIA, MAH EYES! MAH EYES!”

Rainbow snickered before scrunching up her face and wafting her hoof in front of her muzzle. “Ack!” She coughed. “Geeze, you stink AJ. This is worse than apple burrito night at the farm.”

If looks could kill, Rainbow would’ve found herself several miles down and taking a dirt nap. “I ain’t the one who sprayed me with that weed-killer.” AJ let her gaze drift over to Rarity, glancing over Pinkie Pie as she pulled out a massive clothespin out of her mane and put it on her muzzle.

“Well!” Rarity sniffed. “If you're going to be like that about it...”

“Ah am!” AJ snapped, ignoring Pinkie putting another smaller clothespin on Dinky’s nose.

Dinky squirmed. “Pinchy,” She pronounced as she took it off for a moment, only to replace it when she got a whiff from Applejack. “Fyewy…”

“Maybe I shouldn't have done anything, then!” Rarity sniffed, tossing her mane back.

Applejack snorted, trying to get the smell out of her nostrils. “Yeah, maybe ya shoulda left yer per-fyumes in th' bottle!”

“FINE!” Rarity proclaimed, dramatically turning her back on AJ.

“Fahne!” Applejack shot back as she dusted off her hat and put it back on … and instantly regretting it when her eyes started watering from the smell.

Pinkie looked between the two friends and loudly said, “Oh get a room you two!” The results were instantaneous and dramatic. Rarity flushed and stormed off to the far side of the store, while Applejack whopped Pinkie with her hat then did the same in the opposite direction. If Pinkie Pie was put out by the results, she didn’t let it show. She giggled to the rest of her friends. “Cloud Kicker paid me twenty bits to do that!”

“Rainbow Dash?” Dinky asked, looking up curiously as she took off her clothespin. “What'd Miss Pinkie mean by that?”

“Uh, It means AJ and Rarity were being bad so they should get sent to their room.” Rainbow’s smile substituted broadness for sincerity.

“Oooooooh.” Dinky nodded in understanding.

Rainbow Dash didn’t stay distracted by her friends argument long. She was soon back at feeling overwhelmed and awed by all the attention and praise thrown her way. “This is so--incredible!”

“An' awesome!” Dinky grinned from underneath her own wig.

Dash snatched her godfilly up and hugged her. “Can you believe all this stuff is for me?” She squeed slightly. “It's like I'm already a Wonderbolt!”

Dinky squeaked. “Yeah! An' that's super-cool, 'cause they're all gonna be here t' let you in an' fly with 'em!”

Rainbow beamed at her goddaughter’s support, gently tossing her up in the air. “This is so amazing! Think you're friends would like some of this stuff?”

“Yeah!” Dinky nodded as she was tossed, only to be caught again by Rainbow Dash. “'Cause 'lula likes you, an' Scootaloo rilly likes you too!”

“It is really impressive.” Twilight admitted as she looked at a Rainbow Dash bookmark, complete with a rainbow tassel. “But it’s still a bit much. I mean, I don’t see anything here for any of the other contestants.”

Dash shrugged. Twilight opened her mouth to say more, but decided not to press the issue. Instead she went over to see if she could fix things with Applejack and Rarity, leaving Rainbow and Dinky by themselves as they perused the merchandise.

Out of the corner of her eye Dash noted a few customers looking over the Rainbow merchandise and talk in low tones to one another. They had the fit, lean look of athletes. Maybe they were in the competition too? She headed over to ask them but stopped short when she noticed them looking her way and abruptly ending their whispered conversation. They quickly exited the souvenir shop without another word, just the odd backward glance at Rainbow.

“Wonder what that was all about.”

Rainbow’s ear flickered at the door chime sounding as it opened and closed. Then a moment later, it did so again. “Well, well, well.” Her ear twitched at the sound of a very familiar voice. “It’s our old friend Rainbow CRASH—the celebrity!”

“Yeah! Rainbow Crash! Ha ha!”

Rainbow took a moment to school her face into something neutral … but anypony who knew her could tell by the idle thrashing of her tail that something was bugging her. “Hoops. Dumbbell. Score.” Her eyes narrowed. “What do you three want?”

“Nothing much…” Dumbbell shrugged with forced casualness. “We just wanted to know what you’ve been up to. Y’know, in between crashing into the ground and getting kicked out of flight schools.”

“Psh. Rainbow Dash can fly through all uv 'em with her eyes closed.” Dinky piped up, standing next to her godmom protectively.

Hoops snorted, giving Dinky a look. “That's what she did--too many naptimes for her, so they kicked her out!”

“I didn’t get kicked out.” Dash said forcefully.

Dumbbell nudged Hoops. “Yeah, I guess she was just too busy trying to do a Sonic Rainboom to keep from flunking all her tests!” The three laughed derisively.

Dinky frowned, not about to let that pass. “HEY! You, you hush up, you dummy! Rainbow's the smartest pony an' the fastest!”

That amused the trio greatly. “What's wrong Rainbow Crash? You need little fillies to stand up for you now? Gonna ask your mommy to come in next?” Hoops laughed, setting the others off again.

“Quit bein' mean you dumb meanie!” Dinky stamped her tiny hoof warningly, only to be gently drawn back by Rainbow’s wing.

“It's okay, Dinky.” Dash murmured gently to her, her voice losing some of its usual energy as she looked around. “I got this.”

Dinky’s strident objections had started to draw attention to Rainbow Dash and the idiot trio. Fluttershy, who was the only other pony in the room to recognize them, gave a tiny gasp and made her way over to them in time to hear the last cruel remark made by the bullies.

“You leave Rainbow Dash alone!” Fluttershy stepped beside her friend.

“Fluttershy…” Rainbow felt touched at her normally reserved friend’s impassioned defense but also wished that she wouldn’t engage them further.

Dumbbell’s eyes seemed to light up as he recognized the yellow pegasus. “Oh hey Klutzershy, I almost didn't recognize you … usually you're huddled under Rainbow's legs!”

That did it. Rainbow snorted challengingly and leaned forward. “That’s it … back off you featherbrains or I’ll give you a taste of what happened the last time you tried to bother Fluttershy!”

“Yeah!” Dinky stepped forward. “Stooopid featherbrains! You shuddup you dumb meanies! Quit bein' so mean!”

“Yeah!” echoed Pinkie Pie, her head suddenly popping out of a bin full of Rainbow Dash regalia. “Nopony likes a big meanie, and you three are the biggest meanies I know!”

Hoops, Dumbbell and Score took a half-step back, clearly intimidated by the sight of the weird pony appearing out of nowhere … and clearly not having forgotten the thrashing Rainbow Dash and Cloud Kicker had dished out to them way back when. But they weren’t about to end this on Dash’s terms. “Probably think you're a big shot now cuz you got your face on some stupid merchandise.” Dumbbell blustered as he shoved over a cardboard cutout of Rainbow Dash. “That thing’s a better flyer than you!”

That little display attracted the attention of the rest of Rainbow’s friends—Twilight had been trying to patch things up between Applejack and Rarity when they noticed the altercation and headed over.

Rainbow started swearing slightly as her friends joined her. “Guys, it’s okay. This isn’t anything…”

Dumbbell smiled cruelly, seeing her discomfort. “What’s the matter Rainbow Crash? Don't want them finding out about how big a loser you were at flight camp?” He looked at her friends. “Hey, did she ever tell you about the time she decided she was going to over to the griffon camp and prank them?”

“She was awesome at it!” Dinky beamed with total confidence. Rainbow winced.

“HAW!” Hoops guffawed. “Derpy Hooves had to fly in and rescue her sorry flank! She came back crying for her mommy!”

Rainbow’s nostrils flared. “T-that's a lie!”

Rarity huffed. “Now see here, you ruffians! You can't talk to Rainbow that way!”

“So go away!” Dinky glared with all the force a six-year old could muster.

“Rarity—” Rainbow started to plead but Applejack cut in.

“Just who'n th' hay are you three?” She demanded. “Shewt, Rainbow Dash is a bona-fide hero!”

Dumbbell rolled his eyes, brushing his mane out of his eyes. “We're the only ponies in this whole town who actually knew Rainbow Crash.” He sneered at her. “Back before she was Princess Celestia's little charity case. The only ones who didn’t forget what an all-around flight school flunking, ground-kissing, feather-up she was as soon as she pulled off her little Sonic Rainboom con.”

Out of the corner of her eye Rainbow noticed Twilight give a little start at ‘flunked’ remark. Applejack blinked once before screwing up her face in angry. “Ah beg yer pardon!?”

“She did perform a Sonic Rainboom! Twice!” Twilight argued, sounding incredulous at the bullies’ remarks. “She used it to help stop Nightmare Moon and save the world! How can you not know about this?”

“Dang straight!” Applejack shot a fierce glare at the trio.

“Yeah! An' she's also way more superawesomazingradicool than you'll EVER be!” Dinky gave them a raspberry. “So there!”

“Yeah!” Pinkie nodded, blasting them with a long, ripe raspberry of her own.

The trio of bullies shook their heads and just dismissed Twilight’s claim with a laugh. “Yeah right! And I’m the Emperor of the Dragons!” Dumbbell hooted. “Rainbow Crash doesn’t have the skill to pull off a rainboom, much less stop Nightmare Moon! It was all just a hoax. She might have fooled everypony else here, but we know Crash. Much better than you dweebs do.”

Rainbow snorted. If there was a contest for intelligence or courage, none of the idiot trio would even win a participant’s trophy. But she really didn’t want to get into this with them. Not with her friends there. “Guys, it’s okay … “

“It most certainly is not!” Rarity cried.

Their previous argument forgotten, Applejack nodded in agreement with Rarity. “Like hay it is,” she told Dash.

Dinky shook her head. “Nuh-uh it isn't! They're almost as itchy at Diamond Tiara!” She paused. “Though I dunno why ponies say that, 'cause Diamond Tiara doesn’t do any scratchin’.” She shrugged and turned her attention back to the bullies. “So you. Stop. TALKIN'!”

“Wisdom from th' mouths 'o fillies…” Applejack noted as she glared at the trio, who were starting to realize just how outnumbered they were. “Ya might wanna listen.”

Fluttershy, intimidated but determined to be there for her friend, spoke up again. “She's a really nice and good and brave pony!”

“Puh!” Hoops rolled his eyes. “What do you know about bravery, Klutzershy?”

That did it. Rarity’s eyes flashed as she growled and jumped protectively in front of Fluttershy in a martial arts stance. “I detest fighting, I really prefer fashion, but if you insult dear Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash again I'LL DESTROY YOU!”

Applejack stood next to her, her hat tilted downwards. “How 'bout buckin'? 'cause the way Ah see it, ye're cruisin' fer a bruisin'!”

“I think you should leave. Now.” Rarity warned them “You have five seconds to leave, before this gets ugly.”

“Wun ... two ... FIVE!” Dinky ran up and kicked Dumbbell in the shin.

“Ow!” He clutched his leg close to him.

Dinky frowned at him. “Dummy.”

At that last bit of indignity, the three pegasi bullies beat a hasty retreat from the souvenir shop. Dinky ran to the door and deliver one last cutting remark. “Stoopid dummies!” She raspberried them again as she turned around and scampered back to Rainbow Dash and the others.

Rarity nodded as she dropped out of her stance. “So uncivilized.” Applejack agreed a touch more crudely, grumbling things about their parentage and anatomy, but having the presence of mind to say it under her breath so Dinky couldn’t hear.

Twilight walked over and gently put a hoof on Rainbow’s withers. “Rainbow Dash? Are you okay?”

“Yeah--are you okay, Rainbow Dash?” Dinky repeated, giving her godmom a get-better-hug.

Rainbow grinned weakly. “’F course. M’fine…” She was less than convincing.

“Who were those brutes?” Rarity asked.

“...nopony”

“They were these awful bullies from Flight Camp.” Fluttershy spoke up gently. “Always picking on us and teasing us.”

Rainbow groaned, really not wanting to get into this. “Fluttershy…”

Applejack narrowed her eyes. “Really?” She looked at the now closed door. “Ah'd be more'n happy t' introduce 'em t' mah left and right hooves.”

“S’nothing…” Rainbow mumbled.

“It most certainly is not!” Rarity proclaimed. “If I see those horrible stallions again ... well, I'll not be held responsible for what happens next!”

Dinky hopped up. “Yeah!”

Pinkie menacingly held up her super-soaker. “So where're these rainbow fountains you mentioned, Fluttershy?”

“Y'all right, sugarcube?” Applejack patted Rainbow’s back.

“O-of course I am!” Dash tried to shoot her most confident grin but it came off more as a grimace. “You think I care about what some lameos ... think of me.” She trailed off, sounding increasingly depressed. Dinky hugged her leg so tight that it started to cut off Rainbow’s circulation.

Rarity flicked her ears. “Hmm. Well, I know just the thing for our new celebrity! We simply must find a way to make her look her absolute best!” She looked to Fluttershy. “Does Cloudsdale have a spa?” At Fluttershy’s nod, Rarity beamed. “Wonderful! Come along girls! Dinky can come too, of course.”

“Yay!” Dinky cheered. “Thanks Miss Rarity!

Twilight took out a scroll and a quill from her saddlebag. “I’ll write a note for Ditzy and Cloud Kicker. No sense getting them worried about where we went. Especially since we have Dinky with us.” She went over to leave it with the pony running the store, who was busy trying not to goggle at Pinkie’s ability to neatly pack all of the voluminous amount of merchandise she had bought into her saddle bags.

“Rainbow? Can ah give ya ya a bit o' honest advice, pony-to-pony?” She put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “Don’ take those idjits seriously. Dumb words come from dumb ponies, an’ ye’re just draggin’ yerself down if ya listen to ‘em. Got it?”

Dash smiled slowly. “Yeah, I think I get it. I’ll just put any dumb stuff dumb ponies say out of my head!”

“There ya go,” Applejack said, beaming. “S’whatcha can do that’ll bring in the bumper crop, not whatcha hear about prices o’ labor.”

“Thanks, AJ.” Rainbow smiled, back in good spirits. “Come on guys, let’s get going!”

Rarity smiled. “The spa awaits! How delightful!” By the time Fluttershy and Rarity had led the group to the spa, Rainbow was actually starting to look forward to a long relaxing soak in a hot tub—which was not the same thing as going to a spa for a hooficure and all that lame stuff. As they were going in, she found Twilight gently nudging her side with her horn.

“Eh? What’s up, Twi?” She winced when she saw the look on Twilight’s face. Rainbow knew what Twilight was about to say…

“Um, Rainbow? Can I talk to you about something?”

Sometimes, Dash really hated it when she was right. Twilight looked a little uncertain as she asked her, as if Twilight was afraid that Rainbow wouldn’t want to or that she was intruding. The cyan pegasus knew that if she said no, Twilight would take it personally and feel like she had done something wrong when she really hadn’t. “Okay, Twi. What is it?”

Instead of answering, Twilight gently pulled Rainbow in the direction of one of the empty steam rooms. After another look to make sure they were truly alone, Twilight cast a silence spell over the room. “Dash, was it true you didn't finish Flight School?”

Dash felt her ear twitch. She could tell where this was going. “Yeah.”

On cue, Twilight looked like Rainbow had just admitted to not knowing what ‘is’ meant. “What happened? Why didn't you finish school?” She pressed.

“It just wasn't for me is all,” Rainbow flicked her tail, trying not to sigh.

Twilight paused. “What do you mean?”

“What I said.” Dash huffed, crossing her hooves. Seeing Twilight still waiting for an answer, she sighed and elaborated. “It was boring, okay? It was either trying to lecture me on stuff I don’t need to know and doesn’t help me become a Wonderbolt or was trying to teach me things about flying that I already knew. It was dull and it was pointless.” She shrugged. “Why read books or write papers about flight when I could just go out and do it? I honestly did my best when I was just going out and doing it.”

“What about Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked gently. “I thought you were going to be her protege after you did the first Sonic Rainboom?”

Dash nodded. “Well, she still wanted me to go to school and then we’d have our own lessons on weekends and stuff. But by the time I was in flight school I just … had enough, you know? It wasn’t helping me go where I wanted to go, so I just stopped bothering doing the class work. The best thing I got out of flight school was plenty of time for naps.” The look on Twilight’s face at this open affront to education is impossible to accurately describe through words alone. Rainbow didn’t pay it much heed anyway. “So I was about to flunk out when Princess Celestia went to the school and she took over my education n’ stuff. It was still boring, but she wasn’t boring, y’know?” She rubbed a hoof through her mane. “Is this really a big deal?”

“Yes, it is!” Twilight stressed. “Your education is a huge deal.”

Dash turned away to sit down on the bench, hunched forward over the heated rocks. Her tone was gruff and defensive when she finally responded. “I'm a perfectly awesome flyer and I've gotten this weather managing thing down. Who cares if I have some stupid piece of paper saying I sat through some boring lectures and dumb tests?”

“The Wonderbolts for starters,” Twilight answered as she sat down next to her friend. “They check that type of thing when they look for applicants. I drew up a list of the criteria they look for in new Wonderbolts.

Rainbow turned to Twilight, her ears flattening. “Y-you did?”

“Of course I did,” Twilight sounded somewhat surprised that Rainbow Dash would even ask. “I want to help you get into the Wonderbolts someday.” Her horn briefly lit up as she cast a retrieval spell to fetch a scroll from her saddle bag in the foyer. “See? Item 36 education: typically, your average Wonderbolt has a degree in weather engineering or military science.”

“Typically. Not always,” Rainbow reminded her, ready to spit out the names of every Wonderbolt, past or present, who lacked a formal education. “'Sides, I know that stuff. Princess Celestia didn't let me just practice making Rainbooms y'know. I learned all the stuff I needed to learn anyway and just didn’t get some fancy piece of paper saying it.”

Twilight nodded as she magicked her scroll away. “Oh, so you have a Flight School or equivalent degree then?”

“Nnnnnoooooot exactly.” Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck, idly flicking off the sweat from her hoof.

“Not exactly, or not at all?” Twilight shot her a scrutinizing look that reminded Dash of her mother.

“A little bit of Column A and a little bit of Column B?” She grinned weakly, sweating a little bit more. Must be from the steam, she reasoned--right before she wilted under Twilight’s gaze. “Well, a lot of Column B.” She bit her lip. “Mostly Column B.” With a final sigh she admitted. “All Column B.”

Twilight’s eloquent facehoof said it all. But just in case it didn’t she went on. “Rainbow, this is important! You can't just go around without a degree, it’s essential to your future!”

Whether it was frustration, the heat of the steam room or the after effects of running into the idiots, Rainbow had enough. “Hey! I managed to land a good job without a degree. I performed the Sonic Rainboom without a degree. I managed to save the feathering world without a degree!” She stomped her hoof. “Isn't that good enough?! Isn't the awesomeness I do everyday enough without some stuck up professor or principal judging me and putting their own personal hoof of approval on it?!” Rainbow didn’t quite realize she had started shouting until her own voice echoed back at her and she saw Twilight flinching and sliding away from her. Dash groaned. She knew Twilight was just trying to help and she just bit her head off.

“That isn't what I mean. I just want to help. With some prep work we can get you ready for the test to get you your basic Secondary School Degree.” She fidgeted for a moment before looking Rainbow back in the eyes. “I know how good you are, but I don’t want you to be held back by this.”

“Sorry, Twi.” Rainbow sighed, calming herself. “It's not you … you've been great. I mean, okay, that lesson plan on Starswirl the Bearded's eating habits was a bit much … But I really appreciate that you’re take the time to help me with that formal education thing Celestia asked you to do. I just…” She looked at the closed door and what lay beyond it. “Nopony else cares. Cloudsdale doesn't seem to care if I fl--dropped out of flight school. The only ones rubbing my face in it were those three stooges. Everypony else in Cloudsdale, they like me, for me. For the stuff I've done without a diploma.”

Twilight put a supporting hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder. “Well I do care, and you want to know why? Because I want you to be the best you can be. Not as good as you are, or good enough for them. The best you can be.” She smiled. “And that includes improving your education.”

“Thanks, Twilight.” A small smile made its way across Rainbow’s snout. “Have I ever mentioned that you're like, a hundred-thousand percent cooler than all those snooty flight school teachers I had?”

“No, you haven't.” Twilight smirked. “I believe last time we had a lesson you complained about how ‘this is the most boring lesson ever yet.’”

Oh yeah, Rainbow recalled. She had. “You spent half an hour on the changes in language on a failed amendment to a treaty between Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom regarding a two percent tax hike on tea imports!” She defended herself.

“It set a long term precedent between Equestrian-Griffon relations!” Twilight argued back, putting her hooves on her hips. “Seriously, it’s highly underrated as a subject. I wrote a thesis on it.”

Rainbow couldn’t help letting out a bark of laughter. “Of course you did,” she said, shaking her head. “Anyway, thanks.”

“Not a problem. We can go over the specifics when we get to Ponyville, right?”

“Right.”

Having solved that, Twilight cancelled her silence spell. “All right, let's get back to the girls.” She mopped the sweat off her brow with a hoof. “If this keeps up I’m going to smell like the pigs on Applejack’s farm.”

“You could always ask Rarity or Pinkie for some more of that perfume.” Rainbow offered with a grin.

“Nnoooo, thank you.” Twilight shook her head. “I’d rather stick with B.O. But there’s a hot tub waiting for us and that sounds better than either.”

Rainbow pushed the door open. “I’ve heard worse plans.” She admitted as they walked out the door together to rejoin the rest of the party.

“You mean like every plan you’ve ever made?” Twilight snarked.

“Oh, shut up.”

As the group left the spa, Rainbow spotted Ditzy and Cloud Kicker waiting for them. Dinky made her way over to give her mom a hug and chatter on about all the cool Rainbow stuff they had picked up. Dash was about to make her way over when she found her path blocked by Cloud Kicker.

She blinked. “Oh. Hey Kicker. 'What’s up?” Cloud Kicker tilted her head indicating that she wanted to get away from the group for a moment--someplace private.

“Hey Rainbow. Just hanging out. You?”

“Yeah. Same.” Dash shrugged. “You got Twi's note I guess?”

Cloud Kicker nodded. “Everything okay?”

“Sure. Why wouldn't it be?” Rainbow asked, a touch too quickly.

“Twilight said you had a run-in with the three stupidest pegasi in Cloudsdale.” Kicker said bluntly. Rainbow winced slightly, wishing she had taken the time to see just what Twilight had written on her note for CK.

“Oh. That. No big.” She tried to sound nonchalant, wondering what the heck regular chalant was, but Cloud Kicker clearly wasn’t buying it.

The lavender pegasus gently draped a wing around Rainbow. “Wanna talk about it?”

Still trying to play it cool, Rainbow shrugged. “Why? M'fine,” she mumbled unconvincingly. “Why should I care what those idiots think?”

“I dunno, why should you?” Cloud gave her a reassuring squeeze. “Whose opinion counts for more? Three idiots, or your best friends?”

“My friends, of course.” She said immediately. Then Rainbow couldn’t help but add, “It's just--” she bit her lip before continuing. “--they were right about one thing. They have known me longer than Twi or AJ and the others. And about as long as you or Derpy or Fluttershy.”

Cloud gave a contemptuous sounding snort. “Yeah, and? So what? They’re idiots.”

“It means they--maybe they do know me better than the others.” Rainbow fidgeted. “They've seen me crash and burn, drop out of flight school and all that other stuff.”

“So have I.” Kicker gave her a pointed nudge. “And so have Derpy and Fluttershy.” Rainbow paused, not having an answer for that. Cloud moved around until she was face to face with Rainbow Dash, putting her hooves on Dash’s cheeks. “Are you really gonna listen to those waste-of-space over ponies who love you?”

Rainbow tried to pull away, to look away, but Cloud Kicker didn’t let her. Finally she had to say something. “When you put it that way...” she admitted.

“That’s my Rainbow.” Cloud Kicker grinned, letting her hooves drop back to the ground. “Need one of my patented get-better-kisses?”

That won a startled, amused snort from her normally brash friend. “Yeah, pass. I mean, if I give you one, soon everypony in Cloudsdale will be wanting one.” A small grin tugged at her mouth. “You saw them when we arrived. They'd flip!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Cloud waved aside the fact that she’d just been being shot down. “So ... think maybe you oughta listen to all your best friends and the whole city of Cloudsdale over a couple idiots who're just jealous of how awesome you are?”

Rainbow nodded slowly. “...yeah.”

“So ... who's awesome?” Cloud grinned.

“Me.” Dash’s poise grew straighter, more confident.

Cloud reached out and gently shoved her like a drill-sergeant. “Now say it like you mean it.”

“Me!”

“Louder!” CK barked.

“ME!”

“LOUDER!”

“ME!” Rainbow practically roared in Cloud Kicker’s face. “I'm awesome!”

Cloud roared right back in Dash’s face, returning her words from earlier that day. “I-can't-hear-you!”

“I'M AWESOME!” Rainbow shouted, flying up and waving her hoof triumphantly in the air. “I performed the only Sonic Rainboom in history--twice! Princess Celestia chose me as her student, I saved the world from Nightmare Moon! I'm Rainbow feathering Dash and I rock!”

Cloud nodded and flew up to join her. “Damn right you are!” The two shared a hard wing-slap. CK shook her wing once or twice to get the sting out before going on. “Now gimme a kiss, then go out there and kick flank!

“Yeah I--” Rainbow did a double-take worthy of a Las Pegasus comedy show. “No, Kicker!” She groused at her endlessly flirty friend. “But I will go out and kick flank so hard that nopony is gonna say that I didn't do the Rainboom or that I don't deserve to be Celestia's student ever again!”

“Sounds like a good plan.” Kicker agreed. “And your friends will be there with you every step of the way.”

Rainbow smiled. “I wouldn't have it any other way.”

“So, rain check on that kiss?” Cloud nudged her teasingly.

Dash rolled her eyes. “Yeah, let’s go with that, CK.”

Cloud smiled. “Cool. Let's go kick flank, Dash.”

“Yeah.” The two of them spread their wings and flew back to rejoin the others. Rainbow was back in high spirits and grinning confidently. “So, who wants to have their first taste of authentic Cloudsdale cuisine?”

“Ooh me! Me me me!” Pinkie bounced up and down, waving her hoof around.

Applejack reared up. “Yee-haw! Now yer talkin’! Hope they got apples!”

“Don’t you ever get tired of apples?” Derpy asked, slightly bemused.

“Do you ever get tired of muffins?” Applejack shot back, narrowing her eyes.

Derpy stroked her muzzle thoughtfully before nodding solemnly. “Touche. Well played Apple, well played.”

Elegantly ignoring the two of them, Rarity beamed. “Sounds exquisite! There’s nothing that makes traveling so satisfying as engaging in fine dining!” Her smile remained plastered on her face even after the group arrived at their destination: Private Pansy’s Pizzeria. “How...delightful.”

“C’mon guys!” Rainbow grinned as she put her hoof against the door, pushing it open. “We’ll scarf down some pizza while I tell you all about--”

“RAINBOW DASH!” The second Rainbow’s namesake mane had appeared in the doorway, the entire restaurant was on its hooves, staring gleefully at the biggest celebrity in town.

Fluttershy shrunk back into the group, eeping softly.

“So much for a quiet lunch.” Twilight sighed as Rainbow walked in, waving at her fans as the group took over an empty table. No less than four waiters competed for the chance to serve Rainbow Dash, elbowing each other aside and ignoring everypony else at the table. In the end, they each ended up taking part of Rainbow’s order and dashed off … then taking the others’ orders when they came back with Rainbow’s food.

By the time Dash’s friends were getting their food, Rainbow was already finished and performing some quick flexing and wing-ups for the crowd.

“Three cheers for Rainbow Dash!” Cloud Kicker yelled out.

“Four cheers for Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie Pie shouted louder.

CK looked at her oddly as the crowd cheered. “Why four?”

“Because I like go one step beyond,” Pinkie announced seriously.

Rainbow Dash stood atop one of the tables and waved to her admiring crowd. “Cider for everypony!” She called, resulting in wild cheers. “It’s great to be back in Cloudsdale! I hope to see everypony here at the Best Young Flyers’ Competition to see the most awesome flying you’re ever going to see--mine!”

Applejack couldn’t help roll her eyes at the display. “Rate she’s going, RD won’t need wings to fly. Her fat head will float ‘er right off the ground.” She suddenly grunted as she took an elbow to the gut.

“Oh come on AJ.” Cloud Kicker grinned, having been the pony elbowing her. “Let Rainbow have her fun. It’s not everyday a pony gets to be the hometown hero.”

Derpy looked a bit skeptical at Cloud Kicker, her other eye trained on Rainbow Dash. “I don’t know Cloudy … This is getting to be a bit much.”

Twilight bit her lip. “I think Ditzy has a point.” She looked around the table. “I don’t think Rainbow is handling all this attention well. I mean, shouldn’t she be acting more modest about her abilities?”

“Really darling, I know you mean well but that’s not the way things work.” Rarity chimed in, patting Twilight’s hoof. “Nopony ever achieved their dreams by selling themselves short. If you aren’t going to put yourself forward, nopony else is going to do it for you. Why,” Rarity pressed the back of her hoof against her brow. “If I were to wave off all the praise directed towards my outfits, I’d find myself out of business and out of home! Living on the street! With dirt!”

“Oh for the love of…” Applejack grumbled.

Fluttershy flinched. “Oh, please don’t fight. Can’t we all just get along?”

“Yeah!” Pinkie shouted. “Come on ponies, it’s a party! Let’s be happy and celebrate!” She hopped up onto the table and started to dance on her hind legs, somehow managing to procure a lampshade to wear on her head, despite there not being a single lamp in the entire establishment.

Applejack and Ditzy let the matter drop as they dug into their food. Dinky was tearing and tugging fiercely at her pizza, getting all gooey in the process.

Twilight bit her lip as she looked at Rainbow Dash posing and stretching. “Cloud Kicker, could I have a word with you?”

“Hm?” Cloud swallowed a mouthful of pizza and pushed her seat back from the table. “Uh, sure. Outside?”

“Assuming we can get there,” Twilight commented ruefully, their table pressed on all sides by Rainbow’s fans. It took the two of them the better part of five minutes to get through the crowd and out the door.

Cloud Kicker stretched her wings idly as she looked at her Twilight. “So what did you want to talk about?”

“Rainbow Dash.” Twilight cast a worried look inside. “Are you sure you should be encouraging her like that is really such a good idea?”

“Come on Sparkles, you saw how down those three idiots made her feel.” Kicker growled at the memory. “She could use a little building up.”

“But she already has us supporting her. And Cloudsdale’s already making her out to be the best flyer in Equestria before the competition’s even started. How much more building up could she need?”

Cloud Kicker shook her head impatiently. “You just don’t get it. I’ve known Rainbow Dash for a long time. She’s always been trying to prove, to herself and to everypony else, just how good she is. And she is good. Great even. But she’s never good enough in her own mind. She wants perfection, to be the best. Anything less … it eats away at her. Makes her feel like an utter failure, even when on her worst day she could probably outfly half of Cloudsdale. And when there are ponies actively trying to tear her down, like those three morons, who try to shove every past setback in her face--she just shuts down. And while she’ll never admit it, she needs friends to help hold her up. That’s why I want to help her, however I can.”

Twilight was quiet for a long moment. But when she spoke, her voice was steady. “You’re wrong Cloud Kicker. I might not have known her as long as you, but I’ve seen her tackle situations unlike anything you’ve seen. And Rainbow Dash is much stronger than you give her credit for.” She bit her lip. “Maybe even more than she gives herself credit for. She might have her moments of doubt--everypony does--but that doesn’t mean that she’s still some insecure little filly who needs a pat on the back. I think she’s strong enough to be able to stand tall on her own and not need anypony to hold her hoof and tell her how great she is when she already knows it.”

Kicker’s wings twitched, feeling needled. “That sounds nice, Twilight, but I think I know Rainbow Dash a bit better than somepony who only met her a couple of months ago.” Her tone was icy. “And I don’t like being told that I don’t appreciate Rainbow enough … not after everything we’ve been through together. I’m not an ingrate, Miss Sparkle.”

“That isn’t what I said...” Twilight started, but Cloud Kicker whirled around and stomped off inside. The lavender unicorn sighed. “That went well.”

The rest of the day didn’t go any better. After lunch, the group went on a walking tour through Cloudsdale. Everywhere they went, they ended up getting mobbed by fans of Rainbow Dash. A leisurely stroll through the cloud sculpture gardens became a panicked rush to avoid being trampled by the ponies who practically shoved Rainbow’s friends aside.

A walk through the shopping district became an impromptu aerial show by Rainbow for her fans. By the time they had shaken the crowd, everypony had worked up quite a thirst. So the group stopped off at a small open-air cafe to rest their weary legs and have a drink. They settled into place around an open table, listening as Rainbow expounded upon the wonders of Cloudberry Pie and other such foods. It made them almost regret having filled up on pizza. The could hardly wait for dinner now! For a while they all just enjoyed a casual sit-down, until doom struck in the most unlikely form.

"Excuse me." A little colt no older than Dinky gently tugged on one of Rainbow's wings. "Are you Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow grinned down at the kid and reached down to ruffle his mane. "The one and only. What's up?"

The colt grinned, showing off a recently lost tooth, then whirled around, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "I told you guys it was really her!"

A second later, half a dozen young colts and fillies came boiling out of a nearby side street, practically trampling over each other in their eagerness to reach her. The young ringleader turned back to Rainbow and bombarded her with questions. "So you can really do a sonic rainboom? That's so cool! What's it like doing it? Is it awesome? I bet it's awesome! So..." The rest of his questions were drowned out by the arrival of his friends, each with their own questions.

"Whoa, whoa, chillax guys!" Rainbow tried to wave the enthusiastic kids down. "One at a time, one at a time. I know I'm awesome, but even I can't answer a dozen questions at once!"

And so, what would have been a pleasant snack with her friends instead became the first meeting of the Cloudsdale branch of the Rainbow Dash Fan Club.

As night began to fall and their bellies rumbled with hunger, they headed to one of Rainbow’s favorite diners. Twilight’s hopes for a nice, quiet meal were, quite literally, dashed.

Twilight sighed as she made her way over Rainbow Dash, having to shoulder her way through a thick crowd of starry-eyed fans who hung on her every word. She finally managed to get close to Rainbow Dash just in time to hear her describe her dramatic rescue of her friends from Nightmare Moon and performing her second Sonic Rainboom.

“... I dove off the tower and started racing down to catch my friends! All five of them were screaming, eyes wide with terror.” Rainbow waved her hooves around, demonstrating her friends’ justifiable panic at the situation, while omitting her own. “I knew I couldn’t let any of them down, so I said to myself, ‘Rainbow Dash, you’re the only pony awesome enough to save them and stop Nightmare Moon,’ and so I flew faster and faster, the ground reaching up to meet me when...” she trailed off, causing everypony around to lean in close to catch her next words. Dash grinned and took a deep breath. “BOOM!” she shouted, leaping up on the table and startling her fans backwards. “A Sonic Rainboom, just in the nick of time!”

Her audience ooohed and ahhhed right before bursting into tumultuous applause! Twilight couldn’t help but roll her eyes slightly. She would be the very last pony to deny that Rainbow was a hero or be grateful for her own rescue--Twilight didn’t think she’d be able to write many papers if she were a pony pancake--but this was too much. Listening to her, you’d think Rainbow Dash had saved them all like the stereotypical Prince in Distress and then gone on to defeat Nightmare Moon all by herself. Even if Rainbow Dash didn’t exactly say all that, that’s definitely how it came off. That’s when Rainbow went on to say, “And then I kicked Nightmare Moon right in the face! And she went down crying like a filly, 'cause she knew there was no way she could take me!”

That was it. Twilight frowned. Enough was enough. One of Rainbow’s fans saw Twilights’ less than impressed look. “Hey!” The mare frowned at Twilight. “What’s your problem?” Her outburst drew the attention of several other ponies in earshot.

“Nothing!” Twilight said quickly, feeling a bit nervous and daunted by all the stares heading her way. For a second she felt like flinching and backing down, like she would’ve done only a short time ago, before she came to Ponyville. She straightened up and stood firm. “I just think that could be … ” Twilight considered the words egotistical and arrogant before dismissing them as being too inflammatory. “A bit more reserved.”

There were indignant snorts and mumbles. Who did this unicorn think she was? The first pegasus asked that question, point blank. “Who are you and why should we care?” she demanded incredulously.

Twilight fought to keep her tone level, to keep out any stammer or hesitation. “My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I’m one of Rainbow Dash’s best friends.”

The response was about what you’d expect. “Oh yeah, me too! I’ve been PFFs with the savior of Equestria since we were four!” hooted one obnoxious pony. Another shouted out, “Yeah and I’m the Lord of all Horses!” “And I’m the C.E.O. of all donkeys!” called another. Snickers rang out, and Twilight fumed quietly.

That’s when Rainbow Dash spotted her, having taken a break in detailing exactly how awesome her Rainboom was, plus how easy it was for her to do it. Her eyes lit up. “Hey Twilight, there you are!” She waved her over. “C’mon! I was about to tell them about the fight against Nightmare Moon’s evil army of Shadowbolts!”

Twilight walked over, not sparing a look back at the ponies who had been openly mocking her a moment ago. “Rainbow Dash, can we talk?” She tilted her head to the crowd. “Alone?”

“Aww, but Twi we just got here! Besides, I know what you’re gonna say.” Rainbow waved.

“You do?” Twilight felt cautiously optimistic.

Dash nodded. “Of course! I’m keeping what you said in mind and I’m not gonna let anypony tell me that I’m not cool!” She smiled happily.

A twitch began to develop above Twilight’s eye. She should probably have that looked at. “That wasn’t … nevermind.” She sighed before counting to ten. “Rainbow can we please talk? I think you might be getting carried away.” there were gasps and murmurs as Twilight belatedly remembered that they had a crowd of ponies crowded around the two of them. “Just a bit?”

The first pony to challenge Twilight bristled as she stepped forward. “Rainbow Dash is the greatest flyer in Equestria!” she shouted. “Who are you tell her that she’s not? What the hay does a unicorn know about flying anyway?”

“She’s just jealous!” shouted another pony, receiving a loud agreeing chorus that completely drowned out both Twilight’s protests and Rainbow’s own efforts to get them to calm down.

Seeing Twilight under a virtual siege, Applejack stormed in, practically ploughing her way through Rainbow’s fans. “Now wait an apple-buckin’ minute! None of you git to say that about Twilight!” She barked, tossing her head around to give the stinkeye to everypony she made eye contact with. “Ah like Rainbow Dash as much as the next pony, heck, mebe even moreso--but she didn’t save the whole world by herself y’know?” She glared at Rainbow. “You do remember that, dontcha?”

“Well, yeah, but I’m still the greatest flyer there is!” Rainbow admitted, but quickly rallying.

Twilight stood closer to Applejack. “Rainbow Dash, we know you’re really talented and that you’re probably going to win at the competition tomorrow...” gasps of horror rang out from the crowd at the qualifier ‘probably.’ “But that’s no reason to brag and show off. You should be more modest about your abilities, even though you’re a great flyer.”

AJ nodded. “An’ not act like some darn-fool pony showin’ off a brand new ribbon in her mane!”

Rainbow’s wings flared out angrily, snorting with disbelief. “What?! You were the ones that said a little while ago how good I was and how those idiots who said I wasn’t were just jealous of me! What gives?” She was loudly encouraged by her fans, but she practically forgot they were there.

“Rainbow...” Derpy gave her best motherly-warning tone. “You're setting a bad example for your fans.”

“What?!” Dash protested heatedly. “Oh come on they came here to hear about me being awesome and that's what I'm giving them!”

Applejack stomped her hoof. “You’re tootin’ yer own horn louder than the brass section of a marching band.” She argued. “It’s gettin’ down-right obnoxious havin’ to sit here and listen to you act like yer the greatest thing since apple pie.”

Rainbow hopped down off the table and stalked up to Applejack, staring her in the eye. “Oh yeah? What about you, AJ?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you!” Dash flicked her wings. “Always going on and on and on about how great your boring old apples are! ‘Buy Sweet Apple Acres apples! They’re the gold-darn best apples in all of Equestria, boy howdy ah tell you what.’” She went off in a horrible imitation of Applejack’s accent.

Applejack’s face turned the color of a red gala. “What?! That’s mah family’s livelihood ya air-headed, sidewinding, bushwhacking, hornswoggling galoot! That’s important, not like yer silly li’l competition!”

“‘Silly’?!” Rainbow got right up in Applejack’s face. “This is my chance to show the Wonderbolts what I’ve got so I can join them someday!”

“That ain’t as important as providin’ fer yer family!” Applejack shoved her forehead against Rainbow’s, who just as stubbornly pushed back.

“If it’s so silly, why are you even here?!” She shot back.

Derpy’s gray wing shot between them, forcing them to each back up a few steps. “All right, that's enough.” She gave a wall-eyed frown at both of them. “Go cool off, or I’ll have you go sit in the corner and hold hooves.”

Rainbow shook with anger. “Y-you’re not my feathering mom, Derpy! Quit acting like you are!”

Derpy took a step back, half-indignant and half-shocked. "I'm your friend and I'm trying to help you! We all are!”

“Well stop!” Dash reared up, stretching her wings out. “I don't need your help! Stop acting like you all know what I need to do, like you all know more than me!”

“Maybe we should go?” Fluttershy suggested meekly.

Rarity nodded. “I agree darlings, I think we’re doing more harm than good right now.”

Applejack grumbled but let herself be led away, leaving a confused Rainbow Dash staring at her friends’ retreating forms. “W-what?” Rainbow felt her mouth drop. “C’mon guys, wait a minute! Don’t go! It’s—it’s no fun if you aren’t here too.” She sighed as the door closed behind them.

Twilight was the last to leave. “Rainbow Dash, we’re all happy for you and want to be there for you. But the way you’re acting … it’s like you’re becoming an entirely different pony, and not the one we came to support. And I don’t know if she’s even the one we became friends with in the first place.” She looked at her sadly. “We’ll go on ahead to your parents’ house. We’ll be waiting for you there.”

Then she was gone, leaving Rainbow Dash feeling utterly alone in a room full of ponies.

Rainbow grumbled as she walked through the streets of Cloudsdale. She had spent another half-hour with her fans at the diner at her friends left before she made a break for it. A quick stop into a nearby souvenir shop had provided her with a sweater. Right now, she just wanted to be alone.

I just don’t get it. Rainbow Dash grumbled. They tell me to believe in myself and then they tell me not to. Didn’t they want her to win, to be the best?

“Rainbow, wait up!” Dash stopped and turned around to see Cloud Kicker running up to her.

“CK?” She didn’t know whether to feel relieved or angry. “Have you come to tell me that I’m being obnoxious and showing off too?” Rainbow narrowed her eyes. “Where is everypony anyway?”

Cloud flicked her wing to a small cafe across the street. “I thought maybe everypony should cool down for a bit.” Her face softened. “Look Dash, I know things got a bit ugly in there, but they’re your friends and they just want to help. Even if they're overreacting."

Rainbow tilted her head curiously. “What do you mean?”

“Look, Rainbow,” Cloud sighed. “I don't agree with them, but the whole reason they brought this up is because they're worried about you, and want what's best for you.”

The angry pegasus snorted and stomped her hoof. “I just don’t get it! They told me to believe in myself and stuff and now they're telling me not to! What the hay?”

“I don't think that's what they meant,” Kicker explained. “They want you to believe in yourself, but they also don't want you going into ego-monster territory.”

Rainbow almost went apoplectic at that. “E-ego-monster?! I am not an ego-monster!” She whinnied, rearing up on her hindlegs and flapping her wings angrily. “I didn’t say anything that wasn’t the truth! I’m not a liar!”

Cloud turned to avoid Dash’s flailing forelegs and put a calming hoof on her shoulder. “I know you're not. But they're worried.” A string of less than complimentary words issued out of Rainbow’s mouth as Cloud held firm, trying to weather the storm. “Rainbow!” She barked in her best West Hoof voice. “They’re your friends! Settle down!”

“I know that!” Dash shouted back, before slumping down back onto all fours, sounding weary. “I know.” She sighed. “I dunno what to do.”

“First things first...” Cloud nodded as she pulled Rainbow into a hug.

Rainbow was caught off guard, but soon found herself hugging Cloud back. “CK?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.” Dash managed a small smile.

Cloud gave her a gentle but firm squeeze. “No problem.” She drew back so she could look Rainbow in the eye. “Just remember, even when they're being silly and worrying too much, it's 'cause they care. We all do.”

“What should I do?” Rainbow murmured, half to herself.

“How do you think your ego's doing?” Cloud asked. “Feeling any need to go on about how you're 'The Great and Powerful Dashie?’"

That won a snort from her friend. “I don't think so … I'm more awesome and cool anyway.”

“Then I'd say you're okay.” Cloud gave her a supportive smile. “I believe in you. Always have, always will.” She gave Rainbow a tiny nuzzle.

But the question on Rainbow’s mind was on her lips even before it was fully formed. “Then why doesn't Twilight or AJ or Derpy?

Cloud Kicker winced. “They do, Rainbow. They're just...” She sighed as she thought of a way to explain. “It's a tricky balance, between too much ego and not enough. Twilight and Derpy are--don't take this the wrong way--but they're not all that ambitious.” Rainbow flicked her ear, indicating that she was listening. “When you have big goals, you have to push yourself harder. And you have to be seen as pushing yourself harder. The Wonderbolts don't want flyers who are content with just being good enough.”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah. Only the best of the best get to be Wonderbolts.”

“Exactly!” Cloud agreed. “S'just like how in the Guard, you don't get anywhere with false modesty. Yeah, nopony likes a raging egotist, but you can't be afraid to put yourself out there and say, 'Yeah, I am that good.'”

Rainbow Dash shifted, feeling reassured. Cloud Kicker was right. Rainbow was just trying to prove that she was the best is all. No different than what every other competitive athlete did. But then, why did she still have this weight in her stomach? “I … I don't think I can talk to the others yet.”

Kicker nodded. “Might be good for everypony to have a little time to cool off first. You're all still probably a little mad at each other.” Her ear flicked in annoyance. “I'm not exactly happy with them myself.”

“I mean, I think I want to be alone for a bit, CK.” Rainbow elaborated, starting to stretch her wings.

“Oh. Yeah, sure.” A slightly hurt look crossed Cloud Kicker’s face, but quickly passed. She replaced it with a teasing smirk. “Do I get a goodbye kiss?” She puckered her lips.

“Later, Kicker.” Rainbow rolled her eyes.

“Okay, we can kiss later!” Kicker beamed. Dash let out a sigh and took off into the evening sky.

Cloud Kicker watched her fly off, her ear flicking as she heard the sound of somepony running towards her. She turned to see Twilight Sparkle running towards her. “Rainbow Dash!” Twilight called after the retreating pegasus, but she was too far away. She came to a stop, panting as she watched Dash fade into the distance. “Rainbow...” She sighed.

“Twilight Sparkle.” Kicker said cooly.

“Cloud Kicker?” Twilight turned to her. “Where's Rainbow Dash going?”

Kicker shrugged. “She needs some alone time. Clear her head, and all that.” She hesitated for a moment, then added. “She's upset with you and your friends.”

Twilight flinched and turned to her. “They're her friends, Cloud Kicker. Just as much as you.”

“I know, I told her as much.” Cloud swished her tail. “Still, calling her out in public was a dumb move.”

That made Twilight bristle. “I tried to talk to her in private but she wouldn't move.”

“When my dad disagrees with your brother, he keeps his mouth shut until they can get to private,” Cloud ground out stiffly. Then she sighed and took a deep breath. “I know you were trying to look out for her, but...”

Twilight frowned. “My brother is your dad's commanding officer. Rainbow isn't my CO, she's my friend. I tried talking to her in private but she wouldn't budge! She's becoming addicted to all those hangers-on and fake friends and fame!”

Cloud snorted skeptically. “She's been in Cloudsdale for a day. It’s a little early to call it an addiction.”

“Oh really? The part about her taking out Nightmare Moon all by herself and making her cry didn't seem the least bit worrisome?” Twilight challenged. When CK didn’t immediately respond, she pushed on. “You aren't taking this seriously. Rainbow's always been a bit of a show-off, but now it's getting out of hoof!”

“Look, she's in a shaky spot right now.” Cloud tried to reason. “If she needs to brag a bit to build herself up, let her. Besides, she's not gonna get far on false modesty.”

By the look on her face, Twilight wasn’t buying it. “How far do you think she's going to get on puffed-up ego? Do you really think that's the example Derpy wants Rainbow setting for her goddaughter? Do you really think that bragging is going to get her ahead in life? That claiming she made Nightmare Moon cry like a filly is really going to help?”

“I'm not saying she should go overboard on it, but there's nothing wrong with having a little pride in her accomplishments. It certainly beats the hay out of her feeling like she's not good enough.”

“This isn't ‘a little pride,’ Cloud Kicker.” Twilight shook her head. “She's acting like she's Celestia's gift to ponykind and she's starting to accept it like it's her due.”

“How do you know she wasn't putting on a show for the crowd?” Kicker challenged. “And like I said before, it's a little early to say she's going nuts with ego.”

“After what she said to Derpy?” Twilight demanded. “Why are you so insistent on denying that there's any problem with any of this?”

“I dunno,” Cloud returned cooly. “Why are you so insistent on seeing a problem where none exists?”

“Because I care about Rainbow Dash!” Twilight shouted. “All this attention--the parades and celebrations and merchandise--it's too much for anypony!”

That got Cloud Kicker bristling. “And you think I don't care? Just 'cause I wasn't there to get an element doesn't mean I count for less as a friend!”

“I never said that!” Twilight exclaimed. “Stop putting words in my mouth, Cloud Kicker. You did this before, and it was wrong then.”

Cloud opened her mouth only to bite down and take a deep breath. “Yeah.” She sighed wearily. “You didn't say it. But...” she trailed off.

Twilight seemed to follow her train of thought. “Is that why you want to support Rainbow so much? You want to show her that you aren't any less of a friend than the rest of us?” She was surprised when Cloud Kicker went quiet for a bit. When she started talking again it was in a very subdued tone.

“Everypony's got something special with her.” Cloud murmured. “Derpy's got her as Dinky’s godmom, the rest of you have the whole Elements of Harmony thing...”

“Cloud Kicker,” Twilight tentatively reached out a hoof to put on her shoulder. “You're one of her first friends. You went to flight camp together. You work with each other almost every day. That's not nothing.”

But Cloud stubbornly shook her head. “You gotta admit, Dash and I don't have anything special. Nothing that's just us.”

“Friendship is special,” Twilight urged.

“Yeah, but she's got you guys for that. Hay, she's got more friends than she knows what to do with.” Cloud let out a weak snort. “Least I can do is have her back.”

Twilight was quiet for a moment. “Pretending Rainbow Dash doesn't have any problems isn't the same thing as having her back.” She stood close to Cloud Kicker. “I know you're trying to help Rainbow Dash. I am too. But can you look me in the eye and say that none of this attention is going to her head, that her ego isn't getting out of control?”

Cloud Kicker lifted up her head and looked Twilight right in the eye. She opened her mouth, only to close it again. “She's going a little too far, yeah.”

“So what do we do?” Twilight asked gently.

“Guess we need to ask her to tone it down a tad, once she gets back.” Cloud sighed, knowing how confused it was going to make Dash feel when she talked to her.

“Do you know where she went?”

Cloud shook her head at Twilight. “Out for a flight. She needs a bit to clear her head and calm down before we try talking to her anyway.”

Twilight sighed. “Should we wait for her here? Or should we go to her family's house? We were supposed to end up there at the end of the night anyway.”

“Probably best to go to her family's place,” Cloud answered. “We don't know for sure that she'll come back here, but she'll definitely go there.” She hesitated. “Can I tell you a secret?”

Twilight seemed a bit taken aback that Cloud Kicker would trust her with a secret, nodding. “Dash ... means a lot to me. A whole lot. The idea that she might be moving on, leaving me behind...” Cloud shivered.

“I'm sure she won't,” Twilight said comfortingly. “She's not that kind of pony. She doesn’t give up on friends.”

Cloud gave a numb nod. “Yeah, but the thing about Dash is, I kinda...” There was a bit of an awkward lull in the conversation. Twilight looked down and scuffed her hoof on a cloud, not quite sure what to say. Kicker couldn’t help but chuckle at how adorable she was acting. “So ... you're still single, right?”

Twilight stiffened and started to walk back, followed closely by Cloud Kicker. “Yes, and liable to stay that way, thank you.”

“A mare after my own heart,” Kicker grinned. “So--we had a fight. I think make-up sex is a must, now.”

“Ohlooktherearetheothers!” Twilight yelped as she picked up speed.

Cloud let out a giggle as she followed her. “You really are too easy.”

Chapter 4

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Chapter Four

The walk to Rainbow Dash’s house was mostly done in silence, with Fluttershy and Derpy leading the way. Everypony was thinking about Rainbow Dash, trying to figure out how to make things right. “Here we are,” Fluttershy said gently as she stopped in front of a cloud house. “This is where Rainbow’s parents live.”

“How elegant!” Rarity smiled as she looked over the pillars of clouds that supported the roof. “Hard to believe our Rainbow Dash came from someplace as refined as this!”

Derpy walked over to the door and knocked. On her back, a dozing Dinky murmured and fidgeted. The door swung open to reveal a blue-grey pegasus stallion with a very familiar mane.

“Oh!” Twilight’s face lit up. “You must be Rainbow Dash’s father!”

The stallion grinned, running a hoof through his rainbow mane. “What gave me away?” he teased. “I’m Cyclone Bolt. You must be her Ponyville friends. I’m glad you were able to make it. Now I’ve got some ponies to cheer with for my little Dashie.” He waved a rainbow colored pennant, his face all smiles.

“Aww,” Fluttershy couldn’t resist cooing. “That’s so nice that you’re going to root for Rainbow Dash too.”

“Fluttershy, that you? Girl, you’ve grown! C’mere…” He enveloped Fluttershy up in a bear hug that forced all the air from her lungs. “Last time I saw you, you were all skin and bones! Glad to see that you’ve grown into yourself a little.” He looked around, spotting Cloud Kicker. “Ah and another one of her flight camp buddies! Skirt Chaser, right?”

Just about everypony snerked at that, Cloud Kicker included. “Cloud Kicker, though Skirt Chaser works too.” She grinned. “I see where Rainbow got her good looks from.”

Cyclone ran a hoof through his rainbow mane. “Heh, you should see her mother.”

“Can we see Dashie's mommy?” Pinkie Pie bounced up, pleading. “And by that I mean your wife! Can we? I bet she's super nice!”

“Yeah!” Dinky nodded. “Can we?”

Cloud Kicker chuckled. “Well, they do say you can judge how beautiful a mare will be in twenty years by looking at her mom...”

Dinky looked up at her. “Why? D'you think she's a MILK?”

“D-DINKY!!!” Derpy went slack-jawed.

Dinky looked around at the flabbergasted adults. “I said sumthin' wrong, huh?”

Only Pinkie had a different look on her face. “Hmm, isn’t a MILK a ‘Mommy I'd Like to Know’? That sounds good to me!”

“Yes!” Derpy exclaimed loudly, mentally promising to bake Pinkie oodles of muffins later. “Very much so.”

“You ponies are a riot!” Cyclone laughed. “I’m afraid Firefly is out at the moment. She likes to do some night flying exercises.” He dipped his head to the assembled ponies. “But where are my manners? Come in, come in!” As they walked in, Cyclone’s face lit up when he spied Derpy and her daughter. “Miss Doo, how wonderful to see you again! Aww, and this must be Dashie’s goddaughter.”

Derpy gave a small smile. “Hello again.”

“Whooooaaa...” Dinky looked up. “You're Rainbow Dash's dad!? That's so COOL!”

“Yes, I am!” He grinned as he scooped the little filly up. “That makes me your grand-goddad—I think.”

Dinky gasped happily as she glomped him tight. “I already love you, but that just makes it extra-special!”

“Aww, you're so sweet.” He nuzzled her. “Dashie told me how special you were.”

“She's rilly special t' me, too, 'cause she's my godmommy an' I love her.” Dinky said softly, nuzzling him back. Derpy smiled warmly.

Rainbow’s father turned to Derpy, ruffling Dinky’s mane. “Hello again, Miss Doo. I haven't seen you since you moved groundside.”

Derpy nodded at her daughter. “My little muffin turned out to be a magical gift. She's old enough to come up now, though.”

“Well, I'm very happy that she is, because she's so cute! Yes she is!” He nuzzled Dinky again, tickling her belly.

“EEEEehehehehehehe!” Dinky squealed and wriggled as Derpy smiled, watching the two play. “Eeeehhh ... now I know why Rainbow likes bein' all tickly.”

He smiled. “That's because she must love hearing you laugh too!” He hugged Dinky tightly. “You are the Cutest. Thing. Ever!”

“Thanks!” Dinky smiled. “'cept I dunno why ponies keep sayin' that, 'cause I don' rilly try.”

“Must be pure talent.” Cyclone suggested. “Like my Dashie and flying.”

“An' bein' superaswesomeradicool, or Mommy settin' stuff on fire!” Dinky chimed in.

Derpy let out a small, embarrassed groan. “Muffin...”

“Has Rainbow Dash always been a good flyer?” Twilight asked Cyclone.

“You better believe it!” His grin was full of paternal pride. “A natural born flyer, that one! I remember the first time she flew—she flew right out the window, so fast she left her hair bow and her diaper behind!”

Applejack snerked. “Streakin' it from the get-go.”

“Honestly, Applejack.” Rarity nudged her before turning back to him. “So sorry to interrupt you, sir.”

“S'quite all right.” He assured her, sitting back on the couch, still holding Dinky. “That's my baby girl … always on the move.”

A small maternal smile crossed Derpy’s face. “I think I know exactly what you mean.”

“I imagine you do.” Cyclone Bolt said to her. “She's my world. I’ve always been so proud of her. The first Sonic Rainboom in history, Princess Celestia's student ... I even hear she helped save the world. Heh, but then, you were all a part of that, weren't you?”

Twilight blushed modestly. “Well, it was a team effort.”

Derpy and CK shuffled slightly, feeling a bit awkward at being a bit out of the group. “Kinda missed out on that myself,” Cloud Kicker said finally.

“It's a'kay,” Dinky assured her gently. “They didn't have rilly cool uniforms or anythin'.”

Cyclone gave Cloud a supportive smile. “It's really great that you all took the time and effort to come up to watch Dashie compete,” he nodded. “I know it means a lot to her.”

Applejack smiled. “Ain’t a cloud in the sky that’d keep us from coming to see her.”

“That's great to hear.” Cyclone looked at her gratefully. “I remember the first time she competed in a contest. Poor girl was so nervous she was shaking like a leaf in a storm.”

A skeptical but bemused look crossed AJ’s face. “Heh, that doesn't sound like the Dash I know. She tries to beat me at everything all the time.” She grinned.

Dinky nodded. “She gets rilly 'xcited about competin' an' stuff, an' she works rilly hard for it too!”

“Really?” Cyclone Bolt leaned forward. “How'd she do?”

“She makes me work up a real good sweat, I can tell ya that much.” Applejack admitted. Then she paused before adding. “Don't actually tell her that, though. I'll never hear the end of it.” She shook her head. “Sometimes I swear her mouth moves faster than her wings, heh.”

Cloud Kicker snerked. “You're so funny when I remove context.”

“Cloud?” Derpy nudged her. “Companyyyyy...”

“That she does.” Cyclone agreed, either not hearing or choosing to ignore CK’s remarks, snuggling with Dinky. “Even as a filly she was always racing and flying around. Especially when somepony told her it was time to take a bath.” He chuckled to himself. “Just saying the word ‘bath’ would cause her to zoom around the room like a hummingbird. One time she tried hiding in a cloud that was drifting outside her room.” A wide smile crossed his face as he recalled the incident. “She didn’t do a bad job hiding, except for one little problem: she forgot to pull in her hindquarters, so her cute little rump was poking out of the cloud.

“Ya got any pictures of that?” Applejack asked, eyes twinkling.

Cyclone nodded. “As a matter of fact…” He got up off the couch and fetched a photo album from a bookshelf, rifling through it until he got to an appropriate page. “Here we go.” He showed them a picture of a cloud hanging in the sky, a familiar rainbow tail and blue rump sticking out of the cloud and wriggling.

AJ took one look at the picture before bursting into laughter. Even Twilight and Fluttershy shared a quick giggle.

“Aaaaw!” Pinkie Pie cooed. “She looks so cute with her cutie wooty patootie booty!”

“Oh my...” Rarity covered the photo with her hoof. “Is that something we should be seeing?”

“Rarity, you're being weird with clothes again.” Applejack sighed.

“Well, of course.” Rarity sheepishly removed her hoof and flashed a sheepish smile at her friends. “Ahahahaha...” She chuckled quietly. “Oh my, I suppose we shouldn't tell her we saw this.” She let out a giggle.

“Did she make cloud noises?” Dinky asked Cyclone.

He smiled. “Yup. She went ‘Beep, beep. Imm a cloud!’”

Fluttershy giggled. “Oh Rainbow.”

“I can make cloud noises!” Pinkie nodded. She started opening and closing her mouth, but nopony heard anything.

Rarity coughed daintily. “Pinkie, dear, you're not making any noise.”

“Yeah I am!” Pinkie smiled. “It's just outside the frequency at which ponies can hear!”

The prim unicorn looked at her sideways. “I can't believe I'm taking your word for that, but you are ... Pinkie.”

Rainbow’s father sat back on the couch and flipped through the album, stopping on a picture here or there. “This is her the day my little Rainbow entered our lives.” He said as he stopped on a picture of a disheveled pink pegasus mare with a blue mane holding a tiny bundle with a blue face and tiny wisps of a rainbow mane sticking out.

Dinky leaned over to get a better look. “Whoa, she was almost as dinky as me!” Everypony awwed, making Cyclone smile. He showed them a few more pictures: one of a one year-old Rainbow Dash in a party hat and diaper, nomming on a piece of cloud, then there was another photo of Rainbow sleeping, idly sucking her hoof.

“Aaaaaw, she looks so precious!” Rarity cooed.

“For the record, sir, showing me pictures of Rainbow being absolutely adorable makes me like her even more.” Cloud Kicker grinned.

Dinky nodded. “Me too!”

“Y'all realise if she finds out we looked at these, she'll go mad or somethin', right?” Applejack asked, a grin tugging at the corner of her mouth.

Cyclone waved her off with a hoof. “Oh, I'm sure Rainbow won't mind. Especially when I show off all her awards and medals later.” He grinned. “Of course, if you really think Rainbow will have an issue with this, I could always make it up to her by asking your family for your baby pictures.” Applejack blanched as the others chuckled.

“Any good parent saves all of the adorable pictures for the sole purpose of later use.” Derpy nodded solemnly.

Cloud shrugged. “She'll still probably get some sort of horrible vengeance on us.”

"Probably.” Derpy shrugged as well. “Worth it, though.”

That won a chuckle out of Cyclone. “You’re both right,” he said to Derpy and Cloud as he turned the page.

Dinky burst out into loud laughter when she saw the picture. “BAHAHAHAHAHA! She's gotta diaper on her head!”

“That she does, sweety.” He ruffled Dinky's mane. “She never liked wearing clothes.”

“She still doesn't, by the way.” Rarity sighed despondently. “No matter how hard I try.”

Cyclone shrugged. “Well, she did make an exception for her jammies.” He turned the page to show a young Rainbow Dash curled up in her pajamas in front of a fire, curled up against Firefly.

Pinkie hopped up for a look. “Those jammies look great! Where can I get some my size?”

“Okay, the adorable levels are too high,” Cloud groaned. “Must hug something cute, and Dinky's already taken.” She impulsively hugged a confused-looking Twilight.

Derpy grunted as if kicked in the belly, overwhelmed by the sheer amount of cute. “Oh goodness, Dinky, it might be a good thing you two never met at that age.”

“But we'd've been the bestest friends ever!” Dinky protested.

“My girl was always awesome and adorable in equal measure.” Cyclone smiled as she turned to page to a picture of filly Dash being bathed by her mom.

Dinky cooed. “Awww ... Rainbow rilly loves her mommy.”

“That she does.” Cyclone Bolt turned the page to another picture of him tickling a slightly-younger looking Rainbow Dash for all she’s worth.”

Cloud Kicker grinned. “Rainbow is just adorable as a filly.”

“Couldn't imagine why that looks so familiar,” Derpy drawled, nodding to the photo.

Pinkie also had an attack of the cutes. “Aaaaaw!” She grinned, then paused. “Oh wait, hold on.” She pounded her chest a couple of times. “There we go!”

“Agh ... make it stop. Make the adorable stop, or I can't be held responsible for what I do.” Cloud grimaced comically.

Rainbow’s father grinned and turned the page again, this time revealing a picture of a baby Rainbow Dash with the back of her diaper caught on a hook on the wall, suspending her up in the air.

Little Dinky rolled on her back and kicked her legs as she laughed. “BWA-AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Derpy, unable to help herself, laughed as well.

“... Okay, that's it, Rainbow's getting hugged and snuggled next time I see her.” Cloud announced solemnly. “It's on your head, sir.” Cyclone just laughed. “I mean it. Rainbow's gonna say 'Geeze, what gives, Cloud?' and I'll just say 'ask your dad.'”

Derpy snorted, wiping away a tear. “And then we'll have to flee.”

“Dash'll get over it.” Kicker shrugged.

“Eventually,” Derpy added.

“Until we bring it up again,” AJ said with a snerk.

Cyclone closed the book. “So, that's my adorable little girl.”

“That's it?” Dinky pouted.

“For now.” Cyclone smiled down at her.

“Awww.”

Pinkie picked Dinky up and hugged her. “Don't worry, I'm sure we'll catch more adorable moments of her in the future!”

“And she is very adorable, sir.” Cloud nodded respectfully.

“Very, very adorable,” Derpy agreed.

Applejack tilted her hat. “Thank ya kindly for showing us your personal photos, sir. Must mean a lot to ya.”

“She's my baby girl. She means everything to me.” A proud gleam entered Cyclone’s eye as he answered.

“I know that feeling.” Derpy smiled. “She's very lucky to have you.”

“Thank you, young lady.” He smiled back. “I'd say I was the lucky one though.” He looked over at a photo on the wall, one with a younger Rainbow Dash proudly wearing a medal and being held on both sides by her parents. “She works so hard to make her mom and me proud, but she could pick litter off the street and I'd be proud of her.”

Cloud Kicker nodded, looking subdued. “Parents always support their kids. Even when the kids ... don't pick the best path.” Derpy discreetly made her way over to put a hoof on Cloud’s shoulder.

“Um, how did you and Rainbow's mother meet?” Fluttershy spoke up, hoping to shift the conversation onto a more pleasant track.

“I met Rainbow’s mother at the Best Young Flyers Competition, way back when.” Cyclone stretched. “I think it was before they invented that new fangled thing ... waddyacallit? Oh yeah, fire.” He winked at them, prompting a round of chuckles and giggles. “Firefly won and I was lucky enough to well, bump into her as she was heading out. We started dating, and well, one thing led to another.” He smiled wryly. “Dashie might have my mane, but she definitely has Firefly’s spirit. Heh, Firefly was going to try out for the Wonderbolts herself, but well, things came up.”

Cyclone looked back at the photo album, his gaze lingering on a photograph of Rainbow Dash. “When Firefly found out she was pregnant with Rainbow, well, it kinda put things into perspective, you know? Couldn’t be out risking her neck and risk leaving her husband and filly all alone. And the thought of being on tour and being away from her baby for so long…well, she decided that family came first.”

Dead silence reigned until Twilight worked up the courage to ask what the question on everypony’s mind. “Did you ever tell Rainbow that’s the reason why Firefly didn’t become a Wonderbolt?”

“Hmm?” Cyclone blinked owlishly. “I think it came up once or twice … I probably told her that story the first time I took her to watch the competition. Heh, now that I think about it, I remember her saying ‘sowwy’. Isn’t that a hoot?” He smiled proudly. “She’s such a good filly … when she wants to be.”

Missing the tension entirely, Cyclone got up, yawned, and stretched until several bones popped. “Hnng, well, I have to drag these old bones to bed if I want to get up to watch my Dashie win tomorrow. Guest beds are already made up. G'dnight everypony.” A weak chorus of good-nights and thank yous saw him off. Once he was gone, half the ponies in the room either groaned or facehoofed, or both.

“Now I see where Dash gets it from.” Cloud groaned.

“That was rather ... shocking.” Rarity conceded.

Twilight shook her head. “Does he really think it's not a big issue?”

“He said he tol’ her that story when she was a li’l filly.” Applejack pointed out. “He might not’ve realized how she’d take it.” She paused. “Rainbow’s not the sharpest plow in the field either.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Rainbow’s very smart. Sometimes. When she isn’t too busy. She just doesn’t always pay attention.”

“So now what do we do?” Derpy sighed as she picked up a very tired and yawning Dinky.

Twilight sighed. “I guess we see how Rainbow feels about it.”

“Yeah,” Cloud nodded numbly. “We should talk to Rainbow once she gets back.”

As she flew through Cloudsdale, Rainbow Dash felt the turmoil in her gut move upwards into her head. Her talk with Cloud Kicker should’ve had everything resolved. It wasn’t boasting if it was true! Okay, that part about making Nightmare Moon cry might’ve not have totally happened, but she could’ve done it! She would’ve had to dip her hooves in some onions before punching her in the face, but she didn’t have time.

Anyway, what CK said about confidence made sense. The Wonderbolts wanted the best, and how else were they gonna know she was the best if she didn’t stick up her herself? Besides, pre-competition boasting was practically a tradition among athletes. So she hadn’t done anything wrong!

So why did she feel like maybe she had?

Twilight Sparkle was a smart pony. She wouldn’t have said all that stuff if she didn’t think it was true. So that left Rainbow wondering if maybe she had gone too far. She shook her head. Nah. I mean, okay I shouldn’t have let those ponies say all that stuff about Twilight or my friends--that was NOT cool...but I’ve got things under control. Nothing to worry about.

So why was she? It wasn’t like there was a difference between what her Cloudsdale fans were doing from what her friends had done for her after running into the idiot trio. It was all about supporting her and stuff. That’s all.

Rainbow Dash hiked up the hood of her sweater, squinting through the dimming lights of the city. Most ponies were probably getting ready for bed. Dash kept wandering through the streets until she passed by a familiar sight: it was an old gym where Rainbow used to work out after school. She saw the lights and figured it was probably some athletes doing some last minute exercises for tomorrow. Feeling that a good warm up was just what was needed, Dash trotted inside.

There was a hooffull of ponies inside, working on various machines. Rainbow spotted an enormous white stallion with ridiculously tiny wings doing some push-ups, a griffon with purple tinted wings was lifting weights and a pale blue-green mare with a two-toned golden mane doing wing-ups. There were a couple of others, but Rainbow’s attention was drawn away from them and over to the large, muscular-looking minotaur that was shouting at them. “Feel the heat, feel the burn! If you want to win, you’ve got to earn!”

The griffin grumbled. “Ugh, would you knock it off?” She let out a piercing shriek at the catchphrase-spewing minotaur.

“Iron Will does not stand for back talk!” He crossed his beefy looking arms and loomed over her. “If someone gives you lip, show them it’s not hip!”

“Do griffins even have lips?” The teal mare grunted in between wing-ups.

“Whatever!” The snarky griffin stopped exercising. “What’s the point of any of this anyway? With Rainbow Dash in the competition, we all know she’s gonna win.”

“If you want first place, you have to stay in the race!” Iron Will reminded her in rhyme. Rainbow Dash made a note to herself to make sure he and Zecora never met. Ever.

The other mare rolled her eyes. “Oh come off it, Gilda … if you felt that way, why’d you even come to Cloudsdale?”

The griffin flexed her talons against the cloudy floor. “That was before I saw how much money this lame-o town shilled out for that Rainbow Dweeb, Lightning Dork.”

“That’s Lightning Dust,” the pony corrected. “It’s because I fly like lightning, leaving everypony--and griffon--else choking on my dust.”

“Pfff!’ Gilda snorted. “If you believe that, you might as well buy Flim and Flam’s ‘energy drinks.’” She shuddered as she patted her stomach gingerly. “Ugh, the things that crud did to me...” She shook her head. “Anyway ... after all the parades and merchandising and crap, do you really think they’re going to let her lose?”

“What do you mean?” Lightning narrowed her eyes.

Gilda shook her head. “Ugh, lame ponies … do I have to spell it out? There’s no way they’re gonna sink that much money into Rainbow only to let some totally awesome griffin win instead. This Dash character could show up, stand around and fart a rainbow and that’d be enough for them to make her the winner.”

Rainbow Dash felt her jaw drop. No way! That totally wasn’t going to happen! She was going to win because she was gonna feathering earn it by being the best damn flyer in Equestria! There’s no way the judges were just going to let her win because Cloudsdale spent a ton of money on the merchandise and parades and advertising that Rainbow Dash saved the world and came from Cloudsdale and ... Oh.

Lightning Dust seemed to come to a similar conclusion. “No way! They totally wouldn’t do something like that! I mean, the Princess is gonna be right there, watching...”

“Oh yeah, the Princess...” Gilda went the motion of slapping her forehead with her talon. “Yeah, cuz having Rainbow Dash’s teacher there will certainly prevent any favoritism!” Sarcasm practically dripped from her beak. “S’not like Celestia would just give her protege a reward for saving the world and her little sister or anything. What was I thinking?”

Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash wore matching looks of horror. Is that what ponies were thinking of her, Rainbow wondered, aghast.

Iron Will stomped his thunderforged shoes against the cloud. “Gilda, enough of your rap. That stuff you’re spouting is a loud of cra--”

“Cram it, muscle-head, you know it’s true!” Gilda snapped at him.

Lightning Dust shook her head. “No, that’s not how things work. Princess Celestia wouldn’t do that or allow that sort of thing to happen.”

“Yeah right.” Gilda snorted. “Anyway, all that aside, what are you even trying for?” She looked at Lightning Dust. “Face facts. No matter how hard you train, no matter how hard you work, this Rainbow Dash could totally blow us all out of the air without even trying. So tell me, what’s the point?” She looked around, staring at everypony in the gym. “What’s the point of torturing ourselves just so we can get totally humiliated by some hot-shot who doesn’t even have to try to be better than all of us?” Gilda stared hard at Lightning. “You got anything that’s even close to being in the same league as a Sonic feathering Rainboom?” She demanded. “You gonna pull something outta your plot that can out do that? Please, let me know.”

Lightning paused, unable to meet Gilda’s gaze. “I guess there's always next year,” she mumbled in resignation.

Gilda just rolled her eyes. “Yeah, sure. Unless she competes then, too. And even if she doesn't, you know everyone's still gonna be talking about her. Right now, we’re all obsolete. We’re about as likely to be able to win a flying contest as a freaking donkey!”

Lightning Dust fell back on her rump as it sank in. “...She’s right.” She blinked back tears in her eyes. “Rainbow Dash is … is untouchable.”

Rainbow felt her heart crash down her chest and impact against the floor. This was what other ponies like her, young athletes--her peers--thought of her? They weren’t even going to bother showing up to compete--all on account of all the attention and the praise she had been getting? The attention that she'd ... been reveling in? This was … wrong. This was all wrong! Before anypony could even notice her presence, she was gone.

Rainbow returned to her parents’ house in the wee hours of the morning. The house itself seemed completely dark, and she assumed that everypony had long since gone to bed. She went for her bedroom window and tried to slip in as quietly as possible. Before she could even get halfway through the window, a burst of purple light illuminated the room, and she found herself practically face-to-face with Twilight Sparkle.

“Oh, hey Twilight.” Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck and awkwardly finished climbing through the window. “Didn’t expect you to still be up.”

“Before I went to bed I set up detection spell that would wake me up once you came within fifty yards of your parent’s home,” Twilight informed her.

“Oh yeah.” Rainbow inwardly cursed the complete unfairness of unicorn magic as she desperately tried to come up with something to say that would put off the impending awkward conversation.. “So, uh, I guess you met my dad and stuff?”

Twilight nodded. “I did. He ... talked to us about some things.”

Rainbow opened her mouth to launch a heated denial about why her cloud bed was always damp as a filly--it wasn’t her fault the cloud beds her dad bought were used from the weather company! But she caught the tone of Twilight’s voice and guessed it wasn’t about that.

Sure enough, Twilight swished her tail from side to side as she looked around. “Dash, how about we sit down for a moment?”

“Okay...” Rainbow sighed as they sat down on the edge of her bed. “So, what did you guys talk about?”

Twilight to a quick look around the room. It was filled from wall to wall with Wonderbolts posters, banners and memorabilia. On shelves and dressers sat a number of trophies, ribbons and medals in display cases. The only other thing of note was a picture on her night table of a younger Rainbow Dash standing proudly between her parents. “About your family, the Best Young Flyers Competition among other things.”

“Oh.” Rainbow hung her head and looked away, not quite sure what to say.

Twilight sat down next to her. “Look, there are a lot things we should discuss. Want me to go get the others?”

Rainbow hesitated, sweating a bit. “Nah, s’not like it’s a big deal or anything. Besides, they’re probably all asleep already, and—”

“No we’re not.” Derpy trotted into the room, a slightly tired but bubbly smile on her face. Cloud Kicker and Fluttershy followed in her wake. “Do you really think any of us were going to get any sleep while one of our friends was out there on her own? It took me hours just to put Dinky down, let alone get any sleep myself.”

“We’re your friends, dumbflank.” Cloud Kicker gave Rainbow a swat on the rump, drawing a yelp of protest from her. “You wouldn’t leave us hanging if we were having problems. What makes you think we would do the same to you?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Rainbow Dash, why don’t you ever let your friends help? Do you not think there’s anything we can do?” She shuffled and pawed at the cloud underneath her hooves. “I know I’m not as strong and brave as you are, but that doesn’t mean I can’t help...”

Rainbow stared at her friends, briefly at a loss for words. “It’s ... it’s really not a big deal, guys. I got it handled, okay?”

Fluttershy just shook her head. “I’m sure you do and we all believe in you, but there are still a few teeny-tiny things I think we should talk to you about. If you don’t mind, that is.” Fluttershy thought that over a moment, then amended. “No, actually, we’re going to talk about this even if you do mind, because it’s that important. I hope you don’t mind though. Please don’t be mad at us, we’re just trying to be good friends.”

Rainbow blinked a few times, then waved her off. “Relax, ‘shy, It’s cool. Even if I don’t wanna talk about all this stuff, you guys are never gonna stop being my friends.”

“Talking to your father did clear a few things up.” Cloud Kicker stepped forward and put a wing over Rainbow’s back. “Trust me, I know it feels like to have a big family legacy you feel obligated to live up to.”

Rainbow just frowned at her. “What are you talking about? My mom and dad aren’t trying to push me into the Guard or anything.”

“It’s not an exact parallel,” Twilight rolled her eyes and gave a slightly annoyed huff. “The point is, we think part of why you’re getting so worked up over the whole Best Young Flyers Competition is because you want to win it for your parents.” In a rare moment of social insight, the unicorn opted to word her next statement as carefully as possible. “I think it’s possible you’re just trying to vicariously live out your parents’ dreams because of a sense of misplaced guilt over the fact that your birth disrupted their career plans. It’s a common psychological phenomenon.”

Well, Twilight tried to be sensitive.

Rainbow stared at her friend in blank incomprehension. “Couldja say that again in Equestrian, instead of Egghead?”

Derpy did her best to translate. “Are you only trying to become a Wonderbolt to make up for the fact that having you messed up your parents’ plans?”

“Oh, that makes more sense.” Rainbow gave a satisfied nod. Then, her face fell as she moved on to actually pondering the issue. For a long time she just stood there silently, with a troubled frown on her face. Cloud Kicker finally leaned over and gave her a reassuring little nuzzle, which seemed to jolt her out of the fugue she’d fallen into, prompting her finally speak in a low, conflicted voice. “S'not fair. Nopony should get to miss out on their chance to live their dream. Doesn't take a genius to figure it out that if it wasn’t for Mom having me, her and Dad would be having a way more awesome life. It’s my fault that—”

“Rainbow,” Derpy cut in. “Take it from me: having a foal changes a lot of things in a pony’s life. I had a lot of things planned, and all of those plans had to change after I had Dinky. Some of them went on hold for a while, some got put off for years, and more than a few … well, I’m probably never going to get to them now.”

Derpy picked up a small picture frame off of a tuft of cloud shaped into a nightstand. It was an old family picture of the Dash family; Rainbow only looked a few years older than Dinky, and had a grin so silly that it looped right back around to being utterly adorable. “The thing is, though, it’s all so far behind me now that it doesn’t matter to me any more. After Dinky was born, the most important thing in my world became the tiny little bundle in my hooves.” She pointed to the love and pride on the older ponies’ faces in the picture. “Change is a part of life, and one of the best changes that can ever come about is a foal. Don’t say it’s your fault that their plans changed, because I have never, ever, ever thought that about Dinky.”

“Maybe,” Dash conceded. “I mean, they never blamed me or anything, were totally awesome. The best parents ever. I just...” she bit her lip. “It sucks that they had to choose, y'know?”

“Life is about choices, Rainbow,” Twilight said gently. “I had to choose between living with my family in Canterlot and moving out to Ponyville to be with my friends and help teach you. While I may regret not being able to see my parents and big brother as much, I still stick by my decision.”

“Just like I stick by my decision to raise my little Dinky,” Derpy chimed in.

“Or me and leaving the Guard,” Cloud added.

“Or how I need to choose between making my own food for all my animals so I know it’s good, or buying it from the store in bulk so I can feed more animals at once.” Fluttershy’s ears drooped down, and her cheeks flushed. “Sorry, I know that’s not very good compared to the others, but everypony else was talking about all the important choices they made, and I felt like I had to say something...”

“Anyway,” Twilight pressed on. “What we’re all trying to say is that becoming a Wonderbolt is your choice.”

“You don’t have to do it just because you feel like you need to live up to some sort of family legacy,” Cloud Kicker agreed. “Remember what you told me when I was freaking out about how I wasn’t gonna go into the Guard like everypony else in my clan?” Cloud paused and let out a chuckle. “As I recall, it was something along the lines of ‘Legacy shmegacy, do what you wanna do, Kicker. Besides, didn’t your whole clan get it’s start by ignoring stupid traditions?’” Cloud grinned and gave her friend a nudge. “It was good advice. So ... back atcha.”

Rainbow flicked her wings. “Look, guys, I get what you’re saying, but I’m not just doing the whole Wonderbolts thing ‘cause of what happened with my parents. I wanted to be a 'bolt ever since I figured out my wings were good for more than just tickling Dad whenever I was bored. It’s just that after I found out about my mom ... you know...” she slunk down slightly. “But now things are getting all feathered up.”

“Because of your family?” Twilight asked.

“Huh?” Rainbow frowned at her friend. “Nah, my family’s cool. And awesome. Radical, too. The thing is...” Rainbow hesitated for a moment. “If I enter the competition tomorrow, I'm gonna win. And seeing how I acted even before I—I dunno if I want to. Not if it turns me in some preening featherbag who drives all her friends away.” She roughly rubbed a hoof across her face. “I--I don't want to lose you guys.”

“Word of advice, Dash.” Cloud gave her a friendly squeeze. “If you don’t wanna turn into a total plothead, then don’t. Winning a flying contest won’t turn you into a jerk. Being a jerk will turn you into a jerk.”

Twilight nodded in agreement and impulsively hugged Rainbow on the side opposite of Cloud Kicker. “You can still win and be the pony we love. We want you to win tomorrow. What we don’t want is for you to drive us away because you’re letting your ego get the better of you.”

Rainbow’s ears drooped, and she started studying the clouds at her hooves. “I did kinda go overboard. S’like … it’s like I keep falling into familiar flight patterns, y’know? Whenever I start thinking that maybe I’m not good enough, I feel like I need somepony to boost me up, tell me that I am--you know?” She idly kicked her hooves. “I thought hearing it from a crowd was the same as hearing it from you guys. But when hundreds or thousands of ponies started telling me how awesome I was, it didn’t make me feel better the same way that hearing it from you did. It made me just want more and more. Like when Pinkie goes on an eating spree.” She looked around. “And it ended with me getting so full of myself that I’d rather hang out with ponies I didn’t even know instead of my best friends and…” she covered her face with her hooves. “I’m so feathering pathetic!”

“No, you’re not! Don’t ever say that!” Derpy immediately moved in and wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow’s neck. Fluttershy moved to join in on the hug, but now every huggable surface on Rainbow Dash was taken. Well, unless she wanted to hug Rainbow’s rump, but she wasn’t Cloud Kicker. That particularly lustful pegasus did spot her friend’s dilemma though, and stepped aside to let Fluttershy get some quality hugging time.

Rainbow hugged her friends back, and wiped away a bit of random cloud moisture that had somehow gotten into her eyes. “Thanks guys, you’re awesome friends.” She took a few moments to just bask in the friendship, until reality came crashing down. “But all that’s not even the worst part of this whole screwed-up thing. While I was out I kinda spent some time hanging out in gyms and stuff. It turns out—it turns out there's practically nopony else even competing tomorrow.”

Cloud Kicker and Derpy exchanged a quick look and nodded in agreement. Both of them had known since the start that they stood no chance of winning against Rainbow Dash—it wasn’t much of a stretch to guess that others might feel the same way.

Twilight, however, was not quite as aware of just how much of a skill gap there was between Rainbow Dash and her fellow pegasi. While she certainly knew that Rainbow Dash was talented, it was hard for a pony who’d never flown to truly grasp just how talented her friend was. Just like a non-unicorn might have trouble grasping the depth of Twilight’s magical abilities. “That can't be true.” The unicorn objected. “The Best Young Flyers Competition draws in ponies from all across Equestria. It's the event for young athletic pegasi.”

“It's supposed to be the event for young athletic pegasi.” Rainbow bitterly corrected her. “But instead of coming, they're staying away in droves. They don't think there's any point. I mean, they're convinced that I'm impossible to beat, so why even bother?” She paused. “I ruined the competition.”

“Horseapples,” Cloud growled. “Derpy and I know better than anypony in Equestria that you’re gonna win, and that didn’t stop us from signing up.” Derpy nodded so emphatically in agreement that she smacked Rainbow in the forehead. The wall-eyed pegasus backed away, a sheepish smile on her face.

“Derpy...” Rainbow grumbled and rubbed her forehead. Once the world stopped spinning, she refocused on the matter at hoof. “Still, this whole situation just stinks!” She gave an angry wave of her hoof in the general direction of the Cloudiseum, barely visible out of the living room window. “What's the point of even having a contest if nopony thinks that they even have a prayer of winning? And what's the point of winning first place if there isn't a competition?”

Fluttershy spoke up. “Well, just because there won’t be very many competitors doesn’t mean you can’t put on a good performance, right? All of Cloudsdale, the Princess, and the Wonderbolts are still going to see what a wonderful flyer you are, even if nopony competes with you.”

“Exactly.” Derpy made sure nopony was in striking distance before she nodded this time. “Even if it was only you in the competition, that doesn’t mean you can’t show that you deserve to win. I don’t mean to sound callous about it, but if everypony else is too intimidated to perform, then that's their problem.”

“You can’t hold yourself responsible for other ponies’ actions,” Twilight stated firmly.

Rainbow thought it over, and then slowly shook her head. “No. I mean, yeah I get what you're saying. If it were me, I'd still fly even if I thought I'd lose.” She let out a weary sigh. “But it's more than just that. Winning the contest, being like my mom ... it's my dream. But to compete now, it's like, like all the challenge is out of it.” She bit her lip as she tried to think of a way to make Twilight and her other friends understand. “Imagine ... I dunno. That there was some Eggheaded Science Fair that you always wanted to enter and win, to show everypony just how good you are.”

She regarded the unicorn intently. “So you practice and work hard and when you get there ... the only ones there are you are one or two kids with a baking soda volcano. It just—it cheapens the victory, y'know?” Rainbow groaned and ran hoof down her face. “When my mom was in the contest, she gave it her all and then some. So when she won, it was her best day ever. But when I'm gonna compete ... it'd be like picking the first place medal off of the street corner. What’s the point of winning a competition if there’s no competition?”

“Is that what you really wanted to do?” Derpy asked.

Rainbow stared at her as if she’d just sprouted a second head and started doing the chicken dance. “Huh? What are you talking about?”

Derpy took a moment to put her thoughts in order, and find a way to explain it to Rainbow. “Is the point of going to the Best Young Flyer competition just to crush all the other ponies so you can prove how much better you are? Why should everypony else go into a contest just to give you a more satisfying victory?”

Rainbow let out a frustrated snort. “Nah, it’s not like that. I’m not trying to prove myself by pushing everypony else down.”

“Then what is it?” Twilight asked.

“It’s about the thrill of it all.” Rainbow’s eyes seemed to light up just talking about it. “The adrenaline, the energy—the chance to really prove yourself—that’s what competitions like this mean.” She let out a pained groaned. “Whenever I went to a Wonderbolts show—hay, when I watched the Best Young Flyers, it inspired me. I saw all the awesome stunts the ponies did, and I wanted to push myself harder so I could to be more like them. That’s part of the reason why I wanna be a Wonderbolt: so that I can have ponies look at me the same way, inspire them the way the Wonderbolts inspired me.”

Rainbow’s entire body wilted down. “But now I’ve turned into something that’s like the complete opposite of a Wonderbolt. When ponies look at me, they feel discouraged. Like there's no point in racing or flying anymore.” She paused. “There was this pony at the gym ... she was working so hard for the contest tomorrow, only to be told to just give up because she didn't even have a chance. Because of me. I’m supposed to inspire ponies so that they’ll do the impossible and reach for their dreams, not make them give up without even trying.”

“You still inspire me,” Derpy informed her. “You did, even back when you were still a filly in Flight Camp. And Dinky thinks the world of you.”

Cloud Kicker trotted up and gave her a nudge. “Hey, you’re still an inspiration to me.”

Rainbow gave her friends a tired smile. “Yeah? Thanks, guys.” She thought it over and let out a breath. “I dunno, maybe I just need to sleep on it. S’been a pretty crazy day. Maybe in the morning I’ll have it all figured out.”

“So .. you’re going to bed?” Cloud Kicker shot her friend a sultry grin. “Want some company? ‘Cause we could—”

The rest of what she was about to say was abruptly cut off by a wing smacking her upside the head. A second later, Cloud Kicker was rubbing the back of her head, and Fluttershy was staring at her wing in shock. “Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry, Cloud Kicker! I was just a little upset at you for spoiling the moment, but I didn’t mean to do that! I didn't hurt you, did I? Are you mad at me? Please don’t hate me!”

Cloud put a reassuring hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “Relax, Eepy, it’s fine. Besides, I kinda deserved that one.”

Meanwhile, Rainbow was studying her old friend like she was a particularly complex puzzle. “Hmm ... you know, why the hay not? Let’s do it, Kicker.”

Everypony’s jaws hit the floor, including Cloud Kicker’s. “WHAT?”

Rainbow gave a casual shrug. “What can I say, I guess ya finally won me over.” She trotted over and tossed a wing over Cloud Kicker’s back, then pressed up against her side. “So yeah, let’s do this thing.”

Cloud Kicker’s mouth opened and closed as she let out several strangled gasps, a slight blush making it’s way onto her face. “Whu—Dash, I...”

Rainbow broke down giggling at the sight of Cloud Kicker, or all ponies, being reduced to a blushing inarticulate mess by just a little flirting. She pulled away and shot a devilish smirk at her old friend. “Gotcha.”

Fluttershy, Derpy, and Twilight all joined in on the laughter, which only made Cloud Kicker blush even more. The revelry was interrupted a moment later by Pinkie Pie distinctive voice, though instead of her usual perpetual cheerfulness she was whining. “Aww. I thought they were really gonna do it!”

“Pinkie?” Rainbow started looking around for her friend. After a few moments Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack all stuck their heads around the corridor.

“Hiya!” Pinkie cheerfully announced. “We were kinda listening in, but your bedroom is way too small! Seriously, how do you ever host parties in there? We woulda been packed in tighter than kumquats in a pickle barrel!”

Rainbow tried to make sense of that metaphor for a moment, then just gave it up as a lost cause. Trying to make sense of anything Pinkie said would only end in headaches and deteriorating sanity. “So, you guys heard the whole thing?

“Well, we missed the part where you snuck in through the window, ‘cause I was still asleep,” Pinkie helpfully informed her. “I also missed the part where you were thinking that you hoped your Daddy didn’t tell anypony you used to wet the bed when you were a filly. I didn’t get here until a bit after Derpy and everypony were already talking to you, and Applejack and Rarity showed up a little after that.”

“I did not wet the bed!” Rainbow snapped. A second later, another thought occurred to her. “And how would even know what I was thinking, or what happened before you showed up?”

Pinkie just grinned at her and shrugged.

“Best not to ask questions where that one’s concerned,” Applejack opined. “Best just accept she knows thangs, and leave it at that.” The farmpony grinned and leaned in a bit. “So ... didja really wet the bed when you were a filly?”

“No!” Dash grumbled. “I did not! The humidity on my bed-cloud was off, and it got damp sometimes! That’s it!”

“Come now, darling, it’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Rarity announced breezily. “We all have moments like that from our childhood. Why, I once actually went outside wearing a polka-dot vest with a popped collar, oversized pink leg warmers, and let’s not even talk about what I did with my mane!” Rarity brushed a hoof on her chest “In my defense, it was the fashion of the time, and I did manage to almost make it look good, but still! Can you imagine? I get chills just thinking about it!” Rarity gave a dramatic shiver.

“I’m going to bed!” Rainbow all but shouted, before whirling back to face Cloud Kicker. “Alone!”

Applejack couldn’t resist the opening. “Want me to fetch some plastic bedsheets, just in case ya have a little relapse? Lotta stress, what with the competition and all...”

“Shut up,” Rainbow grumbled, shooing them all out of her bedroom.

Chapter 5

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Chapter Five

Twilight Sparkle snored gently into her pillow. Clouds really were the most comfortable things ever. She sighed happily as she cuddled even deeper into her cloud pillow and cloud bed. However her blissful slumber was soon disturbed by a little filly suddenly leaping onto her belly. “Miss Twilight!” Dinky giggled as Twilight jolted awake under her. “Time to wake up, a’kay?”

“Dinky?” Twilight yawned, murmuring as she rubbed her blurry eyes. “What’re you doing up so early?”

“I was snuggling with Mommy and then I hada use the bathroom, which is kinda funny since it’s all clouds and stuff, and then I went to snuggle with Rainbow Dash for a bit, and then I feel asleep but when I woke up again she was gone!”

Twilight’s eyes shot wide open. “What?” She glanced around the guest room where the rest of her friends were still sleeping—they'd had to do a bit of quick remodeling to fit everypony in. Lucky for them, Rainbow, Derpy, and Cloud were all weather ponies, so it didn't take long to expand things enough to give everypony some breathing room. “Everypony wake up!” She shouted, struggling to sit upright with Dinky still perched on her stomach. “Rainbow Dash is gone!”

“Hmm? What’s that?” Applejack sat up … only to let out a fillyish shriek when she saw Rarity’s glop-covered face as she got up too. “AAAAAH!”

The noise woke up Fluttershy who let out a soft squeak at all the noise. Then Pinkie sat up and yelled, “AAAAH! I WANNA SHOUT TOO!”

“What’s all the noise about?!” Derpy demanded grumpily as she got up, her eyes not even making a pretence of looking in the same direction.

Cloud groaned as she pressed her pillow against her ears to drown out the noise. “No, I don’t wanna do the doggy style...” she mumbled before consciousness sunk in. She looked around. “Oh thank Celestia! Wait, what’s going on?”

Pinkie raised her hoof. “Well, Dinky woke up Twilight, who woke up Rarity and Applejack, and AJ screamed like a little filly--”

“Ah did not!”

“--who woke up Fluttershy, who woke me, who woke you and Derpy, which scared the cat and startled the dog which flipped the man into the pan in the house that Jack built!” Pinkie finished in a single breath, beaming. “See? Easy-peasy!”

Dinky giggled. “Miss Pinkie’s silly.”

Cloud Kicker shook the cobwebs out. “What was that you were saying about Rainbow Dash being gone?”

Twilight picked up Dinky with her magic. “That’s what Dinky told me. Oooh this is bad, this is very, very bad...”

“Maybe she just went to do some warm ups?” Derpy suggested worriedly.

But Dinky shook her head. “Nuh-uh, that’s not what her note said!”

“Rainbow Dash left a note?” Twilight looked at Dinky. “Why didn't you tell me she left a note?”

“I jus' did,” Dinky pointed out.

Pinkie nodded. “And cuz you didn't ask, Twilight. Duh.” She made a face. “I thought you were the smart one.” Twilight facehoofed.

Applejack snorted. “Well g'wan an' read it already!”

Cloud Kicker took the note from Dinky and started to read. “‘Hey guys. Been thinking about stuff. Come to the Best Young Flyers Competition for something you guys won't ever forget. You won't want to miss it! See you guys there.’” Cloud read. “It’s signed Rainbow Dash.”

Rarity sniffed. “Well, that was rather cryptic. It's a lady's prerogative to have some secrets, but really...”

Dinky began marching in place, digging a rut into the cloud under her hooves. “C'mon! Let's go let's go let's go!”

“Relax, Dinky,” Cloud said. “We've still got hours until the competition.”

“But I wanna go now!” The little filly pouted.

Twilight looked worried as she took the note, studying it as if looking for some deeper meaning from it. “Cloud Kicker? What do you think this means?”

Cloud shrugged. “She's up to something. Probably something crazy and awesome.”

“An' superawesomeradicool, which is why we gotta go NOW!” Dinky stamped her hooves until Derpy picked her up.

“But what could it be?” Twilight wondered, relegating everything else to the back of her mind. “Last night she sounded upset about her ego, but now she sounds pretty boastful again…”

Derpy nodded solemnly. “That's what worries me, too.”

Cloud shook her head. “After last night? I don’t think so.”

“Oh my ... do you think she'd be so upset that she'd quit and go back to Ponyville?” Fluttershy gasped.

Dinky shook her head fiercely. “NUH-UH! She'd never quit for anythin'!”

“And she does want us to go to the competition.” Rarity pointed out thoughtfully. “I think she must be planning something.”

As one, everypony in the room looked at each other and felt a cold shiver work its way up their spines as that sentence sank in. “That is the single scariest sentence I have ever heard.” Twilight winced.

At almost the exact same time, Cloud said. “Rainbow Dash has a plan. That's a bad sign.” The two shared a surprised look that soon gave way to a wry smile.

“How do Rainbow's plans usually go?” Twilight asked after a moment.

“Define ‘plan.’” Kicker asked. “Usually, she doesn't really plan so much as charge blindly forward and hope for the best.”

“About as well as my attempts to make cereal.” Derpy groaned.

Dinky nodded. “Lotsa runnin' an' hollerin' an' stuff. And fwooshin'!”

“Maybe we should go to the Cloudiseum.” Twilight suggested slowly. “Now. Just in case.”

“Tha's what I'm SAYIN'!” Dinky whined.

Everypony nodded in agreement, only to be interrupted by a sudden grumbling. They all turned to Twilight, who blushed as her stomach rumbled again. “A heh, maybe we can pick up some breakfast along the way?”

Applejack shook her head. “No need, sugarcube. I can whip up something right quick.”

“But, you've never been in a cloud house before,” Twilight pointed out warily. “Are you sure you know what you're doing?”

The down-to-earth farmpony shrugged. “Can't be that different.”

“Famous last words,” Derpy noted as they headed downstairs into the kitchen, following the determined looking Applejack.

A mere ten minutes the determination on her face had been replaced with slight scorch marks and a singed mane. “Let's jest pick sumthin' up on the way there,” she deadpanned.

Derpy bit her lip but was unable to prevent herself from giggling. Something had gone wrong and for once, it wasn’t it her fault!

Twilight shook her head. “I'm just grateful Pinkie Pie had that fire extinguisher.” She decided not to dwell over where and how Pinkie had gotten it. “And that Dinky has such a good aim!”

“I've hadda lotta practice.” Dinky explained as she put the empty extinguisher aside.

Fluttershy gave her a hug. “Such a brave filly.”

Dinky shrugged as she hugged her back. “Nah. It just happens a lot.”

Rarity tried and failed to hide her amusement at Applejack’s predicament. “Is everything alright, darling?”

“Fahne.” Applejack ground out.

“And I was so looking forward to your cooking.” She let out a melodramatic sigh before levitating a burned, shapeless mass out of the kitchen. “This ... might be edible. Would you care to try some of your cooking?”

She floated it over to Applejack, who nudged it away with her hoof. “Ya done yet, Rares?” She frowned. “Or wouldja like to gloat a bit more?”

Rarity gave a haughty sniff. “A lady doesn't gloat. I am simply savoring.”

Twilight groaned as her stomach let out a manticore-sized growl. “So hungry…”

Dinky’s eyes widened in shock. “You're tummy's all grumbly an' stuff!” She backed away from it, giving Twilight a wary look. “Nuthin's gonna burst outta it, izzit!?!”

“No, Dinky,” Twilight blushed. “Nothing's going to burst out of me.”

“Unless you ate a parasprite and now you gotta bunch of hungry bugs growing inside you!” Pinkie corrected helpfully. “Or if you’ve got gas!”

Twilight frowned at her. “So ... how about grabbing some food on the way to Cloudiseum?” She pleaded, looking around.

“Heh.” Cloud snerked. “Sure thing. Breakfast is on me.”

“Great.” Twilight sighed, then her eyes widened as she remembered something. “Be right with you, there’s something I have to take care of.” She teleported away, leaving her friends looking at each other in confusion.

Pinkie just nodded to herself. “Told ya she had gas. Or did I say bugs? Or gassy bugs? Oh well!”

A few minutes later, Twilight returned without saying what she had been up to. Shrugging off her friends questions, she headed out the door. The walk to the Cloudiseum was a leisurely one, especially with all the ponies flocking to see the competition. After picking up some breakfast from pegasi operating food carts, the group made their way to the main entrance.

“There seem to be a lot of ponies here to watch the competition.” Twilight observed as she turned her head to see the entryway marked ‘Competitor’s Entrance’ but not a lot of competitors.”

“Tha's a’kay!” Dinky proclaimed. “'Cuz Rainbow can do more flyin'!” She paused. “Oh, an' Miss Cloud Kicker an' Mommy, too.”

“Yeah.” Cloud Kicker sounded a touch depressed as she thought about how that knowledge had made Rainbow feel last night. Still, she put on a smile for the others and said, “Well, guess this is where we split up. Last call for good-luck kisses.”

Before anypony else could respond, Dinky hopped up on her hindlegs and hugged CK’s head. “MWA!”

Twilight gave an amused snort. “That enough good luck for you, Cloud Kicker?”

“Aww, thanks, Muffin.” Cloud gave Dinky a nuzzle before shooting a grin back at Twilight. “A pony can never have too much luck.”

Dinky mwa’d her again. “Good luck, 'kay Miss Cloud Kicker? I want Mommy t'win an' stuff, but I wantcha to fly rilly good too.”

Fluttershy awwwed as Cloud gave the filly a hug. “Now go give your mommy a kiss too.” Kicker let Dinky go, looking to the others and offering them a teasing little grin. “So...” Fluttershy let out a meep and blushed. Everypony else rolled their eyes, except for Derpy who was being showered with good luck kisses from Dinky. Cloud sighed when she saw the lack of takers. “Oh well. At least I have Rainbow's victory kiss to the look forward to.”

Dinky looked up. “Oh YEAH!” Then her ears flattened. “Awww, I can't give her a good-luck kiss.”

“You think Rainbow's okay?” Twilight asked Cloud, still concerned.

“You think she izzn't?” Dinky asked, suddenly worried. “Izzit 'cause she didn't get her good luck kiss!?!”

Cloud Kicker confidently smiled at both of them, loudly announcing, “Rainbow's going to be fine, girls.” She nodded to Derpy. “C’mon Dee, we gotta get to the locker room and get our numbers.”

“Okay. Bye muffin!” Ditzy gave Dinky one last mom-hug. “Be good for me, okay? I’ll wave to you when I’m flying!”

Dinky hugged her mother back tightly. “A’kay! Bye Mommy, I love you!” After a last hug and a nuzzle, Dinky scampered back to Fluttershy’s side as the group parted ways—Ditzy and Cloud Kicker going in the competitors’ entrance and the others going in through the spectators’ entrance. They eventually found a cloud seat big enough for all of them to sit down and watch the contest.

Dinky held up a small rainbow flag in her mouth. “I hope Rainbow Dash and Mommy and Miss Cloud Kicker see me!” She announced around it.

Twilight looked around. All around she could see hundreds of ponies carrying similar flags, some of them much larger and others carrying banners and posters and all sorts of things extolling their champion to win. The only problem was that their only champion seemed to be Rainbow Dash. Try as she might, Twilight couldn’t spot a single home made banner or sign for any other contestant. If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought they were attending a private aerial show of Rainbow Dash’s tricks, not a public competition that was supposed to involve dozens of competitors.

She thought about Rainbow’s short and cryptic note. What could she be up to? Twilight shook her head. Whatever it was, she’d find out shortly. The competition was due to start soon.

An hour later, Twilight had cause to regard her early thought ruefully. The contest had not begun, nor provided any explanation as to what the source of the delay was. If she had to guess, Twilight would say that Rainbow Dash, the star attraction, hadn’t arrived. But that just begged the question: where was she and what was she doing?

“Oh my. I wonder why they competition hasn't started yet.” Fluttershy asked softly, suppressing a yawn.

Following Twilight’s thoughts, Rarity suggested “Perhaps they're waiting for Rainbow?”

“Maybe.” Dinky pouted. “I still wanna give her a good-luck kiss an' stuff.”

“Figures she'd be late to her own contest...” Applejack grunted.

Pinkie Pie shrugged. “Eh, she'd probably be late to her own funeral … or wouldn’t you already be ‘late’ because it was a funeral?”

Rarity ignored Pinkie. “A lady is never late, Applejack. She arrives precisely when she means to.”

“Rainbow Dash is a lot of things, but she ain’t no lady.” AJ retorted.

Cloud Kicker and Ditzy, having been assigned their numbers and lacking anything else to do until the competition began, made their way over. “Do you know what’s happening?” Twilight asked them.

They both shook their heads. “There’s no sign of Rainbow.” Derpy sighed. “And there’s only a hooffull of other contestants back there.”

Cloud cast a worried look around. “If she's not here soon, I'm going and looking. Can you do some kind of tracking spell, Twilight?”

Twilight sighed and shook her head, already having considered that option. “Not at the drop of a hoof. I'd need something of Rainbow's for it to be accurate within acceptable—” Whatever she was about to say was lost as a sudden rush of wind, the kind caused by something moving by very fast, buffeted the assembled ponies. Accompany it was a loud vrooom.

“Look, in the sky!” Pinkie pointed.

Dinky looked up—only to wince and put on a pair of Rainbow sunglasses. “Stoopid sun.”

Kicker looked up. What she saw made her eyes widen and a huge grin plaster itself on her face. Derpy had a proud walled-eyed look of her own. “IT'S RAINBOW DASH!” Fluttershy hopped up and down, cheering for all she was worth, joined by an exuberant Dinky and Pinkie.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight grinned widely.

“WOO-HOO! WOO!” Fluttershy continued to shriek and whoop, hopping up and down.

“RAINBOW DASH!” Dinky bounced up and down, cheering wildly. Then she remembered. “YOU FORGOT YOUR GOOD-LUCK KISS!”

“Splendid...” Rarity’s eyes widened.

“Well ah'll be a mule's uncle...” Applejack mused, unable to keep the awe from her voice. “Nice work, Rainbow.”

Sure enough, it was indeed the famous rainbow mare who flew over the top of the Cloudiseum, a rainbow trailing in her wake. Cloud Kicker and Derpy zoomed up to join her. Rainbow gave the suddenly animated crowd a lazy salute and a wave. Her smile became broad when she saw her friends below. She waved to them and beckoned Cloud and Derpy up to join her.

With a whoop and a grin, Cloud soared upwards, followed closely by Derpy. They stopped right in front of Rainbow. “Where the hay have you been?” Derpy demanded as she gave Rainbow a fierce hug, quickly joined by CK.

Dash hugged them back. “You’ll see. Come on. Fly with me!” She started flying again, Cloud Kicker and Derpy falling back into place behind her, flanking Rainbow. When she saw this, Rainbow Dash slowed down and dropped back until the three of them were flying abreast, together.

Cloud Kicker smiled at her wingmate, touched by the gesture. “So, what's your plan, and how scared should we be?”

“Heh, sorry guys,” Rainbow winked at them. “We had some work to do first.”

“'We'?” Derpy repeated, confused.

Dash grinned and pulled up, Derpy and CK following suit. Just as they were wondering what Rainbow was up to, their answer came in the form of a phalanx of young, athletic flyers joining them over the Cloudiseum.

Rainbow Dash, Derpy and Cloud Kicker formed the point of a large, broad wedge of flyers: mares and stallions, pegasi with feathered wings and bat-like wings and even the odd griffon or gargoyle. Dozens of them flying together. They weren’t exactly in synch, like the Wonderbolts would be, but neither were they a disorganized gaggle. Each and every one of them was flying together, in formation, but did so while highlighting their own unique style. One would be performing barrell rolls as she flew, another would loop around in mid-air and return back to his spot.

From their seats, everypony in the stands watched with awe at the demonstration. This was no ordinary airshow. Everypony flew in a way that illustrated their diverse talents while seeming to exist as part of a larger whole. Their eyes widened as they tried to take it all in, not wanting to miss a single pony’s part of the performance.

Of all the amazing and wonderful flyers, none was as amazing or incredible as Rainbow Dash. For most ponies, including many pegasi, wings and flight were just a way for pegasi to get from one place to another. Many ponies had seen pegasi fly, but now they could watch them soar.

The same amazement and wonderment that Rainbow Dash got whenever she saw the Wonderbolts perform, she helped bring to everypony below watching her and the others.

Rainbow nodded to Derpy and Cloud, signaling them with her hooves and wings like she would do during weather work. They nodded, understanding. The two of them peeled off, Derpy to the right and Cloud Kicker to the left, each one bringing a third of the assembled flyers with them. The three groups created smaller diamond-shaped formations that criss-crossed against each other’s path, with individual ponies breaking off to perform a stunt or maneuver before rejoining the main group.

Everypony watched wide-eyed, determined not to miss a moment of the action by any of the ponies flying overhead.

After a solid twenty minutes of flying, Rainbow nodded to her fellow aviators and they descended, en masse, to the Cloudiseum below. Even before they reached the clouds, the audience was on their hooves, stomping and cheering. It was impossible for Rainbow Dash to be heard over the din, so she instead flew up to the very perplexed announcer pony and borrowed his headpiece, with built in microphone. “Is this thing on?” Her scratchy tones echoed across the Cloudiseum. “Heh, cool. Good morning Cloudsdale! Did you all enjoy that?”

A roar of approval almost knocked her off her hooves followed soon by the familiar chants. “RAIN-BOW DASH! RAIN-BOW DASH! RAIN-BOW DASH!”

Rainbow had to raise her hoof and gesture for quiet before she could continue. “I’ll take that as a yes … and, you know what? It was awesome.” She grinned but quickly suppressed it. “But it wasn’t just me up there, y’know? Well, not unless somepony managed to perfect a duplication spell and made a whole bunch of me’s which would be pretty cool...” she mused before shaking her head. “But that’s not the point! The point was that what made that display so awesomely amazing was the fact that the best young flyers in the world were all flying together!” She waved her wing towards Cloud Kicker, Derpy, Lightning Dust and the others. “Give them a hoof ponies!”

After another round of cheering, Dash continued. “‘Cause that’s what this contest is about: the Best Young Flyers in all of Equestria. This isn’t the Rainbow Dash Show ... I mean if you wanted to book me to do a solo show I’d be all over that and it’d rock! But today isn’t just about me: it’s about every young flyer coming here to show their stuff. Some of these ponies have trained hard for months, even years!” She nodded down to her fellow contestants, spotting a few familiar faces, like Lightning Dust.

“And when they came here to compete, to match themselves against their fellow athletes, they found that the competition had been replaced by all this … celebration, of me.” Rainbow looked around. The silence was even more deafening than the applause. “I’m not saying that I’m not the best. I think--I know--that I’m the best. But that doesn’t mean the competition doesn’t matter--that the other competitors--don’t matter. If it weren’t for me constantly testing myself against other awesome flyers, I wouldn’t be as good as I am now. We don’t advance as athletes at the expense of other ponies, we become better by working off them.”

“But the way Cloudsdale’s been acting, it’s been driving ponies away from the competition. And what’s worse, it’s like nopony even cares. Before I left this morning to find these guys--” she pointed to the assembled flyers. “The entire competition was going to just be me and three or four others--and nopony cared!” She snorted. “Well, I care! That totally awesome display you just saw? Everypony--and griffin and gargoyle--with me made that happen! It wasn’t just me!”

She was practically shouting now. “I’m not gonna pretend that I didn’t love the attention you all sent my way, ‘cause I did. And I’m not mad at anypony … s’matter of fact, I appreciated it. A lot. It’s just...” Dash trailed off, trying to find the words. “... all the praise I got? Yeah, I earned it, but too much of a good thing, you know? If I got told when I was a filly that I was the best flyer ever and nopony could ever hope to beat me, then would I have trained as hard to become even better?” She looked around. “Even after I performed the first Sonic Rainboom, I had something to keep me going: the desire to do it again, to become good enough to join the Wonderbolts. But if you take that away, then why should I--why should any of you--even try to become better?”

Rainbow looked down, managing to spot her Ponyville friends and shoot them a nod. “When I got to Cloudsdale, everypony acted like I was already the best I could be. A very awesome friend of mine told me that she wanted me to the best I could be, even though I was already awesome. Not to be as good as I already was, or to be ‘good enough’ but to be the best I could be. That’s the difference between being a fan ... and being a friend.” A smile crossed Rainbow’s face. “And friendship, real friendship is even cooler than a Sonic Rainboom. Friendship is what defeated Nightmare Moon: a bunch of friends, each one of them already amazing on their own, becoming even more amazing by coming together.”

“I’ve had ponies call me a hero and, well, yeah I’m not gonna say that I’m not one. But my friends are too, and I couldn’t have done it without them. See, the thing about heroes is that they inspire ponies: they make you want to be more like them, to do the things they do and become the best. Seeing them strive against all odds, working to constantly make things better--it makes you want to be better too. That’s how I feel when I see the Wonderbolts. But that’s not what’s been happening. I’ve been built up as somepony so much better than everypony else, so much better than anypony can ever possibly be ever--that it makes ponies not even want to try. It makes them look at me and give up because they’re not as awesome as I am or as fast as I am.” She sighed. “I don’t want to be the pony that gets to be the best by making other ponies feel worse, by making others ponies give up.”

She licked her lips. “So, what am I saying? I’m saying that as awesome as all this attention has been, as great as everypony has been…” Rainbow sighed once before soldiering on. “...I’m not gonna compete in this year’s Best Young Flyer Competition.” There was a intake of breath so deep Dash actually felt herself getting dragged down slightly by it. “As much as I want to compete and win, winning against two or three ponies doesn’t make you the Best Young Flyer in Equestria, which is what this contest is about. And if it means keeping the competition that’s been going on for generation alive, if it means seeing my fellow athletes do their best, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

Rainbow Dash looked at her fellow competitors. “But don’t think that I won’t be back next year, and I better see each and every one of you here and bringing your A-game! Because as carried away as I and some of the ponies here got, that’s no excuse for all of you to quit without even trying!” She looked at Gilda, at Lightning Dust and at the other dropped-out contestants she spent half the morning rounding up. “Nopony ever got anywhere by quitting. It took me years to pull the Sonic Rainboom off again but I never gave up! I hate losing more than anything, but losing isn’t anywhere near as lame as just giving up! So today is yours … but when I’m back here next year, you all better show or I’ll drag you here by your tails.” She grinned. “And if you actually think you can outfly me, well … bring it.”

Remembering the crowd of ponies below and the announcement she had just made, Rainbow coughed. “So, yeah, I wish I knew how to wrap this up. Hay, I've pretty much been making this whole speech up as I go. S'kinda how I do things. So ... everypony else get to work competing and being awesome, 'cause if I'm gonna be stuck in the audience then you better give me one hay of a good show!"

She tossed her headset back the announcer pony and quickly headed out of sight, too busy to even notice the crowd applauding her as she went.

Shortly after all that, Rainbow Dash found herself in the locker room of the Cloudiseum. She shook like she had just completed a 1,000-lap race and was covered in cold sweat. She wanted to just take a shower and quietly slip in with her friends to watch the competition (hopefully without having to run into anypony).

Dash had expected it to be empty, but she found her friends waiting for her. Before she could even think of walking back out the way she came in, Derpy and Cloud Kicker approached her from the rear, blocking her exit route.

Dash looked around completely at a loss. What could she even say to them after everything that had happened? After racking her brains she managed a very weak smile and a soft “Hey…”

Brilliant, Rainbow. She berated herself.

Before she could think of anything better, Dinky zoomed up to her attached herself to her leg in a tight hug. “Hi, Rainbow Dash!”

“Dinky!” She instinctively lifted her leg so she could give her goddaughter a hug. That bought her a few seconds before she had to face her friends again. “Hey guys ... what's up?”

Derpy looked down at the clouds under their hooves. “Well, we're up.”

“Derpy, don' remind me.” Applejack grumbled, not quite suppressing a wince.

Twilight and Cloud Kicker gave Rainbow a moment with Dinky before making their way over to her. “Rainbow…” Twilight gave her a nuzzle. “Are you okay?”

Cloud was less hesitant, throwing her forelegs around Rainbow Dash and giving her a big hug. “That. Was. Amazing!”

Dash leaned into her friends’ embraces, badly needing the emotional support right now. After swallowing a hail-sized lump in her throat, she managed to choke out, “...'m sorry.”

A confused Kicker drew back from her hug so she could look Rainbow in the face. “For what?”

Rainbow drooped, not quite meeting her eyes. “For dropping out. For dragging you guys up here for nothing...” She sighed, her wings wilting slightly as she looked around the room. “But mostly for being a big-headed idiot who almost drove her friends away.”

“Stop being silly, Rainbow.” Cloud chided her gently. “You were great, and you got over the ego thing pretty fast.”

Twilight saw Rainbow flinch and gently nudged Cloud Kicker. “Let Rainbow finish.”

“Just saying…” Cloud protested weakly.

But Rainbow Dash shook her head. “You're wrong, CK. I mean, you were right ... but Twilight was right too. I couldn't handle it when everypony was going nuts over me, cheering me and acting like I couldn't do anything wrong.” She bit her lip. “I acted like a real…” her mind faltered as she failed to think of an appropriate word. “A ... um ... help me out here?”

“A silly pony?” Derpy suggested.

“A puffed up goofy pony?” Pinkie offered.

“A prima-donna?” Rarity contributed with the air of somepony who knew a thing or two about it.

“An attention-grabbin' showoff?” Applejack tossed in before being wing whapped by Derpy.

Rainbow winced. “Yeah. That stuff.”

Cloud gave a slight wince of her own. “Yeah. I just ... I guess some part of me knew you were messing up, but I didn't wanna see it. 'Cause ... reasons...” she idly kicked at the ground. “I’m sorry, Rainbow.”

“S'okay guys.” Dash reached out to rest a wing on Cloud Kicker’s back before facing the rest of her friends. “I'm sorry for all … that.”

Derpy gave her a fond nuzzle. “I already forgave you, Rainbow.”

“You got it right, in the end.” Cloud said. “That's what counts.” The rest of the group nodded.

“An' I still love you!” Dinky piped up, giving Rainbow’s leg another tight hug.

Rainbow gave a crooked smile, sniffing slightly at the humidity in the room. That was it. “I guess.” She looked down at Dinky. “Sorry I couldn't do a Rainboom for you, kiddo. I just…” she tried to think of the right words and again came up empty.

Fortunately Dinky knew exactly what to say. “I love you.” She reared up to give Rainbow a kiss. “Mwa!”

“…C'mere you.” Rainbow reached down to pick her up and hug her tightly.

Rarity let out a soft, delighted coo and the scene. “Awww…”

Dinky’s ears perked up. “Oh, an' I needed t' give you your good-luck kiss, 'cause you missed it earlier.” She mwa’d Rainbow again, just to be sure.

“Little darlin’…” AJ sniffed, tugging her hat down to hide her face for a moment.

“YAY!” Fluttershy shouted, her voice echoing loudly in the confined locker room. “Oops, was that too loud?” She asked sheepishly, folding her wings and looking away.

“Ya did good, Fluttershy.” Cloud Kicker winked at her before turning back to Dash. “And so did you. You did real good.” Twilight nodded in affirmation.

Rainbow felt a weight she didn’t know she was carrying fall off her back. “T-thanks guys.” Her voice warbled slightly. “I just hope Princess Celestia isn't too disappointed in me...”

“I could never be that,” came the soft, regal tones of the Princess as she stepped out from behind the group.

Everypony jumped at the surprise intrusion, never having even heard her approach. “Whoa! She's sneaky, an' she didn' make box noises or anythin'!” Dinky commented before her mother tucked her under her wing and bowed to the Princess, a gesture that was soon repeated by everypony else.

Save one. “Oh my gosh, Princess?!” Rainbow yelped as she spun around.

Celestia looked over Dash’s head and nodded once. “Please, no need for that.” She smiled at her student. “Hello Rainbow Dash, and hello to your friends too.”

“Celestia...” Rainbow Dash hung her head. “I--I'm sorry. I almost ruined everything!” She blurted out. “First with all the hype and then with my bragging, it--it scared off all the other contestants and then I quit which I know is lame but it was the only thing I could do and—” Celestia’s raised hoof fortunately cut off Rainbow’s rushed apology.

“Shhh. It's all right, Rainbow.” Celestia reached out with her wing to draw Rainbow Dash into her embrace. “I’m not upset with you. In fact, I feel so very proud of you.”

Rainbow’s head snapped up. Had Celestia been an average height pony Rainbow would’ve just head-butted her. “What?!” She yelped. “B-but I—” She looked to her friends to help her out.

“She's not the only one, Dash.” Cloud Kicker smiled proudly.

“But I was a total butt-head!” Rainbow protested.

Derpy nodded evenly. “And look how far you've come.” She pointed out gently.

Dinky snickered. “You said ‘butt!’”

“Dinkyyyy…” Derpy gave her a pointed warning look out of her left eye.

“Sorry.” Dinky apologized, but not before she saw Princess Celestia fight to suppress a smile of her own.

Cloud walked up to Rainbow, Celestia having drawn back to give her some space. “We all make mistakes, goofball.” She nudged Dash. “It's part of life.”

“She's right.” Twilight agreed as she walked up to nuzzle Rainbow. “You made a mistake, but you went out to fix it ... and I think what you said to the ponies of Cloudsdale, to the other competitors ... I think it was some of the wisest things I’ve ever heard.”

“Heh.” Cloud chuckled. “If anypony repeats this later, I'll deny it, but ... yeah, that was some serious wisdom, Dash.”

“Well said, all of you.” Celestia nodded before looking to her pupil. “Rainbow Dash, you were able to recognize that you had an issue with your ego and wrestled to correct it. And in doing so, you managed to teach others a very valuable lesson.” She smiled fondly. “It is one thing to learn a lesson yourself. It is another to be able to take that lesson and turn it into one for other ponies to learn from as well. I am very proud of you today.” She leaned down to give her a maternal nuzzle.

Rainbow blushed at the gesture. “Aww ... c'mon Celestia, not in front of my friends!” She couldn’t quite keep a little whine out of her voice.

“That's Dash-ese for 'more, please.'” Cloud winked to the Princess, who nodded and was happy to oblige, make Rainbow Dash squirm and blush even more.

Of course, the sight of the adorably blushy and squirmy Dash was enough to get her friends grinning. Rarity let out an amused titter as AJ swore to herself to never let Rainbow Dash live this down. Twilight tried and failed to hide a giggle as the insides of Rainbow’s ears heated. She finally managed to break away from Celestia. “Geeze, you're as bad as my folks sometimes, you know that?”

Celestia just grinned. Then her attention was drawn to an adinkable wave from Dinky, still standing besides Ditzy. “Hi Miss Princess!”

“Hello Miss Doo.” Celestia leaned her head down closer. “It's Dinky, correct?”

“Yah-huh! That's me!” Dinky said proudly.

The Princess kneeled down on the floor. “You’re Rainbow Dash’s goddaughter? I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Dinky gasped. “Rilly?”

“Oh yes.” Celestia nodded. “She writes about you all the time in her letters to me.”

A high pitched squeal burst out of Dinky’s lips as she started to hop up and down. “She did?” She gasped. “Did she also write about Mommy? And Sparky?”

Not put off in the least by Dinky’s exuberance, Celestia smiled and nodded. “Yes and yes, she did. She told me about how much you love your mother and sister and how much you enjoy muffins and flying with Rainbow Dash and your mom.”

“Yeah, it’s rilly fun!” Dinky nodded. “Sometimes I wish I was a pegasus so I could fly with Mommy and Rainbow too, but then they wouldn’t get to give me rides which I rilly, rilly like so it’s okay even though I still kinda wanna fly too!”

“Dinky...” Derpy stepped forward, about to tell her daughter not to talk the Princess’ ear off when Celestia stood up and faced her.

“Miss Doo? With your permission, I’d like to perform a spell on your daughter. It will be temporary and will not harm her in the least.” She lowered her voice as she told Derpy what she wanted to do. The others leaned in, trying to grab some snippet of their conversation but heard nothing. All they noticed was Derpy’s eyes going wide as she nodded numbly.

Princess Celestia turned back to Dinky. “Dinky, I want you to close your eyes and think about flying with your mother. Okay?”

Dinky nodded and squeezed her eyes shut. Celestia’s horn started to glow as blue-green swirls of magic started to spiral around Dinky, lifting her off her hooves as they cocooned her with magic. There was a flash and the swirls were gone, revealing …

“Wings!” Dinky exclaimed as she opened her eyes to find herself fluttering in midair. “I got wings! Lookit me Mommy, I’M FLYING!” Derpy’s eyes were gleaming with tears as she fluttered off the ground. Dinky scrunched up her face as she kicked her legs as she worked out how to make her shimmering, semi-translucent (and oddly muffin-decorated) wings work. After about half a minute of a wobbly, off-kilter flight, Dinky landed in her mother’s hooves. “Didja see that? I flew!” Derpy didn’t say a word, she just covered her daughter’s face with kisses.

Rainbow awed softly. “That is so awesome! Heh, reminds me of my mom’s face the first time I flew to her.”

Celestia cleared her throat gently. “Speaking of your parents, Rainbow Dash …” she unfurled a wing and stepped aside, revealing a pegasus mare and stallion. The mare was bright pink with blue mane and tail and her Cutie Mark was a pair of blue thunderbolts. The stallion was cerulean blue with a familiar rainbow mane.

“M-mom?” Rainbow’s jaw dropped. “Dad?” She winced and looked down all over again. “I-I'm sorry. I know you must be dissapointed that I stepped down but--” Her mom and dad interrupted her would-be apology and swept her up in a mass of parental hugging and nuzzling and kissing.

“Dashie,” Rainbow’s mother, Firefly nuzzled her. “I spoke to your friend Twilight this morning. She told me about how hard you've been driving yourself, because you've gotten it into that silly rainbow-covered noggin of yours that it's somehow your fault that I never joined the Wonderbolts.”

“But, I--”

Firefly held up a hoof, gently shushing her. “I would trade a dozen Wonderbolts for just one Rainbow Dash.” She kissed her cheek. “If the Wonderbolts are your dream, then I will be right there with you to help. But don't go making your dream into a chore because of some misplaced feeling of guilt, okay?”

Feeling touched and overwhelmed, Rainbow Dash hugged her mother tight. “Okay...” she sniffed gently. “Love you, Mom.”

“Love you too, Rainbow.” Firefly rested her head atop of Rainbow’s own.

Rainbow’s friends all smiled and awwed at the sight. “So sweet...” Twilight cooed, as Derpy nodded, knowing the feeling well.

After a moment of silent mother-daughter bonding, Firefly stood back so she could look Rainbow Dash in the eye. “Now, Dashie, I better not catch you being so silly in the future or I swear I will turn you over my knee and spank you in front of the Princess and all your little friends!”

Rainbow’s entire head blushed bright red, her jaw dropping open in mortification. “MOOOM!!” She whined. Dinky erupted with giggles, rolling on her back and wriggling all four legs in the air while all of Rainbow’s friends and Princess Celestia let out a perfectly synchronized snerk of amusement.

Cyclone nodded his head. “Listen to your mother Rainbow … she isn't all joking around.” He gave a weak grin. “She, uh, wasn't too happy when she found out how I told you about that stuff.” He rubbed his own rump ruefully.

“Dad!” Rainbow groaned.

“I like your parents, Rainbow.” Cloud let out a gleeful cackle. “Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't comment on how kinky that is.” Derpy rolled her eyes and promptly applied her wing to the back of Cloud Kicker’s head. “...Had that coming.”

The mental images conjured up made Rainbow Dash whine and start dancing up and down on her hooves as if she really needed to use the bathroom. “Oh gross! Ew ew ew! Those my parents!”

Firefly had a mischievous glint in her eye as she advanced on her daughter. “What do you mean Rainbow? Are we too old for us to enjoy each other's company?”

Dash shuddered. “Well...”

“So, you are calling us old?” Her mom challenged.

“What? No!”

“I don't know,” Derpy grinned. “It sure sounded like you did.”

Rainbow’s father agreed. “I think she’s right.” He looked to Derpy. “You know, there's only one punishment for calling your folks 'old', right?”

“Oh yes.” Ditzy nodded solemnly.

“Oooooh you're in trouuuuble!” Dinky called in that delightful way that only a child watching someone else get in trouble could.

Rainbow groaned, but still had a smile tugging at her face as her parents began needling her. Surrounded by friends, family and her teacher, Rainbow Dash truly was one very lucky pony.

Later that day, Rainbow Dash and her friends stood on the edge of Cloudsdale, waiting for their balloon to be untethered. Rainbow nudged CK. “Hey, not bad, fifth place!”

Cloud smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “Thanks. I thought I would’ve had a shot at first place with you dropping out, but that Lightning Dust? Phew!” Her tone turned thoughtful. “You know, if I could get you and her in bed together, I could die a happy mare.”

Dash cuffed her gently with a hoof. “You’re gonna a live a long, threesome-free life then.”

“Darn.” Cloud Kicker pouted. “But in all seriousness Dash? I am beyond impressed with you. Bowing out of a competition … I know how hard that must of been for you.”

Rainbow felt a lump well up in her throat, like she had swallowed a too-big piece of cake. Choking it down, she shook her head. “S’what I had to do.”

“Yeah.” Cloud nodded as she put a hoof on the side of Rainbow’s head, gently guiding her face towards her own. “You might not have won, but I still think you're a winner.” She gave Rainbow Dash a kiss on the lips.

Dash felt her face go from cyan to furious red in less than ten seconds flat as her eyes bugged out and her wings snapped open in shock. “Hmmm--!”

After what felt like an eternity, Cloud pulled away, smiling. “You okay?”

Rainbow’s left eye twitched. “...I think I injured myself in my confusion.”

Her friends all giggled at the look at on her face. Dinky looked up at Rainbow Dash. “Are you Miss Cloud Kicker’s special somepony?” She asked with perfect foalhood innocence. Then she gasped delightfully as a new idea struck her. “Are you and Cloud Kicker gettin’ married?!”

Dash’s jaw dropped open as her blush returned, redoubled in strength and brightness as her friends laughed. “What? No!”

Pinkie Pie didn’t seem to hear her. “Eeeee! You know what this calls for? A party!” She exclaimed, confetti firing out of somewhere as she raised her forelegs. “And a cake! Oooh, a wedding cake! The most superiffic wedding cake ever!”

“If you're gettin' married, then you're gonna have lots and lotsa babies, right?” Dinky asked, tugging on Dash’s leg. “Can I hold the baby?”

“We're not getting married!” Rainbow groaned.

Pinkie frowned at Rainbow condemningly. “Dashie! Let Dinky hold the baby!”

Rainbow looked pleadingly at her friends. “Guys, could you rope her in?”

Applejack stroked her muzzle thoughtfully. “I dunno Rainbow, sounds t’me like this could be a great catering opportunity for the farm.” A tell-tale grin tugged at the corner of her face.

Rarity cooed. “You would make such a sweet couple...”

“And it’s not like you’re getting any younger, Rainbow.” Derpy added, sounding for all the world like she was her mother.

Dash facehooved and groaned. Taking pity on her, Twilight cleared her throat. “Thanks again for bringing us along Rainbow Dash. In spite of a few … hiccups ... this was a really amazing trip. I’m glad we were here to see you shine.”

“Thanks Twilight.” Rainbow gave her a small smile. “You’re a real friend.”

“And as your friend … you could let me be in charge of planning the wedding!” Twilight grinned as she used her magic to summon a quill and scroll of parchment. “I always wanted to plan a wedding! I’ve been told that it’s supposed to be difficult, but I’m sure I could make it a neat, orderly affair with checklists!”

Rainbow covered her face. Fluttershy walked over and gently nuzzled her. “Oh, it’s okay Rainbow Dash … we all know how meek and shy you can get.”

“Even Fluttershy’s teasing me.” Rainbow groaned. “Great …”

“You know you’d be dishing it out if it happened to somepony else.” Cloud snerked. “So...” she fluttered her eyelashes at Dash. “I take it you don’t want another kiss? You sure?” She puckered up, only to get a ball of cloud thrown against her cheek. “...Is that a ‘later?’”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “All right, that’s enough everypony. Here comes the support staff with the balloon.”

They turned to look to see a crew of pegasi pulling ropes to guide over the hot-air balloon the non-flight capable ponies had used to ride up to Cloudsdale. As soon as they got close, they tethered it to the clouds underneath their hooves so the Ponyville group could board. After a quick nod and some words of thanks, the crew left.

“I guess this is the end of our trip.” Twilight sighed, stretching. “This was really wonderful, but I’ll be glad to get back home and sleep in my own bed tonight.” She caught Cloud’s glance her way. “Sleeping alone in my bed, thank you.”

Cloud pouted. “Darn. I never get any loving from you ponies.”

“This was an amazin’ trip, Rainbow.” Applejack nodded. “That sure was a powerful show you put on with all them pegasi and such.”

Rarity agreed. “It was ever so elegant. It makes me wish I had a pair of wings of my own. Why, I bet I could be as graceful and dazzling as any pegasi in Cloudsdale!” She draped a hoof to her brow, just in time for Dinky to flutter over her head and into a cloud.

Dinky poked her head out. “You can use my wings for now, Rarity. I'm getting dizzy.”

“Oh … how generous.” She gave a weak smile as she looked at Dinky’s wings, not wanting to be seen with muffin patterned wings. “Those look ... too tasty, darling. I'd be tempted to nibble on them.”

Dinky nodded solemnly. “I tried, but they just taste like air.” She made a face.

“Gossamer isn't very heavy with flavor.” Twilight agreed with a chuckle. Then she turned to Rainbow Dash and put a hoof on her shoulder. “I know you were really looking forward to winning the competition.”

“Yeah.” Rainbow sighed. “I mean, I’m glad things worked out but … I really just wish I could’ve gotten the chance to meet the Wonderbolts, you know?” Just then Rainbow felt another hoof gently tapping her on the shoulder. She looked around to see a trio of pegasi in blue and gold flight uniforms. “Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh!”

“Hey there, Rainbow Dash.” The lead pony lifted up her goggles revealing a yellow mare with a fiery mane.

“S-S-Spitfire?!” Dash goggled, her jaw dropping all over again.

Spitfire gave the dumbstruck young flyer a nod. “Even though you didn’t compete, you still put on a quite a display.” She looked to her two fellow Wonderbolts, getting a pair of nods in agreement. “It's a shame we didn't get to see the Sonic Rainboom. Still ... one of the most important things a Wonderbolt needs to learn is how to be a team player.” A faint smirk played on her lips. “There's no 'I' in Wonderbolts.” She gave Dash a nudge. “We’ll be keeping an eye on you. Hope to see more of you real soon.”

“Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh!” Rainbow chanted to herself before her brain got her mouth back under control. “D-do you mean that you’re … that I could … with you?”

Spitfire winked. “Catch you later, Dash.” She turned and zoomed off, her two companions following right behind her.

Dinky blinked. “Wooow … I think they liked you, Rainbow Dash!” She exclaimed.

“I’d say so.” Cloud nodded, nudging Rainbow and giving her a moment to compose herself. “Ready to go?”

“Just about.” Rainbow looked around. “One last thing I gotta take care of...”

“Hey!” A voice from behind them shouted. “Didn’t think you could skip town without saying goodbye to us, did you Rainbow Crash?”

Rainbow Dash looked to see Dumbbell, Hoops and Score. “Oh, there you guys are. Thought I might miss you.”

If they three noticed Rainbow’s bemused, unworried look, they didn’t act like it. “So you went and chickened out, huh? Figures.” Dumbbell snorted. “We knew all along that Sonic Rainboom stuff was just an old mare’s tale. Maybe everypony else will finally wake up and realize that you’re nothing but a fake.”

Cloud Kicker turned around, intent on surging towards the three losers and pounding some sense into their thick skulls, Krav Pega-style. But she was stopped by Rainbow putting a hoof on her shoulder.

She was grinning wryly. “Yeah, you figured me out.” Dash shrugged. “I admit it. I’m totally full of baloney.” Everypony in ear shot looked stunned, none moreso than her three would-be tormentors.

“R-really?” Hoops blinked from behind his bangs.

Rainbow nodded as she started walking to the edge of the clouds. “No point denying it when you three have so obviously gotten me pegged.” She gave her mane a little toss and winked at her friends. “Clearly, I can’t do a Sonic Rainboom.”

Seeing the cloud writing in the sky, Rainbow’s friends all backed away and started to hunker down behind whatever cover they could find. Soon the only ponies left standing on open cloud was Dash and the trio. Rainbow gave them a small nod and a wave. “Catch you guys later!” She took off, flying away from Cloudsdale and picking up speed as she flew.

“...What just happened?” Hoops asked, looking at his two companions. Then he looked at Rainbow’s friends, still crouching behind various boxes, implements and other cover. “And what’re they doing?

An earth shattering boom in the distance cut him off before he could finish. The three bullies turned to stare at the source just in time to see an explosive ring of pure color stretching out from a point on the horizon. And soaring magnificently upwards from the point of explosion was a cyan blue blur trailing a solid, pure rainbow in her wake.

“Whoa...” Score said in awe, stirring his friends from their stunned silence.

“Is that a--that’s a--” Hoops stammered.

Dumbbell shook his head, his eyes never once turning away from the explosion of light. “N-no way...” He was still mumbling to himself when the shock wave hit. Fortunately the Rainboom had actually occurred far enough away to mostly dilute the impact of the shock wave.

Mostly.

It was still strong enough to send roaring winds that sent the three unprotected bullies into a careening tailspin. Their shocked shouts were lost in the wind, which ended with the three of them having a face-first encounter with a cloud wall, forcing them half-way through it.

Dinky was the first to risk a peek when the wind had died down, her mane a total mess. “Whoooaaa...” her golden eyes went wide. Then she grinned so widely her face almost split in half. “SHE DID IT! RAINBOW DASH DID IT! HOORAY!” She started bouncing around her mother. “Rainbow Dash is the most superawesomegamazing-radicool pony EVER!” Dinky pranced until she spotted the rumps of the three bullies sticking out of a wall. “Heeeheeee!” Rainbow’s friends laughed as they helped themselves up.

Cloud Kicker snorted as she helped Twilight up. “Think we should help them?” She jerked her head to them as Pinkie hanged a “Free Spanks!” sign on their rumps.

Twilight thought about if for a moment. “Nah.” She smiled. “Let’s go home.”

As the group got into the balloon and started for Ponyville, the got their last look back at Cloudsdale just in time to see Rainbow Dash arcing over the city: a brilliant rainbow still trailing her path, lighting up the entire sky.

Everypony in Cloudsdale who saw, felt a sense of awe and wonderment. And for Rainbow Dash, that was the greatest feeling of triumph of all.

THE END

Rainbow Triumphant

by Trinary

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5