Rainbow Dash realizes she might not be the toughest pony in all of Equestria. But she learns that lesson the hard way.
Rainbow Dash has always been the toughest pegasus in all of Ponyville. But when she moved to Cloudsdale to become a Wonderbolt, things changed. Rainbow Dash always loved flying and doing her tricks and flips and leisurely practicing in hopes that she would one day be able to join the Wonderbolts.
When that day finally came, Rainbow Dash wasn’t prepared for the hours of nonstop practice. She hadn’t conditioned her body to work that hard for that long. She was weak and slow compared to the other Wonderbolts. What will come of that?
During her struggles training with the Wonderbolts, she finds somepony who helps her endure the long days and tough practices
The sun had just risen and Rainbow Dash had just arrived in Cloudsdale, her saddlebag on her back. She landed on the runway and looked around, spotting Spitfire nearby. She trotted up to Spitfire and opened her mouth to introduce herself.
“Rainbow Dash!” Spitfire said before Rainbow could speak, “Glad you could make it,” She hoof bumped Rainbow, “The barracks are over there,” She pointed to a nearby building. “Go get changed and meet us for practice in 5 minutes.” She turned away from Rainbow and blew her whistle as some ponies who were flying by.
Rainbow Dash trotted over to the barracks and changed into her uniform. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. “I’ve finally made it,” She said to herself. “I’m a Wonderbolt!” She flew up and did a backflip, landing gracefully on the ground. She tucked away her saddlebag in a locker and then sped back outside to join the others in practice.
Spitfire blew her whistle and all the Wonderbolts gathered around her to hear the itinerary for the day. She pulled out a clipboard and read off it, reading and explaining the drills. Each of the Wonderbolts committed the order of the drills to memory and when Spitfire blew her whistle again they all took off into the air and started doing their drills, working specifically on synchronization.
Around noon they took a short break to drink some water and stretch. They read over the second set of drills and got started. Rainbow Dash kept anxiously looking at the position of the sun, at Spitfire and at the other Wonderbolts, wondering when practice would be over. Her wings were aching and sweat was dripping off every inch of her body. She was struggling to breathe, her chest heaving in and out as she tried to catch her breath.
She pushed herself even harder and made it through the end of the day. The sun had just touched the horizon when Spitfire blew her whistle again and all of the Wonderbolts landed on the runway.
“Good job today team,” Spitfire said, patting each of the Wonderbolts on their backs. “Now off to the barracks to rest up for practice tomorrow.”
The other Wonderbolts trotted happily to the barracks to shower and rest. Rainbow Dash groaned to herself and lagged behind, her body aching. Her wings were throbbing from the pain, and her lungs ached from all the heavy breathing. While she usually flies most places she slowly walked to the barracks. She took off her uniform and hopped into the shower. She washed the sweat out of her fur and rinsed off. She then dried off with a towel and exited the shower.
She walked into her room and collapsed on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. “The others didn’t seem like that practice was such a big deal. But I feel like I’m dying.” She sighed and rolled over, putting her face in the pillow. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to survive being in the Wonderbolts…” She thought sadly.
She suddenly sat up in bed, “No, I have to push myself. This has been my dream since I was just a filly.” She said aloud to herself. “I can do this!” She stretched and laid back in her bed and closed her eyes. Both anxious and excited for practice tomorrow.
Rainbow Dash was awakened by the sound of a trumpet blazing in her ears. She jumped out of bed, “I’m up! I’m up!” She yelled, forcing her eyes open. She looked around but nopony was in her room. She let out a groan and slowly laid down on the floor. Her entire body was throbbing with pain from practice the day before.
The trumpet sound blared again, quieter this time. She looked up and saw speakers in the headrest of her bed. She groaned again and stood up. She changed into her uniform, stretched and walked outside to start practice. The sun had just breached the horizon.
Spitfire and the other Wonderbolts were standing in a circle going over today’s practice drills. Rainbow Dash trotted over to the group and listened in on what drills they would be doing today. Her face was stuck in a grimace as she imagined how much her body would hurt after doing all these drills.
As Spitfire was going over the drills Rainbow Dash yawned. The other Wonderbolts turned to look at her and Spitfire stopped reading over the list. Rainbow blushed, embarrassed. “I guess someone’s not used to the Wonderbolt’s hours,” She said with a chuckle. The others laughed too and then turned back to Spitfire to learn the rest of the drills.
Once Spitfire explained the drills for the day, she blew her whistle and the Wonderbolts took off. When Rainbow opened her wings to take off a burning pain shot through her wings and her back. She held a straight face while screaming on the inside. She needed to stay strong and not show any weakness. She ignored her pain and took off into the air, quickly catching up to the others and working with them on their drills.
Rainbow Dash pushed herself to keep up with the others. For most of the day, she was able to stay with the other Wonderbolts and keep up with them and their drills. Noon hit and they all flew to the ground to take a short break. While the other Wonderbolts talked, Rainbow stood by herself, stretching her wings and drinking water.
Spitfire blew her whistle, indicating that the break was over. The Wonderbolts gathered around her as she explained the second half of drills for today. Rainbow stood near the back of the small group, listening to Spitfire while still stretching. Her face fell into a grimace as she worked on stretching her wings.
“Dash?” Spitfire asked, pulling down her sunglasses to look at Dash as she stood near the back stretching her wings.
“Yes ma’am?” Rainbow asked, straightening up and looking at Spitfire.
“Do you need to take a break?” Spitfire asked, looking genuinely concerned at Rainbow’s condition.
“No ma’am!” Rainbow said, trying to fill her voice with energy and confidence.
Spitfire eyed her for a moment longer, “Alright…” She said skeptically. She finished reading over the list and then blew her whistle to indicate she was done. The Wonderbolts and Rainbow Dash took off into the air to work on the rest of their drills.
As the day went on Dash slowly lost energy. After each drill her speed decreased. She flew slower and slower, too weak to push herself to keep up. As time passed she flew behind the others.
Spitfire watched from a cloud below, watching the practice and noticing how she was lagging behind. She blew three sharp blasts on the whistle and the Wonderbolts stopped in midair and looked at each other, confused. They all flew towards the ground and crowded around Spitfire. Rainbow Dash did the same, slightly behind the others.
“Practice ends early. Go to the barracks and get some rest,” She said. They turned and started walking towards the barracks. Rainbow Dash followed behind, but Spitfire stopped her, “Except you, Dash.”
Rainbow Dash stopped for a moment then turned around, “Y-yes ma’am?” She asked nervously, still breathing heavily from practice.
She took off her sunglasses and rested them on the breast of her suit. “Are you okay?” She asked, genuinely concerned, her eyebrows scrunched together with worry.
“Psh,” Rainbow waved her hoof and scoffed. “Yeah, I’m fine,” She drew in a deep, wheezy breath and coughed. “Ok… So maybe not. I’m just not used to these long tough practices.”
“Tomorrow you should take breaks more often and drink more fluids.” Spitfire said.
“No ma’am!” Rainbow Dash said, straightening up. “I don’t need any special treatment. I’ll work even harder to keep up with the others.” She said proudly.
“Alright... “ She said skeptically. “If you think you can handle it. I just don’t want one of our best fliers to get hurt.” She said, winking and elbowing Rainbow in the side. Rainbow winced but smiled at Spitfire.
“Thank you ma’am,” She said, then walked away to the barracks.
She walked slowly to her room and collapsed on her bed without taking a shower. She stared up at the ceiling. “It’s only the second day of practice and I feel dead.” She thought to herself.
“Ugh!” She groaned and rolled over, stuffing her face in her pillow. “Why did I have to tell Spitfire that I could do this? I’m so stupid. But now I’ve got no choice but to push through no matter what happens.”
Rainbow rolled out of bed and stumbled into the shower. Her entire body aching. She took off her uniform, trying not to hurt herself anymore. She threw it in the wash and stepped into the shower. She sat down as the water rushed over her body. She looked up with her eyes closed and let the water pour over her face.
She sat on the floor of the shower, water running over her and pooling around her. She sat, immersed in her thoughts and her doubts. By the time she got out of the shower, she was clean, but too worried and nervous to sleep.
Her body felt less sore from the warm water. But she was still tired. She knew that she needed sleep, but she just couldn’t stop thinking long enough to drift off. She tossed and turned all night. She missed her friends in Ponyville. She missed Tank. “Oh, I hope Fluttershy is taking good care of him.” She thought nervously. “Wait... Fluttershy takes care of animals all the time. I’m sure Tank is fine.” She thought with a soft chuckle to herself.
She rolled over, tangling herself in the sheets. She tossed and turned all night long. Unable to get a wink of sleep. Before she knew it, trumpets were blaring in her ears again. She groaned and rolled out of bed. She yawned and changed into her uniform and then walked outside where the other Wonderbolts were gathering around Spitfire, ready for today’s practice.
Rainbow Dash tried to keep herself from yawning, she didn’t want anyone else to know that she couldn’t sleep last night and that she was exhausted. She hoped none of them noticed the dark circles under her eyes. It had only been two days but all this practicing had taken its toll on her body.
Spitfire explained the drills, gave the team a short pep talk and soon enough, they were up in the air again. Rainbow Dash watched her teammates fly almost effortlessly through the air. None of them seemed sore or tired like she was.
She yawned again as she was flying through the air. Everytime she lagged behind, she did a short burst to catch up. She dodged clouds and worked on formation with the others, practicing the tricks and flips that would be needed in the next show. She yawned again. Her eyes began to droop closed, everything became fuzzy and she began to feel dizzy.
Her eyes closed and her body relaxed. She went unconscious and began falling. The Wonderbolts gasped and panicked as she fell, none of them knowing what to do. Some continued to work on the drill, thinking it was just an act. Other’s began to fly towards her, trying to save her from crashing to the ground.
As she neared the ground, none of the Wonderbolts were close enough to catch her. She remained asleep, unaware that she was falling.
One of the Wonderbolts rushed down faster than any of the others and caught Rainbow Dash not far from the ground. The others stared down at them from the clouds in awe. The impact of being caught woke her up. She opened her eyes and looked up at the pony who caught her. She couldn’t tell who it was, he was wearing his Wonderbolt uniform and glasses which covered his face.
He held her in his forehooves and carried her back up to the clouds. He set her down on her hooves and then pushed up his glasses to reveal his face, “Are you okay?” He asked her.
“Soarin…” She said staring up at him. Ever since Soarin had joined the Wonderbolts, Rainbow had had the biggest crush on him. And here he was, standing right in front of her, having just saved her life. “Umm, yeah. Yeah, I’m okay…” She said awkwardly, looking down at the cloud beneath her hooves.
“Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh… That was so embarrassing…” She thought to herself, her face turning a bright red.
Soarin looked down at her, his eyebrows knitted together in worry. His cheeks were flushed a light red. Rainbow didn’t know if it was because of the practice or because he liked her too. Before she could thank him for saving her, Spitfire darted over, “Dash! Are you okay?” She asked, she checked Rainbow Dash all over for injuries, her face expressing concern for her safety.
“Yes ma’am,” Rainbow said sounding slightly defeated, slightly ashamed that she had fallen asleep and disrupted practice. Spitfire seemed to relax a little.
“Good. I have to say that I am very disappointed that you didn’t take the proper precautions and tell me that you weren’t fit for practice today,” She said sternly. “But I am glad that you’re okay,” Spitfire smiled at her. But her expression stiffened again, “You need to get some rest. From now on, you’re going to have to build up your strength until you can keep up with the others during practice. I’ll lay out some separate drills for you to do tomorrow.”
With her expression still stern and in ‘coach mode’ she turned to face Soarin and asked, “Soarin, will you take her to the barracks?”
“Yes ma’am,” Soarin said with a nod. He led Rainbow to the barracks and to her room, staying close to her. “Look, Dash… Being a Wonderbolt is tough, it took me a while to catch up with the others during my first week too. There’s no need to be embarrassed. Ask any one of us, the story of all of our first week is just about the same,” He said with a smile.
A slight blush creeped up onto her face. “Thanks…” She said softly.
“And besides,” He turned to face her as they walked, “Practice isn’t meant to build strength. It’s meant to maintain the strength and endurance you already have and to work on synchronization with the rest of the team,” He smiled at her, “You just need some more time to build up the strength and endurance equal to the rest of us. Which shouldn’t take too long considering how tough and determined you are.” He smiled at her again.
Rainbow Dash smiled back, “Thanks Soarin. That makes me feel a lot better.” She said as they walked side by side back to her room. She was still really tired and a little dazed from her fall earlier but she tried to maintain her balance as to not collapse again.
He walked into her room with her, helped her take off her uniform and put her into bed. “Rainbow Dash…” He paused. “I just wanted to say that I’ve always kind of-”
He was interrupted by a loud snore coming from Rainbow. He looked at her and smiled, he stared at her for a minute, just watching her sleep. He heard Spitfire blow the whistle from outside and he hurried back outside for practice.
He trotted out of her room and the barracks to get back outside to finish practice. He pulled his glasses back over his eyes and flew into the air. “I wish I had the guts to tell Rainbow Dash that I like her…” He thought to himself.
Soarin had had a crush on Rainbow Dash since the day they met at the Grand Galloping Gala, ever since she saved his apple pie. He was impressed by her speed, bravery and confidence. None of the Wonderbolts noticed, but he did. He had mentioned her to Spitfire that night and since then the Wonderbolts had kept an eye on her.
At first his crush was just small, but it grew each and every time he saw her. Now that they were both Wonderbolts and they saw each other everyday, he didn’t know how much longer he could hide his crush from her. It became harder to hide everyday because everyday it grew more and more.
