"The Wonder-Life"
Rainbow Dash flew outside to get the mail that was just dropped off. She opened the mailbox and took the mail inside her house. From what she could see, the only bit of mail was catalogues and marketing ads. Rainbow then threw the stack on the table. She started to fly away, but at the corner of her eye, she saw something the color of gold gently fall to the floor. The sunlight reflected off of it.
"I wonder what this is," Rainbow thought to herself. She saw that it was from Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts. She then opened it, and found a shiny paper inside. It read,
To the fastest flyer in all of Equestria, Rainbow Dash:
I would like to thank you for doing many things for us. First, you saved our lives with that amazing sonic rainboom. You saved Soarin's pie at the Grand Galloping Gala, saved Soarin' again at Rainbow Falls, and taught us a valuable lesson. After Rainbow Falls, a thought pondered through my head. I also saw that you were amazing at the Equestria Games, and that confirmed my decision.
Would you, Rainbow Dash, want to be a Wonderbolt? Please come talk to me about your decision. We all would love for you to join.
Spitfire
Rainbow Dash was speechless for about a minute. She read the letter over and over again; making sure it really was what she thought.
"YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" Rainbow Dash screamed with delight. She flew all around Ponyville with the letter in her hooves. Twilight happened to notice her. When Rainbow was sitting on her doorstep, the purple alicorn walked up to her.
"What's with all the excitement, Rainbow? It's a Monday. You are always slow to come out of your house on any Monday," Twilight questioned. Rainbow finally looked up from her letter and shoved the life-changing gold paper in Twilight's face.
"READ IT!" Shouted the rainbow-manned Pegasus. Twilight read it, and her face lit up.
"Congratulations, Rainbow Dash!" Remarked Twilight as she pulled Rainbow into a hug. The rest of the Mane 6 walked over at that point. Twilight broke the news to all of them, and they all hugged Rainbow Dash and congratulated her. Everypony read the paper.
"When are you going to tell Spitfire you want to join?" Rarity asked.
"Are you kidding me? Right now! Bye everypony!" Rainbow excitedly shouted. The smile never left her face as she dashed up to Cloudsdale. She finally got up to the Wonderbolt's office. She walked over and two guards stopped her from entering. Rainbow Dash showed the paper to the guards. They nodded their heads and opened the door. Rainbow's heart was racing. This was the moment she had been waiting for her entire life, and it finally is real. She walked up to the desk, where she saw Spitfire working. The captain took off her sunglasses and looked Rainbow Dash right in the eye.
Rainbow managed to get these words out, "I would like to be a Wonderbolt, mam."
"Training starts in about a half-hour. You can come if you like," Spitfire responded. "Training is every other day. Just a heads-up. Oh, and by the way, thanks for joining. I hope you enjoy being a Wonderbolt."
Rainbow Dash grinned again. "I will make it for that training session, mam. See you then." Rainbow Dash left the office and yelled, "YESSSS!" She flew around Cloudsdale for the 30 minutes she had to wait. The time finally arrived for her to report to training.
Rainbow Dash walked into the training area. She saw a few pegasi flying around. Spitfire blew her whistle and everypony quickly got in a straight line. Rainbow quickly joined the line of elite flyers, proud to be one of them.
"I would like to gladly announce that Rainbow Dash has accepted our offer to be a Wonderbolt," Spitfire exclaimed. All of the Wonderbolts welcomed Rainbow. Spitfire walked over with a blue uniform. It was a Wonderbolt's uniform. She gladly put it in Rainbow Dash's hooves, and Rainbow didn't waste a second putting it on. All the ponies got in a straight line again as Spitfire told them to find a partner. Soarin' quickly flew over to Rainbow Dash. As everypony found their partners, Spitfire introduced the event. The event was pretty simple compared to other things Rainbow has done. All they had to do was come up with a flight routine with their partner. The best part is that the best routine would be the one that the whole team would be performing at their next show. Spitfire would be deciding the best.
"You have 30 minutes to come up with an awesome routine and get it perfect, and then you will have to perform it. Ready, set, GO!" The pegasi started talking about what they were going to do. Soarin' and Rainbow Dash started suggesting really awesome and cool ideas to one another. They finally decided on an awesome technique. It consisted of a barrel roll, then a flip, then they separated, then they flew back together, and then they flew up next to each other the whole way. They then flew back down, performing barrel rolls the whole way. When they landed, Rainbow smiled. She never felt so exhilarated.
"That was awesome!" Remarked Soarin'. They hoof-bumped and talked, waiting for their turn to present. Rainbow felt it very easy to talk to Soarin'. Why? She didn't know, but she didn't care about the reason, either. All she knew was that they were becoming great friends. Spitfire finally called them up, so they had to break from their conversation. They slid their goggles on and began the routine. Once they finished, Spitfire stared wide-eyed.
"I've never seen you fly that fast before, Soarin'," remarked Spitfire.
"I don't feel much difference in my speed," Soarin' answered. He was telling the truth. He didn't fell much difference, but he felt way more exhilarated flying with Rainbow Dash than anyone else. He wasn't thinking about his speed. He was thinking of being next to that mare. He didn't know what he was feeling. Friendship? Love? He pondered, thinking if it was really what it seemed. Whenever he tried to think if they won the small competition, he could see Rainbow Dash in his thoughts, smiling, flying around with her rainbow mane flowing in the breeze.
"Next!" Spitfire broke his thoughts. He and Rainbow Dash walked around, talking about how they might have won. All Soarin' could think about was Rainbow Dash's happy face, beaming with pride if she was told they won. It all seemed like a dream to him. After all the groups were finished, Spitfire told them all to get into a straight line. She then exclaimed,
"The winners of this contest are… Soarin' and Rainbow Dash! They were perfectly in sync the whole time, and I thought that the barrel roll stunt at the end was very entertaining! We will be performing this at the next air show." All the ponies congratulated them, saying their routine was awesome. It was the first time Soarin' ever won any contest in the Wonderbolts, and Spitfire noticed it.
"Congratulations, you two. Especially Soarin'. I'm surprised you caught up to Rainbow Dash. No offence, but you were always a little bit behind the others. You made an outstanding revision, especially to be able to stay right by Rainbow, the fastest pony here!" Spitfire explained.
"I don't know how I made a remarkable change without even noticing!" Soarin' exclaimed. Rainbow held out her hoof, and they hoof-bumped again. Spitfire smiled and told everypony that she will be figuring out their positions, so they can have some free time. Rainbow Dash talked to Soarin' a little bit more.
"Hey, do you want to fly to my place after training? I would love for you to meet my friends." Rainbow Dash remarked.
"Of course!" Soarin' answered. Spitfire had all of the Wonderbolts practice the routine, and Soarin' and Rainbow Dash were right by each other the whole time. Spitfire dismissed them after a few hours of training. She went up to thank Rainbow Dash for joining and congratulated her and Soarin'. She then went back to her office to work on some papers. Rainbow Dash and Soarin' flew down to Rainbow's house. They landed on the front step, and Rainbow opened the door. She then turned on the lights.
"SURPRISE!" Rainbow Dash's friends all shouted. It looked like Pinkie Pie planned a party to welcome back Rainbow from her first day of training.
"Well, this is convenient," remarked Rainbow Dash. "Everypony, meet Soarin', one of my friends." They all greeted him.
"And now, let's get to the activities! Congratulations on becoming a Wonderbolt, Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie shouted. Pinkie opened a box which had a cake in it, saying Congratulations Rainbow Dash! Rainbow then cut off a huge slice of cake and began to eat it. Everypony else then got their slice and began to eat and talk. Once everypony finished their cake, Pinkie Pie turned on party music. Everyone started to dance, and Rarity was asking Rainbow Dash about training.
"How was it, Rainbow?" Rarity questioned.
"It was great! I can't wait till next training!" The blue Pegasus responded.
"Why did you bring Soarin'? Is he your colt-friend, or just a friend?" Rarity asked with a funny look on her face.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Rarity, we're friends. And besides, I'm not the romantic type of pony." Rarity gave a small grin and walked away. Everypony was happy until Spike got a letter from Princess Celestia.
"STOP THE MUSIC!" Twilight shouted as she was looking at the letter. Pinkie stopped the tune.
"Princess Celestia says that she needs us immediately. We have to get over there!" Twilight remarked. They all started to run out.
"Is it alright if I tag along?" Soarin' questioned. He knew right after he said it that it was a stupid question. Join the Elements of Harmony when Equestria might be facing a great danger? He was surprised when Twilight responded.
"Yes, you can come. But if things get too dangerous, I will have to ask you to leave." Soarin' nodded his head, still in shock that he would be allowed to go. The next thing he knew, Twilight was using a teleportation spell, and then they were all in the Canterlot castle. Princess Celestia saw them teleport in, and told them everything.
"There was a very talented unicorn that I used to teach. Her name was Jade Flash. She had a lot of magic talent, but not as much as Twilight. One day, I found a strange-looking amulet lying in the Everfree forest. It looked like it had been used before, but then abandoned. I did some research on it, and it described that every day, the amulet gets a little more power. I then knew of the great power I had found. The next day, Jade came in for her teachings. I showed her the amulet, and she stared wide-eyed. During the day, she kept asking me about that amulet. I told her all of the things that I found out during my research. I was delighted that a pony wanted to know so much about ancient artifacts. But I got the wrong impression. When I woke up the next day, the amulet was gone. Jade never came to anymore teachings, either. I assumed that she stole it. I went to her house, and it looked like there were many things singed by strong magic, which was the magic from that very strong amulet. I looked all over her house, but she was nowhere to be seen. I looked everywhere, but I couldn't find her. It took two days of searching until I gave up. Some of my royal guards went to look for her, but she was still nowhere to be seen. Unfortunately, I saw her today. She looked much more powerful, and she had that amulet around her neck. She fired a magic beam at me, but I avoided it. When I looked back up she was gone. I think I need you all to find her and use the magic of frie-"Celestia was cut off by Jade bursting in the castle and attacking her. The powerful unicorn had fur the color of a jade, black and green mane, and lavender eyes. The mane six all stood together, with Soarin' and Spike standing behind them. Jade looked at the eight ponies and laughed.
"You really think you can beat me?" Jade questioned. She flew outside and cast a spell on the castle. The castle then turned green and black, and a flag appeared at the top displaying Jade's cutie mark, a lavender star with some black shapes that looked a little bit like fireworks. Jade then cast a spell on herself. Before anypony had time to say anything, Jade grew wings and became an alicorn.
"The pendant finally has enough power to allow me to undergo this transformation!" Jade shouted with delight, "Now, I will exterminate you!" She shouted to the eight friends. Twilight looked for Celestia, but it seemed like she didn't make it out of the castle. Jade started firing magic right away. Fluttershy tried to hide, while everypony else was in front of Jade avoiding the bullets. One of the magic beams hit one of Rainbow's wings. She fell to the ground. Jade fired another beam at the rainbow-manned Pegasus. Rainbow covered her face with her hooves, but she didn't feel any power hit her. She looked, and her face filled with shock. Soarin' had protected her. Rainbow saw how much of a hit he took for her. She suddenly felt a spark go off. She dashed forward, performing a sonic rainboom and hitting Jade, flinging her back. The mane six stood together and unleashed the magic of friendship at Jade. All the damage done to Rainbow and Soarin' were healed; the castle went back to normal, and Jade transformed back into a regular unicorn. The amulet broke, leaving Jade with not as much power. Celestia walked out and looked at Jade. Tears filled the green unicorn's eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Celestia! I let the amulet possess me, and I forgot the importance of friendship. Please, let me be in your classes again. I promise never to steal anything from you, or anyone else, ever again. Please?" Celestia looked down and smiled.
"Of course I will. And if you ever need help with anything regarding friendship, you can talk to any of us," Princess Celestia responded. Jade hugged Celestia and thanked her. Then Soarin' walked over to Rainbow Dash. Before he could say anything, Rainbow hugged and thanked him, just like Jade. Rarity gave her a wink.
"Not the romantic type, huh Dash?" She questioned Rainbow. Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes. Celestia then thanked and told them all that they can leave. Rainbow asked Soarin' if she could fly with him to his house. Soarin' agreed, and the two took off, talking the whole way. After Soarin' went inside his home, Rainbow flew down to her own. A smile plastered her face. She didn't know if it had something to do with Soarin' or not. She then went into bed, and the smile never left her face.
The next training sessions were very easy for Rainbow and Soarin'. They were practicing the routine, getting it perfect. It was pretty simple for everyone on the team to do it, but Spitfire had them all practice it over and over again. The time soon came for them to perform it in front of an audience. Rainbow saw her friends waving at her. Scootaloo was cheering like crazy. Rainbow Dash couldn't resist a smile. All of the Wonderbolts got into a straight line and did the routine that they have been practicing. When they were finished, everypony was cheering. Soarin' winked at Rainbow, and she got a huge smile on her face. She was living the amazing life of a Wonderbolt, or as she calls it, the Wonder-life.