S4 E21 everypony! Trade Ya is up next!

...

Malibu was studying with Twilight Sparkle one day outside in the sun by the Golden Oaks Library, the two feeling rather calm as Twilight read a passage from her spell book from Celestia.

"The magical properties of this spell will only have lasting effects if you focus on—"

Suddenly there was a rush of wind and a streak of rainbow that went by, rustling the papers Twilight was reading, making Malibu jump "What the?!"

Twilight however growled. "No! Rainbow Dash!"

The teal alicorn looked upward at his mare friend goofing about in the sky, doing different tricks and loops in the air, Twilight groaning further while catching all the loose papers she could. "How in Equestria does that pony expect to pass her history of the Wonderbolts exam tomorrow if she's wasting time flying?!"

She begins to fly up to Rainbow Dash while Malibu followed her, hoping he too can convince her to focus on studies. But this was Rainbow Dash. When had she ever done that before?

Twilight couldn't help but give a little smirk. "I'm just gonna fly right up to her and tell her what I think about her lackadaisical approach to studying! Won't she be surprised!"

That was when Rainbow poked her head out of a cloud with a playful grin, startling Malibu again. "Surprise!"

It had wound up making Twilight blink out of her surprise. "What? Huh? How did you—?"

Rainbow Dash scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Puh-lease, Twi and Malibu. That was the worst sneak attack ever!"

Malibu tilted his head. "What do you mean? Didn't you even see us?"

His marefriend booped him on the nose. "I saw Twilight giving me the stink-eye from the ground. And heard her flying towards me and muttering from a mile away!"

It caused Malibu to flush and grin in a flustered way from how she tapped his nose but knew he had even more to learn about what it was like to be a Pegasus (Well, he wasn't a full Pegasus but him being an alicorn could count).

Twilight however still glared. "Well, if you heard me 'muttering', then you must know what I was muttering about."

Rainbow rolls her eyes again, falling/flying off the cloud lazily. "Yeah, yeah. The Wonderbolts history test. No big deal."

The former gargoyle stared, shocked that Rainbow would dismiss something like that when he had done a lot of magic tests from his mom, Twilight looking ready to explode. "No. Big deal. Really big deal! It's a test! A test that will determine if you can join the newly-formed Wonderbolts Reserves which means you'll have the opportunity to live your dream as a Wonderbolt! This is the biggest test of your life!" She nearly screeched, Malibu knowing she was going to go all Twilighty now.

"Hey, easy there. Not everybody gets freaked out and obsessed over tests like you." He says, nudging her with a playful wink, causing Twilight to flush hard.

"I do not getall freaked out about tests!" She grumbled from her embarrassment, crossing her hooves.

Rainbow Dash simply smiles from her expressions. "Uh, seriously? Your freakouts are so epic, you sing whole freak out arias about freaking out!"

That made Malibu snicker, recalling when Twilight did a song after getting a test from Celestia to save the Crystal Empire, Twilight blushing more furiously, then she took a breath. "Fine, I may tend to take my tests a little seriously, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't study for yours!" But at that moment however, Malibu saw Twilight's face lighting up in hyper excitement. "Ooh! And I know just the pony who can help you. ME! This is gonna be so much fun!"

Malibu suddenly felt himself, Rainbow Dash and Twilight be teleported right into the library, blinking in surprise, Rainbow sitting at a desk. "Rather erratic huh?" He grumbled, head lightly dizzy from the sudden teleportation.

Rainbow Dash grumbled under her breath, leaning on one of her hooves. "Sure, fun."

Twilight places a huge book onto the desk when Dash had nearly dozed off, making her jump "Gah! What—huh?"

The mulberry alicorn grinned. "This is the most complete—."

Malibu stared at the book which looked over 1,000 pages long. "And huge if I might say so." He observed.

Twilight continued like she didn't hear him. "Book on the History of the Wonderbolts."

The rainbow Pegasus scratched her head. "Ok, but how am I supposed to get what's in there into here?" She asked, gesturing to her brain.

Before Malibu could try suggesting something helpful, Twilight beat him to it. "With my handy-dandy study checklist of course!" She says, looking way too happy. Malibu rolled his eyes. Of course she would have a checklist for that.

Rainbow sighed. "Of course."

Soon Twilight revealed their first study method. "First up; reading and highlighting. Reading and highlighting is the foundation of any good study method. It allows the student to hone in and boil down on what's really important, separating the good from the bad, the wheat from the chaff, getting to the crux of things."

Malibu noted that Rainbow Dash was pretty much highlighting each page in the book to be covered in the yellow marker. "Let's see what you've got so far!" When Twilight opened the book, she winced from the shiny marker color. "Huh? Hm, by highlighting everything you don't really separate the wheat from the chaff..."

She flips through a few pages which also had some drawings, rather funny ones that made Malibu snicker softly under his breath. "Or the good, from the bad..." The next one revealed a big drawing of Twilight looking angry. She glares at Rainbow Dash. "Hey, I am not that tall!" She snaps.

Rainbow also snickered, the two sharing a small laugh before Twilight gives them both a look, causing the two to quickly shut up. She then pulls out another method. "Ok, Rainbow, clearly reading and highlighting is not your style of study. So let's move on to the tried and true; history lecture!" She says, pointing to the chalk board.

Malibu groans softly, he himself hating lectures as much as Dash did, recalling the ones his mom did with him until he saw his marefriend raising her hoof.

Twilight pointed. "Yes Rainbow?"

"Is it snack time?" Dash asked, opening up the lunchbox she suddenly now had, making Malibu feel like he was in a Looney Tunes short, smiling lightly.

"No."

"Recess?"

"No."

Rainbow Dash sighed, lying down on the desk then the floor. "Can't we just watch the history of the Wonderbolts movie?!"

Twilight frowned. "No! Now, the two of you get comfortable, and experience... the magic of learning!"

Malibu and Dash looked at each other with blank expressions as Twilight began to do the lecture, Malibu barely listening himself. "Ahem. Prior to the great Celestia/Luna rift, there was no need for the Earth, Unicorn, Pegasi, or E.U.P. Guard.

The young gargoyle clone turned when hearing Dash sighing, her stool creaking, seeing her getting a playful look with an idea in her eyes, starting to rock the stool in a rhythmic fashion.

Malibu choked on his laugh, trying his best to hide it while softly tapping his hoof also in rhythm. "But after Luna's banishment, the Protective Pony Platoons were formed. On the anniversary of the first Celestial Year of Peace, a celebration was held." Twilight continued, the young couple still doing their playful jig.

Even Spike came in with a drum alongside Owlowiscious who hooted in a tune, Malibu nodding his head to the beat. This was more fun than a lecture.

Twilight drew more on the chalkboard. "Headed by General Firefly, an elite team of aerial performers were chosen to help celebrate this auspicious occasion. The first performance was so full of energy, so highly charged, that magical lightning showered down on the crowd. Everypony was so filled with amazement and wonder that General Firefly dubbed them the Wonderbolts!" Twilight said, making a holographic Wonderbolts symbol with her magic, only to stare at the sight of Rainbow Dash, Malibu, Spike and Owlowiscious continuing their playing about.

Spike turned red, running off with the owl and his drums, Malibu quickly stopping himself, whistling casually, Rainbow Dash still rocking around on the stool.

Twilight frowned, teleporting the stool out from under the Pegasus who fell to the floor. When Twilight went to sit on her chair, a loud horn noise came, making her eyes widen, revealing a joke horn there that Dash planted.

Rainbow snickered, making Malibu wince, knowing that her pranking still sometimes went a bit too far. Twilight soon decided that this wasn't the right thing for her.

"History lecture... nope." She sighs, rubbing her face with her hoof. "Ok, Rainbow..."

Malibu turned sharply at the sight of his marefriend no longer around, the two going outside.

"Rainbow Dash! Come out here now!" Malibu ordered, feeling his prince side of him emerge, Dash zipping down, sitting on the Golden Oaks Library sign, feigning innocence. "Here!"

Twilight gives a smirk. "Let's move on to my favorite style of learning: flash cards!" She squealed.

"Oh, does that mean I'll learn in a flash?!" Rainbow Dash asked excitedly, Malibu shaking his head, nudging her. "Don't think it works that way."

The alicorn princess started shuffling the cards. "Colonel Purple Dart, the leader of the Wonderbolts in the Fourth Celestial Era, was known for his—." Something came out of nowhere, hitting the card, startling Twilight. "Wha?!"

Malibu jumped, looking to Rainbow who swished her tail, smiling still. "Rainbow, did you see that?" He asked.

She shook her head. "What? No! I was... riveted by your captivating cards!"

Twilight frowned, holding up another one. "Hmm... after becoming the official flying squadron for Princess Celestia, she honored them with— gotcha!" She said in triumph as another card was knocked down.

Malibu glared, thinking he could see some kind of straw behind her. "Got what?"

Igniting his horn, Malibu yanked the straw from behind his marefriend who jumped from that. "Hey!" She snapped, Malibu showing Twilight. "I believe we found what had been knocking down your flashcards."

Twilight frowned in disappointment, taking the straw. "Rainbow Dash, you could've hurt me!"

Rainbow Dash scoffed. "With a spit wad, really?"

Malibu shook his head. "If it hit her in the eye, then yes." It caused Rainbow Dash to laugh nervously.

Twilight then began to lose it. "Well, if you can horse around like this, then clearly you must be ready for the test."

Dash looked at her in challenge. "Clearly."

Folding her hooves, her glare deepened. "Well then, I guess you're also ready for a—."

She teleported all three of them into the library again. "Pop quiz!"

Malibu winced, knowing this wasn't gonna go well, backing up a little, feeling the heat growing between his friends. "Bring it!" Rainbow Dash snapped.

Twilight began the questions. "The initials E.U.P. stand for what?"

"Ernie's undercooked pancakes!" Rainbow responded, clearly under pressure from Malibu's view.

"The original aerial team performed for...?"

"Celestia's cereal celebration."

Twilight flapped around Rainbow. "The Wonderbolts were given their name by this famous Pegasus. Who is she?" Malibu could vaguely hear her whisper: "Please don't say Colonel Waffle..."

Only for Rainbow to give the biggest flop answer of all. "Hello? General Blazing Doughnut Glaze!" She says, looking proud of herself, blowing her hoof, Malibu and Twilight both staring. "So, did I ace it or what?"

Twilight bared her teeth. "Or WHAT? You didn't get one answer correct."

The Pegasus mare blinked in shock. "What? B-But how?"

Twilight Sparkle scoffed in a taunting way. "I don't know. I never heard answers so wrong. And so breakfast related."

She pointed to Rainbow Dash's stomach that let loose a noisy rumble, Malibu feeling himself laugh just a bit, despite feeling worried for his marefriend's big test day. "Dash, listen. If you had taken the test today and answered like you did now..."

It caused Rainbow to gasp, hooves over her mouth in fear. "My dreams of being in the Wonderbolts Reserve would've been seriously crushed!" She began to spiral in her panic. "What am I gonna do?! I'm running out of time! I don't know any of this history! I'm gonna fail!" She sobbed, rushing out of the library.

Malibu and Twilight Sparkle both ran after her. "I'm gonna fail, I'm gonna fail, I'm gonna fail!" Dash whimpered, before turning to glare at Twilight, stopping Malibu's attempts to calm her. "And it's all your fault!"

Twilight looked really offended. "My fault?! I'm the one helping you!"

Rainbow snarled and scoffed at the same time. "Maybe your famous study methods aren't all they cracked up to be, eh, teacher?!"

The mulberry alicorn was more angry now, crossing her hooves. "Excuse me, I've used them to study for many a test and passed!"

Rainbow Dash flew into the air just a little. "Yeah, right!"

Malibu felt really awkward, his tail swishing, anger boiling at this arguing but didn't say anything yet.

"Do you know the name of the premiere Wonderbolts choreographer?" Twilight snarled.

Rainbow Dash whimpered a little, rubbing her hooves. "Uh, well—."

"Commander Easyglider! Do you know how many Pegasi flew in the original squad?"

"Um..."

"7! Do you know Princess Celestia's favorite flight pattern?! The Icarian Sun Salutation!" Twilight exclaimed, Malibu feeling like she was rubbing her super advanced knowledge in front of his marefriend now. "See? I could pass the test!"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Fine, rub it in, why don't ya? Besides, I don't see why I have to take this lousy test anyway. I've proven I'm one of the best flyers around!"

Malibu's face began burning, the arguing getting to him. "Knowing their origin and being able to properly represent them is just as important." Twilight hissed.

Dash huffed. "Yeah, right. Some history buff like you must have made that up to bring us flyers down!"

The arguing rang in Malibu's ears, which twitched violently, knowing soon he was gonna explode, struggling to keep calm.

"Knowing history actually is beneficial, Rainbow!" Twilight argued back.

It caused Dash to make a raspberry noise. "Beneficial for eggheads!"

That word made Malibu snap. "Girls!" He growled softly, losing his patience further.

"Well, this egghead knows history and can fly. Maybe I should become a Wonderbolt!" Twilight said, all too smugly."

Rainbow Dash's eyes flared. "Just 'cause you've got wings, doesn't mean you can fly!" She bellowed.

"Girls!" Malibu shouted out, but they weren't listening.

"You're barely able to just get off the ground!" Dash stormed, rubbing more salt into the wound, causing Twilight's eyes to be filled with hurt, growling at her friend until Malibu snapped for good, his eyes glowing red.

"GIRLS, STOP!" He roared, shoving them away from each other with his magic, startling the two in surprise. "This stupid bickering isn't helping anybody! I mean, look at yourselves!" The teal alicorn snapped, gesturing to Rainbow Dash and Twilight whose faces felt really red from that outburst in awkwardness. "And shouldn't you be focusing on trying to find the method that suits Rainbow Dash the most?"

Twilight's ears lowered, looking at Malibu like she had given up. "I'm sorry. But, none of my methods had worked for her so far." She said, the anger in her voice gone, Rainbow Dash curling up a little, feeling like the dunce of the class.

That was when Malibu had an idea, a little smile on his face. "Well, maybe it is time to call in the team."

...

The first method was from Fluttershy after Malibu told her and the others about their situation. She happily took on the challenge to teach Rainbow the history by setting up a play with their pets.

Malibu sat there on a bench with his marefriend who was watching the play in curiosity. "Oh, who's that, who's that?"

Fluttershy smiles, Malibu seeing Opal and Angel on the stage dressed as his mom and aunt. "Celestia and Luna. Back when they were happy."

Opal and Angel did a few moves where Angel pretended to stop Opal from taking over Equestria with eternal night, Opal mewing. Shadow, his bat, flew down, grabbing Opal and putting her on a wooden carved out moon.

It made him chuckle, especially when Spike looked a little too excited about the presentation, pushing their other pets onto the stage dressed as ponies.

"Uh... what now?" Rainbow asked, scratching her head.

Fluttershy continued. "Gummy's an Earth Pony, Winona's a unicorn, and Tank is a Pegasus." She said.

Twilight did her best to help too. "They're the E.U.P., helping to protect the Princess."

That only made Dash really confused even more. "Uh, how are you getting all this?" She asked them all, until Malibu saw Tank hovering too close to the moon prop, wincing when he smacked into it, knocking Opal off.

"Oh no!" Fluttershy gasped.

Owlowiscious was lucky to grab Opal while Shadow grabbed Angel, but the rest of the stage all collapsed, Malibu feeling rather embarrassed but hoping the pets weren't hurt.

Rainbow shook her head. "Stop, stop, stop! That was aw—!" She started before Pinkie jumped in. "Awesome! I give it three woohoos! Woohoo, woohoo, woohoo! And an extra woo for good measure! Woo!" She squealed.

However, Rainbow Dash's ears flattened. "Well, I give it a 'whoa, whoa, what?' I'm totally confused and I just wanna go home... hey!"

Pinkie Pie yanked on her tail, making Dash sit back down on the bench. "Whoa your woes there, woeful. Some ponies learn through theatrical presentation, but other ponies learn through musical intervention!" She slapped on what looked like a rap hat.

"Er, Pink, what are you—?" Malibu started to ask before suddenly hearing rap music out of nowhere which somehow came from Vinyl Scratch from afar, Pinkie starting to sing.

"Well, back in ancient times, there were the Wonderbolts of old, a general named Firefly, amazing and so...

"Bold!"Two other stallions sang, Malibu blinking, claiming to himself that this was the strangest thing he had ever seen Pinkie do.

"She brought them all together spreading unity in flight! Performing at their very best with wonder and with might! Then Admiral Fairweather and the Colonel Purple Dart, gave Wonderbolts a bit of steel along with lots of heart!"

The rest of the Mane 7 glanced at one another, wondering how Pinkie could even do something like this without rehearsal.

"An admiral named Fairy Flight, and general called Flash helped the 'bolts fly super high, with style and panache! Commander Easyglider was the real cream of the crop! For with her wicked moves, the Wonderbolts soared to the top!"

She began to do more beatboxing and rap dances, her face looking as 'cool' as possible.

"Wonderbolts, yeah! Wonderbolts, huh! Wonderbolts yeah! Wonderbolts unh! That is my rappin' history of the Wonderbolts!"

Pinkie, now finally finished, smiled excitedly at Rainbow Dash who kept looking really confused. "So, you get it?"

Malibu saw Rainbow Dash nod in her own eagerness. "Yes, Pinkie Pie!" She starts doing her own imitation of a rap beat box which sounded really cute to Malibu. "General this and Colonel That, they're the Wonderbolts, something that rhymes with that!"

After finishing, all Pinkie Pie did was just stare at her. "That... was pretty terrible."

Rainbow's face fell, Malibu cringing in sympathy. "What?! No... really? But I've gotta learn this stuff! Now!" She started to walk away only to bump into Rarity.

She was wearing a strange looking uniform with the Wonderbolts symbol, Malibu raising his brow at her. "And I am just the pony to help!"

The rainbow Pegasus frowned. "Rarity, you look ridiculous."

The white unicorn shrugged that off which surprised Malibu. "I'm going to ignore that comment out of my desire to help you!"

Malibu couldn't help the light tug at his lips from that as Rarity eventually led them all to the Carousel Boutique. He was put into an outfit worn by General Flash. It was rather itchy but Malibu knew it was worth it to help his marefriend learn.

Rarity guided Rainbow to the doors. "Get ready, Rainbow Dash, for I am going to take you on a historical adventure in fashion! I am now modeling the rather unattractive, and frankly itchy, original Wonderbolts flying costume. Fortunately, thanks to the vision of Flair d'Mare, the Wonderbolts ensemble became more streamlined in a wonderfully beautiful fabric. Of course, there were fashion hits... and misses..."

A light shone on Malibu in his outfit, making him go red when Rainbow spotted him in it. "Just look at those dreadful bellbottoms. What were ponies thinking?"

Malibu shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe it was cool back then?"

Dash cried out, pointing. "Gah! Mal, you're real!"

The teal alicorn couldn't help the playful grin on his face from the reaction. "Uh, yeah. I'm not General Flash, but of course I, Malibu am real."

Fluttershy showed up in her outfit. "And I'm Admiral Fairy Flight, from the seventh squadron.

Rainbow Dash tensed up when Twilight appeared, her outfit including glasses. "And of course you recognize Commander Easyglider."

Applejack was next, tilting her hat. "And I'm sportin' some sort of get up worn by Colonel Purple Dart."

Soon though seeing all this started to overload Rainbow Dash, her chest heaving lightly. "Just look at us!" Rarity encouraged.

"Look at us..." Twilight said, which sounded a little creepy to Malibu.

"Look at me!" Pinkie shrilled in her own regular Wonderbolt old outfit.

Rainbow Dash shielded her eyes, zipping out of the boutique. "It's too much for my eyes!" She shouted.

Malibu then decided to take his outfit off to help her breathe easy. "Just calm down now, Rainbow. Just me, see?" He said, gesturing to himself.

Applejack grins to her friend. "Now, don't you fret. This fashion show nonsense wouldn't help me learn nothin', either." She tossed her outfit aside, much to Rarity's unamusement.

"Really? Well, what special study trick do you have, AJ?" Rainbow Dash asked, tilting her head.

The orange earth pony simply smiled. "Oh, me? I've got nothin'."

Malibu frowned. "Not helping, Applejack." He said, before she suddenly kept going. "Why, I could tell you every little thing there is to know about the history of apples, but I picked all that up over on years in the field, as a labor of love. How much time you got?"

Rainbow Dash's ears flattened. "Twelve hours."

"Oh, then you are up a creek." Applejack said, sounding a little too dismissive for Malibu's liking as suddenly, his friends continued trying to shove their study methods into Dash's face again.

"I think we should just go back to old-fashioned studying." Twilight suggested.

"What about our play?" Fluttershy asked, Opal and Angel on her back in their costumes.

Rarity moved closer to Dash who tensed. "Just look at these costumes! Surely something resonates with your inner Wonderbolt!"

Applejack then spoke next. "And Granny Smith discovered the first granny smith in Fillydelphia, when she was just a filly!" She said, in a list of puns that somewhat made Malibu chuckle inside.

Pinkie Pie began to rap again. "Commander Easyglider was the real cream of the crop—."

Twilight glared. "Pinkie, stop rapping! That isn't gonna help Rainbow!"

The party pony pushed the flash cards down. "Well, I suggest you put down your silly cards of flash, for I know that they cannot help our good friend Rainbow Dash!"

All 5 except Malibu crowded around Rainbow Dash who was cowering now, her eyes widening from panic and stress, her friends arguing. She then snapped. "ENOUGH! No rapping, no cards, no costumes, no play!" She stormed, causing Spike nearby to look down in sadness, dropping his scripts. "And no apples!"

Malibu attempted to put a hand on her shoulder but she smacked it away. "I'm never gonna pass this test, ever! Just FORGET IT!" After that, she zoomed off into the air.

The 6 left behind all looked after her in guilt, with the exception of Malibu who hadn't even tried offering his own study method, mostly never really having needed one, hoping he could somehow bring confidence back to his special somepony. He glanced to the rest. "I'm going after her. Just her and me need to talk. You all stay here since obviously Dash needs a break from you girls trying to overwhelm her."

Twilight's ears pinned back from her guilt, watching Malibu take off now too, gesturing to them all to come to the library to figure out what to do.

...

Meanwhile in the sky Rainbow Dash was busy flying lazily, her face deadpanned, as Malibu managed to catch up to her.

"Hey, Dash!" He shouted, causing her to flinch, gazing down but then relaxing just a bit when recognizing Malibu. "Please, we're sorry, we didn't mean to overwhelm you."

The tommare sighed, her eyes rather broken. "It's ok, you were just trying to help. It's just too bad I'm too dumb to learn anything."

Hearing that made Malibu a bit upset in her. "No. You're not dumb. I refuse to accept that. You just learn differently that's all."

Rainbow's eyes got saddened further but continued to look down towards the ground, watching the citizens of Ponyville going about while Malibu kept up looking at her, having not stopped talking and not paying attention to the sky. "No, that's totally wrong."

"See? Wrong again! Why don't you just give up on me, Malibu?" Rainbow Dash snapped, her frown deepening, making him flinch again.

"No, you know I would never do that to my special somepony." He argued back. "You're smart, creative and—ugh!" Malibu gasped out when feeling himself being pushed, shaking his head in surprise seeing it was Rainbow who did that. "Dash, why did—?"

His eyes trailed over to what looked like a helicopter flown by an earth pony flying past, his heart suddenly starting to thump. That could've been him splatted on the window pane. "Whoa... man... I- I almost..." Malibu breathed shakily.

Rainbow Dash smiled, rolling her eyes. "Yeah. You were jabbering on so much, you didn't even notice."

Malibu scratched his head. "But how did you know? You were listening and talking to me the whole time!" He asked, finding out more amazing things about his special somepony every day.

"You're still quite a rookie, are you? Yes, I was listening, but I was also scanning the sky and the ground for problems." Rainbow Dash said with a little wink, playfully swishing her tail at Malibu.

"Wow, really? While you fly?" Malibu asked, his heart fluttering. Maybe... this was the way that Rainbow Dash could study.

Dash nods. "In order to stay safe in the sky, I've got to hear and see everything down to the littlest details. For instance, I saw Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo come out of Sugarcube Corner. And from the looks of it, they had carrot cupcakes with sprinkles. And I'm thinking that Big Mac sold a huge order of apples to Filthy Rich, 'cause I heard him give a very hearty 'eyup'."

Malibu kept staring in awe from what Rainbow Dash told him, drinking in every word while she looked rather proud of herself. "I always make note of everything when I fly. No biggie."

His brain sparked after that. "Oh my gosh!"

Rainbow Dash raised a brow. "What?"

Malibu put his hooves on her shoulders. "I gotta go, but I'll explain everything when I can." He dove down through the clouds, to get back to the rest of his friends.

...

Back at the library, the rest of the Mane 7 were sitting on the upper porch, all looking saddened and unsure what to do until Malibu soared back, his face the only one looking excited.

"Guys, I have an idea for how to help Rainbow Dash." He exclaimed, making them all look upward.

"But how? None of ours had really worked. What kind of study method would you even have?" Twilight asked in sadness, feeling like she had failed in trying to teach someone else.

Malibu landed on the deck. "It's really not a study method from me, but from how Rainbow Dash would study." He points out.

Pinkie Pie looked rather interested, putting on her rap hat. "Hmm, I'm intrigued."

He gathers them all together. "Now listen up, we gotta gather everypony in town for this one. And I'll be the one to distract Dash."

The team all nod as Malibu continued whispering the plan, to ensure Rainbow Dash didn't hear it from above.

...

Some time later after the plan was all arranged, Malibu went to find his marefriend simply lying down on a black rain cloud in sadness. "Uh, hi Rainbow. Wanna go for another fly? Could use some more practice." He invited, smiling gently.

She looks at him blankly before sighing. "Sure. Why not? Got nothing better to do." The cyan Pegasus follows Rainbow Dash into the air, the two casually flying around. Down below, the townsponies had actually set up a display for the History of the Wonderbolts, while Twilight represented Princess Celestia, and the CMCs represented the EUP.

Rainbow eyed Malibu in suspicion. "Didn't we just do this already?" She asked, Malibu shrugging.

"Well, I am still kind of a rookie like you said." He almost falls down, flapping his wings to get airborne again, chuckling awkwardly.

All it did was make Rainbow Dash do another eye roll. "Yeah, well, I'm sure you and Twilight will become a great flyer in no time. After all, Twilight's good at everything."

Malibu rubbed his neck before continuing to follow her. "So... what's up?"

The rainbow mare kept looking down at the ground, watching down below unaware of the presentation. "Oh, nothing. Just getting my dreams crushed."

"Read any good books lately?" Malibu casually asked, recalling when hearing that saying from a lot of Looney Tunes shorts that he saw on TV with the other clones, Rainbow Dash sighing. "Just history books. I'd tell you what they were about, but my brain is as dry as a rock."

Malibu kept up his random questions. "Speaking of rocks, did you know that Pinkie Pie grew up on a rock farm, heh?" He said, flying by a cloud that was in the way.

Rainbow gave a neglected sigh. "Maybe I'll go work there as I have no other plans, for the rest of my life."

Hearing that made Malibu's heart sting. "Come on now, Dashie. Don't give up on your dream now!" He begged, wishing she wouldn't let this get her down further.

"Seems my dream has given up on me. Maybe I'll learn to shine shoes, sell hats, dig ditches..."

Malibu then did a small flip, right through a cloud that made it burst. "Or maybe you'll be a Wonderbolt." He said.

Rainbow glared back, seeing her house at last. "Mal, please. Just give it up already! I have." She snapped, landing down on her porch, Malibu landing next to her, really grateful to be able to walk on clouds as an alicorn, the gargoyles in Manhattan will probably not believe this. And he thought in his mind that maybe... this might be the moment he gets his key!

He smiled gently at her. "So... what do you remember?"

Sighing, she looked annoyed. "Nothin' important. Except after Luna was banished to the moon, Celestia needed protective forces, so Earth, Unicorn, and Pegasi formed the E.U.P. Guard of the Protective Pony Platoons..." Dash blinked in shock from having just said that.

The former clone nods, his eyes moistening. "Yes...?"

Rainbow noted his proud look. "And, at the celebration of the first Celestial year of peace, an elite flying squadron performed, headed by General Firefly, who later named the group the Wonderbolts!" She said, her voice now getting happier which made Malibu's heart lighter, encouraging her to keep going.

"Commander Easyglider established flight choreography that is still used by the Wonderbolts today!" Rainbow concluded, her eyes still filled with shock."

Malibu jumped up and down. "Yes, yes!" He cheered, glad that the plan worked.

Rainbow Dash sat down, stunned. "I-I know the history! I know it all! But how in Equestria did that happen?"

The teal alicorn hoof bumped her shoulder. "You learned it, duh!"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I got that! But how?"

This was the moment Malibu waited for. "On our first flight, I discovered you catalog/remember everything that happens all around you when you're flying, even without thinking about it. You see? I made use of your special skills to help you learn the history of the Wonderbolts!" He explained, recalling the mini performance the town gave.

Rainbow gasped softly, a hoof over her mouth from that revelation, visions of what she saw on the flight slowly triggering her emotions, and feeling really grateful. Her eyes watered. "M...Mal... I..." she saw the others landing near Rainbow who finally started crying. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Thank you! Thank you all so much!"

Twilight grins. "You're welcome, but it all came from you. You learned without even knowing you're learning. Like Malibu said; your main focus is flying but your brain is also absorbing a lot of other information! It's actually really brilliant!"

Malibu grins at his special somepony who had her confident look back. "I always knew I was brilliant!" She said, making them all laugh.

...

On the day before she left for the test, Twilight had wound up writing in the journal while Malibu escorted Rainbow Dash to where she would take the test, sitting down outside and waiting for her.

Twilight's journal entry went like this:

Rainbow Dash finally learned the history of the Wonderbolts, but she's not the only pony that needed a lesson; I needed to learn something just as important. One way of learning isn't better than another. After all, everypony is unique and individual.

Malibu peeked inside, gritting his teeth as Dash handed in her test, the stallion there looking it over before soon gazing at her in an all too seriously, making Malibu nervous, and especially Rainbow Dash who began biting her hoofs similar into a biting nails fashion.

But then, to both their shocks; the stallion puts a 100% score star sticker on the paper! Dash's jaw dropped before picking it up, whooping in happiness. She looks outside to Malibu, rushing out to give him a big hug, then a kiss. "I'm proud of you Dash." Malibu murmured gently while they hugged.

However though, inside, Malibu was a bit disappointed that he still hadn't gotten his key, hoping soon, that at some point, the right time will come when it finally does.

...

After chapter 99 will come the 100th chapter where I'm excited about Malibu finally getting his key!