Rainbow practically kicked my front door open, prancing inside, pleased as could be with herself.  I trailed behind her, still in my old basketball shorts and a workout t-shirt, practically dripping sweat.  I suppose Rainbow was equally exhausted, but I guess there’s something about victory that just makes it easy to ignore the little things like that.

It was so nice having my best friend back.  I’d really forgotten how few ponies I’d really connected with since arriving in Equestria.  Sure, almost everypony was friendly, but Rainbow and I were friends of a much higher caliber.  When she finally admitted why she’d been avoiding me and being so irritable, it really cleared things up between us.  We were finally back, as a real team now.

Of course, one of the things that being a team apparently involved was Rainbow trying to whoop me at literally everything under Celestia’s sun.  I loved the competition as much as she did—and truth be told, with all the exercise and sports we did, I hadn’t been in such good shape since I graduated high school.

“Ha!” she yelled proudly, “I told you, human, I’ve just got it.  Anything you can do, I can do better.”

I closed the door behind me, shutting out the early evening with a disgruntled sigh, trying to keep Ethel Merman showtunes out of my head.  I stripped off my soggy t-shirt and headed for my bedroom.  “Pony, please,” I replied, calling back out to the main room.  “Just because you won a game of hoops doesn’t mean anything.  Anypony can get lucky.”

I came back out into the main room after toweling myself off a bit, with a fresh shirt in my hand.  Rainbow stared down her muzzle at me condescendingly, which is a mean trick, considering that my head is a full two feet above hers.  “Oh, then how about when I whooped you at video games?”

I rolled my eyes and pulled the t-shirt over my head.  “That was just a few matches.  I schooled you, filly.”

“And what about racing?  I can beat you on hoof or in the air any day of the week.  Just like I can in hoofball, eating, drinking, hoof wrestling—”

“Okay, okay, woah there,” I interrupted, waving her down before she could get any momentum going.  “Hoof wrestling?  That’s a stretch—you cheated.  Anyway, how about actual wrestling?  You couldn’t keep me down if your life depended on it.  And then there’s baseball, and scootering, and anything at all involving me using my fingers...”

Rainbow huffed.  “Now who’s keeping score?”

“And we never even mentioned drinking before.”

She blinked, surprised.  “We haven’t?  Seriously?”

“Not even once,” I confirmed.

Dash grinned, her competitive spirit ablaze with the notion of a new challenge.  “Okay, we are so settling this.”

“And what do you have in mind, oh Iron Pony?” I teased.

As luck would have it, at that exact moment somepony knocked at my door.  I called out “come in”, and the door opened, Twilight Sparkle walking into my home.

“Hello?  Anypony home?” she asked.

I smiled.  “Yup!  And there’s even a human here, too!”

Twilight snorted dryly.  “Yeah, that line never gets old, Matt.  I came over to ask you a few questions about Earth literature.”  She trotted over towards us, stopping short as she noticed Rainbow’s disheveled mane and the way my hair was sticking in every direction at once after scrubbing it down with a towel.  “Yeesh, did you two just get done running a marathon or something?”

“Oh, we just had a friendly competition that’s about to get a little bit more competitive,” I replied, still staring Rainbow down.

The multi-chromatic mare suddenly got a glint in her eye and a grin on her muzzle.  “Hey!  You’re just the pony we wanted to see, Twi...”

“Um, I am?” Twilight hesitated, rocking back on her hooves.  “Any particular reason?”

I felt a grin on my own face as I realized what Rainbow’s idea was.  “Ooohhhhh yeaaaahhh...”

Rainbow turned and began herding Twilight over towards the living room media area.  “Twi, we’re gonna need you to referee for us.”

“Referee?” Twilight asked, bewildered.  “For what?”

“Rainbow’s finally bitten off more than she can chew,” I explained.  “She thinks she can outdrink a creature that outweighs her by at least eighty pounds.”

Twilight held up her hooves, waving them dramatically.  “Woah, woah, I did not agree to this.”

“Comeon, Twi, it’s not much,” Rainbow begged.  “You just gotta witness when I totally school him.”

“Yeah, but a drinking competition?  Isn’t this just a bit irresponsible?”

“No, normally it’s very irresponsible,” I replied with a laugh.  She did not share my amusement, so I answered her a bit more levelly instead.  “Twi, we’ve got it under control.  We’re both adults here, and you’ll have control over how much drinking we do, not to mention that you can keep an eye on us.”

Rainbow nodded.  “Yeah, and I’ve already spent several nights on Matt’s couch anyway, so I don’t even have to fly afterwards.  Nothing to worry about.”

Twilight nodded, but didn’t particularly look happy about it.  “Well, I suppose I couldn’t ask for much more than that,” she agreed.  “Okay, so what’s the game?”

I held up a finger.  “As the challenged party, I get to call the game.”

“I’ll say you’re challenged…” Rainbow muttered.

I sighed.  “Hush, Dashie, or I’ll brush your mane and ask you ‘who’saprettygirl’ for the next hour.”

“Dashie” gritted her teeth and growled as Twilight stifled a giggle.  I walked away, running a quick circuit of the house as I came back to the media area with everything I needed to set up.  I plopped down two shot glasses and two spools of wire from my workbench onto the coffee table.  “All right, we’re going to riff.”

“Um, how is that a challenge?” Rainbow asked, eyebrow raised in confusion.

“Easy.  When something particularly bad comes up, Twilight calls a drink.  And it’s totally up to her what that is.  Down the shot, and stand the glass on the spool.  If it falls off, you’re out.  If you can’t keep the shot down, you’re out.  If you can’t take the shot, you’re out.”

Twilight perked up, her earlier reticence overwhelmed by her fascination at a new methodology to study.  “Oh, so it’s not only drinking, but dexterity as well.  And you’re both riffing, too, so that challenge is present, too!  This is an interesting idea…  Do I help riff?”

“Absolutely,” I replied.  “The more the merrier, just leave the heavy drinking to us.”

Rainbow puffed out her chest.  “Pffft, I’ll take this, easy peasy.  I can put cider back until next harvest season, and have AJ bring me a fresh barrel!”

I gave her an absolutely wicked grin.  “Oh, no you don’t.  We’re not playing in the little filly’s league anymore, Dash.”

“Huh?”

I nodded at our guest arbitrator.  “I had Twi here do an analysis of your cider a while back, and it’s only about seven percent alcohol.  More than a cheap beer on Earth, but nothing close to liquor.  And remember when I said something about researching how to distill bourbon?  Well, I got close.”

Rainbow’s brave facade cracked, ever so slightly.  “Sooo…?”

I plunked a large bottle of brown liquid onto the center of the table.  “It’s not fully aged, so it’s pretty unrefined, but even at this point I’m close to thirty-five percent.  It’s not bad, either.”

Rainbow stared at the bottle with slightly wide eyes and gulped nervously.

“Whadya say, Iron Pony?  You game?”

She narrowed her eyes at me.  “I’ve never backed down from a challenge before.  What makes you think I’d quit now?”

I grinned triumphantly, and spun around, reaching out to thump a fist down on top of the TV.  Instantly, the TV switched on, showing us a view of Princess Luna eating dinner.  “Luna?”

The monarch sputtered, dropping a forkful of food back onto the table and her lap in equal portions.  “Wha—how did you—Matt?”

I smirked.  “Rule of Cool.”

Luna’s scowl could have melted glass.  “I knew Pinkie was a bad influence on you.  What do you want?” she snapped.

“Send us a bad one.”

She froze.  “... You must be kidding.”

“Nope.  We got a score to settle over here.”

Luna muttered darkly as her horn began to glow, flipping off-screen switches.  “Interrupt my meal, will you?  Oh, you’ll get a bad one all right…”

If anything, the light on the wall pulsed even more darkly than normal, perhaps owing to the sense of occasion, or even just how obviously pissed off Luna was at the moment.  Neither Rainbow nor I could have cared less, even if we had noticed.  We stared each other down, hoof-bumping each other in our traditional sign of a commenced challenge.

“WE GOT STORY SIGN!”

Matt: Warm up?

Rainbow: Warm up.

*both put down a shot and set the glasses down without trouble*

Rainbow: *coughs and sputters*  Wow...

Twilight: *sighs and refills both glasses equally*

Ponyville was preparing for the Wonderbolts to come to town and do their last show of the season, which happened to be in 2 days!

Matt: One would have suspected they’d be done making plans by this point.

Twilight: If they’d put me in charge, everything would have been done a month ago.

Everypony had been setting up banners and posters all over the place as ponies and other creatures from all over Equestria started coming into town.

Rainbow: The ticket scalpers were out in force.

Rainbow Dash, who had got a ticket as soon as she was legally able to,

Twilight: Like, legal time period, or legal age?

Matt: Is there a big black-market trade for tickets that haven’t been released yet, or is she planning on drinking the tickets?

was talking about this show for the past month; much to the annoyance of her friends, who had kinda avoided her to spare themselves another speech.

Matt: Oh, this one features Fangirl!Rainbow.  Good to know.

Rainbow: OOC much?  I totally don’t do that!

Twilight: What?  You once trapped me with an hour-and-a-half long debate—with yourself—about whether Fleetfoot or Soarin would win in an Iron Pony competition!

Rainbow: So?

Twilight: You had charts!

Rainbow: *blushes*

Matt: *stifles a laugh* Ha!  Egghead...

Dash had been practicing every one of her best tricks to show off in front of the Wonderbolts.

Twilight: The odds of being allowed near the celebrities should have been just about nil, of course.

Matt: Security seems to need a boost all over, I’m noticing.

She was almost certain they would have no other choice but to let her join after they saw the crazy aerodynamic maneuvers she was able to pull. Nothing was going to get in between her and her life dream.

Twilight: Wow, was that seriously only about a hundred words for a scene?  Yeesh.  Anyway, scene transition drink!

*Matt and Rainbow swiftly dispatch another shot each, Rainbow coughing slightly as she settles the glass down onto the tiny spool*

Matt: Gonna hang in there, filly?

Rainbow: Don’t—*cough*—don’t you forget it...

Everypony lined the streets as the Wonderbolts limo-chariot pulled into downtown Ponyville,

Matt: “limo-chariot?”  The hay…?

Twilight: *cocks her head to the side, confused*  I’m not real sure.  Is it extra long, or merely really nice inside?

Rainbow: You think Celestia has one?

being escorted by some off-duty officers in the royal guard. All of the fans cheered and screamed as the limo-chariot passed by.

Matt: And let me guess...

Rainbow Dash was right in the middle of the crowd doing the same thing.

Matt: Eeyup.

Twilight: Awww, it’s so cute!

Rainbow: *grits her teeth and tries to look neutral*

“This is sooo awesome!” she thought, screaming “I love you!” at her passing life-long idols.

Matt: *bursts out laughing*

Twilight: Okay, that’s just too OOC for me.  Drink!

*both participants down a third shot*

Rainbow: *wipes a hoof across her mouth, letting out a large breath*  Phwoar, that stuff’s intense.  I guess I should be thankful that you realized I’m not like that.

Matt: Yeah, Twi’s gonna compliment you right out of this competition.

Then suddenly the sunroof in the top of the limo opened and Soarin's head popped out.

Matt: And bounced down the road.

Rainbow: I knew Spitfire had a temper, but jeez...

He waved at the crowds of people on the side of the road as he passed them. Everypony screamed and cheered, but not as loud as Rainbow Dash.

Twilight: She out-screamed the entire crowd?  Wow.

Matt: Next she’s gonna throw her panties at the carriage.

Her voice was loud enough to rival Luna's causing Soarin to make eye contact with Dash

Rainbow: And many pony’s ears to bleed.

as he winked and smiled at her.

Matt: *pantomimes furious typing*  And there was totally a twinkle, and the world stopped and rays of light shot out from behind Soarin, and it was SOOO KAWAII!!!!

The amount of awesomeness in the situation was too much for Dash to handle. The world around her began to swirl and she fell against the ground unconscious.

Rainbow: Dude, what the heck?!

Matt: HA!  The Fangirl Faint!  Classic.

Twilight: Dash being OOC, and a transition.  That’s a double.

Rainbow: *pulls a nervous face*

*both take a deep breath and put the drink down, both sputtering and coughing*

Matt: Gah.

Rainbow: You said it.

Rainbow woke up in a bed she knew wasn’t hers.

Matt: You know, that reminds me: just what plans did you have in mind when you flew off with those two Wonderbolt stallions after the Best Young Flyers Competition?

Rainbow: *sputtering and blushing furiously* I—no, I didn’t—what would—no, just no!

Twilight: *chuckles*

Rainbow: *tries to smooth her mane as she regains her composure*  You read too many fanfics, dude...

Then she recognized the florescent lights on the ceiling and the funny smell lingering in the room.

Twilight: Oh, for crying out loud, Rainbow, the bathroom’s right there!

She was laying inside a room at the hospital, with a curtain separating her and another one of the beds.

Matt: It really says something that you can recognize the lights in the hospital recovery room.

Rainbow: Yeah…  Not gonna bother trying to deny that one.  Heh...

“What happened?” she asked herself aloud.

“Oh your awake” a mares voice behind the curtain said, startling Dash. “I think you were the one who passed out when Soarin winked at you”

Twilight: *wincing* Oh, wow, where did all these errors come from?  Take a drink, both of you.

Rainbow: *sighs*

*both drink.  Rainbow sets her drink down, inhaling sharply as the glass wobbles, but doesn’t fall*

Matt: Close...

The cyan pony blushed, happy to know the other mare couldn't see her.

“Oh... Yeah that’s right” Rainbow said. “How long has it been?”

“I'm not sure but I would think about 2 days, you must have been really tired or something”

Twilight: Two days is not a nap.  Two days is not a faint.  Two days is a coma.

Rainbow: Such is the power of Soarin.

Matt: He’s like a pony David Bowie, minus the intimidating package.

A surge of realization ran through Rainbow Dash's body, causing her joints to contract and her eyelids to open real wide.

Matt: My only regret is that I have Boneitis!

“Oh crap! I'm going to miss the Wonderbolts! Or have I already!?” Rainbow said, shooting straight up in bed.

Rainbow: She’s gonna have to pay for the hole in the ceiling if she’s shooting indoors.  Hopefully nopony was on the floor above her.

Twilight: Not to mention the careless way she just flings punctuation around the room.  Somepony could get hurt.

“ No you haven’t missed them. Haha, They cant start without their captain!” said the mare.

Matt: *deadpan*  Haha.

Twilight: I’ve read elementary school book reports with more lively writing.

Rainbow: I’ve read milk cartons with more lively writing.

“What do you mean?” Rainbow dash said, as the curtain was pulled back by the other mare.

Rainbow: W-why do writers keep forgetting that both of my names are capitalized?

Matt: Still wanting that “D”, eh, Rainbow?

Rainbow: *blushes and punches Matt in the arm*

Matt: Ow…

She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Right in the bed next to her was Spitfire. The Captain of the Amazing Wonderbolts.

Twilight: I know it’s not meaning in the same bed, but the wording is… ambiguous.

Matt: Good to know it’s now the “Amazing Wonderbolts.”  I guess the “amazing” part is on loan from the Spider Man universe.

“Oh my gosh!” Dash said, almost having a Rarity-like fainting moment. “What are you doing here”

Twilight: GAH.  All these errors are driving me insane.  Guess what?

Matt: Yeah, yeah, we know the drill…

*human and pony alike down a shot, gasping for air afterwards and slowly setting the glasses down, eyes slightly glazed.*

Twilight: Gimme that.

*Twilight pours and downs a shot herself, slamming the shot glass onto the tabletop and coughing loudly*

Matt: Jeez, Twi, go easy on that stuff!  It’ll take the paint right off your stomach.

Twilight: Won’t… make it—*cough*—through this… otherwise.

“Well I was getting a quick checkup before the big show started and they ran out of rooms downstairs because of all these tourists, so they put me in here.

Rainbow: That’s what happens when you s-schedule the Beb-bbubo— Plague convention in the same week.

Matt: That, or all the other fangirls trampled everypony else.

That's when I recognized you.” Spitfire said.

Matt: She never forgets a passed-out face.

Twilight: Totally not creepy at all...

“This is amazing!” the cyan pony said, her health returning.

Twilight: Like, walking in the door?  Health doesn’t usually just come back like a lost dog.

A stallion walked through the door dressed in a white lab coat. He was holding a clipboard suspended by an aura of blue magic in the air.

Matt: Doctor Bandage?!

Rainbow: Doctor Caramel?  Hurray!  This story just got good!

“Well spitfire your tests have come back.” the stallion said.

Twilight: “You got a C-.”

Rainbow: But she studied all night!

“Good, I'm ready to get out of here and start the show.” the Wonderbolt eagerly said, getting off the bed.

Matt: I mean, she’s apparently been in there for two days, I can understand her eagerness.

“I'm sorry Spitfire but I'm afraid you cant.” he said.

Twilight: She leans slightly to the side?

Matt: Maybe it upsets her balance in the air.

“Your wings have undergone too much stress lately, to preform today would really hurt your muscles.”

Matt: Convenient excuse is convenient.

Twilight: Also, you just ate, and you should wait for an hour before flying.

Rainbow: Pff, that’s an old mare’s tale.

“WHAT!?!” Spitfire and dash said in unison.

Twilight: I need another drink, so you both get one, too.

*all three take a drink, taking their time to do it*

Matt: You all right there, Skittles?  Lookin’ a little wobbly...

Rainbow: Sh-shut up.  I’m f-f-fine.

“I have to preform today!” Spitfire said. “Its the last show of the season and I'm the captain!”

Matt: It’s even morre disturbing that that issn’t a typo; he keeps making that error on purpose.

Rainbow: Got—got some sslur there, dude.

Twilight: *giggles*  You’re one to talk.

“I'm sorry miss but I cant let you do that.” the doctor said, leaving the room.

Matt: *pokes Rainbow*  He sseems just as drunk as you, with all the typos.

Rainbow: *giggles before stuffing her hoof in her mouth with a shocked expression*

Twilight: You actually giggled!  *Twilight and Matt burst out laughing*

“I'll leave you to try and figure out what you have to do about the show, just know you can not preform.”

Twilight: But she couldn’t hear him, because he already left the room.

Matt: Man, this “preform” stuff is hilarious!

Rainbow: *hiccups*

“This is bad.” the Wonderbolt said,hanging her head. “Were going to have to cancel the show”

Rainbow: Yeah, b-because it’s not like the other eleven Wonderbolts on the roster could do the sshow!  Ssheesh, you’d think nopony ever takes time off for vacation or anything.

Matt: I keep forgetting how you know all this sstuff.

Rainbow: Dude, I b-been on the minor league rosster for, like, two years now.

“Wait! No you don’t!” Rainbow said. “I can preform for you!”

Twilight: *lets out a frustrated huff* ENOUGH!  Drink already!

*Matt downs a shot and grimaces*

*Rainbow takes a deep breath, almost gagging on her shot as she forces it down*

Rainbow: This… issn’t as much fun as it was when we sstarted…

Rainbow Dash hopped out of her bed and stood as tall as she can, trying to look capable of the task of leading the Wonderbolts.

Matt: Because that’s totally how it works.

“Oh please, how do you expect to do that” Spitfire said. "The doctor hasn't even said you could leave yet."

Twilight: What a good point.  Also, why wouldn’t somepony capable take her place instead?

Rainbow: Hey!  I could t-totally do it if I wanted to.

Matt: Maybe not right now.

Truth was, Dash couldn't even afford a trip to the hospital after all of her failed attempts of tricks over the past couple months, and she wasn't exactly insured. So she was as eager as ever to get out of the hospital before she had to start another "loan."

Matt: She’s like the Jackie Chan of Equestria.

Rainbow: *looks down at her lap and rubs her foreleg ruefully with her other hoof*

“I have studied all of the Wonderbolts tricks and formations! I know everything about you and your team! This would be easy.” Dash said.

Twilight: Even I know that studying something and actually doing it in a competition are completely different things.

"And well... I don't really have any... lets just say I'm not in good hands ok?"

Matt: What?

Rainbow: What’s a “hands”?

Twilight: What’s an “ok”?

"Good hands?" Spitfire began to ask. "Ohhh"

Rainbow: Either sshe knew a human, or she just asssumed Rainbow had mental damage from her coma.

Spitfire considered Dash's idea for a moment.

Twilight: But no longer, because the idea was plainly stupid.

Staring at the ground below her, taking what seemed like forever to the cyan pony standing in front of her.

Matt: Iss totally not a ssentence.

Twilight: Heh.  Ironic.

"An uninsured pony becoming captain of the Wonderbolts on their most important show of the season?" she thought. "Seems like the kind of risk I like to take!"

Twilight: Aaaaand, that has to be a drink.

Rainbow: *whimper*

*Matt and Rainbow slowly and hesitantly take another shot.  Rainbow closes her eyes and takes a deep breath*

Matt: Hey, s-sseriously, you all right?

Rainbow: Yeah, I-I—  *face falls*  Maybe...

“Well... If your telling the truth about knowing all of our stuff. I guess its better to give some sort of show then no show..” the captain said.

Matt: Yeah, even a c-crappy sshow that disappoints everyone—pony and possibly ends poniesess careers due to injurury is better than refunding and scheduling!

Rainbow's eyes lit up as she jumped up in the air.

Twilight: She’s possessed!

“You mean yes?!” she said starting to shake with excitement.

“Yeah sure”

Twilight: “I have no way to verify that you’re telling the truth, or that you have any idea how our routines go, or that you’re actually that good of a flyer—but I’m high on painkillers, so sure.”

“OHMIGOSHOHMIGOSHOHMIGOSH, this is the best day of my life!” rainbow said doing a flip.

Matt: Heh.  Hey, Rainbow, they fforgot your capital again.

Rainbow: Meh.

“Well we better get going to the prep tent, I'll have to explain this to the other Wonderbolt's” Spitfire said leaving the room followed by the overjoyed Pegasus.

Twilight: One more for the road?

Matt: *looks at the crestfallen look on Rainbow’s face, reaches out, and very deliberately turns his glass over and sets it on the table*

Rainbow: *looks up at Matt, confused*

Matt: Yeah, I th-think we’re done here.

"Lets go out the window, I don't want to deal with all of the papers" Dash said smiling sheepishly.

"OK fine, but lets hurry"

Rainbow dash walked out of the changing room set up in the big prep tent dressed in a blue jumpsuit with lightning bolts on it, and stepped into a room filled with other Wonderbolts.

Twilight: The lightning bolts shocked everypony.

Matt: The knowledge that S-Spitfire trusted shomepony she just met over all of them was pretty sshocking, too.

“Attention everypony!” Spitfire shouted, at the sight of Dash walking out.

Matt: Man, sshe didn’t stay long.

“As you might have heard I cant fly for the time being, so filling in for me as captain for today will be Rainbow Dash.”

Twilight: “Screw all of you.”

Rainbow Dash smiled as all of the other Wonderbolts looked her over, nodding their approval.

Rainbow: *rolls her eyes*

Matt: Lawl.  Lawl, I ssay.

She started to get an amazing feeling inside.

Twilight: Um… Is she getting aroused by the idea of being a Wonderbolt?

Matt: Does that ack-actually happen?

Rainbow: Come on, dude...

“Uh... lets get this show started.” Dash said nervously smiling at the very people who had been displayed on posters all over her room since she was a filly.

Twilight: And by “people,” we of course mean “not people.”

"I cant believe this is happening!" she thought.

All: Yeah, us too!

All of the other team members smiled back and walked outside of the tent to take positions.

Matt: It’s important to sstart each show with a “vogue” moment.

“Good luck” Spitfire said and patted Rainbow on the back.

Twilight: Who’seagoodgirlthen?

Rainbow: This is… this sucks.

All of the Wonderbolts were in position on the ground ready for takeoff with Rainbow Dash in the front. Then Spitfire started the countdown.

“3...2...1... GO!"

Every one of the pegesi shot off of the ground simultaneously and raced away from the tent.

Matt: “pegesi?”

Rainbow: *shrugs*

Twilight: They realized that Spitfire had sold them out and they had to get away as fast as possible.

The air field was about a half mile away and they flew in a V formation like all great winged creatures.

Matt: Why wouldn’t they shtart from where the show iss?  They don’t have engines, is not like they n-need a run up or anything.

Upon arrival they did a flyby on the field and over the stands where hundreds of thousands of fans were sitting and cheering.

Twilight: That’s… over twenty times the population of Ponyville, and a significant portion of the entire population of Equestria.

They went wild when they passed low overhead, letting their audience feel the wind given off as they flew by.

“OK formation 4!” rainbow said as they all formed a giant W for "Wonderbolts" in the sky, the crowds cheers could be heard from up in the clouds.

Rainbow: O-okay, I—I seriously can’t take thiss anymore.

Matt: Hey, you okay?

Rainbow: Yeah.  You t-two finish the fic.  I need to… think.

Twilight: Okay… If you say so…

*Rainbow walks unsteadily out the front door and closes the door behind her*

Matt: Well that was… sobering.

The Show lasted for about an hour, with Rainbow Dash loving every second of it. At the end of the show all of the Wonderbolts looped around the crowd of fans and started heading back to the tent in the same V formation of which they came in.

Twilight: Not a very interesting show, if they just flew in that formation for an hour.

“You lead us back Soarin'” Dash said. “Ill be right back”

Matt: “There’s a concession stand back there with only a 45-minute line!”

Twilight: Wow, you just can’t pass that up.

“Uh...Alright” Soarin said, taking the lead position.

Twilight: Like he should have hours ago.

Rainbow Dash came back around and looped around the stands again.

Matt: “Nachos, nachos, I know somepony out here has nachos!”

Every one of the fans were cheering for her, this was her big moment.

Twilight: Why would any of the ponies know who she was?  It’s pretty obvious that she’s not Spitfire.

She knew what she had to do.

"Wings, don't fail me now!"

She flew straight up into the air. Passing all of the clouds until the ponies below her could barely be seen. Then…

Twilight: “she took a nap.”

Matt: Tha—that’s harsh.

Twilight: I know...

Dash stopped flapping and slowed, everything around her stopped, making her feel weightless. Dash, flipped around, pointing her nose toward the ground and shot straight down, picking up extreme speed.

Twilight: Comma splice, you strike again.

As the moved she shredded through the clouds reducing them to nothing.

Matt: “The moved.”  Shame that Microsoft Word doesn’t detect derp along with spelling errors.

“Just a bit faster.” she thought, taking her wings to the maximum.

Matt: Taking them to the limit!

Twilight: Totally extreme!

Matt: With extra “X”!

Then suddenly the air around her turned white and began to bend around the mare causing a loud “BOOM".

Twilight: She blew up and was never seen again.  The end.

A flash of colors enveloped out from around her, completing her Sonic Rainboom. The crowd went crazy. She pulled out of her dive and headed back to the tent, felling more awesome then she ever had before.

Matt: She did a rainboom at the freaking royal wedding, how is this so much more awesome?

Twilight: Well, all of Equestria was here for this one.

Matt: You aren’t kidding.

“That was truly amazing” Spitfire said. “I saw it all the way from the tent”

Twilight: Considering how far it went when Rainbow was a filly, she probably should have been physically harmed at that range, never mind seeing it.

Matt: So… hundreds of thousands of ponies right below an almost atomic release of energy…

“Yeah that was radical!” said Soarin. “You were awesome out there”

All Rainbow Dash could do was stand there and smile, truly speechless of her life-long idols complimenting her at her flying abilities.

Matt: Why?  Haven’t they already complimented her multiple times before?  She’s met them all, like, a half-dozen times.

“We can use talent like you” Spitfire said.

“Really?” Dash said, her mouth dropping.

Twilight: “Yeah, we haven’t had a janitor for months, ever since Sweepy quit.”

“Yeah! How bout we sign you two a 2 year contract?” Soarin asked.

For Rainbow Dash, the amount of awesomeness was again too much for her to handle. The world around her began to swirl and she fell against the ground.

“I'll take that as a yes”

Matt: Uugh, I wish I were unconscious right now...

I walked out onto the front porch of my house, only slightly unsteady on my feet as I shut the door quietly.  Sitting on the porch, at the top of the steps, was Rainbow Dash.  She didn’t say anything as I walked up and sat down next to her, she just kept staring off blankly into the distance, her eyes sadder than I’d ever seen before.

I reached out an arm and nudged her side.  “Hey, you okay?”

She sighed.  “I—I’m not so sure anymore.”

“Hey, talk to me.  What’s up?”

“This fic, it just... hurts.”

I frowned, confused.  “It was bad, sure, but hardly the worst thing we’ve ever done.  Heck, it was actually pretty funny!  What specifically was so bad about it?”

Rainbow shook her head.  “No, no, it’s just me.  This whole... Wonderbolts... thing.”

“But you are a Wonderbolt.  You’re on contract and everything.”

She looked down, hanging her mane in front of her face.  “I’ve been on the junior roster for almost two years now.  I’ve been passed up by other ponies already.  Did you know that Rapid Fire and I were in the same class when we tried out?”  She sighed heavily.  “And now with this wreck...”

Comprehension dawned on me.  “Ohh...  You mean when you went to train that colt and he got you injured, right?  Wasn’t that months ago?”

She nodded, still not looking at me.  “Yeah.  And I’m months behind everypony else now.  My contract is up for renewal in two months, Matt.  If I don’t measure up against the rest, they might drop me!”  She finally looked up, her eyes red and distraught.  “I can’t wash out like this!  There’s nothing else I’ve ever wanted as much as this.  If I can’t be a Wonderbolt, I don’t know what else I can be.  I’ve never tried anything else.  It—pah,” she snorted, flicking her ears in irritation.  “I’m not even sure if you can understand or not.”

“Understand what?  That you’re twenty-five?  Spent your entire life pursuing only one goal, so much so that if you can’t get it you don’t even know if you have any other skills?  Feeling like you might have wasted a quarter of your expected lifespan chasing a phantom, realizing that your best years might be behind you?”

Dash’s eyes got wide as she met mine.  “...I—yeah.  You understand?”

“Look, Dash, I do get it.”  I slid slightly closer to her side.  “I might not have a tattoo on my butt showing me my greatest desire, but I get it.  When I graduated from high school—er, secondary school here, I guess—all I knew was baseball.  I was determined that I would play in college and go pro.  I had the tools to do it, too.  And then things started not working out.”

Rainbow straightened up slightly, caught up in my story as she paid attention.  “What happened?”

I sighed, looking off into the night sky myself.  “Life did, I suppose.  I didn’t get into the schools I wanted to attend—the more athletic schools.  I got distracted by other things, and I was stuck in a small school where no scouts would ever hear my name or see me play.  It was a complete dead end.  Baseball just ended up... not being important anymore.”

“That—that’s awful...”

“It was rough, yeah,” I admitted, nodding.  “There were a few years where I wasn’t sure who I was or what I should be doing.  So I’ve been exactly where you’re scared of finding yourself.”

Rainbow shivered, though I’m pretty sure it had nothing to do with the encroaching cold of the late autumn night.  “I can’t even imagine.  I mean, if I had three wishes, this would be first on the list.”

I tried to give her a brave smile.  “Hey, I don’t know if my word counts for much, but I don’t think you’ve got as much to worry about as you’re afraid of.”  She smiled back, just slightly.  “I may not be from here, but I know a natural talent when I see it, and you’ve got that, Dash.  You’re on another level from all of the other Wonderbolts hopefuls.  What they have to work for, you just feel.  Your biggest problem is working on the teamwork aspects, and that’s not so bad.  Anypony can learn that with time.  But nopony can be taught to fly like you do.”

She swiped a hoof across her nose and eyes, drying them off.  “Heh.  Thanks, Matt.”

“And look, this is your dream,” I said, looking back off into the distance again.  “If it’s important to you, then it’s important to me.  So I’ll do whatever it takes to help out.  If you need a training partner, or a coach, or cheerleader, or whatever.  Even if I just have to sit at home and not get in the way and give you wing massages after you work out, I’ll do it.”

Rainbow was silent for a long time.  “Y-you—you’d do that?  For me?” she finally asked, her voice cracking.

“Well, yeah.  I mean, you were my first friend in this world, and you’ve never left my side.  And even if I didn’t owe it to you, what other reason would I need other than that you’re my friend?”

She didn’t respond.  I finally glanced back over to see a tear run down the side of her muzzle as she very pointedly did not look at me.

“So,” I said lightly, trying to break the solemnity a bit, “your first wish would be to join the ‘Bolts, huh?  What’s wish number two?”

Rainbow actually flushed red, her ears falling back against her head.  She refused to look at me, ducking her head in embarrassment.  “No, it—it’s weird.  Especially now.”

“What, I promise I won’t laugh or anything.”

“No way!” she protested.  “I—I can’t...”

“Please?”  She finally turned to meet my eyes.  “Tell me, Skittles.  For me?  What do you wish for after making the Wonderbolts?”

She swallowed hard.  “For you to be a pegasus...” she said, just barely above a whisper.  “So you could be there when it happens...”

I froze as a dumb smile started to creep onto the corner of my mouth.  An inexplicable sense of warmth began to spread outwards from my chest as I looked at her, realizing how utterly vulnerable she had just been with me.  I couldn’t have cared less if it was the alcohol talking, I could tell the honesty behind it without any trouble.  I reached out with one arm, wrapping it around her shoulders and pulling her close.  “Aww, Dashie...”

“You and that stupid nickname...” she muttered, nuzzling up against my chest before going still, leaning up against my side.

I have no idea how long we stayed there, but I finally realized from the steady, rhythmic rise and fall of her chest that Dash had fallen asleep.  I braced her with an arm as I stood up, finally realizing just how chilly the evening really was without Rainbow’s shared warmth against my side.  I was just able to get my arms under her and scoop her up.

Her head lolled forward, coming to rest in the crook of my neck.  She muttered something contented in her sleep, and I couldn’t stop a happy blush from appearing on my face.

Not for the first time, I was grateful for the lever-style door handles in Equestria, because I could work it with my knee as my arms were full.  I shut the door as carefully and quietly as I could, even though I was pretty sure that it didn’t matter.  Rainbow was sleeping the sleep of the thoroughly soused, and nothing would wake her at this point.  I envied her as I yawned.

Twilight trotted over from the kitchen.  “Hey, I put the glasses in the sink.  The bottle is just on the counter an—”

She stopped as I managed to hold up a finger and put my mouth behind it, giving her a shhhh gesture.

“Is—is she okay?” she asked quietly.

I nodded.  “She’s just asleep.”

Twilight put a hoof to her muzzle, only halfway covering up a massive, adorable smile at the sight of me holding a sleeping Rainbow Dash.

I blushed more, choosing to nod towards my bedroom rather than acknowledge Twilight’s attention.  “I think I’ll just let her rest for a while.  I’ll take the couch tonight,” I said as I walked carefully towards the doorway.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Twilight said softly, nodding.  “I’ll let you two sleep this story off, then.  Good night, Matt.”

-fin- Next Chapter: [11] Love Interruption Estimated time remaining: 32 Minutes