Over the next six years their flight practice and games had turned into full out training. They would leave before the sun peaked over the horizon, head to flight school and return to practice as soon as they were let out. It seemed that everyday Ray had a new challenge or an obstacle for her to overcome. Although she felt overworked, the results were plain to see. She was faster and could fly longer then ever before.

She saw that her hard-work paid off when she went to summer flight camp. She was the fastest of her age group and easily faster then any other pegasi at that camp. Her time trials on straightaways were setting camp records that would last for years to come. The only problem was that while Ray's training emphasized speed and endurance, the camp's courses were also focused on agility and maneuverability. That was her biggest downfall. On most courses with a high degree of obstacles her time was below average at best; not completed at worst. Her high speed tactics would always leave her shooting off course and straight into the cloud barriers and walls. It was from those tracks and the many incidents Dash was involved in that she earned her nickname: Rainbow Crash.

Halfway through the camp something happened to Dash. She had been resting on a cloud that looked over one of the cloud ring obstacle courses. For the last half hour she watched as many pegasi flew through the rings with ease. She sighed softly as a yellow pegasus with a pink mane tried to fly through a ring and tipped over it. She had to stifle back a chuckle as she tumbled down the slide of the cloud hanger. Dash felt bad for the older pegasus, but couldn't hold back her laugh as the pegasus took out a flag.

Dash decided to fly down. As she got to her feet she saw two colts approach the filly. “Nice going Klutzershy. They ought to ground you permanently.” The darker one said.

“Hah! My baby brother can fly better then you.” The light brown colt followed, before they both started laughing.

Dash quickly flew down, circling around the colts before landing between them and the pegasus. “Leave her alone!” She shouted. “Ohhh. What are you going to do Rainbow Crash?” The one closet to her taunted.

“Keep making fun of her and find out!” She retorted.

“You think your such a big shot? Why don't you prove it?” He sneered.

“What do you have in mind?” She said, not backing down.

“A race of course.”

Dash stood at the starting line. Next to the two ponies that were picking on the yellow pegasus. Confidence radiating from her, as they waited for shy pegasus to start the race. As soon as the flag was waved she took off, not caring to look back. One, two, three rings. “Right turn!” She thought to herself, veering hard to the right. She barely made it through the ring. She grinned as she heard the familiar sound of somepony crashing into a barrier. She zoomed forward with renewed speed. “Left! Right! Left! Dive!” She repeated the course in her head, zipping between each ring. “Seven down, one left!” Before she could finish her thought somepony hit her. “See you later rainbow Crash!” The light brown pony took the lead on her, making a sharp dive for the last ring. Dash flew at the ground with a renewed energy, flapping her wings harder and harder.

The air around her began to ripple strangely, but she was too preoccupied to notice. The wind became almost unbearable as it was stinging her face and eyes. A multitude of colors began to appear in the ripple around her hooves. The ring was so close, she had to win, she had to push forward. When she hit the ring something amazing happened; she turned up and flew faster then she ever flown before, a rainbow trail in her wake. “The Sonic Rainboom! Goldwing said it was only an old mares tale!” She crossed the finish line, circling over Cloudsdale. It was one of the happiest days of her life.

The rest of her time at the camp was spent trying to recreate the rainboom, but she never managed to repeat the trick. However, the remaining time at the camp wasn't a complete waste: Fluttershy, the pegasus she stood up for, had quickly become her friend. Although at first she would follow Dash around like a lost little foal, she quickly grew on Dash. Fluttershy was quiet and listened to Dash talk about Ray for hours. She would even cheer Dash's attempts to recreate the rainboom. As the camp drew to a close she discovered that Fluttershy lived only a couple minutes down the cloud from her home.

Upon arriving at her home, she noticed Ray laying in the yard. He seemed to be napping. She flew straight at him, hitting him and sending the two into a laughing spin. The rolled side over side until Ray stood over Dash.

“You should know you can't beat your older brother!” He said with a grin.

“You'll never believe what happened to me at camp!” She quickly changed the subject. Ray listened quietly as she told him the story of how she got her cutie mark in great detail.

After finishing her tale, Dash looked over at Ray. He was wearing a serious expression, one that Dash had rarely seen. After a couple minutes of silence she spoke up, “Ray. Earth to Ray. Sunray can you hear me?” Ray blinked a couple times before turning to her.

“Are you ready?” He asked her. As soon as the words hit her ears she grinned.

“For what?” She asked playing along.

He grinned. “Tomorrow we train harder then ever before. And there will not be any time for naps.”

The next year was a roller coaster ride for Dash. Ray graduated flight school and with their fathers blessing left their home. Before Dash could even miss him, he told her to drop out of flight school; he promised he could train her better then any boring old teacher. She was more than happy to agree, but they had to convince their mother. After many heated arguments with her mother, Dash finally convinced her to let her drop out. She was never happier, the next six months felt like an extended summer.

Over the last three months the training became more extreme and dangerous. Dash tried her best to live up to Ray's standards, which lead to iced wings every night and a sore body every morning. They practiced six days a week, resting on the seventh. The worst part of the training was the pain. It had many causes; accidents, exhaustion, overexerted muscles and even emotions. The thought of letting her brother down was almost unbearable. Sometimes she just wanted to quit, but all it took was a talk with Ray to set her back on course.

Then Dash's life hit rock bottom. The day started like any other. Ray and Dash woke up before dawn, packed their daily rations and left Cloudsdale just as the sun was peaking over the horizon. The air was calm and the sky was partly cloudy; perfect for the days activity.

They flew about an hour away from the cloud city before touching down. After a quick breakfast they were airborne again. Together they flew higher and higher into the sky. It wasn't Dash's first time with extreme heights, but she always felt uneasy when it was hard to breathe. They spent the whole day doing high altitude dives. The rush with every drop was exhilarating. The siblings would dare, push and goad each other into pulling out of the dive later and later. As the sun began to fall they rose for one final dive. They rose high enough for their breath to become icy and sting their lungs.

Dash was the first to drop. Ray quickly following on her tail. As she fell from the sky, something in her clicked and she started beating her wings hard. Dash quickly pulled away from Ray. Everything felt right as the air around her began to form a barrier. She could see the ground quickly approaching as she passed through the clouds. She hit the barrier and struggled to break through. Suddenly she found that the barrier held, sending her flying upwards back into the sky. She tumbled skyward till she hit something hard. She heard a grunt as she yelled out in pain. Then as suddenly as she was thrown up, she began to fall. She clutched onto the thing she hit, flailing her wings, trying to regain control. As the floor quickly approached she screamed out loud. The ball of feathers hit the floor with a thump.

The next thing Dash remembered was waking up, her entire body wracked in pain; her wings were numb and her head was pounding. She heard someone coughing violently behind her. She turned her head to see that Ray was the source. Pools of blood lay on the floor between them and on his mouth and chest. “Ray...” She whimpered, but there was no response. She tried to get to her feet, but when she put pressure on her left front hoof, pain spiked through her whole body. Her tears began to flow, she sobbed softly as she began to crawl towards Ray on three good limbs. She laid her head against his chest. She closed her eyes and continued to sob, until the pain and the tiredness of her body forced her into a deep sleep. In her sleep she was unable to feel his chest rise and fall for the last time.