"Hey Dash, the captain wants to see you."
Rainbow Dash shifted, looking toward the office. Why would the captain want to see her? Normally she was only ever called into the office it was either to have a briefing on a recent case...or else get chewed out for her tendency to resort to physical force while performing her duties. There were no major open cases assigned to Rainbow Dash -- or really any for that matter -- and she had not been in a fight since the events in The Everfree Forest. What reason could there be for calling her in now?
Rainbow let out a sigh. May as well get it over with and find out. Beside, Captain Heartstrings did not like to be kept waiting. She made her way to the office and knocked on the door.
"You wanted to see me, Captain?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yes," Captain Heartstrings replied. "Come inside and shut the door."
Rainbow Dash did as she was told.
"I actually have two things to talk to you about," Hearstrings continued. "First, in light of recent events, I'm recommending you for a promotion."
"What?" Rainbow Dash squeaked out, eyes wide. She let out a cough.
"I mean I'm thrilled and all, but a little confused, Captain. Just the other day, you were threatening to demote me."
"And I will -- if not outright fire you -- if you cause too many problems." Hearststring slammed her hoof against the desk to emphasize her point. "Be that as it may, you have shown incredible bravery and determination in light of recent events. Besides," she smirked, "it's only fair if you're going to be taking on more responsibility anyways."
"Uh..." Rainbow Dash tilted her head. "What?"
"The second reason I wanted to see you was this." Captain Heartstrings held up a scroll and a strange looking medal. "Do you know what these are?"
"Well I can't say I recognize that," Rainbow Dash replied, motioning toward the medal, "but that looks like a letter from Princess Temporal."
"In a way," the captain said. "This is actually a letter giving you an official position in the Royal Guard as a special operative."
She held up a hoof.
"Before you get too excited, let me explain this clearly."
Rainbow Dash closed her mouth and gave a nod.
"To start with," Captain Heartstings stated, "this in no way affects your normal duties. When you are here, you are a member of the town guard, and you answer to me the same as always. Understood?"
"Aye, Captain," Rainbow Dash said with a salute.
"Good. Now, this Royal Guard Special Operative rank means that in the event of something happening either with King Sombra or one of The Elements of Harmony, you actually have authority of the royal guard and only have to answer to the princess herself."
"Woah," Rainbow Dash uttered. Her hind legs gave out from under her causing her to fall onto her rump. "I... I don't know if I can handle this..."
"Are you alright?" Hearstrings asked. "You look a little pale."
"It's just a lot to take in, Captain." Rainbow Dash moved to stand back at attention.
"Permission to leave? I'd let to get started on my patrol now."
"Sure," Captain Heartstrings replied. "Take these and go. Dismissed." She returned the salute with one of her own.
Rainbow Dash took the medal and letter before heading out of the office. She felt like she had just swallowed a storm cloud. Everything was roiling and shifting, ready to burst.
She was excited of course. Rainbow Dash had been hoping to be in command of her own squad someday, and she now had an opportunity to prove she could be a responsible and competent leader. Still, this was a lot more than she felt ready for. What if she could not handle it? What if she made the wrong choice and somepony got hurt?
Rainbow Dash stopped and pushed those thoughts down. Worrying about it blindly is not going to accomplish anything. She would just have to deal with things when they came up.
"Hey Dash," a voice called out, getting her attention.
"Oh, hey Twilight," Rainbow Dash said with a smile. "What's up?"
"Just coming down to drop off my application. What about you?"
"Oh, I was just getting on-duty."
"What's that?" Twilight pointed at the letter and medal.
"What?" Rainbow Dash looked at them. "These? I'll tell you and the others about it later. Good luck. I need to get going."
With that, she headed off and got to work.