Change Your Mind

by FlutterSky1979

Sweet Talk

"Come on, Rainbow Dash, try it! Just this once!"

Dash shook her head, too relaxed to do much else.

"But, Dashhhhhhh," Rarity whined, leaning backwards in her chair.

"These hooficures are simply to die for! I don't see why you're so hell bent against getting one!"

As promised, Rarity had snatched Dash away from Applejack and taken her directly to the most relaxing spot in all of Ponyville, the Ponyville Day Spa. They had arrived just before six, minutes before closing, but because Rarity was such a good customer, the proprietors, Aloe and Lotus, were more than happy to work overtime for her and her friend. Rainbow was reluctant at first, but she quickly became more susceptible to the idea after they had begun treating her. Now, here she was, sprawled out on her belly, arms folded underneath her chin, not a care in the world as all the tension her muscles had acquired through her time that day with Applejack was slowly massaged away.

"And I don't see why you're so damn insistent on me getting one! Frankly, Rarity, it's a little weird."

Rarity gasped, ready to defend herself.

"Weird? It is not! I'm simply trying to share something great with you is all!"

"Lotus," Dash asked her masseuse through half closed eyes.

"Isn't it kinda weird that Rarity keeps asking me to let you guys work on my hooves?"

Lotus answered without pause, knowing that it was always best to keep one's opinion with the pony that was your potential tipper.

"Kinda weird, yeah," she replied.

Dash laughed.

"Hear that? Kinda weird."

Rarity glared at Lotus, who simply gave a little shrug of her shoulders as she continued her job.

"Well I never. Fine, don't get one. You don't know what you're missing."

Dash groaned as her back crackled under the experienced hooves of the masseuse, feeling herself slip away into ecstasy.

"I didn't strike a nerve now, did I?" Dash asked, opening an eyelid.

"What, you have a hoof fetish or something?" she joked, sticking her tongue out at Rarity.

"Wh-what? No! Th-that's preposterous," Rarity answered, her reply becoming a nervous chuckle.

"I do not have a hoof fetish!"

Dash began to laugh hysterically, practically shaking the room with her bellows.

"Oh my God! That's it, isn't it? Rarity has a hoof fetish! I can't even...begin to-"

Her sentence fell apart, breaking away into harder laughter. Rarity looked towards the ground, a red tinge rising in her cheeks. Eventually Rainbow's laughter died away into a faint snickering. The next few moments passed by in silence. Dash continued to watch Rarity through a single open eyelid, and Rarity stared up at the ceiling, pretending that she didn't see her staring. Finally, Dash couldn't contain herself any longer.

"So, Rarity," she began, taking a moment to stifle her giggles.

"I heard you like hooves."

Rarity, never one to be teased, snorted back an angry reply.

"Oh, shut up!"

Over the next half hour, Rarity and Dash did their best to squeeze in as much catching up as they could. Rarity did most of the talking, which was fine with Dash. As hard as it may have been to believe, Rarity's talkative nature was one of the things Dash cherished most about her fashionista friend. Never liking to do a lot of talking herself, Dash had no problem setting herself on autopilot and listening to Rarity talk for hours.

As Rarity filled her in on all the goings on around Ponyville, Dash began to wonder just why she had always been so content to listen to her. She thought back to when she was just a filly, before her mother passed away; the two of them would spend entire afternoons in their den. Lightning Strike reading from a big book of fairy-tales, and Dash hanging on her every word.

I always did enjoy hearing a good story... Dash thought to herself as the memory became fresh in her mind.

I guess not much has changed.

She smiled, feeling more content than she had in quite some time.

"Oh, and just look at me now, I've gone and begun to ramble! Please, Dash, tell me what you've been up to! I'm just dying to know!"

Dash bit her lip, thinking back to her drill instructor, Rain Twister. How many times had he threatened them all about talking about the camp? How many ponies had she watched him beat into the dirt for screwing up? How many times had she taken a beating at his hooves? Dash shuddered, trying to send the thoughts out of her head. Finally, she made up her mind. With a smirk she looked at Rarity.

"Let's go to the sauna, I can tell you some real horror stories in there. Just remember... What I'm about to tell you, no other soul must ever know."

Dash winked, and Rarity smiled, never one to pass up some juicy gossip.

"My lips are sealed!"

Dash nodded, her mind going back to Rain Twister for a moment. In the end, her desire to give the metaphorical middle finger to the system, far outweighed her fear of being punished.

*****

"So, there I was, completely separated from my troop in the middle of nowhere. Nothing but sand and glare as far as the eye could see! My wings were still bound, and using them would result in instant disqualification! Night was fast approaching, and with it, deadly, flesh eating scarabs!"

Dash flared her arms around as she talked, the steam of the room breaking apart in wisps and reforming moments later as she continued on.

"Goodness! Whatever did you do," Rarity asked, her full attention on Rainbow.

"The only thing I could do; I dug, and fast. It wasn't exactly what you'd call an ideal shelter, and I had sand coming off me for weeks, but it got me through the night! The test proctors came in the morning to pick me up, and out of my whole group, I was the only one that came close to passing!"

Dash leaned back against the sauna wall, letting the tales of her exploits sink in.

"And that, was the absolute worst part of my training, period!"

Rarity shuddered, shaking her mane as though the very thought of the sand was enough to summon it.

"That's quite the story, Dash," she replied, following her friend's lead and getting comfortable in the steamy box.

"But I'm confused, I thought you said that the hoof to hoof combat was the absolute worst part of your training."

Dash tilted her head, thinking a moment.

"Well... As a whole, yeah, but as far as individual experiences go, our exercise in the desert was the worst."

Just the mention of the fighting at Pegasus Hell was enough to flair Rainbow's temper. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy giving out an ass kicking to a deserving pony every now and then, no. What she didn't enjoy was having to beat somepony else into the ground, somepony she may have had no problem with whatsoever, just because their commanding officer had told them to.

"Speaking of being confused..." Rarity began. "Why did they have you all doing all those dreadful combat exercises anyway? I mean, the Wonderbolts are entertainers, are they not? I hardly see any reason for you all to have had to fight so much."

Rainbow shook her head, annoyed by her friend's ignorance.

"You really don't know anything about them, other than what I've told you, do you?"

Rarity shook her head and Dash sighed, searching for the best words to explain.

"Well, yeah nowadays the Wonderbolts are primarily entertainers, but that wasn't always the case! Back in the day, they used to serve a much more pivotal function... Okay," Dash paused, thinking of the best example she could give.

"You remember on Spike's birthday, awhile back, when he was being all greedy and turned into a massive prick?"

Rarity nodded, reliving the memory of being captured by him in her mind.

"Well, while he was rampaging through town, who came and tried to stop him? The Wonderbolts, that's who! Granted, they didn't do a very good job... But they were still there damn it!"

Rarity smiled, finding the fact that Rainbow Dash still loved the team so much, even after all she had gone through at their camp, simply charming.

"Please forgive me, Rainbow Dash, but I still don't see exactly what you're getting at."

"What I'm saying, is that sure they mostly perform tricks and stuff now, but their prime directive has always been as a branch of the military."

Rarity's mouth dropped open, she didn't want to believe that she had heard Rainbow correctly.

"Come again, did you just say military?"

Rainbow simply nodded, looking away into the nothingness of the steamy room.

"As in military, military? Like, Celestia's Royal Battalion kind of military?"

Dash raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, that kind of military. It's not a common thing to be sent off to war these days. I mean, Equestria hasn't been in a direct conflict with a surrounding army in centuries, but it was still necessary that I learn to fight like a soldier. If I should make it, and Equestria were to go to war, the Wonderbolts are our first line of defense! It's our job to catch the enemy's army off guard, and do as much damage as we can so that our ground forces can do their job with minimal casualties."

Rarity frowned, soaking all of this new information in. Finally, she spoke, a simple sentence that summed up her feelings.

"I don't like that."

Dash shrugged, not really knowing what else to say.

"Rarity, you and I are both bearers of the Elements of Harmony. If there's ever a war, you, me, and the other girls, don't have a choice. We have to play a part in it."

Rarity looked away, wondering how this had never crossed her mind before.

"I guess you have a point there..."

*****

The rest of their visit passed by without anything more exciting happening. After the spa, Rarity offered to take Dash out to dinner. Never one to decline free food, Dash gratefully accepted. During dinner they switched their conversation to topics of a less dramatic nature. Really they talked about nothing, but it was a good talk about nothing. In the end, talking about nothing did much more good for Rainbow then did talking of things of importance. During the meal, Dash was reminded of just why she had become friends with Rarity in the first place.

They were two very different ponies, and Dash may not have hung out with her as much as she did some of the other girls, but whenever she just needed some time to just turn her brain off and shoot the shit with a friend, Rarity was always to pony to go to. Everypony knew that Rarity could talk up a storm, but what most didn't know, was that Rarity, being the Element of Generosity, could give back what she took in ten times over. Yes, she was a great talker, but she was an even better listener. Finally, as dusk began to settle over the land and Luna took over for the night, they bade each other farewell, and Dash began to make her way over to Fluttershy's cottage.

It was dark by the time she arrived, her pace gradually slowing with each step towards her friend's home. Fluttershy's porch light was on; the yellow Pegasus was sitting on the grass in her front lawn, watching as the last fireflies of the evening began to blink out. She greeted her old friend with a smile.

"Hello, Dash."

Rainbow yawned, feeling the activity of the day beginning to take its toll on her.

"Hi, Fluttershy."

Dash walked over and sat on her haunches beside her, looking up into the night sky. They sat in silence for a long time. Surprisingly, Fluttershy spoke first.

"So, um... How was your day?"

Fluttershy was Rainbow Dash's oldest friend, they had known each other for as long as they could remember. Even before they had gotten real close, they had always more or less been together.

"Long..."

Dash didn't say anything else, a part of her had known what was coming all along.

"Hey, Fluttershy... I feel bad about this, but... If it's alright with you, I'm kinda tired and I kinda just wanna head home... Is it cool if I catch you tomorrow or something?"

Rainbow Dash didn't dare look at her friend, the guilt eating heavily at her conscious.

"O-Of course, Dash... I don't want you to do anything you don't want to..."

Dash frowned, even before she asked, she had known that Fluttershy wasn't the kind of pony to decline her.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to feel left out or anything."

Fluttershy shook her head, still not looking Dash in the eye.

"Of course I'm sure. This wasn't my idea to begin with, and I know you've got a lot on your mind now... Please, go... Don't feel bad on my account."

Dash frowned, not sure how she felt about Fluttershy's answer. Finally, she stood up, beginning to walk down the path away from Fluttershy's home.

"If you say so... I'll catch you soon though, promise!"

Fluttershy watched as Dash walked away. Unnoticed by all except the stars and the moon, a single tear slid down her cheek. In her home, an already cold meal for two grew colder.

*****

Dash chose to walk home instead of fly, something a younger her would never have done. However, as she had matured, she had learned that, as unbelievable as it seemed, sometimes taking one's time had its benefits. As she got close to the ground beneath her sky home, a familiar, peppy voice screeched out at her.

"Dashie!"

Pinkie Pie galloped up to meet her, coming to a skidding halt a few inches in front of her.

"Oh no," Dash said to herself, walking past Pinkie.

"Pink, what are you doing? It's too late for this, can't you see I'm trying to go home?"

Pinkie laughed, whipping around to walk with Dash.

"Well duh! What, did you think we were going to hang out today? Oh, no, no, no, no, I just wanted to let you know that I'm gonna be by early in the morning, so set your alarm! We're gonna need all day if we're gonna get everything I've got planned done."

Dash groaned, stopping just beneath her home.

"All day huh? Greeeeeeat."

Even with Dash's less than stellar attitude, Pinkie Pie remained unfazed.

"Oh, it's gonna be better than great. Tomorrows gonna be the bestest, most splendiferous day ever! I can't wait!"

Dash smiled and rolled her eyes, her wings starting to lift her into the air.

"I'll bet you can't. Until then, good night, Pinkie."

Pinkie waved as her friend disappeared into her home, calling out one last time.

"Nighty night, Dashie! Sweet dreams!"

Once inside, Dash fed Tank and cleared her table of the mess her friends had left earlier that day. She brushed her teeth, put on her pj’s, and climbed into bed. She lay staring at her ceiling for a long time, waiting for sleep to take her. For a while, she tried to think of the great day she had spent with her friends, but in the end it was futile. No matter how hard she tried, her thoughts kept slipping back to the test, and of the fate that awaited her. Finally, she sighed, leaning onto her side.

"Good try girls, but not quite good enough..."

She closed her eyes, her mind feeling no more at ease than it had twelve hours ago.

*****

That morning, Dash woke up earlier than normal. Her body had needs that needed attending, and sleep was not about to get in the way. After Dash left the bathroom, she went to shut the blinds of her window. She wanted to catch a few more hours of sleep, and the blinding sun outside was doing everything it could to prevent her from doing so. Just as she started to walk away from her window, she did a double take, thinking that the early morning light must have been playing a trick on her eyes. Dash leaned her head out the window and yelled down at the ground.

"Pinkie Pie? Is that you?"

Sure enough, the pink speck laying on the ground looked up and waved.

"Good mooooorning, Dashie!"

Dash rubbed her eyes, not believing what she was seeing.

"Pinkie, what the hell are you doing? It's six in the morning! Did-Did you go home last night?"

Pinkie Pie sprung to her hooves, looking away bashfully.

"I was gonna, but then I got to thinking about all the fun stuff we were gonna do today... And I got so excited, and I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep, so I just stayed here!"

Rainbow's mouth dropped open, she didn't know what to make of her friend's behavior.

"Dude! Can you do that? Don't you have a job or something?"

Pinkie simply laughed; how she could be so perky so early, Dash would never understand.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I already told the Cakes you were back in town, and they have things under control at home! Hey, are you gonna be down soon? Hurry up and get ready, sleepy head, we're wasting daylight!"

Rainbow Dash groaned and hung her head, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep.

"I'll be out soon, just give me a sec, okay?"

"Okie dokie lokie," Pinkie enthusiastically answered back.

Dash sped through her morning routine, stopping just long enough to splash some water on her face and feed Tank.

"Tank, I don't know when I'll be back, so you're in charge while I'm away. Make sure nopony breaks in, and don't let the place burn down. Also, if you're gonna have any fine little turtle honeys over while I'm out, make sure you wear a jimmie, and have them out of the house before I'm back."

Tank saluted her, his typical response to the speech Dash gave when she was going out for the day. Rainbow laughed, patting him on the head before she left.

"Be back soon, love ya!"

With that, she ran out the door, hoping off her cloud and free falling most of the way down; at the very last second she spread her wings, gliding safely to the earth. Pinkie Pie was already next to her, bouncing around in her typical, overexcited fashion.

"Hey, Dashie, you want something to eat?"

Dash shrugged, rubbing the last bit of sleep away from her eyes. She wasn't really hungry, but since the camp, routine things like eating breakfast every morning had become habit.

"Sure, you wanna go to Granny Green's and grab a bite?"

Pinkie shook her head.

"Naw, we don't need to go to a restaurant, I've already had a meal arranged to be dropped off!"

Right on cue, the blonde-headed mail pony, Derpy Hooves, swooped in, holding a covered wicker basket in-between her teeth. Pinkie greeted her and took the basket, giving her few bits for her troubles. Pinkie trotted over to Dash, pulling the cloth away from the basket; it was filled to the brim with cupcakes.

"Pinkie," Rainbow began, wrinkling her nose at the sweets.

"This sugary shit is not breakfast..."

Pinkie, who was already on her second cupcake, simply shrugged.

"Suit yourself, more for me then!"

Dash laughed, watching as Pinkie began to devour the bunch.

"Whoa, Pinkie Pie, eat all those cupcakes you're gonna get a wicked bad tummy ache!"

Pinkie Pie led the way and Dash followed close behind her. Pinkie was uncharacteristically quiet, and Dash didn't like it one bit. It wasn't just a regular silence, this silence had an awkward feel about it; like for once in her life Pinkie couldn't think of something to say. It was strange, uncomfortable, and not the first time it had happened. For the past few months, whenever her and Pinkie were alone together, Pinkie had started acting weird.

At first, Dash thought she was just imagining it, but as time progressed she knew that this was not the case. Rainbow had meant to ask Pinkie what was up, but hadn't gotten the chance to. Her time in the Wonderbolt's Training Camp only further delaying her. The more she thought about it, the more it made her blood boil.

If she wanted to hang out with me, why is she still acting so damn weird?!

Rainbow Dash sighed, trying to trace back just when this had started. It was early in the year, about January, February at the very latest. Now here it was, mid July, more than six months later, and this shit was still going on!

Maybe something happened and I can't remember... Did I do something wrong? Did she do something wrong? She wasn't acting weird during New Year's, at least not that I rememb- Wait! Is that it? Did something happen New Year's Eve? Dammit, why can't I remember?!

"Pinkie Pie, where the hell are we going!" Dash finally cried out, unable to take the silence any longer.

Pinkie giggled back; if she felt any tension at all she didn't show it.

"You'll seeeeeeee when we get there!"

Dash scowled, spouting off in her annoyed tone.

"I don't want to seeeeeeee when we get there! If there's one thing that pisses me off, it's waiti-"

She walked into Pinkie's tail end, not having noticed that Pinkie Pie had stopped walking.

"We're here!"

Dash looked around, her mind taking a moment to put together just where 'here' was.

"...You took me to the bushes by the pond?" Dash asked, not sure what was going through Pinkie's mind.

"Why?"

Pinkie Pie shook her head, still sporting her ever present, toothy grin. She picked up what appeared to be a rubber tube.

"C'mon, Dashie, doncha remember?"

Dash stared blankly at Pinkie a moment, not sure if she liked where this was going.

"Uh... Remember what?"

Pinkie sighed, she grabbed Dash and yanked her head forward, pushing it through the bushes.

"Ow, Pinkie! Let go of my mane God da- Ohhhhhhh."

Dash stared through the bush at the pond before her, at the opposite bank was a not too convincing turtle.

"Now do you remember?" Pinkie asked, letting go of Dash.

Rainbow nodded, feeling a wave of nostalgia hit her like a freight train. That not too convincing turtle was a contraption of Pinkie's design. The rubber tube on the ground led into it, the end hidden inside the mouth. By squeezing the bulb at their end of the tube, they could make it take in water through a hole in the middle, and squirt it out of the opposite end. In other words, they could make the fake turtle spit water at any pony that got too close to the dummy. Rainbow pulled her head out of the bush, looking first down at the tube and then back to Pinkie.

"Pinkie Pie, we're gonna spend all day pulling pranks, aren't we?"

Pinkie nodded enthusiastically.

"Mhm!"

Dash bit her lip, not sure if Pinkie was joking or had just finally gone completely insane.

"You spent all day thinking of stuff to do and this is what you came up with? Pinkie, don't you think this is kinda... I don't know... Overplayed?"

She had wanted to say childish, but decided against it, not wanting to hurt her friend's feelings. To her surprise, Pinkie Pie's answer wasn't a simple yes or no.

"I know, I know, but hear me out!"

Dash tilted her head, ready to give her a chance.

"I'm listening."

Pinkie began to pace around as she explained, her jittery nature not allowing her to sit still even for a moment.

"So, you're nervous about tomorrow, and you need something to ease your mind, right? I thought of a ton of things to do, a TON! Going to a theme park, and awesome day out on the town, party in your honor... You name it, I probably thought of it! I was searching for a quick fix to your loss of confidence, and coming up with nothing. That's when it hit me, I was trying too hard! You don't need something to bring you back on top, you're already on top! You just don't realize it! So I thought, how bout we do something she's already comfortable with, something she knows she rules at! The best prank doesn't necessarily have to be intricate or simple, just as long as the pony in control, really has control! So, here we are! The ball's in your court now, Dashie, time for you to remind us of what we already know!"

Pinkie Pie left Dash an opening, and Dash took it without hesitation.

"And just what is it that we already know?" she asked.

"Why, that you're awesome of course! You were awesome four years ago, when we first starting doing stuff like this, and you're awesome now, except even more so!"

Dash blinked, taking in everything that Pinkie had said.

"Remind me of what I already know... That's actually not a bad idea, Pinkie Pie..."

Pinkie nodded, looking just as confident as she sounded.

"Well yeah! I spent all day thinking it up, of course it's a good idea!"

Dash laughed. She wondered if she really had just imagined the distance between them after all.

"You know... Everypony else tried super hard to ease my nerves. Like, they put a lot of effort into what they did, and it was nice, but it also felt kinda weird. Like they were trying too hard. But this, this seems so simple... It feels so... Right!"

Dash smiled, doing the best she could to put how she felt about the situation into words.

"Yeppers," Pinkie replied, picking the tubing back up.

"It's because they're just trying to think outside the box, when they should be thinking around the box, or above the box, ooooh, or even as the box! How neat would that be? Boxception!"

Pinkie poked her head back through the bushes.

"Ooh, I think I see Lyra coming! Dashie, would you like to do the honors?"

She handed the tube's bulb off to Rainbow Dash, not letting her enthusiasm get in the way of the prank's true purpose.

"Pinkie Pie, you are so random," Dash laughed, thinking the phrase was more true now than it had ever been.

The rest of that day went by pretty smoothly. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie played pranks on everypony they could find, and it wasn't too extravagant, and it wasn't overly complicated. For the majority of the day, Dash was actually able to forget about the test completely, and just enjoy herself. For the first time since she had left Pegasus Hell, the test wasn't somewhere in her thoughts, gnawing at the edge of her mind. Eventually, the sun began to set, and Dash gave her farewell to Pinkie and sent her home. Making sure to let her know just how grateful she was for the time they got to spend together.

That night, as Dash lay down for bed, the test was still the last thing on her mind. In roughly twelve hours time she would be back up at the camp, giving the performance of her life for the job of a lifetime, but in the meantime she wouldn't be losing any sleep over it; and she had a certain hot-pink and totally random Earth pony by the name of Pinkie Pie to thank for that.

Comments

[redactedandredacted]

The wonderbolts are part of the military? Not sure how I feel about that. I'm sure it has significance.

Also, D'AAAAWWWWUH FLUTTERSHY