Rainbow Dash was in pain; Rainbow Dash was exhausted. More than anything, Rainbow was vexed, and the more she thought back to her day, the more angry she became.
It had began just like any other, she confirmed as she willed her barely responsive wings to drag her home, each flap an intense battle between her tired appendages and the inexhaustible pull of gravity, which existed then only to remind her of her weakness.
She knew it had started the same as any other day, from the misplacing of her goggles to that recursive dream, everything had been as usual. She had eaten her breakfast, spoken with Tank, and left for work, as she always did.
Where did things go wrong?
"Freakin' Wave Chill, that's where," Rainbow moaned aloud, her voice even more gravelly than usual. It was six-thirty in the evening, and she was only then leaving work and heading home. Her wings were battered with multiple feathers displaced, her hooves were still in a relative amount of pain from her strop induced landing that morning, and her throat killed from barking instructions all day, as well as from the continuous confrontations with Wave Chill.
Rainbow had been well prepared to forget about the events of that morning and carry on with practice uninterrupted, but apparently, Wave had grown a new, sturdier set of balls in the time between her threat and lunch finishing, and was having none of that whatsoever.
The arguments were incessant, and each one more unimportant and finickity than the last. Wave had a problem with Rainbow's instructions, he had a problem with Rainbow's means of delivery, he even had an issue with her choice of music. Apparently, he could hear her classic rock tunes blaring from a mile off, despite the fact that Rainbow was wearing headphones.
Each time, Rainbow had attempted to deflect Wave's comments, not allowing herself to be drawn to his desire for petty argument. However, when he began citing Wonderbolt code of service, telling her that she wasn't permitted to use a portable music player on duty, she couldn't bite her tongue anymore.
Rainbow had then launched into a tirade directed entirely at Wave, harbouring all of her pent up frustrations, whilst simultaneously debunking his complaints, which were based around a redundant rule that no Wonderbolt had followed since music players had become much smaller over the last few years, and no longer obstructed flight.
Despite her response, he decided to escalate the situation by saying that regardless of whether she was breaking any serious rules, she had still threatened to assault him earlier. Either Rainbow had thought he was bluffing, or at this point she was too far gone (she couldn't really tell, thinking back on it), because she encouraged him to actually go and do it, which seemed to shock him into silence. It was then that Surprise had said there was no way in hell she would ever back up that claim, and Wave finally shut up.
Well, until it was time to hand out the performance rotas, that is.
Rainbow Dash didn't believe in Sod's Law. As far as she was concerned, if something could go wrong, that didn't mean it would, and definitely not in the worst way. Apparently, fate wasn't best pleased with her optimistic philosophy, and had decided to prove her wrong. Obviously, this meant that Wave Chill was the only pony other than Spitfire who actually remembered Zephyr Breeze, and he made Rainbow very aware of that.
It was just another way for him to get under her skin, reminding her of the issues he brought with him the last time he was here, and blaming them all on Rainbow. Luckily, Rainbow had handed the files out only a few minutes before her shift ended, so she didn't have to listen to his crap for too long.
Well, even a second was too long in Rainbow's mind.
When she went to clock out, cursing under her breath the whole way, muttering things that she wished she could say to Wave's face without losing her job, the machine was merciful, and decided to display the time Rainbow wanted to see: 6:30.
Certain that Wave wouldn't be far behind, Rainbow had sped off the moment she had punched her ticket out, her aching limbs screaming in protest.
That's how she had ended up so exhausted, disheveled, and, above all else, aggravated. Rainbow couldn't believe that she had been so opposed to the idea of Zephyr working with the Wonderbolts again when ponies like Wave were still on the team. In fact, Rainbow planned to say this to Spitfire, and furthermore, that she wholeheartedly supports his future involvement with the Wonderbolts.
That would accomplish three goals: Doing the right thing, silencing her guilt, and pissing off Wave Chill.
Rainbow wondered which was more important, and, with her mind feeling as drained as her body, struggled to answer.
Of course, even despite the arguments, they had made some meagre progress, at least. That progress had been down to a lot of practice, very tiring practice that had all but sapped Rainbow's strength. At points, she had considered joining the other two in their hourly 'breathers', but pressed on regardless. When it came to flying, Rainbow was stubborn, and she was determined to show the other two the correct form, even if it was while they sat on their asses and watched.
Unfortunately, nonstop performance flying for over seven hours straight took its toll, especially after her self inflicted injury. Rainbow wondered if she really did have her head in the clouds all day. Really, it was such a blur for her right now that she couldn't tell. She wasn't even sure what she had been thinking about, or why it had distracted her in the first place.
Rainbow trilled, throwing her head back before stifling a fresh yawn. "Jeez, I really need to get my head out of the clouds... I mean really, first Zephyr, then Wave Chill? Why can't I get these assholes out of my head today?"
A sigh, and she carried on conversing with the sky. "Well, Zephyr's not really an asshole. Well, he is, just not on Wave's level. I mean really, Zephyr's not the worst, he's just really annoying sometimes, and lazy, and rude, and inappropriate, and persistent, and--" Rainbow chortled a little, her laugh snagging in her sore throat. "Yeah, I guess he is pretty terrible."
"Still, I'd rather have him try and talk me to death than spend another minute around Wave this week." The sky may not have been a conscious entity, but it was considerate enough to give her what she needed, space, fresh air, and a view she was too exhausted to appreciate as a bonus.
When Rainbow's house appeared on the horizon, she didn't notice it. When she drifted into her front door, hitting herself square on the nose, she did notice.
"Argh! Grrr--Watch where you're going!" You're talking to a door. "Oh, yeah," she stammered, cheeks reddening. "Um, sorry." Still a door. "I know that!" she pouted. Go to bed, Rainbow.
She couldn't argue with her mind, she needed sleep. Come to think of it, Rainbow wasn't sure whether she could argue with her mind or not, but she was too tired to try. After fumbling around with her flight suit for a full minute, opting to lay on her back with her legs in the air to speed up the process, she was finally able to unzip it and produce the reclusive door key.
However, a small problem had arisen.
Now that she had laid down, she really didn't want to get back up. A doorstep made out of cloud was still a cloud, after all. Rainbow had never been particularly fussy.
A couple of minutes later, she began chastising herself for her idiocy. Can't sleep out here, moron, you'll freeze overnight, pegasus coat or not. Rainbow began to wrap her forehooves around her head, curling up into a ball and ignoring her traitorous thoughts. If she wanted to freeze, she would, it was comfy.
Come on, I've literally got the key in my hand, why can't I just get up and go in? Rainbow already knew the answer to that question. Cause that means moving again! Ugh, I've just laid down, why can't I just have these few minutes to myself, huh? Why can't my head just shut up for a few seconds? Rainbow could guess the answer to that too. Cause you've got stuff to do, idiot.
"Why does my head sound like Gilda so often?" Rainbow questioned.
You're just used to Gilda insulting you.
"At least Gilda doesn't really mean it," Rainbow muttered to herself.
Doesn't she?
Whatever, how did I even get onto this? Rainbow wondered as she pushed herself back onto her hooves, every nerve crying out in mutiny, begging her to stay put for just a little longer. Rainbow ignored their pleas, as her head was currently louder, and made a pretty good point about the whole freezing thing.
Forcing a burst of energy from her steadily depleting reservoir of strength, Rainbow turned, grabbed her mail, got the door open, and shambled into her foyer, kicking the door shut with a frail buck.
"Tank!" Rainbow called out, her throat hardly grateful. "Momma's home lil' dude! Are you okay?"
There was no answer, and Rainbow instantly panicked.
Rainbow zipped from room to room, flying at incredible speeds, considering how confined the hallways were in places. It was as if she hadn't injured herself at all, hadn't been working all day, didn't feel like she was about to drop, she moved with haste regardless.
Tank hadn't answered her, and she needed to know that he was okay.
Eventually, she found him, propped on one of the plush, well fluffed pillows adorning her sitting room. Rainbow sped over to him, her first instinct to pick him up, her second not to startle him. She quickly settled on an excited whisper. "Tank! Hey there! I was worried about you!" Once Tank had registered her presence, she leant in for a nuzzle, quite similar to the one from this morning, but a couple of seconds longer, as she was immensely glad to see him safe.
Suddenly, her problems from before didn't feel as significant. Tank was safe, and to her, that's what really mattered. It didn't cross Rainbow's mind at that moment that tortoises barely made any noise at all, and Tank was no exception to that.
Then again, it didn't cross her mind most days, and she'd have that same reaction at least once a fortnight, darting from room to room in search of her favourite tortoise, just in case he was in peril.
It might have been silly, it might have been irrational, it might have had no logic to it, but Rainbow, despite her absolute love of excitement and thrills, would do nothing to change the familiar routine of coming home to Tank each day, of worrying over him, the feeling of relief she received from seeing him safe, the satisfaction that came with taking care of him. Rainbow would never do anything to alter that feeling of unity.
Smiling through her various pains, Rainbow put a hoof around Tank's pillow, asking if she could pick him up.
It took ten full seconds for Tank to nod at her, but she waited patiently nonetheless. Tank and his pillow in hoof, she drifted into her bedroom, depositing him on the bed, where he sat, appearing contented.
Rainbow rolled onto her side, careful to avoid brushing her wings too hard. She pulled at her tail with her forehooves, playing with the strands, mixing green with purple, orange with yellow. For the first time in many hours, despite everything, she felt truly relaxed.
When she noticed one of Tank's feet beginning to move in her direction, she scooped him up, placing his shell against her chest and gently squeezing him. They lay happily in silence for a while, their bond clear as day, each one's contact strengthening and reassuring the other.
Together, they both had a loving friend.
After a good few minutes, Rainbow plopped Tank on the bed in front of her and moved to lay on her front, giving him her full attention, which she was sure he returned.
"Let me tell you about my day, lil' guy. Just promise you won't fall asleep before I'm finished, okay?"
Rainbow knew it was likely her that would crash first, but the assurance made it easier to speak at full length without fear of being ignored. Rainbow was glad for an opportunity to finally get this tedious and confusing day off of her chest, and extremely grateful to the little tortoise whose ear she was about to chew off.