ONE WEEK LATER
Rainbow Dash stood with her fellow Wonderbolts as Captain Spitfire ran them through the new routine before they took to the sky. The Wonderbolt's Academy had been pretty strict and by the book, but now that she was on the team, things were a bit more relaxed, something she really enjoyed. All of the elite fliers kept their attention on their Captain at the moment however, out of respect and necessity to learn the new routine’s layout.
The flight squadron was loosely gathered in a semi-circle as Spitfire continued to explain things out, but Rainbow found her mind wandering. It had been a week since her meeting with Twilight, and she hadn't spoken to the alicorn since then out of embarrassment and nervousness. Twilight had returned the kiss, but everytime she tried to convince herself, Dash doubted she was remembering correctly.
Desperate to keep her mind off of what had happened, the pegasus had buried herself in her work. She spent hours off-duty doing extra practice, and during the day helped maintain the headquarters beyond what she was already assigned. Dash had even skipped the weekly pet playdate that was tradition for her and the girls, not wanting to have to face Twilight over what had transpired. She felt a bit guilty over keeping Tank from his friends, but Dash just couldn't bring herself to face Twilight.
“Crash!” A loud shout pulled her out of her own head, attention snapping to the yellow mare just inches from her muzzle. “Did you even hear what I just went over rookie?! Or are you just standing here with your head in the clouds?!” Spitfire had her eyes narrowed, staring directly into Rainbow's own eyes.
“Y-Yes ma’am! Just thinking it over.” Dash quickly stood tall, giving a crisp and clear response.
While the Wonderbolts were largely a demonstration team, they were still a branch of the Equestrian Air Force, and she knew she had obligations and rules to stick to. Giving her superior the utmost respect and attention was definitely something she was lacking at the moment. The three weeks of basic military training she completed had driven the saluting and respectful responses into her mind, and they came automatically.
“Good, then maybe you'd like to join the rest of us for a test flight.” The Captain was no longer yelling, but the firm tone showed she was still upset, and not quite convinced Dash had actually been paying attention. “Clipper you keep and eye on things from the back of the pack.” She returned to ordering her team around, putting Soarin’ at the back so he could inform her of any issues after the test. Second-in-command meant she went to him for helping with almost anything, and after going through the ranks of the Wonderbolts together, she trusted him completely.
“Flatfoot, Dizzy, at my 9 o’clock and 3 o'clock!” Fleetfoot and Misty Fly quickly got into their respective positions on the runway with the Captain. “Slowpoke, Hoof-In-Mouth, at Fleet’s 7 o’clock, and Misty’s 5 o’clock.” Just as with their teammates, Surprise and High Winds lined up, ready to go. “Crash at my 6 o'clock behind them, and Sparky behind her!”
Rainbow’s ears burned slightly, embarrassed at being scolded in front of her teammates as she lined up with Thunderlane trailing her. Soarin’ fell in line behind Thunderlane, checking positions, right on cue, Spitfire called on him. “Clipper are we good?!”
“Yes ma’am!” Soarin’ shouted back, ready to go. “In position!”
Spitfire smiled to herself. “Glad you all remember how to follow directions, now let's go, we don't have much sunlight left!” She broke into a gallop, the squad keeping formation before taking off in unison, cutting hard right immediately after takeoff.
The test flight was going smoothly, the more veteran fliers at the front keeping easily on track, with the two rookies at the back keeping pace with relatively little issue. Soarin’ noticed Rainbow Dash drifting a bit, not tracking as true as they needed, her course only correcting after she seemed to jerk back to attention after zoning out. It kept happening, and Soarin’ kept track as Dash got further and further out of line. The wind whipping past the ears of the squad at high speed kept any warning from being heard as Soarin’ shouted at Dash to get back on course.
Rainbow flew a bit to fast, and drifted to far left, where she made contact with Surprise. The two pegasi crashed together, sending them tumbling out of the sky with Soarin’ and Thunderlane breaking off in pursuit after witnessing it. A couple seconds passed before both Dash and Surprise got their bearings and fully extended their wings, slowing their fall before regaining control just a couple hundred feet apart from one another.
Seeing the two mares recover successfully, the pursuing stallions slowed and glided down to them. Surprise and Dash landed on the runway, stepping off to the side to assess damages, with Soarin’ and Thunderlane joining them a few seconds later.
“You okay Dash?” Surprise quickly looked over the prismatic rookie, looking for any injuries.
Dash nodded, a look of guilt on her face as she awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah, I'm good, are you alright? Sorry about that Surprise.”
“I'm okay, you know you don't have to keep reminding us what your nickname is.” Surprise smiled and laughed, patting her teammate on the back with a wing. Dash laughed softly, having grown used to the nicknames, and even embracing hers as good memories with it replaced the bad ones.
“You two look okay, nice recoveries, Sparky and I broke off to catch you, but it looks like you can handle yourselves.” Soarin’ gave a light chuckle as he approached, glad the squad was still whole. “You’ll still both need a once over in the infirmary, but I think you're good, c’mon.”
The group of ponies with a melancholy Rainbow in tow followed Soarin’ back to where Spitfire was now waiting with the three uninvolved fliers. “Well, that was quite the tumble you two, and we're out of light now. Surprise go check in with the infirmary, Dash stay here. We'll be practicing this again tomorrow everypony, we have a lot of work to do, dismissed!”
Everypony except Spitfire and Rainbow Dash began making their way inside, chatting amongst themselves. Once she was sure everypony was out of earshot, the Captain gave a single order. “My office, one hour, we have some talking to do.” And with that, she also made her way inside.
Now alone outside the complex of buildings, Dash groaned audibly and facehooved, dragging her hoof down her face. “Ughhh... Twilight why?! Why why why can't I fly because of you!”
No longer wearing her flight suit, Dash sat outside Spitfire’s office waiting for the Captain to call her in. Her ears swiveled at the sound of hoofsteps, and she looked up when the door opened. Soarin’ walked out, giving the rookie a small nod before trotting off down the hall. With a grimace, Rainbow looked through the open door, where the Captain sat at her imposing wooden desk. “Rainbow Dash.”
Feeling like she was back in the principal's office at flight school, Dash entered the office and shut the door, giving a crisp salute as she waited to be reprimanded. The office was well furnished, and nicely decorated, but right now it felt bare and freezing as she waited.
“You're not in uniform, I'm not in uniform, and last I checked, I dismissed you for the day. Drop the salute, Rainbow.” Spitfire was calm and cool, no hint of anger in her voice, nor visible emotion on her face. “Sit down, I wanna talk.”
The nervous Dash gulped and obeyed, stepping forward and sitting in one of the two chairs in front of the desk. She started to talk, trying to defend herself, but was quickly cut off.“Ma’a-”
“Spitfire, we're off duty, and before you say anything, I didn't bring you here to yell at you, I'll do that tomorrow when everypony else is around.” A small, playful grin crossed her face. “I told you when you became a Wonderbolt, we're a team, and we're also a family. So, what's wrong? Soarin’ already informed me that you were drifting during our test runs, and that you seemed to completely space out before that crash with Surprise. Not only did you crash, but I've noticed the extra work you've been putting in. I expect the extra practice, you're a dedicated mare, but doing extra work that isn't flying, that's something I never would have guessed.”
“... Look, Spitfire, I'm really sorry about that crash, I just had a break in concentration, no biggie.” Dash gave an unconvincing smile, hoping to just avoid talking. “I'll be back on track after some sleep.”
“That's horseapples and you know it, you spaced out when I was laying the routine out, you crashed into Surprise, and all week you've been working doing anything and everything. So, what in the hay is going on?” Finally Spitfire raised her voice slightly, growing frustrated with the notoriously stubborn pegasus. “This is affecting your flying, and endangering you AND your teammates.”
Dash sighed, hanging her head in shame, she was caught. “Am I really that obvious?” She raised her head and looked at Spitfire.
Spitfire nodded, sitting back in her chair. “You're a hard worker, Rainbow, you're dedicated to the team, you've never let anything distract you from your dream. It's really obvious, you're acting very different from normal, so do you wanna tell me what's going on?”
At this point in time, Dash had been with the Wonderbolts for a few months, but the team treating her as an equal, as family, still felt a bit strange. “Ugh... Okay, just, don't tell anypony else? I swear I'll get things figured out and I'll be back to normal.”
“We're talking as friends right now, and as a friend, you have my word.” Spitfire reassured the nervous rookie, doing her best to make Dash comfortable. Despite how she acted in public, Spitfire did have a softer side, which she found worked well when talking to her squad members one-on-one. She did truly care about all of the Wonderbolts, they were a family to her, and she knew that they worked best when everypony had a positive mental attitude.
Rainbow looked down as she twiddled her hooves together, building up the courage to tell Spitfire the truth. “Alright.” She looked up, making eye contact with Spitfire, feeling a bit more confident. “There is this... Friend, that I have, we've been friends for years, and last week we were hanging out and some stuff happened and, well... I kinda kissed her. I flew off because I was... Ugh, I was scared, and I haven't talked to her since. I'm pretty sure she kissed back, but I keep feeling like I'm remembering it wrong and it's eating at me.”
The Captain couldn't help but snort and smile with amusement. “Distracted by somepony you like, this has happened before, actually, it's happened multiple times. Listen Dash, I'm no Princess of Love, but if past experience has shown me anything, the only way to feel better is to face the pony you're thinking about. Go see your friend, I'm sure she wants to talk to you, and I bet after you two talk, you'll feel a lot better, and fly a lot better too.” Spitfire gave a reassuring smile. “I'll see you tomorrow, and I'll expect you to be back on your game, got it?”
Dash stood and gave a quick, casual salute. “Yes Ma’am, Spitfire, thanks.” She started to leave, only stopping to glance back as Spitfire gave a farewell.
“Excellent, good luck Rainbow Dash.” Spitfire nodded with a smile, and watched the rainbow tail disappear around the corner. Now alone, the yellow mare lounged in her chair and relaxed.
Twilight sat in her library as she did many other if not most nights, surrounded by books, with Owlowiscious perched close by. Spike had gone with Starlight to hang out and get a break from his usual duties, leaving the Princess alone in the massive crystalline room. Ever since Rainbow Dash had kissed her in here, Twilight was having problems focusing in the library, unable to get her mind off the blue pegasus to enjoy reading. In fact, she had been unable to enjoy reading at all for the most part, even the most interesting, rare books couldn't keep her interest, something that had never happened before.
“Ugh!” Frustrated and bored, Twilight facedesked, her muzzle squishing on the crystal table. “A whole library FULL of books, and none of them are interesting!” She threw her hooves in the air before using the book currently in front of her as a pillow, and grumbling quietly.
“Hoo!” Owlowiscious called from his perch, head rotating to look at Twilight more directly. He didn't understand what was happening, but something was wrong with the purple alicorn he cared about.
Twilight looked up from her book pillow and sighed. “I'm fine Owlowiscious, just having… issues... Ugh... Hmmm... Could you get me Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone?”
The owl ‘hoo’d’ his answer, and flew to the appropriate shelf, scanning for a moment before picking up the correct book and bringing it to Twilight. Instead of returning to his perch, he landed on the table, watching the mare with his large eyes, his head tilted with curiosity.
“Thanks, I'm just... Testing a theory, I mean... I haven't been able to stop thinking about Rainbow Dash, reading isn't even fun anymore! It's terrible! I usually love reading, but... Well, Dash is all I can think of right now... I need to talk to her.” Twilight opened the book, flipping to the first chapter, smiling a little as she passed the page A.K. Yearling/Daring Do had signed.
“Hoo!” Owlowiscious again answered his owner.
“I want to talk to her Owlowiscious, but she's been gone all week!” The dejected alicorn sighed, her wings limp at her sides. “She kissed me, but I feel like maybe she didn't mean it, she just flew off after and hasn't talked to me since. You saw, she didn't even come to the pet playdate this week.”
“Hoo?”
“I like her, but I don't know if she likes me, I don't know why she would, I mean, I read books and do experiments in my basement. Meanwhile, Dash is off with the Wonderbolts, flying in big shows and doing crazy tricks. She is just so much... Cooler? I'm just an egghead.” Twilight rubbed her temples with her hooves and used her magic to sip some tea. “The only things we have in common are the Elements of Harmony, and a love of Daring Do books.”
“Hoo.”
The Princess started reading the book that had gotten Rainbow Dash into reading in the first place, and smiled as she thought back on the memories. “I guess I could go find her just to share the results of the theory, maybe I can see how she's feeling and see if she likes me back. It would be a good excuse to see her.”
“Hoo…” Owlowiscious rolled his eyes, he would never understand why ponies always did things in such convoluted ways.
Twilight found herself actually keeping interest in the Daring Do novel! Multiple minutes had passed and still she was reading, although much of it was thinking back to memories of Rainbow Dash reading the same book. “Yup... I have it bad, I have to talk to Rainbow, even if she doesn't reciprocate my feelings.”