O.K…” Rainbow Dash said as she walked with her friend High Winds down the edge of the runway, ”not that I’m THAT worried about it…or like I’m trying to avoid her or anything. But…you don’t think that Spit’s still mad at me do you?“
“Dash… are still obsessing about that?” High Winds asked, “Look, I really don’t think that you have a real problem there. I think that she was angrier with herself than any other pony. I think that your biggest problem was that you were the first pony she saw after it happened.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought too…but I’ve never seen her quite so ticked off like she was this morning,” Rainbow continued. “I thought for a moment that she was going to bite me or something.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” High Winds answered, “I bet it’s just the whole being grounded thing. It’s just getting on her nerves. Once she gets out of that brace, she’ll be back in the swing in no time.”
Rainbow and High Winds separated with a wave and Rainbow flew back to the main compound, more than ready to get out of her flight suit and get some well deserved downtime. That lasted until she landed and got about halfway to the dorms. As she came around a corner, a loud conversation caught her ears. There by the barracks were Spitfire and the flight surgeon, in what sounded like a heated conversation.
“Oh wow, that doesn’t sound good,” Rainbow said as she made their way over.
“Doc, this is a total load of crap, and you know it!” Spitfire shouted back at the earth pony behind her, “It’s just a headache dammit.”
“Yeah right,” was the answer from the doctor, “and you’ve spent the last three days bumping into things and you can barely keep your oats down. Those are classic signs of a serious concussion, and that’s nothing to be blowing off! You need some real downtime…immediately!”
“Oh…WHATEVER!” Spitfire fired back. “You’ve already grounded me over the damn broken wing. But I’ve still got a job to do! We’ve got a major show to get ready for, and with Soarin out of action with the trots, we’re up to our neck here! We’ve got to get replacements called up, and I’ve got to…”
“You can barely function!” the doctor fired back. “Look, I understand the problem, but this is one occasion you are not going to be able to rise to. The whole reason that this happened is because Soarin didn’t tell us he was sick until the two of you had a damn midair. It’s bad enough that he tried to bend the rules, what kind of message is it going to send to the team if you start doing it?”
Spitfire turned back to the doctor and growled, and then glanced past him and saw interloper that was observing them. “Dash is there a problem or something!?!” she called out.
Rainbow looked away, her nervous fidgeting not fooling anyone. But after a moment Rainbow spoke, “Oh…uh…no…no, not really. I'm just standing here…not eavesdropping…or anything...you know, like that.” Then Rainbow took a deep breath, and put on a nervous smile and asked, “Uh…well…right. So...no problems with me. Any problems with you?”
Spitfire scowled and asked, "You heard the conversation, right?"
"Uh right," Rainbow replied nervously, trying not to make eye contact, "Just a little...you know...the part about concussion and taking time off."
Spifire gave a frustrated sigh, and answered, “Don’t worry about it Dash. SOMEONE HERE has got the idea that I need to spend some time off. Supposedly, I got my bell rung a little harder than I thought in that crackup a few days back. We’ll work it out, o.k.?”
“Oh wow?” Rainbow answered, “How’s that going to work with the Manehattan 300 in two weeks?” She came closer and lowered her voice and said, “Uh…I mean...you know, who's going to be in charge around here?"
Spitfire groaned, and answered, “Yeah…yeah, a little something I haven’t gotten around to. I’ll work it out…o.k.? Just keep the chatter to a minimum. The last thing we need is everyone getting all worked up over nothing.”
Rainbow recoiled back a bit and responded, “Uh boss…that’s not nothing.”
Spitfire rolled her eyes and gave Rainbow an angry glare. “Yeah I know dammit!” She watched for the response, and saw the concern on her compatriot's face. She gave a frustrated sigh, and continued, “It’ll be fine…trust me.” Spitfire took that as her cue to depart, and turned in the direction of her office and plodded away, the doctor trailing along behind her.
As they went, the physician came up alongside her and asked, “O.k., now are you actually going to follow through with this or what?”
“Yeah…yeah…whatever. I’m going to do it,” she answered, her frustration clearly evident, “I just need to call a friend first.”
[i] Rainbow Dash was looking at the crowd ahead of her with great anticipation as the carriage rolled down the crowded street. This was what she had always wanted, the cheers and the adulation. The parade winded through the streets and everywhere she looked was her picture or her name on some sign or banner. She had no idea what she had done to deserve this, as she wasn’t in her uniform and her fellow elements were nowhere to be seen. Not that she minded that much, but it left her puzzled.
Finally though, she saw the parade’s destination, and the sounds in the background changed as she approached the podium, and she spotted Applejack, who came up to her and sat back on her haunches, reached out and put her hoofs on Rainbow’s shoulders, and said….”WAKE UP!!!!”
The first thing that day that Rainbow could clearly remember that day was the sensation of falling, followed by her impact with the floor. She frantically thrashed about for what seemed like forever until she was able to untangle herself from her bed sheets and finally get to her hooves.
“Yeah…right…whatever…I’m awake, o.k.!?! she blurted out, only then noticing Thunderlane standing in front of her, already in uniform, and her surroundings and how bright they were.”
“Uh…sure…no problem,” Rainbow mumbled out loud before she asked,” What’s up ‘Lane? Celestia starting things a bit early today?”
“Uh…not hardly,” he answered, a hint of tension in his voice, “Actually, it’s 8:30.”
“Whoa,” Rainbow fired back, her eyes going wide, “That is so not right. What happened? We never get to sleep in past 6:30. What’s going on!?!”
Well…Spitfire had to take off last night,” Thunderlane replied, “Apparently she was really feeling lousy. The doc made her head over to the hospital. I guess we’re on our own for right now.”
Rainbow face hoofed and groaned. 'So much for nothing', she thought.
Suddenly, one of the ground crew burst through the door and announced, “Hey Wonderbolts! Brush your locks and grab your socks…someone is calling for a formation out on the flight line in fifteen minutes! Move it or lose it!”
The others in the room immediately scrambled towards the door, while Rainbow sprinted towards the locker room, struggling for a moment with the latch on her locker. “Hey guys…tell them to give me a minute!” she called out, only to turn back towards the room she had just left and notice that she was already alone.
“Oh swell,” she grumbled to herself.
It took longer than she hoped, which always seemed to be the case when one is in a hurry, but finally Rainbow Dash was suited up and cantering down the assembled mass of ground crew and support staff till she reached her normal spot in the formation. Thankfully, she noticed that she wasn’t late, so she took a moment to look back and make sure she was squared away.
“Dash…lock it in,” Fire Streak growled at her over his shoulder.
Rainbow groaned, corrected herself, and then leveled her gaze forward to see…the opposing wall of the hanger beyond. ‘What are we waiting for?’ she thought. She thought of trying to get a look around, but gave up when she saw Thunderlane trot over in front of the group. ‘Now,’ she thought, ‘maybe we’ll get some answers.” But unfortunately instead, he took up a position in front of the group, and faced toward the hanger, obviously expecting someone else.
Rainbow groaned and rolled her eyes, but then spotted a large pegasus mare approaching from behind, making her way around the group.
Almost immediately, she looked back to see Thunderlane signaling to someone. In an instant, a loud shrill whistling sound came out the nearby loud speaker, followed almost immediately by the somewhat scratchy recording of an unrecognizable bugle call.
Rainbow couldn’t believe what she heard, and it was made all the more unusual by the fact that the strange mare, and two of her fellow flyers were now saluting towards the speaker, the strange mare’s large wings suddenly jogging Rainbow’s memory.
“Oh…it couldn’t be…could it?” she said to herself.
When the sound died away, the large mare came back to attention, and then continued to make her way around the group, and Rainbow finally got a good look at her. She was big, big enough to look Tempest Shadow in the eye; her fur a chestnut brown; her mane and tail black. She wore the same sort of blue uniform that Spitfire wore, the difference being the additional striping on her cuffs, the slightly different aviator’s wings on her chest, and most notably, the lack of Wonderbolt insignia. She wore the same mirrored sunglasses that Spit wore, but it was her cutie mark that really caught the eye, consisting of a large gold five pointed star, surrounded by a tight formation of bright silver stars set into the facets of the gold one. Rainbow scowled. The whole gaudy thing just screamed military as far as she was concerned. But that was not the worst of it. There was no denying it as she added up what she saw, she knew this particular mare.
‘Aw nuts,’ she thought, ‘not her.’
The large mare finally stopped in front of Thunderlane, and then came up to him. Rainbow tried, but couldn’t quite make out their conversation. Thankfully, it didn’t last long, and the stranger turned around, walked back about a half dozen yards, then turned and faced the group.
“Good Morning Wonderbolts!” the mare called out, “and welcome back! You are no doubt wondering just what you’re looking at! Before I answer that question, I need to fill you in on things! That accident that occurred last week has unfortunately left Captain Spitfire a little under the weather! I’ve been told it isn’t that serious, but your flight surgeon decided that she needed some time away! She is currently in the hospital down in Coltlumbus, just for observation so they say! I assure you that you will have the chance to visit, and I strongly encourage it as I’m sure that she’ll be bored to tears by the second day!"
She paused for a moment, and then continued, "My name…is Wing Commander Dawn Rider…of Her Highnesses Royal Flying Corps! And no…I am not your new commander. That said, though I know that most of you are not with the R.F.C., I want to keep our relationship on a professional level! If we should happen to interact, I ask that you address me as 'wing commander', nothing more…and sure as hell nothing less! I’ve been serving for 21 years, and I've busted my fanny to earn that rank, and yeah, I’m probably a bit smug about it! If it helps, just think of it as a quirk of mine.”
She gave a slight smile, pausing for a moment to gage the response, and then continued, “My mission here is to assist this unit, and the interim commander with this transition, and then…get the heck out of the way! I know that all of you here are professionals, and I am sure that we can make this work, and I can let you get back to what you do best!” She paused again, and then said, “But first, we need to name the new commander.” She scanned the group, and then called out, “FLIGHT LEADER MISTY FLY…STEP FORWARD!!”
The other flyers couldn’t help but look as Misty took a deep breath and stepped out of formation, moving up alongside Thunderlane, who then moved back and took over the position she vacated.
“And now Wonderbolts, let’s hear it for Thunderlane!” She began tromping her front hooves, which was echoed halfheartedly by the rest of the group. After a few moments, she stopped, then waited for the others before adding, “He showed initiative, and took charge!” she added, “I like ponies who step up!”
Dawn Rider then moved forward, and talked in a hushed voice with Misty Fly. The entire formation seemed to lean forward a bit to try and catch any of the conversation, but it ended quickly and she moved back to her earlier position.
“You have two reservists on their way to fill out your ranks! They should be here at any time! Meanwhile, I’ve got to get Flight Leader Fly up to speed! Report back here at 13:00 hours, and we’ll hopefully get you flyers back on your training schedule! Any questions!?!”
“Yeah…who choose you for this job?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Dawn Rider frowned, and turned her gaze towards Rainbow and said, “Nice to see you again too Ms. Dash. Anyone else!?!”
Hearing nothing, she looked again to Misty, and commanded, “FLIGHT LEADER…TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR SQUADRON!”
Misty promptly saluted, which Dawn Rider returned before she turned to her left and trotted away.
Misty turned and faced the group. “At ease everyone,” she ordered, then added, “Gather around. We need to talk.”
The squadron moved in and formed a half circle around the new leader, while the members of the ground crew filled in around the edges.
“Who is that mare?” Fleetfoot asked.
“I’ll tell you who she is,” Rainbow Dash answered, “Met her during that whole mess with the Storm King. She’s loud, obnoxious, and a total pain.”
“Uh…I seem to remember something about somepony with her name in the paper,” Surprise added, “I think she may the one who called in that air strike on the castle.”
That bit of information caused more than a few jaws to drop.
“An air strike?” Silver Zoom asked, “Oh wow...I forgot all about that! Damn, that’s hardcore!”
“Guys,” Blaze objected, “she’s R.F.C. and it was an invasion. What do you think she’d call for…a bouquet of roses for crying out loud?”
"Wouldn't surprise me," High Winds added, which drew a round of giggles from some in the crowd.
"Yeah right," Blaze said with a halfhearted laugh before adding in a low voice, "she accomplished more than we did that day."
“Hey, let's keep it civil here,” Misty interjected, "Look, whatever...o.k.? I’ve got to go talk to her, so you guys can do what you need to do. And don’t hesitate to go drop in on Spitfire. Just make sure you’re back by 13:00…got it?”
The was not much of a response from the group, just some scattered unenthusiastic mumbling.
Misty groaned, and called out, "Are we clear on the plan Wonderbolts!?!"
This time she got a series of nods and affirmative responses.
"Thank you!" she called out. She was going to leave, but Rainbow caught her eye.
"What's up Rainbow?" she asked.
"Oh...uh...nothing. Just...uh...thinking that I should...go see how Spit is doing," Rainbow replied, one arm rubbing the back of her head nervously.
Misty rolled her eyes and answered, "Rainbow...just please don't cause any problems, o.k.?"
"Who...me?," Rainbow replied, "No problem. I just need to talk to Spit...you know...just see how she's doing...and how she's feeling...and what the hell she was thinking." Rainbow's face fell as she realized what she just said. "Uh...anyway, gotta go," she blurted out and she quickly darted away.
Misty let loose a tired sigh. "Oh joy," she said to herself as she took to the air and headed for the main office.