//------------------------------// // Still Just a Rat in a Cage // Story: The Blue and the Gray // by CoyoteXray //------------------------------// “Dash, are you sure you want to do this? I mean really sure…?” Spitfire asked, her voice showing only a bit of her irritation as she used the button to raise the head of her hospital bed while she set down the book she was reading. “Well…yeah,” Rainbow answered as she paced back and forth, “I mean really…what’s the deal here? I understand that you’re not feeling well, but…what were you thinking? And do you have any clue just who they ended up dumping on us?” Rainbow turned back to face Spitfire, only to see her angry scowl. “Uh…no offense,” she quickly added. “Dash, what exactly is the problem here?” Spitfire asked, “Dawn is just an advisor. Misty is in command of the team. It’s all within the rules. So, why are you here?” “Oh please…I know this mare! I met her when they hauled us back from the Badlands. She’s bad news!” Rainbow retorted. “And did you know that she had them bomb Celestia’s castle!?!” “What, you just heard about that?” Spitfire answered, and then groaned and continued, “It was in all the papers Dash. It’s not exactly breaking news.” Rainbow was going to respond, but Spitfire held out her arm, and Rainbow pulled back. Then Spitfire continued, "Dash, I really hated the idea of coming here. Lying down on the job like this is totally not my style. But, I’ve got a really great male nurse who not only got my wing brace adjusted properly for the first time since I got it, but is also really cute. And though I absolutely hate needles, and was a total wimp when they stuck me for this line, whatever they’ve been putting in there is really great stuff, and for the first time in days, I don’t have a headache. Now, with all that in mind, I just have to ask you, why are you spiting in my i.v. bottle?” Rainbow grimaced and then rolled her eyes, “Well…you don’t have the history with this mare like I do. You didn’t have to listen to her barking at us on the fantail of that big zeppelin of theirs about how tough they had it…and where the heck we went when ‘all hell was breaking lose’!” Rainbow replied, with air quotes included. “Yeah…like trying to get through that desert was some kind of picnic, not to mention what happened with Twilight! And there’s the minor issue of where the heck those bums were anyway while we were running for our lives. And then you find out that they were throwing bombs at Celestia’s castle?” “You know what this sounds like to me?” Spitfire asked. Rainbow raised an eyebrow, and then asked, “What?” “A friendship problem,” Spitfire answered. Rainbow's eyes went wide, and she declared, “Oh give me a break! That is a total load of horsefeathers!” Spitfire smiled and shook her head, “Whatever you say, Miss ‘Element of Harmony’; can’t say that I know much about that subject myself.” Spitfire rolled right to get closer to Rainbow and continued, “Just please stay out of Dawn’s face…o.k.? Give her a couple of days, and she’ll move on. If you can’t do it out of common decency…do it for me as a favor. O.k?” “But…whoa, wait a minute…” Rainbow started to answer before catching herself, “uh…why did you call her Dawn?" Spitfire shook her head and sighed. “Yeah…good pickup there Dash. Yes, I do have a personal interest here. You see, Dawn Rider…” Spitfire paused and looked Rainbow straight in the eye, her jaw tightening“…is a good friend of mine! Get it? And she wasn’t assigned by anypony. I ASKED her to help out!” Rainbow retreated back even further. “Oh…”she said. Spitfire smiled and shook her head. “Just give her a chance Dash. I don’t know what went on with you two, but the mare I know is actually pretty cool. I think you could actually learn to like her if you try.” Rainbow gave a long sigh. “Yeah…maybe,” she replied, her skepticism plainly evident. Rainbow flew back to headquarters about an hour later. She wasn’t exactly sure what to do next, or if she should really do anything at all. She knew all this would require some thought, but the growl of her stomach distracted her. ‘Time for chow’, she thought, ‘I’ll work this out later.’ She took a moment to stretch, and then looked around, and spotted Blaze and Thunderlane. That was just what she needed, she thought, and she trotted over to join them. “Hey you two!” she called out as she approached, “What’s up?” “Oh hey Rainbow,” Thunderlane responded, his usual smile plainly evident, “We’re just killing time before lunch. What have you been up to?” “Oh not much, just went over to check on Spit,” Rainbow answered, “Say Lane, I’ve been wondering about this morning…and that whole thing with Dawn Rider. What did she say to you when she talked to you in front of the formation?” Thunderlane thought about it for a moment, and then replied, “Uh…not too much. She thanked me for coming forward…said that Misty would be the new commander…oh yeah, she also said that though what I played was her favorite bugle call, I should probably get them to throw out that particular record. It really sounded bad.” This brought out a laugh from both Thunderlane and Blaze, though Rainbow only shook her head and smiled. “I agree,” Blaze added, “it was pretty nasty.” Blaze then turned towards Rainbow and asked, “Hey Dash, are you still worried about her?” “I don’t know,” Rainbow answered as the trio started walking, “I’ve got some bad history with her. But, I’m not sure if it’s really important or not, and I don’t want to be a fulltime jerk for the next week ‘just because’.” “That would be nice,” High Winds added as she joined them as the approached the headquarters building, “I was a bit concerned.” “Oh hah hah,” Rainbow replied, before stopping just short of the doorway. “Uh…quick question guys, before I go in there. Uh…just what exactly is a ‘wing commander’ anyway?” Everyone stopped short, and turned towards Blaze, who recoiled back for a moment before replying, “Oh come on…you three should really know this stuff. It’s her RANK Rainbow. It’s the equivalent of a Royal Guard lieutenant colonel.” “Oh wow...uh...Spit still outranks her, right?” High Winds asked, her concern obvious. “Of course she does. She’s Wonderbolts commander after all,” Blaze answered, “Spit’s R.F.C. rank is squadron leader. That’s the same as a major. But, you all know the rules, ‘only a Wonderbolt can command the Wonderbolts’.” “Uh yeah…” Thunderlane replied, one arm going back scratch the back of his head, “I knew that.” “Yeah right,” Rainbow remarked, giving her friend a playful shoulder punch before the trio finally entered the building. Upon entering, Rainbow noted Misty and her advisor pouring through paperwork on a nearby table. “What the hey?” High Winds said as she too panned her eyes over the scene. “Yeah…tell me about it,” Rainbow answered. She flagged down Deep Dive, Spitfire’s secretary and asked, “What’s up?” “Not much,” he responded, “just paperwork.” “Uh…I know but…this looks ridiculous,” Rainbow observed, gesturing towards the pile of papers the pair were shuffling through. Deep Dive just harrumphed, brushed his hoof through his greying mane, and said with a smile, “Yeah…you weren’t around for the last change of command, were you?” before plodding off to his desk. Rainbow watched him go, and then looked back to the previous scene. She wanted to say something, but wasn’t sure how to begin. She took a moment, and a couple of deep breaths, and said to herself, “Be positive…be positive…don’t say anything stupid…don’t start a fight,” before slowly approaching Dawn Rider, who was propped over one side of the table across from Misty while they made their way through the stacks, pointing out various places on the various papers that required signatures. Rainbow noticed that her all concealing aviator glasses had been replaced by green eyes and reading specs. But something draped over a chair to one side caught her eye first, and she turned to examine it. It was a very nice set of black leather saddle bags, highlighted by a large embroidered patch on the flap. It consisted of a shield, which she remembered Twilight calling a bouche, or something like that, on which the emblem of the two sisters was prominently displayed, flanked on one side by a rearing earth pony, and on the other by a rearing unicorn, and topped by the head, neck and out stretched wings of a pegasus, and a bunch of fancy scroll work of course. At the bottom, there was another fancy scroll, with words across it. She recognized the words as Pony Latin, but she couldn’t decipher the meaning. “What’s up Dash?” Misty asked while still plowing through the papers in front of her. “Not much, just went to see Spit,” Rainbow answered, before looking again at the stack, “Uh…you guys do know that this is temporary. Spitfire IS coming back, remember?” “Indeed Ms. Dash,” Dawn Rider replied, obviously only giving the question part of her attention, “that is why she’s dealing with this stack, the one for the exec. If she was the commander, the stack would be twice as big.” “Oh you’ve got to be kidding?” Rainbow replied, clearly stunned. Dawn Rider just shook her head and smiled. “Welcome to my world Ms. Dash,” she answered. Rainbow was tempted to comment again, but a noise behind her caught her ear, and she turned around to see her compatriots crowding around and chatting with someone who had just walked in the door. “Hey Dash…looked who just showed up!” High Winds called out as the group fanned out to reveal that it was two ponies, Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail. “All right, now that’s some good news for a change!” Rainbow called out as she rushed forward to meet the pair. “When I heard they were calling up two reservists, I didn’t think that they would go after you two.” “Hey, what can you say, they needed the best, so here we are,” Sky Stinger replied, “Besides, it’s the perfect alternative to a boring old drill weekend.” “Oh hey,” Vapor scolded, “They’re not that bad. You just don’t like the new squadron leader.” “Uh, what…? Rainbow queried, but she saw Vapor looking past her, and towards the other two ponies in the room. “Wing Commander?” she inquired. Dawn Rider glanced over, and her face suddenly lit up, and a big smile came to her lips as she answered, “Is that you Flight Officer?” As Rainbow watched in amazement, Vapor approached the senior officer, and brought her right wing around and gave her best salute and said, “It’s good to see you again ma’am. I had no idea that you would be here.” Dawn Rider approached Vapor and came to a stop, as if not sure how to reply, before raising her right arm and giving a perfunctory return salute. “Sorry Vapor, hard to do it right in close quarters,” she said, with a barely visible blush. “Besides, this is a no salute zone young mare, or at least so they tell me.” She then came up and both of them embraced each other. Rainbow could only stand there and stare for a few moments. Then she looked over to Sky Stinger and asked, “They know each other?” Sting looked over and recoiled back a bit as he recognized the shock on Rainbow’s face. He then gave an obviously forced smile, and answered, “Oh uh, yeah. Long story. You know…one of those ugly little war stories…that are a bit hard to talk about…if you know what I mean.” Rainbow then slowly turned back to the two mares, grit her teeth, and took a long deep breath before asking, “Sooo…you two enlisted, huh?” Vapor heard the question, and separated from Dawn and turned to Rainbow and replied, “Uh…it was a direct commission into the reserves actually. It’s an idea that kind of came up, and then the family got involved. They all hoped that taking it would help our chances for a Wonderbolts call up when the time came.” Vapor paused, and looked down to her hooves for a moment before adding, “It seemed like a good idea at the time.” She then looked back to Dawn, who, Rainbow noted, only smiled. “Well kid, I’m glad that you two showed up,” Dawn declared, “I was feeling outnumbered here.” She reached over and gave Vapor’s shoulder a playful poke. “Yeah…yeah, whatever,” Rainbow belted out as she rushed forward and guided Vapor away from Dawn and towards Sting before pushing the two of them towards the door, “Don’t worry you two, you can fill us all in at lunch. I know the gang will just love seeing you again.” “Ms. Dash!” Dawn Rider called out. Rainbow turned. “What?” she queried. Misty rolled her eyes and answered, “Oh come on Dash, you should know the drill by now. They need to do the in-processing down the hall with Deep Dive. The PAPERWORK… remember? Just cause you'd do all this without being paid doesn't mean they can afford to.” Rainbow groaned, and turned back to his charges and said, "Uh...sorry about that guys. Got a little ahead of myself there. We'll catch up later." "Uh sure," Sky Stinger answered, "We have got some stories to tell, that's for sure." Vapor turned back to Dawn Rider and said, "I guess we'll talk later ma'am. It is really great to see you again." She then took two steps back and saluted again, which Dawn returned as best she could. "Uh Vape," Rainbow said in a low voice, "as a Wonderbolt, you really don't have to do that for her." Vapor looked back to Rainbow, obviously surprised by the comment. Dawn Rider though took a step towards Rainbow with an annoyed look on her face. "I believe Ms. Dash, that she was just trying to be polite," she said, "unlike some ponies here." "Uh...excuse me?" Rainbow answered, with a raised eyebrow. "Dash...don't push it," Misty warned from the sideline. "What I meant Ms. Dash," Dawn Rider continued, "was that I announced this morning just how I wanted to be addressed, and you just blew it off for the third time in the last five minutes. I don't think that a certain level of politeness was an unreasonable request." Rainbow took a step closer, her gaze hardening. "Oh yeah, I remember, along with a big old lecture about all that respect you earned, and all your sterling service," Rainbow answered, "well...I've seen just what all that service consists of. Pardon me if I don't kiss your hooves." "Dash!" Misty warned again. "Ms. Dash....I have no interest in restarting an old argument," Dawn Rider replied, her expression turning sour, "and I sure as hell don't expect you of all ponies to give me any credit for anything, or even give me the time of day. But, that said, I will demand at least a token of respect for my branch of the service, as personified by the uniform I wear and for the oath I have taken!" She paused, and took a deep breath before continuing, "Given what resulted on you and your friends quest, I would certainly hope that you would have a bit more sympathy for what happens when plans go awry." "Really?" Rainbow shot back, "There was a plan there? Given what I saw, I wouldn't have guessed that you clowns even had a plan, other than one in which you get your but kicked!" "Uh, should we just come back later?" Vapor asked. "Dash...SHUT UP!" Misty yelled. "Ms. Dash, I will not stand here and apologize for the entire Equestrian military!" Dawn retorted, "I've been to too many damn funerals for that! This is REAL LIFE YOUNG MARE!! THE GOODGUYS DON'T ALWAYS WIN!! IT"S NOT LIKE ONE OF YOUR DAMN DARING DOO BOOKS!!" Rainbow was stunned for a second. Dawn Rider could be forgiven for mistakenly assuming that she had made a point. But what came next killed that hope, as Rainbow asked, "Uh...how did you know that I read 'Daring Doo' books?" Dawn Rider's face fell, and she bowed her head and groaned, obviously aware that she said too much. After a few moments, she replied, "Because...I've read your file." Rainbow scowled, and asked, "You've read my Wonderbolts file?" "No," Dawn Rider answered, "I've read your D.I.A. file." "Uh...what's the D.I.A.?" Rainbow asked, looking totally confused. At this point Sky Stinger began to fidget and try to look off in another direction, as he answered, "Uh...it's...military intelligence." "Oh terrific," Rainbow said with an air of disdain, "So you're also a spook too." Dawn Rider gave a loud stomp, then growled and answered, "No, I am not a 'spook', thank you very much! I'm an intelligence analyst! That's my job! All of you were missing! We couldn't find you! We took a look at all of your friend's files for clues as to where you might be; except for Princess Twilight's, because hers is classified! You know...when you take into account that the future of the entire kingdom has rested on you and your friends' shoulders repeatedly, you probably shouldn't be so damn surprised that someone might have thought it necessary to collect a bit of information on you! And no...it was not my decision to check the files, so DONT BLAME ME!!" Rainbow snorted, and fired back, "Well...military intelligence huh? Gee, I've always thought that those two words were contradictory. Guess now I know, huh?" Almost as soon as she said this, she heard a groan from the group that had watched the whole exchange, and she looked to them and added, "uh...no offense." "Too late," Blaze answered. "Alright! This is ridiculous!" Misty Fly yelled, and then came out from behind the table. She pointed to the assembled group and shouted, "EVERYONE, GET OUT...NOW!!!" She then turned to Rainbow Dash and added, ".... ESPECIALLY YOU!!" Rainbow recoiled back a few steps, before turning and starting for the door. As she walked along, Misty followed behind closely. As they reached the door, Rainbow turned back and said, "Uh, I'm sorry about that Mist. I just don't know what got into me. She...just gets on my nerves." Misty gave a frustrated sigh and answered, "Just stay away from her Dash. You have no reason to interact. She's not your boss. STAY AWAY FROM HER." As they reached the door, she added, "Oh, and keep one thing in mind, please?" Uh, sure Mist," Rainbow replied, "what is it?" Rainbow cleared the doorway, and turned back to Misty, waiting for her reply. "Dash, remember," Misty said, "Flight Leader...is a military rank! Get it?" "Yeah...got it," Rainbow answered sheepishly. "Good," Misty replied, moving back into the room and closing the door behind her. "So Rainbow," Vapor Trail called out as the two of them flew along, "Are you o.k.?" Rainbow took a moment to catch a lung full of the cool on rushing air, and answered, "Yeah sure...I'm cool. After a session like that, I am totally chill." "I'm glad to hear that," Vapor answered, "I've never seen you that angry before. What happened between you and Dawn anyway?" Rainbow thought about it, and replied, "Well...it's complex. We just don't like each other." She adjusted the range flags in her arms, and looked ahead to the rest of the formation, which was about half a mile ahead and higher than they were. It had been a good practice, considering that it was more practice for Misty than anypony else. She didn't envy her friend, being the leader was totally different from any other job in the squadron. But they decided to stick to the basics, and Misty adjusted much better than Rainbow would have expected. 'Yeah...this just might work out,' Rainbow thought. She noticed the runway ahead at her home base. Looking up, she saw the group still at a high altitude, obviously not ready to land just yet. She then looked to the observation tower off to the right, and once again spotted a familiar figure of brown and blue still perched on the platform at the top, tracking the group with a pair of binoculars. "Ohhhh…" Rainbow groaned, "Is she still up there? She must have been watching the entire thing. Doesn't she have anything better to do?" Vapor also adjusted what she was carrying and responded, "I don't know Rainbow. Maybe she's just a fan." "Yeah right," Rainbow answered, "or maybe it's just her being a spook. I don't trust her any further than I can throw her." "Rainbow, you're not being fair about this," Vapor replied, "I know her. She's a good pony." The group ahead began a slow circle around the field in preparation for lining up for a landing, and Rainbow got an idea. "Hey Vape!" she called out, "Follow me!" She then began her own turn, and Vapor followed, this one even wider than that used by the rest of the squadron. As expected, the group came over the tower, clearing it by a few hundred feet as Misty brought them around before they went nose high to bleed off speed in preparation for landing. And as expected, the figure in the tower watched every move. "Come on Vapor!" Rainbow called as she made the turn, "This is going to be fun!" She then began decreasing her altitude as she went around. "Dash...what are you doing?" Vapor called out. "Just stay with me Vape!" Rainbow answered as she lined up on her target. "Dash...don't do this!" Vapor called out as the plan began to become clear to her. But Rainbow stayed on course, and her target became clearer now. She could see those big wings as her adversary continued to look away...her back still turned towards them...a red object perched on the rail of the observation platform... and then... Whoooosh….the pair of fliers cleared the tower, probably with not more than six feet to spare. Rainbow could see as she passed that she had been successful, as the fluttering of wings betrayed the sudden shock her quarry had gotten. She then lined up to the runway, and her and her wingpony came in for a landing. As she settled down on her hoofs, Rainbow set the range flags down, and looked back to Vapor, only to see her throw her cargo down, and yell, "Rainbow...how could you do that!! How...how could you make ME do that!!" She face hoofed, and then gave Rainbow an angry glare before launching herself skyward and heading back the way she came from. Rainbow Dash stood there for a moment, watching Vapor. She turned her head and looked back down the runway to where the others were standing, still oblivious to what had happened. then she looked back to the pile of equipment that Vapor had tossed down and said to herself, "O.K....maybe that wasn't one of my better ideas."