Rainbow tried to lay low for the next few hours, not sure if anypony else had found out about her prank. Her gut instincts told her that she needed to patch things back together as quick as she could, but that probably would mean running over to apologize to Dawn Rider, and that screamed surrender, which just felt sooo wrong.
Vapor though was another matter. Looking back, she should have realized how much damage she could have done by drafting Vapor into her scheme. She hadn’t thought about it before, but as much as she liked Vapor, she really didn’t know her very well. She obviously wasn't just the talented soft spoken mare she had met at the trials. And where in Equis did the idea of Vapor and Sting in the military come from?
Parked in a chair in the mess hall two hours later, all the questions were still buzzing through her brain. She had to think this through and come up with a plan; she knew that like she knew her own name. But as she sat at the table pondering the question, the scent of the hay burger in front of her just kept getting in the way. She caught sight of it in the corner of her eye. It sat there on the plate, taunting her.
She looked away, thought of her issues, and when that didn’t work, thought about Buck Ball. But the growl from her stomach kept reminding her of what she really needed at the moment.
Finally, she could resist no longer. She reached down and carefully picked up the gloriously large sandwich and took the biggest bite she could manage. The combination of patty and condiments overwhelmed her senses as she chewed, accompanied by a wonderful feeling of satisfaction. She had no idea what the cooks here put in these things, but she wanted it in everything she ate from here on, no doubt about it.
Something caught her ear, and she looked up to scan the room. At first it was the same old scene, the crush of fliers and ground crew moving through the serving line, chatting and just doing the things that one would normally expect. But in the back, advancing through the crowd came Dawn Rider, carrying nothing more than a mug of coffee and a newspaper as she approached an adjoining table and sat down. One of the unicorn servers approached, and the pair spoke briefly to each other before parting. Rainbow kept watching as Dawn sat there, skimming over the headlines until she settled into a particular article. Dawn must have sensed it, as she looked up, and caught sight of Rainbow. Not a word was said, but Dawn’s angry grimace spoke volumes.
Rainbow quickly looked away, and turned back to her meal. It was then that she caught sight of Vapor and Sting, who had just come in. Vapor looked over to Rainbow as she passed, her displeasure clearly evident as she turned up her nose. Sting followed, giving Rainbow a shrug as he passed before the pair sat down on either side of Dawn, who looked every bit as surprised as Rainbow was at the development, and immediately the trio began to converse.
Rainbow pondered the situation as she chewed. She made a mental note to try and get Vapor to tell her just what she had experienced during the invasion. She certainly could relate to the whole idea of a “battle buddy”; she had certain ponies in her life that had rallied to her side in a fight situation. But even that description didn't really work given Vapor's attitude.
Rainbow shook her head and rolled her eyes. This was going to be a challenge, and certainly not one to be solved in a single day. Right now she was really looking forward to her day off ; a break in the action and maybe a chance for a new perspective. 'Yeah', she thought, 'definitely needed.'
"What's needed?" came a voice from her left. Rainbow glanced over and saw Fleetfoot sitting next to her.
"Whoa now...uh, where did YOU come from?" Rainbow asked, "and was I thinking out loud?"
"Uh yeah, duh...and I've been here trying to get your attention for like five minutes," was her reply, "So what's got you so spaced out, I mean, besides the food?"
"Well...uh, nothing really," Rainbow answered, trying to limit the conversation, "Just looking forward to my off day. You know, quick trip back to Ponyville and meet up with the gang."
"Well, lucky you," Fleetfoot answered, "with any luck, you'll miss out on the drama here after that stunt you and Vapor pulled." She paused and chuckled to herself. "It sounds totally epic though. That's how one should pull a prank. Simpler is always better is what I say."
"Yeah..." Rainbow responded, clearly with little enthusiasm, "That said though, it really wasn't cool that I didn't at least give Vapor a chance to bail out of the whole thing. I just hope I can make it up to her."
"Ehh...don't worry about it," Fleetfoot replied, "Those R.F.C. types are wound a bit too tight as it is, and our esteemed 'wing commander' is worse than most. I overheard her growling at one of the ground crew. Apparently in spite of looking like a total doofus when you two passed, her major obsession was that your prank made her drop something from the tower. I mean, you'd think that she'd have bigger worries than that." Fleetfoot paused as her double decker daisy sandwich arrived, then added, "I mean, this whole thing sent me looking through some articles at the Coltlumbus library. You wouldn't guess what one of the Manehatten papers called her after her performance during the invasion?"
Rainbow answered, "What?"
Fleetfoot giggled and replied, "The Mad Bomber of Canterlot."
Rainbow's jaw dropped and she raised an eyebrow. The silence lasted just long enough for her to hear a perturbed snort behind her. She turned and looked and saw Blaze, who had apparently been moving to join them at their table, but instead moved off to join Dawn and the others.
"Hmmm..," Fleetfoot said in a low voice, "What's up with him?"
Rainbow gave a shrug, but as soon as Fleetfoot turned towards her sandwich, she took a moment and scanned the group around her a little closer. At first, everything looked normal. But as she sat there, she spotted a lot of wary glances going around the room for whatever reason, along with what appeared to be dirty looks. Rainbow couldn't quite see the pattern to it at first, but as she carefully studied the groupings at the tables, finally it dawned on her. There was one thing that seemed pretty much consistent wherever she looked, the divide between civilian members and military ones.
Rainbow propped her head on her left arm as she pondered what she saw. The whole scene just seemed inconceivable to her. She knew there was always circles of close friends and certain cliques, but there was always overlap. Flyers and ground crew had always been one team, no matter where they originally came from. Could a few admittingly harsh words and a simple prank have done that much damage? Did she just somehow...break the Wonderbolts?
"O.K.," she thought, "this is not good."
"What?" asked Fleetfoot.
Rainbow glanced over to her friend. "Oh...uh, nothing," she blurted out, and then slowly turned her eyes back towards the others.
Being back around the School of Friendship for the first time in a week was a nice break from the atmosphere at H.Q., especially since the school was on summer break. For Rainbow, dividing time between teaching and the Wonderbolts was usually awkward. As much as she enjoyed being around her students, it was a challenge for Rainbow to make sure the lessons she was teaching were both meaningful and…well, cool.
But today at least, that was not a concern. She had already polished off some routine paperwork. Now, she could roam the quiet halls and enjoy the silence, at least until she found Twilight. Not that she really needed some advice right now. 'Couldn't be that' she thought, 'just need to shoot the breeze...'
That idea lasted till she got to the door of her office. She took a deep breath, and said to herself, "Yeah, Twi's going to love this little screwup" before she finally knocked.
“So you ended up buzzing her?” Princess Twilight asked as she planted herself behind her office desk, a note of concern in her voice, “I mean, I know that you like pranks. But you had to know that antagonizing her like that was just going to make things worse.”
“Yeah, it wasn’t one of my brightest moves,” Rainbow Dash answered, avoiding eye contact as she reclined forward onto Twilight’s desk, “and Vapor wasn’t at all cool about it. Not to mention having to spend the whole next day avoiding the two of them to try to and keep from screwing things up even more. Not that it was totally successful. I ended up running into Misty in the morning, and she told me how our advisor had told her how great it was to have solo flyers in the show…’to surprise the crowd’ she said. Let’s just say that trying to 'explain' just what the heck she was talking about was not easy.”
“Well, it does sound like you’ve got a major problem there,” Twilight replied as she used her magic aura to clear some of the papers off her desk so she could lean forward and get closer to Rainbow, “At very least, you should have tried to apologize to Vapor. You forced her to do something mean to a friend, and you had no right to do that. But, as to this advisor whoever she is," Twilight paused and leaned back in her chair as she pondered, "I can’t help but think that there has to be a way for you two to get along. I mean, she’s Royal Flying Corps…they’re usually pretty adventurous types. There has to be something you two have in common.”
“Oh Twi, please…” Rainbow answered as she rolled her eyes, “She’s works in intelligence. She’s probably a total nerd. You know, one of those types that spend all their time on puzzles and books.”
She then looked to Twilight and saw her scowl. Rainbow groaned. “Sorry about that Twi. That was a really stupid thing to say. And I seem to be doing that a lot these days. Open mouth, insert hoof.”
Twilight smiled and answered halfheartedly, “Oh yeah, no biggy, hah hah.” She then pushed back from her desk and came around to face her friend. “Anyway Rainbow, I know that the whole invasion was a really bad time for all of us,” Twilight observed, “and a really bad time for her too no doubt. But we have to remember that ponies say things when they’re under stress that they’d never say any other time.” Rainbow spun her chair to the right, and hopped off to face her friend as Twilight continued. “I guess if I could say anything to both of you, I’d say to keep an open mind, and don’t judge somepony solely based on what you heard on what was probably their worst day.”
“Yeah, you’re right Twi,” Rainbow replied, reaching over and patting her friend on the shoulder, “I guess there may be something about her that’s not totally bogus. I just have to find it.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow at that, but just smiled and simply answered, “Uh…yeah, that’s right.”
Twilight turned and gestured towards the door, saying, "Hey, can you help me with something real quick? It should just take a minute, and then we can go meet up with the others."
Rainbow nodded and followed along, curious about her friends intent. They proceeded down the hallway and passed by several of the classrooms as they did so, Twilight always taking at least a moment to peer inside each room as they went.
“Twi, aren’t we on break right now?” Rainbow asked, “What are you looking for anyway?”
“Oh, well I’ve got a few students who stayed around to help clean, but I’ve had trouble keeping track of them, and I can't just leave them unsupervised,” Twilight answered, “They should have been working on this floor…somewhere.”
The pair plodded down the hall, each one checking the classrooms as they went. As they went, Rainbow heard something that was a bit off as their hoofs hit the marble floor. As they went, it seemed to get closer and closer until…
“Oh hey Sandbar,” Rainbow said over her shoulder as she spotted the young student.
The young pony immediately recoiled back and put on an obviously exaggerated grin, raising a hoof in greeting. “Oh hi teach. Uh..nice day isn’t it,” he said in an unsteady voice, adding, “Uh, this isn’t what it looks like, you know, like I was trying to startle you…or anything like that.”
“Uh huh,” Twilight answered as she turned to see him, “Where’s Ocellus? I thought she was with you?”
“I’m right here,” Ocellus announced from behind the party, causing both faculty to shriek and recoil back.
“Urrghh,” Rainbow groaned, “remind me to avoid this place when it’s empty.”
“Oh, sorry,” Ocellus said sheepishly.
Twilight took a couple of deep breaths and finally answered, “It’s o.k. So, did you get done?”
“Oh…yes ma’am. We even dusted the chandeliers, or actually Ocellus did. It's a bit too high for me,” Sandbar replied, then he turned to Rainbow as the group began to plod down the hall and asked, “So, how are things with the Wonderbolts?”
“Oh…uh, not too bad,” Rainbow answered, “We had to get a temporary replacement for Spitfire, but it’s working out, no thanks to the lame R.F.C. flyer Spit asked to help.”
“Oh, I see,” Ocellus responded, “They sent somepony from the Royal Flying Corps? What’s their name? What's this pony like?”
“Oh, don’t worry about it kid,” Rainbow replied, “Her name's Dawn Rider. She's kind of a big lame loudmouth. You probably wouldn't like her.”
Ocellus stopped in her tracks, causing the whole group to pause. She then turned her head slightly, clearly confused, and asked, “Dawn Rider huh? Uh, is she kind of big compared to most ponies? And does she have a black mane?”
“Uh, yeah,” Rainbow answered, stopping to look back at Ocellus.
“But you said she was…lame?” Ocellus continued.
“Yeah…”, Rainbow answered, “What’s up kid?”
“Oh nothing,” Ocellus replied with a smile, “It’s just that I read something about a pony named Dawn Rider. But it must not be the same one. Uh, anyway I should get going. It's nice to see you Rainbow.” She then turned and began to move away.
Rainbow gave Twilight a quick glance and then looked back towards Ocellus and called out, “Hey kid! What about Dawn Rider? What did you read?”
Ocellus turned back and replied, “Well, it was just a notation in a book of trivia that said that the world record for altitude without supplemental oxygen for a pegasus is held by a pony named Dawn Rider, 23,092 feet. They even had a picture of her, and I'm pretty sure she had a black mane. Or at least it looked like it to me. But…” she added with a smile, “a lame pony couldn’t have done THAT.” She then turned and trotted off, but paused for a second and said to herself, “Unless she got hurt AFTER she set the record…”
“Hey Ocellus!” Sandbar called out, “Wait up!” as he quickly trotted off to join her. The pair met and then started off down the hall, with Sandbar leaning over and telling Ocellus, “I don’t think that’s what she meant by ‘lame’.”
Rainbow turned and looked Twilight in the eye, her mouth agape and her head tilted in confusion. “You don’t…”she started, and then shook her head, “Oh no way. Can’t be her. In two days, I’ve never even seen her fly once, let alone look like she could have done something like that.”
Twilight just shrugged her shoulders, and said, “Well, you can head to the library and try to look it up. Or, maybe you can just ask her yourself. She did tell you about the file, so she sounds like she’s at least a fairly honest pony.”
Rainbow just crossed her arms and snorted at the thought.
She arrived back at home base in the early evening, soaring in over the clouds and homing in on headquarters. But, as she approached, something caught her eye off to her right. She changed her approach and quickly landed, only then scanning the sky's around her. She could see some activity in the distance, but couldn't quite tell just what it was.
As she looked around at ground level, she spotted Sky Stinger off by the end of the runway. She immediately launched herself into the air and flew over to him, landing on his right, and saying, "Hey Sting. What's up?"
He glanced her way and pointed upward, answering, "Vapor and Dawn are airborne."
Rainbow looked skyward, and after a moment or two caught sight of them, two pin pricks against the slowly darkening sky. There was no problem deciding which was which, Dawn's big wings were obvious even from the ground. Rainbow couldn't remember seeing such wings on a pegasus before. They actually looked like they belonged on a hippogriff.
"So what are they doing exactly?" she asked.
"Air combat drills," was Sky Stinger's reply, and then added, "Just a second." He reached to his left and picked up the microphone of a small radio that was sitting next to him and pressed the button and called out, "Switch!"
He then set down the mic and turned back to Rainbow and said, "It's like a game of tag. The only difference is that if one of them can't tag off on the other, they only have to pursue for five minutes before they have to change roles." As soon as he finished speaking, he reached down to a stopwatch hanging from his neck, quickly reset it and restarted it.
"Sting," Rainbow asked, "What kind of relationship do those two have? If you had to categorize it, what would you call it?"
Sting thought about it for a moment, then answered, "Judging by what Vapor has told me, I'd say they're 'you can cry on my shoulder if you need to' kind of friends, cause I think that at one point or another during the invasion, they both had to do exactly that. Which is cool with me." He turned at looked Rainbow in the eye, and added, "Oh and just a little word of advice. Next time, don't make Vapor have to choose between her friends. She values both of you, and it's just plain not fair."
"Yeah, I got it," Rainbow answered with a smile. "So, how are they doing?" she asked.
Her answer came in an instant as Dawn Rider, clad in a grey flight suit, dove out of the blue, screaming past before pulling out just a hundred feet off the deck. She went into a tight left hand turn, but then Vapor, dressed in Wonderbolts blue, appeared out of nowhere, got inside of Dawn's turn, and tagged her back.
"Uh," Sky Stinger replied, "Let's just say that Vapor has a bit of an advantage here."
"I guess," Rainbow replied as she watched the pair. Dawn could get decent speed, especially in a dive, that was obvious. But there was no way she could actually evade Vapor, who always seemed to be one move ahead of her.
"Hmmm," Rainbow pondered to herself, "Definitely not the same pony."
Rainbow was still watching the pair when he heard Sting call out on the radio, "Time!"
The pursuit immediately broke off and Vapor swooped in and quickly landed. "Wow!" she said almost as soon as she touched down, "That was awesome!"
All eyes then turned towards Dawn, who came in quietly and touched down, stumbling a bit as she did. Rainbow couldn't help but notice that she was panting, and that for some reason, she hadn't as of yet folded her wings. She looked totally spent.
Vapor immediately rushed forward, ignoring Rainbow, and came to Dawn's side and asked, "Are you o.k.?"
Dawn was looking down, still trying to slow her breathing. But when she looked up, she caught sight of Rainbow standing nearby. Though she was still winded, she forced herself to straightened up, and with effort folded her wings. Only when she had finally gotten back to fully erect did she look to Vapor and smile. "Uh...sure kid," she said to her friend, "You're just seeing...the result of way too much time spent behind a desk. Can't...do an exercise like that every six months and still expect to do it right. Damn lazy on my part."
Rainbow moved up beside Vapor and said, "Hey Vape, can I have a word with Dawn, just the two of us. I promise I'll be civil, and that as soon as I'm done, I'll try real hard to make it up to you for being such a braindead moron."
Vapor stood there for a moment, obviously sizing up Rainbow's offer. But finally Sting came closer and said, "Come on Vapor. Why don't you show me where this radio belongs. I think that we can trust her."
Vapor gave Rainbow a wary glance, and finally answered, "Sure." With that, the two young flyers flew away, leaving Rainbow and Dawn behind.
"So...what's with the wing?" Rainbow asked when the others were out of earshot, "old war wound?"
Dawn Rider gave Rainbow a wary glance, and then squatted a bit and slowly worked her shoulders around once or twice before straightening up and answering, "In this particular instance, that would only apply if you're referring to an old long lost battle between stupidity and the laws of physics. What do you want Ms. Dash?"
"A truce," Rainbow replied.
This took Dawn Rider by surprise. "Do I dare ask why?" she asked cautiously.
Rainbow sighed. "Because I think that our little spat is causing problems in the Wonderbolts," she answered.
Dawn stared at Rainbow, obviously confused.
"O.K., granted a public argument between us was a bad choice," she answered after a moments thought, "But I doubt seriously that our tiff is having that much of an effect on unit cohesion. Besides, I'll be out of here in a couple of days anyway."
"I don't think that we can wait that long," Rainbow replied, 'I mean, you haven't noticed that things are a bit tense around here? That some ponies aren't talking to one another, like one would normally expect. I'm thinking that we've kinda set the civilians and the military types against each other. And I don't think that you leaving is going to solve the problem."
Dawn sat down, and looked Rainbow in the eye, still uncertain. "Are you sure about this? The Wonderbolts are professionals. Could just the two of us do that much damage?" she asked, but then added, "Granted, it is your unit after all."
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," Rainbow replied, "I think we need to try to calm things a bit. Starting with, I don't know, actually learning how to get along with one another."
Dawn Rider thought about it for a moment, and then asked, "What would you suggest Ms. Dash?"
"Well, first," Rainbow said, "You can call me Rainbow. Friends call friends by their first names."
"Uh," Dawn Rider answered, "That's your plan?"
"For starters," Rainbow responded with a smile, "And we need to get to know one another. So first , uh...tell me, how do you know Spit?"
"Well...," Dawn responded, "we were in the same squadron."
"What kind of squadron?" Rainbow asked.
"An attack squadron, V.A.-19" was Dawn's answer, "I was an attack flyer. She was our forward air controller."
"O.k., that's a bit too inside buckball for me," Rainbow answered as she gestured Dawn forward towards the nearby hanger, "maybe we should keep it a bit more basic for now. So..are you married?"
"Do I get to ask questions too?" Dawn inquired as she walked.
"Hey, you got to read my file," Rainbow retorted.
"Well yeah," Dawn answered, "but I didn't memorize the damn thing."
"Just play along," Rainbow responded, "So...married?"
Dawn Rider groaned and answered, "Yes."
"To a stallion?" Rainbow asked.
"Yes," Dawn answered.
"Any foals?" Rainbow continued.
"Yes...two. A filly and a colt," was the answer.
"There you go Dawn," Rainbow replied with a laugh, "and I bet you thought that this would be tough."
Dawn Rider only answered with a grunt.