"I actually find it all quite fascinating. To think that Frau Flattery herself designed their off-season uniforms. Frau is no spring pigeon. You can't just hire the woman. The very idea they have that kind of clout is shocking. There's so much more to this aeronautic business than I previously thought."
"That's great n' all Rare but uh.....what does that have to do with Dash?"
Applejack had been called over for one of her midweek visits to the Carousel Boutique, which doubled as both a dressmaking facility and Rarity's home where she lived with her little sister. Rarity as usual was all dolled up, in a ruffled gown and yellow flowered hat. Applejack arrived as she often did, fast, bare, and somewhat annoyed. Over the last two hours Rarity had done nothing but chat about the magazine she had accidentally taken from Rainbow Dash's home. "Pony Pilot" wasn't exactly a popular or even particularly well written magazine, with a very small niche audience of ponies with a particular interest in aerial acrobatics, combat, and planes. But it was particularly nosy, able to glean info about practically any celebrity in the pegasus community. Perfectly apt for gossip, which was one of Rarity's favorite past-times. Applejack never really partook in gossip, but being a relatively quiet pony made her a very good listener. Which worked well since Rarity was quite fond of speaking and hearing herself speak. She lowered the magazine with an impatient pout on her face.
"Ugh! Don't you see, Applejack? The poor dear has lost her confidence entirely with this accident. Gone is the brash confident mare we once knew. Replaced by a traumatized and frightened filly who doesn't know if she'll ever fly again!"
"Yeah.....and.....?"
"She needs motivation. Something to get her spirits up. You know once her injuries heal she's going to just mope around on the couch afterwards feeling awful and scared."
"How do ya know she's scared?"
"When she got off the couch yesterday so that Pinkie and I could clean her wounds, there was this look in her eye. I may not have the doctorates of Twilight Sparkle but I know vertigo when I see it. I guarantee you if she tries to fly she's going to be more frightened than ever."
"Makes sense I suppose. If'n I had all my skin burnt off in a bullridin' accident I'd never wanna ride a bull again."
"I'm sure the bull wouldn't want to participate again either. Anyway, I have a have an idea to give Dash a little confidence boost. Pinkie Pie and I have already had a small talk with the Wonderbolts to arrange a little surprise for her. I'm going to design her a flight suit. Something sleek and sultry yet dangerous-looking. Something to hide her scars."
"She'd like that, I reckon. Remember that space suit she had you make for her when Hoity Toity came to town? That gave me a good laugh."
Rarity frowned. "I'd rather like to forget all those costumes."
"Well I already know what I'm gonna do to cheer her up." Applejack said, puffing out her chest and beaming proudly.
"Do tell, dear."
"I already asked Pinkie to have her come down to Sweet Apple Acres for dinner on Friday. Let her stay the night with me n' Pinkie n' Applebloom. Like a sleepover 'cept of course we don't get any sleep cause we're too busy talkin' and havin' fun."
"That sounds delightful, actually."
"Would you n' Sweetie wanna come too, Rare? Granny's gonna whip up some o' her famous deep fried pickles. Hoof-lickin' good."
"Save me a seat. Don't be surprised if I can't make it, however. I'm designing a whole weddings worth of dresses this week for the Summer Saddle Show in Canterlot. I regret taking the job and I haven't even started yet."
"Well shoot I'll save y'all some and bring 'em over next time I visit."
"Thank you, Applejack. That's very considerate of you."
Rarity picked the magazine back up again and began to read it aloud as she had before. Previously the unicorn hadn't much interest in the whole sports thing. Particularly when it came to pegasus sports. But finding out that it linked up to the fashion industry was enough to plant a seed of curiosity in her mind. Applejack for the most part couldn't care less about pegasus sports, or for that matter Rainbow's obsession with the Wonderbolts. In fact in Applejack's very honest opinion, Rainbow was a far more impressive flier than any of those smug celebrities. But she kept that sort of thought to herself. Far be it from her to rain on the parade of someone else or undermine the power of a childhood dream. She preferred to keep folks around her happy and peaceful. She leaned back in her chair, more than content to listen to the beautiful unicorn sitting across from her drone on for another hour.
******************************************
Blueberry pancakes are pretty great. That's the mantra that seemed to repeat itself over and over repeatedly inside the chaotic sea that was the mind of Pinkie Pie. Not that blueberry pancakes were the BEST pancakes but they were most certainly in the top 10. Possibly even the top 5. And the best part of them of course was the blueberries themselves, picked fresh from Sweet Apple Acres. While the first two pancakes had been rather humble, once Pinkie had fully understood just how good the berries were, the recipe had changed dramatically. Now the items were more fruit than dough and might as well simply have been fried patties of berry. Not that it was wrong, really. As the pink mare watched the stack of flapjacks slowly grow larger, she remembered something Mrs.Cake had told her once.
'The fastest way to a pony's heart is through their stomach.'
Truly sage wisdom. If there had ever been an award for philosophical brilliance, Mrs.Cake would have brought home every award. Truly there was nobody wiser than Mrs.Cake. She was simply the best there is. And with this philosophy in mind Pinkie decided she was going to ensure every meal Dash got while she was out of commission was fantastic. Nothing could chase the blues away quite like a good meal, and Pinkie was going to prove that as hard as she possibly could. After dropping a few berries to the floor to feed Tank, she balanced the plate of pancakes on the tip of her snout, skipping happily over the couch where Dash had been sleeping. The injure athlete had been awake for about half an hour, and strangely silent.
"What uh....are those?" Dash asked as she gawked at the plate of steaming blue rotationally symmetrical blobs that had placed in front of her.
"Pancakes!" Pinkie chirped. "Of the blueberry sort."
Dash leaned down and took a few bites of the steaming mess before lying onto her stomach and snorting. Pinkie cocked her head to the side as she watched.
"Don't like them?"
"I'm too tired to eat right now, Pinks."
"Do you want me to turn out the lights so you can sleep."
"That's not gonna help."
Dash pushed herself back into a sitting position again. With a small angry grunt she pulled at the cone on her neck, trying to wrench it free before giving out an exasperated sigh and falling back down.
"I can't sleep with this friggin'.....THING.....on me, Pinkie."
"Well...maybe we can try to arrange your pillows differently so you can be more comfortable? Or we could get you new pillows! Or or we could put the pillows into the cone so matter which direction you look there will be a pillow there."
"Pinkie this would probably upset the others but....I'm asking you please....as a friend...can you please please take this thing off my neck?"
Pinkie bit her lip. Now this was a request she wasn't sure if she could even legally fulfill. The doctors had been pretty specific about the intent of the cone. If she removed it they'd be very upset with her. And if Dash tried to bite her wings again after the cone had been removed all her friends would be even MORE upset with her. Pinkie sat in thought for a moment, weighing her options. In a way, perhaps removing the cone would bring Dash some comfort and help her mood brighten up. On the other hoof, maybe Dash WANTED to bite her wings again and this was her clever way of trying to access them by removing the one thing keeping her from nipping. It would be heartbreaking if that happened again.
"Dashie....if I do this can you promise me you wont try to hurt yourself again? Cause I think that you're supposed to keep this thing on until your thinking juices are less sad. And I don't want you to end up not being able to fly."
"I can't promise anything, pal." Dash said looking at the carpet. "I'm gonna be honest, I still....feel it. You know? I still feel like trying to tear them off. Even after all this. Rarity says I'm not crazy but....I don't think non-crazy ponies are supposed to have these thoughts. But I can't really make them go away."
Pinkie looked into Dash's eyes as she thought about it. At least Dash was being honest about the intent. There was nothing but frankness in those scarlet eyes. There was sadness there too, but that was to be expected at this point. Dark rings around her eyes showing truly just how tired she was. Pinkie nodded slightly before climbing around behind Rainbow Dash. The small round latch that kept the bent halves of the cone together sat a few inches up from the base. With as gentle of a motion as she could, Pinkie bit onto it, turning it to the side until a soft click could be heard. The seam on the back of the cone opened wide, and with a bit of scuffed fur and difficulty, the small end had been pulled around Dash's head. It fell with a soft plop onto the couch. Dash immediately stretched her head from her shoulders, bending it this way and that to be sure she felt comfortable again.
She flopped back onto the couch, letting out a small content sigh that she could once again snuggle up against the soft sheets without feeling the plastic monstrosity biting into her neck or pushing her cheek up against her lower eyelids.
"Thank you, Pinkie."
She let out a loud yawn. Pinkie tried her best not to smile. Watching Dash yawn was so cute. But this was a serious moment and it was time for a serious question. Pinkie climbed back around to the other side of the plate of pancakes, giving Dash a small prod on the forehead to garner her attention. The cyan mare's eyes flicked open as she glanced up into the very serious face of a very serious Pinkie Pie.
"Rainbow Dash I need you to answer me something." Pinkie commanded, using Dash's full name instead of the nickname she generally went with. A sure sign that Pink pony wasn't foolin' around. "Why did you do it, huh? Why'd you try tearing all your feathers out when we were just trying to keep you happy and safe? Didn't you think about us? How much it'd make us sad if you hurt yourself?"
"I'd already hurt so many ponies, Pinkie." Dash said in a low tone. "I injured ponies. Innocent ones. And it's all cause I didn't listen to AJ and Twilight. Now there's ponies in hospitals because of me. Ponies who might die because of me."
"How does tearing your feathers all out help them?"
"It doesn't. But I can prevent it from happening again. I've always been accident prone. Always been such a screw-up. But this is different, ya know? It's affecting others now. I can put an end to it and make sure I can't ever hurt anyone like that ever again."
"But you love flying! And it's your special talent!"
"So? Just because it's my special talent doesn't mean it's good." Dash rose to her hooves, feeling a small knot of anger rising from her stomach. "What if my talent was lighting ponies on fire? Or blowing things up?"
"You didn't hurt any pony on purpose, Dashie! And there's a big difference between being in an accident and trying to hurt ponies on purpose! You don't need to blame yourself for it!"
"OH? And why NOT exactly?" Dash found herself yelling but she didn't care at this point. She was tired of this baseless pity. "If I hadn't gone to the track that day, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED! Everyone would still be happy. Spitfire would still have her job! That little girl wouldn't be in a coma! Celestia and Luna wouldn't have looked bad! Ponies wouldn't have had to witness such a horrible bunch of crap that I CAUSED."
"You wouldn't have been happy if you hadn't gone to race that day, Dashie! You love to race!"
"YOU THINK IM HAPPY NOW!?" Dash bellowed. "WITH THIS!?" She stretched out her wings to their full span, gaps in the feathers and wrappings no longer hidden under bandages.
"Stop yelling at me!"
"I'M NOT YELLING!"
"Yes you are! You are! You are!"
"Look at me, Pinkie! LOOK AT ME!" Dash screamed, tears falling from her eyes as she lost control. "At my age I should have a career. A mate. A foal of my own. Half my old friends all have kids now! And I haven't accomplished ANYTHING with my life! All I've done is fly around chasing my own tail for a stupid childhood dream that has DONE NOTHING but get others HURT! THAT'S ALL I'M EVER GONNA BE! I'M JUST A BIG STUPID LOSER!"
"But.....you've won so many awards for flying....don't those mean anything to you? How can you be a loser if you win things?" Pinkie was crying as well at this point. It was rare that she got yelled at. And it was never like this. She was terrified. Never had she seen Dash this angry.
"WHY SHOULD THEY?" Dash leaped off the couch, spreading her mangled wings and landing in front of her trophy case with a shout of pain. She turned and bucked the shelves with her back legs, sending the wooden slats splintering and tearing half of her gauze off. The trophies fell to the floor, clattering loudly. "NONE of these are worth ANYTHING!"
"Celestia gave you this one herself!" Pinkie squeaked holding up a small golden tiara that had two small golden wings on either side of it. "Don't you think that's special? The princess herself thought YOU deserved this, Dashie!"
"I DON'T DESERVE IT!" Dash shrieked, grabbing the tiara and throwing it angrily to the floor. "Rarity won that stupid Best Young Fliers contest that day. Not me."
"But you saved her life! And the Wonderbolts!"
"SO? WAS IT A 'SAVE THE WONDERBOLTS' CONTEST? No it was a contest on flying mastery and I was friggin AWFUL at it. Just like I am at everything! I'm awful at EVERYTHING, PINKIE! I'm tired of it. I'm tired of winning things I don't earn! I'M TIRED OF BEING AWFUL!"
Dash brought up her good foreleg and with a loud clang and a crunch had stomped on the tiara with what little strength she had left in her hooves, smashing it into a pile of bent golden shards.
"Oh no! Oh no, Dashie oh no!" Pinkie tearfully shoved Dash's leg off the smashed tiara. "You earned this! You really did, you should be proud of it!"
"It's not worth anything." Dash mumbled as she turned away and lay on her side on the floor, sobbing quietly. "I'm not worth anything."
"Don't think that way!" Pinkie gently knelt to the floor, leaning her head on Dash's side, feeling her friend's lungs exhale and shudder with every sob. "You're worth so much more than you think you do. You don't even know how much you mean to me. How much you mean to our friends. We couldn't function without you here and we'd all be so sad if you were gone. So please don't think that way! Don't think we'd be happier without you cause we wouldn't!"
"I wish....I wish I knew what I was meant to do."
Pinkie sat in thought for a moment. This was not the kind of situation she knew how to handle. Crying babies? Sure. A ruined social event or two? Easy. Those were fixable problems. Practical problems. But this was overwhelming. There didn't seem to be a logical way of helping her friend. And logic wasn't even something Pinkie was very good at. In her world 2+2= frogs and that was good enough. Her thoughts kept going back to how Dash's incredible flying abilities had always helped her feel safe and happy. How many times Dash's talent had protected their friends. Then it clicked. That was it. That was the issue.
"Hey Dashie? What do you think your cutie mark means?" Pinkie lifted herself up and sat in front of Dash so she could look into her friend's face.
"I got it when I did a Sonic Rainboom. It's a trick that nobody had managed to do for nearly a hundred years."
"Okay but what do you think it MEANS? Like....what did you think you were supposed to be doing with your life and stuff?"
"Flying? And being awesome at it I guess."
"You know what I think?" Pinkie whispered, stroking Dash's side. "I think you look at it the wrong way. When I was little and got my cutie mark I thought it meant that I was only good at parties. But as I grew up I realized it meant more than that. It meant I was supposed to keep the ponies around me happy! In whatever ways I could! I think that's why I got to be the Element of Laughter. Cause I love making my friends laugh!"
Dash continued staring glumly at the floor, but Pinkie could tell she had really gotten her attention.
"You only did the Sonic Rainboom in the first place cause you were trying to protect Fluttershy against bullies. And you helped all of us realize what our passions were because of it. I don't think your cutie mark is meant to say that you're the best flier ever, even though you probably are. I think it's meant to show that you use your strength and speed to protect us. You're so good at helping keep us safe and keeping the town looking nice with the weather team."
Dash turned her head so she could look into those blue eyes that bore into her. They were so hopeful yet sad all at once. In them she saw love and compassion that she felt she never deserved, but wanted nonetheless.
"You know alot of ponies think that you're a troublemaker. Or that you're lazy." Pinkie continued. "They don't appreciate what you do. But I do. And I know Fluttershy and the others do."
"So....you think I should be using my power to help others?"
"Yeah! You do it all the time anyway, Silly Filly! Do you remember the day I was really sad on my birthday and I locked myself inside my house? You used your strength to drag me out and made me happy! You always help make other ponies happy. And I know you like it. I know you like the admiration of others more than any awards or titles you've ever gotten. You help everyone even if they don't appreciate you for what you do! That's what Loyalty is! Celestia knew that about you before she even met you! Why not make that your special talent?"
Dash seemed lost in thought. It had never really occurred to her that she had misinterpreted her own symbol. Three colorful streaks of lightning beneath a white cloud.
"I get it....I'm like a cloud." Dash mumbled, her eyes brightening. "I float around and strike when I need to."
Pinkie nodded vigorously. "MMmm Hmm! And you're really helpful just like a cloud! You even live in a cloud!"
"Yeah, I do." Dash said, looking around the room. "I really hate this place. Dumb cloud house."
"You do? But it's so pretty! And you built most of it by yourself!"
"Yeah, I know. I should be proud of it. It was like my secret cave when I moved here. So I didn't have to be all chummy with other ponies too often. I didn't like talking or being too friendly back then."
"What changed?"
"I changed, thanks to Fluttershy and Applejack mostly. Made me come out of my shell. That's why I usually don't sleep up here. It's really quiet and lonely living in this cloud. I always thought I was so cool being all by myself. Like some quiet lone wolf hero from a comic book. But I'm all alone up here. I hate being alone. Sometimes I feel like.....it's a tower and I'm trapped at the top. Like a fairytale princess, ya know? Waiting around for some prince to rescue me from how lonely it is up here."
Pinkie sat for a moment letting this information process. It all made sense now. Dash never slept at home. She was always taking naps on low-flying clouds near the town, or in apple trees, or on roofs, or sometimes on tables outside of restaurants, much to the annoyance of the owners. Pinkie had always figured it was because Dash simply didn't feel like flying all the way back home when she was tired. But it was deeper than that. Dash was lonely, in a strange sort of way.
Pinkie felt a small bead of courage. If Dash felt like a lonely princess trapped in a tower than Pinkie should be her prince. A female prince didn't make sense but what fun was there in making sense?
"Dash..... I could be y-"
She didn't get to finish the sentence. The front door of the house suddenly clicked and swung open, admitting two new guests. Two familiar cream colored mares stepped through. An old friend and an honored veteran. They both looked down in confusion and shock at the scene before them. Rainbow Dash lay on the floor, pieces of wood and smashed trophies littering the floor, her face still moist with tears. Over her side lay Pinkie Pie, looking very tired and dejected. For a moment the two groups stared at each other, not quite certain how to react.
"Well...I hope we aren't interrupting anything." Spitfire chuckled, brushing back her fiery orange mane.
****************************************
Fluttershy, in her infinite wisdom at keeping things moderate and peaceful, managed to save the awkward situation with but a small mere suggestion. And within a few minutes, and a bit of cleanup, the four mares found themselves sitting around a table playing a cheerful unorganized game of the Settlers of Coltan. A popular board game where players hoarded resources to put little wooden castles onto the game board, which was a group of cardboard hexagons designed to resemble features from Equestria. It was the sort of game one didn't play when drinking as it could often lead to loud arguments and shouting. Pinkie Pie loved it and had brought it up with a few other games to Dash's place. It was a distracting enough game to keep them all occupied while Dash calmed down.
"Well, I think that I win." Spitfire announced, scanning over her deck of cards. "Actually I'm not sure. I THINK I win. Hey Miss Pie, take a look at my deck here and tell me if I got the resources to win this thing."
"Well I'm not SUPPOSED to look at your deck....but......" Pinkie stretched her neck several feet to take a quick gander at Spitfire's deck. "Yep! You win!"
"How...um...did she win?" Fluttershy asked, still unsure how the game functioned. Every player had several castles with roads criss-crossing across the continent except her. She had a single small house near the ocean with one road going right into the sea.
"Well see here Flutters... if she trades in her coal cards and her gold bits she can buy a mountain. And then she can make another road over it which gives her 20 victory points! Sealing the deal!"
Pinkie threw a bunch of confetti into the air. Where the confetti had come from was anyone's guess.
"How'd I do?" Dash mumbled, flipping through her deck of resource cards. "I'm still not even sure what I'm doing here."
"You came in second, Dashie!" Pinkie said giving Dash a small nuzzle on her shoulder, which Dash leaned away from as she always did. "And I'm sorry Flutters but......you came in last. But don't feel bad! It's kind of a luck-based game!"
"Oh I'm fine with not winning, Pinkie." Fluttershy replied. "I don't mind only having one castle and one road. This is the sort of kingdom I'd probably have if I was royalty anyway. Nice and quiet and secluded."
"What's this stuff that makes this honey and rose smell again, Miss Shy? I kinda like it." Spitfire asked, glancing at a small wooden bowl that appeared to have a stick and some pine-needles sticking out of it.
"It's incense." Fluttershy said with a sweet smile. "It's mostly plants and herbs mixed with amber. I thought it would help Dash relax. I make it for myself usually. Living with animals means my house usually smells rather...uh...hmm."
"It's very nice!" Pinkie said as she continued shuffling the decks of cards. "Could you make ones that smell like candy?"
There was a loud knock at the door, causing Fluttershy to startle and fall out of her chair. Spitfire sighed happily and got up.
"Finally, Soarin is here. Took him long enough." Spitfire went to go answer the door.
Dash dropped her deck and crawled under the table where Fluttershy was still recovering from her tumble. She grabbed Fluttershy by the shoulders and dragged her over.
"FLUTTERSHY!" Dash harshly whispered. "What in the hay? Why are the leaders of the Wonderbolts in my house?"
"You aren't happy with them visiting you?"
"Of course I am but.....how? How did you arrange this?"
"I didn't. Rarity and Pinkie did. They came to me because they didn't know where you lived."
Dash hopped back onto her seat, with Fluttershy slowly crawling back onto hers a moment later. Pinkie gave the two a quizzical look as Soarin and Spitfire joined the others at the table. He was dressed in the familiar uniform befitting a Wonderbolt. A deep royal blue jumpsuit, accented with yellow jagged yellow cuffs that matched the yellow zippered underbelly of the suit. The blue stallion flashed the mares what he thought was a very roguish smile. But he was just a bit too goofy for that. He was however, cool enough that nobody would ever call him out on it.
"Hello, ladies!" He glanced down at the game board. "What's this? New edition of Settlers of Coltan?"
"Yaaay!" Pinkie clacked her hooves together in a gesture of applause. "Someone besides me has heard of this game! I knew I wasn't alone!"
"Well. As long as we're all heeeere...." Spitfire sidelong glanced at Soarin, making a small nod as if to signal something. He looked at her dumbly for a moment before realization hit.
"Oh right! So.....Rainbow Dash....." he began.
Dash suddenly felt every cell in her body stop moving for a brief instant at the excitement of having the team leaders of the Wonderbolts in her house, addressing her by name. What an honor!
".....I heard you've been tearing your feathers out."
And immediately the feeling was gone and Dash wished she could crawl under the carpet and hide there for the rest of eternity. Or at least steal away Pinkie's strange ability to disappear entirely without anyone noticing. All eyes turned on Dash. They were friendly eyes, but they still stared with a strange look. Concern? Judgement? She couldn't really tell. She sank into her seat trying to concentrate really hard on one of the wooden castles in the board game, hoping maybe the non-existent deacons who lived within it would grant her sanctuary from this moment.
"Hey now, don't feel embarrassed. I ended up tearing out a bunch of mine, once."
Dash looked up. "Y....you did?"
"Oh yeah. In my younger days when I was trying out for the Royal Guard, I ended up taking some uh....performance enhancements to help my chances. What I didn't know what how that junk altered my state of mind. Bad mojo. When I ended up not getting the job, I just sort of lost it. Off the deep end, totally. Couldn't remember what happiness was like. Drank alot. Alienated my friends and family. Got in fights. Ended up tearing out every feather one night in some panic attack. Woke up in the hospital next to this angel." He gave Spitefire a wink, causing the yellow mare to blush.
"When I was a kid me and my sister would sometimes try to see which of us could fly the fastest. One morning I lost her when we were flying over a forest. It took two days until we found her. She'd crashed into a tree and they ended up having to remove her wing. I felt like it was my fault for the longest time. Every night I'd yank one feather out of my wing just to sort of...punish myself I guess. It took a long time until I was able to forgive myself and stop it." Spitfire opened one of her bright yellow wings, the evening sunlight glinting off of the perfectly preened feathers. "Every time I fly now, I do it for her."
"Dash....I know you probably feel really guilty right now about the accident. But hurting yourself isn't going to help you or anyone else get better." Soarin tilted his head, raising an eyebrow. "When you hurt yourself you hurt everyone around you. There is nothing as painful as watching someone you love destroy their body. And I'm sure your friends love you very much."
Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie both smiled and nodded towards Dash.
"The most important thing you need to know is that there is always someone who loves you unconditionally, Rainbow. And when you feel scared or sad you should let them know. You aren't alone when it comes to this sort of problem. Here." Spitfire pulled a small white card out from behind her ear. "This is a support group for ponies with long-term feather pulling problems. If you feel like you need help, just visit. You'll meet folks from all over Equestria who can help."
Dash accepted the card and looked up at her heroes. It was so strange that Soarin and Spitfire were both here in her home. Even stranger that they had just given her the pep-talk of a lifetime. In the past she'd had a hard time even managing to get in contact with these ponies. Now here they were in her home, concerned for her safety and even offering help. It was too much. She could feel that emotion she hated coming back. That painful lump in her throat rising, making her want to cry. She refused to, not here in front of her idols. With a gulp, she swallowed the feelings back down into her stomach.
"Th...thanks." Dash mumbled as she read the address on the card. "Hey um....I'm sorry that I got you fired from your job, Spitfire. I didn't.....I didn't think that...."
"I should be apologizing to you, honestly." Spitfire said rather nonchalantly. "If I hadn't been so cheap and installed safety nets around the rink earlier, this would never have been so bad. You wouldn't be so jacked up and I'd still have a job. It's my fault really for being careless with the funding Celestia gives us. Reap what you sow I guess. Besides, Soarin makes a good team captain. Awww look at him, he's blushing!"
Fluttershy had known Dash since they were barely able to walk. She could tell from the look on her friend's face that the mare was using every ounce of her energy to not fall apart right there. Emotions were raging underneath those contracted pupils, and the longer this conversation lasted, the harder it'd be for Dash to keep her composure.
"Would you...um...like to join us for another game, Mr.Soarin?" Fluttershy asked sweetly. "The box says the game works best with five players."
"Oh no no no! Believe me when I say that I would easily wipe the floor with you guys. I am an expert in this game. If there was a finishing school for it, I would have a PHD in victory points and cardboard road construction."
"Sounds like an excuse to me." Spitfire quipped, giving Soarin a small evil grin.
"Mmmk. You're on! If I win, you have to make lunch for the whole team for a week. And ordering pizza will not count."
"Sounds fine to me, baby. And if I win....hmm....oh ho if I win, you have to say my whole coronation speech for the next group of fresh cadets. And that includes Dash."
Dash looked up suddenly, her scarlet eyes wide with shock. "Me....you mean....that.....I....I'm....."
"Yeah, I pulled a few strings. You're officially enlisted in our voluntary reserve corps. Meaning you can come down and train with us when you please, and we call you in when we need helping hooves. It's not as cool as being a part of the main show team, I'm afraid. You still have to pass the physical, but I'm sure you'll do fine. I couldn't officially swear you in as a full member due to this whole....y'know....debacle. But you've got more heart than half the kids we conscript. Plus you saved my life, Dash. I had to do SOMETHING for you before I stepped down."
"Don't forget....." Soarin began, pulling a brown hefty paper bag out of his rucksack. "You get an official Wonderbolts uniform. The lightning stripes on it are red instead of yellow since you aren't a full-time member yet. But I'm sure you'll get promoted as long you work hard enough. Then you'll get the yellow one."
"B....but.....w...why? I cost you your job." Dash meekly asked, shivering as excitement and fear took hold of her. Her whole face going pale. "I...ruined...everything."
"You've defended our nation against Princess Luna when she was still a nutcase. You helped fight off Discord when he was firing beams of pure random around. You helped defend the Crystal Kingdom. You saved me and Soarin's lives and the life of your pretty friend. Your friends were more than eager to tell us some of the good deeds you've done around town. And for five years you've been coming to tryouts, doing your absolute best. I think you've more than earned it by now."
"I....I........" Dash could feel the tears starting to form, she tried to hide them with a respectful bow of her head so she could look at the floor. With a small gasp of air she managed to rasp out, "Thank you so much."
"You're quite welcome, Miss Dash. Noooooow if I recall...." Soarin dragged a chair up to the table and plopped his tush into it, rubbing his hooves together sinisterly as he eyed the board game. "I believe someone challenged me to a game of Settlers of Coltan. And Soarin does not back down from a challenge."
"Yeah!" Fluttershy squeaked out, clearing her tiny solitary castle from the game board. "If somebody tries to block, show them that you rock!"
Pinkie frowned. That particular slogan was one she'd hoped Fluttershy would never use again.
***********************************************
True to his word, and despite a large portion of the game being based around dice rolls, Soarin was indeed an expert. Only when the four other players actually worked together to land-lock his castles with roads were they able to defeat him. A detail he smugly bragged about. After a few games both he and Spitefire said their goodbyes, and with a few words of thanks and encouragement they departed from the floating cottage on the outskirts of Ponyville, eager to return to work back in Cloudsdale. Dash had remained very quiet throughout the game, and had numbly waved at the Wonderbolts as they flew off into the sky, leaving twin vapor trails behind them as they rose. As the two specks vanished into the magenta sky, Dash took a step back to admire the latex suit in her arms. Here it was, everything she'd ever wanted. Arriving, hoof-delivered, by her heroes. Right on the eve of her greatest failure.
She turned to see what her friends were up to. Her childhood companion Fluttershy was cleaning up the board game, saying something to Tank who was very interested in whatever was on the table, though he could not reach. Pinkie Pie had attempted to clean but grew bored nearly instantly and now was in the kitchen cooking up a large pot of pasta with some sort of creamy alfredo sauce. The smell of tarragon and oregano was soon filling up the house, mixing with the sweet honeysuckle aroma from the bowl of incense that still smouldered upon the mostly empty book shelf. Her friends had spent all day with her, even managed to have her heroes visit her in person, and she had no way of thanking them besides useless words. That painful feeling bubbled up inside of her stomach again, making its way into her throat. She quietly made her way over to the couch, and buried her face into the cushions again. Taking solace in the fact none of her friends would hear her this time. She hated them seeing her cry. Their faces full of pity. It only made it all worse.
"Hey Fluttershy!" Pinkie shouted from the kitchen. "Can turtles eat spaghetti?"
"I....well Tank is a tortoise, Pinkie." Fluttershy mused. "And I suppose he could eat some of the noodles."
Tank heard the words "eat" and "turtle" which was enough to make him free himself from Fluttershy's embrace and waddle over to sit with Dash, eagerly awaiting dinner. Not a particularly emotional creature, he did notice that his master seemed to be in distress. He let out a small grunt, hoping to catch her attention.
"Oh! Dash what's wrong?" Pinkie squeaked sadly as she rounded the corner with a steaming bowl of alfredo pasta balanced precariously on her rump. "Are you sad the Wonderbolts left? Or that you lost at the board game? Or do you just really dislike pasta? I can make something else! I could make sandwiches!"
"No...it's....nothing, Pinkie." Dash grumbled as she wiped her eyes with her arm fur. "I'm fine."
"Okie dokie....." Pinkie replied quietly. The tone of her voice conveyed she didn't believe Dash's lie one bit, but she wasn't going to push the issue. "Well here, eat up! I put lots of spices and love into this spaghetti so it should taste extra EXTRA good."
She pushed a smaller bowl next to the large one that had been placed in front of Dash.
"And here's one for you, Tank. Eat it all so you can grow up into a big strong turtle!"
"Tortoise." Fluttershy corrected.
"Do you want any, Flutters?" Pinkie sang, waving a third bowl under the pegasus's yellow muzzle. "It's really reeeaaallly gooooood!"
"I wish I could, Pinkie. But I haven't tended to any of my animals today." Fluttershy flew gracefully over to where Dash was, giving her friend a hug. "Try to feel better ok? I'll visit again as soon as I can."
"See ya, Shy." Dash said, although with her mouth full of pasta it sounded more like "SHEY A SHEEHHH".
"Oh Pinkie, can I talk to you....um....outside for a moment." Fluttershy asked as she floated through the front door, her pastel yellow wings swooshing gracefully.
Pinkie trotted merrily out to the front steps where her friend was sitting, a slightly worried look on her face. Not that it was out of the ordinary to see Fluttershy looking worried. She worried a lot. All the time, pretty much.
"Pinkie....." Fluttershy whispered. "Why is the cone off of Dash's neck? And why did she smash her trophies?"
"She said she couldn't sleep with it on." Pinkie confessed. "I wanted her to be as comfortable as possible. As for the trophies...um...she kinda got real upset but I calmed her down."
"Twilight's not going to like that but....ok." Fluttershy gave Pinkie a very serious glance. "Make sure you keep an eye on her. Dash can be very unpredictable."
Pinkie saluted. "Private Pinkamena has this sector secured, General Fluttershy!"
"Well alright." Fluttershy tried and failed not to giggle at Pinkie's mannerisms. "I'll see you two later."
The yellow pegasus dropped off the cloud, swirling downwards to the forest below, soon to return home and care for all the wild animals that looked to her for protection. In the small cloud cottage, the two ponies and the tortoise ate their pasta, feeling the exhaustion of such an emotionally busy day slowly weighing down upon them as day turned to night.