"Yeah, it's me! I didn't think you'd recognise me! I missed you so much!" Scootaloo squealed as she ran to Rainbow Dash, hugging her in front of all the trialists and Wonderbolts.
Rainbow whispered into Scootaloo's ear,
"Scoot, I know you've missed me, and I've missed you, but you can't just hug me in front of everypony."
Scootaloo released her, looking slightly disheartened. Why wouldn't Rainbow hug her back?
"I'm sorry, Scoot. But if the trialists see you hugging me, and they don't know that you know me, they'll all expect a hug. It's not that I'm not friends with you, but I don't want a million ponies hugging me, I won't be able to work." Rainbow pointed out.
"Oh, right. I get it, you can't have too many friends." Scootaloo replied, winking at Rainbow Dash as she got back in line with the rest of the inductees.
Rainbow faced the Pegasi's who had arrived for the trials. Hopefully, many of them wouldn't feel the need to come and hug them as well. Of course, she wanted the trialists to see her as a friend, but they had to know where they stood with her, she was still the Captain, and they had to know that she was superior.
"Thanks for coming down, all of you, I really appreciate it. Because you've got used to the drills and equipment, it'll be Judgement Day tomorrow. I'm sorry to those who will be disappointed, but I wish you all the best of luck. We'll put you in different groups so that you are working with a different set of Pegasi. Same time as today. See you all tomorrow."
The trialsts all trotted away then flew back to their homes, leaving the Wonderbolts stood on the runway. They all slowly trotted away to the mess hall, ready for food and a rest after a long day. All except Rainbow ash. She hadn't expected Scootaloo to turn up, She was happy to see her old friend again, but she knew her, that was the issue.
Rainbow wasn't sure what she should do, what if Scootaloo wasn't good enough? Could she look her friend in the eyes and tell her that she wasn't good enough for the Wonderbolts? Rainbow hoped that she would be, so she wouldn't have to go through the pain and torment. But if she did pass her, would her decision have been biased? She couldn't make that decision, she didn't feel right. She needed somepony else to grade Scootaloo.
Rainbow Dash trotted back to her office, removing her flying uniform and sitting in her chair behind her desk. She closed the curtains, shutting out the evening sun. She turned on the small lamp on her desk, pondering what to do. This was probably her toughest decision as a Wonderbolt, she always took her job seriously when promoting trialists and other Wonderbolts, but when promoting an old friend, it was a bit different.
Rainbow spent the next half hour racking her brain. What could she do? What should she do? She could watch Scootaloo as if she didn't know her and as if she was any other inductee, but would she still be biased? Then it hit her. She needed an assistant. Rainbow hadn't asked to have a second-in-command when she became Captain. Spitfire had always had Soarin, and he helped her all the time in tough situations.
Rainbow took the quick trip to the archives below the base. It stored all personal information of every Wonderbolt, past and present. Rainbow trotted past the older, original filing cabinets, holding the records of the first Wonderbolts. Rainbow continued to trot down the shoddily-lighten hallway, the lighter and of the hallway coming closer. Rainbow reached the end of the corridor, where the latest records were held. She took the newest records and went back to her office.
Rainbow sat down at the desk again, piling the record files on the table. She took out a pen and paper, ready to note down what she was looking for. She started to sift through the personal records, trying to select who should be her second-in-command.
Fleetfoot came up first, a small profile picture of her held to the file by a paperclip. It showed her height, weight, wingspan. But nothing conclusive. It showed a few medical records, mentioning past injuries and allergies. Rainbow started to grow disheartened as her eyes studied further down the page, nothing conclusive about how these Pegasi acted were listed on the page. Rainbow had only been with these ponies for a few weeks, and even though she was friends with them, she hadn't really seen much leader material in them. She was hoping that some information on them would be lying in these pages.
Rainbow continued to flick through Fleetfoot's file, nothing eye-catching appeared. Until Rainbow reached the back page. She flicked past the penultimate page, when she noticed a different type of paper stuck to the back of the file. All but one page of the file had been in thicker, yellow-shaded card, but this last page was white and lined, with hand-written information on it. Rainbow leaned forward, slightly excited by it, she read it aloud quietly.
"Wonderbolt #178, Fleetfoot.
Very swift flyer, small turning circle, excellent maneuverability.
Calm under pressure, but no leading experience.
Report by Captain Spitfire."
So Spitfire had written these reports? Rainbow thought to herself. Even though she'd died, Spitfire was still helping her long into Rainbow's Wonderbolt career. But this proved that Fleetfoot couldn't be her wing pony. She decided to couple her preferences with Spitfire's reports to pick her best wing pony.
Rainbow continued to flick through the five remaining reports. Spitfire had mentioned that Rapidfire, Blaze and Misty Fly probably wouldn't be fit for positions in authority, so Rainbow crossed them off of her list. Only Soarin and Firestreak remained. Rainbow Dash knew that Soarin was good as a wing pony, but she remembered about what he had said about him not wanting to have any authority, so she crossed him off of her list.
Only Firestreak remained. This couldn't have come out any worse for Rainbow Dash. She didn't have anything against Firestreak, but she felt that he didn't like her. Every time she said hello to him, he only muttered back, he always seemed to have an angry expression on his face. In the training sessions, he seemed relaxed until she appeared, then he'd become serious and try even harder. Rainbow opened his file to see what Spitfire had recommended.
"Wonderbolt #181, Firestreak
Not so agile, extremely fast when encouraged.
Occasional temper flares.
Unsuitable for leadership.
Report by Captain Spitfire."
Rainbow laid her head on the desk, groaning loudly. She'd never find a Wing Pony. None of the Wonderbolts were suitable or wanted to be leader. Rainbow needed a Wing Pony to grade Scootaloo.
"I'll never get through this." Rainbow mumbled.
Rainbow started to feel tired, but she couldn't go home now, she needed to find a Wing Pony.
She continued to look through files and address books. She started to look through the training staff's files and files of retired Wonderbolts. She spent most of the night calling the Wonderbolt veterans, but they were either asleep or didn't want to come back.
She spent so long in the office, she eventually fell asleep. She slumped onto the desk, still sat in her chair. As she slept, she dreamed about how things had been before Twilight became a Princess and when the six friends had to split up.
Rainbow woke up as the clock hit 3AM, the sun still nowhere in sight. She had dreamed an idea, she knew who would be her second in command. She first rang the Junior Speedsters office, asking for the number of an old friend. Luckily, there was a security officer near the phone on a night shift, so he helped her out. Rainbow Dash called the number she'd been given.
The phone rang.
It rang again.
And again.
It rang seven times.
"She's not gonna pick up." Rainbow muttered sadly.
She started to hang up.
"Hello?" Came the faint voice from the other end of the call. "Hello?"
Rainbow replied quickly,
"Hello?"
The voice on the other end was shocked,
"Dash? Why are you calling me at 3AM?"
"I'm sorry. Look, I need your help. We've got an inductee here, and I can't judge her fairly. I need a second-in-command to help."
"Oh yeah, that's right." The voice chuckled. "Rainbow Dash, the Captain of the Wonderbolts. And now she needs help. Is this why you called me?" The voice asked.
"Yeah, I can't do it without you. We've gone separate ways recently after we fell out, but I could always trust you." Rainbow replied.
"Okay, I'll think about it." The voice stated.
"No, the trials are tomorrow, at noon. I need to know if you're in or not." Rainbow pleaded.
The voice sounded like she was getting sadder,
"If I do this for you, can we be friends again?"
Rainbow sighed. She knew they had to have time apart after what had happened, but she missed her friend.
"Yes, if you do this, I'll forgive you."
The voice laughed happily on the other end of the phone,
"Great! Then I'll see you at noon!"
Rainbow smiled, happy that she had her Wing Pony. No, her Wing Griffon.
"Thanks, Gilda."