"And... you want to know why I am pissed me off?" Slade asked rhetorically as he took another drink. "They didn't have the book."
"Well... I was wondering why you were angry as a hornet's nest." Raynor replied as he poured another one for Slade. He had been in a rather... angry mood to put it lightly for the entire morning, only calming down slightly when he had a cup of coffee and a drink after that. "By the way... where's Sanya?"
"Still sleeping. By still sleeping, I mean "just went to bed an hour ago". She's nocturnal."
"Well, regardless, we're all going to lose quite some sleep over this job." Raynor replied as he took a cup of coffee.
"By the way, where's Captain Star Spangles?"
"He left with Armin before you woke up. Must have been tiring for you though."
"It's not. I never really get too much sleep anymore, not that it would matter to me as long as I get a good cup of coffee in the morning."
"Well... regardless, the Captain's off doing something with Armin. He mentioned something about how they had some work to do in town."
"Well then, that's very nice of him." Slade said as he chuckled to himself.
"What is it?"
"Nothing. Nothing."
On most early mornings in ponyville, if Rainbow Dash wasn't up in the skies on weather duty, then she would be down on the ground within the ponyville track which was her common turf for practicing. With her wings, she was legendary. With her feet, she was unmatched save for the fleetest of all ponies on their hooves.
Today, would be no different. She practiced a few laps, kicked up a ton of dust on the track, and received much awe from her any onlookers at one of the fastest pegasi in Equestria.
However, while today wasn't planned to be different, it inevitably turned out unexpectedly as when she had arrived on the track. There were two strange new, residents in town. One of them wore a tanish coat with two wings upon it's back, while the other wore a blue uniform, engraved with a white star upon the chest piece. Rarity probably endorsed both articles of clothing.
The one with the tanish coat happened to have been on the track, sweating and blowing as though he'd been running for days without end, while the one in the blue uniform stood by the sidelines and sipped a cup of coffee. Occasionally, he would yell out a few words, either encouragement or criticism depending on the occasion. Frankly, it should be all criticism. This guy? He moved slower than a tortoise.. sorry Tank.
Naturally, now would be the time to showboat.
Armin stopped to rest for a moment as his legs began to feel they were encased in a type of hot ice. For the entire morning, he had done nothing but run and now, after nearly an hour of non-stop running, he was at his brink. He felt like he would get a heart attack at this rate. Looking back, he saw the stern look from Steve that told him to keep going on. He could only nod weakly in reply as he began to move again, only this time to be outrun by a bright colorful blur that would be the pony called Rainbow Dash.
"See ya!" Rainbow called out mischievously as she left Armin in a cloud of dust. Said scenario would repeat for about two times as Armin found himself too tired to actually attempt to catch up, all the while this newcomer kept lapping him, much to his heavy embarrassment.
"Keep going..." Steve said as he walked to Armin on the track. "Did I say you should stop? Ke..."
"What's the difference?!" Rainbow called out impudently as she chuckled to herself, lapping Armin once again much to the boy's humiliation.
"You keep moving kid." Steve said. "C'mon, you can do it."
"No... I can't..." Armin said as he almost collapsed from exhaustion. "What Slade said wasn't entirely..."
"What Slade says is bullshit." Cap replied curtly. "He's just out there to get under your skin and make you feel bad. And what for? Just getting a laugh."
"Well... it's not a joke. Not this time. I can't do any..."
"I don't want to hear it kid... listen... we will make something out of..."
"You should probably start by teaching him how to run!" Rainbow Dash called out again as she began to ran by. "I can't even tell if he's moving!"
"And what do you know about running?" Rogers asked.
"Running? What don't I know about running?!" Rainbow Dash retorted, noting the large crowd that was gathering around them.
"Oh...?" Steve asked as he noticed the same crowd. "How about a race?"
He got the reaction he wanted as he began to hear the hushed whispers and murmurings amongst the crowd. Looks like this cyan pony was a bit of a hotshot here in ponyville. (That's still the worst name for a town ever.)
"You are on!" Rainbow Dash said.
"Good. Just on the ground."
"Oh I know! It wouldn't be fair if I used my wings." Dash replied.
"On your marks... get set... go!"
The wind was pleasant when it began. A gentle breeze that blew hard enough to be felt, but just gentle enough to be refreshing. To Rainbow Dash however, none of this mattered as she gave her best. The race would be 36 laps alongside the track, roughly equating to
9 miles. This would be easy.
And to her, it seemed so. At the 8 minute mark. Dash was ahead by a hefty amount. 17 to 12. She would humiliate this guy and show him how a you actually got to run. As time dragged on however, perhaps it wouldn't be so easy. At the 15 minute mark, the margin had begun to close. 25 to 23.
Towards the end of the race. Rainbow Dash's tongue hung out from her mouth like a flag on it's pole as weariness began to overtake her. Rogers however, kept going strong, almost as though he wasn't tired. It would later occur to every pony that he wasn't in the slightest.
And there it was, at the 21 minute mark, the outcome of the race was easily decided by 35 to 29. In just 6 minutes, it Rogers had ran about 2 miles without as much as broken sweat. In a heartbeat, 35 became 36. He had won. The crowd was shocked, as was Armin and Rainbow Dash.
"I... I lost..." Rainbow Dash commented as she breathed deeply, greedily sucking in all the air in Equestria.
"Of course you did." Rogers said as he grabbed his canteen of water and took a small sip. "Not a bad race horse. I might bet on you the next time there's race around these parts."
"Very funny." Rainbow Dash panted. "How?"
"How? Years of training and runner's discipline." Steve said. "Learn something Armin."
"But you don't even get tired! How would..."
"I know that. That's why I wasn't trying."
Jaws dropped at that comment. This newcomer? Beaten the resident runner sorely. And to top it all off? He wasn't trying.
This got quite the attention. From the press too.
"Okay Armin... maybe we should try to practice somewhere else...." Rogers said as he tried to get away from all the ponies that were crowding him.
"Yeah..." Armin replied. "C'mon Steve... Jim said he would need help."