//------------------------------// // A royal show // Story: On a wing and a rainbow // by Killbles //------------------------------// "Come on recruit! Pick yourself up!" Bellowed Juggernaut. "Those squadron wings won't earn themselves!" Rainbow grimaced as she picked herself off the ground and sailed back into the air. She had misjudged the previous corner on the advanced obstacle course and had crashed hard into the packed earth. Juggernaut had opted, much to her dislike, to hold their final trial session in a ground stadium rather than up in the sky. "In the real show, you won't always have a cloud to crash into." He had said when Silver had protested. Ditching the memory she concentrated on cutting the next bend around a post as close as she could. Using a trick she had learnt from Soarin for tight bends such as these, she sped around the obstacle without difficulty. 'Guess having some private lessons with one of the best fliers has its perks.' She thought as she saw Torchie nick the post and lose precious speed. Returning her attention ahead of her, she wove in and out of a dense field of nets. She swore as her wing clipped one of the support posts and spun her around. Managing to regain control of the chaotic spin before she crashed into a net, Dash tried to ignore her throbbing wing and instead focus on the final obstacle, a narrow winding tunnel with moving blocks intermittently along its length. She ducked under the first block and pulled a tight turn to dodge a second one which had moved into her path. She squeezed through a narrow gap cause by two blocks moving next to each other. A sudden lance of pain shot through her hind leg as a block violently grazed it. Clenching her teeth, Rainbow ignored the pain and concentrated on manoeuvring through the tight passage. A burst of light greeted her as she emerged from the end. Swooping back down to the ground she pulled on the rope connected the finish bell. "Not bad Rainbow" said Juggernaut, using her name for the first time. "Sixth fastest time set on the course. Not bad at all. Welcome to the Wonderbolts Kiddo." "Thanks" she panted "This recruit thinks that was pretty difficult, sir" "You can stop with the 'This recruit' now Rainbow, your training is over." He grinned for a moment. "You can still call me sir though." "Yes sir." "Go on, get that leg patched up and then report to Soarin, he'll assign you to a squadron. Maybe if you're lucky he won't be busy and you tow can spend some time together" He smiled devilishly. Rainbow was somewhat taken aback by his comment, to her knowledge, neither her nor Soarin had told anypony about their relationship. How he was privy to such information was puzzling, to say the least. "That's just a bit creepy, sir." She limped over to the team medic who inspected her injury. "Looks painful" the medic remarked as she inspected the wound "You're going to want to keep off that for a few days." She sterilised the wound before applying a pad and finally wrapping it in a bandage. "Make sure you get a doctor to check that out in a few days, that's a fairly large gash and you don't want it getting infected. You probably won't need any stitches as it's a shallow wound but I'd still get it checked over." "Thanks" Rainbow said before hobbling over to a nearby bench to inspect the wound with her own eyes. Carefully removing the bandage, she was rewarded with the sight of a long but shallow gash that ran from the bottom of her leg to her knee. She grimaced at the sight before tenderly rewrapping the wound. She lay her head down on the bench and watched the other two recruits finish the course. An out of breath Torchie trotted over to her, a forced a smile onto her face. "Heya Rainbow" she panted, "how did you do?" "Apparently I set the sixth fastest time on the course. I got this as a parting gift though" She said, gestured to her leg. "Ouch, looks painful." The brown Pegasus noted. The pair of pegasi lapsed into silence and watched Silver burst out of the tunnel and streak towards the bell in an uncontrolled spin. They winced as he crashed in the bell with a loud clang. "That still counts, right?" he asked groggily. He hauled himself up and staggered a little before regaining his balance. Juggernaut rubbed a small dent in the bell. "That's fine, go get your head checked out; looks like it took the hit a bit worse than the bell did." Silver stumbled over to the medic who fused over him quickly before releasing him. He staggered over to the bench where Rainbow and Torchie where lying. "Hey! How come Torchie gets off Scotch free?" he protested, noticing Dash's bandaged leg. "She's the clumsiest of all of us." "Clumsy eh?" she questioned. She gave Silver a gentle push which caused him to topple over. "Calling me clumsy?" "You didn't hit a bell" he slurred. Torchie sighed in exasperation. "Come on hard head, let's get you some rest. You can see Soarin later." She hauled her disorientated friend off in the direction of the Team lounge. "I'll see you later Dash, got to get this knucklehead settled in." "Who're you calling a knucklehead, knucklehead?" protested Silver. Rainbow shook her head and made her way to Soarin's office. "Hey hot stuff." Soarin said cheekily when Rainbow trotted into his office. "Oh stop it, you." She waved a hoof in embarrassment. "Oh ok. Hello Rainbow Dash, how may I be of assistance today?" He droned monotonously "Ok I preferred hot stuff." She said with a groan. Soarin was a bit of a tease every now and then. The pair had hardly seen each other since their kiss two weeks ago. Soarin had been lumped with extra work due to two major shows coming up soon, an annual flight show in Manehattan and the Grand Galloping Gala. Rainbow's training on the other hand had intensified to daily practice sessions as Juggernaut had wanted to speed up the recruit's indoctrination so they could be included in the aforementioned shows. Soarin and Dash's time had been limited to short flights when Soarin or Dash had a break, winks and other subtle signals in the hallways and in one case a painful incident involving a broom cupboard, several brooms and several contraband magazines. Needless to say, Dash relished any chance she got to spend time with her de-facto partner. "Let me guess," Soarin said, eyeing her injury. "Grazed by a block on the obstacle course?" "Yeah, how did you know?" "Let's say I've had my fair share of bumps and bruises from this place." "I can imagine." Rainbow snickered. "Hey!" Soarin said indignantly. "I don't crash much!" "Whatever, Wonder-boy." She slugged him playfully on the shoulder. A companionable silence fell over the pair. "I'm going to guess that Juggernaut sent you here to get assigned to a team?" "He did. Say, you haven't told him about us have you?" "No. Why do you ask?" "He seemed to know about our…" she searched for the right word. She and Soarin hadn't really started dating or anything so it seemed wrong to say so. "Feelings for one another." Soarin chuckled. "That's just him, he just knows things. Nopony has been able to figure it out." He pulled some papers from his desk and started filling them out. "Alright, I'm putting you in Second Squadron; I guess you'll still be reporting to Juggernaut." He handed the form to Rainbow who skimmed it quickly before folding it away. Soarin leaned back in his chair and sighed. He fixed his eyes on Dash. "You hungry?" "A little I guess" she replied. "Pie." "What?" Rainbow asked, clearly confused. Soarin ignored her and reached down and pulled a steaming hot pie from one of the drawers in his desk. "How the hay did you do that?" "It's kind of a secret." "Oh come on! You can tell me." Rainbow put on her best puppy dog eyes. It looked like Soarin would withstand the barrage of cuteness but he suddenly caved in. "Alright! Alright! You have to promise not to tell anyone." "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" she recited while going through the motions. "Umm…ok?" Soarin said before dismissing her peculiar antics. "Anyway… This desk is special; it's got some crazy magic on it. More or less it allows the owner to summon something they want by saying it. Pretty crazy stuff, I've had it check out before but nopony knows how it really works. From what I know it's kind of like a powerful summoning spell of something. Pretty funky stuff if you ask me." "So it's like a desk of retrieving?" Rainbow asked quizzically, raising an eyebrow in confusion "Something like that." "How the hay does that work." "Soarin shrugged. "Magic." Rainbow shook her head. "Magic" she agreed. They shared the pie which had been conjured by Soarin's desk. Magical or not, it was delicious. They finished the pie and Rainbow curled up next to Soarin. He gently stroked he mane with a hoof. "Dashie?" "Yes?" "How would you like to perform at the Gala this year? I know it's a big ask for a new recruit, but I think you'd be up for it." Rainbow's eyes lit up with excitement. "Really? You mean it?" "Yes, I do." She squealed with excitement and hugged Soarin tightly. "I'll take that as a yes." Soarin groaned as the cyan mare crushed his ribs. Over the next few days, frenzied preparations were made by Rainbow to get herself ready for the Gala. She didn't need a fancy dress this time as she would be wearing her Wonderbolt flight suit for the night. She was disappointed to find out that out of her friends; only Twilight would be attending the Gala. Although all her friends had received invitations, they were not as enthusiastic about it as they had been the first time. She accepted with resignation that she would be able to convince her friends to go so she instead spent her time practicing as much as she could. As the Gala drew closer, a sense of urgency seemed to fasten itself to the Wonderbolts. The show team trained every day for hours on end, wearing Rainbow down to exhaustion. She was relieved when the night rolled around and she found herself waiting for the show to start. Standing proudly in the locker room with the rest of the team, Rainbow donned her blue flight suit for the first time. The suit was light and comfortable and although it was tight fitting, it did not impede her range of movement. The suit accentuated the curves of her body and in her opinion, made her look quite beautiful. She took her flight goggles out of their case, her gaze lingering on the stylised image of her cutie mark on the band. She pulled the goggles over her head but didn't lower them over her magenta eyes. The low murmur of conversation dropped as Soarin, followed by Juggernaut, entered the room. "Alright everypony, listen up! Courtesy of the Canterlot Weather patrol, we have excellent flying conditions for tonight's show. We've got a press meeting scheduled immediately after the show but other than that, the evening is yours. Have fun, watch your wingman and good luck. Let's roll!" He snapped his goggles down, covering his brilliant green eyes and the rest of the team flowed suite. Rainbow flipped her goggles down, tinting her vision slightly blue. She took her place in the line and the team filled out of the room and into the tunnel. "Grab your smoke canisters." Soarin said, handing each team member a small metal canister to clip onto their flight suits. When Dash extended her hoof to take one, he brushed her hoof away. She looked at him in confusion. "You don't need one Rainbow, you've got your rainbow trail which is frankly, much cooler than anything these things could make." He explained, clipping one of the smoke generators to his suit and tucking it through a purpose made loop. Accepting his explanation, Rainbow retook her position in the diamond formation they had formed near the mouth of the tunnel. Butterflies started forming in her stomach as she waited. Her knees started to shake slightly. She felt a hoof on her shoulder. "You'll do fine. Don't worry." A voice said. Rainbow gulped nervously. She heard a muffled cheer come from outside. "Alright that's our cue! Let's fly!" Soarin announced from the front of the formation. As one, the team kicked off the ground and hurtled towards the exit. The cheer rose in volume until Rainbow thought it would crush her head. As she emerged out into the night sky, following in a tight 'V' formation, she gazed out over the packed stands. She never quite realise how many ponies were present for these shows. 'I guess being in the middle of one doesn't hurt' she thought as she banked around after the formation. At a signal from Soarin, half of the formation broke off and pulled a hard right while the other half broke off in the other direction. Each group then doubled back and flew past each other, their wingtips almost touching at breakneck speeds. The crowds whooped in excitement. After reforming the group pulled a wide arching summersault before breaking off in all different directions. The smoke trails following them were reminiscent of fireworks as they burst off in all directions. She paired up with Juggernaut and they flew a dizzying pattern of spirals and turns which were being matched by the two other pairs. The team reformed into a wide line and zigzagged across each other, creating an insane pattern of smoke and rainbow trails. Four of them, including Rainbow and Soarin, broke off and allowed the two remaining Wonderbolts to show off. As they flew wide rings around the show, Soarin slotted in next to Rainbow. "Hey, Rainbow, reckon you can pull off another one of those Sonic Rainbooms?" he asked. "Uh... I don't know. I can try I guess." "Awesome, I'm sending you and hurricane in last. When you finish off your routine, I want to you try and pull one off." He peeled off with Juggernaut to replace the other two who were finishing off their routine. All too soon it was Rainbow's turn. She followed Hurricane's lead as Soarin and Juggernaut finished their routine. A brilliant rainbow trail followed her every move. It was more visible now that she was no longer flying in formation. A cheer erupted from the crowd as she and Hurricane pulled off a double inverted back flip and followed through with a wild corkscrew. At some unknown signal, Hurricane broke off, leaving Rainbow Dash alone. Knowing what she had to do, she shot up vertically as fast as she could. She pulled a wide arching turn that would leave her running parallel with the ground. As she accelerated, a narrow vapour cone started forming in front of her. She tried to break through it as best as she could but seemed unable to break the barrier. 'Soarin is counting on me! HE reckons I can do this. I can!' she thought. With renewed vigour, she pushed harder, a shimmer of rainbow light played along the vapour cone as she went faster. As she passed above the stands, a sudden loud roar and a brilliant circular band of light spread out around her as she broke the sound barrier and light spectrum. A wild cheering of the crowd was blocked out by the roar of the sonic boom. Gaining a sudden moment of inspiration, she drew out a rough picture of the Wonderbolts emblem with the rainbow trailing in her wake. Slowing down gradually, she re-joined the five other Wonderbolts circling the arena. Thunderous applause and cheering met her as she and the others passed over the stands for a final time. Smiling wildly at her achievement, she and the rest of the team returned to the locker room. After being congratulated by her team members, the Wonderbolts went to the obligatory press meeting. The multitude of reporters swamped the team, especially Dash, as they arrived. "Miss Dash! How does it feel being one of the newest Wonderbolts?" One yelled "How did you pull off that fantastic Sonic Rainboom?" Another shouted ""What's it like performing for the first time at such a prestigious event?" Yet another yelled. Rainbow suddenly wished she had never joined the flight team. The sheer number of journalists and reporters yammering at her and asking her questions was staggering. She tried to answer any questions she could, but most of the things she was asked she had no idea what the reporter was even saying. Thankfully the Press meeting was short and within twenty minutes, the last of the press had been ushered out by two burly security guards. Most of the team filed out quickly, eager to enjoy the rest of the night. Soarin deliberately stalled until he and Rainbow were the only two left in the room. He casually trotted over to her and ruffled her mane. "That was awesome. Absolutely awesome." "Thanks Soarin. I've never managed to pull off a sonic rainboom on a whim before." "Really? That's great!" he glanced around the empty room. "Hey would you want to spend some time tighter later? Go have a nice fly somewhere or something?" "Sounds good Casanova." She replied happily, stroking her mane back. "I'll meet you in the palace gardens in about an hour or two, okay?" "See you there." Soarin gave her a wink before trotting out of the room. Rainbow Dash sighed dreamily and followed him out a few moments later. If she had been looking at where she was going she wouldn't have crashed into a purple unicorn that had been waiting outside. "Twilight! What are you doing here?" Why aren't you down at the Gala?" "I wanted to congratulate you on your sonic rainboom! That was amazing! But more to the point, what were you talking about with Soarin?" she had a knowing smile on her face. "TWI! Were you eavesdropping again!? You've been picking up too many bad habits from Rarity." Rainbow fumed "Maybe…" Twilight said, pawing the ground innocently. "Since when have two been seeing each other? Why didn't you tell us?" she asked flat out. It was now Rainbow's turn to look sheepish. "We aren't really together per se…" she said. "I don't know why I didn't tell you girls… I was just nervous I guess. I didn't really know if it was real or not." "I don't understand." Rainbow groaned, this was going to be difficult to explain, doubly so because she was explaining to Twilight. "This… thing… with Soarin has been different to any other Stallion. He's different, it's not just because he's famous, but he just seems… genuine. I've had a few bad run-ins with other Stallions. But I feel like this could go somewhere." She smiled. "Bet I sound all mushy and stuff now." "So you like him?" Twilight said obliviously. "No I hate him so much that I want to rip his wings off and turn them into baked goods." Dash remarked sarcastically. "I'd use his legs, more meat on them." Twilight said back, keeping a completely straight face as she did so. "Ok… That's a bit weird Twilight." "Just a bit, maybe." Twilight agreed. "We should go, I'm sure you have many adoring fans waiting to see you. Not to mention your date with Soarin." "It's not a date." Dash protested, as they trotted outside and towards the palace. "When are you going to admit that it is?" Rainbow remained silent. Twilight decided to drop the topic with a sigh of exasperation. The pair continued towards the Gala in silence. Neither noticed a yellow Pegasus perched above them. After the pair of ponies had passed her hiding spot, Spitfire took off towards the palace, a plan forming in her mind.