A Matter of Pride and Honor

by bahatumay

Chapter 3

The locker rooms at the Wonderbolts Training Facilities were unisex; stallions and mares alike shared them. The official reason was that this was to build team unity regardless of gender, as every Wonderbolt needed to implicitly, explicitly, and completely trust their teammates with their lives, regardless of what they had beneath their tail.

The actual reason was that the Wonderbolts had been comprised of purely stallions many years previously, and once both genders were admitted, management couldn’t be buggered to build second structures.

So thus it was that Soarin didn’t even blink when Rainbow Dash walked into the shower room as he was shampooing his mane. “Hey, Rainbow,” he greeted her with a quick nod.

“Soarin, you’re a stallion,” Rainbow started.

Soarin froze, his hooves still in his mane. He glanced back at her. “Yeah…?”

Rainbow stepped a bit closer and spoke in a whisper. “I need some help with something kinda personal, and I think you’re the best stallion for the job. You up for it?”

Soarin’s heart started racing. Was she…? He shuffled slightly, moving his hind legs closer together, and briefly considered switching the shower to cold water. “You mean, in here?”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, here’s good; if you’ve got time.”

Soarin coughed. That was quick; but this wouldn’t be the first time he was thusly approached by a new flyer. The anti-fraternization role was, after all, a rule in name only; especially when viewed in the light of the management’s cheap hotel policies.

Ugh. Some of those Wonderbolts could snore.

Furthermore, as it was written, it was strict enough that it had likely been broken by every single Wonderbolt in history at least once in their career, some more drastically so than others. Spitfire really didn’t care, as long as it didn’t look bad to the media or interfere with the show.

Still, Soarin was nothing if not a gentlecolt. “Don’t you have a special somepony?” he started.

“Yeah. That’s who I need help with.”

Soarin let out an ‘ohhh’ of understanding. “So you need my help, not my ‘help’,” he asked to confirm.

Rainbow squinted. “What’s the difference?”

Surprise happened to be walking by, and had caught most of this conversation. “He thought you were asking him to do the wings-out-tails-up dance with you,” she clarified.

Rainbow started. “What? Ew-!” She froze, realizing that she’d just insulted her superior. “I mean, uh, not, not ‘eww’, but I mean, I…” She sputtered for a few moments as Soarin hid his mouth behind a hoof.

Surprise laughed. “Whatever you say, Crash. But believe me, during the day, he may be Clipper; but during the night, he’s Soarin Silverhooves.” She winked and ran her tongue across her upper lip.

Soarin scratched the back of his neck and shrugged weakly.

Rainbow looked at both of them. “I don’t want to know,” she said flatly.

Surprise shrugged as she walked out. “Your loss,” she called in a sing-song voice over her shoulder.

Rainbow snorted derisively. Still, what Soarin did on his off time was his business; and besides, she had more important matters to deal with. She grabbed Soarin and pulled him to the back of the shower room, where they wouldn’t be overheard as easily. “Look. Remember that boyfriend I have?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t actually have him yet. But ponies here are expecting me to bring him. So what I need to know is how to get him to actually be my special somepony.”

Soarin blinked. “What, you’ve never tried picking up a stallion?” he asked.

“Not really, no,” Rainbow said sheepishly. “Never really had time. What do I do?”

Soarin tapped his hooves together. “So you want a stallion to be your special somepony in four days?”

Rainbow Dash hesitated, realizing how strange that sounded when somepony else said it. “...yes?”

Soarin pursed his lips. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just come clean to the others about it?” he asked.

Rainbow exhaled. “I guess,” she said, “but it’s kinda a matter of pride by now.”

Soarin grinned wryly. “It’s a little misunderstanding. I’m sure if you explained it, they’d all laugh it off.”

“I doubt that,” Rainbow said. Her eyes narrowed as something else occurred to her. “And you better not tell anypony about this, either.”

Soarin raised an eyebrow. “I'm pretty sure it'd be fine. We're all friends here.”

“And I'm pretty sure you got benched at the Equestria Games because Spitfire wanted me on the team,” Rainbow countered. “And need I mention the whole Wind Rider incident?”

Soarin bowed his head and exhaled. “Point,” he conceded quietly. “Ok. I'll keep it under my wings. So, stallions… we know what we like, and we like what we like. If you share an interest with us, there’s your opening.”

“So, like what he likes?” Rainbow asked.

“Yes and no,” Soarin warned. “We want somepony similar enough to talk with, but not somepony who constantly agrees with us.” He exhaled sharply through his nose. “You’ll meet a lot of fanponies who hang onto and agree with every word you say, without thinking or question. It’s nice for a bit, but then it gets boring.” He flared his wings. “I’m more than my wings and my pectoral muscles, you know!”

Rainbow blinked. “I… take it you get that a lot,” she said, trying to take a step back but finding herself pressing up against the shower tile.

Soarin folded his wings and glowered at nothing in particular. “A little,” he admitted with just a hint of bitterness.

Rainbow nodded, looking for something to change the subject. “So, uh, just out of curiosity, what do you like?”

Soarin brightened. “Ever heard of the Fruity Foals Club?”

“No.”

“Oh, boy. They’re little cards with different fruits, but they're ponies. I collected those like some foals collect Wonderbolts cards. Still do, actually.”

Rainbow blinked. “Ok then,” she said.

“I actually keep a couple with me,” Soarin said brightly. “I keep a Strawberry Filly card in my locker, just for good luck; but that’s a pretty common one. Fourth run, very common. At home, I’ve got a gold foil first edition.” He grinned. “I keep it framed, next to my trophies. They only made three hundred of them. I’ll have to show you sometime.”

Rainbow bit her lower lip as Soarin continued rambling on, oblivious to both Rainbow’s apathy and the fact that he still had shampoo in his mane. Perhaps this had not been such a good idea after all.

Then again, she could easily ask someone who knew Macintosh a little bit better. Her ears flicked up as this occurred to her. Why hadn’t she thought of that sooner?

* * *

Apple Bloom squinted suspiciously at the desserts spread all across the table. She glanced up at Rainbow Dash. “What do you want?” she asked.

Rainbow tittered. “Oh, Apple Bloom, do I really need an ulterior motive to share some food with friends?”

Apple Bloom demonstratively looked towards the empty chair on her left, where Scootaloo was not sitting, and then towards the empty chair on her right, where Sweetie Belle was not sitting, before looking back at Rainbow. “Seeing as how I’m the only one here in the crusader clubhouse, sitting here by myself, yeah, something’s fishy. You didn’t even invite Scootaloo.”

“Scootaloo doesn’t have the information I need,” Rainbow said.

Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes. “If this is about cider aga-”

“It was one time!” Rainbow nearly shouted.

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow.

Rainbow took a calming breath. “Ok, yeah,” she admitted. “I did have another reason for inviting you here alone. I need your help. What does your brother like?”

“Big Mac?” Apple Bloom shrugged. “He likes apples.”

“Everypony likes apples,” Rainbow scoffed. “What does he like to do?”

Apple Bloom paused. What did he like to do? “Uh… he likes working?” she tried.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “I could have told you that,” she grumbled. “Tell me something not everypony knows.”

Apple Bloom thought for a moment. She shrugged. “He likes spending time with his family.”

Rainbow fought the urge to facehoof. “Ok, how’s this? Let’s say somepony wanted to date your brother. What would you tell them to do?”

“He’s my brother!” Apple Bloom protested, her face scrunched up at that icky thought. “I don’t think about stuff like that! I don’t even think he wants to go out with anypony!”

“What?!” Rainbow Dash had never even considered that.

“Maybe he does, I dunno,” Apple Bloom corrected herself. “Why don’t you go ask him yourself?”

“Because… that would… ruin the surprise,” Rainbow lied. She scowled. She knew when she was up against a wall. “Whatever. I'll figure it out. Eat your dessert, kid. I’m out.” And with that, she flew away, leaving behind her signature contrail and a gust of wind.

Apple Bloom stuck her tongue out after her departing tail, then slouched at the table. A cupcake caught her eye, and she pursed her lips. She reached out for it and pulled it close, then slowly unwrapped it. After all, she had them; and, technically, they were hers. There was no sense in letting them go to waste. She could share with the others when they got here.

When Sweetie Belle arrived a few minutes later, she found a table full of wrappers and one very stuffed Apple Bloom. She stared in shock.

Apple Bloom had heard the door open. She slowly opened one eye and looked towards Sweetie Belle, and gently rubbed her distended stomach with a hoof. “I regret nothing,” she said firmly.

* * *

Rainbow Dash hovered in the air, her eyes flicking all across town square. Macintosh had to have some friends around here that she could ask, right? Except no dessert for them.

The flower ponies. No.

Golden Harvest. No.

Muffins. No.

Berry Punch. Definitely not.

Rainbow sighed dejectedly. She couldn’t remember seeing Mac with any of these mares. Maybe he didn't hang out with mares. Maybe he didn't even like mares; and he’d just been teasing her.

As she thought about this, she turned; and nearly ran into another mare, blindly flying by. She recoiled. “Hey!” she protested.

“Sorry!” the mare called back over her shoulder. “Late for work!”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. Sassaflash? Working? That was new. She turned to continue scanning the crowd, and saw a stallion still waving goodbye at her.

Caramel! He and Mac were on the same winter wrap up team. He had to know something! She darted over and dropped to the ground, calling his name. “Caramel!”

Caramel jumped. “Oh, hey!”

“You’re friends with Big Mac, right?” Rainbow started.

Caramel shrugged. “I guess.”

“What do you mean, you guess?”

Caramel shrugged again. “Mac’s kinda friends with everypony,” he said.

Rainbow grumbled. “I don't want ‘kinda friends’; I want to know what kind of things he likes.”

“Apples?” Caramel guessed.

Rainbow slammed her hoof into her face.

Thankfully, Caramel was not tapped out yet. “Mac’s more of a private stallion. You want to know more about him, you have to get to know him on his terms.”

“His terms?” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. What I need is like a book that's got a bunch of information on different ponies.”

And then a slow smile crossed her face as another idea occurred to her. She knew of such a book. It would be risky to get a hold of, but it would definitely pay off if she did.

Caramel flinched. He didn't like that crazed look in her eyes, and he was almost relieved to see her fly off without any farewell at all.

* * *

Desperate times called for desperate measures, and Rainbow Dash was getting somewhat desperate. She needed information about Macintosh. Information not just anypony would have around.

This was why it was time to break into Pinkie’s basement. She needed… the Party Cave.

It was easy enough to distract Pinkie by telling her that Twilight had a secret to tell her. Pinkie had rushed off instantly to find out this secret, and she'd only had to dodge one or two dirty looks from the Cakes for taking their best assistant away with no advance notice. Twilight would deny having any secret, Pinkie would insist on knowing anyway, and the ensuing roundabout would give Rainbow at least a good half hour of Pinkie-free searching.

Getting into Pinkie Pie’s basement wasn't the hard part. She remembered how Twilight got down into Pinkie’s Party Cave the last time.

The hard part was when she took a step off the rug. She let out a squeal of surprise as her foreleg decided to rebel against her and shoot straight up into the air, dragging the rest of her body with it. Before she could even attempt to free herself from the rope, there sounded a loud ringing alarm… and a glob of something sticky landed on her face.

“Aha!” Pinkie proclaimed, lifting a floor panel up and climbing out. “You thought you could pull a fast one on old Pinkie Pie, but you… were… wrong?” Her voice trailed off. “Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here?”

Rainbow tried to answer, but the stickiness glob on her face prevented her from saying anything but muffled, angry noises.

Pinkie giggled as she realized this, and bounced over and pulled it off with a wide smile on her face.

“Me?” Rainbow sputtered as soon as her mouth was free. “What are you doing here? I thought you were bugging Twilight?”

“I was,” Pinkie said simply. “But then somepony-” here she pressed her nose up against Rainbow’s, “-tried to break into my party cave!” She recoiled, gasping. “Are you a spy?!”

What the…? “Pinkie, you know me!” Rainbow said, her body beginning to spin. “Now get me down!”

Pinkie pursed her lips. “I dunno,” she said, rubbing her chin. “I'm good friends with Rainbow Dash…”

“Then get me down from here!”

“But!” Pinkie protested. “But, but, but, Rainbow Dash is a good enough friend that she would just ask me if she needed help; sooo you can't be Rainbow Dash!” She proclaimed this triumphantly, one hoof on her hip, the other pointed high in the air, as if she had just solved a high-profile crime through the sheer power of her logic alone.

Rainbow scowled irritably, which was only slightly ruined by the fact that her body had slowly rotated until she was facing away from Pinkie Pie. “Or, Rainbow Dash knew that what she needed help with would be something that Pinkie wouldn't understand and so she had to do it without her.”

Pinkie gasped again, this time even bigger than before. “How dare you?” she demanded, spinning Rainbow Dash around so she could mush their noses together again. “Rainbow Dash would know that Pinkie understands everything that her friends need help with! That's part of what makes Pinkie so Pinkie… y!”

Rainbow snorted, unable to argue with Pinkie’s Pinkie logic. “Ok, fine. Get Ra- uh, me down and I'll tell you.”

Pinkie glared at Rainbow for a few more moments… and then brightened. “Okie dokie lokie!” Using her tail, Pinkie Pie slashed at the rope, and it sliced cleanly through, dropping Rainbow unceremoniously on the ground.

Rainbow scowled. Of course she did. She stood up, brusquely brushing off the loose rope from her foreleg. Pinkie sat, head cocked expectantly, ears pricked, eyes wide.

“What does Macintosh like?”

“Apples?” Pinkie suggested.

Rainbow scowled. Pinkie held up her hooves disarmingly, so Rainbow shook her head and continued. “Look. I need to get Macintosh to agree to go on a date with me, preferably by this weekend, so I need to know what he likes so he'll want to come.”

“Ohhh,” Pinkie said, understanding. She brightened. “Nope!”

“What?” Rainbow demanded.

Pinkie Pie placed a hoof over her heart. “In all matters of the heart, you can't cheat! That's what my Granny Pie said.”

Rainbow groaned. “Did nopony tell your Granny Pie that all’s fair in love and war?”

“You don't even love him, though,” Pinkie pointed out. “You're kinda just using him to gratify your pride and also to get back at those three idiots from flight school.”

Rainbow’s jaw dropped. How had she known that? “What?” she demanded.

“What?” Pinkie said innocently.

“How did you know that?”

“Know what?” Pinkie asked, brightly maintaining her innocence.

Rainbow scowled. This kind of conversation was most of the reason she'd wanted to get rid of Pinkie in the first place. “You know what? Fine. I don't need your help. I'll just figure it out myself. He'll be there at the gala with me this weekend if it's the last thing I do.”

* * *

The gala was, as far as galas go, fairly decent. Like most galas, it was full of snooty ponies with too much money, and the Wonderbolts were there mostly as eye candy and living centerpieces.

As much as Rainbow Dash hated to admit it, becoming a Wonderbolt had brought out a bit of an exhibitionist streak in her. She found she took a strange pleasure in strutting past older mares wearing far too much jewelry, drawing their irritated stares—and the lingering gaze of a few of the stallions they had come with. In every conversation, she acted the picture of politeness, so much so that Rarity would have wholeheartedly approved; and it was almost comical to see them get irritated at just how perfect she seemed to be.

Well, almost perfect.

Spitfire dropped down next to her. “Rainbow,” she started.

“Hey, Cap.”

Spitfire glanced around. “Missing somepony?” she asked, raising an eyebrow playfully. “Somepony… special?”

Rainbow Dash exhaled through her nose. “No,” she said. “Mac had to work tonight.” This was technically true. Still, she was getting much better at giving that line than she would have liked.

“Heh,” Spitfire chuckled. “Sounds like an earth pony. Well, I expect to see him at our next show.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s in a month, right?”

Spitfire glowered, her cheerful demeanor vanishing instantly. “Were you not paying attention in our last meeting? Next show got bumped up. It's in two weeks.”

“Oh, yeah. I totally knew that,” Rainbow lied.

Spitfire narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips, but didn't press the issue. “Just be there when you're supposed to, or you'll be on locker room cleaning duty for a year.”

Rainbow kept the smile on her face until Spitfire had left, distracted by some other pony who had paid far too much for this tiny food and slow music, and then she exhaled.

Great.

Comments

[ReturnoftheMac]

The captain of the Wonderbolts is expecting you now Mac. Don't disappoint a mare like that twice.

[Awesometacular]

7471682 Big Mac never agreed to anything. Rainbowdash is the one getting him involved in matters he never had a say in.