Close the Curtains, There's a Breeze.

by All Art Is Quite Useless

The One With the Interesting Development

As Rainbow flew at what she considered to be a leisurely pace, the world zooming past her nonetheless, she considered her morning, bereft of much excitement as usual, with the exception of speaking with Tank. It was after a few moments of focused thought that she recalled her dream, and the memories it brought with it.

Things were simpler back then, Rainbow mused, gliding through the air, occasionally beating her wings. Funny to think that I used to practice all of those routines and special moves just for my Wonderbolts audition, and now that I'm in, I've barely used any of them.

Then, the hummingbirds crossed her mind. I wonder if they ever got the team back together? A short pause. Or, got back together,
I guess. Rainbow rolled her eyes at her silly thought; Rainbow still didn't get what was so important about a pair of birds flying together. They made great flying teams though, she knew that much. Moreover, unlike the Wonderbolts, they didn't seem to need practice, they were born to work together.

Rainbow cast her eyes over the sky, subconsciously hoping to see the two familiar birds from her dreams, but of course, saw nothing. A quiet sigh, and she allowed her thoughts to progress to more substantial things, such as when Spitfire would release the Equestrian tour rotas.

Spitfire had informed the Cloudsdale branch of the Wonderbolts (which is the only branch for many miles) that the time for live performances to be announced to the public is drawing near, and that she would decide on which Wonderbolts would be placed in which cities by then, for the purpose of creating adverts and fliers depicting the correct members in each venue. Rainbow had already opted to not perform anywhere in over a two hundred mile radius, though she partially regretted it.

The most flexible Wonderbolts were more likely to attain the most fame and prestige, and Rainbow wanted her name etched in Wonderbolt history more than anything, but she knew that she couldn't just up and leave her home life to be on tour for weeks at a time. Ponyville still relied on her for assistance with the weather, she had a tortoise to look after (Rainbow didn't care how good Fluttershy was with animals, he was best with her), and besides all that, she had to be available to help save Equestria at a moment's notice, history had proven that.

Despite the fact that Rainbow knew she was the most talented flier on the team (but not the most experienced), she also knew that 'bolts such as Fleetfoot and Misty Fly had nothing holding them down, and that (combined with their veteran statuses on the team) allowed them to progress faster than her, and with less effort. It would have infuriated her once, having to push so hard just to not be seen as riding the mediocrity train, but not gaining the rewards her level of constant effort should scale to.

Rainbow's abilities were another issue, although she was reluctant to admit that. While she was already incredibly fast, agile, and flexible, that seemed to have dampened her potential for vast improvements in short spaces of time. She was already the fastest, and she knew she could be faster still, but it would take a lot of effort. Effort she found it difficult to make time for.

Right now, her main goal was to work on her balance and poise, until she was able to mimic the effects of a time distortion spell mid flight. Rainbow wished to be able to slow down her most mesmerising stunts for dramatic effect, to enthrall the crowd with her amazing, inconceivable aerial displays, before kicking it back into full gear and exploding with incredible speed, accelerating faster than the heart rates of her loving crowd. She knew it was possible, she'd just have to practice nonstop and keep attempting it until she succeeded. That was the solution to all of life's problems.

With the thought of a rapid motion lightning bomb barrel spin (patent pending) fading away, she touched down at Wonderbolts HQ, arriving ten minutes early, unsurprisingly. She still thought the runway was a little excessive, but she could deal with it. However, she'd eye the nearby bins with contempt as she passed them, and they wouldn't look back, for fear of invoking her wrath.

Rainbow cleared the runway, pulled up her goggles, and began sauntering towards central command, her tail swishing like a cat's might. They didn't let you clock in until directly on the hour, the Wonderbolts were tight-fisted like that, so there was no rush to get there. Contrary to popular belief, Wonderbolts operated on a basic salary rather than being paid a commission per performance, and it wasn't an exceptional amount. 'Bolts like Spitfire made much more due to higher status and rank, but most of the money was to be found in private events, races, and advertising.

Rainbow had barely managed not to wet herself when she saw High Wind's face on her box of morning cereal two months ago, but after a few minutes of laughter, she had considered contacting the company to see if she could get involved. She never went through with it, and, upon seeing High Wind's smug diamond earring encrusted face a couple of days later, wished she had.

Between some being able to put in more work than her and others raking in the bits on the side, Rainbow wished they'd let her clock in before the hour. But, most of all, she didn't like the waiting. Rainbow had made a point of arriving early, as usual, but couldn't begin her day until she was clocked in and legally on shift, which she couldn't do until the clock hit eight. Slowly wandering into central command, she hovered in the doorway, fishing her card out of her suit (which involved a lot of fiddling with zips), ready to punch it into the machine and begin her day. Rainbow was well aware that it was currently 07:58.

"Right, I'll just stand here and wait, no problem."

Roughly twenty seconds passed.

"Ugh, come onnn," Rainbow groaned, her scratchy voice bouncing off the walls of the quiet building, "Why have you gotta take so long?"

Rainbow slowly shuffled her forehooves, eventually bringing her back hooves into the mix before allowing her movement to evolve into a full strut, and then a trot, all on the spot. Eventually, she grew tired of this, and threw her plot down, sitting on her haunches and staring up at the machine, her crystalline eyes shining with petulance.

Tired of staring at the awful contraption, Rainbow stood, briskly walking to one end of the reception room, and then the other, her dainty hooves tapping against the floor as she did so, her mane bouncing without the ministrations of a breeze. Her pace became swifter, and soon enough she was jogging around the room in a small little circle. After a few laps, her tail in her peripherals for most of that time, she settled, and made to glance at the horrible device once more.

The clock read 07:59.

"Oh, for the love of all things holy, move!" Rainbow snarled, getting up close and personal with the inconsiderate machine. "Some of us wanna start work right now?" she pleaded, hoping to appeal to the machine's compassionate side. It remained inert.

Rainbow sighed. Okay, this is silly. I'm literally talking to a machine, why would anypony even do that? It's just the time, Rainbow, come on, get it together.

"But it's so bo-r-ring," She wailed aloud, feigning exhaustion.

"Hey, Rainbow, watcha' complaining about?" A chipper, upbeat voice enquired, squinting at Rainbow, who was currently crouched very low to the ground, as if she was going to drop dead at any moment.

Suddenly, a spark of electricity surged through Rainbow, and she straightened out instinctively. "Surprise! Um, like, hey. I didn't mean that like 'hey, surprise!' I mean that like 'hey, Surprise!'..." In Rainbow's mind, there was a difference.

Luckily for her, Surprise either picked up on her meaning, or didn't want to embarrass her, cause she nodded and pressed on. "Anyways, what were you shouting about just now? You looked like you were about to go nuts when I walked in,"

Okay, maybe she did want to embarrass her. "Oh! That! Uhh..." Stop shouting you idiot! "I was just, uh, getting a lil' tired of waiting to for the time to pass," She meekly responded, rubbing the back of her neck mid-sentence, refusing to meet Surprise's gaze when she looked up.

"Oh, that's it? I was a little worried for a sec, that's all," Surprise's opaque smile was enough to abate Rainbow's self-consciousness for the most part. With that said, and the clock having finally turnt 08:00, she punched in her card and clopped along the corridor, heading for Spitfire's office. When she had rounded the corner, she sighed in relief and contentment.

"Hold on, I'm headed in that direction too!"

Rainbow instinctively spun around to find Surprise directly behind her, much to her alarm.

Rainbow jumped back, letting out a small feline squeak (which she's determined she never actually made), before narrowing her eyes at Surprise.

"Jeez, you're really living up to your name today, aren't ya girl?" A glance at the indignant look on Surprise's face confirmed that this had not been the right thing to say.

"Wow, Rainbow, I never took you for a hypocrite. After all the things you said about names and unfair treatment before, you go and do that?"

Oh, crapbaskets. Rainbow teetered, both on her hooves and her reaction, slowly swaying as she tried to formulate a response. "uhhhh-- But I... I didn't mean anything by it, and, well..." Rainbow could almost feel the deluge of tension filling the small corridor, she would drown soon.

Then, Surprise cracked a smile, and the dam burst, decontaminating every microfibre of unease that had affixed itself to Rainbow's fur in the last few seconds. It was much more likely that her fur was just standing up a little, and it had brushed against her flight suit in her panic, but Rainbow dismissed that thought before it could ruin her neat description of events.

"Just pulling your leg, Rainbow! Don't get so het up over it," she winked, "Anyways, time's awasting, and unlike some I'm not in a rush for it to pass, so I'll see you at practice later?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, practice, of course." An overzealous and forced giggle, "You got me good, Surprise. Anyways, yeah, see ya then," she smiled, nodding at Surprise and moving on.

I'd really rather not be reminded of all that nickname drama again, Rainbow grumbled internally, taking a right and opting to take the stairs rather than the elevator. Spending so much time in the air made her naturally claustrophobic, she imagined that a bird in a cage must be closest you could get to a pegasus in a lift.

Two flights of stairs, a couple of dreary greetings and a brief stop at a coffee machine later, and Rainbow was outside Spitfire's office, lightly tapping at the door with a free hoof, coffee cup held up by the crook of her wing.

Not long after, she was called in. Rainbow was sure to make her movements a little more rigorous and stoic than usual around Spitfire, rather than drifting around in her usual, languorous manner. Rainbow would refer to her motions upon entering as a relaxed march, enough to follow protocol and pay respect to her commanding officer, not so much that she might appear to be brown nosing.

It seemed to have its desired effect, as she bore witness to a smile on Spitfire's face, and she hadn't even given her the coffee yet.

"Rainbow Dash, I've been hoping to see you," Spitfire stated, her voice upbeat but her countenance revealing nothing. This perturbed Rainbow, who quickly glanced around the room for abnormalities, as if the reason Spitfire had been hoping to see her would have something to do with their surroundings.

"What can I do for you, Ma'am?" Rainbow asked, not outwardly displaying her concern.

"Relax, it's nothing bad," Spitfire smirked, apparently sensing her nerves before she had even failed to hide them, "Just wanted to give you a heads up on your performance schedule for the next three months, got it?"

"Yes ma'am, thank you. I've been excited to hear about that for a while now." Throughout this meeting, Rainbow didn't jitter or fidget. she barely moved at all, exhibiting the image of the perfect recruit.

Spitfire's mien became serious. "This dossier here contains all the information you need. I'm also going to trust you to hand these out to the rest of the 'Bolts you're working with, think you can do that?"

"Yes, ma'am, of course, I'll get right on it."

"In those files you should find information on which fliers you'll be teamed up with, where you're going to be based, who's going to handle the publicity and interviewing, where those interviews will be based, optional hotel arrangements, hair and make up, general maintenance, first aid procedures, lists of available reserves, you know, all the usual."

"I know the drill, ma'am, no problem," Rainbow risked a smile, receiving one in return, a small victory.

"Anyways, I believe that's everything. You're partnered with Surprise and Wave Chill this morning, you'll begin practice at oh-nine-hundred, feel free to get warmed up in the mean time."

"Thank you ma'am, I'll do that."

"Okay, well, I think that's everything. Dismissed, Rainbow."

Rainbow turned to leave as instructed, giving her superior a nod and a smile before turning and heading towards the door. She heard Spitfire leaning back in her chair from behind, and then chuckling lightly. Just as she reached the door, Spitfire called for her to hold on.

Laughter under control, she pressed on, "Oh, yeah, I completely forgot to mention. Well, I suppose you would have seen it in the files, but I felt like telling you myself," Rainbow eyed Spitfire with interest, wondering if she could expect some grand revelation that would greatly improve her standing in the Wonderbolts. You can dream, right?

Once she was sure she had Rainbow's attention, she continued. "You remember that pony you brought here to manage the cadet's dorms before?"

Rainbow curtly nodded, her ears perked up. She was already growing trepidatious about the end of that sentence.

"Looks like he's gonna be working with us again."

Rainbow's eyebrows raised, her perfect soldier's stance beginning to crack.

"Well, this time he's technically working for an external company that offers help with the hair, makeup, maintenance, and grooming sections of our shows, but still, that's a thing. Small world, huh?"

"Yeah, very small," Rainbow deadpanned, a hard expression forming on her face despite her best attempts to conceal it.

"Heh, I still can't believe how badly he made a mess of things last time he was here, but these days, the company sings his praises, so he must have shaped up quite well."

"He really did, didn't he?" Rainbow commented, her jaw clenching slightly.

Spitfire pushed a short breath out of her nose. "At ease, Rainbow, what's on your mind?"

Rainbow let out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding, allowing herself to assume a more comfortable pose. Apparently, 'at ease' were quite powerful words. After a moment, she looked at Spitfire, instead of looking past her, "I'm sorry, Spits, I'm just not sure that I'm very comfortable with the idea. Like, yeah, I know he went and did something with his life and that's great, and I'm really glad that he's pursuing a real career, but last time he was here, he completely screwed everything up."

Rainbow's voice rose slightly, she was beginning to sound more abrasive now. "I had to vouch for him to get him that job, and I had to deal with the fallout from you when he messed it up. I get disciplinary action for abusing company trust, he gets another job with us less than a year later?" Rainbow couldn't help but appear flustered by this information, her agitation was as clear as the twitching in her right eye. "Where's the justice there?"

"Rainbow Dash," Spitfire asserted, "Cleaning the cadet's dorms for a week while we found a replacement is hardly disciplinary action, you make it sound like we had a hearing for you or something. But really," Spitfire started, taking off her sunglasses and giving Rainbow an emphatic look, "I understand where you're coming from, he might have been a total prick back then for all I know, you were in charge of him, after all. But ponies can change. I mean, look at you, and how you acted when we were first introduced. Sure, you were talented, and brave, and saved my ass, but you had an arrogant streak too, you weren't as mature as you are now. Remember that it takes some ponies a little longer than others."

"Are you trying to compare me to Zephyr Breeze?" Rainbow echoed, blatantly irritated.

"Rookie, listen to me," Spitfire barked, clearly done with pleasantries, "I trust your judgment. If you think that Zephyr Breeze shouldn't be working with us whatsoever, due to your belief that his presence will detriment the Wonderbolts in some way, I'll put that to the company myself, and arrange for them to send someone else instead."

Rainbow made to affirm her previous words, then hesitated. Normally, she would be overjoyed to hear that Spitfire trusted her enough to alter things based on her word, but this didn't feel right. When Rainbow thought back to the situation, she remembered a lazy, indolent deadbeat that would make any excuse not to finish the task at hand. A lazy ass who was totally scared of failure, Rainbow conceded.

That still doesn't excuse him throwing away the job I got him, though. Her tail swished back and forth, a multicoloured pendulum, displaying the duality of her thoughts. Spitfire's right, ponies can change. Rainbow thought back to herself almost three years ago at the Equestrian Best Young Fliers competition, absolutely bricking it. If she had went back in time and told that pony she would be a Wonderbolt in less than three years time, she would have been laughed away.

Just because he went and got some work doesn't mean he's suddenly an amazing, caring guy or anything. Rainbow considered her words. Does he really need to be? A few of the people at work are pretty terrible to be around, he wouldn't be the worst, or anything like that. She thought some more, her head tilting to the side as she tried to consider things from another angle. I guess it wouldn't be a terrible thing, having him work alongside us sometimes. I mean, he was even kinda nice to talk to when I last saw him, but maybe he was just in a good mood 'cause he graduated. Rainbow frowned, the positive thought weakening her mental debate. "You know, I was happy for him when he graduated from his mane therapy course, why should I stand in the way of him finding work?" That was it, she had done it, her fate was sealed.

Spitfire zoned back in with a quick shake of her head, as if she had been fighting off sleep. "Heh, I was wondering when you were gonna say something. You were just stood there going from one expression to another completely silently for almost a minute, I thought I had lost you, or something. Anyways, just 'cause he gets the job doesn't mean he'll keep it if he screws up again, so don't worry about that. We're gonna do our best to make this work for us, just have some faith, okay, champ?"

"Yes, ma'am, I'm sure everything will be fine, I'm sorry for causing a ruckus," Rainbow half-lied. She was sorry for making a fuss about things, but she couldn't say that she was sure everything would be okay, as much as she'd like it to be. The Zephyr she knew had a tendency to take something good for him and screw it all up. Hopefully, that part of him had changed, and her worries would be for naught. But, on the chance that she was right, she couldn't say with total confidence that this wouldn't backfire on someone later.

"Nonsense, Rainbow. Now, give me my coffee and get moving," Spitfire grinned, eyeing the cup that had been cradled in the crook of Rainbow's wing the entire time, her soft down helping the cup to retain its warmth.

And so, Rainbow did just that. As she walked out the office, floating down the same corridors that she had walked through on her way to see Spitfire, she witnessed the place coming to life around her. Coworkers spoke and laughed, coffee flowed, fliers rushed from the doors to an office and back, and the clock in machine still might have been evil.

But, Rainbow barely noticed any of that. Instead, she focused on the steady beat of her own wings, the rhythmic pumping a constant and gentle soundtrack, one that would gradually replace the small doubts in her mind, allowing them to fade.