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A Bad Op.1,636 words
Who? What? Where?3,474 words
First Time For Everything.3,020 words
Hide and Seek.4,451 words
Well Howdy Miss Dash.5,901 words
The First Formal Meeting.6,905 words
Just A Dream.2,336 words
Meeting The Populace. 8,817 words
Moving Out.7,577 words
One Last Test.2,698 words
Answers Please?5,236 words
Answers.4,437 words
Ghosts.5,274 words
Apologies. 6,522 words
Apologies: Part Two.7,394 words
A Rainy Night.6,329 words
The Aftermath. 6,271 words

Hide and Seek.

The morning air was cool and comfortable, in fact just all around perfect; the sun had shown bright but not too bright, no breeze, just the best possible weather it could be. Rainbow Dash was out enjoying it, which wasn't normal because she was never up in the morning. Today though, she just felt like getting out and doing something. She noted that it was strange, but didn't care because the morning was so perfect this day. She jumped out of the tree was sleeping, no surprise as it was one of Applejack's, but she didn't mind Rainbow sleeping in them all that much. After touching down on the ground she stretched a little, a few joints popped and she declared she was ready. She took flight with a thunderous beat of her wings and was off. She did a few barrel rolls at first then moved onto some other tricks that were a little bit harder. After about fifteen minutes of just messing around, she decided to get serious and try her new trick that she had thought of again, the "Show Stopper de Rainbow". She liked the name she had given it, thinking that it was cute and clever.

She moved to a more open area where she could perform the first part of her trick, her "Super Strut". Landing and looking around she noted that it was a perfect spot, on a perfect day, for a perfect trick for everypony to watch her awesomeness. Taking a small running start she lifted off the ground and went up for a couple of back flips to gain more speed, she reached her needed velocity and descended like a missile, then pulled up just before she hit the ground and strutted her stuff. She flared her wings and pulled up off the ground and went up for the second part of it, spinning the clouds into a tornado. "Not too big this time," she told herself. She looked around for the nearest clouds and started to spin them together. Once she thought they were perfect she let it spin by its self then went up to an amazing height to complete it with her signature and one in a million trick, the sonic rainboom.

She went up to about five thousand feet above the cloud tornado, the houses below looked minuscule; then looked at her spinning target and where she had to be for the whole thing to work out just right. Deciding where to go she took a deep breath and jumped off the high flying cloud, tucking her appendages in to be the most aerodynamic as she could. She dropped the first three thousand feet a little slower than she had wanted to, but quickly made up for it and the sonic cone had started to form around her. She dropped another one thousand feet, the cone became sharper and thicker. "Almost there!" she thought as she moved at break neck speeds downwards. She dropped another thousand and just a second later she was only a few hundred feet above the target. The cone was thick and pointed like the tip of a spear and was visible even if one was on the ground. She entered the cloud funnel and hit the speed of sound right where she wanted to. BOOM. The sound was tremendous and the sight was absolutely spectacular, the white clouds had exploded outward and spun, looking almost like the clouds of a hurricane; and behind it shot out the bright vibrant colors of the visible light spectrum. Her trick had gone even better than she had hoped it would and she smiled a wide toothy grin; but she didn't have enough time to bask in her glorious stunt as the ground was approaching quickly... too quickly. Crash... Snap... Crack...Thud.
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BOOM "What the hell was that!? That sounded like an F-18!" James shouted as he heard the report of Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom. He jumped up fast out of bed practically throwing the covers against the wall adjacent to him. He ran to the window and looked out in the direction of where the sound had come from and just happened to catch a glimpse of what looked like a rainbow rushing out in all directions. He then heard footsteps, or hoofsteps rather, coming up the stairs.

"J-James, was that you?" Fluttershy asked timidly, but quickly turned away blushing. "Oh- oh my, I'm sorry I didn't mean to intrude, I- I thought that you were dressed," she continued growing more red in her face. James looked at her with a confused look wondering what she was talking about. Then he felt a breeze come across his bare chest from the open window.

"Wha- oh, I...um...," he tried to speak but was also taken over by embarrassment. He quickly dived back onto his bed and wrapped himself up with a blanket, but Fluttershy had already scurried downstairs.

"I suppose that's not the worst way I've had a day start off," he said aloud to himself, reminiscing about his days when he first got to basic. He put on his camouflage quickly and headed downstairs and ran out the back door, not forgetting about the reason why he was out of his bed in his underwear in the first place. He ran to the chicken coops because they provided a good view of the sky, and started scanning frantically to find the fighter craft he thought he heard. To no surprise though he didn't find the fast flying craft, which made his heart sink a little lower from realizing that he was still the only human in the land of 'Equestria'.

"There is nothing fast enough to make a sonic boom other than a plane, one with a jet for that matter," he said to himself, still trying to figure out what could have possibly made the unmistakable noise.

"James, what are you doing out here? Somepony might see you!" Fluttershy shouted quietly through the open back door.

"That loud noise, that sounded like an F-18 fighter jet from earth, er my earth. There is no way that anything could have have gone faster than the speed of sound, and that was unmistakably, without a doubt, what we just heard," he explained to her still looking around for the multimillion dollar piece of military might.

"It was probably just Rainbow Dash doing a sonic rainboom," she assured him, almost making it seem like nothing unusual.

"Rainbow Dash? Is that the one you were telling me about who is a really good athlete?" he asked.

"Yes that's her,".

"Wait a minute, I think I may have seen her before," he said back trying to put together a picture of this so called 'Rainbow Dash'.

"Really? How? Where?" Fluttershy asked intrigued.

"In the forest before I came and... invited myself in," he said to her, still feeling bad for the unexpected visit he had first paid to the yellow pegasus.

"Did she see you?"

"Well I'm trying to think here; does she have a blue coat and her hair looks literally like a rainbow?"

"Yes that's her,".

"Okay, well she didn't see me, but I saw her and she was muttering something about how... whatever it was she was doing, not working out for her,".

"Well whatever it was she didn't see you, she might not have taken the whole thing like Twilight and I did," she said with a sigh of relief. "It might be a good idea to come back inside though, before somepony sees you,".

"Good idea," he agreed. The two went back inside and talked for a few minutes, but were soon interrupted.
~~--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~~

Rainbow Dash had gone too fast and didn't have enough time to pull up and stop, she hit the trees of the Everfree forest and crashed hard into the ground. After being unconscious for for about five minutes she awoke with a pounding headache and a sharp pain in her side. "Owwwww," she whined. She got up to observe the damage done to her. Nothing seemed to be out of place, but she was still hurting badly on her side. She looked down the length of her back and side but nothing seemed to be wrong there either.

"Ah! Celestia why does this hurt!?" she shouted out. She tried to flare her wing out to inspect it closer but felt pain shoot up her back side and she shouted out again.

"AHH! Well at least I don't think it's broken, maybe just a bad sprain or I pulled something," she reassured herself in an attempt to calm down; after all if she hurt her wing too badly and couldn't join the Wonderbolts, she couldn't even imagine what she would do.

"Wait... that looks like Fluttershy's cottage over there!" she exclaimed to herself, focusing her vision on the not too distant tree looking house. She confirmed that it was her friend's house and started to head that way. A few minutes later she arrived at the front door, James and Fluttershy were still talking. Rainbow Dash could hear the two inside and wondered who this pony could be, his voice didn't sound familiar.

"Does she have a special somepony that she hasn't told us about yet?" she wondered as she knocked on the front door.
~~--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~~

Knock knock knock Fluttershy and James both stopped and shot a glance at the door then turned back to each other, both knowing what had to be done.

"You stall whoever it is and I'll slip out the back door, Fluttershy," James told her, she shook her head quickly and waited for him to go up the stairs, by the time she got to the door and looked back to the stairs, James was already in his room throwing everything in his ruck sack.

"Wow, he's as fast as Rainbow Dash, maybe even faster," she thought as she opened the door. There before her stood the very pony she was just talking about.

"Hey, Shy," Rainbow said with a forced grin on her face as she tried to work through pain in her side.

"Rainbow Dash! Is everything okay? You look like you just rolled around in the forest for an hour," Fluttershy exclaimed as she looked the cyan pegasus over, taking note of the small amounts of foliage stuck in her mane and body.

"Yeah I'm fine... just got a little carried away with a new trick. Can I come in for a second?" she asked still wincing from the pain. James could hear them talking downstairs, he listened closer and could tell that this new voice sounded somewhat familiar. He finished packing his gear quietly, then threw his armor on loosely, and over that, his pack. He went to the top of the stairs and listened a bit longer.

"Rainbow are you sure you're okay, I mean you look horrible and you seem to be in pain," she asked Rainbow with a very concerned look.

"Well... actually... no, I hurt myself pretty bad after doing a sonic rainboom and crashed into the Everfree forest," she confessed to Fluttershy.

"Oh so that was you that we heard," Fluttershy said not realizing until a few seconds later that she had just practically told her blue friend about the new 'visitor'.

"Who do you mean we, Shy?" Rainbow asked with a raised brow. James was listening very closely and felt his stomach drop the second she asked.

"Shit," he thought as he moved silently to the window he was standing at not too long before in his boxer briefs. He unlatched the window lock and slipped off his ruck sack, but didn't jump.

"O- oh um, A- Angel and I. W- we could hear it and it gave both of us quite a startle," she forced out a lie.

"Uh huh, you and Angel," she threw back at Fluttershy, seeing right through her lie.

So what's hurting on you Rainbow Dash?" She asked trying to move the conversation to something else.

"Well, it's not too bad but my head and wing hurt," she said back still skeptical about Fluttershy's story. Fluttershy moved to look at her friends' wing and lifted it up a little bit. Dash let out a small whimper, even though it hurt badly she wouldn't show any sign of weakness, she couldn't, not with the high pride she had.

"Oh my, Rainbow you really should be more careful, anything more like this could really be bad," Fluttershy said concerned, still giving her a good look over. She concluded that Rainbow had pulled a muscle in her wing and that she should stay off of it for a while until it healed.

"What!? A few DAYS!?" she practically shouted.

"Yes, Rainbow; if you don't you might hurt yourself even more, then you really wouldn't be able to fly," she said trying to calm the frustrated pegasus down. James had moved back to the top of the stairs and was listening to what they were saying. He could hear their hoofs clopping around on the floor and hoped that they wouldn't come in his direction.

"Here, Rainbow, lay down on the couch, I have something that will help you," she said, going to her medicine cabinet. Rainbow Dash sat down and waited for for Fluttershy. She was still wondering just who the pony had been that Fluttershy was talking to, she still couldn't place the voice which only irritated her more. She decided to just ask her instead when she came back.

"Here you are!" Fluttershy exclaimed as she trotted back to her friend. She was carrying a pill and ointment of some type. She told Rainbow to take the pill to ease the pain for now and to put the ointment on the opposite side of where her wing hurt at.

"Why on the opposite side?"

"Well I have to use this on my birdies sometimes and I've found that it works better like that,"

"Oh, well I guess whatever makes me get back in the air faster, I'm already starting to feel ground sick!" Rainbow said showing how very badly she wanted, no, needed to fly.

"Hey Shy, can I ask you something?"

"Sure Rainbow, anything you want," Fluttershy happily replied.

"Who's the pony that you were with just a few minutes ago?" Rainbow asked knowing that she had to give her an answer. At this moment both James and Fluttershy had their fear come to life... someone knew. Their expressions went from anything that looked normal to shock and worry in half a second. Rainbow saw this and knew she had Fluttershy right where she wanted her.

"What pony? T- there wasn't anypony here a few minutes ago, l- like I said before it was just Angel and me," Fluttershy lied again shaking a little. James stayed for a second longer to hear what this pony named 'Rainbow Dash' would say. Maybe she would just give up and go home, and he would be able to spare himself from jumping.

"Oh come on Fluttershy! Just before I knocked on your door I could hear you and somepony else talking and we both know Angel can't do that!" She almost shouted. Fluttershy backed down a little and put her head between her forelegs trembling, showing that she was defeated.

"I knew it! So who is he; and also, where did he go?"

"He- he's nopony really, you've never met him before," Fluttershy confessed. James started moving back to the window, ready to go at a moment's notice.

"Well maybe I'd like to meet the stallion who's showing my pegasister a 'good time'," she said with a wink and a nudge, then started moving towards the stairs. James heard the hoof steps coming his way and didn't waste a single second, he jumped out the window. There was only a "thud" as he hit the ground, his noise control being outstanding. However, he left something behind but didn't notice it- his gloves that he always wore during any combat mission were attached to the back of his vest by velcro, and when he jumped they came off and fell on the floor by the window. His shoulder had also caught the window and caused it to come crashing down and make a Bang sound. The two pegasi both looked up in the general direction of it. Rainbow Dash looked back to Fluttershy and raced up the stairs hoping to catch the stallion. When she got up there though, nopony was in the room, and James had already ran into the forest and hunkered down, just like he was taught to do.

"Wait, but I just heard something up here?" Dash said aloud, a look of confusion on her face had formed. She looked under the bed for anypony at all, in the closet, and even in the drawer just in case he might be small enough to fit. She came back empty handed but as she looked around she found something she had never seen before on the floor. Fluttershy had came up the stairs expecting James and Rainbow Dash to be staring at each other. To her surprise though, James was not there, but when she looked at Dash, her expression changed.

"Um... Fluttershy... what are these?" Rainbow pointed at the gloves.

"Oh, those are um... wing covers! Rarity made them with some extra fabric the other day because she said she was bored," Fluttershy lied again. She picked them up and held them over her wings; the gloves only took up about a quarter of the area of them, and clearly didn't look like they belonged there, especially with a few of the fingers removed and looking torn.

"Really, Fluttershy?" She asked with an expression on her face that made it obvious she wasn't buying it.

"Oh ye-" she was cut off.

"Oh come on Fluttershy you're not fooling me at all!" Dash yelled at her, making her shake more and put her head down further than before in her forelegs.

She let out a heavy sigh, "Okay, Dash, you win, but you can't tell anypony. His name is James, James Crossland," she finally confessed, breaking under the stress that was put on her. A second of silence followed as the two stared at each other.

"Bwahahaha!" Laughed Rainbow Dash, "Really!? Hahah- you... you expect me to believe that!?" she continued while laughing hysterically.

"That is his name," Fluttershy told her again.

"Okay, now you're just trying to make me laugh!"

"No Rainbow, that's really his name," Fluttershy defended.

"Really?" She deadpanned.

"Yes," Fluttershy said quietly.

"Well... that's a weird name for a pony," Rainbow said, her laughter fading away quickly.

"Well, how long have you two been together?" she tried to pry more information from the shying away pony.

"She still thinks we're dating! This is good," Fluttershy thought, seeing that the tables had turned. She thought of another lie, she hated having to do it but it was the only way to make her stop asking questions.

"Th- three weeks,".

"Wow! Three weeks and we didn't notice!? You're good, Shy. Where did you meet him at?" she asked, turning the tables yet again. Fluttershy froze.

"Oh no." She thought; "Um... w- we met in the Everfree forest when I was out helping one of my squirrel friends.

"Really? Seems like an odd place to meet somepony,"

"That's what I thought too, but we started talking and then one thing lead to another,"

"Hmm, will we get to meet him sometime?"

"M- maybe,".

"Oh come on! Why can't we meet him!?" Dash asked angrily.

"He's really shy around new ponies," she said playing out the lie even more. Rainbow Dash was getting tired of the games she was playing and just decided to go with it; if she wanted to get a look at this mysterious stallion she would have to do it by herself.

"UGH! Fine!" Rainbow groaned, finally giving up; "You know I think I'm gonna go Fluttershy, thanks for fixing me up," she continued on, heading down the stairs.

"Okay, Rainbow, remember don't fly for a few days and let it heal," she said, hurrying her out of the house. Dash turned around to say something else but was shut up by the door practically slamming in her face.

"Well never mind then," she said to herself still irritated by how Fluttershy was acting. She turned and trotted back to Ponyville to go hang out with Pinkie Pie since she couldn't fly for the next couple of days. James had been watching the whole thing from a short distance away through his binoculars. He could see right through the window and make out the majority of what was happening. He saw them look down then he saw one of his gloves come up in Fluttershy's mouth. His eyes went wide when he saw it and searched the back of his vest trying to find them. He didn't.

"Damn it." He said to himself as he closed his eyes, feeling as though he failed in trying to keep himself hidden. When he saw Rainbow Dash trot off he packed up his ruck sack again and moved quietly back to the cottage.

"Fluttershy? Fluttershy? Where are you?" he whispered into the house.

"I'm upstairs," She reported back just barley audible. He walked up the stairs and found her looking out the window making sure that Dash had for sure left.

"Did you tell her?"

"N- no."

"Oh than-"

"Yes."

"What?" he asked with fear flooding back in.

"Well, I sort of did. I had to tell her that you were a pony and that we were a couple," she told him, making his feeling of fear decrease a little.

"Oh thank God," he said as he hugged her having to get down on one knee. She returned it.

"Hopefully it threw her off enough so she doesn't keep asking about you,".

"We'll see, but don't count on it, the way that you two were going at it, it looked like she really wanted to get a good look at me," he said being suspicious of the Rainbow maned pony.

"We'll need to be extra careful now," she said quietly.

"What if we don't, what if we just tell her and everybody else, er, everypony else. Wouldn't it just be easier?" he asked.

"Yes it would, but how will they take it? I mean, some ponies might not be too receptive of you," she told him.

"Fluttershy, let me tell you something. Back in Afghanistan, some of our missions had been to just get intelligence on the enemy; and what we had to do was go into a village where we believed we could get a good amount of information about enemy positions, key places to strike, their leaders, all of the necessary things to cripple them and make for a swift assault. Almost every time we had no idea how the village elders would react to us, if they would just sell us out to the Taliban or al- Qaeda or accept us and let us do our job; but we still went in and made a good impression of ourselves and tried to be helpful and gain their trust. Really I see no difference here, well except there's no war going on." he told Fluttershy, knowing that she couldn't refuse what he had just said.

"W- well, I guess that does seem similar, and you are still here so I guess they liked you," she said back understanding where he was coming from.

"See, it will be alright. One thing though, I would like to meet this Rainbow Dash character myself, she seems rather interesting," he told her, wanting to get a one on one social event with her.

"I don't think it would be a good idea, she might fly off and tell everypony," she warned.

"That's a risk I'll be willing to take," he said with confidence. He looked at his watch for the first time that day, it read 1135 hours; "Wow, that time went by pretty quick. Fluttershy I'm going to go out for quick little run in the forest, I didn't do much for a daily workout yesterday so I need to today,".

"Okay, just don't let anypony see you," was all she said, no protesting or telling him it was a bad idea.

"Well, alright, I'm taking my pistol with me just in case something jumps me like that chicken thing before. I'm glad Twilight knew how to take care of my leg problem," he said to her, then went upstairs to get ready for it. He left the house and started his watch's timer. It was set for an hour, he hit the start and was off.

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