Facing the Windows
The Other Side
Chapter one: Facing the Windows
I am Rainbow Dash, the Captain of the Wonderbolts. My team and I have achieved a lot in the years I have led them. We’ve performed spectacular shows and stood against threats to national security, and there have even been times when we would cooperate with the Royal Guard and my friends, the Elements of Harmony, when the situation went from bad to worse.
But understand me. I’m not going to talk about any of that. I don’t want to remember the times I had after my promotion, whether they were good or bad. What I want to talk about are the final days leading up to the ceremony, and the turmoil I had to endure. Because in all the years since my promotion, I’ve never been able to find solid answers to a few questions...one of which is whether or not Spitfire was the biggest liar I had ever met.
I want you to listen to what I have to say. Pay attention to what I saw and heard, and maybe you’ll spot something I never did. And please understand me; I don’t want to go back or change anything. I have no desire to change the past. All I want are answers.
Understand me.
It was just a few years ago that she called me into her office, located on her prestigious academy grounds. I was a full-fledged Wonderbolt by then, and one of the team’s star performers. My tricks and acts had nearly doubled the fanbase in the time I had served. Our reach went beyond the snow of the Crystal Empire and the fields of Appleloosa, and we constantly received fanmail from Baltimare and Las Pegasus. Heh, we even saw more foreigners from the Griffon Kingdom as the years went by. We were that good.
On that day, Spitfire had called for me to meet with her. It was common enough to get one-on-one debriefings with her, so I wasn't worried. She was standing near her bookshelf, pouring over some old records when I arrived. For some odd reason or another, she had left her Wonderbolt uniform on, taking the extra step to attach a few of her medals and awards on her breast. The uniforms weren’t designed for them, but thankfully we had a dedicated tailor to repair them as needed.
“You pulled some good turns up there, kiddo,” Spitfire greeted me as I strode inside.
I was always a ‘kid’ to her, a nickname that never got old. Though, interestingly enough, she was the only one to call me by the name, and then only in private. I still dunno if that made me special in some way, more than I already was.
But that wasn’t how I responded that day. I simply nodded with a cocky grin, dusting off my own uniform before replying. “I’m good all the time. You can just say I pulled some normal turns!”
“Uh-huh. I don’t think that’s gonna happen," she began, closing and replacing the book. "First off, normal is what Sky Scraper does during our routines, and I doubt you wanna bring your level to his.”
“Hey!” I flared. Sky Scraper had been my protégé for a few months by then, and I felt a great deal of pride for him. “Give the guy some time. Sure he’s slow to catch on, but I’ve seen his stuff. Trust me, Chief, you’re gonna want a front-row seat once he gets serious.”
“And that’s my second reason. Serious material is exactly what you’re shy of. You’re good, kid, but you’re no Soarin’. What in the world was that shudder you had near the end of practice today?”
At that moment, I felt a sigh build up in my throat. Spitfire got like this constantly; questioning new moves and routines if the ideas weren’t hers to begin with. “It’s something Sky and I have been trying out. It involves water, but in the end, I’m supposed to flare out my wings and angle my withers. The result should be a cascade of water, like rain, going all over the crowd.”
“I don’t remember seeing anything like that in our briefing, Sergeant. How do you expect that to work, anyway?”
“I’d figure out a way. I didn’t bother telling you because I knew you wouldn’t like it, but I’m still gonna work it out in case you decide to bench Sky, like you kept hinting at during practice.” I tilted my head forward, allowing a bit of an edge to my voice. It wasn’t exactly an accusation, but it was not an innocent observation either.
Spitfire gave a small huff, a habit she couldn’t control. She only did that when someone was right and managed to get under her skin at the same time. “Picked up on that, did ya?”
“You’re hardly trying to hide it. Look, there’s nothing I can say now that hasn’t already been said, so just give him some time. You got me where I am today - I know that I can do the same for Sky Scraper.”
She shook her head, rounded her desk, and fell into her chair. The slump she achieved was obviously more casual than she would show otherwise, yet she still retained the precision and grace honed from years in her career. “You’ve got until next Summer Sun, Rainbow Dash. If your partner can’t keep up with the rest of us, he’s going on academy detail.”
“Understood, ma’am,” I responded.
“And that whole rainfall effect you’re working out? Draw up some choreography for me next time, step-by-step.”
A snicker took the place of my built-up sigh, and this time I had to let it out. “So you can make it look it it was your idea?”
“Hey, if it works, then I'll finally have an excuse to soak your head for every show. I can’t pass up a chance like that!”
“Right. Show of hooves - who in this room once got trapped inside a broken water tower dome by a rampaging dragon?”
Spitfire controlled her embarrassed blush. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, kid.”
That day was about to take a surprising turn for me, yet for some reason, I remember that conversation just as well as the one that followed. I guess I’m still trying to justify the way Spitfire left the way she did, or maybe I’m just eager to preserve the glory days of my old friend Sky Scraper. But whatever the case may be, what happened next is just as vivid as what had happened before.
“Sit down for a bit, Sergeant,” Spitfire offered, shifting in her chair to get more comfortable. She ended up pulling a hind leg up on the cushion, letting her other fall freely. Her back angled toward a corner of her seat, allowing her to bend her spine around in order to relieve a few strains.
I, on the other hoof, sat down with my back ramrod straight. It was naturally awkward for a pony, especially a pegasus who was accustomed to lightning-fast direction changes, but it was a challenge I liked to put on myself.
Once I was settled, I prompted her. “Something else on your mind, Chief?”
Spitfire gave a grim smile. I remember that, and I remember thinking how odd it looked on her.
“I was able to chat with the el-tee a couple days ago. He’s doing well, by the way - the therapy is just about finished, but even he’s doubting coming back to the team.”
I nodded. “I can’t say I’m surprised. It’s amazing how well Soarin’ has been able to fly with us, given how long he’s been with the team. He was on board before you were accepted, right?”
“Yup. But anyway, when I went to see him, his condition wasn’t what we talked about.” Spitfire gave that grim smile again, more profound the second time. It was like she was tasting a bitter truth before speaking it aloud. “We, ah...we actually talked about the future of the Wonderbolts as a whole.”
That got my attention. Suddenly, any quick-witted jokes I had in mind were dashed. “I’m sorry, what?”
“The future of the team, kiddo - where it will go and how it will get there.”
“Uh...okay, I know Soarin’ is one of the best flyers we’ve got, but we can handle our routines without him, right?”
“True enough. We’ve handled worse and come out just as successful. However, that’s not why he and I talked about it.”
I couldn’t respond to her at first. The best I managed was a tilt of my head.
Spitfire gave a small sigh, one that almost sounded defeated. With practiced ease, she reached around the side of her chair to a small compartment that I couldn’t see. A moment later, she pulled up a folded piece of paper, creased along the middle. She gazed at it for a few seconds, giving her grim look for a third time.
“Read it,” she ordered, passing the note across her desk.
After a moment, I unfolded the paper and carefully read each line. I instantly recognized Spitfire’s mouthwriting, which was just as precise and graceful as her flying ability. Alongside her words, Soarin’ had added notes and suggestions in the margins. A few lines had been crossed out in afterthought. However, none of that detracted from the general message of the missive, which was clearly to announce the retirement of the current Captain.
I poured over the drafted letter a second time, taking in the words and suggestions that had been collaborated upon. A few minutes passed in silence. Finally, Spitfire couldn’t stand the quiet, and she blurted out “Come on, this is what you're slow at?”
Her outburst gave me a jolt back to reality. “Wh-what’s the meaning of this, Chief?”
“First,” she began, lifting a foreleg as though giving a lecture, “I need you to stop calling me that. Second, I need you to keep quiet about this. And third, I need you to get used to the idea of sitting where I am now,” she finished with a light tap on her desk.
I mentally rewound to the words I had just read. My name had come up several times, in both Soarin’’s and Spitfire’s writing, with notes on how long a supposed training session would take. Being a star acrobat, I was able to connect the dots and see the meaning instantly.
“You can’t be serious,” I breathed.
“And why shouldn’t I be?”
I didn’t want to believe it. “This is a letter to announce your retirement! And Soarin’ agrees with this?”
“Of course. He was the one who reminded me of the notion.”
“And why is my name mentioned in this?” It was a defiant shred of denial, but I already knew why I was named. It was obvious, really.
Spitfire scoffed, clearly just as aware how absurd my question had been. “Do the math, Rainbow Dash. You can do math, right?”
“Ma’am!” I said, standing up from my chair. “Your retirement is one thing, but you can’t expect me to-”
She lifted her foreleg, not moving from her seat. “Stop right there.”
My words died in my throat, brought on by years of hard-trained habit. I leaned forward across her desk, the letter under my hoof. We stared at each other for a while. I don’t know whether I should have been worried or angry - maybe it was a combination of those and more. What I do know is that while I felt my adrenaline rush through me, she seemed calm and in control. Ever my leader.
“Don’t assume that we’ve just thrown this idea together overnight,” she began in a low voice. I had heard that tone before; it was loud enough to hear, yet strong as a growl. It meant she was in no mood for jokes, suggestions, or interruptions. “You’re no Soarin’, kid - he is a follower, an extremely skilled one at that. He’s been happy to be my wingpony for nearly a decade, when I took over from my old captain. But you’re not a wingpony, are you? You’re more like me. You’re a leader.”
Slowly, Spitfire swung her hind leg down and stood from her own chair, rising to meet my gaze. Like me, she placed her forehooves on the top of her desk, matching the width of my own exactly.
“We’ve had a conversation like this before. You weren’t content to be a wingpony, least of all working alongside a pegasus who threw caution to the wind. I’ve been watching you ever since we gave you the uniform, and I firmly believe you’ve got what it takes.”
More defiance welled up in me, and I ached to speak my mind. But her gaze only intensified, and I knew better than to open my mouth.
“You’re better than you give yourself credit for. I’ve seen you give up hope for an award to help those in need, and even pull off amazing stunts to do so. When you did those stunts, everyone who saw you had every reason to believe you would lose control and crash, like Soarin’ did last time.” The sour memory made her visibly grimace. “But I’ve also seen you stand up for what you believed you deserved - and even better, what you just plain believed in. Now, I can’t say whether or not I share these heroic morals you pride yourself in, but I can’t deny that they’ve shaped you into something incredible. I want you to take the reins from me, Rainbow Dash, and the time is soon coming for you to do just that.”
Finally, my calm cracked. Just enough to allow a murmur. “You can’t do this to me.”
Spitfire’s eyebrow rose, sensing a challenge. “Except this isn’t about you, is it? It’s about the future of the team.”
“I don’t think-”
“Don’t answer yet,” she commanded. “I don’t want your answer today. This note is only a draft, you know. It’s been a long time since a captain has left the Wonderbolts, so we’re out of practice. It will take some time to get the boring stuff out of the way - legal counseling, official statements, the press, et cetera. I’d give it about two weeks before the announcement alone goes public, and another few days after that before the replacement is also announced. So you’ve got two weeks to decide if you want this.”
Time to think it over? I had an answer for her right then, but my will to speak had left me. I stared blankly for a moment, still leaning over her expensive desk. Suddenly, the note under my hoof felt like a heavy, metal plate. My flight suit felt stifling. A quick thought of Twilight went through my head - if she were in my spot, she would probably have asked for books about leading a flight team.
“Look on the bright side, kid,” she continued, finally losing the hard edge to her voice. “As a Captain, you can keep Sky Scraper as long as you want, serious material or no.”
I got angry, though to this day I can’t really explain why. Maybe it was the way she talked about my wingpony, like he was still a cadet fresh in boot. I respected him; why couldn’t she? I snorted and pushed off her desk, taking a step back at the same time. Her note - no, her retirement plans - caught air and floated to the floor.
“Hey, it’s just a fact,” she said in defense.
Slowly, Spitfire walked around her desk and came to my side. She picked up her paper and slid it onto her desk again, face-down so neither of us could read it. Then she went around me and opened the door, exposing the hallway beyond.
“Head on back home and think it over, Rainbow Dash. Take the weekend off, fly to Canterlot, catch a movie, visit your friends - it doesn’t matter, do what you want. But think it over, long and hard. That’s an order.”
I didn’t move at first.
“C’mon, kiddo,” she urged, “I didn’t get my space heater to warm up the hallway.”
I finally turned around, looking her in the eye again. Her gaze was stern, like what I was used to seeing, but there was a bit of warmth in it too. Like she knew exactly what kind of burden she had just placed on me.
A question formed, and it was out before I could stop it. “Have you ever regretted becoming Captain?”
For a split second, her gaze changed. Her eyes widened a hair and a brief dance of thought caused them to glisten. Then her mouth tightened, her ear twitched almost imperceptibly, and the shine in her eyes vanished. Anypony else might have missed it. She answered without missing a beat.
“Never.”
That answer would stick with me for years. I could never figure out if Spitfire was telling the truth. I’ve rationalized it to myself, believing that she told a half-truth because of how I responded to her plan. Something to help ease the news based on what she saw in my reactions. I only think that because I also saw more of her in that subtle shift when she answered than during our entire talk.